FoE : G.U.A.R.D.I.A.N.

Chapters

Chapter 3: Collapsing
Chapter 4: Old Habits
Chapter 5: New Friends
Chapter 6: River of Blood
Chapter 7: Reconciliation
Chapter 8: The Compound
Chapter 1: Love and Blood
Chapter 2: Nightmares and Realities

Chapter 3: Collapsing

The morning brought a strange mist to everything, the thick fog soaked the snow-covered city. Rose was already out of bed and checking on Shadow, being certain that no infections were beginning or spreading from his stump. I rolled out of bed, going through my routine of cleaning up my mane, looking in the dirt and grime that caked my once-beautiful mirror.

Out into the main room I went, seeing Rose doing a close inspection of the seared-off meat that once connected the stallion to the rest of his leg. Vogel scarfed down dried strips of fruit, looking in the bottom of the empty package for more. Here I was in the middle of it all, my throat was dry and my stomach growled at me. I simply couldn’t afford to eat the three meals a day that I once would have, the rationing program we had set up was tossed out of the window.

Rose looked at me, the expression of defeat covering her. “Angel, we’re almost out of water. Food is running low.. Those supplies were meant to last us a month. I think either Jacks or Candy took more food, and Shadow needs more now that he’s healing up. I know the market is empty, but we need to find something to eat.”

I looked down, then around at the piles of supplies we made for ourselves. Mine was once rather full, but sharing the occasional ration was proving to leave us all short. “Okay Rose, I’ll get on that. We have enough food for a few more days, but water is something I will get done right away. The river is clearly poison, but our filtration systems we have underneath us should have some extra in one of the pumps.”

It was only a matter of minutes before I had geared myself up, uniform, bags and pouches, cloak, the gas mask carry bag and cloak, then my rifle. Vogel was also starting to throw on gear, then I asked him why. “Vogel, are you coming with?” He just nodded at me, the griffin throwing on his uniform and breastplate, then his pouch sling and shotgun. We looked at each other while strapping the masks to our faces, then we walked out the front door.

The fog made everything that much more difficult to see, visibility going from somewhat reasonable to nearly non-existent. Even the crater off in the distance was masked over, the green glow only mildly radiating through. I had to think about where the maintenance entrance actually was, the thick snow cover would make it near impossible to find anything on the ground in the first place, and having such a thick blanket on top of it made for a daunting task.

We stepped through the streets, listening to the crisp sound of the icy flakes breaking apart under our boots. Homes passed us by on either side, and then the small buildings constructed of steel and concrete, finally a chain link fence topped off with barbed wire was in front of us. Looks like I really do remember the exact lay out of this place, my days as a delinquent filly taught me where everything was, and all of the fun places to hide in or near them.

A broken pad lock held the gate from the fence post, the brass and steel looking as though it was shot open, something that we both knew meant trouble. The gate was difficult to pull open through the mountains of snow, the process taking the both of us just to make it move enough to barely slip through, even then we were holding our breath. I stomped down in a few places, trying to find the opening downward into the tunnels. There was the clang of steel, and then the minutes it took to pull enough snow away just to take a look at it.

My wings wedged under the heavy round plate, slowly prying it open and sliding it to the side. Vogel went down the ladder first, then I followed behind. The dripping water sent quiet sounds through the round tunnels, the pipes above us were starting to show the disrepair and decay, ice filling some of them entirely. Even down here it was freezing, and the lack of any light made things that much more difficult. Vogel glanced over somewhere near me, I think, and I was fumbling around in my pouches to find my monoculars with build in night vision. I held it to my eye, taking a look around before handing the other to Vogel.

I hadn’t used them before, the battery life was apparently pretty short, so I had to save it for situations like this. Neither of us grabbed matched from the survival boxes, but having a torch down here could suffocate us rather quickly if there were any collapsing areas of the tunnel. Vogel went first, taking point just like he always did, shotgun held up and at the ready as he stepped through the tunnels before me.

The maze of tunnels were far more difficult to navigate than the streets above, even if we could actually see something down here. The green hue made it difficult to read any signs, and taking off the night vision would just make it impossible to see anything. We finally started to use sound instead of anything else, listening to any sign of humming or mechanical movements that echoed through the halls. Our main power sources may have been killed off in the blast, but our filtration was different. It was meant to keep ticking, even if our power was cut. Great foresight by those before me.

After what felt to be hours of stumbling around in the dark, we had finally found the massive chamber filled with equipment. The power supply to our vision was then cut out, the batteries dying out. Our sight was limited to whatever the small, red emergency lights had left us with, and that was just barely enough to avoid tripping over anything. I tried to use every last shred of light to grab the spare batteries I kept for the devices, then loaded them in.

Three massive vat-like machines were standing all the way to the high ceiling of the room, pipes that were at least as thick as Vogel was connected the dull steel, sounds of gurgling water filled the area, the sounds of the emergency generator hum was nothing compared to the water. The generator itself was rather small, but ran on similar technology that was found in my new heart. As long as a little electricity runs through it, everything will keep itself running. When it runs, it makes electricity. A never ending cycle that benefited everypony, save the ones who decided to open fire onto us.

I dove behind the large, round vat, Vogel shooting up into the air and holding a higher position on the vat, giving us better coverage to fire. Echoing gunfire and the sounds of ricocheting bullets deafened me, the sparks coming from the side of the steel making my small vision monocular near impossible to see out of. Muzzles of weapons flashed on the other side of the chamber, the secondary doorway seeming to just light up from the excessive flashing coming from these weapons. Whatever they were, they were big.

Vogel started to take pot shots at the flashing, his shotgun not even seeming to phase the enemy at this range. Not only were we fighting somepony with weapons, but also armor. When the sparks started to cover Vogel’s end of the vat, I leaned outward and took aim. A Steel Ranger stood before me, something that I thought was meant to protect and assist other soldiers. I guess this one went rogue after the bombing. The very presence of armor and what appeared to be miniguns made our objective that much more difficult.

When I heard the clicking of reloading weapons, I focused my aim, took a breath, and let my wing work the trigger. I felt the push back onto my shoulder, and watched as the figure had fallen over. Perfect shot, right through the bastard’s eye. Vogel flew down to the corpse and started to dig through the packs that were hastily strapped to the armor, looking for anything of use.

“Angel, I think this one came from the Ministry of Awesome’s hub up top.” My ears were still ringing, leaving me slightly disoriented as I made my way over to the griffin, inspecting the armor and the blasted out eyepiece I gave them.

“Yeah, looks like it. Doesn’t seem like one of those raiding types either, probably just somepony looking for water and not wanting to share a drop.”

Vogel grabbed pouches of food and cans of water from the bags, then taking the battle saddle that held two miniguns and enough ammo to mow down a village. He grinned at me, and I knew that I would need to be sure he didn’t want a test fire without reason. Vogel would fire until the weapons clicked, or exploded.

I started to look at the small gauges and valves on the vats, wiping away the dust to just barely be able to see the needle and markings underneath. “Yeah, this is reading here as functional. I’m not sure how strong these filters are, or if they’d even make this water somewhat drinkable.. The markings here show that the pipes back at my place are still hooked up to this. We could just go and take a look at the quality back there.”

“Angel, that vat is leaking. We need to get out of here, and now!”

I felt myself jump up as the freezing water started to engulf the soles of my boots, knowing that even the slightest touch of it would turn me into one of those ghouls. My hooves carried me as quickly as I could back the way I came, Vogel not hesitating a second to follow behind. The water level wasn’t an issue as it would take forever to fill this entire sewer system up, but finding the way back out.. That was an issue.

“Vogel, we need to stop running. We have to take our time, and find a way to get some light down here. If we keep running we’ll just need more water afterward, and we don’t even know if this stuff is safe to drink.” He gave me a nod, and we started to turn and walk down every single tunnel we came across. It was so dark and damp, the temperature enough to even make a Snow Pony shiver. If the lack of food or water didn’t kill us, the cold would.

§§§

We were wandering down in the tunnels for what felt to be hours, using our wings to cover ourselves from the cold. I watched as steam came from the sides of my mask, putting an extra layer of clutter over my green vision, which then cut out. I could hear Vogel whisper to himself, then groan as his own vision was now completely blackened out.

“Alright, I’ve got this. Take a seat and be ready to see some light.” I sat down and navigated my pack by feel, reaching around until I came across a grenade. The stem screwed right off, then the powder hit the stone floor beneath me. I took the cloth I had wrapped around my mask filter stem, and dropped it right on top of the powder, or I thought so at least. My wings struck together over and over, spitting out small sparks until a larger one flew from the steel, and hit the powder. It fizzled and sparked, then lit up the cloth.

“See? Now do you have anything we can use a fuel?”

Vogel used the light to reach into his sling pack and pull out a near-empty bottle of liquor, carefully taking one of the cloth strips and precisely putting it into the bottle, leaving some to hang out. It went from a possible grenade to lantern as he took a spare bandage, and tied a handle around the bottle neck. He held it up as we continued to wander around in the cold, the bottle starting to crack. We stumbled around, taking yet another bandage and wrapping it around the bottle as quickly as possible to keep the cold air from blowing against it.

Another hour, then another hour, yet another one passed us by as we wandered around in the dark tunnels. We replaced our filters, then continued on. His lantern had last us just enough to run face first into a ladder to the surface, something we both scrambled up. The heavy steel lid slid out of the way, dumping snow onto both of us, but what we saw above us was enough to make us want to go back into the tunnels. We were far out of the city, almost at the recruitment center I had sent the males to just days before. Dammit, now how would we get home in the middle of night?

Vogel lifted me from the ground, and took us to the center. It was a small, modern looking concrete building. A steel roof covered it up, and the windows were grated with steel from the outside, this looked more like a supply depot than an actual recruitment center. The door itself looked like it was straight from a prison, thick and heavy steel with multiple locks, or at least places for locks. It looked like a large lead slug had punched through the circles, I wonder who did it.

Everything inside was dusty and dull, posters covering every single wall, and then some. A broken down desk was the first thing I saw, cheap, wire and plastic chairs on either side of me. Vogel just kept walking in, then into a door that was a few steps behind the desk. I couldn’t help but follow him, he at least knew where things were. He started to go down the stairs, looking up at the hanging lights that held on by emergency power, bulbs that were just covered by a glass case hung from chains.

Two flights of stairs down, and we were in a room filled up with cots and chained up gates that held empty crates behind them. He shut the door behind us, and took his mask off, taking a breath. “The air is safe down here. This place was meant to be an outpost with the ability to survive a few blasts. There’s another door down here, but it’s locked up by a terminal.”

I gave Vogel a curious gaze, and then made my way to the box on the wall. It came to life, filling the screen up with blinding green text, then I slapped it a few times until it became blue. Much better. I watched as various lines of text and symbol filled up the screen now, the bumping doing far much more than just turning things blue.

“Uh, okay how do I do this..” I slapped the box a few more times, then started to type a couple of the words I saw on screen. My eyes focused on it, then the terminal started to show up an “Access Granted” box across the top of the screen, and a massive steel door slid open. Maybe my luck was starting to turn around.

Vogel chuckled at the randomness of the slaps and how the machine responded, but it worked. I stepped into the clean, steel covered room that held rows and rows of crates, filled up the ceiling with supplies of all sorts.

“Wow Angel, I didn’t know you were so lucky. The way I heard it, your luck reading actually made a machine explode..”

“Oh shut up, sometimes everypony gets lucky. That was just a very, very rare case of it happening for me.”

We stepped inside and started to take a closer look, there were enough of the ugly green cots on steel stands to house an entire battalion, and enough supplies to back this up. I had to get Rose and Shadow out here, or at least find a way to get these supplies to them. Vogel was looking around for more shotgun shells in the messes of ammo crates, pulling out shells by what seemed to be by the hundreds.

“Vogel, is there a cart or something over there, maybe enough stuff for us to build a wagon? We need to get this stuff back home, at least as much as we can. If we get something built up and everything loaded, then sleep, and get these stuff back in the morning.. I think that would be best.”

The griffin gave me a nod, and started to pull out steel carts from the sides of crates. Three shelves high that would fit about two crates per shelf, six crates per cart and then.. We would need to attach at least three carts together to make this worth our time.

“We need three of those carts, we’ll go ahead and tie them together. We’ll load them up first though, I don’t feel like struggling to get these boxes on each shelf.”

“Yeah yeah I hear ya, come here and help me lift this up you bossy pony.”

He had a point, but I was planning on helping from the start, obviously. It took us both to lift some of the crates up onto the shelving, each one being filled to the very top with everything that we could ask for. More medical supplies to throw on the pile, ammo, food rations and water. There were even crates filled up with gas mask filters and other soldier-issue supplies, something that I insisted on sorting through. We filled an entire crate up with filters and gas mask patching parts, then another up with weapon cleaning supplies and uniform repairing kits.

“Vogel, what’s that black crate over there?” I pointed at a single black crate sitting in the corner of the massive storage area, the matte color catching my eye among all of these ugly green boxes.

“That is uh..” He made his way over the to box, then cracked it open. He stood there, staring for a moment before lifting up a small rectangular bag with black armor inside. “Looks like some of that great combat armor that was meant to be given to us. Rumor has it that this stuff can stop a bullet the size of your hind hoof, but I wouldn’t believe that. Does look sturdy though, pretty light as well. Even has padded edges to keep it quiet. Looks like this set was actually for you.”

I didn’t believe that it was meant for me, but I took it anyway. Vogel watched as I removed my bags and cloak, putting each piece of the armor on over my uniform. The chest piece covered my entire torso, plates covering up areas that generally wouldn’t move much like my chest, and softer, weaved ballistic fibers for areas that needed free motion. Chest, back, shoulder and even hoof pieces were here, covering me almost completely with the exception of my gas mask and hood. It felt comfortable, light, and I could even move just as silently as before.

“This feels pretty damn amazing, I wouldn’t want to be the fool who runs into me out there.” That earned me a laugh, followed by groans and aching muscles from lifting crate after crate onto the carts.

Morning came much slower than I expected, granted most of my night was rolling around on these uncomfortable canvas cots. Vogel let out a groan as he stood up out of bed, stretching out everything just to get himself moving.

“Come on Angel, Rose and Shadow are probably wondering where we are. I doubt they’d think we got killed out here though, we’re probably the best fighters of the squad.”

He was right, even if I did spent most of my time far out with a rifle, I could still handle myself in closer engagements. Rose would knew if I had died anyway, we shared that kind of special connection. One time she twisted her poor hoof and I knew before she even told me, that kind of connection. Vogel and I took stretchy cords, attaching them to the carts, and then the carts to each other. Before we finished though, I looked right at him.

“Vogel, how the fuck are we going to get these up those stairs? If that door back there isn’t an elevator then we’re stuck down here.”

He shook his head, then chuckled. I guess it was an elevator, or maybe he already knew how to get these out of here. “Yeah Angel, that’s an elevator. Shadow and I couldn’t figure out how to get it working, when we were up top anyway. I guess it’s more or less just activated from down here, we should be good with it though.”

We rolled the pile of carts over to the steel doors, Vogel smashing a button in with his talon to get them open. In went the carts, and then Vogel, then I. We put on our masks and took a breath, preparing ourselves for when we returned to the surface. The doors slowly opened, taking us to the ghastly land that we knew, a drastic change from the clean steel basement we just spent the night in.

Vogel and I pushed the carts out of the door one at a time, then putting them all back together as the wheels sat in the snow. We would need to take our time going back, watching to be sure the haul of supplies wouldn’t fall over and cause us to stack everything back up. Our backs were already sore, and we didn’t need any more strain on them.

My watch told us just how long we were taking, minutes to hour, hour to hours, and hours to even more hours. It was 1600 before we even made it to the edge of the city, and another hour just to take the carts through the torn up stone streets. Ever bump made us tense, some even made us dive to hold the strapped carts together, needless to say it was an exhausting two days that we spent out here. The door flew open, and in we went.

Rose started jumping up and down in excitement as we returned, Shadow hobbling over to us to see what took us so long.

“Hey, you two, what the hell took so long? I thought you were just going down to see if the purifiers were still working.”

“Yeah, we did. Then we got lost down in the dark after getting shot at by a Steel Ranger, we spent a night in the recruitment center I sent you and Vogel to, and then I broke into their security vaults to gather up supplies. By all means, if that upsets you, feel free to go out there and do it yourself.”

Vogel and Rose were both staring at me, shocked at just how snappy I was. Even if the trip was long and tiring, that was mean.. Even for me. Shadow went right back to his little corner that he claimed for himself, and sat. Tension overtook us all, but the stress had finally started to show itself in me. I let a sigh, then directed Vogel and Rose to assist in unloading the crate.

Night was upon us, all of the supplies were divided and stored. My gas mask bag felt full, filters lining the entire bag with the exception of two of the repair kits, should I need to use them. Vogel started to mess around with our radio, looking for any sign of a signal, Shadow simply sat and watched as he did. Rose was painting on the front of my new armor, using our old art supplies to do it. We never did get much use from them, but it was fun to paint wilderness scenes that looked more like paint was tossed onto canvas.

She carefully detailed every little bit of the armor, using her magic to hold the brush as well as feed us both, sharing the plastic spoon that was dipped into ration bags for the both of us. I smiled while she took pride in her work, asking me to turn or move the light, even assist her with itches should she have them. It was times like these that I missed the most from the old world, quality time that you would spend with those you loved.

“Hey Angel, Rose, I think we’ve got a signal. It’s pretty rough, but it’s there. Sounds like.. It sounds like some kind of broadcast coming from one of the Canterlot networks.”

The four of us listened closely through the static, curious to see what had become of the beautiful castles and gardens that everypony knew and loved. What we heard sent us all into shock.

“Listen up Canterlot Steel Rangers, I know that everything we knew was destroyed, but we need to get moving to the Citadel. That’s the only place that will take us in.” He was cut off by a much softer voice in the background, but not for long. “Yes you heard me right. The Princesses did indeed give their life to prevent the Pink Cloud from killing everypony around here. No, we cannot go back in there. You are all the luckiest ponies of this wasteland, should you have been anywhere near that cloud, you’d all be dead or fused into your armor.”

The signal cut, and not a moment too soon. We were all silent, exchanging glances and and expressions of sorrow with one another. The Princesses were gone, not even those with the highest power of magic could survive this place. Silence ruled the room as we all got back to our previous activities. Rose and I ate while painting up my gear, Shadow and Vogel started to play cards, and we could all feel reality starting to kick in. Nopony was coming for us, not a single damned one. The world was lost.

§§§

I spent the day walking through the city, my newly painted armor making me feel even more confident in just wandering around through the snow and mist, even in the areas where blood stained the snow. The armor was painted with black and dark gray, varying shapes and patterns were filling up the armor to break up the outline and appearance of the shape, something that could gain me an extra second to slay whatever was out here.

A new gas mask was on my face, one that we has brought back with us. It didn’t take me long to wrap bandages around the filter stem as I had before, but this new mask was a deep gray. I outlined the lenses with black, a little personal touch that was much needed on something so dull. My cloak was patched up and cleaned, even my uniform was looking far better. I felt healthy, safe, even prepared to live and die out here as there was no rescue, no true safe place. A harsh and sombering reality.

There wasn’t any place I was really walking to, if anything I was just out here to kill time and spent my days away, maybe find something useful or mildly interesting even. What better place to look than the hub for our Ministry of Awesome? I started making my way to my new objective, walking right down the middle of the street, and right through the mounds of snow that were starting to build up higher and higher. I could hear gunfire and screams out in the distance, the loud sounds echoing off of the crumbling buildings. Looks like more survived than I thought.

My movements were now slower and more methodical, my body hugging against walls and piles of rubble that lined my pathway. I was going to the far edge of the city, something that could easily take me a few hours if I didn’t keep tabs on time and my pace. Then, I saw shadows dancing on the walls. There was something coming for me, and it sure didn’t look like it was happy. I dropped down behind a mailbox, slowing my breathing to reduce the steam coming from my mask.

I watched closely, counting down the seconds until I would see the figure. There she stood, covered in the armor of a Steel Ranger. My rifle slowly slid into my wings, then against my shoulder. I wasn’t going to take kindly to them, especially after one had opened fire on Vogel and myself down in the purifier room. My ears then focused in, realizing that she was speaking on some type of radio in her helmet.

“It appears to be clear, Sir. No, Sir, there is not. Sir there is no- sir I need to contact you in a moment. My Eyes-Forward is picking something up.”

Fuck, I knew those helmets had Eyes-Forward Sparkle built in, but I thought that my uniform was designed to counteract such arcane technology. Her weapons then started to spit out a light show of beams and lasers, blasting a radroach into dust. I guess my uniform did indeed counteract it. Oh the powers of a stealth uniform.

“As I was saying, Sir, there should be a recruitment center in this sector that houses a bunker beneath it. We should be able to take shelter there and set up, supplies should be plenty down there. Yes Sir, I will.”

She went silent as she then started to make her way down the street to my position, her covered eyes scanning the crumbling buildings as her steel clad hooves clicked against the snow covered stone. It was time to act, I wasn’t about to let these bastards come and take supplies that we needed. Without looking back, I dashed from around the mailbox and stood before her, my hind hooves planting on the ground while I held my rifle to her face. It didn’t take seeing her eyes to know that she knew it was over. I slowly tilted my head, letting her see her own reflecting on my mask’s lenses before I fired.

The steel-cased mare fell to the ground, blood pouring from the clean holes punched through her head. I watched as the snow started to stain crimson, chunks of bone and gray matter oozing out in the mess of blood. My rifle went onto my back once more, and I was on my way. It seemed like only moments before I was down on the ground again, concealing myself as more of the Rangers came galloping down the street and to the sound of the gunshot. I could handle one or two at a time, but more would prove to be deadly, especially with my rifle only hitting hard enough to punch through at closer ranges.

I found myself buried under burnt cloth and fallen bricks, right in front of the old bookstore. It wouldn’t do me any good to try to hide in there as most of the building was crumbling apart, and if I moved too much I would risk them seeing motion and locking onto me. It was time to wait, and there was nothing I could do about it.

There stood four of them, weapons at the ready as they stood in formation, scanning every last flake of snow around their fallen ally. I could tell they were looking at something, then it hit me. Boot prints. I gave my tail a few flicks to cover the shifted snow around me, praying to Luna they wouldn’t be able to see me from the bulky steel helmets. One glanced my way, and started to approach. At least I tried. He was coming closer, and closer, finally he was standing right before me. I held my breath, and lay as still as any living thing could.

I had no option but to stay there, letting him survey the area before finally turning and returning to his friends. I took a breath, and relaxed. I felt like I was going to be stuck here a while.

“We have one down, repeat, one down. Large caliber rifle, not quite Anti-Machine. One set of boot prints in the snow, appears to belong to a single pony. Be advised, we have an enemy in these streets.”

Then, I started to think about how their very presence would compromise myself and my friends. I had to do something, even if it could get me killed. We didn’t always see eye-eye, but I respected my team to no ends, and my wife meant the world to me. How do I handle this? Instead of thinking things out, I stood up and walked up to them.

“Mares and Gentlecolts! I present to you, the Wasteland---! As you see before you, there’s a corpse on the ground, now who would do such a thing?” I found myself speaking rather loudly, the rubber mask on my face dulling my voice out. “And you know, it’s unfortunate your member down in the filtration room tried to kill myself and my friend, you see, we belonged to Luna’s finest!” All of their weapons were trained on me, but they weren’t certain as to how to handle me. Honestly, I didn’t even know how to handle me.

“With that all said, it’s an eye for an eye. Your friend down below tried to kill us, so I killed one of your own! And you know what, I think each and every one of you assholes should turn tail and run, especially with what I’m planning.” One of them shot at me, a single energy beam that came flying at me, only to be shot back when my wings flew out in front of me.

“Oh no no, poor things. You can’t kill me, you won’t kill me. This wasteland will not kill me!” I finally felt each and every one of them firing lasers and plasma weaponry at me, each blast being reflected from my wings, others being dodged and missing entirely, thanks to my agile self. One of them finally had the sense to try a targeting system similar to S.A.T.S. something that I wasn’t certain of how to deal with. The beam missed me entirely, and melted the snow to the stone beside me.

“Really? You would try something like that? No no no, your little systems won’t be able to lock onto me. The snow on the ground and the weaving in my uniform here don’t exactly allow for that. Now like I said, turn and run or you will all fall here.” They just stared at me, and I had to keep my word in this situation. I went silent, and then started to charge.

My wings moved in a flurry of steel and feather, sending each beam back to its owner. I watched as they weren’t even phased by it, my rifle on the other hoof, had something to say about that. As I neared one, I would aim and fire with my fastest ability, leaving behind a pile of armored corpses and bloody snow in my wake. I thought the Steel Rangers would be stronger, that or at least have some shred of tactical knowledge. I guess my plan had worked after all, even if my wings were feeling rather hot.

I couldn’t help but feel bad for them, five highly trained Rangers fell by a single mare with an arcane heart and steel for wings, perhaps they were simply too reliant on their technologies to even attempt to use their own ability. Either way, I didn’t care, I was going to find where they were coming from, and I was going to wipe them out.

The Ministry of Awesome would be for another day, for now I had to find their source and be rid of it. All it takes is experience, knowledge, and having some gear that lends itself to stealth always helps. I looked around at the crumbling buildings, knowing that would go to some place that was secure, easily defendable, and in the area. Perhaps the Ministry of Awesome was indeed still my target location.

Up the street I went, being cautious and mindful of my boot prints, sweeping them away with my tail as I made my way up the street, and to a building off in the distance. Our hub was in one of the largest buildings in our city, being three stories tall and almost a block and a half wide, a building that was shaped in a rectangle with two forward-extending wings built on. It looked like an ‘E’ save the middle bar. It was built of brick, and had the common steel roof that was seen on many of the more modern buildings around us. Typical.

Many of the windows were boarded up, but the ones that survived had eyes peering from them. I very well could have just found them, this confirmed as a missile came flying by my head. Okay! Looks like I’m not going to actually do anything like this.. They had to have seen me, and they weren’t going to let me close. I made my way into the maze of buildings and rubble to my left, disappearing like a ghost. There had to be a better way, perhaps.. Perhaps I could take out the entire building.

I went back home, then shared my plan with Rose first. She carefully brushed the feathers of my wings while I spoke with her, something I so very much enjoyed. Too much so, sometimes.

“They’re in the Ministry of Awesome. There’s certainly a good few of them as they’re speaking about expanding out and gathering supplies from the cache we found beneath the recruitment center, if they need supplies and space like that, there’s going to be a ton of them. So, I’m thinking.. What if we take the entire building out?”

She sighed, and then gave me her response. “Do you know how impossible that would be? We don’t have the explosives to do that kind of thing, and even if we did we would need to save them. Come on, Angel. You know better.”

“Yeah yeah.. Maybe we don’t need more than a couple of grenades. The entire sewer and pipe system underneath, if I were to find a way to crank up the pressure in some of them and give them a little nudge, I could collapse the tunnel, and then the building built above it.”

She gave me a curious glance, but I could tell it interested her. “So if we were to do that, would it block off our pipes? I mean, you did see if it the water was drinkable first, right? Like did you check our sink?” We both stood up and ran to the restroom were we could hear Shadow letting out gasps, choking on something. I was the first in, the water running from the sink looked to be clear, but bursts of the dark liquid spat through it.

There was Shadow, coughing up blood and wiping the blood from his eyes as he rolled around on the floor. Jacks, and now Shadow. We were going to be three. Vogel came running in, giving us a gaze of nervousness, Rose already in tears. I turned to Rose, and wrapped my arms around her, then let her go. I gave Vogel a nod, then went to door to put my clothing and mask on. The water coming from the purifier was poison, something that only set reality in further. Nothing in this world is safe.

I had a single bullet in my pistol, holding it up with my wing. When I walked into the restroom, it was like I was the reaper herself, there to take Shadow away to a better place. That’s what I was now, a guiding spirit to take those to a much better place. It hurt my heart, but I knew that it had to be done. Shadow gave me a sad expression, but then he closed his eyes. He was ready. Instead of just dragging him out, I lifted him and set him on my back, and out the front door I went.

Shadow laid in the snow, wheezing and coughing from the lack of a mask in the toxic air, his stump slowly turning green in the scarring. I leant into him, giving him the final words he would hear.

“Take care, Shadow. Tell Jacks things are okay down here. Let him know I’ll take care of the others.”

He smiled, and closed his eyes. He was ready, and so I was I. The steel feathers held onto the pistol, aiming at his head. The trigger slowly pulled back, and the steel kicked up. I exhaled, and took a moment to myself. Jacks, Candy, Shadow. Half of us already dead, all within two weeks of each other. I was worried about what would happen to the rest of us, especially with the Rangers taking up post just up the road. For the first time in years, I was scared as hell.

The three of us stood above the three graves at the base of the Elder Tree, looking down at the two snow covered graves, and the single fresh grave covered in frozen soil and stone. I was holding onto Rose, knowing just how hard this would hit her.

“I’m sorry, Rose. Your brother was a great stallion.” I wiped her tears away, and let her take all of the time she needed. Vogel was attempting to be as stoic as possible, but just like the others, he was devastated. I, myself, felt worse for Rose than I did myself. Her brother was now in the ground next to her friends, all of her family now passed on, leaving only Vogel and myself. I had to be rid of the Steel Rangers for her, we owned this city now and we have to be sure it stays that way.

§§§

I held the lantern up with my wing, the dripping water hitting the steel top making the sounds of sizzling, the fire within the enclosed glass heating the casing around it. Each step splashed water up around my boots, a stream of the toxic water flowing right through the middle of the tunnels. The brick walls wrapped around me, dancing shadows from my lantern filling the creases between bricks, and showing each drop of water as it fell. It was easy to get lost down here, and looking for the hub itself would prove itself difficult.

The entire morning had already passed, every little sign turning me around, and back again. Just as I felt like I knew where I was going, I got turned left and right, then around completely once more. I didn’t feel like walking around in this toxic water anymore, even if my boots did shield me from the waste that could easily kill anypony who would drink it, whether slow or fast.

Finally I found the right pipeline, following it closely to finally get myself underneath the hub. A service ladder was right beside me, going up to the surface that would lead into the basement. This was the place, and now I had to make a choice. Do I dare climb into the basement and risk being spotted and killed, or do I plant every last explosive I have right here? The choice was obvious, and now I was starting to build a makeshift explosive.

I took apart three grenades, gathering out the fuses and powder that was encased inside. Out came the powder into an empty pouch that once held my breakfast, and then two of the fuses went inside. I closed up the pouch, and stuck the final fuse into the side of the bag, leaving the primer of it exposed. The pouch slid underneath some of the heavy steel cables that held up the pipes. Out came an egg timer I brought from home, and I unscrewed the back to reveal the springs inside. From there, I started to loosen some of the pieces to leave a single piece exposed that would strike the primer once the clock hit zero. It was time.

I set the timer for one hour, and made sure everything was in perfect order before running my tail off to go back the way I came. A left here, a right there, and a loop around there, and I found myself at a ladder. Up I went, taking me to a snow covered wonderland outside of the city. At least I had gotten out. I spent a minute to look around and gather information on where I was, seeing the burnt shell of our city hall at the top of a hill to the northeast. Home was just down the street, but I felt like I should get a better view to watch the hub collapse on itself.

The next forty minutes were spent making my way up to the burnt out, crumbling ruin of the city hall that I lit up, watching from the edge of the front steps. My watch lifted up, then right back down as I felt a light shaking in the ground, knowing my charge had worked. The charge itself wouldn’t take down the tunnel, but the breaking pipes would. The steel lids that covered entrances to the sewer near the hub started to spew up into the air, the black, toxic sludge flying up.

Some of the Rangers galloped out of the building, covered in the sludge. These ones must have been down in the basement. They rolled around in the snow, the darkest, thickest sludge melting right through their armor. When it was mixed with water, it was toxic to taste, when it was alone.. It acted like acid. The streets leading up to the brick building started to fall in, followed by the buildings that were supported up on the sides of the stone streets. It looked almost like a wave of crumbling rock before the hub went down, filling the entire city with dust.

I watched as what was left of the building and surrounding streets turned into a crater in the ground, destroyed buildings and pipelines filling up the hole. The black sludge and dark water mixed around in the center, making a dark, void pit that had turned into a mass grave for armored ponies. It felt amazing to know that their main headquarters was now sitting in a pool of acidic waste, a welcoming sight to anypony that may decide to head back to base after that display.

It was one thing to kill zebras, another to shoot your friends, and almost entirely different to kill some of the beings out here. But to take out an entire Ministry hub full of Rangers that thought they could just come in here and kill anypony just trying to survive, that was unacceptable. They had to die, and they were all sent to the other side in the most violent way I could deliver it. Something felt sorrowful in me, but the rest was too ecstatic from my victory to even notice.

“Don’t you dare fuck with us, even if you think you’re the better force. You can’t fight ghosts.”

Vogel was searching for something to drink, our entire liquor supply went dry. I didn’t take him for an alcoholic, but his need for the substance was showing. Rose was sitting silently, cleaning up her submachine gun with the supplies we had gathered. She was taking the loss hard, but the news of our safe home sent her into a jumping joy. Just her smile was enough to comfort me, even when four blocks of our city was now a black pool.

I was comfortable enough to even sit down on the sofa, and grab my guitar. Vogel needed a distraction, and Rose could use music while cleaning up her little gun.. As for me, I needed something to do. We had enough supplies to last us for a few weeks, and there wasn’t much else of interest out in the wasteland for me to explore. Perhaps I would make a trip out to some of the smaller hamlets that dotted our mountains, something that wouldn’t bring us supplies, but it would give us more knowledge on exactly what the world outside was like.

Music filled the room while I stopped to think and plan out a few days of activity, just until Rose tapped on my shoulder.

“Angel, I’d like to start coming with you. If we’re going to be out there, then let’s be together. If something goes wrong, we’ll be able to fight through it together, or see each other on the other side.”

She was smiling, even while telling me those things. Rose did have a point though, if something were to happen to me, she’d have nothing left. Vogel could sit guard, but he would need a bottle of something so he wouldn’t try to get outside and leave our supplies for whatever would come along.

“Alright Rose, first thing tomorrow morning. We’ll get up and eat, then head out to find something for Vogel. Once we do that, we’ll grab some of the survival supplies from here and head out to some of the villages.”

Her hooves wrapped around me, urging me to continue on playing. A moment of peace in a world like this, that was something I never would have expected. A growing threat taken out within three days of encountering them, it was much like the ghouls that filled our streets. Only a little over a month and we had accomplished so much, gathering up supplies and really just making a place of our own out here. We had taken losses, all three to the toxic world. One from the air, another from the water, and finally.. One to the stress and despair.

Rose was stumbling around through the snow, still getting used to stepping over cracked stones, hidden beneath the layers of flakes. I felt my pace slowing down from what it normally was, doing everything I could to be sure Rose made it through today. Our first objective was one of the many taverns that we had in our city, anything to find a few bottles to keep Vogel happy. Addiction was bad enough, but in a place where all of the physicians were either underground or dead, working on cleaning it up was hell on earth. I should know.

I kept point as we reached a building covered with wooden planks, a hanging sign of similar material simply reading as: “Elder’s Tree Tavern.” This was the place. I bucked open the door, and let Rose go in first. Her shorter weapon was far more suited for these closer ranges, and I was confident in her skill with it. Before I could even follow in behind her, the weapon she held in the air started to chatter. It caught me off-guard, but I knew she handled it.

To corpses lay there, both wrapped up in torn and bloodied canvas armor, crude painter’s respirators covering their faces. Two mares, one white with a green mane, the other yellow with a black mane. I didn’t know these mares, but they did look familiar.. Either way, they were covered in blood and that was more than enough reason to fire onto them. Rose looked at me through her mask, her voice dim and muffled, until she spoke up.

“Angel, it looks like one of these mares was pregnant. It had to have been before the blast, she looks to be a few months along.”

I looked down and saw the bulged belly of the yellow mare, my heart dropping.

“She was. Don’t feel bad about yourself, Rose. That’s just how things are now.”

The search for the bottles began, Rose checking behind the dusty wooden bar, my search taking me down into the cellar where they must’ve had something for certain. I pushed open the swinging door and made my way down, lanterns and candles lining my path down the steps into a room filled up with shelving, the dirt flooring looking as though it was half-finished with planks under the shelves.

I started to read over some of the barrels and boxes, making my way over to the end of the shelving where glass bottles lined the platforms. Bottle after bottle, I grabbed down some of the whiskey and set it carefully in my pack, then I heard Rose firing again. Up the steps I went, going as fast as I possibly could. Another corpse sat on the floor, this one a stallion.

“Rose, what happened with this one?” He wasn’t wearing the bloodied armor, or even a crude air filter. This one looked clean, well, at least as much as you could be out here. He had an actual chemical filtering mask, and was covered in a hazmat suit.

“He came in the door and I.. I saw the shotgun and just.. He’s not one of them, is he?”

I shook my head, and even went as far to look at the shotgun she talked about it. His horn stuck out of the rubber covering, and beside him was a double barreled shotgun. I cracked it open, and it wasn’t even loaded. If I were to tell Rose, she would feel horrible about herself, but if I said she made the right call, things would be better for us both.

“It looks like he was. I’m going to take the shells back to Vogel, he might need them.” I knew that she would struggle believing it, but it was better to lie to her. Luna I felt horrible for it, but this was my wife, I would do anything for her.

We spent about an hour searching through the building, looking through each of the rooms and cabinets inside. Seven bottles of whiskey, a couple of vodka I could use to make grenades, and even a bottle of wine. I was going to share that with Rose tonight, for sure. Maybe we could have some intimate time while Vogel blurs his mind in his own liquor.

More rumbling came from the distance, and then dust flying into the air. “I guess the tunnels are still collapsing. Hopefully we still have a city that isn’t fallen into the ground.”

That didn’t stop us from keeping on, making our way back home. We didn’t want to leave Vogel alone too long without his whiskey, especially when he was watching our supplies. The ground shook once more, and even more dust flew up into a cloud, sending down dust from concrete. We looked at each other, then turned around. The dust cloud was getting much larger now, whatever else was around that hub was now part of the black pool now.

The entire tunnel system below was collapsing, bringing down the city, sector by sector.

Chapter 4: Old Habits

We enjoyed our bottle of wine, laying out on our bed wearing our dirty pajamas. The room no longer filled with crimson light as it filtered through our curtains and veils, the carpet wasn’t clean and soft, and the windows were not giving us a clear view to the bustling city outside. Instead, we were given blackening boards, dust and toxic snow, and a world in which every drop of water could easily be your last. At least I still had a warm mare to hold on to.

I gently kissed the back of her ear while running my hoof through her mane, my eyes slowly opening to the world around me. She slowly rolled over, speaking in her grainy morning voice.

“Five more minutes, Angel, please.. Oh I don’t feel like getting up this morning.”

I couldn’t blame her, I know that I was going to stay home all day. There was no reason for me to go outside, not today anyway. Her lips pressed to mine, then she whispered to me.

“Happy birthday, Angel.” She rolled onto me and wrapped her hooves around me, allowing me to wrap my wings and own hooves around her.

“Twenty years old. It’s hard to imagine that some sharpshooting contest in my youth would get so much attention. I mean, I go and shoot a few soda bottles from a few hundred meters and everypony loses it!” I had to giggle and give my darling wife a nuzzle, admiring her shape.

“Well, it was with the built on sights, uhm. Steel sights, is what they’re called? Your eyes are amazing Angel, and your reflexes too. I wish I could move the way you do sometimes.”

I just rolled myself onto her now, smiling while pulling her into a kiss. Romance couldn’t be killed by the wasteland, and love would always blossom on. At least in this broken, filthy world, I still had the one I loved.

We spent a little more than an hour rolling around in the bed, tiring us out before even starting to day. Vogel was sitting in the main room, using our kitchen table to shape a pouch of the dried apple chunks into a cupcake. He added small amounts of water to it, keeping the use to a minimum while he made what I assumed was my birthday cake.

“Good morning Angel, I was going to knock on your door to bring this into you but some things give enough reason to avoid opening a door, if you know what I mean.” I couldn’t help but blush, knowing that he heard us. Rose also turned a little red in the face, but then started to giggle.

“That’s what married ponies do, Vogel.” Rose was right, we had every right to be able to love on each other, especially with how stressed I had been from the previous days. The ground still occasionally shook, and more dust went into the air. If the map on the console in the filtration room would prove to be accurate, it would continue to crumble entire the market was in the black pool as well. We were safe, and our graveyard would be as well. Sleep well, dear friends.

I listened to their playful song while strumming the cords on my guitar, softly smiling as they were set on celebrating my birthday. Vogel had given me another bottle of wine, and Rose, I had assumed, already gave me her gift. I took a bite from the cupcake made of our rations, and both of them cheered. We didn’t have a candle, but I still made a wish to myself. Hopefully, some day, it will come true.

We sat around our table with the fire burning, old books and throw rugs were fuel for the large fire, and even smaller shreds being used in a lantern. The sky was especially dark today, but we still felt like playing cards and just enjoying ourselves. What was wrong with taking a day to just relax? So, we played with cards while Vogel drank his whiskey, Rose and myself preferring the wine that had a smooth, clean flavor.

The day was rather quiet, the occasional splurge of signals through the radio and the sound of gunfire in the distance was pretty normal, so hearing screams really didn’t get our attention either. We were just trying to survive, and we were getting along. Vogel had fallen deeper into his habits, and Rose was still showing signs of grief for her friend, and brother. I had to be stronger for both of them, even if it did put massive stress on me.

Rose set her head on my shoulder while we played, I wasn’t certain if it was to comfort her, or if she was just trying to take a look at my cards. I nudged her with my hoof, making her giggle and lift her head up before batting her eyes at me.

“Oh you little cheat! How could you, on my birthday too!” I playfully started to poke and nudge her with my hoof even more, Vogel watching and grinning taking both of cards and reshuffling them. We both looked at him and then slowly went back into our seats, poking and tickling each other as we did.

“Yeah yeah well I mean you let me or uh something!” She was really happy today, of course, I couldn’t say I was too happy to be another year older, even if I was just twenty. Rose sat on me instead of staying her own chair, blocking my view from the table. I leaned my head around her, and wrapped my hooves around her.

“Okay Vogel, you versus us!” Rose grinned with me as I spoke up to him, watching as he ran his talons over the cards, mixing them all together with ease. Vogel started throwing cards our way, letting them slide across the dirty table to us, right over the blood stain of where I amputated Shadow’s leg. I looked down at the deep red spot among the dark wood, sighing before letting Rose lift the cards with a telekinetic spell.

I looked up at her, and the expression she gave me was one of almost the utmost carelessness, even when the cards slid over the blood stain left from her brother. It just didn’t feel right, he had only been gone a couple of days and she was already completely over it? I know that today was special, but something wasn’t right. Then, I saw the little prick in her arm.

“Rose. You.. You didn’t.” She exhaled, and Vogel went from grinning to gazing at me, then he saw the little red dot against her white fur. I lifted her up from me, then sat her back into the chair beside my own. Up I went, going to the door to put on my uniform and other items.

“I’m going out. I don’t know where or why, but I am. Don’t bother coming after me. I’ll be back when I feel like it.”

Vogel lifted his talons, almost as if he were about to say something to stop me. It quickly lowered, and he stared down at his cards. First was my uniform, then boots, armor, bags and packs, finally my cloak and rifle. I stuck the mask to my face, then slid the hood over my mane. Out the door I went, into the freezing wasteland outside. My emotions were fried, and I wasn’t going to go through everything to get her clean just if she would do that again.

I heard the door open behind me as I had some distance, so I went faster and faster until I hid in an old home, the walls crumbling and cracking, glass shattered across the decaying furniture inside. Picture frames lined a stone mantle above their fireplace, showing happy moments of a family standing beside each other, all having smiles plastered over their faces. The steam coming from the end of my mask fogged up the cracked glass, hiding the image from the world. It only felt right to set it face-down, hiding their eyes from what the world had become.

Rose started to call out to me, the mask on her face muffling her words. I love that mare with everything that I am, but this had set me over the edge. After all of the effort, time, even the supplies I went through just to get Candy and Rose clean, or.. So I thought. If Rose kept it up, she’d end up right next to Candy in the frozen soil, right at the base of our Elder Tree. Just the thought put me on the rough wooden floor, my head lowering down. I needed time to think about what I was going to do, every word would make the difference. I stood again, and went deeper into the home.

The kitchen had white tiles (or what was left of them) littering the floor and cracking countertops, the fragments cracking like glass under my boots. The thought of it didn’t phase me anymore, any sign of weakness would be exploited by this wasteland faster than a filly by a raider. I ducked my head under the swung-open cabinets, each wooden box completely emptied out and filled up with dust and waste. This place was already looted, much as many of the other homes around here would have been. I could assume that my team simply went through our supply of food while I was out for those three weeks, or that they found a way to get out here. The latter seemed impossible.

Up the rotting wooden steps I went, minding my step as the roof above had given way, and let the snow fall onto the steps. Each drop of my boots lead to a creak, then a crack, and I went up those steps faster than I ever expected I could. Here I was in a short hallway, a door on either side of me with a shattered window before me. The left door was missing pieces of its wooden construction, giving me a peek inside. I opened the door, and surveyed the room.

It held a small, foal-sized dresser that had been painted over by a little one, butterflies and flowers covering it entirely, the white paint beneath chipping and cracking away. A smaller chair made of cleaned tree branches sat in the corner, across from the bed that was the final resting place of a foal, presumably a filly. Her skeleton lay out on the blankets, just as though she was sleeping when her life ended far too early. Rest in peace, darling.

I turned and closed the door slowly, taking a breath and a moment before opening the other door. In the very middle was a large bed, two dressers on either side of the bed. Their bedframe was clearly carved by hoof, made of similar tree limbs that had scenes of wilderness carefully cut into it. Somepony put some real time into this, but there was only one pony that could actually do that around here.. I was in the home of Maple Heart, a mare that had done fine wood working around here. Her skeleton was laid out on its side, a larger skeleton holding her from behind. The wastes didn’t care if you had a family, or if you were in love. It only took from you, ripping out every single bit of your soul and twisting it around, then throwing it back in.

The door shut slowly, and back down the stairs I went. I took a deeper breath, and started to walk down the street once more. Every breath blew out an opaque mist, the cloth I wrapped around the stem of my mask catching it to keep anything from freezing over. I didn’t know where I was going, or how I would get there, but I was walking.

If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.

§§§

The snow was packed down, crunching under my steps. I didn’t care to brush my prints away, as the falling flakes would cover my path within minutes it seemed. It wasn’t coming down quickly or in mass, but a steady falling that would keep everything from becoming too covered. I looked up to the sky, and almost jumped as I watched a small hole open up, and down came a pegasus. He was screaming as he fell, his wings just barely opening in time to stop him from turning into a fine, red paste in the snow.

Without thought, I ran to the landing sight. He had fallen right into a bank of snow that piled up on top of the roof of our clinic, the one that I had recently looted to gather supplies to save.. Rose.. dammit. I jumped off of the ground, letting my wings spring out to carry me silently to the site. I hadn’t a clue if this pegasus would try to kill me, or if he would simply run. I had to do what I did best, and that was hide until I wanted to be seen.

He was groaning and grunting in pain, each sound echoing softly from the steel roof. I neared and gently set myself down, lowering closer to the snow beside the building.

“Are you okay up there? I’m a pegasus like you, what happened?” He was silent for a moment, then I could hear shuffling. Finally two metallic clicks, what sounded like weapons.

“You’re a Dashite, like me? How long have you been down in this.. This fucking filth!”

Dashite? I had no clue what this word meant, possibly something that was only done up above the clouds, or..

“Dashite? I do not know this word, and I have been down here one month, and a couple of weeks. I was stuck down here with my team when the Balefire hit just over that mountain range, we’ve been surviving down here.. Or at least trying to.”

His head poked over the side of the roof, two revolvers held up by his feathers. I looked back up at him, my rifle trained right at his head in return. Then, I could hear him coughing, choking, even wheezing. The air was starting to get to him.

“Come with me, we must get you indoors! The air down here is toxic, and the snow holds all of it down!” He didn’t pause another moment, as he jumped right down beside me. I galloped beside him, taking the fastest route back home. He was struggling just to breath, his snout even starting to bleed. I moved over to him, and took one of the folded cloths I had in my pack. My wings wrapped it around his snout, both to catch the blood and to filter the air the best I could.

In the front door we went, Vogel training his shotgun at the stallion’s head, and Rose looking at me with a saddened gaze. The red stallion started to take off the cloth from his snout. He shook out his black and white mane, then coughed as he smelt everything around him. I could see water forming in his emerald eyes.

“Sweet Celestia what is that smell! Oh dear princesses..” He reached down into his black back and started to search around in it, grabbing his black, wide brimmed hat. On it went, his hoof brushing the snow off and adjusting the dark brown belt that held a few smaller bullets against the black hat. I could tell he was gagging, either from the air outside or the smell from everything inside.

“It’s called the lack of clean water to bathe, and that’s the smell of blood, vomit, death and radiation. You’ll get real used to it really quick. We’ve already lost three, they’re buried out by the Elder Tree. Anyway, what’s a Dashite?”

He turned and showed his flank, a cutie mark of a cloud with a lightning bolt branded into his coat. “It’s because I decided I wanted to help some ponies held up down here, I think it was right in this area too.. I was part of a small group that left a bundle of crates and supplies because we heard some old military unit was down here-” He stopped and looked around, then out of the window.

“It was here. With you, we left the crates. We weren’t supposed to, and somepony higher up heard about it. That’s why I’m down here, right now.. Was it.. Was it worth it? Everything I did, everything that happened to me, did I make the right choice in doing this?”

I stepped forward, taking off my mask and lowering my hood, stretching out my wings. “Without those supplies, we’d all be dead. All six of us would be dead instead of just three. I’ve spent time exploring things, and.. Rose.” Now my focus was on her, Vogel coming over and speaking with the stallion that I had just saved.

“Rose, my dear. I’m sorry for acting the way I did. I need to support you, and help keep things steady. If you did this to be sure you were happy for my birthday, then I can understand.. But dear, just being with you, even in this fucked up world, that’s enough for me to be happy.”

Her eyes welled up, and my hooves wrapped around her. I lifted her up from the ground, and sat on the sofa with her.

“Guest, what is your name? I have a feeling you’ll be down here awhile.” He looked over my way with Vogel, the griffin sitting back at the table to shuffle up some cards.

“My name is Star. You can call me Star, and nothing else but Star. I’m a gunslinger from up top as you can tell. Once somepony up top heard about what I did, they killed my friends in front of me and branded me, then threw me down here. Down into this.. Hole.”

Rose started to speak up, her coat pressed against my own. “It’s not the cleanest, and you may not even know if you’ll eat or drink anything that day, but it isn’t that bad. Of course, when your wife provides for you, things can be pretty nice.”

He looked over at us, taking a closer look. It was like he was surprised to hear the word “Wife.” His head shook, then he took a seat at the table by Vogel. “Okay, so you two are married? Huh, that’s pretty sweet. One question, where is your restroom? I think this smell is about to get to me.” Rose pointed, and he ran.

I gave Rose a soft kiss and gazed into her eyes, holding onto her hooves. “We’ll get you feeling better, dear. I promise, I will do everything I can. There’s a hospital, it’s a three day walk from here. Perhaps Star could fly us there, and I can find the potent drugs to clean Rose up for good this time. Of course, I would need to pass it by Star when he wasn’t vomiting from the smell of this world below.

He wobbled out a few minutes later, wiping his lip. I could tell he had lost the one meal that was made somewhere clean, or at least I thought. He sat on the floor near the wall, panting softly after gagging once more.

“How do you.. How do you get used to this smell..?” He was going to have a lot of time to adjust to everything, the smell and blood, the death and filth, all of it came rather quickly and was numbed out just as fast. I knew he would either become like us and not care as much, or stay too sensitive and end up hanging upside down.

“Easy, you live in it for a while. That’s all it takes, once you step through enough blood and smell things that are basically like death but filled with radiation and disease, then you’ll stop noticing the smell. Just takes a few weeks.”

That wasn’t the response he wanted, but he gave a slow nod. Welcome to the wasteland, the place that would test every single morale and belief you had, but then go and shatter them in a single, swift move. I never expected to be slaughtering orphans or ponies so high on whatever they could, but I had to. That’s what all of this was, necessity. At least, that’s what I told myself.

Star didn’t sleep well at all, groans coming from he as he opened his eyes. He had taken the sofa, Vogel on his own cot. There was something different about Star’s groans though, they sounded.. Lighter, even for being heard through my door. I had to go and check it out, perhaps the toxic air had a quality to it that we were unaware of. After slowly getting out of bed and giving Rose an affectionate tap, I opened the door to the main room just past our door. Needless to say, I was speechless.

“Star? Star what in the holy.. Sweet Celestia what happened to you?” The red mare looked up at me, scratching her mane before sighing, and giving a rather interesting response.

“Oh well you see, one of the unicorns they actually had up there, they ordered her to cast a spell on me, of course I didn’t actually believe it would work. Something that would change my gender every day. Well, look at me. I sound so.. Gah, I sound so weird.”

She did sound way differently, the deeper voice of a stallion going to that of a smaller mare, and her form fit that rather closely.

“So.. It was some kind of spell that actually worked, and now you’re stuck in this strange cycle? Okay.. I think I understand it? Vogel is going to flip, and Rose is probably going to want to inspect you just to see how this works. Speaking of Vogel and Rose..”

The griffin was staring at us, wiping his eyes a few times before looking at the bottle of liquor next to him. He sat up on his cot, and shook his head, making sure that he wasn’t dreaming. Next was Rose, her eyes going extremely wide before she came galloping over.

“Oh my gosh! This is so interesting, how did that even happen? Is this for real, no jokes here? I need to see if your vital signs are different from normal, and and and-” I cut her off and giggled, poking her side.

“My darling, you should be resting. As interesting and just.. Strange, strange is the word I’m looking for. Anyway, we need to find some medicine for you, dear. Once we get you cleaned up again you can take a look at Star, okay? Rest, dear.”

Vogel just kept staring, not even sure how to react other than just laying back down. I wasn’t sure if he was just thinking that he was still in a dream, or that the best way to deal with this was sleep, but I doubt that would fix anything. My eyes went down to Star, and I spoke once more.

“Gear up, you’ll need some food and water, survival items. Cover almost every single part of your body, your hooves and legs are the most important to keep the snow off of you, and then something to keep it from falling on you. Next will be a mask, you can’t breathe out there without one. You probably know that.”

She gave me a nod, but a confused one at that. I pointed at each of the box piles, explaining where to find what. Off she went, digging through the boxes and crates. Out came one of the uniforms, then a few bags and boxes, supplies that were stuffed into pouches, then worn. My eyes went back to Rose, and my hooves draping around her.

“Don’t touch that stuff anymore, Rose. I don’t even know if we will find what we’re looking for, or if there’s enough. We may need to do it the way I’ve done it before.. That isn’t something I wish to do again.” She shut her eyes and gave a quiet sigh, then a single kiss was shared between us.

“Ready to go, Star? We’ll have to make it there, camp out for the night, and return in the morning. I hope you can handle it.”

She gave me a slow nod, then started to check over each pouch. I did the same, counting off my filters and cans of water, then my pouches of food. I wasn’t the most organized pony, but I knew what I needed and where it was.. Most of the time. One went our masks, the red coat of the changing pegasus mare contrasted heavily on the dark uniform, so I grabbed some of my stockpiled cloth and wrapped it around her. A scarf to keep her neck warm, and to keep us from being seen. Out the door we went, and then into the sky we flew.

Star had to carry me up, then let go for my wings to catch enough air to keep me up in the sky. They were just too heavy for me to actually fly with, but a little gliding was simple enough. I could see the ground below from here, and just how horrible it was. The snow coated everything, save the massive black pools that were consuming a portion of the city, melting away the snow around the edges of the sludge. Green fog covered everything, and gave me the realization of just how little hope everything had. There was no saving this.

Off in the distance we could see the towering buildings of Stadt, a rather boringly (and simply) named city. Skyscrapers and highrises dominated the skyline, even when some of the buildings had collapsed and fallen over completely. They were less fortunate than us, the mountain face pointing more in their direction than ours, and the hills around us had blocked most of the explosion and shockwave. Just the sight was sickening, dust still in the air in the area, and the snow.. It looked like somepony dropped ice cubes filled with steel onto the ground. We were flying right towards this.

Star lowered herself down a bit, flying right beside me, her black and white mane flowing in the wind. We knew that if we said anything, it wouldn’t be heard, not even slightly. Instead, we just pointed off into the distance, right at the tall building with a butterfly symbol plastered right on the top of it. There was our target, the hospital standing beside crumbling walls of glass, and fallen, twisted steel. Stadt may as well have just been hit by the bomb itself, because it looked worse than Germaney. Time to play.

Everything was already becoming darker, the cloud-filtered sky not offering even a slight sliver of light during the nighttime, we had to get into the hospital, and soon. As we neared, we could see just how damage was caused to the housing on the edges of the smaller city. Brick buildings stood stories above the white streets, their edges crumbling apart, windows shattered completely. The steel balconies had either melted from the extreme heatwave, or shattered and cracked from the immediate freezing afterward.

Around the homes we flew, traveling right above the covered streets and fallen posts, fallen piles of concrete and steel that had made up the sides of buildings. Everything here was far more desolate and dead, not to mention it was crawling with the glowing, ghoulish creatures. Star just looked down at them, and puked. Even if I was one of those glowing things, I wouldn’t want to be rained on.

The crawled through the streets, lining the collapsed buildings and crumbling skyscrapers, making a modern city look more like some kind of artistic film on something like sexually transmitted diseases. Luna help me, what am I thinking? What am I even doing? Then I started to see little dark figures on the edges of my vision, sending my head in every direction just to avoid seeing them. I think I was starting to lose it. Star had started to watch me, but I didn’t even notice. I was trying to escape the figures.

Once they had stopped, I had another look around at my surroundings. More shattered glass and crumbling concrete, lines of the ghouls and rebar, it looked like a demolition site for old buildings. Then, there stood the hospital, tall and grand. The windows were broken up or caked in enough grime to be considered non-existent, others being boarded over completely. Looks like somepony was inside, hopefully somepony that wouldn’t want to kill us. Time to teach Star how to be stealthy.

The metal frames that once held glass were chained together, but the gaps in the glass allowed us right into the front lobby. A large, round wooden desk sat right at the middle with pillars on either side, a butterfly right in the middle of it all. To my left, the cafeteria that was filled up with broken furniture and plastic trays, empty boxes and wrappers lining the tile floor. No food here. To my right, the stairs that lead down into the basement, probably were the morgue was. No reason to go through an old steel door to look at some rotting corpses and bones! There was enough of those above ground..

Finally, forward. A glass chandelier feature was right in the middle of the disgustingly filthy carpet, shattered glass and empty bottles lined the floor, more chairs and stools were just broken down and left there for later. Looks like we were dealing with more raiders, nopony else would just destroy these things and leave them. I looked ahead once more, Star standing with revolvers at the ready, something I had to instruct her to keep low, and stay low. Two staircases were on either side of a middle door, the glass broken out and a pornographic image in its place. At least it was hot.

I could hear the voices behind it, and down I went. The flooring didn’t exactly feel nice, even against my durable uniform and armor. Star followed my lead, but was clearly awkward with movement of this degree. I just waved for her to wait where she was, and to fire if I needed a hoof. I silently crawled across the floor, being careful not to break glass under my boots, or to knock around any rubble that would give me away. I neared the door, and looked through a small crease in the bottom of the poster.

Inside was a stallion, blood across his face and a few layers of hospital masks on his face. My eyes scanned the room, but only found filing cabinets and a dirty old desk, then a.. Oh what was she doing to him! Down my head went, my face completely red underneath my gas mask, at least no pony could see it. The blood across his face was enough reason for me to act, and to take them out. The door slowly opened, and in I went. One clean sweep with my wing was enough to get the job done, leaving four pieces of two bodies behind, and one hell of a bloody mess.

I shut the door behind me as there was something showing that nopony needed to see, especially Star. She looked my way, and simply nodded as she saw the blood dripping from my steel wings. Any one of those raiders should be killed on sight, no matter what the circumstance may be; that’s the way I saw things.

We slowly made our way up the stairs to the second floor, scanning the halls and walkways for any sign of movement. All we got were broken windows and shattered lights, save the occasional broken down chair or coffee table. Star was looking around at the smaller things, such as how many broken chairs and tables there were; I was too busy searching for any sign of direction. On the cracked wall was a directory, showing direction for three locations. O/B, Emergency, and Storage.

O/B and storage were down the same direction, and I couldn’t find any other way to pass right through O/B and make it to storage. I wasn’t looking forward to this. My hoof waved to Star, and forward we went, passing through two large wooden doors that had been covered in graffiti, then into the dark and dirty halls. The once white tiles were now gray, every wall seeming to be cracked or damaged from the rapid heating and cooling the explosion had, followed by the snow. Old paintings and photographs were lining the floor, some even stacked up in front of the dark wooden doors. Here we go.

Many of the doors were shut completely, blocked off or boarded up for whatever reason, possibly having some patients that went ghoul. There just wasn’t any sign of certainty as to if anypony else was here, but those two downstairs couldn’t have gotten this much done, then had time to paint up some pictures of things that I didn’t really want to see. If there were more here, where were they? Star carefully followed behind me, her eyes going wherever my mask started to point, scanning the same doors and broken lights above us. Then, we passed the nursery.

A large, cracked glass window filled up a large space, enough to take up two of the exam rooms, the entirety of it covered in dust and grime. The door wasn’t boarded, but I didn’t need to open it. I could see through the glass, and I could see every single one of those small hospital cribs that had a wrapped set of bones resting inside, the young that were born just as the world fell apart. Two larger piles of bones rested inside, torn nursing uniforms covering them, but not enough to hide the small, wrapped up remains of foals in their arms. Star just stopped and stared, her masked face hiding her emotions. I didn’t dare to stay here and look at the Ministry of Peace’s posters inside, or the young that had passed before they could even enjoy a moment of their lives. I had to go.

I found myself inside one of the exam rooms to catch my breath and clear my mind, the recent sight more scarring than anything I have previously seen. Down on the bed I sat, taking a look around the room. The bed itself was somewhat comfortable, but I wasn’t a pregnant mare or one whom had just birthed so I wouldn’t know. Beside the rather plain bed on wheels was a small rolling stool with a foam top, something that I would probably sit on and roll around with if things were different. Next, the television up on the wall that had been broken out, and the lights above that no longer worked.. Not to mention more pink ponies staring into my very soul by the means of a poster.

Star came in and looked at me, and up I went. I wasn’t about to show weakness, especially in a place where there could still be some of the undesirables just down the hallway. We started to make our way down the rest of the hallway, avoiding piles of bones and shattered glass, more of trying to avoid making noise rather than being respectful or worrying about bleeding hooves. The shadows danced on the walls before us, the intersection of the hallway that went down into storage. Time to fight.

I rolled back into the room of which I sat for a moment, Star following closely behind me. We gazed out into the hallway, watching closely for any confirmed sign of danger, and it came to us rather quickly. A group of raiders were making their way to us, talking amongst themselves through their scarves and multi-layered hospital masks. All of them sounded disgusting, especially the two mares that were outnumbered by three stallions in the group.

“Boss wants us to get that thing open, but there’s no fucking keys. I don’t suppose you have a grenade on you or something?”

“Nah, I ain’t got no grenades. I’ll I’ve got is some shells for one of those shotguns.”

“You fucking idiot! We can just shoot the thing open you.. Uuggh! Why did we decide to bring him along? Celestia and Luna come on!”

They certainly didn’t sound very happy with each other. This was the perfect time to attack in my eyes, they’re distracted and oblivious to their surroundings. I gave a hoof signal to Star, and we began our attack. Star rolled out with her revolvers held up in her feathers, and I leaned out from the doorway with my rifle. Together we fired into the crowd, watching them fall over and scream, gurgle and groan as holes filled them, their blood seeping through their torn clothing. The crimson substance splattered on the walls, and pooled around the fresh corpses. We worked pretty well together!

Together we made our way over the pile of corpses and to the hallway intersection, coming across another set of signs. Emergency and elevators were to our left, and storage was to our right. Right we went, stepping over empty bottles and boxes that once held food and drink, then down the hall. This hallway seemed more like it was for the doctors and nurses here, and little signs on the door read: “Resident Resting Quarters.” We could stay there for the night, so we took a look inside the rooms.

Steel framed bunk beds on both sides of the room, with a couple of small chairs and tables in the middle. Posters for the MInistry of Peace were everywhere, but we didn’t care as this would make the perfect place to rest. We took note, then went down the hallway, and to the stairwell that went down.

Steel railings and dark, damp walls made this area feel completely alien from the rest of the hospital, sure the entire hospital was dark and gray, but this felt different. Caged lights stuck to the walls, only one in three actually seeming to flicker and produce some degree of light; it was just enough to keep us from tripping and falling on our flanks. I had taken point once more, and I scouted ahead past the base of the stairs. There were only a few rooms down here, some seeming to be dark wood, while a single one was heavy steel. Looks like the morgue had a second entrance.

I simply stuck my hoof around the corner to signal out, and I could hear the light patter of hooves coming up behind me. Around the little markings I looked again and I had seen the most beautiful sight the wasteland had given me yet. Medical supply storage was right in front of us, and I wasted no time to jump right in. Of course, when I saw the three raiders standing in front of me with pistols pointed at me head, I had to think. One mare, two stallions, very little to no armor, looks like they’re starved.. Easy kills.

They all started to fire at me, bullets hitting and ricocheting off of the armor set I had previously found, save one or two that had hit my front legs. I could hear the clicks of empty pistols, and then the rolling of heads on the floor.

“Star, be a sweetheart and grab a few supplies for me. I’m bleeding.”

She jumped in from behind me, missing the fight completely. I could see that she was shocked, but followed my orders closely. In front of me sat forceps, disinfectant, a suture kit, and then thick, heavy bandages to wrap it all up with. This armor saved my life, but there were certainly weak points in some of the weaving. I’d have to change that.

“Okay Star, now I need you to follow my orders. I need you to get some gloves and cover your hooves in disinfectant, before and after putting the gloves on. From there you’ll pull the bullets out, and suture the wounds shut. Wrap them up to the best of your ability, and we’ll just have to see if infection takes me. I’ll guide you through every step, Rose has taught me enough about medicine to consider myself a low-level practitioner.

She removed her boots and soaked them in the cleaning solution, then slid gloves on only to do the same with them. Her red wings started to move around, a little less than perfectly swift but I didn’t care. It stung, and I wasn’t going to stick myself with any Med-X. I watched closely as the forceps dug into my flesh, sending me jumping as the little chunks of lead were pulled out. Blood followed behind, and now every second mattered.

Disinfectant was splashed over my entire leg, the sanitizer mixing with my blood to make for a messy experience on my uniform. I guess those repairing kits for it would be nice, and maybe I could use enough to make this weave somewhat useful. My thoughts quickly went back to the pain as a needle stuck into my flesh, pulling behind heavy thread to close the wounds shut. Each pull of the needle and thread sent shivers through me, and I could feel my teeth biting down on my lip.

The heavy bandages finally came and wrapped up around my leg, covering up the two stitched wounds. I took a deep breath, and Star helped me back up to a standing position. Every step stung and burned, but I still had business here. I looked around at each of the small labels on the boxes and crates lining the steel shelves, until one finally stuck out to me. Addiction removal medications, right here! The box flung open as I greedily dug inside, only to find a single syringe sitting inside.

“Is this it? No no no, one dose! Oh come on!” Star jumped back at my sudden yelling, but then came back after I had looked away, and her gaze focused on the box as well.

“Angel, we can make this work. I recognize this, it’s rather powerful in usage. The Grand Pegasus Enclave had to use this stuff on a few ponies who had addictions before they could really settle in up above, more for security if anything I suppose.”

Star had been here for about two days now, and was actually coming right in to help. Sure she or he, or both, may have had to deal with a few firefights and a near asphyxiation from the toxic air, then had to mend my wounds.. That’s a lot to take in on top of being cast from home. I admired this pony.

“You really think so? I mean.. If it does, then I’m going to officially welcome you into our little group. We need numbers, and you can follow leadership well enough. If we get back and this works, I’ll be sure the others know.”

I could tell she was smiling, even under the mask. These gas masks were great for breathing and survival, but speaking and showing any form of emotion by expression were left behind. Not a bad trade, if you ask me. We started to loot the other boxes for supplies we could see use for, such as more cloth bandages and disinfectant bottles, even a box of gloves. Not a bad haul, but we had to get some rest and get out of here early.

We found ourselves resting on the bunks, my bags and pouches sitting above me as I lay on the bottom, a fresh filter in my mask, and a fully loaded rifle beside me. Star was following my example and sleeping the same way, we were pretty comfortable here. The other sets of bunks were pushed up against the door in case any undesirables decided to come by, this made us sleep even better that night.

When I awoke, I had watched the stallion in a new uniform, the other tossed out on the top bunk.

“You brought an extra one just for that, pretty smart of you there.” He just gave a nod, and I sat up. I started to search through my items, finally pulling out one of the uniform repair kits. I stuck the dark patches in the torn holes over my leg, sealing the bandages from the outside air we were going to soon encounter. Next was my bags, cloak, then rifle. We were both ready to start pulling the bunks aside, and out the door we went. Both of us were full of surprise as we saw the group of raiders coming down the hall. Time to play once more.

Star stuck his pistols out and started to fire them rapidly, his feathers pulling back the hammer after each pull, only adding to the flare of his gunslinging style. The hat added to that as well, but I feel like he could step right out of an old western movie. When his weapons stopped firing, it was my turn. I took a lower angle, shooting upward into their skulls as they came galloping to the room with shovels and IV poles, anything they could fit in their mouths and use as weapons.

It felt like they had just kept coming, their group needing to have been at least fifteen large. Pony after pony fell to our fire, sending blood and makeshift weaponry sliding across the tile floors before us. They didn’t even offer a challenge, even for raiders. Pathetic, despicable creatures. Star and I left the room, stepping through the blood and over piles of corpses, going back the way we came to to the front lobby. Of course, we stopped rather quickly as a group of heavily armored ponies started to walk inside. Great, more Rangers.

I pushed Star back down the hallway rather quickly, as my cloak had jammers to counter their E.F.S. and nothing of his did. Three of them stepped inside, two armed with light machine guns, the third with something that I wanted. A semi-automatic rifle with an adjustable scope on top, mounted up to avoid blocking the built on sights. Adjustable stock and bipod, even a suppressor on the muzzle and magazines fed into the rifle and held by a bandolier. I wanted that.

I waved back at Star, and then took aim. My first target was originally the armored pony with the rifle, but I found it more beneficial to take down the other two first, as a bullet storm would keep anypony pinned down. They were scanning the area with their headlamps lighting the railing and stairways up, giving me the perfect time to strike. I took a breath, and everything seemed to slow as I took aim. My first round went flying, striking the first right through the eye, the bullet bouncing around inside of their skull. My second had similar results, flying right through another eyepiece and causing an instant death. The third fell behind cover, and took aim.

Bullet after bullet started to fly in my direction, tearing apart the walls around me, the silent sound of it only drawing me to it. I wanted that damn rifle! I counted each bullet that was meant for me, sizing up the magazine size. Twenty holes shredded up the walls, and then I could hear the quiet clicking of another being put in. Not a moment too soon my head was peering around the corner, and I could just see her freeze up. A single bullet came from me, and shattered her eyepiece. Looks like all of the time I had spent shooting really did add up to extremely accurate fire, of course, being training didn’t hurt either. I waved to Star once more, and started to run down the steps like a filly on their birthday, even if mine was two days ago.

The weapon was even more beautiful up close, specialized grips for better control, railing on almost everything, which wasn’t my favorite, but I could make it work with lights. I lifted it up, and started to feel it in my hooves and against my shoulder. The dark steel didn’t give a single shimmer in the light, perfect for me. I pulled on the stock until it felt just right, and then I lifted my wings to prepare myself to fire it. Everything felt perfect, even the scope was just the right height for me.

“Angel, when you’re done having a maregasm over that thing, let’s get out of here, yeah?” I wanted to slap him so hard, but he did have a point. I lifted up the ammo bandolier, then slung this rifle over my back with the other.. Then I slapped him. The mask took most of the blow, but my point was made. We gave a final look around, looking at the mess I had made of the Steel Rangers with no effort at all, then he lifted me into the air.

The glide back home was easy, save the occasional ghoul down below that would shriek at us as we flew above. I would’ve stayed and searched through everything, but supplies were short and I was hit. There was no way I could take any more abuse and still walk around like it was nothing, sure I may be extremely good at staying out of sight and hitting my target, but taking a bullet was never something I handled as well. Everypony had their downfall, mine just happened to be taking a few hits.

§§§

I stumbled into the house, taking my mask off in a clean pull and taking a breath as Star came in and shut the door behind me, Rose nearly jumping on me, and Vogel raising up his bottle. All of my breath was knocked out of me as she tackled me down, leaving me scrambling to take a breath.

“R-Rose calm down.. Ugh!” I gasped for air and shivered, slowly and carefully taking my things off and setting them aside once I had stood back up, then sat down on the sofa that was starting to tear in the upholstery. “I need you to take a look at something before you give this injection..”

I still found myself trying to catch some air as I rolled up my uniform, showing the bandage that was soaked in blood. Rose gasped and pulled away the wrapping, then looked at the rough suture job. “Angel! My Luna what happened to you?”

“Well, as you can see, I got shot a couple of times. There’s one here, oh and here too!” I was exhausted from the trip and just having two craters punched into my leg, that didn’t feel very good either. We only really had one time to actually eat during the whole time, and that just added to it all. Rose gave me an awkward look, but then simply gave me a soft smile.

“Okay Angel, I’ll need to redo these sutures and wrapping, it will sting.” Star cut in, and showed Rose to the small stash of medical supplies we had scavenged. Once again, my fur was coated in disinfectant. Vogel came over and passed me his bottle, and I drank enough for him to go and pop open another bottle. Whiskey only numbed me so much.

Rose started with cleaning herself up, then her horn began to glow as it pulled out the suturing. I jumped with each pull, then I could feel talons and hooves holding me down as she worked. This was extremely uncomfortable for me, and I was going to show it. I watched as the blood started to flow out of the holes, coating my fur in my own crimson life. It felt like something was pressing down on my chest, even after I had caught my breath.

“Hey Rose, don’t be alarmed or anything but it looks like she’s going white in the face, might wanna hurry.” I couldn’t hear what Vogel had just said, everything felt like it was slowed down and sped up over and over. How could two little bullet wounds actually have caused this much bleeding? My head was slowly tilting side to side as everything became blurry, and then Star held up the bandage that was once wrapped up. It was completely crimson. Everything faded out into nothingness, and I could feel myself standing on a void of complete darkness.

“Angel? Oh please don’t tell me that you’ve gone and gotten yourself killed already.” I turned and jumped, two large alicorns standing there. White and blue, flowing manes. The Princesses were here to give me another visit. They almost looked disappointed in me, yet had understanding in their gazes. Luna stepped forward and took the stage in the nothingness, then she began to guide me through the darkness.

“Angel, when we had Twilight put that heart into you, we knew that you would be beat up once or twice afterward. The regenerator built in was made for more than just keeping your body from rejecting it, but it was made to help heal wounds. Of course, it’s a very slow and dull process, but it does take some time to do it. Honestly, I wouldn’t rely on it. You should keep in mind, however, that it will fight away infections.”

I could see some beams of light starting to break through the void, filling everything with a dull light. “So.. so this will help me fight away infection? Looks like I can keep my leg.. er.. “ I felt horrible for saying that, especially considering we had to bury Shadow. Then, I could see him stepping from the darkness. There was Jacks and Candy too! I felt myself jumping up, all of their smiles focused on me, but Luna had put her hoof on my chest.

“You can’t stay here, Angel. You need to pass back into the world of the living. All of us will be here when you arrive, darling. You just need to hold on for us, and paint the world with something that will keep the wrong-doers from doing it again. You must protect those who find themselves stuck out in the wasteland and not down in the Stables.”

I could feel my heart shatter as I knew that I wasn’t going to be staying here with my friends, but Rose and Vogel were probably flipping out, same with Star.. that curious pony. Luna gave me a nod and stepped back, then I could see their horns glowing. Jacks, Candy, and Shadow all waved and smiled, cheering out their goodbyes as the darkness turned into light, and I could feel myself gasping out for air.

“Ack.. my head.. And my leg..” All of the voices in front of me went silent, and then they started to cheer. Rose wiped off her forehead and let out a deep exhale, gazing up at me.

“Dammit Angel you almost left us entirely.. Again. You need to hold onto life a bit better, yeah?” I wrapped my front hoof around her, my left hoof just sitting there as it was wrapped up tightly with white bandages. She seemed surprised at first, but then tightly wrapped herself around me. I could hear Vogel and Star speaking to the sides of us, conversing about what had just happened. Instead of letting them speak, I decided to cut in and tell them what happened.

“Everything was black at first, but then I could see the Princesses standing there. Luna started talking to me, she told me that my heart could help fight away infections, and that I had stuff to do down here for them, but then.. Then I saw the others and I.. they’re with them..” My voice went flat as I had to think about it in the real world, I knew that they were waiting for all of us.

Rose carefully lifted me up with her magic aura, carefully guiding me into our room and onto the bed. The door shut behind her as she sat beside me, her hoof wrapping around my back.

“Angel, didn’t you say something about seeing something like that when that heart was first put into you? I think you may be more connected to the Princesses than anypony else down here, or at least.. I think. And the others, you saw them too? You must’ve passed over then came back, my love.”

She was right, I had just went into a different world entirely, and for what? Two gunshots? I really needed to work on this armor a bit more. “You’re right, Rose. I did pass over for a bit there.. Everything felt so different, so peaceful and just.. It was where I really wanted to be, but they wouldn’t let me stay. So, looks like I’m stuck down here with you.”

We shared a quiet giggle, and laid down to rest for a while. The trip and near-death was enough to put me to sleep just as I laid my head back, and whatever Rose had to do was clearly rough on her as well. At least we were together, even in this crumbling world that was once home to so many beautiful ponies, both in mind and spirit. They were all dead now.

Chapter 5: New Friends

I awoke to see Rose laying herself on me, still peacefully resting, even though she would normally be awake around this time. She clearly wanted to be close to me, and there would be plenty of time for that considering I would need to give her the medication to clear her out.. Again. My hooves wrapped around her closely, keeping the warm mare close to my chest to slowly wake her. She slowly opened her eyes and gently yawned, then cutely wiping her eyes.

“Morning sleepyhead. We have a long day ahead of us, so I hope you’re ready my dear.” I gently gave her cheek a stroke with my hoof, already concerned with what the day may hold. Neither of us had a clue how long it would take, but together we let a sigh as we got up and out of bed, then into our main room. She laid out across the sofa, Vogel and the now female Star asleep on their cots.

“Okay Rose.. Here we go..” I reached into my things and pulled out the syringe, reading the text on the side to be certain this was exactly what I needed. Without wasting another moment, I gently stuck the needle into her arm and she took a breath, then I tossed it out the door and sat by her. I knew it was going to be a long day when she had already started to cold sweat. Up I went, going into my own food stash to pull out a few cans of water and ration pouches, keeping some out for Rose while I set some by Star. She needed to eat as well, but I was going to need to gather more supplies.

“Angel, I feel so.. I feel so weird. It’s like.. Everything feels a little slow and just dull. Please come and hold me darling.” Without hesitation, my hooves wrapped around her. I didn’t know if this was normal, and Star was still sleeping.. Until I yelled for her.

“Star! Wake your sleeping flank up and get over here!” I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pony jump out of bed so quickly, then fall over just as fast. Vogel jumped awake as well, only to chuckle at Star as she fell onto her face. Of course, Star didn’t find it as funny as her voice was filled with disdain.

“Yeah, what the hell do you want? Oh, you used the medication? I’m guessing you want some side effects, well. Normally it’s a distorted sense of time, sweating, the occasional ache and strain. When it’s close to done though, everything will be amplified about tenfold, so yeah.”

She laid back onto her cot and scoffed at Vogel for making fun of her, of course any of us would. I could tell Rose was more comfortable with things, as she closed her eyes and hoped to get some rest. My wings then wrapped around her to keep her even closer, the others watching for a few moments before Vogel pulled out the cards. They used their cots as a table, tossing the cards across it and laying them out to stay close should I need anything, and Rose opened her eyes to play with her magic. Here we were again, playing cards to pass the time in the wasteland.

Star didn’t seem to be very good, and Rose was almost too spacey to even see the number on the cards she played. None of us really cared, but we didn’t say anything either; we didn’t want her to feel nervous about whatever I had just send swimming their her veins. I gazed over to our rations and wondered how the three, now four of us could go so much. Then, I remember that Vogel was much larger than any of us. He ate about three times as much, but we couldn’t blame him for that. It did become bothersome though, as the stockpiles we had quickly melted away within a few days.

“So Star, explain to me again exactly how you just magically change genders every day, Rose hasn’t had enough time to really study you yet and I’m still pretty curious.” I readjusted myself to hold Rose closer, trying to keep her as comfortable as possible through a day I could only assume to be painful.

The red mare looked back my way and began to speak, looking back at the card game every few seconds. “Like I said, the pegasi needed unicorns to keep the day cycle moving correctly for them. The bastards won’t share any sun or moonlight, so they needed to do everything on their own. When I got my flanks branded into nothing, one of those unicorns decided to mess with me in a rather bothersome way, then I fell onto a roof and ran into you.”

Rose responded for the both of us, her voice slow and sleepy; she even occasionally slurred through some of her words. “Must be master level magic thingamadooooos..” I nervously gazed over at Star, only for her to give me a slight nod. Every single little thing Rose did worried me, I didn’t want to lose her to something so medial, something that Candy couldn’t fight off. This wasteland wouldn’t take my wife, never.

The day passed by at a painfully slow pace, the card games becoming dull and boring, even the little improvised games of tossing bits at empty water cans became boring. I wanted to be outside, searching around or even taking a risk and making my way out to a surrounding village, or possibly even Stadt again. I had the ammo, but not the food and water. I’d need to go and scavenge.. When I’m done with getting Rose cleaned up, again.

Star finally started to speak up, breaking through the dull silence the day left us. “I wanna go and look around. I don’t even know where I am, or how things look around here. The view I had while falling wasn’t great, and flying out and back the other day gave me a better view, but I haven’t a clue where everything is.”

I looked over at the mare, then Rose. I wasn’t about to just leave her, not now, not even when I was bored out of my mind. Instead, I looked at Vogel. “Well Vogel, looks like you get to go and stretch your wings for once. I can’t seem to just sit still here, I can’t imagine being here for days, weeks even at a time.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen a griffin jump up so high. “Alright, so Star and then you, Vogel, we need you to go and search for supplies. We need a serious haul as well, maybe you should head back to the bunker. Bring back as much as you can, I need to completely redo the ration plans.. I need to plan for more being eaten up.”

Vogel nodded and grinned as he got up and started to throw on his gear, Star getting up to do the same. The Two put on everything that they needed, and probably what they wanted as well, especially when it came to filters and heating blankets. It wasn’t as cold as it had been a couple of weeks ago, or perhaps it was just our coats getting thicker. Having the fire running was always nice, even if it was our expensive furniture or even boards that could be pulled from the walls fueling it.

“Hey before you two go, have you seen my guitar? I can’t find the thing anyway and I’d love some music right now.” Rose slid forward a bit, and the two put on their masks and ran out the door as quickly as they could.

“Rose, what can you tell me about this?” I could tell she was pretending to sleep, but I could feel her slipping forward. It didn’t even take her speaking for me to know what had happened, and I was seriously pissed. “Oh Celestia dammit Rose! You burnt my guitar? You wouldn’t go and burn the nightstands first, you had to just go right to that?!? Agh!”

Up I went, completely red in the face from one of my favorite things finding itself in the fire. I left Rose on the sofa as I nearly bucked open the bedroom door, then slammed it behind me. That guitar was something I had learned how to play when I was just a filly, and sure we may have needed fuel to stay warm, but my guitar? They didn’t even say anything to me either, and I thought they were asleep that whole time.. I was foalish for thinking that a stranger, a drunk griffin, and my wife would pass something like that by me, even if it was just to ask.

I just laid on the dirty bed, dust and grime turning the beautiful crimson sheets into a dull brown, but we didn’t have any way to wash it, or ourselves for that matter. It only seemed like a couple of minutes before there was soft knocking on the door, a weak voice calling through afterward.

“Angel? Darling are you.. Are you okay? I’m so sorry we just needed.. We needed to stay warm. They came in and said it was cold and I didn’t want to wake you so I just.. I just..”

I cut her off rather quickly, not wanting to hear another word. My voice was soft, but full of poison as I spoke.

“Rose, go fuck yourself. I love you, but I honestly don’t think that was okay for you to do. Not at all. I don’t know what the hell you were thinking, but you need to go and lay back down. I think I’ll be going outside too, so grab a pistol or something. I’ll be back when I feel like it.”

The only response I got was a quiet sniffle, and then soft hoofsteps going away from the door. I waited for a few minutes, and then got up from the bed, and walked out of the bedroom. The white mare was laying with her face hidden in her hooves as she was laying with herself curled up, her back and chest jumping as she erratically breathed. I didn’t care. I only started to put my gear on, leaving the older rifle behind as I grabbed the much newer one, throwing it over my cloak as per usual. On went my mask, and out into the wintry wasteland I went.

My head was lower than usual as I stepped through the snow, just picking some random direction and starting to walk. I didn’t even go as far to check my compass, I knew where I was as far as the town went. My path took my by the old hardware store that was completely looted out just from the looks of it, the large glass window that made up most of the exterior had been smashed out by the explosions, but evidence of rocks and other tools to smash away the outer bits was evident. Every single item on the shelves were gone, even if nothing had value anymore.

Next along the way was a small stream of the black water, cutting a path right through the snow and the middle of the road, the stones that had fallen into it from the road turning into nothing almost instantly. I was on the edge of the city, but this was just insane. I’d need to get that shut off or the entire city would turn into a puddle, and I wasn’t about to let that happen. For today, however, I was going to get away from this Luna forsaken hole and everypony in it.. Even if it did house my wife.

I started to make my way down the slope that our city was built on, figuring I was headed south or southwest at this point, going in the direction of Stadt. That place was hell itself, but I didn’t even care. My wife had went and agreed to letting them burn my guitar down, and that was just unacceptable. I thought she had loved me more than that.

My mind was filled with dark thoughts and sorrow, each step through the snow not even making a single sound to me, or even anypony else that may have been listening. I became silent when I was sad, and right now it felt as though part of me had just been pulled out of my very chest and tossed into the void. My head just stayed down, not bothering to pay attention to the dead trees or pits of the black sludge that melted away the snow. Looks like this black water was everywhere, and I wasn’t sure if it came from my little stunt to implode a building, or if it had come from somewhere else. Either way, it didn’t bother me much, even when I took just a moment to look over at it.

I needed a moment to think, and what better way than to take a look at a black pit that had a tree right next to it, something that would’ve made for a peaceful scene if everything weren’t covered in toxic snow or was just dark, of course the green glow didn’t help at all. I just sat and stared at it, watching as a small, clearly ill squirrel crawled out of the top of the tree. It was no longer cute and fuzzy, instead.. It was putrid, the fur was falling out and off, leaving a dark, ugly green skin tone in its place. The dark eyes that would have been full of life were now red, and empty inside. This didn’t bother me at all, until it started to crawl down near the black water.

The creature jumped down into the pool, and it didn’t melt like some of the Rangers had earlier. Instead, I watched as it crawled out of the pool, seeming to be larger and uglier than before. I was curious as to how that could happen, but then I remembered an old story my mother used to tell me before bed, clearly to keep me good now that I think about it.

“Now remember Angel, be the very best you can at everything, and never stop to do the bad things some other ponies might. Don’t let yourself be tainted by anything.” There she sat on the stool next to me, looking down. I just kept my eyes closed as usual, feeling the warm blankets surrounding me.

“What does taint look like, Mama? How do I stay away from it if I don’t know what it looks like?”

She simply snickered and stood up, moving the stool aside and giving a soft kiss on my head before walking out. “Taint is like a dark, ugly water my dear.”

My eyes opened and I was in reality again, the short day dream clearing my mind of everything bothering me before, except for this squirrel that was now trying to bite me. My wings flew up, catching the little monster with a blade as it became impaled, twitching and jerking as I threw it. I felt disgusted, and wondered what that would do to a pony. Up I went, shaking my head to keep myself as I started walking again, sighing as I began to worry about what they would say when I got back. They can’t bitch at you if you’re not there though, right?

My path took me past crumbling stone buildings and fences, something that was quite common on our side of the mountain range. Many of the small stone walls that were used on bridges had crumbled and fallen into the murky water, not quite taken over by the dark floods that were running downhill. Everything down here was going to be overtaken some day, and I wasn’t wanting to stick around forever to see. However, with all things considered, it was better that I was away; I didn’t want to snap on any of them.

The days passed with very little event, the occasional crumbled building and fallen tree only made for dull scenery, even if any little splash of color contrasted heavily on the filthy snow. I was tired from walking and was simply sleeping under one of the fallen trees or in the crumbling cottages I came across, but a part of me just wanted to explore everything that had once been part of a much larger, thriving state we had build up. I was starting to run low on supplies, but considering how many of the ponies once living in Stadt where now glowing piles of rotting flesh, I wasn’t too concerned.

Three days had passed before I even reached the outskirts of the massive city, the crumbling brick buildings greeting me as I stayed low, and piles of rubble making for excellent cover for me to avoid the empty eyes of the ghouls that had already repopulated the streets, turning the dark, dirty ruins into a lightshow with radioactive corpses walking around. I could tell it was getting close to night once more, everything felt colder and darker than normal. I needed to get indoors, and quickly, so right into the crumbling apartment building I went.

None of the rotting corpses had noticed me as I almost dove into the building, if they did they would’ve come running. At least, that’s what I figured. The small tables that held old coffee machines and vases were collapsed down, everything that was once resting on top of them laying across the ugly, brown carpeting. It appeared to be red by manufacture, but this building didn’t exactly hold up to the shockwave, nothing here really did as the angle of which it traveled proved to be destructive, even more so than usual.

I took a look around, seeing two sets of stairways on either side of me, this more than likely acting as a mudroom. A mudroom in a city though? I mean sure it rained here almost daily, but that seemed a little excessive. I took the hallway to my left, the one on the right seeming to have steps broken out of them, and I didn’t feel like taking a fall. Up the steps I went, going back and forth up the levels until I found myself on the top floor, all of the signs had fallen over which certainly didn’t help.

Being the odd mare I was, I went to the very last door in the hallway, passing over crumbling furniture and paintings that had fallen over, not to mention the rubble from the ceiling falling down in places. The door itself was dark wood, something that I had thoroughly enjoyed as far as decor went. It opened with very little sound, and all I saw on the other side was a shotgun pointed at my head. There stood a stallion, garbed up in dark green military fatigues, no mask on his face. I popped off my mask to show him my face now knowing that the air in here was safe, then I showed the uniform under my armor to the dark stallion.

He looked surprised, then lowered his gun and started to speak. A gruff voice greeted me, but he was certainly curious. “Well you’re obviously not one of them, those nasty fuckers. My name is Corporal Stone, Seventeenth Infantry Division. It’s a pleasure to meet you, miss..?”

“My name is Angel. Our unit didn’t even officially exist, so my rank and unit don’t matter. I was under direct command from Princess Luna herself, her word went right down to my squad leader, Jacks. I was just exploring the area and never expected to see a friendly face, let alone one that belonged to a fellow soldier.”

He saluted me and welcomed me into his home, something that wasn’t very special, but it was actually in decent condition. Basic white carpet lined the floors, even though it had turned gray, and his walls were shades of brown and blue, only a few cracks being visible in the paint. There wasn’t much furniture, save a couple of dark chairs and a simple stand that held a lamp, a lamp that was producing light. He still had electricity, and I could tell by certain from the warmth of the heaters in his home.

“You still have power? Back up in the capital we’re completely dark, no clean water, no lights, nopony you can actually trust, even if you are married to her..” My head lowered for a moment as I sighed, pulling back my hood and setting my rifle next to me as I sat back in the chair, and I could tell his eyes went right to my gun.

“That’s a nice rifle you’ve got there, it’s a.. 14, isn’t it? I can tell you have a bandolier as well..” It was almost as if he was salivating from my weapon, it was indeed a nice rifle, but I wasn’t about to go and get a hard-on just by looking at it. “Have you considered maybe trading that? I have my grandad’s old service rifle, he made some nice modifications to it once he got home. It’s basically one of the first versions of that rifle right there, I even have some rounds for it.”

He did indeed have my attention, and even though I wasn’t certain of trading it, I gave him the go ahead. I watched as he trotted to a door just across the room, the door opening up as he went in, then came back a couple of minutes later. In his hoof was an old rifle, the wooden stock making for most of the body, save a couple of places where the steel was black. The stock itself wasn’t original from production by any means, it being a rich, deep blue and purple marble that looked as if it was black in just mild darkness. He took a seat and held up a small, square steel block that held eight rounds, and he showed me how to load it.

“You see, This Machine here served my grandad well, and he really took care of it. He put in a better barrel, upgraded basically everything, put this new stock on it, he even started to stockpile ammo. I just can’t bring myself to using it, there’s just too much sentimental there, you know? I’ve just been using this here pump for a while, it gets the job done.”

Now he really had my attention. Not only was it a gorgeous rifle, but the fact it could compete with my own was certainly alluring. Of course, he wanted my gun, badly, and I was going to try to get more out of him. I wasn’t charismatic by any means, but I knew a thing or two when it came to bartering from my mother.

“How much ammo exactly, and how easy is it to find out there? I know this one here fires a rather common round, so there isn’t any concern there. Of course, that rifle there won’t do me any good if I run out of rounds.” I gave him a slowly disinteresting look, something that made him shift around on the floor.

“I have a lot of ammo, enough to fill your bags completely. The round itself isn’t difficult to find either, but it’s not like 10mm or shotgun shells when it comes to availability. I’ll throw in the bayonet and all of the ammo plus the carry pouch for it.” He knew I was twisting his tail the most I could, and I took it even further.

“Okay, that isn’t bad. How about other supplies, I wouldn’t mind some food and water. I’ll throw in the scope that’s on the rifle as well, if that helps. Then of course the bandolier I have for this as well, you’ll need rounds.” He was trying to keep from jumping around as he was getting overly excited from the bartering, my offer becoming more and more generous as he offered more. I didn’t want to piss him off since he was actually friendly, and I needed someplace warm to sleep tonight. The trek here nearly froze me, even with all of my gear.

“I’ve got MREs, a lot of them. Nopony back on base wanted them so I got all of them and had them shipped here, I have enough to spare a few.” He rolled his eyes back as he started to think about how many he had, then his eyes focused back on me, and the weapon. “I can spare a box of fifteen, they’re full day rations so that’s fifteen days of meals. Each even has their own ration for water, but I want the suppressor on that rifle as well.”

I couldn’t beat that deal, and I stood to shake on it. We transferred items and supplies, and I could tell he was just about to start jumping at the trade. I was quite happy with the trade, even more so when I took a look down the sights of the new weapon to see the glowing markings on them. I stuffed my packs full of the MREs, smiling as I knew I could stay here for around ten days, just to keep some meals back for the trip home. Next was the ammo rig for the weapon, a belt system that housed many dark pouches, each holding two of the steel clips. I was stocked, locked, and ready to kick some flank.

§§§

Stone was generous enough to let me stay at his home for the night, though his sofa wasn’t exactly comfortable. It felt like a spring had popped through somewhere, and there were pressure points everywhere. Nonetheless, I was warm, and therefore: happy. It was just like the winters we had before, though with less ways to stay warm, less food, little water, the risk of being shot constantly, the air wasn’t something that you’d exactly want to breathe unfiltered, and my favorite, the fact that the snow was holding down deadly amounts of radiation.

I was out just as soon as I had arrived the day before, a fresh filter and new rifle slung across my back later, I was out into the city once more. The air was feeling even colder than before, or perhaps it was just me at this point, but I wanted to get back inside. The hospital was cleared out, and I knew what was lurking around in those apartment buildings. Onward I went, staying low to avoid being spotted by the rotting-fleshed monsters.

The snow here felt thicker and more frozen under my boots, forcing me to put more effort into staying silent as I stepped through it. I didn’t want to use any of my rounds unless I had to, and the sound alone would alert anything nearby to my position. Even if these buildings were crumbling, they would still make the sound echo and amplified. With all caution in mind, I started to chart out paths I would take, or at least I thought. I’d only been here a few times before everything went to hell, and the piles of rubble didn’t help with direction. So, I just started going forward.

The wind started to pick up after a few moments, blowing the freezing air against me. I felt the goggles of my mask starting to frost up, only giving me more reason to get back indoors. My eyes shifted around for any buildings that didn’t appear to have complete structural failure, that proved to be more difficult that I imagined. Many of the buildings had chunks of the walls fallen down onto the streets, the large rubble piles being covered completely in snow. Here I was, walking around in frozen hell just to stay away from home.

Many of the ghouls didn’t even notice me as I slipped by them all, not only to save ammo, but my time and possible loss of life. My breathing was slow, and my steps silent as I almost slid across the frozen streets, thinking of all of the things that could happen should I fall, or be bitten by one of these freaks. Then, I came across a small shop that looked as though it had no place in this large city, the brick construction seeming to hold well enough, and the sign above the entrance even held.

“Traditional Engraving and Carving.”

This would’ve fit in so much better back home. I looked over both of my shoulders before opening the door, hearing a single bell ring as I did so. My speed quickly increased as I hopped in the store, closing the door quickly behind me to keep from drawing too much attention to myself. Of course there would be a bell there, Luna damn it all. If I thought that was bad, I looked down to see a thin wire held to the flooring with nails, a grenade attached to it all as it hung from the ceiling. Then I saw another gun pointed at me; Stadt still had some occupants that weren’t trying to kill me.. Instantly, anyway.

A soft voice called at me from behind the counter, a purple mane sticking up above the carved wooden counter, what appeared to be a classic 10mm pistol aimed for me.

“S-stop right there! Don’t move a.. A.. uhm.. Muscle!”

I couldn’t help but snicker to her voice, my mask pulling away from my pace, and sliding back into its bag. “Oh come on now, I’m not here to hurt you. Your pistol isn’t even loaded there sweetie, the magazine well is empty and the hammer isn’t even back.”

She squeaked and fumbled around, trying to jam a magazine into the gun with a magical aura. Well now I knew she was a unicorn that couldn’t handle a weapon, how could she have possibly survived this long? “Even if you get it loaded, that wouldn’t do you any good. I’m wearing some pretty solid armor, you’d need to land a good shot.”

I stepped over the wire and checked for any other little traps, peaking my head around the corner at the cowering mare. Her white jacket covered most of her torso up, hiding the blue coat underneath. She looked over at me with wide, green eyes, sighing as she dropped the pistol and put her hooves up.

“Okay okay you’ve got me, take whatever you want..” I was surprised to say the least, I had no intention of robbing anypony, if anything, this just happened out of coincidence.

“I’m not here to rob you, either. I came in here to get away from the cold and the ghoulish ponies out there, I just happened to run into you. My name is Angel, I’m one of the few remaining soldiers.” I reached out to her, willing to help her off of the floor. She reached out, and stood up with me, then turning to flick on her lantern. The walls were beautifully carved out of log sections, even the flooring was smoothed planks. Chairs made of branches and finely shaped planks lined the store, the way the lantern had just barely lit them up was magical, almost making me forget I was in the middle of a dead city.

“I’m s-sorry for that, it’s just the uh.. You know.. The bad ones. They keep coming and taking my food and my water, and they won’t stop slapping my flank!” She looked like she was going to have a breakdown, her eyes welling as she sat and covered her face up. Seriously, how did this mare survive a single day out here?

“Hey hey woah, calm down sweetie.” I wrapped my hooves around her, not sure how else to handle the situation. My mother used to do the same, just the little distraction could be enough sometimes. She just started bawling, and now I was highly uncomfortable. I didn’t even know her name, and here she was, crying in my arms. Well fuck. “Shh.. I’m here I’m here, don’t worry about a thing alright?” There was nothing else I could think of doing, until I softly started to sing for her. Damn I wish I had my guitar.

Her ears lifted up slowly, her chest movements slowing back to a normal pace after a few moments. I exhaled, and shut my eyes for a moment. Then I could hear gunfire from down the street, as well as laughing afterward. “What’s your name? I need to know.”

She was squirming around, trying to hide. I just held her still. Her voice squeaked out, giving me a name. “It’s Tera! My name is Tera!” I gave her my spare mask, and showed her how to put it on. I explained things along the way, rather quickly and frantically as I suspected this was the group she was talking about. Tera was clearly overwhelmed, hyperventilating through the mask until she fell over behind the counter, passed out from her anxious nature. She had help from somepony, that or.. How was she even alive?!?
A soft knock started to come through the door, a muffled, grim voice creeping through as I held my rifle up, then stuck a clip in it. “Hey Tera, we’re here for those meals you promised. How about something to keep us warm, your body will do.” I was disgusted, and ready to fill these fuckers up with lead. The door opened, and the blood-soaked ponies on the other side looked to be better equipped than most.

A few of them had battle saddles, flame throwers, miniguns, and then a heavy grenade launcher made up for their weapons. Armor built up from scrap covered their bodies, save the bloodied clothing they wore underneath. Each of them had a gas mask, a rarity in this world. Well armed, equipped, and they were tormenting this mare? I had some ponies to slay. I watched as they scrambled to raise their weapons up, none of them seeming to be ready for me. The rifle felt refined in my hooves, my wings not feeling strained from holding it up either. The power, however, that was something special.

They fell over with massive, gaping wounds in their bodies, even through the steel armor. Blood poured out onto the snow, and onto her fine flooring. I felt bad for ruining the floors, but I had just saved her. Except for the steel clip that popped out of my rifle when I was empty, making a “Twang!” as it ejected, and then an “Ow!” as it hit her head. I looked down and simply said, “Sorry!” She squirmed around for a moment, finally letting me take a look at her cutie mark. It was a carving tool next to a wooden branch. Can’t say I was surprised at that.

She stood up to her hooves, rubbing her head where the hot clip fell on her. I couldn’t help but apologize a few more times, looking at the small mark left just above the edge of the mask.

“I’m sorry about your flooring too, Tera. It’s all soaked in blood now, and I think it’s going to gum up. Just hope that grenade doesn’t drop either, we’re lucky that it didn’t drop and explode.” I could see her head looking over the counter, and at the mess I made. She gasped, and shook a little.

“Yo-you’re a monster! A killer! A-a-..”

I just put my hoof over her mouth, and cocked my head. She quieted down, and I went to shut the door, and take the grenade from the device. Off went my mask, letting me show my emotion through expression. “Tera, they would’ve killed you. These ones, the raiders as I call them, they’re the bad ones. I just saved you, and I want to get you out of here. Grab anything you can, bags, clothing, and bring your weapon. I know somewhere safe I can take you. Tera, I know this will be hard to just get up and leave, but in this case.. We’ll need to.”

She took off the mask and whimpered, lowering her head down. I couldn’t help but wrap my hooves around her, feeling bad for the poor mare. She appeared to be young, almost too much so. My heart went out to her as she slowly made her way into the back, and started to gather up some things. I took the time to quickly hop outside, stepping through the pools of blood to grab any ammo and supplies I could make use of, especially the filters. My bag was now overflowing in the filter area, leaving just enough room for my single mask now. This felt good, knowing that we’d be safe to make the trip over to Stone’s, and from there, back home.

I took a look at the amazing furniture once more, looking around at the fine craftsmareship. I wondered if she could help around the house, and Stone would get along great with Vogel. I wanted to rebuild our numbers, and if I could find enough survivors here, we could potentially gather enough supplies to last us all a month. I was just focused on survival at this point, and we needed outside help. Tera came out after a few moments, completely wrapped up in blankets and bags, the mask on her face again. I gave her a couple of the filters, being sure to wipe the blood off first. She was certainly a bit squeamish.

My hooves wrapped around her once more, before slipping another clip into my rifle, and leading the way. There was no way to avoid the ghouls with Tera around, leaving me to practice my aim once more. Shot after shot, I dropped them one by one with rounds to the heart, knocking their front legs out of commission and killing them in a single round. The sounds echoed off of the walls and rubble piles, leaving me to want to move as quickly as possible. Tera struggled staying up to my pace, her head dropping each time I fired a round. I’m glad I was there to help her, even though I was certain she had found a way to stockpile supplies before. Or so, I thought.

Stone was happy to see me again, though he was somewhat cautious when Tera stepped in. He welcomed us both in, smiling as we took off our masks, and set our gear down. The rifle I had traded him was sitting on his table, completely stripped down with cleaning supplies all around it, as well as a.. Is that a candle? Ooo-kay then, maybe he actually did get a hard on from the gun. Strange, but I couldn’t care, especially since everything had gone to shit and nopony else seemed to have cared. I watched his expressions change rather quickly but smoothly as I told him about my ideas, but he did give me a nod, and agreed to it. Chain of command, a Captain beats out a Corporal any day, but I think he agreed mainly out of being alone for all of this time. Loneliness can kill a pony, should it be left to its own devices.

It was only getting to be around 5 o’clock P.M. by the time we had settled in, Stone cleaning up the rifle in every single place imaginable, Tera was sifting through everything she had grabbed, and I was starting to think about home. I had been gone about four days now, and everyone must’ve been worried to death. Well, fuck them. They were willing to stab my flank, so I was going to stab theirs. Nothing like getting up and away, but things were only a little different in this new world. At least I was doing something productive, something that could potentially get more ponies into Germaney, we could actually make that place like a home again.

“Hey Stone, is there any other intact rooms around here? I wouldn’t mind being able to just sit back and relax, oh, do the pipes work here?”

He lifted his head after a few moments, setting down the handguard of the rifle. “Yeah actually, I’ve been seeing more of that black goo, but this place has its own tank down below. Everything should work in the other rooms, I’ve marked off rooms that aren’t safe with a black marker, so if you want to, it’s just like this one. You might come across some personal items from the ponies before, but I cleared out the bodies and bones. Many of them went outside, others just couldn’t take it. Watch for gray matter stains.”

I grabbed my items, then signaled to Tera. She started to gather her things up, seeming slightly confused, but then remembered we were going to take one of the other apartments around here. After all, I didn’t want to bother Stone with his ‘alone time’. He was generous to let me stay, as well as trade me his grandfather’s rifle and some food, so I didn’t want to overstay my welcome. I took Tera with me once she was ready, and we started to go down the hall until finding a room without a black X crossed on the door.

We opened the door, taking a look inside as we stepped in. Everything was so silent, dead, the white walls turning gray from grime, the windows all boarded and blocked, even if they still had glass in them, but the furniture seemed solid, and the heater was on. I dropped my stuff on the floor, looking around as she did the same. Picture frames were laying face-down on the mantle, other personal items all turned over or covered out of respect. I had the feeling that this was also a veteran’s home, considering a large flag was plastered across the wall. Perhaps this was all veteran housing, of course, many of the ponies around here did indeed serve.

Tera seemed at home after about an hour, laying out on the sofa with her legs crossed, her fluffy white coat covering her up nicely. I shut and locked the door before standing up, and letting her know I was headed to the bath. She just nodded, and grabbed a book from a dusty shelf. The bathroom was simple tile, everything appearing gray and dusty as usual. The lights came on when I flicked the switch, and the dark gray lightened up for me. I reached forward and turned the valve on the tub, just to see if the water would work, and if it was clean. Out came pure water, and I just jumped right in. I exhaled, but changed the water after a couple of seconds. It had turned black the second I sat in it, and by Luna did it smell horrible.

I can’t say I remembered the last time I didn’t smell like decaying earth, and my mane actually didn’t look brown and filthy. I happily trotted out of the room, already looking healthier just from cleaning up, Tera seemed surprised. She didn’t realize that I wasn’t just some filthy survivor, but she was excited nonetheless.

“Hey! So, when you were taking your bath I found some little wood blocks and I brought my carving knife, so I did a little work, oh oh and there’s some kind of folders in the bedroom that are like military or something, I think you’d like them!”

She was like a filly on caffeine, jumping around where she sat just from finding something she enjoyed, and something that could keep me busy as well. I’d love to keep her around, especially if she liked to work on wooden objects. We certainly needed a little repairing back home, the boards that sealed off the windows were started to wear from constant swelling and shrinking. It was like they could just break open at any time and fill the home with the air. I gave her a smile, then a nod, and I went into the bedroom.

Simple wooden stands were on either side of a rather comfortable looking bed, everything being perfectly made up and kept neat. Just to her word, there were folders laying on a desk, the only thing that didn’t seem too neat. I flicked on the lights, and made my way over to the desk where I started to open the folders, and read through them one by one, simply letting out a puff of air when I saw the stupid red stamps across them. “Classified” sure, I knew all about that stuff. Like this would be anything new.

I sat on the bed while reading through the documents, simply tossing aside the ones that already had information that I was well aware of, until I came to a final folder, and documents inside.

Operation: G.U.A.R.D.I.A.N.

By order of the Chief Commanding Officer, we are to continue forth with the current operation. One Miss Fluttershy has completed development on the Balefire project, and they are now ready for use. One has been delivered to the zebras at their forward operating camp at the base of Shattered Hoof Ridge, it is prepped for use in a missile guidance system of which we have supplied two days ago. The canisters of neurotoxic gas have also been embedded inside, the chemicals of course will cause hallucination, altered thought process, and potential suffocation should one attempt to breathe it for too long.

The radioactive materials in combination with the gas should make for a formidable weapon, and if the initial blast or enhanced shockwave power should not kill, the toxic materials inside will. We have found one flaw however; should somepony be using a gas mask or other filtering device, whether it be professional or crude much like a layered scarf, the chemicals will take longer to take effect, or may not even act properly.

Sincerely, B.

I felt horrible. Every last bit of me was screaming out in protest as I had read through the document. Everypony was dead because some ‘peaceful’ one decided to kill us all? I wish I could’ve killed that bitch myself now, if she didn’t make it into a stable and the world she had practically created didn’t kill her first.

Tera peeked her head in, then slowly followed in behind. She could tell something was wrong, but she simply floated up a small object instead. “I finished up that carving, and I figured that you’d want it.”

It was difficult to see through my welling eyes, but she brought it closer. She sat on the bed next to me, showing the little wooden figure that appeared to be me while in my gear. It was slowly rotated and turned in the air, showing the extremely smooth workmareship and fine detail she put in it, each and every button could be pointed out from the rest. I couldn’t help but softly smile at the figure she had made, then she put it with my things, and came back in.

“Looks like whatever in those uhm.. Documents? Yeah, what was in those? I don’t assume it was very.. Very good..”

Instead of saying anything, I just gave her the papers and waited. I watched as she went from content, to concerned, to completely upset. She was tearing up as well, the betrayal that had fallen upon us all was enough to break every single living heart out there, save the raiders that I now knew were that way because they were exposed to the air. But those ones back at Tera’s shop.. Those were just bad ponies.

I wrapped my hooves around Tera, pulling her closely and rubbing her back as she now had her turn of sorrow, my emotions being cut out to stay stronger for her, as she needed all of the help she could get. Her snout rubbed against my chest, causing me a bit of discomfort until she had just gotten herself as close to me as she could. My eyes closed as I laid with her, letting Tera let everything out. I wish that Rose was as raw as this little mare.

§§§

The morning came far too quickly, even if the night before was a bit rough. My eyes opened up to see Tera’s mane, then her back. I wanted to scramble away, but at the same time, I loved every second of it. She reminded me of Rose before she turned into.. Excuse my language, she turned into a total bitch. Tera was warm, soft, she was adorable.. Then she turned and yawned, stretching out her hooves while gazing at me, then blushing. Well, everything did go to hell, so what did vows mean now?

“Oh uhm.. Sorry for getting in bed with you I just was uh.. A little cold out there..” Tera squirmed then rolled off of the bed, groaning as she landed with a thud. I crawled over to the side of the bed, and reached down to pull her back up onto the mattress, softly smiling at her as her entire face was deep red. She squeed, then laid out comfortably.

“You know, I don’t think I really want to do much today. We have a chance to just relax and clean up, though I’m going to take those documents. My team needs to see the truth, and how we were betrayed by those who lived for peace. Having a day of just relaxing is pretty much something I need as well, my hooves are killing me. Oh, and I think there’s still food in the kitchen, so check there first.” I simply smiled at her again, giving her my input. She started to snuggle up against me, seeming to be more lonely than anything.

“Thank you for getting me away from those raiders, Angel.. And uh.. Yeah..” She awkwardly smiled, not being as curled up and tense as usual. I knew that she would be shocked to find out I had a wife, but things weren’t great with Rose. I’m not sure if she was still pushing Med-X, or if we were just falling apart. Either way, I wasn’t about to tell her I had just shared a bed with another mare.

I spent almost the entire day sitting on the sofa, watching through a couple of films that I had found underneath the television set. I didn’t realize how much I had missed something so simple, something that we all just took for granted, but for now.. It was movie time. Tera occasionally looked up to see what I was watching, most of her focus on another carving she had worked on. Many of the films were old war movies, something that I didn’t think a veteran would own. I personally didn’t mind them, though many others would have nightmares from only a few moments of watching.

Between films, I would find myself soaking in the bathtub, another thing that we had all taken for granted. This wasteland seriously sucked, no reliable way to bathe, no power, no real way to breathe outside. Maybe if I had gathered enough material I could find a way to get those invaluable resources back home, or perhaps just move myself here.

After I had bathed myself multiple times and went through a few films, I started to get the working mindset back in. I had to work on my armor, or perhaps scavenge around for something that could potentially be better, Tera would need some gear as well. There was just no way I could get her walking around this place without at least something that could slow, or better yet, stop a bullet or two. Either way, it would need to wait until morning.

“Hey Tera, what do you think about me grabbing some gear for you? Isn’t there an old military shop around here that specializes in equipment, some kind of surplus kind of deal?” She looked over at me and thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. She sat her carving down and started to go through her things until grabbing out a pocket map, the text barely large enough to read.. And my eyes weren’t slouches.

“Yeah, it’s on.. That street.. Named uh.. Something. Only about two kilometers from here, just down the street and to the left. Gear huh, you mean like what, uniform like you have or something? Oh, you mean like actual armor and stuff… right?”

I was glad that she was coming out of her shell, it was almost strange to think just a day ago she was cowering behind a counter. She had moved closer to show me the map, and when she lowered it, her head was now resting on my shoulder. I know it was wrong to be doing this behind Rose’s tail, but at the same time, Rose just wasn’t herself anymore. Tera was now the one that I had started to really enjoy spending time with, and that was something that was rare for ponies I hardly knew. I guess the wasteland changes us all.

Morning came almost too quickly, though it wasn’t bright sun shining through crimson curtains, instead it was merely a change in how bright the clouds were. At least there was enough light, even with all of the snow covering the ground. We had fallen asleep on the sofa, Tera still resting with her head on my shoulder, my hoof wrapped up around her. I couldn’t help but smile as I slowly rubbed her back, watching as her eyes slowly opened, then shut as she yawned.

“Morning, sleepyhead. I’m going to throw something together for breakfast before I get up and head out, alright? I’ll need to measure you as well.” All I got in response was a nod, then a nuzzle against my shoulder. I couldn’t help but smile, then slowly got up to my hooves as I walked into the stranger’s kitchen. It was neat, but not as clean as I imagined it would have been. The style was plain, but I couldn’t imagine a basic soldier wanting too much more. The refrigerator was full of beer, and the food storage closet was filled with MRE packs. Well, I can’t say I was upset.

“Hey Tera, looks like you’re going to get to try some of my MRE modifications. I can take even the most flavorless and make it delicious, I promise. That and this builds up our food supplies again.” I was almost jumping to see the most simple, and sometimes even bad meals. There was just something about them that brought memories of a different time, and when I would add some things or mix something here and there to make everyone’s meal better. She had a rather curious expression across her face.

I dug through box after box filled up with tan pouches, grabbing out some of the best that I had tasted before. The rest I simply set near our things, smiling as I saw the high stack of supplies. Next, I tore open the two pouches I had selected, and dumped out their contents. Each had a tin of candied apple chunks, a round tin of chocolate, two different types of vegetable cakes, and crackers. I moved aside the meal components, and stood up the cans of water that it also held, as well as the drink flavoring packets and other basics they had. These were better than the basics, being meant more for scout and forward teams to have all of the essentials that they would need.

I grabbed the small heaters inside to warm the meal, then I put the vegetables cakes in, taking the time to open the apple chunks and mix the two portions together. Next went in the crackers, making for a cover across the top of the apples as I laid them out, making for like a crust. Tera curiously watched as I then opened each can of water, and dumped in the drink mix for extra flavoring. When the vegetable cakes were done, I pulled them out and set them on top of the crackers before spreading them out, layering everything up. I took the added basics, the salt and pepper packets, then the toilet paper and gum then just tossed them onto the piles of our things.

There were only a couple of plates in the cabinets I had looked through, showing that this soldier was living here alone. At least I wouldn’t worry about washing the dishes. I laid out half on one plate, and half on the other before using my wings to carry them, the cans of water intertwined in my feathers as well. Tera looked at the odd pile of food I had given her, and even went as far as to smell the drink. I shot her a silly look, then stuck the plastic utensil pack on the side of her plate.

“Eat up, Tera. I promise this one is a good.” She smiled and rolled her eyes, then took a fork with her telekinesis, and took a bite. She seemed impressed with the mixture, giving nods and sounds of approval. “I told you I could make these good.”

I followed the path that we had discussed that morning, watching for the fallen street signs that would lead my way. Many of them were completely buried in piles of rubble, others were coated in snow. Either way, the amount of ghouls here was alarming. I had to be careful now, even more so than usual as I recalled a small detail with this heart that meant something now. “Avoid radiation in medium and high doses.” Great, I guess I get to avoid whatever caused this. I just needed to know what it was.

My body was low to the ground as always as I quickly made my way past the hordes of glowing freaks, using every shadow and piece of fallen concrete to my advantage. They didn’t seem to notice me, though I was afraid at times as they would look my direction. I guess their sight had suffered from rotting away, or perhaps it was their brain entirely. Either way, I wasn’t about to dance with them. Before I got too deep into the city, I looked back at the brick buildings, then forward at the much taller skyscrapers that were built up here.

I knew I was getting closer, looking to my left with each street I had passed, some being completely blocked off by rubble, others blocked by the ghouls. Thankfully, I could see my destination, unobscured by these obstacles. Down the street I went, observing the varying shops that lined this street, each seeming to have been burnt from the inside out, or were vandalized for no good reason. I started thinking to myself as I got closer, seeing the sign up above the seemingly intact shop. “The neurotoxin will make you think irrationally.” That explained it.

My rifle was up and ready to go as I opened the door, scanning the large room and the lines of shelves and clothing racks that covered the filthy tile flooring. Not a single light was on, something that I knew to look for now. I kept my rifle up as I searched the entire building, top to bottom, through every single aisle of shelving to be certain I could relax. Once I knew that I was alone, I pushed a large box of dummy grenades in front of the door, and turned on the lights. Strips of light hanging came from the ceiling, and lit up the room. Propaganda posters were all over the painted walls, making me sick to a degree. Our entire land was filled with soldiers; and I personally didn’t care for all these heroic posters. Sure we had the best soldiers that anypony had to offer, but it had become a plague.

I slung the gun over my back once more, my eyes now scanning the items inside, sometimes even going big as I saw something that I couldn’t live without. Where some mares prefered diamonds and chocolates, I preferred weaponry and other equipment. The uniforms alone were enough to make me drool, the different camouflage and patterns, the jackets and pants that were everywhere. Today was a shopping trip, and I was going to take advantage of it. My focus was still on finding Tera something to cover herself with, but right now was me time.

My gear was neatly set on the glass counter that held knives and replica grenades, hooves digging through the hanging clothing. Then, I had seen my favorite camouflage style and pattern. Urban camo in the common blotchy style, something that would actually prove to be quite useful in my current environment. I started to try on the pants, and then the jacket, followed by a rain poncho that I threw over it. A perfect and comfortable fit, and in the complete set I was used to, plus no holes and tears!

I grabbed new bags and pouches to hold my ammo, all being a clean, dark gray and black. All of my items were transferred from my previous bags to my new ones, the weight even feeling better distributed across my smaller frame. Next up were the gas masks, and plenty of new filters for them. I grabbed three masks, one for myself, another for Tera, and a third for Stone. I went as far as to grab another bag for gas mask supplies, just to stuff the two new ones in with their filters, the other new one fitting snugly on my face. Then, I saw the helmets. I knew that I could fit the hood of this rain poncho over one, and it would offer more protection. As I turned into the aisle that held all of the helmets, I came across the flak jackets. First, I grabbed one of the rounded helmets that had a visor, as well as steel that went down to cover the back of my head. Simple, gray, and it felt like it could take a bullet.

The combat armor I had would be perfect for Tera, and these jackets would fit snugly over me. I looked over each of them, focusing on the smaller black ones until I had came across one that not only looked clean and fit well, but didn’t feel as though it weighed as much as a house. Now I was comfortable, geared up and feeling more fresh than I had for a while now, my goals now shifting to finding Tera something to wear, and my previous armor would suit her well. I sat and thought about what kind of colors she would wear, thinking of the way she looked, and how her measurements were slightly closer to average than mine. I just grabbed some black fatigues, then called it good. As much as I would have liked to stay here for the entire day, I already blew two hours just dancing around like a filly for myself. Time to get back to Tera, but not until I got a gift for Stone.

I opened the door to see Tera carving through more wood, her eyes going wide for a moment until she came jumping over, and almost knocking me over as she jumping up against me. “Angel Angel Angel! Yay you’re back oh my gosh I’m so glad to see you back here!”

Who gave this mare coffee?

I lifted her up, then sat her back down on the sofa before starting to hand over the things I had gotten for her, curious to see how it would fit her. She danced around while putting on the clothing, everything seeming to fit rather well, except for the flank which seemed a little tight. I certainly didn’t mind. She started to gaze over the things I had brought back, observing the colors I wore. They were black, dark gray, and more mild gray with some splotches of white. While she was examining my new set up, I gave her the armor I had worn before I grabbed this new flak jacket, as well as the bags I previously wore. She finally looked like somepony that could survive out here, even if she could barely hold up a pistol in reality.

My next destination was Stone, my hoof knocking on his door before he opened it up. He seemed rather impressed with the new gear I had grabbed, knocking on the thick weaved jacket I wore.

“Wow Angel, you look like you’re ready to take on the world. What’s up?” I could see the rifle taken apart on his table once again, a tan pouch sitting next to it. He was eating lunch next to the steel bits, something that made me both happy, and sad for him.

“Well, I’ve gotten Tera geared up as well as myself, and we’re ready to start moving. I want to do a final scan of this area to see if we can find any survivors that aren’t trying to kill us, then we can make it back to The Capital. I’ve brought you a gas mask as well as a gift, I’d like for you to come with us.” I gave him the mask with a few filters, and then a box of things I had grabbed for him. He started to reach into the box, and grabbed out a new black uniform, a set of his own black armor, and then a rain poncho to throw over the top of it all. He started to put everything on, seeming comfortable in the new outfit. Now he looked like us.

He gave a nod, and then told me he would be over in a few moments. The door shut, and I went back over to the room we had taken up, going inside to tell Tera. We had both gathered up everything we could, the trip to the surplus shop leaving my back rather sore, but we had to get this done. I counted up our food rations, as well as water and medical supplies. Tera was prepared now as well, and Stone, true to his word, came knocking. The door opened up, and we were all covered in saddlebags and weapons, save Tera who only had her pistol stuck to her side.

We were standing in perfect formation, weapons at the ready as we started to make our way down main street, dropping the ghouls we came across as opposed to hiding from them. Tera shyly fired a round or two to every twenty that I had fired, and every fifty that Stone fired. I don’t think we even fired more than ten rounds each anyway. Stone scanned the left, Tera the right, and I kept my eyes straight forward. My mind had gone to how my E.F.S. jammer was stuck in my old cloak, something I would need to address when I got home. Funny how you think of things just by saying something as simple as “Eyes forward.”

The dark buildings didn’t seem to change much at all, save a few which had fires blazing inside of them now. The air was full of snow and smoke, and the occasional scent of blood would cut through my filter. It must’ve been a lot just to make such a strong smell. Tera and Stone both smelt it as well, seeming far more bothered by it than I had been. We were curious, but not curious enough to go and hunt it down. Stone softly spoke through the mask, his breath steaming more than usual through the bottom of the mask. “There’s a few shelters around her, we should check them out.”

We followed Stone as he navigated us through the crumbling streets and snow, signaling to me whenever we had ghouls we needed to take care of. I was doubtful we would find anypony at this rate, there were so many ghouls that we needed to take care of, this was more of a city of dead. I watched as flames burst from hotel windows as we had passed one of the larger establishments, watching as it melted the snow sitting on the window seals. Tera was extremely frightened by it all, staying closely beside me as I followed behind Stone. Here we were, walking through a mass graveyard. I could almost hear their voices.

Stone stopped as we reached a larger building, being three stories up and decently wide. The beige paint had turned dull white from the chemicals in the air, and the lack of maintenance. Glass doors were completely shattered out, not to mention the windows that had all been shot or knocked out. Near the door was a little black and yellow sign, simply reading as “Fallout Shelter.” This was the place he was talking about, and in the doors we went.

A modern looking steel desk sat there to greet us, destroyed terminals sitting across it. There was only two doors, one to the left being the restroom, and the one to the right as the shelter. Stone nodded to me, and I had taken point with my rifle stuck out before more. Tera was in the middle to be sure she wouldn’t get lost, and Stone watched our rear. I went down the stairs, the tight hallways holding caged lights. This was just like the hospital all over again, but without a gunslinger following behind me.

I quickly turned the corner at the bottom of the hallway, scanning the room that was holding a single, heavy steel door. This was the place, seeming to be a cheap knock-off of one of the Stables that were constantly advertised. This would certainly be easier to get into, as long as the phrases that Stable-Tech spit out in their ads were correct. Tera seemed fascinated, and Stone started to twist the large bulkhead style door open. Then I saw the blood coming from beneath the door.

My rifle was high and at the ready, Stone finally getting a glimpse at the crimson puddle that was seeping from beneath the door that was meant to be airtight. This must’ve been where the smell was coming from, as when the door opened, I could smell death. A pile of pony corpses was right up against an alcove that lead into the structure, each being soaked in the bloody mess. Tera fell backwards, completely fainted out as she saw the scene. I just gave Stone a nod to stay back with the mare, and I went forward, feeling the sticky blood pull at the bottom of my boots.

The caged lights that lined the dark hallway full of lockers and blood were flickering, only making this entire mess more erie. I knew what I was dealing with, and how to deal with them, but this was much more gruesome than what I had seen before. The hallway lead out into a larger, main room with some cheap furniture and television sets sitting on ugly rugs, everything being darker and dirtier than what they would’ve been before, but the blood stains only made it look worse. I then heard voices echoing from the surrounding rooms, their voices gruff and disgusting in language use, both mare and stallions speaking out.

I took a slow breath, and focused heavily to listen to everything I could, staying completely still while my ears moved from the top of the helmet. Each hoofstep gave me more intelligence, leading me to an exact number of raiders inside. Six of them were inside, each seeming to be quite content with what they had done. The smell of blood was even more intense in here, each room was completely rank, and every single step I heard was almost squishy. They were all stepping in blood.

My eyes started to move now, counting out four doors, and four rooms. Each would have at least one, and I would have to move quickly, and rapidly. The doors appeared to be made of wood, and not very thick wood either. Out came a grenade, and I yanked the pin from it before tossing it into the middle of the room, letting the sofa shield me. My hooves reached under my hood, and shielded my ears with my wings holding up my rifle. The explosion shook the room, and blasted down each of the doors, just as I had hoped. My rifle was back into position, ready to take out the raiders as I could now see them.

They all shared a similar look of “Oh shit” on their faces, just until I put a bullet into their chests. One, two, three, four. Two left. I could hear the return fire now, bullet shredding what was left of the sofa, and the other furniture that filled up the room before me. I hit the ground, staying low as they emptied their weapons, leaving them completely open to attack. I sprung up from the back of the torn sofa, then charged them both, wings extended outward. A mare and stallion stood there, submachine guns in their mouths. The mare dove, and the stallion lost his head in a single, swift strike.

The earth mare scrambled to shove another magazine into her weapon, but with little success. I pinned her up against the bloody wall, and let my wings press up against her throat. I couldn’t help but question why they had done this, poison filling my voice as I spoke to the mare.
“Why did you do this? You killed all of those innocent ponies, and for what? A little sport? Couldn’t share the space with them?” Her eyes went wide as she stared right at my bloody mask, her words full of fear as she answered.

“W-what do you mean? Those bodies out front those.. Those were from ponies that tried to attack us!” I took a look around at the new corpses, noticing the lack of filth and blood on them, something that raiders always seemed to be caked in. I couldn’t help but question why their voices were so rough, and her answer came rather quickly. “We were all coughing so much, I was lucky enough to not get the bloody cough when the bomb went off.. We were down here when they went off, but some of the air got in and and..” I slid my razor-edged wings across her throat, watching her squirm for a moment before falling to the floor, blood spewing from her neck. I left the scene rather quickly to see Tera sitting up, and Stone asking about what happened.

“So, how’d it go? Sounds like a real firefight in there, was that a grenade I had heard? You must’ve kicked those raider’s flanks so hard! Haha, so tell me, what happened?”

I just shook my head, and helped Tera to her hooves. He kept pressing, and then I finally gave him the answer he was looking for. “Yeah, there were a bunch of raiders. I killed eight of them, but I had to toss a grenade in so I could break down their wooden doors.” I was lying through my teeth, but I wasn’t going to admit to what I had just done. They couldn’t know. I lead the way out, not letting them see the shame in my form. I kept my head as high as I could, trying to just seem like I was mildly bothered by the blood. They bought it.

The air outside was seeming to be colder than usual, my breath pluming out as I exhaled. Something wasn’t right with this, and Stone seemed just as bothered. Then, we looked to the sky, and saw the clouds churning. A shout came from the distance, a pony clearly seeing the same thing we had.

“Blizzard! Get inside go go!”

Shit. I looked back and knew we couldn’t be living in blood, and that the homes we had stayed in were too far away. I looked at the hotel, seeing the flames burning out the windows. I knew this wasn’t ideal, but I thought the snow would put out any fire. I turned and waved, signaling for the other two to come with me, and into the hotel we went, just to hear the door be sealed up behind us with a thud, snow blocking it all off. I looked around at the windows that were cracking from the weight, knowing we’d need to go a couple of stories up. I looked around quickly, then followed the signs until I galloped up steps to the third floor, panting in my mask as my friends followed behind.

Here we were, stuck inside a hotel until we could find a way out, probably through a window or something. Of course, that would be when the blizzard stopped, and who knows when that would have been. Then I wondered, what were they trying to freeze? The ground grumbled, and we all stood on edge while quickly scanning the hallways. It stopped as soon as it started, and to the windows we went, looking out of the broken glass. All I saw was the black water flooding down the street, knowing exactly what it is.

“Alright. We’re stuck here until the blizzard stops and we find a way out of here to avoid that water. It’ll melt you to the bone just with a single touch.”

They both started jumping and yelling at me, Tera then falling over with a faint. Stone and I lifted her up, and took her to one of the rooms. These were only single bed rooms, but they seemed to be stocked up enough. Television set, bed, a few chairs and restrooms, even heat could be felt coming from the vent. We would need to find a way to keep the outside air from coming in, but that wouldn’t be too hard with some wet towels under the door. We sat Tera down on the black blanket, Stone simply giving a nod before he went to a different room.

I took my mask off first, taking a few deep breaths of the air before going into the restroom and grabbing a towel, soaking it in water from the sink before jamming it under the door. The air seemed to be clean as I didn’t feel any burning or started to think weird, so I took Tera’s mask off too. Off went my rifle, then saddlebags and boots as I sat on the bed near her, slowly stroking her cheek with my hoof.

Sealed away from my friends back home by a massive storm and a flood of tainted water. I guess they would just have to wait for me to return, however how long that would take. Her beautiful eyes started to open, leading to her rubbing the back of her head.

“You fainted again, honey. I’m sorry you hit your head, but there’s a blizzard going on out there. The pegasi are trying to keep the tainted water from washing away the snow to let the toxins back into the air.. At least, that’s why I’d do it. So, we’re going to be here a day or two I think, Stone is fine and our food supplies are just fine, we just need to listen for hoofsteps as there might be more who survived it.”

She shut her eyes again and groaned, but gave a nod. I gave her mane a few gentle strokes, and laid beside her. The bed actually felt quite soft, but I couldn’t help myself when it came to films. My wings went through the drawers of the stand the television sat on, grabbing out different films I had some interest in. The power seemed to still be on as the lights in this room worked, and so did the television. I could just feel myself hopping around as I opened the disk player, and put in a disk, letting it run. I dove back onto the bed and relaxed, digging through my things to grab out an MRE to eat. I wish they had popcorn in them.

Tera opened her eyes to the smell of candied apple chunks being heated up, her magical aura glowing to lift one of her own up, and she started to dig into it. We managed to relax as we watched the film, acting almost as if there wasn’t a complete lockdown of the streets outside, and as if I didn’t just slaughter a shelter full of innocent ponies. In my defence, everything was evident of raiders.
Tera laid her head on my chest while we ate our meals and watched, our legs stretched out as she just enjoyed ourselves, completely ignoring the world outside and around us. I couldn’t help but smile as she was comfortable with being so close to me; I could just feel the affection she gave out, and knew that I wanted to keep her around.

Of course, our moment of peace was interrupted by the smell of smoke. Looks like the snow didn’t put out the fires after all.

Chapter 6: River of Blood

I grabbed Tera and started to throw my gear on as quickly as I could, rushing through every step as I could see Stone knocking our door down. He had smelt it too, and we knew that we had to get out of here before the entire place burnt to the ground. Tera screeched as she fell on her face while starting to throw her gear on, only be to pulled to her hooves by my wings.

“Are you okay? Come on we need to get moving, avoid the river outside and try not to be frozen up out there, go go!” I then threw on my mask and checked Tera for her gear, then myself. I lead the way through the hall, seeing the smoke seeping down from the floors above. Our only option was to dive out of the windows, and hope the snow would stop us before we rolled into the flood. I bucked a window out, then looked out, seeing the pile of snow and feeling the heavy gusts of wind, the snow feeling like razors even through my uniform.

I took a deep breath, then jumped out, aiming for a deep pile of snow that had formed just within minutes. The white, toxic material surrounded all but my head, leaving just enough for me to dig myself out with my wings. Tera, then Stone jumped down next to me, both dropping down into the mound next to me. They then dug themselves out, leaving the three of us being whipped and beat by the snow and wind, doing everything we could to avoid the raging river of black water that tore through the street.

Once again, I was leading us through the complete white out, feeling Tera grab onto my tail to keep herself from getting lost, Stone assumably doing the same thing to Tera. Just the sound alone was enough to deafen me, but not enough to block out the sound of a raging flood next to me. My only guide was the sound of the river, and the way the snow felt under my hooves. The only thing that stopped me from moving forward was running into another pony, one that fell over, but I could hear her shriek through some type of mask. There was no time to stop and ask questions, so instead, I just grabbed her hoof, and wrapped a wing around her. I could tell somepony else had grabbed onto our train as well, just until I ran face-first into a door.

I simply kicked the door open, and fell inside with five other ponies behind me. The door was promptly shut behind us, and on went the lights. My eyes wandered around the shelter, seeing cheesily painted walls and tables surrounding us, as well as a white counter in the front of the area. This was a quick in and out style of restaurant, the red and white tile scheme proving this even further. Next, my attention went to the new ponies we had picked up, three more to be exact. Tera and Stone moved over to me, wiping the snow off of their masks while staring at the ponies we had picked up, their clothing seeming to be basic winter clothing with hazmat masks on. I just gave Stone and Tera a simple order, board up the windows with the tables and make sure it was structurally sound, knowing we would be here a while.

I pointed my rifle at the three others, but then slowly put it back over my shoulder once I identified them. A stallion, a mare, and then a young colt. This was a family.

“My name is Angel, that’s Stone and Tera. Who are you?” I sounded as neutral as I could, wondering how they could get such masks. The stallion stood up in front of his family, and gave me a response. His voice was deeper than most, and he was clearly still rather youthful for having a family.

“I’m Cloud. My wife is Silver, and my son is Green. We had to move when our house was almost completely blown over, if we would’ve stayed in our cellar we’d all be frozen to death. Buck are we lucky to have come across you..”

I just nodded to him as the mare was tending to the colt, comforting him while Stone and Tera finished boarding up the windows, then nodded to me as everything seemed to pass. I took off my mask, and took a breath. The air feeling crisp, yet cold in my lungs. Stone and Tera followed suit, then the family we had rescued. Cloud had a short white and blue mane, his yellow coat showing through. Silver was a deeper gray with a stunning platinum mane, the curls in it enough to make a mare jealous, and their colt seemed to be in good health. His coat was a mild green, and his mane green and short. Looked like a normal family to me.

They had small saddlebags full of items, the colt’s being mostly toys and blankets while his parents carried around the food and water, though their son did appeared to be older in age. Tera was shy from the new family, not really making eye contact to the family. I then took a look at their eyes, Cloud having gray eyes, Silver with blue, and Green had golden eyes. All three of them had horns sticking from their head, something that proved to be quite useful out here.

I took a deep breath and sat my things down on one of the remaining tables, then sat on one of the chairs. Tera stayed close to me while Stone started to speak to the family, explaining the situation of things and how we might be here a while. The walls didn’t seem to be vandalized, and the power still worked, so I assumed there would still be some food here. Instead of just sitting around after thinking such a thing, I made my way to the kitchen, searching through the storage that was hugging the edges of the stainless items.

The freezer still had bread and other vegetables in it, the walk in refrigerator seeming to still have plenty of good apples in it, both whole and chopped, some even turned into applesauce. This was comforting, even more so now seeing the sign to the restrooms was still hanging up, now all we had to do was figure out sleeping arrangements. As harmless as this family seemed, I wanted to stay away from them at night, as I just didn’t know enough about them. Something didn’t seem right though, a normal family out here in the wasteland? We’ll see.

Tera seemed to get along just fine with them, even if she was extremely shy at first. Stone was just as cautious as I was, the both of us generally sticking to the back of the little cafe. Our food stocks here seemed to be okay, if we rationed everything out we could stay in here for about a week without eating into our previous food stores, something we weren’t so sure about saying anything about. Water was a different story, as we had multiple sinks that seemed to still spit out clean water whenever the valves were turned. I had my tent and emergency blankets that I had grabbed from the initial supply cache we were given, and if I put them together right, I could make a decent sized tent. Of course, I could make a much larger one to fit us all, but I wasn’t about to start tearing apart cloth and sharing a tent with strangers.

Stone would keep watch through the large break in the wall that gave this place an open kitchen, seeming to just be casually watching the snow pile up against the door, and occasionally Tera as she would play around with their foal, rolling around his toy train cars on the floor. It was adorable, but I wasn’t so approving. Just more of a reason for me to get this tent built up faster, and to get her in the back with us. Once I threw together a rather neat mess of rope and canvas as well as reflective cloth, I waved for Tera to come back and join us. I had the dark canvas tent facing outwards to block any view from those out in the dining room to take a look in, and the reflective facing downward into the interior to keep us warm through the nights.

“What is it Angel? I was having fun with their son, he’s such a cute foal.” She seemed confused, but then her eyes shrunk down once I had told her there was something extremely off with this family. My response was in whisper, with some things spoke out at normal volume to keep any suspicions from arising.

“Look, Tera, there’s something wrong with that family. Something isn’t right, okay? I just don’t trust them at all, and I know when to trust somepony. You have to remember trusting the wrong pony leads to death, especially in my cases before. Here I am, still alive.” Stone simply nodded at her as I explained my thoughts, and then she sat, but then nodded back to me.

“You’re right, there is something that.. I’m not sure. I just think foals are so cute and.. And.. ever since I lost mine I uh.. Uhm..” A tear started to well in her eye, and my wings wrapped closely around her as I pulled her under my makeshift tent, carefully stroking her back as she cried into my shoulder. Stone simply shot me an understanding gaze, then sat at the entrance of the tent. I carefully rolled out a few sheets of cloth I had into bedrolls, laying beside her as she had a complete meltdown. I had no clue she was a mother once, I was even more confused considering she didn’t seem straight, especially with all things considered. Either way, I was comforting her as we were being snowed in.

Morning came rather soon, catching me off guard as I had opened my eyes to the dusty clock hanging up in the rear of the cafe. Tera’s mane was a complete mess, sprawled out across our bags that were makeshift pillows. Stone was at our hind hooves, lying sideways at the entrance of our tent with one eye open, keeping watch as we slept. He alternated eyes, resting each side of his brain separately. I just gave him a little shove with my hind hoof, watching him jump up for a moment, but then as both of his eyes shut when he saw I was awake. I simply crawled away from Tera, and over the now snoring Stone to keep watch. The family out in the dining room was bundled up together, seeming stacked up on top of each other with their thick, winter gear. Many ponies could get away with a scarf and hat, but on our side of the mountains, you needed the extra warmth. The entire door was covered in snow, practically sealing us inside. Now I had to start planning for a way out, one that didn’t involve being crushed from the weight or suffocated for that matter.

Everything felt so dull, and dark, especially cold. I knew that we couldn’t start up a fire because the smoke would suffocate us all, but I wasn’t certain if this place had an electric heater. So, I started to look around for a dial to see if we had such a luxury, and with some luck that I clearly didn’t have, I came across the little adjustment dial. I let a sigh of relief as I let my cold wings turn the dial, then I let a bigger and deeper sigh of happiness as I felt the warmth blow against my thick, canvas and cloth uniform.

Down I went, sitting in front of the small vent before me to take in all of the warm air. I felt like a filly again as I nearly rolled around in front of it, then I thought about how this was something we didn’t even need to think about before the bombs. I could just feel eyes prying at me now, their son, Green, had woken up and was watching me. Once again, I had that strange feeling in my gut, and shivers down my spine. He simply grinned, and stretched out a pair of membranous wings. I was right, this was a family of bat hybrids, something that always gave us troubles before the bombs, and apparently after now as well.

I simply stood and stretched out my own wings, in which he tucked his away and crawled behind his parents. There was no chance at all I was going to let this by, as only a select few bat ponies were allowed in our cities. We had to screen and test them to be certain their more primal instincts were in check, as many were known to attack those who wandered out of the city limits too far. Since things had changed, I could’ve just shot them all and stretched his wings for the others to see, but I knew Tera wouldn’t be appreciative of that. All I could do was tell them about it when they woke.

I stood guard near the entrance of the kitchen, feeling the heat blowing into our area as well, but not nearly as well as it was out there. Stone’s snoring quieted down, and Tera wiggled around on our makeshift bedding. They both felt it, and seemed to be more comfortable with their rest. So, I grabbed my rifle and leaned it up against the counter that was right next to the entrance. My eyes stayed locked on the pony pile, watching for any subtle move that would give me sign to some kind of attack.

Perhaps I was just paranoid, or maybe even just a little too on edge, but I wasn’t about to risk anything after seeing what I had. It felt like hours before Stone had gotten up, and gently tapped his hoof down next to me. I turned my head to him, and spoke in whisper.

“Their son is a bat pony. Or, a bat unicorn. If all three of them are, we need to do something, and now. Come with me, I’m going to look for wings.” I started stepping forward before he could even respond, but I could hear his damped steps behind me. He couldn’t keep the pace and remain quiet, but it was better to have him watching my back, even if he was falling behind. I looked over my shoulder to see him giving me a nod, and I carefully went to work to pull aside their winter bardings.

Underneath the thick winter jackets and scarves were indeed, sets of wings. I just turned and shot Stone a glare, one filled with both anger and despair. We were trapped in a building with bat unicorns, a whole family of them. I jumped back and carefully hopped until I reached our tent, and grabbed my rifle, loading it up before I stepped back into the main room. Then, I yelled out with my barrel aimed at their heads.

“All of you, get up right fucking now! Let’s go get up!” I could just see the fear in the their eyes as they scrambled to their hooves, Tera also jumping up and starting to shriek. “So, all of you are bats? That really would’ve been good to know a while ago, especially considering your kind has been giving us troubles for awhile now. Now I understand that you’re a happy little family, but I’m not going to let you live. Close your eyes and count, bats.”

Cloud jumped in front of them, his wings stretching out as he was standing before his family. I could just hear Tera crying out behind me, Stone was being.. Well, a stone. Then, Tera started to shout out to me. “Angel don’t do it! Please please don’t.. Don’t kill them! What did they ever do to you?”

I didn’t even move as I gave her my answer, my rifle pointed right at Cloud’s heart. “I suppose you haven’t been to the capital for a while. There were some serious issues of bat ponies coming from the forest and terrorising our citizens. For a while many of the recruits for the military would be posted in the city just to keep watch for bats until we needed more reinforcements out in the field. The amount of assaults and rapes reported, and more than likely otherwise, were becoming far too high for anypony’s comfort. The most crime we had before were things like some foal throwing a paper pegasus into somepony’s soup. Since there aren’t laws anymore, and I don’t need to worry about rules of engagement..”

Tera went silent, and the family cried out as I shot cloud in the heart. He fell over, his legs twitching and his breathing becoming dry and stale, until I heard a rattle coming from his muzzle. The blood started to pour out of his muzzle, his wife holding their child behind her as she now stood up in front of me. Tears were pouring down her cheeks, before she had fallen next to her stallion. All that was left was their child, who then also fell over. I lowered my rifle down, and slung it over my shoulder. Stone simply nodded to me, and Tera was just staring at me. I slowly walked up to her, then wrapped my hooves around her.

“I’m sorry Tera, but bats like them killed my sister. Back before I was noticed by Jacks, my squad leader. I was at a rifle competition and.. And I caught his eye. I signed up as quickly as I could knowing that some of the soldiers were dropping these bats. Her name was Moonlight, and.. And they murdered her. I pictured the faces of bats on the targets as I shot them. I didn’t miss.”

She had seemed to quiet down, and Stone simply looked over at me with sorrow in his eyes. I knew that he wouldn’t show it normally, but this was different. I was already numb to it all, and didn’t even feel the urge to cry. There was nothing I could do then, but now, I could do whatever I wanted. Right now, I wanted to be rid of the bodies.

“Stone, come help me carry the bodies to one of the restrooms. Tera, please look for some towels or something my dear, there’s a lot of blood we need to get up.”

Tera was still shaky when we returned, still wiping off the blood from our clothing. She just stared at me, demanding an explanation as to why I just gunned down a family. I sat near her, then sat a hoof on her shoulder as I spoke in a somber, soft voice.

“Tera, sweetheart. My sister she.. I was seventeen. She had recently gone into a really nice university, going onward to become an artist. She was caring and loving and.. She was beautiful. Her coat was the softest white you would ever see, and her purple eyes were to die for. Then we started to argue about a couple of things and.. She didn’t want to speak to me anymore. She said things, I said things.. We even got violent at times. So, we just went different ways and I started to do competition shooting. A year later and I actually got my way up to the finals and.. Well. My mother called before I went out to the shooting area. She told me that.. That..”

I felt myself choke and lower my head, giving a sniffle as Tera wrapped herself around me. She sighed but stayed close, trying to quiet me, but to no avail as I forced myself to continue.

“She was found dead and there were signs of.. Of sexual abuse. They had caught the bat bastard as he was walking away from the scene. Couple of soldiers walking home from the bar. I went out and shot my heart out that day, hitting every single target as fast as I could, and I didn’t miss a single shot. That’s when Jacks came forth and started to speak to me. He was impressed in my shooting ability, and from there.. I became a soldier. I felt the need to help those in the way I had been helped, even if it was just justice, and not prevention.”

Tera had started to cry again, and Stone even lowered his head down. I knew that what I did wasn’t justified, but at least my friends understood. I felt like I was starting to slip with all of my recent choices. Slaughtering an entire group of innocent ponies, leading my friends into a burning hotel, then killing a family just because they were bat ponies. The wasteland was starting to change me, and I knew that. All I could do at this point was try to keep my head, and not bring any harm to my new friends or my squad back home. I wish I could see them again soon.

“I just want to get out of here and get back home. Hopefully the blizzard wouldn’t have hit there, and maybe the blackwater hasn’t taken over everything. That’s a horrifying thought..” Tera slowly pulled away and sat next to me, Stone simply started to look around for food. I didn’t care for what he found, being little trays of extremely processed and frozen foods that looked close to spoiling. He didn’t seem to worry much as he started to heat everything up, but the smell.. Oof. I’ve eaten some questionable things in ration cans, but that just didn’t seem right. I prefered the rations that I had stored up in my pack, and split some of the food with Tera who didn’t seem to eat much.

Everything was oddly silent, the only noise was the occasional buzzing of the food storage areas that came and died out in only a few seconds. The lights were dull and didn’t seem to give us any hope as we could just see the mountain of snow piled against the door. So, I decided to take a look at the door to see if there actually was any way out of here, instead of hopelessly sitting around. What I found was a crack in the glass, only a mere hairline crack that ran the length of the door.

“Tera, Stone, I need you two to start looking around at the windows, see if you can still hear the wind or not. I think we can get out of here.” They slowly got up and rolled their eyes, but walked around to each of the windows seeming not really to care as much as I did. My hoof trailed up the crack, watching as it grew in size just as I put pressure on the glass. I wanted out of here, and if we could leave and head back home, I would be happy.

I heard back from Stone first, followed by the soft voice of Tera. “I’m not hearing anything out there. Sounds like.. Is that a river?” Then Tera gave her peace. “Yeah that sounds like a river. Here though, the closest river is still a distance away?” I knew that there was indeed a river, but it wasn’t normal water. So, I let them know exactly what it was. “That’s blackwater. Tainted, so much so it will melt your flesh just to the touch. Pack up, let’s get out of here.”

They both seemed surprised, yet interested in going with me. I didn’t waste any time packing up my makeshift tent, putting everything neatly back into my packs before slinging my rifle over my shoulder, my mask going right up where it belonged. My friends followed suit, packing up and putting on their gear, followed by their masks to finish it up. I looked back at both of them, then turned and gave the glass door a buck. The glass shattered, and dumped the mountain of snow that was outside, inside and all over the bloodstains on the floor. I felt relieved to see the crimson stains disappear.

Forward I went, climbing up the slope until I stood tall on the mound that once held us in, the blizzard had come to a stop, but there was now a roaring river of blackwater that melted through the snow. I knew that we had to avoid it with every last step, and I was going to make damn sure they wouldn’t fall in. I wouldn’t fail again. “Come on out. Follow me, and avoid the river. Why is everything so dark?” I looked up at the sky to see just how dark it was, a storm brewing from above. “We need to move quickly. I fear they’re going to do this again.”

Tera and Stone crawled up the slope, and stood beside me. I looked to be sure that both of them had solid ground under them before I took a look around, finally picking a direction and moving that way. Everything felt even more hopeless as we were now higher up off of the street, unable to see some buildings entirely, and many of the doors were also sealed. I couldn’t help but wonder who else could be sealed up inside buildings like we were, just hoping for a way out before they would starve to death.

Every step sent chills down my spine as I could just feel how slick this much thicker, denser snow was just as slick as ice. This was meant to freeze out that river, but had failed. I could only imagine what the pegasi above would do next, and I knew I wasn’t trying to stick around to find out. My wings soon stretched out before me, tapping on every surface before me as I stepped down on it, being sure I wouldn’t slip into certain death. Of course, that was before I saw a bullet hit the snow before me, and sent me diving backwards with my friends.

“Dammit! Looks like we aren’t the only ones that tried to get out. Stone, I want you to suppress that shooter as I peek, alright? Tera, you keep your head down.” Stone gave me a nod as I lifted up, my rifle in position as he quickly followed my move, our sights locking onto the figures down the street. They were covered in thick armor, headlamps shining directly at us. Steel Rangers, the ones that I once thought to be the heavy hitters of our forces, ones we would work with. Now they were just typical defaulted raiders.

“Aim for their eyes.” I muttered to Stone before adjusting my aim, and pulling back on the trigger. My rifle roared as I watched the ranger on the right fall down to the snow, going completely still as Stone started to open fire. He let round after round out, hitting the muzzle cap, then the ear protectors. The Ranger stepped out of the way before letting a lightshow of lasers out of the weapons that were attached to their side, melting right through the snow, and my hoof hold. Tera scurried away back the way we came, hiding behind the corner of the large building we just passed. Stone was holding onto the melting snow for dear life, making his way over to the building Tera took refuge behind. I, on the other hoof, was not nearly as fortunate.

I could just feel the bare surface beneath me, the lack of snow and the amount of chills I felt didn’t seem as though they could go together, until I could hear, and feel the black water completely cover over me. In just an instant everything was completely black, and I could just feel myself being whisked away in this deadly river. Everything was silent, and I couldn’t feel anymore. I knew this was it, and I was gone. There was nothingness, until I could hear the Princesses speaking to me from over my shoulder.

“You aren’t making this easy for us, Angel. I know that you were caught by surprise, but we can only do this so many times. You see, Angel, both of us have perished, and have been gone for awhile now. It’s merely by the sheer magical ability Alicorns possess that we can still bring you here, to us.” I turned, and let a sigh as they both stood there. Celestia was standing in front, her sister standing beside her. They didn’t seem disappointed, or angry at all, if anything they seemed worried for me.
Luna spoke up this time, being the mother to me she always was. “Angel, we saw what happened in the shelter, and in the cafe. It’s one thing to have a misunderstanding, another to go and kill the only survivor just because you didn’t want your friends to find out. The family in the cafe though.. Angel, I’m afraid for you. I know what happened to your sister, and yes, I did always try to keep my Royal Guard away when we spoke, but there was no need for such a thing to have happened. Daugh-” She was cut out by a different voice, one I had never heard before. It was soft at first, but then rose as I watched the Princesses practically fade out into the darkness around me. It sounded dark in nature, seeming to echo on its own with every single word. I thought it was my own thoughts because it sounded like me when I was angry, but the echo was different.

I could just hear it scoffing in my ear. “Oh Angel, poor little Angel. Taking a bath in the taint. Completely ruining yourself in a single motion, oh and the best part.. The best part is that you can never truly get away from it. Or me now, for that matter.” I was swatting at my head to get whatever was making the cruel statements away, but it simply got louder, and louder. “Oh are you really trying to do that? How pathetic. You won’t ever be rid of me Angel, I’m in your head now.”

Celestia was pointing her horn at me, attempting to cast a spell while her sister went teary in the eyes. I could tell I was slipping out of this realm, and away from the ones that cared for me more than any other pony to ever live, or to have lived. I tried to scream out to Luna, the one who mentored me, who was there to train me, and send me off to war. I loved her, and I wasn’t about to just be pulled from her. “Luna! No, no what is this thing! Where am I going, please! Mother where am I going?!” I could just feel the frozen air blowing against me as my eyes opened, and I could see this dreaded wasteland once again.

My wings and hooves moved as quickly as they could to tear the current filter I had plugged in out, and to screw a fresh one in. I took a deep breath, and stood to my hooves, wobbling as I could just feel the freezing air blow against my soaked clothing. My eyes quickly moved around, trying to figure out just where I was. Through my right eye, I saw dead, broken trees surrounding me, and through my left.. Nothing. I could only see black through my left eye, but I couldn’t feel any blood.. Or anything other than the cold, for that matter. My eye kept spinning around, until my mind finally processed everything. I was in the middle of the southern forests, far away from my friends. Perfect.

The only thing I knew for sure was that the black river that had brought me here was still roaring near me, this merely being the point that it had chosen to let me go. My spirits dropped to nothing almost instantly, as I was now stuck in the middle of a frozen forest, soaking wet, and blind in my left eye. My mind finally started to reboot itself it seemed, my thoughts now going right to surviving. I made my way underneath a tree, and started to sort through my pack that held my survival items. The first thing that came out was my reflective blanket, the item wrapping up around me as I looked out into the distance, seeing the river that so highly contrasted against the white snow, and the dead, blackened trees that were cracking and dry, even with all of this toxic snow to drink from.

My eyes started to feel extremely heavy as I just sat there, under this dead tree with a blanket wrapped up around me. I was exhausted, and just needed to rest. Everything was cold, wet, dead.. And now I was going to adorn this dead tree with my corpse. For the first time in years, I felt tears rolling down my cheeks. They pooled in the bottom of my wet mask. I closed my eyes, and heard as the world went silent, and the feeling of the cold went away.

§§§

“Don’t be too shy now, Angel. You have to remember that this is for the both of us now.” I felt the brush begin to run down my mane, and eventually my wings as well as it was held up by a plume of blue aura. Princess Luna sat behind me, checking every last hair in my mane it seemed, and every last feather on my back as well. She carefully folded them back up, and sat them neatly against my clean uniform, not wanting to ruin her hard work. I could already hear the royal horns blaring just outside, just through the set of deep red curtains. My stomach turned and twisted as I sat there, taking a few breaths as I cycled through my notes.

“All that you need to remember is that we’re not going to give up, and we will fight to the very last soldier. Because together-” I chimed my own voice in with the Princess’ to match our lines, being certain that I had it right. “-We are the strongest. Together we are the smartest, fastest, and best that this great land has ever seen., and because of this, we will never surrender! We will be victorious!”

I stood up and smiled, turning around to see her in all of her royal glory. She stood tall, smiling affectionately at me before bowing her head for a brief moment. Her dress was more like a highly decorated uniform, one that only the highest ranking of officers would wear. Medals hung from the chest, long strands of braided and knotted ropes and even decorative shoulder pads covered her black clothing. All I could do was return the nod, and I began to walk out to the curtains, taking a final breath, and then stepping out to see Princess Celestia as she slowly bowed her head, using her wings to show the way to the podium.

The beautifully finished white and gold accents around the deep, redwood stage. Crimson curtains hung to my sides as well as behind me, only to be completely outshone by our flags and war banners that lined the entire building. All I could see at first was the blinding light as I looked outward at first, until the massive lines of red chairs and all of the ponies that filled them, not a single seat seeming empty. The very front row was filled with my squadmates, Jacks, Candy, Rose, Shadow, and even Vogel sat before me, Rose seeming especially excited for the occasion as I stood before the waves. My eyes scanned the entire area, then gazed back out into the crowds as I could hear the horns coming to a halt. Up to the red wooden podium I went, my muzzle leaning forward to the microphone as I let my voice begin to flood the room, something that I was not used to at all.

“Ponies and Griffins of the lands of Equestria, today I greet you all as a leader, a symbol, a friend. I, like you, am going to deploy to fight in the war that has consumed us all. It was not my mother’s choice, or my idea originally to go through training, and prepare myself to go into combat. It was the loss of my sister that lead me to truly show my rifle skills at the Germaney Rifle Match, and it was there that Jacks, a very brave stallion, came and spoke to me about enlisting for a greater effort. When I told my mother, she was shocked, afraid, and even disapproving of my choice to be consumed by this war, but with time, I convinced her to support me fully. Now, I’m one of the few that simply do not exist in all of our papers, so don’t be telling any striped devils that I’m working out there!”

All I got was a mild laugh from the crowd, some of them seeming more impressed than others to my horrible humor. I knew that I shouldn’t even be doing this, as a single mistake would lead to my team behind hunted relentlessly. They did; however, need to be shown that there were a few of us that had no reason to be out in the field, but I had decided that it was the better choice.

“For this, my friends of Equestria, I salute you all. All that you need to remember is that we will not give up, and we will fight to the very last soldier. Because together, we are the strongest. Together we are the smartest, fastest, and the best that this great land has ever seen, and because of this, we will never surrender! We will be victorious!” I felt myself jumping up as I spoke out my final words, letting out a sigh of relief in myself as I made it through the speech without tripping over my words, or simply fainting on stage. All I could think about was how much we would be hunted, but at the same time, they needed to know that we were not going to give up, no matter the circumstance.

I gave a final bow, and then stretched out my wings as far as they could go before making my way back to the curtains, stepping through them to the squeeing Princess on the other side. She lifted me right off of my hooves in her ball of aura, cradling me up in the air while happily grinning. “Angel, sweetie, that was beautiful. I am afraid that you may in more danger as you go out into the field, so I will erase any record of you, and your friends as I said I would. I don’t think we can do this many more times, if at all. As much as it really boosts morale, it’s dangerous for the both of us.”

My eyes shot open as I heavily drew breaths, only to see the dead trees still surrounding me, and feeling the snow starting to freeze to my blanket, sending shivers through my body. I gazed up at the clouded out sky, and then up the black river I had just been taken here by. There stood the city, farther away than what I could walk without any issues. There was no more hope to have, not a single shred of reason to try to walk through the frozen wasteland. I couldn’t help but begin to cry out, using my energy on something so foolish as to express sorrow this way. That’s it, Angel. You’re not going to make it out of this alive.

I just wanted to close my eyes and feel more of my dreams take over reality, to take me as far away from this as I could go. My eyes shut once more as I just let out a sigh, not caring to even attempt to move again. Of course, that changed once I heard screaming coming from the river. I shot my eyes open once again, only to watch poor souls crawling out of the river, their flesh and bone exposed to the outside air. How did I survive this, and how do I stop these rivers from spreading?

My shaky body slowly stood, the blanket shifting around until my wings stretched out and held it on, as closely and tightly as I could. I felt ill, more so than I ever had before. Everything was cold, then hot, and sometimes it even felt like I was merely floating across the snow. The sound of the river and screams only got louder as I made my way through the maze of dead trees. My eyes went down to the ground as I stepped closer, and closer, everything to the left side seeming more and more distorted as I still couldn’t seem to get any real sight from it. I was terrified.

Through the broken and rough branches I could see a single pony laying on the snowbank, her clothing completely soaked through and blank. She seemed to be completely encased in the dark fluid, at least, what was left of her. Her hind legs were missing almost completely, and her front legs were torn up, burnt, even looking to be chewed off in some places. I didn’t feel any true emotion when I saw her laying there, as just knowing what it was calmed me. Until I could hear whispers in the back of my head, instructing me what I should do.

“Oh Angel, isn’t she just beautiful? Look at her body, poor thing. She must’ve been attacked. She’s suffering, Angel, and you need food, and you need to warm yourself up. It wouldn’t hurt if you used her body to warm yourself. Just crawl inside, cuddle in. Maybe enjoy some of her warm blood.”

I cringed at the things I was being told, but it was right. I was going to freeze out here, especially with the lack of dry space to build a fire. There was nothing else I could do, so I stepped closer to the mare. The liquid that covered her body melted in the snow she laid on, leaving just a small imprint in the ice. My wings stretched out, letting go of the blanket as I slowly pulled her away from the side of the river, watching as it left a black streak, until I pulled her under a large tree. I didn’t want to look at her as she took shallow breaths, just barely being alive. My wings stretched at what seemed to be against my will, the bladed ends slowly dragging up her gut, until she stopped breathing. The crimson liquid flooded out of her.

I set my rifle and bags aside as I shut my right eye, not even having feeling in my left eye anymore. I kept my mask away from the corpse as I slowly pulled out the organs, even going as far to cut into some of her ribs to allow for me to crawl inside. My back pressed against her first, and I almost puked in my mask as I kept sliding back, filling up her corpse with myself to keep warm. Everything felt so wrong, the way I felt her body encasing around my clothing, and fur. I kept my mask out of the flesh, keeping my new filter dry. My clothing was made even more wet, but this time, with the blood of this soul that gave me warmth.

I just wanted to close my eyes as I felt horrible about myself, until I could hear the soft whispers once again. “Take a drink, Angel. Just hold your breath and fill your mouth, then put your mask back on and swallow. You’re hungry, aren’t you? All of your food is sitting in your soaked bags, sitting on the ice. You need to eat now, Angel. Go on.”

I grit my teeth until pushing down on my ears with my hooves, soaking them with even more blood. It was right though, the zippers on my bags were probably already frozen shut. There was no other options. I took a deep breath, and removed the mask from my face. The frozen air hit me hard, feeling as if it froze my tears in place, sending more chills through me. My head turned, and I reached out of my cocoon to grab her hooves, and bit into one of the existing wounds, filling my maw with her hot blood. I quickly pulled my mask back over my face, and started breathing through my snout. I didn’t want to swallow the ichor, but I could hear the whispers once again.

“So close, Angel. Swallow it. Fill your belly up nice and full. You’ve already made it this far.” I just felt the tears flowing once more as I swallowed the blood, bit by bit as the metallic flavor flooded my maw. It felt so warm and nice as it went into my stomach, yet I felt sick and broken once I thought about what I was drinking, and what I was doing. Yet, when my maw was now empty and only traces of the blood remained, I felt comfortable. I was alive, warm, and fed. There wasn’t anything else that I needed to survive right now.

My eyes shut once again as I laid in this body, feeling the blood surrounding me, filling up the cavern that I sat inside. I felt cramped in this small space, even with being built much smaller than others. Either way, I didn’t know how much longer I could spend in here; my only concern was freezing once I crawled out of this shell. Either way, I was going to have to do it either way.

“Get your fucking head down!” My eyes shot open as I laid flat in a mud hole, Jacks screaming at me as bullets whizzed over our heads. He took his radio and started to yell into it, Vogel and Shadow yelling out to us as Rose stayed balled up to our backs. Candy was laying down as much fire as she could, keeping the striped devils down as we tried to get our bearings. I reached down into my belt and pulled out a grenade, yanking out the pin with my teeth before using my wing to sling it out as far as I could. Two seconds passed, and I could hear the explosion with screams coming behind it.

We started to get our hoof-hold back in the fight, and we finally peeked our heads up to fire alongside Candy, laying the fire down into their position. Shadow and I took precision shots, shooting through the dirt mounds and piles of scrap steel to drop our targets. Candy let her machine guns roar and spit out lead as fast as they possible could, Rose lifting up her head to watch as Vogel and Jacks started to move forward, tossing out smoke grenades and even explosives into the Zebra trenches. I stood up after they started getting closer, standing to hit the targets in the rear, watching as they fell over with holes appearing in their body.

The lightshow in the air lit up the night and the trees that surrounded us, turning the gray grass below green as our muzzle flashes put out light. I could just feel the cool breeze, this normally serene area turned into a blood-soaked warzone by the very presence of the stripes. I wasn’t having any of this. My eyes went ahead to Jacks, and Vogel as he jumped down into the trenches, his shotgun blasting away our enemies with ease. Jacks kept his eye sweeping the trenches, Candy come up to stand beside him. I wasn’t going to just sit back with my scope this time, I was going to get right in the middle of everything. My wings slid the scope off from the top of my rifle, and slid a bayonet to the muzzle as I dove into the muddy trenches.

Jacks didn’t seem too pleased at first, his words barking at me as I dove right into the bloody mud hole, my boots sinking into the viscous mixture of water, dirt, and remains. My head stayed down as I held my rifle by the action, making my way through the maze of wood reinforced walls, seeing the fresh blood running down the pine planks. Vogel’s weapon kept roaring on the other side of the trench, some of my squadmates weapons occasionally roaring out as they fired into the trenches. My path was clear, however, as I saw a striped devil at the end of this mud pit, her eyes not trained on me until I let out a cry, charging right at her with my blade point aimed right at her chest. She tried to jump back, but failed to move out of the way as the blade jabbed into her gut, my eyes gazing right into her own while I twisted my rifle, hearing her scream before I pulled the blade out of her, watching her fall over and whimper in pain.

The adrenaline in my body started to thin out, leaving me standing above a bleeding zebra, her crimson life dripping from the edge of my blade. Jacks let out a chuckle behind me, looking down right at me before he spoke out.

“You must hate them as much as I do. Glad I got you to join in with us back at the match, even if the Commander was weary at first. I’ve gotta give it to you though, you certainly have what it takes. I’ll put in a request to have you up at the rank of Captain before we even get home from this campaign. Keep up the work Angel, I’m proud of you.”

I couldn’t help but crawl out of the corpse. Her blood stuck to me, some of the clotting ichor even sticking to me, stringing itself as I pulled away from her. It felt like it was pulling me back into her, back into the warmth. Instead, I cast myself on the ice, and back into the freezing air. My legs were weak, and my body freezing as I gathered my things, keeping my head down as I started to walk through the snow, stumbling around while leaving red stains everywhere I stepped. There was no reason for me to leave my warmth, my best chance of survival, but if I was going to have dreams like that; I wasn’t going to stick around.

My body hit into the brittle trees as my vision was blurred, adding to the extra difficulty of just trying to see with one eye. I didn’t feel anything now, even as my body slammed into the crackling wood. My legs just didn’t want to hold me up anymore, but my mind wasn’t about to just stop. Every step took even more out of me, and I still had a few days of walking ahead of me, just to get back to Stadt. I wanted to be home with Rose, Vogel, and Star, even if they did burn one of the last things I had from my mother. They didn’t know, and couldn’t. I still didn’t want to think about it myself, as I could never say anything without her permission.

There was so much about this new world that took so much more of out me than any battle had, any campaign or wound. I felt this way even more as I swore hooves wrapped around my head, and covered up the lenses on my mask. I could just hear the voice again as I swatted at the hooves around my head, only hitting myself as I tried to do so. “Relax, Angel. Just let me have a little fun.” It felt like my breathing was almost stopped instantly, and time began to slow. The feeling of the cold air blowing on my clothing stopped, leaving me with only my hearing.

I felt like I was dreaming at first, hearing the snow crunching over what I could only assume to be my hooves. Or, I hoped they were my hooves. I could see once again through this dream-like state, though I couldn’t move myself at all, just showing I was still held back by the voice that took over of my body. This is something I didn’t mind, as I was cold, tired, and hopeless beyond belief. Of course, this was the same voice that would have me crawl into a corpse and drink her blood. Her word was what I took at face value, and it seemed to pay off. Especially when I let myself sleep, knowing that my body was going to keep going regardless.

My mind finally rest, or at least, the part I owned. This voice was new to me, but I wasn’t in any state to fight it. If anything, I had already accepted my death.

§§§

I gazed back through my own eyes after my period of rest, just to be horrified at what I saw. I stood above a fresh corpse, a filthy stallion with his throat spilling out blood. His clothing and hood covered his face, and hid his appearance from me. My head spun around to my own control, showing me the dark room around me. Old picture frames hung crooked, the glass cracked and covered in blood. The glass fixture above me was dripping down the crimson substance onto my hood, and down my mask. A bed sat in the corner, basic wooden frames with a filthy mattress laying crooked across it, covered in filth and blood.. And Luna knows what else.

My wings were now in view after my head spun around in this bedroom, more of the blood dripping from them. I didn’t know what happened, and I was wanting to find out. My hoof lifted up, just to have the sticky blood stringing to it. I turned, and left the scene, unaware of who I had just killed. The door fell open to my command, leaving me standing in an open hall, gazing over the edge into the main room, cracked and broken wooden banister spindles lining the entire other side. Onward I went, avoiding the doors as I went straight to the stairs, going down into the main room with grimey, dirty carpets, and torn up furniture.

Every step I took left a trail of blood, the crimson ichor still stained in every single last thread of my clothing, the blood still sloshing around in my boots. However, I wasn’t cold, or hungry for that matter, and the voice was quiet now. What else could I need? I checked through my items, the zipper moving freely without ice as I sat in this dark, empty house that seemed to hold up. Everything was accounted for, down to the last bullet. Whatever came over me certainly didn’t feel the need to fire a single round. My packs went back where they belonged, and I put a new filter in my mask just to be certain I was prepared to go back outside.

The door squeaked open as I pushed it open slowly, cold air blowing into the house with flakes of snow piling into the doorway. I stepped outside, closing the door behind me (out of habit, I suppose) as I stepped out into the snow, looking around to examine my surroundings. The large, metallic building surrounded me once again, the black water flooding right in front of the home. This was Stadt again, of that I was sure, and I needed to find my friends. I searched for any landmarks, and with a slow scan of the area, I could see the hospital standing in the distance.

Snow crunched under my blood-soaked boots, leaving a trail of red hoof prints at first, before they eventually came clean from the icey pathway I walked. Once again I felt the cold air blowing on the blood soaked clothing I wore, nearly freezing my hairs together and clothing to my fur. All I could do now was make it back to Stone’s home, and just hope that they made it back themselves. The hospital guided my way back to the main street I came in on, and then to the brick housing where Stone would hopefully be found. Hopefully.

Every step was far too loud for my liking, but I didn’t have time to gently finesse my way across the snow, my primary concern was on getting somewhere warm, and getting clean. I stayed close to the sides of the crumbling buildings, walking down the edge of the streets to stay out of the way, and reduce my chance of being spotted by anypony else that felt like I needed to die, or any ghoul that wasn’t shot and frozen over in the ground, or still looking for some pony chow. That thought wasn’t the most comforting thing I had with me. More and more of the rubble piles were completely buried under the much deeper snow, leaving only the tallest and sharpest in my path.

The brick buildings looked as they had seen many better days, as the snow blocked the main entrance, leaving on the windows to break into, if you could climb up a little. I didn’t have many problems hopping up, and letting my freezing wings push the air down beneath me, boosting me to the window which I broke in with my hooves. I rolled into the fresh pile of glass, groaning as I landed on a rather nice dining table, until it splintered under me. An odd pressure pushed on my chest, until I released the thick flak jacket was holding a wooden spike, one that would have pierced into my heart. Funny how injured areas always seem to be the targets for more abuse. I just gave the wooden spike a quick chop with my wing, not bothering to try to pull it out just yet, my main focus still on getting up, and out of this plain room.

The walls seemed darker on this floor, perhaps being painted a few shades darker for variety, or for the fact that I still couldn’t see from my left eye. Every step in here echoed, leaving me even more aware of my surroundings, almost as if everything felt sharper, and cleaner, even if I did feel as though my sight was impaired. Just until I began reading the small print on the side of the last remaining decorative table, and from a considerable distance. Thoughts began to race through my head, nothing making sense anymore. Better vision, enhanced hearing, and that voice.. What did that tainted water do to me? Jacks and Shadow both showed me what it could do, so why hadn’t I suffered the same fate? I felt as though my body was changed, and for the better, though my thoughts changed as I went on autopilot, and ended up hitting the filter of my mask to Stone’s door.

There was no response at first, until I could hear the metallic clicking of a weapon behind the door. I couldn’t help but yell out to him, as the mask I wore, and the door both would muffle me out too much. “Stone! Hey, it’s Angel! Open the door!” The clicking stopped almost instantly, and instead the door opened up. There he stood, his eyes full of surprise, and a fresh burn wound across his lower left jaw. I wanted to reach out and examine the wound, but it appeared to have already healed over, which left even more questions. If he had some kind of technology to close wounds, where did he get it?

“Stone, was that from the Rangers? When I fell into the river?” He just nodded, and moved aside to let me in. Then he started to speak as he saw just how bloody I was.

“Gone for a week and.. What happened to you, Angel? We both thought that we lost you back when you fell in the river. And uhm.. You don’t look very clean. Just saying. No offence.”

I rolled my eyes and pulled my mask off, letting my bloody mask hang from my neck as I wasted no time going to his restroom, my goal the bathtub. “Where’s Tera, by the way? And you said a week? I remember waking up in a forest and then.. Well.. needing to make a pony skin sleeping bag. I kept hearing this voice, and.. And then everything went dark for a while. I woke up in a home not too far from here.” He seemed surprised, but at the same time, he showed off just how stoic he could be, even while letting some emotion through.

“I’ve never heard anything like that before, but I guess you’re just somepony that isn’t going to give up anytime soon. Tera is in the room, resting her eyes. She got burnt as well, but not quite as bad as I was. Go on, clean up. Be sure to wash your clothing and packs in there too, and please, clean off your rifle. I know it’s in good hooves, but a little cleaning off won’t hurt it. Oh, and your left eye is a little fucked up. Might want to take a look at that.” I couldn’t help but roll my eyes as I stepped onto the tiles of the bath room, careful to take my boots off while standing in the bathtub to let the blood drain out.

I started with washing my belongings, leaving the contents of my bags out on the tile floor to keep them dry. Bag after bag, thread after thread, splash after splash, I stained the water red more than once, and that was just with scrubbing out the blood using antiseptic I had in my medical supplies. The bags and clothing were balled up and sat in the sink, left there to wait for further attention. As I was filling the bath tub with hot water, I could just hear the door nearly come off the hinges as Tera came jumping through the door. She squeaked out while pouncing on me, nearly knocking me off-balance. “Angel! Oh I thought you were dead! Ow..ow..”

I looked down at her front right leg, seeing the burnt, scarring flesh that stretched up her leg. My eye widened as I sat, carefully examining it for any deeper damage. There was permanent damage in her flesh, leaving me to just wish Rose were here to take a closer look, and give any needed measure. All I could do was give her a painkiller, and wrap it up snuggly with any rapid healing item I could find in my bag. Her head was down the entire time, watching my hooves as I treated her wound. Then she looked at my eye, and jumped back while gasping.

“Angel! Your eye it’s.. O-oh sweet Celestia..” Up to the mirror I went, finally taking the time to move my mane aside, and get a look at what my eye truly looked like. I saw what used to be silver and white, completely black. There wasn’t even as much as a pinprick of white in the middle of it all, not even pointing out the way the black traveled the vessels surrounding my void.

“No wonder I can’t see out of it. There’s.. No, it’s still there. Just, not what it needs to be.” I couldn’t just break down and try to pull out my own eye, but I was wishing for nothing but that. My eye was infected, something that couldn’t be shown to anyone back home. “Tera, while I clean myself up from all of this blood, could you perhaps make some kind of patch to put over this? I know you’re a woodworker, but I need this eye to be covered.”

She sadly nodded and stepped out, leaving me to close the door behind her for privacy. I stared at the dusty mirror, just looking at myself, and the dark eye that marred my face. No words could describe how I felt about this, and what Rose would say. Damn I wanted to be home. My head lowered as I made my way to the bathtub, stepping into the hot water, only to see the water around me turn dark red in seconds. I wanted to flee from the water, but it wouldn’t have made any difference. My head sunk below the water, only delving me deeper into the crimson waters.

Tera came back in as I was draining out the water, flicking out water from my mane, only to mop up the red droplets with the towel of questionable cleanliness. She lifted up a black eyepatch with her magical aura, presenting it to me with a soft smile across her face. My wing reached outward, carefully examining it before giving her a smile, and holding my mane back. She carefully fit the patch around my head, until it held securely, and comfortably on me.

“So uh.. How do I look?” I gave Tera an awkward smile of reassurance, only for her to roll her eyes and give me a cute giggle in response.

“You look like a pony with an eyepatch, what else do you wanna know?”

We sat around Stone’s table, heating up our rations while speaking about things that had occurred when I blacked out. Stone actually started to show emotion again, especially when he pulled up an extra seat just to seat his rifle as well. Tera and myself both chuckled at the action, leaning closer to each other for comfort as he would give the weapon an occasional pat. When the hissing of the heaters for our meals silenced themselves, we tore open the black packets and dug our plastic utensils into the preserved food. Every bite was a treat, but I couldn’t help but feel something was missing from it, even after I worked my magic to make the meals leagues better.

“Hey Angel, so you.. You did what to stay warm now?” My eye moved over to the mare as she leaned up against me, her eyes full of curiosity with Stone giving me a similar gaze. I continued to chew for a few moments, and then swallowed. I trusted them both, and knew that Tera would knew if something was wrong.

“Well.. I just kept hearing whispers, and.. There was a body, washed up from the river in the woodland area like I was. She was already gone, there were bite marks on her legs and wounds all around her body. I pulled her up under this tree, and I could just hear that voice going and going, and then.. I cut her open. I crawled inside, and I stayed there.”

Both of them were silent as I finished, the confirmation of my story almost sending them both into shock. I just wanted to be home again, even if this place had every luxury that was reasonable in this wasteland. Power and clean water, of course the sheer amount of rubble and debris could be used as a negative, but everything here felt more comfortable. I dreamed of this for my home. When the land was dark and we had all become tired, Tera and myself retired to the room over. Nothing had seemed to change, until I saw the pile of wood shavings on the floor, a sign of Tera keeping busy, and entertained here.

“What are you working on, Tera? I see all of the shavings there, and I know just how talented you are with woodworking.” She just smiled and rolled her eyes, flopping over on the sofa, leaving just enough room for me to take a seat next to her.

“Oh you know, just a couple of little wooden figurines. I don’t know what else to carve, and you’re a pretty good model to work with!” I smiled to myself while leaning into her again, staying close, and warm. “I’d love to work on your rifle, if you’d let me. I can see a couple of little spots on the wooden part that aren’t quite perfect.”

My eyes rolled as I snickered to her comment, already closing my eyes as I comfortably laid back. “As long as you’re careful with it, and don’t compromise the integrity of the weapon, then go right ahead. Just, please, run anything you want to do by Stone first. This was his father’s rifle, after all.”

I felt her shift around for a few moments, until I could hear her snoring just a few minutes later. I silently chuckled to myself, not wanting to wake her now as she seemed so comfortable, even if this sofa wasn’t the softest thing I had ever sat on. The room was comfortably warm, and was even better with Tera leaning up against me. She didn’t move much as she rested, and I wasn’t far from sleep myself, until I let myself pass from my conscious state to complete sleep.

“Angel! Angel get the fuck up, let’s go let’s go!” My eyes shot open as Vogel shook me in my sleep, his eyes full of fear as I just watched the globe land beside us, the green substance inside just waiting to come blowing out. My wing quickly wrapped around it, and flung it back the way it came, only for it to explode in the air with a ball of green flames.

“Fuck me.. What a way to start the day!” I sat up and grabbed my rifle, crawling my way up in the mud. His feathers were dripping the brown slop, shotgun smoking in talon. I had become so used to the sound of gunfire it didn’t even bother me even more, something that I found comfort, and fear in. Rose came diving through the mud pits, her white coat stained brown and green, not to mention her poor uniform. Then, she started shouting out to me, staying near me as I saw Vogel stand and fire into the distance, Candy and Jacks not far behind Rose.

The dropped down into different craters, dropping down into the mud once more from their advancement. Gunfire tore through the air once more, the exchange of fire and explosives tearing up the otherwise peaceful meadow, felling trees and blowing more holes into the ground as the rain fell around us, but no matter how much it rains on a battlefield, it will never wash away the blood.

“Stay still, Angel.. You were thrown by that spell bomb, I’m surprised you didn’t eat up this mud! Alright, alright, let me just give you a check over, okay?” I smiled while letting my hood splash down in the mud, keeping my mane from more of the liquid dirt. My eyes shut again as I felt her warming spells around me, almost relaxing before she started to shout again, her own weapon beginning to spit out fire across the grass. “You look just fine, love! Now get out of the dirt and let’s get home safely!” Her smiled warmed my heart, and sparked a flame in me to get up, and start dropping stripes.

I jumped up and pulled my rifle from the mud, falling forward on the edge of the pit to take aim, using my wings to wipe the mud from my scope. Rose kept her head down behind me, staying close to me as I looked out at the concrete boxes that rested before us, our flags and markings either burnt up, or marked over. “Re-take the bunker and free our prisoners.” That was our reason to be here, and that’s just what we would do. My eye focused on the slits in the concrete, gazing at the stripes behind their weaponry before their heads disappeared, and red clouds appeared in their place.

My rifle made metallic clicking each time I chambered in a new round, only to send another into the pillboxes before us. I cheered as Candy set herself up, and started to spray at the structure. Vogel and Jacks jumped up, and started to make their way up to the concrete structure, tossing out canistered that bursted into smoke to cover their approach. I lifted up and stood watch on the sides of the bunkers, focusing on anything that moved.

Round after round, I dropped more of the stripes as they tried to get sneaky and hit our friends from the side. Each kill only brought more joy to me, as yet another enemy of our great nation fell to my hooves. As I held the sides, Vogel tossed a grenade into the slit of the bunker, both him and Jacks lowering and covering their heads as the inside of the structure rocked, the heavy steel door around the side staying shut. Jacks then pulled a red canister from his belt, tossing it in and quickly moving out of the way with Vogel, a burst of flame igniting the inside of the bunker. Screams echoed out as the victims inside as they pounded on the door, finally cracking it open, only for two, melted piles of blistered flesh come crawling out of the structure, the smell.. Oof.

I watched as Vogel, perhaps the greatest pointman the military had ever seen, pulled the door open as it was unlatched, his shotgun roaring inside as he gunned down and survivors, but leaving the burn victims laying in their own burning state, screaming and crying out in pain as the flames burnt into the very far edge of their flesh. Once Jacks entered behind Vogel, the rest of us got up and quickly made our way to the bunker, Candy setting up her machine guns once again to hold the entrance, the rest of us wandering inside. A line of shotgun shells, blood, and burning zebras lined the floor, a true bloody display to how much we loved our nation, the great Equestria. Even a griffin was willing to fight, and die on our behalf. It was an honor to work beside him.

The papers and flags inside were completely burnt to a crisp, black stains of carbon and smoke left behind from the quick burning canister grenade, white phosphorous. I kicked over one of the living zebras, listening to him scream out in pain as my boot sunk into his structureless flesh, almost like kicking a pile of rubber. When my boot pulled back, I watched as the skin stuck to it, leaving me to kick it off against the wall of the bunker. Rose looked down at the bodies and survivors, seeming disturbed, but understanding to the situation. I could feel as my rifle was disturbed, her pure green aura wrapped around the scope of my rifle, and carefully unmounting it, her words following after. “That isn’t going to do you much good here, Love. You’ll want to use the iron sights.”

I warmly smiled at her, shooting her a wink as the scope then went into the steel container I had especially to protect the fragile item. “Thanks, Love.” She returned a warm smile, turning to watch the rear with Candy as Jacks and Vogel move forward. My radio began to gawk at me, calling for my attention. The edge of my feather hit the small button on the box I had strapped to my shoulder, and answered the call.

“Welcome to Happy Burger (trademarked), how may I take your order?” My response was a scoff, then a lower voice coming through.

“Yeah yeah Angel, very funny. I’ll take.. What, a number nine or two.. Er.. No, fuck that. You’ve got hostiles moving up on you. I don’t think they know what happened, looks like a returning patrol. Let the others know, I’m taking aim. Preparing for the engagement.”

“Thanks Shadow. I’ll get those two number nines ready for you when we meet back up.” I clicked off the radio, and shouted out to Jacks as he moved deeper into the structure with Vogel. “Jacks, we’ve got company! Prepare yourselves!” He started to shout back over gunfire, his words muffled out by the echoing roars. I assumed that he heard me, and now my attention went to Candy at the door. “Candy, Rose, we’ve got company. Set up, they’re coming now.”

Rose stood beside me, staying close as Candy dug herself in, laughing as she dug through the moist earth with her short shovel, giving herself enough of a pit to rest her machine guns on the grass before her. She grinned while checking her munition supply, lowering her head down as she prepared herself. “Don’t you two worry about me, I’ll keep this locked down.” Candy’s sweet voice made the scene all the more unbelievable, but we knew this adorable mare meant business. Rose tossed her a small medical pack, just as a precaution before she started to walk with me, following me to a forward position in the concrete hole. The barrel of my rifle rested on the edge of the rifle port, facing out to the group of stripes that marched our way, Vogel and Jacks in the pod next to us.

Rose reluctantly aimed her short weapon out of the small window, focusing on her sights with me. “Movie binge-a-thon when we get home?” She smirked, and let out a puff of air before focusing again. “Yes Angel, I feel that’s appropriate. Let’s get home safely.”

We listened for the first round, and on the signal of Shadow letting his rifle report to us all, we unleashed hell onto the group. The zebras started yelling out at each other as they dove down, the lack of cover in the meadow leaving them exposed to our fire. Shadow tore them in half with his massive rifle, Candy turned them to ribbons with her machine gun, Vogel let his buckshot pepper them in hot shot, Jacks emptied magazine after magazine, and Rose letting her cute PDW spit out lead. The symphony of gunfire was music to my ears, especially when my own weapon spit out hot lead.

The crowd that stood before us was reduced to piles of blood and flesh in the field, staining the green grass red. Once our weapons silenced, and the groans of the dying had stopped, we took a moment to hold aim. No more weapons were discharged, and not a single zebra whined from bullets shredding them apart. Birds had began to sing over the scene, and the flowers started to sway in the wind, their vibrant colors contrasting against the grass. A war zone in the middle of a peaceful area, nature returning to its standard routine.

Rose and I both saw this paradox, this backwards scene that would make anypony’s skin crawl. My wing carefully wrapped around her, and my head lowered down. “I used to come here as a filly, usually with friends on one of their adventure trips. We laid in that meadow, chased the butterflies, even ate a few apples and popsicles. Now it’s just stained in blood, like the rest of our beautiful land. We’ll push them out, Rose. Then.. then we’ll find a way to start our own family. I’m not going to ever let you go, Rosie.”

My eyes opened to the sight of a blank wall before me, and the few strands of Tera’s mane that stuck up from her moving in her sleep. I felt comfort, but also despair as I missed my wife back home. There was never a time we were apart this long, and all I wanted to do now was forgive her.

“Tera, sweetheart. Wake up, we’re going to take a trip with Stone. I’m taking us back to home, back to the Capital City.” The mare stretched out, her eyes just barely opening with a “Huh?” She wiped her eyes and gave me a concerned, yet excited gaze, hopping up and off of the sofa to stretch her entire body now. I followed suit, standing to stretch my legs and wings out, watching as Tera yawned after stretching herself out. “So we’re leaving today then? Like now?” She seemed concerned, but also excited to venture outward, and a three day walk was certainly a way to see farther out into the wastes.

“That’s right, today. I’ll need to talk to Stone about it, but I think that it would be best if we did. Go ahead and bathe, you might not be able to for a bit.” She blinked a few times, then nodded before slowly making her way to the bathroom, leaving me to go out into the hallway, and knock on Stone’s door. He opened the door and looked at me with my messy mane, the rifle across his back. “Stone, I think we should leave today. Head back up to my home, and meet up with my other friends. If we do, it’ll take us a few days to get there, but it’s essential for me to get back there now.”

He just scratched the back of his head, looking around the inside of his home for a moment. “Yeah I’ll come with, I guess I should probably bring my supplies with us. I’ll see what I can put together to bring it with us. I hope it’s better over on your side of this wasteland.” Stone still didn’t show me much emotion this morning, but I knew I could find a way to crack into his shell. He turned and gave me a nod as he slowly shut his door, leaving me to return to the room next to his, and gather my items.

I could hear Tera splashing around in the tub as I checked through my bags, accounting for every ration packet, every bullet, every single bandage that I had. My rifle was next, as I took it apart, piece by piece to the very last screw until I had a pile of steel and wood sitting before me. Each part was lifted up by my steel feathers, wiping them clean of any grime, then coated in a thin gel lubricant to keep it as smooth as it could be. With joyful and smooth clicks, the weapon was put back together, ready to be loaded and used once again. I started to arrange my items, and began to put on my uniform and gear to prepare for the long walk ahead of us.

§§§

We stood together, bags and clothing piled on as we stood in the final hallway that kept us from the frozen world outside. Stone tied ropes to his bags, pulling behind a sled that was covered in crates and personal items, a blue canvas cover tied down over the sled. I looked over at both of them, and then put on my mask, checking the filter to be certain it was screwed in as tight I could get it. Tera followed, then Stone, all of us standing in our full gear, ready to step outside. I was first into the freezing air, crawling through the window, and standing on the mountain of frozen flakes that piled up beside the building.

The others stood beside me, following my lead as I began north, trying to keep my footing on the slick surface, and from sinking into other areas. Every step was a gamble on this surface, you’d either slide forward, or sink down. Of course, we all started moving a whole lot faster when we heard screeching coming from behind us. Stone turned to look behind us, and I knew that his words weren’t of a joking demeanor. “What in the fuck is that thing?! Owl! Fucking massive owl!”

My head jerked back to see the massive beast in the air, watching as it stared down at us with its massive yellow eyes. We ran down the hill as quickly as we could, losing our step and sliding down most of the way until we scrambled to get up, stuck beneath a street light that was just barely holding itself up. My rifle was ready this time, but so was the beast. It was the largest owl I had ever seen, being at least the size of my bedroom back home, not even counting the massive wing span. White and blue feathers covered the monster, an almost eye pleasing arrangement, until the talons came out. If somepony would have said that it had swords for talons, I’d believe it.

Stone and I both started to open fire on the owl, Tera diving down behind us and cowering as we emptied out our weapons. None of the bullets seemed to even phase the beast, every single shot seeming as though they just stuck into its feathers.

“Stone, these aren’t doing anything! Its feathers are like a ballistic vest, we need to aim somewhere weak.. Its eyes!” Both of us aimed for the glowing yellow eyes as it swooped down at us, forcing us to dive out of the way of the massive talons that took the streetlight, and tore the steel structure from the very ground. The light was lifted up, and pulled behind the owl before it simply let go, dropping the pole into the frosted streets. Tera held onto my leg as Stone and myself were now loaded again, just waiting for the monster to swoop back around.

It dove for us once again after flipping around in the air, screeching out again, then going silent as we both emptied out or rifles once more. I watched as its eyes seemed to burst through my sights, the crimson fluids spraying from them as it began to spin, crying out before it went beak first into the brick buildings we came from, toppling the building over with the force that it impacted with. We just stared as the building fell over, dust and green particles flying into the air as the beast gave a final scream. I could just feel Tera pulling on my hind leg, her muffled voice taking my attention.

“Angel please let’s go! I don’t want to get eaten by one of those things!” I couldn’t help but smile at her through my mask, slinging the rifle back over my shoulder as I helped her up, giving her a tight hug before nodding and readjusting the hood over her mane. Of course, we all started to move a whole lot faster as heard another cry from the beast.

Chapter 7: Reconciliation

Tera seemed the most affected by the cold, her body always seeming to shivering or lagging behind us, so much so I had to pull her closer to wrap my wing around her. I cared about this mare, even if she wasn’t aware that we were going to meet my wife, and friends. She was a valuable asset to us, her knowledge in woodworking something that simply couldn’t be underestimated, especially since our local worker was lost in the sea of megaspell fire. Stone, being quiet as usual, kept tugging at the ropes that connected the sled to his makeshift rig as he brought along all of his important items.

“Stone, Tera, the walk here took me three days. There’s a couple of buildings we can take shelter in for the night, if the snow hasn’t buried them completely. I don’t know if that blizzard was just for the city, or it covered everything this side of the crater. Sweet Luna I hope that the blizzard didn’t cover everything.” Stone just gave me a nod in agreeance, Tera tucking herself closer under my wing before responding.

“Anything to get out of this cold, it’s just freezing out here.. I think my tail has frozen to my hind leg!” I couldn’t help but shake my head, holding back my chuckling as she spoke with a rather serious tone. Neither of us could blame her either, even with the insulated clothing, we could all feel the freezing cold air blow against us. I could only imagine how thick my coat was going to become from this entire ordeal, if that even mattered. There was no certainty anymore, and with these documents that proved it was those who wished to keep the peace, just until they infused science and magic. A neurotoxic megaspell, nothing like a bit of that wonderful chaos that would leave us covered in snow.

Our breath puffed out before us, leaving plumes of steam that kept ice from forming on our masks. The desolate winter wonderland was dull, lifeless, and inhospitable to any living creature, save the massive owl. Ice Owl, I think I’ll call it, as they have quite the beautiful, icy appearance.. If you can get past the fact they want to eat you up for a little snack. Honestly, I just was trying to keep my mind entertained as we stepped through the snow, watching the green shadows cover it entirely. Perhaps I should start up a journal, or maybe even record audio logs to leave wherever I please. You never know, maybe somepony would read or listen to them someday.

As the clouded sky above darkened further, we knew it was about time to find shelter for rest. Our eyes were scanning the area, leaving us without a single building, or even tree out in sight. We weren’t going to stay out in the open, and I was starting to feel my stomach bark at me for not eating since we began to walk. How hard could it possibly be to find something that wasn’t going to be completely toxic for us to breathe? Then, I felt something click beneath my hooves. Our travel halted as I started to dig into the snow, looking down at the steel roofing that stared back at me. Stone started to dig into the snow with me, leaving Tera, who did indeed try to scoop aside some snow, but felt her hooves starting to freeze as she touched it.

The rusting steel beneath us was showing its weak spots, something that I was going to exploit. We convinced Tera to make use of her horn, and pull aside a good pile of the snow to toss aside and out of the way, leaving me to break into the roofing, and down into the house below. My head spun for a moment as I hit the floor underneath, wishing that I could’ve been given the luxury of a softer lander. I looked up to the two heads that gazed down at me from the hole, only for me to wave a wing back up at them.

I started searching around, seeing the separate rooms that were closed with cracked doors. My flashlight clicked on, leaving me to search through the dark home as the snow piled up against the windows. It felt simple yet homey, the old wooden table still standing up on the hardwood planks that were covered in dust and debris from fallen ceiling material. I started to move to the doors, opening them one at a time to show a restroom, and two bedrooms. Each of the bedrooms having a neatly made bed, and nightstands with all proper furnishings around. I think my biggest complaint of this place was how filthy it was, but that was something I was just going to need to get used to. My wings held up pillows that I grabbed from the beds, and sat them down underneath the hole I fell in through. Both of my friends dropped down, Stone even holding his sled as they fell down, then looked up at the gap as well.

“Alright, Stone you get the room on the left. Tera, we’ll take the one of the right. Take the pillows, we’ll need them. Find something to block off the gap under the doors, try to seal things up. I’m not keeping this mask on all night.” Stone nodded, taking two of the pillows from the floor, and retreating to his room for the night. My wing wrapped around Tera once again, leading her to the other room before shutting the door behind us, and searching for anything that I could. Behind a breaking closet door, I came across an extra set of blue sheets. They lifted up and folded in my wings, then were cleanly jammed under the door. With a nod, I removed my mask and took a breath, nodding to Tera once I could feel the clean air filling my lungs.

My items fell beside the bed, leaving me to fall onto the white blankets that lined the bed, Tera jumping up beside me after her items fell to the floor as well, her small body crawling under the blankets to keep herself warm. I was just ready to be home now. This journey had taken so much out of me, and there was still more to keep me waiting just to see Rose. Her golden mane, and her pure white coat. So close, yet so far. Especially considering I have been dreaming more and more.

The air felt cool in my lungs as my eye opened, lacking any real smell which was both a good, and a bad thing. I thought this home would at least smell like dirt, but there was lack of toxins.. I think. Tera was still fast asleep, and there was no sound coming from the room over. I had no clue what time it was, as everything was still dark and silent, leaving me to search for a timepiece in my bags. “Three in the morning.. Great. Well, I may as well get something done.” My voice was hushed as I took a small light from my things, and clicked it on. I moved closer to the door to keep the light away from Tera, and right into the door as I took off my heavy vest, and started to pull out the chunks of wood that pierced into it, then began to stitch up the gap. I wasn’t the most steady with a needle, especially as the cold air blew against me.

It wasn’t the most attractive stitching, but it did the job that I needed it to. Back on my vest went, feeling at home with it wrapped around my body. Next, I checked for any damage or tearing in my bags and belts, only finding a few points in which the fabric was wearing in from the continuous use. I took some spare cloth I had sitting around and stitched it from the inside, reinforcing the worn areas that would fall apart and release the contents from any more wear. It felt strange to be doing something similar that I had just weeks ago, but back then I was in a personal tent, and didn’t need to worry about toxins floating around in the air. Thanks, ‘Peaceful’ ones.

I could feel a set of hooves pressing up against my shoulder as I lay on the floor, leaving me to jump for a moment before looking back at Tera. She seemed surprised that I was sleeping on the floor, only I knew that I had gotten up, but must’ve fallen asleep on the floor. I just rubbed my head for a moment, sitting up before rubbing my eyes. “Morning, Tera. I got up a little early and got some work done on my gear. Hadn’t realized I fell asleep down here.”

She gave me a weak smile and helped me to my hooves, already wearing her gear. “Oh it’s fine Angel, I think I heard Stone getting up just a moment ago. You should get ready, it’s seven in the morning.” I couldn’t help but wipe my eyes again before covering myself in my gear once more, changing out the filters in my mask, then slipping it on as well. Tera followed my lead, and we opened the door to the buried house once again. Stone was already standing and waiting for us, already having a makeshift staircase built up from sturdy furniture to the opening the roof. I had to give him credit for being so far ahead of us, so much so I let him test his building first. He just rolled his head (assumably since his eyes were barely visible) and then went up the wooden structure, letting out a cheer of victory as he stood on the roof. Tera and I both followed, standing in the frozen wasteland once more.

I watched as my plumes of breath made themselves visible in front of me once more, seeing how it rose up into the freezing air around me. Not much further until I’m back home, as long as nothing went wrong. Then again, I’m not exactly lucky in any meaning of the word. We lined up for me to lead the way, Tera moving between myself and Stone to keep her safe from whatever may be lurking out here, her performance with the massive, icy owl lead me to believe she wouldn’t be the best in a real fight. Of course, I could’ve just asked Stone how the battle with the power-armored fucks went, but there was no time for that. My entire mind was focusing on keeping us moving forward, and keeping us going in the right direction. Of course, that was more difficult than I would have hoped for, as it’s hard to tell where you’re going when everything is completely white. Reminds me of the time I spent in the muddy hills out on the borders. Those trench lines were hell.

I could hear my radio squeaking at me, Shadow trying his best to contact me as I simply didn’t want to hear anything right now. I was at peace out in this mountainous environment, away from the hell hole that was the front line. Out here the flowers and grass swayed seamlessly in the wind. My loose-fitting green uniform hid me cleanly with the glass, and the hood that went over the steel helmet on my head didn’t hurt. Where others wouldn’t care, I had used loose material and string to hold my gear tightly against my body, keeping it as quiet as I could.

When I slung my rifle up on my back, I finally let my radio speak to me. “Yeah yeah, what do you want, Shadow?” I didn’t think he was very happy from making him wait.

“Took you fucking long enough. Boss wants you to take a look at the valley ahead, supposed to be a camp down there or something. I haven’t seen anything for a few hours and Candy is starting to get anxious from what I hear, and Rose misses you already. Just hurry up, okay? Especially if you want a shot or two from Vogel’s stash. Shadow out.” My radio cut out as his voice stopped, leaving me to nod for myself.

My wings held my map before me as I started to trace out my path with a feather, then watching as it folded up with my agile wings, and back into my pouch it went. I let my wings stretch out, and lift my up above the ground. I stayed below the tree tops, dodging the clean, brown stalks of bark and wood above the long blades of grass. The grass parted below me as I sped through the air, navigating the rocky and tree-filled terrain, making my way towards the valley that apparently held an enemy camp. Just to his word, I could see the exotic shelters down in the rocky valley, the river flowing right through the middle of it. Needless to say, I was down in the grass with my binoculars up and scanning within a few seconds of seeing the straw and mud huts below. These weren’t just fabric tents, these were almost like homes.

“Angel? Angel, hey are you okay? Angel snap out of it!” My head shot up as Tera waved her hooves in front of me, tapping on the filter of my mask. “You spaced out there for a while, are you okay? Stone went as far as to set you on his sled and tugged you along since you just blacked out, but you kept walking.” I sat up, sliding down and off of the covered pile of items that Stone pulled on his sled. Something didn’t feel right to me, almost as though something else came over me completely. Then, I looked at the dark world around me. “Angel? Hey, I’m right here. Focus come on, I’m right here. Breathe, okay? Your mask looks okay, and your filter.. No, that’s fine too. Stone! Stone I think something is wrong with her, we need to find shelter for the night!”

I could hear what she was saying, but I couldn’t react. It felt as though there was a film, or perhaps even a grasp that held me within myself. It was almost the same way I felt in the forest, but more clear. Maybe Rose knew what was going on with me. Maybe..

Stone bucked open the door of an old service station, scanning the interior as Tera stayed close to me, trying to figure out what could be wrong with me. The stallion waved to us as he stood in the doorway, leaving Tera to cautiously step inside as he pulled me and his sled into the garage, looking for any areas in the structure that may need patching or covering. As he felt it was safe, he removed his mask and took a deep breath, then, he removed my mask while waving Tera over into the old garage with me.

“Alright Tera, she’s all yours. I think there could be som-.. Her eye. Look at her eye!” Stone stepped back and away from me, Tera taking a look for herself. There they stood, looking down at me in the dimly lit area, neglecting to notice the rusted metal panels and posters that littered the area. “It’s all.. All black. Like her other one. No, look.. Closer. It’s clearing up, get her some water.” I sat up with a gasp as I felt the film pull away from the world, leaving me in control again.

“That’s the same way I felt in the forest, right after I crawled out of that river. I wasn’t in control, and I had a memory with things. I don’t.. I’m not certain what it is. I know that I saw and did things back when I was a soldier but.. but.. “ I didn’t feel like saying anymore, feeling weak and tired as I lazily went through my things, grabbing my blanket out to wrap myself up in. There was little concern for the environment as it was safe to us, leaving us in a relaxed state for the night. Then, I saw the poster up on the wall, torn and neglected by the previous owner.

“Post Traumatic Stress Disorder”

§§§

The beams of light that flowed in through the foggy glass revealed the floating dust in the air, and stains of grease and oil on the concrete flooring. My back was sore from sleeping on the concrete flooring, Tera seeming to have fallen asleep while sitting with her back against the wall as she watched me. It was both comforting and concerning, knowing that whatever had happened was like what did back in the forest, but comforting as I had an idea what was wrong with me.. But, not from the blackwater.

I slowly sat up, exhaling deeply before making my way up to my hooves, and folding up my blanket, stowing it away in my packs that laid around my makeshift bed. There was an odd feeling about today, perhaps it were somber, especially as I tried to look out at the horizon from the fogged glass. There was only white in the distance, save the occasional splinter that used to be a towering tree, or even the collapsed pile of steel that could’ve been anything for all I knew. What I would give to be dressed up in my relaxed clothing while playing some blackjack with my friends. Such a dream, one that would never be a reality.

“Angel..? Angel what are you doing up? You’ve given us both a scare, we don’t want you walking around too much..” I turned to see Tera standing herself up, making her way over to me rather quickly. She stood beside me, and insisted to be a stabilizer for me so I didn’t need to strain myself. This was one of the few times I really wish I had known what was going on, and why she was acting so strangely.

“Tera, I’m just fine. I can walk on my own.. Why are you trying to be so close like this? I feel just fine, and yes I did hear about my eye last night, but there’s nothing that wrong with me, darling.” I don’t think Tera was very pleased with that answer, especially when she had me secured down to Stone’s sled by my hind hooves, and even helped him pull it along. Reminds me of when I tried absinthe for the first time.

I felt helpless, but also relaxed as I didn’t need to worry about walking on my own, which meant less breathing, and less erosion in the filter I had screwed in. There was something odd about it all, just being drug along behind when just a day ago I was leading them. At least, I thought it was just a day ago. I didn’t bother to ask them, or to even say anything. This was my time to get some more much needed rest, and I was going to take advantage of it.

“Angel, hey. Annnggeeeel..” Tera stood above me, tapping on the lense of my mask. I didn’t want to open my eyes, or even start to move for that matter. Of course, when she started to tell me that there were signs of crumbling homes just in the distance, I knew I was almost home. They kept me affixed to the sled as they pulled me through the final stretches of the frozen highway, not letting me even get up to walk my way back into the city. Just more time to rest, I guess.

I never expected to see the crumbling houses or frozen hills again, but here I was. To the dismay of the others, I let me wings carefully cut the rope enough to let me slide out, without letting the gear break free. Into the snow I went, trotting along without any thought, feeling the stone roads under my boots as the soles of my boots hit against the parting snow. Only a few more steps up the incline, and I would be walking level with the city once more.. Save the flowing river that bled its taint that rolled down the hillside. “Don’t mind me guys, just making my way home. Don’t bother stopping me, I’m not letting you just pull me along anymore.” Damn is it difficult to convey sarcasm when your voice is so muffled out.

My friends followed behind my lead now as my eyes scanned the area, seeing the tree in the center of our city as it stood tall and proud, but looking as dead as ever. Only a few more minutes and I would be home, if a certain griffin didn’t dive in from the sky and block our way. It didn’t take Vogel a second to see my wings, and stand casually in our way.

“Didn’t expect you come back, Angel. We thought something had happened to you, but coming back with two other survivors that clearly aren’t insane and a sled full of supplies? Gotta give it to you, I’d offer you a shot but you know, the air and all.” Damnit Vogel, if I didn’t think so highly of you I’d give you a swift kick in your feathery balls!

“I’ll certainly take that offer up when we get back home. This is Tera, and Stone. Tera is a very talented woodworker, but is a little shy, Stone though, he used to be a soldier like us. He’ll make a great team member when we go out to scavenge for more supplies. How’s everypony doing? I hope Rose is okay..” If only I could see his expression through his mask, especially when he had given me the quick run-down on the way home.

“Well Angel, things aren’t great. Rose is okay, she recovered just fine and has been working on something for you. I personally have been doing most of the scavenging, finding everything from food and water to things that we can use to renew our filters. It’s a bit of a process, but you’d be surprised how handy reading through some terminals can be for things like that. I just wish they weren’t all green, kinda hurts my eyes, you know?”

Stone spoke up before I had, catching himself up more to Vogel’s position as we stepped through the streets. “That’s a fine shotgun you have there. One of the older clearing models, isn’t it? Please tell me that you modified the internals.” I could just hear the griffin let out a puff, almost as a sarcastic gesture before giving his response. “That’s right, I’ve greased it up while shaving down a few components to make everything run smoother. I did go and modify the barrel for quick changing between rifled and smooth bore, even went as far to make my own lengthened magazine tube.” Their muffled banter went on, only to be occasionally stopped as the sled hit a particularly large stone in the road.

I didn’t bother interrupting them, or even trying to get their attention. Vogel generally wasn’t too overly social with new ponies, but he certainly knew his weaponry. Tera didn’t seem to take to the rougher-looking griffin, especially with his full gear on. Vogel held his close to his chest, turning back to make sure we were keeping up. He gave me a nod, and kept walking ahead with Stone through the snow covered streets. Nothing had seemed to change here, showing the lack of a blizzard up here on this side of Stadt. When we reached the walkway up to my front door, I felt far better than I had for the past weeks, especially when I saw a set of green eyes gazing at me through one of the few windows that remained intact.

I couldn’t help but run ahead of the others, pushing open the door rather forcefully until I threw myself onto Rose, pulling her as closely into me as I possibly could. “Rose! Oh Luna I’m so sorry I ran off like that, I won’t do it again I promise! Oh please forgive me please please.. Rosie I love you!” Rose squirmed under me while trying to get a grip of me as I almost rolled around on her, leading her to take my mask off, and softly smile at me until seeing my covered eye.

“A-Angel what happened to your eye? Why is it patched? Darling?” Her face and voice were filled with concern, I could just see her emotions in her eyes. Instead of speaking to respond, I lifted the patch to show her the dark space that was once my eye. Rose took a gasp, and started to examine it just like a wound.

“I don’t think you’re going to be able to fix that, honey. The city had a black river, just like the one here. A couple of Steel Rangers started to use their laser weaponry on the snow around us. These other two made it with a couple of wounds, and I fell into the mess. I woke up in one of the forests nearby and just.. We’ll need to have a formal conversation about it, Rose. Oh fuck I hope the documents didn’t get wet!” Rose cocked her head at me, both sorrowful and curious now, watching as my wings dug through all of my bags, until pulling out the folder, and slowly giving it to her. “Just.. don’t faint.” Of course she would.

Rose sat on the sofa, her head staying low, eyes locked on the floor. Vogel stayed silent, even when Stone took apart his rifle once again. I didn’t dare say a word as my friends kept quiet, leaving Tera to groan at the inefficiencies of our window boarding job, giving her more reason to get to work on her own accord. It was comforting to know that she was indeed ready to work on everything we needed her to, but even the sounds of a hammer hitting nails and a saw cutting through wood wouldn’t bring any distraction to my squadmates. All of the time, blood, and sacrifice we put into fighting against our enemy, just to be struck down by our real enemy.

My hoof wrapped around Rose, keeping her close against me, trying to give her that shred of hope she so desperately needed. I couldn’t help but be the one to ask where Star had gone. “Where is Star right now, Vogel? You didn’t even as much mention him when we were back here. Did something happen, or is he just out right now? And.. yes, I know it’s not the best time, but Vogel said you had something for me, Rose.” There was silence once again, until Rose started to softly speak to me.

“He went out two days ago, we’re not certain what was going on with him. Homesickness or something, Vogel scouted the city from above, but.. Well, he was fired at. For your item, my love, it’s well.. It’s resting on our bed. I’ll need to make a modification for it now, but my painting abilities hopefully show through.” Rose smiled at me, leaving me to hold her even closer. Frozen world, frozen heart, frozen hope. Welcome to hell, Angel, it’s The Great War: Part Two.

I stood to my hooves, helping Rose up with me as I slowly guided her to our room, leaning into her before shutting the door behind us. The others shuffled around, taking over the sofa as we left it open for whomever to take. On our red bedspread laid a new gas mask, clean and without damage as it appeared to be straight from the factory packaging. It was beautifully sinister, being one of the standard issue masks back when we had serious conflicts with surrounding nations. My steps sped up as I moved closer to the mask, lifting it with my wings to examine it closer, gazing upon the white paint that drew out a skull on the mask, leaving Rose to take a knife to the left lense, cutting an X shape into it.

“I have to give it to you Rose, not only finding a mask like this but painting it like that? I’m really impressed.” My lips pressed to her own for a few moments, only for her to give me a laugh and a caress across my cheek. “Anything for my lovely wife, the ultimate edge-mare.” I haven’t laughed that hard in a while. She wasn’t wrong, but I wasn’t about to go and start putting spikes on everything I owned. When my eyes were finished scanning the mask, I could just feel something pulling at the back of my head, creeping into the edges of my vision with black, murky vines swirled over the sight of my beautiful wife before me. Her voice just filled my ears without a single sight but the darkness before silence reverberated through my entire being.

“Angel? Angel your eye! Sweetheart say something! Angel! Vogel get in here, there’s something wrong with Angel! Her eye - see? -- I can’t!”

“Well what do you fucking mean there’s an entire village set up in the valley?” Jacks was clearly pissed off, for lack of a better term. “Okay, so there’s just the full set of huts down there? Do you understand what this could mean for friendly operations in this area? Each and every one of our soldiers could end up dead, especially considering they’ve started using those.. The what again? Yeah, that’s right, Bypass Spells.”

The sight of stripes walking around in the valley below was sickening, just the very thought of their presence even this close to the border was enough to boil my blood from the inside out. Silence was the only thing my radio spit out for me, just until I put my own voice into it. “I have spotting flares. You’ll need to get the artillery crews ready to go immediately, but I can give you my approximate location. Have them zero in for my location, and then when they see the red smoke.. Blast them all.”

I could hear the quiet page through the radio, until it started to give me orders and express frustration once more. “Alright, Angel. Give me your location, and then I’ll let you know when we’re ready for the flare. I tell you what, get this done and I’ll be certain that adopted mother of yours knows you saved many good ponies today.” My heart sang at his last remark, giving me the enthusiasm to quickly pull my map out, and give exact coordinates. When I got confirmation from Jacks, the stick that spit out flames and red smoke fell into the valley, and right into the middle of the settlement below. It wasn’t a second afterward until I could hear the loud roaring of our cannons echoing through the peaceful forest.

My wings carried me away from the edge as the heavy shells fell into the crack in the mountain, spitting up debris of dirt and straw into the air. The barrage shook the ground around me, disturbing the peaceful forest with sounds and shock from battle, even if this was a product of total war. When the echoing of explosions had come to a stop, my curiosity got the better of me. I floated over the valley, and looked down into the craters below. No more huts, no more lived in structures. Instead, the once green grass and clean water was now stained crimson and black. No amount of peace would ever wash away the blood.

“Angel? Sweetheart?” Rose stood above me, rubbing a damp cloth across my head as I laid on our bed, restrained down with thick rope. So many questions rushed through my head, what happened, why am I tied down, and is this all just some kind of erotic game? No, not that last one. Vogel stood near me as well, his stoic beak had a glint of concern engraved into it, not to mention how low and sunken in Rose looked. Stone and Tera stood in the doorway, Star soon stepping in behind them and commenting on the situation. “Finally awake, good to see you’re not the same vegetable you were just an hour ago.” If only you weren’t a mare today, I’d kick your ass for that one.

“Vegetable? What do you mean by vegetable? Like, did I turn into a giant fucking apple or something?” Rose rolled her eyes and kept pressing the damp cloth across my head. “No, Love. When your eye turned like your other one, you.. You kinda went blank. There was nothing at all for a few minutes, then you actually bit Star. Drew blood and.. Well. Drank it.” I could just hear the laughter in the back of my head. There it is, the.. The dark one, for a title.

My eye shut before I wiggled around, pulling on the ropes. “Will you let me go? I’m coherent, I’m not insane, see? I just want to hold you, Rose. Please.” I could hear them step away for a moment, speaking together in hushed voices. There wasn’t as much as a peep from me anymore, just waiting for their verdict. Rose was the first to step closer again, returning to running the rag across my head while giving my cheek a gentle stroke. “I can’t. I would, but.. You know. I’m sorry Angel, but I have to watch out for them as well. Besides, we can just lay here for a couple of days until this all blows over.”

“Rose, you know how much I hate being tied up unless you’re wearing that.. What was it called again? Corset? I don’t remember. This just.. It takes me back to my father. How things went there. Why I was ‘adopted’ up.” Rose put her hoof over my mouth, closing her eyes for a moment to gather her thoughts before removing her hoof. “Angel, I don’t think you’ve ever really told me what happened. You’ve always avoided it, or just told me that Luna was kind enough to take you into her home and teach you the proper way to treat others. Are you finally ready to share that kind of a thing with me?” Her emerald eyes were almost too much for me to handle (as always), leaving me to almost melt as she rested herself so close to me.

“Shut the door, Rose. I don’t want the others to hear this.” Her white horn turned green, and the wooden door slowly came to a shut.

“Get your filthy whore flank back in here! I didn’t fucking say you could leave!” His voice haunted me, even as I laid in the closet with the pillow wrapped around the back of my head. He never knew where I went to hide, and if I he found me, we would both be dead. The single candle gave me just enough light in my cut-out hole in the (closet) wall, as my mother had cut into it for me to have my own personal space for once. I just wished that this pillow she gave me was thick enough to block out her cries as he beat her.

This had been going on for weeks now, ever since she had told him that she was leaving, and she was going to take me with her. It was bad enough he forced me into the youthkorps, all in the name of.. What was his name again? Either way, I wasn’t enjoying the idea of shooting ponies I didn’t even know in the eye with the little practice rifle they made me use. I didn’t like any of it.

The pillow wasn’t doing it for me anymore. I may’ve been young, but this.. This was too much. I crawled out of the hiding place and stumbled around in the dark closet, tripping over his helmet.. And pistol. There it sat, ready to be grabbed and used by anypony that saw fit. I wandered down the stairs, feeling my body boil with rage as I saw my mother laying on the wooden floor once again, my father standing over her. “See? I fucking told you that would happen. Oh look, your daughter came downstairs for once. Hah, she even has my nice little pistol. What are you going to do with that, little girl? Shoot me? You wouldn’t even shoot one of those fucking ponies from the east with that perfectly built rifle if your leader required you to do it for your country! So go ahead do something! Do it or I’ll beat you both for making me angry!”

I felt numb as I watched him fall to the floor, the bleeding hollow where his ugly right eye once set. The black pistol fell to the floor, bouncing around next to the single brass case that held the killing blow. The end to the beatings, the abuse, the starvation and mental abuse. I didn’t care if they didn’t have their most prized death squad officer. I wasn’t willing to take it anymore. Here I was, just old enough to be in school, and I was watching the puddle of blood form around my hooves. My mother didn’t know what to say, or do anymore.

“I-I’m.. I’m so sorry, Angel.. I didn’t.. I didn’t realize that you.. What happened after that?” I took a breath and raised my head speaking to her in a soft, dim voice.

“Rose.. it.. Somepony called the police. They showed up and and.. They took me. My mother claimed she did it. Even with all of the physical evidence, they still.. They gave her the death penalty. My sister she.. She heard about it. Well, all of Germaney did. I didn’t do anything for years, until she finally convinced me to pick up a rifle again. We started shooting together and well.. I started to enjoy it again. That’s when I got into competition shooting. When I heard that my sister was.. She.. I-I..” I started to choke up on my tears, trying my best to keep composure. Rose’s hoof running across my cheek never felt so good.

“When they found her and.. And Jacks found me it was Luna that heard my story. She.. she took me in as her own. Then I met you.”

§§§

Rose had finally let me free, contrary to Star’s hopes on keeping me bound up forever to prevent biting, at least from the other side. Vogel grinned as I stepped out with Rose as my support, Stone and Tera both smiled, and Star gave me a rather sore frown with her arm wrapped up in cloth. “I didn’t mean to bite you, Star. That was.. That was something else that isn’t easily explained. At least I think you tasted pretty good.” Her expression became even more upset with me, only until Vogel started to laugh.

I wanted to play nice, but having so many holes in my memory didn’t do me anything. “I can hear my belly grumbling. Could be time for another ration pie..” Vogel and Rose grinned, Rose guiding me to sit on the sofa while Vogel started to go through our dwindling supplies. He grabbed the types that I needed, and sat them all before me. Time to do a little cooking, Angel style. Everypony, except for Star, sat around me as I mixed and used up the packets inside each sealed bag, portioning out the meal, and then throwing them all into the flameless heaters. We sat and smelled the unique mixture as the heaters hissed while they worked, going on for a few moments.

Vogel tossed out the cards as we ate using whatever we could lift the crackers covered in different meals all mixed together, Star sitting a little further back from things, and Tera opting out of playing cards to run around and fix up any imperfection in the wooden planks that kept the freezing and toxic air out of our home. Vogel, as usual, passed around his bottle.. Until it became exceedingly light and lacking of liquid. He held the bottle upside down when it had finally ran itself dry, only to set it back on the table and sigh before sharing his thoughts.

“Well that’s great. Now what will we do to pass the time? Guess we’d better look at the city map.” I made my way over to my pile of bags, grabbing out my map before taking my set next to Rose once again, and laying out the map. “Well, Vogel, there’s not too many places now that we can search. The market is empty, that tavern has gone dry. I think you might need to figure out how to make your own stuff. For food, however, we still have options. There is the plant that used to package up our apples, then not too far from that there’s the ration supplier. Come to think of it..” My head lowered down for a moment, then somberly rose up once more from its temporary slumber. “There is the armory. My.. my father was in charge of it. Said that they hadn’t changed the code in ages. I’ll need to uh.. I’ll need to go back to his home just to get his secondary key just in case. The police never did unlock his door. We head that way, and we can get some serious work done. Of course, I’d like to spend a coherent night with my wife..”

The others awkwardly whistled and looked away once they understood what I meant, and instead kindly made their ways to their piles of gear to put everything on. Vogel lead the others to put their gear on, somehow even Tera who seemed like she’d never step a hoof back out into the wastes started to put her things on. Rose and I both chuckled, watching as they all went out the door, and step out in the streets. It wasn’t a second later until she had me pinned.

Chapter 8: The Compound

We walked through the icy streets as a group, spread out to scan the area for any threats, supplies, or survivors. Vogel was in front as always, his knowledge of being up front and center keeping him prepared for whatever may poke out; the rest of us stood a few leg lengths apart, Stone and Tera standing together, Rose and I making our pair on the other side as well. Star fell behind, keeping away from me, the one that she deemed ‘Psychopath’. We didn’t want to leave Tera behind alone at our home, and Stone felt like grabbing a few more rounds for his toy. Vogel was far more understanding of it than we were, some type of unspoken friendship they must’ve already made as we made our way into the city the day before.

Rose held the map up with her aura before me, allowing me to track the paths through the streets to our destination. “Vogel, take a left up ahead. His home will be a few kilometers down from there. Can’t miss the place, it’s a total shithole that’s probably completely blown over. I’ll grab the key from inside, and we’ll get outward to the facility, of course it would have to be on the other side of the city.” The griffin simply nodded to my commands, his head moving to watch the gaps between fallen buildings and crumbling homes, turning us between them.

Tera kept her head rather low and somber to the sight of another fallen city from the betrayal from our own leaders, the green glowing from the detonation site in the mountain range seeming to get to her even more so here, more than likely from the elevation. Our eyes quickly scanned the shadows as they danced around, until everything slowly became more dull and blurry. Our pace universally slowed down as everything had become obscured, the situation soon becoming clear, our sight less so. Fog was rolling in, and our chance of keeping track on our path become much lower, almost to the point of stopping entirely. Vogel, the determined bird-brain he was kept us going forward as a much closer group, confident in his navigation skills and directional sense to take us to our destinations.

The white cloud filled our streets, rolling through the destroyed buildings and over the caved in rooftops. Visibility dropped quickly, going from being completely clear to only a couple of meters of actual sight, and even then the mist distorted the shapes and colors of objects near us. I called out to everypony, calling them to group up even closer around me. When we all stood shoulder to shoulder, we kept moving on. Vogel stayed in front of us all, but kept his wings stretched out to give us something larger to look for, even when he was a mere meter before all of us. “Keep your eyes open for it, Vogel. Shouldn’t be too far now, you could probably smell the stench of that place, even through your mask.”

Our pace was slowed down immensely, almost to that of a slow stroll while we tried to navigate the fogged streets. Vogel groaned as he almost walked into the door, waiting for me to give him confirmation on the home. Here it was, even more decrepit and disgusting than before. He looked around between all of us, then lowered his head and spoke through his mask. “Don’t suppose either of you have seen Star?” Our heads whipped around, trying to see if she had simply slowed beyond us and was lagging behind in the cloud. Nothing.

“Well fuck.” Everypony (and Vogel) looked over at me, knowing that we couldn’t remove our masks to call out to her, and our voices were already muffled enough. A single breath of the air, and your mind becomes irrational. Jacks and Shadow both drank the water, I could only assume many of the ponies we encountered had been exposed, Star was even exposed when.. He? She? First landed down on top of the clinic. There had to be documentation as to how exactly it worked. Rose tapped me on the shoulder, expecting me to continue on as opposed to fall deep into thought as I had. “Oh, Sorry. I was thinking about how the toxins seem to have different effects on us. And that-” We froze as I could hear the shrieking that I had encountered on my way back home. “Owl!”

Tera and Stone both knew exactly what I was talking about, leaving Stone to buck open the door rather quickly for us to pile inside, and shut the cracked door behind us. We kept our masks on, gazing out the windows with our weapons at the ready, just waiting to see the massive creature try to eat us all alive. I knew we all shared the same fear as Star’s head hit against the window with a splatter, the rest of her body flying up and off with the owl. “Luna above.. Star’s down. Clearly.” Unrest and nervousness was the only thing we experienced together now, the dark and rather creepy house didn’t help out much either. As the self-proclaimed leader, I pulled them all away from the window and tried to speak as clearly as I could.

“There’s nothing we could do about that one. Feel no guilt, and mourning will wait until we’ve finished this operation. Understand, all? I can’t let a death, as brutal as it may be, hinder us from supplies we so desperately need to survive.” The pale light lit up the dust and debris floating in the air, and reflecting off the lenses of my mask. I stood tall and proud, showing no sign of weakness or regret to any of them. “Vogel, scout around the basement. I’m not going back down there, ever again. Stone, Tera, you two go and search the upstairs. Rose and I will stay on the ground floor.” My head turned to the hanging lantern by the door as it always had rested there, giving me a light source as I ignited it with the turning of a knob.

Dark, filthy hardwood flooring and pale brown walls surrounded us, as well as a large stone fireplace. Rose focused her energy on the fireplace, lifting old, rotting wood from the small basket near the stone structure, and flicking it on with a spark of her magic. The warm fire was inviting, but disturbing to me. My father swore he was going to throw me in there at times. “Look, everyone. We’ll have a memorial for Star when we get home. There’s just no time out here.” Even with my attempts to assure and calm things, Tera still showed grief in her stance. She barely knew Star, and was already showing signs of distress. The kind-hearted mare didn’t belong in a world like this.

Flames licked the dark stones encasing the foyer, lighting up the room around us. Not a thing had changed, the same wooden furniture was scattered across the room from a drunken rage, blood stains on seemingly all of the walls, and a massive crimson stain in the middle of the kitchen floor. Chills went down my spine as I could feel the warmth of the stain creeping around my young hooves all over again. Never again would I be pushed over, never again would I just bow to oppression. Take that, father. “Alright. Vogel, take the lantern because you will need it most. Rose, can you make us a torch, honey? And Tera, you should carry one too.” Each of them followed my orders to the letter, Rose and Tera both levitating a chunk of the burning wood for light as Vogel held the lantern up with his wing. Off we went, exploring the creepy house.

The hoofsteps (and.. pawsteps?) faded as they went on, Vogel making his way down to the basement from the kitchen, the other two going up the stairway that lit up with the fire. Rose looked around at the room, walking through the plain rooms until she stood above the massive blood stain in the kitchen, gazing down at it. “This is where you shot him, Angel? You’d think they would take the time to at least clean this up.” She was right, but didn’t know the entire story. “You’re right, Rose. But, the party that took over started to lose their battles. He was tense from diring situation, our materials to make rifles started to fall down to nil. I remember him saying that they didn’t even bother to count the dead anymore. We held our ground in battle, shredding through their numbers with only losing a few of our own. Technology only does so much against constant hordes of mindless soldiers.”

She lowered her head, staying still and silent for a moment. Her covered shoulder soon leaned against my own as she spoke again, asking question after question as to exactly what happened here when I was merely a filly. Rose herself wasn’t Germanian by blood, she was from Veneigh to the south, and hadn’t even considered living in Germaney until she enlisted. I’m glad she stayed. “Well Rose, I can tell you exactly what happened, how it happened, and why it happened.”

“We were starting to fall economically behind, and a certain.. We won’t name him, weaseled his way into power. He was charming, had plans to restore everything. Even get us more land to farm and settle so we could expand outward. It was only a year later when we started to build up our military power. Just so happens there was also a special program for the young, where we would be taken out on actual skirmishes and campaigns. Just so happens that my father, one of the highest ranking and most brutal officers threw me right into it. Here I was, this tiny little filly with a helmet on my head, and pistol on my belt. I was just barely starting to understand how my pistol even worked, and I was already killing our enemy alongside the highly decorated soldiers that so bravely fought for a broken cause. Only seems like a few weeks later the one who shall not be named was executing the Earth Ponies as he deemed them inferior for not having wings or a horn. My father was transferred to control one of the new camps that went up for them. He.. he executed so many of them for no reason.” Before I could continue on, Vogel called up to us. My wing went around Rose’s side as we slowly made our way into the basement against my will, her comfort easing me into relaxing myself once again.

The stone walls were covered in spider webs and dust, leading us downward in near-spirals to the chamber that rest beneath the house. Massive steel beams supported the stone structures, the red banners hanging from the walls, their white circles and symbol making me sick just from the sight. Vogel stood near a steel table, looking over the documents that lay scattered across them. Massive weapon chests and racks lined the empty spaces that weren’t covered in the banners or propaganda, every single space holding a weapon. Cages were in the corners, blood stains and cracks in the bars made them look even more dark, just until I saw the silver pod with a single window built into it, tubes and wires going from the sides into the floor. Rose pointed over to it, and I lowered her hoof down with my own. “Gas chamber.”

Vogel held up a set of papers, then slammed them down on the table. “Don’t keep secrets, Angel. Says here you were in battle far before you said you ever were back when we first met. Why would you keep this secret from us? What did you have to gain?” I snarled and pressed my mask right up against his own, almost pushing his head back.

“Ever hear of something called traumatic events? Perhaps being pulled from the loving arms of your abused mother to be sent out to war? How about knowing that innocent ponies were being murdered in your basement? Just seeing all these weapons and those fucking cages, do you know what that does to me? Have you even considered that!” He jumped back, putting his talons out in front of him. “Angel your eye is changing again, don’t go all crazy on me now..” Green, glowing rings wrapped around my hooves, Rose channeling herself to keep me restrained until I calmed myself, feeling the dark cloud that was creeping on my mind slowly draw back. I let out a deep breath to gather myself, slowly sitting before giving my head a little shake. “Let’s just pick this place dry and move on. I’m certain the key will be in those files, somewhere. I’m taking one of these guns with me as well, I’m just not feeling this one anymore.” The green rings slowly dissipated, but Rose stayed right beside me as I browsed the weapons collection.

Everything from massive heavy machine guns to the most simplistic of pistols lined themselves across the racks, boxes and boxes of munitions underneath each of them, labeled clearly and brightly. “Shotgun shells here, Vogel. Looks like magnum loads. Fully loaded magazines for your SMG.. oh now look at this beauty.” I pulled a rifle from the rack, seeming to grab it from a time capsule. The dark-stained wood was smooth and completely clean, lacking any damage or even handling marks on the stock, or beautifully blued steel. The straight bolt handle slid smoothly with my wing and hoof, making for a quick to use and fire rifle. I watched as I slid the steel scabbard off the bayonet, gazing upon the saw-toothed spine and razor edge it had. “This is mine now, objections?” They both shook their heads while grabbing up the ammo, Rose pointing out an odd looking tube near the ammo near the empty space in the rack. My wing lifted it up, then the carry case and round projectiles that slid over the end of it. “A rifle grenade launcher.. This is mine too.”

I started to play around with the rifle, checking the function in every way I could, except firing. It felt good in my hooves, just until I saw the markings on the receiver. They disturbed me to see them again, but it was just a stamp on steel. It had clearly never been used, and that meant no blood stained into the fibers of its being. For now, anyway. I slung it over my back next to the other rifle, and started to drop the clips of ammo for the other rifle, replacing the empty spaces from me taking the new rounds for this rifle, and stuffing them into my pouches. I was loaded up, and ready to take down an owl.

“I don’t want to be down here anymore. Find anything useful but isn’t that heavy, and bring it along. I’m heading upstairs to see what they’ve found. Oh, and Vogel, find that key. With all of those documents here, I’d be willing to wager you could find all kinds of useful information here.” And without a second thought, I left the horrid sanctum and returned to the ground floor, my eyes going to the old wooden stairs my mother used to be shoved down. My wings dug into the wall as I made my way up them slowly, thinking that his ghost would push me down the stairs or something. Isn’t that a bitch of a fear.

When I reached the top of the stairs, my eyes scanned the hanging landscape paintings and old floral wallpaper that he somehow approved of. The fine and obviously expensive wooden furniture rested up against the wall, spaced out to fit in between each of the three doors. My eyes went down to the last door in the hallway, seeing the dark wood held open by a pile of books. Into my father’s room I went, feeling the shivers go down my spine as more of the banners were hung, and his uniforms still hung in the open closet. Stone and Tera dug through all of the drawers and cabinets, looking for anything of interest. That’s when the whispers started in the back of my head. “That bed is where you were forced into existence. You know he beat her into unconsciousness before taking advantage of her.” I couldn’t do anything but swat at my head, trying to do it without the other two looking.

I could swear this place smelt like evil itself, even through my mask. The blood of the innocent was almost stained in these walls, and all over the red banners he so dearly followed. There was nothing to keep me in this room, other than Stone holding up a picture of me as a filly. I knew it belonged to my mother, and I came closer to him as he stood near the closet. “Is that you, Angel? It’s strange to see you that young.” I didn’t care much for his remark, but I wanted to find more of my mother’s. My hoof almost pushed him aside as I dug through the closet, almost tearing through the clothing above as I pushed the dust away, and shifted through the cardboard boxes on the floor. Item after item belonged to my father, until I pulled out a single box that didn’t reek of his stench. Aside went the top, and in it was piles of pictures, every single one being of the young and smiling Angel. At the very bottom of the dusty pile was a amulet that had a white gold chain, leading downward to a single oval shaped sapphire, the marking of Luna herself right in the center. I didn’t hesitate to put it around my neck.

The black edges around my vision became clear as the amulet hugged my chest. It felt almost as I was more warm inside, even with my much thicker coat and clothing piled on. Tera simply watched in amazement as I stood up, taller and more proud than before. I could feel the spirits intertwining within me, until becoming a single entity. Both of my mothers were with me now, and let me know exactly what I needed to do to this place. “Stone, Tera. Go to the basement and grab ammo if you need it. Grab the others. I’m going to burn this place to the ground.” They didn’t question nor hesitate with my orders. They both made their way to the stairs, leaving me alone in the room. I waited until I could hear their hoofsteps at the bottom of the stairs, then I began tearing up anything and everything I could. My wings slashed into the curtains, the bed, even all of the clothing in the closet. Dyed fibers fell around me like the snow outside, leaving me to make my way down the hall, and to the storage room that was meant to be my bedroom.

I bucked open the door, and looked around the rusted metal and dusty cloth that laid everywhere, until the white canister caught my eye. My wings lifted it up and rotated it around, showing me the aging label. ‘Kerosene.’ I poured it out as I walked, listening to the beautiful sound of liquid hitting the floor, the shimmer on the floors caused by the eagerness to burn this monument of hate to the earth. The liquid soaked into the cloth I shredded in my father’s room, and washed the walls clean of his disdain that lingered. When I stepped back out into the hallway with the spilling fuel, I could just hear Rose shout up to me. “Angel! What are you doing with that? You’re going to kill us all!” She couldn’t be any further from the truth. “No, Rose. I had them come and grab you. I’m burning this place to the ground, but with all of you outside. Head on out so I can.” Vogel laughed defiantly, but lead the group outward, just until Tera shrieked at the sight of the head rolling in the snow.

Down the stairs I went, soaking them in the fuel until reaching the kitchen. The white can was feeling lighter now, until I finally emptied it out on the stain in the flooring, and making a trail to the door. They all stood and stared at me like I was insane as I reached into my pouch, and got out my lighter. I flicked it open, and spun the wheel with my wing to spark the fuel. The flame hypnotically danced in my eyes before I lowered it down, and watched the trail ignite. Back into my pouch the lighter went, just in time for me to watch as the kitchen caught ablaze from the fuel. “I’m done here. Let’s get to the compound. Vogel, lead the way.” The griffin nodded, and took a second to flash the key before my eyes. It wasn’t a second later we had moved on, leaving our friend’s corpse, and my fillyhood home behind. I felt a sense of relief in my very soul as I turned my head back to see the exterior walls being licked with glowing flame.

Not a single peep came from any of us as we walked onward. I wasn’t sure if it was from the grieving of losing one of own, or that I had just lit up the house we had been exploring for a way to assure we would be able to eat next week. Grocery shopping, wasteland style. Vogel kept his heading, even in the mist and smoke that flooded the area. We all had confidence in his navigation abilities, especially since he was originally deployed in the jungles. I wanted to get in his head and ask him everything I could, especially since we heard that was one fight we simply wouldn’t win. “Hey, Vogel! If you’re going to talk about keeping our pasts unclear or just completely hidden, why haven’t you told us more about the jungles?” He stopped moving to my comment, only taking a second to flutter his wings.

“You have a point, and we are still a little bit away. Well. If you really are that curious..”

§§§

“Vogel! Get the fuck up here, we’ve got ourselves a tunnel!” The griffin ran up past his squad mates, dodging low-hanging vines and creeping vegetation. Shadows from the canopy cloaked many of the dark trees, making for a rather dark scene. All of the ponies lined up were covered in olive drab uniforms, black rifles laying across their backs with thick, heavy vests all over them. Their helmets were especially worn, and all seemed to have their own markings across the covers. “Born to Kill”, “Not so fortunate, son” and “Peace!” Vogel stood before his squad leader, the dark-coated stallion hiding his eyes under a drooped, wide brimmed hat. “Listen up Vogel, we’ve got a tunnel right under that set of vines. Jump in there and clear it out.” The Sergeant tossed a flashlight to the griffin, and pointed down to the pit in the jungle floor.

Down the griffin went, only a beam of light revealing the tight, low tunnel. He slowly crawled through it, pistol in talon as he drug himself across the cold dirt floor, and down into a sanctum dug within the earth. Make-shift beds covered the room, each filled up with a wounded zebra, and a single medic tending to them all. Lanterns and candles lit the dirt, and so did his pistol flashing as he pumped the medic full of bullets, then changed out his magazine. Vogel pointed the pistol at the wounded that dared move, the numbers advantage clearly not in his favor. Without a second thought, he started to crawl out backwards with his pistol before him again, just until a pineapple shaped ball of steel rolled into the sanctum from a powerful and precise throw.

“Well Vogel? Come on now, my ponies want some good news.” His Sergeant yelled at him as he crawled out of the tunnel before the ground shook under them. “Oh you know. Some kind of hospital, one that’s a grave now.” The griffin smirked as the leader tossed him a shotgun, and another grenade to fill the gap on his belt. He couldn’t help but smirk as he looked down the line, just until the bullets started flying through the thick jungle. Anypony who didn’t drop to the dirt was dropped with a bullet, the source of the machinegun fire seeming to come from nowhere as the leaves tore and bounced in every direction. As the firing stopped, the griffin was the only one left moving.

He slowly crawled closer to the pile of corpses, pulling their limp bodies over his own as the sound of steps moved closer in the dirt, the pack of zebras showing themselves. Their dark camouflage hid their bodies as they walked, but left their faces bright and clear. Whatever language they were speaking to each other, Vogel couldn’t understand a word. His mind was racing, the only thought being to hold as still as possible. Rifle after rifle were being pulled away from the corpses, just until they gave his shotgun a tug, only to stop rather quickly as they saw the frame. The haul was pulled along with them, either in bag or slung across their backs as they disappeared into the dark jungle.

“My commander wasn’t sure how to feel when I got back to base. It was a four day walk through the middle of enemy territory, and a week from there in neutral zones. Can’t remember how many vines I cut open just to get a quick sip of water to keep going. All I had to prove what had happened was a pile of bloody dog tags.” Rose and I had no idea how to respond. Stone and Tera had new respect for Vogel, but didn’t know him as well as us. Needless to say, we all wanted to know more about his combat experience. I was the first to gather enough courage to say anything to him.

“So that’s why you’re always on point, Vogel? Why you were the pointman for us too? It certainly explains the helmet.. And shotgun.” He just gave a quick nod, and kept walking forward. His little adventure with water gave me a thirst, but not for any clear liquid. It made me almost feel like biting into the first living thing I could see. “Angel? Angel, sweetheart?” A set of hooves wrapped around my neck, causing the group to stop for a moment. “Love?” All eyes were on me now as I could feel my body swim within itself, until I regained control, and feeling.

“Yes, yes I’m here, I’m uhm.. I’m just a little dehydrated is all. Let’s keep going.” I don’t think any of them believed me. Rose stayed closely against me, acting as a support as we kept moving on, the decline in elevation taking the sting out of marching on. And of course, where would I be without Rose? She is my support when I am weak, my light when I stumble through the dark. I would be so lost without her, even if Vogel was leading us to a tall, chain link fence. It was just as decrepit as I imagined, all the way down to the scattered razor wire. This was the place, even if the cracks in the thick concrete walls showed signs of weakness is such a large structure that seemed more bunker than anything else.

Sandbags were broken open on tall walls, the machine guns still pointed outward to the perimeter. The only problem was that there were soldiers behind them, dressed in complete military regalia. We all lowered down, speaking to each other in whispers as we avoided sight from the turrets. “Is anypony else seeing that? This must still be a functioning base, but.. Something doesn’t feel right.” All eyes were on me as I then pulled binoculars from my pouch, and held them up to the lenses of my mask. Their uniforms seemed wrong, their lacing wasn’t correct, the way the pants were rolled at the bottoms to keep from being stepped on with boots.. They had to have gotten these uniforms from living soldiers. “Impersonator. My bet is on them either liking the gear, or it’s some kind of trap for anypony looking for help. We have to stop this.” Nodding was the sign of consensual agreement. “We all have tents as our standard gear, we should camp out here until nightfall, and some of the fog clears up behind us. Stone, you wouldn’t happen to have a tent in there, would you?” He rustled through his pack and pulled out a shelter half, showing frustration to the lack of a full tent. I couldn’t help but toss him the rain cloak I had in my personal items, letting him make a second half out of it. The stoic stallion was smiling under that mask, I could tell.

Vogel had his own tent, Tera and Stone were cozily fitting into their own makeshift tent, and Rose was stuck laying on me as my tent was only meant for one. We didn’t mind at all as we laid so close, our attempts to get too close thwarted with gas mask filters clinking in the way. The day passed us by, giving us all time to rest and relax in ways we so dearly needed. Everything was silent, save the occasional gust of wind that would blow the loose snow up against the sides of our tents. The light clouds went dark, and cast the deep violet tones across the snow. It was time for us to strike.

Rose was the first out of my little cocoon, and out I crawled after her. She started to go around and tap on the walls of the other tents as I took down and folded up the material because latching it onto my pack again. The others stumbled around as they went to take down and pack up the tents, Stone tossing me my rain poncho back. It neatly folded up, and went right into the side pouches that lined my bags.

“Alright. We can’t use much light if any, it will reflect off the snow. We’ll need to find a way to get past those turrets, but still see our way in..” My wing reached into my pack once more, moving side the items to grab out a signal flare, examining it for any signs of damage. “Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll launch it off of the rifle grenade device on this rifle, and send it up in the air, but it’ll be heading off to the other side. That will give us a few seconds to get close enough to get in there with just enough light.” As nopony (and griffin) else had any better ideas, they nodded in consensus.

“Well then get moving down there, I can see better in the dark so I won’t have as many problems getting down there. Get moving, friends.” Vogel took point as always, leading the group down the hill in the low-light conditions. I screwed the launching device on the end of my rifle, then loaded in the flare. My wings opened the bolt, and slid a blank round in to keep from blowing the flare in my face. As the group laid low near the fence, I could just see the machine gun barrel slowly moving to their position in a sweep. It was time. I reached out with my wings and struck the flare, lighting it up before sending it flying through the night sky, the crimson light glowing like a burning comet across the dead sky.

I could hear the muffled shouting from the other side of the decline, the barrels and ponies behind them lighting up as the red fire flew above their heads, my friends moving up closely to the wall. Now it was my time to get close, and enter the building with my squad. I fumbled to sling the rifle across my back as I trotted down the hill, kicking up the powdered snow behind me. The red light that flew above head was no longer visible, leaving everything a dark blue or gray. My eye started to glow as I ran through the dark, revealing all obstacles to me before I jumped, and slid up against the wall next to my squad. I gave them a quick nod, and Vogel stepped forward with his shotgun, aiming at the steel doors. The muzzle attachment came off of my rifle, back into its pouch as I prepared, loading it up fully with live rounds. It’s time to party.

We all nodded to each other, going up the line until Vogel got our signal, and he prepared to open the door. First was the code, starting with me. I whispered it up to Rose, then to Tera, from there it went to Stone, and to Vogel. He punched in the code, and watched as a little green light popped up under the keypad, a slot opening up the key. The griffin pulled the key from his pocket and slid it into the slot, watching as the heavy steel lock on the door clicked, until it jammed up just a second away from popping open. I cursed everything out beneath my breath, until Vogel simply grinned as he saw the lock, and began to follow his normal routine. The barrel of his shotgun held up just a breath away from the door, before it blasted open the lock with a single shot. He quickly racked in the next shell, and kicked open the door for the rest of us to charge in. Vogel went in first, taking position behind wooden crates, Stone moving up beside him, Tera had no clue what she was doing and stayed outside as we charged in past her, almost knocking the poor mare over. Rose jumped in and rolled to the other side of the crates, staying adjacent to them as she hid behind a forklift. Last was myself, and the stumbling mare beside me. I almost grabbed Tera as I ran in, and dove behind a set of barrels directly in front of the doorway, telling her to keep her head down as my rifle rested on top of the barrels.

I watched as stumbling, filthy ponies dove behind whatever they could to our grand entrance, many of them wearing their torn, and clearly stolen military uniforms. Vogel took the first shot, his shotgun roaring before clicking as another shell racked in, the spread of pellets appearing to be like a hive of very, very pissed off hornets digging into nest intruders. Screams came from the metallic catwalks and concrete pathways that lead into an open sanctum, the burning barrels scattered across the scape for light flickered, sometimes even belching out more flames onto the olive uniforms as the wounded would stumble onto them. Tera shivered and shook as they returned fire on us, bullets hitting into the stack of barrels, sparking them up with each hit. The forklift, sparking up even worse, the boxes and crates simply shredding and splintering to their fire.

“Rose, trade me positions! I need you to keep Tera from melting down, okay? Vogel, smoke this place out, we need to advance!” It took them a few moments to respond to me, part of it very easily being a part of the constant ringing in our ears. I jumped over to the forklift, waiting for the smoke grenade to leave Vogel’s belt, and fly onward into the maze of halls. As he threw out the canister, I waiting for the distinct sound of it popping, then I sent Rose to the barrels. Clear halls turned white in mere seconds, the fires burning in the barrels even seeming to disappear in the mist that kept all eyes from seeing us now. I took a breath to relax my nerves, and looked over at Rose. She was down, speaking to Tera in a manner that seemed almost too calm, an odd sight for any non-combatant such as Tera to see. The rest of us were used to odd conversations to keep our heads in the right places. Leave it to the field medic to know how to treat any wound.

Each of us took a breath as the hail of bullets ceased, taking the only moment we believed to have to reload, and brush the debris off of our clothing. Tera had finally come back to her senses, but was still horrified. I began to worry if she hadn’t been sent into shellshock from the storm of lead that was directed to each of us. When we all nodded to each other once more, Vogel vaulted over the crates and took point once more, leaving us to come out of our cover and follow him one by one, leaving me at the tail end as we hugged the cold, concrete walls. We attempted to be as quiet as possible to avoid being heard, and fired at through the artificial concealment that kept us from death’s cold door. Vogel took a left, sending us up a ramp to a sandbag fortification, a large steel door making for the back wall of the set up. We didn’t know it’s purpose for certain, but whatever that was sealing, nopony wanted us in there. It didn’t stop us from taking cover in the sandbags with Rose and Tera behind the rest of us, Rose’s makeshift clinic accepting new patients once more.

Vogel and Stone took cover under a pillbox made from the burlap bags, my own tastes being in a small wall with a few murder holes cleared through it for my rifle to cleanly clear, and fire without obstruction. It wasn’t long until just that had began to happen. The flickering light flooded the chamber once more as the white smoke cleared into thin air, showing us all the flanks of a rather disorganized and clearly green set of raiders, the perfect shooting gallery for Angel and friends. I steadied myself with my rifle resting in the opening, making for the most steady platform I could achieve before letting the round fly. My wings instinctively manipulated the bolt handle, sending the brass case flying out as a new one loaded into my chamber. Only one round was needed, as my target had become a perfect window to the blood stained wall behind him with a hole of that magnitude blown into his side.

The firefight continued on, concrete debris and dust falling down around us with pouring sand mixed into the chaos of colors and violence. Vogel and Stone unloaded into our enemy, keeping them down as they dove behind whatever they could to take cover from the onslaught of suppression and death we slung at them. I felt oddly at home with bullets flying over my head, and my shoulder feeling the impact of the wooden stock pushing against it as it roared out at the muzzle, and dropped whatever my sights aligned on. My heart was beginning to race, sending me into a full combat mode as I had warmed up into it once again, everything seeming to just turn to my training and instinct to survive; much like I had gone into auto-pilot.

Even after the rounds stopped flying at us, I could just feel my wings twitch with excitement at the trigger, only to jump up with the rest of my body as Rose set her hoof reassuringly on my shoulder. “Angel, Love, you’re okay. You’re with me again.” I didn’t understand why Rose spoke to me like this, but I didn’t take the time to find out. We had survived what we assumed to be the first wave, and once again we took the time to load up and take inventory. Vogel, as usual, popped open his bottle as well and sipped up whatever was left in the bottom of the glass container. My eye still scanned the area before me, searching for anything and everything that may move, or try to attack us. “Angel.” The white mare’s hooves wrapped around me, only for the cloth veil to cover her magnificent coat.

“Yeah I’m.. I’m here. Just looking for anything out there.” She only seemed more worried with my response. “Angel, I’m afraid all of this fighting is going to break you down. I saw it back in the field when we fought the zebras, and I see it now while we fight our own.. Our own kind.” The fighting was also getting to her it seemed, but this time it was different. It was our own blood, our own land, our own friends that we once knew, gone crazy from a dirty spell that cleansed the world of almost all life. I just wanted to find the actual soldiers, and any food that may be here. A little more rest wouldn’t hurt at all either, only if it wasn’t on one of those Celestia-damned cots that always put a kink in my flank.

We stood as one, scanning the area together this time with the others, nodding to each other in agreeance to move on, only with Tera reluctantly being pulled along with us. We stepped closer to the aftermath of our firefight, stepping over the torn open and bloodied corpses of those who would once greet us as we walked down the street. Half of Germaney had turned into those ghoulish freaks, and the other half found themselves dressed up in stolen gear. What was it that Vogel said was written on helmets quite often? “Not a fortunate one” was it? I could consider us all lucky just to have survived the blast, with all things considered. Vogel jumped to lead the line once again, taking us to the other pathway that made up for the main chamber. He peeked his head around, and quickly pulled it back as a burst of flames blew around the corner. “Flamethrower! Fucking move it!”

While the others scrambled to get back near the sandbags, I moved as quickly as I could to get the rifle grenade launcher on my weapon once again, preparing it with all necessary steps before daring to peek around the corner. Even then, I didn’t dare get turned into a charred hide from some psychopath. My rifle aimed up at the wall across from me, the grenade jumping up and away from the gun, off of the wall, and down in the danger zone that was so close to me. I could just hear a mutter before it exploded, and sent a red paste past me. “Not anymore.” I didn’t think Vogel was actually that afraid of fire.

He took us around the corner, stepping around the remaining bits and burning oil that had survived the explosive, the walls painted crimson and burnt black with death itself. I was glad to have this mask on to keep that horrid stench out. Tera was the most disgusted, as she had never seen such a mess made before. We rushed by the scene rather quickly as she started to heave. The hall took us down to another large door like we taken cover before, our eyes scanning it for any signs of danger before taking a look at the little keypad. A shared shout of the word “Fuck” was in order. Vogel groaned, Stone.. Was Stone, Tera was still trying to shake the sickness, and Rose took a moment to rub her belly as it growled at her. I stepped up to the pad and took a look at it, observing the numbers closely before kicking up some dust around with my hooves, and letting out a deep breath through my mask.

The dust and dirt brushed up against the pad, showing me small spots of grime of use on certain numbers. 1-2-3-4 showed the most wear, so I started to punch it in. 1, 2, 3, 4.. “Error, password is too short.” I rolled my eyes as the little box spat it’s disapproval at me, just until I had tried it again. 1, 2, 3, 4..5. “Access Granted.” I couldn’t help but roll my eyes again, only more exaggerated this time. Rose couldn’t help but set her hoof on my side as the large steel door started to open with metallic whines, her voice almost muffled out completely by it. “Typical Soldiers, correct?” Because being the prized special operations squad the late Princess Luna had sent out on multiple stronghold sieges, complete area capture, rear line disruption, so on so forth were better than the typi-.. Dammit Rose. So much for being humble.

We didn’t bother to stack up in any special way, or even get in formation as the door opened wide for us all. Instead, our weapons were up and at the ready, all of our muzzles instantly pointing at the iron cells full of gagged and tied ponies, blood and bruises cover their famished bodies. Standing before them, was a single pony caked up in blood, the ragged uniform on his back showing sets of medals across his chest, and chevrons all the way up his arm. The sickly blue color of his coat and dark gray mane stood out against the green uniform. His yellow eyes shot open wide as we had so many barrels pointed at his head. “Back the fuck off of the cages, General.” Vogel took point, not only with orders, but also in formation. The burning barrels dimly lit our pathway up to the metal walkways and painted catwalks, concrete rubble showing shreds of propaganda posters that once lined the walls.

The blue stallion just watched as we approached, his lack of a gas mask surprising us all, though this area did seem clear of any severe structural damage. “I said back away!” Vogel was pissed now, his short temper nearly sending him flying at the General.

“Ease yourself, griffin. These ponies are traitors. I told them all to not dare let in any civilians from the wasteland out there. Instead, they opened the doors for them all to get in here before the snowfall. We had many of them brought in, despite my very clear, very direct orders to not them all in. We ended up with everything from small foals to the elderly. A waste of Celestia damned supplies, I tell you.” He spoke with authority, almost as if he were better than us. HIs tone wasn’t going to fly with me, and I wanted him to hear everything I had to say about it. I took off my mask, and watched as his expression and tone changed very, very quickly.

“C-Captain Angel! My greatest apologies, you know that it was merely to save all of our soldiers, you know? When they all started to get exposed to the air we had to lock them out, an-and these ones in here were upset about it! They said there would be some kind of cure, but that’s a steaming pile of horse apples!” I let him rant on for a moment before cutting him off, my ears tired of hearing his pathetic pleas.

“General Ironhoof. How oh how have the mighty fallen. I remember when you inspired your soldiers to help the citizens of our great nation, and you told them all that by signing on that last sheet, they would be willing to sacrifice themselves for others at a moment’s notice. For charges of being a selfish, hypocritical, position-abusing pile of waste, I personally sentence you to execution.” His eyes went wide, and he begged for his life as I started up the walkway to set myself up at his location. He turned flank and started to run the other way, only for a large and pissed off griffin to block his way. Rose and Stone both went to the edge of the walkway, keeping him from trying to vault over and away from my wrath. No such luck for you, General Fuckoff.

He dropped down and started begging with more remorse, only for my wing to lift up his chin for him to look in my eyes. “You betrayed so many of them. No wonder we saw so many of those radiation filled ponies, their very flesh melting from bone. I think that death by me is too quick, too easy.. Vogel, we take him outside. We lock him out there. All of their lives could’ve been kept.” We left Rose, Stone, and Tera to unlock the cells, and unbind the survivors as Vogel and I drug the kicking and screaming traitor back to the entrance. Our masks securely went on as we neared the open door, the toxic air already seeming to have an effect on him. He coughed, choked, even spat blood from his maw with his eyes going bloodshot. It didn’t stop us from booting him out into the snow, and locking the doors up behind us. Wasteland justice at it’s finest, no matter how gruesome or brutal it may seem.

Rose, Tera, and Stone already had the cells open, and each of the ponies inside freed from their binds. I watched as ponies of all colors, species, size, gender, and shape walked free in the large room, some shaking and staying put as others had started to look around, and break into each door they could to find the ration stockpile. One stood out to us all, a rather young colt that seemed out of place among the older ponies, most of which seeming to be soldiers. I walked up to the young, gray colt, his dark blue hair sticking out of the ragged, black cloak that he wore. “You there, colt. How did you get here?”

He jumped and turned to face me, his eyes even seeming to be unique. He was heterochromic, one eye orange while the other was a cool purple. The colt seemed nervous at first, but spoke in a softer voice. “I-I’m Storm Breeze.” Tera made her way over to him, and tilted her head, sitting by him before softly speaking. “I’m Tera, and this is Angel. We’re here to help you.” I was surprised, and impressed that Tera had come right out and spoke to him without any signs of anxiousness. The colt seemed troubled still, his front hooves crossing as he looked down. Instead of staying in my full combat gear, I stepped away while giving Tera a nod as she seemed far more fit and apt to speak to the colt.

I watched as many familiar faces passed by, each of them seeming to stop just to breathe, trying to forget the whole experience, even if their bruised bodies and bloodied lips wouldn’t heal instantly. My forehoof wrapped around one mare in particular, her soft yellow body jumping up from my touch, her orange mane falling on my hoof. “A-Angel! Oh my sweet Princesses don’t you sneak up on me like that!” She turned rather quickly, wrapping her own hooves around me as her green eyes closed. “Hey Daff. How’s the shoulder?” Her eyes lit up as she brushed aside her mane, showing the brutal scar that shredded up most of her left shoulder. It certainly looked much better than it had when she first got the wound. The poor mare didn’t even see it coming.

“Heads down, everypony. It’s only a matter of time before they assault us once again. Luckily for us, their supplies are low and they will be using anything and everything they can.. Be expecting a lot of stone weapons. Fucking primitive bastards are too savage to even make their own weapons.” Jacks openly taunted the stripes as we sat behind the wall of concrete and sandbags, razor and barbed wire covering the fields before us. We were relaxing as much as we possibly could, Rose even taking the time to fill in a journal entry in her brown book. I watched the bare horizon, until a bushel of flowers sat on the edge of our line. Behind it, a yellow mare in her olive uniform, a bouquet of flowers wrapped up in ribbons showing up as a patch on her arm.

“Those are some nice flowers, Private. I’m amazed you found them out here.” She seemed surprised to my comment, almost blushing as she sat behind her rifle.

“Oh why, thank you Captain! My mother is in the hospital back home and I figured I should send her at least something.. I wish I could be with her right now.” Even if the reason she had made them was less than ideal, she clearly had talent. I wanted to learn more from her, mainly just to impress Rose. Of course, my skill with flowers was limited to handing bits over a counter. I wanted to speak to her more, but the all too common sound of battle cries erupted on the horizon. “Stripes!” It didn’t take us any time to get loaded up, and in position.

We focused on our sights as the rows of stripes came charging up to our lines, the ones with weapons being quickly dispatched, as the ones with mere clubs and stone weaponry were secondary targets. I couldn’t help but look down at the flowers after each shot, hoping that they wouldn’t get blown to shreds from a stray carbine blast, or a tossed stone from one of the savages. Clip after clip of ammunition charged into my rifle, I watched as any devil in my sights fell, as well as the two others behind them in their tight, random lines. They didn’t have weapons, but they certainly did have numbers, enough to outpace our machine gunners with their reloads. The zebras gained more and more land, getting uncomfortably close to our lines in between the bursts of deadly fire. Rocks and sharpened sticks began to pierce into the burlap sacks filled up with sand before us, so many landing so close to the flowers. Why was I so worried about those damned things?

I couldn’t help but let out my own cry as a show of power and hatred against my enemy, the yellow mare joining in first. Her cries of rage soon turned into pain; however, as a barbed stick dug into her shoulder, Rose and I both dove down to her position as she squirmed and cried in pain, my wings quickly grabbing the flowers, and setting them near the mare as I held the position. Rose started to communicate to the mare as she inspected the wound, relaying everything to me. “Her name is Daffodil, the wound is piercing through her entire shoulder. Administering painkillers before moving onward with wound stabilization.” Here we were again, plugging up the gaps in weaker lines in our downtime as opposed to taking out train tracks, assassinating some leader.. This felt like busy work if anything else for a team of our caliber. Nonetheless, I was glad that one of the best medics in all the lands was treating this gifted flower mare.

“Hey Daffodil. My name is Angel, this is my wife, Rose. She’ll make sure that you get home alright, understand? It looks like you’ll get to be closer to your mother than you expected. I’ll see what I can do to get you in the same room as her.” She weakly smiled as I made sure my hot brass flew past her, as opposed to on her. Rose smiled as I tried to keep her patient distracted from her wound, and the charging lines of zebras that were coming for blood. Maybe coming out here wasn’t so bad after all, even if it wasn’t quite my pace. It was certainly something else to be working alongside our standard infantry out in this war, and learn their stories.

Not that it mattered anymore, as most of them were killed in the blast of balefires.
It’s a rare case to come across those that you see once on the battlefield. Just like they always said..

“In war, you see ponies, but not ponykind.” It was something that weighed heavy on my metal heart, especially in her case. I couldn’t help but wonder what happened to her mother, and if she had seen her one last time before the world as we knew it became a product of battle, and hate. And that young colt, where was his family? Had they survived the blasts, or was he an orphan from the start? There’s a strange sensation that fills my body when I think of the broken faces I see all around me. Was there even a fucking shred of hope in this Alicorn-Forsaken wasteland? What happened to all of the sweet, smiling faces and proud soldiers that I saw on the daily when I was back home to rest?

What the fuck were any of us thinking?

Chapter 1: Love and Blood

I felt the wind blow across my cheek as I laid in that hide, surrounded in dirt and the spent casings my rifle spit out. The moon was high above us all, casting down a blue cloak to shadow the lands below; Luna gave us her precious blessing of night. My right wing slid up to a small lever on my scope and flipped it, turning the deep blue to a vivid green, every little shred of light being used to augment my vision in the dark. The outpost was ahead of me, a very minimum of five-hundred meters. I’ve made longer shots, but the random gusts of wind would require extra calculations.

My radio buzzed at me, then started to speak out with a staticy yet strong voice. “I’ve got two of them, southwest. Eleven o'clock of your position. They’re under the blue sign.”

I simply set my feather on the top of the small box attached to my shoulder and sent in my response. “Roger, fire in thirty.” My rifle pivoted on the bipod beneath it, turning the barrel to face my new target. Through my magnified view, I could see the two striped heads standing guard, beneath a blue sign. My wing started to shift around once more, feather turning the turrets of my scope to compensate for distance, and then finally wind. My crosshair was right on the head of the striped devil, a final glance at my watch told me it was time. My feather squeezed back on the trigger, pushing the stock of my rifle into my shoulder as it let out a whisper, a second shot heard to my seven o’clock.

The radio started buzzing at me again as both of the zebras dropped to the ground, both having a perfect hole right through their heads. “The bastards didn’t even see it coming. Vogel is on point; Candy, Jacks, and Rose are behind him. They’re breaching in ten.”

Again, I clicked down on the box and sent my dull reply to the stallion on the other side. “So what are you doing when you get home?”

“Oh you know. I’ll probably take my wife out to dinner, you know.. ‘wife’, only if it’s on behalf of the Ministry of Morale.” Our hushed chuckles filled the radio waves until our radios were silent, then a sudden sigh came from the other end.

Here was the gruff voice we both expected, but didn’t know when it would come through. “Angel, Shadow, will you shut the fuck up? You’re going to get us killed.” Jacks didn’t take kindly to small talk; he was the one we all teased for being way too serious out here.

“Yeah yeah I hear you. Movement spotted from the window labeled as W-6, be advised. Angel out.” I shut my radio down and lifted up, stretching out under the shroud the moon had given to us. My wings spread out for a moment before retracting back in, resting on the charcoal gray cloak that was over my black uniform. I checked each of the pouches on my sides, counting my ammo and apple bars before reaching down and lifting my rifle up, slinging it over my back. Many ponies would prefer a battle saddle, but Shadow and I were special cases to this. He could just use his telekinesis to operate his rifle, and my wings were flexible enough to do anything I could possibly ask for.

Down on my haunches I went, my hoof lifted up to stroke back my black mane, letting the white streaks shine through underneath. There were times those little spikes of hair would get in the way of my vision, and that just wouldn’t cut it out here. I pulled up my hood, letting it mat down my mane while I started to pack up the camouflaged netting I was provided with. Whispers filled my radio, followed by the occasional ‘thud’ of a zebra falling to the ground. Everypony just assumed it was your typical throat-slicing, done by Vogel. He was a rough griffin, but he could pour a stiff drink.

Rose was always extremely focused on making sure any little wound be treated, almost if she was obsessed with the idea of keeping every single little wound patched up. If you would trip on anything around her she felt the need to do a full-body examination just to be sure nothing was hurt.. Or maybe that was just me. Even if she was a little hoofsy at times, I still loved everything about her. I couldn’t wait for her to find the little box I stashed under her pillow back home.

Jacks came back up on the radio, sending messages out for the snipers of the team, Shadow and Myself. “Listen up, we’ve got this place secured. Blueprints are in hoof, we’re pulling back. Meet us at the rendezvous point in exactly one hour, understand?”

He got two answers, almost at the exact same time. “Copy that.” I had everything already packed up, either resting in my pack or across my back. Up came my compass, then I turned to the north and began to walk up the black hill, stepping over fallen branches and shards of steel that dug into the hillside. My smaller frame made it difficult to clear some inclines on the hillside, but going airborne would give us all away, and considering we didn’t exactly officially exist, that would lead to myself and five others finding ourselves six feet under.

I cleared the crest of the hill and started to make my way down the other side, letting my wings stretch out to carry me to the bottom, the wind from the inclined jump being sufficient to keep me from moving my wings, and being spotted. Down the hill I went, my tail and cloak flapping in the breeze before I stopped at the other side of the hill, landing and sitting. There was Shadow, the white unicorn shook his head and simply face-hoofed.

He sounded just like Jacks in his speech, lecturing me for even using my wings out here. That didn’t really intimidate any of us, his voice wasn’t deep enough to even make a filly jump.

“Angel, you know you aren’t supposed to do that.” He shot me a rather condescending gaze with his blood-red eyes.

“If we’re talking protocol, I’m pretty sure trying to hook up with squad members in the field isn’t allowed either. You know my barn door doesn’t swing that way, and I’m already pretty serious with Rose. You know we’ve been dating for a few months, right? Now shut up before the striped devils hear anything.” That shut him up pretty quickly, the damned smartass.

The team of four came down from the northeastern side of the hill, walking in a near-perfect diamond formation before sitting around at the dip in the landscape. Vogel pulled a bottle of apple whiskey from his smaller chest-sling pack and took a sip. Jacks counted the shotgun shells left in his combat shotgun battle saddle, the strange looking suppressors always reminded me of him. Bald and blunt. The griffin next to him offered a sip of the whiskey, but Jacks declined. Candy, the white mare with a rather simple brown mane started to check her pocket mirror, looking at her mane and blue eyes. Jacks, the bald and blue, shot her a disapproving gaze. Candy just blocked herself off with her wings, hiding from Jacks.

Rose came and sat next to me, gazing up at the stars while she rested her head on my shoulder. Her white coat sparkled in the dark, and her golden mane.. Unf, she was a looker. She gave me a soft gaze with her emerald eyes, then she gave a kiss to my cheek. Her soft voice started to swim in my ears, even a soft phrase from her would melt me into a puddle, I swear.

“So Angel, you didn’t take any hits did you? No wounds for me to examine? Maybe later you’ll bump your hoof against something?” Jacks didn’t like this soft, near-bedroom talk from Rose. He spat out the list of protocols we were to follow while on duty, and getting too personal with one another was the first he read on the list of many.

“Hey, fuck you too. I’m trying to spend time with my Marefriend, okay? We can’t even get into each other’s uniform without tripping the magic seal on them, you know they’d call a Broken Feather if we were compromised. I don’t think we’re really feeling like getting executed for something like that.” Jacks shut up just as quickly as Shadow did before.

Vogel’s bottle was being passed around now, his death stares getting to Jacks a bit faster than any kind of insubordination write-ups would. The griffin gave it to Candy first, and then half of the bottle was gone. Next was Rose who only took a quick sip, and then to myself. I just lifted it up and took a small sip, not even a shot’s worth before handing it to Shadow. Rose covered it up in her magical aura and pulled away from his lips each time he would go for a sip, and when he was pulling the hardest she would let him pull the bottle into his muzzle. I loved her spunk.

§§§

Our train car was adorned with fine, red woods. The table in the center was rectangular and bland, but we always had cards and bottles atop of it, so we never really noticed. The red cushions under us were okay, but somepony always brought soft blankets or even pillows to make them that much better. The three males were on one of the bench seats, us mares across from the stallions and griffin. We each had a chest for our weapon of choice, the bulky cases suspended above us, each labeled and stamped for travel. Even though we could change attire, we all sat there in our uniforms. Shadow and Myself in our dark gray fatigues with a cloak snapped on from our necks. Vogel was wearing his thick chest plate underneath the chest-sling he always wore around. Rose had her mild gray uniform with yellow and pink markings on her shoulders, a sling across her back that held a fully packed up medical kit. Candy and Jacks were in a stone green outfit, metal inserts around the sides and on the back to help ease the load of their heavy weapons.

Cards were passed around and back, glasses were filled up high from bottles, and bits were traded with every new card game. Rose never played too much, but she would sure help me make calls on what I should do. This was technically against the rules, but the relationship card was always played if anything was said. Jacks was always flank-hurt when he lost to Rose and myself, so he would blow smoke from his cigarette into my face; I would cough every single time. This was my family, the six of us would party just as hard as we would fight. We didn’t officially exist in the eyes of the Ministries or even the Royal Councils, but we certainly got benefits (within reason).

The occupants of this rowdy train car were responsible for taking down seven zebra forward headquarters, but we always just called them clusterfucks. Total body count was approximately nine-hundred and seventy-five, and the worst we suffered was a basic bullet wound or two. Up my glass went, my wings guiding it into the air while I looked around the table.

“Cheers to the meanest, toughest, sons and daughters of Luna!” Up went the glasses, and with a ‘clink!” we were all downing a shot. Jacks looked around the table and blew out a puff of his smoke, then put it out in the tray before he spoke up.

“Alright, we get exactly four days before we meet up again to get sent off. I’ll give you details when we’re in the field again. Rose, Angel, this is your stop.”

The train was coming to a halt, and up I went. Rose just used her telekinesis to lift up the weapon crates, my highly precise rifle and her cute little submachine gun, both in their ugly green cases that were hovering behind us as we stepped off the train, the smoke flaring up again as it went down the tracks once more. We stood and gazed up at the massive wooden sign above the station that read “Germaney Train Station.” We were home, and there was little doubt of what we were going to do with our four days.

§§§

We sat on our crimson sofa, laying back and relaxing with a single bowl of popcorn between us, two tall glasses of Sparkle~Cola sitting on cork coasters on our black wooden table. We let the light of the television be the primary source of light in our room, the moonlight from the skylights only doing so much through windows we desperately needed to clean. She sat in her pink, fuzzy pajamas, and I relaxed myself in the same set, but in a deep purple. Our slippers went up as we looked at each other, having a giggle as we thought of the same thing at the same time. This was perfect, sitting closely to the one you love with a bowl of popcorn and a film, this was the life.

It felt like it was 1AM before we even got out of the soft seating, our empty bottles and bowl that was nearly licked-clean just sat on our table while we got up and went to our bedroom, falling right on the bed. We looked around at the burgundy walls, then our black wood wardrobes and nightstands sat on our sides of the room. A lamp sat on each of our stands, hers made of healing potion bottles, mine made of artillery shells that were filled up with holes.

A grin was plastered on my face while I laid out, hooves under my head while my wings stretched out fully, one sliding under Rose and rolling her closely. I kept looking right up, just until her head laid on her pillow, and a pressure point made for a rather uncomfortable spot. She looked rather confused, and then she pulled her pillow up to see what was under it. A plush, velvet black box sat under her red pillow, then she lifted it up. I clicked off my lamp, her horn doing the same out of habit, then I closed the curtains that surrounded our bed. The black veil surrounded us as she opened the box, then nearly flew into the air.

The golden hind hoof band sparkled in her eyes, the shapes of vines curling over each other made for a complete circle, only being put further up in beauty by the massive diamond in the center that was shaped like a rose, each little cut in the stone glimmered in her beautiful emerald eyes. Her voice was at a shout, constantly squeeing while she bounced around the bed.

“Angel! Oh Princesses is this.. A-are you..? Is this what I think it is?!?”

All I could do was smile while my eyes closed, my wing holding her closer. “Rose, will you marry me?”

I could’ve sworn the windows behind our bed were about to shatter from her high-pitched excitement, even the deep red velvet curtains wouldn’t save us from flying shards of glass.

“Yes yes yes yes yes!” I understand excitement, but I could’ve sworn my ears started to bleed, so I hushed her with a deep kiss.

The morning sun turned our red room even more red when the light tried to push through the curtains, the dulled light piercing even through our veil. My head slowly lifted up off of the pillow, a groan coming from my muzzle as I felt just how messy my mane was. Rose had a seriously messy mane of her own, even the feathers on my wings were ruffled. She was wrapped up in my right wing, golden locks spreading out on my gray feathers. I didn’t want to wake her rudely, so I simply used my left wing to draw the curtains around our bed open, letting more of the light flood in.

Her eyes slowly opened, followed by her letting out a cute yawn and stretch. That golden band looked amazing around her left hind hoof, the diamond shimmering red from the dyed light around us. She finally rolled out of bed and hit the soft carpet below with a thud, then gave me a giggle for assurance that she was just fine. I couldn’t help but snicker as I got up on my hooves, making my way into our bathing room. In the middle was an ornate bathtub, golden claws held it up off of the tiles. I was more interested in the rich wooden vanity we had sitting near the door, a large, framed mirror held up above it.

I started to wet my hooves, then patted down my mane before grabbing my brush, holding it up with my wings to work it through my mane. The white streaks were shining through the black strips, the brush flicking around to make sure my bangs were spiked out as I liked them. I wiped my eyes off, then batted them in the mirror. The pale silver gazed right back at me, then I started to look at my gray wings. They were a serious mess, just until a floating brush started to run through them. Damn she was perfect.

§§§

We went out into the streets, she was in a loosely fitting red dress, I was pretty certain she had a thing for red now. I was in a lavender dress, mine was slightly tighter on the fit, but I think that was partly to the vigorous training I endured just to get in the squad of lovable rejects. Muscles generally aren’t accounted for in clothing size, especially for a mare of a smaller frame. We started down the stone streets, walking past several white buildings with dark wood planks across everything they could be nailed to, the same wood was used for roof shingles that were simply given a coat of waterproofing wax. Tradition was expensive sometimes, but many of these ponies had lavish interiors to their old homes.

It seemed like everypony was out today, the sun high above with minimal cloud coverage, a warm yet crisp temperature kept us all comfortable in this more mountainous area of the Germanian capital, Germaney itself. The tall, snow capped mountains surrounded us, water falling from the sides of massive rock faces fed our rivers and streams, which would then go into our sophisticated filtering systems, then into our pipes. We had no need for a water talisman, especially when you had the freshest water just a gallop away from your front door.

Large pines surrounded the entire city, if one could even call it a city. It was more like a massive, homey village that housed our vital buildings for places of business and trade, as well as our hub for the Ministry of Awesome. Many pegasi lived here, but more earth ponies filled the streets than any of us did. Few unicorns called this home, but my wife and a few others were highly valued for their abilities to assist in the fine tuning of certain things that hooves simply couldn’t.

We went to the local bakery for our breakfast, fresh rolls with apple topping were a local favorite. Our orchards always produced the richest, finest apples anypony could ask for. They were in such demand that half of the city’s population worked on the orchards or were out to deliver them to the surrounding cities and hamlets that lined our massive, green mountains. You could always see smoke floating into the sky from the locations of the many hamlets and towns that made up our productive lands. We produced many items that were highly prized in the heartland of our world, Equestria. Gold and silver was a favorite, as well as the tree bark and charcoal we capsulized and shipped out, two items that had natural healing abilities. They could stop a headache, or even speed up cell regeneration rates. No wonder it was common to see ponies in their nineties walking around like they were still middle-aged ponies.

Our trip to the bakery was then followed by a stop at the local markets, open air stalls lined our city center, a circle of stone streets and flank-high stone walls that were circling the greatest tree that anypony had ever seen. It was simply known as the Elder, for that very tree had outlived anypony our lands had seen. From the very first day Germaney was settled and it consisted of a single hoof-full of ponies, it stood there. The massive roots dug deeply into the soil, some even crawled over the stones stacked around it, and down into any place it could taste soil. A single drop of sap from this tree could heal anything, or so they say. I never bought it, considering sap was sticky. I didn’t like sticky things… No wonder I prefer mares.

§§§

The night was upon us faster than we would’ve hoped for, casting massive shadows from the mountains. Our nights weren’t too dark, as there was very little to no light that would conceal the gift of Luna herself, a sky full of stars and the beautiful, glowing moon. Galactic dust was flooding the sky tonight, showing us bright streaks of deep purples and blues contrasting off of the silver stars. This was the perfect night to sit on the roof, sip a fine hard cider, and play my stringed instrument for my beloved.

I learned how to play the guitar with my wings when I was young. My mother would help me sing and write songs when father would teach me how to use a rifle of a higher caliber. It was simply family tradition, if not Germanian tradition. All ponies were expected to learn one talent from each parent, many stuck to painting and clay working. I prefered my guitar and rifle, but nothing could make music like my stringed box. The rosewood body of my guitar held the best sounds that anypony could hear. I began to play, my soft feathers caressing the strings.

I played melody after melody my mother had taught me, then I went off to making something of my own. Rose laid on her side while she watched me treat the instrument with the most care, each sound coming out crisp and without excess. What better way to tie it all together than with soft singing.

Oh we live in the rain

The seas of gray

Only to be pulled into a brighter day

Every step and every stride

Brings more honor from the skies

The water brings in new life

And brings in a brighter night

I could tell now I had a small crowd sitting in front of our home, listening to my music that I pulled out of the strings, some of them even slowly moving to the sound of the strings and my voice. My vocals weren’t the best anypony had heard, that had to go to Sweetie Bell, but I could try.

Through every day and every fight

I know you’ll always be by my side

The darkness crumbles

And bows to the light

With every day we try our best

To make things better for the rest

Hoofs and hearts held to our chests

I love you, Rose.

The cheers from below startled me, I hadn’t even noticed them all sitting down below, like I was upon a magical stage. Instead of singing on or stopping, I kept pulling on the strings. Shooting stars blazed through the painted sky, and torchbugs started to light up the night. I’d never performed for these many ponies, and I wasn’t going to mess up my first actual show.

Day broke through the mystical night we were blessed with, and the sun touched my coat directly. I lifted my head up and wiped my eyes, looking at the roof that I had fallen asleep on. Rose was also up here, even some of the ponies from the night before were asleep in front of our home. I didn’t know I was actually playing that well, or that I could pull something like that off. A golden maned pony lifted up her head and looked around, simply letting out a giggle as she saw where we were. Well, I’ve gotten up in stranger places during my youth.

§§§

Before we could even realize where the time had gone, we were back on the train, trying our best to relax in the stiff seats. The stacked pillows only did so much for something that felt like a loaf of ten year old bread.

“Ooh Rose, what’s that there around your hind hoof?” Candy was already speaking up, pointing at the golden band Rose had, the length of her uniform not quite concealing it entirely.

The train car as roaring with laughter and cheers as I had told them what happened, and then how the night after went. For a group of highly trained soldiers, we knew how to have a good time. That’s all you really could do in wartime like this, if you didn’t keep yourself above the floods and fires, you’d sink and drown in the ashes.

Jacks finally spoke up, tossing out a pile of documents on the surprisingly empty table. “Alright, now that we’ve all had our fun.. We’re being sent deep in this time, we’re talking at least a week behind the zebra lines.” He started to point at places on the map, then circling key areas and drawing out paths we would take, and finally the supply drops we would receive. “So, when we get into checkpoint Alpha, we radio into base. Halfway from there and Bravo they’ll drop in our first batch of supplies. Same is true for the next three checkpoints. Finally, we reach our target, their forward weapons storage. We are to infiltrate and destroy everything they have, this will put heavy pressure on their command and they’ll have to fall back. Once they lose this position, they lose the war.”

There was a shared nod between all of us, then the rowdiness sparked up again. Many of the other passengers were just basic foot soldiers, or were massive crates of supplies that would be delivered by the Ministry Heads to increase morale and combat prowess. I don’t think I’ve watched a pony just fall over and die after seeing Fluttershy herself starting to patch up the wounded.

All of our radios started to buzz, sending through static and then, clarity. “All pony units, be advised! Our rail lines are being destroyed as we speak! All transport trains are to stop immediately, and are to be evacuated with all supplies and ponies out of there! We’re ex--” Then the signal cut out. A mutual “Oh shit!” filled the car as we all grabbed our gear, throwing it on as fast as possible. We didn’t care about the weapon’s cases, but only the weapons inside. All of us were armed, geared up, and ready to get into whatever mess was ahead of us. Just until the brakes started squealing, but with little success.

The train had started to fall off the bridge we were crossing, and car by car it fell into the valley below. There wasn’t a single doubt about what we would be coming out into, there had to have been scouts in the area, or spies up top. My thoughts quickly came to a halt as our car hit the side the valley edge, turning everything black instantly.

“Angel! Hey, get the fuck up! You’re bleeding everywhere.. Fuck, Angel is hit! I repeat, Angel is hit!” The griffin that was standing above me held an assault rifle with his talons, sending fire out into the ambush we found ourselves in. He had us behind a destroyed train car with a large crate of ammo behind us, something that we would certain need. My vision faded out again everything seeming to be so distant from reality, like I was almost dreaming out of my own body.

Rose dove from the closest car to the right of us, putting all of her attention right onto me. I heard Candy’s machine guns spitting fire down at the treeline that was in front of us, our backs right up against the rock wall that we were passing just a moment ago. Jacks had his grenade launcher thumping as soon as he could toss another shell in, and Shadow was taking single shots, each finding its mark. I could see the light traces of blood on all of them, Candy having her hind leg wrapped up with white bandage, Vogel had his wings wrapped in some areas as well.

The edges of my vision became blurry, a blue tone surrounding everything around me, the feeling of pressure was slamming down on my chest. I tried to move my hooves and wings, but Rose held me down as her horn started glowing, bandages floating up with other spells being shot out of her horn. I just gave her a weak smile, laying my head back while breathing shallowly.

“Don’t you dare lay your head down on me, Angel! Keep your head up and keep your eyes open, do you understand?” Rose was nearly screaming at me, a red substance covering her hooves while she pressed down on my shoulders to keep me still. My head lifted up slowly, but the strain on my muscles was almost too much to even do that.

“Rose..Hehe. You know you look like uh.. Like an angel..” My speech was becoming slurred, the words bleeding into one another as the sounds of gunfire and explosions were echoing off of every surface around me, making the entire environment shake with anxiety. I could hear Shadow yelling into the radio, he was clearly pissed at whoever was on the other end. My hearing started to fade as Rose was holding four things up in the air at once, almost as if she was conducting field surgery on me. Was it really that bad?

My head slowly lifted up once more, just long enough for my eyes to focus on the length of steel protruding from my chest. So that’s what was making that sensation of pressure, a massive steel spike had ran me through. I couldn’t even tell what it was after a moment, everything starting to double and even triple, bubbles polluting my vision while I could hear my guitar putting out the sweet music it was so capable of.

“Rosie.. Oh Rosie you’re so silly..” That’s when the shouting really started. It felt like all five voices of my squad members were becoming more and more frantic, even if they were holding their own. Our line and cover was strong, all the striped devils had was a treeline and a couple of rocks. They couldn’t advance a single meter against us without being shredded by the symphony of gunfire that echoed all around me, even when the sounds were becoming dull and slow.

The clouds started to roll in from above at what I could tell was almost an instant, sending down rain just as soon as I watched them come flooding in. It started with a few drops, then turned to a heavy downpour. The bandages were becoming soaked with water and blood, leaving an even bigger puddle of liquids around me. Thunder was followed by cheers, but I didn’t see any flashes of lights. All I could see were layers of colors and duplicates surrounding me in my entirely. This wasn’t thunder, it was an explosive barrage.

Vogel stood guard with Shadow, Jacks and Candy came galloping over to assist Rose in the procedure. My eyes were becoming heavier and heavier, until everything faded into nothingness. The screams in my ears were fading out and echoing, reverberating through my senses until it all stopped completely. Goodbye, world. Rose. Jacks. Shadow. Vogel. Candy. Mother and Father. I’ll see you all again soon.

§§§

The sound of silence was soon replaced with shouting once more, and the sound of metallic voices being forced through filters. My wings twitched, my hooves trying so desperately to just move a little. Then, my front hoof started to feel around me, looking for any clue of what had happened. My eyes were far too heavy for me to open up, but I could slowly move my head around. I knew I was still laying on.. Something. A warm embrace surrounded my body, something that I needed, and dearly.

A liquid forced its way through my blood vessels, feeling almost as though I was being dropped into water, but from the inside out.

“A..Angel? Angel please wake up..!” Rose’s voice was still just as sweet as I remembered, but when I opened my eyes, I wasn’t greeted by the white unicorn. Instead I saw a ghostly figure standing above me, this thing had just mimicked Rose’s voice. I felt so pissed, yet not an emotion went from thought to action. Instead, I stood on my hooves. The figure was standing right beside me, but then turned me to face downward. There I was laying on the meadow, Shadow and Vogel still firing down at the treeline, but then ceased as pegasi in black, almost insect-like armor flew above head and started to fill the forest up with a laser light show.

Candy was holding Rose, slowly stroking her back as Rose sobbed into her. Jacks stood with a radio, reporting in a casualty. In the middle of this all, my uniform, cloak, mane and coat were all stained with a shade of crimson. There I was, dead. This figure beside me had finally started to become more visible as I felt my grasp falling on reality, and life. I stopped staring at the metal chunk through my chest and looked over to the figure, now I knew who it was.

She was beautiful, more than I could’ve ever hoped for. Her coat was a beautiful midnight blue, her eyes just as stunning but in a lighter shade. Her wings were extended, and her horn was glowing like a lantern. The cosmic mane freely flowed through this empty space, almost as if it was just natural for it to keep moving. Her voice was just as appealing as her body was, filling my ears with a sweet melody of a tone.

“Hello, Angel. I’m the princess that you loved so dearly when you were young. What happened to all of that? You gave me the occasional ‘Thank you’ for the night, but you seemed so distant. Even my sister feels as though your love for us has come to a halt.”

“Princess.. Luna? Is that actually you? O-oh I’m.. I’m dead. Aren’t I? What will Rose do, how is my squad going to handle this, what about Germaney..”

“Angel. Calm yourself. I have traveled a great way and have taken much of my energy and time just to come to you. Your armored pegasi friends are fighting off the zebras that put you in this very position. Your squad, as you can tell, are trying to hold themselves together. I want to make this clear to you, Angel. I’m doing this because I know what your future holds, and how you will reach it. For now, enjoy your wife, and enjoy everything you are so blessed to have.” A sweet tone that soon turned to an echo in my ears, an echo that was replaced with radio chatter, the sound of laser weaponry being fired, and quiet humming that was to relax Rose.

My eyes slowly opened up, only making it about halfway to their full view before I couldn’t lift my lids anymore. I could hear Jacks, Shadow, and Vogel say the exact same thing at the exact same time. “Her eyes! They’re open!”

The weeping Rose focused her flooded eyes to me, her horn glowing once more as bandages floated through the air, and then so did I. Candy gave out a gasp as she watched me lift up and off of the steel with the help of Rose. By no law of any type of life should I be alive right now, the blood that had pooled and matted to my fur was far more than anypony could be without. Three of the armored pegasi came back to the pile of train cars, and all were shocked to see my eyes open, and responsive. Two had lifted me up, one lifting Rose off of the ground as we flew through the air, right to the place these pegasi had come from.

The only place that had the magic and technology to save me was in Canterlot, something that would take hours to fly to. These pegasi were flying mach five, or at least that’s what it felt like. Everything was still so dull in sensation and sound, even my sight was still floating around within my own head. Everything was dark again within an instant, all of my sensations ceasing once more.

§§§

I could see a large, white alicorn now. She was adorned with gold regalia, her soft eyes trained right on me with her mane flowing in the wind, but instead of being a cosmos, she had a mix of sky blue and pink, some even looking to be purple. Her voice was deeper than her sister’s, and it even sounded wiser in more than one way. Every word of hers echoed within my mind, now it was time for Celestia to speak to me.

“Angel. My sister was just with you, and I believe you had a conversation. You’re on the way to us right now, and you’d better be prepared to open your eyes and feel something alien within you. Our options are very limited when it comes to you, and we’re using every resource we have to ensure your survival. If you die, your entire squad effectively becomes useless. Rose would be in mourning, Jacks would be out of a sniper, Shadow wouldn’t have any pony to work with. I imagine you can see my problem.”

I simply nodded my head, looking around at the pure black that surrounded us. “Yes Princess, I see your problem. We are one of your most elite strike teams, and I don’t believe we have been outdone yet. Will.. Will Rose be okay? I know she’s probably crying out every last bit of energy she has in her body but.. Will she be okay?”

The response I got wasn’t at all what I was expecting, if anything it felt more grim that I would’ve expected. “Angel, I cannot answer that for you. Rose is one of the best combat medics we currently have, she even beats out Fluttershy in medical ability. We assigned her to your team for good reason, and once we saw your love blossom we knew that it was the right choice. Things won’t be what you want them to be forever, Angel. For now, however, you have an appointment with a very loveable pony.”

Princess Celestia and the black around her turned to white walls with blue accent painting, bright lights above me and the steady beep of a monitor. There they were, four of my friends standing around the bed I was laying in, the fifth was right next to me, her arms wrapped tightly around me. They all grinned and waved as my eyes trained to them, Rose planting a kiss on my muzzle.

“Agh.. my head hurts. So uh..how long have I been out?” My question was rather dumb, they were probably expecting something more like ‘Oh I’m alive!’ or something like ‘Well now I’m stuck here.’ They all looked to the mare sharing my small hospital bed, and she had answered my question.

“Well dear, it’s been about a week since we brought you in here. I didn’t leave your side, and the others were in here every day to see how you were doing. They all got here as fast as they could when they heard that the Princesses had come and cast some kind of spell on you after the unicorns had surrounded you in a ball of light..”

I wrapped my forehooves around Rose, my wings following just the same. The rest of the squad had waved goodbye, leaving behind things for me. Candy left a bag of mints, Vogel, a bottle of apple whiskey. Jacks leaned my rifle against the wall, and Shadow left a new marksmare’s uniform for me.

“So the Princesses and some unicorns had come in and..and they healed me? Just like that?” Rose nodded, and then cut in with a sentence.

“Well, they did.. But you needed something to replace your heart. They said it looked like a popped balloon when they got a look at it. Now you have something designed by Twilight Sparkle herself, it’s some kind of heart that recharges itself with each beat, so it basically never runs out of charge. Just don’t over do it for a while, overload the heart and the magic matrix inside will explode.”

“I’m not going to be able to go anywhere for awhile, Rose. My legs are kinda numb and I doubt I could even stand on them if I had to. But, if we’re having an extended vacation in Canterlot, I wouldn’t mind a more private room like, say, in a hotel, and a few of my things as well, but..you know.” I looked around at the typical hospital setting, then saw an amulet hanging from the left side of the bed. A circle, half the sun, the other the moon. They really did save me, and just for some tactical advantage? I guess we really were the best that never existed.

§§§

Our new extended stay room was much more comfortable, the walls were a rich blue, the chairs and sofa were a dark purple in their upholstery. The windows gazed outward from the mountain range, far out onto everything Equestria had to offer. Ranging forests and hills were as far as anypony could naturally see, making for something I’d actually love to have done up in a painting.

We spent plenty of time on the sofa, laying back in our pajamas while watching films, the popcorn and Sparkle~Colas seeming to be on a never-ending supply. Rose let her head lay on my shoulder, and I gladly wrapped a wing around her. Our favorite pastime was now what we’d be doing for the next week until they’ve examined the functions of the heart, and determine if I’m actually cleared to go home, or better, back into the battle.

“Rose, in the time that I was out, what happened? As far as the war goes anyway, I’m curious to know how things are looking out there.”

“Well. they’ve sent Big Macintosh out to fight. I don’t take that as a good sign, same with the Ministry heads. They’ve been all over the front lines.”

My heart sank as she said such things, I never thought that failing to destroy their cache would lead to such dire things so quickly. Now I was set on getting out of here and back into the fight, but doing something far more effective than just taking out a few weapons. I wanted to destroy their supply lines, just like they did with ours.

“Rose, I want to destroy the supply lines the zebras use.” She gave me a rather surprised look, then just shook her head.

“Look, Angel, I know you want to get back into everything.. But you need to think about yourself a bit here too. As much as I’d love to get right back everything with you, I want to be sure you’re in fighting shape. I’m your wife, you’re my wife, and as that I’m going to make sure I can do everything I can.

Sweet, just as always. I felt like I was home whenever she would wrap herself around me, like I could just fall asleep in her arms at any time. I did fall asleep in her arms a few times while going through the Princess’ film collections, of course some of the films we were given weren’t exactly suited for this kind of environment, and it only raised questions. Well, the Princesses have needs too!

The Canterlot Gardens were just as beautiful as Mother always told me they were, a never-ending maze of any kind of plant life you would find in all of Equestria and onward, Everything was so vibrant, lively greens with lush tones made the viewing experience so much better. This was also the best place for anypony to have a marriage, as demonstrated with Shining Armor and Cadence. I wish I could have a dress just like hers, but I doubt I could pull it off. Her coat and mane are vibrant and bright, mine are just simple and dull. I guess instead of looks, I was given a few other great things.

We went back to our room after enjoying a day of walking in the gardens. A lab coat garbed unicorn came in, his dark brown coat showing brightly from under the white lab coat. He had a black mane that fell to one side, just out of the way of his spectacles. He left behind a machine, it looked like one of those machines you’d go and mess around with at a bar. Vit-O-Matic Vigor Tester Machine. Okay, this I had to try. The unicorn simply bowed and walked out, leaving it with us. I stood up with Rose right beside me, my hoof wrapping around the middle lever of the wooden machine, lights surrounding the glass display shining to the touch.

I watched as the display started showing rollers with different markings on them, starting with Strength, then, Perception, all the way down to Luck. Seven attributes were starting to be calculated just by touch. Then, it showed me the results with rather goofy images to show off each attribute. Strength - 3, Perception - 13, - Endurance - 2, Charisma - 1, Intelligence - 6, Agility - 13, Luck - 0. The machine burst into flames once it showed the 0 reading on luck, something I don’t think it was meant to do.

Rose and I were throwing Sparkle~Colas all over the machine, causing it to spark up and finally just end with a low smoke that filled the room. We opened up the windows, then I used my wings to push the smoke out of the window. “Sweet Luna I don’t think that was supposed to happen.. Though.. Of all of the places I could’ve landed after the wreck, that’d make sense.” We had a good laugh about that one.

The unicorn came back and looked at the machine, and simply hovered a clipboard and pencil to write his findings. Oh okay, this was a study to see how the heart would affect me and if things would be normal. He traded out the ruined machine for a different type of skill calculator, but it was on a small screen with a box around it. Rose and I both looked at it, scratching our heads at first until green text flooded the screen, finally ending up with a sheet that looked like abilities.

It started to select and point out different abilities that were a perfect reflection of me, skills with rifles, sniping abilities, sneak, even my ability to seduce mares, even when my charismatic readings were a flop. Light Step, Penetrator, Miss Sandpony. I set the machine down, hoping that the readings would stop. I didn’t like the idea of somepony knowing every single thing about me, especially when we were never meant to exist.

§§§

Rose had her soft coat laid on top of mine, something that was rather common between us. She was exhausted from the previous sleepless nights, her eyes didn’t even close once when I was sleeping. She cared so much about my well being she was willing to sacrifice her own, something that so few ponies would be willing to do. There were so few ways I could actually express my love to her in the same amounts she could just easily show me with a single action. I held onto the sun and moon amulet, whispering a prayer to the Princesses.

“Celestia and Luna.. Rose shows me how much she loves me with so little effort, and.. I was wondering if you could help. I know that it was a massive ordeal for you two to save my life like you did, and you both told me to enjoy everything so.. Here it is. I want to be able to show her that I love her, and I want to be able to show it just like she does.”

Her golden mane lifted up, showing me her emerald eyes. “You’d go as far as to pray to the Princesses for me, Angel?” She wasn’t meant to hear that, but I guess I couldn’t keep it from her forever.

“Yes Rose, I did pray to them. I just.. You show me so much love every time, everywhere. I don’t know how to even begin to show my love for you, and you’re my wife. I feel ashamed almost.”

She slowly rubbed my chest with her hoof, going over the mild scar hidden under the fur. My front hooves wrapped around her back, my wings pulling up her hind hooves closer to her flank while I held her lower body with them. Her eyes shut, all of her relaxing body while I held her close to me.

“This is how you show me your love, sweet Angel. These small things are what I enjoy, and you do them all of the time, not even realizing it sometimes. We both do it and we both think the same thing, love.”

I smiled and laid my head back, closing my eyes. I didn’t think it was already so late in the day, night even, but our pure level of exhaustion was enough to prove it was. I wish we had a clock in the room. We just slept on the sofa, the television still playing through the movies that were given to us. It was just like home again.

Some of the unicorns wearing their lab coats had checked in on me during the night, not daring to disturb us as we slept soundly on the soft sofa. They jotted down notes and send them via magic straight to Splendid Valley, right to Twilight Sparkle’s primary lab. The glowing balls of light went back and forth from the magic schools of Canterlot to the primary lab out in the distance, letters sent between scientist ponies relating to my new heart. I don’t like the idea of ponies watching me while I sleep, but I had such a soft, sweet smelling mare laying on me.. I would be dreaming if my eyes opened up either way.

I’ve been here about four days now, and I’m starting to get anxious when it comes to my heart. I know that Twilight has been working on something rather important, but she could at least spare a moment to make the flight to Canterlot for a few hours. The unicorns didn’t give me anything in the answer department, either they weren’t authorized or these were the brand new students. I was hoping that I could get some information, and soon. I wanted to go back home, enjoy some time with my wife, then get back into the field.

Rose and I were both laying in the rather large bath together, the whole thing seeming as though it was meant for a rather large alicorn, or perhaps even a small swimming pool for the basic pony. Either way, we had it full of hot water and bubbles as we just floated around in the water. We would occasionally bump into each other and smile, other times we would not pay much attention and end up bumping into each other in ways that were inappropriate, especially with the occasional monitoring from some of the scientists.

As we got out of the water and started to make use of the clean towels left in the rather lavish room, we finally got word on my condition. A rather thin mare came in wearing a lab coat four sizes too big, dragging the legs around behind her as her orange coat was only visible on her hind legs and head. She seemed nervous, almost like she was put up to this by other ponies who didn’t wish to do it themselves. Oh well, at least she was adorable!

“Miss Angel and Rose, by the looks of everything here, you’re good to go back home and do whatever you wish. I do suggest avoiding sharp objects for a while though, and find a different way to get where you need to go. I can imagine wanting to never step hoof on another train again. We’ll have notes from Twilight delivered to you before you go.” Then she turned and made her way out, showing the lime green mane and tail she had to us. She reminded me of an orange tree.

True to her word, we were given a rather long list of notes and different ways to monitor how it was holding up back at home. “Thirteen pages.. I’ll read this on the train ride back.” Rose gave me an interested gaze, then shrugged it off. “If you want to take the train, then alright. I’ll have somepony here invite the rest of our unit so we can enjoy the ride!” Always thinking two steps ahead. Sometimes I wished I could just be her.

§§§

Vogel didn’t make it easy to read through everything, his constant pouring of spirits kept me right on the verge of being too buzzed to actually pay attention to something, but he gladly kept everything coming. Candy curiously watched Rose and I as we read through the sheets together, conversing among ourselves as to how we could monitor certain things or how to avoid straining it as it was still setting. Jacks was smoking as usual, clumsily trying to shuffle his way through a deck of cards, just until Shadow used his spells to start moving it, cleanly shuffling through everything. Of course, that would be one hell of a way to rig a game, so none of us bothered with cards that day.

The train went through the mountains, giving us all stunning views of the green fields and meadows down below, even some of the forest canopies if we raised high enough to see around the rocky side of the black mountains. Smoke plumed up behind us, so trying to look behind us was a waste of time. Of course, Shadow, being the curious stallion he is, tried to get a view by sticking his head out of the window. All he got as suction that pulled the black smoke right into his face.

“Wow Shadow, you’re looking nice. Though, I think you have a small spot of something.. Oh I dunno.. All over your face?” My heart was made of metals and alloys, and yet I was still making jokes. It went over rather well, except with Shadow who was the flank of the joke. Maybe next time he won’t do something so foalish, even if his training as a long-range expert trained his eyes to lock to anything unusual. It was an amazing skill to have, especially when zebras put up a minefield in front of their valuables we needed to destroy. Maybe the savages did have brains.

The ride was rather long from Canterlot, taking us nearly two full days at the highest speed this beast could go. That left me to wonder if the magic of the Princesses had helped the pegasi fly me there even faster, considering how far we actually were from the castles. None of us dared to bring it up, two full days and not a peep about how we went flying off of a bridge and into a valley where my heart got popped like a balloon. I wasn’t sure if they were afraid to say anything, or if they just didn’t know how to start a conversation about it.

The day had soon become night, the car was silent. I stayed awake for fear of nightmares, it was my turn to watch Rose as she rested to be sure I could comfort her if need be. Jacks was passed out, Candy was rolling around mints on the table while Shadow tried to catch them in his muzzle whenever they’d roll to his side of things. Vogel looked over at me, and spoke in hushed tones.

“So Angel.. What exactly did those notes say? You can still come out and party with us in the field, right?” I couldn’t help but smile, here was a griffin that knew me well and he was asking if I would be back in the field. Come on.

“Well yeah I’m going back to the field, As far as notes go, there are a few things I do need to watch for. High doses of venom, overexposure to toxic materials could put me in a state of comatose for.. Well the notes say ‘forever’ so there’s that. I guess this also has some kind of cell regeneration device in it to make sure my body accepts it. It’s just easier to put another piece of arcane technology in me than put me on medications that may or may not work, you know? Oh, and did you grab my guitar?” I knew Vogel had a memory stronger than any living thing I knew, save the Elder tree back home. Father swore that thing could read ponies and display everything it saw about them through visions in the sap. How ridiculous.

Sure enough, up in the top luggage compartments was not only my operating gear, but my stringed instrument. I had to move closer to the edge of the bench seating, not wanting to interrupt the obvious flirting going on between Candy and Shadow, even if it was just mint-rolling. My feathers started to work their magic on the strings once more, playing soft melodic chord after chord to begin, then I found myself hitting single strings at a time while playing through chords. One pony band right here.

Jacks opened his eyes and started watching as I played on, Vogel just gazed out the window to the soft rhythm. Rose awoke and gave a smile, listening closely while Candy and Shadow had given some attention to the background noise, their fun little game continuing on while we went deeper in the mountains, and farther from Canterlot. Our windows showed passing rock structures and flowing rivers, the soft music pairing itself with the serene landscape we were passing through.

I kept playing and playing, this being the next best thing to actually being in the field, sleeping up in trees of in tents that were built to be buried, but instead we were all sitting around a table, listening to soft music and the occasional hum that came from one of the members in the room. It felt like another hour before I could actually get some sleep, the moon at its highest point in the sky showing it was around one in the morning. I sat my guitar on the table and looked around at the sleeping soldiers, then dimmed the lanterns before closing my own eyes.

There we were, laying in the middle of the valley. Smoking scraps of metal that were once train cars lined the rocky walls around us. Planks and steel railing from the track was falling around on the scene. I could hear every single bullet flying and whizzing over the train car Vogel had taken to using as cover. There was Rose, running to my rescue as I lay dying, blood running from the edge of my muzzle. As she crossed the gap between cars, she had stopped. It was thought a black hole had opened near me, for everything around me was being pulled into a void, piece by piece the world fell apart into nothingness, waste and decay. The very green valley I was laying in turned brown, dead and desolate. Every single car was rusted out into nothingness, and the smell.. All of my friends were now just piles of bones where they once stood, where they once defended me as I was breathing my last breaths.

Up I shot, getting up and trying to gallop in a single, swift motion. Instead of actually escaping the nightmare, I just hit my head against the cabin door and fell over. Not only did I just see something that horrified me, but now I looked like an idiot in front of my friends. If that wasn’t enough either, my head was hurting. What a day.

“Angel? Hey hey are you okay darling?” Rose was already right next to me, helping me stand and take my seat once more. Now I was feeling the awkward stares, not a single word was given to me, so I had just figured they wanted me to explain. “Sorry guys. Nightmare.” Nods were given, and the trip went right back to how we were the day before.

Rose held me tightly in her embrace, stroking my mane while I shut my eyes, feeling comfortable enough in her grasp to get some real rest, and not have it be interrupted. Every single rattle in the cars, shot me up from my rest, only for Rose to keep me from running and hitting my head again like an idiot. Maybe I was terrified of trains, but they were the best way to get around. The military used them for mass transports, even the royal families would make use of them for morale shows. The Ministry of Morale planned those out, though I doubted that they would dare take them after the attacks on our rails.

When the train engine finally stopped, it felt like I was the first out and onto the station platform with my belongings. Rose quickly followed behind me, her golden mane flowing through the air as she rushed to me. “Angel? Angel what’s wrong?”

“It’s just.. I know we need to take the trains for transportation, but that wreck.. It rattled me a bit more than I think I realized.” Rose couldn’t help but give me a reassuring gaze, her fore hooves wrapping around me. The other four members of our team also got off of the train with their belongings.

Vogel spoke up as they lifted up their bulky weapon crates, checking each of their pouches to make sure each were secure. “Hope you don’t mind but we’re staying here with you two for a while. We all have rooms booked up in the inn here, what was it? Elder’s Root or something like that? Anyway, we’ve got word that our operation is still on, but it got pushed back a few days. Tomorrow night we get back on the train, so enjoy yourselves.”

I felt like a little filly in a chocolate factory, they were going to let me go out into the field again! As long as I didn’t expose myself to toxic materials, or get struck by lighting, or… I guess I should’ve read through those notes better. That didn’t matter though as Rose simply levitated all of the heavy gear, then lifted me up in the mix of everything. The squad was laughing as they made their way to the inn, Rose giving me a little spin in the air.

“Hope you don’t mind me floating you around, Angel.~” My face turned red while I swam through the air, quietly giggling while she displayed her powerful magic. Her voice was especially soft this time, almost a bit feisty while she guided me back home, setting me on my hooves before I walked in, and fell over on the sofa. The large weapon crates, then the pouches and packs that held her medical kits, and my recon gear sat near the front door now.

Her aura stopped cloaking the items, and onto the sofa she fell next to me. My wings wrapped her up, holding her tightly while she cast a small zap at the television, flicking it on, and then to one of the many films we owned. There wasn’t popcorn and Sparkle~Colas, not even our fuzzy sleepwear, but neither of us actually cared. We were home, I was alive, and we could go back to stopping the striped devils from slaughtering our own. That was some of the best news I had gotten for a while.

§§§

The hiking had started to become taxing on all of us, no flight was allowed to risk of being spotted, and the mountainous terrain was killing my hooves. I had gone on long hikes back home, but going for six days straight, only stopping to sleep for the night was a little ridiculous. Our camps were small, and usually always behind any pile of rocks we could find. The tents we used acted more like cocoons, but were easy to roll into a small pack and were just as easy to throw up. I thought they looked like a rather elongated string bean, but the others just called them cocoons.

Our food was simply compressed bars of whatever was left over from the larger mess halls filled with whatever vitamins that could be compressed in as powder. The flavor was hit or miss, either I would enjoy my quick, five minute walking meal or it would take every bit of reason in myself to eat it. I wish they were just unflavored and we had pouches of flavoring or something to make the grosser ones edible. Three bars a day is all we had, but I could hardly even eat through two of them. Not only were they extremely filling, but they would have far more calories my body could even hold. Small pony pride.

Water was held in small pouches, it was far easier to fit into something more compact than you could with a basic canteen. Even the smallest space you could free up would make all of the difference between an extra day of water, or a few more magazines for your weapons. I personally put a pack of smokes in there, Jacks could be a real dick when he didn’t have something to puff on.

Over the rolling hills and rocky mountains that put us closer to the valleys and ridges where most of the battles were taking place. I didn’t understand why they couldn’t have just tossed us in the actual battles and have us slip away behind their lines. I guess taking the week-long flank route was better.. Or something. We endured forests, steep inclines and declines, and then roaring rivers. Nothing slowed us down, but I could hear the groaning all around me from cramping hooves.

A week had gone by since we left the drop off point, a week of rations and water gone into our systems as we crawled through the hills. Jacks took a look at his map, then lifted a hoof. He began to throw out signals simply by moving it in the air. We knew exactly what to do. Vogel moved forward with Candy, the mare staying beside Jacks as Vogel peek his head over the soft green hill. Rose stood behind them a few meters, then it was to Shadow and I. I went upward on the side of the rocky mountain face, and he went downward to a treeline. I could see specks of white fur climbing up the tree before his cloak concealed him.

We were all in position now, our target a few hundred meters ahead of us. The hoof cramps had finally paid off. I laid in a small shrub on the side of the mountain, mounds of dirt and mud surrounding me while the shadows cast from the pines sent shadows dancing all around me. I couldn’t have asked for better concealment while I started to screw the suppressor to the end of my rifle, then lift the protective caps off of the scope lenses. There it was, a mess of tents and stripes.

The camp looked as though it was shaped in a diamond, the forward-most point filled with weaponry and zebras galloping their way up the bends and slopes, up to our trenches dug into the ridge. Shattered Hoof Ridge, one the meat grinders this war had given to us, slopes of mud and shards of steel encased the incline, making for a sick and twisted work of art. My scope was training back on the rows of tents, identifying targets.

Vogel came on over the radio, spitting out locations and landmarks at all once. I had to tell him to slow down so I could understand what the fuck he was trying to tell me, I couldn’t understand fast griffin speak. He finally slowed himself and went back to his normal pace, around us anyway. “Officer’s tent to the rear, medical just in front of it. Barracks surrounding the parameter, weapons storage and forward moving stripes. Barbed wire surrounding it, looks like they took it from us. I’m radioing in to the ponies up top, I’ll give them the coordinates.”

I went from gazing down my scope to pulling a small device from my pack, infrared binoculars that would allow me to view heat signatures and any shimmer of anything important to the intelligence. Shadow came on over the waves now, speaking in a hushed tone.

“Officer’s tent is packed. I think they’re planning something. Possibly transport of weapons. What have you got?”

“I see a full medical tent, many of the barracks are empty. They must be putting pressure on our lines up the hill. Weapons crates are near empty, except.. That looks like a sphere in that rear crate. We need to get in there.” Jacks responded to our gathered intel, and started spitting out orders.

“Shadow, Angel, I want complete coverage. You see something move when we get into position, you put it in the ground. Vogel, we need smoke coverage. Candy, keep your machine guns ready to bark. Rose, keep a little bit of distance and stay in cover. We’ll call if we get hit, if that doesn’t happen, just fire at them. You’re a decent shot with a submachine gun. Let’s roll.”

My eye focused down the scope lense once more, watching as Vogel tossed out two canisters that spit out gray smoke. I noticed a couple of stripes looking over at our location, then calling for more to come and see. Four of the demons were now watching, only to have two more canisters pop right in front of them, spitting out more of the smoke. I flicked my scope to infrared, watching the glowing masses start to run to the large tent. Perfect, now I could take a shot at their officer.

Four glowing masses were advancing on the camp, cutting through the lines of wire with anything they had, until rolling behind some of the tents that were tossed up. We were about to hit them at their weakest, and it wasn’t going to be a gentle slap. Vogel held up his shotgun before quickly peeking around a corner, and filling a head up with hot lead shot. Now they knew we were here, and things were about to get fun. The rattling of Candy’s battle saddle set the beat, constant pounding from the shotguns of Vogel and Jacks were furthering the beat. Rose began firing as well, a constant stream of gunfire was now filling the camp, flooding it with blood and brass.

Shadow and I started to take shots, filling the air with rest mist coming from stripes that were posing danger to our squad. We worked well together, taking synchronized shots and hitting vital targets before anypony else could even see them. The spraying blood covered the tents, the red-stained cloth was visible through holes in the striped demons. We were mopping the floor with them, dropping zebra after zebra with unspoken coordination.

I decided to get on my radio while my wing operated my weapon, my aim now focused on the officer’s tent, and the red masses that fell to the ground as I shot through the cloth. “Hey Rose, how’s the weather down there?”

She laughed, her gun chatter making her pause her speech. “Oh you know, it’s a little warm. We’ve got some cloud coverage and oh, there’s the rain!” We had our moments of saying that of which sounded a little insane, but we were both perfectly sane. At least when we had our sleep and weren’t left too long without being close with one another. After filling the tent with holes, I left my rifle unloaded while switching it back to standard vision. I couldn’t help but watch a certain unicorn’s rear as she unloaded magazine after magazine into the zebras. Unf.

Shadow and I met up with the rest of them in the camp, digging through the crates of weapons and supplies they had at the front of their camp. Candy stood guard for us, firing onto any zebra that tried to come back into their camp. This setup could hold what seemed to be hundreds, and we only dropped around fifty of them. We pulled carbines and rifles out of the cases, setting their weapons in a pile with their explosives underneath. Then, Jacks gave us a call.

The four of us went up to him, Candy staying there to keep any demons from slipping back in while we were extremely exposed now. He pulled open a large, black crate, pointing at the device inside.

“What the hell is that thing? It’s a..” I looked for any kind of marking, finally gazing upon a little marking inside of the box. “Can you translate these scribbles? I can’t read that shit.”

Shadow spoke up, trailing his hoof behind what he had just read. “Bale.. Balefire. Balefire, what the fuck is that?”

Jacks was on the radio in an instant, screaming at the pony on the other side. “Hey command, you know those fucking balefire bombs that are infused with dark magic, you know, the things that could destroy cities? These fucking stripes have one of them right here! I want fucking answers and now!” Whoever was on the other side was certainly terrified.

I turned my gaze back to the hill, and the pony that came running up to us started to yell. “Let’s fucking go we got stripes coming in mass!” Well now we had to get out of here. Jacks started to snap photos of the bomb before closing it back up, putting the small device back into his uniform pocket before we galloped and flew out of there, Vogel tossing a grenade into the weapon pile. Up it went, sparks of green in the fireball blew up into the air, shards of steel raining down on their camp below.

My wings started to ache, almost dropping me to the ground in sharp pain. I kept flying, but lost altitude quickly, finding myself galloping beside all but Vogel, who was flying backwards to shoot down into the groups of zebras following us. Rose gasped while she heard my grunting, then saw my wings. I felt her warming aura surrounding them, wrapping bandages around my feathers.

“Rose? What you doing we need to be getting out of here!” She just gave me a concerned stare, and I knew something was actually wrong. We didn’t stop galloping until we had made almost an entire day’s progress that we made by simple walking the day before, landing ourselves right down in the middle of meadow surrounded by pines and hills.

The panting didn’t stop for hours it seemed, water being guzzled down rapidly while we all caught our breath. Rose was carefully inspecting my wings, or at least what was left of them. “Angel.. We need to get you out of here and in a larger hospital, I can’t fix this out here.”

I didn’t dare ask what they looked like, all I knew was that I didn’t stay in the air long after feeling a burning sensation. Candy stood behind me and then spoke up, explaining what Rose wouldn’t say. “Look, more than half of the feathers on both of your wings are gone. I can see your bone through them, and it looks like a pretty bad burn wound.”

I just lowered my head, either too tired to actually comprehend the situation, or just too tired to find myself caring. Jacks was on the radio again, not reporting my death this time, but injury. “They’re going to drop us a package of healing bandages. We’ll have a healing potion and some burn cream plus basic supplies. Sorry Angel, it won’t fix your wings but it will keep them from getting infected.” I could tell Jacks cared, but that was probably because he had a smoke in his maw.

We came out of the cocoon tents, gazing up at the sun, and the black spots that flew in front of it. Down came brown packages that had parachutes, the cloth only popping open when they neared the ground. Pony after pony after griffin came out of their sleeping quarters, reaching up to grab the perfectly dropped packages.

We all had more food and water rations, plus a couple of items we would each enjoy. Candy got candy (how fitting), Jacks got his pack of smokes, Vogel had another bottle of whiskey, Shadow got a Wingboner Magazine which got him a couple of awkward stares, wondering why he would be given that of all things. Rose and I both got packs of bandages and some healing potions, one of which she almost shoved down my throat, then changed out the field dressings on my wings. The pain went away rather quickly, but she gave me a dose of Med-X in my flank to be sure I was kept happy.

We began our trip back, hooves going right back to cramping and aching the moment we started the journey back. Candy ate her sugar, Vogel poured us all drinks, Jacks blew smoke into all of our faces like the dick he was, Shadow.. He didn’t say much. Rose kept close to me, letting me lean against her while we walked across the terrain, spending days and nights just like the time spent getting there.

§§§

They were all over at our home, pouring shots and dealing cards while we let our radio play in the background. Command send in updates over time, telling us about the Balefire that we came across.

Their words were something like, “The balefire something we’ve only recently gained intelligence on, it’s apparently an explosive that’s fused with zebra magic for maximum destruction. Our spies have--” His words were cut by the sounds of screams, and then a deafening explosion that shattered windows and crumbled buildings. “It’s been an honor serving with you all.” Then, the radio cut it to static.

The table was nearly flipped as we jumped out from our seats, grabbing everything we could to board up every window in the house. Vogel made his way up to the skylights, pounding the boards into the slots that the light radiated down from. Rose and I went to our room, sealing up the windows with anything and everything. We broke down our wardrobes just for enough material to shut everything up, our lamps and lanterns turning on. We gathered around together, laying flat on the flooring.

Whistling filled the air above, the missile strikes going onward to Manehattan and other larger locations. We felt almost as though we were safe, until a single missile hit the mountain range that shielded us from the prying eyes of our neighbors in Equestria. Screams and shattering glass echoed down the streets, our lamps cutting off to leave only the soft glow of lanterns in our home. The shock wave washed over my home, shattering the windows that the boards held in place. I looked up to the skylight above me, the board that used to be our coffee table fell down, and everything went black.

Author's Note

Hello readers, I'm making use of this space to write out some special thanks, that's all.

Repulsive Bushman: A great friend and editor. He's been with me with every step through this, from the very infancy of the story to the very last chapter. (Still working on chapters.)

StarStrike: Creator of Star.

White Rose/Shadow Blood: Creator of White Rose, and Shadow Blood. He often switches names and characters.

Matt: You know who you are my man, many thanks to you. My first reader from the Fo:E community.

Kkat: I mean, you created Fo:E as a whole. While I may not have read it all until recently, it has certainly inspired me to write, and use my creativity. <3

Chapter 2: Nightmares and Realities

Everything was silent, yet it wasn’t even remotely quiet. There I was, staring up at Rose and Vogel, a hanging bag of saline went from the plastic tube into my arm. The only thing I could muster up to say, “My head..” that got everyone’s attention.

“Hey! Hey she’s awake! Angel things are bad out here, you need to see..” Rose generally didn’t lose her cool, but this time.. This time was different. I slowly sat up, every vessel in my head throbbing from the impact. My hoof went up to touch my forehead, only pulling back after feeling a rather nice indentation on my skull. Rose said that it only looked bruised and there was no real visible damage other than that. The second thing I had noticed wasn’t the screaming in the streets, or the chatter from the radios. It was the temperature.

Everything went from Autumn to Winter in an instant, the layers of blankets that covered my lower body hardly made any difference. Rose helped me to my hooves, then pulled the intravenous fluid bag. I looked up to where the table had fallen from, and saw the torn furniture that had clearly hit my head.

Jacks was leaning against a wall, puffing on his smoke, Candy was loading up her machine guns. Vogel watched me with an empty bottle in his hand, and Shadow was simply staring out some of the windows that had survived. Scrapped boards laid in a pile, the same boards that sealed up our windows. Some of the glass was intact, though most was shielded off by black, and rather expensive furniture. Rose wrapped her hooves around me, then quietly whispered in my ear.

“Angel, they destroyed everything. Canterlot is gone, Hoofington has gone dark, even Manehattan and Fillydelphia are silent..”

The metal heart in my chest felt like it was about to fall out of my rear, I just didn’t want to believe a word she spoke to me. Each member of my squad just gave a nod, and lowered their heads. She wasn’t joking on this one, even if there was a joke to be made. Every fiber in my body just wanted me to wake up from this horrible nightmare, from this despicable train of thoughts that flooded my dreams. Luck - 0.

“I-if it helps any, Angel dear.. The pegasi dropped us some supplies before making it into the clouds. I think they’ve sealed off some areas, almost as a blast shield.”

At least some of my fellow pegasi didn’t abandon us entirely. The supplies were drug in from outside, a neat packaged pile of crates were now sitting on the carpet that I so enjoyed to keep clean. I saw the soft flakes of snow lying on top of the pile of the goods, only furthering my question as to what had happened. Vogel looked over at me, almost as if he was reading my thoughts.

“Listen up Angel, whatever dark magic was in that bomb wiped out most of the population I would bet. I can imagine most of the survivors are down in those Stables that were meant for the more wealthy that could afford their ticket in. The integrity of your home seems as though it held pretty well, but the glass is mostly gone.”

I’m sorry, what? Everything and everypony was dead now? Yeah, fat chance. “Whatever kind of elaborate scheme this is, cut it. Now.” My voice cut like a knife, hissing poison at the extremely unfunny joke. I opened the front door, then stepped one hoof outside.

The air was so thick with dust and smoke, every flake of falling snow only held it down closer to the soils. The once beautiful city lay in ruin, our grand orchards were uprooted, homes and businesses missing windows and even roofs, some of the walls crumbling down onto the lifted stones that were once our streets. I watched as some figures that were once kind, loving ponies went out to brave the fallout, but appeared to be sickly, almost as though their fur was melted off. I watched closely while one of the putrid, rotting creature came charging at me. Vogel pointed the barrel of his shotgun out, and put the load inside into the skull of the pony.

The door quickly slammed behind me as I stepped back in, finding myself gasping for air. “What the actual fuck was that thing? It looked so.. That used to be a pony!” I only got saddened expressions and sighs, Rose being the one to comment on my shouting.

“Angel, the command centers send out emergency radio signals. We spent the last three weeks in here, watching the snowfall.. It looks as though many of the ponies who were outside were turned into those.. Things. We believe it’s the radiation and taint that floods the mountain range.”

Not only was everything dead, the undead were now roaming around in the streets. Great, this only lead me to more questions.

“Three weeks? I was out for three weeks? Okay, nevermind that, I believe it. Is it safe to even go out there, will the radiation kill us all?”

Shadow answered me this time, his eyes focusing out of the window once more, off into the pile of crumbling stone where the missile had hit. We were a safe distance away, but the immediate blast send enough toxicity to turn those poor ponies. “Well, readings from the geiger counters say that it is indeed safe to go out there. We just need to steer clear of the actual detonation site, and we need to wear protective gear for our lungs. I’m sure there’s some gas masks in there.”

Jacks and Candy started disassembling the neatly stacked crates, reading off each of the labels. Food, ammunition, water, medical supplies, even protective gear. Some of the other crates were labeled as misc, probably filled up with random items such as uniform and cloth repairing kits. I didn’t feel very hopeful, even with the supplies. If the pegasi were sealing up the clouds and dropping snow to keep the polluted air from reaching them, I doubt we would make it to see the day the clouds open back up.

We all went through the crates together, using the bathroom mirror and whatever light was coming from the cracks in boards that covered the skylight as a flashlight to accurately count out everything we had. A month’s worth of food for all of us, same with the water. A gas mask each, even one that would fit Vogel with several spare filters and matching black carry bag. Plenty of shotgun shells and rounds for Rose’s submachine gun and Candy’s machine guns, there was even a stockpile of larger rifle rounds for Shadow and me. The ‘misc’ box held a couple of spare uniforms for each of us, repair kits for our weapons and gas masks, sewing items for repairing other items we may have, and weapon cleaning supplies.

At the bottom of the pile was a box marked as ‘survival’ and was filled with items matching that description. Heat reflecting blankets, fire starters, even seed packets. Those would come in handy. We all split the gear among ourselves, yet I ended up with two shares of everything. Rose was far too busy cataloging our medical supplies, both what we had on hoof and what was dropped for us. I felt her gaze as she looked at a rather alien object, something that resembled wings.

“Angel, these are for you. A note here says that these will fit right onto you. We just need to snap them on, and.. Well there’s no way to take them off, but you’ll have wings again!” We both knew the steel replacements would be too heavy to get me off of the ground, but we went right to it anyway. I sat on my haunches as Rose snapped the devices onto me, then watched as I spread out my wings.

“They’re pretty comfortable, I bet they’d make operating my rifle that much easier. The steel looks flexible, yet strong.. I think I’ll get used to these.” My first thought was to sit down after grabbing my guitar, then giving it a few chords worth of play. I was given new wings and yet my first reaction was to look at my guitar and see if I could play it? I get my mind was trying not to focus on the business at hoof, but still.. I was almost ashamed my mind did that to me.

Rose simply gave me a smile and came to sit right beside me, leaning her weight my way. “We’ll make it through this, Angel. We just need to stick together. We were and still are Luna’s greatest fighting force.. That never existed.” The soft laughter and chuckles from everypony around broke the tension, but was quickly dissolved as we labeled our piles of goods, stocking up our bags and packs with everything we could fit before taking a container each, and using it for storage. Well there’s a couple of problems solved, sleeping arrangements would be something that needed addressing though. Rose and I obviously had our own bed, but sleeping bags and bedrolls would only work so long for everypony else.

We needed to go scavenging in through the city to find more suitable items for that purpose. Jacks was throwing together lists of duties we needed to accomplish to increase our odds of survival. Candy and Shadow would stay back to hold down the base while Jacks and Vogel would go to test the rivers nearby that were once clean. Rose and I were assigned to basic supply retrieval, searching for food and other supplies we would need to get through the month or two we would be stuck down here.

For the world coming to an end, we still functioned just like any other special operations squad, that didn’t exist.

§§§

Rose and I covered ourselves in gear first, securing our uniforms, she had her medical supplies hanging from her sides, I had my cloak over my back with the hood over my mane. Our supply pouches lined our chests, buttoned shut to keep everything secure. Our combat knives would now really have a use, neither of us really had a use for them other than having something that looked cool on our hind legs. That really didn’t make a difference anymore. Next were our weapons, the scope on my rifle would be useless at these closer ranges, and the bipod would no longer have a scope to compliment, so I resorted down to the built on sights. Rose let her submachine gun hang from a more forward position, one that a single whip of her magic would pull into firing position.

Finally, the gas masks and their carry bags went on. They had a horrible scent of rubber, but at least they were easy to see out of and were mildly comfortable. We screwed in a filter after breaking the seal on it, then stepped outside. The clouds were black, only small beams of light were piercing through the black veil. This was the first time any of us actually wore our boots, most of the grassy and mountainous terrain never called for anything more than our hooves, but snow was different. The stone roads we once walked to the bakery were uplifted, stones roughly showing their edges to the sky above.

The glow from the mountains far ahead of us was almost enough to make for a secondary sun should the clouds continue to hide the real sun. It was a sickly green that radiated off the once beautiful mountain range that sealed all of the Germanian cities and villages from the rest of the pieces and parts that made up our world. The small flank-high stone walls had mostly fallen over from the sheer blast the missile had to blow back at us, reflecting off of the mountains. Large boulders and rocks littered the fields surrounding our city, the force from the missile had to have flung them at us. Now I wondered what would’ve happened if one of the bigger Balefire bombs we saw went off here. Nothing would be left.

Our weapons constantly reported, the amount of the zombie-like ponies felt almost like half of the city or more.. Poor bastards. I considered the combined luck of my team the reason we didn’t get a face full of radiation, I knew that I wasn’t one for that kind of thing anyway. I can’t stop thinking about that reading of ‘0’. Killing these zombies didn’t feel right, and that’s coming from a professional soldier that had killed plenty of zebras and even traitorous ponies. I knew these ponies, some of them even had shreds of clothing glued to their flesh. If we didn’t kill them, they would kill us, and I sure as hell didn’t want that horrible smell all over me.

Green pools of blood flooded the streets and covered the snow on them, smaller but more frequent splatters came from Rose’s kills, and single, large messes of blood from my rifle. Our mission was more important, and I didn’t have time to keep thinking about all of these little things. It was time for action. I bucked open the door to the bakery first, kicking down the locked, wooden door. That didn’t feel good on the hips, but we had our orders, and our objective. Rose fired on the two zombies inside, splattering them against the wall they stood before.

“Mr. and Mrs. Cobblestone.” Her words pierced my heart, I knew that they would be here but.. I was buying their apple topped treats for years, nearly my whole life. At least we put them to rest. Rose started to check the storages, my own interests on looking for any information I could use to find.. Something. Maybe they had their secret recipe or their finest ingredients in a safe somewhere. They didn’t have a terminal, but they did have a safe buried underneath the mess of papers and folders that once filled their shelves. “Business ledgers. These will make good fuel.” I lifted up the papers, and stuck them in my pack. The safe was locked up tightly, keeping any would-be thief out.

Rose looked over at me as she poked her head out of the storage room, stuffing her bags with canned apple chunks. “Maybe you could open that safe up, I know that you’ve had experience in opening things that were meant to keep you out.” I could hear the playful tone of her voice, but she was right. I wasn’t exactly the best filly, but I wasn’t the worse either. Instead of the classic bobby pin technique, I dug some of the smaller, almost non-existent needle feathers on my steel replacements into the lock and went to work. Click, click, click. The door popped open. Success!

I pulled the heavy door open and peeked inside, digging through photos and other family keepsakes that were stored in there. Rose’s hoof gently ran across my cheek to wipe the tears I didn’t even know were coming from my eyes, her soft touch comforting me as I dug through this family’s most valued belongings. There wasn’t a single recipe, but there were plenty of family photos and drawings that were done by foals. Damned those striped devils for doing this to us. At the bottom of the safe, I found a small postcard. On it was Rainbow Dash and a squadron of pegasi dressed in the black carapace armors that were being sent to the elite teams.. That were on paper. I turned it over, and started to read the letter.

“Mom and Dad,
I’ve enlisted with one of the best pegasi divisions that we have to offer! They accepted me in with welcoming hooves, putting me one of those new suits of armor almost instantly! It made me feel so accomplished to know I would be killing the zebras that threatened our great kingdoms. I hope you are as proud as I am.

Mossy Cobblestone.

I didn’t even know how to feel after reading that. Here was this young pony, their parents lying in pools of green blood. For their sake, I hope that a trip home wasn’t planned. Rose stood close to me, guiding me out the door with our small gatherings. Our next stop was the market, on most days it was just a bunch of stalls that were set out on the stone streets, but we all knew they had an indoor location, one that wouldn’t be covered by the snow. Steam came from our breathing, blowing out of the secondary valve on our masks. The occasional shotgun blast could be heard echoing from the valley that held our river. Sounds like our other team was running into these zombies too.

The closer we got to the market, the more of these green monsters we came across. They were concentrating around the larger, more modern building in our city, the fields were only a trot away. Looks like they found their way over here, I couldn’t figure out why they would do that, but they did. Rose and I both aimed our weapons at the crowds, Rose letting her aura surround her weapon, my own up to my shoulder as I stood on my hind hooves, these new metal wings making it easier to use my weapon.

The steady bursts Rose put out filled the air in front of her with steam, even the barrel on her weapon was putting off the clear smoke. My single puffs made it much easier to see, even more so considering I needed to work the bolt to put another round in. Zombie after zombie dropped to the streets, filling the creases between stones and the ice atop them with green fluids. The market stalls that once sold everypony fruit and vegetables were now laying piles of scrap wood and nails. They became even more useless to us as they fell into the snow, the white flakes that were soaked green. I was disgusted at the green snow they created once they were dead, but a dead zombie is better than a living one.

We waded through the piles of green ponies, the smell nearly enough to make us vomit in our masks. Rotting flesh mixed with filth and taint, it wasn’t exactly my idea of a pleasant scent. The doors to the steel-sided building were locked up tight, but that didn’t stop a good buck from knocking them open. I wasn’t the strongest, but it only takes technique to do many things in life. The metal doors with glass paneling broke right open, letting the falling snow and build up that was on the ground pour in onto the cheap, and rather ugly tile that made up the floors. No wonder nopony shopped here.

Rose checked the smaller, closer aisles while my focus was on the more distant areas. There was only so much a bolt action rifle could do for you in a situation like this. We were clear after breaching in, none of those green beasts were anywhere to be seen. Rose shut the doors behind us, dragging a newspaper box in front of it to keep things shut. We moved side by side, checking every stocked aisle and display, the emergency lights that made up for a third of the ugly fluorescents were keeping things lit for us to navigate. Boxes of foods and cans filled up with Luna knows what were knocked from the cheap metal shelving, lining some of our paths with noise makers.

Everything was dead silent, not even as much as a murmur came from anywhere inside, not even the offices to the back that always had somepony in them. They must’ve had an emergency generator buried in here among the fully stocked market we moved through. Jackpot, there must’ve been years worth of canned food in here. My radio started to buzz, Vogel reaching through from the other end.

“Angel, you and Rose need to get back here. Jacks took a sip from the river and he’s sick, he’s very very sick. He’s been bleeding from the eyes..” The sound cut, and Rose was the first one out of the door. Only now had I taken the time to read the massive red sign above the doors, the building being completely obsolete when we had the open air stalls. “Okie-Dokie Mart.” What a stupid name for a grocer.

Rose nearly bucked our door down to come into a scene of ponies and a griffin standing above a squirming stallion, both of his hooves pressed against his face while he rolled on our floor. We took off our masks and put them in our carry bags, Rose leaning down to tend to Jacks. His cries of agony sent chills down all our spines and right into our tails, leaving even Shadow sitting a distance from our squad leader.

Vogel started communicating with Rose, feeding her details and his symptoms after he drank the toxic water. “He took off his mask for just a moment, he didn’t even give me a chance to put my geiger counter in the water. It was like he was choking on nothing, then his skin started to peel off..”

I pulled Rose away from her patient, almost landing me a buck to the face. “Rose. He’s going to turn into one of those things out there. The radiation must’ve gotten to the water. Dammit I thought that was the one thing that would be clean..” She still fought with me, her oaths only making her wish to treat him even more. Vogel came and held her back, trying to keep her calm while I put my mask back on, then grabbed my rifle. I reached down and started to pull Jacks by the hind leg, taking him outside. Shadow watched me from the window, Candy trying to get a clear view as well.

The barrel of my rifle was hovering above his head, ready to fire. He only muttered out a single phrase, something that would haunt me forever it seemed. “Nopony wins o-out here..” Coughs of blood and other bodily fluids came from his maw, bloodied vomit starting to cover his coat, the fluids slowly melting into the snow. My eyes shut, head turning away from him. The rifle reported itself to me, the roar followed by what sounded to be a watermelon being dropped onto stone. I only barely lifted the mask in time to lose my lunch, then slip it back on.

§§§

We buried him next to the Elder tree, pulling up stone and shoveling away the toxic snow just to make a place for him under our worshiped statue of nature. There stood four ponies and a griffin, garbed in dark uniforms, two with their cloaks blowing in the wind. One with her golden locks flowing, another with metal inserts in her uniform. Our griffin stood the tallest, and the most hurt by the loss. He didn’t pull the trigger, and I don’t think he could.. Even if Jacks tried to bite him.

Everything was dark, save the glowing splatters of blood on the snow from the zombies we had to clear out just to get to the Okie-Dokie Mart. The leafless tree’s branches blew in the breeze with our tails and clothing, acting almost as if it was mourning with us. Five survivors of this blast, standing around a monument to the glory of the world. At least, the world that wasn’t being hit with Balefire explosives. The first to leave was Shadow, then Candy. Rose and I followed behind, leaving Vogel to stand at the impromptu grave of our leader. The griffin raised up a stone, then plowed it down into the earth Jacks was buried under. He scratched “Jacks. Leader of the greatest” into his headstone. Our hearts broke when he told us.

The wind was blowing especially hard today. We could hear it whipping the side of the home, sometimes even sending stones into the boards that were once glass panels. Vogel was so drunk he couldn’t even stand, Shadow was completely silent, I was almost certain that Candy was doped up on something. Then Rose, she was counting each and every bandage we had. She only did that when something seriously bothered her. Personally I was just listening to old tracks we had for a wind-up radio. I didn’t feel like playing them myself on my guitar that day, I don’t think any of them wanted to hear it either.

“Hey, Candy?” I was trying to get her attention, but only got a loopey stare. I wanted what she was having. “Can I uh.. Can I get some of that?” Rose’s ears laid flat on her mane, her eyes piercing right through me. Her voice felt like a dagger had punched through me.

“Don’t you dare, Angel. You know what that shit does to you.” I only let a sigh, but grabbed the small glass vial next to Candy, and stuck a clean syringe into it. I was going to have some of these painkillers, whether Rose approved or not. I wasn’t sure if this small vial came from our medical supplies, or if Candy had her own little secret stash she hid from the rest of us. It didn’t matter anymore.

I gave Rose a warming smile, but only got ice in return. “Rose, I know that it’s not great for my health.. But it’s the end of the world. Come enjoy yourself with me.” My hoof was reached out, ready to help her up. She let a soft sigh from her muzzle, and stood up with me. We walked into our bedroom with the small radio, setting it on the foot of our bed before laying out, the needle lifting up with a magic aura around it. She started with sticking it into her fore hoof, letting out a slow exhale before she stuck the needle in me, and pumped the other half of the fluid into my veins. She was worried about my health, and we just shared a needle.

The cool liquid ran through my vessels, slowly numbing the sensation in them before I had started to watch vibrant colors appear all around me. Music was flooding my ears, the sounds so deep, everything sounding like an echo. Rose crawled over to me, laying herself on me while we shared a near-overdose of Med-X. I don’t think I had actually enjoyed a day in this wasteland until then.

Coming down as I woke up as horrible, my head throbbing.. Everything felt like it was throbbing. Rose was drooling on my shoulder, leaving a mess on me. It felt like ice water running across my fur, causing me to jump up a little. Her head lifted up, and she let out a groan. “Angel..? Why does my head.. Er.. Everything hurt..?” I couldn’t help but give her a soft kiss before answering her question. I don’t think she felt very good about herself afterwards.

We made our way back into the main room, moving slowly but steadily as we regained feeling in our hooves. Vogel was shuffling through the deck of cards. Shadow was playing with the turrets on his scope, scooping bits of dried apple chunks from a pouch. Candy looked like she was still in a trip, her body still while drool ran from the corners of her muzzle. Rose stepped closer to the mare, and then started to rub her chest, increasing in roughness until she was panicking.

“Rose? Hey, what’s wrong? Is she okay?” Frantic groans were my answer, her hoof only going faster and faster, just until Candy took a breath. The mare gasped and lifted her head up, wiping her lip while looking around. She still sounded like she was on the moon.

“What are you.. Why’d you do that? I was enjoying the trip!” I felt my hoof pressing to my face.

“Candy, you weren’t breathing. You took too high of a dose.. I’m going to lock these things in my medical box. You won’t have access to it.” Rose then took the vials scattered around Candy, empty or full, and all of the needles with their caps still on. Candy waved her front hooves in the air, making odd sounds that only a high mare could make. I certainly wasn’t guilty of the same.

The boxes with butterflies soon had locks holding them shut, keeping Candy sealed out. I could still get myself into it, but I decided against it. The trip was relaxing and quite fun, but I couldn’t do it unless Rose was onboard. Considering how much she enjoyed it, I hoped that it would be soon. I just sat on the floor, then laid out. We didn’t have anything to do right now, supplies were falling from under our tails, there was even a fully stocked market just up the stone road. We could go and loot the inn and homes that were still intact, but any waste of a mask filter could be fatal.

Despite that fact, I still geared myself up, taking the filters that would’ve gone to Jacks. He wasn’t going to need them anymore. I stepped outside once more, setting my boots in the snow that held down the chemicals and taint that could poison cities worth of ponies. If that missile were any closer.. My cloak blew in the mild gusts of wind, the hood over my mane shuttering in the gusts. Down the rows of homes with shattered windows i went, homes that were crumbling down, and even foundations that once held up a home.

I stepped down the very middle of the torn streets, watching everything carefully. If any of those zombies came charging, they wouldn’t catch me by surprise. The city that was almost never silent had fallen to the quiet crumpling of snow under my hooves, and the quiet whistles of the wind. The inn came into view after following the pathway for a few minutes, a two story building in our traditional architecture. Some of the windows held up from the blast, but the clean white paint was peeling from the walls, curling and cracking under the long, wooden planks.

I bucked open the wooden door, my rifle turning and snapping around to check every little corner that came into view. Not a zombie in sight, but a single, brown coated mare was laying on the floor. Her white mane was sprawled out across the dusty wooden planks that made up the floor. The planks were on everything, siding the counters and making for small pillars around the interior. The white walls were already dusty, not showing any signs of blood.. And the stone construction that was a place for fires with a chimney climbing up the wall had a fire in it. What happened here?

My hoof tapped against the mare, her body still.. And cold. No blood, no signs of abuse to her, not a single fucking clue. The only thing that made sense at this point with suffocation. Her ribs weren’t showing, but she didn’t have a breathing mask. A single breath outside would fill your lungs with everything buried beneath the snow, and probably burn them from the inside out. Poor thing was a blank flank too. I didn’t bother stepping around the corpse, I just went right over her. The rectangular room had a few chairs made of shaped branches and logs, positioned to circle around the fire built in the center. If she wasn’t alone, there’d be more ghosts floating around with her.

The inn was still in its original condition on the inside, the dust didn’t help but there wasn’t much that could be done about it. Empty cans and boxes that once held food littered a corner of the warm room, some of them looking to have been tossed in the fire. A few paintings were still on the walls, but I didn’t care about those. I went to the staircase that was build from smoothed planks, stepping my way up the rooms. Door by door I searched the rooms, grabbing the sheets for the cloth, and the pillows just to take them. My wings folded up the pillows and many of the balled up sheets into a single length of the cloth, making a bag to carry it all. Into the last room I went, and there were the friends she had.

Two more blank flanks were laying there, dead, but these ones.. There were signs of cannibalism. Chunks of their flesh were torn clean off, showing bones and rotting organs underneath. I guess that blank flank downstairs had more meals that I had realized. The sight itself didn’t even slightly phase me, I’d seen worse. They were just casualties of the final strike the zebras used against our homelands.

§§§

Everything was gray and green, not a single touch of blue in the sky. It was a sickly sight, the beautiful sky wasn’t even a shadow of its former self, instead it was already six feet under with a customized headstone. It was becoming difficult to see outside, yet my watch was clearly telling me it was twelve o’clock, PM. The green hue blanketed everything, even the bright white exteriors on nearly every building appeared as a sick green.

The sound of running water was echoing from a wall of rocks, my ‘expedition’ bringing me closer to the river that gave our city most of its water, save the Okie-Dokie Mart that nopony ever bothered with. There it was, a beautiful stream of green and black, touches of rust colored muck showing itself where the white caps should’ve been. Why the fuck did Jacks drink this shit? I stepped closer to the river, sliding down the snow-covered hillside to get closer. Then, it hit me. If he had to take his mask off for a moment to take a drink, perhaps the air was neurotoxic.

Upon that thought, I checked my gas mask bag to count my sealed filters. Four were lining the pockets, and the filters seemed to have a decent life to them. I’d already spent a few hours out here and haven’t had as much as a smell of the world around, which would more than likely lead to me vomiting to death. Drowning in my own puke, what a way to go. Not only do you lose the contents of your stomach, you breath them in and die by aspiration. Fucking glorious.

The climb back up the hill was proving more difficult than I expected, the poisoned snow making for a rather slick climb back up. Two steps up, three steps back, until I drove the steel feathers of my wings into the dirt. My makeshift climbing picks allowed for me to easily scale the slope, not bothering once to even look back behind me. It was toxic, and the forests beyond were either crumbling apart, or burning from fires sparked by the blast. If anypony was camping out, they were either melted or turned into one of those zombies.

The mild warmth of my home was highly welcoming, the fire stocked up and burning to keep us all warm, even though Candy was wrapped in her heat reflecting blanket. That could’ve just been her coming from her high, or even withdrawing from it, but weakness would be exploited in this new world, and she couldn’t dare step outside. The straps on my mask loosened up, then my hood fell back onto my shoulders before the gas mask came off, and sat in its bag.

“How are supplies looking, Rose?” Her eyes looked around at each of our supply stashes, rating them based on size and our original rationing plan.

“Enough for us to find a way to bring the food from the market back here, if we had a way to carry large amounts at a time quickly. We can’t waste our filters, we can’t even safely touch the snow with bare fur. We’d almost instantly turn into one of those.. Things, outside.” Her eyes lowered, then she took a breath, knowing she’d disappoint me. “Angel, I didn’t lock the Med-X up to keep Candy out, I used it to give myself a supply. It just felt good, you know..?”

I couldn’t physically be upset with her. There was just no way I could be emotional at this time, even if my wife was hooked on supplies we would need for injuries. I don’t think she was as resistant to the substance as I was. All I could do was let a sigh, and wrap my hooves around her.

“Let me help. I gave you your first dose, so I should be here to mop up the mess. I need to the key to the boxes, Rose. If you can do that, I can give you a little at a time to get you taken down from it.” Three weeks and a few days, two chem addicts, a drunk, some silent stallion that wasn’t himself anymore, and then me. We were already falling apart, something that could take us one by one. Jacks was the first. Candy was almost the second.

“Alright everypony, look. I’m not the most qualified to lead this squad, but we’d better not fucking let a little obstacle like this take us out. Jacks had to have taken a breath outside of his mask, and then drank from a river that looks like a battlefield. Vogel, there’s not really any other alcohol in this area unless you really look for it. Keep that in mind. Shadow, you can’t stay fucking silent forever, stallion the fuck up. Candy, we’re going to get your stupid ass off that shit, and Rose. We’re going to give you some help.”

Silent and surprised gazes were surrounding me, I was no leader, but each of them stood up, and then bowed their heads to me. They had all accepted I was in charge now, and that I wasn’t going to just let us wither away.

“Now with that in order, Shadow we’ll need you to get into the old military recruiting center about a kilometer to the west, you and Vogel will scavenge any weapons, ammo, and supplies you can find. Get moving, and remember to move quickly through the Wasteland. Luna knows what lives out there now.” And with that, a pony and griffin were geared up and went out of the front door. I sat next to Candy, gently stroking her cheek with my hoof before letting her rest again. Now, it was Rose’s turn. Down I went again, but this time I gave her a soft kiss. The cold sweating and shakes were enough to diagnose a clear addiction.

I took the two mares into our bathing room, and sat them both in the empty bath tub. I threw a blanket over them, and grabbed the small medical box. It was going to be a long few days. Every couple of hours I gave them a smaller dose in size, then a cup of water to keep their mouths from becoming dry. Going from a soldier, to a survivor, to a leader.. And now a doctor. I was surprising myself.

The boys came back within a few hours, their packs full of essentials. Hundreds of bullets and shells, a few pistols and cleaning supplies, even repair kits and a few explosives. They started to unload the haul onto the floor, carefully laying it out for us to inspect when we had a moment. Of course, they knew that would be a few days away, especially considering I was sitting with two shaking mares in a bathtub. They sat and watched as I carefully stroked the mares’ manes, hushing them when they would try to get up.

“So, what did you fine males haul back from that place?” They gave a quiet chuckle, and then Vogel chose to speak, his words still slightly slurring.

“We got some handguns, an’ some ammo. A few things for our guns and then explosives.”

Shadow gave a nod, and then I gave a nod in return. “Alright, go ahead and start to clean those up. I’ll want one of those pistols and some of those rounds, so portion everything out. I’m going to try to break the addiction these two have.. “

The males turned and went back to their business, the sounds of cards being shuffled and hoof or talon slamming on the table showing they were keeping busy. I was stuck in the bathroom with these two, keeping track of time to the minute to give them another, smaller dose. They calmed for a few minutes, but then went right back to their cold shivers and groans. This was going to be a long fucking night.

I was woken up multiple times through the night by my watch’s alarm, giving me the signal to give them another dose. Neither of them slept much, if at all, and I had to get a bucket for them to vomit into. It was getting worse, and I had to sit here with them through it all. For my wife, I would do anything, but this was getting to be excessive. The lack of sleep, the constant cleaning of a puke bucket, and the occasional groan from my patients, I was about ready to just toss them the vials.

The following morning was just as horrible for all of us. Shadow and Vogel had to listen to heaving and gagging from the two mares I was treating. Rose took it especially hard, just the smallest bit and she was hooked, a single time is all it took for her. I felt even worse about myself. It got to the point where I was tossing bucket after bucket out, the still-functioning toilet let me just dump and flush. I had to go as far as tie their manes back, with no real bathing water, even the smallest bit of vomit on either of them would make the entire house reek. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any such luck.

Both of them were losing fluids quickly, the inability to actually hold anything down took me to desperate measures. I had to go scavenging through the city’s clinic.

“Vogel, Shadow, you two are on duty. Give them exactly one milligram of Med-X each in exactly twenty-four minutes. If they vomit, catch it in the bucket and flush the thing. Best of luck to both of you.” On went my gear, piece by piece. I received a few rather strong complaints, but there simply wasn’t time to argue. I went out the door, feeling the frozen air blowing against my neck.

Snow was falling once more, but every flake felt more like a raindrop than a snowflake, but every raindrop felt like a cigarette was being put on my fur. My pace was picking up exponentially, almost at a full gallop just to avoid the water touching me anywhere. I followed the little blue signs that were already showing signs of rust and serious damage, jumping over piles of rubble and the skeletons of those who were fortunate enough to fall over dead instead of turning into one of those rotting ghoulish creatures. Ghoul.. That wouldn’t be a bad name for those things.

The clinic was a smaller building, the low occupancy numbers always kept it quiet, save the days when foals would get out of school. More scraped hooves and bloodied snouts were treated than anything else, easily. That didn’t stop them from keeping it stocked up, and my hopes were rather high of finding antibiotics and the nutrient mixes with IV bags. The clinic itself was put together with cinder blocks, then had basic morale posters stuck over any cracks and imperfections that came from the years of weather. A small, steel roof topped it, with a single butterfly as a sign. This was it.

I bucked open the glass doors, the steel frame bending right open at my kick. I crawled inside, instinctively holding my rifle up, checking every corner to be found. It was still just as clean as I remembered, white tiles lined the flooring while white paint was covering the walls, little color coded lines simply going to “Rooms.” and “Supplies.” I took a left at the round, wooden front desk, going right for the supply closet. Then a single shot came from behind me.

I opened the closet door and dove inside, panting from the shock of actually running into anypony else, let alone one that wanted to kill me for whatever reason. After the shot, I heard clicking, then a plastic object hitting the floor. A single-shot weapon, probably a shotgun. I could deal with this. My mind was racing, looking for any object that I could find to give me the advantage I needed. A metal clinical tray leaned up against a steel shelf filled up with plastic tubs, all with the labels I wanted to see. Supplies were here, but I had some more pressing at hoof.

My wing lifted up the tray, holding it in front of me as I peeked around the corner, the steel sheet taking all of the shot. Perfect, now to kill this pony. It was a light blue coated mare, a pink mane falling down in front of her eyes. She looked rather shocked from my tactic, her weapon now empty, and then on the floor. She fell with a single thud, her blood pooling around her. I let the sheet drop while I started to rummage through the tubs, taking everything of use I could find. Healing potions, bandages, more Med-X and syringes, then IV bags filled up with saline, and more importantly, bags filled up with the blends that kept me alive during the three weeks I took a nap. The weight of my bags was getting to me, throwing me slightly off balance as I galloped out the door, my boots splashing right in the blood.

§§§

The house smelt even worse when I returned, my items piling up on top of each other as I set them near the door. The bags were hanging above my head, the steel feathers holding them up. Shadow had both of his hooves on Rose’s chest, and Vogel had his talons on Candy. They were performing chest compressions.

“Whoa whoa whoa holy fuck okay okay what happened?” My ability to control situations just went to nothing, the sight terrifying me to no end. They both shot me back responses.

“They just stopped breathing! First it was Candy and then Rose started to do the same, we started doing these, like what? Maybe five minutes ago!”

I pushed Shadow out of the way, knowing that Rose was our more experienced nurse. I directed him to start setting up the bags, but to wait on inserting the needles into the mares. My hooves pressed down and lifted up, over and over again, the sensation of her ribs cracking under my hooves sent shivers down my spine, and almost stopped me from continuing all together. Rose lifted her head up, gasping and groaning all at the same time.

“Rose, you need to help Candy! Your hearts both stopped and she needs you to revive her, please!” The white unicorn weakly made her way over to the laying mare. Vogel moved out of the way, and Rose started to let her magic do the work. Candy took a breath almost instantly. A relieved sigh came from my muzzle, my head lowering for a moment before guiding them both back into the bathtub, where the nutrient bags were then sent into their hooves by a little tube that hooked up to a needle.

I spent the whole day just sitting there, dozing off until I would hear a heave or a grunt. Neither of them were in any shape to haul supplies over from the market. I had to send Vogel and Shadow again, but warned them about the mare I ran into. They gave me a nod as they geared up, then went out the door. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat either (oh Luna the smell..) so I just sat there. Their stomachs slowly settled, and their breathing started to return to an acceptable level. This was far harder than I had ever expected.

It was night before the males had come back, filled bags of food lining their sides. I could hear the door open, then I could smell the blood as it shut behind them. Shadow limped himself my way, falling over on the tile floor after gazing at me. That stubborn bastard thought he could just walk away from taking a shot to the front leg. Now I had three patients.

“Hey Angel, could you care to remove the bullet in there? Some of the smaller feathers you have there could probably dig this out..” It only took me a moment to stick a rolled rag into his maw, then I started to dig around in the wound. His muffled groans made me wince, but I had to pull it out. Who knows what that bullet was sitting in or around before it got embedded into his leg. The digging was pointless, the width of the steel feathers was just too great. He floated his sharpening stone over, and started to drag it across the feather.

It went right back in, wedging under the lead chunk before popping it right out. Now I had to disinfect it. I stared at Vogel, using my eyes to tell him to share his booze. He only poured a shot’s worth onto the wound, but it was certainly enough to make Shadow jump and groan into the rag. From there, I just gave him one of the healing potions, making him guzzle it down before I started to wrap it up. “Vogel, make sure he lays here for a bit. You can carry him to the sofa, but make sure he doesn’t bleed on anything.” That earned me a grin.

Back into the bathroom I went, the dark bags under my eyes getting larger and larger the longer I just stayed up. The moment they both showed stability, I fell asleep almost instantly. Sometimes I heard Vogel stepping in to check on things, and then walking right back out. As long as they were stable. Rose started to rub my shoulder, bringing me back to the land of the living.

“Huh? Oh, Rose.. How are you feeling today?” She was looking far better, her pupils back to normal size, her mane shining once more. I glanced over at Candy, seeing similar results in her as well. They still smelt like vomit, but there wasn’t enough water to sacrifice for that cause. I couldn’t imagine any of us smelling at least somewhat decent anymore, between the vomit and blood, the radiation and ash, even the snowfall that was full of smoke and acidity..

“I’m feeling alright..” Her voice was lighter, softer, not all of her energy being put to speaking. “When was the last time you slept, Angel? You were only napping when I looked at you, but your eyes.. You need to sleep.”

I gave her a soft smile. “I won’t go to bed without you, love.” I pulled the needles from the now-empty bags, helping both of them out of the tub, and onto their hooves once more. They were wobbly, but could make it. Candy went right for the sofa, just to find a bleeding Shadow. Instead of trying to move him around or ask him to reposition, she just sat on the floor. Rose saw his leg, and her expression dropped.

“Angel, do you see that little red line going upward from the bandaged area to his upper leg? That’s blood poisoning.” Candy, Shadow, Vogel, and Rose were all staring at me now. It didn’t take a genius to know you needed powerful antibacterial medicine, something we were currently short on. Every other kind of medicine was right there, but blood poisoning.. No such luck.

“Alright, Rose you need to gather up bandages and the saline bag, plus some Med-X. Refrain from using it, darling. Vogel, you go and heat up a frying pan. The fireplace is a good place to do that. Shadow, I need to amputate that.” I was given stares from all of them, but got nods. “Shadow, use that stone of yours and sharpen up all of my steel feathers. Get them to be as razor sharp as possible, it’s for your own good.” The stone drug across the steel, whining and screeching while the others followed my orders.

Rose asked question after question when she brought back the drug, the bandages, and the saline IV bag. “Are you really going to do this? If it gets infected he’s dead either way, if he--” I just cut her off. “Rose. If we just let him die from this, it will haunt all of us. If we try to do something about it,even if we don’t save him, at least we’ll have tried. Now Rose, I need you to lift him up and set him on our dining room table. Lay down a few towels first, we won’t want the blood staining the wood.”

Vogel stood with an iron pan in the fire, hotpads on the standby. We were ready. Rose filled a syringe with the painkillers, then filled his veins with the fluid. I used my wings to lift up one of the towels that lined our table, then Rose set him on it. I rolled up the towel and stuck it into his maw, the drugs slowly kicking in. His eyes half-closed, and it was time. I let my razor-edged steel feathers line up above the spreading infected area, then without hesitation, I quickly started to use it as a saw.

Through the flesh, then muscle, finally I reached bone. Up went my wing, then it came right back down, chopping his front leg off. Vogel came running over as Shadow was groaning and grunting into the towel, his head slowly moving around on the wood while the hot pan touched the bleeding stump. We had to hold him down. “Hmmmph! Mmph Nnfffhhh!!” The smell of his burning flesh almost made me sick, his now black limb-stump had stopped bleeding, and Rose was right on it to tightly wrap it. I let a sigh of relief, even when he let out groans of pain.

We took shifts watching him that night, looking for the smallest sign of infection. When everything started to lighten up, we knew that he had made it through the night. If any infection were to have killed him, it would’ve been right then and there. I took his gas mask filters, stuffing them in my own pack. He wasn’t going to be leaving the house, and somepony always had to be there to watch him. I was putting on gear to return to the market to search for anything that may’ve been missed, and he spoke up.

“Angel.. You.. you just lead them. You lead them to save me. Thank you..” I just told him to shut the fuck up and that he didn’t even need to thank me. We had a laugh about that one.

The door to the market was clearly sealed up with boards, something that none of us had done. They had shot Shadow, and I wanted what was inside. Time to get operating again. I looked around at the windows seeing boards all around them as well, some of the shelving from inside even being used for barricades. My only way of entry would be from above, and that’s what I would do, even if I couldn’t just jump up and fly my way up here. Whoever was inside forgot to destroy the service ladder up, because it stood tall for my use. Up I went, using my wings to take a second grip as the steel was icey, the constant falling of snow blocking off pathways that anypony could take.

The roof was flat and easy to step across, save the patches that were extremely slick. I looked around at everything that I stepped across, only to fall through one of the skylights of the market. My wings flew open to slow my descent, keeping me from shattering anything as I hit the floor. Yelling came from aisles across from me, my landing zone right in the middle of the store itself. No cover, nowhere to run. A single bullet is all it took out here.

My instinct was to climb, going from beside the shelving to right on top of it. Garbage littered the floor, profane and rather sexual images painted over the propoganda posters and signs. Looks like I was stuck with delinquents that had weapons, what a perfect way to start my day. I saw the shadows of ponies running down the halls and aisles, yet none of their shadows had any masks over their faces. They must’ve used one-time emergency breathers or just wrapped their muzzles up with scarves. If the windows were to break, they’d be choking with their lack of actual air filters.

I jumped across the tops of the shelves, keeping myself low to avoid being spotted immediately, and as expected, bullets started to whiz by my head, a few lucky shots bouncing off of the steel portions of my wings. It stopped the bullets, but the impact of the steel feathers on my ribcage knocked the air from my lungs, my will to survive being the only thing that kept me upright. I jumped and tossed a grenade at the base of the front door, kicking off of the wall for my wings to take me away from the blast radius.

Shouting came from behind me as I flew over the empty boxes and bottles littering the floors, even spots that I assumed were.. Oh Gross! My path took me to the main office, giving me the perfect set of hallways to hear screams and groans of pain coming from the front entrance of the store. Looks like that grenade was more than just a distraction and a way to open up the interior to the exterior. The screams turned into coughing, choking, even wheezing to the point I knew they were spitting up blood. It sent chills down my spine, but it had to be done. They shot Shadow, and I wasn’t going to let them use up all of the precious items inside.

I let the coughing go to silence, not even a single hoof step remained echoing through the market. It was time to move now, but only after I look around this office. It was a basic set up, a desk with a name tag, a chair with little wheels to roll around, even a counter lined with coffee making supplies. Nothing even remotely interesting here, not even the safe he obviously had behind a painting of his grandmother, or at least.. She looked like it. I looked around closer just to be sure I was leaving nothing behind, rummaging through the drawers and cabinets that were scattered around, pencil, spectacle case, a rotting banana.. So, I made my way outside of the smaller room to gather what I could. Curiosity took me to the front entrance first, almost excited to see what I had caused. Ponies all of colors and shapes laid in growing pools of blood, shards of glass and steel peppering their jacket clad bodies. Metal pipes, a shovel, and then the pistol that was used on Shadow were scattered around, but nothing even remotely useful on them.

Down each aisle I went, searching through the empty boxes and trash that were once filled food items. Not a single damn thing was here anymore, not even behind the desks of the cashier’s stations. All of the food, the precious food that would’ve lasted us months was now all gone, and to what? A few ponies that just couldn’t see far enough ahead to ration out the food, or to keep themselves from trying to help other survivors. It was like they were there just to raid the food and fuck it all up. Raid. I was going to call ponies like this “Raiders” from now on. Though all of this though, I wondered.. Where was Candy?

§§§

With nothing in hoof, I came galloping back home. I nearly bucked open the door and slammed it behind me while yelling through my mask, the sounds nearly inaudible. “Where’s Candy? I didn’t see her when I was operating on Shadow, where is she?” Two ponies and a griffin shot looks back at me, all being the similar “Oh, shit.”

Shadow did Shadow things, trying to walk with a missing front leg. He wobbled, even fell over a couple of times, but he insisted on walking on his own. The four of us searched through the house, finally coming into the bathing room, where an empty needle hung from the arm of a small pony, her body lying in the bathtub. I sighed, and then gave her a shook. Not a single sign of response.

“Rose, get in here, now!” The mare came running in and almost dove down on Candy, pounding down on her chest over and over with her hooves. Vogel followed in not a second later, followed by the wobbling Shadow. We all just watched as Rose pounded and pounding on her chest, trying to restart her heart.

I was the one that had to etch into her makeshift headstone.

There we stood, excluding Shadow, (he just had to watch through a window) the breeze blowing our loose clothing and hair around, snowfall leaving thin, white sheets over us. Two of us in a single week, at this rate we wouldn’t survive this dreaded wasteland. Here lies Candy, death of drug overdose. She just couldn’t deal with reality, and we all had to pay her ticket to the stars. Rose was a mess, nearly flooding out her mask. Vogel stood silent and tall, but we watched as his heart broke all over again. Candy lay next to Jacks in the ground, both at the base of the Elder Tree.

Two marked rocks with names, date of birth to death, and a carving of their cutie marks. I was beginning to feel that death was the only one who ruled these wretched lands, who was to say what was happening on the other side of our mountain walls. The night had crept upon us, and our memorial had ended.

All were nearly silent that night, the occasional grunt from Shadow and the clinking of a glass bottle from Vogel were the only things we heard. Not even the lanterns were even hissing as their fuel burnt. I picked up Rose and carried her to bed, lying quietly with her. We would split the rations and supplies another way in the morning, but for now.. Now we sleep, hoping for brighter days and peaceful nights.

“Yes, but will she actually make it through this, Doctor?” I watched as a nurse in her white clothing stood before a lab coat clad stallion, speaking to him about.. Something. “Of course she will, this newest technology is the best that the Ministry Heads have to offer, and that’s saying something. Well, the ‘top secret’ Crusader mainframes are a rather fun topic as well, not that any of us are supposed to know..”

They stepped closer to me, my eyes wandering downward to see where I was instead of staring into a doorway. There I was all over again, laying in a clean clinical bed. A light blue blanket was pulled over me, covering most of my body from the world.

“You see nurse, the secret to profit when it comes to running one of these Canterlot hospitals isn’t to treat the problem directly.. Of course in this case it was direct order by the Princesses. Now, we have her original heart..” He lifted a beating, red organ in his hoof. It pulsed out blood, covering his hoof and arm with the crimson substance. “.. but I feel like I could do so much more with it.”

I jumped out of bed when I watched him bite into it.

I opened my eyes slowly, gazing at the back of a golden mane. She slowly wiggled around, trying to get herself up and out of bed. My eyes closed once more before I stepped up with her, running my wings through my mane to keep it from looking too frazzled. None of us looked very well that morning.

Rose was almost an ill gray, Vogel was severely hungover, and Shadow was missing his front leg. Of course, I couldn’t have been any better. No words were exchanged for a few moments, Rose and I were sitting on the sofa next to Shadow, Vogel sitting on one of our dining room chairs. Vogel was the first to speak up, his throbbing head more than likely impairing his judgement.

“You know.. I was starting to divide up her rations and supplies, more than half of our original Med-X supply was buried in her things.” I ran to the restroom only to puke, wipe off my face, then come back once more. I looked, and probably smelt worse than before.

“Vogel, we don’t want to know those things. Just put them back in with our medical supplies..” I wanted to slap him across his beak into forty different cities. “..How many filters did she have left?” He gave me an almost sickened look, my priorities were in different places.

“Angel, she didn’t really use any of them up. There’s five, you can take them all. You go out more than any of us, and now with these.. What did you call them, Raiders or something? Shadow can’t fight them off, so Rose and I will stay here. Why don’t you look for something to do out there.. Or something..”

It was easier to take her filters and gear up, then leave the situation. A drunk griffin isn’t great for somepony that just wants to forget any of this had ever happened.

I chose to take a look into our old city hall, who knows what would be stored away there. It was directly above our town, a straight north shot to the building from the Elder Tree. On my way past the dying tree, I took a look down. Two graves, two headstones. I may as well just dig four more for the rest of us when the time comes. Up the snow covered streets I went, watching the disgustingly yellow haze kick up from the snow. Thank Luna I had more filters. I counted them out, a total of eight. This should keep me going for a while.

Our city hall building was crumbling into nothing, the lack of anything to catch some of the blast really showed. It sat atop a hill, the white painted building falling apart. All four of the front pillars were cracked and crumbly, chunks of the concrete piling up around the bases of each pillar. More of the sick paintings were covering what was left, the simple rectangle building with what was once a topping dome was now collapsed inward, crude plastic sheeting and boards were used to patch the gap.

I lowered myself down, keeping myself from being in any direct sightlines. Of course, with all of the windows boarded up, that wouldn’t be too much of an issue. Up the hill I went, dodging over bits of fallen concrete that had rolled from the inclined surface, leaving little obstacles in my way. I felt the tip of my boots hitting on the edges of some of them, the coating of snow obscuring their shape. As I reached the side of the building, I looked through some of the small cracks between boards in the windows to see if I could get in.

There was a single window that allowed me to see well enough to know that I wouldn’t run into trouble the moment I hopped through, so I used my wings to cut through the boards, and jump in.

“Hey! What the fuck was that!”

Looks like these assholes had ears. I looked around rather quickly, trying to find anything I could conceal myself with. To my left was a dust-covered desk, the perfect place for me to roll under and take my time to assess the situation. I hid in the shadows and filth, looking around at everything I could. Staircase up the middle that went to the second story, more pillars inside.. Floors that were obviously expensive that had things left on them.. Oh gross..

Light just barely showed itself, seeping through the small cracks between the boards and destroyed dome that left a pile of rubble in the middle of the room, of course the window I had just broken into had plenty of the sickly green light to flood the area. I watched as two stallions made their way over to the window, muttering to themselves with scarves around their muzzles while they used traces of magic to board the window back up. I could tell they were suspicious, but weren’t actively searching for me.

I simply muttered under my breath, “Oh come on..” as I saw the lack of my suppressor on the end of my rifle. I had taken it off with the bipod and scope back at home, now I had to improvise. No suppressor was stuck on my pistol either, and my combat knife must’ve fallen out somewhere. Then, I thought of my wings. I slowly crawled out from under the desk as they finished boarding up the mess, taking advantage of their obliviousness. Up I went, slowly coming to a standing position before jumping up and dashing forward, my wings fully expanded. They didn’t see it coming, and they weren’t going to see anything any longer as their heads rolled around.

Blood soaked the ends of my wings, some even splashing onto the lense of my gas mask, partially blocking my vision from my left eye. I turned and started to search the stallions, staying as quiet as I could at this point. Their coats were covered with shredded clothing, and their scarves were nothing more than cut bedsheets. I used the tips of my wings to pull the scarf from the neck-stump, and used it to clean off my lense. Instead of leaving it there, I tied it around the filter stem of my mask, right behind the filter.

My hood was becoming frayed in areas, the end of my cloak almost completely shredded off. Patches of my uniform were starting to wear thin, almost tearing in some places. I was looking horrible, almost as if I were a nightmare that young foals would have after watching a horror film. Just to further this image in hopes to frighten whomever else was in here, I dipped the tips of my wings in the growing pools of blood, and drug stripes across my mask.

Every shadow was my friend, allowing me to slip right up the stairs, my figure staying low and close to the banisters that were clearly bucked around as a game. As I reached the top, I heard another set of hooves clopping around in one of the offices to my left. There were only five doors, three before me, and two to my flanks. The good stuff would be in the main office, perhaps even the basement, but my primary goal now was to silence those hooves. I crept along the railing, glancing over each of the walnut doors to be certain there weren’t any cracks that would reveal my position.

I slowly opened the far left door, prepared for anything as I stepped inside. Only bookshelves were in this room, save a few stools and even bean bags to take a seat on. The filthy, ragged raider stared right at me, dropping his can of spray paint he was using to defile a painting of Celestia.

“N-No! Fuck fuck fuck I must’ve taken too much go away! Go away!”

Did he really think I was a monster? Beautiful, my little plan actually did work. His orange coat had stains of crimson and brown all over, his mane completely shaved off. I only stepped forward, one hoof at a time, watching as he fell to the ground, almost screaming in my presence. Back into a corner shelf he went, knocking over a few clean books onto the wooden flooring around him. The minimal light that came from the windows was reflecting from my lenses, the green glow consuming them entirely.

I stood tall in front of the balling pony, knowing that what I was about to do was in the name of mercy. The edge of my wing went forward, and slid across his throat. He just stared at me in disbelief, blood pouring from his neck and muzzle, the light from his eyes fading away into nothing. Only a few books in here interested me, enough so that I stuffed them into my bags. A very certain book caught my eye even more, almost like somepony had put neon lights on it (though I was certain he was dead). “The Pony Sutra.” Into my bags it went.

Now I was listening once more, hearing nothing for now. I was clear to explore for the time being, as long as I remained as silent as possible, of course if anypony was around, they would’ve heard the young stallion’s screams. The next door I entered was a secretary’s office, the old phone sitting on a simple steel desk. The walls were covered in propaganda posters, the most notable being a rather content pink mare staring into what felt my soul. “Always Watching!” For the love of Luna, please don’t.

I shut the door rather quickly, nothing in there could be interesting enough for me to sit and be stared at by that.. Thing. For now, I skipped over the center door, moving onward to the right side of the building now. The door went open, and inside was another desk, this one being much finer. Behind on the wall was two large flags, one being all of Equestria, the one beneath, the flag of Germaney. A shield with two ponies on either side, purple and black checkerboarding filling up the surface of the shield. More posters were in this room, but none were as frightening as the one I felt was staring back. Into the room I went.

I felt myself stepping over broken glass and legs of chairs that had been torn from their owner, nails sticking up from every large shard of wood. My hooves were being especially careful around the area now. Posters of heroic poses were around me in every direction, some showing off the armor of the Steel Rangers, others were presenting Rainbow Dash in a black armor, something that I was rather familiar with. The thing looked like it belonged on a beetle, not a pony. I stood behind the desk, going through the drawers. Inside I found plenty of dust, a few pencils, forms to enlist, and finally, a photo.

My wings lifted the dark frame, looking into the paper that held a memory. Here was a mare in officer’s fatigues standing next to her husband, and their child. I looked closely at the young stallion in the photo, his parents on either side of him. Orange coat, preference of a short mane. I dropped the frame and stepped out, closing the door as quickly as I could. What had to be done was done, and I was going to stick to that.

Finally I found myself at the right door, inside was a simple restroom, scratches all over the mirrors, and the smell.. I felt myself gagging. The door shut just as soon as I opened it, closing off the smell of something so strong that it could pierce through my filter- oh fuck. I quickly unscrewed the current canister, letting it drop to the ground before my wings reached into the black bag and pulled another from its pouch, breaking open the seal and screwing it in. No worries about dying to toxic air today, even if this place was pretty well sealed up.

My focus was on the center door now, almost certain that somepony was inside, I opened it and stood with my wings flared out. There sat a dirty mare, her sea blue coat marred with dirt and blood, traces of green paint all over her. She turned around in the chair behind the desk, and took a look at me. Her green mane was folded over her left eye, showing a single red eye that was sizing me up. A scarf was wrapped around her muzzle, hiding her face from my gaze. Her voice was almost as rough as her appearance.

“So.. You’re the one that’s been giving my guys trouble? Hmm.” I could tell she was thinking, her own set of wings unfolding in the chair. “You know, you left quite the impact on them. At the market, and now in here as well. It wasn’t easy, but we got the cameras working again. You’re quite the slippery one, and the lack of a heart.. Oh you’d be perfect to join up.”

She had me intrigued, but for all of the reasons she wouldn’t expect. I kept my mask on, but spoke loudly through it to keep my speech as clear as possible. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to tell me what exactly you’re doing here, and why you’re doing it, will you?”

She snickered, then shot me her response. “Well you see, it’s the end of the world and no pony has to care about anything anymore. So, we figured that we’d go and have some fun, break things, cover other things with art, no big deal. You see, that becomes a problem when you run out of food and water. Not sure if you’ve seen the river recently, but I don’t believe I’ll drink from it like that stupid maneless did.”

She was talking about Jacks. I felt hurt, but at the same time, I agreed with her. I let her continue on with her speech, my ears focusing for the sound of hoofsteps behind me. I didn’t hear anything, so she was actually being serious.

“When you need more food, you find it. When the food is in the hooves of other ponies, you have to think about a few things. Do you let them live, or do you value your own life more? You see, the world has changed so dearly. There isn’t a single reason to do good deeds, or to even care about the life of others. So, what will it b-” She was silenced rather quickly as my pistol barked.

I didn’t care to listen to her anymore, no matter how much I had agreed with her. Things were different now, and there wasn’t anything we could do about it. I slapped myself a few times, bringing myself back to Angel. Hello, how are you Miss Angel, please don’t do what these ponies did.

Into the room I walked, getting look at the bookshelf behind her corpse, blood and gray matter covering the spines of books that appeared to have been in mint condition. The desk had scratches and other damage on the surface, showing that it had seen plenty of use. The drawers were full of varying pills and tablets, some even full of syringes. Candy.. No, Angel, back to reality.

I slapped myself again, and dug around in the top drawer. There was a single golden key, exactly what I was looking for (or so I told myself.) I took a closer look at it, reading a small inscription dug into the ring of the key. “Vault.” There was a vault here? So that’s what must’ve been in the basement that I suspected was here completely, no thoughts otherwise.

Down the stairs I went, not bothering to shut the final door behind me. I looked under the primary staircase, seeing the steel security door standing in my way. In the key went, and the door swung open. I made the descent down the concrete tunnel, covering my eyes with my wings as I passed deep red lights. When I stopped climbing stairs, I stared at a massive vault door. It was unfortunate Stable-Tec didn’t come building over this way, or we’d all be spared this trouble. No such luck. Luck - 0

I looked around for a way to open it, I guess the red button behind a small cage was the place to start. It had a keyhole, one that fit the little golden key, then my hoof slammed the button. The door started to scream in my ears as the rusting metal was drug across a track that probably had never seen maintenance. Inside was a simple square room made of thick metal, shelves lining the area.

To my left was caches of food like I had eaten back before everything was bombed, pouches of dehydrated, vitamin enriched apple chunks, oatmeals, even wheat cakes. My bags were almost overflowing as I stuffed them full with the food, even grabbing a few cans of water marked as: “Emergency Water.” The rear wall only held filing cabinets on the shelving, whoever had to get papers done was a lifetime late. And finally, on my right, a wall full of weapons. I looked through the racks of rifles until one had caught my eye, something from times long before. I lifted the old bolt-action rifle from its place, rotating it around with my wings. It had a clean, bright wooden stock with no wear at all, the steel was still fully blued, even the markings were still crisp and clean. The bent-down bolt handle rested above a small recess in the stock, giving me plenty of room to mount a scope, should I choose to do so. The sling was a clean material, probably canvas from what I could gather. The crowning jewel was the bayonet stuck to the end, matching the rifle almost perfectly. I would never get use of the dagger on the end of the gun, but I didn’t care. I was taking this one.

I dropped my current rifle and all of its ammunition, simply letting it fall to the floor beneath, the dim fluorescent lights reflecting on the barrel. The label showed me the ammo type that was in stock, small box after box was stashed under the shelves, giving me more than enough to do whatever I could possibly need and more. From curiosity, I looked inside the small brown boxes, seeing steel strips attached to the bottoms of the rounds. This was for speed loading, something father had told me about.

Everything else hardly interested me, only the grenades had even taken a place in my belt among hundreds of weapons. To be sure nopony else would come across these, I tossed one of the steel balls inside. I don’t think I’ve ever ran my flank up stairs so quickly before.

It was clear that this place was being used as a hangout by these raiding savages, something I had to take care of. I went into the library, and started to pull books from the shelves. I tried my best to ignore the corpse of the orphan, but what had been done was done. Book after book was being piled up in the main office, coating the entire floor with hard covers. Next was fuel, something I had no issue with. My wings unscrewed the stem that came from the steel ball grenade, powder pouring out onto the books. Should this light up, the entire building would be a shell in moments. Looks like those wood furnishings and floorings were going to waste. I went right back to the window I had busted in, tearing the planks down once more. Before I climbed out, I took one of the grenades and gave it a good throw, watching it bounce off of a doorframe and into the main office. Out into the night I went, hearing the explosion behind me.

§§§

Rose nearly tackled me over after stepping in the doorway, my back closing the door as it hit against it. “Looks like somepony is happy to see me.” She looked at me rather puzzled, then pulled the mask from my face.

“What was that darling, I couldn’t hear you through your.. Is that blood? Is that blood on your wings too? Angel, what happened?”

I don’t think anypony had ever been so interested in one of my stories before. Rose, Shadow, and Vogel sat around, listening to every word, showing excitement, terror, even joy in their faces, even more so when I had shown them the rifle.

“Happy one month survival day, friends.” And with that, my story was over.