Civilization) I began to learn the ins and outs of my new home. Returning to “civilization” brought with it rules, politics, and of course, the need to find work. I also learned that what I considered civilization was not the same as what the rest of the wasteland called civilization…

Entry 7 (Part 1): There was a sharp knock at my door, followed by a stallion shouting, “what the fuck? Yo, open up!”

“What the…?”, I mumbled as I sat up on my mattress.

I got up out of bed, picking up Thunder as I trotted out of my room.

Claw rubbed her eyes, looking at the front door from the couch. “who the fuck is that?”, Claw mumbled.

“I have no idea”, I said trotting up to the door.

I swung open the door and saw a mare and stallion standing out front. The stallion gave me an easygoing smile. “Hey man what's the deal? Did ya want the flop house fer yourself or somethin?”, he said brightly as he tried to trot past me.

I took a step in front of him and shoved him back, “whoa, hold on one damn minute! Who the hell said you could come in here?”

He took a step back, shocked and confused by my continued obstruction. “Sugar did man, are you already high or somethin?”, he asked as he squinted at me.

“What? No! Who the fuck is Sugar?”, I said a bit taken aback.

“The dude who sells drugs out that storeroom over there man!”, he said with enthusiasm, gesturing to the steel door in the warehouse wall next to my house. “He always says its aight to crash over here for the night. Now if ya don’t mind, me and my girl are about to go to the moon man”, he said trying to trot past me again.

Oh you have to be shitting me. Now I knew why my house was a wreck, the damn drug dealer next door has been inviting his customers to get high in here like he owned the place.

Well he was in for a rude awakening, because he doesn't own this place.

I roughly shoved the stallion back out, “Not in here you’re not, get lost”

“Who the hell do ya think you are man!”, he yelled in anger as he shoved me back.

I responded by taking Thunder and smashing the butt end of the stock straight into his muzzle. He went down surprisingly easy, falling onto the ground outside my door while cradling his bruised jaw in his forehooves and groaning.

“Baby!”, the mare yelled rushing over to his side.

I pointed Thunder at the two of them, and once I saw the look of horror on both of their faces, I laid down the law, “Listen carefully, I live here now, and I'm not having some strung out, freeloading, addicts trashing my place. So tell your friends, and Sugar, that from now on you’ll all have to find some other place to get high. You got that?”

They both nodded and quickly ran off. Once they were gone I shut and locked the door.

Claw trotted up to me, rubbing her eyes and yawning. “You do know we’re gonna have to deal with junkies pounding on our door every night now, right?”, she said with a yawn.

“What’re you talking about? I just told them to tell everyone that this place is off limits”, I said.

“Do you really think those two are gonna do that? and Sugar isn’t losing his flophouse without a fight”, Claw said picking up her claw gauntlet off of the floor, “we either deal with him, or he’ll deal with us”.

She had a point, but we were also in an actual town now, we couldn’t just kill him, but it also meant he couldn’t try to kill us either.

I decided I’d think of something in the morning. “Alright, I’m going back to bed”, I said trotting to my room, “If more addicts come to the door, could you deal with them? We’ll take turns”.

“I kinda wanted to go out for a bit actually”, Claw said gesturing to the door. “And I uhh, need some money”, Claw said rubbing claw clad foreleg against the other awkwardly.

I turned to her and raised an eyebrow, “why? Where are you going?”

“I wanted to buy a bag to keep some stuff in, I think you know by now that my shorts don’t have any pockets”, she said turning to the side and stretching a hind leg for emphasis. Her canvas shorts, indeed, did not have pockets.

“Alright, let me get you some”, I trotted into my room, emptied my own bag, and came back with my mailbag, now only holding our remaining factory new 5.56 bullets, “here, this is 75 rounds, it should be more than enough for a bag right?”

“Whoa, hell yeah it is!”, she said accepting the bag and ammo.

“Could you do me a favor and buy me a pair of saddlebags as well?”, I asked. My messenger bag was nice, but it wasn’t suited to holding large quantities of salvage, supplies, or loot.

“Sure thing”, Claw said trotting out the door, “see ya later!”. She spread her wings, and flew off over the maze of shacks that was the warehouse district.

I shut and locked the door behind her, then I threw the couch against it as well for good measure. After that I went back to bed.

I woke up the next morning to my stomach grumbling. I reached into my pile of belongings and pulled out a box of Sugar Apple Bombs. Then I threw on my turnout jacket and sat down on the couch.

As I ate I noticed Claw wasn’t back yet, where could she be? The thought crossed my mind that perhaps she had taken my money and ran. I shook my head and rejected it, Claw wouldn’t do that, right? We were partners, we had saved each others lives back at the arena, that had to count for something. Of course, I thought I could trust Bourbon up until he betrayed me too.

I kept eating while I tried to ignore my thoughts, as well as the throbbing and burning pain in my hind leg, side, and head. I needed to pay a visit to that doctor’s office today. I wasn’t sure how I was going to keep my PipBuck concealed while he examined me, but I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.

There was a sharp knocking at the door, was Claw home? I set down my empty cereal box and moved the couch away from the door. Opening it revealed a white earth pony with a sandy blond mane.

“Hey man, what’s up? I hear you’re new around here”, the pony said leaning up on the door frame.

“Something like that, if you’re here to get high you’ll have to go somewhere else. I’m the one that owns this place now”, I said. I didn’t feel in the mood to do something more drastic like last night, what with the burning pain from all my recent injuries really flaring up today.

“And uh, what makes you think you can just move in here?”, he said narrowing his eyes and taking a step inside.

I narrowed my eyes right back, “Carrion did, when he gave me the deed to the house”.

“Well that is a problem”, he said before punching me in the head with a forehoof. My vision went fuzzy for a minute, my ears rang, and I lost my balance as I fell back onto the floor.

Okay, I definitely needed to see a doctor.

“You shouldn’t start shit you aren’t ready to finish”, he said standing over me. He leaned down low, putting his face right in front of mine, “now you’re gonna give me the deed to this place, and then-”.

I cut him off by lunging forward and biting down on the bridge of his nose.

“Gah!”, he yelled in surprise.

I capitalized on the surprise by jumping up and tackling him backwards onto the ground. I wrang my hooves around his neck and began squeezing.

He struggled for air as I strangled him, and he began punching me in desperation. He landed a hit to my head, which loosened my grip on his neck. But it was his punch to my side that knocked the wind out of me. He took that opportunity to throw me off of him and stand up.

I stood up myself, my balance was shaky and I was out of breath, but I tried real damn hard not to show it. The white stallion was fighting to catch his breath as he clutched a hoof to his bruised throat. He looked at me with a mixture of shock and anger. He swallowed and spoke, “I’m gonna make you pay you psycho bastard!”.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that one before”, I said a little winded myself, “now get out of here, before I show you just how psycho I really am”. I really hoped he’d just leave, I wasn’t going to be putting up much more of a fight in my current condition.

He didn’t call my bluff though, thank Celestia. “Fine”, he spat, “but this isn’t over, this is my place”. He turned and walked out the door. I walked up to the doorway and watched as he trotted over to the steel door to Sugar’s place. A brown mare was sitting next to said door when the stallion who had attacked me entered.

The mare followed him in, “Sugar what happened? Are-”. What she was saying was cut off by the door slamming shut behind her.

So that was Sugar.

He didn’t know my name yet, but that wouldn’t take long to find out. Besides, he was my neighbor, he knew exactly where to find me if he wanted to start trouble.

The old ‘bite the pony threatening you when they get close’ strategy was still working strong, so at least there was that. Granted, I didn’t take his ear off like that other pony, but it still got the message across.

I closed and locked my door, then collapsed onto the couch. First thing was first, I needed medical attention. Then, I needed to figure out a way to deal with Sugar. When he came over here he wasn’t expecting me to fight back, let alone bite him, which bought me some time. But when he comes back he’ll be ready for a fight. I needed to find a solution before then, preferably a nonviolent one. I didn’t want to be known as the pony who killed his neighbor right after moving into town, (and in hindsight that would be assuming I didn't get thrown out of town, or hanged, for murder).

For the time being though I decided to just keep sitting and wait for Claw to come home.

“Shepherd I’m really fucking sorry, I should’ve been here”, Claw said as I strapped my two new saddlebags on over my flanks.

She had gotten home about half an hour after my fight with Sugar. She had bought me a pair of large, brown, brahman leather saddlebags (a “Brahman”, apparently, is a mutated, weird ass two headed cow thing). For herself, she had bought a small pouch that wrapped around the upper thigh of her right hind leg.

I had explained what had happened with Sugar when she returned.

“It’s fine”, I said, “I’m just glad everything went okay with buying us some bags”. In reality, I was just happy my paranoid doubts turned out to be false, but I wasn’t planning on voicing that little fact. “Where’s the the bullets that were left over? I really need to visit that doctor today”

Claw rubbed the back of her head and looked off to the side, “oh, right, about that…”

“Claw, where’s the rest of the money”, I asked, not at all liking the sound of that little statement.

“Well… after I bought our bags, I checked out the other stores around town, and it turned out someone turned the penthouse on the top floor into a casino. So I… tried my luck…”

I let out a sigh, she had gambled away most of our money. “It’s okay. Honestly, if I had found out about the place, I would have suggested trying our luck there myself at some point. Spending a night at a casino actually sounds like a lot of fun”, I said, “so how much did you lose?”

Claw let out a nervous chuckle, “umm… everything, I lost everything”

I facehoofed, “Fffuuuuck”, I said with a long sigh. “Alright, from now on, I’m handling all our money, alright? If you need to buy something, ask”

Claw quickly nodded, “no problem”.

After making one final check that I had all my equipment and belongings, I opened the front door and trotted out.

Claw followed close behind. “So uh, where’re we headed?”, she asked.

“To the Doctor’s”, I said as I locked the door to our shack, “lets pray he’s the charitable type”

Baleville was a buzz of activity just like the day before. A sea of ponies moved back and forth from place to place, all handling their own personal business. I was sitting on a bench outside of the doctor’s office, just marvelling at the spectacle of society that was all around me. After those first couple days out of the stable, I missed this more than anything.

Claw wasn’t as impressed as I was.

She was laying upside down next to me on the bench, her hind legs kicking the air, and her head and forelegs dangling near the ground. She let out a loud groan, “fuck I’m so bored! How the fuck are you not going stir crazy right now!?”

I looked over at her, “We’ve only been here for five minutes”

“Yeah, five minutes doing fuck all”, she replied sourly.

“I can’t exactly do much while injured Claw. In case you forgot, I got shot in the head”, I retorted, “and the side, and the leg. You might as well get comfortable, the office doesn’t open for another half an hour”

Her eyes went wide in horror. “Noooooo!”, she yelled in despair at the horrifying, crippling realization she’d have to sit still for half an hour. Even now, I still have no idea where she found the inner strength to endure such raw torment.

Claw’s outburst caused a couple of ponies in the crowd to give us funny looks. One such pony, clad in security guard barding, trotted over. “Is there a problem over here?”, he asked.

“No problems here officer”, I said. I knew that the guards here weren’t like the ones back in Stable 54, but I still didn’t feel entirely comfortable around them either. All things considered, I figured it’d be a good idea to still be respectful to the guards. “My friend here is just a bit bored, we’re waiting for the clinic to open”, I continued.

“Hmm, alright then”, the guard said before pointing at Claw, “but keep that one on a tight leash. I know raider when I see it, and none of us would hesitate to put her down if she starts trouble”

“Fuck you asshole!”, Claw snarled.

“Whoa whoa!”, I said quickly standing up and getting between the two (maybe a little too quickly, I nearly lost my balance and face planted). “We’ll keep that in mind officer”, I said glaring down at Claw, “We wouldn’t want to cause trouble in our new home”

Claw just crossed her forelegs and glared off to the side.

“...yeah, let's hope not”, the guard said after a short pause. “Anyways”, he said looking at the front door of the Doctor’s Office, “you better have plenty of cartridges, Doc Church charges ridiculously high prices”

Shit, that was not what my pounding head needed to hear right then. I sat back down on the bench, and looked back out over the crowd. “If you don’t mind me asking Officer, how does a place like this exist?”, I asked.

“Goods and services”, the guard replied, “With talented tradesponies of all sorts up and down the tower, Baleville acts as the hub for all the trade and travel between the other settlements of Apple Hills. Decades ago we used to be a hub for trade caravans going across this entire region of the wasteland at large, but…”

“But what?”, I curiously asked.

“Well…”, he said, “Not to speak badly about our benevolent government, but they’ll destroy any group that gets too powerful out in the wasteland. Outside Apple Hills, anarchy rules, which means no long distance caravans”. He was quiet for a minute before he added, “wait, shouldn’t you know all this already?”

“I'm from a pretty isolated tribe, somewhere out west”, I said sticking to Claw’s cover story, “this is all pretty new to me”

The guard rolled his eyes. “freaking tribals”, he said turning and beginning to trot away, “well let me, or any other officer, know if you need anything”

A thought came to mind, “officer wait! I’d like to report a crime!”

He sighed and turned around, “Is it theft?”

“Uh, what? No, its-”, I responded before being cut off by the officer.

“Then there’s nothing we can do unless we see it go down ourselves”, the guard said.

“What!? That’s bullshit!”, I exclaimed in shock, “Security won’t investigate any crime that isn’t theft!?”

“Yep, that's how it works”, the guard said, “We’re guards, not fuckin detectives. Deal with your own problems”. He then turned and trotted off into the crowd.

“Th-that… Claw, tell me this isn’t normal out here!”, I sad turning to Claw.

She looked up at me in thought for a minute before responding, “It uh… it kinda depends on the town. Some places have security like here, some have security so strict it's like living in a fucking Authority City, and some fall somewhere in between”, she said before muttering, “doesn’t make his answer any less bullshit though”

Wonderful, I traded an authoritarian police state for a guard force that was next to useless. Now I could see how the Tunnel Snakes got away with so much.

“Alright, what’s wrong with you”, the Doctor asked as I sat down on a bed in the front room. The Doctor’s name was Church, he was a white earth pony wearing a dirty lab coat and a negative disposition. The Baleville Health Clinic consisted of a front room with three beds, a back room acting as both an office, bedroom, and a storage room for all the medical equipment, and a cramped bathroom.

“I’m hurt pretty bad Doc, I got shot in the head with a rifle, the side with a shotgun, and my hind leg with…”, I paused for a moment, “huh, I actually don’t remember exactly how I hurt my leg”

“Hmm, the fact you aren’t dead and speaking coherently speaks volumes for the head injury. The other wounds shouldn’t be too hard to fix if no bones are broken. It’ll be 20 new 5.56 rounds for the whole procedure”, he said, “assuming you aren’t looking for a damn handout of course”

I swallowed. “uhh, that was actually what I was hoping for…”, I said with a nervous smile.

He just stared at me for a moment before he spoke, “get out of my clinic”. He then trotted into the back room.

“Wait!”, I got up and trotted after him, “there’s got to be some kind of deal we can work out!”

He shoved me back before I could enter the office, “I don’t wanna hear it. No cartridges, no service”

“There’s gotta be something we can do, you money grubbing fuck”, Claw said stepping forward, “everyone needs something, and we’re mercs. Fix my partner, and we’ll do what you want, no questions asked”

Church raised an eyebrow, “...money grubbing? Is that really how you negotiate?”

“Just ask Carrion, up in the Second Chance Bar, he’ll vouch for us. I’m Shepherd and this is my partner Claw”, I said pointing to Claw, “Just fix me and we’ll do what you want, no questions asked”

He looked us both up and down for a moment, and looking Claw up and down a little slower. Claw worked her jaw and glared at the extra visual attention. He looked back at me and said, “here’s the deal: I need a new defibrillator, and more medical supplies. There’s a medical research facility on the northeast side of downtown. It’s filled with ghouls, which means it hasn’t been looted bare yet. I’ll fix you up and give you directions to the place. In exchange, you’re gonna get me a working defibrillator, any medical supplies you find, and you’re gonna pay me to fix up any new injuries you receive while on the job”

“Deal”, I said holding out a hoof for him to shake.

He took my hoof and shook it, sternly adding, “If you run off without doing the job, I’m never going to give you medical care again”

I stepped out of the clinic feeling as good as new. Luckily, I didn’t have to remove my clothes and reveal my PipBuck. The doctor just gave me a healing potion and checked to make sure I didn’t have a concussion.

“I still think he’s a greedy fuck”, Claw said, “all he did was sell you a healing potion and stick a flashlight in your eyes”

“I won’t disagree with you there, but now we got a job”, I said noticing a small crowd gathering around the bomb, “that’s what counts right?”

Claw blew a raspberry, “A job with no pay? Yeah, great”

“Who knows? we might find more than just medical supplies there, besides-”, I leaned next to Claw and whispered, “It’s not like he’ll know how much medical supplies we’ll find. We could just give him a small portion, and sell the rest somewhere else”

Claw smirked at this, “I could get behind that plan”

“Glad to hear it”, I said trotting towards the crowd, “c’mon, I want to see what’s going on”

We trotted up to the crowd, the majority of which were Children of the Glow who had left their ramshackle church, but there was a decent number of townsponies in attendance too. I took a sip out of my canteen as I looked to see what all the fuss was.

In the center of the crowd, Confessor Cornflake was standing on the bomb.

I violently spit out the water I had been drinking. Confessor Cornflake was standing on the fucking balefire bomb! What the hell was that madpony thinking!

“Brothers and Sisters, true believers of the Glow! We have gathered here today to, once again, preach the glory of our lord to the unwashed masses of this community!”, the confessor proudly proclaimed over the crowd. I found it ironic he called the townsponies the unwashed ones, when his own followers smelled like raw sewage.

The Confessor continued, “Citizens of Baleville, I pray you take heed to my words. For one day soon, as it has been foretold, the Glow’s messiah, the Lightbringer, will come to pass judgement upon us all! She will bring all who believe, all who are worthy, to the promised land hidden in the depths of the Dead Zone, a paradise more beautiful and pure than you could ever imagine. She will also cast judgement upon all the heathens who remain ignorant to our Lord. She will use the remaining weapons of war, like the one beneath my hooves, to purify the world once and for all, to unleash our Lord's glory upon the world once again!”

I looked about the crowd as Cornflake continued his rant (a rant that mostly boiled down to: Join us or the lightbringer will kill you all, which Claw did not seem happy about). I noticed the Mayor watching from the sidelines, away from the crowd, he didn’t look too happy either.

I tapped Claw on the shoulder, gesturing to follow me, and I trotted over to the mayor.

“Hey Mr. Mayor, do sermons like this happen often?”, I asked.

“More and more every day it seems”, the Mayor said somewhat depressed, “They never gain any new followers, which is infuriating the Confessor”

“Really? He seemed pretty friendly to me the other day”, I said surprised.

“The Children are nothing more than raiders with an unhealthy obsession with radiation”, the Mayor said. His eyebrows shot up, and he quickly added as he looked all around us, “at least that's what I used to think! I-I uh... they’ve proven to be upstanding citizens after we brokered a peace with them! F-Fine members of the community”

I looked about myself, but there wasn’t anyone within earshot at the moment. “Mr. Mayor, I agree with you, that cult creeps me the hell out”, I said reassuringly, “what was that you mentioned about ‘brokering peace’ a minute ago?”

The Mayor let out a sigh, then rubbed his temple. “Where to begin? The Children of the Glow originally laid siege to our city upon their arrival. They wanted any of us who wouldn’t join them to either leave, or be executed. The Saviors managed to force a cease fire, and we made a deal. They just wanted the bomb, so as long as they didn’t get violent, and gave their radiation treatments for free, they could stay”, the Mayor said before taking a large, nervous swallow, “but they’re growing… impatient. The Confessor was hoping to have a large line of ponies ready to convert to his religion. I don’t think he realized a religion that forces you to donate all of your property to the cause wouldn’t be very popular in a merchant town. Now he’s threatening to resume the violence if I don’t let him run unopposed in the upcoming election”

“Fucking piece of shit cultists”, Claw spat, “The only way to deal with them is to shoot them”

“Many would say the same about raiders Ms”, the mayor said. Claw visibly bristled at his words, but kept quiet.

“Why not tell these Savior ponies about this? Get them to help you throw the Children out of town”, I suggested, “they obviously aren’t following their end of the deal”

“Unfortunately, the Children are technically still following their end of the deal”, the Mayor said, “What’s worse, the Saviors know about the problem, they instructed me to appease them! I-I can’t do anything!-”. His eyes slowly widened in realization as he began staring at me. “I can’t do anything…”, he said slowly, the gears in his head turning in thought.

“Umm… what’re you thinking Mr Mayor?”, I asked. I had a feeling I was about to be offered another job.

“You were the one who wiped out the Tunnel Snakes, weren’t you? I saw you in the bar yesterday, after that unpleasant situation with Carrion”, he said. Before I could answer he frantically added, “D-don’t answer that! I don’t want to know for sure. But you… you aren’t from here, you aren’t affiliated with anyone, you don’t have a reputation yet. If I… hypothetically asked you to get the Children to leave, I could maintain a safe level of plausible deniability. So.. could you do that?”

“Uh… Hypothetically of course”, Mayor McDoughnut added with a large, forced wink.

I was quiet for a minute. Once again, I was in a position to help out the town. I wanted to just say yes outright, but at the same time I needed money. “Would this hypothetical job come with a reward of some kind?”, I asked.

“Umm… “, he said, “I’ll- I would have to think about it... Doing a good job would certainly influence my decision though”

“Hmm, I’ll think about it too then”, I said trotting away towards the gate.

“So are we gonna do it?”, Claw asked as we trotted through the dead streets of Apple Hills, “kill the Children I mean”

“Okay, slow it down there killer”, I said stopping at a street corner. I turned to Claw, “We don’t even have a guarantee we’ll get paid for doing this job... I need to think about it for a bit”

“So what? We’re not gonna do it?”, Claw scoffed, “where did that spine of yours go? Don’t tell me that town is making you soft on me”

“I didn’t say that!”, I exclaimed defensively, “I’m just saying we should try to play it smart, find a way to get the Children out of town without kicking in the door and killing every last one of them… somehow. I just need time to think on it, alright?”

Claw rolled her eyes. “Fine…”, she said.

I started to walk again when a round buried itself into a telephone pole behind me, and I heard the crack of a rifle from down the street. I turned and saw three ponies wearing armored leather jackets running our way.

“Get that bastard!”, one yelled.

Claw immediately flew up into the air, and I dove behind the corner of a building. No sooner had I done that the group of ponies peppered the corner of the building with a burst gunshots.

I pulled out thunder and began cranking it when I heard the quick rending of flesh and a mare scream out in pain. Immediately after that I heard two gunshots and a similar scream from Claw.

Oh shit

I quickly jumped out of cover and switched on SATS, worried that I might see that Claw was just killed. What I saw was Claw, laying on the ground next to a freshly killed mare, she was clutching her chest and struggling to stand up. Standing near her was a jacketed pony with a pistol in his mouth, readying himself to finish Claw off any second. Next to him was a pony with a pool cue in his mouth, his eyes slowly widening in horror at me in the slowness of SATS.

I cued up a shot at the chest of the raider that was about to execute my partner.

I released the spell, and Thunder fired. The armored jacket didn’t stop the accelerated metal bar from ripping right through his chest. His pistol shot missed Claw’s head as his body was thrown to the side from the impact, he dropped to the ground, dead.

The last jacketed pony spat out his pool cue. “Oh fuck!”, he exclaimed in panic before running away down an alley.

I ran over to Claw, my EFS said her lifesigns were low. I tried to help her sit up. “Claw, are you okay?”, I asked quickly.

She lashed out with her unclawed forehoof and kicked at the dirt with her hind hooves. I was shoved back, and lost my grip on her. She grunted in pain when she hit the dirt again.

“F-fuck Shepherd, I almost killed you”, she said rolling onto her side and clutching her chest. She coughed up some blood onto the street, before standing up. Her breathing was heavy and pained.

“Claw, what happened?”, I asked.

“I… killed that one…”, she said between breaths, gesturing to the jacketed mare next to her, whose throat was slashed open, “then that… jackass with the pistol tagged me..”

I saw blood dripping over Claw’s claw clad hoof, which she was holding the side of to her chest. She was standing uneasy too, as if she were lightheaded.

“Claw, how bad are you hurt?”, I asked in concern.

She gave a me a slightly pissed off scowl. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll be fine”, she said before trying to trot on. She made it about four steps before she fell over, where I managed to catch her and prop her up.

“No, you’re not”, I said, “c’mon, sit down”

She let out a frustrated sigh and sat down. Lowering her hoof, I saw she was shot twice in the chest. She coughed up a little more blood, “I-It’s not that bad, I just gotta tough it out”

“Tough it out? Claw, you’ve been shot”, I said digging through my bag, “fuck! I’m out of bandages!”

I turned and started digging through a Jacketed pony’s pockets. I came across a note, curious, but not important, I pocketed it, then I found some healing bandages in another pocket.

I went back over to Claw and began wrapping it across her chest.
“There weren’t any potions, but there’s bound to be some inside that research center”, I said quickly.

“...th-thanks Shepherd”, Claw said after a moment, wiping away some blood from the side of her muzzle.

“Don’t mention it”, I said resting a hoof on her shoulder, “but maybe we should see about getting you some armor”

Claw quickly shook her head, “No, fuck that, I’d rather just not get shot at all, armor would just slow me down”

She tried to stand up again, and I helped steady her. She leaned on me, using me as support as we started trotting down the street again.

“Alright, but if you aren’t going to wear armor then you better be careful”, I said.

“Yeah yeah”, she said with a smirk and a roll of her eyes.

I pulled out the note as we walked, and I unfolded it in my telekinetic grasp.

“What’s that?”, Claw asked tilting her head.

“Some kind of note, one of those ponies had it”, I said as I began reading it.

It read:
Saviors,
Whoever wiped out the tunnel snakes just made our shit list. I want any patrols in downtown, around Baleville, to keep an eye out for a navy blue unicorn with a weird scar above his left eye. If you see him, kill him and you’ll earn a few extra points.
-Dumbell

“Damn…”, Claw said before coughing up more blood, “two days in… and we already got ponies who want us dead”

“Yeah, this is a problem”, I said.

Another one for the pile it seemed, I decided just to focus on the task at hoof for the time being.

After evading a sizable group of raiders, we arrived at the Angel Chemical Research building. It was a decently sized, ten story research complex covered in flaking green paint. Above the front doors, next to the sign, was a large logo of a smiling bunny. There were two feral ghouls up front, and a dead one on the ground next to them.

Claw had regained some strength, and dispatched two feral ghouls out front. Then she trotted up to the dead one and stabbed it in the head.

“What’re you doing? It's already dead”, I said.

“Fucking stable dwellers...”, she muttered with a roll of her eyes, “ferals like to play dead, lots of idiots get themselves killed by not double checking”

That was mildly concerning, at least until a thought popped in my head, “my PipBuck’s EFS should pick up whether they’re alive or not, so that shouldn’t be a problem”

“Next you’re gonna tell me it can pick your nose”, she said with a joking smirk.

“No, it can’t pick my nose, but it is really useful. It’s too bad the authority has it out for ponies with them, otherwise I’d suggest finding you one too”, I said.

“We’ll see”, Claw said looking at my left foreleg, where my PipBuck was concealed under my sleeve. “Even if it is useful, I think you’re leaning on it a lot. If it crapped out, you’d be fucked”

I blew a raspberry and waved a forehoof dismissively, “please, PipBuck’s are build to be indestructible. My PipBuck ‘crapping out’ is the last worry on my mind right now”

I turned to face the front doors to the research building. “You ready for this?”, I asked.

Claw moved to stand next to me. “I’ve been better...”, she said before coughing out a small amount of blood onto the ground, “but yeah, I’m fucking ready, lets do this”

I opened the front doors, my shotgun and Claw’s gauntlet at the ready, and we went in.

Author's Note

Author’s Note:
Hello Everyone, I’m not dead!
Sorry for the long wait, life got a bit crazy on my end, and I needed time to really get things together. I don’t plan on letting a multiple month delay like this happen again.

In other news, I’ve decided that, in the interest of uploading new chapters more frequently and making longer chapters easier to read, I’ll now be breaking up much longer entries of Epilogue into multiple parts. I should have part 2 of Entry 7 done by the end of November if all goes to plan, maybe a week or two later if not.

I’m also revising the first Entry of the story, and have removed the “Foreword” from the beginning, in order to try and give the story a much stronger, tighter, higher quality opening. So keep your eye out for when I upload the updated first chapter, which should be sometime in the first half of November.

Thanks again for all the support everyone, and as always, constructive criticism is welcomed and encouraged.