Chapter 29

– Chains and Retribution –

Hours flew by as we made our way to Fort Trough, it was well into the night and all of us were exhausted. The fight with the animals and especially Limos had drained a lot of us. Thankfully most of our injuries weren’t all that serious. My shoulder and maybe a cracked rib was the worst of it.

Meadow still hadn’t woken up from her little episode. I can’t say I’m a fan of this “Arid Blaze” personality of hers, but she did take care of Limos. What could have caused that kind of change in her? What I read about Niriks didn’t mention anything about personality changes. Sure they had a reputation for scorching everything in anger, but nothing to this extreme.

“How’s your shoulder, Shadow?” Moonlight asked, sitting next to me.

“A lot better. Thanks to you.” I said with a smile.

She blushed a little, “I’m glad. Hopefully you won’t have any lasting pain. I have another shot of Med-X if you need it.”

I shook my head, “I never liked pain killers. Besides, I’ve had worse.”

“Worse than getting your shoulder dislocated and stomped on by an immortal bat monster?” Moonlight raised an eyebrow.

“Ok maybe not to that extreme. Me and my friend Keira were sparring and she might have broken a rib by accident.” I said.

“Keira? You’ve never told me about your friends back in your stable.” Moonlight said.

I paled, “Oh yeah. Sorry, I’m really not supposed to talk about it.”

“Why not? You know you can trust us.” Moonlight pleaded.

“I do trust you, but I can get into a lot of trouble. I’m already gonna get an earful for being on the radio. I was supposed to keep a low profile.” I said.

Moonlight’s ear went flat on her head, “I understand. I won’t press you anymore.”

Moonlight started to walk away, she seemed so down.

“Moonlight, wait!” I pleaded.

She didn’t listen and went up the ladder to the top deck. I hung my head, I didn’t mean to make her sad.

“Smooth move dude.” A voice came from above me.

I groaned, “I don’t need you rubbing it in Stormy.”

Stormy landed next to me, “Hey, I get it. We all have secrets, but if you have been with her and Ratchet for so long, what would it hurt?”

“It could hurt a lot of people. My stable stays secret. End of discussion.” I said sternly.

Stormy scoffed, “Whatever. Be that way.”

“And what about you? You gonna tell us what that lightning bolt back at Orphanage was about? Or how you kept collapsing back in that fight? You looked like you were having a heart attack.” I said.

“Not with that tone I’m not.” Stormy said lazily.

“Don’t give me that crap Stormy! If you’re gonna give me shit about keeping secrets, then how about you start sharing?”

Stormy snapped her head back to me, “Hey! It’s a two way street. You wanna sit in a circle and spill all our dark secrets? Grow up.”

“Grow up? The hell is that supposed to mean? I’m trying to keep my home safe. We’ve already been invaded once. From all I’ve been told about your Enclave they would jump at the chance to raid my stable.”

“They aren’t my Enclave, I don’t have anything to do with those assholes! And I would appreciate it if you and that blockhead up in the wheelhouse would stop bringing that up.” Stormy shouted at me, getting in my face.

“Get out of my face Stormy, or a heart condition is gonna be the least of your worries.” I threatened.

A green magical glow formed between us and pushed us away from each other. Saskia appeared in a flash, putting herself between us as well.

“Alright, that is enough.” Saskia said sternly.

“This doesn’t concern you.” I said to the unicorn.

“It does now! Both of you stop it! Friends shouldn’t fight like this.” Saskia said, standing her ground.

I groaned and pushed past both her and Stormy, heading for the hatch to the front deck.

“Hey, don’t walk away from me Shadow!” Stormy shouted.

I ignored her and went up the hatch, slamming the door shut hard. I went over to the railing, trying to control my breathing. That damn pegasus was getting on my nerves. What did she know? Barely been with us a few days and she thinks she can talk to me like that?

Looking out on the horizon, I saw the scenery had changed. We were crawling along the edge of a canyon. Looking as far as I could, the canyon seemed fairly deep. The river wasn’t even visible anymore. How much farther was this fort?

I walked over to the wheelhouse, finding Moonlight and Ratchet talking about something. They noticed my approach and quickly smiled.

“Hey partner, what was all that ruckus down below?” He asked.

“Just Stormy poking her nose where she shouldn’t.” I grumbled.

“Yeah that pegasus is getting a might too nosy. Was bugging Saskia with questions all night, couldn’t get a wink of sleep. Bout threw my wrench at her.”

“Please do, I’ll throw in a rock.” I laughed.

He laughed too as we sailed across the sands. But as the laughter died down, I heard a strange noise coming from the ship. It sounded like the engines were winding down.

“Ratchet, what’s that noise?” I asked.

“Horseapples! I told you we’d run out of power soon enough. The wind is pretty much dead too. I’ll have to put her down for the night.” Ratchet said.

“It can’t be helped then. Find a good spot to touch down, I’ll tell the others.” I said, walking towards the hatch.

“Roger that boss.” He saluted.

“I’m not your boss Ratchet!” I said, giving him a playful glare.

As I was about to descend into the bowels of the ship, I saw Moonlight off near the front of the ship. She was looking at me over her shoulder, but as soon as she noticed I was looking at her, she turned back to face the horizon. I sighed and cursed under my breath. I didn’t want her to be upset.

I went down the ladder and saw the rest of our gang lounging on their beds. Meadow was still unconscious, which worried me. I hoped that she would wake up soon and tell us what happened.

“Alright everyone, I’m afraid we’re gonna have to camp out for the night. We’re losing power, spark batteries have run dry. Ratchet says the wind is too low to push us along the night, so we’ll have to continue our journey in the morning.” I explained.

“That sucks. But a bit of camping sounds fun.” Stormy said, not even looking at me.

“I think Lily will enjoy a nice camping trip, won’t you sweetie?” Rose said, holding up her baby.

The filly giggled and Tumbleweed gave her a nuzzle while she was held up.

“I’ll make sure both of you are safe. I just hope that fury doesn’t find us.” Tumbleweed said.

“I think we can rest easy tonight. With what Meadow did to her, she’ll not only have to recover but also pull herself out of the river. She would have drifted down it all night, no way she’ll catch up before we reach the fort.” I said.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and at the moment, we all felt the ship start to descend. After a minute or so, the ship touched down and the engines finally died.

“Alright, let’s get up top.” I said.

Stormy immediately flew over to Meadow and tried to pick her up onto her back, “Come on hot flanks.”

I rolled my eyes and lit up my horn, picking the kirin up in my magic. Stormy looked confused and then glared at me.

“The hell Shadow?” She said.

“It’s easier this way. Plus you would enjoy it too much.” I said, giving her a smirk.

She blushed, “So what do you care?”

“I don’t, but after the lip you gave me, you can consider this payback.” I said, moving Meadow up the hatch.

As I climbed the ladder, I could hear Stormy yell out, “Jackass!”

“I’m a zebra, not a donkey. Get it right, Stormy.” I said, chuckling.

I heard her yell in frustration as I stood on deck with Meadow next to me in my magical aura. Ratchet had set the gangplank and I walked down to check our surroundings. Ratchet had set us behind a large rock formation a good distance from the river. Out of the way in case Limos followed the river after us. Plus we don’t need anymore radgators sneaking up on us in the night.

I looked around and saw Moonlight already setting up a campfire and a cooking pot. I set Meadow down near the rock and moved close to my thestral friend.

“Moonlight.” I said.

“You don’t need to apologize.” She said, not looking at me.

“But I do, I know you’re upset. I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m just worried about my home.” I said.

She sighed, and looked my way, “And I respect that. I’m no better, I haven’t even told you about my home. I should be more respectful of your privacy. Just because we’re friends doesn’t mean I should expect you to give away all your secrets.”

I smiled at her, “We are friends and maybe once my mission is over, I can share more. We can share our secrets together.”

She smiled, “Maybe. But when your mission is done, what will you do?”

I paused for a moment, “I guess go back home to my family.”

She looked at me worriedly, “So you’ll just go back to your stable?”

I winced at her words, “Moonlight I –”

I couldn’t finish my words before I was tackled from behind by a certain pegasus. She had me in a headlock, not so hard that I couldn’t breathe but enough to where I couldn’t move.

“So you hog Meadow all to yourself and now you're hitting on Moonlight? You’re just trying to hog all the cute mares around her aren’t you ya jerk?” Stormy said, wrestling me to the ground.

I fought against her, “I’m not hogging, and I am not hitting on Moonlight. And I wouldn’t call every mare cute, one in particular.”

“Hey! I’m super cute! Stallions just don’t get it. Moonlight, I’m cute ain’t I?” Stormy said, batting her eyelashes at Moonlight.

“Uuuh, I mean, the ponytail is cute.” Moonlight said awkwardly.

I rolled around on the ground trying to shake her off. I even tried to stand with her latched onto me, but quickly fell back down. We wrestled with each other for a while before we both stopped suddenly as we heard a groan.

We looked and saw that Meadow was starting to wake up finally. Stormy threw me away from the camp, sending me a good 15 feet away. I landed with a thump as she slid in front of the kirin on her belly, her face just inches from the kirin as her eyes fluttered open.

As Meadow started to take in her surroundings, all of her vision was filled with purple. As her eyes adjusted, the face of a certain pegasus came into focus.

“Hey sleeping beauty.” Stormy said, winking at the kirin.

Meadow’s face grew bright red, almost matching her mane color as her eyes widened from how close Stormy was to her. She let out this high pitched “eeeeep” and fell backwards, doing a backwards roll and landing against the giant rock formation. Her breathing was heavy as I’m sure her heart was beating in overdrive.

Moonlight walked over to her, “Meadow, thank the goddesses you’re awake. You had us worried sick.”

She looked at the thestral with confusion, and then took another look at her surroundings.

“Wait, this isn’t the same clearing. And where did that fury get off to? Did we chase her off?” Meadow asked.

As I made my way over to her, I stood next to her, “You don’t remember?”

“Remember what?” She asked.

“You drove Limos off.” I stated.

“Me? But she broke my bow, I remember that much. What could I have done without my bow?” She asked.

“You don’t remember bursting into flames and roasting that freak like a dragon out of Tartarus?” Stormy asked, hovering over Meadow’s head.

Meadow’s face turned pale. She slumped against the rock behind her and looked at her hooves.

“I did it again…” Meadow said quietly.

She started hugging herself, “Not again…”

Stormy saw her and landed next to her with a concerned look on her face, “Hey what’s wrong? You ok?”

Stormy tried to reach out and put a hoof on her shoulder, but it was immediately pushed away.

“DON’T TOUCH ME!” Meadow shouted.

Stormy backed up and me and Moonlight stood next to her.

“Meadow, please calm down. Tell us what’s wrong.” Moonlight said, trying to lean down to met Meadow at eye level.

“I’m a monster.” She said, hugging herself again.

Stormy leaned down too, “Hey, you might have gotten a little too excited back there, but I wouldn’t call you a monster.”

Meadow began to sniffle, “Did I hurt anybody?”

I leaned down this time, “Other than Limos, no not really.”

She started crying, her whole body was shaking.

“Meadow, who is Arid Blaze?” I asked.

She trembled more as I said the name, “Please don’t say her name.”

“Shadow, that’s enough.” Moonlight said, not sternly but with concern in her voice.

Moonlight leaned in closer to Meadow, “Meadow, everything is going to be ok. No one got hurt, and Limos is gone thanks to you.”

“Thanks to Arid. She could have killed you.” Meadow sniffled.

“But she didn’t. And we won’t let her.” Stormy said.

“We can help you Meadow. Take all the time you need. No one is blaming you.” I said.

She looked up at all of us, “And you’re not… scared of me?”

“Scared? Of a hottie like you, both literally and figuratively?” Stormy joked.

Meadow’s sniffles stopped, and were replaced with a blushing stutter and Meadow trying to hide her face in her mane.

Moonlight giggled and even I let out a chuckle.

“What’s so funny y’all?” Ratchet said.

We all turned to see that the rest of the gang had gotten off the ship and joined us at the campsite. Saskia, Tumbleweed, Rose and Lily all joined us around the camp. As they came over, I took the time to explain everything that happened when Meadow woke up.

“Dang, that poor mare. She’s scared of herself.” Ratchet said, looking at Meadow.

“I felt she had a deep fear in her, but I never expected this.” Saskia pointed out.

“Anyway, we need to be patient with her. She’s not a threat to us.” I said.

“Course she’s not! She’s our friend.” Ratchet said proudly.

“Indeed, I could never be afraid of Meadow.” Saskia agreed.

Meadow, who had gotten away from the teasing Stormy, soon came up to Rose, looking at the bundle in her hooves.

“Is that?” She asked.

“That’s right, you didn’t get to meet her. Meadow, this is Desert Lily. Lily, meet Meadow.” Rose said, showing Meadow the filly.

Meadow’s eyes grew wide and filled with joy, “Hello little one. Aren’t you precious?”

Lily giggled as the kirin let her suck on her hoof. The filly giggled and hugged Meadow’s leg, which was more fluffy than her mothers.

“Would you like to hold her?” Rose asked.

Meadow nodded, “Oh yes! Oh please can I hold this precious little miracle?”

Rose smiled and handed Meadow the baby. The kirin held her up and looked at her giggling face.

“Oh you’re so cute. And absolutely beautiful, oh Rose she’s perfect.” Meadow gushed over the baby.

“Isn’t she though?” Rose said, sitting next to Meadow.

I smiled, happy to see Meadow’s mood had changed for the better. I was a little concerned about Arid Blaze, but with what I had read about Kirin, all we needed to do was keep her emotions in check, especially anger.

As we prepared the camp, we were initially worried about starting a fire with Meadow around, but she assured us that as long as she didn’t really look at the fire too long, it would be fine. Moonlight began to make a nice stew for all of us to enjoy while the rest of us lay around the camp relaxing after the long days we had been through.

Between Orphanage and the scare we had with Rose’s labor, we hadn’t had a real chance to relax and enjoy each other's company. I felt at peace. Like all the bad things in the Wasteland just faded away, even if just for a moment. I don’t think I even felt this at peace back home. Strange, the safest place I knew was getting beat by a camping trip in the desert.

But that peace didn’t last long, as we all heard something move in the distance. We all scrambled for our weapons, Meadow sticking back with Rose and Lily since her bow was gone.

The intruders came into view soon enough, a caravan with a few wagons and several guard ponies. They must have seen our campfire. The guards all had their guns out, mirroring our positions as we all stood our ground.

I walked to the front of the group, my shotgun at the ready. A unicorn stallion mimicked my movement and met me halfway, only about 20 feet apart from each other.

“Howdy.” He greeted me, his accent reminding me of Ratchet.

“Good evening.” I said, keeping my tone calm.

“My name is Ditch Digger, and this is my caravan. We saw your campfire and wondered who would be camping out here.” He said.

“We’re just passing through. We’ll be gone by morning. We don’t want any trouble.” I said, still trying to keep calm.

He chuckled and put his gun down, “We don’t want no trouble neither friend. How about we all just put the guns down and just enjoy the night? That pot sure smells good too. We’ve got a youngin’ that hasn’t had a good meal in a while. Is there enough to go around?”

I stared at him for a moment, searching his eyes and his body language for any sign of deceit. He seemed like he was being genuine. I didn’t feel any ill intent, and looking behind him I did see a young earth pony colt hiding behind a mare, his mother I assumed.

I put my shotgun down, “It’s ok everyone. Lower your weapons.”

Ratchet gave me a surprised look but put the rifle away, “Well, if you say boss.”

He stepped up to stand next to me, “Howdy there Mister Digger, what caravan company are you running with? Water merchants? Please tell me it isn’t Typhon.”

“Fuck no! I’d rather break all four of my legs than work for those bastards. We’re starting our own company.” Digger said.

Ratchet nodded, “Good for y’all. More caravans means more trade, the Wasteland could always do with more trade.”

I chuckled, “Indeed. Come on, Moonlight should have the stew ready soon.”

I motioned for the caravan to follow us to the campfire.

In no time at all, the carts were all surrounding the camp, providing a ring of protection. Everyone was sitting around the fire, Moonlight humming cheerfully as she put the finishing touches on the stew. As she put the spoon to her lips, she nodded triumphantly.

“Perfection. Come along everyone, it is time to eat!” Moonlight shouted over the camp.

Everyone hurriedly moved toward the camp, but were stopped by a leathery wing blocking their advance.

“Ah ah ah. Children and mothers first.” Moonlight said, looking to the small colt trying to push his way to the front.

Most of the ponies groaned but relented and allowed the lad through with his mother. I had come to learn that his name was Almond, the dirty brown coat kinda reminded me of almonds. A fitting name. He was a well mannered kid, if a little defensive. He wasn’t too keen on talking at first. But this is the wasteland and we were strangers. His mother’s name was Marzipan, kinda fancy for a wasteland pony name but who was I to judge?

Moonlight poured him a bowl of stew, “There you go Almond, I do hope you enjoy it.”

He smiled at her, “Thank you Miss Moonlight.”

She smiled back as he left to find a place to sit. She also poured a bowl for Marzipan. The rest of the camp followed in the kid’s wake as more bowls were filled and everyone was enjoying themselves. I was the last to get food, as I wanted everyone else to have their share first. I walked up and Moonlight smiled at me.

“I’m surprised you were so trusting of them, Shadow. I’m glad to see you are opening up to other ponies.” She said.

“I saw the kid and I figured anyone with ill intent wouldn’t keep a kid around. Besides, if we can’t trust others, the Wasteland will never improve.” I said, looking over the camp.

“I’m very happy to hear that, here is your reward.” She said, pouring stew into my bowl.

I smelled it, “Ah, a truly fine reward. You are quite the cook. Medicine and cooking, we’re lucky to have you.”

Moonlight blushed at that, “Oh I wouldn’t say I’m good at it. I did have to cook a lot for my sister. Nebula was helpless in the kitchen.”

I laughed, “Yeah I was no good either. Mom banned me from the kitchen after I fell asleep and let her muffins burn in the oven.”

Moonlight laughed so hard she almost fell over, “You fell asleep?”

“Hey I got bored!” I laughed too.

We both just laughed together and when we could breathe again, we sat down together with our meal. The stew truly was great, amazing how simple ingredients could make something so tasty. A lot better than the processed food I was used to by now.

We finished and looked up at the night sky, the cloud layer blocked the stars and the moon from our sight. The Enclave were keeping so much beauty to themselves. I wonder why they made the layer. Maybe we could convince Stormy to give us more details.

“I wish I could see the stars. Even back home the cloud layer blocks them.” Moonlight said.

“I wish I could see them too. And the Goddesses moon.” I said.

She looked at me, “Your people respect Princess Luna a lot huh?”

“We do. She gave my tribe everything. A debt we can never fully repay.” I said, laying on my back now.

Moonlight joined me on her back, both of us looking up at the cloudy sky.

“Do you ever wonder what the world would have been like without the war? Mom read me so many stories of the peaceful times of Equestria.” Moonlight asked.

“I think everyone in the Wasteland thinks about what could have been. Ponies blame zebras, zebras blame ponies, and in the end no one can really remember why we were fighting.” I said.

She turned her head to me, “We get along quite well.”

I turned to smile at her, “When I’m not coming back to you guys unconscious. Anyone ever tell you that you have a nasty right hook?”

She blushed and looked away, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’d never hurt anyone.”

“My face knows otherwise, back at Artemis’ place, you really got me good.” I chuckled.

“Well you deserved it for making us worry.” She said, turning back to stick her tongue out at me and then let out a “hmph”.

I laughed so hard I almost rolled onto my side. She laughed as well and we sat there for a while longer. Taking a sip from my canteen, I felt the call of nature approaching.

“Begging your pardon milady, but I must leave you for a moment.” I said jokingly.

She giggled and went back to looking at the stars. It was so nice to hear her laugh and be happy. It was like the Wasteland was giving us a night to just be happy again. We needed a break from all the bullshit.

I left my thestral friend and moved towards the wagon circle.

Returning from the little colt’s room, I walked back towards the ring of wagons and saw that one in particular was set outside the circle around the camp. That was odd, what was their reason for keeping that one away from the camp?

Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to investigate. As I stood next to the wagon, it didn’t seem any different from the others. It was odd though that it had no windows. Anyone who rode in the back would have no airflow except from the front. The front window behind the seat was closed. The back of the wagon was locked, a padlock keeping me out.

It must have their most valuable merchandise. I guess they didn’t want some thief breaking in during the night. I must admit, they took their jobs seriously. I even examined the lock, it looked almost brand new. Must be a rare find out here. As I let the lock go from my magical grip, a sound came to my ears.

A little cry, like a small animal that was startled.

I looked around to see if there was something there. I saw nothing, no small creatures, no even an insect. Strange.

“Plea.., keep qui...” A muffled voice reached my ears.

This time I could tell where the voice was coming from. It was coming from inside the wagon. Who would be in there? They would be locked in with no way out. My heart grew cold as a feeling of unease came over me. I had to know.

I took out Umbra, using my trusty dagger to open the padlock. As the lock dropped to the ground, more muffled voices and whimpers came from the other side of the door. With trembling hooves, I opened the door. The sight that greeted me shook me to my core.

Foals, dozens of small foals were inside the wagon. Their legs were bound in chains, one even around their necks. Earth ponies, unicorns, even a few pegasi. But the one that stuck out to me the most was the one in the front, who looked the most terrified.

She was a zebra filly, her light blue eyes looked at me with absolute fear. Her hair was dirty, her ponytail was singed at the end. Her white and striped coat was dirty as well, specks of dried blood were visible. The chain around her neck shook as she trembled before me.

In my daze, I failed to notice the cold barrel of a gun pressed to the back of my head.

“Close the door and back away slowly.” A stallion whispered to me.

And at that moment, my blood switched from ice cold, to boiling hot. I looked at the filly and all of the foals with a sad look.

“Keep your heads down and cover your ears.” I whispered to them as I closed the door.

The stallion made me back up away from the wagon.

“You should have kept your nose out of our business. Oh well, at least we can have a better haul. Those mares and that baby will fetch a nice price with Avarice.” He said.

And with those words, all mercy left my body. Before he could even pull the trigger, I ducked and swept his legs out from under him. The gun fell from his magical grip and my hoof came down on his skull like a 10 ton weight. His head cracked and gore covered me as I stomped him again and again. When I was done, there wasn’t a head, only a pile of mush.

Venta came out of its sheath and floated to my right, Umbra to my left as I moved around the wagon. A mare stuck her head between the circle of wagons and came up to me.

“Hey friend, did you see my husband?” She asked.

My eyes were cold as my blade cleaved off her head. The head rolled towards the camp, making another mare scream. The rest of the camp looked at me with horror as I emerged from the dark cover of the circle, covered in blood.

“Shadow, what the hell!?” Ratchet shouted.

I raised my sword, “THEY’RE SLAVERS!”

The rest of the slavers' eyes went wide as my friends all stood up in shock. One stallion tried to dive for a shotgun that was leaning against a wagon. I quickly threw Umbra and hit him right in the eye, he was dead before he hit the ground. More slavers panicked and tried to go for their weapons. I simply retrieved my dagger and continued my mission.

Stormy kicked one stallion into a wagon, leaving him dazed. I took out my shotgun and walked up to the buck. He barely had time to look up at me before I blasted him point blank, leaving his blood all over the side of the wagon.

“Woah, Shadow, was that necessary?” Stormy asked.

I ignored her and continued my assault. One by one, stallions and mares fell to my blade and my shotgun, none had managed to get to their weapons or put up much of a fight.

As another mare fell to the ground, I stood over her.

“Please, I have a family!” She screamed.

I said nothing and blasted her with my shotgun. Monsters deserve no mercy.

“ENOUGH!” Ditch Digger’s voice yelled out across the camp, getting my attention.

He had Rose, his leg around her neck and a pistol pressed against her head. Lily was being held by another mare, no weapon from what I could see.

“This is what’s gonna happen now. All your mares are gonna get in the wagons, we’re taking them and the baby to Scraptown. Do that, and you and Ratchet can go free. We can all walk away from this.” Ditch said.

“You are working for Typhon then!” Ratchet yelled.

“Typhon will own all trade in the Wasteland soon enough sonny. Boss Lucky Straight and Avarice have plans for all of us. And you’re not gonna take it away from me. So just walk away.” He said.

I looked at him, my rage burning so hot but my face was neutral.

“No. Here is what is going to happen. You are going to release Rose and Lily, and then you will die. How quickly depends on your choice now.” I said, my voice dark.

“You aren’t in any position to threaten me Guardian.” He said.

“So you knew who I was?” I asked.

“I recognized you from the wanted posters. You really think I was just trying to get that little spit stain Almond some grub? We were gonna wait till you all were asleep, cut off your head and take all the mares with us to sell. We were gonna be rich!” Ditch explained.

And that was the last words he spoke. While he was ranting, no pony noticed that my dagger was floating over our heads and slowly hovering over him. When the position was just right, Umbra fell with great precision, stabbing through the top of his head. The gun fell and Rose escaped his grasp.

As the body of Ditch Digger fell to the ground, I turned to the mare who was holding LIly. She screamed in fear and threw the baby before trying to bolt away. I caught Lily in my magic, quickly giving her to Rose. Venta then flew past Rose’s head and eventually landed in the back of the fleeing mare.

She fell to the ground screaming in pain, I slowly walked to her as she begged for her life. She looked up at me with pleading eyes. My eyes were cold and unwavering.

“Please, I’ll do anything. I’ll be your slave, you can do whatever you want to me. Please don’t kill me!” She cried.

I pulled Venta from her back and silenced her cries forever with a horizontal swing. As I looked back at the camp, Moonlight and Meadow were helping Rose calm Lily, Tumbleweed was standing guard around them, while the rest of my team had gathered the rest of the slavers in the middle of the camp.

I stood in front of them, while Saskia and Ratchet had their weapons pointed at them.

“So you gonna kill us or what?” A stallion asked.

I blasted him with my shotgun without even looking.

“Woah partner, ease up! They ain’t no threat anymore!” Ratchet said.

“They are slavers, they are a threat to everyone in the Wasteland. Scum who sell ponies to be abused and enslaved for the rest of their lives. Filth that doesn’t deserve to live.” I said darkly.

“Fuck you! You don’t know what it’s like to make a living out here!” A mare shouted at me.

She ate her words as well as the buckshot of my gun, her head exploding like a melon.

And then there were two, Almond and Marzipan were the only ones left.

“Almond, you don’t have to be with his slaver anymore. You are free.” I said.

The mare held her son close, “He’s my son! He’s not a slave! Please, we didn’t want to be a part of this! I was just trying to provide for my child!”

Almond pressed his face into his mother’s chest, “Mommy, make him go away!”

“Enslaving ponies to provide for your child? Is that the example you want to set for your son? There are children his age and younger in chains back in that wagon!” I screamed at her, pointing in the direction of the wagon.

I looked at Ratchet and Saskia, “Go and free the children.”

They hesitated for a moment but moved towards the wagon I pointed to.

Stormy landed next to me, “And what about Almond and his Mom?”

I looked at the mother, “Almond is innocent. But the mother must pay for her crimes.”

I lifted my shotgun, “Stormy, move Almond out of the way.”

Almond screamed as his mother held him close.

“Shadow, the fuck is wrong with you?” Stormy asked.

“She needs the pay, and face the Goddess Luna’s judgment for her crimes.”

It was at that moment, Moonlight landed between me and the two crying ponies.

I was shocked but quickly composed myself, “Moonlight, get out of the way.”

She stood still, “No.”

She spread her wings out to block my view of them, “This is wrong and you know it Shadow.”

“This is justice for all the ponies she has helped put in chains!” I shouted.

“Justice? She is helpless, scared for her child that you have been pointing a gun at for the last several minutes. What did you think he would do without his mother? Where will he go? How will he survive?” Moonlight asked.

“I…” I hesitated.

“If you take his mother away, you will be killing him yourself. Do you want a child’s blood on your hooves?” She asked.

And with those words memories flooded in, the past flashing before my eyes.

“You are a sick bitch Zira.” I growled.

“Is that anyway to speak to your Overmare, Guardian?” Overmare Zira smirked at me.

“You have doctors and alchemists for this. Why am I here?” I asked, standing in front of a machine I had hoped never to see again.

“Because you are top of your class, both with your mother and Master Ivy. The potions must be made perfectly for the procedure to have its most potency. And who better than a Guardian who has gone through the trial to comfort the next generation?” Overmare Zira said.

“Seeing the trial once was enough for me, now you force me to administer the torture I went through onto these children!?” I shouted.

“Yes, and as Overmare, you cannot refuse my orders. You took an oath as a Guardian.” She sneered.

“I hope you die a slow painful death.” I growled.

“Enough of this whining, bring the first foal in!” Overmare Zira commanded.

The doctors brought in a small earth pony filly, her mare reminded me of Candy Cane. I picked her up and gently placed her on the table. Strapping her down while the doctors inserted the tubes.

“Will it hurt Mister Guardian?” She asked me, clearly terrified.

My heart was like ice, but I tried to smile at her.

“Yes, but the Goddess Luna will be smiling upon you. You will be her warrior, her Guardian. Think about the Goddess, your family, your friends. Focus on them and I promise you’ll get through this.”

The filly nodded and the procedure began. Her screams would forever haunt my nightmares. She didn’t even make it to the third potion before the monitor gave that flat tone.

“Clean up and bring in the next one.” Overmare Zira said, no emotion in her voice.

I unstrapped the body and carried it to the body bags on the far side of the room. Tears fell as I zipped up the bag. I gave a silent prayer to the Goddess Luna to please take care of this poor soul.

“Shadow, quit wasting time and prepare the next candidate.” Overmare Zira shouted at me.

Every fiber of my being wanted to strangle her, but my oath kept me from acting. I made my commitment, and I had to uphold it.

That day, 8 children died and only 2 survived to become Guardians. Overmare Zira blamed me for the low success rate. I did everything I could for them, but they died. And it was me who gave them the poison that ended their lives. Their blood, on my hooves.

As reality came back to me, my shotgun fell from my magical grip, clattering on the ground. I fell to my knees as tears fell from my eyes. The memories of that day kept repeating, making me feel sick.

Moonlight draped her wings over me and held me as I cried. She looked to Stormy and without saying a word, relayed her message.

Stormy nodded and walked to the terrified pair, “Take anything you need from the caravan and go.”

Marzipan quickly got up and carried her son away. They were gone in a matter of minutes. I stayed under Moonlight’s wings and cried. I cried harder than I had in a long time. I almost took a mother from her son. I almost made a child grow up without their parent. Then I remembered the mare that begged, saying that she had a family. What if I took a parent from even more children?

“What have I done?” I cried.

“Went on a righteous killing spree from where I’m standing.” Stormy said bluntly.

“Stormy!” Moonlight yelled at her.

“What? He did. Look at all these bodies. Slavers or not, he didn’t have to kill all of them. Most couldn’t even defend themselves.” Stormy stated.

I slumped and held my head down. She was right, most weren’t even armed. They ran desperately for weapons and I cut them down. I could have given them another chance. But my training didn’t allow second chances. I did what the Goddess Luna taught us. So why did I feel so sick to my stomach looking around at the carnage I had caused?

“Stormy, that’s enough.” Moonlight said, standing up to face the pegasus.

“You can’t seriously be defending him? Look at this place!” Stormy shouted.

“He saw children in chains in the back of a caravan wagon! We fed and chatted with slavers while they kept children prisoner! Tell me Stormy, would you have acted any differently if you had found the kids!?” Moonlight shouted back.

Stormy fell silent, and turned her head away from Moonlight.

I got onto my feet as I remembered telling Ratchet and Saskia to free the foals. I took a cloth hanging from one of the caravans to clean the blood off of most of my body. But the smell lingered, a constant reminder.

As I turned to see Ratchet, he addressed me, “I saw that mare and her kid take off. Thank you for letting them go, partner.”

“Don’t thank me. Thank Moonlight. How are the kids?” I asked.

He sighed, “Terrified, but when they saw Saskia, they jumped at her.”

“What?” I asked, looking inside the wagon.

Saskia was surrounded by foals, some laying on her back, some cuddled to her sides, and at least three were being hugged by her.

“Miss Saskia, are the bad ponies coming back?” One filly asked.

“Shh, it’s ok dearie. The bad ponies are all gone. My friends took care of them.” Saskia said, soothing the children.

“They know you?” I asked.

Saskia turned to smile at me, “These children are from Orphanage, they escaped Limos’ slaughter.”

“What? But how?” I asked.

An older filly spoke up, “Miss Mimi and Miss Tilly took a bunch of us through the dorm building and out the back way. We came out on the opposite side of town and ran for our lives. We were gonna try to get to Fort Trough, but those slavers caught us while we were camping. They killed Miss Mimi and Miss Tilly because they tried to fight back. Then they shoved us in this wagon and told us we were gonna be slaves.”

Saskia looked sad, “Mimi and Tilly were good mares. Members of the Responders.”

I sighed, “I’m sorry about your friends, Saskia. Are the children hurt?”

“Nothing serious. Some bruising but nothing too bad. A good bath and some decent food will do them good.” She said.

“Good. We’ll take them to Fort Trough with us. Do some good tonight.” I said solemnly.

“Shadow.” Saskia tried to get my attention.

“Hmm?”

“Could you maybe try talking to her over there? She won’t speak, I thought maybe she doesn’t know Equestrian.” Saskia said, pointing to the zebra filly I first saw when I discovered the kids.

“I’ll see what I can do.” I said.

Moving over to the filly, I leaned down, “Hello?”

She cringed away from me.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” I said.

I tried to think of what dialect she would speak, but I didn't recognize the stripe pattern. So I tried a few. She didn’t seem to understand any of them. Achu, Propoli, Orah, nothing seemed to be familiar. Then I raised an eyebrow.

“You speak Equestrian don’t you?” I asked.

She turned her head to me that time. Got her.

“I’m guessing you were born and raised here in Equestria. Even the Orah know basic Achu. What’s your name, little one?” I asked.

She didn’t answer, only giving me little glances before turning away in fear.

“My name is Shadow Strike, and as a fellow zebra, I can assure you that no one here is going to hurt you or judge you for what you are. May I know your name?”

She turned to me a little, and I could just faintly hear, “Asteria.”

“Asteria, what a beautiful name. Tell me Asteria, where are your parents?” I asked.

She sniffled, and hid her face again.

“I understand. We don’t have to talk about them. Are you ok? Are you hurt?” I asked.

She shook her head slowly and then looked up at me.

“Are you real?” She asked.

I smiled and I pinched myself with my magic, “Ow. Yeah I think I’m pretty real.”

She saw me pinch myself and giggled a little. But quickly went quiet again.

“Is there anything I can do for you?” I asked.

She looked at her neck and rubbed it a little, “Can I have my necklace back?”

“Necklace?” I asked.

“My treasure. They took it from me, can I have it back?” She asked.

I stood up and smiled, “Sure thing. I’ll go look around. They probably stashed it in another cart.”

“No, that Ditch Digger guy ripped it off my neck and took it. Said it would be worth some caps.” Asteria said.

“That so? Well then I’ll see if he had it on him. Stay here, I’ll be right back.” I said.

She immediately latched onto my leg, “Please, I don’t wanna be alone again!”

I was taken aback, she had gotten comfortable a little quickly. But maybe I was the only zebra she had seen since she lost her parents. I would understand if she wanted to be close to one of her own. I picked her up in my magic and placed her on my back.

“Alright. I’m not leaving you. But you might wanna keep your eyes closed.” I told her.

She nodded and covered her eyes with her hooves. I chuckled and started towards where I left Ditch. I got some looks from Stormy and Meadow as they cleared out the bodies. Moonlight was examining Rose and Lily, Tumbleweed was on edge with his gun out. The poor kid.

Ditch’s body sat on the ground in front of me, an evil stallion that threatened Rose and her baby. A slaver who was willing to betray our trust. While I felt bad about some that I had killed, I had no regret for his death.

“So, what does this necklace look like?” I asked.

Asteria didn’t open her eyes but she spoke, “A blue string necklace that has a north star on it. Like the one on a compass.”

I nodded and picked up Ditch’s saddlebags, digging through them I found some caps, a bottle of whiskey, a grenade, and at the bottom of the bag was the necklace in question. The pendant on the necklace looked like it was made of silver.

Turning away from the body, I levitated the necklace in front of her while she sat on my back.

“Is this it?” I asked.

She opened her eyes and let out this little squeak and grabbed it from my magic. She hugged it against her chest and cried a little. I looked at her with a solemn smile. This night gave us some happiness.

“Thank you Mister Shadow, thank you!” She said, hugging my neck.

“Just Shadow will be fine. And you’re welcome, Asteria.” I said.

I levitated the necklace up from her grasp and helped her fasten it around her neck once again. She giggled and hugged my neck again. She is too adorable. Why would anyone want to enslave such a cute filly?

I walked back towards the camp, which was now clean of bodies. Saskia had brought all the children to the fire and Moonlight was checking every single one of them for injuries. As I sat next to the fire, I looked to see that Asteria had fallen asleep. Probably the first peaceful sleep she had gotten in a long time.

I promise to take you somewhere safe. Asteria and every foal, Rose, Lily, and Tumbleweed. All of them will be safe. I won’t let them suffer anymore. I swear by the Goddess Luna.

Level Up:

New Perk: Guardians Wrath Rank 2

Your darkness has gotten worse with the horrors you have seen. You lose control and enter a blind rage at the sight of something that truly sickens you. If you don’t have a friend snap you out of it, you could do something that could haunt you forever. Charisma goes down to 1, and Strength rises to 10.

Author's Note

Hey guys, Hades here.

Another chapter done, and Shadow got super dark again. I think he needs therapy.

See you guys next time!