Chapter 8

---Detour---

As I walked through the tunnel away from my home, thoughts were spiraling through my head. I had just left my family behind and it hurt so badly, I had to hold back tears. Crying wouldn’t get me anywhere, so I took a deep breath and moved to start my mission. First things first, I needed to get the lay of the land.

The maps we had in the stable were useless, as the surface had probably changed a great deal in 200 years. So I would have to rely on my pipbucks map and navigation functions in order to get an idea of where to go.

Also, once I got out of the tunnel, I needed to look for any clues as to where the invaders had come from. I had a feeling they would be a lot easier to find than Saber or the cloaked mare. So my first objective is to track them down and get some information about that mare.

After about fifteen minutes of walking, I found the exit to the tunnel, a wooden door with some broken chains on the ground near it. I guess the invaders broke them when they found the tunnel. Judging by the rock formations around the door, I assumed the stable was built into a cliff or mountainside.

As I approached the door, I took a second to ready myself. No one from my stable had seen the surface in 200 years, and I only had pictures from the war to give me an idea of what to expect. So with a steady breath, I pushed the door open, and was shocked to find a dim light coming from the other side. I had expected to be blinded by my first ray of sunshine.

I walked out the door, into the dimly lit area outside the tunnel and was shocked at what I saw. The land looked dead, dirt and sand everywhere, and no sunlight. I looked up, and lost my balance to the point that I had to look back down or risk puking. I did not expect the sky to look so… big.

After the initial shock of the endless sky, I looked again to get a better view. The sky was nothing like the pictures I had seen. It was grey, cloudy, and almost no sunlight peeking through the blanket in the sky. Perhaps it was just getting ready to rain or it was just cloudy today. Maybe the pegasi were still alive and controlling the weather like they did before the war. I had never seen a pegasus before, outside of books of course.

“Alright, enough gawking. Gotta see if they left any tracks on the way up here,” I said to no one in particular. Great, not even an hour out of the stable and I’m talking to myself.

I searched around the door into the tunnel and found no tracks. I expanded my search to the area around the cliff side where the door to the tunnel was located. Again I found nothing. The ground wasn’t wet, so it had not rained in days. They must have taken precautions to find their tracks in case we sent someone out here. Most likely it was that mare’s idea.

The only other option I had was to pick a direction and start walking. Good thing the cliff side was on the high ground so I could get a view of which direction to go. After about a minute of thinking it over, I chose to head to the west, away from the cliff that housed Stable 100.

The land was rough, sand was everywhere, and I had not seen much vegetation at all except a few small cacti. It was definitely in a desert, so I was glad for the provisions Mother had stuffed into my saddlebags. I just needed to find my way around, and see if I could come across a group of those invaders, or somepony that could point me in the right direction.

Thankfully, no sunlight meant that the heat wasn’t as bad as the books had made the desert sound. I moved with a steady pace through the sand and rock formations, taking in the sights. The surface was unlike anything I had imagined it to be. I had thought it would be greener than this, or at least have some vegetation. But I guess when you are in a desert, sand is about all you get.

Suddenly I heard a noise coming from the rock formation ahead of me. I looked to see three creatures crawling over the formation, and then they ran towards me on two legs. I pulled out my sword, ready to defend myself. As they got closer, I saw that they were lizards of some sort, only they were much larger than the books had made them out to be.

The first one reached me and lunged to take a bite out of me, but it was too slow as I moved to the side of it and chopped its head off with a clean downward slash.

As its body hit the ground, I turned to see two more coming towards me, teeth bared and ready to strike. I ran at them, levitating my sword next to me as I came to the second one. Like its counterpart, it tried to take a bite out of my hide, I ducked under its bite, moving underneath it’s jaws to deliver a stab into its neck. It stopped and choked on its own blood before slumping down onto the sand.

The third one had another idea to try and tackle me in order to get the advantage over me. But unfortunately for it, I had training in this kind of situation. I rolled onto my back, kicking out my rear hooves and pushed the heavy monster over me and making it land on its belly.

Before it could recover, I pulled out my dagger and stabbed it in the eye, piercing its brain for a clean kill.

I took a few breaths to relax, trying to calm down after that attack. So the surface had creatures that were openly hostile. Great…

Getting a better look at the creatures, they were definitely some species of lizard. The size could possibly be from radiation, or perhaps just adaption to the environment.

I started back on the path that I had been walking before and was on the lookout for more of the lizard things. The last thing I needed was to be ambushed by a larger group of them.

I moved for what felt like hours, only stopping to rest and get some shade under the rock formations along the path. Again, it wasn’t hot, but it wasn’t exactly pleasant either. I only drank what I needed to keep myself hydrated, trying to ration out my water as much as possible. Luna only knew when I would find another source of water.

The day went on, and I just kept moving, thankfully not running into more of those lizards. Three may not have been a problem, but if a larger group found me, it would be a tougher fight. The hours went on, and I was starting to feel a bit tired. Guardians did have enhanced stamina compared to normal ponies and zebras, but I didn’t want to wear myself out in case I ran into something hostile.

I found a rock formation that was tall and had a flat top. So, I climbed up to the top and set my saddlebags down to have a bite to eat. Some cram and a fancy buck cake, that I’m sure Keira sneaked into my bag, was my dinner for the evening. Not much, but I didn’t need to eat that much.

I laid my head down on my saddlebags and started to drift off, an hour or so of sleep and I would be back on the path.

I woke up to voices just underneath the formation I was on. Damn, I must have overslept. I moved to the side as quietly as possible to see the source of the voices. Three ponies, two earth ponies, and one unicorn were settled around a campfire. They had weapons lying next to them, pistols and pool cues. The pool cues were a bit weird but the ends were sharpened, so I guess they could be weapons.

The unicorn was a mare, she wore bloody spiked armor and clutched a cigarette in her mouth. She looked to the two earth pony bucks and spoke, “Where the fuck is Skinner? He should have caught that little bitch by now.”

One of the stallions spoke up, “Eh he’s probably taken some frustration out of her. Little fillies are always the tightest. Hope he saves some for us.”

The mare jumped up, and got in the buck’s face, “We are supposed to deliver these fillies intact and pure. You know how much the price drops for spoiled goods?”

The buck pushed her away, “Ah don’t be such a bitch, as long as we get paid, the boss is happy.” He chuckled and turned to his friend, “But I guess one of us should go find the bastard and make sure he doesn’t go and bruise the little bitch.”

The third buck just grunted and tried to fall asleep, ignoring the other stallion.

Well, I found my first ponies. Or they found me I should say. They hadn’t noticed me, so I had the element of surprise. But what they said concerned me. They were talking about selling fillies, so they must have prisoners around here. I looked just outside the fire’s glow and saw a horrifying sight.

Four fillies were huddled into a group, most likely to keep warm as the fire was too far for them to feel any heat. They had chains on their ankles, and looked like they had been through hell.

Looking back at the ponies, I growled under my breath and knew what I had to do. But first, I needed to find the fourth stallion, Skinner I believe the mare called him. He was after another filly who probably tried to escape and was doing who knows what to her. As soon as she was safe, I promised myself I would get these fillies out of here.

I moved off the rock and stayed to the shadows. Here is where all my stealth training with Master Zala would come into play. I moved to follow the trail outside the camp and found hoof-prints leading into the desert. I followed these tracks for about five minutes before I heard a little filly scream.

“Let go of me you jerk!” A filly said, sounding extremely pissed.

My eyes had adjusted to the low light at this point, and both she and the stallion known as Skinner were visible to me. He was a unicorn stallion with no armor and a bloody combat knife floating in his magic.

“Just stay fucking still you little bitch, if you didn’t try and escape I wouldn’t be freezing my ass off out here,” Skinner said while moving closer to the filly, knife at the ready.

I was done watching this bullshit. I moved in the shadows, getting closer to the bastard, making sure to keep behind him so he wouldn’t detect me. As soon as I got within striking distance, he moved to grab the filly and hold her down. Not gonna happen you piece of shit. “Now just hold still, I need to make sure I don’t leave a mark,” Skinner said followed by a wicked chuckle.

“You don’t have to worry about that, asshole,” I said in a quiet, but dark tone. Before he could react to my voice, I grabbed him, and put my hoof over his mouth, taking Umbra and stabbing him in the neck. My hoof muffled his screams of pain, and he went limp moments later.

I pulled my dagger out of his neck and moved to help the filly. She looked scared out of her mind when her eyes adjusted to the low light and saw me.

“What are you!?” She said trying to crawl away from me, but her legs were tied up with rope.

I simply moved to put a hoof on her side to stop her, and she froze. I took out my dagger and she closed her eyes, probably thinking I was going to stab her. But she quickly opened them again when she felt her restraints fall to the ground.

“I’m sorry for scaring you, are you ok?” I asked in the gentlest tone I could. She seemed to calm down a bit, but she still kept her distance.

“Who are you? For that matter, what are you?” She asked in a calmer tone, but I could still hear the fear in her voice.

“No one really. Just someone who wants to help you and your friends back there,” I said, pointing my hoof in the direction of the campsite.

“Why would you want to help us?” She asked, moving a bit closer.

“Because it’s the right thing to do. I cannot stand by and watch as young ones are treated like this,” I said, thinking about how Guardians were created to help those in need. I know the Overmares said to keep a low profile, but I couldn’t walk away from this.

She then ran full speed into my chest, tears flowing down her face as she cried, “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” She sniffled a bit before continuing, “Please don’t be a dream, let this be real,” she begged as she continued to cry into my chest.

I was shocked that she had such a change of heart so quickly, but I could feel the joy in her tears. I took a hoof and patted her back, trying to calm her. Luckily we were far enough away from the camp so the others wouldn’t hear her cries. “This is not a dream, the goddess would not be so cruel as to give you false hope. I am here, and I will help you and your friends,” I said stroking her mane.

It was during this time that I got a good look at her. She was a pink earth pony filly with a yellow mane that had a pink stripe going through it. She had no cutie mark, and I could see bruises on her ankles, most likely from chains.

“What’s your name?” I asked softly.

She sniffled, and actually smiled up at me, “Mommy always said it was impolite to ask a mare her name without giving your own first,” she said giving off a snarky attitude.

I chuckled at that, “your mommy is right, how rude of me. My name is Shadow Strike,” I said as she got off of my chest and stood across from me.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Shadow, my name is Lemon Swirl,” she said with this cute little curtsy.

I chuckled again, “It is nice to meet you Lemon, but please, just call me Shadow.”

Suddenly I heard hoofsteps behind me, I quickly grabbed Lemon and moved behind a nearby boulder. She clung to me and whimpered, but I stroked her mane to keep her calm.

It was the lazy buck who was told to find Skinner, he had a pool cue grasped firmly in his mouth as he moved down the path. I put Lemon down and told her to be quiet, which she obeyed after some convincing.

I then moved around the boulder, quietly as I could, and moved to take him out. He didn’t even see me coming as I got behind him and wrapped my hooves around his neck, causing him to drop the pool cue. He was stronger than Skinner and struggled against me. I kept one hoof around his neck and didn’t want to risk another stab, fearing he would slip out enough to scream for the others.

So I decided to take both hooves and twist his head around with all the strength I could give in my position. His neck broke, and he went limp. I moved back to Lemon who was trying her best to be as quiet and as small as possible on the ground.

She jumped a bit at my touch, but quickly relaxed when she saw me. She moved to my side as I led her away from the two dead bodies. We moved closer to the camp, trying to move as quietly as possible while staying low to the ground.

I took Lemon around to the rock that I had slept on and put her behind it.

“Alright here’s the plan, Lemon you get on top of this formation where they won’t see you. I’ll go into the camp and take them by surprise,” I said, trying to keep her calm and quiet.

Lemon shook her head and grabbed at my leg, “But you’ll get shot, and then they’ll find me again,” she said, tears starting to form in her eyes. I could tell she was scared, but she needed to hide so I could fight without worrying about her.

I stroked her mane in an attempt to calm her, “Lemon, I know you’re scared, but I need you to trust me. You’ll be safe up there, and these scumbags won’t know what hit them.”

Lemon looked into my eyes, and after a minute passed by, she reluctantly climbed the formation. After making sure she didn’t hurt herself, I turned towards the camp, peeking out from behind the formation.

The mare was still in her spot, looking pissed off. While the stallion was at the fire, putting on another log, shivering a bit.

He put his hooves over the fire, “Why is it so damn cold out here? I thought deserts were supposed to be hot?” he said to the mare, who rolled her eyes.

“Only during the day dumbass, at night it’s fucking cold, just be glad we have a fire and stop your bitching,” the mare said with an agitated tone in her voice.

The stallion grinned suddenly and moved closer to the mare, “You know, we would be warmer if we shared body heat. The other guys are still gone, and we have the campsite all to yourselves,” he said with a sultry tone in his voice.

The mare scoffed and looked away, “In your dreams, pencil dick,” she said with a grin of her own.

I took another step closer, and then heard dried grass crunch under my hoof. Shit!

The mare’s head turned towards me, “The fuck was that?”

She grabbed her pistol, and the stallion grabbed one as well. They both couldn’t see me but were moving in my direction. Well, here it goes.

I jumped out of the grass, Venta at the ready.

The stallion took a shot at me, but it missed me and hit the rock formation instead. I took the opportunity to close the distance between us a bit more. But the mare quickly fired at me and grazed my cheek.

The stallion then laughed and charged straight at me, pulling a combat knife from a holster in his spiked armor. Wow, he was an idiot.

I stopped and let him come to me, levitating Venta to the side as he continued to charge. He got about twenty feet from me before I quickly moved to the side and swung my sword horizontally. His head rolled on the ground, a clean cut, leading to a quick death.

As I recovered from my attack, a sharp pain lanced through my right shoulder, looking to the injury I saw that the bullet had passed through. I turned to see the mare pointing her pistol at me, levitating it with magic.

“Well looks like I got a pretty rare find, never seen anything like you before, you’ll fetch a nice price,” she said moving closer to me.

I stood my ground, “What kind of pony are you? Chaining up children and selling them like property?”

She glared at me, “The kind of pony that will blow your brains out if you don’t shut the fuck up.” While she was busy threatening me, she didn’t notice the rock I was levitating behind her head, which I used to bash her in the back of the head, effectively stunning her. She dropped the gun due to the loss of concentration, and I closed the distance between us before she could recover.

In seconds, I was right in front of her, taking out Umbra and stabbing her in the heart. She tensed, and screamed in pain before falling limp on the ground. I pulled out my dagger, and put both weapons back in their sheaths.

I called out to Lemon, telling her that it was safe to come out. She did so, and saw the bodies of the ponies. She then moved over to the mare’s body and pulled out a key. It was odd, watching a child have no reaction to dead bodies, like it was a common thing to see.

She ran over to the other fillies who had seen her coming, and they all cheered. I moved over to the fillies, and they all started cowering behind Lemon. She turned to them and smiled, “don’t be afraid girls, this is Shadow. He’s the one who saved us from these raiders.”

They all relaxed, slowly at first, but soon were on their hooves, moving to surround me. They were all staring, and it was unnerving to say the least. Then one poked me in the side, and I jumped.

“Ok, girls, that’s enough, don’t crowd him,” Lemon said, making them give me some space. I smiled, and then a sharp pain went through my shoulder, oh yeah forgot about that. I knelt down, and fished out a healing potion from my saddlebags. It helped a lot, fixing up the wound and making it sting a little less.

“You ok, Shadow?” Lemon asked, worry in her voice.

“I’m alright, one little bullet wound is nothing compared to what I’ve been through,” I said as the pain was fading away. I wasn’t exaggerating either, the training we went through in unarmed and melee is a lot worse than a bullet wound. Nearly broke my leg that one time, but let’s not get sidetracked.

One earth pony filly came up to me with a hopeful look in her eye, “Are you gonna save our mommies too?” she asked in a tone that no sane pony could say no to.

“What do you mean little one, where are your mothers?” I asked concerned for the fillies.

Lemon was the one who answered me, “Those raiders took us from our hometown, only the mares, and the fillies, they were gonna sell us as slaves,” she explained to me with a maturity I did not expect from somepony so young.

“Raiders?” I asked, curious about these ponies.

“You never heard of raiders before?” Lemon asked with a deadpan expression.

“I’m not exactly from around here Lemon,” I said to her, trying not to sound like an ass.

She looked at me and then her eyes locked onto my stable barding, which she apparently just noticed.

“You’re a Stable Dweller, I’ve never met one before,” Lemon said looking a little excited. I guess I was a rare sight out here.

She looked at the collar of my barding, “Stable 100, never heard of that one,” she said, curiosity present in her voice.

“Lemon, focus, where are your mothers?” I asked, trying to move the subject away from my stable.

“Right, so as I was saying, the raiders took all the mares and fillies from our home, leaving all the males for later. They took us to their compound, an old army outpost a couple miles from here,” Lemon said pointing in a direction, most likely where the compound was located.

I thought about this for a while, this had nothing to do with my mission. But I couldn’t just leave after hearing a tale like this. These raiders took innocent mares from their homes, their fillies along with them. And they planned to sell them as slaves. That was something I would never allow or tolerate. My choice was clear.

I turned back to Lemon, “So, where is this compound exactly?”

Lemon and the other fillies led me to the raider compound and honestly, calling it a compound was giving it too much credit. I spotted maybe one or two lookouts at most. The walls were in terrible condition and only one guard at the entrance.

“Not very organized are they?” I said to Lemon, who was the only filly who would come this close to the compound. The others stayed on top of a rock formation about half a mile away.

“Yeah but this is mostly the skeleton crew, the rest are inside sleeping,” Lemon said pointing to a large bunker at the south end of the compound, the sleeping quarters I guessed.

“Alright then, best to take out the guards on the outside then I can find out where the mares are being kept,” I said to Lemon looking out to spot any guard I could have missed.

Lemon looked at me with concern, “You sure you can take on that whole compound by yourself? I know you’re good, but that’s a lot of ponies down there.”

I smiled at her, “I know Lemon, but the idea is to free the mares, not to take out the whole compound, at least not yet. Once I get the mares free, then I can come up with an idea to get rid of these raiders.”

Lemon smiled at me, and hugged my leg again. It was an odd feeling, but it felt good. I was never that great with foals, as most in the stable were scared of the trials. That thought brought back images that I did not want to see.

I shook my head, and turned back to Lemon who had a concerned look on her face, “Go back to the others Lemon. Make sure to keep them quiet and safe. I’ll be back with your mothers, I promise.”

She let go of my leg finally, and ran off back to the rock that the other fillies were hiding on.

I crept quietly down the hill, towards the lone guard tower that housed one raider. The darkness of the night concealed my movements, the goddess Luna aiding me in my mission to liberate these ponies. I got to the stairs leading up to the tower and moved slowly up the stairs, as to not alert the guard at the top.

Lucky for me, when I got to the top, the buck was asleep. Wow, these raiders were not all that smart. I grabbed him and held him down, my hoof over his mouth as he woke up. I pulled out Umbra and held it to his throat.

“Try and scream for help, and you’ll find yourself without a windpipe,” I said letting the tip of the dagger barely touch the skin of his neck.

He went a little pale, “The fuck you want stripe?”

I ignored that jab at my species, “You are going to tell me where you have the mares that you abducted.”

He looked at me like I was stupid, “That’s what this is about? You just want a mare? You could have just waited till morning to buy one.”

I proceeded to knock him on the head with the hilt of Umbra for that comment. I quickly placed it back as he cursed and held his head with his hooves.

“I’m here to take them back home, and if you want to live to see tomorrow, you’ll tell me where they are being kept,” I said growing a bit impatient.

He was still holding his head as he spoke, “In the warehouse on the south side of the compound, but you won’t get inside. We got our best guys watching them.”

I held the dagger a bit closer, almost drawing blood, “I’ll keep it in mind. You better not be lying to me, or it won’t be your throat you need to worry about.”

I then proceeded to knock him out with a strike to the back of his head. He fell into a heap on the floor, and I put him on his make-shift bed in the tower, so if anypony came by, they would just think he was sleeping on the job.

As I got to the bottom of the stairs, I looked in the direction of the warehouse he spoke of. It was clear on the other side of the compound. That was actually smart of them for a change, having their prisoners as far away from the entrance as possible. I had a lot of ground to cover and I had no idea how many of them were inside.

I snuck around to the entrance and saw that there were three guards, all caring rifles. I couldn’t fight them without waking up the whole compound, so I had to find another way in.

I moved around the perimeter of the compound, checking for mines or traps. Thankfully these raiders weren’t all that smart, so I found no traps. After walking around to the south side of the compound, I saw an opportunity. A corner of the wall was out of sight of any watchtowers and had enough cracks in it that I could scale it with ease. Thank you Master Zala for all those climbing lessons.

I began my climb using Venta as a climbing pick, making sure not to make too much noise. After about ten minutes of climbing, I reached the top of the wall, finally getting a good look inside. It was not a pretty sight.

There were decapitated pony heads everywhere, all impaled on large poles or spikes. It was disgusting, how could ponies live like this? Weren’t they worried about disease?

I heard voices coming so I quickly jumped down, landing on the ground and rolling to avoid making too much noise. I hid in the shadows of the buildings, looking around the corner I saw two raiders walking across the alleyway.

“Man, the boss is so lucky, I wanted to sample the merchandise,” an earth pony buck said, kicking a tin can around like a pouting child.

“Quit your bitching, the boss said that any mare that doesn’t sell, we can have for ourselves,” another buck said, smirking to his companion.

Well looks like I found another source of information. These two raiders had to know where the mares were if they were complaining about them. And judging by how they described their boss, I needed to find them quickly.

I followed them quietly, making sure to keep my distance. They suddenly stopped at a pile of garbage and the first stallion that was complaining separated from his partner to go take a piss. A perfect opportunity to talk to his friend.

As soon as I was sure the stallion was out of earshot, I grabbed the second stallion from behind and drug him into a dark alley, pinning him to the wall with his face pressed against the wall.

“The fuck is going on?” The buck said, trying to turn his head towards me. But my dagger at the side of his neck stopped his turning.

“Look bro, if this is about that poker game, I told the boss I would have the caps later this week,” He said, clearly terrified, his legs shaking as I held him.

“I’m afraid you got worse things than your gambling debt to worry about,” I said, holding Umbra with my hoof against his neck. Couldn’t risk the other stallion seeing my magic down the dark alleyway.

“Who the fuck are you? Do you have any idea where you are? You’re fucking dead,” he said, still squirming around in my hold.

“You’re not in the best position to be making threats, are you? Just tell me where the mares are,” I said, putting pressure on my dagger.

He tensed and chuckled nervously, “Hey pal, no need for that, I’ll tell ya what you want to know,” he said, apparently trying to weasel his way out of this situation.

“Good, now remember to tell the truth, or I’ll lose my patience,” I said, moving the dagger away just an inch so he could talk properly.

“The boss has the mares in the south warehouse, he’s there right now, sampling the merchandise, lucky bastard,” the raider said, earning him a slam against the wall.

“Good, seems your story matches with the guard in the tower. Unfortunately, your friend will most likely come looking for you,” I said, moving my blade against his neck again.

He was about to cry out before I slit his throat, he dropped to the ground, drowning in his own blood. As soon as he stopped moving, I dragged him into a corner behind a dumpster. I moved back to the opening of the alleyway, just in time to find his friend coming back from his piss break.

“Hey, Copper, where’d you go?” The stallion asked, looking around for the friend that I had just killed.

“Sorry but Copper won’t be coming back,” I said before moving to tackle the stallion to the ground, driving Umbra into his neck for a clean kill.

I had the information I needed, and after hiding the other body, I made my way to the warehouse that was just a few blocks down the road. So far so good, now came the hard part.

I made it to the door, spotting two guards standing outside. Both were unicorns, levitating assault rifles next to each other, keeping an eye out for trouble. Well, they said they had their best guards here. I moved in the shadows to the side of the building, avoiding all the tin cans that were laid out on the ground.

When I got to the corner of the building, all the tin cans gave me an idea, I grabbed one and moved behind a dumpster. Then I threw it against the wall of the building, resulting in a loud clang noise, catching the guard’s attention.

“Go check that out,” a mare’s voice said, followed by a sigh and hoof-steps coming my way. I saw the stallion, his rifle floating next to him as he walked to where I threw the can. I quickly moved behind him, stabbing him in the neck while grabbing the rifle in my magic, so it didn’t drop to the ground. He fell limp, and I dragged his body behind the dumpster.

“Hey, the fuck is taking so long?” The mare said, sounding like she was coming this way. I quickly got into position again as she came into view. The mare also had her rifle floating next to her, but she seemed pretty skeptical about walking down the alley. She kept looking from side to side, most likely looking for the other guard.

She finally started moving after another minute of silence, walking towards my dumpster, shit had she seen something?

“Are you doing dash again? I told you to fucking wait until your shift was over,” the mare said, sounding agitated.

The moment she saw me, she was about to point her gun at me, before I tackled her to the ground. She fought back, flailing her legs and tried to knock me off. But I was too strong, so she resorted to biting my shoulder. I gritted my teeth from the pain, but I still managed to grab at her mane with my magic, throwing her against the wall behind me. I then grabbed her head, and twisted it, breaking her neck in the process.

My shoulder was sore from the bite, but nothing serious. I hid the mare’s body next to her fellow guard, and moved to enter the building. I checked the windows to see if anypony was around, but saw nopony. I opened the door as quietly as I could and moved inside. The place was cleaner than the rest of the compound so far. The boss must live up well, or the customers want a better place to do business. It made me sick thinking of ponies as merchandise.

“AAAAHH!” A mare’s voice screamed from the hallway, clearly in distress. I heard the sound of struggles coming from the hallway and moved with purpose to find the source.

“Shut up bitch, you’re hurting my fucking ears,” a stallion’s voice said, a gruff stern voice that had authority behind it.

I found a door that was slightly opened and peeked inside. A pink earth pony mare with a red mane was on the ground, eyes full of tears. A gray unicorn stallion was standing over her, holding a security baton.

“Now, you’re gonna be a good bitch and let me have my fun, or I’ll break your fucking legs, got it?” The stallion said, waving the baton around, a sick smile on his face.

The mare just threw her head in her hooves and cried, not putting up a fight. It was clear from the bruises on her body that she had been tortured for a while. And it was about to end.

I pushed the door open and used my shoulder to knock the stallion away, causing him to land on his ass. The baton had fallen out of his magical grip, so I reared up and kicked it away, out of his sight.

The stallion groaned and opened his eyes to see me standing between him and the mare, “You got a death wish?”

I pulled out Venta, holding it sideways to his neck, pinning him to the wall behind him. He glared at me and tried to ignite his horn, but I quickly threw a punch, aiming right for his horn, causing the magic to fail.

“What kind of animal are you? Torturing innocent mares, selling them like pieces of meat, what kind of pony does things like that?” I yelled at him, not caring if others were in the building.

“The kind that makes a profit, do you have any idea what slavers pay for mares?” The stallion said, acting like it was just a fact of life.

I punched him in the nose this time, Venta moving dangerously close to his neck. He cursed at me, blood running down his now broken nose.

“I have never met a more disgusting group of ponies in the life, and I will not stand by and watch you torture these innocents,” I said, glaring at him with an intensity that could melt steel.

With blinding speed, Venta sliced his head clean off. It rolled under his bed, and the body just slumped against the wall. I put my sword away and looked to the mare.

She was cowering against a desk, looking at me like I was a demon from Tartarus. I moved slowly towards her and sat on my haunches about fifteen feet away from her.

“Please, don’t be afraid, I’m here to help you,” I said, trying to calm her down.

She shook her head, tears still flowing down her cheeks. She closed her eyes and turned away like she expected me to hit her.

“I can understand that you’d be afraid of me, but trust me when I say that I’m here to help. Lemon and the other fillies help me find you,” I said, trying to convince her.

She suddenly froze and moved her head slowly to look at me, “Lemon, you said you met Lemon?”

I nodded, and she seemed to calm a bit, “She and the other fillies were taken earlier today, did you free them?”

I nodded again, “I found them at a raider campsite, and killed the raiders keeping them prisoner.
Lemon helped me find this place, and she asked me to free their mothers.”

She actually smiled at that, and then she moved over to me, tears of joy now flowing down her face.

“You saved my baby, thank you. I’m Raspberry Jam, Lemon’s mother,” Raspberry said, as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

“I’m glad I found you Ms. Jam, but we need to find the others, do you know where they are?” I said, still smiling.

“Please, just Raspberry or Jam is fine, and yes I can take you to the others. But there are two guards at the door,” Raspberry said, her expression turning concerned.

I gave her a confident smile, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of the guards, you just stay behind me until it’s safe, ok?”

She nodded, and started to lead me out of the room and down the hallway. It didn’t take us long to reach the door to the holding area. Raspberry told me that the guards had shotguns, so I had to be careful. I moved to open the door, and peeked inside, seeing the guards looking away from the door, their attention on the mares in the cells.

“Why does the boss get to have all the fun? Can’t I just have one bitch?” The stallion guard said, grinning at the mares who were trembling.

The mare guard pointed her shotgun at him, “Boss said no sampling the merchandise, less damage means a better price.”

The stallion pouted and kicked the door of the cell, causing some of the mares to yelp in shock.

While they were arguing, I had moved under the desk that the mare was sitting at, coming from behind her. I then levitated Umbra behind her head and stabbed her in the neck. She gurgled out a noise that probably would have been a scream before she fell to the ground.

The stallion then turned around to see me, and readied his shotgun faster than I had anticipated. But before he could fire off a shot, a red earth pony mare grabbed him from behind and held him against the bars. I took the opportunity to use Venta to slit his throat. The mare let go of the dead stallion and moved to the door.

“I don’t know who you are, but you seem to be helping us,” the mare said, looking at me with a hint of suspicion.

Raspberry came through the door at that moment, and all the mares looked up to see their friend. The red mare who was addressing me saw her, and her eyes widened.

“Raspberry, are you alright, how did you escape that brute?” she said, the suspicion in her voice replaced with concern.

“Everypony, you don’t need to be afraid of this stallion. He saved me, and he saved our daughters,” Raspberry said, coming up to the cages. All the mares immediately jumped to their hooves and dashed over to her.

“Is it true, our daughters are safe, where are they?” one mare asked, looking to Raspberry for answers.

Raspberry turned to me, signaling me to answer the question. I smiled, “There is no need to worry about your fillies. They are hiding a good distance away from the facility.”

The mares all looked relieved and starting chatting amongst themselves. The red mare that addressed me earlier came up to the bars, “I apologize for not trusting you, thank you for saving us.”

I waved my hoof, “There is no need to apologize, after what you have been through I’d suspect trusting a stranger is hard to ask.”

The mare smiled at me, “I am Chili Pepper, wife to the mayor of Hydra Junction. What is your name good stallion?”

I bowed in respect, “I am Shadow Strike, nice to meet you, Mrs. Pepper.”

She chuckled, “A stallion with manners, now that is certainly rare.”

I smiled and moved over to the body of the mare I had killed, figuring she had the key. My hunch was correct, and I opened all the cells, mares rushing out to greet Raspberry and me.

After everypony was out of the cells, Chili moved forward, “Alright ladies, keep quiet, we’re not out of the woods yet. We need to follow Shadow’s instruction to get to our fillies.”

All the mares went silent and looked to me for instruction. I blushed at the sudden attention but cleared my throat.

“Alright, all of you need to stay close to me, no wandering off. I plan to sneak you out the front gate. When I looked at the gate on my way in, there were only three guards out front, now that I’ll be behind them I can take care of them quietly,” I said, laying out my plan to get them out. They all nodded in agreement, and I moved to the door, all the mares following me.

There were no more raiders in the warehouse, so we got to the door quickly. We all moved out as quietly as possible. But as we traversed through the compound, something made me slow my pace. We had not encountered any more raiders since the warehouse. Even if most were asleep, surely we’d see some patrols or something.

When we had the gate in sight, I found out why we hadn’t seen any raiders. At the entrance were about ten raiders, all armed with pistols, pool cues, machetes, and one had another of those miniature chainsaws like the one I saw in the stable. A mare was standing in front of all of them, holding a shotgun in her magic. I motioned for the mares to stop, and they did not hesitate.

Chili Pepper came up to me and whispered into my ear, “She’s the one in charge of raids, she was the one who led the attack on our town.”

All of the sudden a mare’s voice rang out, obviously enhanced by magic, “We know you’re there, you think we wouldn’t notice guards and patrols missing genius. Hand over the merchandise, and we’ll let you die quickly.”

I glared her direction, my odds in this fight were not looking good. Then I remembered my battle brews in my saddlebags. One ,in particular, could help me make it through this ordeal but at a price.

I removed my saddlebags, and reached inside, pulling out the container that had my brews inside. I opened it as well and levitated a red potion bottle out. The contents swirling around like a hurricane, giving off a vibe that it was not to be taken lightly. I had hoped I wouldn’t have to use it, but it looked like I had no choice.

I turned to Chili, “I’m going out there, no matter what happens, do not help me,” I said, giving her a look that did not warrant an argument. She nodded hesitantly and moved back into the shadows.

I sighed and moved out into the open, the mare seeing me instantly. All the raiders had their attention on me and pointed their weapons in my direction.

The mare spoke in her casual tone, “So you’re the one that’s been messing with our crew, I was expecting something more intimidating, but all I see is a hybrid freak.”

I growled at that name, as it reminded me of all the resentment I got back in the stable. But I took a deep breath and calmed myself.

“I give you this one chance, let us leave, and never threaten these ponies again. If you refuse, I will kill every last one of you,” I said, looking between the raiders and seeing some of them back up in fear.

The mare busted out into a fit of laughter, laughing for a good few minutes before she spoke again, “And how do you plan to take all of us on? Far as I can tell, you’ve got those weapons on your back and nothing else. You’ll be dead long before you get close enough to use them.”

I merely took the potion bottle and popped the cork off, drinking the whole thing in one go. As soon as all of it was gone, I threw my head back in pain. The potion was taking effect as all my senses were enhanced further and the pain I felt from the bullet wound, and the bite vanished. I could feel my blood boil, and my muscles tense as my senses skyrocketed. I could hear my heart beating in my chest, and I could hear the gasps of the mares behind me. My sword and dagger were at my sides in my magic within seconds, and I charged at the raiders like a mad stallion.

Some raiders tried to flee, while others took shots at me. One bullet managed to hit me in the shoulder again, but I felt nothing as the round passed through. The raiders that came at me with melee weapons soon learned that they should have run with their friends.

My weapons moved so fast they were like blurs, Venta cut off the head of one stallion with a pool cue. Another stallion with a machete came around to my right, looking to slash at my side. I dodge with unnatural speed and stabbed Umbra into the stallions neck. A third raider charged my front as I drew Umbra out of the dead raider’s neck, his mini-chainsaw spinning, ready to rip me to shreds. I blocked his weapon with Venta and our two weapons gave off sparks as we struggles against each other.

Unfortunately for the raider, I had enhanced strength and felt no pain, so I easily overpowered him and sent his weapon flying to the side. Before he could recover, I had taken my sword and removed his head from his shoulders, blood splattering on my face; three down. The raiders with pistols fired again, and I leaped at them, causing all the bullets to miss. I thrust Venta downwards into one stallion and stabbed another’s neck with Umbra. Five down, five to go.

Two more stallions shot at me, one managed to hit me in the leg, but like last time, I didn’t feel a thing. I closed the distance between us before they could reload and tackled them to the ground. The two stallions had fallen with their heads next to each other, so I grabbed one by the head and used all my strength to bash their skulls together, creating a sickening crack as their skulls shattered against each other, brain matter flying everywhere. Two mares with machetes came at me, and they attempted to stab me in the chest. I quickly jumped, and the two just ended up sticking each other before they realized what I had done.

The last mare, the one in charge, had dropped her shotgun and looked at me like she saw a demon. Her voice was shaky, “What in the hell are you?”

I looked at her and raised my sword, “I am a Guardian,” I said, before cutting off her head.

As she dropped to the ground, my breathing was becoming labored, and my vision was blurring. The potion was wearing off, and there wasn’t much time. I tried to walk back to the mares, but the pain had started. All the pain of the fight hit me at once as I tried to make it to my saddlebags.

But my vision went out, and I fell to the ground. The last thing I remembered was the sound of small hooves rushing towards me.

Footnote: Level Up

New Perk added: Friend of the Night
Your eyes have adjusted to the low light of the wasteland. You can now see better in the low light conditions, whether outside at night, or in dark places like caves.

Author's Note

Hey guys, Hades here. Another chapter down, and Shadow's first taste of the Wasteland.

That fight with the raiders was tough, but Shadow toughed through it. Let me know what you all think in the comments below.

Until next time, Hades out.