Chapter Two: The Wasteland

"In this world. It's killed or be killed."

"Dear sweet Celestia."

I regretted leaving the stable, as soon a we reached the surface, and I think Ace did too. All her excitement disappeared as soon as she saw Equestria. There was nothing in sight, no trees, no grass, no lakes, anything. There was no sun, only an overcast that stretched as far as thee eye could see.

"I can't believe it." Ace said, looking at the wasteland in shock. "Everything's gone."

I wanted nothing more than to turn around and head back, this was no place for either of us.

"We might as well give it a try. Right?" Ace asked as she turned to me.

I honestly didn't know what to say. Ace was still willing to continue forward even after seeing what the world was really like. I had to admire her for her bravery.

I placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Ace if you want to turn back, we will."

She shook her head. "No I want to get this done. I'm just surprised by all of this."

"Then let's focus on the task at hand, then worry about this, alright?"

She nodded.

"Good, let's go."

We traveled for a while, looking in awe at the wasteland, wondering what it was like before this. I knew this was making Ace very uneasy. I had to keep my eye on her, if this is what happened to Equestria, who knows what we're bound to encounter.

"Hey, Gadget?" Ace asked, gaining my attention.

"Yeah?" I replied, looking at her.

"What do you think happened to the Elements of Harmony?"

Now that was a question. What did happen to them? Did they survive or perish from the war?

"I don't know sis." She nodded and looked away. I was afraid I said something wrong when she looked back.

"Do you think Equestria will ever go back to being what it was before?"

That question got to me, could Equestria go back to the way it was? "I don't know, maybe someday."

An hour later we made camp beneath a tree, or whatever was left of one. Ace got a fire going while I opened up a can of soup and brought out a few apples for dessert. We relaxed near the fire as we ate. I gazed up at the sky for Celestia knows how long, wondering why there were no stars, and just an overcast.

"Hey, Gadget?" Ace asked, bringing me from my thoughts.

"Yeah?" I responded, "What is it?"

"Do you think there was a reason we were given this task?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm just curious as to why we were chosen. I mean the Overmare pretty much hates me."

"I don't know Ace, I'm just an ordinary mechanic, while your just a medic and vet who likes to pull childish pranks." I replied, smirking.

"Hey! Those were top notch pranks, not childish pranks!" She responded, pouting.

Laughing, I decided to keep this going, "Oh really? What about that time with the whoopee cushion." Ace's expression was hilarious, she tried to come up with several excuses, but she eventually gave up.

"Alright, fine. That one counts, but none of the others do."

"Oh, yeah? What about that time you put hot sauce in the Overmare's coffee?"

"Hey, she had it coming. Taking away my joy buzzer."

I laughed, "Ace, you shocked everypony there. You know that's against the rules."

Ace mumbled something that sounded like, "I know.", before yawning. "I'm gonna hit the sack, good night Gadget."

"Good night Ace." I said, as sleep overtook me.

We woke up a few hours later. We had some apples and cereal for breakfast, before continuing on our way. It wasn't long until it started raining. The winds picked up, thunder boomed, and lightning flashed. We struggled to move through it.

"Gadget!" Ace cried, her voice struggling to reach beyond the roar of the storm, "We need to find shelter!"

"I know!" I cried back, "But, I don't see anything here to shelter us. We're going to have to keep moving for now!"

Lightning flashed overhead, illuminating the wasteland around us. Sometimes we would see what looked like shelter, only for it to disappear in the blink of an eye, it was like the storm was playing tricks of us. Worse, whenever the lighted flashed, I would usually see the silhouette of a pegasus in the distance. What was really creepy is that it had two beady red eyes, and it was staring at us.

I also saw another figure in the distance, it resembled a dragon, with beady red eyes staring at us as well, there was something off about the way it looked but it disappeared in another flash of lightning. We continued on through the downpour with no destination in mind.

"Gadget, look!" Ace cried out, pointing towards something big and dark.

Lightning illuminated it, revealing it to be a cave. With determination we raced towards it.

We collapsed in exhaustion as soon as we reached the entrance, the inside was big, we struck a match and looked around, it had plenty space, 3 tied up ponies, a-

Wait, what?!

Sure enough, there were 3 ponies tied up, a closer looked revealed two of them to be donkeys, one gray, the other brown, with black manes and blue eyes. The third was a stallion, with a brown coat, black mane, blue eyes, and a shovel for a cutie mark. They looked in terror at us, and started struggling, they probably thought we were gonna hurt them.

"It's okay," Ace cried, "were not not going to hurt you."

They calmed down a bit, only to immediately start struggling again.

"Ooh, lookee what we got here! They walked right into it, didn't they?"

Turning around we both saw the exit was blocked by several ponies.

And they had weapons.

I let out a sigh, "That's when we learned what life in the Wasteland was like."

"Keep moving'!" Sawed-Off yelled, yanking our chains. No pun intended.

We were currently being dragged through the terrain, in the middle of the rain. Several ponies surrounded us from all sides. Some were dragging along several prisoners including the three from the cave, while others kept lookout. The three who were guarding us were named Cager, Sawed-Off and Cracker.

"Gadget, I wanna go home." Ace said, looking at me in fear. Before I could answer, Cager hit me with his shovel.

"Shufp ufph!" He grumbled, prodding us with his weapon.

"Don't you ever stop talking?" Sawed-Off snapped, making Ace whimper.

"Don't to her like that, y-" Before I could finish, a blow from behind knocked me down. Turning around I saw Cracker glare down at me.

"Hold, up!" Cracker shouted, causing the herd to all stop. He looked down at me. "I'd suggest you shut your mouth, before we decide to have some fun with your sister." he said, smiling evilly at her, causing her to shudder. "We won't be gentle."

An echo of laughter rippled through the slavers.

I wanted wring his neck, believe me I did, but the odds weren't in my favor.

"Yes... sir." I replied.

He smiled, "Good. Now get moving!"

As we continued on, I tried to figure out a way to escape. Maybe if the-

"Hey, you alright?"

A new voice snapped me out of my thought, looking to my thoughts I saw the gray donkey, looking at me with a puzzled expression.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes!" I replied, getting agitated.

"Ok geez," He stepped back, putting some space between us. "I was just asking a question."

I sighed. "Sorry, I'm just nervous."

"Can't argue with ya there. This isn't the worst situation I've been in though."

"Who are these ponies?" I asked.

"Slavers, raiders, murderers, you name it."

"Since when have there been raiders in Equestria?" Ace asked, trotting up beside us.

"Oh, a couple of decades, but I can't be too sure."

"Dear Celestia." I was shocked, what happened happen to the world?

"Tell me about it, the names Chips by the way."

"Gadget."

"You two recently left your Stable didn't you?" He asked with an arched eyebrow.

"How could you tell?"

"Judging by how you're uniform is well looked and after, and from the fact you didn't know about raiders."

"Hey, mind if I cut in?" The brown donkey asked as he came between us.

"Uh, sure?" I responded.

"Oh, Gadget meet my brother Nails." Chips introduced.

"Hi." I greeted.

"Hello," he replied back.

We continued trotting for a few minutes before I spoke up.

"How did you guys get captured?"

"We were out scouting." Chips replied. "We were looking for recruits and supplies for our community."

"Only thing is, these ponies were waiting for us." Nails added. "Caught us in a trap."

"Wait, you two are part of a community?" I was stumped, how could there be a community when there's nothing to thrive on?

"Yep. The two of us and Lucky back there." He replied, gesturing to the brown earth pony.

"Hi," said earth pony greeted.

"How can there be a community in the middle of nowhere?"

"It was built around a Stable. Since those things are stockpiled with food, ammo, armor, and tools, there plenty of ways to start a community." Nails replied.

"So you guys are scouts who look for new ponies to join?"

"Well, not just ponies." Chips answered, "but yeah we do."

I felt a glimmer of hope. "If we get out, of this, can you help me and my sister?"

"We'd have t-"

Before we could finish, we came to an abrupt stop. Looking ahead, Cracker was standing completely still, like the other slavers around him. I could hear some of the slavers at the front of the herd conversing.

"What is it?" Sawed-Off asked, clearly agitated. "Why have we stopped?"

Cracker turned to him. "The boss says we make camp here."

The unicorn let out a sigh of relief. "Finally. I thought we'd never stop."

"Moof!" Cager prodded us with his shovel. He moved us closer to the other prisoners why the slavers set up camp. Eventually they got several campfire going.

Around the campfires, the slavers were having a jolly old time. Laughing, eating, talking about ponies they've killed. They left us bound to prevent us from leaving.

"Is this how we die?" Lucky whispered to Chips.

"We can't give up Lucky." Chips encouraged, we'll find a way out of this.

"I hope you're right," Ace cried. "I wasn't ready for any of this."

I nuzzled her cheek to make her feel better and it worked, just a little.

"Don't cry Ace." Nails reassured her with a smiles. "Chips is right, we'll get out-"

"How exactly is that gonna happen?" I snapped at them. "Unless a miracle happens we won't-"

A gun shot echoed in the air, causing the whole camp to go quiet.

"...Ask and ye shall receive." I muttered in astonishment. The slavers all sat up and looked to where the shot had came from, and their faces all turned pale.

"Oh for crying out loud! What now?" Sawed-Off groaned, sitting up from a nap, before his face paled as well.

Confused, I craned my head to see what was wrong and spotted it. Standing on top of a hill a few feet from the camp were dozens of ponies. The only thing is, they all had the same beady red eyes as the pegasus and dragon from earlier. Their clothes were VERY creepy. They were wearing nothing but rags, they reminded me of scarecrows, only difference is they were alive, and they had guns. They seemed to be conversing with the slavers.

One of the 'scarecrows' stepped forward and spoke, "Two of the ponies you captured they're from a Stable. Give them to us."

Cager was so scared he looked like he was gonna wet himself. "O-of c-c-course, wh-which o-one i-i-is i-it." He called out stuttering, motioning towards us.

I glanced at Ace, getting her attention. I motioned toward her saddlebag and mouthed, "pick the locks." She nodded, and her horn began to faintly glow, and I could see the same glow in her saddlebag.

"Shut your trap Cager!" A pony from up front yelled out. "I'm doing the talking!"

"You do a lot of talking Lead Head," another scarecrow stated. "Boss Sin doesn't like that."

"Well you can tell Boss Sin that I ain't scared of him!" Lead Head yelled back, but I could hear a faint crack in his voice.

"Watch yourself Lead head," a third scarecrow said. "Just give us the Stable ponies and we'll leave you in peace.

I froze. WHat could they want with me and Ace? Suddenly, I felt myself shoved to the ground and pinned. Ace followed soon after.

"Here, they are!" I heard Cracker yell as I tried to get up. "Take them!

"What in Tartarus are you doing Cracker?!" Lead Head shouted.

Out of the corner of my eye Ace had already picked the locks on her cuffs. She was now moving on to mine, I was glad they couldn't see the faint glow of her horn. Just a little longer.

"Being smart, that's what he's doing!" Sawed-Off yelled out. "We all know what Boss Sin is capable of!"

"I'm in charge and it's my decision to make! Not yours!"

"Oh yeah! Well you don't seemed to have control of the situation!" Cracker shouted, getting off of me..

"Well then," the first 'scarecrow' said. "Allow us to remedy that."

Craning my head, I managed to spot one of the scarecrows, a unicorn be precise, charge up his horn. I could hear Lead Head screaming in pain. Many of slavers back off, while others went for their weapons, and the colored drained from Cracker and Sawed-Off's faces as they got away loosened their hold.

I could feel my cuffs unlock. Without thinking twice, I got up , knocking Cracker back and bucked him square in the face.

Then all of Tartarus broke loose.

Once again, it all happened so fast. First, I bucked Cracker square in the face, next, Sawed-Off tried to shoot me with his shot-gun only for Ace to hit him with a spell, finally, causing him to fire a shot in the air, causing both groups to bring up their weapons.

To sum it all up, a huge shootout began. Right now, we're just trying to survive. Sawed-Off used his magic to teleport himself, Cager and Cracker to safety, leaving us to die.

Bullets flew everywhere, shredding ponies to pieces. I could see several pegasus in the air raining down fire with their battle saddles, earth ponies dove for cover, and some of the unicorns resorted to using their magic to protect themselves. Several prisoners were caught in the crossfire while they tried to escape or fought back.

As the shooting raged on, Ace and I joined up with Lucky, Chips and Nails as they moved away from the fight. Looking back, I saw the last of the slavers being slaughtered or chased off by the Scarecrows before they set their sights on us.

"Get the blue one!" A scarecrow shouted. "The boss want's him alive!"

"Come on!" Chips shouted, as he ran ahead, "Our settlements close by, we can take refuge!"

"I hope you're right!" I shouted back. "We could really use some help!"

I looked back, flying overhead, several pegasus were opening fire with their battle saddles, trying to hit our legs. I saw Ace take something out of her saddlebag with her magic, it was small, round, and gray. One of her smoke bombs! She pulled the pin, and flung it at the pegasus.

BOOM!

Smoke went everywhere, blinding them. They flew into each other, fell to the ground, I think I one accidentally shot the other. Thank Celestia for Ace's pranks. It bought us some time, but I still had a feeling it wouldn't be enough.

"How much longer until we get th-" Lucky's head exploded before he could finish, sending blood everywhere. Even on me and Ace.

We were so surprised we both tripped and fell to the ground. Getting up, we looked back and saw his broken body, I was so shocked I couldn't move. I stared at him, blood gushing from the stump where his head used to be, a blow to the side of my face, and a cry from Chips got my attention.

"Hey! Come on, we gotta go! Now!" he shouted, Nails was panicking behind him. I shook off the confusion and nudged Ace.

"Come on Ace!" I cried, but she wouldn't budge, "Ace, let's go!" but she still wouldn't move, she just stood there staring wide-eyed at his corpse, mouth open. "Ace, we don't have much ti-"

"Look out!" Nails cried, turning to run, I was to slow to react. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something that looked like a tiny silver apple without the stem, land a few feet away.

BOOM!

I flew several feet back, my head crunching against something when I hit the ground. Trying to open my eyes, I saw Ace, Nails, and Chips unconscious, I could also see our pursuers getting closer, whooping, and cheering as if this was some sort of sick game.

"We got'em!" One cried.

I tried to get up but every ounce in my body hurt, so it was pretty much pointless. I could see them getting closer, knowing what was going to happen, I closed my eyes ready to accept my fate, if only I could see Ace one last-

RATTA TATTA TATTA TATTA TATTA TATTA!

Gunshots!

My vision went in and out but I could see what looked like a pegasus in black armor, fly towards us, shooting at our attackers with a battle saddle. I heard them shout things like "It's him!" and "Retreat!" Before long they had all fled, leaving me thinking of who that was.

I heard him land a few feet away, and trot towards me. As he stepped into view I saw his was concealed by a black mask with a red visor. He stopped right in front and knelt down to check on me. Before looking around.

"What happened here? Where's my support? Fucking Scarecrows took them all out? Damn." He turned back to me. "Gadget, is that your name?" he leaned closer, mostly likely looking at the name tag on my uniform. "Gadget. The Wasteland's a bitch huh? Don't worry, I'll get you and your friends to safety." He stepped out of view and soon after, I felt myself being lifted up.

"Heavier then you look, a little cardio wouldn't hurt would it?"

I felt myself grow weary as he carried me away. As sleep took hold of me, I overhead the figure talking.

"Lasso, it's me, I found them. Rush was right. They're on the move."

Author's Note

Alright, well, here's chapter two. Let me know what you guys thought. I'd like to know what you believe will happen next.