Chapter One: Welcome To The Wastes

“Glorious Equestria”

“Jolts, where are we going?”

Silence.

“Jolts I know you’re flying this thing- I can’t remember five minutes ago but I know for a fact we’re in your dumb Vertihawk, I can see the stencil of your personalized name for it painted onto the cabin door.” Skyfire commented sharply, rubbing her throbbing head as she listened to the rising whine of the engines as it warmed up. She only had a crate in front of her in the cramped cargo compartment, taking up the small floor space within. She was strapped in, no notes, no memory of a briefing, and that throbbing headache.

She tried undoing the mesh harness holding her against the padded seat, but it had been secured too tightly for her frazzled head. Looking around, her confusion only grew at seeing she was the only one in the metal compartment in the back half of the Vertihawk. It was rare to only have a two pony crew for a stealth and reconnaissance vehicle.

“Jol-”

“Skyfire we’re going to deliver that crate to Aurora, I figured you’d remember but I suppose you did trip and bump your head just a few minutes ago, we’re about to take off,” came the tense response of the pegasus’ long time friend. Skyfire wasn’t quite all there, with that excruciating headache, but she could hear voices shouting outside as the aircraft lifted up swiftly, before the mare was thrown back against her seat.

“ W-why didn’t they bring somepony else if I just injured myself, that’s standard protocol.” The mare fired back, her ears perking up as she heard an explosion of angry talking from a nearby headset. She struggled against the acceleration to unclip her harness so she could grab the headset and listen into what Jolts was dealing with, feeling uneasy as she could catch bits of the hasty responses he was firing back into the airwaves.

The cacophony was silenced as the stallion in the front cut the audio, sending a small chill down Skyfire’s back. He was silent for a bit longer, piloting through the clouds, low running lights that ran along the floor to the the door ramp dimmed in the darkness. “Look- Sky we’re getting out of here and going to deliver this now, then it’ll be a better life for us, one where you’re free from Irontail’s scowl and able to do whatever you want.”

“Jolts! Why would you do this? Things were fine enough, and yeah my dad hated my decision to not become a soldier but he wasn’t going to kill me. I’ll be fine up here in Neighvarro, I’ll figure out some way to console him.” The mare shouted back, unable to ignore the growing unease as the gap in her memory gnawed at her more and more.

“If I had bumped my head hard enough to not remember- Why are warning sirens are going off Jolts?” Skyfire barely started her accusation when the sudden barrage of sounds from the cockpit caught her attention. “Is that a missile lock noise, what the hell did you do?” She shouted up at him, grunting as the Vertihawk suddenly pitched up, slamming her back into the seat. Her wings ached from the impact, grey and crimson feathers ruffled with nerves.

The increasing intensity in the alarms only worsened her fears as the mare felt herself thrown back and forth, the aircraft screaming through the sky. She cursed the lack of windows in the cargo compartment, only able to glance through the small corridor connecting to the cockpit, purple eyes widened as she realized they had cleared the clouds. She could see for the first time the ground of Equus, muddy browns mixing with dead greens and greys as hills rolled and mountains rose up towards the clouds, even piercing a few as they passed at a neck-breaking speed. Her jaw fell open slightly in awe.

Jolts broke his silence, glancing back into the bay to give his bravest smile to the mare. “You’ll understand once we’re safe and out of harm's way. Just trust me on this,” he started saying before swearing and pulling back on the yoke, slamming Skyfire back into the seat hard enough to worsen her headache.

Her vision blurred as the worsening spikes of pain began to make her nauseous; she fought to lift her head so she could look Jolts in the eyes when she became aware of a distinct screaming noise behind her. Unable to resist looking, the mare scoffed at herself, knowing there wasn’t a window to look at what she was pretty certain was behind them. There was no denying that aggressive and powerful noise.

Turning back to look through the cockpit her eyes widened as she noticed Jolts was staring back at her, orange eyes betraying his fear. She’d never seen him so afraid. A second later her vision exploded into stars as her head slammed violently into the hull. Skyfire barely registered the explosion as she faded from consciousness.

A soft bubbling noise filled the chemical shop, accompanying a large mare’s bored sighs as she sat on a barstool watching an ongoing experiment. Blaze spun around slowly, looking up at the metal ceiling, rust picking at the support beams. She yawned, emerald eyes lidded, before looking down at the small silver unicorn beside her. “I’m bored!”

“Really? I wouldn’t have guessed,” drawled Misty Sparks, lime green eyes narrowing at the large mare besides her. “Can you bring me those supplies?” She inquired, gesturing with a hoof, though she wasn’t quite looking at the storage area. She easily could have grabbed it with her magic, but she wanted breathing space from the stench clinging to Blaze.

“Fine,” muttered Blaze, jumping down from the barstool she’d been occupying and crossing the way to the shelf. There was a large crate resting just in front of it, something the muscular mare could easily lift or drag over. She lifted her hoof and paused, resting it on the lid. “Only if I get a hit,” she demanded with a leering smile.

Misty Sparks looked up, squinting at Blaze. She didn’t say anything at first, but the telltale glow of a green aura surrounded her horn, manifesting around the crate at the same time. Blaze sat on it before Misty Sparks could lift it, a cheeky expression on her face when the unicorn grunted with effort before relenting. “Fine.” A delighted squeak escaped the earth pony, Blaze happily dragging the crate across to Misty Sparks’ work counter. She smashed the lid off with a sledgehammer, rather than simply removing it. She kept it on her person at all times. Misty Sparks shielded her face with her Pip-Buck, from the flying splinters.

With a sigh, Misty Sparks floated out the ingredients she needed for her current concoction, an experimental mix between Dash and Stampede. It was work, and she loved it, but some days her cousin’s never ending demands for samples could grate on her last nerve. If she didn’t suspect Blaze only stuck around for the chems, she perhaps would have been more strict with her. Maybe even kick her out of her chem shop entirely, but then she’d have been all alone. It wasn’t like there were many other chemists in Stable 36, just herself and the mare who worked the other shift. Nopony else was devoting themselves to the creation of chemical concoctions.

Digging through one of her lockboxes, Misty Sparks offered Blaze her payment for the help, and the wet sand colored mare greedily snatched the container of Buck. “You know that stuff is bad for you right?” Misty Sparks inquired with a defeated tone as Blaze gobbled a few tablets down, stuffing the rest in her construction barding.

“Yeah and?”

With a roll of her eyes Misty returned to her equipment, watching the bubbling chemicals that worked their way through glass tubes into other beakers. As much as she loved experimenting, it didn’t take long for her mind to drift, wondering how much longer she had on her shift, and thusly how long before she could escape Blaze. She was dangerously close to the end of her patience for Blaze. Unfortunately for her, Stable 36 ran a tight schedule with long hours for its workers, and she was maybe halfway finished with her shift. Misty sighed with a bored look on her face, she had to agree with Blaze on a few things, the days could be rather dull.

Jumping down from her barstool, the notably smaller unicorn trotted past her inebriated hulk of a cousin, Blaze laid out on the floor with a content smile upon her face. Misty Sparks couldn’t hide her scowl, and opened the door to the dirt street outside. “Looks like another day with no customers,” she drawled, scanning the street. She helped run the chem shop on the little surface town cropped up around Stable 36 down the road.buried beneath a massive hill Between the small shops, an inn, and a surface jail, she couldn’t spot anyone who wasn’t sporting a Pip-Buck on their right foreleg. She could just make out the farm between the buildings, the soft buzz of the artificial sunlight lamps the only thing giving them a decent harvest with the constant cloud cover courtesy of the Enclave. The farm lamps sounded a bit louder than normal, making her wonder if they needed maintenance again, almost everything seemed to break as soon as they were working again.

While being located hours away from anything of note had worked in their best interest in the early years after the Last Day, now Stable 36 was little more than a rest stop in the middle of nowhere, nothing but hills, scrubby farms, and the occasional blasted out ruin. It was a wonder it was doing as well as it was, seeing as Red-Eye was making his approach out of Fillydelphia, but their remote location lessened her worry of him cresting the hills and enslaving them all. It made things boring, but she would take that over danger any day.

“Alright Blaze,” Misty Sparks called, turning back into the ramshackled shop. “I need your-”

Her words died in her throat as a deafening roar split the sky, sending her jumping forward and yelping. The walls of the chem shop shook, product on display and beakers shattering on the floor. Blaze waied in dismay at the loss. “What in Celestia was that!” Screamed Misty Sparks, looking at Blaze who was trying to lick the drug reagents off the ground. “Blaze!”

Bloodshot emerald eyes flicked up to her, paused mid-lick. “Huh?”

“Are you- ugh!” Misty Sparks made a noise of disgust, spun on her hooves and galloped out the store. Ponies were filling the street, staring up at the sky and neighing in fear. A security pony was levitating binoculars from his belt, but even without them Misty Sparks could see the cause of the roar. A trail of smoke hurtled across the sky in the northwest, dark and terrifying, headed northeast of town, a few spots thicker as if whatever it was had exploded multiple times, one thick ring just above the town. She could just spot a hulk of black before it vanished behind the rising hills.

“Oh fuck,” the security pony muttered, “looks like an Enclave ship got shot down.” The gathered stable ponies began to panic. “Calm down everypony, I’m sure they won’t land too close to us,” he said as reassuringly as he could. “I don’t think they’ll come poking around the stable anytime soon.”

There was a second roar, this one crunching and almost wet. Misty Sparks pinned her ears to her skull in terror. She was trembling, bodies pressing against her as the herd of ponies struggled with not panicking further. “Everypony!” A large periwinkle unicorn called, horn glowing as a spell amplified his voice. “Return to the stable immediately! Until we have a grasp of the situation we are going to treat this as a serious threat to the safety of Stable 36! Chief Smokey will have a squad out to investigate shortly!” He turned to the pony with the binoculars. “Help establish a perimeter, we can’t have anypony going and investigating on their own.”

“Yes, Sergeant Cuffs!” He replied, snapping a salute and then galloping away.

Misty Sparks slunk back into her shop as the rest of the crowd was practically pushed to the stable entrance, her small frame helping her sneak away. Heart racing as she closed the door behind her, Misty Sparks was shocked to find Blaze no longer slurping up half cooked chems, and instead tugging on her saddlebags. “Blaze?”

“Heya Sparky,” she grunted, fiddling with the leather straps.

“What are you doing?”

“Uh, what’s it look like?” Blaze snarked, finally getting them in place. She ran a hoof through her punk cut red and pink mane, shaking it with distaste at the grime from her unwashed hair. She looked back at Misty Sparks, blinking as if surprised she was still there. “Whatever just crashed is the most exciting thing to happen around here in- what, years? I’m gonna find out what it was.”

“But Sergeant Cuffs said-”

“Do I look like I care?” Blaze cut her off, stomping a hoof and looming closer. Misty Sparks’ ears fell back as she recoiled against the door. “You can come with if you want, probably somepony hurt out there after all, but if I find out you tattled, I’ll make you wish you’d never been born.”

The unicorn yelped, almost melting into the metal door as she cowered. “Okay! If you go alone you’ll definitely hurt yourself!” She said, trying to stand up to Blaze but she couldn’t hold that courage for even a moment. “Let me get my stuff too okay?” Blaze grunted, but stepped back enough to let her slip past. She practically flew across the shop to where she kept an emergency pack, pulling it on with practiced ease. Her frantic movements paused on the 10mm pistol she kept under the counter.

“Take it,” Blaze ordered suddenly in her ear, startling Misty Sparks.

“You think I’ll need it?” She gulped.

“Cuffs ain’t wrong about one thing, it could be dangerous,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone. “So keep your magic on the trigger and I swear if you shoot me, I will grind you into dust.”

Giving a small nod, Misty Sparks slipped it into her saddlebag with the one magazine of ammo she kept with it. She double checked she had enough magical bandages, healing potions and other emergency supplies before nodding at Blaze. “Okay, I’m ready. We’re uh, going to have to sneak out though.”

There was a knock at the door, and a voice distorted by the thick metal called in, “Anypony in there? We’re evacuating to the stable!”

Misty Sparks gulped, and closed her eyes as she expected them to come bursting in and stop the pair before they could run off to the crash site. She almost wanted that even, but the thought of an injured pony was starting to itch at the back of her mind. Opening one eye when no voice barked at them to go home, she blinked in confusion at Blaze who rolled her eyes. She was carrying her sledgehammer now, looped into her construction barding. “It’s locked Sparky, now come on, we’re going out the back.”

“Oh… Right.”

“And keep quiet!”

The dark, ragged mess of clouds seemed to loom ever closer as the earth pony and unicorn trotted across the barren wasteland. What once was lush fields of grass spotted with birch trees was now nothing but sand and dirt, the shriveled up remains of the grand foliage little more than a mockery of what once was. As her hooves swiftly moved Misty Sparks across the rocky surface, she narrowed her eyes to inspect the still rising plume of smoke. There must have been a lot of fuel for it to still be so thick and strong after a few hours, only growing larger the closer they got and a pit formed in her chest. She couldn’t stop the gnawing anxiety that there was going to be nothing but corpses on the other side of the hill, that the ground would be stained red and littered with appendages.

She shuddered, pausing to shake her head clear.

Had Blaze been less drugged up she might have even thought to pause and make a comment of Misty’s nervous actions, instead her mind was focused on the smoke rising up into the sky. She was far less winded than she would have been if she had gone alone, Misty Sparks’ lack of endurance slowing them down. This earned the unicorn quite a few angry glares and comments whenever the short legged mare needed to pause to catch her breath. Blaze’s drug addled mind made it all but impossible not to snap at her cousin but she was doing her best, knowing that it was preferable to the egghead running off and getting hurt. She’d have to chase after her and then argue some more and no doubt return to the stable early. That’d involve a lot more yelling from all the bigwigs in the stable, and Blaze hated getting yelled at.

The withdrawals were starting to kick in, every thought giving the stubborn mare another kick in the head. Her breath felt heavy, a thickness to her chest that was almost burning, eyes starting to itch and burn. Every so often her short tail would twitch, ears flicking as she had heard something, half disbelieving it had even really existed. To top it all off, her patience was also at its end, a different kind of fatigue settling in her bones, one that could only be cured with another dose of Buck. “We’d have been there and back if you kept up,” Blaze hissed. It felt like the millionth time they had to pause for a break, Blaze nearly trotting in place, if one could consider stomping the ground angrily trotting in place. “I wanna get to the adventure before it all dies!”

Misty Sparks pinned her ears back, not quite liking Blaze’s whole mentality about the situation, treating it as if it were some game. “I’m trying.” Her lime green eyes widened slightly in fear. She wasn’t sure if the sandy mare would leave her behind or start threatening her; she couldn’t decide which was worse as she slid down onto the ground panting.

“Damnit Sparky, you want us to get there just late enough for somepony to die in your hooves?” Blaze snarled out, narrowing her eyes as she snorted and stomped at the ground further. The unicorn narrowed her eyes in return, not a fan of the concise nickname her cousin had given her ages ago. She didn’t like being called ‘Sparky’, nor did she appreciate being guilt tripped.

Blaze only rolled her eyes at her cousin’s lack of spine, wishing she had dragged along a sturdier pony for once; turning back and trotting up the hill before stopping dead in her tracks. Her eyes shot wide, ears perked up in alarm as she was presented with the view of a fairly mangled up, smoldering hunk of metal that definitely was once an Enclave aircraft. The remains of gnarled trees sprung up around it, some still burning and feeding into the billowing smoke, while others were husk and ash.

“S-Sparky… You might wanna get up here…”

Misty Sparks knew a few things about Blaze, and chief among them was that she was rarely so taken aback, making her realize that whatever was beyond the hill was enough to astound the mare. That alone was enough for the unicorn to shift away her annoyance, and focus her interest on what lay ahead. Shakily getting to her hooves, she crested the hill. “What Blaze? What is-” Her jaw dropping open as she saw the mangled up aircraft.

The first thing that caught the unicorn’s attention, aside from the burning hunk of metal, was a massive puddle of a dark liquid. Blood? She couldn’t figure out what it was but there was too much to be from one pony. That only heightened her fears that she would find something gruesome. Her hooves moved on their own, carrying her into the burning grove of trees. Large hunks of metal were cast out from the crash, a few sparked with fried circuitry while others were nothing more than black and twisted from the heat. Stopping just short of the main body of the crash, Misty Sparks stared at the dark pools that seeped into the ruddy earth. She found herself leaning down to sniff at the liquid, causing Blaze whom hadn’t moved yet to jump as she realized that her wimpy cousin had already started surveying the wreckage.

Blaze started moving over to comment on how much oil the machine could hold to have caused such a fire when she realized the unicorn was shaking. “You know… That’s not blood right?” Blaze couldn’t help but ask sarcastically, letting out a snicker at the end, her expression one of major amusement. She knew that it was mean to tease her cousin but she couldn’t help it. The little unicorn almost made it too easy sometimes.

Misty Sparks couldn’t help but turn and scream back in return, “Blaze dammit, I- fine, my anxiety got the best me! I’ve just never seen anything like this!” The mare stomped the ground twice during one of her rare moments of vocal anger, and as quickly as it happened, it was gone. The mare quickly sighed as she became weary once again, glancing around with ears flat.

“Neither have I,” Blaze replied, brimming with excitement. “Fun ain’t it?”

“Only you would say that,” Misty Sparks muttered, before looking back at the puddles of oil. It did look like blood at first, but it was really just red oil that had soaked into the ground. “I don’t want to find a dead pony.” She admitted a bit sheepishly, kicking at a piece of scrap.

“If you didn’t want to find dead things then why did you come with me to a crash site?” Blaze asked, raising an eyebrow as she wandered around, kicking various pieces of scrap, lifting up debris, glancing for any signs of life. “I suppose you might get lucky in that regard.” She added finally, flinching as she heard a grating wheeze. She looked around, ears flicked forward, trying to detect the source of noise. There was something off about the sound, sending a chill down her spine as she heard it once more only heavier and growing closer.

Her E.F.S., Eyes Forward Sparkle, was starting to turn red. One solid red dot was in the corner of her vision. Then another joined it, and another, until there were five slowly ambling in what felt like closer to them. “Sparky,” she hissed briskly, backpedaling towards Misty Sparks who looked up at her. “You seeing this?”

The unicorn looked around, confused, until she noticed the growing red in her own vision. Her horn glowed green as she withdrew the 10mm pistol from her saddlebag. “Uh- what do you think it is?” She moved closer to Blaze, shaking.

“Shush,” Blaze ordered, “lemme listen.”

The wheezing was mixing with a low rattle, like something bouncing in a cage of bones before slipping out of a fleshy exit. Emerald eyes widened with realization, the stories of travelers springing to the forefront of the chem-head’s mind. Just as she went to tell Misty Sparks the first one came around the corner. A ghoul, a formerly normal pony subjected to the horrors of magical radiation to an extreme point, stared at them with soulless black eyes. Its flesh was either rotting or sloughing off its body entirely, with some patches of colorful fur left. Its limbs were twisted and deformed. This particular one was lacking the bottom of its jaw, cancerous tongue lolling out with a dripping ichor that wasn’t quite spit. The wheezing noise emanating from its mindless body was overwhelmingly loud now. There were ghouls who hadn’t gone that far, who still held their mind and sanity and were more like horribly deformed ponies. This was not one such ghoul, instead feral and cannibalistic and all it saw before it was dinner.

“Sparky, move!” Shouted Blaze as she pulled her sledgehammer out, the ghoul screaming something monstrous as it charged with fervor, jumping right at the larger of the two. Dodging to the side, Blaze swung the sledgehammer now gripped between her teeth, and it collided right with the ghoul’s skull. It slammed into the nearby burnt hull, Blaze crying out as she pursued it. The ghoul kicked out with its hooves, Blaze swerving towards its head only for it to try and bite her. She narrowly pulled her forehooves back in time, then grunted and brought the sledgehammer down into its half crushed skull. The sick wet noise of its brains being smashed made Misty Sparks vomit, while Blaze wore a manic smile.

“You killed it!” Accused Misty Sparks in horror once she’d finished spilling her lunch.

“And it would’ve killed us,” Blaze snarled back, lifting her sledgehammer back up. “We got more coming!” She shouted around the hilt of the now bloodied hammer. “Get back!” Misty Sparks’ jaw fell open, shuddering and frozen in place. “Sparky I said-” Her words were cut off as a pair of ghouls rounded the corner, already running at a full gallop. They screamed with voices like broken souls, rasping and vile, hooves carrying them towards the pair of stable dwellers with violent intent. Blaze shoulder checked the first one, swinging her hammer around but her aim was off, glancing off metal rather than crushing flesh.

The second smashed into her side, teeth digging into her right ear, but before it could tear anything off Blaze threw all her weight to the side and they fell together. The ghoul cried out, biting now at her face as she crushed it, its hooves trying to force her off as well. “Sparky, you just gonna stand there and watch?” She screamed, kicking the second as it came at her and catching its legs to make it stumble.

“Oh! Uh!” Misty Sparks snapped out of the terrified trance she’d fallen into, and looked for her pistol, which she’d accidentally dropped. “Where is it!” She cried, her fear solidifying into pure panic, whirling around trying to spot the glint of metal but with all the debris it was easily lost to her.

“Sparky!”

“I’m trying!” She screamed back, still unable to find the gun. The ghoul that wasn’t pinned was rushing for Blaze again, her powerful legs all that kept it away. The one beneath her bit and thrashed, unable to free itself but keeping Blaze down all the same as slimey limbs wrapped around her. Desperate for a few more seconds, Misty Sparks lowered her forehead towards the trio and an orb of green light collected at the tip of her horn. It wasn’t an offensive spell, hardly more than a simple parlor trick if anything, but the orb of light that exploded between them was enough to blind the ghouls, and Blaze, at such a close proximity.

“What the fuck!” Blaze screamed, finally struggling free as the ghouls were stunned. “Where’s your fucking gun?”

“I don’t know!”

“Oh for Luna’s sake!” Blaze seethed, rushing towards her with blood upon her hide. Misty Sparks paled, a hoof raised, half expecting Blaze to start punching her. Her eyes were unfocused and wild, scaring Misty Sparks all the more. “Get into the wreckage!” She ordered, “I can’t fight them if I have to protect a useless unicorn!” Stomping her hoof to emphasize the urgency, Blaze swung around towards the ghouls, reaching into her saddlebag for something.

“I-”

“Go!”

Yelping, Misty Sparks darted into the wreckage of the Enclave ship, squeezing herself through a hole just as the ghouls regathered their senses. Their unholy screams followed Misty Sparks into the darkness, followed by Blaze crushing something glass underhoof, and the manic laughter of a pony on Stampede. All she heard was noises of the damned behind her.

The wreck popped and crackled with damaged circuitry, smoke making her eyes burn but the worst of it seemed to be contained to the exterior. Oil coated her hooves, making her a bit worried should she encounter any flames, but it seemed decently clear as she wormed her way through the wreckage. A dim glow drew her attention, flickering com-lights from a stack of machines now half crumpled beneath the weight of itself. Something liquid was on the ground, but the new stench wasn’t like the metallic tang of oil.

This time she was certain of it.

It was blood.

“Merciful Celestia,” whispered Misty Sparks, ears pinning back, eyes widening as she tried not to vomit again. She spotted two dark shapes that she couldn’t discern any details of, but they were certainly equine in shape. One hoof trembled as she activated the flashlight upon her Pip-Buck, casting the interior of the Enclave aircraft in a neonic green glow. Ponies, one a grey mare with crimson mane and feathers, and the other a teal stallion missing a head. Misty Sparks tried to vomit, retching instantly as the stench hit her nose in a solid wave, but all she managed was to dry heave onto a ruined seat.

When she’d found the strength to move, the sounds of fighting that followed her into the wreck encouraging her to hurry up, Misty Sparks shakily looked at the mare. “Oh Goddesses,” she muttered in horror, spotting a large metal spike embedded in the mare’s flank just below her shoulder along with various other wounds from burns to lacerations. The stench of blood only intensified as Misty Sparks struggled through the wrecked rear compartment, stumbling over a shattered crate until she managed to pull herself over to the wounded mare.

Focusing on her E.F.S. for a moment, Misty Sparks was relieved the magical spell could detect at least a faint bit of life left in the mare. It was an arcane spell built into her Pip-Buck, projecting an ambient field that extended a considerable distance and detected the hostile or friendly intents of another living being. In that particular moment she was very grateful for it, helping her nerves calm that at least one pony had survived the flaming crash.

“Okay I need to get that thing out of you immediately,” she said to the unconscious mare, trying to ignore the corpse behind her. Sitting down on the ground next to the unconscious mare, Misty Sparks opened her saddlebags up while remaining focused on the embedded spike. She accidentally jostled the pegasus, not noticing her eyes slowly opening, clouded and dazed. Misty Sparks pulled out potions, bandages, and surgical scissors with thread, laying them out on a relatively clean piece of the aircraft nearby. “Ready?” She asked, trying to steady her own nerves.

Fixing her magic around the end of the spike, the unicorn inhaled sharply before pulling back with all the telekinetic power she possessed. To her horror, the pegasus followed along with it, purple eyes shooting fully open as an agonized cry escaped the mare. A hoof caught Misty Sparks right on the horn. She gasped painfully, falling back. Her magical grip upon the spike lost, it clattered away into the darkness, joining the rest of the debris. She rubbed her throbbing horn, smearing more blood and oil on her silver coat, not realizing the terrifying sight she might be.

“You’re awake!” The pegasus was far from sensible, screaming in pain, and thrashing her wounded body. “Hey!” Misty Sparks said urgently, grabbing the mare with her magic. Jumping back over she tried to add her own weight to the strength of her magic, hoping to restrain her. “Calm down! You’re going to make the injury worse if you move before I’ve healed you!”

“Get off of me!” The mare screamed in terror, trying to kick her away. Misty Sparks wasn’t known for being large, in fact quite the opposite, so even injured as she was the pegasus was putting up a good fight. Misty Sparks gasped as a hoof met her gut and she was knocked away, magic erupting once more with a twinkling noise. Purple eyes stared at her, ready to kick her away again if Misty Sparks dared try to restrain her once more.

“Please I’m just trying to help you,” she pleaded, “you’re hurt, in shock, and probably only moving right now because your body is swimming in adrenaline. If I don’t tend to that wound soon you could bleed out!”

“Don’t touch me!” She screamed sharply, breath panicked and eyes wide. It was a sight that made Misty Sparks’ heart ache. “Where am I? What happened!” She tried to look around the wrecked aircraft, but cringed in pain when she tried to turn her neck.

“You crashed,” Misty Sparks said in a level voice, remembering her lessons on bedside manners. Don’t fuck up, don’t fuck up. “You got really, really hurt. May I please heal you?” Her horn glowed green with magic, gathering herself for a healing spell, when the pegasus screamed again and this time it wasn’t at her. The wheezing grunts of before had returned, only it was right on Misty Sparks’ neck, rancid and warm. Looking over her shoulder with rising terror, Misty Sparks stared into the sunken soulless eyes of another ghoul, teal feathers stuck to its flesh with tufts of electric blue hair. A solid red dot hovered in her E.F.S.

“Hello?”

The ghoul screamed violently, its discordant voice battering her ears as much as its hooves as it leaped at her, bowling the mare over easily. She kicked out with her rear hooves, trying to push it off but the ghoul was at least twice her size, sickly flesh squelching upon impact and little else. Screaming, Misty Sparks brought her forehooves up just in time as it bit down at her face, half broken teeth snapping around the casing of her Pip-Buck instead of soft flesh. The flashlight was distorted with it biting into her Pip-Buck, spit and ichor dripping onto her face and casting it into a demonic glow, Misty Sparks’ heart almost bursting in terror.

“Get away!” Shrieked Misty Sparks, horn flaring with magic, and she was enveloped in a bubble of vibrant green before disappearing entirely, the ghoul falling flat where she had been. Reappearing a few feet away in another bubble of light, blonde mane frazzled and eyes as wide as the moon, Misty Sparks struggled to find a means of arming herself. It snarled and snapped, rising back to its hooves as it spotted her, and began to charge, fumbling over the mess of the wreckage just like she had earlier. “You’re a monster!” She shrieked in fear, jumping to the side just in time, the ghoul leaping into the smashed cockpit behind her.

Her hoof sent something clattering away, Misty Sparks daring to look down for a brief moment to see a flash of a laser pistol before it fell away into darkness. Misty Sparks desperately plunged after it, waving her Pip-Buck around as she threw debris in the air, hurling the wreckage back at the ghoul to buy herself a few more seconds. Just when she found it, the ghoul had grown enraged, surging at her with a roar so fierce she yelped and froze in place.

Finding herself once more pinned beneath the ghoul, Misty Sparks screamed and kicked, magic wrapping around the laser pistol. It lurched down to bite her, only this time it didn’t meet the plastic casing of a Pip-Buck, and instead the end of a barrel. Firing as many times as she could, red lasers streamed from the pistol through the ghoul’s rotting skull and against the ceiling, searing a hole straight through bone. Smoke rose from the ghoul, not a sound escaping the now deceased rotting corpse as it pitched to the side and collapsed. Misty Sparks lay there on the ground, a terrified cry caught in her throat, eyes staring at where the lasers had left scorch marks on the dark ceiling. She couldn’t look at the corpse next to her.

It took a few moments for Misty Sparks to actually feel her heartbeat, it racing so fast she couldn’t think as she laid there panting from the sudden fight. She’d killed something. A part of her mind easily rationalized that it had been entirely in self-defense, that the ghoul was fully intent on killing and eating her, but still she felt awash in guilt and shame. “Celestia,” she begged in a whisper, “Luna… Forgive me…” She felt like she would cry, coldness filling her from the hooves up, but something just wouldn’t let her. Then she remembered the wounded pegasus.

Her gaze flicked back to the stranger, having to look at her upside down and noticing the Enclave uniform on her. It was obvious in hindsight to the unicorn, but right then it finally sunk in she was dealing with somepony who lived up in the clouds. Somepony who might have no idea what the surface was like. “A-Are okay you okay m-miss?” she asked, trembling as the rush of adrenaline started to leave her. The crimson maned mare hadn’t said a word since the fight broke out, her eyes scrunched up in pain.

“H-hurts.” Was all the mare could manage, twitching as she tried to curl up, yet the injury made it too painful to do so. There was also the matter of the blood draining out of her at an alarming rate since the spike had been removed, her grey fur quickly matting over red.

“Oh fuck,” Misty uttered, the growing pool of blood spurring her into action as she quickly got to her hooves, shakingly getting back to the mare’s side and leaning down to push a potion up to the pegasus’ muzzle. There was no time to dwell on her confusing emotions, she had a job to do and she was Goddesses damned determined to do it. “Drink. It’ll heal you.” She ordered as calmly as she could given the situation. The mare’s fearful glance up to the unicorn prompted her to add, “Don’t worry, I came here to see if I could help any survivors. Your crash was really loud. I’m not going to hurt you.” The mare nodded weakly and opened her muzzle, drinking down the potion with a bit of assistance, it’s regenerative properties reacting promptly and restoring some of the pegasus’ vitality.

“Fuck! T-that hurts!” The pegasus gasped as she lifted her head up enough to observe her own wound clearly, eyes going wide as she whimpered out, “I-I’m fucked aren’t I?” Turning back to look up at the unicorn her eyes fluttered as she noticed the first-aid equipment nearby, fortunately undisturbed from the fighting, her expression turning to that of pained hope.

“My goal is to save you, I’d rather not have the first pegasus I meet die in my hooves.” She paused, before giving a small smile. “My name is Misty Sparks, and you’ll get to meet my cousin Blaze soon enough. She’s a bit rough around the edges, but she’s family,” the unicorn soothed, hoping her effort to keep the mare distracted enough to not start hyperventilating worked. She levitated over the emergency surgery kit, threaded the needle and cast a quick spell to sanitize it.

Misty Sparks looked at the gaping wound, and frowned as she changed her mind on her next step. “Okay I’m going to cast a healing spell to help further what the healing potion is doing. Please close your eyes, it’s a bright flash and I don’t want to disorientate you.”

“I’m Skyfire,” the mare managed to reply at last before closing her eyes in anticipation of the spell. Misty Sparks then leaned down until her horn was hovering a few inches away, closing her own eyes as she cast the spell. The moment the light had faded and Misty Sparks pulled back, Skyfire peeked one eye open. “W-where am I? And what happened to the Skyhawk?” She was still dazed and in pain but the combination of healing techniques dulled the agony enough to let her think clearly at least for the moment. She squeaked out in terror when she glanced down and realized she could still see blood and meaty flesh, something that one usually did not.

Misty Sparks let out a quiet, bated sigh of relief as she truly started to calm down, not hearing the random crashes and thuds that were still going on outside. She once more floated up the sewing needle and took a deep breath. Smiling in a manner to keep her at least relatively calm, Misty Sparks caught Skyfire’s eye. “Nice to meet you Skyfire, you’re lucky enough to be close to Stable 36, which is where we’re from. Now I’m going to sew up the rest of your injury, I know it’s scary to look at, and you’re in pain, but you’ve got to be strong and not move around so I can fix you up. Think you can do that?” Skyfire gave a weak nod. “Perfect, see, you’re doing splendid.”

“Stable 36? I’ve heard about stables… Thank-thank you again for doing this,” Skyfire said in return, giving a very shaky smile, which lasted only a few moments, scrunching her eyes closed again in fear. “J-just please make it go away, I don’t want to see my insides… ever again.” Skyfire put her hooves over her eyes at that point, not letting herself look down at her gaping injury.

Misty Sparks winced in return, feeling for the poor mare. She suppressed a stray thought about how much pain the mare had to have been in mere moments before. Still, she had to do this, her magic alone wasn’t enough to heal an injury this severe. The unicorn shifted about, centering her thoughts before methodically weaving the sewing needle back and forth, stitching up the wound. Her years of medical training paid off as she disposed of the used needle into the hazmat container in her kit, gently touching Skyfire’s now stitched up side. “You’re all closed up now sweetie, I’m going to go ahead and give you another healing potion to help kick start your body. In a little bit we can see if you’re okay to walk, or if Blaze needs to carry you.”

Skyfire’s purple eyes greeted the unicorn again as the pegasus started looking around again, finally taking in the devastation of her friend’s ship. She sighed a bit as she finally was given a moment to start processing what went on. “I wish I could remember what happened, It’s all a blur, bits and pieces.” Rubbing her head quietly as she started looking for a familiar face. “Have you seen Jolts anywhere by the way? Lighting blue mane, teal body, and orange eyes?” Her expression was hopeful, she had survived, and Jolts was tougher than her by a long shot!

That expression crumbled as Misty Sparks failed to hide the shock on her face as she was forced to remember the other body in the mangled aircraft. The unicorn quickly fumbled for that healing potion, pressing it up to the mare’s lip, silencing her from asking any other questions. “I-I wanted to focus on helping you first. B-before uhm… I got to that…” Her voice trailed off as she fought for the right words to say.

“Find any live ones Sparky?” Blaze asked casually as she suddenly appeared next to Misty Sparks, having scrabbled in after her cousin, hearing her rambling about something inside the ship.

“Blaze!” Shouted Misty Sparks in alarm, practically jumping into the air. Blaze cracked a crooked grin. “Give a pony a bit of warning would you?” Misty Sparks demanded haughtily, before softening with the passing of her terror. “Are you okay?” Misty Sparks asked, looking Blaze over for injuries. Her body was covered in wounds, bloodied gashes and darkening bruises covering her sandy hide. Her limbs twitched with exertion, jaw a bit more slack than normal from having used her sledgehammer for so long. There was a telltale puncture mark on her left forelimb from a Stampede injection.

“Oh looks like you did!” Blaze leaned towards Skyfire, ignoring Misty Sparks’ concern, emerald eyes pinpricks that focused on her. Misty Sparks’ ears pinned back at being so easily disregarded. She shrank back as her large cousin dominated the tight space of the wreckage. Ears perked at the ghoul corpse, Blaze sniffing down at it before her eyes snapped up to Misty Sparks. “Maybe you’re not useless in a fight after all.” Misty Sparks scowled. She glanced at the laser pistol hesitantly. It was small with a brilliant yellow micro-sparkle pack and a squared off from that the focused red beam came from. Silently, she floated the pistol into her saddlebag.

Skyfire frowned, looking at Misty Sparks with confusion, and was clearly discomforted by the large mare’s appearance. “I thought she was M-Misty Sparks.”

Blaze only laughed and walked over to nudge against her cousin playfully. Misty Sparks scoffed and shoved her back with surprising force, not quite in the mood at the given moment. “It. Is. Misty Sparks! Sparky is a dumb nickname she came up with and she’s the only one who uses it!” Misty Sparks fired back, casting a glare at an amused Blaze, who blew a raspberry back in return.

Misty Sparks hadn’t even a second to try and warn Blaze to not mention the dead pegasus just a few feet away, when the earth pony noticed and did just that. “Oh! There was a dead one too! Told you!” Blaze shouted out, still tweaking out on her hit of Stampede. Her ears pulled back in a moment of regret as she noticed the heartbroken look on Skyfire’s face.

For a few painful breathes Skyfire was like a piece of glass, a small crack forming upon the surface, before everything shattered entirely. A single tear ran down Skyfire’s cheek at first as she nearly lost herself in the news, realizing Misty Sparks had been trying to find a way to soften the blow. “Jolts? He’s… He’s dead?” The mare managed to whisper out before taking a deep breath, breaking down into tears right after.

“Damnit Blaze, can you ever be considerate about anything?” Was all Misty Sparks muttered before turning to hug the winged pony. “Hush Skyfire, I-I’m sorry but he was long dead before I found you, and I want you to focus on my voice, alright? It’s… It’s going to be okay, alright.” Her voice shook as her she tried to console Skyfire. It was a losing battle.

“It’s not my fault!” Blaze snapped defensively.

“Yes it is!” She accused briskly, trying not to shout and further upset Skyfire. “You just can’t keep your mouth shut!”

“What? And I killed him? He doesn’t even have a head!”

Skyfire’s sobs doubled. “Blaze!” Misty Sparks seethed.

Stomping a hoof, Blaze scowled at the mares. “Whatever, what are we gonna do with her? Take her back?”

“We have to, there’s nowhere else we can take her that she’ll get healed,” Misty Sparks said, patting Skyfire’s back as she cried. “Hush now… It’ll be okay, I promise.”

“Don’t fucking lie to her,” Blaze snarled, “you don’t know that.”

Gritting her teeth, Misty Sparks pulled back from Skyfire enough to look into her eyes. “Hey, don’t listen to her okay? She’s just swimming in chemicals and starting to crash, makes her real mean.”

“Am not,” cut in Blaze. “I never crash.”

Ignoring her, Misty Sparks continued, “Would you like to come back to Stable 36 with us? I promise it will be clean and safe and you’ll get all better in our medical ward.” She smiled sincerely.

“I- I-” Skyfire babbled, devolved to a senseless mess.

“Shush… It’s okay. Just nod if you want to come with us.”

Skyfire nodded weakly, whimpering in grief. “Good,” snorted Blaze, “can we go now?”

“Aren’t you the one who wanted to come out here?” Questioned Misty Sparks icily, trying to protect the vulnerable in every way possible mare from Blaze giving her a jolt of confidence. “Are the ghouls all gone?”

“Yeah, smashed ‘em real good.” She leered, far too proud of the fact for Misty Sparks’ taste.

“Thank Celestia,” uttered Misty Sparks, before looking her over. In the glow of her Pip-Buck the large mare almost looked more wound than flesh, but they also seemed to be mostly superficial. “Do you need a healing potion?” She tried again, concerned for her well being.

Shrugging, Blaze gestured for one and downed it once Misty Sparks telekinetically floated it into her hoof. She crunched it underhoof once finished, smirking while her tail twitched. Misty Sparks gave a small sigh at her wastefulness. “We gonna leave then? Don’t see much point hanging around.”

Turning back to Skyfire, Misty Sparks gave a tender smile. “Are you ready to leave? You can ride on Blaze’s back once we’re out of the wreckage.” Before Blaze could protest the short mare scrunched her nose up and glared at her, lime-green eyes burning into the slowly calming earth pony until she sighed and gave an agreeing nod. Having somepony who’s life was in danger gave her the courage to face Blaze, something that took her off-guard. Misty Sparks almost never stood up to her. “See, it’ll be okay.”

“I- I need to get away from here,” Skyfire whispered, voice broken from her crying. “Please.”

Patting her as comfortingly as she could, Misty Sparks then helped Skyfire to her hooves, legs shaking beneath her. “Blaze,” she instructed softly, “go out first.”

“Think you can help her out?” Blaze questioned, “You’re not strong.”

Wincing a little, Misty Sparks gave a nod. “You and she can’t fit through at the same time so I have to.” Blaze eyed her for a few moments, before giving a shrug and started back the way she’d come. Misty Sparks waited a little while for the sounds of Blaze’s hoofsteps to soften, watching Skyfire who swayed and moaned in pain. “It’s going to be okay,” she promised.

Skyfire looked at her, purple eyes wide. “Thank you.”

Blushing a bit, Misty Sparks shrugged. “No problem,” she said, and then started leading her out the tight passage of metal, slightly surprised Blaze had managed to get through at all. It was certainly difficult to get Skyfire out of it, having to stop a few times when the tight walls were too much for Skyfire and she began to panic, screaming at least twice in pain and fear before they were outside. The sky was darkening as evening approached, not quite twilight but enough for Misty Sparks to notice once they were free of the wreckage. She was grateful slightly, that the soft darkness had not set Skyfire into a disorientated panic.

Blaze was awaiting them nearby, ghoul corpses lying around her, poking one with her sledgehammer boredly. Her eyes were glassing over, movements sluggish as if she were underwater. When they limped over to her she gave a disgruntled sigh, digging through her pack for the rest of the Buck Misty Sparks had given her earlier and chomping down the tablets. Within seconds there was a rejuvenation of her strength, cocky and proud, and she lowered herself enough for Skyfire to be helped onto her back. Once she was settled, too exhausted to voice anything beyond an ‘ouch’, Blaze rose to her hooves. “All aboard the pony express!” She shouted loudly, Skyfire cringing.

“Blaze…” Cautioned Misty Sparks.

“Buzzkill,” accused Blaze with a huff, but began walking home nonetheless. Misty Sparks walked alongside her, fretting over Skyfire who could no longer keep her eyes open. Blaze paused, making Misty Sparks frown at her in worry. Angry emerald eyes glared down at her, the earth pony gesturing with a hoof at something on the ground. “Dropped something?”

Misty Sparks blinked down, stiffening at the sight of her pistol, lost in the fight with the ghouls. “Oh uh…” She picked it up with her magic, tucking it away into her saddlebags. “Whoops?” Blaze gave a disapproving snort, and started walking once more.

As they rose into the hills the fires continued to burn up the trees, but the Skyhawk had at last extinguished itself, the smoke tapering off in smaller puffs now. They’d gone perhaps ten minutes before Skyfire had passed out, slung onto Blaze’s back like a captured kill, rocking with the stocky mare’s steps. “So…” Blaze started to say, glancing down at her cousin. “What are we gonna do with her? Keep her as a pet?”

“Don’t be absurd,” uttered Misty Sparks, shaking her blonde short mane furiously. It stuck to her brow from the mixture of sweat and blood, making her sigh in disgust. “We’re going to take her home so she can get better. It’s the right thing to do.”

“Says who?”

“Says common decency?”

Blaze scoffed, pausing for a moment to glare down at the silver unicorn. “That stopped being a thing when the world died.”

“Not everypony believes that,” Misty Sparks said as bravely as she could, only to shirk under Blaze’s glare, her burst of courage fading.

“Oh yeah? Well plenty do. Enclave is the reason we don’t see the sun right? So clearly they aren’t thinking about the ‘common decency’ of letting us grow some damn crops or I don’t know- see the fucking sky!”

“She’s not all of the Enclave Blaze, she’s just one pony! One pony who nearly died and just lost somepony dear to her!”

“Oh wisen up Sparky,” hissed Blaze, “sure she probably didn’t blow up on purpose, but who just shot her down? Raiders with a missile launcher? They could be coming right now to check out what they just did, and we’re gonna take her back to our home? What if it’s all a ruse? Or what if she says ‘thanks’ when she’s all better and flies up into the sky to bring her friends back to enslave us because we could heal her and she wants that for the Enclave?”

Putting her hoof down, Misty Sparks gritted her teeth, horn flaring with magic as her temper spiked. “I’m not an idiot. I’m not just going to blindly trust her. But I am not just going to leave her to the wastes! She needs our help, and I’m going to give her it!”

Blaze glared down at her, chemical fogged brain trying to figure something out, before she heard something and snapped her head up. Her E.F.S. was filling with green. “Looks like we won’t be making the decision after all,” she said flatly.

Misty Sparks blinked, turning to look to the southwest, the direction they were headed in. “Oh…” She muttered, noticing the squad of security ponies cresting the hill to meet them. A frowning periwinkle stallion was at the head. “Hiya Sergeant Cuffs.”

Level Up! \ Blaze (2) - Bruiser: You like to get up close and personal with your enemies. +5 Melee & +5 Unarmed \ Misty Sparks (2) - First in Class: You might be an egghead, but at least you’re a healthy egghead. +5 Science & Medicine \ Skyfire (2) - Extra Special: The Wasteland has dished out its best and you’ve endured. +1 Endurance

Author's Note

This is the beginning of a fine collaboration with HiddenFaithy