Fallout Equestria: Uncertain Ties

Chapter Fourteen: Grim Reality

"Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway."

The door to the factory floor swung open with ease. They were on an upper catwalk that gave them a perfect view of below. Skyfire sucked in a breath of air at what they saw. A maze of rubble sprawled across the factory floor, obvious traps set along them though from up here none of them appeared lethal. The old equipment was mostly disassembled and repurposed into violent traps. Flickering lights nauseated the pegasus, swinging with the wind that blew through large holes in the walls. Fortunately for them, if they used the catwalk they could completely avoid the maze.

“Movement,” hissed Blaze, tugging them to the reinforced railing. There was another office across the way, the windows just as dirtied as the one they had just fought in. Red dots filled each of their E.F.S., skittering alarmingly close.

A shout rang out. “I swear I heard gunfire!”

“Check outside, maybe somepony else came in!” Hooves trampled, compounding as slavers reacted. Five of them were coming down the catwalk directly toward the hidden mares.

Blaze readied herself while Skyfire and Grease looked to Misty Sparks. Her face still a cold mask, Misty Sparks grunted and nodded. Like a dog let off its leash, Blaze whirled around the railing with an all-too-cheery laugh. Startled, the slavers struggled to slow down from their full gallop. The head of Blaze’s sledgehammer immediately crushed one’s skull, sending them over the railing into the maze below. A trap hissed and popped, gas filling the air now. Bullets pinged off Blaze’s armor, more than one digging into the exterior leather.

“Move!” Ordered Grease as she now came around the bend. Her battle-saddle whirred to life just as Blaze jumped back. Two more fell at the outburst, with no space to dodge without descending into the maze as their deceased comrade had. The remaining two were unicorns who threw up shield spells, the very same Misty Sparks used. Skyfire flew around behind them, cutting off an escape. The pistol wavered in her grip.

One slaver focused their magic and they teleported to the other end of the catwalk where they’d come from. “Shit!” Hissed Blaze who immediately pursued. The others followed, Skyfire eeping as they passed her and she was swift to join. A franticness overcame Grease and Skyfire, afraid that more slavers than they could handle would rush in if warned.

Misty Sparks cast her own teleportation spell, cutting them off as Skyfire had. She pressed the barrel of her pistol to one’s skull and shook her head. “Sit!” She demanded. They obeyed, startling Misty Sparks slightly. She hadn’t thought it would work. Blaze was galloping over at top speed, while Grease lagged. Skyfire was far faster in the air. Distracted as she glanced to check on their progress, she didn’t see magic surround the slaver’s horn until it was too late.

A concussive blast impacted the short mare, breaking her concentration. Her pistol went sliding across the catwalk. The other slaver drew a knife and stabbed her. Misty Sparks howled as it sank into her flank. He withdrew it to strike again. A blur of gray and crimson crashed into him. Skyfire kicked and stomped, something crunching beneath her hooves. His friend bit her tail and heaved Skyfire back. She flipped over the guardrail, wings catching her just in time before she fell. Neon magic exploded as Misty Sparks struggled to heal herself. Blood flowed from the stab wound.

“Get the fuck back!” Blaze bellowed as she reached them. The unicorn slavers turned their guns on her and fired. Then their heads exploded in a torrent of 7.62 bullets. Gore and viscera sprayed everywhere, coating Misty Sparks on the ground. Grease cursed lowly as she released the trigger of her battle-saddle.

The little unicorn wheezed on the floor, horn sparking as she tried and failed again to heal. She ardently kept her eyes closed. Her flank burned and she fumbled with applying pressure. It felt worse than getting shot. The cold touch of a healing potion pressed against her lips, and she downed it urgently. Coughing when it was withdrawn, she blinked up at three extremely worried mares. “I-” She stuttered, taking in the gore that dripped down her armor. Her mane stuck to her head, sticky in a manner that made her blood go cold. An eyeball on the floor stared at her in accusation.

She lurched over the railing and threw up.

“Sparky, we have to move,” Blaze said as she grabbed Misty Sparks’ by the barding, hauling her back over the railing.

“J-j-just-”

Gunfire came from the front of the factory. Ponies started flooding into the floor, clearly aware of the traps and moving through them with practiced ease. “Get her inside!” Grease shouted. Blaze grunted and threw Misty Sparks through the ajar office door. Grease and Blaze kept attacking, using the higher ground to their advantage. Misty Sparks slid for a few feet, spinning from the momentum, until coming to a stop in front of five collared ponies.

They were clearly hungry, but not starving. Bruises and cuts speckled their filthy coats. Three of them were stallions, one a teenager. The two mares stared at Misty Sparks with disgust, recoiling violently. They all had a stark resemblance to one another. Misty Sparks couldn’t pull her eyes off the glowing red light on the collars. She had heard the stories. She knew exactly what they were: bomb collars.

One of the stallions took a hesitant step forward, looking over Misty Sparks to the fighting earth ponies. Skyfire was closer to the door, but she was backing up Grease and Blaze. “Are you… Here to rescue us?” Asked the stallion in a rumbling voice. He had a sheriff star for a cutie mark, though it was hard to see under the matted blood.

There was no time to feel bad about herself or disgusted. The stallion’s question snapped Misty Sparks into reality. “Yes,” she said with wide eyes. He was a unicorn, and on his horn was a small ring. “They suppressed your magic.”

Grunting, he nodded. “Yes.” The other adult stallion was also a unicorn, as was the teenage mare. They each wore a horn ring, runes inscribed to keep them from being removed.

Before she could perform a proper inspection on the rest of them, Blaze, Grease, and Skyfire retreated into the office. The windows exploded with a hail of gunfire. Shattered glass fell across them. Blaze barreled into Misty Sparks protectively, taking the brunt of the shards. A scream came from the teenagers. “Slaves?” Shouted Grease as she realized who was in the office with them.

“We have to protect them,” ordered Misty Sparks. She pointedly ignored the way Blaze was smeared red now. “Grease, you requisitioned grenades didn’t you?”

“Affirmative!” Grease said, pulling a frag grenade from her saddlebag.

“I’ve got one too!” Blaze shouted.

“You what?” Skyfire hissed. Before any explanation was given both earth ponies pulled the pin and threw their explosives through the shattered windows. Shouts of alarm came from the slavers, curses only just spoken before dual explosions ripped the factory apart. A meaty noise followed, the carnage hidden from view. Silence followed. Nothing red crossed their E.F.S.

Slowly, the mares calmed. “How in the name of Celestia do you have a grenade?” Misty Sparks asked tightly, “And when were you going to tell us?”

“Uh, when we needed it. Like, now?” Blaze squinted, more confused than anything. “Also how else? Blitz stashed it for me last night.”

“Of course she did,” muttered Misty Sparks. “I think we’re clear for now. Grease, watch that back door. Blaze, watch the front,” she briskly ordered. They obeyed with nods. Grease only paused long enough to cut the ropes binding the slaves. She eyed the older mare but said nothing.

The slaves glanced around, clearly nervous. “Uh- my name is Lonestar,” the stallion who had spoken earlier introduced himself. “Thank you for this, but it won’t mean much with these collars on. They should have some keys on one of them.”

“I’ll go look,” Skyfire offered, “I can get around easiest.”

“Watch out for those traps,” warned Misty Sparks. Nodding, Skyfire flew out of the office.

Relief flickered across the slaves' faces, exhaustion making their bodies droop. “This is my wife, Pecan Pie,” Lonestar introduced the rest of them, gesturing with clear pain. The adult mare gave a smile, but her eyes were full of sorrow. “My youngest two, Pistol and Blue Grass.” The teenagers, an earth pony stallion, and unicorn mare respectively, gave weak nods. “And this is my brother, Spurs.” Misty Sparks gasped as she took in the final stallion, a unicorn, but what took her by surprise were his eyes. Long slashes cut through them, fresh and covered in dried blood and infected scabs. He was blind.

Something clicked in Misty Sparks, and she immediately began to pull out health potions and rations. She used her magic rather than hooves to avoid contaminating them. “Drink these,” she said as she offered them. The family obeyed, downing them so fast Pistol choked. “You’re from the caravan out front, right?”

Lonestar winced. “Yes. It’s been almost a week. We thought this place was safe.”

“Are there any others?”

Pecan Pie sniffled. “Our eldest kids. They took them somewhere else, the admin building I think.”

“How many?” Misty Sparks asked as she examined Spurs. He was a large unicorn, rivaling Blaze almost. The cuts were infected, and if the wound hadn’t taken his eyes that surely would have. “I’m a medic, I can help but I need you to trust me, okay?”

Spurs gave a weak nod. “Okay.”

“I can help,” Blue Grass offered, “I’m an herbalist.”

“Can you clean the wound then?” Asked Misty Sparks.

Blue Grass nodded and quickly searched a nearby container. She made a happy noise as she pulled out an herb bag. “Hey, most of our stuff is in here! Even Nectar Yawn’s medkit!” She happily pulled it out and opened the yellow box. A veritable treasure trove was nestled within. Relief flickered through Misty Sparks. She didn’t want to have to use all her medical supplies with an entire trip home left, but she certainly couldn’t not help these ponies.

“Who’s Nectar Yawn?” Asked Misty Sparks as she examined Pistol. He seemed overall okay now that he’d had a health potion.

Blue Grass paused in her stride. Purple eyes lowered to the filthy floor. “My brother, our medic.”

“I see,” Misty Sparks said slowly, trying to find the right words to comfort them. “If there’s a chance they’re still alive, we’ll save them. I promise.”

“They got taken a few days ago.”

“Any idea why they were separated?”

“Well…” Pecan Pie sighed and the sound of feathers flapping filled Misty Sparks' ears. She whipped her head around. Cream-colored wingtips caught her eye, the same color as the mare’s markings against her brown coat. “Probably something to do with them all being pegasi.”

Gasping, Misty Sparks struggled to find what to say when Skyfire flew back in with a rattling keychain. “I found them! We can-” she cut herself short as she took in Pecan Pie. The gray mare landed, crunching shattered glass beneath her hooves. “You…”

Wincing as she waved a wing, Pecan Pie smiled. “Hi. You still have your cutie mark, so I assume you’re a grounder like my kids?”

Skyfire inhaled briskly. “No. I’m…”

“Oh,” Pecan Pie perked up. “You’re like me?” She lifted the dirty barding that concealed her flank. The very same brand that the mares had seen on the tree stump was there. The mark of a Dashite. The mark very notably absent from Skyfire’s flank.

Skyfire was stiff, taking in the words the Dashite had said. Then it all erupted with nervous energy, wings twitching, hooves poking together, and voice stuttering. “O-oh well, see, I never officially got bra-ra-anded. I- my friend- he uhm, foalnapped me. To save me! Or well- he thought he was… and ma-maybe he really was- but anyways-”

Grease grabbed one of her shoulders and gave a firm shake. “Hey, it’s okay.”

Purple eyes stared at her, focused intently on her friend. A slow nod came and she caught her breath. No longer shifting in place, she slowly spoke, “I have… never met a…” Skyfire gestured at Pecan Pie’s branding. “I’m not even sure if I’m a…”

“Dashite,” concluded Pecan Pie, the word incapable of passing Skyfire’s lips. She gave a muted nod. “It’s okay. Foalnapping sounds… well it makes sense why you’re not branded then. Don’t let them catch you and take away your mark, okay?”

Gulping, Skyfire gave a few brisk nods. “Okay. Yeah.”

“I would like to hear what it’s like back above the clouds,” Pecan Pie added cautiously, “if we’re… all alive to hear it.”

“Sure.” The word was clipped, an instinct almost. “Let’s uh. Get you ponies out of here first.”

Misty Sparks floated the keys to everypony’s collars, unlocking them with great care. She didn’t want to accidentally trigger some failsafe and kill the already abused ponies. When at last all of them were free, she sighed in relief. They each rubbed their necks, relief, and pain flickering across their faces. Lonestar grimaced as Misty Sparks removed the anti-magic ring from his horn. “That felt awful,” he mumbled. “Thank you.”

“Of course.” She examined them once more, Grease and Blaze carefully watching for any threats from outside. Skyfire nibbled on a wing, blatantly staring at the branding. “You’re exhausted, dehydrated, and famished. I would not recommend you continue into danger with us. Stay here and rest.”

Immediately the recently liberated family whinnied their refusal. “Those are our kids in there,” Lonestar growled. “I will not leave them in the hooves of strangers if I can help it. No offense.”

“I wouldn’t like it either,” Blaze mumbled. Misty Sparks glared at her. “What? It’s true! Family shouldn’t turn their back on their kin!”

“Pistol is in no condition to fight,” Misty Spark carried on, neglecting to give a verbal response to her cousin. Blaze chuffed and turned back to the door. “Spurs will be lucky to even survive another day as is.”

Blue Grass moved closer to her uncle, medkit in hoof. “I can tend to him. Pistol, guard me.” Immediately he nodded, rummaging up a namesake gun from the container. Grease gave an approving nod to the way he kept his mouth grip firm.

Pecan Pie and Lonestar armed themselves as well, dual revolvers floating by the unicorn and a long rifle in the pegasus’ grip. “We appreciate what you’ve done for us, but we have to try. They already got taken from us once,” Pecan Pie said slowly as she reloaded with trembling hooves. Lonestar placed a hoof over hers, stilling Pecan Pie for a moment. A slow inhale rolled over the mother, and when she exhaled her resolve was set. “We have to get them back. We appreciate the help, but you’re not stopping us.”

Regarding them with a hint of frustration, Misty Sparks let it go. “Of course,” she replied with a nod. She couldn’t blame them at all. She might even have made the same choice if the horseshoe was on the other hoof. “Take my canteens at least, drink up while the rest of us scout for a plan. When we’re ready, we’ll make our move, together.”

Lonestar took them with a grateful nod, copper magic swirling around the neon green as he pulled them close. “Thank you.”

“Move in five,” Misty Sparks’ whispered, eyes trained on the upper roof of the admin building. So far she had yet to see the glint of a scope, but Lonestar had sworn a sniper rested up there. There was an uncomfortable amount of open terrain between the factory ruins and the crumbling offices. Movement flickered through the exposed sections now and then, enough to assure them that somepony was in there.

Blaze took a few steps forward, sniffing the air. She nodded after a few moments, nostrils flared with anticipation. Grease took a few preparatory stretches, Lonestar’s magic gathered around her to make the battle saddle jostle less and hopefully less noise. A few flaps of wings were the only indication that the pegasi were ready to bolt. They would keep low to the ground to avoid catching any attention.

That left Misty Sparks in the unusual situation of being a distraction. Hooves tingled in anticipation, but she was the only one who could teleport away to safety. “Go!” Before a stampede of hooves could alert the slavers inside the offices, Misty Sparks teleported as close to the center of the industrial complex as she could. A flare of magic shot into the sky, exploding into a beautiful firework like her mother’s would. It set the courtyard in neon green, shimmering stars slowly descending like embers. For a moment she was proud it looked like Flare’s. Then that pride was snapped back into combat.

Immediately gunfire cracked, a torrent coming from broken windows and between shambling pillars. Brilliant neon magic shielded her, focused more on the one direction she was sure of. Jaw clenched, the mare strained against the absolute downfall of bullets. A louder, heavy crack split the air, heard even over the explosion of violence. The shield of neon broke and a sharp pain split the mare in two. Before a second shot could strike home she teleported behind better cover.

Misty Sparks cursed lowly as she examined the wound, blood already seeping through the thick blue fabric. Her shoulder ached, the pauldron nothing but shredded kevlar plates barely hanging off her frame. More gunfire ate away at the concrete in a cacophony. The rapid speed either meant multiple shooters or one very powerful unicorn with a full arsenal. Chugging a healing potion to save her magic, Misty Sparks let out a scream as she made for the gate. Her hooves were loud and frantic on broken asphalt. A shield prevented most of the rapid gunfire from striking her down, others missing as the distance grew. She swerved around debris, doing everything she could to focus her breathing.

Another louder crack. Misty Sparks teleported just in time, sliding several feet and slamming into a rusted carriage. She ducked low while trying to ignore the headache that had given her. Only a few were still shooting her from the building. She knew that the sniper was the one behind the more powerful shots. Heart racing, she didn’t let herself stop for even a second to think. Concrete exploded next to her. Rebar nearly tripped her but she managed to jump in time.

Something wet popped ahead. Gore splattered the already filthy ground. Misty Sparks barely realized it was one of the caravan corpses. Something twisted in her at the sight, reminded of the cruelty of these slavers. “Fuck you!” She screamed, shifting her weight and skidding. Her legs were screaming, both from wounds and exhaustion, but she couldn’t stop. The moment she did she was dead.

Again she gathered her magic for a flare. This time her horn was aimed directly at the ruins. She poured her fury into it, the lively magic sparking like firecrackers. Everything became neon as she launched it, washing out any other color. Shouts and blind gunfire came, but she had succeeded. With the last bits of magic she had, Misty Sparks teleported to the edge of the ground floor.

Hooves shaking beneath her, the little mare barely kept from collapsing. Sweat dripped down her silver body. The tips of her mane were singed from the rapid casting. Smoke hissed around her, a burn mark barely visible on the floor against the already present damage. She was vaguely aware of ponies grabbing her, whispers of relief and anger flowing. Crimson feathers tickled her cheek. Copper magic shoved a canteen to her lips. For a moment she wanted to kick, but then logic overcame her. She was with her friends.

“That was fucking epic!” Blaze whisper-shouted, giving a high hoof. Misty Sparks blearily tried to return it, only to smack the mare’s face. Blaze snickered.

“You’re a brave one,” Lonestar praised, “but we don’t have time to waste.”

She could only whimper in agreement. They couldn’t afford to linger. Blaze took up the lead, Misty Sparks in the back with the weakened parents. Red dots skittered across their E.F.S. but it was difficult to tell if they were on the same elevation as them. Skyfire kept twitching as one passed over them. There was nopony on the lowest floor and they rushed to the stairwell.

A throng of corpses greeted them instead. Fresh blood pooled on the filthy floor, tiles long since cracked now further desecrated by death. They were all slavers, dressed like the others they had encountered. No weapons were on them and only a single bullet hole through the skull indicated their cause of death. The team’s blood chilled as they took in the sight. “What the fuck happened?” Grease mumbled. Skyfire could just be heard retching, stifling another urge to vomit.

“I don’t know,” Misty Sparks lied, moreover not wanting to think about it. She had a strong suspicion. Rumors of such tactics spread quickly above the surface, stories of slavers sending a strong message. As they carefully crossed the miniature sea of death, Misty Sparks closed her eyes.

All but Blaze had reached the base of the stairwell. Misty Sparks turned back to her. Every inch of the mare was tense, staring at the corpses. They had been executed, coldly and cleanly. “Wheat from chaff,” she mumbled.

“What?” Lonestar scowled. “Quit standing around, we need to go.”

“Wheat from chaff,” repeated Blaze, snapping her eyes to Grease and Misty Sparks.

Skyfire whimpered, hovering in place. “What? What does that mean?”

“It’s a tactic,” Misty Sparks explained, mostly just so they could get away from the ghastly scene. “Put down dissenters, intimidate the remaining force.”

Eyes widened. “You mean… Did they murder scared ponies? Their own ponies?”

“Something like that,” Misty Sparks carefully said.

Pecan Pie took a few cautious flaps up the stairwell. “It doesn’t matter. My kids are here. Let’s go!”

“Yeah,” Lonestar urged. “Hoof it or we’re leaving you.”

With a single sigh, Blaze shook off the realization and joined them. Misty Sparks examined her team with a quick look. Fear and disgust were as prevalent as anger and anticipation. The parents were near to sprinting up into unknown danger. “Take it slow,” ordered Misty Sparks, “we rush and we die.”

“As long as we’re moving,” Lonestar relented with a sigh.

The second floor was full of rotten cubicles, a break room half collapsed on the exterior wall. As soon as they had cleared the landing a deluge of gunfire wailed towards them. Fortunately, they had been expecting an ambush. Lonestar put up a shield long enough for the first barrage. With an exhausted grunt, Misty Sparks lent her own magic. Blaze leaped around it in a blur. Several slavers were popping in and out of cover, trying to kill the exposed giant. Skyfire and Pecan Pie lifted above the barrier just enough to lay down covering fire.

A scream ripped through the air as Blaze found her first target, followed by a heavy crunch. “Don’t look away!” Grease bellowed as the slavers shifted to stop Blaze. A few snapped their weapons back all too late. A long burst of 7.62 deafened those around Grease, heads exploding as she cut a long line.

More screams came, not just angry but terrified. The civilized ponies sowed death at an exponential rate. “What kind of stable ponies are you?” One of them demanded, dancing with Blaze who was narrowly missing him.

“The kind you fucks should’ve put down when you had the chance,” Blaze snarled. Powerful legs rose as she shifted her weight. The stallion shouted as she kicked his chest. A rifle shot tore through his stumbling head. Pecan Pie grunted in satisfaction. An explosive clattered across the office space. Skyfire shouted as she dove. A pipe bomb hissed in her hooves, and with an eep, she tossed it out the crumbling opening. Mere seconds later it exploded, shaking the entire building.

Losing her balance, Blaze slid into an exposed space between cubicles. A shotgun retorted, buckshot impacting her chest. Ribbons of blood followed a heavy grunt. Layers of kevlar absorbed most of the blow, but blood soon blotched the material. The average pony might have tried to fall back to cover after a wound such as that. Blaze, however, charged. A single curse was all the slaver managed before teeth had set upon their throat. The wet squelch of flesh was buried beneath gunfire as Grease took out another pair of slavers aiming for Blaze.

The large mare spat blood onto the corpse, ripped the shotgun free with ease, and tossed it back to her friends. Lonestar caught it with his magic and immediately started firing. “Where. Are. My. Kids!” He demanded between each retort. Only battle cries responded.

E.F.S. was the only warning that came as slavers from the third floor descended. Misty Sparks shifted her magic, enveloping all five of them in a bubble. Unfortunately, the three mares had been shooting. Various calibers ricocheted in the bubble. Lonestar shouted in pain as a trio of 10mm struck his hind legs. He knelt in pain, magic fizzling out entirely. Pecan Pie darted to him, trying to pull him back into the stairwell but she wasn't strong enough.

Grease's 7.62 tore right through it, faltering the bubble. With a crackle it exploded a second later, leaving them all completely exposed. A scream ripped from Pecan Pie as the slavers pressed the advantage. Lonestar aimed his revolvers with shakey magic and each bang rang through the stairwell. Bodies started dropping, many rolling a few steps down. One unicorn lifted a corpse as a shield. Blood splattered with each shot in what was now little more than meat. Fresh red painted weather-stripped gray concrete.

The metallic sound of a grenade pin came between bursts of gunfire. It dropped down the stairs. Immediately copper magic engulfed it. Rather than throw it outside as Skyfire did, Lonestar let it cook in his telekinetic grip. Just before it would explode he chucked it back up. The slavers didn't even have a chance to curse, meaty sounds following the explosion. The already weak stairs started crumbling. It shifted. Jagged pieces pulled in different directions. Rebar stabbed out from the previously exposed areas and Lonestar screamed as one stabbed his leg.

Misty Sparks was desperately trying to gather her magic. Her horn darkened as she drew on an empty well. Her ears rang from all the gunfire and explosions. Everything faded between black and painfully white in her vision. Skyfire dove down and grabbed her by the collar. With a powerful heave, she threw the little unicorn out onto the second floor. The world spun as Misty Sparks settled out, barely catching sight of Skyfire doubling back to help the others. Grease managed to jump out of the stairwell. Thunder roared and blooms of white and yellow filled the floor as she laid into the slavers. A bloodied mare stood over Misty Sparks. Blaze dropped a health potion into her cousin’s hooves. The haze of pain lifted as she downed it.

Everypony was on the second floor now. The slavers had pulled back, though Grease still fired in shorter bursts to make sure nopony came down after them. Skyfire was scanning the second floor for any more threats, but they had been taken care of. Lonestar cried behind the bloody cubicle he’d been hauled into. He was unable to hold back the tears as the pain overwhelmed him. Both his legs had been severely injured now. Pecan Pie tried to staunch the blood with frantic motions. Something about the sight snapped Misty Sparks forward.

“Grease, Blaze, keep us covered.”

The pair shifted with clipped responses. Misty Sparks tore open her first aid kit and politely moved Pecan Pie aside. “You need healing too,” she said and shoved a health potion into the pegasus’ trembling hooves. “Take care of yourself, I’ve got him.”

“This fuckin’ hurts,” whimpered Lonestar.

“Getting shot fucking hurts, I know, but still feeling things is good. Now stay still, got it?” She pressed the bandages against him with all her weight. On instinct, she went to do the same with her magic to the other leg. A burst of pain filled her skull, white dancing in her vision.

“Shit!”

“You okay?” Shouted Blaze over the gunfire.

“Yeah- fuck. Shit. Don’t worry about me! Pecan Pie, take these bandages and apply pressure to his other leg like I am!” The pegasus obeyed with wordless nods. Misty Sparks doubted it was the first time the mare had seen her husband in such a state. She intended it to be the last for some time. Together they applied pressure to staunch the bleeding. Unable to use her magic, Misty Sparks stabbed packaging with her horn or picked them up with her teeth. They swapped out the blood-soaked bandages in unison. A healing poultice was applied by Misty Sparks in rapid succession. New bandages were wrapped by the pair, Misty Sparks’ significantly neater than Pecan Pie’s.

Another healing potion was offered to Lonestar who weakly took it with his hooves. Pecan Pie helped him drink it while Misty Sparks injected him with painkillers. “You have to stay here,” she said with a grim frown.

“But our kids-” Pecan Pie began.

“Do you want to be alive when you find them?”

The parents blinked at her, a haze over Lonestar’s reddened eyes. “Yes…”

“Then you protect him, Pecan Pie. He shouldn’t bleed out, but if somepony comes around he cannot fight. Pull him into the back, hide under the fucking bodies if you have to. Do not get caught.” Misty Sparks pulled out two more healing potions and slid them to the pegasus. Her gaze was cold as she stared into the significantly older mare’s terrified eyes.

With a cautious wing, Pecan Pie took them. “Okay. Just- please… get us when it’s clear okay? If our kids aren’t up there we have to look together.”

The unicorn nodded. “Okay. Now hide.”

She rejoined the others with her pistol in her mouth. Her fellow stable ponies balked at the sight. “You’re out of magic,” Blaze stated, staring at her burned horn. Misty Sparks nodded slowly.

“Just us from here on out?” Grease asked, eyes trained on the stairwell but there were no targets to shoot. Another nod came. “I’m going first then.”

A few gestures with her hooves got them moving, silence falling over the four mares. Grease cautiously ascended the stairwell, doing her best to ignore the way corpses squelched under her hooves. Skyfire hovered over them. Once more she felt like puking but kept it together. The cousins walked through it with only a focused expression, the gore fading from their minds to become just another decoration of the wasteland. If they got caught up in it, they would become more adornments like the slavers.

The third floor was clear. A few red dots filled their E.F.S. but none of them seemed on this floor. Given the ponies that had tried flanking them from the stairwell, it made sense. Still, Grease and Blaze searched it to be sure while Skyfire and Misty Sparks watched the stairs from a safe distance. Within a minute they gave an all-clear. Nothing of use turned up on the quick search as well. Prepped, they moved toward the remaining floor, the upper roof that most assuredly the sniper was waiting for them.

“Should I go out the side?” Skyfire inquired, gesturing to the extremely deteriorated external wall. From here they could see out of the industrial complex. At the very least it appeared that no reinforcements were approaching.

“And get fucking shot?” Snapped Blaze.

“If we all come from the stairs they’ll be ready for us. Like the stairs below!”

Misty Sparks spat out her pistol. “It makes sense. We would’ve died if not for Lonestar catching that grenade. I didn’t even see it coming.”

“Then we go up first, she comes around after,” Blaze relented. “And by we, I mean me.”

“No, me,” Grease countered. “My battle-saddle will make quick work of them. There can’t be much cover left up there.”

Growls rose between the pair of earth ponies as they argued over strategies. “Shut up!” Snapped Misty Sparks. “Skyfire, go when you hear fighting. Grease up front, and move out enough that Blaze can come out behind you. Your chest armor already got shredded.” She jabbed a hoof at Blaze who pulled her ears back. Before anypony could try to put up any resistance, Misty Sparks stomped towards the stairwell.

“Well… I guess we’re doing this,” Blaze mumbled.

The stairwell loomed as they began to ascend it, Grease at the head. An access door blocked them from just running into the open. The trio stacked up with Misty Sparks at the back, counting the seconds as they prepared themselves for what was hopefully their last fight. A kick from Grease snapped it off its hinges. Six slavers spun around to face them, all of them unicorns. Immediately a dark-coated unicorn with a sniper rifle in his grip caught the mares’ eyes. He had already been aiming at them.

Blood exploded from both sides as Grease chomped the trigger, only for Blaze to shove her aside. Grease cursed as her spray went wide. Two slavers crumpled in heaps immediately while the others cast magical barriers. Blaze coughed blood as she stood over a now prone Grease. “Fuckin… snipers,” Blaze groaned.

“Move!” Shouted Misty Sparks as she dove out behind the others. Her hooves kicked up a flurry of dust as she slid behind a half-broken pillar. Grease scrambled into cover as well.

Blaze wheezed where she stood, legs wobbling. Blood pooled out of her torso. A hoof reflexively patted her barding, only to find no chems. She sputtered, head fuzzy. She wasn’t sure just what had been shot, but it hadn’t killed her immediately at least. “Blaze, move!” Screamed Grease as she laid down covering fire. The unicorn’s shields were strong, barely rippling from her attacks. The sniper had moved out of sight. Misty Sparks tried to help but it was clear she was unused to manually shooting a pistol.

“Saved your fuckin’ ass!” Blaze jeered as she shifted her weight. Moving hurt almost as much as breathing. With a grimace, she swayed. Normally she’d stab some Stampede into her veins and go feral on those that hurt her. That or chomp on some Buck to regain her strength. Instead, all she found was some Med-X and she injected it with a sigh. “Fuck fuck fuckity fuck!” Hooves stomped as she rallied.

A burst of movement came from the edge of the roof. gray hooves kicked a unicorn square in the chest, toppling them over with pained gasps. Caught completely off-guard by the pegasus’ arrival, the slavers tried to take out the flanking mare. Skyfire was quick, but not so fast as to dodge bullets at such a close range. A few chewed at her armor as she dove low. One unicorn tried to offset her with a wind spell. “We’ll pluck those feathers off you!” They threatened.

“I don’t think so!” Grease bellowed, taking the chance to gun them down. The remaining two normal slavers threw everything they had at the mares as Skyfire zipped over the edge and back, using the entire building as cover. Misty Sparks managed to shoot one in the leg, stumbling them. Blaze bellowed as she rushed forward, unable to carry her heavy sledgehammer. Instead, she held her knife between her teeth. The stumbled unicorn could only yelp as the knife plunged into their neck, gurgles of blood soon replacing that pathetic noise.

Another thunderous boom cracked as a sniper round grazed Blaze, armor and momentum from her follow through of the stab keeping her safe from any further damage. Sliding with a savage growl, Blaze knocked the legs out of the next pony. She crushed their skull underhoof with a trio of stomps. Breathless, Blaze laid down behind a rusted metal pillar and chugged a health potion Grease rolled over to her.

All that was left was the sniper. “We have you outnumbered!” Misty Sparks shouted before coughing, the strain of the fight catching up. “Lay down your weapon and we won’t kill you!”

A low rumble that could have been a laugh echoed across the rooftop. There weren’t many places to hide, yet they couldn’t spot him without risking getting shot. Skyfire was somewhere in the air below. “I will not impune the honor of Stockade by surrendering,” he growled in a deep voice. “I already cut the wheat from the chaff, I will not join them.”

“You’re the one who killed them!” Grease screamed as she reloaded her battle-saddle’s feed box with quick motions. More than a few stripper clips were catching on each other, forcing her to load again. “Why would you do that to your own ponies?”

“Stockade does not accept the weakness you Stable Dwellers do. Either you die, or I die, there is no alternative here.”

Blaze wheezed a few times, blood pooling on the ground with each pant. Misty Sparks looked between her and Grease, taking in their poor conditions. There was a faint flapping of wings from below, and immediately she understood where Skyfire was. She needed to provide a distraction for an aerial attack. “What kind of honor does a slaver settlement have?” Challenged Misty Sparks, voice cracking.

There was a loud chuckle before the lone pony cleared their throat, humoring Misty Sparks. “For one, the last time we fought, your meager defenses could barely hold an expedition from our forces. We have power. Two, we have presence. Creatures around here know our name and fear our wrath. Three, we have stability. Creatures not strong enough to defend themselves provide the foundation for the rest of us to build a society. Four, we have equality. While your lands still hate Zebras and shroud them in mystery, we have survived together since the day the bombs dropped. And lastly, while you struggle to leave your cave, we have been thriving, rebuilding, working towards a new future.”

An eerie silence followed for a moment before there was a shrill cry. “You what?!” Grease turned around to level her guns over her barricade, panting with wide eyes, “It was your group who massacred our home!” She growled fiercely, mouth wrapped tightly around the trigger of her battle-saddle. Yellow eyes searched for the source of such misery.

A glint out of the corner of her eye was all Grease had to comprehend before ducking away as part of her cover exploded into concrete dust. “Fuck!” Grease shouted. She flinched away to clean her eyes. Blaze and Misty Sparks both glanced up in time to notice the far pillar barricaded with scaffolding, rotting wood, and other debris. There stood a confident unicorn, horn glowing with a smooth gray aura. The source of pain and death, a rather heavy sniper rifle, floated freely over the barricade.

Misty Sparks ducked as he aimed at her. “Blaze!” Misty Sparks shouted as a chunk of her cover disintegrated. “Don’t do something stupid.”

“What do you want me to just crouch here? That’s stupid?” Blaze coughed out. During the sniper’s speech, she’d managed to bandage herself up.

“Okay don’t do something really stupid-” Misty Sparks started before realizing Blaze had charged out from cover. “Blaze!” She shouted, trying to quickly aim the pistol. Her shots went wild; desperate and unskilled.

“Never can expect cleverness from a Stable Dweller,” he snickered as he snapped his rifle into position with the ease of somepony who’d practiced hundreds of hours with his instrument of death. The unicorn had barely closed his non-shooting eye when suddenly a solid horseshoe thundered into his jaw with a crack loud enough for Misty Sparks to hear from where she was.

Skyfire skidded to a stop next to the unicorn, with shaking wings as the sniper tumbled head over hooves into the edge of the barricade. “F-Fuck.” Skyfire huffed, watching wearily.

More curses came from Blaze as she lost her balance, slipping across the cracked rooftop. A corpse softened the impact but she gasped regardless. Stumbling from exhaustion, Misty Sparks rushed to Blaze’s side to start performing first aid. The giant mare wheezed blood and trembled against her little cousin. Skyfire snapped her attention to the pair, her stomach churning at the bloodied sight of her friend.

Then the sniper’s jagged breathing grew, blood oozing out of a shattered mouth, his eyes tearing up in pain. Skyfire regarded him cautiously, unsure what to do. It wasn’t in her to kill a downed enemy. Seconds passed tensely as Misty Sparks tended to Blaze and the sniper writhed. A hoof scraped the rooftop as he slowly tried to stand up. From his shattered maw came a howling noise that quickly devolved into gurgling. His gray magical aura sparked rapidly as he tried to bring his weapon up only to falter.

The most damning thing to the pegasus was the fury that screamed out of the look that the unicorn gave. Skyfire stood stunned for a moment then yelped as the unicorn pulled out a syringe and stabbed his shoulder. Before she had a chance to react he was leaping up with a sweeping kick. Skyfire reflexively jumped into the air. She spun back her own kick into the raging unicorn’s chest with surprising speed. Another loud crack resonated in the air, followed by a mangled scream. Grunting and panting soon was all that could be heard.

“C-Come on, surrender!” Skyfire begged as he once more struggled to stand.

His response was another kick. Skyfire jolted back and he followed with a roar. Wings kept her moving just out of reach of the main force of his strikes. Others she parried, his strength quickly decreasing. Sloppy jabs became desperate ones. Hooves danced over the rooftop, Skyfire’s eyes fixated on his attacks and nothing else. Drugs alone kept him moving. Swears gargled in his mouth. “Stop, please!” Skyfire kept begging as she blocked or evaded his wild blows. “Just give up!”

A blur came from the side as he delivered a roundhouse kick. As if on instinct, Skyfire struck his knee and the sniper screamed as something else broke. Momentum carried him a few paces away, stumbling and crying. One last desperate attack came as he tried to swing his rifle around. The pegasus launched herself into the air and then thrust forward like a bullet. Three precise kicks to the chest propelled the unicorn off his legs and over the edge.

Eyes a horrifyingly similar shade of purple as Skyfire’s stared at her, wide and full of regret. Then the sniper plunged out of sight. Milliseconds later a sickening splat followed his silent descent. No curses or howls followed him to his death; only fear.

Skyfire panted as she shakily returned to all fours, coat disheveled and quite a few bruises swelling up, her eyes were shut as she trembled. “F-Fuck…. Why wouldn’t he… quit?” She whimpered, yelping as a familiar presence pressed into her side.

“He had his pride… and died with it.” Misty Sparks grunted softly. She nudged the trembling mare with a shaking hoof. “Come, sit a moment.”

Skyfire’s trembling increased as she attempted to sit down, legs sliding out ungracefully. A second later she was leaning into the embrace of Misty Sparks who gave a comforting smile. They sat there for a minute, listening to Blaze’s slowly steadying breathing and Grease’s muted curses. “Why though, it’s worth living… isn’t it?” Skyfire murmured, slowly leaning to hug her unicorn friend. “He was going to kill Blaze if I didn’t attack then. And he wouldn’t quit. I had. I had to kill him.”

Heavy hooves brought Grease over. She was bloodied, but standing. “Breathe Feathers, we’re all alive on this roof because of you. He would have kept slaving,” Grease muttered. She winced and continued trying to get the dust out of her eyes. “Anypony got drops?”

Misty Sparks perked up. “I d-” Her reply turned into a yelp as her medical kit tumbled out of her bag. “And no magic. Fuck.”

The trio looked between themselves before slowly starting to repack the medical kit. Grease was sorted out and she sighed in relief. “I’m taking his gun.”

“I don’t think anypony here would have a problem with that,” Misty Sparks commented with a weak chuckle. “Besides, it’s powerful enough to break all our combat armor, it shouldn’t get left here.”

They watched Grease limp over and inspect the rifle. “Maybe he thought he could keep cheating death with the gun.” Skyfire sighed, “I never gave up on living, why couldn’t he do the same?”

“Maybe he knew he’d likely get killed by others for surrendering,” Blaze muttered. She leaned against the barricade, exhausted in every way. “Slavers like this don’t get sympathy, they get killed.”

Skyfire’s ears pinned to her side at that, unable to say much back. Misty Sparks rose from their tired embrace. “We need to go check on Lonestar and Pecan Pie,” she announced. Muttered agreements came. The four mares were trembling with exertion and residual fear. Grease and Skyfire flanked Blaze who couldn’t walk without assistance. The trio carefully began descending the stairs, curses rising steadily.

Misty Sparks checked over the bodies briskly. A part of her skin crawled at the thought of looting them, but the rate at which they were draining her medical supplies forced her to at least check. With a scrunched nose and breath held, Misty Sparks found a single health potion alongside a syringe of chems. She suspected it to be Stampede, but it was so filthy she couldn’t be sure. She chucked it off the roof and followed the mares down.

By the time she reached the second floor, the others were already situated. Lonestar was sat in a chair, Pecan Pie next to him. The fresh blood on their clothes suggested they had in fact used the corpses to hide. “Anypony come behind us?” Asked Misty Sparks as she gave the health potion to Blaze.

The large mare squinted. The medkit had come down with them. “Where did you get this?”

“He was dead, wasn’t he?” Misty Sparks flatly replied. Blaze arched a brow but said nothing. She downed it in a few quick gulps, visibly brightening as it took hold. “Lonestar, Pecan, how are you feeling?”

“We’ll survive,” hissed out Lonestar. “Just fuckin’ hurts.”

“It’s going to for a while. Does your daughter have painkillers?”

Pecan Pie gave a nod and scratched at haphazardly applied bandages. “She should, yeah.”

“We need to bring them over. There was no sign of captives up top, so they have to be below.”

“Ten caps it’s locked,” Grease said.

“I’m sure you’re right, so pass,” Misty Sparks replied. “Grease, can you search the corpse?”

“The sniper?”

“He’d have it if anypony did.” Grease gave as snappy a salute as she could, and started drudging down to the ground floor. “Pecan, can you get the rest of your family? I’ll look over Lonestar. Blaze, sit down and rest for five fucking minutes.”

The large mare caught rifling through a cubicle huffed but obeyed nonetheless. Skyfire flashed Misty Sparks a smile. “You’re pretty good at giving orders, you know?”

Exhausted lime eyes warmed ever so slightly. “Thanks. Now you sit the fuck down too. Everypony needs to rest for at least ten minutes or I’m going to collapse.”

Fifteen or so minutes later the entire party was trudging down the stairs to an impressively reinforced door. Skyfire raised a brow and sniffed the thick metal, pinning her ears back. “I don’t think we would have gotten in here easily without that key.”

“Thankfully that sniper’s belt was organized,” Grease grunted, walking up with a keyring containing two brass keys. A combat knife glinted on her armor, freshly taken from the sniper as well. The first key fit into the lock and turned with a solid click. The door swung inward from sheer weight, producing a painful screech.

Darkness awaited them below. Lonestar swore. “They kept my kids down in this abyss? Double fuck them.” Pecan Pie helped him forward, the pair somewhat pushing Grease out of the way. They made it ten steps into the darkness before there was a pause. A reluctant thick voice filled the gap. “Uhm stable ponies, can you take lead on this? Much as I want to trudge off into the unknown- your darn pip-bucks shed so much light, and I know your magic is drained worse than mine.”

“I can help Dad,” Blue Grass coughed and stepped past Misty Sparks who was grimacing. Blue Grass’ horn lit up a weak pale blue. “Enough to not trip at least.”

“We’re coming, keep your bridle on,” Grease added, her pip-buck erupting into a beacon of light.

Within seconds all four pip-bucks’ cast a light into the darkness, washing out Blue Grass’ light immediately. The mare sighed and stopped her spell. Pistol leaned against his twin who gave a half smile. Spurs, their uncle, rested on the bottom steps. His blind gaze stared at the ceiling, slow heaving breaths that turned into coughs were the only sign he was conscious. Beside him rested Blaze, just as out of sorts and taking a long pull of a health potion. Her armor was as red as her mane.

Neon green revealed a room that felt increasingly empty until illuminating a half cage of rusty bars in the far corner. Three terrified faces greeted them, squinting at the immense bright lights. There was a singular, large lump in the back. Skyfire’s heart fell into her hooves. “Somepony died down here?”

The three pegasi shook their heads, trembling as they clung to the bars of the cage. A mare a similar brown shade as Pecan Pie shook her head and hissed out quietly, “N-no! Just something we don’t want to upset.”

“Mocha Bird, what do you mean something?” Lonestar coughed quietly. Grease supported him over, keys in her mouth while Pecan Pie limped behind. Lonestar held his daughter’s hoof through the bars, tears brimming in his eyes. The other two reached through and held his arm, trembling yet relieved. “Never mind that, let’s get you out if it’s dangerous.”

A moment later the click of a lock was followed with a screechy racket as the door swung open. Pegasi burst free in a flurry of feathers, tackling their parents with such force they skidded several paces back. Grease yelped as she just managed to avoid getting caught up in the family reunion. Mutterings of incomprehensible relief threatened to grow loud, yet the former captives still seemed cautious of whatever lay within the cage. After taking just enough time to hug his parents, the mustard yellow stallion eagerly slammed the door shut at that point, the metal ringing loud enough to make everyone jump. “Nectar Yawn?” Questioned Pecan Pie at his wild orange gaze.

Before he could respond, Misty Sparks crossed over. “You all look… okay at least?” She remarked. Tired lime eyes inspected the pegasi for any injuries, only to find dirt and bruises at worst save one mare. “You’re all remarkably healthy.”

“Y-Yeah,” Mocha Bird started, feathers curling to shield herself from the light now directly in her eyes. Misty Sparks politely pointed it the other way. “They wanted us to be kept well for the pony buying us.”

“They just wanted pegasi?” Skyfire asked nervously, her wings fluffing up. A long moment passed as the siblings stared at her, a mixture of joy and caution in their eyes. Skyfire whimpered when the pale blue pegasus nodded.

Pecan Pie fussed over the mare. She was the only one sporting any greater injuries, a series of superficial cuts across her face and neck. “They hurt you.” Pistol and Blue Grass joined their mother, the unicorn mare already pulling out a poultice.

“Ashen Lace fought back,” Nectar Yawn replied softly. The mare gritted her teeth as Misty Sparks gave her a healing potion but downed it anyway. She kept still as Blue Grass started cleaning her wounds, only wincing at the sting. “The pony in charge took a liking to her, said she’d make a good fighter if she wanted to join them.”

“As if I’d do that,” she spat. “They thought half-starving us and withholding water would make us submit. As if we would give one another up.”

Mocha Bird opened her mouth to add something before retching. A trio of canteens were offered to the pegasi, and they downed them with abandon. More than once they sputtered and choked. “They said we were special cargo or something,” Mocha Bird rasped between gulps of water.

The stable ponies let the family recover. Blaze limped away as they joined Spurs at the stairs, words turning into a babble of overlapping voices. Yet they still remained in a more hushed tone. Ears flickering, Blaze squinted at the cage only to lose her footing and slip. “Shit-” Hard concrete met her eagerly, and the mare’s proceeding curses were only marginally sensible. Grease and Misty Sparks helped her up, while Skyfire stayed transfixed in one spot.

“Fuck this place.”

“Yeah I hear you,” agreed Grease.

Misty Sparks checked her over, and once satisfied turned to the family. “You all… need time to heal. Us too honestly. How about you come back with us to our Stable? We treat everypony fairly, and we’re eager to trade.”

Relief flooded over them. Lonestar and Pecan Pie sighed audibly at the show of hospitality after an already generous rescue. “You’re a saint in these parts, Misty Sparks. We’ll happily come and trade our worth to earn a safe place of rest.”

“Nonsense, we’ll figure something out, you’re all in a bad sort and we don’t want to take advantage of that. Every decent pony deserves a chance to get on their hooves,” Misty Sparks replied firmly. She shook the parents’ hooves before glancing back at her team. Skyfire caught her eye. The mare had been staring through the bars, what little color her gray coat had steadily drained. Blaze and Grease were fixated on the same thing she was.

“Sky?”

Jolting, Skyfire slowly pointed a hoof at the lump in the corner. “Well.. what would you say about every creature? Because that’s uh- well-”

“Creature?” Misty Sparks balked, raising a brow. The three rescued pegasi had also gone pale. “What does Skyfire mean by creature?”

There was a shift that froze them all in place. Every eye but the blind fell on the lump in the cage that slowly sat up. Something elongated drew closer, catching the edges of green until a scaled face with golden eyes reflected the light at them. Skyfire gave a terrified chuckle, wings spread and coat fluffed. She smiled at Misty Sparks with all the strain one could fit in a single expression. “Would you give a dragon a second chance?”

Reptilian eyes watched them passively, a hollowness to them that immediately made Misty Sparks’ heart clench. “What… is a dragon doing in there?” She questioned between clenched teeth. The family shuffled further up the stairs. Pistol and Blue Grass immediately hauled Spurs out, voices tight and frantic. The pegasi siblings shielded their parents, quaking that the creature had awoken. It maintained its stare, no words or explanations coming forth.

Blaze took a cautious step closer. Misty Sparks dashed to her and shoved the mare back. Given her state, Blaze was easily pushed. “Hey!”

“Stay back- it’s a dragon, Blaze!”

Grease pulled on the larger mare’s barding. Blaze snarled but couldn’t break free. “A dragon who hasn’t eaten the pegasi yet!” She snapped back.

Her words made the others frown. “It… It’s true,” Nectar Yawn spoke up. “We thought he would but he never tried. Didn’t really move the entire time either.”

“How long have you been in there?” Skyfire asked as she drew close. The dragon shirked back, whimpering at the intensity of her pip-buck’s light, pupils thinning. A larger quadrupedal body could just be made out, browns and blues smattered with speckles and bandages in equal measure. Large wings were tied to his long torso with chains, revealing pronounced ribs and a sallow stomach.

“Oh- sorry.” She turned it off.

A forked tongue flicked out. The family shuddered and eeped. “I don’t know,” a voice raspy from disuse replied, stones scraping over one another like a rockfall. “No day down here. Only dark.”

“Have you eaten anything?” She pressed. Misty Sparks took slow steps to the cage. Blaze struggled against Grease to no avail. “We… have some food. Do you eat pony food?”

The dragon squinted. “Safe?” He asked, “They tried to feed me. I got sick. I stopped eating.”

Skyfire grimaced. “Well, I can’t say I know what’s safe for dragons to eat. We don’t exactly have meat.”

“Feed him the slavers!” Shouted Blaze. “Maybe they can be useful for something after all!”

“Blaze!” Shrieked Misty Sparks. “Absolutely not!”

“What- Dragons eat meat don’t they?”

“Gems,” he rasped. “Gems. Meat… yes, but gems.”

Misty Sparks’ hooves felt hot. Her entire body twitched at the admission. “We don’t have gems.”

“Then I don’t eat,” he replied.

“Bullshit,” Grease snapped. She was shaking behind Blaze, trying to keep a strong front on but there was no hiding the utter fear in her eyes. “Now that the slavers are gone he could eat us and leave. He doesn’t look like he could’ve busted out on his own but just the few of us? Hurt as we are? Easy pickings.”

A low cough came from Lonestar. “We are far from a fighting force now.”

The dragon pulled back into himself, probably thrice the size of even Blaze. In his emaciated state, however, it was hard to believe him as great a threat as one would think of a dragon. “No fight. Let me out or leave, don’t care,” his voice softened, dripping with a tone all too familiar to the stable ponies.

With a heave, Blaze broke free of Grease and stumbled to the cage. Misty Sparks tried to grab her but one fierce glare had her recoiling as they had of the dragon. “You don’t give a shit what happens to you,” Blaze accused, hooves gripping the bars of the cage now half to support herself. Neon green light was cast nauseatingly from the position. The dragon once again shirked back, trying to shield himself from the mare’s sudden fury.

“Why would I?”

“Because you’re still alive you dumbass!” Blaze boomed. She shoved her pip-buck through the bars. He pressed himself into the chipped wall entirely, eyes closed and fangs bared as if the light itself burned. “You’re a fucking dragon!”

“And that is good?” He questioned with a whine.

Blaze bared her teeth right back. “Well, it means you don’t have to take shit from little ponies! How the fuck did they even catch you? While you were asleep? Did you even fight back?”

“...No.”

“Why!”

“Why would I?”

The words made her scream. Everypony moved back from her. Lonestar and Pecan Pie edged up a few steps. A silver hoof grasped her shoulder and Blaze shrugged Misty Sparks off. “Because you’re alive! You have a chance to escape this shithole and you’re just going to lay there and die? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“I won’t leave if I have to fight,” he replied with a hint of a growl.

“You some sort of pacifist dragon? Those monsters did this to you and you just let them?”

Skyfire moved to Blaze’s side and tried to ease her back. “Hey maybe let’s not yell at-”

“No this is bullshit!” Blaze bit at her and Skyfire jumped back with an eep. “This is pissing me off! Who the fuck would let somepony do this to them and not fight back?”

“Someone with no reason to live!” The dragon snapped. He broke into a fit of coughing from the volume. It worsened, wheezes and gasps overwhelming him. Hurriedly, Skyfire slid a canteen through the cage to him. Claws picked it up, a hand nearly as big as Misty Sparks’ head, and then emptied the canteen. Golden eyes flickered as relief came, thirst slackened in who knew how long. He collapsed onto the filthy floor and struggled to breathe, a pitiful creature far from the legends of powerful beasts that had razed Equestria for the zebras.

Skyfire and Misty Sparks exchanged looks. “He’s… dying, isn’t he?” Skyfire whispered.

“On his way to it,” Misty Sparks replied. “If… We don’t help.”

“We’re helping.” The pegasus’ voice rose. “You helped me. We help him.”

“You’re a pegasus, Sky, not a dragon!” Countered Misty Sparks.

“I’m also Enclave! A group you know is dangerous to surface ponies! You can’t honestly think he’s dangerous.” She gestured to the starved beast. “Look at him!”

Lime eyes begrudgingly obeyed, taking in his utterly abysmal state. “Anypony- anyone starved and dying will act unpredictably to survive.”

“Yeah he’s pretty unpredictable,” snapped Skyfire. “But not a danger.”

Misty Sparks grumbled and shook her head. “No… not a danger. Dragon- er… what’s your name?”

He blinked, just as wary of them as they were of him. “Comet Starchaser.”

“Are you… an adult? I don’t know how big your kind gets as juveniles.”

“Yes, I’m an adult.”

She squinted, accessing him. “Do you get smaller when malnourished?”

“What?”

“Improperly fed.”

“Oh… I have always been like this,” Comet replied in a low voice. “Always hungry. Always alone.”

Blaze made a strangled noise. “Shit. Fuck. I- We can’t leave him.”

“You too?” Misty Sparks balked.

“He’s depressed as fuck and just going to let himself starve. We can’t let him do that!” She argued. Skyfire gave a resounding nod. “Everypony gets a second chance?” Blaze continued, echoing both mares from earlier. “If I can get a second chance- a known fuck up and violent chemhead- then the starving dragon who refused to eat the pegasi does too.”

Every eye on Blaze, Misty Sparks let out a dumbfounded noise. “Well fuck. You seriously want to show mercy to a dragon? They helped burn Equestria."

"Look at him, you think he's old enough to have been one of them?"

"No, but-"

Blaze drew as close as she could. Foul breath made Misty scrunch her nose. She turned her face away. "We killed the world as much as the zebras. We took everyone else down with us."

"We were defending ourselves!" She retorted, flabbergasted they were even discussing such a topic. Every stable pony had been taught the same thing; the war and downfall, the zebras' relentless zeal, the attempts at peace, the assassination attempt of the Goddess, and the slaughtering of innocent ponies. Equines who would stop at nothing to end Equestria. A menace from another land that ultimately destroyed their home.

Predators with hooves and stripes.

Teeth clamped down on a worn sledgehammer. Blaze faced the cage, legs shaking beneath her. A blackened horn pressed against Blaze's throat. "Misty-" Skyfire gasped. Blaze glared down at her.

"I didn't think you'd outright mutiny so quickly," Misty Sparks rasped. Her eyes burned with tears. "He's a predator!"

"So am I if I want to be," she sneered around her sledgehammer. Misty Sparks stiffened.

"It's her call, Blaze!" Shouted Grease.

"Dog," accused Blaze.

Skyfire edged between them, the cousins rigid like statues. "You both need to calm down. You can't be serious about hurting her!"

"She's already wounded and has lost a lot of blood. She isn't thinking straight. She's going to get us killed!"

"At least I'm not a fucking coward!"

"Coward? I have been far from that today!" She snapped back. Crimson feathers started turning away Misty Sparks' horn. She did not resist. "I'm the only one being logical about this between us three. That is a killer, a predator, and while he may not want to eat us now he might yet in the future when his strength is recovered."

Blaze whinnied with a roll of emeralds. "A lot of unknowns. Future talk you can't prove."

"At least I'm thinking about the consequences!" Her horn turned closer and Skyfire forced her back. Blaze lowered her sledgehammer as Misty Sparks was moved a safe distance away. "You two honestly want to unleash Goddesses knows what upon us? We live outside now! A fire-breathing dragon would make short work of us!"

"Why would I burn your home?" Comet spoke up, mouth twisted into a frown. Blue horns and spikes caught the glint of neon light and made Misty Sparks bristle. "I do not want to hurt anyone."

Taking the chance to get answers directly from the dragon, Skyfire stepped to the cage. "Why not? Blaze is right that you were treated horribly. Most poni- people would want revenge."

Comet's brow scales shifted, furrowing almost. "Because it's wrong to hurt others?" Words dripped with disbelief that he had to tell them such a thing.

The ponies stared at him. Comet shifted, tucking himself closer to the corner. Slowly Misty Sparks looked away and examined the others. Pegasi that would've made easy meals protected their parents. They wore wounds inflicted by their own kind. She looked next at the blood on her armor, splattered to her hooves. Blue soaked a deep purple that might not wash out without magic. The horrors they had seen washed over her. Corpses, traps, death, and gunfire woven around suffering and desperation. She couldn't help but wonder just how much she was prey or predator there, a life hanging in the balance when she had already ordered others to die. Self-defense as it might have been, she had chosen it. She had accepted what was necessary to save ponies and help her stable.

Did she truly have the right to judge a stranger by his species? Ponies themselves could be as vile as monsters after all. "Mom isn't going to like this," Misty Sparks muttered.

"Like what?" Blaze challenged. Comet and Skyfire perked up, a smile crossing the mare's face.

"You know what," she snipped. "Grease… let Comet out. Keep your gun on him but let's give him a chance. Please don't make me regret this Comet."

The dragon’s pupils slimmed as Grease fiddled with the lock, becoming pinpricks of possibility. She threw the cage door open and shuffled back. Skyfire, Blaze, and Misty Sparks all stood a fair distance back, giving him space to exit. The pegasi retreated entirely out, carrying Lonestar in their hooves. It was only the stable ponies and the dragon in the basement now. His head came out first, large enough to fit Misty Sparks whole should he give it enough effort. Small fins that wiggled like ears twitched as he sniffed the air. Each inhale was loud, and focused, as if he was weighing their intentions as much as they were him.

A long neck proceeded next, half the length of a grown pony. Like a snake, his neck raised to the full height of the ceiling. His wings were chained to his starved body, little meat left on him. Browns and cream scales comprised the majority of his body, while the more heavily armored sections, spikes along his back, and sharp horns were a dull azure blue. Four legs held up his trembling body, a long tail slinking back into the corner of the cage. He was overall thrice their size, but there wasn’t an ounce of violence in his exhausted body.

“So,” Misty Sparks gave a strained chuckle. “You’re sure you aren’t gonna eat us?”

Comet gave the barest hint of a smile, revealing sharp white teeth. Every mare tensed further. “Yes. Can we leave?”

Perhaps only half as eager as the dragon, Misty Sparks started for the exit. Grease followed last. Comet wriggled up the stairwell that had been more than spacious for the ponies. The chains binding him rattled like furious bugs. Natural light enveloped them as they emerged. Cold, humid air clung to exhausted bodies. The trader family was a relatively safe distance away, balking at the creature’s arrival. Misty Sparks and Grease trotted back, watching him. Blaze and Skyfire however, remained at Comet’s side as he craned his neck up.

Golden eyes squinted at the brightness of cloud-filtered light. Everything was gray or bloodied, but it was far better than the dark of the basement. His fins flickered as he inhaled deeply. “I…” came a rasped word, fumbling in his throat as if struggling to find what to say. The chains fell loose with a clatter, simultaneously heavy and liberating. Large wings tried to unfurl but Comet winced at how stiff they’d become chained as they were. A hoof rested against his shoulder from either side.

“It’s a lot nicer out here, isn’t it?” Skyfire asked with a smile. Blaze leaned into him, supporting his weight as his lethargic limbs trembled.

Comet blinked down at her. The smile was a bit wider. “Yes. It is.”

Level Up! \ Blaze (6) - Shrug It Off: It looked worse than it felt. You can ignore cripple penalties at the cost of HP. The more penalties, the more HP it costs.

Level Up! \ Misty Sparks (6) - Deepend Reserves: You know your limits, and how to push past them. +10% chance to not suffer magical burnout.

Level Up! \ Skyfire (6) - It’s All Coming Back - That mandatory unarmed combat training you received in basic training, the muscle memory kicked in. It saved your flank. Unarmed skill tagged.