Fallout: Equestria - Found Family

Chapters

Chapter One: A Broken Chain
Chapter Two: Youngbloods
Chapter Four: Vagabond
Chapter Five: Stable Vices
Chapter Six: Friends in High Places
Chapter Seven: Honeypot
Chapter Eight: A Moment's Reprieve
Chapter Nine: The Many Roads We Travel
Chapter Three: The Meaning of Integrity

Chapter One: A Broken Chain

Chapter 1
A Broken Chain
"Trust in the magic of new beginnings.”

"Sold!"

I watched from inside the pen as the hammer was slammed down and the unicorn buck was led off the rickety stage. His new master exchanged a bag of three hundred caps with the slaver and the transaction was complete. The poor buck's face was expressionless as he was dragged off to Goddesses knew where as the audience pounded their hooves in excitement. A colt standing next to me let out a quiet moan and began rocking back and forward. Looking around the cramped pen at the two dozen other fillies and colts, I was met with the same fearful, wide-eyed gaze that was etched on my own face as well. Nopony spoke as we waited for our turn to stand on the stage. I felt my heart thunder in my chest as the crowd began to relax again, the dust from their hooves settling. They stood in the center of a small compound surrounding a wooden platform where a single unicorn stallion leaned against a makeshift podium, a wooden gavel hovering next to him in a magical spell. After several days of watching these horrible auctions, I had discovered he was the auctioneer and the boss who ran this little slice of hell.

It was aptly called Freedom's Fall. Located at the edge of nowhere, it was a small, circular settlement enclosed with stacks of rusted train cars and sky chariots that formed a tall wall that cut the captive ponies off from the rest of the wasteland. Barbed wire and rotating turrets stood atop the wall, used more for keeping us in than keeping other ponies out. Cages, pens, and crates sat along the outer circumference of the compound, each one filled with miserable wretches waiting to be sold off. I and over a dozen other foals were locked away in a small, cramped pen away from the other slaves. The guards called us the "special stock". I didn't know what that meant, but I knew it couldn't be good.

The hammer knocked loudly against the podium, causing several foals to jump and the auctioneer to step forward to address the herd.

"That's it from our adult stock. Next up we have a rather large selection of youngsters. These are perfect for reaching those tight spaces that the larger slaves can't get to!"

He spoke about us like we were simple tools. We were worth no more than a mere screwdriver in his eyes. The idea that such a monster could exist made my stomach churn in disgust. As he continued to talk, two earth ponies unlocked the enclosure and roughly ushered us out. Tears of terror formed in my eyes as I walked silently behind a black colt. We were left unshackled, save for thick, iron collars around each of our necks. Where could we go? The moment anypony tried to run they would either be caught or shot. There was no escape and we all knew it. So, we walked obediently in single file towards the stage. I dared to look at the crowd and felt a shiver run down my spine as I was greeted with nothing but greedy eyes. The first child was shoved onto the stage sobbing quietly as the lights shined down on her, illuminating her for all the ponies to see.

"Here we have a healthy unicorn filly. Her cutie mark is a cluster of diamonds, so a good slave for any of you gem farmers and miners. Let's start the bidding at seventy caps."

One by one, the ponies in the audience called out their bid until a price was made. With a slam of the hammer, the auctioneer would shout the end of the bidding and the poor creature would be led off the stage to face their new master. My legs trembled uncontrollably and tears rolled down my cheeks as I neared the platform. The sun had finally sunk behind the distant horizon and fires began to spring up around the settlement, casting an eerie glow of red in the vast darkness as the wooden stage loomed above me. Soon, it was my turn and just like all the others, I was hurled up by one of the slavers to stand motionless under the blinding lights. Wide eyes, heart beating madly, I couldn't help whimpering pathetically as an ocean of eyes scrutinized me.

"This earth pony filly is a bit of a wild card. She has no cutie mark yet so who knows what she's good at. Still, she'll be great for manual labor if anything else. Why don't we start the bidding at fifty caps?"

"Fifty!"

"Fifty-five!"

"Sixty!"

"Sixty is our current bid! Am I hearing seventy? She's not a bad looking filly. Her unique tan coloration might bring in some clients for all you brothel owners out there," the auctioneer called, his gaze falling down on me. "Why don't you give them a little twirl, sweet thing?"

Ears drooped as I slowly turned to face him. The smile he gave me was anything but pleasant. It was cruel and sinister, warning me of what would happen if I didn't obey. I had seen the beatings the slavers had given to unruly slaves. Choking back a sob, I turned around slowly, showing off my striped, brown tail.

"Seventy!" called out a mare's voice.

My heart sank into my sandy colored hooves as my blood turned to ice.

"Back again, Madam Satin? Like what you see, eh? Seventy caps. Surely you bucks can do better or would you rather pay for a piece of this when you visit The Thorny Rose?"

Laughter erupted from the crowd. Crying harder with each new bid that came for my life, I felt myself growing numb. There was nothing I could do to stop this. No pony was coming to save me. The auction continued until, at long last, the hammer thundered on the wood and the auctioneer yelled, "Sold! For two hundred thirty caps to Madam Satin!"

I wanted to run, to get as far away from here as possible, but my legs wouldn't move. I stood, stunned, until a slaver attached a rusted chain to my collar and dragged me off the stage. Another poor foal was pushed into the spotlight behind me and the auction began again but I barely heard it. Vision blurry with tears, I watched an elegant unicorn mare wearing a black dress trot over to levitate a bag of caps out of her saddlebag. Her white coat and yellow mane made her stand out in the rabble that made up the audience. In any other situation, I might have found her rather lovely but now she looked like pale Death himself. The slaver took the bag and she grasped the lead in her magic before staring down at her new purchase with judgmental eyes.

"You're a lot smaller up close. Well, I guess that can't be helped now. Nice, big, green eyes," she muttered. I felt my lips being raised involuntarily as the flow of magic wrapped around my muzzle. "Clean teeth, and a long mane should bring in a few customers. You'll do, come on," she said, giving the cord a little tug.

Submissively, I followed with my head held low. We walked towards the gates of Freedom's Fall where three unicorn stallions with large guns stood waiting. Behind them was a green, earth pony mare who had been purchased from the adult auction and lilac, unicorn filly, both chained to a guard. I noticed, sadly, that a small ring had been placed around the unicorn's horn as a way to block her magic.

Madam Satin gave my chain to one of the guards who promptly attached it to a ring welded into his armor. "You sure you don't want to wait until Dart is done?" he asked, looking at the white unicorn.

She sighed. "Knowing that idiot he's drunkenly testing out his newest slave. No, Trigger, we're going to leave now. He can catch up to us later."

Another guard stepped forward, a look of concern clear on his face. "Is it wise to travel at night?"

Trigger turned to his companion. "The raiders in this area have been paid to leave us alone, you know that Snake Eyes."

"It's not the raiders I'm worried about."

"That's why I hired you lot. Are you telling me that you're scared of a few ghouls and stalkers? Perhaps I should have spent my caps elsewhere," Madam Satin said with a hint of indignation.

"No, Madam, you can count on us to protect you and your stock," Trigger said confidently.

"Good, then let's be on our way, shall we?"

The guard nodded. "Alright, boys. Kicker, you're with Madam Satin in the center," he said, then turned to glare at the younger buck. "Snake Eyes, I want you in back watching our six. Let's move!"

Snake Eyes gulped nervously but said nothing as he marched to the back of the group with his slave in tow. I was dragged to the front of the line with Trigger and together, the small caravan moved away from Freedom's Fall. The night enveloped us as we moved further away from the buzzing neon lights of the slaver's encampment. Madam Satin's horn lit up with a simple illumination spell but it seemed more of a comfort than anything else. The pale glow did little to combat against the overwhelming darkness that had us surrounded on all sides. The wasteland was silent as we traveled, the only sounds coming from our clopping hooves as we trekked. Occasionally, the call of an animal could be heard in the distance and each time, I felt my legs tremble uncontrollably. My mind whirled with different ways I could try to escape the horrible life that awaited me at The Thorny Rose. Even I, a filly of only seven years, understood what a brothel was. I couldn't help the quiet sob that escaped my mouth as new tears rolled down my cheeks. Trigger abruptly kicked the lead connecting us, the rattle of the chains shattering the silence. I gasped in shock but the savage glare he gave me stopped further noise.

How long we had been traveling, I could not guess. My hooves ached and my throat was parched. Even if the sun had sunk hours ago, the wasteland was still warm as the heat of the day slowly rose from the ground. Behind me, I could hear Madam Satin drink heavily from a canteen. For a moment, I thought about asking for some but I didn't want to be stuck under that nasty glare again. Allowing my imagination to take me to a better place, I looked up at the sky. Behind the clouds, I knew the moon was shining brightly amongst a thousand stars. In all my life, I could only remember seeing the moon a few times. Each time I caught a glimpse of the pale glow, I felt a sense of calm wash over me. In my dreams, I would often find myself dancing with the Goddess Luna among the thousands of stars. Closing my eyes, I could clearly imagine the velvety blue darkness and for a moment, I was unafraid of the shadows.

A twig snapped close by, pulling me out of my fantasy. Trigger was the first to react as his gun swung around, pointing in the direction the noise had come from. A flick of his tail signaled for the others to pause. Behind me, I heard another gun cock as Kicker followed his leader's direction.

"Show yourself!" Trigger called out.

Madam Satin's horn glowed a little brighter, inadvertently making the shadows even harder to see.

"Put that light out," Kicker hissed, stepping in front of her.

At once, she cut the spell and the group was cast into total darkness. Every pair of eyes and ears were alert as each pony present gazed around the open wasteland. I also looked around but all that greeted me was silence.

"Perhaps it was just an animal," Madam Satin said.

"If it was an animal it would have made more noise," Trigger growled.

I felt my blood turn to ice. I had hoped it had been nothing more than a radroach or a bighorner. We were being hunted but by what? I couldn't be sure. The buck holding my lead began to move again, dragging me behind him as we slowly continued our march. Looking back, I could see the others outlined against the black night. The white mare was trotting closer to her guard, her ears down and a look of fear in her eyes. Further back, Snake Eyes walked backwards with his own slave in tow. That's when I saw it! A movement in the distance, a darker shadow darting across the nothingness. For a moment, I thought maybe it hadn't been anything but then I saw it again.

"H-hey, I-" I began.

At once I was cut off as the rear hoof of my captor smacked against my jaw, forcing me to bite my tongue. Blood filled my mouth and tears welled in my eyes as I whimpered painfully. The stallion didn't even notice. He only turned to glace at his companions. "Snake Eyes, do you see any-"

A sound like thunder erupted from the darkness and Trigger's head gave a violent jolt as his brains exited his skull. Blood splattered all over me. Somepony was screaming and I realized it was me. The body of the intimidating buck fell on top of the chain holding us together and I was yanked to the ground just inches away from the corpse. Hell broke loose all around me as I pulled and yanked at the rusted chain. Behind me, the sound of a dozen hooves charging at the others echoed loudly in the darkness. Madam Satin screamed and at once her horn flared, illuminating the area in a bright, golden light. The sudden spell had caught several of the attackers off guard and they skidded to a halt to shield their eyes. I saw that they were ponies, many of them the same age or just a few years older than myself.

Some carried rusty weapons in their mouth while a few unicorns held worn out guns in their magic. They must have only just learned that spell as most of their shots went wide even at such a short range. The two remaining guards had the advantage of experience on their side now that the element of surprise was gone. They quickly grouped up back to back with the elegant white mare tucked safely behind them. The slaves were doing their best to hide themselves away from the combat, but I could see blood coming from filly's side as a bullet grazed her flesh. Kicker quickly took aim and shot into the group. One of the colts went down without so much as a scream. Snake Eyes hesitated, his shot gun hovering shakily by his head as he looked upon the sea of young ponies.

"Goddesses, Kicker, they're just kids!"

"These kids just killed my brother. As far as I'm concerned, they're as good as dead. Now shut the fuck up and shoot!"

With a solemn nod, he quickly took aim and blew the leg off a charging filly. All the while, I watched with wide, fearful eyes as the battle played out before me. So far, no pony had taken notice of me. Using this to my advantage, I quickly turned around and pulled on the chain. The collar dug into my neck and I whimpered in pain, but I continued tugging. The rusted metal refused to budge! Sobs muted by the gunfire escaped my mouth as I struggled to free myself. Madam Satin screeched something to her guards, but her words were lost. Adrenaline and frustration filled my small body at the thought of the life that waited for me if I stayed here and I quickly turned around and kicked the rusted chain with all my might.

I was rewarded with a loud snap as I suddenly tumbled forward. Sitting up, I felt part of the chain slack against my chest and I looked down to see the lead had broken. I was free! Without a moment's hesitation, I bolted into the night, leaving the fighting behind. That is, until, the scream of the filly slave caused me to skid to a halt. Turning, I could see that the mare chained to Kicker was laying unmoving in a pool of her own blood. The remaining slave was trying desperately to get away but the collar around her neck stopped her. Snake Eyes bucked her hard, sending her crashing to the ground.

Before I knew what I was doing, I galloped right at the cowardly guard. Using the momentum of my charge, I aimed a kick at the ring on his barding and shattered the aged metal. The chain holding the filly fell limply to the ground as the stallion stumbled from the kick. Yellow eyes that had to have been his namesake glared at me as he took aim with his gun. My ears fall flat as my eyes stared fearfully down the barrel of the weapon. There was a flash from behind me then a loud bang that caused me to flinch as I waited for the bullet to end my life. Madam Satin's wailing caused me to open my eyes just as Snake Eyes' body fell next to the unicorn slaver, covering her pristine coat in gore.

Kicker, realizing he was the last one left, had to make a choice. "Oh, fuck this!" he hollered as he quickly detached the dead slave from his barding and galloped away from the violent gang of youngsters.

Madam Satin watched in horror as her last line of defense abandoned her. The filly woke up and gasped at the sight of the dead guard she had been attached to, tears falling down her cheeks. I moved to help her up, but the gunshot wound on her side made her stumble and fall to her haunches. "Take it easy," I whispered.

Madam Satin whimpered pathetically as she crawled behind us. Suddenly, we were surrounded by our attackers and had over a dozen various weapons pointed at us, challenging us to make a move. I felt myself trembling, but I managed to stand protectively in front of the wounded filly.

"Yer quite the little fighter, ain'tcha," said a voice.

The group of youngsters parted, and a tall, unicorn colt stepped forward with a pistol held in a glow of orange magic beside him. His coat was dark brown, and his mane was black as night, but it was his eyes that seemed to draw my attention. Not only were they bright orange, but they seemed to hold my gaze against my will. They were the eyes of a pony in power, who commanded respect from his followers. The weight of his stare made me sink lower as if my body were automatically submitting to his will.

This did not go unnoticed. The colt chuckled and reached a hoof out. "Name's Rusty. Rusty Blade. This 'ere is me gang, the Youngbloods."

For a moment, I hesitated until I realized he was waiting for me to speak. Slowly, I reached a hoof up to his. Pulling me up, he smiled as I gazed nervously at the gang and their weapons. "I-I'm Sandy Hooves. What are you going to do with us?"

My question seemed to catch him off guard as he tilted his head to the side with a look of confusion. Then, seeing the terrified expression the filly behind me was giving him, he suddenly barked out a laugh and shook his head. "We ain't gonna do nothin'. Ya'll is free to do whatever ya want. We was saving you two from her."

He pointed a hoof at Madam Satin and each gun turned to point at her. She let out a pathetic whimper and began sobbing, her tears causing her makeup to run.

"We seen this bitch passin' through our territory before but never with fillies in tow," Rusty continued.

Madam Satin whimpered. "N-now see here!"

Suddenly, Rusty's pistol hovered right between the unfortunate unicorn's eyes. Her words failed her as she gulped heavily, looking down the barrel of the gun cross-eyed. The colt moved past us to stand above the slaver. The friendly tone in his voice was gone, replaced by a menacing growl that seemed beyond his years. "Whatchu plannin' on doin' with these two?"

"I-I bought them fair and s-square. I was planning on having them clean up my… establishment and helping my patrons. Nothing more, I swear. They would have been well cared for."

"That's a lie!" Turning, I stared at the little wounded filly who had suddenly cried out. She glared defiantly at Madam Satin. "She was taking us to The Thorny Rose. I heard her call us her "special" selection for high paying clients."

"Shut your mouth, you little-" Madam started, but the gun suddenly being magically cocked so close to her head made her stop.

A few of the youngsters surrounding us gasped. Rusty Blade turned to look at one of his followers, a question written on his expression. I found it odd that a leader would freely admit to being confused, and yet, it was comforting to know he was comfortable to have another help him. The filly spit out her weapon and answered his unspoken question with a snarl towards the pretty slaver.

"She runs one of the biggest brothels this side of Manehattan."

The look Rusty gave her as he turned back around made even my blood run cold. The older mare's ears drooped as her eyes went wide with fear. I found myself smirking. She had felt little remorse for me when she looked at me up on the stage back in Freedom's Fall. Even now, she had tried to cower behind two ponies who were decades younger than her. She wasn't a good pony and it was time somepony made her pay. I could see the filly beside me was having the same thought as a smile spread across her lips too.

"I ain't gonna pretend t' care about the adults you've dragged into that sorta life." he said, his eyes glancing at the fallen slave. "But now yer tryin' t' force young fillies into it? Well, that makes this personal and I ain't gonna let you get away with it."

"N-No, please. I swear, I won't do it again! Money was running low, I had to get new clients or else I would have lost my business!"

"What!?" I found myself calling out. All eyes turned to me but I could only stare at her. The anger that bubbled in my stomach boiled my blood until I felt my face flush with rage. How low could this pony get? We were just money to her, a way for her to get caps to protect her precious business. Grinding my teeth, I felt myself begin to shake violently as I continued to glare at her. I wanted to kill her, see her blood stain the wasteland so she could never hurt another pony again! Rusty Blade moved to my side and placed a gentle hoof around my shoulders.

"I know what yer feelin'. That pain. That fury. This pony was gonna hurt you in ways no pony should be hurt. I know what you want. I can see it in your eyes." His voice was calm and quiet. It soothed the chaos in my mind and allowed me to focus my anger. He guided me forward, my hooves allowing him to place me directly in front of her. The gun that had been floating in front of her was withdrawn and hovered in front of me. "Take it."

I did. Reaching up, I felt the cold metal enter my mouth and my tongue wrapped cautiously around the trigger. My eyes never left hers. She blubbered incoherently, dark tears streaming down her cheeks. I hesitated. She was a monster, of that there was no doubt, but she was still a pony like me. Could I really kill her? Rusty Blade saw me falter. He squeezed his leg, drawing me closer in his embrace. It had been so long since I had felt the touch of another in such a fond way. This colt barely knew me and yet he had not only saved me from a horrible life but was comforting me as I second guessed myself.

"It's okay. What you feel right now don't make you a bad pony. You are innocent. Life has been unfair t' you. You don't deserve what's happened. Now is yer chance t' take revenge for the hand you've been dealt."

Suddenly, it wasn't just one pony trembling beneath me. I saw others, a group of painfully familiar faces. A stallion with a coat color similar to my own. A mare with the same eyes that I had. A colt the same age as me, born only a few minutes before. A family who had only pretended to love me. Seething hatred burned in my gut. I felt the gun shake as my entire body reacted to the strong emotion. Rusty Blade had said something as he removed his leg and took a step away from me, but I didn't hear him. My heartbeat thundered in my ears as I slowly took aim.

Then fired.

One shot. Then another. And another. I emptied the clip as I fired the weapon at each pony who had hurt me. Hot tears streamed down my cheeks and I realized I had been screaming wildly through the gun my mouth. I didn't stop even after it was emptied, clicking uselessly as I continued to pull the trigger. It wasn't until a glow of orange magic illuminated the darkness and the gun was pulled from my teeth that I snapped out of it. In the dim light, I saw Madam Satin. Six bullet holes riddled her corpse. Her blood soaked the earth beneath her and pooled around my hooves. Her face was frozen in a look of sheer terror. All feeling left me as I collapsed on my haunches. Around me I could hear the other filly and colts moving as Rusty Blade commanded them, but I ignored them. It wasn't until his legs wrapped around me that I pressed my face into his chest and sobbed.

He soothed me, holding me until the tears had dried and my limbs stopped trembling. Only when I finally stopped did he step back and smile at me. "You did good, Sandy Hooves."

"I killed her. I actually killed her."

"Aye, and you saved countless other young 'uns from falling inta her hooves. Yer a hero."

"I don't feel like a hero."

"Perhaps not now, but in time ya will. That feelin' will fade."

I sniffled and nodded. Just then, I felt a hoof on my shoulder, and I turned to see the other filly who had been with me throughout all of this. She looked me in the eyes for a moment before pulling me into a hug. I returned it gladly, careful of the large wound on her side. When we pulled apart, I realized she wasn't much older than myself, but I could see the outline of a cutie mark on her flank. It looked to be a flower of some kind, but I couldn't see clearly in the dim light of Rusty Blade's.

"Thank you. I don't know if I could have done what you did, but I'm glad you killed her. I'm Hubflower, by the way. I never got the chance to tell you my name before. I also just wanted to say, I really like your cutie mark."

My brow furrowed in confusion and as I simply stared at her. Seeing my bewilderment, she giggled and pointed a hoof at my flank. "There, you see. It appeared when you freed me from that slaver earlier. Didn't you notice the flash?"

Turning, I looked upon my flank for the first time and sure enough, there was my cutie mark. Even in the dark, I could see it etched upon my flesh until the day I died. It was a chain, broken in half as if by force. The anxiety and sorrow melted away to be replaced by elation. Even after everything that had happened, I could not stop myself from smiling and turning to Hubflower. "I-I got my cutie mark!"

Returning my smile, she wrapped me in a hug again. I cried and laughed into her shoulder as she nuzzled my mane. Pulling away, I looked at my flank again and gently caressed my cutie mark with a hoof. It was then that my eyes finally fell upon the other ponies who had been busily moving around me. The smile faded as I watched several ponies looting the bodies of dead guards or laying their fallen comrades' side by side, several of them weeping openly. Suddenly, I felt shameful of my joy. Rusty Blade, who had moved away to help his followers, had heard Hubflower and myself and returned to stand before us.

"Did I hear ya only just got yer cutie mark? In all the fightin' I hadn' realized. Congratulations, Sandy Hooves."

"I'm sorry, I should not have cheered while you were mourning the loss of your friends," I said, my eyes falling to my hooves.

"Ah, don' worry. We all know the risks we take livin' in the Equestrian Wasteland. They didn' die in vain. Tonight, we'll honor their memory as we celebrate a well-earned victory. Which leads me t' ask. What will the two of you do now that yer free again?"

Hubflower and I looked at each other, each knowing that we could not return to the lives we had before. It was left unspoken, but Rusty Blade knew our answer.

"I figured as much. Yer not the first ponies we've saved from slavers and just like you, many of the Youngbloods didn' have a place to go when they were freed. After watchin' how you two handled yerselves in the fight, I have t' say that the Youngbloods would be honored to have you join our family."

Family? The words still left a bitter taste in my mouth and yet, the idea of having one sounded nice. Many of the foals had stopped their tasks and moved to surround us as they awaited our reply. I could see that they had each been through so much and knew what it was like to feel abandoned and lost. They could be my new family, brothers and sisters in arms as we made a new life in the wasteland. No traitorous adult to tell us what to do or how to live! Gazing back at Rusty Blade, I nodded in unison with Hubflower.

Rusty Blade smiled while several of the onlookers cheered, whinnying and kicking their front hooves excitedly. We finished helping our new comrades loot the slavers and bury the bodies of the fallen. By the time we had finished, the sun was beginning to rise over the eastern horizon. With Rusty in the lead, we followed the others into the wasteland. As the dull gray of the dawn turned into a brighter morning, I couldn't help but look behind me to the new mark on my flank. A broken chain. What could it mean? Too excited to wonder that further, I trotted side by side with Hubflower as we neared a large, abandoned school building. Surrounding it were the unmistakable ruins of what had once been a small village, but none of the houses had survived the bombs that had fallen nearly two centuries ago. We moved inside and found several small huts and tents had been set up in what had once been the gym. This was the main living area of the school, allowing for each pony to have a private room to call their own. Several ponies, those who had been wounded in the fight, had been taken to their rooms to rest while the others got them healing potions.

"Oy, Tumble, can you get yer tools and get them collars off?" I heard Rusty say. A small, yellow colt ran off into one of the tents and returned with a tool belt. Moments later, the thick, iron bands fell to the floor with a loud clunk. The magic suppression band was a bit trickier, but this pony knew his way around a lock and soon Hubflower was able to levitate the hated objects through a broken window.

"Anypony strong enough to join me for a meeting are welcome to join me in the cafeteria," Rusty called out. He looked at Hubflower and I and beckoned us to follow. The cafeteria was a large, tiled room that had several tables scattered about and a small kitchen attached to one side. I could see a fire pit had been made and deduced the room was still being used for its intended purpose all these years later. Rusty Blade stood on top of one of the tables and reached a hoof out to help us follow him up. Just like in Freedom's Fall, I stared down at a sea of eyes as over a dozen ponies looked up at me. Ears falling flat at the memory, I couldn't help but avoid their gaze as their leader began to speak.

"Youngbloods, we have ourselves some new sisters joining our ranks. Join me in welcoming them as we give them their new names."

New names? I looked at Rusty and finally caught a glimpse of his cutie mark. To no real surprise, it was a dagger with a drop of blood forever staining the tip. Had he changed his name when he had founded the Youngbloods to better suit his destined mark? Did all the ponies in this clan change their names?

"As you start your new lives in our clan, you shed the name your parents gave you. You start fresh, with a new name. No longer will your past determine your future," he continued.

I felt myself invigorated by his words. My name held me back, kept me bound to the family that had never cared for me. While I had never thought much about it, the idea of starting over with a calling of my own choosing made me happy. I could see that Hubflower was feeling the same as her brow furrowed in concentration as she tried to think of a new name. I thought too, wracking my brain for a new calling that I could be proud of.

"Hubflower," Rusty Blade said, "even when injured, you stared down your captor bravely and revealed the truth of her intentions. You were honest and brave in the face of danger. I hereby free you of your old name and give you a new calling: Ash Blossom."

The foals gathered around cheered and stamped their hooves on the dusty ground as they chanted her new name. Ash Blossom blushed and waved shyly to her new comrades before turning to Rusty Blade and thanking him with a hug. He returned it gladly and gently helped her off the table to stand alongside her family. Then, he faced me. Stepping forward, I joined him at his side as I waited to see what name he would give me. My heart hammed in my chest excitedly as he spoke.

"Sandy Hooves. You had the chance to run when you freed yourself from your chains. But you didn't, instead, you returned to the heat of battle and in a wild fury, shattered the chains that held another pony. In doing so, not only did you prove your loyalty but you gained your cutie mark. I hereby denounce your old name and give you the new calling: Wild Chains."

As before, my new family cheered and chanted my name so loud the rafters above vibrated and dust rained down on us. I couldn't help but join them as I reared up and shouted. A new name. A new life. For the first time in my life, I was excited to see what the next day would hold for me. I had finally found my place. Looking over at Rusty Blade, I could see his smile but there was something different about it. For a moment, it looked as if that genuine grin that had won me over had been replaced by a sneer. With a blink, it was gone, and he whooped and hollered right alongside the rest of us. Caught up in the moment, I had forgotten all about it and joined my new family as we celebrated and feasted the day away. Singing songs to send the spirit of our fallen friends up to the Goddesses and telling jokes that made us laugh until our sides hurt. I had never had so much fun!

As the day began to end with the setting of the sun, Ash Blossom and I were showed to our huts and finally allowed to rest. We talked quietly with each other until the stars glimmered somewhere above us, hidden behind the ever-present clouds. As I fell asleep that night, my dreams were full of peace and joy. If only they could have stayed that way forever.

Footnote: Level up!
New Perk: Stalwart Hoof -- While defending an ally, your unarmed attacks do 10% more damage.

Author's Note

I won't lie, I'm a bit nervous starting this story. I realize that there are errors and inconsistencies, but I'm currently looking for an editor/proofreader to help me out with them. I'm always open to constructive criticism. As always, thanks for taking the time to read this story!

Chapter Two: Youngbloods

Chapter 2
Youngbloods
"We’re peas in a pod. We’re thick as thieves. Any cliché you can throw at me.”

Five years later...

The rain fell in heavy drops from the darkened sky soaking my coat to the bone. The leather barding wrapped around my midriff felt soggy as I trotted through the mud beside Ash Blossom. It was clear by the thin line her lips made she was even less thrilled about the weather than I was. Behind us, Lug Nut and Razz trudged slowly in the muck as we moved further away from the our comfortably dry home. I was beginning to regret coming on this scouting mission but I knew it was important. Bad weather was the perfect time for the neighboring raider clan to try and poke holes in our defenses and for us to do the same to them. In the distance a flash of lightning lit up the gloomy wasteland for just a moment, allowing me to check our surroundings quickly. The wasteland was as empty as ever with only a few scattered, dilapidated buildings to mark the area. While there wasn't much in the way of site seeing, I had come to realize over the years that this area was a goldmine for merchants and caravans passing through on their way to the larger settlements. Rusty was a genius for choosing this location as the Youngbloods territory. To the west lay the ruined city of Manehattan, it's tallest towers clearly visible even through the dull, gloomy shadows of the storm. Merchants from all over the wasteland traveled there to sell their wares to the snobby ponies that lived in Tenpony Tower. We rarely traveled there due to the heavily armed guards that were always said to watch the tower. Not to mention the countless dangers that were rumored to be hidden in the shadows of the ruins.

Somewhere to our north was a pre-war town called Hoofington. I knew very little about it and had never thought to travel there. Most of the wasteland north of us was barren with very few settlements and even more monsters. Finally, to our south, was the infamous city of Fillydelphia. Even as I thought about it, I found myself turning my head to face the direction of the city. It was too far for me to see even on a clear day, but I knew it was there. Three years ago, Fillydelphia had been nothing more than a raider haven. I had only been there once on a mission with Rusty Blade and a few others as we tried to establish trade with other gangs. Needless to say, it hadn't gone well. My left ear twitched at the recollection of a crazed mare's teeth tearing my flesh flashed before my eyes. Sometimes I could still hear the sickening rip as half of my ear was torn off. Shaking my head, I quickly rid it of the memory. Those raiders had been exterminated, if the rumors were to be believed. Word had it that a powerful group had cleaned the city and had even started rebuilding the various factories. Perhaps one day Rusty would take us back there, but after such a painful defeat, I doubted it.

"Hey, Wild, you smell that?"

Razz's voice pulled me out of my thoughts and returned my attention to the task at hoof. Turning to the red coated colt, I lifted my nose and sniffed the air. Blood. The scent was thick and fresh, leaving a metallic tang in the back of my throat. The rain hadn't even washed it away yet. Unholstering my pistol, the others followed suit and formed up tightly around me with the largest of us, Lug Nut, covering our rear. It wasn't just the smell of blood I had caught riding the stormy gale. Gun smoke and the stench of filthy ponies also stung my nose. I hadn't realized how close to the border we were and mentally kicked myself for letting my thoughts wander. Being so close to a neighboring gang meant we needed to be extra careful. I was in charge of this scouting party and it would be my head if anything happened to the ponies who trusted me to lead them. Focusing, I moved forward slowly as we came to a bend in the trail. There was no way to climb the steep, muddy slope so we would have to simply walk around. Holding a hoof up, I signaled for the others to stop and quietly peeked my head around the corner, tongue hovering over the trigger and ready shoot the first threat.

The sight that greeted me came as no surprise. Laying in a massive pool of blood was the body of a large, two headed brahmin and four earth pony stallions. No wonder the smell had been so heavy. Even after all these years, I still felt my stomach tighten at the gore and swallowed hard to quell my rapid heartbeat. Tearing my eyes from the bodies, I gave the area a thorough examination before cautiously stepping forward. Once I was sure we weren't in any immediate danger, I let the others know it was safe to come out. Ash Blossom gasped and allowed the magic holding her gun to falter before regaining control and setting her face in a grim line.

"What do you suppose happened here?" Lug Nut asked, nudging the leg of a corpse. Even if he was large for his young age, I could see that the gray earth pony's face had turned a slight shade of green.

"Isn't it obvious," Razz chimed in. If he felt any nausea at the gruesome sight, he wasn't letting on to it. "The raiders got to them first."

"He's right. Look, here are their tracks," Ash Blossom called out, pointing a hoof at the muddy ground.

Trotting up to her, I holstered my gun and gazed at the hoofprints that led to the east. Beside them was a long, deep line. "It looks like they dragged something off with them too. Alright, let's scavenge what we can and report back to Rusty. He'll want to know about this."

Desperate to be out of the rain and away from the bloody mess, we got to work quickly. All signs pointed to this being a merchant's caravan. The bastards probably thought the foul weather would have protected them from being seen at a distance. In the end, it had prevented them from seeing they were being hunted. I watched as Lug Nut and Razz began to loot the remains of the fallen ponies. Three of them appeared to have been hired guards that had been heavily armed, yet their empty holsters and packs suggested that the raiders had looted them. The remaining buck seemed to have a single pistol that didn't even look like it had been drawn during the fight. I walked up to the body and noticed that the drag marks that had been next to the raider's trail started here. Had they taken something from this pony? Razz suddenly whistled loudly, distracting me from my observation as his magic pulled up a long-range rifle from underneath one of the dead ponies. He turned to Lug Nut and chuckled. "Crosshair is gonna love this baby."

Nodding, the bigger colt took the gun and tucked it away before moving to another body. I smiled, watching the exchange fondly. Even out here, in the miserable rain and mud, my friends were thinking of the others back home. Shaking the water from my face, I turned towards the brahmin where Ash was digging through the massive pack. She had managed to pull out a variety of different food items like canned peaches and a box of sugar bombs along with a few dirty toys. Things a herd of murderous ponies didn't want. The lot that had massacred these ponies had taken most of the weapons and all the ammunition, leaving behind only a few remains for us to scavenge. For some reason, however, they had left behind all the merchant's belongings so I quickly got to work looting him.

A sudden movement from the underside of the large pack beast caught my eye but before I could react, I was body slammed and sent sprawling away from the corpse. I slid through the mud and blood but managed to quickly get back on my hooves before looking at my attacker. I was surprised to see a white, unicorn colt with a black mane standing beside the fallen pony. He had no cutie mark, signifying his young age, and yet, the glare he gave me was beyond his years.

"Stay away from my daddy!" he screamed before launching his second attack. He came at me with a flurry of kicks that I had managed to barely dodge. However, thanks to the wet ground and constant rain, I slipped and was rewarded with a solid strike from his horn on my cheek. The blow sent me reeling and I felt blood seep from a deep cut but I managed to stay standing. He was quick, I had to give him that, but he lacked what I had an abundance of. Experience. The wasteland was a cruel place and if you didn't learn how to fight, you wouldn't last long. The adrenaline of battle made my body shake as I charged at him, sending him flying from the full force of my larger frame. With the wind knocked from his lungs, he staggered long enough for me to draw my gun. My companions were at my side in seconds, each one holding their own weapons. Realizing he would not get the chance to attack again, the colt, instead, limped over to the dead pony who I now knew was his father. Even in the rain I could see his eyes full of tears as he glared at us.

"Take what you want, but don't you dare come near my dad again, you filthy raiders!"

"Brother!" cried another voice.

Turning, we saw a black and white filly run out from under the brahmin to stand beside the colt. She, too, was a unicorn and had a blank flank just like her sibling. Together, they bravely stood their ground against us. As the heat of the fight faded, I could finally think with a clear mind. They were foals who had just had everything taken from them. I knew what they had seen when the raiders had slaughtered everypony around them. It was understandable why the colt had assaulted me and I felt no ill will towards him.

Slowly, I holstered my gun, freeing up my mouth and took a small step forward. "Look, I know you're scared, but we're not raiders and we're not going to hurt you anymore," I said, flicking my tail to signal the others. They lowered their weapons, but not their guard.

"Then why do you look like raiders?"

"An unfortunate side effect of living in the wasteland. We take what we can find in order to survive and most of what we find raiders have left behind."

"So, you were just going to steal our stuff?" the colt barked, stamping a hoof in the mud.

"We didn't think anypony was left alive. What are the dead going to do with boxes of food and ammunition?"

"Don't you talk about my daddy like that! He's-"

"Dead," I interrupted firmly. "I'm sorry, but he's dead. We have young ones, foals like you, who need the food your dad was transporting."

This seemed to catch him off guard as his next words seemed to fall back down his throat. He stared at me a moment before asking. "Foals? What do you mean you have foals?

Taking another step, I carefully began to close the distance between us. "We're part of a group of orphaned ponies. We've helped several kids like you who would have died in the wasteland."

I remembered what Rusty Blade had said to me when he had saved me. I knew the fear these two were feeling and how to help them see that I was not a foe. My words weren't sugar coated, but realistic of the danger these two now faced. I could see it was beginning to work as this same realization showed on the colt's expression. That brave look he'd shown melted and what now stood in front of me was a terrified child whose world had just been spun upside down. Seeing the change in her brother, the filly sank to the ground as she sobbed into her hooves. Turning to my friends, I nodded and watched as they came forward to circle around the foals. Ash Blossom nuzzled the filly while Lug Nut placed a hoof on the colt's back. We allowed them to cry, to release all the fear and pain they had been trying to hide as they stood beside their dead father.

"Who… who are you all anyways?" the young filly asked.

Ash smiled and pointed a hoof at each of us. "I'm Ash Blossom. This is Lug Nut, Razz, and Wild Chains. What are your names?"

"I'm Yang, and this is my twin brother, Yin."

"Those are nice names."

Ash's voice was gentle and kind, further comforting the foals in a way that my harshness couldn't. Watching her interact with them made me smile a little. She had always been one of the sweetest ponies I'd had the pleasure of knowing, even when the wasteland had battered and scarred her just as much as it had me. Razz tapped me on the shoulder before tilting his head quietly in the direction the raiders had left. Following his gaze, I couldn't see anything through the sheet of rain, but my eyesight wasn't nearly as good as his. Trusting his judgement, I nodded at him and returned my attention to the others. "We need to go. We aren't safe here."

Yin's ears stood up as he looked at me, his pupils shrinking in fear. "Are they coming back?"

"There's a pony who's been watching us. Not sure if it's a raider, but it's better to be safe than sorry," Razz said, his eyes staring off in the distance.

"We can't leave yet! What about Mom, Yin?" Yang cried out, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks.

"Your mom?" I asked, my ears drooping.

"Those mean ponies took her away."

Suddenly, I knew what those drag marks had been. I felt my heart fall into my hooves as I realized what was in store for her. The eyes of my companions turned to me, silently asking what we were doing about this new information. Keeping my expression neutral, I looked at the foals. "We can't stay here. If the raiders return, we won't stand a chance against them. You can stay here or come with us the choice is yours."

With that, I swished my tail and turned back the way we had come. The others moved to gather what they had collected and fell in line behind me. Ash Blossom trotted up next to me, her mouth opened to form a question, but I held up a hoof to stop her. I mentally counted down and right on cue the foals called out and galloped up to us.

"Wait! Please, let us come with you," Yin begged.

I nodded, offering a solemn smile. "Of course. Stay close to us, we have a bit of a walk ahead of us. Razz, watch our backs and make sure we're not followed. Lug, Ash, you two watch our sides. Weapons out."

Without another word, I drew my gun and began the trek back to the school.

The glow of the fires was a welcome sight. The rain had finally stopped, leaving us soaking wet and miserable as we neared home. Yin and Yang had kept up with us easily and had remained quiet during the whole trip save for a few sniffles and sobs. As we approached home, however, I could see that the idea of being safe and warm inside a building was as enticing to them as it was to us. Our hooves moved just a little faster until we had reached the gate where two guards were standing watch. Upon seeing us, they relaxed a bit and parted ways to allow us entrance, their eyes watching the two newcomers with piqued interest. Not stopping, I continued leading the group until, at long last, we burst through the door and were greeted with the warmth of several trashcan fires. I could have collapsed right there and then but I managed to stay on my hooves. There was still lots to do.

"Ash, will you take Yin and Yang to the kitchen and get them something warm to eat? I'm sure Tato will be more than happy to see all the food you managed to get too."

The lilac filly nodded and ushered the youths towards the back of the building. Lug Nut and Razz needed no direction as they made their way to the makeshift armory. It was nothing more than a bunch of beat up lockers but each one was full of a variety of weapons and ammunition. I watched as the small formed Crosshair danced excitedly as she helped the boys unload. Shaking the last remnants of the storm from my coat, I trotted towards the little tent I had called home since first arriving here. Dumping my wet saddle bags and barding, it took everything I had not to plop down on to the worn sleeping bag inside the tent. Instead, I turned and made my way towards the stairs leading upstairs. Along the way, I heard the voices of several ponies talking and laughing around the fires. Some greeted me as I passed, a few offering me a Sparkle Cola or a quick hit of Dash, but I declined, at least for now.

The roof of the building had collapsed decades ago, sealing off the second and third stories. However, one room had been spared, an office of sorts that Rusty Blade had converted into a meeting room where the higher-ranking ponies could discuss the needs of the clan. Pushing the door open, I found our leader standing over a large table with a crude map carved into the wood, writing in a ledger. He had grown a lot over the years. Tall and slender, Rusty Blade looked older than his sixteen years and, in some ways, he was. Intelligent and charismatic, he had turned the Youngbloods from a rag tag group of feral foals into an organized, respectable gang with over a score of loyal ponies. I had a great deal of respect for him and as he looked up to greet me with a fond smile, I returned it with my own.

"Ah, Wild Chains, welcome back. Any news?"

"We found a merchant's caravan along the northeastern boarder," I said, moving to sit on the opposite side of the table. "The raiders had gotten to it first. They killed the ponies and took almost all the guns and ammo, but we managed to get a decent amount of food and even a few toys."

"That's good ta hear. We were runnin' low and I know a few of the young 'uns will love ta have somethin' new ta play with."

"We also found two unicorn foals. The raiders were true to their word and left them unharmed. Can't say the same about their parents."

Rusty's magic released the pen, his attention solely on me now. "Well now, color me surprised. I weren't expectin' them to actually hold up their end of the bargain."

I nodded, remembering the treaty he had made with the leader of the raiders. Any ponies, along with all their loot, who passed through our territories were free game to the first group that found them, but the kids were to always be left unharmed. Until today, there hadn't been any evidence that the raiders would do what they said, but Yin and Yang were proof of that. Those foals would probably never know just how lucky they had been.

I opened my mouth to say something more, but the words failed to come out and I quickly shut it again. This didn't go unnoticed and the brown unicorn tilted his head, a single eyebrow raised in an unspoken question. Looking down at my hooves, I tried to think of the best way to ask my question and realized there wasn't any way other than to just bluntly ask it. "The children's mother was taken by the raiders… alive," I said, seeing Rusty visibly cringe. "They wanted to try and save her, and I was thinking… why don't we? They could still have at least one parent left to take care of them and we have more than enough ponies to raid their camp."

His head was shaking before I even finished my sentence. Moving around the table, he stood in front of me and placed a hoof on my shoulder. I couldn't help but to look directly into those powerful, orange eyes. "Wild, ya know we can't do that. Besides, I doubt she'll have much time left. Raiders tend ta get bored with their prey quickly. If those so-called parents really cared about their foals, do ya think they would have traveled through known raider country? They put their lives at risk! If not fer us, those two would be raider food by now. Do they sound like ponies those foals deserve?"

"Well, I mean, was it really their fault? Is there anywhere that is totally free of raiders? They hired guards and…" My words trailed off as I watched his expression slowly turning into a glare. Gulping, I found myself quickly nodding in agreement while simultaneously ignoring the little pony in my mind telling me he was wrong. But he was never wrong! In all the years I'd known him, Rusty had shown only kindness towards the children of the wasteland. Time and time again he'd saved poor souls like me, who would have perished if not for the brotherhood we had in the Youngbloods. No, I knew he was right. Yin and Yang were better off with us. We would protect them, unlike their parents, and raise them to not only survive in the hellscape that was Equestria but thrive.

Seeing my approval, his expression changed as if he had never been angry as he tapped my shoulder. "Remember, adults can't be trusted. You, of all ponies, should know this."

"I do. But, what do we tell the foals? They're still loyal to their parents and will want to save them."

Moving to the other side of the table again, Rusty tapped his chin in contemplation. "Tell them we sent a scoutin' party to check on the situation. I'll wait fer a few days an' report that their mother died before we could save her."

Even though I felt horrible for lying to the kids about their mom, I understood it was necessary. Without parents they had nothing left and when a pony falls so far, they have no choice but to fall in line with the Youngbloods. We would be their new family. I didn't understand why that thought made me feel bad, but I couldn't dwell on it. My face remained neutral as I nodded. Rusty watched me for a moment longer before returning to his ledger.

"We'll give them their new names later. Fer now, let 'em eat and rest. I'm sure what they witnessed out there was pretty traumatic."

"Sure thing, Rusty."

The conversation turned to more mundane topics such as the weekly food count and shift rotations. I yawned not realizing how tired I was. My leader saw this and dismissed me with that familiar smile I was so fond of. After an exchange of farewells, I left the office and slowly made my way downstairs. My thoughts were all over the place as I tried to make sense of what had just transpired. Since when had I cared so much about the well-being of some adults? Over the years I had stolen from and even killed adults who had deserved it. We did what we had to in order to survive! So, why was I now worried about the lost mare? As I reached the main floor, I saw Ash Blossom leading Yin and Yang towards a single hut made from old, burned books. They looked so tired and frightened but followed without resistance.

I absentmindedly made my way towards one of the many barrel fires that littered the large gym and sat beside a few other ponies. Outside, I could hear the rain begin again as it beat against the ruined roof relentlessly. Thankful for the fire, I leaned closer to the flames and rubbed my hooves together. One of the ponies levitated a bottle of rum and I took it happily, swigging the harsh liquid and wincing as it burned my throat. I took a few more gulps feeling my get stomach pleasantly warm. Soon, my brain had turned fuzzy as the alcohol pushed away the anxiety and uncertainty I had felt before. Looking around, I saw one of the many posters that littered the school watching me closely. I had seen that obnoxiously purple pony before, and not just here. Her face, along with several others, were all over Equestria. She was always telling me that "reading is magic" or "books open doors". My parents had taught me to read a little, probably the only good thing they had ever done for me, and yet it hadn't done much. There wasn't much use for books in the wasteland, save for building little huts for orphaned ponies to sleep in.

"Ah, there you are Wild."

Turning, I saw Ash Blossom walk up and sit beside me. I nodded a greeting and slid her the half empty bottom of booze. Nothing was said as she drank, gagging a little at the harsh taste. Finally, she sighed and turned to lay on her back, leaning against me.

"How are the foals?" I asked, glancing over at the hut where two forms lay still.

"They're hanging in there. You have to hand it to them, they are brave little souls."

"Aye, did you see how Yin attacked me? He's a fighter through and through."

"Little Yang isn't a push over either. You should have seen the way she scolded Tato for her lack of hygiene."

We laughed and each took another swig of booze. Sitting in companionable silence for a moment, we listened to the hum of conversation around us. Finally, unable to hold back her curiosity anymore, Ash tilted her head and asked, "What did Rusty have to say about their mother?"

I sighed. "He thinks we can't take on the raiders. Plus, chances are she's already dead or worse."

"So, what do we tell them?"

I explained what our leader's plan was, trying hard to hide the bad taste it left in my mouth. Knowing Ash, she probably felt the same. It came as a bit of a surprise when she simply shrugged her shoulders. "Rusty knows what's best."

"Yeah," I replied hesitantly. Then, after a yawn, I carefully stood up, allowing the lilac unicorn to sit up. "I'm gonna head off to bed early tonight. Have a good one, Ash."

"Oh, okay. You too Wild."

As I lay down on the filthy mattress, I didn't fall asleep instantly like I'd hoped. Instead, I tossed and turned as my brain refused to turn off. Outside my hovel, the conversations slowly died down as ponies turned in for the night. I don't know how much time passed but sleep finally came to me at the same time the sounds of quiet sobbing echoed from a pile of burned books.

"I hereby denounce yer old names and bestow upon you a new callin'. From here on out, you shall be known as Ebony and Ivory."

I clopped my hooves loudly alongside my brothers and sisters. The white and black twins stood on the table next to Rusty Blade as they stared down bashfully at us. "Ebony! Ivory! Ebony! Ivory!" we chanted in unison. It had been a long time since we had new recruits join our ranks and the excitement was clear as we cheered loudly. Rusty had graciously given the kids a few days to come to terms with their new lot in life. The news of their mother's death had been hard and with nowhere else to go, they had joined the Youngbloods. As per tradition, they were given their new names as we officially welcomed them to the gang. They were greeted with pats on the back as they stepped off the stage, the cheers of their companions widening the smiles on their faces.

Rusty followed them and made his way through the crowd to me. "I was thinkin' about showin' our newest recruits around our territory to finalize their initiation. Round up a few others and meet me out front."

Nodding, I pushed my way through the crowds until I found that familiar lilac coat. Ash Blossom had always been my number one choice when it came to missions and tasks. She was always by my side and I knew I could trust her. When our eyes met, she simply twitched her head and made her way out of the cafeteria. I spotted Razz as he was patting Ivory on the back and moved to stand beside him. "Bring the twins and meet us outside."

I felt a tap on the shoulder and turned to see a pair of bright pink eyes staring at me. Crosshair, the weapons master, looked up at me with a wide grin. She was an earth pony with a bright yellow coat and an even darker yellow mane. Her cutie mark was a target with a bullseye in the center. "Ya'll goin' scoutin'? Betcha need my eyes so count me in."

She hadn't been my first choice, but she was absolutely right about her eyes. They were the best of anypony in the gang. With a wave of my hoof, she cheered loudly and scampered off to her hut, emerging moments later with the same rifle we had brought for her a few days before attached to a battle saddle. After gathering my own pistol, I galloped out the main door and found the group waiting for me. Ebony and Ivory stood close to Ash Blossom and looked nervous yet eager to be out of the schoolhouse.

"Alright, let's go," Rusty declared.

"Stay close," Ash whispered to the twins as we fell in line behind our leader.

The trip was standard with very little excitement, much to Crosshair's disappointment. Rusty showed the new members the various locations where we stashed caps or ammunition in case of a raid and where to go should such a raid ever happen. Always thinking of his family first, our leader had made several safe houses around our territory should the need ever arise. I always admired that about him, and I could tell Ebony and Ivory were thinking the same thing. We had gone about five miles from the schoolhouse when Crosshairs keen eyes pin pointed a disturbance a short way off. With a sharp whistle, she tilted her head and brought our attention to where she was indicating. With a wave of his horn, Rusty pulled out a pair of binoculars and gazed down at the distant figures. My eye sight wasn't the best but even from this distance I could make out at least two ponies.

As we watched, the larger of the two ponies began to shout at the smaller, his voice carrying across the wasteland. Though I couldn't make out the words, I didn't need them to know they were not friendly. Then, he struck the little form, sending the poor thing hurling to the ground. Rusty growled as he passed the binoculars to me. Looking through them, I could see the smaller form was a colt who looked like the older buck. A father and son perhaps? I felt my own stomach burn with anger as the buck kicked the child hard, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"What's going on?" I heard Ebony whisper.

"Ash Blossom keep an eye on the foals," Rusty said, gently pushing a curious Ivory behind him. "Crosshair, Wild Chains, with me."

"Sure thing, boss," the yellow filly said, her lips set in a firm line.

Pulling out my pistol, I fell in line beside Rusty as we galloped down a slope. If the stallion saw us coming, he took no notice. He continued to beat and kick the poor child all the while filling the wasteland with his voice. I bit hard against the handle of the gun, the taste of iron and dirt filling my mouth. The only thing I could think about was bringing that bastard to justice! As we neared, the buck lifted his hoof to strike again, but Rusty had seen enough. Skidding to a halt, he magically unsheathed Crosshair's rifle and gazed down the scope in the same fluid motion. With an ear-splitting bang, his shot landed true as the stallion's hoof was blown off. His shouts turned to screams of pain as he crumpled.

We rushed in and quickly surrounded the colt, shielding him from his attacker. With a quick glance, I could see the boy had been badly hurt as blood seeped from several gashes on his face. There were bruises all over his body giving me all the evidence I needed that this was not a first-time offence.

"You shot me! You fucking shot me, you little shits! I'll kill you!"

Rage boiled my blood and I aimed my gun at the stallion's head, pulling the hammer back with a quick flick of my tongue. His death would be sweet. The coward's words failed him as he began whimpering and blubbering incoherently.

"Wait! Please don't shoot my pa!"

Turning, I watched the colt try to stand up but failed and almost fall again, but Rusty was there to catch him. Helping him up to his wobbly hooves, the brown unicorn looked at the poor colt with eyes of concern and sympathy. "Ya mean ta tell me that this buck is yer dad? What kind of father beats his own son?"

"Who the hell are you to tell me how to raise my kid!" the stallion growled as his confidence began to return.

"It's not his fault. I was supposed to pack the canteens, but I forgot. Please, please don't hurt him anymore!"

He began sobbing as tears mixed with blood streamed down his teal coat. Looking at my leader, I silently asked him what we were supposed to do. He merely nodded once, giving us the signal to back down. Holstering our weapons, Crosshair and I took a step back and let Rusty handle it. My eyes continued to watch the stallion in case he tried anything.

"I know yer afraid of him, kid, but you don't got to be no more. We ain't gonna let him hurt you again."

"Gizmo, what the hell are you doing, you worthless dung heap? Get over here and help me!"

The poor colt visibly trembled but complied with his father's wishes. I was surprised Rusty let him, but soon I understood why. As the boy tried to lift his father up, he inadvertently bumped the raw stump. As if we weren't standing there, the stallion moved to hit Gizmo again but was stopped as I rushed forward to land a sharp kick to his side. The power behind my attack sent the large stallion flying as he landed a few feet away with a winded grunt. This time, the colt didn't rush to his father's aid. Rusty Blade moved to stand by his side as he placed a gentle hoof around the lad.

"I told ya. Never again," he said, his voice calm. "How long has he been doing this to ya?"

Sobbing, Gizmo didn't answer right away. Rusty didn't rush him, instead allowing the tears to flow much like he had done with me all those years ago. Finally, the boy answered with a shuddering sigh. "All my life. He's hurt me so much."

The stallion had recovered from my blow and managed to stand up, glaring at me with eyes of pure hate and cruelty. "I'll kill you, you little bitch. Get away from my son!" he screamed, pulling out a rusted machete.

Standing our ground, both Crosshair and I yanked out our own weapons and pointed them at him. "Looks like ya brought a knife to a gun fight," Crosshair said with a wicked smile.

Rethinking his strategy, the old buck stood and watched us, hoping we would drop our defenses. Behind me, I could hear Rusty Blade talking quickly to the young buck. I couldn't hear what was being said, but I knew our time was growing short. "Bossh," I called through the gun in my mouth. "Wha' ya wan ush to do wiff 'im?"

Suddenly, I watched Gizmo step forward with Rusty's gun held in his mouth as he pointed it shakily at the cruel stallion. I felt my ears droop as I realized what he was about to do. Holstering my weapon, I backed up until I stood beside my friend. "What are you doing?"

"That bastard caused enough agony for our friend 'ere. It's about time he gets his revenge."

"You're going to make him shoot his own father!?"

Rusty turned on me, his fierce orange eyes glaring at me. "Are you questioning me, Wild Chains?"

I felt myself sink under the weight of that gaze, but I didn't back down. "That boy has gone through enough! We can end this for him without causing him more pain."

Something flashed in my friend's eyes, something I had never seen before. However, before we could continue, the blast of a gunshot echoed causing both of us to stare at Gizmo. The gun in his mouth was smoking and my eyes quickly moved to see the stallion stare at his son with a look of confusion and sadness before he fell in a pathetic heap. Dropping the gun, the young buck suddenly rushed forward and began landing blow after blow on the dead form of his father. We watched silently as years of abuse and torment were finally avenged. After a long time, the blue colt vomited and collapsed. Rusty Blade moved away from me without a word and stood next to him.

"I-I hated him so much, but I didn't want to kill him. What have I done?"

"You did what you had to. You took your life into your own hooves and destroyed what was holding you back. He was going to kill you slowly."

Rusty's voice was soothing, something the colt probably never heard in his life. Slowly, Gizmo began to nod as he understood what Rusty was saying. "You're right. He never loved me. He was always telling me to sleep with one eye open. Thank you for helping me to see. Who are you ponies anyway? Where did you come from?"

As Rusty Blade explained about our gang, Crosshair walked up to me and nudged me before whispering quietly. "What the hell was all that about? It looked like ya might have said somethin' to upset Rust."

I didn't reply. I was still trying to understand what had happened myself. Never had my friend forced another pony to kill their own parent. Sure, it looked like Gizmo had done it of his own free will, but I knew the silver tongue hidden in the mouth of that dark brown unicorn. Gizmo had had little choice in the matter and yet I felt I was the only one who knew that. But, was it my place to question my leader? After all, he'd never let us astray before.

"While I thank you for your offer, I believe I have family in Manehattan. My pa always told me my ma had run off to that big ol' fancy tower. I want to meet her and now I feel like I finally can."

"Well, if I can't change yer mind, then take this," Rusty said, giving the young buck the very weapon he had used to kill his own father with. "It's dangerous out there."

"Thank you. I won't forget what you've done."

With that, Gizmo gave one last final look at the corpse of his dad before galloping away. Rusty turned back to us with a smile on his face and began to walk back towards Ash Blossom and the twins. "Well now, that was excitin'."

"Ya sure showed him, boss! No way some rotten adult is gonna git away with hurtin' somepony on our turf," Crosshair said.

"Aye. Cross, why don't ya run ahead and let the others know all is well. Wild and I need to have a little chat."

"Sure thing!" she said before galloping away obediently.

We watched her go as we continued to walk side by side. I could feel those eyes watching me and yet I couldn't bring myself to look at him. Why was my heart pounding so fast? Why were my legs beginning to shake? Was I afraid? But Rusty was a friend! He would never…

The thought was thrown from my mind as a hoof came crashing down across my face. The force of the unexpected blow was enough to send me falling to the ground as I looked up at my beloved leader with shock. He just glared at me, the fire in his eyes sending a shudder down my spine. When he spoke, his voice was calm and quiet which only caused me to tremble more violently. "You been gettin' ideas in yer head lately, ain'tcha, Wild Chains? Don't think I ain't been watchin' ya. I am the leader and my word is law. If you ever question me again, I'll beat you until you can't remember how to talk."

Too stunned to reply, I just watched him wide eyed as he began to walk towards the others. Already I could feel my eye beginning to swell. A thousand questions tumbled over a thousand emotions as my brain tried to make sense of what just happened. As I slowly stood up to follow Rusty Blade, I just kept repeating the same question. Why? Was he afraid I was challenging his authority? Did he think I was trying to take over the Youngbloods? What had I said?

Soon, I was climbing the ridge where the others were waiting and saw the foals prancing at Rusty's hooves, asking him what had happened. I listened silently for a moment as he retold the events, exaggerating the details for the young ones. Ash Blossom walked over to me and placed a tender hoof on my cheek, pulling back as I winced.

"What happened to you, Wild?"

Had she not seen what Rusty had done? No, she wouldn't have. Ever the clever pony, he had sent Crosshair ahead to distract the others while he punished me. I could feel his eyes on me now, carefully watching to see what I would say.

"That big bastard got a hit in right as I slammed him down."

"Really? He musta been pretty quick 'cause I didn't see him do it," Crosshair said, moving to stand beside Ash. "Yer getting sloppy if ya let a dimwitted pony like that hit ya."

I forced a smirk and playfully pushed the yellow pony away. "And you must be going blind if you missed it."

"Alrighty, ponies, I think that's enough excitement fer one day. Let's head back and get some grub," Rusty announced, seemingly pleased with my response.

Ebony and Ivory cheered at the thought of food and began to race back the way we came, careful to stay within eye sight of us. Crosshair moved to walk beside Rusty, talking with him about sending a group to loot the body later. I stayed back, telling a concerned looking Ash that I was watching our backs. I didn't want her to see the single tear I had been unable to hold back as it glided down my bruised cheek and splattered on the scorched earth.

Footnote: Level up!
New Perk: Scout -- Your sense of direction is impeccable! It’s now easier for you to find special random encounters in the wasteland.

Author's Note

First off, a huge thank you to SonnyStar for their help with both proof reading and editing! This chapter may be a little slow, and I do apologize for that. I promise things will pick up in the next chapter. Thank you for reading!

Chapter Four: Vagabond

Chapter 4
Vagabond
"Not all who wander are lost”

It was the crackle of a fire that pulled me out of the darkness. I could see the comforting glow just beyond my eyelids and smell the heavy scent of burning wood. I was alive! As my senses began to awaken, so too, did the pain. It was everywhere. It didn’t help that as I slowly regained consciousness my body was wracked with violent shivers. How could I be so cold? The fire was right there! I could feel its heat on my face. I was drenched with sweat and yet I could not stop myself from trembling. As if to add more, my lungs decided right then and there to spasm and I coughed painfully. It was hard to breath as I gasped for air. Desperately, I tried to return to that sweet nothingness of sleep, but I had come too far. There was no going back.

Slowly, I managed to open my eyes. Well, at least one of them. My left eye refused to listen as I took in my surroundings. It was dusk and the last rays of sun were barely visible through the clouds on the horizon. I lay alone beside a small fire, a single can of beans heating up beside the flames. Gingerly, I lifted a hoof to my closed eye, and realized it was swollen shut. Then, suddenly, all the memories of what happened came flooding back. Flashes of violent ponies beating me mercilessly, ponies who I had once called family. I shuddered again, groaning pitifully as my injuries ached. My head pounded as I turned to look at my body and a sob caught in my throat. I was covered in numerous cuts and bruises of various sizes. One nasty looking, deep purple bruise rested along my ribs, a clear indicator of the broken ribs just under the surface. That would explain why coughing caused me agony.

Blinking slowly, I saw a single bandage stuck to my flank. It was dirty, blood soaked, and covering half of my cutie mark. The gunshot echoed in my mind as I relived Rusty Blade shooting me. My friend, one of the few ponies I trusted, had gunned me down as if I were nothing more than an animal. As if it were also reacting to the painful memory, the wound throbbed in time with my beating heart. It was at that point, it all became too much. They had been waiting but now I could not hold them back any longer. Tears streamed down my broken face, stinging a large cut on my cheek as they went. There was little I could do to stop the sobs and I just groaned as everything hurt.

Just like before all those years ago… I had lost everything.

I gazed at the fire with the same fearful, wide-eyed stare I had shown those slaver ponies who watched me on that stage. Once again, I was just a filly. A child lost and alone in the cruel Equestrian Wasteland. What was I going to do now? Maybe I could go back to Rusty and beg him for forgiveness. Make him realize what was happening to our family and change his ways. Even as I thought it, I knew it was foalish idea. I could never go back. I choked on another sob and winced at the effort it cost me.

For a long time, I simply lay there staring blankly at the glowing fire. It took a while for my brain to finally ask the important questions (probably thanks to a concussion): who had made the fire? Who had bandaged me? With a great deal of effort, I managed to sit up on my haunches. A wave of nausea crept up my throat and for several agonizing seconds I dry heaved as my empty stomach reeled from the movement. Gasping as I recovered, I waited for my blurred vision to clear as I gazed around the small camp. I was tucked into the back end of a ruined structure with three of the four walls surrounding me. The fourth had fallen a long time ago, bringing much of the ceiling with it.

Gazing through the large hole, though the fading light made it difficult, I could just barely make out the unmistakable ruins of Manehattan in the distance. They were much farther than I was used to which told me that I had been moved far away from home… No. It wasn’t home anymore. Stop crying. Somepony had brought me here, but who? As far as I could see I was totally alone with only the light of the fire to keep me company. That didn’t mean that whoever dragged me here wasn’t going to come back. With a growing sense of urgency, I managed to stand on shaky hooves before another shiver rushed up my spine. It took all I had not to collapse from the pain as beads of sweat dripped down my face. I felt like shit. All I wanted to do was lay down and fall back into that blissful sleep, but I knew that would be impossible. Leaning against the wall, I carefully navigated around the rubble that littered the floor. What felt like an eternity had passed before I finally reached the opposite end of the room. I was just about to pass through the door frame when a deep voice cut into the silence.

“Oh, you’re awake. That’s good.” Fighting through the fog in my brain it took me a moment to realize I was no longer alone. Looking up, I watched a large, unicorn casually trot into the room through the same doorway I was trying to leave from. He looked me up and down with a critical eye as he past. “I didn’t think you’d be up and walking so soon.”

I just gawked stupidly at him before my ears fell and my lips raised into a weak snarl. “Back off,” I croaked dryly. I was suddenly very aware of how thirsty I was.

With a shrug, he moved towards the fire and looked at the can of beans. “I figured you wouldn’t eat, but I really think you should. It might make you feel better.”

I couldn’t say anything. What little energy I had was almost spent and the idea of wasting it with words was not exactly ideal. My legs trembled and my vision blurred but I somehow managed to remain standing. Turning, he sighed and shook his head at my defiant expression. His horn began to glow with a soft, pale blue light. I growled and jumped back, at least, I tried to. Instead, I fell and only managed to catch myself on the wall. Through gritted teeth, I lowered my head to a pathetic fighting stance and pawed at the ground with a hoof. My wounds screamed at me, and though I tried to ignore them, I could not stop the single tear that fell from my opened eye.

He just continued to stare at me with a brow raised. Slowly, the flap of his saddlebag opened to reveal what he was levitating. A bottle. I instantly recognized the familiar purple liquid inside. A healing potion. I stared at it for a moment before looking back up at him suspiciously. He returned my gaze evenly. We stood there, watching each other for a long moment until the buck shook his head again. “Come now, girl, if I had wanted to hurt you why would I have just spent the last three days bringing you back from the brink of death?”

As if a light had been turned on, I realized I recognized this pony. “You!” I gasped. It was him! The stallion that had caused all of this. “Wait? Did you say three days?” It was too much. My legs gave out and I waited for the explosion of agony that was sure to come as I hit the ground, and yet, it never did. I became weightless as the unicorn’s magic enveloped me and carried me through the air. I didn’t have the strength to struggle as he set me down by the fire.

“Take it easy. I’m going to be upset if you undo all I’ve done to keep you alive.”

“W-Who are you?” I asked wearily.

He sighed again. “I’ll tell you if you drink this. I spent all day scavenging for it and I’d like to know my efforts weren’t wasted.”

Levitating the bottle, he set it down in front of me. I hesitated for a moment, but the pain was too much, and I eagerly gulped it down. The relief was almost instant. The multiple cuts began to stitch themselves up and the bruises quickly faded. Even the swelling around my eye diminished and I gingerly opened it again. The only things that remained were the broken ribs and gunshot wound. The buck silently watched me and when the medicine had finally finished, he nodded his head in approval.

“I thought as much,” the buck said. When I gave him a quizzical stare he continued. “That stuff is pretty old and isn’t potent enough to mend your ribs, and with that bullet still stuck in your leg it can’t seal up the wound. We should get that taken care of soon or else it will get infected.”

“We?” I said wearily. The magical properties of the potion had eased the pain a little leaving me feeling drained and tired.

With a twitch of an ear, the stallion moved to sit on the other side of the fire. He lifted the can of beans with his magic and beckoned for me to eat. When I didn’t react, he simply shrugged and slurped some of the food down. “My name is Vagabond and, as you’ve deduced, I am the pony you saved. If not for your warning, I would have been attacked by that band of raiders.”

“We aren’t raiders,” I snapped. “We’re just a group of kids who want adults like you to leave us alone.”

“From where I stood, you all looked like a crazy pack of ponies out for blood. You were the only one who seemed sane when you called out your warning.”

“You’re an adult, you wouldn’t understand,” I said, waving a dismissive hoof.

“What does my being an adult have to do with anything?”

I glared at him. “Adults do nothing but hurt kids! You use us, abuse us, and demand that we do what you say, even if it means putting us in danger.”

“Have I done that?”

I opened my mouth but found no words. Seeing me hesitate, he continued.

“Was it me who beat you within an inch of your life or was I the one who returned to scrape you off the ground and heal you?”

Tears began to well up causing my vision to grow blurry. No! I refused to cry in front of an adult. “They had to do it! They were my family and I betrayed them. How could they trust me after what I did?!”

“Are you even hearing what you’re saying? What kind of family does that to one of their own?”

A distant memory started to poke at the edges of my mind. A father and mother whispering in the night, a lost name spoken between them in disgusted tones. Before it could reveal itself more, I tossed my head back and screamed. “SHUT UP!”

Startled by my sudden outburst, Vagabond just stared at me with his brows furrowed as the light of the fire danced along his face. Laying opposite of him, gasping in anger and pain as I fought to keep the water in my eyes, I just glared back at him with my ears pinned to my skull.

With another sigh, he rubbed the back of his head with a hoof. “I’m sorry. Clearly, you’ve been through a lot. What’s important now is that you’re alive. We should get that bullet taken out of your leg so you-“

“You keep saying ‘we’. After tonight, there is no we anymore. I saved your life. You saved mine. You don’t have to pretend like you care anymore. I’ll find somepony to heal me and be on my way.”

He didn’t say anything. Those icy blue eyes just watched me from across the fire until he gave another small shrug. “If that’s what you want, so be it.”

With that he stood up and walked out of the camp. Once again, I was left alone. Only after I was sure he was gone did I allow myself to cry. Sniffling, I rested my head on my forelegs and watched the flames dance along the wood. It wasn’t long before my eyelids grew too heavy and I fell to a long, dreamless sleep.

When I woke the next morning (I hoped it was the next morning), I was still alone. There was no sign of Vagabond save for his saddlebags and a can of carrots sitting beside the firepit. The previous night’s nausea had gone, and my stomach gurgled savagely for the food. The smoldering embers had kept the contents pleasantly warm. After only two gulps I had emptied the can. Tossing it aside, I stood up and was glad that the overwhelming agony had dulled. The only pain I felt came from the broken ribs and bullet hole. Limping to the bags, I opened them and raised my eyebrows in surprise. Inside was a rusted pistol with eight rounds, two tablets of what looked like Med-X, a bottle of questionable water, and at least four days’ worth of food. A final parting gift from Vagabond? A sliver of guilt began to worm its way into my mind and I shook my head in a vain attempt to rid myself of it. There was nothing I could do to take back what I said.

With some effort, I managed to get the bags on my back. My ribs screamed in protest, but I shut them up with one of the painkillers. Moving out of the ruins, I got a better sense of my surroundings. As I had noted the night before, Manehattan was several miles away, but that was fine. I wasn’t planning on going there. With a little adjustment, I put my old home at my back and began to walk. Truth be told, I didn’t know where I was going. I had no direction, no idea what I was going to do now that I was clanless. For years I’d always had somepony watching my back. I thought of Ash Blossom and felt the tears well up. She’d been like a sister, a pony who I could always count on. Her smile could always brighten my day and her laugh was contagious. Even when things came crumbling down, she’d been the only pony to show me mercy.

But, in the end, she’d chosen Rusty Blade. I couldn’t blame her really. After all, if not for him, we’d have been dead long ago at the hooves of Madam Satin and her disgusting industry. Rusty had done so much for us and all he’d asked for in return was a bit of loyalty. Why couldn’t I have just kept quiet and let them kill Vagabond? He was just another adult coming to invade our land and take what was rightfully ours. So what if he came back to save me? He’d even left me with some supplies, but that was his loss. An old fool who would regret leaving me with his things. Just another rotten adult…

Stopping, I gazed back at the ruins. All my life, grown-ups had proven just how awful they were to those who were smaller and weaker than them. They’d abandon you when you became an inconvenience or force you into a life not suitable for a filly. And yet, there was at least one stallion who’d shown that he was different. With a sigh, I started walking again.

It was noon when the painkiller wore off. My leg started to stiffen until I was forced to limp, the jumpy movement causing my ribs to ache. What had started out as a relatively quick pace was reduced to a pathetic crawl. Several times I had to stop and drink deeply from the water bottle. I didn’t need one of those clicky machines to know there was an uncomfortable amount of radiation swimming around in the liquid. By late afternoon I was in so much agony I caved and used the last of my water to take the remaining Med-X. How long had I been traveling? Why hadn’t I come across any settlements yet? I was unfamiliar with this area and unsure of where I was going. In the distance, I could make out a section of the road that turned into a long, winding overpass that went on for miles. Several sections of the road had broken off and fell to the ground below, but the structure as a whole seemed relatively stable. Maybe I could get up there and check my surroundings. There had to be some settlements around, right? With a destination finally set, I quickened my pace as much as the medicine would allow.

Dusk was beginning to settle as I stepped onto the smoothly paved road. The climb up to the higher reaches was slow but once I reached the top, I was thrilled I had come this way. At some point when the balefire bombs were dropped, ponies must have thought they could get away with all their belongings in wagons. In the chaos they must have panicked and crashed up here. A pile of carts and wagons lay before me, their contents spilled out all over the road. As I made my way towards the nearest one, I could see the bones of the ponies who’d been unlucky to get stuck up here as the world burned. Even more interesting, however, was the untouched suitcase tucked neatly inside a ribcage. I barely reacted as I yanked the remains away and the skeleton clattered to the ground. Skeletons were a common sight in the wasteland, and I had learned long ago there was no point getting upset over them. The ponies were long dead and forgotten.

Their stuff, on the other hoof, was still here and ripe for the taking. Pulling the case towards me, I tried to lift the lid but found it locked tight. “Goddesses fuck me stupid,” I hissed under my breath. I had meant to learn how to pick locks but kept forgetting. There were other things to do, like getting stoned or black out drunk. How would I know it would eventually come to bite me in the ass? For a moment, I thought about leaving the case behind. Surely there would be other valuables up here I could take. Yet, I found myself growing angry with the locks. Before I knew it, I had taken the sturdy box into my teeth and threw it on the ground hard. It remained closed, taunting me with its tenacity. Growling, I bucked it as hard as I could, sending it careening into the side of a nearby wagon. The echo of it hitting the rusted metal reverberated in the silent air. Panting with effort, I glared at the case as it fell to the asphalt. No wonder this thing had survived the apocalypse.

A shrill screech rose up from the surrounding darkness and without warning the sound of fluttering birds was everywhere. Only they weren’t birds. Great, hideous bats with large leathery wings rose from beneath the overpass each one easily bigger than me. One was the size of a wagon and hovered higher than the others! They must have been hanging under the road waiting for the sun to go down before hunting and I had just rudely woken them up. Before I could utter another curse, the big bat screamed for its brood to attack.

Ducking beneath the nearest wagon, I fumbled to draw the rusted pistol. One of the bats landed on top of the cart while another two reached at me on both sides with sharp talons. With a painful grunt, I kicked at one with a hard hoof. Its piercing cry caused the others to swoop around me in a frenzied rage. The wagon rocked violently threatening to tip over and expose me like a bug under a rock. A grotesque face appeared in front of me and I greeted it with a bullet to the eye. Blood gushed from the beast as it thrashed about before falling dead. Before I could aim at a new target, my whole body was suddenly lurched back at the same moment a sharp pain surged from my hind leg. Turning, I saw a vile claw hooked into my hoof dragging me across the asphalt. Kicking in vain, the beast yanked me out into the open as I scrambled to free myself. It was hard to see how many there were in the failing light, but their wings beat so loudly I knew there had to be over a dozen. I only had seven shots left. Better make them count.

I pulled the trigger with a flick of my tongue and growled as it grazed harmlessly past the bat holding me. With growing desperation, I took aim and fired again. The bullet missed the ugly face but dug into its neck. Thankfully it was enough. The animal released my leg as it reeled back, and I wasted no time crawling back to the cover of the wagon. Only it wasn’t there anymore. The enormous bat clutched the vehicle in its claws and threw it off the bridge like it had been made of foam. My ears fell as the blood drained from my face. Time seemed to slow as the monster dove at me with its horde following closely. Griping the gun tightly I fired as fast as I could. Two bullets ripped through the thin wings of a smaller bat but the remaining five whizzed away uselessly into the night. Screaming, I continued to pull the trigger even as the hammer clicked pathetically. Countless claws aimed for my face and I waited for them to rip my flesh.

A single bolt of raw magical energy pierced the darkness and struck the massive beast through the chest. It was dead before it hit the ground only a few short feet from my face. The others didn’t have time to react before a blinding light burst from behind me filling the overpass in a dazzling blue light. The bats howled in confusion and pain as they slammed into each other and crashed into carts. One by one they took to the sky abandoning the corpse of their leader to flee. Only when the last beast stumbled away did the light fade. The adrenaline drained away from my body and the gun fell from my mouth as I just sat there gasping. At some point, the painkillers had worn off, but I was only just now feeling the dull ache from old and new wounds.

The clattering of hooves announced the approach of a pony and I turned to see a familiar pale stallion coming to a halt beside me. His horn glowed with the aura of another spell as he glared up at the direction of where the bats had gone. I could only stare in awe. I had never seen a unicorn use magic in such a way. There was a hole the size of my head in the chest of a gigantic bat and this buck didn’t even seem winded from the effort the spell must have cost him. Looking me up and down, he seemed to relax upon finding me relatively unharmed.

“Are you alright? Did any of them bite you?”

I could only shake my head as words failed me.

“Good. What on earth were you doing up here? Didn’t you see those monsters hanging just below you?”

“Were you following me?”

“Of course I was! Did you honestly think I was about to let a wounded child just wander off to her death in the wasteland?”

As my limbs finally stopped trembling, I managed to stand up. Looking up at him I could see his eyes were full of concern. Why? I was a stranger to him and yet he had saved my life twice now. A growing annoyance bubbled in my stomach. I was getting really tired of this buck constantly showing me how inadequate I was.

“I’m not a child! If I wasn’t hurt, I could have easily outrun them. I don’t need you to watch over me.”

“Do you even know where you are or where you are going?”

I opened my mouth to retort but quickly shut it when I realized he was right. We both knew the answer. Without the Youngbloods, I was hopelessly lost. I’d never learned how to navigate the wasteland outside of our territory because another pony would do it. I didn’t bother with the medical mumbo jumbo because there was always a friend who had mastered those skills. I suddenly felt weak and small, but I wasn’t about to show him that. Instead, I just scowled at him. “Look, clearly you have it set in your mind that I’m just a helpless filly. If you get me to a competent healer, I’ll be able to take care of myself and you can stop following me like some kind of mother hen.”

“You’re a stubborn brat, aren’t you?” he said with a sigh. “Fine. At first light, I’ll take you to Stableton. The doctor there should be able to fix you up. Let’s get away from here. Those bats will be back soon.”

“Why would they come back?”

“They have no need to hunt when two fresh corpses are ready for eating,” he replied, pointing a hoof at the fallen bats.

I shuddered at the thought and followed behind him as we made our way back down the road. The limp had returned in earnest, but I wasn’t about to show how badly my whole body ached. Several times Vagabond checked on me to see how I was doing but I simply ignored him and continued walking.

“I think we should be alright now. We can camp here for the night,” he said at long last.

I collapsed on the spot. He didn’t say anything as he went about preparing the camp and soon, with the help of a spark of magic, a comfortable fire was ignited to push back the dark. I pulled out two cans of carrots and pushed them close to the flames. We sat in silence for a long time. I was exhausted and in pain, but sleep was the last thing on my mind. Watching the stallion carefully I began to wonder just who he really was.

“Where did you learn to use magic like that?”

“Oh, I’ve picked up a few spells here and there from ponies I’ve met on my travels.”

“I’ve met a few unicorns and never have I seen them use magic like that. Most can only do basic things like levitation or use spells based off their special talent.”

It was at this point I realized I hadn’t bothered to see what his cutie mark was. Gazing at his flank, I could see it was a simple black circle with a white star in the center and in the middle of the star rested an even smaller, dark circle. There was nothing flashy or incredible about it. If anything, it seemed boring. Noticing my stare, he too, looked at the mundane mark. For a split second I thought I saw a look of grief flash across is face but in the blink of an eye it was gone as he moved to turn the cans by the fire.

“Anyway, I never did get your name,” he said.

My brow furrowed at the obvious change of subject. What was he hiding? For a moment I thought about hounding him but thought better of it. All ponies had secrets and pasts they weren’t proud of, me included. “Wild Chains.”

A smirk appeared on his lips that had my ears falling flat as I glared at him. He waved a dismissive hoof. “I should have known it would be something like that with a cutie mark like that. Well, it’s nice to meet you, Wild Chains.”

Just like that, he left it alone. No questions about my past, no poking into how I got my name. Nothing but acceptance. All my life adults had been nothing but cruel and yet this stallion had shown me more kindness than even some of my old friends. I still felt uneasy but maybe he wasn’t a bad pony after all. Not that I was about to let him know that. The subtle ache from my wounds had grown into an unpleasant sting and as I moved my leg I hissed in pain. I hadn’t wanted to look but now I had to. In the light of the fire, I could see small, red streaks forming around the bullet hole. It didn’t take knowledge of medicine to know the signs of an infection. I suddenly felt exhausted. At some point I had dozed off because Vagabond had nudged me awake to eat the warm carrots. A full belly didn’t help my heavy eyelids, nor did it stop me from yawning.

“Get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be rough,” he said with a barely hidden chuckle.

I had already drifted off before he had finished his sentence.

Never before had the sight of an unfamiliar village made me feel happy. As we neared the little settlement the pain in my leg and chest was almost unbearable. Vagabond had woken me up well before sunrise and explained we would get to Stableton by midday. The going had been slow as the infection started to spread causing me to feel sick. I’d put on a brave face for a long time, but I couldn’t manage it any longer. Collapsing in a heap, I’d forced us to delay several hours before I could move again.

As we approached the main gate of the town, I took notice of how different it was from others I had visited. Whereas most settlements were made from the remains of old buildings, this one seemed to have been made from the ground up. It was located on the side of a large hill and surrounded by a tall fence made from large sheets of metal welded together. Inside I could see the buildings were crafted from the same metal along with wood that seemed to be cut from actual trees rather than pulled off the side of a house. Two guards stood outside the gate and as we got closer, one pulled out his gun while the other took a few steps towards us before calling out.

“What brings you to Stableton, friends?” he said with a casual voice, yet his eyes warned us not to try anything funny.

“My niece and I were traveling with a caravan when we were attacked by raiders. We managed to escape with our lives, but she was hit by a bullet. She needs to see a doctor and I’d heard there was one here.”

If I hadn’t felt so sick, I would have been dumbfounded by how easily Vagabond could spin a convincing lie. Even his voice trembled with worry. For my part, I simply stood beside him and swayed as I tried my best to stay upright. The guard watched us for a moment longer as if analyzing us. To him we must look like two, weary travelers with nothing but half empty saddle bags. No battle-scarred barding or obvious weapons between either of us. Finally, he stepped aside and motioned for his companion to let us pass.

“Doctor Willow’s clinic is just down this road and on your left. You can’t miss it.”

“Thank you, sir. Come along, sweetie. You’re going to be alright,” Vagabond said.

Even in my weakened state I threw him a glower which he only smiled at, furthering my annoyance. Ponies walked here and there as we passed by and I noticed several of them wearing matching blue and yellow barding. Some ponies watched us curiously but didn’t say much. Vagabond led me down the road until we stopped in front of a smaller building. The sign on the front had been painted yellow with three pink butterflies. Everypony understood the symbolism of those colors. Boxes with all kinds of medical supplies and drugs were marked with those same butterflies all over the Equestrian Wasteland. Once inside I was hit by the harsh smell of disinfectant which only aggravated my nausea. Unable to hold it back any longer I proceeded to vomit all over the freshly cleaned floors.

The sound of my retching summoned a mint green unicorn mare from the back of the clinic. She was older and seemed to have a permanent scowl on her face. “What in the goddess’ name is going on here?”

Vagabond politely repeated the same story he had told the guard.

Doctor Willow looked from me to Vagabond, then back to me again. “You’re her uncle just as much as I’m your grandma. Tell me the truth or get out.”

Watching his ears droop as he just stared at the callous mare made me laugh. It was a weakened, and somewhat alien sound, but a giggle all the same. Then, as my strength failed, I fell, but I didn’t hit the ground. Instead, I felt myself being gently lifted into the air as the world grew fuzzy and dark. Voices sounded far away, and I couldn’t make sense of them. After being placed somewhere, probably a table, I felt a needle prick into my neck and an instant later my whole body was pleasantly numb. Free at last from the pain of a day’s travel it wasn’t long before I had drifted off in to a peaceful semi-conscious state.

When I came too, I was lying on a bed. Not a filthy mattress but an actual bed! I had never experienced such comfort before. I imagined this is what it was like to lay on a cloud. How dare those greedy pegasi hog this all to themselves up there in their cloud fortress. As I became more aware, I noticed that the discomfort that had been my constant companion was like a distant memory. There was an ache and just an overall feeling of exhaustion, but I really did feel better. Sitting up, I took notice of the room I was in. Just as with the town, the clinic was furnished with objects not from the wasteland. The equipment seemed new and well cared for. Not a speck of rust could be found. It was odd, to say the least, but not unpleasant.

“Ah, you’re awake finally. Welcome back, Wild Chains,” said Doctor Willow as she entered the room.

At once my guard was up. “How do you know my name?”

She raised a brow as she stood beside the bed. Without a word, she pulled back the blanket to gazed intently at my ribs. The bruise had faded, and it was then that I realized I could actually breathe easier than before. Moving down my side, she then examined my flank. The nasty bandage had been removed (and probably burned) and replaced with a magical bandage. “You’ll live. Just add it to the other scars you’ve got. There are quite a few for such a young filly but I guess it’s not really unheard of for one such as you.”

“What do you mean?”

“It doesn’t matter. Your friend told me about what happened. I’m not going to press further but I am going to give you one warning. Stableton is home to good ponies. We don’t typically allow your kind here but since you’re just a child we made an exception. You will treat the ponies here with respect. If you lay a single hoof out of line, I will personally throw you out myself. Am I understood?”

Anger bubbled in my stomach as I glared down at the elderly mare. Did she think of me as just another blood thirsty raider? What had Vagabond told her? She met my eyes evenly showing no evidence that she wasn’t serious. With incredible restraint I slowly nodded my head, fearing if I opened my mouth, I would only cuss her out.

“Good. Now then, let’s talk about payment.”

My ears fell. “What?”

“You can’t honestly expect that my services were free. I have a business to run here and medical supplies don’t grow on trees.”

“Does it look like I have any caps? I was literally dragged in here half dead. Sorry, lady, but you can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip.”

“A turnip no. But a pony on the other hoof…”

With a scream, I leapt at the doctor. I could hear Rusty Blade’s voice in the back of my head telling me about the cruelty of adults. This mare was no different! She stood still, watching with an annoyed expression as I bolted towards her. Before I could reach her, however, a light blue glow encompassed me, and I was sent flying back to the bed. The soft padding didn’t prevent a fresh surge of pain from shooting up my leg, causing me to cry out.

“Calm down, Wild. No need to go attacking the pony who saved your life,” Vagabond said casually as he walked into the room.

“Another outburst like that and I'll have everypony here chase you out of town," Doctor Willow growled, then turned to Vagabond. "If you reopened that wound, I’m going to charge you extra."

“Oh, I’m sure you will.”

“What the hell is wrong with you? This bitch is trying to rob us!” I growled.

“Hmm… doesn’t seem like a robbery. But, then again, you’d be the expert on robbing folks, wouldn’t you?” he said with a playful smile.

I opened my mouth, but Doctor Willow cut me off before I could respond. “Keep quiet, girl, the grownups are talking.”

I wanted to beat that stupid scowl off her face! It was only because of Vagabond’s magic that I remained in the bed.

“Now, now, Wild isn’t just some kid. She’s pretty tough and has been through quite a lot. I’d like to keep her in good health and you in business so let’s keep things civil and come to an agreement.”

Doctor Willow grumbled something incoherently but otherwise said nothing more. Vagabond released his magic and I pouted silently on the bed.

“Good, glad that’s settle. Now then, about payment. You were talking about a stable, right?”

My ears perked up. “A stable? What does that have to do with this?”

“Why do you think we call this town Stableton? Underneath that hill over yonder is Stable 42. We discovered it about five years ago and managed to get the door open. At first, we thought it was uninhabited and we used the parts inside to build the town,” Doctor Willow said, moving to sit in a chair.

“That explains all the medical equipment and metal houses,” I said.

She nodded. “When we used all the parts from the main entrance and several attached rooms, we made our way to the back, but a sealed door blocked our way. Of course, it didn’t take us long to force our way in. I wish we hadn’t. Turns out the stable wasn’t abandoned like we first thought.” Pausing a moment, she closed her eyes and rubbed her temples as if the memories were causing her actual pain. “Behind that door were hundreds of ghouls, all of them crazy and hungry for pony flesh.”

Even I couldn’t help but gasp. While they hadn’t been as common near the Youngbloods hideout, we would often find ghouls in ruined towns. They were zombie like ponies with their flesh peeled off by radiation exposure. Most were remnants of the war torn past, doomed to an extended life of madness and aggression. I had heard that there were some ghouls who were still sane enough to live a relatively normal life, but I had never seen one. To be honest, I hoped I never did.

“Before we could stop them, they attacked. We lost six good ponies that day. We had only just managed to close the door to the stable before they could wreak havoc on the town. There are valuable resources in there that could help the ponies of Stableton…” her voice tailed off.

I knew where this was going. “What moron would risk their life just to pay off some medical debts?”

“I’ll do it,” Vagabond said.

Footnote: Level up!
New Perk: Savage Loyalty – When your health drops below 35%, your companion’s attacks do 20% more damage.
Companion Perk Unlocked: More Than Meets The Eye – As long as Vagabond is in your party, you gain +1 to all stats.

Author's Note

As ever, thank you for reading! Whew, this one was a bugger to write. Not gonna lie, I thought about giving up half way through it. But then I thought of those who were looking forward to the next chapter and I muscled through it. Thank you all so much for your support! I wouldn't be able to keep going if not for you!

Chapter Five: Stable Vices

Chapter 5
Stable Vices
"It's no use! Nopony can hear you and won't ever think to look for you here. Most ponies have forgotten that these caves even exist.”

Dr. Willow pulled the bloodstained rag away from my nose. "I don't think I've ever seen a pony face hoof so hard…"

"Vagabond, you can't be serious," I groaned, waving a hoof to shoo the old mare away.

"I'm quite serious," he said, flashing that obnoxious grin. "Not only do I get to help the ponies of this town, but you can get the healing you need free of charge."

"I don't think you understand what 'free' means."

He simply winked in reply and returned his attention to the doctor. "I'm going to need a few things before I can go. I'm assuming you have a Pipbuck that can open the door?"

"If this is what you really want to do then we can discuss the details tomorrow. It's late and I'm tired," she said, waving a dismissive hoof. "You can get a bite to eat and a bed to sleep in over at the inn. Just tell Clover that I sent you. She's my daughter, she'll take care of you."

"Thank you. I can't tell you how many moons it's been since I've slept in an actual bed. You get some rest too, Wild. I'll be back to check on you in the morning."

The pale unicorn nodded in my direction before leaving. The mention of food caused my own stomach to grumble. How long had it been since I'd eaten? A warm meal sounded too good to be true. Turns out it was. Upon hearing the ravenous growls, Dr. Willow ducked her head inside a cabinet and pulled out an old, dusty can of peaches. "Eat this," she said, popping the lid off and practically tossing it into my lap.

I glared at the aged food then back up at the doctor. "I was hoping for something a little fresher."

"You're about two hundred years late for that," she said then turned and trotted out of the room.

Sighing, I grimaced before slurping the preserved fruit down. I had to admit the sweet taste was still refreshing. For a brief moment I found myself wishing for some of Tato's infamous Mystery Soup. I heard Dr. Willow lock the door into the clinic before turning off the lights and leaving me in darkness. The only sounds came from the hum of the medical equipment surrounding me. It was strange how peaceful I felt. Even back at the dilapidated school building the nights were filled with the howls of wild animals or the constant chatter and laughter of drunk, hyper kids. We always had to stay on guard for the inevitable raids or random looters.

Strange how I had complained about it back then. There were nights I was so exhausted from work or coming off a rough Buck high that I just wanted to sleep for days. I would have given anything to have one night, alone, to just sleep. Now that I finally had that chance all I could do was sob quietly into the pillow. I missed them. I missed Ash Blossom and her kind heart. I missed Lug Nut and Razz and their annoying arguments. I… I even missed Rusty Blade. I bit the pillow to stop myself from screaming as silent tears soaked the fabric. Why? Why would I long for the ponies who had betrayed me? The night wore on as I continued to cry. All the hurt I'd felt over the last few days came out of my eyes until they ran dry. Then, they grew heavy and, at long last, I fell into a deep sleep.

When I awoke, I felt better than I had in a very long time. Stretching my forehooves above my head, I let out a satisfied sigh at the distinct lack of pain. Beside the bed was a bowl of cold oatmeal that I scarfed down without hesitation. The food seemed to give me the strength I needed to get out of bed. Though it was the best bed I'd ever slept in I felt restless. I started to make my way towards the front of the clinic when a familiar green mare barred my way.

"And where do you think you're going?" Dr. Willow demanded sternly.

"Come on, doc, I just wanted to stretch my legs a bit."

"If you think I'm going to let a patient leave my clinic looking like that, you have another thing coming. There is a bathroom over there with a shower. For the love of the Goddesses, use it!"

A shower? Without thinking, I turned and gave myself a sniff. Damn! In the dusty wasteland and surrounded by other filthy ponies I had never noticed how badly I smelled. Come to think of it I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a bath. There was that rainstorm a few weeks ago. Did that count? Apparently not from the look Dr. Willow gave me as I gagged at my own stench. Following her directions, I found a small room behind a curtain just on the other side of the clinic. Inside was what I would assume was a normal looking bathroom. There was a toilet, sink, shower, and even a mirror. Had they just dragged this room directly out of the stable? I didn't think too hard about it as I hopped in the shower and turned on the water. At once a stream of cold water crashed onto me and I yelped in surprise. Then, it warmed, and I could have purred with delight as it washed away months of grime from my body.

"Make sure to use the soap," Dr. Willow called from behind the curtain.

What the hell was soap? Looking around, I saw a small bottle filled with a clear liquid. Opening it I was greeted with a pleasant smell. Pouring it on my coat I watched as it bubbled up the more I rubbed it in. I could have stayed in there forever but eventually the water began to turn cold again, so I quickly rinsed the remaining soap and turned the faucet off.

"Here, use these to dry off," Dr. Willow said, pushing a pile of cleaned rags under the curtain.

After several minutes of rubbing myself I finally managed to get somewhat dry. It was then that I looked at myself in the mirror. What the hell did they put in soap to change a pony so drastically? My tan coat seemed to shine in the light and my mane was a much lighter shade of brown now that the dirt was gone. It was then that I noticed the sheer number of scars that littered my body. Many were old and faded, but several were still new and pink. One rested just above my left eye where Ash Blossom had kicked me to put me out of my misery. I touched it gingerly and let out a sigh. Then I saw the bullet hole just below my cutie mark. It was an ugly thing, a large purple scar that would always be a reminder of the betrayal at the hooves of my so-called family.

I suddenly didn't want to look at myself anymore. Dr. Willow was waiting for me as I left the bathroom. She gazed me up and down with a critical eye spending a bit more time on my healed wounds before nodded. "You clean up nicely despite your scars."

I just grunted not really feeling like arguing. "Can I go now? It's stuffy in here." My expression told her it wasn't the smell of chemicals I was referring to.

She glared daggers at me before turning her nose up and pointing towards the door. "Don't forget your bags on your way out. I don't want to see you back in here unless you're dying and maybe not even then."

A memory flashed in my mind of me pointing a gun at an old buck many years ago. He had been traveling with a caravan with several other families. Rusty had almost let him go, if we hadn't watched that geezer proceed to shout and hit a young colt. I remembered how satisfying it had been to drag him away from the safety of the caravan (nopony had even tried to stop us) and blown his brains out. I wondered if I would get the same satisfaction from seeing the look of fear in Dr. Willow's eyes too. Turning, I left the old hag and picked up my saddlebags before slamming the door as hard as I could behind me.

It felt good to be outside again even if it was miserably dull and dusty. The clouds above hid much of the sunlight but I could tell it was about noon. Ponies were walking in and out of several buildings throughout the small village. From what I could tell the majority of the town was a single dirt road lined on either side with shops and houses. The road seemed to end abruptly at the mouth of a cave set in the base of the large hill. That must be where the stable was. Had Vagabond already gone inside? I stared at the cavemouth for a moment longer before turning away from it. Several ponies watched me, whispering quietly as I passed. Word was sure to have spread fast in a small settlement and I was sure that everypony had heard about the child raider that their beloved doctor had nursed back to health.

Ignoring them, I made my way slowly down the street as I began to think about my next move. I could leave here. Just keep walking and never look back. Now that I was healed, I could make my own way in the wasteland. There was a whole world out there just waiting for me to explore it. A world full of dangerous monsters, murderous adults, and deadly radiation. It wouldn't have felt so daunting if I wasn't totally on my own. Having a pony to watch your back made traveling so much easier. Perhaps I could find another group that would take me in. Even as I thought it, I knew that was absurd. The ponies of this Stableton were already giving me a wide berth and that was without any weapons. If I approached somepony in the wastes they'd probably shoot me on sight.

At the thought of weapons, I rummaged through my saddlebags and found the gun Vagabond had given me was gone. The only thing left were a few cans of food and an empty canteen. I didn't even have a cap to my name. There was no way I could make it in the wasteland without supplies. I fell to my haunches with a thump and let my ears droop as the feeling of hopelessness overcame me. I was well and truly stuck here at the mercy of a strange unicorn who seemed happy to commit suicide to pay off a small debt.

The sound of laughter caught me off guard as a pair of foals ran past me. One was a bright yellow earth pony while the other, a unicorn, was a familiar shade of green. They were bucking a small ball between them trying to keep it from hitting the ground. I watched them play and found myself smiling. It was nice to see foals able to just have fun with each other without a care in the world.

"Watch out!"

Lost in thought I hadn't seen that one of them had kicked the ball too hard. The warning had come too late as it slammed into my head. Bright, white light flooded my vision for a moment accompanied by a dull throb. Well, I had gone at least twenty minutes without being in pain. After the last few days that had to be some kind of record.

"Golly, I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" the little, green filly said anxiously as she trotted up to me.

"Wisteria, ya gotta watch where your kickin'," said the yellow foal as she stood beside her friend.

"I'm okay." I said, rubbing my head and waiting for my vision to clear. I gazed at the pair and found myself surprised to find them both clean and healthy. They were just regular kids enjoying life instead of surviving it.

"Wow, are ya sure yer okay? Ya got a lotta ouchies," the yellow foal said.

"Let's just say this isn't the first time I've had a ball hit my noggin," I said with a wink as I rolled the ball back to them.

"Are you new in town? I haven't seen you before?" the green one asked.

"Kinda. I just arrived yesterday."

"Well it's nice ta meet ya! I'm Sunny Smiles and this is Wisteria. Do you wanna play with us?"

Play? How long had it been since I played a game like a normal kid? There was a memory of a colt tagging me before running away with a gleeful giggle. I couldn't remember his face, but I knew we used to be close before… nope, gonna shake that memory away before it takes me. Returning my attention to the foals I stood up and nodded. "Sure, that sounds like… fun."

Wisteria cheered before bucking the ball into the road. Galloping as fast as I could, I tried to reach it before Sunny, but she was just a bit faster. Sliding on the dirt, she kicked the ball high into the air. Backing up, I quickly caught it with my rump and sent it flying to Wisteria who caught it with a levitation spell. Her tongue stuck out in concentration as she prepared to toss it again, but a shrill cry caused the spell to break as the ball bounced away.

"Wisteria, Sunny, get over here right now!"

A tall, green unicorn stood in the doorway of a nearby building watching us with wide, fearful eyes. It was like looking at a younger version of Dr. Willow and I realized this must be her daughter, Clover.

"Coming, Mama." the green filly said before trotting up to the mare. Now I knew why her coat seemed so familiar.

Once they were "safely" away from me, Clover turned to glare at me before stamping a hoof. "Stay away from my daughter, you hear me raider!"

It was like being bucked in the gut. Adults would never change. They couldn't see me for anything but a blood thirsty monster. The moment she uttered the word 'raider', Wisteria and Sunny looked at me like I was going to eat them. We were just having fun! I wasn't going to hurt them! Pawing at the ground I felt my face grow hot as I felt angry tears filling my eyes. A second before I leapt for her a white hoof rested on my shoulder and I snapped my head back to see Vagabond gazing down at me. There were no words, no scolding glare. Just an expression that told me to back down or else there would be more trouble.

Shoving his hoof off I cast one last scowl at Clover before trotting back up the street. Several ponies had been watching the exchange and I noticed one stallion had a rifle halfway pulled from its scabbard. I ignored them and walked by with my head held high, forcing the tears to stay hidden. They weren't about to see how much it hurt.

"I know it's hard, but-"

"I don't need you to keep babysitting me," I whirled on Vagabond and unloaded all my frustrations on him. "Just because you saved my life doesn't mean that you can act like you care! I know what I am and so does everypony else. They don't want me here and yet I'm trapped because you want to be an idiot. Why don't you go inside that deathtrap and just leave me alone!"

He just stood there quietly with that stupid smile he always seemed to wear. I wanted to smack it off his face. How could an adult understand? Groaning loudly, I just rolled my eyes and trotted away before bumping into a Pipbuck floating right in my face.

"Want to go kill some feral ghouls with me?"

It felt good to have a fully loaded weapon holstered at my side and well stocked saddlebags on my back. While I had been wandering Stableton, Vagabond had cleared the local stores of their wares and ammo in preparation for his suicide mission. Admittedly I had been taken aback by his random invitation to join him in the depths of the stable. Just last night it seemed he was willing to just leave me behind to wait for him to die alone down there. Now he seemed all too happy to have me along. Part of me wanted to turn tail and run away from the stable, the town, and the unicorn who had a maddening need to watch over me. Yet my hooves carried me up the road and into the cave. Perhaps it was because I knew I wouldn't get far before Vagabond found me again or that the guard ponies wouldn't allow me to leave before I paid what was owed. Or maybe…. maybe I wanted to show them I wasn't the bad pony they thought I was.

Our hooves echoed as we delved deeper into the tunnel. The further we went the more skeletons I saw had been scattered to the side of the cave haphazardly. I guess it had been the work of the good ponies of Stableton. Even the best ponies of the wasteland were careless with the ghosts of the past. On we went until we finally reached a huge, metal door that blocked our way. Beside it was a panel with a cracked computer screen.

"There it is. Sinister looking, isn't it?" Vagabond said.

Looking at the buck I could see his incessant smile had vanished. Instead, his lips were set in a hard line as he stared at the door in what I could only describe as disgust. Maybe he was just as nervous as I was about going into an underground death trap. I didn't press as we made our way to the console.

"Ever been inside one of these before?" he asked as he wiped away the dust on the computer.

"No, but my gran used to tell me stories about the stable she came from."

"Trust me, it's nothing like those stories." Levitating the Pipbuck from his saddlebag, Vagabond pulled a cord from the side of the device and plugged it into the computer. He hovered a hoof over a large, red button. "Here we go."

I nodded and unholstered my gun. An ear splitting wailed filled the tunnel and a harsh yellow light flashed above the door as he slammed his hoof on the button. The door seemed to take forever to move as the gears strained under 200 years of rust. The sound was grating, and I bit down hard on my gun waiting for it to stop. Finally, the door opened by a few feet just enough to let several ghouls pour out. Vagabond was quicker than me as he pulled the plug from the console (thankfully ending the barrage of noise) and shot several of the rotten creatures with a bolt of magic.

Not to be outdone, I took careful aim before tagging two more. I was surprised how quickly they could move on limbs that were ready to fall off. Before we knew it, twenty had spilled from the opening with over a dozen more shoving their way through. The sound of the alarm must have been like a lunch bell ringing in their ears. They had been waiting for a long time to taste more pony flesh and nothing was going to stop them. Well, except for the bullets I had put in their brains. One had gotten a little too close for comfort, but Vagabond made short work of it as his spell blasted its head clean off its shoulders. I was beginning to wonder if he actually needed me here. The number of bodies littering the entrance to the stable was becoming ridiculous. Maybe this would be easier than I thought. It was then I saw that a small horde of ghouls had packed so tight into the gap they had clogged it. I would have laughed if it weren't so terrifying.

"I guess the doc wasn't exaggerating when she said 'hundreds'," I said as I quickly reloaded. "I'm going to run out of ammo before we even get inside.

"Get behind me," Vagabond said.

Trotting towards the door, I saw his horn was glowing much brighter than before. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as he pointed it towards the poor beasts. I wish I could have seen what had happened but the blast that exploded from his horn was so bright I was instantly blinded. Covering my eyes, I stumbled back and tripped over a corpse as the cave seemed to vibrate with magical energy. It took a few moments before my vision cleared and I was finally allowed to see the aftermath.

"Fuck!" What had once been a mass of writhing, rotten ghouls were nothing more than just a large pile of ash. Wide eyed I stood and slowly moved to stand beside the stallion. "Remind me never to piss you off."

He managed to chuckle before stumbling and quickly catching himself as he stood there panting and sweating like he had just run several miles. I just watched him wordlessly unsure what to do. "Been… a long time since I had… had to use that spell," he gasped between deep breaths.

"What was that? I've never seen anything like it."

"Just something I… picked up in my travels. It's a very dangerous spell that can put a unicorn in a coma if not done correctly."

"Well thanks for doing it correctly and not leaving me to deal with a horde of zombie ponies. Think you can do it again so we can get the hell out of here?"

"I doubt it. We're going to have to clean the rest of this place out the old fashion way I'm afraid."

"Figured it wasn't going to be that easy," I groaned, rolling my eyes.

"Give me a moment to catch my breath. Why don't you head inside and make sure there aren't anymore?"

Nodding, I carefully made my way to the giant, steel door. Wading through the pile of ash I peeked inside and gazed around for any remaining ghouls. Thankfully nothing was moving so I moved further in. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, but eventually I could see that the entrance area was large and open with several rooms branching off to the right and left. The whole thing reminded me of a skeleton. The metal walls had been stripped down to the support beams, doors had been removed, and even the floor had been taken. Every now and then the dirt from the roof of the cave would spill in and I was suddenly aware of how much earth was just above my head. How could ponies live down here knowing that at any time they could be buried alive?!

Gulping nervously, I suddenly felt as if I were wearing iron shoes. Pushing myself to continue I eventually found a single door that had not been stripped down. It stood open and ready to swallow me whole. Behind the threshold was a metal ramp that lead deeper into darkness, a place where ponies did not belong. I stared at door as all the strength seemed to leave me. I didn't want to go down there!

Suddenly, a bright, green light shone from behind me and pushed away the shadows. Turning I saw Vagabond standing with the Pipbuck held aloft like a flashlight. "It's okay to be afraid. It feels like you're walking into a grave, huh? You can go back, if you want. You've already proved that you're willing to help the ponies of Stableton."

"No. No, I'm going with you. Let's just get this over with."

"Here, take this. You're going to need it more than me." Floating the Pipbuck down he attached it to my left foreleg with a loud click. "It's a shame the EFS matrix is broken but at least you will be able to see where you're going."

"EFS?"

"Eyes Forward Sparkle. It's a useful targeting spell that all Pipbucks have. However, this one was badly damaged at some point. But the light still works and right now that's most important."

"How do you know so much about this thing?" I asked, trying to take my mind off the tight feeling in my guts.

"When you've been wandering around in the wasteland as long as I have, you learn a thing or two. Now hush and stay close to me."

I nodded and felt the anxiety lift a little now that the light would stay with me. Vagabond's horn glowed as he stepped through the doorway with me following behind. The narrow hallways were vastly different from the open entrance and more than once I had to close my eyes and just breathe. It didn't help that the sounds in the stable were so much louder than they were outside. I could hear the groans and howls of the ghouls tucked away in the shadows. I tried to take my mind off the weight of the literal mountain over me by admiring the strange architecture of an ancient world.

Everything was made of a dull, gray metal that had rusted in places over the years. Every now and then I would see a poster with a silly looking pony and the words 'Stable-Tec' plastered all over it. I also noticed that every hallway had a set of guns hanging from the hallway ceiling. Seeing them had me ducking underneath a nearby table, much to Vagabond's surprise.

"It's okay, they aren't active," he said, gazing up at the turrets with a suspicious look.

"What is it?" I asked, feeling uneasy.

"If nopony was able to get down here why are the defense systems down?"

The question wasn't meant for me, so I kept quiet as we continued down the hall. As we passed by an open door, I heard a guttural hiss only seconds before a ghoul slammed against me and knocked me to the ground. The stench of rotten flesh filled my nose as I struggled to avoid gnashing teeth. What had once been a fully-grown stallion centuries ago was now a mess of decaying muscles and bones. After managing to get my back hooves under it I kicked up with all my strength. The monster was sent sprawling to the ground giving me enough time to draw my gun and shoot it between the eyes. Just then I saw Vagabond stabbing his horn through a particularly large ghoul. It howled in pain before falling limp. Keeping my gun in my mouth, I simply nodded to my companion as he turned to make sure I was okay. If these things were going to hide in the shadows, I wasn't about to be caught off guard again.

The going became much slower as we checked each open room. Doing this allowed us to catch the damn things before they could jump us again. With a gun in my mouth and the advantage on our side, I began to feel more confident. The confined space was still nerve wracking but manageable. With a quick flick of the tongue, I watched with satisfaction as another ghoul's head lurched back before falling to the ground. Pausing a moment to reload I also took stock of how much ammo was left in my saddle bag.

"Shit."

Vagabond fired a bolt into a small ghoul, turning it into a glowing pile of ash, before gazing down at me. "What?"

"I'm down to only eighteen rounds. How many of these things are there?"

"I don't know. We haven't even made it to the atrium, and I can only imagine how many would be there."

"What's that?"

"Think of it like the main hub in a stable. Ponies usually gather there if something goes wrong and something sure as hell went wrong here."

"We can't keep picking them off one by one. I'm going to run out of bullets and your horn is going to fall off your head." He chuckled and rubbed a hoof on the base of his horn. Try as he might he couldn't hide the fact that each spell was starting to take its toll after that big one before. "We need more fire power."

Suddenly his horn lit up as he eyes grew wide. "That's it! Wild Chains, you're a genius."

"Not when I'm sober," I said, suddenly craving a Mint-al. "but I'll pretend to know why I'm suddenly so smart."

"If we can get down to the maintenance room, we can turn on the turrets and reprogram them to shoot the remaining ghouls."

"You know how to do that?"

"I doubt it would be too hard as long as I can use the Pipbuck. The hard part is going to be getting down to maintenance. It's usually tucked away towards the back of the stable."

My eyebrows furrowed. How did he know that? I was sure that if I were to ask him his answer would be the same. 'I've learned a lot wandering around,' or some such nonsense. There was something he wasn't telling me, and I was about to open my mouth to demand he tell me when a terrifying scream echoed from the bowels of the stable. My blood turned cold and all thoughts of arguing with the mysterious unicorn faded. As if acting on their own, my hooves scooted me closer to Vagabond as the shriek faded.

"What the hell was that," I whispered.

"Trouble probably. Come on, let's finish this up and get out of here."

Sneaking through the halls made it feel like it had taken hours to get to the center of Stable 42. Luckily, there didn't seem to be any other ghouls hiding out in the abandoned rooms as we got closer to the atrium. I had seen several signs on the walls indicating which way to go but I had ignored them until now. Following behind Vagabond, I saw his ears droop as he looked at one of the signs before making his way in the opposite direction. Pausing I took a moment to read the sign (I wasn't the fastest reader, okay) and deduced it was a school that lay down the hallway. Raising a hoof, I let the green light fill the area and saw a very small hoof bone sticking out of an open doorway. Nope. I rushed after the buck as my brain mercifully purged the horrifying sight from my memory.

The hall suddenly opened to a large room full of tables, chairs, and other kinds of furniture. Off in the distance was what looked like a kitchen full of all sorts of bizarre appliances. I could also see, what I assumed had once been, an orchard attached to the massive room. The dead trees and rotten fruit seemed so alien in this underground world. Perhaps I chose to notice these useless things first, so I didn't have to acknowledge the elephant in the room… or rather, the six dozen ghouls scattered across the atrium.

Vagabond's hoof slammed against my mouth before I unconsciously screamed bloody murder. It was like gazing out at a sea of zombie ponies and even I couldn't pretend to be a hardass at the sight. Most of them were lying motionless on the ground but there were several wandering about aimlessly. I felt Vagabond gently push me backwards in a silent signal to back up. I didn't argue. He was looking around frantically for something, but I didn't dare try to ask. Even the sound of my hooves on the floor seemed agonizingly loud. At any moment those sleeping ghouls were going to wake up and we were zombie food!

Suddenly, an icy blue glow wrapped around the Pipbuck on my foreleg and it was lifted without my consent. I hated that feeling but I allowed it this one time as I watched Vagabond extend the cord from the device and attach it to a small terminal in the wall. I hadn't even noticed it. Okay, he had for sure been in a stable before! A series of numbers ran across the dusted screen and Vagabond cursed under his breath. I winced at the sound, terrified it was going to announce our presence to the monsters only a few feet away. The buck quickly typed something on the keyboard and the computer beeped a warning. Pulling out my gun, I turned to face the onslaught of ghouls that were surely stirring from the harsh sound. A few of the wanderers had stopped to look in our direction but made no attempt to charge at us… yet.

Vagabond entered another code into the terminal but this time the beep sounded more welcoming. As if to confirm this, he sighed in relief and wiped his brow. With a final tap on the keyboard several doors around the atrium suddenly closed with a loud, unified hiss. It was this that finally woke the ghouls and they all groaned and shrieked in protest as they wiggled and twitched. It was disgusting to watch the whole floor of the atrium writhe and I felt my stomach lurch. Just as the first group of ghouls charged at us the door slammed shut, cutting us off from certain death.

At the same moment, that horrifying scream filled the halls once again. The fear that gripped my heart almost caused me to drop my gun as my legs began to quiver. That had sounded so much closer this time. We glanced at each other as I holstered my gun then turned to gallop in the opposite direction of the scream.

"We need to get those turrets turned on. The maintenance room should be just on the other side of the atrium, but we'll have to take the long way around," Vagabond said.

"How are we going to get them turned on?"

"It should be just like any other terminal here. Once you attach the Pipbuck to it, it should allow access to the mainframe. Then you just override the previous command and turn them on."

"What's a mainframe?" I was never good with technology. Before he could answer, that monstrous scream filled the hallway again. Turning, I saw a bright, green glow chasing us and this time I couldn't stop myself from crying out in fear. Whatever was after us was gaining on us! As if to make matters worse, the Pipbuck began emitting an eerie clicking sound. That couldn't be good.

"Oh no," the stallion moaned.

"What? What does that mean?"

He didn't reply. Instead, he skidded to a halt just outside of an open door and telekinetically tossed me inside. Slamming hard against a desk, I gasped as the wind was knocked from my lungs. Dazed, I scrambled to get up but found my legs unwilling to listen to my brain. The sound of hooves clattering away told me that Vagabond had left me behind. Confused and angry I growled breathlessly as I reached for my gun. I was going to kill him! Another set of hooves charging down the hall caused me to pause. The green glow seemed brighter now and the Pipbuck clicked faster and faster.

In the blink of an eye, a huge, pony like figured dashed past the doorway towards the direction my companion had gone. I had only managed to catch a glimpse of it, but I had seen enough to know that was something I never wanted to see again. Its skin was eternally melting from so much radiation that it was actually glowing! I felt sick to my stomach and before I could stop myself I vomited the remains of the oatmeal I'd had for breakfast. Shaking, I wanted nothing more than to escape from this nightmare, but I knew I couldn't leave. That idiot had left me alone and I was hopelessly lost in this metal tomb! Maybe I was also a little worried about him being chased by a walking megaspell, but I would never admit that out loud. I knew he was powerful, but he was weakened after that spell from before. Even he would struggle to fight off something that was still alive after so much radiation poisoning. Once again, he had shielded me from danger only to put himself in harm's way. Damnit, was I always going to be indebted to him!?

After a moment I was finally able to stand. Ignoring my trembling hooves, I slowly made my way to the doorway and listened. Other than the distant groans of the ghouls trapped in the atrium, the stable was quiet. Vagabond had given me a chance to get to maintenance and I wasn't about to pass that up. Gulping, I pulled my gun out and galloped down the hall following the signs labeled 'maintenance' and hoping that stupid bastard was okay.

I had never been afraid of the dark. For as long as I could remember I had always loved to gaze at the night sky in the hope that I would catch a glimpse of the moon goddess herself. It was only now that I realized I had never known what true darkness is. It completely absorbed me and robbed me of my senses. If not for the meager light of the Pipbuck, I would have been left as nothing more than a whimpering foal lost and forgotten. When Vagabond had been with me my steps were sure and steady. Now they were small and timid as I jumped at every sound. It was embarrassing how scared I was, but I couldn't help it! How had ponies managed to live in these cramped, suffocating, and deadly hell holes? Well, in the case of Stable 42, they hadn't.

As I came across a junction, I heard the familiar screech of that glowing ghoul. It was farther away than before telling me that it was still pursuing Vagabond, at least, I hoped that's what it meant. Trying not to think about it too much I checked the wall for another sign that would tell me where I was going.

"Atrium to the right. Overmare's office to the left. Maintenance straight ahead," I whispered aloud. A memory flickered in my mind suddenly of that poster with the purple pony on it. 'Reading is magic', it had said, and I would laugh at it before throwing a dart into the eye for fifty points. A lot of the kids who had joined the Youngbloods couldn't read and even I thought it had been a silly thing to learn. Now, I was grateful for the skill. Trotting a bit faster I started heading down the hallway until the Pipbuck started that weird clicking again. Seconds later a faint glow radiated from the end of the hallway. Holding back a scream I quickly darted back to the junction. There was only one way to go so I quickly turned in the direction of the overmare's office.

My heart dropped to my hooves when I saw the bones of numerous ponies piled outside a large door. It wasn't the bones that had me freaking out but the fact that I was now trapped! The light was getting brighter and the Pipbuck was clicking faster and faster. Running in place frantically I began looking around for anywhere I could hide. It was then I noticed a terminal tucked away beside the door. Scrambling through the bones I pulled the cord out of the Pipbuck just like Vagabond had done and thrust it into the port.

A groan echoed from behind me, but I dared not turn around. My eyes were glued to the screen as a jumbled mess of letters, numbers, and strange characters appeared. It didn't make any sense! There was a flashing box as if it were asking me for a command. I pushed a button that highlighted a random word was rewarded with a loud buzz that told me I had entered in the wrong password. Password? Is that what it wanted? How the hell was I supposed to know that?!

Heavy steps behind me told me I was running out of time. Where was Vagabond? Had the monster finally caught up to him? If it was here, then he had to be dead and now I was trapped down here! I began to cry. Fear, anger, and frustration all balled up into one and I couldn't hold them back. Then came the scream of unbridled fury and I finally turned to see that glowing abomination standing at the end of the hallway. Our eyes met and that's when it started running.

"No!" I shrieked. Not knowing what else to do, I slammed my hoof on the keyboard out of sheer desperation. I can't explain how it happened other than pure luck, but the terminal beeped happily, and the door hissed open just wide enough for a little pony to squeeze through. Tripping over the bones I fell through the crack and landed in a spacious office. I barked out a triumphant laugh that ended in a squeal as a massive hoof shot through the gap. Backpedaling, I tried to get as far away from the door as possible as the glowing ghoul tried to force its way through. It howled and kicked but the metal held firm. I managed to catch my breath as the adrenaline left, leaving me panting and sniffling on the floor.

The ghoul seemed to forget why it was thrashing at the door after several minutes and retreated only to stand like some kind of freakish guard. For now, I was stuck in the office and took a moment to get my bearings. There wasn't much other than a large desk with a terminal, some moldy chairs, and a faded flag. The door must have remained closed for the last two centuries since this room was practically untouched. I made my way around the desk, the movement catching the eye of the ghoul and sending it back into a fruitless rampage on the door and sat in the posh chair. A single skeleton was tucked under the desk but I kicked it away to make room as I scooted closer to the terminal. I was going to be here for a while so I might as well try and practice with the whole technology thing. Plugging the Pipbuck in, I waited for the flash of numbers and code, but it didn't happen. Instead, it greeted me pleasantly and showed me a single option to select from.

Welcome, Overmare.

> Audio File 1

Why not? Clicking the file, I sat back and listened. At first there was static but soon a mare's voice spoke.

"This is Overmare Amethyst Star of Stable 42. This will be my first and last recording. I was hoof picked by Applebloom herself to manage this stable and I couldn't have been prouder. And why shouldn't I have been? After all I am the most organized pony right after Twilight Sparkle, and I was the leader of the animal team for Winter Wrap up seven years in a row! I know how to manage ponies, so I thought being an overmare would be a breeze. Too bad I'll never get the chance to know that for sure."

I could hear far off voices wailing in the background along with hooves pounding on a door. I guess that explained the bones. The glowing ghoul rammed its head against the door at the sound of the recording and I heard a sickening crunch. I gulped nervously but the creature let out a moan and fell to the ground stunned. Shaking my head, I returned my attention back to the recording.

"…warning we had to get to the stable. It was a mad house. Ponies were scrambling to get inside, but we could only allow those who had made the list. It was hard to send so many ponies away, but I had a job to do and I wasn't going to let Applebloom and the ponies of Stable-Tec down. Once the ponies were safely inside, I ordered the door to be sealed shut, but it malfunctioned."

Her voice cracked and she began sobbing. It took her a long time to compose herself all the while the screams and bangs continued relentlessly.

"The door wouldn't close! I heard the megaspells falling, felt the ground shake as they exploded just outside the very door that was supposed to protect us from them. I didn't know what else to do so I ran to my office just as the wave of magical radiation came through the crack. I can still feel the heat on the back of my legs. That's when the screaming began. I watched on this very terminal as ponies went mad and started attacking one another! Their flesh looked as if it were melting and I can only imagine how much pain they must have been in! I don't know who did it, but somepony finally managed to get the door sealed before they were overrun. It was too late. There is no way for me to escape this nightmare. All the ponies I was supposed to take care of are dead or worse.

"I'm not going to let that happen to me. Maybe I'm a coward. I should be out there suffering with them, but I just can't bring myself to do it. So, I guess I'll have an excuse to use that gift Dinky got for me when she found out I was chosen as overmare. I didn't understand why she got it for me, but I guess everypony was buying guns after the war started. Well, this is it. Overmare Amethyst Star signing off."

I heard her start to hum a catchy tune and the words 'winter wrap up' were muttered a few times between sobs. Then came the familiar click of a guns hammer and the inevitable bang followed shortly after. The recording didn't stop. It looked like there were hours of just groaning, weeping, and endless suffering until the recording ended. I turned it off after only a few seconds. I had never really had much remorse for the lost souls of the past. Their bones were scattered all across the wasteland, but I'd never given them a second thought. This was the first time I had known who they actually belonged to.

Leaning down, I peered under the desk at the remains of Amethyst Star. The remains I had thoughtlessly kicked aside. I carefully arranged them back together as best I could whispering my apologies. It wasn't much but given the circumstances it was better than leaving them tossed aside. Picking up the skull I was surprised when a small bullet casing fell out causing me to gaze sadly at the single hole on the side. Placing it next to the pile, I caught a glimpse of something I hadn't seen before. It was a snub-nosed pistol with a scope attached. On the side of the barrel was an emblem of three, small gemstones. It was in remarkably good condition and from the weight I could tell it was still loaded.

The moment my hoof touched the weapon the Pipbuck beeped and something flashed across my vision causing me to utter a startled cry. An image of the gun appeared, and I saw there was a name too.

"Amethyst's Peace." It seemed a fitting name. The strange phenomenon passed, and my vision returned to normal. Part of me thought about leaving the gun behind but I knew it would be no use here. It had done its job for its previous owner. It was time for it to serve another and I was always in need of more protection. Nodding my thanks to Amethyst Star I holstered my new gun and said a rare, silent prayer to the Goddesses asking them to watch over her spirit.

Without warning a piercing howl rang throughout the stable. It hadn't come from the glowing one outside the door which meant there was more than one of those damn things down here! Then that meant Vagabond was okay! I was astonished to find myself relieved at this revelation but didn't dwell on it for too long. Peeking around the side of the desk, I could see the ghoul guarding my escape had turned to stare blankly into the darkness. Seconds later I heard another set of hooves clopping down the hallway then a flash of pale, blue light. I didn't catch sight of the unicorn, but the ghoul must have because it suddenly stampeded away with an angry growl. Once again, my companion had given me a chance to end things even if he didn't know it. Trotting to the door I caught the last glow of irradiated light fade away in the direction of the atrium. Pulling Amethyst's Peace from the holster I galloped away from the overmare's office and turned to make a beeline for maintenance.

Time was of the essence. No more hiding from every little noise. It was time to finish the damn job and get the hell out of here. I never wanted to see another stable again! The clattering of my hooves drew a few lesser ghouls from their hiding spots, but my new weapon made short work of them. Small as it was it sure did packed a punch! At long last, a large sign told me I had finally made it to maintenance, and I wasted no time sliding into the room. Thankfully it was free of any roaming zombie ponies, but I did notice it was chock-full of a wide assortment of tools and gadgets. There were also dozens of Pipbucks stacked and I was tempted to take one, but I knew next to nothing about them. Instead I holstered Amethyst's Peace and darted to the terminal and jammed the Pipbuck into the port.

"Please don't let there be a password. Please don't let there be a password. Please don't let there be a password," I chanted desperately. It would seem my luck had run out as the screen filled with gibberish. Alright, come on, Wild, think! What would ponies back then have used for a password. It was then I remembered what Amethyst Star had said. Nopony had even made it this far into the stable before turning into those monsters. Nopony had put a password on this it must still be using a default one! Looking at the screen, I scanned the scrambled mess until I found something that stood out. 'Stable-Tec'.

Pressing the button, I sighed heavily when the screen changed to show me several options.

> Orientation

> Technicians To-Do List

> Turret Control

> Power Supply Information

Selecting the correct one the computer then asked which option to choose from.

> Free fire

> Hostile targets

> Turn off

"Why is there even an option for free fire? Nope, screw it, I don't care!" Picking the hostile option, I hit the keyboard hard. Above my head, I saw one of the guns sudden spin around and target me. My ears drooped as I thought I had messed up somehow but then a little light on the base turned green and it twisted away to point at the door. That's when the stable erupted with gunfire and yowls of pain. I could only imagine the kind of slaughter that was happening in the atrium. I cheered loudly as I bucked the air but hesitated a little when I realized those had all been innocent ponies at one time. It wasn't their fault they had been turned into mindless horrors.

While I waited for the turrets to finish cleaning up, I aimlessly tapped through the options on the terminal until I found an option, I wish had been available before. With a click I selected it and blinked as the lights in the stable powered up. At once I felt better about being trapped miles underground, but I still wanted out. Now that I could see, I noticed a yellow box on the wall and smiled. Opening it, I discovered some healing potions, a bag of Radaway, and a bottle of painkillers. Well… Dr. Willow hadn't said we couldn't have some of the stuff found down here. After putting the supplies in my saddlebag, the sound of gunfire began to die down telling me it was finally safe to leave and find Vagabond. I left the pipbuck plugged into the terminal, grabbed Amethyst's Peace, and checked to see how many bullets were left. One. Of course, it was just one. I'd have Vagabond buy me more when we were done. It was the least he could do after dragging me down into this hellhole.

Now that the lights were on it was like being in a whole different world. Posters and murals I hadn't noticed before greeted me as I trotted down the hallway. It did seem to make things look a bit more…hopeful. Too bad many of them were tainted with dried blood. Turning down the hall towards the atrium I just about died when I saw one of those stupid glowing bastards limping a short distance away. How was it still alive?! I could see it was littered with bullet holes and a luminous liquid pooling around its hooves.

That's when I saw him. Just past the glowing ghoul a white unicorn stood over the bodies of two others, their innate glow steadily getting dimmer. He was panting and bleeding from a nasty cut on his neck but otherwise okay. He hadn't noticed the remaining threat dragging itself towards him. It was like déjà vu only this time with something much more deadly than a group of kids. Looking down the scope of my gun I pointed it at the back of the ghoul's head. One shot, Wild, better make it count. Pulling my tongue back, I fired.

The blast rang out and time seemed to slow. Vagabond turned his head the moment the bullet entered the monster's skull, sending glowing blood splattering all over. Those icy blue eyes gazed past the zombie pony at me and I smiled back.

"We've got to stop meeting like this," I called.

When we emerged from Stable 42 it was dark. Not that suffocating darkness but rather a gentle and welcoming darkness. The streets of Stableton were bare but the houses were all alight giving us a nice view after such an ordeal. We started making our way back to the clinic where that ungrateful hag was waiting.

"I never want to go inside another stable for as long as I live," I said, sighing contentedly.

"Let's hope you never have to," Vagabond replied with a smile.

"So, are you going to tell me why you know so much about them or are we just going to ignore that?"

"Ignore what?"

I shook my head and playfully shoved him. I wasn't one to pry into another pony's secret, but I had to admit I was curious. Of course, I had asked him why he had played tag with those glowing ghouls when it was clear he could have easily taken them out. All he would say was he was waiting for the right moment. Pressing further only resulted in him flashing that obnoxious grin. So, I guess I had no choice but to leave it at that… for now.

When we reached Dr. Willow's clinic, I almost bucked the door down to let her know we were back but Vagabond caught me in his magic and pleasantly knocked instead. Killjoy. I did get a bit of a kick when she answered and just gawked at us for a moment.

"Well, well, well, you're alive. Color me impressed."

"We took care of your pest problem. There may be one or two stragglers but nothing a group of well-armed ponies can't handle," Vagabond said.

"I'll have Steelheart round up some bucks to clean up tomorrow. You did well, Mr. Vagabond. I'll see that you are rewarded."

"It wasn't just me. Wild Chain's here was the one who activated the turrets and even saved me from a surprisingly tough ghoul."

So that's why he'd let me be the one to turn on the guns. Sneaky bastard. Releasing me from his telekinesis I just stood there glaring at Dr. Willow. She returned the gesture but seemed to ease up a little.

"Perhaps I judged you too harshly, Wild Chains. Thank you for saving the ponies of Stableton. Now, if you two would like to retire to the inn, Clover will take care of you and we can talk more in the morning."

With that she shut the door in our snickering faces. Yeah, there was more to Vagabond then he was letting on. Maybe he wasn't all bad. Course, I wasn't going to let him know that. Clover's reaction to our arrival was almost identical to her mother's but she gave up an extra room for me without too much fuss. For a second night in a row I slept comfortably on an actual bed. When morning came, I was reluctant to leave but Vagabond dragged me downstairs and we ate a hearty breakfast of 200-year-old oat cakes. Afterwards, we met up with Dr. Willow again. Thankfully, it was a brief visit as she declared that my medical expenses were paid in full with interest. Tossing a bag of caps to Vagabond she waved a dismissive hoof and we left.

After resupplying our packs and purchasing more ammunition for Amethyst's Peace we left Stableton just as the sun reached the highest point in the sky. We traveled a short way without saying much but then Vagabond stopped, and I turned to look at him curiously.

"Well, you're healed and fully prepared to face the wasteland on your own. I've paid my debt, so I'll let you go your own way." His eyes seemed distant and sad, but he didn't say anything else.

I stood there a moment thinking long and hard about what came next. A new life was waiting for me and I still had no clue what I was meant to do with it. I'd never been alone before and from what I could tell, Vagabond had been alone for too long. After our adventure in the stable I knew he was a valuable companion, for an adult anyways. More than once he'd risked his own life to ensure I was safe. Rusty Blade told me over and over again that all adults were untrustworthy monsters and more often than not, he was proved right. But he had been wrong about Vagabond.

"Actually, I was thinking you might need somepony to watch your back. I mean, this makes it two times now that I've saved your life. Clearly you can't be left alone."

At once he flashed that stupid grin of his. I groaned and rolled my eyes before turning to hide my own smile. Together, we made our way back into the Equestrian Wasteland ready for what other adventures were out there.

Footnote: Level up!
New Perk: Intense Training (level one) – You are a quick study when danger looms nearby. You gain +1 to your intelligence
Quest Perk added: Rotten Butcher - The smell of putrid flesh triggers you. You do 5% more damage to feral ghouls.

Author's Note

Thank you once again, SonnyStar, for your help with editing. And thank you too, dear reader, for your continued support!

Chapter Six: Friends in High Places

Chapter 6
Friends in High Places
"It's strange how seldom ponies tend to look up."

"And now, children, on to the news. As I'm sure many of you know by now there is a lot of activity coming out of Fillydelphia. Not only have several of the ancient factories started spewing smoke for the first time in two centuries but it also appears that construction on a wall has started. If you all remember last month, I told you about the dozens of slave caravans making their way to Fillydelphia. Well it doesn't take a smart pony to figure out just who is building that wall. Because of this the demand for forced labor has been on the rise as of late and slavers aren't holding back who they take. Please, children, be safe out there. Steer clear of Fillydelphia and make sure to travel with some extra firepower. Don't let your freedom be taken because you weren't prepared. That's all the news I have for now. Let's finish up the hour with our favorite gem, Sapphire Shores! This has been DJ Pon3, bringing you the news no matter how much it hurts."

I took another shot of apple whiskey as the deep voice on the radio was replaced by the mighty vocals of some long dead singer. The liquid burned pleasantly as it went down causing me to shiver involuntarily. The chatter of the bar washed over me as I thought back to the time Rusty Blade had taken a few of us down to the ruins of Fillydelphia. How long ago had that been? Two, three years now? Back then the city had been crawling with dozens of rival raider gangs constantly at war with one another for control of the territory. We had gone there to establish trade but quickly learned that had been a stupid idea. We'd barely escaped with our lives and I'd lost part of an ear! Whoever was in charge now seemed to have either killed off the raiders or forced them to submit. The latter seemed less likely. I'd never known raiders to just bow down to some overlord. Chances were they had all killed themselves in their stupid war and somepony had taken advantage of the free land. Hearing that slaves were being used to rebuild the desolate city caused my blood to boil. The fact that there was nothing I could do to help them didn't help, but I knew how to quell the feelings.

"Give me another," I said, slamming a hoof full of caps on the counter.

The bartender, a grizzled looking buck, turned to look at me with a raised brow. "How old did you say you were again?"

"Enough."

With a shrug he pulled a dusty bottle out from behind the counter and poured amber liquid into a shot glass. As he did so, I watched as two ponies walked in through the swinging doors and sat down at a table close by. The unicorn mare was an ugly shade of green with a black, matted mane. The color of her stallion companion reminded me of an old scab that refused to heal. When he caught me staring, he turned to sneer but the intimidation factor was lost when I saw most of his teeth were gone. Rolling my eyes, I returned my attention back to the shot glass, but I couldn't help but listen to the pair as their conversation piqued my interest.

"They should be passin' by in a few hours. If we're quick they ain't gonna know what hit 'em," the buck said.

"You sure that moron got the timin' right? If this ends up bein' a bust like that Applewood job Imma kill the bastard myself," the booger mare growled.

"Shuddup! This ain't gonna be nothin' like Applewood. Look, there's only four or five guards hauling a dozen slaves. We git in, snag the slaves fer ourselves, and drag 'em to Fillydelphia for a higher price."

The anger returned with a vengeance and I stopped myself from lashing out with another gulp of booze. My hooves were beginning to tingle, my stomach felt warm and fuzzy, and soon I wasn't going to feel much of anything. Sliding the shot glass back I tapped on the counter and it was returned moments later. I went to take that satisfying swig, but the glass started floating out of my reach. With an annoyed sigh, I watched the whiskey fly right into the mouth of that obnoxious unicorn I had been traveling with for three weeks now.

Vagabond tossed the empty glass back at the bartender with a stern look. "No more alcohol for my underage friend here. I'll, however, take a bottle of whatever beer you've been able to scrounge up."

The bartender glared at me and I just shrugged unapologetically. Nopony batted an eye at the gun holstered to my side or the leather barding that had clearly seen some action but suddenly it was wrong for me to have a Goddessesdamned drink! I slammed my head on the bar and growled under my breath when I heard Vagabond chuckle before cracking his own beverage open. I didn't look at him as he started talking about doing odd jobs around the town for some minuscule caps while I had been busy getting drunk, but his voice faded away as my attention was dragged back to the pair of slavers.

"He's runnin' late again. I'm gonna wring his fuckin' neck," the mare hissed.

"Let's just go. We know where they're headin' and he can meet us there later. After we deliver the slaves you can blast the little shit in two for all I care but we need him alive 'til then. His contact won't meet us unless the idiot is with us."

Listening to their hooves I waited until they had walked past me before lifting my head to watch them leave. Waiting for a minute I stumbled off the stool and trotted out of the bar with Vagabond calling after me. The slavers were already past the town limits and heading west. Slowing my pace, I allowed them to get further ahead until they turned a bend and were out of sight. Vagabond caught up to me and nickered loudly.

"So, we're forgetting my plan to stay in town for a few days and get some caps, so we don't die, to do what exactly?"

I told him about what I'd overheard in the bar. He listened attentively as we made our way further from the settlement. I had added what I'd heard on the radio and his brow furrowed as I'm sure mine had earlier.

"It's the right thing to do but we won't be much help to those ponies if we die while fighting. Our supplies are running low and we were supposed to be getting caps to replenish them…" his voice trailed off.

For a moment, I didn't say anything as I continued to trot after the slavers. I could no longer see them, but they made no effort to conceal their tracks. "You don't have to come with me."

"Shut up," he replied, ruffling my mane playfully before I knocked his hoof away. "What's got you suddenly dashing off to be a hero?"

I sighed. "Because I know how scared they are."

It had been years since I'd told anypony about my, thankfully, short time as a slave. I was surprised at how easy it was to tell Vagabond of that night. Though I tried hard to keep my expression neutral, I felt angry tears try to emerge as I remembered the kind of life that had been waiting for me if Rusty Blade had not saved me. Vagabond was quiet as I recounted part of my past and as I finished, I could feel his eyes boring into the back of my head. I didn't look back at him. I didn't want to see the pity that was surely written all over his face. I didn't deserve it. After all, I had escaped my fate. There were so many who hadn't. Before now, I hadn't really thought much about the unfortunate souls who'd had their lives stolen from them by other ponies. As a member of the Youngbloods I had been busy trying to save kids from the cruelty of the wasteland. Now that I was free to do whatever I wanted, I felt a strong urge to help those who couldn't help themselves. Perhaps that's what drove me now.

Vagabond sighed and galloped past me. "Well, come on then. We have some slaves to rescue!"

While I wouldn't have faulted him for going back to the settlement, I was glad he had come along. He had proven to be a valuable ally during the short time we'd been together. To say my knowledge of settlement life was abysmal was an understatement. After Stableton, we'd moved from town to town looking for any work that would put ammo in our guns and food in our bellies. Apparently, it was considered bad manners to assault the pony offering you a job when they didn't want to pay you a fair wage. Who knew? After a lecture from Vagabond (that I mostly ignored) it was agreed that he would do the bartering from now on. He was good at it too! Merchants often dropped their prices after listening to him, though I was still unsure if it was just to get him to shut up and go away. So, imagine my surprise when we tried to get into Tenpony Tower, and Vagabond's silver tongue failed him spectacularly. The guards had taken one look at us and determined we were unfit for the denizens of the tower to look upon. I couldn't remember the last time I laughed so hard. He wasn't about to live that down any time soon.

With a hidden smile I raced after him. Together we followed the hoofprints until we found the slavers again. They were positioned behind a rusted sky wagon beside a broken road. Carefully, we moved to hide behind a fallen street sign and took stock of the situation. It appeared they were alone, the third companion I'd heard about was still missing, and armed with a rusted rifle and heavy bat with nails roughly hammered into the wood. Did they honestly think they could take out an entire caravan of slavers without some serious firepower? That made two of us, I guess. Moving to unholster Amethyst's Peace, I was stopped when Vagabond tapped me on the shoulder. Following his gaze, I watched as a large wagon pulled by an exhausted looking brahmin came into view. It was an obnoxious pink color that had faded over the centuries and was surrounded on all sides by iron bars. Written along the top in big letters was "Pinkie's Exotic Circus". The dot of each "i" was painted to look like blue eyes that were always watching. It was a hideous thing made even more so by the pitiful ponies trapped inside.

I was surprised to find that the slaver's information had been spot on as there were only five guards trotting alongside the wagon. Perhaps this would be even easier than I thought. Silently, I turned to look at Vagabond who nodded his head towards the ponies we had followed here. They were preparing to jump out of hiding but before they could a pale, blue light wrapped around their heads and smashed them together hard. They fell in a heap and the guards carried on none the wiser. Having a unicorn around had its perks, I couldn't deny that. Moving up, we kicked the unconscious ponies aside and took stock of the situation.

"Five against one shouldn't be too difficult. I'll take the two on the right, you go for the three on the left," I whispered, pulling Amethyst's Peace from its holster.

Vagabond didn't reply right away. He was observing the caravan with narrowed eyes. "Hang on, Wild, something doesn't feel right about this. Let's take a-"

A shriek of pain suddenly erupted from the wagon and I turned to see one of the slavers trying to pull a young colt from the hooves of his mother through the bars. Whatever Vagabond was about to say was lost forever as I charged from our hiding spot. With the element of surprise on my side, I was able to take aim and fire a bullet into her neck, splattering blood all over the face of the colt as he fell back into the wagon. I heard hooves galloping behind me, but Vagabond didn't have the same luck I had. The slavers had enough warning to duck behind the wagon as one of his magical bolts bounced harmlessly off the side. They were using the slaves as cover! With a growl of frustration, I shifted my aim to a less lethal target to avoid hitting the helpless ponies. Firing, I was mildly satisfied when I heard a grunt of pain come from a stallion as I hit him in the leg.

With the cowards using their cargo as a shield we had lost our advantage. A blast of magic bounced uselessly off the side of the wagon, causing a few slaves to shriek as smoke rose up from the singed wood. Vagabond growled with annoyance and moved beside me to get into a better position but had to quickly duck as several shots zipped past him. "We're too open. We should fall back and regroup."

"No, we can-" I started but the words were cut short as I gazed back to see a massive figure falling from the sky right above us. It happened too fast for me to react and I could only watch in horror as a griffon wielding a savage knife as long as my foreleg dove directly at me. Before it could sever my head, Vagabond's horn flared up and a bubble-like shield popped up around me at the last second. I breathed a sigh of relief that turned into a cry of horror as the blade ricocheted off the magical barrier and plunged into Vagabond's shoulder. The griffon seemed just as surprised as we were, but took advantage of the situation as he swiftly yanked the weapon free and stabbed the unicorn twice more in the side of his chest. Then, he launched himself into the air again before we could retaliate. The unicorn's expression of shock contorted to agony as he fell to his knees, blood spilling to the dirt beneath him. As the shield spell evaporated, I started firing wildly to stop the assassin from swooping back down while mentally kicking myself for being too slow. Only now was I able to see that he had been flapping on silent wings right above our heads the whole time!

"They h-hired a griffon. T-that hardly seems fair," Vagabond gasped through gritted teeth.

Quickly reaching into my saddlebags, I pulled out a healing potion before tossing it down to Vagabond. He didn't need me to tell him as he quickly knocked back the concoction. The magical brew eased the flow of blood from the deeper wound on his shoulder and slightly stitched up the pair of smaller ones above his ribs, but it was not enough. He was still bleeding and clearly in an enormous amount of pain. I silently cursed the pony who had sold us these cheap potions. Clearly, they didn't have the same potency as the actual stuff.

"Can you stand?"

"I’ll try."

"Come on then! We need to find cover," I said, watching the griffon prepare for a second assault. Vagabond managed to get to his hooves but stumbled as the slavers shot at us. They hollered and cheered as their winged companion screeched and swooped down again, his knife flashing dangerously. With attacks coming at us from both sides our chances of escape were slim to none. Using my smaller body as a crutch for the stallion I could only shoot in vague directions and hoped I would hit something. Not only did my shots miss completely, the slavers were taking this chance to gallop away with the slaves wailing as they watched their only hope of freedom die at the claws of a griffon. My last bullet left the chamber and the stupid bird nimbly dodged it. I didn't have time to reload and we both knew it. With a screech of victory, he tucked his wings in and prepared for a lethal dive. With gritted teeth, I allowed Vagabond to fall in a last, vain attempt to save him from that wretched knife.

Imagine my surprise when the griffon suddenly burst into eldritch flames before falling to the earth in a pile of glowing ash. Twisting my head around, I couldn’t see anypony save for Vagabond and the fleeing wagon. Confused and a little shaken, I turned back to the unicorn to ask if he’d seen where the magical shot had come from, but his eyes were clenched shut in agony. His collapse had caused the lacerations to open again as fresh blood stained his white coat. We only had one shoddy potion left but that didn't stop me from pulling it out of his bag and shoving it down his throat. He choked it back and sighed as it eased the pain somewhat.

"The s-slaves. Go," he whispered.

I nodded, putting the dissolved griffon from my mind for the moment and took off after the caravan. Thankfully they hadn't gotten very far. Reloading, I cantered hard after them. This time I wasn't taking any chances. I fumbled with the scope on Amethyst's Peace as I reattached it and, the moment I was within range, quickly locked on to my first target. Pulling my tongue back, I smiled in sick satisfaction as the pony's head jolted from the impact and he fell to the ground. That left only three of the bastards. Taking aim, I found the stallion I had tagged in the leg before and put him out of his misery. The remaining two had enough time to find me and were now shooting back, but it was already too late. My bullet found the closest slaver at the same moment the last pony suddenly melted into the same pile of glowing ash as the griffon. Without anypony to urge it on, the brahmin eventually eased to a stop and started munching aimlessly on a long dead bush. I hesitated as I gazed about the area. It didn't seem like there were any more threats but there was still somepony out there with a deadly weapon pointed right at me. Fortunately, it appeared as if they were on my side or else I would have already been dead. Trying to block out the thought of turning into ash myself, I raced towards the wagon and the pitiful ponies inside.

"Is everypony alright?" I asked as I holstered my gun.

Wide, fearful eyes stared back at me in silence. I took that as a "yes" and looked at the old, corroded lock on the door. It would have been easier to shoot it, but I didn't want to risk hitting one of the slaves. Instead I aimed my back hooves at it and kicked it with all my might. A distant memory of breaking a rusted chain flowed through my mind as the lock snapped and fell to the ground. Gazing back at my cutie mark, I could have sworn I had felt a warm, tingling sensation coming from it the moment my hooves collided with the lock. Shrugging, I returned my attention back to the slaves as the door swung open. No pony moved.

"Go on. You're free."

Nothing.

"Come on, what are you waiting for?"

"Take it easy, girlie. Can't you see they're scared to death?"

The voice came from above and before I could react a pegasus mare landed beside me. Crying out, I jumped away and reached for my gun.

"Oh, calm down, there's no need for that." she said with a charming grin aimed at the slaves. "Now then, as my less than charismatic friend said, you are all free to go. There is nothing to be scared of."

Her voice was soothing and kind as it washed over the slaves. How could they not instantly trust her? She was gorgeous with a coat of dark, velvet purple and a clean mane that reminded me of a moonless night sky. Her eyes were wide and joyful as they sparkled like teal sapphires. Even her wings were an exotic beauty that forced your eyes to just stare. But it was the symbol on her flank that piqued my interest. It was a dark, shadowy swirl that ended with the head of a raven. It was completely void of any details except for the eye. It seemed to glimmer sinisterly. That's when I noticed the battle saddle strapped to her back with two powerful looking energy weapons. Well then… that explained the melted creatures. There was clearly more to this mare than just pretty looks and a captivating smile.

One by one the slaves stepped out of the cage and I was able to see them more clearly. They were malnourished, beaten, and filthy but a shimmer of hope seemed to bring a light to their eyes that had been missing. The colt I had seen before timidly approached me, ignoring the warning nicker from his mother. She had tried to clean him of the slaver’s blood, but it was still smeared across his face.

"A-are we really free?" he whispered. I nodded offering a soft smile. He whinnied excitedly and kicked his hooves into the air. "Mama, did you hear that? We're free. We're free!"

The mare all but collapsed as she cried while the other slaves either joined her or followed the colt's example and cheered. One of the stallions, an older buck with a gray beard, had hobbled over to talk with the pegasus and it was only when I turned to look at them that I caught the last of what he had been saying.

"… instead of taking us to Old Appleloosa we were traded off to this new group bound for Fillydelphia. If it hadn't been for you and your friends, I shudder to think about what might have happened to us there."

Friends? Did he mean Vagabond and I or were there more winged ponies hiding out of sight. It was then that I remembered my injured companion and, without another thought, I turned and galloped back to where I had left him. It didn't take long to reach him, and I sighed in relief when I saw he was sitting up. It was clear he was still in too much pain to stand but at least it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Slowing to a trot as I neared, the first thing I noticed were the deep, red gashes that still marked his shoulder and chest. The shitty potion had stopped the bleeding but ultimately failed to close the wounds up entirely. If I ever saw that salespony again she was going to get my hoof shoved so far up her…

"I knew you could do it," Vagabond said, interrupting my thoughts of revenge.

"No thanks to you," I replied with a smirk.

He could only roll his eyes. The effort of playful banter was too much for him and it was taking all his energy just to stay conscious. Without another healing potion he wasn't going to be able to walk back to the safety of the nearby town and I wasn't about to leave him on his own. My ears twitched as the sound of approaching hooves caused me to turn and I was greeted by the herd of ex-slaves coming towards us. A moment later, the pegasus landed beside me, causing me to jump for the second time.

"Stop doing that," I growled.

"Not used to being around a pegasus, are ya, girlie?" she replied with a wink.

"Well if it isn't Honeypot. I thought it might have been you. You always seem to leave glowing piles of melted creatures wherever you go," Vagabond said.

Turning to the stallion, the dark colored mare smiled. "Vagabond, you scruffy bum. What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be lazing about in some back-alley garbage pile?"

"Trust me, I'd rather be doing that. But my young friend here insisted on saving these ponies and dragging me along."

She gazed at me, her eyes looking me over critically. "Is that right? Well then, consider me intrigued. I'm Honeypot. Vagabond and I go way back so any friend of his is a friend of mine."

“Wild Chains,” I replied quietly and watched as Honeypot nodded before bending over the injured buck to examine the wound. With a click of her tongue, she used a wing to reach into her bags and pull out a healing poultice. It was strange watching the feathers wrap around the bottle and I found myself staring unblinkingly at them. Vagabond chugged the medicine as I shook my head and returned my attention to him. That must have been the real stuff because the gaping holes stitched themselves up faster than any potion I had seen as of late. With a satisfied sigh, the stallion finally stood up and whinnied his thanks to Honeypot.

"I'm sorry to interrupt this reunion, but weren't you just saying we had to leave this area as soon as possible?" The older stallion with the long, gray beard stepped forward.

Honeypot's ears shot up. "Oh, right! This is raider territory and all that shooting is bound to attract their attention. We need to go now."

Panic crept onto the faces of the freed slaves and several were starting to stamp their hooves with anxiety. Even I checked my gun to make sure it was fully loaded.

"Alright, everypony, there's a town not too far from here. Once you're there you should be safe. Stay close, let's go!" Honeypot called out before taking to the sky. She hovered above us with her battle saddle ready to snipe at whatever dared to come near us as we made our way slowly back to the village.

The journey back had taken much longer than it had when we first left. The freed ponies were eager but were also weak and exhausted. Several of them had collapsed and needed to rest before we could move out again. Thankfully there were no signs of any raiders following us. Honeypot had flown off a few times to probably make sure of that, and I was very grateful. Once the adrenaline from the skirmish was gone, I felt too drained to fight off any more enemies. All I wanted now was a shot of whiskey and maybe a huff of Dash, but I knew I would get neither with Vagabond always watching.

The clouds were turning a fierce shade of orange as the sun started to descend towards the horizon by the time our small herd walked into the town. The villagers watched as we made our way towards the inn, but no pony seemed to mind the new arrivals. After all, more ponies meant more caps. Speaking of which, I was watching all of our caps fall from Vagabond's hoof into that of the old buck. Part of me groaned inwardly as any hope of buying supplies died away, but I was also more than happy to give the poor ponies a better chance for survival. The caps would allow them to buy food, weapons, and other items that would give them a fighting chance against the dangers of the wasteland. I watched with a smile as the young colt waved a hoof at me as he and his mother turned to leave with their group. He was where he belonged, surrounded by those who loved him and would protect him. It was what I had wanted but I ended up with the Youngbloods. What would have happened to him if it had been Rusty Blade who had saved him rather than me? The smile faded as my ears drooped at the thought of what might have been.

As if sensing the dark depths my mind was heading, Vagabond nudged my shoulder forcing me to push those thoughts away. "I think we've earned a drink. What do you say, Honeypot?"

"Let me guess, I'm buying?"

"Naturally."

The pretty mare rolled her eyes but didn't object as we made our way back to the bar. Finding seats towards the back of the room, Vagabond ordered two beers and a bottle of Sparkle-Cola, blatantly ignoring my protests. Regardless, I was happy to sip on the carrot flavored drink. I had to admit, it did taste better than the bitter beer.

The two adults had been talking amongst one another, leaving me to sit quietly with my drink. Feeling a little left out, I waited for a break in their conversation before verbally barging in. "So how do you two know each other?"

"Vagabond and I used to run jobs together a few years ago. Caravan guards, errand ponies, hired guns, bounty hunters, things like that."

This took me by surprise. I turned to the stallion with wide eyes. "You were a merc?"

He shrugged. "Not really. I needed caps and Honeypot was willing to let me tag along and help where I could."

"So why did you stop?"

"I've never had a very good work ethic. I'm a wanderer, through and through. Eventually I got bored with the idea of doing other ponies' dirty work and hit the road."

"Yeah, in the middle of the night with no word of warning. Thanks for that, by the way," Honeypot said, playfully shoving the buck hard enough he almost fell out of the booth. "I travel all around the Equestrian wasteland and I'd run into this bum every now and then, but it's been a long time since I last saw him."

"Well I, for one, am very happy you picked today of all days to be flying nearby," he said, tipping his drink towards her before taking a swig.

"It won't be the last time I have to save your ass. It's a good thing you had this filly here to watch your back. You were pretty brave out there, girlie.'

"Stop calling me that. I'm not some little kid, you know," I snapped.

Honeypot laughed, a devilishly beautiful sound, before sliding her half-drunk beer towards me. "Oh, I know that. You don't get scars like that by playing tag with other foals. I saw how you fought out there. You might be young physically, but your eyes betray the true age of your soul."

I snatched the booze before Vagabond could take it away and gulped it down. He opened his mouth to object but was silenced with a nudge from Honeypot. Another round was ordered by our newfound companion and soon I was feeling pleasantly buzzed. The conversation turned to how Vagabond and I had met, and I was only too happy to let him tell the tale. I wasn't too keen on reliving the events of that day. Several times I found myself looking down at the nasty scar forever tainting my cutie mark. The night passed by in a haze and before long I was yawning and having a hard time keeping my eyes open. Seeing this, Honeypot pulled a bag of caps out of her bag and slapped several on the table.

"Do you have a place to stay tonight or am I going to be paying for a room too?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You already know the answer to that. I gave all the caps we had to that old stallion. We're flat broke, aren't we, Wild?"

I just groaned.

"Well, I have a proposition for you then. I've heard that a small settlement called Gutterville is asking for help with a Ranger problem. Why don't you come with me and we can split the reward? Should be enough to set you and Wild up pretty nicely."

Vagabond's icy blue eyes seemed to flash with anger at the mention of the word “ranger”. It had happened so fast that I wasn't sure if I had actually seen it or if I was just too drunk. Nah, it couldn't have been. The unicorn didn't have it in him to be that pissed about anything. Taking a final drink, I belched loudly and slammed a hoof on the table. "Why not? Itsh not like we have anything better to do and I like capsh."

He gave me a long, hard stare before shrugging and knocking back the rest of his own beer. "Welp, the boss has spoken, I guess."

The last thing I remembered was Honeypot's voice crying out as I loudly cheered about being the boss and demanding another round for the whole bar. Then, all was dark and peaceful as I passed out.

Footnote: Level up!
New Perk: Run 'n Gun – You learned to aim more accurately even while running. Accuracy loss while running with small guns are halved.

Author's Note

At last, another chapter is up. I apologize if this one is a bit boring. I promise it will pick up in the next chapter. But I am very happy to introduce the final member of this dysfunctional family.
Thanks again to Sonnystar for their help with editing!

Chapter Seven: Honeypot

Chapter 7
Honeypot
"Remember, kid, only wound the first one. Wait for his friends to come help then kill them too!"

The dilapidated buildings towering above us groaned and creaked as we made our way deeper into the ruins. Manehattan, the largest metropolis in all of Equestria, had been reduced to nothing more than a skeleton of its former self after the megaspell was dropped. All around us were the remains of a bygone era. Shopping centers that had been ransacked decades ago, museums full of useless items, and libraries whose books had been burned for warmth by long dead ponies. The few times I had come to this place I had been up on the rail tracks that cut through the towers, safe from the dangers that hid in the shadows. Now we were on the ground floor, our hooves clopping loudly on the broken streets, with guns and spells ready and waiting for whatever dared jump out at us. It was still early in the morning with the sun steadily rising at our backs as we moved away from Gutterville. Honeypot had said this was the best time as the creatures who roamed the streets at night were resting and any raiders would still be working off their hangovers. I made a mental note of this for any future death-defying adventures we made into this hell hole.

We had arrived in Gutterville yesterday after a surprisingly uneventful trip. As far as towns went, it wasn't too shabby. Tucked neatly into a large cul-de-sac, the town was made up mainly of the surrounding buildings that had been left relatively untouched by the megaspell. The only way in and out was though a gate built into a massive wall made from debris found all around the ruins. Inside, some smaller hovels had been constructed from large sky wagons and set up haphazardly around the street as a makeshift market. A single building had been gutted and remade into the living quarters for the townsfolk. Honeypot had made her way towards the town hall (which was just the lower level of one of the skyscrapers) and spoke with the mayor about the job. Meanwhile, Vagabond and I had gone to the inn to get a room for the night. An hour later, Honeypot joined us and announced with a smile that she had secured the contract. It turned out we had not been the first ponies to take the job and the mayor was growing desperate to rid himself of the Steel Rangers. Somehow, she had managed to get him to pay each of us 500 caps if we were successful! She certainly hadn't been lying when she said the pay would set us up nicely.

After a restful night's sleep in a bed, we'd left early the following morning per Honeypot's instruction. As we trekked through the ruins, I allowed myself a brief moment to look around the area and found myself gazing up at a large billboard hanging precariously off the side of a building. Six mares stood side by side, each of them wearing formal attire and staring at me with vastly different expressions. A blue pegasus with a bright, rainbow mane gazed with a fierce determination while the yellow pegasus looked worried and tired. A white unicorn stood gracefully beside a pink earth pony with familiar blue eyes. Another earth pony with a cowboy hat stood proudly beside the purple unicorn I recognized from the posters back at the school where I used to live. Just who were they anyways? There was no doubt in my mind they had been important before the war.

Seeing where I had been looking, Honeypot glided next to me and smiled. "Interested in the Ministry Mares, huh?" My brows furrowed in confusion, and she giggled before continuing, pointing a hoof at each pony in turn. "Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Twilight Sparkle. Each mare was the head of one of six different ministries. They basically helped the Princesses' with the war effort."

"Doesn't look like they did a very good job in the end, huh?" I would be the first to admit that I knew, and cared, very little about the history of Equestria before the war. Knowledge about how good the ponies from 200 years ago had it didn't help me survive the atrocities they had left behind.

"The Ministries aren't nearly as fascinating as the mares who ran them. I've read so many books and articles about them that you could call me a bit of an expert." Honeypot said with a barely concealed smirk.

"Careful Wild. You keep this up and she'll talk your ear off about those mares." Vagabond nickered before the pegasus slapped his shoulder playfully. I paused a moment and gazed at the buck as he and Honeypot continued. That had been the most he'd said since we'd first arrived in Manehattan! The silence might have been a welcome relief, but I couldn't help but feel a little anxious knowing what it meant. Something was going on with the normally talkative unicorn. Of course, he wasn't going to say anything until he was good and ready, something I had learned very quickly. I trotted up behind them and just listened quietly as they talked, or rather, while Honeypot talked and Vagabond just grunted a quick reply.

We continued on our way as the morning turned into afternoon. As the sun moved across the cloudy sky, the rest of the wasteland began to wake up in earnest. Every so often we'd hear the distant echo of gunfire or a guttural roar of some unknown beast. None of them made me feel particularly at ease but it did make me feel a little better knowing they weren't anywhere near us. Turning around a rather large structure, the Luna Line finally came into view at last. If anypony wanted to safely traverse through Manehattan they'd want to be up there, high above the rubble. There were two main rails that cut across the skyline, the Celestia Line and the Luna Line. The first led directly to Tenpony Tower and, as far as I knew, was the only way to actually get there. The Luna Line led to the Four Star Grand Terminal across the city or so Honeypot explained as I had never actually been up on that particular rail.

Most importantly, however, it was where merchants came to do their trading with the ponies of Gutterville. This was the reason why we were here. Somewhere along this rail a group of Steel Rangers had set up shop and were preventing any ponies from coming near. From what Honeypot was able to gather from the mayor, if anypony tried to get close they would be shot on sight. Stories of the brutality of the Steel Rangers were spread all over the wasteland, including the Youngbloods. They were a rather large group that coveted pre-war technology and killed anypony who dared get in their way. That was about all I knew of them but that’s all I needed to know to understand just how dangerous this mission was. But we had to succeed. The ponies of Gutterville, several of which were foals, needed food and medicine. If we didn’t open up trade they’d be forced to leave their homes!

"Alright, let’s see if we can find a place to camp. We need to wait for nightfall." the purple mare said quietly, her eyes watching the railway closely.

"Camp?" I asked. “Why do we need to set up camp? Why didn't we just wait in Gutterville until nightfall?"

I was a bit surprised it was Vagabond who answered. "There is no way on the Goddesses' dead, brown earth we are traveling through these ruins in the dead of night."

Point taken. Without another word, I followed behind my companions as we sought shelter. It didn't take long for Honeypot to find a building with most of its walls intact. Of course, it wasn't entirely empty but thankfully we didn't have to do much but squish a few radroaches. Vagabond levitated a few of the heavy desks to patch up a few holes in the walls and the doorway and soon we found ourselves tucked away quite nicely. I allowed myself to relax a little as I placed my saddlebags on the ground close by before laying down towards the back of the building. Honeypot stripped off her battle saddle and busied herself checking the impressive weapon to ensure it was in optimal condition while Vagabond rummaged through his saddlebags. After a moment he pulled out three cans of beans and made quick work of the sealed tops with a flick of his horn. It was in that moment I felt my stomach give a low growl. We had skipped breakfast in our eagerness to get to our destination and I hadn't realized how hungry I was. Licking my lips, I gave the buck a thankful nod as he floated a can to me. Half of the contents were gone with a quick gulp, but I couldn't help but think how much better they would have been if they had been cooked. I doubt we would be able to start a fire, so I settled for second best as I finished the rest of the can off.

"What do we have as far as supplies?" Honeypot asked suddenly. We had tried to restock our ammo and poultices back in Gutterville but were sorely disappointed. The markets were abysmally under stocked and what they did have was either poor quality or half rotten. Looking into my bags, I noted how many bullets I had for Amethyst's Peace and the single magical bandage. Vagabond's pack was in much the same condition. The mare tapped her hooves in thought and seemed to come to a decision. "We can't do this with what we have. I'm going to have to go get us more items…" she said, her voice trailing off.

My ears pricked up. "I'm sure there's a lot of places around here you could forage for some stuff but is that safe?"

She gave me a cunning smile as she flapped her wings. "You don't have to worry about me, Wild Chains. I know this city like the back of my hoof. You two rest up and keep watch here. I'll be back before sundown."

Vagabond simply nodded and levitated a desk out of the way as she darted out like a shadow. I noticed she had left her battle saddle behind and thought maybe it would be easier for her to fly unnoticed if she wasn't burdened with the large guns. We sat in silence for a moment as the unicorn finished off his meal. A gust of wind blew through the streets causing the teetering buildings to moan hauntingly and a few scattered shots echoed from somewhere far off. I kicked the can away and winced at how loud it seemed to be in the heavy stillness. He didn't even look at me as he absently munched away at his beans. I couldn't stand it anymore!

"Ugh what is with you!?" I snapped, perhaps a little too harshly.

Turning to me, he blinked those light blue eyes and tilted his head in a wordless question.

"That! You've been way too quiet for way too long. What's going on with you?"

"I thought you didn't like it when I talk," he replied straight faced. I could have cut him to ribbons with the daggers I glared. But, true to form, he smirked and forced a light chuckle before sighing. "This job reminded me of how Honey and I first met."

My ears shot up as my eyes grew wide with anticipation. It had been a few weeks since the two of us teamed up and in that time I had learned very little about my companion's past. I knew he was a unique pony of immense power that he tried to hide (albeit poorly), but that was about it. There had been several occasions where curiosity had gotten the better of me and I asked him about it. Each attempt had been rewarded with an annoying head pat and a quick change of subject. For a moment, I thought this might be another of those times but he carried on and I listened intently.

"It may come as a surprise but I wasn't wasteland born like you. I came from a stable," he started. It didn't come as a surprise, but I remained quiet as he continued. "It was attacked by Steel Rangers and I had managed to escape but not before somepony noticed. Imagine emerging into the land above after spending a lifetime in a bunker. Now imagine doing that while being chased by ironclad ponies who you'd just witnessed murdering everypony you knew. I had never been so scared and confused and the only thing I could think to do was run. As fate would have it, Honeypot happened to be flying above just then and without a moment’s hesitation she sniped three of the ponies in the blink of an eye. In the mayhem that followed I was given enough time to teleport away.

"Mind you, I wasn't able to get too far. A unicorn has to see where they want to teleport to and the further away the more magic it takes. I managed to get out of bullet range, but the rangers weren't too far behind me. Thankfully, Honeypot managed to catch up to me faster and with her help she guided me to safety. We hid in some ruins together until the coast was clear. She saw how much of a greenhorn I was and took me under her wing."

As he finished his tale, I had to hold a hoof up to my mouth to stop the stream of queries that almost burst out. Now it made sense why he had hesitated to accept a job that involved Steel Rangers. Were they still hunting him after all these years? Was he still afraid of them? Why hadn't he just blasted them out of existence like he had the ghouls back in Stableton? Where was his stable at? Had he ever gone back? Question after question bounced around in my head but I found myself only asking one that seemed to be louder than the others.

"What was it like down in your stable?"

After our last adventure into one of those death traps I was curious to know what the day-to-day life was like. My gran had told me stories, but they had been mundane and nothing of note. I wanted to know what caused a knowledgeable pony like Vagabond never want to return to his home. If he had lost the Steel Rangers, why had he never gone back? Why was he so hesitant to go back down into a stable? He opened his mouth to respond, paused, then closed it again. I knew better than to rush him. I was just happy he had told me as much as he had! So, I waited until a sudden yawn caught me off guard. An early start to the day and a belly full of food had made me very tired and my body was demanding an afternoon nap.

Vagabond used this to his advantage. Standing up to stretch his legs, he moved to me and ruffled my mane. "I get it my story is boring and you'd rather be sleeping than hear anymore."

"What? No, I-"

"We have a job to do tonight and we need you to be at your best. After all, as you've said, I can't be left alone. Gotta have you watch my back. Why don't you rest up and I'll keep watch." he nickered, trotting towards the barricade.

"You bastard! Get back here!"

With a flick of his horn, the large desks hovered in the air as he passed under it. I galloped after him but skidded to a halt as the light around the tables faded and they fell with loud crash. Weren't we supposed to be laying low and staying quiet? Why was I suddenly left alone in the middle of the Goddessesdamned Manehattan ruins!? Growling, I bucked the tables hard, but they stayed firmly in place. Well, at least it would take more than a kick from a raider to get to me. Sighing in frustration, I trotted to the back of the room while muttering curses under my breath. There was nothing for me to do so I busied myself with making sure my gun was fully loaded and the straps on my barding were cinched tight. Thoughts of what Vagabond had told me kept me from thinking about the upcoming mission and the dangers we faced. After Stable 42, I’d had a sneaking suspicion that my unicorn companion was from a stable himself. What had Vagabond's life been like down there? Did he have a family? Why had the Steel Rangers killed the ponies inside?

Laying down, I kept thinking about it even as my eyes grew heavy. No! I'm not a child. I don't need a nap…

I was getting far too much sleep. Back in my days with the Youngbloods it had felt like there wasn't enough time to rest. Between scouting patrols, guard duty, raids, and long nights in a Dash filled high I had been far too busy to take an afternoon nap. Still, I had to admit it felt nice. It had been the sound of voices that gently pulled me out of my dreamless slumber, but I didn't open my eyes right away. I recognized Honeypot and Vagabond speaking quietly together and after a moment of listening I realized they were talking about me. It took everything I had to remain still though I couldn't stop my ears from turning towards them. If they noticed, neither one said anything. Did I feel bad for eavesdropping? Hell no! If they wanted to talk about me, they could have at least done it while I wasn't lying close by.

"…are we doing?" Honeypot was saying. "She can't be older than, what, twelve? Thirteen? What were we thinking bringing her here?"

"Weren't you the one who said she wasn't a child?"

"She might not act like one but she's still just a filly. Sure, she can handle herself in a fight and she's tougher than most adults, but that doesn't change anything!"

Vagabond sighed before replying. "No, but we can't stop what's been set in motion. The damage has already been done. What childhood she could have had is long gone. All we can do is help her see that there's more to life than distrust and pain."

"What of her parents? Has she said anything about them?" I could only assume the buck shook his head before she continued. "What do you know about her anyways?"

"Not much. She hasn't said anything to me about what her life was like before that day. I've thought about asking but I figured she'd tell me when she was good and ready," he said, then chuckled lightly. "I think she's been holding back asking me questions as well. Perhaps we are the same in that sense."

Welp, I think that's enough of that. The mere mention of my parents set my heart racing. I didn't want to think about them, think about what they did. Opening my eyes, I yawned loudly and shook my mane as I tried to wake myself up fully. It was late afternoon and the light was beginning to fade in our little hidey hole. My companions were sitting not too far away with their backs to me. Stretching, I trotted towards them, the sound of my stirring finally getting their attention.

"Ah, there she is. Did you sleep well?" Honeypot said with a little too much sweetness.

Nodding, I didn't say anything as I moved to sit next to them. It was then that I saw a large stack of supplies sitting in a neat pile. Bottles of potions, magical bandages, RadAway, Med-X, and a variety of ammo. Part of me was upset there wasn't any Dash or Buck mixed in with the loadout but I wasn't going to complain. This would give us a huge advantage in the fight to come!

"Where did you get all this?" I said, turning to Honeypot.

She smiled. "Why Tenpony Tower of course."

The way she said it made me feel like I should have known this all along. My brow furrowed in confusion as I glanced briefly at Vagabond. He hadn't said anything, but I could see a glint of humor in his eye. "How did you get in? Fly through a broken window? Kill a guard?"

Her giggle was light and pleasant. "No, Wild, I walked through the front door and bought them."

My eyes grew wide as I gestured for her to explain further.

"I live there. Born and raised."

That wasn't what I had been expecting. All my life I had believed that the ponies inside the imposing tower were like royalty. They never left their safe and lavish home. Why would they? Seeing my shock, Honeypot giggled again and ruffled my mane like Vagabond always did. I couldn't bring myself to bat her hoof away.

"Perhaps after this job I'll tell you more about me, but it'll come at a cost," she said. Eyes narrowed as I sensed where this was going. She only smiled as she continued. "I want to hear your story, Wild Chains."

"Not much to tell. I was a raider, now I'm not." Vagabond tilted his head curiously as I used the word 'raider'. I had come to terms with what I had once been. I couldn't deny it anymore and I was tired of pretending the Youngbloods were some righteous group of mare do wells.

"There's more to you than that. So, let's make a bargain. After this job I'll show you my home and tell you about me in exchange for your tale."

I tilted my head towards Vagabond. "Him too or no deal."

The grin faded from his lips as he stared at me. I didn't look back at him, keeping my focus on the pegasus. She smiled slyly. "That seems fair to me."

He sighed. "Fine. Perhaps it is time we learned about this dysfunctional, little group we've created."

With that out of the way, we began to prepare for the upcoming battle. Filling my saddlebags with several healing poultices and ammo, I felt much more hopeful about this mission than I had earlier. The light had completely faded at last as the sun sank below the high buildings. Vagabond's horn glowed softly as we finished the last of our preparations. Giving Amethyst's Peace one final check, I moved to stand beside Honeypot as she buckled the last strap of her battle saddle. With a nod to Vagabond, he levitated the desks from the entrance, and we carefully left the hidey hole. The sky above was still clinging to the last rays of sunlight as we made our way towards the Luna Line. The railway loomed overhead as we neared, surrounded by tall structures that had once been apartment complexes.

Suddenly, a barrage of gunfire exploded above us causing me to unconsciously crouch low. A strange guttural bellow echoed through the ruins shortly after the shots. Honeypot and Vagabond exchanged a quick nod and before I could say anything, the dark pegasus wrapped her hooves around my smaller frame and lifted me off the ground. I almost screamed, but in my surprise, the only sound I was able to make was a pathetic whimper as my legs kicked wildly beneath me. In the blink of an eye, we were soaring high above the ruins as Honeypot flew on silent wings towards one of the apartment buildings. A large hole on one side was just big enough for her to dart inside and my hooves were on solid ground again. My trembling legs gave out from under me and I fell to my haunches heavily as my heart thundered in my chest. She could have at least warned me before! If she had felt any remorse, she didn't show it as she quickly trotted to the other side of the room to look out a broken window at the scene below. Once the adrenaline finally simmered, I looked through the hole at the street several stories below to where we had been just moments before. There was no sign of Vagabond. I tried to find the unicorn, but his stark white coat was nowhere to be seen. He must have teleported somewhere nearby. Moving through the ancient bedroom I stood beside Honeypot.

Below we could see the remains of a large brahmin as it lay dead in a huge pool of blood the contents of its pack lay scattered all around the railway. Two earth ponies stood behind the large corpse, gathering up what weapons they could find and loading them with shaky hooves. They were talking but I couldn't hear what they were saying. Further down the line stood a massive figure. It was a pony, but much taller and made entirely out of metal. It took me a moment to realize it was magical power armor! At either side of the armor were two large miniguns that were still spinning lazily as they were pointed directly at the helpless ponies.

"This area is under the control of the Steel Rangers! Surrender and die!" the voice from the suit of armor boomed.

The minigun began to spin faster, the sound of the engine whirring loud enough for me to hear from this height. I started to reach down to grab my gun but felt a firm hoof on my shoulder and I turned to see Honeypot shaking her head.

"We can't act yet," she whispered. The rage was clearly evident in her grim expression. She didn't want this, but what choice did we have? We had the element of surprise on our hooves and if we wasted that now we'd be torn apart by that weapon. Clenching my jaw, I could only watch as the bullets began to fly again. They ripped through the flesh of the dead animal with ease and found their targets. The ponies were dead in an instant, but the hail of bullets caused their bodies to lurch around violently for longer than necessary. Finally, the attack subsided as the ruins quieted once again. Smoke rose from the barrels of the gun as the Steel Ranger walked towards the bloody mess, his metal hooves slamming hard with each step.

There was a magical pop behind us as Vagabond suddenly appeared in the room. From the look in his eyes, he had seen the senseless violence too. He beckoned us away from the window in order to keep us hidden as he explained where he had gone.

"There are eight of them in total. The one in the power armor seems to be the leader but there were three others hiding in various places along the rails. The other four were back at a camp they have set up in a station just a few yards down the line."

"Only eight? They must be part of a scouting party," Honeypot said.

Vagabond nodded. "I overheard two of them talking about searching for a stable nearby. If this is true, then it would certainly explain why they are being so aggressive."

I was beginning to hate stables. They seemed to bring nothing but pain and suffering to the ponies of the wasteland.

"It's nearly time," the pegasus said, her dark eyes watching as the velvet blue of night filled the sky. "Before we move into position, here's the plan."

In the cover of darkness, I flew through the sky once more. I had been expecting it this time and since I couldn't see the ground below, I didn't feel as scared of the height. What I did see, however, was the bright light of a fire within the Steel Ranger encampment. Slowly, I was lowered into position on the top of an ancient billboard within range of the makeshift base. Looking up, I could barely make out the figure of Honeypot as she flew away. Her dark purple coat blending perfectly with the inky black sky. Soon she had vanished completely as I was left alone. The wind blew past me as if to remind me where I was, but I tried to ignore it by watching the ponies nearby. Most of them were sitting around the fire, talking quietly and completely unaware of us. Two ponies walked along the railway on guard duty, their guns drawn and ready for any threat that dared approach. They would move from one end to the other separately, making sure both sides were never left open.

I heard a magical pop seconds before Vagabond appeared right beside me. Even though I had been waiting for him it still startled me how suddenly it had happened. Without a word he just nodded and quietly moved to the other end of the billboard to get into position. While Honeypot had flown me here, the unicorn had teleported around the area to ensure there were no hidden rangers that could take us by surprise. Now all we had to do was wait for the signal. For the hundredth time, I made sure my gun was loaded and ready as my heartbeat slowly began to beat faster in anticipation.

The shot came from seemingly nowhere. In the blink of an eye, one of the ponies that had been walking along the railway was standing at attention then she was on the ground screaming in agony. Instantly the ponies in the camp responded. Two of them galloped to aid their fallen comrade, one of them carrying a pair of yellow medical bags. They never reached her. It was like Luna herself was smiting the rangers as a bolt of red, magical energy fell from the starless sky and ended their lives. It would have been beautiful if it wasn't so horrifying! I never saw the pegasus as she darted somewhere in the dark sky above. It was only when her guns fired that I caught a faint glimpse of her, but by then she was already gone. Another stallion raced across the Luna Line towards the endless screams of the mare, unaware that his fellow rangers were already dead. Within seconds, he joined them. And just like that, the assassin had managed to take out half of their numbers.

It was then a bright light cut into the darkness as the Paladin’s headlamp illuminated the battlefield. The light fell upon the wounded mare and, to my disgust, a quick bullet to the head put her out of her misery. He had killed his own underling! The jig was up as the light searched the sky for the assailant, finding her hovering high above. The Paladin took aim and fired, but his miniguns were too slow and Honeypot had already dived away. That was our cue. Taking aim, I fired an armor piercing round into the second guard. He had been running back across the line when the first pony had been shot. Flying true, the bullet ripped through his armor and into his heart, causing his body to fall hard onto the pavement. That left only three more rangers. However, they were nowhere to be seen as I scanned the overpass. My shot had alerted them to our presence and they had taken cover in the rubble. The paladin had turned his gun on us now and I felt my ears droop as I heard the minigun winding up. However, before he could shoot us, Honeypot flapped up behind him and blasted an energy bolt at his back. The armor protected him from the worst of it, but he still rocked forward from the force of the blow. Returning his attention to the pegasus, he began to shoot wildly at the night sky. For a moment I just stood and watched him but a movement from behind the big brute caught my eye. A buck had been aiming at me while I had been watching and was just about to take the shot, but a bright, blue light flew past me and into the ranger sending blood splattering all over. Smoke rose from Vagabond's horn as he hollered something I couldn't make out but understood. I needed to keep my head in the game or I was going to lose it.

The last ranger wasn’t hard to find. After watching all his companions die the coward thought he could get away by sneaking off. His hooves clattered loudly as he galloped down the Luna Line and I aimed my gun at the back of his head. I could have done it. I could have killed him. But then I remembered seeing a pale unicorn standing unarmed as a horde of children rushed to murder him. Looking down the scope I watched as the buck turned a corner and out of my sight. Lowering the weapon, I turned to see Vagabond watching me. I didn't understand his expression (a mixture of anger and acceptance?) but we didn't have time to talk about it. The paladin screamed in pure rage as his red, hot gun continued to fire into the clouds. His unit had been obliterated, his operation in shambles, and he couldn't even shoot the pony responsible! Sensing that he was going to lose total control of the situation, the power armor's headlamp turned to us once again. Swinging the huge gun towards us, we barely had time to duck before the billboard above us erupted into splinters. Vagabond's horn glowed as a shield enveloped us but I could see the strain on his face as he tried to hold the spell through the onslaught.

Then, just as suddenly as the barrage had started, it stopped. I watched it all in slow motion and even now I can't believe what I saw. The clouds above parted for just a second and the light of the moon shone brightly in the sky. The dark outline of a pegasus was clearly visible as she took aim at the paladin. The sniper showed her skill as the red laser exploded from the gun and blasted through the only weak point of the power armor, the eye. One moment the pony was firing his gun, the next he was falling to the ground in a lifeless heap. The sudden silence that followed the battle caused me to shiver involuntarily. There was no wind to shift the monolithic ruins above, no cries of distant monsters fighting in the night. I hated it.

"Are you two alright?" Honeypot called. She landed on the railing in front of me and I could have hugged her. Her voice cutting the silence was like music to my ears.

"I think so," Vagabond replied as I simply nodded.

"Good. Why don't you get back to the apartment building while I scavenge? This place is going to be swarming with raiders soon and I'd like to be tucked away for the night before they get here."

The unicorn agreed and as our companion flew away, he placed a hoof on my shoulder and in a flash, we appeared back at the apartment where we had first saw the rangers. Teleporting was a new experience and I found myself feeling dizzy all of a sudden. Stumbling, I moved to sit on a broken sofa before I fell on my face.

"I didn't know you could teleport with another pony."

"I don't do it often. As you can see, most ponies don't have the stomach for it," he replied with a smirk.

I didn't have the energy to retort, so I just shook my head and instantly regretted the movement.

"You spared one of them. Just when I think I have you figured out you continue to surprise me, Wild Chains."

I sighed, knowing he was going to bring it up. "Don't read into it. I didn't have a clear shot and I didn't want to waste the ammo."

He nickered but didn't respond. A few minutes later Honeypot rejoined us carrying as many supplies as she could find. It turned out the rangers had been hoarding a ton of medical items and food from the merchants they slaughtered. We were all of the same mind that the ponies of Gutterville would benefit from the spoils of the night more than us. Honeypot managed to fly back and forth three more times before the area had become overrun with raiders. There was still so much more we could have grabbed, but the risk was too great. Still, there was more than enough here to compensate for the lack of supplies the ponies of Gutterville had had to deal with for the last few weeks. As the night wore on, we settled down to wait for the first light of morning. Very little was said between us as we watched the dozens of figures move through the dancing flames of the ranger's encampment.

"I really don't know how I can thank ya'll. Ya saved us, ain't no two ways about it."

The mayor of Gutterville, an old stallion named Buckshot, shook my hoof wildly as he congratulated us on a job well done. My leg still wobbled even after he let go, only stopping when Vagabond caught it.

"That's what you paid us for. No need for more thanks," Honeypot said with a radiant smile.

"True, but then you returned with more supplies than we've had in a month! Are ya sure you don't want to take something with ya?"

She shook her head. "We'll be fine. The caps are all we need."

After another barrage of gratitude, we were finally allowed to leave the mayor's office. Gutterville was buzzing with activity after our arrival earlier that morning. Ponies were passing out the plethora of food, medicine, and ammo we had brought back with a renewed sense of hope. I couldn't help but smile as a pair of foals danced around a growing pile of 200-year-old oat cakes. All night long I wondered if we had done any good. If we had made any difference in the world. Seeing their smiles confirmed it for me. They would go to bed with full bellies tonight. The ponies in the hospital would finally have the treatment they desperately needed. They would sleep soundly knowing the guards had loaded guns to keep the monsters at bay. Yes, we had done good. It might not have changed the world, but it had changed the lives of these ponies and that was enough.

Honeypot nudged me, snapping me out of my thoughts, and handed me a pleasantly full bag of caps. Doing good deeds and getting paid for it? I was beginning to like the sound of this more and more! We finished our business with the ponies of Gutterville and left just as the sun reached the highest point in the sky. We walked in companionable silence for a long time as we made our way towards the Celestia Line and from there we could make a relatively easy journey away from this hellscape. All the while I contemplated deeply about my future and what I wanted to do going forward. The last few weeks had been nothing more than endless wandering and scrounging around for enough caps to survive with the world's most annoying unicorn. But now… now I had the opportunity to do something with myself. To make amends for all the suffering I had caused in my youth. As we climbed the stairs to the overpass above, I knew I had made my choice. Standing above the Manehattan ruins as the sun began it's slow decent, I sighed and turned to Honeypot. She had been talking to Vagabond about something, but when she saw the determined expression on my face she paused and raised a curious eyebrow.

"Teach me how to be a mercenary," I said, my voice firm with finality.

"Got a taste and now you want more, eh?" she said, smiling knowingly.

"I've done a lot of bad things. I can't change that but I can try to make it right somehow. Even if it's just a little bit. I want to help ponies."

Honeypot's smiled widened as her wings flapped excitedly. "I knew there was something about you I liked. Stick with me, kid, and I'll show you how to be the best damn mercenary in the wasteland."

For the first time I didn't bother reminding her I wasn't a child. I even allowed her to ruffle my mane fondly as she took to the sky. Vagabond moved to stand in front of me, staring with those icy blue eyes. He didn't say anything for a moment, but I could tell he was thinking. Patiently I waited for him to make up his own mind though I think he'd made it up a long time ago.

"Don't think you're getting rid of me that easily. Who's going to make sure you're doing your homework?" I rolled my eyes and groaned, turning away from him to hide my smile. He chuckled and trotted after me, nudging me playfully. "Alright, Honey, where are we headed now?"

The pegasus hovered above us with a wicked grin. "Don't think I'm about to wander into the wasteland with a pair of filthy bums. Our next stop is Tenpony Tower. It's time you low life's learned a little class."

Footnote: Level up!
New Perk: Night Pony – You are a creature of the night blessed by Luna's pale light. You gain +2 perception between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
Companion Perk Unlocked: Death From Above – As long as Honeypot is in your party, your sneak attacks do 5x normal damage.

Author's Note

At long last! Sorry for how long it took me to write this one. I hope you enjoy and thank you for your patience.
As always, thank you to Sonnystar for helping with proof reading.

Chapter Eight: A Moment's Reprieve

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter Nine: The Many Roads We Travel

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter Three: The Meaning of Integrity

Chapter 3
The Meaning of Integrity
"Life's trials will test you, and shape you, but don’t let them change who you are.”

Everypony knew how the world ended. My grandma would tell us stories that her grandma had told her when she was just a filly. Over two hundred years ago the ponies of Equestria had lived in peace and harmony under the rule of the benevolent Goddesses, Celestia and Luna. The land was green and full of life and the sky was open and glorious. Yet, with all things, it could not last forever. Gran couldn't tell us why the war had started only that it had begun when the zebra nation attacked a school full of young students. It had raged for decades and thousands of lives were lost. She then told us that the zebras used their dark, foreign magics to create the weapons that would eventually burn the world. The megaspells! In order to protect ponykind, underground bunkers called Stables were built across Equestria. Gran had been born and spent most of her life in one of those. My favorite part of her tale was when she finally emerged from that steel tomb and took her first steps into the wasteland.

She had always said her first thought about the world above was how ugly it was. How wrong she had been. I sat facing the east as the first glow of the morning sun peeked over the distant mountains. It started out as the usual dull gray but eventually the clouds became alive with color. An array of pinks and purples quickly changed to reds and golds as the sun climbed higher into the sky. There was beauty to be found in this diseased and desolate land. If only she could have seen that before…

The moment of peace was shattered as I was brought back to the present. I shook my head and promptly stopped myself from taking a trip down memory lane. The sudden movement caused my bruised face to throb and I sucked in air through my teeth and I gingerly touched my cheek. As if reacting to my pain, the pretty colors on the clouds bled away and returned to the lifeless gray that stained the sky. With a sigh, I stood up and turned my back on the murky sunlight as I returned to my route.

Guard duty was never fun, but it at least gave me time to be alone with my thoughts. As my hooves carried me lazily around the outskirts of the school building, I gazed out at the emptiness. It had been two days since Rusty Blade had stuck me and since then I had found myself wanting to be on my own more and more. While I had never been an incredibly vocal pony, I had always enjoyed the company of my friends. Even now I thought about how fun it would be to take a hit of Dash with Razz and get into one of our deep, philosophical rants. Yet, I was hesitant and even anxious about going home because I knew he would be there. Eventually, I was going to have to face Rusty again. He was as unavoidable as the voice in my own head.

Suddenly, the sound of familiar music reached my ears. Returning my attention back to the task at hoof, I scanned the area until I found the source of the racket. Speaking of unavoidable noises in my head, I growled as the sprite bot came into view. The round metal body hovered aimlessly by as it blared that constant annoying music unrepentantly. It was rare to see one of them so far away from the larger settlements, but they managed to find their way out here from time to time. Without a second thought, I quickly pulled my pistol from its holster and fired two shots. The bot fell to the ground as my first bullet blasted off one of its wings and my second shot killed it for good before that nasty magical laser could retaliate.

Peaceful silence washed over me again as I holstered my gun and continued my dutiful stroll. It didn't surprise me when I heard hooves galloping towards me about twenty minutes later. I didn't need to see who it was. There were very few ponies who would be willing to rush out at the crack of dawn to join me on guard duty.

"I heard the gunshots and thought you might need help," Ash Blossom said.

This was only half true. She knew me better than anypony else and had seen my sudden withdrawal from the others. My half-hearted smiles and mumbled responses weren't fooling her, yet she had just enough restraint to avoid asking questions.

"Thanks, but it was just a sprite bot," I said curtly.

"Oh," she said quietly, her steps slowing.

Turning, I saw her looking dejectedly at her hooves as she pawed at the ground. I stopped and sighed before tilting my head, silently indicating she could join me. I couldn't help the small smile as she happily bounded to my side as if she had never been upset. We continued walking for a little while longer in silence, but I could almost feel her vibrating with the unspoken question. All she needed was a slight raise of my brow before she was off.

"Are you okay? You've been acting strange these last few days. Was it because of that stallion?"

I didn't know how to tell her. Ash was just as loyal to Rusty Blade as any other Youngblood, if not more. She loved him as if he were her own flesh and blood. "No," I said simply.

"Well then what is it?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about me. I'm fine."

Suddenly, she jumped in front of me and stared me down with those big, bright eyes. "For Goddesses sake, knock it off already! We're practically sisters, Wild Chains, I know when you're lying. So just tell me what's going on."

Stunned, I could only stutter incoherently as I tried to find my voice. It took a lot to upset her but when that filly got mad, she could fight off a charging bighorner. After falling to my haunches, I finally sighed and looked at my hooves. "You remember when I told you it was that stallion who had hit me?"

She nodded, falling silent to eagerly listen.

"Well it wasn't. It was Rusty."

"What?" she gasped.

I recounted what had happened two days ago, filling in the missing parts that Rusty had left out. "I know that buck deserved to die, but it shouldn't have been at the hooves of his own son," I finished.

"Why not?"

I felt a rock sink in the pit of my stomach as I looked up to see Ash watching me with a puzzled expression. "What do you mean 'why not'?"

"That colt had been abused for years. He was happy to finally put an end to all that. You even said so yourself. So why should we take that revenge from him?"

With no answer, I kept my mouth shut. Seeing this, she continued. "I don't think it was right of Rusty to hit you like that, but I think he was mad because you were siding with an adult. We're Youngbloods after all! We only look out for the kids the wasteland abandoned. That's how it's always been."

Part of me agreed with her. After all, what had any adult ever done for us? And yet, a small voice kept whispering that she was wrong. Rusty was wrong. I shook my head trying to clear it of the conflicting sides that fought each other. "Yeah, I know you're right. I shouldn't have challenged Rusty like that."

"Hey, it's okay. I think he probably feels bad about it too. I've seen you avoiding each other but maybe it's time to make amends. After all, we can't have our number one and number two fighting each other, right?"

Feeling like I had just been doused in freezing water, I tried to hold back the sudden shiver that threatened to overwhelm me. Forcing a genuine smile on my face I nodded and placed a hoof on her shoulder as I pulled her into a hug. "Thanks, Ash. You always know how to cheer me up."

"Of course. That's what best friends are supposed to do."

We pulled apart and returned to our patrol. Somehow, I managed to push down the growing anxiety as we casually gossiped about Lug Nut's not-so-secret crush on Crosshair. As we neared the school building again, I saw a familiar red figure galloping full speed up the broken road. Even from this distance I could tell something was wrong. Sensing it too, Ash broke into a run with me as we headed inside. I wasted no time rushing up the stairs and bursting into the meeting room. Rusty Blade gave me the briefest of glances before returning to Razz, who was in the middle of giving his report between ragged breaths.

"…was traveling east when I left. Pearl stayed behind to watch them."

I moved to stand beside the table while Rusty rubbed his chin in contemplation. "An' how many did you say there were?"

"I counted five, but there is a chance they could be scouting for a much larger group. It didn't look like any of them were carrying supplies other than weapons."

With a growl, our leader roughly tapped the table with a hoof. Frustration was clear in his expression as he huffed. "There 'ave been more an' more trespassers on our turf lately. I think it's time we made it clear strangers ain't allowed ta just wander onta our land!" He pointed a hoof at me. "Wild Chains, round up a few of our best fighters an' 'ave Crosshair fit 'em with the good shit. Tell her she's in charge of guardin' the place while we're away. Ash, 'ave Tato an' Lucky gather up the foals and keep an eye on 'em. If we're dealin' with a rogue group I wanna make sure they can escape quickly if the base is attacked."

With a salute, we darted out of the meeting room. Shouting orders to the ponies I gathered around the fires, I moved them into action. Some I had to buck as they were too full of booze or drugs to fully comprehend what was going on. It had been a long time since we'd needed to rally like this, and we had grown complacent. I would have to tell Rusty later. For now, I managed to get the ponies who would be going with us by the armory and reiterated our leader's orders to Crosshair. With a gleeful nod, I watched her kick open several large trunks where she kept all our best gear. I rushed to my quarters and pulled on my leather barding. Perhaps I had grown complacent too. After checking that my pistol was loaded, I grabbed a few extra clips and even a few armor piercing rounds. Then, I opened a small medical box and grabbed three orange colored tablets. Buck. This would help me fight better. Tucking them all into my saddlebags, I galloped back to my comrades just as Crosshair was giving the last filly a heavy rifle.

"You sure you can hold that?" she asked.

With a grunt, the unicorn encased the weapon in her magic and levitated it beside her. Satisfied, Crosshair shooed her away to join the others leaving the building. We had ten ponies in all going out to find these trespassers while the rest would stay here and guard the base. Suddenly, two forms appeared at my side and I looked down to see Ebony and Ivory waiting to get their own guns.

"No, not you two. You're going to stay close to Tato and Lucky until we get back."

"But we can fight! You know that," Ivory pleaded.

"No!" I said firmly, then, seeing the hurt in their eyes, I continued. "We need you to protect the other foals. If anything happens to us, you'll be their only line of defense."

This seemed to encourage them as they nodded in determination. "You can count on us, Wild!"

Watching them race back to Tato, I saw Ash helping her gather the last few foals before returning to me. "I'm coming with you. I missed out on the last scuffle and look at what happened to you. You need someone to watch your back."

"I think this might be more than a scuffle."

"Even better," she said uncharacteristically, a smirk spreading across her face.

We galloped outside where Rusty was repeating what Razz had reported to the ponies I had selected to join us. Once everypony was on the same page, we moved out together with Razz in the lead to show us where he and Pearl had spotted the trespassers. Quiet murmurs rippled through the ranks as ponies ramped each other up for the coming fight. Normally, I would have been at Rusty's side as we bounced battleplans and tactics back and forth, but I found myself trotting at the back of the party. I tried to justify to myself that somepony needed to watch our flank.

As we marched, I felt that same anxiety from this morning bubble in my stomach. From my position I could clearly see the expressions of my companions. They were smiling, eager to find these ponies and teach them a lesson. A few had that ever familiar bloodlust I saw on the faces of so many raiders. We weren't raiders! Sure, we'd killed ponies before, but it had always been out of self-defense. I never enjoyed killing, but the wasteland is unforgiving. And yet, I could see that a few of my friends were ready to murder without hesitating. No! No, they were just bored. Things had been relatively slow these last few moons. Sure, a few intruders here and there, but it had been a long time since anything truly exciting had happened.

Still, try as I might, I could not help but think deep in the back of my mind that my friends might actually be turning into the very thing we hated right next to adults. Raiders were cruel and ruthless, killing indiscriminately and without remorse. We weren't like that. We killed only to protect ourselves and the children the wasteland forgot. Yet, recently, I had heard stories of my friends finding random travelers just passing through and robbing them blind or killing them if they put up a fight. Of course, all these ponies had been grownups. They probably deserved it. Time and time again I had seen proof that older ponies were selfish creatures. Maybe that's why many of the Youngbloods were changing. They were getting older. Soon, several members would be considered adults, including myself and even Rusty Blade. Would we change into the low life adults too?

The sound of gunshots yanked me from my thoughts. Growling, I realized I had fallen behind from the main group as they galloped several feet ahead. Everypony had their guns drawn and I wasted no time unholstering my own as I lowered my head and pushed myself to canter faster to catch up. Turning past a fallen sky chariot I saw a group of five ponies shooting from the upper level of a ruined building. From their ridiculously spiky armor to their insane laughter, it was clear these were the vile raiders who had dared encroach on our turf!

They were shooting at a lone figure desperately hiding behind a low wall. Even from this distance I could see Pearl's pale coat gleaming with an opalescent sheen. Watching her, it was clear she was injured as she favored her foreleg. How long had those bastards had her pinned down? I couldn't be sure. What I did know was that we had caught them off guard as we charged gallantly into battle. Rusty Blade wasted no time as he expertly aimed his gun and fired a single shot. In the blink of an eye, one of the raider's cried out in agony before falling off the edge of the building to land in the rubble with a sickening crunch.

At once, the guns were turned on us and we rushed to find cover. A bullet whizzed overhead as I dove behind the trunk of a large, long dead tree. Close by, I heard Rusty calling out orders to those who could hear him.

"Razz, Ash, git over there an' help Pearl. Lug Nut, Wild, cover 'em. The rest of you, kill those fuckers!"

Poking my head around the trunk I took aim and pulled the trigger several times before ducking back into safety. The pained shout was music to my ears. Hooves clattering on cement told me that Razz and Ash were racing to help our injured friend. After a quick reload, I jumped away from the tree and fired wildly at the building. I wasn't aiming to kill anypony yet, just force them to keep their heads down while the others were in the open. Together with Lug Nut's huge shotgun spraying bullets on them, they didn't dare try to retaliate more than just a blind shot here and there.

Once Razz and Ash were safely behind the wall, I backed into safety again to reload. Somepony screamed, but I wasn't sure if it had been friend or foe but there was no time to check. I heard a heavy thunk on the other side of the tree and peeked to see a round object slowly rolling away.

"Shit!" Without thinking, I bolted away from the protection of the trunk moments before the grenade exploded. The shock of the blast swept me off my hooves and threw me several feet. The force of the impact knocked the gun from my mouth causing it to slide away. A raider was already shooting at where I had landed, and I hissed as one of the bullets grazed my shoulder. Scrambling to get my hooves under me, I darted towards the only cover I could see and practically slammed into Rusty Blade.

"Git yer gun, I'll cover ya!" he hollered.

Any grievances the two of us had felt for one another were cast aside as the fighting raged on around us. Nodding, I waited for him to fire then bolted for my gun. Flinching away from flying bullets, I quickly scooped the gun in my mouth before returning fire without aiming. Galloping back to Rusty Blade, I ducked below the steel beams and proceeded to reload the chamber with shaky hooves.

"We need ta git 'em from behind an' flush 'em outta that damn building," Rusty growled.

Glancing through the barrier, I could see he was right. As long as they held the high ground, we couldn't do much damage. My ammo was getting low and I was forced to switch to my armor piercing rounds. The others couldn't be fairing much better than me. We needed to end this now or else we'd be sitting ducks. From the looks of it, the building had once been a marketplace where ponies could go to buy all sorts of goods. In the front, just below the massive hole in the wall where the raiders where shooting at us from the second level, there was a large door that hung open. There had to be another way in there.

As if reading my mind, Rusty tilted his head towards the other end of the large ruin. "I saw a back door over yonder but I ain't sure if yer gonna be able ta git in from there."

Following his gaze, I could see a smaller door some distance away. Unlike the front one, this one hadn't been made of glass. "All we need another pair of quiet hooves and a good bucker," I said.

He smiled knowingly. "Alright, take this. Now go on and we'll cover fer ya."

Pulling a grenade out of his saddlebag, I tossed it into my own before sprinting across the parking lot towards Razz and Ash. The filly had bandaged Pearl's leg to stop the bleeding and now stood over her to protect her from the rain of bullets. Razz was taking pot shots every now and then, but his attention was focused on the pale girl.

"You okay?" I asked Pearl quickly.

"It's just a flesh wound, Wild. Nothing I can't handle."

I respected her tenacity but the pain in her expression gave away the lies she told. Still, I nodded approvingly and looked at Razz. "I need your help."

"I'm not leaving her."

I sighed. We didn't have time to play nice. Kicking his leg out from under him, I wrapped a foreleg around his neck and slammed him against the wall. "We are going to die if you don't help me. Now move your ass or I will move it for you!"

Gulping fearfully, he swiftly nodded. Turning to Ash, I didn't have to say anything before she spoke. "Go. I'll take care of her."

Waiting for a break in the battle, I galloped to the far end of the lot where the unmistakable form of Lug Nut was camped out behind a dumpster. Razz was close on my heels and together we fired up at the gaping hole to keep the raider's heads down as we ran. Once behind the dumpster, we heard them retaliate pathetically as bullets deflected off the rusty metal. Looking at my companions, I quickly laid out a plan to turn the battle our way. Making sure we were all on the same page, I turned and spotted Rusty Blade looking over at us. I raised a hoof to give him the signal.

Moments later, a single grenade was thrown towards the raiders. One of them tried to shoot it but as it exploded, a great flash erupted over the battlefield. Several ponies screamed as they were temporarily blinded. The three of us, on the other hoof, used the moment to quickly gallop to the side door Rusty had seen. Lug Nut's powerful hooves made short work of the ancient lock and within seconds, Razz and I were inside. The door closed behind us, cutting off the sounds of fighting as we were cast in darkness. Carefully, we made our way around aisles of decaying food and rotten wood. Metal carts were scattered all over as were the bones of many skeletons. The sight of the long dead ponies hardly affected me anymore. They were as common as the clouds in the sky. Just a remnant of days long gone. Or so I told myself. I pretended to skirt around them for the sake of stealth.

Luckily, nopony was in the lower levels and we quickly trotted to the stairs. Above us, we could hear the insane laughter coming from the ponies above. They were enjoying the slaughter of my friends! Razz growled under his breath as he realized this too.

"Let's end this," he whispered.

Nodding, I climbed each step carefully until I poked my head at the top. Four raiders stood with their backs to us, each one taking a turn to shoot at the band below. Every time I heard a Youngblood scream in pain, the raiders would giggle madly. Bastards! Pulling the grenade from my bags, I heard the gentle hum of magic as Razz picked it up. Thanks to that horn of his, he would be far more accurate than me and we both knew it. Covering my ears, I watched him toss the orb into the middle of the room.

"Fuck! Hit the deck!"

It was too late. With an enormous boom, three raiders were sent flying through the opening. If the explosion hadn't killed them, my allies would turn them into swiss cheese. The remaining pony had been the farthest from the blast, but once the dust cleared, I could see he hadn't gotten away uninjured. Stumbling about and mumbling incoherently he searched the room for the leg that had been blown clear off. Pulling my pistol out, I was about to charge in to finish the poor bastard off, but Razz darted past me. With a vicious growl, he bucked the raider hard sending him sprawling with a yelp of agony. Then, he proceeded to stomp on the mangled stump repeatedly. Taken aback by his rage, I could only watch as the stallion begged for mercy from a child.

It came from the bullet I put in between his eyes. Razz fell back in surprise then turned on me, that snarl still etched on his face.

"Why did you kill him?"

"Because we aren't like them. We don't torture ponies!" I said, holstering my gun.

"Do you think they would have shown us the same kindness, Wild? Look what they did to Pearl. He deserved everything he got!"

He marched past me, slamming into my shoulder hard before trotting down the stairs. The gunfire had settled outside but I found myself unable to join my friends. The warring ponies in my mind took up arms against each other again as I tried to make sense of what had just happened. Razz had been right. If the shoe had been on the other hoof, the raiders would have enjoyed watching us die slowly. He had been upset by what had happened to Pearl and was justified in his actions, right? But we should never stoop to the level of a raider, even if they had wronged us. They deserved to die, of that I had no doubt, yet it should be quick and without a second thought. That was how it has always been. What made us different than them, better than them.

With growing anxiety, I sighed and made my way downstairs. I desperately wanted to get home and drink the first bottle of booze I could find. Leaving the building, I could see a few of my companions looting the fallen raiders while several others were licking their wounds. Luckily, we hadn't lost anypony. Ash moved around to those who had been injured and quickly treated them. Seeing me, she quickly trotted over and examined the gash on my shoulder.

"Looks like it's not too deep. I can bandage it for you or cut it off, you know, to match your ear."

I chuckled dryly. "Take it off. Then I can have you do all my guard shifts".

"Darn, I left my saw at home. You'll just have to keep it."

"Yet another scar to add to my collection. How are the others?"

"Nothing too serious, thankfully. Pearl had to drink two health potions, but she should be fine."

I could see the pale pony leaning against Razz as they started making their way home. Seeing him made my façade fade for a moment. Of course, Ash Blossom saw it and she gave me a concerned look.

"You okay?" she asked, placing a hoof on my shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to be drunk right now."

"I think we all earned a drink," came Rusty's voice. The brown unicorn walked up to us with a pleased smile. "Ya did good, Wild. I knew I could count on ya."

"I did what I could."

"Oh, don't be so modest. Ifn it weren't fer you an' Razz, we might not have survived. I'm glad yer still on our side. Ya had me worried for a bit there. I thought you was goin' soft on us."

His words stung almost worse than his hooves. I fought to keep my ears from falling flat and my expression neutral. It was only a joke, I told myself. Ash laughed, as if to confirm my lies, and lightly slapped Rusty on the side.

"Wild Chains, a softy? Like that'll ever happen."

Once again, I found myself at the back of the party as we made our way back home. The going was much slower to make it easier for the injured ponies. Our hooves clopped on the asphalt and I lost myself in the rhythmic sound as I let my mind wander yet again. I didn't like how much that was happening, yet I did nothing to stop it. Only when I slammed into Lug Nut's flank did I realize the group had stopped. Rubbing my snout, I moved around the large colt to see what everypony was looking at.

In the distance, a lone pony was walking across the road. He hadn't noticed us thanks to the setting sun at our backs. Even the clouds couldn't completely cut off the sickeningly harsh light. Rusty and Razz were talking quietly together, and I trotted up beside the red coated unicorn to hear what they were saying.

"I'm gettin' real tired of all these goddess damned intruders thinkin' they can just waltz inta our territory," Rusty said.

"We need to show ponies they aren't welcome here," Razz said with a growl.

"Perhaps it's time we increased our guard patrols," I chimed in. "We've been getting pretty sloppy lately."

Razz turned to me his expression showing he was still sore about the raider. "What was sloppy about Pearl and I? We were outnumbered!"

I rolled my eyes. "That's not what I mean, and you know it. There should have been more ponies out on patrol instead of staying in and getting drunk and high."

"Weren't you just talking about drinking? Pot calling the kettle black."

"Listen here, you little shit!"

"Enough!" Rusty barked. Those orange eyes fell on me with the same ferocity from the other day and I felt my ears droop as I looked away. "Razz's right, Wild. It ain't us, it's them. We've been here fer years but they don't see us as a threat just 'cause we're young."

Several ponies muttered in agreement while a few nodded their heads. My heart sank to see Ash was among them.

"I think it's time we finally show the wasteland that we ain't some lowly band of urchins. We're the Youngbloods and this is our land!

"Here here!" Lug Nut called out as the others cheered.

"Let's make that stallion our first example! Once we're done with him, ain't no pony gonna dare step hoof on our terf again."

"Wait, Rusty!" I said. "Look at him, he's just a lonely traveler. He isn't even wearing barding. Let's just chase him off and go home." I could feel the stares from the others like ice on my back, but I refused to look at them. Rusty just glared at me as if I had taken the wind right out of his sails, and in a way, I had. Fighting against those powerful eyes, I continued in a desperate attempt to get one of my oldest friends to see what he was becoming. "This isn't who you are. Please."

He smiled, a grim line that never reached his eyes. "I never would 'ave thought you, of all ponies, would stand up fer some random adult. You've gone soft, Wild Chains."

"What? No, I-"

"Either yer with us or yer against us."

"Of course, I'm with you!"

"Time to prove it."

Before I could respond, he turned on his hooves and charged towards the unfortunate buck. The others followed behind him, only Ash sparing me a second glance as she darted by. With a growl, I cantered after them. My mind was like a howling storm as thunderous thoughts fought against each other. These ponies were my friends, my family! I had fought by their side for years. Whatever the wasteland threw at us, we were there to fight against it together. Yet now, I didn't even know who they were. Something had changed and for a long time I refused to see it. Now I had to make a choice.

Did I lose myself in the madness that had claimed my friends, or did I stay true to myself?

Tears in my eyes, I pushed myself to run faster. Lungs burning from the effort, I quickly gained on the small herd of children. I could hear some of them jeering about tearing his legs off and posting his head on a pike. I did not join them. I knew now that I never would. Instead, I galloped around them, passing by Rusty Blade at the head, not daring to face him for fear those eyes would hold me back. Instead, I put my head down and charged as fast as I could towards the buck. The rumble of our hooves finally got his attention and he turned to look at us. It was only now that I was able to see him clearly. He wasn't just some random buck. He was a unicorn with a coat the color of sun-bleached bones and a mane as pure as snow. Upon his back were a pair of old, worn saddlebags and nothing more. No guns or weapons of any kind. He was no threat to us. He didn't deserve what was about to happen.

For a moment, our eyes met. Then I opened my mouth and called out as loud as I could, "Run!"

I watched as his horn ignite…

BANG!

A deep, searing pain exploded from my flank and suddenly I was falling to the hard asphalt. For a moment, I thought the stranger had shot me but as I tried to find him, he had vanished without a trace. I couldn't think about that for long as my brain finally caught up with the fact that I had been shot. Gazing down at my flank, I could see a clean bullet hole just below my cutie mark oozing blood at a rapid pace. Moments later, I was surrounded by the gang of young ponies who I had once called family. Rusty Blade stood over me, the barrel of his gun still smoking. Weakly, I made to move for my own weapon but cried out in pure agony as the tall colt slammed his hoof on my flank.

"How dare you! First, you betray us an' let the enemy git away. Then, ya have the audacity ta try and shoot me! You have no idea where that pony just went. Fer all we know, he's makin' his way towards home as we speak."

"He… he didn't have any… any weapons… aagh!!"

Rusty pressed harder and I felt hot tears flow down my cheeks as I writhed beneath him. My vision was blurry, but I could still make out the savage looks of the fillies and colts who circled me. Razz glared at me with pure loathing while Lug Nut barred yellowed teeth. Even Pearl, though she must have been in great pain, managed to sneer at me with contempt. But there was one pony whose expression was of deep sorrow and betrayal. Ash sobbed quietly beside Rusty Blade, her bright eyes locked on to mine.

"Why, Wild? Why would you do this?"

I couldn't answer her. Instead, I just shook my head and let the tears fall.

"Well, Youngbloods, what do you think we should do with this traitor?" Rusty called out.

"Cast her away"

"Beat her!"

Rusty Blade stepped off me and moved back from the raging mob. "Prove to me that you're all still loyal. Teach this traitor a lesson. Show her what it means to be a true Youngblood!"

There was no hesitation. Before I could react, the hooves of a dozen ponies began to buck me as hard as they could. Teeth pulled at my tail and mane as blow after savage blow came down on me. It was all I could do to protect my head as I began to black out. The last thing I saw was a lilac pony shove Razz aside as she looked down upon me with hurt.

"I'm sorry," Ash Blossom said.

Then, with a merciful kick to the head, I felt no more.

Floating. I was floating in darkness and silence. Nothing. Blissful nothing. I could have stayed like this forever. Just me and the oblivion. Yet, I was not alone. In the distance, I could hear hoof steps approaching. The sound was enough to set off a chain reaction that dragged me back to consciousness. My body felt like it was on fire. I moaned and felt my eye lids flutter as I tried to see who had brought me back to this hellish existence. A pair of white hooves stood beside me. Death. Death had come for me. I knew I should have been afraid, and yet, I felt myself beginning to fall back into that sweet, black nothingness. Take me home, Death. I'm ready.

Footnote: Level up!
New Perk: Tough Hide (level one) – The brutal experiences of the Equestrian Wasteland have hardened you. You gain +3 to Damage Threshold for each level of this perk you take.

Author's Note

As always, thank you for reading. I apologize if the ending felt a little rushed, I was excited to finish it before the new year. All the thanks for SonnyStar's amazing and quick editing. I'm always open to any constructive criticism so don't be shy if you see anything that needs to be changed. Anyways, happy holidays!