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!