Fallout Equestria: Half Breeds

Azure woke up from the bed that he was sleeping in, thanks to the support of both Gretzky and the support of Plumjuice, which both were on good terms with each other, making them tend to agree on things more often than not. They both could agree on allowing their good old friend Azure to stay with them, which was enough for Azure to live with, after the events of what happened during the previous night, which reminded him that he still had a headache that was not going to be going away any time soon.

Azure got up and sat straight, seeing that he was in a room by himself, which was not the strange part about it all in the first place. The strange part about it is that the room looked completely different to how it was then he fell asleep. Azure eventually got up and looked to the door, seeing that it was closed. He opened the door to see a hallway, if not very short, appear in front of him. He walked slowly down it, not knowing the layout of the house at all, due to the fact that he didn't even live there. He came to the steps of the building, becoming a little hesitant to climb down them, not knowing where they led to at all. It was just paranoia Azure kept telling himself, or was it doubt that had rested in the back of his mind.

Azure shook his head, before slowly walking down the stairs. Before Azure reached the bottom, he could hear the voices of both Gretzky and Plumjuice talking in the next room, making him feel a little more confident that he was okay. He hopped off the bottom step and landed with a little bounce, making him easily walk into the next room to see them both looking at him with smiles on their faces. Azure blushed a little, due to the reaction that he had just got, but stayed strong in that situation, making him gain a slight confidence boost.

“How are you doing this morning, Azure?” Gretzky asked, getting Azure’s attention straight away. He pondered for a moment, before all of the thoughts of last night met his brain for the second time.

“I’m alright I guess, just gotta relax and forget about everything bad that has happened to me.” Azure explained, making himself feel slightly better about everything that was happening to him. That statement got both of the pair to nod at each other, before nodding back at Azure, making him understand that he was right to do that to himself. He needed a break and both Gretzky and Plumjuice both knew it. Azure walked up to the remains of their glass window and looked outside it, seeing that it was raining heavily, making the idea of relaxing seem so much more inviting than going out into the rain and getting his fur wet, as well as getting it all down his wings and restricting his movement. Azure looked back at the other two, sitting down together and listening to the radio that was playing in the background. Azure decided to join them both, wanting to forget about the world around them as it stood. Azure slowly walked over beside the two chairs and laid down on the floor, resting his head on the ground, almost like he was a pet dog.

Gretzky turned up the radio a little, making sure that Azure could hear it too, so that he could relax easier and quicker. Azure was sad, but despite that, the floor seemed to be very comfy and nearly made him want to drift straight back to sleep, which was pretty weird to Azure, due to him being the one that would get up and refuse to fall asleep before he was able to complete his day. Azure felt comfortable for the first time in a little while, sending him into a little bit of a panic, knowing that somewhere, somehow, something was going wrong because of him, but it was just paranoia trying to push him over the edge. He needed to go over to see Roselight today, so he wasn't going to be too comfortable for long, due to Roselight having something for him to get his hooves on. Azure decided that it was time for him to relax and unwind for a little bit, allowing his mind to become clear and allow him to focus on the bigger things that mattered to the entirety of the Wasteland, rather than worrying about something that only he had a problem with.

Azure caught wind of a name that he recognised on the radio, but didn't know the name of the character that was talking. It sounded so familiar, but Azure couldn't place his hoof on the pony that had the voice of a DJ. A voice became present on the radio again, the same one that Azure recognised for some reason. It was the announcer of the radio station that was within the area of Tenpony Tower, a place that Azure and some of his friends had been before, once or twice, due to needing to take some deliveries over there due to Gretzky being some pony or some gryphon who was now more into the trading profession than he was before, making him also become more of a haggler, allowing him to carefully drop the prices of items that he was buying and raising the prices of the items that he was selling, which was something that Azure admired a lot.

“This is DJ Pony coming to you live from Tenpony Tower! Word gets around quick, don't it kids? A brave group of two just cleared out the entire group of raiders that were patrolling around the Steel Ranger’s old camp at the Hoofington Docks, which originally got destroyed by somepony that I am quite fond of. Anyway, moving back away from the mare and moving back to the duo that were able to achieve such a feat, I managed to get an image or two from the pair that were not wanting to give their names. One of them was a former raider, or is still a raider, but has gone rogue against his fellow clan and members within it. The other one thought, I have never seen a creature like it before! It had holes all over its body and it had sharp like fangs, almost like some of those bat ponies that you see about. Could it have been one of them but have been mutated and warped by the harsh radiation that seems to plaster this place we call home, or could it just be a brand new or very old creature that happened to surface. I’d love to hear what you all think about this strange creature, so get in touch if you can. This is DJ Pony and make the most of the Wasteland, because before you know it, we all will be free again.” DJ Pony explained, before signing off and returning back to the music.

Gretzky, Plumjuice and Azure all looked at each other, before all of them just froze, like something bad had happened to one of them and they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Azure looked to the ground and tried to think, before noticing that something was definitely up. Blitz was dead, which ruled him out of it for sure, but why would there be another changeling within the Wasteland? Had they come out of hiding and wanted to help the raiders? If that was so, then they would have had a bad time indeed with all of the stuff that was going to be added to part of the raider’s arsonal. Azure shook his head, before noticing something was up, but he couldn't put his hoof on it, again. Gretzky was wide eyed, making Azure instantly look up to him and see him staring straight, trying to put all of the pieces together, which was bringing up some ideas that Gretzky needed to test as soon as possible. He turned and opened the door, before flying away and into the dark day, leaving Plumjuice with a smile, as she looked down towards Azure, knowing something about Gretzky that Azure didn’t.

Azure was a little bit confused, but it didn't bother him as much as he thought, which was a little strange to him. Feeling a little better as well as a little bit confused, Azure walked to the door to see that it was raining, which was not the ideal weather to be going out in, especially when it was chuckling it down as hard as it could. Azure was tempted to chase after the rogue gryphon, but the rain was telling him otherwise, keeping him locked down on his new home of rest, which was not what he wanted. The amount of radiation that he would have got just by stepping outside was bad enough, let alone going out and traveling in the same type of weather.

Plumjuice just stood there and looked at Azure, knowing exactly what Gretzky was doing, due to her seeing something that had happened to something that he loved. It didn't take long for the gryphon to get back with a molded rock, making it look like it was something that Gretzky used for most things over in his shop. Gretzky dropped the item on the floor and saw that the item chipped and shattered within a matter of seconds, but a huge part of it was still stuck together, which made Azure super confused, but not Gretzky or Plumjuice. They all saw as the stone began to retreat as soon as it was in pieces, leaving the item and the pieces as they were, being broken on the floor.

The item was no longer stone, making Azure get what they were trying to show to him. They wanted to test it anyway, due to wanting another piece of equipment anyway, making it easier to let go of the item and see what happened to it after it broke. It was pretty surprising that it just returned to its original form, which surprised Gretzky enough that he was confident that given the right scenario, Blitz could have still been alive and breathing, due to him being lucky or what not. Gretzky picked up all of the loose pieces before throwing them away, into the bin, before looking out of the window.

"There is a chance that he could still be out there, a chance that he's…" Gretzky stated, before Azure cut him off, finishing his sentence.

"Alive!" Azure finished, letting himself get a hold of the situation that they had before them, making him be filled with nothing more than confidence, which was something that he needed right there and then. Confidence was one of the only things that was stopping him from being able to achieve anything, but that was a complete lie, due to him not being able to do anything about the situation anyway. Azure looked up to the sky and saw that there was no chance that he was going to be able to do anything about anything today, due to the weather which was a little bit of a stupid thing and also due to Azure just not being the one that wanted to get radiation posioning, as well as him not having any radaway.

Azure walked away from the window and sat down on the floor again, before listening to some of the calmer music that was playing in the background, which in his eyes was pretty relaxing and made for a great distraction from the rain that was hindering his progress. Azure listened to the smoothest melody that was playing, making him feel like he was getting into the flow of the music, just by laying on the floor and bobbing his head about, getting into the groove. The music stopped all of a sudden, making it all go static and nothing else. Azure opened his eyes to see the lightest flash of his life, as a piece of lightning hit the ground just outside the window, making Plumjuice jump and begin to worry about Gretzky, due to the weather being so rough all of a sudden.

Azure hopped up and looked to the sky, seeing that the pegusi were not doing their old jobs of clearing the clouds, like they used to do in all of the books on pre-war Equestria, making Azure wish that he was able to fly up and move some of the clouds in the sky, without the risk of getting vaporized by the energy sensors that were protecting the sky from the ground, which was a pretty cowardly thing to do, but Azure couldn't complain about it at a time like this. Azure noticed that something was definitely off about today, due to the world being a little more blacker than usual, making Azure feel a little more paranoid about everything that was happening in his life and making him stress out more than was helpful.

Azure rushed out of the door into the wet rain, thinking about what he was going to do with himself about what was going on within his head. He wanted to check up on his Gryphon friend, just in case something did happen to him.

“Azure!” Plumjuice shouted out, getting Azure’s attention for a short amount of time. “Please make sure that he is alright out there.” Plumjuice added, getting a simple nod from the pegasus zebra hybrid, before seeing him fly up a little bit, only for him to be able to clear the building or two, making his route quicker to get to Gretzky’s shop. Azure waited for a second, seeing the gryphon doing something with an item within his claws, making Azure’s mind trip and started getting him thinking about what Gretzky had within his claws. Azure landed right next to him, before seeing that it was an image of himself and Plumjuice together, with a little gryphon standing beside them both, in the middle of them, splitting them up.

Gretzky didn't hesitate to show Azure the image, before he opened the door to his shop and turned on the lights. He began to look for something, while Azure looked at the image that Gretzky had given to him. Azure stepped into the shop and kept looking at the image, noticing that there were features from both Gretzky and Plumjuice on the little gryphon, making Azure begin to think about something that was a little crazy to believe.

“Gretzky? Is this your…” Azure stated, before getting cut off by the gryphon that he was asking the question to.

“Yeah, that was my son, but he ain’t here no more!” Gretzky answered, not looking in Azure’s direction and instead chose to continue looking for the item within his arsenal. It was something important, but he couldn't find it in his collection of items, which was a little strange.

“Do you mind if I ask why he ain’t…” Azure asked, getting Gretzky to pause, before turning around to see Azure looking at him. Gretzky had several tear marks in his eyes, due to him crying while looking away from Azure, making Azure want to shut up and hug him, but the crying gryphon was not going to allow it for a single second. Gretzky turned and went back to looking for the item that he was trying to find, making Azure go quiet so that he could get on with what it was that he was searching for.

Azure sat down and looked out the door, before placing the image on the counter to the shop, seeing that it reflected Gretzky a little when it was placed at a certain angle, which was a little weird in Azure’s eyes, due to it only being printed on a little scrap of paper. Azure looked out the door at the rain that was falling down, reminding him that he too was a little wet and a little irradiated. Azure walked to the door, before stopping and seeing two ponies fighting in the road or path in front of the door, making Azure rush out and split the two ponies up. They were both part of the raider group that Azure himself had saved a little while ago, meaning that they would probably both listen to him if he was to talk to them both about what was going on. Azure was somewhat right, due to them not being the ones to want to stop with all of the violence, sending kicks towards each other and hitting Azure by accident and then blaming the other one. They were acting like colts and fillies, making him roll his eyes at them both and their attitude, until Gretzky decide it was a good idea for him to get involved with the situation, shooting his gun in the air, stopping the fighting immediately and making them both look at him, Azure being out of breath from trying to stop the two former raiders from fighting, which took it out of him a little, but it didn't matter now, due to Gretzky ending the argument altogether.

Azure could tell that Gretzky was way too annoyed to try to reason politely with the raiders, but he closed his eyes and sighed, before opening them again and looking at the two raiders, his gun within the clutches of his claws, making the two raiders fear him a little, which wasn't something that he necessarily cared at all about. He pointed his weapon away from the raiders and pointed towards the path that led to the middle of the settlement. He didn't have to say anything, before one of the raiders began to walk in that direction, keeping his eyes on Gretzky as he moved away. Azure didn't have anything to say in regards to the situation, making him feel like he was useless to try to help the situation get better, but he knew himself that the situation would not be one that he could assist with, so he just left it. He was a little distracted himself, but he shook his head to clear his mind, making him available to help out around the settlement as much as he wanted.

Gretzky quickly entered his shop and waited for Azure to come inside too, making sure that he wasn't in the rain any longer than he needed to be, looking after him somewhat and treating him like some sort of child, rather than a friend. Azure quickly rushed inside and dried off, making sure that all of the wetness from the rain was gone and that he would be able to regain some warmth that he had lost running over to stop the fighting. Azure looked out of the window and saw the other raider heading in the opposite direction to the other raider, suggesting that both of them took the advice that Gretzky held out to them, making the situation better, due to them being far apart from one another.

Azure walked back over to the counter and picked up Gretzky’s photo that he had originally looked at, the one with his son and Plumjuice and walked over to a desk that he used. Azure placed the picture on the desk, before smiling and then looking back at Gretzky, who was not. Gretzky held an item that didn't look too familiar to Azure, but he was pretty sure that Gretzky knew what it was and how to use it. It looked a little like a stun gun, but it had a couple of changes to the item that seemed to make it look like some sort of rifle or sniper rifle. Azure was a little confused about what the weapon actually was and what it did, but he was a little curious to see it being used and how it would work, which gave him a great idea in his head.

Gretzky placed the rifle thing on the desk and tried to find something else. Azure just looked over the massive weapon and was just surprised at the shear size of the thing, being over double the length of his syringe gun that he used to use all the time, but it was a lot wider too, giving Azure the impression that it was a rocket launcher or something like that, but it didn't look anything like a rocket launcher, so that idea flew out of Azure’s head as quickly as it had entered. Gretzky was yet again searching through some of his things, checking if he had what he was looking for or if it was in another place. Azure had a feeling that it was something that he was trying to look for, to find out if the creature was Blitz or not, due to how quick he stormed out of the house when he heard the news over the radio.

Gretzky came out of the pile of items with a Pipbuck, which he then strapped to his foreleg instantly, before looking over to Azure and turning it on. Gretzky took Azure’s foreleg and held in in place, before inserting a wire that came out of the Pipbuck that Gretzky had, before he copied the files over to his Pipbuck, getting an error as soon as he got to the last couple of file, which Gretzky was just happy enough to skip and forget about them. Azure was pretty sure that the error was due to the blueprinted files that were somewhat encrypted onto the Pipbuck that he had. The files were still wanted by the Steel Rangers, but they hadn’t been able to get close to Azure, due to their closest base getting destroyed by some mad pony with some type of rocket launcher. Azure was pretty sure that the pony was dead after that, but he was not certain about it.

Gretzky took out the wire, before looking to Azure and smiling. He didn't say anything for the longest time, before he sighed and closed his eyes to cool off, due to how much of a mood he was in. He was in one of those moods where he just wanted to make sure that nothing could have gone wrong at any point of the day, but he was also stressing a little about hearing that there was a chance that Blitz was alive, which sparked not only his mind, but his curiosity as well. He was pretty sure that it was Blitz, which was why he wanted to get so much done. Even if Blitz was alive and they travelled to the old settlement, he wouldn't find them there, due to them having to move because of the attack that both Greyscale and Noname planned. It drove them out of their home, but they were able to flee death and relocate to a much safer area than before, pretty far away. They were pretty close to Tenpony Tower, being only an hour walk down to the South East, which placed them pretty much to the coast.

Azure didn't want to relive those events that happened months ago, wanting nothing more than to forget them. There were a couple of casualties that happened there and plenty of fatalities that occurred, scarring Azure just enough for him to be mentally damaged by the events that had transpired there. A fair few raiders had risked their lives to save Azure and the others, as they all scrambled to get as much as they could before fleeing the area. The greatest loss happened to Gretzky, due to him not being able to take all of his stock with him and instead had to take all of the important stuff, before the raiders were able to take his life. Luckily and gladly, they were not able to. Some of the more unlucky ones were Crimson, Lavender and Abyss, as well as Brick gaining some rather life changing injuries. Azure hated remembering what he had seen happen to each of them at the settlement, which was something that was not one to tell stories of.

Lavender got speared in the head by a raider charging right towards her sister Crimson. They were both sisters Azure found out, due to talking to them both and he also knew that they were somewhat already dead, but didn't look like it. They were both bat pony ghouls, but definitely didn't look like it one bit, making them both masters of deception. Lavender nudged her sister out of the way and got a spear to the head, pinning her to the wall, as the life faded from her eyes.

After getting pushed, Crimson looked back at her sister and screamed, getting the attention of the same raider, who came at her with a very sharp knife. He slowly approached her and scared her enough to back her into the corner, right next to her sister, pinned to the wall like a picture frame. The raider grabbed her head with his magic and did one single, clean slice across her neck, before letting her body fall to the ground, blood trickling down from both her throat and out her mouth, before pooling on a spot on the floor. Crimson tried to breathe, but all she could do was choke on her own blood, before she began to crawl towards her sister. Crimson passed out, due to blood loss and rested her head for the final time in a pool of her own name, before the raider got shot in the head by Gretzky, seeing the gruesome scene before him. Azure was only able to watch from a distance, due to one of the raiders breaking the pistol that he had on him at the time.

Abyss fought well, fending off against three or four raiders by herself, before being confronted by Noname. Sadjoy swooped in and stabbed the raider boss in the back, before having him turn and headbutt her, making her need to flee, due to her having a concussion at the time. If it wasn't for the motivation of Abyss screaming out for Sadjoy to run, Azure would have lost somepony else that he was close to, at the time. The raider boss turned to Abyss and said something to her, before he bucked her into the wall and then knocked the gun she had out of her grasp, before leaping over to her and pinning her against the wall with his hooves. Azure knew what he was going to do to her if he didn't step in, grabbing Gretzky’s rifle and trying to shoot Noname in the back of the head, only to have him miss and instead hit his back. Azure must have shot through Noname and hit Abyss by accident, due to her reaction as the bullet hit him. She looked a little in pain from the distance that him and Gretzky were at. Noname then plunged a sword into her stomach, which Azure couldn't help but see, which made him load the next bullet and aim for his head again, aiming a little higher, because there was an explosive bundle that had just dropped next to him. Azure shot at it and saw a huge explosion, one that Brick was still within the radius of, causing some internal and external damage to his body, which was entirely Azure’s fault, which wasn't actually true, but Azure blamed it on himself anyway.

Noname should have been dead, but his name still came over the radio every now and again, telling them all that he was still alive and active. Thinking about Abyss and how she died made Azure think about another one of his zebra-like friends, Zavier. He had not seen him within a while, due to him going back to the raiders shortly before the events happened that overran the settlement.

A flash of lightning broke Azure out of his trance or train of thought, making him stumble backwards a little and clipping something, making it move a little. Gretzky looked over to Azure and saw that something was up, so he went over to see if he was okay, which he was. Azure shook his head, before looking at the gryphon and smiling shyly, making Gretzky give him a concerned look, one that might have suggested that he was a little sceptical about everything that was happening around him and didn't know who he was able to believe, which was something the Azure had experienced a long time ago, back when his best friend was still alive. The possibility of Blitz being that creature that DJ Pony was talking about were slim to none, but Azure was determined to suss out anything that he could about the sighting of the strange holed creature.

Azure had other things to be doing, rather than to be standing still waiting for Gretzky to finish searching for something that was not being found anytime soon. Azure forgot that Gretzky had already found what he was looking for, which was the Pipbuck and the energy weapon of some sort, which Azure still couldn't work out what it was at all, due to it looking like many different things. Azure nodded to the concerned gryphon before opening the door into the rain and seeing that the sky was not happy with the settlement, not one bit. Azure opened his wings before he flew out and towards Roselight’s area, which was open with the lights on within, which confused Azure as he got closer to the property and landed beside it. He peaked in through the doorway and knocked loudly with his hoof, before entering the property.

Azure could hear the voices of both Roselight and Petalbreeze, talking to one another about the situation of the settlement. The two sisters were the best ponies for the job, due to them both being leaders of their settlement and combining their thoughts into one, creating the somewhat best outcome for the settlement which they both lived within and ran. Azure coughed at the door, seeing them both sitting looking at a map of the settlement, before jumping and looking up to him, smiling as they both saw their blue friend enter the room.

“Good morning Azure, I hope you had a good night, especially after what happened last night.” Roselight stated, standing up and walking over to the wet pegasus, before she gave him a hug, wrapping her leathery wings around him and making him feel a little warmer than he already was. Although Roselight had wings for a long while, she was not able to grow fur on them, due to them not really being natural, but being more bone and skin than normal wings.

Azure nodded in response to Roselight’s statement, showing them that Gretzky had taken good care of him while he was sleeping over there with them. Azure didn't know if he was able to go back to his home, the one that him and Sadjoy both shared, but he couldn't stand to look at her, not even if it was a matter of life and death. He would help her, but he wouldn't like her or stand for her. If she was to die, it would be at the enemies hooves, not his. The more that Azure thought about it, the more he began to hate her guts, making his rage grow a little bit, but he cooled off immediately, due to being distracted by the two sisters that were both looking at him dead in the eyes, almost like they were able to see something within them at all times, while Azure couldn't see anything in front of him at all, due to the visions that he constantly kept having over and over again, making his mind become full of illusions and bad memories.

Azure moved over and sat down on a chair that was placed on the opposite side of a room, overlooking the rest of the room, due to it being one of the highest chairs in the room. Azure sat down in it and saw both mares walk over to him, before they both jumped into the chair as well, wrestling for the warmth that was coming off the pegasus in the chair. Azure didn't know why they were doing what they did, but he enjoyed their company and their playfulness. The mares were only doing what they were because they knew what Azure was going through. Knowing the situation well, Roselight thought that it might have been a little bit of fun to mess around with the melancholy pegasus, trying to see if they could lighten his mood just a little. It worked, bringing a smile to his face, before they both got out of the chair and landed on the ground, tapping their hooves together in a high five action, or a hoof bump.

Azure sat up, before wanting to get to the main action that he was wanting to get to, due to wanting to get it out of the way first, so that he could help others around the settlement and see if there was anything he could have done to speed up the flow of the settlement. Azure had always wanted to be the one that was able to help if help was needed, making him want to get more and more done to progress the settlement to the greater things that lay behind hard challenges.

“Alright Azure, I got something for you to be able to do in the meantime while we get word back from our outsider about anything going on around the settlement area.” Petalbreeze suggested, making Azure feel a little under pressure. He shook his head and smiled, getting ready for anything that she wanted to throw at him. She smiled after he did, making him feel like it was something that he wouldn't have liked at all. He paused for a second, trying to take a shot in the dark about what he was going to be tasked with, wanting to do something, anything, to take his mind off the events of last night.

“What do you want me to do for you?” Azure asked, seeing the look on her face as he asked that, seeing that it was one of concern, making him feel like he was going into something that he didn't really want to do, but in his eyes, any task was better than no task. How wrong he was. Azure waited patiently for Petalbreeze to find the words that she was after, which made him become a little sceptical about his mission that he was being sent on.

He didn't like what he had been told to do one bit, making him feel like he was going to be sick, as he stood right outside of the sewer entrance. There were some ghouls that were living in there, which Petalbreeze asked him to clear out. He had been given a single shot, suppressed pistol, courtesy of Gretzky, to be able to gun down the ghouls without attracting more to him. He was also equipped with a gas mask too, making him able to breathe easier down in the place where no pony should have been sent, but somepony had to do the job in the end.

Azure walked down the entrance and saw that everything was off, which spooked him immensely. Azure noticed plenty of areas underground that were warped and mixed, almost like they had been crammed together and moulded to create the item that was being looked at. Azure had the light of his Pipbuck to guide him, making him a little less scared than he was already, which was something he guessed. Azure saw that most of the structure had been damaged, but what he didn't know until he looked at it, was that he was in a train station, an underground one, which confused him a lot, due to him not even hearing that they were able to create underground tunnels.

There was a wall that had been broken, enough for a pony or creature to fit through it, suggesting that the ghouls had broken the wall and made it their home, which Azure prayed to Celestia that that wasn't the case. Sadly, it was, due to Azure spotting a ghoul within the area, making sure that it didn't notice him in return. He closed his eyes before pushing into the wall, trying to squeeze through the tight space. He accidentally knocked a brick into the water of the sewer, alerting the ghoul that Azure had previously seen, before he tried to enter through the tight gap in the wall. The ghoul spotted him, before walking towards him. Azure pointed the gun at the ghoul as he came closer.

The ghoul stopped, having the brains to know that Azure had a weapon on him. The ghoul jumped into the water, before swimming over in Azure’s direction. Azure was pretty sure that the unicorn ghoul was smart enough to try to attack Azure and take the weapon out of his battle saddle, which would end up with him dying, due to getting either bitten or by being eaten by the smart ghoul. For all Azure knew, that ghoul might have not been braindead, but dead in all other areas. The ghoul slowly poked his eyes out of the water, watching Azure with his beady, lifeless eyes. Azure was going to try to focus on other ghouls, due to him being a target for them all, rather than being a target for the only ghoul that he knew about. Azure was going to keep his eyes on the ghoul, just in case he was to turn out to be feral, which wouldn't have been good for him, let alone the others above.

Azure spotted another ghoul coming in his direction, this one was clearly feral, due to the way the other ghoul acted. The attacking ghoul lunged at Azure, before getting shot a couple of times in the chest, not stopping him from going for another attack. Azure aimed up a little bit, before firing, hitting the attacker in the head and making him fall into the water. Azure noticed the ghoul behind him, who was already in the water, was still looking at him, not attacking him like all of the others, due to them all being feral, unlike the one that just wanted to spectate all of the action that was going on.

The ghoul that had just been killed began to float down the sewer exit, making Azure know that it was dead, ticking one of the ghouls off the imaginary checklist that he had. Azure began to travel down one of the areas that didn't have too much water, being a little scared about all of the ghouls that he would come across. Another ghoul, a little further down passed by one of the corners, allowing Azure to line up a shot on the ghoul and sent it to the floor within milliseconds. It was a perfect headshot from Azure, making him a little prouder of himself, due to the good marksmanship that he showed with the pistol, having not shot for a long while. Azure watched as the lifeless body of the ghoul fell over, dropping on the floor like a bag of items, just being left there to decay over time. Azure kept looking back at the ghoul that was trying to follow him, seeing that as of right then and there, he was not a threat to be worried about, or at least was not the biggest threat that was within the sewer system.

Azure looked around and saw a multitude of different directions that he could have gone to, but he continued to push forwards and find more ghouls, while getting followed by the ghoul that was smart enough to keep himself alive. Azure used the light of his Pipbuck and shone it down the dark passageway that was the sewer and saw that there was a figure that was hunched over, making Azure get a little curious to find out what it was. Azure kept his light on the figure, illuminating it more and more with each new step that Azure took towards it, making it seem clearer and clearer about what it was. It looked over to him with slits in its eyes, before it extended its wings and smiled at him.

“Feral ghouls don't have emotions, so you just gave it away that you ain’t feral.” Azure stated calmly to the ghoul that was huddled in the corner. Her bat-like wings showed Azure that she was a bat pony ghoul, one that he was pretty sure somepony went on and on about, saying how dangerous they were. Azure knew that they would have been, had they been more feral than the one that Azure had just met, making him feel like he was safe.

“Run!” The bat pony mare commanded, before she let the blood drain out of her mouth and curled up, dying right there and then. She went lifeless for a couple of seconds or so, before she blinked one and showed little to no emotions. Had she just lost her life and turned feral? Azure was guessing that he would find out shortly, due to how she was looking. Azure slowly walked backwards, before aiming his pistol at her, getting ready to shoot if she came closer to him. They ghoul didn't do anything for the longest time, before Azure stepped on a dry leaf that was in the sewer for some odd reason, making her instantly turn her head to him, before seeing him there in his full glory. Her wings outstretched fully, showing that she was ready for a chase. Azure stayed perfectly still, a look of fear present on his face, before the ghoul that was following him stepped out of the water and started to walk in his direction. Azure froze in place, almost like he wanted to be a statue compared to what he was going to have to do. Azure waited to see what the ghoul was doing, before he was willing to take the shot.

The ghoul walked over to a safe that was in the corner of the area and unlocked it, revealing a chain and a cloth. Azure didn't take any chances, slowly walking back before noticing the ghoul telling him to stay. Azure had to take out all of the other ghouls in the sewer anyway, so why should he have to stay in a place where his only form of breathing was a gas mask. Azure stretched out his wings, before the ghoul looked at him with a sad face. Azure aimed his gun at the feral bat pony ghoul, before noticing that she looked ready for some playtime. Azure shot his gun at her, hitting the wall behind where she just was, making Azure scared, due to how quick she was. She was definitely quicker than all of the pegasi ghouls and normal feral ghouls, making her Azure’s biggest and most dangerous target.

“Run!” The raider screamed at the top of his lungs, before he tackled the bat pony ghoul, slowing her down. Azure flew as fast as he could, before seeing the bat pony ghoul rip off the head of the ghoul that was helping Azure, slicing it off with her fangs, as cleanly and as softly as butter, making Azure stress for his life. Azure knew that he was next, but didn't know what he should have been able to do, just being in the area on his own. He needed to escape and think of a plan that would make him able to block the rest of the ghouls in, but he really wanted to get this done, so he had an idea about how to deal with the bat pony that was chasing him, which was pretty simple when he thought about it.

Azure flew close to the floor of the sewer, keeping it so that the feral ghoul that was in hot pursuit of him was unable to divebomb him from above, due to the floor being more of an impact than air was, meaning that it would hurt the ghoul more. Azure should have shot the ghoul while she was ripping apart the other one, giving him the bad thoughts about messing up and about how he failed to save a life. This was only slowing him down, making him think about it more and more, but he then realised that something was up. He needed to get out of the mindset that he was in, stop thinking about all of the bad that had happened on his half and needed to begin to think about how much he had been able to achieve.

Azure thought about all of the good he had done in the Wasteland and then thought about how many lives he had changed as a result of it, giving him more determination to see the light after getting out of the sewer. Azure turned another corner, grazing a wall in the process, but not hurting him like he had originally thought it would. Azure looked back and saw that the mare had hit her side against the wall, slowing her down a little and making her feel more sluggish and weak. Azure just had to keep her chasing him and keep her smacking into objects, weakening her enough for her to be shot. Azure shot his pistol while flying backwards, hitting the mare in the chest, but not killing her. He needed to shoot her in the head, to make sure she was one hundred percent correct about her being dead.

Azure turned forwards, before flying as quickly as he could along a narrow passageway, making the mare follow him. Azure turned the corner, before waiting for the mare to pass as well. Azure took out a sharp dagger from his saddlebag, before placing it in his mouth. The mare turned the corner and Azure jammed the blade into her stomach, spilling her intestines and pinning her to the wall. There were no emotions anymore, just the snapping of her teeth, as she tried to bite Azure from being inches away, failing pretty much straight away. Azure aimed his pistol at the mare, before trying to shoot the pistol, but something was wrong. It wouldn't shoot! The mare wiggled herself off the wall, before throwing herself at Azure. Azure was knocked over with the mare, before she went to rip his face off. Azure closed his eyes and waited for his death, which seemed to be taking its sweet time.

A gunshot went off, making Azure open his eyes and look at what was happening. The mare was lifeless, making Azure question what shot her. Azure looked in the direction of the gunshot and saw a familiar purple looking mare stood next to him. Roselight stood looking over him, a mask in her possession as well as a rifle that seemed to put more holes in things than some construction equipment could, making Azure glad to see that she was with him.

“I have to admit that my sister is a little bit of an idiot. Why didn't I say anything about somepony coming with you?” Roselight stated to Azure, helping him up with her magic, which was really effective at doing telekinetic actions, meaning that her magic was strong. She was an alicorn after all, meaning that she had the strongest type of magic available to any normal species of pony. Azure retrieved his knife from the chest of the bat pony ghoul, making Roselight look over it for a couple of seconds, seeing that it was her first ever time seeing a bat pony ghoul. She didn't really want to kill it, but Azure’s life was too important to her to sacrifice him to the feral ghoul. “Are you alright Azure?” Roselight asked, getting a look from Azure, but hiding his expression, due to the gas mask he was wearing. He really wanted to thank her for coming over and saving him, but they both needed to get out of the sewer first. Azure gave a simple nod to Roselight, confirming to her that he was alright and what not. Although the mask was hiding her face, Azure was pretty certain that Roselight was smiling underneath the mask, happy that one of her friends was alright and undamaged.

They both started to walk back to the way that they did, but noticed that something was wrong. As they both turned the corner to the broken wall, they both stopped and saw not only some lights approaching them from within the sewer, but ponies wielding powerful weapons, making them a little scared about what would happen to them down there. Azure was a little confused and scared, but didn't run away. Roselight should have been fearing for her life, but her wings were covered, making the Steel Rangers up ahead think that she was just a tall unicorn. The Steel Rangers were the kind that hated alicorns with a passion, giving them the shoot on sight opinion for them. The Steel Rangers aimed their guns at both of them, before Roselight stopped moving.

“State your business down here!” One of the Steel Rangers commanded, scaring Azure a little, due to his booming voice. Roselight got Azure behind her, before looking into the light of the Steel Ranger’s helmet, before stepping forwards a little bit.

“We came down here due to a disturbance that was being caused down here. We found something that you might want to know about actually!” Roselight stated, before she turned around and dragged the body of the bat pony ghoul out with her, catching the eye of more than one of them. Azure looked and stepped away from the direction of the body, making him feel like it was something that disgusted him more than it should have. One of the Steel Rangers moved forward, while Azure and Roselight both moved away from them, giving them enough room to make them think that they are not a threat. Azure just watched as the Steel Ranger looked over the ghoul’s body and analysed it from top to bottom. “So yeah, even bat ponies are not safe from becoming feral ghouls. The first one that I have stumbled across.” Roselight admitted to them, looking to Azure for clarification.

“What was it like? Was it like a pegasus ghoul?” One of the Steel Rangers asked, looking to Roselight. Roselight didn't say anything, instead, she looked to Azure and tried to get him to speak, otherwise they would probably just straight up kill them both.

“It was faster and more nimble than a pegasus, but it could slice through other ghouls like butter, so I was lucky that I was able to get away from it. It tore through a random ghoul that was trying to help me.” Azure explained, wanting to tell them everything that they knew so that nothing would go unturned.

“Where are you two from?” Another Steel Ranger asked, tilting her head a little, her voice being a lot softer and lower than the others. Roselight pointed a hoof up and then paused.

“The settlement right above us!” Roselight stated clearly, being proud of where she was in the world. The Steel Rangers broke open the hole in the wall, allowing for their bigger frames to fit through the gap, before walking into the station and walking up the stairs, out of the structure. Azure and Roselight both looked at each other before Roselight teleported herself and Azure in front of the other Steel Ranger.

“Umm, can we talk about something in private… umm, Mrs?” One of the Steel Rangers asked, getting Roselight to turn around and look at the one who asked the question.

“My apologies! I am Roselight and this is Azure. I’d be happy to speak to you. We can do it from my office from within the settlement.” Roselight suggested, getting a simple nod from the one who asked.

It had been an hour since Azure had seen Roselight, but it was bound to be a long time to talk to them, due to having to explain her origin of what she was going in the situation down in the sewer. Azure did offer to help explain it, but she said that there was no need to be there. Azure decided to stay indoors at Gretzky’s place, due to it still raining above on the surface. He didn't really want to do anything else for the day, due to nearly dying down in the sewer. Azure told the story and all that happened to Plumjuice, which made her a little happier to know that he was alright after all of that, with only a slight bruise to the back of his neck, due to getting tackled over onto his back.

Plumjuice decided to make Azure a warm beverage, making him feel relaxed and right at home. He sighed happily and then took a sip of the hot beverage, the flavour of the mysterious mixture hitting his lips and sending an explosion into his head, filling his body with a happy warmth that he had never experienced before. It was great, but Azure knew that one key thing was missing. A specific friend was in need and Azure at that point of time could only hope and pray to Celestia that it was indeed Blitz that was the creature that DJ Pony was on about and not some imposter that wanted to be like him. Azure didn't think that Blitz would have been the one to just let raiders go around doing what it was that they did, whether that was murder, stealing from other ponies or even just telling lies in general. Blitz hated them with a passion, especially due to what happened to his mother. Just the thought of it got to Azure’s head and made him shudder from it and question how they could have done such a cruel and gruesome thing. He couldn't understand the raiders mindset, making him a little angrier than he was before, but another sip of the drink took all of that anger and made it settle down, subsiding it from his mind and making him focus on the situation that was being dealt with at that point.

A knock came from the door, making Azure turn to see who it was, using the window to catch a glimpse of who it could have been knocking in the rain that was pouring down on the entirety of Equestria. Azure noticed that tail and those bat wings from anywhere, making him turn back around and sip his hot drink, letting him soothe any bad or hesitant feeling from his mind. He was calm, as she walked into the room. Plumjuice didn't say anything to her, wanting to avoid talking to the pony who hurt and lost the trust of another.

Sadjoy walked over to Azure, but Azure refused to look at her, instead opting to look out of the window and watch the rain as it fell. Azure didn't even think to look into her eyes, just to avoid him wanting to give her a second chance. If only Blitz was here, then he would have defended Azure with his life, rather than let his heart get broken by some sleezie bat. Sadjoy moved into Azure’s line of sight, locking her teary eyes with his, only for him to stand up and cough.

“GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!” Azure yelled, making Sadjoy recoil heavily, forcing her out of the house, due to the overwhelming roar of Azure’s voice. Azure hated himself then and there, but instantly regretted feeling angry at himself due to Plumjuice’s hoof being placed on his shoulder, forcing him back into the chair, before giving him a hug. Gretzky came back in and looked at the two and then looked back at the door, where he had just seen Sadjoy run out from.

“Was that shouting you, Azure?” Gretzky asked, getting a smile nod from him, before Gretzky chuckled. “That was a loud shout!” he added, before looking to Plumjuice and smiling. She smiled back to him, giving him the nod that suggested that everything was alright, for now...