Fallout Equestria: Half Breeds

by LyNx_X_PiE_PiE

Rating: mature
Tags: Fetish, Non-consensual, Adventure, Sex, Fallout, Suicide / Self Harm, Profanity, Violence, Zebra, Death, Alternate Universe, Narcotics, Thriller, Changelings, Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 271661

The Wasteland is a horrible place for all ponies, especially those who live in it.

Two ponies gain an unusual bond when they have nothing but themselves, after they get tasked with a mission, only to have their homes destroyed and their friends and settlement dwellers killed or captured by slavers. Join these ponies on their journey, to find out what they get up to as they travel the Wasteland.

Published 2020-01-18 20:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2021-02-27 13:58:53 UTC

Prologue

Equestria was having its very own death wish. It was only a matter of time until somepony pushed that big red button, releasing pony hell across the entirety of Equestria. A pegasus called Falcon was among the hundreds of thousands of victims. Victims that didn't know what was going to happen to them soon.

Falcon was a pegasus that have lived their life, following in the shadow of a certain pegasus mare, Rainbow Dash! Falcon remembered the time that all ponies had been together. Earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi. Now that everypony was believing superstitions, everypony was blind to the fact that they were super discriminating towards each other's race.

Falcon contemplated each of the race's goals for everypony and thought it over. The earth ponies were trying to build 'stables' to protect everypony from a worldly disaster. Little did they know, the stables would vary in survivability, some would eventually fall and some would never open the doors. The unicorns were heavily focused on research and making more stuff, protection spells and other things to keep ponies alive. This was all top of the list, but keeping ahead of the zebras seemed to be the top priority though. The pegusi, they were a strange bunch of ponies. They were helping all of the groups, but they were all slowly losing trust in their leader and the other types of ponies.

All of this forced everypony to change. It wasn't for the better, it was for the worse. Everypony had taken the entire situation out of hoof, just because one zebra had done something bad. Now, pony kind was hostile against any and all zebras. Falcon was sure that that was a bad move on the ponies part. They had lost trust in any zebra that they originally had trust in.

Falcon flew down from the clouds and observed everything. The ponies had ruined the landscape. Factories and plantations filled the once beautiful landscape, replacing the natural feeling for one of misery. Pony made buildings covering such a lovely landscape. He flew across the land and saw multiple buildings. It was a little clutter of cottages.

Falcon landed on the ground and walked about a bit. The vegetation was dull and nearly lifeless. This expanded across most of Equestria, because of the land being used up. Falcon hated it! He wanted things to go back to the times when everypony was friends with everypony. A time when ponies used to… talk. Now, they just communicated with one another, not expressing anything else. There were no feelings of happiness anymore, only drive.

Falcon observed a wall, showing the ministry mares. Each mare was fighting for something different. Twilight's ministry was fighting for intelligence and research. Rainbow Dash's ministry was fighting for protection of the skies. Applejack's ministry wanted protection for the land and ponies on it. Fluttershy's ministry was fighting for peace and equality. Rarity's ministry wanted technology and advancement and Pinkie Pie's ministry wanted the truth and law. Nopony had the same opinion and it was driving them apart.

All of the times Twilight and her friends had fought evil, they were together. They could accomplish anything, but since they weren't together, they hadn't been successful. That made them who they were to that day. No longer friends, but acquaintances. Their friendships didn't last, because life tore them apart from one another.

Falcon looked down at a puddle on the floor. It was so stupid that the world was falling apart, due to an attack that ponies blamed on he entirety of zebra-kind. Falcon then looked up as he heard something travelling in the air. He had never heard of that type of sound before, so he was curious to see what it was.

Falcon knew that death was coming, but he didn't know exactly how everything would work. He didn't know how death would appear, until he got to it. He turned around at a large bang, followed by the earth shaking. He had found death and was looking it directly in the eyes. A balefire bomb! A nuclear warhead! The end of pony kind! His ears folded back and he flew directly up. He wasn't fast enough though, as the hot flaming air filled his lungs, as the light crept closer.

Falcon looked at a ripped poster at the bottom. It was one of Fluttershy's posters, trying to promote zebra equality. It had been ripped and a faint 'never' had been written on it, in bold black ink. Falcon sighed, ashamed of all pony kind.

His life flashed before his eyes, as he looked over it all. He evaluated the problem that led to the events of the war. Twilight Sparkle and her friends, they fell apart! They got torn away from each other and fell at all hurdles when they were divided. They were all best friends and were all useless when they were apart. That combined with Princess Luna being on the throne, made Equestria fall.

That was what Falcon believed, as his wings evaporated, along with the rest of his body, turning it into dust as it landed softly on the ground. Falcon was no more, neither was Equestria. Anything that was outside, surely would have died. Falcon's necklace laid on the floor, in place of where he stood. Ponies that didn't get into the stables, accepted their fate and were reduced to nothing but shadows on the surrounding walls. A stain of a not so distant path.

A pony scraped their hoof on the slightly lighter section of the floor, realising that the lighter spot was in the shape of a pony. Maybe two hundred years ago, that could have been a pony, trying to survive. Those shadows were imprinted on some surfaces of buildings and even in some cave entrances.

The apocalypse was now, a new future was in the making. That was the last thought that went through the pony who scraped their hoof, before a bullet went flying through their skull, painting the lighter section of the floor, with a red stain. The mark of the present! This was the Wasteland!

This was the fallout!

Chapter 1: Missing Comfort

It had been more than two hundred years since the bombs fell. Communities were able to exist out of the stables and actually live. The air was somewhat breathable out in the Wasteland. That was the new name for Equestria, the Wasteland. It was pretty fitting how it went from something so beautiful, to something so beautifully destroyed.

A little community had already begun outside the vault of number 46. Although the vault was sealed, it didn't drive off any attention of raiders or scavengers. The settlement of Journey was made and had a thriving community of ponies. The settlement was like being in a huge family. Others would watch everypony's back and ensure that everypony was ok.

About twenty ponies lived in the settlement at the time, making it a pretty big community for recently forming there. The settlement wasn't short on supplies, but they were quickly running out of food and water supplies. The only thing that they didn't pack, was good weapons with a lot of ammo.

There were multiple buildings in the settlement. Houses for the ponies and a central point in a tavern that had been restored to a somewhat state of glory. It was the central hub of the area, meaning that it saw the most activity. Ponies came and went from the tavern, ranging from the drunken scavenger that couldn't hurt a fly, to commonly appearing arrivals, like the settlers that frequently appeared.

Inside the tavern, was a unicorn stallion going by the name of Soul Eater. They were not one to be taken lightheartedly. They were relatively new to the settlement, living there for about a month tops. He wasn't really one for talking, avoiding conversation with others in the settlement as much as he could. He requested a drink from the barkeeper, in exchange for a hefty amount of caps.

Nobody was generous in the Wasteland, which is why it annoyed Soul Eater the most. He used to be the most generous soul, until death knocked on his door, requesting entry. A drink landed on the counter, making Soul Eater jump.

"Thanks." Soul Eater stated to the barkeeper. The barkeeper nodded in response to the appreciation, before moving across the way, to the other side of the bar. The tavern was the hotspot, there was no doubt about it. All of the ponies filtered through here, then branched out into the world.

Soul Eater turned around in his bar stall, spinning himself a little too far and correcting himself shortly after, taking a sip of alcohol. Beer was something Soul Eater enjoyed drinking. It numbed the pain around him. As he took a sip of the delectable substance, the mayor of the settlement walked through the door. That didn't spark joy to anypony inside the tavern. Everypony liked her, it was just the face she made when she walked in. Depending on her face, it was either good or bad news. Judging by her face, it wasn't the former.

She looked directly at Soul Eater and signalled with a hoof, for him to come over to her. He had to do what she said, because that was the rules of the settlement. So, Soul Eater got out of his sitting position, on the stool and approached the mayor. She turned and walked out of the tavern, still wanting him to follow her. He sighed angrily, knowing that he was going to be sent off to do some chores.

To Soul Eater's surprise, he was being taken to the medical wing of the settlement. He definitely didn't know what was going on, so he was eager to see what was happening. The mayor showed him in and gasped when she saw somepony in bed. They were mega ill! Soul Eater looked around for the doctor, but only found his assistant.

"Eater? You've met with Doctor Alchem, am I correct?" The mayor asked. Soul Eater shook his head and extended his hoof towards Alchem. Doctor Alchem was a little sceptical, but that didn't stop him from continuing the transaction of movements. He shook Eater's hoof and then walked back a little, giving the others some space.

"Nice to meet you Eater." Doctor Alchem prompted. Soul Eater didn't reply, he was just wanting to get all of this over with.

"So, what are me and the doctor doing for you then?" Eater asked, raising an eyebrow at her. She smiled and then scowled at Eater. Soul Eater was a little nervous. Normally, there would be a smile on her face and he could see that she was stressed and annoyed.

"You two are the only ponies who know how to use weapons properly. I need you both to take care of a huge amount of raiders heading here. I got a radio call from some of the scouts and they were under fire. You're the best we got here." She admitted, making both of them look at each other with a significant amount of shock. Soul Eater sighed, regretting being part of the settlement then and there. He travelled solo for most of his life.

Doctor Alchem was very concerned. Sure he knew his way around any weapon, but he didn't like creating holes, he always tried to fix them, regardless of the creature. He followed the ministry of peace.

"Are you sure that I'm one of the best?" Doctor Alchem asked, being unsure more than anything. The mayor nodded, pointing at Soul Eater too.

"You two are our only shot at keeping the settlement safe. There should be like fifteen raiders on their way. We got some weapons that you could use in the Armoury." The mayor acknowledged. Eater nodded in unicen with Alchem, making them both look at each other with surprise.

The mayor led them both to the Armoury and allowed them to grab whatever they needed to. Eater grabbed a simple handgun and a saber. He remembered getting the saber from a scavenger that wanted to take all of his stuff. The scavenger made a wrong move and Soul Eater took it with his magic and plunged it straight through the scavenger's heart, making sure that he wouldn't lose his life in the tricky situation.

Eater looked at Doctor Alchem as he was sceptical about choosing a weapon.

"Mayor? I notice that you have no medical guns, why is this?" Alchem asked, being slightly curious on why there weren't any. The mayor didn't answer, so he chose a handgun, a smaller one than Eater had taken. Soul Eater rolled his eyes as he thought about how he was going to keep the doctor alive. He didn't have the mindset of a soldier, but yet again, who did anymore? They both grabbed some armour from a nearby table and some extra ammo for their weapons inside the Armoury, before they both walked out to the gate of the settlement.

"They are coming from the south, so if you set up an ambush down the road a little, you should be able to catch them by surprise." The mayor stated, opening the gate and revealing a path that travelled south. Soul Eater and Doctor Alchem began their journey south, getting a fair distance away from the settlement, before looking back.

"Alright then Doctor, you understand how to use a gun, right?" Soul Eater asked, being mildly curious about a doctor that could use a weapon. He had never seen a doctor be confident with a weapon. Alchem nodded and then loaded a magazine into the receiver. That made Soul Eater smile.

They both continued a little way down the road, seeing debris and ruins of buildings to either side of the road. The settlement was out of view, so they both guessed that the area they were at, was a good location to set an ambush. Doctor Alchem took a position behind one of the carts, to the side of the road. Soul Eater had another idea, running into one of the closer buildings to the left side of the road.

It was a solid five minutes before they could both detect some noise. Doctor Alchem looked through the window of the cart and saw them. Some filthy raiders were heading towards them, travelling on the road. Alchem signalled to Eater about them. The only response that Alchem got, was a nod, followed by Soul Eater moving back, away from one of the windows he was at. Alchem did the same.

Doctor Alchem could hear them laughing. When he originally looked, he saw that they had been covered in blood and were cackling to each other. Alchem waited for them to pass before counting out that there were only six of them. The mayor had told them both that they said that there was like fifteen of them on the way. Alchem shook his head as he then cocked his weapon and aimed it at the raiders, using his muzzle to hold his weapon. It was a little awkward, but it got the job done.

Before Alchem could shoot, he watched in pure shock, as Soul Eater pounced onto one of them, jumping from the rooftop of the building he was originally in. He landed on them and sliced the blade he held in his mouth, into the throat of the raider. This made blood squirt onto his face, making him look like even more of a terrifying being. The attack was quickly followed by three shots, landing into the head of the others around him, dropping them instantly. Alchem could see that he wasn't taking any chances.

Alchem rushed in and winced, as Eater shot one of the raiders in the leg, before sliding and balancing on his forehooves, releasing a devastating buck to the raiders skull, indenting it and killing him instantly. If he was still alive, he would have had brain damage for sure. One of the raiders shot wildly back, spraying a barrage of bullets in the direction of Soul Eater.

Eater jumped out of the way as he gave chase to the pony that was running away. He fled into a building by jumping through a window, making Soul Eater surprised because of it still being intact, until the raider jumped through it. Soul Eater followed him, jumping over the window and finding the raider inside. The raider tried to buck Eater out of the window, but he dodged it and dropped his pistol, bringing his knife to bear, in his magic. He used the opportunity to kill the raider, by dragging the knife underneath the stomach of them. Eater used brute force to plunge the knife into the raider and then dragged the knife towards him. The raider fell limp, being as dead as they come.

Eater plucked the knife out from the raider's stomach and watched as it fell to the floor. He picked it up with his magic and then placed it into his weapon belt. He began to loot the raider, seeing that he didn't have much on his body. Eater turned out the corpse's pockets, finding a hefty amount of bottle caps inside. He nabbed them all before grabbing his own pistol with his magic. He placed the raider's weapon into his saddlebag and realised that he held a pistol and a shotgun, both being loaded. He shook his head, before stepping through the doorway.

Soul Eater returned outside to see one of the raiders alive on the floor. Alchem was trying to fix him. Soul Eater came up beside the Doctor and then paused. He quickly pulled out his pistol and shot the alive raider in the head. Alchem looked back at him.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" He shouted, looking angrily at Eater. Soul Eater shook his head, before going down to loot the other corpses.

"I completed the mission!" Eater declared, bending down at one of the raiders. He began to strip all of the bodies for ammunition and weapons and Alchem did the same, starting with the fresh death that happened a foot away from the doctor. He found some medical supplies on some of the ponies and then looked to Soul Eater to see if he was ready to head back to the settlement.

Soul Eater turned to Doctor Alchem and sighed, before stopping. He noticed a glint behind Alchem and pushed him out of the way, as a loud bang was present nearby, followed by the crack of a bullet. The bullet barely missed Alchem, as he fell to the floor, due to Eater's push. Instead, Eater had the bullet pass through his hindleg, making him scream loudly.

Alchem scrambled to safety and began to take shots towards the sniper, using his tongue to pull the trigger and missing all of them. He did an effective job of making the sniper take cover behind a tree, allowing Soul Eater to get to cover as well. They both got behind a stone wall, something that the sniper couldn't see them through. Eater crawled into a building, leaving a blood trail behind him. Alchem waited a couple of seconds before he followed the trail and saw that Eater was trying to fix himself. Doctor Alchem sighed, before walking up to him and placing a hoof on his chest.

"Let me help you!" He commanded, looking Eater dead in the eyes. Soul Eater drew in a deep breath, before closing his eyes, perking his ears up.

"J...Just stay quiet when you do it, I'll listen for him!" Soul Eater suggested. Alchem didn't reply, he was too busy trying to fix Eater's hindleg. He had to get the bullet out, then patch him up. Eater winced in pain as Alchem used his wing to dig inside for the bullet. He found it! He placed the bullet on the floor, before getting up and grabbing some bandages. He proceeded to wrap them around Soul Eater's hindleg, making him wince again.

They both got up, Alchem allowing Eater to balance on his wing, as they walked out of the building. Eater slowly pushed off Alchem and stood on three legs, before sneaking around the outside wall. He signalled for Alchem to stay put, so he did. Alchem heard a pony approaching him, so he pointed his weapon at the pony's location. The raider came into view, sniper on his back.

"Aww! What do we have here? A pretty pony with some goodies for me? Maybe I should break you open like a piñata!" The raider spoke, somewhat muttering to himself. The raider grabbed the sniper from his back with his magic, before pointing it at Doctor Alchem. He was completely convinced that he was about to die, so he closed his eyes for about two seconds, before opening them to look at the raider.

A large blast punched a hole in the raider's hindleg. This shocked the doctor at first, before he saw Soul Eater behind the raider, holding the shotgun that he had looted from the raiders, in his magic. The raider turned to Eater, before having his muzzle blasted to pieces by another shotgun blast. This made the raider instantly drop to the floor, increasing Eater's kill count an additional kill. Eater looked down at Alchem.

"You alright?" Soul Eater asked Alchem, hoping that he wasn't hurt. Alchem nodded. Eater wasn't one to make friends, in fact, he hated making friends. He only cared about himself most of the time, but in this situation, he had to make sure that him and Alchem survived. "Despite me not liking anyone, including you, I must admit that we need to get back together. I'm slightly confused by the amount of raiders here too. Where could they have disappeared to?" Soul Eater added.

Alchem scowled and then got up. He looked around and then looked at the chunks of pony that covered the floor. He tried to avoid stepping on any, but it was nearly impossible to bypass. Alchem walked over to the sniper on the floor and picked it up, placing it on his back. He looked at Soul Eater and frowned, seeing that he was holding two full saddlebags with weapons on his back. Alchem felt a little bad about the entire thing and walked up to Eater. He took the bags off Eater's back, allowing him to move easily, without the weight being put on his back.

Eater looked at Alchem and then yawned, being more tired than anything else. Eater barely became tired often, but the blood loss must have gotten to him. Alchem kept him steady on his three hooves. Once he got back, he would properly sort Eater's hindleg out. They both could see the settlement, but something was off about it. Something was wrong. They could see that the gate to the settlement was destroyed. That meant bad things had happened. They never left the gate open, let alone unlocked.

They both began to pick up their pace, as they got closer to the open to all settlement. They could see flames on the inside, which made them both think badly, picking up more and more negative connotations about the settlement's new condition. Soul Eater broke away from Alchem and rushed as fast as he could to the gate. He stumbled, but instantly got straight back up again. Eater got to the gate and froze. Alchem rushed over and took one glance inside, to see the horrors that lived inside.

There were bodies of ponies that lived in the settlement, along with the bodies of raiders that attacked. Eater entered the settlement and saw a raider dragging their body across the floor, still being alive. Eater looked angrily at the raider, as he walked calmly over towards them. The raider turned and smiled at Soul Eater, still crawling along.

"We killed them all! Hahaha! There's nothing here for you anymore!" The raider spoke, before Eater landed a hit on the side of the raider's head, with his hoof. Soul Eater began to rapidly hit the raider and Doctor Alchem looked on in horror, as the raider kept getting punched by Eater. He didn't feel like doing anything, because he was in too much shock. The settlement and all of the ponies in it, were destroyed. Alchem looked back down at Eater and walked up to him.

Eater was still punching the raider, even though they were clearly dead, due to the amount of blood on the side of the head that Eater was punching. Alchem slowly began to drag Eater off the body, but Eater pushed him away, before biting hard onto the dead raider's neck. He pulled with such a force, that the raider's head snapped cleanly off, bringing part of the spine with it.

Alchem winced at the scene before him, recoiling back as he saw the head in Eater's muzzle. Eater dropped the head to the side, before throwing it with his magic, into some fire. He looked around at the flames around him, the burning buildings, the burning ponies. There was nothing left! Eater got up and walked around, observing the surrounding area. Alchem joined him, wanting to keep Eater from falling over or breaking emotionally.

They both walked up to what was left of the tavern. It was ransacked! They noticed a familiar body on the floor. Turning the body over, they recognised the mayor of the town, eyes open wide, with her jaw snapped and hanging low. This made both of them recoil in shock, but it impacted Alchem the hardest. Although Soul Eater had only recently travelled to the settlement, about a month before the events of today, Alchem didn't go anywhere else.

Eater rushed out of the tavern and travelled down the settlement road, towards his home. Alchem chased after him, trying to keep up with him as best as he could. He caught up to Soul Eater and looked at him, as Eater examined his home. It was leveled to the floor. He broke down in tears. Alchem was shocked by his reaction, having seen such a fearsome fighter of Soul Eater. He never could have imagined that Soul Eater was soft, but he was definitely showing his softer side through all of this carnage.

Doctor Alchem used his wing to hug Eater. Soul Eater didn't appreciate it, slapping his bloody hoof against the underside of Alchem's wing. It hurt Alchem slightly, but he folded his wings in and just stared blankly at Eater.

"Sorry Doc, I don't do affection! I can handle this shit alone!" He whispered, then roared. Alchem stood back, understanding that he didn't like the help, but he just wanted to be alone to deal with it. He didn't want to be felt sorry for. Alchem understood that! Alchem passed by Eater and entered into the debris, lifting up rocks of concrete to find some things. Eater joined him and lifted up some debris with his magic. His bed was mostly intact, but that wasn't what he wanted to find.

He eventually found the lockbox that he wanted. It was his own personal stash. Some things that he kept and wanted to keep hold of. Eater picked it up with his magic and then sat on the bed, Alchem joining him shortly. Eater opened the box and saw what he wanted to. There was a weapon, with some ammo, a syringe with some fluid in it and a photograph. Eater picked up the photograph with his hooves and looked at it, while Alchem picked out the syringe with his wing tips, before reading the instructions on the tag of it.

"To make an entire lake of water, pure! A purification Syringe that can sterilise and cleanse water and other substances around it. Crafted with special dark magic spells, found within the Canterlot library." Alchem read clearly to himself. He was really surprised at how he had this in his lockbox. Alchem looked up at Eater and saw that he was still looking at the image. Alchem turned to look at the image with him and saw two creatures in it. They were both the same type of creature, but they were different to whatever creatures that Alchem had ever seen in the Wasteland. It was almost like they were bug ponies, but why did he have them in there.

Eater realised that Alchem was looking at the photo too, so he jumped and hid the photo from his vision. Eater placed the image into the lockbox and closed it, before placing it into one of the saddlebags he had with him.

"Keep the syringe out, it will allow us to cleanse water as we go. That's the only reason that I returned here" Eater Convinced, not convincing Alchem in the slightest. Alchem noticed a change in mood from Eater, as he evaluated him more. He was becoming slightly less hostile, only slightly though.

"We should search the bodies, to see if there is anything else we could use before we go." Soul Eater advised, making Alchem nod. They both went in separate ways. Doctor Alchem heading towards the medical section of the once liveable settlement and Soul Eater heading towards the tavern and Armoury.

"Soul Eater!" Alchem shouted, making Eater turn. "Be careful!" Alchem added, turning back around and trotting to the medical wing. Eater smiled at that and turned around and paced towards the Armoury first.

Alchem strolled carefully up to the medical section. Like all of the other areas, there were a couple of corpses. He looked worried, as he walked up to them, each one individually. He recognised all of the bodies, including the true doctor. This doctor was somepony that he worked closely with, ever since he had gotten to the settlement. He was his assistant. The doctor's body laid flat on the floor, a hoof missing from him. His eyes were open and were staring into open space, clear air. Luckily for Alchem, the doctor had not been looted properly, finding a couple of healing potions and syringes. He was happy about that, but closed the doctor's eyes, using his wing tips. Alchem closed his eyes for a couple of seconds, before moving on, towards the building.

Alchem foraged through the rubble of the building and found some more supplies. Bandages, tape, screws, and a fully stocked medkit. That was a good haul, but sadly, the raiders had picked it clean, leaving some empty medkit boxes out, which Alchem picked up and stored in his saddlebag. There was no space in the saddlebags, since they were full of the weapons that the raiders had. He was just about able to fit the boxes in them, before closing them up and making his way back to the gate. He was going to wait for Soul Eater to get back there, so he was going to keep the main entrance covered, making sure that no raiders could sneak in.

Alchem got to the main entrance and ran to one of the closer buildings, before setting the saddlebags off onto the ground and opening them up. Since Alchem was going to wait for Eater, he was going to make himself productive. He opened the medkits that were empty and filled them with the same types of ammunition. He was sorting it out and emptying the weapons, so that they were organised. He kept the sniper next to him, just in case he needed to use it to defend the area, as he began his tedious and time consuming sorting out process.

Soul Eater travelled to the Armoury first, leaving the tavern for later. He picked up some more saddlebags from a pony that didn't need them anymore and came to the door of the Armoury. It was still intact! The raiders surely couldn't have got into the Armoury vault, if they didn't have an entrance in and out. The door was still locked, so Eater used the password to open it. This opened it a little, but not enough to get a pony inside. He used his magic and teleported through the small gap. He looked at the door and saw that some of the roof had caved in, making the door not open properly.

Eater turned to the wall and saw that everything was near enough like how they had originally seen it, when being handed the weapons. There were only a couple of guns missing, but there was still a rightful amount there for the picking. Soul eater opened his saddlebags and crammed weapon after weapon in. Most of them were pistols and knives, but there was a submachine gun in there too. There was a light machine gun in there too, but sadly, that didn't have any ammo for it in the ammo boxes that littered the room. Most of them were empty and none of them were full. He grabbed the lot and placed it into his saddlebags before teleporting out of the door.

He travelled to the tavern next, being surprised that his bags were weighing so much already. He was walking on three hooves and tried to avoid putting pressure on his back one. It hurt so bad, but the surroundings took his mind off it, if not for a brief second every minute. He entered the tavern and then paused. He re-looked over the mayor. She wore a scowl, but there was something off. The way she positioned her lips, made Eater think carefully. Out of all of the surrounding settlements, why did the raiders decide to attack here and not the others?

Eater scouted behind the bar and saw that everything was smashed. There was nothing left. There was a medkit box under the counter, so Soul Eater took it and placed it in the saddlebags, knowing damn well that it was empty. The box might have been useful for either holding medical supplies, or something else. Eater shook his head and smacked his hoof against a ridge on the floor, sending him tumbling onto the floor and landing on his bad hoof, making him wince.

He looked down and realised that there was a floorboard sticking out. He got down and lifted the floorboard out and found a stone of some sort. It wasn't any normal stone, it was a glowing stone, something that Soul Eater had never seen. He would consult with Doctor Alchem about it, when he got back to see him. He placed the stone inside the saddlebag and looked back down to see a note. It was a tag of some sort. He picked it up and looked it over. He then read it out loud to himself.

"Keep this artifact away from the raider's leader, Sawtooth will surely destroy the entirety of the Wasteland with it. Keep it safe Appleseed!" He spoke, reading from the paper tag. He placed the tag inside the saddlebag as well, as he travelled swiftly out of the tavern, forgetting to loot the body behind the counter. He looked back at the mayor's body, Appleseed's body. He was happy that he knew her name now. It brought a sense of joy to his body. He felt like he knew somepony, finally he could say that he knew somepony's name. He closed the door to the tavern and made sure that it was shut. "Rest in peace my friends." He whispered to himself, rubbing his eye with a free hoof, wiping a tear away.

He headed in the direction of Alchem and took a little look around as he walked towards the main gate. He couldn't see Alchem, but he was sure that he was staying out of sight. Alchem was probably out of sight, but doing something productive. As Soul Eater got to the gate, he looked up at the broken building and saw him on the second floor, counting out the bullets and placing them in different sections. Eater walked up the stairs of the building, nearly not at all intact on their own without him walking on them. He got next to Alchem and placed down everything that he had. Alchem decided that he would sort out the ammunition that Soul Eater had collected and would let Eater sort out the weapons, breaking certain ones and keeping the others.

It took them a couple of hours to sort all of this out, between what to keep, scrap, store or sell. Most of it was in the selling section of it, with only a couple of others needed to be kept. While they were doing the sorting, they turned on an old radio that was next to the bed and sorted out the items into saddlebags. The radio played classical tunes from before the war, before the bombs. Doctor Alchem and Soul Eater both enjoyed the tunes on the radio, ranging in different genres of music and sounds.

They both finished sorting the weapons and supplies out and were about to start heading out, before a noise could be heard close to them. They both got down and looked over the lip in the wall. There were more raiders and they were looking for something. Eater poked Alchem on the back, making him turn.

"We need to get out of here!" Eater whispered, making sure that only Alchem could hear. Alchem looked at the raiders searching bodies, then nodded to Eater. They both carefully picked up all of the medkit boxes and their saddlebags and quietly crept out of the settlement. This wasn't the last time that they would visit the settlement, that was for sure. They were also playing it safe by not engaging with the raiders, since they had plenty of ammo and weapons to continue a war.

Alchem and Eater travelled south, following the roads and paths for a little while, before they engaged in any conversation. They didn't get where they were meant to travel to. How could they with all of the raiders around? They saw an outcove and some rubble. It was a slight indent into the rock, enough to house two ponies for the night, as Alchem looked up, confirming that night time was coming. Alchem travelled towards it and dropped his items on the floor and laid down. Eater looked a little sceptical, but didn't hesitate to take a break from all of the running and gunning. Soul Eater sat down, across from Doctor Alchem. He didn't want to get too close to him, due to the fact that he wasn't with him by choice, he was with him for survivability, but he was growing on him a little.

"I think it would be smart if we stay here for the night, then in the morning, we head to the nearest town." Alchem stated, sounding like he was in command. Eater nodded and then curled up, sticking his hindleg out, to avoid sleeping on it and regretting it when he woke up.

Alchem placed his saddlebags on himself, keeping him hidden underneath them. Soul Eater looked at him and moved right next to him, before flopping to the floor again and lying next to him. Alchem poked him with his wing, prompting him to speak.

"Do you want me to wrap my…" Alchem stated before getting rudely interrupted.

"No! I don't need your warmth! I'll be fine." Soul Eater replied, angrily shuffling away, but not too far. Alchem found that a little funny. The fact that he came close meant that he trusted him enough to be that close, but didn't want to stay warm. This made his heart jump and he began to chuckle softly. Despite being hostile towards Alchem's wings, Soul Eater grew a smile on his face, just from the look on Doctor Alchem's face.

Alchem just looked at Eater and kept his goofy smile on his muzzle. Eater covered himself with his saddlebags and kept his eye out for any movement. Alchem got some of the medkits out of the saddlebag and placed them in front of Soul Eater, acting like a little defensive wall. Eater was now wearing the stupid grin on his face. He looked back at Alchem and chuckled.

"Go to sleep! I'll look out and wake you up when I get tired." Soul Eater commanded, making Alchem nod. Alchem got up and walked to the edge of the outcove, before curling up and resting his head down. Eater got up too and placed his saddlebags around Alchem, keeping him warm. Eater sat up straight and pointed his ears up, making them keep awake and aware. He closed his eyes and listened. If he heard anything, he would definitely pick it up and what direction it was in.

Alchem was asleep for a short time, before waking up to see that Eater was still sitting down, keeping a clean ear on everything. Eater's ear twitched as he looked back at Alchem. Alchem froze as he looked at Soul Eater. He was terrifying! His eyes were not the usual colour of dark blue anymore. They were red, bright red! They pierced Alchem with their brightness, making him fear Eater a little.

"This is why I got the nickname of Soul Eater. Ever since the bombs fell, I have developed something that makes my appearance terrifying at night time." Eater admitted, making himself feel a little worse. Alchem looked at him dead in the eyes. He was looking awesome, but he was a sight to behold. Some sticks broke a little way away, suggesting that somepony or something was there. Alchem picked up his saddlebags and placed the medkits back inside them, keeping an eye on the area where the noise came from.

Eater placed his saddlebags on his back, before there was another stick breaking, followed by another. Eater stared in the direction of the noise and made himself vicious. He snarled at the green glowing eyes that were approaching them. There was only one set of green eyes gladly.

"Slowly walk back onto the road and wait for me." Eater calmly announced. Alchem nodded at Eater and slowly walked to the road. He could see both sets of eyes and that terrified him. Soul Eater snarled angrily at the unidentified thing. It snarled back, then howled. Eater launched himself at it while it was howling and shut it up, placing his hooves on the muzzle of the timberwolf. He was surprised to see that the timberwolf didn't try to fight back. He slowly placed his hooves on the floor and eyed the wolf. It was fully made out of wood and had flesh fused to connect the pieces together.

Eater thought about doing something bad to the timberwolf, but it didn't seem hostile, it just eyed him, like he was a friend or something. The timberwolf turned back around and walked away, being quite smart to shield it's eyes, so it couldn't be followed. Eater was just a little confused, as he walked back onto the road and began to walk down it, with Alchem in front of him.

They continued to walk down the road as they originally did. Their next stop or idea or plan was to find another settlement and trade resources with them. They would sell the bullets that they didn't need, in exchange for weapons that they would need, as well as equipment and armour. They paced at the same pace down the road, before they came to an unexpected sighting, in the distance.

Chapter 2: Hidden Pasts

There were raiders searching for something. The sight made Alchem freeze and then jump into a bush. Eater joined him as the group of raiders got closer. They had lights of some sort and waved them about, scanning the area like hawks. Soul Eater held Doctor Alchem behind him, making sure that he was in the firing line, if anything bad was to happen. They both dropped to the floor and Eater scraped some mud over them both. They were somewhat camouflaged.

As the lights of the raiders passed by them, they kept still, not wanting to get caught. They looked like the stump of a tree, so they didn't move, to make it stay like that. Alchem kept his eyes on the group as they passed by, while Eater kept his eyes closed, to avoid being detected due to them glowing in the night. Alchem was being held by Eater, but didn't mind it at all. He was warm, so he was grateful for it at least.

As they walked a little further, Alchem looked at Eater as he opened his eyes and stared back at Alchem. He slowly turned to look at the now walking away raiders and splayed back his ears. Soul Eater looked back at Alchem with a look of sorrow and anger.

"I need to either get them away from us now, or take them out, without a gun." Eater whispered, keeping an eye on the raider group. Alchem kept an eye on them too, but was very hesitant when it came to that response. Surely he could have just waited for them to pass, but they did have some good armour and weapons. They just needed to be as safe as possible, so they could either choose to kill them or flee.

"Eater, let just go! They won't look back." Alchem tried to convince him. It worked to some extent, but he was very sceptical about the choice. Eater slowly got up, taking Alchem with him as he rose up. He stood up and glared at the raiders, wanting to end them badly, but Alchem was right. There was definitely a chance that everything could have backfired, so they both were taking the easy and safer route.

They both slowly stepped into the road, keeping an eye on the group of raiders and crept away, down the tracks that the raiders had just come from. As Alchem turned around and ran, Eater glared at their backs, allowing his eyes to stare into their soul. It made him feel a little safer at least. Eater turned and trotted up to Alchem, keeping his pace with him, despite only having three working legs.

They continued down the road for what seemed like hours, before the road disappeared. They travelled south still, hoping to find a town of some sort of even a little settlement, or a camp. Just some form of civilisation to keep them from thinking that they were the only sane ponies in existence. After about five minutes after the road stopped, there were some lights behind a big wall that came into sight, indicating that there might have been some life.

Another settlement, but they both didn't know if they were going to find thriving ponies in a community or thrashing ponies struggling to hold onto life. They approached the gate of the settlement wall and saw some ponies on the wall, weapons pointed at them.

"Who are you?" The gatekeeper asked, pointing his weapon directly in-between Eater's glowing red eyes. Soul Eater closed his eyes and sighed.

"We are survivors of the apocalypse, we have been travelling south of the settlement of Journey and found this place. Raiders have killed everyone there, so we had to travel away to try and save ourselves." Alchem announced to the guard of the gate. Eater opened his eyes and looked at Alchem with a smile.

"And that's why I'm not the talkative one!" Eater chuckled, before turning to the gatekeeper. He looked slightly confused, but they could see that he was trying to wear a fake smile. He really didn't trust Eater, but Alchem was or at least seemed nice. He sighed dramatically before turning around and opening the gate, bringing the settlement into view.

It wasn't a very big settlement and was in less of a state than Journey was now. They both walked towards the gate slowly and looked inside. A couple of ponies and other creatures were present inside the settlement. They looked like they had seen the worst of the worst. In other words, they looked like they had faced every challenge the Wasteland threw at them. Eater looked up to the guard and smiled at him.

"You're doing a good job, keeping these ponies and creatures safe. Just thought I'd tell you that." Eater announced to the guard, seeing a faint smile appear on the guard's face. He shook his head, before looking back down at Eater with a stern scowl.

"Don't flatter me kid, you two head inside so I can close this gate." The guard announced to them, making them hop a little inside the settlement, the guard closing the gate behind them. They were locked in the settlement now, so they had to make the most of it. The settlement was nice, not posh or anything, but just nice. The red and yellow filled the area with a sense of life-like compassion and determination. Alchem took in a deep breath, before looking back at Eater. He was still out of it a little, but his bright red eyes kept on shining and illuminating his presence, making him look like a very disturbing threat.

The lights only helped to illuminate the area, brightening it to the point that it looked like daylight, just with a black sky. Ponies came to the gate and saw Alchem and Eater. They were fine when it came to Alchem, but already, Soul Eater could understand that they were scared of him. He was sure that they hadn't seen anypony like him before, a mystery with bright red eyes, only in the moonlight.

Eater winced as he put pressure down onto his back leg, before lifting it back up again, due to the pain. Alchem noticed this and moved closer to him. Alchem placed his hoof on Eater's shoulder, before talking to him, right next to his ear.

"Do you want me to sort your leg out?" Alchem asked Eater, being surprised when he got a smile from Eater. He nodded, making Alchem smile too. Alchem grabbed a syringe from his saddlebags and injected it into Eater's hindleg. He felt a cool warmth flow through his body and relaxed significantly, making sure that all of his muscles were relaxed and not tensed. His hindleg was numb now, making his mind question his curiosity. He lifted his leg with his magic and watched as it flopped back down. He couldn't control his hindleg.

Soul Eater watched as Alchem stitched up his leg, admiring each stitch as it went in and out. He was using some materials to make some stitch-like strands. He closed his eyes and sighed constantly, making sure that Alchem could hear it, to know that he was doing a good job. Eater just watched his skills go to work and laughed as he was worked on, like a machine that needed fixing. As soon as Alchem was done, Eater thanked him immensely, stating that he was humbly grateful for his service and that he was happy to be able to be healed. Alchem wore a stoick look and just bragged about helping other ponies all the time. At least that made him feel good, that was all that mattered.

A tall unicorn mare walked up to them both and bowed, making them feel a little uneasy. The tall unicorn dragged them both towards a small building, directly opposite of the gate. They were both very confused and sceptical about all of this, but went along with it anyway. The unicorn mare opened a door, prompting them to enter behind her. They both looked at each other and Alchem went first, before Eater limped behind him, leg still being limp from the syringe that Alchem injected him with. As soon as they were all in, the mare closed the door, submerging them in complete darkness. The mare lit her horn and shone the light at Alchem, making him become visible within the darkness. Alchem held a hoof to his eyes and adapted to the brightness of the unicorn's horn.

Alchem looked around for Eater and could see his eyes glowing in the corner. He slowly turned around as the mare flicked a switch, turning on the lights. One by one, the lights turned on, Illuminating the area around them both. Alchem looked over to Eater and saw that his eyes were back to their normal dark blue state. This made Alchem sigh heavily, being able to see Eater without the scariness behind him.

"What are you two doing here?" The mare shouted, slamming her hooves against a wooden desk. Alchem jumped from the force that she bellowed her voice at. Eater moved forward, towards the desk and just sat down.

"I don't know actually. How about we ask you that? Why are we here?" Eater announced, making the mare slightly confused. The mare pondered that thought for a couple of seconds before coming to a conclusion. She shook her head before coughing.

"You're here for something." She muttered, picking up the attention of Alchem, but Soul Eater was in his own world, still not being able to feel his back hindleg at all. He was just playing with it. Alchem looked back at him and sighed, before turning back to the mare.

"We are here because raiders forced us away from our home. Our old settlement? Destroyed by raiders!" Alchem roared, scaring the mare. She walked back a little from the power of Alchem's voice. Nopony spoke for a couple of seconds before the mare spoke up, coughing just before she spoke.

"Sorry about all of this. My name is Roselight! I am the head of this establishment. We don't really have many ponies come in through the gate. They are mostly raiders, scavengers and the occasional Steel Ranger, which we don't at all let in." Roselight conveyed, making sure that her words were soft and unable to hurt them mentally, or not giving the wrong impression. Alchem bowed and looked at Eater shortly after. Soul Eater just rolled his eyes. Alchem chuckled at that.

"Nice to meet you Roselight! My name is Doctor Alchem and that pony over there is Soul Eater! We came from the settlement of Journey, which has been overrun with raiders." Alchem announced, making sure that Roselight could hear it all. She tilted her head and looked at them both. Her light purple fur got lighter at the top of her ears, appearing almost white. She was a stunningly good looking mare, for the Wasteland at least. She was taller than most unicorns, but she only had a horn, no wings. She was on par with an alicorn's height, judging by the pony tales.

Eater shook his head in annoyance and listened to them both talk. He looked at himself and wanted to test something. He got up and slowly stumbled around, looking at them both. They both slowly stopped talking, as Soul Eater circled them, slowly. They both looked at him and looked oddly confused on what he was doing.

"Roselight? What does the air taste like to you?" Eater asked, being curious to what she could taste. She took a deep breath in and then exhaled.

"It tastes like it always does. It tastes like home!" She admitted. "Anyway, if you're looking to stay, I might need to ask you to do something for me." She added, prompting a sigh from Eater. She looked sharply at Soul Eater, making him snap back to the cruel reality. He smiled shortly after, his ears folding back. Alchem just rolled his eyes, giggling a little shortly after.

"What do you need done?" Alchem asked, expecting it to be super dangerous or something like that. It was! Roselight walked over to the boarded up window and sighed. She used her magic to pull a picture out of the draw in the corner of the room, slowly getting closer to her. She showed them both the image and paused.

The image was of a stallion that the mare probably loved. It was slightly ripped and torn, but that didn't stop it from showing off the dark blue stallion. She took one look at it and then placed it back into the draw, slamming the draw in the process. She looked down at Alchem and sighed.

"They took him from me! Actually no, they took me away from him." Roselight muttered, a little louder than Roselight thought she knew. Soul Eater slowly walked up to Roselight and wore a blank face, with no hints of happiness or sadness. A neutral expression!

"Is he alive?" Eater asked, curiosity lingering on his mind. She shook her head, before clearing some tears that began to form, at the corner of her eyes. She shook her head and tried to move on with the conversation.

"Raiders! There are some that need to be talked to. I don't like killing, so try to avoid it, unless talking fails. I need you to tell them to move away from the settlement. They are around the back part of the settlement. We could use their supplies, but I'm not going to kill them for self gain." Roselight ordered. Eater nodded his head and looked back at Alchem. He looked confused by what he was going to do with them both, but he didn't back down from a challenge. "When you're finished, meet me here. I'll need to talk to you again about something." She added. They both nodded at her, before opening the door and stepping outside.

Eater walked down the road, scanning the left, then the right. Alchem did the exact same, hoping to catch the raiders in the process of moving to another location. It didn't take long for the raiders to come into line of sight. Yes, they were in the settlement, but they weren't wanted. That was what they both thought anyway.

They both walked up to the raiders slowly, seeing only three of them, sat next to a wall. They caught sight of both of them approaching and stood up instantly. They didn't ready any weapons, they just looked worried. Eater eyed them both with passion, feeling their fear irradiating the area around all of them.

"What do you two want?" One of the raiders asked, raising up and trying to look more fierce. Eater looked at him and just watched his movements, chuckling inside his head at the raider's life choices. The raiders looked more and more worried about what was going to happen. Both Alchem and Eater sensed this.

"Look!" Alchem stated, before Soul Eater continued the conversation.

"We're not gonna hurt you! Roselight wants you gone, all of you. That is unless you want to change. I'm giving you the choice!" Eater commanded, looking down at the floor and hoping the violence would cease to continue. There were now six of them as Eater looked up from the floor. He didn't look happy at all.

Eater and Alchem could both feel them thinking about the option, the opportunity that came their way. They looked into Eater's eyes and smiled, before one of them walked towards both Alchem and Eater and stopped as they stood beside them both. He pulled down the hood on his cloak and showed his face. The face of Zebra-kind! Alchem's eyes went surprisingly wide when he saw the zebra, but Soul Eater didn't take any notice of it. The zebra turned to look at the other raiders and sighed.

"I'm taking the smart choice here. These ponies gave us a chance to change. I'm seeing the longshot here for the success of myself. My people wouldn't bow down to the likes of… them, but I will, because I can see that I would be part of something bigger." The zebra spoke, before narrowing his eyes. "You two better watch out. These rebels won't change! They were already given the chance. Never liked them, but had to trust ponies in order to get here." He added.

The rest of the raiders looked at the zebra in anger, giving him the literal death stare. Eater took note of this in his mind and stepped in front of the new zebra. No discriminating on his watch. They all looked to both Alchem and Eater, before running through the little entrance in the wall. That was a job well done, Eater thought, just before Roselight came out.

"Get them! They've robbed a house in the settlement! A revolver and bottle caps! One thousand bottle caps!" She roared, making them both nod at each other. The zebra slowly walked back.

"If you're really wanting to change, you can help with the settlement!" Alchem stated to the zebra. The zebra just nodded and turned to Roselight, seeing that she was very mad, not only at him, but at the other raiders too. She pointed a hoof at the building that Alchem and Eater had come out and told him to move into there, her being there to meet him shortly. She turned back to Alchem and Eater and nodded, giving them the go ahead to do it.

"Dead or alive, it doesn't matter now! Just get that revolver and huge amount of caps back!" Roselight roared, giving them the all clear. They both turned and ran as fast as they could, before Eater slid through the hole and Alchem flew over the wall. They both got to the other side without trouble and could see the group in the distance. They darted into a forest that was to the left of them both. Alchem and Eater both followed!

The woods were a terrific place! That was a direct lie, because it was actually a terrifying place. Monsters and other sorts of creatures lived in it. Radioactive material littered most of them, burning the tops of trees and irradiating the area around. Even though the bombs had destroyed any wildlife it could find, the trees eventually came back to life, but were in an endless cycle of torture.

Both Alchem and Soul Eater stopped, seeing one of them hiding down behind a tree, clearly visible to both of them.

"Look! Just give the caps and the gun back and we'll leave you to do your things." Alchem declared. They shook their head, as they looked out and tried to hide behind the tree again. Alchem slowly approached the raider, while Eater kept watch. As he tried to keep watch, he turned to look around and got struck with a buck to the head, sending him a little distance away from where he initially was. Alchem raised his pistol with his maw, but got it pushed out of his grip, sending it sprawling across the ground.

Eater was bleeding from the buck to the head. He was having a nose bleed too, but that was the least of his worries. The group rounded in on Alchem as he was pushed to the ground by them all. Eater used Alchem as a distraction as he shot one of them in the head, a pistol dropping from the grasp of the unicorn. It was the revolver and it had ammunition in the cylinder. All of the raiders turned around and watched in horror as they saw one of their own fall.

"Do you all want to end up like him?" Alchem asked, getting looks from all of them. Eater picked up the revolver and shot some more in the head with it, dropping them instantly. It was another unicorn and an earth pony. One of the raiders charged at Eater from a different angle, knocking him over and making the guns fly across the floor. Alchem got up and rushed to one of the guns, only to be dragged back by another raider. This one was a pegasus!

Soul Eater got up and bucked the earth pony raider a little, before getting thrown across the way and hitting a tree, cracking his back on it. The noise made the stallion chuckle, before he lined up another life changing kick to Eater's head. Eater ducked, just as the stallion kicked, making him hit the tree, instead of hitting Eater, as well as getting both his hindlegs stuck. Eater used this opportunity to get a branch off the tree, using his teeth to bite it off. It came off and Eater used the momentum to slap the raider in the head with it, leaving multiple marks on his face.

Alchem was in a fight of his own! The pegasus matched his every move. Alchem was strong, but this pegasus was a real challenge. The raider used his wing to pick up the revolver and placed it in his mouth. He then tried to line up with Alchem's head and fired the shot at Alchem, missing in the process. Alchem used his wings to push against the gun in the raider's maw. The raider shot again, missing a second time.

Eater came in and threw the pegasus off Alchem and pinned him down.

"Wrong move dude! You've lost!" Eater roared before snapping down on the pegasus' throat, drawing blood as he began to start tearing the raider's voicebox and jugular out. Alchem nearly threw up at the sight. Eater watched the life drain from the eyes of the raider, making sure he went numb, before stopping. The raider went lifeless, so Soul Eater slowly got off. He turned around and received a buck to the chest and got pinned to the floor.

Eater looked at Alchem and saw that he was hurt. This made Eater struggle as the stallion placed the revolver into his mouth. He looked down at Eater's form and saw that he had a stitch on one leg.

"Let me help you with that!" The stallion bellowed, before aiming the revolver down at Eater's hindleg and firing. The bullet pierced through one side and came out into the floor, leaving a massive hole in Eater's hindleg. Soul Eater cried, as his body was in shock and agony. The stallion placed the revolver against Eater's waist before firing again, tearing another hole into Eater, making him screech to an ear-piercing level.

The stallion's face was painted in Eater's blood. He rubbed his face with a free hoof, before getting off Soul Eater. He looked at his hoof and stood still as physically possible as he could. Eater's blood was green! He looked back down at Eater and smiled.

"I'm going to let you lie there and bleed to death. It's the least you deserve!" The raider stated in his final words before getting hosed with bullets from the gun gripped in Alchem's muzzle. The raider danced like he was a professional, as his swiss cheese looking corpse fell to the floor. Alchem dropped the gun and ran to Eater, grabbing the stocked medkit that he had and using it. Eater was in a bad condition and needed help. He began to address the wound in his waist, making sure that he was losing as little blood as possible.

As Alchem was working, he noticed too, that Eater's blood was green. It was red on contact, but as soon as it left his body and into open air, it changed to green instantly. This interested Alchem about what had happened to Eater during his time in the Wasteland. He shook his head before getting back to saving Soul Eater.

Alchem looked at the raider, who had just pumped all of the ammo from Eater's pistol into and frowned. He hated that he had to do that to save his friends, but that's what it came down to. He looked back at Eater and smiled, making Eater smile through the pain he was in.

"The good news is that the shot didn't hit any vitals. The bad news is that you're going to struggle to walk." He informed Eater, trying to make it seem better than it was. In reality, he was going to need something to help him stay on all four legs, or three if they counted the damaged leg.

There was still a raider left. That was the only thought on Eater's mind as he struggled to get up, still being in the most amount of pain he had ever been in. Alchem scanned about for the raider and then got a pistol pressed to his head. The revolver! The final raider was holding the revolver in his teeth. The thing that the raider didn't understand was that the revolver was empty, so was the pistol that Alchem dropped. Eater was the only pony with any ammo in his weapon. The only guns that were loaded and on the floor were empty. He wore a smile as he held the gun in his maw, excited about this opportunity.

Alchem looked back at him, not being interested in the slightest. He continued to work on Eater and kept it so that Eater was in as little pain as possible. Eater had something in his mouth, while Alchem worked on him. This was to give him something to bite on, if the pain got too much. As Alchem stitched up the hole, Eater bit down hard on the item he had in his mouth. It was soft, but also flexible. It was like a sponge and was present in every medkit box.

The raider pushed the revolver to Alchem's head and laughed menacingly. Alchem didn't respond as he watched the raider. The most blank expression was on his face at that moment in time. The raider pulled the trigger and watched as… nothing happened!

The raider looked at the revolver and pulled the trigger again, eliciting the same response from the revolver. He tried again and again and nothing happened. Shots had been fired. The revolver was a six shot. So, two bullets went into the previous raiders, the others went next to Alchem's head and the last two went into Eater's leg and waist. All six shots had been fired and there were no more around. Alchem and Eater both knew that the gun was empty from the start, that's why they were so cool with being aimed at.

The raider dropped the revolver and scrambled to the floor, before they grabbed the other pistol, the one the Alchem just emptied into the other raider who shot Eater. Yet again, nothing happened when he pulled the trigger. He kept pulling the trigger trying to shoot an imaginary bullet into one of them, but yet again, it failed. Alchem was getting tired of this, so he turned Soul Eater over gently and started stitching up his back and hindleg. The raider kept being annoying with the pistol, as he kept screaming for it to work. Alchem got pissed, so he grabbed the saber that Eater had with him, with his mouth and pointed it at the raider, threatening his life.

The raider instantly dropped the pistol and sat down, keeping an eye on the blade. A roar came from the distance, but Alchem and Eater didn't make much of it. The raider on the other hand, was literally terrified. He was freaking out and was annoying both Alchem and Soul Eater again. Alchem was nearly done with the stitches. As he was finishing up with Eater's hindleg, there was a snap of branches and twigs. The raider snagged the saber as they both looked in the direction of the noise.

They both looked back at the raider, as he slowly walked backwards, towards the noise. Eater got helped up by Alchem, before they both walked backwards, heading in the opposite direction to where the raider was. The raider was so distracted by the thought that they were afraid of him, which they weren't, that he didn't notice the large figure towering behind him. Both Alchem and Eater looked up into the eyes of the huge, shadowy figure, as it loomed over the raider. It got through to him that they weren't looking at him, as he turned around and saw it too. A three headed monster!

The raider screamed and plunged the saber into the chest of the beast, making the beast react. It roared with the fury of the sun as it pounced onto the raider, making quick work of him. Alchem dragged Eater with him, as he darted into a bush. They watched the scene play out.

The raider was torn apart by the three headed beast. It ripped him in half to begin with, before cracking his skull with its teeth and slurping out his insides. The beast then devoured the raider's head, followed by the body and then the bottom half of the raider. It was a gory display, but when they thought about it, he kind of deserved it. The creature looked around and saw them both. It froze for some reason as it locked eyes with Eater, but then it quickly snapped back into action, slowly approaching the bush. They both ran!

Alchem ran straight, trying to gain as much distance as he could from the beast, while being on the ground. The forest was way too dense to fly. He could fly in the forest, but it would be slower than running, so he kept to the ground as much as he could. He continued forward, weaving past different types of trees, each one looking strangely different to the others.

Eater had other ideas. He kept low and crept through the forest. His eyes glowed red again. He knew the reason they kept doing it, but he didn't need to educate himself on the matter. All he had to do was escape a visible line of sight from the beast, then he would be fine. He kept as quiet and sneaky as possible, limping as he snuck around, keeping an eye on the direction that Alchem travelled. As he did, he saw the beast gaining on Alchem. Eater's fight or flight adrenaline kicked in as he quickly pursued the beast from the side, forgetting about both of his wounds in an instant, but still limping.

Alchem came to a cave entrance. There was no other route around the trees. The only way out was into the cave. He made it a little way inside, before turning around and seeing the beast there, eyeing him. He nearly passed out from the sight of the beast. The faces of the beast were not visible, but there were definitely three of them. One looked like a snake's head, but the others were definitely not visible, especially because they were both in a cave. Silence flooded the area, only broken by the breathing of the creature and the breathing of Alchem. It slowly approached him, licking its lips.

Eater literally flew in from the side and stood in front of Alchem, facing the beast directly. His eyes were glowing the brightest they had ever been, due to the time of night and the anger he felt. He wasn't going to lose anypony else today, so he was putting his life on the line for Alchem. The hydra slowed down and then stopped.

"Soul Eater? How did you…" Alchem stated, before getting cut off by the hydra. It roared like nothing Alchem had ever heard in his life. The sound echoed over and over for several seconds. All the ponies in the Wasteland could hear it. It was mesmerising to listen to and it also hurt Alchem's ears a little. He shivered a little and saw Eater turn to him.

"You might want to cover your ears." Eater suggested, using a hoof to keep Alchem behind him. Without a word, Eater changed form. He looked exactly like the creatures in the image he had. This made something within Alchem click, putting all of the pieces together. Eater was one of them, but this didn't make Alchem scared of him, it only furthered his curiosity into Eater's life.

Black chitin replaced where any normal pony's fur would be. The chitin consisted of different pieces, forming together like they were armour, but instead, they were plates that were able to move around and be quite flexible, or so Alchem thought. Eater looked back at Alchem and smiled. He had fangs and his eyes were still bright red. It was almost terrifying seeing him as such a creature.

His fangs were long! They were like icicles, sharpened to perfection by crafted hooves. Alchem looked down and saw that his hooves and hindlegs had holes in them, almost like the raider that Alchem filled full of bullets. Alchem looked at the wings that Eater had kept secret. Those too had holes, so did his tail. As Alchem evaluated Eater, he gave one final look at Eater's face. His horn was jagged and torn, as well as being a little twisted. It looked cool, but did it lessen the functionality of his horn? Alchem had no idea. He was in shock.

Eater turned to the hydra and moved back a little, taking a defensive stance. He looked at the hydra directly in the eyes and gave it a blank expression, before opening his mouth into three separate sections. His muzzle split into two, creating an alien-like mouth that looked a little like a three leaf clover. Along each open maw, there were two rows of razor sharp fangs. Eater let out a screech, as Alchem kept his hooves on his ears, the noise still getting through and becoming blisteringly loud. The noise made the hydra fall, it's ears started to bleed.

Eater stopped screeching and closed his triple mouthed maw, before turning to Alchem and pushing him lightly into the cave. Alchem took his hooves off of his ears and looked worryingly at Eater. Eater just stared at him, again giving him a blank stare. No words were swapped, as the only exit from the hydra, was the cave. They both walked in and hid behind some rocks. The hydra wasn't looking like it was going to go anywhere. This forced them to travel through the cave, a choice that they didn't want, but had to do.

The cave was dark, so Eater illuminated his horn and produced a torch-like spell, making him able to see around the cave. Alchem was able to see a little, due to the spell. It was nearly pure blackness in the cave, if it wasn't for Soul Eater's light being able to brighten the area up. Eater was barely visible in the light, which didn't make talking to him any easier.

"Eater?" Alchem asked, not getting a response. Eater looked at him, but didn't feel like he wanted to answer. He just sighed and continued to look at the floor again, while Alchem still pressured him with questions. "How much have you been hiding? How long have you been like this? Were those creatures in that picture your parents?" Alchem consistently questioned, stopping when Soul Eater looked up from the ground.

"Alchem? Can you please just stop? The pain is coming back and you're not helping at all." Eater responded, sitting one the ground of the slightly damp cave. Alchem came into the light more and then sat with him. Eater looked away, before Alchem pulled his head back with a hoof.

"I'm just so curious, sorry." Alchem pouted, looking into Eater's scarily beautiful eyes. That made a brief smile make an appearance on his muzzle, before frowning again and scraping his hoof on the floor. As Eater did this, Alchem just watched him, not pressuring him, but not wanting to hold on for too long.

"Those creatures in the picture are creatures called changelings. Changelings were the pony race that were shape-shifters and masters of trickery. It pains me to say it, but my kind was first off the bad or the villains of Equestria. Now, well now we are no better than the average pony." Eater admitted, staring blankly at the floor. Alchem took in every word.

"So they weren't your parents in that photo then?" Alchem asked, becoming slightly concerned about Eater. Eater nodded and then shook his head after.

"My mother was with a friend. I didn't really have a good photo of my father." Eater admitted to Alchem, making Alchem feel a little more attached to Eater, wanting to hear more about him. Eater put out the light on his horn and then sat there, his eyes making Alchem aware of his presence. Alchem wasn't sure what to do in the situation he had been placed in. The fact the Eater was a creature of some sort, made a shiver run down his spine, but it didn't give him any confidence that Eater was loyal. He had taken bullets for Alchem, so he had to be eternally grateful for everything that he had protected him from.

Eater re-lit his horn, before throwing light about the cave. It was like a flare, but it was just little balls of magic that stuck to the ground, illuminating the area more than Eater did before. Alchem could see Eater out of the darkness and smiled at him. That made him blush a little as he looked back at Alchem. Eater began to slowly limp down the cave, Alchem following him closely from behind.

"So what happened to them?" Alchem asked, getting closer due to his curiosity. Eater looked back at him and sighed, before finding a large boulder ahead. He sat his rump on top of it and carefully thought out his words.

"They were a weird bunch. My father was a hard worker, never skipping a day, even if he was ill. He perished as the bombs fell. My mother, she survived! She was resilient, but the raiders eventually found her." Eater announced, hanging his head in shame. Alchem used a wingtip to lift up Eater's head, brushing his cheek with a feather. That tickled him a little, making him smile the smallest amount, before seeing his face return to its previous position.

"What about you?" Alchem asked, looking excited to learn his origin. Eater looked over to him and tapped on the boulder, signalling for him to take a seat. Alchem happily followed his order, sitting straight up and ears directed to Eater. Alchem enjoyed a good fictional story, but the real ones were the best.

"I was born before the bombs. I saw it happen! I was only little, mind you. My vision was a little foggy back then. Since the bombs fell, me and my mother constantly went on the run, getting where we could and always assuring that each other were safe. We found things that ponies could only have dreamt of and traded them in for an incredible amount of bottle caps." Eater told, looking at Alchem. Every word got through Alchem's ears, as he nodded for the story to continue.

"Go on Eater, it's ok." Alchem convinced, trying to make the nerves of Eater die down. It worked a little, as Soul Eater closed his eyes and sighed heavily, taking in a deep breath before exhaling and opening his eyes.

"They ripped her apart, while I was hiding. They chopped off her head and… they… they violated her, right in front of me." Eater admitted, feeling a little worse now. He placed his hooves on his new waist wound, that Alchem had patched up a couple of moments ago. It began to hurt him as he thought more about the badness of his own life, so Alchem rubbed his shoulder with a wingtip.

Soul Eater flinched at the touch, but then looked up at him, meeting his eyes. He smiled as best as he could, before he turned and looked down at the floor again, still feeling Alchem's wing on his shoulder. As Alchem kept his wing on Eater's shoulder, he started to move it around in circles, feeling Eater's surprisingly softer than expected chitin.

"I couldn't save her, but they were stupid enough to give me a chance." Eater muttered. Alchem caught wind of this and stopped rubbing Eater's shoulder, moving around him and sitting on the cold cave floor, ears perking up.

"How come?" Alchem questioned, pushing on with the conversation. "If you don't mind me asking." He quickly blurted, adding to the question. Eater closed his eyes again, cutting out all sources of sight from his mind, as he thought about the events that were pinned to the back of his mind.

"A gun dropped on the floor. While they were busy violating my mother's corpse, I picked up the gun and crawled out from my hiding spot and aimed the weapon at them. They continued to violate my mother, so I did the next best thing. I shot all of them in the head, dropping them instantly, before I went to bury my mother. My only family left, before I became truly alone." Eater spoke clearly, making Alchem take in a deep breath.

"Wow! That's all I can say to that." Alchem admitted, feeling bad for Soul Eater and his mother. He couldn't have imagined that Eater's past was that brutal and gory. Sadly, the truth was horrible, but at least it was true. That was life in the Wasteland. Eater wiped his eyes, rubbing away any tears that were present on his face, before slowly getting up and sliding off the boulder. They needed to get out of the cave, that was their main objective.

The hydra was most likely blocking or waiting from the entrance that they entered, so they needed to find a tunnel that would allow them to escape through it, back into the outside world. A noise came from the area that they entered through, suggesting that the hydra was still outside, looking to snack on a changeling and pegasus.

They both pushed deeper into the cave, finding that it went down a little and then back up. There was some water in the cave, running water that flowed down through the cave. Alchem walked up to the water and dipped his hoof into it, finding it to be freezing cold. That put a worried look on Eater's face and made his new changeling ears fold back. His ears looked exotic to Alchem, so beautiful and perfectly cut to make it look like he was always vigilant.

They had to cross the running water to get to the other side and out of the cave. Eater was going to test whether they were going to need to fly across or if they could have just walked across, only getting their hooves wet. Eater took one step and found that the water was shallow and running slowly down the cave. He chuckled as he turned to Alchem and smiled.

"It's perfectly fine!" Eater convinced, taking a step backwards and falling into a deep section of the water. Alchem rushed to the water and saw that Eater was under it. He jumped in and grabbed Eater by the neck, before dragging him up and out of the running puddle. Alchem threw Eater onto the ground and sighed, seeing that he was shivering a lot.

"Death by cold is not how I wanna go!" Eater roared out, getting up and shivering still. Alchem rolled his eyes at Eater, thinking that he was making a mountain out of a molehill. Eater looked at him with worry. "You do realise that I'm cold blooded, right? I might need your help!" Eater questioned. Alchem shook his head and Eater looked worried. "Cold blooded creatures don't get hot, but if they get cold, they can die!" Eater blurted out, his face and body changing from a dark grey, to a dark blue. Alchem walked up to Eater and placed a wing around him. It didn't do anything. "We need to get someplace warm and fast!" Eater whimpered, beginning to run on three hooves up the cobbled cave, travelling towards the light. Alchem followed quickly.

As soon as they got out, they didn't know where they were. The trees looked the same, with no indication of where the end of the forest was. Eater did something smart amongst the confusion. He looked at the cave and realised that the cave didn't have any turns that they had to take, meaning that it was the way the cave led, straight back. Eater pointed this out to Alchem and he nodded, before they both travelled back, above the cave in the same direction that they had originally come from.

They had to be careful. They didn't know what type of creatures would be present in the forest, so they kept on high alert. The main point was to keep hidden from the hydra, as that would probably be roaming about to try and find them both. Eater's suspicion came to the harsh truth. The hydra was stumbling around and clawing at the cave entrance, trying to get in. They both carefully snuck around behind it, avoiding stepping on anything that would give them away, as they carefully picked each movement.

Alchem observed the beast, as I clawed and snatched at the cave, moving the entrance of it and making it change shape. The hydra roared, all three of its heads snapping and tearing at rocks, throwing them away, while in a rage. Both Alchem and Eater both wanted to fly away, but the noise would attract a hydra to come after them. They had to walk it off, even though Eater was not healthy to do so.

They slowly exited the forest, moving back onto the path that the raiders had run down. The settlement was visible again. It felt like weeks since they had seen it, but clearly it hadn't been that long. They wobbled down the cobbled path, evaluating the different designs on each of the cobble. Eater hadn't changed from his changeling self, which surprised Alchem to the fullest. Alchem saw a cart on the path with a pony next to it, looking dead. He had nothing with him, apart from the cart. The raiders had probably got to him first. The word 'raiders' sparked a question into Alchem's mind.

"Soul Eater! We didn't loot the raiders!" Alchem announced loudly, making Eater turn to him. He went wide eyed, as he continued to shake, due to the coldness that he was feeling. Alchem wrapped his wing around Eater and frowned. "We also need to get you warm." Alchem added to his list of things to do. They both turned around and walked back, seeing the scuffed hoof prints that indicated that one of the raiders had skidded when trying to turn. They re-entered the forest, trying to finish the mission that they had been given.

The hydra was nowhere to be seen as they looked around for any signs of it. The bodies were still as they were and the raider in pieces was still in the hydra's stomach. If the raider that got eaten had the caps on him, they wouldn't be getting that back. It was the same concept with Eater's saber. It was now lodged in the beast and taken away from him. He knew it was only a sword, but it was something else, compared to all of the other swords that he had seen.

They scavenged around the corpses and found the revolver next to Eater's pistol. They both were in the dirt, gathering dust by the second. Both were a little blood stained a little bit, but that was something that a little water could get off. Alchem found the caps on the stallion that shot Eater, getting shot with around eight shots in the back. Alchem was slowly getting familiar with weapons, but would never be as good as Eater with the knowledge of them. They continued to loot them, Alchem finding some extra things on the raiders that would eventually come in handy.

As Alchem finished scavenging, he looked over at Eater and paused. Eater was in rags, probably trying to warm himself up. Alchem walked over to him, seeing that he was still shivering and put a hoof on his shoulder, looking into his eyes.

"Once we get back, I'll clean you up and then keep you warm, ok?" Alchem commanded, prompting a raised eyebrow from Eater. They both smiled at each other and chuckled.

"Sure, just let me take this all off then. I'm freezing my ass off here!" Eater admitted, still shaking. They both got what they could before they both rushed to the path, not going too fast because of Eater's leg and waist, but fast enough to get them out quickly. They quickly strolled down the cobbled path again and could see that the moon was still up. It was blissful seeing the moon, but they could never see the sunlight. It was almost like Celestia herself was pissed at the world, but Luna wasn't. Most ponies in the Wasteland wouldn't understand that, but a couple would and would probably agree with it.

Roselight was in armour, as she saw Alchem and Eater return. She waved a hoof to them and Alchem raised a wing up, indicating that he saw it. Eater used his magic to raise up the caps and the revolver, but as soon as Roselight saw Eater, she stopped and looked tense. She pointed her weapon at Eater, as he rolled his eyes.

"Roselight, please don't! It's me! Soul Eater!" He tried to convince her. Roselight lowered her weapon slightly, but kept an eye on Eater as the gate opened for them. They both entered through it and waited for Roselight to get down from the wall, holding the caps and revolver close to them. As soon as Roselight came into view, she eyed Eater like a hawk. Eater stared at her and nodded, before placing both of the items on the floor and walking back. He limped backwards awkwardly and Roselight picked up on this.

"Alchem? What has happened to Eater?" She asked, trying to get more information about him. Alchem looked back at Eater as he sat down, shivering. Alchem took Roselight around the corner and began to talk to her, making it so that Eater was unable to see their conversation.

"Roselight, do you know what a changeling is?" Alchem asked Roselight, giving her a questionable look. She closed her eyes, trying to remember what they were. She shortly opened her eyes and nodded.

"Yes! They were shape-shifters that were ponies, but also bug-like. Am I correct?" She blurted out, getting a nod from him as a reply. She peaked around the corner of the building and looked at Eater, he was constantly changing the colour of his chitin, making it go from a dark blue, to dark green then a dark yellow and then red, before fading to a dark purple and back to dark blue. He was experimenting with some colours she guessed. She turned back to Alchem and sighed. "I'm a little on edge, but I'd like to talk to him sometime. Him and you in private, one at a time. For now, I will welcome you to the settlement." She announced to Alchem, dragging the revolver and the caps towards her grasp.

Roselight walked out from behind the building and walked towards Eater, Alchem following her slowly. She walked up to Eater and stopped, waiting for Alchem to come around to the opposite side of her. Alchem went behind Eater and helped him up, lifting him up softly with his wings, until Eater was on three of his hooves.

"You both can sleep in an apartment that we have free tonight. Go relax and rest up. We'll see you tomorrow morning." Roselight convinced, bowing and walking away with the caps and revolver. Eater turned to look at Alchem and was wearing a confused look. They didn't understand where they were meant to go. They walked over towards Roselight, before they saw her talking to a stallion while pointing to them both, before turning away again. The stallion pranced over to them and signalled for them to follow. Eater looked to Alchem for something to reassure him. Alchem just tilted his head before they both followed the stallion.

He led them both to an apartment that was slightly abandoned, but still looked good enough to live in. The stallion turned and bowed, before he slowly walked away. They didn't get the chance to thank the stallion, as they both watched him walk away. They turned back to the apartment and sighed, before opening the door and entering, making sure to close the door behind them both.

The building was cold, but that didn't get rid of the fact that the entire area was dark too. Lights didn't light up anything, as Eater tried to turn some on. Eater rolled his eyes before lighting up his horn and throwing a couple of balls of light around, brightening up the area around them both. Eater was still shaking as Alchem inspected him, making him feel a little bad. It hadn't been that long since Eater had fallen into the water, but he didn't want the only pony that had helped him to get injured more or worse, die.

Alchem laid on the floor next to where Eater was and opened his wings, making it look like he was stretching. Eater lied down next to him, lying on his side to make himself more comfortable with the pain, trying still to not let either his waist or hindleg hit on the floor. As soon as Eater was down, Alchem wrapped his wing over Eater. Eater turned to him with shock and watched as Alchem just kept smiling at him.

"Is this because I said that changelings die from being too cold?" He asked, getting an instant nod from Alchem. "Well then, take these to keep you warm." Eater added, as he used his magic to move his saddlebags around Alchem, creating some sort of blanket around him. That was going to be Eater's gift to Alchem for the night of warmth. He would return his warmth with more warmth.

Alchem closed his eyes and watched as Eater did the same. The last thing Alchem saw before he drifted off, was a twitch from Eater's ear, making Alchem smile as he left for his slumberland of imagination.

Chapter 3: Alone Adventure

Alchem woke up, instantly sitting up and looking around. They were in the same room, the same position, the same air. Alchem didn't want his mind playing tricks on him, so he looked over to Eater and saw him sleeping. Before Alchem did anything, he looked at Eater's face and admired it. Despite looking fierce while he was awake, Alchem had to admit that Eater looked a little bit cute while his eyes were closed.

Alchem laid in front of Eater and placed his wing over him, seeing that Eater liked the feeling of Alchem's wing. Eater grabbed Alchem's wing with a hoof, before nuzzling into it. Alchem enjoyed the feeling of it, but he quickly pulled his wing away as Eater was about to bite down on it. This action made Eater open his eyes and look at Alchem with an angry glare.

"What do you think you're doing?" Eater asked calmly, while stretching his forehooves and his not damaged hindleg. This surprised Alchem that Eater was speaking softly. He was caught so off guard, that he didn't notice Eater's wing creeping towards him. Eater rubbed Alchem's side with his paper like wing, making Alchem jump in the process. He looked over to Eater's wing and looked back at Eater, watching as he just smiled at him.

Alchem didn't know how to feel about the events that were spiralling out in the direction that they were, but he wasn't intending on stopping them either. Eater was going to be the one to stop it, as he turned onto his back, dragging his wing from Alchem's side and placing it back behind his back. Alchem smiled as he got up, being stopped by Eater's hoof.

"What do you want Eater?" Alchem asked politely, smiling as he looked down at Eater. Eater didn't say anything, but instead, he tapped the ground beside him, signalling for Alchem to at least sit down next to him. Alchem sat down and looked at Eater again, seeing that he was still tapping on the ground. Alchem lied down and kept an eye on Eater, still seeing him tapping his hoof, but not at the floor this time. Eater was now tapping his chest lightly. Alchem slowly moved, more or less shimmied, over to Eater before resting his head on Eater's chest. This made Eater smile, as he closed his eyes.

Alchem kept his eyes open and stared at Eater, his vision almost unable to pick up the changeling in the darkness around them both. Eater opened one eye and stared blankly at Alchem, making Alchem blush in the process. Alchem immediately got up, looking angrily and mischievously at Eater, before walking over to the window and sitting down next to it. Eater slowly got up, feeling a little stiff from yesterday's events and trotting over to Alchem.

Eater slowly brought the saddlebags over, being originally used as a hard blanket for Alchem to not get cold. He placed them down and sat down next to Alchem, before he began to open all of them and sort through the stuff inside. Alchem turned and opened a saddlebag at random, seeing that he opened the medkit box saddlebag first. The boxes contained different types of ammunition, but Alchem would have to go through them all to check what ammo was what.

Alchem saw a pencil across the room and walked over to it, picking it up with his mouth. He immediately spat it out and spat out the taste of it, making him feel sick. Eater picked up the pencil with his magic and saw that the lead was perfectly intact, but the wood around it was eroded away, as a result of the art of the Wasteland. Alchem returned to his place and laid down, before Eater chuckled to him.

"How about you choose a different saddlebag? I'll do the writing with… this!" Eater suggested, pointing at the eroded pencil. Alchem smiled at him, accepting his decision and taking another saddlebag. The next one had the guns inside of it. "Alchem? Pass me your pistol. I'll reload it for you." Eater commanded, seeing that Alchem followed orders as he passed the pistol with his maw.

Alchem watched Eater as he got to work. Eater took out the magazine of Alchem's pistol and got to work putting some bullets into the weapon. He knew exactly what bullets would go into the magazine, so he got out the maximum amount of bullets he could, that would fit into the weapon properly. He placed up to eight bullets into the magazine and slid it back into the pistol, sliding the chamber at the top of the weapon, to ensure that the pistol had a bullet loaded and ready to fire.

Alchem watched as Eater closed the box, before writing something on the box and putting it to the side. Alchem looked over at the box and saw that he engraved the word '45 ACP' into it. It was clearly visible, so they knew that the ammo was correct. They didn't want to be getting rid of ammo that they were going to use, so they needed to sort it out as soon as possible, so that a little later, they could begin to trade some of it for a big amount of caps.

A thought entered Eater's mind, as he remembered all of the caps that he had acquired from the raiders, the first time. He was eventually going to find those caps, it was just about which of the five saddlebags they were in. It was just a game of patience. As for right then and there, he was going to sort out everything that he and Alchem had, distributing all of the stuff they weren't going to use into a saddlebag for selling. At least that way they could keep two saddlebags each, while gaining some caps in the process.

They were both on the last saddlebag, sorting out some of the few remaining items they could. They thought to themselves that they were going to come to the conclusion of selling all weapons apart from the shotgun and sniper and the two pistols they already had, along with all of the ammo, apart from the ones that they needed.

Alchem was going to keep a couple of medical supplies, just in case one of them was to get hurt. As the thought of that went through Alchem's mind, his eyes darted to Eater for a quick second, before resting on the saddlebag again. Most of the second bag that Eater had searched was junk, so it was easy to get through. Apart from the syringe that he had from his home, it was all junk, so he came over to help Alchem with his problem of searching through the saddlebags.

They were nearly finished with the saddlebag, when the rock came out of the saddlebag. Eater looked a little shocked. He was sure that he put the rock into his saddlebag. Alchem picked it up with his wing and then instantly dropped it onto the floor, the rock being burning hot. Alchem was surprised that the rock wasn't able to burn through the bag of the saddlebag.

Eater picked it up with his magic and watched as it glowed slightly, illuminating the room a little. Alchem pouted, not able to be able to pick up the beautiful rock and examine it.

"I found this inside the tavern back at Journey. Apparently, a raider by the name of Sawblade or Sawtooth, or something wants it and can unleash its power. The only thing is that he is the leader of the raiders, so we need to keep it out of his or her hooves." Eater explained. Alchem just looked puzzled, like something didn't add up. He thought to himself for a second, before looking at the rock.

"What would the leader of the raiders want with a glowing rock? For all we know, it could be radioactive, which might suggest why it hurts when I pick it up." Alchem suggested. Eater nodded in response to that and pondered the idea. Alchem could be correct, but it would take some looking into to find what was so special about the rock. Eater placed it in one of his saddlebags and made sure that it was protected by something, before closing up his saddlebag and placing it over his back, hurting him a little in the process.

Alchem noticed that it was slowly getting lighter outside, so he decided that it might have been a good idea to go outside and get some irradiated air, because fresh air was a thing of the past. Nothing was fresh anymore because the radiation would get to the things first. The only way that crops could be considered 'fresh' is from keeping them away from the radiation, whether that would be locking them up in a quarantine zone or a place that the radiation couldn't get to.

"Alchem? Did I tell you that I'm immune to radiation?" Eater asked, getting Alchem to turn to him.

"I, urm… I really can't remember, but now I do, so urm… yeah, nice." Alchem replied, not focusing on the conversational question that Eater had asked. Instead, he was focusing on the weather outside. It was raining. It had not rained in a long while, but radiation in the water meant that it was dangerous to go outside, meaning that they would need to get some protective clothing to step hoof outside. It was still early in the morning, so they thought that they could wait a little while, before venturing outside and talk to Roselight about the plans for today.

Alchem walked over to a table and saw that it had some barely visible photos there. He sat down on an old rocking chair and grabbed one with a wing. He had to blow the dust off it and shake it a little, before the image was visible to view with normal eyes. Eater placed the saddlebag down and walked slowly over to Alchem and leant against the rocking chair, the holes on his hooves acting like grapples, keeping him latched onto the rocking chair.

They both looked at the photo, being confused due to many aspects. It was of a zebra mare and a pegasus stallion, both looking very happy. They had a little filly next to them, not looking at all like any of them. She was completely different. She had claws, a beak and a… a scorpion tail! The caption at the bottom read 'Project Chimera will be with you!'. Alchem and Eater both looked at each other as the image made no sense to both of them.

"Maybe chimera is a mixed breeds project?" Alchem suggested. Eater nodded and pondered that for a second. Maybe Alchem was right, but the scorpion tail definitely freaked Eater out. Eater placed the image back down with his magic and looked back at Alchem, still pondering or questioning what project chimera was. He was now very curious to know.

Alchem got up out of the rocking chair and stretched his legs. Eater was probably able to admire Alchem's body at that moment, but was too distracted with the thought of the picture. It was definitely something that they would have to find out about and ask about in the settlement. They still didn't know the name of the settlement, but they both guessed that they would in due time.

Eater walked over to the saddlebags and picked up his two, along with the spare saddlebags that they would sell. Alchem did the same shortly after, before they looked out the window again. The rain had calmed down, which made it viable to move outside safely. They both looked at each other, before walking to the door and pulling it open. They both looked around, looking about to see if they had missed anything, before stepping out into the drizzle and radiation.

As soon as they were outside, they closed the door behind them. Turning around, they noticed that the settlers were awake and busy. Roselight was talking to the zebra that was with the raiders yesterday. Alchem was curious to see if he had reformed into a better zebra. Eater too was curious, but he wanted to see if the trader was awake. They both walked towards Roselight and the zebra. It was a little awkward to see that they were both talking about something and shouting at each other, but hey, that was the Wasteland!

Roselight spotted them both and smiled, waving a hoof at them both. They both waved back at her. Alchem then waved to the zebra, who then gingerly waved back. He then returned to the conversation with Roselight. Alchem turned to Eater and smiled.

"Let's go and look for the settlement trader." Alchem suggested to Eater, getting a nod of confirmation from Eater as a result of it. They walked past both Roselight and the unnamed zebra and looked around for the trading post or building, something to give them an inside of if there was one.

They saw a shop-like area ahead. It was nicely decorated, with light and candles at the front of the building. There was a gryphon standing at the front of it, sorting different items out that were in display cases. It looked impressive. They both walked up to the front of the building and smiled.

"Excuse me sir, do you know where there might be any trading posts or what not around here?" Alchem asked, getting the gryphon's attention. He turned around and bowed his head. His beak was chiseled a little and he wore a couple of scars across his face. Apart from that, he looked relatively healthy.

"The name's Gretzky! I can tell you a little bit about the settlement, but not much. This is a trading shop or in pony terms, just a shop of miscellaneous items." The gryphon spoke. His voice was aggressively soft and persuasive. Eater liked it. "What is it you need me to help you with?" Gretzky asked, his face beaming with curiosity and concern.

Eater used his magic to pull the saddlebag with all of the irrelevant items, up to the counter. Eater looked back at Gretzky and chuckled as he saw the excitement in his eyes. It reminded him so much of a little colt that he used to get with, to go out at nights with. Mischievous little eyes, like he was going to do something bad.

Gretzky looked back up to him and blushed a little, before opening the saddlebag and diving his claws in. He nearly became one with the saddlebag, because his feather colour was also the same colour as the saddlebag. He was brown feathered with a white set of them going over his left wing, almost exactly like a stripe.

Gretzky pulled out item after item, as he evaluated each one as it passed, ranging from guns to plastic medkit boxes. He was happy to take all of them. He filtered through the items and saw that there were a couple of broken parts to weapons. He picked them up carefully and placed them in a different corner of the store. He came back and gave the saddlebag back to them both. As he was giving them back the saddlebags, he saw the ones that they were wearing and smiled.

"You two both have two saddlebags each? Tell you what, I have some good, good good good saddlebags here, plenty of room for anything you could come across and plenty more room for additional stuff. I could take those ones off ya for the other ones I have, if you're interested?" Gretzky promoted, turning around and flying across the room and grabbing something.

Eater pondered the thought, as Gretzky came back with a bigger saddlebag. Alchem looked at both his and Eater's saddlebags. They weren't the biggest, but they were just what they had to survive in the Wasteland. An upgraded saddlebag would have been amazing to have. There was no way that Alchem was walking away with nothing.

"This saddlebag here has at least four times the space, compared to your saddlebags. Let me make a little deal. I'll give you these two saddlebags, one for each of us, and you trade yours over to me. How's about that for a deal?" Gretzky prompted, making both of them ponder. Alchem had already begun unpacking his stuff and Eater just looked at the saddlebag, before coming to a conclusion, the same conclusion that Alchem had.

They placed all of their stuff onto the floor, making sure that all of it was in sight so that somepony couldn't steal anything that they had. Alchem had a load of medical supplies with a couple of medkit boxes, consisting of ammo and more medical supplies. Eater's saddlebag contained a couple of things, a couple of different guns. The SMG he had originally picked up, along with the shotgun, sniper and LMG. He was thinking of selling the SMG and the LMG because of the lack of calibre correct shots or just how impractical they were. The sniper and shotgun on the other hand, would be effective at saving ammo, so they were good options. Eater was thinking of giving the shotgun to Alchem, so he didn't have to worry about selling it.

Eater passed the shotgun to Alchem and got a curious glance back from Alchem. He looked at the shotgun, before gingerly taking it from Eater's magic, placing it in the pile that he was creating, opposite Eater's pile. They both gave their saddlebags to Gretzky and took the bigger one. Alchem snagged the first one and raced back to his belongings, leaving Eater to wait for Gretzky to fly back over and try to find another. He did indeed find another and flew back over to the counter and passed the bag to Eater. Eater happily accepted it and walked calmly to his items. He kept the sniper rifle next to him as he placed some ammunition and the image into his saddlebag, along with a couple of medical stuff that Alchem gave to him. After that, they turned back to Gretzky and gave him questionable looks.

"Why do you need the saddlebags anyway?" Alchem asked, getting both the attention of Gretzky, as well as Eater.

"There is a material in the silk of these specific saddlebags. I have collected a few of them, but I need more. The special material in the saddlebags allows me to create a more enhanced, longer lasting, maybe even permanent radiation resistance serums." Gretzky explained. Alchem was starstruck and Eater was confused. Why did the saddlebags hold the key to survival within the Wasteland? That was a thought that would keep Eater up at night.

"We'll keep an eye out for any saddlebags that look like that, if you want." Eater suggested, getting a praising glance from Alchem. He was probably going to back Eater up with that suggestion. Gretzky began to break apart the saddlebags, while keeping an eye on them both. Eater looked back at the saddlebags that he had. The saddlebag for junk was not applicable for Gretzky, that was the reason Gretzky gave the saddlebag back.

"If you did that, I would be happy to pay you for it!" Gretzky announced. Eater shook his head and looked at Alchem, before looking back at Gretzky.

"I think that paying us to get something for you, to help you out in your efforts is a little much. Caps don't mean anything right now. They aren't mandatory!" Eater said, looking around for anything that he could use within Gretzky's shop. Eater saw something in the distance of the shop, way at the back of the shop, buried under some items. "Do you mind if I hop over and check something out?" Eater asked, getting a look from Alchem.

"Sure, just hop over and tell me what you see." Gretzky commanded, seeing Eater hop over and walk over to a load of items. Gretzky followed and Alchem stayed put at the counter. Eater grabbed an item with his magic and pulled it up. It was a little rusty, but Eater clearly knew what it was. It was a syringe gun! Eater picked it up and walked over to Alchem, showing him the weapon or utility item. Alchem smiled, but then sighed. He loved it, but he felt a little bad about not getting Eater anything, so he too hopped the counter and walked over to Gretzky and whispered something into his ear.

Gretzky nodded and then searched through the piles of items, along with Alchem helping him. Eater just watched and smiled as they both searched hard for something.

"Found it!" Alchem shouted, getting the attention of both Eater and Gretzky. Alchem pulled out a cloak, but this wasn't a cloak that Eater had seen before. It made itself adapt to the lighting and kept itself hidden. "This, Eater, is a zebra cloak! Super sneaky pieces of fibers that blend together to keep the wearer warm and hidden." Alchem explained, watching in excitement as Eater walked closer. He seemed interested with the cloak, as he looked at Alchem and then back at the cloak.

Him being a changeling made him sneaky enough, because they were shape-shifters. The cloak was just an additional piece of warmth to Eater. Alchem used his wings to place it over Eater and stood back and looked at him. It was a perfect fit, but it didn't work that well. He needed to look pained and scarred for it to work well. Alchem paused for a second, before he looked at Soul Eater and focused hard. Originally, Eater had worn scars and marks on his chitin, but as Alchem looked closer, he didn't wear them anymore.

"Eater? What happened to all of your scars and marks?" Alchem questioned. Eater didn't look different, his expression stayed the same as he opened his maw, then immediately closed it again, trying to find the words to say, or at least spit out. He changed his form again and came back to his usual self. His scarred, worn, battered self. Alchem smiled, as he walked back and saw Eater with his new attire. It made him look good, if not terrifying, due to all of the injuries he had attained.

Eater looked back at the syringe gun and walked over to it. He picked it up and looked at it, before getting it snagged off him by Gretzky. Eater looked slightly confused at why he did so, but kept his cool anyway.

"How much do you want for it all, the cloak and the syringe gun?" Eater asked, getting to his saddlebag and getting out some caps. Gretzky smiled and shook his head.

"For all you have brought in, I suppose that I did owe you, so I'll let it be free." He claimed, sending a static look to Eater's face. He didn't know what to say to Gretzky in that situation. He was pleased with the result. He looked over to Alchem with a smile and saw that he was holding a sheet of metal in his mouth. It looked like steel, but it had something to it that made it not look like it, at the same time.

"Ah! Umm… Alchem? What is that?" Eater questioned, instantly losing the smile on his face. Alchem used his wing to take the metal out of his mouth and smiled.

"Just some metal I want to buy!" Alchem replied, showing a bright smile on his face. Eater thought that Alchem must have known what he was doing, so he just went along with it. Eater picked up some caps from his saddlebags and flew them over to Alchem, using his magic. Alchem extended his hoof and caught the caps, before handing them to Gretzky, in one fluent movement. He held his claws out and caught them, before bowing and putting the caps away.

"You didn't have to, but thank you!" Gretzky acknowledged, smiling at both of them. Eater nodded at him and then turned to Alchem, wondering why he wanted some steel. He tilted his head at the material and then stuck his tongue out at it, before turning away and looking back at Gretzky.

"I think that is all. If we come across anything that we might find interesting, we'll inform you." Eater said, watching as a small smile grew into Gretzky's face. Eater turned back to Alchem and saw that he was talking to Roselight. He slowly crept up to them and eavesdropped on their conversation.

"...well I don't think that he'll appreciate it. I'm not happy that you're making him go out on his own. What if something bad happens to.." Alchem spoke, before seeing that Eater was listening to the conversation. Roselight turned and looked at Eater, a little surprised that he heard the conversation. Her ears folded back before she coughed and then looked angrily at him.

"Sorry to tell you this Eater, but I don't trust you! I trust Alchem, but not you. So, that being said, I'm making you go out and get something for me." Roselight commanded, getting an alarming glare from both Alchem and Eater, as well as Gretzky in the distance. Gretzky hopped the counter and ran up to them.

"I'm sorry, did I hear that properly? You don't trust him after he took a bullet or two for your settlement to be safe?" Gretzky prompted, pressuring Roselight and challenging her for an answer. She didn't speak as she looked at Eater, seeing the new scars that he had, due to getting shot by the raiders in the settlement. She shook her head and looked at Gretzky with tired eyes.

"Can you get a radiation suit for Eater? He's going to need it where he's going." Roselight asked, seeing Gretzky nod in defeat, before he turned and flew back to the shop and grabbed a radiation suit. He came back shortly and passed the gear to Eater. Eater shook his head in annoyance.

"I'm immune to radiation, so I won't be needing this. The cloak is fine!" Eater admitted, holding the radiation suit in his hooves. Gretzky grabbed the gear and sighed, looking down at the suit, then up at Eater. A shard of life erupted in Gretzky's eyes and he smiled, getting an idea for something. He flew back to his shop and began to look for something. Eater looked back at Roselight and sighed, before she gave him a command to follow.

"I need you to locate something for me, an artifact of such. It's in an irradiated area, so you need to be careful. The only ponies that are able to go there right now, are the Steel Rangers. They got some firepower to boot, so you need to try to sneak around as much as possible." Roselight ordered. Eater sighed and turned to Gretzky, being signalled over by him. Eater walked over and saw that he was searching for something else. He pulled out something in a box and looked at Eater, smiling as much as he could.

"Don't tell Roselight, but I got something that would work wonders, if you happen to come across anything within the Wasteland. A flare gun, but not just any flare gun, a Steel Ranger flare gun. Once fired, an artillery unit fires multiple shots on its position." Gretzky admitted, sighing happily. "This is a rare piece of equipment, so take care of it. I'm only gonna give you one shot, so make it count." Gretzky added, handing over the flare gun, already being loaded.

Eater wanted to have a harness, so he grabbed a fair amount of caps and gave them to Gretzky. Gretzky looked confused, as Eater looked over to Alchem and then back at Gretzky for a final time before he needed to go.

"I need a harness!" Eater blurted out, trying to hurry up every action being made. Gretzky flew over to a specific section and pulled out a clean looking harness and flew back to him, throwing the cloak off, as well as the saddlebag Eater had and strapping the harness to Eater's body. The harness was set and comfortable, making it more enjoyable to wear. It had holsters for weapons and held a big weapon on the side. The pistol slotted in perfectly, along with the flare gun. The sniper fitted too, so Eater inserted it into the holster. There were additional pockets and pouches for other items, but they were irrelevant right then and there. Eater put his cloak back on and turned to Roselight, seeing that she held a map. He picked up his saddlebag with his magic and placed it on, under the cloak. He was ready!

Roselight showed him a map of the area and Eater evaluated it carefully. Without a second to spare, Roselight used her magic to place the map in Eater's saddlebag, making him feel a little less scared. His objective was to locate an artifact within an abandoned factory, flooded with radiation. Eater would be going alone, while Alchem was told to stay back and help with some stuff at the settlement. Gretzky and Roselight just stared blankly at Eater, making him feel mildly uncomfortable. Eater took one last look at Alchem, before he sighed and turned, making his way towards the gates.

The gates opened up and Eater looked up at the guard at the gate, the same guard that both Eater and Alchem met coming into the settlement. Eater smiled at him and watched as the stern look of pride was replaced with fear and uncertainty. The guard turned his entire body towards Eater, signalling that he was more than just tense. Eater shook his head before walking through the gate. As he was walking under, the bridge dropped instantly. Eater jumped out of the way, outside of the settlement. The gate would have decapitated him in the process of leaving. Eater would have been that it was the guard, but he didn't know what the controls for the gate were like. Still, he had his suspicions.

Eater walked out and looked to the wall, to see nopony on the wall. Now he was sure that the guard was up to something. He would have been sure to give the guard a visit when he got back. As for now, he turned around and began to walk, before somepony called out his name. He turned to see Alchem at the gate. Eater slowly trotted up to him and looked him in the eyes with anger.

"I saw what that stupid guard did. I'll have words with him, alright?" Alchem announced quietly, seeing a little smile appear on Eater's face. "Be safe!" He added, before letting Eater turn away. Eater ran into the light, before vanishing into a cloud of smoke in the distance. Alchem sighed as he turned around and looked around, looking for Roselight. "Be safe!" He whispered to himself, before walking back towards the centre of the settlement.

Eater followed the road as far as he could, before the road became hard to see. He could still make it out, it just wasn't easy, due to the conditions that he was in. The rain was beginning to fall and it would eventually begin to hurt Eater. Although he had the cloak on, it would eventually get through the cloak and get onto his chitin. Everypony else was more scared about all of the radiation in the water, but Eater was immune to radiation and radiation poisoning, so he didn't have to fear that at all.

It became very apparent that he was the only one that could have done this, due to not being affected by radiation. Originally, Eater had assumed that it was just a racial discrimination act, but he was beginning to disagree with his own mind. He was beginning to believe that Roselight wanted to take advantage of him, probably for her own benefit. Whatever the case, Eater had a job to do.

The rain came back and hailed over him, soaking him with its slippery wetness. It was going to be a matter of time before the water got through the cloak and onto his chitin. He continued to walk down the road, spotting distant sights getting closer and then further away, almost like he was hallucinating.

A house came to his vision as he walked down the road. It looked ransacked, but nopony could ever tell in the Wasteland. It was the land of mystery! Eater slowly approached the house, before stopping to think. He originally thought that the rain would have gotten through the cloak by now. He uses his magic to shake the water off the cloak, but there was no water that came off. Eater watched as a single drop of water landed on the fabric of the cloak and then danced across the surface of it, before it slid off it and back to the unsettled land. This cloak had to be enchanted, it just had to.

Eater returned his focus to the house, opening the door and watching as it fell off the hinges. It smashed to pieces instantly as it grazed the floor. It was almost like it was the shell of a once standing door, but that was just speculation. Eater entered the building and saw that everything was destroyed. It hurt to see things like that. He hated destruction to the fullest, so watching or seeing something like this, would have made him feel terrible. For everything, there was a backstory. If there wasn't, then what would be the point of something existing.

Eater shook his head, diving in way over his conscience. He walked into the one beautiful kitchen and saw that everything was unsalvageable. He scowled at the thought of everything that he came across being ransacked. Again, Eater shook his head. He opened a cabinet and saw that there was some irradiated food inside it. He could tell that it was irradiated, due to the ominous green and red glow that emitted from the tin can. Eater could have probably eaten it, but he didn't know what to do with it. He took the can and opened it up, getting a whiff of the irradiated and gone off food within. The smell alone almost made him throw up. He emptied the insides out and held it away from him.

He spotted a river that ran alongside the road and paced over to it, dunking the tin into the river, giving it a wash. The river was most likely polluted anyway, so washing the tin in it made no difference, he hoped. He took a look at the tin and saw that it was a lot cleaner than the tin had originally been, so he popped it into his saddlebag for scraping. Anything in the Wasteland was a useful asset, so they needed to acquire as much as possible. Eater was literally becoming a scavenger right then and there. There was no doubt about it!

After he placed the metal into his saddlebag, he moved through most of the cupboards and cabinets, finding nothing else in them at all. It was a disappointment, but he wasn't going to expect everything everywhere, especially if the raiders or scavengers had gotten to them first. He would be lucky enough to find anything lying around.

That thought got him thinking about the entire factory that he was meant to be going to. The area, which he just assumed was a factory, was supposed to be irradiated with all sorts of horrors. Since he was immune to radiation, he would have been the perfect creature to take advantage of. That thought alone made Eater a little angry. His eyes still glowed bright red, probably due to the amount of radiation in the air. He was pretty sure that radiation was the reason they glowed red, but it only worked while there was no sunlight. Since the bombs fell, there was no sunlight, but that wasn't the focus of his day today. He had a job to do and by Celestia, he was going to do it properly.

He was told that a group called the Steel Rangers might be there, looking for something too, maybe the same thing that Eater was looking for, but he did have a counter to them. He had a flare gun for a Steel Ranger artillery unit, which made him feel that little bit safer. The area that Roselight wanted Eater to travel to, was visible, even from the settlement. It just looked like a factory from a far distance, back at the settlement.

Eater had been walking for a little while, but he was almost there. The radiation was definitely in the air, as the air became hazel and dull, like there was no freshness to it. Eater saw a pony that had been dead on the floor, for what seemed like years, judging by the state of them. Eater went to touch them and watched as his hoof grazed the cheek of the once living pony, as it fell to dust, before being swept away by the little amount of wind that there was. That made something twist and turn within Eater, something that craved life, ponies living within here. There was likely not going to be any, but he could always hope.

He saw that there was a cart that the pony was pulling, before he turned to dust. Eater looked in the cart and saw some supplies, all knocked over, but still in good condition. Eater couldn't tell how strong the radiation was, but it was definitely strong, due to the fact that nopony had looted this cart. It was untouched! Eater grabbed some cans of food, some cans of water and some bits. Bits were useless in the Wasteland. You could probably get a cap per bit or two. He grabbed them anyway, sweeping them up with his magic, before placing them in the saddlebag. He looked back and saw some makeshift armour, with a supply box with it. He opened the supply box with his magic and saw something very, very rare indeed.

Eater had found a material supply stash! It had materials that would help the settlement a ton, so he picked it up with his magic and placed it into his saddlebag. He was surprised that he fitted that stash in his saddlebag, but when he looked, he had only filled a quarter of his saddlebag. Surely his saddlebag was magical or something? He didn't know, but he was able to hold a lot of things. The power of saddlebags! He shook his head again and regained concentration on what he was doing. He found a weapon in a secret compartment of the cart and instantly dropped it into his saddlebag. He hadn't seen its type before, but he had something to do. He jumped off the cart and walked onwards, towards the objective.

The area that he was going, definitely was a factory, judging by the pipes pointing directly into the sky. That might have explained why it was so irradiated around the area. Maybe that factory had blown up? Maybe something had gone wrong on the inside? Who knew? Nopony, because everypony that did know was dead, most likely. Eater slowly approached it, watching it as it loomed over him. He changed the brightness of his eyes, being a shape-shifter and all, changing his eye colour black, just so that he wouldn't give himself away to anything that was inside the area.

Since he was a shape-shifter, he could change into anything he wanted to. It was useful in the Wasteland, because he could lose sight of ponies chasing him and change into a rock or something. He kept that aspect in mind, just in case he needed to hide or flee from something that he couldn't handle.

He got to the entrance of the factory and pulled on the gate with his magic. It was rusted and broken, as well as being stuck. He pulled against it multiple times, before he shot at it with his horn, sending a bolt of energy through the metal. It didn't work at all, making only a scratch in the metal. He sighed, not realising that the metal was not being damaged because of it being heavily irradiated and rusty. It would have broken into dust if it was a little softer of a metal.

Eater began to walk around the factory, seeing that there was an exit or opening to the factory that had been carved by the factory's exhaust tunnel or tube. It had fallen over and crumpled the wall, allowing a small gap to be able to fit through. Eater struggled through the wall and cut himself a little, more or less scratching himself in the process, rather than cutting himself. As Eater got in, he looked up at the top of the wall and went wide eyed, followed by putting a hoof to his face. He felt like such an idiot as he laughed to himself. He could have just flown over. He chuckled at his stupidity as he turned around and scouted out the area.

He used his horn to shine a beam of light around, using his horn basically like a torch. He could see that the air was thick and everything was quiet, a little too quiet for his liking. No noises but the sound of rushing water, coming from the river to the side of the factory. That was it! Eater scanned over his surroundings and saw that there were corpses of ponies and other creatures on the floor of the yard. The bodies were ranging from relatively new, to skeletons of ponies that would never be identified.

The ponies that had been there, relatively new to the body collection, looked like raiders. There were no scavengers around and all of the raiders that were there, died with their eyes open, making them creepier to advance towards. It brought a little bit of fear to Eater's mind, but he shook his head for the hundredth time today and went to loot them. He looted the corpses that just stared at him blankly, while trying to keep it in his mind that they were 'just dead'.

He found some medical supplies on a couple of them, a fair few caps on all of them and a couple of weapons and ammo. One of the raiders was even prepared to come to this place, packing a gas mask with some oxygen tanks. Eater didn't understand why the raider had oxygen tanks with him, but he clearly wanted them, due to him being somewhat buried into the ground. Eater took the gas mask, thinking that either him or Alchem could make use out of it. If not, then he could sell it to Gretzky for cheap, cause he had helped out so much, especially with the extra protection that he now had.

The weapons that he had acquired were above average weapons. They ranged from only ammo to a couple of snipers. Each sniper was different to Eater's, but he would have to check them all out in his spare time. He found some assault rifles on some of them and a huge amount of ammo for them. They were very expensive to run, so that would be some easy caps to gain for them. SMGs were present in the loot pool as well, making the trip already worthwhile, but he still hadn't even scratched the surface of what he wanted to do with the factory.

He regained his focus, after shoving two shotguns into his saddlebag. His saddlebag was beginning to become full with stuff, but he did have quite a big amount of room left in his saddlebag for more. He walked up to the factory entrance and pushed the door open, finding that the door jammed half way. He used his magic to teleport into the factory, through the little gap and turned as the rubble blocking the door fell, blocking him inside the room and blocking the door he came through. There was no turning back, or so he thought.

He looked about, using his magic to illuminate the area. He could see all of the inners of the factory, mostly the mechanical side. There was something that disturbed him though, the amount of pony corpses that littered the factory floor. There was evidence of life there and the pre-war efforts took it away. There was also evidence of what the ponies were making in the factory, due to the insides of the mechanical devices that they made. PipBucks! Eater didn't realise that any of them were being mass produced. This might have explained why most of the ones in the factory looked broke.

There was only debris on the floor, along with the corpses of hundreds of ponies. Maybe the factory was where everypony gathered before they all had their fur and blood evaporated? Who knew? Eater looked at all of the PipBucks on the conveyor belts and sighed. He looked around for an office of some kind, standing still and just pivoting. He spotted an overlook, which connected to a strange room above. Bingo!

He began to slowly move about, making sure not to make too much noise or step on the skeletal figures too much. It made him feel sick to his core, but he had to press on. The settlement rested in his chitin smooth hooves. He drew out his pistol and walked around making sure that nothing was a threat to him in there. He could hear something, but he was pretty sure that it was some rad-roaches or something. He ventured through the factory, finding more and more bodies of ponies who once had some life to live.

He eventually got to the stairwell of the building. There were sections going up and sections going down. Eater chose to go up first, trying to get into the area he had previously seen. He climbed up, deciding that flying would be a terrible thing to do, due to the buzzing of his wings or if he changed them, the flapping of the wings. His hooves were the lightest things he could step on, so he continued to use them. He had already forgotten about his wounds, but they were healed up a little anyway, due to Alchem being the medic he was, the medic that was needed.

Eater climbed each step, hearing a creek with each step that he stumbled up. It made his ears fold back, not knowing completely if anything was here. He kept his pistol up and ready, using his magic, as he scampered to the top of the steps. There was a door that wouldn't open, so Eater did the only other thing he could do. He bucked the door, making it fly off its hinges and fall over the side of the railings to the catwalk. He instantly regretted bucking the door as hard as he did, because the previous pain was beginning to come back. He laughed to himself for missing a couple of brain cells.

He regained composure and walked carefully across the catwalk and could see some rad-roaches scurrying across the ground. Since Eater was technically a bug horse breed, the rad-roaches didn't see him as a threat. He chuckled again to himself.

"Worst superpower ever! Immune to roaches." He silently chuckled to himself, looking down at the irradiated roaches. A noise stirred something within Eater. Fear! He readied his pistol and aimed at where the noise came from and began to growl, focusing on the exact point. Green eyes came from out of the darkness and slowly grew, showing that the creature was getting closer to him.

It stepped into his light and Eater watched in shock. It was the same timberwolf that he and Alchem had encountered previously, which threw Eater off completely. Eater watched as the timberwolf eyed him, moving closer and picking up a rad-roach, before chomping down on it. Eater picked up one with his magic and waited to get the attention of the timberwolf. After the hound finished chomping, it eyes Eater, then the insect. Eater could see that it was ready, so he chucked it a little way up and watched as the timberwolf pounced into the air and grabbed it, before swallowing it whole.

The wolf landed and made the entire catwalk shake. Eater got a little closer and saw that it was wagging its tail at him, its wooden tail. It was so cute! It was almost like a normal dog before the war, but it had been… Eater came to the assumption that because of the flesh being warped around the wood, that it might have been subjected to the likes of killing joke, a plant that would change anything to something that it feared or just didn't like. The effects were somewhat permanent, so there was little to no chance of something being reverted. Eater's guess was that it was a normal dog before killing joke.

The timberwolf raised its head and then snarled behind Eater, almost like trying to tell him that somepony or something was near. The timberwolf jumped over the railing before landing on the floor and running away, into the darkness beyond. Eater had to be weary of where he was going, just in case he was going to be followed. Eater rubbed his eyes with a hoof, before continuing to walk across the catwalk again, making sure to make it to the other side this time.

As Eater got to the other side of the catwalk, he noticed yet another door. This one was partially open and as Eater walked up to it and tried to open it, it swung open like it was nothing. That brought a little smile to his muzzle, before he ventured inside, having one goal of searching for an artifact of some sort. He entered the room and saw that it looked comfy, more comfy than any other parts of the factory. Eater walked up to the display area, overlooking the bottom of the factory, where he had originally seen the overview from the floor.

He turned around and could see that there was a very important looking desk that spoke to him, metaphorically. He walked over to it and began to search it, finding that the desk had multiple draws. He opened one of the four doors of the desk and saw that there were just a load of notes. Eater took a brief look through them, finding that they ranged from bills, to plans for the factory to build extensions to it. All of the stuff was irrelevant to Eater, so he looked through the draw, trying to find anything useful. He found a key in the middle of the papers, so he picked it up and placed it on top of the desk, before checking through the rest of the draw. He found nothing!

He closed the draw and opened up another. This was a more personal draw, because it contained a couple of images of a stallion, mare and filly. A family! Eater sorted through the draw, collecting the pictures and seeing if there was anything useful within them, which there was. He found a pistol with some ammo and some alcohol. Eater began to add up the pieces and realised that the stallion might have worked here, judging by one of the images including the mare and the filly, together. Eater was smart enough to know that the alcohol and the gun were for taking the easy way out, if the worst came to affect.

Eater turned around and grabbed the office chair, before siding down and examining the photos of the past. The stallion definitely loved his family, that was clearly shown in the images. The photos reminded him of his family, his father, his mother and him. Two of them were outcasts, while his father was just a normal pony stallion. He missed them so much that it brought a tear to his eye. He had to keep going, for their sake, for them to rest in peace that their child was successful in one way. He had never pleased his father to the extent that he liked. Sure, he did please his father, he did make him proud, but only a little, which encouraged him to stride on further.

Eater placed the photos back into the photos into the desk draw and took the gun, ammo and alcohol and placed them into his saddlebag. He would be sure to make use of them at least. He heard something move in the distance, but didn't take notice of it. He searched the last two draws and found that there was a locked one. He unlocked it with the key he had just found and opened the draw, seeing that there was a code of some sort. A four digit code that would open something, possibly a safe that was hidden in the area. He picked up the scrap of paper with the numbers and held it with his magic, before finding that there was nothing else in the draw and closing it.

The last draw was jammed, so he tried to open it with his magic. That did nothing and he accidentally snapped the draw handle off. He used his magic to pull on the draw once more and found that nothing was working. Eater regained focus on what secrets the code could have unlocked, so he swept the room and tried to find the safe or at least a number pad. He found the safe! It was behind one of the fallen bookshelves. He moved the bookshelf out of the way, using his magic and proceeded to enter the code.

"Two, eight, seven, one!" He read aloud, hearing the echo throughout the factory. The safe cracked open and he saw something that stood out from everything else in the factory. It was a perfect conditioned blueprint for something. He was pretty sure that that was what Roselight wanted. He placed it carefully into his saddlebag and looked back into the safe. There was a box with things within it, so Eater just plopped it into his bag. He looked back for the final time and saw a fully finished and hopefully functional PipBuck. He picked it up and walked away from the safe, hearing something in the factory. There was chatter!

Eater rushed to the overlook and peered down at the figures, seeing that they were all in suits of armour. Eater was pretty sure that he couldn't take on any of them, let alone five of them. He stayed quiet and listened to the conversation between them.

"Alright! Let's get straight to the point. We are here for that blueprint and the spare PipBuck. Let's find it boys and then return to base. That blueprint is key for the Steel Rangers to get back into the battle." One of them announced proudly, shouting in unicen. They began to scout about and that was Eater's chance to run. He wasn't going to be able to fight them, but they could fight themselves. Eater grabbed the flare gun with his magic and turned off the amount of light that he was emitting from his horn, to ensure that he wouldn't get spotted at all. He saw one of the exhaust pipes leading out of the roof, having a hole in the side of it. Eater aimed the shot at the hole in the side of the tube and fired, sending a volley of power and a tiny amount of light across the room and into the sky. He had to run!

He flew over the balcony and ran across the floor, seeing them all there. They were going up the stairs, towards the catwalk. One of them shouted as they spotted Eater flying down from the catwalk. They readied their weapons and pointed it at Eater. He froze and looked at them all, seeing that the ones without the headgear looked stunned and confused.

"Sir? What is that thing?" They shouted, making sure that the ponies that were higher up, could hear. They just aimed at him and didn't make a move. "Does it speak?" The same Steel Ranger asked, referring to Eater. Eater nodded his head, slowly backing away from them.

"Don't let him get away! For all we know, he could have the blueprint!" One of the Steel Rangers shouted, ordering them to aim at him and keep an eye on him. Eater sighed and teleported behind them all, a little down the downward staircase. He made it so that he was blended into the wall, before he began to move.

"God damn it! Find it! Kill it!" Another Steel Ranger announced, getting furious at the group for letting Eater escape their lines of sight. Before they could do anything, the radio on the Steel Ranger's armour began to freak out, with constant calls and messages. One of them picked up that there was artillery about to hit their position. Eater rushed down the stairwell and slammed open a door, before closing it, locking it and moving something behind it, so that they couldn't buck it down with the additional weight of the armour.

Without a second glance back, Eater rushed down the corridor and came to the river, running underneath the factory, to allow some motors to work. Eater dove into the water, his cloak still dry. It definitely had some zebra spell or enchantment on it. He swam down the stream and dove up for air. Turning around and looking behind him, he saw the artillery coming in. It hit! The explosion radius was huge, forcing Eater to return to being underneath the water, as he watched orange flames pass over the top of the water. Those were not any normal bombs.

There were one, two, three, four bombs dropped, one after another. Eater was close to drowning in the water as he couldn't come up to breathe, due to fiery flames spewing out and over the top of the water's surface. Eater came up to breathe and coughed vigorously. He scrambled out of the water and looked back at the factory. Where was the factory? Where were those Steel Rangers? He didn't want to stay to find out. He had to go!

Chapter 4: Resurrected Reunion

Alchem looked up at the guard, pondering what to say to him after he had nearly decapitated Eater. Alchem wasn't the happiest of pegusi, but he had to accept that everyone had an opinion, even if their opinion didn't matter to him. He flew up to the top of the wall and then tapped the guard on the shoulder, using a wing. The guard turned and looked at Alchem, his ears folding back. He could see that Alchem meant business, as the face that he was pulling suggested that he was pissed.

"Why the hell did you do that to Eater?" Alchem pushed, making the guard feel pressured. The guard just looked down. Alchem shook his head and sighed. "Do you ponies just hate different breeds that you haven't seen or even heard of?" Alchem roared. The guard didn't answer, he just avoided eye contact with Alchem. This made Alchem a little more mad, but he rolled his eyes and took in a deep breath, before hopping off the wall and gliding down. He looked back at the guard on the wall and shook his head in disapproval.

"Alchem? Can you come here please?" Roselight commanded, asking nicely with a lighter tone. He looked over in the direction of Roselight and began to travel in that direction, before looking back at the guard, still looking at the floor. He definitely didn't want to fight Alchem, nopony did!

Alchem approached Roselight with a menacing glare. She didn't express the same reaction that Alchem had thought. She tilted her head and frowned at him.

"What's bothering you Alchem?" Roselight asked carefully, not trying to set him off. He pointed to the guard on the wall and scowled, making sure to let Roselight know that Alchem wasn't a fan of him or his actions. Roselight turned her head and looked up onto the wall, then back down at Alchem. "He's doing his job Alchem. There is nothing wrong with him closing the gate quickly, he does it to everypony, even me." She tried to convince.

Alchem just looked back at the guard, before turning back to Roselight, sighing and shaking his head, snapping himself back into the Wasteland.

"What did you need help with Roselight?" Alchem asked, trying to move away from the thought of the guard. Roselight walked and signalled for Alchem to follow. He happily did so, trying to get away from the wall. He walked around with Roselight and saw different ponies and creatures, most of which were gryphons and ponies. Gretzky was working on something outside, looking up and waving to Alchem and Roselight. They both waved back at him, before he regained concentration and began working again.

Alchem continued to walk with Roselight, seeing more creatures working. He didn't know the names of them, but wanted to find out who they were and why they were here. He wanted to do that for every pony and creature and living things in the settlement. Roselight took Alchem to the area where the raiders had originally posted up, with the escape hole. There were some bricks and a metal grate there.

"Can you help me patch this up Alchem?" Roselight asked, hoping that Alchem would agree with helping. Gladly, Roselight was praised with Alchem's help, as he began to place bricks with his wings and hooves. He was pretty sure that Roselight could do it all by herself, but he just wanted to help wherever he could. He was the helping kind of pony anyway. As they came closer to completing the fixing of the wall, Alchem wanted to ask Roselight something.

"Roselight? Why did you make Eater go out and grab something for you? It wasn't discrimination, right?" Alchem asked, making sure that Roselight could hear him. She held the bricks in the air and paused, before placing them back onto the floor. She looked at the floor and then sighed, before looking up at Alchem, trying to smile.

"It's not discrimination, even though I don't trust him, but didn't he say that he was immune to radiation?" Roselight asked, getting an angry look from Alchem. Her ears folded back again as she looked away.

"Yes! He did!" Alchem growled. "You also said that you didn't trust him. Why was that? Because he is a changeling? Because you don't know him? Well, you clearly trust me, don't you!" Alchem pressured, getting to the point of wanting to slap the life out of the stupid unicorn in front of him. She nodded slowly.

"It was discrimination… as well as me using him for this." She admitted, regaining her train of thought again. She looked at the wall and shoved the last couple of bricks into the slots, before rubbing her head with a hoof and slowly getting up, Alchem following her actions. Alchem could understand that she was beginning to regret her decisions on what happened to Eater and how she acted towards him before.

They both walked to the wall and climbed up it, Alchem flew up while Roselight took the ladder up. They both sat on the wall and looked out into the Wasteland. It looked cool, but something was never perfect. This was only not perfect due to the dust and fog everywhere. Alchem felt strange. It wasn't a feeling that he was used to, but it did occasionally hit him every now and again, but this time it was different. He felt like something was wrong.

Alchem looked around and saw that the guard was walking towards them. Alchem got up and looked at him. The guard stopped approaching him and stopped in his tracks.

"If you ever do something like that to Eater again, I will make sure that you don't have anything else to hurt ever again!" Alchem made clear, seeing that the guard was terrified, as he visually gulped. Alchem smiled menacingly at the guard, making sure to get him to turn the opposite way. It worked, as the guard slowly turned and strolled scarcely along the wall. Alchem turned back to Roselight and wore a bored look.

"I'm going to go and do something quick, Roselight. I'll be back shortly." Alchem convinced, making her head turn and nod at him. Alchem hopped off the wall and glided down, using his wings and landing softly. He took one look at the sky and saw that, like always, the clouds were thick and grey, the sun never being visible.

He began to walk over to Gretzky to ask him something, but got interrupted from doing so by seeing the zebra raider from the other day. Alchem had never actually introduced himself to him, so he thought that it was a good idea. Alchem walked over to him and saw that the zebra was sweeping one of the house's porch. He lifted his head up and saw Alchem. He didn't speak, but he was sure that Alchem wanted to have a conversation.

"Hi! How are you doing?" Alchem asked him, not getting a response instantly. The zebra looked at him slowly and bowed his head. Alchem didn't know if he was bowing it in shame or pride, but either way, he was bowing his head. "Are you alright?" Alchem asked him again, getting a response from him this time.

"Y...yes. I'm ok. I'm not really… talkative, sorry." The zebra advised, not scaring Alchem in the slightest. Alchem smiled, noticing that Eater was the same, not being the talkative type. The zebra tried to smile back and failed a little, not being able to hold it for long. Alchem chuckled and stared at the zebra.

"A smile comes naturally, you don't need to force it. What's your name, if you don't mind me asking?" Alchem spoke softly, trying to make the zebra feel like not speaking. The zebra sat down and began to think about it, trying to come up with a name for himself. "What was the name you had in your tribe or the raider group?" Alchem added, watching as the zebra stood up again, this time with confidence.

"That's easy! My...My name from my tribe was Zeke! The raiders I w...was with, called me the zebra or zeeb." Zeke informed, smiling a little at somepony else knowing his name. Alchem could instantly see a change in Zeke's mood by him going back and finding his name. He felt happy for the zebra! He was slowly fitting into the settlement and that was because he was given a second chance.

"I'm Alchem and the pony that was with me is Eater." Alchem conveyed, making Zeke seem more familiar with them both. Alchem turned around and began to walk to Gretzky, Zeke following him. Alchem looked back and chuckled. "The only way that you're going to be developed or begin developing, is by talking to other ponies and doing other things for them." Alchem announced, making it sound a little like some goals that Zeke had to achieve or something. Zeke nodded in approval of this and watched Alchem from behind.

Alchem turned and was met with the sight of Gretzky, happily awaiting Alchem's presence. Gretzky wore a smile that could have broken through the darkest of souls. Alchem smiled back at him and leant against the counter and sighed a little, meeting Gretzky's gaze. Gretzky's face dropped, as he saw the expression that Alchem was wearing.

"What is it you need Alchem?" Gretzky asked, being slightly concerned by the look on Alchem's muzzle. Alchem looked up and closed his eyes before spitting out the words he needed to spit out.

"I need help!" Alchem blurted out, lifting himself up and watching some fear sweep over Gretzky. He looked back down. "Sorry, I'm just trying to get something done and I'm getting a little annoyed. I hate asking for help, but is there anypony or creature that is a blacksmith or something?" Alchem added. Gretzky lifted up a claw and suggested something.

"Follow me!" Gretzky commanded, flying up and slowly gliding over in a direct. Alchem joined him, not flying, but walking. Zeke was still continuing to follow Alchem, like he was a mother or something to a different animal. Alchem rolled with it and kept close to Gretzky.

Gretzky was flying in a direction that Alchem had not explored within the settlement. Alchem was being sure to remember how to get back to the main entrance of the settlement, to avoid him from getting lost in it. Gretzky looked back for a split second, before hitting a wall. Alchem chuckled lightly, making it so that Gretzky couldn't hear it. Gretzky picked himself up and blushed a little, before turning around and seeing another gryphon standing in front of him. Alchem looked at the gryphon and pondered the thought of someone new in the settlement. How Alchem was wrong.

"Umm… hi! You two meet Nightclaw! He's the settlement's blacksmith. He normally passes through to me to see if I have anything for him to smelt or have any materials that he might like to have." Gretzky explained, making both Alchem and Zeke feel a little more comfortable around Nightclaw. Nightclaw turned to Gretzky and tilted his head.

"Any reason that you have scampered over here Gretzky?" Nightclaw asked, sounding more like a pirate than anything. Gretzky shook his head and pointed a claw at Alchem and smiled.

"No, but this pony here could use your assistance Nightclaw." Gretzky pointed out to Nightclaw. Nightclaw approached Alchem and smiled.

"So pony, what can I do for you?" Nightclaw asked, a smirk on his face as he asked Alchem. Alchem pulled out the metal from the saddlebag and held it out in his wing. Zeke took on look at the metal and made some noises, indicating how shocked he was. Alchem looked back and smiled, before he placed the saddlebag back onto his back, bringing the metal to his forehooves. Zeke was beginning to look angry.

"I have this metal here and I was wondering if you could make a suppressor out of it. Maybe to fit a pistol or a sniper or something." Alchem explained, passing the metal over to Nightclaw, before he took one look at it and froze.

"Am I correct that this is zebra metal? If so, then I don't know if it would work." Nightclaw told, making Alchem's mood not change in the slightest. He just nodded at him, giving Nightclaw the confirmation that it was a type of zebra metal. Nightclaw looked back down at the metal and held it in his claws, before coming to the conclusion or an idea. "Would you want the metal back?" Nightclaw asked. Alchem shook his head before passing him some caps. It was a hefty amount too, being around fifty caps. Alchem placed them on the counter of his blacksmithing area.

The building was massive, easily being one of the biggest in the settlement. Alchem could make out all of the smithing equipment and tools and tool stations, alongside a house, probably Nightclaw's. Alchem was just taken back by the scale of it all and how little he had known about blacksmithing in general. The scale to him was pretty small, nothing compared to this.

Nightclaw took in the sight of the metal and the additional caps and nodded his head. He walked over to the counter and grabbed the caps, before he turned to Alchem.

"I think I should be able to create two suppressors from this sheet at least, but if you don't mind, I'd like to keep the metal and try to experiment with it a little, if that's ok with you?" Nightclaw proposed. Alchem nodded before moving away from the counter. Alchem turned to Zeke, still seeing that he was in a moment of shock.

"What's wrong Zeke?" Alchem asked, not understanding what he had done to make Zeke look like that. Zeke just pointed to the metal at first, before looking upset at Alchem.

"You just gave a zebra metal to a different race! That was something that was prohibited!" Zeke yelled, making Alchem smile.

"Are you still with your zebra tribe now? Do you still support their rules?" Alchem questioned, pressuring the zebra to answer. Zeke thought about it for a quick second before he opened his and immediately closed it again. He pondered it for a quick couple of seconds, before he shook his head.

"I… I guess I don't… I don't know!" Zeke admitted, not knowing if he did or not. This made him quite unsure if he even supported the tribe he was originally in. Alchem kept away from the zebra, just in case he lashed out at him while he was thinking about it. Nightclaw shook his head, before getting to work on the metal.

Zeke finally came down to the conclusion of not really supporting the tribe he was originally in, but still supporting the rules of the zebra ways. Although he wasn't going to like it, he would let the metal slide away from his sight, but only that time. Alchem couldn't blame him for supporting the rules. He sounded exactly like the Enclave, the entire pegasus community, above the clouds. They believed in one thing and one thing only, themselves!

Alchem turned around and waved to Nightclaw, signalling that he would talk to him later or somewhen. Alchem popped over towards where Gretzky was. He wasn't back at his shop yet, but he was looking at something, or that's at least what Alchem thought. He didn't seem focused on one thing like he previously was, which made Alchem a little confused. Alchem and Zeke approached Gretzky and saw that he was trying to focus on something. There was definitely something going on, above the clouds. Either that, or it was thunder from a higher up set of clouds, but that was highly unlikely.

Alchem snapped out of the gaze and brought Gretzky with him, making Gretzky's head tingle with something. He felt a little light headed, Alchem guessed. Gretzky looked at him and smiled, making Alchem aware that he was alright, before slowly walking down the path that led closer towards the main entrance of the settlement. Alchem saw the gate and slowly approached it, seeing all of the mist and dust on the opposite side. The mist and dust that Eater had travelled through.

Alchem looked up and saw the guard, looking directly at him. He immediately looked away when Alchem looked back at him, making Alchem roll his eyes and turn around, seeing that Roselight was coming towards him. Roselight had something in her mouth, something that Alchem had never seen before, until he remembered what the Enclave used for weapons. He had seen those grips before. They were energy weapon grips. That was an energy weapon, probably a rifle.

She looked towards Alchem and smiled, accidentally dropping the gun in her maw. She picked it up with her magic and placed it into a holster on her side. She looked up at the guard and wore an angry look. Alchem turned to the guard and saw that he wasn't looking at her. Instead, he was walking away from her, travelling around the wall.

Alchem turned backwards and forwards, realising that Zeke was not there with him. This made him slightly curious to where he was, but that wasn't the main priority. Alchem looked back at Roselight and saw that she was looking slightly confused and scared. Alchem met her gaze and got told to turn around. Turning around, he could see a bright blue light in the sky, over what seemed to look like a factory in the distance. It didn't bother him as much as it did Roselight, but he was sure that something was going on, something that Roselight knew and Alchem didn't. He was now slightly curious to know what was happening and why the factory gave off such a reaction.

"Why are you so shocked Roselight?" Alchem asked, getting no reaction from her at first, before she turned to Alchem with a worried look. She didn't say something at first, evaluating Alchem with how to approach him with the information, the information that Eater was at the factory. She dragged him a little closer with her magic and turned Alchem to look at the light, forcing his head lightly with her magic.

"Eater is at that factory!" Roselight pointed out, making Alchem aware of the situation and why the factory shocked Roselight so much. Alchem was left speechless, but he didn't understand what was happening.

"Isn't that just a flare?" Alchem asked, looking at Roselight with confusion. Roselight nodded before slowly walking backwards, understanding what was actually happening!

"Oh no!" Roselight said, making Alchem even more curious.

"What's wrong Roselight?" Alchem asked, becoming concerned by the state of Roselight seeing a blue flare.

"It's bad!" Roselight replied, looking back at Alchem and shaking her head, snapping her out of the trans. Alchem slowly flew back over to Gretzky, going to ask him for some items. Alchem landed and hit the counter with a hoof, getting the attention of the nice gryphon. Gretzky turned and smiled, seeing that Alchem was here with a want for something.

"What can I help you with Alchem?" Gretzky asked, getting ready to search his wares for an item of the type that he was going to request. Alchem drew a blank, his mind instantly forgot what he wanted to do. He looked back at Roselight and remembered in an instant what he wanted to ask Gretzky. He turned back around to him and smiled worryingly.

"There is a blue flare coming from the factory that Eater is supposed to be in. What does it mean? Does he need help or something, or would that be the forces there or something?" Alchem asked, watching as Gretzky's happy face, went south real fast. He frowned and flew past Alchem, hovering in the air. Alchem flew up and joined him. They watched the blue flare sparkle and crack in the distance.

There were gunshots coming from the factory too, suggesting that something was happening there. Gretzky bit his claw and shivered a little, before looking down at Alchem and then back at the spot in the sky. The spot that was burning bright blue. Alchem wanted to know why Gretzky was shivering and worrying so much. Alchem was a little worried, sure, but Eater was a fighter and a master of stealth. Surely he could have just vanished out of thin air, right?

Roselight marched over to Gretzky and scowled at him. He didn't look down at her, due to being focused on the events that were spiralling in the distance. Alchem nudged Gretzky with a hoof and pointed down towards Roselight. Gretzky regained his focus and flew down to talk to her. Alchem looked back at the events, not understanding a single detail that was going on.

He could gather that a battle was happening in the distance, but he didn't know if Eater was there or not. He didn't get too worried until something echoed in the distance. Loud booms broke the gunshots and made everything go silent. It was as if the entire Wasteland was a part of a dramatic pause or something. This dramatic silence broke as something began to make a light whistle in the distance. The entire settlement rushed to the walls as the gryphon's, Gretzky and Nightclaw, both flew up.

Alchem looked back at the factory and saw something that broke something inside of him. There was one final gunshot, before a massive explosion went off at the factory, followed by another and another. There were many explosions! Alchem's jaw dropped as he watched it all play out. This made a spark start to form within Alchem's mind. He knew exactly what it was, as all of the pieces connected together, like a jigsaw puzzle. That was a flare, but it was also an artillery marker. The entire settlement watched as bomb after bomb hit the factory. Parts of the factory began to crumble, as the bombs continued to hit it. If there was anything there, it was surely dead.

Alchem flew over to Roselight and flew in front of her. He turned to her, with a look of shock and disbelief at what just happened. She could have got Eater killed, due to discrimination. Alchem was slightly ticked off, but was more worried for the health of Eater more than anything. Hopefully he wasn't there. Hopefully he got out of there if he was. Hopefully he wasn't hurt. Roselight got up and ordered every creature that they needed to have a weapon on them, just in case the worst came their way. Alchem agreed with that, but didn't care. He wanted to look for Eater, but he was sure that Roselight wouldn't allow it.

He got in Roselight's way and landed on the ground. She didn't look him in the eyes, knowing that she could have gotten him killed right there and then. Alchem turned around as the entire world went silent again. The bombs had fallen and the firing had completely stopped. The quietness was almost unsettling to them all, making them feel a little more on edge.

"Why did you put him in danger?" Alchem quietly asked, turning back around to Roselight, seeing that her ears were pointed directly down, behind her head. She was a little scared of Alchem, but she knew that she was in the wrong. She wasn't exactly in the wrong though, wanting to grab the blueprint in the factory, before the Steel Rangers got their hooves on it, but she still felt a little bad.

Alchem rushed around a building and sat behind it, not wanting to see the rest of the Wasteland. He wanted to pretend that he was alright, that he wasn't now alone, but the thought bloomed in his mind like a cherry tree. He laid down on the hard, cold floor and rested his chin on the ground. He was beginning to have bad thoughts, thoughts that would make him make all of the wrong choices. He heard the sound of hoof steps and opened his eyes, seeing that Zeke was there. He sat down next to Alchem and rested a hoof on him. He was comforting him.

Alchem needed a little bit of comfort. It didn't matter who from, it just mattered how much they cared for him. If Eater was dead, then Alchem would have been the last survivor from Journey. He didn't want that to be the case. He wanted Eater to survive. He wanted his friend! He couldn't give up hope just there, he had to get revenge, if Eater was dead. He absorbed a little bit of emotional support from Zeke, then stood up on all four hooves and chucked his saddlebag off him, before scrounging around and grabbing his pistol. He threw his saddlebag back over his shoulder and then checked the ammo in the weapon. It was still full. Good, he thought.

He then stopped in his blind pursuit and remembered something that would have been useful. Alchem slowly moved past Zeke and walked over to Gretzky. He tapped him on the shoulder and got him to turn around. Gretzky smiled as much as he could, being slightly scared about giving Eater the flare gun. He wouldn't tell anypony or creature about it.

"Have you got a spare battle saddle? Alchem asked, feeling determined more than anything. Gretzky pondered the thought then came to a conclusion. He rushed back to his shop, not going too fast, but fast enough to look like he was in a rush. He hopped the counter and began to look from side to side for the battle saddle. He knew that he had one on hand, but he didn't see it there and then. He turned to Alchem and smiled.

"I might have to search through all of this and try to find it. I'm hoping that I have one here, I'm pretty sure I do, but I just can't find it right now." Gretzky assured, making Alchem turn around. He turned back after a couple of seconds and looked at Gretzky, before nodding firmly. Gretzky smiled back at Alchem and got to work. Alchem slowly walked up to the wall and then climbed the ladder, not feeling like using his wings in the slightest. Once he got to the top of the ladder, he saw that there was no factory left, just some ruins of where the factory was. The place had been leveled.

Alchem just stared, he didn't have any words that he wanted to say, neither did he have any words to think of. He just watched the fire in the distance, like it was a call for help, him being helpless to do anything. He didn't feel at all like expressing any emotions. He just wanted to watch. It hurt him a little, knowing that the bombs had possibly killed the one pony that he had originally trusted. Roselight sat beside the frozen pony, being sure to make her presence known with a cough. Alchem slowly turned his head, making direct eye contact with her when he turned it around to face her.

"I might have something that me and you can do to distract us, if you're up for it?" Roselight suggested, holding her hoof out to Alchem. He thought that there was no point dwelling in the past, so he took her hoof and began to follow her along the wall, travelling around the settlement, balancing on the verge of being either inside or outside the settlement. There was another ladder coming closer. Alchem flew down, while Roselight took the ladder, not having another way off the wall. There was a drainage basin that looked suspiciously odd. Roselight lifted off the lid of it and revealed a ladder, as well as the inky blackness that Alchem was getting more familiar with by the second.

"You got something to protect yourself? Like a melee weapon or something?" Roselight asked, making sure that Alchem was set for going down there. Alchem shook his head and looked back at Roselight. She teleported her saddlebag in front of her and pulled out a long spiked bat, with a mouth grip. She passed it over to Alchem and chuckled. "Maybe you could get more use out of this thing. I don't hold anything in my mouth, only my magic, so the mouth grip is completely useless and kind of awkward to hold in" Roselight admitted, shaking her head softly.

Alchem looked at what type of weapon she would have been using and chuckled around the bat in his mouth, seeing that she was wielding a blade. It was almost exactly like Eater's sword, which brought back good memories. Alchem nodded to Roselight, before slowly climbing into the sewer system. Roselight followed and used her magic to close them both in. It was completely inky blackness. If there was anything down there, it would have already finished off Alchem. Roselight got to the bottom, before lighting her horn and using an illumination spell, brightening up her horn and making a ray of light appear in front of her. It was almost like she had a torch on her horn. Alchem couldn't tell the difference.

"Alchem? Stay still quick!" Roselight whispered, touching her horn to Alchem's forehead and passing the spell to Alchem. Even though he wasn't a unicorn, the magic light stayed lit on his head. She had just passed her light. She used her magic to light up her own horn again, before looking over too Alchem again and chuckling.

"I was an exploration pony in the Wasteland. Found a book that gave me this spell and found out that it doesn't use magic once activated. Pretty handy!" Roselight announced, getting a pondered look from Alchem, before he turned to the sewer and kept his mouth closed. The air was most likely horrible and wretched. Alchem didn't want to even think about it. Roselight strapped something to Alchem's nose, making him feel pretty awkward and stupid. She had a gas mask on her face and looked down at Alchem with no expression, since it was blocked behind the mask.

"Breathe through your nose! It's hard to find a mask for pegasi and earth ponies, because of them not having magic to swing stuff. So hit with your mouth, breathe through your nose." Roselight ordered, making Alchem aware of why he was wearing such a ridiculous looking object. It was a different gas mask! The area around looked hazey and unloved, which was perfect, cause they were in a sewer system. It was very quiet, no ambient noise made down there, just complete quietness, apart from the occasional drip of water, but that was it.

Alchem began to look around, seeing that the water in the sewer was still. It looked almost solid, solid enough to walk over, but it obviously wasn't. The water was greatly irradiated, that was a given, so Alchem had to be careful about breathing through his nose and not his unconcealed maw. Radiation was always bad for ponies and other creatures. Eater was immune to it, but he didn't understand the feeling of having fur melt away from a pony's body and revealing pure skin. It was a terrifying thought, but it was true.

Alchem looked over to Roselight, seeing that she was travelling to the opposite side of the sewer. The water divided them both, as they just blankly stared at each other. There was a splash coming from the side that Alchem was on. He turned the corner and saw that the light didn't penetrate the inky blackness well. It only brightened a little amount, leaving the rest to be spooky speculation. Roselight teleported beside him, before using her horn to send a ball of light down the pathway.

As it travelled, I brought something into light. A figure, standing in the water. Roselight placed a hoof on Alchem's chest and stopped him from moving further. Roselight saw that there was something in the water too. The only things that were bound to be present in the radiation were ghouls. Ghouls were pretty much zombies. They were still creatures though, but they weren't able to think logically. Those ones were called 'rapid ghouls', the ones that went crazy. The ones that were able to think, were just ghouls. The only thing that changed from the stable ghouls, were that their faces normally looked deformed, but that was about it.

Roselight didn't want to test the water with the ghouls, just in case there were some that were hiding in the shadows. There definitely wasn't going to be just one ghoul down in the sewer system. There would most likely be a huge amount of them somewhere. The question was, where were they all? They both travelled together, avoiding contact with the ghouls and moving slow enough that they wouldn't be noticed by the ones in the water.

They got to another corner and turned it. Around the corner, there was a ghoul that was stumbling towards them both. Alchem and Roselight both backed up a little, getting behind the wall and getting ready to do something to the ghoul. It was slowly approaching, but it had no idea what was around the corner. Zombie-like noises came around the corner, as it came within hoof distance from them. It turned the corner and was met with a blade to the head. Roselight didn't separate its head from its neck and shoulders, she just rammed her blade into the forehead of the ghoul. This made it drop instantly. The ghoul made a tremendous splash in the water, as it fell backwards. The other ghouls were alerted from the noise and climbed over one another trying to get to the noise's location. Alchem and Roselight both went incredibly silent, as they heard splash after splash of things falling into the water.

Roselight spotted a booth on the opposite side of the sewer path. It was a long reach, but it would have been possible with a long enough jump. Roselight was about to gallop and jump to the opposite side, when she looked behind at Alchem, seeing that he was pondering about the booth. Alchem looked back at Roselight and frowned at her, seeing that she had a plan.

"We need to cross the water right? Well, if you're confident flying, I'll grab your tail with my magic and we could soar across safely, or at least safer than slipping on a wet floor and dying after." Roselight suggested. Alchem wore a stoick grin and opened his wings.

Alchem ran and jumped, allowing himself to glide across the sewer. Roselight grabbed his tail as he glided over her. It catapulted her into the air and dragged her through the wind. Alchem allowed Roselight to fall to the floor before he even attempted to land. Roselight skidded on the floor, finding the surface to be wetter than the previous side that they were both on. Alchem landed slowly, trying to not slip, as he used his wings to balance himself.

They were both right next to the door of the booth, but there was a downside with this. All of the ghouls had seen Alchem and Roselight fly across the gap and were coming in numbers. Ponies and other creatures were coming to kill them. They had to do this quickly! Roselight sharply opened the door and then walked inside. Alchem did the opposite, he flew around the door, which was blocking his path and he flew through the door before closing it and locking it shut. He narrowly grazed a ghoul with his hoof, as he flew into the building. That was close!

Alchem turned to Roselight and examined what she was doing. She was looking around in the draws of the booth. Alchem had never seen something like this before. It was strange, but yet again, since when did he investigate a sewer? He laughed at that as he looked to his right to see a ghoul staring at him. He jumped out of his skin at the sight of it trying to bite the glass. He looked out of Roselight and blushed in anger as she looked at him, chuckling behind the mask she wore.

Roselight and Alchem both paused as they heard gunshots in the distance. It was funny, because the gunshots above ground would have been quiet. Somepony or creature was down there with them! That made Alchem and Roselight worry a little. They both looked at each other, before getting back to work. Alchem was surprised that Roselight had known about this little booth down in the sewers. Had she done that before, had she been down in the sewers before? Alchem would probably have to ask her after getting out of here. As for now, Alchem wanted to focus on covering the door of the building.

Alchem looked back at the ghoul at the window and realised that it wasn't there. Most of them had walked or stumbled away, probably towards the gunshot, which made Alchem feel a little safer.

"Roselight, they're leaving, towards the gunshot!" Alchem announced, sounding surprised. Roselight shook her head.

"They'll be back if they don't shoot again." She stated, picking up a vial of liquid. It had the cork in the top of it, making it become something that was sealed up. Alchem had an idea of that being what she was looking for. She closed the draw and walked over to Alchem. She passed the vial of liquid to Alchem and walked over to some lockers in the room. Alchem evaluated the liquid. In the light he had on his mask, it appeared to show that the liquid was a dark blue colour, almost being completely black. It looked a little like some harmful poison that Alchem had seen in a book, when he was in his youth.

Roselight looked at a piece of paper that she had and opened the locker, instantly being a little shocked by what was inside. The body of a pony was within the locker and scared Roselight a little, judging by the little squeak she made. The body fell to the floor and had something attached to its back. Roselight took a look at it and realised that it was what she wanted to find. It was an artifact, like one that Eater had. It didn't shine, but it looked important as anything. Roselight plunged her sword into the body and cut around the artifact. It was a gory sight, but it was one that would probably prosper in the long run. Those artifacts definitely had a meaning behind them and Alchem wanted to know what they were, as well as why they were so damn important.

A screeching roar came from the sewer system and made Roselight pause. She ran up to Alchem and turned off the light that Alchem had and turned her own off too.

"What are you…?" Alchem asked, being cut off by Roselight placing a hoof over his mouth. She didn't speak as she watched some pegusi fly extremely fast, past them both. They were too quick to notice every detail on them, but they were clearly pegusi, that was sure. Roselight kept an eye on them as she slowly lifted her hoof away from Alchem's maw.

What are those… things?" Alchem whispered, looking over at Roselight. She looked back to Alchem slowly and didn't move after.

"They are still ghouls, but they are pegusi ghouls, which are way, way more dangerous than the average rapid ghoul." Roselight explained, making sure not to alert anything down in the sewer. Alchem just pondered on why the ghouls were so fast. It was most likely to be because of their wings. Roselight slowly took the vial off Alchem and wrapped it in a soft fabric, before slowly placing it into her saddlebag. Roselight then went back to the draws and grabbed something else. It was some firecrackers. Celestia knows why the original pony down here had firecrackers in one of his draws.

Alchem slowly moved over to the side and noticed that there was a warning alarm button below the desk. Alchem's mind drew a blank, as he explained it to Roselight, being just audible enough for her to hear him. She looked at the button too and pondered for a quick second, before another gunshot was fired, in the sewer. It was slowly getting closer. Alchem didn't notice anything, as the ghouls flew past the booth again.

Both Alchem and Roselight kept quiet, not speaking a word as countless amounts of ghouls, flying and not flying, passed the booth. As soon as signs of them disappeared, Alchem opened the door a little, taking a peak around. Alchem noticed that there was one ghoul that couldn't move. He walked out, bat in his mouth and swung the bat at the head of it. It connected, hard! The force that Alchem hit it with, shattered the skull it once had and brought pieces of it back, as Alchem pulled it out of its head. At least when Alchem hit it, it went quietly and quickly. Roselight exited the little structure and saw what Alchem had done. She walked past and peaked around the corner to see nothing there.

Alchem got Roselight on her back as he slowly flew across, not worrying this time about any ghouls that would approach them. They noticed that there were some odd noises as they landed, making them look around for the source. Suddenly, there was another gunshot. This time, it was just down the way. Roselight got out her pistol and used her magic to shoot a ball of light down the tunnel. Alchem was curious to who or what was down there with them. The thought kept crawling into his mind that it might have been Eater somehow. The light showed a shadowy figure, covered in blood a little and carrying a pistol in their magic. Roselight didn't hesitate to call out to the mysterious wondered, as the magic ball passed them.

"Friend or enemy?" She asked loudly, seeing the figure turn around with bright… red… eyes, the same eyes that they remembered. Eater didn't recognize them both, being slightly blinded by the light and then seeing them both wearing masks. He stopped and waved at them both.

"Friendly, but you two might wanna get out of here! I'm gonna burn these undead!" Eater explained. Roselight looked at Alchem and then back at Eater.

"And how are you gonna do that?" Roselight stated, being slightly curious. Eater brought out a vial of his own and shook it about a little, making the yellow, glowing substance turn dark red, almost looking like blood. Behind the mask, Roselight went wide eyed. She didn't expect that from Eater, but then again, Eater didn't know that they were who they were, because of the masks hiding their appearance.

"Run! To the ladders!" Eater yelled from across the way, turning to the door of the booth and opening it. Roselight turned and ran, pulling Alchem with her. Alchem kept looking behind at Eater, hoping that he wasn't doing something stupid.

"Where are you?" Eater talked to himself, looking for the filter for the sewage system. There was something that allowed the operators to deposit cleansing liquid into the sewage water. He had to find it quickly, before the ghouls came back from the gunshot. He took out most of the pegusi ghouls, but there were definitely one or two that were about and were definitely on the way for him. He found the filter. He saw a key code display and used his hindlegs to buck it open. It opened out and Eater poured the vials contents into it, before hitting a button that would have deposited it into the water.

Eater spotted the button that started the alarm. He pressed it with a hoof once, turning it on. A loud alarm beeped once, before he pressed the button again to stop it. One beep was enough to make them come running. Eater closed the door as he exited the building and flew across the gap. He caught up to Roselight and Alchem and looked back. There was a pegasus coming towards them all. Roselight and Alchem readied themselves, but Eater was one step ahead.

Eater flew towards the ghoul and lit up his horn, sending a beam of low brightness energy towards the pegasus, distorting its shape and figure. Without a second glance, Alchem stared at it,watching as it blew up into multiple pieces, as Eater smacked it with something. He didn't have a melee weapon on him, but Alchem did see something like a sharp shard of rubble or something on him. Alchem looked back and smiled happily, before he flew vigorously past them both, opening up the drainage pipe.

Eater vanished within a cloud of dust, making Alchem wonder where he went. Without a sound, Alchem gasped as Roselight was teleported out of the sewer. He was petrified! Suddenly though, he too was teleported out of the drain. Alchem's vision flashed to a bright white, before he landed on his rear. They were above ground, but just outside the settlement. Both Roselight and Alchem took off their masks, revealing that it was both of them, who he had just helped.

Alchem looked around and saw that Eater was wearing a smile on his muzzle. He couldn't hold back smiling back at him, so he did, running over to him and hugging him tightly. Eater recoiled, but then embraced the hug, feeling comfort in the experience. Roselight joined in on the hug, wrapping her hooves around both of them. This surprised both Alchem and Eater, as they stopped the hug to look at Roselight. She blushed a little.

"Eater, I'm sorry!" Roselight stated, feeling a little down about what she did. Eater looked a little confused at Roselight and then tilted his head to her, indicating that he had no idea what she was on about.

"What? Why?" Eater asked, having a slight idea why she was sorry.

"For the discrimination I prompted from myself. I feel ashamed! I could have…!" Roselight stated, before getting cut off with another hug. She looked like she was about to break down into tears, but both Alchem and Eater could tell that she wouldn't. She was strong, stronger than both of them. She wrapped her forehooves around Eater and sighed. "I'm really sorry!" Roselight added, getting a sorrowful look from Eater.

"Don't be! It all worked out in the end, right? Nothing went wrong, no?" Eater asked her. She didn't reply. Alchem slowly approached Eater and evaluated his state. He seemed to be in one piece, but there was something off about seeing him. Eater stopped hugging Roselight and dropped his saddlebag, before bringing out the blueprint. Roselight's eyes went wide, as she slowly observed the prints. Eater passed them to her and he watched as a smile raised from seeing it.

"Roselight? There wasn't a PipBuck that you needed with that, right?" Eater asked, making Roselight turn to him again, before she shook her head. He looked over at Alchem and smiled. "Alchem? I got a present for you!" Eater prompted, walking over to him. Alchem looked at Eater, before he looked at what Eater was holding in his magic. It was a dark grey coloured PipBuck. It was something that the stable ponies made. Alchem couldn't remember the name of them, but it would eventually come back to him. He was curious to know how it worked, but he was a little scared to try to use it.

Eater could sense that he was scared, but tried to convince him that it would be alright. He stated that it was just a quality of life thing, that it would help with aiming his syringe gun and let him know what he had on him. Alchem was very hesitant to use it, but held his right forehof out, allowing Eater to place the PipBuck on his hoof. Eater slid it on and clicked the straps, to make sure that they were on. Eater tightened it up and watched as it left enough of a gap to allow blood to pass into the end of Alchem's hoof. It was on properly, not being able to slide off and not being uncomfortable.

Alchem placed his hoof on the floor again, feeling a slight increase in weight from the PipBuck. He wasn't too keen on having it on, but he wanted to see what having one was like. He lifted up his hoof and looked at the screen. It was synchronizing the data that was being generated from his body. He was a tad bit confused, but Eater returned to his side and used his horn to hit a button, changing the screen. It showed a green pony. That green pony, apparently, was him! Alchem saw that it had gathered all of the data needed to complete its data collection on himself.

"The green pony represents your health. If any part of you is hurt or damaged, it will show up here. Even an ache in your leg shows up here, which right now, you have on your right leg." Eater informed, looking at Alchem and then back at the PipBuck, continuing with his lecture about the mysterious object that Alchem had never used. "There are multiple different screens. There is one for your items in your possession, like a saddlebag or even a fridge, that you hold on your back." Eater explained, getting a chuckle from Alchem.

"A fridge, really?" Alchem chuckled loudly, not understanding if Eater was being serious or not.

"I'm not joking! There was a pony with a PipBuck and it actually recognised that he had a fridge on his back, which he did at the time." Eater explained, making both Alchem and Roselight smile. "Anywho, you got the storage tab, you got another tab called the data tab, which includes a map of Equestria and where you are on it, along with any things that ponies want you to do within the Wasteland." Eater explained, showing Alchem the basics of the PipBuck. Alchem was having a hard time understanding the technology, but Eater was sure to help him, if he needed it at all.

"Is it waterproof?" Alchem asked, noticing that he couldn't take it off. Eater nodded and smiled, seeing that he was beginning to ease up with being so tense.

"Look at your PipBuck in the data tab when I say this. I'll meet you back at the settlement." Eater explained, before making sounds, indicating that he was leaving. The PipBuck added a little note or objective to the data section. Alchem smiled, noticing that Eater had been correct with what he stated, seeing the PipBuck function as he had intended. Eater clearly knew what he was doing, so Alchem was sure to listen to him, when it came to technical stuff. Alchem walked over to him and hugged Eater, making both of them smile happily. As Eater drew back from the hug, Alchem noticed that Eater wasn't wearing the zebra cloak.

"Eater? What happened to the cloak?" Alchem asked, being slightly curious about the whereabouts of the cloak. Eater used his magic to grab it out of the saddlebag and lifted up his saddlebag, placing the cloak over his body, before lowering the saddlebag again.

"I took it off for a little bit. I also forgot to put it back on." Eater admitted, walking past them both. "You two coming or what?" Eater asked, curious if they wanted to stay there or not. They were just outside of the settlement, so it was easy to get into it, but they both might have wanted to stay there for a little bit, maybe to relax or something. Alchem and Roselight both looked at each other, before getting up and moving towards Eater.

Eater stopped and dragged Alchem to his side, before looking at Roselight and signalling for her to get on their backs. She accepted the offer and grabbed both Alchem and Eater with her magic. Both Eater and Alchem set off into the air and cleared the wall no problem. They both landed right next to where the original raider group were. Eater didn't notice that the hole had been covered up, but Alchem didn't mind, neither did Roselight. Ponies and creatures would notice in their own time.

"Thank you Eater, you helped a bunch with those ghouls. We both owe you!" Roselight explained appreciatively. Eater nodded and then looked at Alchem. Roselight scurried off into the settlement leaving Alchem and Eater alone. Before they could get acquainted again, a noise came from where they had just been. It was a pegasus ghoul! It raised itself up and flew into the sky, before looking at the settlement and seeing both Alchem and Eater. It lunged down at them both, gaining as much speed as it could.

Eater moved Alchem to the side and charged up his horn, ready for another blast of magic. He charged his horn and waited for the creature to get closer, before letting loose his magic… that he didn't have. No magic escaped Eater's horn and the pegasus dived on him. It landed on him and he struggled to stop it from killing him. Without a word, Alchem pushed the ghoul off Eater and smiled.

"He's mine!" Alchem shouted, before he swung the spiked bat at the pegasus. It connected so hard, it penetrated the ghouls head and stuck it to the wall. The nails had come out of the other side of the ghoul, confirming that it's brain was destroyed. Alchem painted and turned around, leaving the bat planted on the wall, like some kind of statue. He saw that Eater was stooding up again and breathing heavily too.

"Thank you Alchem." Eater thanked, seeing that Alchem was smiling. Alchem shook his head and whispered into Eater's ear.

"This is between me and you, but my name isn't Alchem. My real name is Azure!" He whispered, making Eater go wide eyed.

"That's funny, because my real name isn't Eater. It's Blitz!" Eater added to Azure's change of name. They both looked at each other, before laughing and turning back around to the ghoul. Alchem pulled out the bat with his mouth and placed it into his saddlebag, before picking them up again and walking into the centre of the settlement, where Gretzky was waiting for them both.

Chapter 5: Close Secrets

Gretzky looked at them like they were crazy. He got told from Azure that they went into the sewer system, which made him very weary about their life choices. On the brighter side of things, they at least came back with some items that Gretzky could have, which he wasn't going to complain about. They both came together to sort through all of the items, so that Gretzky could have his supply of goodies.

Azure showed off the PipBuck several times to Gretzky, which made him become slightly curious about the architecture behind the magical device. Sadly for him, it wasn't up for being sold, it was Blitz's gift to Azure, to help him out either in the battlefield or just with everyday life. It was probably one of the greatest quality of life gifts that could have been acquired, at the time.

Azure passed over the weapons to Gretzky, which made Gretzky very happy, because he now had an arsenal of weapons up for sale. The look on his face was impossible to replace. He wore a smug and stoick grin, so they knew that he was happy about all of this. He brought out a portion of caps and passed them to both of them. They both looked confused, wanting confirmation on what he was doing.

"Here you go! I help you, you help me. Here's around five hundred caps in these bags, roughly one hundred in each bag. I hope that this will be sufficient for all of the work that you two have done for me." Gretzky thanked, pushing the caps closer to the pair. Azure and Blitz looked at each other and both looked back at Gretzky, making him blush a little.

"Why are you giving us caps?" Azure asked, taking the caps and passing them to Blitz, to put into his saddlebag. Blitz happily took them and put them into a safe pocket on the saddlebag, where he kept all of the caps that he had found. They both continued to look at Gretzky, even after Blitz had placed the caps into his saddlebag.

"Don't tell the others, but I could sell most of the stuff that they sold to me for about three times the price. What I mean is that if I chose to sell the stuff that you give to me, I could get three times the price, or at least three times the profit, by selling it to ponies and creatures outside the settlement." He explained, pretty much explaining it twice. They didn't mind it at all.

"Well thank you anyway Gretzky! If we happen to come across anything else that you might want, we'll collect it for you and bring it here." Azure announced, getting a firm and gentle nod from Gretzky. He looked back at Blitz and smiled, seeing that he was just bored of waiting for them to stop talking. It may have been rude, but it was funny to see his facial expression.

Blitz walked away, as he travelled over to Nightclaw's little area. He plainly stared at the gryphon and smiled after Nightclaw stared back. Nightclaw was in the process of finishing the different silencers for Blitz's weapons. He didn't know that Alchem had made the requests, but he was extremely curious to see how it all worked. Blitz walked up to the counter and leaned against it, watching the very satisfying movement of metal being filtered from each other.

Nightclaw approached him and bowed. He didn't know what to make of Blitz. He had never seen a changeling before, so he was very curious to get a look at Blitz for the first time. Nightclaw signalled for him to come into his area and Blitz happily accepted the invitation. Blitz travelled around the other side of the counter, allowing Nightclaw to see his chitin. Nightclaw was amazed! Azure approached the two of them and smiled, seeing that they were both interacting with each other, in some way at least.

"What might be your name, if I may ask?" Nightclaw asked, taking in the sight of Blitz's build in armour.

"My name is Soul Eater! What might yours be?" Blitz responded, adding another question for Nightclaw to answer.

"My name is Nightclaw and I'm the settlement blacksmith. Looking at your body, do those chitin plates come off?" Nightclaw continued to question, making sure that he understood everything about the chitin that Blitz was wearing. Blitz and Azure both shook their heads at the same time, indicating to Nightclaw that the chitin plates were like their fur, but it was changeling fur, he guessed at least. He knew that chitin was armour, but in the appropriate term, it was technically their fur.

"Well, if you don't mind then Soul Eater, I'd like to see how strong your armour is, if that is alright?" Nightclaw asked, looking to Blitz for reassurance, hoping that he would have said yes. Blitz nodded, sending a smile towards Nightclaw's beak. Blitz had never seen a gryphon so happy in all of his life, apart from Gretzky getting a huge amount of weapons and stuff from both Azure and Blitz.

That was another point to be explained. Azure and Blitz didn't want their real names being said, so they both just continued answering as Alchem and Eater. It was their little secret, to call themselves by their real names, as opposed to their display names, being visible and usable to all.

Nightclaw snapped them both into reality, seeing that both Blitz and Azure were distracted by something going on inside their minds. Blitz just stood there, before being dragged away from Azure, much to Azure's amusement. Azure followed them both, wondering what Nightclaw was going to do with Blitz. Nightclaw commanded that Blitz was to be stood up straight, on both of his hindlegs. Blitz abided by the rule that he was given, so he wobbled onto his hindlegs, to see that Nightclaw was washing his claws with something.

Nightclaw walked up to Blitz, before putting on some strange looking goggles. A gryphon in goggles! Not a sight that many would get to see, let alone enjoy. Nightclaw slowly walked up to Blitz, but Azure couldn't hold back a little chuckle. Nightclaw turned on him, staring at him blankly.

"Sorry, sorry! Continue please!" Azure apologized, trying to avoid another laugh. Blitz looked at him and smiled, watching as Azure blushed a little. Returning to Nightclaw, Blitz saw that he had a hungry look to him. He was hungry for the truth about chitin.

"Let me know if it hurts or if I'm about to split the chitin, if you will." Nightclaw commanded, pressing his claw against the chitin armour Blitz had. It was strong, Nightclaw knew that, but he wanted to see how much stronger it was compared to normal chitin. He pushed as hard as he could and Blitz didn't respond. Nightclaw was looking up at him and saw that he was still talking to Azure. Nightclaw shook his head before getting up and grabbing a syringe from the counter.

Blitz yelped, as a long needle went through his skin. The skin that was underneath the chitin was very soft, softer than a normal pony's fur and skin. It was also very sensitive to things like spikes and needles.

"Ouch! It really isn't meant to hurt that much is it?" Blitz called out, making not just Nightclaw look at him, but Azure as well. Azure chuckled a little, making Blitz's cheeks turn a little lighter shade of pink. This prompted Azure to cackle harder. "Don't laugh! It actually hurts!" Blitz enforced, making Azure's laughter calm down.

"I'm sorry, but you're just a little bit too dramatic." Azure spoke, trying to bring across his truth, which made Blitz look away from him. The skin that Nightclaw had penetrated the needle through was part of his body that didn't have chitin surrounding it. The chitin looked like it was armour, but it was just his exoskeleton. Exoskeletons were weird to most ponies, but for changelings, having fur was weird.

Nightclaw slowly pulled out the syringe and placed it back on the counter. He turned around and looked at the scene that Blitz and Azure were in. Azure was just where Blitz just was and Blitz was slowly walking backwards, not losing his eye contact with Nightclaw.

"Uhhh… ummm… ok?" Nightclaw stammered, not knowing what to make of their randomness. Blitz shook his head before moving forward and picking up Azure, before they both stood side by side. Nightclaw just didn't know what to make of them both, as they both continued to stare at him happily. He was awfully confused about the entire thing, but he decided to ignore it anyway.

As Nightclaw returned to his side of the counter, Blitz took notice of something that he was doing. He was checking on two pieces of metal that were in molds. They looked like pure metal suppressors and that was what made Blitz curious about them. He walked up to the counter to get a closer look, but Nightclaw submerged them back into a liquid, probably water or something similar.

"What's that there?" Blitz asked, Azure shaking his head and looking directly at Nightclaw. Nightclaw turned and saw Azure shaking his head first, followed by a curious and excited looking Blitz in front of him.

"Well, this is a little something that I'm experimenting with. I'm making gun modifications using a different type of metal." Nightclaw admitted, pointing one of his talons over at the metal that he had just submerged. He looked back at Blitz and smiled, taking a look at Azure and seeing that he was smiling. Blitz turned around and spotted Azure smiling, which he didn't stop doing, even when Blitz was still gazing at him.

"Anyway… is there anything that you want done at all? We got some free time here." Blitz explained, making Nightclaw raise an eyebrow at that response and smile.

"Ok then, but the only thing I need you to do for me now, is to wait for this to be finished." Nightclaw stated, pointing a claw at the metal that was submerged in a liquid, most likely to be water.

Umm… sure! How long do we have to wait for it?" Blitz stated, a little bit of excitement in his voice. Nightclaw sniggered at the comment that Blitz had just made, along with all of the excitement that proceeded with it. Blitz wanted to know what was so funny about the entire thing.

"Well, you'll have to wait for around… two or three days for it to be finished, with the state that this metal is in, the purities of the metal have changed, so I'm going to leave it to cool for a little while, so that I don't make a mistake." Nightclaw spoke, with a sense of advanced knowledge. Blitz could tell that he was proud of what he did, but when he heard that he'd have to wait two or three day, he couldn't help but crack a smile, knowing that Nightclaw was joking about wanting help.

Blitz knew that he was becoming more comfortable in the life that he was living, but eventually all of the good times would run out. Something bad was coming to sight on the horizon and there was nothing that he could do to stop it. This pondered Blitz's mind to focus on that thought, making his facial expressions stop and giving him a different perspective of reality. A reality within his head, his own reality.

Azure placed a hoof on Blitz's shoulder, instantly snapping him out of his apparent illusion. He kept looking at the ground, where he originally was looking, while he daydreamed away.

"Eater? You ok?" Azure asked, using his public name, instead of his real name. Blitz turned around and nodded slowly, making sure to only meet his eyes once.

"I… I need to go for a walk!" Blitz admitted, teleporting away. This made Azure get a little worried. He looked about before sighing.

"I better go and find him then. I'll see you later, Nightclaw." Azure said, turning around and slowly trotting, away from Nightclaw and his blacksmithing area. He raised a hoof to wave at Nightclaw and Nightclaw used one of his talons to wave back. Azure believed that Nightclaw was a nice gryphon, it was just the look of him that scared Azure.

Azure was looking about, within the settlement, for Blitz. He could have gone out already, but Azure knew, deep in his heart, that Blitz would be inside somewhere, preferably in the area that they were able to sleep in. Alchem raced to the building that they had already slept in and crept closer to it. By some luck, as Azure opened the door and saw Blitz looking at a broken mirror. Azure closed the door quietly and walked over to him, looking into the mirror and looking straight into Blitz's eyes. He struggled to look away from himself, but he eventually looked at Azure's gaze. Once he did that, Azure placed his wing around Blitz, making him feel a little comfier and warmer.

Blitz leaned back a little, not enough to get close enough to Azure, but close enough to Azure's wing, that he could get warmth out of it. Blitz sighed, trying to get rid of all of the evil thoughts within his head.

"Why do I think so negatively?" Blitz asked himself aloud, not noticing how loud he said it.

"Because it's the Wasteland. Just be happy that you're alive, cause I am." Azure mentioned, not seeing Blitz react. He slowly turned after a couple of seconds of thinking and looked dead at Azure.

"So you're happy that you're alive?" Blitz asked, questioning Azure's answer. He nodded, but then shook his head.

"That wasn't what I meant!" Azure stated, smiling brightly into the mirror.

"What did you mean?" Blitz asked, being curious to what exactly he meant. Azure got exactly behind Blitz and wrapped both wings around him, keeping him warm.

"I'm on about me being happy that you're alive silly." Azure admitted, making Blitz pause for a second. Azure used his hooves to massage Blitz's neck, plucking a feather from his own wings, wincing slightly but using it to tickle his neck and back, using his muzzle to hold the feather.

Blitz giggled a little bit, pushing back against Azure's tickling. Azure pushed back against Blitz's attempt to escape. It was futile! Blitz understood this, so he teleported just outside of Azure's reach, which made Azure pout sadly. Blitz rolled his eyes, before getting Azure's attention.

"Really? You just want to hug me?" Blitz chuckled, still seeing that Azure was looking really sad, like a colt had lost his toy. Again, Blitz rolled his eyes, before walking towards Azure and opening his hooves out wide. He wrapped them around Azure, sending loving warmth into the air. Blitz could sense that Azure was loving this a little too much.

Blitz opened his hooves again and accepted a hug from Azure, making them both feel a little better. As soon as they were done with their friendly hug, Blitz stepped towards the desk, the same desk that they had originally found the photo of the project chimera gryphon. He opened the draw and found the photo to still be in the draw. He took it out and carried it over to Azure.

"This 'thing' annoys me. I want to find out about this. How many ponies used it? Who was it originally meant for? So many questions to answer about this little project. Sure, there were bigger cases and projects that we could investigate, but this one is different." Blitz explained to Azure, showing that he was super locked onto the idea of investigating further into 'Project Chimera'.

Azure took hold of the photo and held it in his hooves. He had an idea, but he didn't want to cut directly to the chase. He had an assumption! He looked to Blitz and saw that he was a little too distracted for his own liking. Azure placed the photo to the right of him, before getting up slowly and walking over to Blitz, watching as Blitz kept changing his movement, going from left to right.

Blitz spotted Azure coming closer to him and smiled a little. It wasn't a huge noticeable smile, just one that he could feel, but not make anypony notice. Azure walked up to him and sat him down onto the bed, seeing that something was up. Blitz's chitin was hard, but the skin underneath was as soft as butter, just like him. His vicious exterior was unmatched by his soft spirited interior. The thought alone made Azure smile brightly. Blitz noticed this, but he didn't change his facial expression, due to having a battle going on inside his head.

"Is it bothering you that much?" Azure asked out of nowhere. Blitz snapped to Azure in an instant, before moving his head up and down slowly, indicating that he was bothered by it. "Just try to relax then. Just take time to sit back and unwind for a day." Azure suggested, getting a confused response from Blitz.

"I guess that you might be correct, but there is one thing that I do need to go and see." Blitz prompted, looking over to the window, hoping to see something that would change his mind. Azure was slightly curious to know what Blitz was on about, so he pressured him a little bit, moving a little closer.

"What do you need to do? Can I help you with it?" Azure asked, trying to speed things up, just so that they could get it done quicker and get Blitz relaxing. Blitz looked at him with confusion and then sharply turned his head away, thinking for a second. After about a minute of thinking, Blitz turned his head back to Azure and smiled softly. He could help, but he would need something first.

He held his hoof out to Azure, as he got off the bed. Azure blushed a little, before grabbing his hoof and being lifted onto his hooves. Blitz rushed over to the door and opened it, before allowing Azure to exit out of it first. Changeling or not, Blitz was the softest creature in the Wasteland. Blitz closed the door behind them and rushed towards Azure.

They both travelled across the settlement towards Gretzky. They were beginning to think that Gretzky would be their best friend within the Wasteland, due to how much they went to see him for things. The gryphon knew what he was doing, so he was an asset to any creature that was lucky enough to keep him in their settlement. They both passed by Zeke, raising a hoof to say hello to him. He bowed, before walking past them both.

"He's definitely grown to being inside the settlement." Azure stated aloud, getting a quick single nod from Blitz. They both looked back at Zeke and smiled, before turning back to facing forward and traveling on. Azure had no idea where they were going, but he knew that he would follow Blitz wherever he went. He had this effect on Azure, an effect of just positiveness, despite having such negativeness in the air, surrounding them both.

They saw that Gretzky was talking to Roselight and one of the other ponies of the settlement. Both Blitz and Azure were curious to meet that new pony, but that would have to wait. They stumbled closer, seeing that Roselight was just about to finish talking to him. Roselight turned to both of them and smiled, before looking back at Gretzky and taking a saddlebag with her.

"Umm… Gretzky?" Asked the mare, who was waiting with Roselight originally. He turned to look at her and smiled. His smile was one that they originally had seen on him. It was one of warmth, not excitement. It was a smile of comfort.

"Yes Plumjuice?" Gretzky replied, having a smile present on his face. He walked around from the counter and stood next to her, standing quite a bit taller than the dark red mare. The red mare had an even darker mane and tail, making her look like blood more than anything else. Her coat was a little dirty, mainly due to the dirt and dust on it, along with a couple of cuts and a distinct scar that was pure black on her face, next to her muzzle.

Plumjuice turned to both Azure and Blitz, seeing that she hadn't met them both before. She smiled and took a step back, offering the opportunity to speak to Gretzky.

"No, it's alright! We can wait, it's fine." Azure convinced her. Plumjuice nodded, before turning back to Gretzky and continuing with their conversation. Both Azure and Blitz took in the sight of both Plumjuice and Gretzky and remembered that they didn't originally have a good inspection of Gretzky. The Gryphon was huge, a lot bigger than the mare that he was speaking to, but he was soft, due to how he acted around both Azure and Blitz. He had a dark grey beak, with a lighter grey face. The rest of his body was the same look as charcoal, apart from his tail, which was a dark, rich blue. His tail looked so much out of place, that they nearly thought that it was a relic. Gretzky's talons were a little darker than his beak, showing that he had put his talons to good use.

The conversation between Plumjuice and Gretzky continued for a little bit, Azure and Blitz both dropping in and out of focus, multiple times. They picked up the fact that Gretzky and Plumjuice were dating, but judging by how they acted around each other, they didn't look like they were. Azure was about to go in and talk to them both, but Blitz placed a hoof around his shoulder and pulled him back.

"Let them talk. At least then Gretzky would be in a happier mood to speak to us after." Blitz suggested, looking back at the gryphon and the pony. They were about to finish their conversation, when something fell off the counter, due to Gretzky leaning over it. A white artifact was on display, until it fell down and smashed on the floor, making everyone jump. Gretzky looked to the floor in horror, as his artifact had fallen and was now a mess of while dust and shards.

"Great! Not anyone's fault, just me being clumsy." Gretzky stated, getting a brush and sweeping it into a pile, before depositing it into a black bag. Blitz's guess was that he was throwing it away, but he could have been placing it into the bag to give to Nightclaw or another creature or pony. Blitz shook his head and used his magic to make sure that there were not any little sharp pieces of the artifact on the ground. He deposited the remaining shards into the bag, making sure that no creature could hurt themselves by walking over it. Gretzky smiled at Blitz and nodded, before trying to finish his conversation with Plumjuice.

Blitz turned to Azure, who was looking at another artifact on Gretzky's counter. It looked beautiful, almost as beautiful as a changeling reforming. That was a sight to behold alone. The artifact was a little spiral, looking a little like a model of DNA. It had links that held it together, like that of a spider's web. It looked beautiful and slightly breathtaking. Azure was in awe, he couldn't deprive himself of the artifact. He just wanted the artifact, that was a given, due to the look on his face.

Gretzky approached them from behind the counter and smiled at them, knowing that they liked the artifact that had just come out onto display. Gretzky chuckled as he picked up the artifact, watching Azure's eyes tracking the object, like he was connected to it. He smiled and began to chuckle, instantly forgetting about the other artifact that had just dropped on the ground.

"Alchem is pretty fixed on this, ain't he Eater?" Gretzky asked, moving the object around and watching Azure's eyes track it.

"Indeed he is. That needs to change!" Blitz stated, sounding like he was getting slightly angry at Azure. It didn't do anything, so he did the only thing that he could think of. He dragged Azure back and rolled him over, breaking his eyesight from the object. Azure snapped out of his state and stared angrily at Blitz, making Blitz smile with amusement.

"What are you doing?" Azure shouted, pushing Blitz off him. Blitz got a little mad, as he hit his head against the floor from being pushed. Azure caught wind of this and instantly ran over to him. "My bad!" Azure apologized, checking to see if Blitz was ok. He checked his head for any signs of an injury. There were no injuries, which Azure was glad about.

Blitz gave Azure an angry look, which made Azure wince a little in response to it. Blitz then smiled at him, trying to reassure him that he was in fact okay. He gave a little chuckle before they both looked back at Gretzky. He was a little confused at the events that had just transpired, but that didn't stop him from talking to them both.

"Did you two need anything, or were you just hanging around here?" Gretzky asked, wanting to know the answer to his question. Azure shook his head, but Blitz had other ideas. He nodded and then looked down to Azure, making him smile softly.

"I want to see if you still had it, from the last time I saw it." Blitz stated, slowly walking up to the desk again and taking a peep inside.

"Had what?" Gretzky called out from across the counter, looking more like a customer, rather than the seller. Blitz continued to search for it, until he spotted it. A white fabric with a dark red cross on it. It wasn't spotless or in the greatest of conditions, but it was something that Azure could have possibly loved. Azure hopped over the counter, along the Gretzky. They both walked up to Blitz and inspected what he was looking at.

It was an old medical cloak, like ones that the head mares of the hospitals wore. Azure instantly recognized it instantly and smiled, making him begin to remember good memories and even better dreams.

"How much?" Azure asked rapidly, making his words sound like they were jumbled. Gretzky looked at him and smiled, being smooth and sly in his effort to sell the item. He looked it over before coming up with a price for it.

"How about ten caps?" Gretzky offered, making his order significantly cheaper than what other ponies or creatures would have made it. Azure went wide eyed and nodded dramatically, rushing across to Blitz, who was still looking at it. He wasn't moving though, like he was in a deep thinking process or something like that. Azure and up him and shook him.

"Can we have it? Can we have it?" Azure asked like a little colt being excited to get some ice cream. Blitz still didn't respond, not until Azure began to shake him, snapping him out of his alluring vision.

"What? How much?" Blitz muttered, not knowing what the price was.

"Ten caps!" Azure called out, being way too excited for just a simple medical coat. Why did Blitz immediately feel like a parent to a foal? No idea! He opened his saddlebag and brought out some caps. They only had twelve caps left.

"Celestia damn it! Some caps are gone! They must have dropped out when I jumped into the water to get away or just fell out, due to me not doing up my saddlebag." Blitz admitted, feeling a little worse about all of the events that had transpired in the last couple of days.
He passed the caps to Azure and picked up the medical cloak, being sure to check for anything or any damage. Gladly, he didn't find that there was anything wrong with it. It looked like it would fit Azure perfectly.

Blitz passed the medical cloak to Azure, before turning to Gretzky again. Azure went off in a direction, Blitz assuming that he was going to go and try on the cloak.

"Anyway, the main reason I came to you is because I need to borrow something from you, for Alchem." Blitz explained. Gretzky nodded his head, before turning around and grabbing something that looked like a rope, followed by a harness. It was a battle saddle!

"Alchem was asking for this earlier, so I searched around for it and found it under… this!" Gretzky pointed out, pointing toward all of his stuff. It wasn't junk, because junk was classed as useless. Blitz knew well enough that if anything was at a pony's or creature's disposal, it would be useful in one way or another. Nothing in the Wasteland was useless. That word was only used for creatures or ponies that couldn't or wouldn't do anything.

"I would pay you for it, but as you could see, I am a bit short on caps." Blitz spoke aloud, his ears folding backwards, before Gretzky chucked it over to him. Blitz caught it with his magic, before looking from the harness or battle saddle, to Gretzky.

"No need! If it keeps him alive, then I'm happy to give it away. Just don't let him die, I need as many customers as I can. You two are great business!" He joked, winking at Blitz and making him laugh.

"Thank you!" Blitz said, smiling at Gretzky, before walking over to Azure, but stopping to turn around. "That wasn't even what I was going to ask you for! You completely threw me off with that. I need a gas mask or radiation suit for Alchem." Blitz added, slowly walking over to Gretzky again.

"Like I said Eater, if it keeps you both alive, I'll let you borrow it, but I do want it back." Gretzky explained, going from being happy, to being stern. Blitz nodded at him as Gretzky tried to go back and look for the radiation suit, the one that he was going to use for Blitz originally. He had moved everything he had originally, to look for the battle saddle for Azure. He was going to need to look a little more. He turned to Blitz and smiled. "You might have to come back later Eater. I need to search for it. Go give Alchem the battle saddle and I'll come and grab you when I find it." Gretzky promoted, making Blitz nod in response.

Blitz travelled to where he knew that Azure was going to be, at home, or at least their makeshift home for the time being. Azure opened the door and saw Azure lying on the floor. Blitz rushed over to him and saw that he was perfectly okay. Blitz smiled a little, before he dropped the battle saddle on the floor. Azure was wearing the medical cloak and smiled at Blitz, knowing that he had forgotten the battle saddle on purpose.

"Blitz? Can I talk to you about something?" Azure asked, sounding somewhat sympathetic. Blitz looked at Azure with a confused look, not knowing exactly what was going on or what Azure wanted to speak to him about. He sat down beside Azure and kept his eyes locked on his ally's

"Sure Azure! What do you want to talk about?" Blitz asked, being super curious to know what he was going on about. Azure looked to the ground and placed his head on it, looking as if he was a little scared. "What's wrong buddy?" Blitz spoke softly, lying down next to him and transforming his wings, so that they were like gryphon ones. He then placed his wings around Azure, making him feel a little warmer. Azure then looked at Blitz with a strong and passionate glare.

"I've known you for a little while and that scares me. Everyday, I wake up to the thought that some ponies and creatures would leave me. I've made plenty of friends throughout my time, but none like you. You've had my back on multiple occasions and I'm just worried that on one occasion, you won't. I'll be forced to do whatever it takes to survive. I need a friend in this world, one that I can rely on. Can you be that one friend, Blitz?" He admitted, looking like he was starting to cry.

Blitz slowly got closer and nuzzled Azure, before taking the doctor's cloak away from him and making him stand on all four legs. Azure was slightly confused, until he saw that Blitz was holding the battle saddle in his magic. Blitz placed it on top of the medical cloak and got a look of surprise from Azure. Blitz pushed Azure onto his back legs and hugged him close. He noticed that Azure was speechless, just like he wanted him to be. He did need a friend and so did Blitz himself. Blitz trusted Azure with even the most difficult of tasks and didn't want anything to happen to him. Blitz considered every other creature and pony, an acquaintance, but not Azure. Azure was a friend indeed.

They both stayed in the hug for a little while, before they both contracted from the hug. As Blitz backed off, he could see that Azure had a couple of tears on his face. He walked back up to him and wiped his face, making sure that there were not tears to be had from their event, their moment together.

"You want me to help you put this on?" Blitz asked Azure. Azure didn't say anything, but just nodded back at Blitz. Blitz teleported the battle saddle onto Azure, scaring him in the process.

"Ahhhh! I… I didn't know that ponies could teleport things onto their bodies, let alone another pony's body." Azure admitted, looking a little surprised. It distracted him away from the previous feelings that he had, so Blitz was happy with just messing around and confusing Azure, to make him feel a little happier. Blitz teleported the medical cloak back onto Azure's back, before walking towards Azure with a smile.

"I need to tighten it up for you. Is that ok?" Blitz asked Azure, getting a quick nod in response. Blitz used his magic to tug at the straps that tightened the battle saddle and tilted his head in confusion. Blitz was unsure of something, so he took the battle saddle off Azure and placed the medical cloak on first, then the battle saddle on top. It worked better, so Blitz tightened it up for the final time and got closer to the calipers, the things that would hold the weapons that Azure had.

Azure took out a weapon with his maw, passing it over in Blitz's direction. The weapon slapped him in the back and got Blitz to turn, making Azure turn from a dark blue furred pegasus, to a burning purple mess, changing only his face to a dark purple. Blitz chuckled and placed the pistol that Azure chucked at him, into the system of the battle saddle. He needed a couple of tools, but he could bypass it by using his magic and creating the correct tool for the job. He spotted the pistol into the socket and tightened it up, making sure that the pistol was not misaligned.

"What else do you want on here?" Blitz asked, looking up at Azure. Azure pondered for a couple of seconds before coming to a conclusion.

"The syringe gun!" Azure stated quickly. Blitz nodded and pulled out the syringe gun from Azure's saddlebag. He placed it in the socket and tightened it up, again making sure that it was lined up properly. Azure let Blitz finish what he was doing on battle saddle, before he began to take steps to see how the saddlebag would work. It weighed a little bit extra, but it was no different to carrying another saddlebag. He enjoyed the comfort of it, especially with the medical cloak underneath it, not making the metal and plastic rub against his form.

Blitz observed the sight before him. He saw that Azure was enjoying himself to the fullest. He looked awesome in the medical cloak and was wielding his pistol and syringe gun. It made him look like the stallion that you didn't want to mess with. Blitz remembered something that he needed to do to Azure's battle saddle, so he sat him down with his magic, before he went to work. If Azure was to fire, it would shoot both the pistol and the syringe gun, defeating the purpose of having a weapon on there.

With a little bit of work, Blitz was able to make it so that one of Azure's weapons would fire when he got one of the mouth triggers into his muzzle. The same thing was done to the other side, the side where he had the syringe gun. This was making it so that Azure had the option to either kill or save somepony or creature. A ure was most likely to save somepony, as opposed to ending their lives. The gun being on there was as defense or as a last resort.

Blitz was satisfied with what he had done to the battle saddle and then allowed Azure to move around with it one. Azure looked like a medical pony had just gone crazy, so Blitz wanted in on the fun. As Azure turned around, he went stone cold as he saw Blitz in his corrupted looking state. He wore chains around his neck and had fake blood around them. He had a prison shackle around one of his hindlegs and he had a bandage around one of his forelegs.

He wore the same cloak, which made it a very nice addition to the uniform of the Wasteland. He was dirty as ever and looking menacing. Azure trembled a little, before realising that it was actually just Blitz. He looked like he fitted in perfectly with the raiders. That made Azure think about something, before raising a hoof.

"Wouldn't you be able to go back to Journey like that and blend in with the rest of the raiders?" Azure asked, being slightly curious if that would work. Blitz shook his head, the chain making a rattling noise in the process. Azure sighed, before getting up and walking around the room. Blitz just sat down and watched him march around the room. It was slightly entertaining, seeing him walk around with so much pride.

A knock came from the door, as Blitz slowly got back to his hooves and walked towards it. He had a good idea on who it was going to be, but pondered the possibility of a raider being at the door. Blitz opened the door to see Gretzky standing there, holding the radiation suit in his claws. Blitz looked down at it and smiled, looking back at Azure.

They began to walk down the paved road, the one that Blitz had travelled down earlier today. Blitz was marching happily ahead and looked behind to see a protected Azure. He was wearing the radiation suit that Gretzky had brought to them. Azure had to leave his medical cloak at the building, because it would have only made Azure overheat, plus, it was a tight radiation suit, so there wouldn't have been any room for the cloak.

Blitz managed to get the battle saddle on the radiation suit, without ripping the suit at all. It was almost as if they were designed for being used on a radiation suit. Azure still had his weapons on it as well, being the pistol to his right side and his syringe gun to the left. Blitz received a bundle of harmful and helpful syringe ammo for Azure's syringe gun, so he gave them all to Azure to use. The design for them worked almost like a tranquilizer, but a little bit less effective, but with a lot more force and acting more like a bullet than a syringe.

As Blitz slowed down a little, he allowed himself to ease up and look around, trying to distract himself from the badness of the Wasteland. Although he looked the part for venturing in the Wasteland, he didn't enjoy the risk of others coming out with him, especially if they were friends of his. He kept looking around and then at Azure, making sure that he was ok. Everytime he checked, Azure was fine.

"I hate this!" Blitz stated softly, Azure looking over at him in the process.

"What do you hate, Blitz?" Azure asked, getting a little quicker with his steps.

"Just… this! Walking around and risking the safety of others travelling with me." Blitz replied, stating his version of the truth. Azure just looked at him in disbelief, but could understand where he was coming from. Azure nodded, noticing that Blitz saw the nod.

"That is true, I'd hate that too, but you gotta remember that you'd probably go insane if you didn't travel around with anypony. On top of that, nopony or any creatures would have your back in a tricky situation." Azure told bluntly, trying to spin Blitz's opinion on its head.
Blitz shook his head and took in a deep breath, before sighing loudly. Azure smiled at that.

"You're right, I'm sorry." Blitz admitted, feeling a little defeated at the topic. If he could, Azure would have wrapped a wing around him and hugged him close, but due to the suit, it was near impossible. He needed the radiation suit to go with Blitz to the factory, the same factory that had been reduced to ruins, or so Blitz had stated.

They continued their little walk, until they got closer and closer to the ruins. The radiation levels were rapidly climbing. They could both tell this, due to the new PipBuck that Azure was wearing. As the radiation suit was being put on, they removed the PipBuck and placed it on, over the top of the suit. It stuck out a bit, but it was going to be more help than they both knew.

Azure looked down at the PipBuck and saw that the rads on it were soaring out of control. If the suit was to tear, Azure would surely die. Blitz knew this, so he kept his bright red glowing eyes on Azure, making sure that nothing bad could happen to him. They were just looking to scavenge and look around the once usable factory.

The factory doors were closed, which was a little funny to Blitz, because everything around those doors were fully open. The doors were the only things that were blocking their path. They both slowly walked up to the door and then walked around them, seeing that they were both still locked. That made Blitz chuckle a tiny amount, before they both continued to have a little look around.

Rubble was the only thing that was visible. Grey rubble! All of the colour that would have been in the factory before the bombs fell, must have vanished along with the ponies that worked there. It hurt a little, Blitz knowing that his father did something along the lines of working in a factory. It made Blitz stop and think, again getting the attention of Azure.

"Preserve Blitz! We have to move on!" Azure commanded, making Blitz smile a little. He knew that he had to forget about the past, but he couldn't help it half the time. Everything played with his mind and emotions. He shook his head and tried to press on, noticing that Azure had already started to move things. Blitz walked over to the stairwell that was somewhat standing. He began to scavenge through the debris of the building, picking up pieces with his magic and throwing them out of the boundaries of the factory's previously standing wall.

Time had passed them both, as minutes became hours. They had been looking around for a fair while. If there was an oxygen supply for Azure's radiation suit, then it would have been depleted soon. They had gathered a fair amount of resources through doing all of the scavenging. The items ranged from metal, to rubber, to caps and medical supplies. All of the items were not there before, which made Blitz a little skeptical with how it got there.

Azure was still searching around and kept looking back at the body of the Steel Ranger that they had found, under the rubble. The visor on the Steel Ranger's helmet was caved in, meaning that the Steel Ranger within was surely dead, due to not having an intact skull. They didn't have the items to restart the armour, which made it impossible to open. The PipBuck could have been used, but it was hopeless, since they both didn't understand any of the coding to do with restarting programmes. It confused both of them, let alone Azure or Blitz on their own.

Azure came to the stairwell that Blitz had originally started on and nearly tripped over something below him. He looked down and saw more steps going down, underneath the factory.

"Blitz? What's down here?" Azure asked, kicking the ground below him. Blitz's ears perked up, as he remembered the underground part of the factory. He ran over to Azure and bucked the ground trying to make the ground move. Nothing happened. Blitz remembered the second way to get in and out of the factory's underside. He signalled for Azure to follow him, before he walked out of the previous walls of the building and down to the river, which was still running without problem, meaning that there was a way in.

Blitz grabbed Azure with his magic and carried him, using his magic. He stepped into the running river, which was very, very cold and swam up steam, trying to enter the underside of the building, carrying Azure, using his magic. It was a dangerous struggle, but it was able to be done, as Blitz pushed forward and got inside. He dropped off Azure, before jumping out of the water and trying to get warm again. Azure dipped his hoof in the water, through the radiation suit and found that it was cold. Not just cold, cold cold! He turned to Blitz and watched as he used his magic to burn the floor, before sitting on it, to try and warm himself up.

As Blitz was doing this, he used his magic against a wall, to try and see whether standing on his hindlegs would work. He instantly regretted it, as a sharp pain made an appearance in his leg. From where he had been shot and sliced previously. He blasted a beam of razor, red hot energy at a wall and watched as it burnt the wall and knocked it down, revealing a secret compartment. Blitz instantly forgot about his pain and looked at Azure and then back at the entrance to the new area. He slowly stepped forward and into the room.

There were posters of inspirational ponies in it. They literally littered the wall, apart from a section that had all six ministry mares on it, surrounded with a lot of notes. Azure entered the room and looked around, finding the room to be somewhat eye-catching. They both looked around and looked to see if anything could have been of use. Azure spotted a safe and Blitz spotted something else. Something that he knew exactly how to use. There was a memory orb, but unlike all of the others that he had seen, it was slightly cracked.

Azure looked over to Blitz, before rolling his eyes and grabbing a lockpick and listening to the combination of the safe. He had done this before, but on a stronger, more secure safe, so this safe would have been easier. Blitz on the other hand, was looking at some notes that related to the owner of the factory. He was just skimming over them until he saw something in there mentioning 'Project Chimera'. He took the notes and folded them up, before placing them in a safer pocket of his saddlebag. He turned to Azure and watched him as he tried to crack open the safe. Without another second wasted, Azure heard a click on the safe and opened the door.

Inside the safe, was a load of bits, weapons and ammo, as well as some documents that were sealed in an airtight bag. There was some cheat armour as well as some leg armour, that was in very, very good condition. They took everything in the safe and began to chuck it carefully into their saddlebags. Blitz walked over to the memory orb and grabbed it, placing it in his saddlebag for later Without a trace, they left the under part of the factory, Blitz getting wet again, but wanting to get back to the settlement as fast as he could. As soon as they got outside the factory confines, Blitz suggested for Azure to ride on his back. Azure was hesitant at first, but he accepted the offer, climbing onto Blitz's back and keeping hold of Blitz's cloak.

Blitz took off into the air and hovered across the landscape, his wings creating a little bit of noise, as they glided along. Within five minutes, they got back to the settlement. It was surprising how fast flying was compared to walking, for the amount of energy both used. They flew over the gate, defeating the purpose of it entirely and landed on the ground, next to their makeshift home. Blitz quickly opened the door and allowed Azure to walk in, before closing the door and locking it shut. Azure didn't understand why Blitz was in such a rush, but he just rolled with it.

"Ok! I'm going to go into this memory orb. Don't distract me while I'm in it, otherwise you might lose me!" Blitz commanded, watching a look of fear appear on Azure's face. He nodded slowly, before watching Blitz run over to a corner and lying on the ground. He grabbed the orb from his saddlebag and touched it to his horn.

His world faded away, as he drifted into the unknown.

Chapter 7: Unplanned Assault

Azure woke up, noticing an unfamiliar pressure on his back. He craned his neck and saw that Blitz was sleeping on him, having woken up and then falling asleep again. Azure noticed that he was wrapped up, making him look around for what Blitz used on them both. He noticed that one of the sofa rags was missing, so he looked down at the rag and low and behold, it was the sofa rag. Despite it being uncomfortably dusty, it was unbelievably comfortable.

Azure moved a little bit, waking up Blitz, with sleepy eyes. Blitz looked at Azure, before sliding himself next to him and curling up. Azure smiled at this, grabbing around the changeling and relaxing slightly, before a knock came from the door. This made both Blitz and Azure jump. Blitz rushed to his hooves, rubbing his eye with one of them, before walking to the door. It was surprisingly early to be knocking at this time, but Blitz didn't care.

He opened the door to see Nightclaw there, holding the zebra metal suppressors. There was a big one and a slightly smaller one. Nightclaw just held them out, waiting for Blitz to grab them. He looked at Nightclaw with surprise, but took the suppressors, before Nightclaw drew a second glance.

"Thank you Nightclaw!" Blitz thanked, bowing as he did. Nightclaw nodded, before flying away, not giving either of them a word. It seemed a little strange that he didn't say anything, but life was strange, so Blitz couldn't argue with that. He turned around and closed the door, before seeing Azure there.

"Was that Nightclaw with your gifts?" Azure asked, smiling at Blitz, while trying to ease the tension. Blitz nodded, bringing the suppressors around to his front and looking back up to see Azure's face change from curiosity, to surprise and happiness. Azure snatched one of the suppressors and looked it over, seeing that the metal was beautifully crafted, with designs on the metal that Azure had never seen before.

Blitz looked at the bigger suppressor and also admired Nightclaw's craftsmanship, seeing that the designs were melted into the metal and not etched into it, making it then less effective. It looked awesome, so Blitz wanted to try to see if it would fit properly. He took out his sniper rifle and tried to attach it, without damaging anything on either the suppressor or the weapon. Without him struggling, Blitz managed to fit the suppressor onto the weapon, making it look far more exotic than it was. Blitz looked back at Azure and smiled, seeing that he was still toying about with the other suppressor.

Blitz noticed that his stomach was rumbling, so did Azure, as he carefully passed Blitz the suppressor. Blitz took one look at the suppressor and closed his eyes, before sighing, bringing out another smile from him.

"Keep it. Place it on your pistol Azure." Blitz suggested, making Azure tilt his head.

"But… it's my gift to you!" Azure rebounded, trying to make Blitz feel like he was in the wrong, but it didn't work. Blitz eyed Azure and watched him with every step that he took. Blitz was just being too nice and supportive. Azure sighed, admitting defeat in the battle. "Are you sure?" Azure asked, being hesitant to ask. Blitz nodded and smiled.

"So we can look like a group, rather than two completely random strangers." Blitz admitted, seeing that a smile was appearing on Azure's face. Blitz walked up to Azure and took the suppressor off him, using his magic to place it on the weapon. It took some screwing to get it on the pistol, but it worked, making his pistol not only look awesome and stylish, but making it more effective and stealthy.

As soon as Blitz was done with the pistol, Azure placed a hoof around Blitz's neck and then pulled him in for a hug. Blitz was a little spooked, but quickly lightened up to the hug that Azure was giving him. He wrapped his hooves around Azure's neck and brought him closer to himself.

"Thank you… thank you for everything that you have done for me." Blitz stated, a blush present on his face, looking at the ground and trying to avoid eye contact with Azure, which would only make things more embarrassing. Blitz felt like they both had that type of connection that only blood brothers, or at least the closest of friends, could feel.

For the first time in his life, Blitz felt safe. This was a new feeling for him, since he had always been one to be behind in the shadows, constantly in danger, but unable to get hurt. Being in the position that he was in, with Azure right next to his side, made him bubble with a safety that he had never felt before, making him bubbly and happy. Azure had begun nuzzling Blitz, making him blush even pinker, the chitin on Blitz's body making the complexion of colours look weird on his body.

Azure could tell that the stuff that he was doing was making Blitz blush. It would make most ponies and creatures blush. Blitz pulled away and smiled at him, making sure that Azure could see his face. Azure smiled back, before shaking his mane a little and stretching. Blitz's ears raised up sharply, making him aware of something. He flew as quickly as he could to the door, before opening it and flying out.

Azure noticed his behaviour and walked up to the door, before sighing happily and stepping outside, closing the door behind him. Azure looked up to see a bug looking down at him. A pony bug!
Azure began breaking down into laughter, as Blitz just stood above the door, looking down at Azure. Blitz smiled, knowing that he made Azure laugh. Blitz hopped down from above and held a hoof to Azure, which he carefully reached for and held for a split second, coming down from the laughing fit he just had. That wasn't going to wipe the smile Blitz had for a while.

Blitz felt a surge of energy rush through his veins and that made him feel slightly more enthusiastic and energetic than normal. He was beginning to feel happy again, something that he hadn't felt in a while. Azure began walking and Blitz followed, putting a bounce in every step that he could. Azure could tell that he was happier than usual, because of his movement. He bobbed along a little more on each hoof, almost like he was bouncing around or weighing less than one of his own feathers. The joy of seeing Blitz in such a happy mood, sent Azure into a slightly happier, more satisfied mood too.

They both didn't know where they were going, but they didn't really care. At least they were doing some exercise to seem like they were being productive. They both were heading in the direction of Gretzky's shop, so they decided to pop over and have a little browse and look over there.

They both saw Gretzky and smiled happily towards him, seeing that he too was in a happy mood.

"Hey Gretzky! How are you doing today?" Blitz asked, not really caring about being outside his comfort zone for talking to others. Gretzky waved a claw at him, before he looked under the counter for something.

"I'm good, Eater. I see that you and Alchem are in a happy mood today. What's the occasion, if I may ask?" Gretzky asked, seeing that both Blitz and Azure were happier than normal. Azure shook his head before he began silently laughing. Blitz turned to him and saw something, making his smile fade away. Azure was looking different.

Azure wasn't a bright blue pegasus, or what Blitz had originally seen. Azure was the same pegasus, but didn't have any colour to him. It was almost as if he had been drained of his colour entirely. Blitz began to back up against a wall, before falling through it and onto the ground. Everything went silent, before he opened his eyes slightly and saw that everything was back to normal. What in sweet Celestia was that? Azure was his usual blue self and he was looking over him. The wall that Blitz had just fallen through, wasn't there at all. Blitz thought about it for a second, and he recalled that the wall didn't look like any of the walls in the settlement, but more in the line of the castle. Canterlot Castle! The orb did shatter and bring Blitz in with it, didn't it?

"Eater…? Can you hear me?" Azure called out, seeming like he was so far away from where Blitz was. Blitz knew that he had to focus on what was important and what was happening in the real world that he was living in and not dwelling on the past. Azure grabbed Blitz and pulled him up, making Blitz's mind snap straight back to reality. Blitz shook his head and sighed.

"I could hear you Alchem, I just had a moment. I'm alright now." Blitz lied to him, making sure not to make Azure lose the happiness that he had. He hated every second past the lie, but what was he going to do? Dwell on the fact that he would never be normal again? Talk about his depressing issues? No! Those were for him to worry about, not anypony else. Blitz shook his head again and smiled, wearing his now fake smile with confidence.

"What was that about, Eater?" Azure asked, not being fully satisfied with Blitz's original answer. Blitz shook his head at Azure trying to avoid the topic further. Blitz had an idea of what it could have been, but was mostly in the blind with his accusation.

"No really Alchem, it was nothing. I just zoned out a little. It won't happen again, I can assure you." Blitz tried to convince him, understanding that he would probably make Azure doubt that he was okay. Getting back to grips with the world, they both looked back over to Gretzky and coughed, before Blitz answered Gretzky's previous question. "As for the question that you were asking Gretzky, we just both had a little chuckle before we began walking here. I awoke in a happy mood, Azure awoke in a happy mood. What's not to love about the morning?" Blitz stated, following his explanation with a rhetorical question. Gretzky smiled at them both, noticing that the smiles were slowly coming back to them both.

"Alright, so now that you two are here, do you mind helping me do something soon?" Gretzky asked, getting the attention of the pair. Their ears poked up and pointed in the direction of Gretzky himself. That made him smile. "It might take a little while to get ready, but I need two ponies to come with me for this, maybe even three. How about you go and scout out somepony else that might want to embark on a little journey." Gretzky asked, seeing that both of them nodded.

Blitz tilted his head, wanting to know what it was that they were going to be doing for him.

"So, what is it that we will be being you with, Gretzky?" Blitz asked, trying to get more information about the topic. Gretzky shook his head, before smiling.

"You're not going to get an answer out of me Eater. I'll tell you once we get out of the settlement, because one pony would not approve of my actions." Gretzky spoke, pointing a hoof over to Roselight, standing on the wall, talking to the guard. Blitz and Azure turned back to face Gretzky and smiled, before nodding at him and looking back at each other.

"Ok then Gretzky. We will go and look for somepony or some creature to assist us on this trip." Blitz told him, making Gretzky smile, before he nodded his head in approval. Blitz slowly turned around and looked at Azure, before trotting over to the wall, Azure following him there.

"Remember Blitz, Roselight is not to know about this, so let's keep this on the down low, ok?" Azure questioned, making sure that Blitz knew what he was doing. Blitz looked to Azure and nodded. "Who are you going to ask anyway?" Azure asked, seeing that Zeke was up on the wall. He then realised why Blitz wanted to go up there.

They both pushed up to the wall, before flying up it at some speed and landing on it. Roselight, Zeke and the guard turned around to see them there. Both Blitz and Azure smiled happily, as they were evaluated by the trio. Roselight turned and looked into the endless distance, past the wall, as did the guard. They seemed to be on very good terms, from what Blitz saw of it.

"Zeke, can I talk to you in private, please?" Blitz asked him. Zeke looked at him and smiled, not understanding why he wanted to talk to him, but went along with it anyway. Blitz hopped off the wall and landed gracefully. Zeke dropped and got caught with Blitz's magic.

"Wh...why did you catch me? I was going to land perfectly fine!" Zeke questioned, being a little angry. Blitz spread his wings and pointed to them with a hoof, before pointing to his horn after.

"I've jumped off the wall and… well, landing on the ground from up there hurt, so if you want to jump, make sure that you have wings or some sort of magic to ease your fall." Blitz explained, chuckling a little bit. Zeke just growled at him, before they both walked away and around a corner, becoming out of sight.

Azure was still on the wall, alongside Roselight and the guard. Azure looked at the guard and coughed slightly, getting his attention. The guard turned to look at Azure, trying to predict what he was going to say.

"I don't believe that I've heard your name said anywhere around the settlement. Do you mind if I ask for it?" Azure asked, trying to become closer friends with the guard. He went to open his maw, but then closed it. He looked away from Azure and wore his usual stubborn look.

"His name is Saber!" Roselight calmly stated, getting an angry look from the guard.

"Why would you announce my name?" Saber asked her in an angry tone. She didn't reply, she just kept looking forward. Saber puffed, sighing as he too just looked onwards. Azure smiled and tilted his head, slightly confused on why Saber didn't want anypony to know his name.

"At least we know what to call you now, instead of the guard." Azure announced quietly, making sure that Roselight could hear it too. Saber glared at Azure and slowly walked up to him, a menacing look in his eye. Before Saber was able to get close to Azure, Blitz flew up and stood in front of Azure, in a defensive stance. Roselight smiled, before sharply calling out Saber's name.

"Saber!" Roselight shouted, making him look away from both Blitz and Azure. He looked back at them one last time, before turning around and going to Roselight. Once he got to her, he sat on the opposite side of her, putting Roselight closer to Azure and Blitz, rather than he was. "You stay there, okay?" She ordered with a question, just to make sure that he was listening. He nodded a tiny bit, before Roselight turned away and walked closer to Azure and Blitz.

"Is he okay? I didn't mean to set him off like that." Azure asked, simply caring about the unicorn. Roselight nodded, sitting down and facing them.

"I'm sorry for his little outburst, with the gate originally and now with this. He's just scared and… well… how can I put this… not willing to create new bonds or get attached to ponies." Roselight explained looking over her shoulder at him and seeing that he was listening. She slowly got up and walked over to him and hugged him softly. He relaxed a little bit, before looking out into the endless horizon that was before him.

Blitz turned to Azure and saw that he wasn't hurt at all, which was the main thing that Blitz worried about. Both Blitz and Azure turned to see Zeke climbing up the ladder. He nodded to Blitz and Blitz nodded back to him.

"Does he know?" Azure whispered, getting only a simple nod in return, to avoid Roselight from finding out about it. That made Azure look at Zeke, getting a smile from him in response to the look, which made Azure smile. "Do you want me to go back to Gretzky and tell him that we got Zeke to agree to help?" Azure asked Blitz, literally whispering it as close to his ear as he could, making Blitz's ear twitch in the process.

"Yes, if that's ok with you." Blitz replied. He watched Azure shoot off, not worrying about anything in the world. As soon as Azure landed, Blitz turned to look at the other side of the wall and saw Zeke come and sit beside him. Zeke didn't say anything, but he did just relax next to Blitz. It was almost like he was trying to unwind, making his muscles less tense.

"Umm… Why are there ponies approaching?" Saber announced, making both Blitz and Zeke aware of their presence. It was around ten… no, twenty raiders or scavengers coming towards them. Roselight didn't do anything apart from look. She noticed that something was up, but she wasn't quite sure. She knew that they weren't here for some trading, so she was a little ready for what was about to happen.

"Get your weapon ready." Roselight stated to all of them, making them aware that stuff could get messy. Zeke slowly descended down the ladder and took a position down below, waiting for them to get through the gate before pouncing. Blitz grabbed his trusty sniper and kept his pistol to hoof, just in case things got a little closer. The ponies got closer and closer, unaware that the ponies on the wall could see them.

One of the ponies lit their magic and brought a sniper rifle to view. Roselight quickly activated an alarm with her hindleg, which let out an ear piercing screech, before Roselight brought her rifle to view as well. She aimed her rifle before the raider or scavenger was even able to control their magic and shot them with clear precision. Blitz watched in shock as the bullet travelled straight through the raider's skull, making them drop in an instant.

All of the raiders pushed up as one, storming up to the gate and trying to pry it open. One of the raiders pulled out some explosives from their saddlebag and threw them at the wall and mainly at the gate, forcing the four of the ponies on the wall to jump down and reposition. Blitz flew off and saw a roof that he could perch onto, digging his hindlegs around some poles and aiming down the sight of his sniper rifle, waiting for them to get brave and blow the explosives.

They got brave! Earth shattering sounds turned the quiet landscape into a warzone. It shook the ground and made dust go everywhere, turning the area into a place of range, testing the sight of ponies. Everypony, even the raiders, began to cough. The dust was strong, but Blitz knew his way around it. He had to stay low. His sniper would have been useless in the situation he was in, so he put it away and pulled out his pistol, making sure that it was fully loaded, which it was. He flew down from the roof and got behind cover. There were gunshots all around him, so he kept his eyes peeled. The dust was beginning to clear and he could make out a pony that was not a raider or scavenger, but hadn't been seen in the settlement.

A bat pony was using a battle saddle, strapped with two belt fed auto shotgun. She looked badass! She shot a raider in the stomach before shooting him in the head, making his head explode all over the place, including onto her. Another pony charged her, but got a bullet straight through the head, due to Blitz's pistol. He hopped out from behind cover and walked up to her.

"I know that this is a terrible time for ya fella, but what's ya name, hunny?" The bat pony mare asked Blitz, aiming her weapons at him, only cause she didn't know who in Celestia he was.

"My name's Blitz, I'm one of the new settlers here." He explained carefully, due to having two shotguns pointed at his head. "And if I may ask, what might your name be?" Blitz questioned, asking the question that would make him pull the trigger or not.

"That explains why I haven't seen ya about the place. The name's Sadjoy! I'm the bat pony night guard." She explained, shooting a raider that was creeping up behind Blitz. The gunshot made his ears ring and made his back hurt, due to being hit with the raider's insides and painting his back red. Blitz turned around and looked at the raider on the floor and scowled. He hated doing this, but it was his only choice. It was all of their only choice. The ponies that didn't want to hurt, had to, to survive.

An explosion made itself known, knocking over part of the wall and creating even more dust. It became hard to see, so Blitz tried to shield his eye from all of the dust. A couple of raiders ran past both Blitz and Sadjoy, as Blitz turned around. Sadjoy closed her eyes and vanished into the dust. Blitz heard three shots from a familiar sounding shotgun and that equilled the same amount of raiders and scavengers that had passed them both.

Blitz moved around the dust and caught sights of different ponies fighting. He moved around at a constant speed and saw different scene's being displayed on different sides of him. He tried to visualise them as quickly as possible, but he needed to keep himself safe too. Time almost stopped as Blitz evaluated his position in the battle, the war for the settlement. The war of survival!

In front of him, Roselight and Saber were fighting several raiders. Roselight was wielding a rifle. It was a fully automatic carbine rifle, but Roselight had triggered it to only fire a single bullet, everytime she pulled the trigger with her magic. She aimed her weapon with deadly precision, making sure that every bullet mattered and had its own way of sinking into the flesh of the other ponies around her. Those ponies being raiders and scavengers.

Saber was wielding a pistol and a sword with his magic, most like what Blitz had done originally. The saber was super sharp, much like the one that Blitz originally had, that the previous raider had lodged into the hydra. It looked almost identical to that saber. He sliced into a pony and then shot them in the head with his pistol. The pistol that he also had, was a revolver. It had increased stopping power and much more lethality than a normal pistol, but had the downside of not being able to load multiple magazines into the weapon. Instead, the user had to manually open the cylinder and slot a single bullet in at a time. There were certain things that he could put the bullets into and load all of them into the cylinder, but he didn't have any. He had to stick with the single bullet method.

Both Roselight and Saber were fighting back to back, helping each other and making sure that they didn't get snuck up on. Blitz admired that. They were pretty good shooters and tried to make every bullet count. The shot one bullet after another, hitting most of their shots and missing very rarely. They had that! They were going to win that fight.

Blitz looked to his left and saw Plumjuice and Zeke. Plumjuice was being an expert with some certain horseshoes that she was wearing. They had spikes on them and seemed to be very, very sharp, due to the way that she bucked a raider and sliced his jaw off. She was a sight to behold, being the true love of a gryphon would have made her fierce enough, let alone the weapons that she was capable of using. Unlike the others, she didn't wield a gun, meaning that she lacked range, but what she lacked in range, made up for it in manoeuvrability and strength. Zeke was the same.

Zeke didn't use any weapons at all, relying on his hooves and unbelievable strength. Being a zebra, gave him an unbelievable amount of strength, strength that earth ponies would have been jealous of. He proved that he had such strength, due to the way that he disassembled two raiders with only his forehooves, let alone his hindlegs. Blitz was so glad that he was able to convert Zeke from a raider, because otherwise he would have caused some serious damage.

Both Zeke and Plumjuice fought with courage and stamina, pushing themselves to the limit and not slacking for one second. Luckily, all of the melee fighters were flocking to them, so they didn't have to deal with any ranged fighters from there. There was a pegasus flying above with a pistol in their maw, taking shots at both Zeke and Plumjuice. Blitz wasn't going to let them get hurt by the raider, so he pulled out his sniper and aimed through the scope, before letting out a lightning-like crack into the air and blowing the brains out of the pegasus. Zeke and Plumjuice didn't break their concentration, which Blitz was glad about, as he put his sniper away.

Blitz looked up and saw that Sadjoy had risen up to the sky, along with Nightclaw. Sadjoy blasted some pegusi above with her shotguns, before looking to the ground and dive-bombing some of the raiders and scavengers on the ground. She landed on the ground shortly after and pounced on one of them, biting into their necks before snapping them. She made very quick work of the raiders she came across, which made Blitz glad that he himself wasn't a raider.

Nightclaw swooped about, doing the same as Sadjoy, only not blasting ponies and snapping necks. Instead, he dived down and took out chunks of ponies, using his razor sharp talons to carve them into bloody pulps. It would have been nice to know that he ended them quickly, but as he swooped down and carved into a pony, he left them in two pieces, torturing them with the pain of having no hindlegs. Blitz took out his pistol and shot the raider in the head, to end his suffering. Blitz got a look of confusion from Nightclaw as he did that.

"Don't these ponies get to suffer for all they've done?" Nightclaw shouted at him, before he soured back into the sky, ready to strike again. Blitz shouldn't have, but he thought about what Nightclaw had said for a couple of seconds, before Blitz shot a raider that had been charging him, not really caring too much for it, as it too, slumped to the floor to join the others, it's friends.

Blitz shook his head, before looking to the only forward facing area left. He looked to his right and saw the final two left in the settlement. Azure and Gretzky. Gretzky was wielding Azure's shotgun, spitting out bullets left and right. He made sure to have Azure's back, as he unloaded some bullets into a gryphon that was hurling themself into the pair. The both dodged the flying corpse of feathers and blood and got back to what they were doing. Although Gretzky wasn't the perfect shot, he had some good reaction times, making him able to react quick enough to not get himself killed.

Azure was a dodger. He didn't really want to fight, but he did what he had to. He dodged most of the attacks, while Gretzky filled them full of buckshot and others, he shot with the pistol on his side, using the modified battle saddle to its fullest. He had never been an accurate shot, but he was slowly getting better and better. Blitz had never doubted him, but he did need to get better eventually. Doctors after all were not born to be shooters, but medics. Azure had a couple of syringes with him, possibly due to Gretzky giving him some. He was avoiding using them, probably because they were healing syringes.

Another explosion hurt Blitz's ears and pushed him back, encasing him in a cloud of thick dust. He struggled to get up, his head shaking with the blunt trauma that he had just survived. The explosion deafened him, making all of the other sounds disappear. It was almost like all of the gunshots had stopped. He slowly hobbled to get back up and fell a little, before he got to his hooves fully. He couldn't see anything around him, except for the dust and fog around him. He couldn't hear anything else apart from the ringing in his ears. At that point of time, he was alone.

Blitz's vision flickered from grey scale, like when he had freaked out about Azure and fell through an invisible wall, and normal. It was beginning to scare Blitz, but he knew that he had to be strong. He didn't know how to handle the situation, but he just tried to exit the area around him, only to find that it would bring him back to the same spot every time, like a never ending loop. It only confused him about what to do next. He couldn't exit the area, but there was nowhere else to go. He did the only thing he could do, he waited for something to happen.

Two minutes went by and still nothing. It was until a hoof came out of the fog and dust, that Blitz regained focus. He wanted out of the illusion, he wanted out of the torture that he was in. He wasn't able to go anywhere, he didn't have any friends to hoof. It was just him, on his own! The hoof of the pony coming through the fog was strangely white and Blitz noticed that no dust was collecting on the hoof, which it did him. The hoof, turned into a forehoof. A skeleton of a hoof, followed by a black fabric. The figure teleported into the centre of the dust and fog circle and Blitz couldn't miss a sight quite like that.

The skeletal figure towered over Blitz, making him feel too small to be worth any time in the world. The skeleton wore a dark bluish, blackish robe, almost like some religious groups who worshiped Celestia and Luna. The most devious of traits that set it apart from anything else, was the scythe that it wielded. This was a weapon of one pony or in this case, Alicorn would use. The Grim Reaper! Blitz was standing face to face with Death himself.

"I'm dead, aren't I?" Blitz questioned him, noticing that the Grim Reaper was moving.

"Not yet…" It stated, pointing a hoof at a scene just below them. All of the ponies and gryphons were together, Blitz being able to see the faces of all of them. A figure was approaching them from the mist and it shocked Blitz with what it was. A raider, with Steel Ranger power armour. They all turned to it and time stopped. Blitz noticed that nothing was happening and turned around to see Death gazing into his eyes. Blitz was too worried about what was happening down below to worry about Death.

"Time has stopped right now, right?" Blitz asked Death, making sure to keep eye contact with him the entire time. He didn't feel like Death was an enemy, Blitz considered it to be somewhat of a friend, in his eyes at least.

"Indeed it has! Why do you ask, young Changeling?" Death asked, curious about why Blitz was so concerned. Death didn't look away from Blitz, only looking at him and keeping a grasp on their scythe with their magic.

"Because I want to go back! I have unfinished work to do!" Blitz stated angrily, looking back down at the ponies that he trusted, that he had come closer to. Blitz clenched his jaw shut and wiped his eye with a hoof.

Ha...ha...ha! Do you really think that YOU… of all ponies and creatures, DESERVE to go back, TO DIE again shortly after?" Death chuckled, not realising that it didn't make Blitz break yet.

"Why so much emphasis on those words for? Why do I, of all ponies and creatures, deserve to die?" Blitz stated, cutting Death's laugher, like a sharp knife. It paused and looked at Blitz, pondering his intelligence and taking in the full sight of him. Of Blitz!

"I have already given a mortal creature a gift, why do you deserve another one?" Death spoke, before swinging it's scythe at Blitz, only for him to dodge the attack. Death chuckled, making Blitz feel a little uneasy.

"Why did you chuckle?" Blitz asked, slowly gathering up some of the pieces to what was happening.

"Because now you and I can both agree. You've dodged Death!" It said, before using it's magic on Blitz and pushing him back to where his body was. He felt uneasy, but he could move. He opened his eyes and could hear a gun being spun up, like it was charging something. Without a second thought, Blitz took to the air and dove down, before placing a shield in front of himself, keeping the creatures behind him safe. They all had their eyes close and thought that they were getting gunned down right then and there, but they couldn't feel the pain, so they opened their eyes to see Blitz there.

The gun stopped firing and out came a laugh from the pony inside the power armour. They slowly got out and saw that every single pony and creature was alive. Blitz was a little light headed from all of the magic that he had used and nearly passed out from exhaustion. He was steadied by Azure, using his wing and wrapping it around Blitz to balance him.

The shield from Blitz's magic dropped, revealing the sight of the raider to all. Blitz used his magic to tip over the power armour, making it inaccessible to all. The raider pulled out a pistol from his saddlebag and aimed it at the group. Blitz's eyes went bright red, which signalled something that he still didn't understand. He thought that it had just been the radiation, but when he thought about it, it only happened towards the end of his journey from the factory and when he and Azure were hiding. That was…

Before Blitz could elaborate, the raider cocked his gun and smiled, making himself look way more menacing than normal. Blitz closed his eyes and heard a familiar sounding howl. The howl of a timberwolf! The wolf hopped over them all and rushed towards the raider, before snapping and tearing at the raiders neck. The raider's head rolled a little bit on the floor, before the timberwolf turned around with a vicious glare. Blitz walked up to the timberwolf slowly, making sure that it didn't rush him. He sat down in front of it and tilted his head, the wolf mimicking him exactly.

"Are you what it was on about?" Blitz said out loud, knowing full well that the others didn't have any idea what he was on about. He turned to the others and smiled, seeing that they were all okay, apart from a couple of cuts and bruises, which he was grateful for them not having more than that. They could have gotten seriously hurt, but luckily the raiders had been a terrible shot.

"Wow! Is that a timberwolf?" Plumjuice asked, being slightly ecstatic about seeing the timberwolf in front of her. She reached out to pet it, but it moved back, hiding behind Blitz. "Is it yours?" Plumjuice questioned, becoming less excited, due to it moving away from her, when she tried to pet it. Blitz looked back at the scared timberwolf and stroked it with a hoof, noticing that it was not afraid of him, and only him.

"Yeah, I guess it is." Blitz explained, turning around to the timberwolf and gave it some loving scratches, seeing that it was reacting positively to the petting. It looked around and then backed up, before vanishing into the ground. It had disappeared, but I would be back. Blitz knew it.

"What in Celestia's name? Where did it go?" Nightclaw called out, a bit confused that it fell through the floor. Blitz looked at his hoof, realising that it had some dust on it. The same dust that he had when he tried to exit the dust and fog, while he was dead. Did that mean that…

"Where did it go, Eater?" Azure asked, being slightly curious, caring a bit about the mystery of it. Blitz was a little confused on what to say, but he didn't keep himself from being too silent, so he turned to him and smiled.

"I have no idea. It just kind of comes and goes, I guess." Blitz answered truthfully, knowing that there must have been a way to summon it on command. Blitz thought for a second before coming to the conclusion. It must have been either a random occurrence, or it must have been something that Blitz was feeling.

Blitz looked back at the others and saw that they were slowly getting themselves together and scavenging the bodies. Blitz turned back to the Power Armour and chuckled.

"He shouldn't have got out!" Blitz silently told a joke to himself, Azure hearing it, and felt slightly confused by it. Blitz got up and walked to the power armour and saw that it had a built in anti-material rifle, pretty much a superior sniper than the one that he already had. The ammo was an issue to get and no suppressor could be attached to it, so it was a weapon that he could have fired and the entire continent would know that he was coming for them. It was loud!

Blitz worked on trying to unequip the anti-material rifle, while Azure stood behind him. Azure noticed the blood on Blitz's chitin and looked for his facial expression, so see if he was hurting at all. He looked back down to Blitz's form and saw that there were several spots of blood that were running down his sides. Azure rolled his eyes before grabbing some healing supplies from his saddlebags.

Azure sat on his rear, grabbing a medical syringe for Blitz and injecting some liquid solution into his needle. Blitz looked over to him and saw that he was holding the needle, filling it up with different kinds of liquid, which Blitz didn't mind. The bit that he cared about was the needle. He hated needles! He shook his head before trying to get back to work on the anti-material rifle.

"Blitz? What really happened? Don't give me no lies, no bullshit again. I want to hear what really happened!" Azure spoke aloud, surprising Blitz with the language that he used. "I've seen your eyes. They look bloodshot, almost like a corpse's eyes. Now tell me what the fuck is going on, or so help me, I will dig this needle into you and keep it in there." Azure stated with a smile, eyeing Blitz's eyes. Blitz sighed and rolled his eyes, so Azure stabbed him with the syringe. Blitz yelped!

"Ouch! Okay! I'll tell you!" Blitz cried, hating the feeling of the needle in-between his chitin. "I… I… I died! I got given a gift and dodged Death apparently." Blitz explained, as Azure pulled the needle out from inside him. After Azure pulled out the needle, he threw it on the ground before wrapping his hooves around Blitz and pulling him in for a hug. Blitz happily hugged him, relaxing in an instant, as Azure slowly broke down.

"No! No… shhhhh… it's okay! This really should be me, but… shush." Blitz said to him, making him chuckle a little. As soon as Azure finished hugging Blitz, Blitz wiped a tear from Azure's cheek. "I would hate to lose you, my special friend." Blitz stated quietly, making Azure smile. Azure let go and went to go check on the others, which left Blitz alone with his thoughts. He saw a bright red reflection in the metal of the power armour and turned around. Behind him was the timberwolf, sitting there with somewhat of a smile on its face.

"What do you want your name to be?" Blitz asked it, seeing that it understood him. The timberwolf tilted its head for a second before coming over to Blitz and sitting beside him. It growled at the anti-material rifle and Blitz went back to work on it. It came off instantly and Blitz used his magic to place it on the floor. The timberwolf scratched the anti-material rifle and growled.

"Eater? Is it back?" Azure asked, slowly coming back over to him. Seeing that it was indeed back, Azure crept up to Blitz and sat down next to him, watching as the timberwolf made its movements. It kept scratching the anti-material rifle lightly, still making claw marks on the weapon.

"You want to be called, Anti-material rifle?" Blitz asked, getting a growl as a result of calling it that. "Anti?" Blitz asked it, not getting a growl, but getting a wag of a wooden tail. Blitz petted his new companion for a little while, while looking at the power armour. He had a quick question for the timberwolf, his timberwolf. "Anti? Are you a male or female?" Blitz asked, looking down at his four legged friend. It tilted its head at him. "Male?" Blitz asked, receiving a growl. "Ah, so you're a female timberwolf. Okay!" Blitz stated, a smile on his ever growing face. Anti rested her head on the floor, right next to Blitz, while he worked on trying to open the medical compartment of the power armour.

"You need help with that?" Asked Azure, trying to grab the compartment and pull on it lightly. Blitz is able to get inside the compartment and disconnects the hatch completely, before turning off the power on the power armour. It made the process of getting to the medical compartment easier. "Was that not it?" Azure asked, wearing a slight smile on his face. Blitz nodded and then got up.

"I need to grab Gretzky or Nightclaw to help with this, because from what I remember, it takes a screwdriver or something to be able to take the hatch off. That and… well, the medical compartment is jammed for some reason. If it wasn't, I could have done it with my hooves." Blitz stated, getting a firm nod from Azure and a bark from Anti. The bark from Anti made the others turn and look at her, which made Azure chuckle.

Blitz walked over to Gretzky and tapped him on the shoulder. He was scavenging off a fallen gryphon that he had killed, while protecting Azure and himself. It seemed to be the only gryphon that the raiders and scavengers had sent. The gryphon was a raider for sure, but what didn't add up, was why the raiders and the scavengers were working together. Gretzky turned around and smiled at Blitz knowing that he had just saved them all. Gretzky was one of the citizens that were grateful to have Blitz as an ally.

"Do you need some help with something, Blitz?" Gretzky asked, being overall more chirpier than normal. That thought alone made Blitz smile. He regained focus, but kept the smile on his face, for as long as he could at least.

"Yeah, I need help with the medical compartment on the power armour. It seems to be jammed or something." Blitz explained, looking back at the power armour, before turning back to him. Gretzky nodded and looked over at the pony chassis, before slowly going back to his shop and nabbing a screwdriver. Blitz met him at the armour, Anti lying down beside him. Gretzky got close to the medical compartment, before seeing that it definitely was jammed.

"So, how do you think it happened?" Blitz asked, trying to see if anything was blocking the hatch from opening. Gretzky tried to open it with his claws alone, which didn't work. So instead, he used the screwdriver and managed to bend it, which wasn't an easy task for his screwdriver.

"Mmm… I have no idea Eater. Could you do me a favour? Could you enter the power armour? I have a feeling that there is a lock that prevents ponies from getting into it, without being in it." Gretzky explained, hoping that Blitz would understand. He did understand and went to go get into the armour, before Anti paused him with a growl.

"Umm… Anti? Are you ok?" Blitz asked, before he witnessed something that could have only happened with him around. Anti turned around and barked, before jumping into the armour. The armour closed around her, making it known that a living being was in a suit of power armour. "Umm… okay? That works, I guess." Blitz explained to himself, trying to convince himself that it actually was okay.

Blitz walked back around to Gretzky, noticing that he was trying to get into the hatch, still. He finally broke it open and saw that there was another glowing artifact inside. He picked it up and looked at it a little bit, before Blitz came closer to look at it too.

"What is… Wait… that's like those two of those other artifacts that I found!" Blitz noted while Gretzky passed the artifact to him to look at, while he got into the doctor's hatch, as it was written on the inside of the hatch.

Blitz evaluated the artifact and tried to see why there were certain ones that were glowed. The artifact was a figurine of a pony called 'Daring Do'. It was almost like it was dipped in a super reflective solution. Blitz needed to know what the artifacts were and why they were all glowing.

"Soul Eater? Who's in the power armour?" Gretzky asked. A bark echoed and vibrated the area and the armour, telling Gretzky that Anti, Blitz's new timberwolf, was in the armour. Blitz chuckled, before Anti stepped a paw outside of the armour and ran around to Blitz's side, before barking again. Gretzky smiled and chuckled, before looking at the timberwolf. "Do you think that if I threw a stick for your timberwolf friend here, that it would be considered cannibalism?" Gretzky asked, making Blitz chuckle.

"Probably." Blitz stated, looking down at Anti and stroking her with a forehoof. Stroking her wasn't the most comfortable experience, but at least he was showing compassion to her. He focused back onto Gretzky, before seeing Anti vanish into thin air, within the corner of his eye. Gretzky grabbed the medical supplies that were in the medical hatch of the armour, finding it was filled with most of the most common drugs in the Wasteland. He took them all and placed them all into his saddlebag.

Blitz looked at the artifact and held onto it, placing it into his saddlebag carefully, before turning back to Gretzky.

"I'm going to hold onto that item for a little bit. I'm going to take a closer look at it later and possibly see about talking to Roselight about it." Blitz instructed, getting a firm nod from Gretzky, gaining his approval. Blitz slowly turned and walked away, before Gretzky put his claw on Blitz's shoulder. Blitz slowly turned around to see both Nightclaw and Gretzky looking at him.

"Maybe tonight, we should invite you and Alchem to have a little bit of grub. Haven't seen you and him eat since you both got here." Gretzky spoke aloud, Nightclaw nodding in response. Blitz smiled and nodded.

"That would be nice. When would it be?" Blitz asked. Nightclaw smiled, looking to Gretzky, who was wearing the exact same smile.

"Right after we have finished here and moved all of the bodies out of the settlement, which is what I am doing." Nightclaw stated, wearing a smile that would warm any creature's heart.

"Oh that reminds me Nightclaw, ta dah! You get the power armour!" Gretzky said, waving his claws around while looking at the power armour. Nightclaw nodded, before taking the power armour and getting in it.

"It's better than that my young friend. It has literally full charge on the battery!" Nightclaw screamed from inside the armour. He ran away with it, heading back to his blacksmithing area. Gretzky chuckled a little from that, before looking at the bodies around him.

"Nopony or creature wanted anything like this to happen, but we had to do what was necessary to survive. I hate killing ponies and creatures, but when family and friends come under fire, there is only one thing that you can do… to save them. You have to stop the attackers by any means necessary." Gretzky stated, feeling a little defeated. Blitz could feel Gretzky's pain and emotions from that statement, so he did the only thing that would make him better in that situation. He rushed over to Gretzky and gave him a hug. Blitz instantly felt the tightness of Gretzky as he hugged him and allowed him to begin to relax.

Bodies were looted and then placed in their own little grave, outside of the settlement. Nightclaw used the power armour to dig the graves. The reason that he went back to his area is because he needed to make some 'modifications' to the armour and added two shovels to the side of them. It was pretty funny when they heard about it, but it was scary how good the modification worked.

As soon as all of the bodies were looted and buried, Nightclaw got out of the power armour and began to cook various items. All of the residents came to Nightclaw's blacksmithing area, ready to eat. Azure sat to the side, watching all of the food being cooked. It made his mouth water, but he didn't know if he could eat the things being cooked. Meat was not something that he would ever eat, but they were short on food that ponies used to eat.

Nightclaw passed the piping hot food to Gretzky, who then sliced it into slices and placed it on plates for the hungry residents. As soon as all of the other residents were fed with various meats, Azure, Gretzky and Nightclaw were the last ones to be served, until they saw Blitz approaching. He held the two artifacts with his magic, looking between the Daring Do figurine and the glowing stone.

"Eater? Take a break will you. You've been looking at those things since you got back to your little area. Have some grub!" Nightclaw called out, getting a couple slices of meat ready for Blitz. Gretzky looked over to Azure, seeing that he wasn't looking okay.

"Alchem? Are you okay?" Gretzky asked, being slightly concerned. Azure lifted his head and smiled, before Gretzky smiled back. He passed a plate of thinly cut meat over to Azure. He turned his nose up at it, but then looked it over. Nightclaw passed over a plate to Blitz, before serving himself and Gretzky with the rest of the meat. They both sat next to Blitz and Azure hoping that they both enjoyed the meat. They knew that it wasn't what ponies were used to eating, but it would have given them so much more muscle and energy from it.

Blitz looked at Azure and smiled, sliding the plate closer to him. Azure gave an angry scowl at Blitz and growled slightly.

"Please bud. For me? Beggars can't be choosers, remember?" Blitz stated, making sure that Azure knew that Blitz only tried to help. "I can promise that you'll like it, ok?" Blitz promised, making a smile appear on Azure's muzzle.

"And what if I don't like it, what will you do?" Azure asked.

"Nothing!" Blitz chuckled, before tasting some of the meat. His eyes widened and focused directly on Nightclaw. "What is in this? It's so good!" Blitz admitted, looking to Azure for a brief second. Azure sighed, before taking a bite of the meat. He tasted it for a couple of seconds before he commented on it.

"What meat is this Nightclaw?" He asked, curious to what it was. Nightclaw pondered for a little bit, before coming to his conclusion.

"I'm pretty sure that this is wolf meat, if I'm not mistaken." Nightclaw admitted, making Anti summon. Anti growled at him and kept biting the air.

"Anti, ain't you just made of sticks?" Blitz asked, getting a response from the angry timberwolf. She slowly walked over to him and glared at him. Blitz picked up a little piece of meat from his plate and carried it down to her height. She slowly walked over and licked the meat, before taking it from Blitz's hoof. Blitz stroked her, getting a simple wag of her tail in response.

Blitz continued to eat the food, as too did Azure, coming up with topics to talk about and enjoying their first meal in several days. It was good, it was a happy time. Blitz's only thought though, was what linked the artifacts together?

Chapter 8: Linked Legacy's

After a relaxing meal and a great night's sleep, both Azure and Blitz were eager to start their day on good notes. Azure moved his head, signalling that he was awake. He lifted his head off Blitz's body and smiled. He looked down at Blitz, staring back at him with his own smile.

"I got to admit, I wouldn't mind you being my pillow for the future." Azure chuckled, making his ears flop from one side to another, almost like a dog's. Blitz cackled lightly, noticing his ears flopping, drooping and perking every couple of seconds, making Azure look like he was slightly confused about the situation.

"Only if you keep me warm at night, with your fluffy wings." Blitz stated, getting a scornful face from Azure. Blitz chuckled and tilted his head to one side. "I'm joking of course." Blitz stated, making Azure smile and cackle again. The mornings that Blitz and Azure spent together were some of the best times that they had ever experienced. They were always warm, waking up from bliss and most importantly, woke up in the embrace of the other. They enjoyed it nonetheless.

Blitz slowly got to his hooves, stretching and cracking almost every bone in his body. He looked over at some of the stuff that they were doing last night and smiled. There was a card game going on that was still unfinished and the two artifacts placed on the table, alongside the cards. Blitz slowly walked up to the cards and packed them away with his magic, before placing them back into a cupboard, originally where they had come from. As soon as Blitz closed the door of the cupboard, he turned to see Azure sitting in the chair closest to him.

Azure turned his head before pointing with a hoof at the other chair, on the opposite side of him. Blitz rolled his eyes before he walked over and pulled out the chair with his magic. He sat down shortly after and looked at Azure. Azure placed his hooves out onto the table and Blitz's first intention was to place his own hooves on Azure's. This released a slight little blush from both of them, Azure's being a slight pink and Blitz's being a slight blue. It was cute, but Blitz wanted to tell Azure about something anyway.

Breaking the blissful moment, Blitz used his magic to move the artifacts to his saddlebag, placing both of them within it. Azure was slightly confused by his actions, but tried to go along with it, only to have it ponder and bubble his curiosity to the surface of his fur.

"Blitz? What are you going to do with the artifacts?" Azure asked, being slightly curious to what was going through Blitz's mind. He looked back at Azure and sighed, before holding Azure's hooves again, no blush coming from him this time.

"I'm going to let Roselight look at the artifacts while we are out with Gretzky. Surely she has some idea or an insight that might explain all of this." He suggested, getting a careful nod from Azure. Azure rubbed one of Blitz's hooves with both of his, making Blitz's cheeks turn blue and making his wings flutter. "Stop it!" He blurted out with a smile, getting Azure to cut it out. He did, but he didn't stop looking at Blitz.

"I'm so lucky to have you here bud. Love ya like a bro, I hope you know that." Azure spoke aloud, getting a chirp from Blitz in response. He chirped when he was really happy about something, so Azure guessed that him saying that had an effect.

"Love you too dude." Blitz stated, his cheeks turning a dark purple. It was cute, but Azure knew then and there that Blitz was blushing incredibly hard, so he did the best and only thing he knew how to do. He hugged Blitz tightly by getting out of his chair and going around the table. Blitz hugged him back, getting closer to him with every hug. He closed his eyes during the hug, trying to make it last longer. It was inevitable anyway, which made Blitz a little sad that the moment of blissfulness had to end so quickly. At least let them both have another five minutes?

The moments that everypony wanted to last forever, came quicker than they always wanted. Blitz pulled away from the hug and slowly walked towards the window. It looked like it was the dawn of a new day outside, but in reality, they had no idea of time. There was just day and night, no in-between. Blitz thought it was the morning, but had no concept of time and perception, due to it always looking like the dawn of a new day.

Blitz turned away from the window and got another hug from Azure. It was a surprise hug, but Blitz could feel that Azure was meaning every fibre of it, from his emotions to his actions, Blitz could feel them all. He was a changeling, able to taste love and feel the strength of emotions to their fullest. Blitz wrapped his forehooves around Azure and nuzzled into his neck, not knowing what else to do but love him that little bit more.

Blitz saw that Azure had closed his eyes during the hug, making Blitz's cheeks turn blue again and making a smile appear on his muzzle, again. Blitz pulled Azure away from himself, before lifting up Azure's chin with his magic.

"You're my best friend right now Azure. I trust you with almost anything. I'm going to continue this adventure, only if you're with me to help." Blitz stated, making Azure's eyes gleam with a different type of magic, one which Blitz had not seen in a long, long time. His eyes were full of hope.

Blitz stretched, before making his way to the front door of the building. He picked up his saddlebag from the side and grabbed Azure's too. It didn't weigh him down as much as he had thought, which was a positive, but it was still heavy. Azure got to Blitz and looked a little confused, seeing that he had both of the saddlebags on his back. That wasn't going to be good for his health, so Azure decided to do the noble thing and take his saddlebag from Blitz's back, before they both set a hoof outside.

Blitz closed the door behind them and saw that the wall was somewhat fixed, judging by the spikes that were jutting out in different directions, within the settlement. Blitz walked closer to it and saw that it was a temporary fix, just so that the settlement didn't look weak.

"Oh sweet Celestia! I forgot the artifacts!" Blitz stated, before racing back into the building that they had just left. Azure looked down to see Anti stooding next to him. She looked up at him, her tongue on display. He cautiously and hesitantly went to stroke her, before she barked at him, making him jump. She moved towards his hoof anyway, making him stroke her. He began to rub her head, feeling all of the twigs and sticks overlapping, which made him shudder with uncomfortableness. He sighed, before continuing to stroke her. She sat down, allowing his hoof to have an easier time traversing the terrain that was her head and pretty much the rest of her body.

Azure looked away from the wooden canine and chuckled silently, before seeing Roselight appear in front of him. It was unexpected and even she was surprised that she ended up there, but she smiled at Azure happily.

"Morning Alchem! I hope I didn't scare you at all. My teleportation spell is acting up this morning and that is what I'm so spooked that I ended up here." Roselight spoke aloud, not caring about who was listening to their conversation. Something about her was a little bit off. Her mane was different! Her mane was black, with gleaming white particles within the thick black locks that she had. This made Azure a little curious.

"Morning Roselight. May I ask you something?" Azure asked, keeping his eyes locked on the mane. The purple unicorn was slightly confused to see Azure staring at her mane, so she pushed forwards.

"Of course Doctor! What is it?" Roselight pressed, giving him a concerning look. He didn't reply instantly, he just continued to stare at her mane, which she then realised that he was focusing on that, rather than her. "Oh… yeah, about my mane… it's not important. Anyway, how have you and Soul Eater been doing?" She questioned, changing the topic almost instantly. It made Azure a little sceptical of what she might have been hiding. It was almost like her hair was flowing.

"We've been alright, just a little tired from waking up not too long ago." Azure announced to her, making her smile a little. "Actually, Eater wanted to speak to you about something." He added, seeing that she was vaguely interested. Azure turned around to the sound of hoof steps coming from behind him. Blitz ran back to him and Roselight and panted for a couple of seconds, before he spoke softly.

"I… need to… ugh… speak to you about...pfft… something." Blitz explained, trying to catch his breath. Azure held onto him, keeping him steady on his own hooves. "Thanks pal, but I gotta tell you, the pain in my hindleg is beginning to hurt again." Blitz thanked him, getting a nod from Azure.

"If you two come with me, we can have a little chat in my office." Roselight prompted, getting both of their attention. Roselight began to walk to her building, followed closely by two. Blitz kept looking around to see the effects that the invasion had on the settlement. There were some things, like the wall, that had been destroyed within the chaos. It consisted of a house and some of the ladders that they used to climb up onto the wall. Blitz felt a little bad that he didn't help as much as he could have, but he was grateful that everypony and creature was alright.

When he got to thinking about it, he didn't feel any pain from the point that he died at. He got blasted away by an explosion, but there was no damage. Blitz came to the conclusion, after a little battle with his mind, that he got blown up with air. It made him chuckle, which made both Roselight and Azure turn to look at him.

"What's so funny, Eater?" Roselight asked, waiting for Blitz to answer her.

"Nothing Roselight, it's nothing. Just something funny that I thought of inside my head." Blitz admitted. Roselight had her doubts, but turned away from him. Azure looked at him shortly after before he noticed something. Blitz was a little distracted, but his right eye kept flickering slightly to a red variation of his normal beautiful blue eyes. It freaked Azure out a little, but Blitz just shook his head and lost the effect. Azure turned his head and saw the building.

Roselight opened the door with her magic and stood outside it, allowing Azure and Blitz to travel past her, before she closed the door quickly and hit the light switch with one of her hooves. The lights turned on and Blitz immediately noticed the artifact that Roselight had. She noticed that he was immediately interested in it, so she walked towards the artifact and locked eyes with Blitz.

"The blueprint is not going to be used yet, Eater!" Roselight roared, not scaring him at all. He didn't react to what she said, which made her a little curious about it.

"Do you mind if I have a look at it?" Blitz asked her, not tearing his eyes away from the artifact. In the factory, the artifact did glow, which made Blitz realise that it was like the Daring Do figurine and the stone artifacts that they had, but he wanted to get behind why they glowed and why they were all important. Blitz realised that Roselight was contemplating on her decision, but she knew that she wouldn't trust him fully with it.

"You may look at it, but not touch." Roselight muttered, her head flickering a little, twitching like there was something wrong with her. Blitz and Azure both took this on board and kept an eye on her, just in case something happened. Blitz slowly walked over to it and turned to Roselight.

"Can you turn the lights off for a couple of seconds at the minimum? I want to see what the glowing writing says." Blitz asked, getting a stern look from Roselight, before she turned the light off, still being able to see Blitz, due to the light from the blueprint.

Blitz evaluated the blueprint, seeing that it was a plan to build a barn. It had all of the required materials written down to make it and had all of the measurements written down as well. Blitz signalled for Roselight to come over to him, which she immediately did, standing right behind him and watching his movements like a hawk.

"You didn't need these blueprints to build things, did you?" Blitz questioned, feeling like he knew what she was about to do. He peeled over his shoulder to find a gun pointed to his head, like he had originally predicted. Azure flicked on the lights slowly and watched in horror. He pointed himself towards her and got ready to bite down on the mouth piece. Blitz caught wind of this and sighed.

"Alchem, put your weapons away. She isn't a threat." Blitz stated, as he watched him slowly get to a normal stance and walking over to stand beside Blitz. Roselight still pointed a gun at Blitz's head, which didn't help her case of being incredibly helpful.

"What do you know about the artifact?" Roselight growled, pushing the gun against his head. He smiled and chuckled softly, turning his head to her and looking into her eyes.

"Put the gun down and I'll be more relaxed and able to remember what I came here to talk to you about, in regards to the artifact you have." Blitz explained, changing his smile for a slightly worried look, watching her actions. She shook and Blitz could immediately tell that something was wrong. He could see that she was trying to put down her weapon, but something was stopping her from doing so. He looked into her eyes and watched in horror as her eyes changed from circles to slits, almost like Sadjoy's eyes.

The gun shook in her magic, as she tried to lower the weapon, which didn't work. Blitz acted quickly and slapped the weapon away with his magic, before he grabbed the weapon for himself, taking out the remaining ammo and sliding the receiver, making sure that there was no bullet loaded in her weapon. She just shook in place, wincing as she closed her eyes, forcing them shut. Something was definitely wrong.

Roselight shook her head and looked back at Blitz, smiling with a couple of tears in her eyes. Blitz walked up to her slowly, before he held his hoof out, meeting her terrified gaze.

"Have we got you back Roselight?" Blitz asked, still holding his hoof out for her to reach for. She looked at it for a couple of seconds, before she nodded slowly, taking his hoof and grabbing it softly. Blitz smiled and so did Azure. She closed her eyes and smiled sadly, making Blitz's heart melt a little. He knew that there was something wrong with her, but he didn't know what it was. The mane, the eyes, the hatred. None of those emotions of expressions existed naturally. There was something within her, somepony within her.

He dropped the subject and went back to the blueprints, looking at all of the little details before he came to the conclusion of something. He had a plan, but he needed to start a chain reaction of events to kick start it. Blitz opened his saddlebag and pulled out the stone and the Daring Do figurine, without Roselight seeing what they were.

"Roselight? What was the real reason you wanted the blueprint, the artifact?" He questioned, turning to her. "Please be truthful with me." He added, keeping both of the artifacts behind him. She hesitated for a tiny bit, before she opened her mouth to speak.

"There is something about those artifacts that link to the ministry mares in some way. I don't know which one the blueprint relates to, but I need more information if I am going to find out." Roselight admitted, seeing that there was a little bit of a smile appearing one Blitz's face.

He brought out the other artifacts that he had, the stone and figurine. Roselight went wide eyed and paused breathing, which spooked Blitz and Azure just a little bit. She regained her rhythm of breathing and slowly walked up to Blitz. He placed them both on her desk and stood back. She took a look at them both and tried to make out what ministry mare would match which item. She couldn't decipher who matched with what and vice versa.

"Where did you find these?" Roselight simply asked, looking to Blitz for an explanation. He sat his rump on the floor and thought for a second, Azure coming up beside him and sitting down with him.

"Well, the first one was in the possession of the leader of our old settlement. It was the stone. Our leader, Appleseed, was in possession of it, hiding it under the floorboards of a building in the settlement. Raiders killed all of our settlement dwellers and searched the area for something. Whether they found it or not, they didn't take the stone with them." Azure explained, surprising Blitz with him stepping up to the description and matching it perfectly.

"What about the other artifact, the figurine?" Roselight asked, giving Blitz a glare, which he replied back to her with a smile.

"That one we recently found. Yesterday, we found that within the medical compartment of the power armour that Nightclaw took in. It was blocking the compartment from opening, without a pony or creature inside the power armour. It's got something to do with Daring Do, a pony in a comic book collection." Blitz explained pointing to the figurine. He got up and grabbed it, before pointing at the writing that linked the item to the comic series. Roselight smiled a little, knowing that those made her collection halfway completed. If there were only six ministry mares, then she would have only needed three more artifacts to have them all.

"I… I'm a little bit shocked." Roselight admitted, stuttering a little bit.

"If it's okay Roselight, I'd like to leave them here with you, for a little bit anyway. Is that okay?" Blitz asked, getting a little look from Azure, suggesting that he was a little surprised by his actions.

"N...n… no, you… you can't… yes… yes… yes, of course you can, Eater!" Roselight hesitated heavily, like she was trying to fight somepony to stop them from saying no. Or was that the other way around? Blitz knew the answer. There was something wrong, but he didn't have time to sort it out right then and there. They had to meet up with Gretzky to do his little errand.

"We have to go, Roselight. I'll come back and talk to you when I'm back." Blitz told her, making her nod and smile, her eyes turning to those slits that Blitz saw before. The same slits that had been present in that stained glass window display. Blitz was trying to make it so that Roselight didn't know that he knew what was wrong. He instantly looked away from her eyes and then shook his head.

Blitz used his magic to move the artifacts onto the table more, just pushing them back to preventing them from falling off. He then turned to Roselight and bowed to her, before looking at Azure. Azure nodded before getting up and following Blitz out of the building. Roselight stayed behind, eyeing the artifacts like they were hidden treasures.

The door closed and Blitz sighed dramatically, letting out the biggest sigh he had ever let out. That got Azure's attention and made him turn to look at Blitz. He noticed that Blitz's focus wasn't on getting to Gretzky, but to looking back at the door, back at Roselight.

"Is everything okay, Blitz?" Azure asked, checking up on Blitz, to make sure that he was okay and focused. Blitz shook his head, before locking eyes with Azure.

"Something is up with Roselight, something that could be big." Blitz admitted, trying to make it so the nopony else could hear. Azure moved closer, allowing Blitz to whisper into his ear. "Roselight has the same eyes as that mare I was telling you about." Blitz whispered into Azure's ear, getting a simple nod in response.

"Are you sure?" Azure asked, making sure Blitz was one hundred percent confident about it. He nodded, making Azure worry a little, before they both turned away and walked towards Gretzky's area. On the way there, Blitz kept thinking about it more and more, until he had one of those experiences again. Everything faded to black and white again, being gray-scaled again. The only thing that wasn't being gray-scaled, was Azure. Blitz looked left and right, seeing that it was the inner walls of the palace. They were just as beautiful as the memory orb had pictured them.

Blitz stopped for a couple of seconds, before noticing that he was in the part of the palace that was occupied by the stained glass window.

"Azure, stop and look at this!" Blitz commanded, getting Azure's attention. Azure came back and looked at what Blitz was pointing at. It was a brick wall, just one solid red and brown brick wall.

"It's a wall?" Azure questioned, not knowing what Blitz was seeing. Blitz looked over to him and Azure saw something that he didn't like in Blitz's eyes. They were dark grey and were twitching a little. It scared Azure a little, but he didn't say anything to Blitz.

"Oh right, you can't see this. Well, like when I fell over the first time, I can see the palace walls again and I'm looking at the image that I was on about, again. This is definitely the one!" Blitz explained to Azure. Azure realised that the eyes were a result of Blitz's experience. That made him feel a little bit less afraid of Blitz as a changeling.

"If you don't mind Blitz, are you able to explain to me what you are seeing?" Azure asked, wrapping his wing around Blitz's waist. Blitz looked to Azure and smiled, before looking back at the stained glass window. Blitz closed his eyes for a short period of time, before he opened them and explained what he was seeing. Blitz sighed for a couple of seconds, before sitting down and looking into the imaginary window.

"Right here, there is a stained glass window, from within the memory orb. Something happened to the memory orb that made me get transported into their world. Anyway, the stained glass window held an event of both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They fought each over, due to Princess Luna becoming evil and wanting power. The evil was due to something called the Nightmare. It tried to take over Princess Luna's mind and body, which in the end, it did, due to the regret that Luna faced. It took her over and tried to end Celestia." Blitz explained. Azure just wore a confused frown, looking back at Blitz and pondering what he might have been trying to explain.

"Go on!" Azure commanded, letting Blitz take a breath, before continuing.

"Well… the Nightmare was terrifying apparently, razor sharp eyes, sharp fangs and changing a pony's appearance. I noticed that with Roselight earlier. Did you? Her mane turned black and shimmery and her eyes changed, everytime those artifacts were mentioned. It was weird, but I am pretty sure that that is the case." Blitz explained, making Azure look a little way back to Roselight's building and then back at Blitz.

"Hmm… let's forget about that right now and focus on what's important. We still need to get to Gretzky, so come on!" Azure stated, before sprinting down the path, towards Gretzky's area. Blitz didn't move, but then he saw his little K-9 companion. Anti wagged her tail, before chasing after Azure and catching up to him instantly. Anti passed him and teleported Blitz to her location, which scared and confused both Blitz and Azure. The last they checked, timberwolves and animals in general weren't able to use magic, so this only tightened their curiosity on what Anti really was.

Blitz fell to the floor, due to being teleported without notice and sighed, dropping his gaze to look at the floor. Azure held out a hoof for him to grab onto. Blitz did, grabbing Azure's hoof and getting put to his hooves and walked over to him, before wrapping his hooves around Azure's body and hugging him. Azure blushed dramatically, but kept his cool and hugged back. It was a nice little moment, but all good things had to come to an end eventually. The both exited the hug as fast as they had entered the warm embrace.

"Feeling better?" Azure asked, enjoying his company like always. Blitz nodded and smiled, knowing that Azure did too. They made their way over to Gretzky's little shop area and paused when they saw Gretzky having his own warm embrace, with Plumjuice. Both Blitz and Azure smiled as they looked at each other and Blitz got a little closer to Azure, allowing Azure to wrap a wing around Blitz's body. It was nice, especially for Blitz, since his changeling genes allowed him to see and taste love. Their love was exotic!

Gretzky looked over and smiled, seeing that both Azure and Blitz were waiting patiently. Gretzky finished hugging his mare, before focusing on his goal for today. Plumjuice waved to both Azure and Blitz, which in turn, they both waved back happily. Regaining focus, Blitz and Azure both walked up to Gretzky and smiled.

"Ready when you are, Gretzky." Blitz stated, ready for the course of today.

"Actually, where is Zeke?" Azure asked, a little curious to where the zebra was. Gretzky smiled pointed in a direction behind some buildings. Gretzky grabbed some razor sharp claws and a shotgun, along with his saddlebag, before turning a little sign around on his shop, to indicate that it was closed. Blitz looked at Gretzky's shotgun and smiled.

"Umm… Gretzky? Isn't that Azure's shotgun?" Blitz asked, pointing at the weapon with his hoof. Gretzky smiled back and nodded.

"It was his shotgun, but I brought it off him." Gretzky told him bluntly, making Blitz chuckle a little. Blitz and Azure both nodded to Gretzky, before he took them to see Zeke. Zeke was sitting on a box, patiently waiting for the group to stumble across him. He jumped off the box and looked towards them, before waving his hoof at them. He had a cloak on, just like Blitz should have had. He left his cloak at their home, which made everything a little more awkward, due to Azure pointing it out. Blitz blushed slightly, making both Gretzky and Zeke smile and chuckle.

"Hello there!" Zeke whispered, making Azure chuckle a little. Azure nodded back happily, going up to him and engaging in a friendly conversation, while Blitz was left with Gretzky to talk to.

"So what's the plan Gretzky?" Blitz asked, getting curious to the plan that would eventually unfold the events. Gretzky pointed a claw at one of the sewer entrances and looked back to Blitz.

"So, we go down to the sewer and travel out of the area and then resurface outside the settlement and follow me to an area that contains some not so nice ponies and creatures." Gretzky stated, checking the ammo in his new shotgun, before sliding the slider and letting a shell fall out, which he then put in a little pouch that he had around his waist.

Blitz checked the ammo that he had on his weapons. He firstly checked the sniper rifle that he had, still having the suppressor on it, but had the scope removed from it. Blitz thought that he would have used the weapon for mid ranged engagements, but still being able to land a shot or two at a far distance. He pulled back the weapons cock handle just a little and saw that he had a bullet ready to fire. He slowly moved the cock handle forwards, to stop the bullet from jumping out. The sniper had a bullet ready in the chamber, so that was enough for him. Blitz put his sniper away and brought out his pistol.

The pistol was in very good condition, having seen most of the action. The semi automatic pistol was a little bundle of lethality. Blitz took out the magazine of the weapon, noticing that there were six bullets in the magazine. He pulled on the slider of the weapon and watched as a bullet flew out to the side of it. He caught it with his magic and slid it back into the magazine, bringing the magazine to its full amount of seven. He loaded the magazine back into the weapon, but didn't cock the weapon. He left it with no bullet in the chamber. It was a bold move, but Blitz would slide the chamber when he needed to do so. He moved his pistol into his pouch, allowing it to be accessed quickly.

There was a weapon the Blitz's did want to check, and it would make all of them question why he had it. Blitz teleported the anti-material rifle to his side, getting some questionable looks from them all.

"Did you really take Nightclaw's advice and take the weapon?" Gretzky asked, getting a chuckle from Azure. Blitz nodded back to him and focused on the weapon. The anti-material rifle was in very good condition and was one of the heaviest weapons that Blitz had ever wielded. He put the weapon onto it's stock, before pulling down the cocking handle and seeing the biggest bullet he had ever seen, loaded into the weapons chamber. He closed the weapons slider before looking at the scope. Blitz replaced the scope on his other sniper and placed it onto the anti-material rifle. The weapon was going to be Blitz's last line of defense weapon. He teleported it away before looking at the others.

"What? It's only a last line of defense, if I need it." Blitz explained, getting a confused look from Zeke, but seeing the other two smiling.

"Alright, now that we are ready, do we want to shoot off?" Gretzky asked, being the leader of the little platoon. Zeke and Azure both nodded together, before Blitz nodded as well. Azure saw the sewer entrance and stopped Gretzky.

"Don't we need gas masks down there?" Azure asked, holding Gretzky from moving forward. Gretzky shook his head, before opening the manhole cover.

"The radiation isn't strong down there, as of recently and Roselight only wanted you to wear a mask or something over your mouth Azure, because she doesn't want you to get something bad in your mouth." Gretzky told Azure flatly, Blitz and Zeke watching from the side. Gretzky signalled for the group to enter the sewer system, one at a time. Zeke was the first to climb down the ladder, quickly followed by Azure. As Blitz walked towards the manhole cover, he looked at Gretzky and nodded, before getting a smile and a nod back from Gretzky. Blitz climbed down into the sewer system before hopping off the ladder and looking about. Gretzky slid the cover over the entrance, sealing them inside. He flew down and landed, before being startled by Blitz's glowing red eyes.

Anti appeared with glowing green eyes, which lightened the area close to her a little. Azure looked at Blitz and noticed that his eyes were glowing too, making Azure smile and chuckle.

"Blitz, you're the scariest thing down here. Don't be hiding around corners!" Azure joked and Blitz rolled his eyes in the process. He likes the jokes but they were beginning to become too consistent. Although he was getting all of the jokes towards his eyes, Blitz was actually able to see down there. Everything was bright, but not as bright as it was outside. The only bad thing was something that Zeke pointed out.

"What is that awfully wretched smell?" Zeke asked, not knowing where it was coming from. Gretzky rolled his eyes, before putting on a light, so that he was able to Zeke clearly and walked up to him. He pulled out a bandana from his saddlebag and gave it to Zeke.

"Put this on and it should get rid of most of the smell. This is where all of the sewage goes. This is where all of the aftermath of everypony's body coming, like…" He explained, before Zeke butted in.

"Where poop goes?" Zeke asked, convincing the others that he didn't know about this area or what it was. Gretzky nodded and Zeke was nearly disgusted by it. He tied the bandana around his muzzle and made sure that it covered all of it, not allowing the rancid air to get to his nostrils or mouth. Gretzky offered a bandana to Blitz and Azure, which they both turned down.

"We were both down here with Roselight. I think that we will manage with the smell." Azure explained, getting a smile and nod from Blitz and a growl from Anti. They all looked at her and she stuck her tongue out, like she was trying to smile. Blitz rubbed her woven head and looked down the sewer. Did they even know where they were going?

Gretzky pulled out a map from his saddlebag and held it out. He turned it about a little, before stopping and reading something on it. He didn't waste long on the map, before he placed it back into his saddlebag and walked down the way. Zeke followed closely, hugging the wall nearly as much as he could. Blitz looked at Azure and smiled, his smile reflecting his bright red eyes. Blitz wrapped a wing around Azure, as they walked down the side of the elevated walkway within the sewer.

"I'm only doing this because you have no torch or light of any sort. I can see, but I don't want you wondering off, so stay close to me." Blitz whispered to him, just loud enough for Gretzky to hear it up ahead. That made him smile a little, before looking back and shining a torch on them both.

"That's sweet, Blitz!" Gretzky cooed, adoring the compassion that Blitz had for Azure. Blitz blushed a little, before looking to the ground and watching as Anti growled at Gretzky. He chuckled from both the reaction of Blitz and Anti and turned around, focusing on the way forward.

All of the ghouls from their previous encounter were gone. It was almost like they had just evaporated into thin air, which they technically did, due to Blitz mixing acid with the water in the previous solution that Blitz inserted into the water flow machine. They really didn't want to jump into the centre of the sewage, because even the littlest of contact with the water could have killed a living pony or creature. It was a little worrying, but it didn't make the others worry, which made Blitz just a little better.

The lack of ghouls in the sewers made Blitz become a little on edge, but he had the rest of the squad with him. Azure noticed that Blitz was in deep thought and booped him before he could get to his deepest type of thinking. Blitz went cross eyed for a second, before looking at Azure angrily. Azure chuckled, before looking away.

Blitz kept his wing wrapped around Azure, as they journeyed through the sewer system. It was a little complex, but Gretzky got them out in the exact spot. A load of weaving and wondering later, they spotted a manhole cover that was down in the sewer, rather than being above it, like it was meant to. As they got closer to the exit, it looked like the hole was huge, bigger than the one that they had traveled down. Zeke ran up to it, before meeting a ghoul that was trying to bite him. Zeke spotted the ghoul, before bucking it in the head, making its head break into pieces.

"And that is why you don't try to touch a zebra!" Azure whispered, Blitz picking up on it, but not adding anything to it. It confused him a little, but it didn't let him become off guard. He kept his ears and eyes scanning for any danger and Anti joined him in the sense. Azure didn't move like Zeke did, but moved out of the hold of Blitz's wing and walked towards the ladder, before flying up beside it. Zeke climbed up the ladder as fast as his legs could carry him. Gretzky turned to Blitz, before flying up and out of the hole. The hole was beginning to cave in, from the weight of all three of them standing above, waiting for Blitz to climb up.

"Eater! Hurry, it's collapsing!" Gretzky called out, seeing a bright flash, followed by a changeling standing next to them all. Blitz was a little surprised by the ground that they were all standing on, but it didn't really matter. It was a soft and brittle type of mud, much like it had been near the hydra. It made Blitz a little sceptical, but he shook it off quickly, before coming to grips with the situation.

The ground had fallen, due to the weight of Gretzky, Azure and Zeke. Blitz didn't understand why the ground was so soft, but he wanted to find out how the sewer exit was broken. Blitz looked down into the rubble, seeing that there was still a way to get back into the sewer, had they needed to go back that way. Blitz turned to Azure and Zeke, seeing that they were both in the mindset of doing the same thing that Blitz was just doing. They were becoming their own detective. That thought alone got Blitz to cackle softly, getting the attention of the other two.

"What's getting you to chuckle so much there, Soul Eater?" Zeke asked, not understanding why he was giggling so much and so softly. Blitz didn't respond, getting a confused look from Zeke in response.

"He's fine. He just does that from time to time." Azure stated, looking at Blitz walking up to Gretzky. He shook his head, before walking back over to Gretzky too, leaving Zeke to ponder on what he was hiding. Zeke calmly strolled over to Gretzky, looking at Blitz the entire time. They all forgot about the sewer for the time being and began to walk down a cobbled pathway, similar to the one that they journeyed down while returning from the raiders.

Zeke was still technically a raider, he just betrayed his allies when he was given a choice. Blitz thought of that a little, going into detail with it. Would he betray them when another opportunity came about, that would benefit him more? That was a scary thought that Blitz couldn't shake away. In the future, Blitz would keep his ears out for anything that would assume that Zeke was having second thoughts about being on their side.

Azure walked alongside Blitz, keeping his wing wrapped around Blitz, due to the weather turning south really, really fast. Azure remembered the first time that Blitz got cold. Azure had to keep him warm for a couple of hours, risking Blitz's life, due to him being a changeling and all, making him cold blooded. He was a bug. He was Azure's best bug. This made himself smile and also made his mind happy. That was something that he wanted to remember for a long time.

Zeke was silent. He didn't speak much, but when he did, it would come out in short bursts. Something was definitely on his mind, which got Blitz a little worried. Zeke shook his head, before looking around, seeing if anypony or creatures were watching. He caught Blitz's gaze, but didn't challenge his concentration. That made Blitz's mind wonder just that little bit more, not helping his situation as they followed behind Gretzky.

Gretzky was too indulged into his map to realise that there was something moving in the distance. A quick bark from Anti got his attention, making him look up and see the figure, before it moved out of sight. What didn't make sense, was that it was daytime and yet the figure just vanished from view. It confused everyone who saw the figure.

"That's… strange… let's keep moving along!" Gretzky commanded, keeping an eye out for anything that was unordinary. Blitz, Azure and Zeke all did the same, looking around for something, during the daylight. Without realising it, they picked up the pace. Blitz thought it was a good time to lighten the mood, by talking to Gretzky about what they were doing, now that they were out of the settlement.

"Gretzky? What are we actually doing out here?" Blitz asked, very curious as to why they were wondering down a path. Gretzky stopped, before turning to look at Blitz. Gretzky sighed, before looking Blitz, dead in the eyes.

"We are out here to gather some resources and to meet one of my contacts to gather some materials for my shop. The only problem i have is that I haven't heard from them within a couple of days, which worries me dramatically." Gretzky carefully explained, getting both Azure's and Zeke's attention.

"So we are pretty much going into this blind." Blitz spoke out, getting a firm nod from Gretzky. Blitz didn't like that very much. He much preferred them going in and knowing the situation, rather than going in like they were. Gretzky called out to all of them that they were coming closer to the settlement, which got them all on edge. Blitz was a little more on edge than the others, because he had some thoughts already on his mind. Blitz's mind began to play tricks on him, which didn't help the situation.

Blitz closed his eyes, to only be revealed with another scene before him. Yes, he could still see all of his allies and the road ahead, but the tree line either side of them was now just the constant corridor that kept blocking his mind. He looked down at Anti and smiled. She looked up into Blitz eyes and paused. In turn, Blitz also paused, waiting for her to catch up. She slowly walked to Blitz and kept as close to him as she could, while trying to catch up to the others.

The response from those two events got the attention of all three of the others. Azure knew what was going on, as he looked into Blitz's eyes, but Zeke and Gretzky had no idea.

"Umm… Eater? What has happened to your eyes?" Zeke asked, moving over to help him. As soon as he got close enough, Anti growled at him, making the zebra stop trying to help Blitz. Zeke looked down at the female timberwolf and slowly moved his hoof forward, towards Blitz. The original grow was replaced with a snarl, and then a form of air chomping. Blitz looked to Zeke and pushed him against the supposed wall of the Canterlot hallway that he was in.

"Stop messing with Anti!" Blitz warned, tightening his hold on Zeke with his magic. Azure rushed up to Blitz and pulled him back.

"Eater… shhh! It's okay!" Azure tried to tell him, to calm him down. Azure was going to be on Blitz's side most of the time, due to him knowing what Blitz was going through. The thoughts, the illusions, the nightmares and the constant flicker changes would surely hurt him bad. Azure was pretty sure that Blitz was corrupted or something along those lines, but he didn't give up on who Blitz was, so he was going to support him as much as he could.

Blitz sighed, letting go of Zeke with his magic and moving back. Anti kept her eyes locked on the zebra and growled slightly. Blitz could hear her growl and shook his head, trying to clear the scene before him.

"Eater, are you okay?" Gretzky asked, being slightly concerned about Blitz's health and mind. Blitz nodded, before grabbing his head with a hoof, while Azure steadied him, keeping Blitz on at least 3 legs. Gretzky began to walk off in the direction that he was originally going, quickly followed by Zeke. Blitz and Azure followed shortly after.

Anti walked alongside Blitz, making sure that he was out of harm's way. She made sure that he had enough room to walk, but not enough for anypony or creature was able to stand on her side of him. Blitz looked down at her and rubbed her head with a hoof, making her nuzzle his hoof.

Without warning, Gretzky stopped moving, making it so that Blitz walked into the back of him, accidentally. Gretzky didn't turn back to Blitz, he only held his claw out to him, signalling for him to stand back. He did so without hesitation, not knowing that Gretzky was doing. Blitz looked around and saw that there was a settlement in the distance, but it was very, very quiet.

Blitz spotted some movement in the distance, which didn't lie right with the possibility that the settlement could have been taken over. Gretzky was trying to keep as quiet as possible, scheming a plan that would allow them to get closer to the settlement, without alerting anypony or creature. He looked around and could see figures moving in the distance too. He slowly moved across the way, straying off the path and into the woods a little. Zeke and Azure joined him, leaving Blitz alone with Anti.

Anti just looked up at Blitz and sat down, implying that she was either going to stay put, or that she would stand by Blitz, throughout it all. Blitz was hoping that it was the latter. He took out his sniper rifle and carried it with his magic, before he looked back to see Anti was up on all four wooden legs. She tilted her head to Blitz, before walking towards him and nuzzling his injured hindleg. He couldn't feel the contact of her scaly wooden body, which worried him a little.

Blitz put the rifle down and realised that the bandages around his wound were cut and torn, but that didn't surprise him. He took the bandage off carefully and saw something odd. His hindleg was sharper and heavier than it previously was. He had chunks of his leg taken out, like most changelings did, but he looked at it and saw that it was less edged, less smooth, which made him worry, but not too much.

A pony came towards Blitz and aimed a weapon at him. He looked up and saw the barrel of a pistol, pointed directly towards his head. Everything went white, before visions flashed into his view. He couldn't recognise anything that was happening in those views, but he could recognise one pony in particular within one of them. The guard pony for their new settlement. He was laid down on a board, almost like he was injured by something.

Blitz shook his head and watched as all of the corridors faded away, leaving the trees, but no friends. Blitz looked to the floor and looked around for Anti. He eventually spotted her ahead of himself, where she was looking at the others. Blitz breathed in a sigh of relief, before moving to them all and sneaking down.

"What are we going to do, Gretzky?" Azure asked, checking around for some more activity.

"I go in and see whether they are willing to comply or not!" Blitz spoke out, getting up and walking past them all. Azure went to stop Blitz, but Gretzky held him down.

"Do you want us to get spotted? If not, then stay down. I trust Eater will be fine, due to that look in his eye." Gretzky admitted, looking back over to Blitz, while he hid in the trees and bushes from a distance. The settlement definitely had somepony or creature within its walls, but it definitely was not right, due to how little activity was going on within it.

As Blitz got closer, his mind began to play tricks on him, flashing memories from the memory orb into his view, which was quickly going to annoy him massively. He had Anti by his side, which made his little experience that much less of a problem, because he was pretty sure that she could just disappear when the danger got too much and then reappear again when it was gone.

There was definitely something within the settlement, due to figures moving about, beyond the gate. Blitz readied his sniper rifle and made sure there was definitely a bullet in the chamber. He kept his sniper aimed to the ground, to avoid any conflict with anypony that wanted to come across him. Blitz walked up to the main gate, before flying up a little bit and landed on the side of the wall, just hanging there while he worked up to courage to peek over. Eventually, he worked up enough courage to hop onto the wall and look down to the grounds within the walls.

There were multiple ponies… collecting bodies. Blitz put his weapon away before hopping down into the main grounds. He looked back up and could see multiple guns being pointed at him, ranging from hoof claws, to rocket launchers. Blitz bowed, before sitting down.

"Has something bad happened here? I've brought somepony or a special gryphon along with me." Blitz explained. "I mean no harm to any of you!" Blitz added, his ears folding back. One of the ponies raised their hoof up, signalling for the guns and weapons alike, to be lowered. Blitz smiled softly. "Thank you!" Blitz thanked, standing back onto his hooves. "I'm just going to go ahead and signal the others that I have brought with me to come over, is that okay?" Blitz asked, getting a nod from the pony that signalled for the others to drop their weapons.

Blitz got out his anti-material rifle and aimed it in their general direction, before shaking the weapon about slowly, trying to send a glint of the scope on the weapon, to grab their attention. Blitz looked down the scope and could see them moving to him quickly. He teleported the anti-material rifle away and turned back to the others.

"We are so glad that you are not another one of those scavengers!" One of them admitted, stepping forward. Blitz was slightly confused, but noticed that something was definitely wrong. All of the scavengers attacking the settlement, in conjunction with the raiders, was a little jarring. The mare looked at him and smiled.

"Our settlement got attacked by raiders and scavengers yesterday. Something is definitely wrong with all of this and I want to get to the bottom of it!" Blitz explained aloud, hearing some hoofsteps behind him. He turned to see Gretzky, Zeke and Azure. Where was Anti? He didn't need to worry about her, because she walked with him to the settlement and probably disappeared before Blitz got to the inside of the settlement.

As Blitz was speaking about her, she appeared next to Blitz, nuzzling his hindleg. He smiled at the sweet gesture for his wooden K-9 companion. Gretzky smiled as he went to hug the mare that stepped out to Blitz. He turned around and started to chuckle.

"You three, meet Petalbreeze, Roselight's sister!" Gretzky informed them, making them all look shocked.

Chapter 9: Dodgy Deals

"So you're Roselight's sister?" Blitz asked Petalbreeze, getting a nod from her in response. She didn't look much like Roselight, but he guessed that something happened to Roselight to change her shape.

"I bet you're curious about what happened to her, right?" Petalbreeze questioned, knowing full well that Blitz wanted to know the answer. Blitz nodded his head in response and kept his eyes locked to hers. She sighed, before pressing on with the conversation. "Roselight is one hundred percent my sister alright. She acts like me and talks like me, well… she used to at least. She went off on a journey a couple of years ago and came back at… that! That purple and white mess is my sister, but it's like she is a different mare altogether." Petalbreeze admitted, wiping a tear from her eye. She then looked into the dense woodland that was beyond both of their views.

Blitz turned to look at the woodland too and then sighed, before looking to Petalbreeze and scowling.

"I think I have an idea of what has happened to her, but it's only a theory." Blitz warned, watching as she turned to look at him.

"Go on then, take a shot at it. Please explain to me why my sister has turned into something else." Petalbreeze lashed out unintentionally. She hung her head down and sighed. "Sorry, I'm just a little stressed. Still getting over the fact that there are only a hoof full of us left." She added, scuffing her hoof against the concrete floor of the wall. Blitz just looked down either side of the wall, to check to see if anypony or creatures were watching them talk or listening to the conversation that they were having. Gladly, there wasn't. Blitz looked back to Petalbreeze, before turning his entire body to her.

"Do you know what happened to Princess Luna? Like as in the banishment to the moon?" Blitz repeatedly questioned her, getting a nod from her in response.

"Yes, I think that Princess Luna called herself something along the lines of Nightmare Moon, right?" Petalbreeze tried to confirm, getting a swift nod from Blitz.

"So the demon or magic that entered Princess Luna was called 'The Nightmare'. When Princess Luna returned, that energy from that nightmare vanished. After the bombs fell, Luna and Celestia most likely died to protect everypony else. Do you think that the nightmare could have taken hold of Roselight, cause she looks like an Alicorn with no wings?" Blitz queried, making Petalbreeze think for a little bit, before she tilted her head in response and went back to thinking again.

"I have to argue with that, because why would a nightmare go after my sister?" Petalbreeze questioned, trying to get her head around the situation.

Blitz looked around and tried to get a grip on what was going on with Roselight. The eyes, mane and attitude matched up with the nightmare, judging by the little conversation he had with Luna and Pinkie Pie. Roselight looked nearly identical to the likes of Nightmare Moon in the image and that got Blitz's mind to wander into scenarios.

Without thinking of them anymore, Blitz shook his head and looked back to Petalbreeze, getting to grips with the question that would surely make or break the situation that they were in.

"Was Roselight ever jealous? Just need a yes or a no." Blitz explained. Petalbreeze nodded, before looking back out into the Wasteland. That definitely made Blitz's opinion change about whether Roselight was possessed by Nightmare Moon or not. She definitely was! Blitz slowly got up and felt that strange pain in his leg again, the same leg that originally felt it and was now jagged. Blitz ignored it as best as he could and flew slowly off the wall. Petalbreeze teleported to the floor and blocked Blitz.

"Please don't hurt her, even if she has got Nightmare Moon within her. We have got to find a way to get rid of that nightmare from within my sister and I'm willing to help." Petalbreeze prompted, standing up tall and mighty. The made Blitz smile, before he walked over to the others. Along with Petalbreeze, there were also around five different ponies and creatures around with her.

Azure looked over to Blitz and ran up to him, giving him a little hug, before turning around and pointing at all of the ponies. They were all chatting away with Gretzky, catching up on all of the time that they hadn't seen each other.

First, there was an Earth pony called Cidershot, a mare that had thick black fur and a purple mane and tail. She looked pretty cool and Blitz noticed that she spoke with a funny accent. It made him chuckle slightly, before Azure pointed to another pony.

Secondly, there was another pony of some sort. She had a curly red mane and a dragon-like tail in the same colour. She had short, light brown fur and had a twisted like horn. Azure told Blitz that she was a breed of pony called a 'kirin', which apparently meant that she was part Dragon and part unicorn. A hybrid called Lilly.

Next, Azure pointed over to two bat ponies. Crimson and Lavender. The only difference between the two Bat ponies, apart from Crimson being a male Bat pony, was that they both had different mane styles. They both had dark blue fur, but Crimson had a crimson mane and Lavender had a dark purple mane, along with the same eye colour as their mane colour. Blitz smiled.

Azure finally finished it off with pointing a hoof at a dog. This dog was not like Anti, but taller and a lot more menacing. Azure told him that their species were called 'diamond dogs' that made Blitz super curious to learn more about the dog's past. Apparently, his name was Brick, which didn't surprise Blitz in the slightest, because Brick was built like a brick. He had dark grey fur and was bold, which surprised Blitz a little.

All of the new faces got to Blitz and made him think for a second, before coming up with a question to ask Petalbreeze. He looked to her and opened his mouth, ready to speak, but no words came out of his mouth. It was like he was afraid to ask the question, but really wanted to know.

"What is it?" Petalbreeze asked, not noticing the Blitz was trying to find the correct words to ask. Blitz sighed, before hanging his head down and looking at the floor for a couple of seconds, before looking into Petalbreeze's eyes.

"How many ponies and creatures did you lose from the settlement?" Blitz asked, finally building up the courage to ask those words. Petalbreeze froze for a couple of seconds, making Blitz think that he had said something bad, something wrong. Blitz walked a little closer to Petalbreeze, to make sure that she was alright. As Blitz looked at her and saw that she wasn't grimacing, she was counting, which was never a bad sign.

"We've lost around twenty ponies and creatures to that attack and now... now it's only the five of six of us." Petalbreeze stated, before falling over into tears. Blitz didn't know what to do in that situation, but tried to comfort her in any way he could. He walked up to her and hugged her, allowing her to cry into his neck. The others turned around and saw the act of kindness.

Crimson and Lavender both looked at one another, before walking up to Petalbreeze and hugging her.

"Hi! What's your name?" Lavender asked, wanting to know a little about Blitz as a pony or creature, or whatever he was. Blitz stood back, allowing Lavender and Crimson to comfort Petalbreeze in her uncomfortable time.

"I am Soul Eater, Gretzky is the gryphon, Doctor Alchem is the pegasus and Zeke is the zebra." Blitz explained, getting a questionable look from the pair. He didn't stop to look at them and continued to Zeke and Gretzky, who were talking to the Brick about something. Blitz walked up to them all, dragging Azure along with him and stood there and watched.

"What are we going to do?" Blitz asked himself, announcing it a little louder than he thought. Azure heard what he said and wrapped a wing around Blitz's waist, before pulling him a little closer.

"We relax!" Azure whispered into Blitz's ear, making his ear twitch in the process and making him smile, as well as shudder. Azure's soft voice, along with his cold breath made Blitz's back shudder and feel really, really weird. It was one of the weirdest feelings that he had ever felt, but it wasn't a bad feeling, which made it even worse.

Blitz looked to Azure and could see that he was smiling at him. That, in return, made Blitz smile too, adding a little blush to his face. He turned back around to see all of the others still talking to each other. Blitz was glad that only Azure heard that sentence, because he had stuck with Blitz since the beginning of their journey.

Azure was the special friend that Blitz needed in his life. Ever since his childhood was ruined, Blitz had never really connected with anypony like Azure. Azure meant the world to Blitz and nothing was going to change that. Brick looked at Blitz for a couple of seconds, before walking over to him. Blitz slowly slipped out of his daze and looked up at the figure towering over him. Brick was huge!

Blitz used his wings to fly up to Brick's height and hovered there for a couple of seconds, before circling Brick and looking at his figure. Blitz had never seen a diamond dog before and it actually scared him, due to how tall they were. Blitz circled Brick and returned to the original position that he was in.

"You're a changeling, right?" Brick asked, his voice low and viscous. The raspiness of it made Blitz's body twitch with shock. Blitz slowly nodded, not wanting to get onto the wrong side of the diamond dog. Brick sensed this and chuckled loudly. "Don't worry, little bug. I won't bite! I'm too old for getting into fights, or for being evil." Brick sharply announced, making Gretzky laugh. Blitz looked over to Gretzky and smiled, chuckling a little.

"Nice to meet you too, Brick. I'm Soul Eater!" Blitz announced, making Brick burst into tears of laughter.

"I'm… I'm sorry kiddo, but you're parents must have been so evil to call you that. Couldn't you have been called Soup Eater instead? My soul is definitely going to be taken by a bug. Where's my fly swatter?" Brick joked, making Blitz smile and laugh. Zeke was trying to hide a smile, as well as a laugh. Gretzky was alongside Azure, who were both on the floor laughing. Acting serious, Brick looked at Blitz and put his paw on Blitz's shoulder, before sighing. "Sorry, I had the opportunity there. I have a good idea on why you are called that. Something along the lines of changelings being able to absorb love, right?" Brick asked, being serious this time. Blitz smiled again and nodded.

"Spot on." Blitz acknowledged, beginning to like the diamond dog. Brick gave a little fist bump to the air and moved back slowly, before turning away and chuckling.

"I think that we will be good friends, Soul Eater." Brick stated, turning back around with a large sword. It… was… huge! Blitz had seen big swords, but nothing that big, which made him slightly confused. He didn't question it, but he really wanted to question Brick on how he acquired the sword.

Blitz was about to open his mouth, but then thought about what he could say. He didn't do anything for a good couple of seconds, before he closed his mouth. Nopony noticed that he had opened his mouth, which made him chuckle on the inside, because if somepony or even Brick had seen him, he would have looked crazy to all of them.

Blitz shook his head, before looking over to Azure. He realised that Azure still had his wing wrapped around Blitz's waist, but Azure was chatting to Gretzky and Zeke. Blitz looked up at the sky, as it began to get darker and darker. It wasn't night, but storm clouds. All of the ponies and creatures around, looked up to the sky to see a big load of thunderclouds heading towards them all. It was oddly beautiful to Blitz, which made his mind drift away, giving him a pleasant couple of seconds of a daydream.

Anti barked next to Blitz, making him jump a little and immediately made Blitz look at Anti with anger. The timberwolf stuck her tongue out of her mouth and made it look like she was smiling, which brightened Blitz's emotions a little. Petalbreeze walked towards Gretzky and signalled for him to speak with her in private. They both walked away and went behind a building, which made Blitz a little curious on what they were going to be talking about.

Blitz was getting distracted way too easily, which made him a little angry, but that didn't stop him from trying to motivate himself. He walked around, finding dead bodies of raiders, scavengers and settlement dwellers. It made Blitz heart sink, that all of these ponies were dying. He didn't enjoy killing, he just had to do what it costs to ensure survival, for him and his friends.

He looked at one raider in particular that sparked his interest. He had a tag with a symbol on it. Blitz picked up the body with his magic and dragged it over to the closest wall, which allowed him to pin the body up to search it easier. It was wrong in so many ways, but he had to do what was necessary. Azure spotted what Blitz was doing and looked around at the other, before walking over to Blitz and finding him searching the raider's corpse.

"Already looking for stuff, Eater?" Azure asked with a frown. Blitz didn't respond, as he yanked the tag off the corpse lifeless shell. Blitz held it with his magic and looked at it. It didn't make Blitz understand where the raider had come from, but it did let him know that the same pony that Appleseed had left on the note was in charge of all of this carnage.

"Sawtooth!" Blitz spoke aloud, making Azure come closer and look at the tag that Blitz had pulled off with his magic. Azure went wide eyed, as he too understood the situation of what was happening. Sawtooth was in charge of all of the attacks around the area and was definitely searching for something. Blitz remembered the rock from the floorboard and gasped. Azure grabbed Blitz gently and held him in place. "Sawtooth is behind all of this and wants the artifacts!" Blitz called out, getting the attention of the others.

"Eater, what's wrong?" Gretzky called out, running over to him and looking at him. Blitz's eyes were still the normal colour, but something was definitely off about them, to Gretzky at least. Blitz moved back slowly and looked at them all, before shaking his head.

"These attacks have been planned!" Blitz stated, getting a chuckle from Brick in the background.

"No shit, my friend!" Brick called out, chuckling loudly after and making Blitz smile a little.

"No, but seriously, there have been attacks around the area of our old settlement. We survived, found something that they were most likely after and fled. We then came across the other settlement and then that got attacked, and then here. I'm pretty sure that there were another two or three settlements nearby that also got attacked. Sawtooth is looking for something!" Blitz carefully explained.

"And what did you do with that artifact?" Gretzky asked, along with Petalbreeze.

"We talked to Roselight about them and she is now holding onto them for us. She's trying to find out what they mean." Blitz explained further. Gretzky just paused and then tilted his head, not quite understanding what the artifacts were for, or why they were important. He slowly nodded his head, before looking around.

"We might want to start heading back, before this thunderstorm hits. All of the residents here might want to pack up too and set sail, cause you're all coming back with us." Gretzky announced, loud enough for all to hear his voice clearly. Blitz and Azure both froze, looking at the other ponies and seeing the same reactions on their faces. The only one that wasn't phased by this news, was Brick. He nodded, before walking away slowly.

"I have agreed with Gretzky that it is now too dangerous to be here, in its current state that is. We've already looted and picked clean the bodies, so let's get ready to move." Petalbreeze announced as loudly as she could, using her horn to echo the noise, making it a little louder. Within seconds, they were all gone from sight, flooding into their apartments or homes.

Seeing all of the dead bodies, the settlement being almost destroyed and all of the ponies and creatures leaving the settlement, made Blitz a little sad. He hated change as much as the next pony, but life was never easy, nor merciful. It was always a grind to try to stay on top of everything and mask out the badness from the world, but there would always be that little sliver of dread that came through and tested all that everypony had built up upon. Nothing would be perfect, but nothing would be impossible either, which made sanity a thing that most ponies needed within the Wasteland.

"Is everypony and creature ready for this? Grab all of the stuff that is personal to you or just all of your stuff in general and wait down by the gate." Petalbreeze called out, making sure that everybody could hear her. Going to the gate, Zeke, Azure and Gretzky began to talk to each other, trying to pass the time as much as they could. Blitz had other ideas, and slowly walked around, rifle in his magical grasp and K-9 companion by his side, even though his companion was made of flesh and wood.

The buildings made Blitz feel small, as he walked up to all of the rubble of one of them. The pile was about two or three times taller than he was and about twenty times wider than he was. He picked up a piece of debris with his hoof, before dropping it, due to the heat of it. Why was it hot? Blitz dropped his sniper rifle and used his magic to pick up the piece of debris that he had just dropped. He looked over it and thought about it. Why was it so hot? Blitz looked back at his weapon, because it made some noise. He witnessed Anti picking up his weapon, like a massive stick. Would that make Anti a cannibal if she did pick up a sick and break it? That thought alone got Blitz to chuckle softly.

Looking back to the debris, Blitz noticed that the rubble was slightly burnt. Upon closer inspection, it had some material on it, almost like radioactive material. Blitz didn't want to test anything, but he did want to check something. He lifted up other pieces of debris with his magic, picking up a couple from the same pile, before going to a completely different pile of rubble, from another building and taking a couple of pieces from the other. He placed them all together and looked at them all. He used his magic to look over all of the rubble that he had collected and found that there was a link. They all had the same radioactive like substance on the back of each.

Blitz began to think about doing something, before letting his brain take control of his body. He used his gut and curiosity together, for the first time. He turned and raced over to Gretzky, getting a scared expression from him.

"Is everything okay, Eater?" Gretzky asked, feeling a little dimmed from all of the events that had transpired already that day. Blitz opened his mouth to tell Gretzky about what he had found, but instead, he used his gut and curiosity.

"Do you have a jar with a lid that I could have?" Blitz asked, cocking his eyebrow up. This confused not only Gretzky, but Azure and Zeke as well. Gretzky went into his saddlebag and emptied some caps into his saddlebag, before handing Blitz the jar and lid that he requested.

"That was my cap jar, so go careful with it." Gretzky explained, Blitz not taking a notice. He ran back over to the buildings and began to do some research work. He used his magic to scrape some of the material off the debris and into the jar. As soon as the material made contact with the jar, it began to burn the inside of the jar. Blitz was afraid that the jar was going to break instantly, but instead, it warmed the glass, but never allowed it to get hot. Blitz filled up the jar all the way to the top, before placing the lid onto the top of the jar, sealing the material inside. Blitz didn't know what to do with the material, but he did know that he could use it to warm himself up during cold nights. He tucked it away into his saddlebag and looked up to see Azure standing there.

"What did you just do?" Azure asked, being curious to why Blitz wanted the jar for. Blitz just pointed at the debris. Azure wanted to grab the debris, but quickly got attacked by Blitz, as Blitz slapped Azure's hoof away.

"Don't touch! It will burn you!" Blitz warned, being quick with his words. He held it up with his magic and moved it closer to Azure, making Azure's PipBuck click. Blitz moved it back and understood that it was radioactive, so he had to be careful what he did with it, while it was in his saddlebag. Azure took note of this too and stepped back a little.

"What do you think it is?" Azure asked, getting more and more curious as time went on. Blitz raises an eyebrow, before moving all of the debris back to the rest of the buildings, or at least what was left of them. Blitz slowly moved back to the gate, Azure joining him by his side. "Why would the buildings be irradiated?" Azure questioned himself, Blitz picking up on it.

"I have no idea bud, but don't tell anypony. The last thing we want is ponies knowing about the radioactive material and going to touch it for themselves." Blitz explained, getting a swift nod from A ure in response to that. They slowly got back to the gate and realised that everypony and creature was waiting for them to return.

"There you two are! Where were you? We're ready to go now." Petalbreeze stated, tilting her head slightly. Blitz coughed slightly and shook his head.

"I was talking to Doctor Alchem here about coming up with a remedy for burns. You know how bad they can get." Blitz lied, making a smile appear on Petalbreeze's face.

"Okay then, let's start heading home, or at least to our new home." Petalbreeze announced, being incredibly loud in the process. It hurt Blitz's ears a little, making him fold them back to his head. Azure placed his wing around Blitz and comforted him. That put a smile on Blitz's muzzle, making him feel a little happier with his current situation in time.

They began to walk up the path that the original four had walked down. Petalbreeze was leading the convoy, whereas Blitz and Azure were towards the back, only in front of Brick. The reason for that was because he was pulling a cart along with him. That was most likely his things, or they could have been Petalbreeze's items, due to her not having a saddlebag.

Blitz and Azure just kept close to each other, not wanting to move around the convoy and chat to the others. It was a little unsociable for them, but it would be a quiet time that they would most likely not get again, so they took all of the relaxation time that they could. They could both hear some conversation happening more towards the front, most likely between Petalbreeze and Gretzky or Crimson and Lavender.

It took a couple of minutes for both Blitz and Azure to get bored of everything that was happening. They were around five minutes into their walk and most likely had around another twenty or twenty-five to go. They paused their unwanted silence and looked at each other.

"You want to head back to Journey and see if anything has changed there?" Blitz asked, making Azure look skeptical. He was contemplating the idea, but didn't really want to risk the trip there.

"I don't think that we should. There could be raiders and scavengers there!" Azure emphasized, making Blitz roll his eyes.

"Where is your spirit of adventure, Doctor?" Blitz tempted, making Azure frown a little. He would have got angry with Blitz, due to the fact that he was going against Azure's word of keeping safe, but he was bored as well, which didn't help his curiosity at all. Blitz flew up and over all of the convoy and landed at the front, before turning around and trotting backwards. His theory was correct, as he looked at both Petalbreeze and Gretzky speaking to each other. They both looked at him with confusion, but then both smiled.

"Me and Alchem are going to fly to the East and see if we can't find out the condition of our old settlement. Hopefully it will be alright, but if not, we'll be careful lurking around." Blitz explained, making both Petalbreeze and Gretzky look at each other with the same confusing look as before. The both looked back to Blitz and nodded a tiny bit, before Blitz leapt into the air and picked Azure up with his magic. A loud noise escaped Azure's muzzle, making him blush a little.

"Why did you do that? You could have just told me!" Azure angrily announced, Blitz getting an angry pegasus in response. Not only was he angry, but he was moody as well, making him a mixed ball of fluff and emotions. That thought alone made Blitz chuckle, making Azure that little bit angrier.

"Sorry bud." Blitz stated, before flying a little away and letting Azure go from within his magic. Azure opened his wings and shook his head, gliding around like a… like a normal pegasus. Azure slowly floated to the ground and landed within the forest below, Blitz joining him shortly after.

"I have no idea why we are doing this, but let's just get it over. In my opinion, it was better if we stayed with the others." Azure explained, making Blitz question his actions. He shook off the thought and Azure could see that he was doing that, which made him just that little bit angrier. He rolled his eyes and followed Blitz through the bushes and trees, making sure that he didn't step on anything that would hurt his hooves.

The trees rustled in the wind, making the area around them both feel a little more ominous and unnatural. Blitz was alright with it all, but Azure on the other hand, didn't like the idea of going through all of the trees and bushes, just to get to a place that should have been forgotten.

Azure began to lift off the ground, getting annoyed with the bushes constantly slapping him in the muzzle. He took to flying for a little bit, while Blitz was on the other side of the spectrum. He was slowly picking up his pace, Anti joining them both as they raced, intentionally, to the previous settlement of Journey.

They were definitely getting closer to settlement, due to the likes of the trees around it. The trees were always a faded light yellow, rather than a dark green. It was confusing at first, but it was due to all of the work that had gone on while working on the walls. They originally tried to paint the walls a light yellow to make the settlement seem like one of a friendlier nature. It didn't go to plan, as the paint dried and chipped off, making most of it spray off and scatter into the tree line. It was tried several times, hence the reason why the trees were like they were.

They got to a point where they could both see the walls. Azure landed softly and looked around for signs of other ponies of creatures, which to his surprise, there wasn't. They slowly moved around, not daring to leave the comfort of the forest, due to how uncertain they were of ponies being in the settlement. They used the forest to their advantage and walked around, trying to see if they could get a good view into the settlement from the likes of the forest.

Anti growled, sensing something from within the settlement. Blitz looked at her growling and sighed, before looking at Azure. He didn't look too happy about the events that were spiralling down. Blitz took out his sniper rifle and looked down the sight, making sure that it was all working and what not, before looking over to Azure, who was making sure that their battle saddle was on properly.

There was one problem with Blitz being hidden in the bushes. His eyes. His eyes would glow whenever Anti was out or about, which didn't help his cause. Anti somehow noticed this and vanished away, making Blitz's eyes turn to their normal colour of a dark, navy blue. He was hidden again, which made him happier.

They slowly moved to the front of the settlement, seeing that there were definitely some ponies in the settlement, but they didn't look like raiders. Blitz slowly exited the bushes, looking both left and right, like he was crossing a road. He got to the wall and signalled for Azure to come across, which he did quickly, making a little amount of noise in the process, but not making enough noise for them to be spotted.

Blitz peeked through a hole and saw something that scarred him instantly. His eyes went wide and Azure picked up on this. Azure joined him at peaking through and immediately looked away, feeling like he was going to throw up. He didn't want to look through the hole anymore and neither did Blitz, as he took his eyes off the scene and sat with his back against the wall.

Those ponies inside the settlement had weapons aimed at them, two ponies with rifles sat down to the side, keeping their eyes on the pair in the middle of the settlement, the original ones that both Azure and Blitz saw first. Then, there were the corpses! There were about ten or twenty corpses hidden behind one of the overturned carts that was inside of the settlement. That… was not what made them feel sick. There was another scene which was most likely worse. There was a mare, alive and well, getting ridden by a stallion, while another stallion had mounted her face. It was clear as day that she had not given consent to those raiders, but how Blitz despised them. A tear falling down from her eye was enough to make Blitz turn away.

Blitz put away his rifle and brought out his pistol, pulling the slider back with his magic before checking that there was a bullet loaded. He checked before, but forgot that he had already checked.

"Blitz? What's your plan?" Azure whispered, leaning closer to Blitz. Blitz looked through the hole again and pointed his weapon at the two raiders that were sat down.

"To get those innocent ponies out!" Blitz said, not whispering in the slightest, making the two that Blitz was aiming confused.

"Dude, did you hear that?" One of them said, shortly before a weapon was fired in their direction, penetrating one of their heads with a brute force that would rival the most lethal buck. The raider turned to his former ally and got a face full of blood, as well as the attention of the other raiders. A second shot went off, killing the other raider that was sitting down, turning both of their bodies into bags of nothingness that were jumbled together.

The two ponies in the middle of the settlement made a run for it, making their way out of the rear of the settlement, which didn't end well for them.

"Fuck!" Blitz whispered, seeing that the two ponies got captured.

"Oh no! Sweet Celestia Blitz! There are so many more! Why the fuck did we do this again?" Azure whispered, letting all thought of keeping harsh language at minimum fly out the area. Blitz took another two shots, killing the two who were rutting the mare. The mare didn't do anything, only looking to Blitz and gasping for a couple of seconds. She then ran in the direction of Blitz and Azure, which made Blitz smile that the pony had some good idea on what to do. She ran away into the woods, making both Blitz and Azure smile a little.

They both retreated into the trees and watched from low down, still having a very good view on the main entrance. A few raiders came out and looked about for them both, failing in the process. Both Blitz and Azure turned into statues, making sure that they made as little movement as possible. After that, even more raiders came out. What was a little weird, was that all of the ponies that came out were raider and not a mix of both raiders and scavengers.

Blitz kept his eyes on the closest raiders and held his pistol with his hooves, making sure not to let his horn glow. Being a changeling, with chitin, made him almost invisible within the dark, which made his kind the king's and queen's of hunting in the night. Blitz's eyes swept across the different raiders as they pointed their guns above both Blitz's and Azure's heads.

A figure walked out into the gateway of the settlement, scars on his face and a couple of teeth missing from his muzzle. He held a stallion by the neck, with his magic. Blitz's eyes locked onto the scene as quickly as they could from scanning the other raiders. Azure was sure to be looking at the scene too, which drove their attention away from the other raiders.

The figure looked around and looked directly at both Blitz and Azure, making him smile.

"They're there! Come on out, don't be scared. We won't hurt you…" The raspy stallion announced. A raider went over and moved a couple of plants out of the way and found Blitz, before dragging him out onto the road. Azure was shortly pushed out towards Blitz, knocking both of them over. They slowly got up and watched as the stallion walked closer to them.

"...Yet!" The stallion finished, eyeing both of the ponies who were causing so much trouble. He looked at the stallion in his magic and sighed, his metal wings coming into view. It was almost like he was an alicorn, but he didn't have proper wings to fit in with one, plus he was a lot shorter than a normal alicorn.

"You two have caused me some problems I see. I can't be having somepony or…" He stopped talking and pointed at Blitz. "...some creature jamming up my operation or in idiotic terms, putting a spanner in the works!" He roared, making the stallion in his magical grip tremble.

"Who are you?" Azure asked, getting a death-stare from the fake alicorn. He quickly looked to the stallion, before the stallion began to scream. Before Blitz could react, the stallion's neck gave a ear piercing crack, followed by the stallion beginning to stop struggling. A couple of seconds passed and the stallion's body fell limp, before the figure fell to the ground. Blitz eyed the stallion and fell silent on the inside. His thoughts that were racing to curiosity, were dimmed to almost silence, little whispers creeping around still.

"That hurts me that you don't know who I am!" The unicorn announced, grabbing Blitz with his magic. "Maybe your friend could help me though." He added, before bringing Blitz closer to him. Without a word, Blitz closed his eyes, before opening them again, one of them glowing a bright red. "I am Sawtooth, leader of the raiders! How have you not heard of me? I sent my friends to attack you all, as a gift on my behalf." Sawtooth announced to Azure, slowly eyeing him like a vulture.

Sawtooth looked back to Blitz and smiled. He saw that Blitz's eye was glowing and that made him chuckle. Blitz looked over to Azure and smiled himself, before looking back to Sawtooth for another couple of seconds.

"You know what kid, you remind me of that earth pony called Redeye, which he too has a bright glowing eye." He stated, loosening his grip on Blitz. He dropped Blitz onto the floor, before turning around and pointing to one of the bodies behind him. Blitz slowly got back up and walked backwards. He feared Sawtooth a little bit, but he realised that he was trying to stall, almost like he was allowing them to go.

Anti faded into reality and sat down, eyeing the fake alicorn impersonator. As soon as Sawtooth turned around, he saw that they were still there. Although Azure was a little further back, Blitz just stood there, eyeing Sawtooth as he looked at them all.

"You know that you killed all of the ponies in this settlement, right? Well… almost all of them." Blitz taunted, making Sawtooth smile evilly. He nodded, before stopping. His eyes locked with the timberwolf's, sitting beside Blitz. Anti growled, not showing her fangs yet. He recoiled the littlest amount before frowning.

"I haven't seen a timberwolf in the Wasteland. That is mighty odd. Where did you find it?" Sawtooth asked on a serious note. Blitz shrugged, before he paused and looked down at Anti.

"I found her down by the factory near here. She seemed to have been stalking me, most likely trying to kill me." Blitz lied, knowing that Anti was a timberwolf from Journey and had followed Blitz and Azure around.

"Ah, well, as for you little bug, how are you alive? Didn't my fellow comrades kill off your kind after the bombs?" Sawtooth questioned, making Blitz lock onto him. That was the reaction that Sawtooth wanted. Anti walked in front of Blitz and growled at Sawtooth, making him smile in the process.

"Wait, what did you say?" Blitz asked, bearing his fangs at Sawtooth. Before Sawtooth could say anything, Anti lashed out and vanished, making Sawtooth look around. Blitz's head began to ache a lot, making him place his hooves on it. It was very subtle, but he could hear the faint echo of some words repeating inside his head.

"Run!" Blitz's head roared, making his vision go fuzzy. Almost like he wasn't controlling himself, he turned and ran, along with Azure. Blitz looked back to see Sawtooth looking at them, pointing his hoof out to them both, before Anti appeared beside him and jumped, ripping his forehoof off in the process, before vanishing again. Blitz turned his head and continued to run, north of where they previously were. They didn't want to go back to the settlement straight away, because if they did, Blitz was scared that they would most likely be followed.

They both looked back while they were running and could see distant ponies sprinting at them. Ponies and stallions that would most likely be wanting to kill them both. Blitz looked to Azure and saw that he was not happy with him at all. He was giving Blitz a stern and disapproving glare, which made Blitz feel a little worse for wear.

They had been sprinting for almost a minute, still being pursued by raging ponies and stallions. Blitz looked forward for a brief second before falling down into a pit, closely followed by Azure. Blitz landed in the mud below and Azure landed on Blitz, which hurt Blitz more than Azure thought. Blitz raised himself up and saw that there were only ghouls in the pit, consisting of only earth ponies and unicorns. Luckily for them, there were no pegusi in the pit, otherwise they would have been screwed.

Azure brought out a bat with nails in it, making Blitz ponder on how and when did he get it. It didn't matter, as Blitz brought his own weapon to bear. He had a little dagger-like sword, one that was sharp enough to pierce a skull like butter. Blitz and Azure were outnumbered by at least fifty to one, making the situation seem worse.

Without noticing, the raiders mainly fell down into the pit with them. Some of them were smart enough to stay at the top of the pit and to not fall in. Blitz wished that at least two of those raiders could have been himself and Azure, just so that they didn't have to be in the mud filled pit. Azure looked to Blitz and tapped him on the shoulder. Blitz turned to look at him, while keeping his eyes on the raiders behind them.

"Why don't we just fly out of here?" Azure yelled, getting the attention of some unwanted pegusi ghouls. Two of them dive-bombed both Blitz and Azure. The one on Blitz got torn apart by Anti, ripping both of its wings off before it could get to biting Blitz. Anti then went to its neck, before chomping down on it, crushing its neck. The pegasus fell limp, falling to one side.

Azure screamed out in pain as the pegasus bit down on Azure's wing. Blitz reacted as fast as he could, slicing at the ghoul with his sword. Blitz caught the ghoul with the sharpest end of his blade, separating its head from its body, before chopping off its muzzle. Fresh blood from Azure's wound made the other ghouls speed up, making them more of a threat. Blitz and Anti both protected him, while he applied some bandages and some painkillers to himself. He injected himself with something, before wrapping up his wing carefully.

"This is all my fault!" Blitz muttered under his breath, being a little louder than he would have wanted to be. Azure picked up on this as he winced, trying to avoid moving his now damaged wing. He thought about how stupidly convenient those pegusi ghouls were at the point of time of himself mentioning the idea of flying.

"Yes, yes it is!" Azure muttered, loud enough for Blitz to hear it. Anti teleported to one of the closest raiders and tore a chunk out their chest, making them fall to the floor and dropping their weapon. Blitz walked over to one of the ghouls that had fallen over into the mud, before slicing its head from its shoulders. It was painfully satisfying, but Blitz didn't really enjoy the thought of killing, making the entire thing a little less enjoyable for him. Technically, they were dead, but Blitz's self consciousness got the better of him and flooded his mind with questions that would slow him down.

Blitz shook his head, not allowing his thoughts to slow him down. He carved his way through some more ghouls, making quick work of them, the mud also becoming something else that was trying to slow him down. Blitz hacked through each ghoul, before taking another step towards, restricted due to the thick brown earthiness of the mud.

Azure joined in with Anti, battling the raiders that came at them both with spiked swords and other weapons. Luckily, none of the raiders actually had a firearm with them, making the fighting become easier for them. Azure smacked the bat he had into a raider that was approaching him, with a rusty pipe of some kind. The bat stuck the raider in the head, making each individual spike from the bat, enter his skull. This killed the raider instantly, which was something that Azure wanted. He hated to make ponies suffer, but if he did have to kill them, he would want it to be quick and painless. He continued to swing his bat, holding it with his muzzle. Anti chopped at different raiders, making dedicated holes in certain parts of their bodies. She was a fierce little fighter indeed.

The ponies above the pit just stood and watched their raider brothers and sisters get murdered by three creatures. They began to notice that the ghouls were becoming smarter, due to the ones who were not attacking Blitz. They noticed that they were slowly moving around the entire pit, swarming and surrounding all of the raiders in there. Without a second to waste, the single pegasus ghoul that was left began to attack the raiders above, almost helping Blitz, Azure and Anti.

Blitz noticed this and smiled, watching as the pegasus tore into the raiders above, while he and the others fended off the rest of the opposing threats. Blitz noticed that the ghouls were beginning to surround the area, which made him freak out a little.

"Azure! They're adapting!" Blitz shouted out, making Azure look around, to see all of the ghouls circling them, making him freak out a little as well. The ghouls were constantly flooding in, which made both Blitz and Azure scared that they wouldn't be able to get out of the area. Azure turned to Blitz and smacked him over the head with the blunt end of the bat, making sure not to properly hurt him. That was most likely the last thing that Azure would have wanted.

"This is all your fucking fault! We're going to die in this pit and then eaten! Thanks for being there for me, but unless you have any other plans, we are trapped in this hole!" Azure announced, Blitz's head stinging and his vision going blurry. Blitz shook his head, before his nose started to bleed, making Azure feel a little guilty that he lashed out. That sentence put an idea into Blitz's head, but it was going to be even more difficult, due to the blunt trauma that Blitz had just received.

Blitz looked around and saw that all of the ghouls were closing in quickly, making Blitz begin to panic. He closed his eyes and heard a faint echo, followed by a loud scream from within his mind.

"Teleport!" Blitz's head screamed making him place his hooves on his ears again. Blitz opened his eyes and lit his horn charging up his magic before teleporting Azure out of the pit and at the edge of it. Blitz screamed as he did this, making the pegasus ghoul look at him from across the way. Blitz teleported himself shortly after, making it so that he was right on the edge of the pit. He shook his head, before turning around and looking into the pit. All of the raiders in there were getting swarmed. They were preparing to fight the ghouls, but Blitz realised that there was an exit down inside the pit, but the ghouls were flooding in from there. It was almost like the entire pit was being filled up, but instead of filling it up with water, it was filling up with ghouls.

Blitz turned around and looked at Azure, who was tending to his wing. Blitz felt a little bad, but he knew that there was nothing he could do to help. Blitz heard a noise behind him a second later and felt hooves digging into his back. He was about to be killed, or so he thought. Azure went wide eyed at the pegasus ghoul that was perched onto Blitz's back. Blitz used his magic to grab his sword and tried to stab the pegasus ghoul, which failed and made the ghoul bite into the side of his neck, before tearing a chunk out. Blitz let out a silent scream and dropped his weapon.

His vision went bright red and everything stopped, he noticed this and pondered, the pain was still there, but was a fraction of what I really was. A familiar face stared at him through the inky redness of his vision and he just stayed silent. Death was back! Had he died again?

"No, you haven't Blitz! I'm here to help you. I'm going to give you the strength you need to take out that pegasus, but you need to allow me to do something." Death explained, making his offer more and more tempting. Blitz pondered for a second, moving one step forward, experiencing an out of body experience. He looked back at himself and frowned.

"Do I really deserve to get a third chance?" Blitz asked silently. Death didn't answer, all he did was float past Blitz.

"Who said that you were on your third chance or even your second for that matter?" Death convinced Blitz.

"But didn't I die?" Blitz asked, seeking the answers that he already knew the answer to.

"Indeed you did, but you didn't fail me. Instead, I am asking you for something." Death carefully spoke, trying to persuade Blitz to make the deal. "I want to reunite this world and TOM, my brother seeks to end this world, so that life may reform and choose a different path, one that isn't paved with pony-zebra hate relations. May I gain access to you and your mind, to help bring the old Equestria back?" Death asked, one final time. Blitz closed his eyes and sighed.

"If it's for Equestria to return to how it was, then I will do it…" Blitz stated before pausing. He walked up to Azure and kissed his cheek. "...as long as he gets the best life he can, with or without me there." Blitz convinced, closing his eyes and sighing.

"Consider it done, my apprentice." Death cheered, clicking his horn and sending Blitz back into reality. The sharp pain came back, but it immediately stopped for some reason. Blitz opened his eyes and saw all red still, but he felt like he didn't have control over himself, at least for a split second.

"Strength!" The voice in Blitz's head whispered, making Blitz feel the pain again. He screamed so loudly, that Azure covered his ears, but kept looking at him. Blitz used his magic to rip the pegasus ghoul off him, before sticking both of his hooves into its mouth. The pegasus tried to close its mouth and chomp down on Blitz's hooves, but it couldn't. Blitz's mind was filled with anger and he snapped, moving his hooves apart from within the pegasus' mouth. It went wide eyed as Blitz snapped its jaw from the inside, before ripping it's skull completely in half, with just his hooves alone, which were some of the weakest parts of his body.

Blitz's sight returned to normal and he fell to the ground. Azure slowly came over to him and wrapped some bandages around his neck. Blitz was in too much pain, but somehow knew that he wouldn't die from it. It was like he was gaining unknown knowledge and strength from somewhere, but he didn't know where. Without a second thought, the voice made its heartwarming appearance inside Blitz's head again, making itself more prominent with each new word.

"Deal!" Blitz's head stated, making Blitz instantly understand what was happening. Death was real and he was inside of him. Azure just watched Blitz, making himself more and more agitated about knowing how Blitz killed the pegasus ghoul. He wanted to find out the reason on how Blitz gained the strength, but didn't want to pressure him to say. He was going to leave that question for a little while, until Blitz was better at least.

Azure went to go and grab some of his medical supplies and found that he had no type of painkillers left. He looked back at Blitz, who was staying quiet, but was in way, way too much pain. This made Azure feel a little bad about his actions before, especially with hitting him over the head with the blunt end of the bat. He would most likely dwell on those thoughts later, but for now he needed to get him and Blitz out of there.

Azure helped Blitz up, but it didn't keep him up for long, as the pressure and the pain brought Blitz back down.

"Blitz! Please, get up! We need to move!" Azure announced, seeing that there were a couple of ghouls coming towards them. Blitz held his neck with a hoof and slowly got up, making Azure feel a little less tense. Although the pain hurt, Blitz's body was refusing to let him die. Blitz slowly started to hobble away, going towards the direction that Gretzky had taken the others. Blitz picked up his sword from the ground, before placing it back into its allocated position. Azure followed close to him, making sure that there was nopony nor ghoul that could sneak up to attack Blitz.

As they were walking, Blitz saw Death to the right of him, making him sigh. Death kept his hoof over his head, making him look even more sinful. He kept note of what Blitz said, making Blitz feel worse, because now he didn't have a space to think. Death looked at him, gliding sideways, almost like he was sliding on ice. Blitz looked at him, hurting his neck in the process.

"I can dim the pain, if you want?" Death prompted. Blitz shook his head, before tensing sharply. Azure noticed that Blitz was communicating with somepony or something, so he walked a little closer to Blitz as they continued to walk along the cobbled road. Anti teleported next to Blitz and wagged her wooden tail at him, making him smile a little as he tried to look down to meet her gaze. Blitz put a hoof on his neck and sighed, the pain getting to him more that he would have liked. Death's offer was promising, but he didn't want to feel pain free, at least not yet.

They travelled for what seemed like five minutes, before they gained sight of the settlement, but something was off. Azure was the first one to realise, after listening to Blitz constantly talk to himself. Anti walked in front and stopped, growling at the gate of the settlement. Blitz and Azure both peeped in through the gaps in the gate, before Blitz teleported Azure to the other side of it. Blitz flew up and over, which saved his magic in the process. Blitz looked back at Anti, who phased through the gate by disappearing on one side and then reappearing on the other.

They slowly entered the settlement, seeing the cart that Brick was pulling, suggesting that they were at the settlement, but why was everything so quiet? Blitz looked up and saw something dive-bombing down towards them. Blitz teleported Azure and himself to a safe position, before looking at Azure. They were both underneath the cart that Brick had pulled to the settlement.

"I have to go out there and take whatever it is on, otherwise we'll be stuck here for a very, very long while." Blitz stated, before tensing sharply and twitching significantly. This made Azure worry a bit, but Blitz continued to assure him that he would be alright. Azure was consistent in not allowing Blitz to do anything, due to him being his friend, but also because he had a chunk missing out of his neck. Azure didn't want Blitz to hurt himself.

Blitz saw the figure land, giving him the opportunity he needed.

"Stay here. I'll make sure that I come back!" Blitz commanded, before teleporting out from under the cart. He slowly looked back at where Azure was hidden, before turning to see the figure staring at him from across the way.

The nightmare was back and more frightening than ever.

Chapter 10: Death's Mercy

Roselight stood still, making herself look like more of a threat. She definitely looked different, making Blitz realise that she wasn't herself. Those eyes were not hers and neither was her smile, let alone the darkened fur and the wings that she took advantage of. She was going insane from the outside in. Roselight smiled menacingly, making Blitz stand stiff.

Her fur was a lot darker than usual, going from a dark purple and white, to a dark purple and dark blue. It was a lot shinier than he remembered too, making the appearance more scary as a whole. She was clean, no dirt, no blood, just fur and mane glistening like there was no tomorrow.

Her mane was glossy and very weird. It was almost like her mane was animated in a way that it would constantly play over and over again, different spots of white appearing at different points. It almost made Blitz think about stars, above the clouds. Although he didn't know what stars looked like, he had a pretty good idea of what they were through books, which gave him a seemingly bad image of what a star looked like. Everything was more beautiful through a real view anyway.

Roselight's teeth were sharper than usual, making them look like they could carve through flesh like a knife. Her teeth were sharp enough to be classed as fangs, which didn't help the mental image that Blitz was holding inside his head. Her fangs, like her fur and mane, were immaculate. They glistened within the hazy fog that lingered around, piecing all of the dull colours around Blitz with a freshness of bright white.

Her eyes were narrow pins, becoming less of a round shape and more of a sharp and pointy pair of slits. She had the same type of eyes as Sadjoy, which made him slightly curious to what the nightmare actually was. As they looked at Blitz, it felt like he was being attacked, due to how sharp her eyes were, digging into him with every little chance that she could, making him a little scared. A voice within him told him that he was going to be alright. That little voice was Death.

Her wings were not her own. The nightmare must have grown them out from Roselight's body, making Blitz wince a little bit at the thought, making her take a couple steps closer. The fear within Blitz's body was there, but it was like it was being hugged or at least tied down so that it could not overrun Blitz's mind with a guilty conscience. She kept her wings out wide, trying to make herself look more fierce, which must have gotten to the others somehow, but not to Blitz. He shook his head, before stepping a little closer.

Having evaluated her, he tried to begin a conversation. Without hesitation, before Blitz could even breathe another short breath, she raced forward, bringing a weapon to bare, in her magic. As soon as she slashed, Blitz dodged it quickly, making a swift leap to the right. She laughed, before realising that she hadn't hit Blitz. Blitz looked at himself, noticing that he had the power to dodge her attacks, which made him smile.

Before he could do anything, Death paused time, making her freeze too. Death walked out Infront of Blitz, looking exactly like… himself. Death was a changeling, one blue eye and a red eye, like himself. The only thing that was different, was the colour of Death. He was a grey scaled version of Blitz, which made him a little creepier. Blitz looked at him in shock, before shaking his head and trying to think of something to speak. Death sat down and highlighted Roselight's form, making Blitz wonder what he was about to do with her.

Death looked Blitz directly in the eyes and made him feel a little uncomfortable with his current situation. Anti came and sat down, beside Blitz, making Anti appear on the opposite side, sitting down next to Blitz. Blitz began to get very confused by Anti not being affected by the paused state that everypony else was. This made Blitz question what Anti really was.

"She is my gift to you, Blitz." Death stated, making sure that Blitz could hear him. Blitz looked back at Anti and then stroked her with a hoof, before she laid down on the floor and nuzzled Blitz's forehoof. "Right, now that you're relaxed, you got a choice to make Blitz!" Death explained, bringing up another copy of Roselight's form.

On the left was Roselight's form as she was. The nightmare form didn't change, but she was untouched. On the right was a blood-soaked Nightmare Roselight, cuts being all over her body and wounds displaying very gory details, such as her head being decapitated, stomach being cut open and more.

"No, no! We are not killing Roselight. She is the leader of this settlement and must continue to be the leader." Blitz explained, trying to make it clear to Death. Death shook his head.

"Oh but come on Blitz. Roselight would make a very good companion for you, like little Anti here. Plus, a nightmare would be a great addition to my collection. I mean, Anti is closer than you think to…" Death spoke, before getting cut off by both Antis, them both growling at Death like he was out of line. He smiled and chuckled. "Sorry girls, my bad. I almost spoiled the secret." He added.

"What secret?" Blitz asked, getting very caught up in the conversation. Death shook his head, before getting back to topic.

"Anyway, going back to this, I will help you either way, but remember that there are consequences to your actions, regardless of what path you take." Death explained, getting a little nod from Blitz in response.

"My opinion is the same. Despite you trying to persuade me to kill her, I think that she should be saved. We still need to find out what is up with those artifacts, don't we?" Blitz explained, making Death raise a brow in response.

"I almost forgot about that Blitz. Welp, now you know why I chose you over anypony else like that 'Stable Dweller' or 'Security' for example." Death acknowledged.

"Who?" Blitz asked, not getting a response from Death. Instead, Death just continued to stand there in Blitz's form, making Blitz feel a little frustrated about time not resuming. Death sensed Blitz's frustration and smiled.

"Eager to get back into the flow again, Blitz? Well then, let's have some fun!" Death stated, resuming time. Roselight looked menacingly at Blitz, who wasn't going to stand for Roselight's antics any longer, or at least the nightmare's intention. Blitz stood his ground and dropped his saddlebag, before kicking it off to one side.

"I'm not going to fight you Roselight! I refuse to, even if my body and mind seek to." Blitz stated, knowing full well that Death was smiling at what he had just said. Blitz slowly stretched his forehooves and hindlegs, letting his body get ready for the commitment that he was just about to make. Roselight smiled mischievously at Blitz, bringing her weapon into view again.

Blitz looked at the weapon, not really noticing what it was until that point. It was almost like the sword that Blitz had lost, due to the stupid raider stabbing the hydra with it. Blitz remembered that moment and probably would for the rest of his days. The sword looked lethal, having both a sharp end to it, as well as a dull end. Blitz didn't fancy catching either end of the sword, due to the nature of how most swords were lethal to normal ponies, let alone changelings.

Changelings were basic glass cannons or just glass, if they didn't learn any spells. Although the chitin was strong, the bits that connected the chitin together were as weak as paper, probably even weaker than that. Blitz had proven that he was the one exception to that. He had pried open a pegasus ghoul's maw and ripped it into two pieces. If that didn't show how strong Blitz was, then he could have proven it during the fight that he was in at the moment.

Roselight lashed out at Blitz, trying to hit him with the sharpest part of her blade. Blitz reacted quick enough and jumped out of the way of Roselight's swipe, missing him by a couple of inches. She looked angrily at him, beginning to understand that he wasn't just going to lie down and take it. He was going to be shifty about it. Roselight took another swipe at him, making him jump back. She followed it up with another swing, which Blitz didn't dodge. He blocked the attack with his magic, making Roselight push down on the sword with her magic, increasing the pressure.

Unlike all of the other times that Blitz used a shield spell, this time it didn't take any of his magical capability. It was almost like he wasn't casting the spell, or even channeling it for that matter. Roselight pushed harder and harder against Blitz's spell, but to no avail. Blitz teleported away, before Roselight regained her force.

"Roselight! I… I'm not going to hurt you!" Blitz stated, shifting the saddlebag that he had dropped more out of the way and teleporting his cloak to him. He put it on, before pulling the hood up, over his mane. Roselight cackled, making Blitz feel a little on edge.

"This should be fun then!" Roselight stated clearly, Blitz hearing an echo to her voice. That was not Roselight, that was the nightmare speaking! Blitz moved back slowly, giving Roselight the impression that he was beginning to fear, when in reality, he was preparing for Roselight to attack. She charged her horn and shot a bolt of blistering hot lightning towards Blitz. He tried to dodge it, but he didn't move. Instead, his body casted the blocking spell, dissipating the electrical bolt into thin air. Blitz was in shock, not because of the electricity, but because of his body's lack of movement and understanding. Was he even controlling himself anymore?

Roselight didn't hesitate, as another bolt of pure electrical power, blistered through the air and hit the ground beside Blitz, being originally where he had just been. Blitz charged up his horn and shot a weak bolt at Roselight, hitting her in the process and doing nothing, apart from annoying her a bit, which was what Blitz wanted. He wanted to try and annoy her, making her bring her own guard down, so that Blitz could finally see what was wrong with her.

Roselight shot another bolt towards his general direction, which Blitz just deflected and made it ricochet towards the sky. Roselight went wide eyed and just stared at Blitz, which made him feel a little on edge at the fact that the fighting had just stopped for a couple of seconds or so.

"How… how can this be? How can you block all of my attacks?" Roselight asked, trying to make Blitz fall into the false state of security. It didn't work, which made Blitz pressure himself to not attack her, making her more and more frustrated. "Fine! I'll just kill you myself!" Roselight screeched, the nightmare within her wanting to end Blitz's life. She rose up and began to charge her horn.

"Run!" Death commanded Blitz, making Blitz turn and run for cover, which there was little to none around. Blitz teleported himself above Roselight as she shot the beam of energy at Blitz's old general direction. She laughed like a phyco, but to no avail. She didn't even scratch Blitz, mainly due to the reason that he was behind her. Roselight heard the buzz of wings finally and turned to see Blitz flying there. She lit her horn for a second time, trying to smite the bug that was pestering her. Blitz teleported to another location, avoiding the beam that she tried to shoot at him.

"Stay still! Let me swat you like the bug you are!" Roselight shouted, looking around for said bug. Blitz stood on the ground, back where he originally was standing. Without hesitation, Blitz slowly began to walk up to Roselight, before she vanished into thin air. Blitz looked around for her, but she was nowhere to be seen. Blitz turned around to check on Azure, when he saw the huge alicorn, looking above him. Roselight placed a magical aura around Blitz's horn, prohibiting the usage of magic from Blitz. While doing so, she lifted him up to eye level, giving Blitz a look of superiority.

"Urgh! Get off me!" Blitz yelped, struggling at Roselight's tight grip. She began to charge up her horn, before letting off a little amount of green electricity. It turned into smoke as soon as it hit Blitz, but it didn't hurt him, which surprised Blitz. His vision started to turn green, as Roselight dropped him to the ground. He laid on his stomach for a couple of seconds before gingerly getting up, struggling to do so.

Fake voices started to speak within his head, as his vision slowly blackened at the edges. He could see some sort of mist coming off the corners of his eyes, which made him worry a little. He looked around and didn't see Roselight anywhere. The blackness in his very was like a thick fog of some kind, dispersing when he got closer to the blackness. It was almost like it was an aura around Blitz, that blocked his distant vision.

Blitz felt a sharp buck to the side, making him feel like he had been hit by a cart. He looked in the direction of the buck and received a buck from the rear, which made his legs tremble, before he slumped to the ground. Azure wanted to go out and help, but he had no way of defending himself against telekinetic powers, let alone the spell. Bullets on the other hand, he would be fine with that.

He felt something hit his back left leg softly. Turning around, Azure saw Petalbreeze and Brick hiding next to a building. Azure slowly got out from the cart and slowly scampered over, trying to avoid all of the action that was happening on the opposite side of the buildings. Azure heard a shrieking noise from their general direction and pegged it over to the others.

Brick was slanted against the wall. He was almost looking like he was chilling out and trying to distract himself, but Azure could see a shred of doubt within him. He looked over to Azure and smiled softly, before looking at the ground again, almost like he was ashamed of something. Azure looked to the directions of the fighting and walked back a little, tripping over a rock that was sticking out of the ground. Petalbreeze turned around and looked at him, making herself chuckle.

"Yeah, I forgot to tell you to watch your step." Petalbreeze laughed, only for a split second, before going back and peaking around the corner, keeping sure that the coast was clear. Azure admired Petalbreeze's survivability skill, but he could see that she was beginning to lose faith in coming to the settlement.

Blitz closed his eyes, trying to maximize the senses that he was getting. He could hear her gliding around him, within the darkness of the black mist that enveloped his view. He couldn't see that far, but he was pretty sure that he could make out her figure, flapping her wings around Blitz, going around in circles, as he opened his eyes. Roselight was just a thin, white outline within the blackened smoke, which didn't help Blitz at all.

Roselight came through the mist after a couple of seconds of Blitz following her movements. Blitz shot a beam of energy at her, making her dive out of the way, but Blitz was still able to hit her. Although he didn't want to hurt her, he had to make her know that he could. He didn't want her to think that Blitz wouldn't attack, he wanted to show her that he would attack if he was provoked. Blitz was pretty sure that she got the message.

Roselight lunged for Blitz again, missing by a hair as Blitz jumped backwards, making Roselight a tad bit angrier. She continued to slash at him, getting closer and closer until Blitz decided that enough was enough and teleported away. Roselight looked behind her to see that Blitz's shadow was on the ground, suggesting that he was above her. She looked up and saw him staring down at her, talking to someone that wasn't there.

"Who are you talking to, you stupid roach?" Roselight screamed at Blitz, making him tilt his head. He lowered himself for a couple of seconds, before throwing a magical bolt her way, making her jump, due to not expecting it. Blitz's eyes both began to glow red, before a voice that was not Blitz's spoke aloud.

"Hehehe, you really are a silly nightmare, aren't ya, little scared moon?" Death spoke through Blitz's mouth, teasing her, so that she began to get more and more confused. Blitz regained the ability to speak, so he tried to convince Roselight.

"Roselight, I know that you can hear me! So, don't be scared, don't be afraid, don't give up yourself to the nightmare that is within you, controlling you. Break out of those chains and…" Blitz stated before getting struck with a bolt of blisteringly hot energy, which sent Blitz upwards.

"I am the one you call Roselight!" Roselight screamed, clearly being the nightmare and not being the mare that Blitz was trying to save. The pain of the bolt hurt Blitz too much, which made him wince in the air. He looked down to his stomach and saw that his chitin had protected him for the most part, but all of the flesh around it was now yellow and dusty. It should have been white or something, but Blitz could smell his blood dripping into the dustiness, which didn't help issues. He could feel all of the pain, which only made him angrier and angrier. He flew down and then landed with an earth shaking rattle.

Roselight looked over to him and began to laugh loudly. She thought that he looked so stupid, but Blitz wasn't one to take looks into account. He didn't care how he looked right then and there. All he knew was that Roselight would be saved, one way or another. Roselight lit up her horn, before Blitz's eyes turned green again, making him disappear into thin air.

Blitz knew that all of the ponies and creatures there would be worrying about him and maybe even thinking he was dead, but he wasn't. He was in what Death called, an 'enraged vision'. It was something that tried to corrupt the minds of the host, due to dark magic and dark knowledge that was getting pumped into their minds. It could either be acquired through getting hit with a dark magic spell, or reading a book about the matter. How did Blitz know this? He didn't, Death did and sent his knowledge through Blitz's head.

Blitz opened his eyes to see that he was on a path, surrounded by the black and inky void, the void that he needed to avoid stepping into. It was almost like Blitz was walking on air, but he wasn't. The path created a snake like pattern, weaving through different sections that haunted Blitz's now corrupted mind. He followed the path, being sure to not step off the path. Death displayed himself behind Blitz, making him turn. He displayed himself again, as a grey scaled version of Blitz, but wore a completely black hood, rather than Blitz's brownish one.

Blitz noticed that the path behind him was slowly disappearing, which made him continue to walk forwards, allowing the darkness that was slowly eating away at the ground behind him to not catch up to him. Blitz made himself walk a little quicker, trying to get away from the blackness what was approaching him. He was in some type of purgatory that was riddled with fear and deception. In the moment that he was living, he was neither dead, nor alive. He simply ceased to exist, for the time being.

"Scared?" Death asked, making Blitz turn his wounded neck. He just blankly stared at Death, both of them being underneath the safety of their own hoods, making them look like out of place figures. Blitz slowly shook his head, not feeling the pain that had hurt not too long ago. Death wasn't so convinced that Blitz was not scared. In fact, he was uncertain on how Blitz was feeling. All Death knew was that Blitz didn't feel safe.

Building began to come into view, making Blitz's mind feel a little bit better. Although they were only outlines, Blitz knew that this was probably the best chance that he would have got a sense of where he was. His mind was already corrupted enough, he didn't need more corruption going on within his mind, did he?

First it was the bombs dropping, Blitz seeing the carnage with his own eyes, but not remembering a single second after the flash had initially blinded him. It was rather unusual and Blitz normally felt a little weird trying to remember all of the actions of it, but he never could remember what happened after that.

After that, it was the grim death or his mother, which hurt him in so many ways, other than physical scarring. He was definitely mentally scarred from those events. His mother getting abused by those raiders and then them putting her out of her misery, before doing stuff to her corpse. That is nothing that a colt should have seen, but it was and it hurt Blitz a little more, just remembering it a little. A tear crawled down Blitz's cheek, which got Death's attention.

Next, it was the actions that transpired to watching a couple of Blitz's old pals. He got them into a situation that ended up in their demise, which haunted Blitz, because it was his fault. He had got them killed, due to his stupid actions. Just like with his mother, Blitz had to endure the pain and suffering of his friends getting murdered by a group of raiders. Blitz shook his head, beginning to understand what was happening in the area around him. He pushed forward, seeing that the path was behind him and almost being within a step of Blitz's previous position.

Blitz continued to get reminded of all of the bad that he could have done. This ranged from fighting the raiders who were hurting his mother, to letting the raiders within Roselight's settlement, without hurting them. This was not like Blitz. It almost felt like there was something messing with his emotions, making him feel that way. He had never dwelled on the results of what happened, he just moved on from them and allowed himself to see the actions that could have happened, if there were different times.

Death picked up on something being off with where they were. Everything seemed to be dark and gloomy and tried to scare Blitz whenever it could. Dark magic was always so tricky to understand, but Death was able to wrap his head around it. There was only one thing that Blitz had to do to escape the everlasting nightmare. That thing was to stand up against his greatest fear.

Blitz could see eyes looking at him, slowly approaching him in a way that friendly faces couldn't. He began to see all of the eyes coming into view, through the thick void that was blocking his view. He looked behind him for a couple of seconds, before seeing that the path wasn't slowing down, still rapidly approaching Blitz, making him panic a little.

"Blitz, that's just what it wants you to do!" Death whispered into his mind, making it so that the dark magic couldn't have an increased impact on Blitz. Blitz nodded and saw figures lining up in front of him. They were unrecognisable, which threw Blitz off a tiny bit. He tried to squint, to see who or what it was, before it revealed itself. A sword teleported into Blitz's hooves, which made him worry. He placed it into his magic before slicing at the raider that was in front of him.

The raider fell and was then replaced with a different raider. Blitz noticed this one, it was one of the raiders that both Blitz and Azure had ended the life of. Was this going to be something that tried to make Blitz feel bad? Most likely. Blitz looked at the figure, not having the confidence to smite it down, but still wanting to do so. He placed the sword within the raider and made him vanish, before pulling the sword back and allowing another pony to spawn as the black mist.

Next up was the raider that had almost killed Azure, earlier when they had both met and went out of journey. Blitz plunged his sword into him like he was nothing, having nothing else to say or do about his emotions about the pony that was in front of him. He kept the blade within the ponies body for a couple of seconds, before sighing and pulling it out, before swinging the sword about, readying himself for the next one.

A couple of seconds passed before the mist around him grew thicker and closer, the path still being eaten away at the edge. Roselight's voice echoed within the darkness, trying to make Blitz regret his actions.

"What gives you the right to kill? What if those ponies had families? What if you killed them out of cold blood, when all they wanted to do was protect themselves?" Roselight tried to persuade, making Blitz hold his head. Blitz began to doubt himself, making all of the questions come up stronger and more often. Blitz shook his head, before having a specific timberwolf come up to him and nuzzle his back hindleg.

Blitz looked down and instantly drew a blank, making Roselight or the nightmare inside his head, angry. Death looked at Blitz, shaking his head.

"You do realise that the nightmare will make you feel these feelings. You need to just forget thinking about things at this point of time and you need to get moving!" Death explained, pointing his hoof at the path behind him. Blitz took the sword and sliced it into the wall in front of him, making a big enough gap that he could teleport through it. Blitz saw a bright flash in front of him and saw another figure in front of him. This time, it was somepony that Blitz knew.

Appleseed eyed Blitz, making him rethink his entire goal in the first place. He wanted to find out about what the artifacts were and what their significance was. With that in mind, Blitz looked at Appleseed again, before slicing a chunk out of her, making her vanish. Appleseed was stopping Blitz from getting out of this area, but he did have some regret with doing it, making purple mist spark from the corners of his eyes.

Next up was Sadjoy, although Blitz didn't know the bat pony well, the bat pony still didn't have enough of a spark or a connection to Blitz, to make him panic about the choice. Blitz sliced at one of her legs, making the illusion vanish, only to be replaced with Blitz's fear. Blitz dropped the sword, before staring blankly into his mother's eyes. Blitz missed her the most out of anypony or creatures. She was his idol and she was taken away by them, without any reason. Blitz couldn't kill her, he wouldn't.

"I… I can't!" Blitz stated, feeling defeated, Death and Anti looked at each other, before looking towards Blitz.

"Welp, we did say that we had your back!" Death stated, before summoning his own personal scythe and slashing at Blitz's mother. Blitz went wide eyed, before Death teleported his scythe away, before looking back at Blitz and smiling. Blitz didn't know if he should have smiled, or if he should have been angry at Death. Without Blitz wanting to, he was brought back into the real world. Roselight was cackling, until she saw Blitz return.

Blitz had his eyes closed, before he opened them with pure green vision and purple haze at the side of his view, which made her smile madly. She slowly walked over to Blitz, before seeing that he was enveloped by dark magic. She smiled and then pointed at Azure and Petalbreeze, having caught them hiding. Azure looked at Blitz and Blitz looked at Azure, displaying no emotions. Blitz then looked up to Roselight and blinked again, extinguishing the purple flames and the green tint.

"Who said I was in your control?" Blitz spoke out, getting a surprising glance from Roselight. She shot a beam of magic at Blitz, which didn't scare him, only making him move closer. Roselight's beam was being cut off by another beam, coming out of Anti's maw, which surprised Blitz a little. Roselight forced her beam more, not yielding any better results. Blitz walked forward and smiled at her, before using a magic cancelling spell and touching his horn to hers, making his vision go back, almost like he was within the illusion before. He walked down the path again, only to see Roselight chained up, with a certain nightmare there too. Blitz shot a beam at Roselight's shackles, releasing one of her hooves within the illusion.

Blitz turned and ran the opposite way, running towards the path that was slowly getting eaten. He jumped into the blackness and saw that his vision went black and then went back into reality. He was trying to set Roselight free, making her able to escape the nightmare's grasp. The nightmare had her in chains, so Blitz had to make it a fair fight. Roselight backed off, trying to keep away from Blitz.

"Come here nightmare! I need to take those shackles off for Roselight." Blitz teased, making her look angrier. She blasted another beam at Blitz, which Blitz quickly dodged, teleporting behind her and pulling her neck backwards. Blitz touched his horn against hers again, before Blitz went into her head again, seeing that the path was getting quicker and quicker to catch up to him. Blitz saw Roselight trying to break out of her shackles with her free hoof. The nightmare was blocking Blitz line of sight with any of her other shackles, making the nightmare tense up a little and shudder.

"You will not best me, mortal!" The nightmare commanded, prompted by a pure desire for power and pretty much nothing else. Blitz flew around, barely missing a couple of shots from the nightmare's horn, which didn't scare Blitz in the slightest. He just continued to hover around and dodge whatever attack she sent his way, making him smile when he got the opportunity to teleport next to Roselight. He teleported to her and smiled, before burning an additional shackle off, before getting hit with another blistering hot lightning bolt, straight to the stomach.

The bolt shot Blitz out of the illusion and into the air, making Roselight able to batter him with a couple of other lightning bolts. These extra bolts visually hurt Blitz, showing green blood on his chitin and mane. Blitz got pushed out of the settlement, landing not too far off the main gate. Azure came blisteringly fast over to Blitz, seeing him in the state he was. He tried to heal Blitz's wounds with all he could, but Blitz refused it.

Blitz got one good look at Azure, before he rolled his eyes and nuzzled Azure, making him blush. That wasn't the end of it though. Blitz also kissed Azure on the top of the head, making him blush a bright red, counteracting poorly with his fur colour. Blitz chuckled, before spitting out a little bit of blood. His now blood-soaked chitin began to harden and make his actions stiffer and harder to achieve, but that didn't stop him from trying to break himself, to make himself work better.

Azure helped Blitz to the gate and saw a scene which was not going to go well in Roselight's mind. Petalbreeze was hurt, most likely due to Roselight, which made Azure look at Blitz. Azure knew that Blitz was a dangerous pony to deal with, so he let go of Blitz, only to have him teleport away.

"That's my boy!" Azure muttered, before going to help Petalbreeze with some of her wounds. Roselight took to the sky, rivaling Blitz's actions of teleporting up there. Blitz could see that Nightmare Roselight was getting weaker and weaker, due to Roselight being able to get out from within the shackles she was placed in, within her own head.

"Are we going to end this?" Roselight asked for the final time. Blitz nodded, only to have Death take over his mouth and voice.

"Of course!" Death admitted in his raspy voice. Blitz shook his head before charging up his already damaged horn. Roselight did the same, only she was going to be using dark magic to be able to hurt Blitz, both mentally and physically. Roselight let out a channeled beam of energy, constantly being cast by Roselight as she figured for dominance. Blitz countered her beam with his own beam, beginning to feel slightly overwhelmed by Roselight's power.

Blitz needed help and quickly received it, in the shape of Death himself. He took control of Blitz's body for a split second before giving Blitz something.

"Cast the spell I gave you Blitz!" Death called out from within his mind. Blitz used a new spell that he now recognised within his memory and teleported above Roselight, making her point her beam up. Blitz charged up his beam again, but this time, lightning sparked at the corner of his eyes and he released a black beam of magic. The beam made quick work of Roselight's magic, which made Blitz feel like he was too strong, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that Blitz was able to get the nightmare out of control of Roselight's head.

Blitz hit her pretty quickly with the force of the beam and quickly knocked the mare down to Equestria once again. Blitz flew down and pointed his horn at hers, sparking when they both made contact. Blitz shot through the blackness and found Roselight trying to get off the last shackle, after taking one off herself. Blitz shot it off with his magic, before the nightmare bucked Blitz in the head, sending him into reality again, without getting the collar around Roselight's neck off.

Blitz opened his eyes and watched as Roselight charged up her horn for another time, before getting hit with a stool from the side. Both her and Blitz looked over to see plenty of angry faces. Petalbreeze, Gretzky, Azure, Brick, Nightclaw and Sadjoy all held weapons up at Roselight, making the nightmare within her chuckle.

"Oh, you all are the funniest of ponies! Sick and twisted mortals cannot stop me!" Roselight announced, cackling to herself once again. Blitz rolled his eyes before allowing Death to take control.

"Oh? And I assume that you are immortal, right nightmare?" Death asked Roselight, getting the painfully disturbing look from not only Roselight, but all of the others as well. "Blitz, if you would hologram me, then I'd set her straight." Death asked, Blitz's mouth moving with every word. Blitz's eyes went bright red, before he used a hologram spell, allowing Death to move about, without being in the confines of Blitz's head.

Nopony spoke, only gawking at the sight of a myth that Blitz was in the possession of. Death looked at his hooves, seeing that they were bony and discoloured, which made him smile, before he changed form. Blitz didn't know why, but he wanted to understand why Death kept changing into a dark and twisted version of himself. He would eventually ask him, but it wasn't the place for it now.

"So, nightmare? How have you been doing? It's been a while since you sent me somepony to keep me company." Death explained, noticing that there was some trembling that was happening nearby. Blitz looked around and saw two ponies shaking. One of them was Roselight and the other… the other was Zeke. Everypony else was just standing silent, allowing Death to do what was needed or required, which Blitz supposed was pretty nice, allowing him to just get on with it.

"Let Roselight go!" Petalbreeze called out, not to Blitz or Death, but to the nightmare that had taken over Roselight's mind. Roselight shook her head at her and smiled, before trying to drag the unicorn over to her. Roselight realised that something was making the telekinetic power that she had, very, very weak. Roselight looked to Blitz, seeing that he was using his magic to not only display Death, but to stop Roselight from getting to Petalbreeze. Roselight flew up into the air, before charging her horn and making her eyes bubble with a purple haze.

"Feel the wrath of a tormented corrupt nightmare!" Roselight stated one final time, before shooting out a black and dark purple beam of magic. No, dark magic! She was shooting a dark magic beam and she was an alicorn. That was not good. She shot the beam down to the group of ponies from both settlements. Blitz wouldn't allow any of them to die, so he did what was right. He teleported in front of the entire group and used a protection spell, blocking all of the magic that was draining his magic, by the second.

Death knew that Blitz couldn't hold that magic for long, especially it being dark magic. He quickly used his magic, from the hologram, to push the magic back. He was quickly joined by Anti, shooting a continuous beam back at Roselight, making her work harder to keep up the spell. Blitz felt his magic drain at a slower rate, which made him feel a little safer with everything that had happened to lead up to the events that were happening then and there.

Azure came up to Blitz and wrapped his hooves around him, trying not to disturb Blitz's magic flow. Blitz accepted the hug that Azure was trying to provide. It gave Blitz a bit more confidence going into all of the fighting that was bound to happen within getting Roselight free. Blitz looked back at Azure and smiled, knowing that he was a true and humble friend. With that, he turned to look back to Nightmare Roselight and smiled a little, before walking towards with the shield going.

Death and Anti were still going strong, which made Blitz worry a little. Blitz focused all of his magic into the shield, pushing forward and letting Death re-enter his mind and soul. Blitz eyes went bright red again and he laughed a little, before Anti disappeared again.

"It makes me laugh that you chose a unicorn to control, since there were no pure minded alicorns in the Wasteland. Ready for the final assault?" Death asked in his lingering, painfully raspy voice. Roselight nodded and smiled, before going to slash at Blitz with a sword. Blitz didn't block, nor did he dodge the attack, like he normally would. Blitz had cheated the system of living, thanks to Death.

Before Death stopped talking, he charged a spell he used to watch over everything, making Blitz start to phase into limbo, which was pretty cool when Blitz thought about it, but also terrifying when he thought about it more. He was in a state that was still visible, but his matter was not able to be touched by anything. Blitz slowly walked up to Roselight, making her shiver a little bit at the sight of a God within a pony.

Blitz didn't ask for any of it, but he happily accepted to help Death cleanse the Wasteland. Blitz was proud of himself, which he cherished for a short while, before coming face to face with Roselight. Blitz touched his horn to Roselight's and entered the blackness, for the final time. Blitz was glad that Death turned off the limbo spell before getting to Roselight.

The path was as ominous as ever and there were breaks in the path in front of them. Blitz, Death and Anti all tried to avoid the cracks, while avoiding the being too slow and letting the path disappear under them. It didn’t take them long to find Roselight and the nightmare together. Blitz looked over and saw them both fighting. Even though Roselight was still restricted due to her one remaining shackle, that didn't stop her from resisting the nightmare’s attacks against her.

Blitz was sure that both Roselight and the nightmare couldn't see them, which made him a bit happier. Blitz looked at Death and Anti, checking that they were both thinking about what he was thinking about.

“If that is what you want to do Blitz, then I am behind you.” Death said, reading Blitz’s mind for a split second. BLitz nodded, before walking up to both Roselight and the nightmare. Blitz’s steps almost became completely silent, as Blitz walked over to the two. Roselight spotted him, but she didn't want the nightmare to realise that he was behind her. Thinking of that only made the nightmare realise that Blitz was there behind her.

“It's time to end this, you nightmare!” Blitz pressured, making the nightmare feel the effect of its actions, making the nightmare’s smile so much bigger. The nightmare lashed out, swinging the sword at Blitz, in the hope to hit him and finally end this, so that the nightmare could get back to what it was doing. Blitz wasn't going to stand for that, so he blocked and blocked and blocked. Blitz didn't want to do anything to the nightmare, so he just kept her busy, while Roselight tried to struggle out of the restraints.

The metal collar that Roselight was trying to take off was very solidly put into place and looked like it had been welded into place. That wasn't the case however, which was quite surprising that the metal was slowly melting, due to the head of Roselight’s magic. Blitz spotted the action from the corner of his eye and smiled, making it a little more obvious that he knew something had happened. The nightmare was way too distracted in Blitz, that she didn't realise that Roselight was melting herself free of her final restraint.

Anti slowly walked over, followed closely by Death himself. They just watched both parts play out for the most part, but wanted to contribute to help. They both looked at each other, before nodding and walking to either one of the scenes before them. Death walked over to Roselight, going over to help her and Anti calmly pranced over to Blitz and the nightmare, knowing full well that Blitz wasn't going to give up.

Roselight looked at Death and froze, knowing full well that she was going to wind up dead somehow. She panicked as Death got closer, which made him smile a bit, but it wasn't his intention to scare her. Death shot a beam of magic at the collar that she had been trying to take off, making it shatter into pieces and allowing Roselight to breath. She looked over to Death and smiled softly, making him know that she was grateful for what he had done. Death smiled back, before looking over to Blitz blocking the nightmare’s attacks. Death had confidence in Blitz, but knew that he would eventually get hit, due to exhaustion.

Death walked over and pinned the nightmare to the path, before eyeing her down. She cackled, before understanding who she was up against. She stopped laughing completely and didn't even breathe, as she observed a pony that made her tremble. Death wasn't planning on doing anything with the nightmare, which got him thinking about something they could do to the mare. Death was going to keep the nightmare and torment her, but he was planning on using her powers to enhance Blitz’s knowledge, power and resilience. Death was displaying those ideas into Blitz’s mind and waiting for Blitz to respond to them.

Although Blitz liked the idea of the power and the knowledge, he understood that that would change him more than he would have felt comfortable with. Blitz did ponder on the idea for a couple of seconds, but then decided to refuse the idea, leaving Roselight to ponder the option that Blitz had taken. Blitz walked a little closer to Roselight and saw that the mare looked awfully confused on what was actually happening. Blitz found it easier to allow others to pick up the pieces that were slowly crumbling away his past, making his past harder to describe.

Blitz looked over to Death pinning down the nightmare. The look of fear that was present on her face was one that Blitz would remember for a long while. She couldn't look away from Death’s gaze, which made her feel more and more on edge. She deserved to feel like that, for tomenting and torturing Roselight into turning into the creature that she was now. Although her mind was set free, Blitz knew that he had to eliminate the nightmare from the body. He didn't know how to do that, that was the only problem.

Roselight placed a hoof on Blitz's shoulder, making him turn. She stared into his eyes and smiled, making Blitz feel a little better about himself in general.

"Thank you Eater, I appreciate it." Roselight announced to him, making him feel that much better than he previously was. He was grateful for the appreciation, but knew that his work was not over completely. Although Roselight was free, the nightmare was still in possession of Roselight's body. Blitz needed to find any way to get Roselight back to her normal self, without the nightmare interfering with her life.

Death looked over at Blitz with an idea, but he knew that it would be a risk. He used his magic to talk to Blitz, without letting anypony else know.

"The only way to end this, is to either kill Roselight and the nightmare, or take the nightmare away and put it into another pony's body. That would corrupt their mind instantly and let the nightmare mingle within. The only exception is you, because you have me in your head, and I'll probably be able to manage the nightmare's activity." Death explained, making Blitz worry a little.

Blitz nodded to him, before walking up to him and looking directly at Death's blank expression.

"What do you need me to do?" Blitz asked, not liking where it was heading. He would sacrifice himself just so other ponies and creatures could live without the added fear in their lives.

"Don't let her corrupt you. An illusion within an illusion." Death simply stated, before Blitz's vision went clear white. Blitz heard some voices, making him fear where he was going instantly. Blitz was sure that it was just going to be him and the nightmare in the illusion, so he prepared himself for what was to come.

As soon as his vision cleared, he couldn't hear the voices anymore and saw nopony around. The nightmare appeared down the corridor and Blitz growled at her, making sure that she knew who she was dealing with. Blitz was pretty much Death’s right hand stallion, Death’s apprentice. The nightmare didn't flinch, only moving closer with every breath that Blitz took. He stood his ground, making sure that he wasn't going to run into a trap that she could have placed somewhere along the room that they were both in.

They were in a room that Blitz remembered very well, a place that burned itself into his mind. The memory orb that the room came from flickered red every now and again, suggesting that the area was corrupted and not really real. Blitz looked around the corridor and saw that every stained glass window was clear. There were no images or designs on any of them, making the place feel less and less familiar to Blitz, as he kept looking around and waited for the nightmare to do something.

She teleported her sword to her side, making Blitz smile, due to the repetition that she showed towards him. She swung her sword in Blitz's direction, missing by a couple of inches, as Blitz dodged the attack by hopping backwards. She looked up into his eyes and saw that there was no mood within them. No emotions at all.

Blitz didn't want to fight back, but he had to keep the nightmare distracted for Death, for him to complete the spell. Blitz pulled out a dagger of some kind, one that didn't look too familiar to him. Blitz looked at the inscription on the handle of the dagger and saw some words transcribed onto it.

"Death's soul ripper!" Blitz read aloud, making the nightmare slow down and listen. Before Blitz could do anything, the nightmare charged him, knocking him over with the dagger still in his magic. He pulled it over to him and watched as the nightmare cackled over him. Blitz clutched the dagger tighter with his magic and felt a surge of energy rush through his body, like somepony was giving him love or like a certain pony had infused a little bit of themself inside the object. The surge from the dagger gave Blitz a different approach to the situation and even to his normal functioning state.

Blitz jumped up, having all of the energy in the world to get up and start distracting. The nightmare stopped cackling and watched Blitz with a mindful eye. She didn't know what to make of the events that were transpiring, but she was sure to have a smile while she was doing it. She lashed out again, swiping the sword in Blitz's general direction. She couldn't hit him, due to how evasive he was, which was making her more and more angry.

Blitz jumped in all directions, avoiding each and every single slash that the nightmare could unleash. He came within a couple of inches of a couple of the slashes, but for the most part, he was relatively safe for avoiding the slashes. The nightmare was having the worst time trying to hit him. She was beginning to get angry with the fact that Blitz was too fast for her to keep up with. She began to change her strategy, mixing in some blasts from her horn as well, which proved to do nothing to him, even though he was still a mortal being.

The nightmare’s ego was way, way too big. Too big for her to even handle, but that made her believe that she was the best of the best, a god in other words. Blitz would normally roll his eyes at ponies with huge egos, but he was finding some sort of humour out of all of the stuff that the nightmare was coming up with.

Blitz found an opening to go for an attack and went for it, wielding the dagger in his magic. He ran closer to the nightmare, before plunging the dagger into where her heart should have been, only there was no contact, not even any other force that restricted his movements. She was just an illusion! The nightmare laughed at Blitz and shot him with some red hot lightning, singeing some of his chitin with a chalky whiteness that rubbed off. Blitz was surprised to find that the burns in his body didn’t hurt. They more or less made him feel fresher, which was not a good sign.

The nightmare went wide eyed and stopped laughing. She noticed that Blitz was still there and still breathing. She tried to hit him again, charging her horn again, before releasing the magic and watching Blitz teleport beside her.

“Why are you so surprised?” Blitz asked the nightmare, hoping to learn what would have happened to regular ponies. She didn't follow along with it, slicing the sword at Blitz previous location, nearly catching herself with the sword in the process. Blitz teleported away without a second to spare, ending up a little distance from the nightmare.

The nightmare changed the surroundings a little, making the walls shit inwards and making them look like they were constantly getting closer and closer together. Blitz didn't fall for it, still dodging the attacks that the nightmare sent his way. Blitz noticed that the walls behind himself and the nightmare were quickly closing in, which scared them both, until Blitz realised what was happening. Death had completed what he had to do and it was going to fuse the nightmare and Blitz together. The nightmare didn't know this, but eventually, she would.

Blitz held his head as a voice spoke to him from within his mind. It was Death speaking to him, but not speaking like he normally did.

"You are able to kill her now. Stab her with the dagger and she will be fused to you! The time limit of the spell is those walls that are closing in on you. You have to do it, fast!" Death explained, not being able to hear a response from Blitz, which Death hoped was a good sign. Blitz looked at the ground and closed his eyes before smiling evilly and looking up with a single tear in his eye.

Blitz launched himself at the nightmare, before he teleported away. The nightmare was surprised by what Blitz had just done and tried to teleport away, but it didn't work. She began to panic as the room was getting smaller and smaller. She pushed against the wall, hoping to stop it, but nothing happened. He got pushed back and felt the other wall against her hindlegs, making her worry more. Without warning, Blitz dived down and landed on top of the nightmare, before stabbing her in the heart. She didn't scream, she only looked down at the dagger in her heart, before they both were crushed by the wall.

Snapping out of the illusion, Blitz saw Nightmare Roselight still in front of him, which made him pause. Didn't he just kill the nightmare? Roselight blinked rapidly, before looking around with a pain in her head. She looked over to Blitz and smiled.

"Is she gone?" Roselight asked Blitz, noticing that he wasn't thinking straight. He nodded, not looking towards her for a couple of seconds. Roselight looked at her new skeleton like wings and sighed. "Well, I guess what I'm going to have to learn to fly!" Roselight added, hovering in the air with her magic.

Roselight landed on the ground and had Petalbreeze run up to her, before giving her a hug and nuzzling into her. Gretzky joined the hug, along with Sadjoy, Plumjuice and Nightclaw. Blitz landed on the floor shortly after and turned around, before noticing that something was off. He knew that he was now in possession of the nightmare, but where was… Blitz was interrupted by Azure coming over and tapping him on the shoulder.

Blitz turned around and saw Azure stood there, a couple of tears in his eyes. Blitz smiled and opened his hooves, before Azure tackled him, pinning him to the floor.

"Now you get to relax! No exceptions!" Azure playfully commanded, making Blitz smile.

"Sure, I can do that!" Blitz answered back, making Azure hop off him, before going over to talk to Gretzky and the others. "...But for how long, Blitz?" Blitz stated in a slightly corrupted and demonic voice. That wasn't his voice. That was the nightmare!

Chapter 11: Recovering Research

All was quiet in the settlement. Everything was calm after the torment of Nightmare Roselight had begun and then swiftly ended, which for Blitz, felt like a lifetime. The air dimmed with emotionless radiation, so light that it didn’t even disturb the flow of everyday life. Blitz was casually sitting outside on a bench, watching as the world got darker and darker and darker.

Roselight walked over to Blitz, seeing that he was sat on the bench, with not a single soul to accompany him, which made her feel that little bit worse for him. Roselight sat on the bench, trying to disturb him, but still trying to be noticed by him. Blitz turned his head and looked at her, seeing a little smile on her face. Seeing that her ears were drooping down, Blitz just rolled his eyes.

“What happened to the nightmare that was inside of me?” Roselight asked, making Blitz tense up a bit. He didn't have the heart to tell her that he took the nightmare away from her, just to place it into himself. He had to come up with an excuse that would allow him to play it off like she just vanished.

"I was able to remove it, without too much trouble. It's a wandering spirit now." Blitz lied, knowing that the nightmare was within him, like putting it into a pony shaped cage. The thought terrified Blitz enough to make him shake his head, trying to shake the mental image away. He knew that life was about to get that little bit harder, but didn't really know how bad it could get.

Roselight caught Blitz's look of distortion and held his cheek, before turning it to meet her gaze, Blitz's face being gently pulled to look at Roselight's.

"That's really not happened to the nightmare, has it?" Roselight digged in the question, making Blitz feel more and more guilty. He had to hide his emotions, to make the others not worry about him, so he simply just shook his head, making Roselight look confused. She knew that he was lying from his face alone, but she knew that Blitz didn't want anypony worrying about him.

Blitz looked around to try to keep his mind stable in the condition that it was in. Blitz knew that the nightmare would play with his emotions, but Death could have kept that in check, right? Blitz shook his head again, trying to clear it completely of the thoughts. It didn't remove a couple of thoughts, but those were quickly pushed to the back of Blitz's mind. Before he could do anything else, he received a kiss on the cheek from Roselight, making him turn, cheeks turning bright blue.

"That is a thank you for saving me and my mind." Roselight admitted, smiling and showing a blush of her own. Blitz smiled, before getting up and nodding at her, before teleporting away. Blitz didn't teleport far, only a couple of meters around a corner, but felt like he needed to talk to Death a little. Blitz used his hologram spell to summon Death, the nightmare being on the end of a leash.

"Well, you worrying about the nightmare here isn't an issue. She's in good hooves!" Death explained, tugging at the lead for the nightmare to come closer. She looked almost scared of him, shivering and refusing to look into any eyes that were around her. She had finally learnt where her place was. It was on a lead that Death had, ready to do whatever he asked of her. The more Blitz thought about it, the more he realised how messed up that was. Was Death a slaver? "No!" He shouted, putting that question to rest

Blitz smiled at Death, getting a smile back from him, before Blitz stopped the spell and walked back to his and Azure's home. On the way back, he spotted Gretzky talking to one of the new ponies that had come from the previous settlement. Lilly was talking to Gretzky about something, which made Blitz wonder and want to travel over to them, but ponies did love curiosity, but that would have to wait. Ponies also loved their privacy as well, which Blitz agreed with.

He turned away, before walking up to the front door. Blitz quickly looked around, seeing that the sky was still black and uncertain, which made Blitz curious to how long he was outside for. He opened the door before walking in and closing it softly, trying not to wake the sleeping pegasus. Azure was laid out across the entire soft, making Blitz quietly chuckle. Blitz was going to try to be the more energetic and enthusiastic one, but it would be difficult to adapt to within a couple of days.

Blitz saw that Azure was in a very uncomfortable position, so he decided to do something about it. He took Azure with his magic and carried him over to the bed that they had. Blitz slowly and softly placed Azure onto the bed, before covering him up in the covers, making sure that the pegasus was nice and warm. Blitz curled up beside him and tried to fall asleep too, but kept getting nudged by Azure. Noticing this, Blitz looked up and saw a smile on the pegasus' face, showing that he was awake. Blitz smiled, before shimmying next to the somewhat sleeping Azure and curled up right next to him, before getting the covers thrown over him, thanks to Azure.

Blitz looked into Azure's eyes, seeing that they were open, but just barely. Blitz smiled and blushed, before Azure gave a lick to Blitz nose, making him blush a deeper shade of blue. Azure chuckled softly, before wrapping his hooves around Blitz's waist, pulling him in closer. Before Blitz could do anything else, he noticed that both him and Azure were beginning to fall asleep. Letting the actions fall into place, Azure fell asleep first, followed by a chirping changeling, being in the warmth of somepony's embrace.

The next morning, Blitz woke up, feeling a little bit under the weather. He turned to his left and saw that Azure was not there. He was a little worried about that, but let it settle that he was probably outside doing something. Blitz yawned, feeling the most tired that he had ever felt. It wasn't his fault that his life was tiring and exhausting.

Blitz got up and stretched, cracking his forehooves loudly, before cracking his hindlegs too. It was weird to hear a bug cracking it's bones, but it was even weirder knowing that nobody was around to judge him on everything he did. Normally, he would have been put in line, put in his place when being around other ponies and be told what to do and what not to do. In his home, in the settlement, he had freedom, something that his kind originally didn't have.

As soon as Blitz stood normally, he felt some-kind of spring in his step, due to either him feeling good or excited about today's events, or there was something wrong with the chitin on the end of his hoof. He checked his hoof, not believing in him being happy or excited about today's events. He felt a little off, but that was probably due to the actions of yesterday taking a toll on him. After all, he did have a couple of burns and really nasty cuts all over his body.

Blitz walked up to the only mirror in the building and froze. He was cut all over, making him look like a zebra with dark green and red stripes. This made Blitz worry a little, but he just thought to go along with it. It would have been normal for Death to interrupt one of Blitz's crazed ramblings, but he didn't. Blitz called out for Death in his head, only for no response to be heard. This made Blitz a little confused, but it didn't stop him from experiencing the day.

Blitz walked over to the front door and teleported his cloak over to him, before putting it on. He looked back at the mirror, having a clear view of it from the door and smiled. None of the cuts could be seen when Blitz had the cloak over him, which made him feel a little more comfortable going outside. Blitz quickly remembered that he had to go and talk to Roselight about those artifacts, which got his head immediately thinking about them.

Blitz was pretty sure that those thoughts came from the nightmare and Blitz was almost one hundred percent about that, because as the ideas entered his head, they immediately left his mind and got replaced with his original plan of finding Azure. Death was definitely still there and definitely doing his job of keeping the nightmare in line. What did that make Blitz? Was Blitz's nickname now Death's little nightmare? That made him chuckle, as he opened the door and peeked outside.

The day was new and bright, making Blitz understand that it was the morning. Blitz hopped outside and closed the door behind him with his magic, before turning to see that the area around was much, much cleaner and neater, making Blitz immediately think of all of the new settlers. He would eventually go and talk to them all individually, but for the time being, his objectives were Azure and what the nightmare had suggested, because even before the nightmare, his first intention was to return to Roselight and learn about what she had learnt from the artifacts.

Blitz jumped down the paths, seeing that they were all cleaner than before, which made the settlement look so much cooler and tidy. He came up to Gretzky's shop, before seeing that Gretzky was within it. Blitz tapped on a little bell that was placed next to his serving table, which made a little 'ding' noise, before getting the attention of the happy gryphon.

Gretzky came out with a smile on his face, before looking at Blitz with an even bigger smile.

"Hey Eater! How may I help ya?" Gretzky happily asked, being in a very good morning mood. Blitz nodded before coughing, clearing his throat.

"Hi Gretzky. Have you seen Alchem?" Blitz asked, still using Azure's fake name to all of the other ponies, because it actually fitted him and acted like his own little nickname, something that Blitz really didn't have, apart from the lame fake name of Soul Eater, compared to Azure's fake name of Doctor Alchem. That was so much cooler!

"Oh yeah, he's over in Roselight's building, talking to her about those so called artifacts. If she is correct with them, Roselight might be onto something that might help cleanse this part of Equestria." Gretzky explained, telling something to Blitz that was entirely new to him. He would have to talk to Roselight to elaborate on that. Blitz looked around and saw that there were a couple of missing items in Gretzky's shop. Blitz would have originally stated or called out that they had been stolen, if only there wasn't a sign in their place, indicating that it had been sold.

Blitz continued to look at Gretzky's shop, noticing that he had a couple of new weapons for sale. Blitz spotted a pickaxe, which would actually be useful, if Blitz saw anything and needed help getting to said object. Blitz spotted another weapon, which shocked him a little when he saw it at first. A harpoon gun was present on the display table. It was about the size of a rocket launcher, but instead of firing missiles, it would fire sharp jagged pieces of metal at the enemy, impaling them instantly, but there was certain type of harpoon gun that fired the same types of spikes, but we're able to recall the harpoon, due to it being attached to some rope. Blitz was sure to look out for one of them, just so that he could sell it to a potential buyer.

Blitz looked up at Gretzky, who was trying to get a PipBuck to work, without putting it onto his foreleg. Blitz's idea of what he was trying to do was to put the PipBuck so that it was displayed like a tablet would display an image. Blitz shrugged at that and tried to gain Gretzky's attention again. Due to Gretzky being so enticed with the object, Blitz was unable to gain his attention again. Blitz rolled his eyes before waving to Gretzky, before heading over to Roselight's building.

On the way there, Blitz saw all of the settlement dwellers beginning to emerge from their new homes. That filled him with a sense of pride, but why didn't it make him feel motivated? That thought was most likely the nightmare going at it again, because that feeling then swapped itself out for a big amount of motivation. Thanks Death!

Blitz stopped at the door, before knocking a couple of times, before entering slowly, making sure not to make too much noise upon entry. He turned and saw Azure looked dead at him. If it wasn't for the light and the unfamiliarity of the room, Blitz would have been fine, but there was something about the way that he was looking at Blitz, which made Blitz shudder inside, not displaying his emotion on the outside. He walked closer and saw that Roselight was wearing a big smile on her face.

Azure hugged Blitz, before laughing. Blitz was slightly confused by the actions of Azure, but rolled with it, knowing that Azure would never try to hurt Blitz, right? That was the nightmare's thoughts getting into his head again, so he just ignored all of the negativity coming from within his head.

Azure stopped hugging Blitz, noticing something was wrong. Azure used his hoof to pivot Blitz's head around, making Blitz look directly into his eyes. Blitz blushed the faintest shade of blue, while looking into Azure's beautiful golden eyes.

"What is wrong Eater? What's on your mind?" Azure asked, being the friend that he knew Blitz needed. Blitz immediately sighed, before shaking his head, giving Azure the 'something is up, but I refuse to tell you' impression.

"I'm fine, just some negative thoughts is all." Blitz truthfully admitted, but also shifted the words into a lie. Blitz didn't know if he should have sat down with Azure in private and talked about what was really going on within his head, but Blitz knew that that would only hurt him if he did, so he kept it on the low-down, or as discreet as he could.

Blitz sat in a chair that was beside Azure, noticing that Azure wasn't taking his eyes off Blitz. That made Blitz feel a little uncomfortable, but he knew that Azure really, really cared for him, like a brother or a lov… Blitz's thoughts were interrupted by Roselight slamming her hooves on the table in front of her. Blitz jumped, snapping out of his enchanted abyssal daydreaming and focusing on the source of the noise, which was Roselight.

"Now that I got both of your attention, you want to learn more about the artifacts, right?" Roselight stated in her new form, wings spread out wide, filling half of the room with them. Both Blitz and Azure looked at each other and nodded, before looking back to Roselight, both of them having smiles on their faces. "Good, good! Anyway, the nightmare that was within me taunted me while I watched over the artifacts. It gave me a choice that I refused then gave me one that would increase my knowledge of the artifacts, only in exchange for my body. It took it, knowing that I would have no control over my actions, but Alchem and Soul Eater, the nightmare was constantly in about you two for some reason. It called you Azure and Blitz for some reason. Any ideas?" Roselight explained, adding a question to the end of it.

Blitz looked at Azure and closed his eyes, before taking in a deep breath before Azure cut him off with his hoof.

"We don't like ponies using our real names…" Azure announced to Roselight, making Blitz lower Azure's hoof from his mouth. Blitz would have said something similar, but Azure got it spot on. Roselight just chuckled before she winked at both of them.

"Don't worry you two, your secret is safe with me." Roselight announced quietly, winking at both Azure and Blitz, which made them both awkwardly smile back at her. "Alright, getting back to it. I now have a good idea on what these artifacts were meant for. Apparently…" Roselight stated, before placing the artifacts on the table. "...These artifacts are from the ministry mares, but it's mainly from past memories. Instantly, the Daring Do figurine comes from Rainbow Dash's collection, so that is RD out!" Roselight showed, before moving the figure to the side.

"So the nightmare knew about this?" Blitz asked, knowing that the nightmare was still listening to everything that he was. Roselight nodded, making Blitz wear a frown on his face. Nopony around Blitz took a notice to the frown, but he couldn't help but know that somepony knew something about his own actions and knew that something wasn't quite right. Blitz continued to show an interest towards the artifacts, while perking his ears upwards, trying to understand as much information as he could about the artifacts.

"Anyways, the plans that you acquired, Eater, were the blueprints for a particular structure. It is the blueprints for the barn that Vault 2 is sat beneath. The barn only has one relationship to one of the ministry mares, so it applies to Applejack. That's two!" Roselight explained. "The rock on the other hand, could either be Rarity's or Fluttershy's, so that is undiscovered for now." Roselight added, before placing the rock in front of them. Not even the nightmare knew about that, which was a little terrifying at the least.

Blitz knew that there were at least six ministry mares that ran all of the main powers of Equestria, so that would have just left three more artifacts to grab. Blitz used his magic to look over the rock, seeing it was as smooth as he had ever seen a rock, but there was something about it that didn't feel right. Blitz didn't know the feeling, but wanted to remember the name of the feeling that he had at that moment of time.

"Yes, so we have three more artifacts until we have the entire amount." Roselight announced proudly, knowing that they would find them all, but it would be a challenge. "Also, I know where another artifact is! It's… at the Steel Ranger's base of operations." Roselight added, her ears drooping down and sticking to the side of her head. Blitz didn't see what the big deal was with the Steel Ranger's, but he knew that they liked their technology, so any chance that Blitz had to gain a bit of tech, just to trade it for a bit of access to the base, was his idea.

Blitz was sure that he would be able to get into the Steel Ranger's base, but didn't know where to begin. Eventually, he would have learnt so much about the Steel Ranger's, that he would know the ins and outs of it without even looking, but that was very, very unethical.

"Where is their main base?" Blitz asked Roselight, hoping that she knew what it was and more importantly, where it was. Roselight laughed loudly, nearly falling over in the process. Blitz wasn't laughing, he was trying to ask an actual question to Roselight. This only fueled his drive to try to find out more.

"They don't have a main base. They have multiple ones across Equestria, to avoid one of the bases falling and for them not to have a place to fall back on." Roselight explained, still chuckling a little and whipping tears from her eyes, due to Blitz's question. That made a bit more sense to Blitz's, but still didn't answer his question, so he changed it a little.

"Okay, so where is the most packed base? And also, do you even know where the artifact is?" Blitz asked, hoping that she would answer both questions easily. Roselight wore a serious look, making Blitz smile a little.

"The biggest base right now is at Hoofington. They hold up in a ship which… well, let's just say that it could indent this entire area within a quarter of a shot from one of their cannons. It is a literal fort!" Roselight explained carefully. "And also, I can't guarantee that the artifact will be there, just have a hunch, because it is the biggest one right now. It's not even that far from her, just a few hours to the west by hoof." Roselight added, making Blitz's smile a little.

"Oh, isn't that called the… something Celestia? It's got something in front of the Celestia. It's a huge warship!" Azure added to Roselight's additional comment, making her give a simple nod. Blitz was very curious to find out about this ship and was really badly wanting to explore it, but he knew that he wouldn't even be allowed to get close to it.

"I'm going to try to find some backstory into any of the ministry mares and see if something about a rock is mentioned." Roselight explained, going to her desk in the corner of the room and leaving Blitz and Azure to look at each other with blank expressions.

"I think I might go for a little walk around and try to see if I can't find anything about. You wanna join me, Alchem?" Blitz asked Azure, getting a nod quickly after his question ended.

"That would be good, it would give me time to stretch my legs." Azure admitted, looking down at his hooves and scraping the floor lightly. That got a little glance from Roselight.

"We'll if that's the case, stay safe boys!" Roselight commanded, making them both look at each other and smile, before they both burst out laughing, making Roselight roll her eyes.

"Us? Staying safe? When does that even happen?" Azure joked opening the door for Blitz, before walking outside. Roselight tapped Blitz on the shoulder, making him turn to look at her.

"Thank you!" Roselight tipped, making Blitz feel that little bit better about all of yesterday's actions. Blitz just simply nodded, before closing the door behind him, leaving Roselight to get to her work.

About twenty minutes or so later, Blitz and Azure were walking along the same studded path that they had travelled along originally, but they took a different approach and slowly began to enter through the trees within the woods, hoping to not come across another hydra. Before they got too deep into the woods, they heard a flap of wings. They weren't hydra wings, so they both guessed that they were in the clear. It was a slightly more leathery set of wings, something a normal pegasus didn't have. They turned around to hear a crack as a particular bat pony landed.

Turning to see her, the grey furred bat pony stared at them both. Now that Blitz had a better light on her, he could see that her mane and tail, although clipped and cut like the royal guard had before the war, was pitch black. It really matched the personality that Sadjoy emitted.

"So, I saw that you two went out and I thought I might stretch my legs and wings while you two were off adventuring, as well as join you for some fun." Sadjoy giggled, flicking her tail in the process.

"Sure you can join, we are just gonna head west and see if we can't find something out that way." Azure stated, giving Sadjoy an idea of what they were searching for. She nodded and smiled, closing her eyes while doing it. Blitz had to admit it. That was cute. They turned back around and began walking through the woods. The combination of both sets of fangs, coming from Sadjoy as well as Blitz, helped keep them visible to Azure's gaze. It was beginning to get quite dark in the woods, all of the trees blocking out the daylight with ease.

It took them a couple of minutes of travelling, before they came across something that showed that there had definitely been some activity going on within these woods. Blitz and Azure both caught a glint of something, reflecting the light in several directions, which meant it was still shiny. Azure walked over to it and got a closer look at it, while Blitz continued to look around and keep his eyes on Sadjoy, just in case she happened to stumble off in a different direction.

Azure examined the shiny object and saw that it was a pistol of some kind. It didn't look like a pistol the Azure had seen before, so he picked it up slowly, checking to see if there was anything that would set off a trap of some kind. Gladly, there wasn't, but there was a lot of blood on the weapon. Azure just evaluated the weapon, before seeing a glimpse of something else beside where the gun was. There was a note that was more hidden than the pistol was, so he picked that up as well.

Blitz checked around a little more, before turning back to Azure and seeing that he was reading something. Letting curiosity get the better of him, Blitz decided to go over and see what he was doing. Blitz instantly saw the weapon and froze. It looked like some alien pistol of some kind, but it had a slot for bullets, so it was completely weird in his opinion. Blitz sat down beside Azure and nudged him a little.

"Sadjoy! We found something here!" Blitz called out, before not getting a response. Blitz looked over to her and saw that she was frozen.

"Yeah! I've found something too, probably way bigger than yours." Sadjoy stated, getting both the attention of Blitz and Azure, before they both looked at each other in confusion. Azure put the notes and the weapon into his saddlebag and walked over to Sadjoy. Blitz decided to teleport over, feeling like he was in a lazy mood and couldn't be asked to walk over. That thought made him smile and chuckle to himself, before his ears went flat against his head, looking at the structure that was in front of them.

It was a shack, but not a large one, just a little one. What was it doing out here in the woods? That was the only thought that penetrated Blitz's mind as curiosity would begin to overthrow him.

"Good find, Sadjoy!" Azure stated aloud, before looking towards Blitz, who was way too distracted to appreciate her being there to spot things for them. They both walked next to Sadjoy and looked at the vine snared shack, moss and dust gathered within the combination of mess. It looked somewhat intimidating, but that only added to the mystery behind the shack in the first place.

Blitz was the first one to move forward, inching closer towards the shack that held some unanswered questions. Without giving it a second thought, Blitz raced up to the building and saw that there were some vines wrapped around and in front of the door. Blitz did the simplest thing he could, he melted the vines like they were butter, using his red hot magic. He shot a bolt of energy at the vines,cutting it instantly and burning the wood of the shack a little. Blitz bucked down the door, before slowly lighting his horn and waiting for the others. They hastily walked forward, not enjoying the sight of the vines.

Blitz turned and walked inside the shack, seeing more dust than he had ever seen in one area. He didn't want the dust to get in their eyes or mouth, but there was nothing that he could do when all there was, was dust upon dust. Blitz found a couple of candles at the doorway of the shack, which were quite convenient in their current situation. He lit one up, pressing his horn to the tip of it. The first brightened half of the shack on its own, surprising all of them that the candle emitted so much light. Blitz quickly rushed to the one on the opposite side of the room and lit it with his horn, making the entire area brighter than it was outside the shack, possibly brighter than it was in the Wasteland.

The entire room of the shack was visible, so they all dispersed across the room and looked about. Blitz turned to see that Azure wasn't looking about. Instead, Azure was looking at the weapon and the note that came with it. It was still new information, so Blitz let Azure off with that fact alone. It might have really hit them hard if they didn't learn as much about stuff as possible, so Blitz was fine with it.

Blitz turned back to see what was in front of him. There were different types of notes displayed on the bench in front of him, ranging from simple notes per page, to folders with different things in them. There was a chair behind him, so he grabbed it and sat down, before looking briefly over each little piece.

Sadjoy scanned across the surfaces of the slide out table next to her and found a tape, with a note on it. 'To anypony or creatures who find this place, please watch this short video.' the note read. Sadjoy took off the note before looking around on her side and finding a tape player. It was really dusty and old, but Sadjoy was pretty sure that the machine was what the note was on about. She opened up the labelled tape player and placed the tape inside it, before closing it down and pressing play. Without her doing anything, the video came to life with a pony walking towards a chair. This got both of Azure's and Blitz's attention, making them watch the video with her, from their respective positions.

"Hello! I am Professor Delta. Grey Delta is the full name. If you are watching this, then it is already too late for me. I'm probably just a rotting carcass outside my shack here, but this is where I stand." The professor spoke through the screen. Blitz and Azure both stopped what they were doing and got closer. Blitz liked the look of the grey furred unicorn, seeing his blue mane and reminding him of an old friend that he used to have. The voice went back to speaking though the screen, so Blitz decided to grab the chair with his magic, before sitting down on it.

"Anyway, you might want to know why I am even recording this, or even why I was important. Well, I was one of Twilight Sparkle's first researchers for the Ministry of Arcane Sciences, before the ministry mare herself fired me, because there were a better bunch of ponies with ideas that could innovate Equestria, or could have, if given the time." The Professor explained carefully.

Blitz noticed that something was up, that there was more to the professor than met the eye. Blitz shut himself up and listened to the rest of the stuff that the video had to say.

"Anyway, a little while passed before I met with the leader of the Ministry of Wartime Technology, ministry mare Applejack. She recruited me to help with the development of protective armour and gear for all of the troops. I was so chuffed, but things can only last for a little while before everything falls apart or begins to break. The bombs feel and well, here I am to record this after all that. One hundred and fifty years have passed since the bombs fell and Equestria still isn't in a liveable state and probably won't be for hundreds of years." The professor informed them. Sadjoy just looked at Blitz and Azure, before looking back to the screen.

"One hundred and fifty years gives you a lot of time to sit down and think, sit down and plan, sit down and create. So, despite all of the things that have happened here, I went to work on a little project that might stop me from going insane. Insert the numbers zero, one, eight, two, five, into the terminal and it shall open a secret compartment under the rug in the middle of the room." The professor prompted, changing the video into a number pad.

Azure inserted the numbers correctly, inserting the numbers: zero, one, eight, two, five. Without a moment's notice, the screen changed to a bright blue display, like there was nothing in the tape player. A large latch moved within the room, making the rug shift a little. Sadjoy walked over to the rug and picked it up at one end, before flying over to the other side and placing the rug to the side of the room. Blitz walked over to the hatch and pulled it up, with his magic, before it revealed a ladder going down. Blitz looked over to Sadjoy, before looking over to Azure and then back down at the hole. Blitz hovered down the narrow space, as opposed to him taking the ladder down. Azure and Sadjoy both took the ladder down, due to them not being able to hover like Blitz could.

As soon as they all got to the ground, they could see some more candles, like the ones they had come across above. Blitz walked up to them and lit them with his horn, illuminating the area there and down the corridor a bit. Due to Blitz lighting the first candle, the ones further down also lit up, displaying a small room down the end of the corridor. They all moved slowly, Blitz going first and Azure going last, keeping his back against Sadjoy's. They didn't know where they were going, but it creeped them out nonetheless. They slowly walked to the room and Blitz peeped inside, seeing that there was a machine.

"Ah, you three have arrived!" A voice stated, sounding as clear as day. Blitz looked around the room and saw nothing, until a camera screen flickered to life, displaying the same face as Professor Delta. "Yes, hello! Finally, some good company here. As you could probably tell, I am Professor Grey Delta, ex-helper of the ministry mares, or am a part of myself at least." Delta admitted. Blitz, Sadjoy and Azure entered the room, in that order. They looked around the room and then at the monitor.

"Professor, can you hear us?" Blitz asked, looking up at the monitor. He had his doubts that the professor would just let his research go to the hands of some random ponies.

"Of course I can't! I'm a machine! Do I look like I have ears? Hahaha, I'm just joking with you, of course I can. I have three audio receivers placed in the shack, so yeah." Delta informed them, making Sadjoy gawk at the monitor in awe.

"That's some pretty intelligent work that you have done throughout your time in the Wasteland." Sadjoy admitted, looking at the monitor. The professor chuckled softly. Blitz was still in awe at the sight of all that the professor had done. One hundred and fifty years was a long time, but the amount of work and time that was spent on doing all of the stuff he did, amazed Blitz.

Did you place yourself inside a computer?" Blitz asked, getting a light hearted chuckle from the professor. The professor just looked at Blitz, like it wasn't obvious to him already.

"I guess you could say that, but I bound a little bit of my soul to this machine, allowing me to live here even after I had perished. At the time, yeah, there were two of me, but it was fun while it lasted, but bones were eventually meant to break down, just like everything else in this world, especially the machine I am in now." Delta explained, opening a little space within the computer for them all to see where he put his soul. There was a memory chip that was sticking out slightly, having his soul on it and making them all look confused at the sight for a second, before they continued on with the conversation.

"This is really cool, Professor, but how can you stand living here? Surely it must get boring, right?" Azure asked, thinking that he already knew the answer to that question. The professor sighed, before opening a metal door that was in the corner of the room. They all turned to see a lifeless body of an alicorn. It wasn't any normal alicorn, it was a robotic alicorn, which only made it more and more interesting that they were an alicorn and not a unicorn of a pegasus.

"This is my greatest creation! Yet, I can't access the body, due to it already having a mind of its own. I was also unable to activate it, due to not linking the proper cables to manage the bay. So basically, it's been around forty years since I have been able to unlock its door and see that beautiful creation that I fought so hard to create and did, but I've just been sitting here, unable to operate or turn on the bot." Delta explained, feeling a little uneasy.

Blitz walked over to the robot and saw that there were some exposed wires leading out of the back of the bay. Blitz had seen a couple of posters talking about something called a 'Sweetie Belle bot' or 'SBB' for short, dotted around in some of the bigger cities, as well as the smaller ones. There were one or two of the posters in Journey, so Blitz knew a little bit about them. He wanted to see if he could have at least helped in any way, but as soon as he went down behind the bay, there was just an assortment of wires that overwhelmed Blitz at first glance. Blitz pulled back up and looked at the robot. He saw that there was a start up plug that was located next to the ear of the alicorn.

"So, you need the cable wired up to the machine. Wouldn't it just hurt me or electrocute me if I try to plug it in." Blitz asked, making Delta sigh and nod through the computer screen, before he ran some diagnostics. His face of sadness was quickly changed to happiness when he found out that there was a spare power regulator in place. All Blitz had to do was get to it. Delta displayed the layout of the room and highlighted where the power regulator was, so Blitz grabbed the wire with his magic, before taking the exposed power regulator and stuck it in, as quickly as he could to avoid shocking himself, which he didn't succeed in, getting a quick shock from the power regulator, as he touched it with his hoof.

That got the attention of all of them, as Blitz winced from the shock, rubbing his horn and hoof. Blitz looked back over to the alicorn and saw that the connection on the machine was active and ready for Delta to use. Delta looked up at the bright green light above the bay of the metallic alicorn and smiled softly, looking like he was proud of something.

"Welp, I'm going to activate her. She might be a little confused and a little stiff, but nothing that some oil can't fix." Delta warned, making the others get ready to see the robotic alicorn in action. Sparks started to come out from the wire behind the alicorn and they all watch on in pure confusion and curiosity. The alicorn's eyelid's opened up, still with no life to the eyes of it.

"She is awakening!" Professor Delta called out, before the others saw her bright cyan blue eyes flicker to life. Her eyes moved around and saw Blitz, Azure and Sadjoy standing there. Her eyes focused and recalibrated go fit her starting up sequence. Blitz held both Azure and Sadjoy still with his magic, not allowing them to move forward. The alicorn disconnected herself from the machine and used her magic to grab a can of oil that was placed beside the three. She rubbed a little on her metallic hoof, before rubbing it around her neck, mouth and eyes. She began to blink a little and then moved her mouth a little.

"First of all, who the hell are you? Second, where is the professor?" The alicorn spoke, her voice sounding exactly like a pony's voice. Blitz looked at both Azure and Sadjoy, before stepping forward, giving the tall figure a smile.

"I am Soul Eater, that is Doctor Alchem and that is Sadjoy. Nice to meet you. We understand that you might be a little confused, but we definitely have to let you catch up." Blitz explained, pointing to Azure and then Sadjoy. The alicorn stopped rubbing herself with the oil and began to stretch her legs, like a normal pony would do. Did she really need to do that? Blitz refused to move and so did Azure, but Sadjoy had other plans entirely. She walked a little bit closer and had the alicorn look at her.

The glare in the robotic figure's eyes sent shivers down Sadjoy's spine, as well as Azure's, but Blitz was strong. He walked up to the robot and looked her over, allowing her to keep an eye on him.

"I'll ask you again. Where is the professor?" She shouted, making Blitz smile slightly. Seeing the smile only made the crazed robotic alicorn that little bit more mad. Blitz noticed that her expression had changed a little, making him roll his eyes.

"The professor is right here, right beside you, all around you!" Blitz shouted at her, pointing his hoof to the computer console with the professor's face on it. Delta just smiled and raised a hoof from within the screen. The robot just paused, staring at the screen in shock.

"Di… did you really die already, Delta?" The robotic figure asked, hesitating to really ask that question. The professor didn't make a noise, but slowly nodded. She looked back at the other three and then back at the professor. "Wait, did they kill you?" She asked, making Delta speak up.

"No! No, they actually helped me turn you on again. I've been like this for forty years or so. Oh, everypony, meet Lumia, my personal friend and companion. She is a direct copy of Princess Luna's form, but has a different mind." He stated, turning to a modeling sheet on the display, before pivoting the three dimensional model around. It was pretty awesome, knowing that Professor Grey Delta was able to do all of the stuff that he could, during the time of such downfall. He was an extraordinary pony, but it was such a shame that he was confined to the likes of the shack. Blitz would try to find a way for the professor to get out of the system, eventually. For now, he would focus on helping as much as he could.

"Professor? Might there be a way to link you to other systems? Maybe you have a little chip or something that would extend your reach?" Blitz asked, curious to try to get him into a place where he could observe more than just the shack. The professor had to think about it, before he printed something off and showed it on the screen. He opened a hatch within the computer and watched as Blitz looked confused. Inside, was an abundance of wired and connectors.

"Inside, there are some connectors. If you use a wireless device and place two pins in the two ends, the ends being the connector and what you want me to connect up to, I should be able to run a simple couple lines of code through the system and allow myself to link to it." Delta explained carefully, making sure that Blitz knew what to do. "If needs be, I could send Lumia out with you." Grey Delta added, making Lumia scowl.

"Hey! Why do I have to…" She stated, before getting cut off by Delta's roaring voice.

"...because it might be good for you to go and stretch your legs. Also, I don't want you being restricted anymore. I know I did it a bit too much before, when I was alive, but that was only to protect you and I was still one pony. Now, you have not just a pegasus and a bat pony, but a rare changeling as well. You'll be fine! As soon as Soul Eater plugs me into a computer or whatever he plugs me into, I'll be with you again." Delta butted in, making his opinion and reason known.

Lumia sighed, before walking over to the computer. She looked at the buttons on the keyboard and sighed.

"I know, but you know how I am about leaving you. I still fucking hate you for shutting me down, but it was the right call, I guess." Lumia explained to him, Delta knowing it already. He nodded, before looking at the other three.

"Will you look after her?" He asked calmly. Blitz nodded, followed by Azure and then Sadjoy, making Delta smile. The only one in the room who wasn't smiling, was Lumia, but that would eventually change, or so they hoped. Blitz picked up a couple of pins and the connector, before closing the hatch with his hooves and putting the electronics in the saddlebag he had.

Azure and Sadjoy began to walk out of the room, heading towards the entrance, before climbing up the ladder and waiting above for Blit and Lumia. Blitz looked at her, seeing that she was uncomfortable with the situation that she was being put into, but Blitz just gave her a gentle smile as she looked at him, making her turn away, before she began walking down the corridor, he metal hooves clashing with the metallic floor, making her very loud on her hooves.

"Soul Eater? Can I get a good look at you?" Delta asked softly, not making Blitz feel pressured or anything like that. Blitz looked at the computer screen, before pulling down his hoof with his magic. His face was slightly scarred, making Blitz so much happier that he didn't see the other parts of himself. Professor Delta just looked him over, keeping his eyes directly on Blitz's eyes and facial features. "Was your mother called Shadow by any chance? Another changeling that looked like you?" He asked, making Blitz stand completely still.

"H… how did you know that?" Blitz asked, being quite concerned about the subject. Blitz hadn't spoken about his mother to anypony else other than Azure and maybe one other. How could he have possibly known? Delta just chuckled, enjoying the sight on Blitz's face.

"She was a friend. I didn't get to talk to her much, but she was a funny mare, so I enjoyed all of the company I got with her. How is she now?" Delta asked, a sickening smile on his face. Blitz almost threw up there and then, but he was pretty confident that Professor Delta was not trying to be cruel in any way. Blitz doubted that he knew about her demise, so he just frowned at him.

"She's dead. She's been dead for around one hundred and twenty years." Blitz explained, making the smile instantly disappear from his face. Blitz had an idea that the professor didn't know about the death of Blitz's mother, but didn't want him to get too emotional to the point at which he would go insane from thinking about it too much. Blitz was sure to not go further with that conversation.

"Oh my! I'm so sorry to have brought that up. I'm sorry for your loss." The professor stated, feeling slightly bad that he had brought up the sensitivity topic like that. Blitz was pretty sure that Delta had a pretty close friendship with Blitz's mother Shadow. She was the greatest and most supportive mother in Equestria and the Wasteland. Maybe her being so supportive made her meet her demise. Blitz shook his head vigorously, trying to shake all bad emotions and thoughts out of his head. After he did that, he gave a slightly swift good-bye wave to Delta and began to walk down the hall. As soon as he got to the end of it, he immediately flew up it, before closing the hatch behind him, and placing the rug over it. That would prevent somepony from coming in and robbing the stuff that was there.

They began to walk down into the woods, Blitz closing the door behind, making sure that it was indeed closed up tight. He caught up to the group and decided to hover through the trees, using his changeling wings to full effect. The others looked at him, constantly hearing a faint humming noise coming from Blitz's wings, which was sure to get annoying very, very quickly. Before anyone got annoyed at Blitz, he landed and folded his wings to his sides, just realising that there were holes in either side of his cloak, making it so that his wings were able to stick out, without having to remove the cloak. Had those alway been there?

Blitz let his mind wonder in a void of emptiness, making him stay quiet for a little while. Blitz walked along next to Sadjoy, whereas Azure began to slow down, looking to see that Lumia was agitated.

"Everything okay, Lumia?" Azure asked, feeling a little worried about their robotic friend. She shrugged, before looking to the floor. He felt really sorry for her, the professor making the choice for her, rather than letting her make her own choice, but that wasn't the main issue at the time. The main issue was that she felt alone and having the only pony she knew leave her too, made Azure feel a little bad about the entire situation.

"I'm just trying to catch up to this world again. I love life and all it has to offer, but I'm so behind, forty years or so behind and want to try so hard to catch up." She explained, looking to Azure with a little smile. "I'll be alright, Doctor." She added, showing off a little metallic grin. It wasn't the biggest grin, but Azure would have taken any happiness he could get his hooves on.

"Well, once you get to our little settlement, make yourself at home. Robot pony, cyborg pony, nopony will judge you at all. Everypony at the settlement is different and if I'm not mistaken, half of the settlement is a mix of half breeds, ranging from what Eater is over there, to me. I'm the complete opposite end of the spectrum, but that doesn't make me less likeable as an individual. Just don't be scared to be yourself." Azure mentioned, only making the smile on Lumia's face bigger.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it and I appreciate what you're doing for me now, as well as the professor." She explained, meeting Azure's gaze. Azure nodded before looking over to Blitz's and Sadjoy. They weren't talking, but they were walking kind of close together. Azure didn't see anything of it, but did see the faint glimpse of a timberwolf in the corner of his eye. Lumia saw it too and gasped, staring dramatically at Anti. Anti turned backwards and started to walk back, walking at her normal pace, but eyeing both Azure and Lumia.

"Meet Soul Eater's personal companion. She is a beautiful gal indeed, as well as being friendly to everypony." Azure stated, walking up closer to Anti, before giving her a stroke with his wing. Anti wasn't going to ignore Azure's soft wing, so she nuzzled into it, tickling both Anti and Azure. Lumia just watched, a smile growing on her face.

"That's a nice timberwolf." Lumia simply stated, before turning forward and walking along, trying to distract herself from some thoughts. Blitz and Sadjoy looked back and chuckled at both of them.

"You do realise that we can both hear you up, right?" Blitz told them, immediately making Azure chuckle, but not so much Lumia. Blitz knew that Lumia was scared to be in the outside world, so he would try to help her as best as he could, ensuring that she would feel comfortable all the time, with or without somepony breathing down her neck. Blitz turned around and began walking backwards, staring blankly at both Azure and Lumia. Blitz didn't say anything, he just eyed them, to make sure that they were alright.

"How are you feeling, Eater?" Azure asked, making Blitz's eyes lock onto Azure, almost giving him a direct death stare. Azure's ears went flat against his head, seeing the look that Blitz was giving him. Blitz chuckled softly, making the air around everypony less tense. He shortly nodded towards Azure before coughing.

"I'm feeling alright I guess, just a little down due to the professor being on his own right now, but as soon as we plug this thing into a camera system, he should be able to control some things back home." Blitz explained, making Lumia nod from the corner of his eye. The metallic pony just stayed silent, before looking to Blitz.

"Thank you for having me along, Soul Eater." Lumia thanked, bowing her head down and thanking Blitz, for doing nothing. Blitz was slightly concerned about what she was thanking him about, but he appreciated it nonetheless.

After a couple of hours walking, they eventually got back to the settlement. They walked through the gate, after having it opened by Saber, before he closed it after they had entered. They all thanked him, making a tiny noticeable smile appear on his face. Blitz turned to see Roselight looking at them, seeing the metallic alicorn figure and smiling softly. Sadjoy flew off to go and talk to Gretzky and Zeke, who were having a conversation before getting dive-bombed by the bat. That made Blitz chuckle.

"I'm going to go and read the stuff that Delta wrote down on the paper with the weapon. I'll be at home if you need me, Eater." Azure stated, before going off to read some instructions or something along those lines.

Lumia looked at Roselight and smiled softly. She didn't feel comfortable in the situation that she was in, but knew that eventually, when she started to talk to ponies, it would ease down on the mind crushing anxiety that she felt. Roselight walked forwards and hugged Blitz, before Blitz returned the hug.

"Quick question. Do you have a camera system or like a base computer that runs security here?" Blitz asked, getting a confused look from the alicorn mare.

"We do, but you'd have to ask Nightclaw or Gretzky about that. They monitor it regularly." Roselight clearly stated, looking over to Lumia shortly after. Lumia softly smiled, but let a sigh escape her muzzle afterwards, making Roselight that little bit more concerned. " Is everything okay? Do you want to talk it out?" Roselight asked, getting a little nod from Lumia. "I'll speak to you later, Eater." Roselight said, before walking with Lumia, around the settlement. This left Blitz on his own, before Nightclaw came over to talk to him.

"Is everything okay there, Eater?" Nightclaw asked calmly, snapping Blitz out of his trans. He looked at Nightclaw and nodded quickly, before bringing out the pins and connector.

"Can you help me with something?" Blitz asked, awkwardly holding up the pins and connector with his magic, a smile also present on his face.

Chapter 12: Racking Up

Nightclaw flicked the switch on the back of the monitor and stood back and evaluated his work. The screen displayed some images of the settlement, with a three sixty degree view of the settlement from above. It had taken a little while, but Nightclaw was able to create a tower in the centre of the settlement that he then strapped a camera onto. It wasn't any normal camera, it was one that had a full spin rotation, giving the viewer a view of the entire settlement. Blitz observed the screen with Nightclaw, holding the connector and pins in his magic again.

There had been multiple cameras in the settlement, placed mainly in the corners and the centre, which provided a good few angles over the settlement. Blitz looked through a couple of camera perspectives, before finally stopping. He looked around the room and saw that there was another camera that was looking at them both, one that was there to catch anypony that thought it would be a good idea to mess around with the camera setup.

Blitz used his magic to connect the connector onto a loose wire, before slowly inserting the pins. As soon as he did, a screen appeared on the monitor, with a bunch of code. The placement of the entire thing was inside one of the unused houses in the centre of the settlement, which would have given both Lumia and Delta a fair bit of room to chat and catch up.

A couple of codes were being written on the screen in front of them, followed by a faint crackle of static. Blitz watched as the monitor flickered and then faded to static, before Delta's face was displayed on the monitor.

"Please tell me that it has worked. Can you both hear me?" Delta asked, getting a smile from Blitz and a very confused smile from Nightclaw.

"Yes, we can hear you Professor Delta, and yeah, it has worked. Has it worked for you though? Can you see around?" Blitz asked, letting Delta know that he had control over the cameras. The camera behind Blitz's head began to move, making Blitz aware that Delta did indeed have control of the cameras, but hoped that he had the ability to see through them.

"Yes, I can indeed see you and… your friend." Delta explained, calming down Blitz's nerves, but making Nightclaw's nerves rise as a result of it all. Nightclaw coughed a tiny bit, clearing his throat in the process.

"Nice to meet you Professor. My name is Nightclaw and I'm here if you need any assistance with the system." Nightclaw hesitantly stated, making Delta chuckle a little.

"Ease down on the nerves big fella! It's all good, Nightclaw. I'm not here to judge you or anything, so there is no need to get nervous. Also, yeah, I'll let you know if I need assistance with anything. It might take me a tiny amount of work to get used to it all, but that is because it is a new experience here." Delta carefully explained to them both, looking at both of them through the camera.

Blitz turned around and saw that Azure was waiting by the door, having it open a little bit in the process. Blitz smiled at his presence, but didn’t run off with him on the first chance that he got. Instead, he turned back to Delta and Nightclaw and smiled back at both of them. He waited for them to finish their conversation and then attempted to move into the conversation.

“I’m going to head out with Alchem. Just call out my name if you need me at all you two.” Blitz explained to them both, getting a firm nod in response from Nightclaw and a smile from Delta. Blitz was sure that those two would have a lot to talk about, which gave Blitz a reminder to talk to Delta. “Delta, might i borrow you for a quick second before i go?” Blitz asked politely, getting a firm nod from the computer.

“Of course Eater. What is it?” Professor Delta asked him, being quite curious to find out what Blitz wanted to talk to him about. Blitz slowly went into his saddlebag and found a lot of scraps of paper and notes, before showing them to the camera behind Nightclaw. Delta instantly noticed that it was his notes, which made him smile a tiny bit. Blitz was confused on why the professor was smiling, but he placed the notes into Nightclaw’s claws, allowing him to hold the information filled folders and pieces of paper.

“Is it okay that i took these notes, just so that some random ponies couldn't have come out and took some of the notes? I know that you have just met Nightclaw, but he is a Blacksmith. While reading through, i noticed that some of the notes were about energy weapons, which Nightclaw could hopefully create.” Blitz explained, allowing both Nightclaw and Delta to keep up.

“Of course it is! Didn't I tell you to take the notes anyway?” Delta asked, getting a quick shake of Blitz’s head in response to the question. Nightclaw took the notes and allowed himself to store them within his saddlebag, putting a smile on not just his face, but an even bigger smile on Delta’s face. “I just want my resources to aid ponies and creatures, since i can’t use them right now. Maybe hook me up to an automated guncreating machine and set me going.” Delta suggested, making Blitz chuckle lightly. Nightclaw started to talk to Delta, making Blitz think that it was as best of a time as ever, to leave the area and allow them both to continue with their conversation. Blitz turned around and looked at Azure again and smiled, making a little warmness grow within his heart, if he still had one.

They both walked out of the building and closed the door behind them, allowing both Nightclaw and Delta to have their conversation with nopony around to interfere with it. As soon as Blitz closed the door, he looked to Azure and smiled, knowing full well that Delta was going to fit in perfectly with the rest of the settlement and would be hugely helpful. They both started to walk back to their home, before Gretzky cut them both off. They both looked at each other and smiled.

"I have met with Lumia and she is pretty awesome for a cyborg pony. I'm pretty sure that she'd make a good protector for this place." Gretzky told them, making them both look at each other and chuckle, making Gretzky a little confused.

"It will take her a little while to adapt to life now, because she has only been awake for a couple of hours at the most." Azure explained to him, making Gretzky nod in response. Blitz felt like it was time to ask somepony what the name of the settlement was, but a poster that was in the far distance caught his attention. It displayed the name 'Paradise Soils' on it, which made Blitz think that the settlement was named that, which he shortly found out after that it wasn't.

"The name of the settlement is based on the now disappeared area of Flankford, but the name standing right now is called Sharpened Death, due to the Radiation that came out of the nearby pond at one point, killing everypony around and leaving a single patch of fertile soil in the shape of a blade or an arrow head." Gretzky explained carefully, allowing them both to intake all of the information of the settlement.

Gretzky turned around to see that Plumjuice was calling him for something in the distance. He turned back to both Azure and Blitz and waved, before running off towards her. Blitz smiled, tasting their love in the air, but their love wasn't as sweet as last time when he could taste their love. It was slowly becoming sour. Blitz turned to look at Azure, before getting booped on the muzzle, sending his eyes into a crossed state, looking at his nose on the end of his muzzle. He rubbed his nose, before running after the pegasus that had just violated him emotionally.

As Blitz was chasing Azure, he slowed down and saw all of the ponies communicating with each other. The three bat pony mares were having a little bit of fun, which Blitz's didn't despise. They all looked at him and licked their lips, making Blitz smile and blush awkwardly. Crimson, Lavender and Sadjoy talked to each other, while staring directly into Blitz's eyes, making him feel like he was going to be in for a very creative time. Before Blitz had the chance to go over, Azure slapped Blitz in the head with his saddlebag, making him look at Azure, as he shook his tail, trying to intimidate Blitz, which worked.

Blitz chased Azure to the house and saw that Azure locked the door behind him, locking both Blitz and Azure in, as they entered the house. Azure chuckled, before wrestling with Blitz and pushing him onto the chair that was there. It was a small chair, but a comfy one nonetheless. Blitz curled up in the chair, having Azure curl up behind him, practically spooning Blitz, in the most friendly way possible. For once, Blitz felt completely satisfied. He had helped so many ponies and just wanted to relax for the day. Blitz was pretty sure that Azure felt the same way, having his hooves wrapped around Blitz's waist.

"You comfy?" Blitz asked Azure, getting a nuzzle on the cheek from Azure in response, before he pulled Blitz a little closer. Azure placed both his forehoof and hindleg over Blitz, trying to make him as comfy as possible. Blitz moved backwards and nuzzled into the little amount of fluff that Azure had grown onto his chest. It was very soft against Blitz's neck, which made him sigh inside.

Blitz was happy, there was no doubt about that, but there was definitely something that was off, something that made everything around Blitz feel uneasy. Azure noticed that Blitz had the thinking look on, before he put one of Blitz's sensitive ears into his mouth and lightly applied pressure, getting a happy chirping noise from him. He loved it, but it didn't pull him from his thinking state. Blitz was way too focused on why Death had gone silent. Although Anti had shown up, there was no sign of Death or the nightmare. His head was clear, but it didn't make him feel any more relaxed.

"Blitz? Can I tell you something?" Azure asked, getting Blitz's full attention as he looked over his shoulder to see that Azure had a blush on his face. Seeing that, made him smile and produce his own cute blue blush.

"Of course Azure. What is it?" Blitz questioned, making some pressure appear on Azure's hooves. Blitz smiled up into Azure's golden-like eyes and turned his entire body, making it so the Blitz's hooves were now on Azure's chest. Blitz rested his head on Azure's neck, while he waited for Azure to spit it out.

"Can… can I love you?" Azure asked, hesitating dramatically, but keeping stern with his questioning. Blitz didn't have to respond to the question, he just simply kissed Azure on the lips, making his answer clear. Blitz was a changeling, so that was a simple question.

"Of course! Let me feed off your love!" Blitz joked, making them both laugh and giggle. Blitz was trying to make the most of the situation that he was in, due to having no thoughts in his head, so he let his body gain control. His hooves glided over to Azure's wings, before he ran his hooves down them slowly, making Azure arch his back in response.

"I must admit that I need to thank you for all you have done. You have supported me all the way and I am truly grateful for that, Azure." Blitz admitted, making Azure blush more. He lightly chuckled, making Blitz smile in response. He didn't want to ruin the beautiful moment that they were having, so Blitz decided to lie on Azure and close his eyes, listening to Azure's breathing. It was calm and relaxing to say the least, but there was a certain warmth that emitted from Azure that brightened Blitz's mind. It could have been his love, but that was a taste, not a feeling.

Azure wrapped his wing over Blitz and nuzzled into him, making himself more comfortable within the chair. Blitz was slowly drifting off to sleep, along with Azure slowly catching up to him and entering the land of eternal slumber. Azure fell first, which gave Blitz the opportunity to nuzzle Azure more, before falling asleep too.

Blitz drifted into a different type of dream, one that could scare him, if he let it. His surroundings were pitch black, save for a faint light in the distance. He didn't immediately travel towards the light, he just looked around into the darkness that enveloped him. He didn't fear, but he had his doubts about all of the negative space within his head. Blitz began to walk over to the light, taking small steps in the process and looking around to see if he could make out anything within the darkness. After a minute of looking, he did. The nightmare was present within all of the darkness that drifted around, being slightly in motion. Blitz smiled, knowing that the nightmare was definitely there and trying to scare Blitz, probably trying to make him break. He wasn't having any of it, shaking his head and trotting over to the light.

Death was playing a card game with Anti, her picking up the cards with her magic, showing how smart Blitz's K-9 companion was. Death looked at Blitz and smiled, changing the card in his magic for some completely blank ones. Blitz noticed this, before peaking over Death's shoulder. Before Blitz could react, the cards changed to three types.

The first card showed Azure, being taken away by a group of slavers, which made Blitz a little mad. The second card was Blitz's and Azure's hooves moving away from each other. This made Blitz feel a little uneasy and anxious about everything. The last card showed up and made Blitz back up. The image showed Blitz pointing a gun to Azure's head, making Blitz scream before instantly waking up.

Blitz looked around as he jerked upward, nudging Azure in the process, but gladly not waking the sleeping pegasus. Blitz sighed, knowing full well that the events that had transpired were the result of the nightmare being within his system. Blitz used his forehoof to wipe the sweat from the top of his head. He knew it was a dream, but why did it feel so real? It was almost like the cards were live events that were happening right there and then. Blitz shook his head, it was becoming a staple of his to do so, everytime something bad or weird entered his mind at the wrong time.

Blitz looked at Azure, hoping that he didn’t wake him up. Luckily, he hadn’t even come close to it, only moving him a tiny bit out of the way. Blitz was glad that he didn’t wake him, because Azure deserved his sleep. He could tell that the long walk there and back had tired Azure out completely. Blitz walked over and saw that the notes that Azure was reading were on the spare desk, along with the weapon that he had found. He walked over and just stared blankly at the notes, before looking back over to Azure and seeing that he was sleeping quietly.

Blitz used his magic to pull up a chair, before sitting down on it and making himself more comfortable. Blitz heard a noise from behind him as he sat down, making him turn to see that nopony was behind him. The made Blitz feel a little off about whether or not the house was haunted or not. Blitz did notice that the only thing moving was Azure, as he began to look like he was having a night terror or something along those lines.

Azure was indeed having a night terror. Azure was running away from a bunch of metallic machines, ranging from steel machines, to platinum mech-like creatures. He didn't seem to be getting any further away from them either, as everytime he looked back, they were a couple of paces closer. He was fearing for his life, before all of the machines vanished, being replaced with nothing. Azure was in the dark abyss, like that of what Blitz had originally been in.

Azure caught his breath before he stopped and saw Blitz walking towards him. Azure slowly approached the bug and watched as each step that Azure took, hurt Blitz in a little way, ranging from making him grunt, to ripping pieces off him. He immediately stopped when he saw part of Blitz’s face get torn off, like it was butter being cut with a sharp, heatest blade. This almost made Azure sick, but he stood his ground as Blitz got closer, everytime that he blinked, Blitz would speed up. Was this his mind telling him that he was better off staying away from Blitz? As soon as Blitz got close, he fell to the floor, almost like he was really hurt. There was a needle that Blitz had dropped, which made Azure take a step and made Blitz scream out in pain. Azure walked back to where he originally was standing, pretty much trying to take his last step back. As he looked at Blitz, he realised that it didn't work, as another piece of his body had been torn completely off. His hindleg was just a stub now, making Azure wish that he had never taken the step in the first place.

He heard a noise behind him so he turned around and saw a medical syringe gun, plastered in a little amount of blood. He walked towards the syringe gun and went to pick it up, before seeing a couple of quick flashes. He could have sworn that one of the displays was Blitz eating a dead pony, which didn't sit well with Azure. He had regained his control over himself and turned to face Blitz, only to see that Blitz had left for him, waking him up out of the night terror.

Blitz rushed over to Azure, as he saw him fall from the chair and onto the floor. Blitz could see that Azure was in distress, so he quickly hugged him, ensuring Azure that he was there for him. Azure looked around and saw that he was back in the room of their home, back to a safe place. He saw that Blitz was there to comfort him, making Azure nuzzle into his embrace, still feeling a little bit scared of what was playing out within his head.

“How was the night terror?” Blitz asked him, making Azure instantly remember the events that had taken place within his mind, swirled with darkness. Azure looked up at Blitz and tried to make light of the situation, but he was a little confused on how he could achieve such a result. Instead of him doing that, he just picked himself up and stood still, pretty much daydreaming a little.

“They were terrible! It kept telling me to stop moving and let the world work around me and tempted me very well with displaying you in front of me. As soon as i took a step towards a needle you had in your hood, it would tear chunks of your body off, which scared me a lot.” Azure admitted, hugging Blitz as much as he could. Blitz hugged him back before walking backwards.

“So, what do you want to do?” Blitz asked him, trying to quickly change the subject and move on with their life. It was better to look to the future, rather than trying to keep an old flame alive.

“I feel like i want to see that massive ship that me and Roselight were on about, but it wouldn't be worth it to travel that far of a distance, would it?” Azure asked, not really knowing the answer to that question himself. Blitz nodded, then raised a hoof up to his chin, pondering on an idea that was locked within his mind.

“Maybe it might be worth it, if we could catch a glimpse of what they might have been doing in that area. It might be an idea to bring a couple of ponies with us, just to hold more saddlebags and have more protection. We might get up to a lot of looting on the way there and the way back, so it might be beneficial to take one or two extra ponies or creatures.” Blitz explained to him, making sense to Azure and making him smile at that idea. Blitz smiled himself, thinking about the idea and wanting to see the SS Celestia in all of its glory.

Blitz could feel a familiar feeling within his head, indicating the presence of Death into his mind. Blitz smiled at that and saw Death displayed within his vision as a hologram. Although Azure or anypony else couldn’t see Death, it still made Blitz smile to see a grin on his face.

“My apologies for the nightmare giving you a night terror, along with Azure over there. She was given what she deserved for waking you up like that.” Death explained, bringing up another hologram, but this one was of the nightmare, not looking quite like herself. She was a little beaten, but also a little scared. Blitz felt almost a little bad for her, before Death removed the hologram from view and shook his head at Blitz. “Don't feel bad, i'm trying to reform her to be a better demon, or whatever she is.” Death added, looking to Azure like he cared, making Blitz feel a little bad about Azure’s night terror.

“Thank you, Death. It was much appreciated for you helping us like that. Why were you quiet for a little while before this?” Blitz asked him, using his mind and not his voice. Blitz looked at Azure and went over to grab the notes for the weapon on the desk, before returning to Azure with them clenched within his magic.

“I was trying to change her to be a good spirit, or demon, or whatever you want to call her! A nightmare maybe?” Death blabbered out, not understanding what she truly was either. Blitz was pretty sure that the nightmare was classed underneath the demon category, but didn't know one hundred percent. Death vanished from Blitz sight line, but he could still feel his presence within his head. Blitz shook his head,before dragging Azure back onto the chair.

On the chair, Azure was comfy and warm and reading the note that Delta or somepony had left with their weapon. Apparently, the weapon used radiation to create quite deadly beams of energy. Surprisingly, the weapon had an explosive yield, meaning that the beam of energy would blow up as soon as it touched anything. This made Blitz smile, but got him slightly confused about how laser or beam weapons worked.

They both seemed to be enticed in reading the notes together, since they didn't hear a knock on the door. The pony knocked a second time, which got their attention immediately. Lumia stood there, half of a smile displayed on her muzzle, which gave her an almost smug look. Blitz and Azure just watched her as she walked closer to them both, not saying a single word.

"Am I able to sleep here tonight?" Lumia asked, getting a confused look from not only Azure, but Blitz as well. Robots or cyborgs didn't need sleep, so why did Lumia ask that? Azure and Blitz both looked at each other and shrugged, before looking back to Lumia and nodding. Her half smile went into a full on, followed by sharply hugging them both. Her hugs were a bit tight, but Blitz could feel the appreciation in the air, so he rolled with it.

"Don't robots and cyborgs not need sleep?" Blitz asked, breaking the question wall that Azure wouldn't push on with. She nodded, but then pointed to her face.

"Yeah, I don't need sleep, but I still have a brain inside. A pony brain. So sleep just helps my brain to relax and release tension within and helps keep my mind stable and my systems active and working properly. What the professor had me in, was a medically induced coma, so coming out of that, I might need a little bit of rest every now and again, just to refresh my systems." Lumia explained to them both, making them understand quite quickly.

Blitz turned to Azure and looked for a response. He unfortunately didn't have an opinion on the matter. He looked like he was okay either way. Blitz turned back to Lumia and nodded, before asking her a simple question that was kind of ticking Blitz off a little.

"Lumia? Why not stay with the professor?" Blitz asked, making Lumia sigh sadly. She walked over and laid down beside them both, on the floor next to the chair, before resting her head on the floor.

"I have many different reasons why I can't and shouldn't. One, I would just be another machine getting in the way. Two, I wouldn't be able to get to sleep, cause my sound receptors are way too sensitive with all of that machinery going on as well as the professor constantly doing different things with the cameras and other equipment that he now has access to. Three, I would just be a distraction that would constantly ask him questions and disturb his work flow. I do love the professor, so I am giving him the benefit of not worrying about me right now. Maybe when he has some free time, I'll go and see him. Until then, I'm here I guess, if that's okay with you two." Lumia explained with detail. Blitz got off the chair and sat in front of her and smiled.

"I doubt that you would be getting in the way. You are his greatest creation and he probably cares for you as much as he did his family. Hell, he'd even probably call you family from how much I have gathered from it all. Just keep yourself relaxed and get some sleep, alright? I'm probably going to go out for an evening walk." Blitz explained, giving her a comforting smile. Lumia smiled back, noticing that they were allowing her to be comfortable in their home. She smiled at that and rested her head on the floor once again, before closing her mechanical eyes. Both Blitz and Azure watched her close her eyes, before smiling happily and looking at each other.

Blitz got up and walked over to Azure and stayed silent, for the sake of Lumia getting some much needed rest. Blitz felt a peak of potential about him, unlocking himself to others around him. He pointed at the door and then back at himself. Azure was slightly confused about what Blitz was saying about, but just felt like he should have known by that point. Blitz shook his head before getting closer to Azure’s ear.

“I am going to head out for a little walk. Do you want to stay here with Lumia, or do you want to have a little walk with me?” Blitz asked, giving the choice to Azure. Azure didn't have to sleep on that decision and instantly got up and walked to the door, before turning around for Blitz and smiling. Blitz smiled back at him and walked towards the door and took their adventure outside.

Outside was a different adventure for sure. The sky was in the state of turning to dark and light at the same time, but Blitz knew that it was slowly becoming night. The sky right then and there, was unlike Blitz had ever seen it. It was slightly confusing and baffling, but it was so beautiful. Blitz could have spent hours just sitting outside and admiring the sky and the view, but wasn’t that why they were outside in the first place?

Blitz grabbed Azure with his magic and flew them both up onto the top of their little building. Azure was not too happy with Blitz picking him up without a warning, but that was quickly forgotten as Blitz hugged him on the roof of their building. The both lied down and looked up at the clouds blocking most of the night sky. They could make out some sparkles behind the faint clouds, but the others completely blocked out the beautiful night sky. Blitz was annoyed with all of the pegusi who were selfish enough to block out the beautiful sky and all it had to offer. Azure was not one of them. He wasn’t a bad pegasus. Blitz looked over to him and noticed that he was doing some heavy thinking of his own. Bitz reached out to him with a hoof, causing Azure to snap and lash out at Blitz, pivoting Blitz’s hoof away and cursing at him in a different accent.

Blitz recoiled and stayed quiet, before Azure came back to reality and realised what he had done. Blitz knew what tongue he was speaking in, but didn't know if he was half of that race or not. It was pretty strong, but he pushed it aside as Azure began to feel sorry for what he had done. Blitz knew that Azure didn't mean it, but he had to be skeptical the next time Azure started to daydream. Azure reached out to Blitz, apologizing multiple times, before he kept quiet, getting the attention of a curious chitin wearer. Blitz wrapped his wing over Azure and nuzzled his neck, almost being tempted to nibble on his ear, but refused to do so. That was a more playful mood that Blitz could have been in. Azure accepted the nuzzle from Blitz and nuzzled him back, making sure that Blitz knew that he was sorry for what he had done.

Blitz quickly brushed off all negative emotions from Azure's end and looked back up at the sky. Blitz pointed at all of the clouds surrounding the perfect view that they could have had, if the clouds hadn't been there due to the pegusi. Blitz looked over to Azure and saw that he had an angry and a sad looking face. Did Azure feel like this was somehow his fault? Blitz locked eyes with him for a brief second, before watching as he turned away and sighed.

"It ain't even your fault, Azure. Why feel bad for it? Why feel bad for something that you are not even responsible for?" Blitz asked, which made Azure a little angrier than he already was. He took one look at Blitz and sat up, before pivoting his body towards him.

"Because both of my kinds fucked everything up. The Zebra's provoked a war and the pegusi just became idiots and blocked out the sun from the earth ponies and unicorns. So there! Are you happy now, you annoying bug…" Azure stated, before quickly covering his mouth with his hooves. Blitz raised an eyebrow and sat up and just blankly looked at him, not being too impressed with him.

"Wanna continue?" Blitz asked, challenging Azure with a fire within his eyes and Death and a nightmare within his mind. Azure backed down and laid back on his back, allowing himself to cool off after all of his anger was wasted on Blitz at that one particular moment.

"Sorry, I'm just angry with myself and my kind. You ain't annoying, you are charming actually, but I was just ticked off and I lashed out. I'm really sorry. When I get angry, I kind of… you know what? Nevermind. I'll just tone it down with all of this anger." Azure explained, admitting defeat to his anger, which made Blitz chuckle a little, before he placed his hoof on Azure's cheek. That made him smile at least.

They both just tried to relax, comforting each other with one another's embraces. The view only got better as the sky began to dim and the light faded away. Blitz loved the sky above, seeing all of the colours behind the thick grey clouds, but that didn't matter. Blitz could see so much detail beyond the greyness of what was the covered sky. He looked to Azure for a brief moment, before closing his eyes and falling asleep. Azure wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon, but noticed that Blitz was already asleep, so he had a little time to just completely calm his nerves. Before he did anything, he would have to get Blitz into the house and warm.

Azure grabbed Blitz with his muzzle and flew down onto the floor. Blitz was slightly smaller than Azure and way, way lighter, which made it easier for Azure to carry him. Azure noticed that Blitz had some marks on his body, which Azure didn't really care about at first, but as he moved, he saw that the hood was covering more than he had originally thought. Azure got Blitz inside before placing Blitz on the chair, keeping him comfortable within the house, before he slowly began to remove Blitz's cloak and stared in shock at all of the marks that Blitz had on his body. Red lines enveloped Blitz's body, from head to hooves. Azure didn't know how to respond to that, but he was really, really scared at that point.

Azure closed his eyes and sighed, before letting something run through his mind, before he went calm again, but still worrying about Blitz's form.

"Shhh, Azure! Blitz wouldn't want you to threat. He's just tired, that's it. But what if… No! Shut the front door, Azure! He's gonna be fine." Azure spoke to himself, trying not to wake anypony. He was pretty sure that his mind was slowly trying to wear him down, but he wasn't going to let it. He grabbed Blitz's cloak and placed it around him, followed by a blanket that was there as well. Azure wanted to make sure that Blitz didn't freeze to death at night, but the night was beginning and the temperature was dropping. Azure decided that he needed to go for a walk, with only the air between his feathers.

Azure was outside the settlement, after talking to Sadjoy about letting him out. Being her friend, she agreed to let him out, but he had to promise that he would stay out of trouble. He accepted the offer, not really seeing a reason to get into trouble in the first place. He was just casually walking down the path, not knowing where it would take him if he followed it to the end. He was just going to walk for a little bit.

Before he was able to get a second thought about doing something bad, he sat down and looked at himself. He lifted up his foreleg and looked under his leg. There were two or more marks on the back of his foreleg, where the leg met his body. Apart from those zebra marks, there was no other trace that Azure was half zebra, half pegasus. Although he didn't like to fight, he would if it was for the survival of anypony else.

He hated himself for snapping at Blitz, but what could he have expected? He came from two of the most hated types of ponies in the Wasteland, technically making him the most hated, yet ponies still treated him like a friend. He sat there motionless for a couple of seconds, before hearing rustling in the bushes ahead of him. He looked directly at them and stood up slowly. Without a second chance, he made sure that his weapon was loaded, which made him frown that it was loaded, courtesy of Blitz.

Dark red eyes pierced through the bushes, making Azure feel a little uneasy and unsafe. He glared back at the beast, not knowing what it was at all, before a wooden leg creeped out from the bush. It was definitely a timberwolf, but weren't they only ever found in the woods, or something along those lines? Azure didn't make any sudden movements, being sure to keep his eyes on the timberwolf as it came out of the bushes, revealing it to look like a friend. Azure didn't realise it at first, but he was looking straight into Anti's eyes.

Anti stepped out of the bushes and walked around Azure, not really knowing what to make of him, while he was in the state he was. Anti had some knowledge of ponies, but nopony knew how. She walked closer and laid down on the floor, making Azure realise that it was indeed Anti. He sighed and eased up a lot, before going down to stroke her on the head. She enjoyed the good head scratch, making sure to make Azure how much she was loving it by twitching her leg. That made Azure laugh a little, before he went quiet again. Anti noticed this and crept her way under him, making it so that if he looked down, he would have seen her. She was doing her best to keep him happy, while he was alone.

A loud bang caught both of their attention, before Anti's horn lit up from within her mouth, spitting out the exact same spell that Roselight had done for Azure, while they were exploring the sewer system beneath Sharpened Death. The more Azure thought about that name of their new home settlement, the more he began to believe that the place had a curse or something on it, due to how much death was happening near that area. Azure watched as the ball of light and energy strolled causally past a couple of trees, before lighting up a single female raider. The raider looked at the ball of magic and froze in place. It almost looked like she was terrified.

Azure and Anti both got closer, watching as the raider looked around. There was a ghoul behind them, which made Azure laugh quietly. The raider looked like she was out of ammo and had a single ghoul chasing her, which made her look like a complete sissy, as well as making her look a little dumb in the first place. She emptied her saddlebag out, before dropping to the floor to try and find something. She was a little too late, as the ghoul grabbed her, before chomping on one of her forelegs. Azure couldn't just stand there and watch her get hurt, even though she was a raider.

"All lives have meaning, regardless of who they are!" Azure stated, giving Anti the same idea. Azure and Anti both rushed over, Anti jumping into the pony ghoul and wrestling with it, and Azure going to the mare, who was screaming out in pain. Azure dragged her away from the ghoul, before tending to her wounds. She lashed out and tried to buck him off her, but it didn't work, only making her scream out in pain, due to her foreleg rapidly bleeding. She still kept struggling, making Azure get more and more ticked off with her actions.

“If you want me to help stop the bleeding, let me work without issue!” Azure explained, shouting at the crazed mare. She instantly went wide eyed and paused her resisting, allowing Azure to go to work on her, grabbing some of his supplies, before laying them all out. The raider eyed them all and freaked out a little, before Azure gave her a stone cold stare, making her not move an inch, only eyeing Doctor Alchem, or in this case, Doctor Azure.

Azure cleaned up the wound, before dropping a couple of drops of a healing potion, before closing up the wound. Because of the healing potion, the wound healed instantly enough that it wouldn't require the whole bottle to heal the raider completely. Azure had a special medicine with him. That healing potion was brewed by a zebra and had a very slow regeneration effect, making it regenerate all of the liquid back, if there was more than twenty-five percent of the bottle left. With that in mind, if Azure used the potion properly, it would last forever, with as many uses as he could have ever wanted.

The raider felt her wounds become almost non-existent, but could still feel a numbness around the area of the wound. Azure got off her and allowed her to stand up, before turning to Anti, who had ripped off the head of the ghoul and held it by its spine. Azure was pretty sure that Blitz's timberwolf was just as lethal as he was, making Azure laugh under his breath in the process. Azure threw the head over at the body, getting a growl from Anti in response.

"Why did you help me?" The raider asked, being so confused on the situation that was at stake. Azure looked to Anti, before Anti vanished into thin air, making Azure's eyes roll. Looking back to the raider, she looked at Azure with a confused plea, making Azure sigh in the process.

"I'm a doctor, it's what I do." Azure stated with so much disbelief, that he didn't even believe it himself. Azure wanted to help, not hurt. It played tricks with his mind, which threw him off balance completely. He eased up on the ramblings and stood up, before backing up and keeping his eye on her, making sure that she didn't try to attack him. The raider didn't do anything, only looking at Azure and questioning why he decided to help her.

Azure decided that that had been enough exploring for his liking, so he decided to begin to walk back, before the raider went to attack Azure. He just looked at her, admiring her bright red eyes, which reminded him of Blitz, as opposed to the raider. Her glossy blonde mane stood out, making her look quite beautiful for a raider of her type. Azure just watched her movement, not batting an eyelid at her attempt to attack him. He was pretty bored of the entire kill or be killed aspect in the Wasteland. It was almost making him a little mad about the entire Wasteland, if he wasn't already.

Azure turned and walked away from the crazed and confusing mare, making her shout out into the abyss of the Equestrian Wasteland.

“Why did you help me? Why couldn’t you have let me die?” The crazed mare asked, her voice shifting from confusion, to anger. She brought out a knife from her pocket and walked up to Azure, with it clenched in her mouth. Before she could say or do anything, there was a sniper shot that passed Azure’s right shoulder, straight into the raiders head. Azure had his suspicions about who had shot the raider that he had just helped, thinking that it was Blitz. He turned slowly and saw Lumia with Blitz’s rifle in her magic.

Seeing Lumia wielding a weapon was a little strange, but Azure had to remember that he hadn’t seen Lumia with a weapon before, let alone fight. It really shouldn’t have been so much of a shock to him, but it was. Blitz walked out from behind Lumia, seeing that she had hit the raider square in the head. He walked over to Azure and hugged him softly, not trying to hurt him at all.

“We came to look for you. Anti found you and gave me the information to find your exact location. We are glad that the raider didn't hurt you.” Blitz admitted, letting go of Azure and looking down to the corpse of the raider.

“I healed that raider from a life threatening injury and this is the thanks I get? Them going to hurt me and then having them killed in front of me, like my work was all for nothing!” Azure stated, getting a little bit angry in the process of explaining to them both. Lumia passed Blitz back his rifle and he happily accepted it, placing it on his back again. Blitz looked at Azure flatly and nodded at him.

“I admit, it might have been wrong to kill the raider, but not only were they going to kill you, but you gave them a second chance at having their life in check and what do they do? They try to kill the very pony who gave them that second chance.”Blitz admitted, making sense to Azure. Blitz watched as Azure thought about it for a couple of minutes, Anti becoming visible and laying down on the floor. Azure nodded, but Blitz and Lumia could both see that he was in a little distress. Blitz was going to care for Azure when they got back to Sharpened Death, making sure that his mind was in the right place, rather than delving into the ditches for the past and what he believed in. Blitz admired Azure’s admissions and personal life goals, but not all ponies and creatures in the world were good. Azure just had to accept that that was the consequences of life. That and decision making, which was there to advance the world in a different way, regardless of what path was taken.

They began to walk back to the settlement, Blitz staying to loot the raider and the ghoul, making sure to take anything of value back to Gretzky. Azure began to talk with Lumia, during their walk back. They left Blitz in the paws of Anti, which made Azure know that he had left Blitz more than well protected. Lumia kept looking at Azure, most likely keeping her eye on him.

“No two ponies are the same, meaning that there will always be ponies who are bad. You gave that stupid mare a second chance and she refused to change. Because of this, she got shot. Never feel that you are in the wrong, cause you wont be.” Lumia explained carefully, making Azure smile in the process. He thought about it for a second, before going and putting that memory to the back of his mind, not allowing it to bother him anymore.

Blitz had finally caught up to them both, flying up to them and landing quickly, trying to make as little noise as possible. For Blitz, this was a little more difficult than he stated, sliding a little bit in the process. Blitz looked at Azure's wing and sighed, remembering that it was his fault for it becoming damaged. Without a second thought or glance, Blitz overtook them and walked backwards, listening in on the conversation for a little bit.

"Lumia is right!" Blitz added in, not completely hearing what Lumia had said. She appreciated it, smiling in Blitz's direction, making him smile back, despite being desperately tired. All Blitz wanted in life right there and then, was a soft bed to sleep on, maybe with a pony in it that he could cuddle up to. He was a softy for comfort, and loved it too much in his own opinion.

As they all began to walk back, Blitz strayed a little away from the group, Anti staying with Azure and Lumia, just in case anything bad happened. Blitz crept around in the woods, keeping an eye on the group from the safety of the darkness. Blitz preferred keeping himself hidden and quiet. It sent good, pleasant shivers down Blitz's spine, but filled his mind with 'what if' questions, which kind of counteracted the pleasant feelings that he would have got.

Azure was tired and a little aggravated about himself and all of the negative emotions that he had been feeling lately. He looked behind him to see that Lumia was looking directly into his eyes, making her seem like she knew that he was acting like that and was going to turn his head around. That freaked Azure out a tiny bit, before they were halted in their tracks by two raiders.

One of the raiders was badly wounded and the other was trying to help him. They both spotted Azure and Lumia and screamed, thinking that they were both going to kill them, which was not the case at all. Azure backed off a little, before seeing that one of them was hurt, like the mare that Azure had just tried to save, only to get killed by Lumia, with Blitz's rifle. It was a combined task, but they got it done at least.

"Please don't hurt us!" The raider shouted as he went back to helping his ally. Azure walked a little closer, before feeling a magical glow around the area. He looked around and saw Blitz's horn lit up, along with his red eye, due to Anti being with them both. If Death was there with him, his other eye would have gone red too. Azure knew that Blitz was keeping Azure safe from attacks, due to the faint shield around Azure's body, making him seem a little glossy. Blitz knew that it was the right call, before Azure did anything about the raiders.

"I am a doctor, so if you allow me to help you, I can." Azure stated softly, getting the other raider to step to the side, revealing the raider who was injured to not be. Instead, the raider had concealed a gun and was pointing it at Azure's head. Without a second to spare, the raider shot the pistol he had at Azure. The bullet whizzed through the air, towards Azure's eye. Azure closed his eyes and heard a metallic noise from in front of him. He opened them again to see that the bullet had hit the shield, leaving a ripple like effect.

The raider fired off a couple more bullets, each one creating new ripples in the shield. As soon as the raider with the gun ran out of ammo, he grabbed a weapon and started hacking at the shield, making Blitz's energy begin to feel a strain. Blitz shook his head before running in from the woods. He did a full one hundred and eighty degree turn, straight into a bucking position. Blitz kicked the raider into a close tree, making him crack his back on a branch. This didn't paralyze him, it only slowed him down.

Blitz looked back at the other raider, who immediately sat down, making sure not to cause trouble. Blitz turned back to the raider that he had just bucked into the woods and walked towards him, making sure to bare his fangs. The raider was scrambling to get up, repeatedly failing multiple times, due to him being in some mud. He almost looked helpless, making him easier to kill. Was that his thought, or the nightmare's, because he couldn't tell the difference.

Blitz just stood there and watched the raider, Azure and Lumia keeping an eye on the other one. Azure looked over to Blitz and sighed, hoping that he wouldn't try to do anything stupid. Blitz allowed the raider to get up, without having the fear of dying. Although he allowed the raider to get up, the raider didn't get up. Instead, he accepted defeat and placed his head in the mud. Blitz poked him with a hoof, before waiting for the raider to turn to him. The raider did indeed turn to look at Blitz, before getting a hoof offered to him. The raider was confused, knowing full well that Blitz would try to kill him the moment he got a chance to.

Azure watched on in happiness, as Blitz offered his hoof to a random raider, almost like he cared about them. Was this Blitz not wanting to kill anypony? Azure didn't know anymore, because he was stuck in the mindset that Blitz was letting him live, but what he didn't know, was that Blitz was holding a pistol with his magic, behind his back.

Azure watched as the raider accepted Blitz hoof, allowing him to get up and out of the mud. They both stayed there and looked at each other, before the raider nodded.

"I… I am sorry for that. I've been a raider for years and it's all gone to my head." The raider spoke, walking over to the speechless friend that he had.

"I will admit that I am sorry for bucking you, but you can't just go shooting ponies that I care about." Blitz explained to him, making the raider nod in response to that explanation. Azure was pretty sure that Blitz was going to let them live, but saw the gun behind his back and paused, taking in the possibility that Blitz might kill them. Blitz sensed this and made his weapon disappear from sight, making sure the Azure knew that it was only for self defense purposes.

The raiders stopped moving and looked back at Blitz and Azure. One of them smiled, while the other cried, getting the warmth from the one who was smiling. One of them was a unicorn and the other was an earth pony. They both looked into Blitz's eyes, making Blitz feel a little softer and lighter on the heart.

"We can't go back to the settlement that we had come from, so is there anywhere that we could go, to gain a new start?" One of them asked, getting Azure and Blitz to look at each other for a couple of seconds, before turning back to the two raid… ponies and nodding.

"Come with us!" Azure announced, getting them both to nod at Azure.

Chapter 14: Losing Love

Trees and rocks littered their path, as the little convoy continued to move towards the Hoofington Docks area. Leaves of dead trees made their presence known within the vast emptiness of the forest. Brick, Gretzky, Roselight and Saber lead the way, carving their own path through the trees and dead bushes. Blitz, Azure, Lumia and Zeke were all bunched up, walking at their own speed. Blitz looked around and saw that Death, Anti and the nightmare were following them slowly, Anti being the only visible one to all of them.

Azure looked over to his left, seeing Hoofington in the distance. It was really scary to see a green void that separated it from the rest of the Wasteland, which made him shudder a little and put him on edge. Azure looked away, but his eyes were slowly being dragged back to it, almost like it had some type of spell attached to it. Blitz turned Azure's head with his magic, snapping him out of its invisible trance. Azure smiled at Blitz, silently thanking him for doing that.

They were heading towards the SS Celestia, which was inhabited by Steel Rangers. Blitz and Azure were pretty sure that they would have been able to just stand outside the boundaries of their base and observe the ship. This was their little tour convoy. The radroach on Blitz's back was still there, waiting for it's perfect time to strike ponykind down. Blitz looked back at it and stayed silent, before seeing it scuffle about on Blitz's back a little. Azure found it pretty cute, but it was still something that could hurt a pony, so he stayed around a meter from Blitz.

Azure realised something to do with Lumia. Since the Steel Rangers were heavily focused on technology, wouldn't that make Lumia a priority to get hold of? Azure looked back at her and smiled, before falling back to her a little.

"Lumia, can I talk to you quickly?" Azure asked, getting a little nod from Lumia.

"You may, what seems to be wrong Doctor?" Lumia asked, being a little curious as to what Azure wanted to tell her.

"Are you able to hide from the Steel Rangers? They focus heavily on technology and… well… yeah, you are just technology. If they see you, then they will definitely want to have you and would probably use force to get you." Azure explained to her, getting her to understand why she couldn't be spotted by the Steel Rangers. She nodded, understanding a little bit, but now knowing that the Steel Rangers were power hungry or tech hungry.

Azure caught back but to Blitz and Zeke, who were having a little talk about some of their previous experiences with weapons and how they got familiar with them. Azure heard something about 'starting out young' from Blitz and 'becoming a traitor to their kind' from Zeke, which worried Azure a little, but he was relieved when he saw Blitz laughing. That eased Azure's nerves enough for him to stay chill and continue on with the journey ahead of them all.

Hoofington was now behind them, and they were all following a stream that went from somewhere in Hoofington to the sea. Nopony there had any idea on how the water was getting from Hoofington to the sea, but they didn't even want to challenge the idea of it. They were beginning to enter a valley, making Azure want to choose the high ground of the valley. He began to hover up, watching Blitz do the same in the process.

"If you two go and catch up to the others, we will take the higher part of the valley and hopefully protect you all from fire." Blitz commanded, watching as Lumia nodded and grabbed Zeke with one of her hooves and teleported away, leaving Azure and Blitz to themselves.

Azure looked up to the sky, seeing that all of the clouds were covering a sky that should have been cloud free, or was before the bombs dropped. It made him almost sad, like he didn't know that this area, this part of the world, was Equestria. Azure looked to Blitz and saw that he was deep in though too, probably thinking to himself about Death and the nightmare. At least Azure knew what was happening within Blitz's head, rather than not knowing what was bothering him. Blitz was still Azure's right hoof stallion, so he could have trusted him with any decisions that Azure himself couldn't make up.

Blitz was indeed in his own little world, daydreaming about something that was bothering for a while. There was a figure that Blitz tried to remember, but always drew a blank to when he did indeed try to remember them. It was almost like something had deleted that memory entirely. It had something to do with a previous relationship that Blitz had, before something happened to him and he woke up in a bed at Journey. It was something that kept creeping to the front of Blitz's mind, so he kept trying to think about it.

Blitz tried to shake it off him, making him look like he was going a little insane, due to his vigorous body moment and twitching. Azure flew closer to Blitz and tapped him on the side, making him turn to him, both eyes being blisteringly red, almost like he was bleeding from his eyes. A strange ghoul came running at them both, making Blitz turn to see it. Being in the state he was in, Blitz turned and pinned the ghoul to the floor next to them both, before pulling out a long metal spike that was jutting out of the ground beside him. Without hesitation, the rapid like ghoul had a metal rod pinning its body to the ground. He was aiming for the head, but just didn't feel like killing the pony ghoul, just in case somepony had a cure for ghouls. Blitz stood up and turned around, seeing that Azure was still looking at the ghoul. Blitz turned back around and drew out his anti-material rifle and aimed down the scope of it. Within a second, the ghoul's head was reduced to shrapnel and blood jelly. Azure flinched, before rushing up to Blitz and seeing that his eyes were closed.

As soon as Blitz opened his eyes, he had both Gretzky and Azure looking at him, Azure being the closest to Blitz and Gretzky being pretty far away, but still able to see Blitz and the state of which he was in. Blitz looked back at the ghoul and saw that the head was gone, most likely into bloody pieces of flesh and bone. The rest of the ghoul's body was slumped against the floor, having been pinned down with the metal rod. It made Blitz a little twitchy, but he was sure that the ghoul was in a better place now.

Blitz turned and continued to walk, seeing that Gretzky was waiting up for them both. Azure followed Blitz and tried to stop himself from looking back, but found it very difficult to avoid doing so. It was something that was going to play out in his head later on, so he tried to avoid thinking about it at least, focusing on the relationship that him and Blitz had. It made Azure feel quite special, because of the love that him and Blitz shared for one another. It made his heart flutter, but he had to bring himself back down to the harsh reality that was the Wasteland, a land where good events were rare and extraordinary events were non-existent.

Blitz looked over the side, seeing that the lower down group were a little way ahead, not stopping for anypony that would have slowed them down. Gretzky looked down too and felt a little emptiness start to fill him, almost like a hole getting filled with water or a bucket getting filled with water. There were so many similes that could have described that one moment, where the smile on Gretzky's face began to fade, making him look like he was slowly going crazy or that he realised what they were walking into.

Azure looked down at Roselight and Saber talking happily. Although he saw that Lumia, Zeke and Brick were speaking together, he didn't focus on them. He focused mainly on Roselight and Saber and looked at what made Saber come out of his shell so much when Roselight was around. Was there something that wasn't being said about their friendship as a whole or was there a lot more that both Roselight and Saber weren't telling?

Azure flew over to Gretzky, seeing that he was looking directly forward and not in any other direction, making Azure think that he was daydreaming or something. Azure flew up to him and tapped him on the shoulder, getting no response from him in the process. He quickly tapped his shoulder again, making his tap a little harder this time and finally getting a response from Gretzky. He turned around to look at Azure, a little confused as to what he wanted to speak about. Azure landed and began to walk alongside Gretzky, looking down at the others on occasion.

"What's the chemistry behind both Roselight's and Saver's friendship?" Azure asked, seeing that Gretzky had a smile on his face once again. He rubbed the back of his head trying to explain it, but thought of a way to break the news to him, having not known already.

"Well, for starters Alchem, Roselight is Saber's mother, which is always nice to have around for chemistry reasons and emotional support that not everypony in the Wasteland is miserable. Also, they have a strong bond that kind of reminds me of my parents…" Gretzky stated, before cutting himself off and looking down at the pair below. Azure guessed that the reason that Gretzky kept looking down was a reminder that not all was bad in the Wasteland and not all was lost. That, or he just really enjoyed seeing a mother and son together on a journey. It made sense that they were mother and son, but Saber looked so different compared to Roselight, which is why Azure got thrown off track.

"Is that why you keep looking down, cause you miss your family?" Azure asked, seeing a little nod of disbelief and a little tear fall down Gretzky's cheek, which was quickly removed by his own wing. Azure felt a little bad about bringing it up, but the more that somepony grieved about something, the more that they would either work, or forget. Having heard that, Azure hugged Gretzky, wrapping his wing around him and pulling him in closer. Not only was Azure a great doctor, but he was also a great hugger, which every little group needed. That made him even more mandatory to keep alive, so that he could heal ponies and give them hugs of affection.

Azure looked back at Blitz and felt a little bad about all that had happened to him, seeing his mother die the way that she did and not being able to do anything about it. He must have hurt so many times over, compared to anypony else in the Wasteland, which made Azure feel even worse, but as long as Azure was there for him when he needed it, that would surely be enough, right?

Azure washed the thought away from his mind, as both Blitz and Gretzky stopped at the sight of the ship that they were looking for. Blitz looked down and teleported the others on top of the top of the valley, allowing them to individually see the ship. Most of them stared in awe, but also felt that they were a little dumb. On the side of the ship was the name of it. Although they hadn't had a problem with calling it the SS Celestia, it was clear to them that it was not actually called that. It was actually called the HMS Celestia, but that really didn't make a difference because it was still the ship with the name of a former ruler of Equestria, before it was loomed down to the little sister, Princess Luna.

As soon as Blitz got everypony up on the top of the valley, he began to walk up a little extra part of the valley, leading up to a higher point, allowing him to overlook the warship. Gretzky joined him, quickly flying up the hill towards Blitz. Azure decided to stay with the others, just in case something bad was to happen while he wasn't there.

Blitz pulled out his anti-material rifle and looked down the scope of it. Gladly, there was no scope glint, due to the sun not shining as bright behind the clouds. Blitz used this to his advantage and peeked into the base that was so much bigger than he had even thought. Yes, there were Steel Rangers, but the base was so much bigger than he had originally thought. That got him curious as to what was inside there, but he knew that he wouldn't have been able to get into the base, but would he have been able to get next to the checkpoint, surely.

Blitz saw that there were plenty of Steel Rangers inside the base, as well as a ton of technology, hence the reason why he wanted to hide Lumia or at least had to hide her, just so that those Steel Rangers couldn't get their hooves on her. Blitz was tempted to make Lumia sit on the hill that he was on, but thought that it would have been risky enough her being where they were right now, but he had faith in them not being able to see as far up as Blitz initially thought.

"Lumia, are you able to stay here with all of our technical stuff?" Blitz asked, getting a swift nod from her, followed by her shaking off the PipBuck on Azure's forehoof. Azure was a little surprised by the action, but willingly let her try to take it off. It took a good couple of seconds, but she managed to get it off and place it on the ground beside her. She looked over them all and tried to see if they had any items on them that would have counted as technology. She looked to Gretzky and smiled, seeing his massive bag on his back, compared to the other saddlebags that he would normally be carrying.

"I hate this!" Gretzky stated, walking with the rest of the group as they walked down the hill, carrying no items on them that were electrical. Blitz had given Lumia his cloak, showing off his scars a little more and making him look like a changeling zebra, which made him chuckle quietly. The others didn't see them as he did, rather than seeing them as a joke of the past, they saw it as a sign that Blitz was either a tough nut to crack, or that he needed medical attention. Although Azure hated the look of him like that, it was something that he was going to have to get over, in order to move on with everything that was happening. He went back to the words that he remembered getting told by Blitz, some night ago.

"Looks are deceiving. Looks don't define a pony, it's what parts are in said pony that should get an evaluation." Blitz stated, some time ago. It was a memory that Azure would never forget, because everytime he thought about it, it reminded him of who he was, being a zebra and pegasus hybrid after all. Blitz was similar, Azure thought, but he couldn't be too sure. He was pretty sure that Blitz talked to him about him being half changeling and half earth pony, but Azure couldn't remember exactly.

Gretzky, Roselight and Saber looked on in shock at Blitz's form. Cuts, bruises and scars were permanent on his body, making for a more vicious look to him, rather than being the big softy that he was outside of combat. If there was anything that would make the Steel Rangers fear, it was Blitz. Azure ran up alongside Blitz and strolled along with him. They both looked down and saw that the base was huge, but there was a checkpoint that allowed them to see the ship. They all calmly walked down, seeing that there was a guard or two at the checkpoint. As Azure looked at them, they locked eyes with him. To ease the tension, Azure waved to them, making them look at each other and wave back.

There was a pony in power armour just outside the gate to the checkpoint. It tracked them and all of them watched as one of the guards walked towards the power armour and spoke into its ear, making it look straight again. It didn't seem to be a threat to them, so they all just looked at each other, before setting foot on the ground, being the same level as the guards and the power armour user.

They slowly walked towards them all, keeping their weapons away from the group. Blitz looked behind, at the group that he was escorting and smiled, before turning back to the two guards that were approaching. He raised a hoof to the guards and watched as they became a little wary of their actions outside a Steel Ranger base of operations. It was unusual that ponies came to the base, especially ones that were unarmed.

"Hello, may I ask what you are doing out here?" One of the guards asked, being a little aggressive with his questioning. Blitz looked from one to another and then gulped.

"We have travelled out here to see the HMS Celestia. Not trying to get close to it, but to have a good view." Blitz explained, seeing part of the ship and not the whole thing. The two guards were a little sceptical about his decision, but they knew that they weren't up to no good because they had no weapons and seemed a little hesitant at first.

The guards got a good look at Blitz and turned around to see that power armour user had gotten up and begun walking towards them. He stopped as soon as he got to the other guards and looked over Blitz's form, seeing his changeling resemblances.

"If I may ask, what are you?" One of the guards asked, getting a little curious about seeing his first changeling. Blitz looked back to the others and then saw that they were getting a little bit closer to Blitz's location. The guards pointed to a nearby hill, which would have given them a look into the warship's location and what it looked like. It was a huge ship, from what Blitz had initially seen of it. The group walked to the hill that the guards pointed to, leaving Azure to wait for Blitz and Blitz standing next to the guards.

"I am a changeling, a being that is pretty much a shape-shifter with unicorn properties and wings." Blitz explained, pointing at his horn and wings, before changing into one of the guards. "I am pretty much able to change my body into anything that I want." Blitz added, before changing into some power armour, which made them smile at each other, before looking back at Blitz.

"Hey, that's pretty cool. What else can you do?" One of the guards asked.

"Yes… what else can you do, changeling?" The power armour spoke, their voice dull and raspy, almost like they were clinging on to death, or were a ghoul within the armour. Blitz looked at them and changed into rock, then into a stick and then into a timberwolf. They all smiled and laughed a little, before Blitz changed back into himself. They were really surprised to say the least.

"I will clarify, I don't know how many changelings there are left in Equestria, due to the bombs, but I stay positive and hope to find some more someday." Blitz explained, making them feel a little bad. "Alchem, go and enjoy the view. I'll be up there shortly." Blitz explained, telling Azure that he would definitely be up on the hill. "I promise!" Blitz added, finishing off his worries that Azure would've gotten hurt around the area that they were at. Blitz looked back at the guards, a fake smile in their face. Blitz knew what was coming.

Blitz's prediction was that since the Steel Rangers were hoarders of technology, they would try to get him to turn into something that they found useful and try to capture him. Blitz got that right as soon as they looked at each other. They talked to each other, before Blitz looked back, in the direction of Lumia and asked her to do something, using his mind to speak directly to hers. As soon as he looked at the group, they began to vanish one by one, each pony becoming more and more confused.

Blitz looked back to the group and smiled, being pretty shy in the process.

"Can you turn into a big structure?" One of them asked, before seeing Blitz shake his head.

"Can't do huge things and the biggest I could possibly go is an animal with three times my height." Blitz lied a little, knowing that an animal three times his size wasn't his limitation, but knew that if he focused enough, he could turn into a huge structure. They looked back at each other and then looked back shortly after.

"Can you change into a weapon?" They asked, getting a quick nod from Blitz in the process. Blitz changed into a fully automatic rifle, before getting picked up by one of the guards. "I think that you will be an awesome addition to the collection we already have." The guard stated, watching as Blitz teleported back to the original spot and changed into his beaten and holed self. He looked at them with disgust, but didn't want to hurt them until it was necessary. They one of them pulled out a pistol and aimed it in Blitz's direction.

"I ain't saying here." Blitz told them bluntly.

"What are you going to do, run to your friends? They have left!" One of the guards told him, making him smile.

"Good!" Blitz stated, before seeing Anti peeking behind them. Blitz commanded in his mind for Anti to attack the right one, which had the gun aimed at Blitz's head. Anti jumped onto the back of the pony who was aiming at Blitz, giving Blitz enough time to draw out his suppressed rifle and shoot the other in the head. No mercy was allowed. The Steel Ranger that was left panicked a little, seeing the timberwolf ripping through their friendly ally. He aimed his weapon at Blitz, but paused as he saw an anti-material rifle pointed directly at his head, making him pause. He didn't say anything, probably due to him being frozen in fear.

Anti growled and snarled at the Steel Ranger within the power armour, making him aim his weapon at Anti, purely out of fear that the wooden wolf would melt his armour. Green liquid dripped off Anti's fangs, making Blitz feel a little uncomfortable. Blitz was going to hold a grudge against the Steel Rangers, just for wanting to take advantage of him. Blitz commanded for Lumia to do something, using his mind to chat with her again. Lumia teleported to Blitz's location, before pulling down the hood of the cloak. The Steel Ranger stood motionless, before Lumia used a spell to cancel out all of the sound around them. The noise cancelling spell would prevent any sound from escaping the bubble, which was beneficial to Blitz for him to not get spotted.

"You need to teach me this spell somewhen." Blitz explained, getting a quiet nod from her in response. The Steel Ranger looked at Lumia and stood motionless, not understanding how it was possible for a pony to become technology. Blitz chuckled, before seeing the Steel Ranger bringing up some weapons that were slotted into the side of his armour, which made the smile fade from Blitz’s face. He brought up his own weapon and aimed it at the Steel Ranger’s helmet, before refusing to give him a chance and shooting him flat in the face. The anti-material rifle tore through his armour like it was butter, making it slightly delve inwards towards his face, but his face had completely exploded from the inside out.

Lumia dropped the spell, before being able to hear sirens going off, due to the cameras seeing everything that had just happened. There was the tiniest amount of doubt that was present in Blitz’s mind, but those doubts were quickly washed away into fear as a couple of Steel Rangers charged at them, different types of weapons ranging from pistols, to laser miniguns firing upon their position. Blitz used his magic to cast a shield of magic that could protect them from enemy fire, but it was quickly running his magic reserves dry, due to the sheer force of the artillery of weapons firing on his position. As soon as Blitz felt that his magic was getting low, it instantly filled itself back up. It was almost like Blitz was not in control of his magic supply, but that was the least of his worries, as the bullets still continued to fly towards them both. Lumia eventually teleported them both and landed the teleport on a nearby hillside, not the hillside that Lumia originally had teleported to. Blitz looked over to the base and then to the other hillside and saw the group hiding behind some trees.

“Lumia, this is my fault entirely. All of you are in danger because of me. I need you to teleport to the others and run. I'll create a distraction so that they don’t follow you back to the settlement.” Blitz stated, getting his rifle ready and looking down at the base. They were all flooding out and heading in the direction of the others. Blitz had to act fast, otherwise it wouldn’t be him being the only one that made a sacrifice on that day. He looked back at Lumia and nodded, before seeing her nod back and teleport off. A tear ran down Blitz’s cheek as he aimed down the scope of his rifle and shot another bullet that was blisteringly loud through the air. All of the Steel Rangers turned from their original position, to look at Blitz and begin shooting at him. Although he was their main target, there were still two or three ponies with no power armour going off in the same direction as the rest of Blitz’s group. When Blitz looked back at the group, they had vanished, making Blitz’s heart feel a little bit of happiness, as he now had an entire army to deal with.

“Good luck, my lover…” Blitz stated, before picking up his cloak off the floor and putting it on, the same on the Lumia should have been wearing, but probably left it there for a reason that Blitz had not yet picked up on. Blitz aimed his anti-material rifle at another Steel Ranger, before firing and beginning the start of his slaughter.

Azure and the rest of the group were running at some speed, seeing that this was their chance to get away from all of the fighting, without any problems. Although they wanted to believe that, they had lost one team member that had a huge impact on the group. Azure refused to speak at that point, trying to hold back the anger that he had for the Steel Rangers taking Blitz away from them. They were now divided from him, which didn’t make their goals any easier to get to, due to them having to run away from all of the badness that was happening behind them.

Gretzky and Lumia, along with Roselight were flying in the air, making their journey go quicker. They still had a little way to go, but they couldn't get any faster than they were going then, but eventually they would have to slow down, due to being out of breath and being tired of all of the running and flying that was going on with them. Azure could have begun to fly, but he didn't in the end, due to the fact that he didn’t really feel like doing it at all. Azure was too busy focusing on what he had lost, rather than thinking about what he could have lost next. Zeke kept looking back and seeing little movement in the trees behind them. It was most likely all of the foliage that they were running through, but he kept a watchful eye out for anything that would have related to an animal or a pony. He looked forward again, but had his doubts that there were no ponies following them.

Azure kept his eye on all of the remaining group, trying to make sure that they all would be alright and not end up getting divided, like Blitz had been. It broke his heart that Blitz was the distraction that they needed to get away from the Steel Rangers, but wasn’t that life? He shook the bad thoughts out of his mind and tried to focus on the main thing that he and the rest of that group had to do. They had to get back home, before anything bad happened.

“Come on, this way!” Gretzky stated to the rest of the group, still trying to fly between the trees. It was difficult and getting even worse, due to the density of the trees around the area getting closer together. It was like they were trying to stop all flyers and make the woodland a no fly zone, but they were only trees. Gretzky landed after a couple of trees got into his way and blocked the path in front of him. Azure followed him close, hoping that the others were okay behind him.

"Saber, come on!" Roselight stated, looking back at Saber and seeing that he was falling behind a little bit. Azure looked back to see this as well and began to slowly decelerate his momentum and wait for Saber to catch up. As soon as Azure stopped, he saw some rustling in the bushes behind Saber and raised his gun, slowly moving towards both Saber and the thing in the bush. Gretzky had stopped and raised his gun to the rustling bush as well.

Anti slowly emerged from the bushes, making everypony and creature feel less tense. Anti howled, before being turned into sticks, symbolising death. The only problem was that Anti didn't come back to life after. They all looked at the timberwolf and saw that it was only an abundance of sticks, making it seem like the timberwolf was gone. A thought crossed Azure's mind, which hurt his mental state a little. He shouldn't have delved on it, but he did and couldn't help himself.

A gunshot was shot next to Saber, followed by another gunshot, hitting Saber in the chest and spurting blood out in all directions. Saber dropped to the floor in shock, followed by Roselight screaming and running over to him. She picked him up carefully with his magic, before flying up, out of the tree line. Brick caught sight of one of the Steel Ranger spotters and shot one of them with the shotgun he had, plastering the non armoured Steel Ranger in buckshot and turning him into pulp. Azure was refusing to hurt anypony and fled with the same ambition that Roselight had done, to save Saber.

Gretzky stayed with Brick, Lumia and Zeke. Lumia welded one of Blitz's old weapons. The shotgun that he had offered to Gretzky to use. It was the perfect size for her to get some revenge on some Steel Rangers, which was perfection for her. She just had to be mindful that she was most likely the Steel Rangers main target, being a machine and all.

Gretzky was whirling about, welding his own modified weapon. It was a single shot assault rifle that had been modified to shoot sniper rifle ammunition, which made it pack a punch, especially against non armoured enemies. He was grateful for the company that he had right there.

Zeke didn't use a weapon like theirs. Instead, Zeke had some lightweight claws on his hooves, which were made by Nightclaw to be fast, agile and able to deal some serious damage, even to some armoured enemies. Zeke was skulking around, being as low to the floor as possible.

The Steel Ranger scouts were using Stealth Bucks to keep hidden from the small group that was able to kill the scouts over and over again. Zeke saw one of them, before lashing out and sticking one of the claws into the neck of one of them. The Stealth Buck wore off and made the scout that Zeke had stabbed visible. This only pushed Zeke to stab further into the neck of the scout. Zeke was close to ripping off the head of the scout, but resisted himself to do so, going to the PipBuck that the scout had and smashing it with his hooves, ending all communication and tracking from the PipBuck. He let the now limp body drop to the floor and continued to find the last one that was firing at the group.

Brick found the other one, trying to reload the weapon that he was using to shoot at the group. Brick pinned the scout to the wall, before looking him over. Zeke ran up to the scout and plunged the blade from his hooves into the PipBuck, breaking it and destroying the screen and interface on it. The scout screamed, as the blade tore into his skin, causing a huge amount of blood to be lost. Brick chuckled before aiming his shotgun at the scout's head. The Stealth Buck wore off and Brick smiled, before unloading a shot into the skull of the scout. It covered Zeke's head and Brick's head in bloodz which made them recoil a little bit, but made them look back to the scene that they had changed. Blood was spurting out of the scout's head, or where his head had been. It was a gory display for sure, but it was necessary to ensure that they weren't followed. They quickly forgot about the bodies and tried to make their way back to the settlement. It wasn't too far away, but it was far enough away for the Steel Rangers to not know where they were going.

They all began to run, pushing their bodies to their limits, as they kept trying to escape the scene. They were all tired and out of breath, but they could all agree on one thing. The HMS Celestia was a beautiful ship, but very, very scary. They all moved as a group, not allowing anypony else to get separated from the group. It was a weird way of moving, but it worked in their favour. They were making sure that there was no chance of losing somepony from the group, after losing a key member already.

Time took its toll on Azure, but before long, they were all back, safe and sound. It didn't take a genius to know that they weren't happy about their little adventure, but they had an amazing view, over a pony that they cared a lot about. Petalbreeze and Sadjoy were at the gate, having big smiles on their faces, but seeing that all of them didn't have a smile at all on theirs. They were slightly confused, but then Sadjoy clocked in on the situation.

"Where is Eater?" Sadjoy asked, being concerned at her friend's disappearance. Azure just looked down and walked past her, going to the house that they both had called home. It was a sad thought that he had lost a friend then and there, but at the back of his mind, he knew that there was a chance of Blitz being alive. He didn't stay strong to believe in that chance and instead, walked into his home, alone, a tear creeping down his face as he entered.

Azure was definitely down about all that had gone on with Blitz's sacrifice, but Azure was having his doubts about Blitz's survival. He was crying because he thought that Blitz was dead, never coming back again. Although he didn't know it, Blitz was most likely, in Azure's mind, fighting against the Steel Rangers, being the one pony army that he had originally shown to Azure.

Azure rested his head on the chair, lying flat in it and making sure that he didn't get interrupted by locking the door. He closed his eyes and stayed silent, hearing his muffled breathing as he remembered the fallen. He let out a sigh and tried to fall asleep, not failing in the slightest, because Blitz knew that Azure was great at anything he did.

Blitz was still alive and he was still kicking with life. The Steel Rangers couldn't get him out of his cover, challenging an entire army with the skills and knowledge that he had. He unloaded shot after shot, ensuring that the Steel Rangers were dwindling in numbers, before they did something that Blitz had never seen before. There was a very special type of modification added to a rocket launcher one of them was using. It carried a type of tentacle with a stone attached to it. The stone glowed with magic, making Blitz slightly afraid of what it could do to him. He teleported to another piece of cover, knowing that they didn't know where he was other than the original cover he had. He kept hidden and then as a rocket was hurled in his original direction, along with the rock and tentacle after. The explosion blasted the cover away and revealed that nopony was there at all. The tentacle was meant to attach to the victim, being part of killing joke after all, meaning that it would most likely jump to the target, before exploding, due to the rock.

Blitz wanted to find out what the rock would do to a pony, so he kept quiet for a couple of seconds, before being bucked to the side of the head, feeling his head jerk from metallic hooves hitting him directly in the head. He felt like his skull was bleeding internally, filling with unnecessary blood that didn't belong in that part of his head. His vision went fuzzy and he looked around at the entire army ready to beat him up. He smiled and coughed up blood, before feeling like he was going to pass out. He got dragged to the centre of the viewpoint, being surrounded by the entire base, planning on what to do with the changeling.

"We can keep him for storage, maybe he could shapeshift into something that could help us have an advantage." One of them suggested with a deep and raspy voice. Blitz chuckled, coughing out blood is eyes beginning to drip blood too. That made his nose, mouth and eyes drip green blood out. He kept his eyes closed, because he was hurting all over and hated the feeling of his eyes bleeding.

"You want me to change into something useful do you? Well, how about this, just so I can see what it does!" Blitz explained, turning into the ball that he had seen, the stone. Before any of them could get a chance to run, the stone that was Blitz's exploded, making the closest Steel Rangers turn into some statues of stone, which gave Blitz an idea of what they wanted to do with him. They wanted to freeze him and turn him into stone, so that they could use him for a use later on.

Blitz looked to his right and saw that there was a good portion of the Steel Rangers left, who were not looking too happy with him. Blitz saw that one of them was holding the same rock, before throwing it at Blitz, slowly turning him into stone. He smiled, before closing his eyes and letting the stone take him, eventually giving up. His vision and movement became blackened and still, allowing him to do nothing, while he slowly suffocated within his own stone prison.

Azure was dreaming about things to help him relax, but surprisingly, they weren't helping him at all. Happy places that he had once known before, sent him happy little wake up calls and satisfaction thought his body. Now, those happy places weren't so happy anymore, giving off negative emotions and showing him a life that would never have been so perfect, showing how his life could've been, if the war didn't hit Equestria.

Although clouds were meant to be a happy thing to dream about, Azure didn't dare dream about it, because it would have just brought back memories of the past and generally would have made him angry, regardless of where he was or how happy he was. Everything was spiralling downhill and the last thing that he wanted to think about was the area that was home to the entire enclave, the entire area of the world that became hostile towards any ponies on the ground, regardless of race.

"Everything would be alright Azure, if you didn't create arguments all the time!" Azure muttered, trying to keep himself cool. He had just lost one of his closest and last friends from the original settlement, meaning that he was mainly just on his own. He was the last one from Journey. Azure waited for a couple of seconds before trying to do anything else, being restricted, due to him having the possibility of having a bad dream or even worse, a nightmare. That was something that crossed his mind. Why in the end did Blitz have Roselight's nightmare within him, after the fight? Azure was still confused by that part, but felt like he should have known somehow, like he knew exactly what was happening for Blitz.

Despite seeing Blitz nearly dying to a ghoul previously, he never thought that after that he would have to say goodbye to his friend. The sad part about that, was that he never got the chance to say it. He never had the chance to kiss Blitz on the head, before saying goodbye. That got him a little bit emotional, but made him smile a little, knowing that Blitz wouldn't want him to dwell on the loss of him. Blitz would have wanted Azure to use his death as an excuse to do crazy stuff, more daring stuff or just motivational stuff. That thought made a tear run down Azure's cheek, but didn't make him sad, it only made him chuckle, as he looked at the image of the small pony with animatronic limbs. Project Chimera was something that both Blitz and Azure never got into or looked up or even talked about. Azure was sure to ask about it whenever he could, but was pretty sure that it was an interesting topic to try to get some light shined onto.

Azure stopped trying to rest and just got up and walked over to the barred up window and looked through the cracks. It didn't help that the cracks were super small, making Azure's head work super hard to try to find a comfortable position to look outside. There was no end result of being comfy and being able to see outside, so Azure set his ideas on a different idea to look outside. He opened the door and stood in the doorway and looked to the sky, seeing that the clouds were getting darker and darker. It wasn't looking good for the entirety of Equestria, as it looked like it was going to try to send a thunderstorm sweeping across Equestria.

Sadjoy saw Azure and gazed at him for a couple of seconds, before walking up to him and stopping in front of him. Azure looked down from the sky and met the grey bat pony's purple eyes. The shimmered within the darkness, being the light that he so desperately needed to cling onto. He smiled at her, before looking back up at the sky, being scared that he would have had another year fall down from his eyes. Sadjoy walked quickly up to the blue pegasus and hugged him, wrapping her hooves and wings around him. Azure did the same, wrapping his hooves around the bat pony that was trying to comfort him. They clung to each other and passionately hugged one another, making sure that the other couldn't get away and feel down about the loss of their good friend.

Azure pulled away from the hug at first, followed by Sadjoy slowly recoiling away from Azure, just to make sure that he was able to get all of the space that he wanted. Azure offered Sadjoy into the house, smiling as soon as she entered and closing the door behind him. He walked over to the chair and hopped up into it, not saying a word about anything and just watching her, like a cat stalking its prey and waiting for it to get close enough, before pouncing at it. Sadjoy looked at all of the pictures on the wall and then down at the Project Chimera picture, featuring the mare with the metallic limbs. She questioned it, but quickly moved on and saw that Azure was sat up in the chair. It was big, but there was room for multiple ponies to lay down and take things easy.

Azure offered her a place on the chair, which Sadjoy quickly accepted, as she jumped up and laid down next to Azure, placing her head on top of his. They both didn't dare say a word, not to break the beautiful silence that they had and for the time that they got to remember Blitz in all of his glory. Although he wasn't actually dead, they didn't know that, they just assumed that he was. He was actually encased in stone, not being able to break out of it and being frozen solid, like a statue. Azure closed his eyes, before letting out a sharp exhale of breath and making it so that he was able to get comfy with Sadjoy on his head.

He tried to dream, which didn't work too well for him. Nothing went his way, did it? Azure's head began to spin, as flashback after flashback played in his mind, displaying a full image like view within a matter of seconds. Azure stood on a ledge, making it impossible for him to fall, due to his wings not being tied up and a barrier in the way, preventing anypony from jumping off and causing huge damage to their minds. Without a warning, the barrier melted and Azure's wings just weren't there. He got instantly shoved forward, pushing him towards the edge and giving him a look down into the void beneath.

Azure was lightly tapped off the edge and made his way down not the void, silently screaming and frantically trying to correct himself in the air. There was no ground in sight, but he just didn't want to be falling. Giving up on correcting himself in the air, Azure just relaxed and tried to unwind while he was in the air. It was anticlimactic, but it was actually helping him, rather than hindering him. He closed his eyes for a couple of seconds, before opening them again and looking around.

The original blackened walls that surrounded Azure previously, changed to an almost galaxy like pattern, making Azure feel like he was falling through space, making the dream less real, but more relaxing for him. He casually glided down, not allowing his wings to take over, like his body wanted to so badly, due to fear of falling down and splatting on the floor. In the reality that Azure was in, there was no ground, just an endless loop that kept dropping him further and further.

The galaxy-like background faded a little bit, allowing for Azure to see memories of his past, one of them involving Blitz and making his mood snap to an angry one, vibrating the flashes of his life on the galaxy wall. Azure shook his head, before seeing one that stood out to him, which he didn't tell anypony about. The moment that he should have been branded a dashite, but got away with a little flimsy sticker. He still had said sticker over his cutie mark, but he didn't dare remove it. It was safer to be a fake dashite, rather than a real one.

Azure wanted to look into Blitz's past, to see what life was like within the Wasteland, before things had gotten bad. He was pretty sure that there was no way of doing that, without having him lose the memories. Not only that, but he wasn't there right then, so Azure relaxed a little on that idea and swayed away to look at another image, as he continued to fall into the void beneath.

His brain placed him back into the dream or nightmare that both Azure and Blitz had previously, seeing that they had both been within close proximity of each other, not only in the dream, but in real life. He watched the events of the dream unfold and noticed something quite spectacular. Death was standing by Blitz and looked at him. As soon as Blitz got hit by one of the dummies that were shooting at him, he healed a little, almost like somepony was watching over Blitz and his position.

Azure paused the events that were going on and walked around the battlefield. He was able to interact with everything, changing everything to see what would happen and what effects could have occurred. Azure walked up to Death and blankly stared at him. He didn't look like anypony in existence, adding to the mystery of the Wasteland. It didn't help that Azure was unable to identify Blitz's massive helper, that healed him for a little bit, before fading away to someplace else entirely.

Azure looked about at the setting of the area. It was a training course, but it was in a place that looked far too familiar to both him and Blitz. The area was a part of Journey that didn't exist. Blitz used assets from his mind to create the settings, using the walls of buildings found in Journey. It was like the nightmare that enveloped his mind, used things that he had seen against him. It was a cruel joke to think that somepony would stoop so low to do something like that, using memories of the past to alter his vision and thoughts.

Azure was able to view all of what happened in that nightmare and saw that something was definitely distracting Blitz, due to the look on his face. Blitz looked over to Azure's ghostly figure, almost like he was looking directly at him and able to see him. He slid a memory orb towards Azure actual direction and went back to shooting the dummies, seeing that one was getting closer to him, than what Azure saw in the dream. Real Azure looked down at the memory orb and picked it up.

"Clutch this as hard as you can and get somepony else to allow you to view it!" Azure said out loud, before seeing Blitz get shot, before the fake Azure shot a syringe in Blitz's direction, hitting him in the side, before Azure shot one of the syringes at the ghouls, turning it over to their side. Azure still didn't know how he did that with the syringe or the gun itself, but it might have been something to do with the recipe he used to create the syringes. Maybe it had something to do with the syringe gun or something? Azure couldn't really tell, all he could do was speculate.

The vision of the nightmarish events faded away and got replaced with flashes of Azure's life as a doctor's assistant, back in Journey. It was a great time there, a great time to be alive, but sadly, like most things in the Wasteland, they have to come to an end. It hurt Azure at first, when it actually happened, but it didn't hurt him anymore, almost like he wasn't able to remember the feelings in those events, but he did still have his feelings, which was a little weird to say the least.

Sentences rang out in Azure's head, ranging from hateful comments about him, to the most heartwarming ones that would have made him cry, if he wasn't already so emotionally attached to one of the sentences that was said.

"When this is all over, somepony will buy you a drink and tell you what it is really like to be happy." A voice called out. It was a voice that Azure could remember, but couldn't remember the name of said pony. All he remembered was that it was the main doctor of Journey who said it. Azure was pretty sure that those words would stay true, but who he was having that drink with, was always changing. First it was the doctor, then it was the mayor, then it was Blitz and now, now Azure did have a single clue who that pony would be.

He feared that all of the decisions were slowly changing and soon, he didn't know if he was still going to be the same stallion that all of the other ponies had seen. He was determined to keep going, regardless of what happened. With that, he closed his eyes in the hope to wake up, just so he could be productive and get more stuff done.

Chapter 15: Denied Remembrance

Azure woke up in a hurry, seeing that Sadjoy wrapped her wing around Azure, like he was something that she was trying to protect. Azure rubbed his cheek and found that his cheek was matted in water, either coming from being tears or sweat. Giving his circumstances, it was most likely his tears, but he couldn't tell at that point in time. He was pretty sure it was thought, which didn't help too much with his emotions.

There was one thing that he needed to get out of his head, in order for him to feel somewhat normal as a pegasus. He needed to get the thought of Blitz still being alive out of his head, otherwise he would go on to doubt himself for the rest of his life or what remained of it. Azure was pretty sure that it would be difficult, but he was going to try to trick his mind to change the knowledge of Blitz's state.

Azure closed his eyes again, before feeling a wing tighten around his shoulder, making him look into Sadjoy's eyes, before she pulled him closer and nuzzled into him. Azure felt a new load of warmth enter his body and made him feel a little better, but he was still trying to get rid of any memories of Blitz from his mind, only to make him not feel guilty about his death, even though there was nothing that they were able to do. It hurt Azure a little that that was the case, but that was how life worked. There were no lucky ponies, only normal ponies and unlucky ponies. Blitz fell into that unlucky section of ponies.

"What's up, Alchem?" Sadjoy asked, seeing that something was bothering him. She had her guesses, but she was pretty sure that he was remembering Blitz's best moments. She nuzzled him a little, making sure that he was okay, which officially he was, but he didn't want to accept it. He looked to the floor and dropped his noggin down to match his eyes looking at the floor and then slowly looked over to Sadjoy.

Sadjoy looked adorable, giving Azure a confused, yet confident look, making him not understand what emotion she was feeling mainly. She became even cuter, due to her ears flopping and flapping about. This made Azure show the tiniest of smiles, but it didn't last too long, before he went back to his basic looking self, rather than his happy looking self.

Azure got up and stretched, making his body click multiple times, before stopping and loosening his legs, stretching them shortly after he had stretched his body. The pegasus looked into the mirror and saw a pony that looked similar to the strong, determined Azure, but he wasn't feeling those emotions right then and there, especially because he had just got up. Azure was never a morning type of pony, because he enjoyed his bed whenever possible. It was his home away from home, taking him away from all of the hassles of the Wasteland and put him in a land that was easy and satisfying land, where the harshness of the Wasteland couldn't hurt him, as well as the rules of life.

Azure looked at himself and saw that his mane was a mess, which didn't help his mood, it just distorted some kind of grunt from him as he tried to get his mane into a nicer shape, not really caring too much for it. He had bags under his eyes, which showed how tired he was, but there was no time for rest during the mornings, or at least that's what he felt. He didn't like to take naps, only allowing his day to live up to its full potential and not wasting a second, unless he was severely sick, which made it its own little story.

Azure looked away from the mirror and looked towards his saddlebag and slowly walked towards it. He got to it and picked it up and got a couple of syringes out, before just looking at them. The red liquid was there to heal ponies, so why couldn't Azure have stayed with Blitz's original position? He could have possibly helped him survive and possibly went down with him if the worst came to be.

Azure did indeed blame himself, but Blitz in the end was the pony that would sacrifice himself so that the rest of his group could survive. It hurt Azure a little to know that about Blitz, but he guessed that Blitz was more noble than he let on. Officially, Azure was going to have to change and adapt to the lifestyle of possibly losing one of his friends. He didn't want ponies to be immortal, but he wanted each and every pony to live their life to the fullest, hence the reason he became a doctor in the first place, or an apprentice or assistant.

Azure closed his eyes before stomping his hoof on the ground, getting a somewhat scared reaction from Sadjoy, who came over to check on Azure, just to see if he was okay. He looked at her with anger in his eyes, anger that was not directed at her, but anger that was directed at everypony but her. Azure shook for a couple of seconds, before taking in a deep breath and looking to the door of the room.

Azure walked up to the main door of the building and rested his head against it, before opening it and stepping outside. The pitter patter of rain splashed against the floor, as Azure stepped out into the drizzle that was the Wasteland weather. The rain was slightly acidic, making it not beneficial to be standing out in it for too long, but Azure didn't care as much for the details of it and stepped a hoof into a radioactive puddle.

Azure quickly rushed over to Gretzky's shop and saw that the gryphon was there. Gretzky was checking out some of his stock, making sure that it was all in good order and that he wasn't running out of anything. Gretzky turned to see Azure standing on the opposite side of the counter, making Gretzky show a huge, proud smile. He slowly walked over to speak to Azure, chuckling to himself in the process, due to a thought that he had.

"Hello Doctor Alchem! How may I help you this fine morning?" Gretzky asked Azure, seeing that there was no smile on Azure's face, making Gretzky feel a little bad and made him cough, to change the tone of his voice to a deeper pitch.

"I need some radaway and some rad-x. How much is it for one?" Azure asked, no life or joy being present in his voice when he said that statement. Gretzky could see that he was annoyed and trying to vent all of his anger off, so he went to grab a hazmat suit that he had lying about. He grabbed it, before dragging it over to Azure and giving it to him.

"This might be more beneficial, just make sure to return it to me, okay?" Gretzky asked, using his question to be as polite as he could have been. Azure sighed, before grabbing the suit and putting it on. It seemed to fit perfectly to his body, almost being perfectly moulded to his body.

"Thank you. I'll return it back then I have finished with it." Azure informed Gretzky, getting a smile from Gretzky in return, brightening his mood the tiniest of bits. Azure was unable to fly in the suit, so he had to talk to Saber about letting him out. As he was walking to the gate, he noticed that Sadjoy was standing at the door of Azure's home, watching Azure walk in the rain. She eyed him with her pin like eyes, piercing his own with her own beautiful eyes. Azure was glad that she had come to stay with her, because he was pretty sure that he would have probably gone insane if she didn't.

Azure raised his hoof up to say hello. Surprisingly, Sadjoy smiled and lifted up a hoof to reply back, instead of breaking the silence that was guarding the area. That little wave back from Sadjoy made Azure smile, if not for a brief second, before he looked serious again and continued onwards towards the gate.

A couple of minutes later and Azure was out of the settlement and just walking around it. Saber had given him a knife that he could use to defend himself, if he did indeed come across any unwanted ponies or creatures. Azure didn't see himself as wanting to use it, but he did keep it.

The yellow and black striped hazmat suit protected Azure from the radiation that came from the rain. Each little drop of water not wanting to harm anything, but was spiked with poison from the war and the surroundings to do so. Azure was just ensuring that his light blue mane and tail, as well as his bright blue fur, were able to be immune to all of the harshness of the world.

Although Azure had been in the radioactive rain before, he had taken some rad-x and danced in the rain, as if nothing ever bad had happened. Although his mood was getting better, he still didn't feel like dancing. Instead, he would push himself to work harder and to try to achieve more. That would be what Blitz would have wanted, right?

Lucid daydreaming made him phase from reality to a fantasy land of pure imagination. Azure kept flicking from harsh environments to beautiful mountains, which didn't help him focus on where he was going, making him trip over a root of a tree. He landed face first into a puddle of radiation, making him feel a little dirty, even though the water and even the radiation couldn't get through. Azure picked himself up just in time to see a ghoul standing in front of him.

Azure scrambled as soon as he noticed the ghoul, not initially seeing it when it was in his vision the first time. Azure drew his knife out in fear, holding it with his muzzle and making sure that the sharp end was facing the ghoul, rather than having it facing himself. The ghoul just looked at him, not knowing what to make on the situation.

The ghoul was feral, that was for sure, but it didn't show any signs of being feral. It didn't attack Azure, it didn't look like it had any plans to attack him and it ignored him, making him slightly confused. The ghouls didn't look at Azure, as it passed him, making him a little confused. Azure kept moving forward, still with the dagger in his mouth. Azure heard a twig snapped and turned to see the ghoul jumping at him. The only thing that the ghoul didn't notice was that Azure tilted his head away, trying to dodge the attack, but also bringing the knife up to be standing tall, making the ghoul's stomach and entire chest get sliced by Azure's actions.

Azure looked behind him, in the direction that he originally wanted to go and found the ghoul bleeding out on the floor. Azure observed the ghoul carefully, knowing full well that they were beginning to get smarter, using a bit more of what they had less of, their brain. Azure had to admit that what the ghoul had done in that moment in time was pretty smart. It would look like it didn't even care about him, with a big chance to fail if it attacked Azure from the front. So instead, the ghoul strolled past and didn't bat an eyelid at Azure, until it got behind him, having more of a chance to successfully complete its attack.

Azure went to go and help the ghoul, but saw that it tried to lunge for him, making Azure think about not trying to save it. He didn't mean to hurt it, but if the ghoul continued walking, then it wouldn't have been a problem. Azure just tried to turn around, but he couldn't do it. He walked closer to the ghoul and watched as the ghoul lashed out at him a couple times, nearly catching Azure with its claws, carved out of bone and dead dry skin.

The actions of the ghoul made Azure shrink back, making him feel like there was nothing that he could have done to make it so that the ghoul was able to at least walk again. Azure just watched as the ghoul suffered, then made it come down to the final thing that he could have done in that situation. Azure pointed the knife he had at the ghoul, showing the ghoul that he would do something if it refused to listen to him or stop. The ghoul was having none of it, trying to claw Azure from the floor. Since Azure only had a knife at his disposal, making him wish that he could have just brought his gun along with him. Azure looked down at the ghoul, who was eagerly trying to come closer to him, its mind shrouded with pure intent to hurt, kill, eat, repeat.

"Why do you want this?" Azure shouted, realising that there was no visor on the suit, making him question how he didn't recognise that earlier. Azure regained his focus when the grunts of the ghoul slowly turned into a voice. It was almost like it was pleading for help, but at the same time sounding like sarcasm.

"Because eat!" The ghoul answered, blood dribbling down its mouth as it spoke. While that happened, the ghoul quickly lapped up the blood before it reached the bottom of its muzzle, or what was left of it. The made Azure wince a little, before the ghoul tried to lash out at him again, snapping what it had left in Azure's direction. It failed, due to the distance that Azure was at, but didn't make his choice any easier, due to the ghoul bleeding out. Azure didn't want the ghoul to suffer, but he also didn't want the ghoul to hurt him or any other pony.

The choice for Azure was a lot harder for him, due to him caring about all life, but he had to come to a conclusion, one way or another. Nopony said that it would have been easy, but he was going to do it. Azure closed his eyes, before signing and standing on his hindlegs, before jumping up, with the knife in his mouth. He landed on the back of the ghoul and watched as it tried to turn over, but it couldn't, due to both the wound on its stomach tearing and Azure being on the back of the ghoul. Before Azure could do anything, he closed his eyes before jamming his head to the right, tilting his head to get the knife into the skull of the ghoul.

The groans of the ghoul died down completely, after Azure jammed his down. A tear went down Azure's cheek and made him open his eyes to the sight that he had just killed. The ghoul was lying limp on the ground and blood was sporting out of two locations; one on its front, where Azure went through it accidentally. Two, was now in the top of its skull. It looked awfully painful and Azure expected that it probably was, but at least the ghoul wasn't in any pain anymore, that was what Azure wanted to do, only because he felt like the ghoul would have been in so much pain otherwise and didn't want to see it suffer.

Azure backed up a little bit from the ghoul's body, seeing that it was gone from the world. He didn't want to hurt anypony, yet he didn't want anypony to get hurt because of his actions, making him dwell more on stuff that really shouldn't have bothered him. He kept his eyes on the ghoul, seeing if it would reanimate again and make him kill it a second time. Gladly but sadly, it didn't. That brought joy and sadness to Azure's mind instantly, but he shook his head and tried to get around the fact that he didn't need to worry about something that was already dead.

Azure placed the knife in his mouth again, before walking away from the ghoul, hoping that it wouldn't come back to life in any way, shape or form. He noticed that he was feeling a little bit different, noticing that he was thinking a little bit straighter after easing the suffering of the ghoul, making him give the slight sigh possible, before thinking straight for a little bit. All emotions seemed to get filtered away from him, giving him more of a positive vibe from all that he had done. Maybe this was a way of Blitz telling Azure that he was fine. Azure only wished that Blitz could have been there to help him, but sadly, he wasn't.

Azure rounded the settlement once, before finally stopping and entering the settlement, thanks to Saber guarding the gates of the settlement and allowing him entry. Azure looked at him and passed the knife back to him, before seeing a reaction that Saber wouldn't normally portray. Saber looked confused about the amount of blood on the dagger that Azure had just passed back to him. It was literally covered from handle to the tip of the blade, in blood. Saber took one look at Azure, before looking back to the blade.

"Are you okay? Where did this blood come from?" Saber questioned Azure, making Azure smile slightly. That smile that Azure pulled didn't make Saber smile, it just made him scowl. Azure looked around the hazmat suit for any signs of blood, before noticing that there was a little on the back of his hindleg. That didn't go down well with Saber. "What happened?" Saber asked with a straight face.

"I got attacked by a ghoul, but it isn't going to be a problem anymore." Azure stated, a stern look on his face, making Saber look away from him to try and hide any fear that he might have had of Azure. Azure just let Saber be alone with the knife, as he went to return the radiation suit back to Gretzky. He wanted to know why there was no face cover or face shield on the hazmat suit. It really threw him off when he wanted to understand the reasoning behind it, but sadly, he couldn't get his head around the reason at all, so he was going to ask Gretzky for clarification.

As Azure walked around in Sharpened Death, he noticed the area was more populated with ponies. There were a huge amount of ponies over at Nightclaw's shop, making Azure a little confused on why they were there. Did they want something from him? Azure slowly walked up to the group that were buying from Nightclaw, before stopping when he saw that Sadjoy was watching the group carefully, patrolling the area, just in case anypony wanted to steal something and make off with it.

Azure turned and continued his journey to see Gretzky, seeing that he was indeed in his shop. Gretzky noticed Azure with a smile, making one also grow on his face, because nopony wanted to see another pony sad. Gretzky walked out from behind the counter of his shop and helped Azure with getting the suit off. It was a bit of a struggle getting it off on his own, so Gretzky decided to help Azure, to make it quicker and less awkward to see him struggle. Eventually, they got the suit off, making Azure thank Gretzky for the help. Gretzky nodded back and went back behind the counter, before placing the hazmat suit below his counter to dry off.

"Yeah, that reminds me of something that was on my mind, Gretzky. Why didn't the suit have a visor with it?" Azure questioned, hoping that Gretzky was up for answering his question. Happily, Gretzky had all the time in the world, having done most of his tasks earlier in the day.

"It simply didn't come with one when I found it. If it did, I would have still left it off, due to it only being used for rainy days and nights. If the opportunity comes up to go to a radioactive place, then yeah, I'd attach the visor to it." Gretzky explained, getting a firm nod from Azure, as he just relaxed and let the air wrap around him like a blanket.

"Okay then, thank you for the information." Azure stated, getting a response from Gretzky. He gestured his claw in a manner that meant no problem. Azure stood on his two hindlegs and placed his forelegs on the counter dropping his head a little. Gretzky knew what Azure was going through and knew that Blitz was close to him, so he wanted to help as best as he could. He tried to change the subject and had an idea.

"So Alchem, how was the walk? Did it work?" Gretzky asked, getting Azure's attention and seeing that his ears perked up, making Gretzky smile. Azure was about to explain it all to him, but he was going to sum it all up into a couple of words. He didn't know how he was going to do it, but Azure was going to keep it brief.

"Short, relaxing and aggravating." Azure told him flatly, making Gretzky a little confused.

"Why aggravating?" Gretzky asked, a sense of doubt rising in his mind that Azure was still thinking about Blitz.

"I had to kill a ghoul who was smart enough to attack me from behind and just walked past me like I was nothing." Azure explained, making Gretzky smile again. He nodded and grabbed something from beneath his counter. He brought it back up, using his claws and Azure saw that it was a drink of some kind.

"I had a bottle of this lying about and I thought that Eater would have wanted you to have it. It was his favourite drink after all." Gretzky explained, making Azure look at him in confusion. Azure didn't drink, but he knew that Blitz would have, if given the option to. How did he know that it was Blitz's favourite as well. Blitz probably talked to him, duh!

Azure grabbed the bottle and looked at it. Applejack's homemade cider was the name of the bottle and the liquid within, making Azure wince a little, due to how old the bottle must have been. Gretzky opened the bottle for Azure, before waiting for him to take a sip of the mixture. Azure took a sip of the mixture and smacked his lips together, while he swallowed the drink. It was alright, but he wasn't too much of a drinker, but at least he would have been able to finish the mixture. It didn't really taste like alcohol for starters, but was in the end, but that was quite refreshing for Azure and definitely shifted his mood.

Gretzky walked out from behind the counter and hugged Azure softly, before going to the edge of his shop and signalling for Azure to follow him.

*You know the saddlebags that you originally had when you came here, Alchem? Well, I have been busy and have found a couple of extra saddlebags along our journey and have finally gotten around to doing something with them." Gretzky explained, before going around the back of the shop with Azure. "I'm pretty sure the Steel Rangers will be surprised that they haven't been working on this. It was one of the ministry mares that incorporated souls of ponies into material, only this material was chopped up into multiple sources, to help with saddlebag use. What if we used that purpose for… I don't know, armour maybe?" Gretzky added, before showing Azure the armour that he had made. It looked like a bandaged mummy costume, but Azure could tell that a lot of detail went into the design of the rags. The rags created a somewhat type of armour.

The armour looked like it wouldn't have any protection whatsoever, but in fact, the rags were somehow armour. That confused Azure massively, but it was pretty cool to say the least. Azure walked up to the armour and touched it with his hoof, reminding him that he had to go and see Lumia to receive something of his, his PipBuck to be precise.

Gretzky watched Azure's amazement of the armour, seeing that Azure was constantly feeling it, only because he couldn't believe it. Azure walked back and Gretzky brought out two items to test on the material. The first one was a hunting rifle and the second one was some aerosol with a lighter attached to it, making a cheap flamethrower. Azure walked back when he saw both items and made sure that he was out of the way for when Gretzky wanted to test them on the armour.

First of all, Gretzky used the flamethrower on the armour, after dragging it out and away from the shop, to prevent it from burning the shop down. Azure watched as the flames danced in the air, almost like a phoenix did, swirling in motion as the fire danced around the object and sent Azure into a daze. The flames began to heat up the dummy and made Azure wince and then look surprised because of the dummy not bursting into flames.

The armour was protecting the dummy from the flames and making it seem like it was heating up, even if it wasn't. It was pretty smart, but Azure wanted to learn more on the matter of soul energy. It was something that confused Azure, but he would eventually get his head around it. Azure just admired the craftsmanship that went into it, knowing it wasn't Nightclaw's doing, because he dealt with metalwork, rather than material work.

Gretzky stopped with the flames from the aerosol and placed it down, before getting out his rifle. He aimed the rifle at the body of the dummy and fired, seeing that the bullet just bounced off and ricocheted off the armour, which surprised Azure immensely. The shot was loud and probably echoed across the land, but it was at least for testing purposes and not used for harm at all.

Zeke walked behind the shop, just to check on what was happening and saw that Gretzky was standing there with a rifle in his claws with Azure watching. He smiled, before nodding and backing away. Azure and Gretzky both looked at each other and chuckled softly, before paying their attention back to the armour.

"Alchem, I want you to have it. It has a button system that will allow you to put it on and off with ease and i have a feeling that being a medical pony and all, that you would probably have the most positive impact wearing it." Gretzky explained, going to grab the armour and trying to take it off the dummy. It was still hot, but not boiling hot, so Gretzky used the button to unclip the back of the armour, before passing it to Azure. "If I'm not mistaken, soul magic does multiple things for the host, especially if you communicate with said entity every once in a while." Gretzky added, before placing the dummy back under the dust sheet that he had and moving with Azure to the front of the shop.

Azure carefully placed the armour on, after taking off his medical jacket and saw that it had some holes for his wings, which he didn't see before. This made Azure a little confused, but as he got the armour properly equipped onto himself and pressed the button, he could hear a faint voice echoing in the back of his mind.

"Help the world and I shall help you!" The voice whispered, barely enough to be audible. At first, Azure thought that the voice came from Gretzky, but realised that he wasn't paying any attention to Azure at that point, making him question what had actually spoken to him. Was it the armour? Probably. Azure placed his medical jacket and saddlebag over the armour and felt that they were both significantly lighter, especially the saddlebag. It almost felt like the saddlebag was empty, which made Azure actually question if he did indeed have anything within it.

Gretzky walked around the front of the shop and continued to work on some other things that he had to keep working on, while Azure walked past him while he was going back to it. Azure looked at him and saw that he was busy, so he didn't want to disturb him. He supposed that he would come back after he had collected his PipBuck from Lumia, then he would see if Gretzky was busy enough to talk about something with Azure.

Azure turned and walked away from the shop, waving to Gretzky with his hoof, but not getting a response from the hard working gryphon. Azure could understand that at least. He continued to walk away from the shop and saw that Zeke was talking to the kirin,
Lilly. Azure hadn't talked to her much, if not at all, but he was pretty sure that she was a nice mare after all.

Azure walked over to the pair and got the same reaction from both of them. A smile! Azure stopped as soon as he got to Zeke and smiled at them both.

"How are you two doing?" Azure asked, his expression neutral. Zeke looked to Lilly and then back at Azure, drooping his ears in the process.

"To be completely honest, Doctor Alchem, I'm not sure what emotions I am feeling today, especially after what events unfolded and what happened to…" Zeke explained, before Azure cut him off and stopped him completely from finishing the sentence.

"I know, I think that we all know Zeke! I just want to remember him as somepony I held onto for a while." Azure explained, making himself go cold, as well as Zeke. Zeke didn't speak for another good amount of time, before he went to try to speak, but refused himself to do so, keeping the peace within the air.

Lilly walked up to Azure and wrapped her hooves around Azure, feeling that she was hugging him with so much emotion, trying to help him to forget about the events that happened to hurt him so much. Azure was happy that somepony was finally giving him some physical affection, because he really needed it at that moment in time.

"Thank you!" Azure whispered into her ear, making it twitch as soon as she heard the words come out of his mouth. She looked at him and kissed him on the head, sending him into a daze of what in the sweet Celestia happened right there and then with Lilly. Azure was starstruck, emotions flooding his mind and body like they did with Blitz, only he didn't love her. Azure snapped back to reality and shook his head, before tilting his head to her. He walked past them both and regained focus on his main objective, getting his PipBuck back from Lumia.

Azure walked up to the exact house that Lumia and Professor Delta were set in previously, being that it was actually the new security room, for monitoring things that were going on around the settlement. Azure knocked on the door and waited for either Delta or Lumia to open it. The door was metallic and had electricity running around the outer part of the doorframe, making it so that Delta could have opened the door, if he wanted or needed to.

Lumia opened the door slowly, making Azure slowly peep inside, the anticipation killing him as slowly as Lumia was opening the door. As soon as she opened the door, she signalled for Azure to come in, which Azure didn't reply at all. The room was huge! The house or building was made to have multiple rooms, but instead, they planned to just have one room for the computer and setup that was needed.

"Welcome to my home, Azure!" Lumia stated, before going over to a mattress on the floor, next to the computer that Delta was inside. Azure was glad that both Blitz and Nightclaw were able to get Delta over to the settlement. At least then, he could have been kept from being in the wrong hooves. Azure looked at Lumia for a couple of seconds, seeing that she wasn't too happy at all, but still tried to smile. It was so easy for Azure to tell that her smile was fake.

"Yes, welcome to our humble abode, Azure! Feel free to make yourself feel at home." Delta explained, getting a smile from Azure in the process. Azure walked over to the computer, before looking at one of the cameras in the corner of the room. He turned and walked closer to it and watched as it followed his movement. Azure stopped right next to it, seeing that it too had stopped.

"I never really understood how you did this, Professor Delta, but maybe someday I will be able to get an explanation as to how it all happened and how it works?" Azure stated, hoping that someday he could just pop in and get told the story and how it happened.

"Of course! The professor would love that!" Lumia told Azure, getting up from the mattress and going over to Azure's PipBuck. "I knew that you would come back for this machine. Maybe one day the professor could find one that hasn't been used before and integrate himself onto it, or even look into it, to see if he could unlock its potential." Lumia explained her thoughts, making Azure slightly curious as to if he could indeed do that. Surely it was just like getting a virus on the thing, right?

Azure walked up to Lumia and got a surprise hug from her, making him pleasantly surprised that she did anything that loving. She wrapped her hooves around him tightly, trying to literally squeeze the badness out of his body. He appreciated the hug, but also appreciated the air getting to his lungs a little bit more. She lessened her grip on him and smiled.

"Sorry, I guess I squeezed you a little too hard." Lumia admitted, backing up a tiny bit, just to give Azure some space. Delta would have hugged Azure too, but sadly, he didn't have a body to show affection from. He was a little surprised that Azure hadn't broken down at Blitz's loss, but he was genuinely happy for Azure, happy that he was able to stay so strong.

Azure placed the PipBuck on the same forehoof that he did originally, finally feeling like he could have nearly completed his life and put things back to normal, only that isn't how it worked.

"Anyways, thank you both for the affection and comfort. I don't know what I'd do without you both." Azure explained, before rushing out of the door and closing it behind him, almost like he was rushing to get to somewhere, but was he? He looked up and saw that it had stopped raining altogether. That thought made him smile. He flew directly up, riding the wind as he swirled and spiralled up into the sky, but not daring to get anywhere close to the clouds.

Azure used his PipBuck to slow down time, using SATS and letting his body loosen up. He was pretty high in the sky and knew that he was most likely endangering himself and making himself a target, hence the reason why he activated the PipBuck so quickly, to avoid anypony targeting him and being able to get a shot off on him. Sniper or no sniper, he was an easy target for all, which explained why he wanted to keep his time in the air short.

Azure looked around, while still being in the protection of SATS. He was able to see and describe things like he had never been able to before. Everything was enhanced by the slowness of the PipBuck, which was quickly draining his stamina away. Azure looked about the area and relaxed, easing his muscles and loosening all of his joints, trying to make himself feel as comfy as possible.

Azure admired everything that he could within the amount of time that he had left before SATS turned off and sent him plummeting towards the ground. He wanted to describe everything to himself as the most positive that they could have been. He looked around for something to start on, but then looked up and smiled.

The clouds above wore a crimson glow, making the sunshine behind them irradiate them with a warm and calming light. Although the clouds were really thick, the sunlight's beam was far more effective, separating the darkness and light into two completely different entities. All of the shapes of the clouds worked together to fit into place, just like a jigsaw puzzle, not missing a single piece. It was truly remarkable how the Enclave was able to get all of the clouds so compact together and tight enough to not allow much sunlight through to the ground below. They were without doubt selfish though, making Azure hate them for what they had done and what they had contributed to.

Azure looked down and saw that the ground below was poor, but so rich at the same time. Although the ground looked like it hadn't been looked after in decades, the soil was so fertile, especially in some places. That would allow for farmers to be able to create food, but sadly, because of the selfish pegusi, there was little to no sunlight, making it that the plants below would not be able to grow. That left an imprint in Azure's mind that the pegusi were no better than the zebras.

Although Azure kind of hated most of the pegusi and the zebras, he didn't hate himself for being one of them, combined to technically be the worst of all of them. Sure, he grew up with stripes and wings, but he wouldn't judge himself for it, because he never spent time with any groups. If he was to openly show off his stripes, he was pretty sure that he would have been judged for it and everypony's opinion of him would change.

His stamina was draining quickly, which allowed him to stay for one more carefully detailed sight. The settlement of Sharpened Death was one that didn't stick to its name, giving ponies the complete opposite of what they would have been expecting from a place with a vicious name like that. The name hadn't changed from when Roselight and all of the others had moved into the settlement, so there was no point bringing up a debate to change the name to something else.

Looking at the settlement, Azure was proud of what he helped to create. A settlement with a name that not only didn't suit it, but scared off others that might have wanted to attack the settlement. That thought alone made him chuckle to himself while he was frozen in place. The settlement was beautiful, a community below Azure, held together by love, support and friendship. It was an example of what most settlements should have been, but sadly, it wasn't reality for all of the settlements to be like Sharpened Death, because there were some ponies in Equestria that were not made up to be nice and kind. Instead, they had murderous intent, regardless of what it was. Nopony was perfect and that was a fact!

SATS ran out for Azure, making him feel like he needed to take a deep breath in, which he did within a couple of seconds after he had thought about the idea. He was slowly falling through the air, but had his wings out, hence the reason that he was falling slowly. He turned over so that he could land properly and succeeded in landing with perfection, almost like there was nothing that happened. Azure looked around and saw that Saber was just standing there, face blank and showing no emotions on it whatsoever.

Azure looked at him and smiled, before walking in the opposite direction, back towards his home. Although he now has the house to himself, it wasn't the same experience as sharing it with somepony that he cared about a lot. He had mourned Blitz's death, but knew that Blitz wouldn't have wanted him to do so. Blitz would have wanted for Azure to be strong and continue to fight for what was right, in his eyes at least. Azure closed his eyes for a couple of seconds, before a tear rolled down his cheek, making a smile appear on his face.

"Thanks for being there…" Azure stated, being grateful for something that Blitz had done simply for him. Blitz had protected Azure multiple times, but now it was time for Azure to show Blitz that he was going to use the chances that Blitz had originally given him, to his advantage. Azure looked up and saw that the world had gotten a lot darker, signalling that rain was approaching. A clap of thunder shook the world with a blistering roar, as Azure was unfazed by the clap of thunder, making him seem fearless at that point.

Before long, it began to rain, soaking Azure in radioactive water, falling from the sky. He walked back under some cover, before shaking himself like a dog, trying to shake all of the water off his body. His fur was plastered in water, so I did help get rid of a lot of it at least. Azure looked at his PipBuck and sighed, before turning into one of the 24/7 radio stations. There was one that was outputting some of the best songs before the war, without any breaks. He felt like he had made a great choice by choosing it and was glad to hear that jazz was coming up next on the radio station.

Azure smiled as he listened to the music that was emitting from his PipBuck. The jazz was smooth and relaxing, making Azure feel like his head was being massaged from inside out. He loved his music, always had done, it was just that he had never been able to listen to it a lot, but now that he had his PipBuck back, he could listen to it on the fly.

Roselight rushed under the cover that Azure was sitting under, skidding to a stop as soon as she saw him. She heard the jazz coming from the PipBuck and smiled at him, noticing that he was relaxing and listening to music to clear his mind. Roselight sat down next to him and looked around at the rain falling around them, the constant pitter patter of rain splashing onto the ground and creating small puddles, which then would merge together to create a bigger puddle.

A loud crack of thunder broke her silence, making her scream out loud, before more flashes of lightning lit up the world with sharp forks of electricity. Although Azure didn't like thunder and lightning too much, Roselight hated it so much more. Azure used a wing and wrapped it around the alicorn, making her look at him, giving him a scared look.

"It won't hurt you anymore that it will hurt me!" Azure pointed out, making her relax a little, before another crack of thunder shook the air, roaring with vicious intent to scare the entire world. Roselight wasn't having any of it, rushing over to Azure and lying down, before placing her hooves over her ears and her wings over her eyes, trying to hide from something that wasn't even alive.

Azure placed his wing over her and looked down at her, seeing that she was cowering a little. He placed a wing over her, protecting her from the light that she was afraid of as well. She slowly opened her eyes to see what Azure was doing, before smiling and going back to the position that she was in before.

Gretzky ran over to them and stayed quiet, seeing that Roselight was behind Azure's wing, while she cowering herself. Gretzky went to open his mouth, but then closed it again instantly as he looked to Azure and saw that he was shaking his head at him.

"I… I have some news for both of you. It needs to be addressed quickly." Gretzky addressed quickly, stuttering at the start of what he was trying to say. Roselight looked up and saw that he was dead serious about it, making her look at Azure for a response. Azure… really didn't have a response to that. It was Gretzky's plan that originally got Blitz killed, so why could he trust him with going on probably another voyage to see something else.

"What is it?" Roselight asked Gretzky, making him look down at her on the floor. Azure looked out to the rain and saw that it was getting heavier, making their chances of going out on that day, very unlikely. Gretzky looked to Azure and then sighed, before looking back to Roselight.

"Some raiders are in a factory that is about a couple of miles away. It looks like they have found something that the Steel Rangers would want and are trying to use it as bargaining chips for them to come out of hiding and for the raiders to get a bunch of power armour suits." Gretzky explained, making Azure's ears perk up.

"So basically, the raiders are trying to lure out the Steel Rangers to kill them and take their armour? Why is that bad?" Azure asked Gretzky, getting a worried look from him in response to that last question.

"Because if the Steel Rangers die, the raiders around us get stronger. If the raiders die, the Steel Rangers will search for the source of the raiders, potentially coming closer to us and finding out about our new member, sitting inside a computer. Professor Delta, as well as Lumia." Roselight stated clearly, sounding much more confident about her situation. Lightning flashed in her face, but she didn't even recoil, as she thought about something that could have been done.

Azure was getting to the point where he knew what was coming, although he didn't like to admit it, due to it being something that he wanted to stop, because that wasn't the role of a doctor. Azure was scared, but knew that they were going to have to eliminate both the Steel Rangers and the raiders. This sent a shiver down his spine, but also made him feel a little more comfortable with everything, because it was the two factions that gave Blitz trouble, while he was alive that was.

"Welp, I guess I'm in then. How many ponies are we taking into the battle or the operation… or the… whatever you wanna call it?" Azure asked, trying to get a rough estimate as to how cautious he had to be. Gretzky thought for a second, before sitting down.

"I think it is going to be me, Nightclaw, Roselight and Petalbreeze. Would you want to chip in Alchem?" Gretzky asked Azure, noticing that he was in deep thought about it. Azure did indeed have to think about it, because it was a decision that might have cost him if he did go, but might have cost him if he stayed at the settlement. It was a hard choice for the zebra-pegasus hybrid, but he came to the conclusion that it would have been more beneficial for him to go with them, just in case they were to get damaged while fighting.

"I'm in, but I will not be killing others unless it is necessary." Azure announced, getting a firm nod from both Roselight and Gretzky. They both looked at each other and nodded, before Gretzky flew away, back to his shop. Azure was left wondering how they would kill the Steel Rangers behind their armour, but he was pretty sure that was why they were bringing Nightclaw along with them.

Roselight rested her head against the wall that they were sat against, before shortly closing her eyes and sighing. Azure looked to her again, before hearing somepony approaching them. Azure turned his head to see Sadjoy walking towards them, entering the cover and laying down beside Azure. She looked at him and tilted her head to one side, making her ears follow and bringing a smile to Azure's face. She chuckled lightly, before resting her head on the floor.

"We really can't do much until the rain stops, so we might as well relax for a little bit." Roselight suggested, looking at Sadjoy and Azure. Roselight smiled for a short time, before looking to the sky by peeking her head out of the cover that they had from the rain, thunder and lightning. The clouds extended across the sky, being as black as the night itself, making Roselight question if it was actually the pegusi' doing. She highly doubted it, but kept her suspicions about the matter.

Azure laid down and looked at Sadjoy, seeing that she was not one for the rain. She was soaked. Sadjoy was most likely cold, so Azure used his wing to cover her and warm her up. It worked a little, but then Sadjoy got up and curled around before lying down again, curled up next to Azure. Azure tried again with his wing and saw that it covered her entire form. Azure was pretty sure that she was cold, so he was sure that she would have appreciated the comfort that he was giving to her at least.

Sadjoy peeked her head out from beneath Azure's wing and rested her head on the floor, looking into Azure's eyes. Azure was beginning to think that Sadjoy enjoyed Azure's company, which gave him happy thoughts. That was a first in the Wasteland. Azure had to think about how he was going to approach the situation of going with Gretzky and the others, whether that would involve him staying back just in case something happened to land wrong and mess up, or whether he should have been sneaking about and trying to knock ponies out.

Gretzky made it clear that both parties had to be eliminated, but A ure couldn't bring himself to kill somepony, not again. He hated it and didn't necessarily like the ones who did, but they had to do what it took to survive, just like Azure probably would, if it came down to it. When it came to ghouls, Azure wouldn't mind taking a stand against them, due to them already being dead, an aftermath of pre-war Equestria.

"I can do this!" Azure whispered to himself, before looking to Sadjoy and noticing that she was looking up at him.

"Yeah, you can do this!* Sadjoy mimicked, making both Azure and Sadjoy both smile in unicen. It was a happy sight, to see Azure smiling in the way that he was. Sadjoy knew that she was helping, but knew that Azure would mostly be a little upset about Blitz's death. Sadjoy was determined to make her friend feel like he hadn't lost a single friend at all. That was how determined she was to make him happy, so she would try, at all costs.

The thunder picked back up, startling not only Roselight, but both Azure and Sadjoy. Sadjoy didn't mind it, but it was extremely loud for some apparent reason, which was news to her, because she normally would fly up to the sky to hear the thunder as loud as it was right there. Life was confusing, but she liked the confusion a lot.

"Roselight, how many artifacts do we have remaining?" Azure asked, getting a look from her that was not too pleasing.

"I told you to keep this quiet!" She announced, feeling like she had been defeated in some way.

"Hey, we ain't going to find these on our own, are we? You are our boss, our leader, our friend! I don't think that for one minute that anypony will betray you. We have all been loyal, so we only strive to help others as much as we can!" Azure announced, standing up slowly and looking down at Roselight. Roselight closed her eyes and then thought for a couple of seconds, before opening them again and actually agreeing with him, wanting her to be right so much, but in the end, Azure was correct. It would be better if they were all looking for it, rather than a select few.

Roselight nodded to him, before Azure sat down and wrapped himself around Sadjoy, making her feel ever so warm. Roselight looked at the two and smiled, before looking away and making her smile fade away. Azure noticed that she was looking at them both and was feeling like she was missing something. Azure whistled at her, getting her attention, before using his hoof to signal for her to come to him. She slowly crawled over next to him and made herself get as close to him as she could, before Azure wrapped his other wing around her, making her feel all of the warmth in the world.

They all sat there for a couple of minutes, admiring the storm, before Roselight's leg began to twitch rapidly. Azure took notice of this and smelt that something was off within the air, almost like somepony was…

"Azure, Sadjoy, do you two want to go and relax in my home?" Roselight asked, making Azure smile and making him also look at Sadjoy, who was inches away from being asleep. She woke up more and went wide eyed.

"Wait, Roselight? Are you in heat?" Sadjoy asked, getting a massive blush from Roselight. Sadjoy looked to Azure and smiled. "Yeah, sure!" Sadjoy added. Roselight looked into Azure's eyes and tilted her head slightly, trying to give off a cute look. Her heat was beginning to become overwhelming to her, making Azure's choice make or break the situation that they were going to have, or the orgy.

Azure nodded, before Roselight teleported them both away, bringing them both to her home.

"Roselight, why did you call Alchem Azure for?" Sadjoy asked, before getting a blank from Azure.

"Wrong name!" Roselight yelled out, as she closed the windows and locked the door, before opening the door to her bedroom and pushing the two into it, closing and locking the door behind them. Azure was going to have a feeling that he was going to be excited to go on the mission tomorrow, but was still a little worried.

All of the worries seemed to vanish, as two mares playfully teased him, behind the locked door. Tonight was a great night!

Chapter 16: Ambush Army

Azure woke up in a bed that was not his. He was slightly confused, before the memories of earlier flooded through his mind, almost like a dam breaking and bellowing out water. Azure looked at the beam on the roof that was looking over him and smiled. He could definitely remember what he did earlier and could remember each and every detailed moment, from the way he moved, to what he did and what he was thinking and feeling.

Azure looked to his left to see Roselight. She was still asleep and probably would have been for a little while. Azure was pretty sure that it was still the same day, but he couldn't really tell or at least care, due to him looking at the grin on her muzzle. She had been happy the entire time, so Azure was pretty sure that he had helped her out a lot. He could tell that she was having happy dreams too, due to how she was chuckling while she was asleep. That thought alone made Azure's heart melt.

Azure then looked to his right to see an adorable little bat pony nuzzling his fur, only this mare was awake. Azure looked into her eyes and smiled. They sparkled like they were looking directly at the sun,which made her all the more cuter. Sadjoy yawned, making Azure do the same in rapid succession, due to yawns being highly contagious, if you saw somepony do it. After Azure yawned, Sadjoy kissed him lightly, on the lips. He was slightly surprised, but knew exactly why he had been kissed. Sadjoy closed her eyes and enjoyed it to the fullest, rubbing her body against his in an attempt to get as close as she could to him.

Azure slowly backed away from the kiss, seeing that Sadjoy was enjoying every second of it, until it ended. She smiled at him and giggled, showing that she had enjoyed his company more than she let on. Azure blushed slightly and rolled his eyes, before sitting up and trying to stretch his wings without waking Roselight. She deserved all of the sleep that she could have got. Azure acknowledged how hard it was to manage a settlement, let alone run it as their leader. Azure admired that about Roselight. She was a natural born leader and was really, really good at it.

As Azure got up, he noticed that there was an additional weight that was pulling him down. When he went to look, all he saw was Roselight holding him down, being wide awake. The proceeded to freak Azure out a little, due to how much of a deep sleep she was in. She smiled at Azure before seeing the shocked look on his face, making her cackle a little bit harder.

Azure pouted, pushing Roselight off himself and onto the bed, making sure that she didn't hurt herself at all. She landed on the bed softly, before making the bed bounce a little, due to the old springs of the bed being rusty and worn out. It was good enough to sleep on at least, which meant that it could be used for other fun activities as well.

"Morning then you lot! Did I help you with that issue, Roselight?" Azure asked, before getting a swift nod from her, while she moved her hips on the bed. Azure couldn't take his eyes off her, before Sadjoy dragged Azure's head to the side, allowing his eyes to stray away from her soft flank. Azure really did have a thing for them, that was something that they both knew by that point. Sadjoy looked him dead in the eyes, before smiling.

"You got better things to be doing than staring at Roselight's ass! Come on Alchem!" Sadjoy prompted, making Azure smile slightly. He did what he was told and stretched, before moving swiftly out of the door. He was in the main room and could see the door, but part of him didn't want to leave at all, making it a bit of a struggle for his mind to come up with a solution to the situation. Should he stay with both of the mares, like Roselight wanted, or should he have gone away from the two and begin to work? He didn't know what to choose at that point.

He closed his eyes and thought about what needed to be done, that he knew of at least, before remembering about the plans that Gretzky had. It involved both him and Roselight, so Roselight's option was instantly put out of the window, leaving Sadjoy's option last, so it was the option that he had to go for. Azure opened his eyes back up to see Gretzky standing in front of him, quickly accompanied by both Nightclaw and Roselight. Sadjoy was off to the left a little bit, before Azure looked over and saw her.

"Are we all ready then?" Gretzky asked, a sliver of doubt crossing his mind when he said that. Azure noticed that and then nodded, but then looked at Sadjoy to make sure that she was okay about staying back, out of the action. She swiftly shot Azure a smile, convincing him enough to let her stay safe. Azure had to keep a couple of friends close, but also some of them far away, just in case the ones that were close died. Azure was a little bit more open with death, but hated it just that little bit more.

Azure walked over to Sadjoy and hugged her, before letting go and kissing her on the cheek.

"Thank you for the time!" Azure thanked her, making her blush a little and kissed him on the cheek. She nodded, before she looked at the others, her mind still full of worry about what might happen to them if things fell as badly as they did last time. Azure wanted to avoid all conflict if possible, but this time, it was inevitable, due to the parties involved.

Azure gave Sadjoy one last hug before moving to the front door. He looked back to the others behind him and nodded, before stepping his hoof outside. The floor was damp and cold, signalling that it had been raining a short time ago, making their journey have a little bit of a risky one. Azure looked around and could only see the blackness of the outside world. It was coming to be night-time, making their journey dangerous, if not already. He exited the building and walked around, feeling that the floor was very, very wet. To save his fur and legs from getting muddy, Azure thought that it would have been a good idea to make more use of his wings, so he was going to fly all the way to the next area. That area was their objective, only Azure didn't know where it was, Gretzky and Roselight did.

They all travelled to a nearby building and knocked on the door, using a free hoof. Azure looked at Sadjoy as she nuzzled him, before walking away, probably to get her guard uniform or armour on. Azure really did enjoy her company, especially after earlier, which made him kind of a suck up for her. Azure could tell that she enjoyed his company as well, due to the way that she wanted to be as close to him as she could. Azure had a feeling that he had a new mare friend, but was she only doing it to make him forget about Blitz? That was something that was now bothering him, but he couldn't do anything about it anyway, so he just focused on the job ahead.

The door opened slightly, revealing a mare in some armour. That mare in the armour was Petalbreeze. She was ready by the looks of things, which made the process of getting off into action easier. Azure seemed a little confused at first, but then realised that she must have gotten ready earlier, hence the reason that he saw her running to her home.

"Are we going now?" Petalbreeze asked, getting a nod from her sister, Roselight. Petalbreeze stepped out and looked about, seeing that the entire group was either less armoured than her, or not even armoured at all, which made her a little confused.

"This is a stealth mission, not a full blown assault." Gretzky quickly pointed out to Petalbreeze, giggling a little from the mare in her armour. Petalbreeze didn't respond, hopping about and trying out her armour. She didn't look like she was going to take it off anytime soon, so they just rolled with it and went to pick up something from Nightclaw's shop.

Nightclaw flew as fast as he could, passing Azure like a blurt, which made Azure's head spin. He quickly landed and then cleared his head and made sure his eyes worked properly, before beginning to fly again. Azure could make out Nightclaw scrounging about inside his shop, looking for something in particular. Nightclaw pulled a face as soon as he had found it, before picking it up and placing it into his saddlebag. Azure didn't get a glimpse of what Nightclaw had picked up, but knew that Nightclaw knew what was good to have on a mission like the one that they were about to partake in.

Moments passed as they were let out of the gate, a stoic Sadjoy and Saber at the gate, protecting the settlement like their life depended on it, like it pretty much did. Azure waved back to Sadjoy as she gazed on in happiness that he had helped her have a stress free sleep. She wanted to thank him somehow, but how?

Night fell across the land, darkening the area and the sky as well. What was a once grey sky littered with clouds, was a black abyss with clouds above. The clouds destroyed any hope Azure had of seeing the so-called 'stars' in the sky, but he was told a lot of magical things about them.

"We shouldn't be long! I'm pretty sure that we're nearly there." Roselight explained, getting the group to be more focused. Nightclaw was flying and toying with a weapon that he had. It looked like a shotgun but also a rifle, which confused Azure a lot. There was a lot in the world that Azure couldn't wrap his mind around and one of them was weapons.

Azure could see weapons on all of the ponies and gryphons around him, making him roll his eyes and making him try to tell himself that they were for protection purposes only. Azure thought the truth, knowing full well that they wouldn't kill unnecessarily and only focused on defending themselves and their friends.

Petalbreeze could see that Azure was a little bit spooked, so she slowed down a tiny bit, before picking up speed again, as she got to his side. She noticed that he wasn't right. He looked a little more drained than he previously did, but she thought that it must have been what he had been feeling for Blitz was beginning to build up in his mind.

"Are you okay, Alchem?" Petalbreeze asked, looking slightly concerned at the state that Azure was in. Azure nodded, before looking at her, directly in the eyes. She could see that something was off, just by the look in his eyes and how his eyes kept twitching and darting from pony to gryphon. Petalbreeze didn't believe him for a second, before she pet her hooves on Azure shoulders, having to jump a little to bring him down to a lower level.

"What is it?" Azure asked, being slightly confused about what she found wrong with him.

"Relax! Please!" Petalbreeze commanded, being a little too loud and grabbing the attention of the rest of the group. Azure's ears folded over and made him look at the ground. He closed his eyes for a split second before perking his ears up again and opening his eyes. He nodded to her and flew up a little bit, clearing some of the trees above and instantly flying back down after catching a glimpse of a couple of raiders in the trees ahead. They didn't see him, but he wanted to make sure that they weren't spotted by them.

Azure tapped Gretzky on the shoulder, before whispering into his ear, telling him that he had just seen some raiders in the trees up ahead. Gretzky looked up and then back down at Azure, nodding to him quietly and pointing directly at Roselight and Petalbreeze talking, signalling for him to tell the two about the situation that they were in. Azure did as he was suggested, walking over to Roselight and Petalbreeze and noticing that they took an extended interest in the conversation that Azure wanted to have with them.

Roselight quickly and quietly rose up, using her wings to flap as quietly as possible and spotted the two raiders, before landing again and speaking with Petalbreeze. Petalbreeze nodded, before getting onto Roselight's back. Azure watched as both of them rose into the tree line, fading out of sight. A couple of seconds later, two bodies fell on top of Gretzky and Nightclaw. It was the two raiders, with knives plunged into their necks. Roselight and Petalbreeze both landed, before they used their magic to pull the knives out of the lifeless bodies. Azure should have felt something from the raiders, some sort of emotions, but sadly, he didn't.

Azure watched as the blood drained from the wounds in their necks, making everypony else look away, apart from Azure. It was almost like he was watching something like a bottle falling over and watching the water come out, only this water was blood and the bottles were bodies. Azure found it very hard to take his eyes off them , but knew that he had to move along. They were really close to the area where the raiders were meant to be setting up an ambush.

Azure looked at his PipBuck and saw that there were a couple of red blips on the screen of it, making him a little bit curious to see how many raiders were really inside such a small area. Azure looked up and could see the corner of the factory. Just like the last factory that both him and Blitz travelled to, the walls were crumbling just at the sight of it. It gave Azure a little bit of a reminder of finding the memory orb and one of the artifacts, that being the Daring Do figurine that was passed quickly from both of their grasps, to Roselight's tormented state. Roselight was back on their side at least, which filled Azure with a sense of achievement, boosting his confidence, ego and motivation.

Gretzky raised his weapon, along with Nightclaw, pointing it at the factory and wondering about what happened to the place. It looked exactly like one of the other areas that they had to clear out originally, which gave them a false sense of dread and made them a little confused, if not confused already. Azure didn't raise up his weapon, he only kept it to his side, being ready for if any ghouls wanted to intrude into their battle, making his mind race from the thought of a war occurring right there and then.

All of the group flew up, making it so that they didn't stumble across the raiders that were already inside, giving away their cover. They had an idea that they really wanted to stick to, which they hoped that it would work perfectly. They were going to hide in a position that would allow them to watch over the battle between the raiders and the Steel Rangers. They would then come out and finish off the side that was the last remaining, hoping that the raiders would win, due to them having no armour, unlike the Steel Rangers did. They were more confident going up against raiders than any member of the Steel Rangers, especially ones that had bigger mounted weapons on their sides.

The group landed on the top of the factory, before lying down and trying to see if they would be able to spot any raiders below. Gretzky had an abundance of weapons at his disposal, which made him the heavy hitter of the group, the one that could rain the pure light of the sun down onto the enemies below, making for a large assault on the ponies that challenge them and definitely the ground. Gretzky, with the amount of weapons and bullets that he had, was sure to leave a crater in the ground, especially if it was a Steel Ranger on the opposite side of him. Azure was a little confused by the amount of power that Gretzky was able to put out, but he understood that Gretzky would only use the weapons if he needed them.

As they all laid down, Azure could see that Roselight was holding Petalbreeze on her back, making her slowly slide down off Roselight’s back, making Azure smile and chuckle lightly. He was pretty confident that the group would have succeeded, if they managed to stay quiet and hidden all of the time. Azure was most likely the one to make them all stay quiet, due to him being the only one to want to avoid all conflict altogether. He was pretty stubborn about that as well, seeing that everypony had p[otential, if they tried at all to show a spark of good. If they did show a spark of good, Azure would have helped them set that spark into a fire of light and generosity. Azure looked at the group and smiled, knowing that they would have done anything to have helped Blitz, if they could have had the opportunity at all, that would lead to their survival of course. Azure had to stop thinking about his friend Blitz, but it was hopeless to try and forget somepony who meant a lot to not only himself, but others around him. Everypony in the settlement enjoyed his company and that was what made him such a remarkable changeling.

Azure caught sight of some raiders below them, which made him a little anxious about the entire situation, but then looked to Roselight and saw that she was smiling at him. The way that she smiled at him made Azure build up his confidence about the situation that they had placed themselves into. Bit by bit, Azure’s confidence increased for every member that was smiling, which gave him the confidence to smile as well. It made the tension of the situation die down just a little more than it previously did, making Azure’s nerves die down just that little bit quicker. Azure was still scared that he might have a chance to lose a friend, but he didn't let that stop him. Instead, Azure was slowly becoming more and more confident as the seconds went by, each one feeling a little longer than a minute, as the group waited for the perfect opportunity.

Gretzky brought one of his rifles to bear, before looking down the scope and locking onto one of the raiders, but refusing to fire until the time was right. Azure looked at the other raider and thought to himself about how the group would have gone about the situation to take out the remaining enemies, making him actually stop and think. Azure looked at his PipBuck and looked through his inventory. He didn't have too much stuff on him, only a few medical supplies, the pistol that Blitz had given to him, some canned food for when he got hungry and his syringe gun with some healing syringes. He really didn't have too many things, especially when compared to the others that he was tagging along with. Gretzky’s backpack was nearly full, due to the sheer amount of weapons and ammo that he had brought along with him.

Two more raiders appeared out of nowhere, making the group think that the raiders would have surely won. One of them was holding a rocket launcher, strapped to his back with the trigger in his mouth, getting ready for when he needed to use the weapon that was strapped tightly to the back of the raider stallion. All of the group spotted him as well and kept their eye on him, moreso for the reason of him having a rocket, when the rest of them had rifles in their magic or attached to their sides, on a battle saddle, much like the one that Azure had.

Before long, the raiders picked up on something, before scattering and hiding. They knew that the Steel Rangers were coming in their direction, so they hid out of sight quickly, to avoid the armoured units from getting the first initial shot off, one that would most likely cause the raiders to lose their ambush. Gretzky spotted a couple of them hiding in the factory below them and made out that at least one of them was trying to get onto the broken roof part that they were one, which made them all look to the ladder that was close by. They could hear one of the raiders climbing up and aimed a weapon at the position of the ladder. Each of their weapons were pointed at the ladder, pretty much making the situation completely overkill.

“We can't do that! It will alert the entire ambush team and it could make our time a little harder, potentially losing another good member of the group, which i don't want!” Petalbreeze called out quietly, making sure that she didn't talk too loud and getting them spotted or found out about. They all went completely silent as soon as they heard somepony climbing up the ladder, making each of them go breathless, apart from one pony, who was getting something out of their saddlebag.

The raider peeked his head up and over, not spotting the group originally, but noticing that something felt off with something, somewhere. As soon as the raider spotted the group, Roselight placed an orb around him, trapping the screaming that he was doing, due to spotting the group and trying to call out to his team of raiders that were pretty close by. It didn't work, making Roselight push on with her actions. She used her magic to lock the raider in place, before he was able to use the rocket that he had strapped to his back. Roselight was going to end it very quickly and quietly, moving up to him within the bubble and pressing a pistol to the frozen stallion’s head, before pulling the trigger and not hearing anything, only seeing his body go from life-like to dead within a matter of seconds.

Blood poured from the body of the raider like his head was a waterfall, for blood. It trickled down his head and made a little puddle on the floor beneath him. Azure disliked the scene before him, but didn't have the willpower to do anything about it. Azure just watched in shock as a pony was left to rot like the rest of the Wasteland. It was a sad sight, but Azure was determined to help those who deserved a second chance, not the ones that ruined their first chance so bad.

The rocket launcher on the pony’s back was heavier than they had originally expected, but they were able to unfasten it off the stallion’s corpse and take the rocket launcher away from him, allowing them to use it for themselves and for the entire team. They moved it into a suitable position and then got it ready to fire, waiting for the perfect moment to fire the rocket and release hell apun the opposition. All they had to do was wait for the perfect opportunity to use the rocket and then the battle would have been closed quicker than it normally would without it.

They all waited patiently as Roselight moved back down, removing the noise canceling bubble and waiting for something to happen. Just like them, the raiders were also waiting for sight of the Steel Rangers, which filled them with a little bit of excitement. Azure slowly shuffled over to the corpse of the raider and looked at it. As blood oozed from the bullet wound in his head, Azure was sure that there was no chance at all of saving the raider that he was looking at, making him frown a little. Despite them not really caring about anypony but themselves, Azure wanted to at least give some of the nicer raiders, a second chance.

Azure looked at the battle saddle and saw that it was similar to the one that he was wearing on himself at that point in time. Azure was pretty sure that all battle saddles were the same, but he couldn't tell for sure, due to how much of the world Azure still didn't know about, making him want to travel the world, not only Equestria. That thought alone got him thinking about what he wanted to do when it was all over, but that was a thought that would need to leave his head, due to him knowing that the world would probably not go back to how it used to be, but with time anything was possible, so he could hope for a better future at least.

Azure was called over again by Gretzky, telling him to get to position, do to them seeing the convey that was coming in their direction. As quick as a flash, Azure returned to the position that he was in originally, making them know that he was ready to do nothing at all, apart from being the medic and all. From where they were, they could see the Steel Rangers coming in their direction. From the looks of things below, it looked like there were only three of them, two in armour and one without armour. Azure was pretty surprised to see that there were not more of them, being how their battle with Blitz ended up. It was one changeling versus about ten or twenty Steel Rangers, making Azure chuckle a tiny bit, before going silent again. Azure looked at the convey coming towards the and wanted to wait for the perfect time to be able to signal to use the rocket launcher. Gretzky and Nightclaw both toyed about with the rocket, before Roselight moved it away with her magic, making the group focus more on the things the were going on in front of them, rather than the things that were beside them, like the rocket was before Roselight moved it away.

They all focused on the situation that was happening and tried to make out what was going on with all of the raiders below them. There were raiders pretty much everywhere, making it impossible for them to move around from the spot that they were already in. That made the situation that they were in worse, because now they couldn't rely on a plan B, which was to run back and set up further down the treeline. That sadly, wasn't an option anymore, as well as running away completely, due to more raiders being behind them.

Roselight had a plan, a plan that would make them able to stay where they were without giving off the impression that there was somepony on the roof of the factory, instead of nopony being up there. Roselight was going to stay behind cover with the rocket launcher and fire it off when the fighting started. Roselight noticed that the stallion had a timestamp on one of his forehooves, indicating that something was going to happen at that time. Roselight was hoping that it was the time that the Steel Rangers would have got there, rather than being anything else.

Azure could pretty much see all of the raiders about the area. Some were scattered across the area and some were packed into tight areas, getting ready for a fight that they were not really ready for. Azure could at least tell that nopony below had a strong enough weapon to be able to penetrate the armour that the Rangers used. Metal suits have a pretty high protection pattern, making Azure know that there was at least a couple of minutes worth of distractions, making him doubt the raiders.

Although they could see the ponies approaching, the raiders below couldn't make them have to wait for the others to call out and start shooting at them. If they were lucky, they could take out the non armoured pony, but that was a slim chance that they would have accomplished anything down below. Azure saw that there were a couple of raiders in the trees and behind them as well, making them pinched even more than they thought. One of the raiders spotted the convoy and shot a flair directly up, making it so that all of the other ponies around knew. Before they knew it, the group saw a lot of other flairs rise up after being shot, indicating that there were at least another fifty raiders outside of their view range, making all of their hairs on their tails stand on end. The flairs were all red, indicating nothing until roselight looked at the body. She found a flair gun too, noticing that it was green. Without a blind notice, she took it with her magic and aimed it at the air, before firing a green pulse into the air. The green flair traveled through the air and exploded, before hearing a blisting howl, followed by a lot of yelling.

The raiders charged into battle, shooting at all of the Steel Rangers from every angle, apart from above. Roselight noticed something as she was about to go and fire the rocket at the defending convoy. The convoy was delivering some boxes of food and the non armoured mare was also defenceless, having no weapon to defend herself with. Roselight could see that the Steel Rangers were protecting her with something, but she didn't know what they were using to do so. All Roselight knew was that the mare was not with the Steel Ranger, more or less being escorted by them.

That was bad for the entire party that was involved, not only the Steel Rangers, but also Azure's group that he was with. Not only were there too many raiders for them to handle, but they weren't even intercepting a convoy from the Steel Rangers. This was an escort! The Steel Rangers in the power armour used their guns, being able to take out raider after raider. Roselight spotted a crowd of raiders that had bunched up, about five or six of them and shot the rocket at them. It didn't go directly where she wanted it to go, but it did still hit all of them, making it not matter as it did a little swirl, before exploding and taking out the group.

The non armoured mare spotted the group and got shot in the foreleg, making her recoil in pain and shock. Gretzky flew overhead and let loose a stream of buckshot as he unloaded one of the shotguns that he had with him. The rest of them, being Petalbreeze, Roselight and Nightclaw stayed on the roof. Azure had a different idea, making him want to test the durability of Gretzky's design

Azure jumped down and landed on the ground, using his wings to slow the fall and prevented him from breaking or at least damaging his legs. As soon as his hooves touched the ground, he looked around and saw a couple of raiders getting closer to him, holding some sharp weapons in their mouth and magic, making them more of a threat than Azure had originally thought. A bullet whizzed past Azure’s ear, hitting one of the raiders directly in the centre of the head. Azure just stood there as the raider fell to the ground, his body becoming lifeless and still. The other raider looked at Azure, as Azure gave him a dead gaze, making the raider shake.

Azure outstretched his hoof, only wanting peace and for all of the violence to fade away and die down, rather let ponies battle one another like Celestia had not wanted them to do. The raider froze, not knowing exactly what to. Azure still had his hoof outstretched for the raider to join him, not wanting the raider to get hurt in all of this. Azure had to hurry up with the entire saving process, otherwise there wouldn't have been anypony left to save at all, making him feel like more pressure was on him, rather than anypony else in the group. The raider looked at the battlefield that they were in, before looking down at the body of his ally. The raider was pretty much siding with the enemy if he did agree to stop all of the murderous intent, but it was a difficult choice of the raider.

Out of nowhere, a raider rushed towards Azure, before knocking him over and making him roll onto the floor. The raider then proceeded to pick up the weapon that the fallen raider had and was about to plunge it into the body of Azure, before the blade of the weapon broke right in front of him. The raider looked at the blade and saw that it had been broken clean, leaving a straight line where the blade should have been. The raider got angry at this and turned around before lifting up its back legs. Azure rolled out of the way as two hooves came crashing down in the location that he was originally in, making him glad that his head was not in that position anymore, otherwise it would have been turned into mush. Azure was ready to keep rolling, but could see that the raider was not moving anymore. Azure looked over and saw that the previous raider, who Azure gave a chance to redeem himself, had done something to the raider that almost killed him. Azure got up and looked at the front of the raider and saw that there was a huge cut in the raiders throat. Azure looked down at the weapon that the raider had and saw that it was covered in blood, from the head of the blade, to the bottom of the blade. Without warning, a bullet whizzed past Azure again, hitting the already dead raider in the head and separated his head from his body, perfectly from where the somewhat good raider had cut him. Did the raider really decapitate his ally? If so, then it was a very clean cut.

Azure placed his hoof on the raider’s shoulder, before looking up at who was providing the protection from above. Azure looked over and saw that Roselight was looking directly at him, a sniper rifle in her magic, showing that she was indeed a good marksman. Azure looked back down to the raider and saw that he was smiling. He didn't seem to have any words to say, but Azure could tell that he was grateful for not killing him, like the other raiders. Azure was glad that he was able to change the thoughts of yet another raider, the first one being of course Zeke. The raider dropped the weapon that he had and waited for Azure to do something.

A scream came from the mare that had no armour and and both Azure and the new ally that Azure had acquired, looked over at the mare to see that one of the Steel Rangers had fallen, the armour getting blown to pieces with the Steel Ranger still being inside of it. Azure rushed over to the mare, charging through multiple gunshots and getting a couple of shots to the side, which quickly broke the bullet physics, making them bounce off the thin material, almost like it acted like metal. At least Azure now knew that the armour worked, putting his mind at rest, just long enough for him to be able to think of a strategy that they could do to allow not only the mare to survive, but the other Steel Ranger as well.

Azure and his friendly raider ran along the floor and got to some cover that was able to block them from most of the shots coming from different directions. Azure looked to his raider friend and saw that he was okay. Azure thought of something that might or might not have been a bad idea at the time, but it would have surely helped him get to both the Steel Ranger and the mare. Azure grabbed a spare pistol that he had within his saddlebag and dropped it in front of the raider, making the raider look at him with shock. Azure looked away from the raider and looked to where the mare was, before bolting out of cover and running towards them both.

Azure felt like the world was in slow motion, due to what was happening. Azure could hear multiple gunshots being fired directly at him, yet they took their sweet time to get to him and ping off his armour, like a piece of dust. It was almost satisfying, if it wasn't for the risk of death being there as well, with any well placed shot to the head being able to kill him within an instant. That was one of the fears that Azure had, which scared him a little bit every time he thought about it. As he continued to daydream, running across a battlefield, he shook his head and looked around, as his legs carried him forward with a great amount of speed behind each fluent movement. Azure was dodging so many bullets, which made him feel a little cocky in the situation that he was placed into. Bearing that in mind, Azure didn't go overboard with his decisions, making them and planning out how to carry them out carefully. Azure was nearly there, still trying to get across to the others. He could also see that Roselight was trying to help still, making sure that no raider could get to him, so that he could get over with the mare and the Steel Ranger.

A barrage of bullets came in Azure’s direction, making him have to take cover behind debris that came from the remains of the factory. It made a perfect amount of cover for Azure to creep behind and allow him to get a couple of peaking glances out of. Technically, he was pinned, dead as a doornail, but something happened that hurt him and surprised him at the same time. His armour, having a soul or fair few souls woven into the fabric, enhanced the armour a little bit, giving him an aura to him and giving him a visor made of magic and wing guards to protect his wings. Although that was good, there was still a downside to the entire thing. That being the fact that there was a full blown conversation between the souls and Azure, within his head, making him feel a little bit light headed and nearly making him feel like he was going to have a nose bleed. That thought alone made him smile and try to forget about the pain that was growing inside of his head, which allowed him to make another push, hopefully being the final push that he needed to get to the stranded two. It was!

Azure slid behind some cover and used his syringe gun on the mare, allowing her leg, that originally had been shot, to heal up properly and quickly, so that they were able to either sneak away or survive. Azure liked the first idea better, but had to go with the second option, due to them being the main focus of all of the raiders. Gretzky was shooting overhead as Azure stayed in front of the mare, allowing his armour to soak up all of the shots that would have torn through the skin of a pony, but it didn't for Azure. He was pretty much unkillable, until the voices finished their frantic nagging, within his head, thus removing the magical visor and wing guards.

The armour was dealing with some heavy fire, but Azure was pretty sure that it would have been able to withstand the full force of most of the raider’s weapons. Azure was pretty sure that there would have been another rocket launcher being used by another pony somewhere within the field, but Azure didn't have time to focus on all of the other ponies that could have had different weapons. He had to focus on the task before him, protecting the mare while the others protected the Steel Ranger. Azure slowly began to move, watching as the mare behind him moved along with him, shuffling as much as he did, making them both look like they were doing some type of synchronised dance or something else along those lines.

Gretzky was constantly diving on the enemies, making them shoot up at him, as well as throw stuff at him. Luckily, he was able to dodge all of the bullets, but not every item, as a random chair hit him, making him go off balance and do a little spiral, correcting himself almost instantly, as he flew back up into the sky, not wanting to even go close to the clouds out of fear of what they might do to him if he did get close. Each strafe that Gretzky did, ended up with a couple bullets less in his rifle and more bullets in the raiders.

Nightclaw joined Gretzky on that, with the entire strafing strategy, but instead of using a rifle, Nightclaw wanted a bit more gore and a bit more power, so he used a shotgun with a huge magazine, peppering some of the raiders that he got close to with molten hot buckshot, little pellets that ripped little holes into the body of the pony who was on the wrong end of Nightclaw’s barrel. Before he needed to reload his weapon, he threw some explosives at some of the raiders trying to hit him with debris from the factory. Nightclaw laughed before he landed with a shotgun in his claws and a couple of explosives on him, him wearing them like a belt.

The raiders charged Nightclaw and got instantly deleted from the world, as Roselight took out some of the raiders with her sniper rifle, allowing Nightclaw to have a little bit of fun. Using her magic, she lifted the side sight of the weapon to her eye, allowing her to look down the weapon with ease. She lined up another shot and took it, tearing a huge hole through one of the raiders head, making sure that he wouldn't have been able to get up from that. Roselight could hear a pony climbing up the ladder behind her and turned to load her gun for another shot, before the gun jammed. The raider got to the top of the ladder and laughed, before pointing a pistol at Roselight, using his mouth.

Petalbreeze darted in with a very sharp knife that one of the original raiders had, allowing her to threaten the raider. She skipped the talking phase of the ‘make friends’ plan and went straight for the ‘can't be trusted’ plan. Petalbreeze stabbed the raider directly in the throat with the knife, using the magic to carve into it, thinking bad thoughts to bring her to the limit of what she could mentally cope with. She took the knife out with her magic, before she lashed at him one more time, decapitating the raider in an instant and making his body drop to the floor, just like his head did. Roselight turned to her right and saw that there was a pegasus looking at them that was a part of the raiders.

The pegasus raider aimed their gun at both Roselight and Petalbreeze, making them stand still. A shot tore through the back of the raider’s head, forcing her to land forward, due to the force of the shot. Both Roselight and Petalbreeze looked to see who saved them, before seeing Azure’s new raider buddy holding a pistol in his mouth, before he lifted a hoof at them, waving at them like he was a friend that had not seen them in a while.

“Don't shoot him sister, he is friendly, thanks to Az… Alchem.” Roselight informed Petalbreeze, seeing that she was pulling out her own rifle, to be able to join in the action from the roof of the factory.

The new friendly raider looked about and saw one of his own approaching him, a gun within his grasp, his magical grasp. The raider came along and slapped Azure’s new friend with the back of the pistol that he had within his magic. They both didn't say anything, they just looked at each other, before the raider stood back and aimed his pistol at Azure’s friend’s head, before nearly shooting a bullet right into his skull. The thing that stopped him was a small brick that was travelling at the same speed as a bullet or near enough the same speed.

Azure shot a piece of debris at the raider that was harassing his new friend, using his syringe gun to shoot the brick at lightning speed, knocking out the raider in the process and hopefully not killing him, as Azure didn't intend on killing ponies that were alive anymore. He didn't care too much for ghouls, but alive ponies were different. They could still live a life, like the ghouls had originally done, making them more of a priority to save and keep them in the state that they were. Plus, it didn't help that only a hoof full of ponies were able to turn into ghouls after they died, so there wasn't even a chance that some ponies would get a second chance. Azure was thinking too much about all of the actions and choices that he would have made, making him not focus on the task that he had set himself, protecting the mare. Azure shook his head before getting back into the action.

Azure looked around and saw that there were only a couple of raiders left, as according to Roselight, making Azure breath a sigh of relief. The friendly raider walked towards Azure, making him smile before looking over at a raider that was rapidly coming towards Azure. Azure’s friend stepped in front of him and raised a hoof to the raider, making him slow down and come to a complete stop, before the charging raider looked at his former ally with confusion. The raider looked at all of the surrounding ponies, including Roselight and Petalbreeze on the roof, making him feel a little confused.

“They won't hurt us, not like the others would. If you want your life back, to be as normal as it could get, then join me in what i have done. There are more corrupt raiders out there, being put in control of others, choosing the life that they have to follow, otherwise, they die if they do not follow or do it right. These ponies, gryphons and other creatures could give us a chance to get our lives back, as long as we help them, that's what I'm guessing at least.” Azure’s friend spoke, looking back at Azure for confirmation on what he had just said being even the slightest bit right. Azure nodded with pride, knowing full well that his friend wanted to change how the raiders saw them. Azure was pretty shocked to see that his friend had been so outspoken and correct with his speaking, giving Azure a little bit of an insight of how the raiders worked a little. Azure was always wanting to work out and find out more about the world that he was living in, so this was the best chance that he could have got to show how interested he was with all of the raiders that were in front of him.

One by one, the raiders dropped their weapons and looked to Azure’s friend for insight into getting their lives back into working order. There were about ten raiders that were now interested in becoming better, which filled Azure with a little bit of confidence that he could offer the world a hoof and change it for the better. Azure looked at the mare behind him, before she stepped out from being behind him and watched with a little amount of scaredness, as she walked around without any protection and looked at each raider individually. She limped around, picking up her bad leg and keeping it off of the ground, making Azure remember that he had forgotten to heal her. Without warning, Azure placed a medical syringe into the syringe gun and fired it into the leg of the mare, with a bit of range to it. The mare recoiled a bit, before looking down at her leg, which was now rapidly healing due to the medical formula that Azure used to make the healing product. She looked over to Azure and smiled, making him blush a little, before she turned around and continued to look at all of the raiders, one by one. Her look was a little intimidating to say the least, but at least she didn't have any intention of murdering anypony, which satisfied Azure’s nerves.

Azure could tell that even the Steel Ranger was surprised, due to him stopping with all of the raiders as well. Azure felt proud as ever, being able to stop a fair few raiders from killing ponies that were innocent. Roselight and Petalbreeze came down from being on the roof of the factory and landed on the floor, Petalbreeze being placed on the floor by her alicorn sister’s magic, making her feel like she had just got off a magical dragon or something along those lines. Azure placed his hoof on the shoulder of his new friend, before looking at all of the ponies that he had changed.

Roselight looked at all of them, before looking at Azure with a somewhat angry face. Azure smiled back at her, almost like he was trying to overpower her frown. It worked for a tiny amount of time, before she went back to frowning.

“This is a good amount of ponies we have, but do we have enough space left to house them?” Roselight asked, Azure not really putting that into consideration at all, making Azure feel a little bad for doing all of it, even though it wasn't his fault at all.

“If needs be, i could share my area with a couple of them, just to make life easier for you, Roselight.” Azure told her, making her ponder for a couple of seconds before nodding. Azure's friend was pretty happy with what he had done, but knew that he would have to prove himself in order to make the entire group trust him, which was pretty respectable, even for a former raider that was trying to reform and change his way. He looked around to see a bunch of raiders that had changed for the better, knowing what was right, from what was wrong, making him feel even more proud of what he had accomplished.

Azure looked around, before turning to the mare that he was protecting originally from the raiders, before they had a change of heart. She was a little bit caught up in all of the aftermath of the fighting, but at least she didn't have any major injuries, due to the potion that Azure gave her to heal her wound on her leg. Azure was another pony in the crowd that felt like they had achieved something today, despite all of the fighting and the killing, he still viewed the actions of today as a success.

Roselight looked at the Steel Ranger before checking him over, just to see if there was anything damaged or missing from the power armour that he was in. Fortunately, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary for the Steel Ranger, apart from a fair amount of bullet marks, not holes.

“Thank you for the support there. I'm not sure how long we would have lasted if you weren't here to help. I extend my gratitude to all of you for the help and even thank all of the raiders for changing. If you saw the damage that the raiders have done to other settlements and areas, you would have changed on your own, without the help of the pegasus in front of me.” The mare explained, pointing to Azure for being the pegasus that changed the raiders for the better. Azure blushed a little bit, but deserved all of the praise that he had gotten that day. “We need to make up some lost ground and mourn the death of my other guard. I hope that you all will understand.” The mare stated firmly, getting a subtle nod from both Azure and Roselight.

The mare went on her way, allowing Azure and the rest of the old group and new group to look around the area, looting the long range weapons like the guns, rather than the close range weapons like sticks and batons. That lasted for a little while, before they decided that it would have been a good idea to head on home, due to the clouds forming above, making it seem like it would rain hard or creep in with some thunder and lightning. That thought alone made Azure walk at a quicker pace, making the others follow suit. Azure’s new friend walked beside him, along with Roselight walking the opposite side of him too. Knowing this, Azure walked calmly, his mind slowing down and relaxing, easing all of the nerves that were pent up and trying to exit his body at alarming speeds. For a little bit, Azure finally felt relaxed, which was something he definitely needed to feel once again, due to how nice it felt. Azure was in his own world, a world that was inside his head, as he trotted back to the settlement, with his new army of friends following beside him and behind him.

Chapter 17: Paranormal Protection

Azure opened the door to his home, allowing him, his new raider friend and another reformed raider, to enter the property, before he closed the door behind him and locked the door. Both reformed raiders looked about the area before dropping their weapons that they had with them. Azure’s main raider friend picked up both weapons before moving them out of the way, using his mouth to carry the pistol and the sharp dagger to a table that was empty. He dropped both, before unloading the gun and resting the magazine for the weapon against the weapon, allowing them to easily load it if they needed to.

“I never got your name…” Azure spoke, getting nothing but silence from the raiders, which Azure didn't expect from the raider that convinced nine or ten others to change for the better, to allow their lives to give other ponies joy and happiness, as well as stopping with all of the killing. If the killing didn't stop completely, then it was definitely being eased down to be as minimal as possible, which made Azure feel a little proud to say the least.

“...We… we don't have names! I am R37 and that is…” R37 announced, before getting silenced by Azure’s raider friend, who definitely wanted to keep his letter and numbers safe. Azure slowly walked over to the two and sat down beside them both. Azure looked at his nameless friends and thought about something in his head, before evaluating the two ponies individually.

R37 had a nice figure, especially for a pegasus mare of her stature. She was quite tall, which made him chuckle at the thought of finding another pegasus that was nearly as tall as he was, let alone a pure breed pegasus. Due to him being half zebra, he was bound to be taller than most normal ponies, due to zebras being bigger in general. R37 definitely needed a name, one that would allow her to express herself. Azure admired her fur, seeing that it was a dark grey, which made Azure realise something else about her as he admired her fur. Just like he should have been, Azure saw that R37 had been branded, not like Azure with something covering his real cutie mark, but hers was gone, being replaced with a cloud, almost like the one Azure had seen in a book somewhere. Azure didn't stay in the clouds for long enough to know too much about all of the history and remember it all, but it was definitely the same design. Azure continued to admire the likes of R37, evaluating her mane, which was as black as the sky during the night. It wasn't pitch black, but there was enough grey in there to know that it possibly could have been, if she cleaned her mane. Little blood marks were present all over her body, which didn't sit right with Azure at all.

Next up was Azure’s nameless friend, the one that wouldn't allow for Azure to know what his letter and number was for some reason, but Azure could completely understand, given the scenario that was going on with all of the housing and keeping track of which ponies were going where. Azure looked over his friend, admiring his black on black appearance that was going on. His fur was quite black, but his mane was black black, which Azure really liked. He didn't say anything as he looked at his cutie mark, which explained nearly all of his story. The letters ‘R1’ were present on his cutie mark, making Azure stop and think for a second. R1 closed his eyes, before sensing nothing. He opened them to see Azure still looking at the cutie mark and seeing the faint stripes that his cutie mark overlapped. Azure could definitely tell that he was a zebra, but he found it hard to clarify if he was only half zebra or not.

Azure looked over to R37 and looked her over again, seeing a brief outline of her originally unbranded cutie mark underneath. The brief outline showed a letter with two numbers with it, making Azure realise that her cutie mark was also their name. It made Azure feel a little sad about it all, but that was what their early life did to them. They didn't have the best childhood, let alone a great life, especially if they grew up with the raiders. As Azure was about to finish up with identifying the two, Azure noticed something extra about R37. Her wings were a little crooked and sharper than most of the pegusi that Azure had seen during his time, suggesting that she could have even been a half breed, just like R1 and Azure was. She could have been a crossbreed of a pegasus and a bat pony, which made Azure a little sceptical about the devious and confusing pair of ponies that stood before him.

R1 didn't notice that Azure knew his number, but could see that he was evaluating everything, so he made the idea of keeping his identity a secret, vanish like he didn't even say anything. R1 was a little shy to say the least, keeping his eyes on Azure to avoid starting up a conversation with him, due to the situation already being tense enough. Azure didn't really care too much for their backstory, he just wanted to get to know them a little more and gain their trust, but they most certainly must have been tired from the rally of today's events. Azure knew that R1 was tired, due to the amount of times that the hidden zebra was yawning, making both Azure and R37 yawn in unison. It was contagious after all, making Azure chuckle a little bit, showing them how relaxed and happy he was, despite…

Azure shook his head before looking at both of the raiders that he had adopted into his little abode, his little group, his family. Both R1 and R37 smiled at him, noticing how happy Azure was becoming.

“Okay them! My name is Azure and I am a pegasus. Now you two try it out.” Azure commanded, seeing both of them look at each other before sighing and following the orders that they were giving, displaying that they weren't going to refuse not to try.

“I am R37 and i am a pegasus!” R37 announced to the world, being very loud with her saying. Azure was pretty certain that the entire Equestrian Wasteland could hear her screech, making Azure chuckle at the thought of it. Next up was R1, Azure was pretty certain that he would politely decline it, but he didn't know for sure, making him sit in his own little mysterious void of speculations that hadn't come true yet.

“I am R1 and I am a z… earth pony!” he yelled, stuttering in the middle of the statement, almost saying that he was a zebra, making Azure know that he was aware of himself being a zebra, rather than not knowing that he was at all, a little bit like R37. Azure wanted to find them names that actually described them, rather than having a letter with a number or two next to it, making Azure work his intelligent mind to work out a name for both the mare and the stallion that were both in front of him, one of them lying down and the other standing up strong, like the stallion that he was. R1 was the one still standing up and R37 was lying down on the floor, looking at both Azure and R1 with contempt, smiling at them both.

Azure took a quick glance at R37 and looked her over one last time. Her eyes were the same colour as he mane, being more of a brown than black, but it was still a black nonetheless. Azure saw a little glimmer of hope from within her eyes, making Azure like the name that he was thinking of. He looked at her mane and instantly stuck with his idea or name for her.

“R37, if you want a name, I got a great one for you that you might like indeed.” Azure explained, getting a look of excitement from the bat pony pegasus hybrid. “Abyss, because of your mane and tail, as well as your eyes being an abyss themselves.” Azure explained, giving reasoning as to why he would have named her that. Azure could tell instantly that she was loving the name that he had just given to her immediately, due to her miming out the words with a happy smile. She nodded and then kept miming the word ‘abyss’ to herself.

“And what name would you give to me, so that i can forget about my old name and number?” R1 asked, letting Azure examine him and giving him all of the time in the world to do so. Azure admired all of R1, seeing that his form was very impressive to say the least. Azure looked at his mane, his fur and his tail and couldn't really think of a name for him, until he remembered what happened on the battlefield that they both fought on, Azure using syringes and bricks rather than what R1 used. R1 used his words as well as his blade to cease the fighting altogether, making Azure very proud that a raider went from somepony that Azure hated, to a hero. That gave him a name for R1, making Azure smile in the process.

“How about Zavier?” Azure asked, getting a look of confusion from the secret zebra. “Because you helped change the lives of some raiders, so you are technically their saviour, but i wanted to put my spin on it, for reasons…” Azure admitted, making Abyss smile.

“I like it! Sounds pretty exotic and… sexy!” Abyss stated, making Zavier blush a little due to the complement from a name that he didn't even own… yet. Azure smiled, seeing how much of a good reaction he got from Abyss and liking the name as well. Azure looked to Zavier and smiled, before nodding and looking at Abyss.

“So we have Abyss and Zavier. Those are your names!” Azure shouted, being a little excited about helping out the two. He was pretty sure that they enjoyed the names as well, seeing how they were both smiling and looking at him. Azure sat down and closed his eyes, before sighing and letting out a little grunt. “I did it bud, I have helped more ponies…” Azure murmured to himself, getting the attention of the other two.

Umm, Azure was it? Are you okay?” Abyss asked, being a little concerned about Azure’s health. Azure only just realised that he gave the two his actual name, but he didn't care too much for hiding it anymore. He looked up from the floor and nodded, before wiping a tear that came down his cheek.

“It’s nothing, just keeping myself in check by talking to myself, like i would have if my best friend was still here.” Azure explained, slowly losing his smile and having it replaced with a fake one, making him emotionally unstable on the inside, not showing any signs on the outside as he slowly looked back down to the floor and closed his eyes again. He did what Blitz would have done and shook his head softly, clearing all thoughts from his mind, positive or negative and making his mind clear enough to think openly. Zavier looked at Azure and knew that something was wrong, but really couldn't put his hoof on what exactly was wrong. Zavier walked up to Azure, before placing his hoof on Azure’s shoulder, making Azure jump before looking up at the pure black zebra. Zavier, even though he looked really tough and not a pony that anypony wanted to mess with, he was a complete softy, sitting down beside Azure and making sure that he was alright, using his hoof to rub Azure’s back. It was definitely relaxing, making Azure slow down a little bit and relax just a little more.

“Is that better?” Zavier asked, getting a little nod from Azure in response, trying to lose sight of what he wanted most. Azure laid down and looked at Abyss walking towards him, seeing that she was going to sit down, before a knock came from the door, making the two pegasi jump. Azure got up and slowly walked over to the door, before unlocking the door and seeing one of his favourite ponies on the other side of the door, standing outside in the cold rain. Azure moved back to allow Sadjoy into the house, which she did almost immediately, making Azure lighten up a little bit. That was something that brought joy to both Zavier and Abyss, seeing that their new friend was feeling alright.

Azure watched at Sadjoy dried herself off, before watching her look at him, almost like they were in a staring standoff. Sadjoy opened her wings and let out a growl, showing her teeth and fangs in the process, making the other two worry a little. She lunged for Azure, kissing him softly and then retreating back, seeing that he was a little bit star struck at that point in time. Azure definitely enjoyed her company!

Hours passed, as the small group sat around a fire. It bellowed out yellow and orange, just like the sun did above, filling Azure with even more warmth that it would have done alone with just the fire. Sadjoy was resting next to Azure, making him wrap a wing around her to keep her from getting cold. Zavier was in a similar scenario to Azure, only he didn't have a wing to wrap around a pony, so he just laid on top of Abyss, as she rested. Zavier was able to lie on top of her, allowing her head to be visible in between his two forehooves, making it look like he was her protector, which was definitely a cute little moment that those two shared. Azure really liked his new friends, knowing that they were willing to change to make life better for themselves, making Azure smile even more than he already was.

The light from the fire was almost an illusion itself, making Azure feel a slight tiredness creeping up behind him, like a raider or something. Thinking about raiders got Azure to look at the other two, seeing that Zavier was looking after Abyss like she was his marefriend, keeping a watchful eye out for danger so that she could sleep. That or he just didn't want to sleep at all, due to the sky outside crying loudly, raindrops falling onto the roof, creating a slight crackle noise every time a raindrop hit the roof. Since it was raining heavily, it did indeed make a pretty good beat, making Azure chuckle to himself, before he looked next to him to see that Sadjoy was awake, her beautiful eyes reflecting in the darkness and the flames ahead. She was indeed a beautiful mare and Azure realised that nothing could really have changed that in his head, making her even more breathtaking than she was.

She bopped him on the nose, making him go cross eyed for a couple of seconds, due to the contact of her hoof hitting him in the face, right on the nose. Sadjoy chuckled for a short time, before Azure joined in on the action, making them both become a puddle of laughter, which got the attention of Zavier. Azure had already introduced Sadjoy to the two, making them know her name at least, but it didn't really give them a whole lot of stuff to work with to get to know her a little bit more. Zavier nuzzled Abyss, getting a smile and a chuckle from the tired pegasus mare. That moment was a one to remember for Azure, due to him helping with changing the raiders in the little group and finally helping somepony relax and find happiness within the Wasteland. That thought alone sent more pride and happiness through Azure’s veins than ever before, giving him a rush of energy and motivation, which was a feeling that he loved to experience over and over again.

As the fire crackled and the rain above fell, Azure founded himself in a world of bliss, tilting on the edge of sleep, rather than the edge of staying awake, like he wanted to do. He was tired, so his best option was to try to get some sleep, but he didn't even try. Azure slowly got up, before looking at the others and seeing that all of them, apart from Abyss, were looking at him and wondering what he was doing. Sadjoy was a little confused, but it didn't matter too much for him. Azure walked to the window and looked outside, getting a mixture of emotions that flooded through his mind. He wanted to do something, but what he wanted to do was unclear to him, making him stay in a state of deja vu for the odd minute or two. Azure placed himself within the windowsill and looked outside to the mess that was the sky above, hating every pegasus that didn't even try to help the rest of pony kind. It annoyed Azure a little, making him scowl at the outside world.

Sadjoy got up and walked over to Azure, making each movement quiet, to avoid alerting him that she was walking over to him. Azure turned and saw Sadjoy, seeing that she was still trying to creep over and surprise him. As soon as she got detected, she blushed before pacing the distance to Azure and wrapping her hooves and wings around him, comforting him with all of her will, making him smile and hug back, wrapping his wings around her, just5 like she did for him. Azure looked over at Zavier and Abyss and saw that they were both sleeping now, making Azure feel a little bad about getting Sadjoy up, due to his actions.

“Why did you get up?” Azure asked, making Sadjoy frown softly, not really thinking that he understood why she was always keeping in close proximity to him. She chuckled softly, making Azure look a tad bit confused. “Umm, why are you laughing? I know you love me, I can clearly see that. I love you too, but you know what my mind is saying, don't you.” Azure spoke quietly, getting a soft nod from her and watched her as she closed the distance and hugged Azure strongly, making sure that the pegasus couldn't get away from her. Azure was slightly surprised by her actions, but definitely was not complaining about anything that was going on. He endured the moment, loving her as much as she did him, feeling her soft leathery wings as they wrapped around him. It was nice.

Sadjoy looked at the others and then looked at Azure, stepping back a couple of steps and letting go with her wings. She slowly walked over to the corner of the room where the weapons were placed on the table. She walked over to the pistol that was lying on it, before pulling the slider back, revealing a loaded bullet. Sadjoy looked to Azure, before letting the bullet fly out the side of the pistol, catching it with her wing. Azure was a little surprised that she was so accurate with all of the actions that she did with her wing. It didn't just surprise him, he was shocked! She looked at him and smiled, before looking back at the gun and placing it on the table once again. She took the remaining bullet from the slider that she had in her wing, before she put it into the magazine, where all of the other bullets were being kept. Azure was a little surprised that Sadjoy knew so much about guns, due to her being a guard of the settlement, but then Azure realised that she had been a guard since this place was here, so that cleared any disillusions that he had with her knowledge.

“How do you know so much about guns?” Azure whispered, getting a tiny chuckle from the bat pony, suggesting that she knew that he was confused on her knowledge. She walked up to him before kissing him on the cheek and holding his head up to meet her eyes, using her hooves to do so. She did have a beautiful eye, that was something that Azure could acknowledge at least.

“Some things are best left unexplained!” Sadjoy explained to him, nibbling on his ear as soon as she said that to him, making him laugh a tiny bit, due to the sensation of her fangs lightly rubbing against his soft ears. Azure moved her away from his ears, making her giggle softly as she looked into Azures golden like eyes. They were more brown than golden, but that didn't stop her from describing his eyes like that. They were little orbs of golden delight that made anything smile when he looked at anything with them, inanimate objects or not, it would smile.

The clap of thunder outside got the better of the two, making their ears ring with violent intent to have the thunder not destroy their hearing. Azure watched outside as more thunder shook the earth and more lightning lit up the sky, almost like it was sunlight or brighter. Azure walked over to the window and looked out, past the boards that were covering it up, to see that the rain was horrible, making for their night to probably be a restless one, not making them able to sleep. Azure did need the sleep, but he was pretty sure that he could pull an allnighter with Sadjoy and keep her entertained at least. Azure laid down on his side, before looking over to Sadjoy and tapping on the ground. Without hesitation, like a cat to a box, Sadjoy ran across the room and slid on the floor, before plopping herself next Azure and giggling softly.

Before Azure and Sadjoy could begin talking, a knock came from the door, making the two look at each other with a tad bit of confusion. Azure got up, along with Sadjoy slowly getting up shortly after. Azure walked up slowly to the door, before opening it slowly, trying not to wake the former raiders. Azure opened the door to see that Gretzky was standing there, looking wet and out of place. Azure allowed him entry to his home, but Gretzky refused to enter, wanting to say something.

“If you two are free tomorrow, I need both of you with me. I have found the location of all of the other glowing items. I was speaking to Roselight when she flicked a switch on the figurine that associates itself with the ministry mare of the Ministry of Awesome and it lit up some locations on the map that was close by. It probably will still be like that when i see you tomorrow, making the voyages so much easier to know where we are going to, but they are much, much further away!” Gretsky explained, getting both Azure and Sadjoy to nod in unison at his request. Gretzky nodded before flying away and leaving a trail of rain in his position, forming a puddle just outside of the doorway. Azure chuckled slightly, before looking to Sadjoy as she closed the door.

“I don't know what he meant by that but i am pretty sure that i am up for another adventure, especially if it is with you, Azure.” Sadjoy stated, making Azure blush in the process, making her laugh. Azure was a little taken back by what Gretzky had said, putting him into a place he didn't go too much within his time in the Wasteland. Azure was unsupportive and unsure about something, but couldn't put his hoof on what it was, so he shoved the thought to the back of his mind and kept it there to be the last of his worries. Azure was pretty sure that it would resonate again, but he was hoping it was in the correct time for it to do so again.

Azure opened the door again and looked at Sadjoy, before exiting into the radioactive rain. It felt like it was going to stop at any minute, due to how slow and inconsistent the raindrops were around Azure, giving him the impression that it was going to stop. Sadjoy just wondered what the confused pegasus was doing, not noticing that the rain was slowing down, still noticing that it was a storm outside, being with the thunder and lightning that crept its way back to the sky above them.

“The truth is that i need to clear my head. Do you want to join me?” Azure asked, getting a smile and a nod from Sadjoy in response to his question, making her fly outside and close the door behind herself. Azure didn't attempt to lock the door, due to the other two still being within the property. By locking the door, Azure would most likely trap them within the house, making him understand that that was a horrible feeling alone, so he kept the property unlocked, hoping that nothing would have been robbed from the area while they were gone.

Azure and Sadjoy exited the settlement and went for a walk along a path that they hadn’t originally been down. It was a slightly cobbled path that was slightly corroded and worn out, but it had a confusing texture to it, making it a little weird to walk onto. Azure let out a huge sigh, before getting a wing wrapped around him from his favourite bat pony friend, pulling him in closer and nuzzling his cheek, making him blush slightly due to her warm touch. Azure looked at the trees and saw that some of them were beginning to get some of their colour and leaves back, bringing a sense of hope to Azure’s mind and making him understand that there was some chance at least to get life back to near enough how it should have been, but knowing full well that life would never return to normal, ever.

As they continued to walk down the path, the rain eventually stopped, bringing some quietness to the surrounding area, making them both happier in general. Azure looked to Sadjoy and saw that she was most likely enjoying the walk, allowing most of her stress to finally subside and be replaced with thoughts of happiness and tranquility, making her more open to more controversial thoughts for the duration of their walk. It was nice to just get out of harm's way and to just have a stress free walk, something Azure appreciated for being able to do at that moment. It did bring up a recurring thought, but that was a thought that needed to get out of his head as quickly as it could, to avoid him getting upset about it again and making him a little more stressed than he needed to be. There was one question that was floating around in his mind about a familiar face that he had never actually realised.

Sadjoy? How did you end up here? I have not seen a bat pony like you before. Yes, we have Crimson and Lavender here now, who are bat ponies as well, but you have fight in you, whereas they don’t. I'm really interested to know.” Azure asked, pressing his thoughts to be able to make her choice that little bit easier. Her ears folded back a little as she closed her eyes, before she took in a deep breath and opened them again, allowing her ears to point to the sky, like she was trying to detect something.

“The truth of the matter is that I have amnesia, making it nearly impossible for me to remember my past, due to something that happened that i still can't remember. I can remember a tiny bit, but that is all there is to it pretty much. I don't know how i got here, due to me gaining amnesia and what not, but i woke up on a bed, being in Roselight’s care. She helped me to get out of my state of paranoia and showed me around the settlement, before she showed me to one of her old friends, who tried to attack her on sight of her. I'm pretty sure that she was a ghoul that went feral, but who knows. As soon as she saw my defensive skills and my ease of attacking, she immediately put me as a guard of the settlement, keeping my bat like nature and guarding during the night, just like the other bat ponies did apparently, before the war. There was a proudness that Roselight had for me then, but it has died down to me just being an ally now. I'm just like any other pony now.” Sadjoy explained, getting Azure to feel bad for her, just because she couldn't remember her past and that she was somepony special to somepony else and now she wasn't. That thought alone hurt Azure in a way that he couldn't even describe, making him hug her that she lost out on so much.

“I'm sorry that you are unable to remember your past.” Azure blurted out, getting a smile and chuckle in response.

“There is no need to feel sorry. I feel like losing my memory was a good thing, otherwise I probably would have been looking for a way to get to my true home, but now, this area is my home! I'm pretty sure that I was a bat guard or something before I lost my memory, which explains how I got my skills immediately.” Sadjoy pointed out, getting Azure by surprise that she was happier that she lost her memory.

“Ah, that might explain it then.” Azure added, continuing their conversation. He heard a rustling in the bushes across from him, thinking that it was something other than the wind hitting it. He didn't think too much of it, as they both stopped to talk more on the subject that they were. Azure used his wings to hover in the air for a short period of time, allowing his hooves to rest for a tiny bit, before he landed back on the ground and stretched.

“How about you Alchem? What is your past all about, or did you get amnesia too?” Sadjoy asked, before stopping and chuckling to herself about the little joke that she had just made, making her happiness rise, due to forgetting the topic of herself. Azure pondered for a moment, not really diving too much into his past before, apart from when he was talking to Blitz, but even then, Azure didn't give Blitz the entire story.

“It’s all a little bit more complicated than you might think. I’m not any normal pegasus…” Azure stated, before getting silenced by Sadjoy, her placing a wing tip onto Azure’s lips, stopping him from talking in the slightest. She giggled slightly at Azure’s statement, being happy that she cut him off before he was able to get anything else out. She glared at Azure, almost like she was angry at him to go on. This somewhat prevented him from moving on with anything like that. Instead, Azure remembered back to a time when he was in a more peaceful part of the Wasteland, an area that didn't see too much activity at all.

“Okay, start again! I wanna hear about your life, since we are on the topic of it.” Sadjoy commanded, making Azure chuckle a little bit. He didn't want to tell Sadjoy that he was a zebra, or that he had been telling her his wrong name, but he hated lying as well. Azure sighed slightly, before releasing all of the air he had stored in his cheeks from him getting cut off from the outrageous bat pony mare.

“So, before i do anything, i must tell you that i will not lie to you, at least anymore, because i trust you enough for you to understand the situation that i was put into. My name is not Alchem, at least not anymore. My name is Azure, Doctor Azure would be my real title, if i didn't use that other name with my doctor title. Anyway, my name is Azure and i am a pegasus zebra hybrid!” Azure explained, letting it all out and seeing the look of shock on her face. She was more confused than anything else, making Azure feel like he had done something wrong to hurt the mare that was standing right in front of him. Azure felt the sins of what he had just admitted to, crawling down his back and sharpening his wings, making them stick out in fear.

There was some more rustling coming from the bush that Azure originally had pointed out to himself, but he was pretty sure that it was the wind, making him look back at Sadjoy with an apologetic look, making her look even more confused.

“Why do you look like that? You ain't done anything wrong!” Sadjoy explained, making Azure brighten up a tiny bit, Sadjoy still seeing him in the state that he was before. Azure still felt that she was angry at him, when she suddenly smiled, her ears folding back and pointing to the ground, as Azure’s expression slowly changed from being apologetic to being somewhat happy about all of the stuff that was going on in his life right there and then. Without a second to spare, Azure ran up to Sadjoy and hugged her tightly, not noticing the bush rustle again. He was more distracted on hugging a pony that looked like she needed one.

Suddenly, a couple of voices could be heard traveling in their direction. Azure stopped his hugging and turned to see one of the raiders slowly running away from something. Brick and Cidershot came into view, looking nearly as apologetic as Azure did, making the two completely starstruck by what was happening. The raider took one look at both Azure and Sadjoy and then started to slow down, before stopping a couple of steps past them, being closer to the bush than the others were. There was no rustling from the bush at that moment in time, which made Azure a little curious as to why all of the other bushes were rustling in the wind, but not that one, almost like some of the branches from the bush were being held together. Azure regained his focus and returned to the topic at hoof, that raider’s activity.

Brick and Cidershot came closer to both Azure and Sadjoy, making the raider move back a little bit. Brick noticed that there was something off about the raider, but when he went to investigate it further, the raider ran away from them both. Cidershot was as confused as Azure and Sadjoy were in this scenario, making him know nothing about the pony that Brick was tracking down. The diamond dog looked at the raider with different eyes than he had earlier, making Azure think that Brick was up to something that nopony else knew about.

“We don’t want to hurt you, pony! I just want to help you become better, but it ain’t easy when they are running away from you.” Brick explained, stating a fact in the process. The raider took one look at Azure and then smiled, before the bush rustled again, but stopped instantly, making Azure a little afraid of the bush or what was within it. Something was definitely within it, but what it was, Azure couldn't tell. The raider stared back at Brick and Cidershot, making them both feel like they were somewhat to blame for the raider’s action. They weren't to blame for the raider being afraid of them, they were only trying to help after all, which confused Azure a little and made him step out to the raider.

Before Azure could get close, a figure rose up out of the bush, armed with sharpened, glistening fangs that reflected Azure’s own image back at him. The figure was not the tallest, but it didn't help that it had wings on it. It licked its lips, before lashing out of the bush, dashing straight at the raider. Within the course of a second, the figure ripped into the raider’s neck with its fangs, before dragging them down the raider’s body. The worst part about all of it, was that the raider was still alive, but that was short lived as the figure bent the raider’s head back a little and stuck its fangs into his eye sockets. It was a horrific gory display, one that almost made Azure spill his guts right there.

Sadjoy flew up, before disappearing into the sky, leaving the others to deal with the… thing! They still didn't know what it was, even though it was that close to them. The figure threw the lifeless body of the reformed raider onto the floor, splashing in a little puddle of blood from his own system, making Azure nearly urge. Cidershot and Brick both brought out their weapons and started shooting at the figure, before it darted behind a tree that was close by. Azure ran to his own piece of cover, overlooking the entire fight.

Brick hit a shot on the figure, before he pissed it off big time. It came out from cover and opened up its wings, before vanishing from sight. Brick placed his gun in a little pouch that he had around his waist, before reading his fists and looking around. A couple of seconds passed, but Brick didn't lower his fists, keeping them ready for when the thing came back to strike him down. There was noise that came from above, almost like a bat screech, making Azure look up and ready himself. A second passed and nothing happened, so Azure decided to go up and check on where Sadjoy was. As Azure was about to extend his wings, the figure appeared, lashing out at Brick and scratching his arm, making it bleed a little. Brick striked back, hitting the figure with some force, before it moved back, due to recoiling.

The figure looked right at Azure before flying directly at him, just to get smacked in the stomach from the diamond dog who was out to avenge a fallen friend. The figure wrapped around Brick, before biting him in the neck, like it did to the raider before putting him out of his misery. Azure wasn't going to let that happen, making him leave his place of safety. Azure charged at the figure, flying at full force towards the diamond dog with the figure as a backpack. Azure rammed into the figure, making them detach from the diamond dog and fall onto the floor. It looked at Azure before growling and lashing out at him, before a certain bat pony came down and landed on the figure. Sadjoy looked furious! She landed so hard onto the figure's head, it cracked and smashed underneath her, making her wince, still being as angry as she had been before coming into contact with the figure. Brick whimpered a little, before Azure shot him with one of his syringes, taking the pain away from the pained diamond dog and slowly closing up all of the wounds that Brick had, due to the figure. Sadjoy saw Brick healing and stepped away from the lifeless body that she had just made. The blood was still red, making Azure understand that it wasn't a changeling of any kind, due to them having green blood.

Azure got a little closer to the dead body, before looking it over. It had little jagged pieces sticking out of its skin, looking almost like bone. It was bone! Azure saw that there were red marks around the area that the bones stuck out of the body. Azure was pretty sure that the pony must have been dead already, due to how painful it looked. The wounds didn't look like they were from fights, they looked like they had been carefully opened, slowly allowing the bones to grow out from their usual positions, rendering the figure to be able to use their bones as weapons. Azure evaluated the wings next, seeing that they were sharp.

“Sadjoy, can you come here please? I need your help for something.” Azure asked, not looking up, but keeping his eyes on the wings, almost like he had seen them before. Sadjoy walked over to Azure, before stopping in front of him, seeing that he was evaluating the body that was lying before them. She gulped a little, feeling like she had done something wrong, like it was her fault or something. Azure looked up to her and then stood up, being able to take his eyes off the body again. He turned her around and evaluated her back and wings, seeing that they were almost identical to the body on the floor.

“Well then, that makes life just a little bit scarier for the ponies in the Wasteland.” Azure muttered to himself, catching Sadjoy’s attention as she was walking away to go and talk to Brick about what he was feeling. She turned around and stared at Azure, directly in the eyes, seeing that there was a bit more fear in his eyes than normal, making her feel like she had to know what was up. Azure slowly looked at the body again, before going back over to it and sitting down, before turning the body over to reveal the cutie mark of the once alive pony, but it wasn't there, just like the rest of them hadn’t been for the others. Azure backed up, before closing his eyes and sighing. “At least this one is dead…” Azure added, shortly after inspecting the body.

“What are you on about Azure? What is wrong?” Sadjoy asked, being slightly concerned that he was acting like this. Azure took in a deep breath, before sighing and letting it all out slowly.

“It is a good thing that you killed this, because if you didn’t, then I am pretty sure that this pegasus… no, bat pony ghoul would have killed a fair amount of ponies.” Azure explained, thanking Sadjoy a little for doing a good deed that she didn't even know she did. Sadjoy was a little confused at this and looked over the body, seeing the body was morphed more than she realised, noticing the bones that were jutting out of the bat pony’s body, making her feel a little uneasy due to the sight of it alone. She slowly backed up, making sure that she was a safe distance from the body, just in case it was to reincarnate itself somehow, even though she had killed it and its brain, or what was left of it, before she crushed it.

Azure took another look at Brick, seeing that he was recovering from his wounds, helped by Azure using his healing potion solution on Brick’s body, due to the syringe gun and the syringe. Azure was so happy that he was able to help ponies and creatures like that, because the only thing that Azure planned on doing, was helping out other ponies and creatures. This thought alone gave Azure something to smile about, before he remembered the raider who had been murdered by the bat pony ghoul.

Azure slowly walked over to the lifeless body and sighed, being a little annoyed that he was unable to save the life of one of his potentially future friends. Azure had given him a second chance and all he did was brush it away, like it was a bit of dirt on a clean floor. Azure felt a little bad about all of it, seeing exactly how the raider had died and hating every second of it, making him wish that he had never seen it himself. He was sure enough to go to sleep and have nightmares about what he had witnessed, making the thought of going to sleep less and less wanted. Azure shook his head to clear his mind, before turning to Sadjoy, seeing that she was trying to clean herself.

Azure walked over to the bat pony who was trying to clean herself and scooped up some water with his wings, before dropping it all, over her hooves, making it easier to wash off all of the blood that she had accumulated on them, due to smashing in the head of the feral bat pony ghoul. Azure took one look at the dead body of the ghoul and sighed, noticing that there was still blood rushing from the crushed head of the headless ghoul, sending shivers down his spine and making his feather on his wings stand on end.

As soon as Sadjoy was clean enough, she kissed Azure on the lips and thanked him for helping her, which made him blush a little and also helped to clear his head of any negative thoughts or ideas that he might have had within his skull and allowed him to focus on all of the important parts of the night that he had remaining, which was getting back to the settlement without getting anymore hurt that they already were, mentally of course. The other objective that Azure had was to get back to the settlement in one piece, which at that point, seemed somewhat likely, but he had his doubts. A clap of thunder was enough to put his plans into action, scooting back to the settlement with his little convoy of ponies and the diamond dog. Azure walked alongside his little group, seeing Sadjoy to his right and Brick and Cidershot to his left. Cidershot had his guns out, just in case anything was to go south at all during their journey back to the settlement.

By now, the moon was slightly visible though the cloud, being lighter than the sun at some points. The moon irradiated some violent light out of its core, making Azure feel like he was being watched by something that wasn't actually there, which made sense because of how different night was, compared to day. That might also have explained how there was a bat pony ghoul instead of a normal pegasus ghoul or even a standard unicorn or earth pony ghoul. The bat pony ghoul seemed to hunt better, hiding in the bushes while it waited for the perfect moment to strike on a victim that was not expecting it, making it more efficient than most of the raiders in the Wasteland, making Azure chuckle a little as he thought about it more than he should have.

Azure kept looking back at Brick, checking to see if he is okay, which he was, bringing his mind to rest at the fact that one of his friends had been hurt during a fight with a different type of enemy that they had never seen before the events that unfolded around five minutes ago. Azure looked at all of his friends, just to check that they were okay, before looking at the ground for the remainder of their journey back to the settlement. Sadjoy could sense that something was off with Azure, due to him acting like he was, which made Sadjoy get a little curious to know what was affecting him so much. Sadjoy walked a little closer to her special friend, before wrapping her wings around him, slowing his movements down a little, so that she was able to talk to Azure without the fear that he would have just ran away.

“What’s up Azure? What’s making you feel like this all of a sudden?” Sadjoy asked, clearly caring a lot about her friend, wanting to see him smile again, but was it ever that simple.

“I was the reason that the raider died. I gave him a second chance to live his life, like any normal pony would and he just threw it away, all because he had trust in me. If he didn’t stay there looking at me, he probably would have been okay and probably would have lived.” Azure admitted, not crying at all, just giving off a blank stare into the void that was the ground. Sadjoy knew that it was not like Azure to act so down, but he really did hate killing people and couldn't face the fact that somepony choked their second chance that they got.

“Azure, you just need to accept that ponies and creatures will always die, some sooner than others. You are not the reason that the raider died at all. You were the pony that stayed motivated on your motto of killing being wrong and gave a huge group of ponies a second chance. Maybe the one that died was a bad apple or something along those lines, but i can tell you something. You are probably one of the best ponies in the Wasteland, especially due to you showing mercy to those you come across, always giving ponies a second chance. If they accept your offer and then die after, they have themselves to blame for it, not you!” Sadjoy explained, making Azure tear up a bit, due to all of the nice things that she said about him.

Azure thought about it for a second, before agreeing with her explanation. Nopony was safe from death, but Azure definitely agreed that he was trying to prolong the lives of many ponies and creatures, due to what was happening with the Wasteland. Azure wanted the world to go back to normal, or as close to normal as the world could get, knowing full well that the world would never return to that state, at least not for a long while. Azure could always dream, which gave him the motivation and the inspiration to keep going, due to him wanting to show that he was a better pony than all of the others. He would try to be ‘The dashite that could’, which gave him even more motivation to keep going.

Azure wiped a tear from his eye, before hugging Sadjoy with all of his might, before kissing her on the cheek, to show his gratitude that he had for her, for being able to help him get out of the loophole that he was beginning to get stuck into. Sadjoy blushed a little bit, knowing that he was grateful to say the least. They regained focus on their task at hoof and continued to walk back to the settlement, speeding up a little bit to catch up with both Brick and Cidershot ahead.

They reached the settlement, before the group split off in different directions. Sadjoy walked back to her home, Azure knowing that she was definitely going to sleep, while Brick went to go and buy something from the gryphon that was surprisingly still awake, Nightclaw. As for Cidershot, he just stood by the gate, waiting patiently for something to happen, which Azure didn't really understand. Azure began walking back to his home, when he realised that his vision was slowly fading to blackness. This made him panic, before he dropped to the floor, unable to move his body. Time felt like it had been frozen, before he was forced to close his eyes, on the wet floor. Before he knew it, he had passed out, right in front of the gate to the settlement, making him worry as he slipped into a trance that he didn't know how to escape from.

Azure pushed against the floor and tried to get himself up, failing multiple times in the process, but succeeding some time later, which made him worry about what happened. Azure stood still on all four of his hooves, keeping himself tall and sturdy, as well as making himself look more like a pony that nopony wanted to mess with. Azure was pretty sure that he was unconscious, but he couldn't tell for sure, due to how real the events that he was seeing were. He just needed a sign that he was unconscious and he had found it in the form of nothing.

Azure watched and originally saw a couple of ponies on a roof talking, before he had passed out. Azure looked back up to that same roof and saw that not only were the ponies not there, but the building itself was also replaced by something else, maybe another type of building, but it definitely wasn't the same. Azure now knew that he was in a fake world, just being another thought within his mind now. Azure decided that it would have been useless to just stay still, so he began to look around the unfamiliar settlement, which intrigued him enough to venture into the houses of others. Azure entered the first house and saw that it looked just like Roselight’s house, but it wasn't. There was a figure within the house, but Azure didn't pick up on it at first, making him close the door and move onto the next one, one that was unused in the real world that he was living. As soon as he opened the door, he was a little bit shocked. It was the same at the other house.

Azure stepped into the property, before noticing the figure, making him jump a little. Azure looked at the figure, noticing that it was a little smaller than him, making him feel a little more powerful overall. Azure walked around the room, noticing that it was exactly like Roselight’s house. Infact, the house was Roselight’s, on the inside at least, making Azure get a little confused for a second, before he understood why it did it. The reason it did it was because that was one of the only buildings other than his own, that he had entered in the settlement, so his mind was making all of the houses look the same. The figure lit up their horn and moved through the shadows, lighting its path ahead of itself, to make it easier to see what it was doing.

Azure watched it with a little bit of amusement, wanting to know first of all, what it was and second of all, why was it in his illusion? Azure watched the figure carefully, before noticing that it made a little bit of a mistake, which was revealing one of its hooves as it came out of the shadows, to go into another set of shadows. Azure smiled a little and walked towards that shadow, which noticed Azure’s movement, making Azure realise that he was probably dreaming, but somepony was within his dream or illusion that was able to control themselves, making them have another shared dream experience.

“Blitz? Just come out of the shadows! I know it’s you, you sneaky fuck.” Azure joked, knowing Blitz’s humor very well. The figure stopped before looking directly at Azure, not really showing any happiness at all, just a little bit of sadness. Azure knew that Blitz was happy to see him, but something was bothering him, making Azure worry. Blitz stepped out from the shadows before teleporting them both to Azure’s home. Azure could see that something was stressing Blitz out, making him want to hug him as tightly as possible, which is exactly what he did, tearing up a little bit. Blitz teared up a little as well, before pushing Azure a little away, keeping his distance from him. Blitz didn't want to speak, but he did do something that made Azure question himself. Before Blitz did anything, he teleported something onto the wall, next to the picture of the Project Chimera project. Azure noticed it, due to the big green flash that appeared there.

Azure didn't get time to read it, before he was flung into the bed that he owned, before blinking and gasping. He saw that the room was the exact same, only Sadjoy was sleeping on his chest. Was he dreaming, or did that just happen?

Chapter 18: Ambush Adventures

Azure panicked for a second, before realising that he was back in the real world for sure, due to being able to feel the weight of the bat pony that was on top of him, crushing him for air a little, as he slightly moved her while she was on top of him, trying not to wake her up at all, due to how adorable she was on top of him. Azure shifted her slightly, allowing himself to catch some air and breathe a sigh of relief due to him being back in the real world and not in the fake one. Although Azure liked Blitz’s company, he had to be real for Azure to take a blind notice, due to how much he needed him, for company, for emotional support, or more. Azure missed him, but the more that Azure thought about him, the more he would get off track and make more mistakes, which is something that nopony wanted to do within the Wasteland. More than likely, it was Azure’s brain trying to play tricks on him, making him see illusions that were within his memory.

Azure closed his eyes before remembering something that happened within the dream that he had, involving Blitz and himself. Azure rolled Sadjoy off himself, before standing up on his own hooves, finding it a little harder than normal. Azure looked down to see that nothing had changed from before he passed out earlier, making him think it was just a little bit of light headedness from him originally passing out. Azure kept that as his excuse for not being able to walk straight, before clambering on with his little investigation. Azure looked at the wall, originally where the Project Chimera image was, before noticing that the image had disappeared and had been replaced with an image of a map, a small map to be exact.

The map was of Equestria, pre war and being all bright and colourful, making Azure wish more that the world would have gone back to that state in the future, but it seemed unlikely. The map showed areas that Azure’s Pipbuck recognised, like Sweet Apple Acres and the Steel Ranger’s base in Hoofington Harbour or Docks, whichever one was the correct one. There was another location that Azure’s PipBuck understood, making Azure question the machine that was on his leg. An area called Blitz’s Cove was marked as a point of interest, making Azure feel like that was his last objective to go to, but when it was all over, he would go there.

There was a location that showed three dots together, which Azure thought was the three artifacts that they had already. There should have been more dots, indicating five out of the six in total that they needed. Azure zoomed out on the map on his Pipbuck, but nothing happened, only showing three dots, due to the three that they had condensing together and creating one icon on his Pipbuck. Azure looked back at the image, before noticing that it had been replaced by the Project Chimera image, making Azure get a little creeped out by what had just happened. It was definitely real, due to the locations being on Azure’s Pipbuck, suggesting the routes to take to get to said objective.

Azure looked back at Sadjoy, seeing that she was beginning to wake up. Her ears twitched before snapping to an upright position and making her look around to see if Azure was still close to her. She spotted him across the room before smiling at him, showing him that she was awake, rather than being half asleep. She began to get up, stretching as she did, before walking over to Azure and placing her hoof on his head, trying to take his temperature with her hoof. She noticed that he was still a tad bit too hot for her liking, so she walked to the window and looked outside to see what the weather was like. It was raining hard!

“In a minute, we will both go outside to get some fresh air and wake up properly, okay Azure?” Sadjoy asked, beginning to sound like she was a parent looking after a foal. Azure was a little confused, but nodded, understanding that a little rain was probably good to wake them both up, especially him, due to him passing out last night for no reason whatsoever. Sadjoy walked up to the door, before flinging it open and hopping out into the cold, noticing that it wasn't nearly as radioactive as it should have been, making her question if it was a good thing or not.

Azure slowly walked outside and looked to the sky, seeing that it was as dark and as grey as always, due to his kind slowly caring for themselves and no other race. Azure hated them for that, as the rain fell on him, waking him up more and giving him a more of a fresh sense to him. Sadjoy joined him in the rain, slowly outstretching her wings and getting them wetter. It was beginning to chuck it down, as the rain fell on the two below, soaking them in water that refreshed their bodies and made them feel cleaner. Sadjoy tackled Azure to the ground, before pinning to the floor and kissing him on the lips. She closed her eyes as she did the action, making Azure do the complete opposite and made him keep his eyes wide open, being a little bit in shock that she was doing that out in the open, but was also in pure bliss, due to how soft her lips were. Azure didn’t know how to respond to the bat pony’s actions, so he just rolled with it, as more rain continued to fall on the pair.

Sadjoy was the one to break the kiss, Azure holding on for as long as he could, so that he could enjoy her taste. It was so enticing, but allowed for him to feel like he had a goal in life at least, so that was a positive to keep his mind positive too. Azure looked over to see Gretzky staring at them both, making Azure yell in surprise. Sadjoy jumped a little from seeing the gryphon just stood there silently, watching the scenes and they unfolded.. Azure got to his hooves and shook himself off, getting a confused look from Gretzky.

“There really wasn’t a point to shaking off here Alchem, you’ll just get as wet here as you would anywhere else without cover. Anyway, I need you two to go to Roselight’s area. We have the locations for the artifacts and we are sending you two to get one of them.” Gretzky explained, getting a sympathetic look from Azure, due to the fact that Azure got caught kissing Sadjoy. Gretzky rolled his eyes, before flying off to his little shop, working on something as soon as he landed on the shop floor. Azure looked at Sadjoy, as they began to walk to Roselight’s home.

“So, what happened last night for me to be in bed with you this morning?” Azure asked, getting a cheeky glance from the bat pony as she eyed him down. She went to speak, but hesitated to say anything for a couple of seconds, coming up with something to say.

“You passed out and they yelled out your name as I walked away, but I turned around and flew you back home. It began to thunder last night, so I held up in your home, I hope that that was okay for me to do, Azure.” Sadjoy answered, getting a smile from the pegasus zebra hybrid and making her blush a little. Azure had no idea why she felt bad about staying at Azure’s home, since she had already stayed there before, making his mind try to get around that thought, but unfortunately, it couldn't do it quick enough. Azure chuckled, before kissing her on the cheek.

“You don't have to worry about stuff like that, because I trust you enough for me to know that you wouldn't hurt me, at least not intentionally.” Azure joked, laughing a little to clear the air around them, making the tension between them seem less powerful, turning it into a loving tension, instead of an anxiety one.

The rain continued to batter them with its wrath, hitting them occasionally with its water, which added to their already wet coat of fur and water. The rain felt nice for once, making Azure want to walk slower, to allow him to experience the most of the situation. Azure didn’t want to fall behind too much, so he quickened his pace a little, catching up with Sadjoy and nuzzling her neck. She was cold!

Sadjoy looked behind her to see Azure nuzzling her, making her blush a little, before using her wings to soar into the sky, making Azure’s eyes follow her with every movement. She looked so exotic when she was flying, due to the shape of her wings and what they were made of. Azure was a little bit jealous that the bat pony mare in front of him was showing off something Azure could never get. It aggravated him, but he enjoyed everything about himself anyway, so the jealousy slipped right off his train of thought.

A couple of slow minutes later, they got to the home of Roselight and stopped, before knocking on the door. Azure watched as Sadjoy landed next to him, happy as ever, but also being soaked from head to hoof, making Azure chuckle, as her main flopped in front of her vision. It made her all that more adorable and cute, within the harsh confines of the Wasteland. Nothing was meant to be good in the Wasteland, making it almost a rule for all of pony kind to not be good, but Sadjoy broke every rule in that fake ruleset, making her a devilish criminal, which Azure liked a little.

Roselight opened the door with her magic, a dark blueish gold aura surrounding the entire door, making it look like it was from another era, another world. Azure and Sadjoy both walked through, before shaking off before getting any closer to any of Roselight’s work. It was carefully sketched out on paper, making it become weak to water, which was something both Sadjoy and Azure both had all around them, so they made sure to make themselves both kind of dry, just to lower the chances as much as they could to avoid getting water onto Roselight’s sensitive work.

Roselight rolled her eyes, before sending a blistering wave of heat past the two, evaporating any water they had on their bodies. It worked really well, due to Azure noticing that his mane was perfectly dry and his fur was fluffy, making him look a little bigger and wider than he was. Sadjoy laughed at Azure, before noticing herself, making Azure fall to the ground in laughter. Sadjoy was the literal definition of a fluff ball, but she came with a pair of wings. She was literally a ball, with on legs, but with wings. Azure was too busy laughing on the floor to notice that they both moved away. Once Azure did notice, he chased after them, into the next room. Azure was pretty sure that the walls would have been littered with notes, but to his surprise, they weren’t. All of the notes that were there before were now gone and replaced with the wall. It made the room look so much nicer, and gave Roselight less distractions at least. Azure walked to the table and saw the map of locations, just like the other one that he had seen pinned to the wall in his home, only this map was bigger and missing one of the points. Azure was about to point that out to Roselight, but Gretzky slammed open the door and entered, before he could get a word out. It was a little bit aggravating, but Azure could wait his turn for him to speak.

“Okay all of you, listen up! We now have the locations for all of the artifacts, so we can plan out when we are going and where we are going.” Roselight roared out with confidence, Azure still seeing the same thing on the map, making Azure think that she was still wrong, due to him seeing only one area highlighted on the map, but then he realised that there were multiple maps underneath, making him think that he was a bit of an idiot. Roselight went to the maps and spread them all out, noticing that there was one that had a suspicious looking note on it. Roselight picked up the note and read it out aloud.

“I got this one for you. You will receive it when i next get back from my job.” Roselight said aloud, reading the note word for word. To her, it didn't make any sense, due to everypony being accounted for within the settlement, unless somepony snuck out without enlisting it to the guard. Roselight was still sceptical, due to nopony knowing about the maps until last night. Azure looked at his Pipbuck and saw that the location marker for the artifact at the Steel Ranger base was dimmed out, being replaced with a different tag. The tag was now set to optional, making Azure look a little confused and making him think that Blitz had something to do with it, despite him still being encased in stone, or was he?

Roselight looked back at the map and saw that it was the one from their last exhibition, to the Steel Ranger base that they had to run from. It was confusing her enough to make her forget about the note, before throwing it away and continuing with the plan, like she had intended. She looked over all of the maps and tried to figure out which ones were the ones that she wanted to use to show the others what to do. After a good minute of searching for the correct ones, she eventually found the one for the happy pair.

“Ah, here we go. I want both of you to travel down to Sweet Apple Acres, right next to Ponyville. It may be a long journey, but it is the only one that I can trust you two to go on, due to Gretzky needing to be here for business purchases and nightclaw being her for weapon crafting and assembling. I don't expect anypony else to be able to do it as well as you two could.” Roselight admitted, seeing a smile on Sadjoy’s face and the complete opposite on Azure’s face. He had learned that it was right next to stable two, which had the myth of never opening. Maybe both himself and Sadjoy could have a closer look at the stable and see if it was like the myth said it was. That thought of adventure alone, put a smile on Azure’s face, making Roselight seem satisfied with her decision.

A couple of minutes later, Azure and Sadjoy were on their way to Ponyville first, to scout out the area and then move to Sweet Apple Acres. Roselight had ordered Gretzky to give them all of the supplies that they would have needed to travel such a distance, knowing that it would take them literal days just to get there. They were given enough food to be able to survive about a week, before they would have to fend for themselves. Something seemed off about that in Azure’s eyes, but he didn't care too much about it. Instead, he was focusing on the main task at hoof, which was not dying and getting to Ponyville. It seemed a bit excessive to make two of them go on an adventure like this, when she could have made any of the raiders go after the items, but he guessed that she didn't trust them enough to do a task like the one that they had been assigned to, making Azure feel a little special, due to his own mind coming up with that solution. Sadjoy kept her eye on Azure, knowing that if worse came to worse, then Azure still wouldn't pick up a weapon. That was the only thing that annoyed Sadjoy, but she loved him nonetheless. He had his rights and she had hers, so she actually admired him a little bit more for his resentment to kill, always turning to a non lethal option to take out creatures and ponies.

Azure noticed that the sky was getting brighter, making him hope for a good day to begin their journey. To get to Ponyville, they would either have to climb the very tall mountain that was in the distance, or go around the mountain and try to keep clear of Canterlot, due to the amount of radiation around that area. The amount there made it so nopony, not even Blitz, could survive there, due to something that they called pink radiation or pink mist or something along those lines. It was so bad, that it would melt everything it came into contact with, including metal, which gave Azure a painful image that entered his mind, making him want to clear his mind as quickly as possible.

Both Azure and Sadjoy had a huge journey ahead of them, making their minds race with both motivation of what they might find within the Wasteland, while being on the journey that they had been sent on, but feared for both the settlement and themselves. They feared that something might happen to them that they couldn't escape from. It made them both expressionless figures, wandering the Wasteland looking for answers, or so it felt like to them, having all of the dread within them. Azure closed his eyes before sighing and then yawning, indicating that he was tired. Since yawns were infectious, Sadjoy yawned shortly after, her body forcing itself to mimic Azure’s actions, due to… reasons.

Azure kept looking at his Pipbuck every five minutes, just to check how close they were getting to Ponyville. Azure was surprised to find that there was little to no progress that happened after five minutes of walking, making him feel like the journey would have taken longer than expected. Sadjoy was left to ponder what they might have come across when they got there. Were they expecting to see ghoul after ghoul, rampant about killing them and eating them, or were they expecting to see more raiders patrolling the grounds, ready to kill them in cold blood for no reason whatsoever, other than being in their sight. The thoughts that Sadjoy was having dampened her mood and made it so that she couldn't think straight, getting Azure’s attention.

“Are you alright Sadjoy?” Azure asked, before stepping closer to her, making sure that she was in fact okay. She didn't answer for a couple of seconds, before shaking her head, before looking up and over to Azure, feeling like she needed a pony to lean on. Luckily enough, Azure was the said pony that she needed, nopony else was equal to him. Azure covered Sadjoy with his wing, wrapping it around her, before pulling her closer to him and nuzzling her, building up her confidence a little and bringing her out of her little anxious bubble that the was pinned within
“I just don't see anything good coming from going to this area. I’m just a little afraid of what we will find there, whether that is raiders like the ones that raided last time, or ghouls that are ready to either turn us or kill us.” Sadjoy announced, getting into a little bit of a panic. Azure comforted her by rubbing her with his wings, each little feather on them massaging her back and making her unwind a little, making Azure chuckle as he noticed that she liked it. Sadjoy noticed the smile on his face and paused him before he was able to say anything to her. “Don't you say anything!” She recoiled, snapping at Azure but loving the massage so much more than she could have anticipated, making her lean into it, making her lean into Azure, only making his smile grow.

Before long, it was raining and the lovey dovey mood changed for one that was more about focusing on themselves. Azure was trying to stay as small as possible, still moving at his normal walking speed. Sadjoy on the other hoof was above. She flew higher into the sky, trying to find a middle ground between the sky and the floor. If it was up to her, she would have gone above the clouds, but unfortunately those clouds were monitored by the Enclave, the pegasi above.

Lightning began to form, flashing in front of both of them, giving them a similar reaction to each other. They both didn't care about it, watching as the lightning bolt began to disappear, retreating back into the sky after seeing both of the duo. Sadjoy decided that it was safer to land, rather than being in the air and be more of a target. She landed next to Azure and said nothing, trying not to break the concentration for either of them by ruining their beloved silence.

Azure noticed Sadjoy and turned to smile at her, before another bolt of lightning striked the sky, lighting up their world, like nopony else could. A roar of thunder quickly followed behind, feeling like it shook the ground that they were stood on. Azure looked back to the front and said nothing, noticing that there was an abandoned building in front of them. It would have kept them dry, so they both decided to stay within the building to dry off.

They got to the building, before Sadjoy peeked through one of the broken windows and saw some ghouls within the building. She didn't want to waste her bullets on some ghouls that could barely move, so she decided to use a piece of metal from outside the building, probably being a piece of the frame of the house. Azure tried to open the door, but found that he had no luck in opening it. Sadjoy tried to pry open the window frame, using the object that she had just picked up and failed, watching the metal snap in front of her and breaking the window frame, making it bend inwards, making it near impossible to open without something like a crowbar.

Sadjoy was giving up with entering the house and not too much later, Azure was done with the house, finding no other way to enter the still solid structure. The ghouls within clawed at the window, finally catching sight of the duo and making them notice them, due to the noises that they were making. It wasn't like any normal ghoul, but maybe could have been one that had changed recently, still having some sort of voice box in place still. Azure got a little angry that they weren't able to get within the property, but he relaxed a little, closing his eyes for a couple of seconds, before opening them and walking away from the house.
Azure turned back around and rushed at the window, an object present in his mouth. Azure charged at the window of the building and stopped, using his momentum to throw a piece of debris into the window. It broke the window, but still didn't allow them to enter the property. Sadjoy flew up and looked around the building, before noticing that there were no other windows on the second floor and had no chimney, making her get a little frustrated at the sight of no other options. Azure and Sadjoy had to leave the property, due to them being unable to get within the property. They had to be smart about where they went and what they did, due to them needing to get back before the food ran out.

Azure signalled for Sadjoy to follow him, which she would have done anyway. Sadjoy rolled her eyes before looking back at the property, her wet mane getting in the way of her vision, forcing her to move it to the side or to a new position, so that it didn't get in her way. Sadjoy turned her head to look back at Azure and noticed that he was going to risk himself getting killed, wanting to pick up the pace at which they were moving. Azure flew closer to the clouds, fearlessness within both of his eyes as he glanced over at Sadjoy. She looked to the ground before flying up a little bit, only enough to clear the building and the treetops, which was enough for her as well as Azure.

Azure was going a little over the top with what he was doing, due to how close he was to the cloud level. He was just a hundred or so metres from the first cloud level, but he was about twenty five metres away from something that zapped anything that tried to enter the cloud level. Once pegasi went down to the ground, they would be unable to come back up to the clouds, forcing some groups of the Enclave to stay down below and make cloud-like terminals to connect with groups above the clouds.

Azure slowly made his way back down to the ground, trying to be more sensible as lightning flashed in front of both of them, making them keep their cool and not really focusing on the lightning. The thunder crept towards them, like a ghoul growling at them from far away, but with more of a sound behind it. Both Azure and Sadjoy were unaffected by it, being more annoyed at the weather than anything, due to how it was always bad when they both went on an adventure together. Azure caught up to the rampant bat pony and looked at her, before she looked back to him, wanting to kiss him mid air, so she did. Sadjoy placed a single kiss on Azure’s cheek before getting back to her normal flying position, making Azure blush in the process.

Their pace was definitely better, due to how much ground they were coving in the span of a couple seconds. Azure was satisfied with their progress, as they flew over countless trees every second and was able to spot everything that was going on below them. Both Sadjoy and Azure spotted countless ghouls as they got closer to a run down settlement. They both didn't stop to look at it, but Azure was instantly reminded of Journey as soon as he looked at the settlement below, bringing back bad memories. Azure shook his head before getting the water out of his mane, or at least a good amount of water out at least, before focusing back on the task of flying.

After about an hour of flying, Azure and Sadjoy needed to land, their wings being a little stiff from the non stop flying that they had been doing since they got into the air. Azure landed next to a tree, seeing that the ground below was dry, tempting Azure enough to make him want to land there, so he did. Sadjoy followed his lead, before landing on the dry ground. She was really grateful for the rest, due to bat pony wings being a little harder to use during harsh weather, but knowing full well that bat pony wings were extraordinary during the dry days and nights, due to how streamline they were, without having the additional weight of all of the feathers that a pegasus like Azure had.

Azure looked around, seeing nothing around them that might have posed as a threat to them, making him smile a little before opening his saddlebag to check if everything was within his saddlebag or if anything had fallen out without him noticing it. Luckily, it was all still there, making Azure breathe a sigh of relief that their long adventure wasn’t kicking off badly. Azure looked over to Sadjoy before noticing that she was ready to cover some distance on her hooves, making Azure smile that she had so much determination about her, raring for more action and more adventure. Azure looked to his Pipbuck and saw that they had made a good amount of distance, making him want to cover some more. With that being said, Azure began to trot slowly South West, Sadjoy following him happily, a great big smile on her face, making her look like she was actually enjoying it. Azure was a little sceptical about her mood, but he wasn't going to question it, not without worry at least.

They both travelled through the lands, the rain doing little to nothing to slow them down, if they found a muddy patch, they would just fly over it and land on the opposite side, making it so that the mud wouldn't slow them down at all. Although flying was easier, in the current weather, they were happy to trot along on the floor and use their wings when they were needed. Azure spotted a cluster of buildings ahead and figured that it was time for a break. They slowly walked over to the buildings and stayed vigilant, ready to pounce if something spooked them.

As they got closer to the settlement, Azure noticed some noise, pointing it out to Sadjoy, who could probably hear it before Azure could anyway, due to bat pony ears being able to pick up more noise, due to being more sensitive, as well as having echolocation, which made it easy for Sadjoy to pick up their exact location. Azure stayed completely silent and still, as Sadjoy went around the first building to see that the ponies were huddled around a fire. The ponies looked nothing like raiders, making Sadjoy think that they might have been normal settlers of the cluster of buildings. Sadjoy signalled for Azure to come to her, which he did within an instant, before Sadjoy coughed, getting the attention of the group by the fire. There was a look of shock on their faces, before there were two firearms pointed to both of them, not really scaring Sadjoy and Azure, due to them probably having the same reaction if some random pony came up behind them and coughed.

“Hello, we are not here to hurt you! We came here looking for a little bit of shelter or a place to just sit down.” Sadjoy announced, seeing no difference from them lowering their weapons. Azure was beginning to think that all wasn't like it seemed, until a pony ran up to the group, before looking at both Azure and Sadjoy.

“Wait, what's happening here? The boss told you idiots to let ponies pass come and go!” The mare stated to the others, making them lower their weapons, still eyeing both of them and not letting them go from their view. There was a pony in particular that didn't seem to like Azure, but Azure simply just took it as a sign of distrust. Sadjoy kept her eye on that one for Azure, being ready to make the first move, if they were planning anything at all. Azure and Sadjoy noticed that all of the buildings that they had seen were indeed run down, but there was a cart with some items in it, which got their attention. If they were able to find some more supplies for their adventure, then they could ensure that they would have enough to go out on an adventure while they were already out in the wild. It was indeed a good idea, but they had to check if the pony running the group was wanting to sell for some caps.

Azure knew that he had some caps to spend, so they walked closer to the cart, getting an alarming glance from one of the armoured ponies that was in the area. The guard walked up to them both and eyed them down like the other ponies did. Azure felt like somepony else was watching him from behind. He turned to see nopony behind him, so he turned back around to look at the guard that was eyeing them both down. Azure had to admit that he felt a little uncomfortable in the situation that he was in, due to all of the eyes being locked onto him for some reason.

“Is there a problem here?” Sadjoy asked, getting Azure behind her, protecting him like he was her foal. Azure did feel a little more protected, until he saw another pony walking up to them both. It was a hooded figure, with a cloak that went down past the end of their hooves, dragging along the floor. Azure noticed that it was a pony, due to the tail that was attached to the pony, that was the only thing that was exposed through the cloak. Azure felt a shiver slap his spine with vigor, making his ears droop. The hooded figure walked past them and up to the cart, before turning around and leaning on the cart itself.

“There shouldn’t be!” The aggressive cloaked mare roared, making the guard back away from Azure, looking like he was almost afraid of the cloaked mare. “I do apologize for all of this little group’s actions. I can assure you that it won't happen again. Do I make myself clear?” The mare added, making the guard nod slowly, showing how much she could do to enforce her rank of being in charge of the group.

“Are you open to trade?” Sadjoy asked, stealing Azure’s words right out of his mouth. He would speak, but Azure was pretty sure that she had it all under control. Azure just stood back and waited for Sadjoy to work her magic, making Azure ponder a tiny bit about if they knew anything about him that even he didn't know about himself. He began to question himself a little, but immediately returned to reality within an instant.

“Take a look at what we have and i will give you an offer that i will take for it.” the mare admitted, letting both Azure and Sadjoy look at what she had to offer. Azure wasn't going to miss the opportunity to look through somewhere for possible stock that they could add to either their collection or to Gretzky’s collection, back at home. Azure and Sadjoy both got taken to the rear of the cart, before the mare opened it with her magic, suggesting that she was at least a unicorn. She walked back a little bit, allowing both Azure and Sadjoy to look about to see if they wanted anything from her collection.

Azure could see some canned foods, making him instantly move towards them, before stopping as he spotted something else. Sadjoy looked at Azure and saw that he was looking at a weapon, but brushed it off instantly, making her go back to worrying about her own business. Azure wasn't looking at the weapon in front of him, he was looking at something that came in a little pack. It looked like the saddlebags that Gretzky wanted, back when Blitz was alive. It was the same material as the rags he wore under the medical jacket, which grabbed his attention. There were four or five saddlebags that were there, so Azure decided to grab the lot, before heading over to the mare. She looked at Azure, before chuckling lightly.

“You really want those pieces of shit? They can’t hold anything inside them. Plus, don't you already have a saddlebag?” She asked, making Azure look down at his saddlebag and smile, knowing that she didn't have a single clue what he was actually going to do with them. She thought for a second, before remembering that both of them were travelling through the old houses to get to someplace else, making her come up with an idea for Azure.

“Where are you two heading to, if you don't mind me asking?” The mare asked, getting a strange reaction from the pair. They didn't expect that question at all, they were more or less thinking that the hooded mare would talk more about the items, rather than what their goals were.

“Umm, we were on our way to ponyville. Why do you ask?” Sadjoy questioned the mare, making her look around. The mare stayed still for a couple of seconds, before sighing loudly, allowing Azure and Sadjoy to both hear her sighing.

“As much as I hate trusting random strangers for things, I need to ask you for a favour.” The mare asked, getting another strange look from both of them. They could agree that it was a little weird to be trusting complete strangers to go so far and grab something for somepony else that they didn't even know if they could trust. The mare seemed a little bit hesitant about asking it, making Azure believe that it was true that she needed a little bit of help.

Azure walked a little closer to the mare, seeing that she was beginning to become a little more timid, making Azure realise that she actually did need some help.

“What do you need help with?” Azure asked, getting the mare to turn to his direction, before she went quiet for a couple of seconds, before pulling out a box. Inside the box was nothing, which confused Azure slightly, as well as Sadjoy, as she looked over Azure’s shoulder, trying to figure out what was going on. The mare put the box away and brought out a photo with her magic, which showed a little box within one of the shops in Ponyville. The box had a circle around it, which made Azure instantly know what the mare was after. She had the box, but didn't have the item within the box. Azure thought at first that it was something to do with greed, but then he realised that there was a little hole in the bottom of the box, which made him get the picture.

“It is a piece of jewelry that my mother had made for me, but unfortunately it fell through one of the many bullet holes in the box. It is in the shop within the image, if it helps at all. You might have to have a little look about the floor around the area, but surprisingly, you should find it still being there, due to all of the raiders that did hold that area being dead somehow. I have absolutely no idea on how they all died, all I know is that there is no threat right now in Ponyville.” The mare spat out, trying to convince the pair as much as she could. Azure grabbed the image that she had, along with the box, before looking at it and wondering why she still kept it. It was too damaged to protect anything else, which made life a little harder when it came to protecting the jewelry. Nonetheless, Azure was determined to help the mare with finding her jewelry, which Azure knew made her smile behind her cloaked face.

Azure turned and noticed that Sadjoy had gone to go talk to somepony else, making him need to walk over to her to tell her that they were ready to go. Azure walked over to Sadjoy and the mare that she was talking to, before noticing that something was completely off. Azure still felt like he was being watched, making him regret staying for so long. Azure walked up to Sadjoy, before tapping her on the shoulder with his hoof, before she turned around with a scowl. Sadjoy looked a little distressed too, making Azure believe that something else was going to happen, but after about a minute, it didn't.

Azure walked out of the cluster of buildings, before looking back at them, Sadjoy to his opposite side doing the exact same. The feeling that Azure felt brought him back to the days of Journey and gave him the exact same vibes that Journey did, just with fewer ponies in it and it not being a settlement at all. Azure looked forward again, trying to forget about all of the stuff that went on at the settlement or little cluster of buildings. Azure tried to focus more on where they were going, rather than where they had just come from. Sadjoy was trying to do the same, feeling the same way that Azure did while at the settlement, which made his stomach crawl like something bad was going to happen and they both didn't know it.

Azure cleared his mind, before spreading his wings and rising himself up into the air. Azure didn't realise it at first, but the rain had actually stopped falling, making their journey more enjoyable and allowed them to travel greater distances, due to them not being dragged down by the rain, which was a positive that came out of this sea of negative thoughts. Azure was shortly accompanied by Sadjoy, as she flew up and glided alongside Azure, making him smile, before he looked forward again. Azure wasn't wanting to take another break until they had got to Ponyville, but knew that they were going to have to during the night, due to exhaustion approaching quicker and quicker, the more they travelled. Azure was beginning to get a little tired, but he pushed on, to try and better himself overall.

Azure was a motivated pony, being the one that would drop other things, so that his friends and family could enjoy themselves to the fullest. His only friend that he had left by his side right then and there, was Sadjoy, which did make him a little sad, due to all of his other allies dying on his adventures. As soon as all of the bad was gone, Azure would continue to fight for peace and equality, even if it was never going to happen. He promised himself that he wouldn't stop pursuing until the world went back to normal, due to him wanting to see the best in ponies and creatures alike.

Sadjoy turned her head and saw that the pegasus was deep in thought, zoned out from the rest of the world and their horrors, making her smile that he was doing something that she would do quite often, due to her emotionless and non-rememberable past. It hurt her to want to find who she was and where she came from, but the chances of that were very, very slim, due to her not knowing where to start looking. It was a journey for another day, but right now, it was a timewaster, something that would get her into the same state of daydreaming that Azure was locked into at the current time.

They both flew together, hours becoming sheer minutes, due to them not noticing anything around them, as they flew below the cloud layer and glided along with the wind. Azure began to smell something, making him realise that they were both daydreaming. Azure nudged Sadjoy and grabbed her, before they both saw something ahead of them that hurt them a little bit. The land below them was burning, making them both feel like something happened at their current location. Azure wanted to investigate, but he decided that they should have gotten to the jewelry as soon as possible, to avoid anypony from stealing it. Sadjoy agreed with Azure’s decision, sticking with him as much as she could and not at all questioning his opinion, which meant that she trusted Azure a lot, almost as much as a leader.

The day slowly turned to dusk, making them both realise how long they had both been flying. Azure landed on the ground and slumped to the floor, due to his legs being too little used to bring up the strength to land properly. Azure’s wings ached bad, so did Sadjoy’s, making them both start to stretch and relax their muscles. Azure looked around and saw nothing, meaning that they would both have to use their hooves to travel across the land to reach an area that they could have at least stayed the night at. Azure looked back at his Pipbuck and saw that they were pretty close to Canterlot, which was really bad. Azure knew that they needed to stay away from that area, due to the concentration of the radiation that was around the area and in the city itself. Being close to Canterlot meant that they were also close to ponyville too, being only a couple of miles out from it, to the South West of them. It was only another hour or two walk away, making it sound pretty far, compared to Azure and Sadjoy spending most of the day getting to where they were then.

It took them a little while to know where to look for shelter, but they eventually found some, in the shape of a house that had been broken open. Azure walked closer to the structure, expecting to find nothing there at all. It was the complete opposite! The broken house was run down, but had a lot of supplies in it, making Azure feel a little excited to explore it. It was the complete opposite feeling that Sadjoy had. She knew that something was up, that nopony would have not been in the location they were just about to explore. It seemed too good to be true, which was nearly right.

Azure carefully walked closer to the building, before noticing a pony that was sat in a chair. They seemed to be dead, but Azure had a feeling that he was probably faking it. Azure walked over and looked at the body, before a gun was pointed to his head from the side, being covered in darkness. Acting on suspicion, Sadjoy aimed at the wall with her rifle, before letting a shot out, flying through the wall and catching the figure in the head, taking them to the floor. As soon as the body hit the floor, the pony in the chair opened his eyes and looked at the body on the ground, before looking back up to Azure and smiling, their ears dropping to the side of their skull, like they were being stapled to the sides of their skull.

Azure didn't say anything, just making him be feared more than he should have been in that scenario. Sadjoy walked closer to the building, spotting the body on the floor, before pointing her gun at the figure in the chair. They were obviously using all of the resources as a bait, to attract ponies and kill them for all of their items. Not this time though. Sadjoy bent down and looked at the body that she had just made lifeless and scowled. She didn't want to do what she did, but it was either their life or Azure’s, which made the choice easier when she thought about it more. Sadjoy looked up with anger and walked over to the pony in the chair, before punching them with a hoof, causing blood to come out of their mouth. Azure watched in shock, as Sadjoy repeatedly punched away at the pony, causing it to bleed more and more.

Azure had to step in to get Sadjoy to stop punching the pony who was in the chair. Azure grabbed her wings before pulling on them, making her yell out in a little bit of pain. She turned around and went to attack Azure, but stopped as soon as she saw him standing there, looking almost scared enough to make her believe that she had done something wrong. She then realised what she was doing and backed off a little bit, seeing that the pony was chained up and now in a bad state. Azure walked up to the pony, before going to grab one of his syringes from his saddlebag, before seeing the life drain from the eyes of the pony who was chained to the chair.

Azure stopped as he saw the pony die in front of him, before sighing heavily, making it easy enough for Sadjoy to hear. She didn't say anything, as she had just assaulted a pony who was being used as bait. Azure took a lockpick he had from his saddlebag and unlocked the chain, seeing the corpse of the pony fall to the ground. Azure went to pick it up but stopped as he noticed some twitching that was going on with the body. Azure slowly backed up, before he noticed that something was off. The pony should have been dead, due to the blood loss that he experienced.

The figure launched itself at Azure, before trying to chomp away at his face, being only a couple of centimetres from being able to tear his face into shreds. Sadjoy propelled herself into the ghoul that was attacking Azure, knocking it off him and making it tuble along with her. Sadjoy dropped her rifle on the floor by doing so, making it so that she was unarmed. Sadjoy scrambled around with the ghoul, before pushing it away and getting to her hooves. The new ghoul got up and charged right at the bat pony mare, making herself become a harder target by jumping out of the way of the ghouls first attack, making it grow more enraged.

The ghoul was no longer focused on Azure, it instead was focused on its next meal and the greatest part about it was that it had a side course of wings to go along with it as well. The ghoul pounced multiple times at Sadjoy, making her dodge as hard as she could. After a good couple of seconds, the ghoul was more determined than ever to catch the quick bat pony and make a meal out of her. Sadjoy had no intention of stopping and neither did the ghoul, until something happened that wasn't planned.

Sadjoy tripped over a box that was on the ground, making it so that she was down and vulnerable. The ghoul got over to her and was about to bite her, before Azure ran over to the ghoul and bucked it over Sadjoy, wounding the ghoul in the process. It got up and rushed towards Sadjoy, as she got up and walked back slowly, passing Azure. The ghoul was still locked on Sadjoy as Azure came to his limit, only wanting to sleep for the rest of the night. Sadjoy kept her distance from the ghoul, before something strange happened to the ghoul. Sadjoy looked behind the ghoul as Azure placed one of his syringes into its back, forcing it to turn around. It was about to lash out at him, before Azure pulled the trigger to the rifle that was in his battle saddle. Sadjoy’s rifle! Azure blew the head off the ghoul, covering himself in chunks of the undead pony’s skull, as well as a lot of blood.

Azure was sick and tired of all of the unnecessary fighting that they were getting themselves into, making him change his mind about killing, only for the ghoul that was now dead in front of him, giving him a little feeling of dread for what was to come after. Azure dropped the weapon from his battle saddle, before putting the pistol that he had on him, back into the holder, before making sure that it was fully loaded, only for the off chance that they would have run into more ghouls.

Sadjoy picked herself up, before looking at Azure with a sort of appreciation in her eyes, making Azure feel slightly better about himself, before he passed the rifle back to the bat pony mare, who happily appreciated that gesture. Azure looked back at the destroyed house and realised that the two ponies were dead, leaving all of the bait that they were using to be theirs. Azure felt a tiny bit wrong for taking off the two dead ponies, but then thought to himself something that completely changes his perspective on it. Could it have not been theirs?

With that being said, both Azure and Sadjoy went about looting something that they thought might be of value or of use. Azure noticed that the pair had found some questionable items, making Azure want to take it all, not out of greed, but out of not wanting another soul to get their hooves on it. There were a couple of rockets that were definitely worth something to somepony with an explosive background, making Azure chuckle to himself that he made that pun. Sadjoy was finding some caps and found a whole bunch of food supplies, making her smile before she raced to put it into her saddlebag, nearly filling it all the way with canned goods and beverages, making her happy that they found this place.

Azure spotted a rocket launcher over in the corner of the room, making him go over to it and move it away from an area that was so out in the open, into more of a secluded area. Sadjoy moved about and was making the area safe for them, using a door that was broken to block the stairs, making so that if somepony touched the door, it would fall down and make a loud bang on the floor. It was really smart thinking for them being out in the open. Azure placed some rocks over the rocket launcher, making it so that it was unable to be seen, unless somepony had perfect eyes and could see metallic items within a rock cluster. Sadjoy and Azure moved to the top of the stair, behind the door that Sadjoy had trapped and laid down on the floor, making it so that they were out of all lines of sight.

Sadjoy laid next to Azure curling up next to him and making him realise that they didn't even have that much of a break earlier, making them want to stay on the floor longer. Azure rested his head on Sadjoy and began to close his eyes, seeing the world fade to black and making him want to drift off to sleep immediately, which was exactly what he did.

Chapter 19: Unreal Encounters

Azure woke up to something that was not too pleasant to hear at all. The rain poured like it was the final day in the Wasteland, making Azure dread to go outside and travel some more. He looked down at the bat pony mare that was wrapped around him, cuddling him for warmth and nothing else. Sadjoy was asleep, there was no doubt about it, but something made Azure feel like something was off, due to how tired he still was. His body refused for him to stay up, making him plop right back down onto the floor and feel a little exhausted. This response from his body, made Azure become a little more worried about the state of himself, seeing that his body had never pulled this stunt before, making him feel like something was definitely wrong.

Due to Azure’s flop, Sadjoy woke up and looked at him in his eyes, before smiling and then instantly scowling again, as she noticed that Azure didn't look one hundred percent. She was about to ask him something, beginning to open her mouth, before closing it again and listening to the rain that hit what remained of the roof, which made it echo onto every wall. She looked back at Azure and rolled her eyes, before getting up and stretching. Azure tried to get up, but his body refused to follow Azure’s actions, making him think that there was some sort of ghost holding him down or something along those lines. Azure sighed, before confirming to himself that he would get up and that was exactly what he did, continuously telling his body that he would achieve the little goal, as if he was trying to train his brain again to start doing normal functions.

Azure stretched, hearing a couple of cracks down his back, which made Sadjoy shudder a little, due to how loud the cracks were. Azure has somewhat more control of his body, due to him sounding like he was breaking his spine directly in half. It made Azure shudder too, hearing the pop and crack of each bone along his spine, like he had never done before. Azure looked over to the door that they had put up for defence and saw that it was still standing, meaning that nopony else had entered the area, unless they were a pegasus or a bat pony, the latter being pretty rare to find.

Azure tapped the door with one of his hooves, before watching the door roll down that stairs, hitting the wall at the bottom, sending a vibration up the wall, sending a small amount of dust tumbling down, being almost as slow as a feather. Azure looked behind him, towards the area where he put the rocket launcher and saw his saddlebags slumped against it, having slung it off before he went to sleep last night. Although Azure didn't want his saddlebag being taken, he preferred comfort over most things, comfort in where he was, comfort of who he was, comfort of who his friends were. Those types of comforts was something that Azure preferred over anything, but didn't always choose them, due to the situation that he was placed in. It always depended on the situation at hoof, which was something that Azure kept in mind.

He picked up his saddlebags and looked at Sadjoy, seeing that she was doing the same. Azure smiled at that and was a little annoyed about the state of the weather around them, but being so far from home make the rain the least of their worries, coming a little before ghouls, because of them being able to fly up and away from the ghouls that could have possibly charged them down. Azure glided down to the rubble floor, seeing that there was less than when they got there, making Azure think that the damage to the structure was new, due to the amount of dust, dirt and debris being swept away by the wind. Azure couldn't get his head around hit, so he just scratched his head with one of his hooves, making him focus a little more on the real world and not the fake world that was within his mind. Azure walked over to the two that had tried to kill them last night and started to loot them both, seeing that they both had some good things on them, including two of the saddlebags that Gretzky needed for the armour. Greedily, Azure grabbed the two saddlebags and wrapped them around his own saddlebag, making a little braid of saddlebags.

Azure looked over to see Sadjoy glide down from the top, looking remarkable as always and making a soft landing look so easy. Sadjoy went to go and loot one of the bodies that were on the floor, seeing that they too, had a saddlebag on them, with something within them, making Azure question it a little bit too. Why were those bodies not there when Azure came in the first time and confronted the two before?

Azure went too deep into that, making him shake his head and change his train of thought from that to thinking about what might be useful to take with them and what to leave behind. Azure looked about to see that there was a blood trail from the body that Sadjoy shot through the wall, leading out of the building and around one of the corners, making him curious to see where it went. Azure followed it for a tiny time, before he saw a vent that the blood ran into. It was a vent that led under the house, which confused him, due to there not being a door or anything else that led under there. Azure walked back around and tried to look for something that resembled a door or trapdoor. He looked all over the area and couldn't find anything that would allow him entry to the area, making him think that it went directly into the sewer, but yet again, why would there be a sewer below one building. Azure definitely had his suspicions on the house, that was for sure.

Sadjoy looted the bodies for all of their ammo for their weapons, their weapons as a whole, getting a couple of rifles and shotguns in the process, as well as a little bit of food from the corpses that didn't need it anymore. Sadjoy saw that their armour was really badly damaged, making it not worth taking their armour, even for caps, due to how damaged the material and metal were. Sadjoy stood up and turned around to see Azure still looting the same body that he had been looting since she had begun. She shook her head in disbelief, before looting the pony that had turned into a ghoul. There was a locket that he had around his neck, which held an image of a mare and the stallion that had been turned into a ghoul. It was indeed a little sad, but that was probably one of the worst ways to go, even worse if his family was in front of him, or even his marefriend.

Azure finished looting the body by the entrance, getting the weapon that he had pointed at his own head, as well as some ammo to accompany it. Apart from that, Azure was pretty sure that there was nothing left or worth taking away from the dead body of the stallion who had nearly killed Azure. The stallion did have any armour, instantly eliminating the possibility of being able to acquire some armour for the ponies back home, but Azure was pretty sure that there was going to be more opportunities to get more armour from other means, so he let the body go back to its state of decomposing. Sadjoy was ready to go, but Azure wasn't yet, due to him needing to get back to the rocket launcher and grab it, which is exactly what he ended up doing, weighing him down a little more, due to the amount that it weighed. It wasn't that light, but Azure found a perfect place on his back that allowed him to be able to fly while having it on his back, making it his idea to secure it.

After Sadjoy had helped Azure strap the rocket launcher to his back, she stated to him that she was ready to leave when he was. Azure nodded, before getting a little run up and using his wings to propel himself into the sky, making him wonder how it worked for a pegasus to be able to carry such a heavy workload and still be able to fly high in the sky with no problems. Sadjoy quickly caught up to him, before she looked at the rocket launcher and smiled. Azure looked like the zebra’s attempt to make power armour, which made her chuckle when she repeated it to herself for the second time. Azure wasn't going to ruin her laughter, making him avoid asking her about what it was that she was laughing about. Azure wanted the positive atmosphere to be positive and stay that way. There were not many moments that ponies got like the one that they were both having, so Azure was going to let it last as long as possible to avoid making anything awkward or to make the mood go away.

There were some buildings in the distance that made an appearance as soon as they left the area around ten minutes into their flight. Azure looked down at his Pipbuck and looked at his map, seeing that it was Canterlot up ahead, not Ponyville. Azure slowed instantly, getting a look of confusion from Sadjoy. She came closer and looked at his map and saw that Canterlot was about a mile or two away, making them question if they were far enough to experience radiation or any sort. Sadjoy could hear the occasional click of the radioactive monitor that was within Azure’s Pipbuck, telling them that there was little to no amounts of radiation that were in the area. Azure turned in the air and pointed himself to the direction of Ponyville, seeing that it was a fair amount of miles away, but that didn't matter for both of them, due to them both not being tired or exhausted at all.

Azure began to fly in the direction of Ponyville, getting into the speed of things as he checked his inventory for anything that he could have had to eat, that he didn't have to heat up. Sadly, there was nothing like that, mainly being meals that they needed at least a fire to cook. Azure could tell that Sadjoy was hungry, so before they got too far away from Canterlot, Azure figured that it might have been a good idea to have some food while being able to look over the main city of Canterlot, the area that was home to the mass amount of ponies in the region. Azure hit his back against a rock on purpose, using the rocket launcher like a piece of flint, creating a little spark that turned into a flame as soon as Sadjoy placed something next to the spark. Sadjoy had a pack of logs that allowed her to create a makeshift fire for a little while. She used the wood to create a fire for both of them and then allowed herself to start to cook some of the canned food, having not eaten last night.

Azure sat down and watched the flames engulf the wood, like the two items were bound together. It was almost hypnotic, making it so that he couldn't look away from the events that were unfolding right in front of him. Sadjoy opened two of the cans and placed them on top of the fire, making Azure feel a sense of hunger lingerie rise within him from nowhere. Azure looked and felt hungry and so did Sadjoy, but she didn't look it at all, she only felt hungry. As the fire crackled, the rain began to let up, making the day that little bit better for having something to eat, as well as allowing them to not worry about the radiation within the rain, like they had to yesterday.

As Azure watched the fire, Sadjoy scooted herself next to him, giving him a little kiss on the cheek and resting her head on his shoulder, making her feel more relaxed than ever. Azure looked at her, before leaning his head onto hers, making them both enjoy the feeling of one another and their own comfort combining with each other to make their moods the same. Pure relaxation! Those two words could have described any situation in Equestria and they chose to use it on them looking into a fire that refused to die, within the company of one another. Love was hard to find in the Wasteland and was hard to hold onto, but they both had a firm grip on one another, making their lives not only happier, but better.

Azure went to go and grab one of the cans, but immediately regretted it, due to how hot the cans were. Azure shook his hoof, before Sadjoy chuckled and used her fangs to pick one of the cans up, using her lower teeth to hold onto the bottom of the can and avoiding her from burning her lip. She placed the tin down, before seeing that Azure had a couple of plates that were made of plastic, allowing them to eat it from the plate, rather than the burning hot can. Azure placed a plate under Sadjoy’s mouth, prompting her to tilt her head to the side and allow Azure to catch it all on the plate below. Azure caught all of it, before repeating the process on the other plate.

After Sadjoy had disposed of the cans into her saddlebag, she turned and sat down, being able to finally eat the meal that was placed in front of her. The meal consisted of a certain type of meat, some beans and carrots, which was something that they both surprisingly enjoyed. They were both curious to find out what meat was within the cans, but they knew that they would have had to ask Gretzky when they got back to the settlement that was too far away for them to shout to. They were not far off Ponyville, so they would finish eating up their food and then travel South West a little more, to find the town and see what they would have come across in that area.

“I guess that we both are having a goodish morning?” Sadjoy questioned, getting a swift nod from Azure and relaxing Sadjoy’s conscious to something that she wanted to say as they both got up this morning, but was rudely interrupted by the rain, so she didn't get to say it until now. Azure placed both plates back into his saddlebag, before getting up and stretching again. Sadjoy watched him, as he flexed this way and that way, admiring his body more and more as time went one. She noticed his stripes at first, which made her blush a little bit, due to them being less visible as time went one. The reason that she was blushing was because the stripes led perfectly to his crotch, which was something that she had already seen, but it flustered her whenever she saw it. Azure noticed her staring and stopped, seeing that she was trying to get the image out of her head, but it was imprinted there for a little while, making her feel a little weird. Not horny weird, just weird weird.

Azure chuckled and saw that she was still blushing, making him go over to her and kiss her directly on the lips with no regret whatsoever, making him chuckled a little, due to her still being shy about seeing things on a stallion. Azure backed up and gave her some room to breathe, before beginning to walk down the path, seeing that the fire was lit still. Azure pointed to it, before Sadjoy rushed over and used her wings to take out the fire, with ease. She turned back around and looked at Azure, smiling and wanting to continue on their adventure that they had almost completed. They set off in the direction of Ponyville, with little to no regret at all, giving them the confidence to take flight again.

As they flew, both Azure and Sadjoy could see the outskirts of a town, a town that was called Ponyville. They were both nearly there, which made their hearts race a little. Azure was more or less focused on what they could find in the town, given the information that they did, that all of the raiders in the area were dead. That possibly couldn't have been true, could it? Azure was a little anxious to find out if there were any ghouls or not in the area, if not ghouls, then more raiders.

Sadjoy was more or less going to focus on doing the tasks that she had been given, which was to look for Sweet Apple Acres, which was a close walk from Ponyville. She was not worried at all about if they came across anything while they were there, due to her wanting to protect her medical pony, her pride and joy, her lover. She blushed at that last one, before shaking her head, clearing her mind and getting any romantic thoughts out of her head, because all they would do was distract her from what her tasks were.

They were getting close to the town that they needed to get past, which made them brace themselves for anything that could have come into their way. Although they had a task to do in Ponyville, they were going to pass through it first and then come back to it, due to it not really being their main request that they were given. Azure felt a little shiver creep its way down his spine, giving his body a sense that they didn't belong there.

Ponyville was quiet as they began to walk through the abandoned town that the ministry mares had started their adventure in. There were books everywhere about the ministry mares. Before the times got tough for them, all of them were very close friends and had started their journey in the town that Azure and Sadjoy were standing in. Some would have called it history, others would have called it just another story. To Azure, it was nothing special, due to everypony starting their lives from somewhere.

Azure and Sadjoy crept around Ponyville, feeling like they were being watched. There were countless bodies of raiders, which relaxed Azure’s nerves just a little, making him able to think and make his own decisions still, but enough to make him think differently. Azure saw that the lovely town that the ministry mares had grown up in, was an abundance of different messes combined into one. Azure didn't even see the resemblance between the images that he had seen in the books and the area that he was seeing with his own eyes.

Azure could tell that Sadjoy was a little confused, only noticing one building from their history, which was the Ponyville library, which looked similar, due to the tower at the top of it. There was definitely going to be something there if anypony was to inhabit the area. They wanted to check it out, but went along with the plan that they had first, which was getting to the barn at Sweet Apple Acres. Azure kept his eyes on the library, making sure that there was nopony in it, ready to strike down onto them. Luckily enough for them, the cloaked mare had been true about there being no ponies in Ponyville, which was pretty ironic, given the name that it had. There should have been a striving community here, but there wasn't.

The thought that nopony was around chilled Azure to the bone, making him shiver a little bit, almost like he was ill or cold, but he wasn't, he was the complete opposite. Azure took a couple of glances back at the once striving town, before they continued to the farm that was just down the road from Ponyville, called Sweet Apple Acres. They had done it! They had gotten to the area that they were meant to be going to, all without there being a problem at the location, unlike a couple of Azure’s last adventures. He was pretty surprised that he was going to be meeting no raiders and ghouls at the barn in Sweet Apple Acres, but it wasn't going to be one hundred percent chance that they were going to be finding no enemies at the barn, but it would make sense for some ponies to be in Ponyville if they were, due to how much of a good spot the area had become with no opposition.

Azure turned his head back to the front of his body, looking at the path that they were walking down to get to the barn within Sweet Apple Acres. Azure was quite surprised to find that there were no trees, no debris, nothing, around the area, feeling almost like the area had been protected by something. They both looked at the fence, noticing that it was broken, but none of the pieces of wood had been broken off and left on the ground. The ponies that had built the barn and area around it clearly knew what they were doing and what not, being able to create a fence that was unable to get fully destroyed, making Azure wonder how strong the wood was at this farm originally.

They both passed under an archway that had the name of the area imprinted onto it, making them both look at each other and then back in front of them, giving them the creeps that something was lurking within the barn. As soon as they got closer to the barn itself, Azure’s head started to hurt, along with Sadjoy’s shortly after, making them cover their heads and ears with their hooves and wings. Azure was the first one to notice that there was something wrong in the area that they were, due to the amount of radiation that they were taking. Within no time, they would have both taken too much radiation that they would have died on the spot. Azure noticed that his vision was flicker, making only one object look normal within the area, which was a type of alarm.

Azure walked closer to the alarm on the side of the barn and then rammed his hoof into it, hurting Azure’s hoof in the process and making him shoot backward, due to the pain that he was feeling. Azure got really angry and shot his pistol at the alarm, breaking it in an instant and making them feel a million percent better. Azure closed his eyes for a couple of seconds, before backing up, away from the barn. Sadjoy shook her head and saw exactly what Azure was seeing. The barn was nearly nonexistent, making them both stare in awe at the transition from undamaged barn to a barn that was nearly long gone with the rest of pony history.

Azure looked back at his Pipbuck and noticed that he had a lot of radiation in him, making him go instantly to his saddlebag and get two packs of radaway. He passed one to the bat pony that he was with and chugged the other one, making him feel so much better. Azure looked at his Pipbuck for a couple of seconds, before he noticed that the radiation in his system was flooding away from his body. The radaway tasted good, that's all he could say in that situation. He looked over to Sadjoy and saw that she was doing the same, feeling instantly better.

Azure looked back at the fence and saw that it was nearly nonexistent, as opposed to what they saw earlier with it being relatively untouched. Azure looked back at the barn and sighed, seeing that there were pieces of it scattered across the land, making Azure question what the item was that was giving them the image of something different. Azure was a little confused, as he went back over to the alarm that was giving off both radiation and a fake vision, making Azure question how it worked and what it did. It was just so confusing to the pegasus, that it kind of annoyed him a little. Sadjoy was just admiring the sight of the changed barn, compared to how it looked the first time.

They both slowly walked towards it, not knowing what to expect from the shapeshifting barn. They went into the front of it and noticed a cellar below them was a little bit open, making their curiosity go wild. They both walked down into the cellar and found that the area below was pitch black, making it so that they couldn't see down in the dark. Azure looked at his Pipbuck and saw that there was a light option on it, making their little exploration down below the barn not so bad. Azure turned it on, before seeing the surrounding area turn a little bit greener, making them able to see around the area. Azure saw that there were multiple kegs of apple cider, making him feel like he needed a drink, but knew that all of the cider in the area would have been super radioactive, making him change his mind about wanting a drink.

They found a little lockbox that was in between the kegs, making Azure feel like he had found some kind of secret or something along those lines. It was locked of course, so Azure had to use one of his lockpicks that he had to pry open the lock, making him feel a little bit evil for a second or two, before the lock opened and he opened the lockbox. There it was, the artifact that was shining bright blue. Azure picked it up, before noticing that it was a piece of fabric. This didn't hit him with the thought that he originally had, but had an idea that it was for one of the three remaining ministry mares. Azure placed it quickly into his saddlebag, before noticing that the area extended down, past the area of the barn itself, making Azure a little curious to what it was. Both Azure and Sadjoy looked at each other, before they both went down the narrow tunnel that left the cellar.

They didn't know where the tunnel was going to lead to, but they were definitely ready for anything that wanted to cross their path, whether that was a simple ghoul, or a raider army, they were ready for it. Azure could see something reflect the light from his Pipbuck, which got him a little curious about what it was. It came from the end of the corridor, making him pretty certain that the tunnel led nowhere, until they stumbled across the door of a Stable. Stable 2! Azure had never seen a stable before, making him a little confused on how to open the big metallic door. Sadjoy shook her head, before holding Azure still.

“Stables only open from the inside Azure. That was a design to stop ponies from breaking into them, which did work in the end.” Sadjoy explained to him, making him give up on trying to find a way inside the metallic structure. Azure began to walk back up to the tunnel, before noticing that there were some ponies coming towards them, making Sadjoy and Azure a little scared of what might have happened to them, if they got spotted. Sadjoy used a potion that she had and gave a little bit of it to Azure, making them both turn invisible, making them harder to spot, but not completely invisible. They were more or less transparent, but needed all of the stealthy properties that they could, to avoid the group that was rapidly approaching them. It was the raiders!

Azure and Sadjoy hugged the wall, making them not get bumped into and allowed the little raider convoy to pass them. There were about five of them, armed up to the teeth with weapons and armour, making them look more like assassins more than raiders, which scared the pair more than anything else. As soon as the raiders got past them, both Sadjoy and Azure sprinted along the tunnel, making them a little louder than they wanted, but still being unable to be spotted. Sadjoy got to the cellar first, before going to the door to the apple cellar and beginning to move it, signalling for Azure to follow her. Azure came to the apple cellar and then saw that the door was moving, making him rush towards it, before he bumped into the invisible bat pony, knocking them both onto the floor outside. The potion wore off and Azure could see his mare with a smug grin, making him wear his own with pride and passion.

Azure kept his mind fixed onto the stable, knowing that there was probably a way to get into them from the outside, which got his mind curious about other stables that could have held potential information to the past or the future. Azure was instantly cut from his trans as he saw Sadjoy fly across the area, towards the abandoned town of Ponyville. Although Ponyville was more like a village, it didn't have as much activity to make it sit in the village category, making Azure keep referring to it as a town, due to towns being the most abandoned types of areas and seeing how abandoned Ponyville was, make him refer to it as no different.

Sadjoy landed on the ground just outside Ponyville, waiting for Azure to catch up, before moving any further into the area. They had an objective to find an object within the area and without a doubt, they were going to do it. The place that they wanted to explore first was the library, which looked like the perfect place to start, due to how much of the area it watched over, giving them a little bit of an area to look around and see where they needed to go to. Sadjoy walked along the floor with Azure to her side, keeping an eye on him, like she was his bodyguard or something along those lines. They looked about, seeing that there were different types of buildings that held their own stories and secrets about them and who lived in them. If they spent enough time in Ponyville, they would have come across all of the ministry mare’s homes, which didn't excite either of them that much.

They both walked along the cobbled path of the road that was once smooth with no bumps or ridges whatsoever, but sadly, due to radiation and bombs going off, giving off more radiation, the surfaces were never going to end up being smooth, making all of the walls, floors, roofs, surfaces and terrains feel rough, like they hadn’t been perfectly polished. Azure looked around at all of the surfaces that he could find, seeing that not even a single one was smooth, due to the radiation eating away at the protective layers that normally protected things from water, rain, acid rain and more that Azure couldn't remember. He looked at all of the structures and noticed that even some of them were merged together, like something out of a horror show or an illusion spell that would make anypony trip out and see things that weren't there. It hurt Azure’s head a little just seeing that building.

Sadjoy walked over to the front door of the library, seeing that Azure was taking his sweet time getting over to the building, due to looking at the other building for so long that it managed to mess with his mind. Azure was a little bit confused, but shook his head to try to get rid of anything that could have been distracting him at that point of time, making his thoughts clearer and his actions more fluent. Azure slowly opened the door to the library, seeing a pony that was dead in the doorway, which made him slightly more comfortable with entering the area, with or without Sadjoy. She slowly followed behind Azure and spotted the rotted corpse on the floor, which looked like the body of a raider, but she didn't want to get close to the thing, due to how much of a smell it was giving off. It had obviously been rotting there for a little while, which put even Sadjoy off checking the body.

Azure looked up and saw a body in a cage, hanging from the ceiling, which gave him the chills as to how badly the raiders in the area wanted to kill and torture the poor ponies and ghouls in the area. It clearly showed that the raiders didn't care about the lives of others, seeing as how one of the ghouls was hunched over inside the cage, not moving an inch. The ghoul was clearly dead, which gave Azure even more chills that made his back crawl like there was something on it, like a radioactive bug or something.

Azure and Sadjoy went from room to room, finding more bodies of raiders that had been there for quite some time, making Azure realise that there was somepony who hated raiders more than he did, which surprised him a little, due to him despising raiders so much. They both went back to the spiral staircase and ascended it, taking it a step at a time and noticing that there was more writing on the walls above, like they had originally seen below in the library, making both Azure and Sadjoy look at each other with a surprised expression. They didn't know what to expect getting onto the second floor, but they could have at least guessed what they weren't going to see above, that thing was alive ponies, which they could both put their lives on that bet, due to the massacre that went on below on the first floor.

Azure could see more cages hanging above, but luckily, there were no bodies in the one above them, making them happy that there were bodies only on the ground floor. Azure closed his mouth and his mind as soon as he saw the body of a raider, this one not being there on the ground for too long, due to blood still leaving its system. Azure walked along and noticed that something was making noise above them, meaning that it was either in the tower above or on the roof of the building, making the two look at each other and stay closer together than they had been in bed. That thought alone made them both chuckle as Azure told it to Sadjoy, trying to lighten the mood just a little bit, enough to make them still be positive, but still being scared of what had just killed the raider.

In the back of their minds, they were both terrified of what was walking around on the roof, knowing that it was probably a ghoul that had some smarts or something a lot worse than that. Azure kept quiet, only to try to keep track of what was lurking about above them and trying to see if they could identify what it was due to the footsteps that it was making. When they were quiet, it was quiet, frightening the two a little, making them feel like it was either watching them or listening to each breath that they were taking, making the feeling a little worse than it already was.

As soon as Azure built up some courage, he managed to move about quietly to a little ladder that was in the middle of a little room, the same ladder that led to the roof, he was pretty sure. Sadjoy followed him slowly, making no noise in the process, due to her being lighter than Azure, but also more nimble, making her hoofsteps lighter. Sadjoy’s race was more about sneaking, whereas Azure’s races were about speed and agility, as well as strength, though Azure didn't see himself as being too strong, making him reevaluate his rolls that he was being used for or what he thought himself as being good at. He guessed that the doctor role worked for zebras too, due to them being able to make potions for various elements.

As soon as Azure finished talking about potions, it reminded him about his own potion that he created, the self sustaining potion that kept being refilled over and over again. He opened his Pipbuck menu and looked through his inventory and saw nothing. There was no special healing potion in his inventory, which is what he named the item in the Pipbuck. In disbelief, Azure dropped his saddlebag and rummaged through his little medical section within his saddlebag and found nothing, making him a little angry that he had lost it and didn't know how he did. It aggravated him more than it should have.

Sadjoy noticed his anger and raised her hoof to signal him, getting his attention almost immediately, making him calm down and take deep breaths to relax himself. There was a door down the end of the corridor that led onto the roof, which was open, making Azure feel like something had gone down that direction. They could still hear the steps above, but they seemed to be heading for the door that they had entered the roof from. Azure and Sadjoy both tried to hide away from the figure, Sadjoy grabbing Azure and hiding in the darkest corner that she could find, making little to no noise. The figure was in the corridor and was walking down it, toward them and the many rooms that they saw ahead.

The figure did nothing to hide their audio, with the roar of each step that it took echoing down the empty corridor. Azure kept his pistol in the direction of the doorway, just in case the figure decided to enter the room that they were in. Azure watched carefully as the figures shadow pieced their sightline, making them brace their weapons carefully in preparation for the thing that was slowly approaching them. Azure could make out that the figure was a little bit bigger than both of them, suggesting that it might have been an earth pony of sorts. Azure was shocked to see that he was right, as the raider’s leader walked past them, not bothering to shine the light that he had with him into the room that they were in. Why was Sawtooth here?

Azure slowly walked out and stopped before pointing his weapon at Sawtooth, still not noticing that Azure was behind him. Sadjoy came out and aimed the rifle, which was now suppressed, at the raider leader’s head. She didn't hesitate to pull the trigger, making a tiny amount of noise, before the raider leader was even able to turn around. Azure watched as the most powerful raider in the Wasteland, fell down to the bottom of the spiral staircase that they had crept up, before noticing that something was around his neck. A timer started to tick down, making a loud alarm like noise. It only had ten seconds on the timer, before something happened.

Out of instinct, Sadjoy grabbed Azure and flew as quickly as they could to the door, before flying up into the sky. There were gunshots whizzing past them, presumably from the raiders that had just lost their boss. The timer got louder and louder, before even the raiders began to run away. Azure and Sadjoy continued to fly up, but moved away from the area. The timer was definitely over, making Azure and Sadjoy a little confused as to why nothing was happening. Azure spotted something flying above and knew exactly what it was. He grabbed Sadjoy with his hooves and flew as quickly as he could with her, before he looked back and saw a couple of explosions pepper the area, followed by some bigger ones and the one up above, which was coming straight down in the area.

Sadjoy saw the object and flew a lot quicker than Azure was, leaving him a little behind, before noticing that she was flying to the ground to get behind cover. A massive blast made itself known in the area that they were just at, before noticing that fireball heading in Azure’s direction. Sadjoy reached out to try and Azure, before the force alone hit both him in the sky, but her on the ground, knocking her over onto the floor, but not as bad as Azure being in the air, due to nothing covering him. His vision went black before he could do anything else. Before he was completely lost to the world, he could hear the brief sound of a scream, supposedly coming from Sadjoy as she was bracing against something.

Azure woke up within the dust, with nopony around, already knowing that the world that he was in right then and there, was not the real world. Azure got up, noticing that he was in no pain, had no concussions at all, only being perfectly okay with no sign of injury. Azure looked around him, seeing nothing else but dust and trees, covering the area perfectly so that he was unable to see out of the little dust bubble that he had been placed in. Although all of this was unfamiliar to him, he wasn't threatened whatsoever, making his actions as calmly as possible. A pony came into view, only being visible enough for Azure to make out the shadow of a pony. The pony stepped into the little area where Azure could see, making it turn out to be his old fallen friend again, being covered in scars and tattoos, making him look like he had killed off all of the raiders by himself. Blitz didn't look the same, but that didn't matter.

“Have you accepted that I’m dead yet?” Blitz asked, coming closer to Azure and noticing that the zebra pegasus hybrid looked baffled. Azure nodded, looking around to see if there was anypony else that wanted to make their way into the area to try to talk. Azure saw a couple of outlines slowly getting more clear, indicating that they were sprinting towards them. Blitz summoned a bladed staff to his side and stood in front of Azure. “Some night terrors again, I'm assuming?” Blitz questioned, getting a shrug off the pegasus that he was protecting.

The figures were getting more and more clear, making Blitz prepare for the worst, before noticing more and more entering their vision from different angles. Blitz was a little surprised, but Azure wasn’t, due to the amount of ponies that he gave a second chance to. Blitz looked around and saw that there were more enemies than him and Azure could take out themself, if they were both in the real world. Luckily for both of them, right then and there, Azure was trapped in the dream world for some time, meaning that Blitz had to do what he could to get Azure’s brain to wake up from being knocked out by the explosion. Blitz was locked in the dream world until he got unturned from stone, which wouldn't happen, so he settled on helping others who he knew out, almost like Luna would have done back where she too was alive.

Azure brought his syringe gun out and placed it on his battle saddle, before placing it onto his back, with the help of Blitz, making Blitz feel like he was helping more and more, giving him the satisfaction within the dream world. Azure noticed that his battle saddle was a little bit heavier, so he looked back to find that there was an additional syringe gun on his battle saddle, thanks to Blitz nonetheless. Azure could see that he had an infinite supply of syringes too, making the dream only better. Blitz could see that all of the ponies were getting to around the same mark, before charging in.

Blitz made his little group visible, bringing Death to harm's way, as well as Anti, his beloved timberwolf. There were a couple of ponies that Blitz spawned that Azure didn't know about, but he was pretty sure that Death had to be something to do with that. The enemies that came through the dust were a variety of creatures, ranging from raiders, ghouls, Steel Rangers and more timberwolves, as well as a couple of diamond dogs. Azure shot one of the timberwolves, noticing that a green glow emitted from the wolf, making it turn onto its former allies, ripping another timberwolf apart with one chomp. A rain of bullets came towards Azure from a couple of directions, making Blitz place a shield around Azure, keeping him safe, due to him being their top priority to protect. Azure continued to heal things and change them to his side, making him smile a little, but then he stopped, getting the idea of what was happening.

“No! I'm getting others to do… no! I will not kill or get others to do it for me!” Azure shouted, getting new ammunition for his syringe gun, as well as making the nightmare appear. She swooped in like a dragon, breathing green and dark blue fire onto the enemies down below. She stopped and looked at Azure, before scowling.

“Ah, I thought I had nearly changed you then.” The Nightmare stated, getting a magic beam to the back of the head from Blitz, burning a bit of her mane. He growled at her, before making her fly back overhead and shooting more blistering bolts of fire down onto the war below.

“My apologies bud, she can be a bit of a bitch to deal with, but eventually we all have to act like a filly to get our own way.” Blitz joked, getting a slight smile from Azure. A stream of gunfire distracted Blitz, making him teleport in front of Azure and letting him keep the shield up for Azure’s complete protection. He then teleported in front of a couple of enemies, before letting his skill with the blade become known. He used both ends of the bladed staff to full effect, pushing ponies and creatures away with one side of the staff, before slicing them with the other side of the staff, the bladed end, making smooth cuts into the abundance of enemies that he was fighting. Azure shot a couple of syringes at Blitz, hitting him in the back and making him smile a little more, giving him the extra power to deal with the rest of the visions that were being sent from something within Azure’s mind.

The waves of enemies were beginning to thin down, thanks to the efforts of Blitz and all of his friendly faces that he spawned within the nightmare that they were having. Azure slowly walked over to Blitz, seeing that he was dealing with two more raiders. He sliced one of them, turning them to dust, making the nightmare feel faker, due to them not bleeding, but turning to dust. Also, how would Blitz be in the fog where Azure was? Was he not trapped in stone or something at the Steel Ranger base? Azure knew all of the events that were happening were fake, but wanted to see what his mind could produce to throw him off. Everything went quiet, making Blitz a little confused on what Azure had just done, due to the raider in front of him fading to dust without Blitz doing anything to it.

A roar echoed from nowhere, making Azure shiver a little bit. Seeing this, Blitz went over to comfort him, but before he could, a massive hydra came out of nowhere, charging towards Azure. Blitz closed his eyes, before pulling off a teleportation spell and lighting his staff on fire, making it glow light blue and purple, almost like it was a blue flame instead of an orange one, but there was a purple glow around the blue flame, which threw Azure off completely.

“Where did you get the balefire phoenix spell?” Death asked, being a little surprised more than anything that the pony that he had been within casted a spell that seemed to be rare. Blitz looked back at the reaper that was Death and smiled.

“I saw it around and never had the chance to test it!” Blitz admitted, looking back at the hydra, before closing his eyes. The combination of animal heads was enough to scare them, but surprisingly enough, the creatures had been like that before the war as well, making them only scarier the more they found out about them. One of its claws lashed out at Azure, before being cut off by Blitz with a single clean slice. Before the creature was able to get out another roar, Blitz flew up with his staff, before spinning around and slicing one of the heads clean off, making the creature billow out in pain.

Blitz didn't land, as he slashed at it again, taking out the second head with little to no effort. He used the recoil of the monster to teleport behind it and make it land on his blade, slicing off the third head with a little help from Blitz’s horn forcing the head of the hydra down onto the side of the blade. The hydra screeched loudly, before going silent and giving up, suggesting that it had either passed out from blood loss, or died from the lack of a connection to its brain, or last brain. Blitz teleported away, letting the creature lie limp on the floor with the rest of the heads.

Before Azure could do anything, his vision flickered and phased into a blurred sight of Sadjoy picking him up and dragging him further away. Blitz looked at Azure and smiled at him, knowing that he will be fine in the end.

“Go, she needs you!” Blitz stated, before getting Azure and pushing him into the vision that he was seeing. Azure looked at Blitz one last time, before smiling. Azure looked back to the vision and closed his eyes. When he opened them, all he could hear was ringing, followed by bullets whizzing past both of them, suggesting that they were getting shot at by somepony or something. Azure got up, to the surprise of Sadjoy, and ran in the direction that they had originally come from, due to it being time for them to head home. Azure realised that the mission from the strange hooded mare was now going to be impossible to check, due to the bombs going off in Ponyville and all of the raiders that were shooting at them then and there, making their life harder to live, due to them narrowly avoiding death everytime they shot a bullet.

Azure ran, with Sadjoy trailing beside him, looking a little worse for wear, making him a little worried about her condition. There was something wrong with her, but Azure couldn't see any damage, until he looked at one of her wings. It was broken, making it impossible for her to fly. Azure felt really sad about that and commanded her to climb onto his back, before stopping for a brief couple of seconds. Sadjoy didn't fight with him, scrambling onto his back and locking her hooves around him, locking herself to his back and making sure that she was secure.

Azure took to the sky as soon as he was able to ensure that Sadjoy was safe on his back. They glided more than they flew, making Sadjoy grab hold of Azure with her hindlegs, as she pivoted around and placed her hindlegs where her forehooves originally were, giving her a little area that she was able to sit and pick off anypony that was foolish enough to follow them. She spotted one of the following raiders, making them her prime target. Azure looked back to see Sadjoy aiming her rifle at a raider that was a fair distance away, while straddling the rocket launcher that was on his back, making for some great support and something else to grab onto if they got a little nervous, because the rocket launcher was connected via a strong hoof that was on the top of Azure’s battle saddle, making him smile as he watched her for a couple of seconds, before turning his head back to the front, keeping an eye on where he was going.

Sadjoy tried to line up a shot that would have at least slowed the raider down, but was failing a little to do so, due to her having to put up with the pain that was present in her wing, making it so that she couldn't focus or concentrate. Azure could tell that she was in distress, but there wasn't much that he could do about a broken wing right then and there. He would have needed to be slow and have a surface to work on before he would have been able to work on Sadjoy’s wound, making him feel all the more worse. Azure couldn't really give her any healing syringes, due to them being for wounded tissue, rather than broken bones. Azure could have tried one of them, which was worth a shot in their given scenario.

Azure grabbed one of the healing syringes out from his saddlebag, making Sadjoy’s ears perk up instantly, before leaning in towards the syringe, like a cat rubbing against something hot or warm, to warm it up. Sadjoy felt something work, as she felt the syringe enter her body, giving off a small amount of pain relief, as Sadjoy tried to flap her wing, getting some movement out of it. Sadjoy continued to flap it, just to get the blood back into it and made sure that it was all working, as opposed to just a bit of it working. Sadjoy aimed down the sight of her weapon, making subtle movements to pick off the pony that was nearly out of sight. Sadjoy shot her weapon, making Azure look back at the pony that was approaching them and saw that he was no longer following them, making Azure believe that Sadjoy hit her shot. Azure looked back at the bat pony that was on his back and saw that she had a little bit of a smile on her face, giving Azure the impression that she had hit her mark.

Azure looked back to the front, before feeling a weight get taken off him, which in his case was Sadjoy. She swooped around Azure and then planted a kiss on his cheek, thanking him for carrying her away from danger on his back. Azure shook his head, before looking at his mare and smiling.

“I should really be thanking you there. You dragged me away from danger and grabbed me when you saw the timer to the bomb. So thank you!” Azure stated, thanking Sadjoy for what she did, which brought her mood straight back up to how she normally was. They both tried to avoid being shot and travelled back in the direction of the settlement they had passed, with the strange cloaked mare within it. Azure and Sadjoy both flew to the East for a little bit, before coming to see Canterlot again, being a little closer to it than last time, making Azure smile because of the view of the once beautiful city. It was still beautiful, but definitely not as beautiful as the original state of it, before the bombs dropped, when the city had ponies and creatures living within it. It hurt Azure a little, going a little too far into the thought of the societies being so far apart now, making him a little bit sad that they all couldn't team up to take out the scum of raiders. It did truly hurt.

Night began to fall, as they passed over a landscape that was not their usual one, being accompanied by gunshots going off in the distance, acting almost like fireworks. The shots were super far away, but gave off a beautiful sound and an amazing lightshow. However bad it was, it was still beautiful, being able to watch a lightshow with the one that Azure cared about, but at the same time, ponies were being shot at because of it, making Azure change his mindset pretty quickly, only allowing the thought of getting back to his home as his number one priority.

Azure and Sadjoy found a tree that was perfectly still alive, allowing them to rest upon it, Azure sleeping on one of the branches, while Sadjoy did bat things and hung upside down on the same branch, like most bats would have done. It was pretty was that night, so Azure and Sadjoy didn't need to cuddle for warmth, which made them have more room to relax, instead of focusing on keeping themselves warm all night. Azure closed his eyes, after watching Sadjoy drift off to sleep, caring for her light he would have done for Blitz, but he was dead and Azure had to acknowledge that and move on, which was exactly what he was doing, being a little bit hard to forget somepony who saved him. Azure drifted off to sleep, the thought of Blitz being in the back of his mind at all times.

Sadjoy woke Azure up very early, making him snap a little bit. She knew that he would have done that, due to that being what she would have done if somepony had woken her up really, really early. Azure apologized, getting a kiss from his special marefriend within the matter of a second, brightening his day already and setting it into motion. Azure got up and walked around, getting some wood for them to be able to have some more food. Sadjoy created some sparks, using a piece of flint that she found on the floor near them. It worked like a charm, making Azure and Sadjoy both smile, as their food began to heat up on the fire that they had just made. They felt like they had achieved a lot on their little adventure, making them feel satisfied enough to just return home, but it wasn't that simple. They at least had to travel to the area they originally had and told the mare that a bomb went off in the library and blew the entire area up. Azure wished that they could have gotten the item for the mare, but it didn't matter, all that mattered at that point in time, was that they were still alive.

They unloaded their piping hot food onto their plates and ate it like they had nothing all day yesterday, which was partly true, due to them eating in the morning and nothing else that day. Sadjoy was happy having one meal a day, but it would have been better to begin with it during the middle of the day, due to them needing more of a boost then, rather than the morning, which Azure perfectly agreed with. They finished munching on their canned meats, peas and carrots and placed the cans back into their saddlebags, before setting off again, not putting out the fire, so that maybe another lucky few could cook something nice on it. Azure looked back and saw nothing but trees and sticks, making the area perfect for a fire to be placed. They took to the sky for a much needed stretch of their wings, setting off on their journey to the area they found the mare. Azure originally marked it, so they had no problem getting back there, as they raced to the location, together.

After travelling for around half of the day, they came across the area, which was pretty quiet, for a little community. Of course it was going to be quiet, but something was a little too quiet. Azure and Sadjoy both landed, before seeing some bullet casings on the floor, suggesting that a weapon was fired around the area, making Azure’s brain instantly start inputting bad memories into his brain, forcing him to look around and try to find the others. Azure turned the corner, next to where they were all gathered originally and saw countless bodies on the floor, dead as they came. The ones who eyed Azure, had their jaws snapped off and a couple even had their eyes gouged out, making Azure feel sick to the stomach. Azure tried to look around for the mare, but couldn't see her, until they got to the next corner, which had the mare in half. One part of her was a little far away and the other half of her was by the corner that they had just walked around. Azure noticed that she might have still been breathing, due to the blood still running out of her. Azure noticed a message on the floor, before looking to Sadjoy for confirmation.

It stated: ‘Sawtooth is following you!” on the floor, giving Azure the creeps that the mare who helped them with the saddlebags and what not, was now dead. It actually hurt Azure, as he saw the body fit and started shaking about, indicating that the body had had its final moments. Azure could hear some loud talking coming from behind them, indicating activity that was not at all good. Sadjoy and Azure headed home, narrowly avoiding the activity that was about to spot them and finish them off. Azure kept those words that the mare had written with her own blood in his mind, saving them to tell the rest of the group once he got back to the settlement, making him worry a little bit if they would get back in time.

Chapter 20: Long Journey

Some time had passed since they had taken the advice of somepony else. Azure and Zeke looked at each other as they went to fight within a pit, Azure not really being the fighting type, rather being the dodging type, to one that would exhaust the opponent first, before letting his friendly ally finish them off. Why were they in a pit? It was a fighting arena of course, one that only allowed for zebras to take part in, making it just that little bit more difficult, due to zebras having just that little extra strength that most other ponies didn't have. The idea of them going to the arena was all thanks to Roselight, being able to make a huge amount of bits for the settlement and being able to buy more food for everypony that was there.

Azure watched as one of the zebras tried to distract him, which didn't work, due to Azure being able to keep both of the opponents within his line of sight, making it so that he didn't focus on one of them, rather for the protection of his fighting friend, Zeke. Zeke was more of the aggressive type, making them a pretty good duo when it came to fighting like this. Azure didn't take his eyes off both of the enemies that both him and Zeke were fighting, making them both feel a little threatened that Azure didn't want to try and attack them. One of them lashed out at Azure, making him focus more on them, rather than the other, allowing Zeke to fend for himself by attacking the following zebra, the one that was not attacking or trying to attack Azure.

A punch from the zebra nearly hit Azure on the side of the head, potentially knocking him out, if it did connect. Azure smiled at the zebra, knowing that he was pretty quick, but thanks to Azure being a hybrid, he was able to slide to the left and right with ease, due to his wings being able to propel him sideways, like he was able to be skating on ice or something like that, making him giggle at the thought. Azure waited patiently for the zebra to attack again, but found that the zebra too, was waiting for Azure to lash out at him, which Azure wasn't going to do… yet.

The zebra Zeke was fighting was down for the count, thanks to Zeke’s really good fighting during hoof to hoof combat, making Azure smile as Zeke crept up behind the zebra waiting patiently. Zeke purposely made some noise, getting a reaction from the zebra, making him turn. The striped menace looked back to Azure, knowing that he shouldn't have looked away, which he was one hundred percent correct on, due to Azure waiting patiently for that stripped stallion to make a beautiful mistake, which was what happened.

Azure waited for the striped stallion to look back at him, before flying up and instantly back down onto the head of the zebra, Zeke playing a little bit of a role there too. As soon as Azure flew up, the zebra kept track of him, letting his guard down and allowing Zeke to tackle the striped creature, making it grunt as it hit the floor, along with a lighter Zeke on top of them, making him chuckle. The zebra pushed Zeke off himself and stood up, coming to fight with the other hybrid zebra that was within that very ring or pit.

Azure had eventually found out, during his time with him, that Zeke was half zebra and half kirin, making him a little surprised that the horn didn't transfer over, but the ability to turn into a literal fireball did, making him be able to become immune to any type of fire, due to his body being able to turn into something that was hotter than fire, which was pretty cool in Azure’s eyes.

Azure was unaccounted for during a little bit of Zeke’s battle, making him become the element of surprise, dive bombing every couple of time to pick off any attack that Zeke might not have been ready for, giving Zeke a guardian angel for a little bit, before Azure decide that enough was enough. He knew that Zeke was playing with the zebra, but Azure just wanted to get it over with, flying down at alarming speed, straight towards the remaining zebra.

Azure connected a hit that ruptured the zebra’s knowledge, making him feel like he was about to lose his head, but he wasn't. The zebra got catapulted into a corner, knocking him out in an instant, allowing the two to win the fight within the pit. Azure looked at Zeke with a scowl on his face, not approving of his actions in playing with his win. Azure was more of a determined specimen, knowing what should have been done and what needed to be done and knew exactly what the difference was between them, making him appreciate decisions more and more.

It had been a fair amount of months since they had killed Sawtooth, being around six or so months since those events, when Azure himself was nearly killed by the radiation that bomb gave off, without him knowing about it. Azure kept checking his Pipbuck at all times, due to what happened then and how he lived his life now. Azure was able to be more relaxed about things and became more confident as he mixed with everypony and creatures from the settlement. Azure looked at all of the ponies that were around the pit and smiled at each of them, making them feel like he was going to pull off something. He wasn't, but he just had the mindset to scare off anypony or creature who didn't believe that him and Zeke would have won the event that they partook in.

A ladder was lowered into the pit, allowing the two to get out of the pit. Azure was perfectly able to fly out of the pit, but wanted to show some love to the ladder that they were using, so he became a little lazy and climbed the ladder, when he could have easily flown out. As soon as Azure got to the top of the pit, he looked to Zeke before looking over to the pony who had sent them down into the pit, which was Roselight. She was in the middle of receiving some bottle caps for the fight that they had both just won, making it look and feel like she was taking what was rightfully theirs, but they didn't care too much for the caps, as long as they went into improving the settlement that they had around the area, it was perfectly fine.

Roselight had a couple of injuries that made it difficult for her to do specific things. One of them in particular was flying. The alicorn had scars on her wings that made it difficult for her to fly, putting her off the idea of doing so, unless it came down to it. She originally wanted to get rid of her wings, due to them hurting so much when she did try to fly, but that was when she got the injury to them, so it was bound to hurt, making Azure feel a little bad for her. She never asked for her wings and the only thing that they were doing then and there was giving her problems and making her life a living hell, due to how much they stung at the time. Right at that moment, Azure was pretty sure that it didn't hurt her at all, but it was a little difficult to regain the ability to fly after not doing so without pain for so long.

Azure walked over to Roselight, seeing a big smile on her face. She looked at the caps and then smiled back at the pony who gave her the caps, before turning to see Azure there. She looked a little surprised that Azure was there, but she didn't stress, taking a fair amount of caps out of the bag and passing them over to Azure, which made him look a little confused. He stepped back a little, not wanting the caps that she was giving to him.

“I don't want your bottle caps, Roselight.” Azure stated, knowing that they would have done better sitting in Roselight’s saddlebag, rather than his, allowing them to be able to afford more defence for their settlement. Azure walked back a little, not wanting to accept the caps that were in Roselight’s magic, but she then placed them back into her saddlebag, saving them for something that might have been useful later on. Azure turned to Zeke, before seeing that he was talking to the both of the zebras who were in the arena with them. Azure didn't want to disturb them, so he fled away from the group, seeing the settlement before running to it and noticing that Saber was not at his post. He was normally so trustworthy with guarding, but as of recently, he had been acting strange, like something was wrong. Azure walked to the door of the settlement, before waiting for Saber to open the door, but he didn't, making his life so much more difficult than it needed to be.

Azure backed up and used his wings to propel himself upwards, allowing him to land on the wall of the settlement. He looked around and saw that Saber was nowhere to be seen, making Azure a little confused as to what had happened to the guard of the new settlement. Azure walked down the stairs and began walking back to his home, making the negative thoughts fade away, replacing them with positive ones that didn't baffle his mind nearly as much as looking for Saber did.

Sadjoy was still his one and only, making him grateful that she was still loyal and wanted to stay by his side regardless of consequences or if she was able to or not. She was something that Azure was grateful to have and even she knew it, due to how romantic he was around her. She had gone over to talk to Nightclaw about something to do with a gun upgrade, so Azure knew where she was, making him confident that she would have probably come back happier than she originally was. Azure didn't feel happy most of the time, due to him still having occasional nightmares and bad days, but becoming more and more common as time went one, making him a little concerned about all of what was happening in the world around him.

Azure got to his home, before taking out his key and turning it in the lock, making him smile as he walked into his little retreat from the Wasteland and it’s horrible nature. Azure closed the door behind him, before noticing that there was a note on the front of the door for Sadjoy. Azure took it off, before looking at it and then placing it down on the side of the cabinet, making it so that it would be the first thing that Sadjoy saw when she got back from her little meeting with Nightclaw. Azure sighed happily, looking over at the window and seeing that there was a drink already in the window for him, making him thank Sadjoy in his mind for the nice hot drink that she had made. It was a mixture of honey, a little bit of radaway and hot water. Azure had grown to like it a little bit, liking and enjoying the taste and the warmth more than anything else and was happy that it was able to be made easily.

Azure looked out the window to see Zeke walking down the cobbled pathway that was right outside his house, making Azure think that something was up with him or something. Azure took another casual sip, before hearing a knock at the door, making him jump and nearly spit out his lovely drink that his lover made for him.

“It’s open!” Azure shouted, getting the attention of the pony or creature that knocked on the door. The door opened slowly, before a certain familiar looking gryphon walked into Azure’s home, Azure being very happy that Gretzky had walked in, because he had been wanting to talk with him since before the fight in the pit.

“Hello Azure, I take it that Sadjoy ain’t here?” Gretzky asked, getting clarification as soon as Azure shook his head in response to the question. Azure took another sip of his drink and then placed it back down on the windowsill, looking towards Gretzky with a big smile on his face.

“Yeah, she’s over with Nightclaw right now. I have been meaning to talk to you about something though.” Azure stated, gaining the immediate attention of the gryphon, making him look at Azure with a curious glance. Azure walked over to him and grabbed his syringe gun from his saddlebag and placed it within Gretzky’s claws, seeing that it was a little banged up and a little damaged. “The loading mechanism is completely broken and the barrel ain’t straight. I don’t think it’s been straight since I fell on it when I was being attacked in the old settlement.” Azure explained, seeing that the syringe gun had lived longer than even Gretzky had thought, giving him a reason to repair the item, but it was pretty worn out at that point, making him ponder on what to do with it.

“If you leave it with me, I have an idea that might help.” Gretzky reported to Azure, making Azure smile a little bit. He knew that Gretzky wasn't going to fix it, that was obvious, but he didn't know what he was going to do whatsoever, making the surprise even more special. Azure nodded, before climbing back into the window and sitting on the windowsill, making him look almost like a cat looking outside a window, just a very heavy one, with wings. Gretzky turned back to the door and began to walk out, looking at the syringe gun with a little bit of curiosity in the back of his mind.

“How’s the armour coming along?” Azure called out to Gretzky while still looking out of the window. Gretzky turned and looked back at Azure, getting a slow head turn from Azure, followed by a slurp of a mug that Azure had, containing his beverage.

“It is coming along well, just got a couple of ponies and creatures left before everypony has a piece of the armour that you got. Speaking of which, how is your armour holding out?” Gretzky asked, betting that there were at least a couple of bullet holes. Azure moved to the opposite side of the room, before grabbing the clothed armour and smiling, throwing it in Gretzky’s direction, allowing him to catch it and look it over. He was surprised to see that there was no damage done to the fabric, other than the initial tear that he had done before making the armour, making him seem almost impressed about his work, seeing that he could create a durable piece of armour for sure. Gretzky threw the ragged armour back at Azure, who immediately put it on, making his body feel more ready for action and ready for the danger to charge at him.

Azure was unable to wear the armour during the fight, so he placed the armour in his home for safekeeping and allowing him to hide it somewhat. Azure placed his medical jacket over himself and felt like a new pegasus, apart from having the story of multiple bullet holes in his jacket, which annoyed him, because there was no jacket like the one that Blitz had picked out for him originally, making Azure get really aggravated that the one last thing that he had to remember his one fallen friend was damaged beyond repair and there were no other medical jackets that Gretzky sold. At least it kept him warm, that was what it was going to be used for, keeping Azure warm. Gretzky left the house with the syringe gun, making Azure feel a little lighter on his hooves and made it so that he wasn't in the predicament of healing anypony anymore.

Feeling a little bit on the adventurous side, Azure walked outside and closed the door behind him, leaving his delectable drink within the safe confines of his home. Azure locked the door, before flying across the settlement and made it his mission to try and find Sadjoy and Nightclaw. Azure swooped over Gretzky, before seeing the little area that Nightclaw had to set up his forge, making Azure feel bad for the gryphon, due to all of the equipment being squeezed into one small area. It must have been a nightmare to move around that area without bumping into anything. Azure landed and immediately saw both of them talking away, spotting him landing there, but continuing to talk among themselves.

Azure looked over, before walking closer to them both. Sadjoy smiled mid conversation, making Azure know that she was happy with him being here, which Azure immediately replied with a smile of his own, before shuffling next to them both and engaging in the conversation, which seemed to involve a lot of talk about how he was able to set up the forge and all of the other equipment. It got a little boring, but Azure was there to stay with his mare Sadjoy and needed to talk to her about something that was on his mind.

Azure waited for the conversation to die down between the bat pony and the gryphon, allowing him to sneak in a little advance that suggested that he wanted to speak to her about something. Azure gave a little cough, followed by a little bit of a twitch, signalling Sadjoy that he wanted to speak with her about something, making her chuckle and roll her eyes at Azure.

“You know that you can just ask me, right, instead of making a bit of a fuss about it?” Sadjoy chuckled, before kissing Azure on the cheek, making him blush that little bit more. Azure nodded, before coughing again, clearing his voice and allowing him to speak without issues occurring within his throat, pretty much meaning that he was clearing his throat.

“First of all, Gretzky I think was looking for you for some reason. Secondly, I got nothing else to do right now, so I thought that it might have been a great idea to hang out with one of the greatest mares that I have met along my travels and adventures.” Azure stated with a smile present on his face, making Sadjoy blush a little and lean into him, burying her face into his fluff to hide her embarrassment, but there was nothing embarrassing about telling a pony that they were loved and that they were awesome.

Azure noticed that Nightclaw was smiling a little, due to seeing the happy couple getting on with each other, giving the area more of a positive vibe that irradiated like radiation, which spread around the area and affected Nightclaw to make him feel a little more positive about the life he was living, knowing that he was in the presence of somepony who was positive. Azure noticed that when him and Sadjoy tried to embarrass each other, everything around them became more positive, giving life more reason to keep living, to see the events of their happiness to the end, which that thought alone made Azure look at Sadjoy and smile, knowing that they would both be fine in the long run, only if they kept each other happy and entertained.

“I think my job here is complete, due to the smile that Nightclaw is wearing with pride.” Azure stated, getting a stronger smile in return from the gryphon. Azure knew that he was doing something that made the area around them better, so he was going to keep doing the things that he was, only to make the areas he went to more positive and brighter.

Without any warming Roselight teleported to them all, making them all jump, due to her teleporting and quickly speaking about something, making them all believe that she was a little concerned about something or something was bothering her at least, making them worry a little bit.

“Have any of you seen Saber? He ain’t at the gate, but never leaves his post. Never!” Roselight stated, becoming a little worried about the pony that she looked after. Azure calmed her down a little, convincing her that he was probably perfectly fine, making her feel a little more relaxed, thanks to Azure. Azure looked at both Nightclaw and Sadjoy, before kissing Sadjoy on the head and walking with Roselight to try and find the pesky unicorn that had mysteriously disappeared.

Azure and Roselight both climbed the stairs by the wall, hoping that Saber was on top of the wall again. Sadly and unfortunately, he wasn't, making Azure get a little angry that something happened due to the fighting that was going on within the pit. Azure had a strange feeling that he knew that the fighting was the main source of his disappearance, but was not one hundred percent sure that it was.

“Don't worry, we will definitely find him and find out where he went.” Azure said, trying to keep the nerves away from Roselight, already knowing how much torment that she had already gone through, due to the nightmare that was within her originally and the transformation into an alicorn, which was a first for pony kind, as far as Azure knew. They tried to understand where Saber could have gotten to, but couldn't bring themselves to understand where he would have gone within the settlement, which Azure then stopped and thought about something. Azure bolted into the air, before looking at his Pipbuck and looking around for allies, which seemed to prove useful. Azure flew around slowly, trying to see if he could find Saber on his Pipbuck, which he did almost immediately, which made him breathe a sigh or relief. He was on the opposite side of the wall on the opposite side of the settlement.

Azure signalled for Roselight to follow her, before seeing that she was already in the air, travelling towards Azure’s location and waiting to follow him as quickly as she could, to find out where Saber was hiding. They got to the opposite side of the settlement within a minute and flew over the wall, to see Saber slumped against it, looking like he was in pain. Roselight panicked, knowing that somepony had hurt him, making her get a mixture of anger and sorrow brewing within her being. Azure landed on the ground, allowing Saber to notice him landing, giving him a gentle smile, before looking behind Azure. Azure turned around to see three of the zebras aiming some melee weapons at them. One of them wielded a staff, much like Blitz had wielded within a nightmare that Azure had months ago. Another wielded a sword, while the final one wielded a knife that looked like it had been used recently. Azure noticed that it had blood dripping down it, making Azure immediately look back at Saber, before seeing that he was trying to cover up an injury that he had gotten, making Azure that little bit angier.

Azure got into a more defensive stance, being ready to fight if it called for it as a last resort. Roselight walked closer to Saber and noticed the wound, making her worry, as she ran and tried to look after him. Azure passed Roselight some elixirs that he had made a little while ago, before looking back to the trio that was ready to give Azure and Roselight a hard time.

“Why do this?” Azure asked, getting nothing but silence in response for a couple of seconds, before one of them laughed. One of them launched themself at Azure, making Azure dodge their little ramming attempt, before noticing that there was a laser that was pointing to the raider that had just passed him. Azure stayed quiet about it, before noticing that same zebra trying to attack him, forcing Azure to defend himself. Without warning, before the zebra was even able to attack, another zebra wielding a rifle aimed his weapon at all three of his kind, making them pause for a couple of seconds.

Sadjoy and Gretzky had their weapons pointed at the group, as they flew in behind the zebra. The zebra in question was one of the fighters that Azure and Zeke had fought against, being a little worse for wear than he originally was, but still being well enough to fix himself up and come over and sort this entire event out. Azure looked back at Saber and noticed that he was drinking the elixirs that Azure had made, being able to heal the inside of his body first, before working its way out of any unwanted holes in his body. The thought that Saber was getting better made Azure smile a little, before scowling back at the zebras.

The little group of zebras were not backing down, making Sadjoy and Gretzky keep their sights on them, along with the fellow fighter that was taking their side. The fighter looked down and realised that Saber was hurt, making him a little angry.

“We did not come here to kill! You have betrayed me and my trust, all of you!” The fighter stated, before unloading a bullet into the air, making them all jump, before one of the zebras became a little too confident. He looked at Saber and took a smaller knife out of his pouch, before throwing it right in the direction of Saber’s head, being able to finish him off with the throw. Azure noticed the zebra reaching into his pouch and jumped in front of both Saber and Roselight, taking the knife to the ear, making him scream out in pain, but not killing him.

Sadjoy unloaded her rifle into the striped stallion that had thrown the knife, not backing down until he had more holes in him than stripes. Even when the zebra was dead, Sadjoy didn't back down, not until Gretzky grabbed her and lowered her gun, making her realise what she had just done and to what extent that she had carried it out. Azure stood there, knife in his ear, as he witnessed the protection of himself from his marefriend, which made him smile, within the pain that he had right then and there. The worst part was that he had to get the knife back out, as well as being out of healing potions, which made him feel so much better. He rolled his eyes at himself, making him feel like such and idiot for not having any potions that that point, but felt a little better when he noticed that Saber was getting up, only a little bit of blood on his armour and fur, making Azure feel better that he used his last potion to restore a life threatening injury.

The two other zebras began to run, before both getting shot by the fighter that Azure and Zeke had fought within the pit, feeling that he was loyal to the ponies and creatures that he had fought against or with. Both of the shots that he landed were both headshots, showing off the zebra’s incredible marksman with a rifle, but killing both of the zebras who hurt their little family that they had.

“I am so sorry for all of the trouble that they caused. They make my kind look more worthless and useless than they actually are. Stupid equines! Again, my apologies.” The fighter apologized, feeling bad for the rest of the group, before slowly walking to the bodies that were still within the settlement. Azure thought that he was going to probably take the bodies with him, but he wasn't. He was looting the bodies for all of the stuff that they had, leaving their bodies for the rest of them to clear up. That was a little bit stuck up and selfish, but Azure couldn't have cared less, due to all of the action that had gone on within that short period of time, making him hope that something like that wouldn't have happened again.

Sadjoy rushed to Azure, before tearing the knife out of his ear, making him scream in pain, due to her violently taking it out, but at least it was quick and gladly didn't cause too much damage to his ear. Sadjoy then proceeded to wrap Azure’s ear within some bandages, feeling a little better, but in more pain than he originally was. He knew that Sadjoy meant to help, but she didn't know that she was wrapping the bandages too hard, making it rub against Azure’s wounds more. He would let her off with it, due to her being in a little bit of a panic and then wanted to help out and take the role of assistant doctor, which was pretty cute, for Azure at least.

Azure looked over to the bodies and saw that they had been looted clean, making them have no point to keep the bodies around, so Azure walked away from the group and went up to the bodies, before seeing that they had absolutely nothing on them, no armour, no saddlebags, nothing. They were going to have to start working on graves for them, but that was not their top priority. Azure turned back to look at Saber and saw that he was walking over to Azure, making Azure stand up straight and look down to Saber, due to him being a fair bit taller than all of the other members in the group, apart from Roselight, because alicorns were very very tall. Azure tried to look back for the fighter that was with them, but he was gone, like they were not even there.

Roselight flew over with Sadjoy trailing behind her, before landing next to Azure and checking him over, looking for it he was hurt anywhere else. Saber paused as soon as he got to Azure, making him clear his throat, before speaking up about something that he wanted to get off his chest.

“Thank you Azure, for all of this.” Saber admitted, getting a smile from the pegasus, making Azure nod back at him, giving him all of the information that he needed to feel like he had accepted that appreciation. Azure had originally given up on using his fake name of Alchem and openly admitted to the entire community that his name was really Azure, getting some mixed reactions by all of the group. Brick was one of the members that didn't approve of him being lied to, but he accepted the world for what it was and looked at Azure no different than before, which was good in Azure’s eyes. Gretzky was happy for Azure, as were a couple of other ponies and creatures, making Azure feel more comfortable with all of them, which originally made him happy, but now, he felt like just how he did before, not satisfied, not alone. He was in the middle of an average mood, just like always.

Roselight checked her favourite doctor, as did Sadjoy, making sure that he wasn't hiding any other wounds that were left unattended, which Azure chuckled at how supportive both of them were all the time, now that they had been to new areas and moved in a direction that was only giving off positive vibes in the area that they were now situated, bringing a smile to Azure’s face, him knowing how much the community had moved on and developed at a family within some walls, which nearly made Azure start chuckling with job, but he stayed serious, making the others get on with what they wanted and or needed to do in order for them to feel satisfied with themselves.

Both mares stopped checking Azure after finding that there was nothing wrong with him whatsoever, making them focus more on the ear injury more, making Azure chuckle a little louder, catching the attention of the two, before Azure wrapped his hooves around them both, giving them both a gentle hug, which was something that made them both smile with glee, as they stopped being so protective over the doctor. Although Azure was in more pain than the others realised, he was perfectly okay to function as intended, like normal as the doctor. He definitely needed to go back to his home and make some more healing potion, but he didn't have the ingredients to make it, due to them needing a specific resource that he couldn't find anymore, due to it not being abundant in the area that they were now situated, making him a little annoyed, but gave him hope that he would be able to grow the radioactive plant that he needed to complete the potion. The reason that Azure was able to create the potion was because he was able to get the resource at the old area, due to it being close to their home, but sadly now, it wasn't.

Azure slowly turned his head, noticing that his head was a little stiff, so he tried to loosen it, turning it left and right slowly to make the muscles in his neck work easier and to make them not lock up as easily. Azure looked around to see the zebra corpses beginning to rot, slowly decomposing but being sped up, due to the radiation that was around them within the air. Azure slowly walked over to one of the bodies and then looked back to the others, hoping that they would also come over and help, which is exactly what they did. Roselight came over and picked up on of the bodies with her magic, as did Saber, following Roselight with the body in the air, trying to keep the body away from anypony due to the stench that was coming from the dead corpse, making even Saber hold his breath, as he held it up high above him.

Nightclaw walked over to the group, noticing the bodies that Saber and Roselight were moving away from the group, making him question what happened. He turned to see Azure with his wound to his ear, making him seem like he had left one fight and entered another. Sadjoy kept Azure under her wing, making him feel safer as well as warmer, which Azure was happy with, because the air was a little nippy after all. Sadjoy looked at Nightclaw with a little bit of a smile, but then she looked back down at Azure looking down to the floor, the pain in his ear giving him a major migraine, making his head twist and turn in pain.

“So what happened here?” Nightclaw asked after a couple of seconds of standing still, curious as to why Azure was hurt and why there were two of the zebra fighters dead. Sadjoy rolled her eyes, before looking to Nightclaw.

“I’ll tell you in a minute, but let me get Azure back home and then get him resting, then I can tell you, maybe over a drink or two.” Sadjoy stated to him, placing Azure onto her back and beginning to take off after a short period of time. Azure closed his eyes and rested, letting his body relax, as he tried to get rid of the headache that he had. Nightclaw flew after them, being a little more casual about the entire thing, but seeming like he was interested in something out of the conversation, making Azure a little curious as to why he was interested. He had never been before, which made things a little dodgy.

They got to their home within no time, before Sadjoy landed and unlocked the door with her own key, which was exactly the same as Azures. Sadjoy flew up the stairs and placed Azure in their bed, making him feel instantly better, due to the not so soft mattress being softer than Sadjoy’s back, which was a little sad, but it was the sad truth. Sadjoy tucked him up well and watched as Azure slowly drifted off to sleep, before turning around and slowly going down the steps, seeing that Nightclaw was waiting for the bat pony to come back downstairs, before going into the first room of the building, the living room.

Azure opened his eyes slowly, knowing that something was up with those two, but he couldn't put his mind on what it was. Azure knew that Sadjoy was loyal, but how loyal was she to him. Azure noticed that Sadjoy had spent a lot of time with Nightclaw for a short while, which made Azure question everything, due to being paranoid. Azure thought about it more and more, before noticing that something was going on downstairs, because there was music playing down there through one of the many radios that the house had. Azure knew that Sadjoy only listened to music when she was stressed, making Azure question if he was that reason, sending him down a rabbit hole that he shouldn’t have been going down into. Azure was too curious to go to sleep, as well as having too much of a headache to do anything else, but he had one thing that he had to do.

Azure could hear somepony coming up the stairs, before closing his eyes and pretending that he was asleep. Azure was going to make sure that he was pretending to be asleep as best as he could, so he began lightly snoring, making Sadjoy fall for his little trap that he had set for her. She rushed back downstairs, before Azure slowly and quietly got out of bed and went down the steps using his wings. Because the music was so loud, they couldn't have heard Azure fly down the steps. Azure made sure to land quietly, before slowly waiting for them to stop talking.

Azure could hear Sadjoy chuckling, something that he was unable to do himself, due to him being one of the more serious ponies in the settlement. NIghtclaw was the most serious, but he got Sadjoy to laugh, which made Azure that little bit more sad than he already was. Azure could hear how happy Sadjoy was with Nightclaw, rather than himself, making Azure feel worse and worse, as Nightclaw kept doing things that would make Sadjoy that little bit happier. Azure felt selfish for that moment of time and thought that all of the problems were coming off himself, but that wasn't the case as he moved his head around the corner and went wide eyed at what he saw. They had their lips locked together and both of their eyes closed. Sadjoy was blushing furiously and enjoying every second of it.

Tears streamed down Azure’s face right then and there, forcing him to fly back upstairs without making a sound. He walked quietly over to the bedside table and grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and began writing a message on it. Azure then placed the pen on top and wiped his eyes, clearing his vision slightly and making him see things more clearly. His last pony that he trusted was now untrustworthy. Their relationship, all the time they had spent together, was worthless. Sadjoy was Azure’s best friend, but not now. They had been lovers for so long, but Azure knew that he was just being used until somepony or some creature else came by.

Azure grabbed everything that was important to him, which was not a lot outside of his saddlebag. Azure placed everything that was valuable inside his saddlebag, before slowly flying downstairs again. He landed a little louder, making no audible difference outside of the blaring music. Azure sat there for a couple of seconds before hearing something happening on the opposite side of the wall.

“We have to be quiet, so that we don't wake up Azure.” Sadjoy stated, being the relationship cheater now. There were some muffled growns coming from the same area, followed by them both happily sighing. Azure felt sick, but had to do what he did. He quickly turned to the corner to see both pony and gryphon connected via gryphon’s tube, which was happily out of vision of Azure’s perspective. Both Sadjoy and Nightclaw looked at Azure with shock, like he had done something that he shouldn't have done. There were tears of sadness within Azure’s eyes, along with a look of anger at both of them. Betrayal was the better word to use. The gryphon was mounted on the back of Sadjoy, but Azure didn’t care anymore.

“Nice to know that the last pony that I could trust is now the pony that I can’t even call a friend. There is a note for you both upstairs, you traitorous fucks! I hope I never run across either of you ever again.” Azure stated, louder than the radio could transmit the music. Azure really badly wanted to hurt both of them, but he couldn't. Azure turned and ran out of the door, bucking it open in the process and seeing that Gretzky was coming towards the house. He stopped to look at Azure in tears. He rushed over to stop him, before giving him a gentle hug.

“Stay here quickly!” Gretzky commanded, before walking inside the house, weapon in hand. Gretzky walked into the living room and found the other two starting to put their armour back on, ready to chase after Azure. Gretzky aimed his weapon at both of them, knowing exactly why Azure was crying. He knew how close Azure and Sadjoy were, so he knew how much it hurt Azure. Gretzky scowled at both of them, knowing that he had lost faith in both of them, making him not see eye to eye with either of them anymore. Gretzky turned and ran back to Azure.

“If you want to come back to my shop, i’ll let you stay with me and Plumjuice, is that okay?” Gretzky asked, getting a simple nod from Azure, but Azure opened his mouth.

“If I come to your shop later, while you're still open, i’ll meet you there. I want to go and pay a close friend a visit for comfort.” Azure stated quietly, Gretzky nodding happily as he hugged Azure and looked angrily back at the house. Both Sadjoy and Nightclaw came out, making Gretzky raise his gun and point it at both of them, making them stop.

“Come any closer and I will blow your fucking heads off!” Gretzky threatened, making them both take one step back. Azure began walking in the direction of his friend’s home, not even taking a glance back, while Gretzky kept pointing his gun towards them both, making them cower a little and made Sadjoy tear up a little. Gretzky followed her crying with something that made both Azure and Sadjoy tear up even more.

“It’s all your fault, so there is no need to cry!” Gretzky roared, getting the attention of a couple of other ponies and creatures. Azure continued walking towards the direction of an old friend’s house, making him feel even worse than before, due to Gretzky’s quote going through his mind most of the time, constantly. Although Azure knew that Gretzky was directing that statement to Sadjoy and Nightclaw, he couldn't help but think that he definitely slipped up somewhere, making Sadjoy betray their relationship, making it official once they had gotten back to the older settlement and began relaxing. Azure couldn't help himself and thought about the good old days that he had with Sadjoy, knowing that at any point, she could have snuck off and lied to Azure at any point in their relationship, making him now begin to trust her as far as he could throw her, which was not very far.

Azure noticed that for the first time in his life, it was not raining while he was sad, making him feel a tiny bit better, due to the weather, but only the weather and nothing else. Azure thought that talking to a specific pony might have helped get rid of some of the unwanted pain that was within his heart, easing it a little and making him feel a little better with somepony telling him about stories that might have distracted him from the harsh world that he was living.

Due to the satellite on the roof of the house, Azure instantly knew that he was in the right place. He walked to the door and then knocked on it, before waiting and clearing some of the tears out of his eyes. He had come to speak to the pony within quite often, just to make sure that they were okay with living like they were. Azure noticed that a camera moved and twisted, making him think that somepony was on the camera’s within the house, making him assume that there was definitely somepony home. A metallic figure opened the door and Azure walked in and hugged Lumia, knowing that she would have been able to help with Azure’s pain.

Some time passed, as Azure sat in a comfy chair along with Lumia and Lilly, Lilly being a new friend of Lumia’s and was over to talk to her and relax. As soon as she saw Azure, she began to feel sad for him, hearing about what had happened to him. He needed all of the support that he could get and was not refusing to help a friend that was in need of a little bit of warmth and or love. She rested her head next to Azure’s, before noticing that there was something a little bit off about Azure, noticing that he wasn't caring as much as he used to about keeping himself in a stable condition. Delta was doing some monitoring of their own, making sure that Sadjoy was within their sights and making sure that she didn't come anywhere near the house, now not knowing where Azure went off to, due to being with Nightclaw for so long. She cried in front of one of the cameras, but Delta didn't play any of the audio, knowing that if they did, Azure would probably break down more than he already had, making him more vulnerable to anything.

Delta stopped watching Sadjoy and went back to focusing on Azure, the friend that had helped them to get out of that little shack that both him and Lumia created, which was way too dangerous to still be within that area, due to all of the radiation rolling around and all of the patrois now rolling around and through their old base, making them have to relocate from there to where they were now, which was in between Hoofington and Tenpony Tower, which made them a little confused on where they were, due to them being in the middle of nowhere. Although there was some trees around their little home, there were still opportunities to attack the base with ease, due to there only being three wall left, out of the usual four walls that created the outer walls of a settlement, but sadly, the settlement that they were living in now didn't have a final wall, making them have to use debris to block that entire wall, still making it easy to get in and out of the settlement due to sneaking out and under the debris, which there was a pony sized gap that allowed them entry to the settlement from the outside in.

Eventually, Azure and a couple of other ponies were going to try and fix that area, allowing for maybe another gate into the settlement, just to avoid being attacked from additional sides. Azure was trying to think of other things to talk about, to avoid him falling back into the hole that he was trying so desperately to get out of, due to Sadjoy and Nightclaw going at it and trying to keep it behind his back, making him shiver just thinking about it. Lumia noticed another tear that was creeping down Azure’s face, making her wipe it away as quickly as she could, avoiding Azure going into tears. Azure was strong, but he had lost so much already that something simple could have hurt him even more than the mare that said that she loved him. Liar!

Azure closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of both Lumia and Lilly, making Azure feel like he was safe for the most part from the world that was existing around him. Azure relaxed a little, nuzzling into the metallic structure that was Lumia, but was heated by the warmth of the kirin next to him, radiating heat from her body like a heater, being able to heat up the area around her with ease, as well as herself, which made Azure look at kirins differently, due to Zeke being half of one and Lilly being a fully fledged one. Kirin were mythical creatures, but legends never stay hidden forever, especially an entire race of ponies that didn't even exist until the bombs dropped.

Azure didn't know what he was going to do next, making him a little angry that he had no plan to fall back on and had no plan that he was able to achieve. Azure was a pony that was more interested in being given tasks to do, rather than to be giving others tasks to do. As Azure thought about that, he noticed that it was getting a little late, due to them protecting him so much, which he was grateful for, being able to confidently say that their affection definitely helped a little, if not a lot.

“How are you doing Azure?” Lumia and Delta asked, their voices mixing and echoing in unison with each other, making them both look at each other before smiling softly and looking back to Azure, wanting to know the answer as soon as possible.

“I… I guess that I will be alright, but only time may tell.” Azure stated, getting a nod from Lilly beside him, before seeing her rest her head on top of Azure’s for a short period of time. Azure was a lot better than he was, due to the help of the friends that he had collected along his journey.

“If you need something like this again, like the rest and relaxation Azure, do feel free to come back. Our door is always open to you, dear friend.” Delta explained, making Azure smile that some ponies were way more generous than himself, but there was bound to be ponies that would have been able to see through the dark and put the lives and sanity of other ponies before their own, making Azure still have a little bit of faith with ponykind, which gave him hope.

Azure slowly raised himself up and slid himself off the chair, knowing that he was disturbing the relaxation that they were all having, making him feel the tiniest bit sorry for them, even though he knew that he didn't need to worry about it. Azure was just having his mind bombarded with bad thoughts, due to what Sadjoy had done, making him lose trust in her.

“I need to speak to Gretzky about something. I guess I will see you all tomorrow or something like that.” Azure stated, getting a look of happiness from all three faces that were looking at him, making him smile and build up his confidence a little, one by one, brick by brick. Lumia nodded and then looked to the professor, who just placed an image of a mare celebrating, before Lumia looked back to Lilly, seeing that she was trying to snuggle up against Lumia, making her wear a smile of her own. She nodded too, before looking at Azure and nodding to him as well, making the light that Azure was standing in feel a little brighter and a little bit warmer.

Azure turned and rushed out the door, before closing it behind him and making sure it was closed, before running over to Hretzky’s shop, seeing that it was still open and seeing that the gryphon was still there, standing tall and proud over the other ponies that he was selling his items too, making him look over to see Azure with an even bigger smile, before finishing off with the customers that he had, making him free for a little bit of a chat and able to have some free time.

“How you feeling now, champ?” Gretzky asked, getting a simple shrug from Azure in response, making it seem like he didn't want to talk too much about it. Gretzky came out of the shop from behind the counter and hugged Azure with both his claws and his wings. “Did going to Delta’s help in any way?” Gretzky asked, getting a slight nod from the pegasus, making Gretzky smile due to Azure feeling a tiny bit better. Any progress to make Azure feel better was good progress, which was something Gretzky believed, making him think of happy thoughts, while he tried to comfort Azure with both his wings and his claws.

“Thank you for actually giving me a place to sleep. I have still got a little bit of a headache, but i’ll be alright for the time being.” Azure stated, making the gryphon become a little worried about his health. Azure knew how to look after himself, that was something Gretzky knew, but he pondered if he was able to help with that in any way at all. Azure looked about, before going into his saddlebag and grabbing two images that would have helped him to forget about the events that had transpired a little while ago now.

One of the images that he brought out was the one from their home in the old settlement. It was the Project Chimera image, which looking back to the image, gave him some good memories and some good ideas on what the metallic limbs that the creature in the image had, were like for them. It brought back memories of their first actual place that Azure could have called home, but he didn't know about what Blitz had thought about the home at all, making him a little sad that he wasn't here with him right now. That got Azure to look at the other image that he had, of the two ponies. Although the ponies were not real, being Blitz’s fake pony form and his mother’s fake form, it still had the power to make Azure miss Blitz as much as he initially did and needed him a little, wishing that he was here for Azure to hold, just for comfort reasons.

Before Azure could get another word out, the midnight sky lit up with a bright green light in the distance, brightening the world that he was in. It looked like a balefire bomb detonated in the distance, but Azure was not one hundred percent sure if it was or not. The light got the attention of most of the settlement, before the noise hit their settlement and shook it to the core. Azure felt the world shift, as the bomb shook the ground beneath them. Azure noticed that parts of the settlement were falling off, making Azure fear that something was going to drop on top of him, but gladly it didn't. The tremor subsided, making the green flash darken and the noise settling. By the looks of things, the exploding was pretty far away, but not far enough that it was able to not be felt, making Azure think that something was going on, something that was bigger than they all knew.

Chapter 21: Resourceful Return

“That’s it! I win again!” Death shouted, getting the same reaction that he had always gotten from playing a game of cards. He was playing Anti, which was pretty funny, due to him literally playing a timberwolf at cards and did actually lose a couple of games. He looked over to Blitz to see that he was yet again, staring into space, noticing how the world seemed to move normally, even when he was gone, which did make him a little sad about all of the events that he had gone through. Blitz closed his eyes, but instantly regretted it, as heaps of memories came flooding into his vision, hurting him mentally and leaving a lasting impression on his brain, making it think differently about everything that he was seeing within them.

“Blitz? Are you doing that thing again?” Death asked, looking over to Blitz from the comfy chair that he was sat in, not attempting to get up to try to help Blitz or just to give him support. Blitz looked back and said nothing, before walking over to the group and laying down beside them, resting his head and refusing to talk. What was the point to talking anymore? They could understand Blitz’s emotions, due to being within his head all the time, knowing everything that he thought, let alone spoke with confidence. That confidence died when he did, not really having a reason to speak anymore.

Every pony and creature around Blitz knew how low he felt, making him not feel any lower than he already could due to him being able to begin cutting them off from his mind, which he was able to do within his head, due to him still being trapped within stone. The nightmare walked up behind Blitz and then laid on him, making him feel cold to the bone, as she tried to show him some affection, not really working at all, due to the mindset that Blitz was stuck in. He wished that he could have gotten out of that state, but it was way way too far gone for that to ever happen naturally, making his happiness almost seem to fade as well, making it feel like he was in literal tartarus.

Blitz was mentally unstable, making his mind a warzone like all of Equestria, which was not something to brag about at all. Azure’s last sighting was something that Blitz forced himself to see over and over and over again, making his mind forced to endure and become stronger, but sadly that wasn't the case, due to the likes of the nightmare being able to warp his thoughts, using them to manipulate Blitz in every way imaginable. She failed badly at manipulating Blitz, due to him having nothing to gain leverage from, due to him being stuck in the state of being unconscious, but also being encased for eternity.

“I think that he just needs to relive the memories that he cherished so much, back when he fought me with all of his friends, having a good old time.” The nightmare boasted, getting both Blitz and Death to become hostile towards her, making her recoil a little and shrink away, like the deceiving little liar she was. Blitz didn't need her doing what she was to distort Blitz’s emotions, making him vulnerable if he was to go into deep thought about it, allowing the nightmare to be able to manipulate Blitz easily, but he wasn't going to allow her to do such a thing to him, planning on making it so that she would never get to him. If Blitz thought about it more, Death should have been more motivated to take over Blitz’s body, but he had never tried before, making Blitz trust him, way more than he did the nightmare.

“You ain't going to get to me, Nightmare!” Blitz roared to her, making her feel a little bit bad, but she didn't care too much, due to her being the best manipulator around, even better than Blitz was, and he was a changeling, the best of manipulators. That didn't matter too much, as the ground around them began to shake, making them all wobble and then fall over, due to the intensity and magnitude of the shake, making them feel a little bit confused, due to them being within Blitz’s head. Why did Blitz’s head shake wildly? He was not awake, that was the problem. He should have moved his head, before waking up, but he didn’t. Gravity seemed to be nonexistent, as they fell down, but never hitting the floor, making Blitz feel a little scared about what was happening to his body in the real world, not inside his head.

They seemed to be falling for quite some time, making Blitz think that he was being dropped from Cloudsdale or something like that, due to how long the fall was. Death and Anti were as confused as he was, not knowing what was happening with them all. Before anything was able to happen, Blitz closed his eyes, before letting out a single tear, hoping that this was the chance that he would get to either leave the planet and go to another place or if he could at least see ponies again. He opened his eyes, burning cuts and gashes restricting his movement as much as possible, making him scream out in pain!

Blitz stopped screaming, before noticing that there was part of some type of rock around him, almost like it had been chipped away from another rock. He then remembered back to the events that had happened just a little while ago, remembering what those Steel Rangers had thrown at him, making him question if any of that stone on the floor was part of his body. Blitz was spot on, seeing a flat piece of rock and noticing that it was a chunk of his tail, making him feel like he was completely broken, but knew that he wasn't. Blitz tried to fight through the pain, but it was becoming a little too much for even him to handle. He didn't even know where he was for a start, making him become a little bit more paranoid, which was pretty acceptable according to his story of being trapped within a rock one minute and the next, waking up in somewhere else with chunks of yourself scattered over the floor. He was in shock.

Blitz noticed that there was some movement above him, making him believe that he was within a basement or cellar of someplace. Blitz tried to get up, but couldn’t, due to his state, which made him feel like he was rapidly deteriorating. He mastered enough strength to get up, using some boxes that were behind him. It almost looked like he was in a boat of sorts, making him feel a little worse and additionally throwing him off balance, making him fall back over, seeing all of his green blood leaving his body. Blitz knew that he was alive, due to the pain that he was feeling, giving him the hope that he would have been able to see his friends again. He stood up, the feeling of regret and injustice within his mind, pulsating his heart more and more with each beat. He tried to push against the door, but it was locked shut. Blitz was in no dire need to get out of the room anyway, only apart from the sheer amount of blood that he was losing.

“What am I even able to do?” Blitz asked himself aloud, hearing the echo of his voice bounce off some of the walls, before returning to him with a slightly muffled pitch. He was not trapped, at least he hoped he wasn't, due to him wanting to do so much in the world, before leaving it again. Blitz noticed that something was underneath the box that was closest to him, making him want to open it up and see what was under it and see what else was within it. Blitz opened the box with a little plank of wood that he found on the floor, using the plank to lever the box to open. Inside the box was a fair amount of explosives, which made Blitz feel a little scared, due to how much was within the box. There was enough there to level that ship that they had originally gone to the Steel Ranger’s base to discover and see with their own eyes.

Blitz tilted the box a little, his magic being very weak, due to him only just recovering from being frozen in time for Celestia knows how long. Blitz moved it with all of his might, but it was still not enough. He did the little lever trick that he did with the top of the box, placing the piece of wood under the box and using what little weight he had to move the box, allowing him to get the item below the box, or at least see it. Blitz tilted the box a little too far, making the box fall over, along with all of the explosives within the box, making Blitz become a little paranoid with it all, hoping that none of them had a timer on them.

Blitz approached the item that was under the box, noticing that there was a familiar blue glow around the item. It seemed to be a bookmark of some sort, which made Blitz think about which ministry mare would have been the closest associate to the item. He was leaning towards the ministry of science, which was run by no other than Twilight Sparkle. If she was so good at science, it made sense that she read a lot of books. Blitz was about to place the item within his saddlebag, but noticed that his saddlebag, along with all of his over items were gone. He checked around and saw that there was no sight of them, meaning that they could have been anywhere. Blitz remembered that he had some personal stuff within them, making him a little bit sad, but keeping his strengths up, to avoid doing nothing.

Blitz was tired of doing nothing, so it was time to do something, hopefully not stupid, but knowing himself, it was too stupid for it to fail. Blitz picked up one of the explosives on the floor and placed it on the door, before moving all of the other explosives away from the one that he had just placed on the door, before moving back to the one on the door and pushing one of the buttons that started the timer to the bomb. He ran back, not knowing how big the explosion was, making him want to keep away from all of the other bombs in the room. Before Blitz could say anything to himself, he felt a little tremor, followed by a loud bang. The bomb went off and didn't let anything escape undamaged. Blitz noticed that there was a little hole in the door, making him walk towards it and seeing that the room was filling with water, due to them supposedly being underwater, which was incredibly unlikely. Blitz hit the timer on one other bomb, throwing it within the pile, before teleporting through the hole and having to swim up, due to him actually being under the water. He didn't realise it, but he was under a huge amount of water, making him question his sanity. He looked behind him to see the bottom of the ship, the bottom of the HMS Celestia. Before he was able to look back up, the explosives within the section of the ship that he was in blew up, pushing him with a load of water upwards, pushing them both out of the normal level of the water. Blitz used his wings to steady himself, which was failing miserably. Blitz landed on the ground a little sloppily, making him feel like he couldn't fly at all anymore, not till he got his strength back.

Blitz looked back at where he had just come from and noticed that it was indeed the ship that he had originally gone over to see, meaning that he was pretty far from the settlement, far from his home. Blitz tried to build up the strength to get up, but he was unable to. He looked up to the sky and closed his eyes for a brief second, before taking in a deep breath and opening them again, noticing that the nightmare was staring at him from the side. Blitz rolled onto his back, instantly regretting his action, due to the amount of pain that he was in, making him feel like he needed to get somewhere soft, otherwise he was going to die. That was all in his head though, making him get anxious and making him feel like he could do something better than just complaining about the situation. Blitz slowly rolled back over, wanting to get over to the mare that was looking at him in a saddened way, but he was very badly struggling. The nightmare rolled her eyes, before walking over to Blitz, her ghostly form helping him up and off the ground, making it so that Blitz was able to steady himself without the help of the nightmare that was beside him. She looked at him in the eyes before walking backwards and lighting her horn, making her form go even more ghostly, before disappearing once and for all.

Blitz felt a little scared at that point, before Death and Anti phased into view, as well as the nightmare beginning to come back to reality. They all looked at each other before Death stepped forwards and so did the nightmare. She walked inside of Death, before he walked towards Azure. Anti walked back a little, making it clear that she didn't want anything to do with whatever was going on. Death placed his hoof in the air, almost like he wanted Blitz to take his hoof within his own, which scared Blitz a little. After a little bit of hesitation, he placed his hoof lightly against Death’s and saw something that truly did shock him to the bone. Death merged with Blitz again, making him feel something else. Love? No! Passion? No! Strength!

Blitz saw a flash of bright light, before seeing the world the same again, but this time, it was a lot more easy to work out. Blitz shook his head, before learning everything that Death knew, overpowering his mind and improving his knowledge significantly, before he grew light headed. Blitz looked around and then instantly used a spell to repair most of the damage that came from getting out of the stone that had imprisoned him for what felt like a couple of hours.

“We have lost so much time! We can’t let anything stop us!” Death yelled within Blitz, making it sound like he was whispering it into his ear. Without noticing it, Anti came closer and nudged Blitz a couple of times, before he noticed that she was nudging him. As he looked down to her, some images flashed into his mind, making him go wide eyed at the sight of his mother being in all of those images that flashed within his mind. Blitz looked away from Anti and thought about it a little bit, before shaking his head and moving his ears to be directly up, feeling like he was not in control of his ears anymore, due to him not being able to hear anything other than… “Stop thinking and move!” Death screamed, forcing Blitz to move, making a sniper shot miss him by a hair. Blitz looked over to the sniper and smiled, before taking control of himself and knowing that Death wanted to protect him. Blitz picked up a rebar poll that was lying on the ground to his left, being more in the water than anything else. Blitz wielded the pole like it was his original sword, swinging it about, before seeing a whole load of raiders approaching him and wielding much more dangerous melee weapons within their mouth or in their magic, making Blitz smile, before remembering the actions of his best friend in the Wasteland. He remembered them, before letting a tear run down his face, wearing a bitter smile too.

“I… I’m sorry, I can't keep my word, not this time!” Blitz stated, before blinking and becoming in the zone. The zone for fighting, even if he was outnumbered. Blitz still believed that even if he couldn't move too much, due to being damaged before, he would surely be able to take on some raiders, at least for old times sake. Blitz felt a surge of power move from one end of his body to the other, rejuvenating his body in the process and giving him access to spells that he didn't even know existed. Blitz looked at each and everypony that was approaching him and smiled as time seemed to slow down, just a little, like it had always for him.

Blitz used one of the new spells to change the rebar that he had within his magic to something else. A bright aura enveloped the weapon, changing it into something that would have been more effective at taking out all of the raiders that were within the area looking at him. It went from being a bit of rubble that seemed to be connected together, to something that looked like it could knock some sense into even the most stupid of creatures. A steel rod took the rebar’s place, making Blitz smile as soon as one of the raiders tried to rush him. Blitz instantly knew what he was going to do, but before he did it, he would have needed to get to an area that the sniper couldn't him from, somewhere close quarters like.

Blitz thought slightly, before looking to his side and seeing the remains of a Steel Ranger base, which gave him the opportunity that he needed to get the distance to come to him, just to line up a shot. Blitz ran into the complex, being chased by at least fifthteen different raiders, all having a variety of weapons, ranging from baseball bats, to full blown military grade swords, making the emotions within Blitz’s head stay where they were, due to him not fearing death like he should have. He had become one with death, so how could he have lost?

“Here goes nothing!” Blitz spoke to both Death and the nightmare within his head, telling them both that he was going to actually try to fight off the enemy, which didn't seem right to him, but since when was anything right within the Wasteland? Blitz turned and ran back at the pursuing raiders, swinging the metal rod that he had within his grasp of his magic, at them and could only be described as pure murderous intent. Blitz’s eyes began glowing red, showing that he was still able to be able to revert to his old ways, making him feel happy.

One of the raiders charged him first, before getting slapped with the metal rod, Blitz delivering a blow to the head that would have caused brain damage if it was a little harder. The raider stumbled back, head in a world of pain, before having another raider pass him. Despite telling himself that he wasn't going to do it, Blitz still held on to what Azure and himself had spoken about before he got turned to stone, making him lower the power of his hits. Death noticed this and then tried to play a trick on Blitz’s mind, making him want to kill all of the ponies around him at that point. Death displayed an image of Azure, being in fear and looking at a raider, getting Blitz’s attention immediately. Blitz shook his head, before realising what Death was doing. He was growing angrier and angrier with Death, which is precisely what Death wanted Blitz to do. Blitz didn't give into the likes of Death, but he did need to do what was necessary to survive, meaning that he either had to flee like a coward, or he had to use Death, Anti and the nightmare to their full potential. He closed his eyes before building up an incredible rage within himself, blaming himself for everything that had happened to get up to the point that they were.

Blitz lashed out at the next raider that was approaching him, before hitting the raider like he did the other one, only this time, he hit him way too hard. The steel rod connected with the flat side of the raider’s cheek and shattered his skull, making pieces of the raider’s head go everywhere. He was going to have to kill the entire army of raiders to be able to have a change to get back to his friends and family, so he was going to take the chance that he had been given and went pacing towards the raiders that were heading towards him. Blitz lashed out again, this time knocking one of the raiders into a group of them, making them slow down enough for him to focus on some others. A bomb dropped on the floor and Blitz could see a countdown timer for it, making him a little worried. He moved the bomb that one of the raiders had into the group of ponies that he had just knocked over, giving the ponies no chance to get away from the bomb that Blitz placed down. The time went off boom when the three or so ponies that were in that group. Blitz didn't enjoy it, but he had to do what he did to thin the herd. Blitz noticed that one of the raiders was carrying a staff-like item, making him take a liking to the slap stick that was the staff. It was a pole with two blades either side of the item, making it almost act like a double edged sword, but with a longer reach, which was something that Blitz needed, just a little bit of range. Blitz picked it up and plunged it into the heart of another raider, noticing how easy it was for it to sink past the skin and fur. Blitz might have found a new favourite item, but those types of thoughts had to wait till after all of the raiders were gone, making him speed up with his actions, getting more and more confident with each new attack, having been away from combat for so long, but he didn't know that.

A couple of raiders charged Blitz, making him go back to the defensive stance that he held before he got turned to stone, making him feel like he was back there, along with all of his friends. Blitz saw that both of the raiders that were charging him had shotguns, being Blitz’s chance to finally get some weapons. Blitz darted into the buildings, carving his own entrances as he ran into them, making the enemy follow his path. He darted up some stairs and then hid around a corner, hindlegs ready to buck anypony that had the balls to come up after him. Apparently, both of the raiders that had charged him originally had the biggest of them, rushing up the stairs with no knowledge of where Blitz was or where he was going to be running next. The raider turned the corner and Blitz saw his opportunity, kicking the raider in the skull with his hindlegs, sending him into the wall next to Blitz and making him either dead due to the impact or knocking him out due to the sheer amount of pressure that went into his head from the kick. Blitz charged the corner and slashed the over one with his staff, making the raider drop the weapon from its mouth in shock and pain. Blitz wasn't going to take a chance at killing the raider just yet. Blitz took out the staff from the crying raider, before walking back up the stairs and picking up the shotgun and checking the ammo for the weapon, seeing that he only had a little bit. Blitz took all he could from the dead or passed out raider, before slicing his head off with the staff, only to make sure that the raider was dead. Blitz didn't have the time for chances!

Blitz walked over to the other raider and looked like he was about to kill the other raider, before the raider coughed something out. Blitz looked at it and saw that it was blood, making him have more reason to kill him.

“I don't want to kill you! I just want to get away from this group and live my life.” The raider stated, rolling onto his back and relaxing a little, to get his heart rate to lower, so that he might lose less blood overall. Blitz turned away before turning back to see the raider holding a pistol in his mouth. The raider shot a lot of bullets at Blitz, but nothing happened, due to Blitz putting up a shield around himself to protect himself, much like what the alicorns of the Wasteland did, thanks to the knowledge of Death and the nightmare that was now being helpful. The raider dropped his weapon, before staring at Blitz, wondering how to kill him.

“Anti? He’s all yours!” Blitz stated, giving Anti a reason to help Blitz. The raider started to panic as Blitz began to walk away from the raider, leaving him with something that he could only guess was Blitz’s pet. Anti spawned from the air in front of the raider, making him scream out in terror. The raider tried to shoot his weapon, but noticed that it was jammed, letting Anti get closer and closer to the raider, before finally being able to reach him with her maw. Anti latched onto the raider’s neck, before getting ready to do something for Blitz to see. Blitz watched her and saw that she wasn't going anything just yet, making him able to get closer to both of them. Blitz was right next to Anti, before she snapped his neck with the most gentle movement, surprising Blitz, before seeing her wrench the raider’s head clean off and throwing it across the room, before she started to chow down on the raider, or what was left of him.

Blitz let Anti have her fun, before looting the other raider that had the shotgun ammo still on him. Blitz saw that there were a fair few random items on the raider, but what was most important were all of the things that he had and was wearing and everything that he had. Blitz needed both something that would let him blend in and something that would give him protection and a place to store his item, which the stuff that the raider had was ideal for the things that he needed. There was only one problem with wearing the raider’s clothes in this situation, which was that he looked nothing like the raider, but he hadn’t really used his changeling ability very much, so he thought that it was the perfect time to use it.

Blitz transformed into the raider that he had killed running up the stairs, being a perfect identical copy of the former raider, which gave Blitz a little bit of satisfaction, due to being able to change into them so well. Blitz loaded what little ammo he had got from the raider, into the shotgun, seeing that Anti was throwing things to the side, before throwing what remained of the other body at the wall. Blitz was happy that he was not alone in his given situation, otherwise he would have probably gone mad at the thought of finally being alone. Anti nudged Blitz’s hoof, making him return out of his daydream and took a firm grasp on reality, making sure that he was able to focus on what he needed to do, which was getting out of that area as quickly as he could.

The door burst open by another raider, sprinting into the room and getting tackled by Anti, before getting his mouth covered by hers. The raider stayed quiet and relaxed, not being in any pain, but being scared as to why the timberwolf had her muzzle wrapped around his face, so his voice was muffled. Blitz walked over to the raider with the shotgun and pulled the pump back. The raider was terrified, but then something flashed into Blitz’s head, making his vision pulse a little, before going back to how it was before.

“Listen here buddy. I am not going to kill you, but I need you to answer some questions for me, okay?” Blitz stated, getting a rapid nod as Anti tightened her grip on the raider’s head, before letting go and walking backwards, keeping her eyes on the raider at all times. “Okay then, so that I can be honest, I’m going to change into my real form, but I still want some answers from you, just let me block the door so nopony can interrupt us.” Blitz stated, seeing more than enough head nodding to know that the raider was up to talking about stuff. Blitz used his magic to place a rusty bar over the lock and handle of the door, allowing nopony to get past it, unless they were to break the rusty bar.

Blitz sat on the grown and so did the raider, making Blitz a little surprised that the raider was willing to comply with Blitz, due to the history of raiders not being the ones who would ever want to comply. Maybe this raider had some wits about him, or maybe Blitz was just getting really lucky with the raiders that he was getting, due to the first ones being dumb and this one being the smart one of the bunch. Blitz changed into his normal self, which got the raider slightly curious as to what happened to the other changelings, which Blitz had questioned himself, making him feel like there were no other changelings in Equestria or within the Equestrian Wasteland, which did make his mood drop a little.

“Right, first question! What happened here?” Blitz asked, getting a little anxious that the raider was going to stay quiet.

“Okay, so this was the base of Steel Rangers and it had been fully operational with that massive ship alongside it, them all more or less treating it as more of a houseboat than a warship. Anyway, trying not to ramble too much, but something created a huge explosion here and made the ship buckle and turn, as well as sending bits of it all over the place. That’s all I know, but our leader sent out a search party to constantly monitor the area.” the raider informed, being more formal than anything else, which surprised Blitz a little.

Blitz commanded Anti to stand down, making the timberwolf walk back and sit down, before resting her head on the cold metallic floor. The raider got up, but didn't walk away. Instead, the raider extended his hoof out into the air, waiting to help Blitz up from sitting down on the cold floor. Blitz accepted the gesture, getting up due to the help of a raider, which was some words that Blitz didn't expect to ever say.

“May I ask about you then? How come you are around here? The partols didn't spot you coming in and we have this place monitored at all times of the day and night, so there is no chance that you walked into this place or flew above us.” the raider explained, suggesting that Blitz was more or less trapped again, but at least had some room to move about and do activities within, which was something he guessed. Blitz didn't want to explain it to the raider, but what over choice did he have, because he didn't even know who the pony in front of him was, or what time it was, or even what the date was. Blitz sighed, before letting his ears droop back to the back of Blitz’s head.

“I was encased by the Steel Rangers and placed within their vault, which was not opened at all. It is now open and there is definitely some stuff in there, but it is mainly explosives. I doubt that many ponies will have the lung capacity for that, so I think it is probably best to tell your boss about it. You still have Sawtooth as a leader, right?” Blitz asked, feeling like he needed to at least help the raiders in some way for some reason. He thought that it was his mind playing tricks on him for all of the killing that he had been doing, making him no better than any of the raiders that he had killed, willingly or unwillingly. The raider shook his head a little, before cocking an eyebrow at the name that he had not heard in a long time.

“Sawtooth? I have not heard that name in months! We operate under the bosses of the names Noname and Greyscale! Sawtooth was killed by somepony ages ago. Speaking of which, you don't happen to know anypony called Azure, right?” the raider asked, getting a little curious as to the nature of the changeling that he was standing in front of.

“Yes! Yes, I know Azure, he and I were great friends, until I sacrificed my life for him and the rest of our settlement to get away. Why? What have you done with him?” Blitz sated, quickly snapping at the raider that was talking about a friend of his, almost like it was a sick and twisted joke to be played within his own reality.

“Nothing, I too am a friend of his. Between me and you, I am on a covert operation to stay within the raider group right now, but I have tried to contact him, but I can’t.” the raider explained, getting a strange look from Blitz.

“Why not?” Blitz pressured, making the raider fess up to anything that he had done that would prevent him from getting away from the others. The raider pulled down the collar of his shirt to reveal another collar, a bomb collar. It was tightly placed around his neck, making it impossible for him to get it off, at least without the help of another pony. Blitz charged his horn, before letting loose a steady stream of magic, before cancelling the spell, causing an EMP like effect, deactivating the collar and the explosives within it. The raider tried to get the collar off, but it still wouldn't budge, making Blitz have to do all of the work to get the object
off from the pony’s neck. Blitz lit his horn, before slicing off part of the collar that was keeping it from being opened. The raider ripped it off, before dropping it to the floor and making sure that it was away from him by walking back from the collar, just in case it was to explode in front of them both, making the thought of that terrify the raider, just a little.

“Because I couldn’t seem to find him anywhere!” the raider stated, before there was some speaking coming from the opposite side of the door. The raiders started to kick the door down from the outside, making Blitz instantly turn back into the raider that he had killed on the steps, hoping that the disguise would have given him enough realness to convince them that he was one of the group. The raiders eventually got the door down to see the two of them tending to the wounds of the other raiders. Blitz used magic from his invisible horn to smack open a back door, making them flinch in the direction of the door that Blitz hit. Blitz got up, before walking over to the door with his new weapon. Blitz slowly opened the door and used his magic to pick himself up and throw himself out of the way, making it seem like the changeling that they were looking for was a little too strong for them. All of the raiders that had come through the door went back out, circling back around and hoping that they would catch the changeling that was hidden within their line of sight.

Blitz rushed out of the building and then moved along with the other area to the entrance to the base, being surrounded by electric wire and a gate that had a huge hole in the centre of it, making Blitz ask the other raider what had happened to the main gate to the base. He shrugged, before looking to Blitz and looking like he was going to cry just there and then. Blitz wrapped an invisible wing around the raider, who looked familiarly like a zebra, which was something that Blitz would ask at another date. Marks were present around the entirety of the raider, making Blitz feel a little sad and sorry about what the raider had been through, just to be helping Blitz escape. Blitz did feel very bad, but it would only be made worse if it was all true and Blitz was not able to find his friends and family as well. It was somewhat heart wrenching to see a raider feel the way he did, but it was just part of everyday life in the Wasteland, something that Blitz needed to get to terms again quickly.

Blitz and his raider friend got to a safer area, before hunkering down, making sure that there were no ponies following them. There definitely were, as a couple of raiders headed in their direction. Blitz turned around and placed something over the other raider, making him disappear within the light of the world, pretty much just acting as an invisibility shield, making him invisible to all, including Blitz. Blitz got up and turned to the raiders, looking down the barrel of one of their guns. Blitz chuckled a little, before pushing the gun to the side. The raider tried to keep his aim on the changeling imposter, but it was not easy when they kept slapping the barrel of the rifle that the raider was using, making it difficult to even aim at him. Blitz changed into his normal changeling form and laughed a little, before pushing the two raiders back with his magic. There were now more raiders coming out of the area that they had just left from, making Blitz a little angrier about them not leaving him alone for at least five minutes. He growled under his breath, before thinking about them killing the entire settlement, which fueled his rage and built it up to an almost unbearable level, making him go a little insane, not in the good way, the way that makes you go insane with power.

Blitz used his magic to launch a couple of ponies away from him, making them hit the electrical fence and get shocked from it, pinning them to it like it was a fly trap. Blitz saw another pony coming towards him and it didn't make him threat. Instead, Blitz got the idea to just get everything over and done with. He was definitely going to be getting rid of them all, but he was just pondering how he could have done it easily. He shook his head, before seeing the raiders shooting their guns at him, a couple more coming closer to try to stop the rapid changeling that was Blitz, but he was not going to let them stop him, neither was Death.

Death was willing to throw everything in his power for Blitz to be able to change the world, like his brother didn’t. Life and Death, one wanted the destruction to be ended and for the world to be ended along with it, while the other sought to protect the world for the ponies of Equestria to rest it and try to rebuild civilizations, along with communities wanting to help each other and try to bring back the feeling of completion again to the world as they knew it. It was a little weird that Death wanted to save the world, while his brother wanted it to end, so that the events would have never occurred. Blitz thought about it, then closed his eyes, his determination to help save the world and bring it back to its former glory was overwhelming, making Blitz go into a frenzy as he opened his eyes.

A raider charged at Blitz, making Blitz dodge the raider’s attack, before striking back with his own. Using his magic, Blitz launched a devastating hit to the raider’s head, using the butt of the shotgun that he had acquired from the previous raider that he had killed. The blow was enough to send the raider tumbling across the floor, knocking him out and damaging the butt of the shotgun, making it a little more awkward to hold with his hooves, but not with his magic.

Another raider tested their might against Blitz, being short lived as Blitz used the other end of the shotgun and placed the barrel right into the mouth of the raider, before pulling the trigger and seeing the back half of the raider’s head explode into a mess of brain and blood, as well as sending a couple of skull fragments flying across the area, acting like additional weapons for a short period of time. Blitz picked up the sharp blade that the stallion had just dropped, keeping it close, just in case he did need to use something more on the sharp side of the spectrum.

A bullet deflected off an object near Blitz, penetrating the bottom part of his leg and forcing him to put up the shield and heal himself, making it so that the rest of the raiders that were challenging him were unable to hurt him.

Blitz took out the shotgun from being within the other raider’s mouth, before cleaning the end of the barrel, making sure the blood wouldn't stain the weapon’s barrel, but sadly, he was a little too late, making him quit cleaning the weapon and using it for more of its intended purpose, killing other things! Blitz knew that he had at least another couple of shots in the shotgun at least, making him need to close the distance for those shots to be effective. Blitz looked behind to see that his magic spell on his raider friend had worn off, but they still didn't notice him, as he took shot after careful shot at the longer ranged raiders with their rifles, making Blitz only have to deal with the raiders that were getting close. That was exactly what Blitz needed them to go.

Blitz took a step forward, before stopping, due to him not yet healing his wounded leg. Death kicked in, since Azure was not around and healed Blitz’s leg, making Blitz feel a little grateful to the deathly presence of Death himself being within Blitz’s body. It was an honour as well as a burden at the same time, which was something that Death agreed with instantly. Death didn't want to force Blitz to kill or to change himself, but he needed to get all of these artifacts together in order to at least prove to his brother that there was no need to restart everything by destroying everything in ponykind. It was his job to reap yeah, but he didn't enjoy it too much and definitely didn't want to get every single pony and creature coming to him, making him want to save them all, which was weird when Blitz thought about it more, due to the duo wanting the complete opposite of what they were known for.

Blitz made Death stop thinking, due to him looking at a couple of raiders that were charging at Blitz, making Death stay quiet. Blitz smiled as all of the voices within his head hushed, if not for a minute, as Blitz charged at each raider, his shield being only in front of him as he charged forwards. Blitz slid quickly under one of the raiders, unloading a deadly shot underneath the raider, peppering him in buckshot as each individual piece ripped holes through his body, destroying everything that they came into contact with. It ripped a part out of the raider, sending most of it into the air above, while his body fell to the ground, dead!

Blitz continued to rush forwards, before seeing another pony get picked off by his new acquaintance, before focusing on the ponies that he was coming up to. Blitz noticed that the next raider was a mare, but he didn't discriminate, so he decided to do something to her, being more delicate for the mare, almost like he cared. Blitz dropped his shield, before seeing that she had a knife in her muzzle. Blitz bowed, before taking the blade out of her mouth with his magic and placing it in his, before he hugged her tightly, digging the blade into her neck as he began to nuzzle her. The mare began to scream in pain, before Blitz locked eyes with her and smiled, ripping the blade out of her throat and painting the floor red with her blood, as opposed to the floor being green with his. Blitz didn't like the killing, but there was something that Death was doing to him that was making it so much more satisfying than ever, making Blitz feel no sadness or repercussions from doing this to the raiders, who had it coming anyway, due to them attacking random ponies for no reason, just to do their worst to them.

Blitz kept the mare’s knife, before picking up his speed again, raising his shield for another time. Another raider was running towards Blitz, but he had something that Blitz might have found a challenge to deal with. The stallion wielded a shotgun, a shotgun that had a magazine attached to it, much like the one that he gave to Azure, making Blitz want it really badly. Blitz lifted up his shield, before aiming his shotgun below it and shooting the raider in the hooves, knocking him over and making it so that he dropped the shotgun from his mouth. Blitz went to shoot the raider, but the raider quickly grabbed the shotgun and moved it back to his mouth, before Blitz took a shot at the raider’s head, only hitting the weapon and breaking it in the process. Blitz was angry, because he was going to have the weapon to remember his friend, but now it was completely broken and in bits, making Blitz hate the raider even more than he already did.

Blitz focused on another raider that was charging at him, taking the knife that he had acquired from the previous mare and plunging it deep into the underside of the stallion that had just charged him. The stallion dropped his weapon, before falling lifeless, as Blitz continued to dig the knife in deeper and deeper, making the raider suffer more and more, due to the pain. Although the raider was clearly dead, Blitz didn't stop, jamming the knife in and out of the raider, for taking everything away from the world that was good, making him stop instantly as he tried to remember what he could before the stone enveloped him.

Blitz didn't have his shield up, due to him stabbing the raider and needed to lower his shield in order to do so. A shot cracked through the air and made itself comfy within the chest of Blitz, making him scream out in pain, as Death worked his magic, acting as a type of protection around his vital organs, keeping him in fighting order and able to take more shots. Blitz felt the pain and felt the burn of energy as it surged through his body, like his blood was doing, making him feel more powerful than ever. Blitz opened his eyes and wiped a tear from his eyes, before charging his horn, not putting up a shield to protect himself, but allowing himself to take the full force of what the raiders had to offer.

Blitz let loose a huge bolt of energy, making little streams come out of it, zapping raiders that were on the far end of the spectrum and vaporizing them instantly, turning them into nothing more than dust. There was no blood, no skeletons, no body and no existence. It was almost like they were being teleported to somewhere else, but that was not what was happening to them. The spell was not one of Blitz’s and to be completely honest with himself, he didn't even remember casting the spell to begin with. All Blitz could recall was blinking and then there being a big ball of light blue magic there, almost as blue as his ears and horn, but lighter. The ball was more of a cyan colour, which was not exactly the magic aura that Blitz had. His aura was more or less dark blue, so why was the orb cyan coloured?

Another shot cracked in the distance, Blitz’s new friend and ally shot his sniper rifle at a raider in the distance, making his head explode, as the bullet penetrated through the mouth of the pony that he had shot. The raider seemed to be happy to help Blitz, but Blitz did have his suspicions on the raider, due to him being a raider, but also because Azure was mentioned, making him feel like he was too trustworthy to be true. What were the chances that it would have been a lie? Highly likely! Blitz was going to trust him for now, but he could be an enemy still, so Blitz was going to be careful around the raider.

Everything fell silent, due to all of the raiders either being dead or running away. Either of those options are ones that Blitz was happy with. The so-called friendly raider came up to Blitz and smiled at him, his weapon being on his back. The zebra looked at Blitz and saw that he was not quite right, seeing that he was angry for some reason, but also looking straight in his direction, making him feel like something bad was going to happen to him.

“Is everything okay?” The raider asked, no smile on his face, before Blitz shook his head and smiled. He nodded to the raider, before sticking his hoof out to the raider, almost like he wanted the raider to shake his hoof.

“Blitz.” Blitz stated, keeping his hoof extended for the raider to shake. The raider lifted his hoof and shook Blitz’s, before stating his name too.

“Zavier! So you’re this changeling that pegasus hybrid Azure was on about. He missed you a great deal dude. For the few moments that I was around him, your name always seemed to linger on his mind.” Zavier stated, losing his title as a raider as he walked a little backwards. Blitz somewhat trusted Zavier, but there was something that was a little weird about the entire situation that they were put into. Why did he go back to being a raider, when he could have stayed safe with Azure and the others? It made little to no sense at all, but Death was a little thoughtful about the entire thing, running his thoughts by Blitz. Zavier must have been a raider previously, but like so many others, like Zeke, Azure gave them a chance. The story did add up, due to what Zavier was doing now, but it was awfully odd that he would have wanted to become a raider again. Maybe it was to get some inside information and report it back to Azure and the rest of the group back at the settlement. It was an option, but Blitz really needed to find Azure and Roselight, due to all that had happened and that he had one of the last pieces for the artifact collection, but he was pretty sure that there were one or two more, but he didn't even know where to start looking.

Zavier looked back over in the direction of the ship and saw some ponies scouting about, giving them their chance to flee before they got spotted, which was exactly what Zavier was planning on doing, but he was waiting for Blitz to come with him. Blitz noticed this and ran away, in the same direction as Zavier was going. They both had the same idea, which was to get to the settlement again and meet up with the others. They both ran away in the direction of the settlement, hoping that they would have both found what they were looking for in that area, which was Azure.

Blitz took to flying, conserving his energy and being able to fly all day back to the settlement if it called for it. It didn't matter that it was turning dark around them, becoming the ever so treacherous night, but both of them didn't care. They both had the same objective and a need to see the ponies in the settlement again. Blitz had his doubts, but he knew that there was a chance that they would not be there anymore, but Blitz kept his hopes up, not knowing any better due to him being encased within stone for who knows how long. Blitz looked at the zebra who he was with and then wanted to ask him a question, but being scared about the actual time that he had been encased.

“How long has Sawtooth been dead?” Blitz asked, trying to bring up the topic of time. Zavier pondered that for a moment, before waiting on a confirmation from himself, counting the days that it took. It was a pretty long time ago, so Blitz gave him some time to think.

“I would say he died by Azure’s hooves around six months ago.” Zavier stated, seeing that Blitz had stopped, still flying but becoming motionless in the air, not moving forwards or backwards, making no progress towards the settlement that they were wanting to get to. Zavier felt a little bad, knowing that he had told him that he was encased in some type of stone, but didn't realise that telling him how long he was frozen for was going to be a bad thing. In his eyes, it was something good, because at least then, they would be able to understand what they missed out on, at least that was what he hoped for.

“We need to get there ASAP!” Blitz stated, grabbing the former raider and teleporting to somewhere near the settlement. They were right outside of the settlement after they teleported and Blitz could not believe his eyes, neither could Zavier, because the settlement was destroyed. Blitz walked up to the settlement, before he closed his eyes and began to think. He was not dead, but where could Azure have ventured off to, with the group he was with?

Chapter 22: Ambient Aftershock

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...

Chapter 23: Fractured Foreshadow

Blitz just stared at the structure that was before him, while Zavier was walking around, trying to see if he could find anything that could have related to an event of some kind. They both were very confused about what happened to not only the settlement, but the ponies and creatures within. Zavier poked his nose all over the debris of the settlement, trying to find some evidence to where they could have gone or at the minimum, find out what had happened.

Zavier had finally found something that could have had some significant implications on what could have happened, so he dragged out a piece of debris. Blitz snapped out of the fake world that he was in and looked at what Zavier had found, bringing some sort of light to a situation that had none to begin with. Any evidence at that point was good enough for them, so when Zavier found a piece of a building with a huge amount of blood on it, Blitz painted a couple of images in his mind as to what could have happened. The most likely subject was that there was some sort of battle here, one that they could not have handled alone, convincing Blitz that maybe it could have been Sawtooth’s raiders coming back to get revenge on their fallen leader, or maybe it could have been to do with the Steel Rangers, making Blitz feel a little guilty about it, not being his fault in reality.

Zavier moved from within the debris and kept looking back at the blood soaked rock that was within the debris itself, making him think that it was probably used as some sort of weapon, maybe hitting somepony or creature and critically injuring them in the process. It was more than likely that, due to them not finding anything else in relation to the rock. Zavier stopped and looked at something, before notifying Blitz to come over and have a look at what he had just seen. Blitz hovered over the thing that Zavier wanted him to see and looked down at it, noticing the fangs and the wings. It was a bat pony! Blitz landed and stepped on something sharp, making him recoil a little bit and making him feel like he needed to get back to flying.

Blitz turned to the item that hurt him and began to brush it off, revealing another skeleton of a former pony, but this one was identical to the other one. Blitz knew who the two bat ponies were, but couldn't remember their names from the top of his head, then it hit him like a bullet hitting him.

“Lavender and Crimson!” Blitz blurted out, seeing the look of confusion on Zavier’s face. “They were both ponies that lived in the settlement. Something big happened here, but whether it was a battle or not, we need to find out. See if we can't find some sort of cloth of armour around here that might indicate what type of enemy they were going up against.” Blitz commanded, getting a smile and a simple nod from his new raider friend.

They both started to look in various locations to see if they could find something, but sadly they couldn't, gaining no information about the ponies and what they were fighting, until Blitz decided to look up, seeing some sort of flag that was tied to a poll and left on top of the biggest part of the debris, being the only thing that was still intact in the area. Blitz flew up, grabbing Zavier with his magic and letting him float beside himself. Zavier caught wind of the flag and got a closer look at it, Blitz allowing Zavier to walk up to the object on a floating platform. He admired the flag, but knew it was a flag or a bigger faction of raiders.

“They were attacked by the new leaders, Greyscale and Noname! This is their personal flag, which still gives me the chills.” Zavier admitted, shaking a little as he looked over the blood soaked flag. They liked soaking the flag in blood for some reason, but Zavier had definitely seen worse, but let out his discomfort due to seeing it again.

Blitz kept looking at the flag, noticing that there were a lot of designs that it had over it, making it stand out a lot more, due to both the designs and the amount of blood on it. It must have taken a lot of blood to be able to create the flag to be like it was, making Blitz think about how many ponies that they had killed that were within the settlement.

Blitz sat on the floor, looking up at the flag and wanting to think about something to take his mind off all of the killing and all of the paranoia that was jackknifing into his mind, cutting and slashing away at any good memories that he tried to hold onto. Blitz closed his eyes and looked within himself for something that would light his little colonel of joy and hope right up. He opened his eyes, seeing that both Death and Anti, as well as the nightmare, were all standing in front of him, looking down at him like he was some kind of failure. Zavier saw all three of them and just watched, not knowing exactly what was going on at all.

“You haven't come this far just to give up, right?” Death asked, getting no reaction from the changeling hybrid, making him a little sad about what Blitz was feeling. Death outstretched his hoof, giving Blitz the opportunity to shake Death’s hoof, but Blitz knew better than to do that, due to it probably killing him within a matter of seconds. Blitz got up and then looked around for something that might have suggested where they could have gone.

Zavier looked around, trying to spot anything that would give a little bit of a hint as to what had happened to the rest of his friends and former allies. There was a sudden gunshot heard pretty close to them both, making them turn in the direction that the old settlement of Journey was located, making them both a little curious to find out what made the gun go off. Zavier rushed to Blitz, before rushing to the others and moving out of the settlement and over towards the settlement of Journey, which gave Blitz some very fond memories back from when he used to live in the settlement, under the watch and protection of Appleseed, the former leader of the settlement.

Death flew behind them, along with Anti running beside Blitz and the nightmare running beside Zavier, which freaked him out a little, due to the nightmare being the one that the zebra’s called a curse, which was the same pony that they feared for in real life, if anything was to go badly or something along those lines. Zavier stayed calm, noticing that the zebra myths that he had been told about the nightmare within the stars were a little wrong, apart from her looking terrifying, which was something that stuck true to home for her.

They all travelled as a group for around five minutes, before they had reached their destination. Death and the nightmare faded, but Anti was still there, making Anti feel like the backup plan if all didn't go well. They locked eyes with each other and Blitz smiled at Anit, while Anti only stared blankly at him, before nodding a little bit, suggesting that they were ready. Blitz looked to see Zavier and saw that he too was ready for whatever laid ahead of them. Blitz moved forward and saw the walls of a settlement, which confused him a significant amount, as well as confusing Zavier, due to not knowing about the settlement that was thriving, just like Journey originally had been.

Blitz could tell that something was up, due to the walls originally not being there to protect the settlement from attacks from raiders and bandits and the other many groups that plagued the Wasteland and corrupted it with unnecessary fighting and pure murder and chaos, something that Blitz and Zavier wanted to avoid at all costs. They walked a little bit closer, before a red dot appeared on the floor, making them freeze in place. It was a laser of a weapon, which made them get put into the spotlight real quick, giving them a little bit of initial anxiety, but that eventually passed away when no shots were fired, only the laxer being pointer towards them both, making them both stay completely still.

Some sort of guard came out and looked at both of them, before looking over to the direction of the lazer and raising his hoof, making the lazer disappear from view and leaving them all with complete certainty that they were going to be okay. Blitz looked at the guard with confusion and then looked at Zavier, before smiling and nodding. Blitz turned back to the guard and smiled at him, only getting a confused scowl. He moved to the side and then opened the gate for them to pass on through, after seeing that they did have weapons, but didn't have them aimed at anypony, which was something that made them trusted already within the settlement.

Blitz was a little sceptical about the entire thing and amount of trust that they were receiving, when Blitz himself was a creature that the settlement in front of him knew nothing about and that Zavier looked like a raider and had the properties of one. Blitz was really, really confused at that moment in time, but needed to ask something to the guard, just to confirm what had happened to the settlement.

“When did the settlement come back from the ground? When did it get rebuilt?” Blitz asked, generally curious about everything that was going on with the area, due to him previously living there and wanted to know what had happened to the place that he had originally called home. Did they destroy it just to make room for more buildings, or did it still remain within the new settlement as a house that somepony was using to live their life to the fullest? Blitz was hoping to have the latter be true, rather than the former one being true.

Both Blitz and Zavier entered the settlement and both stayed together, to avoid losing each other within the walls of their new adventuring zone. Blitz was walking directly towards where his house originally was, before stopping and looking at something. Zavier caught up to him and looked at what he was looking at, before questioning what it was that he was looking at, noticing that there was nothing there at all. That was what Blitz was staring at. His original home… was gone! He looked to Zavier and smiled, trying to force himself to not break down and let everypony see how broken he was. He had lost everything, but he wasn't going to let that get him down. Instead, Blitz smiled to try and hide the pain that he was carrying around on his back and made it so that he was able to at least relax a little bit from the initial thoughts that were damaging his mental attitude a little.

“Is there something that is wrong, Blitz?” Zavier asked, getting a simple nod from Blitz, not really denying the fact that the last thing that he had originally had was now gone.

“My old home was here, although in ruins, it was still there. Now... now it is gone!” Blitz stated, getting off his chest, making him feel a little bit better due to letting out his emotions and telling somepony that he could trust about it. Blitz smiled a little, remembering his main goal, which was finding Azure and making things right with him and helping him for whatever it was that he needed helping with. Azure was overthinking everything, making him a little stressed, or a little more than was healthy. He walked back to the entrance of the settlement, being followed by Zavier, who seemed to be the follower in this situation, making Blitz become the leader of their two pony group, which was not something that he was too confident with, but he had to take some form of action to be able to get stuff done, which made him smile a tiny bit more.

“Do you want to grab a drink or something?” Blitz asked Zavier, giving him a slight smile with the statement that he had just made, getting a brief and bright smile from his new friend Blitz. They both turned back to the start of the settlement and then looked over to the left of the gate, seeing the place that Blitz used to go when he needed to take a load off his mind, remembering the good times that he had spent in the settlement that they both were presently in, making a tear of joy come to meet his eye, rolling down his face, all while keeping a smile on his face, forgetting about the pain in his heart for a second. They both began to walk over to the building that was looking more beautiful than ever, due to it being restored near enough completely.

They both walked through the doors of the main exchange area, also known as the bar, before looking around and seeing that there were some stalls right next to the counter. They both looked at each other, before going to sit down on them, making them finally able to rest their legs, getting the weight taken off them for a little while. They both smiled at each other, before listening to the radio that was playing. An announcer came out called DJ Pony and announced that somepony had spotted the events that had gone within the area of the Hoofington docks, which made them both cackle loudly, getting the attention of the other settlement dwellers. They looked a little confused and went back to talking about their original topics, before the radio presenter faded out and put the music back on.

The bar pony came over to them both and looked a little confused, due to them both matching the description of the two ponies that were mentioned in DJ Pony’s broadcast, making her a little sceptical to ask them if they both were the ones that he was on about. She coughed, before waiting for them both to order something.

“Oh sorry! What is your selection?” Zavier asked, getting the mare to look at him in response.

“Well unfortunately, the only thing we have in stock right now is some Sweet Apple Acres cider, due to our shipment being cut off by some raiders and scavengers.” She stated, getting a response from Blitz, who seemed interested in the matter, but could have used any drink he could have got his hooves on. Blitz looked at Zavier and nodded, before resting his head on his forehooves.

“We’ll have the cider, please!” Zavier stated, getting a smile from the bar pony, along with a little wink, which made him feel better about all that was going on around them. There was some noise coming from outside, before a pegasus entered the building, pinning himself against the door, as if he was trying to block it. Due to his size, being more of a colt than anything else, he wouldn't have got far blocking the door, getting him to chuckle a little.

“You do not want to go out there!” He stated to the entire room, getting no response in return, apart from Blitz and Zavier. “Wow, tough crowd.” He added, getting to Blitz’s funny bone and making him smirk. The pegasus caught sight of him and then walked over to him, getting a closer look at him and bringing out a magnifying glass, making Blitz question where he got it from in the first place.

The pegasus was red, with a generic blue mane, not even knowing what shade his mane was, which was a little confusing to say the least. It wasn't light, but it wasn't dark either. It was directly in the middle, being one of the most generic he had seen, finding that that word was the only word that Blitz would have accepted to describe the pegasus. He looked like he should have been familiar to him, but he wasn't the one that came to the front of his mind. The pegasus placed his magnifying glass away, but it vanished into his fur or something, but Blitz knew that the pegasus was hiding something, due to it not vanishing, but disappearing, leaving a little bit of light red smoke to trickle into the air. Blitz narrowed his eyes, before turning around and seeing the same pegasus perched up on the bar stall beside him, almost like he had teleported to it.

Blitz jumped a little at the sight of the pegasus being right next to him. That got the pegasus to laugh a little and made Blitz a little more curious to see what the pegasus was like. Both of the drinks that Zavier asked for came, before he passed one of them to Blitz, making him smile a little and pick it up with his magic, before licking his lips and taking a sip of it. The initial taste was normal, but the aftertaste was what made it so hard to stop drinking the substance, but Blitz learnt from his past how bad it was to get drunk, while within the Equestrian Wasteland. It ended badly for him last time, so what was to say that it would change in an area that was so familiar to him, yet so different?

Blitz took another sip of the drink and then turned around on his stool, before seeing a bunch of other ponies and creatures talking within the bar. It was somewhat wholesome to see ponies acting like this, rather than being like the usual raider that he used to see with the ‘kill or be killed’ motto sticking by them. Blitz focused on nothing, before looking around and letting his mind become flooded with happy visions and thoughts, probably being helped by the alcohol that was being more and more intoxicating, which was something that would not corrupt Blitz, due to him already being able to stand more than just his weight in fluids.

Blitz looked over to Zavier, seeing that he had wandered off in some direction, leaving him alone with the pegasus, which was something that Blitz didn't want to have to put up with. He took another sip of the lovely substance, before turning back to the counter and taking the bottle out of his magic, before resting his head on his forehooves. Blitz noticed that his drink was slowly moving away from him, but he caught wind of something that was happening. The aura of the magic that was slowly moving his drink was a light red, much like the smoke that he had seen on the pegasus. Blitz looked at him and used a spell that his mother had taught him how to do, although he had never used it properly before.

Blitz looked at the pegasus and then scanned him, using his horn as some sort of detector and made it so that Blitz was able to see if there were any changelings hiding within the room. Apart from himself and the changeling beside him, there were no other changelings within the room. Blitz paused as he stopped looking around the room, before looking back at the other changeling that he had found. The fake pegasus looked at him funny, before spreading out his wings a little, like he was getting ready to run.

“Relax, why would I hurt somepony who is like me?” Blitz asked, making the scared changeling confused, making him tilt his head a little in response. “I can see that you are not a pegasus, and I know what you really are, but I ain’t going to announce it to the world, so don't worry about it.” Blitz explained, making the changeling look down a little.

“Did mother… Do you remember mother?” The hidden changeling asked, catching Blitz off guard, making him spit out a little bit of cider in response.

“Wait, what? I barely remember my own birthday kid!” Blitz stated, trying to remember anything that could have allowed him to answer that question. “What did she look like?” Blitz asked, trying to get more information on what had happened. The pegasus thought for a moment, before using his magic to spawn a picture of her… along with Blitz! It confused him a great deal, but then something sparked in his mind, making him want to ask something. “Did she have a job when you were born?” Blitz asked, getting the attention of the changeling.

“How the fuck would I even know that? I was a baby bug, more or less a worm. I do remember mother getting a job as a mane cleaner or something.” The changeling stated, trying to think more and more about what Blitz had asked. Blitz tried to think of something to ask, but then something hit him.

“What is your name?” Blitz asked, getting a hesitant response from the little bug. He didn't answer for a couple of seconds, before he opened his mouth.

“It’s Shifty… Shifty, the bug…” Shifty stated, getting a grin, but then a frown from Blitz, making him a little curious as to why Blitz reacted like that. That name rang so many bells to Blitz that it was strange to him. He was pretty sure that he remembered something like that… but then a thought hit him, making him stare blankly at Shifty, making the changeling wear a confused scowl.

“Does that make you my son?” Blitz stated quietly, getting somewhat of a nod from Shifty, before getting a smile that brightened Blitz’s heart a little. “And what is the situation with your mother?” Blitz asked, getting a frown from Shifty, not really wanting to look into Blitz’s when he spoke.

“Well, she ain’t in the clouds, but she is around a meter below ground though.” Shifty stated, trying to make a joke out of her being dead, only to lighten the conversation and not to give anypony the wrong idea of what was happening. Blitz knew how it felt to lose a mother, making him feel a little bad for Shifty. “But anyway, what have you been up to, pops?” Shifty asked Blitz, making him envelope this idea of Blitz being a father to him. Blitz hesitated a little, before stopping completely and closing his eyes, before he opened them again and sighed.

“Nothing much, just recently came out of being a statue and am trying to get a grip on the world around me and how much it has change.” Blitz stated, taking back his cider and taking a swig of it and relaxing into the drink, just enough to make the bad thoughts, anxiety and depression, disappear for a little bit. Blitz looked at Shifty and then smiled, seeing that he might have been right about him being his own son. At least he wouldn't have been alone to get back to Azure with, apart from travelling with Zavier of course. Blitz felt the weight of the world slip off his shoulders for a little bit, allowing him to be able to focus on making new friends, ones that would be able… to fill his army! Blitz shook his head, not having that thought on his own, thinking that the thought was either one of the nightmare’s or one of Death’s, but it was definitely not one of Blitz’s own thoughts.

Blitz noticed that Zavier was coming back with some ponies that he was talking to, making Blitz feel ever more anxious about his current situation as it stood. He closed his eyes and then sighed again, before putting on a fake smile and looking at the four ponies that he was bringing back. Blitz flicked his eyes to Shifty to see what he was doing, which he was doing the same, showing off a fake smile.

“These guys are going to come with us to the next settlement over, which is far up to the North.” Zavier stated, Blitz knowing that they had already come from an area like that. The area that they originally had come from was up North and to the West as well. It would have been quicker for them to go straight there, but he was wrong. He wouldn't have known that there was a settlement there, so Blitz quickly cleared his head of all of the wrong thoughts that were trying to get into his deepest part of his mind.

Blitz nodded, thinking that it might have been good for Shifty to probably tag along, since it was a journey that was going to take a while to venture to. Blitz thought it was a good idea and in turn asked Shifty if he would want to come along, which to his surprise was an instant nod, making him a little shocked as to how little he had to think about it. Blitz was going to be okay with either answer but he was happy that Shifty made short work of it, allowing him to focus on more things, rather than pondering on the same question that he had asked for a little while.

“You ain't bringing him, are you?” one of the settlement dwellers asked, pointing a hoof at Shifty, making his ears fall down to either side of his head, feeling a little bit caught up in an argument. Blitz looked to Shifty and then back at the unicorn that was pointing hooves. “He can’t even defend himself! Yeah sure, he can make us crack up with jokes while we are fighting ponies, but he gets hit more than he should.” the unicorn added onto his original statement, making them all look at Shifty, making his ears try to fold back more than they already were, which was somewhat impossible, due to them already being flat against his head.

“Oh, I have a feeling that he will be getting hit a lot less, if he comes with us.” Blitz stated, raising an eyebrow at the changeling hidden in a pegasus form. That got him to perk up a little bit, his ears not being pinned to his head anymore, which gave Blitz a little bit of a smile and a look of somepony who was proud. Combat was not going to be only about fighting anymore, it was going to be more about cracking some good jokes within the tide of battle to give their fellow ponies some much needed brightness within their lives, which is what Shifty was able to deliver to the team. Blitz was pretty sure that Shifty kept his changeling form behind the skin of a pegasus, just like Blitz originally did, before meeting Azure and getting to know him. Blitz was pretty sure that Shifty only used his magic for when he was behind closed doors, making his moves predictable, or more so due to not using his form to the most of its ability. Blitz left his stool before turning around and grabbing his drink from across the room, before taking another sip of it, before teleporting it into another area, so that it would not spill over and leak all over the place.

They had begun to travel North and were following a road that Blitz had never really seen before, making him wish that he explored more than he did before. Blitz was walking at the back, just behind Zavier and Shifty, while the others up ahead were getting a move on with all of their equipment on their back. Blitz didn’t know what the ones ahead were wanting to do in the settlement that they were going to, but it was more or less something to do with trading, due to how much of it went down throughout the Wasteland. Zavier and Shifty seemed to be on good terms and what not, but Blitz was feeling a little less motivated than usual. Was he home sick? Probably!

Blitz decided to slow down a little more, losing the convoy a little and letting them go on without him struggling behind them. He noticed a couple of things that kept flashing through his vision, piercing the corners of his eyes with something that was distracting enough for him to look away from the path that he was travelling on, which made him slow down even more than he had already done. He looked off into the trees and noticed that his vision was actually lying to him, warping the trees to look normal, when there was something in the trees that was being corrected by his own vision, or was somepony wanting him to not see what he did.

Blitz flew over to the tree and notice that there was a ghoul being hung up in there, which was something that he didn't want to see, but at the same time did, due to him not enjoying the sight, but knowing that his sight was still working as it should have been, which was what Blitz was trying to find out about. Something within his mind was breaking his vision, slowly and little by little, until he was seeing what they wanted him to see. It was indeed a little worrying, but it was something that he would have to sort out at a later date. He left the ghoul to hang by himself and then went back to the road, before looking to the left and seeing the group, still noticing that nopony was there.

Anti spawned beside Blitz, before he rubbed her wooden textures with his wing, making her purr in delight, due to the soft touch of Blitz’s wing as it graced her. Zavier looked behind and then saw that Blitz was slowly catching up, making him wait for a second so that he could talk to Blitz about something. Shifty paused before he looked behind him to see Anti, a beast that he had not seen yet, but didn't fear at all, due to seeing things that were much worse than what Anti was. Blitz watched as Anti scooped up Shifty onto her back and then ran with him, Shifty grabbing onto a part of Anti that was sticking out, which was a pun of itself, which he thought that only he could have been put into. He held it with his hooves as Anti took off, charging around and making sure that Shifty didn't fall off at all. The ride not only put a smile on Shifty’s face, but Blitz’s too, seeing his friend and so called son playing together and having fun.

“Blitz, can I ask you something?” Zavier asked, getting a chuckle from Blitz.

“You just did!” Blitz joked, getting more into a good mood, rather than the worried state he was in before, which gave him a little sliver of hope that one day he would have felt the same way as he did right then and there. Zavier looked at Blitz with a slight bit of annoyance, which Blitz felt a little sorry about, making him go back to being serious with the zebra that was talking to him and trying to ask him something that might have been important.

“I noticed that you were falling behind, but kept talking to your supposed son about other things. Are you alright with everything that is going on around us?” Zavier asked, getting real serious with Blitz. Although Blitz couldn't tell him the entire thing, he could at least tell him that he was not okay at least, which was something that he would have never been again, due to both Death being trapped within his body, inside his soul, as well as the nightmare that had been haunting Princess Luna for years upon years. He couldn't tell him about any of that, due to it being so much more complicated than Blitz could describe, which was only the beginning of his troubles.

“Just a little confronted with time is all, other than that, I am alright.” Blitz lied, hating his guts for doing so, but needing to keep the others from worrying about his, as it would only bring them down if he was, so what was the point of telling them that he was down and keeping them distracted. It was becoming more and more apparent how not alright Blitz was with everything that was going on around him, making him worry more and more about his mental health. Zavier walked a little quicker, to catch up with the ponies ahead to talk to them about something. Everypony looked convinced, apart from the one that was able to through somebody else's lies, due to being one of the creatures that used to use that kind of stuff against ponies. Shifty could tell that something was off, just by looking at Blitz's face and how he acted, although he had only known Blitz for a short amount of time.

Shifty got off Anti and got slower and slower, allowing himself to walk beside his father, making Blitz want to avoid eye contact with him. Shifty didn't speak too much, only due to him being a little bit more concerned about Blitz’s health than all of the other and that was what was slowing him down a little, due to his mind having to process all of this new information that he was getting put with. Shifty knew that there was something that Blitz was hiding from everypony else, but he didn't know why he was trying to hide it. Shifty didn't know what to do, seeing that his father’s ears were pinned to the back of his head, almost like they had been stapled there, unable to move at all. Shifty did the only thing he knew how to do, which was to act like a clown to make others laugh.

“Well, if my father won't smile, I guess that I will just have to make him smile.” Shifty stated, taking off his head like he was some kind of headless horse. Blitz watched the changeling as he proceeded to throw his head a little behind, before catching it on his body, which got a little smile from Blitz. Shifty didn't change to his changeling form, even though Blitz knew that he was a changeling, due to him having too much of a reputation of being a red pegasus with a blue mane and tail. Zavier looked behind at the two and saw them both walking together along the cobbled path to that side, being a little softer on their hooves, rather than staying on the road that was all chipped and broken.

“We still don't know if I am your father, kid.” Blitz pointed out to Shifty, making him shake his head almost instantly after being told that by Blitz.

“Well, until then, I can bond with another changeling at least!” Shifty blurted out, making it so that the others couldn't hear it. It made Blitz smile a little bit that he wasn't the only changeling left in Equestria, which brought him hope, as well as Death a little bit of happiness, before regaining focus on the current objective at hoof. Blitz shook his head before smiling at Shifty and calling for Anti to come to him. She teleported beside him and then licked Blitz with he leathery like tongue, before making him chuckle a little bit.

“How are you doing girl?” Blitz asked, getting a simple nod from the creature. This was enough to amaze Shifty, due to him not knowing that somepony actually had it in them to train a timberwolf, let alone see one before him. Anti rubbed herself against Blitz, purring as she did it, almost sounding spot on to a cat. Blitz chuckled a little, before teleporting a piece of metal out of the air, making Anti wag her stiff wooden tail, like knew what Blitz was going to do. Blitz threw the item with his magic, stopping for a brief second to play with his wooden K9 friend. Anti launched herself into the sky and grabbed the piece of metal in her wooden maw, before landing softly and turning back to Blitz and seeing that he was smiling, which was what she had intended to do, doing anything she could do to see him smile.

Shifty walked backwards and kept his eyes on Anti and Blitz. Blitz noticed that and saw that Anti was looking over to Shifty as well. That gave him a pretty fun idea for Anti to do, which was to get Anti to chase the little bug about, almost making it as if Anti was chasing a fly.

“Get him!” Blitz commanded, making Anti eye down Shifty. Shifty didn't hesitate to fly directly up, making him think he was safe against a hound that Death created. Anti did something that Blitz hasn't seen before. Anti climbed up a tree within a second, almost like her gravity was around the tree that she climbed up, making Blitz a little confused. Shifty flew a little further up, making sure that Anti was unable to get him, due to how high she would have had to jump in order to reach him while he was high in the sky. He knew about the pegasi above and knew their system that had been put in place, so he knew about the field in the sky that he was not able to go through, making his movement limited when it came to height.

Anti jumped from the tree and almost began to glide over towards Shifty, making him move back. He was amazed by the brains of the timberwolf, so he just accepted it and fell down to the floor. Anti began to fall, before landing on her wooden paws and walking over to Shifty.

“You win!” Shifty stated, before Anti put him in her mouth, before running over to Blitz. Blitz looked at her with a very confused look, before she placed Shifty on the floor gently, making sure not to cause any damage to the changeling that she had just placed sideways into her mouth. She took one look at the others that were watching her, before she ran to Blitz’s side. Blitz chuckled a little before looking down at the timberwolf that was trying to hide her face from all who were looking at her. That made Blitz, persuading him to push on through all of the bad emotion and try to spot the light spots within the darkness that he had been shrouded in, within his mind.

They ventured on, Blitz being with all of the ponies that he had met since he had come out of being encased within some stone. Zavier was somepony that Blitz found to be somewhat ‘special’ in regards to the situation that he had kept putting himself within, due to him becoming a raider, then not, then becoming a raider again, now he wasn't and was travelling with Blitz in a little convoy. Blitz admired Zavier’s passion to help others, which was something that probably rubbed off from Azure, due to them apparently meeting previously, while Blitz was encased in the cocoon of rock.

Shifty seemed to be alright, which was something that Blitz took into consideration. He was a clown, that was for sure, but there was something about him that Blitz liked. Whether it was the mindset that Shifty was in, or how serious he wasn't, Blitz didn't know. Shifty was somewhat like Blitz in the way that he had presented himself to others, making him become more and more of a lier as time came and went, due to him living the same lie every day and making him hide himself further and further back, due to gaining the trust of the others around him, using the pegasus form that he had created for himself and based his life around. If he was to change to his normal form, which was the cute little red eared, red horn changeling, then he would have lost all of the trust that he had built up within his time at the other settlement.

Blitz knew the feeling all too well about having the ones that trusted him turned against him instantly, having to regain their trust as well as their loyalty, due to a lie that he was too scared to admit to. He regretted it in the end, but that was life in the end. He had to sacrifice his actual self, for a little more trust, with the initial trust loss that he received that damaged him a little bit, emotionally and physically. Blitz didn't want his supposed son to experience the same thing he did, because he had built up more of a trustful relationship with all of the ponies and creatures in the settlement than Blitz had originally done, which made him fear the likelihood of the outcome being the same for Shifty.

Blitz focused on moving forward, getting rid of any bad thoughts that were going on within his mind and walking onwards, catching up to the others that were up ahead. Blitz fell in line and walked alongside Anti and Shifty, while Zavier was talking to the ponies in front again, hitting them with questions that he could have only asked them and not Blitz and Shifty, due to them knowing nothing about the North of Equestria and what laid within there for them to discover. Blitz had somewhat of an idea as to what he could have expected, but didn't know one hundred percent.

A little over an hour into the journey, they kept passing up buildings that Blitz would have stopped to loot, which was something that he guessed that the other ponies didn't like or enjoy, or even didn't need to do, since they were only going to get slowed down by it. Blitz missed so many opportunities to loot some buildings, but he would have rather stayed with the group, rather than getting sidetracked and losing the group that he wanted to stick closely to.

The ponies ahead turned to a bunch of buildings, before darting in and setting up themselves to be ready for the journey that would have happened more, if it was a brighter time of day, or even approaching midnight slower, due to it either being heavy rain or the sun had gone down behind the thick cloud layer. Blitz had to accept that it was time to settle down and wait for the brightness of tomorrow to come to help them all. Blitz noticed that all of the ponies that were leading them all were now looting the house, after not looting anything all day and persisting on and making the most of the sunlight. There was still a little bit of sunlight left, but Blitz wasn't going to hold it against all or any of them. He had to admit that he was a little tired, due to him teleporting him and Zavier over to the old settlement and then walked over to Journey and found a lovely community, consisting of ponies who wanted to help and most importantly, his son.

Shifty walked over to Blitz, seeing that he was sitting in the window like some sort of cat that was staring at the moon. Blitz looked over to Shifty and waved for him to come over. Shifty didn't hesitate, before he joined Blitz in the window and laid down on the opposite side, making Blitz look at him like he was a little animal or something. Blitz began to try and tickle Shifty, knowing where the changeling’s weak points were, due to all changelings having the same points. Blitz didn't hold back on making Shifty feel happier than he currently was, making him laugh and giggle softly. Shifty teleported away, before walking back over to Blitz, a smile present on both of their faces.

After about a minute or two, Shifty returned to the windowsill and watched as the rain hammered the outside landscape, having no glass within the window to protect them from little raindrops that occasionally came on through the open gap, hitting Shifty more than it did Blitz, due to the angle of which the rain was coming in at. Blitz looked around at the rest of the house, seeing that it was really sturdy for a house of its age, due to there only being a couple of holes in the roof and that was about it for the issues with the house. It was a nice house, but no place would be up to Blitz’s liking, unless it was a house that he could call home, but right there, he didn't even know where home was, which in his eyes was pretty sad.

Blitz just stared endlessly out of the window, before Shifty came over to Blitz’s side of the window and hugged him, before lying down next to him. Shifty knew that something was wrong with Blitz, but he didn't know what it was, which made him a little unsettled and anxious, but as soon as Blitz’s hoof came down and stroked Shifty, all of those bad thoughts that were causing him harm mentally vanishing like there was nothing there to begin with. Shifty hoped that he was right about Blitz being his father, due to them having so much in common with each other, thinking that it would be a huge shame if he wasn’t.

Blitz kept stroking Shifty, like he would his son normally, if he was one hundred percent confident about Shifty being his son, Blitz closed his eyes, before slumping against the wall of the windowsill and trying to fall asleep, due to it being a little difficult due to the rain shooting down on them on occasion, making them just a little from the sudden coldness, which was not good for either of the bugs. Blitz didn't really know how long Shifty was going to keep up the game of staying as a pegasus, but Blitz again was hoping that it would not end the same way that it did for him.

Closing his eyes for another time, Blitz found himself within a world that was not the one that he was originally in, making him not only a little paranoid, but also a little confused as to where he was. He was not awake, that was apparent, but something about the world felt off, before Death teleported to him and spoke with a low and raspy voice.

“This is what the Wasteland will look like if my brother achieves victory and tries to kill everypony and creature off with a couple of balefire bombs!” Death explained, showing Blitz around using his magic. It was just a bigger, emptier Wasteland, which was something that Blitz didn't want to see, due to it being a little scary to think of such a world where nothing existed whatsoever. No wildlife, no plants, not civilization, nothing! There was a little piece of Blitz that didn't want the world to end up this way, but there was something within Blitz that refused to believe that the world would end up like this. That part of Blitz got him motivated to do more, whether that was to help that of others, or eliminate anything that got in his way to make Equestria beautiful again. Blitz paused, knowing that he had never seen Equestria as something that was beautiful, but he saw it as being normal. Blitz didn't put that memory in his head, Death did! Blitz agreed with it for now, trying to make it so that Death didn't know what was happening with Blitz’s thoughts.

Blitz opened his eyes and looked over towards his so called son, noticing that something was up with him, making him feel slightly concerned about Shifty’s health. Blitz used his magic and dragged the changeling closer to him, before grabbing a sheet of fabric from across the room, being the only thing that they could have used to keep warm, apart from using each other. Blitz hugged Shifty, before wrapping them both up in the fabric, which kept them as the term would suggest; like bugs in a rug.

Blitz looked across the room to see the others talking about some things that Blitz really wasn't interested about. Being tired and what not, Blitz looked down just in time to see his fellow bug yawn, feeling like he was just a little more tired than Blitz was, making him feel like they all needed to settle down for the night. Blitz felt Shifty’s head land against his chest, showing that he was going to try to sleep against Blitz, which Blitz could only find cute.

Blitz relaxed, noticing that Shifty was falling asleep pretty fast, knowing that he was in the protection of the others and that he wouldn't have to do anything or have to worry about anything that was to happen to him or anypony around him, allowing him to sleep easier and to make him feel safer, which was something that Blitz liked the feeling of, to be safe finally, with all of the protection that he could have asked for.

Blitz looked over at the others and found that they too were beginning to head to sleep, giving him an incentive to get some sleep, just to make sure that there were no distractions when he needed to focus or whatnot. Finally, Blitz closed his eyes and smiled, knowing that everything was going to be alright, while he had this group around him. It was a silent night, making it so that all of the ponies in the building were able to sleep better with little to no distractions at all, making their slumber ever more enticing to them and making them all drift off easier.

Blitz thought about dreaming about being in a zombie apocalypse, but he didn't really have the motivation to make it through all of it, shaking that idea from the back of his mind and throwing it directly back into there, making him have to think about what he wanted to dream about, which was a hard choice, due to there only being certain things that Blitz either enjoyed doing, or have the motivation to do, which was a little bit of a problem when it came to dreaming. Blitz lit up his horn and dragged himself into a random dream, making it so that he couldn't choose what dream he wanted to be in, making him somewhat afraid for what he might have been entering into.

Before Blitz could do anything though, he froze or something went wrong, due to there being nothing that was going on within the dream, apart from Blitz looking into a mirror, wanting so badly to judge himself for everything that had happened before those moments long ago, while he was encased in stone. Blitz thought that there was something off about the mirror, but there was not sadly, due to him wanting to point out more things that might have been wrong with something that was happening within the dream that was blanker than his emotions at that time, making Blitz feel like Death had to step up the pace of the good dreams or the life impacting nightmares that occurred pretty commonly for him, which was something that would not be heard of from any other pony, but Blitz.

Blitz looked closer into the mirror and saw that there was definitely something off with the display of the mirror, due to it giving off an aura of some sort, molding his image into one of a murderer, holding a sharp sword with a couple of heads in his possession, making even Blitz cringe a little, due to the way what the heads were cut off. It was like they had all been wretched off, like pulling the cork out of a bottle, only the bottle was the body and the cork was the head, making Blitz feel a little unsettled, going back on his words about Death stepping up his game.

“That’s me!” Blitz spoke to himself, having nopony else to talk to at that moment, until he was teleported to some place that was not where he wanted to be, due to the area being under creation, which was very strange to see within a dream. Blitz wondered if he was dreaming at all, before he looked around and saw Shifty passed out on the floor, a bottle of alcohol laying on the floor. Blitz laughed a tiny bit, before rushing over and helping Shifty up, allowing him to walk, if not for him being drunk… or injured.

Blitz was unable to hear Shifty for some reason, making it almost impossible to make out what his son was actually saying. It was a dream after all, so Blitz didn't think that it was too mandatory for him to understand the drunken words of Shifty, but Blitz did want to hear what the bug had to say about the situation that was currently happening around him. Blitz placed a magical orb around him, before being able to hear, being just as he suspected, that the air was keeping him from listening in on what Shifty had to say.

“The end is coming closer and closer!” Shifty stated, getting a look from Blitz that could only be described as traterous, which was something that Blitz had to think about, because Shifty wasn't able to get into Blitz’s dreams, meaning that somepony or something that was able to get within his dreams was trying to tell him something about what was happening, before Blitz had an ear piercing scream enter his head, feeling like the voice alone was going to make him explode.

Blitz woke up and panicked a little, still having Shifty right in front of him, cuddling him like he would have done his mother. Who was trying to help Blitz and what was happening? Blitz was really going to have to think about all of the actions that he was going to make about this situation and wanted to test to see if he could indeed trick Death.

Chapter 24: Unknown Aspects

It was clear that Azure didn't want to speak to Sadjoy at all, due to the loud roar that he gave her earlier. Despite time passing, the rain had still not stopped with its presence, making it more of an unwanted burden rather than a saving grace. Azure just sat down and looked out of the window, wanting to see if he could have spotted anything that would have made his mind jump to a point, trying to keep his brain as active as possible, only to keep the thought of him shouting out of his mind.

Plumjuice came over with another warm drink, knowing exactly how Azure was feeling, due to him opening up to both Gretzky and Plumjuice about how he was feeling at that point in time, almost being able to hit an all time low, which was not something that one should have been proud of at all. Plumjuice placed the drink in Azure’s hooves, before sitting down next to him and looking outside in the rain for something that might have sparked her interest. Sadly, there was nothing about that she had already seen from the window, which made the rain more of a bad thing than it normally was, due to them all wanting to go out and explore or talk to others.

Rain falling as heavy as it was, was very, very bad, due to the amount of radiation that would come at a short time. Their only option was to wait for all of the rain to fade away, or waste a metric ton of radaway and rad x, just to be able to go outside with no hassle. Azure took a sip of the drink, noticing that it was still very hot, due to it coming from a hot place, which made him lower the drink and rest his head against the window, feeling almost as useless as he did before, back when…

Azure paused himself, before hitting his head a little, getting the attention of both Gretzky and Plumjuice at the exact same time, which made him recoil with shyness and sorrow. Azure kept thinking about the past and that was something that needed to be stopped from that point on, making him want to erase his mind, just to clear his head of all doubt and thoughts. Being in a negative mood only strengthened Azure’s thinking, as well as being trapped within a house, giving him more time to think.

Azure walked over to his saddlebags and dragged them back over to the living room area of the house, making him pull out things from his saddlebag and throw them on the floor, only to get it all out so that he could search through it. There were a lot of things that were within Azure’s saddlebag and he had never really checked out and sorted out his saddlebag, so this was as good as a time as ever, to use the time to distract himself as well as sort something out that needed to be sorted out anyway.

There were no medical supplies, apart from the radaway that he had picked up before and a couple of bandages from when he was working in Journey, which was a place that Azure wished that he could go back to, but sadly it wasn't and option, due to them being more than a days walk from journey, They were a little South West of Tenpony Tower, which was only and hour or two away, making them the area to get their supplies from and get all of Gretzky’s supplies from as well.

Azure noticed something that was out of the ordinary, which was something that he did not recall happening to him. There was a memory orb that had been placed within Azure’s bag, which had not been put there by Azure himself, which gave him no idea how it managed to sneak into there. He took it out and looked at it for a brief second, before placing it to the side and then looking in his back for some more stuff. He noticed that there were a couple of things in the bag that were not his own, making him think that he might have taken the wrong bag, but he clearly didn’t, due to the amount of medical supplies that were originally in the bag after Blitz’s departure from the group. Azure was a little taken back by the amount of stuff that was in there that was Blitz’s, due to him seeing a lot of things like the memory orb and the a couple of weapons in there that Blitz collected and picked up. What made it even more strange was that Blitz placed all of the items in his saddlebag without him noticing, like he knew that he was going to…

Azure’s mind went blank at the sight of the image of Blitz and his mother, making Azure’s breathing slow down to almost a stop, as well as making his heart race like he had just been shot. Metaphorically, he had been! Azure went completely still and silent, making Plumjuice go over to check on him, before freezing at the sight of him looking at an image of some sort. Plumjuice looked at the image from behind Azure and noticed instantly that it was an image of Blitz, due to the blue highlights on the horn and ears, standing out a lot within the photo, due to it being in perfect noir fashion, apart from his eyes, horn and ears, along with his back, being as bright as the other parts of his body, almost like the colour was trying to escape from the black and white.

Plumjuice hugged Azure from behind, before seeing a tear trickle down Azure’s face, hating to see one of her friends grieve about something that happened so long ago. She knew that Azure missed Blitz, but there was a bond between them that she didn't know about, something that connected them on a more emotional level. Plumjuice looked down to Azure and wiped his cheek with her hoof, before giving him more hugs. Azure looked back at Plumjuice and smiled softly, before turning the image over and seeing a bunch of writing on the back, making him squint to read it.

“To my closest friend Azure, I hope that you keep this image as a memory that I will never die. If I do, then you need to keep me alive in your heart and restore faith to the Equestrian Wasteland, just like you restored my hope in ponykind! Find the note within your saddlebag, it is really important!” the note read, giving Azure incentive to try to look through his saddlebag more.

Azure began to shake his saddlebag from the top, getting all of the items within to come out. Plumjuice joined in, seeing the note that Azure had read to himself. There was something that Azure had missed out on before Blitz had passed away, making them both want to get to the bottom of the story that Blitz was trying to tell. Azure found a note that was attached to a bigger piece of paper, making his curiosity get the better of him and made him want to open it quickly. He opened the note before he did the bigger piece of paper, knowing that the note would tell himself and Plumjuice more about what Blitz had been hiding from plain sight.

“Ah, so you did find the right note then? Good! The memory orb that i have given to you might show you something that might suggest something very important to myself. There are a bunch of plans within the attached piece of paper and a list of items that might make your healing potions work better. There are some weapons for multiple ponies in a little sack, which will be useful on a later date. There is also a little gift for you, my dear friend Azure. Inside the lowest part of this note is a little pocket with something in there, just to allow you to remember our travels. I will return! I will be reunited with you, one was or another! I will get closer than you may think…” the note read out, making Azure instantly go down to the pocket of the note and open it up, seeing something within.

Inside the pocket was a necklace of pure silver, which looked exactly like the one in the image that Blitz and his mother were both wearing, giving him a look of shock and surprise at the same time, baffling Azure to the point of no return. It was either Blitz’s necklace, or it was his mother’s necklace, which made him hold it close to his heart, before placing it over his head and sighing happily. Something felt off about the necklace, but it wasn't a necklace, it was an amulet of some type, one that made him feel a little funny. Azure was beginning to yawn a little, before he suddenly passed out and laid flat on the floor.

Everything that happened so fast that Azure thought that one moment he blinked and was in another world of some sort, which was technically true, but only to some degree, due to him being in a different world. Azure noticed that the world was lighter, more vibrant than the Equestrian Wasteland, which was something that Azure had never seen before, making him want to explore, but sadly he confined to one room, making him a little annoyed that he was unable to explore that vast landscape that was presented before him, almost like a sick joke that he would never be able to experience.

Blitz got thrown within the room, before getting the doors locked behind him, being only able to see the window and what else it held. Azure looked at Blitz, knowing that he wouldn't have been able to talk to Blitz then and there, due to this being something like a memory, but how was Azure able to see from a different view? Was Azure seeing everything from the viewpoint of… Blitz’s mother? Azure wasn't able to move around anymore, sensing that it was true about what he had suggested.

Azure was forced to look at his best friend through the eyes of his mother, which was something that did not sink in well with Azure. One of the raiders entered the room and began to drag Blitz out of the room. Azure’s host raised their hoof and shouted at the raider, before going over and bucking them away from a young Blitz. It was kind of cute to see Blitz as a little changeling colt, making Azure see him as even cuter than before. The raider got back up and brought out a big blunt object, being more of a baton than anything else that Azure thought about.

The raider struck the bug with a lot of force, even though Azure could not feel the actions that were taking place, as well as being glad that he couldn't, saving him the mental thoughts for later. Azure wanted to pursue the story that was taking place, so he did the best that he could to focus on the main part of the memory. Azure was moved to another part of the room, before being beaten with the baton like item again, and again… and again. Azure felt his body almost teleport over to a different point of view, seeing Blitz’s mother being beaten to death, just how Blitz had seen it.

There was a sudden phase shift and Azure found himself looking at the ground, moving with a little convoy. Azure was seeing some hooves and the same necklace, indicating Blitz was walking, but when was the event? Blitz looked up and looked at Shifty, before looking at Zavier, seeing that they were both either side of him, protecting him like he was family. There were some ponies ahead of them, but they didn't matter. Azure kept his eyes on the familiar looking zebra and gasped, before making Blitz stop. Blitz looked down at the amulet that was glowing, which made him smile a little.

“If you are hearing this, if this is you, Azure, then I am sorry that I can’t be with you right now. I got some things that I got to take care of first, before I am able to meet back up with you. Trust me when I say this, but I will meet with you again, you just got to be patient. Speaking out of the way of death, Grayscale and Noname are not the final boss. I will tell you more when we meet. Until then, watch that memory orb… I know you haven't.” Blitz explained, before pushing Azure out the vision that he was seeing, somehow.

Azure couldn't see anything that was going on, but Azure could hear the familiar voice of the zebra that was with Blitz. Zavier definitely had some sort of accent, but Azure never really picked up on it during the time that Azure was having Zavier as part of the group.

“Blitz, who were you talking to?” Zavier asked, sounding more concerned than confused, due to Blitz pretty much speaking to himself in regards to them not knowing the situation that was going on within the amulet that he kept hold of.

“A good ol’ friend!” Blitz stated, before going silent. Azure kept his ears out for anything that might have been important for him to discover the events of where his changeling friend was going. Before Azure was able to react to anything or leave the vision, somepony that he didn't know spoke somewhere within the darkness, making him a little scared, but then he froze as he then realised that the audio was coming from the amulet, being that it wasn't within the darkness, but more so on Blitz’s side of the light, meaning that it was somepony that was speaking on his end, rather than Azure’s.

“Dad, was that your friend that you are searching for?” somepony asked, Azure wanting to find out who this pony was calling dad in the first place. Something happened that confused Azure massively and made him stop to think about stuff that was going on within the Wasteland, as well as the change in mood to find Blitz as quickly as he could. He was a little shocked at something that Blitz did.

“Yes son, that was my good friend, now we must find him!” Blitz stated, before all of the noise from his end was cut and Azure was forced to walk towards a light that was piercing the darkness that he was within, brightening it just a bit and making the area… not change at all, apart from lighting his face and body a little. Azure was slowly brought back to the world that he was in, the life he was living and the ponies and creatures that he could trust the most.

Azure woke up a blanket on the floor, making him scratch his head in confusion at what just happened. Gretzky was looking at Azure on the floor, before he outstretched his claw to him, allowing him to get up easier, if he so chose to do so. Azure accepted the offer and was dragged up from the floor, getting to his own hooves and sitting back down for a second or two, catching his breath from the events that had just gone on before him. Azure didn't know what he saw, but he wanted to believe that it was real, not fake or recorded. He wanted to believe that the amulet was something that linked Blitz to Azure and Azure to Blitz, but then it made a little bit more sense to Azure. He knew that Blitz and his mother had a close link and what not, maybe the amulet was what allowed them to link so closely. It was clearly an idea, one that made a little more sense than it being a dream, but Azure still had the memory orb that he hasn't seen. He decided to leave the memory orb for a little bit, before discussing the events that went on to Plumjuice and Gretzky. Azure didn't leave out a single detail about the events that he had just been pushed into, not giving him any idea as to what was going on or where they were going.

“And then Blitz responded to it, so maybe he might actually have a son!” Azure stated, gossiping more than anything about the fact that Blitz had a colt of his own. Gretzky smiled a little and so did Plumjuice, but they both were as baffled as Azure was about the events. Maybe they could have been planned, but the logic of the situation was that Blitz had never originally met with Zavier, back when the fight against the settlement occurred, making it more than likely that the events that they were talking about were going on live when Azure was watching it.

Gretzky pondered the thought of it being live for a second, before nodding in agreement. He seemed pretty confident with what was going on with the events of Blitz and his little group, but there was something that seemed a little off. Why would he have held off on trying to look for where they were all situated? Was there something else that was going on behind closed doors that they didn't know about, or was something up with Blitz? They didn't know at all, making their minds draw a blank at Blitz in general. Their main goal was to recover the last two artifacts, which were somewhere within the Equestrian Wasteland. Azure looked at his Pipbuck to see the location of the final two.

One of them was not showing, but the other was slowly moving North, meaning that somepony had the item. Azure’s next goal was to get the artifact that was on the move, which was too far for Azure to travel on his own, being that it would have taken him a day and a little bit extra to get to where the group was on the map that he was looking at. He wanted to know who the ponies or creatures were that were taking the item and wanted to know where they were taking the item, making it more and more vital to keep eyes on the group as they moved from the point that they were pinged at.

Azure wanted to know why one of them was not showing, making him a little frustrated about not seeing one of the things that they were after, due to it being something that they eventually needed to complete the artifact collection. Roselight was yet to find the area that all of the artifacts went in order to work, but that was something that she was trying to find out by working around the clock and pinpointing key locations that it could have been at. Right then and there, Azure was certain that it was probably going to be somewhere like Hoofington, one of the most dangerous places within the Wasteland, due to the defences that were in place to wipe out anything that crossed past the invisible border.

Azure thought for a second, before getting a drink passed to him, via Plumjuice before she sat down in front of Azure, lifting his chin up and gazing into his eyes. She smiled, before letting go of his chin, but keeping her eyes on his, like they were trying to go for a staring contest. Plumjuice moved back before going to sit on the couch again, looking down at Azure as she began to listen to the music that was playing on the radio next to her. Gretzky was a little taken back by how much was happening to Azure and felt a little bit bad for him. Gretzky only wanted Azure to relax after how much he had been through, but it seemed that the world had different plans.

Azure shifted himself on the floor, making himself comfortable as he closed his eyes and listened to the calm and collective music that was playing on the radio, making him catch up with the lyrics and hum them faintly to himself, making his mind rest from all of the torment that he was receiving from the rest of the world. Azure was pretty sure that he was one of the unluckiest ponies in the Wasteland, but he knew that there was somepony or some creature that was having a worse time than he was, making him go back to humming gently.

Gretzky looked at his Pipbuck, before seeing what the time was. He was meant to be meeting somepony soon, which would have increased how much he sold at his shop, but due to the weather not letting up, the pony that wanted to trade with him would have brought a radiation suit, to avoid all of the hazardous rain that would eventually dissolve anything that it came across, even buildings and trees, making Azure a little more afraid of the toxic water that fell from the sky.

Gretzky took a radiation suit off a peg and put it on, being assisted by Plumjuice in the process, making it not only quicker, but easier to get on the suit. Azure just watched the two and smiled, wishing that the pony that he was originally with could have been that loyal to help him through the hard times. Azure tried to forget all of the bad times and focused on the scene before him. A gryphon trying to get suited up in a pony radiation suit. It was pretty funny to watch, but Azure knew that he shouldn’t laugh at the scene, due to it being the only way that Gretzky was able to go out without getting any radiation.

The suit was on and before Plumjuice was able to get another word in, he was out the door and running to his shop, making the mare chuckle about her special somepony’s habits. She closed the door before turning back to Azure and chuckling a little bit.

“He is a bit of a pain, but that’s the cost of love!” Plumjuice stated, before sitting back on the couch for a little while, being able to finally rest and relax, as she turned up the radio and enjoyed the tunes that were playing. There were some really good tunes that were played across the radio waves, making them perfect for watching the rain like Azure was. That was the only thing that he was able to do, due to the rain being more of a burden than a help.

Azure looked back to his saddlebag and looked at the memory orb again, making him question how to use it. He wasn't a unicorn afterall, so he couldn't tap the orb against his horn, so he had to think about how he was going to go about doing some stuff to get the orb to work. He looked at the orb, seeing that it was definitely mysterious in its own light, but something was off about the one that he was holding compared to others that he had seen along his travels within the Wasteland. There was some writing on the orb itself, along with the orb flashing red from time to time, which happened very faintly, indicating that it was corrupted.

This scared Azure slightly, due to what happened to Blitz when he entered the corrupted orb originally, making him become scarred for life with the invisions of the events that transpired, with the Ministry Mare speaking to him, face to face. Azure recalled the magical nature of the mare called Pinkie Pie, due to her being able to break the fourth wall without having a horn, which was true magic that no other pony could possess. Azure focused on the middle of the orb, before getting a shock from the orb somehow, making him drop it by accident. A normal orb would have smashed, but Azure’s orb didn't, making him feel like this was one that was special somehow. Azure looked up to Plumjuice to see her holding the orb with her magic, making Azure come to a swift conclusion.

Plumjuice tried to read the writing, but couldn't make it out, due to the writing of Blitz being not the greatest, especially due to being written on such a unique item. She opened her eyes a little more, being a little shocked at what she could make out on the orb.

“I can’t exactly read all of it, but there is something here about seeing Lumia and Delta. Why would that be?” Plumjuice asked herself, getting a reaction from Azure in regards to the item that she was holding. Azure knew what he had to do, but he would have to wait for the rain to pass, before rushing over to see the professor again, being able to see them whenever he wanted to, due to them liking his company there and caring for him a little too much, which was not anything bad at all.

All that was left to do was wait, which was something that would have been the hardest part of what he needed to do, due to him hating being motionless for too long. Azure thought back to the time that he and Blitz fought together, being the pony that he would always come to if he needed a medic, or even if he was having something that was on his mind. Azure did indeed miss those times, but soon enough, if the amulet was telling the truth, he could possibly find his friend that he had not spoken to for what seemed a lifetime.

Azure noticed that the rain was slowly easing up, making his opportunity to run out and get to Delta become closer and closer, waiting for it just to stop, before he wanted to bolt out of the door. The rain was the only hindrance that was trapping him within the confines of the house, but Azure was determined to wait for the one chance that he would have gotten when the rain finally subsided. His opportunity was coming closer, seeing that it had slowed down completely, giving him a very short window to work with.

Azure walked to the door before opening it and bolted out into the drizzle, seeing that it was slowly coming back, which was something that he did not want at that point. It was a trap, making Azure feel more and more of the rain as it came back in full force. He was nearly at the house, being just a couple houses down from the likes of Gretzky’s and Plumjuice’s home, making his journey a lot quicker and a lot less risky.

Azure got to the house and opened the door, before walking inside and closing it behind him. He was soaked, which was not good for him, since the radiation would linger more on wet fur than it would on dry fur, making him more of a hazard while he was soaked. Lumia came in with her magic, a towel in her possession. She began to rub Azure over with the towel, before looking at his Pipbuck to see his radiation levels. They were alright, making Lumia breathe a sigh of relief, as he metallic respirator revved up a little.

“What brings you here, Azure?” Delta asked over the speakers, music playing in the background of the room. Azure didn't speak for a couple of moments, before looking around and seeing multiple speakers, making the audio sound like it was coming from every angle possible. It was pretty cool, in Azure’s eyes at least.

“I need your help!” Azure stated, before going into a deep conversation with Delta about what was going on. Azure spent a little while speaking to both Delta and Lumia about what he had seen within the amulet and what was written on the memory orb, which was passed over to Lumia to have a look at. She too noticed that it was corrupted, but Azure did tell them that he found it like that within his saddlebag and that he was pretty sure that it was meant to be like that, due to Blitz being the only one that might have viewed the orb, but was it the same one that Blitz originally used? Azure couldn't remember if the orb that Blitz used when he went into the memory of another pony broke, making him depend on a fifty-fifty choice between if he was right or not.

“Interesting! So Blitz might actually be alive after all this time. If so, then we have a lot of catching up to do!” Delta explained, showing Azure something that he originally had not seen from Delta. There was an image of a pegasus that looked like the one that Blitz was accompanying, carrying some sort of heavy weapon and laughing as he was shooting down ponies. Azure was pretty sure that it was a different pegasus, but it looked so similar to the one that Blitz was travelling with within his vision within the amulet, making his head hurt a little with the worry of his friend probably being in more danger than he originally knew.

Delta looked over the orb, Lumia holding it still with her magic before raising it up to a camera for the professor to look at, since they were unable to hold the item because they lacked a physical form to do so. Azure still felt bad for Delta, due to them not being able to go back into their body, due to it eroding away and what not. Azure was pretty sure that the professor was able to put himself into the body of another robot, but they would have to find another body of one, which was a tiny bit difficult to say the least.

“You do realise that the memory orb is corrupted, meaning that it will not work as intended or as the creator intended at least.” Delta explained, Azure nodding his head, knowing that it would not be how Blitz had remembered it, but being slightly different to what he wanted Azure to watch. Azure just wanted to see what Blitz knew about that Azure needed to know so badly that Blitz wanted him to see. If it was able to help him out, then that would have been amazing.

“Who made the memory orb anyway?” Lumia asked, not getting a response from Azure until she got his attention. He nodded, before trying to think about it. It must have been Blitz who created it, due to how he managed to sneak it into Azure’s saddlebag without him noticing for months. Azure looked at the necklace in his saddlebag before he dropped the bags to put it on, making them both look at him, being a little confused. He put the necklace around his neck and felt a sudden energy surge, before the amulet gleaned like a star.

“I’m pretty sure Blitz did, but i guess that i’ll have to find out, once I find a way to use it, not being a unicorn and all.” Azure stated, being a little more confident with his words, making him not think about saying the wrong thing at all, which was something that Azure regularly did, just to make sure that he didn't mess up saying anything. Azure was feeling that the amulet was giving him some sort of secret powers, making it easy for him to get on with the straightforward things and move on to the more important parts or pieces of this puzzle that Azure and his friends were trying to solve, doing a good job so far.

“I might be able to help with that and so might Lumia.” Delta stated, before talking to Lumia about what she was going to do with the memory orb. While they were talking about it, Azure was told to go and take a seat in one of the padded, warm chairs, the same ones that Azure came to them being sat in. in this context, them counting as Lumia and Lilly. Azure hopped up into the chair and curled up, keeping himself warm, only for Lumia to come over and hop up onto the chair with him, sitting beside him in the same chair. She moved her cold metallic body around and wrapped up Azure, making him feel cold for a brief second, before the heat overwhelmed him and made him feel ever so nice.

Lumia used her magic to lift up the memory orb and slowly moved it towards Azure’s head, making him not only feel a little bit sleepier, but also making able to see something. That something was blurred out for the time being, but as the orb got closer, it got incredibly stronger, making him able to see more of the picture. She touched the orb flat against Azure’s head, before seeing him pass out, due to being within the orb. She placed the orb next to them both as she snuggled Azure, keeping him warm within the dream that he had been placed within, keeping a watchful eye as well, on the memory orb, as it flickered to dark red, something that scared her just a little.

Azure was sucked into some type of portal, giving him some weird effect that he was forced to look at, looking like some sort of loading screen from a video game or whatnot. He thought it looked cool, but the colours morphed together, creating some sort of illusion that began to hurt his head, before all of the colour faded and he was left with nothing but blackness. Azure was pretty sure that the perspective was going to be of Blitz, but something was up. There was no light in the memory orb, before Blitz used the light of the Pipbuck that he had just acquired.

Judging by Blitz having a Pipbuck, Azure felt like he was back in the sewers again, due to that being the only time that he could recall Blitz having access to a Pipbuck. Azure noticed that he was not seeing what Blitz was seeing, making him feel a little out of it, but at least he was able to move around freely and get it all from a different angle. Blitz was slowly walking, holding the Pipbuck in the air, keeping an eye out for any signs of life. Blitz was walking slow enough that it could have been considered not moving, but it was expected, especially when he didn't know what was down in the place that he was.

Azure flew backwards, seeing Blitz slowly begin to pick up some pace, before staying low, making Azure turn to see a light coming from the end of the tunnel. There were some patrols scouring the area, so Blitz did the only thing he could do at that point. He jumped into the water, holding his breath and using his magic to supply him with oxygen, as he swam below the water, making little to no noise at all. The patrol passed over the top of him, before fading into the darkness that was behind him.

Blitz came out of the water, gasping for air that his lungs craved more of and not the replacement air that he was giving to himself under the water. Azure felt a little worried about Blitz’s health, due to Blitz coughing and then drawing blood within his mouth, making him believe that something was wrong with Blitz. Azure kept following him, making sure that he didn't miss anything.

“Wait, did I just see that correctly?” Blitz asked, going over to the wall and resting against it, using his blood covered hoof to smudge the wall and make it noticeable. Azure didn't see what happened, but he was pretty sure that it was something important, making him feel like he needed to see what Blitz was seeing in order to get what was happening with Blitz.

Blitz turned to see that there was a ghoul down at the end of the passageway, making him instantly draw his weapon, pointing it at the feral ghoul, before walking in its direction, due to Blitz needing to get past the ghoul to get where he needed to go, which was home, back towards the old settlement. Azure did miss his old home, but he knew that it was better to move away from all of the chaos that happened within that area. He was glad that there was little to no trouble at their new settlement, due to it being in a location that was unknown as of then, making it very difficult for ponies and other creatures to track down.

Azure watched Blitz for a hot minute, before he got within striking distance from the feral ghoul. Blitz was ready to blow the head off the ghoul that was looking directly at him, the ghoul’s eyes being cloudy and almost colourless, showing that it was completely drained of all life. Both Blitz and Azure had no idea why the ghoul was not attacking, but he noticed that the ghoul kept looking at the area that Blitz had just marked with his blood.

“Umm, hello?” Blitz stated, before the ghoul looked at him and raised a hoof, understanding exactly what he had said. Blitz was somewhat happy to see that the ghoul was not trying to kill him, which was a change from other ghouls wanting his flesh and chitin as food and armour. The ghoul didn't say a word, as he walked past Blitz and over to the wall, before rubbing his hoof against it softly, before being about to press something. Suddenly, he was painted all over the wall, covering the little bit of green that Blitz put on it to mark it, into something that was covered from top to bottom with red blood from the ghoul.

The Steel Ranger who had just killed the ghoul, or at least popped him, was looking directly at Blitz, about to do the exact same. Azure watched as the changeling lifted up his hoof and jumped into the water, before disappearing. Azure was slowly dragged in a certain direction away from the Steel Ranger, before seeing a horde of angry rapid feral ghouls charging at the maker of all of the noise. Blitz was underwater, so he couldn't be spotted by the mass amount of ghouls running above him. Their hoofsteps above shook the water and Blitz could feel each individual step that was being taken above him, followed by the gunshots of the Steel Ranger that had been muffled due to the water.

Blitz appeared a little down the line, making him able to turn and spectate the events that were occurring before him. Blitz watched as the horde overran the Steel Ranger, before hearing a noise that could only be described as a siren, indicating that something was happening underground, where they all were. They all looked around and wanted to know what was happening, before the Steel Ranger popped back up, due to them being distracted enough that they didn't have any focus on him. The Steel Ranger let loose a stream of bullets around him, killing off plenty of ghouls, but attracting more and more to swarm him, making his struggle harder and harder as they clawed at his armour.

There were plenty of ghouls walking past Blitz, which didn't notice him at first, but then changed their attention to him, not seeing him as a threat for some reason, which baffled him a little. Blitz felt a little more worried that they didn't see him as a threat, but that made his mind stutter a little bit with the thought of him being immune to ghouls. Was it his blood? Was it his chitin? What was it? Blitz focused on one thing at that moment in time, which was making sure the Steel Ranger was dead as well as getting away from the rest of the ghouls.

Blitz watched in horror, as the ghouls got rid of the underside of the Steel Ranger’s armour plating, being able to lash and scratch at his stomach, which is exactly what they did. One of the ghouls bit straight into his stomach, dragging out some blood and some of his stomach, before other ghouls caught wind of the meal opportunity and then moved in to feast on the belly of the beast that was killing more and more of their kind, making sure to eat him from the inside out.

A loud beeping noise roared within the sewer, indicating that something was about to go down, as he saw a couple of pegasus ghouls travelling towards him. One landed next to him, as the others continued to move down the sewer system, before a large rush of water made itself present in their location, making them all move as quickly as they could, Blitz taking flight, before being chased down by the pegasus, thinking that it might have wanted to hurt him. Blitz was not going to be taking any chances, making him turn and shoot the pegasus ghoul in the face, making its eyes glow a bright red, before it lunged at Blitz within the air, missing by a couple of hairs.

All of this action was happening while Azure was getting dragged on the ground, feeling like he was levitating for a while, before he used his wings and caught up to the scene, before it was cut off, just in time for him not to be seen. As Azure slowly left the memory of Blitz, there was something that just kept on his mind, making him come up with a plan, if Lumia and Delta were able to pull through with it.

Azure woke up and instantly took a look around, seeing that he was in the same place as he had fallen asleep in, which was one of the chairs… or was it? Azure didn't have time to ponder on such bad questions, making him only focus on the important things. Azure walked over to Lumia, who was holding the memory orb with her magic still, looking down at Azure.

“Is there a way to fix a memory orb?” Azure asked, before getting a confusing look from the robotic mare, showing more emotion in her face than Azure had ever done. She thought for a minute, before nodding, knowing one way that she could have repaired the memory orb, but it required a specific item to be used on the orb before it would fix itself.

“Yes, but I need you to go out and find the machine that we need for it, which was pretty common before the bombs dropped, but most of them are in the bigger cities around us, meaning that not only would we have to give up a lot of caps, but we would have to travel to find one. There was definitely one or two in Tenpony Tower, that I know as a fact, due to me seeing it when we originally travelled in there and got stripped of our weapons.” Lumia explained, knowing exactly where to look to find such an item of importance. Azure was up to the task of travelling but wanted to wait till they had some nicer weather than the weather that they were having right there and then, as it began to pick up and pour once again.

Delta was not going to allow Azure to leave in the rain, so he decided that it would have been best for them to all stay within the confines of the house, just so there wouldn't be any radiation issues for Azure, making him feel right at home with yet another hot drink, exactly like the one that Plumjuice gave to him earlier, easing his nerves.

“If I may ask Azure, why do you want to fix Blitz’s memory orb?” Delta asked, wanting to know what he had not seen that he needed to get the orb fixed for him to be able to. Azure explained to them both about the events within the memory orb, which made them both a little confused, thinking the exact same way as Azure.

“How was Blitz immune to ghouls then, but got his throat torn out by one of them?” Lumia asked, pondering all she knew about her brief encounter with said changeling, making her even more confused than she already was.

“I believe that it was something to do with the spirits within him, right Azure?” Delta asked, Azure going completely blank as he lost himself within the memory of Blitz’s throat being ripped out, before snapping the jaws of the ghoul in two, making Azure begin to realise that Blitz had actually been serious when he said that he had made a deal with Death, but then Azure thought about something. Were the events that happened in the memory before or after Blitz’s encounter with Death? Azure paused for a split second, before coming to a conclusion or speculation that he could see was plausible, making his mind think about it more and more.

“What if Death knew that he was immune, but made the ghoul bite him to force him into a deal with Death, due to it being a lifeline question?” Azure stated, disregarding the other two in the room for the moment, before coming back to reality. Azure stared at the others and saw the same expressions that he had been wearing on his face when he was thinking about the exact same thing.

“You could be right, Azure!” Lumia stated, remembering the sight of Blitz and how he became a little distant for each of the groups that he was put in, apart from the ones with Azure in there, due to them being the bestest of friends. Blitz did push them all apart, knowing full well that he could have been able to teleport away and save himself, but he didn't, but they all didn't know that there was a magic cancellation spell that was cast above him, making him unable to cast any more magic like teleportation.

Was Death really trying to corrupt Blitz to do his dirty work for him? It was something that was bothering Azure a little more than he would have liked, making him feel a little uncomfortable just thinking about it. Blitz had already been through so much, so why did he have to endure more pain for the pleasure of Death. With Death within him, Blitz was pretty much unkillable, but as soon as Death came out of Blitz’s body, Blitz would have been weak to everything.

Azure tried to stop thinking about it, but he couldn't, only making the thought stronger and stronger, enveloping his mind in corruption that he didn't possess, making his head hurt a little from how much thinking he was doing about the subject. Azure closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before exhaling and looking at the other two who were within the room, seeing that they both were pondering the idea of Blitz being used in some way or another, not to save the world, but for Death’s own personal gain on his brother.

“Put me back in that memory orb if you can! I am going to try to find out what that thing was that Blitz saw.” Azure stated, before getting hugged by Lumia, before having the orb touch Azure’s head, sending back into the realm of sleep and into the illusion that they both didn't see, due to them not really finding it all too healthy to be going into memory orbs all the time, otherwise they would have both drowned out the outside world with some good memories.

Azure opened his eyes as the events replayed the events of what happened just before Blitz met both him and Roselight within the sewer. Azure kept his eye on the wall, waiting for something to flash or something. Nothing! Was Blitz spotting something that Azure wasn't, or was Azure blind or something along those lines, because he was not spotting what Blitz had seen, which was what Azure wanted to see the most, making it more than likely that he would have to get it fixed to be able to see what Blitz wanted him to see.

As Azure let the rest of the memory play out, he spotted another memory orb on the ground and went to walk towards it, before picking it up and keeping it within his hooves, which was something that he had not seen in that place before, which was pretty scary to say the least. Back in the real world and real time, Lumia noticed that the orb had turned to dust, meaning that there was no chance of him going back into the orb for another time. It was a trick that Lumia knew, which meant that Azure had picked up another memory orb within the memory orb itself, destroying the original orb to restrict how many times after the orb pickup would be able to be used. Sadly in this case, there were no chances to go back into the original vision that Azure was currently within.

Azure let the events play out and came back to the real world, clutching another memory orb, this one not being corrupted at all, making Azure feel like he had been good to collect it. Maybe it was all part of Blitz’s plan, to avoid a random pony from getting the orb or to protect it within an already corrupt memory orb, making its survival time just that little bit longer due to how little the orb would have been used. Azure chuckled before opening his eyes, noticing that he could still feel the memory orb within his grasp, smiling after the chuckle.

“I am playing your game Blitz!” Azure stated, almost being a little bit psychotic sounding, making Lumia get a little bit confused with the emotions that he was feeling. She didn't know if he was laughing or if he was crying, which made the entire situation that little bit more awkwarder, but she was not going to back down due to awkwardness lingering around. Instead, Lumia took the memory orb and looked at it, seeing that it was glowing with a bright mix of crimson and whiteness, making Lumia smile too, due to the orb being so beautiful.

“Right, looks like i’m going back into another memory orb then, since the weather still ain’t clearing at all.” Azure stated, before Lumia gave a swift nod in his direction, signalling that he was indeed ready for the adventure that it was going to take him on. Azure closed his eyes before letting all of his nerves slip away from his body and onto the ground, not having a single doubt on where he was going to be taken. If he was correct, he would become trapped within Blitz’s body, which was what he wanted in the first place, instead of having the orb be corrupted enough that he had an ability to move about within a memory, messing with how memories worked.

Lumia placed the orb against Azure’s head before letting him drift away from the world and into the captured memory, allowing him to see exactly what Blitz wanted him to see, which was the original plan, or was it? Azure felt like he was falling, which made him look down to see no floor below him, but somehow he was able to stand, which was something that confused him a lot. He tried to walk around, but where to? There was nowhere to go, so his only option was to wait for the memory orb to suck him into the eyes and feelings of Blitz.

Azure’s head hurt a little, followed by noises of sounds getting louder and louder, before there was an explosion, followed by another one and another one, making his ears within the memory sting, but Azure wasn't hearing this, Blitz was. Blitz opened his eyes to find that the artillery fire had died down, looking back at the factory that was going to be explored by both him and Azure later down the line, making Azure smile within the vision of Blitz, being just another spectator in this situation. Azure tried to move, but it was a memory, so he had no actions that he could take, only to view what was happening, which was something that Azure hated, a lot!

Blitz travelled down a little slope that led into the underground of the sewer entrance, making him a little hesitant to go in, due to knowing that there was probably a mass amount of ghouls present within the area. Blitz knew that he would have had no other choice, due to the Steel Rangers most likely surviving the artillery barrage, making him more of a threat than before, due to him having not only the plans for the barn, but the PipBuck will all of the information on it, making Blitz remind himself of what was on it, which was the location or updated locations of all of the artifacts that Roselight needed, but he didn't know that yet. All he knew was that there was a file on it that was really important to both the Steel Rangers and Roselight, making Blitz wonder what was hiding on the device he had just obtained.

Azure watched as the darkness overcame Blitz and made him turn on horn, using it to illuminate things in front of him and allowing him to walk without the fear of falling into the water that was present within the middle of the sewer system. Blitz continued to walk along the side of the sewer, before the events of the last memory orb played out, only this time from the perspective of Blitz. Azure kind of ignored what happened, until Blitz caught sight of something, which Azure did too, which was something glistening from a hole that was within the wall. Azure probably didn't see it, due to the angle that he was at when he was watching the events. Azure listened to something coming from Blitz that shocked him a little, until he was actually afraid of what Blitz knew.

“Azure… come back for this, it’s important! Don’t question this, but Death is evil and needs to be stopped…” Blitz muttered to himself, before turning around and looking into the water, something that didn't happen in the other memory orb. He looked down and saw Azure’s form within the water and smiled. “I know you are confused, but I have faith in you. Don't forget that!” Blitz muttered to himself again, before continuing with the memory, making Azure begin to think about what Blitz was really up to and wanted to know what Blitz actually was.

Chapter 25: Homing Honour

Blitz watched all of the group from the comfort of a chair that was a little worse for wear than he may have liked, but it was still in a stable state, making it able to be used for what it was made for, to sit. Blitz noticed that there was something going on with his mind, due to him never really having bad thoughts until now, but Blitz was certain that there was something wrong with his mind, giving off the impression that it was due to something or somepony that had been planted within his mind and Blitz knew for a fact that it wasn't the nightmare doing those things, due to her only wanting to torment him, not twist some words around to provoke his way of thinking. Blitz knew that Death was up to something, but what exactly was he doing, snooping around and planting seeds of uncertainty within Blitz’s mind?

Blitz immediately got away from the subject, before thinking about what happened earlier, with the pendent that was lighting up and knowing that it was Azure picking up the amulet. Blitz was happy that he had snuck that amulet within Azure’s saddlebag, when he wasn't looking, before he got completely trapped and frozen in time. He was also glad that he had managed to get those two memories out of his mind, making Death unable to pinpoint all of the artifacts. Blitz had no memory of doing anything, but did remember him making a memory orb as soon as he got back, hiding it before dropping one in Azure’s corrupted vision of the events and in Azure’s saddlebag, along with the amulet.

Blitz relaxed within the room that he was in, waiting for all of the others to wake up and to see him not in the same room as them, more or less likely being awake before them all and breathing to clarify it. Shifty was turning on the windowsill, making Blitz remember that he was a changeling too, needing a little bit of warmth with him to make the little young bug hybrid warmer. Blitz teleported the little bug over to him, before wrapping a blanket around Shifty, warming him up a lot and making him lay perfectly on Blitz’s lap, almost like some kind of cat. Blitz could tell that Shifty was cold, making Blitz also wrap his wings around the smaller bug, making them both seem a little warmer, the cold really being their greatest threat, threatening to end them if they stepped into it for too long,

Shifty opened his eyes a little bit, before looking at Blitz, showing how tired the little bug still was. Blitz looked back at Shifty, before squeezing him a little and making him smile. Shifty made Blitz smile by yawning and chirping a tiny bit, being almost inaudible to normal pony ears, but not to changeling ears, being a little more sensitive than pony ears, but not as sensitive as bat pony ears, which could literally hear a pin drop in another city, if they focused hard enough. Blitz smiled back at Shifty, making Shifty blush a little bit, due to him chirping and yawning in front of his supposed father. He was mainly still tired, which was both a good and a bad thing for him. Blitz eased his head back onto his chest, just like he had had him on the windowsill, making Shifty want to fall asleep again.

“Go to sleep and I shall wake you up when the others wake up, okay?” Blitz asked, getting a nod from the bug, as he closed his eyes to shoot off to sleep again, being in the comfort once again of his father, making him find it easier to get to sleep, due to Shifty knowing that Blitz wouldn't do anything to hurt him, at least he hoped he wouldn't, which didn't help him sleep too much better, but he tried anyway, shifting into a more comfortable position and keeping his head on Blitz’s chest.

Blitz too shifted around, making sure that he was comfortable, before looking about and evaluating things, using his magic to grab stuff, trying to make no noise or no movements to wake Shifty and the others. Although Blitz was still looking like a raider, nopony saw him as one, which made him happier than ever before, due to them knowing that they could have a conversation with him. Although Blitz hated the armour, it was all that he could use, due to his chitin not really being too much help in protecting him. Anti teleported beside Blitz, before curling up next to Blitz and keeping him warm, which was something that Blitz appreciated quite a bit, despite him not really being too cold. With Anti there, Blitz was really warm, allowing him to relax in perfect tranquility, allowing all of the heat to distribute itself around his body, making sure that no parts were going to be able to get cold, which was the weakness of changelings, as well as having no love or starving to death, but Blitz’s love for his friends kept him going on strong.

There was a flash of white outside, indicating that either a balefire bomb had just gone off right next to them, or that it was thunder and lightning right then and there, making Blitz jump a little, due to the house that they were in having a couple of holes in it, allowing for no noise cancellation. Shifty woke up and jumped, being a little afraid of the thunder, due to it being too loud for him.

Shifty placed some noise cancelling ear muffs on, making it nearly impossible to hear anypony at all and made it easier to cancel out the loudness of the thunder, but sadly not the brightness of the lightning, as one bolt of it lit up the sky and made short work of everypony’s sleep, making them all wake up with ringing in their ears and lights in their eyes. Blitz felt a little bad and felt like it was somewhat his fault, when clearly it was not his fault at all, due to him being unable to change the weather, not only because the sky level was protected by the pegasi, but that he was a changeling, being unable to push clouds, but being able to stand on them, he hoped. Thinking about it, Blitz didn't even know if he was able to stand on clouds, which made him want to end all of the pegasi above just to see if he was able to stand on a cloud or whether he would sink right through it.

Everypony was awake, which was something that Blitz didn't mind, but didn't like either, due to them now having to wait till the rain had settled, due to it flooding the outside world, creating little pools of radioactive mess within a short proximity of them, making Blitz chuckle. Due to him having survived the fallout, Blitz was immune to radiation, which made him able to voyage out and grab things, despite the rain coming down hard around them. The only thing that normally stopped Blitz from going anywhere in the rain, was the heat of it, being cold always, regardless of what Blitz wore around him. He knew that even though he was wearing a lot of raider armour, he would still get really cold, due to it getting into the fabric that he was wearing, making him damper and colder, eventually killing him, due to the heat, or lack of.

Blitz stayed curled up with his timberwolf to one side and the bug that he was protecting from freezing on the other, wrapping his wings around the bug, only to keep him warm and to keep him protected, due to there being some ponies out there that would grab Shifty the first chance that they got. The fake pegasus looked up to his father and smiled, before nuzzling in closer to Blitz, making sure that Blitz was warm too, which he definitely was.

Blitz immediately thought about Azure, making his mind diverge into unnecessary thoughts, ones that made him feel better about himself and made him a little stronger, both physically and mentally, adding to the brains and brawns that were going on with Blitz. He was not naturally strong, due to him being a bug horse of some kind, but what he lacked in physical form, he made up for in the mental form, being very strong with different kinds of magic and making the right calls for the situations that he put himself into, not always picking the best choice, but picking one that would keep him walking about and keep him sleeping well, trying to save as many ponies as he could, unless provoked.

Blitz stayed still for as long as possible, not disturbing his little bug that was nuzzled into him. There was a sense of satisfaction that irradiated off Shifty, making Blitz feel so much better about everything that was happening right then and there in that moment, due to Blitz actually finding one of the many ponies that met something to him, being a given, due to Shifty being his son. Even if Shifty was not his son, he would have treated him differently to the others, due to him being a changeling,

There was a little shimmer of hope that was lingering in the air, making Blitz want to go out and about, due to him being a little bit bored of waiting to travel. Blitz was tempted to go out with Shifty and explore the area of the world that they were currently in, but Blitz was scared that he was going to lose the group, which he didn't want to happen, so he threw the idea away for the time being. It was good to relax every once in a while, but at the rate that Blitz was trying to move, he would have needed to be put into another form of coma just for his racing mind to subside. Motivation was going to be the biggest enemy to Blitz during his time with the group, until he got to the other location and he knew it. Until then, he was going to have to stay put and follow orders from the ponies that were escorting him, Shifty and Zavier to the settlement up North. Blitz was determined to find Azure, just so that they could have continued their adventure together.

Blitz couldn't remember for the life of him what was on those memory orbs. Was that Blitz thinking, or somepony else wanting to not be outsmarted by a bug horse? Blitz tried to get back to the thought of Shifty on his lap, but there was something pulling at his mind that might have been crucial to stopping Death’s brother from succeeding.

“What are you hiding?” Death whispered, not noticing that Blitz could hear him, making Blitz smile just that little bit more, before he looked at Shifty again and stroked his mane, knowing that behind that form of a pegasus, was an even cuter bug waiting to show his colours to the world, when there was nopony else watching at least. Blitz chuckled at the statement, before closing his eyes and sighing, before a loud crack of thunder hit his ears, making them ring a little, as the lightning blinded Blitz for a brief second. Blitz didn't mind the lightning and thunder, not after how fearful he was about it before he got encased in stone, hating it almost as much as shifty did, but there was something that made him change his opinion on the uncommon weather of the Equestrian Wasteland, which seemed to scare Blitz for some reason.

Blitz slowly got up and carried Shifty with him, using his magic to move him onto his back, before teleporting a ragged cloth over his back, keeping both Shifty and Blitz warm. Shifty was perfectly awake, but didn't want to move at all, due to the rag being so warm, making him nuzzle into Blitz’s progressively hotter chitin, somehow heating up and making both of them a whole lot warmer. Blitz stepped outside for a brief second, before flying up and looking at the clouds, seeing that they were definitely a lot darker than before, making Blitz think that all of the thunder claps and lightning flashes were the pegasi’s fault, which it most likely was, due to them not doing a single thing for the earth ponies and the unicorns that were stuck below the cloud layer.

Blitz narrowed his eyes, looking above him at a cloud that was shooting some of the lightning, as well as acting like a speaker and roaring crackling sounds of thunder. Blitz waited, making Shifty question what it was that he was doing. They both didn't need to worry about getting wet, due to the rag that was constantly heating them both, before Shifty realised something that made him a little scared. As Shifty looked down, he saw that Blitz was wearing rubber horseshoes, as opposed to his normal chitin like ones. Shifty has a general idea of what Blitz was going to do, but he didn't like it, due to how much he hated both thunder and lightning.

Blitz didn't hesitate one bit, making Shifty that little bit more scared. Blitz showed completely no fear against the thunder and lightning, but then it happened. Shifty closed his eyes and looked away, before hearing the loudest roar of thunder that he had ever heard. He shortly opened his eyes to see Blitz holding a bolt of lightning with his horn and magic, making him light up the world that was around him, getting the attention of all of the ponies that he had travelled with. The bolt didn't exhaust his magic, instead charging it and making it so that he would retain some more power from it, only if he stored the magic and didn't use it. Blitz slowly flew down to the floor, horn still reacting with the lightning bolt as he tried to stop. As soon as his hooves reached the floor, Blitz stopped reacting with the magic, before he placed a ring on his horn, preventing him from using his magic. Right then and there, he was a pegasus with holes in his body, due to not being able to release his magic strength until he used a single spell, which regardless of which one it was, it would use the lightning as power, rather than his magic, which was something that Blitz wanted to avoid, so putting the ring on his horn was the best option for him.

Shifty slowly got to the floor, before looking up at Blitz and smiling, before heading inside, seeking a little bit of warmth, due to Blitz not being able to heat up the rag, due to him saving his magic. Blitz didn't realise it, but the rubber shoes were gone, due to him only putting them on while absorbing the lightning energy. Blitz could see little orbs and bolts of electricity around his horn, making him feel like a little bit of a badass, but he only wanted to experiment with the lightning and thanks to Death, it was easier than ever to pull off, due to Death being within Blitz, not allowing him to die so easily, which in Blitz’s was good, or was it?

Blitz thought about that for a second, before looking at the others. Death would not let him die, so if he was in pain, he wouldn't be able to die, due to Death keeping him alive, keeping him in more pain for what Death deemed as a not worthwhile death. It wasn't really a blessing at all, due to that sole reason behind it. Blitz tried to not dwell on it too much, due to him getting easily distracted from the main narration of his story. He counted his life as a story, just so others would think of some funny excuse to read his life like a book. That was something that Blitz found funny, somepony writing a story of him and his travels. Blitz shook his head to get rid of any alliteration that could have entered eagerly into his head and sighed, before looking around and seeing that the sky was beginning to clear, looking no brighter than it had done originally.

The rest of the group came out to see that it had indeed stopped raining, making them want to go back inside and pack up to get ready to travel again, being only a little hesitant, due to it just stopping, making them think that the rain would come back soon. Blitz was adamant that it was gone for a good while, so he travelled inside and grabbed his saddlebag and checked through it for something. The weapons that he had acquired were in pretty bad shape, making him want to find somepony that would have been able to fix up his weapons, or at least sell them for an okay amount and allowing him to buy a better weapon.

Blitz had three weapons on him right then and there, those being his shotgun, which was the one that he was holding in his hooves, a pistol and an automatic rifle that he had gotten from the same raider, which made him feel a little underwhelmed to just find a couple of weapons. Although Blitz was unhappy with the weapons that he had obtained, he was glad that they had any type of weapon on hoof, because otherwise the world would have been much harder to traverse, making him somewhat thankful for the weapons that he had obtained, but not grateful for them to say the least, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

Blitz exited the building and waited for the others to come out, hovering just above the ground with a weapon in his hooves to avoid losing the charge of the lightning that hit his horn, making his magic go into overdrive. He was unable to use his horn, until he was ready to use the magic, not wasting the extra magic that he had by his side. Shifty came out of the building with all of his items, as well as Zavier coming out with all of his items, while Blitz just hovered like the drone that he was and waited for the rest of them, being the ponies that were escorting the group to the place. They all came out and looked at the three, giving them all a stern look before beginning to move North once again.

Blitz looked at both of his companions, before shaking his head and flying forward, being the one that would want to get off track a little more, due to him being the one that got bored the easiest. Shifty was going to be able to keep him in place and make Blitz stay on track, as well as Zavier being there to help Shifty where it was needed, due to Blitz being a little bit of a trouble to keep hold of. Blitz was following pretty close to the leaders, making him wonder what they were thinking as they all travelled away from the building that they had used to stay safe overnight, from both the Wasteland monsters and the rain.

Blitz noticed something happening in the distance, as they were in the middle of nowhere, not exactly being lost, but being close to it and making them seem a little confused at where they were. There were no trees and no signs of life anywhere, but that didn't stop them from trying to find the settlement that they were after. There was definitely movement in the distance, which was immediately picked up by not only Blitz, but the others leading the charge. They got their weapons ready, just in case it was for an action that they didn't necessarily liked, which involved shooting and injuring the things that were running to them, which ran almost like some ghouls, but it turned out to be a fair few raiders, holding up some spears and some pitchforks, which could have done some serious damage to them all, if they did hit at all.

Blitz raised up, past the group, before throwing his weapon to the side, keeping an eye on where it landed, so that he didn't lose it at all, before charging up his horn, all of the electricity coming to the tip of his horn. Blitz charged his horn to do a concentrated spell, but then changed his mind and morphed the spell into a little ball of energy. Blitz shot said ball out of his horn and it continued to pick up in speed, as it fell towards the raiders. Blitz lowered himself down a little bit before keeping his eye on the orb. Blitz teleported the shotgun to his saddlebag and then pulled out the pistol, before aiming a pistol at the orb that was still picking up speed, getting closer and closer to the raiders. Blitz aimed the pistol at the orb and waited for the right moment, before shooting the orb with a single well placed shot, making it explode into an electrical fireball, which was a sight to behold on its own, let alone the amount of damage it caused to the raiders.

From being a little changeling that couldn't really resist against the smallest of attacks, to becoming somepony that could output nearly as much devastation as a megaspell. Blitz was definitely not somepony that anypony wanted to mess with, due to the amount of chaos that he was putting out on the raiders that were charging the group originally, getting ready to kill them, until Blitz shut them down and destroyed any trace of them. Blitz lowered himself down to the ground and began breathing heavily, due to him not breathing at all during the movements that he had just made. He looked at the little crater that he had created and frowned, knowing that he had protected not only his friends and family, but himself. What did that make him if he killed with no reason to? That was one of those moments that Blitz didn't want to kill, but there was something in his mind that was provoking him to do so, almost like the spirit within him. Blitz was pretty certain that he knew why he kept killing, because if he didn't, they would have got in the way of somepony that was more determined to finish things than he was, which only made his concerns grow.

Blitz looked to the others with sad eyes, before Shifty walked a little closer and reached out his hoof towards Blitz, making Blitz do the same, before something walked out of the woodland that was in front of them all. Blitz got smacked away, hitting a couple of trees and then laying on the floor, being hurt as he saw the tree branch going straight through his body. At that point of time, Blitz was so glad that he was a changeling, due to the tree branch going through one of the holes on his forehooves, making him pick himself up with minimal pain. Death was actually not helping Blitz, which was a first. Blitz walked over to see what the thing was that had launched him across the way and saw that it was something that reminded him of the old times with Azure. A hydra roared in front of him, making him smile, filling him with rage.

Blitz waited for the hydra to roar, before he lashed out and teleported onto one of its three heads, using his shotgun to blast a series of holes into its neck, nearly decapitating the monster. Blitz noticed that his friends were chipping in, shooting at the hydra’s heads. Blitz ran out of shotgun ammo, making him result to using his magic to slice the remaining part of the neck off, before the head dropped to the ground, squirming like a little snake, which got picked up by Shifty, as he shook the head and part of the neck like a toy, shaking his head to the left and then to the right, making him look so adorable but also being pretty funny, due to the context of how stupid he was being. He was more likely to get bitten from the head than Blitz was, which made Blitz chuckle a little, focusing back on the hydra that had two heads remaining. Two heads too many!

Blitz pushed towards the other head of the hydra, seeing that it was snapping at him and making him feel like it could have done some serious damage to him. He tried to light his horn, but nothing came out of it, having no magic for some reason. He slowed down before getting hit and flung across the way due to the hydra’s neck, sending him into a pile of rubble, seeing that it was mainly some soft stuff. Blitz tried to get up, but couldn't, before feeling a sharp pain in his back, followed by some liquid trickling down his back too. Blitz was pretty sure that he had been impaled, due to the pain that he was in. If he wasn't mistaken, he was in more pain than he had ever been, due to Death not helping him at all. Blitz was pretty certain that he was just going to die there and give up, but he closed his eyes and travelled across his mind and found something that was more precious to him than anything else, apart from Shifty of course. Azure and Blitz going on a little adventure together played within Blitz’s mind, making him shed a tear, before opening his eyes and being fueled with rage.

Blitz sent out Anti and roared out in pain, as he tried to get himself off whatever it was that he had been impaled on. Shifty noticed this and ran over, swapping places with Anti, before being yanked away from his father by something. It was Anti dragging him away… With magic? Shifty was a little confused at that, but he wasn't going to contemplate it at the time of life and death, wanting to do more to protect his father, so he decided to go back to playing his old tricks.

Shifty flew over to the monster and got its attention, before taunting it. The hydra snapped one of its heads at Shifty, before watching him teleport next to it. The hydra was just as confused as the others, but just like Blitz had stated, Shifty was more evasive by using his magic, so although it would make the others confused and start to think about conspiracies about him, he didn't care at all, if only to protect his father and friends.

“You’re too slow!” Shifty whispered into its ear hole, before teleporting again, seeing that it was going to lash out again in his direction. Shifty was buying Blitz some time to be able to get what he was doing, done. Shifty bobbed and weaved around the hydra, surely annoying it to the point that it was beginning to realise that nothing was able to be done about the annoying drone that was trying to harass the colossal giant. Shifty stopped for a brief second, before the monster attacked, catching Shifty off guard and allowing himself to get hit. The hydra brought one of it’s claws down and slashed them at Shifty, hitting him directly in the face, before making him fly across the area, before hitting a tree and falling limp. He was badly hurt and Blitz was furious!

Blitz used all of the energy that he could to get himself off the thing that was holding him back, which with enough willpower, gave him the strength that he needed, before he slowly moved over to Shifty, seeing that the others were distracting the monster for the time being. Shifty had blood dripping down his face, along with scratches on his face. He was really, really badly hurt after that and Blitz watched as Shifty was unable to retain his pegasus form, changing into the little bug that he was, the new scars on his face dripping green blood off them, making Blitz cry a little.

“If you want me to be able to get what you want done, you gotta work with me here, Death!” Blitz spoke, before Death appeared, looking angrily at him. Death looked down and smiled, before Blitz walked in front of Shifty, protecting him from whatever it was that Death’s gaze did. Death went back to scowling at Blitz, before Blitz tried to shoot him with his magic, doing little to nothing to the hologram-like Death. He smiled again, before Anti tackled him, wiping the grin he had on his face off completely, before teleporting above them. Anti growled at him, making her opinions known and showing them all whose side she was really on.

Death rolled his eyes, before flying back into Blitz’s body and making Blitz feel no pain, along with an over the top feeling of energy, before Blitz turned around to see the hydra breathing down his neck. Blitz didn't stress, before throwing Death out of his own system, before striking the hydra with his hooves, pushing the hydra away and making it have to roll over just to keep on its own paws. Blitz brought out a pistol, before noticing an old friend below the belly of the beast, making him put his pistol away.

Blitz used his magic and pulled the item out form under the belly of the beast, revealing a huge amount of blood, but also his saber that the stupid pony had orignally lost, due to him being scared and a complete incompotent colt. Blitz looked at his old blade, seeing that the blood had corroded the blade, only adding to the attack of it, even if it fell apart when he hit something. Blitz spun the sword around in his magic, before looking back at the beast, seeing the hunger for Blitz in its eyes, before it lashed out, making Blitz teleport behind it.

“You want to hurt my boy? So be it!” Blitz viscously growled, before using the sword to attack the hydra, plummeting the sword down into the back of it, making it roar out in more pain than it had originally, when the stupid pony placed it into the stomach of the beast. Blitz dragged the sword out again, before noticing that there was a couple of marks where it had been attacked recently on the back of its neck, making Blitz become the master of pain and sinking not only the sword, but his fangs into the neck of the hydra, making it screech out in pain, messing with the wrong bug and getting what was coming to it. Blitz pushed the sword deep, before slicing off one of the heads cleanly, keeping it in his mouth like a little cat presenting its capture as a trophy. He spat out the head, before looking at the other two and smiling.

The hydra attacked Blitz, before hitting a shield that had been placed by the bug himself. The other hydra head came around the shield, making Blitz jump backwards to get himself away from the other snake-like head, noticing for the first time that the heads were different, before he was attacked again. He jumped back and looked at the head that attacked him, seeing that it was more or less looking like a lion's head, which didn't sit right with him for some reason. Blitz pulled out his pistol and shot out one of the eyes of the snake head, knowing full well that the snake was the more dangerous one, so he would take that one out last, which he thought was the easiest thing to do.

Blitz focused mainly on the lion head, seeing a powerful jaw that would surely just end him right then and there if it got a hold of him. Both heads lashed out instantly, getting shot by a couple of the ponies who were backing up Blitz, one of them being Zavier with his rifle, shooting the lion head in the eye, nearly killing it in one shot, which was pretty impressive to Blitz. Blitz looked back at Shifty to see if he was okay, which surprised him when he saw that the bug was leaning against a tree, using his magic to shoot Blitz’s shotgun that he had nabbed from his saddlebag, making him smile. Shifty shot past Blitz, hitting the monster in the head and peppering the lion head and the snake head in buckshot, not damaging it enough to hurt it, but distracting it enough for Blitz to teleport the shotgun to him and blow the head of the hydra off, that one being the lion head, showering Blitz in blood, giving him a little bit of satisfaction to all of the killing, but still remembering that he had a job to do.

The snake head put a end to Blitz’s reign of terror, biting Blitz in the neck and getting its lethal venom inside him, before tearing a piece of his neck out and throwing him onto the floor, making him twitch and convulse on the floor, like he was having some sort of seizure or something along those lines, due to the poison breaking down his immune system and making his mouth foam at the sides. Blitz’s vision went completely blurred and his hearing was completely lost, due to his body coming to an end, but there was something that kept Blitz alive, but he didn't know if it was Death or somepony else doing it, but he was still able to feel his body, however much pain he was in. He couldn't see anything but he tried to focus on the hydra, seeing a blurred outline of it for a brief second, before he decided to try to get up, still being twitchy and stumbling.

Shifty and Zavier looked at Blitz as he got up slowly, before using his wings to rise him up into the air, before his vision cleared a little more, giving him the basic outline of the hydra and seeing the last remaining head snapping at the other ponies that were fighting it, giving Blitz the strength to use his magic, and a lot of it if not that. Blitz charged his horn, before letting off a beam of pure black magic, evaporating the monster for all it was worth, nothing! Blitz came back to the ground, before using his magic to turn the entirety of the creature into dust, scaring everypony in the process, due to knowing what a hydra’s snake venom was capable of. It melted the insides of a pony and turned their bones to jelly, losing their structure. There was definitely something that was keeping him alive and Blitz was pretty sure that it was indeed Death, but he was a little confused about why Death wanted to keep him around, despite knowing deep down what Blitz’s intention was for him.

Blitz stopped firing his magic, before seeing that all of the ponies around him were looking directly at him, scaring him a little bit and making him believe that he was looking like a little psychotic bug with how much magic he had just used. His eyes glowed red, signalling that Anti was nearby, which she was, but even she looked a little concerned and she was his pet or companion. Blitz sighed, before sitting down, knowing that there was something that was preventing him from dying, but he wanted to know what it was and it was definitely not because he was a changeling, that was not the reason.

A raider came out of a bush beside Blitz and attacked him, missing completely, as Blitz moved to the side and bit the raider, before noticing that the raider dripped out black blood and seeing the raider scream. Blitz was a little afraid, but then he saw something that changed his mind to know for sure that Death was the reason that he was still alive. The raider began to melt, as its scream became muffled and Blitz realised that Death absorbed the ability and allowed Blitz to use it, but why?

The others looked at him in pure shock, not believing what they were seeing. It was somewhat terrifying to see a pony melt, let alone right in front of them by one of the ponies that was travelling with them. Blitz knew that they were not going to look at him the same way, due to what their reaction was like after seeing Blitz melt another pony. Blitz walked back, not wanting to hurt both the physical and mental status of his friends, so he tried to keep his distance away from the group, seeing how much it confused and hurt them mentally. Blitz was not happy with Death, but Blitz knew that it was something that could have been useful in a better scenario. Anti came over to Blitz before nuzzling him softly, knowing that all would have eventually been okay.

The group continued to travel, making sure that Shifty and Blitz were okay, being that they were the only two who got hurt. It seemed like the hydra hated the bugs the most, seeing how they were compared to the others. Blitz offered to carry Shifty, which he declined, but Blitz was not taking anything or any answer from Shifty, picking him up and placing the smaller bug on Blitz’s back, trying to keep him warm with his wings, as Shifty rested his head against Blitz’s neck, before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep, which was something that he definitely needed at that point of time, due to having the absolute pinnacle of damage from the hydra, injuring Blitz’s little bug more than he liked to say. Blitz was going to have to keep his eyes on Shifty, just to make sure that the little bug was enduring till the very end. Blitz was determined to make him see the sun, if it was the last thing he was able to do, even during his final breaths.

They continued to travel North, getting closer and closer to their destination, which was a settlement up above them on the map, which allowed both Zavier and Blitz to discuss what they were going to do when they got to the settlement. Their first idea was to find Azure and all of the others and their second idea was to see what they could have brought from the shops that were located there, hoping that because they were closer to a bunch of factories, that they might have had some better weapons or something, because Blitz needed some new weapons, because the ones that he had were doing no justice for him.

Nopony looked a Blitz, apart from Shifty, who Blitz had been carrying for a little while, due to him being hurting more than Blitz would have liked. Blitz turned his head to see Shifty looking at the view that they were travelling by, making the little bug sigh with a mix of content and boredom. Shifty looked at his father, before snuggling into him, warming not only Blitz's body, but also his heart, having a little soft spot for his son. Blitz was certain that Shifty was going to fit right into Blitz’s little family that he was gathering within the Wasteland.

Zavier stopped, seeing something near the settlement that concerned him a little bit, which was a couple of Steel Rangers, aiming their weapons at a couple of ponies right next to the settlement that they wanted to get to, making them all eye the group, as they moved closer to the settlement. They noticed the group coming and then eyed both Shifty and Blitz. They stood their ground, but one of them pointed their weapons at the group, almost like they were already hostiages, without the pressure that came with being one.

They all acted like there was nothing wrong, before one of the Steel Rangers stopped them by walking up to them and blocking their path, not allowing them to proceed, which was the only thing that they wanted to do. He eyed down the two changelings and laughed a little when he saw the marks on Shifty’s face, before looking down at Blitz, who looked back at him with a blank expression.

“Oh, don't you look like a happy fella! Get over there!” The Steel Ranger ordered, making Blitz look at him with the same blank face that he had originally, walking away with the group, before Blitz got shot in the leg, making him limp and turn around to see the end of the Steel Ranger’s rifle smoking in the cold air, before the ranger laughed. “Get over there!” he repeated, pointing over to the other ponies that were tied up on a carriage. Blitz limped, but placed down Shifty, before pushing against him lightly with his wounded leg, as if he was trying to protect him.

“Here is what I suggest, okay? You let those ponies go and it will end with you living and running away to tell the tale, or you can fight me with a one hundred percent chance of dying. Which one do you want, mister ranger?” Blitz asked, threatening the ranger with what little leverage he still had when it came to talking. Death was doing a great job of removing the pain from Blitz’s body, but there was only so much that he could do, making Blitz use a spell to heal his back leg, making a little bit of a mucky job of it, scarring it a little, due to him not being a medical pony, as well as Death using the spell, not Blitz. Blitz was beginning to think that Death liked leaving constant reminders that Blitz was under the protection and order of him, making him chuckle a little in front of the Steel Rangers, another one coming to assist his ally.

Blitz slowly moved back, shifting Shifty back as well, before getting bored of the rangers looking at him and the others being in the back of the carriage. Blitz was giving them all one last chance to change what they were doing, before seeing one of them come up to him and grab him, like he was a random object. Blitz lashed out, using his magic to blind them all, before chopping through the metal of the ranger that was carrying him with magic, slicing off his horn and making him scream in pain. As the whiteness cleared, they saw Blitz place a metal rod into the side of the ranger, making him die on the spot. Blitz quickly teleported the group away, before seeing Shifty teleport back to try his hoof at distracting the Steel Rangers, as opposed to a hydra.

Blitz was a little angry that Shifty was unable to follow Blitz’s orders, but he did manage to distract most of them. Blitz ripped off the guns from the side of the dead ranger’s body, before pointing the gun at them. They shot back, missing all of their shots, before Blitz fired a barrage of shots at them, peppering them in lead, going through most of their armour, due to the weapons of bullets being enchanted with some sort of armour piercing modification, hence the reason that most of the Steel Rangers were able to easily kill most alicorns, even though alicorns can produce the strongest shields known to ponykind.

The two rangers dropped like flies, seeing the ever so familiar red liquid come out of their suits, making Blitz feel a little more satisfied than he originally had been. He looked at Shifty, who was still distracting the other Steel Rangers, before dropping the weapon, being slightly concerned that he might have hit Shifty by accident, making him shake that possibility out of his mind, before running over to the other group of rangers, before drawing out his sword that had been used to fight the hydra originally, thinking that the rust might have been useful when Blitz was able to get past the armour of the Steel Ranger, or if he was able to find a weak point in the armours design, which was highly unlikely, due to the way that the armour was made.

Blitz tried to jam the sword into one of the rangers, seeing that it was no use, before feeling all of his rage build up and trying again, this time using his magic to make the weapon ethereal, before making it vanish into the ranger, before making it reappear inside the armour of the Steel Ranger. The armour went quiet, before Blitz saw a puddle of blood forming at the bottom of the armour, suggesting that the ranger was added to the pile of bodies that Blitz had made. He turned the sword back to its ethereal form and dragged it out, seeing that the entire thing, not only the blade, was covered in a matte red paste, which resembled the blood of the Steel Ranger that he had just jammed it into.

The other rangers got sight of Blitz, before trying to avenge their fallen friend, shooting a barrage of bullets at Blitz and making him immediately put up a shield to protect himself. Shifty teleported into the little bubble, before seeing one of them charging up a weapon, forcing them to move. Blitz dropped the shield, before grabbing Shifty with his magic, throwing both himself and the smaller bug behind a rock, seeing that the charged up energy weapon was active, missing Blitz by a couple of hairs, which he was glad about, due to him not wanting to hurt anymore than he already did.

Blitz held his head, before feeling a pressure build up within it, making him think like he had not originally. It was definitely the work of Death and Blitz could tell that he was not happy about the Steel Rangers slowing them down, so he summoned a weapon out of the blue, not even one that he owned, which made him very confused, before the echo of specific orders ran through his head, prompting him to do what it asked him to do.

“Fire!” a voice whispered within his head, constantly looping over and over, repeating and overlapping with every second that Blitz thought about it, getting progressively unbearable. Blitz looked at the massive machine gun that Death had teleported out of nowhere, before smiling like he was purely insane. Blitz slowly placed a shield in front of him, protecting him from all of the torment that he was going to be receiving from the Steel Rangers. The ranger charged up the weapon again, thinking that Blitz was surely doomed. He let off the weapon with a pop and watched as it spiraled towards Blitz's shield, Death seeing a perfect opportunity to turn Blitz into a lethal weapon on his own. Death took control of Blitz, dropping the shield and using his magic to catch the shot, before absorbing it into Blitz’s horn, before making the massive machine gun fall to the floor, forgetting to despawn it back into his arsonal.

Right then and there, Blitz felt like his body had been possessed, which it had been, due to Death using Blitz’s magic to absorb the charged shots that pierced most things. A surge of energy entered Blitz’s body, making him both excited to see what he could have pulled off, but also scared about all of the fighting that had been going on. Blitz was only trying to get to his friends, but there were ponies and creature fighting him around every corner, pushing him to do things that he wasn't exactly proud of or wanted to do, but they would either make Death control him, due to seeing opportunity in Blitz’s vision, or would have very, very bad thoughts about the choices that he had made earlier within his lifetime. It didn't help that Death was constantly nagging him about the memory that he had lost, which he had no idea what he meant.

Blitz smiled as he gained control of himself, looking at the rangers who were completely paralysed in fear of Death collecting the energy orb and holding it still. Blitz held up his head, before pointing his horn at the Steel Rangers, making them shudder a little, as Blitz shot off the magical orb, sending it in their direction. It hit one of the Steel Rangers and vapourised them both, along with their armour and their weapons sadly, but if Blitz was able to get enough magic, he could turn all of the energy he got into one of those orbs, thanks to Death implanting the spell into his head.

Blitz looked to the others and saw that they were looking both shocked and horrified, noticing that he had made the Steel Rangers vanish without a trace. Blitz really wanted to be rocking around with their weapons, but he didn't realise how strong the spell was, which got him thinking. How come he didn't evaporate, but them in their armour did? There was something that Death had done to him, which he didn't like, due to him not knowing if it was just pure immortality or just made him invulnerable to all types of strong attacks. Either way, Blitz was really confused, but knew that he was being used for something that he didn't even know, making him a little scared within, but he remained confident for the most part on the outside, only to make the others think that he knew what he was doing, when he really didn't have a single clue about anything that was happening to him or his convoy.

Blitz shook his head, before looking to the others, seeing that they were checking to see if each other were all good and healthy. Happily, they were okay, but something was up with Zavier, almost like he was seeing something or had been startled by something. Blitz walked over to him, before seeing him recoil, before realising it was Blitz, making Blitz question what was happening to the young zebra. He shook his head, before nodding to Blitz.

“Sorry about that Blitz! Something had my mind within a trance, before it exited said trance and you came into view. I thought that you were something like the grim reaper!” Zavier hastily stated, making Blitz smile and chuckle.

“Not far from it…” Death stated within Blitz’s head, making Blitz roll his eyes at him and then go back to talking to Zavier about what he had been seeing, getting key details from it that didn't match up with anything that he had seen in his time within the Wasteland. Blitz looked at Shifty, as he hopped onto the back of Blitz, making him chuckle, before turning around and going over to the ponies that were being taken captive by the rangers, seeing that they were all eager to thank Blitz for what he had done.

Blitz brushed off any compliments that he got, due to him not needing the praise that he got, but respected it anyway, getting his confidence up a little, before getting ready to head inside the settlement, hoping to find the ponies that they wanted up in the North. They entered the area and split up, Zavier and Shifty wondering off a little, which Blitz tried to find some sort of lookout to look over the settlement as much as he could. Although he had wings, he didn't want to do anything that seemed to be slightly suspicious, such as flying directly up to look for something.

Blitz climbed up the side of the settlement walls, which rewarded him with somewhat of a good view of the entire settlement, seeing that there was a huge group of ponies within the centre of the settlement, getting a spark of curiosity from Blitz, making him want to go over and investigate. He looked around for his little convoy, but saw that they had all scattered out, thinking that he might as well go and see if he could find somepony that he recognised within the crowd that he saw. With that, Blitz hopped down from the wall and made his way over to the other ponies that had mass gathered in the centre.

Blitz walked over and saw that there was somepony singing up on a stage, feeling like they were free from any confines and hassles that were wrong with the world. In the area that Blitz was at, it was more of a place to reside and unwind, seeing that the music was calm and upbeat, rather than depressing, like most of the music that played within the Wasteland, being on multiple radio frequencies, taking them up so that they couldn't be used for any other type of radio broadcaster.

The music stopped and everypony stomped their hooves, showing their own type of appreciation, before they all desperced, leaving the singer on the stage, with a couple of other ponies looking at them. Blitz looked at the singer, seeing that they were an earth pony with a dark blue mane and tail and beautiful white fur, almost like it was some sort of diamond like feature that made them stand out more and more.

They sighed on the stage, before looking around and seeing Blitz, being a little curious about what Blitz was, due to her not seeing another changeling before. She jumped off the stage, before evaluating the bug that was before her. Blitz blushed a little, before looking at the others, who were eyeing him with not only curiosity, but jealousy and hate. Blitz looked at the beautiful figure as she tried to put her hoof through one of Blitz’s holes, making him chuckle. She laughed too, looking up at him and seeing a smile on his face, making hers appear.

“My name is Sapphire, Sapphire Rhythm! Who are you, if I may ask?” the earth pony asked, before soft spoken and more polite than all of the others that Blitz had come across, maybe due to her being a medical pony, due to the saddlebags that she had, as well as one of the same medical supply boxes that she had tucked away behind her saddlebags, making Blitz a little curious as to what her origin was.

“I am Blitz! That's pretty much my entire name, due to me not having a family with a last name. Maybe my last name could be Bug or something like that. Blitz Bug? Yeah why not. Nice to meet you, Sapphire!” Blitz state, getting a chuckle from the mare. The other ponies began to walk across to him, making Sapphire try to block them from getting any closer. They slowed down a little bit, before looking directly at Blitz, seeing the same anger in their eyes as he had seen in somepony before he got turned to stone, making him know that the group were really jealous that he was talking to the mare and that she was enjoying the conversation.

They moved Sapphire out of the way and trotted over to Blitz, before seeing him smile at them, making them even more angry than they already were. They stopped in front of Blitz, before smiling at each other, towering over the smaller bug, but not looking so intimidating, due to Blitz fighting a hydra before this. Blitz chuckled before looking up at the other ponies.

“I just finished fighting and killing a hydra, I don't think that this will compare, but I won’t hurt you colts.” Blitz stated, Death agreeing with showing the group how intimidating the little things could be, one of those little things being Blitz, as he waited for the first stallion to attack, being ready for the funny fight he was about to have.

Chapter 27: Lawful Justice

Blitz refused to fight the other ponies that were getting mad at him, being the one that would easily push them over with a flick of his tail. Blitz just made them look like fools, making them fall over each other, trying to impress the mare that Blitz was originally talking to, making him have a little more fun with the group, seeing how out of the term ‘fighting’ they were. Blitz chuckled a little bit, seeing Sapphire laugh a little. He chuckled back a little, before walking back and feeling that something else within the Wasteland had happened, allowing him to open his mind to more things than Death realised.

Blitz’s hologram had appeared in front of him, making him chuckle at himself, wearing some sort of dumb look on his face, almost like he was annoyed at himself. The hologram nodded, before phasing out of existence, returning into the arsenal that Blitz had within his horn. Death was a little brought back by the sudden addition that he had not known about, making him a little sceptical around Blitz, knowing that something was up that he didn't know about.

Death lifted Blitz’s body up, before pinning him against the wall and eyeing him down with his ghostly figure. Blitz didn't fear him one bit, making Death a little amused as well as a little bewildered, due to him thinking that he was able to trick Blitz into being scared. Death had no effect on Blitz, because right then and there, he didn't fear death, or Death. Blitz knew what Death was up to, so he kept it within the furthest corners of his mind and allowing him to rethink his options when it came to hiding things that would deter Death of being who he wanted Blitz to think that he was.

Blitz scowled at the ghostly figure, before grabbing him and plummeting down to the floor, landing on his hooves and then letting go of him. Death just looked at Blitz for a couple of seconds, before he smiled sheepishly at him, trying to make it seem like he was not concerned whatsoever, but he was truly terrified for his life, not knowing what Blitz had just done to him. Blitz shouldn't have been able to touch Death while he was in that ghostly stage, but that was something that Blitz could have learnt from Death, making him smile a little, before flying into Blitz’s body again, making himself at home and waiting for Blitz to kick into action yet again, letting him get on with it with little to no distractions.

Blitz dusted himself off, before looking at Sapphire and watching her get back onto the stage. Blitz ordered a drink and just sat there, relaxing. Sapphire was amazed that Blitz was keeping his eyes on her for so long, but he was only doing that while he thought about a couple of things, things to do with the illusion that had popped up a little while ago. He felt like he should have known how that hologram got there, but he couldn't recall himself ever using some sort of summoning spell like that. Was that his non detached self, wandering the Wasteland for Blitz himself, with all of his body intact? No, clearly not! Something was up and Death could feel it.

Blitz took a sip of the drink that he was just given, making him linger on what the taste was within the drink itself. It was some sort of cider, but either something was off, or that was some weird cider that he had been given. He went for the latter option, seeing that it was more likely some cheap cider from ages ago, but still being drinkable, which was something that he was glad about. Sapphire went back to her usual business, doing what she was doing again on the stage in front of Blitz, before he had come in and happily disurbed them all. Blitz winked at her, before taking his drink back outside, feeling somewhat satisfied with all of the stuff that was going on. He took another sip of his drink and decided to down the bottle, making him chug and chug and chug. Blitz placed the bottle within his saddlebag, before going to look around, seeing if he couldn't spot Shifty or even Zavier. He took in the world as it got a little brighter, allowing him to see more of the area more clearly, before seeing something shimmering in the distance, making him want to go over and check it out. Blitz walked over to the area that he saw a little shimmer of light, before seeing that something was glistening within some dirt, making Blitz dig it up a little, seeing that there was some type of expensive watch within the dirt, making him question if it was stolen or not. Blitz picked it up, before placing it within his saddlebag, making sure to seal it up, due to Blitz not knowing who the ponies were around the area, as well as how likely they were to steal things off other ponies.

Blitz travelled around a little and only found a couple of buildings, wondering where Shifty and Zavier had been taken. There was some activity in the back of a couple of buildings, making Blitz investigate a little further, seeing that it was just two ponies in an alleyway. Blitz didn't make too much of it, before he noticed something. He stood there for a couple of seconds, before picking up on what they were saying.

“Did you hear about all of those ponies that came in today? I heard that they already caught two of them and are ready to place them with the others below the inn. They will make some fine slaves, I can tell you that!” one of them said, instantly making sense, due to the ponies that came over to Blitz when he was speaking to Sapphire. Was she some sort of distraction, or was there more to the story that Blitz was not picking up on? They were slavers, end of! Blitz waited for them to finish talking, gaining more info thanks to them, before he turned the corner, seeing them both stood there, before they recognised him.

“Oh shit!” the other stated, before he got bucked into a wall, nearly killing him in the process, before the other one fumbled about with a flare gun. Blitz took him out before he was able to set off the flare, making him keep his cover for just that little bit longer. Blitz changed into the slaver that he had just bucked against the wall, before mimicking his voice perfectly. Given that the area that the slaves were in was within a building, Blitz decided that camouflage was needed for his rescue mission, making him look down at the slaver that was not much better than the raiders of the Wasteland. Blitz bucked the stallion into the wall, joining his unconscious friend, before Blitz left for the inn, being pissed that he only wanted to find his original friends and having all of this happening to them.

Blitz walked within the road of the settlement, seeing that ponies were looking at him like he was the boss, but he hadn't knocked out the boss, right? A couple of ponies flinched at Blitz went by, making him ponder what his camouflage did to other ponies. Could it have been that bad? Yeah, it could have been! Blitz began to pick up the pace, before seeing that the inn was closed, making him chuckle a little. Even though he didn't have his horn visible to the other ponies, he managed to teleport inside, without alerting anypony of his presence. There was an alarm on the door, making him question how safe they wanted the slaves to be.

Blitz looked around the inn for a little way to get below the building, before spotting an old hatch behind some buckets, making him chuckle to himself that they tried to hide the entrance to the underground with just a couple of buckets. They didn't even remotely hide it, making Blitz question what the hatch was for really. Blitz slowly opened the hatch, before seeing some sort of string attached to it, allowing his eyes to follow it and bring him to a gun that was pointed directly at him, making him question what was going on with the settlement. Blitz cut the string with his magic, before taking the pistol for himself and laying another trap. Taking the pistol and the remaining string that he had remaining to the item, he put the pistol above the door, pointing down, along with the wire being hoof level, allowing them to fall over it and get shot. Blitz made sure that it was all lined up and ready, before going back to the hatch and going down it, seeing what mysteries awaited him down below the already bad settlement.

Blitz used his horn to light up the area, creating a green flame on the end of it, making the entire area brighter than above the ground. There were a couple of cells below, making him put away his horn magic, before picking up a torch that was on the wall, using his hoof. Blitz looked into the cells, before seeing that there were some slaves within the cells, hoping that his friends were within the cells too. Blitz noticed that there were ponies in one of the cells cowering when he looked at them. Blitz whispered for them to come over, before he changed his form for a brief second, allowing them to get all of the information that they needed from the one transformation that Blitz had done, before Blitz went back to being the pony that he had bucked into the wall and going to the next cell over.

Blitz kept finding more and more ponies, all of which were not his friends, but looked like townsponies, due to them having similar clothing to the slaves that were up above the ground. Blitz heard somepony coming down the hatch, making him go to hide, grabbing a sharp object with his magical aura and hiding within the pure darkness that was within the area, basically being in the corner. Blitz noticed that somepony had come down with him, following him with a gun within his magic. Blitz needed to make him not be able to use his magic and grabbed his own brilliant idea from within his mind, due to looking within one of the cells and seeing that there was a magic cancelling ring on the horn of one of the unicorns.

Blitz slowly used his magic to lift off the ring, before hovering it just above the one with the gun. Blitz crept a little closer to the unsuspecting victim, before slamming the ring down on his horn hard, cancelling his magic and making him grunt, before Blitz came over with a shard of glass within his magic, grabbing the pony, before slicing the glass across his neck and changing into him, before placing the body within the darkness and picking up the slaver’s weapon, adding to his arsenal just that little bit more. A shimmer of something on the body got Blitz’s attention, making him go over to the body and grab it. It was the keys to the cells, making it so that Blitz didn't have to try to pick the locks of each of the cell doors. All of the other prisoners looked at Blitz with both disgust and surprise, mixing in to make a face that was just that little bit more confused. Blitz opened each cell, before freeing each pony of anything that was restricting their movement, before getting to the last cell and seeing both his son and Zavier in it. Shifty was lying still on the floor, which was not good for Blitz.

Blitz looked down at the lock in pure rage, before his magic squashed it and turned it to dust, showing the true strength of Blitz, due to Death not assisting in any way, shape or form, making him question how much help he had been to Blitz during his time with him. Death summoned himself to the side of the cell, so did Anti, before watching as Blitz walked towards Shifty, seeing that he was not moving. Zavier was holding the smaller bug on the floor, almost like he was cradling him. Blitz walked over and stroked Shifty’s mane, before seeing that there was no response from him, almost like they had knocked him out. Blitz’s heart slowed down beating, making him feel the world speed up, before shaking his head, doing nothing to change the speed of the world around him. He walked just that little bit closer and saw some green blood on his mouth and nose, as well as a big bruise to the side of his head. Time for Blitz kept speeding up, before Zavier put his hoof on Blitz’s chest.

“He is just like his father, he doesn't back down...” Zavier stated, before keeping contact with Blitz, making Blitz able to see something, almost being like a memory. He was in the perspective of Zavier and watched as they tried to get Shifty, but he was too quick for them, giving them the idea to hurt Zavier to get to the smaller bug and catch him off guard, allowing them to strike him down. It worked, making Shifty teleport behind the stallion and getting bucked in the chest, before one of them walked over to him. Zavier was struggling at this point, getting taken by two other unicorns, dragging him away from one of his friends, before seeing Shifty strike one of them with a devastating blow, knocking him out with a single punch to the side of the head. Shifty turned and tried to run back over to Zavier, before getting bucked in the side of the head, sending him down with blood coming out of him. Zavier shouted, before the vision ended.

Zavier was left looking at both of the bugs, seeing that Blitz was losing himself. He changed back into his normal form, before slumping a little, a tear rolling down his cheek, before his horn started to flicker with magic. He began to smile, like some sort of maniac, before chuckling to himself. Zavier tried to get a good look at Blitz’s eyes, before freaking out within his own body, seeing that his eyes were dark, dark red, almost like they were just made of pony blood.

“Carry him…” Blitz ordered under his breath, before looking down at his bug again and then looking over to Death and Anti. “We are going to kill every slaver that is here, alright? Just us!” Blitz stated, before pointing at the hatch above. He looked around at all of the other slaves that he had freed and smiled. “All of you get to safety, including you and Shifty!” Blitz stated, turning and pointing at Zavier. He nodded, before placing the bug on his back, seeing that he was still unresponsive. Blitz walked over to Shifty, before placing a little kiss on his colt’s head, before charging over to the hatch and bursting it open, Death and Anti following him out.

The door slammed open, before two ponies entered, pointing their weapons at Blitz and the other two. They walked in a little, seeing that Blitz and Death were surrendering, before rushing over to them, tripping on the wire and getting shot in the back of the head. Blitz used this time to grab the pistol from the top and shoot the over slaver who had come to take back their slaves, which was something that was not happening, due to Blitz being the one to prevent it from happening. There were going to be no slavers left when Blitz was finished with them making him more and more determined to stop their reign of terror above all of the slaves that they had captured within the settlement itself.

They ran past the two bodies, before seeing some more slavers outside, readying their weapons, due to the gunshots that happened inside the building. Blitz walked out on his own, before telling the others to stay inside. He stood in the middle of nothing, before placing a shield around himself, blocking himself from taking any hits or gunshot wounds from the ponies and stallions with the firearms, aiming them all towards him. They were taking no chances with Blitz, opening fire within a couple of seconds, before Blitz smiled more, seeing all of the bullets hitting his shield. Blitz dropped his shield, before teleporting closer to one of the ponies that was shooting at him, before biting down on her neck and teleporting away, bringing the chunk he had with him, leaving her with a chunk of her neck missing, which was scary when they thought about it more, that somepony who could bite down onto somepony’s neck and teleport away with the chunk that they had in their mouth, potentially taking their entire head if they were lucky.

Blitz teleported the rifle that he had to his side, before slowing down time and going on some sort of rampage. Blitz didn't use magic to slow down time, he just felt his heart rate lower, then immediately skyrocket, giving him an unwanted adrenaline rush that made him thankful after a short while. He shot a couple more ponies and stallions up high, before throwing the weapon to the ground and walking over to the other ponies and stallions that were on the same level as him, allowing him to use some hoof to hoof combat for a change. They all kept shooting, seeing that their bullets were just bouncing off his chitin and skin, due to him wrapping the shield spell to his form, using more magic than it should have, but keeping him mobile, which was exactly what he wanted.

Blitz walked up to another stallion that was on the same level as him, before turning around and bucking him in the chest, sending the randoms slaver across the area and hitting the wall on the opposite side of the cobbled path. Blitz looked over at the body, before seeing it move a little bit, making Blitz pick up his weapon with his magic, finishing his job on that stallion, before shooting at the stallion’s head, making it pop like some sort of watermelon, giving Blitz a little bit of satisfaction over the kill.

Another slaver challenged Blitz, getting the butt of his rifle to their face, before he grabbed them by their neck with his teeth, before shaking them around, almost like Blitz was a dog with a new found toy, only the toy was less durable than a dog toy. The body literally fell apart, due to them being shaken so hard that Blitz tore the neck off the body, leaving the slaver gasping for air, which Blitz was just going to let suffocate, due to them needing to learn that they were not the higher ups in the situation of ponies. Was it a power thing that slavers wanted? Blitz was questioning the idea in his head for a second, before a pony came to attack him.

Death and Anti intervened, allowing Blitz to take a breather, before becoming bored within a matter of seconds and wanting to get justice on the pony or stallion who had hurt Shifty. He looked over at the building that had the hatch within it, before walking over to it and opening the door. Zavier was looking after the little bug Shifty, who was now awake, but in much pain. Zavier looked at Blitz, before standing up and meeting him at eye level.

“What stallion hurt Shifty?” Blitz asked, anger within his eyes as he asked the question. Zavier peeked his head out of the door and looked around, before spotting the stallion that Blitz wanted to make suffer. Zavier pointed up at him and hid inside the building again, due to the stallion having a sniper trained on their position. Blitz, still having his shield on his body, took a peek out and looked up, before seeing the sniper and seeing that he was about to pull the trigger, which enraged him a lot more than it should have, making his magic grow more and more. Blitz flew up to the sniper, who took the shot, pinging off Blitz’s magic shield that he had wrapped around him. Blitz landed and walked up to the sniper before hitting the sniper out of the stallion’s hooves, making the stallion completely defenceless, which was what Blitz wanted to see.

Blitz had no need to use his shield anymore, so he dropped it, before seeing the slaver lash out, trying to hit Blitz with a forehoof. As like always, Blitz dodged the attack and thought that he might have wanted to show the stallion what it was like to go through the most pain that he had ever gone through. Blitz pushed up on the stallion’s forehoof, before punching it really hard, enough to break it, making a bolt of pain shoot into the slaver’s head. He recoiled from the broken leg, before Blitz got to work on the others, using a buck to make it more efficient than ever. His over forehoof broke with a loud crack, right after Blitz had broken the first one, due to a devastating blow to the bottom of the limb.

Blitz could see both back legs, making him change his mind, before summoning his shotgun and making sure that it was loaded, which it was, before the slaver had both of his back legs blown off, making him unable to stand, dropping to the wooden planks that were being held up by an iron exterior, giving Blitz an idea for something to finish him off. Blitz dragged the body over to the edge of the scaffolding, seeing that there was no protection or railing on the area that he was taking the slaver. Blitz sat the slaver on the side, before giving him one final time, before kicking him off the high point of the scaffolding, watching as he fell. Everypony came out and watched the body fall, being pretty far up to begin with, before seeing his body hit the floor and giving it a little bounce.

Blitz hovered down, seeing that Death and Anti had finished off all of the ponies on the ground floor, Blitz needed to get revenge on the stallion who hurt his son badly, which he had just gotten. He walked over to the body and closed his eyes, before stepping over the body and opening them on the opposite side, taking the slavers out of the picture and focusing on himself and his family and friends.

“Wait, what happened to Sapphire?” Blitz asked, before seeing that she wasn't within the group of ponies and stallions that had been slaves. Blitz turned and rushed over to the bar area, where he had those slavers confront him. Blitz bucked open the door to see that she was in a worse state than before, being rutted by… Oh hell no! Blitz summoned his shotgun again, before rushing over to the two stallions that were next to her, before blasting one of them with buckshot, tearing him apart in the process, before the other one turned to him and shot Blitz right in the chest, not having his shield activated in the process. Blitz fell to the ground, before seeing the slaver looking at Sapphire’s face, bringing a knife close to her neck.

“I think your time is up!” the slaver stated, before having something stopping him from ending her life. Blitz used what little energy he had to turn to his side and see that Shifty was standing there, tears streaming down his face, his eyes being pure black, almost like they were not there. It was disturbing to see Shifty like that, but it was something that made Blitz one hundred percent confident that Shifty was his colt. Shifty let out a scream that was in a similar pitch to a bat pony ghoul’s scream, but coming out of him. Blitz couldn't do anything to cover his ears, making them ring badly. The slaver didn’t have time either, making him drop everything that he was holding, before a single bat pony ghoul entered the room through one of the empty windows, before spotting the target that they were after. Was Shifty able to… Shifty commanded the bat pony ghoul, which was feral, to attack the slaver, which it did without fail. It pounced on him, before ripping him to shreds and making everypony else able to get to both Blitz and Sapphire. Blitz fell out of consciousness and into a land that wasn't real, almost like it was trying to be some sort of transition.

“So, no regeneration then? You're having second thoughts, huh?” Blitz questioned, knowing what Death was thinking. He just looked at Death with a blank face, before pinning him against the wall. “I know what you are up to, Death! I saw you looking at Shifty and seeing that he is going to be your next target, but I swear, you touch my colt and you are going to be fucking vapourized!” Blitz stated aggressively, becoming super protective of his little bug that nopony else was going to come after. Nothing was going to divide Blitz from his son the second time, not even the being that called themself Death.

Death didn't dare say anything, being in the state that knew that anything that he did say would only provoke Blitz, making him more likely to be angry at him. Death was beginning to realise that Blitz was not what he seemed, getting somewhat special powers from the radiation of the bombs, almost like the alicorns did from the core of Equestria. Death thought that Blitz was somewhat of a master to all types of changelings, but he wasn't too sure.

“Hey, who knows? I could be if you pushed me a little more!” Blitz stated, not speaking using his mouth, but using his mind, which made Death go wide eyed. “Hehe, am I just a voice in your head now? Oh how the tables have turned!” Blitz stated, this time using his mouth to say it. Death stayed silent, before Blitz sighed. “Urgh! Look, I need your help and you need mine, so if we can work together to make Equestria go back to how it was before, that would be grand. I know you ain’t used to growing with others, but believe it or not, I have grown fond of you, regardless if I trust you or not. I know what you are, so if you want to come clean and tell me to confirm that I know, by all means, do it, but we need to work together to get all of this right. Maybe after all of this, me and you and have a little fight or something after, but we need this, alright?” Blitz stated, trying to be the voice of reason. Death thought about it for a couple of seconds, knowing that Blitz was listening in on his conversation, before he actually smiled, seeing a side of ‘Death’ that he hasn't before. Why the marks in between his name? We all know there ain't no pony called that, just like the other one called ‘Nightmare’.

“What did you do there?” Death asked, before looking slightly confused.

“It’s nothing, but to change the topic, have you got anyway to wake me up or heal me, cause I have a plan that I need you and Anti for.” Blitz stated, a clear smug expression on his face, making Death smile back at him. Death used his magic and tried to close Blitz’s wound, somewhat working. Instead of that, Blitz woke up, before feeling all of the pain as the bullet was dragged out of his system, due to not only Death helping, but one of the slaves getting it out too, as well as Shifty using his magic on the bullet. Blitz screamed as the bullet got pulled out, along with a bit of blood and flesh, before Death used his magic to close up the wound. Blitz was in more pain than he had been in for a while, due to there being nothing that they did to reduce the amount of pain that he was receiving, making the experience one that he would not want to come back to.

They all backed off, allowing Blitz to get up without any of them being there to cluster him and make him feel like they were giving him no space. He got up really slowly, before falling to the ground and then trying again. Shifty walked over and helped Blitz up, before seeing that there was something wrong with him. He was coughing out blood, which was never good. Death knew what he could do to help, so he walked over to Blitz’s body and picked him up, before walking over to a little hole.

“You might all want to stand back! There is going to be a little bit of radiation around you and a whole lot more here.” Death stated, seeing all of them back off a little bit, apart from Shifty, who moved over next to Death. Death was a little confused, but knew that Blitz was healed by radiation, making him think that Shifty might have had the same gene carried over to him, due to him being Blitz’s son. Death lit up his horn, before frying Blitz with radiation, making him yawn a little bit, before getting up, almost like he was being controlled by something or somepony. Blitz looked up at them, before cracking his forehooves and his hindlegs, allowing him to heal while stretching. Death knew that it was working, due to him not coughing out blood from where the bullet had gone in. The wound had completely healed, leaving no scar or mark whatsoever, meaning that he was probably good to go.

Death cut the magic and saw that Blitz was sparking with electricity, but also radiation, almost like it had trapped itself on Blitz and made him start to glow, almost like one of those glowing feral ghouls that wandered around radiated areas. Blitz walked out of the hole, before seeing a slaver trying to crawl away, He lit up his horn, before dragging the slaver back and turning him over, before seeing the slaver recoil and try to hide his face.

“Who is your leader and where the fuck are they?” Blitz asked, roaring down at them like he was telling off a colt about doing something wrong. The slaver tried to think of something, but then just gave up, before Blitz picked him up and pinned him against one of the brick walls of the buildings that littered the area. The slaver opened his eyes and sighed.

“Two ponies, Grayscale and Noname. Sawtooth gave them the order to recruit their own type of ponies and Noname was in charge of the slavers, while Grayscale was in charge of the scavengers. Sawtooth was and still is in charge of the raiders…” the slaver, scavenger and raider stated, before getting his head blown off by Blitz, using the shotgun that he had within his arsenal, before dropping the body and putting his weapon away. Blitz wasn’t speaking, pondering on what the slaver had just said. He was going to have to make sure that Azure got the news, but he wasn't going over to the settlement, not yet, not till he was sure that his mission was done. Death sensed that something was off and that Blitz was thinking about something that he needed to sacrifice in order to make sure that everything was going to work out for them.

“Death, can I talk to you?” Blitz asked, seeing that Death teleported himself and Anti to his side. Death looked almost confused, as Blitz looked at him, pondering how to say it. “You know that you want to return Equestria to how it was before the war, or as close as it could ever get? Well… I need you to stay with Shifty and become your own being for a little while, maybe attaching to Shifty for a little while, instead of me, just to make sure that he is okay.” Blitz stated, being somewhat worried for both Shifty and Zavier. Death understood what Blitz meant and nodded his head, before surprising Blitz a little.

“Is this because you want to go down below?” Death asked, getting confusion from Blitz on how he knew that, but also not being one hundred percent correct. Blitz looked up to the sky, seeing that the sky was as plain as ever, making him believe that something was sure to happen eventually. Blitz looked down to Death, before tilting his head a little.

“That and I need them to get over to Azure, to help him ready his army, because I think that we are going to have to fight three armies at once, so the more help that he can have, the easier it will be to recruit the help to create those multiple armies.” Blitz explained, noticing that Death was nodding. Death knew that there was something that Blitz was hiding for sure, but for the time being, he needed to trust him, to keep the plan of saving Equestria the prime topic. Death wanted to point out something, but he was pretty sure that he knew the answer to it. “If you are thinking about it, yes, I wouldn’t be able to speak to you with all of the radiation around me, due to it making your mind clear while in it.” Blitz instructed, making Death nod, confirming his query.

Blitz walked over to Shifty and Zavier and smiled, before hugging Shifty tightly. Shifty looked a little confused, but he knew that something was up, due to Blitz not hugging him for no reason. He pondered what Blitz was going to be doing to make him want to hug Shifty and then it hit him like a carriage. He was probably going to want them to stay where they were while he went off to do something, which was not far off to what Blitz told him shortly after, making Shifty’s eyes water a little. Blitz hugged his little bug, before seeing Death walk over to Shifty’s side, giving him a little bit of a hug, before they turned and stopped.

“Where are we meant to go?” Shifty asked, a tear in his eye as he was about to get forced away from his father. Blitz held up a map for them and drew a circle around the area where the base was located, which was South of them and a little bit to the East. Blitz gave them the map and gave Shifty one more hug, before whispering in his ear.

“Make sure to give a pegasus called Azure a little hug for me, alright? He will look after you for the time being. Trust me when I say this son, you ain’t losing me, not now, not ever!” Blitz stated, getting a smile from the little Shifty, giving him the motivation to put some bounce into his stride, making the journey that they were going to have much more enjoyable. Blitz turned and thought for a second, feeling a little bit off, due to him being alone again, something that he hated doing, but something that was necessary for him to be able to not only ensure the safety of all of his friends, but also their wellbeing. Blitz had a lot of junk on him that he needed to sell, thinking that it was probably time for him to head back to the main part of the settlement to see if anypony was willing to trade with him.

Blitz walked around for a while, before seeing somepony setting up shop, looking almost as armoured as the slavers had been. He walked up to them, before noticing that they were not open to trading right then and there. Although they weren't ready to trade, Blitz was pretty sure that they would have been happier to get back on their hooves quicker, so Blitz decided to talk to them about a possible deal that they could have come up with. Blitz really didn't need too much, but he would have liked to be a silent killer, to avoid most of the conflict that came after. Blitz saw some dried rags on the table, making him question the origin of them, curious about the simple clothing.

Blitz came to an agreement that the settler could have most of Blitz’s items that he had acquired, apart from the ones that he would want to keep, which was the relic or artifact and a couple other items, including some medical supplies and some food, just incase he was to get hungry all of a sudden. Blitz spotted a really clean rifle that the settler was selling, seeing that the item had a silencer on it, allowing it to be used with little to no sound being able to come from the weapon.

Blitz brought it with a good amount of ammo, coming with thirty shots to fire off into unsuspecting victims, making Blitz happy with his purchase, before thanking the settler for his cooperation with Blitz, before waving goodbye to not only the settler, but the settlement in general, having little to no intention of coming back after what he had done. Didn’t he say something about trying not to kill? That was long gone out the window at that point and that never made Blitz look back, so he journeyed forwards, heading back to the settlement of Sharpened Death, being a place that reminded him of home, only because it was home to him, one that somepony of group had taken away from him, making him more mad than ever before. Blitz took to the skys, racing to get back to the settlement and find what he was looking for, being in the sewer system that Azure and Roselight had met him in previously, when they flooded it, to wash out all the debris and all of the feral ghouls.

Blitz flew for a little while, before noticing that something was off, slowing down for a little bit, before looking around and then up at the clouds that were above him. The sky was getting very dark all of a sudden, which instantly made Blitz not want to fly in the air anymore, suspecting that it was something on the lines of a thunderstorm approaching or something like that, making Blitz sweep to the floor and land gracefully, before his suspicions became a reality, hearing the distant crack of thunder as it struck the land, making Blitz place a protective shield over his head, protecting him from all of the water that would have eventually came his way. The only reason why he did this was because of him not wanting to get all of the rags wet, due to him just buying them a little while ago, but still being recent enough for him to still care about their quality. The additional point was that Blitz would have gotten cold, due to the wetness of the clothes against his chitin and flesh, potentially killing him.

Blitz saw the light of the sky, as it flashed white, warning him of future events that could eventually happen, which was something that Blitz ignored. The natural warning light flashed a lot, hurting Blitz’s eyes a little, before making him look closer to the ground, before picking up his speed, running somewhat at a quick pace, before spotting some ghouls in the distance. Blitz was running at a pace that made him catch up to them quickly, before jumping over them and seeing that they were all feral, making his life so much less boring than it had been a couple of seconds ago. Blitz dropped his shield, before teleporting to some cover, which hid him from the rapid feral ghouls, sniffing and gazing at all of the possible locations that he could have gone. Blitz was underneath some rubble, looking out at them with a little gap in the mound, big enough for his eye to peep on them for a little bit. The ghouls were a little confused, but then went back to walking their path that they were originally, travelling in the same direction that Blitz wanted to go in, making him have only one way to pass them without being able to get spotted, which was to fly.

Blitz was back in the sky, which was a little dangerous on his behalf, due to him being the most likely thing to get hit by thunder, due to his chitin being on him, being more of a metallic kind of armour, giving him a bad idea on what could have happened. Blitz was in dangerous territory, due to the sky being completely black, apart from a couple splotches of white sprinkled within there. Blitz looked back, as the ghouls became something of a bad memory, as Blitz powered on, motivation and determination carrying him on his way at lightning speed. Blitz felt fast, but used his magic to boost him forward a lot quicker, making it so that he was nearly there, when it had taken Blitz and his group a little over a couple of hours to get to the slaver settlement, from New Journey, which was not a place that Blitz wanted to go back to, due to the hostility they had for most ponies that came in and out of that place. Blitz thought that it was a good idea to head back there, due to it being a place that he could have picked up a couple bags of caps for doing some jobs or whatnot there.

Blitz got closer and closer to the settlement, making him drop to the floor and pursue the settlement on his hooves, skidding to a stop as soon as he landed, still having some momentum left. Blitz’s clothes were already wet, which made him annoyed, but surprisingly not cold, which seemed to be a little odd, due to changelings being weak to the cold. Blitz slowed down, before seeing somepony carrying something around, almost like a… Blitz pulled out his suppressed rifle that he had brought and shot the figure in the head, dropping him and what he was carrying with it. It was one of the settler’s, but only his fur and skin. He had been skinned and used as warmth for the pony that he had just brought down, which was a raider with a lot of weapons on his back, which instantly changed what Blitz wanted to do.

Blitz grabbed all of the weapons from the raider and placed them in his saddlebag and noticed that there was something that was definitely out of the ordinary, due to it having the name ‘mini balefire bomb’ written on the it, suggesting that it might have been able to output some serious damage to the settlement, if Blitz was able to get out of the blast radius. Blitz looked up at the wall of the settlement, before seeing that the mare who had originally served Blitz a drink, when he came and met Shifty. Blitz had something to do before going underground and that was going to be some serious fun and payback. Blitz turned himself invisible for a couple of minutes, allowing him to get inside and place the bomb on the ground inside the tavern, which was overrun with raiders all having fun and singing songs.

Blitz had to end the party that they all were having, with a party of his own. He placed the miniature balefire bomb next to a table, with some dynamite next to it, before lighting it and running out of the settlement. Blitz walked out from the tavern and saw his house still how it was, being in ruins like before. Blitz walked over to it, before picking up an image of himself and his mother, before stamping it into the ground. A tear rolled down his face, before he smiled.

“This is what all raiders get for hunting you down and doing this to you…” Blitz stated, before flying up and out of the settlement, before turning visible again. Blitz turned to see a bot on a broadcast of something, showing himself on the screen, which made him look down at it, being a little puzzled. Blitz looked back at the settlement, before smiling.

“You don’t want to go in there, little buddy.” Blitz stated, before getting hit by some lightning, making him recoil a little, before looking back at the little flying bot, an aura of electricity flowing around him, sparking left, right and center, making the bot move back a little bit. “This is revenge! For anypony who wants to rebel against slavers, raiders, or scavengers, head to Inspiration Peak, West of Tenpony Towers! Meet up with a pony named Azure and start building up, together!” Blitz promoted, before the balefire bomb went off in the settlement, vaporizing everything that was within the settlement and sending so much radiation out, that the bot started to melt on the outside. Blitz turned and grabbed the bot, before teleporting them both to a safer place, before he turned around and looked at the explosion, pointing out where they both just were, which was pretty close to it all.

“May we have your name, for all of the kind and gentle ponies in the Wasteland?” DJ Pony asked, before turning the bot to Blitz, making him look down at the bot.

“It’s Blitz, just Blitz. A war is coming, a big one!” Blitz stated, before the sparks turned green on Blitz’s body, before he teleported away and back into the radiation, wanting to see the destruction that he had caused. Everything was gone, from the buildings, to the surrounding wall. There was somewhat of a hole in the center of the blast, making Blitz sigh for a short while, before looking around, feeling more powerful than ever, due to the radiation that he was absorbing. Blitz saw little bits of fire within the air, making him feel a little bit worse about all of it, but then something in the back of his mind reminded him that he was eventually going to be going to war with the leaders of all three of the similar looking groups.

Blitz looked around, before seeing a safe, which was the only thing that survived. Blitz rushed over to it, wanting to move on from the site quickly, due to him wanting to get to Sharpened Death and go into the sewer system and uncover what mysteries were held beneath his previous home. Blitz walked over to the safe, before seeing that it was unlocked, due to the door of it being melted slightly, leaving the safe in a somewhat open state. Blitz looked within the safe, seeing some documents that he could have added to his collection, but they instantly fried and burned as soon as Blitz took them out, making him put them all in the safety of his saddlebag, which stopped the radiation and the heat burning them. Blitz looked within before seeing some sort of hybrid weapon, which was really, really weird.

Blitz picked up the weird weapon, before examining it carefully, trying to work out what it was. It was some sort of modified pistol, the most common on that Blitz had seen in his travels, but something was different about it, making him look at it more closely. It had a different barrel than the rest of them, as well as a green glow coming from within the weapon, but that could have just been the radiation coming into the weapon from the radiation that was about, leading Blitz to think that it was just any normal pistol. He took it, before seeing that it still took the same ammo as well, making him a little more curious about the weapon and its origin. Blitz looked around for anything else, but saw nothing. Something landed on his head, which he scraped off, seeing that it was the photo of him and his mother. Blitz immediately tried to reach out for it, before seeing it vanish in front of his eyes. He stood there for a couple of seconds, before closing his eyes and lightening his grip on the world, pressing his hoof deeper into the ground.

Blitz opened his eyes to see nothing around him, apart from the cloud of radioactive material surrounding him. He looked down at himself, seeing that he was beginning to glow, due to the radiation that was trying to melt him down like it had the safe door. Blitz was so glad that he was immune to radiation, due to him being in it all the time, making it so that he would naturally heal faster, which was something that he took advantage of, due to him getting hit and hurt most of the time, due to all of the fighting that he would end up getting into. It wasn’t his fault for it, due to them always coming into his line of sight. Blitz shook his head, before turning around and walking away from the settlement’s direction, heading for the location that he originally wanted to go to, due to it being the place that had the sewer system. The sewer system in Journey would have connected to Sharpened Death, but it would take so much longer that Blitz was pretty sure that it was better to just travel to the one in the other settlement, due to the complexity of the sewer systems and where they went.

Blitz took a little bit of time to get over to the settlement of Sharpened Death, before he saw a couple of raiders searching the ruins of the settlement, making Blitz a little bit mad. He brought out his suppressed rifle and then looked around, looking down the scope to see what action was happening down in the settlement. There were definitely more raiders than he would have liked, making him question what they were trying to search for. Blitz halted, before seeing one of them rush up to another, before seeing them all pack up their things, before heading down into the sewer or in the general direction of it, making Blitz know that something was up. Surely they weren’t looking for the same thing he was, cause that would kill them without them noticing.

Blitz spent some time above, trying to see if there were at least a couple of other ponies or stallions above the ground, allowing him to get some easy one offs, but sadly, there wasn't anyone left, due to them all going underground. Blitz was a little annoyed that there was nopony above on the surface of the land, making him refer to them all as being moles. Blitz let some time pass, seeing if there was anything that might have survived the original onslaught, but sadly, everything had been destroyed, not being too much different from last time, which made Blitz a little baffled, due to him thinking that some more stuff could have probably gone on. Blitz rolled his eyes, before wanting to head down into the sewer to see what all of the drama was about.

Blitz touched the bottom of the sewer, before looking around, seeing nothing but darkness and the only thing that was lighting up the area was him. Blitz was a little annoyed at the glowing that was going on with his body, but it was going to allow him to heal a lot, so that was the only benefit that Blitz was getting from it. Blitz changed into himself, but without the annoying glow, which actually worked, allowing him to change and be hidden, but also keep his healing effect from the radiation that he had been encased within. He lit up his horn, feeling no magic drain coming from it at all, due to the radiation making him stronger and healthier than ever.

Blitz walked down the side of the sewer, not really wanting to go into the water, due to not knowing what was within it. It was sewage water, so it wasn’t the nicest thing to be drinking or accidentally swallowing while within it. Blitz saw some figures up ahead, which was a ghoul with a couple of his friends around him. Blitz didn’t feel like fighting them, even though they were feral ones, but knew that they wouldn’t bother him, due to him pretty much smelling like a ghoul, due to the radiation on him, keeping him protected from their attacking nature. Blitz was hoping that he was right about going to the area that he was on about, due to it being the only other system that was directly linked to the factory that the rest of the group had found their secret within.

Blitz noticed that the ghouls had disappeared, making him question what they were doing, before he came to the side of the area that he wanted, which was the sewer outpost that Azure originally flooded the area with before, when they wanted to get rid of all of the previous ghouls within the area. Blitz heard some speaking, before seeing that there were some figures coming down the area, scouting out the area ahead for the convoy.Blitz hid within the darkness, his form being the perfect blend of colours for what was happening. A gryphon and a pegasus flew side by side, before slowing down and stopping a little bit past him, before turning around and looking at his Pipbuck. The gryphon looked directly at Blitz, before looking down at his Pipbuck. The gryphon moved closer, before seeing the radiation on his Pipbuck shoot up, making him back off a lot.

“Go tell the others!” the gryphon stated, before Blitz watched the pegasus go back to the rest of the convoy, who were in vision, but barely. They all began to run, before slowing down as soon as they got to the gryphon. Another one of them had a Pipbuck, but they were shrouded within the darkness enough for them to not be noticed by Blitz. A loud screech echoed down the tunnel, making Blitz bring his rifle to bear without them being able to notice. They all turned to look at where it was coming from, apart from one of them, looking at him, before seeing that there was something that was glitching one of their Pipbucks. The pegasus in front of Blitz kept muttering something to himself, which Blitz caught onto quickly, due to it being a voice that was somewhat recognisable.

“Why the hell do you keep becoming hostile and friendly? I have never seen this before!” the familiar sounding pegasus said, before turning to see that there were two ghouls flying at them, one of them being a bat pony ghoul and the other one being a pegasus ghoul. Blitz knew that they were not too quick at getting rid of the convoy, making Blitz kill the ghouls so that the convoy could go on past. Blitz aimed down his sniper rifle, before shooting the bat pony in the head, making it drop to the water below it. They turned and looked back, before seeing nothing behind them that could have made that shot, apart from the red marker on their Pipbuck, making Blitz open his eyes wide, not allowing them to glow and give his position away. One of them turned and fired on his location, making him have to bring up a shield, before turning into his original glowing form. He was bright, very bright, with his eyes glowing as bright red as his aura. Gretzky stopped firing!

They looked at him, before Blitz teleported to the opposite side of them, placing a shield that covered the entire width and height of the sewer system, before they all realised what horrors awaited them all, behind the pegasus that was the opposite side of the shield. There were a lot of little eyes, all of them having fangs with them that glistened off Blitz’s radiation and his shield.

“Stand back!” Blitz stated, before dropping his shield and letting them get closer. “I’ve had it with ponies and creatures messing with my friends and family…” He added.

Chapter 28: Diverted Destiny

Azure was a little shocked that they had found Blitz, after all the time of walking down in the sewer. They were coming back over to Sharpened Death, due to Gretzky hiding a secret supply stash below his house, somewhere that the raiders wouldn't have gotten to, allowing him to have more supplies for not only himself, but the entire settlement, which was a big game changer to have some more supplies. Azure saw that Blitz dropped his shield, allowing the ghouls to come closer to them, Azure knowing well and good that Blitz had some sort of plan, due to him always being one step ahead of the competition. Azure was not wrong, making him smile from ear to ear, being proud that he knew the changeling that he called a friend very well.

Blitz charged up his horn, before seeing all of the ghouls charging at him. He wasn't going to have his friends get hurt by some ghouls, not while he was around to protect them. Azure closed his eyes for a second or two, before seeing that Blitz was about to explode. Blitz unleashed his magic that he was holding, shooting off a bright light blue looking beam, covering the entire system from top to bottom and vaporizing them all, the ghouls instantly turning to dust, like they had just been cremated, which didn't only shock the rest of the group, but as well as the ghouls, as they were trying to get away from the bright blue beam, but to no avail, as Blitz made sure that they were not able to get back up.

Blitz stopped casting his spells, before sitting down and looking at all of the dust that was littered all over the floor of the sewer. Blitz closed his eyes, before hearing a clicking noise come from a Pipbuck. Blitz opened his eyes slowly, before going to turn around and check who the pony was who was so close to him. Blitz received a hug from the pony, before seeing that it was Azure, the pony that he had come close to within his time in the Wasteland. Blitz could only hear clicking from the Pipbuck and saw that Azure wasn't going to back off, making Blitz shoot him away with an orb of black magic, which confused himself and the rest of the group. Azure had nearly died of radiation poisoning, due to hugging the bug that had been rolling around in the remains of a balefire bomb, which was not healthy for the others that might have been around, especially Azure.

Gretzky shoved Azure over to the wall, before giving him some radaway, forcing him to drink it, which he did, not being happy about it at all. All Azure wanted to do was to hug his friend, was that too much to ask? Yes, yes it was, due to Blitz having just too much radiation on him. Blitz walked a little bit back, allowing himself to get some distance away from the group, allowing them to not get any radiation on them. Blitz went to speak, before stopping and remembering the things that he had left behind.

“My son Shifty is on his way to the settlement, along with somepony called Zavier, who apparently you have already met. I convinced Death to part ways with me for now, due to his mind probably going insane if he was to come with me down in the radiation. He is one to watch, so keep an eye on him and make sure that he doesn't corrupt Shifty for me.” Blitz demanded, going to the side to see the building that he was after. They followed him, before he shut the door and locked it from the inside, allowing nopony else entry from the outside world. Staring through the window, they saw him vapourise everything within the room, before seeing a ladder going down to the area that he was to explore. The ladder was hidden behind the wall that Azure thought was a little funny when him and Roselight came down into the sewer. Blitz looked at them all, before Azure noticed that something had been added to his inventory, a named item. They watched as Blitz disappeared down the hole and then Azure went instantly to his Pipbuck to see what the new item was. He saw that he had a sword within his inventory, which was the same sword that he had originally when fighting the hydra. The sword had a different name, which Azure read aloud.

“Meet you at Inspiration Peak!” Azure read out, before smiling, knowing that all was going to be okay with Blitz. Radiation was beginning to leak out of the sealed door, which was bad, so they decided to run away from the area, heading to the hole that Blitz came down, due to it being open. Azure looked back at the building before smiling. “Meet you there, buddy!” He muttered under his breath.

They all climbed out of the little hole, before closing it and making sure the top of it was blocking all of the radiation that was coming through, which gladly, it was, due to the quick thinking of the group. They were in Sharpened Death and noticed that there were no buildings that they could make out, making most of them sad to see what their settlement had succumbed to, which was just some brute force and destruction, which none of them were happy to think about.

They all travelled as a group, hoping that there was not going to be something that was going to hop out of the shadows and grab them. They didn't notice anything around the area, apart from a couple of decayed bodies, some of which they thought were their former friends. Azure thought about that for a second, before remembering what Blitz stated. Azure thought back to the exact words that Blitz said to them, before getting the group to look at him by making some noise. He stood on a mound of rubble and looked over the rest of the group.

“I’m thinking that we get back to the settlement to greet Blitz’s friends and see how they are doing. There isn't really too much to do here in the lines of searching, but we can have another little look around to see if there is anything that we could recover or take.” Azure stated aloud, getting a nod from every single one of them, making him feel like an actual leader. They all spread out and looked around, apart from Roselight, who was thinking about what was happening around here, as well as having something else on her mind. Azure walked up to her and looked at her bluntly, not knowing what exactly was up with the mare, but being smart enough to know that something was not right, for her at least, making Azure worry a little bit.

“I’m worried for Blitz and his well being. He didn’t exactly look happy with everything that was going on. What if he dies down there?” Roselight panicked, getting agitated and snapping, before Azure placed his hoof on Roselight’s shoulder, making her calm down just that little bit more than was needed, which was always a good thing. Roselight took a huge intake of air, before sighing heavily, allowing her mind not to race as much, allowing her to relax about the entire thing. Azure was making sure that he was ready to help his friends, if they required either a little bit of emotional support, or physical support.

Azure knew that Roselight cared for everypony and probably blamed herself for Blitz’s torture within stone, but she was not at fault, due to her getting to know Blitz a little bit more and liking him more and more, until he probably became on of her friends that she told nobody that she liked. Azure seemed to think that the best medicine that he could provide with no medical equipment, was relaxation, allowing him to put their minds to rest and allow them to focus more on themselves. Azure was wanting to know his friends a little bit more, so he walked around and tried to gain a little bit more of a conversation going. First of all, he walked up to Gretzky, seeing that he was looking through some rubble around the entrance area, trying to see if he could have seen something that could have been useful for him or the rest of the group.

“I never really got told your origin, Gretzky. May I be able to hear it, since I haven’t learnt too much about my friend’s backgrounds?” Azure asked, wanting to know more about his feathered friend. Gretzky turned around and looked at him with a blank stare. He was pretty sure that Azure was just a little bored, hence the reason why he wanted to know a little more about him. Gretzky tried to remember as much as he could from the top of his head, but needed to take a minute to really evaluate his life and what he had done. He took a couple of minutes, before answering the question that he had been asked, being careful about the words that he chose.

“Well, I was born in Equestria and within the Wasteland. My ma gave birth to me and sadly passed away giving birth to me, so I never really got to know my ma that much. As for my father, I could tell you story after story about him. He was a kind gryphon and one of the most respected ones in Equestrian history, due to the generosity that he gave to others, treating others better than he did himself. He taught me to do all of this and helped me sustain life, before he died of old age, which was a sad time for me. He only left me a couple of caps and a note which said ‘Go and do what I showed you, son…” Gretzky stated, a little tear coming to his eye. Azure walked over to him and gave him a hug, before seeing Gretzky’s wings wrap around Azure encasing them both. “Thank you!” Gretzky said silently, before enjoying the hug for a couple of seconds, before going back to it and focusing on his task at hoof. Azure didn't move away, making the gryphon a little confused. Azure wanted to know what his backstory was about growing up, rather than his youth.

“What was it like growing up, I mean?” Azure asked, wanting to get to know him more, being on a personal level that allowed him to know the ins and outs of his friends. Gretzky thought again, remembering the day that he had growing up, which were a lot of days to remember. Azure waited patiently, before seeing him come up with an explanation.

“I focused on trading and always either wanted to help ponies and creatures, or wanted to increase my amount of caps and suppliers. I used to be some sort of wandering trader, but I really didn't enjoy sitting out in a tent all the time, getting cold and wet half the time. I moved to Sharpened Death for a fair while, getting to grips with all of the ponies and creatures that were within the settlement and it made me feel right at home, then you came around and spiced up my life that little bit more, which I don’t mean in a bad way, of course.” Gretzky stated, before going back to what he was doing, losing his train of thought for a couple of seconds. Azure thanked Gretzky, before going away and looking for somepony else, trying to burn time, since he had nothing else to do in the area and it being more Roselight’s idea, rather than his.

Azure walked around, before finding Roselight and Petalbreeze talking to each other, before they both looked at him with a smile. They thought that he was coming over to them because he wanted help, but they were somewhat wrong. Azure wanted to ask them the same thing that he had asked Gretzky, but Azure noticed something behind the two mares, making him a little curious to try to find out what it was. Azure began to walk over to the thing that was getting clearer and clearer, before he stopped, seeing somepony within the bushes, aiming a gun at them. Azure walked back slowly, before running and sliding to cover, making the two mares do the same out of instinct. Azure pointed to the bush, making the two mares know where to aim. Azure peaked his head around the corner and was met with a bit of debris, due to the bullet from the weapon hitting the wall he was behind, making him recoil and hold his cheek with his hoof, seeing that he had blood all over his hoof. Azure looked around and saw a shard of glass, before picking it up and trying to use the reflection of light to see himself, which he eventually did, seeing a massive gnash on his cheek, bellowing out blood. Azure threw the piece of glass over the wall that he was hiding behind, hoping that it had the figure in the bush. An explosion set off in the figure’s direction, making Azure peak around the corner to find that there was a hole where the figure should have been, behind the bush which was no longer there too. Azure looked at the other two, before seeing that Petalbreeze had a grenade in her mouth, getting ready to throw another one. Azure sighed, before seeing that the other two were looking wide eyed at him, seeing the wound that he had gotten from the debris of the wall that he was now sitting behind.

“Are you okay, Azure?” both of them called out in unison, getting the same nod that he always gave, which signalled that he was okay. They both rushed to his side, before seeing that there was something off about him, knowing that something was getting him down a little bit.

“What backstory do you two have?” Azure asked, trying to get the backstory of the mares that he enjoyed so much, while they fussed over him, trying to stop the bleeding from happening.

“Well, we are sisters, so there is that, but we grew up in a different part of the Wasteland and continued to move about from place to place. This is the first area that Roselight considered home and that settlement that you came with Blitz and got me from was my first taste of a home, but then you made me find my sister after being so far from her for years on end. Anywhere that she is confident calling home, I can too!” Petalbreeze announced, being proud of her sister, making Roselight chuckle. Roselight came over to them and ruffled Azure’s mane with a hoof, treating him like the child that she never had. Azure pouted slightly, not really liking the ruffle of the mane, but appreciating the gesture nonetheless.

“Yeah, I kind of agree with her. I don’t want to be one of the ponies that move from place to place anymore, due to doing it so much anyway. I want to be able to place my hoof in the ground and stand in one location. I think that I have been travelling so much that I will just do a final stand at Inspiration Peak, when the time comes that is.” Roselight announced, getting an angry look from her sister in the process, making her wear a sheepish grin on her own face. Roselight stopped with the talking, before Azure looked at them both, seeing that they both had conflicting opinions on that matter, making Azure want to let them have some space between them both, so he walked away, before he started getting them into more personal topics than were needed.

Azure remembered that Blitz said that his son and Zavier were heading over to the settlement, making him want to catch up to them to see what all of the fuss was about with sending them away. If his son was a changeling like him, why would he not want Shifty going along with him? That confused Azure a little, but Blitz knew what he was doing, which made Azure smile, just a little. He needed to get everypony together and head back to the settlement, but he figured that he would let the rest of the group do what they wanted to do, giving them some time away from all of the fighting and the travelling and instead, allowed the others to know what had become of the settlement.

Azure had an idea which made him want to go to the building that him and Blitz stayed in and making him also want to go and investigate the area.Azure travelled over there and started seeing things, making him seem uneasy and making him slow down a little, before he saw things begin to flash within his vision, making his heart beat faster. The death of Crimson and Lavender played out one after another, along with Abyss’ death too, being the most disturbing one. Azure shook his head, which did nothing to stop the display of images within his mind. Although Azure could see, he was battered with different feelings and images that kept playing over and over again. He stopped, before placing his hooves over his eyes, trying to block all light that was around him and hopefully getting rid of all of the illusions that were troubling him. It seemed like it was working for the most part, before he saw it try to ramp itself up, making him shake his head, bringing a couple of tears to his eyes.

Azure rubbed his eyes with a hoof, before walking over to the building that was in shambles, being the same building that him and Blitz had lived in for a short while. There was a feeling of hope that seemed to irradiate from the area that Azure was around, due to him realising that his friend was still alive, making his body feel almost unfamiliar, due to how much better he was feeling about himself, although he was still crying about the visions that he was seeing. The amulet that Azure was wearing seemed to light up as soon as a tear reached it, falling down his cheek and grazing the amulet slightly, before it did something that Azure couldn't see.

Azure’s mind seemed to clear itself when he looked at the amulet, replacing each one of the bad memories with a good one of the ponies that he had seen perish. Azure’s mood instantly got better, due to those memories flooding his mind, overlapping and giving him the confidence to smile, before searching around the area and looking for anything that remained, due to what the raiders had done to his home settlement. Azure could see that there were a couple of walls standing, making Azure look to the inside to see which ones they were. One of the walls had the Project Chimera picture still on it, but it was pinned through the glass, to the wall. Azure sighed, knowing a little bit about what it was, due to the books that he had been reading in Inspiration Peak. It was a project to give ponies different body parts, mainly robotic, to give them an edge over the limitations of pony anatomy, which was something that shouldn't have been messed around with in the first place.

Lumia and Delta made their way over to Azure, sneaking up behind him and noticing that he was looking at something that Delta knew all too well, making him shake his head slowly, disapproving of the project that Azure was a little sceptical about.

“Nothing good can come from changing a pony’s natural form. There might be some benefits, like increased fighting and attacking power, but it comes with too many negatives as a result. The only way that it might have been viable is if a pony has lost a limb or a vital organ, hence the reason that the Ministry Of Peace were looking into investing into it, to give ponies with no limbs a second chance, where the healing potions would not help out at all.” Delta explained, showing his insider knowledge to the other two ponies that were around him. Lumia nodded, agreeing with the professor and looking over to the potion. “You do realise that you were made possible because of the technology of that plan, right?” Delta added, looking to Lumia and smiling softly. Lumia was slightly confused about what he was saying, due to him hating the corporation who created the project, as well as the project itself.

“I thought you hated it?” Lumia lashed out, turning instantly and looking to Delta, making Azure turn to him as well, seeing something glow out of the corner of his eye as he turned. Delta nodded, before opening a power panel on the back of Lumia, showing some advanced battery of some kind. Lumia turned her head like an owl, which spooked Azure, due to never seeing her do that before, before taking a couple of steps forward and seeing inside the robotic mare. There was some sort of massive battery that was showing a counter, constantly going up and down with the time that it would have taken to run out, due to something charging her every second.

“I used some flaws on the old battery that was used in Project Chimera to create something that is extraordinary! It is a battery that had never run out of power, not even after I was gone after those fabled years. I started with you on about ten seconds, and now, it has grown to a number that is unimaginable. That’s why I told you to dance if you ever feel like you are going to pass out, due to the battery getting charged for everything that you do. From breathing in and spinning a fan that is behind your mouth, to the compression of a spring in your legs creating the tiniest amount of power. It all adds up over time, as you can clearly see. Sleeping creates more power than doing things in the day, so I’m glad that you got so much of that done Lumia!” Delta explained, making the robotic mare smile, which produced energy somehow. Delta placed the panel back on her and took the panel off his stomach area, which revealed the same system. “I sneakily created the same system for me, allowing me to not run on those oversized batteries they call fusion cores. What am I, some power armour?” Delta joked, making the other two laugh, before Azure turned back to the picture, seeing the same flash of light that he had originally when he turned around, making him want to investigate what the item was. It was something that was behind the picture in the Project Chimera picture.

Azure walked up to the picture that had been pinned to the wall with some sort of arrow, before trying to wiggle the thing that was behind it, somewhat working, making Azure try to wrench the arrow out of the image, just in time to see Delta grab him with a metallic wing, pulling him away from the arrow, before he pulled out one of the rifles that he was carrying, He shot a single bullet at the tail of the arrow, making it blow up like a bomb. Azure was amazed to see that somepony in the Wasteland was using arrows, explosive ones too. The image was on the ground, more of the glass being cracked, before they walked over to the image on the floor, which was somewhat still not as damaged as they would have expected, making them lean more towards something being important within the frame than they would have predicted.

Delta picked up the frame and moved some of the glass out of the way, before going over to one of the walls and hit the frame with the image still being within the frame. It was a strong piece of metal, which made Delta bash it a little more, wanting to bend the metal so that he could get all of the glass out that was blocking them from finding what was behind the image. Delta kept smashing the item on the concrete that remained of the house, making him feel a little defeated when he saw that there was little to no change to the item in regards to damage. Delta dropped the item, before going over to his rifle and picking it up, before returning to the item and shooting down at the glass, which did little to nothing with his weapon.

Delta got moved out of the way by Lumia, who used her horn to summon a ball of what looked like magma, which she carefully moved over the metal. Azure watched as the metal turned to butter, allowing Lumia to get rid of the ball of very hot liquid, before using her magic to move the hot metal out of the way, revealing an area that she could have used to move the glass out of the way, which was exactly what she did. She pried open the frame and got the glass out, seeing that there was a key within and a little note written on the key chain that the key was attached to, making them all look at each other as Lumia pulled it out. They were all thinking the same thing, until they were able to read the note that was written out.

“This key is for the final part of our plan. Use the artifacts that we get from those pesky ponies to smash open a door that is below ground nearby and let loose our final goal by using the key to create the biggest boom the Wasteland has ever seen!” Azure read aloud, making the other two gasp and look at the note again, not believing what they were seeing. Azure was speechless, knowing where the door was located, which was exactly where Blitz was going. Azure didn't know where it was exactly, but those areas were hidden for a reason, making Azure question what Blitz was going to do, down in the hole that he had climbed down.

Azure looked at the other two, who were trying to make light of the situation, but failing at it horribly, which made Azure feel a little uneasy at the situation they had. They needed to get rid of the key, but they needed it to keep it in case there was an option to disable the explosive that would have been hidden underground. Azure was a little bit on the panic side, but tried to relax as much as he could, before taking in a deep breath and focusing. The others came over to investigate what the others were making so much noise about. Azure walked to the side, trying to get his mind off the subject, before he thought of a plan that he was coming up with on the fly. Maybe they needed to get somepony to scout it out down there, buth Azure realised that Blitz went off exploring, meaning that that part was already in motion and active. Until he got word back from Blitz, he wouldn't think on the topic again. There was definitely something being hidden beneath the settlement and the sewer and Azure was curious to know what could have made the entirety of Equestria go boom.

Azure regained focus on the world around him, before seeing the two robots showing the rest of the group the key with the little message. Azure shook his head and looked around a little more, coming to the conclusion that something was definitely going on. Blitz looked down at his hooves and sighed, before wandering off with little to no care about what was going on behind him. He walked a tiny way out of the settlement, before sitting down and looking at his face in some radioactive. He nearly didn't recognise his own reflection for a second, before chuckling sadly at himself, almost like he was unhappy with himself. He stayed there for a minute or so, wanting something to happen so badly, but sadly it didn't, which hurt him a little more than it should have, due to him wanting only one thing to happen, for his mind to get off the topic of bombs being below them.

Azure looked down at the amulet that was around his neck, holding it slightly, before he yanked it off and threw it into the puddle in front of him. Azure began to cry, tears streaming down his face and flowing into the puddle in front of him, some of them landing on the amulet, making something happen. Hologram Blitz was back for Azure, making Azure feel a little more upset than he was before. He didn't look at the hologram, wanting it to just go away. Azure turned back and saw that not only was the hologram gone, but the amulet was as well, making him a little worried. He splashed about in the water to try and find it, before realising that it was actually gone, just like the hologram had taken it away from Azure. He looked down in shame, before feeling a familiar chain around his neck. The amulet was around his neck again, making Azure turn around and see the hologram trying to get the amulet back to where it was, being around Azure’s neck. Azure straight up hugged the hologram, making him a little confused that he was able to interact with something that was just an illusion, but then Azure looked a little closer.

Blitz had a different appearance, being slightly taller and having a different posture. There was something that was off about Blitz's form though, which baffled Azure for a couple of seconds, before it made itself clear. This version of Blitz had different eyelashes, making him look more like a female changeling than anything. The female version of Blitz chuckled, making Azure hear a different voice entirely, suggesting that it was most likely not Blitz’s hologram.

“You would be right to think that, Azure.” The feminine voice stated, being more accurate to a mother’s voice, as if she was taking care of her little filly or colt. “Exactly! That might be the hint that you need Azure, to work out who I am. As if it wasn’t simple enough.” She explained, waiting on Azure to work out the most simple of answers. Since he had been battling with his emotions, it wasn't the easiest of riddles to solve, but then it hit him who’s amulet he was wearing, making him instantly go to a pony that… “Bingo!” She stated, extending her hoof to shake Azure’s. All of the pieces had come together to make Azure actually realise who he was actually speaking to. Azure extended his hoof, before shaking Blitz’s mother’s hoof, making him feel honoured.

Shadow chuckled, before rolling her eyes at him and giggling some more. Azure did feel a little stupid, but there was nothing wrong with getting a little confused, especially due to the fact that he was sad, so he wasn't in the figuring out mood and mindset, so it was bound to be a little harder to predict who she was.

“So what is this? Is this like that Blitz and Death combo, where you are bound to me till I die or something.” Azure asked, being a little bit confused about the entire necklace thing. Shadow nodded somewhat, being a little confused by how it worked too, but not questioning it. If it worked, it worked. Azure looked back at the ground, before feeling something within him change. There was a little feeling of hope within him that was growing and growing, due to seeing Blitz’s mother and talking to her. Shadow smiled, knowing that he was gaining his confidence back from talking to her and having the couple of tears that everypony would eventually show, alone or with a friend.

“I still can’t believe that my form for Blitz is a timberwolf, thanks to that fuck that calls himself Death! I’m really angry at him for that, but now i can’t get in contact with him, due to me not being able to speak, cause I am a fucking wooden wolf.” Shadow explained, being a little happier that she could have a conversation with somepony for a change, without having to stay silent and observe.

“Wait, so you’re Anti? Since the start when me and Blitz first met?” Azure asked, matching all of the pieces together. Shadow nodded, before being a little bit angry at Death. Azure realised that Shadow didn't want to attack Blitz or his friends, because she cared about them, but did want to attack Death, but couldn't because then he would have done something to Blitz, which meant that she was being a slave to Death, making Death a slaver. Shadow nodded, before looking down into the puddle and creating an image.

“Death only cursed that amulet, not this one, so thank you Azure.” Shadow thanked, being happy that someone close to Blitz had the amulet that she was inside. “I bet you are wondering how I got into the amulet anyway, right? Well, let's just say that I split my soul between two amulets thanks to somepony called Rarity, one of the ministry mares. I had a shorter life in my body, for a longer life in an object. I died before the raiders knocked me out, meaning that they didn't kill me, I killed myself, due to the spell.” Shadow explained. Azure thought about it for a second before noticing something that Blitz said.

“Didn't Anti go with Death?” Azure asked, questioning her a little, making her smile, showing Azure the answer that he was not expecting.

“Blitz does not know that I am Anti, which is the problem.” Shadow explained, before looking to the side, seeing that one of Azure’s friends were next to him. Azure turned and saw that Roselight was there, questioning what Azure was doing and why he was talking to himself. Azure opened his mouth, before closing it again and looking down at the amulet, pointing at it and looking back up at Azure, making her somewhat understand. Roselight chuckled before using her horn to flash the area, revealing Shadow to her, and only her for a short period of time.

“You don’t need to explain yourself Azure, I have something of the same thing for that excuse, due to me talking to others that can’t be seen as well. In a normal world, that would seem weird, but this ain’t no normal world. Also, hello madam changeling!” Roselight greeted, seeing the changeling that Azure was able to see, due to the spell still working. Shadow was a little confused, but could now see that she was visible to Roselight as well, knowing the spell that she used, due to her using it before the bombs hit with her own mother as well. Shadow instantly paused, before a smile crossed her face, making Roselight become a little confused to what she was smiling about.

“I realised that I remember you. Weren’t you the one who was originally corrupted by those nightmare things?” Shadow asked, being pretty confident that she was, which didn’t surprise her when she saw Roselight nod slightly, not really wanting to bring the topic back up. Shadow started to nod slowly, before turning back to look at Azure. “Didn’t Blitz mention something about a little bug named Shifty. I need to see that he is alright!” Shadow worried, caring about her grandcolt. Azure was certain that they were okay, but then his mind lingered back on the bombs that he was trying to get out of his head.

“We really should get moving!” Azure stated, feeling like the leader of the group, getting a nod from the actual leader of the group, that being Roselight, before she turned around and grabbed the others. As Roselight was walking away, Shadow stood next to Azure, before going to give him a hug, falling straight through him. Azure moved back and tried to help her up, but his hoof kept going through her, making him chuckle and feel down at the same time, due to not being able to show affection to anyone. Azure waited for her to get up, before pretending to hug her, before she did the same to Azure. If they could not hug for real, they could at least pretend to, for Shadow’s sake.

It must have been hard for her, knowing that she was just a projection now. Azure knew that he couldn't live that way, knowing that he would be as useless as bringing a pickaxe to a farming school, knowing that there would be some use for him, but not being immediately useful like he always wanted to be, due to his life wanting to have meaning to it, which was exactly what it had to his life at that time. He had the ability to change the world, almost being closer than anypony could have ever believed, making his confidence grow with every step he took and got closer to their… no, his destiny!

“I’ll find a way to make you seem useful Shadow, don’t you worry about that. There is definitely some use that you have within this little necklace!” Azure stated, prompting Shadow to smile and actually feel happy and excited about something, due to her doing nothing for the longest of times. Roselight’s spell faded away, making Shadow do the same for her, making her a little sad that the spell wasn't permanent. Roselight didn't want to keep recasting the same spell over and over again, every minute, but if she had to, she would have. “It might be worth you going to see Delta and catching up with him.” Azure added, seeing Shadow brighten up.

“Is that Professor Windflair Delta that you are on about?” Shadow asked, getting her hopes up, but knowing that it probably wasn't him, due to her knowing a couple of other ponies being called Delta. Azure nodded, but looked a little bit confused as she stared at him, making her also a little confused. “Umm, is everything alright Azure?” Shadow asked, being a tad bit concerned for the pegasus with the stripes.

“Is his first name really Windflair?” Azure asked, smiling a little bit. Shadow nodded, before looking around and seeing more ponies coming towards them, making her point to them for Azure to notice their approach. Azure turned to see the rest of the group, everypony who came to help him being ready to go back to the settlement. Azure felt good about himself, before seeing Delta was looking at him, which he was. Azure looked back at Shadow, before closing his eyes and taking off the necklace, feeling something grasp onto him, not allowing the necklace to go. Azure passed the necklace to Delta, before Delta just looked at him, then down at the necklace. Azure nodded, before Delta placed the necklace around his robotic form, before seeing her there, making him gasp.

“Umm, what is he seeing?” A couple of the group called out.

“Shadow, one of his old friends and Blitz’s mother.” Azure stated, calmly, making them all want to see the mare or the bug, whichever she wanted to class as. Roselight cast the spell again, this time allowing the entire group to see Shadow, before Roselight nearly passed out, getting caught by Azure in the process. She looked at Azure, before smiling at him and planting a kiss on his cheek, thanking him for saving her, which made him chuckle a little bit.

They all turned to look at the mare that was standing in front of them all, the changeling mare that nopony had seen before, scaring them a little, due to how sudden her appearance was. Shadow just looked at all of them and they did the exact same back to her. They didn't know what to say to the changeling that was the mother of one of their friends and family, until Delta stepped forward, bowing down to her like she was a queen or something, which made her chuckle a little.

“Why are you bowing?” Shadow asked, being a little confused by Delta’s actions. Azure was a little bit confused as well, seeing all of the others look to her like some sort of celestial being. Shadow rolled her eyes, before backing away from Delta, making him stand up and nod to her, getting an instant nod back. “Welp, this is about all there is about me. I also double up as of now, a timberwolf by the name of Anti, which Blitz named me. At least with that form, I get to interact with things and keep my little bug safe. We all need to start heading back to the settlement, otherwise…” Shadow stated, before disappearing from everypony’s view, not being the best area to insert a comedic cut. They all looked to Delta, before seeing what she was going to finish off her sentence with.

“...Otherwise the war will come quicker!” Delta stated, before looking around at the group, seeing that they all were a little bit confused, but the ones that understood the sentence, those being Azure, Roselight and Gretzky, looked on in pure horror and shock. Something was most likely targeting them, meaning that they needed to get back to the settlement as soon as they possibly could. Roselight ordered them all to start heading off, which they happily agreed to do, covering more ground per minute than they did on the journey to follow Azure. Delta passed the amulet to Azure, stating that Shadow wanted to speak with him. Azure put on the amulet, before noticing that Shadow was trying to ride his back, being eternally bound to being unable to interact with anything, but she was at least able to talk, which was something that Azure could have used to speak his way out of situations that before he couldn't have dreamed of doing, which made him grateful that Shadow was able to at least speak to them, being somewhere else, rather than in their world.

“I want you to save my boy Azure! I want you to make him as happy as you did when you both were together, when you both enjoyed each other's company, when you found yourself with him! I don’t care who he ends up loving, as long as he is happy, I am happy too, but the only pony that I have seen his spirits rise from, was you. I don’t think you understand how important you are in his life.” Shadow stated, before stopping with her actions, standing still and waiting for something else to happen to her or the world that she was trapped within.

“I’ll have a little conversation later about Blitz, if that is alright with you Shadow?” Azure stated, getting a gentle nod from the mare, making him smile back at her, before looking to the rest of the group, who were already waiting to get back to the settlement, being excited to meet Blitz’s son, along with Shadow being excited to be able to speak to her grandson, but there was something that she had to remember, which was a little concerning to her, which was the fact that she had to keep herself away from Death at all costs, due to him originally corrupting Blitz’s original amulet, making her turn into a timberwolf whenever she tried to talk to him. She would eventually get a message to Blitz, even if it broke the amulet that he soul was bound to.

They all got back on their way to making it back to the settlement, trying to not be too slow, due to them needing to get back to the settlement and checking on its own condition, knowing that they had three factions that were now probably merging into one, looking for their settlement as they spoke, convincing all of them that they needed to get back quicker to start putting some serious defences on their base, their settlement, their home. Gretzky and the rest of them knew that they were going to have to make some sacrifices to allow themselves to prepare for the rest of the Equestrian Wasteland bombarding their home, so they were going to prepare to be able to fight off not only death, but sink their settlement into Equestrian history.

Shadow teleported beside Azure, before telling him to slow down and fall behind a little bit, before nodding his head at her, slowing down a little bit, before looking back over to her, seeing that she was a little concerned and taken back. Azure looked at her dead in the eyes and saw something that he didn't wish to see in any one of his friends and family, which was the look of fear, the same fear that Blitz had originally when they first met and fought the hydra. Something was up and Shadow knew it.

“What’s up Shadow? What has got you so tense and disturbed?” Azure asked, getting a look from a couple of ponies up ahead, before they looked back forward after seeing that he was talking to the changeling mare that they had all talked to earlier. Shadow didn't say anything for a short while, before looking up at Azure and then down at the necklace.

“Didn’t Blitz state that Shifty had Death within his head now? If that is the case, we have to wait for Death to either leave Shifty’s mind or we have to forcefully remove that demon. He is not actually Death, he is the same type of curse that the nightmare is, due to his form when inside Blitz’s head, meaning that a brute force on a pony would allow Death to escape, but I don’t want anypony going after my little grandcolt, so that option is out of it.” Shadow explained, giving Azure some insight into the likes of Death and what he actually was. Azure thought about it more and more, before closing his eyes, forming a plan that would surely help them understand what to do about Death.

It took them a little while longer to get to a point at which they could see the settlement, seeing that it was okay and undamaged, but something felt off to Azure, almost like something that was there that shouldn’t have been. They ventured back and walked over to the gate, before seeing that no friendly face greeted them, that being Saber. Roselight and all of the others carried Zeke over the wall, allowing him to stand on the top of it. Azure flew over too, seeing that the settlement had fallen still, due to there being a bug that was cackling to himself, almost looking like he had gone insane, due to a certain Death that was plaguing his mind. They all watched him carefully, before moving around him, pointing their guns around the little bug. Something was up with him, making him tick and cackle like he was, which was the most disturbing part of it.

Azure shook his head, before approaching the little bug that seemed to scare everypony else, making them look from a distance at the scene that was going to play out before them, making them all a little bit anxious. They didn't know what was making Shifty act that way, but Azure, Delta and Roselight all knew. Death was plaguing his mind with emotions that he shouldn't have been feeling, making him believe everything that he was being told. Azure felt really, really bad for Shifty, not wanting anypony else to suffer like he was right then and there. Shadow spawned next to Azure, before looking at her grandcolt, before closing her eyes and sighing, making Azure look over to her.

“Everything alright?” Azure asked, getting Shifty to turn to look at Azure’s location. Shifty spotted the necklace and so did Death, needing it more than anything else in the world. Shadow looked at the ground and shook her head. “Death is going to die. Blitz is going to fucking…” Shadow stated, before seeing Azure getting bucked in the chest by Shifty, making her eyes go wide. “...kill him.” she finished off, teleporting back into the amulet and seeing if there was some way that she could have helped Azure, which sadly, there wasn't. She scrambled to think of some way that she could have helped Azure, while keeping herself safe, but there was nothing that she could do with her power, due to her being an object, not being able to output magic because she had no horn, which was the problem with her doing anything.

Azure ran around, making the rogue bug follow him, darting around the buildings of the settlement. Death was using Shifty’s body, due to him not being in the mindset to believe that Blitz was still alive. He forced his way to get inside of Shifty’s head, making him submit to all of the torture that his mind could no longer withstand. Azure slowed down, making it so that Shifty was close enough to him, before flying directly up, hearing the drone do the same, hearing the sound of his wings as he flew, making a buzzing noise, just like a radiated wasp. A beam of magic came over and hit Azure, making him scream in pain, as his wing burned with the wrath of Celestia’s sun. Azure got caught by Lumia, before she soared away, taking the bug away from the settlement, only to be taken back to the center of the settlement, where all eyes were on them, making them all feel uneasy. There were eyes peeping from the houses behind them, suggesting that the others were alright, before one of them disappeared, appearing in front of Shifty.

Saber was struggling, before Shifty… Death cackled loudly, seeing the look of Roselight change from being scared, to somepony who wanted to murder a colt. Roselight raced forwards, before seeing Death push her back. Death looked at Saber with a smile, painted on Shifty’s face. Roselight tensed up, seeing that Shifty had a tear running down his face, suggesting that he was not in control of his actions anymore, being only able to watch as his body was used, almost being similar to a different subject that would have been even worse. Azure and Roselight both noticed the tear, before Death snapped the neck of Saber with his magic, making a loud pop noise and making him fall limp, also making Roselight scream out in anguish. Death threw the lifeless body over in their direction, making Roselight run over to it, before seeing that Death was going to grab her with his magic that he had from Shifty, but that was not going to happen.

Azure stood in front of her, making himself get captured within his magical grasp, telling her to run, before looking at Shifty dead in the eyes, seeing even more tears flowing down. Death was torturing him as much as he could, making him regret living in the first place.

“He’s only a fucking colt! Why are you punishing him like this?” Azure asked, as the air within his airways got less and less, due to the constant pressure that was going down on his throat, making him want to pass out, but staying strong for the little bug that didn't want any of this.

A bright light flashed right next to them, summoning a giant green blob of radioactive mess, which made them all look, before seeing a pony come out of the blob. He stood there, sparks zapping everything around him, before they could barely make out who the pony was, due to being just bones and a little bit of chitin. Blitz stood there, before he saw Shifty with tears in his eyes, forcing him to pull one last heartstring. Blitz reared up, before running and teleporting, before teleporting again and again, picking up speed, before he launched himself out of a portal and lit up his horn and phased through Shifty, taking Death and the nightmare with him, sprawling over the floor and having no power whatsoever. They were all in physical form, allowing them to get struck by attacks. Death realised this and used his magic to teleport away, only he didn't have any magic right there and then, none of them did, making him and the nightmare freak out. Blitz got back to all fours and raced towards Death, before seeing Anti closing in from the left of him, making him slow down.

Death realised that Blitz had slowed down, before looking back at him, turning from the right, not seeing Anti coming over to him because of the way that he turned. Azure was gasping for air, before Blitz turned and walked over to him, forgetting about Death for a moment, before screaming could be heard. They all looked over to see the nightmare getting her throat ripped out by Anti, making the display seem gorier that it was, actually no, it was pretty gory. Blitz ignored her screams and told the others to do the same, due to him letting Anti have this. Blitz looked back at the body of the nightmare, before seeing that it had turned to dust.

“Good girl Anti, last one!” Blitz muttered under his breath, making sure that Death could hear him. Death began to run, before trying to flap his wings to get off the ground, but he didn't have any strength to do so. Death fell over before looking back, seeing Anti stalking closer, as well as Blitz walking over to him at a normal speed. A ghostly figure made itself known to Blitz’s side, looking both like the nightmare and Death in structure, but also being pure white. Death looked in horror as the demon that he was fighting against made himself known, making Death try to gather the strength to get up, but to no avail. “I did say that if you hurt him, mentally or physically, I would end you!” Blitz shouted, so that the others could hear it. They all walked a little closer, before looking at the figure that Blitz was stood against, Blitz leaning on him for some reason.

“You! I had everything going for me, then you… you… you took it away from me!” Death roared, pointing his hoof at the figure beside Blitz. Anti growled at him, before she slowly moved closer, ready to end him like she wanted. Blitz looked down at Anti, before seeing her ready to end him. He didn't do anything right then and there, but waited for the demon to speak.

“I didn’t take anything away from you, I just had Blitz remove his memory before he met you in full, meaning that you would have had no idea that I originally met him first. Anti being a timberwolf because you decided to mess with the kid then was pretty cute within the first chapters of Blitz’s story within the Wasteland with a friend, but it only worked in my favour when I talked to Anti to hear that you did this. Blitz was able to handle your manipulation, but poor little Shifty wasn’t, you fucking lowlife. There was a reason I turned from being bad like you two, but in the end, although I didn’t didn’t enjoy it, I knew it was the better choice, because now, I get to be a major part of this story, you don’t… brother!” the demon said, before Blitz nodded to Anti, making her take the final chomp that ended the so called ‘Death’ and his lies. Blitz changed into his form, not being his original, due to being just bones and chitin at that point and turned around to look at the other, while Anti went mental on his body, making Blitz turn back around and tell her to stop, which she did.

“Thank you mother, but let me tell you all how this played out, not only before I found the wall, after I climbed down below…” Blitz stated, before looking around and grabbing Shifty, Azure and Anti in and wrapping them in his arms tightly, before sitting down on the ground and telling them the story. The demon cleansed Blitz of his radiation and gave him his magic back, before being able to watch Blitz as he told his story to the rest of his family, making the demon smile a little, knowing that he had done some good.

Chapter 29: Underlying Readings

Blitz began to tell the entire thing to the rest of the group, starting with the original way that he had me the spirit that he called; ‘The Demon’:

Blitz raced towards the sewer entrance, before slowing down for no reason, other than to spectate something that was going on in front of him. There was something that seemed to be blocking him from being able to move forwards, which worried him a little bit, due to those Steel Rangers probably being able to survive anything, even their own artillery barrage. Blitz took a quick look back and got spooked by something that appeared behind him, making him scream, before pushing against the magical force, moving it with all of his strength that he still had left.

“Do not be alarmed, my friend. I have something to tell you about. It might baffle your mind, but I have been following you and I need to make sure that this sticks inside your head, alright?” the figure asked, getting a swift and silent nod from the scared Blitz. “So, the reason that I came to you is because you could probably understand all of this, due to you living before the war and having an open mind to everything. Am I right about that, Blitz, or should I call you Soul Eater?” the ghostly illusion added, seeming a little familiar with his form. The form reminded him of the stories that he got told about as a colt, which made him a little curious as to what the thing was.

“Are you a demon of some sort?” Blitz asked, being a little too confused for him to understand all of this. The thing tilted its head, not really sure if it was or wasn’t a demon of sorts. It came to the conclusion that it was indeed a demon, but there was something that Blitz saw within the demon’s eye, something that suggested that it wanted to help the world for what was left to fight over.

“This might make a little more sense to you, but do you remember the stories that your mother probably would have told you, ones about Nightmare Moon?” the demon asked, waiting for clarification so that he was not wasting his time on a pony that didn’t know anything. Blitz thought about it for a second, before one of the books from his childhood came to his mind, slapping him in the head, like a book. He nodded back to the demon, still a little bit confused as to what he was. “Well, I am one of those demons or spirits that were crazy about controlling ponies and what not, but since the bombs fell and all of the megaspells went off, I have seen a world that I would not even want to live in. Despite me being evil, I still have a heart for the old world. I don’t want to be evil anymore, but all of my family and other spirits all want to be evil and…” the demon said, getting a little frustrated, before getting cut off by Blitz.

“... so don’t follow the trend. Just because others want to be bad still, doesn’t mean that you have to. You have the power to change the world, especially with your insider knowledge of Pre-War Equestria. You can help me with my goals if you so please.” Blitz stated out in confidence, which made the spirit remember something that would eventually happen, due to Blitz being from the times before Equestria was hit by a couple of big spells.

“There is going to be something that will happen in the future, I know it. A spirit like me will try to make a deal with you. When he does make that offer for you, accept it so that he is bound to you for a little while, but give him the response of not knowing who or what I am, due to him knowing about me. If he does find out, he will try to corrupt you, as opposed to marinating you, like he would any other sentient being.” the demon stated, making sure that Blitz knew about what was going on. Blitz nodded, before thinking about something.

“Why don’t we just clear my memory of all of this, before anything messes this up? That way, when you meet me, you can just tap the memory orb against my head and I shall instantly remember you.” Blitz suggested, making the spirit nod in approval, due to it actually being a good plan for the two of them. Blitz saw a bright light, before he couldn’t remember what was happening to him. He shook his head, before moving on, trying to make his way back to the settlement.

As Blitz was telling his story to all, something moved out of the corner of his eye, making him pause, as he tried to transition to the part that he just been through not too long before he came to help them with Shifty. Shifty moved over, allowing Blitz to get over and walk to Azure, who was looked over at something through the gate, Blitz grabbed Azure and pulled him around, trying make him feel better by hugging him, which worked a little bit to bring the pegasus’ mood up, making him return to the group, before making him sit next to him, allowing Azure to rest his head on Blitz’s shoulder, as he got into his groove again.

Blitz got to the part within the sewer, before telling them about what happened when he left their little group in the sewer passage, tunnel, system, whatever they called it down there. Blitz made them picture it;

Blitz climbed down the ladder, feeling his body tense up, before surges of energy passed through his body causally, making him believe that the area was heavily irradiated, which was something that he didn't know about, due to him not being there with Azure to spot that a hell of a lot of radiation was coming out of the other entrance, suggesting that the place within the ground was a sitting hazard, making Blitz worry a little about what he was going to find below the surface. He had to walk down a long corridor, which was not something that he wanted to do. He galloped down the corridor, his body melting as he got closer to the source, almost like the radiation was giving him too much of itself to him, making his form change. Blitz used his magic to reconstruct himself, still sprinting forward at lightning fast speed, before he knocked a fan out of the way, a big fan. It was a huge industrial one, which was not very sturdy. Blitz fell over with it, before trying to pick himself up, which he found difficult, due to his skin next to his chitin melting, but strangely not being painful, making Blitz worry.

“You made it down here!” a voice called out, making Blitz look directly at the source of it, being the same spirit that Death was, but being white. Blitz pointed his weapon at the demon, before it rolled its eyes at Blitz, making him a little confused. “Blitz, just watch this so that we can get back to it, now that Death is gone!” the spirit said, before chucking the orb at Blitz, making him catch it with his magic, looking over to the spirit after, being really confused as to what was going on. Blitz looked down at the orb, before lying down and looking over the spirit, who was keeping watch for anypony else coming down. The spirit waited patiently for Blitz to have seen the memory orb, probably being a little bit more confused than he could have imagined, but that would have been better than him going full feral mode on the demon, making every last attempt count towards ending it.

After a short while, Blitz regained his composure and looked around, seeing that the spirit was still there, watching over him just like his mother would have if she was around. The spirit noticed that Blitz was speaking about his mother within his head, making him want to prove something to him.

“Blitz, how much do you know Anti?” the ghostly figure asked, getting a confused look. He pondered the thought for a moment, before looking around and trying to think of something that would make him understand Anti just that little bit more. “What if somepony got transferred into something else and has been trying to tell you ever since?” the ghost explained, stating it as a question to only make him think, which made the gears turn within the little bug’s head.

“I know Anti a little bit, but not too much i’m assuming, due to Anti not really sitting down with me at all, making me believe that she likes to always be in motion, just like my mother.” Blitz stated, looking around for a timberwolf but not able to see her. She appeared behind him, sitting down and resting her head on the ground next to Blitz, making Blitz use his hoof to pet her, making her feel a little better.

“What if I told you that Death turned somepony that you thought was dead into the timberwolf that you are petting? Somepony who couldn’t have died in a worse way.” the spirit suggested, making Blitz look at Anti with sorry eyes, making Anti look up to him, with her… strangely familiar eyes. It was almost like he had not seen those eyes in a while, due to those being his… “Yep, Blitz, meet Shadow, your mother! Death corrupted your amulet and made Shadow into a timberwolf to hide the fact that she knew that he was using you.” the ghastly figure stated, making Blitz look into Anti’s… no, Shadow’s eyes and smile, before Blitz gave Shadow a hug, getting him to receive a fair amount of licks from a wooden tongue, making him chuckle a little.

“Thank you friend, what do I call you?” Blitz thanked and asked, looking up to the figure that was before him, making him ponder a name for himself. Death was used for his brother, so the only thing that he could think of, was also what he actually wanted.

“How about Life?” the demon suggested, making Blitz nod immediately.

“Life it is, nice to meet you!” Blitz stated, laughing for a little bit, before looking around, remembering that they were all within a huge complex and was in one of the main control rooms for the underground facility. Blitz looked around and saw that there were a couple of ways to go, opting to go to the one on the right of them, but before they all did that, they walked towards one of the windows that overlooked the entire area, being some sort of huge warehouse more than a facility, due to all of the boxes that were neatly stacked on top of one another, making Blitz realise that this area that they were at was being used, for something, making them all want to investigate it out.

It was weird enough with the big fans covering the entrances, and could see all of the different ones. Blitz understood that they were being pretty smart about it, due to them using the fans to distribute all of the radiation that they didn’t have a use for, so it would kill anything that could have come through the entrances by using the fans. It was a pretty good idea, but one that was a little weird to explain, due to how the fans blew the radiation. Shadow looked over the entire site and then walked over to a door, before entering in a code that she saw, opening the door to somepony’s office.

“Yep, definitely my mother!” Blitz exerted, making Life chuckle a little, before they all entered the room to see some plans on a table. The plans were of bombs, balefire bombs, something which would have knocked Equestria off the map a million times over. If they were building balefire bombs in the facility, then the world would cease to exist. They all looked at each other, before taking the plans a putting them into Blitz’s saddlebag, which was looking a little bit worse for wear, due to the fact that it had melted a little, like the rest of him did, removing most of his skin and leaving nothing but bone, which was a bad then. Blitz was only confused on why nothing was hurting, because it should definitely have hurt loving all of the soft skin that he had. Originally, Blitz thought that the chitin was held together by the skin, but he was wrong. His chitin was part of his bones, making him rethink changeling anatomy, which was something that still confused him a little bit, due to their exoskeleton being thinner than it should have been for a creature of their size. No reason why changelings couldn’t be tall, but they weren't; they were all smaller than normal ponies, apart from the queen, which would have been the same size as the alicorns in Equestria.

Blitz shook his head, daydreaming for a little bit too long, before he looked around within the office, seeing that there were some filing cabinets that he could check through for some notes. There were messages of all kinds in the cabinet, some ranging from simple letters too and from ponies, but others included checks that were of a bigger amount of bits, which during the time that they were in, were completely useless, due to their money being in the form of bottle caps. Blitz noticed that Life went over to the balcony and looked over the entire room, looking like some sort of central hub for the ponies who used it before them. It was an amazing area, but there were some aspects that lacked in different places, due to Blitz being a little bit picky with how he had things, rather than how others had things.

Blitz found some sort of key within the cabinet, before seeing it fall down, making a loud noise. If there was anypony within the area, they would have surely heard the noise that came from their direction. Blitz moved away from it, keeping the key within his magic and watched as it glowed a little bit, making Blitz not really sure if it was the key that was glowing or was him glowing, seeing his reflection in the key. Blitz looked around the office, before noticing that there must have been a safe around the room somewhere, due to the fact that the pony wouldn’t have had a key within his area for no reason, right? Blitz carefully looked around, spotting something that could have suggested that there was something secret within the room, due to it being an image behind the desk. The photo was of some sort of mare, towering above all of the rest of the ponies, looking to be some sort of alicorn, but with holes in its body, suggesting that it was probably some sort of changeling queen, which seemed pretty likely, due to the way the hierarchy used to work within the hive when he was really really young, like a little, little bug young.

Blitz moved the image with his magic and revealed a little safe in the wall, which made Blitz smile, due to how iconic it was for there to be an image of some sort blocking the treasure behind. It was ironic, but laughable, as Blitz used the key to open the safe, getting both the attention of Shadow and Life. They both stood by the door, before seeing the safe door fly open, revealing a book of sorts. It was a spell book, a very advanced spellbook, making him want to see what spells he could obtain from the book, which was a lot of spells, due to his magic already being good, but the book would allow him to go past his maximum potential.

Blitz looked at a couple of pages, skimming over them and then putting the book within his melted saddlebag, saving it for his next length of freetime that he would have got. He walked out of the room and looked over the balcony, seeing that there was definitely a drop below, but not thinking about what was down there. Instead, they looked at the other door, seeing that it was just a normal door, starting their journey into the facility. They opened each door quietly, knowing that something was definitely going to be within the area that they were in, they were only going to meet it soon, that was for sure. They walked down the corridor, before coming two an area that they didn’t like too much, which was the way down. They could have chosen the elevator or they could have chosen the stairs. Blitz instantly went to the stairs, before getting dragged into the elevator by Shadow, making the timberwolf cackle loudly, before the doors shut loudly, making them all go silent.

There was some elevator music playing in the background, making them all tap their hoof in rapid succession, making them all get along more and more. They were only there to look around and see what it was that was setting off so much of that radiation at the entrance. The doors slowly opened, before they paused to see some ghouls working around the facility, meaning that it was active, not an alive group though. Blitz got spotted by one of the ponies there and wore a smile. The ghoul smiled back, before approaching him, making him question why they weren’t attacking them. The ghoul looked at the irradiated bug, before circling him and then going back to his original position, before looking over to one of his colleagues. They both looked at Blitz and Shadow and smiled.

“Umm, hi. What do you ponies do here? Just having a little look around, no intention to harm anypony, unless provoked!” Blitz asked, before following it up with something that made them smile. They looked happily at Blitz and Shadow, before one of them cleared their throat by coughing, making Blitz recoil, due to having scepticism when around new ponies and creatures.

“As long as you do not get in the way of our research efforts, then we will have no problems. Wait a minute, how did you get in, did Sawtooth send you?” One of them stated, before asking a question that they didn’t expect. Blitz nodded, making the same one who had asked the question a little bit more sceptical about them being there. Let me go and contact him, just to confirm it. Blitz summoned a gas bomb, not being in control of his body at all, hating the feeling. Life controlled Blitz’s body only for the spell to be used, but Blitz didn’t like losing control of his body, making him a little bit more paranoid.

“Sorry, but I had to ensure that nothing bad was going to happen!” Life explained, saying sorry, which Blitz didn't expect from him, due to the nature of his past. Blitz looked back to the gas that his horn had just produced, knocking out the entire room, but the three of them, which made Blitz laugh a tiny bit, due to Life really stating what he was trying to do. He was avoiding killing, making him remind Blitz of the medical pony that he had a strong bond with. Blitz watched as they were all on the floor, almost looking as if they were lifeless. He wanted to avoid killing, due to him wanting to save most of the ponies in the Wasteland. There were going to be some ponies that they would have had to end the suffering of, but that was only the ones that stood in the way of Blitz’s mission to make Equestria the place it was before the war.

Blit stepped past all of the bodies and made his way to the opposite side of the room, right next to one of the only rooms that connected to the one that they were in. Blitz pulled out his weapons, opting for a pistol of some kind, before realising that it wasn’t suppressed, making him want to place it back in his saddlebag, before Life teleported a sight to him, as well as a suppressor, making him a little sceptical about taking it, before Life force it onto the pistol, screwing on the suppressor and sliding on the sight for the pistol.

“That suppressor is enchanted with a noise dampening spell, making all of the shots muffled, so it is nearly silent.” Life stated, before looking around the corners of the door, seeing that there was definitely some action going on in the next room. Blitz closed the door and then looked at the other two, before looking over to one of the bodies, knowing what he could do to allow him and the other two to get past the ponies on the opposite side of the door. Blitz changed into one of the scientists who were laying on the floor, passed out from the gas that Life had hit them with. Blitz summoned a lead for Anti, making a weird greenish brown blush appear on her, making Blitz feel slightly awkward about putting a lead on his mother.

“Not like that!” Blitz whispered to her, making Life chuckle a little bit before peeking through the door, being a ghostly figure allowed him to do such things without being noticed at all, because the only ponies that could see him, were Shadow and Blitz. Blitz wore a serious face, before tying the lead around one of the twigs that made up her neck, allowing Blitz to walk Shadow like she was a pet. Eww, get that image out of your head, reader! Blitz opened the door to see a corridor with two guards on either side, seeing the professor and not batting an eyelid at him, until they looked straight at each other and saw Shadow, being a little confused as to what happened with her ending up in the science department. Blitz turned around and looked at the guards, before walking back to them, still being in the form of the professor that he had knocked out.

“Umm, why is there a timberwolf with you, Professor?” one of the guards asked, becoming a little bit confused as to why or even how it managed to happen. Blitz froze for a second, before sighing.

“As I was working on an improvement for the bombs that we have stored here, I stumbled across something that I had a little look at. By mixing a couple of potions that we already had, as well as using a specific amount of magic to blend the mixture to a perfect viscosity, I should have been able to make a potion the we could have rubbed on the bombs that would allow for the metal to absorb the mixture and make the radius of the bombs about twenty five percent larger, which for the amount of effort it took, is probably not worth it at the end of the day, but I guess it is new research. As I was creating the second batch, something went wrong and this… thing… was created and has apparently grown attached to me. It grew up fast mind you, so that might be something that the boss might want to hear about.” Blitz stated, not pausing once, due to the speaking ability he had. One of the guards chuckled, before slowly going to pet Shadow, making her growl at him, making him snap back to reality of him nearly losing a hoof to a timberwolf.

The guard just looked at each other and nodded, before walking down the hall just a little, getting a little bit bothered by the fact that the timberwolf was connected to the professor so much, they walked to the end and opened the door for Blitz, Shadow and Life. Life thought about something and that idea ran through Blitz’s head as well, making him nod slightly, being seen by Life, as he gave Blitz some more magic, and then some more. He was leaking him some magic, so that he would get done what he needed to get done. Blitz saw that there were a lot of ponies working on this place, but he didn’t really want to hurt them, due to the thoughts that were going through his head. Shadow disappeared, making Blitz question where she went, but what he didn’t realise was that she was still there. Life had just made her invisible from his end, allowing Shadow to get some ponies who were able to catch Blitz, without being seen.

Blitz walked over to one of the side wings, seeing that they were being under heavy watch. One of the guards instantly looked at Blitz and then aimed his gun at him, making Blitz walk back, before using his magic to kill the other two guards without the pony noticing. Shadow pushed the guard into Blitz, knocking them into a room together, before he started to scream, being muffled by a hoof that Blitz placed on his mouth, as Shadow tore the back of his throat out. He went silent shortly after, making them both sigh, before getting away from the body and then walking around with it, finding some place for it to be stored. Blitz hid him underneath one of the desks that were in the room, before teleporting the other two bodies to the same location, making him hide them under the desk, keeping them out of sight.

Blitz exited the room, before he saw another way that he could easily wipe out the entire facility, but it was going to be very, very risky. Blitz noticed one pony on the balcony above, seeing that he was talking to some mare about something. It didn’t matter what he was doing, but it did matter who he was. He was some sort of general within the ranks of the others here, due to him wearing some sort of special guards outfit, being the perfect distraction that Blitz needed. With a little bit of magic and a swift and silent yank, Blitz used his magic to pull the stallion backwards over the balcony, using magic to allow the unicorn to not use any spells. Blitz watched as the unicorn fell, landing on his head and breaking his neck in the process, killing him in the process, allowing ponies to gather around him. Blitz raced over to him, before looking over the body while the others watched in disbelief. Blitz slowly backed up allowing the others to get closer to the body. Blitz saw ponies overlooking the balconies that were around him, getting out his pistol, which was now invisible, and shooting the ponies that were overlooking, making some of them fall down too, creating a loud thud on the opposite side of the huge room.

All of the ponies above were dead, which made the ponies and stallions in front of Blitz become the only ones left. Blitz took out a mine, an anti tank mine that he had found on his journeys back to Journey and threw it on the body of the unicorn who had fallen down, making all of the others look at him slowly, seeing that he was laughing.

“You all chose to kill off Equestria, so since I'm against that, I shall kill off you!” Blitz stated in a low bellow, allowing all of those ponies to regret their choices to destroy Equestria. Blitz shot the mine and teleported back, making the ponies there turn to some sort of paste, which did not look good. Blitz shielded his eyes from the blast, before noticing the cruel pony that he was, but he didn’t care about what happened to him, he only cared about the future of others, his friends, his family. Nothing was more important than their survival, nothing!

Blitz could hear the alarm bells ring, signalling that something was wrong, making him stress a little bit, due to the pitch of it. The one in the room that they were in was loud, making Blitz cover his ears a little, before shooting the alarm, making it go silent again, but hearing the bell in the other rooms. The two guards came into the room, guns pointed at Blitz, before their heads started to make them see things that weren't real, due to Blitz using his magic to send a concussion spell into their heads, making them see multiple of Blitz’s form. He turned around, bloodlust in his eyes, as they tried to aim their weapons at him, failing in the process and dropping to the floor. Blitz’s own head started to hurt, making him feel a little light headed, before he wobbled his way over to the two guards, seeing that they were fitting on the flood, due to the concussion that they were having. Blitz took out a sword made of pure magic, before stabbing the guards with the pointy end of the sword, allowing his sword entry like butter.

Blitz sat down after that, seeing that something was wrong with him, making him look at his hooves, before seeing that they were swaying from side to side. There was something within the air, something that was making him feel light headed and something that reduced the oxygen within the area. Life kept Blitz up, using a spell so that Blitz could breath fresh air, which immediately made him get right back to his original self. It looked like Blitz was wearing a rebreather, but it was shrouded in magic, looking really cool for some reason. Blitz knew that at the least, that they were draining the oxygen to make Blitz fall to the floor, which now was a little useless against him. Blitz got up and stood strong, before walking to one of the other entrances and seeing that the doors were locked tight, making Blitz try to use his magic to unlock them, but to no avail.

Liquid radiation leaked into the room, making Blitz chuckle madly, before seeing the camera that was observing him within the room. He looked directly at it, before he took a shot at it, seeing that it was protected by some kind of magic spell. Blitz took his pistol and shot at it, making the bullet bounce off into the wall, seeing that it was a projectile blocking spell, which made him chuckle, before going up to it and flying into it, breaking it in an instant. Blitz used a knife to cut it off the wall, before seeing it go into the liquid radiation and melting before his eyes.

Blitz waited till the radiation liquid was about half way up the lower room, being still on the first floor, before diving in and charging himself against the door that he had tried to open originally. He rammed against it, breaking it off its hinges, watching as it fell to the floor and the radiation came flooding into the camera room, shocking all of the radiation and breaking all of the camera equipment that was stored in the one room. Blitz watched as the pony tried to take out his gun, but was already melting, Blitz feeling somewhat bad about how painful it must have been to turn into liquid like that, but he didn’t know, due to him being a prewar changeling, something that had dealt with the radiation for years upon years, upon years.

Blitz swam out of the camera room and headed to a place called the main reactor, which definitely wasn't obvious as to what it was. Blitz felt like he was supercharged, before he concentrated all of his magic into becoming an orb, before lobbing it at the door, seeing it all melt as it knocked into the door, melting the door and leaving a metal liquid on the floor in its place. Blitz noticed that the radiation was starting to slow down, making Blitz wonder if it would ever enter the reactor room, which made him happy that it didn’t as of right yet, due to one of the reactor fluids being able to be mixed with radiation to create a megaspell, which was not good, not good at all. Blitz knew this because of some of the notes that were on the table beside the reactor. Blitz looked over to where the camera room was, which was fully submerged beneath him at that point, due to the radiation that they forced into the area.Blitz knew that eventually he would come face to face with one of the leaders down in the place that he was, but it would only be in due time, due to what the situation was right there and then, with all of the radiation leaking out of the places that it was meant to be. Blitz was pretty sure that they cut off the amount coming in, due to the liquid stopping at the second floor.

Blitz took a look around and saw that there was another corridor leading to another part of the facility, making him want to go exploring. He dived back in and swam about a little, before plowing into the main door with a loud ‘thud’ coming from both him and the door, watching as the door slowly fell to the ground, making him chuckle to himself. Shadow was not in her physical timberwolf form, instead opting to stay around Blitz’s neck. Blitz began to realise something as he moved forward. If the necklace was only made of gold, then why was it not melting? Blitz thought that it had something to do with Death, which was most likely why. That or Shadow’s soul was protecting it from being destroyed.

Blitz focused on swimming through the radiation, keeping his eyes out of anything that might have made sense for him to enter into. He saw the canteen, but there was nothing that was going to be important within there. The radiation was making him a little light headed, due to all of the magic within him overwhelming him and getting to his head, making him feel like he was going to pass out. Blitz used as much magic as he could, before he noticed that there was a second floor to another area that he was coming closer to, making him feel like it was worth investigating, so he did exactly that, forcing himself to swim upwards and out of the radiation.

Blitz’s mind was immediately cleared as soon as he got out of the liquid, making his vision as well as his mindset come back to him. He wanted to explore the area as much as he could and now knew that the ponies down here was working of all of the three bad factions of the world, so Blitz knew exactly how to act against ponies that got in the way of making something better, but didn’t that make him the same as the raiders, scavengers or the slavers? Yeah, it did, due to him being like he was, but accepting that he could only cause so much good in the world, before the bad would come along and ruin most of his time. Blitz took out his pistol before spotting another camera, before pulling it off the wall again and then tossing it into the radiation, watching as the metal and the components melted down, knowing that the liquid was somewhat filled with bodies and blood and death. It didn’t sit right with him, not one bit.

Blitz walked around the area, before noticing that the radiation levels were rising again, making Blitz realise something. They were raising the levels to blow the reactor and to make the entire place go boom from the underground, making Blitz have to act fast. The levels were being flooded very slowly, but Blitz knew that it was going to be a problem real fast, due to the fact that he had kept the door open, not being able to block the flow of liquid to the reactor, making him need to work quickly to ensure that nopony was going to be able to escape the nightmare situation that was playing out within his hooves.

There were a couple more rooms that Blitz was able to explore above the radiation, making him want to do so, so he did exactly that, blowing down both sets of doors with his magic, before seeing the radiation leak into the rooms, making him chuckle to himself. Blitz was not one to go on a rampage, but they were trying to stop everything that he was trying to do, making him want to direct his revenge not only to them, but to Sawtooth and the others too. Blitz walked around in one of the rooms and was surprised to see that nopony were in the room, due to it being the storage room and not a place that somepony would want to hide within, unless it was their final option.

Blitz turned and was greeted by a couple of ponies aiming weapons at him, seeing that the other room that he had opened was the armoury, making it pretty obvious why ponies didn’t go into the storage room. They made Blitz slowly walk backwards, making him get closer and closer to the edge, very eager to shoot the giant bug within the head, getting rid of the pest that had caused them so many problems on that very day. Blitz cooperated for the most part, before chuckling to himself, making them all seem a little bit on edge. One of them had the guts to aim their weapon at him, before shooting, seeing that it had done nothing. He didn’t even put up a spell, noticing that the radiation had pretty much eaten the bullet, making Blitz feel ever more confident with his actions, before using his magic to pull the armed ponies into the acidic radiation with him, them all struggling against his grasp, before screaming and plunging into the drink. Blitz looked over to them, before seeing them melt before his eyes, like sugar in a hot beverage.

Blitz felt a little bit sick watching their bodies dissolve, but there was something about it that felt like Blitz had done some good, even if he hadn’t at all. Blitz got out of the liquid, before going straight for the armoury and stocking up on the guns and ammo that he could, seeing that there was a huge variety of them. If they were going to be fighting a war, they at least should have come equipped with the right tools to fight them with. Blitz instantly teleported a sack to his side, before pretty much raiding the area for everything that it had, the radiation making everything easier to teleport around, due to him gaining magic from the radiation, especially due to it being up to his hooves already, wait… Blitz looked down at his hooves, before realising that he was running out of time. Blitz teleported a couple more sacks to the air in front of him, before placing all of the weapons in his saddlebag, before teleporting them away, looking back at the armoury as his nose started to bleed, due to the amount of magic that he had just used to teleport a huge load of weapons halfway across the Wasteland, meaning that it was going to be a cakewalk for him being able to get out of the area, due to him weighing significantly less than the item that he had just teleported.

Blitz looked over at the pool of slightly rising liquid, before plunging into it once more, seeing that his nosebleed disappeared within the radiation, due to it being washed off his body, pretty much cleaning him and making him fuel up with magic again. Blitz noticed a door that was closed and locked off from the outside world, or inside world, due to them being within a facility, making him laugh at one of his own jokes. Blitz pushed against the door, before realising that the area was stuck, making him want to use the radiation to his advantage, allowing him to conjure up a massive ball of magic at little to no cost of his own magic, making him chuckle to himself quietly, living in a world where his own amusement was very funny to him. Blitz let go of the massive energy ball, before pushing it hard against the door, knocking it down and seeing a pony place a shield up, making Blitz chuckle. The only reason that he was doing that was to stop the radiation entering the room and killing them all, seeing that they were all mocking him from the safety of the shield.

Blitz smiled back at them, before hearing an alarm go off, signalling that something big was about to happen soon. There was a message that was telling all of the ponies and stallions to exit the building, knowing that something big and bad was about to happen. The ponies within were bound to be vaporized one way or another, due to them being trapped within the other camera room, there being about five ponies within the small room, seeing that a couple of them were still mocking him, while the others watched with smiles on their faces.

“Not now Blitz, we got something that we still gotta find, unless you come back here after the aftermath!” Life stated, making Blitz focus on the main task at hoof, the exact reason why he came down here in the first place. His main goal was to explore every room possible within the secret base, so that was going to be what he was going to do. He broke the door of the room, allowing them to not close it fully, before swimming up onto the second floor, seeing that there was a lot of liquid radiation that was already above the second floor, making it look almost like a river, before Blitz opened the final door with his magic, before seeing a very long corridor, feeling the radiation push his glowing self away from all of the carnage and destruction that was about to happen. Blitz sprinted down the corridor, before stopping at another door, this one being locked by some sort of hoof reader. Blitz changed into one of the ponies that he had just seen, making the hoof scanner work in his favour, allowing him access to the main hub of the facility.

Blitz could see a huge statue with Sawtooth written at the bottom of it, making him chuckle, due to him knowing that it was going to be getting destroyed very quickly. Blitz looked over to the side, to see some type of spellbook laying down on the side, spread open to the page that Sawtooth or somepony else was originally using, allowing him to grab the book before hearing a massive boom.

“Quick! Get into the radiation and read the eternal spell while we are teleporting!” Life quickly blurted out, before jumping into the radiation and getting teleported away, before being sucked into some kind of limbo, giving him time to breathe and most importantly, read the spell that Life wanted him to read, learning how to do it pretty quickly. “Activate it now and then charge into Shifty when you see him. Go horn first!” Life blurted out, before making Blitz confused.

“Wait what? Why?” Blitz questioned, getting a different look from the two souls that were looking at him.

“Because Shadow said that Shifty has been corrupted by Death! I’m going to let you take him out right this instant, so just do it!” Life angrily state, getting Blitz to cast the spell, before making it to the end of their little solo journey.

Blitz finished telling them his little story, before getting up and stretching, feeling a little bit tired after all of that talking, Life feeling the same. It helped that before Blitz got his magic back, Life cleared all of the radiation from his body as well, allowing him to focus on the better things that were going to be coming his way, along with the rest of his group’s way too. Death was now not an issue, which made Blitz’s mind get put to rest, but there was something that didn’t sit right with him. Was he really that easy to end the life of?

“Yes, yes he was Blitz. Don’t doubt yourself while you were in the form you originally were. You could even kill me like that, but please don’t.” Life explained, pointing a hoof at Blitz and giving him a scowl. Blitz tried to not think about it, trying to distract himself from the fact that it doubted Death’s ability, but if Life was right, then Death truly was gone, making Blitz a little bit stumped, not knowing what to do next. “Now Blitz, you relax and have a day or two with doing what you want to do, or spend it with your friends and family.” Life commanded him, making a smile come to Blitz’s face.

Blitz looked at the timberwolf that was looking at him from a distance, before he moved out of the group, slowly approaching the timberwolf, which got him thinking. He looked back at Azure before lifting the necklace over his head and over towards himself, taking off the other necklace for a couple of seconds, before placing the other one on and seeing his mother in the place of the timberwolf. Life used his magic on the amulet, much like Death did on the other amulet to allow the other ponies and creatures to see the timberwolf variant of Shadow. They all looked over at the two and smiled, seeing that they were finally able to spend some time together at long last.

Blitz began to run at his mother, a smile grazing his face as he got closer and closer, before Shadow started to do the same. Shadow was expecting to go running straight through Blitz, but there was contact again, something that she had not been able to feel for a long while, which made her feel really heavy as she fell over, right into Blitz’s warm embrace. Blitz began to tear up, making Shadow only hug him more and more. She tightened her grip on him, hugging him with everything that she could, before making her tear up. The other’s watched in absolute bliss, not wanting the moment between mother and son to end. Eventually though, it would, but it was better that way, rather than crying together, which was always not the answer to anything. They had to focus on more important things than crying, making them both stop tearing up and look at each other with huge smiles on their faces.

Shifty walked over to his grandmother, before she looked at him and placed him on her back with her magic, making Blitz chuckle.

“How are we doing now, Shifty? Are you feeling okay as of now?” Blitz asked, before getting a swift nod from the little bug who was relaxing with a gentle hug to his grandmother’s back, making her chuckle and blush a little bit. Blitz was pretty adamant that he was happy, so he left him to relax with his grandmother. The rest of the group started to chat to each other, before all of the other settlement dwellers came out, looking at all of the ponies that had returned. Azure was chatting to Zavier about his time around the raiders, while Roselight and Gretzky were talking to their loved ones about all that they had been doing, which must have excited both sides a lot.

Blitz climbed up onto the wall, before leaning over the side and relaxing a little bit, being able to finally rest after so long. Life was smiling at him, making Blitz a little bit nervous, due to the demon, or the helper smiling directly at him, like he was scheming something that would challenge Blitz’s mind and body. Life looked a little confused at Blitz when he heard Blitz’s thought and ramblings, making him chuckle to himself, still smiling in Blitz’s direction, making Blitz smile back in response. Life turned himself into a physical form, before teleporting a sword to Blitz’s side. Blitz looked down at the sword and picked it up with his magic, before Life turned around and sat down, not facing Blitz at all.

“You now have the chance to end my life if you so much wish. Take that sword that I gave you and smite me down like I am Sawtooth, if you so much as choose to do so.” Life stated, waiting for Blitz to do so. Blitz didn't do anything. Instead, Blitz decided to sit there and let Life think that Blitz was going to do something, before Blitz got tackled by Life, making him chuckle softly. “I know you don’t want to, but there is a time that you can do it, if you ever want to, because at least I would know that you would be able to complete your mission if you ever decided to end me.” Life stated, giving Blitz a hug, before teleporting down to the little crowd of ponies below Blitz, being a little distance from the gate that Blitz was on. Blitz looked over at the group, before trying to go over to them, before deciding that it would have been better for him just to relax and unwind, rather than bothering them with his matters. Blitz took a seat and then layed down, before looking at the area past the gate, him being the guard now, just like he had wanted to be before the bombs had dropped.

Blitz fell into a sleep that was a little too deep for his liking, almost like he was dragged into a world that was not his own, before coming to the conclusion that he had actually been dragged into a slumber, rather than him wanting to go into one, due to his tiredness. Blitz was nowhere, being in a dark area in time, due to there being nothing around but the darkness of his mind, which didn’t do anything to change the fact that he was pretty much thinking about nothing at that time, which didn’t help his mind to think about something at all. Words seemed to fly past him, being somewhat scary, due to words affecting his mental state, rather than being physical pain that could have been repaired over time. Mental pain was a lot worse, which was something that he needed to learn to overcomb, due it being his one biggest weakness, something which he was not exactly proud of, giving him a little bit of a chill, sending a haunting vibration down his back, making his chitin crawl.

Blitz opened his eyes and was definitely in another world, sending even more chills up his back and into his mind this time, hurting a little bit, due to the sheer quantity of vibrations affecting him. Blitz got onto his hooves and looked around, seeing that there were not many things in the world, due to the fact that the world was cut off from the rest of Equestria, making his dream almost turn into the nightmare. He took to the skies to see what was happening with the world, before all hell struck loose. As he hovered in the sky, bombs and spells went off everywhere, sending ponies and stallions into a panic, before the races slowly went their own ways. Pegusi being the more noticeable ones, due to them retreating to the clouds and shutting the rest of the world below out, making them have to come up with something for the plants and crops that they would eventually get back up and running. Blitz hated seeing stuff like that, but there was something that was off about all of it, making Blitz point it out to himself. The pegusi didn’t stop there, they made it rain a lot, making the ground that the earth ponies and the unicorns very wet and not making it a place that the ponies wanted to set up their farms, forcing them away.

Blitz felt like he was in a time before the war even happened, but as soon as the bombs fell, he could tell that the Wasteland was being created from the very view that he was seeing, the display that change Equestria for good, until something changed within his mind, the feeling of striding to make it what it once was again. Blitz looked around from his position in the sky and was instantly taken back by the amount of fighting that went on from both above and below the clouds. He looked down and saw the raiders growing as a faction, before everything was shut off, plunging Blitz’s vision into darkness.

Blitz’s mind placed him in his own scenario as a guard, before making everything feel like normal. He was wearing the original guard armour and uniform, making him look very stylish and powerful, which was not the thing that he wanted to look like. He wanted to look stylish, but not powerful at all, due to the other ponies and stallions needing help from somepony that was kind and soft, not somepony who looked like they could cause some serious damage. Although they needed to look and be powerful, Blitz didn’t want to be one that others feared, he wanted to be the one that was respected by all of the other ponies and stallions around, due to him being a soft little changeling, something that would not have hurt another soul, back then at least. Within the Wasteland, he was going to be the pony that was going to protect all that he had, whether he had to kill to survive or not. Something clicked within Blitz’s mind, before he woke up, with very wide eyes and an instant realisation of what he needed to do to change the land that was his home. He needed to protect the chosen ones of his settlement, making his mind instantly go back to him being a guard, a guard with a bladed polearm and a sniper rifle. He must protect his own group, at all costs!

Chapter 30: Training Trousle

Blitz needed to learn when to relax, which was one of his biggest issues, due to him always wanting to be in the heat of the action. Blitz slowly got up, before feeling like he wanted to take on the world all at once, due to the state of which his body was in after waking up. He was motivated, but there was really nothing that he could have done without the others, due to him remembering that without Death’s magic, he was whittled down to no be a one pony army, which was something that he liked about Death, but no, he wasn’t going to miss him anytime soon.

Blitz looked up, noticing that it was night time, making him feel slightly bad about where he was and that he didn’t spend the day with the ponies that he enjoyed spending his time with, the ponies that he called family. He looked around and saw that nopony was around him, making him a little bit surprised that nopony wanted to stay around or close to Blitz for when he woke up, but he did definitely know why, which was the temperature of the night. It was cold, too cold for him to do anything more but seek out shelter. The wind passed by him, making his teeth chatter, his fangs chattering against his lower teeth, which didn't make too much of a pleasant noise. Blitz rushed over to get off the wall, before falling off it entirely, gliding down to the ground and scrambling to get to somewhere that was warmer than where he currently was. It surprised him that nopony wanted to pick up his body and take him into a place where he could become warm and safe. He was a little annoyed about that, but he had nopony else to blame but himself, due to where he decided to sleep. Blitz first of all hid under the wall, in a little gap next to the wall, which would have made the perfect sleeping hole, if only he had something else to put over him, due to all of the cold air getting within the hole.

Blitz noticed a noise of something knocking against the opposite side of the wall, before making him scramble to try to see what it was. It was most likely a ghoul or something trying to break the wall, but as Blitz flew up, he noticed that there was mainly a lot of ghouls heading towards their settlement, most of them being feral and not wanting to think about their actions, which was the bad type of ghouls. Blitz flew down and walked over to one of them, breaking its neck with incredible force, a force that he had never had before. He used his magic to drag the ghoul away from the wall, before noticing that there was a couple of weapons on the ghoul that would make zero noise, making him smile as he ripped the items straight off the ghoul, before dropping the body to the floor and watching as it splashed into a puddle, muffling everything with a little bit of a splash noise, making Blitz smile from ear to ear. His goal was to protect, so that was going to be what he was going to do, as his cold, green blood began to warm within his body, which was not natural for any normal changeling, but since when was Blitz ever a normal changeling? He was a half breed!

There was some sort of stone lance that Blitz picked up from the ghoul, making feel more or less like the guard that he wanted to be eventually, which made his blood boil with heat and anger. The anger was for the ghouls coming to disturb their sleep, as well as trying to hurt them all, which was something that Blitz didn’t want to happen, so he was going to fight them off, one by one, until it was only him standing. Blitz kept hitting ghouls with the lance and knocking them over, waiting to see if they were going to get up, which most of them didn't, which was good for Blitz. The ghouls at the back were shooting towards him, one of them actually catching Blitz on the cheek and on the leg, making his leg go limp and grazing his cheek, but if they thought that a bullet hole would have stopped Blitz, they had another thing coming. The adrenaline kicked in, making Blitz forget about the bullet wound entirely, focusing more on protecting the ponies that he called friends and family.

Blitz saw that one of the ghouls with a weapon was walking closer and closer to Blitz, keeping behind some of the ghouls, before seeing Blitz lash out towards him, scaring him a little as Blitz actually got to him from being behind the ghouls. The ghouls tried to reach out to him, before Blitz kicked them away, using his hindlegs to push against one, before bringing out his fangs. He bit down into the flesh of the other ghoul, biting hard and drawing all of the blood out of the already dead body. Blitz tore a chunk out of the ghoul, being only a small one, before all of the other ghouls turned around and didn’t focus on Blitz at all. Instead, they decided to focus on the easy meal that was in front of them. What the ghoul didn’t realise was that Blitz used his magic to turn the ghoul into more of a lifelike creature, turning him into a pony for everypony else, making the ghouls not know who to eat first, but they decided on their buddy first. They launched themselves at him, making him scream as they began to eat him from the outside in. Blitz decided that it was a good time to go after one of the other ghouls, while the feral ones were distracted. Blitz used his magic on his new stone lance and threw it at maximum velocity at a ghoul, pinning him to the wall and making him drop his weapon.

Blitz turned to another ghoul, before taking a knife from out of the ghouls side pocket, before slicing him with it, straight across the neck, killing him in an instant. Blitz was doing all he could to protect the settlement, but noticed something poking him on the shoulder. Shadow held up the necklace that Blitz had taken off, the one that would have turned her into Anti, which was what she was implying, wanting to help Blitz as much as she could. Blitz nodded, before swapping the necklaces quickly, using his magic to swap them and teleport the one that shadow was holding after to his saddlebag, where it would have been safe. Shadow went to work, being in her cursed timberwolf form, before lashing out at some of the ghouls that were eating the bodies, taking them and crushing their bones in her maw, mainly trying to crush their skulls, to be able to kill them easier. Blitz focused in on one of the remaining ghouls with the weapons, before teleporting to him and holding the rifle to the ghoul’s head, before pulling the trigger with his magic, blasting the ghoul’s head off and making it turn into pieces. It was not at all satisfying, but it was something that Blitz had to do. If they never attacked in a massive horde, he would have reasoned with them, but not like this, never like this.

Shadow was busy helping Blitz clear the horde that was eating the body, while Blitz was dealing with some of the more dangerous ones, the ones holding the weapons, which made him realise that there were only a couple left. He walked closer to one of them, keeping his shield up, before seeing that they began to shoot at Shadow, pissing Blitz off even more, before he lashed out and stabbed the ghoul in the stomach, before looking at him directly in the eyes, before his head got blown off completely, making Blitz recoil a lot, not knowing why the head of the ghoul exploded. He looked over to the wall of the settlement, before seeing a couple of ponies standing on there, aiming their weapons at the rest of the ghouls, before firing, focusing on the couple of ghouls that were left with weapons. Blitz dropped his shield and instantly got shot by one of the ghouls, making him wince out in pain, before dropping to the floor, knowing that he was going to survive the shot, but still hating the amount of pain that came out of it.

Shadow immediately noticed this and forcefully ripped one of the feral ghoul’s head off, before rushing over and teleporting onto the ghoul that had shot her son, making her rip the gun from his grasp, before chomping down on his forelegs and then his hindlegs, breaking them with the force of her jaw. He screamed out silently, before she looked at him, before backing up and going to check on Blitz, making sure that he was not too badly injured. Roselight, Petalbreeze, Saber, Zeke and Zavier jumped off the wall, being the ones who came to Blitz’s aid, before moving in a group towards Blitz, before they surrounded him, aiming to anything that would have been a threat. There were a couple of feral ghouls left, taking only a couple of shots to finish them off, before they decided to drag Blitz back into the settlement, before getting carried by Roselight and PetalBreeze over the wall. Shadow jumped onto the wall, having amazing powers as a timberwolf, including incredible jumping abilities.

Shadow came closer to Blitz, before placing herself over the top of him, being a bit more protective than she needed to be. Blitz slowly looked up at her and chuckled, before using his magic to move her off slightly, enough for him to be able to sit up. Life was healing him for a little bit, making the pain more bearable for him, before cutting it off, making him wince.

“You not sugar coating me Life?” Blitz stated, getting a simple nod from Life, making Blitz sigh, as he tried to get up, but the wound stopped him from doing so. Shadow nuzzled into the side of him, before rolling onto her side, allowing Blitz to wrap a hoof around her, cuddling her on the floor, while he tried to build the confidence to get up, or enough strength to push off the floor at least. Blitz noticed that he was not getting any better by just lying there, so he decided to do something about it. He used his magic to heal the wound, but he needed to get the bullet out of him, which was the hard part. In a desperate attempt to get it out, Blitz screamed, as his magic worked to get the bullet out. After a second, he got it out, before he healed himself up, closing the gushing wound in an instant and relaxing on the floor, exhausted and tired.

Shadow didn’t leave him alone, making sure that she was the closest thing to him and making him know it as well, nuzzling into him to keep him warm during the cold night. Roselight gave him a blanket and then dragged him into her home, using her magic. Blitz was able to get up, but Shadow had other ideas, making Roselight drag him into a room, before Blitz pushed against Shadow, wanting to get up and stretch his legs. Shadow refused to cooperate with him, instead turning to Roselight and looking at her, making her know that Shadow wanted to talk to her about something. Blitz teleported the other amulet to himself, before Shadow stopped him from changing forms, her wanting to stay as the timberwolf for the night, before Blitz teleported it back into his saddlebag, ready to take it out again, at a later date.

Shadow nuzzled into Blitz, wanting nothing but to relax with him after all that had happened outside, but there was something within Blitz that made him not want affection at all, only a little bit of a rest, due to him refusing to sleep for a little while, before accidentally sleeping out in the open, not really wanting to do so because of the fact that his body would have gotten too cold, like he showed originally outside, before fighting most of the ghouls on his own, before Shadow thought to help out and the others noticed.

“Blitz, it might be worth you getting some sleep, especially now due to the fact that you protected the entire settlement, but also due to the fact that you feel asleep out in the cold, which was not the best choice that you have ever made. So, to counter this and regardless of what you think Blitz, you are staying here for the rest of the night and getting cuddles from Shadow, but not only her, but from me and my sister as well.” Roselight stated, before looking to the side and seeing that the door opened, bringing Petalbreeze into the picture. Blitz liked both of the sisters, but he just didn’t need the affection, but something was holding him still, making it so that he was not frozen out of fear, but frozen out of love and affection, which was something that he was receiving, something that he couldn’t ever stay around to think about having. Blitz got to the ground again, getting Shadow to cuddle him, wrapping herself in Blitz’s warmth, while Petalbreeze and Roselight cuddled Blitz, making it so that he would get warmer and stay warm.

Blitz was in bliss, being hugged by three ponies that he liked, one of them being a changeling within a timberwolf’s form, which made him chuckle, making Shadow look at him, before she got up and turned to face Blitz, before snuggling into him again, this time looking at him while she relaxed. A knock came from the door, startling all of them and making Shadow chuckle to herself, before barking at the door, making them all laugh. Roselight got up and walked to the door, her sister pretty much spooning Blitz at this point, making it so that he was warm and snug against her. Blitz looked back at her, before resting his head next to hers, seeing a look that nopony else had given him for a long while, making him blush a little, making her chuckle softly.

Roselight opened the door to Shifty, who came running in as soon as he saw Blitz, before sliding into a cuddle with him, nuzzling his dad as much as he could. Blitz felt the love around him, heating him up so much and making it so that he wasn’t cold, but that didn’t stop the others from hugging him and keeping him physically warm, rather than mentally warm, which made Blitz think about it for a minute. Was the cold really warmed up by mental love, mental warmth and affection? Blitz didn’t know and to be honest with himself, he didn’t really care about it a whole lot, due to him getting the physical warmth that he didn’t want, but needed!

They all cuddled Blitz, before making the night feel so much better, making him want to sleep. Blitz closed his eyes, but didn’t fall asleep, but instead, he decided to wait for all of the others to go to sleep, waiting patiently for them all to do so, before even trying to do so, due to him only just waking up from some sleep a little while ago. Once the rest of his little cuddle group fell asleep, he hugged Shifty tighter, before trying to drift off too, wanting to dream about something nice and relaxing, as his eyes slowly fluttered and cut all vision of the surround world out, making him drift off or teleport to the land of sleep.

He blinked and was somewhere that he didn’t know, which made him start to run. There was some music blasting through the area, being music that he didn’t know, being something from what he would expect to hear within some sort of video game or something. Blitz turned around and saw words flying towards him, making him want to dodge them, since his magic wasn’t working. How did he know this? He tried to turn off the music with his magic! Blitz had to constantly dodge flying objects within this weird dream of his. Blitz had an idea as to what it was about and why he was having to dodge things, but why did they have to be words? Why could it have not been bullets or something cool like that?

“Because words won’t hurt you if you are strong enough, but bullets are always going to hurt, especially if you bite into one being shot out of a gun.” Life stated, sitting in an area that Blitz could not access. He was able to fly around, but only within a certain space, almost like he had been placed within a box of some sort. “I am training you to dodge and do all different types of things while you are here. You nearly bit a bullet earlier, so we are going to be changing that Blitz!” Life state, seeing some words fly at Blitz while he just swayed to the music, almost like being some sort of animation and not a real pony. “First lesson: Dodge!” Life shouted out, sending some words in Blitz’s direction, before seeing Blitz turn to the words. Blitz smiled, before flying over them. Life sent a couple more, this time being in the air, but Blitz moved out of the way of them, opting to land back on the floor to do so. Life sent some more, sending some that were from the bottom and at the top, making Blitz have to hover in the middle, before he started to mess with the length of the words, making Blitz have to move slowly up and down to avoid them, making it a little more difficult.

Life changed it up a bit, forcing his wings to cut off, sending him to the ground, because he was not ready for anything to change like that, which was a little understandable for him. Blitz got hit with a word, making the entire thing stop, before making him look at Life, seeing that he was somewhat impressed with Blitz.

“Alright, you need to get ready for every single situation, so I am here to train you till you pass each one. Every test or training exercise will make it so that you are able to evade attacks, because i want you to survive all of this, so that you may help me with achieving a couple of goals later down the line.” Life explained, sending him back into the action. Blitz understood that there was going to be no breaks with Life, making him even more determined to keep trying and better his reflexes and dodging capability. Blitz closed his eyes and sighed, before opening his eyes with the pure fire racing within his blood, heating him up and making his blood boil, setting his mind straight to focusing on the event that he was within, within his dream.

Blitz was able to fly again, but Life swapped the order of the attacks, trying to make sure that Blitz was not able to beat it due to memory. It was a test on reaction times and speed, so it was pretty much a given that he was going to be doing something differently. Blitz moved out of the way of the words, which made him a little bit more confident in his solo ability. Life was definitely one to be a genuine change of good luck, due to him not only wanting to better himself, but to better others around him. What more could one need? Blitz kept flying around, dodging the words that he was sent with ease, before Life dropped Blitz to his hooves, making him land on them, before knowing what he needed to do this time. Blitz had to keep jumping over obstacles that were in his way. A piece of wood came towards him with great speed, making Blitz jump over the wood and land perfectly back on his hooves, stopping for just a moment, before a couple more pieces of wood came to him, acting more like hurdles more than anything else. Blitz kept jumping, which was something which counted as dodging, making Life chuckle, before changing the attacks.

“Don’t stop moving Blitz!” Life shouted, out, before turning invisible and fading into the darkness. Blitz understood what he said, before constantly shuffling from side to side, almost like he was vibrating a little bit. Blitz saw some books fly towards him, making him shuffle to the side, before a load more books were forcefully thrown in his direction, making him do everything in his power to avoid said attacks that Life was sending him. Blitz kept moving and running about, jumping over some obstacles, before realising that he could fly again. He took to the blackness that was above, before looking around, seeing a couple more books flying towards him. He ducked under the books, before doing a spiral of some kind and dodging them all. Blitz flew down and landed on all fours, making dust go everywhere from the dust explosion that he had just made.Life smiled, before placing some bright white lights on the floor, not saying anything. Blitz was in the zone and was ready. He looked behind him at one word flying across the line, not being able to void it by going up, so he tried to move to the other line, not being able to do so, so he teleported over there, working perfectly and not putting any strain on his magic, which was the most enjoyable experience for him, being able to use magic with no drain to be able to do something was definitely on his favourite things to do list.

Blitz looked at the words as they floated from line to line, before getting a subtle graze from one, knocking him over and making him get hit by another, which made Life stop the simulation and walk over to Blitz. He was surprised that he was doing so good, but there was something that was making him slow down, something that Life needed to get out of Blitz’s system and fast. Life looked into Blitz’s eyes, before seeing that he was fearing death, not the one that he had just killed, but death in general, which made Life seem a little bit confused. Life wasn’t going to let Blitz die, due to Life needing him too much.

“You know you really shouldn’t fear death, right? I think that you should know that if anything bad did happen to you, I would revive you as quickly as i could, before letting you deal with the issues after.” Life stated, making Blitz get back up and shake his head, before smiling back at Life, seeing that Life was somewhat concerned for the lone bug, but Blitz’s mind was pretty much clear, making him able to focus more and more on what he needed to do to keep himself alive.

Life smiled back at him, before going out of the box that he put Blitz in and starting the simulation again, this time with bullets flying towards him in the same place as books and sharp swords being in the place of the words, which Blitz didn’t immediately notice, due to his mind trying to avoid them. Blitz kept flying about, keeping himself off the floor and keeping it so that he was yet again, not too close to the roof of the box, due to the swords, being up there too.

“You got this, Blitz?” Life asked from outside the room, getting no response from Blitz, due to him being too much into what he was doing to be able to answer the call. Life changed it so that Blitz was on the lines again, seeing both swords and bullets go to him, forcing him to teleport to another line. Blitz did so, before turning and making sure that he was able to see both directions, due to being hit in the back last time, before anymore came, Blitz was teleported to the middle of the square, unable to move. He saw some flashes and casted a shield completely around himself, resulting in only a shield that was in one direction, making Blitz have to keep an eye out for where the flashes came from. Blitz saw many flashes from many directions, before time seemed to slow down, making the bullets fly a little slower, allowing Blitz to focus on the different directions. Blitz deflected so many bullets, that smoke began to gather from not only the shield, but the horn that Blitz had. Life was a little bit confused, but knew that the adrenaline had probably got to him right there and then.

The smoke cleared, leaving Blitz panting, still holding up the shield, before Blitz got teleported into a different scenario, allowing him to move, but seeing that there were now guns shooting at him from outside the box, making him not able to destroy them boy hoof, but there was an option that Blitz thought about. He could either avoid them or he could… Blitz blasted one of the guns, seeing that it blew up, but seeing that it took a huge chunk of his magical power away, but it regenerated quick enough that he was able to make it grow stronger and stronger by taking out more of the guns that were shooting at him, using some of the other tactics that Life had showed him, which was moving around and dodging all of the stray bullets that would shoot at his last location. Blitz managed to take them out, which was great for him, before he got teleported to another area.

Blitz was pinned to the floor by a bunch of ponies, which he didn’t think was part of the simulation, but he was still in the dream, or training dream, which made him realise that this was one of the training exercises that Life had for him, putting him in a situation that he would have thought that he was useless in. Blitz noticed that in the scenario he was pinned to the floor by a unicorn, there was a hostage tied up in front of him, being held captive by a pegasus with a battle saddle on with two shotguns either side of him and another pegasus watching over both of them. Blitz looked up to the unicorn that was pinning him down, before seeing that they had a knife within their magical grasp as well, making him one of the main targets for Blitz to take out, but Blitz knew that there was an order to those types of things, making him think a little bit, before using his magic to start the event, using the dagger that the unicorn had to kill the pegasus with the battle saddle, before watching the damage take place.

Blitz bucked the unicorn from underneath, only being pinned down by his forehooves and not his hindlegs, which was beneficial for him, not the unicorn that was holding him down. Blitz noticed that the unicorn had a pistol which was unloaded on his side, which was perfect for him, taking it off with his magic, all while the unicorn was still in the air, and throwing the empty weapon at the pegasus in the air, before seeing him falling to the ground after being hit with the metal object, most likely knocking him out cold, making Blitz focus all of his attention on the unicorn that had just recovered from the buck. Blitz got up and saw that the unicorn had used his magic to summon in some more weapons, before Blitz teleported a little bit back, making the first shot that the unicorn fired not hit him, dodging it with a little bit of ease. He kept his eyes locked on the unicorn, but kept his ears out for other things that could have indicated that something was going to be coming at him from another angle. Blitz placed up a shield, directing it towards the attacker, who kept shooting at Blitz from the front, before Blitz slowly started to move towards the pegasus’ battle saddle. Blitz used his hooves to move one of the weapons out of the battle saddle, not losing sight of the unicorn for one millisecond, to avoid him from doing anything wrong.

Blitz managed to get one of the shotguns out of the holster, before aiming it through his shield, before waiting for the perfect moment. The unicorn had to reload, putting up a shield in front of themself, allowing them to not get shot, just like Blitz was doing. Blitz used this, teleporting somewhere else, making the unicorn a little more paranoid as to where Blitz had gone, due to him having a shield only able to point in one direction. Blitz teleported behind the unicorn, before getting shot at, seeing time slow down, making the bullets visible and able to be dodged. Blitz still had to be careful, but he was able to move at full speed while time was slowed down, which made him feel somewhat powerful, but he was pretty sure that it was just Life helping him out just that little bit more, due to him needing Blitz to believe in his ability and not to let the power of what Death had given him affect his general survival skills. Blitz shot a shell out of the shotgun, making the shield of the unicorn drop, allowing him to pump it, before shooting another shot, but there were no more bullets, making Blitz throw the weapon at the unicorn and making them flinch from the impact of the weapon hitting them, before they fired back while Blitz didn’t have his shield up. Blitz moved about, making it so that he was more or less a harder target to his, that being his main goal. He wanted to be shot as little as possible, but also didn’t to be shot at all, due to him probably failing what Life was after, making him probably reset the simulation that he was in. He didn’t want to fail a pony, not again.

Blitz dodged one shot, Blitz dodged a second shot and a third, before teleporting behind the unicorn again, making it a sudden action to make the battle end as soon as possible, just to avoid injury. Blitz grabbed the unicorn with his magic, before flinging him across the area, keeping it so that he was not able to use his magic until he had got over to the opposite side of the area, making him get hurt in the process. The unicorn winced as he hit the wall at a high speed. Blitz flew over and looked at the unicorn, before seeing the unicorn getting a little bit angrier, preparing Blitz for what was going to happen. Blitz’s reactions were on point, making him not worry about half of the things that were going on around him, as he focused all of his senses into killing the unicorn, the unicorn doing the same for Blitz.

The unicorn unleashed a bolt of lightning hot energy towards Blitz, making him start moving, making the little bug more of a threat and a harder target to hit, which angered the unicorn that little bit more, due to him just wanting it to be over and done with, which was exactly what Blitz wanted as well, due to him wanting to get Equestria back to how it was, but the only thing that was stopping him from doing so right now, was the unicorn, which Blitz used as motivation for wanting to kill him quickly, wanting to get back to his original life.

Blitz teleported over to the body of the fallen pegasus, seeing that there was another shotgun on his over side, allowing Blitz another chance at blowing the head off somepony else’s body, making him smile a little bit, before teleporting away with the shotgun within his magical grasp. Blitz noticed that there was something that he had to do to be able to get a shot off into the unicorn, but he had an idea. Blitz teleported into the open, before waiting for the unicorn to charge up his magic and let it all out onto him. Blitz waited for that to happen, before placing his shield in front, blocking the magic and allowing Blitz to check the shotgun for the amount of ammo that it had. Just like the other one, it had a single shot within it for some reason. Blitz waited for all of the magic on the unicorn to be gone, before teleporting behind him and seeing that he had a shield activated, knowing that he would have done the same trick over and over again. Instead of shooting, Blitz used his horn to make the noise of the shotgun firing, which made the unicorn think that he had shot a shot, but he didn’t. He saw the unicorn rear up, dropping his shield. Blitz fired, blowing out the middle of the pony and making him drop into two pieces of similar sizes.

Blitz looked over the body, before closing his eyes and sighing, allowing Life to hear him, making an impact within the demon that seemed to be possessing him or being with him in other words. Blitz was teleported away and noticed some sniper rifles looking at him, not being able to identify the users at all, making him understand what he had to do. Blitz kept moving around, making himself a harder shot to hit. The distance of the snipers was pretty far, making Blitz feel comfortable moving around at a slower speed, making the snipers constantly have to change their aim. Blitz kept moving around, going from side to side and watching each sniper carefully, making sure that they were never able to track where he was going to go.

Blitz saw some raiders coming at him with a knife each, making him stop focusing on the snipers, but keeping himself moving to avoid getting shot. Blitz moved around one of the raiders, before noticing that the shotgun that he had taken from last time was still with him, making him use it as a weapon and swing it around like a club. He rushed over to one of the raiders, before hitting him with the weapon, making him go down in one fatal swing, allowing him to grab the knife and go around stabbing ponies. He decided to throw the knife at one of the raider’s, hitting one of them in the eye as they screamed out in pain and dropped to the ground. Blitz picked up the weapon he used as a club, before noticing that there was a shotgun slug within the weapon, giving him a gory idea. Blitz walked over to another raider, before breaking the weapon on the raider’s legs, making the raider limp, before Blitz aimed it at the face of the raider, not being reluctant at all to pull the trigger, which is the first thing he did, before not only did the weapon fire, but it exploded, sending Blitz a little bit backwards and knocking him over, allowing one of the snipers to take a shot at Blitz, making him place a shield up, deflecting the bullet and allowing him to continue on with his training.

Blitz had another knife, but didn’t have the weapon anymore, due to him blowing both it and the raider’s face off, making him chuckle a little bit at the thought of it, but then looked over at the raider, seeing that his head was everywhere. Blitz teleported behind some cover that he had around, making it so that the snipers were going to have a hard time trying to hit him. Blitz closed his eyes for a second, before opening them and running about, trying to make himself a harder target again, for the snipers that were trying to lock on. Blitz didn’t know how he was going to deal with them or even if he needed to do so, but there was definitely something up with the entire scenario, due to there being little to nopony there to fight him, apart from the snipers. Blitz got teleported behind the snipers, seeing them still locked on his previous position and waiting for him to appear. Blitz saw a knife on the table beside him, making him reach out for the metallic object, making him tremble a little bit as the thoughts hit him again, just like they had with Death, making Life pause the memory for a second, before flying down into the box and hugging Blitz, knowing that what he was going through might have been rough, but the rough parts were the most rememberable parts, good or bad.

Blitz closed his eyes, before picking up the knife and being teleported to the small room again, having words come across the room to from the floor, allowing him to jump and move, but not to fly. Blitz jumped over them, feeling all of the thoughts slowly easing away and being replaced with happy memories, happy memories that were not his, but were Life’s memories, filtering them into Blitz’s head to make Blitz feel like he was not alone in any of the doom and gloom. Life was most likely being the one with the problems too, due to losing all of his family to the evil spirits that they were, which didn’t make him the happiest to say the least, but he stayed positive, just so that he was able to think straight and make the correct choices most of the time. Blitz needed to be in that mindset, so he pushed himself harder, wanting to feel more determined than he had ever done before. The simulation stopped and everything turned black, before Blitz woke up to a clap of thunder, startling him a little bit more than he had ever been startled. Blitz was in the same position as when he went to sleep, making him feel like he needed to get up and stretch, before he heard something in his ear.

“I believe in you!” Life stated, quietly whispering it in his ear so that only Blitz was able to pick it up, before he noticed that something about him changed, but he couldn’t find out what it was that changed exactly. Blitz tried to use his magic and noticed that something was up with it, making it consume a lot less magic than normal, which was good, but also bad, due to Blitz not knowing how to trigger it for the future. Blitz noticed that it was something that counted as him being happy, maybe making his magic easier to use. He was just going to run with that, since there was not really anything else apart from training that Blitz knew about having an effect. Maybe it was his mood, but if that was the case, wouldn’t it have been a lot more potent? Blitz had no idea, before he tried to get out of bed without alerting anypony that he was up.

Blitz used his magic to raise himself and Shifty up, before placing him back down and looking around, before doing what he originally wanted to do, which was to stretch, because he felt like his body needed it ever since he woke up. The crack of his bones was enough to wake all of them up, but surprisingly it didn’t make Blitz look at them more aas being some kind of heavy sleepers or something, which was not a bad example at all.

Blitz moved about a little bit, before wanting to go out and do a little bit of running, wanting to train up his body just that little bit more, due to what happened within his head. Life respected the enthusiasm and didn’t disagree with Blitz’s call at all, due to it probably being the best thing that he could have done at a time like it was. It was still night after all, so a little bit of a run wouldn’t have hurt anypony at all. Blitz used his magic to grab a weapon from his saddlebag, before walking over to the door and opening it quietly, stepping out into the drizzle and making it so that he was going to stay that way. Blitz sighed, but wasn’t going to go back on what he said about wanting to do exercise, but there was elements that were holding him back and one of them was the weather, due to it needing to be hot for him to be able to do it more efficiently, due to him being a bug and not really anything else. Blitz sighed, before stepping his hooves into the outside world again. He used his magic to pull up the hood of the clothing that he had on, keeping him warmer than he originally was, which was good because otherwise the weather would have hurt him more than he thought.

Blitz soared over the gate of the settlement, before sliding on the opposite side of the gate, looking back into the settlement and noticing that nopony had been awoken, which was exactly what Blitz needed to do to clear his head, getting him ready for the final battle that was going to take place in the future, the not too far future, due to them needing to get them out of the way so that they could work on making Equestria what it used to be, which meant that any uncivilised ponies would have to go, only keeping the ones that seemed to want to change the future by working with others, which was what Blitz wanted to do eventually, working with others in a lab or something to help ponies discover things and help them with just clearing the Wasteland in general, which filled him with a huge amount of determination, giving him the confidence to do things that he never even thought that he would have wanted to do.

Blitz splashed into a puddle, making a loud splash sound, before noticing that something seemed to make his mind so much better, making him run around and be a little more playful, not only getting his exercise done, but also having un in the process, as Blitz literally danced in the rain, making him chuckle out loud. Shadow joined him with dancing, her being in her timberwolf form and making Blitz smile more and more, being the company that he needed, due to him not really having fun since before the bombs fell. This was his one chance to have fun with somepony and that somepony was his mother, which made him smile even more than he already was. He kept running!

Blitz watched as Shadow chased him, seeing if she could catch him in her timberwolf form, which proved to be a little more difficult than she originally thought, due to Blitz being somewhat elusive, making him a slippery bug to catch, especially due to the rain, making him as slippery as black ice, due to only one aspect, his chitin. Blitz used his moves as he was hunted down by his mother, being almost like a moth that nopony could catch within the light of the moonlight, slowly drifting away to the side and then back around to catch a glimpse of the best and brightest light around. Did Blitz really just compare himself to a moth? Yes, yes he did.

Shadow lunged for Blitz, before he teleported a tiny bit forwards, dodging Shadow by a couple of hairs, before noticing that she wanted to continue with the hunting. She launched herself at Blitz, making him put up a shield for one of her bites, before he pushed her away with the shield, making the wooden canine want to get him even more, which Blitz was not going to let happen. Blitz watched as Shadow charged at him, making him run towards her, jumping over the timberwolf and watching as she picked up speed. Blitz spawned a metal bar in front of him, before wielding it within his magic, acting almost like a staff of some kind, which was Blitz’s favourite type of weapon. Anti launched herself at him, making Blitz block it with the metal rod, before seeing her try to bite Blitz from being in front of the pole, which wasn’t working as much as she hoped. Blitz used his magic to tap her on the side of the head with the metal rod, before dazing her just enough for him to trip her up and place her on her back, before pinning the pole over her neck, not making it so that she was suffocating, but enough to know what his intentions would have been if she was not anypony special to him. Blitz gazed down at the timberwolf, before kissing it on the nose, receiving a swift lick to the chin, making him chuckle and bring the pole to his side, Shadow scrambled to her paws and sat down, relaxing within the rain.

They had their little fight, but it was time for them both to relax a little bit more, so they both started moving about again. Blitz teleported the pole into his saddlebag, compressing it with his magic and watching as the saddlebag worked its magic, making the item disappear within it, being complete magic to the rest of the world that did not have a saddlebag to their name. Blitz and Shadow kept walking around, not walking around the settlement, but moving away from it, knowing not to go too far from it, to avoid both them getting hurt from distancing themselves from it, but also keeping it protected, which was exactly what Blitz wanted to do for all of the ponies that lived within the settlement, wanting to be the guard that he never could have been before.

Blitz used his magic to swap the amulets that he was wearing, making Shadow turn back into her normal self, being the loveable changeling mare that she was, to Blitz at least. She paused, before going in to hug Blitz a little bit, making it known to him that she was proud of him, which made him blush a little bit, before he forced her to stop hugging him, due to him blushing too much from the interaction. Blitz loved his mother, that was all that needed to be said at that point of time, due to there being nothing that was really going on at that point, making him relax more than ever, despite still running with her alongside him, keeping him company while he did a little bit of exercise, calling it ‘bettering himself’ exercise.

Blitz was also planning out what he was going to do as his next part of his plan, due to him really needing to make some ground on the arms race to get to the trinity that included the three different factions that had merged into one, those being the raiders, scavengers and slavers. From what Blitz knew, they didn’t get along too well, maybe being able to use that to his advantage, maybe making the others fight for him so that they could carve a way to get to the leaders that should have been assassinated by now. Blitz still had to come up with a good enough plan, before executing it at the perfect time. That was the final thing that he needed to do, which was execute a plan and hope that it would work.

“You know Blitz, that might work! You place a big enough bounty or a big enough reward for the other groups to go for and they will all want a little bit more of that, so they will fight it out to get it. Smart thinking son!” Shadow stated, looking about as Blitz walked around, wanting to do something about the situation then and there, but sadly there was nothing that he was able to do, due to where the group was at and how little alliances they had made. Blitz thought about it for a couple of seconds, before slowly opening his mouth, getting an instant response from Shadow. “Having an undead army to help you? Are you okay Blitz? How do you suppose that you do that and no, you ain’t killing yourself.” Shadow replied to his thought that he was going to announce, so he closed his mouth again, looking to the side for any clarification from anything else that was around him, but unlike Shadow, the rocks and trees didn’t have a different opinion, but yet again, they didn’t even have an opinion.

Something deep within him called out for that to happen, for him to run an army of undead to help out all of the ponies and stallions who wanted to make the Wasteland better. Blitz scuffed his hoof a little bit, making him look down at a puddle that was forming below him, allowing him to see his reflection, turning back into his non disguised form, looking disgusting, due to all of the skin that was connecting his chitin and exoskeleton together, or so he had originally thought. The chitin was some sort of growth from the bone itself, pretty much just being bone armour, but knowing that it didn't feel like it at all. Blitz looked at Shadow’s perfect form, being a little bit jealous as to how his mother looked, compared to him.

Blitz heard something snap behind him, making him jump and entire one hundred and eighty degrees just to catch it in the act, but as he turned, it vanished into thin air, creeping him out a little bit, due to how sudden it was, not with any warning whatsoever, making him a little bit more paranoid, keeping him on edge for a little while, before going back to trotting away, making him stay in the mindset to consider an undead army being for him, but he would need some help in doing so with them, due to him not being able to control them normally.

“Death’s plan was to use an undead army to win the upcoming war, but he was going to be using you and take control of you to kill all of the ponies that stood in his way of making Equestria better than it is now, including yourself, your friends, family and allies, in order to carry out his task. To be completely honest Blitz, I am glad that I have met you and am glad that you share the same desires that I do.” Life chuckled, looking off into the darkness that was in front of them both, allowing Blitz to do the same, before Blitz sent an orb of light down the path, revealing some sort of group of ghouls walking towards them both. Life looked at Blitz for a brief second before staring back at the ghouls moving their way. “I hope you realise that the only reason you got attacked by the undead was because Death made everypony see you as something that you clearly are not. A threat. To ghouls, you looked like a hunter, to friends, you looked like a trained assassin and to families, you looked like a monster, but now, you only look like Blitz, yourself! That is going to be how it is going to stay and let me be quite blunt with you Blitz, you are technically counted as undead, due to you surviving the bomb and spell and not being within a vault, so the only way that you could have done that is if you were dead.” Life reinforced, making a tear run down Blitz’s face, before he placed a hoof on his heart and smiled.

“I have been dead for the longest time, due to Death keeping me alive somehow, but I have no heart rate, I have no pulse, I have no life to me whatsoever!” Blitz stated, seeing the ghouls coming towards him. Blitz completely forgot about the fact that he was dead, but that wasn’t the main issue there. The main issue was that he hurt, because he had been living a life that he shouldn’t have been living. It was the main reason why his normal form didn’t have any skin to his body, because it had all melted off and dissolved within the radiation that he had been swimming through, making him remember the time when he just gave up, because he was dead. He didn’t want to go back to that, but there was something that was lingering in his mind that was making him feel that way, which he needed to get out of his system right there and then.

Blitz wiped his eyes and used his magic to grab Life’s hoof, which surprised Life a little bit, due to him not being a physical pony but being more of a spirit than anything else. Blitz placed Life’s hoof on his own chest, before not feeling a single heartbeat coming from Blitz’s chest, being something that he couldn’t overthink. Blitz moved Life’s hoof away, before moving over to the ghouls in front of him, ready to talk to them about something, since they were heading in the direction of the settlement that Blitz swore to protect.

“Let’s do this, Life and no life!” Blitz stated, trying to lighten the mood that was bringing him down a little, but he shook his head to get rid of all of the negativity, only bringing him motivation and most importantly, determination.

Chapter 6: Breaking Walls

Blitz was dropping through an endless void of blackness, not knowing at all, where he was. That was the problem with memory orbs, they made the user lose all sense of where they were. Blitz was a little worried about Azure being left alone again, but he didn't stress too much over it. Azure was capable of many things, especially looking after himself. Blitz had to focus on one thing while he was inside the memory orb. That one thing was himself.

Visibility was received, as Blitz was able to see the memory that was taking place. His head was locked in one direction, due to the memory being a perspective one. A memory orb that ponies could experience from the point of view of the pony that the orb had come from. Blitz tried to roll his eyes, but couldn't, as his character looked to the sky, seeing all of the pegusi working above.

All of the pegusi that Blitz could see, were bright and colourful. Where did the time go, Blitz thought to himself, only being able to watch and not to do. Blitz began to see a ripple in the memory, but didn't batter an eyelid at it, he just ignored it. Returning to the pegusi, Blitz saw that they all had cutie marks and were enjoying what they were doing, due to the happy smiles on their faces. How wrong he was about that!

Not being in control, the body that he was possessing looked back down towards an orange mare. The possessed pony couldn't help but look at the orange pony's flank, which Blitz immediately tried to avert his eyes from looking at it. Sadly, he was unsuccessful in doing so. It was almost as if he was paralyzed, but able to move at the same time, which was what was happening. The feeling of being paralyzed was bad enough, let alone somepony moving his body for him, making the choices that he didn't want to make. This frustrated Blitz a lot.

Returning to what Blitz was doing, or what the pony that Blitz was inside of was doing, he looked away as soon as her head turned to look back at him.

"You'll do fine, sugar cube!" The orange mare called out from ahead. Blitz's controller just nodded and sunk his head to the floor, admiring the floor, as they both cobbled along towards someplace. Blitz took this time to understand who the mare was.

The mare was called Applejack! She was one of the ministry mares that ran Equestria, turning it into what it was now. How badly could pony-kind mess up the beautiful landscape of post-war Equestria? That was a question for some notes or another memory orb to answer.

Getting back to the scene, the pony that Blitz was spectating looked back up at a massive castle. It was unlike anything Blitz had ever seen. He knew exactly who the castle had belonged to, but didn't know anything else about it. The castle in question was Canterlot Castle. It was home to two of Equestria's most iconic duo, Celestia and Luna, both of them being princesses. Blitz wanted to know what Applejack and the pony, that Blitz was being forced to watch, were doing at Canterlot Castle.

Judging by the name of the castle, Blitz knew exactly where he was in a time that he was unfamiliar with, although living in it for a brief amount of time. He was in Canterlot! Canterlot was a place of wonder, because Blitz had lived there secretly for years, but was evacuated away from it. Remembering that he was a part of the timeline that ruined Equestria, put a frown on Blitz's muzzle, behind the pony shield he was observing from, almost being exactly the same as one way glass, just in the shape of a pony.

They were both walking to the main entrance of the castle, when out of nowhere, a couple of other ponies were spotted entering the castle too. The other ministry mares! Blitz, still being unable to move himself, thought that it might have been a better use of his time to take in all of the scenery, while the pony that he was spectating was outside.

All of the clouds that covered the sky, had vanished and left a familiar, yet unfamiliar light in the sky. The sun! Princess Celestia's orb of blinding that she could move on command. If the sun was not in the sky, then Celestia would not have been awake. Would that have ment that in Blitz's reality, Celestia was gone? Or was the cloud layer too thick? Those were the questions that Blitz wanted to know.

Armoured pony guards patrolled around the area, eyes glancing at every corner, making sure that not even a rock could move. They turned their stone-like head and glanced in Blitz's direction. Inside the body, it made Blitz tremble a little, but that didn't scare the pony who was on the outside, the one that Blitz was unable to command.

Walking closer to the main door, the pony that Blitz was observing, stopped. They turned their head to look at one of the guards, putting them a little more on edge than Blitz was. The pony that Blitz was observing obviously had some power about them, due to them being confident enough to walk up to a guard, let alone make one sweat. Blitz observed a single beat of sweat drop down the forehead of one of the guards.

Blitz eased up a little, knowing that he was behind an even more powerful pony. Regaining composure, the pony turned and caught up to Applejack, looking back at the guard as they got to her. turning back to Applejack, Blitz was introduced to the most fabulous door he had ever seen. The door to Canterlot Castle!

The door opened to a sight that only a couple of ponies and creatures had ever seen. Lines of guards, standing side by side, looked at both Applejack and Blitz's carrier. Applejack stared back, making most of them look away, not trying to challenge the ministry mare. The rest of the guards stared somewhat angrily at the pony that Blitz was seeing through.

As they both began to walk in, the doors began to close behind them. Blitz's vision panned around behind him to see two guard ponies following them both. Blitz could feel anxiety pass over the pony's emotions, as he looked forward again and resumed walking, as casually as he could.

The guards either side of Blitz kept their eyes locked to him, observing the pony's every move. Even Blitz felt a little anxious and he wasn't even real in this timeline, he hadn't even been born at that date. They both continued their never-ending march, towards another set of doors, the doors to the main room.

The pony that Blitz observed, turned his head around, looking at all of the pictures and stained glass windows that displayed stories of events. One of them stood out to Blitz, one of all of the ministry mares banishing a darkened figure. Blitz couldn't make out what the figure was, but he was pretty sure that it was part of a pony. It felt like Blitz knew who the pony was, but it didn't click into his head instantly.

All of the windows were stained glass. It made the inside seem so beautiful and bright, even in the dark times of the upcoming war. They didn't know that, did they? Was it inevitable? Blitz shook his mind, not being able to shake his actual head. Blitz's controller looked forward and paused, seeing that there was another pony coming to them both. This one was a pink one!

Blitz knew her name, she was another ministry mare after all and probably one of the most memorable too. Pinkie Pie approached them! She was looking at the stained glass windows and then looked over in their direction. She waved to Applejack and began to walk over to speak to her. Blitz wanted to see what all of the ministry mares were like, so he did his best to take in everything he could.

"Hi ya Pinkie! How ya been?" Applejack asked Pinkie, trying to start up a conversation with her. Pinkie nodded and walked over to Applejack, looking like she was onto something, something that had an end. Applejack noticed that Pinkie Pie was acting a little weird too, so she walked over to her and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Pinkie?" Applejack questioned. Pinkie Pie looked at her and tilted her head.

"Yes Applejack? Did I not already answer your question?" Pinkie Pie asked her. Applejack shook her head like there was no tomorrow and then looked back at the pink pony. "Hmm… well I'm in the middle of thinking of something that our good old friend Blitz here can use during his time in the Wasteland, to protect himself!" Pinkie Pie explained, shocking Blitz in the process. How did Pinkie…? Nevermind!

"Umm… Pinkie? What are you on about? We are here for the meeting with Princess Luna. What is the Wasteland? Wha… Who is Blitz?" Applejack pouted, getting slightly annoyed that she didn't know the answers. Pinkie Pie chuckled softly, making Applejack cock an eyebrow at her.

"Well, I could tell you that Blitz is right there…" Pinkie Pie stated, pointing to the pony that Blitz was spectating from. Applejack looked over to the pony that he was inside and she turned back to Pinkie Pie with a blank expression.

"No, that's Night Shadow, one of Princess Luna's associates that she wanted me to gather for her. Twilight has the other associate." Applejack butted in, pointing a hoof at Night Shadow. "He's a factory owner and helps create PipBucks!" Applejack blurted out, adding to the reasons why Night Shadow was there. He coughed slightly and raised his head up, before stopping and bringing it back down again, to normal head level.

"...anyway, before you stopped me AJ, I was going to say that Blitz is a pony… yeah, a pony who is watching this through a memory orb of Night Shadow's here. He picked it up from your desk, in your little secret area." Pinkie Pie explained, looking to Applejack for confirmation. She had none, only the look of fear of what secrets Pinkie Pie knew. The ministry of morale was a strange place for Pinkie Pie to be, but somehow she managed to fit in fine.

"Why did Pinkie Pie state me as a pony and not a changeling?" Blitz asked himself, unable to speak. He just thought about the words and put them into the sentence. At that moment, Pinkie Pie stopped talking to Applejack and slowly turned her head to Night Shadow's location. She slowly walked up to him and held him still and put her mouth to his ear.

"Because I don't discriminate against changelings. They are still ponies to me!" Pinkie Pie stated, hearing a crack somewhere, almost like she had just broken something. The fourth wall? Definitely! "Yep! I'm good at that." Pinkie Pie added, before walking back to Applejack and regaining where she left off. Night Shadow was very confused, but not as confused as Blitz was.

Night Shadow shook his head and walked up to Applejack, before waiting for a little while, before both Pinkie Pie and Applejack were finished with their conversations. Pinkie Pie bounced into the next room and Applejack followed her, only walking and a lot slower. She looked back at Night Shadow and raised an eyebrow.

"Ya coming or what? This is a conference for you, so that your products can reach far and wide across Stable Tec." Applejack inspired, seeing Night Shadow trot over to her. She opened the huge door, struggling a tiny bit, before the entire room was revealed. It was beautiful.

The room was full of ponies and creatures. They were all chatting and mingling with each other, making Night Shadow feel at ease. Blitz spotted a number of ponies that he had seen from posters around Equestria. Some of those ponies included the ministry mares, all of them, Derpy, the CMC and the princesses, Luna and Celestia. Blitz was overwhelmed by all of this. If he was in his body, able to feel his emotions, through his chitin and blood, he would have fainted.

Most of the ponies ignored them, as they passed plenty of talkative ponies and creatures. It was overwhelming for Blitz, let alone Night Shadow. Applejack got up onto the main part, where Night Shadow would be standing. He slowly climbed a couple of steps, before turning around and facing the audience. This was going to make him scared, but what could he do? He needed this! To promote himself as an individual and to promote his factory that he was running.

Applejack stopped all of the talking, using her hindlegs to create an earth-shaking noise. All of the ponies and creatures stopped and turned, Applejack gaining their attention. She stood back and pointed a hoof to Night Shadow and bowed.

"Thank you, Applejack!" Came a raspy voice, the voice of Night Shadow, as he thanked Applejack.

As soon as he was about to start talking, he closed his eyes and held his head, almost like he had a sudden headache. Within an instant, Blitz was free. He was petrified to see that none of the ponies noticed him. He looked around and actually took in his own view of the castle. It looked so nice and good compared to the Wasteland buildings.

Blitz began to have a walk around, not knowing how all of this had happened. He walked around, feeling the floor beneath his hooves. It felt strange, like it wasn't a dream or an illusion or even a memory of the past. It was almost like he was exactly there, not in a dream, illusion or bad memory, like he had already suggested. It just surprised him how life like all of the memory orb was, comparing it to all of the other ones that he had entered previously.

Blitz wanted to try something new, something that only this memory orb would allow, seeing how he was able to move in this one, made his test even more curious to him. He slowly walked towards the crowd and stopped, before taking in a deep breath and pushing into the group of ponies. He didn't have to use force to move the ponies out of the way, because he faded through them all. This made Blitz understand that even his being was not real in this timeline, not yet at least.

He moved backwards, out of the crowd and turned to look at Night Shadow. He was speaking about the PipBuck that he created, but everything that he spoke, became fuzzy and static-like. Soon he was unable to hear him speaking, just replacing him with a blur and a slurry of words that didn't make any sense to Blitz. He slowly walked back, away from all of the others in the room and began to walk down the corridors again, getting a better look at everything.

There was one image that was on the stained glass window that Blitz just wanted to stare at for a little while. It was one that he spotted out, while in the perspective of Night Shadow's gaze. It was a commendation to Celestia and Luna, with Luna being a slightly darker form than they originally were.

As Blitz was staring into the abyss of the image, something was coming closer, somepony. Blitz looked to his left and saw Princess Luna, getting dragged over by Pinkie Pie. She looked unsure about something, but continued to try and look stern, if not to please the likes of everypony around her.

"Pinkie Pie? Is this really necessary?" Princess Luna asked, looking a tab bit concerned. Pinkie Pie didn't reply. Instead, Pinkie placed Luna perfectly beside Blitz's location and sat on the opposite side.

"So Blitz, you like the image? I'm pretty sure that even though you are using the memory orb that Night Shadow will place on his desk." Pinkie explained, freaking out Blitz.

"Pinkie Pie? You are aware that memory orbs view the events from somepony's perspective and not allowing you to do anything more than feel everything that the other pony is experiencing." Luna commented, getting a glare from Pinkie Pie. She sighed before coughing, clearing her throat. "So Pinkie Pie, whomever is Blitz?" Luna asked, curious about his origin.

Pinkie looked directly at him. He didn't know if Pinkie could hear him, so he just nodded, allowing her to tell Luna his story. He turned back to look at the stained glass window, but it didn't look right. Something was off about it. There was a little black and read square that was slowly growing in size, like a virus or something along those lines. It scared him a little, but it was just ticking away at the time that he had.

He turned back to Pinkie Pie and the Princess and saw that hey we're both talking about him, while looking at his exact location, almost like they could see him.

"Don't worry Blitz! We can't see you, I'm just pointing the Princess in your direction." Pinkie Pie convinced, making him ease down a little bit. He looked back at the window and saw that it was still growing bigger. "Blitz? What's wrong?" Pinkie asked, moving up to the stained glass window and looking it over.

"A black and red void is growing! What do I do?" Blitz asked, panicking just that little bit too much. Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes, before grabbing Blitz by the neck, with her hooves and throwing him into the dark red and black box. He hit the window and didn't break it. The squares of darkness had vanished. He turned around and raised an eyebrow at Pinkie Pie, seeing that she was smiling and Luna was a little surprised.

"Now that is how you break the fourth wall!" Pinkie Pie smugly announced, only loud enough that Luna could hear it. Blitz looked at the painting again and sighed.

"It's such a good image displayed on the window. What is it Pinkie?" Blitz asked, saying quiet. Pinkie Pie walked up to him and dragged him back, Blitz not figuring it out yet. Pinkie Pie stood Blitz next to Princess Luna, making Luna chuckle a little.

"Ok! Before I tell you the origin of that masterpiece, do you want to tell me how you just did that without magic, Pinkie Pie?" Luna questioned, looking at Blitz with a little bit of confusion.

"A magician never reveals their secrets!" Pinkie snapped happily, making Luna smile a little.

"You look a lot like Chrysalis! Any resemblance, Blitz?" Luna asked nicely, waiting for Blitz to understand that he was no longer in the memory orb, thanks to Pinkie Pie breaking the wall of the memory orb. Blitz stopped and turned to Luna and went wide eyed.

"Can you see me Princess?" Blitz asked the ruler of Equestria. She nodded before chuckling.

"My sister and I know about different universes and what not, also time travel, but an earth pony breaking the fourth wall, without a horn and bringing somepony back from the future, now that's a mystery!" Luna briefly stated. "Anyway, how is it there?" Luna added, looking at his attire. "Not well, I'm assuming?" She admitted, folding her ears back and smiling.

"Well, there is nowhere in Equestria that looks this clean for a start, so yeah, not well. I'm not gonna talk to you about it, but I've read those books about time travellers talking and changing the future, changing events and guiding ponies to perfectness, so I can't tell you much." Blitz explained, making both Pinkie and Luna smile.

"Seriously though, you look like Queen chrysalis. Any relation to her at all?" Luna asked, being slightly curious to his origin. Blitz shook his head.

"Chrysalis was my enemy, even if she was technically my aunty." Blitz admitted, feeling a little angry at that memory. Luna nodded, before turning back to look behind her. Nopony was noticing that Luna had been away for a little bit, so she turned back around and continued to talk to Blitz.

"Any tips from the future then, Blitz?" Luna asked, pleading for a little bit of guidance. Blitz had to think of that for a second, before he came up with an appropriate answer. He looked at Luna with a happy face and closed his eyes.

"Keep doing what you're doing and striding for Equestria's survival!" Blitz said, making Luna smile. Blitz realised that he was in some questionable clothing, compared to the others, making him feel a little more awkward about himself. He saw that ponies were wearing suits and dresses, compared to Blitz's cloak. Blitz realised that he had weapons on him too, which wouldn't go down well with guards, if they saw him. Pinkie Pie took note of this and walked up to Luna, before whispering into her ear, making her eyes go wide.

"Blitz? You have weapons? That… that… that shouldn't be an issue with my word around here!" Luna prompted, sticking her tongue out at him with a smile, before she looked away and chuckled. "Do you two want something to eat or drink while we talk?" Luna asked, looking to both Blitz and Pinkie. Pinkie rapidly nodded, but Blitz pondered for a second. He didn't get the type of comfort in the Wasteland, so why did he need change? He shook his head, surprising Luna in the process.

"Umm, Princess? You haven't talked to me about the image yet." Blitz mentioned, making himself look happier and more willing to listen. Luna blushed a little bit, before getting back to the main point why Blitz was there.

"Well, this is both an amazing tale, but also a bit of a mistake and a little embarrassing. That is Celestia and that… that was me." Luna announced to him, pointing a hoof at Celestia and then over at herself, on the opposite side of the stained glass. Blitz nodded, taking in all that he could. He was most likely going to tell the tale to Azure, once he woke up.

"Oooh! Are you going to tell him about 'her'?" Pinkie Pie asked, looking to Luna to continue the story. Luna pouted, making Pinkie Pie calm down a little. "Sorry, but I enjoy a good story." She whispered. Luna coughed, clearing her throat, so that she could speak again.

"Anyway, that pony is me, but that is also another form. That is the Nightmare, Nightmare Moon! A pony that was not one to be second in command. It wanted it all, so they took over my fragile state and broke my train of thought, making me turn evil and corrupted."
Luna admitted, feeling a little defeated with herself. Pinkie Pie brought light to the area, by changing the topic of the conversation.

"Anyway, I think that we might have to get back to the ponies that are waiting for us. Can't go making them sad and keep them waiting, can we?" Pinkie Pie suggested, making Luna shake her head and nod in response.

"Yes, that would be best." The Princess agreed, looking back at all of the ponies waiting for Night Shadow to stop talking. She began to walk over to the crowd.

"Ok Blitz, I've given you around ten minutes to do whatever you want, before you wake up. Go for a little fly or something, but keep the words I say now in mind. A war is coming! The great war of the Wasteland! I can see it!" Pinkie Pie predicted, turning around to see Luna wide eyed at her.

"Pinkie Pie? What was that? What's the Wasteland?" Luna questioned, thinking she was doing wrong. Blitz folded his ears back, before perking up and smiling.

"Princess! Don't worry, Equestria does survive in the future!" Blitz admitted, not being exactly wrong, but not lying either. Luna smiled and perked up again and turned around, before walking to the crowd and vanishing within it. Blitz was glad with himself, trying to make the princess feel better. Pinkie Pie turned to look back at Blitz and smiled, before jumping away, around a corner. Blitz looked across and saw an open window. Without hesitation, he walked up to it and went for a little fly, outside.

The sky was pink with clouds around the area being fluffy. This was a strange world, a world in which he did remember. Life before the bombs was beautiful, life after the bombs were dreadful, but also beautiful. Blitz wanted a reminder of what the sky was like, so he flew up high. He flew past the clouds, remembering that there were no restrictions to flying up so high. Before he could do anything else, he closed his eyes and fell down, closing his wings and letting the breeze tickle his back.

It was relaxing, falling into the ground from such a height, with nothing but silence hitting his ears. Blissful was the perfect word to describe the events that were transpiring, under his control. Was any of this real? Had Blitz really time travelled from a memory orb? Only he could make an answer on that.

He opened his eyes and soared across the landscape, changing his big wings for some gryphon ones. It helped him to conserve energy during most of his traveling. He loved the sky, he always had. He just wasn't able to fly since the Enclave had taken over the skies. There were clouds that were so thick, that they blocked out sunlight, let alone a pony.

He looked down to see fully built houses and shops, looking as beautiful as ever, adding to the already impressive landscape and colour. Orange and light pink, glittered the dusk of the landscape, sending Blitz's head into a softer, more emotionally attached version of itself. He wasn't going to let anything spoil the perfect opportunity he had to admire everything that was right in the world of Equestria, before the bombs.

As Blitz thought about it, something entered his head and made him want to think. He landed on the edge of a cloud and sat down on it. The cloud was acting as some sort of a cushion, just for him to relax on. Blitz tensed up at his mind, beginning to ponder questions that he needed the answer to. What was the war that Pinkie Pie was on about? The great war of Equestria? Of the Wasteland?

All of the thinking of what she could have meant by the war in his time, got him thinking about a friend. Azure! Blitz started to get a little anxious, but knew that his friend would have been there for him, when he woke up from the memory orb, right? He was beginning to doubt himself. He valued Azure and even considered him a great friend. He knew how Blitz acted and helped him understand that some of the bad in the Wasteland, could have been good, if given the right circumstance. He admired that about him, always seeing the good in ponies and creatures, that others couldn't, wouldn't and shouldn't see. There was something about him that made Blitz like him a lot, but he couldn't put a hoof on it.

Azure was a pony that he trusted very well. Azure was one of the only ponies that Blitz knew wouldn't stab him in the back, instead, he'd have his back one hundred percent. Blitz just worried about losing a friend like that and ending up alone. Although he had only known Azure a little while, he already felt that bond with him that some ponies and creatures felt after having friends for years.

Blitz actually felt a little sad, not having his friend next him to relax and see the sky that he dreamed of so much. It broke his heart a little, but he would promise it to him, to allow him to see the sky, just once, so that he could be happy with himself. That was going to Blitz's goal for himself, to allow Azure to see a sky that Blitz was seeing in the memory orb, even if it killed him.

Blitz shook his head vigorously and sighed, wishing that he could share the experience with somepony, just so that he didn't feel so alone in the memory orb. He got up from the cloud that he was on and looked around and saw a mountain. The mountain pierced through the clouds and seemed to extend forever. Blitz wanted to keep himself distracted, so he climbed the mountain.

The mountain was so tall, that Blitz had to stop flying to conserve more energy and had to climb it by hoof. He began to see something changing above him, making him ponder in confusion about what was happening. It was the memory orb ending. He could see the corner where he was laying and pursued for the goal, to reach reality again.

Blitz pushed harder and harder, seeing that his chance to wake up was getting closer and closer. Using his wings, he propelled himself up and straight through the ripple. The world around him faded to a pure white and made him question what had just happened. Was any of that real, or was it all just inside his head? Either way, he'd talk to Azure about it once he got back to his reality.

The whiteness seemed to be endless, trapping Blitz in a state of purgatory. He wasn't awake, but yet again, he wasn't in the memory orb either. He flew around and tried to change his changeling flapper wings, his usual wings, to some gryphon ones. Surprisingly, he wasn't able to do so. He wasn't allowed to change. He tried to change his entire form, but again, it failed. What was going on with the dimension that he was in? He looked around and didn't realise that below him, the ground was approaching fast.

Blitz eventually looked down and saw the ground. He didn't have enough time to react, so he closed his eyes and felt the floor under his hooves. He opened his eyes and was back in his normal state, back in reality. He took a moment to adjust to the area once again, recognising so many familiar features of the area that he was in a little while ago, before the memory orb. He let his eyes adjust and found himself to be still in the exact same position. He looked to his left to see his partner in crime, asleep next to him.

Azure was asleep, but didn't hesitate to keep Blitz comfy and warm. Blitz saw that Azure had kept his wing over Blitz, while being right beside him, practically sleeping against him. Blitz didn't mind, in fact, he admired the company of his best pal in the Wasteland. He lifted his head and moved it closer to Azure's, allowing the pegasus to feel warmer. Blitz used his magic to grab his saddlebag, which Azure clearly took off. He brought out a little piece of fabric that looked like cloth. He kept pulling out the fabric and found that it extended quite far. Blitz lifted up himself and Azure, with a little bit of a struggle and placed the fabric around them both. It was warm, and quite comfy for what it was.

Blitz moved his head and rested it on top of Azure's, guarding him like he was a little foal. He had protected him, while Blitz was asleep. It was time to turn the tables on his friend, allowing him to rest peacefully, without any fear of being interrupted by any other living being.

Chapter 13: Dream Training

Bringing the two raider ponies back to the settlement was a tough one. Blitz was sure to keep an eye on them for a tiny bit, but the other settlers were not in for a happy time. Although they enjoyed the company, it was almost like their trust had been thrown out of a twenty story window, crashing to the ground in an extra ordinary fashion.

Blitz was able to get the names of the ponies that he had recruited, making Blitz's trust in them go a little upwards, as opposed to downwards. Azure looked at Blitz, while sitting down checking his saddlebag. Blitz didn't look too happy, but Azure was sure that Blitz was just in his usual spacing out phase. Azure noticed that Blitz seemed to be more relaxed and chilled than he originally was, making him zone out a lot more and become a little more distracted during certain times. Azure was not sure to either be worried, or just flat out concerned about Blitz's mindset.

The first stallion was called Grayscale. He was the earth pony that was in front of the unicorn that was on the ground and was also the one that moved out of the way for the other stallion to fire. Grayscale had a couple of scars on his body, resembling the form of Zebra stripes. There were only a couple, which made both Blitz and Azure think that he wasn't a zebra, but like somepony else, ponies didn't have to have many stripes to be considered a zebra. Azure knew this, being part zebra himself. The black earth pony had a quite nice mane and tail, being grey like his name stated, but having a couple of designs in them both, making him look slightly cooler.

The other stallion was called Noname, which was pretty fitting, because of how he wouldn't give his name the first time. Noname as a unicorn with a little bit of a temper, but that didn't stop Blitz from trying to get them into a place where they could work happily for a couple of meals a day. All they wanted at the end of the day, was a place to stay safe. Right then and there, there was no better solution than coming back to the settlement that had defended against a wave of raiders and scavengers. Noname was a grey unicorn with the same colour mane and tail, making him look like a pretty basic unicorn stallion.

Azure looked to Blitz, seeing that he was a little tense about all of the things that had happened, but not really making it show massively. Azure was pretty sure that he was just tired more than anything, but when he asked Blitz if he was tired, he wouldn't reply, only giving him a half crooked smile. The thought made Azure chuckle inside, while his outside showed symphony for Blitz, due to all that he had gone through.

Azure walked up to Noname and Grayscale and pointed them in the direction of Sadjoy, who would happily help them finst somewhere safe to spend the night, as long as they gave up their raiding habits. Azure had hope for them, but at the end of the day, they were still raiders, but they were different raiders, ones that wanted to change. Azure was happy enough to let them have a second chance, but others might not be as trusting with a new group that had only just got into the settlement.

As they walked up to Sajoy, Blitz smiled as she looked down at them all, hopping off her ledge on the wall and landing gracefully onto the floor below. She smiled at them all, before bowing.

“What can i help you with?” Sadjoy asked, being slightly confused by the new guests wanting her help already. One of the raiders was going to open their mouth, but instantly closed it again. Azure nudged him on the shoulder, before seeing that he was refusing to talk to Sadjoy about what the pair needed for the night. Azure just rolled his eyes, before smiling at Sadjoy with a happiness that he could find within himself, when helping others.

“Can you set these two up with a place to stay? I remember Roselight saying something about you being able to do something like that.” Azure admitted, getting a smile from the beautiful bat pony in response to that statement, followed by a quick frown, then her looking back at her post.

“Sure, but could either you or Eater guard while I am doing this. I would hate for there to be nopony on the wall and for a random raider to get in.” Sadjoy explained, pointing her wing at her post.

“Sure, i got it!” Blitz stated, using his wings to fly up to the wall. Azure looked back at his wings soon after, remembering what happened to him and Blitz, when they had their little falling out. Azure did use the potion that he had used on the raider that Lumia, on himself. He used it shortly after Blitz went to sleep that one night. He was happy that he had the potion in the first place, but it did take a day or so to go back to how it was, so there were still limitations on when he could use the special potion.

Azure watched Blitz fly up to Sadjoy’s viewing spot and sit down at the edge of the little tower. Azure didn't know if Blitz would have been safe up there, but then remembered Anti was his companion. Yeah, he would have been fine! Azure turned around and caught up to the others, who were a little further down the path. They were engaging with different conversations, as they travelled down the path to one of the empty spare buildings. They all stopped at the door, before opening the door with one of the keys under the welcome mat. Noname chuckled and looked at them all.

“Please don't tell me that everypony leaves their keys under welcome mats! That's just asking for ponies to come into here and rob the lot.” Noname explained, not knowing the half of it, before Sadjoy put him in his place.

“Do you really think we are that stupid? No, we dont leave all of the keys under the welcome mats. We only leave the keys under the welcome mats when the buildings are not in use. When they are, I would believe that ponies are smart enough to leave their keys with them, rather than letting them have a chance to be stolen. So yeah, you smart arse.” Sadjoy said, making Noname go completely silent. That comment alone, made her get a little heated and angry. Azure decided just to stay quiet, just to avoid any unnecessary conflict.

They all stepped into the front of the building as soon as Sadjoy opened it, admiring the living quarters that they now had. It was a nice area, but it was just… empty. They weren’t exactly happy with that, but they were happy to have a safe place to sleep at least. Azure walked around and inspected the so-called empty room and found it to be somewhat nice. The walls were painted a single colour of dark maroon, which gave to the effect of being simple and likeable. Azure thought that the building as a living space was perfect, apart from the fact that it didn't have anything inside of it. Azure felt a little bad about that, but he had to remember that it was not his fault at all. It was nopony’s fault at all. Azure turned around to see that there were a couple of notes on the wall that he was now facing, making him curious about learning what they were. Before he could get closer, he was stopped by the sound of something happening outside. Azure turned to the door and ran up to it and said that there were two ponies arguing about something. Scarlet and Lavender were bickering to each other, ticking the other off more and more. Azure sighed, being glad that he didn't have to help with anything at that precise moment

“Can you two quit yapping?” Sadjoy lashed out, striking her hoof on the ground and looking both the bat pony mares in the eyes. She wasn't one for all of the hassle and Azure agreed with that. He was not one for hassle either, but if he needed to explain himself to others, he would hassle his way to the top, just to get his point across and out into thin air. The two bat pony mares chuckled, not achieving a smile from any of the ponies who were inside the house.

Sadjoy turned around and nudged Azure out of the way a little, allowing her to close the door completely and making it so that the two mares on the opposite side could not be heard. Sadjoy breathed a little sigh of relief after all of that. Azure was pretty sure that she was either tired or at the very least, stressed. Azure didn't wish that upon anypony, let alone a pony that he cared about. Azure walked back out the door, before closing it and sitting down on the outside step, waiting for Sadjoy to exit the building. She took her sweet time, but eventually she came out of the building, then drew a sharp intake of air, before exhaling slowly.

Sadjoy noticed that Azure was sitting down on the floor and wondered what his intentions were for wanting to sit on the cold and wet floor. Azure slowly got up and checked that none of the bat mares were watching or either around, before hugging Sadjoy, making her smile and chuckle.

“Thank you Alchem, I needed that for sure. I am a little stressed as you can clearly see.” she spoke, confirming Azure's answers. Sadjoy smiled a little before taking his hooves off her, making her chuckle a little again. Azure felt like she was part of their little group that they were forming. So far, the group consisted of himself and Blitz. Who was to say that Sadjoy couldn’t hop on that bandwagon as well? Azure looked towards the door of Noname’s and Grayscale’s new home and just smiled, feeling good about what Blitz had done for them. He was surprised with Blitz’s decision, thinking that he would have at least hurt them or something, but happily he didn’t. Azure was chuffed, which made him irradiate his mood onto others, almost like an aura of some sort.

Both Sadjoy and Azure walked back to see Blitz aiming down the scope of his latest weapon, an anti-material rifle. It looked scary from down below, which made Azure question what it would look like from afar. It made him curious about the rifle, but it didn't stop him from climbing onto the wall, using his wings to lift him. Despite using the healing potion, he could still feel something wrong with his wing. It ached more, making him a little confused on why the potion didn’t work properly. That was going to have to be something that he needed to work out, before he attempted to use it again. It felt like it was just going to ache after the initial healing, but that wasn't meant to happen at all. The purpose of the healing potion was that it would heal wounds. He stopped to think about it for a second before realising something that made him sound like an idiot. Of course it wouldn't heal completely, because he wasn't using the entire thing. He chuckled to himself, before making his way over to Blitz.

Blitz looked over to Azure and smiled, taking his rifle down from his eye and placing it on the ground beside him. He didn't want to risk it with going off, so he looked for a safety, which he couldn’t find on the weapon, due to it being originally attached to a suit of power armour. He scowled at his weapon, before looking back up at Azure and smiling once again. Sadjoy flew over to Blitz’s anti-material rifle and looked it over, making her smile in the process of looking it over and having a better close up view. She was a sucker for guns, but they had to be good enough to pierce through stuff. Blitz’s rifle definitely could.

“Everything all good then?” Blitz asked, being curious about the lives that he didn’t take. Azure nodded, pointing over at the house that they had been situated into. Blitz nodded, before turning around and grabbing his weapon from Sadjoy with his magic. As soon as he did that, he got a chuckle from Lumia, suggesting that he had either done something wrong, or stupid. Blitz chose both. Lumia walked over to the wall, before using her metal wings to fly to the top of the wall and land perfectly softly. Her form had always been so fascinating to Blitz, making him strive to learn more about robots and technology. Azure felt a little jealous of Lumia, due to her wings. They were completely beautiful, each metallic feather lined up perfectly with the other, making them seem more clipped and looked after. Azure was pretty sure that it was just a couple of sheets of metal or something like that, but he didn't completely know what the process was or what the material was.

“Yeah, they are held up in a little building down the way from ours. They seem to be happy with the place, but you never know with some ponies.” Azure stated loudly, speaking it directly to Blitz. Blitz looked over to the houses that Azure originally pointed at with his hoof and then looked back to Azure. Blitz knew that there were definitely a couple of buildings to accommodate ponies and creatures left, so it was their job to fill them, somewhat, with ponies. Blitz placed his anti-material rifle away and looked back at Sadjoy.

“If I find any other rifles like that one, i'll collect it and give it to you. Does that sound good?” Blitz asked, getting a couple of swift nods from the devious bat pony. The look of excitement on her face melted not only Azure’s heart, but Blitz’s and Lumia’s. Azure thought about it more and then looked at Lumia. She was definitely part of the group too, but that needed more time to evaluate on, just like Sadjoy’s case.

Azure felt a claw on his shoulder, making him turn around to see Gretzky standing there, holding a saddlebag in his claws. Azure was slightly confused about all of the actions that Gretzky was taking and didn’t have anything click until he saw that Blitz was walking towards him, pulling out his scopeless sniper rifle. Even then, he didn't have anything click in his mind about what they might have been preparing for, or he did, but it wasn't correct.

“Who wants to come with me and scout out the SS Celestia?” Gretzky asked, having Blitz by his side before he had even said anything. Sadjoy cheered aloud, making herself feel a little embarrassed by her own action. Lumia calmly thought about it and tilted her head to both sides of her body, thinking about it slowly and calmly, like she had done since she had met Blitz and Azure.

“I'll have to check with Delta about that one, but I would enjoy the adventure aspect of it.” Lumia stated, being as relaxed as ever with it, but still showing her excitement over it using her muzzle to smile. Gretzky nodded and looked at Azure, before offering his claw out to him.

“Are you wanting to take part in this little voyage west, Azure?” Gretzky asked, getting a little dainted look from Azure. Blitz walked past Gretzky and looked at Azure in the eyes.

“I’m with you either way. If you stay, I'll stay.” Blitz admitted aloud, making sure that all of them around both Azure and Blitz could hear. They all looked at each other, before looking back to Blitz and seeing that he was dead serious about it. They looked back to Azure, making him think that all of the pressure was being impacted onto him. It wasn’t in reality, but in his head, it was all that was going through his mind, making his heart beat quicker with every second that passed. He hated being the decision maker, but he didn't want to let anypony down.

“Yeah, i… I will go.” Azure admitted to them all. Blitz didn’t look too pleased with his decision, but he eventually lost the face he was originally pulling and replaced it with one of confidence, shedding off a little bit of doubt as well, but nopony else could see said doubt, so he was happy for the most part.

“Alright then, i'll let you all get some sleep and then we will head out in the morning.” Gretzky said, getting ready to go for his adventure. He flew off towards his shop and vanished from sight. Lumia began to walk off to see Delta, knowing that he wasn't asleep because of him being in a machine and not needing rest. Sadjoy pulled a Gretzky and vanished towards her home, gliding down from the wall, but quickly remembering that she was a guard, so she had to stay at the wall. She flew back up and stood at her post, blushing a little from her forgetting that she was indeed a guard.

Blitz and Azure slowly walked back to their building, wanting to get at least another couple of hours of sleep for the journey in the morning. Azure was a little bit mindful, but Blitz was a little bit excited. They both had different opinions on the matter, but that didn’t mean anything to anypony. If they wanted to, they could have stayed up, but then that would have only caused downsides to their lives in the morning.

Both Azure and Blitz rushed through the door of their home and closed the door behind them, making sure that it was indeed shut, before coming towards each other and chuckling. Azure laid in the chair, on his back and with his wings outstretched. Blitz took his mark and then climbed into the chair with him, feeling comfortable as ever. Azure wrapped his wing around Blitz and cuddled him, making sure that Blitz wouldn't be cold through the night. Azure watched as Blitz took off his cloak and grabbed a long piece of cloth that they used for warmth. They used the cloth like a thin blanket, but it worked surprisingly well being one, which shocked Azure, but made them both comfortable. Blitz closed his eyes and sighed heavily, making sure that Azure heard the sighs that he was making, which Azure did, making him yawn, due to how tired Azure was all of a sudden. Blitz nuzzled into Azures chest, making Azure happily giggle, but making it quiet enough that Blitz didn't need to open his eyes

Azure thought about the little adventure that they were going to have in the morning and just pondered on it for a little while. It was a pretty big convoy going to the SS Celestia, in the morning and Azure hoped that all of them would be safe going there and back. If they got into a battle of some sort, they would definitely need Azure to heal all of their wounds, so he would need to be going on the trip regardless. He was a medical pony, so it was kind of required for him to go. Blitz may have counteracted his opinion if he was to say it out loud, so he kept it to himself. Azure knew it was bad to do something like that, but he didn't want to cause an argument.

Azure closed his eyes again and waited patiently to fall asleep. It didn't take him long to drift off into that state, as he calmly entered the land of slumber. The only problem was that he was transported back to the same nightmare that he had originally had. He was back in the pitch black room, with a gun on display and Blitz in front of him, looking at Azure with a different type of anger than Blitz would normally look at Azure with. Azure knew that it was just a dream, but the feelings in it felt too real for him to be confident in the ability for him to detect if it was a dream or not. If it was, he would have to take pot luck that it would continue to be a dream.

Azure walked over to the fake Blitz, remembering last time that the entire thing was about healing ponies and the syringe gun. Last time they tore chunks of Blitz face and body off. This time was different. He had been given a gun, so he just presumed that his brain was testing him on the fact that he would have to choose if people were worth being put out of their misery. Azure was actually wrong on that regard, but he would still need to use a gun of some sort.

Azure saw that Blitz was getting up and moving, like he was almost completely confused. Blitz looked at Azure completely confused on what was happening. He looked at Azure and then at the weapon that he was given and froze. Azure saw that Blitz had been frozen looking at his pistol, which when Azure looked down, had changed into the pistol that he had in the Wasteland. It was almost like the gun was real. He picked it up, before firing it off a couple of times and waiting for a reaction from Blitz. Blitz just looked so confused.

“Why are you shooting in my dream?” Blitz questioned, not knowing if Azure was real or not.

“Why are you in my dream, Blitz?” Azure asked him, getting a look of subtle anger irradiating from Blitz’s general direction. “How do i even know if you are real?” Azure asked him, getting Blitz to think of some way that he would be able to prove that he was the real Blitz and not just an illusion within Azure’s mind.

“First of all, I don't know how to prove to you that I am real, But you have to trust me right now. To make sure that i am real, the first thing I'll say when I get up is: That dream was a red bubble of blood. Too much for this buggo. Secondly, why did you just fire off your weapon?” Blitz explained, making Azure check his ammo. He had shot around two or three shots and was surprised to find that he hadn't shot any bullets from the magazine that was originally in his weapon. Azure placed the magazine back into the weapon and placed it in his mouth, before shooting off around five or more rounds in quick succession. He dropped the weapon onto the floor and checked the ammo again, to find that the shots were completely refreshed in the magazine. It was a confusing sight, but there was an upside to all of the shots being unlimited, they could test their aim with the weapons.

Azure saw some moving targets off in the distance, looking like a couple of training dummies. They were slowly getting closer to both Azure and Blitz, making Azure look down at the pistol. He loaded it back up, before facing the attackers that were coming their way. He tried to line up the weapon in his mouth to where the dummies were quickly approaching, but it wasn't very accurate. Blitz used his magic to take out the pistol from Azure’s mouth and placed it into his battle saddle.

“Hey, I haven't seen you use that SATS system inside the Pipbuck yet. Why don't you try to use it now, given that you can't really lose with it, since you have an unlimited supply of ammo? I'm pretty sure that these skills would be identical to real life, Azure.” Blitz explained, making Azure still feel like he was fake and in his head, but if he was fake, wouldn’t he have said something already, being directly linked to his mind? Surely he could have, but Azure just believed that it was a little too much to be diving into all of the speculation when there was time being wasted on not practicing.

Azure activated SATS on his Pipbuck and watched as time nearly froze, making Azure look around and at Blitz, to see that he too, had been slowed down to a millionth of the speed of real time. A system flashed in front of Azure, making itself known and showing off all of the enemies in a dark red. There were percentages that displayed over each of the body parts, making it so that the torso had the biggest percentage, due to being bigger than the other parts of the body. Azure placed the first shot onto the body of the dummy and then placed the next shot into the head of another dummy that was rushing them both.

He ended the system and saw that the bullets were shot in slow motion, but himself not being in slow motion at all. He could look around, but could not let the target out of his line of sight. Azure watched as the first bullet passed straight through the dummy, making it explode into a mist of white dust and matter. The second shot was not so lucky, making it wizz straight past the approaching dummy’s head. Azure felt a little bit out of breath for a couple of seconds, letting himself to rest for a couple of seconds.

One of the dummies brought out a rifle and started to take shots at the pair. Azure slid to some cover, while Blitz was looking down his sights of his anti-material rifle. If he was going to do a job, he was determined to do it properly. The dummy landed a good shot, shooting Blitz in the shoulder and making him drop his weapon out of pain. Blitz scrambled to his weapon and quickly looked down the scope of his weapon and fired, green blood dripping down his front and side. Azure was horrified at how Blitz could even use his magic and concentrate. Blitz was lucky or a good shot, because he had hit the dummy in the head, making it explode with an earthshaking pop, followed by some blistering flames bursting outwards. More dummies approached them, making Blitz hobble to some cover, across the way from Azure.

Azure remembered that there was unlimited ammo in this dream or nightmare that they were in, so he knew what had to be done. Azure used his SATS targeting again and locked onto Blitz. He placed two very high chanced shots at both Blitz’s foreleg and torso, before Azure locked in the shot and fired. A syringe flew through the air and landed in the exact areas where Azure had originally placed them, making Blitz gasp out in pain, as the syringes slowly dug into him, but the sighed in bliss as they worked their magic into his wounds, clearing them up to be like nothing had happened before. Blitz used his pistol with his magic, taking out another two dummies with two precise shots to the head, making them pop like balloons. Although Blitz was cutting down on the killing that he was doing, he was finding that shooting the dummies was a little fun, but only because that they were not real, nor were they alive and breathing. They were animated!

Azure took another shot at a dummy, hitting it in the hindleg and making it disappear. Azure was pretty sure that he was becoming more and more accurate with every shot, due to using the gun more and getting more comfortable with the situation. Although it was not his priority to kill ponies and creatures, Azure could still use this time to increase his awareness and control with not only his pistol, but his syringe gun too, because he was bound to use that more during his lifetime. Azure had the title of doctor for a reason. He needed to show why he had gained that title in the Wasteland.

Azure shot one of the dummies with SATS, while using his syringe gun. He wanted to test out two things with it, during the time that they were having together in the land of mystery. He wanted to firstly check how far the weapon would be effective, but also to find what would happen if he tried to use it on one of the dummies. He shot one of the dummies with the syringe gun, that was further away than the others who were trying to swarm both Azure and Blitz. The syringe went directly to it, making Azure surprised that the syringe didn't miss or drop down during travel. Once it hit the dummy, it started to take out the other dummies, using its rifle to make quick work of the ones that were out in the open.

Blitz observed the strange behaviour of the dummy and got a little confused on why it was killing its own. He didn't care too much about it, but it was weird. The dummies had stopped coming, making both Blitz and Azure come out from behind their cover and looked around. They both looked around and saw only the dummy that Azure had stuck a healing syringe in. it was a little weird to them both that the dummies had just completely stopped appearing. Blitz walked a little closer to the dummy, his pistol raised to his face, allowing him to look down the sights of the pistol and target the dummy. Without warning and like a lightning strike, the dummy lashed forwards, before Blitz even had a chance to fire.

The dummy sliced Blitz throat making him drop his pistol and grasp his throat. Azure shot a couple of healing syringes at Blitz, making them quickly heal up his throat, but something was wrong with Blitz. Once the wound closed, there was the same wound again, opening back up. This made Azure panic, realising what the nightmare was trying to do to both of them. The nightmare that they were in wanted to show Azure that he couldn't save everypony he came across. Azure already knew this, but saw that Blitz was in a hell of a lot of pain. Blood spurted out of his mouth and dripped onto the floor, making Azure wince, before he locked onto Blitz with the pistol he had, using SATS. Azure just stood there, his energy slowly depleting away, just like Blitz’s life during the nightmare. Azure couldn’t do it, he couldn't ease Blitz’s suffering, even if he wanted to, to make Blitz become one with peace. He exited SATS and looked to the dummy, before pulling his body in the direction of the dummy.

Blitz watched with open eyes and saw that there was a little ripple behind the dummy making the floor shake in the process of it. Out of nowhere, Anti lashed onto the dummy with her sharp fangs, making short work of the fabric and revealing the nightmare underneath. The real nightmare. She grinned at Blitz, seeing that he was slowly fading out of consciousness within the dream that they were all in.

“Looks like I won, Blitz!” The nightmare spoke, getting no response from Blitz whatsoever. That made the nightmare a little more aggravated with Blitz, but it also slowed her down in her attempts to capture Blitz’s mind. The nightmare may have thought that she had won, but there was still a pony that she was missing. As soon as Blitz thought of him, he appeared. Death made his grand appearance, making Azure freeze in place, as well as the nightmare. Death walked directly up to her, looking so deep into her eyes, that he was looking into her soul. She visibly gulped and made Blitz chuckle a little bit, chucking up blood in the process and making him rest his head on the floor. Death turned his head and removed the cut from Blitz’s throat, before turning back to the nightmare and pinning her up against the wall.

“You can either help me, or I can find a use for you myself. That being completely nothing and for me to turn you into nothing. You got me?” Death explained to her allowing her a choice that she couldn't have refused, or at least shouldn't have been able to refuse. The nightmare didn't say anything, as she felt her head nearly pop, due to the amount of pressure that Death was putting on her skull. Everything was painfully silent, as Death pinned her against the wall. It was almost like she was afraid of him or something. Blitz chuckled, getting his breath back from losing the ability to breathe before, then locked eyes with the nightmare. The only thing that was displayed in those eyes was sadness. Blitz was going to give her one more chance to change, before he gave Death the order to kill her.

“One chance! That’s all you get left before I tell Death to get you out of my system, Nightmare!” Blitz explained, not facing the nightmare properly, but looking off to the side. The nightmare frantically nodded, before being dropped by Death, realising that she had to change in order to survive. Blitz didn't think of it that way, he thought of it as a third chance that she was getting, if not more. If the nightmare didn't change and help Blitz, then she wouldn't have been any use in his system. As long as she helped him, rather than hindered him, he'd be okay, but all she had done since was try to get him killed, or get him stressed.

Azure walked up to both Death and the nightmare, taking a good look at them both. Death was a skeletal figure underneath a cloak, much like Blitz’s, but darker, making Azure gasp out in confusion and curiosity at the same time. Death was slightly confused, but just rolled with it, looking at Azure like Azure did to him, before Death turned into the form of Blitz, making Azure scowl at him.

“Be nice you two! Azure, Death! Death, Azure! Welcome to my mind and consciousness, Azure. I didn't realise that we were here until the nightmare turned up, thanks by the way Death.” Blitz stated, pouring himself an imaginary drink of confidence and laughter. The only reason it was imaginary was because it was in his head, as opposed to actual life, but the feelings were definitely stronger after the drink, making Blitz believe that there was an aspect of it all that linked to life. Azure watched as Blitz threw a glass down, watching it disappear into the abyss below, confusing Azure in the process. Blitz chuckled a little, watching as Azure tried to work out why the glass fell through the floor.

Time was cut short, due to morning approaching slowly. Blitz was going to keep an eye out for anything that seemed nightmare related or something along those lines, while Azure kept an eye on Blitz, without him really wanting to, due to not giving Blitz much privacy. Wasn't that what friends did anyway, looking after each other? That was something that Blitz and Azure were both going to find out one way or another.

Death stopped both Azure and Blitz instantly, waking them both up together by hitting them with some lightning, making them jump in the process because of how loud and bright the flash and crackle of the lightning was, as well as it hitting them both directly. Both Azure and Blitz woke up quickly and sat up, hitting their heads together and wincing, but shortly laughing it off after a couple of seconds. Azure had to admit that the dream that they had just had, whether it was real or not, had been an insight to what either Blitz’s head was actually like, or Azure’s mind’s version of what it would be like, but didn't Azure not know Death, or even the nightmare for that matter, so i couldn't have been his mind’s version of it.

Azure cleared his mind before looking over to Blitz and seeing that he was sat up and closing his eyes. Azure didn't know what Blitz was trying to do, but he wanted to make sure that Blitz was okay, so he slowly shuffled over to where Blitz was sitting, in the chair.

“That dream was a red ball of paint. Too much for this bug.” Blitz said, rubbing his eyes. Azure remembered that was along the lines of what Blitz said in the dream or nightmare. Although it wasn't correct, he knew that Blitz was trying to at least make it seem like he was in the dream, which Azure clocked that he was indeed in the dream.

“It was actually ‘that dream was a red bubble of blood. Too much for this buggo.’ but i'll say that it was close enough to prove that you were indeed in the dream.” Azure stated, making Blitz smile a little bit. He was a little confused about it too, due to the confused look on his face, followed by the cutest yawn that Azure had ever seen in his entire life. Blitz noticed that Azure was watching him and Blushed a little, shying away a little and stretching his body as soon as he got to the floor. Again, Azure watched Blitz with a loving smile, making him feel like he had somepony to share everything with. His feelings, his thoughts, his love with. Blitz was bound to get more use out of the last one, due to him being a changeling and all. That put a smile on Azure’s face, making him get out of the chair and stretch as well. He wasn't used to feeling so happy, spending time with his special friend and possible lover, but love was for a more relaxed time and had no place in the Wasteland. Lovers always died in the end, so Azure didn't want to take the chance of having one of them meet a swift end, so he shut his mouth up and kept stretching.

As soon as Azure stopped stretching, a thought went through his mind, making him sit down to answer it. He didn't sit on the chair again, instead resulting to the floor for some mild comfort. Blitz looked at him, pondering what could have been happening inside Azure’s mind. It looked like he was pondering on something serious, making Blitz feel a little uneasy. ALthough Azure was thinking about love, Blitz didn't know that, just watching him from halfway across the room. Blitz was just going to have to get over the fact that he would not know everything about somepony, but he could know an awful lot about them, if not nearly everything. Nopony truly opened up, especially in the time of the Wasteland.

Azure was only thinking about what a lover truly was to him. Whether it counted as a close friend, or just somepony who Azure loved. He didn't know the true definition of love, but he was guaranteed to find love somewhere along his life. MAybe Blitz was the pony that he loved, he didn't know exactly, but he was sure of something else though. If Blitz wasn't a lover, then he was a Celestia damn good friend, one that cared for him like he was his own brother. Azure looked to Blitz, who was looking at Azure with some intent to do something to him, making Azure blush because of that.

They both got ready for the days ahead, making sure to get everything perfect and that no rock was left unturned. They filled up on everything that they possibly could, ranging from healing to snacks that they would probably want to have once they got there. It was going to be a long journey that they were going on, varying at around a couple of hours, because of how far away from their home settlement they were going. It baffled Blitz, because he hadn't been outside of the general area for a little while, let alone going to another area in the world of Equestria, the Equestrian Wasteland. As soon as Blitz and Azure had checked for every scenario, they walked to the door, before stopping and looking at each other with a questionable look on Azure’s face and a slightly delighted smile present on Blitz’s face.

“Are we really ready for this? It could be dangerous!” Azure stated, worrying quite a bit about where they were off to. Blitz simply nodded, looking to Azure with his grin, followed by a brief chuckle.

“There is nothing to worry about, Azure. We will be fine. After all, you were in the same dream as me last night and now you have seen what type of good distorted mess I am. Helpful in so many ways, but corrupted by Death, a nightmare and a spirit trapped within a wooden cage, in the form of an unkillable timberwolf. We will be fine!” Blitz promised him, making Azure become less tense and making him relax a lot more. Sure, he was still tense, but not as much as he originally was.

Azure opened the door and watched as Blitz strolled straight passed him, making Azure roll his eyes in the process, making him feel like he was looking after a colt. It did manage to make him smile, which was Blitz’s first goal. They put their hooves outside and looked up into the sky, seeing that although it was the morning, it was incredibly dark. Blitz looked around and saw that there were a couple of ponies around, which boosted his confidence a little. Azure closed the door behind them and turned around to witness the dark sky. It looked ominous, but slightly pleasing, to his eyes at least.

Azure walked away from the house and looked around. Black clouds were the only thing that Azure could see in the sky, so he was a little worried about their traveling for the day. Blitz didn't worry too much about all of it, but did worry that it would make it difficult for others to move at the speed that they would have needed to move, to ensure that they got there quick enough to make it worth it. Blitz worried more about the other's safety, rather than his own, due to the face that he could hover. Blitz really should have been worrying about himself, due to the temperature of the area. If it got too cold, Blitz would be impacted in the process, probably while fighting, making him die or something.

They both walked up to Gretzky's shop and waited, Blitz feeling that there was going to be a big amount of rain falling in the process. Gretzky appeared out of nowhere, carrying a massive sack over his wings, as opposed to his traditional saddlebag. Blitz found it a little funny, due to the sack being bigger than he was, but kept it to himself, making Gretzky ponder what he was thinking. He looked to Azure and nodded, before walking out from behind the counter.

"Are you two okay? Are you ready to meet at the main entrance?" Gretzky asked, being a little concerned as to why they were at his shop, rather than at the meeting up point.

"Yeah, just came to check on you. We have a little bit of time before we are shooting off, so yeah. We thought that we'd see what you were up to." Azure admitted, getting a shy smile from Gretzky. He blushed a little before noticing that there were some scars on Blitz's body, making him question them.

"Umm, are you okay, Eater? Those scars look kind of painful." Gretzky pointed out, making Blitz chuckle, followed by him wiping his eye with his hoof.

"I'm fine, just laughing through the fact that I look like a changeling zebra." Blitz admitted, cackling to himself and seeing that Azure was on the edge too. The thought of a changeling zebra made Azure begin to calmly laugh too. Gretzky rolled his eyes, Blitz still seeing a smile on Gretzky's face, which was his main goal still. Blitz was pretty sure that they weren't going to get to where they were going, if he kept up the conversation like this. Blitz rushed away, towards the main gate, followed by Gretzky walking in the same direction. Azure laughed a little at that and began to walk over there as well, making sure that they were a little early to the gathering, like usual.

Both Blitz and Azure didn't know who was coming with them, but knew that there were around eight ponies in total going, meaning that the others would have to look after the settlement while they were gone. Azure, Blitz and Gretzky made up three of them, so there were five others that would be coming along with them, helping to assist them in combat, if they indeed got into any combat at all, within this little adventure that they were partaking on.

Zeke showed up shortly after Blitz and Azure arrived at the gate. This made them a little curious to know why Zeke agreed to all of this. It didn't bother them, they were just very curious as to why. Zeke looked to both of them, before nodding at them with a frown. Why did he look sad? Was it because he was doing his own stuff then and there, around the settlement? They didn't know, all they could do was presume that Zeke was just under the weather or something along those lines.

They waited around for around ten minutes before somepony showed up. Sadjoy arrived, being followed by Brick, making Blitz smile. Brick waved to them, yawning and scratching his back with one of his claws. It looked like it hurt when he scratched his back, but Blitz knew better. It didn't hurt his back at it, it was most likely satisfying to him, being able to get rid of the itch.

Sadjoy waved a wing at Blitz and Azure, before heading over to them both. She perked up and smiled at both of them, before shielding herself from a bit of rain that was beginning to fall. Blitz knew that it was going to be a terrible day, especially in the weather department of things. She continued to smile at them both, regardless of the weather. It was kind of heartwarming to say the least.

"I wouldn't have missed this for the world. Another chance to explore an area would be amazing, so I didn't want to miss this chance." Sadjoy explained, getting a chuckle from Azure. Blitz walked off and spoke to Brick, Azure watching and smiling that Blitz was beginning to socialise more. Azure's gaze slowly drifted to Roselight and Saber heading in their direction. Sadjoy turned around and watched them both approach too. Was Roselight really going to go along with the little convoy?

Roselight looked at them all and smiled, then looked down at Saber, watching him with a well trained eye. Gretzky looked at both of them and frowned. Gretzky then walked up to both Roselight and Saber with a confused expression.

"Didn't we agree at eight ponies max? What is this Roselight?" Gretzky called out, questioning her and getting a little angry about it all. Blitz looked to Gretzky before stepping away from the group.

"I mean, if we need somepony to drop off the team so that Saber and Roselight can join, I could…" Blitz stated, before getting immediately cut off by both Azure and Gretzky.

"...No!" They both yelled out, making Blitz pause. Azure walked back up to him and dragged him back in. Gretzky walked up to Roselight and Saber and told them the cold, hard facts.

"We agreed on no more than eight ponies coming along on this adventure. We have eight, including you or Saber. One of you will have to stay behind and look after the settlement with Petalbreeze." Gretzky commanded, getting a sad look from them both. Roselight counted five ponies and a creature, standing behind Gretzky, meaning that there were two more places left, but there weren't.

Lumia teleported into the group and looked at both Sadjoy and Brick. Sadjoy smiled and nodded and Brick stood there confused, scratching his head and wondering what Lumia was. Roselight sighed and scowled. Seeing this, Sadjoy spoke up.

"As much as I want to go on this adventure, there are sacrifices in life that you have to make. I'll stay here so that Saber could go. There isn't a problem, cause he is a guard…" Sadjoy stated, cutting herself off before she was able to blurt out something that would have sent Roselight's emotions through the roof with anger. The look of happiness overwhelmed Roselight, as her and Saber joined the team, while Sadjoy was taken off.

Blitz felt a little bad about it, but didn't let his anger onto anypony else. Blitz just angrily stomped the ground once and then sighed, being pretty annoyed that Saber was here, instead of the loveable bat mare. Blitz just looked at her and smiled as best as he could, her doing the same to all of them, but Blitz could see that pain that she felt beneath that fake smile, so he was ready for an outburst somewhere along the line.

Sadjoy flew to the top of the wall and opened the gate for them all, allowing them all to go out and down the path. Sadjoy just watched in sadness as she was left behind, sacrificing her enjoyment in life, so that some spoiled colt could enjoy an adventure. She watched them until they became a couple of dots in the distance and sighed. She sat down and looked at the floor.

"...but he isn't good at being one." She finished her statement, making her mind go to negative places, before she slapped herself with her own hoof and went to go find some work to do from Petalbreeze.

An hour into their journey, they were still travelling. They had found one of the main roads leading to Hoofington, so they followed it, hoping the roads weren't patrolled by raiders or scavengers or anything else at that point. Blitz, Azure and Brick lead the way, stirring up occasional conversation with Brick about his life. Further back, Roselight was talking with Saber and Zeke was talking to Lumia about something. Gretzky was just staying quiet and listening to all of the sounds around him, ranging from gossipping in the conversations, to each step of the group.

Blitz felt a little bad about him, but he was pretty sure that Gretzky was daydreaming too, so he didn't think too much into it, only enough to make him concerned. Blitz walked ahead, seeing some overturned carts on the road ahead. He had his pistol out and ready for if somepony was going to try to attack them. He didn't aim his pistol, he only had it to the side of his body, using his magic to hold it in place.

Blitz saw some movement ahead and froze. He watched it for a couple of seconds, before moving closer to it. He was far enough ahead to not alert the others with his actions, but was close enough that they could hear him if he needed them. Blitz rushed forwards, Anti spawning in beside him, being his protector. They moved swiftly and silently, making quiet movements to scare off any unsuspecting ponies or creatures around the area. Blitz did originally see something before and now it wasn't there, which made him slightly confused. He moved around the carts on the road and received strange looks from the group, as they caught up to him. They were pretty sure that Blitz was fine, but didn't want to take the chance that he really was alright.

Blitz looked back to the carts and saw the same movement that he had before, but this time it was more visible. He aimed his pistol at the area and pivoted around the cart. He couldn't see anything on that side, meaning that there was only one place for that thing to go. Blitz looked under the cart and saw it. It was just a radroach. Blitz picked it up with his magic and held it next to him, looking at it and laughing. Blitz placed it on his back and watched as it just stayed there, almost like it was liking its position on Blitz's back. The radroach saw the others, but refused to leave Blitz's back, which was pretty strange.

Umm, Eater, why do you have a radroach on your back?" Gretzky asked, making the group turn to look at it. It was just chilling on Blitz's back, which got him remembering what the young version of himself did. Blitz's mother told him to stick onto her back, as she would go about her normal day. It was a trait that Blitz remembered, but why did the radroaches do it too. That made Blitz come up with a speculation, but he didn't trust it.

"Wait, does that mean that… No, surely not. All changelings couldn't have mutated to these little things. Maybe they could." Blitz muttered to himself, letting everypony else hear what he was saying. Brick gave a brief chuckle, before becoming one of the many voices in the crowd of ponies, shuffling towards Hoofington. Blitz was slightly worried about travelling there, but he was sure that each pony in the convoy had their own individual qualities, ranging from Azure being one to heal others, while Blitz himself was technically Death's advocate, but Blitz refused to kill more, unless he had to.

They moved along, pushing past sceptical scene after sceptical scene, dead foliage after dead foliage and shattered remain after shattered remain. It was a constant reminder that they were in the Wasteland and not in pre-war Equestria. Blitz pondered whether Equestria would ever get back to how it was, before all of the war that Blitz read about in a lot of the pre-war books he found. The authors were very talented, which made Blitz's heart flutter for a couple of seconds, before being dragged back to the harsh reality that was life.

All of the pondering that Blitz was doing made it so that he passed time. Before he knew it, they were all looking at the skyscrapers in the distance. There was some green light coming from Hoofington, making all of them seem a little bit off about all of it. Roselight paused them, quickly telling them something that made them get a little confused.

"We need to go around Hoofington! Right now, it is impossible to get in, because of some lazer defense weapon or something like that. The only way in is through Chapel, which is the settlement right in front of the bridge that evaporates anything living that goes halfway across the bridge." Roselight explained, getting confused looks from all of them apart from Brick.

"As much as I hate to say, she is right! I saw one of my pals get vaporised by that thing. Ain't that where most of the princess' nightmare went?" Brick asked, getting a swift and happy nod from Roselight. Blitz and Azure looked at each other and then looked to Roselight.

"So, we go around? How long would that take?" Blitz questioned, getting another nod from Roselight as she began to lead the pack, with Brick supporting her at the front. "She didn't answer my question! Hmm…" Blitz stated to Azure, not knowing how long it would have taken them to get there. If they had to go around, they would have to keep away from the massive whole that was around the city. As ponies moved past Blitz, Azure noticed that something was definitely eating at Blitz's mind, but he didn't know what it was.

They all moved off the road and headed North, more towards the mountains and valleys of Hoofington. What they would find there was unknown to them, but what wasn't unknown to them at that point, was the feeling of dread that irradiated from the city of Hoofington, the core of pain within the Wasteland.

Chapter 26: Underlying Unity

Azure came out of the memory orb and looked around, seeing both Lumia and Delta talking about a project that they were both set on making happen. They both looked at Azure before Lumia went over to him to check if he was okay, due to her knowing what could happen if Azure went into a bad memory orb. Not only could it have hurt him physically, but there was some permanent mental damage and trauma that could have broken Azure more than they both would have liked.

“What did you find out then, Azure?” Delta asked, being curious as to why he went back to the memory orb for the second time to try and find something that would have pieced the puzzles back together. Azure held up the orb that he had just seen, but looked at it and saw that it had turned to dust within Azure’s hoof, making it a little bit more useless than it originally was, but since Azure got the information out of it the first time, he wasn't as heart broken as other ponies might have been if the same thing happened to them.

“I found out what Blitz was hiding, but something was wrong. Blitz is something that we all don't understand, due to him being able to see me within the memory orb, as well as being able to change events that happened in the past, or at least happened in this!” Azure stated, holding up the dust for the others to see, making him rethink his plans at finding Blitz. Azure thought about what Blitz had said to him more and more, before something within his mind clicked. There was something in his mind that was forcing him to look for the artifact in the area that Blitz was in, when he was within the memory orb. Something within Azure’s mind was forcing his hoof to do that, only because he felt like it was the best thing to do. Azure was so confused as to why he was thinking that, but maybe it was something to either do with Blitz, or the amulet that he had around his neck, prompting him to get ready for a journey, potentially alone.

Lumia caught wind of his thinking, seeing it was a face of worry and doubt, rather than a face of confidence like she knew him for. She got closer to Azure, before hugging him softly, pressing her hooves to the back of Azure’s head and making him hug her, even though he was doing so anyway.

“Don't even think about doing something alone! I’m coming with you either way, only to spice up the life that I am having here. But before you go running off, can you help me with something? It’s a little gift for Delta.” She asked, getting a slow nod from Azure in response, being a little concerned as to what he task was that she wanted him to do. “I need you to face your problems and go and ask Nightclaw for my gift for Delta.” Lumia explained, seeing Azure’s eyes narrow at her, before hearing Delta ask Lumia something, dragging her away from the concerned pegasus.

Azure noticed that it was not raining anymore, making it the perfect time to go about and ask Nightclaw for the gift that Lumia wanted, but Azure was instantly wanting to decline the request, but then a thought hit his head, making him smile a little bit, before walking out of the building and towards the area where Nightclaw’s little smithing area laid idle. Azure knew that Blitz would have wanted him to forgive others, but there were some things that were best not to be forgiven for and one of those things happened to Azure, making him a little sceptical about the choice that he had, along with the task that he had been given.

Azure stopped at the edge of the smithing area, seeing Nightclaw hard at work smelting something, making him not only a little hesitant to talk to him, but a little angry, due to seeing that face along with Sadjoy previously, bringing the bad memories back and really showed either how much those two hated him, or how much the Wasteland hated him. Either way, he was going to have to ask Nightclaw for something. He coughed loudly, getting the attention of the gryphon. He didn't look too comfortable, looking over to Azure and then away again, almost like he wanted to avoid eye contact with the pegasus.

“If you are looking for the gift for Delta, it is across from you, to the right.” He stated, not moving from the spot, there was something that was going on with him that Azure couldn't see, but he didn't really care too much. He looked over to the far right and found something that resembled a chassis for a robotic pony, just like Lumia herself. Azure double checked with Nightclaw, still seeing him in the same position as he was before Azure began trying to search for the item, but then saw the reason why he was standing in the exact same area for such a long time, finding it hard to do work. Sadjoy came out from under the worktable and kissed him on the cheek, before Nightclaw embarrassingly pointed a claw over in Azure’s direction, making Sadjoy look at him, she even stopped breathing due to the shock of what she was seeing. It should have been the opposite way around, but somepony had to care about the situation, and it wasn't going to be Azure. Nightclaw confirmed that the robotic body was indeed the gift for Delta, allowing Azure to go back to the item and pick it up, before attempting to walk back to Delta and Lumia with it, getting paused by Sadjoy.

“Don't say a word about this!” Sadjoy commanded, trying to threaten Azure into not giving her any more bad connotations surrounding her name within the settlement. Azure shook his head, before pushing Sadjoy out of the way with his head, before placing the body on his back, struggling to lift the item onto himself. Sadjoy was taken back by the move that Azure had just pulled, making her angry enough to bear her fangs out at Azure, threatening him even more than he originally did, but not creating a different reaction out of him. He was mainly trying to get the frame of the metal pony away and over to Lumia for her to give it to Delta, which was actually getting Azure a little excited to think about, due to knowing exactly what Lumia was going to do with the metal frame.

Sadjoy noticed that Azure was struggling with the metal body, making her smile, before pushing him over, making him fall with the body that was already heavy enough to lift on it’s own. Azure grunted a little, noticing that something had scraped his side, making him bleed a little more than he would have liked. Sadjoy didn't feel any regret, being adamant to keep her name as clean as she possibly could, despite her name already being used negatively, due to the things that she had already done to Azure, in regards to cheating on him. Sadjoy froze, before seeing a couple of ponies aiming weapons at her, from different angles.

Lumia flew down from above, landing next to one of her best friends, keeping him protected from the mare that was getting close to being shot in plain sight. Lilly walked out from behind one of the dark areas that littered the settlement like a plague. She pointed a weapon at the bat pony using her magic, standing tall next to Lumia. Gretzky was a little further back, having a rifle with a laser attached to it, being pointed directly towards the head of the bat pony that was in serious trouble. Plumjuice was really far back, showing some sort of marksman with a sniper rifle, being able to aim the laser directly onto the head of Sadjoy. Then came the two sisters, Roselight and Petalbreeze. Roselight was above them all and Petalbreeze was slowly walking towards the pair, seeing that Nightclaw was fearing for his life right then and there, seeing all of those guns aimed at Sadjoy like that, thinking that they might have pointed at him shortly after.

Petalbreeze got to Sadjoy first, being the one to tell her that she was galloping on thin ice, making her audibly gulp, before Petalbreeze got tired of her and turned around, before bucking her in the chest, not as hard as she could, but hard enough to send a message to the mare, trying to set her straight. It didn't work, setting her in a phycotic mode. She bared her fangs, before rushing at Petalbreeze with lightning speed. A roar echoed from within the settlement, as somepony fired a weapon, dropping the mare in a single bullet. It wasn't one of the ponies originally holding the weapons, but everypony looked down at the culprit, being surprised to see Azure holding a gun, smoke billowing out from the end of the barrel, due to how recent the shot was. Azure dropped the gun, before laying back onto the floor, almost being ready to give up, but somepony offered him a hoof. It was Petalbreeze!

Azure just stared at her, not feeling like he deserved to be helped up, but then he didn't have a choice, as she lifted him up with her magic, before forcing him into a hug. Azure was definitely needing one right there and then, but also wanted to go over and treat Sadjoy for the wound that he had just made. He was just lucky that he didn't shoot her in the head, otherwise he would have killed without a reason, making him the worst one in the settlement.

Sadjoy growled in agony, trying to get up but being unable to, due to the bullet being embedded within her stomach, making it hurt everytime she moved. She looked at Azure with bloodshot eyes, making him feel bad about shooting her, before getting dragged out of her line of sight by Roselight, while Petalbreeze dealt with the rampant bat pony. The last thing that Azure saw there was Petalbreeze using a healing spell on the mare, making Azure breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that he had only hurt the mare and not killed her. Maybe that might have taught her about threatening and attacking ponies that had more than one friend in the settlement.

Roselight laid on the floor of her office, having a blanket wrapped around her. She was curled around a smaller looking Azure, seeing that he too was curled up, being pretty comfy and warm with the blanket covering most of his body, leaving his head and neck exposed for the outside weather to batter with its constant air flow, bringing in amounts of cold air. Roselight was making sure that Azure was okay, clearing his mind and keeping him warm enough for him to say relaxed, which was something that Azure needed. Lumia had taken the body that was the metal frame, being delighted about the look of the item. Azure’s guess was that she was going to try to place Delta within the metal frame, allowing them to live another life, or the same life, but being able to move. That warmed Azure’s little damaged heart, making him nuzzle into the bigger alicorn’s fur. He was happy that he was able to get so much warmth from his friend, but that was about the only thing that he was happy about. He was more down in the dumps than anything else, making Roselight try even harder to make him relax and make him happier than before.

He tried to close his eyes and shoot off to sleep, but his mind wouldn't allow it, keeping the images in his head of what he could have done to Sadjoy, things that could have ended so much worse. Azure hated that the world was cruel to him and only him, due to him feeling so far under the bus, that it felt like it was real. A knock came from the door, indicating that somepony wanted to enter. Petalbreeze entered and laid down next to Roselight and Azure, making Azure look over to her for a little bit of clarification, which was something that he got almost instantly, allowing his mind to no be too much more frantic than it already was, which was not only bad for his physical side, but his mental side as well, keeping all of the stress that he had been feeling for Sadjoy within him for so long. It felt good for him to finally set her straight, but there was something off about Azure’s actions that he hated most of all. He didn't even apologize, making his situation so much worse than it already was. Azure shook his head, before rushing outside, needing some more air and to cool down from all of the thoughts that were racing within his mind and not backing down, not allowing him to actually think.

Azure took all of his anger out on a training dummy that Gretzky had finally put up. Azure was super grateful for it, being able to take out all of his problems onto the dummy, rather than an actual pony, which was better for him in regards to a mental standpoint. Azure kept kicking the dummy, allowing each kick to improve his move just a little, which was good enough for him. While he was relaxing himself, he thought about how he was going to go back to the factory. He was pretty sure that he was going to have to take Lumia, but there was something screaming within his head for him to take Brick, which was a first for Azure.

Azure thought about it some more, before thinking that Brick might have been a good pick, but there was somepony that would have been able to support both Lumia and Azure within battle, which was Delta, as soon as they were put in the robot. That thought alone got Azure to take his mind off the badness within the Wasteland for a couple of minutes, which calmed him down enough for him not needing to kick at the target anymore. Azure wanted to go over to Lumia and see the change for himself, so he did just that, not forgetting to thank Gretzky for letting him use the dummy that he had lying down on the floor.

After Azure thanked Gretzky, he rushed over to where Lumia was and knocked on the door, before entering the property, allowing him to see exactly what Lumia was up to. She placed the metal body on the tallest pillar, before plugging a load of things into the body, almost like she was trying to charge the body. She used her magic to pull a lever on the side of the body, seeing it twitch and convulse around, knowing that there was a chance that something could have definitely gone wrong, but Azure was done with thinking negatively, allowing his mind to try to focus on all of the good in the Wasteland, which there really wasn't much good going on, making him laugh at his choice. Azure got a little closer to the robot on the table, before noticing that it was moving slightly, meaning that Delta must have been transferred, making Azure smile and chuckle a little bit. Delta opening his eyes, before noticing that there was something up with Delta. He wasn't speaking like he normally did, making Azure a little skeptical about what was up with Delta, but Lumia mentioned to Azure that he was alright, due to him not speaking through a robot’s audio output before.

Lumia was somewhat happy with what state Delta was in, due to her finding it funny more than anything, but since he couldn't speak, they couldn't hear him. He looked about before opening up his wings. He looked at them and smiled, before looking over to Azure and moving his wings for the first time in a long, long time. Delta was luckily within both the body and the computer system, being like he had just been duplicated, which was far from a bad thing to Azure, due to Delta being somepony that Blitz could trust one hundred percent, without any form of hesitation, due to him being trustworthy and being a professor that sacrificed his life to make Lumia’s better. Lumia was over the moon that Delta was back at her friend and that she was able to physically hug Delta once again, using her hooves to keep him locked to her within the hug. Delta was curious to try out the limitations of his new body, which made him shoot off in a direction, before opening the door and running out, forcing Azure and Lumia to chase after him.

Although he was new to the body, he sure knew how to use it and to take full advantage of how it worked and what were the limitations of it already. He outstretched his metallic wings and took to the skies, before realising that he couldn't go too high into the sky, due to energy field that was blocking the ground from the clouds and either detecting all life that passed through, or zapping and vaporizing any pony that dared to fly past.

He flew back down to the ground, before he landed with such grace that it would make even the most talented of pegasi jealous, almost like he was a fully fledged pegasus from the beginning. Azure and Lumia rushed over, both smiling that Professor Delta was so happy with his new body. He walked over to them both, before laughing and cackling to himself about all of the fun that he could have once again. Lumia chuckled a little, before tapping his chest and seeing the magic within Delta’s new body work, moving his wings inside his body and revealing a horn, that was fully functional.

“There you go, Delta! Down to earth with you! You can swap races when you like, but you can't be a robotic alicorn like myself sadly, due to the limitations of the magic you have. You need to make it stronger before you can have both, I would assume.” Lumia pointed out, knowing exactly what would happen if he was to try and use both unicorn and pegasus form at the same time. He looked at his body, before nodding and smiling at the other two, thanking them immensely for the help that he was able to get for getting the body, Azure apparently having some sort of input into it apparently.

They all went back into the house of which they originally came out of and sat comfortably in one of the many chairs that littered one of the rooms, which was something that Azure never really got, which was why there were so many chairs in one area. He really wanted to talk to both of them about what he wanted to do with going back to the original factory that Blitz had blown up with a mortar strike from one of the Steel Ranger’s targeting grenades. There was something that Blitz wanted them to see, but didn't want any other pony to see, which gave an incredible amount of motivation to Azure that nopony else would have ever given him.

Azure stood up, before walking over to where Lumia and Delta were sitting, chatting away about what he was going to do for Lumia when he got used to the body that he was now in. Being a computer or a hard drive must have been a pain to put up with for so long, due to not being able to either travel or have a say in what happened around him, making Azure think that he would be a little unstable for a little while.

Petalbreeze burst through the door and looked directly at Azure, before dragging him over with a gentle gust of her magic, before hugging him tightly and kissing him on the head, getting some noises from behind him, which were noises that were meant to put him off all of the romantic stuff. Azure was a little surprised that she had even hugged him, let alone kissed him on the head. Something was definitely up and he knew it.

“Sadjoy survived the shot, but is a little hurt that you did that. I couldn't have cared less about…” Petalbreeze stated, before being interrupted by Azure’s hoof covering her mouth, making her blush a little and staying silent as he did so.

“I know you don’t care, but at least she is alive and that I don't have to live with the burden that I had killed one pony that had done nothing wrong or that would have been worth killing for.” Azure stated, before kissing Petalbreeze on the head, making her blush a little more, before shaking her head, wiping the blush out of view, before trying to get herself away from the clingy Azure that she wanted to learn more about someday, but today was not that day, for her at least.

Azure wanted to set out on the journey that he had been shown within the memory orb, but there was something lingering within the air that gave him a bad taste, something that was a little too familiar to him, but not being able to put his hoof on the thought exactly. Azure wanted to grab ponies around for the plan that would allow them to easily travel across the Wasteland and back over to the factory that had been shown within the memory orb. He asked away at everypony in the room and got the same response from all of them, which was not a yes, him being the one to expect a yes from at least one of the ponies and machines within the room, but sadly not. Azure walked outside and ran across the area, asking every pony he could about it. Nopony wanted to go back in that general direction or was busy, but Azure was the only one that was not busy. He asked everypony in the settlement and got the same answer every time, even from Gretzky and Roselight.

“Fine, I guess the old saying still goes. If you want something done, you gotta do it yourself!” Azure muttered under his breath while nopony was around him. He didn't have too much on him and didn't have any caps to his name, so he took as much of a leap backwards as he could, exiting the settlement with nothing on him, apart from his saddlebag and a couple of useless items that were no use to this mission. He travelled down to the South and to the West a little bit, using his Pipbuck to guide him in the right direction. He was back to the way that it was when he had to go down into the sewers before, before Roselight went to help him. Only this time, there was no help and nopony was coming after him, bringing a single tear down his cheek, before he wiped it away and wore a noble look or adventure on his face, making him feel more powerful than before, but also weaker, due to having nopony with him.

Azure kept walking with nothing holding him back from going back to the settlement until he had completed his journey, not leaving a clue for the group to find him at all, so if they wanted him, they would have to remember where he said he would have been going to in order to find the rogue pegasus doctor. Azure was a little cold, only having his ragged doctor’s cloak to keep him warm as the winds picked up a little bit. He was sure that something was up with the pegasi above, due to there being no cloud change for around an hour or so, making Azure hope that somepony was treating the pegasi above with the respect they deserved, which was offing every last one of them, due to blotting out the sunlight from the ponies below. Somepony was going to get their entire race to become extinct, just like most of the changelings were, he thought at least.

Azure looked at the ammo he had for both of his weapons and seeing that his pistol only have two shots within it, due to being used so often and keeping it as one of his only bullet weapons, alongside the shotgun being for ghoul use, but Azure thought that he gave the shotgun to Gretzky. How did it end up back in his saddlebag? Gretzky must have placed it there after the attack on the old base of Sharpened Death. Azure was glad to see that there were a couple of shots within it, allowing him to have more ammo than he had initially thought, but still not enough for him to feel safe. He was going to have to find somepony and get some ammo off them, or he was going to have to scout about and find an unlooted building, which was highly unlikely within the Wasteland.

Azure noticed that it was beginning to become night time, but that was not going to stop him, not going to stop him from getting closer and closer to his friend. Azure turned on the light of his Pipbuck and went to work, lifting himself off the ground and gliding as much as he could to conserve energy, allowing him to not feel as tired as he could have been. Azure noticed that there was something coming closer and closer to him, from in front of him and made him feel a little scared about seeing interactions like the one that he was coming up on, due to all of the bad things happening within the dead of night.

Azure quickly turned off his light, before hoving just out of view of a little of the light, seeing some raiders around the fire and seeing some ponies in the middle of the fire, which made him a little angry and sick. Although they had to eat ponies to be able to survive, Azure was not having any of it, nearly stepping over the line and blasting the ponies in the head right then and there. He just watched them for the longest time, before seeing one of them drag in a mare that had bruises on her, due to probably being bucked and used for more than she would have liked. Azure was getting a little tired of raiders doing things to ponies and nearly jumped at the gun to kill them all, but he waited for the perfect opportunity to shoot one of the raiders in the head. There were only five of them after all, so Azure needed to make sure that he was able to fight them all off, with one bullet each.

Azure saw one of the raiders walk over to his location, before seeing him slip out of the light and into the shadows, allowing Azure to get one of them without the others knowing about his disappearance. Azure grabbed the raider, before bringing him up into the air, before holding him there, one hoof around his mouth, so that he couldn't speak, as well as one of his hooves being around his neck, choking him while he was suspended within the air, allowing gravity to do all of the work for him, before he saw the raider go limp, seeing that he had stopped struggling altogether, making it easier for Azure to move onto the next one. Azure placed the unconscious raider in a bush, allowing him to stay hidden from the others.

Azure noticed that one of the other raiders, within the middle by the fire, had some good looking black barding, along with a hood and a muzzle cover, making him pretty much all black. Azure was going to want to have his barding, making him want to drag out one of the ponies to grab the attention of the stealth armoured pony. He had some sort of rifle with him, carrying it on his battle saddle that he had on top of the barding. Azure took off his doctor’s cloak, before placing it within his saddlebag, allowing his darkened fur to hide him more than the whitish overcoat.

Azure landed and stepped on a twig, making a large snap, followed by somepony being a little startled. Azure was still within the darkness, allowing him to stay hidden from the fire making their eyes that little less adapted to the darkness. Azure flew up higher, before noticing that the pony with the barding also had a Pipbuck, allowing him to see Azure on the map, seeing that he was actually a green dot, rather than a red dot, meaning that he was not bad. The raiders shot wildly in that direction, while the other pony looked directly at Azure, before getting shot directly between the eyes, due to Azure using the pistol and shooting one single bullet down at him. Azure thought about it for a brief second, before regretting what he had just done, but it was too late for him to change the course of time, or to revert time back to how it was just a couple of seconds ago. Azure was in a situation that was either life or death, so he was going to try to keep alive as long as possible, even if he had to break his code to do so. He hated it, but he needed to get to Blitz, and nothing was going to stop him from doing so.

Azure noticed that the other raiders were fleeing, making Azure want to kill them too, but not having enough ambition to chase them down like some sort of deranged killer, that was somepony else's job, not his. Azure walked over to the unconscious body, before dragging the original one over to the dead raider that was on the floor. The fire died out, due to Azure placing some dirt over it, allowing him to utilize his Pipbuck more than he needed too, but it was better with the fire out, allowing him to stay hidden for just that little bit longer.

Azure took what was on the raider body, which was his barding, which he wasn't the proudest of, but he was happy that he would have been safer than before, due to the armour blending in with the blackness of night, allowing him to be more sneaky than ever before. He took their saddlebags, without even looking through them and placed them within his own, being larger than theirs and allowing him to keep his back free for additional movement, due to not having multiple saddlebags restricting his movement. He was about to leave right there and then, but he noticed the raider’s Pipbuck, seeing that there was something up with it.

Azure looked at his own Pipbuck and saw that the screen had a pop-up on it, allowing him to see that there was some sort of modification nearby, allowing him to gain something if he picked up the raider’s Pipbuck. Azure couldn't get it off, due to it being locked behind some sort of key. Azure had no choice but to do something that he didn't like to do, but needed to do it, only helped by the fact that the raider wasn’t going to be needing their hoof anymore. Azure got out a spiked bat that he had been holding onto, before smacking the foreleg of the raider several time, before seeing blood and bone, continuing to pound away at the foreleg, until he broke the bone and was able to tear it off, like some sort of meat being pulled, which it was.

Azure noticed something coming out from the Pipbuck, which Azure pulled out a little more and saw that it was something called an ‘upgrade card’ which allowed him to insert it into his Pipbuck. He gained the ability to sneak around more silently, as well as being able to create something like a healing potion, as well as being able to move a little faster while sneaking, which were all very useful to him. Azure placed the forehoof in his saddlebag and started to look at the other raider, seeing that he had some weapons on him. It took him a little while to search them both, but he managed it, before pulling up the hood on his new barding and placing the cloth over his muzzle, making him look like a proper sneak thief, as he travelled in the direction of the factory, continuing his journey.

Azure didn't have even a single regret, saving the regret and the sobbing for after the mission that he needed to do. It wasn't one that he wanted to do, it was one that he needed to do, making him have the confidence to smite down everypony and creature that got in his way, regardless of it they had done something wrong or had even done something right. Azure was not caring about anypony other than himself at that point, which made him hate himself, but he was sacrificing his bravery to be able to get the job done that the others wouldn't.

Azure came to another group of raiders within the night, but Azure had what he needed to complete the mission that he sent himself one, due to having more than enough ammo to complete his job, along with some more weapons on him that had significantly more firepower than his previous pistol, allowing him to be a more challenging opponent to those who wanted to pass him on the wrong terms. Azure kept quiet, passing the raiders with a couple of careful steps that allowed him to remain undetected. Azure was still not one for the unnecessary killing, but he was a changed pegasus and had a job to do, to better the Wasteland and to bring it back to how it used to be, due to the land having little to no perfect creatures in it, let alone ponies. Life had been ruined, due to the megaspells, but that didn't make Azure stop thinking that there was a way to revert at least a little of the Wasteland back to how it was before he was born, which Azure himself was a little eager to see.

Azure travelled through the dead of night, getting no sleep for the journey that he was on, which wasn't the greatest idea, but it was the quickest, Azure wanting to get it over and done with before he was able to relax, which included sleep. He had no time to sleep, due to raiders being all around him, due to the area that he was going into being the new hotspot for the raiders, after they had run Azure and all of his friends and family out of the settlement. Azure really badly wanted to get some revenge on the raiders, but he guessed that his attack on the others was enough to settle the score.

Azure travelled for hours, seeing nothing the dead trees and empty fields, giving him the relief that he wanted and the relaxation to go with it, due to there being nothing that bothered him as he sailed through the air, collecting enough air within his wings to allow him to glide against the wind, making it no effort to keep moving, making him feel like he was dropping from the clouds above, before something broke the silence, which Azure was not too happy about at all.

He could see the factory in the distance, but there was something going on in front of said factory, giving him a little bit of a flashback to the settlement being raided by the raiders and their leaders, scarring him a little due to that memory being so fresh within his mind. Azure landed on the ground, before walking over to the scene of the noise, seeing that there were some gunshots being fired from two sides, those being either the raiders side, or the scavengers side, which Azure was pretty sure that they came to a disagreement after Sawtooth bit the bullet.

Azure watched from the safety of a bush, before coming to a conclusion that he was just going to leave the fight to go on, due to both sides being bad and only wanting one thing, which was the loot of the enemy, giving Azure enough time to sneak out of the bush and continue flying, getting closer and closer to the factory that Blitz had went down to get away from the Steel Rangers. Azure landed a little bit away from the factory, before seeing some creatures walking around the ruins of the factory, which Azure couldn't recognise until he got a little bit closer, which were ghouls, a lot of them. Azure was careful to approach them, knowing that they were very good at detecting movement, even if their eyes didn't work. Azure stayed a little bit away, before seeing the entrance to the sewer system. Something loud went off, getting the attention of the ghouls, before seeing them sprint over to where the noise was coming from. Azure kept down on the ground, lying flat against the floor, before seeing that there were a couple of ghouls that didn't want to go and check out the noise. Azure looked up, before seeing one stood directly next to him before seeing the menacing pony look down at him. If it was a feral ghoul, it would have attacked him, but it didn't, meaning that the remaining ghouls were just following the group. Azure got up, before rushing into the sewer system entrance and turned on his Pipbuck light, giving him more visibility than he did originally, due to the sewer being dark and dull. Azure’s Pipbuck kept clicking, meaning that there was some sort of radiation in the area. He instantly uses some rad x, which was something that ponies used to reduce the amount of radiation that a pony would receive, for a lengthy amount of time. He stuck the item in his foreleg, before seeing his radiation meter fall back down to nearly zero a second, which was good enough for him.

Azure walked down the long passageway that led into the main part of the sewer, taking some of the time it took to check that he was properly equipped to be doing something like he was planning on doing. Azure looked around, confirming that he was alone, before he looked down at the gun that was in one of his battle saddle holders, feeling a little less confident about all of this, until something played within his head, making him draw a blank. He swore that he could see Blitz walking down the part that he was, making him shake his head, before travelling down the same root that Blitz’s illusion did. It was a little complicated to work out, but there was definitely some chance that Azure was going to get lost within the sewers.

Azure was so caught up on chasing after Blitz, that he didn't notice the bodies on the floor, making him look like he was one of the ghouls from the previous group, being brain dead and unresponsive to everything else that was going on within the world. Azure had his doubts and noticed that something was a little wrong with Blitz’s illusion. Azure knew that it was not the path that Blitz took to get to the wall, or was it? Azure questioned himself, feeling like something was definitely off, making him on edge, but not wanting to lose track of Blitz.

A ghoul rushed up to Azure, murmuring something at him, before grabbing him with its hoof, not letting him follow Blitz’s illusion. Azure needed to keep following the illusion, so he turned around and hit the ghoul with the butt of his gun within his battle saddle, making the ghoul fall over, unable to keep Blitz pinned. Something was definitely going on with the world, knowing that ghouls wanted him to be safe, but he needed to follow Blitz’s illusion. Azure snapped, before rushing after it and seeing that it was moving up the speed of Blitz’s illusion, making Azure know one hundred percent that it was some sort of trap, but Azure wanted to play it out. Azure turned behind him and saw that there was a group of ghouls chasing him, making him believe that something was more off than it seemed.

There was a slight decline, before Blitz’s illusion stopped in the middle of a huge room, still being within the sewer system. A bullet whizzed by Azure’s head, making its way into Blitz’s head and splattering the so called illusion’s head all over the wall, before hearing a ear piercing scream. Blitz’s illusion quickly got replaced by some sort of undead ghoul, wrapped in vines and looking nothing like Blitz. Azure looked to his side to see something big, something like he would have seen within a boss battle or something like that. There was some sort of undead vine creature that was just sitting there. It let out a death cutting scream, before throwing one of its tentacles out at Azure, being shot in the progress of getting closer to him. Azure began running back, before seeing his group of friends fighting by his side. Gretzky was the one who shot the bullet at the monster and the fake Blitz illusion, while Sadjoy was the one that he hit, which he wasn't really sad about hitting. Roselight and Petalbreeze were there too, along with Zeke and Lumia and even Delta in his new body.

There was a moment of silence, before the beast created a different type of noise, summoning some ghouls to the area, before sending them to attack Azure, knowing that he was the weakest of all of them, knowing full well that it could have taken so much from Azure, due to him being in a bad place at a bad time. Sadjoy walked over to the beast, before biting at it, making its vines go black for some reason, almost like she had something within her fangs, like some sort of poison. Azure watched as Sadjoy killed a couple of vines, before getting slapped away by the monster, making it scream for more ghouls to come in and help.

The ghouls that were there helped immediately, throwing themselves at Azure and his friends. Gretzky was taking care of some of them, while Roselight was taking out the rest. Azure and the rest of them were focusing on taking out the massive plant-like creature. It was a mixture of both plants and dead creatures, molding it together and allowing its form to merge and stick to everything that it could. Azure watched a vine travel towards him, before seeing it get cut off by Lumia, making the dying vine drop to the ground and become dust. Azure pulled down his hood, before running directly towards the monster, not seeing any ghouls left. All of his friends covered him, getting rid of any vines that posed a challenge to Azure, before he launched himself at the centre of the beast, the monster! He shot directly into the centre of it, so did all of his friends, Lumia creating a bubble around him, so that Azure didn't get shot by accident. A barrage of bullets did nothing to it, before it swiped Azure off itself, throwing him to the ground, before Petalbreeze caught him. They all began to walk backwards, before something struck the monster, hard!

A orb of light came into the room and zapped the monster, making it glow a little brighter, before it faded back to its original colours, making them ponder what happened right then and there. A figure walked into the little area that they were at, before glitching a little bit, before revealing itself. It was Blitz, or was it? The Blitz imposter moved closer and closer to the monster, making it slowly recoil.

“When I say, dump all of your ammo into it!” Blitz commanded, knowing that they wanted the monster gone, just like he did. They were all still in shock that Blitz was right there in front of them, being the long lost friend that they all had missed so much. Their little changeling buddy! They all nodded and aimed their weapon at the monster, before seeing Blitz charge up his horn. Azure noticed that Blitz’s aura was a little bit glitchy, due to it phasing in and out of reality, making Azure keep thinking that it was not the real Blitz. He was somewhat right, but not one hundred percent right or wrong.

Blitz let out a stream of energy that vaporized the surfaces that it touched, getting a look of shock from the rest of the group, making them just stand there in awe at the sight before them. They all looked at each other before nodding and then looking at Azure, seeing that he was the only one not aiming his weapon. Azure looked at the rest of them and smiled, before aiming the new weapons that he had acquired at the monster before him. They all nodded in unicen, before shooting all of their weapons at once. It didn't take much ammo to shatter the monster and its shield like layer, making them all seem a little bit happier.

They all stopped firing, seeing that Blitz was still using his beam, picking up the chunks of the monster, before vaporizing the remaining bits that were going to be causing some issues. Azure walked over to the hologram and then stuck his hoof through it, seeing that it wasn't real, which did make him a little bit more emotional, but something clicked within Azure's mind, something that he had longed for, something that he had been chasing Blitz for. Purpose within the Wasteland!

Blitz's hologram looked at what Azure just did and chuckled, before pushing Azure's hoof away and becoming completely solid, before placing Azure's hoof against his chest again. Azure felt Blitz's rough chitin, noticing that something was wrong with it, due to being rougher than it had ever been. Blitz chuckled, before walking out of the room, getting Azure to follow him. Blitz stayed silent for the most part, while Azure followed him to the wall that he had originally shown off within the memory orb. Blitz walked up to the wall and waited for the others to follow Azure, before seeing that they were indeed following him, making him smile, due to Azure being in the company of good friends and family.

“I see that you have been a little busy bud. I like your attire by the way, it really brings your stripes into play, giving you more of an edge.” Blitz stating, before chuckling to himself, before Azure tried to hug him, forgetting that he was a hologram. Azure phased through him, making him look down to the ground, before Blitz rolled his eyes and phased himself, or his clone, into reality, allowing it to become real. Blitz tapped Azure on the back before Azure instantly turned and hugged him, knowing what Blitz had done. It was clear by the hug that Azure missed Blitz, but Azure didn't know or even want to know if he was hugging the real Blitz. All he cared about was seeing him, not being in a dream.

“To all of you, I need you to knock down the wall with the green mark on it. I caught a glimpse of something when I was here originally, just ask Azure if you need to clarify anything.” Blitz stated, leaning against a wall and looking at the rest of them. Petalbreeze walked up to the wall and then tried to kick it down, but it didn't work. They looked at Gretzky for the answer, but the only thing they got was a roll of his eyes. He chuckled a little bit, before pulling out a grenade launcher from his saddlebag, placing it in his claws as he looked over it and then placed an explosive within it, before aiming it at the wall. He shot it, making a little pop noise, before seeing the wall explode into a shower of broken debris and shrapnel, making them all drop to the ground, taking cover from the explosion.

As soon as the smoke cleared, they all looked within the hole that had been created, before seeing that there was a completely different path, with a couple of boxes on the side, with a jeweled ring glistening within the light that was shone on it. Blitz used his magic to dampen the lighting of the area outside the area that they had just discovered, making it more difficult for the ghouls to find where they were. With the loud explosion, there was definitely a chance that there would have been some unwanted attention within the sewer, making them come prepared with more weapons to fight off the ghouls.

Gretzky was the main reason that they were able to track down Azure, due to them both having Pipbucks that worked. Before Azure had gone on the journey, Gretzky set his Pipbuck up to record the direction of which Azure had gone, making it easier than ever to find his location. All they had to do was to follow the rogue pegasus around and watch where he went. They did find the little area where Azure lost a little bit of his sanity, but they were pretty surprised that he was able to go about doing stealth takedowns and whatnot, with how little of those skills they had seen him use previously. They were nothing but impressed with what he was able to do if his mind was not in the perfect position for healing and helping other ponies.

Delta walked over to Blitz, before bowing over, greeting him like they did originally in their days. Blitz bowed back, getting a little bit of a chuckle out of an old friend, a very, very old friend of his mother’s. Blitz was around two hundred years old and Delta, Delta was quite a bit older, due to him living most of his life already, but being able to live within a computer and now, a robotic frame that would power itself. Blitz and Delta had a little conversation, while the others went down the little tunnel. Azure coughed, before seeing both Blitz and Delta look at him, before they both followed him, liking the appearance that he had just that little bit more and more.

They came to a little control room that was plastered in papers and other paper like objects, making it look somewhat like something out of a movie. Azure was pretty amazed that the area held up so well with all of the items and papers looking like they had never been touched or damaged. Azure followed the group in, really taking in all of the scenery and being ready to accept that he was in a different part of the Wasteland, which he was technically.

Azure walked over to one of the many tables that littered the room, allowing him to read the papers that were on display before him, seeing that there were many different types of notes for him to read, some being about weapons and different types of soul power that could have been put in them to provide additional effects to both the weapons and the armour, allowing them to become stronger overall, due to how powerful a soul was to everypony else. There were schematics littered on and off the tables, giving Azure the chance to create a weapon with a soul within it. When he looked deeper into the plans, he noticed two things that were either bad or confusing.

The first thing that he noticed that was a little confusing, was that he needed something called the ‘black book’ which according to some more of the notes was a cursed book with some spells in it that a unicorn or alicorn could use to merge a soul to a weapon, giving the weapon life and even more firepower. The negative part was not worth the positives at all, due to it needing a fresh soul to work from a pony or creature that was alive. Azure froze for a second, before realising what he needed to create a soul weapon, before backing up a little and closing his eyes, having a little bit of a daydream about ponies that he had ended the lives of, making him feel like one of those souls that had been put into one of those weapons. Sadjoy walked over to Azure, ready to hug him, before Blitz came along and bucked her out of the way, keeping her from hugging Azure.

“I’ve seen what you have done to him and how much he has hurt from it! You keep your distance!” Blitz stated, before hugging Azure himself, keeping his eye on Sadjoy as her ears were pinned to her sides, Blitz not allowing her to have her actions be forgotten. Sadjoy went back to looking around, being in the company of nopony else, making her feel a little bit worse than she had been before, making her regret her actions.

Azure also went back to searching around the room, seeing that it was actually bigger than he had originally thought, due to the amount of ponies being in the area and not becoming cramped within a small space. All of the ponies were pretty far apart, making him chuckle to himself, before tripping over something that was on the floor. Azure looked down and saw that there was some sort of weapon that was beneath him, making him pick it up and look over it.

It was a syringe gun just like his one, but this one had some designs on it that almost made it look like some sort of cutiemark, along with the top of the weapon being grey, when the main body of the item was black. Azure’s syringe gun was a mix and match of colours, but this one was one group of colours, looking more like an actual weapon than a helpful tool gun. Azure aimed it around the room, testing to see what the sight was like, before he looked at the weapon a little closer, seeing that there was a little bit of a light blue glow around it, making Azure think that the weapon was the artifact. Maybe it was something to do with the Ministry of Peace, due to their leader being so hellbent on healing ponies and creatures from both sides.

“Umm, what is this?” Petalbreeze pointed out, before getting everypony’s attention. They all looked down at the staircase that was leading down into the darkness below, but they didn’t know what was going to be down there. Gretzky flew in front of them all and blocked off the area, before showing them his Pipbuck, allowing them all to see that the radiation meter was maxxed out, making Gretzky get a little bit of radiation into his system, but there wasn't anything in regards to radiation that the radaway that he had on him, could do.

Blitz’s hologram looked at them all, before bowing, getting all of their attention.

“I’ll report all of this information back to myself, hopefully knowing it without Death picking up on it. Also, i’ll come back here and explore it for myself, due to me not being able to collect any radiation due to me being a changeling and being immune to it. I…” Blitz stated, before seeing an EMP grenade enter the room. He picked it up, before running out with it in his magic. “Get away from them!” Blitz yelled out, before the EMP went off, not being able to reach both of the powerful robots within the room, them being Delta and Lumia. Azure watched as the hologram of Blitz flickered, then faded away, being gone once again.