Fallout: Equestria - Equilibrium

by CruelThesis

Rating: mature
Tags: Original Character, Profanity, Adventure, Violence, Crossover, Sex, Death, Fallout, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 32302

From a land of sunshine and rainbows comes a mare out of time. Follow Scarlett Dawn and her unlikely band of friends in their adventure across a hellish, post-apocalyptic, winter wonderland.

From a land of sunshine and rainbows comes a mare out of time. Forced to leave her old life behind for a new one, she now finds herself in a new world where blood is the only message. Surrounded by a great winter, a whole new life to adapt to. She will find times of regret, sorrow and trouble stalking her from around every corner, in a burned wonderland where dark secrets of the past are best left frozen beneath the blood-red snow.

Edited by: Persephon3

Published 2020-04-05 19:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2022-12-01 15:12:33 UTC

Prologue: The Last Day

Clouds.

Fluffy, pure-white, peaceful clouds. They hung almost lazily in the sea of a crystal-blue sky. My kind built many cities among the clouds, many cities like Cloudsdale, Cloudessa… Cloud-Nine. My race, the pegasus race, control these clouds above the land to provide water to supply earth pony farms; so, in turn, that they can feed the population of Equestria. We control the weather; make it rain, make it sunny, make it snow. It's my job as part of the pegasus weather team to notice any slight hints of change in the sky and the land below. That's just some of the many jobs pegasi do.

My marefriend, Nimbus Shock, just laughs at me because if the wind feels slightly odd I can sense any hidden danger, it's hard to explain... My cutie mark makes it more strange. Just a simple wave from the blue sea below a snow-white cloud, makes my mind swim towards a memory of my old school teacher saying that every cutie mark is special in its own way. Mine's kind of like a... feeling radar. That's why it's very strange but apparently very special.

"Hey… Scarlett, I'm bored." Nimbus whined. I rolled my eyes with a smirk at the little white pegasus laid on her back as she took in the warm celestial rays of the sun. She always says she's bored but mainly that's to just get my full attention.

Below in the small town of Ponyville, I heard the usual sounds of life, ranging from raving shopkeepers to the sounds of chirping birds, colts chased fillies through the paved streets, past colorful buildings, and well-maintained parks. Their laughter carrying a hope of friendship built to last, the Equestrian way. A hope that will never die.

~Pompf~

"Huh?" Nimbus tilted her dark shades down to get a look at the mare blocking her vision, I just sat there smiling down at my marefriend as our respective stares stirred up a nice warming sense of passion between us. Oh my Nimbus Shock, my beautiful little angel. She's the perfect mare. No other mare could dare compare with her, those cute looks were just so desirable. Sometimes, I can't help it; getting lost in her big electric blue eyes were just so easy, while running a hoof through her sweet matching caeruleum mane would bring out the cutest side to Nimbus.

Without hesitation, softly drawing her into a kiss getting close to her while ignoring the slight nervousness I could feel. Pulling away from Nimbus a minute later, we stare deeply into each other's eyes, our minds still longing. "I love you, Scarlett…" For a moment I sensed the ground shake sort of seeing everything move slightly, sounds of a distant rumbling but it didn't sound like thunder, from the trees below birds made worrying cries before flying away in flocks-

"Uhhh- Scarlett, what's that?" Nimbus asked worryingly, pointing out into the sky in the general direction towards Cloudsdale… Quickly looking I immediately shielded my eyes, cringing. A blindingly bright green light. Just wiped out the city, our hometown. Those damn Zebras had finally gone mad!

Suddenly roaring sounds of the sirens started as more flashes appeared further away. Wait… That one was in Manehattan! And that one was in Fillydelphia! Sweet Celestia! Below in Ponyville everypony started panicking, sounds of screaming, stomping hooves, and shouting filled the air, occasionally being drowned out by sounds of the distant explosions. "Scarlett? what is-"

"It's the war, Nimbus! Those Zebras had finally done it!" I exclaimed to her. Taking a jump to hover a few meters above the cloud. All around us the horizon was being replaced by blinding green flashes. Nimbus to my back couldn't believe her eyes neither could I. We looked around and saw the world burn. Seeing how the clouds above started to quickly change, they became thicker; more closed up, the world below turned to grey. I watched Canterlot our capital become surrounded by a pinkish magical shield, the Princesses creation.

The sound of silence followed…

The flashes then just stopped? I couldn't hear any more explosions, only the fast beating in my heart; the chaos below… it just didn't stop. Ponies started to turn on each other it's like harmony had finally fallen.

"We- we need to get to the Stable… Now!" Nimbus exclaimed I could see the shock and horror in her face- Wait? The Stable? The Stable here is just Stable Two… it's probably already shut.

"Stable Two is most likely shut Nimbus, where would we go? We're going to die out here!" My mind became clouded like the sky with fear as I felt myself being lost to madness. This is all just a bad dream!

Nimbus got a hold of my head and looked me in the eyes with a sad but warming smile. Her blue eyes, they could make me forget any problem I face, but I couldn't forget the fires that scorched the skies and lands of our paradise. I won't forget any of this.

"Please Scarlett stop! There’s another Stable just up the hill there, please. Just follow me, you'll see that I'm right." My little pegasus reassured me of that with a kiss before departing with a little sniffle. I trust her with my life, our lives depended on her being right. Then I followed Nimbus flying directly behind her, Ponyville slipping away below us, but the madness was catching up.

We flew to the edge of town within two minutes, suddenly laying our eyes on a metal circle-shaped object dug into the ground atop a hill, and a small crowd of ponies waited at a gate entrance heading up to the object. Is that the Stable?

"Oh! Thank you Luna…" Nimbus expressed with glee.

"But that's just a circle in the ground…" I expressed with a thought of sadness, this can't be the Stable.

"No, It's Stable One-Eleven. Most ponies don't know about this Stable, it’s been kept a secret." Nimbus responded, giving me a hug before we joined in the worried crowd.

A secret huh?

At the gate, a green earth pony dressed in olive green Military barding stood with a clipboard in his hoof. He had a pony either side of him, those two we're clad in some sort of armour… Ponies of steel? They looked quite authoritative. Those two must be here for crowd control. Just in case some ponies get any funny ideas.

"If it's a secret how come you and these ponies know it’s here?" Good question, I'm full of good questions. I'm turning into a mare who thinks she’s clever… that or today is driving me insane. I need a shrink.

"My brother told me about this Stable, he works for Stable-Tec. Well, did work for them…" Nimbus just whispered to me. Why so secretive?

The military pony at the front then signaled for her to move forward, but some yellow stallion dressed like a salesman blocked her approach.

"Hey! I am Stable-Tec, I'm going in, you can't stop me!" One of the big armoured ponies started to spin up what looked like a giant multi-barreled gun, aiming at the Salesman. He looked; backing up a little with fear. "Woah! Okay okay!" He turned around then ran off shouting, "I'm reporting this!"

Who can he tell? The world is on fire.

"We need to get in! We're on the list," Nimbus told the Guard pony, he just looked down to his clipboard quickly checking it over.

"Ayeup… You’re on the list uh... Nimbus Strike, but she isn't. Sorry." He said looking at me regretfully. Of course, I'm not on their damned list, aren't these Stables meant to save everypony? Just toss the list and let us in, before we all die!

"Then she can take my place."

What!?

"No! Nimbus I won't leave you!" I expressed protest to her, I can't leave her out here to die!

Nimbus turned around, looking me in the eyes once again, holding my head in her hooves as she spoke. "Please, Scarlett! You have too! Please! You need to be brave for me. A whole new life is waiting for you, you don't need your little Nimbus anymore."

Oh! Celestia! Is she really saying that! At that moment I began to break down into her hooves, I can't live without my Nimbus Shock! She's my everything! My sunrise, my sunset, my mare!

"Please! Take this and go! Please!..." Nimbus started to sob giving me her necklace and tying it around my neck, something to remember her by. My angel slipped me one last kiss whispering "I love you!"

I couldn't talk, I could only cry into her hooves. Her eyes locked with mine. I gave Nimbus my farewell, a kiss to her, my last wish, burning desire to meet again someday, sometime. "I-" I was then interrupted…

"I’m sorry but we don't have much time, you gotta move!" The earth pony guard pulled us apart, pulling me away from my Nimbus!

No!

"Nimbus! Please!" I shouted out in protest. No! No! No! It became hard to see her little face with all the tears in my eyes. She cried, but remained still, not pursuing me. The stallion's grip was so tight I couldn't break out from it. It just wasn't right!

"Ugh! No! Nimbus!!" I disappeared around a corner… Now she was gone from my sight. My tears just fell harder. This can't be the end of us! I will find her, no matter what. "W- what's gonna happen to all those ponies outside the gate!?"

"We're trying to do everything we can," The guard said truthfully. He stood me up on my hooves pointing a hoof towards the circle that now had a small group of ponies atop it. "Please stand on the platform in the center!"

I did as he ordered. Who was I to refuse? If I did, I could still hold her in my hooves… Just for a moment or two. It would be worth it. As I stood on the platform the sounds of sirens came ringing back, this time louder than before. It made me cringe. I just wanted this all to stop.

"Scarlett!!!" Nimbus? I turned to the direction of her voice far behind me. Did she push past the guards? How?

But it was too late… Immediately I cringed as I was cut off by an ear-shattering sound of the earth being pierced by a blindingly bright, staggering white light. By Celestia's grace…

"Down, send it down now!!" Somepony shouted. Shielding my eyes from the bright light, it burned into my after-vision. I almost couldn't see! Barely able hear what sounded like rolling thunder over the ringing in my ears. Just then the platform started moving downwards at a steady pace. Oh Celestia! Hurry up! Squinting my eyes open I discovered the sight of a giant mushroom shaped-cloud, a great big dust-colored wave of destruction rushing towards me, towards civilization. My eyes opened wide in fear, it hurt.

I stared at the oncoming storm of death, I just couldn’t take my eyes off it. Looking back towards my Nimbus as she ran towards me. Please! Make it! Her body and outline were shining a sickly green colour; lit by the explosion, as with everything else. "Scar!!-"

"No!!!" I screamed out…

Damn it! The last thing I saw was her limp body disappearing, behind the crest of a hill into the ravine below.

They shot her! Why!?

The steel hatch above our heads shut right as the wave of destruction rolled over the surface, sweeping all traces of the world I knew away with it. I just fell to my hooves, filled with anger and more sadness. I cried… Now she's gone… Forever. But at least we were safe now. This platform was going down fast, a few hundred hooves underground, the elevator walls were made of thick metal carrying a chill in the stagnant air as it moved downwards, not a bad chill, but… A warming chill… Like everything was going to be alright now.

The platform then came to a halt. I lifted my head up and wiped the tears from my eyes to see… A Stable entrance! Underground? Oh, If only my Nimbus was here to see it! Everywhere, the walls were steel. A new kind, recently installed, this Stable must be brand new. I was just surprised at how all this was made, secretly…

"No need to worry folks, we'll get everypony situated into your new home. Stable One-Eleven... A better future, underground." A tall blue earth pony mare said, welcoming us with a friendly smile. Her barding really stood out, a darkish blue - almost silk-like material with two narrow streaks of reflecting gold down the chest area. Guessing that must be like... a stable barding? A yellow mare stood next to her wearing some light grey security armour with a light blue helmet.

"I can't believe it... If we all left a minute later... We would all be dead..." A brown elderly unicorn beside me said.

"No, no. Don't get caught up thinking about that! You're safe here! Everypony just head up these stairs and through the door there." Though I did admire the blue one's reassurance, it's going to take a long while to forget any of this. Being safe was the last thing on my mind... I just wanted her back, she's the only way I feel safe. I mean, I do feel safe. It's just Nimbus would always look out for me, even if all we did was kick clouds to keep the skies clear. I just want her back... I need her soft voice to tell me that everything is going to be fine.

The others then began to slowly trot towards then up the small metal staircase. I don't blame them for being cautious, I felt it too, that coldness in the air... It just made me feel slightly nervous about this whole thing, the coldness was like a liquid that just made everything freeze, everything bad or good. Cold to the touch.
Well, I can't just sit here on the floor, a better future awaits. One without her. I slowly got to my hooves following the rest up…

I know I should stop thinking about her, but I just can't.

Holy shit- pardon my Prench. My eyes set upon the interior of this stable. It's definitely spacious, I can tell Stable-Tec like to showcase. Once inside however the walls just seemed dull and lifeless, they were painted a pale beige with a streak of yellow along the top. There were about nine ponies already here at this… Reception? It was starting to feel more claustrophobic in here by the minute, I expected like... vibrant colors, maybe a party. Then cake. Because what party doesn't have cake?

- STABLE-TEC IS HERE FOR YOU. ALL NEW RESIDENTS, PLEASE PROCEED IN AN ORDERLY FASHION. WELCOME HOME! -

Ok. That sounded kinda creepy.

'Welcome to Stable 111 - Welcome home!' I said in my head, that's what a big sign said above some yellow pony wearing a white lab coat. He stood near a set of panels that seemed to be the controls for the giant vault door behind me. As I followed some unicorn mare across a small catwalk to the front table, we came upon a younger earth pony mare that was passing out stable barding. Though something just didn't feel right in the air. The way the science looking ponies, and security ponies smiled just seems awkward too. It was almost too quiet down here. Besides our hoofsteps against the steel catwalk, one science stallion, muttering our genders saying we're "clean" as we went past this weird machine that was emanating a strange humming sound. Must be a detector of some kind, for radiation perhaps.

Oh, I know that I'm female. Thank you.

"Please, take this, your new stable barding. If you'd like to follow the doctor here, he'll show you where to go." The pink mare said to me with a big smile. It was still making this place strange no matter how friendly her smile seemed, her lime green eyes hinted at something slightly regretful.

"Um, thanks." I smiled back to her and took the barding she presented tucking it under my left wing. The doctor had a faint smile on his face though, he signed for me to follow behind so I did.

I followed him past a door that seems to extend up into the ceiling, my eyes scanned around the short, cylindrical-shaped corridor we're passing through, the floor had this kinda soft yellowish under-glow to it that invited some kind of comforting feeling to it. Another door to my left had a guard stallion watching over it. Something important huh? I did go over to a set of windows to my right, all I saw on the other side is quite a few of these open pod-looking things. Some other ponies, already wearing their stable barding, must have arrived down here earlier. They looked eager to step into one of them.

"Oh, you’re gonna love it here. This is one of our most advanced facilities, not that the others aren't great mind you." The doctor said looking back at me. He smiled so I guess he seemed proud of it. I bet he was paid to say that.

"How long do you think we'll be down here?" I asked him, slightly raising an eyebrow with concern at how long it took him to find an answer. But he did eventually reply, clearing his throat first.

"...We'll be going over all that in orientation, just a few medical items we need to get through first."

Okie, dokie, lokie…

As we continued walking down the corridor, we arrived at another one of those steel doors that opened automatically for us. On the other side, I saw a few more 'pods' lined up straight left to right as well as a couple more ponies, again with that eager look. This room wasn't small or big really, just those contraptions took up more space than the ponies in here did. "The stable suit is designed to be fashionable as well as comfortable."

"Prepared for the Future, right?" One stallion replied to a staff member both of whom wore the same iconic blue yellow outfit as the 'Overmare' before.

"Just step in here and put on your stable barding." The doctor said to me when we reached the end of the room. He presented to me with his hoof, a pod.

My eyes widened with slight concern as I looked the pod over, around the back some pipes went into this pod, pools of liquid were dripping from the pipes forming there on the ground. This pod felt strangely cold, not too cold though. Enough to give a strange feeling to it. Despite that, I did put on my new stable barding. It felt flexible, though kinda tight in certain places. I wondered if the doctor was serious about this. Did I really have to go into the freezing cold pod? Ugh fine, what do I have to lose? Forgetting my concerns I stepped into the cold, confined pod - sitting down on a little chair found within.

"The pod will decontaminate and de-pressurize you before we head deeper into the stable, just relax." The doctor said with his strange smile before moving on, out of my vision. The pod door then came down, soon I seemed to become encased in my newfound prison. A new home my thoughts assured me I'd never leave…

"Time for a whole new life..."

- RESIDENT SECURED -

My breathing became heavy all of a sudden as a wave of coldness chilled my body, my barding had no warming effect on the piercing cold. Damn, It was starting to get hard to think straight. I felt my consciousness slip away with each frozen laborious breath and soon everything started going dark…

- OCCUPANT VITALS: NORMAL -

- PROCEDURE COMPLETE -

- IN 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... -

- CRYOGENIC STASIS: SUSPENDED -
"Open it."

U- uhh... What? Strange ponies, cold, tired... So- so fucking cold. Hard to concentrate. Damn- how long was I out for? I couldn't really see those strange ponies. One was completely covered in some sorta white scientific-looking suit, a mare, going by the voice. The other looked different, so different, a tall crimson unicorn stallion wearing some plain blackish outfit and had improvised metal plate armour over his right fore-leg.

Wait- is he holding a gun?

I could barely see because of the ice on the pod window, but I did notice in the adjacent pod a mare held her baby. Less than a year old I would guess.

"...Is it over? A- are we safe?" The mare said with some coughs, slight worry apparent in her voice. The child started to cry out loudly.

"Almost. Everything's going to be fine..."

The hazmat mare, a pegasus, cooed to the baby. Reaching out to take it from the mother? Before I noticed, they were both pulling back and forth.

All I could do was watch... My eyes widened with pain.

"No, no, I've got him!" She struggled.

"Let the boy go. I'm only going to tell you once!" The stallion threatened, raising his gun to point at her with his magic. Surely he wasn't going to use that?

"Ugh! Ugh! I'm not giving you-"

BANG!!

"NO!" I screamed, only to be muffled by the pod, hitting a hoof off the window.

"Damn it, get the kid outta here." He said displeased, turning around to face my pod. Am I next? No witnesses!? Now I saw his face... It harbors no emotion, no regret that I could see. The stallion peered at me with his blue eyes for a moment, I bet he could see my growing anger. "At least we still have the backup..."

- CRYOGENIC STASIS: RE-INITIATED -

Uhh- Luna! I can't breathe! The air was escaping my lungs, banging a hoof on the cyro-door to get somepony’s attention. Can anypony hear this?
Just as I thought things were going really bad, the pod door opened outward then upward with a hiss. I fell out onto the ice-cold floor with a thud, gasping in more breath than I thought needed. It was dark a moment ago, now it's lighter. This time nopony is around.

- CRITICAL FAILURE IN CRYOGENIC ARRAY. ALL STABLE RESIDENTS MUST VACATE IMMEDIATELY! -

I picked myself up slowly to my hooves, almost stumbling a little. My heavy breathing a vain attempt to shake off the coldness. The mare that had her child forcefully taken from her at gunpoint, then was shot, know that I will find them... I will kill that damn Unicorn and find the child - making sure he's safe.

Ready to begin a new life with a goal set before me, I trotted forward, righteous fire burning in my eyes...

Chapter One: Blood-Red Snow

"Have you been living under a rock? Wake up!"

"Hello!? Anypony!?"

There was nothing but silence as I trotted through the main cylindrical hallway of Stable One-Eleven. Nothing but my cautious hoofsteps, the incongruous humming of the underglow lights, and my shallow breathing taint with cold... I stopped to wonder where everypony else had gone. If this is a game of hide and seek then they have already won, I already give up trying to find them, I'm cold, frightened, left all alone. It seemed devoid of life, completely quiet, hauntingly dead... a skeleton of its former self.

When I approached a metallic door to my left branding the little symbol of Stable-Tec, it opened up with a steel cutting graze as if slightly rusted with age. Huh... Surely I was only sleeping for just a day? Because it seems like this door has gone years or more without maintenance. On the other side revealed another room full of those 'pod' looking machines, I remember this is where I saw those ponies that looked eager to step into those things. Prepared for the future, unless I've woken up premature or something, the future seems dead. Inside this room, I counted only six pods, whereas the room I was previously in only held eight…

"Stupid pegasus!"

There was a terminal back in that other room just before reaching the door, why didn't I just check that for signs of life? I didn't even bother looking into a pod either. Curiosity is my middle name, ponies don't call me Scarlett 'curious' Dawn for nothing... or at least they used to. Slowly I approached one of the pods keeping my caution for any hidden danger, the window was iced up. Great. Maybe if I just- I stood up on my hind-legs then breathed onto the glass, the condensation seemed mostly formed outside so if I just clear a little with my hoof-

"FUCK!"

Quickly jumping away from the pod I fell flat onto my back. A face a fucking face! A fucking stallion's face! I guess I shouldn't really be so surprised, who else would they put into these pods? The stallion's face just had this... strange half-grin, his eyes were plain white, lifeless, dead.
Whoa. Dude, that's creepy.

- CRITICAL FAILURE IN CYROGENIC- ...ALL STABLE RESIDENTS MUST VACATE- -

Looking at this seemingly dead stallion reminds me of that night, they came... those two mysterious ponies, one pegasus mare the other a unicorn stallion. If I ever find them then Celestia give me strength... Just thinking about what they did is enough to make my blood boil. At least that would help in this cold.

Looking away from him I could only feel pity. Why would Stable-Tec do this? I wanted to find out why but where to start is the question. Any terminals around seemed like an obvious starting point, so with that in mind I got up then headed back into the room I woke up in. This room felt more freezing than the other for some reason, maybe I left a door open? Ignoring the warning tingling sensation in my tail; seeing the terminal, I went over to access its knowledge.

This terminal looked to be in a sorry state of deterioration, almost rusted up with tiny cracks in the screen. Despite the damage sustained I see that the terminal still worked, it flickered to life then presented to me in big light green words at the top, 'Thank you for choosing Stable-Tec!' I didn't have much of a choice really, it was do or die. This monitoring terminal had three entries on it, one for a... Cyrogenic Array, Life Support - but the one that stood out the most to me is the Pod Occupant Status. Briefly, I read the first two entries, they pretty much both said the same thing. With that, I looked to the status of their occupants…

- Pod C2: Mrs. Cake - Occupant Status: Deceased. Cause of Death: Asphyxiation due to Life Support failure -

Wait what? I looked at another…

- Pod C3: Mr. Cake - Occupant Status: Deceased. Cause of Death: Asphyxiation due to Life Support failure -

The exact same... Then another, the same. They all suffocated in those machines! By Celestia's grace! Now it appears I'm the only one left here…

...There was another entry status that stood out among the rest - Pod C6 under my name in C7, was that pod those mysterious ponies took an interest in. Her name was Cloudspring, the infant son they took had the name-

"Winter Solstice?"

I just feel like I've heard that name from somewhere before, but where I can't remember-

"Huh? Hello!?"

Looking away from the terminal to peek into the short hallway, I could have sworn I just something scurry. Though it wasn't a heavy sound like a hoofstep, it sounded light, something small with multiple legs. Maybe it was just a spider. The hallway was still empty, a cruel reminder that I'm alone... but now it seemed there was something down here with me so I kept an eye out for whatever made that sound; I didn't notice it before but even the walls were discolored with age, rusted. Upon reaching the door at the end of the hallway I looked right seeing another open door…

- CRITICAL FAILURE IN CYROGENIC ARRAY, ALL STABLE RESIDENTS MUST VACATE IMMEDIATELY! -

By Celestia's grace!

Startled by the unexpected reminder, I jumped back bumping my flank. Damn did that hurt! All that stupid door did was make this beeping alert from proximity, being automatic, it didn't open though…

- Malfunction in emergency exit door override. Please contact your Stable-Tec maintenance representative for service. Have a nice day -

Oh, I'm definitely having a nice day all right! It's all sunshine and rainbows with a dash of fire! Da mihi fortitudinem! Sorry, sometimes I just say random ancient ponish words when I'm angry. My flank really hurts now. At least I know that the door won't be opening. Great. So I'll have to find another way around…

Deciding to just go the long way around, I went through the open door to another side of the stable. There appeared to be another already opened door ahead after I turned a corner. This shorter corridor seemed a little different, more worse for wear. Oh, that's what I'm looking for. A door labeled 'Security Office' piqued my interest, so needless to say I checked it out. This little office seemed... really cramped. Two little desks with chairs tucked underneath them, a white-coloured locker looking a little rusty, already opened up to reveal nothing. The only thing in here that got my immediate attention is the terminal that still had power, so I went over to it to look over its security logs.

[Saturday - October 23]

"Sweet Celestia. It finally happened. Equestria's gone. Barely got all the residents inside. Not everypony made it. Poor Quietus. Really miss her cute big smile now.
"Now it's just us and the &#?!#@*. I don't get it. Eggheads tried to explain to me that keeping them fro@%? is a big &%?!!@#?&*. For a better future or something. I don't know. It just doesn't seem right that we were smiling at them all that time before putting them on %@?. Shouldn't we have told them something?"

[Wednesday - December 25]

"Heart's Warming Eve, underground. Got together with the rest of the security boys, and mares as well as the support staff and had a little party. Best gift that got handed out was a Fancy Buck Cake that wasn't too stale. Toilet also got backed up because somepony decided to put a firecracker in there. Never gets old.
"None of the scientists came. The Overmare wasn't there either. I just don't get them. They hiding something from us? Another company secret only for the higher ups?
"Whatever. Just a few more months until the All-Clear is supposed to come through. Then we can start rebuilding Equestria."

[Monday - March 14]

"Only a few weeks left in our mandatory shelter period. Everypony's getting stir crazy. Some ponies are even saying the All-Clear Signal is never coming. We can't stay here much longer, that's for sure. It's not just the fact that I've been staring at the same break room and bunk bed for over six months. It's the fact that we only have enough food left for another few months. Tops.
"The Overmare keeps telling everypony to be patient, focus on work. He's definitely keeping us out of the loop. Something bad is going on. I just know it."

[Tuesday - April 23]

The main door accessing the stable exit is malfunctioning. Now the only way out I'd through the Overmare's evacuation tunnel, how convenient for him. She has one pony from the science team watching the door into her office at all times from a little makeshift checkpoint.
"Got invited to a meeting tonight. Support staffers and security only. Sounds like I'm not the only one with an axe to grind."

[Friday - LAST ENTRY]

"No All-Clear from Stable-Tec is coming. We need to leave. We're all but out of food. I almost murdered Klutzy for dropping a damn salt cracker on the floor.
"A hoof-full of us confronted the Overmare about opening up the Stable. I never knew a mare that small could shout that loud. Now she's locked herself in his office along with the rest of the science staff. We're supposed to hand over any food, weapons, and medicine we have by tonight, or there's "going to be consequences."
"I've talked to everypony. It's time. One way or another, we're getting out of this Stable."

Damn. So that would explain the eerie silence. I've been down here alot longer than I previously thought it seemed. Since Heart's Warming Eve or longer? That used to be Nimbus' favorite, the time of year that we could hold each other close; really enjoy each other's company. Then all this happened, now she's dead. These Stables weren't meant to save everypony like they were advertised to do it seemed.

Resting on one desk was a security baton. Uh... I... usually object to the use of violence but should the need arise I guess I won't hesitate. So I picked the baton up with my mouth just as I stepped out the office. Sometimes I wish I were a unicorn..

Woah! Dammit…

Disgusting. There was this huge weird looking brown thing with several small legs, more than what it needed attached to some observation window. It was safe to say the thing was on the other side, jumping off the window with a few quick flaps of it's small silky wings when I curiously approached closer. Seems like it must be scared. Taking a right turn at a corner which came to another corridor deeper within... Ahead of me is a mess hall straight ahead and some steel door to my left, but there on the floor, it lay... I now had a clear look at that huge monstrous brown looking insect as it turned around at some speed noticing my presence. It just pointed it's head upwards in my direction with it's long antennas going crazy, fluttering it's unnatural silky wings aggressively.

The creature started crawling towards me fast…

Quickly taking a stance with the baton, it got within a few metres before jumping straight for my face. In the little time that I had to react I swung the baton towards the abomination, hitting it somewhere in the side. Judging by the strange sound it made, that must have really hurt as it bounced off against a stained glass window. There was a hole where it had impacted before falling down to the cold hard floor. It just laid on its back; twitching like crazy. Seeing as though the bug is now disabled, I went to go check out the mess hall.

Well this room had seen better days. There were definitely signs of fighting, going by how overturned the quarters adjacent is. Between the rumpled up mattresses and mangled blue wallpaper I'd say there are definitely marks to tell. But I wonder if those ponies did manage to get out of the stable, there wasn't a trace of them left here... except for thrown around chairs, a long metal table in the center still had some foodstuffs probably left behind.

"Oooh..."

Spotting a seemingly recreational terminal I sat down infront of it to see if this may have any logs or something new. Nevermind, there's Just a memo on some pony staff- wait…

Zebra Menace?

A holotape game? Named after Equestria's most hated enemy? Somepony must have been lucky to not get shot in the back, or must have been really really bored... like me. So I guess I'll take this for no apparent reason, because who doesn't like a computer game?

Now to go to the Overstallion's Office.
When the door to the reactor opened I immediately witnessed the death of another one of those roaches. Those things used to be tiny, little annoying, swarming, disgusting, food seekers. Now they are big, foul smelling, twisted abominations. The reactor was just shooting tiny beams of blue electricity around in random directions, it just so happened that a creature was passing inbetween the two of these seemingly unstable machines only to get fried, I guess they kinda smell better when being barbequed by a nuclear fission reactor. Now I can see why I needed to 'vacate immediately,' they looked like they were going to blow up real soon. So I need to move my still hurting flank, like now… Sticking to the left side of the room near the walls that didn't seem too burnt I moved around the reactors from a seemingly safe distance. Even at this range I can feel the static electricity making my mane stand up on edge.

"By Luna!..."
Near the door going to the Overstallion's Office I came upon the remains of a dead mare. Skeletal remains of a dead mare still wearing the remains of stable barding. Conserva nos in caelum! Completely fleshless, those monsters must have been... hungry. So this must be the fate the rest of the staff down here met, but surely some of them escaped? Unless the stable was meant to be watched over by a skeleton crew. No pun intended.

Continuing onwards I suddenly came across another two of those things in a short corridor. Ugh, I'm really starting to hate this place. One of them turned around then immediately moved towards me waving it's antennas wildly, the other just fell from the ceiling onto it's back squirming around. These things aren't very smart. When one got too close I kicked it with a foreleg sending it through the air towards some red metal pipe, I think that actually killed it on impact.

"Stop spawning!"
There was a soft crunch underhoof when I brought a hindleg down upon the squirming roach. It was… satisfying to hear, but not to feel. Now that was dealt with I then entered the Overstallion's Office. Another skeleton lay face down on a wooden circle desk near a terminal, in the left corner of the room stood another steel door which must be the Evacuation Tunnel, one of the security logs mentioned. I keep telling myself that everypony is gone, I just didn't expect... like this...

squee!

At the back of the room locked away in a cage of iron, all alone inside some case surrounded by ice, seemed to be some kind of weapon. I did say that I object to violence... Well I lied, also I have a strange affinity for guns. So I really need this beautiful, parum pudici, ice queen... Oh I'm coming back later for you my angel. Instead I left little miss ice gun for the Overstallion's terminal, 'gently' pushing the skeleton of a scientist off the chair. The way it clattered to the floor was just super creepy.

"Sorry?" Before looking at the logs I opened up the Evacuation Tunnel first, I felt there was something I was gonna regret seeing. So after a moment I went past a log about a 'C.Y.L - 02,' to look at the entry about the purpose of this Stable... all hell broke loose after a minute… "Stable 111 is designed to test the long-term effects of suspended animation on unaware, pony subjects. Security staff are responsible for maintaining installation integrity and monitoring science staff activity.
Under no circumstances are staff allowed to deviate from assigned duties. Insubordination or interference with stable operations are capital offenses. Security staff are authorized to use lethal force."

In a blind fit of rage, I rendered the terminal into a display of light smoke and sparks... If I wasn't already a natural red then that would be the color of my face right about now! Those fuckers lied to me - to everypony else that's dead down here! '...a better future or something?' Well, they don't have one now! So they screwed up there! I only have a future by mistake, or because some sadistic fucks think I'm a 'backup' for an experiment inside of an experiment! So in that case fuck knows how my 'better future' is going to turn out!

leaving the terminal in its condition beyond repair I turned away in a huff. Maybe I need to calm down before I break another terminal, but if I find anypony who supports Stable-Tec in any way then Celestia forgive me for I must sin.

Through the evacuation tunnel I went around to the other entrance into the main room with the giant stable door. This room had it worse than the canteen, I could roughly make out bullet holes in the walls, on the ground, spent casings of bullets littered the floor amongst a few skeletons. Did I mention that I hate the sight of death? Now I only wonder what awaits me on the surface. But the main door was shut tight. Even if it is triggered to open from the controls it might not open up. So I had my doubts about it opening, don't know if it needs a password or- Oh... On the floor near a skeleton of some dead scientist I saw a device of some kind still attached to a dismembered fore-leg. Something in me was hoping the pony wasn't alive when that leg was lost. I went over and felt that I needed the device, so I decided to... borrow it, maybe for a while, it fit like a glove around my left leg as it probably did that one. Wiping away some dust with my other hoof I turned it on which revealed a little green waving earth pony mare after some boot-up sequence. A Pip-Buck 2000 huh? Could have sworn there was a better model being made sometime ago. All the other pony staff I remember were wearing a better type. Just my luck to find the outdated one. Ok, so I guess this may be needed to open the door somehow? There looked to be a button encased in glass, so I must need this... I used a wire that extended out from the Pip-Buck to put it in a 'Pip-Buck Control Override'. That did it. It opened up, I pressed it then stood back when the door made these loud, scratching, steel grinding noises…

- STABLE DOOR CYCLING COMPLETE, PLEASE STAND BACK! -

Inside me I felt that I would finally get to see the sunlight once again, to feel a divine presence watching over me. Something I felt I needed for a long time coming, freedom. All that time I had been stuck in that 'death machine' they call a cryopod, I had been dreaming of this moment... to finally begin again…

When that door pulled back with a hiss and more ear scratching scraping sounds, I got to see the first glimpse of white light... It was like a beacon of hope you know. Guiding me towards a new world full of something, I didn't know what to make of it yet. Those bombs came... everyone died. Nimbus. But maybe someponies survived out there in some form? Maybe those creatures down here were another part in this diabolical experiment? I just... needed to know for my sanity. What the fuck have I woke up to?

After the great steel door fully opened I went forwards taking the catwalk from one world to another. Beyond the beacon, I saw some badly rusted up machine, the walls tarnished by cold water dripping down to the floor which formed in pools. It felt really cold like being back inside that cryopod. To my surprise there were even some icicles hanging from the metal elevator frame, which speaking of, just came down to meet me. It automatically lifted up a rusty frame piece with a metal squealing sound that just went right through me. Talk about airtight... this fraction of the world is already giving off some deep chills.

After that I went to stand on the platform, then the frame slammed down. Ascending. Leaving that hellhole behind... I wonder what this new world has for me.

- ENJOY YOUR RETURN TO THE SURFACE, THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING STABLE-TEC! -

We will see…

Holy pony nut balls! It's the middle of winter out here. A harsh blizzard covered my view as I gave a shocked sigh. By Celestia it feels really really cold out here. I couldn't see much besides the snow.... but Equestria... looked dead. There was nothing but a barren wasteland of destruction. Even the sky looked twisted and turned like some master plan by the heavens... our idolized sun has burnt out, leaving only grey clouds, the dark below. This new world seemed so alien to me now, it just looked so wrong. Oh, how could it have come to this? From here up on a hill I could only see the dead trees, no leaves. Dead landscape. A dead looking ghost town ahead of me, it seems familiar I just can't remember it. Around me, some Dead structures. A Dead world. Some skeletal remains of Dead ponies-

-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-

"Scar!!-"

BANG!

"No!!!"

-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-

Hrgh!

Just a flashback... to when I lost Nimbus. The day my world stood still. It should have been me. Not her... Why is one life taken but another spared? I hate being all alone. This is all starting to really get to me. The destruction of the world. An Equestrian wasteland. Death everywhere. Cold. I'm so cold... A winter scours, consuming everything I once called my home. Right now it seems that everything has been lost, I don't know what I'll find from now on but I have a strange feeling that I'm not going to like it. Not one bit.

Just as I turned to go down the path I once walked to that seemingly abandoned town, I saw that ditch... the one I remember Nimbus rolled down into when she was shot. Looking into it to pay my respects…

Wait... It's empty?

No sign of bones, or anything really. There I felt something inside like a feeling of hope. Maybe my little Angel isn't dead? Or maybe the bones have been moved?... or buried under-hoof? But I didn't want to think she's dead, I need to just... maybe try to find her…

So I followed the snow obscured path down the hill, hm I shoulda checked those little security stations outside the stable entrance first. No biggie. There appeared to be nothing around, just unnaturally quiet. I'm really not comfortable with this deathly silence… To think one day Equestria was just so full of life, breathtaking sights and kites of vibrant colors. Changed in an instant. It's killing me to see it this way now, killing my soul being. Between the wind in my mane and the whistling eerie song of the wind, the cold stung my nose, the snow soft but aberrant under my careful hooves. There I came to a river... A river of scarlet red ice. Frozen over by winter, tainted with my blackest fears... Here lies a river of blood. Celestia! What have I-

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Welp boys, lookie we got 'ere. Just a mare all up in 'er lonesome!"

Huh? I turned to see... Three ponies? Wait- stallions, two of thom are brown and blue unicorns, the other a yellow earth pony? They all wore some strange armor, clearly improvised telling by the rusted brown decal of one's chestplate…

"Ooh-wee, damn you know how to find'em, Girl's some eye candy!"

The blue unicorn said, licking his lips.
I don't like where this is going... Just say something. Something to stop them moving towards you.

"Umm... Hi?"
Nice one Scarlett...

"...Hi? Have you been living under a rock? Wake up!"
The brown unicorn stomped a foreleg, that made me jump a little... With fear in my fast beating heart I slowly backed up as they continued moving forwards. There didn't seem to be a way out of this, without possibly fighting. I only had my mere hooves, the meager baton in a pocket of my barding, my Pip-Buck. I am no match against these ponies.

"Go away! Y- your making me scared!"

"Ya know what? Nah. I'm thinkin' maybe we could have a fun time with you!"

Wha- I then suddenly got pushed over by some other pony. Where did he come from? Now it seems I'm really outnumbered…

"Don't bother usin' them wings' just yet, girl. I got a better idea for them..."
The blue unicorn grinned wickedly, pinning me down on my back. Oh Celestia! This can't be happening!

"Argh! No!"
I just wriggled and squirmed as he tried to assert dominance over me- he gave up after a short moment, I tried flailing my hooves at him. He just laughed at my attempt to make him stop, then went for my neck. Wrapping his hooves around so tightly I could barely breathe, I gasped, but it only made him squeeze tighter...
"First i'm gonna break your pretty little neck! And then I'm gonna-"

BANG!!!

Holy freakin' pony tails! His fucking head just exploded! Holy Celestia, he's all over me!...

The other ponies just hit the floor at the sound of the gunshot, not wanting to share the same fate as their friend did. His lifeless body just landed down on me, I almost screamed, there was so much blood! Squirming around to get the corpse off me another shot rang out and hit a pony infront of me, I was too distracted to care if the pony shooting was going to kill me too. When I eventually got free I took the opportunity to quickly fly away while everypony was distracted, I don't think they even noticed... What the fuck is wrong with everypony? This isn't how the world is supposed to work. Why did it all get so very wrong?

Just as I thought the world couldn't get any worse, I realized this town that I now fly into was once Ponyville... My beloved home. I knew that, I just didn't want to believe it... Ponyville. A town built to signify Friendship was no longer a place to call home. Between many destroyed houses and shops, the streets were littered with the skeletons of the former townsponies, some buried in inches of blood red snow. It just breaks my heart, more so knowing that everypony I knew is scattered to the wind... The world turned to grey, it looks like hatred won't be going away.

There is nothing left here!

Flying back to my old home in Ponyville only brought me more pain, more sorrow. She used to live here with me. Nimbus. Now there is nothing left for me here, besides from the wrecked living room, a wrecked kitchen and wrecked bedroom. Everything scattered around... Along with my collection of Wonderbolt statues, Nimbus always wanted to be like them. I told her that she'd always be my little Wonderbolt. Nimbus would most always go red with embarrassment, super shy but always... super cute.

Going into our- well just my bedroom now, I immediately just went onto the bed. Ignoring the decay of the walls, the bedframe, the floor. Everything. On the floor I picked up a smashed photograph of Nimbus and took out the paper to see it more clearly.

Oh... My little pony. My Angel with those big caeruleum eyes, big enough to get lost into. Her big warming smile on her cute little face, good enough to just want her. There is rare hope that she may still be alive, I am holding this close to my shattered heart. Before long I still stared at Nimbus, tears came into my vision, my Wonderbolt now obscured…

I cried and I cried, myself slowly off to sleep.

Chapter Two: In Winter's Embrace

"In this world of White. Not all is innocent..."

Happier Times…

My mind needed to go back to those happier times. Times when rainbows ruled the clear caeruleum skies; when sunshine brought happiness to all proud playing ponies below. We danced, we laughed... But most importantly we cared. Now gone forever. My first hour or so out here in this now blasted, snowy wonderland was a slice of hell, but what was I expecting to find anyway? This new way of surviving is the only way forward now, I guess. Whether I liked it or not. Taking one life to save your own, anypony would take that chance, but to dance with the devil is the last thing on my mind right now. To kill a pony, another living being... needed to be a last resort.

Getting out of bed was the hardest part of starting this new day. Was there even a point? It just seemed pointless to move anywhere, knowing that I could possibly get killed or captured or unexpectedly jumped on again at any moment. Ponykind just wasn't the same anymore. It's killing me inside. Maybe dying to those ponies yesterday would have been a mercy, because it seems that the more I move... the more dangerous life will become…

For long I stared at the cracked wooden ceiling in my bedroom, for long just thinking about her... Trying to put Nimbus at the back of my mind to focus on other things was impossible. Something in me just needed to find her, my Wonderbolt…

Even if it kills me.

That necklace Nimbus had given me, it felt so long ago, I still had it... Long I stared at it. A platinum bullet with a golden tip. It seemed strange for her to wear it at times, I never had gotten the chance to ask her where she'd got it from. Etched into one side her actual full name Nimbus Lightning Strike, though I don't know why she changed it to Shock instead... On the other side were words in Old Ponish 'Semper Amare, aeternum' meaning: Always Love, forever.

This day wasn't without a looming shadow of doubt, with crowded skies, a shallow life, everything still dead... When I woke up I had hoped everything was still a dream. But the dream is still true to it's dark, twisted future I live in now. The goals I had set in mind needed to be done, but I just can't move now. Finding Nimbus... Celestia knows where she is or even really alive. Those thugs from the Stable as well. Well, they can just go-

Huh- what?

CRASH!!!

"...Knock, knock! Any little ponies home!?"

"Hey knock it off. This is not how you enter a building, all loud an' shit."

Oh, crazy ponies…

My choice of a hiding place is nothing but the classic hiding under the bed, from here I could only see a shadow or two through the bottom part of my bedroom door, where barely any light got through... Damn this floorboard is dusty as fu-

Cough!

"Hey! Did you hear that? Sounded like a cough..."

Oh! Shit!

"...no? I think you need to lay off those Party-Time Mint-als dude. Got you hearin' and seein' shit. Also blackin' out every now an' then."

"Ok fine probably, I'm gonna check that room out..."

Damn it! Why do I always mess everything up? From my first experience yesterday it kinda seems like these types of ponies aren't very smart.

CREEEEEAK!

My bedroom door opened slowly, notoriously, I just stayed very still, holding my shallow breathing steady as a set of four grey hooves came cautiously into this small space. Looking around…

Celestia be my holy protector.

"Ohh man, I think a mare used to live here..."

"You think it could be that mare from yesterday? That little red pegasus, who looked like she just woke up and found a nightmare?"

"Mmmm I hope so, wouldn't mind a piece of her..."

By the Sun, are all stallions perverted?

"...Been a long while since I last saw a pegasus. Must be all dead now. Except this one..."

Huh? WHAT THE-

Suddenly I got dragged out from under the bed by a pair of those grey hooves... Not too kindly either, now I have déjà vu.

"Ahh, there she is..."

A brown unicorn said I could barely see him because of dusty sunlight... Wait I've heard that voice before!

"...Remember me?"

Oh it's him! That brown unicorn from yesterday. He came into full view now, I was looking straight at his wicked face, a visage of... Something I never want to see any longer. Ugly son of a-

"You pegasi sure do love hiding, don't you. How's it feel?... Getting a big fresh dose of reality, huh?"

Despite his aggressive look, I was unwavering in my attempt at silence, he isn't worth anything I have to say…

"Ohhhh great, the silent type huh? I know some folks that will love you..."

Dirty idiot! I spat at his face, that didn't do much besides from making him chuckle a little... He violently got me by the neck then whispered.

"So you think you're a tough bitch huh?! Yeah, we'll see... Stable Dweller. Little cute outfit is a dead give away. Ohh the Raider Queen's gonna love you too... If she doesn't kill you straight away first."

"R- Raider Q- Queen?"
The words barely escaped my mouth, he didn't strangle me... yet. It was just hard to talk with his hoof holding my damn throat!

"Hey! You gotta bow first before saying that..."

The gray pony behind me was saying just before he was cut off by the brown stallion…

"Did you forget I'm holding her by the throat dumbass? You seriously need to lay off on those Mint-als."

Raider Queen huh? Sounds more like she's the queen of a bunch of idiotic senseless degenerates! Maybe in time, I'll give her a chat about 'recruitment' someday.

"...Sickle, did you hear that?"

"Quit it! For fuck's sake, Hammer!"

Wait? Some more ponies then arrived... Wow by Luna, they look like clowns in the outfits they are wearing…

"I order thee to cease immediately, you are trespassing on Queen Novasurge's territory. Release the prisoner, she belongs to us..."

Oh fuck me with the Moon, is this guy serious? A pale blue earth pony wearing some improvised armor made to look like a guard or knight of some kind. Looks almost like Royal Guard armor with other bits of metal for extra protection. The other two earth ponies wore the same, but with full helmets.

Earth ponies are so primitive… In one respect.

"Damn it, man! Fuck you! We were here first!"

Sickle turned around then suddenly drew a gun from his holster, his strange grey magic lighting it up…

"Oh, it's you, Sickle, brother... Queen Novasurge has a pretty nice bounty on your head..."

"Yeah well, tell her to join the fuckin' queue..."

"Very well, Sickle. Looks like my boys will have to take your head by force, then the girl. Death waits for nopony..."

Shit!

It seems ponies will never learn... Sickle opened fire on the Knight in shining rusty armor in the center, only to have bullets bounce off his chestplate. The three drew swords of lightning steel, with zeal in their eyes as they charged forward. Really wanting him dead, probably more than I do. It seemed that he didn't stand a chance, three against one, Hammer, the other pony still held me. But I tried to break free, now while everypony but him is distracted…

"Damn Sickle! Behind you!.."

Sickle looked behind him but it was too late. He, quite literally now was headless... Quick, painless, but still made me feel sick to the heart. Decapitated, I just couldn't look at his headless corpse as it fell to the floor. My territory soaked with blood spilling from him by the second.

"May Light guide thy troubled life, forth unto afterlife, Brother..."
The main Knight pony muttered, then all three turned their attention towards me, Hammer as well.

"Fuck this shit! I'm outta here!"

Hammer just dropped me to the ground. They marched forward slowly.

"Wait, Caelum. Is that her?-"

I didn't stay long to hear what one Knight was gonna say, getting to my hooves quickly then jumping out of my bedroom window. Damn did that hurt... Landing next to a pony skeleton. Suddenly I took off running, running blindly through the snow drowned ruins of Ponyville, in search of something that can grant me solitude. This town looking more rundown and contorted, in parts I ignored, running for dear life... Stuck amidst death in Winters' cruel embrace.

My faculties still remained, despite witnessing that horrific death of Sickle. He had it coming though, I guess... But he didn't have to die like that. It seems like this town has a power struggle, the Queen of 'foals' against the Queen of 'Death-Knights'. Ponyville was strange before all of Equestria became an apocalyptic wonderland, but this is just going beyond strange now. It's fucking crazy. I'm slowly losing my Luna-damned mind already.

Through Ponyville I ran still, not looking back to see if any psycho was chasing me, but it didn't sound like they were. Though it was getting hard to run through these blood-drenched streets with the thick inches of freezing snow underhoof, so I flew instead, a few meters from the ground.

Flying aimlessly, I saw a seemingly derelict school on the outskirts of Ponyville, it looked mostly preserved save for a destroyed left half. Something was calling me to that place... A childhood memory. Now I remember! It's the school where I first met Nimbus. Sunnywood, it was called, and I guess it still is. The sight of Sunnywood kinda gave me hope, a hope to know that everything of the old world isn't dead... Maybe there's the hope of a reclamation day? To take Equestria back from these psychotic pseudo-knights of their unholy crusade... To Begin Again... Now, in this memory of a future for Ponykind, I must light the first fires of hope, I feel it strongly in my heart. Maybe it's just my element? If any element of goodness exists anymore…

So needless to say, I flew closer to that vestige of the old world, not knowing what I was going to find... But I hope it wasn't going to be raider ponies or weird knights or whatever craziness this world had bred now.

There was once something I had heard from a wise pony before my time, he would say 'Never venture, never win.' If I were to find a meaning to this, then I suppose I should keep going forward. For Nimbus' sake. I'm just stuck at where to start…

For now, I suppose I just need to survive.

Flying near the torn half of Sunnywood is where I found my entrance. Though there is always the front door, that gave those raiders away. Kicking my door down like that... So I just wasn't going to be a dumb-dumb and give myself away, plus sometimes you never know what could be on the other side. Oh, I almost forgot about my baton, I still had that too…

Where I had just landed it looked like this part used to be a music hall. Surprisingly, the musical instruments where still here, the sound of silence their symphony eternal. Despite the silence, I found the solitude welcoming... Nothing but me under grey gaze in a mix of melancholic harmony, playing out in a Lyre, tugging at my heartstrings. An Accordion for the heart to sing of its own accord, with a Harp to signify heaven's holy angels. All were a symphony of Harmony in the end... Life's but a walking shadow, and these are the silent players, ghosts of the past. I'm now stuck between a fantasy world and a world gone awry.

When I had finally snapped out of my music-induced dream, I was found now laying on my back, completely unprepared, surrounded by raiders.

Well fuck…

WACK!

Woah- I just had the craziest dream about being surrounded by boys...

Damn!

I must have gotten knocked out…

I shook my head around, the next thing I know I'm locked away in a small well-put-together metal cage. Stuck somewhere possibly underneath Sunnywood, the basement area. Everywhere was nothing but darkness, feelings of cold and the smell of urine were the only things that mainly bothered me. My whole body feels strange, but my flank felt worse, my mane and tail ruffled up, wings missing some feathers, flank really, really hurting now when I tried to stand up... There's a chain-link between all four of my legs going into the wall that seemed rotten, cracked; weakened by decay- maybe I could-

"Oh look at that I think the songbird has finally woken up..."

Songbird? Oh, why the fuck did I start singing?

"...Eh man, it was like she was drunk or something. I mean what the fuck is she singing about a Cutie Mark for? Like what even is a cutie mark?"

...excuse me?

One raider then came into view, a crimson, blue-eyed stallion just laughing at me... He threw down a hoof-made paper box, I doubt this is a gift for the serenade I must have provided…

"Hey, songbird or whatever your name is... In there's your food for a whole week."

"What is it?..."
I asked the crimson raider just before he was about to go away.

"We find that it typically goes down better if we leave ponies guessing... So eat the fuck up!"

Rude…

Two raiders exited the area, I couldn't see it but I heard it. I'm guessing there was only two. At least that's what my cutie mark is telling me. So what is this?

Managing to just barely open the small box with shackled hooves, inside looked to be a decent-sized piece of meat, brown to the point it looked burnt or if it had even been cooked, I don't know. Though despite it's slightly unappealing look it made my stomach rumble, it appears that I'm more hungry than I first thought. Not eating in a day, or so long. I don't know if I really want to eat this, it could be a hoof or something…

Celestia's Grace, I really need this meat…

I ignored my doubts about it and just started to eat it anyway. Slowly, carefully, savoring every bite out of this succulent chewy chunk of meat…

"Ahem, pardon me but you do realize you are eating radroach meat?'
Hmm?

I'm eating- what the fu-

My stomach immediately backed up at those words... Radroach meat? I was eventually sick all down the rotten-brick wall, heaving it out like some cannon.

"Happens to the best of us..."

How long has he been there? Looking to the stallion I noticed he's- blind? But I had to ask, what is a radroach? He said it's the only type of food they feed their prisoners in here, the older you are the less amount of food they give you. Which would explain why he looks a little... Skeletal. He sounded like he's not from around here, not from Equestria but somewhere else as he spoke with a strange formal accent.

"So, who are you?" I then asked the mysterious dark grey unicorn…

"I am called Equinox, a pleasure to meet your acquaintance. Researcher, scholar of the untold and a remarkable storyteller... Or so someponies just say."

"Storyteller huh? But if your blind how can you read?"

"The Sight has its uses..."

"The Sight?" I replied to him.

"The Sight lets me see a little of what was... Some of now... And some of what is to come..."

Okie dokie lokie.

"So… What can you see?" I asked Equinox. If this is true maybe I could get to know if he can find Nimbus or those other ponies. He took a minute to think…

"I can see the past. Equestria, as it once was... Blooming, colorful, so full of life. Then the bombs, so much destruction, a sudden winter everlasting. Past is gone now..." Yeah... All gone now. That did bring a tear to my eye, the events of days leading up to the last day of Equestria. All-consuming fire. Now a winter to cool the cinders…

Equinox continued... "But the future? It's not much but I can sense something that will soon be fire... And you Scarlett Dawn. Need answers..."

Immediately I stood up just looking at him still. It was a bit creepy that his pure white eyes followed my every move as I paced around the cell. But how does he know my name? Fuck that-

"Where is Nimbus?..." I almost shouted at him, now I just needed to know so bad... Almost ready to pull down this fucking wall if he tells me that she's dead.

"Sadly I don't know of the pony you are looking for. But one pony I know you are looking for is... A lot older than you think. If you head to the city of friendship far East of Equestria they might have the answers you seek."

"How old is this pony?"

"Fifty-three years old. You have also been locked away in that Stable for the same time. I saw you leave it too."

Fifty-three fucking years? Ok, so that definitely means Nimbus is-

CELESTIA-DAMNED DEAD!!

In a fit of blind rage using my wings that were apparently not tied up, I hovered a bit and pulled back hard from the wall in an attempt to make it fall down. After a few tries and almost breaking my hooves it eventually came tumbling down louder than it would've looked.

Equinox didn't do much, he was unshackled now, but didn't go off running... Whereas my hooves still had shackles, but at the end of the chains were lumps of rock that could definitely be a sight to see. Ooh, I had crazy ideas for what to do with these…

"Oh well bravo, Scarlett. Remember to be the innocent flower but be the serpent underneath. For in this world of White. Not all is innocent."

Now every raider in Sunnywood had to hear that, but I now have a solution…

Kill'em all! Let Celestia sort'em out!...

When I said earlier about earth ponies being so primitive... These ones are so less than that. Stupid, arrogant. Animals with no sense of anything... I had just made a pact to burn them all, these ruffians need to be taught their place... All of them…

THUD!!
"Arrrgh!!!"

"Woah, holy shit... Run!" More helpless raiders arrived after one ran... They only had close-range weapons as worthless as sticks and stones, I with two very big stones. Those five were just playing hero, they could see the trail of many dead raiders I had left in my rage, still lasting. And I steeped in blood so far not to call my own… The corridor behind me is almost littered with the dead, as these five think they've got what it takes to kill me? Murder in my eyes. I could see their fear…

"Oh man fuck this!!"

Now only four remained true…

Using my wings to fight with the others helped me with carrying these rocks, also giving me unmatched speed. One pony charged at me with a knife in his mouth, I swung the rock in my right hoof at his kneecap and was satisfied to hear a bone-breaking... He just fell down screaming his vocal cords out loud. A second bone was broken, then he was dead. It gave me a thrill every-time one of these bastards screamed in agony. To see them die was so much more exhilarating.

Now only three dead ponies walking…

I started to spin my other hoof around in a circle, so when the other one raider ran, the rock met his jaw at a fast deadly pace.

Two remaining…

This time they both came at me together, I focused mainly on the one to my left flying at him, winding up my hoof. That was careless. About to collide, he crouched down, avoiding my swing in the air. Then I definitely felt his slashing counter-attack…

"Arrgh! Son of a-" I shouted out in pain before crashing up against some overturned rusted school lockers... Ah fuck! Looking to my underside I saw that the lucky fucker slashed above my stomach... Damn, that hurts!… By Luna!…

"Heh. What's the matter, afraid of the sight of your own blood?" The yellow stallion chuckled. "Gonna carve you up real good..."

Shit!

He tilted his head back then threw it forward letting go of the knife so it came flying in my direction, it landed an inch away from my left ear. Good thing I moved my head to the right to dodge it. At the same time swinging my left hoof in his direction, the chain snapped throwing the lump towards his head…

Only one unlucky boy left. Now I am more pissed off than before… Ignoring the exasperating pain from above my stomach that bled but not too much, I stood up, waiting for him to make his move.

"You just don't die! You fucking angel of death!" He shouted. His fear was so obvious. Trembling hooves, trembling voice, eyes the size of pinpricks. Using my wings, I then flew straight into him, knocking him down to the floor with me straddling him as he squirmed. It took a second to realize he's a unicorn with his magic locked on to something…

Damned mother!!-

His magic was using another bloody knife, he jammed the damn thing into my side... Arggh! Fucking hell! Everything seemed to stop around me as I could feel him pushing it in further, the whole blade felt entirely inside me... My face contorted in severe pain, but this wasn't gonna stop me. The adrenaline rush from the fight keeping me alive.

"How's that feel bitch?" The unicorn smirked using his magic to hover the rock in front of my face, ready to deliver me unto hell…

"LIKE A FUCKING! STUPID! BLOODY! WASTE OF SPACE!!" Each of the words I screamed at him was the exact number of times I smashed his head in with the boulder.

Who's laughing now?

Oh dammit… Celestia. What have I done?!

Falling off the side of the now-dead unicorn I now could only wait for death, the knife had made a pool of blood spill out profusely but was still lodged into me. I couldn't be bothered to attempt to take it out... Let me just sleep... Fuck. It's only phantom pain… I can't be dying already…

I- I don't want to die…

I don't want to-

Die…

...Damn, there's so much blood. I feel light-headed almost delirious... This damn world with it's fucked up pony scum can go to hell. Just take me back to the old Equestria, the better world, before all of this…

"Hey..." Nimbus? That sounds like Nimbus' voice... Oh Luna! I'm dying!

Everything was going white, like the snow outside, or maybe I am outside now... Feelings of cold, slowly fading…

"Don't worry. Everything's gonna be ok." Wait, that's not Nimbus? I could barely see but I saw I was being picked up by a light orange mare. Where is she taking me? I'm already dead, just let me go back… Back to... those… Happier times...

"...Going to get-... someplace safe. Can you hear me?..."

Everything fades to darkness...

Chapter Three: Summer Wind

"My fickle friend, the Summer Wind..."

I came to curled up in something soft and pleasantly warm. Every part of my body felt flushed and tingly as more of my senses came back to life. I just couldn't resist rolling around a little in bed like some lazy pegasus, letting this cozy warmth envelop me. It felt almost like I was in a different world. For once what seemed like actual sunlight peered in through the bedside window... Well, at least more than usual. Sadly the world outside was still gloomy, without even a break in that oppressive ceiling of grey.

The room I woke up in wasn't too rundown; with slightly damaged wooden walls and tarnished plank floors, losing the color they once held. Pretty much what you’d expect the standard to be after a megaspell holocaust I suppose. I sat up to take in my surroundings and spotted an old wooden desk jammed in one of the room’s corners. On it was a decently maintained chemistry set, paperwork, and a gun of some kind. Guess the pony that lives here must be a chemist or a doctor? Though a part of me hoped that the gun being there was just a coincidence...

"Huh, you’re awake, how ‘bout that."

Surprised by the sudden words from a stallion, I almost fell out of bed smacking my head on a shelf in the process. "Ow- who are you?" I questioned the middle-aged blue unicorn with a slightly darker blue mane and brown eyes. He didn't look like a doctor and wasn't wearing typical chemist’s clothing either.

"Oh ‘scuse me where are my manners, I'm Doc Stitches, welcome to Sunnyspring." He introduced me with a friendly smile.

Sunnyspring? Moving slowly off the bed, I tried to catch a glimpse of the town outside the window but was stopped by a searing pain in my side. Ugh dammit! "Woah easy there! You've been out cold for a few days now, would be best if you stayed put and rested up s’more." Doc Stitches assured me, helping me back into bed. "Shouldn't be much left now except phantom pain and such. I take pride in my needlework, hence the name, you might want to tell me if I missed anything."

Huh, I was starting to wonder where he got the name from. "How long have I been here?"

"About three days now. If I recall, Summer came rushing in through the door to see me, and next thing I know she's carryin' in a half-dead pegasus on her back. I did my stuff the next day, cleaned those nasty wounds an' stitched 'em back up. Figured right as rain you'd still be kickin', but turns out you died sometime after she found you." Wait, what? Seriously? "I died?"

"Yeah, was about to give up on you too. It's called the Lazarus effect or syndrome, it's basically where a pony dies then a few days later everything just starts back up again. You’re one very lucky mare. Only happens once in a blue moon." Doc Stitches chuckled to himself. Though I kinda wished I’d just stayed dead. This world only seems to want to torment me further, but nevertheless, I am grateful. "In that case thanks for bringing me back from the dead, Doc."

"Don't mention it, it's what I'm here for, but if anypony really saved your life it'd be Summer. You'd have stayed dead if it weren't for her. Well anyhow, I got some other stuff to do so I'll check up on you again later tomorrow." With that said, Stitches stood up and headed out of the room. Leaving me alone with my thoughts and a comfortable bed staring in the direction of daylight... Here I thought I would have never seen it again. Guess I owe this 'Summer' a favor, a big one at that. Though I wonder what she was doing around the area at the time. If it was just by chance she happened to find me then thank Celestia she did.

A few minutes passed and I must have dozed off for a moment. When I awoke again I was somewhere else. The feeling of the bed beneath me faded away as it felt like I was now standing on my hooves, somewhere cold, but not outside... I could hear the bitter winter wind howling just outside my shelter, carrying with it the stench of blood and decaying life. Immediately upon opening my eyes I saw a... Dark gray mare? She had her back turned to me, looming over the corpse of a crimson pegasus. It took me a few seconds to realize that corpse was me.

I was back at the school where I unwittingly massacred those raider ponies, their mangled bodies were strewn about the foyer. Dark pools of blood were gathering around their rotting forms, still seeping from the wounds I bashed into them. I silently gagged at the sight before me. I killed all these ponies out of blind rage. When I couldn’t stand the sight before me anymore I shut my eyes, like a foal naively hoping that if she couldn’t see the monsters around her they would just disappear. I kept them shut so tightly that my eyelids were beginning to get sore from the pressure being put on them, silently willing, hoping, the nightmare before me would disappear.

Tentatively, I opened my eyes again to find the gray mare, now standing an inch in front of me, staring into me with deep, blood-red eyes. Her face was an expressionless mask that seemed to stare into my very soul. Writhing tendrils of darkness began to squirm out of the mass of corpses around us, slowly snaking along the ground towards the two of us. I wanted to escape this horror, but for some reason, I was fixated on her gaze. Right before the tendrils touched either of us, they began to extend upwards and around us, coalescing into a dome of churning shadows that surrounded the two of us, trapping us inside, forcing me to face her.

As I stared into the blood-red pools of her eyes ripples began to form. The ripples traveled along the surface of her eye until they began to gather at the base of her eyelids. Streams of blood slowly started trickling down the sides of her muzzle, almost like tears, but not quite. As they continued I began to hear the soft pitter-patter of blood droplets landing on the tiled floor. Blood began to pool at her hooves as the mare continued to silently cry, her face still perfectly maintaining that expressionless gaze. The pool of blood on the floor was continuing to expand towards my hooves and I tried in vain to back away, only for me to let out a sharp yelp as my rump came into contact with the very solid wall of darkness surrounding us. I started to struggle against our confines bucking at the dome with the maximum amount of force I could muster out of my hind hooves, almost preferring to face whatever was on the other side than dying to this monster. As I did so, the space around us began to fill with blood at an impossibly fast rate, threatening to drown both of us.

By the time I stopped struggling against the wall of shadows the blood was almost up to my breast. No matter how hard I bucked or how loud I screamed nothing seemed to be stopping the death that was coming for me. As a final desperate resort, I tried to talk to the gray mare that was my tormentor.

In a panicked tone, I begged her. “Please… Please stop! I-I don’t want to die now, I didn’t want to kill all these ponies… I’m sorry, PLEASE I’M SO SORRY!”

I screamed at the mare, who in return cocked her head to the side, considering me. As she did so, the flow of blood in our little chamber seemed to stop, save for a few droplets. Silence reigned between us as she stared at me blankly. I began to fear the worst and braced myself to strike at the mare if need be, although, I’m not sure how well that would go over.

Drip...

Drip...

Drip...

Then the mare leaned in towards me and spoke. She said in an almost familiar tone, like a ghost of the past.

"Fear Death..."

Before anything else could happen the gray pony opened her mouth wide and suddenly let out an ear-piercing screech, revealing two large fangs protruding from her mouth.

I let out a loud shriek as I bolted upright in bed. As I slowly tried to calm myself down I realized that my coat was drenched in sweat. All of my fur was plastered to my body, even my wings were sopping wet, but letting them unfurl a little they could still flap. I sat there quietly in the darkened silence of the room using my wings to create a small breeze. Cooling me down just a little and drifting away from the scent of scared mare.

If I had a thermometer in my mouth to check my temperature it would’ve probably burst at the end with how hot I was. I felt like I had just crawled out of Tartarus. Scorched, but somehow still alive. As I sat there in my self-made breeze, I let my mind wander to the dream I’d just had and that strange mare I saw... Well, it looked like a mare at first then just went all... Damn. I’ve never had a dream like that before. That was some messed up stuff, almost gave me a heart attack. It was like Luna herself was watching over my corpse, my punishment for killing those raiders. Maybe she gave me the dream so it could make me see the error of my actions, or that it's kill or be killed... That death waits for nopony.

Moving around slightly became more of a habit as the bed I noticed was also soaked in my sweat. The air around me was stuffy, making me feel itchy all over my body. Especially in one or two places I'd rather not itch at the minute... That made me realize I hadn't been wearing my stable barding, it was nowhere in sight. Realizing that I was, 'naked', made me lose the hope of being a little restricted, but now, it was just so tempting to have a little distraction, waiting down below, so close by... Where it's warm, wet, and fuzzy as fuck.

Though I didn’t know why I felt so needy. By all accounts that should’ve been the last thing on my mind, I’d just had a terrifying nightmare. Was it the warmth? Thinking about it made me realize I wish I had somepony to share it with. Of course, my mind wandered back to my little Nimbus. About the way she smiled at me, looked at me, sounded... Felt. In my embrace. When she used to get herself stuck in some interesting positions then needed me to lend her a helping hoof.

It only felt natural at the time, she didn't mind.

Laying here in bed was starting to get boring fast. I couldn't go anywhere, not so much that I seemed imprisoned, but there was not much I could do in my condition regardless. My wet mane blocked my left eye as I looked around the dark room, curious about my surroundings. Some light still got in through the window, but the only things that were revealed were the floor and the hovering fog of dust in the room.

Out of tedium, I rolled over onto my front. Ooh, that gave me a little jolt of pleasure, that electric feeling running through my lower body and up into my spine... Oh, Celestia! Not now! I think I'm starting to get horny. That itch below was vying for my full attention, my body wanted to preoccupy my senses but I didn't want it... Maybe later or some other time. Mmm but it's just so tantalizing. Ugh...

Ignoring the desire, I decided to play with my PipBuck instead. Fiddling around with the buttons on the side to take my mind off fiddling with something else. This infernal heat wasn't helping either or the fact I was... Quite wet. Moving around was just going to make it much worse, but who said it was bad? Damn! Now my mind was starting to betray me. Needing to wipe that look off the side of my face as I gently tugged at a little exposed green wire off the side of the buck- I mean PipBuck!

Ugh! Who even likes boys anyway? They're kinda weird and sometimes rude, I guess most of them aren't that bad. Well, apart from the average stallion of today's Equestria, now that's just bad. Luckily for those big bad but nice boys out there, I like bad. Plus... I'm not exactly a good little girl myself. Did some naughty things with a cute flyboy who used to be one of Nimbus' best friends. Think his name was... Clipper? He had a fondness for my flank, probably because he liked my cutie marks... Or the way they moved. Mmm, I'd let him clip me any day... If he was still alive.

By Celestia, I needed to stop thinking about boys. Really, the chances of me meeting a stallion who is actually anything but a nutcase is gonna be rare. Unless he's a pegasus with all the qualities of a wonderbolt, in that case, he would definitely be my kind of flyboy. Somepony I really wouldn't mind sweeping me off my hooves. Now wonderbolts are cute.

Though now it makes me wonder where all the pegasi have gone. All the ponies I had come into contact with were either earth pony or unicorn. Sickle - the poor bastard - may he rest in peace or two pieces, said about pegasi loving to hide or something, then Hammer also mentioned how it's "been a while". Those two were probably just thinking they were hiding because maybe the pegasi are all dead? Hiding just wouldn't make sense. All pegasi used to aspire to be like Rainbow Dash, brave, courageous, loyal till death do us part. Hiding away like trapped birds in a cage didn't exist in our dictionary, the pegasus race was born to be warriors. To fight. To fly free...

Well... All that thinking took my mind off being aroused, for now, as long as I don't think about another cute flyboy again I should be fine. Good heavens! Look at the time. My PipBuck read about three in the damn morning, the screen glowing green in my face almost killed my eyes. I needed to sleep before I started thinking about naughty bedtime thoughts, again.

Ooh wait- My eyes looked over the miscellaneous section of the PipBuck and saw the game I picked up, Zebra Menace. Something in me wanted to try it out, but right now? In the middle of the night? Well why the hell not? It's not like I'll be going anywhere in a few days anyway. At the same time, I didn't want to turn into one of those spoiled rich ponies who had their muzzles buried in PipBuck games all the time.

I really needed to sleep, I was starting to think about flyboys again. Moving away my PipBuck foreleg laying here in the darkness. I started to think about that mare Doc' Stitches mentioned, Summer... Sounds cute. Doesn't really seem to fit with the weather and everything else down here though. Wonder why she rescued me from that hellhole I once used to call a school? Unless it was to have me revived then captured. Again. I suppose if that was the case I would be chained up to the bed or a wall by now... Ooh, now chains sound like a good idea for more than just capture- Mm I need to stop before I get excited again.

I laid my head back on the pillow, then just focused on trying to sleep. I felt that itch slowly come back to me, I still didn't want it though. I'm a good girl, not a bad one. Sometimes. I was just hoping that Doc Stitches doesn't find out about the bed being wet through. Wasn't my fault some mare couldn't help herself, it was that other mare’s fault for fucking my brain, believe it or not.

Ugh, fuck, sleep!

Huh- what?

Awakening with a loud snort, I found myself now greeted with the same room, but surrounded in light. Mmm must have finally dozed off. At least I actually managed to get some sleep, between my brain and my bowels, though I tried to hide that I felt just a little wet somewhere rather... Warm. Having a little morning stretch isn't going to help that either, but I need a little movement. Fuck. It must be the heat, feels like I'm in a desert. Least the bed isn't wet this time. "Oh morning, Doc'..." I smiled at him as he just entered the room. Thank Celestia I had just put my flank back down. "Good morning to you too," He smiled back and our eyes just met for a second. "I trust last night wasn't too rough for you? Beds can get a little uncomfortable. Had to change your sheet 'cause they were soaking wet..."

My eyes narrowed a little. Ah shit.

"...Seemed a little unusual. Might have to take your temperature, just to make sure that it's not a fever." Doc' Stitches finished, moving over to the side of the bed, facing me. He then used his magic, lighting up a small glass thermometer nearby in a dark blue glow. There was a strange tension in my wings, the kind a pegasus gets when they’re nervous or excited, but I felt both at the same time. "Uhh yeah, about that... I... Um, did have a nightmare. I woke up from it and the bed was already wet." I think he believed me, nodded a few times then asked that I open my mouth. Which I did. He put one end of the thermometer on the tip of my tongue and waited for a minute.

That moment I could feel the heat alright, not from anywhere else but my lower body. Having this thing in my mouth wasn't helping either. Something in me just felt so... Perverted. Though I don't know why. It wasn't brought on by the nightmare-mare or the thinking of Nimbus, but a feeling deep down inside of me that it's been a while since I last had any... Action. I don't have feelings for the good Doctor, but my body seems like it just can't tell the difference between a changeling and a pony. If I met another mare and started getting close to her I think something strange might happen and Celestia hold me back when it does.

"Ah right, well it's not a fever or anything really. Your temperature seems to be normal, your body is still in the process of waking itself up. You may be possibly feeling dizzy or even - what's the word? - Slightly aroused. Don't worry ‘bout it that's just normal."

Oh... Yay... Just typical post-death arousal?

"Well, now we know your vitals are good. Done better than some of my previous patients over the years, some, unfortunately, didn't even see daylight..." Doc' Stitches smiled, removing the thermometer from my mouth and setting it down on the table nearby. Oh, that's it? Nothing else to stick in my mouth? Ugh! Celestia, I hate this! "Anyway, I forgot to ask your name yesterday, do you still remember your name?"

"Um... My name is Scarlett Dawn,"

"Huh," He chuckled. "Sorry. Can't say it's what I'd have picked for you but if that's your name, that's your name. I remember another patient I had a long while back telling me about another mare by the name of Scarlett... Don't reckon that'd be you, would it?" My ears perked up a moment, just looking at him as I had a feeling that I didn't believe. No, it can't be. "Who was it that told you?" I asked him, extremely curious about just who this pony could be. "I mean, this was about a year ago mind you, memory's not as good as it used to be, but uh... Think her name was... Nimbus Shock. Or was it Strike?" Wait? That sounds like my little Nimbus! Upon hearing the Doctor say that I almost sprang out of bed, flapping my wings in excitement with a big grin on my face. He looked really surprised at my sudden movements though I didn’t expect him to understand.

So this means that she could still be alive! Wonder what she had done to once be here? She used to get in trouble like that sometimes... Here I thought Nimbus was dead. But I recall what Equinox said back at Sunnywood about how it's been fifty-three damn years. My brain just switched on about her being dead, but now Doc' Stitches said she was here last year, she's fucking alive, she has to be! Now I thought about how she survived, I saw her get shot, but forget that, what mattered to me is that Nimbus is still living... Somewhere. So I still have a reason to continue on with my life. "Did Nimbus say where she was heading before leaving?"

"Last I remember I think she said about going to the ruins of Manehattan. Told her it's dangerous out that way, but she just smiled then went out on her merry little way. Not a word spoken... Look I get the sense you know her, don't get me wrong but I feel that she was just askin' to get herself killed. Now it seems to me you're just gonna be following in her hoofsteps." Well I mean... "Sorry to disappoint you Doc' but I kinda owe that mare a favor." Finding Nimbus was now my main goal.

For a moment I could still feel the excitement of knowing that she was alive, it wouldn't leave my head. Though getting to Manehattan was a different story entirely. Chances are getting there alone for me would be suicidal, but for Nimbus? She must have gone with a group or something else to get there. From here, wherever in Equestria I really am, the city is probably a really long way away. "Okay, I suppose I could turn you loose, your wound seems to be healed, but still try to take it easy for a few days. Oh, an’ no offence, but if Summer didn't mention to me that you looked like you were from a stable, the chances of me helping you might have been slim..." Doc' Stitches gave a weak smile for a moment before standing up, ready to move...

"Wait, why’s that?"

"Well, I- I mean it's just..." He stuttered a few times, "Well. Pegasi just ain't the same no more, you know?" What's wrong with pegasi? "No, I don't know..."

"Look, I'm sorry. I meant nothin' by it, of course, it's just that... Pegasi are different nowadays, an' folk around town an' other places don't take too kindly to a pegasus being around... All I'm trying to say is, please watch your back an' try not to get killed anymore. ‘Kay?"

Just nodding to him was my only answer, I didn't want to damage our... Feeling of friendship so to speak by continuing. Seems that pegasi are a bit of a sensitive subject for some reason. But what have we ever done wrong? We were the most powerful military force in the history of pony kind. We swore loyalty to help those below the clouds when they needed it most. We fought and died for the other races of Equestria during the War against the zebras... Why are we suddenly the bad ponies now? And why haven’t I seen any down here? Questions, that will be killing me to find out.

"Okay, I'm ready to move now, Doc'..." I started with sliding slowly off the end of the bed, flank first. It was mainly up to me standing on my own, but he had one of his hooves holding my right side as to guide me slowly, making sure I didn't just fall out onto the floor. His other though, he placed on my wing, which gave me a tickling feeling- fuck, It's back again... Moving quickly, I just wanted off the bed before this got any worse, tentatively putting a hind leg on the floor as the rest followed suit. Oh, and he removed his hooves. Yay. At least he didn't touch my fl-

"Right, should be good to go now providing you can walk straight. Maybe you should talk to Summer before leaving, to say thanks you know. She'll most likely be at the saloon at the edge of town. You take care now, an' uh, good look finding Nimbus." Doc' Stitches finished saying his farewells right before we reached the front door. Hmm, he had a nice rural place here for a doctor. By the exit, I realized that I had nothing on me except my PipBuck, and Nimbus' bullet. Celestia, I felt so naked and defenseless.

Upon opening the door and taking my first steps outside I found my surroundings... Vast. In the distance, the only landmarks I could spot were sand, rocks, trees and more sand... Wait - I'm in a desert? Another more literal wasteland. I glanced up to find the ever-present cloud curtain lingering in the sky. Doc Stitches’ house was on a small hill overlooking the town of Sunnyspring. Below, the town didn't look anything like I expected, I was expecting watchtowers and barbed-wire fences, but it had none of that. No perimeter walls or any defenses. It just seemed like a washed-up town in the middle of nowhere. Though the town did look pretty big, it seemed as though half of it was abandoned. While most houses were boarded up, a few of them were even completely destroyed. Not many ponies I could see were around, save for a few earth pony farmers tending to their crops and big weird looking animals, some with horns, and others that had two heads?

Maybe I should’ve asked Doc' Stitches for a rundown of the town. Taking a second glance revealed a small building near the outskirts that looked to be the place he said I might find Summer. I mean... It did have a big neon sign saying 'Scavenger’s Saloon' so. Walking in the direction of the saloon, I passed what seemed to be a general store, but something just didn't feel right. I didn’t know if I was being paranoid because of what the Doc' said about ponies not liking pegasi, or the feeling of being watched because of it. The only ponies that I’ve seen so far seem to be friendly, possibly, until the wind blows. When I stepped onto the porch-way leading to the front entrance my fears were heightened. It sounded quiet inside, but that could change when a pegasus walks into a bar. If I hear about a joke relating to both... Then we'll see.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door...

Immediately, I understood just how much of a ghost town this place was... There was quite literally nopony in here except for the bartender. She was a dark purple unicorn with a darker purple, almost black mane, wearing an old dress of Western Equestrian origin. She was speaking with a yellow earth pony stallion, who wore what appeared to be a strange raven-black combat armour with a white insignia on the upper chest in the shape of a claw. I couldn’t quite make it out from this distance to be certain. They appeared to be arguing over something with the stallion smashing a radio on the counter. Besides those two, there were a few other townsponies talking and drinking. This place had a nice old western feel to it that reminded me of Appleloosa, if that place was still around anymore.

"Well howdy there..." A small voice said from beside me. Turning to my left, I found myself staring at a set of violet-purple eyes that belonged to an orange mare the same height as me. Her long lighter purple mane really matched her eyes well. "Oh hi. Sorry, I didn't notice you there." I apologized to the orange mare as she just seemed to giggle a little at that, brushing away her mane when it fell over her big, deep, and attractively sized eyes.

"Oh don't worry about it ah have tat effect on ponies. Mainly 'cus they choose not to'." She blinked brushing her mane away again, "Anyway, name's Summer Wind..." Ah- oh wait she's Summer Wind? Not wanting to admit it but I think I have a slight crush on this mare already. Call it love at first flight.

Summer had a big smile on her face and held out a hoof- oh am I supposed to shake her hoof? I mean- Holding out my hoof we both then shook hooves. "Call me Scarlett Dawn..."

"Scarlett huh? Sounds kinda cute... Wait, ah think ah have heard of y'all from someplace. Ooh where was it?..." She backed up a step, putting her hoof to her chin to think for a second... "Oh! Y'all the one who saved ol' Equinox from that school in Ponyville!"

Going by how excited she looked I think this mare was possibly about to hug me... Or... Kiss me? "Um yeah... I just came to uh, thank you for saving me from that place. In the process."

"Oh yea! Almost forgot 'bout tat too. No problem Scarlett!" Summer grinned. Wow, I could almost sense her happiness emitting just from that cute face of hers. She almost looked as if she wanted to squeeze me in a hug. But I sort of needed to know... "If you don't mind me asking Summer, how did you find me?" I asked her. She just smiled then added a little cute giggle in the air between us. "Well, ah gotta admit, was... uh... Keepin' an eye maybe two on you. Ah done moseyed into town after Miss Malt there at the counter told me ta look fer our missing resident storyteller, Equinox. Anyway, didn't find much except fer raiders an' the like, then ah heard some commotion down near the frozen river. Looked like a buncha bad eggs harassin' a stable dweller, you, it seems."

"Wait. So it was you who blew that raider's head off on top of me?" Summer nodded to me, smiling. She then continued... "So anyway ah did that, saw everypony get down, you flew away someplace an' ah kept lookin'. Still didn't find anything. Then the next day, caught sight o' these weird-looking earth pony guys going into some house. Ten minutes later, saw ya again but jumpin' outta window. Ah' followed ya through town ta a school then... Watched y'all do somethin' strange, then got yourself captured. Thought ah might as well rescue ya then go off to find Equinox. Luckily, found the two o' y'all in the same building. Equinox told me to find ya, but when ah did find ya, ya were just lyin' on a dead raider, dyin'. Had to carry ya from Ponyville all the way here to Doc' Stitches..." Summer stopped for a moment then took a deep breath. I can tell this mare likes to talk but by Celestia, I love this girl's voice already.

"Well, in that case, aren't you just like my guardian angel." Summer just giggled excitedly again at my words, though I gotta admit I like how cute she looks when she blushes hard like that. Reminds me of Nimbus. They both have the same little smile. "Well thank y'all, Scarlett! You know... Ah might just teach ya a thing or two about livin' in the wasteland. Seems y'all might need it since ya managed to get yourself killed once..." Haha yeah, managed... That was just a stupid mistake doing what I did. Summer turned around for a second, calling to the bartender mare or as she called her Malt Punch, basically shouting out that "...This here's Scarlett Dawn. The pegasus that done saved ol' Equinox!" I was about to get cheered on it seemed, until that yellow earth pony started saying something, slowly clapping before getting to his hooves and coming over to me. He had a smug look on his face... The kind of face I really felt like punching right about now. Walking up and just looking down on me, trying to make me feel a little uneasy.

"Well, well. Ain't ya just a godsend? Scarlett Dawn, was it? A little pegasi like y'all just doin' this ghost town a favor..." He scoffed still looking at me with those dark blue eyes that made me feel a little uneasy about this situation. "Best ya an' that other girl just fly on outta town now. Least while y'all both still got those wings..." He then chuckled pushing past me, but before he got out the door he turned around and faced the bartender Malt Punch. "Oh an' Ms' Malt... Best y'all cough up the Colonel or me and ma boys will have ta burn this here town to the ground till we find 'im, understand?. Good. Y'all got two days." With that said Mr. Big Mouth walked out and disappeared.

"...Boomer eh?" Summer joked. At least, I thought it sounded like she tried to make a joke. Unless that's actually his name? "Who was that?"

"That idiotic psycho, well, that ray of fuckin' lack o' sunshine is called Boomer. Does nuthin' but come in an' spout his bullshit... Arg, dumb bastard broke the damn radio..." Malt Punch sighed, just laughing afterwards. It sounded a little creepy, especially after a pony just threatened to burn down the town. I decided to sit down at the bar for a moment and Summer sat down next to me on my right. "So, Scarlett. Pick ya poison," Summer said, smiling. "Drinking isn't really my type of thing..." I replied to her, but she asked Malt for two glasses of whiskey. Or more specifically, Wild Pegasus whiskey. A type of drink my father used to favor.

"Oh hey, Summer. Want to hear tat joke about the darn whiskey again?" A pony on the couches said behind me. "Sure, Ingot. Y'all know it gets ma wings a flappin'." She replied in a tone that I thought sounded a little flirty. Wait... This is going to be a dirty joke, isn't it? "Hehe, alright here goes. So a pegasus walks into a bar an' asks the bartender for a shot o' wild pegasus whiskey. Now ah hear this, I turn to her an' say, 'Girl, ah' know where ah' can find a wild pegasus.' So she turns to me. 'Oh? Where?' She replies. 'In my bedroom tonight an' ah will give ya a few shots!!'" Suddenly, the whole Saloon just blew up in laughter as everypony in here just started going pretty much crazy, even Summer. I was laughing but only to blend in with the surroundings, even though It really sounded strange. "An' tat's how ah met Summer Wind, still don't know why ya turned me down though."

"'Cus sweetie, you an' ah both know y'all don't get as hard as ya name suggests..." As Ingot started to rumble again with laughter I could see a smirk on Summer's face. Ooh. Just might need to keep this bad girl on a tight leash... Looking at the whiskey glass I didn’t know if I was already drunk from looking at it or if I should drink it anyway, but seeing how I only just met her it would probably seem wrong for me not too. Though to get it out of the way I got a hold of the glass and knocked it back into my mouth with one motion, once it was I immediately felt a searing sensation, it felt like my entire mouth was on fire! I tried in vain to swallow it, but the burning sensation was just too much for me, so with slight regret, I ended up shooting it straight out at the wall in front of me. "Ahh don't worry, Scarlett. Ah remember when ah' had my first drink..."

"Bet ya do, Summer..." Ingot interrupted. "Ya know it, cutie-pie!" She giggled. For a moment I couldn't resist looking at Summer Wind, from her cute long flowing mane to her fluffy little ears, all the way down to those powerful wings on her back. I wasn't freaking out about not being the only pegasus around... Because now that I found her, another pegasus, we could find the rest of them together. I can't imagine what it'd be like to be the last of your own race.

"Um... Do you know where all the other pegasi are?" I asked her. She stopped doing what she was doing and acted a little strange about the question, just shrugging and taking a drink. "Hmmm well no... Not really... No. Ah used ta think ah was the only one..." What I thought was more strange was the fact she didn't make eye contact, even her voice sounded less... Uplifting. Unless I had brought back a bad memory about her thinking she was the last one. "Sorry if I brought back something bad. But I would like to maybe get to know you better..."

"Well if there's one thing ta know tis that ah'm usually very, very boring. Y'all get better stories outta talkin' to a Balefire junkie..." Summer hesitated for a minute. "Oh alright. Ah'm not much older than ya... Ish... Used to be a medic... Ah have a thing for Wonderbolts... Make a mean Bale-scorp' casserole an' is a fat liar about ta last thing ah just said so..."

Yeah... And possibly a bit strange too.

"Do you always avoid personal questions, Summer?" I asked, raising an eyebrow, I could see she was getting slightly nervous about the situation. "Ah mean... Only ta obfuscate ma past association with a genocidal paramilitary-like organization. Ah'm obviously jokin' of course, ain't any 'o those around no more... Eeyup." She took another sip of her drink, clearing her throat afterwards. "Eeyup..."

Okie, dokie, lokie...

"Heh. Best ya watch tat lassie, Scarlett... She ain't as innocent as she looks..." Ingot chuckled. It brought that cute little smile back to Summer's face as she just rolled her eyes. "Might need ta use a good ol' lasso, just tie her up, tat'll teach her..."

Being tied up does seem like a good idea...

Okay... Moving on from the lewd side of pony life, "I suppose you don't mind me asking, Malt. But who is this Colonel?" I asked Malt Punch as she was cleaning out some glasses. For some reason, I always find the names of ponies just curious nowadays. "The Colonel? He's the town's resident... Guess ya could say, upkeeper. If he weren't here, this town would just be nothin' but sand, so he's the one tat makes sure it doesn't become like that." She then sighed a little in frustration. "But lately he's been stuck up in that damned scrapyard o' his at the end o' town. Tends to his 'baby', or so he calls it. Pfft! My ass..."

"His baby?" I raised an eyebrow, finding that a little strange. "A train, Scarlett. His, oh-so-more-important-than-the-town-at-the-end-o'-the-world is a Luna-forsaken rusted up an' broken down train..." Malt laughed at herself finishing with, "So ta complete ya question, the Colonel is an asshole. Don't care about us..."

A train huh? Ooh! If he needs help with that I could help him, then maybe he could help me get to Manehattan afterwards... Suddenly a grin came to my face and I shot out of the saloon door, running in the direction of the scrapyard. I could already see piles of metal structures that once may have been wagons among other things, stacked up all around a main, stout building overlooked by a crane. It almost seemed like it would come crashing down any second, but I supposed it must be stable enough.

"Scarlett, wait! Where y'all goin'?" Summer shouted as she tried to catch up, resulting in just using her wings to move. After a minute, she managed to catch up to me. "I'm looking for a mare, Summer..." Looking at her, I saw her eyes just go wide for a moment. Oh, did she think... "Not like that... I want to speak to this Colonel about his train." She let out a little sigh of possible relief. And not that kind of train either. "But what for?" Stopping just out the perimeter of the scrapyard I turned around to face her almost crashing into my flank. "I need to get to Manehattan..."

"But... It's dangerous all the way up there this time o' year, Scarlett." She blinked, wondering if I actually meant it. "Oh? Well everywhere else looks to be fucking dangerous as well, so what makes that place any different?" Summer went quiet, slightly lowering her head. Damn it Luna! I hate getting mood swings! "Look, I'm sorry... It's just that this mare really means a lot to me and I need to find her." After another minute of silence, we both came up to a small metal shack next to the center building which looked more like a warehouse now than it did from further away. Summer knocked on the shack door once, but there was no answer. Knocking again, but a little louder it was the same response. Are we even at the right part-

"Y'all better get the fuck off ma lawn before ah start shootin'!"

"Woah! Woah! Easy Colonel, it's me... Summer Wind!" Summer exclaimed to the elderly dark blue pegasus that suddenly came from around the back of the shack. He wore a ragged cap that looked like it must have once been a military field cap or the like, he also wore an old cape that even concealed his cutie marks. So I assumed he was the Colonel. The stallion did have a saddle sort of frame around him, with two big guns under his wings. There was also a bit in front of his muzzle that connected to the guns in his saddle contraption, it seemed to be some sort of firing jig for them. Luckily, he didn't shoot them at us, instead standing down, shaking his head. "Summer? Oh. What are y'all doin' 'ere anyways? Ah almost mistook ya fer a damn zebra. Still goin' around they are... Oh yes. Make sure ya keep a gun handy ya 'ear?" He slurred, then almost fell over. I could see that this pony wasn't exactly in the best of health, plus he looked, well... Pretty old.

"Scarlett here wanted to talk to ya..." Summer began, but he turned his back away and snorted, "...Wait, it's about the Baby." As soon as Summer mentioned the Baby the Colonel turned around and his old-looking eyes went wide for a moment, slowly making his way back towards the shack. "Well? Why didn't ya just say so, Windy?"

"It's Summer..."

"Yeah? An' ah'm feelin' cold so let's go inside hm? Sure don't feel like summertime..." He coughed a few times trying to open the front door, pretty much just bashing against it. "Damn lungs." Once inside he took off his saddle thingy, then slumped into a chair beside a fire. This shack wasn't exactly big enough for anything. All it had was a bed in the left corner, he and everything else was on the right side. The interior of the shack was extremely narrow, as I knew from bumping off Summer's flank a few times. "So... Ya want to know all about the Baby eh, Scarlett?" I nodded then he proceeded, with a smile that was slightly creepy.

"Well, where to start really? She's a train. An' a damn fine machine she is... The Baby could take y'all wherever ya want to go. Or at least it once did. Now she's out back playin' catch-up with the times. A broken-down wreck, like this 'ere old Colonel..."

"How old are you exactly?" I decided to ask him, not to break him out of a possible fantasy he may have started to go through. "Me? Well ah'm about as old as the damn war is Scarlett, actually ah'm older. Been livin' for comin' on seventy-eight years now. Was only a young buck when those striped bastards got the drop on us. Oh an’ they’s still livin' them monsters are, so watch ya back out there. We're better wiped than striped! We are! Never back dow-"

"Colonel, ya getting off track now." Summer interrupted.

"Huh? Oh right, the train, th- th- the Baby, right. Okay, long story short Scarlett, ah need ya damn help. Some reprobates had done stole some vital parts ah need fer the train. Ah'd do it myself, but ah gotta stay 'ere 'cus some real bad ponies want to take me away because o' ma knowledge fer the stuff."

"Say no more, Colonel. I'll do it," I said to him. Summer turned gaped at me like I’d just said something crazy. "Oh! Well, thank you, Scarlett! Ah've been spending the last ten years or so of my life tryin' to restore that ol' gal back to workin' order. An' now ah finally might get the chance ta put 'er back on rails with these. Ah'll even show 'er to y'all when ya come back with the parts. Oh yeah, an' them thievin' bastards are at Stable Six, almost forgot 'bout tat. Thank ya again."

Even though I found the Colonel's personality to be uptight, it seems he did have a soft spot after all. Seeing him smile at me made me feel happy too. Summer seemed unusually quiet after our exchange, then suddenly she got up and headed out the door for some reason. I said goodbye to the Colonel and headed outside where she waited for me, looking off into the distance. "Ah still need to train y'all ya know, Scarlett. So we're not exactly goin' anywhere just yet…"

"We?" I looked in surprise. Summer held a cute smirk as she started walking back down towards the town. I followed behind her back to the Scavenger's Saloon for the training, but trying not to pay attention to the way her flanks moved as she sauntered along the road was more than a little distracting. I didn't pay any attention earlier to her flank but now I noticed that she was wearing a cover over where her cutie marks would be, huh? Forget it for now, if I can get this training out the way then we'll get going towards Stable Six after that I'll ask her. Though once we're there there’s no telling what we could be dealing with. Oh well, what's the worse that could happen?...

Chapter Four: Stable Six

"Y'all got fire in ya kid, ah like that!"

"So remember to point an' bite the bit to shoot," Summer Wind said following beside me. We spent at least five hours or so training and now my hooves feel so damn tired. But my big brain thought it would be ideal to start moving out later on the same day. Now here we are with the town of Sunnyspring behind us, both now searching for this Stable Six.

Even though the sun is concealed by the clouds I can still feel its flaring heat beating down on my back. Celestia knows why I haven't brought a water canteen with me, plus lugging around what feels like a ton of bricks on my back wasn't helping my feeling of slight exhaustion either. What I called a 'metal frame' is actually called a Battle Saddle and that along with two long rifles attached to the sides of me through it is what is also killing me right now. At least it didn't cover my wings, so it doesn't sacrifice the ability to fly and shoot at the same time. I had to eye up Summer's weapons that she had on her battle-saddle though. Looked to be the same guns I had. That saddle looks a little big on her, but I didn't want to say that in case I stepped on a social mine. Oh, and another plus is she gave me saddlebags too. Yay, more weight... Now I feel like a fat pegasus.

Turns out, Summer knows more than what I thought she would about guns, the ammo, the recoil. Which my guns, kick like a mule when you shoot them. She knew about a PipBuck too and gave it a look over earlier and it turns out I hadn't properly booted it up yet, she started it up for me, which I thought she wouldn't be able to do. Seems this cute little country girl is full of surprises. Thanks to her, all I could now see was something she called an Eyes Forward Sparkle in my vision. It tells me of anything in the surrounding area. Well, anything that's 'living' apparently. Though I find it very curious to know how she knows about this. Unless she came from a stable, perhaps? According to her, this thing also shows locations too, that are somewhat within eyesight range. Though really there was just nothing around, no buildings or ruins. Literally. Completely. Nothing.

"You know, I'm still wondering why you chose to follow me on this. All I needed was the training then I could do this on my own."

"Ah thought tat ya might need the help after what y'all had been through," Summer said rather, exuberantly. With that cute level of pitch in her voice. "Besides, keeps Ingot from wantin' to do stuff with me in the back o' the saloon."

"Wait. Have you two? You know?" She looked at me but quickly dismissed what I was implying. "Oh, done that? Nah. Boys are kinda not ma type o' drinkin' buddy. If ya catch ma meanin'."

Oh, so if stallions are not her type then… Well… Okay…

"He's cute an' all but most stallions these days have a tendency to fuck everythin' in sight. Especially raiders, they'll fuck anythin', cacti, pegasi and maybe even ghouls."

For a moment I just stopped. "What is a ghoul?" I asked her. Summer just looked at me as if I had been living under a rock my whole life. But then a smile came to that confused little face.

"It's usually easier to understand if ya find out the hard way…" Now I feel that where we are going is probably going to be a trap or something, call it a hunch... But apparently, Summer has heard of Stable Six from somewhere before. Knew what direction to go in but didn't know how far away from town it is. What she also said earlier today was that the Colonel's missing train parts have actually been missing for a very long time. So they may or may not actually be here. If that's the case, then fuck using my nearly dead hooves to mosey back into town. I'll just use my wings instead. Pegasi have them for a reason.

"So… Scarlett, uh. Who is tis mare ya want ta find up in Manehattan?" Summer questioned, breaking the sudden silence between us.

"Her name is Nimbus Shock. The last name used to be Strike but she changed it for some reason," I said to her but I doubt she'd know who Nimbus is. Summer had that strange look on her again like when I had asked her previously back at the Scavenger's Saloon about her past, though I didn't take her for being offensive. But this time it felt slightly different.

"Nimbus huh? Can't say ah've heard o' her. But, I'll help y'all with this train stuff then maybe… Ah, dunno…" She just smirked, I don't know if she was thinking of helping me get to Manehattan. Or, thinking of something else entirely. I could feel a little tingling feeling somewhere- but not between my hind legs- By Celestia, I don't think we would get like that. But somewhere that almost made me want to ask a personal kind of question. But I feel it would just make things strange. I mean, she is a mare after all, so… I dunno.

"Though, thank you for wanting to help me with this, Summer." I gave her a smile and her eyes just went a little wide looking at me. For a moment I thought she might kiss me or maybe that's the point to that cute look she's giving. But Summer just smiled back instead.

"No problem, Scarlett! A friend in need is a friend indeed." We both started giggling along with each other, she's probably the friendliest of ponies that I've met. At least friendship isn't dead, and I'm considered a friend. Not a food source, or something worse.

"Huh? What's that small thing in the sand?"

Beep...

Beep...

Beep...

"Fuck! Scarlett, move!" Summer screamed at me, pushing me away quickly to the ground. Then I realized why so suddenly… As if the events of Equestria's ending happened all over again, the ground blew up beneath Summer's hooves. Throwing up the sand, the earth over us, and her up into the air, away a few hooves. It happened all so fast. But that noise, the explosion was almost like the ending. I couldn't even hear anything or her screams as her body crashed against the desert sand. Couldn't even see correctly for a moment, the force of my landing, stunning me. That… Ringing sound in my ears started to clear off, and all I was screaming was her name…

It almost felt like the other half of me had just died. Coughing from the sand in my way, in my mouth, I just kept calling her to get up. Because, when I looked back. All I could see besides the haze of sand… Were raiders. This was a fucking trap "Summer! Please get up! There's-"

"Raiders?" A voice said from behind me. Quickly turning my head around I was met with a hoof, kicking my head down on the ground but not enough to knock me out.

"Welp, welp, ah'll be damned. It's Scarlett Dawn an' her little friend." Wait? Where have I heard that voice from before? Looking up suddenly, I was surrounded by about seven raider ponies all laughing hysterically. That pony from the saloon. That one wearing all blacked-out armor, it's him. Boomer. He went to go reach for Summer as I could see her trying to stand up, the others just crowding her. But damn, she's alive?

"IF YOU TOUCH HER I'LL RIP YOUR FUCKING HOOVES OFF!!!" I screamed as loud as I could at him but he just looked at me then one or two of his friends pulled her up.

"Aww, will ya now? Welp. Ah gotta say, y'all ain't in any position to do so. Ah did tell y'all to pack up an' get outta town before 'twas ta late. But, tsk, tsk, tsk. You pegasi do have a habit of disobeyin' orders-"

"F- fuck you, Boomer…" I heard Summer just barely say with everything going on around. He just spun around and smacked her across the face. Then I heard her pained yelp.

"Arrrgh!!" I leaped from the ground powered by my wings straight towards him. But he figured I would try that and stepped to the side before I almost hit him. Next thing I know I'm pinned down by a dirtbag raider mare. Boomer then came over, but when I refused to look at him, he grabbed a hold of my chin with a hoof and looked me deep into my eyes. All I could see was hatred.

"Now! Y'all listen here... Need ya to deliver a message. Tell ya little friends back in Sunnyspring that my contractor, Azrael, is getting really impatient now. An' tis a really bad idea to do that. Me an' ma boys will be arrivin' tomorrow mornin' an' If we don't get the Colonel by then, we're gonna light that place up like the summer sun celebration." He let go. But this raider was just putting more pressure on my back. Typically, she's at my flank. Had a perverted smirk on her face too. Witch. Looking back towards Summer I watched in horror and anger as those bastards were just beating her, kicking the shit out of her. Oh! How I am so gonna rip these animals in half!

"Oh, an' Scarlett? We'll be going now if ya don't mind. But, I'll leave Buck an' Stampede here ta keep ya company till ya mosey on back towards town. Will be seeing y'all. Pretty soon…" Boomer then rounded up the five other raiders and Summer, started dragging her away, across the sand, towards nothingness.

I just laid there for about ten minutes or so with this stupid mare on my back, so I tried to move, but then I felt her put more pressure on my flank. All I could hear and feel is the sickly slurping sound she made against my left ear.

"Mm, well ain't y'all a wild specimen? A pegasus. Ooh, ooh! Can't wait ta taste ya!"

Oh fuck…

"Hey, Buck!" The stallion raider shouted her name. Buck? Well, kind of strange but seems apparent, I guess.

"What!" She shouted, "Ah'll get to ya later, Stampede! Gonna eat me a pegasus, an' she's gonna taste so fuckin' good! Might even make cupcakes outta her!"

Oh, holy Celestia fuck me. She either meant she was gonna eat me or probably rape me. Or both. But either way, fuck that I need this bitch off of me. But, I just couldn't move with her fat self on my back. The longer she keeps frantically licking my ears, the angrier I'm going to get though.

"Mmm, ooh! First, ah'll eat ya little ears! Second, ah'll eat ya little hooves! An' third… Ah'll-"

Managing to get her to slide down a little off my flank, I then quickly broke free and gave the crazy witch a hard, buck? Kicking her backward into the hooves of Stampede knocking him over too. Spinning around to face them I quickly sorted out my battle-saddle getting it ready. Point and bite the bit to shoot… yeah I definitely know.

"Oof! Ooh! That's great! Ah love it when they fight back!" Buck shouted at me getting back on her hooves, lighting something up in her orange glow of magic. I then focused my mind on her, entering a sort of advanced targeting mode that my PipBuck allowed, aiming at her, picking a body part, ninety-percent chance to hit.

"Eat this, bitch!"

Point and bite…

BANG!

To shoot…

I had blown a clear hole straight through the mare's stupid little head! Her corpse hit the ground hard. Landing near the soon to be dead Stampede if-

"Where is she! Where has that idiot taken her?!" I shouted at him. But he just had to get up and play a hero.

BANG!

Another shot tore through his front left leg before he could shoot me with his guns. He screamed, writhing with agony in a dark scarlet pool of Buck's life essence, as well as leaking profusely from his wound. Which was sure to be more if-

"Fucking! Better tell me right now!" I rolled him over onto his back pointing both my guns at his head. Ooh I'm going to just start-

"S- Sta- Stable S- Six! Damn it! Just little ways more s- south!"

"Any last words?"

Stampede muttered a word or two before I decided to just put him out of his misery instead, would probably just be an insult. Damn earth pony. That's all I needed to hear, Stable Six. Sounds like it could be their base or something. Now I need to rescue Summer Wind and get these train parts? I only hope these raiders die quicker than I can carry both. Looking at the two dead raiders, I then picked up a large knife or "machete" as my E.F.S called it, next to Buck's corpse. It was slightly rusted brown but stained almost entirely in her blood. I just added it to my inventory. Feel like I might need to use this pretty soon.

Oh, when I said about carrying hell to your doorstep, Boomer? I meant it. Oh so very literally… He doesn't know what this little pegasus is capable of. If very possible I'm going to rip and tear straight through them all to find her. Until it is done… then I am coming straight for you. With my message straight out from the barrel of a gun. Delivered right between the eyes.

This is not what I was expecting when I woke up today. When I get back to town with Summer in tow is when I'll deliver Boomer's message. Not before. I'm going to go get my friend back from those savages first. Because I'll be damned if I don't…

Ready to move out now, I started going south, deeper into the desert and possibly raider territory. Just why he would take her there instead of taking me is something I want to find out. But at the same time, I don't think I want to know what they could already be doing to her right now. Thinking about it just made my pulse quicken and my heart more stricken, now I want to get there faster, so I can just put a damn bullet in their fucking master! If heaven can see me now… know that the devil is in the detail.

All these bastards are going to pay!

I spent probably about an hour or so heading in the possible direction towards Stable Six, but it wasn't appearing on my E.F.S. Either Stampede had led me astray or I'm blind. Or both. Now I started to feel the distance in my aching hooves. Really wanted to use my wings, but Summer said to me during training that always using wings is sometimes a bad idea. Makes you stick out from a mile away. But… I wanted them to know that I'm coming. That death is coming, for all of them. I just feel like a devil incarnate or an angel, ready to allow them penance. Feeling the need to just… kill them all! Raiders! I hate them, I fucking do! But then, I looked left and saw an icon for a stable door…

Stable Six.

All I could see from here was the entrance and it looked shut, sticking out the side of a mountain, a little blue security shack next to it, and- Two. Stallion. Raiders! It almost looked like I lost control of myself at first glance. Using my wings, I propelled myself at a pace that was almost too fast to follow, straight in the direction of the stable. Within seconds the two boys guarding the entrance only saw me when it was too late. I suddenly came almost crashing into the blue one by the panel, knocking him down with the momentum. Quickly… Going into targeting mode, I then threw the machete at the head of the gray earth pony, just before he had a chance to shoot. Getting fully up off the ground I saw the other guy getting back up too.

"You! Y'all s'posed to be fuckin' dead!" He shouted, starting to run at me.

Damn it!

Thinking I could've jumped out of his way failed. The stallion pushed me down, trying to get on top of me. I squirmed trying to position myself so my guns would blast a hole into his stomach. But just as he was about to bash my skull in with a rock he found, all I heard was a…

Click…

BANG!

"A- Ah!! YA- B- DAMN BITCH!!!" He wailed, falling off me to the ground. I had put one bullet into his left side. One bullet… because I need him to tell me something. Getting back up I walked over to the panel near the big titanium door with a Big Six on it. It needed a password to be entered. That's great. That's why he's still breathing. When I looked back at him he tried to crawl over to his dead friend, one hoof clutching his wound. I slowly trotted over to him, watched him just trying to survive a little bit longer, it was satisfying to watch this fucker think he could be stronger. But really, a raider is just a weak piece of-

"Oh. You weren't trying to go for that were you?" The raider could do nothing but scream in pain as I stood on his reaching right hoof. Could hear his brittle bone underneath, crunching under the weight. He tried to reach for my machete. Tsk, tsk tsk. He thought I wouldn't notice. "Tell me the code to the panel! Before I start making you sing like a fucking songbird!"

A few seconds then past but he stayed quiet.

Not talking huh? Applying more pressure he screamed louder and louder, now that was music to my ears. After a short moment, he then gave in.

"Okay! Okay! It's Six, Three, Five, Seven." Good boy. Releasing my hoof, I aimed at him. "Now that ah told ya, promise not to kill me?" Now he just tried his luck.

"Can't promise you anything..."

Except for a quick death.

BANG!

I took back my machete from the head of the other dead raider then went back over to that door control panel, entering the code. Six, three, five, seven. That's it! For a moment I thought he just spoon-fed me horseshit. The giant door of Stable Six began to unlock, making a series of sounds. It started opening up with a sound of steel banging and finished with an ear-scratching hydraulic hiss like it was airtight. Now every raider will definitely know I'm here, but let them come. I've got all evening to kill.

Stable Six looked entirely different from Stable One-Eleven, the front area, reception- or whatever Stable-Tec used to call it. Is way smaller than the other, even the main door looked less… Fortified. Like they weren't expecting a balefire bomb to hit out here. "Ring-a-ding-ding..." I smirked at the sickly green unicorn mare standing behind a metal crate in front of me as I entered, her back to me, for a moment.

She suddenly swung around as I stepped into the stable, her eyes narrowed in instant anger as she then drew a knife with her orange glow of magic. "Who the fuck are ya! Y'all got some kinda fuckin' death wish asshole?"

"No…" I aimed my guns at her, no need to use the E.F.S targeting mode for this one, "...But you do."

BANG!

The sound of her knife clattering to the ground with her corpse reminded me. About how this world died. Something dropped. And now. So will these ponies. Funny. They only kept one guard at the door- Shit! I leaped down to take cover from two ponies that came bursting in from nowhere, both were unicorns. "Hey! We know ya behind tat crate! Just peek ya head an' let me shoot y'all! Tat's what ya get fer killin' ma friend."

"Yeah well, It's not my fault that I've got an itchy trigger-mouth." I heard the unicorns chuckle, one of them I could hear getting closer. Do they think I'm joking about that? "Hold this for me…" When one of them got too close it proved to be a big mistake. He was unprepared for when I quickly jammed my machete into his chest.

Ooh, now I'm starting to love the sight of blood. That warmth, that essence. I felt it splatter softly against my face. So good to just bathe in it! It's steaming and red! Must have hit the juicy spot, right at his heart. My hooves are covered in it too… Blood is my color. Ha! Ha! I am blood!! Hahaha! Must! Have! More!

Before the other raider could react I had already pinned him down to the cold, cold ground. He was behind the other as I found out when I charged him. No weapon in his grasp! Defenseless! All alone! Hahahahaha!! Something deep inside me had taken control of my body and was now just hammering the fuck out of him with my hooves. It seems like pure rage but feels like bloodlust. When I was done, the beast inside still wasn't satisfied.

BANG!

"Arg fuck!" I fell for a moment feeling a bullet sink into my flank. Looking back to see it was the same raider I put my machete into. That was his last stand before he bled out. Tried to take me down to Tartarus with him. I could hear more raider ponies past the door ahead, obviously heard the gunshots too so I had to hide in some little side room that looked to be used once for observation. Up against a corner, I now tried to ignore the fact I just got shot in the ass! Well, not exactly my first- oh Scarlett shut up! Now that was embarrassing. Who'd ever heard of a pony getting killed by a shot to the butt? ...Fuck that hurts, feels like a solar flare in my ass right now.

Suddenly I heard about eight of them enter...

"Damn it! Looks like Snippy's work. He's always been wantin' to leave this place... Must have gone out there. Get out there and find him!" Peeking around the corner I then saw the other seven-run past, heading outside. The purple unicorn who commanded them looked very different from the average raider, wearing the same armor as Boomer. This place better not be unicorn heaven. But I swear something strange is going on here. He stood next to another one of those control panels watching his goons run free. Thinking I could get the drop on him and shut the stable door behind them. That'll probably buy me some time before they get it back open. For a second I went through my saddlebags looking for something that Summer told me to use if I get shot. A healing potion. I drank it down and felt its magical effect working on me, putting an end to the flow of blood leaking from my flank. When that was done I waited till the others got a good distance apart from the entrance before making my next move.

"Who the-" Before I made the connection he noticed me and shoved me over onto my back. He quickly brought out a pistol in his magic, calling to his friends. I took the opportunity, when he looked outside, to kick both his front legs making him fall onto the floor, disrupting his magic. Quickly standing up, I managed to quickly pull on the lever to close the door, triggering an alarm as it scratched the air with shifting steel. For a moment I thought one of them was going to make it but the door shut closed. One of them, I witnessed got a hoof stuck in between when it slid into place. Then just as I looked back I ducked my head as a shot from his weapon almost hit me. I went into targeting mode and shot his gun out of his magical grasp. Then aiming at his head, put two bullets into him.

Now I really hate unicorns...

I reloaded my weapons. Bucked at the ammo cases on either side of me to quickly prepare for anymore raiders. But it sounded quiet past the door ahead, apparently, my E.F.S showed that there were no enemies ahead of me. Besides from the ones behind that scratched and banged at the main door. Each bang reminding me of the day Stable-Tec failed to save most ponies from the devastation. I don't know if I want to find out what happened to the original dwellers of this place. Either they became the raiders... Or worse. So I moved to progress forward through the door and came to a long hallway. Most of the walls were covered in all kinds of graffiti, most displaying their colorful language, others were black depictions of badly drawn ponies and... Mushroom clouds? It was a little dark halfway down with only one already dead raider, around her corpse on the floor were some vials and lots of long needles for injections. Seems like somepony liked to "party hard" as Nimbus would say.

As I approached another door, it opened up and revealed a canteen area. There were only two more dead raiders in here. It seemed quite spacious with the end half converted into a makeshift med-bay. I took the time to look around for any supplies that I could use... It's not like I'm stealing anything really, this stuff will help me better than it will help them. But mentally, these guys need a lot of help As I was crouched down trying to get at the back of a medical cupboard, I then felt something metal pressing against the back of my head. "...As much as I would love to blow a hole into that pretty face of yours, how about you tell me what you're doing first?" I turned around slowly, looking straight at the stallion who wore some helmet with an onyx visor. That deep voice did sound like a stallion, under that dark, foreboding visage.

"Why should I tell you?" I said to the mysterious stallion. His gaze didn't waver, but he looked at me for a while before turning away.

"I know you're looking for that girl, Summer Wind. If you are lucky she'll still be alive, though not many have an encounter with Boomer and live to get captured... You will find your friend in the living quarters of the east wing. But be wary of the Cook. His dishes are best served... Scorching..."

Looking away for a second, I looked back and the stallion had now disappeared. What in Celestia's name had just happened? That was strange, but at least he told me where to find Summer.

I finished up looking for supplies and went back into the corridor. Strange. That dead raider's corpse was now gone. Somepony else must have moved it unless radiation makes ponies come back from the dead.

"Kill! Kill, eat flappy!! Dead!!!"

Turning around slightly, I ducked as a knife flew over my head. The raider mare who threw it tried charging at me before I shot her twice. Her body fell to the floor fast and slid along past me. That was close. She must have been playing dead. Either that was the same raider or not... Fucker almost got me. They seem to be evolving, but they're still stupid like those raiders from Ponyville. Except these are apparently smarter and maybe better organized. As I continued moving down the hallway I came to a choice of going either left or right, I went right and stopped outside a door leading to the... "Atrium?" or so the directional markers on the walls read. According to my E.F.S, there is nothing on the other side, so I gave the door control panel a boop...

On the other side, there were at least a dozen raiders. All preparing to probably go looking for me. (Well here I am) They stopped and looked at the pegasus who just shit herself.

"Umm... Hey boys?..." Then all hell let loose.

The bucking E.F.S is bucking broken!!

Before I knew it, I was already running back the way I came. With bullets flying past me and raiders laughing and shouting. Fuck! I knew I should've stayed in bed today. Being chased by bloodthirsty stallions was not what I had in mind. Nor wanting to get fucked up by one.

I came to that corner part but instead of turning, I went straight on, going in the direction towards the stable's reactor. I'll try to lose them there. Unless more raiders are down there then I'm more fucked than a mare in heat in the middle of mating season. Suddenly I came across the door to it, almost smashing the panel for it to open. Luna! Moonquakes! The raiders weren't far behind me when the door finally opened, I did swing around and take a few shots at them but they missed, it stopped them for a bit. Once inside I bucked at the controls to close the door. One of the bullets hit me in the ass again a second before it fully closed, I screamed and ended up falling down a full flight of stairs. At that moment I then realized that they could just come down here and finish me off. It seemed like I was gonna die trying to save Summer Wind.

Just laying on the floor in pain was the only thing I could do, besides using a hoof to blindly search my saddlebags. My hoof then found one of the healing potions I found back in the canteen and I brought it back so I can devour that stuff. I thought back to when Doc' Stitches told me about trying to not get myself killed again as I drank the potion. But it's not my fault. I can't help but think... Why am I here? Is it just to suffer? I'm going to find Summer, kill that dunce Boomer, and find those... Oh, Celestia... Almost forgot about those damn train parts the Colonel needs from here. Fuck. It's not like he said about a specific part or if it's a box, at least I hope it's only a box and not a whole engine.

It better actually be here or coming to this deathtrap was a waste of my or our lives.

I got myself back up on my hooves and looked around, the room I landed in looked to be a maintenance room of some kind. There were Pip-Bucks around the floor and on a table. So it's like a maintenance center for them? I looked down at my Pip-Buck and saw that the screen had been cracked in the fall. Great. It still seemed to be working, as for the E.F.S though I guess it can't scan past the thick stable walls, couldn't see if those raiders were waiting up there for me. In a corner there was a terminal attached to some other machine, like a server, I went over to it and it was already unlocked. It had records of repairs done throughout the stable, mostly about Pip-Bucks. But one that stood out the most said about the stable having a problem with its 'Water talisman'. There was a water leak down here and the residents were forced to go outside to look for help. This was a few years ago. First they only sent one pony outside to look for a replacement but he never came back, two months passed and the inhabitants started to go a little crazy. Then the Overmare authorized the opening of the stable door and about half of the dwellers went outside... I'm guessing the raiders moved in after they left.

But what happened to the other half? It doesn't say.

Through a bulky door ahead of me, there was a sound of running water mixed with sparking electricity. That reactor doesn't sound good at all. I got up, leaving the terminal behind, and began to unlock the door. Turning the handle around about three times before pulling it open. I quickly jumped up and hovered in the air using my wings as the water started to rush into the area. Carrying with it some debris and other small fragments of stuff. When I squeezed through the small gap of the door, I immediately saw how bad the situation was. The reactor arced electricity everywhere! Good thing I wasn't standing in the water or I would have been more shocked to see it in its current state of disrepair. These raiders don't seem to care if it does eventually explode. I could give two fucks when it does. Maybe I should just get out of here before it does.

I started going back the other way, back up the stairs slowly, stopping before I reached the doors. Cautiously moving a hoof over to the door panel and opened it. Nopony was on the other side. Guess they thought that would be enough to kill me. Pfft, my flank has a better chance of being killed. I turned right and started going down the hallway, hopefully towards the living quarters' area. It wasn't long before I spotted a sign that pointed to another door. 'Living Quarters,' it read. As I was about to go through, it opened up and I crashed into a unicorn, once again falling down some stairs. Except this time I had a stallion beneath me as a cushion. The fall knocked him out... Oh wait, there's a lot of blood. I think I shot him at the same time as we landed. 'R.I.P.' Wish my wings would stop extending, it could give the wrong impression.

Now I found myself in an area that may be filled with more raiders. Yay. Getting up off the unicorn I heard somepony shout from further downstairs... "C'mon boys! It's killin' time!" Great, now it's time to get my fuck on, not in that way, but killing. Just killing. The first pony that turned around the corner saw me. He said something about a pegasus then turned back down. Two others came around screaming and blindly shooting, they must have been scared, one tripped up the stairs and I aimed to shoot the other down with him.

BANG!

The raider I shot flew backward into a new one that had appeared, and just like Rainbow Dash, I ten seconds flat their flanks! I moved onward after finishing off the other two then found that other raider. He seemed docile albeit slapping himself and screaming when I came into his view, taking off, only to run into a wall with enough force to knock himself out. Saves me a bullet, although... Nah. He'll probably kill himself after.

BANG!

Holed up inside a storage room, I took cover from more of Boomer's goons. Those special guys in raven black armor. There're four of them and they're better prepared for threats than the other cannon fodder that I'd come across, one of them clipped my left foreleg above my Pip-Buck. So now I was just hiding behind an overturned locker, waiting for them to give up shooting...

"Apple out, lads!"

Huh? Apple?

I quickly moved out from cover to get a quick look. Time slowed as I entered into targeting, getting a look at a small metal object that did look like an... Apple... Shoot it! Shoot!... I then shot the object and was thrown backward into a fridge, maybe I was a little too close to the resulting explosion, but they were closer. It was a fucking grenade, I should've known... My ears were ringing and my head hurt like an Ursa Major on moon dust. Looking up though, through derpy eyes, I saw it had killed those special guys. Heh. "How'd ya like them apples?" I'd imagine Summer saying that. She reminds me of somepony, special. But now I've forgotten.

Slowly I moved away from the fridge, it opened up a little and a piece of meat then fell out. Upon closer inspection it looked a lot like a hoof, I opened it up further... My eyes narrowed at all the stuff that fell out onto the floor. It's all fucking body parts! There were all sorts of parts I didn't know a pony had here, fuck! On the remains of a torso, I saw the tattered remains of what once was stable barding, it branded the numbers zero-six for this stable on the collar...

I know why that mysterious stallion said about a pony called "The Cook". It makes sense now. These monsters eat ponies! Oh shit! Summer!...

Out of fear, I began to turn around and run. Tripping over the locker first before heading out the door in a flurry of heart pulsing intensity. I was now blindly running through the hallway of dead raiders. These twisted fucks! Deserve worse than death! Now we need to get the fuck out of here! Should've known something smelled funny when that mare, Buck, threatened to eat me. But I thought that was just raider talk for doing something else. Soon I eventually came to another atrium area. This one was all different from the other, that I barely got to see, the walls stained with blood and some pony corpses put on spikes for some sick display. Red underglow mood lights for that sinister replay. This place looked mostly empty, with some overturned tables, chairs, and litter scattered around the floor. My eyes then looked at some small cage where Inside around two dead pony captives I could see a familiar little orange pegasus, curled up, possibly sleeping.

"Summer?" I whispered, approaching the cage.

She looked up and immediately her bright purple eyes went wide in total surprise. "Huh? Scarlett!?" A smile appearing on her face. "Ah didn't expect ya to come lookin' fer me."

"You kidding me? I never leave a friend behind. Kept you waiting, huh?" I immediately started trying to open the cage door. Fuck, I wish but don't wish I were a unicorn only for the magic so I can pick the lock. Or maybe become an alicorn if I behave myself. She looks as if she doesn't know who these creeps are. Or at least she doesn't know the other half of it. "Summer, we need to get out of here fast. These psychos eat ponies!"

"Oh yea ah know, one pony eating another tis kinda like a common thing, but ah get tat y'all haven't been out here long so..."

Oh yeah, I've only been out of that stable for four days, technically two, and I'm already wanting to just die again. Couldn't she be a bit more serious about this? Past Equestria was crazy but not like this. "...Tis also a delicacy the some." Okie, dokie, lokie.

There was suddenly a boom on a loudspeaker, "Ahh, Scarlett, how generous of ya to come an' shoot up ma humble abode..." I stopped and looked around, I saw at the top behind a circular window a familiar stallion. looking down at us. Boomer.

"Though ah will admit. You made it this far. Y'all got fire in ya kid, ah like that! But, ah'm afraid whatever y'all tryin' to do ends right here. Maybe this stable will hold ya corpse better than the last one."

Wait, how does he know about that? "H- how do you know..."

"Rumors fly fast, Scarlett. An' ah assume y'all here fer those train parts too, well too bad, there not here. Sold them to some annoying bitch in Ponyville by the name o' Nuka, but figurin' tat you're gonna die first..." Suddenly the door ahead of me exploded and landed at my hooves. Out came a brute of an earth pony the size of the corridor itself. Wearing some sort of metal armor and a metal face mask. He took one look in my direction and roared... I could see on his right side a long type of weapon with a small torch on the end attached to his big battle-saddle. Two large black tanks on his back... "Meet the Cook! He's big! He's bad! An' he makes a mean barbecue. Up next is the pride of the cuisine... Roast pegasus!"

Oh Luna, fuck me sideways...

I quickly looked back at Summer and could see the fear in her eyes, trying to do the lock of the cage. "Scarlett, look out!" Before I could turn I felt the force of the brute throwing me halfway across the room, hitting off the atrium wall. He paid Summer no mind but only went for me, good because if I were in her position I'd hate to be burning alive in there. He brought out his flame weapon, starting to prepare it. Shit! I then started moving towards the door on the floor and barely had time to use it as a shield as a wave of jet heat threatened to consume me. It did manage to burn at least half or so of my tail. Great. Now I'm gonna have to run around with a short tail for a long while. Maybe short tails are in this season? So I guess it can't be that bad.

The Cook laughed menacingly above me, his hoofsteps loud and getting closer. My shield was then thrown off me, just before I shot a quick bullet, he knocked my saddle at the same time. The bullet ended up hitting off the cage door. I suddenly got picked up by the throat and he lifted me a few meters from the ground. I couldn't do anything but gasp for breath, it wasn't long before my vision started going slightly dark. Among his brute like laughter and the light from the torch...

"Giddy up buttercup!"

What? Looking up I saw that Summer was now freed and, pretty much riding the back of the Cook, leading him into the walls as he tried to throw her off. Wait, am I looking at that right? She's riding the fucking stallion! Wow! I mean, you go cowgirl. "Yeehaw!" Summer chimed. I slowly got back up off the ground and couldn't resist looking up in Boomer's vantage point. He looked less than impressed, but really who the fuck cares? Summer had her fun cut short when she got thrown off of his back, landing next to me but quickly getting up.

"Had your fun, Summer?" I questioned looking at her.

"Ayeup, tat ain't ma first rodeo!" She panted for a moment. "What can ah say? A cowgirl tis not a cowgirl without rodeo. Rodeo tis not a rodeo without a cowgirl. Y'all get the picture, Scarlett." I do. And yes, it's not exactly a foal-friendly one either.

The Cook roared at us for a moment, starting to prepare his flamer a second time around. "You die now, flappy birds!" Wow. What an insult... Wait, do I smell gas? Looking at Summer I saw she had a devilish smile on her face, facing towards the Cook. The way she just smiled into the faceless face of death was so... Brave? Maybe stupid, but attractive. She opened her wing then started moving a feather away as if counting to three.

"One..." Summer began, the noise of the gas got louder, hissing like crazy.

"Two..." He roared again, his flamer torch lighting up brightly for a moment then...

"Three."

BANG!!!

The Cook then suddenly erupted into a display of red haze, pushing everything around him away in a forceful fiery explosion. It ended up knocking me and Summer down to the ground. His corpse scattered everywhere, there was so much blood. Enough to probably feed a hungry batpony. That horrible stench that also accompanied him was long gone now, replaced with the smell of burning cinders. These ponies were also crazy enough to let this guy touch their food? Damn. At least he's dead, now it's Boomers' turn to do the same. With less of a boom obviously, only the boom from my rifles in between his eyes.

"Oh well, so much fer getting others to do ya dirty work. When ya want something done, y'all do it yourself!" Boomer's voice did not sound happy whatsoever but boo woo, somepony wet the bed this morning... Besides me, that was an accident. "So y'all killed the biggest dumbass act this neck o' the woods, so what? Tis not over yet girls, the show must go on! So get ready to run to your deaths!"

Suddenly, there was another loud explosion and a heavy tremor ran through the ground of the stable. What in Celestia's name? "What did y'all just fuckin' do, Boomer!" I heard Summer shout, getting back on her hooves. He didn't answer just simply turned around then went out of view. Again great, today is so fantastic. The whole stable shook violently, almost like... Oh, surely he didn't? He rigged the damn place to blow up and now he's done it, that crazy piece of-

"Scarlett, run! We need to get out of this place!" Summer exclaimed.

Next, I found myself running alongside her throughout the stable, dodging either dead raiders I killed earlier or bullets while also making sure we keep a good pace. This place was exploding everywhere, the pipes, the walls, even the ponies. He must have rigged that damn reactor room in explosives or something, how could I have been so blind? These boys were mainly too occupied killing each other to bother paying any attention to us as we ran, almost blindly, but I knew the way anyway. "What did he mean about that other stable was meant to hold your corpse, Scarlet?" Summer said as we reached the canteen where I met that mysterious stallion, stopping for a moment, just looking into it. She stopped to look back at me, "What is it, Scarlett?"

"It's nothing. I'll tell you once we are back at Armistice..." I smiled at her. She nodded then we continued to move on, the screams of dying raiders behind us as we reached the main stable door. Huh. So those raiders I locked out earlier must have opened it back up, that or just our luck. Ooh, I'll take that back, I picked up my machete that I also left as well. Mm, wait maybe I should?... Summer went on ahead now fully outside, safe, while I tried rendering the inside door control panel unusable. When that was done I went outside and flipped the switch, ordering the giant steel door of Stable Six to shut, and never reopen. Breaking the outside panel also. Summer looked back towards me and smiled weakly, that golden sunset reflecting her rich eyes, caught in her coat. She didn't seem to mind that I just decided the fate of those helpless raiders, trapping them under the earth for eternity. Maybe I am an angel of death? But I also couldn't let those cannibals live, that's just barbaric doing what they did to survive.

I looked at Summer and we started a long low flight back to Sunnyspring, following the sunset together…

Chapter Five: Solace

"Sometimes, we all need a long night of Solace..."

Running... It's all I could do right now. Running away from a dark spirit, down an unending inky hallway. My heart was racing, almost pounding, as fast as the pursuing hoofsteps behind me that were accompanied by a scarlet veil of mist. I could almost feel it breathing down my neck. Like the cool embrace of death fast approaching. Every time I get far away, it catches up, it won't stop following me. The days spent here in Equestria were haunting me; all the raiders' blood on my hooves. Nimbus, Stable Six, Celestia's sun blotted out by Luna's darkness... that destruction we brought to ourselves, awakening this nightmare.

Many now live life thinking about the other ponies they've killed, while others drink to forget about it instead. I guess that's why Summer was drinking when I first met her. What we want and what we get is never the same so maybe the ghosts haunt her too? Before I got into that Stable, before the end of everything else, I once killed those who called Equestria an enemy, the Zebras. I didn't want to live that kind of life any longer than I did, so I joined the pegasus weather team in Ponyville to forget that life.

From there I met Nimbus again and we started going out and having some fun now and then. Fun that required a certain bedside manner. Not in that sense, but one that helped to numb the pain for a while; under an embrace of sweat-induced euphoria. Then after a while when it was all going well somepony decided to drop bombs from the sky… and everything changed.

I think I may be starting to regret killing others. They gave me no choice in becoming somepony I didn't want to turn into.

Quickly, I spun around and attempted to punch the Shadow chasing me, but it disappeared before I could hit it. Its force suddenly pushed me over. "Run!" It screeched followed by hissing. That gave me enough reason to jump back to my hooves and resume running. This time it seemed more intense like it was only playing with me before, watching me run helplessly first to ensure the thrill of the hunt. Before it could reach me, I ended up falling down a long black tunnel. Seemingly into oblivion with nothingness all around-

"Scarlett..."

-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-

I jerked up, smashing my head against the wall shelf in the process and almost yelped as high as the moon outside.

"Scarlett!?" Summer questioned as she came running into the room, worried at my sudden shift in movement.

"Huh, Summer. I'm fine. Just been a long day..." I mumbled, rubbing my head. Seriously, who puts a shelf directly above the bed like that? It's like somepony deliberately put it there for me.

With that sweet smile of hers, Summer softly planted herself next to me on the edge of the bed. "Y'all want to talk about it?"

I don't know if I can tell her; she won't understand half of it. About the pony I once was or why I need to find Nimbus. The truth is I don't even know, maybe for just peace of mind. Staring into those deep violet eyes did make me want to open up to her about my worries. I hesitated, but then began to tell her about the events of earlier; the raiders, everything. Even what I found out regarding the previous inhabitants of the stable. I could see that in her eyes she was also sickened about what those raiders had become… cannibals. Maybe she would've done the same thing I did, locking them away as the place exploded around them. Or not, she's better than that.

Ugh, I don't feel so good anymore. Wait, I think I'm going to be-

Suddenly, I jumped out of bed before hearing Summer's shocked surprise behind me. Barreling out of my room I went to search for the lavatory before immediately sticking my head into the toilet and painting its cracked, white, ceramic layer a new coat of sickly yellow. It took a full minute before I stopped throwing up, but all the memories still wouldn't flush away afterward. "Ah don't think they left ya with much of a choice, Scarlett."

Through indisposed eyes, I looked at Summer for a moment standing in the doorway, "There's always a choice," I said to her before being sick again. Here I thought she would be better than that - nopony even cares anymore! She silently went away without saying anything else, leaving me to immerse in the toilet before I started talking to myself.

"Do ya always talk to yourself when y'all alone?" Summer questioned.

"Have you been standing there the entire time?" I took my head out from the toilet and looked at her as she smiled then nodded her answer which made me almost want to stick my head back in the toilet out of embarrassment.

"Ah find it kinda cute! Y'all even talk in ya sleep too," she said with a giggle. For a moment, I asked myself why Summer had been watching me in my sleep. When I questioned her about it all she did was shy away nervously, not doing much to hide that cute little blush of hers. Though to be honest, I don't think there's anypony else I'd like watching over me while I sleep.

"Um... ah also forgot ta say thank you. Fer saving me earlier from that stable... um -" Summer was interrupted as there was a sudden flash of white as the door flew open, nearly hitting me in the face! In came the ramblings of an old pony threatening to shoot any Zebras. "Colonel!" She then screamed, obviously shocked at his harsh entry.

"What? Huh, tis you girls. Could've sworn ah heard something about a Zecora or whatever." He shook his head and then walked back out to go into the main room. I looked back at Summer and remembered those parts he needed for that train. We were probably thinking the same thing: It might kill him when he finds out the truth.

I walked out of the bathroom and went to go see the Colonel in the next room, standing in the doorway while Summer squeezed past me to make sure he didn't keel over or something. "Colonel, Just wanting to say that... well -" I took a deep breath, -"We didn't find the parts in the stable."

"Ah know, because ya and Windy would have told me when y'all got back. An' ah would be workin' on the beauty till dawn, even if it would've killed me." Oh, of course. As soon as we got back I pretty much went to bed. I wanted to forget what had happened and hoped I'd wake back up in the Equestria I once knew.

"Yeah, sorry about that, but I'll find the parts." For a moment he looked up at me with a thankful glance but also a little doubt now that those parts are in Ponyville protected by a local warlord and horses of the apocalypse.

After I finished talking with the Colonel I felt that I needed to have a little walk around, the town seemed mostly dead at night save for the saloon. Those strange things with two heads were still around. I think I'll leave them alone. Don't know what they are but they seem curious, I guess two heads are better than one but they seem kinda dumb. Later on, I then found myself on a hill overlooking the town and sat near a big, dried-up, dead tree.

There wasn't much to see in the distance except the careful lights of the town below. It seemed peaceful up here. I'm surprised Summer didn't follow me after I left. I know I saved her from cannibals but there was something else that she wanted to say to me before the Colonel barged in. The way she's been looking at me since I rescued her... either it's just her being the way she is or maybe she likes me. I think I like her too but don't know how to tell her, I've barely known her for a day. She reminds me of Nimbus. That was almost love at first sight, but with summer it feels different.

It's barely been a week since I escaped the stable and I'm already seeing my worst nightmares happening all at once...

"Huh?" I got up and turned around as I heard the sound of hooves approaching, only to realize it was Equinox. He faced my direction and smiled like he remembered my voice.

"Scarlett Dawn? I heard you died after freeing us in Ponyville. I feel that I am to blame..." Equinox said before walking close to the edge and looking out over the town.

"No, it was my fault. I wasn't thinking straight, but I came back obviously." I replied. He just looked at me with a smile saying that he should have helped in some way, I don't blame him at all there was nothing he could have done and I told him so. But he liked to think that there's always a way to help anypony in any situation.

"Anyway... what brings you up here, Scarlett?" He asked me. I said that I came here to think, which was half true. He looked, then said, "Sometimes, we all need a long night of solace..." Which sounded more like some fortune cookie stuff. "But, actually you came here to think of the past actions you had done, didn't you? Know that they made their choice to be there and that moment was their last." Wow, that kinda gave me the chills. Why is everyone in this universe so dark? I wondered how he knew about that and asked him, he said, "I saw it..." With a smile.

"If that's why you're here I don't want to talk about it. So I'm just gonna go to the saloon and find my old friend called whiskey." I said back to him as I got up and started walking away from him. Maybe drinking doesn't help, but it helps me.

After leaving Equinox I went down to the Scavenger's Saloon, only to enter and find that it was empty with static coming from the broken radio. Until Malt popped her head up from behind the counter. "Well howdy, Scarlett. Fancy seein' ya here at this time." She smiled warmly, happy about something. "Ah heard ya set fire to Boomers' fat yellow ass an' gave him a buck to the face. Hopefully, the town can now continue to exist in peace. So thank you. Now that asshole can be food for some Balescorps."

Nice. Now I feel sick again thinking about... meat.

"Anyway, name yer poison," Malt asked.

"Actually I'm thinkin' maybe this should be a night to forget. I want to forget my old life entirely, and become a new mare..." I replied. She knew I wanted that pegasus whisky stuff and wasn't surprised but then asked about paying in 'caps'. I almost laughed, "Sorry, I don't have any." Seriously? Ponies now use goddess-damned Sparkle-Cola bottle caps? I remember it being very popular but... wow.

"In that case, I can't give you that," Malt said with a weak smile before some strange midnight-blue unicorn with an eyepatch came over and sat next to me.

"I'll pay for the drink, I'll also have what she's having." He smirked, looking at me for some reason. Is he seriously going to be that kind of guy? The kind that hopes to get me drunk so we can have some fun in the backroom? Typical stallion. I only let that happen once and I don't want a drinking buddy. Right now my only friend is waiting for me at the bottom of this glass. "To... uh? What are we celebrating?" He asked, holding up his glass with his magic as I raised an eyebrow in question to his question.

"Actually, 'We' aren't. But if you're peachy keen to get your teeth bucked in, I'd be more than happy to oblige..."

"Ha! Really?" The unicorn chuckled, shaking his head after gulping down his drink. "Hmm... I love it when a little crimson pegasus talks tough..." He grinned.

"Dude. In about ten seconds flat you'll get my barrel down your throat."

Wait, that doesn't sound right-

"You know what? Let's start over. My name's Cipher. And you are?" He asked me, moving his hooves around as if to encourage me.

"I'm Star Spangle. The moon mare."

Cipher sighed, putting a hoof to his face. "Well, to me, you look like a mare that just came out from a hole in the ground and has no bucking clue about how the world works. Information is power, a wise sexy batpony who killed my family as I watched said. So I'll trade you - No strings attached. Well, only some of those 'honest earned' caps will do."

"You heard me say that I don't have any of those." I looked at the one-eyed unicorn but he chuckled at the fact I was either 'poor' or that I thought using bottle caps from fifty years ago seemed useless. Oh, and I had previously been to a maze of cannibals that would've probably been obsessed with collecting those. Fuck.

"You really are from a hole in the ground... aren't you cute?"

"I'm not fucking cute!" Now I want to drum my hoof upside his head. He seemed to get the message, but then started commenting about how 'attractive' I seemed to him. For a pegasus. He commented on the size of my flank and that made me think, maybe I should just sit on him? See how he likes them apples. Though I have to admit some of his comments are making me feel an itch. He made a mention of my name and that peeped my fucking interest, I didn't know whether to be slightly angry, horny, or curious. I sort of felt all three at once but was more curious about how he knew my name.

"It's my job to know about everything. I also want to get to know more about-" He abruptly finished, giving me a surprise boop on the nose.

"Huh? Well, if you're curious; I'm not looking for a cute boyfriend… but you're kinda starting to push my buttons."

I guess I do have a weakness when it comes to big and confident smart-ass guys, as long as they think with their head and not with the other thing. Which is also what I maybe need to get off my mind right now... the way he smirked at me told me that he was starting to see where I'm getting at, which is where I could go right now. "Heh, well. Lucky for you Scarlett Dawn, I like a dangerous mare. Maybe you could tell me more about yourself and I'll see if I can't press some more… buttons?"

As I began telling him about me waking up in Stable One-Eleven his eyes widened and he smiled a little, like that's exactly what he wanted to hear. I told him about what I had seen, about the cruel experiment Stable-Tec had committed, and about the child that was taken from there. About how I escaped from that evil place and found a world completely different from the one I knew, barely a week away in my mind. Then my encounter with raiders in Ponyville and Sunnywood, meeting Equinox and finding out that It had been over fifty years since all that destruction. Then I died... came back to life a few days later. I even told him about Summer Wind and all about Stable Six, about the ones who didn't blend in with the raiders wearing onyx armor branding a talon. I pretty much told him everything. By the time I had finished a tear came to my eye. The only thing I didn't tell him about was Nimbus but I did say about heading to Manehattan. Part of me was starting to think that maybe I shouldn't have told him everything, especially about why I was at Stable Six.

"Huh, sounds interesting. That stuff about the stable sounds rough, it takes a tough girl to go through all that... since you told me about you, now I'll tell you something good that's been going around lately." Cipher began, leaning in closer to me so nopony else would hear. Even though there was no one else. "Word is that down in Ponyville, the 'great and powerful' Queen Nuka has acquired some old pre-war parts for a 'train'. Whatever that is. And that the feud with Queen Novasurge is getting worse, to the point that they're at each other's necks now."

I remember Boomer saying something about that earlier, that he had struck a deal with her. Queen of Idiots, which probably says a lot about her actually, getting those parts won't be easy then. "What can you tell me about Queen Nuka?"

"Not much to say really, she's a bit of an ass, has daddy issues, and loves to make things blow up - hence the name. Also... rumor has it she sometimes likes to make an alcoholic drink out of RadAway, probably got that from somepony else... complains about it looking like piss though. Maybe it is." He chuckled. "Next time the information will cost you."

"Yeah, I was thinking of how I can make it up to a big guy like you. Maybe some time alone? No strings attached." I purred, raising an eyebrow, and moved dangerously close to him. Slowly putting my hoof upon his chest to make sure he doesn't try anything funny.

"Kinda like your cute boyfriend, huh? But I just actually might take you up on that." He smirked. I mean, sorta like my cute boyfriend? But I haven't had one in a very long time, technically. Back when I had very long hair, he was pretty cute. His name was Zap. He was quite electric in the bedroom too.

After a few seconds of silence when everything was about to get a lot more interesting, Cipher then decided it was time for him to leave the second somepony else walked through the door. I saw Summer, as well as Equinox, and moved away from him quickly before they could notice. Ugh! Come on! "I have to go." Cipher said as he got up and made his way to the exit.

"What was that about?" Summer questioned, as she and Equinox came over. I looked at her with a straight face and said, "I think I may have agreed to have children." She almost immediately blushed, trying to hide it. I'm starting to think that maybe she's a little insecure. Though Equinox chuckled. Something I didn't think he'd do.

"Yeah. I think I want to try and get on his good side, except he thinks he might get me on mine first... pervert." Summer found that funny but I'm serious, I think he seriously likes me and probably wants to hold me against my will. Maybe in a fun way. Which is not fun for me because I want to be the one on top. Fuck, why are the lights so bright in this place?

We sat in silence for almost a minute until Summer piped up, "Uhm... Scarlett. Ah, need to tell you something." She said, looking at me almost nervously for some reason. "Tis about Boomer." My ears suddenly perked up at the mention of his name, turning my head slowly toward her as my right ear twitched, knowing that the news is going to be something I won't like at all. "Ah been hearing around that he's... well, umm... still alive."

Great, fuck my life.

I took a deep breath for a moment, trying to resist the urge to put my hoof through the table in hatred of that groundwalking fat sack of shit! "Well, it seems I'll have to do something about that."

"We don't know where he could have gone." Summer squeaked. Looking a little worried.

"Don't worry, I'll find him and make him pay for what he did to you. But hopefully, for his sake, he'll just die out in the desert." Part of me was hoping that his planned attack on the town was interrupted. Surely he wouldn't be able to attack anymore with all his friends underground? Quite literally. She looked up and thanked me but now remained another matter... getting to Ponyville. I still owe the Colonel that much, plus it will help in finding Nimbus so I need to do that soon. "Also, that reminds me about needing to go into Ponyville for the Colonel."

"Umm, yeah, about that..." Summer started only to be halted by Equinox.

"If you wish to approach Ponyville, I advise caution. There is a place you must pass where even angels fear to tread..." Equinox said. He's trying to make it sound so scary, huh? Well, if it's just raiders, well, they won't like me when I'm angry. "It is a place called the Highway of Death... some think the Devil lives there."

Wow, that sounds like a fun place to be.

"Yeah, tis really bad mojo over there, Scarlett. But tis the quickest way to Ponyville." Summer finished, looking at me with deep concern as her big wide eyes narrowed in fear. Equinox only nodded.

"I suppose if there's no stopping you then it's the only way. Other routes could take longer but are more reasonably safe, as safe as safe gets these days anyway."

"Great, thanks. Why is it even called that anyway?" I asked Equinox.

"It used to be an old border crossing back before the war... with a bridge stretching over the Ghastly Gorge. When the bombs came, it was said that many lives were lost and that the ghosts of the dead now linger along its crossing, like a bridge between both worlds... but honestly, it's just full of ghouls." Yay... now to make that my new joyful location to visit, I don't want to waste time getting to Ponyville in case Queen Nuka decides to do something... well, stupid, or normal for a raider.

"I suppose I'd better get going then," I said to them both and they bid me farewell. Summer was looking down before I left the building like she wanted to say something but stopped herself. I made sure that I had everything before making a move north, my battle saddle, a few potions, and... for some reason, Equinox gave me garlic. I wandered about five minutes from town when Summer eventually caught up to me, panting a little from running, already equipped with her saddle.

"Wait, Scarlett, ah want to come with you." She said with her eyes almost twinkling in the night, almost like she was begging me to accept. I knew she wanted to come with me and I accepted her wish.

Now we travel toward this Highway of Death, the place where angels fear to tread...