Fallout: Equestria - A Good Teacher

Two days later…

"We are not the masters of this world. Not anymore. It has become no one's."

Someone approached me with a sharp jerk. I jumped to my feet, my eyes wide open, and instantly felt the floor with magic, raising my weapon. Looking for the attacker, my gaze darted around the room, frantically trying to hit the S.A.T.S. key with my hoof, barely restraining the desire to fire a burst blindly, even without understanding anything.

But the Locator was silent. The attic window door continued to swing and creak, showing no real threat. Despite the fact that my legs were aching from fatigue, overall I felt rested.

An anxious wind swept through my dark refuge, chilling my tense body to the bone. I sank down on the bed, put the gun under my head, pulled the sheet tighter around me, and only then did my exhausted mind tell me that I would have to get up, go to the window, the cause of the disturbance, and close it.

After two painfully long days on the surface, I finally had a chance to sleep. I wanted it more than anything in the world, but my thoughts were racing and troubling me, replacing the emotional impulses that had driven me for so long.

Clouds of memories, a dark curtain of elusive images that filled my world, advised me to look for danger in the simplest things and sounds.

My weapon, now with only eleven rounds, lay under my cheek like a support. I didn't care if it was hard, I didn't care if it was cold. I needed something I could trust in this world, and the submachine gun had never let me down. If only I had more bullets...

A light rectangle stood out in the slanting roof that reached the floor – a homemade plank window. It was still open. By the windowsill lay a torn saddle bag and a pile of cut dark blue rags that had recently been my overalls, the Stall-Tech overalls that every inhabitant of the stall had. The wind swayed the rags, showing me the edge of the collar, where a yellow number on a blue background was clearly visible – “02”.

I approached. The look of the stable jumpsuit made me think that I had lost something important. Nearby, in a pile of glass crumbs, lay fragments of a vial of healing potion, smeared with fresh blood. Disgust made me look away, but the ugly cut wound on the side, bandaged with the white cloth of a teacher's uniform, reminded me of itself, causing a sharp pain.

In the middle of the thick darkness, on a small island of light, there were broken plastic buckets, rusty tools with rotted shafts, an old-fashioned sewing machine, and a broken-off half of a cabinet door, quite high and quite heavy.

Pain and fatigue made it difficult to concentrate, but it was not at all difficult to press on the frame with magic so that the window creaked as it closed, and the cabinet door, seeming very light to my magical thought, stood on top, slightly darkening the room.

The wind howled over the roof, rushing somewhere to the south.

The mattress that the earthly mare had given me was waiting patiently in the very corner.

"You can sleep as much as you want. But tomorrow, you will have to leave, and do not count on any other help, without you there are already plenty of troubles."

I lay down, magically wrapping myself in the sheet provided instead of a blanket.

From the first minutes on the surface, I began to carefully study this world, and it, meanwhile, studied me in the same way. A strange pony, who came from somewhere in the naive unknown. With my dreams, desires and moral principles, in no way compatible with reality.

Oh, my Celestia, my Luna! Goddesses, what has become of the world we knew? Beautiful gardens and living forests, green meadows and endless intermountain expanses, drowning in soft and silky air for the sense of smell. That is how the world was described in books, but reality told a completely different story.

Everything around looked so empty, dead, meaningless... It somehow had a strange effect on me from within. I wanted to talk about it with everyone I met, and I still haven't found the opportunity to speak out.

A huge clawed paw reached out to me from the crack, I reacted instantly, in an attempt to dodge the blow I jerked to the side, and only a second later I breathed in relief, having fallen out of a deceptive slumber due to my abrupt movement.

All the memories seemed real.

I crawled from the damp floor back into bed, wrapping myself in the warm sheets again. The wound on my side still hurt, but it no longer tormented me, instead, it reminded me that I still had something to lose, something to fight for.

My gaze caught on the empty picture frame, strewn with broken slate. If I wanted to paint a portrait of Velvet, what paints would I choose, and would I even have paints at all?

It was worth remembering how joyful it was to arrange tests for everyone in drawing form. Simple lines were drawn in the gentle rays of the Sun above the horizon, carried by warm winds in the clear sky teasing rare clouds... pencils ran across the paper, forcing the joyful faces of many ponies frolicking in the green meadows under the wings of goddesses to emerge from the emptiness. Pencils brought the whole world to life.

The empty portrait will remain lying there, covered with slates, and it is unlikely that anyone will fill its emptiness.

Self-pity squeezed my throat, tears came to my eyes. I blinked them away, closed my eyes and buried my face in the sheet. Suddenly it seemed that this sheet was Velvet's mane. I wanted to hide in it from the whole world and sob, telling my sister about my pain, to hear her gentle sympathy, to warm myself in her strong embrace and forget about everything.

Now I could understand what had scared that mare from the diary so much. Loneliness was burning from the inside.

"The weak don't survive.", the stallion's firm voice rang out at the sight of the carnage, swarming with dogs drawn by the smell of carrion.

The animals feasted, only looking sideways at us with caution. My gaze darted across the battlefield.

Two fell to the body of the earth stallion. Now the tendon of the back leg was torn off, and the second leg suddenly jerked, as if the pony was still alive! The heart momentarily trembled with the desire to rush to help, but reality made itself known - the pony did not resist and did not even move when his head was separated from him, sloshing dark-scarlet liquid, which the vile creature immediately, greedily swallowed with its mouth. And there, next to the unicorn mare corpse, was a blood-fanged dog, having its reward for being alive.

"Let's get out of here. It's unlikely that there's anything left if this is the work of raiders' hooves."

Raiders... I never thought that a word, a thought, could send icy shivers through you.

Everything happened too fast. All I could do was look at the drooping stump of a neck, exactly where the head of a young guy with that sarcastic but pleasant grin of a seasoned warrior should have been. At that moment, I forever remembered the price of a moment of carelessness in an evil hour. And that look, the look of large lilac eyes with two fiery sparks of either malice or joy, and the obvious question written on her dark blue face: "Do you want to be next?"

Frightened by a couple of precise punches to the chest, my heart beat quieter than silence. A stream of blood had already flowed around my hoof. A tight ring appeared on my leg. A crushingly heavy bag lay on my tired shoulders, and a short, rusty chain roughly pulled me forward.

Go. Go somewhere again...

The chain pulled the front hoof, the tailless mare was walking somewhere in the desert, roughly tugging me along when I fell behind. Each new step seemed like the last. Thoughts crumpled into an abstract lump, causing pain, displacing and destroying each other.

The gun barrel swung from side to side in the bag, looking now at the warning road signs, now at the cars smashed and gutted to skeletons, now at the back of the captor's head. Blue, balding, with her hair shaved short.

Suddenly, like a ray of light, a hope for salvation broke through into my consciousness. How easy it was to press that trigger, but how hard it was to look at the consequences of my action.

A spark of magical thought fulfilled my will and a single gunshot, my first shot, rolled out like thunder, becoming the final chord in the symphony of lack of will, but also the beginning of something completely new, terrible, fast, crazy.

For a moment I stood there with the mare's blood on my face, chained to her limp body, feeling anything but the joy of liberation or victory. The first experience of murder, even a just one... this act awakened complex feelings in my heart, far from pride, inexplicable by familiar, everyday concepts.

The hooves knew everything for me. The bandit's torn bag and the sack from my back, like dead animals, dropped their entrails on the ground at my feet.

Everything happened by itself and the flow of time lost its meaning.

There were cries of surprise and fury. Swift hooves struck the ground, carrying me away. It was becoming increasingly difficult to hold the cold steel of the gun in my teeth, it was becoming increasingly difficult to concentrate the magical thought on what seemed to be such a simple action - holding the trigger down. A little more and my unfaithful heart would have cracked from trying to keep up with the frequency of the thunderous roar of my submachine gun, which was pounding my teeth, trying to get out of my mouth. But at some point, suddenly there was silence, and only my heart, discouraged and broken by surprise by its sudden loneliness, continued to beat less confidently.

I pressed myself against the nearest wall, looking at the locator and clenching my aching jaw. The magic was still a disobedient, shapeless cloud. I tried to detach the empty clip with my front hoof. I succeeded, but the smooth metal slipped and hit the concrete floor with a dull thud. Somewhere nearby, someone's stealthy hooves were shuffling on the concrete floor.

The belt moved, a new clip entered the pistol, and from that moment on I had only thirty rounds left in reserve. No, not thirty! A yellowish metallic sheen at about the "20" mark indicated that I had a little more than half of my ammunition.

I turned around, trying to see the figure of the enemy in the dark corridor behind me, matching the mark, but all I could see was an endless void, hidden by a veil of darkness. For a second, I thought I saw a spark flare up, illuminating everything around me, allowing me to feel and touch everything that was drowning in its light, but a flash of fear from the voices that sounded destroyed the vision.

"Empty! Let's go!"

I tried to shoot at the voice, but the gun was silent. I forgot to feed a cartridge! A barbed rod grabbed my back, trying to hold me in place.

That's it. Again, struck, captured. No! Never!

Instinctively shaking my head, kicking, ignoring the jumpsuit tearing at the hooks, I rushed to the saving window frame, towards the metallic light of day. The rough ground did not welcome my feet, but it was open land and space, exactly what I could wish for.

A stallion appeared in the window. A shot rang out, and glass rang. For a moment I shook my head and closed my eyes, trying to dodge, but only after that, by the fiery pain in my side, I realized that I had already been hit. He was aiming at my legs, otherwise I would already be dead. They needed me alive, I should have understood that from the very beginning and not wasted my bullets. But even understanding this, I could not stand being under the gun for another second and hid behind a brick fence.

"Stop running! Sit down, we'll go down now and drink chamomile tea together."

"Chamomile tea!" someone repeated in a high voice.

Besides, one of them had to be hurt, that was for sure. I just couldn't miss from that distance. Ignoring the pain, I ran around the corner and slowed to a walk, going around the other side of the building, and then I heard hooves hitting the ground. Jumped! Whatever it was, they were unlikely to look for me where I had just escaped from.

However, my tracks could lead them here again. I couldn't jump from the third floor a second time. Damn it, it was all in vain! But I can't run away, they're faster. I needed to figure out where to hide. I glanced at my side. All the blood seemed to have soaked into my jumpsuit.

After passing the hall, I began to examine the fallen furniture and empty iron cabinets, but this was all wrong, too cramped!.. But one rotten table seemed like a suitable shelter. It had fallen onto an open drawer, and if you lifted it up, you could get underneath, and..

"Aaaahh..."

I turned around sharply, shifting the gun. Finding an unarmed, skinny mare on the floor with a shot through the chest, I did not shoot.

"Mom, I'm very cold, ma-ma!"

"I... I'm not your mother."

"Ya-a-a-a!! Khr... h-ha... I can't take it anymore. I don't want to die like cattle. Shoot my head off and you will make me happy. Shoot it off, I said! You dumb bitch..."

The dying pony made a pathetic attempt to kick me.

I backed away, unable to take my eyes off the ragged hole in the gray chest. At that moment, the pony's body seemed so fragile, so vulnerable... my bullet was a cherry thrown into the water.

Without saying a word, I turned away and crept into the parallel room, where tables piled on top of each other allowed me to climb onto the remaining section of the second-floor floor. After walking down the hallway and up the stairs to the third floor, I went into the second door I came to and was rewarded. There was a perfectly intact mail container by the table, with a loosely fitting spring-loaded lid that was big enough to fit into.

There were some quiet words coming from the first floor, but all I could do was watch the red marks on the green monitor, which was the only source of light in the pitch-black darkness of my shelter. Beneath me lay some dried-up paper and plastic bags, pencils.

"...she has nowhere else to go."

"Do you think she chipped in again?"

Two ponies were approaching.

"If so, you'll owe me an extra bag of dope. Hey!"

"What?"

"This door was open."

There was a loud thud, the hinges jingling as something fell on top of my box, shaking me with a small shudder, and then it fell to the floor next to me with a wooden thud. I carefully lifted my leg with the pipbuck and leaned it against the lid of the box so that the pipbuck would jam the lid, preventing it from opening if someone tried to do so.

"One-two... three-four-five," the bolt clanked coldly. "I found you."

And then I felt something touch the wall of the box with my back. Celestia, oh my goddess, where are you?!

"Well? Will you get out yourself?"

I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes.

"You thought we wouldn’t find you, huh?"

They won't shoot! They won't?

"I'll count to three. ONE."

No no no no!

"TWO."

Please no!

"THREE!.."

There was no shot. One second... two... five...

After a minute of silence, a loud curse was heard. Then the door swung and hit the Pipbuck, unable to open more than half a millimeter. The door jerked and grabbed my leg so that even if I wanted to, I couldn't move it.

I can't shoot through the box because I'll probably miss and there won't be much killing power left.

Living in the Stable, reading a lot of different literature, including not very decent books, I was sure that I had studied all the curses and swear words, but one of these guys managed to set a new record in the nomination "The most vile and cynical thing that can be invented"

"You know what? Let's surround it with firewood and set it on fire. A unicorn of Stable production, baked in a mailbox!"

"I won't eat it! Don't even try to talk me into it. And you won't either! If the camp finds out, you'll end up as food for the lizards. Did you forget? As food to lizards, think of it!"

"But I was just joking, so what, can’t I just joke?"

"But fire is a good idea. Did you hear? Now we're going to fry."

"Look what I have. Wow!"

Where can I go now? On the other hand...

I touched the stallion's back, immediately found the hoof of his rifle and tried to jerk the weapon upwards to aim it at something other than myself, but the belt was apparently on his neck, and therefore all I managed to achieve was a flash of headache from magical overexertion. And the stallion only cursed in surprise and, having easily guessed about my participation in the unauthorized movement of the rifle, rewarded me with another affectionate compliment.

As the two fussed around my little fortress, the wound on my side became more and more painful. My questions did not become easier. Should I really surrender to these guys? If they did not eat me, they would kill me one way or another.

I hugged my weapon with my right leg and bowed my head.

No. There was no need for suicide. It would be too stupid to die like that, from my own bullet. No way. I'd rather be roasted alive... or, at the last moment, jump out and try to do something! After all, I still had about ten bullets, and they were talking about this... the wound on my side pricked briefly, and a triple ringing sounded in my head. Damn it! They knew I was still armed. It greatly reduced my chances of a successful attack, but it was worth trying.

The semi-darkness of the iron box was becoming more and more frightening with each passing minute. Now it was my shelter, but very soon it could become my grave. While some objects (probably flammable) were hitting the box from all sides, and the bandits were discussing all sorts of vulgarities about me, I looked at the Pipbuck screen and could not understand what was wrong with it.

"Now shut up."

Suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, I was struck by realization - the screen was rippling red!

"Let's run away."

"Listen, darling, we'll be back!"

"Leave her, idiot!"

For about an hour there were shots, dogs barking, screams and running.

Finally, everything went quiet, but in this silence, someone's clawed paws clicked on the floor nearby. Someone's breath sucked in the air. A red mark crawled along the green shimmering glass along a row of five yellow ones. I held the lid of the box tightly. The creature stopped next to me. The world turned upside down. There was an angry growl and, finding myself on my side, I felt someone's claws trying to tear my iron shelter.

The dogs tried to attack my mailbox more than once, but protected by iron walls, I was able to easily shoot the predators, using a minimum of ammunition.

Having put down the penultimate dog with a well-aimed shot from S.A.T.S., I watched as the last remaining creature, tail between its legs, scampered away.

I set off, heading away from where the street was littered with lone dog carcasses, as well as occasional bloodstains and scraps of clothing. Before leaving, I looked around for any abandoned weapons, but there was nothing but three empty magazines and scattered shell casings.

I clenched my teeth into a wide smile and chuckled silently. I was no longer a little filly to count on someone's pity, which meant there was no point in tears. I wanted to cry, but I laughed. Laughed through my tears, albeit timidly and insincerely, but I laughed.

My laughter was carried in ringing waves, breaking the pain, leaving no room for it, and at some point, I realized that in fact, everything is not so bad. I am alive, this is an important plus. I still have some food and water, an army knife and some ammunition, eleven rounds! And with S.A.T.S., eleven successful shots - eleven killed enemies, which is not bad at all!

I smiled, satisfied with my own prudence, and decided that it would be good to eat something before bed.

I'll rest, and tomorrow, I'll hit the road!

I reached into the saddle bag lying nearby. In addition to the water flasks and army knife, I found two pretty apples, a bottle of pre-war tomato juice, some small stone, a pink inhaler with the remains of a combat drug, a rag of someone's flesh, and something shiny, small... a cartridge! I lifted its relatively heavy metal figure, felt the blunt end with magic. Taking the SG, I pressed the lever, separating the black silhouette of the magazine from the rectangular figure of the weapon. With a dull click, the cartridge pushed its brothers deep and remained in their cozy company. "Twelve"

Just two apples hovered nearby, tumbling in my magic like fluff in the wind.

I caught the nimble green side with my teeth, confidently clamped the apple, bit into it and ate it, listening attentively to the taste that had entered this cold world from the infinitely distant, comfy everyday life of the Stallble.

The two-hundred-year-old tomato juice came as an appetizer, leaving a caustic aftertaste. The plastic stopper partially dissolved.

I put the empty bottle aside, washed down the taste with water and resolutely put the second apple in my bag. Better to save it for a little while longer.

If the raiders find us, we'll have to run. If only I could help the locals... but I'm nobody. I don't belong in this world at all. I need to take my sister and go back to the Stable, there's no other option, except death! Velvet Remedy will be let back in, that's for sure, and I'll be with her. As a hero, a criminal, or maybe just a companion. The main thing is that we'll be home again.

Finally it got completely dark.

My eyelids grew heavy and covered my restless eyes, which were distrustfully drilling into the darkness. The nervous tension gradually gave way to a pleasant lethargy, and oblivion took hold of me.

A caustic light hit my eyes.

Grimacing and squinting with displeasure, I got out of bed. Stretching, I awkwardly stood up. My eyes reluctantly opened. Everything looked completely unclear, as if a bucket of water had been poured onto a fresh painting. It was impossible not to think of taking off my glasses, so that now I would have to probe the floor around me with magic in search of them.

I found my glasses at the head of the mattress. My vision latched onto the lenses, instantly clearing, and my gaze dropped to the pipbuck: "10:38."

I wasn't always dependent on them. It's just that at some point I had to admit that the identification marks in the corridors were completely indistinguishable, reading without strong lighting was excruciating, and finding my friends' faces in a crowd was simply impossible. All I had to do was complain to my dad, and here it was!.. A solution to the problem, so simple and effective. But on the other hand, in the wasteland, without glasses, I would be practically helpless. Clearly understanding this from the very first minutes, I kept them as the most valuable piece of equipment.

Taking one last look at the warm bed, throwing the bag over my rump, fastening the fastenings on my stomach, I tucked the SG between the belts, put the helmet on my head and went down to the first floor.

The walls were full of holes and tears everywhere, where the plaster had fallen out and torn through the already torn wallpaper. Roughly stuffed over the old paint that had crumbled onto the floor in blue chips, the wallpaper was not just for show. It was necessary, these fabrics with a repeating pattern of climbing leaves and branches, if only because without them the whole house would be a crumbling skeleton, which meant that it would be equally effective in protecting against the cold and rain.

"I can't believe it..." the stallion cried out. "We were supposed to go together!"

"Oh, aren't you tired of whining yet?" I recognized the voice of my acquaintance from yesterday. A short tail was visible in the hole behind the wall. "I've heard all these excuses of his. He's just a coward! He took the Brahmins "faster". See what a friend you are to him, without your cards."

"This is nonsense! Just nonsense..."

"My dear, go to Tina and play. We need to think."

A tiny pony appeared in the corridor and noticed me. I smiled at her, but the filly, having only caught me with her pale, tired eyes, quickly disappeared, carrying something in her teeth.

"We are left alone. Do you understand? We need to leave immediately!"

I stepped into the doorway almost silently, listening to the conversation, watching their every move, ready to hide behind the wall at any moment.

An earth pony with a cutie mark in the form of a broken trap tried to bring the stallion to his senses and get some answers from him. She also talked about some acquaintances and the need to find a cart.

I looked at the vague yellow markings of a couple leaning their muscular sides against each other. Next to the bed lay some kind of bone spear with hoof grips on the shaft.

The stallion whispered something, and the mare suddenly laughed.

Something strange was perched against the wall. A tightly roped load of a couple of shovels, various tools, and what looked like some kind of food.

A part of gun stuck out from the side. A scratched, battered wooden gun holder with a shiny engraved insert. Two black gun barrels hung down under the ropes. It was certainly one of the few truly beautiful things I had encountered on the surface. There were also several red cylinders visible – cartridges, it seemed – in the pockets of the belt, three in all, but if the gun was loaded…

The earth mare suddenly straightened up, her ears perked up.

I froze and was about to back away, but I didn't dare move, afraid that in the silence she would catch even the quietest touch of a hoof on the floor. To my relief, she spoke. Here it was, my chance. To the loud words, I went out through the wall and sighed in relief.

"...is everything good with the children there?"

How good it would be to take hold of that convenient hoof with magic, touch the trigger and bring such a lethal weapon to myself, lower it onto my shoulder. With it, I would stand more firmly on my feet.

I already regretted not taking it right away. Yes, it is nobody's, but who cares about that except the owners themselves? After all, it is so easy to do it now. Take the gun and, remaining unnoticed, just leave... and then? Then it doesn't matter anymore.

I don't need to look at it to touch it because I already know where it is.

"Everything is fine, don't worry."

A magical thought emerged from my horn like an invisible wave, rolled across the dusty, worn floor, peered around the corner, past a pile of plaster, climbed onto the bundle and grabbed the gun. I pulled, the barrel gave way, but the shuffling was unavoidable, and it was too late to retreat now.

"You!.. What?!.."

I was already running towards the exit, carrying the objects in front of me. The wound was protesting, demanding that I be careful in my movements, but I hardly had such an opportunity. Without stopping, looking back at the overturned chair in the distance of the corridor, I saw how the earth mare jumped out and began to catch up with me with strong jerks!

"Just you wait, you ungrateful rag!"

The look of those eyes burned my soul with fire, constraining my movements, forcing me to stop. But I rushed forward, feeling the hooves of the earth pony with my bruised places, which were about to reach me.

The door is already very close, a few more jumps, but then what? Will I escape from an unarmed mare, racing through the desert? If I manage to escape at all.

I turned around decisively and raised the heavy barrel of the gun, aiming.

“Hold!” I exclaimed imperatively, hoping that the mare understood perfectly well what would happen if I pressed on one of those hooks now.

She dug her hooves in, riding on the petrified ground, took a step back, and, having evened out her breathing, froze. For a few seconds, the earth pony simply stood there, looking at me with fear and confusion.

“Why are you doing this?” she said with unexpected bitterness, as if betrayed by a very close friend.

"I just... I just..."

The question was like a shot to the chest. I couldn't find a place for myself from shame. After all, they sheltered me. I should have helped, but was my situation better? Don't I need help? And Velvet? Celestia, Luna, I beg you, let her wait for me, let her live. Every hour, every minute is precious!

This simpleton is holding me up.

The steel surface of the barrels sank to the floor by itself, but I resolutely aimed the gun at the mare. Under the sight of the weapon, the saddened face shuddered in fear and somehow changed, acquiring meaning.

Celestia, my goal is more important! It's not just about one or several lives. Velvet is special, and I... didn't do anything special! I just need this weapon. I didn't steal it, I just took it for a while.

That's it! I just borrowed it and then I'll return it, right?

Stupid excuses! Why was I ready to kill an innocent pony then?! For heaven's sake! Is this piece of iron worth killing...

A frightened face appeared from behind the wall.

Oh, Goddesses. Could I really do that? Kill a young mother for my own gain? No, I didn't want that at all, I just needed to scare her. But what if she didn't stop, what if she attacked? Would I let her beat me black before my eyes, or just kill me? No. I would pull the trigger, wouldn't I? I would fire that damn shot, leave her dead, and I would live.

The mare is standing between me and Velvet now, and if necessary, I will move her out of the way!

"Don't move! Please, listen, I just have to get my sister. She's in danger! I really, really need..."

“Scu-um!” she interrupted, and then, as if she had hit an invisible barrier, she fell powerlessly, sobbing uncontrollably.

I couldn't find anything to say and ran away, and the earth pony continued to swear incoherently and cry loudly. Leaving the supposed pursuers far behind me, I raced through the village, in which almost not a single house remained intact. The stallion stood senselessly on the threshold next to his friend and looked after me with a tired look.

Someone else could attack me here, I was on guard, but the locator went completely silent. No red, no green marks, nothing. Emptiness. Just like in my head.

Having moved away enough, I switched to a calm step and found a place for all the objects.

After walking some distance in a daze, I came across the remains of a crashed plane. Looking at the rotting rusty metal frame, the bulky wings, it was hard to imagine how so much iron could have risen into the air. In addition, its bottom, sides, and the entire machine were riddled with multiple traces of impacts from energy-magic cannons, and the engine compartment had been damaged by an explosion.

"Fool! You have ruined it all!" a sharp cry, full of despair, rang out.

I looked around in fear. My ears, deceived, protested that they had heard nothing. It simply seemed that there was no one alive here, nor could there be. The wasteland stretched out as far as the eye could see, and nothing was visible except for the frail houses, at such a distance that it was only possible to distinguish them from the horizon by remembering their gloomy outlines.

A barely audible sound penetrated the silence in the air - the quiet clicking of the pipbuck - a signal of a dangerous level of radiation contamination, which had managed to tire me out a lot lately. Too often and for completely unpredictable reasons, the dosimeter needle shuddered, rushed along the yellow surface, just as quickly overcame the orange field, reaching the red one and, having barely touched the dangerous area, returned to the very beginning, to the beginning of the green sector, to lie down for a new jump.

Hard ash stuck to their hooves. The rusty, peeling metal ceiling hung overhead, threatening to break its rotted supports and collapse at any moment.

There were some charred bones lying around in the cockpit, among which I noticed a very unusual skull. Similar to a pony's skull, only much smaller. No, this one was definitely not a pony.

In the burnt-out cabin, from the inside of which only a couple of charred chairs remained, on the floor, among the ashes, one strange thing was found - an open cocktail umbrella with a picture of a couple of delicious cherries. I stuck it in my hair and, imagining how I looked, laughed. Nothing more stupid could have been thought of. Still laughing, I put the umbrella in my bag. And suddenly I noticed that the iron began to tremble, making a weak ringing sound, as if echoing myself.

Suddenly the air was filled with the smell of burning. Someone's screams reached my consciousness, drowning in the crackling fire, the hum of the engine. Even with my eyes closed, I continued to see the darkness and the creeping streams of smoke, forming a solid veil. Colorless clouds played in time with the hot fire running along the smoldering upholstery, and in one moment, the whole world drowned in emerald light, a moment before the mixed sounds were displaced by the nearby rumble of something terrible.

Almost falling over, I held my breath, trying to listen, but nothing changed. The gloomy seats crumbled into ash, the front frame without a hint of glass, and the increasing crackle of the pipbuck, drilling into my falling asleep consciousness.

Even after half an hour, I still couldn't shake off this stupid feeling that I had done something wrong. But I also knew that this instrument of war would more than once become an argument on my scales of life and death.

The wind carried distant, half-forgotten voices. Perhaps he was whispering something to me on purpose, or perhaps I was simply going crazy, mistaking his howling for the timbres and fragments of words of ponies who definitely could not be here.

A strange hum reached my ears, coming from everywhere, but clearly with a specific source. It was like the roar of a siren, distant and intangible, smoothed out by the endless relief of broken rocks, emphasized by a low, continuous rumble. It seemed as if the titanic mountains, rising in a ridge from Canterlot itself, were moving, talking to each other.

The pointed paper figure was floating in a bright glow, gliding with thin, strong wings along the air current that was beating from behind the iron bars. Happy laughter was heard, and joyful children's eyes appeared before me like green lights from under a disheveled straw mane.

I came to my senses on the edge of the cliff, having managed to keep from falling. In front of me was a river bed, about twenty meters deep. If I tripped and rolled down the steep slope, strewn with stones, I could get seriously injured.

I carefully began to descend, walking along stable ledges, keeping my gun at the ready.

I walked along the smooth rocky bottom. The constant static of magic pressed on my head from the inside. I extinguished the magic, putting the gun under my belt.

On the opposite bank, water gurgled from a wide crack. It ran along the mirror-like brown marble, flowing into the distance as a wide stream, glittering with the reflection of the cloud cover.

I stepped into the water, feeling the pleasant cold on my hot feet. The water fluffed up my fur, washing away dirt, saturating my skin with moisture. I leaned down, broke the surface with my lips, and began to drink. Plain water tasted sweet. I didn't care about the pathetic radiation dose I would get. In any case, even if the pipbuck was gurgling, it was calmer than usual. Once I had drunk, I wrapped a handful of water tightly in magic and washed my face with it.

I rinsed out two empty flasks and filled them.

The wind chilled my wet face.

Where am I even going? I'll get out of the riverbed, and then what? Discord. There's no telling how big this wasteland might be. I could wander for weeks... Damn this war!.. But what if there, far beyond the horizon, where no one can reach, there are still lands untouched by bombs? What if the Sun shines there, life grows green and blossoms? I may never know the truth unless I go there myself...

Now I have a goal. I have to find out where my sister went and the surest way is to get to the nearest city and ask the residents. But how to choose a direction, and how to be sure that it is the right one?.. Those ponies said something about a city, maybe... no, that's exactly where they were going to go! How stupid, just idiotic! I could have gone with them! What if I go back? What if I manage to get back and find them?! I won't lose more than an hour, but...

"Scu-um!"

I can't just move on and forget about it, but I can't go back either. How can I look these ponies in the eye after all this? Do I really dare to hope that they will forgive me and accept me again, as if nothing happened?

When I am with my sister again, we could go on a journey and find a better world for ourselves.

There was a rumble. I raised my head and ran to the other bank. Huge boulders were falling from above with a crash. I climbed the crumbly slope and sat down safely, holding my ears with my hooves. In the place where I had just stood by the stream, a heap of earth and boulders had formed, falling from the very top.

Now the stream is blocked up, but the water will still find a way for itself.

I walked along the smooth bottom and reached a gentle slope, washed by water. In early spring, when the snow melts, the water flows into the riverbed here and the once mighty river comes alive in full force.

Looking back down at my path, I noticed a strange creature. Hiding behind piles of rocks, I hoped that it would not notice me. But as soon as I began to watch, I immediately realized that this colossus was trampling where I had just passed. It was coming for me!

I watched my every step, so that Celestia would save me, and in no case would I push any stone down. Having moved away enough, I ran without fear of giving myself away, only occasionally looking back at the edge of the cliff.

The endless wasteland called me.

I had to keep going until I came across a railroad. All railroads connect to New Appleusa. There should be some kind of signposts along the train tracks to help me find the right direction.

I felt a tremor underground. Something huge appeared a few steps away from me. Resisting the urge to scream, I fell to the side in shock, kicking the ground with my feet in an attempt to stand up.

The terrifying mixture of a dragon and a dog stood on two legs, with its back to me, seemingly not noticing me. From its half-open mouth full of bulky fangs, where my head would easily fit, came quiet trilling croaks and low growls. Long, pointed ears rose, rushing forward, and I froze, silently taking out my gun. My heart was pounding wildly. Would I be able to put THIS down with one shot (from both barrels)?

The elastic skin stretched over the steely sinewy muscles of the thin legs. The heavy spiked tail lay behind. The front paws, hanging down to the ground, pressed hard against it with monstrous claws, holding the main mass of the body.

I found a trampled hole nearby, and judging by everything, it was not that beast at all, but another similar one. So there could have been others. Only now did I notice the scattered crumbs of crushed bones and traces of many claws, which definitely could not belong only to this monster.

I started to back away. Glancing now at the dog-dragon, now at my feet, every second my gaze caught the red mark that marked this creature on the locator. The creature fell silent. I turned to the ground, going around a fragment of someone's hoof. All those strange sounds it made resembled speech, but what did that matter?

I thought I heard someone talking, sharp and short, but I couldn't tell where it was coming from. Breathing quickly but quietly, I looked past the gun barrel floating in the snowy light of my thoughts to the muscular back of the beast.

A caustic look from a pair of dark eyes pierced me right through.

I raised the gun and hit both triggers with magic, but they didn't move, no shot followed. What discord!?.. I pressed again, again and again, but the triggers were stuck and the weapon was silent. Silence rang, and only my heart pounded loudly with blood in my ears, and only the monster stood silently in front of me. Stuck?! Broken?! No, just the safety catch.

The creature only moved its ears, becoming completely quiet, seemingly not even breathing.

It didn't attack! I was still alive!

I also froze and slowly moved the gun to the side, as if imitating the monster, hoping in this way to preserve the current state of affairs, that is, for everything to remain as it is. After all, I am alive. I want this fact not to change.

"You there! Hey? You idiot, what are you doing?" someone hissed. I turned around in confusion. Large gray stones were scattered across the hilly landscape. Where are you?!”/i] Among them, almost indistinguishable from the other rocks and debris, lay the ruins of some building. "Come on, come here!"

I recognized the stallion's voice and noticed the swish of a dark hoof among the fallen beams, reddened with rust. Moving away from the monster, I sped up with each step. It was absurd, but it seemed that if I didn't look back, nothing bad would happen.

I made out individual words:

"…what if yes?!"

"...look...just a flower!"

It was hard to make out any intonation in the broken whisper, but at least I knew there were two of them, and sure enough, the locator showed two yellow marks.

I stepped behind a strip of broken wall, meeting the wary gaze of a young earth stallion, and crouched down next to him, discovering an equally elderly unicorn, dressed in a military uniform, sitting on a refrigerator that had grown into the ground.

"Um... hi," I began, holding the gun to the side. However, I had no problem aiming it, and this time, the safety was off. My faith in friendliness and mutual assistance had died in agony the day before yesterday, on the very first day. "What are you two doing here?"

"What are you doing?!"

"I asked first. You were following me, weren't you? What do you want?"

I don't trust the locator, it never gave me accurate information. What if they suddenly decide to, I don't know, eat me? However, it's easier to negotiate with them.

"Listen, you!"

“I don’t need problems,” I said.

"Then don't get under our feet, okay?"

"I'm just passing by. Oh, thanks Celestia you were here."

I tried to ask them about what kind of creature was sitting there, by the cliff, whether they had met a black unicorn, and how I could get to the city, and which way was best to go, but the ponies did not take me seriously, discussing something of their own, stallion-related.

"Quiet, don't mumble. Did you hear that whistle? The dog should be out by now."

"Pretty girl, let her stay with us."

"This one?" the stallion pointed his hoof at me. "What are you thinking?! She's a mare!"

"That's exactly it!" the unicorn smiled.

I felt sick.

"Oh, come on. Make sure she doesn't shoot me in the back of the head and don't get distracted, otherwise we'll miss the moment."

"I have to go..."

"Well, well, well, get out of here then, roll. Have you checked the bag? Unfold two more."

"What are you, thieves?"

"Well, she's definitely crazy, I told you."

"We all survive in this world somehow, baby. We need the shells from their eggs more. We can make armor from them. Go on, go your own way."

"That's what I want! Show me the way to the city, please."

The stallions looked at each other and pointed in opposite directions. Are they making fun of me?

"Information costs money. Give us something valuable and we'll take you safely. Well, after the fact, of course."

The earth pony nudged the unicorn with his hoof, and they both grinned at me.

"Are you hurt?"

"Scratch…"

On the one hand, an escort is great, the three of us will not get lost, but trust these guys? And pay? And what to pay with? All I have is my apple, flasks and... a weapon. No, somehow it is too unfair. Parting with one of the guns, and at the same time waiting for who knows how long until these two sort out their affairs, not knowing whether their help was really worth the cost? I still prefer to keep mine.

"Ooh, look, she's staring out here."

The stallions, as one, looked out from behind a fragment of the wall riddled with rebar and sat down again.

"Is he listening to us?"

"Forget it. We'll wait for the alpha to come out."

"Do you think it will be soon?"

"So why are you here? What are we even waiting for?" There was silence for more than a minute. "No, you know, I'll get where I need to go myself. All the best to you."

I wanted to get away from here and quickly, but some strange premonition prevented me. Something told me that next to two seasoned stallions who dared to stick their nose into the throat of death itself, I was safe. I looked at the shiny engraving on the butt of the gun, running my gaze over the outlines of the timber wolf, lurking to catch up with its victim...

"Although yes. If she came out and waits, then she'll come running. I bet she's already pissed all over the ground under her feet, the queen, damn it! Agh-ha-ha-hra!"

The boys laughed. They laughed! So stupidly and so loudly!

Horrified, I checked the locator. There was still a significant distance between me and the bright mark. I stood with one foot on a pile of brick debris, looked out warily at the monster, and, finding it in its original place, immediately returned to the cozy ground.

"Don't be scared. Don't you understand yet? The dogs are hunting. It's spring! And put away your gun already, you're making me nervous."

I didn't object, but it was strange, is it really that important? Is it really true that none of these creatures will attack? They are red... Damn it all! It's time to get out.

"Where are you going?" the unicorn called after me when I had already taken a few steps away. "Keep your head down. I'll help you get out of here alive, the main thing is, don't do anything stupid."

"We've been stuck here for an hour already. Damn it, I feel uneasy somehow."

"Don't get upset, everything is under control."

The unicorn looked so dirty and ignorant that he'd probably only seen good books in campfires and probably used magic mostly to pick his nose, but a moment's sympathy gave me pause.

Safe or unsafe... after all, it costs me nothing to do what he says, if it can’t harm me in any way or put me in a risky situation.

I yawned weakly, feeling like I had been breathing less than I should have.

The unicorn snorted, blowing his brown bangs off his face, and smiled crookedly at me. I looked away from his face, which did not suit him at all , and still, his forehead wrinkled from exhaustion and obscene grins, his shaggy mane and a pair of motionless brown eyes seemed to freeze in front of me, like some kind of obsession.

My gaze inadvertently dropped to the locator. There, on a screen similar to a radar scale, an almost imperceptible green dot was displayed. Well, that's me. Two marks next to each other, yellow and green - males. The unicorn was marked in green? I wonder what that could mean, maybe a special personal sympathy. Red on the edge, motionless - that very "queen" they were discussing. But what is that?! Unexpectedly close, a large mark clearly stood out in red against the green background, crossing one coordinate line after another!

I was jerked from the base of my hooves to the tip of my horn. For a few moments I just stood there, unable to even breathe. My eyes wide open, I peered into the gaps left by the collapsed sections of the floors, and finally saw there... nothing. I could already feel the butt of the gun in my mind, ready to grab it, but some strange uncertainty prevented me from acting, as if I was faced with a dilemma. I longed to see the enemy, to immediately understand what to do next. I needed at least something!.. I longed to see.

Finally, I took a breath and stared at the unicorn, who had been talking all this time.

"...I swear on my mother! Don't get all worked up, cutie, I'm..."

My horn sparkled faintly. I only had to blink – and the whole world disappeared in a ringing splash. I was sucked underground, into the emptiness of the dark depths, carrying someone’s booming voice from above, as if from under the water. Stones broke and crumbled. Someone’s mighty lungs emitted a drawn-out snort.

"...or are you afraid of rubbing your tender back?"

It was coming!

The unicorn covered his face with his hoof.

"Mentals addicted eye-mumbler," he muttered, probably thinking I couldn't hear him. "Look at the way she's looking at me, the damn drug addict."

I needed to turn around and run. I backed away, but my steps were awkward and timid, as if my feet were stuck to the ground and froze in exhaustion after each movement, like when you get into a bad dream - you run with all your might, knowing that something is about to overtake you, and still it is simply impossible to move from the spot.

They don’t even suspect that now... Now it is!.. goddesses.

"There it is!.. Something is coming here! Danger!"

"What?"

“We need to get out of here!” I chattered, looking around.

"Stop being hysterical, everything is fine."

"Nothing is fine!"

I lifted my leg with the pipbuck and waved the monitor in front of his face, noticing that there were now three red marks.

"Look! We're surrounded."

My heart was beating in time with the seconds . The air smelled of stone dust. I took out my gun and exhaled. Come on, I'm ready. Besides, I have company.

The stallions were positioned a couple of steps away from me, standing in a jack formation, side by side. The maned earth pony had a blade clenched in his teeth, the blade pointing to the side with its shiny line, the unicorn was levitating a powerful pistol and a threateningly sharpened iron rod. Time froze in silence. I was suddenly showered with earth, and something flashed nearby. I turned around and dove into the Z.P.S., but when the spell took effect a moment later, the gray figure had already disappeared somewhere. The spell highlighted the stallions who were hesitating with a yellow outline as possible targets. There was nothing left to do but cancel the attack.

The ground beneath the fallen door shook and then simply exploded!

"What the?!"

A huge creature whirled over me. I hurried to activate the targeting spell again, but then the heavens burst into a thunderous roar, so furious that it seemed its owner was demanding silence from all that exists, touching my very heart, squeezing it with terror. Stunned, I fell to the side, almost dropping the gun from the shock.

The claws cut through the air, there was a metallic screech and the roar stopped. The gray tumbleweed fell very close, raising clouds of dust, and this mountain rolled along the ground right at me, emitting animal roars. I barely managed to jump back, immediately clicking the button with an unambiguous name on the pipbuck.

"F-e-e-e-e-e!! - the unicorn screamed at the top of his lungs, clinging to his friend. Cretin! He has a gun, he better shoot already! Meanwhile, S.A.T.S. began to gain effect, stretching out his voice, stupidly and unnaturally lowering the intonation.

When all the surrounding objects finally began to glow with different signatures, and red outlines appeared in the clouds of dust, I was already doubting my intentions. There were two creatures, and they... they were fighting among themselves?! Not paying any attention to us, and in particular to me. This changed everything. The need to shoot immediately disappeared. Now I simply did not want to get involved, and it did not matter what or who these horrors were fighting over there.

The mouth of one of the dogs snapped its teeth in an attempt to reach the neck of its opponent, clearly superior to the first in size and strength, who had firmly dug his claws into her shiny chest. Wait a second, armor? What?!

The stallions had disappeared somewhere. It finally dawned on me that I was in the wrong place. I started to back away, and when I realized that no one was looking at me, I just ran away, without even turning off the S.A.T.S.

Thirty seconds later the spell wore off and I had to move on my own. Listening, I was convinced every time that the fight was going on without me. I hadn't done anything bad to them, had I? Thank Celestia for that blessed fuse.

I slowed down, looking over my shoulder at the sweeping blows of the paws, when suddenly a sharp pain pierced my horn. A black moment of senseless oblivion flashed, the earth rushed towards me, as if on command, my feet pushed forward, stopping the fall.

Behind me, a cloud of black smoke rose, rising above the figure of a hellhound, on whose shining, torn steel armor, even from fifty meters away, streaks of blood could be seen. In front of it, in a limp heap, lay a creature that I at first took for a black hill, and only after looking closely could I see charred flesh and roasted skin, burnt to the ribs.

The winner looked around with an unseeing gaze, threw the iron pole over his back... Oh really?! It's not hard to imagine what would happen to me if I got shot, if you look at that giant, a raging mountain of muscles just a minute ago, which now lay motionless as a burnt carcass. This is too much. If the creatures can shoot from energy-magic weapons...

When it seemed that nothing connected me to this hellish place anymore, and the wasteland plain began to sing with new colors and mirages, I suddenly wanted to turn around. One of the stallions appeared at the hole. He was dragging two bags filled with something. Shells for armor, okay. A few seconds later, the unicorn appeared. The guys threw the bags nearby and went down into the cave again.

Taking one last look at the shaggy unicorn dragging a couple of unrolled sacks, I had no doubt that I had nothing more to do here, but some weariness beckoned me back to their stupid company. I must have gone crazy, but… Discord! What am I doing? Maybe I should invite him for a glass of cider?

“I didn’t just leave the Stable yesterday to risk my life so stupidly,” I whispered under my breath and trotted towards the water tower I had spotted on the horizon.

Well, the day before yesterday, but who needs to know about that anyway?

Note: New level!

Stealing, why not?