9 Years Ago

The pony that saved me was an earth pony named Crimson Rock. As the name implied, he was a crimson red pony, and a very strong one at that. He was slightly taller than your average buck and had plenty of muscle. His mane was an even darker shade of red and tied back into a man bun. He was in his early thirties when we first met.

He had taken me to a ranch he said he worked at. The ranch itself was no different from any other ranch, other than being 200 years old. There was a two story house, a large barn, and a couple pens with plenty of space for its occupants. One pen held Brahmin while the other held radhogs. Unlike the one that tried to eat me, these radhogs appeared to be domesticated. This had been my first time seeing a ranch, so I was pretty mesmerized when I saw it in its entirety.

Crimson took me to the owner of the ranch, Haybale. He was a bluish grey earth pony in his mid forties. His mane was a jet black comb over and he had a short, boxed beard. While not as burly looking as Crimson, Haybale still had some muscle on him. He was also very kind and generous, giving everyone on the ranch a home when they had nowhere else to go. Because of this, he was the most respected pony on the ranch.

Haybale found the journal entry I had in my Pip-Buck and soon realized I could barely read or speak. He figured out what my situation was and let me stay at the ranch. Not only did he teach me how to read better and speak fluent sentences, but he even taught me the basic history of the Great War and why Equestria was the way it was now. He was a better father than my actual one.

During my stay, I got to know the different residents of the ranch.

First up is the pony who saved me, Crimson Rock. He came to the San Palomino specifically for gambling in New Pegasus, hoping to earn some easy money. He ended up losing every last cap he had and left the city broke and washed up. He stumbled upon Haybale's ranch while just wandering and Haybale offered him a place to stay. Crimson saw it as fate giving him a second chance at life and gladly took his offer. He's been helping around the ranch ever since.

Crimson had been out hunting when he found me. He figured it was a good way to earn some extra money for the ranch, so he'd been doing it for a while by that point. He taught me what a gun is and how to use it. In fact, it was thanks to him that I eventually found my cutie mark!

Next is Crutch. I don't think that was his real name, but it's what he went by. He was a ghoul pony that lived before the war. Some ghoul haters busted up his right hoof pretty badly, so now he has to wear a metal brace around it in order to walk, hence his name. Crutch wasn't able to do much around the ranch due to his busted leg, but Haybale let him stay as long as he wanted, even if he didn't work at all. Crutch was surprised by Haybale's kindness and felt he owed a debt to him. Because of that, he still tries to pitch in and do what he can as thanks.

I remember seeing Crutch for the first time. I hadn't seen a ghoul before, so I'm ashamed to admit I was a little scared by his presence at first. I quickly learned he was friendly, though. Apparently, he'd been a doctor before the war, so he patched my leg up with ease. He also taught me some things about basic first aid.

After Crutch is Nazira. Believe it or not, she was a zebra, which was pretty rare in Equestria. She was covered in the usual black and white stripes that all zebras have. She told me she was from a zebra town called Glyphmark, though from how she described it, it was generous to even call it a town.

Glyphmark was founded by the children of a zebra tribe after the adults had been taken away by slavers. Nazira had to leave because she had become to old to stay. Since adults were the reason their tribe had been attacked, they banish any zebras once they've reached adulthood. She ended up traveling a long way before ending up at Haybale's ranch. Just like everyone else, he let her stay, free of charge.

I didn't even know she was a different species the first time I saw her. Sure, she had stripes and a different tail, but other than that, she looked like any other pony. When I met her, she was in her mid twenties. She taught me how to cook.

Finally, there was Raindrop. She was a unicorn like myself, and was even the same age as me. She had a sky blue coat and beautiful green eyes. Her midnight blue mane was styled into a wavy bob. She had a blue flame for her cutie mark, specializing in fire-based magic. It was quite a unique talent, and pretty ironic, given her name. She was proud of it, nonetheless.

Raindrop was the first to end up at Haybale's ranch. Her mother left her with Haybale when she was just a baby. Apparently, she knew Haybale and trusted him enough to take care of her. He raised her as if she was his own, and soon she began seeing him as her father.

Raindrop and I became best friends. Fun fact, she's the one who gave me my name. It happened about a month after I arrived.

We were in the dining room of the house. Haybale was helping me get better with my reading skills as we read a passage from a book together. Raindrop had dropped in partway through, having finished her chores, and was looking for something to do. She was the adventurous type, always exploring and going places she shouldn't. Her itch for adventure would only grow the older she got, and a lot of it would rub off on me.

"You know, kid, you're a pretty swift learner!" Haybale said, impressed at how well I was doing. I gave him a smile to show I appreciated it. I may have been learning quick, but I still had a long way to go.

"Hey, don't you think we should call him something else other than 'kid'?" Raindrop chimed in.

"Hmm... you've got a point. We will need to give you a name." He agreed, turning to me. "What do you want your name to be?" He phrased it as simply as he could so that I could understand. I didn't really know any names, so I couldn't really pick one.

"How about Bunny?" Raindrop suggested.

"... Bunny?" Haybale looked at her like she just said something crazy. to be fair, she did.

"Yeah! I've only seen pictures and paintings and stuff, but I think they're pretty cute!" She pointed at me. "Plus, it matches that 'B' on your eye!" Most ponies would have thought she was taking a jab at my scar, but I could tell she didn't mean it that way. I thought about the name for a few seconds.

"Bunny..." I repeated the name out loud. I liked it. I gave them a smile and nodded, confirming my approval. Haybale chuckled.

"Alright then... Bunny it is." He said with a smile. I could barely contain my excitement.

I finally had a name.

Soon, a full year had passed since I had been brought to the ranch. I could finally understand others clearly, minus a few of the more advanced or adult words. Remember what I said about Raindrop being adventurous? Well, one day, she wanted to take me with her somewhere away from the ranch. She said I didn't have to worry and that she had Haybale's permission, so I followed. She hadn't specified that only she had permission to go there, not me.

She brought me to a large, room-sized cave that was a fifteen minute walk from the ranch. The entrance was blocked by a couple of large rocks, but there was enough space to crawl under them. Apparently, she had turned it into her own little hideout. She even brought her own stuff to make it more homey.

Near the entrance was a sign that read "The Cave of Awesomeness!". Towards the back, there was a makeshift shooting range with tin cans for targets. She would use it to practice her magic, and later on, I would use it to practice my shooting. There was a stack of books and magazines off to the side as well as a mattress she got from... somewhere. Next to that was a trunk I would later find out contained toy swords and paper helmets, among other props she would play with. Finally, a lantern sat in the center, illuminating the cave. She plopped herself down on the mattress and showed off her little hideaway with a wave of her hoof.

"Make yourself at home!" She welcomed me. I looked around, astonished. It may not have been much, but I thought it was impressive. I then spotted a few big splotches of paint on one side of the cave. I gave Raindrop a questioning look.

"Oh, that. I thought if I gave it some color, it would spruce the place up a bit. Then I got bored. Plus, the walls aren't smooth enough to paint on. Instead, I got that!" She pointed to a painting leaning up against the wall on the opposite side. The painting was of a bunny. "That's what gave me the idea for your name a while back!"

I looked at the painting closely. So this is what a bunny looked like. I had never heard of one before Raindrop gave me my name. I had just assumed it was a normal name. That didn't make me like it any less, though.

"If you want, you can come here to relax. I figured since we're friends, and we've known each other for a while now, I could share this place with you!" She smiled at me.

"Really?" I asked, full of hope. She stood in front of me and cleared her throat.

"I, Princess Raindrop, hereby grant you, Sir Bunny, free passage into the Cave of Awesomeness!" She said, trying to make her voice sound more epic. I didn't understand a word she said, but the way she talked sounded funny, so I giggled.

"Raindrop? Are you in there?" We heard the voice of Nazira coming from outside the cave.

"Yeah, I'm in here!" Raindrop called out to her.

"We are looking for Bunny. Have you seen him?"

"He's right here with me!" We could hear Nazira let out a sigh. I was probably going to get a lecture when we got back.

"Come, children. Supper is ready." She said.

"Be right there! Come on, let's go eat! Don't worry, if dad gets upset, I'll cover for you!" Raindrop told me before crawling back out of the cave. I smiled and crawled through after her.

It felt nice having friends.

Present Day

"Hey, time to wake up."

I stirred from my slumber.

"... h-huh?" I mumbled.

"Your hour's up. time to get off." The brahmin said.

It had been a few days since I started travelling to New Pegasus with the caravan. The group was made up of the trader in charge of it, two guards, one a mare, the other a stallion, and a single brahmin carrying the trader's goods. Only one of the brahmin's heads was sentient. The other was pretty much brain dead.

I managed to convince the brahmin to let me take a nap on its back for an hour. It was a lot harder to do than you would expect, but I pulled it off.

"Five more minutes? Please?" I moaned.

"You asked that five minutes ago." It answered. Thinking about it, I realized I did indeed ask for an extra five minutes already. With a yawn, I rolled off its back. As soon as I was back on my hooves, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and kept up with the caravan.

"Oh, better watch out, you two! This guy's so good at bein' a guard, he might jus' take your jobs!" The trader joked, getting some chuckles from the guards and the brahmin. I couldn't help but chuckle myself. I was fine with being the butt of a joke as long as it wasn't too insulting. I wasn't exactly priding myself on my skills as a caravan guard.

I looked down at my Pip-Buck, checking the clock to see it was almost late morning. I checked the map to see how much farther we had to go, and we were actually pretty close to crossing the border into the desert. There was supposed to be a rest stop sitting just inside the border. Should be less than an hour before we arrived, then the caravan and I would part ways. Having finished checking the map, I inspected the new feature that Astral had added to my Pip-Buck.

I had been on my way out the door when Astral noticed the Pip-Buck on my hoof. The joy and excitement he felt thinking about the opportunities for improvement was immeasurable. He practically begged me to let him make some modifications to it. To prevent him from ripping the Pip-Buck and my hoof off, I let him do what he wanted. After he was done, my Pip-Buck had a brand new microphone, speaker, and extendable antenna attached to it.

According to Astral, he basically added a walkie-talkie function. With it, I should be able to contact him. I could also contact others, if I came across any other communication frequencies. I doubted I would though, since I planned on finding The McGuffin and leaving as soon as possible. No getting sidetracked.

"So, you said you were headed to the San Palomino to find something, right? For that scientist pony?" The mare guard decided to make some conversation.

"Yup." Unfortunately, I was terrible at small talk.

"What was his name again? Asteroid something?"

"Astral Spark."

"That's the one! It's quite rare to see somepony as smart as that in the wasteland. There are even ponies out here who still don't know how to read! It's a miracle he learned how to invent stuff at the drop of a hat!"

"Yup." While Astral was well known for being the hermit mad scientist, no one actually knew he was a Dashite or that he learned everything he knew above the clouds, with me being the exception. He wanted to keep it secret, saying that it would draw unwanted attention. I wasn't sure why he thought that, since everyone knew Calamity was a Dashite, and he was fine.

The conversation dwindled after that and we walked in silence for about a minute before she asked another question.

"Hope you don't mind me asking, but... how exactly did... that happen?" She pointed a hoof at my scar, wincing as if she could tell how painful it must have been. "I mean, you don't have to say, if you aren't comfortable, but I couldn't help but be curious."

Now, in case it wasn't obvious already, I definitely did not want to talk about it. Still, not saying anything would just make her more curious or even concerned. Luckily, I had planned for just such an occasion. Instead of staying quiet, I concocted a brilliant, well constructed and highly detailed lie that would most certainly convince anyone who heard it that it was the truth.

"Tripped and fell on a branding iron." I said plainly. Everyone was silent.

...

"... Really?" The other guard spoke up, actually sounding like he believed it.

"Of course that's not what happened!" The mare said to him. She then apologized to me for bringing it up and I told her it was fine. I checked my map again.

Soon, we would be in my old stomping grounds.

My Pip-Buck marked it as "The Caravanner's Rest Stop". It had a few tents set up along the road, each one belonging to a different vendor. One vendor sold weapons, another sold barding, so on and so forth. There was even one that sold nothing but junk. The caravan I traveled with wasn't the only caravan there, either. It seemed like this rest stop had rightly earned its name. I didn't really have the money to buy anything right now, so I just said my goodbyes to the caravan and went on my way.

I trotted along the road, the asphalt having cracked and faded long ago. Looking out across the desert, I felt a sense of familiarity, which was no surprise. I'd lived here almost my whole life. I couldn't say I was happy about it, though. I didn't want it to feel familiar. I wanted to forget that this place had ever held a part of me. I needed to find The McGuffin asap, then get the hell out of here.

I will find The McGuffin posthaste! I shall let nothing stand in my way! I shall be victorious in my quest! It is time for Sir Bunny's journey to begin!

...

... Where the hell do I begin?

I had zero leads. I wasn't even sure where to start looking for leads. I looked down at my Pip-Buck and flipped over to the Quests tab, hoping maybe something changed now that I arrived in the San Palomino.

The Great and Powerful Plot Device
- Find clues to track down The McGuffin

Still no marker.

"Oh come on! You can't even give me a little hint!? Give me something, dammit!" I yelled at the Pip-Buck as if it were alive. I sigh as I begin to try and think of places I could go to start looking for clues.

... Okay, maybe I could try New Pegasus? It's a whole city, I'm bound to find something there. It's pretty far from where I'm at, though. It might take me a while to-

"Are you lost?"

"AAH!!!"

Someone let out a rather girly scream, definitely wasn't me, and I instinctively drew my pistol and aimed it in the direction of the voice. I was expecting to turn around and see a pony, a ghoul, or maybe even a griffon. I was not expecting to turn around and see a sprite bot of all things. Last time I checked, those things don't talk. Normally I would have ignored it and assumed the stranger behind the voice was hiding somewhere else, but there wasn't really anywhere to hide. Well, there was a rock a few feet away, but it was in the opposite direction of the voice.

"... W-... Was that you?" I asked the sprite bot, thinking I'd finally gone crazy. No response.

"Great. Now I'm hearing voices in my head. Guess I've finally gone off the deep end."

"Oh! N-No that was me! Sorry, it's just when I saw you from behind, I didn't expect the..." He fell silent again.

"... The eye?" I pointed to my bad eye.

"Yeah, that. It's a pretty nasty scar you've got there."

"Yeah, it sure is. Now, if you don't mind... HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING TO ME!? SINCE WHEN DID SPRITE BOTS BECOME SCENTIENT!?" I yelled, demanding answers. Now I know it might seem like I'm overreacting a bit, but if robots were finally becoming self aware and were planning to take over the world, I needed to know. The sprite bot just laughed.

"Oh, no, I'm not the sprite bot. I'm just controlling it from somewhere else. I learned how to hack into these things."

"Oh... that makes more sense... but I still have questions!"

The biggest question being who the hell is spying on me?

"Who are you?" I rephrased the question on my mind.

"You can call me Watcher. I noticed you have a Pip-Buck. Are you from a Stable by chance?" 'Watcher' asked.

"Huh? Oh, no. I got this this from my father. He might have come from a Stable, but knowing him, it's more likely he stole it or killed someone for it."

"Sounds like you don't like him very much."

Shit. Why did I let that slip?

"Don't worry about it. What do you want, anyway? I doubt you stopped to talk to me just for the hell of it."

"Well, you looked like you could use a bit of advice."

Well, he's not wrong. I suppose I do need to start somewhere, and this is as good a place as any.

"Yeah, actually. Does The McGuffin mean anything to you? I'm looking for it. It's supposed to be some kind of military computer chip, or so I was told." Watcher was silent, so I guessed he was thinking about it.

"... That name does sound familiar. I'm afraid I wouldn't know where to look, though. Sorry."

Yeah, figured I wouldn't be that lucky right out of the gate.

"That's not the kind of advice I was talking about, though." He said, regaining my attention. "You're off to a good start. You already have a weapon. You're going to need more than that to survive, though."

"...Hold on, are you giving me wasteland survival tips? Buddy, I've been doing this for a long time. I've got more weapons than just one pistol. Trust me, I know what I'm doing." I cut him off.

"... Is that so? It looks to me like you're missing a few things."

"Oh really? Then please, enlighten me." I said with a cocky smirk I would quickly regret making.

"You don't have any armor or barding-"

"I was planning to get some." I interjected.

"... You have no guidance, wandering around without a clear objective-"

"Well that's not my fault." I interjected again.

"... And you have no friends."

"Hey, I have friends!" I corrected him.

"Where are they, then?"

"Back home. I'm just on a job, that's all." I said matter of factly. Watcher just sighed.

"When I said friends, I meant you need someone to watch your back." He clarified.

... An extra pair of eyes would be nice-

I shook the thought out of my head. I didn't have time for distractions. Besides, people were complicated. They'd just slow me down. So what if I was short a couple of fundamental things? I'd been through worse.

"Look, I appreciate you trying to help me, but I'm busy. Why don't you go bug someone else?" I said as I turned to leave.

"Wait! You need to find that McGuffin thing, right? I know where you can start looking." He called out to me.

I stopped in my tracks.

"... You just said you didn't know where to look."

"That's right, I don't. But I do know where you could find some clues to help get you started." He specified.

I thought about it for a second. For some reason, my instincts told me he was up to something, but I couldn't tell what.

"... I'm listening." I said, turning back around. Instincts or no, I was desperate for something to go on.

"You said it was military, right? Not far from here, there's an old Ironshod Firearms factory. It might be worth taking a look."

"Ironshod Firearms? Didn't they used to make guns or something? What would they have to do with a computer chip?" I asked.

"They had connections to the Ministry of Technology. You never know, you might just find something."

I'd heard of the different ministries before. It was pretty hard to travel the wasteland and not run into some of their propaganda. I didn't know much about them though, other than they had been important and supported the war effort. Assuming the Ministry of Technology was actually involved with technology as advertised, they most likely would have something to do with The McGuffin.

"Here, I'll mark it on your map." I checked my map and sure enough, Watcher somehow placed a custom marker on my Pip-Buck's map. I didn't bother questioning how. The device was weird enough as it was. Unfortunately, according to the marker, the factory was in the opposite direction of New Pegasus. If I didn't find anything in the factory, the city was going to be my next stop. If I turned up empty, I would be doing a lot more walking than necessary.

"Ok, I'll check it out." I decided to take the risk. Like I said, I was desperate.

"Alright then... Oh! Time's almost up. Good luck with your search." After he said that, the sound of static came from the sprite bot before it began playing that awful music you normally hear coming from them. It flew away in a random direction, mindlessly drifting. Guess that meant our conversation was over. I began trotting down the road in the direction of the marker.

I couldn't shake the feeling that Watcher was hiding something from me.

A few minutes of walking later, a thought occurred to me. I was going to need to know more about the Ministry of Technology. If they had some involvement with The McGuffin, then learning what role they played could help lead me to it.

Astral had lived above the clouds, so he might have been taught about the different ministries. I decided to contact him on the Pip-Buck. He did want me to test out the new function at some point, anyway. I extended the antenna and spoke into the microphone.

"Astral, you there? Astral?"

"Bunny? Is that you?" Astral's voice came from the speaker.

"Yeah, it's me. I need to-"

"YES! I KNEW IT WOULD WORK! MY INTELLECT KNOWS NO BOUNDS!!!" He boomed.

"...Uh, Astral-?"

"NONE CAN SURPASS ME! ALL FALL BEFORE THE MIGHTY GENIUS OF-!"

"Astral, I need your help." I interrupted his rant. It actually wasn't uncommon for Astral to go off the rails like that whenever success was achieved. Like I said, mad scientist.

"Oh!" He cleared his throat. "Yes, how can I help you?"

"Does the Ministry of Technology have anything to do with The McGuffin?" I asked.

"Why, yes, of course! They were responsible for developing it!"

That certainly narrows it down.

"What can you tell me about them?" I pressed further.

"Oh, plenty! The Ministry of Wartime Technology, or MWT for short, were in charge of overseeing and manufacturing all weapons and technology that would be used in the fight against the zebras. In fact, they were the ones who invented Power Armor and established the Steel Rangers!"

"Wait, seriously!? They're the reason we have to deal with those tin can assholes!?" I was actually pretty shocked to hear that.

"The Steel Rangers were originally supposed to protect ponies, but after seeing what they're like now, they seemed to have lost their way at some point."

I thought about what Astral told me. Knowing the MWT created The McGuffin made my search way easier. All I would have to do now is search every MWT related facility until I found The McGuffin. Should be simple, right?

"Come to think of it, you don't know anything about the other ministries either, do you? Want a quick history lesson?" He offered. It would be nice to know about them. Even if I never use it, the more intel I had, the better. Besides, it would keep me occupied.

"Suppose it couldn't hurt." I answer.

Astral spent the next while explaining the different ministries to me. Basically, the Ministry of Arcane Sciences studied modern magic, the Ministry of Image controlled propaganda and public information, the Ministry of Morale kept the public's spirits high, the Ministry of Peace created and practiced medicine, and the Ministry of Awesome... existed. They didn't really do much, according to Astral.

After he finished his explanation, Astral and I cut the connection. It was about then I came across a three-way intersection. Straight ahead of me was the direction I needed to keep going to reach the factory. On the right, however, was a dirt road that lead to what looked like a small settlement. It looked like a neighborhood, with several single story houses lining the street, all leading to one big house at the end of the road. There was a sign next to the dirt road that read "Sunny Sunset Estates", which was also what my Pip-Buck marked it as.

It also looked like it had recently been attacked.

A couple houses had burned down, embers still glowed on the blackened wood. The houses that were still standing were riddled with bullet holes. Bodies lay in the streets, unmoving. I galloped in the direction of the small town. I had told myself no distractions, but if somepony was alive and needed help, I couldn't just walk away. Besides, I might find some useful stuff.

As I got closer, I got a better look at the bodies. A couple bodies wore raider armor and had been carrying single barrel shotguns. The shotguns were in pretty bad condition. I took them anyway, as well as any extra shells the raiders had on them.

A few of the other bodies looked like settlers that tried to defend their home. They had improvised weapons that were in worse condition than the shotguns. The settlers didn't stand a chance.

There was one more body laying face down on the ground, however, that stood out to me. He was very different than the others. He was draped in a dark red cloak that had black accents. He had been carrying a semi-automatic 5.56mm assault rifle. After examining it, I was surprised to find it in great condition, unlike the other weapons. I stuffed it in my saddlebag and looked back at the body.

For some reason, the cloak he'd been wearing looked very familiar. I wracked my brain, trying to remember where I had seen it before.

Then it hit me.

10 years ago, when I had searched my dad's room for something to read, I saw the exact same cloak in his trunk.

What the fuck?

A chill ran down my spine. I quickly finished searching him, finding a healing potion, some 5.56mm rounds, and a few caps. As soon as I was done, I moved away. I took the shotguns out of my bag and examined them. By themselves, they were pretty terrible. By using the parts in one, however, I could repair the other shotgun so that it would at least be pretty decent.

I sat down and got to work on the repairs. While I was working, I took another look at the town. Two houses had been converted into a general store and a clinic. The rest looked like normal homes. I noticed a rather unsettling design that had been painted on each of the houses. A black, horned skull with glowing red eyes and black tendrils emanating from behind it.

Raiders are getting pretty creative with their graffiti nowadays.

I finished the repairs and stood up, putting the shotgun away. Counting the weapons I'd brought with me, it seemed I had amassed quite the arsenal already.

See? I know what I'm doing. Take that, Watcher!

I was about to start checking the houses when my gaze landed back on the cloak-wearing corpse. I had to do a double take to make sure I wasn't seeing things. He had a tattoo on his neck. It was the same design as the creepy skull on all the houses.

I was becoming very curious as to who this mystery pony was. He was throwing up red flag after red flag. Because he was face down, I hadn't even seen his face yet. I decided it was time for a peek, so I cautiously made my way over to him. I turned his head and immediately recoiled. His eyes were wide and lifeless, which is expected of a corpse, but that wasn't what freaked me out. They weren't normal eyes.

His eyes were a primal yellow with no white in them. Red veins seeped in from under his sockets. The pupils were shaped like vertical slits, similar to a predator's.

These were the eyes of a monster.

Ok, I am officially creeped out. Who the fuck is this guy!?

I took out my 10mm pistol, ready for danger. There most likely wasn't anything hostile around, but I was on edge now. I moved towards the first house and prepared to search it.

I had a bad feeling about this.

I eventually reached the fifth house. I found some extra food and caps in the other houses, as well as a bit of junk I could sell. I also found a pair of binoculars that I thought might come in handy. The general store and clinic had been ransacked of anything useful.

As soon as I entered the house, I could here something making a racket in one of the rooms. I moved through the hallway until I found the room the sound was coming from. I slowly pushed open the door, gun at the ready.

I had entered into what looked like a child's bedroom. There were toys scattered everywhere, a bunch of furniture knocked over, and the bed had been completely flipped. I found the source of the noise pretty quickly, underneath a large wardrobe that had been knocked over.

It was a dog, a German Shepherd to be specific. It seemed to have gotten trapped underneath the wardrobe. I holstered my gun and lifted it with my magic, freeing the dog. It growled at me and kept its distance.

"Easy boy, I'm not a threat. Not unless you are, anyway." I reassured it and it seemed to calm down, at least a little bit. "Actually, I don't really know if you're a boy, do I? Uh... mind if I take a peek?" I managed to get behind the dog and checked to see what gender it was.

...Yup, it's a boy.

I took another look at the dog and noticed something. His left eye had a scar across it, as if it had been slashed with a knife. Going by the milkiness in the eye, it seemed he was blind on his left side. He seemed to notice the scar on my left eye as well.

"Guess we have something in common." I told him. I began to search the room more thoroughly when I found a bowl for pet food. The word "Cat" was written on the side.

Huh? Shouldn't there be a dog bowl here too? I didn't see any cats, either...

"Where's the cat supposed to be?"

*BARK!*

I looked at the dog. He seemed to respond to what I said.

...No way.

"Cat."

*BARK!*

"Cat, sit."

The dog sat.

"Roll over, Cat."

The dog rolled over.

I couldn't believe it.

I'd just met a dog named Cat.

"Huh... how about that." I watched as the dog sniffed around the room until he found what he was looking for. He picked it up in his mouth then passed it to me. It was a photo of Cat and a filly, most likely his owner. The filly had a bright smile on her face and was hugging Cat closely. On the back, it said "Me and Cat", confirming the dog's name.

I didn't find a filly that looked like this among the bodies. Maybe that means-

A low grinding sound came from my Pip-Buck, taking me out of my thoughts. That was the sound that plays when I'd gotten a new quest. I quickly switched over to the quests tab to see what it was.

Cat's Out of The Bag
- Find Cat's Owner

Unlike the other quest, this one actually had a marker. I checked the map and was surprised by what I saw. The marker was in the same place as Watcher's custom marker. A part of me felt like that wasn't a coincidence.

"Alright then, I guess we should stick together. What do you say?" Cat simply barked in response. I started to make my way out when Cat ran and grabbed something else. He came back with a stuffed toy cat in his mouth. He looked up at me, his tail wagging. I think he wanted to take it with us.

For a filly who owns a dog, she sure does like cats. Either that or it's the dog that likes cats, which is still just as ironic.

"Sorry, we can't take that. I need to save room for stuff that will help us." I levitated the toy cat onto the floor and turned around to leave. Cat growled, then he bit down and pulled on my saddlebags, keeping me from going anywhere.

"Ok! Ok! Alright! We'll bring it! Jeez!" I gave in after a bit of struggling. I levitated the toy into my bag and Cat let go. He then made his way out of the room before me, taking the lead.

Guess he's in charge, then.

The factory was crawling with raiders.

I was sitting behind a rock a small distance away from the factory, observing the raiders patrolling the outside through the binoculars I found. It quickly became obvious that this was what Watcher had been keeping from me. But then, that left another question. Why did he feel the need to not tell me about this? Watcher may have been keeping secrets, but my gut told me he really did want to help. It still felt like I was missing a piece of the puzzle.

It also wasn't hard to figure out that there were probably innocent ponies locked up in there, including Cat's owner. The marker was telling me to go inside, but I couldn't just go in guns blazing. I needed a plan. I turned to Cat, who was sitting next to me.

"Soooooo... any ideas?" I asked. He just cocked his head. "Didn't think so." I looked through the binoculars again. If I wanted to search for info on The McGuffin, I would need to go through these guys. If I managed to save lives along the way, then that would be a bonus.

I had been watching their patrols for a while, now. There weren't too many on the outside, only about four in total. I wouldn't know how many there were inside until I actually went in. Two raiders stood guard in front of the entrance. The other two would go around the perimeter of the building in opposite directions, occasionally passing by each other.

I could probably take out the two circling the building quietly when they're out of sight. Once I killed the first raider, I would have to take care of the other one quickly before they see their friend's corpse. Once they were dead, Cat and I could take out the guards by the entrance at the same time.

Yeah, that should work.

"Ok, boy. You ready?" I turned back to Cat. He wagged his tail and began panting happily. I took that as a yes.

It was time to get to work.

Author's Note

The journey finally begins, and it seems to have started off with quite the surprise. Who exactly was the corpse wearing the cloak? What did that graffiti mean? Will we ever finally get to see some action? Find out next time!

Also, I wanted to apologize in case I screw up when it comes to Fallout Equestria terms like Pip-Buck, Stable, and healing potion. I played the Fallout games before I read Fallout Equestria, so I'm much more used to saying Pip-Boy, Vault, and Stimpak. I kept accidentally writing those words instead and had to fix them. If I miss some, I apologize and I will make the proper changes.

Thanks for reading!