Chapter 2: Beginning of a Song

After standing there speechless for a few minutes, Silver Song nudged me. "Hey. Snap out of it."

Shaking my head, I looked to him, confused. "Why am I in this picture? It must be at least a hundred years old! It can't possibly be me!"

Silver Song started hushing me and trying to calm me down. "Look, I can try to explain it, but first, I need you to look very carefully into this picture one more time and make sure that it’s you." Taking a deep breath, I calmed down and looked at the picture again. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, and it might’ve been some other pony in the picture. Yet, when I looked at it again, I couldn’t see any difference between the pony in the picture and me. Putting my hoof on the picture, I turned back to Silver Song. "That’s me alright. Same hairstyle, same cutie mark, and same painted stripes."

At the mention of my stripes, he looked me up and down. "Yeah, by the way, we should wash those off of you as soon as possible. Luckily, the showers still got water left and you aren’t affected by the mist, so we'll take care of that after we open up your locker."

"My what? I have a locker? Wait, you still haven’t explained what you know about me."

Rubbing his head, he looked at me and began to explain, "Your right. My bad. Since you are without a doubt the pony in this picture, that tells us you were born before the war and that you have some ties to this academy. However, that also raises more questions that I can’t even begin to answer. Like, how are you still alive, why exactly are you here, why do you have amnesia and how come you are the only living being I know that isn’t affected by the Pink Cloud or radiation for that matter? You, my friend, are not supposed to be here, yet you are.”

Sitting down against the wall, I tried to take it all in. While I continued to process all of this, a thought came to me. "Hey, can I ask you a question?" He tilted his head a little before nodding. "Sure, but I’m afraid I don't know any more about you then what I just told you, so don’t be disappointed if I’m short of information."

I shook my head. "No, no. You've told me quite a bit already and given me a lot to think about. I’m just wondering how you know so much about these things. The academy, the past, and everything else?"

He seemed a little surprised at the question, but quickly regained his composure before answering. "Because I, like you, was born before the war. I was an archeologist as well as a part-time journalist. I had a passion for learning all about the going-on's in Equestria and its past as well. Trust me, you haven’t seen anything until you've been inside the Canterlot Catacombs." He suddenly smiled and laughed a little. "I was a young, stupid colt once and tried sneaking into the catacombs. I managed to get all the way to Starswirl the Bearded's ancient library. I was looking through a book that was made by Starswirl's teacher and just when I was about to discover his teacher's name, I felt a tap on my shoulder and saw three of the royal guard standing behind me. After a failed attempt to escape, I ended up in prison for a few months." Then slowly, his smile faded a little until all that remained was a wistful grin. "Too bad Canterlot is now filled with the Pink Mist. It’s way too strong for any pony to survive there. And if we ghouls stay too long in it, we will go insane and become like the feral ghouls that attacked us earlier. For most though, it's a painful reminder of what we lost, so we just avoid it all in general."

We both sat there for an hour, just lost in our own thoughts. He seemed to be remembering all the things he did before the war, and I was just filled with questions. Why couldn’t I remember anything of my previous life, yet know what a lot of stuff was? Did I have a family? And most importantly, who was I? These were only some of the questions, but not one of them did I have an answer too. Silver Song was the first to recover.

"C'mon now. We can’t spend all day just pondering the past. I plan to leave by tomorrow, because there is nothing else for me here. I don’t know about you, but I’d highly recommend you do the same." As we both got up, he led me towards a locker and pointed at it. "Here ya go! Your locker." As I looked at it, there was an electronic scanner in the middle. What's with the high-tech stuff? Not knowing what to do, I asked Silver Song what made him think it was my locker. In response, he just looked up to the top of the locker. I followed his gaze and saw my Cutie Mark painted on the locker.

Oh. Yeah, there was no doubt about it. It was my locker alright. As I looked along the lockers, I noticed that they all had Cutie Marks painted on them, but mine was the only one with an electronic scanner for a lock. All the other lockers had a normal lock on them. Who in the world was I? Remembering my flashback, I recalled being called a ranger. I decided to ask Silver Song if he knew anything about them.

"Rangers? Where'd you hear that from?"

I decided it was time to tell him about my flashback. As I told him everything, he just stood there and listened. After telling him the part about the zebra convoy and the attack, his eyes grew large. As soon as I finished telling him about the flashback, he suddenly got real close to me and started asking questions frantically, "Wait, you were a Ranger? You were there during the Littlehorn Massacre?”

Nervously, I began to back up. He noticed and started to apologize, "I'm sorry about that, but you have no idea what you just told me. We thought that the zebras started the attack and that they had dozens of soldiers. To think it was only two caravans with wounded zebras and we were the ones to shoot first. Not to mention, you were a bloody Ranger! A member of the most elite force in all of Equestria!"

Seeing him start to get worked up again, I decided to divert back to my first question. "Could you please tell me about Luna's Rangers? And perhaps why they were so important as to have an electronic scanner on a mere locker?"

He looked at me excited, and I had the feeling that I just opened a talking storybook as he began to explain, "A few years before the war, tensions were beginning to rise between the Zebra Nation and Equestria. While the Princesses each had their own royal guards to safeguard the realm, their numbers were stretched thin, and they weren’t on the same fighting capabilities as the Caesar's legion. The princesses then decided to create two elite groups of warriors, one for each princess. They were Celestia's Rangers and Luna's Rangers. They were trained in many forms of martial arts, weaponry, terrain association, combat spells and more. The training was very rigorous and only six made it through to become rangers. However, those that became Rangers were able to access the ancient libraries to better themselves and become the most powerful warriors in Equestria. There were only three ever chosen for each group of rangers, so six in total. A unicorn, an earth pony and a pegasus. Two to represent each pony race..." He noticed my look and became a little less excited as he decided to lessen his story. "To cut it short, they were the most skilled and elite warriors in all of Equestria. Now while it’s true there were two groups, in reality, there was only one that stood out before the war. Due to the dangers and terrors in the night that Luna had her rangers help her fight, they were able to sharpen their skills and become the real guardians of Equestria. As for Celestia's Rangers, they were strong too, but nowhere near as skilled as Luna's Rangers were. So, they spent more time in the catacombs learning the ancient arts, becoming the more knowledgeable of the two."

Upon hearing the story, I suddenly became more self-conscious of myself. If what he said was true, I must've been the pegasi for Luna's Rangers. After hearing that, I started to really wonder what was in that locker. Perhaps it would have the answers to all of my questions. If I was truly that strong, I could probably just kick in the locker door. Except as soon as I lifted my legs to kick, Silver Song immediately smacked me in the back of the head and pointed towards my leg.

Oooohh Yeah. I forgot about the chunk-less leg. So kicking was a no-go.

It seemed that Silver Song had some more depressing news about the door. "These doors aren’t your average metal either. If you had let me finish, I would’ve told you that their personal lockers were made with onyx and steel fused together. That and they had the highest protection spells placed on them, ones that only a princess could break. So, the door was pretty much unbreakable and lockpick-proof." He stood there proud of the old Equestrian technology, completely forgetting the fact we were trying to open it. I coughed loudly and that seemed to bring him off Cloudsdale Nine. "There was only one way to open the lockers, but they kept it a really tight secret. I honestly have no idea how to open them."

Now distraught and mentally exhausted, that was the last thing I wanted to hear. I couldn't kick it, couldn't lock pick, shit, couldn't even shoot or blow the damn thing open. It was all just too much and I had to lean against the locker just to keep myself from stressing out too much. After a few moments, we both heard a click come from it and we moved back from it. After a few more clicks, the cutie mark symbol on the door glowed and opened. We just looked at each other in awe.

“How did?...”

“I have no idea.”

Inside were several books, some old and one that looked really ancient, a journal, a brown dual-sided saddle bag, some cola bottles and a beautiful set of light-blue leather armor with the resemblance of a crescent moon in multiple places around the armor. They all caught my interest and I wanted to look at them all, especially the books, but I decided to investigate the journal first. If there were any answers to be found about my past, they would be inside it. As I opened the book, on the first seven pages were a set of lyrics. All the pages after that were totally blank.

Seriously?! I created a journal just to write sets of lyrics?! I suddenly wished I could go back in time and kick myself. Silver Song must’ve noticed my frustration because soon he was looking over my shoulder. "Huh, these are some good lyrics. Did you write these?" I just looked at him and he smiled back apologetically. "Sorry, you were probably hoping to find some answers." I just groaned in response and decided to look through this stuff later after I got a good shower. I felt that it would help to relieve all the frustration I've built up until now. That and I was really starting to smell. Closing up the locker, I walked over to the last shower stall. Before I could step in, Silver Song patted me on the back. "Try to relax. I know you've been through a lot today." I looked at him in surprise. How did he know what I was thinking? He responded with a wink, "I know the old shower trick. Back in the day, I used to do it a lot too. And don't worry about getting the bandages wet. I got some more to replace them when you get out. I'll be sitting out here on the bench." He then pointed towards my side. "And make sure you scrub hard to wash those stripes off. While I don’t know why you had them painted on, if you wear them out there, you'll only draw more attention to yourself. And not the good kind of attention either." Nodding in agreement, I then stepped in the shower.

When I turned the shower knob, nothing happened. "Hey. I thought you said the..." when all of a sudden the shower head shook and I was instantly greeted by pink, icy cold water. "SHIT!" I immediately jumped out of the shower and ended up sliding into the lockers. I looked around to see him staring at me in surprise, then he just busted out laughing.

"It's not funny! You told me they worked fine!" That just made him laugh even harder. After a while, he started to calm down.

"Oh, sweet Celestia! That was just too good. All I heard was this "Shit!" and I looked up to see you sliding out the stall, right into a locker." He snorted a little bit before continuing, "Oh that was just perfect. You made my day a whole lot better"

I just looked at him in contempt "Well I'm glad someone's happy. Now would you care to explain what is wrong with the showers?" With a big grin still on his face, he apologized, "I'm sorry. I should have mentioned that the showers down here haven’t been used for over a hundred years. I’m used to using the ones upstairs. Let it run for a few minutes, then it should be fine. Though normally I try to make it brief as possible because of the pink discoloration, but I believe you should be fine. For some unknown reason, you seem to have an immunity to the Pink Cloud.. Oh! and if you want hot water, just turn the knob to the left. Though it will probably take a while longer to warm up." I just shook my head. "No need. I prefer cooler showers anyway."

I waited a few minutes outside the shower and sure enough, when I walked in, it was nice and cool. Closing my eyes, I let the water wash over me, all my frustrations slowly ebbing away. Outside the stall, I could hear Silver Song muttering to himself. I asked him if everything was alright. "Huh? Yeah, I was just thinking about what you said earlier about your flashback. I began to think back to before the war and I realized that you aren’t the one of the pegasi I remember. One was a very cute, grey mare and she was stationed up in Cloudsdale with the Celestia Ranger Pegasus, who died right before the bombs fell. In fact, the six Rangers were paired off in their respective cities and I noticed that your locker is the only one here." Now really confused, I asked him, "Then why do I have all those books and that Ranger armor in my locker, that only I can access?"

I could just imagine him scratching his head. "That’s where I'm lost. There were only six rangers, yet clearly you seem to be one of them. Unless you walk out of that stall a cute mare, I have no idea how to explain this."

Though he meant it as a joke, I started to check myself all over. Great. Now he’s got me second guessing my own gender. Yet because of that, I noticed something else. The stripes that were all over my body weren't washing off. "Hey Silver… these stripes aren’t coming off. What should I do?" I was greeted by silence for a while before he finally spoke, "What do you mean they aren't coming off? The water is infused with the Pink Cloud, so they should just...Don't tell me... Dry off and step out here quick! I need to see!" He sounded urgent, so I immediately dried off and stepped out of the stall. Within seconds he was next to me, looking me up and down. Then he backed up with a look of worry and confusion on his face…and a little scared as well. Concerned, I asked him what was wrong. He just sat down and after a few moments, he finally mustered up the strength to speak, "You're...a Zony...half pony, half zebra. I've heard rumors about one back before the war, but never have I met one before. And you've even got wings! This is...I don't know what to feel about this. Part of me wants to run away and another part is making me insanely curious." However his curiosity started to turn darker as he became angry. "Wait, how do I know you didn’t make all that stuff up? About your memory, being a Ranger, that ponies triggered the massacre? Explain yourself!"

I was now backing up, scared that the first person I met now looked like he might kill me. "Hold on sec! I wasn’t lying about before. I really don't remember who I am, and I told you the flashback just like I remembered it. I don’t know what else to tell you!" With all the courage I could muster, I looked him right in the eye and began explaining the best I could, "Look. I know that you were there for the war and that you have a right to hate zebras. But I really don't know who I am! Believe me, I wish I could remember. I'm just as scared and confused as you are. I find it impossible that I'm from the past, but that staff photo shows I was there. I wish I could tell you why I have that armor, if that flashback was real or why I have these stripes and wings, but I can't!" I just let out all my frustration and as I went on, I could see Silver Song begin to get taken aback. He looked away for a bit, unable to meet my gaze. When I finally finished, he looked back up and our gazes held for what seemed like ages. As always, he was the first to break the silence.

"Look, I'm sorry. It’s just everything about you is just… impossible. The story, you being a Ranger… and a zony! It's just all too much to take in at once. There's no way what you can be saying is true..." as I started to interject, he raised his hoof to stop me. "...But maybe it's just because I don't want to believe it. While all the facts are here, in this room, telling me that what you are saying is true, there is just a part of me that can't accept it. So, for now, I will believe you."

I let out a big sigh of relief. I couldn’t bear the thought of having a fight with him, especially after all that has happened today. Unsure of where to go from here, I asked, "So what now?" He closed his eyes for a second, then shook his head and was back to being his normal, cheerful self. "For now, let’s see if there are any clues in your locker. Perhaps reading those books or wearing that armor might reveal something. Let's go ahead and lay your stuff out."

Without a second thought, I went and opened it up and laid out everything. This time I paid more attention to each item. First, I focused on the armor. The leather seemed very durable and strong, but was also very light. It was light blue and bore a crescent moon on the chest piece and a decorated pauldron for the right shoulder. There were also two holes for my wings to go through. The armor itself had leather straps around it, so it seemed I would have to attach the pieces together. I put it aside for later. Next up were the books. There were five in total, "Fallen Caesar Style fundamentals", "Equestria's Lost Combat and Tactics", "Terrain Association for New Rangers", my journal and the one ancient book "Bards of Equestria." After reading the title of that last one, I realized that it felt out of place. I must've had a thing for music. First the lyrics in my journal and now this ancient book on bards. I looked up from the books to ask Silver Song a question, but he already had an answer. "No, I do not recall any singer in Equestria, or in the Zebra Nation for that matter, that looked anything like you. Trust me, I would remember that. It was my area of expertise as a journalist. I had sources all over the world that would tell me of any notable singers. You’re not one of them." Feeling a little disappointed and insulted, I snorted back in response.

Going back to the equipment, I moved on to the saddle bag. It was a regular old saddle bag, except one side had a large pouch and the other side had a rifle holster. I figured the rifle must be in the Arms Room. The cola bottles were covered in dust, but I wondered if they would still be any good or not. And finally, the journal. It was just an ordinary journal. After flipping through the pages hoping to find more than just a set of lyrics, a small sticky note fell out. I looked at it and it had a combination written on it. Perhaps it was the one to the Arms Room! "Hey. Look at this! I think I found the combination to the Arms Room." As he craned his head to look at the sticky note, a spark lit up in his eyes. He started to get a little excited. "It just might be. Let’s go ahead and try it out!" I packed everything up into the bag and put it next to the locker. As we walked over to the Arms Room, right before I got to the keypad, Silver stopped moving and whispered, "Don't move!" I looked back at him. "Look, I promise, I'm not gonna sho..." I stopped as I noticed he wasn’t looking at me, but directly behind us. And there was a lot of fear in his eyes.

I slowly followed to where his gaze went to see the exit door was wide open and standing in the doorway was this huge Feral. It must've been three times the size of a regular full-grown stallion. It wore an old, padded security outfit and a nameplate that had the first part of its name scratched out, but the second part "Heart" was still there. Although the second letter was scratched out, so it looked more like "Hart". As we stood there, too afraid to move, it looked around the room before finally settling its gaze upon us. It let out this huge roar that shook the room and charged towards us. We hauled ass as we bolted towards the door we came in from, rounding the corner of some lockers before making a straight beeline to the door. Right as it was about to turn the corner, it slid and fell against the wall. That was all we needed. In an instant, we were both at the door back into the office. As Silver Song tried to squeeze in, I looked back to see the giant ghoul barreling towards us. I immediately turned and kicked my first friend through the doorway and slid through just a second before there was a huge Whomp! behind me. We both turned to see that the door was now slammed shut and a huge dent in the middle of the door. There was no way we were gonna be able to use that door again.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me! How could I forget about Hart?!" Silver Song was practically screaming at this point. All he got in response was loud banging from the ferals out in the hallway. "Oh, shut the hell up out there!" That just seemed to make them more frantic. He was about to go nuts when I yelled out to him, "Silver! Just stop! Yelling at them will just make them even more agitated. Anyway, you mentioned that you forgot about that huge ass feral earlier. You're saying you knew about that thing?"

When he turned to answer me, there was still anger in his eyes, but it wasn’t directed at me. "Yes, I knew about him. He's a real pain in my ass! I've been here for weeks and once in a while, I will run into him. And he’s all brawn, little brain. Like a regular feral, except he's a whole lot bigger. I call him Hart on account of the fact that’s what his name tag says. Every time I would see the giant fucker, he would spot me and start charging at me. It's like he knew I didn’t belong here." He sat down in frustration as he continued, "Now with him in there, there is no way we will be able to get to the Arms Room, let alone your equipment. And we are also trapped in here. That door won’t open now, and the other door has close to a hundred smaller ferals just waiting for us to step out." His face went from angry to exhausted and he seemed to give up as he lay down on the floor. "Out of all the shit I've been through, this is what gets me?"

I was thinking about giving up too and looked to the heavens for guidance. After staring up for a while, I found my guidance. "Silver, I know a way out of here!" He just snorted, "Unless you found a secret passage beneath our feet, we ain't going nowhere." A little tired of his attitude, I kicked a rock directly at his head. "Ow! What’s the big idea, you..." He stopped as I pointed up towards the ceiling. "...Or perhaps you could find one above us instead.”

Soon we were crawling through a ventilation shaft back to the Security Room. As we got to the grate overlooking the room, we could still see Hart walking around the room as if still searching for us. Behind me I could hear the cranky ghoul whisper, "So did you have a plan or we gonna watch to see if he leaves?" I did have a plan, but I wasn’t going to like it one bit. So I told him the plan and he just sat there speechless for a moment before angrily whispering back, "Are you out of you bloody mind? That’s probably the fastest way you can kill us. There has to be a better way to kill the overgrown thing?" The look in my eyes as I turned to face him told him that it was the only way. Before he could say another word, I interrupted him, "Look, I know you want to get out of here, but the only answers to my past lay right next to my locker. I'm not leaving until I get that bag. Also, we need those weapons. Just do your part and we'll be fine. Trust me."

Before he could get a chance to argue, I kicked open the grate and jumped onto one of the lockers. Not a moment after I landed, Hart turned his gaze right to me and charged in my direction. Right before he could get to the locker, I quickly jumped onto the ground on the other side and ran to the showers while hollering up to Silver Song, "Go! Go now!" Without turning to look to see if he had heard me, I quickly started turning on all the showers, aiming the shower heads outside the stalls. Halfway through, I heard a loud thud! and turned to see Hart was already here and already barreling towards me. I waited until just the last second before leaping out of the way. The big oaf tried to turn, but ended up sliding on the water, right past me. It slammed straight into the wall, and I could hear its neck snap upon impact.

I figured that there was no way it could be alive now, so I walked towards the showers to start turning them off. As soon as I reached the stall closest to the ghoul, I saw it twitch. With no time for me to react, it turned around with insane speed and slammed me hard with one of its forehooves. The force sent me flying right across the room and straight into the wall. I could feel most of my ribs break on impact and blood run down my forehead as it got up and charged towards me. My vision was becoming blurry. I felt the ground tremble as it was almost upon me. It was about to slam into me when out of nowhere, there was a large Bang!. Next thing I knew, the great behemoth fell to its side with a huge gaping hole in its head, followed by a, "Alright! I finally got you, you son-of-a-bitch!". I turned to see Silver Song wielding a shotgun, a triumphant look in his eyes. I wanted to congratulate him when my vision began to fade. I could just make out Silver Song saying, "Hey! Hang in there buddy! I won't let you die on me that easily." That was the last thing I remember before going unconscious.

…

I awoke later, unable to move. My whole body was sore and aching. I couldn’t even move my head. As my vision began to clear, I noticed that I was still in the locker room. Across from me, I saw Silver Song looking down and reading one of my books. It was the Bards of Equestria book. He seemed to be fascinated as his eyes were lit up and a smirk on his face. I tried to talk to him and let him know I was awake, but I couldn’t get any words out. I felt the weakness take over me and faded back into darkness.

…

The next time I awoke, I was feeling a lot better and found I was able to move my legs. Although they were still very sore, so I was slow getting up. After managing to stand up, I looked around and noticed my friend wasn’t nearby. Huh? Must’ve gone exploring again. Figured it'd be best to leave him to it for now. "Might as well do my own little exploration." As I looked around the locker room, I saw Hart, laying on the opposite side of the room with a gaping hole in his head. Sweet Celestia, what kind of shotgun did he find in there? Suddenly, an idea came to me, and I walked towards the arms room to see what else was in there.

As I entered the cage, I noticed that it was way bigger than what it seemed. From the outside, it appeared to be a small cage, but there was a door in the back that led to another room with more weapons. In the room I was in, there were a lot of small arms and ammo, but over the course of time, most of them were corroded and lost to time. It seemed that all the weapons here were unusable. Although the same couldn’t be said for the ammo. Most of the rounds survived the test of time, but most of the rounds belonged to the handguns, which also made them useless at this time. After getting a good look at the first room, I walked into the second room and saw that it was in much better condition than the previous one. In here, there were a few various weapons and they all seemed in good condition. To my right, I saw an empty locker and figured that’s where Silver got the rifle from. Yet as I made a closer inspection upon the other lockers, they all had a more secure lock. And to my dismay, they were all locked. There was no way they would open without the right key, or some incredible lockpicking skills.

In the far back, there was a light blue locker with a crescent moon on it. Upon closer inspection, the lock was the same as the one on my locker. "Huh. So, this must be mine. Wonder what's inside." Anticipation began to overtake me until I remembered I still don’t know how I opened the last one. I recall it opened after a I leaned against….no way. A weird thought occurred and I pressed my cutie mark up against it. After a few seconds, I heard a click. As I opened the locker, what lay before me was unreal. It was a sniper rifle.

I took hold of the rifle and began to examine it in awe. It was black, with gold decorated edging. It had a very advanced scope that could zoom in and out. On the buttstock was my cutie mark, so it must’ve been made specifically for me. As I looked all over it, I could not find where the ammo went and the barrel seemed to be that of a laser rifle, but different than the other ones in the Arms Room. Was this weapon corroded as well or is there something I'm just not getting? I decided to look at it more later and took it out to put it next to my locker. Silver Song had yet to arrive still, so I decided to read through one of my books "Terrain Association for New Rangers". After reading through it a few times, I felt exhausted and decided to take a nap.

I felt a few nudges before awaking to see Silver Song standing above me. "Rise and shine you little wanderer. It’s time we left this place and I, for one, am not keen on saving your sorry butt a fourth time." I could see him grinning a little bit, but I knew he wasn’t joking either. We'd almost died twice because of my carelessness and as grateful as I was for him taking care of me and helping me learn a bit about who I was, I could tell that he wanted to get out of here, still in one piece.

I was still a little stiff from yesterday, so it took me a while to get up. I kinda wanted to go back to sleep a little bit longer, but I remembered that we still weren’t alone. Out in the hallway, there were still ferals wandering around. I could barely hear their shuffling, but we both knew they were there. So, I went into my locker and started to put on my armor. It took a few minutes, but once I had it on, I was shocked. The leather felt so smooth against my body, and it was super light. It was hard to believe that this would protect me. While I was finishing getting my saddlebag packed, Silver Song was loading a handgun he managed to find. Luckily for him, there seemed to be plenty of 9mm ammunition.

As he was loading, he looked at the rifle I was holding and whistled, “Now that is a beauty. You got any ammo for it?”

I shook my head. “I wish. I don’t even know what ammo it takes or if it takes ammo for that matter.”

Chuckling, he gestured for me to hand it over. “I got you, let me take a look and I can tell you what you need.” After handing it over, he rotated the rifle around, his grin soon turning to confusion. “What the hell…” Confusion then turned to annoyance as he started looking even closer and inspecting every detail about it. After a good minute, he just snorted and handed it back to me. “I give. That is a weapon beyond me. I’d say it was a really cool prop, but it's not. It’s weighted and balanced too well. For sure, I can tell you it’s a laser rifle, it’s very advanced and that it has no entry port for any magazines or cell cartridges, or even signs of one even existing.”

Noticing my disappointment, he tried to cheer me up. “Look, no need to get down, I didn’t say it was hopeless. Just that I’ve never seen a weapon like this before, so there’s probably something I’m not seeing. Now I know of an old tech expert up near Manehatten. Goes by the name Tech Chrome. Tell him I sent ya and he will get you squared away. You’ll want to head to Ponyville first. It’s a little town, so you might be able to find some supplies there, though you should find a way to hide your stripes first. Then head northeast, going around Canterlot. The place is infested with way more ghouls and ferals than you can count. Finally you’ll come to the tracks that will take you to Manehatten. Stay in cover and away from the tracks, but keep them in your sight until you reach Manehatten. Finally you’ll look for Tenpony Tower. It’s a huge damn building, so you can’t miss it. You got all that?”

After going over it in my head a few times, I nodded. “Yeah I got it.”

Seeming satisfied, he continued, “Good. Now I want you to understand something. I’ve told you a few times now about how the wasteland works out here and that you’re lucky I’m not an asshole. Don’t go immediately trusting anypony, no matter how nice they seem. There are many out there who will do anything to rob you blind, capture you to sell to raiders or slavers, or just straight up kill you. Even in Manehatten, there are a few ponies who will try to take advantage of you, so be very careful to trust any pony.” Pointing to my saddlebag, he continued, “Now there’s too many supplies here for me to carry and it’d be a crying shame to just waste them by leaving them here, so we're sharing medical and food. There is food there for roughly four to five days, enough to last you until you get to Manehatten. If there wasn’t only one working gun in here, I’d also set you up with that. I’ll walk with you up to the gate and then we will go our separate ways. So, if you’re ready, let's head out while the coast is still clear.”

“Gotcha, let me just double-check that I got everything real quick and I’ll be set.” Dropping my saddlebag, I went over my inventory. I had my books, medical and food supplies, the cola bottles and my rifle. After making sure my armor was fitted, I loaded the saddlebag onto my back and nodded to him.

“Ok…Let’s go”

Without any hesitation, he led the way to the back door and carefully opened it. Poking his head outside, he looked around for a bit before giving me the signal it was safe. Moving as quickly and silently as we could, we wove our way through the courtyard, avoiding the skeletons that lay scattered around the campus. A few minutes later, we reached the gate, when Silver Song turned to me.

“This is where we go our separate ways. From here on out, you’re on your own. So long as you don’t forget what I’ve told you, you ought to live a little longer. Remember, head straight to Manehatten and don’t stop there until you reach Tenpony Tower. Maybe one day our paths will cross again.”

I started to feel sad since he was my first and only friend and I wanted to ask to go with him, but I needed answers and Manehatten was the best place to start. “Thanks Silver, I won’t forget what you’ve done for me.”

Nodding back, he turned his head towards the road. “Now get going. Time for you to go wander and survive the wasteland.” He paused, then chuckled to himself. “You know what? That suits you. I’m gonna call you Wanderer from now on.” Wanderer, eh? I liked it. “I will be heading south from here. Not sure where I’ll end up yet.” As we headed out our separate ways, I looked back at the academy one last time and remembered the poor fillies that were trapped in there.

“I’ll come back for yall when I can, I promise.”

…..

It had been two days since then and I was getting more accustomed to life in the wasteland. Whenever I stopped to eat or sleep, I would pour over my books and practice the fighting techniques within, occasionally humming tunes to the lyrics in my journal. I learned quickly to stay off the main road and hidden from view after being chased by a group of raiders not too long after I left Little Horn valley, losing most of my medical supplies in the process. Also, to camp even further away and to never have a campfire after dark, as well as what wood to use so as not to produce a lot of smoke. Thanks to the Terrain Association book, I was able to get a better idea of the surrounding area and how far I had left to go. Finally, Silver Song was right. Flying was a bad idea, as I would get shot at almost every time I did, by either slavers or raiders. So, for now, I decided it would be best to just walk there.

Currently, I was in a large patch of woods following the main trail to Ponyville, far off and out of view as usual. The woods made me feel at ease and I had a knack for sensing if anything was nearby. I had travelled more than halfway so far and noticed it would soon be night. As I got ready to find a place to sleep, I noticed the faint glow of a campfire further into the woods. I didn’t know if they were friendly or not, and it was too risky to travel any further as it began to get dark. Dropping my armor and gear, I decided to investigate. As I got closer, I could hear multiple voices and dropped low, slowly creeping through the shadows until I was able to see them more clearly. In the outline of the campfire, I was able to make out a small caravan full of supplies and four ponies huddled around the fire. There were two mares, one older and one younger, around my age, a young filly and an older stallion. There didn’t seem to be any indications of them being raiders or slavers in disguise, so I figured it would be safe to sleep somewhere nearby tonight. Deciding it was time to head back, I crept backwards, unaware of the twig behind me.

Snap!

The family went silent, and the older stallion got up, levelling a shotgun in my direction. “Who’s there? Show yourself!”

Cursing to myself, I stepped out into the clearing. “Don’t shoot, I mean you no harm.”
He looked at me in disbelief. “Oh yeah, and I bet you were just hiding in the bushes like any good neighbor. Nah…you give me a reason why I should believe a damn zebra...pegasus... what the hell are you?”

I decided my best course of action was to just tell him the truth, “First off, I’m a Zony, half pegasus, half zebra and I’m a traveler heading to Manehatten. I decided to stop for the night and saw your campfire. I wasn’t sure if you were a threat or not, so I snuck up here to try and get a good look to see if it was safe to sleep nearby or not.” I couldn’t tell if I had convinced him or not, so I went on, “Look I’m not one of them raiders or slavers, I swear. I don’t want any trouble and will move on if it bothers you.” The older stallion still looked unconvinced, and as we both stood there waiting to see who would break the tense silence first, the young mare got up and walked from behind him and slowly towards me. As she got closer, I was able to see more of her and was surprised. She was a beautiful pegasus, with a pure white coat and a long blue mane, with an ice flower for a cutie mark. I was under the impression that pegasi were a rare sight to find under the clouds. The older stallion got worried and called out to her.

“Lily, what are you doing!? Get back here!”

She ignored him and soon was right in front of me, sniffing the air. Then looking right into my eyes, my heart skipped a beat. Damn me if she didn’t have such deep, beautiful eyes. I felt myself start to flush a little and she gently smiled before turning back to the others. “It’s ok, I don’t smell any blood on him or sense any intent to cause harm to us.” They all sighed with relief and the older stallion lowered his shotgun.

“Sorry ‘bout that, but we had to make sure you weren’t a threat to us. I’m sure you understand.”

Relieved that I could live another night, I nodded. “I understand, I’m glad to know you’re also friendly.”

Lily looked to the older mare. “Can he spend the night with us, Ma? I want to see if he has any stories for us.”

Still a bit uncertain, she hesitated to give an answer, “Well…”

Soon the little filly was bouncing around, all excited. “Stories! Stories! Stories!”

Chuckling, the father looked to me. “Hold on now. It’s up to this young one if he wants to stay or move on. What do ya say, stranger? Care to stay with us for the night?”

Looking to each of them, I bowed my head and smiled. “Sure, why not.”

The little filly got even more excited and began to jump around me. “Yay, more stories!” She ran around and began nuzzling herself under one of my wings. “Wooow, you have wings just like Miss Lily!” She poked her head out to look at me and I couldn’t help but smile and laugh a little.

I looked back to the rest. “If y'all don’t mind, let me go grab my gear nearby and bring it over.” Looking back down to the little one, I leaned in and whispered loud enough for the others to hear, “and then I’ll tell you all the stories you want to hear.” She was beaming and I looked up to see the mother smiling in defeat.

“I can’t say no to that, now, can I? Lily, get supper ready and Jesse dear, help our guest with his gear please?”

Jesse dipped his head and turned to me. “Lead the way.”

After we got my gear, I sat down by the campfire and introduced myself. After that, they introduced themselves. The parents were Jesse and Darlene, and the adorable, bouncing filly was Blossom. As Lily distributed the bowls of soup, I started to tell my story, and her and Blossom settled themselves on either side of me, with Blossom snuggling herself under a wing, her head poking out and listening intently to every word. They all seemed to enjoy my tale, even though I could tell they didn’t believe the part about me being immune to the Pink Cloud and radiation in general or that I was from the past, but it didn’t matter to me. It was a peaceful night, and they were a friendly group of ponies. As everyone started to turn it for the night, they put out the fire. When everyone else was asleep, Lily walked over to me and nuzzled herself up next to me, snuggling under my wing. She was warm and I felt comforted by her presence. Soon, we too fell asleep.

…..

Morning had now come, and I awoke to see everyone was still asleep. Lily was still curled up and I didn’t want to wake her. Nor the others for that matter just yet. It didn’t seem like these folks get the chance to sleep in peace like this very often, so I just kept watch. Took a while for me to notice my back was a little heavier than usual and I turned my head to see Blossom all curled up into a ball on it. Smiling to myself, I waited. A good hour or two later, Jesse was the first to wake. He stretched for a bit before looking around, his eyes settling on me and smiled with sympathy as he saw my situation. He woke Darlene and when she too saw us, she gave such a warm smile.

“They seem to like you, Wanderer. I’m glad we made the right choice in trusting you last night. Poor girls have been through so much lately, especially dear Lily.”

I was now curious to hear more. “I take it your daughters have been through some rough times recently?” She shook her head.

“Daughter. Although I wish I could take credit, Lily joined us a few years back when we found her on the outskirts of Fillydelphia and has been like family ever since, especially with Blossom. The Enclave had been after her ever since she escaped Thunderhead. She never talks about what happened there and we don’t ask. It seems to bring painful memories and to be honest, I was surprised to see her reaction with you yesterday. We thought you were here to take her back and were prepared to defend her.” We both looked at her as she went on. “This is the first time I have ever seen her like this, and it makes me happy she could find some peace in these hellish times.” Looking back to me, she softly pleaded, “I know it’s too much to ask, but won’t you consider travelling with us? I know you said you were going to Manehatten, but the kids seem to like you and you seem like a good sort.” Even as she said that, I had already thought about it earlier. I felt a connection with this family, even if I only knew them briefly. But I knew that I couldn’t, and so sadly shook my head.

Smiling sadly now, she dipped her head. “I understand, but I had to try. They’ll miss you, especially little Blossom here.” She walked over and gently nudged her awake.

Giving of a huge yawn, Blossom got up and in a second, all traces of tiredness had disappeared. “Morning mister…” she looked around until her eyes lay on Lily, then followed down until her gaze settled on her tail and got a mischievous look in her eyes. She aimed and pounced on it.

Lily’s eyes went wide open and with a squeak, bolted headfirst into the bushes. We all looked, as moments later, she emerged covered in twigs and dirt and, oh, was she mad. I looked back to see Blossom giggling at her small victory. “Miss Lily, why you look like you need a bath…” but never got to finish as Lily flew right on to her and just sat on her.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of her trying to free herself as she pleaded, “OK, OK, I’m sorry. Get your huge flank off of me!” Lily just looked around and smiled. “Oh wow, did I sure find such a wonderful cushion out here! Wanderer, what do you think? Isn’t it just amazing?” I couldn’t help but go along with it.

“Oh yeah, I mean what are the odds of someone throwing out such a perfectly good cushion into the middle of the woods?” Blossom just looked at me in shock.

“Traitor! You’re supposed to be on my side!” We were now all laughing at the plight she brought upon herself before Lily finally released her. As we all packed up our gear, it was time to say our farewells. And I was really sad to do so because I had taken a liking to them and the offer to go with them was really tempting. However, it also meant I might never find the answers to my past and I needed those more than anything right now.

As we said our goodbyes, Lily and Blossom came to me. Blossom was the first to speak, “Do you really have to leave? You’re really fun.” Leaning down, I put my forehead to hers.

“Yes, I need to find out who I am, or I might never know.”

She nodded and gave me a big hug before heading back to her parents. Now it was Lily’s turn and the one I was the saddest to leave behind. However, she was smiled with a look of understanding. “I knew you couldn’t stay with us, and I hope you find the answers you're looking for in Manehatten. Promise you’ll come visit us in Appleloosa one day?” Trying to hold back tears, I promised.

“Good. I’ll be waiting for you then. Stay safe out there, alright?” I promised again and she gave me a hug as well, but for a little longer this time. We then went our separate ways and thoughts of them stayed on my mind.

I started to head towards a hill Jesse told me about last night and within an hour, I was there, and the sight was absolutely breathtaking. I could see the end of the forest was not too far and further out in the distance was Ponyville and Canterlot. Outside Ponyville, I noticed a small village that had some activity. Darlene mentioned it and warned me to be careful of it. Not because it belonged to raiders, slavers or the Enclave, but because it was home to thieves and swindlers. And all my gear would be very enticing to sell or steal. So, it would probably be best to skirt around it for now. As I was getting ready to put my armor back on, the air was pierced by gunshots and screams. I perked my ears to get a better idea where it was coming from and pinpointed it to the direction I just came from. “Oh no, that’s the way the family went!” Without hesitation, I started to turn, but remembered that I had a rifle I didn’t know how to use and not sure if it was a battle I could win. Then my thoughts went dark as I imagined them being hurt and I started flying through the woods.

I had to do something!

Eventually the sounds of gunfire and shouting grew louder as I got closer, when I saw a pony limping away towards me. It was Lily! I rushed to her, and my blood froze. She was covered red with blood, and I could see multiple wounds. Her eyes were full of fear, but were soon overflowing with tears when she saw me.

“Wanderer!! Thank the stars I found you. I beg of you, please save us!” Before I could reach her, she collapsed, and I was scared it was too late. When I reached her, I noticed she was still breathing, but in really bad shape. As I started to reach for a potion, I heard another scream further near the fight, but this time it was from a filly. Blossom! Quickly, I lifted Lily’s head and helped her swallow the potion. Laying her head back down, I swore to come back, dropped my gear and rushed to where the others were, ignoring the branches and thorns cutting into me as I tore through the forest. The noise was starting to fade when suddenly, I broke into a clearing and stopped. The clearing I had rushed into was a part of the main trail and on the other side was a sheer drop. There was a precipice jutting out from the cliff and had a single tree. Below that tree were two raiders laughing and cheering, but that wasn’t the reason I stopped. They had a rope swung over a lower branch and were hoisting something up. The reason why I stopped was because that something was Blossom. She was cut up bad and could barely struggle to free herself from the rope. Further to the side were the bodies of Jesse and Darlene. They were cut and carved into and their last expressions were of fear. My heart was pounding like crazy, too shocked to pick which emotion to feel the most right now. I was racked with grief, pain and rage. It wasn’t long before one of the raiders noticed me behind them and looked to me with a vicious smile. His voice was like blades, “Look. Look! Another toy to play with. HAHAHAHA, I call dibs on his wings. They would look great on my wall.” The other raider, a mare, cut him off.

“Hell no! You got to play with those two meat sacks and all I got was this little thing. I want him!” She started looking me up and down. “Besides, he looks like he could satisfy me a little before I carve his hide for my wall. I’ve never felt a zebra before!” Her words cut me from the shock.

“You were the one who did that…to Blossom…?” She gave off a maniacal laugh.

“Oh yes! I’ll tell you what, she was definitely a screamer. I took great pains to make it last, but the little ones always bleed out quicker. Soon she’ll be dead, but I’m so fucking happy you came along! Now I can satisfy two pleasures tonight!” Her face started to contort with psychotic lust as she walked toward me, the other raider jumping around, waiting for the show to start.

I broke. Rage welled up inside of me as I charged in. I aimed for the mare first and she was surprised at my sudden reaction. I didn’t give her the chance to recover. In an instant, I was in front of her and spun low, kicking out hard to sweep her legs out from under her and then crushing her throat under my hoof as she landed, leaving her to slowly die, gasping for air. The other raider wasted no time however and was soon upon me, swinging a spiked club down towards my head, but I saw it coming. Ducking backwards, the raider ended up bashing in the head of his partner, turning it into bloody pulp. While he was trying to pull the club back out, I charged hard right into him and kept pushing, knocking him right off the cliff. I stood there and watched as he plummeted to his death, hoofs flailing and screaming until the rocks below cut him off. Shaking with rage, I stood there for a moment before remembering Blossom and ran to get her down. She was in bad shape, but she was still breathing.

“Hold on Blossom, I got you! Your gonna be alright…”

There was a rustle in the bushes behind me. Spinning around, there was another raider, but this one was much bigger and had spiked metal armor on him. He looked at me, then the dead raider and spoke with a collected, rough voice.

“Where is the other one? I left two here.”

With satisfaction, I told him, “Oh, your friend decided to go skydiving. Want to try?”

He just smirked. “Nice offer, but you’re out of your league. I commend you on killing them and you don’t seem to be suffering from a single blow. Tell you what, I'll overlook this loss if you submit to me. It's not easy finding good fighters out here in the shit, but you will do nicely. My master would reward you well for your services. I’ll even let you keep that little useless clump as a pet.”

I was surprised by his sudden offer, but as I remembered what they did to Lily and her family, I spat at him, “Go to Tartarus!”

Sighing in frustration, he crouched down. “If that’s your answer, so be it.” With surprising speed, he charged straight at me, swiping at my head with a spiked hoof. It was too fast to dodge, and I was just barely able to block it. The force behind the blow was too great and as it connected, I felt myself being lifted from the ground. Soon, I was flying and hit a tree with such impact, the ribs I broke before cracked again and my left foreleg broke. Struggling to get back up, I was pushed back down hard and looked up to see the huge raider there, with one hoof holding me down. He was grinning.

“I must say, that was very disappointing. I actually took you seriously for a second and you were actually this weak? Seems the ponies I recruit nowadays are just worthless trash. Any last words?”

A voice rang out, “Yeah. Fuck You!”

Before the raider could turn to see who spoke, a white and red blur knocked into him hard, making him stagger, right to the edge of the cliff. It was Lily! He turned and looked with pleasure.

“So that’s where you went, you little bitch. Thanks for saving me the trouble of finding you!”

As he raised up onto his hindlegs to deliver a deadly blow, I used all my energy to get up and charge into him as hard as I could at his chest. It was just enough to make him lose his footing and he tumbled down over the cliffside, cursing in rage until there was silence. I looked over to see his body mangled and unmoving. Turning back to check on Lily, I saw her staring at Blossom and my heart broke for her. She was too shocked to move or speak. As I hobbled over to hold them, slowly, Lily lifter her head to me, scared and unsure.

“She’s gonna be ok, right…. you can save her…can’t you?” Her body was shaking and her eyes were begging to hear any hope of saving her little sister.

I nodded to her. “It’s not too late. Quickly, let’s see if there are any medical supplies left.” Immediately, she brightened up a little and we looked around to see what we could find. Luckily, the medical supplies weren’t damaged, and we did what we could. Finally, we carefully moved her to a covered area not too far in the woods and gently laid her down. Now only time would tell.

Looking to Lily, I could see the tears were finally starting to come out. She began to wail in grief and…I didn’t have any words, so I held her close. This was the only comfort I could give. We stayed like that for a long time, until she ran out of tears and stopped shaking. I backed up and her eyes were red, her mouth moving, but no words coming out. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how she must be feeling and decided to tend to her wounds. Knowing she wouldn’t go anywhere, I quickly went to work. She didn’t fight or move as I worked to remove the bullets, sew up her wounds and bandage her up, making sure not to miss anything. Eventually, she exhausted herself and fell asleep. I felt so bad for her. Sure, I really liked the family, but she had been with them for years. I would need to be there for her when she woke up. I looked back and knew they should at least be given a proper funeral. After collecting the bodies, I took them to a nearby creek to wash off all the dirt and dried blood. There was no shovel to bury them, and the ground was too hard to dig by hoof, so I began to create a pyre. It took longer due to my injuries, but I ignored the pain as best I could. As I was almost finished with the pyre, I felt a nudge in the side of my flank and turned to see Lily looking up at me. “I want to help.” Giving her a gentle smile, I led her over to the Jesse and Darlene and we lifted them one by one onto the pyre. After they were both on the pyre, I lit it up and we stood there, saying our thanks and goodbyes, waiting until the last ember went out. Turning to Lily, I asked what she planned to do next.

She just stood there for a while in a daze, before looking to the ground. “I don’t know…they…they were my purpose…my family…now all that’s left are me and Blossom. I have to take care of her now… but I don’t know what to do.” As she trailed off, my heart ached for her, and I knew I couldn’t leave her like this.

“You have me.”

She turned to me in surprise. Flushing in embarrassment, I went on, “Look, I don’t know what it’s like to have a family, but you were the first ponies I’ve met that made me feel like I could be a part of one. I know I can’t replace Jesse or Darlene, but I promise I would never leave you or Blossom alone. I’ll be your family…if you think that’s ok…” I was starting to get nervous, when she wrapped me up in her hooves and cried.

“If you really mean that, then I’ll stay with you. I don’t want to be alone again.” We held each other tight for some time. Night began to fall, so I let go and tried to compose myself. “We’ll need to find a safer place to sleep, but before that, I need you to check on Blossom as I go and grab my gear further up the hill. While I’m gone, go ahead and see if there is anything you want to take to remember them by, as well as any supplies you can carry. We will head to Ponyville in the morning and should arrive there in the next day or two. You going to be ok for now?"

She nodded her head, wiping away tears from her face. “Yeah I’ll be ok. We can use the clearing from the night before. I’ll get Blossom and meet you there.” Taking off towards the hill, I was hit with sharp pains, reminding me I had cracked ribs and a broken leg. Once I had all my gear, I drank a potion to help with the pain and quickly walked back down to where Lily and Blossom were waiting for me…

Soon it was morning, and we could smell rain coming our way. Lily was beginning to look nervously at the sky, and I tried to cheer her up, “Don’t worry, we won't be flying to Ponyville. Besides, we're still recovering from our injuries, so it wouldn’t be safe anyway.”

“It’s not flying I’m worried about.” Shaking her head, she continued, “It's the rain. Notice how the clouds are greener than usual. It’s going to be filled with radiation and I’m not really fond of what follows…” I realized she must have been referring to thunder and lightning. That and she wasn’t immune to the radiation like I was.

“You got a point…we will have to take shelter in the ruins just outside of the trading town. Darlene warned me about the ponies there and we’re in no condition to defend ourselves.” Turning back towards Blossom, she looked even more worried. “And we need to get her real help quick. She was weak and feverish when I checked on her this morning and we should refit the small cart to carry her and our supplies, as well as provide them some cover.”

So we set to it and once we were ready, we left. Soon we were outside the forest and could see some of the ruins in the distance. Lily pointed towards an abandoned building on the outskirts of the ruins “Let's head there for now.” Looking towards the forest one more time, we turned around and headed for the outskirts of Ponyville...

Author's Note

This specific chapter took quite a bit of reworking as I wasn't entirely sure what was the best outcome for Blossom. So I finally decided to keep her alive and to continue the journey with Wanderer and Lily. I can't wait to show you what is in store for them next...