Applebloom was snuggled into her chest when she awoke.

With a gentle yawn she carefully detached herself from the smaller mare, smiling as Applebloom gave a grumble at the loss of warmth while she left the sleeping bag, and swiftly zipped it up to keep the cold out. It was bright enough that she could see around the room of the worn down station they were in, everything being bathed in a mute hue of green as the sunlight diffused through the leafy-coloured tarpaulin barely covering the massive hole in the building's side. She breathed out and frowned at the small cloud of mist that formed as she stood up properly, immediately noting the lower temperature and the slight powdering of snow built up around the tarp's edges, suppressing a shiver as the morning whistled into the room. It was always quite bad in the mornings until the sun fully rose, and it seemed that it was delayed again today.

The weather didn't make sense anymore. Beyond the idea that the sun and moon would rise and fall in due time, just about everything else was unpredictable and chaotic. A week after the Singularity she'd watched massive lightning storms form just past Appleloosa that had thankfully dissipated a majority of energy before they fully hit the town, though there had still been plenty of damage. She'd been given permission to take the necessary supplies and travelled out to meet with her cousin Braeburn to check the wellbeing of the town, finding that it had thankfully been mostly structural with minor injuries to the townsfolk.

She hoped he was still alive, and still doing well. They'd been holding on even if they were in the same dire straits as Ponyville had been, though that had been a few months before she and Applebloom had set out.

Sighing, she glanced to the window still covered over with a cut section of tarp and went over, slowly freeing and lifting one side to peer out. From the window view lay the immediate open area of the station and its damaged rusted joint tracks down between the platforms, though the station was less than it should have been. The platforms were blackened and discoloured to a certain point, the bricks on the far side slagged and settled into something akin to eroded concrete, with a massive furrow that cut across the site and dragged on into the distance before abruptly stopping. A brazen result of a pillar of fire coming through the area, still obvious despite the ice and snow that had built up within the mighty gouge, the station itself barely being spared by chance.

Beyond the station following the cauterised scar and outward was the barren ashland laid over in white, the sheer heat from the fiery pillar had rendered the surrounding area desolate, and radiation had done the rest. A few lone gnarled shrubs or stubborn tufts of mutated plant still dotted the landscape further on, breaking up the wide stretch of snowy nothing until she rested her eyes on the desiccated woods she commonly travelled between and Threshold not much farther beyond that.

She didn't spot anything nasty lurking out in the flats, this part of the Western Ranges was often clearer as there wasn't much to be had out here for bandits or monsters. Everything worth having was within Threshold or one of the other cities or smaller towns, it was partly why she'd chosen this location to stay in even with the drawbacks of being somewhat open to the elements.

Everything seemed normal for now, as far as normal could be these days.

She moved back across the room and sat for a moment before the remnants of the fire, picking up an unmarked tin of what she suspected were probably carrots. With what she'd gathered yesterday they would have enough for the week, though she'd like to find more so they could actually have full bellies for once without having to worry too much. Opening the tin with a can opener lying near the precious pile of food she raised an eyebrow in surprise to see baked beans in a sauce, far better than carrots. She ate half the contents cold and left it atop the others, Applebloom would see it and finish it off soon.

Done with that she began to gather what she'd need for the trek out, getting up and grabbing her pack to double-check everything. She'd already cleared and sorted it last night but she didn't want to haul anything that wasn't necessary. Inside was the bottle of water and ration bar she'd held off of having yesterday, a spare filter for the gas mask, and a smaller bag of hex bolts, nothing else. She hadn't needed the bag yesterday really as she'd used known paths and her Phobos hadn't been alerted to anything, yet today she was braving a less travelled route, and she did feel safer having it to hoof.

She took the smaller bag out and clipped it to her upper foreleg, then doing up her pack and bringing it over to her weapons. She'd not cleaned the lever-action when she returned last night, she'd been too tired, but it was sturdy and she really didn't need to strip it every day. She had spent the time to fit the pulse rifle with the two newer gem-cores from the park though, so it should be fine for at least twenty good shots, hopefully more. It would take encountering a monster to test the level of output though, she wasn't going to waste what charge it had otherwise. She slung both weapons around herself and threw the pack on after, confirming the Nova grenade was still securely attached, then sheathing her knife and taking and fitting on her hoof-dusters.

She finished up by chucking on her boots and gloves, and placing her gas mask around her neck and the Phobos in a pocket, throwing on her poncho to hide them from sight. The weight of everything she carried wasn't detrimental yet, though she'd certainly feel it when it came to getting into a fight or needing to run away, she'd manage it the same as usual.

A brief glance towards the steamer trunk and she saw that Applebloom had tidied away all the spare bits and tools, and the radio itself looked complete, but she knew they still lacked a majority of electronics for its inner workings, so maybe she'd find something usable on today's venture and get them that much closer to getting out of here.

She turned back to where she'd kept her weapons and picked up a hefty revolver with an attached magitech hoof-brace built around it, it was the only other gun they had. It was a bit big for Applebloom yet she handled it well enough, they'd taken it from a dead mare during a firefight they'd been in the crossfire of, luckily getting out with their lives and the gun. She'd spent quite some time fixing the hoof-brace's mechanism to make the pistol workable for hooves again as it had been damaged, using parts for it that could have gone into the radio, but having good protection was paramount to their immediate survival. She checked the gem and its basic connections were all still intact and brought it over to the sleeping bag.

"I'm heading out, 'Bloom. Need ya up." She said, watching as the bedding shifted.

Applebloom yawned as she unzipped the bag and stuck her head out, raising up a hoof to take the weapon. Applejack hoofed it over and watched her sister also check the revolver's condition as she'd been taught to do before fitting the brace around her right hoof, slowly stumbling to all fours and shivering as she trotted over to the firepit to finish off the half-eaten tin left for her. She thumped onto her haunches and picked it up along with a spoon, quickly digging in and turning back to Applejack.

"Can ya try an' be back before sundown?" Applebloom asked her through a mouthful of beans.

She shrugged. "I can only promise that I'll do mah best to. I gotta go the alternate route, that sniper might be waitin' again, an' there aint no tellin' if them folk I wronged are holed up along the main road in an' wantin' to get revenge."

Applebloom frowned. "The way ya told it, their guy shot at ya first, an' all ya actually stole was some fruit."

"Don't mean they aint gonna be sore on both counts." She said, moving to the room's main exit and lifting the makeshift bar they'd set up across it to block entry from this side. She placed it down and shimmied her gear around to get it more comfortable. "I aint riskin' it, an' the alternate route should be pretty clear by now. How many shots does yer pistol have?"

"Four outta six."

"That's right. Be sure to-"

"-Put the bar back across, keep quiet if I do some work, monsters aren't likely to show up but hide in the floor if they do, if bandits show up hide until the last possible second an' aim fer their heads." Applebloom recited, sounded a little weary. "...An' save the last bullet fer myself, ah know, Sis."

Applejack nodded solemnly. "I know ya do, 'Bloom. I just worry when I aint here fer ya."

"So then get back as quick as ya can, or lemme come with." Applebloom said, a slight smirk on her muzzle.

She smiled back a little hollowly, swallowing the lump in her throat she got everyday when she left the station, and opened the door into the open room next to them, cold air breezing and light spilling into the building from the destroyed walls and ceiling. It didn't matter how damaged the station looked, one day she knew somepony was going to come exploring and she just hoped she was here when it happened. She looked out of the gaps and still saw nothing in the surrounding area, moving back and giving Applebloom a tight hug and a well wish before shutting the door.

As soon as she heard the bar go back, she turned and made to leave, putting her hood up to hide her mane. She knew she'd feel a little less worried once she got going, Applebloom was a capable young mare and had proved she could protect herself if she needed to, and she'd hide away in their little hole if anything or anypony came along until she couldn't. It was a very unsuspecting spot and with any luck anypony with less than friendly intentions would focus more on the unattended food and parts than a notable lack of people in the room, perhaps believing that they'd gotten lucky and discovered the station while its occupants were elsewhere.

It was just another risk they had to deal with. What scared her were the unknown variables, and that was everything these days. She had always found solace in structure and routine, her fastidious nature got along with such things like a house on fire, yet there was no semblance of any clear paths to take anymore beyond a general idea, and the future was dark and uncertain to the point that she found herself afraid of whatever lay ahead. She feared these waking moments, the simple ever-present fear of danger that surrounded every movement and never went away no matter how hard she pushed the feeling to the back of her mind.

All she could do was bury it as much as possible and keep soldiering on. Her friends were likely in the same boat, and she couldn't imagine what Applebloom must feel like having lost the normal future she should have grown up with, and even with their troubles and what she'd caused, Applebloom was emulating her big sister and keeping a stiff upper lip, refusing to cry and staying strong for everypony else's sake.

She was waiting for it to come crashing down, and she'd be ready to hold Applebloom when the time came, the realisation and existential dread that came from truly thinking about what the future held and the possible hopelessness of their plight. It would hit her at a moment of weakness and Applejack would need to be there to pick her back up.

They had to believe they had a future.

Shaking her head at the dark thoughts, she watched the flats ahead before she hopped down between the platforms onto the cess, pacing between the burnt sleepers of the tracks and across to the opposite side, though she didn't pull herself up onto the platform above at first, instead moving to one of the boxy gaps underneath that was tightly covered over, and a small bucket just outside it much the same. She quickly checked the bucket, lifting the makeshift lid and checking the special filter to see that it was apparently still working, though she was a little disappointed at the level of water. Opening the gap she saw the cultivated soil inside and didn't see much progress in it, and she removed a glove for a moment, pushing a hoof into the dirt.

She breathed deep and let her innate magic surge briefly, letting it flow into the earth and the seeds that still hadn't shown much growth. The mushrooms hadn't progressed either which was rather unfortunate. She'd done her best to contain the area to keep out the hazardous elements, gathered soil where she could that wasn't irradiated, used filtered water they could have drunk to help the plant life flourish, though sadly not a lot was happening and radiation was probably still bleeding in. It might have been better had she some fertiliser, but that was something of a pipe dream, this was currently as good as it got.

Maybe it might show some progress over the next week.

Putting her glove back on she securely covered the gap again and pulled herself up onto the platform above, seeing the flats were still clear. She eyed the giant dark scar in the land as she moved on ahead, taking the usual path around it. Here and there were small rocks buried into the ground, a few covered with a small layer of snow which she brushed off as she stopped by them so she could find them later. They were spaced oddly, differently shaped, and far enough from one another that it shouldn't arouse suspicion as to the route they mapped out, forming a guide to keep her clear of dangers as the flats weren't safe from radiation or anomalies either, her Phobos now even gently clicking when she passed certain markers. She'd gotten out and back yesterday without getting held up, though it didn't mean she could every single day.

She stopped suddenly as her Phobos ticked quicker approaching another marking stone, glancing around and not seeing anything strange around herself, no distortions or flickers in the air or snow swirling about in a small wind. It was never good if the Phobos was ticking heavily and there weren't any obvious signs as to why, she'd heard about undetectable anomalies before and she hoped never to encounter one. Grabbing the small bag on her foreleg she reached in and took a bolt, sharply throwing it out in front of her. She held her breath as the bolt sailed through the air, and she watched it land some distance ahead from the marker without any issue, but her Phobos was still warning her of something. She threw out another to her left, flinching back a little as it travelled a bit before squarely stopping in place, a strange echo keening through the air as it then slowly melted down into dross while falling to the ground.

Just her luck, this hadn't been here yesterday.

Most folk she'd encountered called them Melts, because that's pretty much what they did. Metal objects would almost instantaneously and simply melt down into nothing, rather quickly the smaller they were, but a Melt didn't immediately kill a pony, instead, if they found themselves absently stepping into one they'd get incredibly warm and begin to have severe migraines and muscle cramps. They would have very little time to get out of it again before they started to bleed from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth as then their organs began to melt. There did exist a similar anomaly known as Slags that for some reason only damaged inorganic material, and while it would make one feel uncomfortably warm and give varying degrees of headache or migraine it didn't kill outright, though she wasn't about to test if this was one or not.

Her breathing quickened as she did feel a slight increase in warmth, and she carefully took a few steps to the right bringing the marking stone with her to reposition it, and throwing another bolt out towards the direction of the giant scar, feeling thankful it touched down without incident. She made it to the next marker without any trouble as the Phobos calmed down, and she relaxed a little better as she safely moved to the one after as well.

Such things had to always be kept in mind even when going around familiar places, the land could shift overnight or even hourly in certain areas. She took a moment to breathe as she soon passed the flats into the beginnings of the gnarled forest. Granny Smith would have called that encounter a bad omen, and it didn't bode well for the rest of her trip. Regardless, she continued onward towards Threshold moving on to a well travelled hoofpath outside of the city that soon led parallel to a road leading inward, and she broke off to follow another way around the outskirts. The beaten path she came to had been laid by others in the past simply by way of walking it a great deal, with plenty of old and obvious landmarks or objects that had since built up and overlapped to the point that it was simply clutter.

The only real use now was cover to utilise from the overlooking city, and she kept between corroded burn barrels and worn wooden barricades, moving along the semi-clear dirt road while keeping ready for any trouble that might come her way. On the route she paused by a makeshift metal structure built out of old iron pipes appearing to be somepony's attempt at recreating a radio tower on a smaller scale, that held a sign reading Hocks Place, with 2 miles written beneath it, the sign pointing towards the direction she was going.

Hocks Place, as it turned out, had been a small outpost within the city near the eastern side where she assumed people had once traded with one another. When she'd gone to check it out a few days after initially arriving near Threshold however, she'd only found a deserted and empty shop with numerous bullet holes riddling the place and old blood stains on the floor, and it had remained that way since as she'd thought setting up there wouldn't have been within the best of ideas.

The sign was a simple mark of history at this point, it made her wistful.

She trod past the tower, boots softly crunching in the snow underhoof as she went and continuing on her trek for some time, wary of her surroundings but thankfully unnoticed by anything. Her breath wasn't clouding as much as time progressed, so the temperature was going up, she could feel the gentle warmth of the sun as it climbed into the sky. Following the way this far along past the tower signalled a minor waypoint, a small cairn of sorts marking what she supposed had been a death, and she shifted her shotgun down to rest beneath her as she soon came up to a long-since disused military checkpoint. It only held a few rusted trucks with rotting tires, everything that might be of use long-since looted in the aftermath of the Singularity, and she moved up behind a shot-up sandbag emplacement to listen out for a few seconds.

She didn't hear very much except the gentle flow of wind through the area, whistling between the old vehicles as she looked around for danger, so she quickly trotted over to one of them and snapped off its still-intact mirror, rubbing her hoof into the dirt and then onto the mirror's face. It was slightly bigger than her last one, so hopefully it wouldn't affect what she could easily put into her backpack without having to screw around organising it. Shoving it into her pack, she went past the truck to move along an actual side road leading in that the checkpoint had been set up on, not bothering to keep to the cluttered path that continued along around to the main road on the other side of the city.

That way lay a sizable encampment just a few hundred hooves down a hill, she'd spotted it before in the distance along with numerous ponies and a few Gryphons milling about it and not looked back. There was no trusting they weren't simply bandits, and she wasn't going to risk her life checking, as if she could see them it was a certainty they could have seen her, and she refused to stick around long enough for them to get any ideas.

The side road she went on travelled toward Threshold only for a short period until a few remote buildings started to appear, the small and damaged roadside shops of brick and wood once having sold produce. She stuck to the edge of the road and kept close to the rundown shops when she came up on them in case she needed to duck behind one, though she also wanted to gently poke her head in or peer through their broken windows to see if anypony had taken up residence since her last trip this way. She went as quietly as she could and didn't find anything out of the ordinary until some distance had been crossed, her Phobos once again ticking up as she neared a half-collapsed shop that she suspected somepony had once set a grenade or two off inside of given its poor state.

Before she could utilise the bag on her foreleg, there came a low throaty growl from within the ruined building. Her breath hitching as she realised the sound and quickly went for her pulse rifle. She slipped it off her back and moved upright onto her hindlegs just as a mutated and strongly-muscled hairless paw moved out from behind the nearest broken wall, crunching onto the crumbled bricks around it as the rest of the oversized twisted beast came into view, its large disfigured head turning in her direction. A Direwolf, of all fucking things. It bared yellow teeth as large as railroad spikes, its growl deepening while suddenly lurching into a rush toward her, and she got the rifle up and her hooves securely in both its trigger and hoof guards as it crossed the distance between them.

She swiftly lined up a shot, immediately backing off and aiming for its huge head while squeezing in the pulse rifle's blocky trigger so that it could charge, the pointed tip at its fore glowing with purple light before she released, the rifle emitting a flash as it fired out a bright bolt of scorching energy. She missed the Direwolf's head in her agitation as it came for her, but the bolt struck its side and made the Direwolf howl and fumble as its flesh was burned away. It was a good enough shot despite her missing her main target, the rifle's power was about at the right amount she hoped it would be.

Squeezing the trigger in again she knew she'd land the headshot, though before she released the trigger there was a sudden flare and crack as the Direwolf lunged for her and the space next to it suddenly arced out with furious thunder, making her fumble back and shout in alarm as the area was all-too-quickly bathed in electricity from a triggered Strike anomaly. She cursed as her shot went wide and she landed on her rifle, ignoring the ache in her ribs and scrambling back to get away from the violent energy crackling through the air. She could feel her mane stand on end as she watched the Direwolf be struck by multiple bolts of lightning, the huge beast failing to get away from the maelstrom and crashing to the ground, and yowling in pain as the anomaly continued to rage on.

Several more streaks from the Strike thumped into its prone form until the Direwolf shuddered and went still with a growling sigh, and she remained frozen in place outside of the Strike's range not daring to move an inch lest she be struck. It seemed an age until the anomaly stopped fluctuating and finally settled back into inertia, and she felt like she could breathe again properly, a metallic tang to the air as she took a few steadying breaths. Slowly gathering herself, she got back onto her hooves as her nerves calmed some, keeping the pulse rifle below her rather than the shotgun and slowly moving past the Direwolf's corpse while keeping keenly aware of the Strike's distance to activate.

The Melt earlier really had been a bad omen, if encountering both a Direwolf and a Strike at the same time was any indication of her luck. Her Phobos was slowly ticking away due to her close proximity to the anomaly, but it had discharged a majority of its energy now and would take a while before it built up such a level of power again. That didn't mean it wouldn't hurt her if it was activated a second time; though the effect wouldn't be as strong it would still likely burn her quite badly. She guessed she should actually count herself rather lucky the Strike had been there, as if she'd managed to miss her shot on the Direwolf then without it she'd probably still be tussling with the beast.

That or she'd have been its breakfast.

A small huff escaped her as she glanced back at the dead Direwolf laying near the side of the road, she'd honestly have quite liked to butcher it for the meat. With snow all around it wasn't a terrible idea to get as much as she could and pack it into a mound to freeze while she did her errand, then she could transport it back to the station later and freeze it again, ultimately keeping it for trade or, Celestia forbid, eating if they ran low on food. She knew that quite a few ponies had turned to eating meat rations in the months following the Singularity, and it wasn't as if they couldn't eat it. There had been no laws against it before the laws had collapsed, and plenty of hardy northern ponies around the Frozen North living on its harsh tundra's had happily subsisted mainly on fish, but personally it just didn't sit quite right with her.

She'd leave it for the time being, with any luck the corpse would still be there later.

She wanted winter clothing far more.

The Phobos stopped its lamenting once she'd gotten far enough away from the Strike. Threshold's taller buildings loomed as she approached, blocks of derelict flats and ruined skyscrapers both looking down on everything else ominously. There was an odd sound to the city early in the day as the wind picked up and blew through its endlessly ruptured surfaces, and she had to make a point of keeping an ear out for others as she went, as between the occasional distant shot of a gun firing, baying howls of creatures braving the day, or the sound of hooves or boots against the ground, there was much to keep vigilant for.

Case in point, she swiftly moved and ducked behind the corner of the nearest building as quietly as possible when there was an audible crunch up ahead beyond the ruined vehicles of a hoof stepping on something, likely old bones, and she peeked out while readying her shotgun to soon see a small group of three moving through the area, two stallions and a mare. They were all dressed a little like her rather than in rags, all of them armed, the mare having a heavy coat well-suited for the weather. Almost immediately one of the stallions glanced up, most likely seeing her in his peripherals, and she held and kept his gaze as he quickly alerted his two companions to her presence, their heads turning towards her as well as they tensed.

"No trouble!" He shouted over at her after a moment, and the group promptly moved on, though they looked back over their shoulders at her occasionally, probably to see if she'd try to shoot them in the back.

Everypony was wary of one another, which was good, it helped them live longer.

When she was sure the group had moved on she left her spot and weaved through the broken down vehicles and crashed propulsives, roughly knowing the way she needed to go from here to get to the shopping centre. Thankfully she didn't have to follow behind the trio, that would have made them very uncomfortable and likely to actually open fire at her, thinking her a bandit or prowling outlander waiting to strike while they got gaskin-deep in shit. Her Phobos ticked on occasion and she avoided small pockets of radiation built up in alleys or around large chunks of irradiated stone within craters smashed into the ground. She'd done trade with a stallion in the past that had told her when the Singularity had hit that some buildings made of certain types of stone had absorbed a heavy level of radiation, and nopony could safely traverse them all the way up to the top because that was where most of it had been concentrated. Over time the buildings had crumbled from the damage unleashed from the resulting insane weather and crashed down below to create numerous unsafe areas that monsters liked to lurk around.

It was just good she hadn't encountered any more yet, cluttered streets were dangerous to move in.

She neared her destination as just the sun was around its zenith, the sizable shopping centre coming into view as she turned onto the same road that linked up with the abandoned park she'd scavved in yesterday, hastily getting between broken down vehicles as another gunshot rang out not too far from her current position, though luckily it wasn't at her. She was quite sure it had come from within the shopping centre but it could have possibly been behind it, that wasn't good in either case as it meant activity around the area. While she'd expected that she might possibly encounter one or two people seeing as it was daytime, she'd been hearing far more gunfire than she was used to, especially over the past few days.

She had to wonder if it had anything at all to do with the malicious rumour that had initially gotten her and Applebloom stuck here in the first place. She didn't doubt that there had been others like them or the group of scum they'd encountered to be interested in the story. A slight growl left her as she knew she shouldn't let herself dwell on it.

As soon as it was quiet again she paced out from behind the wrecks and snuck along the nearest underhang so her line of sight was clear behind and in front, trudging through the layered snow and ash that had piled up and subconsciously putting a hoof on her shotgun. She sat down for a scant moment as she retrieved the new mirror from her pack, and checked the upcoming corners with it for any signs of danger as she went. There was a sizable distance between where she waited on the edge of the overhang and the shopping centre with the two-way road sat between them surrounding the building, and only a wide open vehicle park awaiting her with low walls and a few derelicts for any form of cover.

She tucked the mirror's stalk into the neck of her jacket, a little uncomfortable against her chest but that was fine, and she steeled herself before she broke into a gallop, and didn't dare slow until she'd jumped the wall and gotten down between two parked cars corroding with rust. No shots at her yet. Taking another breath or two she sprinted again towards the only entrance she could see, avoiding piles of rubble as she ran and slowed only when she was a few hooves from the double doors. They were already open with their glass plating smashed, and she went as carefully and quickly as possible as she stepped through onto grimy marble flooring, immediately dipping into the nearest store through its broken window to get her out of the open hall.

An old clothing store, she noted as she tucked herself into a collection of musty summer wear, the garments mouldy where the damp had blown in. She kept low and breathed gently, not hearing anypony moving around, and waited a bit longer just in case somepony had heard her approaching the shopping centre and also hunkered down to catch her unawares. A few minutes passed while she waited, and maybe she was simply being paranoid, but she could have sworn she heard hoofsteps much deeper within the building.

But she didn't want to stay here all day either, so she slowly rose and trotted over through the worn racks and shelves towards the store's main exit, pulling the mirror from her jacket again as it was certainly going to be invaluable in here. She edged it out and checked the left hall, then turning it right and seeing both ways were clear for now, all that she could see was built-up rubbish and blown in leaves alongside the layered frozen detritus covering the open floors, up the escalators, and around the high pillars the first floor was connected to, the once proud banners hanging from the ceiling that depicted happy ponies shopping and the amazing sales they could have now tattered and faded, the rot eating those away too as mould crept over their lengths. She could surmise the overall floor plan, it was rather simple with the hall she'd come into from a side entrance going along to another set of double doors, but connecting and going left at the middle to branch into another connecting hall with the same openings, the overall shape of the shopping centre resembling a letter H with stores on every available bit of space around its edges.

There were three floors, but the first floor held the outdoor store that she was after, somewhat central on the opposite side to her, according to an information board she could read in the face of her dirty mirror. She had another look both ways again just to be sure and tucked the mirror back into her jacket before carefully moving out of the clothing store, tense with her shotgun still ready beneath her. Creeping towards the escalator she scanned the upper level for any danger, not hearing anything or any voices or seeing anypony, and thinking that maybe she'd simply heard an echo of her own movements as she'd come inside. The escalator was somewhat icy as she stepped up its metal-plated stairs, noting the imprints of boots in the frost that she couldn't be certain were fresh or not, though it just added to her paranoia.

There were numerous stores dedicated to clothing and hobbies when she reached the first floor as she had a quick glance around, turning right towards the outdoor store and feeling a little peeved to see that it was extremely barren. It was far smaller than she had expected it might be, and she could already see the walls, shelves, and racks were spotty in what they offered, but what was there could be made to work if need be. She promptly moved into the store, gently pushing aside broken glass underhoof before putting her boots down against the wooden flooring and soon moved up to the nearest coats, though many of them were in terrible condition, the fur utterly mouldy where the coats had been left alone to battle against the elements.

The most that she found was a slightly less tattered one, first thinking on something for Applebloom, until she started searching in the back area, moving between the broken metal shelving units and seeing that there were a few sealed boxes amongst many torn open ones with their contents carelessly strewn around, also partly worn down from the cold streaming in and affecting them. Tearing open a larger box herself that hadn't been too damaged by the damp, she only found some woolly beanies but took several of them just in case, shuffling off her backpack and stuffing them in, and left the pack there momentarily as she tore open another. She grinned finding a good mix of assorted foals hiking wear, seeing a larger sized fur-lined coat in excellent condition as she rummaged around that would fit Applebloom perfectly with room to spare. The coat being on the bigger side would be good for both layering and for Applebloom's continued growth. She took some gloves and hoof warmers for her as well as it was going to get very cold within the coming months.

As she turned to search around for something for herself her ears twitched, as she heard voices echoing from some way outside the store and in the halls down to the right, freezing up momentarily before hastily reasserting control, grabbing her pack, and sneaking as fast as possible into a small alcove indenting the wall that would readily hide her from view. She threw the pack down and pushed herself up onto her hindlegs into a corner with her shotgun prepped. She waited tense and listened out, the voices getting closer as a sweat started to build up her back. She didn't fancy her chances against a group at all, even if only one of them came in she'd be in trouble.

"Guppy, go check that one real quick, grab me a jacket or something, and Zip some gloves, we're gonna go up a floor."

"Yeah."

Shit.

She felt wound up like a spring as she breathed as gently as possible, hearing the crunch of Guppy's boots on the broken glass covering the floor as the stallion stepped through a store window. She heard him indiscreetly step around the store looking for the items and knew there weren't any gloves that he'd find in good condition until he looked near the till where she'd seen some behind it on a rack. That was much too close to the back for her liking, if he came through then she was going to have to fight him. He shuffled through rubbish and clothing she'd already kicked through for a few agonising minutes that stretched on forever, and there was a brief pause as she heard him reach the tills and quietly exclaim upon seeing the gloves. She hoped he'd already seen a good jacket or cared less about their condition so he'd leave soon enough, and then she could get out of he-

No, he was moving into the back, this was going to go from bad to worse.

He was passing through the door, and he'd soon be walking right by her. The alcove was big enough that she'd be hidden from his sight until he was right on top of her, yet even if he wasn't looking for anypony he'd still immediately spot her in the corner of his vision. Contact was going to be unavoidable. It was just him right now, his group was elsewhere, she had to be careful about this in order to get out quietly. She readied her hoof-dusters, flicking them onto her coronets and thinking on the shotgun just in case she had no other options, but a hoof first went to her combat knife. She felt a slight chill up her spine and her stomach drop as she withdrew it, and held her breath as Guppy's shuffling grew more audible.

The split second he entered into her view, as she expected he snapped his head towards her with his vibrant blue eyes going wide in shock, and she lunged at him.

"Oh shit!" He shouted as they collided.

He yelped in alarm as she just managed to wrap her hooves around his torso and gun hoof as they fell to the floor, he was a Pegasus and she didn't want him using his wings to bat at her, grab his gun from its brace, or make a fast exit, though he smacked her in the face with his free hoof before she fully threw herself forwards and headbutted him squarely on the nose in return. It delayed him enough that she followed it up with a hard punch to his jaw with a hoof-duster, shifting her leg to bring the knife in her other hoof up to his throat as he was temporarily stunned by the attack. It put an immediate halt to his struggling, his wings going deathly still as she pushed the blade against his skin, and he sucked in a breath as she threateningly held it there, her free hoof moving to his down to his side and tearing the semi-automatic pistol out of its brace, momentarily tucking it into one of her jacket's outer pockets.

"That's right, nice an' quie-"

"Hey Guppy, what the fuck was that?!"

She glowered at the voice coming from outside the store, pushing the edge of her knife against Guppy's throat just a little harder. "Hewbat, tell 'em."

"U-uh... just a-another fuckin' Hewbat, took me by surprise!" Guppy shouted out after swallowing his shock, his blue eyes looking back at her with fear. "Be out in a sec!"

A very tense few seconds passed, nopony came to check the situation.

"Good, that's good, I don't wanna hurt ya, Guppy." Applejack whispered, frowning a little at her words. "Well, anymore than I already did, I jus' wanna get outta here without gettin' shot."

"M-my buddies wouldn't-"

"I can't trust that, an' I won't." She cut him off, keeping her voice low. "I'm surrounded by unknown people, a group I aint sure aint bandits that'd shoot me fer being alone an' easy pickin's. Would you trust that with yer life, Guppy?"

"...Probably not." He conceded.

"Exactly."

A few more seconds passed, and Guppy spoke up. "What now?"

"Now? Well, I would have had a look about fer a coat, an' now there aint no time, so I'm awful sorry but I'll be takin' yers, it looks to be in better condition than mah jacket is." She said, as she'd seen that he was wearing a basic duster, and even though it was made for Pegasi with holes in the back for their wings to poke through, it was in very good repair. It wasn't a coat but he got the idea, and quickly nodded. "I'm gonna back off, an' you take it off real slow, an' don't go makin' any quick movements or shoutin' out otherwise I'm gonna have to shoot ya. Most likely yer group'll gun me down, but I still got a chance of gettin' out, though you'd be dead 'fore ya hit the ground."

He swallowed, nodding again, and she abruptly shoved off and upright, bringing her shotgun up fast with a hoof and keeping it partly level as she sheathed the knife so she could fully support the frame. As she'd ordered, he carefully got to his hooves and shifted the duster off using his wings, gently tossing it forward and waiting for what she would do next. She didn't hear Guppy's friends coming to check on him yet, so she carefully stepped over to a shelf that had some worn thermal undersuits she'd not have minded having were they not so mouldy, and took them off with a hoof, a little awkward with her hoofing as she moved back over to him.

"Turn."

Guppy mutely faced about and she had to make the conscious decision to let the shotgun hang on its sling as she took one of the undersuits and pulled it taught, the material long and stretchy enough that she could pull it around him, and he didn't attempt to push her off with his wings as she chucked it over his head and tied it in a quick double knot around his midsection, just about managing it with the length. It was probably a bit tight as Guppy grunted from being jostled about while she did the second knot up, but he'd be found soon enough by his friends once she left.

She took her hooves off of him for a scant second to ready the second undersuit in order to gag him, her heart doing a somersault as he instantly made an attempt to bolt, struggling at his bindings while she lunged forward to grab him, a foreleg going around his head. He tried desperately to shake her off to no avail, and she grabbed for her knife to pacify him into compliance again.

"GUYS! GUYS CO-"

Before he could keep shouting her knife had left its sheath and the blade was stabbed upwards under his muzzle, and she clenched him tightly as the knife very easily pierced through the soft flesh up towards the back of his throat and he spasmed and grunted in agony, his words cutting off and his wings erratically twitching as he gasped trying to keep shouting out. She felt a fast-welling lump rise in her throat and tears threatening at the corners of her eyes as she gripped his head harder with both hooves as he struggled, feeling the blade sink deeper while a warmth of his lifeblood flowed over her foreleg from the fatal wound she'd inflicted. Slowly, his spasms subsided into gentle twitches and he wretchedly gasped as he died from the shock, his fluttering wings easing and going limp, and she released a quiet distressed cry, struggling to breathe in the scent of his blood as she held his corpse against her chest.

"You stupid bastard, why'd ya go an'... w-why'd ya... ya stupid..." She whispered into his ear while she gently cradled him. "...m'sorry..."

"Guppy? What's going on, dude?!"

She stiffened again, the voice was rapidly approaching, she needed to move right now, she needed to leave right now. Trying to keep down her revulsion she let go of Guppy's lifeless body, holding back a sob with tears blurring her vision and fighting to stop herself choking as she shakily picked up his duster, making a futile attempt to wipe off his blood and only succeeding in smearing it and covering her other glove, the front of her jacket already stained a darker colour just like her foreleg. She trotted over and quickly stuffed the duster into her backpack, along with the mirror and the gun she'd put in her pocket, clasping it shut and swinging it on as she heard boots crunch onto the glass within the store's entrance area.

She wouldn't be able to hide anywhere, and the next stranger would soon see Guppy and either shout out or run away to alert his fellows. Taking a few breaths to steady herself she swiftly repositioned and waited by the door into the back, forcing herself upright again and weightily resting against the wall as she pointed the shotgun at the doorway. Her heart was beating so fast, and she was trying to keep her breathing under control as she blinked away tears.

She really didn't want to have to kill anypony else today.

"Hey, you having trouble with the Hewbats in here, Guppy? Did one bite you on the dic-" The stallion, a navy Unicorn, said as he stepped through the back door, then seeing Guppy's corpse, and her instantly afterward with her shotgun in his face, the smile on his muzzle abruptly vanishing. "Oh, what the fuck..."

"I don't wanna kill ya, I jus' wanna leave, please." Applejack whispered, her eyes flicking to his horn and over the pump-action shotgun on his back. "Take yer shotgun off, no magic, alright?"

"Go fuck yourself, my friends are gonna kill you slow." He growled at her.

"Take it off now." She said back a little sterner, her heart rate picking up again. "Please don't make me shoot ya, I don't wanna kill nopony else but I will if I have to."

He was clearly sizing her up and seeing if she'd follow through on that statement, or he was trying to delay her and waste time, but he relented with a sigh fast enough, and very slowly grabbed his shotgun by its middle and began to ease it off from around himself.

...Before he then swiftly rushed at her, knocking aside her shotgun as she tried to fire at him and failed as his horn flared and held the trigger, and he pulled her to the floor while trying to shove his horn into her face to gore her through an eye. Adrenaline pumping, she yelled in frustration as a hoof came up and the hoof-duster solidly connected with his chin in a weighty impact of metal on flesh, and his head snapped back from the heavy blow while she surged, smacking forward with her other hoof into his side and making him shout out in pain as his ribs were also struck by the brass. She didn't let up, Earthen strength allowed her to compel herself up onto her haunches even with his full weight atop her, and she hastily threw another punch as he fell back though it struck into his raised forelegs as they beat down at her.

She launched herself at him despite his attack and managed to smack at his horn as he tried to use his magic to lift his shotgun at her, the action stopping his casting and sending him into nausea as it did all Unicorns, though he still wildly flailed and scored a few lucky hits at her face. She grunted past the pain and brought down another heavy hoof across his face, hearing a crunch as her hoof-duster broke his nose and he choked out a cry of pain. She punched him again in the side she'd already hit and heard something crack there as well, letting up as he fell back and groaned in agony.

"Stay where ya are." She ordered, stepping back as she got to all fours, and then willing herself upright and getting her shotgun into place. "Don't try to-"

His horn glowed and he ensnared his own shotgun, quickly trying to bring it around.

"Don't!"

He still tried along with trying to rise, his pump-action getting about halfway with his magic clearly surrounding the trigger ready to fire, and she beat him to the punch as she was already raising her lever-action, her shotgun roaring at the last possible second. He animalistically convulsed back to the floor as his chest was blasted with a close concentration of pellets, some finding his neck and legs and tearing in. She couldn't force herself to look away as he wheezed at his torso being ripped open, he could hardly breathe and was only able to take in pitifully strangled gasps as he laid there staring into the ceiling with a painful shock across his bleeding face, a dark redness rapidly spreading through the undershirt beneath his open coat.

"I-I warned ya..." She told him uselessly as she cycled the action to let the spent shell eject, and knew she couldn't stay and help him. "I'm sorry."

Sorry really didn't cut it for murder.

Both downed stallions' friends were quickly approaching, she could hear the loud shouts of alarm and anger from outside the storefront. She only had the three shells left, and they'd be bearing down upon her soon, she didn't know how many there were or what they were armed with. She flicked the hoof-dusters up and swiftly went over on all fours to the dying stallion, barely sitting as she lifted his shotgun and ejected its shells and seeing that they were slugs rather than buckshot, that would do just fine. Swallowing her discontent, she put a hoof on what she suspected was an ammo pouch hanging off of his coat and opened it to find more shells inside, a random mix of slugs and buckshot both. She undid the buckle and slipped the pouch with its strap out from around him, putting it around herself and re-clasping it as fast as possible.

"What the fuck's going on in there?! Guppy?! Crow!?"

"Who's shooting?!"

"Get the fuck out here, whoever you are!"

That was at least three hostile strangers, and she wagered they weren't just going to simply walk in, nor did she think she was going to be allowed to leave freely. She carefully moved back to the wall before the doorway and let the backpack shift forwards, unclasping the Nova grenade off of it before shrugging it back into place. She gently put a hoof on top of it and twisted the cap, priming it for a one second delay rather than its current three seconds, taking another sharp breath to steady her frazzled nerves.

"Hey there... y'all out there." She shouted out a little lamely.

"What did you do to Crow and Guppy, you bitch!"

"Guppy's dead, and Crow's in a bad way, I don't think he has long." She replied to the voice as she glanced at Crow, his breathing had grown shallower and he was barely moving, a wealth of blood completely reddening his front. "I'd be more than happy to let one of ya come back here with only medical supplies to fix him up, iffin' ya can."

"What, and give you a fucking hostage? Dream on!"

"I... hadn't been thinkin' like that at all." She said back, frowning at the idea. "I jus' wanna go home, I didn't wanna kill nopony! I just wanted to leave peacefully, they gave me no choice!"

"Well you're not leavin'!"

"Yep, you're dead, Guppy was my best friend!"

She yelled out in surprise as one of them unexpectedly opened fire with an assault rifle, and she fell to the floor and tucked in as best she could while the bullets perforated the wall, plaster spraying in clouds, clothing exploding in puffs of musty air, and shelving units pinging as bullets rained through into the back area, before one voice shouted for the shooter to stop. She stayed where she was, breathing heavily as her heart pounded in her ears, and she got herself into a low crouch with the Nova grenade at the ready again.

The second she heard two sets of hooves step further into the store across the broken glass she pushed forward and slapped the top of the Nova grenade, throwing it out into the main area and tensing up in preparation. There was an urgent shout of alarm and then she glanced away and blinked heavily from the massive flashing pulse that spilled past the doorway, and felt the blasting shockwave and crackle of energy from the Nova grenade's detonation. One of the trio promptly opened fire with a shotgun as he was blinded, the impact hitting a different wall out front rather than the one she was taking cover behind, before they were quickly told to stop as well before they killed one of their own. The Nova kept on pulsing for a second or two, and when it ceased she swiftly seized the opportunity to bolt, rushing out and instantly galloping towards the exit. She flicked a hoof-duster down and threw a hard punch into a stallion's face as he heard her and lifted his assault rifle in her direction even while blinded, the blow knocking him down from the sheer surprise of it as she flicked the hoof-duster back up and kept on running.

She barrelled into the lithe stallion standing in the doorway, he was also a Pegasus and she easily forced him aside as she smashed her larger body into him, making him crash back into the walkway railing overlooking the ground floor with a meaty smack. The Nova grenade tended to blind people for several minutes at a time but she didn't trust that somepony might happen to recover much faster than usual, they hadn't been invented with the Singularity in mind, and instead of taking the stairs she decidedly leapt over the rail. She was a little disorientated from the grenade as well, she didn't trust that she wouldn't tumble down the escalator, and this was quicker.

It was a bit of a drop but she knew she could take it, landing hard on her hooves in a loud thud when she touched down with a loud exclamation of discomfort as pain shot up her legs, mostly her right from landing more on that side, and she collapsed to the dirty marble floor onto her front for a short moment with the weight of her weapons and pack bearing down while she recovered from the fall. Stumbling back up as fast as possible, she broke back into a run as best as she could on her pained legs after a few deep lungful's of stale air.

There were shouts above her from the blinded trio as she kept going, a gunshot from a rifle in her general direction being fired but easily missing by a mile as she rounded a corner out of the shopping centre, her weapons jostling on her back as she alternated between sprinting and jogging thanks to the pain that was throbbing through her body. She growled with the effort and willed herself to move as the strain didn't ease up, taking off towards the direction she'd come in from towards the east side of the city and clumsily weaving through the vehicle park as the shouts kept up behind her, loudly echoing from within the shopping centre. She pulled herself over the low wall a little slower than she'd have liked, going back into a poor run-jog-run cycle while taking her chosen path.

With any luck she'd find somewhere relatively safe to hole up in until the strangers had given up on pursuing her, hopefully recover quickly from her self-inflicted fall, and then, well... maybe reflect on the choices she'd had to make.

Author's Note

Sorry for the re-up.
Hopefully this pops into the Latest Updates list now.