Fallout Equestria: Man out of time

I saw the saddle lanterns of three slavers light up the small offshoot as they ran past the alleyway I was hiding in. The entirety of Old Appaloosa was in alarm, and I was doing my best to stay hidden. Keeping my word of taking out groups of two in quick assassinations from the shadows. My stealthiness wasn't my best strong suit, but with the amount of chaos I found myself surrounded by. It was easy to be "missed" by passing slavers. Not to mention the raging thunderstorm was making it harder for everyone to do anything. I was still picky and observant with my targets. As I mainly kept an eye out for those wearing my gear. I know that seems selfish, but with how squishy I am compared to the guns these ponies were packing. I needed at least a majority of my armor back.

I had already managed to get a few pieces back in the time I was sneaking about. I had acquired most of my right arm's worth of armor up to the shoulder pad and most of my left leg's worth of armor. Things were finally going my way. I was gaining gear and was taking out slavers best I could. Of course, the sounds of gunfire amongst the settlement were a good indicator that my allies were still going strong, so that was a plus.

I climbed atop a flat-roofed building along one of the side roads and scanned the surrounding area, looking for my next target. My helmet's night vision setting made it easier to spot ponies in the open but kept fluctuating under the mass of lightning strikes in the air. Every flash from the lightning caused my helmet to glitch and occasionally power off. Ever since the Elementals abandoned this world, what was left of the elements became unstable and wild. Lightning that normally wouldn't cause these issues was now causing mostly anything electric to go on the fritz, if the lightning was strong enough. It's not just the lightning, either. Normal changes in the earth would happen more often and, in most cases, more violently. Caravan routes have shifted and changed so much over the years due to fractures in the earth cutting roads in half or rockslides causing mass destruction. Now, the elements were simply too unpredictable.

My gaze stopped on a lone stallion running through a long alleyway that wrapped around to the main barn. Most likely a shortcut they used to get around faster, but tonight, it would be their demise. I lept from one roof to the other and immediately regretted that choice when I landed and felt the pain from my wound resurface violently. I dropped to one knee and grabbed my thigh, massaging it gently until the pain dulled.

"Yup, not doing that again," I mumbled as I climbed down from the roof and ran into the alleyway via one of its many offshoots. I turned the corner and ran straight into the stallion I had spotted earlier. Our heads collided, and we both stumbled backward. I heard something clang to the ground and was only surprised as my helmet protected my head from the concussive blow. As the pony was dazed and was rubbing his head. That's when I noticed what hit the ground.

I looked to find my white element steel gladius lying in the mud just before the stallion. He must've been holding it before he ran into me. I sprung to action at a moment's notice and dove toward the weapon. Grabbing its handle and continuing into a roll as I smacked into the stallion knocking him to his haunches in his dazed state. Blade in hand, I gripped the stallion's head with my free hand, held it against the ground, and brought the blade's tip to his throat.

"I'm gonna ask this once. Where is my wristpad?" My voice was low and tried to sound threatening. The stallion stared at me in short disbelief, which turned into a small smile.

"What does it matter to you? There's too many of us here for even you to handle by yourself, mister 'trade master.' You may as well give up now." his cocky voice just annoyed me.

"I'll take my chances," and I pushed the blade deep into his throat. Afterward, I checked his saddlebag for anything useful. The only thing worth nabbing was the sheath to my gladius. I hooked it back onto its rightful place on my belt and gave the blade a few swings before putting it away. Perfectly balanced.

I heard the clopping of several hooves approaching from another offshoot and dove for cover behind a massive pile of debris that was once a backside of a house. I saw the lights of their lanterns illuminate the area as they came around the corner. There were five of them in total. They stopped upon seeing their dead comrade lying in the mud, blood pouring out of the wound in his throat.

"Godammit!" one of them cried out, inspecting the body further. "I knew we shouldn't have fucked with the Caravan! They're picking us off one by one!"

Another one walked over and punched the other in the face with one of his forehooves. "Get a hold of yourself, dammit! If the whole damn Caravan were here, they wouldn't be as sneaky as this. They would run around guns blazing until they found their precious trade master. This is just our escaped prisoner being a coward."

"Well, he's doing a pretty damn good job! I say we should just count our losses and get the fuck outa here!" another mare said, looking around franticly in a panic.

The mare got a hoof to the face as well. "And face the wrath of that damn thing along with Redeye?! Hell no! We have a job to do. Let's find this fucker and get it over with before-" They all stopped and looked up as a massive shadow passed overhead. I too, looked up to see what the sudden unusual darkness was. I nearly gasped but kept it down as a whole fucking train car levitated overhead, enveloped in magical green energy. I was shocked. When it came to levitation, more mass meant more strain on the mind. That's why most use the laws of physics along with telekinesis to do such feats as I saw before me with little strain. Such as using a large pole for leverage or even pushing it along floating cylinders for a brief moment. Or a large enough group could manage something like this. But ponies didn't really use magic this way. As they preferred feats by the one over feats by the many, like many great mages I've read about.

I looked back to the slavers, who were also entranced by the sight, utterly oblivious to any stealth attack. I drew my gladius and lept forth from the shadows. My wrath was quick and clean.

I continued onwards, running through the alleyways trying to follow this flying train car. It seemed to just fly straight and didn't have any foreseen destination. Nonetheless, I followed. After clearing that large group from before, I managed to get the other complimentary pieces of leg and arm armor. All I needed now was my front and back chest guard. That and my wristpad, which was still my number one priority. I had to take a turn at the end of the alleyway and saw a pony rapidly approaching as they ran towards me. I drew my gladius with a swift slash toward the pony's neck before they could get a shot off. I continued running, not looking back as I heard the choking fade into the thundering rain.

The train car slowed to a stop above a fairly large one-story building. The wood was beyond rotted, and the pillars holding the overhanging ceiling looked like they could give away at any moment. The windows were shattered, and the little paint that was left was peeling away. The large letters that made the billboard-esc sign over the build once had large letters bolted onto it, spelling 'Sheriff.' the only letter left was a large S that swung down by one bolt and hung in the air, swinging with the wind from the storm.

Outside the sheriff's office was a fresh crater with blood and gore coating the interior and several dead guards around it. In the epicenter of the crater, I saw the lightning reflect brightly on an object heavily covered in debris. Before I had the chance to investigate the object. The ground shook as I missed the train car fall out of the air, crashing through the sheriff's office. Sending debris flying in all directions. I fell onto my rear, unable to keep my balance. Dust engulfed the area and blinded me. Only for a moment as my helmet corrected itself and projected outlines of several ponies through the dust. Most of the ponies were young, and most of them were colts or fillies. They sat inside cages that were inside the office. The only ponies outside the cells were my two allies, Calamity and Littlepip, and the same unicorn that was on stage at the barn. I guess she's with us now.

I stood up and dusted myself off, wiping the dirt from the lenses of my helmet as I stepped slowly around the train car that now sat inside the sheriff's office. The first thing I was was a large hoof extending out from under it, with the glowing blue light of my wristpad on it. Without a second's hesitation, I dove onto the ground, mud splattered onto my helmet as I stripped the device from the appendage. I strapped it onto my left arm where it should have always been along my left gauntlet. I flipped it open, showing the two screens similar to a laptop, only miniaturized. The sides of the two screens had a few knobs and buttons for different uses that the screens couldn't fulfill. The bottom one acted as a digital keyboard, and the top was the display. The top screen showed a lock with chains. Apparently, they were so careless trying to hack into the thing they triggered a system lockout. Amateurs.

I worked my magic and a few moments later I had full access to my datapad. The first thing I did was check the stored data on its drive. If any of that was tampered with, the whole Caravan was compromised. Overrides for specters and access to blueprints of weapons to advance for the time we lived in. I gave a loud sigh I felt I had been holding in since they shoved me into that cage. As they never even got past the initial access lock. I put the device into recalibration mode as it was all out of wack, focused on a pony body with... wait... was that an alicorn? I looked over at my allies, Littlepip was passed out, and the others barely acknowledged my presence since they both had their own wounds to tend to. I had questions for them later.

I stood up and returned to the small crater, sliding down to investigate the shining object I had seen a moment earlier. I dug through the mud and water already pooling at the bottom of the crater, and I pulled out my chest piece, both the front and back plate, out of the mud. The last piece of my set, it felt heavier than normal. I turned it over a few times in my hands, and a large chunk of pony flesh fell out of the bottom and slapped into the mud with a disgusting sound. Blood oozing from its orifices. I gagged heavily and barely managed to keep down the minute amount of food within me. Blood dripped down from the inside of the chest piece. I looked down at the hunk of flesh and realized it was the breast of the poor bearer of my chest piece. The bloodied stumps of the head for forelegs were obvious now that I looked at it. The armor succeeded in protecting the wearer, at least what it was covering.

"I am not putting that on until I wash it. That's fucking foul." I said to myself, hesitantly hooking the armor piece onto my bag and returning to my allies.

I sat quietly at the table with my newfound allies in a train car as it rumbled slowly up the hill. Littlepip and Calamity came prepared when they wanted to rescue slaves when they brought this train. My companions were sitting at a table in the same train car, talking about something. I myself was just working on my datapad and getting it as best I could to how it used to be. While daydreaming of course. It was my second-best coping mechanism since waking up from the cryopod. It was my only other true escape from the hell that was this world. That and music were my go-to's. DJpone3 has been the light at the end of the tunnel for me and my suffering.

While I was tinkering on my wristpad, littlepip was the first to initiate a conversation. "Is that some sort of Pipbug?" She asked, eyeing my wristpad curiously.

"No, but it's similar in purpose and made from a few parts of some broken Pipbugs I've found on my travels. It has much more data storage and does ten times more than any normal Pipbug." I explained, showing the device on my wrist to the curious mare. Not removing it from its spot on my wrist. "Plus, it's optimized so it's not as bulky as a Pipbug." I pointed out the drastic size difference between her pipbug and my device.

"That's actually quite impressive." My device impressed her, so I decided to show off just a bit.

"Not to mention, was I get it synced back up to my helmet. I can do the majority of its functions through the visor. It's quite complicated, really."

"Wow," she almost whistled. "In all my time and practice with Pipbugs, I've never seen something like that."

"No, I won't make you one," I chuckled, predicting the question before it was even asked. Getting a chuckle from her as well.

"Oh well, I didn't really need one anyway. I don't wear a helmet, and im quite comfortable with my Pipbug anyway." She shrugged.

"I would recommend you start wearing one." I started. Changing the topic. "I know most of the helmets you find nowadays can be uncomfortable with larger manes like yours. But it can save your life in more than one way. One being a sneaky fucker with a bat or gun coming up behind ya and just." I slammed my fist into my palm and made a smacking sound with my mouth. It seemed to get the point across. The expressions on Calamity and Littlepip's faces proved it.

"I'll think about it." She responded.

"I'll pass. Messes with my line of sight." Calamity said, waving a hoof as if brushing away the idea.

The door to the train car opened getting all of our attention as Velvet Remedy, our new medic who had insisted on treating my leg even though I told her not to worry about it, walked in and sat down next to Calamity. She and the rest of the group talked amongst themselves about the slaves they rescued while I continued to work on my wrist pad. I took out a flathead screwdriver from my bag and popped open the entire thing allowing me access to the device's innards.

"Excuse me, um, can I ask your name? It seems only fair that we know your name if you're accompanying us." Velvet asked, breaking my focus on my device. Thankfully I didn't break anything.

Before I could respond, Calamity took over for me. Seeing I was busy and he already knew me. He decided to introduce me. "That there is Riley, the trade master. Or at least one of the many names he has. He runs the most extensive and biggest trade caravan in the whole equestrian wasteland. If you're looking for something, his people probably have it. Hell, even ditsy doo orders shipments of stuff from him to sell herself."

"Really?" Velvet said, looking me over. "He doesn't seem the business type. He gave me the hardened criminal type." Wow, ouch much.

"You'd think that when he's outside his Caravan. He only leaves with small groups to go do scouting missions to new settlements or to scavenge for goods. He's a hardworking individual, just like most folk. The truth is that he has been on the worse side of the barrel more often than not." Calamity explained.

"Aint that the fuckin truth." I chuckled, closing up my wrist pad and letting it reboot.

"Eyup. I've been doing business with him and his folk ever since they first showed up in new appaloosa. And Ill I have to say is out of all the folks in the wasteland. You can trust them for quality and protection. I haven't regretted any purchase so far. And they make protection contracts for some of the other caravans." Calamity's words hit home. Glad that ponies outside the caravan actually think well of the business I do. It was a given, but sometimes I get my doubts. It's Ponies like him that assure me that Im on the right side morally.

"Well, I guess it's good we have him as an ally then, hmm?" She said, looking at me.

"Of course," I said without hesitation.

Throughout the conversation, both prior and current. Littlepip had this look on her face like she wanted to ask me something. But every time I noticed she was about to say something or wanted to. She kept silent. She almost seemed afraid to ask. Or perhaps the question just wasn't worth asking. Either way, she had something to say.

"You got something on your mind, Littlepip?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, it's just back in old appaloosa. Before we went into the central barn, we had a short conversation. And you wanted to finish it after we got out of harm's way." She responded nervously as if she was treading on dangerous ground. I recalled the conversation quickly in my head and understood the question before she even asked it.

"The wasteland is cruel and unforgiving, like I said. It makes even the most innocent and whole-hearted individuals crack and change in ways they never thought they would. Most try to cling to the hopes that things can be different or can be better. Most die with those beliefs or go clinically insane. Like raiders and slavers that lost their good-natured souls to the demon that is this land. Killing, raping, and stealing to satisfy their own hunger fueled by corrupted passion. Or the very same slaves that died praying to the goddesses to save them. Hoping that things would change for the better. It's the sad truth to the world as we know it." My rant shook my party's souls. I could see it on their faces and in their eyes. Velvet looked mortified, almost wincing at my words, refusing their truth. Calamity stared out the window, he knew my words carried truth, and he hated it. But did not argue against it. And littlepip, was simply lost for words. She couldn't believe what I was saying. I could see it on her face. Her mouth hung open as if to speak, but she couldn't find the words.

"However," I announced loudly, shaking everyone loose from their thoughts. "As per the nature of all sentient beings capable of independent thought. We evolve, change, and adapt to the world so we may survive. This world is cruel, so we must stare that cruelty down with a stare that finds the cracks we can exploit. So that we can find a way to live in a world void of natural powers. Some have a drive that forces that change. Some form of purpose drives them forward. Some simply wish to live out their lives with what little peace they can find. Others are driven by a goal or promise of a better tomorrow and use the powers at play to make those changes. Whether for the better or for worse. But these changes always come at a cost, as such an unforgiving world does. Some lose their sense of judgment, and killing becomes second nature. Or perhaps other such acts of foul and unusual punishment of the such become regular and familiar. I will tell you that slavery wasn't that popular at all back in the past. Now you can pretty much see it everywhere." I leaned forward, crossed my arms, and planted them on the table holding me up. Looked at Littlepip, the look of innocence that was cracking. I thought deeply about how much I trusted her before continuing.

"Now I know your question before was why it's so easy for me to kill. The truth is that... It's not. Never has a life I've taken not stuck with me over the years. Nor has it gotten easier to move on or commit the act. But the world we live in calls for it. As such, I've adapted to what the world requires of me to do what was required of me. And even though Im still working to achieve what I need. I still have lines I won't cross. It's what separates me from the horrors of this land." I paused for a moment before smiling widely. "That and Im filthy fuckin rich!" I laughed, slapping my hand on the table. Calamity joined me, which caused a chain reaction of laughs from everyone.

After a few moments, everything settled down. I still had one last thing to say that would hopefully give the young mare something to think about. "Now, the true question for you is, What is your drive? Your goal? Where are your lines drawn? And how far are you willing to go?" I sat there silently, waiting for a response.

"That was four questions," Littlepip said, tilting her head slightly.

"baaah, you know what I meant." I sighed, standing up and walking towards the door. "Im gonna go get some air before we go over this mountain. Hollar if ya need me." I finished before opening the door and heading out.

I stood overlooking the grand expanse of land in front of me. The ruins of the wasteland stretched before me. Scorched earth and burnt trees among an ever-expanding sea of grey and brown. The sky was unseen through the never-changing cloud blanket. Among the horizon line as I looked out, I swear I should have seen cloudsdale floating where it had always been. My vision flashed as the sky turned a grand firey green as an enormous green mushroom cloud erupted, as the flying city seemed to only to disintegrate under its wrath. I heard the screams of dying ponies falling from the sky and the low rumble of a loud boom. The once great forest that expanded below the mountain was now lit ablaze by green balefire. My heart pounded with my head as the nightmare unfolded before me. Then Rainbow dash hovered in front of me, half her body charred and burnt, her burnt wing nothing more than a burnt husk as she flapped in front of me.

"why didn't you stay? Why didn't you do more?" She said, with a deep scowl on her burnt face, as she disappeared into ash.

I ripped my helmet off and punched myself as hard as I could in the face. My metal gauntlet cutting my face and drew blood. I looked up to see the horrific sight gone back to the wasteland. Cloudsdale nowhere in sight.
I sat down on the flatcar and tucked my knees into the fetal position, and rested my chin on them.

"I did do so much more for all of you than I probably should have; you just wouldn't listen to me. My warnings of death and destruction fell on deaf ears." I whispered, my eyes feeling wet. The cut on my face was still spilling blood down my right cheek.

I heard a ding from my wristpad; I pulled my arm around to gaze at the device. It was a message from Romulus, my right-hand man, regarding my Caravan. He ran things while I was gone, and most of the time while I was there. I just told him what to do in the most basic sense, and he went above and beyond.

"Sir, I know you went radio silent over a week ago for most likely good reasons. But you gave me orders a long time ago to ensure I give you a 'heads-up' every time we reached one of our stops or stopped mid-travel. So I am sending you this to let you know we just arrived in new appaloosa. We're unpacking everything and getting the trading posts set up as you read this. No sign of Calamity, though, He is typically up our asses trying to buy and sell things. Plus, he made a rather special order with a spyglass that he needed to pick up. Otherwise, it's going into the trade pool. Other than that, everything is going swimmingly. I do hope you come back soon, though. The ponies with us are always more nervous when you are not around, especially the young ones. Romulus out"

As I finished reading his report, I smiled and looked up. I was looking forward to seeing them back in new appaloosa. Romulus was a dear friend from my birth; he was close to my father as his personal adviser. But my family treated him as one of our own rather than as a tool. Yes, he may have been a robot, but he was more than that. He was made by Merlin, the first king of Romulus, who named the city after him and served the royal family for over 5000 years. He is the only being made with an artificial soul from a human mage, not the elementals themselves. That, mixed with the hyper-complexity of his AI processing chip. Makes him one of a kind. He has free will but chooses to serve rather than act of his own accord. Which is something he still, in 5000 years, never explained. But I never pried into it. It's his life, and he can share what he wants.

It hit me like a rock to the face that I had never reported to him my status in over two weeks. Good god, how has he not sent a fucking strike team after me!? I quickly wrote: "good. Im on my way back to New Appaloosa as we speak. I will give you the full report in person. Keep an eye on the train tracks."

After I sent the message, Sounds of gunfire and incoherent yelling broke out from the front. "Fucking, what now!? I grumbled, jumping to my feet and climbing to the top of the next car. Running across the roof to the next flat car. On the ground next to the train, I saw the dead bodies of the pull team race by as the train began speeding up. Fuck, that's not good. I hopped the gap to the next car as I then heard gunshots behind me towards the rear of the train. I stopped and looked back, seeing Littlepip on the roof of a train car a ways down. I trusted that she and the other two could handle whatever was happening back there and continued to the front of the train.

I came upon the flat car just before the train's engine to see all of the pull ponies dead, with six raiders shoving their corpses off the train. That disrespect of the dead made me furious. I dropped down to the flat car, drawing my hand cannon. Before they could grab their guns, I unloaded all eight shots, fanning the hammer as I ripped the ponies apart. After the onslaught, only two were left. I had missed them barely. One was a unicorn with a pump action shotgun aimed at me. I ducked and rolled to a corpse of one of the raiders I felled, grabbed it by the throat, and held it up, blocking the shot. He desecrated the dead, some doing the same to him seemed like justice. My belt hissed as a new cylinder of eight bullets popped out. Held by a small metal arm an inch and a half away from my hip. I unloaded my gun, pressing the button that ejected the cylinder, letting it fall to the flat car, and rolled away. The raider fired another shotgun blast into the dead raider's corpse as I held it steady, walking forward slowly. I flipped the gun in my hand and hooked the new cylinder onto the small hook of the firearm. I smacked the weapon against my thigh as the cylinder popped into place.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the other raider pony with a twin pistol battle leap to my side weapons ready to fire. I instinctively threw the corpse at him, knocking into him as his battle saddle fired wildly, as they both fell to the floor. Using my now free hand, I cocked the hammer and fired at the shotgun pony. It struck him in the chest, killing him, but he managed to fire another shot in his final moments. The wild buckshot struck me in the chest, sending me back a few steps before I regained my composure. My chest cried in agony as something cracked from the power behind the blast. I grabbed my chest and heaved. Armor is only so good until the concussive force gets you. I noticed the other raider push his dead friend off of him and begin to try and stand. I rushed, and full force kicked him as he got his footing and was sent off the train that was going alerting fast. I heard him scream and grunt as his voice faded. I looked around to see if more raiders were at the front of the train. When I could confirm, the front was clear. I checked my self-diagnostic tool on my wrist pad. I got it from a destroyed pip bug and reprogrammed it for my body. It flashed several alerts on my chest. Saying I had four cracked ribs, and several more bruised.

"ugh fuck me, no wonder it's hard to breathe," I grunted, Pulling out a stimpack and injecting it into myself. It relieved some of the pain, but the healing would take time. I made my way to the boxcar I lept down from, climbing back to its roof. As I got to my feet, I saw a rust-colored pegasus dive out of the air with a... THAT FUCKER! Calamity was being chased by that same griffon who drugged my ass. Rifle in his claws, firing at Calamity, who couldn't get a good shot off with this fucker tailing him.

"CALAMITY!" I shouted as loud as I could, making my chest scream in pain. He turned to look at me, dodging shots. I raised my hand, twirled my finger in the air, and then pointed to the open flatcar. I then ran to the opposite end of the flatcar and readied myself to sprint. As he dove for the open flatcar from the side, he seemed to get the message, the griffin hot on his tail. I watched them come in as I timed it. I started a full sprint as they got close and, with the perfect timing, let Calamity fly past as I tackled the griffin out of the air with a grunt. Both of us landed on the flatcar below in a mess of feathers and grunts.

"Im gonna cleave your beak off and shove it up your ass, you son of a bitch!" I yelled, punching him in the face as we wrestled on the flatcar.

"I'd like to see you try flesh bag!" He growled with a grin, returning punches. His voice was deep and grimy. Like he hadn't cleared his throat in a while.

I kicked him off me and jumped back onto him, setting my knees on his front arms as I threw punch after punch into his beak. Causing blood with each blow. Before one of my punches made contact with his face, his beak shot up and hit my chest. Causing more pain from my cracked ribs as I lost my balance and grabbed my chest reflexively. The griffin took advantage, threw me off, and did the same thing I did to him. Only this time, he wrapped his talons around my throat, clenching tightly. Choking me. I grabbed his arms with my hands, trying to pull them away but couldn't with the total weight of an adult griffon behind it. I started punching and thrashing wildly as my vision started to go red. The increasing grin on the griffon's face filled me with rage. I reached for my gladius and drew it, stabbing it sideways behind the griffon's beak, and twisted my arm as I was showered in blood with the violent removal of the griffin's beak. His grip loosened, and I pushed him off me. He desperately tried to stop the flow of blood by covering the gore-filled wound on his face, choking and coughing on blood. I located the beak on the flat car and made true to my promise.

I was walking away from the still living griffon. I wanted to let him suffer in his final moments like he made me suffer. I hated him. I turned to look at the griffon once more before opening the door to the boxcar. The sounds of gunfire ceased, making me believe the fight was over.

As I looked at the suffering creature, my mind flashed with a memory of my father and me. He had taken me on my first hunting trip. We went with old-school tools as part of a tradition in our family. Bows and arrows. I had just shot an arrow into a six-point buck. We had tracked it down after it fell from exhaustion and blood loss. Heaving, it lay on the ground, an arrow sticking out of its side. My father kneeled beside me, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"a damn fine buck, son," he said, his voice calm and wise. Like a gentle guardian. "now for the final test," he handed me a knife. I knew I had it finish it off. I walked over and raised the blade above the deer. I closed my eyes, brought the edge down, and plunged it into the beast's heart. As it went limp, I opened my eyes and screamed as I saw my father with a knife in him, dead on the ground instead of the deer. I looked to where my father should have been. He sat kneeling with a complex elemental rune in his hand. He closed his hand, breaking the rune as the illusion faded. Bringing the deer back.

"Listen, son," his voice stern and serious, "I didn't enjoy that any less than you did, but it's something I have to do to teach you the value and truth of every life in this world. ALL life is equal. The value we give individual lives over others is nothing but an illusion to make it easier to take life. It doesn't matter if it's a deer, a king, or a blade of grass. Life is all the same, and there is nothing we can do to change that. If you need to take a life, you must understand you are taking something that is equal to yourself, no matter how much you hate it or love it. If you see a life suffering, help as though it was you. If you can't save it, don't let it suffer. That is the elemental of the earth's greatest lesson."

The memory faded as I returned to my body, Still staring at the griffin who seemed to accept his slow death. The large pool of blood around him dripped off the flat car's side. I drew my hand cannon and pointed it at the suffering creature. "elements forgive me and the suffering I've caused," and I pulled the trigger.

I opened the door to the train car just before the caboose to find Calamity and the others. Resting and treating wounds. All eyes gazed upon me, drenched in blood.

"Yeesh," Calamity said, cringing, "the hell happened to you."

"I don't wanna talk about it," I said, stepping forward only to get almost thrown into a wall from a sharp turn the train took, going dangerously fast. "is someone gonna hit the brakes on this fucking thing before we go flying off a fucking cliff?"

Velvet and littlepip looked at Calamity, who nervously rubbed his mane with a weary smile. "I may have kicked off the caboose, which had the brakes."

I never facepalmed so hard before in my life. "why?" I asked, thoroughly disappointed.

"Well, the raiders were making moves on the slaves we rescued, so we all got their attention and put the slaves in the caboose. Kept 'em safe and away from the fight." Calamity explained. It made sense, and my disappointment faded. He had good intentions but didn't quite think it through.

"Okay," I said, thinking, "what's the plan?"

The three ponies discussed who Calamity should fly to safety first since he was the only one who could safely leave the train. I made sure to make it clear that I wasn't going until they were all safe. As they talked, the train took another turn I didn't expect and flung me to the right. I heard glass shatter as I was thrown through a window. My rifle strap caught on something as I slammed back into the train. I was tense as the only thing keeping me from death was a leather strap. I thought quickly and drew my gladius, struggling to keep it in my hands due to the wind. I stabbed it into the train car and got a good grip. I needed to hold on until Calamity got everyone to safety.

I felt the train hit another turn, and the side of the train lifted, wheels leaving the tracks as the turn nearly took the whole train off the tracks. I saw magical green energy coat the entire train as it held it steady. After the turn, the wheels fell back into place along its tracks. Then it hit another turn, but this time I was lowering to the ground as the other side lifted. The train car's roof ripped off with screaming metal and cracking wood as it scraped the rocky cliff wall that passed by. The same green magic held the train to the tracks as I was hanging a few inches from the ground. Any lower, and my spine is gone. The train tipped back over, setting itself on the tracks again.

I pulled out my gladius and stabbed it in higher, pulling myself loose and climbing the train. I was tired of dangling on the side of a train. As I approached the top where the roof had once been, I heard a loud crash as the train went airborne, tearing from the tracks. The last train car and the one I was on flicked upward as it, too, came off the tracks. Sending me flying, and my gladius flying out of my hand.

I felt something hit me as I flew through the air. I thought it was a piece of debris from the train, but it grunted as it hit me. Then, as I started falling, I locked eyes with littlepip, who was falling with me. I acted without thinking and grabbed her, pulling her close as I raised my other arm to the cliff we were descending towards. I flipped my hand up to face my palm towards the cliffside. A symbol resembling a hook popped on my HUD as a barbed hook fired from under my wrist. Latching itself into the rocks. I grabbed the wire with my hand, still holding littlepip in my other arm. The wire tightened and yanked hard on my arm. I felt something pop in my shoulder as my arm went limp, and we swung towards the rocky wall of the cliff. My back smashed into jagged rocks on impact. I had unconsciously angled myself to take the brunt of the blow. I screamed in pain. My arm had obviously been dislocated and something must have broken in my back. The pain was exhuasting. I stopped screaming and bit my lip holding back tears of pain.

"FUCK" I Yelled as we swung in the wind. I looked down at littlepip in my arms, who was looking up at me in concern. I tried my best to hide my pain and asked, "you good?"

"yeah, You?" she nodded, looking down at the fall we would take if my wire had broke.

"I've been better," I grunted, the pain still agonizing. "God, Calamity is slow, isn't he? He didn't even need to drop velvet off far; why the hell is it taking his ass so long?"

Littlepip looked back up at me and said, "The train was probably going so fast he couldn't catch up. Plus, I think landing on something that fast isn't easy."

I thought about her words for a moment, "yeah, fair enough," I agreed. "by the way, nice job keeping the train on the tracks for as long as you did. Saved my ass from becoming a blood smear."

She smiled at me, clearly exhausted just hearing about her feat.

"Well, yall look comfy," I heard a familiar pegasus say as Calamity hovered next to us with a wide smile.

"shut up," I responded, annoyed, "here, take littlepip up first, and be quick. Im in a lot of fucking pain here."

He wasted no time getting littlepip on his back and flying to the top of the cliff. Quickly diving back down for me. He hovered beside me as close as he could. "now, I don't know how much your kind weigh, so this might be harder for me." he said as I climbed onto his back.

"im 180 without the armor, so do the math from there, I guess," I said as we began to ascend, the wire still hanging from my limp left arm. "If you can do the math, that is," I chuckled, also getting a chuckle from Calamity.

"Good one, but that's surprising that you weigh less than littlepip, and you're so much bigger than her and at eye level with me." He stated, clearly oblivious to the differences between pony and human biology.

"when it comes to ponies, you guys' bones are heavier and bigger to support your quadripedal stance on top of stronger muscles. Which means you need more food to power your body. So that makes you guys just naturally heavier and, in a word, 'beefier.' I explained, "We humans are, surprisingly, sixty percent water. So we drink more water and eat less food, unless were fat. We are, in general, weaker biologically than ponies other than height. It's nothing im ashamed of." I could tell Calamity wasn't too interested in a discussion on biology. We rounded the cliff edge, and I saw Littlepip sitting down, resting as velvet came running down the train tracks towards us. Calamity set down next to littlepip, and I stepped off. Weakness of the last week and a half hit me as I fell to the ground with a metallic thud, yelling and groaning at the impact as pain flooded my body.

"Fuck," I groaned as I saw velvet appear, looking down at me.

"oh dear, where does it hurt?" she asked worriedly, her horn glowing as my helmet slipped off my head.

"everywhere," I coughed, spitting up blood.

"ugh, I can't help you with all this armor on. Calamity, help me take it off," she said, looking over at the pegasus as he trotted over. I didn't want them to take it off but I couldn't argue. I could barely move at all.

I felt the individual pieces of armor come off. I was even sat up to get my duffel bag and rear platting off. But it was when my chest armor was taken off, and the shirt with it was my hearing met with several gasps.

"What?" I groaned, looking down at my chest. Other than the several scars from blades and bullets over the years, it Was the expanse of purple as a massive bruise stretched across my chest and now onto my back.

"Oh shit, that's not supposed to be that color," I groaned, letting my head hit the ground, my vision fading as a wave of tiredness swept over me. "I have some medicine in the bag." I managed to mumble before everything went black.