Fallout: Equestria - Echoes of War

“Sunshine and Rainbows!!”

It took some time for my eyes to adjust to the brightness of the outside world. I’d covered my eyes just before the platform reached its apex. Now that it was stationary, I opened my eyes, slowly. A moment passed before my eyes were able to adjust, and when they did, my breath was taken away…

The sky was covered by clouds. The sun was up, I knew that much, but I couldn’t tell if it was still ascending or if it was descending. Clouds covered the sky as far as I could see. All around me were leafless trees that moved in the wind. There was a billboard ahead of me. The Stable Buck was on it, blond mane waving in the wind, he had his familiar grin. There were words on the billboard, but they were unreadable. I’d never paid it much attention before the bombs fell, so I had no idea what it had said. I suppose it doesn’t matter now.

Standing at the top of this hill, I was able to get a decent view of the land around me. Below, was Harmony Lane, or what was left of it. Every house looked to have sustained some damage from the blasts. Most of them looked to still be usable, from where I stood. A few looked completely ruined, however. The forest around here appeared to be dead, but the cold wind I felt buffeting my coat told me that it was either the end of Fall or the beginning of Spring. It didn’t matter. Either way, the trees were without leaves.

Farther north, I could see the outline of Delamare. It was the closest city that I knew of. I knew that Hoofington was somewhere to the southeast of here. Canterlot was to the west. I’d never been to the capital, though, only hoofington. It was an amazing city, it had been rebuilt after a devastating zebra attack. Only a brief portion of my time had been spent there when I’d received cybernetic, most of my recovery had happened at home, where I could be comfortable. Only, it wasn’t as comfortable as it could–should have been…

I shook my head, dwelling on old pains would be a waste of my time now. There’d be time for all of that later. I took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then exhaled. Though it was a dream or nightmare, I’d promised my sister that I’d find Dewdrop. After that, who knows? There would be more things for me to do. Dewdrop and I would need a safe place to live, we’d need food and water. I’d probably spend the rest of my life as a farmer of sorts after rescuing her.

That was something I could figure out later after I found Dewdrop and brought her safely back to Harmony Lane.

There wasn’t much of use to be found around the platform, only more skeletons. There were quite a few around the platform. My thoughts went back to the mare that had been separated from her children. It was impossible to know which of the deceased had been her. As far as she knew, her foals had been saved and were able to live full, happy lives inside the stable. I wished that were true.

On my way down the hill, I noticed that no corpses were wearing Power armor. So, they’d managed to survive. Where could they have gone after the bombs fell? When I was in the army I was lucky enough to spend some time inside one of those suits of armor, though I wasn’t very good inside it. They were a bit too bulky for my liking. But that was war, I’d give my three remaining hooves to have a suit of power armor right now. That would’ve given me a huge advantage over most of the wasteland. Hopefully, these wasteland ponies didn’t have power armor at their disposal. That would, sure as shit, complicate things.

I let out a sight, they probably had power armor. I was sure that I’d have to face plenty of ponies with the armor.

Things were looking better and better.

Banishing the thought from my mind, I continued down the slope, following the bath that would take me back to Harmony Lane. The houses didn’t look to be in too bad a shape from where I’d stood atop the hill. However, all I could really see of the home was their roofs, the rest had been blacked behind the branches of dead trees. Not one of them had a single leafe left to them.

My expectations didn’t disappoint when I left the trail and stood on the cracked sidewalk. Where I stood seemed to be the most intact spot on the street that wasn’t one of the houses. The road was cracked in so many places that it was almost overwhelming, various plant life had started to grow out of the cracks lines across the road and sidewalk. Surveying the houses that I could see where I stood, most seemed to have withstood the initial blast of the bombs, followed by years of standing without any form of upkeep. There were a few that had caved in becoming nothing more than a useless pile of debris where a family of ponies had once lived.

Everything was destroyed here and I surmised that as I searched for Dewdrop, things would look worse. There wasn’t much I expected to have weathered the blast save for some of the buildings in and closer to Delemare. A lot of bits had been spent building the city, that is before the focus had been diverted to rebuilding Hoofington. From what I heard, that city was one of the most advanced cities in Equestria, at least before the end had come. I was sure it was nothing more than a husk of its former self now.

Hoofington, along with most of Equestria, was the furthest thing from my mind. Dewdrop was out there and she needed me. Finding her was the top on my priority list, after that… well… I supposed that I’d bring her back here unless I came across somewhere else better to live. That was unlikely, The only thing I knew was that Harmony Lane was safe. At least it would be after I searched it for anything that could be useful to me. This would be a good time to clear the place of threats and make sure that it was a safe place that I could count on while I was away, at least I hoped I could. Something could stumble along and take up residence here, sure, But I’d be able to take care of anything that decided to move in when I returned.

I turned on my hoofs and followed the sidewalk to my left; along the way, I checked each house that wasn’t a total ruin for anything that would prove useful. I hopped for cans of food since they’d been packing them with enough preservatives to outlive Celestia. If food wasn’t to be found then ammo and Weapons were next on my wish list.

So far luck wasn’t on my side as I checked the houses. I’d only found two cans of cram and no ammo or weapons of any kind. What were these ponies doing, surely they’d have prepared for a disaster. I laughed at myself, I knew my house wouldn’t have too much for me to use, either. I was a veteran, I should have known better. But I’d been lazy and now my house would be as useless as the ones I’d come across so far.

Turning I found myself standing before the ruined frame of my house. Somehow, it remained standing. Coolwind blew through my wind as I gawked at it, it felt like I’d just been inside a few hours ago, watching the news with the last ponies on Equiss that I’d had left to care about and who cared about me. Now, years later, I stood in front of my home.

Cold and alone.

Slowly I trotted along the walkway connecting the sidewalk to the front door. It was still open, just as we left it. The first thing that caught my eye inside the house was the sofa, the memory of the moments just before the sirens flooded my mind. It was the last happy memory of my twin sister that I’d ever made—watching her sit on the floor with their daughter, happier than I’d seen here in some time.

I turned away, trotting into the kitchen and checking the cabinets, empty save. Somepony had come through here, in the time that I was gone. Twister had made a trip to the grocery store when I’d first gotten home, she left Dewdrop with me.

All the food had been scavenged, likely any medicine that was in the cabinet behind the mirror would be gone as well. A standard issue Ministry of Peace first aid box in the bathroom was locked. It was worth checking at least since I knew that the key was kept in the laundry room across from it. The box clicked open with a twist of the key; inside were two healing potions. Back in the day, I wondered why these boxes would be locked, but now I was glad that it was.

There was something else that I wanted to grab that I’d stashed in a drawer in my room, A bottle of Wild Pegasus. Not my favorite whiskey, sure, but it was a close second. On the way to my room, I stopped, looking into Twister’s and Dewdrop's room. A tear rolled down my face as I stood there.

I gently closed the door.

My ear twitched as the sound of music grew louder and louder. What is that? I asked myself while quickly stuffing the bottle into my saddle bag. Whatever was producing the music was headed this way. I raced through the house and stopped on the doorstep, listening. Is that… Ponatra’s My Way?

After listening for a bit I found my guess to be correct. But, who would be going around playing Ponatra this loud? Sure it was a good song and all, one of his best. He was no Sweetie Bell though.

A sprite-bot came around the side of a house across the street, I watched as it started following the sidewalk away from me before it froze. The music played for a moment before being cut off. Silently, it turned toward me then floated toward me. I took a step back, reading myself for an attack.

“Hello.” Said a stallion, his voice heavily muffled by static.

“Um… hi?” I took another step back.

“Don’t worry, I don’t mean you any harm.” The sprite-bot bobbed in the air silently for a moment before he continued. “I’m sorry if I scarred you, I just happened to notice you here and I figure that you might need some help, or to be pointed in the right direction at the very least.”

“What makes you think I need help? I can take care of myself.”

“I’m sure you can, but checking doesn’t hurt.” He chuckled softly, “Recently I’ve found two other stable mares that did need help. I saw you’re uniform and figured I’d check.”

Two stable mares? I’d only seen the one other pod open, maybe another pony escaped Stable 0 with them.

“Did you see where they went?” I asked quickly,

“Yes, but they're not anywhere near here. The first one I found in the Ponyville ruins, the second one was down in Hoofington.”

“Oh,” I responded before a thought came to mind, “ you wouldn’t have seen a unicorn with cutiemarks stitched all over her hide recently?”

“Her? I’ve definitely seen that vile excuse for a pony a few times. I don’t have many of these bots in your area, I’ve come across her more times than I needed to.”

I took a couple of steps toward the sprite-bot and asked: “Have you seen here recently? Can you tell me where to find her?”

“I’m afraid not, The last time I saw here was a year ago, I think.” He paused for a moment, “Why are you looking for a pony like that anyway?”

“She killed my sister, carved her cutiemark off her flank, and stole my niece!” I took a breath to calm myself, “I’m trying to find here before my niece, Dewdrop, gets hurt.”

“Oh… I’m… I’m so sorry to hear that. I wish I could tell you where she is now.”

I sighed, “When I left the stable I knew that Finding Dewdrop wouldn’t be easy. I may have been a soldier during the war with the zebras, but that experience hasn’t prepared me for… all this.”

“Things have changed a lot in the last two hundred years, But that experience will help you defend yourself out here.”

Two hundred years, is that how long I was in that pod?

“I think I have a suggestion.” he said, breaking my chain of thought, “There’s a small group of ponies down Maneford, maybe one of them knows something about that unicorn. If not, then you might make some friends.”

“I don’t need friends,” I said coldly, they’d only slow me down, “Manefored right? I know where that is. I think I’ll pay them a visit.”

“Great, hopefully, they can help you.” He said I was about to ask something before he cut me off. “You might want to reconsider your stance on friends. They could prove useful out here.

“Sure,” I said, ignoring his advice to find friends, “What's your name anyway? I’m Winter Storm.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Winter Storm. You can call me Watcher.”

Static sounded from the Sprite-bots speaker followed by music. I watched as the Sprite-bot floated away following the sidewalk. That was weird, but I was glad to be given a location to head to.

Maneford wasn’t too far from Harmony Lane. I’d be able to get there and back before nightfall If I was quick about it. There was an itch to search through some of the other houses for supplies, but I decided to head out. Maneford was a little town that should have some useful stuff to find. Maybe these ponies would be willing to share some of their food; I doubted it, but a pony could dream.

…

Gunshots rang out as I approached Maneford. There wasn’t a lot, there must have been two small groups fighting. No doubt one of them was the ponies that Watcher had sent me here to meet. It was my first day out and I’d soon be in combat. If I was being honest needing to kill another was something I’d expected to do before now. Naturally, I wouldn’t have emerged from that tomb looking to kill, Just that I doubted finding many ponies in the wasteland that was friendly. You can’t blame a mare for being cautious, especially when her niece was on the line.

The shots seemed to slow, ponies were dying. I just hoped it was these unknown attackers and not the ponies I’d come to meet.

As I stalked along the sidewalk shouts became audible, though it was difficult for me to make out what they were yelling. I continued to follow the cracked sidewalk, long blades of grass brushed my belly as I crouched down. The sidewalk turned down Maneford’s main road, Peaking around the corner I saw a group of ponies wearing ragged barding shooting up at a chocolate-coated mare that was firing back with some laser rifle that I didn’t immediately recognize. Each of the attacker's weapons looked to be made of pipes and wood. It was a surprise that their weapons worked. At the front of the door were two bodies wearing the same uniform as the mare on the balcony. It was obvious that she was part of the group that Watcher had sent me to find.

The pistol slid from its holster as I pulled it free. Holding it ready in my mouth I continued on, prepared for a fight. I’d be able to take care of one or two of these attackers before they knew I was here, maybe three or even four if I was quick enough. There was an old auto-carriage ahead of me, its red paint giving way to rust. If I could reach it then it could be used as cover.

“Hey?” Called the mare on the top balcony, “Can you give us a hoof? We’ve got children inside. Please!”

There goes my element of surprise! Before I was spotted I ducked down, cursing under my breath. There was little reason to blame her for blowing my cover by asking for help, she was in a bad situation and wouldn’t let a chance at receiving help pass her by. There was no way for her to know that I was here to help her and had made my job much more difficult by alerting the attachers to my presence.

One of the attackers turned toward me, quickly aimed at him, and blew the left side of his face away. He crumbled to the ground.

“Shit!” a mare yelled. The ponies scrambled for cover that would protect them from behind as well as ahead.

My best estimate was three ponies stood between me and the building. More of them must be inside, In most situations I tried to expect the worst while hoping for the best. That line of thought probably wouldn’t serve me well in the wasteland.

I doubted I’d find hope in abundance out here in these blasted ruins, the best I could hope for was the worst while hoping to withstand it.

Shots rang overhead, I needed to rethink my plan of attack now that they knew I was there. Taking out three wasteland ponies shouldn’t be too much trouble for me. The mare on the balcony would hopefully get a clear shot and take one out herself. I didn’t plan on it, I just hoped that it would happen. She looked like she could handle herself, after all.

Shots continued to ring out while I started to back away until I came to an alleyway between two buildings that were completely boarded up. There was a momentary pause in the gunfire, I took the opportunity to dash down the ally. With any luck, it would lead me into a position to take out the pony that was hiding inside what looked to be a hardware store. Plant life flourished here, vines had begun to grow along the walls of the buildings. The scents from the grass and the few flowers here filled my nose as I passed them. Following the ally led me to the back door of the hardware store. Thankfully it was unlocked.

I slowly pushed the door open, I let out a sigh of relief when the door’s hinges didn’t squeak. Various tools were lying on the floor ahead of me which I carefully stalked around. All it would take for me to be discovered was the slightest of sounds when no gunshots were being fired. Wood creaked beneath my cybernetic hoof, causing me to freeze. I could see the pony, his attention was still locked on the mare on the balcony, he hadn’t noticed me yet. Continuing, I made sure to put as little weight as possible on my cybernetic, it was heavy enough and I doubted another creaking floorboard would go unnoticed.

Weaving my way through the hardware store wasn’t too difficult after leaving the narrow hall leading to the back door. The stallion ahead of me was shooting up at the mare oblivious to my presence. I was close enough to strick. Unsheathing the blade, I waited. He fired a few more shots before his pipe pistol clicked empty. He ducked down to reload. Terror flashed in his eyes as he saw me. He opened his mouth to scream, but nothing but a whimper came from him, I struck, burying the blade in his throat. Blood flowed from the wound when the blade was removed. He gurgled, bringing both his hooves to his throat. The stallion fell to the ground, life left his eyes as he lay in an expanding pool of his own blood.

When the light had left his eyes I checked his pockets and found some ammo that I’d be able to use along with some Sparkle-cola bottle caps. Tossing them to the side I moved to the window. Peaking out there were still two ponies in the building opposite from me. The mare on the balcony shot at them, catching one in the shoulder. She let out an agonized cry as the coat where the beam had hit blackened.

The other mare quickly shot back at the chocolate-coated mare. My pistol was still ready in my mouth. Firing, the bullet flew out the barrel of my pistol, flying through the mare’s ears. Her corpse fell in a heap before she knew what happened. A shriek sounded from the mare beside her.

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck!” she said.

Silence fell around us. Slowly, the last attacker raised her head to look through where a window would have been years ago. Her green eyes widened when they fell on me before a bullet blew her final thought out the back of her skull.

“That should be the last of the ones outside.” The mare called down.

“Do you know how many are left inside?” I asked, walking out of the hardware store.

“Not exactly, but it can't be more than four or five. These ponies have been following us for a while now.”

“Why?” I asked, genuinely confused. “Do you have something that they’re after? If so, why not just give it up? It can’t be worth your lives.”

“These ponies are part of a gang called The Hunters. All of them are cannibals, so they are only after us.”

“Cannibals?” I asked in shock. This is the wasteland, I reminded myself. Sure, every pony out here must endure a lot to survive, but that wasn’t an excuse for cannibalism.

“Shit! They’re banging on the door again. Listen. That mare by the door in an outfit matching mine had a semi-auto laser rifle and some ammo. Use it to take out the ponies trying to get in here. Please, there are two foals in here.”

“Don’t worry,” I said, galloping toward the corpse and picking up the riffle, “I’ll take care of them. You just make sure they can’t get before I do.”

She smiled down at me before turning to head back inside.

The laser rifle had a strap so I strapped it to my back. My hoofblade and Pistol should be more useful inside this office building. I couldn’t foresee a scenario where I’d be in anything greater than midrange combat. But, it was good to be prepared for any scenario. That’s how you survived battles; when you stopped planning for the unexpected you often got hurt, whether physical or emotional you’d be hurt, almost without fail.

Approaching the door to the office I saw a simple that I recognized, This was an office belonging to the Ministry of Image. What is one of these doing out here? I wondered, gazing at the symbol. That didn’t matter now, though. They were all dead, along with the rest of everypony else from them.

I suddenly felt alone. The thought hit me; every pony I’d once known, save for my mother and Dewdrop, was now dead. Even if they’d somehow survived the initial blast from the Mega-Sells, they’d died long ago. Faces of ponies I’d once known flashed in my mind’s eye, and a shake of my head cleared my thoughts. Only two ponies I cared about were alive now, nothing would stop me from protecting them. Though, I wished that there was a way, any way, that I could have prevented all this…

Entering the office, I found myself standing in a ruined lobby. Ahead of me was a pile of debris where the second floor had caved in. Looking up, I saw ponies moving between desks. Luckily, they didn’t see me; they were focused on breaking into the room the other ponies were hiding in. They’d get in eventually so they needed to be dealt with as quickly and efficiently. It should be a piece of cake, but when was combat ever a piece of cake?

Four rooms were connected to the lobby. I checked each of them, and the first I found was a waiting room covered with layers of dust, and a few skeletons sitting in the chairs. Room number two was blocked along with the which was across the lobby. There was no telling what the third room was, it was destroyed. That didn’t matter though, the wall on the other side of the door had collapsed and now led into a hallway. Two voices echoed out of the opening so I walked towards it; trying to avoid bringing attention to myself.

The hallway led deeper into the M.O.I. office. Most of the doors to my right were locked, though some were open, nothing inside looked interesting to me. There’d be time to explore later if, I got the itch to do a little exploring. Two stallions stood over the corpse of a mare wearing the same get-up as the Chocolate-coated mare. Both were staring down at her, one licking his lips

“C’mon,” one, unicorn, said, “The others can handle those ponies up there. I think we’ve earned a little… reward.” A shiver ran along my spine as he said that.

“I don’t know, Mag.” the earthpony said, “Cook-Cook said that we aren’t supposed to do that with the product.” He gulped, “I don’t want to be on his bad side, he’s crazier than shit.”

“Quit being a bitch! He wants all the good flank to himself. There's no harm in getting a little somethin’ from her. Can’t let a good mare go to waste when her body is still warm enough for a good flank spank.”

Is he really suggesting doing… that with the corpse? I asked myself in absolute shock. I was beside myself, what in the actual fuck was wrong with him? He had to die, there was no doubt about that. A pony vile enough to suggest… that deserved to die, more so than his cannibal friends, and that was saying a lot since they were already stains on pony-kind.

Slowly, I crept toward them, keeping my body close to the ground; trying to make as little sound as possible. The unicorn’s magic enveloped the mare’s body; he moved it until it lay with her flank up. Vomit flew into my mouth, but I managed to hold it before swallowing it back down causing my throat to burn a little.

“Are you sure you don’t want any?” The abomination of a unicorn asked his friend.

“N-no, you… you go ahead I’ll just, wait up ahead for you to… uh… finish.” He trotted through a hole in the wall leading to a room with stairs.

“Suit yourself, kid.” The unicorn said, moving to stand behind the corps. “Just you and me now, miss.” He said then let out a soft chuckle. “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you… anymore that is.”

He positioned himself to desecrate the corpse, I darted forward, extending my hoof blade. Before he had a chance to… do what he was going to do, my blade buried itself in the back of his head. He twitched for a moment before going limp; Quietly, I rested his corpse on the floor. I spit on his face before turning toward the dead mare. I couldn’t leave her like she was; she didn’t deserve to be left in such a position so I, respectfully, repositioned her corps so that she lay gracefully on her side. Looking down at the mare I said: “I promise that you’ll get a proper burial, you gave you’re life to protect those ponies and you deserved to be honored for it.”

“Hey!” Called the other stallion, “Are you done yet? That may be a dead body and all, but you can’t still be going at it. You don’t look the type to last longer than a minute.” There was silence for a moment, “Cleaver?”

Darting to the door I unsheathed my blade, it still had the other stallion’s blood on it. A few moments passed before the stallion poked his head through the hole in the wall. “This isn’t funny, Cleaver. We–we should get back to the others.” He took a couple of steps into the room, “Where are y…”

He was cut off by my blade piercing the side of his neck, causing him to let out a gurgled cry that shouldn’t be loud enough to alert the Hunters upstairs. He turned his yellow eyes toward me, he stared at me as I watched the life flee from his eyes. I freed my blade, letting his body fall to the floor, a ring of dust flew away from it as it hit the ground. As the dust settled I whipped the blood on his stitched-together barding.

That’s two down, three or four more to go.

Three ponies shouldn’t prove much trouble for me as long as they were ignorant of my presence. With luck, I‘d be able to take the rest of them out one by one; Looking down at my cybernetic leg, I dismissed the thought. Luck wasn’t normally on my side. For me, luck was something that I should expect to work against me more often than not. Why couldn’t I be one of the lucky ponies?

A set of stairs were still intact in the next room. Wooden debris clogged the two doors connected to this room. Various shouts and some gunfire came down from the floor above; I needed to hurry, the Hunters could blast their way through whatever door was holding them back at any moment. Only one pony inside was capable of defending herself, as far as I knew, the others would find themselves at the mercy of these psychopaths if the Chocolate-coated mare were killed. There was little time to waste.

Each hoofstep up the stairs was placed carefully to avoid stepping on a step that would creak and possibly give away my approach. So far, none had. That was surprising, given the age of this building. At the top of the stairs opposite where I now stood was a wall with a hole, it was big enough to let me see through it. On the other side were three hunters, two stood behind desks; the third stood by a door trying to buck it open. I had to hurry.

Moving from room to room eventually led me to where the three hunters were. It looked to be where most of what went on here happened. Each desk still upright had a terminal on it, those that now rested on their sides lay next to terminals with broken screens. Along the walls were various posters for four of the five ministries, the only ones absent among them were The Ministry of Image and the Ministry of Awesome. I wasn’t surprised that Rainbow Dash’s ministry lacked a poster; they didn’t do much of anything aside from setting up those towers.

My eyes locked onto a poster with Pinkie Pie on it. It read: Pinkie is always watching. A shiver ran down my spine, her eyes had a way of following you around any room that had a poster with her on it. Creepy.

Ignoring the accusing glare of a long-dead pink pony, I turned my attention to the Hunters. The earthpony bucking the door needed to be taken care of first and I’d be able to do so with the laser rifle. After she was dead a shootout with the other two would follow. That shouldn’t be too much of an issue, especially if the other mare came out to assist. I didn’t count on it but hoped for it nonetheless.

Pulling the rifle around, I reared up on my hind hoofs. I’d seen the zebras do this plenty of times during my time in the war. I’d spent some time practicing the stance; eventually, I found myself to become, somewhat, comfortable in the positions. However, I still preferred to use a battle saddle for rifles and shotguns. All that couldn’t make up for the lack of a horn. But us earth ponies made do with what we have, there wasn’t anything that could hold us back.

Carefully, I aimed the laser rifle between the mare’s eyes swaying slightly as I stood there. After she bucked the door I pulled the trigger. The bolt of red energy flew from the rifle with minimal recoil that I barely noticed. Her head jerked back as the bolt flew true, impacting right where I’d aimed, a moment later her body began to glow red hot before collapsing into a pile of ash that retained a faint glow.

“What the fuck?” One of the hunters, a stallion, said. Both turned toward where I stood in the door frame.

“You bitch!” The unicorn mare yelled before shooting at me with a double-barreled shotgun; I managed to slink behind the wall just before my body was shredded.

“You’re finished now!” the stallion said, shots from a makeshift pistol followed.

Bullets flew through the wall where they thought I’d be waiting. There was little chance I’d get to shoot at them again from here so I went back to the room with the stairs and peeked through one of the holes in the wall that let me see into the room the two remaining hunters were. None of the holes were large enough to let me see through while shooting, I stuck the barrel of my pistol through a hole and then angeled it in the direction that pointed at one of the ponies. Three shots rang out, I retracted the pistol and crouched down.

“What the fuck?” The stallion said, “Shit, she’s on the move!”

Though none of them were hit, they were confused about my position, this should let me take out at least one of them from the door again, maybe both if I shot quickly. Returning to the door, I listened.

“Where do you think she is?” The mare asked,

“I don’t know, just keep your eyes open.”

“The others must be dead, how else could’ve gotten here.”

“If they’re dead then they don’t matter now. Just worry about taking her out then we can collect the meat. If we take that mare along with any of us that she’s killed we’ll get a bigger payday than we’d planned for.

“We can’t just sell one of our own,” The mare shrieked.

“Oh, and why not?”

Taking this opportunity, I leaned so I could see the ponies, both of them weren’t looking in my direction. I shot at the stallion, the bullet blew out the front of his throat. His eyes widened before he fell behind the desk. The mare shrieked while ducking down. One more to go.

“P–please don’t kill me,” The mare called out, voice shaking. Was–was she crying? Shouldn’t a pony willing to cannibalize other ponies be tougher than this? “I… don’t want to die.”

Listening to the fear in her voice made me start to consider letting her go. “Why should I? You and your friends came here to kill these ponies. Why should you be allowed to live when you weren't about to extend the same courtesy to them? Huh!?”

The mare stammered, frantically trying to find the right words to talk her way out of her current situation. “I didn’t want to come here.” She began in a hurry, it was hard to understand her with how fast she spoke. “I never wanted to be one of the Hunters. A couple of months ago they gave me a choice: Join, or become food. They’d told me they had enough… meat… to last them a while, I was lucky to be given the choice.”

“What’s your name?”

“S–sunflower. My name is Sunflower. Please can I just go?”

What to do? “Toss away your weapon and the stallions.”

“Are you gonna let me go?”

“If you do as I ask; don’t try anything stupid.”

The sounds of three weapons echoed from the room.

“That’s all of them.”

Entering the office, pistol at the ready, I said: “Come on out.”

Slowly the Sunflower began to stand up. Her blond mane was a mess, there were more than a few scars visible within her Green coat. Her eyes widened when she looked at the pistol pointed at her. Tears began to well up in her eyes. “Please don’t shoot me,” She begged pitifully.

I glared at her, “Get out of here,”

“T–thank you!” She said, then galloped around the table and then to the door where she froze. “Listen… there are more Hunters that will come when nopony comes to give them a report on the situation here.”

“How many?”

“Not a lot, there are five. I’m steering clear of them. The last thing I want to do is to be stuck with them again after getting a second chance at freedom.”

I nodded my thanks and she left. That was great, five more ponies that needed killing.

“Hey, Stanger!” called the chocolate-coated mare from behind the door that was muffling her voice. “Are you alive out there? Things have gotten quiet.”

“Everything’s taken care of, it’s safe now,” I answered, walking up to the door. There was a nameplate on the door that was still legible, it read: Coco Pommel

“What are you wearing?” The mare asked.

“What?” I asked, more than a little startled. Did she think now was, honestly, the best time to flirt? “Listen, I’m all for flirting, but I prefer to do that when not in a dangerous situation.”

“No! Im not… I just want to make sure that it’s you. I don’t know your voice, but I remember what you wore when I saw you below.”

“Oh,” I said, flushing. Clearing my through, “I’m in one of these stable uniforms, with a zero on the back.

The lock on the door clicked before it was opened.

The mare let out a sigh of relief, she gestured for me to enter. Inside there were three other ponies and two foals. An orange and green mare sat watching over the foals; a stallion with a brown mane and Gray coat sat in the corner, staring blankly ahead. There was a disfigured mare resting in a chair. The chocolate-coated mare noticed me staring at her.

“Aint you ever seen a Ghoul before?”

“A what?” I asked.

“I guess you haven’t; I thought you looked too clean to have spent more than a few days outside of your stable.” She said, giving me an inquisitive look. “A ghoul is a pony that’s soaked up a whole lot of rads and lived to tell about it.” There are two types out there, ones are just like everypony else–on the inside, at least. And ones that have lost the pony that they used to be and went feral; mindlessly attacking anypony who isn’t a ghoul they see.”

My eyes darted to the ghoul then back to the mare. “Don’t worry about her, Grandmare is one of the nicest ponies I’ve had the pleasure of meeting since joining the Minutemares, heck, even before that, I reckon.”

“Minutemares?”

“Sorry, I already forgot that you’re new to the wasteland. The Minutemares are… where a group of ponies that would come to the aid of ponies in need. When a call came, we’d be ready to head out in a minute's notice, hence the name.” The mare sighed, “As of now, I’m the last active Minutemare. The rest are dead, though some who retired might still be alive.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said, “sounds like your group was something that still desperately needed out there. What happened to them?”

She sighed, “It’s a long story; I’ll tell it to you once we’re safe if you’re still interested. I’m Whitehooves, by the way.”

“Winter Storm,” I said with a nod, “There are more Hunters out there, one of the ponies back there warned me about them. She said they’d come if they hadn’t heard from the group we just killed.”

“Damnit, I’d hoped that would be the last of them. What are we going to do now? There's only the two of us that can handle combat.”

“Well, we can try to run before they arrive–if they aren't already close. Other than that, we can try to fight them off. We were able to handle the last group well enough; now we don’t have to worry about them trying to break into this office, they’ll all be outside.”

“That’s right! We can take them out the same as last time.”

“The Hunters are back!” Yelled a small lime-green colt standing by a window.

“Get away from there before they see you!” his mother scolded, wrapping a hoof around then ushered him back. “What if they’d shot at you? You need to be more careful out here, Donut.”

“I’m sorry momma.” The colt said, staring down at his hooves.

We didn’t get much time to rest before they came, I guess it had already been a while since they’d last spoken to a pony from their other group, or they got impatient and decided to hurry things along. Either way, they’re here now and needed killing. That was something I never enjoyed doing, killing was always a sad affair, and life–especially nowadays–was a terrible thing to waste. However, the Hunters are bad ponies; there was only one way for us to get out of this with our lives.

“I’ll head down and see if I can find another way out of the building,” I began, “Once I’m outside I'll sneak around them and try to pick off as many of them as possible before I’m discovered.”

“Sounds like a plan, I’ll do my best to keep anypony from getting inside.”

On my way to the door, I turned with a wry grin, “Oh, please don’t blow my cover this time, if you don't mind.”

“Sorry about that,” Whitehooves rubbed the back of her head, “I didn’t want to risk letting you slip by.”

Something on the desk caught my eye. Walking over to it I saw a little statuette of Rarity; gazing at the gorgeous mare I could swear the thing had a faint glow around it.

“Does this belong to any of you?” I asked, everypony shook their head.

“It was here when we came in, Whitehooves said. The last owner is long dead by now.”

Picking up the statuette sent a slight jolt throughout my body, causing me to jump slightly. I carefully put it into my saddle bag. I nodded to whitehooves and then left the office.

Quickly retracing the path that brought me up here, I found myself back on the main floor. After a bit of searching a set of signs pointed me to an exit on the side of the building opposite the main entrance. The door was stiff, but it opened after a bit of effort. My breath was barely visible as I stood trying to decide what direction to go. Remembering the Hardware store I galloped over to then around the building across the street from it. Laser fire rang out followed by a few shouts then return gunfire. I needed to hurry, Whitehooves can’t keep them at bay forever.

Peaking through the ally at the Hunters showed that none of the six were looking in my direction. Carefully I crept across the street, keeping myself low and stepping as lightly as possible. A sigh of relief escaped my mouth as I entered the Hardware store from its back door. Thankfully, there were no Hunters inside.

More gunfire and shouts.

Looking out at the Hunters I began to plan the best route I’d need to take to eliminate as many as possible. It didn’t take long for me to find one, they were spaced out enough that it wouldn’t be too difficult to sneak up on one before killing them and moving on to the next. That should allow me to get three of them, at least. One pony, presumably their leader, hid behind a rusted taxi in the middle of the road a couple of paces from the door. He could dash for the door and get inside, with little damage if he was a risk taker. The stallion continued hiding behind the taxi. After a moment he shot up at Whitehoove’s balcony shouting: “You’re making me work up an appetite here, lady.” When the bullets stopped, Whitehooves popped up, taking a couple of shots at him before bowing out of sight. Bullets impacted the wall behind where her head was moments ago.

Some of the Hunters changed positions, and most were still spread apart, but two had relocated and were now hiding behind the same vehicle closer to the door. When I slowly inched my way through the door I noticed one of the Hunters using a streetlight as cover. Do they really think that’s enough cover? I asked myself then shrugged, Maybe they’re stupid or something.

Slinking down the sidewalk I crept onto the road and behind a pony hiding behind a large public mailbox. A small click sounded when the blade extended from my metal hoof. The mare must have heard it, she started to turn. The blade slid into her neck while I covered her mouth with my other hoof so she couldn’t scream. She thrashed in my grip before going limp, eyes glazing over. I lowered her to the ground, making sure that her corpse would be hidden behind the mailbox. I wouldn’t want one of her friends to see her and spoil my cover.

My next target wasn’t far from the mailbox. I crept over on three hooves, keeping the blade extended. I hadn’t cleaned it off yet; I preferred not getting blood in my leg, it was always a hassle to clean it out and I didn’t expect to have time to clean it soon.

Gunfinre stopped for a moment followed by Whitehooves’ laser rifle. After a couple of blasts, the stallion I was approaching took the opportunity to shoot at the mare. A red beam flew into his face before he got a shot off. His body then glowed red the heat washing over me before disintegrating into a pile of ash that was carried away in the wind. Whitehooves was a good shot, I was glad to be on her side.

One Hunter remained that could be taken out without alerting the others. After he was done, it shouldn’t be too much trouble for Whitehooves and me to finish off the remaining Hunters.

Peaking over the car the stallion had been hiding behind I saw that the pony hiding behind the light post was moved and was now crouched behind an overturned bench facing Whitehooves’ direction. I could sneak up on him, but I decided to hurry this along. Sheathing my blade, I unslung the laser rifle and aimed it at the back of the pony’s head. Two shots hit him, one in the flank and one in the back of the neck. He let out a cry when the first bolt hit, then fell in a heap on the ground at the second’s impact. He didn’t disintegrate, but he didn’t move either.

“Shit, someponys behind us.” The leader yelled, turning and shooting at me—bullets whizzed by overhead. I dashed to the side when the shots ceased. I knew it was a bad move as soon as I was in the open, a bullet biting into my hide just below my snowflake cutie mark confirmed that thought. Cursing under my breath I dove through the broken window of the building ahead of me. Now I had room to maneuver, all it cost me was a shot in the flank. I held off on drinking a healing potion, until after the battle, just in case I got hurt some more before this was over.

Beam fire and gunfire erupted outside. Bullets could be heard slamming into the wall behind me.

A pained shriek hit my ears followed by gunfire, none of which were heading in my direction. Damn, I wished I could know if the enemies had moved around or if that shriek had signaled another dead hunter instead of one just sustaining an injury and still being in the fight.

I raised my pip-buck and started messing with it a bit hoping that this thing had an E.F.S. That I remembered from my short time training with power armor.

E.F.S. - ACTIVATED

There we go! Why the Tartarus would something as useful as an E.F.S. be deactivated? I shrugged, I guess it wasn’t something that the previous owner didn’t use much.

When it was activated, things popped up in my vision; red pips that told me there were still three hunters out there and that they’d changed positions, again. Judging by the red pips, none of them were side by side now. Redying my pistol I poked my head through the door, finding one of the hunters shooting at Whitehooves’ perch. Perfect. Shooting, the bullet raced from the barrel of my pistol, flying into the pony’s ear facing me before flying out the other, followed by a spray of blood, bone, and brain. They fell to the ground, the red pip marking them vanishing.

Another pony decided that was a good time to show his face, allowing me to blow a couple of holes in it. The leader was all that remained now.

“Shit, shit, shit!” He said from where he was hiding, judging by the lone red pip, he was in the hardware store. It was a big mistake for him, I knew just how to get in there. I galloped out of the building I was in, down the alley I’d taken before to get to the hardware store’s back door. Inside I found the Hunter leader cowering down, shaking. His eyes widened when he saw me enter the room, he urinated himself. The stallion darted and I put a bullet in his head, his body fell, and a pool of blood spread out around where his head lay.

Trotting outside I called up to Whitehooves: “That’s the last of them, I think we’re good now.”

“That’s a relief, I’m running low on cells.” Whitehooves came into view and looked down at me. “We really appreciate you helping us. There’s no way we’d have made it through this if you hadn’t come by.”

“I’m glad to help,” I said, blushing a little.

“I’ll tell the other that it’s safe to come down, we’ll meet you in the lobby… if you feel like sticking around for a bit, that is.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be there,” I responded, my mission burned in the back of my mind, but I wanted to speak with these ponies and learn more about what I’m likely to face on my path to Dewdrop.

Waiting in the lobby it didn’t take too long for Whitehooves to lead her group to me. They all looked like they were exhausted. The stallion had a faraway look in his eyes like he wasn’t present, I wondered what made him this way.

“Can we stop for a moment,” Grandmare asked, “I’d like to speak with our new friend,” The old ghoul turned her ancient gaze on me. Her coat was gone, there were a few strands of pink where her tail and mane should have been.

“Of course, Grandmare. We’re safe, for the time being.” Whitehooves helped Grandmare take a seat in a waiting chair that was clear of debris. “We can’t stay here too long, we’ll have to get moving soon.”

“There’s no cause for us to rush, now.” Grandmare said with a knowing smile, “She’ll lead us to the place I’ve seen, our new home.”

I tilted my head to the side. “Me? I’ve only been awake for a day, I don’t know of any safe places around here.”

“Oh, but you do, child.” The mare's eyes, though sightless, burned into me. “You are the mare that I’ve foreseen, you’ll lead us to a home where we’ll be safe. We can start to live in harmony once again.”

Harmony? I didn’t know what to make of the ghoul. Was she talking about Harmony Hills? That’s the only place that I’ve been, save for the stable, and I wouldn’t consider that place safe, not anymore…

“I–I think I can help you,” I began, slowly, “There’s a community, south of here. That’s where my sister and I lived… before the bombs fell….”

“Before the…” a white mare with a light brown mane began, looking at me, “are you sayin’ that you were there when the Balefire bombs fell?”

I nodded, “My family and I had a place in Stable 0, because of my service in the Equestrian military.” I told the ponies everything that happened between the sirens going off and speaking to Watcher. A thought hit me: Watcher must have known that these ponies needed help that’s why he suggested that I head here first. Sure, it was the first place I was likely to head–it was the closest location that I was familiar with–but I didn’t like him sending me into a violent situation without any warning. He could have just told me what was going on here in Maneford and I’d have come to help, maybe I could have gotten here in time to save the two dead minutemares that I’d found.

If he ever contacted me again, I’d have some words for him…

“Equestrian Military, huh?” Whitehooves smiled at me, “Guess that explains how you were able to handle yourself during the fight. I’ve met Stable Ponies before, and they are usually pretty helpless. Though, I guess there are exceptions.”

“Can you take us to the community you spoke of?” Grandmare asked before the conversation could derail further from the subject matter she clearly cared about.

“Sure, I can take you ponies to Harmony Hills. Though I am in a hurry, so… I’d like to do it quickly.”

“I think I might be able to help you with that, child,” Grandmare said, looking past me. “If you have since chems, preferably Party-time Mentals, then I can use them to get a vision of where you should go to continue your quest.

“A vision, how’s a vision going to help me find Dewdrop and that unicorn?”

“Oh, It’ll help.” The white mare said, “Name’s Coconut, by the way.” She trotted closer to us. “Grandmare here is something special.” she said, putting a hoof on the ghoul’s shoulder, “She’s had visions that have proven to be very useful. I’ve known her almost my whole life, she rarely has visions that don’t turn out the way she sees.”

“Really?” I asked, trusting what Coconut had said. “I’d be infinitely grateful for any help you can provide, Grandmare.”

“I still don’t buy it.” Said the mare standing behind her two foals. “As far as I know, she's just a junkie and we’ve been following her chem-field guidance all the way south. Losing a lot of ponies… a lot of friends along the way.”

“Settle down, Rain Cloud.” Coconut said sternly, “You haven’t known her as long as I have. I’ll admit, sometimes her visions don’t come true, but it’s rare for that to happen.” Coconut turned to me, “I promise, if you can get her some PTMs, Grandmare will be able to help you.”

“I don’t have any on me, I’m afraid.” Where could I find some PTMs? I remembered I’d passed a pharmacy on my way into town, they might have some there. “I think I might know where to find some. On the way to Harmony Hills, I want to make a quick stop to see if I can't find any Party-time Mentals.”

“We should just head straight to Harmony Hills without stopping.” Rain Cloud said, coming toward us. She did not look happy. “What if more of them show up while we're out in the open?”

“Don’t worry,” Grandmare said calmly, “I’ve not foreseen any dangers after meeting winter.”

“You never mentioned her in your vision before, how do we know you’re not bull-shitting us?”

“I’ve told you what you needed to know. Up until now, all you needed to know was that we needed to head south, to Maneford. We’re here now and you need to know the rest now that we’ve met the mare and you are frightened of being attacked. Don’t worry, Rain Cloud. Your children are safe now.”

“It’ll be alright,” Whitehooves added, “If we do find trouble Winter and I should be able to handle it. We’re almost done with our journey, you’ll be at your new home before the sun sets.”

Rain Cloud looked from Grandmare to Whitehooves. “Alright, but let’s not take too long.”

“I’ll be as quick as possible, " I told the worried mother. She nodded before turning and returning to where her children sat. Surveying the group I noticed a pony was missing. “Where’s Coconut?”

“Right here” The mare called. She was standing at the front door holding it open with a hoof. “I stashed some pretty sweet gear while we were being chased in here. I was worried one of the Hunters would make off with it, but when I checked it was in the cart, right where I left it inside the church next door. I’m ready to move out when y’all are.”

“Ok, everypony,” I said, turning to the others, “let's get going.”

The group followed me out of the building and through Maneford until I found the local Pharmacy. We stopped for a moment so I could search for PTMs; I managed to find another health potion before I stumbled upon a tin of party time mentals that was partially buried under ash. I searched for a little longer after that before leaving and returning to the ponies who waited for me outside.

I led them along the round south, there wasn’t much conversation. After a while, we reached the bridge that led into Harmony Hills. After reading the sign with the name on it, the two kids galloped past me, their mother calling after them, begging them to stay close. I couldn’t blame Rain Cloud for being worried; I knew this place was safe, but it was unknown territory as far as she was concerned, anything could be lurking here.

We continued along the road, Whitehooves and I at the front. I made sure that we didn’t move too fast, Grandmare was old and Coconut was hauling a cart; both of them could easily be left behind. There was still some time before we reached our destination and there were still a few things that I wanted to ask Whitehooves about. Now was the perfect time.

“You said you’re the last of the Minutemares,” I began, “How’d that come to be? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“No, I don’t mind. It’s a long story, but…” she took a deep breath, “I suppose now is a good time to tell it…. After the balefire bombs fell there was a lot of chaos that followed. Anypony that lived through that had one thing on their mind: Survival. It didn’t take long for ponies who wanted to help the survivors to come together. Those ponies became the Responders.

“At first, the Responders were made up of EMTs, Police, Firefighters, and other emergency response teams. After getting together they did their best to help anypony in need, no matter what. Life improved around Delamare, as much as it could that is.

“Things in the Responders didn’t last. The passing of the first lead along with some emerging plague created a rift among the ponies. One group wanted to continue helping those in need. The other thought things would get better if every settlement was controlled by a single group. After much arguing the Responder split into two groups: The Minutemares and The Regulators.”

“What happened after the split?” I asked.

“The Minutmares went on helping any settlement that requested aid, spreading their numbers thin. Meanwhile, The Regulators conquered some of the larger settlements that had been some of the first to be founded. It didn’t take long for settlements to ask the Minutmares for help against the Regulators. A small-scale war broke out after that, it lasted decades.”

“How’d you come to be the last Minutemare? Are there any Regulators left?”

Whitehooves was silent for a moment, “both our numbers dwindled as we battled over settlements. In the long run, we knew we’d be victorious even if we were wiped out; The
Regulators' numbers were dwindling as fast as ours was; settlement began to cast out any of the Regulators that were there.

“Eventually, there were fourteen of us after losing our headquarters. All of us were willing to give our lives to protect innocent settlements along with putting an end to The Regulators.”

“Are they still around?”

“No.” Whitehooves looked down at her hooves as we followed the road. She remained quiet for a time, deep in thought. After some time had passed she turned her gaze to me. “The minutemares were called to Prancey,” she nodded to the ponies behind us, “Where they lived. Grandmare had a vision that they were going to be attacked and Coconut sent for our aid after that. The last of the Minutemares responded to the call where we prepared for the attack from the regulators, it came after two days.

“After trying our best to defend the town, we had to flee, but not before I put a bullet between the last Regulators eyes. There were five Minutemares left when Grandmare had a vision, one without the aid of PTMs. We followed her guidance all the way to Maneford. You know the rest after that.”

“Are you the Regulators are gone?” I asked.

“No–not really. All the Regulators that were at the battle of Prancey are dead, their numbers were less than ours at that time, but I suppose there could have been some hold-outs or a few new recruits out there… I hope not. If they're out there, there’s little to stop them from rebuilding and conquering settlements unless there's another group willing to do something about them. I doubt it.”

We walked in silence for a moment, “It’s a shame that the minutemares are gone. If the regulators are gone, like I hope they are, we could help the settlements out there grow. The only way Equestria will be able to recover from the devastation is if we work together to make things better.”

I could feel her sadness. Being out here, seeing what my home was reduced to was tough, If I hadn’t already had a goal to keep me going I might have been lost in the melancholy of it all…

“Well… I guess we’re going to have to rebuild the Minutemares.” I said without thinking.

Whitehooves stopped, staring at me wide-eyed. “What?”

“We’re going to rebuild the Minutemares,” I repeated, smiling.

“You–you’re serious?” I nodded and her face lit up; I think it was the first time I’d seen the mare smile. “I… don’t know what to say. What about finding your niece?”

“That will be my primary focus, but I’ll travel around as I search for Dewdrop… and her foalnapper. I might as well act as a recruiter along the way if I can.”

“This is great! With your experience in the equestrian military, I think you’d be great as the Minutemares' new General?”

“General? Me?” I shook my head, “I don’t know about that. Shouldn’t you be the General? You’re the last Minutemare after all.”

“Well that would make me general, yes; but I have no interest in taking the position, which I lack the skills to do. You, on the other hoof, do.”

“How can you know that, we’ve only just met recently. Just because I was able to help you with the Hunters doesn’t mean I’d be good as your new General.”

“Well… you’re right, but I just have a good feeling about you. Something in my gut tells me that you’re the best mare for the job.”

It was clear her mind was set, it’d be a waste of breath to continue to resist; but as I was going to accept, a thought came to mind. “Let’s hold off on making me General, there might be a pony out there better suited for it than me. If nopony hasn’t been found before I’ve found Dewdrop, I’ll accept the position. Does that sound good to you?”

“Sounds good… future General.”

Whitehooves laughed, and I rolled my eyes.

Not long after our conversation ended we turned down a bend in the road and the bridge to Harmony Hills came into view. I lead the ponies over it then along the road, stopping in front of my old house.

“Well, this is it.” I said, gesturing at the surrounding area, “The house behind me was mine. I plan to come back and live in it when I return; I’d ask that nopony move in there while I’m away.”

“Don’t worry, miss.” Coconut said, she unhooked herself from the cart, “It’ll be here waiting for you when you return. I’ll clean it for you if you like, it’s the least I can do after you saved our tails back there.”

“Thank you,” I began, “You can if you want to, but it’s not necessary. Focus on making this place you’re home. I’ll have time to take care of the mess when I get back. Thank you, though.”

“C’mon, the at least let me make some improvements to your stable uniform. You’re gonna need some proper protection if you plan to head north. I promise that It’ll only take an hour or two.”

“OK,” I said then slipped out of the stable uniform. “Thank you,” I said, hoofing it to Coconut

“No thanks necessary, I’ll have this ready for you in a jiffy!”

Coconut turned and galloped toward her cart then began digging through it’s contetns, the other ponies started looking around, save for Whitehooves and Grandmare. The old ghoul smiled at me. “Are you ready for one of my visions? It’s no rush if you’re not.” she gave me a kind smile, “Just bring me some Party-time Mentals when you are ready.”

“There’s no reason for me to wait,” I said then dug the PTMs out of my saddle bag then gave it to her. “How many do you need for a vision?”

“Only a few, sometimes more, but that's rare.” Grandmare took a couple of PTMs and popped them into her mouth then swallowed. She stood there for a moment then her already pink eyes somehow got pinker. She sat then got far off look, it felt like she was looking through me.

“Is she ok?” I asked.

“Yes,” Whitehooves answered, “It’s scary to watch, but this is how she looks when she’s experiencing a vision. It should only last a couple of minutes more, then she’ll come out of it.” The Minutemares look became concerned. “I do worry that one day she’ll have a vision that will kill her. She’s over two hundred years old at this point; she may be a ghoul, but that doesn't mean her body can handle inducing these visions. She might have to slow down, maybe give them up altogether.”

I nodded, “You’re supposed to be safe here in Harmony Hills. There shouldn’t be much need for here to have these visions after this.”

Grandmare gasped loudly as her pupils returned to normal, her eyes returning to their normal hue of pink. She sat there trying to regain her breath while staring at me.

“Grandmare!” Whitehooves rushed toward her, “Are you alright? Do you need some water?”

The ghoul waved her away. “I’ll be… fine.” more panting, “I just need to catch my breath, is all.” Whitehoves gave her some space, still looking concealed for the ghoul.

“Did you see anything, Grandmare?” I asked after her breathing became more controlled.

“I did, Winter Breeze.” She took a couple more breaths, “There was a lot, though it was hard to make out. so much flashed before me; I’ve never had a vision like it.”

“W–what did you see?”

“Destroyer City,” she said, “I saw Destroyer City, that’s where you need to go.” she paused for a moment, eyes rolling around before returning to me. “When you get there, look for somepony named: Flask. He’ll help you. I’m not sure what after that, there was so much.” Grandmare raised a hoof to her head, swaying a little.

Whitehooves rushed to the ghoul’s side. “Let me help you find a place to lie down,” She helped Grandmare stabilize herself.

“There’s still a bed in my house she can use. My house is pretty much clear of large debris, it should be too difficult to get her to my bed.”

“Thank you, deer.” Grand mare said. “It’s rare for a ghoul to receive this much kindness these days.”

I moved to help support Grandmare on the opposite side of Whitehooves. Together we helped her through my house and onto my old bead. The springs squeaked in protest as she rested on it. 11555

Destroyer city? I felt like I knew where that might be; back in the day, the Destroyers were a hoofball team that had a stadium in Delamare City. Though I was certain of this, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask. “Grandmare, Is Destroyer City in the stadium in the city?”

“It is, don’t let the name troupble you, though. It might soundlike a den where slavers, gangers and other like that would be, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Destroyer City is a welcoming place to all, save ghouls.” She lay there fro a moment then opened her mouth to continue. “The new mayor had any ghoul living there removed not long after he was elected. I used to live there for a time, but I’d left years before Sprout came into office.”

“I really appreciate this, Grandmare. I don’t know where I would’ve begun my search If I hadn’t met you.”

“I’m sure you’d of found your way, my little pony.” She gave me a motherly smile.

As soon as Coconut finishes with my barding I’ll be on my way.” I turned to Whitehooves. “Will you be able to handle thing here?”

“Sure, we shouldn’t run into much trouble. The first thing I want to have set up are defenses. Hopefully Harmony Hills will be fitted with some decent defenses by the time you return.”

“Wait!’ Grandmare said as I turned to the door. “Theres one more thing you need to know.” I returned my attention to the ancient ghoul, nodding for her to continue. “When you come across a crossroads with an abandoned school bus, take the left road. You’ll thank me later.”

I nodded my understanding of the warning. “Thankyou for telling me what I need to do.

Grandmare laughed, “I can’t tell you what to do, All I can do is point you in the right direction; it’s up to you after that.”