Fallout: Equestria - Echoes of War

We left the overmares office as she began to speak with somepony through the intercom on her desk. We were permitted to take what supplies we needed when we left. Spring Rain had told us that she’d speak to find out how much water they had left and would have something to tell us by the time we finished. Willow took us back to the armory to get more ammo, After that, we went to medical to get more healing potions and some med-x. Lastly, we went to the kitchen to get a bite to eat and take some food for the road. As we made our way around the stable I couldn’t help but notice a lot of sprinklers around, It was like Stable-tec designed to withstand multiple large fires.

We were on our way back to the Overmare’s office when Rowan Light stopped just before we reached the atrium. I noticed that Willow shrank away from her brother's gaze. I could tell that he was somepony that I would hate, he stood there with a look on his face that told me he thought he was the most important kirin in the stable, that everypony he met was beneath him. It was ponies like him that helped plunge the world into chaos. I could tell that Storm and Frost wanted to do the same thing that I did; I wanted to buck this smug asshole through a wall.

“So, you think you’re ready to head out into the wasteland?”

“Yes.” She said meekly, not looking him in the eyes.

“I guess it's for the best, honestly. I think it's good that you’re the one who has to leave to find a new water talisman. You’re the only one foolish enough to think that opening our home to that wasteland is a good idea. For a time, it will be good for the kirin to be free from your poisonous opinions.”

“We c–can’t stay in the stable forever, Rowan,” Willow said with mock confidence in her voice, “The kirin need to–”

“The kirin need to stay inside the stable where we are safe. What they don’t need is a filly fooler like you trying to persuade them to leave the stable so they can go die out in the wasteland. Honestly, your leaving can only end well. Either you return with the Talisman, or you die and we send a more capable kirin to find one. So go ahead, go out into the wasteland and die like you’d have the rest of us do!”

Willow opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to find a good response for her brother; when none came she turned and ran away sobbing. Rowan Light giggled as he watched her sister flee. I couldn’t believe that these two were siblings, Twister and I would fight on occasion, but I’d never wish for her death, even if she was the exact opposite of me in every way. Twister was my sister. I’d expect that most ponies would do the same as I if they were in Rowan’s hooves. We’d wish our sister the best and tell her we hoped for her swift return. This kirin was a piece of shit; he was a bad kirin, through and through.

“Rowan light!” Frost said, wrenching control of my body away from me. This took Storm and me by surprise, so far we’d traded control willingly, for the most part. None of us have ever taken control away from the other outright. The kirin looked at us, grinning.

“What is it, outsider.”

“Oh nothing, really,” Frost said, batting her eyes at the kirin, I noticed that he flushed a little. “I just wanted to let you know that if you ever make her cry again I will turn your face into a mangled pile of meat.” Frost smiled before turning and galloping after Willow, Frost returned control to me and I continued after the kirin. I turned down a hallway that I’d seen Willow take, she was faster than I was. When I didn’t see her I slowed to a trot, I could hear her sniffling as I passed a custodial closet. I gently knocked on the door. “Willow, it’s Winterbreeze. Do you mind if I come in?”

There was no response, I went to knock again when the door slid open. The kirin sat on the floor, tears flowing down her cheeks. She whipped them away as I slowly entered, the door closing behind me. Fresh tears broke free from her eyes leaving fresh streaks down her cheeks as I sat across from her. I didn’t say anything right away, we sat there for a moment; I wanted to give her time to collect herself. She wiped the new tears away again, her sobs turning to heavy breaths that slowed with each breath.

“I’m sorry, Winterbreeze.” She said.

“Sorry for what?” I asked.

“For joining up with you in your friends without asking you first. I don’t know what I was thinking, you three wouldn’t want a weak link like me tagging along out there.”

“Hey, don’t talk about yourself like that,” I said, standing up. “You’re not a weak link. Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to save you’re stable from the Hunters. ”

“I am weak!” She said, her voice shook as it threatened more crying. “When those ponies attacked my stable, I first locked myself in the security office and hoped they wouldn’t come in to get me. I didn’t know there was any way to send out a distress signal. If I hadn’t found that radio you three would have never come here and we’d still be at the mercy of the invaders.”

“But you did find the radion and you brought us here. Not only that, you joined us after we arrived, you could have remained in the security office and waited for us to clear out the stable. You were as much a part of the liberation of your home as Sunny, Izzy, and me. You are not weak.” The kirin mare didn’t respond. Willow didn’t meet my gaze, she looked down at my hooves, at my cybernetic in particular. “Rowan also called you a filly fooler, I take it that's something that’s frowned upon in the stable?”

“Y–yes…”

“Thought so. Listen, Willow Spark, That’s nothing to be ashamed of. There were ponies like that before the bombs fell, but there weren’t many of them. Anypony that had a problem with mares that liked mares, stallions that liked stallions, or what have you were in the minority. Sure they made themselves known by throwing around insults like ‘filly fooler,’ but in truth, most ponies thought all that was perfectly normal. It may be frowned upon to be into mares in the stable, but I’d expect that it wouldn’t be an issue to ponies out in the wasteland. There may be ponies that think the same way as Rowan does, but one of the perks of being in the wasteland is that you can just shoot them and equestria would be better for it. Don’t let your brother get you down, honestly, I’m surprised he’s able to dress himself every day. Don’t let an idiot like him get to you.”

Willow looked up at me and gave a little smile. “Thanks for coming after me,” She said, wiping away the last of her tears, “when I was a filly I’d come in here and cry when he was mean to me. No kirin ever in to comfort me. I wish I were as brave as you.”

“Me, brave?” I asked, “I’m scared all the time. I guess that I’m lucky I share my body with two versions of myself that don’t seem to be afraid of anything.” I thought for a moment then added: “Except grenades, I guess.”

Willow looked at me like I was crazy; she was probably right If I was being honest with myself.

“You share your body with… two other yous?”

“Yeah,” I said, rubbing a hoof on the back of my head, “It’s a funny story. C’mon, I’ll tell you on our way to the atrium. Oh, before I forget. Don’t worry about joining me without asking first, Sunny and Izzy did the same thing, we’ll probably go our separate ways when we get to our destination. If you’re lucky we’ll find somepony there that can help you with the water talisman.”

Willow Spark nodded, she followed me out of the closet as I began to tell her about my encounter with the killing joke.

Sunny and Izzy were waiting for us by the atrium entrance. I’d told Willow all that I remembered about my tumble in the killing joke; I left the pile of burning foals out of the story. I figured she’d be better off not knowing about that part, it already haunted me enough, especially because I was too scared to stand against dogma, instead, I ran. Next time I saw him I wouldn’t make the same mistake, I’d break each of his horns before setting him on fire; or Frost would at least, I was sure she or Storm would have the stomach to do that. I doubted that I could.

“Everything all right?” Sunny asked.

“It’s fine,” I said, “are you ready, Willow?”

“I am,” she said, buffing her chest out, in mock confidence once again.

I didn’t blame her for being nervous about leaving her home, I would be too if I were her. I’d only spent three days in the wasteland and it’s already had a massive effect on me. I’d have to ensure the wasteland didn’t hit her too hard while she was traveling with me. I didn’t know what she’d do after we split up. If I had time to I'd help her on her mission, but time is what I didn’t have. I’d already spent too much time away from my own goal and I wanted to avoid taking any other debtors if I could.

The bodies of the hunters had been cleared out of the atrium while we were away. It looked almost normal save for the blood stains along with the scorched grass where they’d been roasting a kirin. I could almost smell the roasting flesh when I saw the blacked grass and rocks, thankfully the poor kirin had been taken away; I wasn’t sure what the inhabitants of stable 24 normally did with their dead, but I was sure that the deceased Hunters didn’t get the same treatment. I wished I’d remembered to tell Storm about the pony that Frost had let crawl away; while Frost probably thought of nothing more than extending the pony's suffering, I would have liked to question them. Maybe I could have convinced them to tell me who their leader was in exchange for medical treatment.

Spring Rain greeted us as we entered the overmare’s office. She was the only kirin inside, the rest had cleared out.

“It looks like you’re ready for your journey, Willow Spark.” Spring Rain said, her daughter nodded. “Are you sure that you want to do this? I can always ask the stable for a volunteer, you don’t have to be the one that has to brave what's out there.”

“My mind’s made up, mother. I’ll leave the stable and I’ll return with a water talisman before you know it.” Willow smiled up at her mother.

“All right then. I’ll pray for your swift return.” The Overmare looked at her daughter momentarily, lost in thought and worry. “Listen, Willow. I know that you and you’re brother have equal claim to the overmare position. I do not doubt that he’ll be hoping that you never return, or at the least, you decided to live out there. If I were Stable-tec, I’d have the overmare position be something that’s decided upon by a vote, not lineage.” Spring rain moved from behind her desk to stand in front of her daughter. “Please,” she said, raising her hoof and placing it on Willow’s cheek, “promise me that you’ll return. Rowan Light would make a good overstalion in years past, but I expect a kirin like you will be what the stable needs once I’m gone.”

I watched as a small tear rolled down the overmare’s cheek as she looked into her daughter’s eyes. Willow began to cry as well.

“I’ll return, mother. I swear on Rain Shine that I’ll return with a water talisman.”

“The kirin will eagerly await your return, I’m sure that the others will see that you’re worthy of being the next overmare of Stable 24 after this act of heroism.”

Spring Rain pulled Willow Spark into an embrace. The two kirin hugged for a long moment before they released each other.

“How long will the water that we have last?” Willow asked.

“About a month, maybe two if we start rationing it out. I hope you return before we have to resort to that though.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll do my best to be here before that becomes an issue.”

“Please return soon, even if you don’t find it. I don’t want you to die out there, I don’t think I’d be able to handle the loss of one of my foals.” Spring Rain leaned down and kissed Willow Spark on the cheek. “Promise that you’ll return after two months, even if you haven't completed your mission.”

“I promise!” Willow said, this time, her confidence was genuine.

…

Willow Spark’s eyes widened in amazement as she made her first hoof steps into the outside world. She galloped ahead of us as we left the stable, we found her in the clearing marveling at her surroundings. I couldn’t help but smile as she spun around, soaking in everything that caught her eye. I couldn’t help but smile as I watched her as she admired every detail of the outside world, I’d probably do the same if I’d spent the majority of my life within the confines of a stable. I just wished that she could have seen how beautiful nature was before the apocalypse. I thought back to the bird song that could be heard even as winter approached; now there was nothing save for the sound of the leaves being rustled by the wind. I hadn’t heard a single tweet from a bird after leaving the stable.

“What are your thoughts on your first hoofsteps outside of the stable?” I asked after trotting up to stand by the amazed kirin.

“It’s wonderful!” She said, “It’s not as nice as I’ve read about, but it’s still wonderful!”

I smiled at her. I wish I had an ounce of her optimism.

“I haven’t read about those clouds though. Is it normally this cloudy?”

“I’m afraid it is,” Sunny said, “the pegasi covered the sky in clouds shortly after the bombs fell. Those of us that live down here have never seen the sun, I’m afraid.” Sunny sighed, her eyes flattening. “My father named me Sunny, hoping that I’d get a chance to see the sun in my lifetime.”

If I could I’d buck those traitors out of the clouds,” I said, then flushed when everypony looked at me. “I.. uh… just need to get up there, and preferably learn how to walk on clouds beforehand.”

“It’s not right that the Pegesi get to keep the sun to themselves.” Willow said, “Everypony deserves a chance to feel its warmth.”

“You're right about that, friend!” Izzy said, “I’ve made sculptures of the sun, but they don't make up for the real thing.”

“We should probably worry about the pegasi later,” I said, ears drooping, “there’s not much two earth ponies, a kirin, and a unicorn can do about it right now.” The rest nodded their agreement.

I checked the map on my pip buck to see what direction we needed to go from here. Willow frolicked in the patches of snow while Sunny and Izzy sat talking amongst themselves. They all followed me after I had our heading, we still had enough time to move before we’d need to find somewhere to spend the night. It had grown noticeably cooler during our time in the stable. Our breath was visible, I could also hear Willow’s teeth chattering. She’ll have to adjust to the cold of the outside after spending her life in the stable where the temperature was always kept at a comfortable level.

It didn’t take us long to return to the road. Two fresh corpses were lying on the ground as we approached it from the woods. It looked like these two killed each other after running into each other. One looked like most other wasteland ponies I’d seen, only her lifeblood flowed from a bullet hole in her throat. The other wore tattered leather barding with spikes that were soan on haphazardly. Her eyes were yellow and it looked like she’d spent some time gnawing at her lips, her face was fixed with a permanent grin, even in death. As I looked at the raider I noticed that she didn’t have a gun on her. I looked back at the wasteland lying in the expanding pool of her blood, she had a combat shotgun. If the raider had taken a hit from the shotgun there’d be a bigger mess than there was. There were three bullets holed along the raider’s side.

“Get down,” I hissed just loud enough for the others to hear me and hopefully nopony else.

“What’s wrong?” Sunny asked.

“Somepony else killed these two, they might still be in the area.”

I readyed my pistol as I slowly made my way past the bodies keeping low to the ground. No read bars popped up on my E.F.S. as checked around some of the nearby vehicles. I stood back up, I wasn’t sure what the range was on the EFS, but it didn’t pick up any threats. I’d keep a close eye on it just in case the pony that did this thinks they can sneak up on us.

“Look at this,” Willow said.

“Did you find another pony?” I asked. I trotted over to where Willow stood looking at some ice on the ground.

“Ice?” Sunny asked.

“It looks weird,” Willow said nudging one with her hoof. “Isn’t it weird that there's these little bits of ice out here in the middle of the road?”

“You’re right,” I said nudging another piece with my cybernetic, “It doesn’t look like any ice I’ve ever seen.” It was cloudy and blue, it looked like it had broken off of something and refused to melt as it lay on the road. I tried to break one of the little chunks with my cybernetic, it took more effort than it should have before it broke. “It’s strong too.”

“Oh no!” Izzy gasped.

“What?” Sunny asked as we looked at the unicorn. Her eyes were wide, pupils shrinking as she stared at the ice, she slowly backed away from it.

“They shouldn’t be here.” Izzy said, shaking her head, “I’ve never heard of them traveling this far south of the Glowing Sea.”

“Who’s they?” Willow asked.

“Glacial Ponies”

“Glacial… ponies?” Willow tilted her head to the side. Izzy nodded. “Also what’s the Glowing Sea?”

“Here,” I said digging using my pipbuck’s inventory management to find the Wasteland Survival Guide and giving it to Willow, “Read this when you get a chance, it’s got some useful information. The section covering the Delamare and the area around it is out of date so keep that in mind.”

“How far south do they normally travel?” Sunny asked.

“Not far pasted the Glowing Sea.” Izzy said, shaking, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of evidence that they’ve been this far south. We need to be careful if we come across them.”

“Why?” Willow asked, “We held our own against those Hunters that invaded my home, I’m sure we can take on any of these Glacial Ponies.”

“Fighting them won’t be the only thing about them that we have to worry about.” Izzy said, “They carry a plague that can turn you into one of them. There have been a few ponies from my home that have come into contact with them and later became on themselves. We need to be careful if we come across them.”

“Thanks for the warning,” I said, looking at the ice. “Is there any treatment for the plague?”

“No, once you catch it you become one of them. There’s no stopping it once the symptoms have started.”

“Izzy, can you think of a reason why these ponies are coming this far south? If they don’t normally do this then there must be a reason that they’re doing it now.”

Izzy rubbed her hoof under her muzzle for a moment, pondering the question, after a couple of moments she answered: “I’m not sure. From the stories that I was told when I was a Foal, they normally look for violence. Maybe they came down here looking for ponies to fight and spread the plague too.”

“We’re bound to run into them soon,” I said, “If they’ve been here recently then I don’t doubt that we’ll find some of them before we reach Destroyer City.” I looked at the three ponies that had decided it was best to follow me, “We need to keep our distance when we do find them. I don’t know how the plague is transmitted, but being close to one of them is a start. We’ll have to take them out from a distance or run.”

We reached the edge of the city just as it started to get dark. The city was a lot quieter than I was expecting, I didn’t hear any signs of life, only the sound of the wind blowing, our hoofsteps, and the squeak of doors, signs, and anything else metal that was moved by the wind. The once bustling city that I hated going to because of the crowds of ponies was now a ghost town. I hadn’t spent much time dwelling on how many were killed when the bombs fell. Looking at the husk of what was once the city of Delamare brought the thought to my mind. I stood there for a moment taking in the silence, my followers all stopped and looked at me each sharing the same look of concern.

“Winter?” Willow Spark asked, trotting to my side. I blinked away the tears that were building up, “Is… is everything all right?”

“It’s fine, Willow.” I answered, “It’s just now hitting me how many ponies were killed when the world ended. I’d been so focused on finding Dewdrop that I hadn’t stopped to really think about it. Seeing this city empty just… made me think.” I sighed, “I’ll be fine. Let's keep moving.”

Willow nodded, the worry didn’t leave her eyes.

We didn’t come across any further evidence of glacial ponies after the first sign of them. I hoped that they’d gone in a different direction than we did. As we traveled Izzy told us about how her parents had each contracted the plague after they were attacked by a couple of Glacial Ponies. At first, they were fine, but after a week symptoms started to show and they would have become one of them not long after that.

“I was just a filly at the time,” she’d said, “I didn’t really understand what was going on. I thought they’d caught the flu or something. One day they were gone and I was told they went to see a doctor far south. I learned later that they’d taken their own lives. They’d told my aunt that they wanted to go out on their own terms before they could hurt somepony they cared about.”

It was hard to listen to her story, who knows what the world would have been if the war had never happened. All races could have lived together in harmony, unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. War had broke out and after about two decades the bombs fell, pressing the reset button on civilization, plunging the world into an unforgiving darkness. It’ll take everypony coming together to rebuild the world to a shell of what it once was. I didn’t think it would ever reach what it was before the war; Radiation, taint, and something called innervation would torment ponies for many years to come.

We walked through the ruins of the city, many of the buildings had their doors and windows boarded shut, and others had caved in with rubble bursting through any way out. Some looked like they were safe enough to investigate, I wanted to check them and see if there was anything inside that might be useful, but I resisted. I had been sidetracked enough on my quest. I wanted to get to Destroyer City as soon as I could and speak with Flask. I was thankful for grandmare’s vision, even if I was on the fence about its authenticity. Either way, it was better than wandering the wasteland blind.

Gunshots suddenly rang out as we turned down a street that wasn’t covered in the ruins of nearby buildings. They were close, very close. We could gallop there in five minutes by my guest. It didn’t sound like there were along of ponies over there.

“We have to check and see if they need help,” Sunny said turning in the direction of the shots.

“It’s not our problem?” Frost said, turning to look at the orange mare. It was a surprise to me when she took over.

Honestly, Frost thought, what pony goes galloping off toward gunshots in a place like this? For all I knew the sounds could be coming from two gangs of raiders having a turf war.

“A good pony,” I answered

“An inebriated pony,” Storm added.

“It may not be our problem, but we should at least check and see what the situation is. Innocent ponies could be dying over there, Frost! If they need our help then we need to be there to give it!”

Frost glared at the mare, “I’ve already been sidetracked enough. I don’t want to waste my time getting in the middle of raiders having a shootout.”

“We can at least take a small detour,” Willow said, “just to check and make sure. If it's a raider shootout, like you expect, then we can move along. However, if we find ponies that need help then I agree with Sunny, we should help them.”

Izzy nodded her agreement to what Willow had said, and I agreed as well. Frost looked at the three ponies as they waited for her response. Frost’s gaze fell on Willow before releasing a frustrated sigh. “Fine, let's get on with it then.” Willow smiled before trotting up to Frost and hugging her. Frost stood there for a moment, tense before giving Willow a hug with our good leg. Willow released us after a moment.

“Not much of a hugger, um… Frost?”

“I don’t often let anypony get close enough to hug me.” She responded. “Storm is the one that is a… hugger. But Breeze and I would not recommend it.

“I hate you,” Storm said. “One hug wouldn’t be all that bad.”

“Storm, you can’t be trusted to give any mare a hug.”

“Listen, Breeze. It’s been ages since we last rolled around with somepony. At this point, we probably have cobwebs down there.”

I would have flushed if I was in control of my body.

Frost led the group, galloping through the long-abandoned vehicles that littered some of the roads. It’d be nice to get one of them up and running again, but I wasn’t sure what we’d do for fuel. If it weren’t for the constant cloud cover I’d try and find a Highwaymare, It was solar solar-powered vehicle created by Sunsetcorp. A few test models had been released not long before the bombs fell. I could remember seeing a few the last time I had to come to the city to fetch some things Twister needed for Dewdrop.

Gunfire grew louder as we came up to one of the larger Red Racer gas stations. Two ponies in dirty uniforms stood outside and were firing at what must be the feral ghouls that I’d read about. They looked much closer to being a zombie than the other ghouls I’d seen. I could see their ribs as they bushed against their hides. They growled as they mindlessly charged at the two ponies. One ghoul was reduced to a pile of ash after it took a good hit from one of the beam rifles that the guards had. Another ghoul came out of the rubble to take its place. These were clearly trained and had the means to defend themselves, but as more ghouls popped up it became clear that they’d be overrun in the end. They’d need our help and Frost knew it.

She sighed as she pulled the pistol from its holster. “Let's get it done.” She said around the gun before shooting at a cluster of three ghouls to our left. Sunny and Willow began to fire at other ghouls. I was surprised when I saw Izzy join the fight. Frost looked at her raising an eyebrow. The unicorn gave a somber look in return.

“They… don’t have a sparkle…”

One of the ponies at the gas station waved for us to join their position when there was a clear path to them. We did as they asked, Frost waited for the other three to gallop for the gas station before following. She shot at any ghoul that looked like they were getting too close to the ponies in front of her. There was a sharp pain in our back leg just below the hock, Frost turned and found that one of the ghouls had managed to sink its teeth in just below the hock, blood flowing seeping out. Frost bucked it with our other leg, the ghoul released the leg and Frost got back to galloping now with a slight limp.

“What are you ponies doing here?” asked an ivory-colored mare with a purple and blue striped mane.

“You guys looked like you needed a hoof dealing with these ghouls,” Sunny answered.

“Is that so?” The pony studied us for a brief moment before firing at some ferals that were getting too close. New ghouls had stopped coming to replace the ones that were killed, but we were still outnumbered. “If that’s true then you ponies are the first break we’ve gotten since coming to this part of the wasteland.”

Izzy handed Frost a healing potion, she drank it and felt the wound on our back leg begin to heal. Frost nodded her thanks and Izzy gave a smile.

Shadows cast by the buildings of the ruined city covered us as Willow killed the last ghoul. We stood there for a moment catching our breaths, waiting for more to show. We relaxed after everything was quiet for a time.

“Looks like that’s the last of them, Swift.” Said a lime green stallion with a buzzed maroon mane.

“Keep on guard, this city may have more surprises to throw at us when we think we’re safe.” The stallion nodded.

“Earlier you said that you came to this part of the wasteland.” Sunny asked, “Where are you ponies from?”

“We came from the west,” Swift said

“What all’s out west?” Willow asked with genuine curiosity.

“More wasteland.”

“Oh, um… My name’s Willow Spark,” she said, “These are my friends, Winter, Sunny, and Izzy.” she pointed as she named us.

“I’m Swift Hooves, but you can just call me Swift,” She nodded in the direction of the stallion, “That’s Tango.”

“Is it just the two of you out here?” Sunny asked.

“We have two injured ponies in the gas station, there were more of us, but they're dead now.” Swift’s drifted to the side, Frost followed her eyes and saw a pile of dog tags on top of an ammo box.

“Who are you ponies?” Frost asked, “I wouldn’t expect wasteland ponies to wear dog tags.”

“We’re with the Steel Rangers,” Swift answered, puffing out her chest. I remembered reading a little bit about them in the Wasteland Survival guide. It said that they wore power armor. I assumed that not everypony in their team wore power armor and that any that did had their dog tag in that pile. The wasteland must have done a number on them, ponies in power armor could take some serious damage before being killed.

“What are the Steel Rangers doing this far east?” Sunny asked, “I haven't heard anything about you ponies being here before.”

“That’s classified,” Swift responded.

“Aww, c’mon.” Izzy said, flattening her ears, “Can’t you tell us a little bit? We did help you.” Swift didn’t say anything, Izzy stuck out her bottom lip and gave the mare the best puppy eyes that I think I’d seen on a fully-grown pony.

Swift sighed, “We received some readings that indicated some serious tech being used out here. My team was dispatched to look into it.”

“I suppose whatever you’ve found so far is classified?” Frost asked, Swift nodded. “Great, I guess we’ll be off then.”

“Hold on, Frost,” Izzy said. “Do you need any medical supplies for your injured friends?”

“If you have some to spare they will be greatly appreciated, we ran out a day ago and haven’t come across anymore. It would also be a great help if you knew a healing spell.”

“I have plenty to share with you.” Izzy used her magic to pull out four healing potions from her saddlebags and floated them over to the ammo box with the dog tags, she gently set them on the ground. “I do know a healing spell, but I’m not very good with it, i wouldn’t feel comfortable using it on anything too serious until I can get some more practice in.”

“Don’t worry about it, you’ve already done enough for us.” Swift looked at each of us for a moment. “It’s nice to see there are still good ponies, and kirin, out in the wasteland. I won’t forget your kindness.” Swift watched as we started to head out, “Hang on,” She said before I reached the corpse of the ghoul that got the closest to the gas stations, we turned to the mare. “I want to help you since you’ve helped us.” She began, her voice was much more casual than it was before, “You’re welcome to stay here with us for the night. You’re also welcome to take any ammo that you need, we have way more than the four of us will need.” I noticed Tango give Swift a disapproving glance before looking away.

I wanted to stay, but I also thought we could go much further before we had to bed down. If we galloped the rest of the way we could reach Destroyer Stadium and then figure out the sleeping situation. But I didn’t think that Willow or Izzy would be able to gallop for that long before getting too tired to continue. Sunny looked like she could, but she’d be sore in the morning. If I was being truthful I would be as well. I’d done plenty of endurance training in my time with the military, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t feel it the next morning. I urged Frost to accept the offer.

“We’ll take you up on your offer, Swift.”

We started to trot back to the gas station when I heard a growl come from behind us, Frost spun around and found that the ghoul that was lying at our hooves a moment ago was merely playing dead, it was now rearing on its hind legs and it looked like it was going to go for our throat. Frost wouldn’t be able to get the pistol before the Ghoul had a chance to seak its teeth into our hide.

There was a loud shot from a sniper rifle followed by the Ghoul's black, sludge-like, blood splattering across our face. Frost blinked at the Ghoul that was now missing the not of its head, it fell with a thud. Frost whipped her head in the direction the shot had come. There on top of the roof of an antique store stood the pony that had saved me the night I’d run into the killing joke while having a panic attack. Frost looked at the pony in its red glowing eyes, the pony looked back. They wore a mask that looked like it had a built-in rebreather, The top of the mask ended in a helmet. An old brown duster was draped over what looked to be full-body barding. It was like looking at the lite version of power armor. The pony turned away and disappeared from direct sight. Frost raced across the street to the antique store.

She burst through the door and didn’t slow down as she ran through the first floor until she found the stairs that took her to the third floor. Dusty shelves were knocked over as she searched for a way to access the roof. Our barding was coated in dust and cobwebs were stuck to our mane when she found a small set of stairs that led to the roof. The door slammed open as Frost charged through. She stood there on the roof for a moment, looking around for the pony. When she saw that there was nopony to be found she galloped along the edge. The only other way off this roof was to jump off, but Frost didn’t see them.

The pony was gone.

…

I’d regained control of my body after Frost failed to catch the pony that had rescued us for the second time. She said she was too pissed off to walk back. I was as disappointed as she was that the mysterious pony had eluded us. I wanted to thank them for their help, I also wanted to know why they were following me. The first time she rescued us could be chalked up to coincidence, which I didn’t believe most of the time, but these things happen on occasion. Now it was more than a coincidence, they were watching me, protecting me.

I heard Tango and Swift Hooves begin to argue when they thought we were asleep. I wasn’t trying to spy on them or anything, I was just scared to go to bed, I didn’t want to dream about the Ever After, didn’t want to see that alicorn. The stallion was upset that she was helping, “Uncivilized Tribals,” as he put it. It was weird to be referred to as uncivilized, from my perspective I was the most civilized, having grown up in old equestria. To him, I must have looked like just another wasteland savage who happened to have a fancy prosthetic. It didn’t matter too much to me, let him think what he wanted, Swift appreciated the help we gave them and that was enough for me.

“Did you not see how advanced that earth ponies leg was? I’ve never seen something like that on any pony, not with the Steel Rangers. There’s more to her and I’d like to know what that is. Besides, we’d be spending the night in the bellies of those ferals if they hadn’t shown up when they did.”

“Fine,” Tango said, “there is your responsibility while they're here. I’ll have nothing to do with them; I’ll also be mentioning thin when I give my report to Elder Sour Apple.”

“Go ahead, I’ll be mentioning them as well. I’ll also mention how you’re insubordination nearly led to Cherry Cake and Lollipop being killed.” I listened as tango stammered before Swift added: “They’re both lucky to be alive, no thanks to you. I suggest you go to sleep for the night and learn to worry about working as a team instead of trying to save your own hide.”

I lay there in the silence, I hadn’t spoken with Swift much since returning to the gas station. She’d been busy administering the health potions to the two injured mares that were in the back office. She didn’t leave their side until after the rest of us had laid down for the night. I was sure I’d wake up to questions that I’d have to answer before we left. I didn’t mind, I didn’t have much to hide, anything I did was over two centuries old and had no significance to anypony alive today beyond myself.

Luckily I didn’t dream as I slept, or remember the dream at least. That was good. I stood up and stretched before checking to charge on my Prosthetic. It still had plenty of energy, but I needed to start keeping my eye out for some gems before the power got low. I wasn’t the first pony to wake up, one of the mares that had been in the back office was up. She had a white coat with a light pink mane that ended in a swirl. If I were a betting mare I'd say this was the Cherry Cake that I’d heard Swift mention during my unintentional eavesdropping. The mare looked at me and smiled. I heard Storm whistle in the back of my mind. I mentally smacked Storm before returning a smile. As I stood there looking at the mare I had to agree with Storm, she was very attractive. My gaze drifted to her flank for a moment before I realized that the mare was still looking at me. I snapped my gaze back to her, I flushed as she giggled.

“You don’t have a bad flank yourself,” Cherry Cake said, she winked before trotting away.
I picked my jaw up off the floor, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been complimented on my appearance. Before I got the cybernetic I assumed that I was around the middle on the scale from ugly to beautiful. Now I thought I was a little closer to the ugly on the scale. I couldn’t help but gawk at her as she left. She turned and caught me checking her out again, she smiled and nodded her head for me to follow.

“Holly shit!” Storm said, “Don’t fuck this up, Breeze!”
Settle down, I told the overly horny version of myself, She probably wants to talk.
“That look implies more than just talking.”
“Ok, you might be right, but I don’t think it’ll go farther than making out. Don’t get your hopes up.”

I trotted after the mare, trying not to give off the appearance of a mare that hadn’t been laid in over two centuries now. She led me through a door that brought us to a small garage. My hoof brushed against one of the many tools that were scattered across the floor.

“I hear that I have you to thank for being alive right now,” Cherry Cake said in a soft breathy voice. It didn’t sound like she was trying to make her voice sound more attractive, it sounded natural. I felt a tingle run along my spine. “What's your name?” she asked.

I gulped, “Winterbreze.” I said, with more shake to my voice than I intended. “It was nothing, it’s what anypony would do.”

She smiled at me, “There aren’t a lot of ponies out here that will go chagrin toward gunfire, or help strangers fend off an attack of ferals, or give up healing potions.”

“I didn’t do it alone,” I responded as she got closer. She smelt sweet for a pony that was on death's door just yesterday. Those Healing potions must have been pretty strong.

“I know, but they didn’t catch my eye like you do.”

“Isn’t there some rule you ponies have against fraternizing with uncivilized ponies?”

“Yes, but after almost dying I realized that Life is short and better without so many rules.”

I opened my mouth to say something else and she silenced me with a kiss.

I was right not to expect too much out of this interaction. We made out for a while before other ponies started waking up. Storm was very disappointed, and honestly, so was I. I did catch Cherry Cake stealing glances at my flank as my followers and I prepared to leave. It was just my luck, I came across a mare that was checking me out and we went our separate ways. If I were lucky I’d see her again after I’d found my niece and dealt with the patchwork unicorn, but I doubted it. Luck and I didn’t agree with each other.

Swift did end up questioning me about my history and I told her what I’d told everypony else. Being in the military had caught her interest, she’d asked me about some of my experiences fighting the zebras, and I told her some of the stories that came to mind that I felt like sharing. Eventually, I was asked how I lost my leg I just told her that I didn’t remember anything from the event, it was a lie and I suspected that she knew that; I was thankful that she didn’t press me further on it. It was ancient history and was best left that way.

Willow was the first out the door, she’d been unusually quiet this morning. I guessed that her first day in the wasteland had taken a toll on her. Walking through the door, she stumbled, she stepped to the side to see what had almost sent her on a tumble. There on the ground was more of the ice that we’d seen on the road. At some point during the night, one of those Glacial Ponies had come up to the door.

“What is it?” I heard Swift call from behind us, she trotted past and stared down at the ice, “Ice?”

“It would seem that you were right about the wasteland through another surprise at us.” I said, “Luckily these Glacial Ponies as they’re known didn’t decide to come in after us.”

“That’s fucking great.” Swift said, “I’m getting sick of Delamare.”

“I think you ponies should leave the Gas station sooner rather than later.” Izzy said, “The village I grew up in had to suffer attacks from these diseased ponies. If I had to guess one or two came up to the door and decided to leave after peaking through the window and found that they were outnumbered. They’ll be back in greater numbers.”

“I’ll take your word for it, Izzy.” Swift said, “We’ll pack up after I get a send a message back to the Rangers. Thank you for the warning.”

We said our goodbyes to the rangers that weren’t dicks. Afterward, we left the gas station and continued on our journey to Destroyer Stadium. It shouldn’t take us too long to get there, we were pretty close by now. The only thing that could slow us down was another distraction. I planned to do my best to steer clear of those, at least until after speaking to Flask.

I wondered who he was and how he was going to help me find Dewdrop. My best guess was that he was somepony that would gather and sell valuable information. If that were the case then he’d be my best bet to figure out who the patchwork unicorn was and where she might have taken my niece. Hopefully, Flask wouldn’t charge too much for the info on her, I wasn’t sure what the value of these caps was, hopefully, I’d have enough for him.

Signs pointing us to the Stadium began to pop on painted on the sides of ruined buildings or on the side of busses. Each sign had an arrow that pointed us in the direction we wanted to go. I let out a small sigh of relief, I expected that these signs were set up to show travelers like us the safest way to the stadium. My worries about running into another distraction began to fade.

That is until we heard more gunshots.

We continued warry along the directed path and eventually came to a spot where a group of raiders were having a shoot-out with some Arcane Legion ponies. I searched the legion ponies for any sight of Dogma, with my luck he’d be there. Fortunately, he wasn’t with this group. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to correct my mistake from our first meeting. I looked at my followers and nodded for us to move on, this fight wasn’t any of our business. I wasn’t in a hurry to help either group.

We began to scurry past the gunfight, trying our best to not bring any attention to ourselves. At one point a bullet flew into the asphalt by Willow, she squeaked at the impact. We ducked behind a car before more of them shot at us; when no other bullets followed we continued onward. The bullet must have come from a missed shot, no other shots were fired at us as we left the battle behind us. After we were out of sight we began to gallop, sneaking past them wouldn’t mean much if the winners discovered us after the battle. The way that battle was going the Arcane Legion would be the ponies that would come out on top. They may have been outnumbered, but they had a better position, shooting from the second story of a building that was more rubble than building.

It didn’t take us long before we came upon a barricade made from sheets of rusted metal and wood. Two unicorns in hoofball armor stood guard in front of a double door. We stopped as when we saw the ponies, they looked at us, probably judging if we looked like we would be a problem or not. We stood there for a moment.

“State your business here.” One of the guards asked a stallion.

“I’m here to meet with Hitch, he’s a friend of mine,” Sunny said.

“I’m here to see Flask.” I said, “The other two are tagging along with us.”

The guards looked at each other for a moment, I couldn’t tell if they were saying anything to each other, they wore helmets that obscured their muzzles. Finally, the stallion spoke again. “Ok, you four may enter but keep your weapons holstered. If you draw the guards inside the Stadium will see you as a threat and take you down, non-leathaly at first, but if you resist then that will change.”

The door opened the four of us nodded that we understood the warning. The door led us to a small courtyard where ponies back in the day would wait in lines to enter the stadium. Two other barricades blocked the roads. The place was definitely secure, I wondered how many attackers would have to die before they managed to make their way in. I assumed it would be a lot. There were three entrances to the stadium that were side-by-side, two of which were sealed up with walls made from scrap, the center entrance was the only one that was clear.

Walking through the opening led us into the lobby of the stadium. It was a mess, Piles blocked most of the hallways and stairways that were connected to the lobby. There were piles of scrap that sat in three of the corners, in the fourth corner was what used to be the concession stand; now it was being used as an office for the guards that were stationed outside of the stadium itself Two Guards stood behind the counter, one was reading a magazine while the other had their head down, drooling on the counter as they slept.

Standing in the lobby brought me back to the one time I’d been to come here to watch a hoofball game. I’d take my mare friend here on a date once. I didn’t care much for sports myself, but she came from a family that did and I thought it’d make her smile to surprise her with a pair of tickets for hearts and hoofs day. We’d come here to watch the Delamare Destroyers take on the Hoofington Reapers. I don’t remember who won, I wasn’t invested in the match's outcome. It's a shame that our relationship ended the way it did, maybe she’d be here in the wasteland with me if we’d still been together when the bombs fell.

Across from the lobby was a set of stairs that was clear, I knew the stairs would lead us up into the stands of the stadium. I led the way to the stairs, the guard that was reading never looked up as we crossed the lobby. After climbing the stairs we found ourselves in the stands overlooking the city that had been built on the field. Most of the buildings here were on the field, but it looked like they’d started working on building things up on the stands; it wouldn’t be long before they outgrew this stadium and would have to start claiming and building in the areas around the stadium. It was a good start to rebuilding Equestria.

Carefully, we made our way down the creaking ramp that led us down to the field. Here we found ponies that went about minding their own business as they went about their day, only a few of them gave us nervous glances, and they looked away when one of us looked in their general direction. The four of us stood there, in the way of the ponies that lived there. A few of them muttered that for us to get out of the way, they were too scared of us to want to tell us to move out of the way.

“Sunny!” called a stallion, I turned and found a stallion galloping in our direction with a big smile.

“Hitch!” Sunny said, giving the stallion a hug when he reached us.

“The guards told me that an orange and purple pony was here to see me,” he said after they released each other, “I thought it might be you, but I didn’t believe it until I saw you. What brings you all the way out here?”

“Well, that’s a bit of a long story,” Sunny told the stallion everything that had happened since I’d woken up in Greenhoof.

“Wow,” he said when she finished the story, “That’s a lot. I’m glad everyone back home is safe. You ponies did a good protecting them.” Hitch turned to me, “I’m sorry about your losses, I can’t even begin to imagine what it’d be like to wake up to all this after living your whole life in old Equestria.”

“You get used to it after a while, or so I tell myself.” I figured it would be good to ask the mayor of a settlement as big as this for information on the patchwork pony.

“I’m sorry, I wish I could help you, but I’m only responsible for what goes on inside the stadium. I’ll keep you and her in mind and if I come across something I’ll let you know.” He rubbed a hoof through his mane and then continued, “I have heard about a pony with patchwork cutmarks sewn to her hide, she's talked about like sheets Bighoof and Mothmare.”

“I’m here looking for somepony called Flask, I was told that he should be able to help me with my search.”

Hitch gave me a dumbfounded look. “Flask? Well… I don’t know how much help he’ll be, but you can find him at the Dirty Wastelander. It’s a bar, you’ll find it if you head down that way. It’ll be the fourth building on your left.” He pointed between two rows of buildings, wooden planks were placed in the ground as a makeshift pathway. I nodded my thanks to the mayor.

“I guess this is where we part ways then,” Sunny said, Izzy moved to stand beside her.

“I guess it is,” I never wanted anypony to travel the wasteland with me, but now I was a little sad that our time with Sunny and Izzy was coming to an end. “Stay safe out here, I’ll stop by for a visit after I find Dewdrop.”

Sunny, Izzy, and Hitch said their goodbyes before turning and leaving. Now it was just Willow Spark and myself, Frost and Storm too I guess, but I wished they’d leave as well.

“What about you?” I asked the Kirin, “You should probably search the city for a water talisman, or somepony that knows how to make one.”

“I think I’ll stay with you?” She said, “We’ll come across something sooner or later, I’d like to continue traveling with you.” She flushed, “If that's all right with you.”

“I’d prefer to travel alone,” Willow frowned and looked down at the ground, I hurriedly continued, “but I suppose It’d be rude of me to abandon you here when.”

Willow smiled.

We headed in the direction that Hitch Directed me, I was not sure what most of the buildings were, but the second building on my left had a sign that informed me it was a doctor's office. I made a note of it, I was sure that I’d need to visit it at some point in the future. Eventually, we came to the Dirty Wastelander. It had a sign above the door that borrowed words from various places. The letters were in a rainbow of colors; some were uppercase, others were lowercase. I thought it was fitting for a bar.

There were a lot of ponies inside the bare, but it was also pretty early in the day. As headed for the pony that stood behind the counter I noticed there were three other ponies in the bar. Two sat in the corner playing some card game I wasn’t familiar with, the third pony was a mustard yellow pony with a brown mane who was passed out on the ground close to the corner of the bar, and bottles of whiskey were scattered around him. I thought he was dead at first, but eventually, I noticed his sides move as he breathed.

Willow and I each took a seat on a bar stool in front of the bartender.

“What’ll you have?” He asked.

Willow looked at me, she’d probably have whatever I ordered, “We’ll take two Buckwisers if you have any.”

The bartender nodded before leaving, after a moment he returned with two bottles of ice-cold beer. I paid him the amount of caps he asked for.

“Do you know where I can find somepony called Flask?” I asked the stallion before he left us, “I was told that I’d find him here.”

“Are you a debt collector or something?” He asked. I shook my head. “Why do you want to see him?”

“Somepony told me that he’d be able to help me with something,” I didn’t feel like explaining the situation to this pony unless he turned out to be Flask.”

He studied us for a moment, “You’ve found him,” My guess was correct, the bartender was Flask. “He’s right over there,” The bartender pointed at the pony that was passed out on the ground. I looked over at the unconscious pony. He rolled and I saw the Flask cutiemark on his flank

Fuck me!

Level Up:

New Perk:
Marekiller - 10% bonus damage to mares and unique dialogue options with certain characters.