Fallout Equestria : The Stablefilly and The Beast

by Keystrokes1

Rating: mature
Tags: Tragedy, Dark, Alternate Universe, Comedy, Adventure
Length: 11700

A hardened raider meets a vault filly, and rather than robbing her, he takes her under his tutelage.

Quilliam, a hardened raider (or survivor, as he likes to call himself), born long before the war, encounters a filly, no older than 17, coming out of a Stable just 15 minutes after he robbed his last companion at gunpoint. At first he is tempted to take the chance at a defenseless mare to use and some new supplies to take, but his conscience got the better of him. He was a nice stallion before the war. Seeing her, with her clean and almost pre-war looks, a small memory of his daughter wormed itself into his brain, refusing to let him do any harm to her. He takes her under his tutelage and teaches her the ways of the Wasteland.

-Please give your thoughts in the comments and tell me how I can improve.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-04-25 01:26:17 UTC

Innocence Lost

~~Daisy~~

Daisy was surrounded by darkness. Infinite darkness. She couldn't even see her hooves.

"H-hello!? Anypony?!"

There was no answer. Daisy began hyperventilating. She was fine with darkness, but when it was so dark she couldn't see her own hoof in front of her face, that was a different matter. It was the artificial kind of darkness, where you couldn't even see the light from under a door, that scared her.

At that moment, a light turned on. A single light bulb above her head, flickering constantly. She looked around and saw she was in a deep, narrow chasm. She looked around frantically and galloped forward in the only direction she could.  After a time, she saw a light at the end of the tunnel. It was the shape of a gear. Daisy stopped and realized that it was the door to her Stable. Her fear lifting, she galloped forward towards the entrance.

As she neared it, rocks collapsed from the inside. She did the same, and fell onto her rear in shock. Her fear returned like a kick to the gut, and her eyes widened while her pupils shrank. All of her friends...gone. Out of her reach forever. She continued staring for a while, then struggled to turn around. When she finally managed she saw the silhouette of another pony at the other end of the chasm. She galloped towards it, but suddenly she was being rained on by chocolate milk.

She gasped for air as she woke up and looked frantically around her.

"You were whimpering in your sleep. That, and it's time to head out."

The happenings of the previous day came flooding back to her, and she remembered she was supposed to have taken a shift watching. She looked around and saw the sun barely in the air. She checked her Pipbuck and saw that it was 6:01 AM.

Daisy sighed. "Alright. Where are we headed?"

She once again surveyed her surroundings and noticed a pack of dogs mauling one of their own not very far away. That made her think back to the raiders she had killed the previous day, and she reassured herself that they deserved it. Quilliam then blew some smoke from his cigarette and he looked towards the distant mountains.

"Barkley, West Virwhinnia. My town of birth. My mom was a bitch, literally and figuratively. The town was settled by Diamond Dogs, and still consists of mostly Diamond Dogs. They rebuilt the town after the bombing, and now it's almost a completely civil town. Minus the raids done by raiders, irradiated water, and occasional feral ghoul attacks."

Daisy's eyes widened. "That's so far away," her expression then changed to one of confusion. "What's a ghoul?"

Quilliam chuckled, lifting his head to the air. "I'm one. Ferals are different, though. Eventually all ghouls crack. Their brain rots, and they turn into what is basically a shambling, carnivorous ignoramus."

Daisy's confused look remained. "You sound...much smarter than those other raiders. Smarter than some people from my Stable, even. Why?"

Daisy pulled a bottle of purified water out of her saddlebags as Quilliam sighed again, painful memories that come with the explanation rooting themselves into his mind.

"I was born before the war."

Daisy looked calm for a few moments, swallowed, then capped her bottle. Then she suddenly had a look that could kill. "WHAT!? HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE!? THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"

She continued to scream for almost two minutes, and when she calmed down Quilliam felt it was safe to answer.

"Ghouls are commonly ponies from before the war who survived the drop, but were harmed by radiation. We live this long because we're technically already dead. No more questions!" He added the final part when he saw her mouth open once again. "We have to get moving if we're going to make it in time."

Daisy looked confused again. "In time for wha-"

"I SAID NO MORE QUESTIONS! We're already packed. Let's move."

He set off walking, throwing the butt of his cigarette to the ground as he did, knowing she would catch up.

What a dick...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~Quilliam~~

They got back on the road and set off.  Not long after they departed from the remains of their camp, a caravan crossed their path. A two-headed cow slave, and a shifty looking merchant with no guards. The slave was being used to carry the goods, which were currently unknown. She was loaded with saddlebags. She even had bags around her neck. Quilliam approached the merchant, an earth pony stallion.

"Hello. May I ask what it is you sell?"

He really thinks I'm going to buy his goods...He's an idiot if I've ever seen one.

The stallion smiled, revealing rotted teeth. "I come from West Virwhinnia, carrying the goodest stuff. Stuff of all kinds."

Quilliam looked at him with annoyance. Then looked around the environment, making sure this wasn't an ambush of some kind.

"Do you have ammunition? I need some shotgun shells."

The stranger's smile grew. "How many caps do you have?"

"I have more than enough, I assure you."

The stranger's smile grew to the point it almost looked painful. "Good." He twisted his head to his right flank and pulled out a small 9mm pistol that looked to be in terrible condition. He acted as if he had won the lottery, his joyous smile growing with every second with a pistol now in his mouth.

Quilliam looked confused. "You intend to shoot me? ... With that?" Quilliam snickered at the idiotic plan. "The classic 'talon in barrel' trick would work on that piece of shit!"

The stranger's smile faltered. It then grew back larger than ever as he cackled wildly, but they were stifled by the gun. He pulled the trigger...

and the gun exploded in his mouth. Quilliam stared at the headless corpse for a few moments, a smirk growing on his face. He then fell on his back and snort laughed wildly. While he was collecting himself from the comical event, Daisy was staring at her now bloodstained coat in horror. She could swear there was some brain matter on it, as well.

"Di-did he just...kill himself?" She noticed an eyeball that was rolling off of the cracked pavement.

Quilliam managed to end his fit of laughter. "Heh heh...Sort of. His gun was in such bad condition it exploded when he pulled the trigger." Quilliam stifled another laugh. "Alright. Hey, cow, drop the bags." The slave complied and galloped away quickly.

They began to root through the many bags. Quilliam opened a few, and all were filled with tin cans.

"Are you having any luck with yours, Daisy?"

Daisy sighed. "No. It's just tin cans."

Quilliam groaned. "Well, he may be insane and bad at keeping his guns functional, but he isn't stupid. I'll check his body. You check the two saddlebags we haven't opened yet."

Quilliam searched the corpse. He found nothing but five 9mm bullets in his pockets, and a spring lodged into what was left of his neck. He pocketed the bullets and approached Daisy, who had had no luck, either.

"Nothing. Damn it. All right, let's keep going."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~Daisy~~

They continued down the road for a ways, and Daisy left to relieve herself. As she returned, however, she saw the cow from before holding up Quilliam with a shotgun. She slowly drew the weak pistol Quilliam had given her to protect herself, and aimed at the cow, hoping she wouldn't have to fire.

She hadn't killed the sniper the previous day. She had only knocked him unconscious and buried his rifle. She still didn't think she had what it took to kill somepony. Quilliam dropped his saddle bags for the cow, but she cocked her shotgun to fire anyway. As soon as Daisy saw this, she fired. Her gunshot rang out across the now silent wasteland, and time seemed to slow as she fully understood what she did. The bullet punctured the cow's heart, and she collapsed.

I...I just killed somepony!

She was about to kill Quilliam.

I killed her!

She was hostile.

I'm a murderer...

Quilliam approached the frozen Daisy.

"Thank you, Daisy. You saved my life. I am in your debt."

She didn't hear him. She didn't hear anything. When she didn't respond, Quilliam prodded her with the butt of the shotgun he had taken from the cow.

"Come back to the land of the living. I command thee."

She stirred when he said that, and looked up at him with horror.

"I killed her."

"Yup. Why's that so bad?"

"I killed her."

"Yeah. We've established that."

"W-why do you act like that's not a big deal!?"

"Because it's not. It's part of the daily grind out here. Get used to it."

He waved for her to follow him, and she shakily got to her hooves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They once again got to a good area to camp after sunset. They got to setting up a small camp once again, and Daisy tried to make time go faster by having starting a conversation.

"So you were born before the war?"

"Yes."

"How was it?"

"Good."

"Were you happy?"

"For a time."

"Could you please answer me correctly and stop being so vague?"

"Yes. Ask away. I'll answer anything."

"Where did you live before the war?"

"Ponyville."

"Did you love anypony?"

"Yes."

"Who was it?"

Quilliam froze in the middle of lighting the fire to cook the meat of the cow.

"It would appear I was wrong. I won't answer anything. That's a sore subject with me, even this long after the bombs dropped."

Daisy glared at him. "You said you owed me. Answer the question."

Quilliam met her in kind. "I owe you one life saving. Keep your snout in your own business."

"I'm just trying to get to know you!"

"You will. You will get to know things about me that I don't mind sharing. Give up."

She held her glare, then took his advice. "Fine. I'll find out later, though."

Quilliam snorted. "No. You won't."

They finished setting up their makeshift camp that consisted of a single firepit and a single bed roll.

"I'm staying up again to cook that damned cow. Get some sleep. You'll need it for tomorrow's journey.  We need to be over the border of West Virwhinnia by midnight."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Captured

~~Daisy~~

"I'm so sore!"

They had been walking since sunrise, and Daisy was sick of walking after three straight days of it. They hadn't stopped for anything today, and she felt like she couldn't move another muscle. Quilliam looked at her with annoyance.

"And you will be until we make it to Barkley. We're almost there. Stop complaining and tolerate it for the rest of the day."

Daisy groaned. They passed a pre-war rest stop for travelers, but she kept her mouth shut. The building was covered in graffiti of things she felt were absolutely unspeakable. Quilliam snickered at her reaction to it, but they continued in silence.

"We can't rest for a few minutes?"

"No."

"Why no-"

"Daisy? Give up."

She sighed, and she sat down.

"I can't keep going. I can't. Have you ever walked this distance in this amount of time before?"

"Yes."

"How!?"

"It's easy. Now get your fat ass up and keep moving. For a doctor you aren't in very good shape."

Daisy laid down and looked up at Quilliam with annoyance.

"I can't!"

His face hardened.

"Come on."

Quilliam lifted her with magic and continued walking. The remains of ruined buildings passed sluggishly by as the blood ran to Daisy's head.

"Please let me down."

He didn't even bother to look at her.

"No. I told you the deadline."

She felt like she was going to be sick. Her face turned a slight shade of green.

"I'll keep walking! Just let me down."

He dropped her and still continued walking without even looking. She galloped to catch up.

"That was rude."

Quilliam nodded casually.

"I know. Now hurry up."

She tried her best to keep up, despite the burning pain in her legs. She spotted a large building on the horizon.

"Hey! A library! Let's rest there!"

"For the love of...Fine. I didn't think taking you as an apprentice would be such a bad idea."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When they arrived Daisy noticed that most of the books were tarnished and ruined. There was a main desk in the center of the room with a computer on it. Multiple shelves had fallen and even more books were scattered randomly. There were very few unscathed books, but there were a few dozen that were readable. She grabbed the first intact book she saw and sat down to read it.

"Zebran Mythology...This sounds interesting."

She flipped through a few pages. She landed on a page titled 'Theories On The Origin of the God of Madness'. The illustration looked a lot like Quilliam. Exactly like Quilliam.

"Hey Quilliam...This Zebran God of Madness looks a lot like you."

Quilliam had been searching for any loot. He emerged from a nearby room.

"It is me."

Daisy looked at him in disbelief.

"You were a Zebran God!?"

He nodded and went back into the room. She saw a few books fly past the doorway before he came out with a carton of cigarettes, a few caps balanced on top of said carton, and a box of bullets.

"Yup."

She continued to gape at him in disbelief as he approached.

"How could anypony worship you!?"

Quilliam simply snorted. His magic faltered when he laughed and he dropped what he was carrying, which then resulted in a glower.

"They were primitive, and thusly stupid."

He approached the monitor that was standing on the main table, and groaned when he saw it was completely smashed. Daisy looked up from her book. When she did, however, she only saw him walking through a doorway at the top of a staircase.

"Uh, hey! Where are you going!?"

He yelled from wherever he was.

"Looting! You can stay there and read about what those tribal fools believed if you want, but I want to see if I can make a profit off of your break."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Quilliam~

I can't believe she insisted on this damn break. I just hope I can find something worth it in here.

He trotted up many staircases, passing ruined bookshelves and collapsed ceilings. As he neared the third floor, a mine exploded in front of him. He narrowly managed to balance himself and avoid falling down the stairs.

"That's a good sign."

Quilliam carefully stepped past the rubble and trotted through the door. The room had no other doorways. The walls were covered in filing cabinets, and there was a single desk in the center of the room. He went behind it, ignored the smashed computer, and noticed a large vault under the desk.

He drew a few bobby pins, a screwdriver, and crouched down to fiddle with the lock. He fiddled with the lock and ended up breaking his first two pins. On the third, however, the vault clicked open and the loot was revealed.

Inside lay a stockpile of ammunition, a frag grenade, and a pack of cigarettes.

"All that ammo, but no gun?"

He looked around the room to find the missing firearm when he heard a ruckus downstairs. Quilliam pocketed the loot, then quickly galloped down to the entrance and found a group of earth pony slavers loading an unconscious Daisy into a chariot. He drew his revolver and quickly fired at one of Daisy's kidnappers. The bullet barely missed. It grazed the stallion's ear and flew directly into the eye of Fluttershy on a Ministry of Kindness poster. That alerted them to his presence, and he had to take cover to avoid becoming swiss cheese. One of them galloped up the stairs and clubbed the gun from his surprised talons.  He slowly raised his forelegs and they cuffed them. They dragged him down the stairs and threw him into the chariot as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~Daisy~~

Ugh...what happened? I remember reading that book and then....Ugh...my head...

She tried to raise her hooves to her head, but forgot about the pain completely when she realized she was cuffed on both her hindlegs and forelegs. Her eyes widened and she frantically looked around. There were multiple slaves surrounding her. Some were unconscious and some were looking at the floor in depression, not even noticing the world around them. She looked desperately for Quilliam, and found him sitting casually in a humanoid position. He was smoking a cigarette and seemed to be unaware that he had been kidnapped. When he reached for his cigarette, she realized that he wasn't cuffed.

"QUILLIAM!"

His head jolted around to her with an urgent look on his face. There was a large cut going diagonally down his left eye.

"Shut it! I've killed the guard back here and broken free of my bonds, but if you keep screaming they'll come back to check!"

She looked to the floor and only saw a red stain. She began to connect the dots from the scar to the stain.

"I-is that him?"

She pointed to the floor where the stain was.

"Well, last time I checked slavers didn't decorate their transportation with strawberry jam," Quilliam replied condescendingly.

Daisy glared at him, the noticed the rank stench.

"Ugh! What did you do to him!?"

Quilliam chuckled lightly and smirked at her.

"Oh, nothing much. Just some chaos magic. The weight of 100 tons crushed him from all sides. You could put his remains on toast."

The thought of putting that gory paste on toast and somepony eating it almost made her sick. The carriage suddenly jolted to a stop, and Quilliam's cigarette flew from his claws. Daisy looked afraid and stared out the opening in the back. She had nowhere to run. There were mountains, but there was no way she could evade their bullets. She was unarmed, so she couldn't fight back. She then noticed Quilliam had a shotgun. Her fear was quickly replaced with relief, and she exhaled the breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

Quilliam drew the shotgun he had stolen from the late guard and went to the opening. In an instant there were armed slavers pointing their guns at him. All but one were ponies. One of them was a minotaur. This was no ordinary minotaur, however. His arms from the elbow down were cybernetic humanoid arms, complete with fingers. He also had one mechanical eye. Where he had flesh, it was dark grey. His hair was styled into a mohawk and was coal black.

Quilliam's aim dropped when he saw him, and threw away his gun. Daisy looked at him with urgency, but then realized both the minotaur and Quilliam looked like they had just run into an old friend.

"Quilliam?" The minotaur's voice was extremely deep, and he signaled for his men to drop their aim.

"Ciao, Strong Arm. Long time no see. I thought we agreed to meet at the designated point and pool our caps together to start a large band of mercs?"

Strong Arm looked as confused as Daisy was.

"No, we went our separate ways."

"So you became a slaver?"

"Do you know how many caps a good slave sells for!?"

"You were a slave once. This is probably one of the most improbable things I've seen in the Wasteland."

Daisy and the Strong Arm's 'friends' watched the exchange in confused silence. The his face contorted with rage, and his fingertips opened to release small flames.

"I WAS NOT A SLAVE!"

His voice boomed at an unreal volume. Daisy flinched, but Quilliam actually reeled backwards. She realized that Strong Arm must have known him for an extremely long time to pick up that extremely loud noises hurt his ear terribly. When he recovered he faced Cybrex calmly. His voice too was different. Discord's voice was mixed in with it. It was calm, but she could hear condensed rage beneath it. She noticed Quilliam's eyes had turned white.

"Right. You let them cut your arms off, and you being forced to work was just an illusion? Admit it, Strong Arm. You would have been screwed without my help."

Strong Arm's fingers snapped shut and he glowered at Quilliam.

"Yeah. I was a slave. No, I didn't give in to them. So no, it doesn't count. I'm going to let you free, but only if you stop being such a bitch."

Quilliam smirked. "I have a friend with me. Can she go free, too?"

"Would that be the sexy mare that's been watching this whole conversation?"

"She's a mare, to be sure, but 'sexy'? I'd hardly describe her as sexy."

"Sure."

He signaled for one of his men to unlock her, but Quilliam raised his claw.

"Wait. Let's leave her to escape herself."

Strong Arm raised an eyebrow at him. "Uh, okay."

The stallion withdrew, and Quilliam tossed Daisy a few bobby pins and a screwdriver.

"Knock yourself out, kid."

Quilliam, Strong Arm, and the slavers walked away. Daisy stared where they had been a few moment ago.

"Veeeery funny, guys. Come on. Let me out."

There was no response.

"Hello!?"

--

I'm sorry for the chapter being so late. Power outages came first, then other distractions I couldn't avoid, and some distractions I could have. This won't become the norm, I assure you.

Looting

~~Daisy~~

Daisy tried to break out of her bonds with brute force, but that ended up doing nothing besides tiring her. She looked at the bobby pins Quilliam had thrown her, and an idea began to form in her mind. She noticed that the pins were already bent, so that was taken care of. She carefully inserted it into the lock along with the screwdriver and began twisting. She heard a snap.

One down, two more chances.

She continued with this until she was on her final pin, and she heard a loud click. That's when she realized she still had her hindlegs to unlock. Daisy was painfully aware of the fact the carriage was moving and Quilliam had probably abandoned her.

Why did I trust him!? Better yet, why did he leave me?

Her rage almost caused her to snap her final pin, but she noticed it was about to break and she quickly dropped her hold on it. She started again, and when she heard the click a loud sigh of relief escaped her mouth. She approached the edge, and quickly hopped out. Her inexperience in such endeavors caused her to stumble and fall. Her cutie mark of a bottle of painkillers with a plus sign formed from scalpels was scratched on both flanks from the fall.

When she got up and collected herself she galloped quickly towards the carriage to give Strong Arm and Quilliam a piece of her mind. The carriage was already a good distance away, and she almost fell on the cracked road multiple times. When she finally caught up, she found Quilliam and Strong Arm engaging in conversation like separated brothers. She hopped onto the driver's platform in a blind rage. The four pegasi and earth ponies pulling the cart groaned from the sudden new weight, and the cart slowed considerably.

"You!"

"Oh, hello Daisy. How was it back there?"

"Do you think you're funny? What, were you going to leave me to die after you reminisce with your old slaver friend!?"

Strong Arm chuckled and Quilliam smirked.  Daisy looked at him with confusion, and Quilliam's smirk grew into a full smile.

"Their destination was Barkley from the start. Either way we would have gotten there." He gestured next to him. "Have a seat. Your belongings are already laying here."

She continued to glare at him, but did as he suggested and donned her saddlebags. The terrain around them was composed mainly of large mountains with broken and charred trees anywhere you looked. There were a few houses here and there, and some had been repaired since the bombing.

"So you weren't going to leave me?"

Quilliam looked at her seriously.

"If I share my rations with you rather than adding you to them, that's a good sign you can trust me."

She continued to stare at him in silence for a moment, still not quite used to his cannibalistic nature, then decided to break the silence.

"So, what are we going to do in Barkley?"

"Well, a friend of mine there is a major whiz with all earth pony technology. She rewired one of those Para-bots or whatever they're called to send me a message. I used to keep everybody there safe, unless I was the attacker. I was a hitman, merc, et cetera, but also a vigilante and the closest thing to a sheriff the town ever saw. Apparently a gang has taken over and if I clear them out I'll have enough caps to do a Scrooge McDuck. All of the citizens have agreed to pay me, and I get to take all the caps and supplies the gang has amassed."

Strong Arm looked at Quilliam quizzically.

"Amira lives in Barkley now? That's good. I'm needing some upgrades."

"You're lucky we found your crippled form when we did."

Strong Arm looked at Quilliam with light anger and exhaled through his nose aggressively.

"You're never going to stop bringing that up, are you?"

"Nope."

The slaves pulling the carriage began to slow, and a griffon in the front row collapsed. The other slavers galloped up to punish him and get him back up, but the griffon then lunged up and tried to disarm one of the guards. After a brief tussle and a few stray bullets,  the unnamed griffon was tied up by his wings and tied to the back to be dragged. A few others had tried to escape during the battle, and they were tied up, too.

Daisy looked behind them with a look of disgust and pity as she realized the ones being punished were leaving a thin trail of blood behind them. She turned to Quilliam to see if he'd noticed, or even gave them a second thought, but was disappointed when she saw he was so desensitized he simply allowed them to go through the severe pain.

"We have to free them," she whispered. He looked at her and arched an eyebrow.

"Save who?"

"The ones being dragged behind us! Who else!?"

Quilliam shook his head and laughed. "Why would we go to the trouble of saving them?"

Daisy tried desperately to find a way she could convince Quilliam and Strong Arm to release them.

"They're leaving a blood trail. They'll give us away."

Quilliam rolled his eyes, and Strong Arm looked at the pair quizzically, but remained silent.

"It's a road. It doesn't take a genius to figure out where we're headed. Especially when we're less than two miles away from Barkley."

The remaining slaves pulling them turned a corner with a groan from both the slaves, and the vehicle's wheels. Now she could see a town in the distance. There were pre-war buildings and new buildings. All looked equally terrible. Being used to the mechanical and sterile architecture of her Stable, the rough town in front of them looked extremely primitive to Daisy.

"They're not going to be breathing before we make it to town."

"Look, it's up to you. You can try and free them if you want. The Wasteland is about freedom above all else. But I'm not going to help you. You're on your own if you try to free them."

Daisy glowered at Quilliam while Strong Arm continued to ignore the conversation, knowing the inevitable ending.

"Fine. Some help you are. But when we get to Barkley and they're nothing more than corpses, you'll have yourself to thank."

This time it was Strong Arm who responded.

"I don't care if they die. They tried to kill us and escape. They need to die."

Daisy sighed, and gave up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As they neared Barkley, Daisy noticed a building to the side that looked like it had survived the bombing. It looked like a factory or something similar, possibly to support the war effort. Apparently Quilliam noticed it, too, as he hopped off of the carriage without a word. She followed quickly after, saying goodbye to Strong Arm. Quilliam was waiting for her halfway to the nearby building.

"Come on, Daisy. We still need to make it to Barkley by tomorrow morning. We're just making a brief stop for some looting."

"Looting? Isn't that like...stealing?"

"Not from the dead. That makes it ours by the international law of go fuck yourself."

She sped up to catch him, as he continued walking as he talked to her.

"That was rude."

Quilliam nodded blankly as he opened the door for her.

"You're still surprised?"

She looked at him in confusion.

"You tell me to go fuck myself one moment, then you're holding a door open for me the next?"

He nodded again.

"I can be chivalrous while still being rude. Now go on in. We don't have all day."

She did as he ordered and entered the building. She could see nothing of any importance in the main room, but there were  three doors leading in different directions. One very clearly said "Bathrooms" above it, so she ruled out that direction. The labels on the other two were unreadable.  Quilliam entered behind her without her noticing.

"Forward. Let's go directly forward. Creatures almost always go straight, so there will be less traps. Normally I'd go right, but you're a beginner. I don't want somepony who's possibly my great great granddaughter get her head blown off."

Daisy's brows furrowed in confusion.

"Wait...what was that?"

Quilliam shook his head and didn't respond.

"It was nothing. I'm getting tired of carrying this massive baggage. You can drop your bags if you want, too. We don't need to  strain ourselves while we're exploring a building that might hold nothing of interest."

He dropped his bags, exposing his cutie mark. It was a phoenix feather quill in an inkwell. Daisy looked at it in confusion, wondering how an author could possibly thrive in the Wasteland. He opened the door slightly and laid a primed mine on top as a lethal version of the old prank. She followed him through the door ahead, and they were greeted by a large room with a narrow platform spiraling up into the ceiling. She tried to see the end, but she could not. Quilliam took a pack of cigarettes out of a pocket in his armor and lit one. He too seemed to be trying to find the end of the infinite spiral as he placed the cigarette in his mouth.

"Well, we aren't going to get anywhere by standing here. Let's get moving."

The trip took almost an entire hour of climbing the ramp, and the incline steepened near the end. Daisy's hooves slipped out from under her when she was only five feet from the room at the top. Quilliam grabbed her by her mane and horn and threw her into the room above. She landed on top of what appeared to be a set of military grade combat armor fitted for the more muscled form of a stallion and a helmet with a hole for a horn in it, but the helmet skittered out of the room from the force of her fall. Quilliam entered not moment after and Daisy leaped up and glowered at him.

"That hurt!"

"Would you have preferred me to let you slide under the railing and fall to your death?"

His eyes were drawn to the armor underneath her.

"What have we here? That's quite a find."

He began to remove his armor of metal plates and scrap. Daisy stepped off of the armor and noticed a 10mm submachine gun laying on a nearby table along with a box of ammunition for it. There were also a set of extended magazines laying next to it, all loaded. She hesitated, but grabbed them as Quilliam was preparing to leave the room.

"All the other doors in this room are blocked off. Let's head back down and try the other direction."

Quilliam threw his cigarette butt over the railing as they left the room. When they finally arrived at the bottom again, Daisy was exhausted. It was a steep climb going up, but she had to hold on for dear life on the way down. When they entered the room, they found the unsearched route's door open, and an adolescent colt looking through their bags. Quilliam groaned as when he saw the colt.

"I should have known. Hey! Kid, get away from our packs!"

The colt swung around with a plasma pistol in his mouth, a look of shock and fear, yet somehow determination on his face.

Quilliam pulled his gun and aimed it at the kid,  but Daisy stepped between them.

"Kiddo, if you just give us our stuff back we'll leave peacefully."

The foal grabbed the two bags protectively. Quilliam glared at him and straightened his aim.

"I slept in a sleeping bag made of foal pelts once. Do you think I'm afraid of some thief?"

Daisy looked at Quilliam as if he was crazy, then turned back to the teenager.

"He's just trying to scare you away."

"No I'm not. I'm dead serious, no pun intended."

The teen looked a little bit scared of his lack of mercy, but accidentally set his plasma pistol to fire. Quilliam moved his head to the side and it barely seared his mane. He responded to the action by planting a bullet in the colt's chest. His pain was obvious as he screamed and fell to the ground, blood pouring out of the wound. Quilliam approached and shot him in the head, killing him.

"What's wrong with you!?"

Quilliam looked back at her with confusion.

"Would you have preferred me to let him take our belongings and melt me with pure plasma?"

"He was just a kid!"

"Correction: A kid who tried to kill me and was robbing us."

"You didn't have to kill him!"

"The only other option would be to cripple him, which would be much worse in the Wasteland. You should be happy I didn't leave him to bleed out in agony."

"You're sick!"

"What would you have done?"

Daisy remained silent for a few moments.

"Exactly."

Quilliam pocketed the pistol and searched the child's body, then sighed.

"Nothing...Oh well, grab your bags. Let's go."

She looked at the corpse with remorse, then grabbed her bags right before the pooling blood got on them.

A Toast To Heartlessness

~~Daisy~~

As they exited the building, they heard a blood curdling scream coming from the route the colt came through. Daisy had been looking at Quilliam with a mixture of disgust and confusion as they left, but now she was staring at the front door with eyes like saucers.

"That sounded like a feral. I knew I should have gone through there."

He turned around and walked back towards the entrance, but Daisy stood where she was.

"Quilliam, you're sick."

Quilliam turned around to her.

"Now that you mention it," he responded, "I am feeling rather sick. Pass me some Pepto, will ya?"

Daisy glared at him menacingly.

"You know what I meant," she responded through gritted teeth.

Quilliam nodded casually, as if what had happened inside was just the daily grind for him.

"I do. However, I'm disregarding it. Are you coming or not?"

Daisy glared at him. "I'm staying here. I need some time to let my stomach settle."

Quilliam shrugged. "Okay," he replied, "suit yourself."

Daisy snorted at him as he reentered the building.

~~Quilliam~~

Quilliam passed the corpse of the small colt he had killed, and took notice of how much blood had leaked from his corpse. It was really quite gruesome, and he had slept in foal pelts before.

"That's still no reason to hate me," he thought aloud.

The purple ghoul walked through the open doorway and into the hallway beyond. It was made primarily of simple walls and floorboards. It was mostly empty. He checked multiple rooms for any loot, but found nothing. He checked room after room and found absolutely nothing, until he came to where he assumed the stairwell would be.

There were multiple pods containing what looked like ponies, but all were frosted to the point where you couldn't make out any details. Quilliam rubbed his claw against one of them and saw a brown mare with bacon red hair.

"Babs? Sweet fucking baby Luna! Pre-war cryopods!"

Quilliam had served with Babs Seed in the Equestrian war effort. They had both been imprisoned in Celestia's own dungeons, and in an agreement with the royal sisters, a group of seven criminals including Quilliam and Babs would go to war, and when they returned they would be free of all charges. As soon as Babs got her chance, she shot one of her comrades and galloped away, abandoning her unit.

He stared at the pods in disbelief, then noticed one had been opened.  He realized suddenly that the boy he had killed had been an innocent pre-war foal.

"Now where did that noise come from?" he wondered.

At that moment, he noticed a staircase leading up to a higher level.

Probably from up there...

Quilliam opened the splintered door and entered the stairwell. Quilliam sighed.

"I'm getting quite a workout."

He began the climb up the steps, but halfway up he was tackled by a previously unseen creature a level above. He slid and his head dangled over the side, but he barely stayed on the stairs. He had been tackled by a feral ghoul of a griffon. It was in terrible shape. You could see the yellowed flesh where the feathers had fallen off long ago. Quilliam quickly rolled and knocked it off the ledge, sending it falling to its death with a loud crunch.

"Woah...that was...ugly!"

Quilliam cautiously slid himself back under the hoofrail and continued up the stairs, making sure there were no more surprise attacks from above.

~~Daisy~~

As Daisy waited outside, contemplating leaving Quilliam inside, she heard a gun cock from behind her.

"Considering you were the top mare in your class, it was really stupid of you to not leave your Pip-Buck behind, Salve."

Daisy froze with terror, not sure what to do.

"W-Who's there?"

She heard the pony behind her laugh. It sounded like a young colt, around 17.

"Did you really think we wouldn't want to get you back for what you did to my mother!?"

Realization hit Daisy like a punch to the stomach. The Overmare's son had come to get revenge on her for the failed surgery.

"Oh dear Celestia...Diamond, it was an-"

"Do not call me that!"

"Right...It was an accident! I didn't mean to kill her!"

"Yeah, sure. You disagreed with every choice she ever made, and got into a heated argument with her the day right be-fucking-fore the surgery! You really expect me to believe you!?"

Daisy began to regret her choice for leaving Quilliam inside.

~~Quilliam~~

When Quilliam finally managed to make it to the top of the staircase, there was just a single door.

"Seriously!? The architects must have been exceptional trolls...There had better be a load of good loot in here."

Quilliam opened the door and was greeted with multiple generic looking boxes.

"...Storage? Well...it's a military facility. There's still a chance for some good loot."

He tore open the first crate, and it was filled with syringes filled with a purple liquid. He opened another, and there was just more of the same stuff. He wasn't sure if it was a sedative or an illegal drug, and he wasn't willing to test it. He could, however, sell them as drugs. He didn't care what happened to those who bought it. It could be some terrible disease for all he cared. He stuffed the needles into his pack and opened more crates. Some had energy cells, some had batteries, and others had old and broken items that were once for repairs that wouldn't sell for five caps. He took what was worth taking and was about to head out, when he noticed a box of Sparkle Cola. He uncapped one, drained it completely, then pocketed the cap and tossed the bottle away. He put the rest of them in his right saddlebag, where he kept foodstuffs and chems.

Quilliam exited the room, and once again set on the trip down.

~~Daisy~~

Daisy was beginning to fear for her life, and her assailant seemed to have no interest in sparing her.

"Please...I didn't mean to kill your mother!"

"I really don't believe you, and I don't give a flying fuck either! An eye for an eye...a mare for a mare."

She heard him pull the hammer back on his revolver, and she knew she had to do something. The frightened mare decided she had nothing to lose, so she slammed herself backwards into the colt behind her, causing his magic around the pistol to falter. She latched onto it with her own, and slammed it into his skull, knocking him out.

She sighed, and placed the pistol to his head. After a brief pause, she fired.

~~Quilliam~~

Quilliam's ear shot upward when he heard the gunshot, and terror came over him. He was beginning to get attached to the filly, and he wasn't going to have her die now.

The draconequus galloped down the stairs seven at a time, and vaulted over the railing near the bottom. He rammed through the door and passed the cryopods, not noticing another was thawing out. When he arrived in the main room he once again leaped over the railing and charged through the door, drawing his gun.

What he saw shocked him. Daisy was sitting near a corpse of a colt he didn't recognize, and seemed only slightly startled rather than terrified and paralyzed.

"...What did I miss?"

Daisy only just then noticed him, and looked up at him with a look of sadness.

"A boy from the Stable came after me. He thought I killed his mother on purpose."

"Well know it seems we both have questions for each other!"

Daisy sighed, and holstered the gun she had taken from her fellow Stable dweller.

"Alright. What do you want to know?"

"It's getting dark, Daisy. We can talk on the road," Quilliam responded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were not far from Barkley when they set out. The sun was going down, but they would be able to get there before full night descended upon them. Quilliam was the first to speak.

"So, what happened back there?" he paused for a moment before continuing, "and what was that about killing somepony in your Stable?"

Daisy sighed and locked her eyes on the cracked pavement.

"I didn't really kill her. The Overmare at our Stable was shot by a rebellious fourteen year old, and I was tasked with getting the bullet out and saving her. I failed...She died during the surgery, and I fled due to increasing hostility towards me."

"...That's hardly killing somepony, but it explains why you felt the need to leave and check into Hell."

"Now I have question for you! What was that in there about us being related, and why is your cutie mark a quill and inkwell? I'd think it would be something more like a firearm!"

"What does it matter?" Quilliam responded. "I was an author before the world, and that's still my special talent. My line of work before the war doesn't matter. The bombs have dropped. All past relationships and morals are now null."

Daisy looked at him quizzically, now curious.

"Can you give me an example of your works? Were you a fiction writer? Fantasy? Or were you nonfiction?"

"I wrote the Daring Do novels. Primarily those. All of my other works went under the radar and through most pony's memories within a month at most."

Daisy looked at him with widened eyes.

"Seriously!? You wrote the Daring Do novels!?"

"Yes. The most intact copy in the wasteland is probably being used as a paperweight, though."

"Yeah, probably. The ponies here seem almost illiterate. Especially the late fake merchant."

"The one that made you act like you'd seen a cockatrice?"

Daisy was silent for a few moments.

"Yeah, that one. I think I've gotten used to Wasteland affairs now, though."

Quilliam looked at her, not fully convinced.

"So you won't think about shooting me if I rob a caravan?"

"No. We need money and supplies. I can understand."

Quilliam stopped and pulled two bottles of Sparkle Cola out of his bag and tossed one to Daisy.

"A toast," Quilliam declared, "to heartlessness!"

The Arrival at Barkley

~~Quilliam~~

They finally reached Barkley, their goal for the past week. It seemed to be calm on the surface. There were ponies, dogs, and zebras all wandering casually, although their expressions looked slightly uneasy. Among the sparse crowd, however, were griffons wearing arclight masks with a star scratched into the top right corner. The civilians all seemed to avoid them, and Quilliam could practically feel the oppression. He looked at the gang members with a mixture of interest, awe, and worry. He was expecting just a large number of pushovers. These guys were armed to the teeth. Some had desert eagles, others had fully automatic shotguns, and one even had a grenade launcher. They were going to be tough to overthrow. He looked at Daisy, and she looked scared.

"Are you sure we can take these guys on?"

"Nope," Quilliam responded, shaking his head, "but it can't hurt to try, can it?"

Daisy looked at him seriously.

"Yes. Yes it can. It can hurt a lot."

"That's the spirit! You go look for Amira. She's a mechanic, so listen for wrenches, sparks, and complaints of faulty laser rifles. I'll head off and look for Strong Arm. If you can't find her, ask around for a horned wolf. If you're cornered by any gangsters, kick 'em in the balls and shoot them in the head with this."

He handed her a silenced .22 pistol.

"That thing is as loud as a kitten falling on a pillow."

Daisy took it, then turned to Quilliam as he was trotting away.

"Wait, horned wolf?"

Quilliam continued walking away, without turning back.

"Yup. A wolf with a unicorn horn. Now get going."

Daisy stood there, looking at him in disbelief as he left her there.  He barely heard her last sentence.

"He's kidding me..."

Quilliam passed ponies who looked at him in fear, dogs that looked relieved, dogs that hid from him, and gangsters that looked at him critically through the shattered visors in their masks, trying to see if he would be a threat. He saw Strong Arm's carriage, but there was nopony manning it.

"He must have brought the slaves to the trading center for sale," Quilliam thought aloud.

He entered the bar and looked for Strong Arm. Strong Arm was an alcoholic, so finding him here wouldn't be a tough guess.

So are you coming in here for booze and a whore, or Strong Arm?

Oh damn it...Again with the voices.

Don't hate us so much, Quilliam. We're just your ancestors. We draconequui get a good kick out of pestering descendants.

Did you miss us?

Not really, no. I was relieved you two nuisances were out of my head for those few months.

Don't talk to your father that way, Quilliam. Go to your room.

Would you kindly shut up, Discord? I'm trying to look for somepony here.

Hey, don't just verbally berate Discord! Give your ol' grandpa Havoc some attention, too.

Fuck you, too, Havoc.

He decided to ignore the nagging voices and continue the search as they continued to talk to him and each other.

~~Daisy~~

Daisy looked on in complete disbelief and confusion as Quilliam trotted into town. The words she had just heard failed to compute with her.

"A wolf...with a horn. A wolf with a horn? What?"

She continued babbling for a few moments until she finally decided to just forget trying to think about it and instead went off to look for this freak of nature. Daisy trotted blindly into town, too afraid to ask any of the locals for the location of Quilliam's old...friend. She didn't want to apply in term to this strange creature that would imply it is an intelligent being.

A wolf with a horn?! That's crazy!

Daisy passed by many different shops, but never really looked inside. She was far too lost in her thoughts to even think about searching at the moment. She shook her head to clear her thoughts...

...right before a large ball of plasma flew by her snout.

"Gah!"

Daisy fell backwards onto her flank in a desperate attempt to stop herself from getting her brain melted inside of her skull. She watched the burning green orb fly into a nearby wall and melt away a small portion of it. She snapped her head in the other direction to see her attacker and saw a creature run out of a large building with a sign saying "ENERGY WEAPON SALESMAN/MECHANIC" in terrible, scrawled letters hanging on the door. Daisy was too shocked to pay attention, but she was helped up and escorted inside by...a horned wolf. She had found Amira by pure coincidence. The wolf looked at her apologetically and broke her from her thoughts.

"I'm so sorry about that," Amira said with genuine empathy. "Are you hurt? Did it hit you? I'll pay for the doctor bill."

Daisy couldn't help but look at her like she was some kind of freak. Quilliam's description hadn't been inaccurate. This...thing...was acting like ponies shouldn't be surprised at her existence. Daisy didn't notice at first, but the creature was looking at her with annoyance and confusion.

"You okay? You look like I just slapped you."

"Well, I'm not used to seeing horned wolves."

Daisy tried to not sound hateful, but she certainly sounded bigoted. The freak walked behind her casually and Daisy was terrified by what came back around. She was looking at a mirror image of herself. Daisy's eyes turned to the size of saucers as she collapsed backwards a second time in dealing with this...thing. Now things had gotten ten times worse. She wasn't just dealing with deformed wolf, she was dealing with a changeling.

What kind of group did Quilliam run!? He employed these...monsters! A slaver, a changeling, and he's a draconequus! Maybe I should just bail out of this and try and go home, despite the hostility. Maybe things have calmed down...

Her thoughts were interrupted by one of the masked gang ponies coming in, glaring through the visor. It stomped forwards and drew a laser rifle. Daisy felt her fight or flight instinct about to take course before she realized it was gesturing towards it to the changeling. The voice that arose from the mask was muffled, but clear enough to make out.

"Why did you make this gun only function with overcharge cells!?"

"It can't work with normal cells. You said that you wanted the gun to turn people to a few grains of dust in a single shot, so I optimized it for OC. I'm sorry, but that's the only way it will work. Keep a sidearm for normal cells if you have to, but this beauty will only work with overcharge."

"You obviously have no clue what you're doing."

"Says the moron who thinks I can make a normal energy cell turn a pony to dust in a single shot."

Daisy just watched the encounter, not sure if she should butt in or not. She had no knowledge of how to work energy weapons, but she didn't like the customer's attitude. Five minutes and two hoarse throats later, he stormed out of the building with a plasma pistol.

The changeling turned to Daisy.

"So what were you saying?"

"Er...Quilliam's back in town. He's trying to get the company together again. He told me to seek you out."

Amira looked shocked.

"You're kidding. There's no way he's trying to get us back together. He betrayed us to go and join the raiders!"

"...What's a Raider?"

Amira stared at the ignorant mare for a bit before falling over in laughter. Daisy was offended by this, but she understood that half of this lingo was new to her.

"I knew you looked a bit too clean," Amira said when she got up. "Well, a raider is basically what it says on the tin. They rape, kill, burn, and rob whoever they want. Quilliam decided that we weren't being hired as much as he would like, so he attempted to turn us over to those bastards."

"Oh. So those guys he was killing before were Raiders. Okay. I think I have a good idea of who they are."

"So he turned his back on yet ANOTHER group of his comrades? He's not very trustworthy, and you expect me to go join up with him again? I have a great income here. Not to mention I am kept alive by these gangsters in more ways than one. We changelings adapted to living off of lust, what with love in such short supplies these days. They keep me fed on lust and they don't harm me as long as I keep letting them have their way with me. What can you do to convince me to join with that guy again?"

Daisy fumbled over her words, not expecting this sort of hostility.

"I-I...er...Well..."

"We're done here. Until you can bring me a good reason to join him again, I'll go nowhere near that bastard. Now buy something or get out."

And with that, Daisy was out the door.

The Meeting (IN THE PROCESS OF BEING REWRITTEN)

"The sun is burning, the birds are...well, dead, and the survivors are all heartless bastards. That's how it is. That's how it has been since the war. Now just hoof over your belongings and I might not have my way with you, bud."

A ghoul was steadily holding his revolver to the forehead of a traveler, his armor made of badly put together metal plates. If the traveler moved even one muscle that wasn't in his mouth, he'd fire. They were on an empty dirt road that ran from one end of Virwhinnia to the other. Any direction you looked was flat, with a few buildings here and there, all destroyed and uninhabited. If you had good enough eyes, however, you could see the mountains of West Virwhinnia looming in the distance. The ghoul glowered at the traveler as he noticed a movement. This ghoul was born long before the war. One thousand years before the war, as a matter of fact. He was a draconequus, chaos spawn, a freak. Whatever you called them, the thought of them instilled fear. He had hound ears (or ear, as one had rotted off), hawk eyes, a scaled torso, a hippogriff stomach (allowing him to eat both plants and meat) and a griffon right foreleg. The ghoul held his revolver in his talons, prepared to fire at any moment. He noticed his prey look to the side.

"Ah ah ah, I wouldn't do that. One muscle and I fire. Now, drop your belongings and I'll let you go."

"B-but I'll die without my food!"

"I'll die without it, too. I could always kill you and take you along as rations, as well."

The stallion's eyes widened, and he nodded slowly. He allowed the ghoul to take his pack, and he galloped away afterwards, but it isn't long before he is shot, falling to the ground with a scream.

"Quilliam ol' buddy, you've done it again. I really know how to pick my prey." Quilliam rooted through the sack, ignoring the dying, sobbing stallion nearby, and finds a stockpile of ammo, a few small firearms, a large amount of purified water, and a few satchels of explosives.

"What was this guy planning on doing, raiding the Stable?"  He looked up to the hill, where he could see the large '541' plastered on a circular steel door in large yellow font.

"Well, he had C4. Odds are that's exactly what he was planning." He began the brief climb up the hill. When he finally reached the door, he looked at it sadly. "This damned, oversold, piece of shit stole my daughter from me. I ought to take that stallion's idea. Betrayed, thrown into the forest, and then forced to watch my whole world burn around me."

Flourishing slammed a hoof against the cliff, and slid to the ground with a sigh.

"Why couldn't I have died with them all...?"

Just then, the door began to creak loudly, it's rusty edges opening slowly. It seemed he wouldn't need the explosives for entry. Rather than being a malfunction like he had assumed, the door opened to reveal a teenager, no more than 16, wearing a Stable suit bearing the Stable's number. She quickly pulled a gun on him, the safety still on.

"Z-ZOMBIE!"

"What's a foal like yourself doing out here in the Wasteland?"

She her eyes scrunch up, both with confusion and offense. "I'm not a foal! I'm 18! And wait...you talk?"

Well, I was close. I can still use her and not feel bad about it, at the very least...  "Still a foal to me, considering the four thousand year difference. This is a dark place, little girl. Now just canter right back into your little Stable and live a happy life."

"It can't be as bad as that hellhole! Equestria is a place of happiness, right?!"

Quilliam snorted. ""Heh...Equestria, the land of rainbows, sunshine, and lollipops. Sorry kid, but it's long gone now. Out here it's a struggle to get by." The ghoul coughed, smirking. "Equestria is fueled by rape, murder, cannibalism, and banditry. Whatever foalish dream you had about streets paved with gold, it's wrong. Once, when I was out of food, I ate my own best friend! You ought to just go right back into your little Stable. You're born there, you live there, you die there. That's how it should be. Before that, though..."

He grinned evilly and took a few steps toward her.

She tried to fire her gun, not realizing the safety was on. Her naivety was going to make this all the more fun, he thought as he galloped forward.

"Wha- N-no! Get away!" She stumbled backwards, falling on her flank. She tried desperately to figure out why her gun wasn't working.

He tackled her, grinning all the while.  "See what I mean? Out here you're a sitting duck for all sorts of vile ponies. Stay inside, foal. Stay inside for your own good."

He got off and trotted slowly away. She galloped up to him, a look of confusion on her face.

"Obviously there's some good out here. You spared me, after all."

Quilliam chuckled. I know she's been in a Stable her whole life, but fucking hell is she stupid.

"You're describing me as good?" He laughed heavily now, that part fully sinking in. "I'm Discord's son, I'm rotting, I've robbed an abundance of caravans, and if I hadn't spared you, you wouldn't have been the first girl I defiled! I only spared you because you remind me of my daughter, and only that! I'm a hardened killer! Now shoo back into your little hole before I change my mind!"

Why did I show mercy? Am I slipping? Am I not as hardened as I think I am? She does look a lot like my daughter...

His doubts were interrupted when she spoke up. "I'm coming with you!"

Quilliam's head snapped around to face her, completely baffled. "What?! You really want to stay out here?"

She nodded with a determined look on her face as Quilliam shook his head with a sigh. "Then you're even more stupid than I thought. Fine. Come on, then. We don't have all day." He began the trip down the mountain, hoping she was bluffing. To his dismay, she wasn't. She trotted up to him, smiling. "Thank you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Midway down the hill, the mare broke the silence. "So...What's your name?"

He sighed, and decided to act civil. "Quilliam Keystrokes, yourself?

"Echinacea Salve. My friends call my Daisy. So...Where are we headed, Quilliam?"

He smirked. "We're headed to my old camp, Salve. While you're my apprentice, you will learn how to deal with Raiders firsthoof. These guys aren't very fond of me anymore, so we're going to take you in there as an offering, then kill them all. Sound fun?"

Daisy's jaw dropped. "NO! Why would we do that!?"

Quilliam facehoofed at her ignorance. "Why? They're scum, that's why. All those things I listed that happens, they've done all of it. We'll be doing the Wasteland a favor."

"That doesn't mean we just slaughter them!" She looked at him angrily.

"That's exactly what it means here in the Wasteland. If you aren't a predator, you're prey." Quilliam took out a gun, a high caliber pistol, and tossed it to her. She scrambled to not let it drop, and after a few moments of desperate scrabbling, she grabbed it in her mouth. After taking a moment to collect herself, she grabbed it with magic and held it. "Take this gun and use it. That peashooter of yours won't be of any help at all. Also, the reason it didn't fire earlier is because the safety  was on. I suggest you learn a bit more about firearms."

Daisy's face fell, and shenodded. "I'm still not sure about this...but alright. I'll consider it. I at least need some target practice first, both to get better and to think about this more thoroughly."

"Understatement about the needing practice bit. Do you even know how to work that thing?"

Daisy smiled nervously.

"Er...Point and shoot?"

Quilliam snorted at that. This mare was proving to be good entertainment, if nothing else.

"You're even worse off than I thought. You'll either be a brood mare or food by the end of the fuckin' week."

Daisy frowned as Quilliam turned away and took off his saddlebags, revealing his cutie mark to be an open book with a quill beside of it.

"Hey! Quilliam! You have a lot of guts coming back in the territory of the Ravaging Raiders!"

Daisy and Quilliam turned around quickly to look at their enemy. He was a raider, and a very ugly one at that. He had scars covering most of his body, and dirt covering even more.  He was wearing armor similar to Quilliam's, but it covered less of his body. The stallion stood on top of a small hill, holding a sub-machine gun in his mouth, being an earth pony. Behind him they could see the tops of tents.

Quilliam snorted. "Your new name sounds like a pre-war sports team name, and a terrible name at that. I take it you brought lead along with your words?"

He pulled out his pistol and signaled for Daisy to do the same. She did, but she looked extremely unsure. When they did, though, a rifle fired nearby. It missed by a wide margin, but it was still a clever trick. Quilliam looked up at the raider.

"You gave Choco the position of sniper?! What new kind of ignorant are you? He's the worst shot in the group!"

The raider fired his gun, and got Quilliam. It passed through his armor, so it did less damage. Nonetheless, Quilliam recoiled in pain. He shook his head and brought it up with a look that could kill.

"Enough banter."

He raised his gun, a .223 rifle sawed down to a pistol, and fired it straight into the stallion's skull. He collapsed with nary a grunt. The rifle fired again, and this time it barely glanced off of one of Quilliam's plates.

"Daisy, you take the sniper. A single opponent shouldn't be too hard for you, right?" He galloped off toward the camp, pulling out a fully automatic military grade rifle. Daisy looked around with uncertainty, but when it fired again she galloped off in the sniper's direction.

Quilliam galloped into the center of the circle of tents, and examined his surroundings. It was exactly as he remembered it. Tents made out of the hides of different creatures, and inside a few he could see some cut open carcasses that were used as beds. He looked up again and saw three raiders, all covered in blood and dirt. Two of them were wielding handguns in  their magical grip, while the second was a pegasus wearing a battle saddle with an extremely out of date submachine gun on each side.

They're facing me with a tactic that always spelled my enemies downfall. I didn't know that they couldn't function without me.

One of them fired and Quilliam pulled the gun up to his enemies chin with magic in an instant, killing him with his own bullet. The other two fired while Quilliam was distracted. The pegasus fired randomly, not even aiming.  One bullet rebounded off of his armor and into the dirt. The other bullet got him in the torso. The rest off the bullets pierced the tents, making them completely useless as shelter from the weather. He used the pain as adrenaline, fueling him to continue. He fired 5 shots into both of them, and they dropped.

He heard the sound of guns being cocked behind him. There were seventeen by the sound of it.

"You're dead, Quilliam."

I'm fucked. They know I'm a draconequus...maybe I can bluff something, or stall until Daisy gets here.

"Do you have enough water to spare on hoof? Otherwise, no I'm not."

"The hell are you talking about, freak!?"

"I work like a phoenix. If you kill me, you'll have to pour water on my corpse immediately."

He could hear their nervous and confused shuffling behind him. They weren't firing anytime soon. That's when he heard Daisy come up behind them.

"Drop your weapons! All of you, now!"

She plays the part well. Maybe she may be of use, after all.

They all dropped their guns, and he turned around quickly. He grabbed one's handgun and aimed it at them all, walking slowly backwards. It was only then that he noticed something. Daisy was unarmed. He aimed his gun to the air and fired, signaling for all of the raiders to get on the ground. He galloped up to Daisy.

"Where's the gun I gave you?!"

She looked at him apologetically. "The sniper shot it out of my hand. I'm sorry. It looked valuable."

He sighed. "No. We can get another. I'm just glad I didn't give you this pistol.."

"Why? What's so special about a dusty old revolver?" She looked at him quizzically.

He glared at her, and bared his canines. Daisy took a step back out of fear, and whimpered.

"It's the only connection I have to my past life. That's all I'm telling you. Now, let's finish off these raiders and get out of here."

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~~Daisy~~

They set camp a long distance away from where the previous battle took place. They were surrounded by old houses, all in shambles. There was some grafitti scattered here and there across the walls, but the area wasn't very popular for raiders or other similar groups, as it had a reputation for having rabid dogs.

"Nopony will expect to find us here." Daisy looked at him, an unamused expression on her face. "Stop looking at me like that. I already told you, dogs, even rabid ones, like me. If they like me, they like you. We're safe here, or as safe as is possible with a campfire anywhere in the Wasteland."

Daisy watched Quilliam closely as he broke apart a wall. He brought the timber and wood scraps to a set area and lit it on fire with a spell. The sun had set a few hours ago, but Quilliam had insisted on continuing for a short distance. Daisy looked up at the stars and was enveloped by her thoughts.

Why did I come out here? I thought Equestria was a place of happiness, but it's only my first day out here and I've been in a firefight! It's too late now...

She looked up to see Quilliam trying to pick a bullet out of his shoulder with magic. Once he got it out, he tried to apply a bandage to himself. Daisy approached, a grim expression on her face.

"That looks rough. Let me help. I'm a doctor."

He looked at her with disbelief. "Really? Thank Celestia. I've always struggled with this sort of thing."

She set her saddlebags down and went to work. She sewed the bullet hole shut, bandaged it, then pulled out a bottle of pain killers. "Take a few of these. They should ease the pain."

Quilliam smirked at her. "You may be suited for Wasteland life after all, Daisy. I'll take first watch. You get some rest."

She walked away, then turned and looked at him. "I'm a bit confused. You kill all of those ponies so easily, yet you seem kind. Why?"

Quilliam chuckled, then looked at her with a large smirk on his face. "Well, there are two reasons. One, I'm Discord's son. I'm a bit nuts. Two, I'm a nice stallion...as long as there is no profit in killing you."

Daisy looked at him with suspicion for a moment, then laid down on a patch of grass and immediately fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~Quilliam~~

Quilliam smiled as he looked down at her sleeping form. He lit a smoke and looked around cautiously. He noticed some movement, but it was just a dog, cowering from the monster standing before him.

I'll let her rest. She deserves it. I can imagine how stressful it must be, leaving the only home you've ever known only to find a living hell. It's a lucky break that the pony I took under my tutelage is a doctor. Perhaps we'll both learn a thing or two from each other.