Fallout Equestria: Redemption

by Cooperdawg

Rating: mature
Tags: Adventure, Crossover, Dark, Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 309605

Ever is an Earth Pony mare, struggling to survive in the harsh post-apocalyptic wasteland as the head of a raider gang when unforseen events make her life take a turn for the worse, ejecting her from her familiar life and into the harsh wasteland.

As the boss of a raider gang, Ever, as she is known by the rest of her gang, has not had a simple life. She has spent almost every day maneuvering simply to get ahead and stay there, working towards nothing more than her own survival, and doing everything and anything to obtain it. On the fateful day when one of her underlings arrives late, and with some mysterious loot, Ever's entire outlook on life is shaken to its core. Forced to face emotions she had thought buried, she must juggle managing her gang with unraveling this new mystery.
But all is not as simple as it appears as unforeseen events force Ever out of her familiar life and casts her out into the harsh and unforgiving Equestrian wasteland with barely more than her own hide. Flung out on her own, Ever must now face the demons of her past while trying to secure her place in the future.

If anyone prefers to read the story through a Google doc instead, I've set up a Hub page here. (I apologize for using my time to do this instead of working on the next chapter, but sometimes you just need a break.) There are some extra goodies on that page that will not be posted here, so feel free to check it out!

(Chapter 15 is up! Work on 16 will be beginning soon. Apologies for the delays in updating both the story and this description. Life has been keeping me busy.)

Published 2013-01-18 05:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2014-07-08 18:46:04 UTC

Chapter Two: Denial

Fallout Equestria: Redemption
By: Cooperdawg
Chapter 2: Denial
“Just because you say you got better doesn’t mean it’s true.”

oooOOOooo

“Evergreen, wake up! You know today is the day we have to move on!” a familiar voice called. It was a soft voice that made me feel warm and, despite the world I knew lay just outside, safe. The only word that came to my mind to describe it was Momma. My eyes cracked open, and I saw her standing in the doorway, red mane flowing over her pale cream shoulder and framing her face, drawing my gaze to her eyes which were lit with the joy of still having something good in this harsh world. Her mouth was curled into a knowing smile. We had played this game every time we had to leave.

I squeezed my eyes shut, starting to snore extravagantly. “Can’t. Hear. You,” I said between snores, “Sleeping.”

She chuckled, the sound echoing through the room like spring bells gently waking me from a winter’s hibernation, filling my small heart with the warmth of knowing that this mare loved me above anypony else in the entire world. I heard hoofsteps on the old wooden floor approach my makeshift bed, followed by her warm breath on my ear. “Now, Evergreen, you know what I’ve told you happens to little fillies that sleep too late, right?”

“Nope,” I answered, still snoring. I cracked one eye slightly, waiting for what new invention she would come up with this time to try to frighten me.

“Of course I’ve told you of the Headless Horse. I must have warned you a thousand times!” she said sternly, not quite able to hide the mirth in her voice.

“Never,” I stated adamantly. This one was truly new. Most of the others were variations of the same stories, but always with different twists.

“Well, he comes to little fillies, in their dreams, while they’re sleeping when they should be up and awake and playing in Celestia’s sun. The story goes that he wanders through their dreams, always searching for the pony responsible for him losing his head. If he comes, he will stay until he is sure that the filly doesn’t know who did it, and only then will he move on, but not before cursing the little filly to a whole lifetime of nightmares, in case she should ever find out who ’dun it,” she told me, the words sending shivers down my spine even as a smile spread across my face.

“Momma, you mean who did it!” I laughed, not even pretending to be asleep, “And he couldn’t get me! Not with Daddy and you watching over me!”

“Of course, my little Evergreen, and we will watch over you until you decide to go your own way, whenever that may be,” she answered, “Now come. Get up; we have a long way to go today if we want to make it to Grovedale before nightfall.”

“Okay, Momma,” I sighed, still smiling as I crept to my hooves, my green and brown mane a mess about my face.

Everything blurred and I was standing just inside the gate of Grovedale while a rugged buck in dark barding questioned my parents. I wasn’t even paying attention. Instead, I was wandering around the little space that we were allowed in while my Daddy spoke with the other important pony, chasing the lengthening afternoon shadows.

“I’m sorry, sir, we’re just full up. There’s no more space to live. Had you come here even a month ago I could have given you a shack, but as it is…” he trailed off, looking over his shoulder to the slowly gathering crowd. Newcomers weren’t common here, Daddy had told me, so I had to be on my best behavior, so I was doing my best not to touch anything, except for that shiny rock over there, oh, and that little piece of metal over there. Surely no one would miss that.

“Please, we have a filly!” Momma said, her voice pleading, “We have nowhere else to go. She won’t survive the wasteland, not with the number of gangs increasing.”

The sadness in her voice drew me to her side. I could never stand seeing Momma sad. It seemed to make the sky darker, and the rain fall even harder, as if the entire world became sad with her, and I didn’t like that. “Momma, don’t be sad! Look what I brought you!” I said, holding up the shiny piece of metal I had picked up.

She looked down at me, smiling warmly with her mouth, but it wasn’t reaching her eyes. There, I could see only pain. “Thank you, Evergreen. It’s wonderful.” She took the piece of metal and placed it in one of her saddlebags. The act put a smile back on my face and I wandered away again, but within earshot, as my Daddy always told me!

“How can you deny her a chance at life?” Daddy demanded, “Isn’t that what ponies are supposed to do? Care about each other? Share their homes with a friend in need?”

“But there’s the problem,” the other important pony said, “You ain’t a friend of anypony here. You’re a stranger, and strangers mean trouble. I’m sorry, but you can’t stay. Even the inn is full.”

My father snorted, an ugly sound he only made when he was either very frightened, or angry at me. I turned my head in alarm and looked at him.

“Fine, but know that if the worst should happen, the blood of an innocent filly is on your hooves!” he snapped, then turned to where I was standing, “Come on, Evergreen, we need to go!”

He sounded angry, so I listened as quickly as I could, racing over to his side. I hoped he wasn’t angry with me. “I’m sorry, Daddy! I was trying to be good!” I begged as I arrived, skidding to a stop in front of him.

“You were just fine, my dear. I’m not angry with you. Let’s go.”

We stepped outside the gate and made it no more than fifty steps when I heard something that sounded like thunder, except it wasn’t raining, and Daddy fell down, a trickle of red coming from a hole that had appeared in his chest.

I was instantly at his side, trying to help him up as he gasped for breath, but my filly’s mind didn’t realize that he was already too far gone to save. He turned weakly to face me as Momma ran up to his other side, cradling his head in her hooves, muttering ‘no’ under her breath repeatedly. I thought I heard the shout of ‘raiders’ come from the town we had just left.

“Get back to the town, Evergreen. They’ll keep you safe,” Daddy rasped over the sound of thundering hooves, coming both from behind and in front of us. Several ponies from the town surrounded us, guarding us with their bodies as more thunder echoed across the wasteland.

“No, I wanna help!” I shouted back, fighting against my fear of the sounds, “Come on! Get up!” I tugged at him, so much larger and heavier than me that I may as well have been trying to pry open a Stable door.

He reached up weakly with a hoof and placed it on my head, drawing me close. “I know you want to help,” he whispered with all the strength he had left, “Just remember that…” Another thunderclap tore through the wasteland and I looked up just in time to see a spray of red spread across my vision, spattering me and making everything go black.

oooOOOooo

I woke with a start, soaked in sweat. A moment later and I was trembling as I relived the memory again, as vividly as if it had just happened yesterday. I could feel the spray of blood on my face as a raider sniper blew my mother’s head apart mere inches away from my own. I felt the last breath escape my father’s broken body as the town guard’s dragged me away from his corpse. Another moment and I was sobbing for the first time in years, albeit quietly. That had been the first thing I had practiced not long after that event. No one liked an overly emotional filly, no matter the horrors she had experienced.

Emotions I had long thought dead flowed through me. How long had it been since I had felt grief and loss? How long had it been since I had actually been sad over the death of anypony? What terrified me was that I couldn’t remember the last time I had wept with grief.

That dream had come back to me for some reason, for the first time in years. As I lay trembling, the tears streaming from my eyes, I tried to figure out why. The last time I had had the dream was just after I had killed that Stable pony, and it had rendered me helpless, without motivation to do anything but wallow in misery. Another thought struck me a moment later, like a bucket of ice water to the face. I had just lost everything I had worked for in the last three years, and that dream had been the first time I had lost it all.

But something had been different this time. Something was missing that I couldn’t clearly remember from the other dreams, or even from the memory itself, as much as it was etched into my mind. Those last words my father had spoken to me, the last words he had ever spoken, would not be called to mind. They stood at the edge of my thoughts, tempting me with something I had forgotten, something vital about myself, but no matter how hard I tried, and no matter how much I forced myself to relive that memory, those words would not be summoned.

The effort of trying to remember left me feeling hollow and violated, is if some part of who I was had been torn away from me, leaving a gaping wound in its wake. I was shocked even farther when I realized that I had felt this way for a long time. But there were no more tears left to shed, and with no other way to release my grief, I struggled to my hooves and wandered away from our camp, out of the burnt-out home that we had used as cover for the night. As I crested the hill nearby, the sky was just beginning to lighten as the sun rose behind the cloud cover. What I would have given just to see the sun rise. I’m sure everything would be just fine if I could just see that orb of light crawl its way across the sky, spreading its warmth to all who lived in this dark and dreary existence.

Instead, I simply sat in silence, watching as the gloomy dawn chased away the shadows. Unconsciously, I reached for my journal, feeling the need to add to the cryptic words I had written just two days ago, when everything had still been normal, before I had been cast back out into the wasteland.

My spirits sank even farther when I couldn’t find it. I hadn’t had time to grab it during the fighting, so it was still sitting on my desk in the RV, that is, if nopony had grabbed it since we left. Somehow, its loss seemed symbolic, reminding me of how little I remembered about myself. That booked contained everything from my life, starting from the day it had been given to me by my mother a mere two weeks before the event. I hadn’t read some of those pages from my past in years. The gloom of the sky did little to chase away my grief.

Before long, I felt somepony come up beside me. I glanced to my right and saw Crosswire staring out to the eastern horizon I had been so intently watching, completely oblivious to my inner turmoil.

“We headed that way?” he asked gruffly. For him, life was simple. I was in charge, and so I decided where we went and what we did. He wouldn’t argue, because he had chosen his life to be led like that. I envied him the simplicity.

“Maybe in a while,” I answered, “Our goal is still more to the north. I want to make for Grovedale. I might get lucky and they’ll remember me from before… everything.”

Crosswire noticed my hesitation and shot me a glance. “That so? Well, I could certainly use some more civilized company. Raiders are all well and good, but they don’t know shit about keeping an engine running or fixing an energy weapon, or barely even how to fix a regular gun, now that I think about it!” he laughed. That was typical Crosswire. He was a raider in everything but intelligence, though I had never gotten him to explain why he was so much smarter than the average thug.

I chuckled along with him. “It would be nice to be able to have a normal conversation. And to not have to hide anything anymore,” I answered with a glance to my barding. My cutie mark was still covered, and my utility suit was coated in more dried blood than I cared to see from the fight the day before.

“Eeyup,” the buck agreed. He remained silent for a few moments longer, still watching the horizon, then turned back to the house, “We should probably pack up and head out. Wouldn’t be surprised if another gang already has us targeted us as a potential mark.”

“What would they take?” I scoffed as I followed him back, “The best thing we’ve got is a few meager supplies and my revolver. Not to be mean, but your submachine gun is barely holding together as it is!”

He floated the old weapon up to his face for a close inspection. “True enough, but I’m not the one you need to convince, Ever,” he said, “It’s them, if they’re there. You know how it works: any traveler is a mark.”

I couldn’t think of a response as I packed up my belongings. It didn’t take long, as there wasn’t much to take. The last thing I shoved into a pocket was that bizarre crystal. I had been up most of the night staring at it, trying to figure out what exactly it was. My Pipbuck was useful in naming and valuing things, but it tended to be very vague when it came to some things. Pick up a surviving book from before the war, for example, and it would simply call it a “Pre-war book”, not “Starswirl the Bearded’s Treatise on Magic” or “101 ways to prepare Apples”. Sometimes, that was simply infuriating.

“I’m surprised you kept that thing,” Crosswire stated as we departed, making our way out of the foothills and into the plains that had once supported the city of Seaddle. “I remember you calling it useless, and you aren’t known for hanging on to something just because you think it looks pretty.”

So unlike what I was like as a filly, I thought, still hung up on my dream. I hesitated in answering his question, not knowing how much I wanted to reveal. I really had no reason to lie, but in a raider gang, you never gave away too much information, or you’d be betrayed in a heartbeat. Old habits died hard, I guess.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, fine. You do what you do for your own reasons. It’s not any of my business,” he said after a small silence, retreating back into his shell and returning back to his role as a lackey in a raider gang.

“No, you’re right,” I argued as we skirted a small pool of standing water that made my Pipbuck start to click at me, reacting to the radiation lingering in the water. “I kept it because it is much more valuable than Crackshot thought it was. Problem is that it’s probably only valuable to a few certain ponies, and I’m pretty sure most won’t do nice things with it.”

“And since when does being nice mean anything to us, boss?” Crosswire asked, snorting in disdain, “We’re fucking raiders, the damned definition of bad. Selling that thing to the highest bidder is almost required, barring we don’t kill the bastard for his caps first.”

“It’s mattered ever since we got kicked out of the camp,” I snapped, “Face it, Crosswire, we’re not raiders anymore. We don’t have a gang, we barely have any supplies, and the one pony who had the skills to keep us on our hooves ran off simply ‘cause I’m not a nice pony!”

My comment stopped Crosswire dead in his tracks, forcing me to come up short so as to not leave him behind. “Fuck, I never thought of it that way,” he grumbled, spitting into the dust, “Everything I’ve known is gone, isn’t it? The lifestyle, the supplies, even the odd pieces of machinery the search parties would bring back. We really aren’t anything anymore, are we, Evergreen?”

It was the first time he had called me by my full name without mocking me. Instead, his voice was fearful. I guess I wasn’t the only one who feared the unknown. “Naw, we’re something alright,” I answered, “We’re wastelanders know.”

“Fuck. I hate wastelanders.”

We kept walking, making our way between the low rises that couldn’t be considered hills when compared to even the smallest of the hillocks from the foothills of the mountains. Even though we could easily see over the top of those rises, we didn’t walk over them. In the mountains, going higher than was necessary often got you noticed by rival gangs. Even as a wastelander, it was a wise strategy to stick to.

We journeyed in silence, each lost in our own thoughts as we struggled to come to grips with our new reality. The hardest concept for me to grasp was that I was no longer the predator. I was now the prey, and I was struggling to shift my thinking into that form. I was still watching the horizon around us for targets, not for threats. I still thought that I had an entire gang of seasoned, not to mention brutal, fighters behind me.

After a few hours of this silent slogging, with nothing more exciting crossing our path but a few radhogs that quickly learned it was smarter to leave us alone, the walls of Grovedale became visible in the distance. Some ponies forgot how truly empty the wasteland could be, and the section we happened to be traveling through didn’t have a whole lot of appeal for travelers, not like the regions to the east and west, where the wildlife still existed in some semblance of normalcy and there were still remains of civilization.

After spotting it, the town quickly grew larger until its walls were looming above us and the guard ponies were staring down at us with hard eyes, weapons pointed not directly at us, but definitely in our general direction. I returned their hard stares with one of my own. I wasn’t given to acting helpless, even if there was nothing I could do to survive should they choose to open fire.

“Stop right there, or we will fire!” One of the guards demanded. It was a unicorn mare floating a simple bolt-action rifle in front of her. It looked like it could be in much better condition. The town’s guards had fallen into disrepair; I still remembered a time when all of their weapons were well-maintained and they held careful watches. Now, everything down to their barding was haggard, and it looked like this particular mare had been awake for far too long, and tired ponies had unstable trigger-reflexes.

As demanded, I stopped dead, eyes trained on the mare who had spoken. “Who are you and what do you want in Grovedale? And why in Celestia’s name are you covered in blood?” she asked harshly, swinging the rifle slightly closer to us.

I carefully weighed my options before answering. Give too much away and the guard would probably shoot me out of principle, but if I revealed too little, they probably wouldn’t believe me. “We were attacked yesterday, while we were in the mountains,” I explained, gesturing to the bulge in my barding that covered my bandaged side, “We came down here for medical help, as well as supplies. Damn raiders took almost everything we had. We barely escaped with our hides intact.”

The guard narrowed her eyes at me, as though she didn’t quite believe me. I could almost hear the trigger of the rifle squeezing. I hadn’t lied, not really. We had been attacked, and they had taken everything from me, and I did need help. I just hadn’t told them the whole truth. “You didn’t tell me who you were,” she snapped, bringing the rifle around so it was pointing right at me.

“I’m Evergreen,” I said, hoping the mare would either not know my name (I didn’t recognize her and had spent some time in Grovedale growing up after… the event), or that she would recognize it for who I was before I had left. “My friend is Crosswire.”

“Evergreen?! Ya’ll have got to be fucking kiddin’ me!” A buck exclaimed from behind the wall. A moment later, a very familiar face appeared on the wall beside the mare with the rifle. It was Just Law, the mayor of the town, and he was not happy. “Ah told ya to leave and ne’er come back, ya murdering bitch! Ah should have Lighteye here shoot ya fer daring to come this close again!”

“I know, Just Law,” I answered carefully, “and I wouldn’t have come here had I had any other choice. Believe it or not, I wasn’t lying. We were attacked in the mountains, and we are almost out of supplies. By tonight, we’ll be completely out of clean water, and by tomorrow, we won’t have any food. We have absolutely no medical supplies at all, and I have a gunshot wound in my side. If you don’t help us, we’ll die out here.”

He snorted at me. “Yer not telling the whole truth, are ya, Evergreen? How ‘bout ya tell Lighteye who ya really are. Then we’ll see how she reacts to ya’ll coming back here to our town. I can see ya were attacked, but it weren’t by surprise, I reckon.”

I knew that getting angry at the buck wouldn’t help us, and we really needed those supplies, by my rage often got the better of me. This was one of those times. “Fine, you want to know the truth, Just Law, here it is. I was a goddamn raider till one of my best shots betrayed me yesterday. Killed more than half of my gang ‘cause they were dumb enough to stay loyal to me, then tried to catch me alive to keep as some trophy. Fucker should have been smarter than that, since he probably bled out after I almost shot his leg off. Now I’m just a wounded pony dragging myself through the wasteland hoping that others will be kind enough to help me. I’ll tell you right now, Just Law: if you deny us, we are dead. There’s no other way to cut it. Are you ready to be a murderer?”

As soon as the words were out I knew I had made a mistake. The hardening of his face was an instant clue that I probably wouldn’t survive the week. And I had just been thinking that there was a chance at a better life for me.

“Killing a raider ain’t murder, Evergreen. Weren’t ya the one that told me that all them years ago?” Just Law drawled, “Now should Ah have Lighteye see ya out or can ya do it yerself? Out of respect fer yer folks, may they be happy in the Beyond, Ah ain’t gonna order yer death, but if ya stick around, Ah won’t hesitate to have ya shot.”

“We’re leaving,” I snapped, “I’m not going to go out that way. I’ll probably be dead by the end of the week, but I won’t die here with a bullet through my head.”

As Crosswire and I turned to leave the town behind, I heard Just Law call after me. “Yer folks would be mighty disappointed to see what ya’ve become, Evergreen. Ah’m glad they didn’t live to long enough to see yer fall.”

I was barely able to keep myself from turning, pulling out my gun, and putting a bullet square between his eyes. If only my accuracy was that good from this range. If only my Pipbuck were working properly. I had heard about some of the functions that the thing was supposed to have, like a spell that stopped time and let a pony line up the perfect shot. Celestia be damned, but I could think of a lot of uses for a spell like that one.

Gritting my teeth, I continued to walk. I wasn’t going to let a comment that I knew was meant to piss me off jeopardize my chance at life. If we were lucky, we would be able to salvage enough supplies to survive until we found a settlement that would trade with us. It wasn’t possible that my reputation could sweep across the entire Seaddle region. Other ponies may know of me, but there simply wasn’t any way that they could know me.

I felt the guard ponies watching our every step as the town slowly grew smaller behind us. Celestia only knew how long it would be until I could step a hoof back into that town again. It certainly didn’t feel like they’d let me in anytime soon, regardless of the fact that I had basically been raised there.

My head was hanging low when we finally stopped to discuss our next move. The walls of Grovedale had just slipped out of sight over the horizon, but the weight of them looming over me was still hanging heavy on my heart. Crosswire was giving me an odd look as we sat and finished off the last of our clean water.

“You’ve been acting very different,” he offered after shaking out the last few precious drops from his canteen. It was one of the very few times I had heard him take an interest in somepony other than himself. “Not at all like you used to back in camp. You feeling all right, boss?”

I looked over at him, certain that the depression I was feeling was evidently clear on my face. From his stunned expression, I guessed I was right. “I’m just realizing everything I could have done differently,” I said. It wasn’t that I had changed. Given half a reason to, I would still blow the head off of any pony who messed with me, but the wasteland, especially the experience at Grovedale, were forcing me to relive memories and remember some choices that had been extremely painful. Chances were that by this time tomorrow, I would be back to being the same old Evergreen that Crosswire was used to. “I’ll be fine, the last couple days have just been a shock.”

He nodded, though whether out of pity or sympathy, I couldn’t tell, but then his face hardened and he seemed to retreat back into himself. “Well, that’s your business. Where we headed next?” That was odd. He had just shown himself to be concerned, then locked up as though he hadn’t realized what he had been saying.

Well, that would be a mystery for another time. Right now, my priority was survival. “We need supplies, and I mean more than just food and water. Medical supplies would be incredibly useful, both for ourselves and for trade, and I could definitely use a healing potion. We could both use some extra guns, or at least some spare parts for the ones we have,” I said.

“Makes sense. Any idea where we can find any of that? I’m not too familiar with this part of the wasteland. Spent most of my childhood to the south, near Mt. Hoof. This is the farthest north I’ve ever been,” he said.

I nodded thoughtfully, reaching back in my mind for anything that could give us a lead on some supplies. An idea slowly came to me. “If nopony has gotten to it yet, there should still be an Ironshod Firearms factory around here that hasn’t been thoroughly salvaged. At least, it hadn’t been the last time I was near there. Places like that usually have a cafeteria and an infirmary, so we’d be able to pick up some food and medical supplies, as well as have access to some fairly good quality firearms.”

“What about a caravan?” he countered, “Hit the right one and we’ll get everything we need, without needing to risk our hides against unknown dangers. With the caravans, at least, we know what we’re facing.”

He had a fair point, and had he offered that idea a week ago, I would have agreed without hesitation. But today, I wasn’t so sure. The more we travelled, the more I suspected we would come to rely on those caravans for trade ourselves. Taking one out to loot was a short term solution, and we could no longer afford to think short term. “Only if it becomes absolutely necessary,” I answered, “There’s only the two of us now, and most caravans have at least that many guards. The plains down here make it incredibly difficult to hit them without them seeing us coming from a mile away, so an ambush won’t really work. A surprise attack from up close could be effective, but there would simply be too many unknowns to be worth it.”

A shadow of disappointment passed over Crosswire’s face. “Guess that makes sense,” he grumbled, “Fuck, from successful raider to bottom-sucking salvager in ten seconds flat. I hate the fucking wasteland.”

“At least you’re still alive. It’s more than most ex-raiders can say,” I said with a grin, “Now come on. If I remember correctly, the factory is in this direction.” I returned my canteen to my saddlebags and started trotting in a northwesterly direction. Crosswire grumbled some more, but fell into step behind me. This transition was probably just as hard on the tough buck as it was on me; he was just better at hiding it.

In the end, I had misjudged the direction by enough to get us to wander aimlessly around the wasteland for a few hours as I tried to reorient myself, cursing my Pipbuck the entire time. The map may work, but it only showed extremely basic information, like a notation for downtown Seaddle, or one for Grovedale, which had existed in some form at the same location before the war, but nothing else would come up, not even the major new centers of civilization, like Metro.

By the time we finally found the old factory, night had fallen, bringing with it the kind of rain that falls just hard enough to be annoying, but light enough that our visibility wasn’t too badly hampered. The building towered over us, rising a full five stories above the rest of the wasteland. The windows, all six of them that we could see, had been blasted out and the walls were coated in two hundred years’ worth of grime and dirt.

“Let’s not waste any time,” I announced as a trotted up to the main entrance and kicked open the door, instantly setting off an alarm that resonated through my entire body and was probably loud enough to be heard all the way across the ocean in Canterlot. My previously empty E.F.S. began to light up with red bars as the alarm swept through the facility, activating the security systems that had probably been dormant since the bombs fell.

“Fuck! Get those damn alarms shut off, Crosswire,” I shouted as I pulled out Hammer. The grey unicorn dashed through the door to the reception desk that sat in the center of the entrance room. Once there, he started working on the terminal, typing furiously while he searched for the password to access the system.

“Make sure nothing interrupts me!” he shouted back, then focused entirely on the screen in front of him.

I walked up beside him, looking from corner to corner, trying to locate every red bar that I could. There must have been at least three dozen of them, but I honestly had no idea where they were. This was the kind of situation I hated. They could be on any one of five different floors, rather than clustered right outside the room I was in, and there was no way to be sure of where they were.

While I searched for targets, I got a good look at the reception area. It was mostly bare, with just the main desk in the center and a few chairs strewn about whose purpose I couldn’t discern. Why would a weapons factory have a waiting room, anyway?

Luckily, there were only two directions I had to watch: a large set of double doors directly across from the main entrance, and a small side door that probably led to some back offices. “How long is that going to take, Crosswire? I’d rather not be stuck in here when the welcoming party arrives!” I demanded, eyes flitting from door to door. Some of the red bars were starting to move, shifting about my vision at odd intervals as they navigated through the depths of the building towards us.

“It’ll take as long as it takes, and asking me isn’t going to speed it up!” he shot back angrily, “Now just watch the damn doors!”

I obediently ignored him, instead focusing on the large double doors. If anything was going to attack us, it was going to come from there. I was absolutely sure of that, so, of course, I was wrong.

The side door swung open and I heard a monotonous tin voice come from that direction. “Zebra attack confirmed. Lethal force authorized.”

I turned to face the attacker as a thin red light streaked past me, filling the air around me with the smell of ozone. The protect-a-pony rolled into the room, firing its laser in every direction. It must have been deactivated for so long that some of its hardware was starting to break down.

I brought Hammer up, took a half second to line up the shot, and pulled the trigger. The bullet flew exactly where I wanted, striking the robot square in the glowing visor where a normal pony’s eyes would be. The visor shattered and the mechanical voice slowed to a stop. The robot sat silently, seemingly dead. I fired another round into the visor, just to be sure. You never knew when these robots were well and truly dead.

“I’m in!” Crosswire announced, “Now just to access the security system...” He fell silent again and returned to his work, his face glowing green with the light from the terminal.

The alarm continued to sound and I slid over to him and nudged his flank. “Anytime now, Crosswire,” I grumbled, “Any longer, and this room is going to be a damn party for those buckets of bolts.”

A moment later, with a loud thudding, the alarms fell silent. The sudden silence was overwhelming. I could hear every little creak in the old structure, and a lot more grinding of gears than I was comfortable with, not to mention the heavy beating of my heart. The army of protect-a-ponies was still coming. “Thanks for getting rid of the sound, now can you shut those damn things off!”

“That wasn’t me,” Crosswire stated with a strained voice, “The speakers blew out. Two hundred years without maintenance. I’m surprised they lasted as long as they did. But this fucking terminal doesn’t connect to the security mainframe. It’s just admin crap. There’s still a silent alarm going through the building’s systems that’s keeping the protect-a-ponies active. So we either need to get to the mainframe to shut them down, or destroy them all.” He looked up to face me, concern written into his features. He wasn’t sure we could pull this off.

I agreed with him, but we didn’t have much of a choice. “Can you pull up a floor plan? Getting to the mainframe sounds easier than destroying three dozen robots trying to vaporize us.”

“Uh, I’ll see what I can pull up,” he said, turning back to the terminal. A few moments later, as the grinding of centuries-old protect-a-ponies steadily grew in volume, he stepped back from the terminal. “Got it. I know where to go.”

“Good. I’ll draw them off. Get there and shut them down! I know nothing about these computers; that’s your specialty. What floor is it on?” I asked, quickly sliding a couple of bullets into the used chambers of Hammer.

“Third floor, northwest corner. I’ll wait for you there. You sure you can handle this?” he asked, giving me a concerned look. His life was in my hooves after all.

I couldn’t help but to laugh. “I’m Evergreen, feared boss of the most badass raider gang in Seaddle, if not the whole damn wasteland! Only reason I lost yesterday was cause sompony who shouldn’t have gotten involved in the fight jumped me! I got this!” I wouldn’t tell him how hard my heart was hammering in my chest. I was absolutely terrified of what we faced. Two robots I could handle, even six wouldn’t be that tough, but anything over than that, and I seriously doubted how long I could keep them busy.

“All right. If you’re sure,” Crosswire said, obviously not convinced, as he checked his submachine gun.

“We’ll be fine. I’ll run in first and draw them off to the southeast corner, on either this floor or the next one up. I’ll try to find some place to hole up until you can shut them down,” I said, “Give me thirty seconds, then get up there.”

Crosswire nodded and racked the bolt of his weapon, chambering a round. “Let’s do it, then.

I grinned and marched up to the double doors. This was either going to work perfectly, or it was going to hurt a lot. I was praying for the former. I took a moment to breathe, gathering in my fear and focusing it, using it to keep myself alert and ready. Only a foolish pony completely disregarded fear. It existed to help us survive, and so I would use it for that purpose.

With one solid kick, the doors swung open, revealing a factory floor that had not survived the last two centuries well. With my first glance, I noticed several of the catwalks had broken free and were dangling from the ceiling on their cables, and debris littered the floor. More pressing, however, were the half dozen protect-a-ponies converging on us.

I leapt forward, firing Hammer as I went. The powerful rounds from the revolver shattered the robot’s armor wherever it struck, leaving my targets lying in a dead, sparking heap. Unfortunately, it only held six rounds. By the time I got past them, only two were destroyed, and I was down to a single round.

One of the robots rolled up behind me while I searched for a way out, and I felt a lance of heat on my rump, quickly followed by a searing pain. I swore and twisted, bringing Hammer to bear. I sent the last round into the offending robot’s visor, cutting off some vital systems and killing it. Now I was stuck in a room with an empty gun and three hostile pony-shaped robots.

I spun around in confusion, dodging the lances of energy coming from the protect-a-ponies, searching for a way out. I finally found it against the far wall. A narrow staircase led up from the factory floor to a piece of intact catwalk that might let me onto the second floor. I dashed towards it, bucking one of the robots aside as I went. My strike didn’t take it out, but I did succeed in knocking it over, and since the things were on wheels, it should be out of the fight for good.

The stairs creaked loudly under me as I ascended, making me think that they could break away at any second and send me tumbling back down to the factory floor. A fall from this height wouldn’t be fatal, but it would definitely hurt, and would probably give the damn robots enough time to finish me off. I paused as I reached the landing, but none of the robots looked to be up here with me, yet. I turned to look back down, thinking that the stairs would prevent them from following me.

To my surprise, one of the protect-a-ponies still on its hooves (wheels?) approached the base of the staircase, and its base shifted on some unseen system to let it roll up the staircase. Even worse, the robot I had knocked over had some sort of levitation talisman in it that lifted it up and set it back on its wheels, where it promptly whirled around and started shooting at me.

“Oh that simply isn’t fair!” I shouted. Damn things even couldn’t stay out of the fight when they were supposed to. I quickly reloaded Hammer, and realized that that pile of ammo that had seemed so large when I had first picked it up was dwindling down to almost nothing amazingly quickly. I had maybe four reloads left, then I would be back to using my .45. I was not looking forward to that prospect.

Once my weapon was reloaded, and the first robot was just reaching the landing, I turned and ran along the catwalk that thankfully led to a door to the second floor. I paused at the door, remembering the few grenades that were still in my saddlebags. I spat Hammer into its holster and pulled out a grenade with a blue band around the center. Spark grenades would make short work of these things. I pulled the stem and tossed it towards the staircase I had come up.

It detonated a moment later in a shower of sparks and lightning, frying every single component of the protect-a-ponies, which caused the one on the landing to topple over and the other two on the stairs to fall back down to the main floor. Three kills with one grenade; I could do much worse than that.

And I would need to. As I kicked the door to the second floor open, I was faced with eight more of the tenacious robots. “You have got to be kidding me!” I shouted as I pulled out Hammer again. My first two shots went into the visor of the robot closest to me, knocking it out of commission. I used its sparking hulk as a platform, jumping off of its back to leap over the other seven. Two more rounds and a second protect-a-pony was knocked out, a pair of holes through its torso. I kept the last two rounds in reserve as I ran into a room full of cubicles.

The six robots followed after me, all shouting some form of ‘Stop, zebra scum!’, firing their lasers after me, and mostly missing. The few that hit me hurt terribly, but to stop was to die, so I kept running, hoping that the mad dash hadn’t turned me around and that I was leading them away from the corner of the building where the security mainframe was.

I turned a corner and nearly ran into four more protect-a-ponies, all of which were facing in my direction. Without thinking, I fired my last two rounds, but managed to only hit with one, and even then, it was a glancing blow that did little damage. I swore and tried to backpedal, but the sound of the six robots following me quickly gave me an argument against that. My only saving grace was a door that leapt out at me from the corner of my eye. I leapt towards it, not caring if it led to a bottomless pit. That would be a better end then to be vaporized by a few robots that couldn’t tell a pony from a zebra.

The door opened back into the factory floor, but on a different catwalk than the one I had used before. I followed the path I was on, mostly because I didn’t have any other choice, running for my life from the grinding of gears following me. Halfway across, I came across one of the sections that had collapsed, leaving a ten foot gap between where I was and where the catwalk continued. I didn’t have time to hesitate, so I simply leapt out into the void, praying to Celestia that I was in good enough shape to make the jump.

I landed heavily on my chest, rear legs dangling over the factory floor, fifteen feet below me. I scrambled up onto the catwalk and started running again, just as laser beams started to fly around me. I dodged around as well as I could, before finally making it through a door back into the offices, where I collided with a solid wall of metal.

Hammer flew from my mouth and out of sight. I didn’t even see what direction it had gone in. I was too busy shaking the stars from my sight and trying to identify what I had run into. Shockingly, the mass of metal moved, shifting around to stare at me with an angry red visor. I realized I was in a lot of trouble as I finally saw the red bar in my vision that pointed to this behemoth.

“Prepare to be incinerated!” it announced, bringing up an arm that ended in a nozzle with a flame flickering before it.

An angry red glow came to life from the inside of the nozzle, but I wasn’t about to wait to see what came out. I rolled to the side as a sheet of flame shot past me, pulling the air from my lungs in the back blast. I used the seconds I had bought to pull out my .45 and level it at the thing’s head.

I pulled the trigger and groaned as the robot’s thick armor deflected the round. It slowly turned to face me again, but I started moving, running back into the offices to get away. “Anytime now, Crosswire!” I shouted out, using what little breath I had managed to recover.

Before long, I had run out of office space to run through and was working my way back to the giant behemoth that had nearly cooked me. I slowed to a walk to consider my options. Nowhere on this floor had I seen a maintenance closet or even a bathroom to lock myself inside, so it looked like my only option was to climb up to the third floor, where Crosswire hopefully was. At least, I hadn’t seen any fresh grey corpses during my run.

I carefully retraced my steps, looking for the small offshoot that should lead to a stairwell. As my luck would have it, five of the protect-a-ponies were just rounding corner into the same part of the office as I walked in.

“Halt, zebra scum! Surrender and be vaporized!” they announced as one, and then the lasers started to fly. I dove behind an old desk, praying that it would withstand the barrage while I worked out a way to save my hide.

I brought up my inventory on my Pipbuck, scrolling madly through the list and searching for something to use. I still had a few grenades, but the robots were entirely on the other end of the room. I didn’t think I could throw a grenade that far. The problem was that nothing else in my inventory could help me.

The barrage against the desk intensified, and I could feel the wood against my back begin to heat up as it was repeatedly struck with the lasers. If I didn’t act soon, it wouldn’t matter what I had stored in my bags. In a moment of desperation, an idea came to me. I pulled a spark grenade from my saddlebags and took a small step away from the desk, peeking my head up to see exactly where the robots were.

Location figured out, I pulled the stem from the grenade, tossed it into the air, twisted around, and bucked. I struck the grenade solidly with my back left hoof, sending it flying across the room to land amidst the gathered protect-a-ponies, where it detonated a moment later. All five robots fell to the ground, disabled.

I walked out into the open, grinning like a foal on a day off of school. It took the sound of four more protect-a-ponies approaching to get me to remember that I was supposed to be running for my life. Under the high-pitched whine of their two-century old gears, I could hear the low rumbling of that behemoth of a robot following after me as well. That wasn’t something that I wanted to face again anytime soon.

I dashed down the short hallway away from the factory floor and up the stairwell, this time actually checking my E.F.S. before I ran out into the open. For all I knew, there was one of those giant robots on every floor, but all I could see where a mass of red bars in front of me, with one blue on mixed in. Being on the edge of the building sucked, but I least I knew Crosswire was still alive, probably.

The office space on this floor appeared as I peeked out of the hallway and searched for anything that might be trying to shoot me. My luck seemed to be turning: the room was empty. I stepped out a bit more confidently, swinging my head from side to side to check the corners of the room, but it remained clear. I grinned and trotted to the hall on my right, which should be towards the southeast.

Still nothing had attacked me by the time I reached the corner, and I started to get worried. It was too quiet. Well, since my entire job in this plan was to make as much noise as possible, I started trotting towards the northwest corner, making sure to kick every random piece of junk that was in my way, and generally make as much noise as possible. I would have been singing as well if it weren’t for the pistol in my mouth.

Finding the security center was easy, given that half a dozen protect-a-ponies were clustered outside of a door trying to break in. My guess, which was confirmed by my E.F.S., was that Crosswire was on the other side of that door, holding it shut with all of his might.

“Hey, boltheads, I’m over here!” I shouted around the pistol. When the first one turned to look at me, I fired. Unlike the armor from the massive robot downstairs, the protect-a-ponies’ couldn’t withstand the impact of a .45 round. My first shot hit the one that had turned to me square in the chest, but it barely seemed to have an effect as it brought its energy weapons to bear.

I fired again, sending three more bullets at the robot and taking it out of commission. That got the attention of the other five as they all turned to face me. “Now’s your chance, Crosswire!” I shouted, then turned and ran back the way I had come. I remembered seeing a small maintenance closet somewhere over there.

My memory served me well. I dove into the room and kicked the door closed. There wasn’t a whole lot of room in here, but there was enough for me to turn around and brace myself against the door and hold it closed against the protect-a-ponies chasing me. They arrived just as I got into position, slamming against the door and almost forcing me from my hooves. I struggled against them, pushing against the door with every last ounce of strength in my body. My injuries were finally beginning to catch up to me, and the burns in my hide that were pressed up against the door were in a lot of pain.

I stood there for what seemed like hours, legs locked tight and hooves pressed against any solid object I could find that would give me an advantage, wondering if it was ever going to end. Just as my strength was about to give out, I felt the pressure coming from the other side of the door let up. I cautiously opened my eyes and shifted so I was looking towards the door. If they had simply lost interest and gone back to attack Crosswire…

But my fears were unfounded. There were only two bars on my E.F.S., one red, and one blue. Wait? Why was there still a red bar? The override was supposed to knock them all out, or so Crosswire claimed. I stepped back from the door and carefully opened it. On the other side, the five protect-a-ponies stood, deactivated, staring at me with lifeless visors. Once again, I couldn’t help but laugh as I knocked one after the other over, amused that they were now so easy to topple.

When the adrenaline, as well as my glee at being alive, had finally run its course, I was shocked at how tired I was. My legs were shaking badly, and it was all I could do to stay on my hooves. I gingerly made my way back to the door into the security room and knocked. “Crosswire, it’s me. Open up,” I announced tiredly. All I wanted was to lie down and sleep, but there was still one last robot to deal with, not to mention the reason we had come here in the first place.

It took him a few moments, but the buck finally opened the door. He looked even worse then I felt. He had a nasty gash over one eye that was weeping blood, along with numerous burns in his hide. “Thought you were going to pull them all away,” he accused me, walking back into the room.

“Believe me, I tried. Guess the damn things didn’t get the memo that I was the target,” I joked, “Thanks for turning them off when you did. I would have been ash had it been a minute longer.”

“Well, we can’t have that. Thanks for getting them away from the door. I couldn’t do anything with them trying to come in after me,” he responded as he walked up to the terminal and started to type.

“What are you doing?” I asked curiously, peering over his shoulder to look at the monitor. As usual, all I saw were streams of useless symbols. I would never understand how the buck did it.

“All of this factory’s files are on this computer. I’m looking to see what they had in stock before the bombs fell, and where it all is. That should speed up the salvaging process,” he answered shortly.

I nodded understandingly. Why hadn’t I thought of that? I stepped away to give him some space and pulled a pack of centuries-old junk food from my bags. It was all I had left, and I needed the energy. I unwrapped it and popped the cake into my mouth. Whatever they used back then to keep food fresh must have been magical in and of itself, 'cause the snack cake barely tasted stale at all. When I finally finished eating, I turned back to Crosswire. “Find anything?”

He closed down the terminal and turned to face me. “Yeah. Main storage room is on the fourth floor, on the west side of the building. The cafeteria is on the same floor, except on the east. The infirmary is down on the second, to the north.”

I thought furiously for a moment, then swore loudly. “Luna be damned, this isn’t going to be easy, especially in our condition. There’s a fucking behemoth of a robot down there, and whatever you did didn’t shut it down.”

“What? Are you serious?” Crosswire asked, his head snapping around to stare at me, “The override I used should have shut down every single robot in the facility. Unless…”

“Unless what?” I demanded, “How could it stay operational if you deactivated them all?”

“Did it look like it originated from the factory?” Crosswire asked me, “Or was it really out of place?”

“I don’t know,” I answered, “I don’t know a whole lot about robots, so I couldn’t tell you what’s abnormal.”

Crosswire sighed heavily. “Did you see any others like it?”

“Oh. No, I didn’t.”

“Which means that it wasn’t supposed to be here, so somepony probably brought it here, and there’s a good chance that it happened after the bombs fell,” Crosswire mused, starting to pace.

“Why do you say that? Couldn’t the company have brought it here for security reasons? We are on the same continent as the Zebra nation after all,” I pointed out.

“I doubt that. The army would have been the main line of defense here. And it would have gotten in the way of production. No, it must have ended up here after the apocalypse,” he insisted, “And I think I know how we could get around it.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. This was an entirely new side of the buck. He was usually quiet and obedient. I had never heard him offer up an idea before. “And what’s that?”

All he did was grin and answer, “Trust me. It’ll work.”

* * *

This plan was absolutely insane! I don’t know how that mentally-unstable bastard excuse for a buck could possibly think that this could work. I was hidden behind one of the deactivated protect-a-ponies, cradling my last spark grenade in my hooves. Crosswire was supposedly coming up on the thing from the other direction, but I did not trust this whole idea.

I didn’t have to wait long for the signal. Crosswire whistled a simple three-note melody, so I began to move. This would either work, or we would both end up dead. I leapt out from behind my cover and launched my grenade. Its explosion seemed to do little more than get the robot’s attention.

The robot turned to face me and brought its flamethrower to bear. I dove off to the side, barely getting out of the way of the sheet of flame that consumed the protect-a-pony I had been behind a moment before. The robot tracked me, sending the flame across the entire room, and nearly incinerating me as I ran from desk to desk, barely keeping ahead of the inferno.

Just as I ran out of space to run, there was a sound of sparking, and the flamethrower died, allowing a sudden silence to fall over the building. I crept out from behind the desk I was using as cover and saw Crosswire standing over the robot, a mass of wires in his mouth. He spat them out and grinned over at me. “Piece of cake, just like I said.”

I shook my head at him. “Except for the fact that I almost ended up the main course at a barbecue.”

He laughed and started for the infirmary, but a low rumbling stopped us in our tracks and made us turn back to the robot. Its visor was lighting up and its limbs were starting to move. It shifted around on its tracks to face us and let out a loud screeching sound as an arm that ended in several weapon barrels came up to lock on us.

We dove out of the way as a stream of energy bolts shot past us to slam into the infirmary door. “I thought you disabled it!” I shouted at Crosswire. The noise drew the robot’s attention to me, forcing me to dive away from my flimsy cover as the gatling laser swept over it.

“I don’t know why it’s still functioning!” the grey buck shouted back, “That should have been its main processor!”

“Well, obviously not,” I growled as I pulled out one of my few precious plasma grenades. If that didn’t do the trick, then nothing would. I pulled out the stem, jumped out from behind my cover, and sent the grenade flying towards the robot. My aim was true, and the grenade landed right at the robot’s base, exploding an instant later in an inferno of superheated gas and plasma.

To my utter surprise, the behemoth was still functioning when the blast subsided, sending a stream of energy beams in my direction. The metal plating of the armor facing the blast was popping loudly as it cooled, though it had looked like some of the armor might have melted off. That might be our only chance at survival.

I pulled out my .45 and made sure it was fully loaded. Every instinct was telling me that this was stupid and suicidal, but I ignored it. I reared up from behind my cover and emptied the entire clip into the robots torso and head. Most of the rounds were deflected by the remains of its armor, but a couple of them managed to pierce the weakened metal and hit some vital components. The robot slowed visibly, but it was still dangerous. I dove back down into cover as it brought its gatling laser to bear, reloading my pistol as soon as I had a chance.

As I was about to jump back out, I heard the rapid staccato of Crosswire’s submachine gun. I leaned out of cover to see him emptying the clip of his weapon into the same area I had shot. The increased volume of fire slowed the behemoth even more, so I jumped back out and emptied another clip into it. Finally, after some loud groaning and sparking, the robot lay still.

Crosswire carefully approached the hulk, weapon floating before him, and checked the panel where he had pulled the wires. “Oh, that’s what I did wrong. The wires I grabbed were the ones for its speech synthesizer. These one are for the main processor!” he announced as he pulled out another tangle of cables, “Well, at least I know for sure now.” He deposited the wires, floated his gun back into his bag, and made for the infirmary, a wide grin on his face.

I shook my head again and followed after him. How he could so easily brush off the fact that the two of us had almost been completely vaporized by that thing, I couldn’t understand, and I doubted that I ever would. The thought became completely meaningless at the sight of several chests lying on a table against the far wall, each one adorned with the three pink butterflies that denoted the old Ministry of Peace, the pre-war organization that had managed all of the hospitals and care centers across Equestria.

I trotted right up to them and threw one open. Joy lifted me up into the sky at the sight of a half dozen deep purple healing potions. Without even waiting to check the other chests, I grabbed one in my mouth, ripped out the cork, and drank it. Instantly, I felt my burns begin to cool and the bullet wound in my side start to close. I grabbed a second and drank that one as well. I felt better than I had in weeks.

Crosswire was laughing heartily when I finally started to stow away the potions, rather than drink them. “What’s so funny?” I asked as I opened the second chest, which contained even more potions! We had hit the jackpot.

“Absolutely nothing,” he answered, instantly composing himself, but I could still see the amusement in his eyes, “Mind throwing me a couple of those?”

I sent a couple of potions threw the air towards the buck, then returned to rummaging through the chests. By the time I was done, my bags were positively brimming with healing potions and supplies, and we hadn’t even checked for guns or food yet. My true joy at the moment, though, came from the fact that, for the first time ever, Crosswire and I were cooperating less like raiders and more like regular ponies, to the point where I think I could use the term friend with him, instead of lackey or underling.

“Want to get the guns next?” he asked a few minutes later, which sparked something in my mind that I had forgotten.

“Shit, I need to find Hammer!” I shouted as I ran out of the infirmary.

The buck’s hooves echoed loudly on the floor as he followed me out. “Hammer?” he asked incredulously, “Who the hell is Hammer?”

“Not who, what!” I snapped back as I rummaged around the room where the big robot was, “It’s my revolver. I call it Hammer, ‘cause it kicks like one.”

“I suppose there are worse names for a gun,” Crosswire answered sarcastically as he joined me in my search.

It took us almost twenty minutes, but I finally found the revolver lying under a desk, a whole fifteen feet away from the door I had come through when I had run into the robot the first time. I immediately replaced my .45 with it, promising myself that I wouldn’t lose it again. I seriously loved that gun.

Once we were organized, we made the trip up to the fourth floor. It was eerie, walking by all of those disabled protect-a-ponies. I felt like they were watching me, and that at any second, they would reactivate and attack. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling.

The building was an absolute disaster, and this was the first chance I really had to see in how bad of shape it was. There was debris and grime covering just about every surface. Technical papers and memos littered the floors, most of the text completely obscured by the passage of time. Several desks had been knocked clear from their original positions by the force of the balefire bombs that had landed in the area. Overall, it simply felt dead, and I felt like a trespasser. As we climbed, my urge to leave became stronger, until I stopped dead at the top of the landing onto the fourth floor.

Crosswire made it five steps before he realized I wasn’t following. “You all right?” he asked, turning around, and he actually had a concerned look on his face.

“This doesn’t feel right,” I said, “I don’t think we should be here.” It was the best way I could put the feeling into words. Everything that had happened in the last couple of days was eating at me. Not forty-eight hours had passed since my life had been turned upside-down, and I was seriously questioning every moral I had held to for the last three years. Even my behavior was quickly changing. When rage had once come to me easily, I was already finding it difficult to get angry about anything. Honestly, I hoped that my odd feelings today were due to my dream last night. It was still heavy on my thoughts.

“And why not? It’s not like anypony else is going to come here,” Crosswire argued, “Besides, you said yourself: we need these supplies.”

I hesitated as I looked around the landing. This floor looked like a combination of a lounge and storage space, with chairs scattered about, but also with several signs pointing towards the weapons storage area. “I know, I just…” I trailed off, “It doesn’t feel like we should be up here.”

Crosswire shrugged and turned around, making his way towards the main storage area. His action forced me into a decision, and I wasn’t about to go back down myself. I followed after him, spinning my head around, looking for something that I couldn’t name. Finally, I felt my anger begin to rise. This paranoia made no sense. We had taken care of the danger, so there was no longer a reason to feel uncomfortable.

The anger felt good. Ever since we had been forced out of our camp in the mountains, I had been second-guessing myself, and forgetting that if I wanted to live, I would have to do what’s necessary. I’d been to a lot of places where I shouldn’t have been, and if anypony ever had a problem with it, then they got to meet my knife up close. It’s just the way the wasteland works.

We came up to the storage door, which was locked up tight. Crosswire examined it for a couple moments, then turned to me. “I can get this open, but it’ll take a bit. Why don’t you go check out the cafeteria, and maybe even the top floor. If I get it open before you get back, I’ll just start poking around inside.”

“Sounds good to me,” I answered and wandered off. I could use a little time alone, and doing something productive helped me focus. The fourth floor was surprisingly clear of protect-a-ponies, as if they had all been clustered on the lower floors. Then again, that could just be because of how long it had taken us to shut them down. There was a good chance that the ones that had been up here had managed to make their way downstairs.

I arrived at the cafeteria rather quickly and started rummaging through the various refrigerators, cabinets, and closets while I thought. That medical pony, Suture, had forced me to face a lot of things from my past that I hadn’t wanted to remember, but what really irked me was that she had awoken emotions in me that I had thought had been thrown in a hole, been buried, then had a house built on top of the hole.

Her arrival had made me feel guilt and sadness, two things that meant certain death to your average raider. Luckily, I wasn’t the average raider, so I was still alive. Neither of those emotions bothered me too much, either. The one that had gotten to me was shame. She had actually managed to make me feel ashamed of myself, and not because I wanted to impress her. Pretty as she was, my barn door didn’t swing that way. I had felt ashamed because she had actually cared about the lives of the ponies I had killed, regardless of the fact that they had been trying to kill her as well.

I remembered thinking that my departure from the raider camp could be my chance at turning my life around, but now I was wondering if I was really capable of that, or, more importantly, if I even wanted that. I was used to the raider lifestyle, comfortable with most parts of it, even. I knew my place there. Life as part of the rest of the wasteland was an unknown to me, and that terrified me. The last time I had been unsure of my place was when I had been living in Grovedale, and that had resulted in me getting kicked out of the town and losing everything I had gained up to that point.

Of course, the argument had to be made that that had just happened again. I paused in my looting and sat down at one of the cafeteria tables, sighing to myself. I wish that I would have had a chance to grab my journal before leaving. There was so much of my history and thoughts between the pages of that book, that there must have been something inside to help me figure out who I was again.

I took a few minutes to re-collect myself, then forced myself back to my hooves. Getting lost in things I couldn’t control wouldn’t help me to survive. That was the one idea I had to remain focused on. Everything else could come second. Nothing was more valuable than my life. Nothing.

I finished my looting of the cafeteria and made for the door. We now had enough food and water, some of it slightly irradiated, to last us a couple of weeks. That would be long enough that scavenging for more food wouldn’t be an immediate concern for a while.

Feeling distinctly better than I had the rest of the day, I trotted back to the stairwell to go search the top floor while Crosswire finished with the storage room door. Oddly, the feeling of being in the wrong place returned as I arrived. This time, instead of making me uncomfortable, it angered me. I had already gotten over this, why was it hitting me again? Fighting against the feeling, I walked up the stairs. Despite my knowledge that there was no longer anything hostile in the building, I found myself drawing Hammer. It was completely nonsensical, but it made me feel better.

By the time I reached the top of the stairwell, I was furious. The feeling had risen to the point where I was forcing myself to take each step, despite my anger. Whatever this was, it couldn’t be natural. I started to search the floor carefully, but there was nothing of interest anywhere other than old clipboards and a couple of caps stowed away in some cabinets.

I gave up on the floor and made my way back towards the stairwell. The search hadn’t really been worth it, since I hadn’t even found what it was that was making me feel uncomfortable. I was just about to start on my way back downstairs when I caught sight of a door from the corner of my vision. I had missed that room.

I turned to walk towards it, but found myself almost incapable of walking, but all that did was serve to piss me off even more. I growled deep in the back of my throat and forced my way forward, practically kicking the door down when I arrived. What I found almost defied belief.

Sitting in the center of the room on a table was a single crystal, glowing brightly. For a moment it reminded me of the Messaging Crystal that Crackshot had given me, but a second glance revealed that it was both much smaller, and seemed to have had something carved into its surface. I carefully approached it and tried to read what was written, but it looked like utter gibberish to me.

The feeling of discomfort was even stronger this close to the gem, which led me to believe that it was responsible for my near immobility. I lifted a hoof and knocked the gem to the floor. Even the small amount of distance that that created made me feel better. Not by much, but by a measurable amount. Finally, I had an outlet for my rage. I reared up on my hind legs and brought both hooves down on the crystal, instantly shattering it.

The effect was immediate as the feeling of discomfort vanished and I was able to move around freely again. Destroying the crystal had also caused most of my rage to evaporate, leaving me feeling tired and worn out, as one would expect after a long day of hiking, followed by a rather serious fight in this broken-down factory.

Now that the gem was gone, I turned my gaze to the rest of the room. It was mostly bare, but there were a few things that I hadn’t expected to find. Underneath the table where the gem had been was a small sack that was filled with various odd bits. First off, there was a small pouch of caps that I immediately pocketed. My Pipbuck told me that it had been full with five hundred caps! Not a bad find. There was also a small box of 9mm ammo, except this box was special in that the rounds were hollow point, so they would do a lot more damage to unarmored enemies. I pocketed those as well. It wasn’t anything I usually used, but they could come in handy somewhere down the line.

The final two objects were both more ordinary, but also much more enigmatic. The first was an unlabeled map of an area I had never seen before. To my eyes, it looked like some small settlement made of rubble and the ruins of pre-war buildings, so any of a half-dozen settlements in the wasteland. Peculiar to the map were a few arrows that pointed to the walls at a certain area, but without context, I would have no idea what it meant.

The other object was a holotape. I had seen plenty like it, and most were recordings from before the war, but this cache looked like it had been left only a short while ago, at least, not so far back that the cap wasn’t a currency yet. I slid the holotape into my Pipbuck and hit the play button.

“Hey, Greymane, I’m glad to see that you remembered this old location. I always knew you were a smart one. Either way, I left your payment in the sack, along with a map for your next assignment. I’ve marked how you’re going to get inside so nopony will notice you. Same deal as last time: Figure out what they want. Figure out what it’ll take to win their loyalty. Seahawk is planning on making his move soon, so we need all the information we can get. As usual, if the leaders don’t sound like they’d be agreeable, we left a box of hollow point for you. I hope you’re keeping Renegade as well maintained as you used to, ‘cause the rounds are 9mm. Your payment for this job will be placed where you met that mare, you know the one. She had that beautiful red mane and you kept us all up that night ‘getting to know each other’. You’re next assignment will be there as well. Time is of the essence now, Greymane. You’ve been most reliable so far. Keep up the good work.”

The holotape came down to a close and I stood there in stunned silence, and for more reasons than because it had summoned a memory of my mother to my mind, who had also had a red mane. That must have been a coincidence. The color was fairly common, after all.

The tape was recent, that much was plainly obvious, and there was a group of ponies planning on doing something in the area, and it didn’t sound entirely benevolent. Any change of that magnitude to the status quo wasn’t good, for anypony. We built our lives on the way things were, and change tended to be bad for survival.

I stowed the holotape and map in my saddlebags as well. Too bad the holotape hadn’t mentioned the name of the town. The speaker had obviously expected this ‘Greymane’ to know where it was. All I knew was that I wasn’t going to leave this stuff for him to find and use to help some crazy gang leader get a foothold over another town, no matter how corrupt or bad that town might be.

I checked the room one last time for anything of value, then returned to the stairwell and descended down to the storage area and Crosswire. By the time I arrived, he had gotten the door open and was inside, rummaging around.

“Anything good?” I asked as I entered, turning my head to peruse the walls. He didn’t even have to answer for me to know.

“Look for yourself,” he grumbled, knowing my question was rhetorical.

The walls were lined with weapons, ranging from small silenced .22s to big, and probably heavy, sniper rifles. Any weapon that Ironshod had ever produced during the war was here. I slipped a 9mm pistol off the wall and loaded it with the hollow point rounds I had picked up. You never knew when they could come in handy.

“Did you find any ammo that would fit Hammer?” I asked a few moments later as I looked from weapon to weapon. As pretty as the rifles were, they never felt natural when I used them which is why I stuck to pistols and explosives. Those, I was very comfortable with.

“Yeah, I think so. I placed them on the bench over there. You might want to check before grabbing them all. There’s no point in taking things we don’t need. I had planned on sealing this place up again before we leave. If we ever need ordnance like this, then at least we have our own secret stash,” the buck answered as he took down a submachine gun similar to his own and started stripping it down for parts.

I walked over to the rounds he had set aside and pulled out Hammer. Sure enough, the rounds fit perfectly, almost better than the ones I already had for it. I swept the rounds into my saddlebags, letting my Pipbuck’s inventory spell sort them out. This time, I actually paid attention to what kind of rounds they were. .45-70 magnum. Good, now I knew what to look for.

Crosswire and I spent the next ten minutes in silence as we pulled down various weapons and examined them. In the end, I only took a couple of extra pistols, including another revolver that was very similar to Hammer, but whose quality wasn’t quite as good. It would serve as a spare if I were ever to lose the former, and as spare parts should I need them. Crosswire took a couple of submachine guns and enough ammo to last him a whole day of constant firing. Those damn weapons practically burned through ammo.

As we were making out way out of the building, Crosswire finally thought to ask me about what I had found in the cafeteria and on the top floor. I quickly explained our new food and water situation, and told him about the lack of anything significant on the fifth floor, but hesitated at mentioning the cache.

“You’re leaving something out, Evergreen,” he said, without a hint of mocking in his voice. It was funny, because not three days ago, it would have been unthinkable for him to press me about this kind of stuff. Hell, even earlier today he had been starting to press for information.

“Yeah, I’m just trying to figure out the best way to explain it,” I answered slowly, “I found a cache in a small side room, which also was the source of that odd feeling I had earlier.”

Crosswire swung his around to face me and fixed me with a confused glare. “What are you talking about, Evergreen? You’ve been acting oddly for the last two days, and now you’re telling me that something was making you feel uncomfortable?”

“Look, I know it sounds strange. I barely get it myself, but I’m being serious. I had to force myself to walk into that room, and there was this little crystal or something sitting on a table. I smashed it, and the discomfort disappeared. Believe me, I wish I were making this up, especially considering what I found in the cache.”

“And what did you find? If there really was a talisman that was trying to drive you away, it must have been something good,” Crosswire said, though it sounded like he still didn’t quite believe me.

“Kind of,” I answered, “There was a pouch full of caps, as well as a box of 9mm hollow point rounds, and those were the most useful objects in there.”

“So somepony managed to find a talisman designed to keep ponies from going near it, just to hide some caps and ammo?” Crosswire asked incredulously, “Seems like a lot of effort for so little. Also, why were you the only one who felt it? Why didn’t I?”

I shrugged. “Beats me. Maybe you were just focused enough on what you were after that it didn’t affect you. I know I was more focused on just general salvage.”

“Still seems odd to have something like that for so little of value,” the buck grumbled.

“Well, there was more to it than that. There was also a map of a settlement and a holotape, both made fairly recently, if I’m any judge,” I explained.

“What do you mean? I’ve never run across a holotape that wasn’t some sort of pre-war nonsense,” Crosswire argued, “It has to be older.”

“Then why was it in a cache that had a ton of caps? It talked about somepony by the name of Greymane, and said that his next assignment was to infiltrate the town on the map and figure out what the leaders want, and to kill them if necessary. It also said something about somepony named Seahawk setting his sights on Seaddle. Now, I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound good to me,” I explained, “And it definitely doesn’t sound like something that would be in place before the bombs fell.”

Crosswire hesitated as he considered what I had said. He had always been the kind of pony to examine the facts before making a decision, and if the facts were there, he wouldn’t deny them. “You could be right,” he finally said, “And a change that large to the way things are wouldn’t be good, especially since this ‘Seahawk’s’ intentions and motivations are unknown. It definitely doesn’t speak well of him that he is giving somepony working for him the complete freedom to just murder ponies in charge of settlements. I mean, hell, I’m a raider, yeah, but even I would think twice about trying to pull something like that. You’re just asking to get yourself killed.”

I smiled, happy that Crosswire had come to the same conclusions as I had. “So I guess that makes our next stop Metro,” I said as we emerged into the wasteland. To my complete lack of surprise, it was still raining.

“Why Metro?” Crosswire asked, “Shouldn’t we make for that settlement on the map you found?”

“I would, if I knew what or where that settlement is. Metro is the biggest center of civilization in these parts. Somepony there is sure to be able to identify it for us, and I did find a ton of caps to buy information with,” I said, “Also, there’s a much smaller chance of the ponies out there recognizing either of us, and that can only work in our favor right now.”

Crosswire nodded thoughtfully. “Makes sense. And we can trade some of our salvage while we’re there; pick up some things that we still need, like more purified water, or more medical supplies.”

“That’s it then. We’re off to Metro!” I announced and started trotting off into the wasteland, heading in the general direction of the old pre-war metro station that housed the city of the same name. Things were already starting to look up.

Level up!
New Perk added: Loose Cannon – Thrown weapons (like grenades) can now be thrown 20% farther, and with 20% more accuracy

{This chapter took significantly longer to put together than the first one, as balancing Evergreen’s new and developing view of life with the way she has lived for so long turned out to be a lot more tricky than I had expected. Thanks, of course, to Kkat for creating FoE. Thanks of course also go to Cody and Green Leaf for editing. Without those two, this would not be in the shape it is!}

Chapter Three: Metro

Fallout Equestria: Redemption
By: Cooperdawg
Chapter 3: Metro
‘Honesty can be the hardest virtue to follow.’

My entire body hurt, from the small bruises and scratches I had gotten while running around inside the Ironshod Firearms Factory to the few laser burns that the healing potions hadn’t managed to heal. It wasn’t a terrible pain, it wasn’t even that insistent. It was the kind of pain that simply lingers in the back of your mind and occasionally makes itself known when I misstepped and jarred a twisted ankle.

Even worse than the pain, however, was the fatigue. As I’ve said before, ponies seriously underestimate how totally empty the wasteland can be, and how monotonous a journey can get when you aren’t running or fighting for your life. Crosswire and I had been walking for almost six hours since leaving the factory, and we were both nearly falling asleep on our hooves.

Healing potions did wonders for the body. Hell, they even made me feel a bit more rejuvenated, as though I was getting a little burst of energy every time I drank one, but even they weren’t a substitute for actual sleep. We’d been up for almost thirty-six hours, and the strain was beginning to show on both of us. Crosswire, usually so alert, had his head hanging low and was barely even paying attention to the ground in front of him.

I was even worse. I was barely lifting my hooves from the ground, which resulted in me tripping or stumbling every five steps or so. I don’t think I would be wrong in saying that I had accumulated more bruises from stumbling around than I had from running away from those damned protect-a-ponies.

We continued slogging on through the wasteland, our surroundings completely blending together into one long blur. I could see the houses we passed, burnt out husks of buildings that had once housed happy families in a world where they didn’t fear for their lives every second of every day, but if pressed, I wouldn’t be able to remember any details about any of them.

The sky was beginning to darken for the second time since I had woken when I finally decided that we weren’t going to make it to Metro in one piece if we continued on as we were. “Crosswire! We need to stop to get some rest! Next solid house we see we’re holing up in for the night!” I called out, straining my voice to get any kind of volume louder than a whisper.

The ragged buck slowed to a stop and turned to look at me. The look in his eyes told of an exhaustion that rivaled my own. We were both basically dead on our hooves. “Where were you looking for?” he slurred.

I looked around us, taking in the few buildings that still stood. Most were precarious shells that looked like they could collapse at any given time. I had no intention of going anywhere near those. One of the buildings, however, still appeared relatively stable. The paint had sloughed off long ago, and some of the timbers appeared to be in the early stages of rotting as the wasteland weather got to them, but it still stood on its foundation, and the roof was still in place. It would have to do.

“Over there,” I said, waving a hoof in the direction of the structure, “It looks safe enough. We should be able to spend the night there.”

He followed my gesture and focused his sight on the structure. After a few moments of silence he nodded. “Yeah, that should work.”

We slowly picked our way between the rubble until we arrived at the home. To my surprise, the door was locked. I kicked it once, hoping that one good buck would knock it off its hinges, but all it gave me was a sore leg. Oh well, just another bruise to add to my collection.

“Can you get this open?” I asked, turning to look at Crosswire.

The grey buck sidled past me to the door and examined the lock for a few moments before getting out his tools. I would have watched in fascination as he stuck a bobby pin into the lock and started twisting it with a screwdriver, but as it was, I’m pretty sure I dozed off in the twenty seconds it took him to open the door.

The click of the lock springing roused me from my dozing. Crosswire replaced his tools in his saddlebags and opened the door. I was shaking my head in disbelief as I took the first few steps into the home. It wasn’t that I hadn’t seen him unlock things before, it was just that it fascinated me every single time he did it.

I shot a glance at my E.F.S. once I was inside, but it showed nothing. I twisted my head to look at Crosswire, and to make sure that the computer was still working by looking for his blue bar. It appeared, so that meant that the house must be empty. “Close the door. We’ll be safe here for the night,” I ordered and trotted off to see if the home’s inhabitants had left anything edible in the kitchen. If I didn’t have to delve into my own stores, I would be happy.

The kitchen was an absolute disaster area. The table was little more than splinters spread across the floor and the countertops were cracked and covered in the remains of what might have once been a meal. Knives and other various utensils were scattered about the room, as if a hurricane had come through and tossed everything about in a fit of rage.

I picked my way carefully through the wreckage to the fridge and pulled it open. I was pleasantly surprised to find a few preserved apple snacks and a couple bottles of Sparkle-Cola. I was about to pop off the cap of one of the Colas when another bottle hiding in the back of the fridge caught my eye. I slid the other food into my saddlebags and reached in for it.

I pulled it out and dropped it into my hooves for a close inspection. The label was black and had a very elegant design with spidery white script. The label read: ‘Ponyville Apple Whisky: The Best Liquor in Equestria! Honest!’.

Waiting for the right time didn’t even cross my mind as I twisted the cap off the bottle and held it up to my nose to smell it. The aroma was light and fruity, but still had the harsh bite of alcohol under it. I put the bottle to my lips and tipped my head back, getting a full mouthful. The whiskey burned as it slid down my throat, but it was the pleasant kind of burn that warmed me from my stomach all the way to my hooves. The flavor was full and smooth with just the perfect amount of apple taste to it. I don’t think I had ever tasted anything quite so wonderful.

I took another mouthful before screwing the cap back on and carefully depositing the bottle in my saddlebags. This was one bottle of alcohol I was going to have to savor.

The whiskey was burning pleasantly in my stomach as I left the kitchen and went in search of Crosswire. My Pipbuck once again proved itself useless as I searched for him everywhere on the ground floor, but he was nowhere to be found. Cursing the computer, I climbed the stairs up to the second floor, where I found the ragged grey unicorn almost immediately. He was standing completely motionless in a doorway, but his head was up and alert, not hanging as if he were sleeping.

I came up behind him and peered into the room that was holding him so enraptured. What I saw locked me up as quickly and completely as it had him. The room was the main bedroom of the house, and the sight on the bed tore the voice from my body and left me rooted to the spot.

Two pony-sized skeletons were lying on the bed, facing each other, with their hooves wrapped around one another. Lying nestled between them was a small skeleton, no larger than a very young filly. These bones had been lying here undisturbed for over two centuries. Crosswire and I were probably the first ones to even see them and know their fate.

I slowly forced myself past Crosswire and into the room to stand beside the bed, where I looked down at the bodies. Crosswire came up to the other side of the bed, held just as speechless as I was. I couldn’t say how long we stood there, but it seemed like another two hundred years had passed by the time one of us finally found our voice again.

“Fuck. I know I’ve seen some fucked-up shit in my time, but this is something else,” Crosswire muttered, “They didn’t even have a chance to survive. They just had to lie here and wait to die while the world ended around them. And that filly couldn’t have been more than five years old.”

I shook my head, still not able to wrap my head around what I was seeing. Bodies were common in the wasteland, and bodies of the unlucky souls who had been killed in the apocalypse were even more so, but it was rare to see a sight like this one, with the bodies unmolested by time or looters, with some semblance of what had once been love.

“I find myself agreeing with you now, Crosswire,” I said, still not able to tear my eyes away from the sight, “I fucking hate the wasteland. I’ll be downstairs sleeping. I can’t stay up here.”

Some would say that trying to sleep in a house with something like that in it would be near impossible, but those ponies knew nothing about the effects of fatigue and sheer exhaustion. I collapsed on the couch in the main living room, took another swig from the Apple Whiskey, and closed my eyes.

It took me a few minutes to finally relax as my mind ran through what those poor souls must have been thinking as the bombs fell, but finally, my exhaustion overcame me and I dropped off into a dreamless slumber.

“I’m telling you, Tripwire, I saw two ponies go in here earlier: A beat-up grey buck and a rather nice-looking mare. One of ‘em must know how to pick a lock, ‘cause this place has been locked down tight for as long as I can remember.” The voice was loud, fast, and instantly woke me from my buzzed slumber.

I lay completely motionless, waiting to hear if Tripwire would respond and to see if I could learn anything more about them. Judging by the comment ‘nice-looking mare’, my hopes for a civilized meeting weren’t exactly high.

“Knowing the shit you’ve been on, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d seen a dragon coming in here,” Tripwire answered, although in a normal voice, so I had to strain my ears to hear him, “but I suppose it’s worth checking out. Who knows, you may actually be right for once.”

Judging by what I could hear, Tripwire was just another opportunistic asshole preying on other ponies in the wasteland. Lucky for me, I had a lot of experience dealing with ponies like him. The door to the house was right next to my couch, so I shifted around until my head was close to the door and my hooves were gathered underneath me, then reached down and pulled out my knife. This was the perfect situation for it.

“I don’t know, Tripwire,” a third voice chimed in, making me hesitate. Two ponies, I could easily take; throw in a third, and things became a little dicey. “You know Huff is always seeing things.”

“Hey! My name is Quick Gust!” the first voice snapped, “And I know what I saw!”

“Whatever you say, Huff,” the third voice answered. I could almost hear him rolling his eyes.

After a few moments, I could hear their hoofsteps through the rubble leading up to the house, then pause as they reached the door.

“So what’s the plan, Tripwire?” the third voice asked, “If Huff is actually right about this, we should have a plan. I would say kill ‘em and take whatever they’ve got. If they’re all the way out here without a caravan, then nopony knows they’re here. At least, nopony that matters knows.”

“If they resist, of course we’ll kill them, Jukebox, but until they do, we’ll see just how much they’re willing to part with without violence. If the amount is unsatisfactory, then we’ll kill them,” Tripwire answered.

The sound of a rifle bolt being slid back to chamber a round echoed loudly, even through the door. “Sounds good to me. All right, Huff, get the door open and get inside. This is your information, after all,” Jukebox said.

“What about my payment?” Gust asked, a worried tone that bordered on desperation in his voice.

“If your info was right, and there are ponies in there, you’ll get your Dash,” Tripwire answered, “now open the door.”

Great, I was dealing with an addict willing to sell anypony out for another fix. Ponies like him were unpredictable. Listening to their conversation, however, gave me an idea. They had already said that they weren’t going to resort to violence first, so if I could convince them to leave us the hell alone, I was guaranteed to not get hurt, rather than risk an injury in a fight. I slid as quietly as I could from the couch to go stand across the room from the door, where I leaned against a book shelf and stuck my knife into the wood. Putting on my most confident look, I waited for Gust to open the door.

The hinges creaked loudly as the door swung open. A quick glance showed the horizon just beginning to lighten with the coming dawn. Standing in the doorway was a small, sickly Pegasus. His eyes were darting around, seemingly unable to focus on anything for longer than a second or two. His flank didn’t show a cutie mark. Instead there was a brand of a cloud and thunderbolt. This buck was a Dashite, which wasn’t surprising. Almost every single Pegasus in the wasteland was a Dashite: somepony who had decided to do away with the Enclave’s rules and isolationism and actually come down to the wasteland. Only Pegasi I had seen that weren’t Dashites had been a wing of armored Enclave soldiers that had flown over my camp a couple years back, and we avoided alerting them at all costs.

Behind the Pegasus were two other bucks. One was a large unicorn with a dirty blonde hide and brown mane floating a hunting rifle next to himself. His barding looked thick, and I doubted if I could get my knife to pierce it. That one must be Jukebox.

The last buck could only be Tripwire. He was smaller than I had expected, but he held himself in a way that suggested he was much stronger than he appeared. He was an orange Earth Pony with a yellow mane. I could see several different trap-making components stored in the pockets of his barding, as well as a pistol in a holster on his right forehoof.

I waited until Gust had taken a step into the house and spotted me before speaking. “Good morning, gentlecolts,” I announced loudly, trying to wake Crosswire up and let him know what the situation was without giving too much away, “How can I help you?”

“Looks like she was expecting us, Huff. You sure you didn’t talk to them last night for a fix before coming to us?” Jukebox asked, fixing the Pegasus in a disapproving glare.

“No, I didn’t!” Gust insisted, “I don’t know how she knew! Honestly!”

“I’ll spare you all a headache and answer for him. If you lot were any louder, I’m sure you could have woken the dead from their two-century long sleep upstairs,” I stated, shifting my glance to admire my combat knife. Dammit, no blue bars over there, so Crosswire must have slept upstairs, though the Princesses only knew why.

“Told you we shouldn’t have brought Huff along, Tripwire,” Jukebox said to the smaller Earth Pony, “Now the fucker’s gone and revealed us, and I’m sure this mare knows exactly what we were talking about on our way in.”

“Oh, you mean killing me if I don’t give you everything you want?” I asked, swinging my head around the other way to stare at Jukebox with a single eye. Ah! There he was, and the blue bar was moving as well, so Crosswire was awake and moving.

“Dammit, Huff! This is your fault, you useless fucking addict!” Jukebox shouted angrily, swinging his rifle around to aim at the Pegasus. He paused just short of shooting to look at Tripwire. “Well, boss? You care what happens to this sack of shit?”

Tripwire shifted his glance from Gust to Jukebox and back, then simply shrugged. “It’s up to you Jukebox. I’ve got more important things to worry about.”

Jukebox grinned wickedly as he turned back to face the now-cowering Pegasus. “You hear that, Huff? You’re no longer under his protection. How does that make you feel?”

“Please Jukebox! Don’t shoot me! It won’t happen again!” Gust begged, backing away from the unicorn.

“Damned right you won’t,” Jukebox said, then pulled the trigger. The round tore through the Pegasus’s head, spraying the back wall with blood, bone, and brains. The corpse fell limply to the ground, half of its head missing.

I watched the entire interaction detachedly. I had been a part of enough scenes like that one to not be fazed by cold-blooded murder, and as I turned my head to look at Tripwire, I could see that he had been watching me the entire time, and he saw my lack of a reaction.

He stepped forward past his large ally to address me. “I see you are no stranger to the ways of the wasteland, so I imagine we could easily come to a deal. I also apologize for Jukebox’s behavior. He really is quite the brute, but he has his uses.”

“I can imagine,” I mused, “but I’m more interested in this deal you’re talking about. I have nothing to give that I don’t need, and I know that you will not be satisfied with that.”

“You would be correct,” Tripwire answered, “Is there any way this can come to a civil conclusion?”

“Depends on how much you value your life, I suppose,” I answered, “If you didn’t notice, I am no stranger to death, and I have spent a significant portion of my life learning how to kill. I’ve faced down enough brutes like Jukebox to know how to deal with his kind.”

For the first time, I saw a glimmer of uncertainty pass through Tripwire’s eyes, but it was quickly replaced with confidence. “Do you really think you can take us both with a simple combat knife, even if it is well cared for?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “And you think the knife is the only weapon I have? Out of courtesy, I’m going to tell you something. My friend and I just recently cleared out the Ironshod factory out by Grovedale, so we have a good supply of weapons and ammo, all in good condition. I would recommend rethinking your plan of stealing from us or attacking us, especially considering you have no idea where he is.”

Now his confidence was replaced by fear. “Quick Gust wasn’t lying then. There are two of you,” he said, eyes now darting around as he searched for Crosswire, but I knew from the fact that he focused on nothing that he couldn’t find him.

“Eeyup. So I suggest that you and your friend turn around and go back the way you came. We are more than capable of winning this fight.”

“Unfortunately, I can’t afford to let anypony go right now,” Tripwire said, “We used the last of our supplies last night, and I could use a new gun. Jukebox, try to make it quick.”

The Earth Pony hadn’t even finished giving the order when I grabbed my knife and dove to the side. Jukebox’s shot hit the bookshelf an instant later. My dive brought me within five feet of the large unicorn. I jumped forward and to the side as he brought the rifle around again, barely dodging another round.

This time, I was close enough to attack. I leapt at the large unicorn, wrapping my forehooves around his neck and twisting. The attack tore Jukebox from his hooves and onto the ground, with me on top of him. I struck at his neck with my knife, but he got a hoof up in between us, pressing against my throat and keeping me from killing him on the spot.

I struggled against him, trying to force the knife closer to his throat, but he was simply too strong. My only option was to change my angle of attack. I twisted my neck and sliced his hoof open, forcing a cry of pain from him and making him flinch, offering a narrow opening. I took it, but once again came up short as he shifted and, instead of stabbing him in the neck, I buried my knife in the meat of his shoulder.

He grunted in pain, but retained enough awareness to roll, throwing me off him and making me lose my grip on the knife. At the end of the roll, I was pinned underneath his bulk. He struck at me with his uninjured forehoof, aiming to cave in my ribcage. It was all I could do to deflect his blow into my shoulder with my own leg.

The blow felt like a hammer striking an anvil and left my left leg feeling numb and useless. I had no illusions to the fact that I would be dead had that blow landed on my chest. He lifted his leg again to attack, but before he could strike, a staccato of gunfire peppered his side, opening up a dozen wounds that toppled him over and off of me.

“Watch for Tripwire! He’s the one in charge!” I shouted as I launched myself to my hooves, adrenaline making me forget the pain in my left shoulder, and pulled out Hammer.

Jukebox was trying to rise as I came around to his head and aimed the revolver at his head. “Please, don’t kill me. I was just following orders. We’re just trying to survive,” he begged, tears actually streaming from his eyes. His voice was thick with pain, and blood was beginning to flow from his mouth. One of Crosswire’s shots must have hit something vital.

“There are better ways to do it. And attacking a pony who obviously knows how to protect herself is not a smart route to take when survival is your only interest,” I snapped around the gun in my mouth, “And I don’t make a habit of letting ponies that attack me live.”

With one last effort, Jukebox tried to flail around to hit me, but I easily dodged out of the way, despite my injured leg. This pony was dead no matter what I chose to do; the number of bullet wounds the Crosswire had given him made that a certainty. I decided on the merciful route and fired a single round into his skull, ending his struggles.

I turned away from the unicorn’s body and followed my E.F.S. to where Crosswire had Tripwire pinned underneath him. My left leg was seriously starting to hurt now, but I pushed the pain to the back of my mind. I could deal with it later.

“You deal with the big one?” Crosswire asked as I approached, limping heavily.

“Yeah, thanks for the help. Bastard would have had me otherwise,” I answered, coming to a stop next to him, “Let him up. He’s not going to try anything now.”

Crosswire grumbled something about me going soft, but did as I asked and backed off to let Tripwire hobble to his feet.

“I told you to just turn around and walk away, Tripwire,” I said, “You have no one to blame for this result but yourself. Jukebox’s blood is on your hooves, though I don’t think it matters that much to you.”

The buck had the grace to lower his head in shame. “What are you going to do to me?” he asked, voice shaking.

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly, “I should kill you. After all, you did try to kill me. But then, I would be no better than you if I did, and I don’t want to lower myself to your level.”

Tripwire looked up, hope in his eyes. “You’re going to let me live?” he asked.

I remained silent for a moment and looked over to Crosswire, whose expression was completely neutral, but I could see the hint of disapproval in his eyes. I returned my gaze to Tripwire. “Much as I hate to, yes I am, if only because it teaches you a lesson. I am not to be fucked with, and anypony who figures that out by talking to ponies like you before actually meeting me is only doing themselves a favor. Now get the fuck out of here.” I snapped.

The buck nodded quickly and disappeared out the door, as if he were running for his life. In some ways, I suppose he was. I watched him until he disappeared from sight.

“You should have killed him,” Crosswire admonished me as I returned to Jukebox’s body for my knife, “He wouldn’t have thought twice about killing you, or worse.”

“Don’t remind me,” I retorted, “I only let the bastard live because it might help us later on down the line. If ponies hear about us being merciful, it may help to offset some of our reputation and actually let us trade with the caravans for supplies. We can’t think like raiders anymore, Crosswire. That kind of thinking will only get us killed now.”

“I suppose you’re right,” he huffed, “We leaving now?”

“Yeah. No point in sticking around anymore,” I answered as I walked back to my saddlebags and pulled out a healing potion. I needed something for my shoulder. I heard Crosswire ascend the stairs to get his things while I tipped the potion back into my throat. I could feel the muscles and tendons in my shoulder immediately begin to knit back together as the potion worked its magic. In seconds, I was feeling a thousand times better than I had.

I replaced the bottle in my saddle bag and put it on. You never knew when an empty bottle could come in handy.

In just a few minutes, Crosswire and I were ready to move. Another couple of minutes, and the house disappeared over the horizon behind us.

It took us another couple of hours to make it to Metro, but the hours passed quickly now that we weren’t exhausted. Much as we had tried to avoid resting, we had needed the break. Crosswire had remained silent for most of the journey; he was probably still upset at my choice to spare Tripwire.

I understood why he wanted me to kill him. Hell, part of me wanted to do the bastard in as well, but it simply served us better to let him live than it did to kill him, not to mention the fact that he had reminded me a bit too harshly of myself.

Since Crosswire had been so quiet, I had taken the time to think on that buck’s behavior, and the similarities to my own terrified me. I did a lot in the name of survival, but that had been the first time I’d been on the receiving end of the act, and I didn’t like it. He had written me off as just another casualty of the wasteland, not even a pony who was dying at his order.

The thought that I had made a dozen choices just like that one, that I had done the same thing to dozens, if not hundreds, of ponies was a sobering one. It made me think that maybe survival wasn’t the only thing I should fight for after all. Maybe there was something more important than that, more important than any one life. I remembered my parents had once believed that, hell, they had died for it.

I had to push those thoughts from my mind as we approached the shanty town that had sprung up around the stairs that led underground to where the city of Metro was situated. True to its name, it had sprung up in one of the old underground metro stations that had connected a lot of the outlying towns with Seaddle. Instead of the overland trains that existed on mainland Equestria, the government had constructed the underground metro system here, leaving more open ground for farming or building.

The town wasn’t an official part of Metro. Instead, it was just a collection of shacks that housed the ponies that dealt with idle travelers or caravaneers. The Metro guards usually extended their protection to these ponies, but only if the outcome of the fight was obviously in their favor.

Crosswire and I marched straight through the bustle to the checkpoint down into Metro itself, ignoring the many ponies who were trying to hawk their wares at us. We were stopped by a stern unicorn mare who had a nasty looking shotgun leaned against the barricade next to her.

“What’s your name and business in Metro?” she asked us in a bored tone.

“My name is Evergreen, and I need to talk to the mayor. My friend Crosswire and I picked up some information around the area of Grovedale that he is going to want to hear,” I answered. Hopefully, honesty would get us into the city.

Instead of just accepting us as another set of travelers, the guard perked up, rose fully to her hooves and glared at me. “That so? I don’t suppose you happen to know the Evergreen who murdered several ponies in that area and happens to be in charge of a raider gang just south of Grovedale, do you? And what exactly is this ‘information’ you have for the mayor? A bullet?”

I felt my stomach lurch and my hopes sink. “Yeah, that’s me, but all of that happened a long time ago. Last time I killed anypony around Grovedale must have been at least four months ago,” I admitted, “As for the raider gang, well, I’m just another wastelander now. There was a mutiny a few days ago that ended with me out on my ass. If it weren’t for Crosswire, then I wouldn’t be alive anyway.”

The guard narrowed her eyes at me and I saw her horn begin to glow as she brought the shotgun to bear. “Much as I appreciate your honesty, I think it would be in your best interest to be leaving,” she said, chambering a round to make her point.

For a second, I was inclined to agree with her, but this was not something I could let go. If I did not act, then a lot of ponies were going to be in danger. “I can’t go,” I announced, “Your mayor needs to see what I found. You can take my guns and let me see him while under heavy guard for all I care, but I need to talk to him.”

“And what could be so important to you that you ask to get shot?” the guard demanded, the shotgun now clearly pointing in my direction.

I hesitated in answering. I didn’t want to simply announce what I knew, ‘cause who knew how many ponies knew Greymane or Seahawk, or at least how to contact them. If the wrong pony overheard me, my own life would become much more difficult.

“I’m waiting for an answer,” the guard warned impatiently.

“It has to do with Seahawk,” I stated, hoping the guard would know something more than I did, or at least that the mention of somepony else would let her know that I wasn’t here to assassinate the mayor.

“And who in the fuck is Seahawk?” she demanded, floating the shotgun even closer to me.

“Hell if I know,” I retorted, “but whoever it is has plans to take over the entire region, I’m sure of that. Your mayor needs to know that, since he is in charge of the largest center of civilization around these parts. I’m taking a big risk in even saying that much, since I have no idea how much influence he has.”

The guard hesitated as she weighed my words. “You have proof?” she finally demanded.

“Yes, but nothing I can share here. Too many eyes and ears,” I answered.

“Fine,” the guard spat, “You can go in, but remember, we are always watching you, and the guards inside already know who you are. One wrong move and you’re dead, Evergreen. I am not exaggerating.”

I nodded my understanding. I had absolutely no illusions to the contrary. “Thank you. You won’t regret this.” I stepped past her and onto the staircase into Metro.

The city was impressive. That was the only way I could think of to describe it. The main concourse was filled with shops and stalls set up in the old ticket booths and newspaper stalls, and the platform was blanketed in sheet metal cubicles that made up the homes of the ponies that lived here. Paths ran over top of those homes, built on small structures that would absorb the impact of hooves so the ponies living below wouldn’t have to listen to the sound of pounding hooves all day.

As soon as we entered the main concourse, we were met by a pair of guards who led us directly to the mayor’s office. I guessed that we were being jumped forward in line so we could leave as soon as possible since we were ushered into his office past several annoyed-looking ponies.

The mayor himself was a thin, blue Earth Pony buck who had what looked like a wooden hammer for cutie mark. “Mind telling me why you’re bringing in two ponies in ahead of everypony else, Farsight? We have a schedule to keep,” he asked, looking up from the stack of papers he was reading.

“This is Evergreen, the raider boss from the Grovedale area. She claimed she found something that you would want to know,” one of the guards answered.

“You know we don’t deal with raiders, Farsight. I expected better from you. Take them out and shoot them. Wasteland will be better for it,” the mayor ordered, looking back down at his work.

“I don’t want to make a deal!” I announced before the guard could act, “I’m offering you the information, no strings attached!”

“Wait!” the mayor announced, his head snapping back up, “What information? Don’t fuck with me, Evergreen, I work hard to keep this town safe, and letting somepony like you inside is a serious security risk, and not one I allow lightly.”

“Can we close the door to at least make this somewhat private?” I asked, “If I get out of here alive, I’d rather not be killed in the wasteland because somepony overheard what I was talking about.”

“Fine. Farsight, close the damn door,” the mayor ordered. Once that was done, he fixed me in a merciless glare, “Now explain, Evergreen, why am I letting you talk to me, and why this information you have is of such interest to me.”

“Crosswire and I were scavenging the Ironshod Firearms Factory by Grovedale yesterday. I found a dead drop on the top floor. It contained this,” I reached into my saddlebags and pulled out the map and placed it on the table in front of the mayor.

He reached out with a hoof and pulled it in for a closer look. “And why does this interest me?” he demanded, eyes fixed on the map, “There aren’t even any labels. Just a few lines denoting its walls and an arrow pointing at one of them.”

“It should interest you because I also found this,” I answered and played the recording. The mayor sat silently throughout the entire duration, listening to each and every word. By the time it finally ended, his expression had changed from one of anger to one of contemplation.

“You may actually have done some good for once, Evergreen,” he said slowly, “What persuaded you to come here and share this with me?”

“A couple of reasons,” I answered honestly, “First of all, if this Seahawk does start moving in on Seaddle, the status quo is going to change, and probably not for the better. That’s bad for everypony, especially for somepony like me, who already has a nasty reputation. Second, I was kicked out of my gang three days ago. I need to do something to start to clear my name so that I can trade at places like this. As a traveler and scavenger, I need access to the caravans and shops to stay supplied so I can survive. Being a raider with just one other pony won’t allow that, so my behavior needs to change.”

“So you’re not just offering this out of the kindness of your heart. You do want something out of it.” The mayor stated, “I thought you said you were offering it for free?”

“I am. Run me out if you choose to. But somepony somewhere will hear about me doing something like this and let me trade. I keep doing things like this, then at some point ponies are going to forget that I was a raider and I’ll be able to start living again,” I said, keeping my gaze locked on the mayor’s eyes.

He watched me just as intently, as if trying to gauge my intentions through force of will alone. For several moments, we stared each other down, me trying to communicate my determination to continue on living, no matter the hardships I would face, and him trying to maintain his air of indifference towards me.

Finally, he turned his head away. “Dammit, I wasn’t cut out for this shit,” he muttered. He lifted his head and his gaze held an expression I wasn’t prepared to see: gratitude. “Evergreen, this information will help us keep our eyes open for anypony trying to take us over, and we may be able to spare some ponies to help protect some of the nearby settlements. You’re right when you say that this Seahawk isn’t anything good for us. Even worse, though: I know who Greymane is, and taking this dead drop isn’t going to do anything but piss him off. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already hunting you,” he said.

That piqued my interest. “Who is he? He seems like a very capable pony, though I don’t know what to make of him,” I said.

“He’s a mercenary, but of the worst kind. Doesn’t care who hires him, so long as the price is right. He doesn’t ask any questions, but guarantees that the job will be done to specifications. I myself have hired him on occasion to take care of threats in the area, but he hasn’t been available for a few months now. I guess we know why. If this Seahawk has Greymane in his pocket, then he has some serious influence. Interrupting Greymane’s work, for any reason, usually only gets that pony killed. You’re going to want to watch your back from here on out,” the mayor explained.

I had met plenty of ponies exactly like Greymane, at least so far as profession went. A lot of them existed, but not many had the skills to stay alive long. Mercenary work was dangerous, especially since many employers, especially if they were the back alley type of employers, decided that they didn’t want anypony to know what they were doing, including the pony they hired to do the work. For somepony to get a reputation like the one Greymane had took some serious skill, which was much rarer.

“Thanks for the warning. Now if you don’t mind me asking, what are you going to do about me? I would like it if I could trade around here. We have some extra gear and supplies and could use some more water and medical supplies,” I asked. I didn’t want to push my luck, but having a town to work out of would make a lot of things easier.

The mayor hesitated as he considered my request. “I can’t deny that you’ve helped me, Evergreen, and I reward ponies that help me. You’re free to trade in Metro. For now. Whether or not you will be free to come and go is still up for debate, and the guards will be watching you. If I want to speak to you again, I’ll send for you. Now, I have a lot of other ponies to see today, so if you would excuse me.” He gestured towards the door.

I started to walk that way, pocketing the map again as I went. “Thank you, mayor. We won’t cause any problems.”

All of Metro was at my beck and call now. All I had to do was choose a direction and go. I had a pocket full of caps, and a plethora of shops to choose from. I also didn’t have a clue of where to start.

“So what’s the plan now, Evergreen?” Crosswire asked me, also surveying the expanse of the town before us.

It struck me then that he hadn’t called me ‘boss’ since before we had gone to Ironshod. The odd thing was that I liked it. I wasn’t the boss of anything anymore, and I didn’t really want to be. Being the boss of my own life was enough.

I turned to look at the buck. “Go out and trade what you can. Find whatever you think you need. I’ll do the same. Meet me at the infirmary in an hour or so. We’ll need to compare our medical supplies to see what we need more of.”

“Sounds good to me. I’ll see you there,” Crosswire answered and wandered off.

He quickly disappeared into the crowd as I stood there watching. For the first time in days, I was truly alone. It was a refreshing feeling. I could act without anyone relying on me to do the right thing. My decisions right now affected only myself, and I liked it.

I followed after Crosswire into the crowd, perusing the stalls I walked by. Occasionally I would stop to sell something, or maybe buy something I thought I could use, but for the most part I simply watched.

Near the end of the hour I had set, my body was starting to protest being jostled around by so many ponies. The injuries I had picked up over the last few days were still bothering me slightly, despite the healing potions I had drank. It couldn’t be a bad idea to get the doctor here to take a look at me.

I pushed my way through the crowd to the infirmary and opened the door. It was surprisingly clean, for a wasteland infirmary, and even had privacy screens around the different beds.

“I’ll be with you in a moment!” An eerily familiar voice called out, “Just finishing up with a patient here.”

I pulled off my saddlebags and set them on a chair by the door where I sat down. My mind was working overtime, trying to place that voice, but my memory was failing me. I had spoken with so many different ponies over the last few days that all of those voices were blending together.

As the doctor had said, she appeared a few moments later, and both of our jaws dropped in shock. “What are you doing here!” we exclaimed at the same time. It was Suture, that maroon medical pony that had followed Crackshot to our camp not three days ago.

“You go first! This is my infirmary and I want to know how you found me!” she demanded, marching up to me and standing as defiantly as she could.

“I actually wasn’t following you,” I stammered, still too shocked to organize my thoughts, “We were simply traveling and had a reason to come here.”

“And the guards let you in? Even after I warned them about you?” Suture demanded. Her tone made it difficult to tell if she was angry or confused.

“Well, yeah. I picked up some information that I had to share with the mayor. He was appreciative enough to let Crosswire and me into the city to trade. I came down here ‘cause I’ve collected a good number of injuries since you ran off,” I explained.

Suture simply shook her head at me. “I warned them about what you are, and our mayor doesn’t deal with raiders! How did you convince him to even listen to you?”

“Because I wasn’t making a deal. I offered him the information I found for free. Allowing me to trade was his way of thanking me. I’m not trying to do anything to endanger anyone in the city. That would just get me killed. Now are you willing to help me out, or am I going to have to live with my injuries?” I asked.

Suture stood silently, watching me with a disapproving eye, but also sizing up my body and all my injuries. “You’ve really done a number on yourself. What the hell have you been doing to get so hurt since I patched you up?”

“Well, first there were those couple dozen protect-a-ponies at the Ironshod factory, not to mention that behemoth of a robot that wasn’t shut down by the override. Then we got jumped earlier today by some opportunistic scoundrel and his friend, and that guy did a number on my shoulder,” I explained.

“And I suppose you just killed all of them?” Suture asked, her disapproval obvious. Even so, she walked to a cabinet and started to pull out various medical implements. It looked like I’d be getting treatment no matter how much this mare may dislike me.

“Actually, no. The robots we did knock out, but they really aren’t alive to begin with. I’m also pretty sure they thought I was a zebra. As for the scoundrel and his friend, the friend I did kill, but that was only after he had me pinned beneath him and was in the process of pounding the life out of me. But we let the scoundrel go,” I explained.

That got Suture to stop and look at me. “You actually let somepony live?” she asked incredulously, “What possessed you to do that?”

I hesitated before answering her. I didn’t know how much I wanted to admit to her about how much her influence had started making me think about my past and choice of lifestyle. Unfortunately, she noticed my hesitation.

“Typical,” she grunted, “You thugs are all the same. You do one thing different and then refuse to explain why you made the choice. Suit your damn self. Now take your damn barding off so I can get at those injuries.”

“No! I was just thinking about how best to explain. If I just spat out what was going on in my head, nothing would make any sense!” I protested as I shucked both my barding and utility suit. It pained me to see how many holes had been burned into the suit. It was approaching the point where it was near pointless to even hold on to.

“That so? Then have you organized your thoughts enough to talk about it, or are you still at a loss? Got hit in the head a few too many times, maybe?” Suture asked angrily. This was an entirely different side of the mare. At the camp, she had been cowardly and subservient, begging for her life with every other breath. Even after we had gotten out she had seemed fearful. I didn’t know how to deal with her now that she was being assertive and demanding.

She started to treat my wounds, covering the few remaining burns with a salve that stung terribly. “Ow! Watch it! That really hurts!” I exclaimed, twisting away.

“Good. Might give you some appreciation for what it feels like to be on the other side of things,” she answered with an utter lack of sympathy, “And if you’re wondering how I can do this when I said before that I can’t stand seeing others in pain, I meant if they were in agony. This isn’t going to kill you.”

This time, her words only served to piss me off. Who was she to assume that I didn’t know what pain is! I twisted around to face her, our muzzles mere inched from each other. “So you seriously still think that I have never suffered?” I demanded, my anger twisting the words into a near inarticulate growl. “I know what pain is; I’ve felt it almost every single day of my life since my parents were cut down in front of me! If you care to know, my mother’s head exploded less than a foot from mine when I was just a filly, courtesy of a raider sniper. And that was only the start!”

Suture jumped back as soon as I started yelling, a spark of fear appearing in her eyes. “I… I’m sorry… I didn’t know…” she muttered, trying to placate me, but I was having none of that.

“Oh, you’re sorry! Well that just makes everything fucking perfect then, doesn’t it!” I yelled. At this point, a pair of guards appeared in the infirmary, both with weapons out and aimed at me, but I ignored them as well. “Let me tell you something, Suture: I have probably suffered more than most of the ponies you have ever met. I have lost everything not just once or twice, but three fucking times already in my life! That is three times I have had to start over from scratch and build a new life from nothing! So don’t try to teach me what it’s like to feel pain!”

I pushed my way past her, quickly pulled my barding back on (to hell with the utility suit, I didn’t have anything valuable in it anyway), and walked out of the infirmary. I needed to get away from the infuriating medical pony before I did something I would regret.

“No, don’t follow her. I deserved that outburst, since I was provoking her,” I heard Suture saying to the guards, “She just needs some space to calm down. I misjudged her, badly it seems.”

I snorted in annoyance and kept walking, my head filled with images of the things I wanted to do to herm most of which involved some form of dismemberment. I made my way away from the town and a short distance into one of the abandoned metro tunnels. The guards gave me an odd look as I trotted past them out of the gates, but didn’t stop me. Why would they want to stop an angry mare leaving their town into an underground area that was filled with who-knew-how-many dangers?

I finally stopped just as I entered the shadows, where I sat in the gloom and closed my eyes, letting the muffled sounds from the town flow out of my conscious mind. It was the only way I could calm down without acting out my thoughts. The silence enveloped me, making time dilate until seconds became minutes, minutes became hours, and all of reality simply ceased to exist.

Slowly, I allowed thoughts to flow back through my mind. First came the memories from my past; the things from my life that brought me peace, and, in some senses, happiness. These memories calmed me, chasing away the rage that was always in the back of my mind, and left me feeling in control.

Next, I allowed the thoughts from my conversation with Suture to return. She had pissed me off, and she knew it, even took responsibility for it, when she could have let the guards throw me out on my ass. But, at the same time, simply assuming that because I wasn’t a nice pony I didn’t know pain and suffering was too far.

But again, despite her anger at me, despite her hatred of what I represented, she was willing to help me. She had been angry at me, sure, but she had still been treating my wounds, however roughly. That kind of action deserved respect. I knew I wouldn’t be capable of the same kind of kindness.

All I had done to repay her kindness to me was to get angry or ask her to join us, where she would be forced to see everything I dealt with every day. Despite my caution, I was reckless, sometimes even stupid. My injuries attested to that. And now here I was, mocking her as I asked her to fix me up again.

Gradually, my emotions returned, lending more meaning to the thoughts rushing around inside my skull. Somewhat to my surprise, rage didn’t immediately take control. Instead, it was shame. This was now the second time that Suture had caused me to feel that particular emotion.

Last time, it had pissed me off. This time, I didn’t let it. I forced the anger aside and let the shame come to the forefront of my mind, where I allowed it to fill every aspect of my being. My eyes welled up with tears, and as I felt the first few wet trails make their way down my cheeks, I thought that I was finally on my way to mending all of the evil I had done.

Just Law had been completely correct. My parents would have been devastated to see what I had become, especially since it was exactly what they had given their lives to protect me from. Now it fell to me to redeem myself, and to become something better than the reputation that existed about me.

But first, I had to rid myself of the grief and shame that Suture had brought on me. This time, I didn’t try to hold back the tears. I didn’t even try to keep my sobs from being audible. For the first time since my parents had been killed, I allowed myself to let all my pent up emotions escape.

That was how Suture found me, though I couldn’t say how much later it was. I wouldn’t have even known she was there had she not tapped me on the shoulder first.

I was lying on the cold, hard ground, a small pool of tears beneath my chin. My eyes were squeezed shut, and were swollen and red from crying for so long. Her touch startled me back to the present and I lurched to my hooves, instinctively ripping my knife from its sheath.

“Woah! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you!” Suture exclaimed, jumping back, “We were just getting worried. You’ve been gone for so long.”

It took my brain a few seconds to process that I wasn’t in danger. I finally slid my knife back into its sheath and sat down heavily. “How long have I been out here?” I asked, my voice rough from crying.

“Almost four hours. I was expecting you to get away for an hour or so to cool down, but when the guards said they hadn’t seen you anywhere, we started to get worried,” the medical pony explained.

“Oh,” I muttered, lowering my head, “I didn’t mean to worry anyone. I just needed to get away. I needed to think.”

“I realize that,” Suture answered slowly, approaching me. She sat down next to me, close enough to be comforting, but far enough away to clearly define the distance between us.

The silence lengthened as we both sat there, neither one of us wanting to be the first to speak. In a way, it was a good thing. It gave us both the space we needed to think, while at the same time reminding us what we needed to be thinking of.

Suture was finally the first to say something. “Evergreen, I’m sorry. I misjudged you, provoked you, and quite frankly deserve your anger. I made my point three days ago outside your camp after Crosswire pulled you out. What I did today was completely unnecessary and petty, especially given how much you have helped us.”

I didn’t answer immediately, instead letting the words hang between us so I could truly analyze what she was saying. At first thought, it sounded like an apology for her behavior, but there was more to it than that, there had to be. The more I thought about it, the more it sounded like an apology for her accusation of my behavior.

“No, Suture,” I finally answered, “You don’t owe me an apology, not for that. If anypony owes anypony else an apology, it’s me. Believe it or not, your words back in my camp got me thinking, and you were right: I am not a nice pony. I’ve known it for a long time; I simply decided not to act on it, and that is unforgivable. I’ve tried to start doing better, but it isn’t easy. All I want is my own survival, and it seems like the moral cost for that is so high sometimes, as though I have to choose between my soul and my life. I need to be honest right now: it was your influence that made me realize how unhappy I was, and it was your influence that made me face emotions I had long since thought buried. Without that, I would still be looking at everypony who crosses paths with me as an enemy, or at least as a target.”

As I had done, Suture remained silent. I hope she realized how much it took for me to admit something like that, and I wouldn’t do this for just anypony. It took me knowing that the other really deserved my apology, and the acknowledgement of how they had influenced me, for me to truly say anything like this.

“I hadn’t realized,” she muttered before trailing off. I looked over and saw her with her head hung low, much like my own was. In her eyes I could see a glint of regret and sadness.

When it became obvious that she didn’t have anything more to add, I spoke up again. “Why should you have? You had no reason to listen to me, and even less of a reason to help me. Hell, it took me almost getting killed to even realize that there was something wrong with my life. So, for what it’s worth, thank you. For making me remember that there is more to life than simply surviving.”

“Well, you’re welcome, I guess,” Suture answered, “Anything to help.”

Once again, the silence grew to encompass us. Part of the divide that had existed between us had been repaired, letting us at least acknowledge each other as two ponies that had more to offer than we thought at first. It was then that I realized that Suture was the only pony out here with me.

“Where is Crosswire? He didn’t come with you?” I asked, shifting to look back down the tunnel towards Metro.

“He’s in the infirmary, resting. He was in almost as bad of shape as you are. It took a bit, but we finally convinced him that we could find you without his help,” Suture answered.

“Huh, so he actually cares,” I muttered, “That’s surprising.”

Suture snapped her head up and looked at me with a confused expression. “Really? You’re surprised? He cares about you much more than he lets on. Maybe not in that way, but he definitely looks out for you. It has to take a lot to stay loyal to somepony when that loyalty is likely to get you killed, and then follow them about the wasteland walking headfirst into danger.”

I shrugged in response. I didn’t know how else to react. “I never thought of it like that. Just figured him to be more loyal than most other raiders.”

“Well there’s more to it than just that. Something about that pony is odd. He maintains this entire gruff and detached persona, but there’s a lot more to him than meets the eye.”

I thought back to his occasional comments and questions into how I was feeling or what I was thinking. They had been really out of place from his usual behavior, much as Suture was describing to me now. “I guess there is. I think he’s been trying to come out and be himself, but he’s scared of losing that hard edge.”

“Or he’s just scared of admitting that he’s more than he appears, or that he can care, which I think is how we managed to convince him to remain behind at all.”

That comment made me laugh, mostly because it made me realize one of the reasons Suture had come out here on her own, besides her desire to apologize. My laughter again put a confused expression on the maroon mare’s face. “So exactly what did you want to talk to me about?” I asked when my laughing finally subsided.

“I’m sorry?” Suture asked, completely lost.

“You came out here completely alone, to talk to a mare who had been mere seconds from attacking you. You had to want to do more than simply apologize,” I pointed out.

“Wha… How did you know that?” the mare sputtered, completely unsure of what to say or do.

“Well, you kept emphasizing that you got Crosswire to stay behind, and even though you said ‘we’, you’re the only one out here. Add all that to the fact that you already apologized, but stayed out here anyway, it all points to the fact that there’s something you want to say, so spit it out!”

The medical pony hesitated, then pulled out the Messaging Crystal from her medical bag. “You left this behind in your utility suit. I need to know where you got it and why you have it,” she stated. Her voice was completely emotionless, a stark contrast to her mood just a few moments ago.

Inside, I was cursing myself. How could I have forgotten about the damn crystal! “Crackshot brought it back from his raid the same day you wandered into the camp. I’m guessing it came from that caravan you promised not to talk about. My Pipbuck showed me that it’s much more valuable than it appears, so I held on to it. Haven’t been able to figure out why it’s so valuable though…” I explained, gazing into the crystal.

Suture slowly shook her head and returned the crystal to her medical bag. “I suppose I may as well tell you what I can, then, since you know half of it already. That crystal is the reason I was following the caravan. Bliss had been contracted to transport it to Mt. Hoof. This is probably one of the most valuable items in all the wasteland, for several reasons.”

“And what are those, because I can’t figure the damn thing out!” I asked, “I’ve spent hours messing with it, but nothing happens! Exactly what is it?”

Suture sighed and looked up at me, “It’s a Messaging Crystal.” I gave her my best ‘you don’t say?’ look. It took the mare a few moments to figure out that, even though I knew what it was, I didn’t know what it was. “As far as I know, only a few were ever made before the bombs fell. They function a lot like memory orbs, except that not just anypony can access them. Also, there aren’t memories stored in the crystals, but messages and information, a lot like a holotape, except only the pony that the Crystal was meant to go to can access them. It’s the most secure way to send a message, since there is no possibility of it being intercepted, other than it not reaching its destination,” she said by way of explanation, “but even then the information couldn’t be accessed.”

“And just who exactly was this pony that it was going to? If it was made before the war, how can it even be useful now? Whoever it was meant to go to must be long dead by now,” I pointed out.

“Well, yes and no,” Suture answered carefully, “It was found here in Metro, when the city was first founded, except that it was empty, so it must have gotten to whomever it was supposed to. Only recently have we had a need for it. There’s a community of ponies living near Mt. Hoof that we are trying to get in contact with, but they are very secretive and paranoid. Using this crystal was the only way we could get a message to them that guaranteed it came from us.”

“Why do you need to get in touch with them at all?” I asked, “It’s not like Metro is hurting for supplies or anything.”

“Take another look on your way out. Our food supply is running out. Even our water is starting to run low. Give it another five years, and Metro will just be another failed settlement. If we can start trading with the ponies at Mt. Hoof, we’ll be able to survive. That’s why I followed along, to make sure the caravan would make it,” Suture argued.

Her argument made sense, I suppose. But that didn’t explain why she had chosen to follow, no matter what she said. It also didn’t explain her promise. “Who exactly did you promise that you wouldn’t talk about the caravan? Nothing you’ve told me strikes me as all that serious,” I asked.

“Think about what I’ve said, Evergreen. I just told you that Metro doesn’t have a lot of resources. They are running out. If a raider gang found that out, the chances of us getting attacked rise dramatically. I’m only telling you now because you had the crystal. I guess I should thank you for getting it back. We’ll need to contract another caravan now.” She stood up and turned to leave, and I rose with her.

“Suture, wait,” I called out. The maroon pony paused mid-step. “This doesn’t explain why you risked yourself simply to watch that caravan, or why you weren’t traveling with them.”

The medical pony sighed heavily, then sat back down. Her ears dropped down around her head and every line of her body spoke of some intense internal grief. “Bliss would never have let me join her. She told me before she left that it was too dangerous. We’d all heard the rumors of the gangs in the mountains. But I couldn’t just let her take that risk. That’s why I followed: to make sure she’d be all right.”

I came up beside her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “You loved her, didn’t you?” I asked.

Suture’s nod was almost imperceptible. “She made sure to stop at Metro every chance she got. We always made sure to have time for each other when she was here. Our relationship wasn’t perfect, but it was more than most ponies have nowadays.”

“I’m sorry, Suture. If I could change the past, I would make sure she was still alive. I think I have a better understanding of your anger at me now, as well. In a way, I’m responsible for her death, and I would understand if you never forgave me for that,” I told her, then pulled my hoof away.

“Thank you for your understanding, Evergreen, but you weren’t the one who pulled the trigger. You may have ordered those other raiders to be out there, but you didn’t tell them who to kill. That was their choice. I think Bliss would have been happy to meet you,” Suture whispered. Anything louder and I think her voice would have completely given out.

I hung my head again. I didn’t know how to react to a gesture like that one. I had offered her a focus for her anger, and she had turned it away. It was more than I deserved. There must be some way I could make it up to her.

“Tell you what,” I said, waiting for the medical pony to lift her head in acknowledgment, “Give me the Crystal. I’ll make sure it gets to Mt. Hoof. I promise, it will get there. Maybe that will make up for some of your loss, at least in part.”

Suture looked up at me, tears in her eyes, and smiled. “Thank you, Evergreen. I’ll consider it.” She stood up and we both started back towards the town.

The guard let us both pass without comment and we made our way back to the infirmary. Once there, I spotted Crosswire lying on one of the beds, fast asleep, with his bags under the bed.

“I think we were in the middle of making sure your injuries were taken care of,” Suture said a few minutes after we entered, “and I promise to be more careful this time.”

I nodded at her and removed my barding. This time, she was much gentler in treating my various burns, wounds, and strains. By the time she was finished, I felt as good as new. She left me with some bandages covering the worst of the burns so they could heal naturally, but the simple act of having my injuries professionally seen to left me feeling rejuvenated. Even my shoulder felt much better than it had the rest of the day. It would still be a while before I would have full mobility, but it would serve for now.

“There you are. This time, try to last more than a day before you need more medical attention. Since it’s so late, feel free to clean yourself up and spend the night here. Crosswire already took me up on that offer, so just take a bed and get some rest. You can figure out your next move in the morning,” Suture said, gesturing to a bed.

I muttered my appreciation and wandered out of the infirmary to the baths. It felt good to clean myself, and to be able to dry off with a rag that was actually clean. I must have spent twenty minutes just letting the warm water sluice over my body, washing away all the built up grime and dirt, both real and emotional, before drying off and returning to the infirmary to sleep. I expected to be lying awake for hours as my mind raced through all of the new information I had picked up. Instead, I fell asleep within seconds of my head hitting the pillow.

When I woke, I actually felt refreshed. I hadn’t slept that well in a long time, and I think it was due to the fact that I actually felt safe where I was sleeping. There was something to be said for a settlement with a devoted guard unit.

I slowly slid out of the bed and onto my hooves. I was expecting to be sore from spending so long in the tunnels yesterday, but I was feeling surprisingly spry. I quickly stretched, making sure every single muscle group was nice and limber. Given my luck over the last few days, I was expecting somepony to try to shoot me at some point.

“I see you’re finally deciding to get up,” Suture said, walking around a privacy curtain to face me, “Crosswire got up a while ago. He’s out in the markets.”

I nodded in acknowledgment and stepped out into the general room of the infirmary, where my barding sat waiting for me on a chair. It had been cleaned and it also looked like it had been reinforced. The leather was polished and there were a lot of small metal plates sewn into the chest and back. The entire thing had been painted a light forest green.

The sight of the armor left me standing dumbfounded. My jaw must have been on the floor judging by Suture’s laugh. “I took the liberty of getting your barding fixed up. I also got a friend to color it for you so it would suit you better. Go ahead and try it on. We were careful to keep the leather from deforming, but there’s no way to be sure without you putting it on.”

I carefully slipped the barding on and marveled at the comfort of the fit. It felt almost like a second skin. I twisted around, testing the flexibility and was surprised to find that it barely hindered me at all. “How strong are the plates?” I asked, wandering over to a metal gurney to try to get a sight of my reflection.

I didn’t even hear Suture’s response. I was to dumbstruck by my own appearance. My mane was actually clean and swept back over my neck, with one strand hanging out, as I usually wore it. My hide was just as clean. For the first time in three years, I was completely free of any kind of grime or dirt, and it made all the difference.

My face was positively glowing, and my eyes had a shine to them that I hadn’t seen there since getting kicked out of Grovedale. All of the thoughts and emotions from yesterday had really made a difference on me. I felt like I had a future to work towards. I definitely had a goal to accomplish now, if Suture would let me, that is. It seemed like I could actually see hope in my reflection.

Slowly, a smile crept over my features as I admired myself in the polished metal of the gurney. I had stepped out of the hooves of Evergreen the raider and into the role of Evergreen the traveler, maybe even the scavenger, and that was okay with me. Anything was better than having to watch every word that came out of my mouth for the chance that it would reveal too much to the ponies around me.

“Evergreen? Are you okay?” Suture asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

“Yeah,” I answered, only dimly aware of what I was answering, “I’m better than I’ve been in a long time. Thank you for this Suture, you didn’t have to go through the trouble.”

“Actually, I did. I talked to the mayor last night. He has a job offer for you. You should go and see him now, I think you’ll like to hear what he has to say,” Suture answered.

I tore my gaze away from my reflection and looked at the mare. “Sure. I’ll talk to him. And have you thought about my offer? About the Crystal?”

“Yeah, I’ve thought about it. I just don’t know, Evergreen. We’ve made our peace, but this affects more than just me. I have to be sure that you have the best interests of my home at heart,” Suture answered, though not unkindly.

I could understand her feelings. The last time she had met me, I had kept her alive merely out of curiosity, and she knew that. It would take a lot for her to trust me with something as important as this, though it did feel odd no longer having the familiar weight of the Crystal in my barding.

“That’s fine,” I said, allowing my grin to widen, “It’s a big decision. I’m just saying, I’m offering to do it for no charge. You won’t get a better deal anywhere else!”

With that, I trotted out of the room, leaving Suture with a confused look on her face, and made my way to the mayor’s office. My new outlook was making me act very differently, and she was picking up on that.

The town was much busier during the day. I had thought the market had been crowded yesterday, but now there must have been twice the number of ponies forcing their way past each other to go about their day. I hadn’t even known that this many ponies lived here!

Once I arrived at the office, I was ushered past all of the waiting ponies, much to their disappointment, to talk to the mayor. As he had been the day before, he was seated behind his rather small desk reading a stack of papers.

“Uh, mayor, you asked to see me?” I announced when it became apparent he wouldn’t notice me.

He looked up from his stack of papers and focused his gaze on me. “Ah, Miss Evergreen, I had hoped you would come by. I have a proposition for you, given your recent offer of aid to our city.”

Something about the way he was asking me struck me as odd. I had offered him information to save my hide. I had no clue what he was talking about when he said I had offered to help the whole town. “I’m sorry, mayor? I wasn’t aware I had offered to help the town.”

“Of course you did! Didn’t you offer Suture to transport that Crystal to Mt. Hoof for us? Doing that would be a great help to the town, though I agree with her that we need to confirm your new intentions. It wouldn’t do to just drop that crystal into a raider’s hooves!” he explained.

I shook my head at the buck. “I didn’t offer to help her for the town’s sake. I offered to make up for a mistake I had made that hurt her. The favor is for her, not the town. It hasn’t done anything for me except allow me to keep living.”

Rather than make the mayor’s grin disappear, as I had expected, my comment simply made his grin wider. “Well, of course. I didn’t expect anything different. That doesn’t change my offer. I’ve asked around and discovered what settlement was represented in that map of yours. It’s a town by the name of Millberry. I would very much appreciate it if you would go there and see about possibly having them form an alliance with us. This Seahawk character is taking an interest in all the major towns, so the more of us that are allied, the better it will be for us in the long run. I am offering a sum of two hundred caps to travel there and speak with them, which I will pay up front, followed by a three thousand cap bonus should they agree. If they do not, the bonus will be three hundred caps. Is this agreeable to you?”

The mention of that number nearly shut my brain down. Three thousand caps! That was a damn fortune. I could do almost anything with that kind of money! I didn’t even have to think twice. “I accept. Just tell me what I need to do.”

The mayor jumped up to his hooves, a full-fledged smile on his face. “Fantastic. All you need to do is go there and extend our offer of allegiance to whoever is in charge. Be sure to be clear that we don’t want to take over; we just want to offer mutual protection and aid. If they ask for anything as proof, tell them you’ll speak to me and return immediately. We need this.”

None of that sounded too difficult. “Done,” I announced, “I’ll leave immediately. Just let me find my friend and get my gear. We’ll be out of here in no time!”

The mayor explained where to go to get to the town, handed over a pouch that held the two hundred cap advance, then saw me out of his office himself, and only turned back once we were basically in the market.

I paused for a moment before going in search of Crosswire. Evergreen the Mercenary. I could do that.

I finally found Crosswire an hour later haggling with a weapons merchant over a supply of 10mm ammo, the kind his SMG used. Both were going at it quite loudly, trying to both shout over the general din of the market, as well as letting their own personal frustration show.

After watching them for almost five minutes, I decided to step in. “Tell you what,” I started, pushing passed a rather surprised Crosswire to stand in front of the merchant, who was a surprisingly small, blue earth pony mare, ‘I can guarantee that the two of us are going to be repeat customers, so knock the price down now, and you’ll be the first merchant we come to in the future, eh? Consider it a long-term investment.”

“Oh, and who the fuck are you?” the mare demanded, narrowing her eyes at me, “My deal is with him! Not you.”

“He’s my friend and colleague, so any deal with him is a deal with me, and vice versa. So, do you accept?” I asked.

“Evergreen, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Crosswire demanded, pushing his way past me.

Before he could interrupt me and say something that was no longer true, I cut in, “Trust me here, Crosswire. I know what I’m doing.”

The mare looked from me to Crosswire and back, weighing our words. “You’ll come to me first, and only go to somepony else if I can’t supply you?” she asked shrewdly.

It hadn’t been exactly what I had said, but there was no way I could get out of it now. “If you give us a discount now and in the future, yes.” I was going to make her give a little as well.

After a moment’s hesitation, the mare grinned. “Done! Hundred caps for the ammo, then. That’s a fair compromise. And I’ll be keeping my eyes out for the two of you next time you’re in town.”

Crosswire sighed and counted out the money, sliding it over to the mare once he was done. He grabbed the ammo and deposited it into his saddlebags before dragging me away from the vendor. “Mind explaining what the hell that was about?” he snapped.

“Simple,” I answered, grinning, “We just got a contract from the mayor to head out to that town on the map, Millberry, and talk to the ponies in charge about forming an alliance with Metro. If they agree, we walk away with three thousand caps. If they don’t we get five hundred. Either way, we win, and being mercenaries is far better in my books than being a scavenger.”

“So you managed to convince the mayor that we aren’t bloodthirsty psychopaths? And I hope you realize that that mare has some of the highest prices down here?” Crosswire retorted.

“So what if her prices are high? The quality looked to be better than most other places around here, so we’re getting our money’s worth. And to answer your question: basically, yes. Metro is a good place to use as a base of operations. There’s an infirmary that’s led by a pony we’re on good terms with as well as a market that can supply us with everything we could ever need. If we can keep taking jobs out of here, we could do well for ourselves. What do you say?”

Crosswire hesitated and looked around, taking in everything he could about the city. It was crowded, dank, and dark, but these ponies were surviving. That was more than could be said for most wasteland settlements. “Works for me. Couldn’t hurt at this point. When are we leaving?”

My grin stretched out to a full smile. “Immediately. I just needed to find you first. Come on! The caps aren’t waiting for us!” I started trotting away, expecting Crosswire to be following after me.

A loud clatter of hooves told me he had been too dumbstruck to function for a few moments. “You seem very… different today, Evergreen,” he pointed out, catching up to me, “You feeling all right?”

“Never been better. I took some time for myself yesterday that I really needed. Figured some things out that nopony could have helped me with. Oh, and Suture and I are on friendly terms now. That was part of why she wanted you to stay behind last night when she went looking for me,” I explained, “I’m going to be a much different pony from here on out, just to warn you. The way I was living before just isn’t going to cut it anymore. You all right with that?”

Crosswire remained quiet for most of the rest of our walk to the entrance of the city as he thought over what I had told him. I let him have his space. He had an idea in his head of what I was like, and that had just changed on a very fundamental level. It had to be his choice on whether or not to stay with me.

“You’re completely done with the raider lifestyle then, aren’t you?” he asked quietly. The comment made several ponies turn and look at us with a surprised expression, as well as a few fearful ones.

“Yes. Completely. Just Law was right. My parents raised me differently, and I let the wasteland control me for far too long. Doing something like this for Metro will help others in the end, and it gives us a place to live while working for the mayor,” I answered.

Crosswire fell silent once again. He was obviously having trouble with the idea. We were just approaching the stairs up to the surface when he spoke again. “I’ve been a raider for so long it’s hard to think of myself as anything else. Maybe this life will be better. Guess I won’t know unless I try. All right, Evergreen, I’m with you, come good or ill.”

I stopped and impulsively wrapped my front legs around Crosswire’s neck. “Thank you! It means a lot to me! I was not looking forward to facing the wasteland on my own, if that’s what you decided.”

The buck stiffened under my embrace. “Uh… Sure,” he muttered, “Evergreen, could you get off me?”

I let him go and took a step back. “Sorry, I just… feel so much happier than I have in a long time.”

“It’s fine,” he answered quietly, “I’m just not used to… touching.”

“And you wouldn’t have needed to worry about traveling alone anyway,” Suture announced from ahead of us.

I turned my head in surprise to see the maroon pony standing ahead of us wearing a basic set of barding with a pair of medical boxes hanging from the sides.

“Suture! What the hell are you doing here?” I demanded, stepping over to her. Despite the combat-grade barding, she was completely unarmed.

“I’m going with you. Somepony trustworthy needs to make sure you’re doing what we hired you for!” she answered joyfully.

“What about your infirmary? And where’s your weapon? How are you intending to protect yourself?” I asked, each question flowing out before she had a chance to answer any of them.

“To the first question: my assistant will do just fine without me. To the second: I don’t carry a weapon. My mission in life is to help ponies, not hurt them. I trust you and Crosswire will see I survive as well as you can,” she answered, her smile never leaving her face.

This pony was being stupid, but I couldn’t turn away her skills. We needed them too much. Instead, I came up with an idea. I reached into my saddlebags and pulled out the 9mm pistol that was loaded with hollow point rounds. I tossed the weapon to her and watched in disappointment as she let it clatter to the ground in front of her.

“Pick it up. Your vision isn’t realistic out there. Here, it works, but not out there. Ponies will be trying to kill you, regardless of how you feel about it. Take the weapon. You won’t like it now, but you’ll thank me when some crazed bandit is trying to rip your heart out through your chest,” I insisted.

Suture gave me a flat, angry stare, but did as I asked. She even went so far as to slide it into the built-in holster of her barding. “I’m not happy with this, Evergreen,” she ground out through clenched teeth, “but you might have a point. Just so you know, I refuse to use it unless I have absolutely no other choice.”

“Fine by me,” I answered as I pulled out all the extra 9mm ammo I had and handed it to her, “Take the ammo to. Keep in mind, it’s loaded with hollow point rounds right now.”

She gave me a completely blank look. It simply couldn’t be possible that this pony knew nothing about guns! She lived in the Celestia-damned wasteland!

When her look didn’t disappear, I rolled my eyes and sighed heavily. “It means that the bullets will work really well on ghouls or other ponies, but will be completely worthless against anything with armor. If we’re facing something that has armor, switch to normal rounds, ok?”

She continued giving me a blank look for a few moments as her brain processed the information, then her eyes finally lit up with understanding, if not enthusiasm. “Fine. Can we go now? It’s a long way from here to Millberry.”

I nodded and started up the staircase. “Absolutely! Let’s get out there and get moving! The wasteland doesn’t wait for anypony!”

We emerged into the wasteland where, to my surprise, it wasn’t raining. We pushed our way through the shanty town, ignoring the vendors who were trying to get our attention, until we stood before the empty wasteland.

“This is it, isn’t it?” Suture asked nervously, eyes darting about the empty and scarred landscape, searching desperately for some form of life that didn’t exist.

“Eeyup,” I answered, “But you should already know the feeling. This isn’t the first time you’ve left the city, after all.”

“But last time I was following after my marefriend. I wasn’t thinking about the dangers of the wasteland or the complete lack of life out here. Now I am,” the medical pony answered, one hoof pawing at the ground.

“Look at it this way,” Crosswire spoke up, “You’re not entering some great unknown. You’re traveling with other ponies who have promised to protect you, and who are relying on you to keep them on their feet. This isn’t some mission that will decide the life or death of a city. It’s an adventure, a journey. Things become a lot easier to wrap your head around if you take away their importance.”

Both Suture and I were watching the grey buck with our jaws hanging wide open. I had never pictured him to be very philosophical, though I guess it made sense when you factored in the little hints of his real personality that he had been dropping over the last few days.

“Wow… I… I’ve never thought of it that way before…” Suture trailed off, “That really helps. Thank you, Crosswire.”

“Where’d that come from?” I asked, stumbling over my words as I tried to re-organize the thoughts that had been thrown into disarray by Crosswire’s totally unexpected insight.

Crosswire simply shrugged. “Something I learned a few years back, before we met. It helped me get through a few rough spots.”

“Well, I like it. But we’re wasting time! I want to get moving!” I announced, running in place to show my impatience.

Suture laughed at my antics and shook her head slowly. “Come on, Crosswire. We should get moving, or we’ll never hear the end of it.”

Crosswire laughed as well and the three of us set off into the wasteland, heading southwest, towards Millberry.

Our journey was slow and monotonous. As ever before, the wasteland was empty. We passed burnt out shells of civilization, desiccated husks of towns that had once been beautiful and factories that had once supplied entire cities. Everywhere around us was evidence that life had once prospered here, but now nothing was left but dust and echoes.

The constant cloud cover left even the happiest days with a sense of foreboding and depression, as the constant grey sky seemed to suck all color from the land. My eyes may tell me that that billboard was painted in garishly bright colors or that that home was painted bright yellow, but my mind drained them of those colors, making every surface appear the same dull grey.

The towns and homes we passed filled my heart with sadness. They seemed to be telling me that no matter how hard I tried to preserve my life, or the lives of my friends, we were all doomed to death in the end.

The constant sameness of our surroundings led my mind to wander, and I started to think of how many ponies I had killed, or ordered killed, who had had some other special somepony out there. I couldn’t help but to wonder how many lives I had ruined, how much hope I had destroyed, or how many families I had torn apart. How many ponies now lived in the wasteland who could tell a life story that was almost identical to mine? How many fillies had watched their parents die in front of them at the hooves of raiders? I knew I wasn’t the first, and I wouldn’t be the last. But I was probably one of the few who had embraced that violence after seeing it take everything from me.

I turned my gaze to watch Suture as we walked. She wore her grief well, but I could still see her sadness at the loss of Bliss. No matter what she said, I knew that I was responsible for her death. Suture was just willing to see things from the most literal stand point: that Crackshot had been the one to pull the trigger.

I was grateful to her for that, but it didn’t change my feelings on the matter, not when all I could think of was the dozens of ponies who had died at my hooves. How many Bliss’s were there in that number? Even worse, how many Sutures were there? I had seen ponies wander into the wasteland in search of a lost loved one, if only because they didn’t know what else to do. Most left with little or no preparation, knowing only that they wanted to find their loved one and return home. Most never made it more than a few hours from their homes before being found by ponies like me.

I closed my eyes for a moment and chased the thoughts away. Thinking like that now wouldn’t help anything. I had made my choice: I was going to redeem myself. Dwelling on my mistakes and letting guilt dominate me were not going to help me do that. I re-opened my eyes and set my mind to watching our surroundings. We were now in a part of the wasteland where there was a lot of gang activity. We would need to be watchful.

We were traveling slowly, choosing caution over speed. Even though two of us were well-versed in fighting, most gangs in the wasteland would attack with at least three or four ponies, leaving us outnumbered in even the best-case scenario. We weren’t going to be caught by surprise.

But our caution was not enough to stave off all danger.

We were passing between two old office buildings when the first shot thundered through the wasteland, only barely being deflected by my upgraded barding. The impact sent me tumbling from my hooves to lie in a dazed heap, my hide throbbing where the bullet had struck.

“Bandits!” Crosswire exclaimed as he floated out his SMG and sent a quick burst in the direction that the bullet had come from. A second shot rang out, striking Crosswire in the chest. Unlike mine, his barding was not reinforced. The bullet easily tore through the simple vest and bit into his body.

I watched in shock as he collapsed to the ground, blood gushing from the wound in his chest. He struggled weakly, trying to regain his hooves. His horn sparked feebly as he reached out for his gun, reacting completely on instinct to protect himself.

“Fuck! Suture, get to him! He can still be saved if we act quickly! I’ll cover you!” I shouted, waving a hoof in the injured tech’s direction. I wasn’t going to let him die. Not now that we were finally beginning to become true friends.

After a short hesitation to gather my nerves, I launched myself into the open, diving for Crosswire’s discarded SMG. I scooped it up in my jaws and twisted around to face the direction of the sniper and pulled the trigger.

The force of the gun shook my teeth and kicked back into my mouth so hard that I started to taste blood. It only took a couple of seconds to completely empty the gun, and the aftermath of the barrage left my ears ringing and my jaw aching. Hammer hit hard, but it was always just a short, quick punch, not a prolonged barrage like that had been.

I turned to look at Crosswire and saw Suture crouched over him, holding a healing potion to his lips and trying to coax him to drink. The medical pony must have felt me looking, because she glanced up with a terrified look on her face and tears beginning to form in her eyes.

“He won’t drink!” she cried out, her voice thick with tears, “I don’t know why!”

I felt a prickle on the back of my neck as I was about to answer and dove to the side. A bullet slammed into the ground where I had been standing a mere moment ago. Had I not jumped, then I would have a brand new hole through my head. I dove away once again, this time jumping towards where Crosswire lay, bleeding out onto the ground.

I shoved Suture aside and took the healing potion, which I promptly emptied into Crosswire’s throat. I held his head up so he would have no choice but to swallow. Slowly, his breathing strengthened and I felt the flow of blood against my legs lessen as his wound closed.

“Another potion, now!” I demanded spitting the SMG out on the ground and holding a hoof out towards Suture.

“What about the sniper?” the medical pony asked, trembling violently as she reached into one of her medical cases for another potion.

“Fucker will either kill us and be done with it, or realize that we’re not worth the trouble and hold their fire. Nothing I can do about it here. It’s not like I can use a rifle like that very effectively,” I ground out as I repeated the same process with the second potion.

Crosswire started to sputter, choking on the potion as I forced it down his throat. The wound finally sealed, but the grey buck was unconscious, probably from blood loss. His breathing was shallow, but stronger than it had been a moment before.

“Come on, help me with him! We need to get to cover! That building should offer us some protection!” I snapped, trying to get Suture moving. I started to maneuver the heavy buck onto my back, but would have failed had Suture not finally decided to move and heave him up.

I grabbed the SMG again before we galloped away as quickly as we could, praying that the sniper didn’t have a clear shot. I stuck to cover when I could, but the street we were in was quite empty, and I had no clue exactly where the sniper was. There were a few close calls as a round struck close enough to us to shower us with stinging debris, but, by some miracle, we made it safely to the doors of one of the office buildings.

Suture trotted ahead to the door, but turned to me with a fearful look a moment later. “It’s locked!” She announced, voice trembling almost as violently as she was.

I growled deep in my throat and spat the SMG out on the ground. I twisted and dug into my saddlebags, pulling out a grenade. “Use this,” I said, tossing her the explosive “It should get the door open. Set it on the handle, pull the stem, and take cover.”

While Suture did that, I took cover behind a broken down carriage twenty feet away. Crosswire’s breathing was getting worse. A couple of healing potions weren’t going to be enough. He needed serious help, but he wasn’t going to get it while a sniper was shooting at us.

A loud clatter of hooves told me that Suture had set the grenade and was running for her life. The lack of a scream when the explosive went off told me she had made it. I walked out from behind the carriage back to the door, where the handles were now nothing more than mangled metal. I pushed a hoof against the doors and they creaked open, much to my delight. The grenade had been an act of desperation.

I squeezed through the small opening, being careful not to damage Crosswire any further, and moved back to a table where I could lay him down. Suture came through the door a moment later and pushed it shut behind her.

“Are we safe now?” she asked, every line of her body revealing how terrified she was. If I had to guess, I would have said that she was even more scared than she had been in my camp.

“Safer than we were. See to Crosswire. His breathing is getting weaker,” I ordered as I walked up to the door. I doubted that the sniper would give up that easily.

“Ok. I can do this,” Suture muttered as she walked by me.

“Just stay focused on the job. Do that, and we’ll be fine. Leave that sniper to me.”

We sat in silence for what seemed like hours. Suture was hunched over Crosswire, working with an almost single-minded determination. I was thinking about who could be trying to shoot us. The only option that seemed to fit was Greymane. His reputation seemed to make him out to be some sort of super-mercenary, so I wouldn’t doubt that he was skilled enough to use a heavy sniper rifle.

The wait was starting to get to me, and as I started to lose my focus, I considered abandoning my post when a sound carried through the door.

“This is the only place they could have gone,” the voice muttered. It sounded like it was coming from a young mare, but showed no sign of fear of nerves. “Now I can finally do what’s right. I’ve spent my life preparing for this.”

I backed off slowly, pulling Hammer out of its holster and holding it up to the door. This didn’t fit at all! The mayor had said that Greymane was a buck, not a mare. Why would a random mare be attacking us? I didn’t have time to ponder the question as the loud sound of a heavy rifle being reloaded echoed through the office. Then, there was a long period of silence.

“Knock knock,” the voice announced, then there was the sound of something massive slamming against the door.

Level up!
Perk gained – Sixth Sense – You can tell when somepony is carefully aiming at you, giving you a small chance to dodge.
Skill Note: Guns (50)

Speech (50)

{This chapter took a bit of work. Getting Evergreen’s change of heart to be realistic wasn’t easy, and school work kept getting in the way of writing time. As always, thanks to Kkat for creating FoE in the first place, and thanks to Cody and Green Leaf for editing. Please feel free to leave comments for anything from criticism (please keep it constructive) to ideas!}

Chapter Four: Circles within Circles

Fallout Equestria: Redemption
By: Cooperdawg
Chapter 4: Circles within Circles
“Our lives are the results of our choices.”

In the fraction of a second before the door gave way underneath the massive force trying to crush its way through, time seemed to slow to a stop, giving me the chance to realize one undeniable and all-encompassing truth: this was the end. Everything I had ever fought for, everything I had ever done with my life in the name of survival, amounted to nothing. This is where I would meet the one force in this world that nopony could avoid. This is where I would meet my death.

Oddly, the thought didn’t upset me. I didn’t want to die, not by any means, and I would not go willingly, but the anger that would have been present in me not two days ago was gone. In its place was a sense of calm and peace. I would face this end bravely, and even though it was more powerful than anything I had encountered before, I would, at the very least, take it with me so nopony else would meet their end the same way.

Time snapped back into reality as the door imploded under the force of impact. The force of the attack struck with such terrible force that one of the doors broke entirely free of its hinges and slammed into me, sending me flying back into the room and sending Hammer flying off into the distance.

I finally came to rest ten feet away against a pile of rubble from the floor above that had collapsed down to this level. I felt as though every single bone in my body had been shattered as each breath sent spikes of pain through my chest. Using every last shred of strength that I could find I forced myself to my hooves and pulled out my knife. Reaching into my saddlebags for the .45 was simply beyond me right now, but I would be damned if I was going to face my death unarmed.

A shape slowly became visible through the mist. My first hint that anypony was even there was a light yellow glow, coming from both the top of the pony-shape as well as surrounding the long profile of what could only be a high-power sniper rifle. I crouched down, gathering myself for one last suicidal lunge, but found myself unable to act when the shape came out into the open, past the cloud of dust.

The unicorn mare couldn’t have been more than a teenager. Her coat was the same dark blue as the night sky, bordering on becoming black, but her mane was a shock of fall colors: browns, reds, and oranges all twisting around one another as though in a fight for dominance. Her horn glowed bright yellow as it held the heavy rifle suspended in the air before her. Her levitation skills must have been incredible to manage a weight like that with such ease.

I held my ground, not knowing what to do. This mare had attacked us, had seriously wounded Crosswire, maybe even… no. I was not going to let myself finish that thought. Crosswire was tough, tougher than almost any other pony I had ever met. If anypony could survive a wound like that, it would be him. But all the same, given the threat she posed, I stood here, motionless, unable to attack simply because she appeared vulnerable. Even her expression, as controlled as it was, revealed some kind of deep inner pain.

The mare locked her gaze onto mine and swung the rifle around to aim directly at me. As her eyes met mine I realized that this attack wasn’t some random ambush on an unlucky group of travelers. This mare recognized me. Worse, it looked like she knew me. Her gaze narrowed, and I saw all of her pent-up hate for me flow to the forefront of her stare. This mare had every intention of ending my existence right here.

“Finally, I found you,” she growled, “There is no longer anything stopping me from putting a Celestia-damned bullet through your fucking skull. I have been waiting so long for this.”

“Who are you?” I demanded around the hilt of my knife, “And what have I done to you to warrant this kind of attack?” I could feel my control slipping as my anger threatened to take over. If it did, I knew there was nothing holding me back from jumping at this mare, no matter how futile the attack would be.

“That’s just it, isn’t it?” the mare said, her tone almost laughing, but still there was a layer of anger, barely contained, under it. “You haven’t got a fucking clue who I am. You didn’t have a fucking clue who my parents were either, but that didn’t stop you from putting a gun against their heads and blowing their brains out, did it?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I asked, lowering myself slightly lower to the ground to get every ounce of strength that I could out of my legs, should I need to jump. Unfortunately, at this range, almost any hit from that sniper would likely be enough to kill me, so any tactic I used would be a delaying one, at best.

“I’m talking about my family, you murdering bitch! I’m talking about the ponies whose home you invaded five years ago, where you shot them dead simply because they were in your way. I’m talking about me finally getting revenge for that act. After five fucking years of living hell, I can finally face my end knowing that my parents have been avenged.”

My mind was racing, backtracking through my memories of every raid I had ever been on, every raid I had ever ordered, but nothing would come forward to identify the tale that this mare was telling me.

“Evergreen, I’m losing him! I need your help here!” Suture yelled at me from across the room. Somehow, in all the chaos, she had managed to stay with Crosswire and keep him alive, if only barely.

Still, I stood my ground, staring down this strange mare. Her gaze was still boring into mine. I could see her hatred there, but there was something else as well. This mare couldn’t bring herself to shoot, not if I didn’t act first. I had just found my way out. All it would take was a gamble.

“Fuck this,” I announced and slid my knife back into its sheath. I stood up as tall as I could, considering the considerable amount of pain I was in, and turned my back on the midnight mare, hobbling over to where Suture was crouched over Crosswire’s limp form. “What do you need me to do?” I asked, coming up beside the maroon medical pony. I grabbed one of the healing potions that Suture had laid out and chugged it. Most of the pain from the attack receded enough for me to be able to walk without being in constant pain, but there was still an insistent ache throughout my entire body.

“His breathing is dangerously weak, and I’m pretty sure that there is still some internal bleeding, but a healing potion isn’t going to help here. I need to make an incision so the blood can drain and so I can stitch up whatever is causing it, but the shock may be too much to his system. If he stops breathing, you need to breathe for him. Can you handle that?”

“Yeah, I can do that. You sure about this?” I asked. I wasn’t going to lose him now. We had just reached the point where I knew he was someone I could rely on. I didn’t want to lose that.

“No, but I don’t have a choice. If I do nothing, he will die. Ready?” Suture answered, looking up at me with a worried look on her face.

I returned her gaze for a moment as I mentally prepared myself, then nodded. “Do it.”

“What the hell is this?” the sniper finally demanded, probably coming out of whatever shocked stupor I had put her in. I could hear her stepping towards us. She wasn’t even trying to hide her advance. “This is not how you would react! I know, I watched you that day, and I know how raiders think. When faced with a threat, you attack, every single time! So why the fuck aren’t you attacking me?!”

I could hear the desperation in her voice. She wanted to shoot me. She probably wanted my death more than she wanted her own life, but she still held herself to moral values that kept her from following through with that desire, no matter how much anger and hatred she poured into herself.

“I’m not attacking because to attack you would be suicide. Also, my closest, and probably only, friend is dying. I’m not going to simply let that happen. I hate to burst your bubble, but I’m not a raider, not anymore,” I answered, letting just enough of my anger creep into my voice to let the mare know that I meant every word.

“This… This is bullshit! Turn around and look at me! I need to watch you die!” she demanded. I heard her stumble as a piece of rubble shifted out from under her hooves. Two days ago, I would have jumped at the chance to disable her, and probably kill her, but now I had too many other things to worry about.

“Now, Evergreen! His breathing’s stopped! I only need a few minutes, so keep at it!” Suture shouted. Her muzzle and hooves were coated in blood from working on Crosswire’s insides. I didn’t want to think about what the blood was coming from.

I knelt down over Crosswire’s head and pressed my lips to his, forcing my breath into his lungs. When mine were completely empty, I pulled away, sucked in another breath, and repeated the process. Even while working, I could feel the midnight mare’s eyes drilling into my back and could feel her hate like a fire, spreading from where her gaze was locked onto my back throughout my entire body.

When I came up for air between breaths, I turned my head just enough to fix her in one eye. “Look, if you’re going to shoot me, shoot me and be done with it!” I snapped, “If not, drop that damn gun and let me save my friend!”

“I’m almost… there,” Suture muttered before finally backing her head out of the cut she had made in Crosswire’s chest. “Give him a couple healing potions, now. We need to seal this wound.”

I nodded and swiftly followed the order, forcing two of the purple potions down the tech’s throat. Slowly, too slowly to my eyes, the wound in his chest knitted together, but when the healing power of the potions was finished, there was still a small wound remaining. I reached for another potion, but Suture waved me away, instead pulling out a roll of magical bandages which she wrapped tightly around his chest, sealing the little remaining damage from the elements.

“Is he breathing?” Suture asked me, looking up from her handiwork. The blood on her face and across her chest was a surreal image. She looked like one of the psychopaths that every raider gang had to deal with: the kind that enjoyed eating their victims.

I shook my head to dispel the image and lowered an ear to his mouth, straining to hear any sound of respiration. It took a few seconds, but I did feel a slight passage of air go past my ear, and heard the faint exhalation coming from the buck. “Barely, but yeah, he’s breathing. You did it, Suture.” I felt a weight lift itself from my shoulders. Knowing that Crosswire was going to survive this lifted my spirits to the point where I felt like I could face anything. Right now, I had to.

Not even bothering to hide my joy and relief, I turned back around to face the sniper. Her expression was no longer one of hatred, but of division. Her eyes were still filled with the desire to kill me, but she was torn now that she had seen me work so hard to save somepony. Her weapon had also drifted down until it was no longer pointing at my head, but at my chest.

“So what’s it going to be? I know where you are, whoever you are,” I stated simply, “I’ve been there myself. You ready to take that shot? I can tell you what happens when you do, if you care to know.”

“What do you mean?” she demanded, lifting the rifle slightly, “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“You pull that trigger, and it will change you. I have no doubts that every single pony you have killed to this point you have killed as an act of self-defense. But killing me will be different. I will not attack you, no matter what you say to me. If you kill me, it will be murder, no matter what justifications you give yourself, no matter how much you tell yourself I deserve it. And trust me, once you commit that first murder, the next is much easier. And the next, and the next, and the next, until you no longer think of killing other ponies as murder, but simply as another way to get ahead and survive. Are you ready to become that?”

The mare stared into my eyes, the hatred giving way to confusion and fear. “What the fuck do you know about it?” she snapped, trying to force her anger to remain, “You’re a Celestia-damned raider! You don’t know what a fucking family is!”

Under any other circumstances, I would have killed her for that statement alone. I could even almost feel Suture’s wince from where I stood. But this conversation wasn’t about me. If I was going to be a better pony, then this was where it would have to start. But that didn’t mean that I couldn’t let my anger show.

“I don’t know what a family is? Are you fucking kidding me? My parents raised me until the day raiders put them down mere inches in front of me! Those instilled in me the exact same hate I see in your eyes, and I’ll tell you, that hatred did nothing to help me! It consumed me, changed me, and twisted me into becoming the very thing my parents died to save me from. If you pull that trigger, you’ll be just like me. That is a promise,” I growled.

The sniper took a step back, shaking her head. “No, no it doesn’t work like that!” she protested, “You’re a raider, it’s all you’ve ever been! Why else would you kill them?! Why would you leave me in this world with nothing?!”

I took a step towards her, keeping my held up high and making sure my steps were careful and not in any sense threatening. At any violent move, I would be dead, and I knew it. “I killed them because I was a raider, and it was what I did. They were in my way, and I was angry. I was always angry. I’m still angry. I didn’t even know you were there,” I explained. I took another step, then another. With every step, the mare seemed to shrink in on herself as she crouched down to the ground until she was simply lying there, helpless. Her ears folded back and her eyes welled up with tears. She didn’t know how to deal with this situation I was giving her, and it hurt her, probably more than anything I had ever done.

When I was just a couple steps away from her, I stopped. Her magic grip on the sniper failed as she looked up at me and the weapon clattered to the ground. “You’re going to kill me now, aren’t you?” she asked, “This is how you work now, isn’t it?” Her tone was almost pleading.

This mare was hurt, and that hurt was far deeper than anything I had ever had to endure. I had never been forced to face the object of my torment. The raiders that had killed my family had been killed in the same battle in which my parents died. But this mare was now faced with me, but I wasn’t the pony I needed to be to let her vent her emotions and anger in the way she wanted to. But that way wasn’t the right way anyway.

I knelt down until I was down on her level and could look her straight in the eye. “I’m not going to kill you,” I said softly, “I’m going to apologize. I did kill your family, and the fact that I can’t even summon up their image, or even a memory of that day speaks volumes to the depths I fell to. But I have realized where I went wrong. If I can help anypony avoid that same life, then by Celestia as my witness, I will do so! Now get up. I’m not killing anypony today that I don’t have to, and you are not going to become a victim to the wasteland.”

I rose back to my hooves and held a hoof out towards her. She watched me quietly, looking for any hint of deception or betrayal, but I was offering nothing like that. Two days ago, I would have killed her as soon as she dropped the rifle, but now I could see that killing her would accomplish nothing. She no longer had the drive to pull the trigger on me, so I wasn’t in any danger from her. Crosswire wouldn’t be happy with the decision, but I couldn’t care less. The situation was exactly like I had told Suture yesterday: the moral cost of simple survival was too high, so I had to do what I could to save what little bit of a soul I had left.

After a full minute of tense silence, the mare reached out, hooked her own hoof around mine, and pulled herself to her feet. “Why?” she asked, her expression one of confusion, “Why are you sparing me? Why are you doing any of this?”

“Because I was wrong, and I want to make it right now. Can’t really start doing that if I kill everypony I meet, can I?” I answered, “So what’s your name? I’m Evergreen.”

The mare stared at me, completely dumbfounded. Finally, however, her anger and hatred dominated over any other emotion and her horn started to glow again, bringing the heavy sniper back up. I backpedaled to get away, but the rifle followed me. Even after I was twenty feet away, backed up against a wall, I was staring done the carefully-engineered barrel of the sniper rifle.

“Fuck!” she yelled, “What the hell is going on here! I don’t give a fuck how different you might be, or how fucking bad you feel about the shit you’ve done, you killed my fucking family! Because of you, I have nothing. Nopony out there gives a shit about me, and nopony has ever since my family was fucking killed! By you! Now fucking attack me so I can finish this!”

I forced my heart to slow down and took a deep breath, only exhaling once I felt my body beginning to relax. “No.”

“What the fuck do you mean, no?” the sniper demanded, taking a step forward. The rifle moved forward with her, only coming to rest a couple of inches from my head. I could now easily make out the rifling of the barrel.

“Exactly what I said. I’m not attacking you. I am not suicidal, and I want to help you,” I responded calmly, “What’s your name?”

“Fuck you!” the mare shouted, “You don’t deserve to know that! All you fucking deserve is death!”

“Then pull the fucking trigger! End it! But I will tell you now that that is the beginning of a very dark path, and you will hate yourself when you realize how far you’ve fallen!” I shouted back. I was finished with being nice. Either this mare would allow the wasteland to consume her, or she would be better.

“Evergreen, no!” Suture shouted. I saw her take a step towards me.

“Stay out of this, Suture,” I snapped, “This doesn’t concern you. It’s between me and her. If she pulls the trigger, get Crosswire back to Metro and make sure he’s taken care of. Promise me that, please.”

“O… Okay, Evergreen,” Suture answered, “I promise.”

“So what’s it going to be?” I asked, taking a step forward so that the barrel of the rifle was pressed against my forehead, “You have the guts to pull the fucking trigger and end this Celestia-damned charade, or are you going to drop the rifle and tell me your fucking name?”

“Fuck!” the mare shouted and I felt something shift, followed by a wall of light and noise that left my ears ringing and my head spinning.

When the world finally returned to some semblance of normality, I found myself lying on the ground, trembling, with blood flowing down the side of my head. I twisted around so I was looking up and saw the sniper floating above me, smoke curling around the barrel. The wall next to where I had been standing had a fresh bullet hole in it; one that was easily twice as large as any other bullet hole I had ever seen. Some of the shrapnel from the shot had lacerated the side of my head, not to mention the blood flowing from my ear from a busted ear drum.

A shadow passed over me and the sniper’s head came into my sight. Her face was scrunched up in a grimace and her eyes were simply radiating hatred. “Fuck you, Evergreen. I’m staying with you, and the moment you do any fucking thing that is even the least but raiderish I swear to any god that may still exist that I will kill you on the spot, got it?”

I rolled back over and tried to gather my hooves under me, but the repeated trauma of getting hit with a door, then having a heavy sniper going off right next to my head left me so unsteady that my attempt left me lying on my side, gasping for breath.

Suddenly, a yellow glow surrounded me and I was being lifted into the air and lowered on to my hooves. The glow remained until I had some semblance of stability. Was this mare really that skilled with levitation that she could maneuver a sniper as well as a pony with such ease?

“My name is Autumn Mist, and from this moment forward, consider me your conscience, Evergreen. If you fuck up, you’ll get to rejoin that family of yours and mine can finally rest in peace. And trust me, I am not going to let anypony else kill you. That act belongs to me alone,” the mare snapped, chambering another round in her sniper to make her point.

“So long as you aren’t shooting me, I could care less what you do. If you insist on coming along, I won’t say no to another gun on my side,” I mumbled, still trying to get my head working properly, “But one rule: never do that again. If you’re going to pull the trigger that close to my head again, make sure to hit me.”

“No promises,” the mare answered, flipping her rifle around and sliding it into a set of leather loops on her barding so that it rested comfortably on her back.

I shook my head and hobbled over to Suture. I nearly fell over several times, since my busted ear was really throwing off my balance, not to mention everything else that had led up to this point.

The medical pony met me halfway, supporting me with her body and leading me over to where she had our medical supplies spread out. “You really can’t go for more than a day without getting yourself hurt, can you, Evergreen?” she asked me. At any other time, I’m sure her tone would have been somewhat joking, but with everything we had already faced today she couldn’t bring anything but weariness into her voice, and it was barely past noon.

She got me a healing potion, even going so far so to pull the cork and hold it to my lips. I took it in my mouth and tipped my head back, letting the thick purple fluid flow down my throat. The cuts on my head healed quickly, then my ear popped as my eardrum mended itself as well. Too bad the potions did nothing for headaches.

“Thanks,” I muttered, shaking my head to try and clear it and to get my ears to stop ringing.

“Of course. You sure about her, though? I don’t know how I feel about this. She almost killed Crosswire,” Suture said, quieting her voice to little more than a whisper.

“She shot a heavy sniper less than a foot from my head. Of course I’m not sure about this. Not like she’s giving us a choice, and I’m not about to murder her either, no matter how much I may want to.”

“You would have last time we met,” Suture pointed out, a slightly hard edge coming into her voice, which meant that this was probably a test.

“Last time, yeah, I wouldn’t have hesitated. This time, she’s in the right. Besides, what’s the worst that can happen? She decides that I fucked up and puts a bullet in my head. At least that would be a quick end. I could think of much worse. Hell, I’ve done much worse.”

Suture shook her head at me. “Well, at least you’re doing something for the right reasons for once.”

I ignored her comment and instead asked, “So how’s he doing? That shot did a lot of damage.”

Suture sighed and turned her head to look at the grey buck. He was lying completely motionless, his face, neck, and chest all drenched in blood. While he was breathing regularly, it wasn’t nearly strong as I would have liked it to be. “I just don’t know. He’s stable, but he lost a lot of blood. I wouldn’t trust moving him unless we could get some more into him, but we didn’t bring any blood packs with us.”

“There are some preserved blood packs in the clinic a short way away from here, in what’s left of Hilltown,” Autumn Mist announced from the door where she was standing, peering out into the wasteland. Her voice was still laced with anger, but it seemed as though she was beginning to calm down.

“Perfect. I can go get them, then we can get Crosswire back on his feet and get to Millberry by nightfall. We can rest there and give him time to recover,” I announced.

“That might be a bit more difficult than you think, Evergreen,” Autumn stated coldly, “Maybe even impossible.”

“Then why bring it up?” I demanded, walking up to the mare, frowning. What would possess this mare to bring something up that we couldn’t do?

“Because there’s only a slim chance that it’s doable. The town belongs to a gang; call themselves the Iron Hooves, and they don’t take kindly to strangers, caravans, or any sort of pony that isn’t part of their game. Not much difference between them and a bunch of fucking raiders, now that I think about it.”

“Then the solution is even more simple,” I pointed out, “You’re going to come with me and support me. Between your skill with that rifle, and my combat ability, we should be able to get in and out of the clinic in no time. It’s not like my goal is to wipe out the gang.”

Autumn Mist stared at me with obvious dislike. “And why should I help you do that? I said I would follow you to make sure you follow through with this supposed new lifestyle of yours, not to be your lackey. Also, here you are, less than ten minutes after I tell you that I’ll kill you if you even think about acting like a raider, suggesting that we attack a settlement of ponies.”

I turned on the mare, briefly letting my anger control me. “You said yourself that they are barely better than raiders themselves. By your own definition, you should hate these ponies. Also, you are coming with me for a few reasons,” I snapped, “Number one: you are the one who shot Crosswire, so you are going to do everything you can to help heal him. Number two: you said you were going to follow me and make sure I live, and I am going there regardless of your choice, so if you want to make sure I survive, you had better come along. Third: if you don’t, and he dies, I would be completely in my rights to kill you for murdering him, seeing as we were simply travelers when you opened fire. Again, by your own definition, you acted the raider. That is why you are going to help me.”

Autumn Mist glared at me. I could see her mind working behind her eyes, trying to come up with some excuse or reason to refuse me, but I could see that she was coming up blank. “Fine,” she finally ground out, “Let’s go get this suicide mission over with so I can get on with my life.”

We were just starting to walk out of the building, sidling past the new boulder in the building, presumably the one Autumn had used to bash the door in and pausing only long enough for me to recover Hammer, when Suture called after us. “Wait, what the hell am I supposed to do? You two have all the fighting experience!”

“I gave you a gun,” I pointed out, “And there shouldn’t be anypony else coming this way, and if they were, they don’t have a reason for coming in here. We shouldn’t be gone long, you’ll be fine.”

“Evergreen, this isn’t okay!” Suture yelled, “What if something happens? What if somepony shows up here, I don’t have the skills to protect us!”

“Then make sure Crosswire lives. He deserves that chance,” I answered, and stepped beyond the threshold of the building.

Hilltown was ugly. That was all I could think of to describe it. We were crouched down at the top of a hill overlooking the town, and all I could see were piles of rubble that had once been buildings, though I couldn’t tell which had been shops or which had been homes. Occasionally, I could spot a still-intact wall, but those were few and far between. The only structure that had survived the war and intervening years was the clinic, which sat squarely in the center of the Iron Hooves’ camp, which meant it was probably functioning as their headquarters.

A flimsy wall had been constructed around the building, but as I watched, it looked like the wall had been designed to be weak, because the number of ponies patrolling it provided enough intimidation that even I was thinking twice about taking the risk to get in there.

Within the wall, the ponies in the gang had constructed simple shacks and shelters with leftover rubble and metal, much as my gang had done back in the mountains. Within the settlement I could see ponies moving around, going about the business of their daily lives.

“Autumn, let me see your rifle. I need a closer look at the ponies on the wall,” I said, holding out a hoof for the gun.

The dark mare hesitated, probably wary about giving the object of her hatred her most prized possession, but she finally hefted it over.

The weight of the gun surprised me. I had thought it looked heavy, but it weighed much more than I had thought. I audibly grunted when I took its weight, which elicited a chuckle from Autumn.

“Heavier than you thought?” she asked snidely.

“Something like that,” I admitted. I maneuvered the weapon awkwardly to see through its scope, then adjusted myself so that I was looking down at one of the ponies on the wall. It would have been impossible for me to even try to shoot this thing, but, luckily, I wasn’t trying to do that.

I wanted to see the state of the ponies tasked to guarding the settlement. Since it was just past noon, I was expecting them to be relatively alert, but they were still just gangers, so there couldn’t be any real professionalism. Or so common sense told me.

Instead, the guards on patrol appeared to be alert and well-supplied. They were placed fairly regularly about the perimeter and almost none of them appeared to be the least bit distracted. There were even what appeared to be shift supervisors going around and making sure everypony was doing their jobs properly. This was going to be much more challenging than I thought.

“See anything you like?” Autumn asked me, her magic lifting the rifle away from me. Her tone was mocking and set my teeth on edge.

“No, and that’s what worries me. These ponies are much more organized and professional than I was expecting,” I muttered, trying to suppress my annoyance with her, “This isn’t going to be easy.”

“Impossible, I say,” Autumn countered, “This entire venture is suicide. There’s no way in hell you can get in and out of there.”

“Not alone, no. Luckily for me, I’m not alone. Can you provide sniper cover while I’m down there? The longer you can keep them off of me, the better chanced I’ll have.”

“Are you serious? It won’t matter how many of them I can pick off. They’ll corner you and finish you off before you get within a hundred feet of that clinic!” Autumn protested.

“Not if they don’t know where I am,” I answered as a plan started to form in my head, “These ponies look professional, but I doubt they’ll react that way. If you start picking them off on the far side of the base, they’ll probably mass over there to repel some attack, which should make it easier for me to slip through over here.”

“And if they don’t?” Autumn asked condescendingly.

I shook my head at her. “Then I’ll figure it out from there. Give me five minutes to get down there, then start shooting. The base isn’t that big, so I should be in and out in no time.”

“Your funeral,” the dark mare muttered, then set herself up and starting aiming down at the base. I watched as she started to fiddle with the scope and rifle, wondering exactly what she was doing, then forced myself to turn away and started down the hill.

I crept forward quickly and carefully, making sure that I wasn’t making any more noise than was absolutely necessary. It took me most of the five minutes to just get down the hill without being spotted, and that only because this wasn’t the way I was used to doing things. My style was much more the ‘walk up and shoot them’ style.

Once at the base of the hill, I kept myself low to the ground and basically crawled up to the wall. Somehow, the guards on duty didn’t see me, and I made it right up to the base of the low, flimsy wall. Here, I knelt down, silently waiting for Autumn Mist to start shooting.

Her first shot thundered through the base a minute later and was met almost instantly with shouts of alarm and surprise. The sound of pounding hooves passed near the spot where I was hiding. My plan may actually be working!

I positioned myself so that I could see through a crack in the wall and saw several ponies running away from me, towards whatever side of the base Autumn had chosen as her firing range. Another shot rang out and I began to hear cries of ‘Bandit!’ or ‘Raider!’. I grinned and bucked at the wall as Autumn fired again, striking as soon as the thunder from her rifle passed over me, hiding the sound of my kick.

The wall gave on the first try, toppling over and giving me a clear shot to the clinic. It looked too easy. I cast about for an alternate route and spotted one of the piles of rubble that was all that was left of one of the buildings that had once stood in the town. It appeared to be insignificant enough that there wouldn’t be anything of value over there. Just in case, I pulled Hammer from its holster, then dashed across the open ground for the rubble. I made it without incident and dove behind a large slab of concrete, ears poised for any sound of pursuit or detection, but heard nothing but another round from Autumn.

I crept my way up to where the rubble met open ground closest to the clinic, then knelt down and watched carefully. There were sounds of gunfire and shouting coming from the far side of the base, so the gangers must actually believe there was somepony attacking them. Fine by me. I was just surprised that they had pulled everypony from this side of the base; it would have made an actual flanking attack too easy to pull off. It made me think that their intimidating appearance was just that, an appearance.

I took a step forward, intending to start running for the clinic, but the sound of something beeping made me stop in my tracks. I knew that sound. It was a fucking landmine. I tried to jump back, but was a moment too late. The mine detonated in a rain of shrapnel and the shockwave grabbed me while I was in the air and tossed me back several feet into the rubble. This was really not my day.

I was still in enough of one piece that I was able to roll back onto my stomach and collect my hooves under me, but as soon as I tried to get up, a lance of pain through my right leg made me collapse in a heap. I turned my gaze to my leg and found a piece of metal jutting out of it, blood trickling out around the hole it made. It looked to be about as long as my hoof was wide.

I replaced Hammer in its holster, then reached down for the piece of metal and took it between my teeth. I tensed up in expectation of the pain, then wrenched the piece of shrapnel out. The only reason I didn’t scream in pain was because I had a piece of metal in my mouth. My first act after spitting out the length of metal was to reach into my saddlebags for a healing potion and drink it on the spot.

The wound closed slowly, but not completely. The small hole that was left wept blood, but not nearly enough to make me worry, so I chose to ignore it. I gathered my hooves under me once again, then tried to stand. The potion had done just enough for me that my leg was able to support my weight, but not much else.

Once again, I crept forward to the open ground and looked out. It didn’t appear that anypony had noticed the explosion, but this journey would be much longer than I had anticipated if I had to watch for landmines every step.

I started forward, taking each step only after I was sure that the way forward was clear. Several times a landmine almost went off in my face, but each time I managed to stomp on the disarming button before they could only because I knew exactly where they were when they started to beep. The ones I disarmed I collected as I went; it would provide me with a clear alley to hobble through on my way back.

The next thing I knew, I was standing at the back wall of the clinic. Now all I needed was a way in. I remembered seeing a back door a short distance to my right, so I crept that way, but I was beginning to worry because Autumn hadn’t fired her rifle in some time. The guards here were going to be coming back any time now.

The door swung open easily when I finally happened on it and I stepped through, making sure to close it once I was inside. Now all I needed to do was to find a few blood packs and get out. I pulled Hammer out and started forward.

Both Autumn and I believed that this building also functioned as the gang’s headquarters, so I was even more careful than I had been outside, ears perked for the sounds of any gangers who would be inside, but it was oddly quiet.

As I moved forward, I was shocked by just how empty the building was. Everywhere I could see evidence of ponies living here, but there was no sign of them. I got my answer why a few moments later while I was rummaging through a chest in one of the old examination rooms, searching for the blood packs I needed.

“These fucking raiders are toying with us now. I kept telling Stainless that we needed to reinforce the wall, but she kept telling me to fuck off. Now see where it got us. We are so fucked!” somepony was complaining as the sound of a door swinging open echoed through the building.

Several voices answered the first and I could hear several sets of hooves entering the building. They must have all left at the sound of the attack, which made perfect sense now that I thought about it.

That left me with the problem of being trapped in a room with nowhere to go to hide. Guess I would get a chance to use Hammer after all. I closed the chest again and marched up to the doorway, mentally preparing myself for the fight. The halls were fairly narrow, so the gang’s numbers shouldn’t mean much in here, so long as I could keep reloading quickly. And I still needed to find out where those blood packs were.

“So how’s Alloy? That sniper sure fucked him up. Think the doc can fix him up?” somepony asked. I stopped dead in my tracks to try and get some hint at where the doctor might be. Chances were that the blood packs would be there as well.

“I don’t know,” the pony’s companion answered, “Arcweld is good at what he does, but this might be a bit beyond even his skills. So many ponies are being brought over to that hidey-hole of his in the west wing that I doubt he’ll even get to Alloy. There are a lot of others he could save first.”

Good. Now I had a goal. I knew from where I had wandered after entering the clinic that I was in the northern section, so I was at least relatively close to where I needed to be. Relatively close with Celestia-knows how many ponies between me and there.

Well, there was nothing to do but go for it. If I was lucky, Autumn would notice something was up and support me, so long as she didn’t decide that just letting me die was good enough. If I was unlucky… well, I didn’t really want to think along those lines.

I left the examination room I was in and turned towards the west wing. I started trotting forward, Hammer held ready, and waited to meet my first adversary. The wait wasn’t long.

A ragged yellow mare turned the corner in front of me and started in surprise. She obviously wasn’t expecting to run into anyone here. I quickly took aim and pulled the trigger. My shot echoed loudly in the narrow hallway as the bullet slammed into the mare’s jaw and exited out the back of her head, taking most of her skull along with it. She dropped limply to the ground amidst shouts of alarm from deeper in the building.

I stepped over her body and ran down the hall as fast as my leg would let me, racing for the west wing. Judging by what those ponies had been saying, I expected this part of the clinic to be sparsely populated, and was lucky enough to discover that it was so. But I could still hear the sound of several ponies coming after me.

I bucked through a door and slammed it shut behind me. The ponies behind me had been gaining much quicker than I expected, and some had even gotten close enough to take a few potshots at me. Luckily enough, the few that were on target had been deflected by my barding. This door was just the first piece of solid cover I could find.

“She ran into the infirmary!” I heard somepony yell, “Back off and let Arcweld take care of this!”

That did not bode well. Not many gangs would leave an intruder to their doctor. Unless, of course, the doctor earned that reputation. I didn’t have any more time to consider the issue as somepony wrapped their hooves around my chest and tossed me away from the door as if I were a ragdoll.

“So you think you can just come into our home and start shooting ponies up?!” a voice demanded. It was loud and booming and held levels of rage I couldn’t even begin to comprehend.

I was still trying to regain my hooves when the source of the voice, a massive, dark brown unicorn buck, reached me and slammed both of his forehooves into my gut, dropping me back down to the floor. The only thought that was going through my head at that point was ‘So that’s why they call themselves Iron Hooves.’

Before the buck could repeat the attack, I rolled to the side, groaning as my injured leg was twisted, but managed to get out of his reach, momentarily. I used the momentum of the roll to get my hooves under me and pull myself to my feet. Hammer had been lost somewhere after I had been thrown, and I didn’t have time to retrieve my .45 from my saddlebags. I really needed to invest in another holster on my barding. Instead of going for a firearm, I simply pulled out my knife.

I had fought enough ponies hoof-to-hoof, including bucks like this one, that I should be able to hold my own, at least in theory. With an injured leg, my chances weren’t great against a healthy opponent. And it looked like he knew that.

He was grinning broadly as he stared over at me, giving me the time I needed to steady myself. He obviously thought he could easily win this fight, regardless of how prepared I was, which meant that he was over-confident and arrogant. Maybe I could win this after all.

“All I want are a few blood packs. My friend is dying and he needs them to survive. Give me those and let me walk and we won’t have an issue,” I snapped around the hilt of my knife.

The buck laughed at me. “You've gotta be fucking kidding me! You come in here, kill nine ponies, then ask for our supplies? You’re fucking insane! And soon you’ll be fucking dead!”

“And would you have traded with them had I come up to the main gate?” I demanded, widening my stance for the charge I knew was coming.

“Fuck no! We don’t deal with wastelanders!” Arcweld yelled. He lowered his head and charged forward, intending to knock me from my hooves with his bulk alone.

I held my ground until he was almost within reach, the jumped to the side, letting him crash into a gurney behind where I had been standing. While he was dazed, I lunged forward, striking out with my knife.

He moved quickly, faster than I had expected him to be able to, and blocked my blow with one massive hoof. Instead of plunging my knife into his neck, it glanced off his leg, leaving only a shallow cut and giving him and opening to land a kick against my side, which sent me tumbling against a wall.

Knowing he was charging me again, I rolled towards him, twisting my head so the knife’s point was pointing towards him, and braced for the impact. It felt like getting hit with a train as he slammed into me with all of his considerable bulk. I lay on the ground, dazed, trying to regain my senses.

When the world finally began to snap back into focus, the first thing I realized was that I was still alive. The second was that my knife was no longer in my mouth. The last thing I noticed was that Arcweld was no longer breathing normally, but rather drawing in breaths in ragged gasps. I shook my head and slowly got to my hooves, looking around for the buck.

I found him dragging himself along the wall towards a cabinet set on the far side of the room. That must be where he kept the medical supplies. He was trailing a thick line of blood behind him, and his attempts were to move were growing weaker with every passing second.

Wary of any deception, I slowly made my way towards him. When I drew level, I saw the hilt of my knife sticking out of his chest. The buck saw me standing over him and stopped his attempts to move, deciding instead to use the last of his strength to stare up at me. “Guess you got what you wanted, murderer,” he wheezed, “but good luck getting out of here alive. The second you walk out that door, the weight of the Iron Hooves will crush you underneath and leave nothing behind but a smear!”

I couldn’t bring myself to feel pity for this buck. As hard as I was trying to be better, there were some things about myself that nothing would change. My drive to kill ponies who had tried to do the same to me was part of that. I glared down at him, trying to decide what to do, and he returned my glare with anger and hatred.

I wrenched my knife out of the wound and turned away, leaving him to his fate. The first thing I did was search for Hammer. It was only after I found the revolver five minutes later that I noticed the dozen beds arrayed around the perimeter of the room, every single one occupied with gravely injured and terrified ponies.

“Are we next?” a mare asked. Her hide was a dark blue in color and her mane was a lighter shade of the same color with some streaks of white going through it. I could tell by the look in her eye that she was terrified for whatever life she had left.

I quickly looked her over while I thought of my answer. She had a stark white bandage wrapped around her midsection that contrasted sharply with her hide; most likely some gunshot wound that kept her from doing anything strenuous. She was also thin and unkempt, which led me to believe that this gang didn’t allocate a lot of resources to the sick or injured.

I was being careful in picking my answer, because I knew that had our situations been reversed, this mare would most likely have killed me without a second thought. Except our situations weren’t reversed, and I was being faced with this problem. These ponies hadn’t attacked me, and they weren’t threatening me, but my brain kept making the argument that they would be attacking me if they could.

“No,” I found myself answering, the word catching me by surprise as much as it was them, “I’m not going to kill you. You haven’t tried to kill me, so I see no reason to.” I marched past the beds to the medical cabinet and flung it open.

Inside was a treasure trove of medical supplies. My own supply of medical potions was quickly declining, between both mine and Crosswire’s injuries, so I swept a few of those into my saddlebags, followed by three full blood packs. Hopefully Suture would be able to use them. I left the rest of the drugs and chems behind; they would only slow me down.

“Is there a back way out of the clinic?” I asked, turning to the mare who had spoken before. She was sitting on her bed in sullen silence, not entirely convinced that I wasn’t a threat.

“Why should I tell you?” she demanded, “You killed our doctor! You’re probably the reason some of us are in here!”

I sighed and hung my head. “Fair enough. But I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t need these blood packs. My closest friend is dying and I need to do something to save him! I’d rather die a murderer than simply allow my friends to die without at least trying to save them.” I lifted my head back up and stared the dark mare down, daring her to speak against me.

She returned my gaze, and I thought I saw a glimmer of understanding appear there. “There’s a door ten feet down the hall, on your right. It will take you to a maintenance entrance on the west end of the building. You’re on your own from there,” she grumbled.

I nodded in acknowledgment of the directions and turned to leave, but she called after me at the door. “If your friend survives, tell him he owes us, and we always collect our debts.”

I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at the mare. “If he survives, it won’t be because you lot decided to help. It will be because I decided to do something about it. Be thankful that I left you with your life.”

Turning away from her, I stepped past the threshold and out into the hallway. I shut the door behind me and crept forward, listening carefully for the sound of anypony who could be near, but heard nothing. As the mare had said, there was a door nearby, but I hesitated on entering it. What reason would she have had to help me, especially since the rest of her gang was actively trying to tear me limb from limb?

Deciding that I really didn’t have any better options at my disposal, I opened the door, Hammer out and ready, and stepped through.

To my surprise, the mare hadn’t been lying. I found myself in a maintenance hallway. The walls were a dull, uniform grey, rather than the peeling yellow color of the main parts of the building. I started forward, watching my steps, moving as quickly as I could for the exit. It didn’t take me long to reach it.

Once at the door, I paused again and checked my E.F.S. I couldn’t see any bars immediately in front of me, but that didn’t mean a whole lot. I swung my head from side to side, and caught sight of a few bars just ahead of me to both sides. If I was unlucky, those ponies would be at the perimeter, where their guard stations were. They would most likely hear the opening of the door, and be on me before I had a chance to react.

On the other hoof, if I was lucky, they would be in other rooms nearby, and not even outside. Well, it wasn’t like I had much of a choice.

I carefully opened the door and took a step outside. The sun was beginning to set on the horizon, behind the cloud cover, casting the world in a slightly darker shade of grey that made it harder to see anything at a distance. That could play in my favor.

I crouched down low and started walking, praying that I would remain hidden, but my luck wasn’t going to hold out that long.

Shouts of alarm sprang up off to my left, the direction I needed to go if I wanted to meet up with Autumn, since I had approached the base from the south. I swore to myself, and turned to face the threat.

Three ponies were bearing down on me. The mare at the front of the formation was wielding a wicked-looking machete and the buck on her left was holding a piece of wood with a nail stuck in it. The third pony, a mare, was the only one with a firearm, and that was only a small 9mm pistol, nothing to really be worried about, or at least so I thought.

It was much harder to maintain that thought when bullets started flying around me, and a few ricocheted off of my reinforced barding. Every impact felt like a hammer hitting me in my already-battered chest. I ignored the mare with the gun, instead taking aim at the one with the machete. Once she was within a dozen feet, and I was sure that I wouldn’t miss, I pulled the trigger.

Her chest exploded in a fountain of gore as the revolver round slammed home. Her face barely registered her shock at being shot before she tumbled to the ground, her momentum carrying her another five feet before coming to rest, dead, in a bloody heap.

I turned my head slightly towards the buck, who was now significantly closer, and fired again. Since I didn’t have as much time to line up the shot, my bullet only grazed off of his shoulder, rather than hitting him the same way it had the first mare.

The shot made the buck stumble, but he kept coming, swinging the board once he was in range.

I twisted around, taking the blow on my barding, rather than in the neck as the buck had planned. The nail punched through the metal plates, but got stuck in the leather of the barding underneath. He started the wrench the board back and forth, trying to work it free, as I turned my head and took aim.

My shot caught him square between the eyes and sent a large portion of his brains splattering out onto the dirt as his head snapped back from the impact and he fell to the ground, blood quickly pooling around the corpse.

The back of my neck prickled, and I snapped my head up in time to see the mare with the 9mm taking careful aim at me. I knew I didn’t have time to dodge out of the way.

Fate hadn’t quite decided that it was my time to die yet as a shot thundered through the wasteland, completely decapitating the mare and sending a geyser of her blood a foot into the air. Autumn had just saved my life.

I turned away from the three corpses and ran as fast as I was able to the perimeter of the camp. As luck would have it there were no more landmines between me and the wall, so, with a little assistance from Autumn in the form of sniper cover, I made it to the wall without incident and slipped out back into the wasteland.

Once out of the base, I stuck to the rocks and bushes, using them to hide my movements as best as possible, and hoping that the gangers would give up hunting me now that I was no longer in their home. Several sounds of gunfire followed my progress, though none of the shots came anywhere near me. Most must have been firing out of frustration, rather than having any sort of knowledge about where I was.

Even so, I moved only slowly, only leaving cover when I was sure that nopony knew where I was. It took me almost twenty minutes to make it back to Autumn in this fashion. The dark mare had long since ceased firing and was waiting for me atop the hill we had used to scope out the base earlier. She was up on her feet, seemingly ready to leave, except for the fact that her rifle was out floating next to her, aimed down at the base.

“Autumn, I got the packs. Let’s get the fuck out of here!” I announced as I rejoined her.

“Took you damn long enough,” the sniper answered, firing one last round that shook my teeth before lowering her rifle and turning to look at me, “You got most of that gang really riled up. Getting back isn’t going to be as easy as getting here was. They want blood now, and are working hard to find us. We’ll need to be careful.”

“Fine by me, let’s just get out of here before they catch up to us,” I retorted, “I want to get these blood packs back to Suture and Crosswire before it’s too late for us to do anything.”

Autumn nodded gravely, then started moving, heading back the way we came. I fell into step behind her. Getting out of a situation like this without drawing attention was her specialty, not mine, so I was going to let her lead.

It felt odd, trusting so completely in a pony who had been trying to kill me not a few hours ago, but fate hadn’t left me much of a choice in the matter, so I went along with it, trusting to her promise that she wouldn’t kill me without good reason.

We traveled mostly in silence, Autumn focused on the job at hoof, and me simply following along and doing my best to keep up with the uninjured mare. My leg was beginning to hurt badly, but I shoved the pain to the back of my mind and kept walking. Any delay could easily result in our capture, or worse, our deaths.

Much to my surprise, Autumn didn’t lead us straight back to the office building. Instead, she led us all over the wasteland, going from cover to cover, never letting us stay in one place for long. She kept saying that it was to keep the gangers from following us; that the more convoluted and confusing our trail was, the more likely they were to give up.

We also covered up our trail as much as we could, which wasn’t hard to do in the light rain that had started up since our flight from their base. Judging by the utter lack of preparation that the gangers had had in fighting me off, I doubted that they had anypony with any kind of tracking skills, so we should have lost them quickly, but Autumn was having none of it.

“Look, Evergreen, if we haven’t shaken them, then we’ll simply be leading them straight back to Suture and Crosswire. Now, I know from experience that the sort of treatment that Crosswire needs is going to take all night, so we need to be absolutely sure that we won’t be bothered while we’re there, and that is factoring in that we will be keeping watch,” she stated after my third time asking if we should head back.

I sighed, “That’s what you said when I asked an hour ago. There is no way they could still be following us! Hell, I barely even know where we are!”

“Good, then I’m doing my job right. We’ll be back within the hour, just so you know, but I’m not taking any risks. You’re right, we probably have lost them, but I haven’t survived this long based on what might be. I don’t do anything by halves.”

I grumbled a little more to myself, but fell silent. So long as she appeared to be helping us, there wasn’t much I could say against her.

We slogged on through the strengthening rain, every step becoming a challenge as the rain muddied up the dirt trails and our hooves began to be sucked into the mire. We pressed on, and even I noticed as our path straightened out. It seemed that even Autumn Mist had her limits.

It was well past sundown when the ruins finally came into view. Both of us picked up our pace at the thought of shelter and warmth, however imagined that warmth might be. The rain had a way of setting a chill deep in a pony’s bones that almost nothing could chase away.

We pushed our way into the office building as soon as we arrived, after loudly announcing that we were coming in, to keep Suture from mistakenly shooting at us, not that I expected her to have even touched her pistol all day.

“What took the two of you so long?” the maroon pony demanded as we entered, “I thought you were both dead!”

“Far closer than I would have liked,” I admitted, “But we got the blood packs. We were simply being careful on the way back, making sure that we weren’t followed. How’s Crosswire?”

“Alive, but deteriorating. He lost a lot of blood. It’s a good thing you went to get those packs, they could well be the difference between his survival and his death,” Suture explained.

I nodded somberly, then reached into my saddlebags for the blood packs, which I handed carefully to the medical pony. “You have everything you need to make these work?” I asked.

“As well as I can in the field,” Suture answered, already barely paying me any attention as she moved back to Crosswire’s side. She started pulling out various lengths of tubing, which she used to rig up an IV from the blood pack to the ragged grey buck.

He didn’t look good. His face was really pale, and his breathing was quick and shallow. Even worse, his chest was still swaddled in stark white bandages, several of which had obvious tints of red to them.

“He looks bad, and didn’t we stop the bleeding before we left?” I asked, moving up beside her.

“He is bad. He’s running a fever, and the wound was never completely closed. He made it worse while he was thrashing around earlier, crying out for somepony he called ‘Morning Song’. Know anypony by that name?” Suture asked me.

I shook my head, then realized that the medical pony was focused entirely on Crosswire and hadn’t seen the gesture. “No,” I vocalized, “Never heard of them. Must be somepony from his past. Raiders tend to not share a whole lot about their history.”

“I should have guessed,” Suture muttered, then fell silent.

I remained at her side while she tended to Crosswire, neither of us saying a word. When she had finally done all that she could, she hung her head in exhaustion, sighing extravagantly.

“Please don’t leave us again like that, Evergreen,” she whispered, her voice barely audible, “I’ve never been so terrified in my entire life.”

“Not even when you were in my base that day?” I asked, “Because you seemed pretty scared then.”

“Well, of course I was. I was stuck in a raider base and had no clue what was going to happen to me, but at least I had your protection, no matter how long you intended to keep me alive. But today, you left me behind with nothing except a single pistol that I barely even tolerate carrying. Had somepony shown up, I wouldn’t have stood a chance, and there was nopony here to help me,” Suture protested.

I remained silent. There was nothing else I could do. She was right, and she knew I knew that. I felt bad about it, but it had been the right choice. I just hoped that Suture could realize that.

“I’m sorry,” she said a while later, “you don’t deserve this. You risked your life to save Crosswire’s, and here I am telling you off for doing what you needed to do to accomplish that.”

“That doesn’t make you any less right,” I said, “I left you behind with barely a thought to your safety because my mind was entire set on helping Crosswire. I forgot that I’m responsible for your life as well. I’ll do my best to keep that in mind in the future.”

Suture nodded in acknowledgement and sighed. “How are you, Evergreen? The things you’ve had to face today can’t be easy to deal with.”

“I don’t know,” I admitted after a long silence, “Being faced first with my first and closest friend almost dying, then finding out that the pony who shot him has been hunting me for years for an act I can’t even bring myself to remember… It’s a lot of shit to deal with. I guess I’m just going day by day right now, treating every situation independently how I think it’s right. It isn’t a perfect solution, but it’s better than what I’ve been doing to this point.”

Suture nodded understandingly. “I think I can understand that. We’ve all been faced with some big changes in our lives and you’re never prepared for those, you know? All we can do is take things as they come. Now, is there anything you need me take a look at? You were limping pretty badly when you showed up here.”

“Yeah, my leg got pretty messed up. I stepped on a landmine. Only reason I’m on my feet is because I had a healing potion with me that stitched the worst of the damage back together,” I answered, lifting my injured leg up so she could get a better look at it.

The medical pony looked critically down at my leg, taking in all of the damage, then slowly shook her head. “You truly are incapable of going a single day without hurting yourself, aren’t you?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow at me. I simply shrugged in response. “No matter, there isn’t a whole lot for me to fix. About all I can do is wrap it up.”

She took out one of our few medical bandages that hadn’t been used on Crosswire and wrapped it tightly around the small wound that remained in my leg. It hurt for a few moments, but after that, the magic in the bandages soothed away the pain. I placed my leg on the ground and tested it. It felt like it wasn’t hurt at all.

“I know what it feels like,” Suture said, echoing my thoughts, “So don’t get any ideas in your head. These bandages don’t perform miracles. You’re still hurt and need time to heal. Try not to strain the leg too much.”

I nodded and turned towards Crosswire, “Sure thing. I’ll do my best.” I started walking towards the buck, but Autumn Mist intercepted me.

“Evergreen, we need to post a watch tonight, and you and I are the only ones capable of doing it properly. I get that you want to stay by your friend’s side, but you have a responsibility to all our lives, and I need some rest after that fight. I need you to take first watch.”

“And you think I’m not exhausted?” I snapped back, “I had to face down a brute of a buck in hoof-to-hoof combat and then had to run my ass out of the base while you sat up on a hill holding a rifle. If anything, you should take first watch. I’m hurt, sore, and tired.”

The dark mare stared me down for a few moments, as if trying to decide how to respond. “Fine, I’ll take first watch. I’ll wake you when I can’t stay awake any longer. Just be ready,” she finally growled, then wandered off towards the door.

I shook my head as I continued on my way to the buck’s side. He was unconscious, but his pelt had a little more color in it and his breathing seemed to be getting slowly stronger.

I sighed and hung me head. “I’m sorry, Crosswire. I shouldn’t have let it come to this. You’re not going to be happy with my choice, I already know that, but I don’t have a lot of options. When you’re up, I hope you’ll be able to see that.”

I stayed awake by his side for as long as I could, but it wasn’t long before the ordeals of the day caught up with me, and I passed out into a dreamless sleep.

Autumn woke me a few hours later to take over the watch. It took a lot of effort for me to get back up on my hooves, but I could see that it was all she could do to get me up, so I forced myself up and over to the doors. Thankfully, by the time I got there I was awake enough to not risk falling asleep while on watch.

All the same, I stepped outside to at least get a bit of the brisk night breeze to help me stay alert. While the days could be scorching hot, the nights often saw a drastic drop in temperature. I liked it, though. It gave me a feeling that as bad as the days may be, the nights offered a fresh outlook.

For most of the night, I sat completely silently, simply letting my gaze sweep over the wasteland before me, taking in all the sights. For all of the obvious destruction, I could pick out some well-hidden examples of life beginning to slowly creep back into the world.

At the base of some of the tumbled-down walls, I could spot some hardy grasses and weeds beginning to take hold in the blasted soil. With luck, those grasses would continue to grow unmolested, and would be the beginning of a fresh new world where grass and trees weren’t rare and weren’t trying to kill anypony who came to close to them.

In my travels, I had once found myself in one of the few remaining forests on this continent. At first, I had been joyful. It had been my dream to be able to walk beneath the canopy of a forest, to be able to hear the rustle of wind through the boughs of the overhanging trees, but that dream was short-lived.

I was quickly reminded how the wartime Ministries and their various research sub-companies had held nothing as sacred and had played with, tinkered with, and twisted anything they could get their hooves on to make a more effective weapon against the zebras. I had been in that forest for less than half an hour before the trees themselves had tried to kill me. I wasted no time in getting out of there.

I tore my thoughts away from those depressing memories and returned to the present. The night was clear, or at least as clear as it could be given the constant cloud cover, and I would call it a peaceful one. The only sounds came from the wind passing through the blasted-out husks of the buildings, generating a low whistling sound that made everything seem that much more empty.

The horizon was just beginning to brighten as the sun rose behind the cloud cover when I heard somepony come out of the building behind me. I ignored the sound and kept my eyes focused on the horizon. I felt an ache in my heart at the repeated disappointment of not being able to see the sun, followed by a searing anger at the Pegasi.

What right did they think they had to seal us all off from its gifts? Had the Princesses still been among the living, they would not have stood for this behavior. What fueled my anger even more was the knowledge that there were ponies up there that had never had to experience a morning without feeling the warmth of the sun or seeing its glow as it crested the horizon.

“How are you feeling this morning, Evergreen?” a soft voice asked from behind me.

I turned my head slightly to see Suture standing beside me, her gaze following mine to the lightening horizon. She still looked tired, but I wasn’t surprised. It was how everypony felt on the road. You never slept well, and your waking hours were spent on the edge, listening for any possible threat.

“Angry,” I answered shortly, then turned my gaze back to the clouds. I didn’t feel a need to elaborate. Hopefully, Suture would understand my feelings. If I were lucky, she would agree with me. It would be the only thing we saw eye-to-eye on.

“Angry at what?” she asked a few minutes later, a confused and slightly worried tone in her voice.

I sighed, trying to decide how to respond. “At nothing, and everything,” I finally said, “Nothing that I can control or change, and everything that matters.” I fell silent after that, letting the maroon pony think it over for herself.

She was silent for a while as well as she considered my words. The quiet dragged on and I was content to let it do just that. “You’re one of those ponies who hates the Pegasi for sealing off the sky, aren’t you?” she finally asked me. I could hear the clear note of disapproval in her voice.

Again, I sighed. “Hate isn’t the right word. I think disappointed covers it better. My parents raised me to believe in the Princesses, no matter the reality of their deaths. It was their belief that the spirits of Celestia and Luna live on in the sun and the moon, so even though they are no longer physically among us, they still watch over us from above. I’m disappointed because the Pegasi have essentially cut us surfacers off from them, forcing us to have to survive without their guidance. Just once in my life, I want to see both the sun and the moon with my own eyes, and not some picture in a book.”

“Do you share your parents’ belief?” Suture asked a few moments later.

“I don’t know. In a broad respect, yeah, I think I do,” I answered hesitantly, “But I see so much down here that I know the Princesses wouldn’t approve of. Things that they would step in to stop with any power that they have left, regardless of the obstacles in their path.”

“Thank you for sharing, Evergreen,” Suture said eventually, “I didn’t take you for the religious type, and it’s good to know that there’s at least one group of ponies out there that most hate that you don’t.”

“Don’t get me wrong, Suture,” I protested, “I’m not religious, not even close. It’s just thoughts that fill the empty hours for me. And while I may not hate Pegasi in general, I would kill most Enclave soldiers that cross my path. It’s their fault the sky is sealed up after all. But the Dashites, most of them have my respect. They at least understand the wrongness of what their government is doing.”

“That’s still a better outlook than most,” the medical pony stated. I heard her stand and head towards the door to go back inside. “We should make ready to move soon. I think Crosswire will be awake before long, and we should get to Millberry as soon as we can so he can get some proper rest. He’s going to be very weak for a few days.”

I nodded in acknowledgment and said, “Sure thing. I’ll be inside in a little bit. Get Autumn Mist up and ready. We still have a fair way to go before we reach the town.”

“Of course,” I heard Suture answer as she walked through the door.

I sighed heavily. What was it about that pony that got me to think about things that I had never considered before, even in passing? This one simple conversation had started me thinking on my beliefs. The belief that my parents had taught me had a wonderful draw to it. I liked to think that the Princesses were still watching over us, but I couldn’t get over the fact that they wouldn’t intervene if they could.

I stayed out in the open air for a while longer, letting the slowly warming air soothe me and drive away at least some of my pent-up anger at the Enclave. When I felt that I had waited long enough, I stood and headed back inside.

Autumn Mist was up and cleaning her rifle and Suture was crouched over Crosswire, who was protesting against her ministrations. I grinned broadly as I trotted over to the two of them.

“It’s good to finally see you awake, Crosswire. You had us really worried for a while there,” I announced jovially.

Crosswire looked up at me, his expression completely not amused. “Get her off of me, Evergreen. None of this is necessary!”

“Wrong! We had to give you a full blood transfusion because of how much you lost! I am not letting you up until I know you can handle it!” Suture argued heatedly, renewing her struggle against the unhappy buck.

“Listen to her, Crosswire. We risked a lot to get you that treatment, so we need to make sure it worked,” I argued.

“Hrrmph. Fine. Just make it quick. By the way, you get the fucker that shot me?” he grumbled, shooting an angry look in my direction.

I swallowed heavily, trying to decide what to tell him. “Uh, well, I found out who it was,” I started.

“It was me,” Autumn announced from where she was lying. Her rifle was partially disassembled and she was cleaning out the barrel, “I was trying to kill Evergreen, and you were fighting for her, so I figured you were a fair target as well.”

Crosswire looked over at her in shock, then glared up at me. “Mind explaining why she’s here, and not a corpse?” he asked slowly, every word dripping with anger.

“Autumn… has put herself in an interesting position, and has a peculiar connection to me,” I answered, “I killed her parents some years back, and she vowed to kill me. Only reason she hasn’t is because I’m not a raider any more, and she can’t bring herself to murder me.”

“So I’m going to be tagging along, and the first second she lapses even so much back to those raidering ways…” Autumn added, letting her statement trail off so we could use our imaginations to fill in the blank.

Crosswire’s glare didn’t budge an inch. “You better know what you’re doing, Evergreen. This mare could be a powder keg waiting to go off, and you’re trusting her with our lives.”

“Hey! I said I would keep her alive because I want to be the one to put a bullet in her head. I just need a good excuse to pull the trigger. Consider me her conscience,” Autumn protested.

“And what about the rest of us?” Crosswire demanded, turning his head to glare at the dark mare, “’Cause I’ll tell you right now that I was a raider in Evergreen’s gang. Does that mean you’ll kill me too?”

“Depends. You have a hoof in killing my family?” Autumn asked pointedly.

“Nope. That must have been before I joined up,” Crosswire shot back, “But why am I any different than her?”

Autumn fell silent at the question, then looked down at her rifle. “Because all I want is to know that my parents didn’t die for nothing,” she whispered, a completely unexpected reaction. I had expected her to respond with anger and biting words, not something that heartfelt. I guess her attitude made it easy to forget how young she still was.

The words struck a chord deep inside me. I had been facing that same problem ever since Just Law had pointed out how disappointed my parents would have been to see me. “Sometimes it depends on what we choose to do that decides whether or not our parents died for something,” I said, almost as quietly as Autumn, “I know mine died to protect me from raiders, yet that was exactly what I became. Until a few days ago, my parents did die for nothing. I’m trying to change that now.”

Autumn looked up at me, a glimmer of sadness in her eyes. “So what does that mean for me? Did mine die for nothing since I’m with you now?” she demanded of me, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

“No,” I answered, “Because you are here to make sure I never do the same thing to somepony else. If anything, that is exactly what your parents would have wanted from you. They would be proud to see you now, I think.”

The dark mare remained silent for a few moments. “Never thought I’d be taking emotional advice from you, Evergreen. None of this has turned out the way I thought it would,” she finally said, dropping her head back down to her gun.

“Fuck! Isn’t this just perfect!” Crosswire snapped, “I have to fight beside the fucking mare that put a damn bullet in my chest! Just fucking perfect! Let me up, Suture! I need to go outside.”

Suture struggled to keep the buck down until I touched her shoulder and shook my head at her. “Let him up. He needs to work this off. He’ll be okay.”

Hesitantly, the medical pony let him stand. He was unsteady on his hooves at first, but quickly regained his balance and marched out of the building, floating his SMG into its holster on his barding as he went.

The rest of us stood in silence as he went, Autumn wincing as he slammed the door behind him.

“Is he going to be a problem?” the sniper asked.

“Well, you shot him, so he’s completely justified in being angry, I think,” I answered, “But no, he’ll come around. He always does. His biggest issue is going to be with me.”

“If you say so,” Autumn muttered, sliding the barrel of her rifle back into its housing and swiftly reassembling the rifle. “Well, since he’s standing, we should probably be getting a move on. Like you said, we have a lot of ground to cover. Where are we headed anyway?”

“Millberry,” I answered, “We were contracted by the mayor of Metro to go out there for a job.” I was hesitant about sharing everything with her just now. Maybe after we got there, and I had a bit of a better idea of who she was.

“So you’re a merc?” Autumn asked.

“Basically. I’m trying to improve ties with the town, to the point where they accept me for who I’m choosing to be, instead of who I was. Metro is a good place to use as a hub. It’s got everything we need to stay on our hooves,” I said.

“Works for me. Let’s move!” Autumn punctuated the statement by chambering a round in her rifle before sliding it onto the loops on her barding.

I nodded and gathered up the few of my belongings that weren’t already stored in my saddlebags, most of which were medical supplies. Suture took the longest of all of us to pack up, as most of the supplies we had used to heal Crosswire were hers. It took us nearly ten minutes to prepare, something I was happy with, since it gave Crosswire that much time to cool off.

When we finally stepped outside, Crosswire was standing in the shadow of the building, looking out into the wasteland. “We leaving?” he asked without any emotional inflection in his voice.

“Yeah. Figured that since you got onto your hooves without a problem that you were good to travel. We didn’t want to stay in one place for too long,” I answered, picking his saddlebags up off my back and offering them over to the buck.

“So you’re serious about having this mare tag along?” he asked me, staring daggers at Autumn Mist.

“Yeah, I am. She’s more than skilled with that rifle, and her telekinetic abilities are rather impressive. Not to mention that she’ll keep me honest,” I said, completely seriously.

“Did she answer my question?” the buck asked, still glaring at the mare.

“About whether or not I’ll kill you?” Autumn asked for confirmation. When Crosswire nodded, she sighed. “Give me a good enough reason to, then yes, I would kill you without hesitating, as I would with anypony. I don’t have any particular issue with you, so I won’t be watching you as closely as I’m watching her.” She turned her head so she was looking at me.

“Well, now that we know what it’ll take for us to kill each other, can we please move on? We have a lot of ground to cover, and I know for a fact that you won’t be able to do it all in one go, Crosswire. As tough as you are, you were very close to dying yesterday,” I announced.

Crosswire shrugged. “Fine by me. Let’s go.”

As I had predicted, the remaining portion of our journey to Millberry was long, slow, and arduous. We had to stop every hour or so for Crosswire to rest. Every single time, he insisted that he didn’t need it, and every single time he was the last to struggle back to his hooves. The journey was taking a toll on him, but the tough buck pushed through it, as though he understood that he would get the chance to rest when we arrived at Millberry.

As a result, a journey that should only have taken a few hours took us the better part of the day, and the walls of Millberry didn’t become visible on the horizon until the sky began to darken with the setting sun. We approached the front gates cautiously, not knowing how we would be received, especially since three of us were very visibly armed. Some of these towns took their security to incredible levels, much like Metro did.

As we neared the gates, I could easily see the outline of the town. It matched the map I had found perfectly. Whoever had drawn it had certainly been careful in making sure that they missed absolutely no details, which meant that the resources this Seahawk had were considerable.

“Stop right there!” one of the guards announced as we approached, swinging a laser rifle around to take careful aim at us, “State your business!”

“We’re travelers, from Metro. The mayor there has contracted us to bring an offer to the leaders of this town. One of us was badly injured on the way here, so we could use some lodging and medical attention as well,” I answered.

The guard didn’t answer immediately, but I could feel him sizing us up, watching for any kind of deception. “All right, I’m going to let you in. Don’t try anything stupid, you’re being watched. The governor is in his office in the town hall at the center of the town. You can’t miss it. For lodging, talk to Pearlescent at the Drunken Mare. She has the best rooms in town, but you’ll be paying for what you get.”

“We wouldn’t have it any other way,” I said.

The gates slowly creaked open, revealing a flattened dirt road that led directly through the center of the town. Lining the road were the facades of many different buildings, ranging from what looked to be homes and shops towards the center of town to seedier establishments, such as drug dens and brothels, along the perimeter.

We made our way down the central avenue, figuring it would be best to get the talk with the governor over with first, especially considering that it was our original purpose in coming here. There weren’t many ponies in the streets, but the few that we did see gave us all odd looks, some even bordering on open hostility. This town did not give me a welcoming feeling. Then again, I rarely felt welcomed by any place that I visited.

Before long, the town hall loomed over us, its construction obviously pre-war. It was probably the largest building I had ever seen that had survived the apocalypse outside of downtown Seaddle, as it towered three stories over the surrounding landscape. The building itself was circular, with the outer edge defined by a walkway raised slightly over the ground and covered by a wooden roof that was obviously of more recent construction.

The roof of the structure came together in a large dome whose color had long since given way to the constant rain and wind of the wasteland and was now a pale wooden color. I found myself wondering what color it had been back in the old days.

We marched into the building, not quite sure what to expect. Out of the corner of my eye, I could spot Autumn glancing about nervously. Her stance showed a lot of tension and her gaze kept drifting back to her rifle, which was still nestled securely on her back. She obviously wasn’t comfortable in heavily populated places.

Inside, I was surprised to see that the building was nearly completely empty. Back in Metro, the mayor’s office and the waiting area outside it was always packed with various ponies waiting to do business with him. Here, there were only two official-looking ponies, and they didn’t even look like they were waiting on anything. Rather, they were simply standing off to one side, conversing with each other in quiet voices.

I walked up to them and asked in as kind a voice as I could manage, “Would either of you bucks be kind enough to point me towards the governor’s office? We need to speak with him on a very urgent matter.”

One of the two bucks steadfastly ignored me, and the other looked imperiously down his nose at me. “Well, what do we have here,” he stated, adopting a lofty expression, not to mention accent, “A wastelander, asking me for directions.” Somehow, he managed to sound insulted, as though the air I was breathing was a personal offense to him.

“Yeah, I’m asking because I’m not from here and was contracted by the mayor of Metro to come here and speak with whoever is in charge. Now, if you would just point me in the right direction, I can be on my way and get out of your mane,” I stated angrily. I wasn’t going to be pushed around by this self-important, pompous ass.

The buck looked down on me for a few more moments, then waved his hoof dismissively towards one of the corridors. “His office is that way, last door on the left, though I will be very surprised if he agrees to see you. He only sees the most important of visitors. I don’t think a mercenary from the wastes will rank very highly on his list of priorities.”

“Well, then he better bump me up a few notches if he wants to stay in charge of this dump,” I snapped, “Because if he doesn’t listen to me, I guarantee that most everypony here will be dead before the year is out.”

That comment finally succeeded in getting the buck’s attention. He took a step back in surprise and even straightened his head so that he was no longer looking down his nose at me. “What?” he asked incredulously, “Is that a threat?”

“Not from me, no,” I snapped, “And that is exactly why I’m here. I think you had better take us to the governor, right away.”

The buck looked from me to his friend and back again, as though trying to weigh hoe serious as I was being. He was obviously not used to handling these kind of situations, no matter how important he made himself seem. “Yes, of course,” he finally stammered, then started towards the corridor, “Right this way.”

He led us down the corridor to the governor’s office, which was denoted by a large, dark mahogany door that had a plaque hung in front of it that read ‘Governor’ in large block letters. The buck gestured for us to wait, then stepped inside the office.

We stood outside in silence for several minutes, waiting for the self-important buck to reappear. As the minutes dragged on, my patience steadily eroded. I was just about to kick open the door and barge in when the door finally opened and the buck reappeared.

“The governor will see you know, but please be quick. We are cutting you all ahead of several very important ponies,” he said, waving us inside.

“I’ll take as much time as I need. Those others can wait,” I snapped as I pushed my way past the buck.

Once past the large door, we found ourselves in a foyer that held several ponies waiting around the perimeter of the room; some were sitting on benches, others were simply standing off to the side. All of them were wearing some sort of official looking attire, meaning that it provided no practical use whatsoever. They all also had very annoyed expressions.

The most annoyed of all was a mid-sized orange buck standing in an open door. He had a carefully styled red mane and was wearing a pair of wire-rim glasses. “I trust this won’t take long? I have many important meetings to get to,” he complained.

“Trust me, you’re going to want to hear what I have to say, but I refuse to speak out in the open. Let’s step into your office so we can have some privacy,” I growled as I walked up to the buck.

He tried to stand his ground for a few moments, but quickly decided that simply agreeing with me would be the quickest way to get me out of his life. He turned around and stepped into the office. We followed after and Autumn telekinetically pulled the door shut behind us.

As soon as we were alone, I pulled out the letter that the mayor of Metro had given to me to hand off to this buck. “Here, this is from the mayor of Metro. He is making an offer of allegiance, and it is my recommendation that you accept.”

The governor remained silent as he perused the letter. By the time he finally answered, he must have read it at least three times. “This is all very interesting, but not once does he mention why,” the governor finally said, lifting his eyes from the document to fix me in a disapproving glare, “and I am not about to start sharing power with somepony whose motivations I don’t know.”

“He doesn’t want to share power,” I argued, “He wants an agreement between these two settlements, that you will come to each other’s aid should the need arise. You’ll still be in charge out here, and he will still be in charge of Metro. Nothing will change except that your two settlements will help each other in the instance of raider attack or supply shortages.”

“Again, that is interesting. But my question is why,” the buck insisted, “I see absolutely no reasons for this offer.”

I sighed and reached into my saddlebags again, pulling out the map of Millberry. “I found this a few days ago, at a dead drop in an Ironshod Factory outside of Grovedale, to the east. It came with this.” I played the recording next, while the governor looked over the map, a contemplative look on his face.

As the mayor of Metro had done, the governor listened to the recording carefully, going so far as to have me play the message again. As it wound down to an end, he sat back in his chair. “This is disturbing news, miss?”

“Evergreen,” I finished for him, “And I thought that would get your attention. The mayor of Metro thinks that a coalition of settlements would be the best defense against this Seahawk, and frankly, I agree with him. We came here first because it was the settlement mentioned in the message. So what do you say?”

The governor fell silent and his expression became thoughtful. He took a few minutes to mull over the situation. I gave him the time he needed. This wasn’t a simple situation, after all.

“I wish I could accept,” he finally said, “Millberry needs this, if we want to be sure of our survival, but we don’t have the resources to spare should Metro require our assistance. We have a militia, should they need martial help, but all of our food and water is being used. We don’t have anything extra, excepting an emergency supply, which is for just that, emergencies.”

“Understandable,” I said, “What would it take for you to agree?”

“What we need, more than anything else, is a steady supply of water. If we could get a Stable-Tec quality water purifier or recycler, I would be confident enough in our future to agree to this allegiance. Anything else, and we won’t be able to pull our weight,” he explained, gazing out of a window to look out at the town.”

“I’ll bring the information back to Metro. In the meantime, can I tell the mayor yes, with conditions? It makes a large difference on what my next move is going to be,” I asked.

“Getting a bonus for our agreement?” the governor asked shrewdly, turning his gaze back to me.

“A significant one. The kind that can be a difference between survival and thriving. The farther I can get ahead, the happier I will be,” I responded.

“In that case, yes. Tell him we have an agreement. But also tell him that I expect his help should we require anything. This is not going to be one-sided. Now then, Evergreen, if you don’t mind, I have several more important ponies to meet with. Pearlescent runs the best inn in town down at the Drunken Mare. Prices are a little steep, but you won’t have to worry about getting robbed. It’s near the center of town, north down the main road. Tell her I sent you,” the governor offered, waving a hoof towards the door.

“Thank you,” I said, backing out. We made our way straight to the inn, all of us weary after a long day of travel.

The façade was bright and gaudy, with various bits from different neon signs cannibalized together to spell out ‘Drunken Mare’ in various colors, styles, and sizes. Inside, the common room was dense and smoke filled, and also reeked of alcohol. There were a lot of ponies clustered around several tables, most of which didn’t look like the most reputable kind of patrons.

I pushed my way past several drunken ponies until I was standing at the main counter, trying to get the attention of the white mare that was waiting on everypony. I smacked my hoof on the table several times and finally managed to get her to turn her head.

“Trying to hurry me up ain’t gonna get you served any faster, got it?” she snapped at me, then returned to her conversation with the buck across the bar from her.

“I don’t want a damn drink! My friends and I have been on the road since daybreak and we want a room to sleep. The governor said we should come down here,” I snapped back.

That comment, at last, got her attention. “Oh, you want rooms! Why didn’t you just say so!” she exclaimed, sidling over to where we were waiting, “So you said the governor sent you? You come to our town on business, honey?”

“Yeah, from Metro. We ran into some problems on the way down and need a good room. I’ve got the caps,” I explained, pulling out the pouch I kept my money in.

“Wonderful! I’ve got a room for four for three hundred caps for the night! It’s up on the second floor, fourth door on your right, though I can drop the price for the right incentive,” she said, batting her eyes at me.

I never understood why so many mares tried to persuade me to sleep with them. I thought I made it painfully obvious where my preferences lay. “I think I’d prefer to pay normal price,” I stated as emotionlessly as I could, counting out the caps and setting them on the counter.

“Ah, you’re no fun, dear,” the mare sighed, reaching out a hoof to sweep in the caps, then setting a worn key on the counter, “Have a good night, now. Breakfast will be served at eight!”

I nodded my head in thanks then proceeded to lead my sorry group of followers up to our room. When we finally arrived, everypony simply dropped their saddlebags on the nearest horizontal surface. Crosswire basically collapsed on the floor, and Suture was instantly at his side, making sure he was okay.

I wandered over to the bed, sat down, and fished out my bottle of Apple Whiskey. Those ponies downstairs had looked like they were having fun, and I could use a few drinks myself after the last couple days.

I had just taken a couple swigs when Autumn came up beside me. “So that’s what Metro is looking for, huh? A way to reach out to the other towns around the area? Clever way to do it, make them think that somepony else is trying to take over the whole region. What’s he paying you to lie for him?”

I shook my head at her. “I’m not lying. Everything I said is the complete truth. Crosswire and I found the message and the map in an Ironshod factory. We’re pretty sure that Greymane is hunting for us now, since we took everything in the dead drop.”

“And this Seahawk guy? Where does he fit in?” Autumn asked, “And what’s your role in all this?”

“I haven’t got a damn clue who Seahawk is. All I know is that the kind of change he is offering to the way things are running around here won’t be good. If I’m proven wrong, and this Seahawk is some sort of savior, then I’ll be more than happy to admit it, but for now, I can’t see anything good coming from him coming around,” I explained, “My role is that I’m helping Metro organize the region enough so that we can find out exactly what this Seahawk intends to do before just letting him steamroll over all of us. I don’t know about you, but I don’t find the concept of a totalitarian regime that inviting. Not to mention the fact that ponies with my reputation tend to be the first ones to die during power changes.”

The sniper remained silent as she considered my words. “Fuck, this is a mess. Here I thought Metro was just doing a power grab. Something like that, I can easily understand. But this, this is something else! What are we going to do?”

“Exactly what we are doing. This is how much I’ve changed, Autumn. I have a cause now. I’m not just hoofing it for caps; I’m actually trying to do something worthwhile now. I don’t blame you for taking that shot at me. Hell, if I were in your hooves, I would have done the same, but the world is rarely as simple as it appears.”

“Yeah, sure seems that way,” the dark mare muttered, then stood and started towards the corner farthest away from me, “Fuck, I hate this complicated shit. Give me black and white any day. Grey… I don’t know what to do with grey.”

I watched Autumn settle herself down on the far side of the room and sighed to myself. I’d like to think that we were starting to patch up some of our differences, but there was such a void between us, and she had spent so many years completely devoted to hating me and everything I stood for that it would probably take a long time before we were even close to being on friendly terms. As it was, I could tell that she barely tolerated my presence.

I turned my gaze to where Suture and Crosswire were quietly conversing, mostly about Crosswire’s state, but also about more general things. His change was still one I was trying to understand. Much as he was having trouble figuring out the new me, I was struggling to figure out who he was now. So much about both of us had changed so much and we were both still trying to find our hooves in this new reality.

I rolled over onto my side and tried to make myself relax. The whiskey burning pleasantly in my stomach helped considerably, but there was so much going on in my head that I doubted I would get any sleep tonight. My mind was racing from my thoughts on trying to get this deal done for Metro, to trying to work out my problems with Autumn. I sighed heavily and resigned myself to a sleepless night. It wouldn’t be the first of my life.

Level up!
Perk Gained – Intense Training: Endurance has been raised by 1 for all the hits you’ve been taking!
Skill Note: Melee (50)

{Woo… here we are, at the end of another chapter… Sorry for the delay everyone, but school work has been picking me up, and grades do need to be my priority. This doesn’t mean at all that I’m stopping! I’m still working on the story in what free time I have; it just isn’t as much as I’ve had in the last month and a half. Please bear with me! For anyone who cares as well, there is a link to the hub page I set up for the story here. Please feel free to enjoy the story from there (there are some extra goodies that aren’t being posted to Fimfic). As always, thanks go to Kkat for creating Fallout: Equestria. Also, thanks to my editors, Cody and MUCKSTER (his request to change to this mode of address instead). I put both of you through hell, but you make this what it is.}

Chapter Five: Tales of the Dead

Fallout Equestria: Redemption
Author: Cooperdawg
Chapter 5: Tales of the Dead
“The dead. We are surrounded by the dead.”

The night passed only slowly as I lay on my bed in the Drunken Mare, listening to the regular breathing of my friends and companions as they slept. It seemed like it had been so easy for them to find the solace of sleep, but that same comfort was eluding me tonight. The last twenty-four hours had been filled with so much insanity that I could barely wrap my head around even the smallest of those events, and it was that lack of understanding that was driving me to sleeplessness.

It was moments like this one that led me to miss my journal even more. It had been such a great aid in allowing me to organize my thoughts and emotions, and its absence was making itself felt now.

I rolled over and my eyes sought out Autumn Mist, who was sleeping off in a corner, rifle laid carefully out in front of her, of their own volition. That mare had me seriously confused, and I knew as a fact that that confusion was a large part of why I couldn’t find rest right now. She still hated me, that much was painfully obvious in the way she watched me and how she behaved towards me, yet I couldn’t bring myself to return her anger, as I normally would have done.

When I looked on the dark mare, all I could feel was a pit of sadness and regret open up in my heart. Sadness at everything she had had to endure since I had murdered her parents, and regret at the fact that I could not remember the day I had killed them. They had been that insignificant to me at that point in my life. The worst part of the whole deal was that I felt like I deserved her hatred.

I sighed and tore my gaze away from the mare, rolling back over and looking towards the other side of the room, where Crosswire was curled up, hooked up to another blood pack that Suture had rigged up before they both drifted off, Crosswire because of how weak he was from the injury Autumn had inflicted, and Suture because of her exhaustion after treating Crosswire for the last day.

As well as the two of them were getting along now, I couldn’t help but feel like I had forced Suture into this venture through something I may have said to her in Metro. As valuable as she had been to us, she was not cut out to be traveling the wasteland. Without her, Crosswire would be dead, I could not lie about that fact, but I feared that my choices out there, through some combination of recklessness and blatant ignorance, would get her killed. I had only known her for a very short time, but already I knew that I wouldn’t be able to bear it. I had already come to rely on her advice and abilities, probably more than I should have been, but she had the kind of personality that made her somepony that was easy to rely on.

The fact that I could actually consider her a friend now filled me with joy. I doubted anypony could find two ponies in all of Equestria who were more diametrically opposed. Where I found it easy to hate others, or at least find a reason to fight them to protect myself, she looked for any reason she could to find the better side of everypony she met. She had done it with me, and it was that influence that led me to be where I was now.

Then there was Crosswire. He had proven to me over and over again, both in the past as well as over the last few days that I could rely on him for almost anything. That he had almost been killed was a sobering thought. You never expected the ponies closest to you capable of being beaten. It could happen to others, easily; all I had to do was think about the ponies I had killed at the Iron Hooves camp. How easy it had been to kill them, and there I was, thinking that Crosswire was special in some way, hell, that I was special in some way. Had anypony tried to attack my camp while I was still in charge, they would have been slaughtered, or so I thought, at least.

It was a helpful reminder that we were all vulnerable, and that all of us were at risk of being killed in a moment of weakness or inattention. But that thought didn’t make me feel better about anything, and it certainly wasn’t helping me relax enough to get some sleep.

Finally giving the prospect up for hopeless, I pushed myself to my hooves and tiptoed around my companions, sliding carefully out the door. I made my way down to the bar and was surprised to find that several ponies were still awake and drinking. Even more surprising was that Pearlescent was still awake. Since she was obviously the one that ran the place, I would have expected there to be somepony running the bar in her stead while she slept during the night. So she either had much more endurance than I had guessed, or tonight was an exception.

Either way, it wasn’t stopping me from taking a seat at the bar. I sat down heavily, sighing. Unsurprisingly, Pearlescent was almost instantly in front of me.

“Decided to re-think my offer?” she asked, raising an eyebrow seductively.

“Nope,” I answered, shaking my head, “Just can’t sleep. No offense, but I don’t look at mares that way. Stallions are more than enough for me.”

The white mare nodded understandingly. “I thought you had that look about you, but a mare never knows. It’s always polite to offer. What can I get ya?”

I chuckled despite everything and lifted out my bottle of Apple Whiskey. “Nothing for me, thanks. Found this little gem a couple days ago. Think I’m going to nurse it for a bit.”

Pearlescent arched her head to get a look at the label, then started in surprise. “You found a bottle of Ponyville Apple Whiskey! How in the hay did you manage that?”

“Found it in the fridge of a locked-up house half a day south of Metro,” I answered, shrugging. It didn’t seem like that big a deal to me. The whiskey was good, sure, but it didn’t seem like anything special.

The barkeep shook her head in disbelief. “I would have given both my hindlegs to get my hooves on a bottle of that whiskey,” she mused, eyeing the bottle with obvious longing.

“What’s on the table for a shot?” I asked, sliding the bottle over to the mare. I figured I owed her that much for setting us up for the night, even if we were paying.

Pearlescent almost jumped up into the air in surprise, her face bearing an expression of absolute joy. “I’d say free lodging for the night, and another one, should you and your friends need it,” she answered, sliding a pouch full of caps over to me before taking the bottle in her hooves and taking a large gulp. She sat the bottle back down a long second later, smacking her lips in delight. “That was one of the most wonderful things I have ever had the pleasure of tasting,” she muttered, her eyes half closed, “Thank you, Evergreen.”

I nodded as I counted out the caps, “Anytime.” There was exactly as much as I had paid her earlier that night.

“So exactly what is keeping you from sleeping, dear?” the barkeep asked a few minutes later when it was obvious that I wasn’t going to be starting a conversation anytime soon.

I sighed heavily before answering. It seemed like I’d been doing that a lot lately. “Just a lot of things going on in my mind. My life got turned upside-down a few days ago, and it’s been a struggle adjusting.”

“That happens a lot out in the wasteland, I’ve seen,” Pearlescent said, “What was the change in your life that pulled you all the way out here?”

The question was innocent enough, but I hesitated in answering it. I was comfortable with the idea of who and what I was now, but most ponies were not very forgiving. I was still deciding how best to answer the question when the white mare spoke again.

“So it was that kind of past, huh?” she asked with a knowing look, “Mind if I take a guess?”

“Why not,” I said, shrugging and taking another pull from the whiskey. How much harm could it really be?

“Ok. Believe it or not, your name is actually familiar to me. At least, part of your name seems familiar. I used to live in Metro until a few years ago. Had to leave for some personal reasons, but I was around for long enough to hear about the raider gangs to the south. I’m guessing something happened for you to want to get out of that life?” she offered.

I nearly spat my drink out on the table in shock, but that would have been a waste of good alcohol. So instead, I choked on it. The coughing fit lasted a solid minute before I finally got myself under control and looked up at the mare with tear-filled eyes. She had a bemused expression on her face.

“Judging by your reaction, I’d say I hit the nail on the head,” she said, actually grinning at me, “And don’t worry. I’m not going to say a word to anypony. It’s plain to see that you’re not living that life anymore. Besides, I recognize that maroon pony you’re traveling with. Can’t remember her name, but I know she wouldn’t travel with a raider unless she had no choice, but it looked like she was with you of her own free will.”

I nodded emphatically, “Yeah, she actually almost forced herself on us. Not that I’m complaining. If it weren’t for her, Crosswire would be dead. But at the same time, she has absolutely no survival skills or even instincts. I’m worried that I may end up doing something that will get her killed.”

Pearlescent nodded slowly in agreement. “I always knew that one would be more suited to city life. But she chose to come with you, knowing the risks. To that end, her life is only your responsibility so far as all of your companions’ lives are your responsibility. Don’t go out of your way to keep her safe. You’ll only end up getting yourself killed that way. Treat her exactly the same as anypony else.”

“That’s just it. I don’t think I could manage that,” I muttered, drawing my hoof through a small puddle of some congealing drink and drawing little shapes on the countertop, “She’s vulnerable, but she also makes herself a target. Also, none of us have any sort of medical skills beyond knowing how to drink a potion or bind a simple flesh wound. Without her… I don’t know…” I trailed off, staring down at the counter.

I felt a hoof on my shoulder and looked up to see Pearlescent leaning in close to me. “Then do what you think is right. Just know that trying to keep her safe is going to be an added risk to you, and you’ll need to plan accordingly. “

I nodded my understanding. “Thanks, Pearlescent. It’s just eating at me, knowing that I might not be able to keep her safe.”

“Good. That means you care. So exactly what brought you out to Millberry?” the barkeep asked, changing the subject abruptly.

“Mercenary work, for Metro. The mayor down there is looking to build alliances with some other settlements. Frankly, I agree with him since Crosswire and I found a recording down by Grovedale talking about somepony by the name of Seahawk setting his sights on the entire Seaddle region. This was our first stop. Now, we need to go all the way back down to Metro to bring the mayor your governor’s counteroffer. He told us that he needs a water purifier or recycler for the city if he’s going to agree to an alliance, so we need to talk to the mayor to see if he can supply one,” I answered.

“Hmmm, interesting,” the barkeep mused, “I doubt he’d be willing to part with technology like that, but I also happen to know of a place where you should be able to get your hooves on one, if you’re willing to take a risk.”

That piqued my interest. “Depending on the risk, I’m willing. There’s not a lot out there that I haven’t seen, and Crosswire is right there with me. We should be able to handle it. Where is this place?”

“There’s an old Stable not too far from here, Stable 60, I think. Last anypony knew, it was still sealed. The chance that anypony is still alive down there are fairly small, so you should be able to get in and out without a whole lot of danger,” Pearlescent explained.

It seemed too easy to me. “And if those ponies are still alive? Then what? And what about this risk you’re talking about? If everypony in there is dead, how would there be a risk?” I asked.

Pearlescent sighed. “And that’s the problem. If there are ponies there still alive, you obviously can’t take the purifier. And the risk comes from the fact that Stable-Tec isn’t known for having made lasting societies in their Stables. As far as I know, almost none have survived until now; most are nothing more than savaged ruins. That’s where the risk lies. If some Stable-Tec experiment went wrong in there, then it’s been sealed inside for two hundred years. Who knows what could be behind that door.”

I remained silent as I considered the information. If it did work out, and we did manage to get our hooves on a water purifier, that would really simplify my job and guarantee getting that bonus. And in the worst case, we would simply back out of the Stable and go back to my original plan. I knew we would be smart enough to not simply crash around inside. We would be careful and make sure we had a clear path back out before moving forward. “All right. I think we could handle that. Exactly where is this Stable?” I finally asked.

Pearlescent gave me some more specific directions. According to her, the Stable was a short journey to the west, maybe a few hours of walking would get us there. If Crosswire was up to it, which I knew he would be, we could leave once they all woke up. If we were lucky, the Stable would be empty and there would be a working purifier. Now I only had to pray that I would be so lucky.

We spent the next several hours making small talk, more or less just trying to pass the time. It wasn’t long before I stowed the whiskey back in my saddlebags and was just drinking water. I didn’t want to be drunk when we went after the purifier after all.

The bar was just beginning to lighten with the coming morning when Pearlescent excused herself to prepare breakfast. By the time she returned, back laden with several plates of cooked or raw fruits and vegetables, as well as some obviously preserved pre-war food, all three of my companions had risen and joined me at the bar. Where she got the fresh food from was a complete mystery, but I wasn’t going to question good food.

Suture was fretting over me, making sure that I was okay since I hadn’t slept all night. It took me almost ten minutes to convince her that I was fine and that I just needed to think some things over. In truth, I was surprised at how awake I was. Most would be exhausted after the day we’d had, and while I had been, the conversation with Pearlescent had left me feeling oddly refreshed.

I took the opportunity of everypony being distracted with breakfast to explain about the Stable, and the opportunity it presented. They all remained silent while I spoke, though it was an attentive silence, rather than one of ignorance. By the time I was finished, Suture was sitting completely dumbstruck, Crosswire was eyeing me with a confident look, and Autumn was glaring at me, as if to say ‘are you fucking serious?’.

“So what do you think?” I asked as I wrapped up my plan, “If we’re lucky, all of our work will already be done for us. I’d say any chance of risk is worth that, especially since it solves all of our problems out here.”

Autumn was the first to respond. “You’re out of your Celestia-damned mind!” she shouted, “Have you ever been in any of those old Stables? They’re deathtraps, every single one! I got stuck in 45 a couple years ago, and was damn lucky that I got out with my life, much less anything else.”

“But this one could be different,” I argued,” Pearlescent told me that this one is probably still sealed, so nothing from the wasteland has had a chance to get in. Only thing we’ll have to deal with are the ponies who might still be alive on the inside, if they even survived this long. You never know given the social experiments that Stable-Tec designed.”

“They didn’t focus only on social differences,” Autumn ground out, “but scientific ones as well. The shit I dealt with in 45 wasn’t from the wasteland. It was from the remains of the experiment Stable-Tec set up in there.”

“In that case, we’ll deal with whatever is there when we get that far. It just seems to me like this is our best opportunity to seal the deal with the governor here. What about the rest of you?” I asked, turning to Crosswire and Suture.

“I don’t know if Crosswire is up to…” Suture started, but was quickly cut off by the ragged buck.

“I’m fine. I’ve been on my ass for far too long, and I’m starting to feel useless. Sure, I’m still a little weak, but I can fight, if need be. I’m good to go. Evergreen and I have faced more than enough dangers together that we should be able to handle anything we run into in there,” he interrupted, “I’m in.”

The medical pony simply looked from Crosswire to me, then back before finally shaking her head in defeat. “Fine. If you’re so intent to keep getting yourselves hurt, I guess there’s nothing I can do to stop it. I’m in. Somepony needs to make sure you lot stay in one piece.”

“So it’s settled then!” I announced happily, “Once you’re all done eating, we can leave. From what Pearlescent told me, it’s a few hours west of here, so it’ll take us a while to get out there, and I’d rather have the chance of starting our way back while it’s still light out than knowing we’re going to be traveling during the night.”

“I don’t think anything is settled,” Autumn argued adamantly, “You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into, Evergreen! Those Stables are dangerous, more so than most everything else!”

“Nopony is making you come with us, Autumn,” I pointed out, “but Crosswire and Suture are with me, so I’m going. You haven’t seen and heard what we have. Metro needs this alliance if it’s going to survive the coming storm, and so will Millberry. The best way to make that happen is to go to the Stable. So, are you in or not?”

The mare grumbled darkly to herself for a few moments before finally glaring at me, “Fine, but when this fucking escapade falls flat on its face, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Works for me. All I need are my saddlebags and I’ll be ready to go. Like I said, I would suggest leaving as soon you’re done eating,” I said as I stood to head back up to our room.

Everyone nodded in agreement then turned their attention back to their food. The meal had a noticeably different atmosphere to it now as everypony considered what we were going to be facing.

Twenty minutes later we had our bags and were about to head out. As we were walking for the door of the Drunken Mare, Pearlescent called out to us. “I’ll keep your room ready for you for when you get back!” she said, “Just make sure that you do come back!”

“We’ll do our best,” I answered, nodding my appreciation at her concern, then stepped out the door.

Millberry was a very different town during the day time, even given today’s heavy rain. Ponies were everywhere, going about their daily business, and everypony seemed to have a job. Even more surprising, they seemed to actually be happy. Many of the citizens gave us cheerful smiles or waved at us as we walked by, despite our blatant display of weaponry. It was rather refreshing, to be honest. I was used to everypony glaring at me or making feel otherwise unwelcome.

It didn’t take long until we were out past the walls and into the wasteland proper. Today the rain was coming down heavily, quickly soaking all of us straight through our barding and all the way down to our bones. Since we were all used to this kind of deluge, we trudged on, sticking to higher ground when we could so we wouldn’t have to walk through the mud that was gathering in the lower areas.

The rain had driven most other forms of life to ground, but we could see a few dark shapes moving out on the horizon, though none of them came close enough for my E.F.S. to identify whether or not they were hostile. Honestly, if they stayed that far away, I could care less.

The one good thing about the rain is that it hid us rather well from any prying eyes. If anypony other than us was out here, they would probably be more concerned with getting in out of the weather, rather than going after us. Except for one pony, my mind insisted.

Thinking of that, my mind turned to why we were out here: to enable alliance between two towns so that the Seaddle region could maintain itself. I had been forgetting that there was somepony out there who was most likely hunting me down with the intent to make my life a living hell, and I knew next to nothing about him except for the fact that he was a ruthless and skilled mercenary.

Most ponies I had to fight either had no formal training or very little experience, but Greymane sounded different. He sounded like somepony who had actually learned how to fight before being forced to it. Somepony like that was much more dangerous than they appeared. And I had managed to cross him.

As a result of that line of thinking, I started watching our surroundings with much greater intensity, keeping on the lookout for anything that might have been out of place, but in the kind of gloom we were traveling through, nothing was apparently obvious, and I knew from experience that nothing would present itself. Besides, you couldn’t build a career like Greymane’s and make the kind of mistakes that would allow somepony like me to spot you in the wasteland. I would just have to wait and see what would happen, but that was not going to make me give up on being wary.

As I had expected, the journey took us several hours, and the destination was far from what any of us had expected. The cave in which the entrance to the Stable was hidden appeared to be just like any other cave: a small slit in a rock that offered just enough space for a pony to wriggle through. I knew from the looks on everypony’s face that they had been expecting something much grander as well.

“So who’s going through first?” Autumn asked, “Since I don’t do too well at close quarters, I would much rather it not be me.” She had her rifle out and was surveying the hillsides around us, obviously uncomfortable at being this close to a Stable.

I still couldn’t understand her fear of them. They were simply another form of pre-war ruin. Sure, they had been designed to survive for a couple of centuries, but many of the buildings that hadn’t been built for longevity had survived as well. It seemed to me that her fear was entirely unfounded.

“I’ll take point,” I answered, hoping that my confidence would at least inspire the dark mare to gain some herself, “Crosswire, you’ll come in after me, followed by Suture, then Autumn. First thing we do once we’re inside is clear the cavern. I don’t want any surprises sneaking up on us while we try to unseal the door.”

After everypony nodded their acknowledgement, I started forcing my way into the cave. It was a close fit, but wasn’t nearly close enough for me to get stuck. Once I was a few feet in, I heard Crosswire start in after me, the sound of his breathing echoing loudly down the tunnel. I winced, knowing that if there was anything waiting for us at the other end, they would know we were coming.

Regardless, I pressed on. We were committed to this plan, and so I would see it through. The end of the tunnel opened up on a large, circular cavern. The far wall was taken up almost entirely by the door to the Stable. It was huge, easily ten feet across and made of solid metal. It was shaped like a gear and fit snugly in its frame, leaving not even enough space for a breath of air to pass through. As Pearlescent had told me, it was closed. My eyes fixed on the door, focusing on the large number 60 painted on its face, and started towards it, completely ignorant of my surroundings.

“Well, what have we here?” A voice muttered from the shadows to my right, “Somepony coming down into my home? Maybe she wants to see what’s behind the door. Too bad she’s never going to know…”

I snapped my head to the right, and saw a red bar on my E.F.S. It belonged to a ragged green buck with a black mane. I slowed to a stop, watching him carefully. His voice had carried obvious hints of insanity, and I wasn’t going to risk doing anything stupid.

“There’s another one. Her lover, maybe…” another voice, this one low and rasping, said, this time coming from my left. It held just as much crazy as the first buck.

I took a step back, swinging my head around to find the source of the second voice. It belonged to another buck, this one grey with a white mane, but, on top of that, he had wings. I swung my head back to the first buck, and noticed his wings as well. They were both Pegasi, but that made no sense. What would two Pegasi be doing all the way out here?

I took a closer look at the green buck, focusing on his flank, or, more specifically, his cutie mark. It had been branded off, leaving in its placing a bastardization of an old, pre-war symbol: the cutie mark of the war hero Rainbow Dash. The branded cloud and thunderbolt stood out starkly against the buck’s hide, and the edges were swollen and red, obviously badly infected. This must have been a branding gone badly wrong. These two bucks were probably suffering from a heavy fever, which most likely was causing their behavior.

“Evergreen, what’s going on here?” Crosswire muttered, coming up beside me. His SMG was out and floating next to him, pointing roughly towards the grey Pegasus.

“Two Dashites, obviously crazy,” I answered, pitching my voice so that only Crosswire could hear, “best watch yourself. They could be unpredictable.”

“Why are they hiding down here? Everypony knows the Enclave doesn’t chase down the Dashites. If their crimes were that bad, they’d just execute ‘em,” he muttered, his eyes fixed on his target.

Before I could answer, the first Pegasus spoke, “Ooh, there’s another one. A very pretty mare. This could be a very good day.”

I turned my head just enough to see Suture coming out of the tunnel. “This isn’t good. We need to act, and fast,” I whispered, lifting my right foreleg leg slightly so Hammer was closer within my reach.

Crosswire nodded his head in agreement. “I’ll take the fucker on the left.”

I nodded curtly and turned to focus on the green buck. “We don’t want any trouble,” I stated, “We were just looking for a spot out of the rain.” I didn’t care that I was lying. At this point, I was trying to get these two bucks to lower their guard. With Autumn coming in after Suture, our way out was temporarily blocked, so going forward was our only way out of this.

To my despair, the buck shook his head at me and grinned wickedly. “No can do. You were kind enough to drop in on us. I think it’s only fair that we show you some, heh, hospitality.” He reached down behind a rock and pulled out a wicked-looking weapon studded with various components whose purpose I could only guess at. It was obviously an energy weapon.

As soon as the weapon shifted towards me, I was moving, ripping Hammer from its holster and diving to the side. I felt Crosswire do the same thing towards the left as two beams crossed right where we had been standing a moment before, one of which was red, the other green. One of these two fuckers had a plasma weapon.

I came to my hooves a short distance away, Hammer still in my grip. I wasted no time in settling my aim and pulling the trigger. The round slammed home in the green buck’s chest with enough energy to knock him back off his feet. Somehow, my shot must have missed his heart as he struggled weakly, blood pooling around the remains of his chest.

A staccato of gunfire echoed from the other side of the cavern as Crosswire dodged another attack and opened fire. The grey Pegasus cried out in agony and fell heavily to the floor, where another burst silenced him.

I walked up to the green buck, Hammer held ready for any tricks. “You should have stood down,” I said darkly, “We were both obviously better armed and prepared than either of you.”

“Enclave… never backs… down,” the buck wheezed in one last attempt at defiance before finally expiring.

I stood over the body for a few moments, trying to puzzle out the meaning of his last statement. What the hell did he mean, Enclave never backs down? The definition of being a Dashite was that they were disenchanted with the Enclave and wanted a different life. But that buck had sounded like he was still loyal to them, insanity notwithstanding. On top of that, he obviously knew how to handle that energy weapon, and there weren’t very many ponies, Dashites or otherwise, outside of the Enclave that knew how to do that. It was just another mystery to add to my growing pile.

“You all right, Evergreen?” Crosswire asked from where he was checking the grey buck’s body for valuables.

I looked over in time to see him pulling out spare energy cells to a laser pistol and pocket them, followed quickly by the pistol itself. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just trying to figure something out. This buck sounded like he was still loyal to the Enclave, yet he’s branded as a Dashite, which doesn’t make sense.”

“He’s also insane,” Crosswire pointed out, trotting over to where I was.

At this point, Autumn had joined us. “Uh, what the hell happened down here?” she asked, a hard edge in her voice that was obviously directed at me.

“Dashites,” Crosswire answered, “and crazy ones. They attacked us. Just ask Suture if you don’t believe me.” He crouched down and started rummaging through the buck’s bags, revealing a few energy cells and a couple of caps.

I turned away from the bloody sight and walked over to the two mares. Suture looked like she was going to be visibly sick, but Autumn had an angry look on her face. “I tried to talk them down, but they weren’t sane. Trust me, I wish this could have turned out differently. As it is, I’m just happy nopony got hurt.” With a glance over to the bodies, I amended, “Well, none of us, at least.”

The dark mare held her gaze for a few moments before looking away and grumbling to herself. She stalked over to an isolated corner, where she pulled out her rifle and started to clean it, drying out the parts from the rain.

I shook my head and turned to Suture, who simply gave me a short nod that she was going to be okay, then walked to where Crosswire was examining the Stable door’s opening mechanism.

“How’s it look?” I asked, peering past him to try to see what he was doing. As usual, nothing I saw made any sense to me.

“I’ll say this much: Stable-Tec knew what it was doing when they were building their Stables. Getting through this door isn’t going to be easy. How are they?” he asked, nodding his head towards where Autumn and Suture were waiting.

“They’ll be fine. Autumn is simply pissed, and Suture still isn’t used to seeing dead ponies outside of an infirmary,” I answered, “Can you do it?”

He remained silent for a few moments as he considered the question. “It’ll be tough, but yeah, I think I can pull it off. All it comes down to is the components and electrical systems, anyway. I just need to figure out how they interact. From there, it’ll be a piece of cake.”

I nodded dumbly at his response. Not a word he had said made any sense to me. I knew what components and electrical systems were, but everything beyond that was pure gibberish to me.

“All right. You work on that. I’ll prepare a quick meal in the meantime. We could use the extra energy before we try to tackle this thing, if it really is as dangerous as Autumn’s been implying,” I said, leaving the buck to his work.

At this point, he was so absorbed in the door’s mechanisms that he barely even acknowledged the fact that I had spoken. All I got was a nod of his head and a murmur that might have been ‘ok’ before he lost himself in his work.

I stepped off to one side of the cave, far enough away from the two bodies that they weren’t immediately obvious, and started to pull out some of my various provisions, most of which consisted of preserved pre-war snacks.

It took them a while, but eventually the other two mares joined me. Suture was beginning to look a much healthier shade of maroon, while Autumn appeared to be calming down fairly significantly. At least, she no longer looked like she wanted to put a bullet in my head anytime in the near future.

“So will he actually be able to get that door open?” Suture asked as she unwrapped a snack cake and nibbled at one corner.

I looked over to where the buck was hunched over the control panel, a mass of wires around him as he slowly gutted the system, looking for anything that might let him open it. “If there’s anypony I’ve ever met who could get that door open, it would be him,” I answered, “I have yet to see a door or terminal that he could not crack. Even this one won’t stand against him. All he needs is a little time.”

When I said that, I didn’t know how true it would be. The three of us finished our meal fairly quickly, but since there wasn’t a whole lot to be said out here, or, at least I didn’t want to bring up any of the issues that were plaguing me while our safety wasn’t assured, we simply sat in silence.

After a short while, Suture dozed off, and it seemed that even Autumn Mist was starting to struggle to keep her eyes open. I glanced down at my Pipbuck and scrolled through some of its menus, or at least the few that were available to me.

I only had limited access to the inventory management; while it would organize my bags, it didn’t make getting anything out any easier. If it had been capable of that, there would have been several instances in the last few days where my .45 would have come into play. But beyond the inventory, the map was next to useless, showing nothing except a blank screen of the area, when I had heard stories that it labeled everything from major settlements to small, abandoned shacks out in the middle of nowhere.

I shook my head sadly as I scrolled past the radio section. That one had never worked, and it was one of the few functions I was fairly sure I would have used a lot. I remembered from living in Grovedale and listening to the clunky pre-war radios that some of the shops and residents that the stations often gave away information on what various settlements were doing and where the caravans were in their cycles, not to mention a lot of practical information that would help just about anypony survive out in the wasteland, or aid a raider in choosing a mark.

But the single biggest feature that my broken Pipbuck was missing, by far, was S.A.T.S., short for Stable Assisted Targeting System. It was the programmed spell that would slow time down to the point where the entire world seemed to come to a halt and give the user time to line up the perfect shot, or even simply analyze the situation without fear of being eviscerated. Or so I had heard. I had never come across anypony with a working Pipbuck, except for one buck from when I had been a young filly, but he hadn’t allowed me to play with, or even see, any of its really cool features.

I sighed and looked up at the sealed door. If I was lucky, I would be able to fix that problem today. This was a Stable, so there should be several of these hardy computers stored away somewhere down there. The stories went that everypony born and raised in a Stable got one, so that meant that they had to have enough to support a growing population. The fact that I might not be able to get one never even crossed my mind as Crosswire let out an excited yell and jumped up from the controls in joy.

“Haha! I got it!” he exclaimed and slammed his hoof down on a lever on the console.

A siren started up, so loud that I clamped my hooves over my ears in an attempt to save my battered ears. Just as I thought it couldn’t get any louder, a terrible grinding filled the air, setting my teeth on edge and nearly rendering me deaf as it echoed throughout the cavern. I threw myself on the ground, trying to do anything I could to put something between my ears and the incredible volume.

When the noise finally ended, I hesitantly lifted my head and looked around. The massive Stable door was now open, revealing a portal into the dark confines of the centuries-old bunker. Crosswire stood just in front of the portal, chest thrust out, with a victorious smile on his face.

I pulled myself back onto my hooves and readjusted my barding, making sure everything was still in place, then glared at Crosswire. “Thanks for the warning,” I said darkly. Inwardly, I was extremely happy that he managed to pull it off, considering what those things were designed to withstand.

All he did was shrug in reply. “Sorry, we can’t all be this successful,” he said, his grin broadening, “We ready to move?”

I looked around the cavern, noting that Autumn and Suture were gathering themselves after the surprise and nodded, “I don’t see why not. We’ve had enough time to regain our energy, and I want to get back to Millberry. Let’s get in there and find what we need.”

We took a few moments to get together the supplies we had out, then stepped into the Stable. Completely against my expectations, the walls were covered in dirt and grime, and layers of dust had built up in the corners. It seemed that any kind of maintenance had been halted decades ago. And judging from the lack of anypony appearing to greet us, I doubted that whatever society had existed down here was still surviving.

“I have a bad feeling about this…” Autumn trailed off nervously as we approached the stairway leading deeper underground.

I still couldn’t understand the source of her discomfort. What could there possibly be down here that would present a danger to us? It appeared that everypony down here was dead, so what threat would there be other than a few decomposed corpses and skeletons? “We’ll be fine, Autumn,” I stated, “Between your rifle, Crosswire’s SMG, and Hammer, we’ll be fine. I don’t think anything Stable-Tec cooked up will be enough to overcome three hardened wastelanders.”

“Don’t underestimate the madness of what Stable-Tec thought up. Those fuckers destroyed almost as many lives as the apocalypse did,” Autumn snapped, “I don’t trust a fucking thing those sadists put together.”

I shrugged and kept walking, climbing down the stairs until they deposited us into what could only be the Stable’s atrium. I paused for a moment, considering what direction we would want to go in. Chances were that a water purifier would be in the lower maintenance section, but a sealed stable, or recently opened, in this case, provided a unique salvaging opportunity. A lot of the tech that Stable-Tec dumped in these things was designed to last centuries. If we could get our hooves on some of it and drag it out with us, we would be set for a lifetime. And the best place to find an accounting of that tech would be the Overmare’s office…

I cast about, searching for a sign, and finally found one, pointing down a side hallway. “That way,” I said, pointing a hoof towards it, “The Overmare’s office will have records of where all the machinery is, not to mention any other goodies that are down here.”

“Are you out of your mind?!” Autumn snapped, grabbing my tail to stop me from moving forward, “We came down here for one thing, and one thing only: the recycler. If we lose track of that, we’ll be stuck down here when the shit hits the fan and whatever horrors Stable-Tec cooked up find us. We need to go straight to maintenance, that way,” she waved a hoof towards a stairwell leading down, “grab the recycler, and leave. Nothing more.”

“And waste this opportunity, I don’t think so,” Crosswire cut in, “I’m with Evergreen. Our best opportunity will be if we find out everything that’s stashed down here and bring out as much as we can.”

“Arrgh, you’re both fucking insane!” Autumn exclaimed, “Suture, you’re with me, right? We need to get what we came with and get out!”

The medical pony remained silent as she considered the situation. “I don’t know…” she finally muttered, “You make a good point, Autumn, but Evergreen is right. If we can bring out more pieces of working technology with us, we’ll be able to help a lot more ponies. Besides, we haven’t seen anything that would constitute a threat, and this is the main room of the Stable. If anything had gone wrong, surely some of the ponies down here would have made it this far before it got them, but I don’t see anything out of place. I’m with Evergreen, we should take advantage of this, and I’m not normally one to say that.”

I nodded in appreciation to the maroon pony, then stepped out into the atrium. “As you keep saying, Autumn, the quicker we move the quicker we get out,” I stated, grinning.

“And we’re all gonna end up fucking dead…” the dark mare muttered as she followed me out.

We made our way quickly through the atrium and down the hallway to the Overmare’s office. The door was locked when we arrived, but was absolutely no match for Crosswire. In less than a minute, we were inside.

Inside, the room was a scene of chaos. Papers were flung about as if by a whirlwind and various desk implements were strewn about the floor. What little furniture that wasn’t bolted to the floor was also cast about, broken into pieces.

I stepped over a shattered chair arm towards the large, circular desk, fairly certain that the only reason it, and the computer resting on it, was still in one piece because it had been designed to withstand that kind of treatment. Sitting behind the console was a badly decomposed skeleton, the remains of the last Overmare.

I gently pushed the remains to the side; there was no reason to disrespect the dead, especially not when they had come to an end like this one. Surprisingly, the terminal the body had been facing was still active, and already had access granted… This pony must have died while working on the terminal.

“Find anything interesting yet, Evergreen?” Crosswire asked from one corner of the room where he was rummaging through a series of lockers.

“Yeah, the last Overmare. At least, what’s left of her,” I answered, “And her terminal, already with full access.” I looked over to where Autumn was standing uncomfortably off to one side, watching all of us with a disapproving glare. “Autumn, can you watch the door? If you happen to be right, and there is something down here just waiting to kill us, I want you to be the first thing it meets. I’d be surprised if anything could survive a direct shot from that rifle of yours.”

“Even me?” Crosswire asked from where he was, a distinct note of anger in his voice.

“Hey, we worked our asses off to save yours,” I shot back at him, “and trust me, it wasn’t easy. If you could back her up once you’re done there, I would appreciate it.”

The buck shrugged noncommittally and returned his attention to the lockers.

I sighed and lifted a hoof to the keyboard, where I selected the first bit of highlighted text. Immediately, the voice of a young mare filled the air. “This is a pre-recorded message from Stable-Tec headquarters in Canterlot. If you are hearing this, then your Stable has been activated and you have been sealed off from the surface to protect you and your control group from almost certain death. This is now the time for the selected Overmare to open her sealed orders and conduct the Stable in the guidelines set forth by Stable-Tec. This pre-recorded message is now ending.”

As soon as the message ended, I could feel everypony’s eyes on me. “What’s the next one? Is it Stable-Tec’s orders?” Suture asked, stepping up beside me and looking at the screen.

“I don’t know,” I answered, “but I’m going to find out.” Resolutely, I reached out and selected the next line of text on the screen.

Again, a mare’s voice came from the terminal, but this time a different mare. “This is the first journal entry of the Stable 60 Overmare, Clockwork. The Stable sealed itself only three hours ago, and I have just finished reading my sealed orders. Celestia above, I can’t believe it’s come to this. I barely made it in time ever since those bombs just started dropping… everywhere, simply everywhere. I’m amazed that we managed to keep the door open as long as we did. By Luna, there must be so many dead…” the voice trailed off and there was a sound that might have been sobbing. “Ok, it’s going to be ok, Clockwork,” the voice muttered as the mare tried to calm herself, “You can do this. Our orders are to live as we did before the war, except the environmental systems are rigged for there to be a higher level of background radiation than usual, meant to simulate a world that survives an apocalypse like the one we just experienced, I guess. Apparently Stable-Tec was trying to plan for the worst after all. We have been given an extremely large supply of Rad-Away, to assist with any complications that may arise as a result of the higher radiation. I still can’t believe everything could have gotten do bad. Only this morning we were still living normal lives.”

The recording came to an end, and I just stood there, completely speechless. It was one thing to have the apocalypse explained to you as a filly. Then, it was just boring history, something you knew was true, but had no context for. The world simply was as it was. But hearing another pony talking about watching the bombs coming down with her own eyes… that was something else. Sure, I had met pre-war ghouls that hadn’t gone zombie, but they usually preferred to not talk about the apocalypse. Too many bad memories, they said. Now, I could understand that.

“Play the next one,” Suture pressed me, “I want to know what happened here.”

“You do realize that message means we are probably being irradiated right now, right?” Autumn called out from the door, “Anypony have a rad counter? Aren’t those Pipbuck’s supposed to have one?”

“Yeah, but mine’s broken,” I answered, “The rad counter hasn’t been working since I got tossed about in the Iron Hooves camp. We shouldn’t be down here too long, anyway, and besides, it was simply designed for higher background levels. They wouldn’t rig it to be deadly, would they?” Before anypony could answer, I reached out and started the next record.

“This is Stable 60 Overmare, Clockwork, entry number twenty-seven. It’s been almost a year since the Stable was sealed, and everything seems to be going well. We’ve had a few cases of minor radiation poisoning, but nothing the Rad-Away couldn’t handle. Now we know what warning signs to look for. It seems like everypony is starting to get used to the daily required medical checks to watch for radiation poisoning, and we are actually beginning to form our own society down here. It isn’t perfect, but then, what is anymore?” A loud alarm sounded suddenly in the recording, shocking the Overmare into an exclamation of surprise. “What?! What was that?” she spluttered.

“Warning, system breach in reactor four. Lethal levels of radiation detected. Initiating Lockdown. Sealing bulkheads,” a monotone, synthetic voice announced from the recording.

“What? No! This can’t be happening!” The Overmare exclaimed. Then, there was a crashing sound, followed by hooves running towards the door, and the sound of pounding, as though the Overmare was trying to force her way out. After a while, the sound of her returning to the terminal could be heard, ending with her sitting heavily down in the chair. “I’m trapped in here, with enough emergency food and water to last months. Too bad I know I’m going to go through it all, then die of thirst anyway. If the Stable sealed us off completely from the reactor, then nopony is going to be able to shut it off. I guess this is the end.”

“Great, that’s exactly what I wanted to hear! So now, instead low levels of radiation, we’re probably being bombarded with a fuck-ton of it! We should leave, right now!” Autumn snapped from the door.

“If the radiation were that bad, we’d already be starting to feel it. Anypony feel nauseous? Any headaches?” Suture asked. After a chorus of negatives, she said, “Then there’s nothing to be worried about. I have some Rad-Away if anyone starts to feel sick, but we need what’s down here. Play the next one, Evergreen.”

I nodded and obediently hit the next record. The first mare’s voice came out of the terminal this time. “This is Scootaloo, co-founder of Stable-Tec on a pre-recorded message. By now, you’ll have noticed that one of your reactors has catastrophically failed. I’m sorry, but we had to do it. Some of the scientists here at Stable-Tec have theorized that ponies could withstand a high level of radiation if they had already been exposed to low amounts for a long period of time, so we… You know what, fuck this! What did you ponies do to deserve this kind of treatment from us! Here I am, recording a fucking message that is letting you know you’re most likely going to die at worst, and survive as some twisted remnant of a pony at best, while I am probably going to be dead by the time you hear this message! When did we decide that we would have this kind of power over the lives of anypony? I swear, first thing in the morning, I’m going to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle and telling them that this needs to stop! Scootaloo, out.”

I stood in stunned silence as the last words of the message faded into silence. Stable-Tec… had planned this whole thing, had killed the entire Stable a single year after it had been put in place… How could they have done that? Everypony knew of the trio that had been behind the Stable program, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell, and Scootaloo, but I don’t think anypony truly knew what they had done with the company that they had built. To murder a few hundred ponies because a bunch of scientists thought they had discovered something… it was simply unthinkable. And yet, here we were, faced with the reality. At least it appeared as though at least one of them had discovered the same thing, but obviously not soon enough.

“I can’t believe it… They murdered them all,” Suture muttered from my side, “Why would they do that?”

“Because they thought it would serve the greater good. Big fucking surprise: they were wrong,” Autumn snapped from the doorway, “Now I’m telling you, we need to get the fuck out of here! Nothing good is going to come of this. Besides, I don’t think this Stable is entirely empty…”

As if to punctuate her words, the sound of hooves echoed down the hallway, sending shivers down my spine. The sound was faint enough that I told myself that I had imagine the sound, even tried to force myself to believe it, but the look on Autumn’s and Crosswire’s faces told me that I hadn’t imagined anything.

“Wait, there’s one last one,” Suture muttered. I heard her reach out and click a button on the terminal and the last message drifted out into the silence left by the echoing hooves.

“This is going to be the last journal entry from Stable 60 Overmare, Clockwork. I finished the last of my water three days ago and am starting to feel really weak. The lining of the office has been good enough to keep the radiation out, but that is as much a curse as it is a blessing. The lockdown lifted only a few days after the reactor exploded, but I sealed the door anyway. I’d rather die in here than face whatever fate has in store for me out there.” There was the sound of dry coughing, the sound of a mare obviously dying of thirst. “The Stable-Tec scientists were right, for whatever that’s worth anymore. Most of the Stable’s residents have survived the massive amounts of radiation, though I use the term loosely. I’ve seen them from the window, gathering in the atrium while they tried to figure out what was happening to themselves. None of the survivors even look like ponies anymore. Their manes have all but fallen out and their skin is starting to flake off, giving them the look of zombies from the old horror movies I watched when I was a filly, but they simply refuse to die. Some of them look like they’ve gone crazy, and are attacking anypony that comes within reach, though that part of the population is only small, right now, except the process looks like it happens over time. Guess everypony down here will either be crazy or dead within a few weeks. At least I know I will still be me when I pass to the Beyond.”

I felt a chill travel down my spine. These ponies hadn’t died. No, it was much worse than that. Before I could vocalize my fear, Crosswire shouted out, “I see something!” and let out a burst of SMG fire.

I followed his gaze, stepping into the hallway as I did, and pulled out Hammer. At the end of the hall, now lying on its side and struggling to stand after being shot with a half-dozen rounds, was an Earth Pony ghoul. Nothing remained of its mane except for a few tattered strands, and its hide had all but sloughed off, revealing the raw flesh and muscle beneath. It had the look of something dead, except for the fact that it was now climbing back to its hooves and galloping at us, eyes wide and staring, intent on nothing other than ripping us limb from limb.

“Fuck! Ghouls!” I shouted around Hammer as I brought the revolver to bear. I centered its sights on the advancing ghoul and pulled the trigger. Hammer was most likely designed to punch through moderately reinforced armor. The squishy, softened flesh of this undead beast was no match for the power of its shot as the round tore into the ghoul’s chest cavity and nearly tore it in half.

The ghoul collapsed in a pool of its own gore, and still continued to struggle, jaw snapping weakly in my direction, before finally falling still.

“This is fucking insane,” Autumn snapped angrily, “Now we’re facing an entire Stable’s worth of these undead fucks! You see what I mean about Stable-Tec consistently fucking us all over?”

“Yeah, I get it, Autumn. I got it the first dozen times,” I growled, “Crosswire, get on that terminal and find out where the recycler is. I’m going to side with Autumn now. We want to get down there, grab what we came here for, and get out. If there’s anything else worthwhile, then it had better be on our way.”

“Done,” the buck answered, and backed into the room and to the terminal. The sound of him typing on the keyboard echoed loudly through the room, as it was the only sound any of us were making. Autumn and I stood stiffly by the door, each watching the hallway with our weapons out and ready.

In the five minutes it took Crosswire to find what we wanted, nothing showed itself at the other end of the hall. “Found it. I know the way to go,” he finally announced, returning to the door and floating out his SMG.

“Good. Lead the way then. Suture, you with us?” I asked, looking back to where the medical pony was standing by a wall.

“I… I don’t feel too good,” she muttered before vomiting on the floor. Her breath was coming in ragged gasps and the color had drained from her face.

“Fuck, she’s already starting to feel the effects of radiation poisoning. We need to get her out of here,” Autumn snapped.

“Not yet, we don’t,” I argued, dashing over to the mare, where I pulled a packet of Rad-Away out of her saddlebag. I tore it open and held it up to her mouth. The smell of oranges tickled my nostrils, a misleading hint at how terrible the damn things actually tasted. “Drink this, you’ll feel better, I promise.”

Hesitantly, the mare took the packet in her mouth and gulped down the contents, nearly gagging several times, though I couldn’t tell if it was due to the Rad-Away itself or radiation poisoning. When she finally finished, she gasped and took a deep breath. “I hate those things…” she breathed, “but better than suffering from radiation. It’s a lot stronger than we think it is, if I felt it that quickly. We need to make a side-trip to the infirmary, if we want to have enough Rad-Away to last us however long we need. The record said they had a lot.”

I nodded at her and turned to Crosswire. “You heard her. We need to get to the infirmary first. Lead the way,” I ordered.

The buck nodded and started out the door, Autumn a step behind him. I took up a position at the rear, keeping Suture protected between us all. Knowing what was down here, the walls didn’t seem nearly as inviting as they had before, not that it had been welcoming to begin with. Occasionally, we could hear the sound of hooves scurrying as if from a far distance, but we saw nothing besides that first ghoul.

As we came back out into the atrium, I was struck by just how deteriorated everything appeared. Before, it had simply been a little creepy, but nothing really out of the ordinary from how everything was up on the surface. But now, knowing what was hiding down here, the walls seemed to close in on me. I wasn’t claustrophobic, not by a long shot, but the room appeared to shrink and offered me no way of getting out. The thought crossed my mind that I might not see the sky again.

Crosswire paused for a moment once we were all out of the hallway, casting about as he searched for a sign that would point us in the right direction. “There!” he announced, pointing with a hoof. Sure enough, the infirmary was there, a floor below us and across the atrium. All we needed to do was get there.

“Good job,” I said, “now get us down there.”

Crosswire nodded and took off at a canter, heading for a stairway leading down. It was exactly the wrong thing to do.

The door into the stairwell opened and released a tide of ghouls, all of them wild and snapping, lunging to grab at us and tear us apart. Crosswire let out an involuntary shout of surprise as the wave crashed over him, burying him beneath a pile of bodies. A spray of bullets flew from where he fell as he instinctively fired his gun, tearing many of the ghouls on top of him apart, but their sheer numbers drove him to the ground.

Both Autumn and I wasted no time in steadying our guns and opening fire, picking off the few ghouls on top of Crosswire that we had a clear shot at, and keeping the advancing masses from crushing the two of us.

In a deafening volley of gunfire, we both emptied the clips of our guns, the force of Hammer tearing limbs and exploding heads. Autumn’s sniper was even more devastating as it tore ghouls in half and left nothing but a smear of gore in its wake. Unfortunately, both of our weapons had small clips, and we were forced to reload far sooner than I would have liked. There were still at least a half dozen ghouls charging us, with three still holding Crosswire pinned, fighting viciously to get through his defenses and tear him limb from limb.

Seeing a quick opportunity, I spat Hammer into its holster and dug into my saddlebags for my .45. I pulled the weapon out, checked that the safety was off, and pulled my head up just in time to see a ghoul smash into me, driving me to the ground. I managed to keep a hold on the pistol, but was too busy fending the undead horror off to get a clear shot.

The ghoul lunged for my throat, its breath washing over me and nearly making me gag. I barely got a leg up in time to stop the attack, but the result was the ghoul locking its jaws on my leg instead of my neck. It started worrying away, blood flowing freely from its jaws as it tore through my flesh.

The pain was nearly unimaginable as I screamed in agony, kicking blindly with my rear legs and battering at the ghoul with my one free foreleg, trying to dislodge it, but it was locked on tight and wouldn’t let go.

It was then that I heard a shot from behind me and felt a bullet whiz pass my ear, clipping it before smashing into the ghouls face. Its head exploded in front of me, showering me in blood and bits of bone and brain. I shoved the body off of me, trying to catch my breath.

I simply lay there, listening to the sound of my ragged breathing and feeling my heart pounding in my chest. I barely felt the pain from my ear, as it was being completely dominated by the fire in my leg that seemed to be spreading throughout my entire body.

“Evergreen! Get up! I need you here!” I heard Autumn shout, but my brain barely registered the words.

All the same, I slowly rolled over to my stomach and gingerly dragged myself onto my hooves, keeping my injured leg off the ground. I turned my head towards the place Autumn’s voice had come from and saw her wrestling with a ghoul. It seemed to be the last one left alive, and the young mare was struggling with it, her physical strength not nearly up to par with her levitation skills.

Crosswire was a short distance away, reloading his SMG. He was watching the fight with interest, but it didn’t appear as though he was going to intervene anytime soon. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why.

I limped over to her, making sure my .45 was still usable. With a complete lack of grace, I stuck the barrel of the gun against the ghoul’s head and pulled the trigger, blowing its brains clear out the other side of its head and making it collapse limply on top of the dark mare.

“Thanks,” she grunted, hefting the body off of her and climbing shakily to her hooves. She checked herself quickly for injuries, then floated her rifle over and reloaded before turning angrily on Crosswire. “What the hell was that about!” she yelled, “You could easily have helped me there!”

The buck simply shrugged. “Honestly, I see no reason to help you survive, considering you’ve sworn to kill Evergreen and almost killed me. You’re only here because I respect Evergreen’s decision, and having that rifle between me and anything else improves my chances of survival.”

“Crosswire, this really isn’t the time,” I growled, “If we want to get out of here alive with what we came here for, we need to be working together, not expecting a shot in the back. Now come one, there shouldn’t be another group of the things that close to us now. We should have enough time to get into the infirmary. Celestia knows I need it.”

“I’m sorry, Evergreen, but I can’t make myself come to this pony’s rescue. Not after the shit she’s pulled. In time, maybe, if she pulls that stick out of her ass, but until then, I won’t attack her, but I’m not going to help her either,” he argued, walking over to me and supporting me, “but I agree with needing to get to the infirmary.”

We just started walking towards the stairwell when I looked behind me and saw Suture standing in place, 9mm pistol on her mouth, completely frozen in place.

“Suture?” I asked, “You coming?” Something didn’t seem right with her. This was not a good time for us to lose our medic.

“I… I killed somepony,” she muttered just loud enough for us to hear, “I’ve never killed somepony before.”

“Fuck, this is the last thing we need,” Crosswire snapped.

“Suture, it wasn’t a pony anymore. Anything that would have made it a pony died a long time ago. Whoever it once was has been done a favor now. You let them rest and go to the princesses,” I said, hoping to break her out of whatever funk she was in.

She turned her head slightly to look at me. “You don’t understand, Evergreen. I’m a doctor. My job is to help ponies. Not kill them. I’m a disgrace to my profession.”

“Trust me, Suture, you aren’t. You fought to protect somepony’s life. I don’t see how that could ever be considered a bad thing. Now come on! We need to get down there.”

The maroon mare nodded dumbly and followed slowly after us, walking as if on wooden legs. When she reached us, Autumn reached out with her telekinesis and pulled the pistol out of her mouth and slid into her holster.

The four of us then proceeded down the stairs towards the infirmary, me leaning on Crosswire for support because of my savaged leg, and Autumn leading an expressionless Suture, who followed along without comment.

As soon as we stepped inside the infirmary and Autumn closed the door behind us, I collapsed on the floor near one of the medical cabinets as Crosswire began rummaging through them one at a time, building a pile of Rad-Away and a pile of other medical supplies.

The Rad-Away quickly outnumbered everything else, lending a lot of weight to the Overmare’s claim that they had been overstocked. We all slurped one down, doing what we could to combat the radiation levels down here.

The taste was completely terrible, reminding me of spoiled oranges, but the cost was worth it. Better to gag at the taste than to die of radiation poisoning. After forcing the Rad-Away down, I reached for a healing potion and chugged that as well. My leg stitched itself together in front of my eyes, the savaged bite receding to a small patch of pink flesh and thin hair. I placed it on the ground experimentally, testing my weight, and was pleased to find that it could support me again. Unfortunately, it did nothing for the notch that Suture’s bullet had carved in my ear.

Once my own ills were taken care of, I turned my attention to everypony else. Crosswire was still rummaging through the cabinets, tossing something valuable out every now and then. Autumn was standing off to one side of the room, nursing her Rad-Away, with a dark look on her face. Suture was still standing near the door, her face completely blank.

I walked over to her, and stood directly in front of her, my nose barely a foot from hers. She made no indication that she recognized my existence.

“Suture,” I said, finally getting a reaction out of her as her eyes focused on mine, “Are you ok?”

“Evergreen,” the mare breathed, “Evergreen, something terrible happened. I… I killed somepony…”

I sighed. Of all the times for this mare to have a mental breakdown, it had to be now. “No, Suture, you didn’t kill anypony. By definition, feral ghouls are no longer ponies. Most sentient ghouls don’t even care what happens to the ferals. Besides, you saved my life. How could that be a bad thing?”

The mare resolutely shook her head. “No, it doesn’t work like that. The ends don’t justify the means. I… this isn’t right.”

Obviously, talking to her wasn’t going to solve anything here, as she was basically repeating the same things she had said before, so I did the only other thing I knew to do. I lifted a leg and smacked her hard across the face.

Her head snapped to the side, and she let out a startled yelp that drew both Autumn’s and Crosswire’s attention. I then reached out and grabbed her head in both my hooves and forced her to look me in the eye.

“Listen to me Suture,” I snapped angrily, “You are not a disgrace, not even close. I can tell by looking in your eyes that you have never even fired a gun before, and that’s okay. But you shouldn’t be angry at yourself because you had to shoot something. Your life was in danger, and it would have killed you had it not been busy trying to eat me alive. I owe you my life because of that shot. So pull yourself together and get your head on straight. I need the brave medic that came down here with us. Not this shell.”

Suture stared at me blankly for a few seconds, still in shock from me hitting her, then slowly nodded.

“Good,” I huffed, and released her.

“You… you hit me,” she muttered, but there was an undertone of anger to her words. I was happier hearing that than the emotionless monotone she had been speaking in.

“Yes I did, because you refused to listen to me. I had to get your attention somehow. That seemed like the best way to do it,” I answered simply, “so go ahead and be angry. I can handle it, and you’ll thank me for it before long. When you understand why, then I’ll apologize.”

I turned away from the mare, whom was now starting to sputter angrily at me, and focused my attention on Crosswire. I figured that since I was handling one pony’s problems, I might as well handle the others as well.

“I know exactly what you’re going to say,” Crosswire said, not quite angry, but definitely annoyed, “and I’m warning you now: if you so much as twitch a leg in my direction, I won’t hesitate to kick you square in the jaw.”

“Good, that makes this quite a bit easier, since I already have your attention,” I growled, “I know you’re pissed, and I know why. I’m not too happy with the situation, either, but the only way to get out of it is to kill her, and I am not willing to turn back down that path. If you still want to murder somepony, who basically did save your life back there, then be my guest, but I will have nothing to do with it.”

I saw Crosswire glance over in Autumn’s direction, then heard the echoing sound of the dark mare chambering a round.

“Don’t even think about it, Crosswire,” she snapped, “You’d be dead before you got halfway here.”

The tech maintained his glare for a few seconds before snorting angrily and turning his head back to me. “So what do you expect me to do, Evergreen? The way I was raised, and the rules I was taught to follow, tell me to have nothing to do with somepony like her, especially since she almost fucking killed me!”

“I don’t expect anything from you,” I snapped back, “but I also thought you were better than that. I have never seen you simply leave somepony to their fate before, even while we were still in the gang. You would always outright kill anypony other than us, or help anypony that was in the gang with us. You never just abandoned them. And honestly, given our reputations, her actions yesterday were justified. So why the change?”

Crosswire was now glaring at me, his green eyes a sea of anger and pain. “Believe it or not, Evergreen, there are some things about me that even you don’t know.” He said, every word dripping with the same anger radiating from his gaze, “so trust me when I say that I will not, cannot ever put my life on the line to save somepony like her.”

“But your life wouldn’t have been at risk!” I yelled, “She was pinned beneath a single ghoul! I managed to do it by simply shoving a pistol against its head and pulling the trigger, and one of my legs wasn’t even working! So where’s the problem?”

Now, surprisingly, the buck’s glare shifted from one of anger, to one of hurt. I recognized it for what it was: a window into his past, a glimpse into a life he had left behind long before we had met. “You wouldn’t understand. Please, Evergreen, just drop it. Just understand that I can’t bring myself to help her and leave it. Maybe one day, you’ll figure it out, but now isn’t the time.”

I could tell that he was trying to soothe me off of the issue, but all it did was serve to piss me off even more. “Seriously, Crosswire…” I said, “You seriously expect me to simply leave it at that? If we expect to get out of here alive, then we need to be watching each other’s backs the whole way through. If any one of us can’t rely on everypony else, then we aren’t going to get out in one piece, and that is a promise. So fine, I get that you have some long-standing issues that are keeping you from trusting Autumn Mist, or even helping her, but for the interest of survival, can you put it aside for a few hours so we can do what we came here to do?”

Crosswire glared at me again, but then looked over to Autumn Mist. His gaze softened slightly, and he sighed. “Fine. While we’re down here, she can rely on me. As soon as we step outside, that ends.”

“Thank y…” I started, but was cut off by the buck.

“I’m only doing this because I respect you, Evergreen, and I know you wouldn’t ask if you didn’t think it entirely necessary. Don’t make me regret that judgment.”

It was a threat, and a thinly veiled one at that. He was telling me, in no uncertain terms, that I was taking a risk in asking this of him. My entire friendship with him was now on the line, but I would be damned before I would let that stop me.

“I won’t,” I answered resolutely, “but I hope that you’ll trust me enough soon that you’ll tell me why.”

Crosswire looked past me and seemed to focus on something in the distance that I wouldn’t be able to see. “Maybe at some point, but not now,” was all he said to answer before turning back to the pile of medical supplies. “We should split all of this up amongst the four of us. It’ll be easiest to carry, and we’ll all have a supply with us to take as we need it.”

I nodded in agreement. “Good idea. Suture can pick up the extra, since she’s carrying the rest of our medical supplies anyway,” I said, looking over to the maroon mare.

She was glaring at me, still angry at the fact that I had hit her, but I wasn’t concerned about that. At least she wasn’t in shock. “Fine,” she ground out, stepping forward and pushing roughly past me, “but don’t think I’ve forgotten, Evergreen. You and I are going to have a long conversation about proper treatment of others when all of this is said and done.”

She quickly divided the pile into four equal sizes and deposited the extra medical supplies in her saddlebags. The rest of us stepped forward and grabbed a pile of Rad-Away each. Thankfully, it didn’t add too much weight and I should still be able to move quickly if I needed to.

Once we are all settled, I peered carefully out of the window into the main square of the atrium. The window was grimy and it was difficult to see through, but I could make out enough to see that there wasn’t an army of ghouls waiting for us outside, but I could see some shadows moving at the edges of the room, centered at the various doorways leading out into other parts of the Stable.

“Ok, I can see some movement, but there doesn’t seem to be too many of them,” I said, turning back to the others, “Crosswire, you know which way to go to get down to the Maintenance level?”

The buck nodded curtly.

“Good. You’ll be leading us then. I’ll follow after you, then Suture will be behind me. Autumn, take up the rear and make sure nothing follows us too closely. We all ready?”

Everypony nodded in acknowledgement. They were all angry, in their own way and for different reasons, but at least they had all agreed to put their rivalries aside for the time being. They simply didn’t have a place in what we were trying to accomplish. It would have to do.

“Ok. Let’s move!” I said, gesturing to the door.

Crosswire floated out his SMG and hit the control to open the door. It slid open smoothly, surprising considering how worn-down everything else was, but that fact was lost on us all as we dashed out of the infirmary.

Crosswire made a beeline for one of the shadowy doorways, moving at a quick canter, and casting his head from side to side, searching for targets. We came within ten feet of the door when the first of the ghouls showed themselves.

Four of the ferals launched themselves out of the shadows towards the grey buck, aiming at his chest and neck. Two were quickly cut down by a pair of bursts from his SMG. The third dropped bonelessly to the floor a moment later, a revolver round through its chest. The last ghoul reached its target, but instead of latching onto Crosswire’s neck as it had intended to do, the buck lowered his head and charged the ghoul, impaling it on his glowing horn and driving it back into the stairway where he stopped and momentum sent the dead ghoul flying down the stairs to land in a wet crunch at the bottom.

We didn’t pause in wake of the attack, instead continuing down into the depths of the Stable. I could see blood dripping down Crosswire’s face and matting in his mane, all of it left over from the ghoul he had charged, but some seemed to be getting into his eyes as he tossed his head from side to side, probably trying to clear his vision.

We had just reached the first landing when I heard a pair of shots from Autumn’s rifle. “They’re coming up right behind us, and there are a fuck-ton of ‘em!” she shouted, firing another pair of rounds.

I made a split decision and spat Hammer into its holster, then reached into my saddlebags, pulling out a pair of grenades. This would be a perfect time to use them, if I could get the timing right. “Get out of the way!” I shouted at the sniper, then pulled out both the stems from the grenades and tossed them into the air.

I waited, watching as they arced through the air, praying to any deity that would listen for this to work, then twisted around and bucked at the grenades.

My aim was true, and the two apple-shaped explosives soared through the air to the top of the stairs, where they detonated in a rain of fire and shrapnel, accompanied by pained shrieks from the ferals that had been caught in the blast.

I didn’t wait to see what came out of the explosion. Instead, I turned and ran after Crosswire, who was now sitting at the bottom of the stairwell, struggling with a door.

“What the fuck’s happening here?” I asked, “Get it open!” The sound of hooves pounding on a metal floor became louder, which could only mean that more ferals were coming after us.

“What the fuck do you think I’m trying to do! Whoever the fuck locked this door wanted to make sure nopony followed them! It’s a lot harder than it has any right to be!” he snapped back.

I heard the sound of Autumn chambering a round, then there was a quick succession of shots from her rifle. “Evergreen, get the fuck up here! There’s more than I can handle alone!”

“Luna rape me with a fucking cow-prod!” I swore, then bounded up the stairs to where the dark mare was once again reloading her rifle. Even Suture was holding her pistol gingerly in her mouth. I pulled Hammer out again and aimed up at the stairs.

The ghouls came rushing in a moment later, pouring down the stairs like some unstoppable tide. All three of us fired into the mass in desperation. Autumn’s and my shots struck with careful accuracy, killing ghouls with a single chest or headshot. Suture’s shots were largely flying about randomly, only striking targets because of their sheer numbers, but the hollow point rounds did an incredible amount of damage to the ghouls, tearing limbs clean off or leaving massive, bloody holes wherever they struck a torso or head.

Somehow, we fought the assault off, leaving the stairway covered in blood and torn bodies. All three of us were bleeding from injuries gained in the attack, though the worst was a deep gash in Autumn’s shoulder where a ghoul had managed to tear right through her barding.

She was grimacing in pain, but shook Suture away when the medical pony tried to wrap up the injury, gesturing to the stairs. “We don’t have time for that, Suture. The next wave could come at any time,” she snapped, reloading her rifle. “You have any grenades left, Evergreen?”

“A few,” I answered, pulling three of the apple-shaped explosives out of my saddlebags and setting them on the ground in front of me, “Don’t know how useful they’ll be though, given how many bodies are up there.”

Autumn Mist shook her head slowly. When she spoke, I could detect a hint of desperation in her voice. “This is bad. We’re cornered with nowhere to run, with who knows how many ghouls between us and the exit…”

I heard her words, but refused to listen to them. If I gave in to that kind of thinking, then we were all dead. They came here with me at my request, so it was my responsibility to keep moving forward, to keep up the belief that we would get out.

I turned my head to where Crosswire was still hunched over the locking mechanism of the door. “Crosswire, how much longer are you going to be?” I shouted, “We’re running out of time up here.”

“This doesn’t seem right!” the buck shouted back, “Whatever happened to this door, it is refusing to budge! I don’t think I can get through.”

“Fuck!” I yelled, but before I could get anything more out, the sound of pounding hooves echoed through the stable, and the next attack started. I pulled the stem from one of the grenades and sent it through the air, where it detonated amidst the charging ghouls, but it barely slowed them down.

Once again, we were all fighting desperately for our lives, but this attack seemed much more relentless than the others, and the wave of ghouls just kept coming. I watched almost helplessly as a pair of ghouls got past our wall of gunfire. One of them bit Suture deeply on the shoulder and started ripping its head back and forth, tearing the flesh and sending blood spattering around the room. The second dove for me, jaws spread wide and hooves outstretched to wrap around my neck.

I lowered myself slightly as it flew at me, and twisted with it as it struck me, managing to pin it underneath me when we finally came to a rest. At this range, Hammer was completely useless so I shoved it into my barding and reached for my knife.

The ghoul was struggling violently, much stronger than it appeared to be, and I had to abandon my attempt at pulling my knife out to keep it from breaking free and tearing me apart. I shifted myself slightly so I was holding it down with all of my weight, but I wasn’t in a position to actually do anything to take it out of the fight. It was taking all of my strength to simply hold it down.

It was then that I heard a loud crashing, followed by a cry of shocked surprise from Crosswire. Then, there was a gunshot, and the ghoul beneath me went completely limp as a bullet tore through its skull.

The next thing I knew, I was being grabbed by a lot of sets of hooves and dragged down the stairs and through the now open door. All around me, there were surprised shouts and the sound of gunfire.

“Get the fuck off of me, you undead fuck!” I heard Autumn shout as we were all dragged past the door to the maintenance area.

Everything went black a few moments later when the door slid shut and something heavy crashed into it, supposedly sealing us off from going back that way.

In the darkness, I was straining for any kind of information my other senses could pick up. My ears were twisting in the direction of any small scrape or sound, and I turned my body to face the direction of the slightest breath of air, but it was all for nothing. I couldn’t tell anything about my surroundings.

The hooves that had grabbed me had let go as soon as the door closed, leaving me completely directionless. I fumbled with my Pipbuck, praying that the flashlight would work. Thankfully, the light came on, bathing the area around me in a pale green light.

What I saw made my breath catch in my throat. Surrounding us was a group of ghouls, just like the ones we saw outside, except these were still clad in barding and several were carrying crude weapons, mostly lead pipes and lengths of iron. Only two of the ghouls were carrying firearms, and those were both simple 9mm pistols, nothing even close to what I would call effective firepower.

“Fuck! We get away from a fuck-ton of stupid ones up there just to run into the clutches of the smart ones!” Autumn swore loudly as she swung her rifle around to face these ghouls.

“Stop it, you idiot!” Crosswire exclaimed as he smacked the rifle aside, “These ponies just saved our lives! They’re not trying to kill us!”

“Who… who are you?” I asked, ignoring the commotion. Crosswire could handle it. My interest lay in these ponies that were in front of us. Now that I looked closer, I could see that they were all wearing some form of Stable barding, ranging in use from maintenance uniforms to guard outfits.

“We are what’s left of the population of this Stable,” one of the ghoul’s rasped, “I suppose I’m what’s closest to what could be considered a leader. My name is Marmelade. Who are you and where are you from? How did you get down here?” His remaining hide was a faint yellow in color, and what few strands of mane were left appeared to be a bright orange.

“My name is Evergreen. My friends are Crosswire, Suture, and Autumn Mist,” I answered, gesturing to each pony in turn. Suture was grimacing, and fumbling about in her saddlebag for a healing potion, blood flowing freely from the ragged wound on her shoulder. Crosswire kept looking back and forth from Autumn to the ghouls, trying to keep in control of the dark mare, who was glaring at the ghouls with obvious hatred. In the pale light of my flashlight, he looked almost like a ghoul himself as the light reflected starkly off the blood still running down his face. “As for how we got here, Crosswire managed to hack into the main door. We came down here hoping to get our hooves on a Stable-Tec water recycler. One of the towns on the surface needs it to survive.”

Marmelade shook his head slowly in disbelief. “So ponies have survived on the surface for all these years? I still remember the bombs coming down the day we were called to enter the Stable. I didn’t think anypony would survive that. What is it like up there? Is there anything left of the Equestria I grew up in?”

I thought for a moment about everything I had seen and experienced, from the raider gangs to the communities like Metro and Grovedale. “It’s not the same,” I answered carefully. When I saw a confused come over his face, I elaborated, “There are some good things out there. Some of the communities that exist are probably a lot like what it was like before. But there is a lot of bad too… Raiders, bandits, slavers… It isn’t always pretty, and surviving isn’t easy.”

The ghoul, Marmelade, lowered his head and I could see the grief appear. “So our homes and civilization are gone… What of the princesses? What happened to them? I know they wouldn’t stand for that kind of thing.”

I had no idea how to answer that. Part of me did believe as my parents had; that the princesses lived on in the sun and the moon, and that they still looked down on us. But for how much I liked that vision, I knew that it wasn’t the answer this buck was looking for. Thankfully, Suture stepped forward, only gingerly using her injured shoulder, and saved me from having to answer.

“I’m so sorry that we are the ones that need to tell you this, but the princesses died in Canterlot on the day the bombs fell. They gave their lives to contain a megaspell that would have devastated most of that area of Equestria. If not for their sacrifice, there would be much less out there than there is,” she explained, reaching out and placing a hoof on the ghoul’s shoulder.

Marmelade looked up and stared into Suture’s eyes. “Then they died as they lived: giving themselves to their subjects. We should all live by their example,” he said. He cast about for a few moments, as though looking for something he couldn’t find, then focused his gaze on me. “We should go a little farther inside, where there’s some more light. We’ll be able to talk there.”

With that, the ghouls turned, flicked on their own Pipbuck lights, and led us down into the depths of the Stable. Within a few minutes, I was hopelessly lost. The twists and turns that the ghouls led us through as we descended were one of the most disorienting things that I’ve ever gone through.

Thankfully, the journey was not long, and soon we were sitting comfortably in one of the lower reactor chambers eating a meal provided to us by our ghoul hosts and drinking another couple of packs of Rad-Away. We took the chance to see to our injuries, using healing potions when necessary and binding the smaller scratches and bites to keep them from getting infected. Crosswire also took the time to clean off the gore from the ghoul he had impaled.

“So what did you say you came down here for, Evergreen? I can’t imagine that it was to rescue us.” Marmelade asked once we were done eating and had returned to some level of civilized appearance.

“As I said, we’re looking for a water recycler, or a purifier. I’m a mercenary, working for one of the main settlements on the surface that calls itself Metro. My job is to secure an alliance with another town called Millberry, but they need a purifier or recycler before they will agree to anything. We heard about how this Stable hasn’t been opened since the bombs fell and thought we’d try our luck,” I answered.

“Millberry is still standing?” another ghoul answered. This one appeared to be a mare that had once had a cherry red hide and purple mane, “I used to live there. What is it like?”

“They’re surviving, if only barely,” I answered, “A lot of the town is in ruins, but they have rebuilt a lot of it, by the look of things. So do you guys have a working recycler?”

“Unfortunately, no. The damage cause by the exploding reactor destroyed our recycler. It hasn’t worked in years,” Marmelade answered, “Lucky for us, we can survive on irradiated water. I’m sorry you had to risk your life for nothing. For what it’s worth, thank you, though. I thought we’d never be able to get back to the surface. The crazy ones attack us just as readily as they attacked you, and we don’t have the weapons or supplies to make it out past them.”

“Great! We come here for a water recycler, and all we get is the gratitude of a half-dead fuck!” Autumn snapped from where she was sitting, nursing her Rad-Away.

“Autumn, that was entirely unnecessary! These ponies saved our lives,” I snapped, turning on the mare.

“Ok. Thanks, for saving my life. Doesn’t mean I have to like them,” she growled, finishing the faux orange drink in a large gulp.

I shook my head at the mare, surprised at her bigotry considering the rest of her moral stances. “I apologize for her,” I said to Marmelade, “We haven’t known each other for very long and are still trying to figure out where we all fit in the group.”

“No, I understand. We know what we look like. It’s only understandable that some ponies will think of us like that. I know most of us did for the longest time,” the buck answered, waving my apology aside, “Now, I don’t want your journey here to have been completely without gain,” he said pointing at my left foreleg, “I see you have a Pipbuck, but it looks like yours is pretty banged up. We have several extra, since the Stable failed pretty early on. I’d be willing to give you one in exchange for you helping us get out of here.”

I very nearly jumped out of my seat at the prospect of getting my hooves on a fully functional Pipbuck, “For a Pipbuck? Consider it done. All we need is a plan.”

“Woah, why does just she get one of those things? If we all get one, it’ll help all of us!” Autumn protested, “Especially since we’re the ones with actual combat experience.”

Marmelade looked over at the dark mare. “Maybe. I’ll have to see exactly how many we have that are fully functional. Gearbox! What does our supply look like?” he shouted at another ghoul who was working on something on the other side of the room.

The buck spun his head around to look at us. “Uhh… I think we have three fully functional Pipbucks,” he answered, digging around in a small box by his hooves.

“Perfect!” Autumn announced, “Give us those and we’re in till the end!”

The yellow ghoul glared at the mare for a few moments, considering the request. “If you really think it necessary,” he muttered, looking back at me.

“It couldn’t hurt,” I said, “And she actually has a point. If several of us had one, it would go a long way to making any attempt to get out of here successful.”

Marmelade nodded, then gestured to Gearbox. “Fine. I suppose it’s a small enough price to pay. Gearbox, grab those Pipbucks and get over here,” he said.

The buck obediently stopped what he was doing, fished out a few intact computers from a crate, and trotted over to where we were sitting. Marmelade held out a hoof, and the buck dropped one of the Pipbucks into it.

Marmelade turned to me and gestured for me to hold my leg out. I did, and he reached down with a key he had pulled out of his barding and pulled my old and decrepit computer off. He then quickly slapped on the new one and sealed it in place.

Almost instantly, my vision filled with little icons dancing around and telling me that the system was booting up. Within a few seconds, everything returned to what I was used to, with just a small bar at the bottom of my vision that showed my E.F.S. Unlike with my old one, this one was much clearer and sharper, which would hopefully mean that it would be easier to pay attention to.

Almost instantly, a clicking sound filled my hearing. In the corner of a my vision, I could see a red bar telling me that I was soaking up a lot of rads, somewhere close to seven or eight a second. Hopefully it was that high only because of how close we were to the reactor.

I lifted the computer to my eyes and started scrolling through it. Everything was fully available and usable, from the inventory management to the radio. I could even pick up the Stable’s PA system on it, not that anything would be playing on that channel.

I lowered it again and looked over at Autumn. A short moment of concentration, and I felt time dilate as my sight focused on the dark mare. Small icons popped into my vision, showing me small percentages next to various parts of her body. Everything was labeled as 0, since she was sitting a fair distance away from me and I didn’t have any of my guns out, but it was a wonderful feeling to have a fully functional S.A.T.S. system. Missing any shot would be nearly impossible now!

“Thank you,” I finally said a few minutes later, after I dropped back out of S.A.T.S., “I didn’t think I’d ever get my hooves on one of these.”

“Of course. And now for your friends,” Marmelade asked, his gaze shifting to my companions.

Autumn was almost instantly standing at his side. “I’ll take one,” she said, holding her leg out.

The ghoul nodded and fastened a Pipbuck to her leg. As soon as he was done, she pulled away and started to play with the machine, racing through its functions and examining every small detail that she could.

Once she was gone, I looked at Crosswire, but he shook his head at me. “Give it to Suture. She’ll get greater use out of it than I will,” he said.

Slowly, almost meekly, the mare approached us. “I suppose I could use one. The inventory spell is supposed to be quite useful,” she said as she held out her leg.

Marmelade attached the last Pipbuck to her leg, then took a step back, letting the maroon mare return to her seat to figure out how to use the computer.

“So, are you still willing to help us?” he asked me, his voice and gaze thick with hope.

“Of course,” I answered, reaching out and placing a hoof on his shoulder, “We’ll help you and everypony down here to get out. It’s the least we can do to make up for you saving our lives.”

Our planning session was short, if only because there was truthfully little to be planned. The ghouls that had survived down here had almost nothing in the way of weaponry or protective barding, so the four of us would be the spearpoint of any attempt to get out, three and a half, if you considered Suture’s skill with a weapon. She was probably outclassed by the couple of guard ponies down here that still had guns.

In the end, our plan was pretty much what I had expected it would be. We were going to unseal a door in a different part of the stable, since most of the feral ghouls had been pulled over to the end we came from. We would cut through a small portion of the living area, come out on the second floor of the atrium, and make a dash for the Stable door, where Crosswire would hopefully manage to seal it again before any of the ghouls got out, simple.

We took a short amount of time to gather ourselves, prepare our weapons, and make some quick repairs to our barding before making for the living area entrance. Once again, the ghouls led us through an incredibly confusing maze of corridors and hallways, but we eventually arrived at our destination. The door stood before us, sealed off and impassive, but the buck, Gearbox, ran over and started working on its mechanics, and gradually we could hear the machinery come to life.

I steeled myself for the plunge into madness. We would have little to no time to think once that door was open. Our entire plan was completely dependent on our ability to move as quickly as possible. If we allowed ourselves to get cornered, we would all end up dead. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and fixing the picture of the open sky and skyline of the mountains in my mind, praying that I would see them again. When I let the breath out, the door was sliding open.

As soon as the door was clear, we started moving. One of the Stable guards was in front, wielding my .45. He had been the most obvious choice to lead us, since he was familiar with the layout of the stable. Crosswire was just behind him, his SMG floating next to him, ready to fire. Next was me, followed by the ghouls that had survived this long. Taking up the rear was Suture, then Autumn, who would make sure nothing attacked us from behind.

We galloped as quickly as we could while making sure nopony fell behind. Somehow, we met no resistance until we were reached a stairwell that would bring us even with the bottom floor of the atrium. It was only a small group of ghouls, only five of them, but it was enough of a shock to these ponies that several started to panic.

“Keep your heads on straight! It’s my job to keep you all alive!” I shouted at them around Hammer.

The ghouls rushed us, but the front two were quickly cut down by the crossfire from both the Stable guard and Crosswire. As the last three approached, I slipped into S.A.T.S., almost giddy at the prospect of using the system.

Time dilated, leaving everything near motionless. I lined up three shots, which was unfortunately all that the program would allow me to. The first two I set to hit the closest two ghouls in the head, while the last was aimed at the final ghoul’s chest. The chance to hit that one in the head was simply too low to risk anything else.

I activated the spell, and time snapped back into reality. I fired the shots, and they all flew exactly as I had planned. The front two ghouls’ heads exploded in a shower of bone and brain, and the third tumbled to the ground as its chest cavity imploded. It could easily be said that I had never been that happy at shooting something in all my life.

We thundered past the dead ghouls, clambering up the stairs and into the higher-class living quarters, where the Stable management would have lived. Here, there were many more ghouls waiting for us in the abandoned rooms and hidden shadows. They came at us in twos and threes, biting at our flanks and striking out at us with decomposing hooves, but each time, ponies were in place to drive them back. Many of the ghouls in the middle of our formation were carrying some sort of melee weapon that they used to beat the ghouls back long enough for one of us to finish them off, if not kill them outright themselves.

Before long, we were approaching the door to the second floor of the atrium. Almost every one of us had some kind of minor injury, along with a few major ones, but nothing that was serious enough that it required us to stop.

“We sealed this door off back in the early days to keep the crazies from getting at us,” the guard said as we neared the door, “I can unstick it, but we may need your friend here to bring the machinery back to life. We’ll need to hold off whatever is coming at us from behind while he works.”

I nodded in agreement and looked to Crosswire. “Can you handle it?” I asked breathlessly. Beyond the simple exhaustion of running for so long and so quickly, I was beginning to feel slightly nauseous as the effects of radiation poisoning began to set in. Hopefully I’d be able to get down a Rad-Away before the fighting began again.

“So long as it isn’t as fucked up as that first door to maintenance was, yeah, I can get it,” Crosswire growled, “Just keep the ferals off me.”

“Done,” I said as I turned and galloped down the line to the rear, where I could hear Autumn’s rifle firing at regular intervals.

I skidded to a stop beside her, bringing Hammer to bear and focusing my gaze down the hall. If I strained my eyes enough, I could see something moving in the shadows, lining up with the red bars in my E.F.S., but nothing was clear enough for S.A.T.S. to give me a reliable shot, and I was not about to waste ammo.

“What’s the hold-up?” Autumn asked, firing another round into the darkness and eliciting another death shriek from a ghoul.

“Stable ponies sealed the door from the living quarters to the atrium in the early days, trying to stem the tide. Guard is unsealing it, but needs Crosswire to get it running again. We’re on guard duty until then,” I answered curtly.

We didn’t have a chance to say anything else as the ghouls charged, coming at us in a solid, screaming mass.

I slipped into S.A.T.S. as they approached, lined up three shots and let loose. All three were perfect hits, decapitating three of the charging abominations in midstride as Hammer’s heavy rounds tore through their skulls. As time returned to normal, I fired the last few round that were still in the carousel, killing another two ghouls, then spat the revolver into its holster and pulled out the 9mm I had gotten from the guard in exchange for the .45. Thank Celestia for this new Pipbuck! It actually had a fully functional inventory spell!

Autumn was firing next to me, sending round after round into the approaching ghouls. Each round did a devastating amount of damage, tearing limbs from bodies, or simply tearing bodies in half. No matter what, every round she fired resulted in a ghoul’s death, oftentimes also killing more than one, no doubt the influence of her now being able to use S.A.T.S. as well.

On my other side, Suture held her fire until the ghouls were almost on top of us, and even then she only fired when in direct danger herself. She had run out of hollow point rounds a while ago, but at this range, the standard 9mm rounds were more than capable of killing a ghoul. In the next instant, the ghouls were amongst us, biting and striking at anything that came within range.

I fought just as ferociously as the ghouls, kicking to keep them from getting a grip on me, and firing the 9mm at the ones that gave me a chance to do so. My only respite during the fight was whenever S.A.T.S. recharged enough for me to line up a shot and finish a ghoul off. Those moments of near timelessness did wonders to let me catch my breath.

When the 9mm finally ran out of ammo, I slid it into a pocket on my barding and pulled out my knife. With this weapon, S.A.T.S. would only get in the way, and that fact was proven as three ghouls rushed me, wrapping their legs around my neck and tried to drag me to the ground. I twisted as I fell, plunging the knife into a ghoul’s neck and twisted the blade, widening the wound. That ghoul released its grip on me and gave me space to pull my knife free, kick at the second and slice its throat open. As I pushed the second body off of me, the last ghoul redirected its attack, aiming its jaws at me throat. I turned my body so it latched into the armored scales of my barding instead and brought the Pipbuck down hard on its head, caving it in.

As it fell, I lifted the computer to my eyes to inspect it for any damage. It would really be sad if I had finally gotten my hooves on a brand new Pipbuck, only to break it a few minutes later. Luckily, the only damage I could see on it was a bit of bone and blood that were sticking to it. I guess new ones were built a lot sturdier than the old hunk of junk that I had carried around.

I shook the gore off and looked around me, searching for another target, but it seemed as though the attack had been turned. I quickly wiped the gore from my knife off on my barding and slid the blade back into its sheath, then pulled out my guns and reloaded both of them. Who knew when the next attack would come?

“Shit, I really need to get my hooves on another gun,” Autumn swore as Suture bandaged up a bite on her leg, “this rifle does not do well in close quarters.”

“We’ll make that a priority when we get out of here,” I said, returning the 9mm to my saddle bag, “For now, we need to make do.”

“Fair enough,” the mare grunted, testing her weight on the bound leg, “How much longer is that door going to be? I don’t know if we can turn another attack.”

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly as I pulled out a pack of Rad-Away and slurped it down, nearly gagging at the taste, “but it shouldn’t be too much longer. The longest I’ve ever seen Crosswire need for a door was the Stable door, and that was a special case.”

Autumn simply grunted in response and checked her rifle, sliding the receiver back and forth as she looked for damage.

“Are you all right, Suture?” I asked, turning to look at the medical pony. She looked pale, as though she was about to faint.

She shrugged. “I’m all right. Surviving, at least. I don’t like that I have to keep shooting, though. It just doesn’t feel natural.” She still sounded, but it appeared as though she had pushed aside her problems with me until later.

I nodded sympathetically, “I understand, but we need your help. It’ll take everypony working together to get out of here in one piece.”

“I know,” she answered shortly, nodding, “and I’m doing my best to cope.”

I smiled at her, not knowing what else to do to show my support. We were all going to have some new scars after this, emotional as well as physical. I turned my head to look towards the door, hoping that Crosswire was almost finished with the door.

As if answering my prayer, I heard him shout a moment later, “I’m through! Evergreen, get back up here!”

I pushed my way through the crowd, pulling out Hammer as I did, and met Crosswire and the Stable guard at the door. With just a quick nod of acknowledgement, we were running again, though at least this time we were on the last leg of the journey.

We charged through the atrium, watching as the ghouls milling about on the floor below us caught sight of us and charged for the stairwell to our floor. The fear of being trapped by that wave of undead simply spurred us to run faster. Crosswire and I stopped by the stairwell to hold the line against the approaching ghouls and to make sure the Stable denizens could get out. Most of the Stable ponies had passed the stairwell by the time the first of the ghouls reached the top, and they were quickly cut down by the combined fire from both Crosswire and me, as well as from Autumn as she approached from the other side.

“MOVE!” the mare shouted at us and galloped by, Suture a step ahead of her.

The second they were past, Crosswire and I stopped firing, turned, and ran for our lives. I could feel the breath of the ghouls behind us, hot and rasping on the back of my neck, threatening to overwhelm me and drag me down into darkness. I spurred myself on even harder, pushing myself past my limits, acting with only one thought in my mind: survive.

The next thing I knew, we were past the Stable door, and Crosswire jammed his hoof down on the lever that would seal the door again. Slowly, the door started to slide in place, crushing a few ghouls unlucky enough to be caught in its path, and finally blocked the door from their advance.

The few ghouls that had managed to beat the door out were quickly cut down by us. We had made it. We were out, and we were alive.

I took a deep breath, enjoying the feel of fresh air in my lungs, even if we were still in a cave. I pulled out another pack of Rad-Away, drinking it to dispel the last bit of radiation that was still in my system, and saw to it that the rest of my friends did as well. Throughout the entire process, no one said a word. We were probably all too afraid that this was just a dream, and that breaking the silence would break the illusion, and we would all realize that we were still trapped in the depths of the Stable.

All around me, everypony was sucking in great breaths of air, fighting to regain their breath after the flight, and struggling to tamp down their fear that they might not make it. Crosswire, Suture, and Autumn Mist seemed relieved that we were finally outside, and the Stable ponies looked nervous, which was understandable, considering that none of them had been outside since the bombs fell. But there was also a sense of joy. For the first time in two hundred years, these ponies would be able to live again.

Finally, after almost twenty minutes of exhausted silence, Marmelade approached me. “Evergreen, I can’t thank you enough for helping us to get out of there. I’m sorry that we weren’t able to help you get what you came out here for, but please know that if you ever need anything, all you need to do is ask.”

I nodded at the buck. “Thank you, Marmelade. I know what it’s like to be trapped in a certain way of life. Even out here, life can put you in a position where we are unable to act. I’m just happy to know that my actions may have let another group of ponies get that chance to act again. Thank you for your offer. I’ll let you know if I need anything. Where do you think you’re going to go from here?”

The ghoul looked around the cave, then settled his gaze on the opening to the surface. “I’m not sure. We’ll probably try to set up a settlement somewhere nearby, maybe in one of the ruined towns. Hopefully we’ll be able to trade with somepony else out there, maybe one of those settlements you were talking about?” he said, throwing a questioning glance in my direction.

I shrugged in response. “You can always try. I’m not sure how Millberry would respond, but I know most of the caravans wouldn’t be opposed to the idea. I can talk to them the next time I see them.”

“Thank you once again, Evergreen. You truly are a blessing to us,” the buck said, then turned away and returned to his group.

I looked at the buck as he walked away, shocked at his words. I had been called a lot of things in my life, both good and bad, but never had anypony ever called me a blessing. Maybe I could pull off redeeming myself after all. I had definitely done a good thing here.

I tore my gaze from the ghouls and started towards the cave entrance, itching to look at the open landscape again. Along the way, all four of my companions joined me, climbing out into the wasteland.

Outside, darkness had just fallen, leaving everything with a feeling of peace. It seemed appropriate, considering the actions of the day. I sat down on a rock, looking out into the wasteland towards the south, where I could just barely make out the mountains reaching up into the sky, as though trying to touch the stars with outstretched fingers.

I turned my gaze upwards, towards the sky and was reminded of the mystery of the Dashite who had professed his loyalty to the Enclave with his dying breath. That was something I don’t think I would ever understand, but for now, I was willing to push all thoughts of mysteries and plots out of my mind and simply enjoy the night with the few ponies I think I could call friends, even if one of them wanted to kill me.

One thing I knew I could say for certain: I never thought I would be this happy to see the clouds.

Level Up!
Perk Gained: Lead Belly – After long exposure to radiation, and surviving, you gain +20% to radiation resistance.
Skill Note: Guns (75)

{Well this chapter has been an adventure and a half, and not just for Evergreen. I apologize for the delay in getting this one out, but school has really picked up over the last couple of weeks and I have been struggling to find time for writing (I’ve spent a god-awful amount of time in the library in the last couple of weeks). But here we are nonetheless, successfully and in one piece. As always, thank you to Kkat for creating Fallout: Equestria, and thank you to Cody and MUCKSTER for being my editors (and another thank you to MUCKSTER for being my soundboard for silly ideas). Again, I would like to point out that I have a gDoc hub set up here. Check it out for extra goodies. In other good news, I do have someone working on a cover picture, so look for that in the coming weeks!}

Chapter Seven: Dust and Echoes

Fallout Equestria: Redemption
Author: Cooperdawg
Chapter Seven: Dust and Echoes
“What is heard and what is true are rarely the same.”

The day passed only slowly, every interminable minute weighing heavily on my mind and threatening to crush me under their collective weight. I quickly became too distracted to focus on the small talk between Autumn Mist and Crosswire, who seemed to finally be getting along, even if they still didn’t see eye to eye. Maybe it would help Crosswire get over his trust problems. But, as much as I would have liked to join in their conversation, the terrible guilt of what I had allowed to happen was tearing me down on the inside, and it was quickly becoming more than I could handle.

Suture had been in critical condition, and even with the doctor’s aid, it would be several days before she was at full strength, even if she was able to travel before then. And it was all my fault, regardless of what her last words had been before she lost consciousness. If anything, that statement made my guilt worse, because she tried to absolve me of it before slipping to a place I couldn’t follow. Now, when I should have been rejoicing that she would be all right, I was lying here in a corner of a small, musty infirmary, worrying about what I might screw up next.

It hadn’t been a screw-up of the sort that Autumn would shoot me over; I was being very careful not to step over that line. But that didn’t mean that my mistake was any less terrible. I had chosen the quick and easy option over being careful, deciding that a few free weapons and some ammo was worth risking our lives over. One of us was now paying that price, and I was no longer sure that it was Suture. After all, she had seemed remarkably at peace as I had fumbled over her, doing what little I could to help.

The true crime here was that I had known exactly what the risk was going in. I had even been warned to be on the lookout for it by several ponies. I had known that I had crossed Greymane, and I knew that he would most likely be looking for me around that damn factory, where I had first found the message left for him. And simply because I wanted some free ammo, I risked crossing his path. Completely unacceptable, giving how slim the gain was.

And there was the only good to come of this entire endeavor. I finally had a face to put with the name that had been hanging over my shoulder for the past week. The buck had not been at all what I expected to face. I had expected a hardened warrior, someone who wore the scars of the wasteland, and thus was hardened as well. The buck had been harsh and cold, sure, but there had also been a degree of thoughtfulness and cunning that I hadn’t expected to see. I had badly underestimated him, thinking that he could be just as easily defeated as a Wasteland raider, and treating him like that as well, rather than as the extremely dangerous buck that he was.

The only reason any of us were still alive at all was because we had had the advantage of numbers and position, two things I was sure he wouldn’t allow us next time we crossed paths. I knew that, because I had seen a glimmer in his eyes, even if for only a split second, that told me he had underestimated me as well. And that was my only solace. Knowing that I had instilled some degree of fear in somepony with his reputation was something I could take pride in, especially since he struck me as a pony that preyed on others, and not always because he stood to gain from it.

What bothered me most about him, though, was how devoted he seemed to Seahawk. By all accounts, he was a mercenary; ruthless and entirely devoid of any sort of compassion, but still just a mercenary. That begged the question of why he was so devoted to this enigmatic pony who was trying to gain power over the entirety of the Seaddle region, if not Equestria itself.

When I had first heard of him working for Seahawk, I had pictured a hardened mercenary doing what was necessary for his next paycheck, loyal only because Seahawk was the highest bidder. But after meeting him, it seemed that Greymane was devoted on an ideological level, rather than just a financial one, and that terrified me. If somepony with his strength and raw power decided to fight for a cause, that cause would quickly gain in strength and influence as ponies flocked to it in order to avoid the inevitable crack-down. And I had put myself firmly underneath the hammer.

But at least I wasn’t alone, and I don’t mean on the individual level. Crosswire would stick by me to the end, unless I did something so terrible that he would no longer want anything to do with me; it was simply the kind of pony he was. Autumn Mist had made it clear that she was going to be the one to finally put a bullet in my head, so I could count on her being around for a while, and even then, I was beginning to rely on her. Her moral compass may be a confusing maze of deathtraps and sinkholes, but she had a degree of inner strength and adherence that I hadn’t ever seen in anypony else. Suture, to round off the deal, would do almost anything if it constituted helping ponies survive, no matter what their background, and since that was my overall objective as well now, I knew I’d be able to count on her support.

But even beyond my friends were the towns I had managed to ally. Metro was behind me already, they had made that clear when the mayor asked me to travel to Millberry to make the offer of allegiance. And Millberry had shown their support of my actions when their governor agreed to the allegiance, even if it was with a condition. With two towns agreeing to work together, the wasteland was already better off than it had been had I not done anything, so it was worth something. I just needed to hope that it would be enough to stand against whatever force Seahawk could gather.

And then there were the other various groups I had helped, like the ghouls from Stable 60 and Hat Trick. Even if Hat Trick would no longer be able to work the same way he had before, I could still count on the help of both groups, and that was something I hadn’t had in a long time.

“Really, Crosswire, you’re still bent out of shape about that?!” Autumn Mist yelled, breaking into my thoughts and drawing my attention to my two friends.

Autumn was now up on her hooves, standing over the grey buck, who was still lying on the floor, a dark look on his face. It was instantly obvious that she was angry, as she stood with her hooves spread and had her head lowered, as though preparing to charge.

“Are you telling me you wouldn’t be?” the tech shot back angrily, “You shot and nearly killed me, Autumn. Of course I’m still mad about it! I have no guarantee that you’re not going to do it again, especially considering your threat to Evergreen! That is still standing, right? You’ll shoot her if she does the least thing raider-like?” His tone became mocking, as though he was expecting to hear a negative from the mare.

I was surprised when Autumn actually faltered in answering the question.

“Yes! I mean… No! Ugh… I don’t know,” she stammered, before finally lowering her head in defeat. Crosswire was dead silent, a look of surprise on his face that was probably a mirror image of the one on mine.

When no response was immediate, the dark mare lifted her head and looked from him to me and back. She sighed heavily, then began talking, “If she were to go back to being a raider, I would shoot her in a heartbeat. At that point, she would deserve it, exactly like those fuckers at the farmhouse yesterday. But knowing her for who she is now… I don’t think I could do it if she did something out of necessity. The wasteland is a bad place, and very little is black and white, but it seems like she is actually trying to help other ponies now. I would be no better than a raider myself if I shot her over a small fuck-up. That being said, I still can’t forgive her for what she did, and I never will, but I can respect who she is. In the end, I think that’s all that’s necessary.”

By the time she was finished speaking, she was looking at me with a guilty expression, as though she were asking for my forgiveness.

Slowly, I pushed myself to my hooves and approached her. I lifted a hoof and placed it on her shoulder. She recoiled briefly at my touch, but managed to hold her ground and look me in the eye.

“I know I said something to this effect when we first met, Autumn, but I think it will mean a little more if I repeat it now. I know it will never bring them back, and nothing will ever fill the hole that their departure left, but I am sorry for the loss of your family. I don’t expect forgiveness, and I don’t expect absolution, but I want you to know that I wish things could have turned out differently,” I said, putting every ounce of sincerity that I had into the words.

Autumn remained silent, simply looking into my eyes, searching for something. I could see her emotions flickering through her magenta eyes: first guilt, then anger, hatred, sadness, shame, then, finally, something I hadn’t even held out hope to see: acceptance. She smiled lightly, just a slight upward curl of her lips. “I can’t accept the apology, Evergreen. To do that would be forgiveness, and I can’t bring myself to that. What I can do is accept your regret,” she said, her eyes sad despite the smile.

I lowered my hoof and managed a slight smile in return. It wasn’t exactly what I wanted, or what I had hoped for, but it was a significant step in the right direction. I would just have to give her time for the rest. “Can I consider you a friend, then? At least for now?”

The smile faded from her face, bringing with it a dark cloud over my heart, but returned a moment later, with a little more emotion behind it. “Sure, for now. You’re doing good work, Evergreen. There aren’t many ponies that can claim the same. And for the record: thanks for convincing me not to pull the trigger.”

She turned around and faced Crosswire again, who was now staring at the two of us with his jaw hanging almost to the floor, his face a perfect study in shock. “Close your mouth, Crosswire. You’ll let the bloatsprites in,” Autumn stated as she sat back down.

“Please tell me that I either lost my sanity or that this is a dream, because it looks like you two just agreed to become friends,” he finally stammered after a full minute of stumbling over words.

“’Fraid not. You guys wonder why I’ve been so quiet when we aren’t fighting. This is why. I’ve been thinking this shit over almost every waking minute. Hell, if I’m being honest, you lot are the closest thing I’ve had to family since mine was killed. It’s nice to feel accepted again,” the dark mare answered, grabbing the remains of her snack cake and finishing it in a single bite.

Crosswire hung his head and shook it slowly. “The entire fucking wasteland has gone insane,” he muttered, “Next thing you know, we’ll be fighting alongside the fucking Enclave. Wait, that’s happened too!”

Both Autumn and I couldn’t help but to laugh at that, despite my melancholy. “So how about it, Crosswire? Can you finally get over the night we met her? We’ve managed to make up, at least in part. The least you could do is give her a chance as well,” I suggested, sitting down next to them and grabbing a box of Sugar Bombs from my saddlebag.

The tech sighed heavily and shifted his gaze so that he was staring at me with a disapproving glare. “We’ve talked about this already, Evergreen,” he stated flatly, “The way I was raised, forgiving her isn’t even a possibility. I may not have liked what my first home was, but that doesn’t mean that it didn’t shape me.”

“Where exactly were you raised, Crosswire?” I demanded sharply, frowning at the buck, “Because so far all I’ve heard from you is that it shaped you so much that you can’t do a fucking thing for a mare that has repeatedly saved your life, yet you were able to join a Goddess-damned raider gang!”

His disapproving glare shifted to one of anger. “I told you I would talk about it when it became relevant,” he snapped, “And right now, it isn’t. I don’t like thinking of that place, Evergreen, and for good reason. It’s a safe settlement, good for ponies comfortable with following orders, but it smothered me. Anypony who tried to think for themselves, or act for themselves, was shunned. Why do you think I ended up out here?”

“I don’t know!” I snapped back, “That’s why I’m asking! How should I know how badly you were mistreated there if you never talk about it? Fuck, Crosswire, it’s been years since you’ve lived there, and yet you still live by the morals they raised you with?”

“Not the same morals,” he answered adamantly, “If I had done that, I would never have joined the gang. It’s a thought process; a subconscious ordering of the world. That’s why I still live by it, because I don’t know how to live any other way.”

“I understand exactly why you think that way,” a familiar voice spoke up from behind us, “I was the same way for the longest time, until I managed to work up the guts to go out into the world. Then I learned that things are rarely as they appear.”

I was instantly on my feet and running for the door the voice came from, where Suture was standing, her chest heavily wrapped under several layers of bandages, which were the only things that kept me from crushing her to the ground with my hug.

“Suture, you’re awake!” I exclaimed, tears of relief and joy streaming unabashedly from my eyes.

“Yes, much to the dismay of the doctor. It took me nearly twenty minutes just to convince him to let me up,” the maroon mare answered, lifting a hoof to wrap around my neck in return, “It doesn’t help that he really didn’t want to listen when I told him I know a thing or two about medicine.”

“So how much did you hear?” Crosswire asked bluntly from his seat.

“Enough to know that you’re being unnecessarily stubborn,” Suture answered just as bluntly as she released me and started striding towards the tech, “If Autumn Mist could bring herself to recognize Evergreen’s regret at her involvement in her family’s deaths, then surely you should be able to do recognize her motivation behind her choices, and forgive her for acting out of ignorance.”

Crosswire got to his feet, annoyance twisting his features. “None of you understand,” he growled, “It isn’t that simple!”

“And why not?” Suture pressed, walking until her nose was mere inches from his, giving him no ground to back away.

“Because it isn’t!” he snapped, trying to turn away, but Suture turned with him, keeping him focused at the center of her stare.

“Look at her!” Suture demanded, lifting a hoof and pointing at the dark mare, who was still sitting across from the buck, a dazed look on her face, “She obviously regrets what happened. At the time, it was the right decision from where she stood, but she now knows differently and has tried to apologize. Why can’t you lose some of that stubborn pride of yours and accept her apology?”

“Because she almost killed me!” he yelled in return, “If it weren’t for you and Evergreen, I would be dead right now!”

“And she helped us save you,” Suture snapped, “Did you really think that Evergreen wandered into a gang’s headquarters entirely on her own? How stupid do you think she is?”

Crosswire slowly turned his gaze to look at Autumn, whose face was locked into an expression that would make a pony think she’d just been slapped. He held is gaze there for a few moments, then turned to me. I gave him the most disapproving glare I could manage.

Finally, after a minute of tense silence, he dropped his head and sighed, all signs of fight draining away from his body. “None of you are going to give up, are you?” he asked tiredly, “You’re just going to keep pressing until one of us gives out?”

“Pretty much,” I answered resolutely, “I’m going to be honest here, Crosswire. You were my first friend, and you are the pony I rely on the most. I know I don’t show it much, but it’s true. But that doesn’t mean I won’t speak up when you’re just being plain stubborn. Autumn’s a part of this group now, and we aren’t helping each other if we are refusing to trust each other. When we’re out there fighting, we need to know that we can rely on each other for anything if we’re going to come out in once piece.”

“All right, fine! You made your point, all of you,” the buck finally admitted, turning to look at the sniper, “Autumn, I understand that that shot was fired with the belief that we were a group of raiders. From here on out, you can count on me during a fight. Everypony happy now?”

It wasn’t entirely an apology for his treatment of her, but I felt like it was more than we were going to get out of him. All the same, Suture and I were grinning widely at the admission, but the biggest reaction was from Autumn Mist, who positively jumped on the buck in her relief. “Thank you, Crosswire!” she shouted in joy, bearing the larger buck to the ground. It was easy to forget just how young the mare still was, and it was moments like this that showed her youth.

“Why must there always be touching!” the buck exclaimed from under the dark mare, struggling to break free from her crushing hug, “And this doesn’t mean that I completely approve of you joining us either!”

“Give her time, she’ll grow on you,” Suture answered with a grin, “Now, I’m not so dumb as to think that I’m strong enough to be walking about. Where would be the best place for me to rest?”

“Pick a bed,” I answered, chuckling at Crosswire’s antics while waving a hoof across the room, “We’ve got plenty.”

Suture nodded and picked her way gingerly across the room to one of the beds, where she carefully lay down to watch as Crosswire finally managed to free himself from Autumn Mist.

“So it seems like things are finally coming together for us, aren’t they?” Suture asked me, “Autumn and Crosswire are making progress, and it sounds like you and her are getting along as well.”

“More or less,” I admitted with a shrug, “but I’m not happy. It’s my fault that we ended up here in the first place. No, don’t say anything. I chose to go to the factory, despite knowing that Greymane was looking for us, and that was the first logical place he would look. Hell, it hasn’t even been a week since I grabbed that damn message.”

“Evergreen, we all agreed with your choice. Just because you made it doesn’t mean we were forced to join you. We chose to follow you,” the medic answered softly, “So stop fretting about it and simply accept that what happened, happened. We can’t change it. At least everything turned out all right in the end.”

“But you were almost killed, Suture! All because I was too cheap to want to pay for my own weapons or ammo!” I protested, “We could have simply traveled to Metro, paid for the guns, picked up my next job, then detoured to Buckview from there. Instead, I chose to take a risk and cut through hostile territory!”

“Yes, I was almost killed,” Suture answered, her voice taking on a hard edge, though I couldn’t tell if it was out of fear of what had happened to her, or out of her insistence that I stop beating myself up, “But I also happen to agree that the risk was worth it. Why would we pay for weapons or ammo we could get for free, especially since you and Crosswire had already cleared the place out? It was only logical. You couldn’t have known that Greymane would be there.”

“I should have been more prepared, though.”

“Hindsight is twenty-twenty,” she answered, “Now, you won’t make that mistake again, but that doesn’t mean that you should just squander what resources you have. Trust me, Evergreen, you made the right choice.”

I sighed heavily and trudged over to where I had been eating and slowly lay down. “If you say so,” I muttered.

“I do. Now, what was this about us fighting alongside Enclave? I heard Crosswire mention something about that earlier?” the medic asked, sounding genuinely confused.

“Our glorious leader here has allied us with an Enclave soldier who claims to be a Dashite,” Crosswire explained, “He’s got gold-striped Enclave power armor, with the guns that go along with it, and even introduced himself as a sergeant.”

“He explained that it was out of habit. He probably just came down to the surface recently,” I argued.

“I agree with Evergreen,” Suture put in, “From what I heard while living in Metro, the Enclave are extremely strict when it comes to their rules. Any sort of defacing of their armor would be punished severely. If he were Enclave, his armor would still be solid black. What was his name, and why did you ally with him?”

“His name’s Steel Curtain,” I answered, “And he was going to be headed out towards Stable 60 to look for other Dashites out there, probably the ones we ended up killing in the cavern. Once we told him they were dead, we found out his next lead was out east, towards Buckview. I figured it would be easier for us to work together than to run into each other and just get in each other’s way while we were out there.”

“Makes sense to me,” Suture said, grinning, “We could use the extra guns, especially considering what we’ve been running into out here. Somepony with his experience could be a lot of help, especially if he decides to stick around.”

“You think he would?” Crosswire asked, his voice pitched to communicate the most amount of sarcasm possible.

“I did,” Autumn piped in, “And besides, if he’s as idealistic as he sounds, he should practically be begging to join up, once he figures out exactly what we’re up to.”

“He didn’t strike me as that idealistic,” Crosswire argued, “He just seemed like a buck searching for ponies with the same experience as him.”

“Are you kidding me?” Autumn snorted, laughing, “The way he was swearing about those two by the Stable ending up dead, he’s hiding something that he’s pissed about. Trust me, I know idealism. That buck is one of the worst of the lot. He’ll want to help, especially if it means securing the future of this place.”

“Well, it sounds like he will fit in perfectly with our merry little group,” Suture said, chuckling, “I can’t wait to meet him.”

“Well, you’ll get your chance tomorrow. We were planning on heading out then, if you’re feeling up to it, of course,” I said, turning to the maroon mare.

She sat quietly, her face expression thoughtful. “We’ll see,” she finally answered, “I’m not feeling very strong right now, but tomorrow, maybe.”

“We’ll play it by ear then. If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to start moving. If not, well, another day of rest really couldn’t hurt, could it?” I pointed out.

“Exactly. I suggest we all get as much rest as we can, to make up for the last few days. The few nights we’ve had a roof over our heads have been surrounded by numerous near-death experiences. We could use a good night’s rest for a change,” Suture said, “So, if you all don’t mind, I’m going to get some sleep.” She promptly rolled over, and was soon snoring quietly to herself.

“She’s got the right idea. It’s been a stressful few days, and this has been one of the few days of rest we’ve had in the last week. I’m looking forward to what tomorrow is going to feel like,” Crosswire stated as he stood and climbed up on his own bed.

The rest of us nodded our agreement and returned to our own beds. Hopefully my sleep tonight would be as peaceful as it had been last night.

oooOOOooo

“So here we are once again, Evergreen. After five long years of nothing, we finally get this chance to speak again.” The dark voice belonged to a pony I had hoped never to see again. It had been a nightmare from my dreams during the days and weeks after my parents’ deaths, and had returned to haunt me at various points in the years before I had been exiled from Grovedale. It seemed that returning here had brought it back to my mind as well.

Slowly, I lifted my head from my pillow and turned to face the source of the voice. As always, it came from the darkest corner, where the shadows hid it from plain sight. It was nothing more than a silhouette, a slightly darker shadow on an already black background, but that did not stop me from easily picking out the details. It was what it wanted, after all.

The pony was thin to the point of emaciation, each one of its bony ribs sticking out of its black hide that was so lackluster it seemed to be nothing more than a dark shade of grey. Its shaggy, jet-black mane hung down around its face, shielding most of it from view, but the red coals of its eyes stood out in stark contrast, burning a hole straight into my soul and dragging every single one of my secrets out into the open to be judged. On its flank, resting almost as a symbol of torment to me, was a picture of two skulls seated next to each other, as though the two ponies they belonged to were locked in some embrace. I didn’t need to ask to know that the skulls belonged to my parents.

“Why have you come back?” I asked, just barely keeping my voice from shaking. Seeing this pony again made my heart quake in my chest, but there was little to nothing I could do except let this nightmare follow its own course. Trying to run had never worked in the past.

“Oh, my sweet Evergreen, I never left,” the dark pony cooed, its voice sickly sweet. I could almost see the corners of its mouth turning up in that mocking smile it had. “I have been living inside your mind all these years, gently nudging you down the path I wish you to travel.”

“If that is true, then why is this the first time I’ve seen you in five years? And why would you say there was nothing if you’ve been here all that time?” I demanded, re-settling myself so I could be ready to move at a moment’s notice.

“Simply because I am here does not mean that I do not desire conversation, my dear, dear Evergreen,” the pony chided me, shifting about in its corner, the shadows shifting about its body like water flowing over a log in a river, “Though I have been with you all this time, I did not have the power to speak with you.”

“Then what’s the difference now?” I snapped, “You spoke with me then because I was lost and afraid. I was a filly trapped in a world I didn’t understand, having just lost my parents to a force I couldn’t comprehend! That is what gave you power! Now, I am collected and confident! I know my place in the world and I have friends that will stand by my side no matter what!”

A low, menacing laugh spread through the room, chilling me to the bone and leaving me feeling weak and exposed, like the battered and broken filly I had been so long ago. “Oh, are you really so sure of that, my sweet?” the pony asked, then suddenly vanished from my sight.

I felt a terror unlike any I had ever felt before grip my heart in a vise. As it started to hammer in response, I felt like the grip tighten, making me feel as though my heart would explode. My breath caught in my throat, and I started to hyperventilate as panic gripped me. Just when I was sure I was going to black out, the pressure disappeared and I collapsed onto the sheets of my bed, panting as I fought to gather my breath.

“You forget that I see into the depths of your very soul, Evergreen,” the pony said, its voice coming from just over my shoulder. Despite my desire to, I could not bring myself to turn my head to look it in the eye. “You say you are collected, and you claim to have found your confidence, but I see the truth. I see your fear, the terror that grips you when you think of what might happen to these precious friends of yours, what might happen if their lives were to be ripped from their bodies and cast into the mud, or of what could happen if they chose to leave you, forsaking you for what you are on the inside.

I also see your shame, and your guilt. It was your fault she was nearly killed, yours alone, and yet you try to take her excuses and use them for yourself, pushing the blame away and settling it on the shoulders of chance. You forget that I know you as well as you know yourself, and taking excuses has never been your way. Shoulder the blame you deserve. Your place in this life is not nearly as secure as you seem to believe. The smallest slip and your life shall be gone, snuffed out in an instant, ended by your so-called friends.”

“That will only be if I truly slip back to that abyss of a life that I was leading! She made that perfectly clear!” I snapped, shutting out its arguments, refusing to believe that they could be truth.

The voice disappeared from my shoulder and the pony reformed in the shadows in the corner. “Use your mind, Evergreen. I know that is one of the few things you are still capable of. She does not forgive you, will not forgive you, and she never can forgive you. How far of a step is it from there to simply ending your existence. One life in payment for countless innocent souls lost to your all-consuming rage. It only seems fair.”

“To you maybe,” I growled, “but you thrive on chaos and destruction. You find your nourishment in blood and war. We are allies now… Friends even! You won’t take that from me! You can’t.”

“Can’t I?” the pony asked, taking a step forward, bringing itself into the dim ambient light that was falling through the windows. The hide on its legs seemed to change color as it stepped into the light, shifting from that pale black to a much richer color, almost brown, but tinged with something else. I tore my gaze away before its face came into view. I didn’t want to see what horrors it would show me this time. “You forget what it is I am capable of. But that is no matter. You will learn again soon enough.”

“You think I fear you as I did all those years ago,” I growled, searching desperately for the rage within me to back up my words, “I was young and foolish then. But I’ve learned better. The wasteland twisted me, tore me down, but I dragged myself out of the abyss. You will not cast me back into that hell!”

“I recall those same words being spoken five years ago. They did not help you then and they will not help you now,” the voice intoned as it took another step, its hooves echoing loudly on the faux-tile floor.

“I didn’t know what it would take to back my words up then. I’ve learned better now,” I responded, but my voice had begun to shake. The rage wouldn’t come. Where I usually found it hiding was nothing more than a cold hollow, an empty space filled with the same terror and fear that were now coursing through my body, “You may know me better than anypony else alive, but I still know myself better! I have found what path I need to walk, and nopony will stop me from doing so. Only I have that power, and I don’t intend to use it!”

“Oh, my dear, sweet Evergreen. That is where you were wrong. You forget one major detail: I am you.” There was another hoofstep as the pony settled itself right by my bed.

Slowly, I turned to face it and stared squarely into the same face that I saw every time I looked into a mirror, or a still puddle. The only difference were the eyes, which, instead of echoing the dark, forest green of my eyes, glowed like a pair of hot coals in a dying fire. I could also finally make out the difference of her brown coat when compared to mine. It was coated in blood.

oooOOOooo

I burst back into wakefulness with a gasp and nearly fell out of my bed in my rush to get out. My entire body was covered in a cold sweat and my breath came in only short bursts. When I finally freed myself from my sheets, my body refused to respond to my commands, and I tumbled onto the floor with a crash that must have been loud enough to wake everypony else in the infirmary. As they started to move about in their beds, trying to see what was going on, I simply curled up on myself and closed my eyes, trying to guard myself from the terror I had just experienced.

But closing my eyes made it worse. I could still see the red glare of a pair of merciless eyes, set into my own face, staring at me and compelling me to violence, trying to force me to return to the life I had cast aside.

I curled up even tighter, trying to fight away the powerful emotions that were at war in my own body, threatening to tear me apart with the strength of their conflict. Fear and rage in equal parts were tearing at me, both vying for dominance, terrifying me into what would happen should the latter win.

I also felt grief and regret, trying to rip me in a third direction, deep into a dark pit centered where my heart should have been. If I fell in there, I doubted I would ever be able to drag myself back, no matter how hard I tried or how much support was given to me. The only thing that would be left would be an empty shell, the remains of a pony that had once been driven to finding a better solution.

As if from a distance, I could hear hooves approaching me over the tile floor of the infirmary as ponies I knew were my friends approached me. Yet my mind would not allow me to acknowledge them, assigning instead the identity of the pony that had just come to me in my dreams. In my mind’s eye, I was surrounded by that being, one each for each emotion trying to tear me apart.

“Evergreen, what’s happening?” I heard a soft feminine voice ask, “Are you all right?” The voice was thick with concern, the logical side of my mind told me, but somehow the terrified filly in me twisted the words to be threatening.

Even so, I slowly lifted my head and looked around, taking in what I could, praying for a way out of this nightmare. As I looked, I saw three copies of myself, but with slight differences. On one side of me was a copy of me, but with a bright orange, scraggly mane. The face was one of regret and sadness. That was not a pit that I wanted to fall into.

The second had a multicolored mane, made up of all sorts of fall colors: reds, browns, yellows, and oranges, but the face that mane belonged to was twisted into one of anger and hatred, a path that I refused to return to.

The last copy of me was the one that had spoken. This version of me had a blue mane, held in check by a simple black headband. This pony’s face was one of fear and worry, but not for herself. Rather, it was worry and fear for the well-being of someone she saw as a friend.

I reached out a hoof to that version of myself, tears of pure terror now streaming down my face. “Help me, please,” I begged, my voice cracking, “Make it go away.”

“Evergreen, what’s wrong?” the blue-maned me asked, stepping towards me, “Please, talk to me! I can help, but you have to tell me what’s wrong!”

As she stepped towards me, the ambient light from the infirmary’s window lit her up, chasing away the shadows that my terrified mind has crafted, leaving me looking up at the soft, worried expression on Suture’s face.

“Suture,” I breathed, relief flowing through me, “Thank the Princesses, it’s you. I… it was terrible.”

“What happened to you Evergreen?” I heard another voice ask, this one male.

I turned my voice to look, finally regaining control over my conscious mind, and saw Crosswire step towards me, a look of concern plastered on his face, the regret and sadness that had been present before gone, banished back to the dark corners of my mind.

“Seriously, I’ve never seen you do anything like this! You’re normally the one of us that sleeps the best!” the last voice stated. This one was young and harsh.

Even though I knew who it belonged to, I still turned my head to confirm it, and was met with an Autumn Mist that was actually worried, the emotions that my mind had given her banished.

Surrounded by my friends, all of whom were bearing expressions that truly told me I could count on them, finally chased away the last of the shadows that were clouding my mind, allowing me to think freely. Shakily, I rose to my hooves and wandered over to a stool, where I promptly sat down. My friends followed me, keeping their distance to give me the privacy I needed to gather my scattered thoughts.

Slowly, I managed to relate the parts of the dream that were still clear in my mind: the image of myself, coated in blood and with a cutie mark of my parents’ skulls, with eyes the color of burning coals and the fight in which I was sure I had barely kept myself from plunging back into the depths of what I had been. The telling took far longer than I had expected, as trying to relate the images often brought them back to my mind at full strength, rendering me speechless as terror gripped me.

When I finally managed to finish the tale, my friends were watching me with shocked and worried expressions. Crosswire in particular appeared to have no clue what to say or how to react. The ambient light of the infirmary was also gaining in brightness as the sun rose behind the clouds, chasing away the darkness of the night and leaving us with some semblance of safety once again.

“So you’re saying that this… specter, or whatever, has been living in your head for almost eight years?” Autumn asked incredulously as my story finally drew to a close, “And to top it all off, it looks exactly like you, just with red eyes and a different cutie mark?”

“Still just sounds like a bad dream to me,” Crosswire stated, albeit a bit too quickly for me to truly believe that he was speaking his mind, “It’s how the mind works. It grabs random bits of memory and tosses them all together. Sometimes the result is kinda scary.”

“Kinda scary?” I growled, “No, Crosswire. This wasn’t a nightmare. That thing that is in my head, it knows me, better than I know myself by the look of things. I’m telling you, it was trying to drive me back to being a raider. Whatever it is, it thrives on the death and the fighting. That’s why I haven’t seen it in these last years, because I was doing exactly what it wanted me to.”

“Are you sure it isn’t just part of your mind that your subconscious has made real?” Suture asked me, her voice soft and soothing, and the only thing still keeping me together.

I was badly shaken, and I think only Suture truly knew how bad it was. Crosswire had seen me in uncomfortable situations and forced into positions where I had to make tough choices, but this was different. This was some kind of outside power, battling with me for the path of my life.

In response to Suture’s question, I shook my head violently. “Not a chance,” I vocalized, “Not the way it speaks with me. If it were some sort of dream with something my subconscious made up, I would have known from the beginning who it was supposed to be. When it haunted me before I left Grovedale, it was just a black pony with a disfigured face. Sometimes it would have a bullet hole in its chest, like the one my dad died from, or a bullet hole in its head, like what killed my mom, but this was the first time it showed itself as being me.”

“But it’s always been a pony that’s related to you, or somepony that you’ve known all your life, right?” Crosswire asked. The way he pitched the question made it sound like he was grasping at options that would lead to a normal explanation for what I had experienced. But I knew the truth: there was no normal explanation.

“Not always,” I answered, “Towards the beginning, I actually welcomed its presence. It appeared as one of my parents, whole and healthy, and it would speak to me as they did. I actually believed it was them. Now I know it was just using them to trick me, a feat that it’s been mocking me over for the last eight years. The first time I followed through with one of its suggestions: just a simple theft for a bit of extra food, it started to change.

It became a monster, something I feared to see. There were weeks where I would spend days without sleep and I’d be completely useless at my work assignments, too tired to focus on the job at hand, but too terrified of sleep to actually get any rest. It started showing itself as ponies from around the town that I had seen die: some that had died in accidents, and some that had died in the occasional raider attacks. But every time, it made sure that they were gruesome.”

“This doesn’t make any sense!” Crosswire growled, “There has to be some sort of explanation! These kind of things just don’t happen! Why were you targeted, huh? What made you more special than anypony else? I’m telling you, it’s probably just a recurring nightmare!”

“It is not a nightmare! I know nightmares, and that thing never felt like a nightmare. I think it came for me because I was weak. I had nothing left in my life: my parents were dead and I lived in a town that allowed for little, if any, personal growth. Why do you think I can’t clearly remember what I was like before leaving this place? Becoming a raider completely re-wrote my personality. I’ve spent the last week battling to find a balance between what I remember and what I became,” I answered quietly, “I was the perfect target: a young mare with nopony taking any special care of me, left to grieve on my own.”

“But why have we never heard of anything like this happening before? I hate to be the one trying to interrogate you or tear you down, Evergreen, but you’re hardly anypony special! Hell, Autumn basically had the same childhood you did, so why doesn’t she have a ghost in her head?” Crosswire snapped angrily, starting to pace around the room while he tried to piece together the sparse bits of information I had.

“Oh, I had my demons to face, Crosswire,” the dark mare spoke up, “Nothing like that, but then, I had more of a childhood than she did, anyway. She didn’t kill my parents till four years ago, and even then I was a few years older than she had been when hers were killed. Same situation, but the details are different.”

“But what is this thing?” he growled, “Ghosts don’t just appear out of nowhere! It had to come from somewhere!”

“I may have an answer for you, Crosswire,” a voice called from the entrance.

Standing in the doorway was the massive form of Steel Curtain. As it had been yesterday, his helmet was clipped to his armor, leaving his head in the open, except now he was wearing a set of saddlebags that appeared to be packed to the breaking point, and that was in addition to whatever he had stored in his armor itself.

“What do you mean?” Suture asked quietly.

“You must be Suture,” the massive buck intoned, stepping into the room and setting his saddlebags on the floor before joining us, “It’s good to see you recovering.”

“Thank you, but what do you mean when you say you might have an answer? Have you come across something like this before?” Suture asked curiously. I could understand her curiosity, since it could very much be considered a medical condition.

“I didn’t hear the whole conversation, just those last few exchanges,” the buck started, “and what I know isn’t really the same, just similar. There was a soldier in the army I knew a few years back that came across a cave that wasn’t on any of our maps. When he scouted it, he found… something… buried inside. I’m still not sure what it was, but it was powerful. It killed a whole wing of soldiers before we said ‘fuck it’ and just dropped a couple dozen bombs into the damn cave and sealed it up.”

“And what does that have to do with this?” Crosswire demanded angrily, “That was something physical and explainable. How the hell does it relate to what we’re facing here?”

“Because the maps we were using had survived since well before the war. I have it on good accounts that they came straight out of the archives in Canterlot, which means they had been drawn by the best map-makers in the damn country. We didn’t make mistakes like that. The only option is that that cave had been magically sealed for at least a thousand years, if not more,” Steel Curtain argued, gesturing wildly with his hooves. It seemed that, even though he picked his words carefully, he was very animated when he did speak.

“I’m still missing how this has anything to do with our problem,” Crosswire maintained, finally sitting down in a huff next to me, a stormy expression on his face.

Steel Curtain let out an exasperated sigh and his mane seemed like it was almost a live fire when he slowly shook his head. “Because you aren’t listening to me, Crosswire. The enchantment that dissipated off of that cave had been in place for at least a thousand years, and there are very few ponies that are, or were, capable of that kind of magic. I can only think of two.”

“The Princesses,” I muttered, just loud enough to be heard.

“Exactly,” Steel Curtain confirmed, nodding, “Early Equestria was a very dangerous place. Before Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon, both she and Princess Celestia had been the guardians of Equestria and the wielders of the Elements of Harmony, much as the Ministry Mares were when Nightmare Moon returned. It stands to reason that they placed many enchantments and spells to keep the rest of us safe from the dangers they were required to face.

It also makes sense that they would link those enchantments to their own lives. Being alicorns, they were essentially immortal. All it would require from them is an occasional renewal of the enchantment, and it could be maintained indefinitely. But with their deaths, the enchantments would begin to fade. It would take a long time, because even in death, alicorns are powerful beings, and those two held the power of gods, which is why we’ve heard nothing until now. It’s taken over two centuries for their magic to fade this much. But now, the enchantments are beginning to break, or at least wear down enough that whatever they were containing has the strength to influence Equestria once again.”

“So you think that whatever is in my head is something that was banished by the Princesses thousands of years ago?” I asked, voice shaking slightly at the concept. If I had to battle against something so powerful that it took two alicorns to vanquish, what hope did I have against it?

Steel Curtain nodded silently. “It makes the most sense, and holds to what I have seen,” he said a moment later, making my heart sink, “but don’t be too frightened by the thought. Don’t forget that when the Elements of Harmony passed to their next bearers, they were just a group of friends living in Ponyville, the small town in the shadow of Canterlot. If they had the strength to face evils like Nightmare Moon and Discord, and emerge victorious, then you and your friends have the strength to face this evil. It will only control you so long as you allow it to. That is your advantage: it lives only in your mind and can’t affect you physically.”

I nodded slowly, but the words did little to reassure me. I was still terrified, especially now that the best theory to what was attacking me was some great evil that had been sealed away by a pair of beings that all of ponykind considered akin to gods. “Thanks, it helps,” I lied. I had to present a bold front to my friends. It’s what they expected from me.

“Good, all you need to do is trust in your friends. Now, to more immediate concerns: Suture, are you strong enough for travel? Time is limited, and I would like to begin our journey as soon as possible,” the Pegasus announced, turning his green gaze on the medic.

“I… I suppose I can travel,” Suture answered slowly, “We’ll need to be careful, and I won’t be particularly fast, but I should be able to make the journey.”

“Wonderful. We have a long journey ahead of us. It will take us most of the day simply to make it to Buckview. If I were flying there on my own, I could make the trip in half the time, but as you were so kind to point out yesterday, Evergreen, I don’t entirely know what I am going to be facing out there. Best to face it with a group at my back than on my own,” Steel Curtain announced, “I’ll go get Just Law so you can have your weapons returned. I suggest you gather the rest of your gear while I am away.”

With that, the armored Pegasus rose, pulled on his saddlebags, and walked out the door into the town. The rest of us wordlessly went about our preparations, pulling on our battered barding and settling what gear we still had with us in our bags. It took us less than ten minutes to prepare, but by then, Steel Curtain had already returned.

“Well, Ah can’t say that Ah’m sad to see ya leavin’, Evergreen,” Just Law announced as he entered the building, flanked by several town guards that were carrying our weapons.

“Yup, I’m finally getting out of your mane, Just Law,” I said, wandering over to the guards, “You bucks mind dropping our guns? We’ve got a lot of ground to cover today.”

The guards glared angrily at me, but did as I asked, dropping all of our gear in an untidy pile at my hooves. Almost the same moment as the weapons hit the ground, a yellow glow surrounded Autumn’s heavy sniper and a slim, black, semi-automatic 10mm pistol; the sidearm Crosswire had grabbed to give to the dark mare if we ever had to fight in close quarters, and floated both weapons over to herself.

A green glow appeared at the same time and gripped a pair of SMGs, which soared through the air towards the tech. “Good, they gave us the extra gear I picked up yesterday as well,” he mused as he loaded both guns. Thankfully, the guards had allowed us to keep our ammunition, otherwise returning our gear would have been a logistical nightmare.

Not being a unicorn, I had to bend down and grab my weapons the old-fashioned way: one-by-one. My .45 was swiftly sequestered in my saddlebag, but close enough to the top that I would be able to grab it quickly, should the need arise. Hammer I slid into its holster, making sure that it was fully loaded and within easy reach before bending down for my knife, which took its usual place on my left shoulder. There were even a couple of frag grenades in the mix that I quickly deposited in my saddlebags.

Suture was the last to fetch her weapon, but since it was just a single 9mm pistol, it didn’t take her long to grab it, load it, and slide it into its holster. Part of me was sad to see just how used the innocent maroon mare was becoming to handling the weapon. I had been the one who had forced her to fire a gun for the first time, and she was already starting to behave like she knew exactly how to use it. Something about that was awfully sad.

Once we were loaded and ready to go, Just Law and his guards escorted us back to the gate, which was already standing open, ready for our departure. We walked through, out into the wasteland proper, which was under the assault of a light drizzling rain, seemingly oblivious to my troubles, just as it always was.

As Just Law was turning to leave, I stopped and called back to him. “Just Law, hold on a second! I need to tell you something!”

The grey buck stopped in his tracks and turned back to me, an unhappy frown on his face. “Make it quick then, Evergreen. Ah’ve got work to do!”

“Thank you for helping me. You didn’t need to, but you did. You saved my friend’s life, and I can’t thank you enough for that,” I said, getting a small amount of amusement from the shocked expression that crossed over the harsh buck’s face.

“Ah didn’t have much choice,” he growled at me, not quite rough enough to hide his surprise at the thanks, “After all, we ain’t a heartless group of raiders.”

“I know,” I answered, “That’s why my parents chose to try to make it here. It’s good to see that somepony is still making sure that those ideals hold true.”

The buck remained silent for a few moments as he mulled over my words. “Good travels, Evergreen,” he finally said, all hints of anger dropping away from his voice, “May ya find a better path than the one ye’ve been travelin’.”

“And you as well, Just Law,” I said, before turning around and starting down the road that would guide us east, to Buckview, and whatever new horrors it would hold.

Our pace was slower than it would normally have been, which was unsurprising, considering that Suture was still recovering from her close experience with death. Steel Curtain flew a short distance ahead of us, occasionally circling around behind us, keeping a constant watch on the wasteland, and setting my mind that much more at ease.

The path we were following was not as well-worn as I would have expected, especially after we passed the fork that led north, towards Metro and Seaddle itself. From all accounts I had ever heard Buckview had been a bustling town with a relatively large population. With a reputation like that, I would have expected the road to be better-traveled. A mere week with no contact would not lead to this much decay.

As was the usual, the road was choked with ruined vehicles, no doubt the remains of ponies trying to flee the apocalypse. Instead, their vehicles became their coffins, and the only testament left to the lives they had led. Many of the wagons we passed held skeletons, the corpses of the families that were simply trying to survive. And we were what was left.

Midday was just approaching when Steel Curtain swooped down a short distance ahead of us and waved with a wing, signaling for us to catch up as soon as possible. We sped up to a canter, rejoining the armored Pegasus quickly. He was standing atop a ruined skywagon, grim gaze set solidly on something to the northeast of us.

“What’s the matter?” I asked, panting slightly at the exertion, “Did you see something?”

Steel Curtain nodded slowly, his grim expression darkening even further. “A slaver camp, just to the north of here. Not a major one, just a temporary shelter, probably some slavers escorting some of their ‘stock’ to the Mill.” He positively spat the name out, his face set into an expression of disgust and anger.

“Is this worth out effort?” Crosswire asked, “We’re already taking a detour from where we should be headed, Evergreen. Surely going out of our way to mess with these slavers isn’t worth it. Plus, these slave gangs have a lot of influence in the wasteland proper, I know you know that. We fuck with them, and we will end up tier one on their shit list, which is not a good place to be.”

“I know,” I muttered, trying to come to a decision. On the one hoof, those slaves would probably come to our rescue, were our positions reversed. On the other, Crosswire had a very good point. If we drew the attention of the slavers, and not in a way that pissed them off, they would devote every resource at their disposal to taking us out.

“The Enclave treats its civilians enough like slaves that I cannot condone this behavior. We are allies so far as Buckview is concerned, Evergreen, but I am going to do something about those slavers, whether or not you are with me,” Steel Curtain announced. There was a dull thumping sound as the buck readied the two miniguns mounted to his armor.

“You don’t have to worry about it,” I said, finally coming to a decision, “We’re going to help.”

“You sure about this?” Crosswire asked me, a worried expression on his face, “We have a job to do, Evergreen. This is just another distraction.”

“Wouldn’t you want somepony to come to your aid if you were being held as a slave?” I demanded, turning on the buck, “Also, you made a point of looking for decisiveness from me. Well, here it is. I want to help those ponies. That’s why we’re out here, doing what we’re doing. Now, who’s with me?”

“Just point me in the right direction,” Autumn announced, pulling out her rifle and chambering a round, “Fuckers like them need to be taught a lesson. I’m more than happy to do the teaching!”

“I’ll hang back. I’d just get in the way in a fight,” Suture said meekly, “If you get the slaves free during the fighting, point them in my direction.”

I nodded at the medic, then turned to Steel Curtain. “All right, we’re behind you. Here’s what I have in mind: Autumn will sit back with her rifle and pick them off at range. Steel Curtain, I want to come in from above. Do a few strafing runs, and keep them from digging in. Keeping them on their hooves, not knowing where the next attack is going to come from will work in our favor. Crosswire, make a break for the slaves and get them free. I’m going to do what I do best.”

“Which is?” Steel Curtain asked, sounding a bit put off with me giving the orders.

“I’m going to walk down there before the shooting and tell them to free their slaves and walk away, with a heavy emphasis on never doing it again. I’m not expecting that they’re going to listen, but it’s worth the attempt. Once they start shooting, you guys are going to come in, and I’m going to do the most damage I can with Hammer.”

“Any particular target for me at the start of this shit?” Autumn asked me.

“The pony in charge, if you can find them. If they have their slaves strung up as I am expecting they do, they are going to be wearing slave collars, and I mean the explosive kind. It’s usually the head slaver who’s holding the detonator, so I want him taken out first,” I said, getting a quick nod in response.

“How well do your plans usually work?” Steel Curtain asked me, his tone apprehensive. He was standing in a way that could only be described as superior. He was obviously not comfortable with taking orders from a pony he saw as a simple wastelander.

“Well enough,” I answered, “I used a similar plan on a group of raiders a couple days ago, and we took them apart rather handily. With you in the mix, this fight should be a piece of cake. Did you happen to see how many of them there were?”

“Two dozen, at most. Some of them might have been slaves,” the Pegasus answered, “but their weapons appeared to be better than the usual quality, more on the level of what you’re using.”

“Only raiders use shitty weapons,” I said, “Everypony else usually takes fairly good care of their guns. Well, if we’re all set, let’s move. We still have a lot of ground to cover today.”

Everypony nodded their agreement, and we set off to the northwest, towards the camp. As we topped a rise that brought us into sight of the camp, Autumn and Suture broke off from the group, with the former taking up her usual half-sitting, half-lying stance that she used when sniping.

Steel Curtain took off into the air, flying straight up until he appeared to be nothing more than a small dot just under the cloud cover, his dark armor blending in perfectly with the dark clouds. Crosswire and I continued down the hill, approaching the camp confidently, making sure that we were walking with authority and confidence. We did not want to be mistaken for potential victims.

While we walked, I was careful to take in as much of the layout of the camp that I could. The slavers had pitched their tents in a rough circle around their fire, which appeared to be a sad excuse for a fire from this range. The slaves were chained up to a series of stakes driven into the ground about twenty yards away from the tents: close enough for the slavers to keep an eye on them, but far enough away that they didn’t have to deal with it. The rest of the campsite was open ground, with nothing larger than a few hoof-sized rocks to break up the surface.

A pair of ponies trotted out to meet us, stopping a few dozen yards from the camp itself. “Stop there!” one of them, a red buck with a mangy green mane, announced, “Don’t take another step if you know what’s good for ya!”

In complete rebuttal of the buck’s orders, I continued forward until I was standing a mere ten feet from the pair, wearing the angriest expression that I could manage. The buck was now glaring at me with blatant rage, furious that I had so purposely ignored him.

“I’m going to give you this one chance,” I announced, putting every shred of confidence and righteous anger that I could muster into the words, “Free your slaves and walk away from this life. This is the only warning I’m going to give you. Ignore it, and I will free those slaves the hard way.”

The buck’s expression shifted from one of rage to one of disbelief, and his face split in a large grin. “You are going to give us a chance to walk away?” he asked mockingly, almost laughing at the thought, “Who the fuck do you think you are? You’re no one! And yet, here you are, trying to give me orders! Me, Chainlink of the Mill! You haven’t got a clue who you’re dealing with, cunt.”

“I know I’m dealing with a self-important jackass who doesn’t know the first thing about watching his surroundings, or you would already know that you are sorely outmatched. If you’d been listening to the radio, you’d know exactly who I am,” I growled, “And I will make sure those ponies go free.”

The buck, Chainlink, started to laugh, a deep, evil sound that seemed incapable of actually communicating anything even closely resembling joy. “Oh, we’ve got a bad case of hero worship here, Rose Blossom!” he bellowed, laughing so hard he was actually shaking, nudging the dark red mare next to him, “This cunt thinks that just because she can go out and buy a gun that she’s some sort of hot shot! She’s probably never pulled the trigger a single fucking time in her pitiful life! I’ll give you kudos for spirit kid, but you just walked squarely into the eye of a shit storm!”

In one smooth motion, I pulled Hammer from its holster and fired a round square into the red mare’s head, not even bothering with S.A.T.S. It wasn’t necessary at this range. Her skull exploded like a melon, sending blood, bone, and bits of brain in every direction, splattering Chainlink with gore. His expression was now one of horror and rage.

“Have I got your attention now, fucker?” I asked darkly, enunciating every world carefully around the revolver in my mouth, “I assure you, I am every bit as dangerous as the radio messages imply. I know I said I’d only give you one chance, but I’m feeling generous. Get the fuck out of here, swear you’ll never return to slaving again, and I will let you live. Fight me, and I promise not a single one of you will survive the day.”

“You… Rose… The fuck is wrong with you, cunt!” Chainlink stammered, “We are an entire slave gang here, fourteen ponies more than capable of tearing the two of you fucks brand new holes for us to have fun with! I see only two of you!”

By now, other ponies from the camp were started to wander in our direction, drawn by the sound of my gunshot. All of them wore dark expressions and were carrying, or floating, various weapons with them. They had everything from revolvers to assault rifles, an impressive armory, if I cared.

“You should have been more careful counting,” I stated simply, then stepped to the side, hoping that it was enough space for Autumn to take a shot.

“Wha…” Chainlink started, but was cut short by a sniper round punching through his skull, destroying his head and leaving behind little but a bloody mess. His body fell wetly to the ground, splashing in the pool of blood that had already been formed by Rose Blossom’s body.

If my shot hadn’t been enough to make the slavers want to kill me, Autumn’s shot sealed the deal. The slavers opened fire, filling the air with lead, sending both Crosswire and me diving to the ground in an attempt to get away.

“Crosswire, grab the detonator off Chainlink’s body! He’s got to have it! Then get to the slaves and get them the fuck out of here!” I shouted, waving at the buck to get moving.

Another rifle shot tore through the wasteland, except the sound was significantly different than Autumn’s rifle. This one made hers sound like a BB gun. The round struck the ground in front of me, sending a spray of dirt and rock a full three feet into the air. “Fuck me with a barbed-wire baseball bat!” I swore, jumping back to my hooves and running as fast as I could to get away from the target zone of that gun. I did not want to see what would happen if it hit me.

Turning my gaze to the landscape in front of me, I noticed three ponies bearing down on me, two of them unicorns floating SMGs. The third was an Earth pony mare holding a revolver. Once I came within twenty feet of them, they opened fire, the low caliber rounds ricocheting off of my armor. When the Earth pony mare opened fire with the revolver, the bullet flew higher than the others and clipped my neck, making me stumble in shock as I felt warm blood flow out of the wound. An inch to the side, and the round would have cut clean through one of my arteries.

I held my fire until they were only a dozen feet from me, then slipped into S.A.T.S. It was time to see how well the system would hold up when I was running at a full gallop. I lined up three shots, the first two targeted at the unicorns, and the last on the Earth Pony. If I was lucky, I would kill all of them without missing a step.

Time snapped back to reality and the rounds fired. The first two were perfectly on target, felling both unicorns in midstride and sending their SMGs tumbling to the ground. By the time the last round fired, the Earth Pony was far too close for me to be able to hit her, even with S.A.T.S., and the round flew wide, cleanly missing her over the shoulder.

The mare drove herself into me, driving me to the ground with the force of her momentum. Had I been expecting her to dodge around me, it wouldn’t have happened, yet it seemed that these slavers were more insane than I gave them credit for.

We rolled in the dirt, locked together in a grapple for dominance, before finally coming to rest a few feet later, the other mare on top and swinging her head around to shove the barrel of the gun against my head.

I already had one experience staring down the barrel of a gun, and I had not enjoyed it the first time. This time, I was straight-up pissed. “You fucked with the wrong bitch, asshole!” I shouted around Hammer, which I had somehow managed to hold on to, and bucked up with my hips, throwing the mare off balance and letting me get my left foreleg free, which I then used to smash my Pipbuck against her head, sending her reeling, and letting me scramble back to my hooves.

I turned, and fired a single round into the mare’s head, ending her life, before turning to survey the rest of the battlefield. Four other ponies were dead, two of them obviously killed by Autumn Mist, and the other two peppered with holes that looked to fit the damage dealt by Crosswire’s SMG. Which meant there were only five slavers left.

Three of them were clustered together, firing wildly in Autumn’s direction, completely ignoring both me and Crosswire. I had no clue where the other two were. It was as I started running at that trio when I heard a sound unlike anything I had ever heard before.

The best description I could think of was the sound of a chain rattling against another piece of metal, but even that didn’t do it justice. I arched my head up, trying to get a look at what was creating the sound, when Steel Curtain swooped down from the air, tracers flying from the spinning miniguns mounted to his armor. It was those guns that were the source of the sound, and as I watched, the tracers cut a clean path through the clustered slavers, who were shredded to ribbons by the sheer volume of fire that was spewing forth from Pegasus. It took less than three seconds for Steel Curtain to complete the flyby, and that was all it took to reduce the force facing us down to two.

“Steel Curtain, do you know where that fucking sniper is?” I shouted, hoping the Pegasus would hear me.

His dark form twisted around in the air and darted back down towards me, where he came to a hover. “I saw Autumn Mist take a few shots in his direction,” he shouted back at me, “but I’m not sure if she hit him.”

Before I could answer, the rifle sounded again, and I could only stand and watch in horror as the round punched clean through one of the wing sheath’s of Steel Curtain’s armor, sending him tumbling to the ground in an uncontrolled crash.

Immediately, three shots echoed through the wasteland in response, all with the familiar retort of Autumn’s rifle. I dashed forward towards the Pegasus, unable to do anything about the situation except hope that the dark mare hit the fucker and kept him from killing me.

“Steel Curtain, you all right?” I shouted as I came up to the fallen Pegasus’ still form. For a moment, I feared that he had somehow injured himself even further in the crash, but when I neared, I saw him drag himself back to his hooves, turn to face the direction the enemy sniper was shooting from, and simply unload with his twin miniguns, roaring defiance at the wasteland. He kept the fire up until both guns started rattling on empty barrels, every last round fired.

I skidded to a stop by his side, my ears ringing when his weapons finally spun down and asked again, “You all right?”

“I’ll be fine. I won’t be able to fly for a few days, but I will live,” he answered gruffly, hitting a control on his armor that reloaded his weapons with a loud thunk, “Thank you for your concern. Come, let’s check on Crosswire. There are no more slavers here.”

“But we only killed twelve!” I protested, “There are still two more! If they escape, they’ll get word back to the Mill about who interrupted them, then we’ll all be targets!”

“Do you see a way to chase those two down without getting ourselves killed in the bargain?” the Pegasus asked darkly, turning to face me with an expression that was equal parts rage and pain.

When I didn’t answer immediately, my gaze flitting to his side where blood was flowing freely from his injured wing, staining the dark armor red, he kept going, “That’s what I thought. All we can do is play the hand we are dealt. This is ours. We now know that they will be looking for us, and so we will be prepared for when it happens. The advantage is ours.”

He didn’t give me a chance to respond, instead marching towards where Crosswire was working furiously to free the slaves of their collars. I stood in place, jaw hanging open, completely dumbstruck. How, in all that was holy, could the advantage be ours? In a few days, we would be number one on the shit list for every slaver in the entire region, and Steel Curtain claimed that the advantage was ours? He was out of his mind, like every other feather-brained idiot above the clouds.

I shook my head slowly and followed after the armored Pegasus, who was standing a short distance away from Crosswire, who had his attention completely focused on a buck’s collar. Already, five of the slaves were free and galloping towards where Suture and Autumn Mist were waiting. The remaining three were lined up in front of the grey buck, anxious and hopeful expressions on their faces.

“How are things going here, Crosswire?” I asked as we approached, “We took care of the slavers, but a couple of them look like they’re going to get away.”

“How the fuck is that possible? We’ve got a damn Pegasus on our side. He should be able to outrun them,” the buck answered briefly, before returning his full concentration to the captive pony he was working on.

“One of them was in possession of an anti-material rifle. The round punched through my armor and crippled one of my wings,” Steel Curtain responded, his tone strained. I could tell that he was trying to keep his pain from controlling him, and banishing all emotion seemed to be his strategy for that.

“Hmmm, guess that would explain it,” Crosswire mused as the collar he was working on popped free. He tossed it to the side, on top of a pile of five other collars, and beckoned for the next pony to step forward.

She did so eagerly, knocking into the buck in her haste. “Oh thank you, thank you!” she said, practically crying with joy, “We didn’t think anypony was going to save us.”

“We couldn’t sit by and do nothing, ma’am,” Steel Curtain intoned, “It is our duty to help those in need.”

“What… Enclave?” the mare muttered, turning and seeing the Pegasus for the first time, “What are you doing here?”

Her distraction finally let Crosswire get to work on her collar, grumbling something about over-anxious ponies in distress as he did.

“Sadly, no,” Steel Curtain answered, “I only wish the Enclave cared enough about the ponies below the clouds to lend their aid. As it is, all they care about is their own lives, as well as their politics. I left, and am now a Dashite. I wouldn’t let them take my armor from me, though.”

“Oh…,” the mare stated, then fell silent. She turned slightly and her gaze found me. “You were the one that came up to Chainlink and told him to let us go, aren’t you.”

I nodded at the mare, smiling slightly, trying to show her that we were here to help. “Yeah, that was me. Steel Curtain was right when he said that we need to help those in need. It’s what ponies are meant to do, after all.”

“Are you really who you claimed to be?” Another slave, this one a ragged blue buck, asked, “Are you really the Heroine of Seaddle?”

“That’s the title that the DJ on the radio gave me,” I said, “But I don’t agree with it. I’m just doing what I think needs to be done. If I can help some ponies have a chance at life in the process, then that’s just a bonus. I’m planning on going up to Seaddle soon and talking to him, set this whole illusion straight.”

“But you saved us! That makes you a hero!” the buck insisted, stomping a hoof stubbornly.

I took a closer look at the buck and noticed that he was much younger than he appeared to be. At best, he was a few years younger than Autumn Mist, old enough to look full-grown, but inside, he was little more than a colt. “Trust me, kid,” I said, “I wish I could just accept the title. It would make everything a lot easier, but the truth is that there’s a reason I haven’t been around before. There’s a lot of shit in my past I need to make up for. All I can do is hope that this is enough.”

The buck fell silent at those words, as did every other pony around us. The two slaves, although grateful, now had thoughtful expressions on their faces, as they considered what I had said. The silence wasn’t broken until the last slave was freed and we were all trotting back to where Autumn Mist and Suture were waiting, but not before I scooped up the collars and placed them in my bags. I wasn’t about to let those explosives go to waste, especially when we had the detonator for them.

The slaves we had freed were all huddling together, already dividing up into the groups they had been in before getting captured. Several of them had already set off into the wasteland, trying to make their way back to whatever life they had had before being enslaved. The last ones to leave were the mare and young buck, who came up to me while I was cleaning Hammer.

“I don’t care what kind of past you have, Miss,” the mare said, her face firmly set in an expression of gratitude, “You saved both mine and my son’s life. I owe you everything for that. In my eyes, you are the Hero of Seaddle.”

I looked up at the mare, my expression completely emotionless, and nodded my acknowledgement of her words. I couldn’t bring myself to respond, or to accept, or even to show any kind of emotion. My mind was a whirlpool of emotions and memories, reliving many of the evils I had committed before choosing that there was more to life than survival. Now, there were so many ponies out there who believed I was something I wasn’t, and it was painful. I deserved none of their thanks, none of their gratitude, and yet they were piling on top of me. They had no clue what I had been.

When it became obvious that I wasn’t going to vocalize a response, the mare nodded awkwardly at me, then turned away and started walking, her son right behind her. I simply stood where I was and watched them go, unable to admit to myself that my actions were starting to pay off for me.

“Are you all right, Evergreen?” Suture asked me once the pair were out of earshot.

I was still standing motionless, staring after them, but otherwise, I was completely unresponsive. “Yeah,” I finally answered after a minute of pregnant silence, “I’m fine. Come on, let’s get moving. We still have a lot of ground to cover.”

“Not before I see to your injuries,” Suture insisted, stepping around me so that she was standing in my way and glaring at me with a stern expression, “Now, sit. That wound in your neck needs to be cleaned.

“I’ll be fine,” I protested, sitting down despite my words and allowing the mare to look at the gash in my neck that was still weeping blood.

“I’m sure, but we’re better safe than sorry, so sit still,” the maroon mare insisted, digging through her saddle bags for some rubbing alcohol and bandages.

“You sure it was a good idea to say those things to those ponies?” Crosswire asked me a few minutes later, his tone heavy with worry.

“I was being honest. Since when is that a bad thing?” I demanded.

“Since that knowledge could be used against us,” the buck snapped, “This DJ, Shooting Star, he has a good view of you right now. Saying these things to them could make it back to him, and then where will we be?”

“Right where we started,” I answered adamantly, “We really can’t be knocked back any farther.”

“Hey, turn back around! I’m not done with you yet!” she protested, reaching out with a hoof and trying to pull my head back around so that I was facing her.

I reached up with my own hoof and pushed her aside. “Not right now, Suture. I need to deal with this. See to Steel Curtain. His wing took fire during the fighting,” I said, getting to my hooves and turning to face my whole body at the tech. “And what about the population of ghouls we saved? Are they going to spurn us as well when they find out what we were?”

“What? No, probably not. But anywhere else, anywhere we haven’t been, isn’t going to open their gates to us,” he insisted, his face twisting into a deep frown.

“Well, I guess that’s just something we’ll have to face if it comes to that,” I stated, shrugging, “Shooting Star seems like a reasonable pony. I’m sure he’ll choose to judge our current actions over our past ones.”

Crosswire held me in his gaze for a few moments longer before sighing and hanging his head. “You’re impossible, you know that, right?”

The way he said it didn’t sound like he meant it as a joke, or even sarcastically. “What do you mean?” I asked, taking a step towards him, my glare softening to an expression of worry.

“You rush headfirst into these situations that we know nothing about, taking risks that most sane ponies would never even dream about, then twist them so that we get the worst possible result for our success. I don’t get why,” he stated, lifting his head up and fixing me with a stare that revealed his own anger at me.

“It’s because I don’t feel like I deserve their gratitude. If they knew what I was, what I’ve done!” I exclaimed, my voice rising with my passion of the subject. I didn’t know how better to communicate it to him. How do I tell him that I don’t feel right accepting their thanks, when there is every possibility that I’ve killed somepony they knew?

“Well, here’s a news update for you, Evergreen,” Crosswire snapped, “You did deserve their gratitude. You know why? You saved their fucking lives. They would be slaves if not for you. Sure, you’ve done some bad shit in your life. So have I, yet you don’t see it getting at me, do you? Besides, you accepted that gratitude of Hat Trick and Sparks easily enough, didn’t you?”

I slowly shook my head at the buck. “It’s not the same,” I muttered, “ And I know from the way we met, and from talking to you, that I’d been a raider for far longer than you. You weren’t around for the truly bad shit, the shit that happened before I became the one in charge. My raider gang was more akin to a standard gang, like the Iron Hooves, than an actual gang of raiders. Before I took charge, it was just as bad as the others you saw.”

“Wait, you were a raider, Evergreen?” Steel Curtain asked, stepping between me and Crosswire and fixing me with a disapproving glare. I could hear a motor in his armor start up, and the barrels of his miniguns started to rotate, just enough for me to realize how thin of ice I was standing on.

I let out a heavy sigh and sat down, head lowered. “For five long fucking years,” I answered, putting every ounce of regret that I could manage into the words, “It took Suture showing up on my doorstep a week ago to make me see that I was making the wrong choices. And if you want to shoot me for it, fine. You and Autumn can share the pleasure.”

My words were met with silence, with only the motor running in the Pegasus’ armor. A few moments later, the motor stopped and when I looked up, the barrels had come to a stop. “You have no more connections to any raiders?” he asked, his face a mask of determination and anger.

“Unless some of the fuckers from my gang are still among the living, no. Only reason I want to go back to that place is to get my journal back. I didn’t have time to grab it before getting thrown out on my ass,” I said, “And if I go back, those assholes are getting the same treatment that the slavers got. The only fuckers still alive are the ones that tried to kill me, and killed everypony that was loyal to me. They aren’t worth helping.”

“Humph. Fine, if that is what you claim, I suppose I have no choice but to believe you,” Steel Curtain said, then spun his bulk around to face Crosswire. “And you? She said you were a raider as well. Have you separated yourself from that life as total as she has?”

“Yeah, I have. My loyalty is to Evergreen and nopony else. What she says, goes. We have our disagreements, like this one, but that doesn’t change the facts. She’s proven herself to me to be a mare worthy of listening to. That’s what I care about.”

The Pegasus nodded curtly, satisfied with the answer, then looked back to me. “I want to know why you are traveling to Buckview. I believe that it is not for ill purposes, but I want proof that you are trustworthy. Tell me what your motivation is for going this way.”

I explained everything to the Pegasus that had to do with my work with Metro and the threat of Seahawk, starting with how Suture had come to my gang’s hideout, and talking through everything I had done with Millberry, up to and including the reports we had of Buckview falling off the grid and my fears of what that could mean.

Through it all, Steel Curtain remained silent, his face held with only a thoughtful expression, while he considered everything I told him. When I finished, he remained quiet for several moments, processing all of the information I had given him. Occasionally, an emotion would flit across his features that led me to think he recognized something I had said, but with the wasteland as large as it was, I would expend somepony to have heard a name now and then.

Instead of answering me, he turned to Suture. “You seem to be the most trustworthy and credible one here, Suture,” he said, “Is what she has said true?”

“It is,” the medic answered, “Evergreen has gone out of her way since coming to Metro to see that the right thing was done. Without her, there is every chance that Millberry would already belong to Seahawk, whether he is making his move or not. Right now, she’s the only one taking an active stance.”

“Hmm, with an argument like that, it’s impossible for me to claim you to be a liar, Evergreen, so I will thank you for your honesty. I am also rather intrigued by this mission of yours. Once we are both done with our business in Buckview, I may consider asking for employment with you.”

The way he said it made me laugh, and everypony else joined in the humor as well. Steel Curtain stood between us all, immensely confused as he cast from one to the other, looking for an answer. “What is so funny about what I just said,” he demanded, “I’m being honest here! I am considering asking for employment with you!”

“Steel Curtain,” I answered, only getting the words out between gulps of air, “No one here is working for me! Crosswire is with me cause he was the only pony from my gang that stayed loyal. Suture joined up because she wanted to help with the job in Millberry, but also because she wanted to make sure Metro could trust me. Autumn Mist is tagging along because she wanted to kill me at first, and making sure I didn’t fuck up was her number one priority. Now, we’re all more or less working towards the same goal. If you want to help us, it’ll be as a partner, not as an employee, you understand?”

“But aren’t you the one in charge? The one giving the orders?” the Pegasus asked, still very obviously lost.

I shrugged an answered, “Only so far as they choose me to be the one to make the decisions. I’m no more special than any of them. It’s just my cause that we’re working towards, and I know how to lead, most of the time. But I don’t see myself as more important than any of them.”

“An honorable stance. I’ll think about it. Now, Suture, how is my wing?” Steel Curtain asked, turning away from me and changing the subject.

“You’ll need to stay off of it for a few days while it heals,” the medic answered, “After that, you’ll be fine to fly again. The shot fractured a couple of bones and tore through some of the ligaments, and those need some time to mend, but don’t worry. It isn’t a permanent injury.”

“Good. A Pegasus soldier belongs in the sky, not on the ground amongst the infantry,” he proclaimed proudly, “Now let’s move! There is still a lot of ground to be covered, and it will take much longer now that I can’t fly.”

“Once I’ve seen to everypony else, we’ll leave,” Suture argued, walking up to me and checking my neck.

I sat patiently under her ministrations, waiting while she carefully cleaned and bound the injury, wrapping a stark white bandage around my neck, making me feel like a little filly under the care of her mother. Once she was done with me, she turned and started to check Crosswire for injuries, but somehow the ragged buck had managed to get through the entire fight without getting shot a single time.

Once we are all finally taken care of, we started off, making our way back to the road and continue on our way towards Buckview. Now that Steel Curtain was one the ground with us, we remained much more wary of our surroundings, watching for anypony that might have been in the area, but also looking for any of the other countless dangers that lived in the wasteland.

Honestly, it was amazing that the most dangerous non-pony creature we had run into our here had been a couple of molerats and the occasional, lone bloatsprite. Everypony had heard the tales of the mutated monsters that called the wasteland home: the Yao Guai, that were the twisted remnants of the bears that had once been as common as any other woodland creature, and the manticores that, even if they hadn’t been changed by the radiation, had at least been maddened by it, and now lashed out at anypony that came within sight of them. Then there were the other, even more horrid creatures that I had heard of, but didn’t know if their existence had been confirmed, that were supposed to live in the more remote reaches of the mountains, where very few ponies traveled, and even fewer survived.

There had been one time, when I had been much younger, when I had just traveled to the mountains, where I had seen something at a distance. It had been nothing more than a shadow, there and then gone so quickly that I still questioned whether or not I had actually seen it, but it had appeared at least as large as a manticore, if not larger still. I had spent the next two days, fearing that whatever it was had chosen to hunt me, but I had happened across the gang before anything had happened. My guess was that it had migrated deeper into the mountains, in order to get farther away from civilization, or at least what was left of it. But I still had occasional nightmares about the thing, where razor sharp claws would grab me while I was asleep at camp and drag me off into the night where I would be torn apart, but left alive long enough to see some grotesque mutation of something eating still quivering parts of my body. I shuddered at the thought and turned my mind resolutely from the subject, focusing back on the trail in front of my hooves, watching out for present dangers, rather than the ones lurking in my mind.

We traveled in relative silence, all focused on our own thoughts and the landscape around us. Occasionally, somepony would reach into a shattered wagon for something that had caught their eye. It was the sad truth of the wasteland that you took what you could when you could if you wanted to survive on the road. We couldn’t be squeamish about where we got our supplies, or even with what those supplies were. I had done worst things than reach over the skeleton of a pony so small that I doubted they could even be considered a filly just to get at a bottle of water. If there was one universal truth of the wasteland, it was that even the good ponies would be driven to what had once been considered an atrocity if they wanted to survive. The difference was limiting what those atrocities were.

As we traveled east, the landscape slowly changed from blasted, windswept hills to richer land, where a few small, hardy shrubs had managed to hold on to life. They all appeared a sickly yellow as they reached toward the cloud-covered sky, groping at it with crooked fingers for whatever light happened to seep through the cloud cover. In the distance, I could see the line of what might have been trees, forming the border of a vast forest.

I felt a spark of hope leap to life in my chest. If there were woods, then maybe there was the small chance it was still alive, and maybe even relatively healthy. I quickened our pace slightly, wanting to get closer to be able to tell for certain, and the miles passed by quicker, only to be slowed to a near halt a short time later.

Visible against the sky was a pillar of pitch black smoke. We had missed it before because of how well it blended in to the sky and landscape. In a world where everything was dark and dreary, smoke was easily missed. But now, it coiled into the sky like some great, black snake, easily miles high, and it was thick. It was the kind of smoke that could only come from something large burning.

“Do you think that’s the town?” Suture muttered quietly at my side, her voice thick with fear and worry.

“I think so,” I answered, just as quietly, “Come on, we need to see if anypony survived!”

We started forward at a canter, eating up the remaining miles quickly, all of us in a hurry to see what was left of the small frontier settlement. It was far enough removed from the main circle of settlements in Seaddle that it should have been able to remain separate from the politicking and danger of the area, yet it seemed that even distance wouldn’t help this place.

When we finally turned the last curve that would bring us into view of the city, we were stuck speechless by the sight. The entire town, encompassing an area of at least a half square mile, had been reduced to ash. There was not a single structure over three feet high left standing. The few structures that were left sticking out of the ground were still burning, but it appeared that they weren’t the source of the smoke, which appeared to be originating from the central square of the town.

Slowly, we started forward, approaching the edge of the ravaged town, all of us unable to find any words.

“The whole town… gone…” Suture muttered to herself as we crossed the border into the town proper.

The ground was entirely covered in ash that was several inches thick and was quickly being mixed into a slurry by the drizzling rain. Every step made us sink into the ground, and our hooves squelched loudly as we walked forward. The conditions slowed Steel Curtain significantly as he struggled to drag the massive weight of his armor through the wreckage.

We picked through the ruins, looking into the destroyed homes and businesses, searching for survivors, but all we could find were the occasional skeletons and burned remains of ponies. Everything reeked of death.

“Split up. Search for survivors and help them anyway you can,” I ordered, keeping my voice carefully controlled “I want to know what happened here. I want to know what sick fuck could do this.”

It was all I could do to keep my rage in check. Everywhere I turned, I saw atrocity, and I don’t mean just in Buckview. It seemed that the last three days had forced me against atrocity after atrocity, with ponies destroying each other’s lives as though their own depended on it. At least those first two had been more or less understandable. A raider attack and a slave grab were small evils when compared to the destruction of an entire town, and the slaughter of every pony that lived here. Even if the town’s morals had been skewed beyond all reason, there was no way in hell everypony in it signed on to the same ideals.

I didn’t yet know what atrocity was. Walking on my own, picking my way through what had once been streets of a bustling city, I came upon the single worst thing I had ever seen in my entire life, up to and including the execution of my parents before my eyes. Sitting before me, in the center of the main town square, was a pile of burning bodies, easily fifteen feet high. Ponies of all ages had been piled atop each other, lit on fire, and left to burn. I had been wondering what the source of the pillar of smoke had been, since the town was already burned. I had my answer now.

I stood where I was, completely motionless, fighting with my own emotions for control, fighting to stop my rage from getting the better of me and force me into an action I would regret. But it wouldn’t be enough. I would be able to contain my rage now, because I didn’t know who was responsible for this, but once I learned that, that pony wouldn’t be able to run far or fast enough to escape my justice. They would die, and I would make sure the rest of the world would know why. There was raiding, there was murder, and then there was massacre. This pony had firmly crossed that line. There could be no mercy.

After almost five minutes of inaction, I managed to tear myself away from the sight and head back to where the rest of my friends were searching, joining up with Suture in her pursuit of anypony who might have survived the evil that had happened here.

“Find anything yet?” I asked when I came up to her, my voice very obviously strained, despite my feeble attempts at control.

“No,” the maroon mare answered, slowing slightly as she caught the anger in my tone, “Are you all right?”

“No,” I growled, “Somepony is going to pay for what happened here. They took all the ponies in town, piled them in the square, and lit them on fire. That’s where the smoke came from.”

“What?!” Suture exclaimed, “They just… burned them? How could they!”

“Because they didn’t get what they wanted,” I answered, no longer bothering trying to keep the rage out of my voice, “Or they knew somepony would come looking and they wanted to send a message. Fuck if I know. All I want is to make the fucker responsible pay. Nothing else matters.”

“I want to know why. It might make a difference,” Suture said quietly, pressing on through the muck.

“Does it?” I snapped, “Did the entire town deserve to be put to the torch? What could be so bad that the entire town deserved to be wiped out? I can only think of one reason: they said no.”

Suture remained silent at that, apparently unable to come up with a response, and we continued our search in stony silence, Suture letting me come to terms with my anger and me hoping she would come to understand my rage.

At this point, I wasn’t expecting to find anypony still alive. How could they be? The entire town was, at its highest point, even in height with Steel Curtain’s shoulders, and the entire population was piled up in the center, burnt to ash and bone. Whoever had done this had to have been thorough to get a pile that high. But, apparently in the sight of some of the greatest atrocities, even miracles could exist.

It took us almost half an hour to find the first, and only, survivor: a young filly hiding in the charred remains of a closet, her hide burnt and covered in ash, shivering in the rain from pain and loss. When Suture found her, she shouted to the rest of our group, who arrive in minutes, helping her calm the filly enough so that we could coax her out to help.

By the time we did that, and Suture had seen to the worst of her burns, the light was beginning to dim, and the rain started to pick up strength. In an attempt to protect us from the elements, Autumn Mist erected a small structure using the few large remains of walls that were still lying about, resulting in a small shelter we could all fit comfortably inside.

Once out of the wind and rain, we tried to get the tale of what had happened to the town out of the filly, who was still only slowly overcoming her fear of us. She was maybe five years old, with a light green hide and bright yellow mane. Her flank was still bare. What little we had managed to learn so far was her name and the names of her parents: Sunflower was her name, and her parents were True Sky and Dawn, respectively.

“So tell us, little one, what happened here?” Suture asked, holding the young filly in her hooves, protecting her from her perceived fears of the rest of us.

“Are you sure the angry one isn’t going to hurt me?” the filly asked, looking at me with fearful eyes.

I sighed for what must have been the thirtieth time that night. My anger at the situation had terrified the filly into thinking I was mad at her, or that I was going to hurt her. Understandable, but that didn’t make me feel any better about it. “No, Sunflower, I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to find out what happened here. I want to know who hurt you before so I can keep them from hurting anypony else.” It was the same explanation I had given the last ten times she had asked, but it didn’t seem to be enough.

“Okay…” she muttered, still keeping an eye on me, “The bad ponies came to town a few weeks ago. They seemed really nice. They were friendly, and generous, and they brought food and medicine with them! Everypony was really happy they were here, and I thought we would all be friends!”

“What happened then?” Suture pressed when the filly fell silent, “Why did the bad ponies become bad?”

“They went to the big building where Mister Contract lived. He’s the pony we all listen to, but the bad ponies wouldn’t listen to him, I guess. That’s what mommy told me. They left, all angry and mean and wouldn’t even say goodbye to me! Then, they came back a few days ago, with a lot of their friends. When Mister Contract asked them to leave, they started talking in angry voices and daddy made me go back home. That’s when the bangs started.”

“Bangs?” Crosswire asked, “Do you mean gunshots?”

“I think so,” the filly answered uncertainly, cocking her head to one side in thought, “Mommy came back home and told me everything would be okay, but then we heard somepony yell fire, and mommy told me to go hide, so I ran to the closet. There was a long time of bangs and shouting, then it got really quiet, and I got really scared when mommy and daddy didn’t come back. Then you found me, Miss Suture! Do you know where my parents are?”

Suture looked up to me, a questioning look in her eye. “It looked like the whole town was in the square,” I answered, careful to keep the explanation to a minimum to spare the filly, “I don’t think anypony else is here, except us.”

Suture nodded sadly and looked down at Sunflower. “I’m sorry, dear, but I don’t think your parents are going to be coming back,” she said slowly, putting as much light-heartedness as she could manage into the words, “They went somewhere warm, to be with the Princesses.”

“But, they wouldn’t leave without me!” the filly protested, tearing herself up and away from Suture’s embrace and standing defiantly before her, frowning, “They would come back for me! Mommy always said she wouldn’t go anywhere without me! I need to go find her!”

Before any of us could react, the filly turned and took off, tearing out of our rickety shelter and pushing through the mud towards the town square. All of us jumped up to go after her, but got tangled up in each other and tumbled to the ground. Before any of us could think to say anything, the filly disappeared around a corner and was gone from sight.

“Fuck! I’ll go get her! Stay here, I’ll be able to explain what happened better than any of you!” I ordered, pulling myself free of the pile of limbs and striding out into the rain.

I made it barely three steps when somepony was at my side. “I’m coming with you. I’m the only other one who knows what it’s like to lose your parents before your eyes, as you well know, Evergreen,” Autumn announced. For once, her tone wasn’t accusatory, but rather sympathetic, “I want this filly to turn out better than we did.”

I nodded at the mare, and picked up my pace, trusting her to keep up with me. “Then let’s go. I think I know where she went.” I took off down the street, making for the town square.

True to my expectation, we found Sunflower sitting before the pile of bodies, crying softly to herself, simply staring at the pile. The fire had finally gone out, and the last wisps of smoke curling from the top of the pile were immediately dampened by the rain. Autumn and I slowed to a stop at the edge of the square, watching the young filly while she loosed her heart into the biting wind.

“Let me talk to her for a few moments alone,” I said softly, feeling emotions I hadn’t known until recently rising in my chest, “I know you understand what she’s going through, but I need this, and so does she.”

“All right,” the dark mare answered, nodding at me, “Just motion when you want me to come over.”

I returned her nod and strode forward until I was standing at the filly’s side, where I sat down and stared up at the pile of bodies. I held my silence for a long while, letting her be the first to speak. It was her responsibility to want to come out of this.

“My parents really aren’t coming back, are they?” the filly finally asked, snuffling quietly as she tried to chase away her tears.

“I’m so sorry you had to learn this way, Sunflower,” I answered, looking down at the ground between my hooves, watching as the rainwater coursed down my legs to mix with the mud that was already there, “I know it doesn’t help, but we are here for you, and I understand what you must be feeling. We will take care of you, I promise.”

“My parents were good ponies. Nopony would ever want to hurt them,” Sunflower protested, “Everypony loved them.”

“I’m sure they did, little one, but the sad truth is that ponies don’t have to hate each other to hurt each other. My parents were killed just as senselessly when I was about your age, in a raider attack on the town we were moving to,” I explained, “I can’t think of a single pony that had a problem with them, but that didn’t stop it from happening.”

The filly started to cry again, softly this time. “Daddy warned me to not trust strangers. He told me they weren’t nice ponies, but you seem nice, if a little scary, Miss Evergreen.”

I chuckled lightly at the words. “Yeah, I guess I am scary,” I agreed, smiling, “but you can trust me, Sun. My friends and I are here to help, I promise. We won’t let anything else bad happen to you.”

“Ok,” the filly said, trailing off into silence. We stood quietly in the shadow of the bodies for a short while, simply keeping each other company as we shared what I could only think were the same thoughts. My mind was firmly set on the last few days I had spent with my parents, and the naïve joy I had felt as a filly. I had felt like nothing would be able to stand against my family.

A short time later, Autumn Mist came up and sat down on the other side of the young filly. “How are you doing, kid?” she asked, pitching her voice to sound like an older sibling.

“I feel so alone,” Sunflower answered quietly, “Miss Evergreen is keeping me company. She told me she lost her parents, too.”

“Yeah, she did. So did a lot of ponies. Mine were taken from me a long time ago. It ain’t easy, but the way I see it, everything happens for a reason. The Princesses wouldn’t do this to us if it didn’t mean something, you know. Everything will come together in the end, I know it. I’ve lived it.”

I looked up at those words, and caught Autumn Mist looking over at me, a knowing look in her eye. I nodded at the mare, recognizing what she was saying, and got a small nod in return, but we left it at that. This time wasn’t for us.

“Really? What did the Princesses do to you?” Sunflower asked, looking up at the dark mare with a hopeful tone in her voice.

“They led me to Evergreen, who in turn showed me how a pony’s life should be lived. She taught me what it means to have friends, and to have something in life to work for. As hard as I know it is to accept, I know your parents wouldn’t want you to grieve too much over their passing. They would want you to find your own path in life, and then to follow that path, helping as many ponies along the way as you could,” Autumn answered, reaching out with a hoof to ruffle the filly’s mane, “That’s what it means to be a pony after all: We look out for each other, help each other, and make sure we can live the best lives we can. What we see around us is ponies forgetting that.”

“I… I think I understand, Autumn Mist,” the filly announced, sitting up straighter and wiping away her tears, “I miss mommy and daddy, but they protected me. And now you’re going to protect me, right?”

“Yeah, I guess we are,” Autumn said, smiling down at her, “Now come on, we should get in out of this rain. We don’t want you to get sick, do we?”

The filly shook her head adamantly, then lifted herself to her hooves and started back towards out shelter. Autumn Mist and I stood and followed after her.

“Thank you for that, Autumn. I didn’t think I’d ever hear you say something like that,” I said, pitching my voice to keep the filly from hearing us. I didn’t want her to start wondering at how our parents had been killed.

“I spent enough of my life denying the truth. I figured it’s about damn time I started accepting it when it stares me in the face, you know?” the dark mare said, shrugging, “You did teach me that stuff, as hard as those lessons were to learn. Now let’s go. I fucking hate the rain.”

I chuckled lightly as Autumn Mist picked up her pace and trotted after her, making for what little warmth and cover our shelter would provide from the elements.

Once inside the shelter, I found that Crosswire and Suture had taken the time we were outside to prepare our meal: some pre-war food that we would need to eat cold. It was getting pretty bad if I was missing the hot food that Pearlescent served us. I was starting to get used to luxury.

“Are you okay, Sunflower?” Suture asked once we were all settled and eating, “You were awfully upset.”

The filly nodded and answered around a full mouth of snack cake, “Mhm! Miss Evergreen and Autumn sat with me and showed me how I wasn’t alone. They told me that they lost their families, too.”

“Isn’t that nice of them. I hope they told you that you aren’t alone now, as well,” the medic said, reaching out and pulling the filly close to her.

“They did. I’m going to miss them, but like Autumn Mist said, the Princesses wouldn’t have allowed it to happen if it didn’t mean something.”

“And she was right, now, get some rest. You must be exhausted,” Suture told her, holding her in a tight embrace until she drifted off to sleep.

Once the filly was snoring, she looked to the rest of us. “I would recommend we all get some rest as well. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

We all let out a general noise of consensus, then allowed ourselves to drift off to sleep, confident in the ruin of the town to keep us protected from predators. After all, there was almost nothing left here that would be a draw to scavengers.

We woke early the next morning and packed up our gear, taking only a few minutes to eat a brief meal before stepping out into the ruins. The wind had almost entirely stopped, and the rain with it, leaving us with nothing more than a few stray drops in an otherwise cloudy day.

As we were making ready to set out for Metro, I realized there was something I had never thought to do. “Sunflower,” I called out, getting the filly’s attention. She still looked sad, but the lines of despair that had been etched in the lines of her body were gone. It seemed as though she was starting to recover from her loss, “I need to ask you something, and it probably isn’t going to be an easy question to answer.”

Suture shot me an annoyed glare, obviously disapproving of my need to talk to the little filly. “Do you really need to do this now, Evergreen? The poor filly has been traumatized! Can’t it wait until we get back to Metro?”

I could understand her feeling. It had been only a very short time since this filly had everything taken away from her, but that didn’t change the fact that I still hadn’t learned what I had come here to learn. “I’m sorry, Suture, but we came here for a reason. I haven’t fulfilled that yet. Sunflower, can you tell me everything you know about the strangers that came here?”

“You mean the ones that… did all of this?” the filly asked, looking about the wreckage with a frightened look. It looked like she was straining her eyes, searching for the ponies responsible.

“Yes. I need to know about them. It’s part of my job, and I can’t stop them from doing this somewhere else if I don’t know about them,” I answered, walking up to her and lowering myself down to her level so I could look her in the eye.

“Oh. Well, the seemed really nice at first, like I said before. They kept talking to Mister Contract every day, asking him weird questions, but I can’t remember what they were, and mommy wouldn’t let me get too close to them when they were talking. Then, one day, they got mad at something Mister Contract said and left. They came back a few days later, and…” the filly answered, her eyes starting to well up with tears.

I reached out and held the filly close. “Sssh, it’s okay, Sunflower. You’re safe now. That’s all I need to know. Thank you.”

“Did… Did it help?” the filly asked, snuffling slightly and looking up at me with wide eyes.

“Yes, it did. I think I have a better idea of what happened here,” I said, letting the filly go and rising back up to my hooves.

“You think it was Seahawk?” Crosswire asked me, coming up on my side and gazing out over the wreckage, towards the forest a short distance past the town’s edge.

“It has to be. Everything we know about him so far supports what those ponies were doing. I think he contracted Greymane to work on the settlements farther out towards Seaddle, and had a group of ponies out here, hoping to grab this first town without a fight, and without anypony else knowing. They certainly did a good job keeping anything from getting back west,” I answered, thinking on everything we had learned.

“But how can we be sure it was Seahawk? It could be any gang looking to expand their territory and influence. What proof do we have it was him?” the tech insisted, starting to growl.

“We don’t,” I shot back, “Except for the knowledge that he looks for the peaceful option first. Like he told Greymane, find out what they want to swear allegiance. If they don’t, kill them. My guess is that the ponies that came here tried to convince Contract to ally with them, but got angry when he kept refusing them. They torched the town as a result. It all fits.”

“I suppose, but it just seems… excessive. From everything we’ve seen and heard, Seahawk is looking to take over, not destroy, Seaddle. How does killing a whole town help him?”

“It’s an example, a show of force. Now, everypony will know that if they cross him, he has the strength to wipe them from existence,” I said, following Crosswire’s gaze out to the forest. For a moment, I thought I could make out a few shapes at the base of the trees, but when I blinked my eyes, they disappeared.

“But that doesn’t make sense!” Crosswire argued, “He attacked this town in such a way that nopony would have found out, and we have no way of knowing who is responsible, not for sure!”

“That might just be the point,” I explained, “When he does make his plans known to the rest of the towns, he can point to here and say he has the power to wipe out a town without anypony being the wiser. A very effective strategy, if you ask me. It lends him the strength of mystery, in addition to power.”

“Humph, I suppose you have a point. I guess I just want more solid evidence,” Crosswire said, shrugging. He turned away and started walking, making for the western edge of the town, where the road was that would take us to Metro.

“Yeah, I hear that,” I muttered, turning and following after him.

I took one last, wistful look over my shoulder towards the forest, and stopped dead in my tracks. Once again, I could make out some dim shapes that were slowly gaining in definition. They looked vaguely pony shaped, and looked to be approaching the town.

“Hey, everyone, head’s up! We’ve got company!” I announced, waving to everypony and getting them to join me, then pointing out towards the approaching shadows.

“If they are the one’s responsible for this, they won’t have long to gloat,” Autumn Mist growled as she pulled out her rifle and chambered a round.

“Agreed. This atrocity is beyond forgiveness,” Steel Curtain intoned, unclipping his helmet from his side and pulling it onto his head, making him appear intimidatingly impersonal.

“Let’s just wait and see what they want. If they are the ones that did this, I have no objection to taking them out, but I want to know why first,” I announced, turning from my friends to watch the shadows approach us.

It appeared as though they were beginning to slow as they came upon the ruins and caught sight of us watching them. Now that they were closer, it was much easier to make out details. There were six of them, and it looks as though they were very well equipped, with sturdy combat armor and well-maintained weapons. Three of them were Earth Ponies, two others were unicorns, and the last was a Pegasus, a rare enough sight in the wasteland that I did a double take to make sure that my eyes weren’t fooling me.

Slowly, the group approached us, all of them obviously wary of us, the Pegasus in particular watching Steel Curtain. When they were about twenty yards away from us, they came to a stop, and a single unicorn stepped forward.

She had a golden yellow hide and pink mane and was wearing a mean expression. Attached to her armor was an assault shotgun with a drum clip, the kind of weapon that could shred just about anything at close range.

“Tell me who you are and what you are doing here,” She announced angrily, looking from one of us to the next, probably trying to figure out who was in charge.

“My name is Evergreen, and my friends and I came down here to check on the town, since it hasn’t been heard from in some time. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about what happened here, would you?” I asked pointedly.

The mare shrugged noncommittally and fixed her glare on me. “I might, or I might not,” she said simply, “And I see no reason to share that knowledge with you lot.”

“I would strongly suggest that you tell us what you know, lady. You’re badly outgunned, and we aren’t happy with what we see here. So far, everything looks to be pointing at you,” Autumn growled, swinging her rifle around so it was pointing in the mare’s general direction.

“And I would just as strongly suggest that you point that gun somewhere else, bitch. You only think we’re outgunned, but you don’t have a single clue of what we are capable of,” the mare snapped, her horn lighting up with magic and pulling out her shotgun.

“You know, I can remember every single time somepony said those exact words to me,” I growled, “And they are all fucking dead. Now talk. I’m not going to ask again.” Things were very quickly degenerating, but this mare was just as responsible for that as we were. She certainly wasn’t denying that she was responsible for the atrocity.

“You really want to know what happened here?” the mare snapped, “Look around. You should get your answer just fine.”

“Hey, Lemon Snack, be careful. That guy looks like he’s Enclave,” the Pegasus chimed in, stepping forward until he was standing just to the side of the yellow mare. He was watching Steel Curtain with a careful glare, several emotions flitting across his face. His hide was a minty green in color, and his mane was white with streaks of turquoise running through it.

“You think I didn’t see him?” Lemon Snack snapped at the Pegasus, sparing him the briefest of glares before turning her gaze back to us, “Fucker isn’t going to try anything, and we have the weapons we need to take him down if he does.”

“Why have you allied yourself with these ponies?” Steel Curtain demanded, his voice muffled through the helmet, altering it enough that the only reason I knew it was his was because he was standing beside me, “They act without honor or decency. We are supposed to be better than that!”

“The fuck would you know about it, army?” the Pegasus sneered, “Enclave are a bunch of fucking hypocritical jackasses. They claim they want to help, then they sit on their damned tailfeathers waiting for something to change.”

“He isn’t a part of the Enclave anymore,” I interjected, “he just managed to get out before they could take his armor and guns.”

“Bullshit. They’d kill him before they would let him leave with their gear. Fucker is lying, he has to be,” the Pegasus shot back.

“Oh they certainly tried, up until they realized they’d need to bomb all of Cirrus to get me. One thing I will hand to the politicians: they know how to cozy up to the people to stay in power. Once I got them to pull their forces far enough back that the city wasn’t in danger, I broke for the surface. Command back in Stormfront is smart enough that they didn’t chase after me. They aren’t ready for action on the surface, after all,” Steel Curtain explained.

“Likely story. I used to serve in the army, before I ditched ‘em,” the Pegasus announced, turning so that the lightning bolt brand on his flank was visible, “Command wouldn’t let somepony like you get away without a fight.”

“Unless someone stopped them before they could chase me,” Steel Curtain shot back, “Trust me, I left, and they didn’t follow. If they had, I probably wouldn’t be here. I have no illusions of what they are capable of.”

“I’m sure you two are enjoying your reunion, but some of us have real work to do!” Lemon Snack exclaimed, cutting the exchange short, “Starshine, get back to the group.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the Pegasus growled, glaring at Steel Curtain for another moment before turning and striding back to the other ponies.

“Tell me straight,” I said, stepping forward until there was only a few feet between me and Lemon Snack, “Did you torch this town?”

The mare sneered at me, manipulating the shotgun so it was pointing at me, “I might have had a hoof in that. What’s it to you?”

“The fact that none of the ponies here deserved that. You murdered a whole town of ponies simply trying to survive,” I growled, widening my stance slightly and preparing myself to jump. I had already made up my mind that these ponies were responsible for the attack. All that was left was to hear one last piece of information.

“So what, you’re some kind of do-gooder?” Lemon Snack demanded, “What did they mean to you?”

“Absolutely nothing, but that’s not the point. The point is doing what’s right. Now tell me this: did Seahawk tell you to do it?”

For a split second, the mare seemed taken aback, but she quickly regained her composure. “So somepony out there managed to figure out what’s happening, eh? Well, congratu-fucking-lations. You can’t stop the coming flood. By the time we’re done, Seaddle will be a shining light in a world of nothing but darkness!”

“All you’ll get for your trouble is the hatred of the ponies here! We have the right to choose our own path forward! Who is Seahawk to take that away from us?” I snapped angrily, lowering my body and preparing to jump.

“He is the bearer of deliverance. He is the one who will pull us from the mire of destruction and death and give us life!” Lemon Snack announced, smiling wickedly, “And he pays really well to remove self-important bitches like you who think you can stop him.”

“Well, I think I’ve heard all I need to,” I growled, “Now it’s time for you to pay for your crimes here.”

The mare started to laugh and was just about to answer when I jumped forward, pulling my knife from its sheath while I did. I collided with her, my greater strength driving her to the ground. Just before her magic grip on the shotgun broke, she pulled the trigger once, raking my hindquarters with lead shot.

Once on the ground, we grappled with each other, fighting for dominance. For a unicorn, she was much stronger than she appeared, and was actually able to keep me from easily gaining the advantage as we struggled against each other. In the background, I could hear the familiar retorts of Autumn’s and Crosswire’s weapons as they battled against the other ponies, as well as the distinctive noise that Steel Curtain’s guns produced. I couldn’t imagine the battle taking long with that kind of fire power on our side.

All the same, the sounds of battle seemed to continue on much longer than they should have as Lemon Snack and I rolled about on the ground. I had managed to give her several small lacerations, the kind of injuries that were painful, but were no real danger. In turn, she had managed to hit me hard in the side and head a few times, making my vision swim and forcing me to gasp for air.

In a desperate attempt at something stupid, I shifted my weight to the side, making us roll back to where the shotgun had fallen. Lemon Snack was on the bottom as we rolled over it, jarring her up and breaking her grip on me slightly, giving me a precious second to lunge forward with my knife and bury it in the nearest bit of meat available, which happened to be her shoulder. I released the blade, freeing up my mouth for other actions, and released the mare, sending me rolling another foot to the side while she writhed in agony, trying to pull the knife from her shoulder.

In the few seconds the maneuver bought me, I sprang to my hooves and lunged forward for the shotgun, shoving Lemon Snack to the side and tumbling back down to the ground, forcing my knife even farther into her as she landed on it. I scrambled with the large weapon for a few precious seconds, trying to figure out how to hold it in my mouth and aim it at the same time, before finally settling on holding the trigger in my mouth and steadying the rest of the gun on an outstretched hoof. It wasn’t comfortable, but it would do the job.

By this time, Lemon Snack had given up on trying to get my knife free and stood up, her injured leg held off the ground. She turned to face me and leapt forward in an obvious attempt at the same move I had used against her, except I had an advantage she didn’t: S.A.T.S.

I slipped into the timelessness of the spell, using the time it gave me to line up a single shot of the shotgun against her chest. My chance to hit was abysmally low: a clear indication of my lack of skill with this kind of weapon, but at this range, accuracy shouldn’t need to matter. I activated the spell, and the shotgun kicked in my jaw, nearly sending me reeling to the ground with the power of its shot, but the spray of shot spread out where I intended it to go, practically shredding Lemon Snack with the sheer volume of lead and making her fall to the ground, too weak to even attempt anything else.

I cast the shotgun aside and pulled out Hammer before approaching the mare, preferring a weapon I actually knew how to use. She was struggling weakly on the ground, straining to get to her hooves and continue the fight. When I stepped up to her, she looked up to me, seeing her fate sealed in my glare.

“This is the price a murderer like you pays,” I growled as I took aim, then pulled the trigger, ending the mare’s life with a single shot.

Lemon Snack taken care of, I turned my attention to the fight around me, three of the other ponies were dead, either through headshots from Autumn, or from being blasted by a combination of fire from Steel Curtain and Crosswire. The two that were left were an Earth Pony buck wielding a Sawed-Off shotgun and the Pegasus, Starshine, who was swooping about in the sky, sending down occasional blasts of automatic fire from his SMG.

The Earth Pony had huddled behind a small slab of stone that provided just enough cover to keep Autumn from getting a clear shot at him, and both Steel Curtain and Crosswire were suppressing Starshine, keeping him from getting too close to Autumn.

I ran over to the rough triangle my friends had formed, stepping into the middle and spitting Hammer out into its holster. “Autumn, try to hit the Pegasus! Crosswire, cover her and keep him from getting to close! Steel Curtain, I want you to suppress the Earth Pony behind that wall. Buy me a few seconds to get closer.”

Almost immediately, my orders were carried out as they shifted their fire. With the wall now being pockmarked with hundreds of rounds, I dashed forward a short distance, just within range of what I should be able to buck a grenade, and pulled out one of the apple-shaped explosives. I pulled the stem and tossed it into the air, bucking it up and over the wall. There was a surprised shout and the sound of somepony scrambling to get away before it detonated, eliciting a high-pitched shriek, then nothing.

A second later, as I was galloping towards the wall to make sure the buck was well and truly dead, Autumn’s rifle fired and she let out an excited shout. “I hit him!” she exclaimed, “And he’s coming down hard!”

“Get to him when he crashes and if he’s still alive, bind him! I still have some questions that need answers!” I shouted as I rounded the wall.

Before me, the Earth Pony buck lay dead on the ground, two of his limbs severed by the blast. In just a few moments, I had stripped every worthwhile piece of gear from his body and was heading back towards my friends, who had dragged the injured and bound Pegasus over to the small bit of open land that lay outside of our shelter.

The sounds of battle now gone, Suture and Sunflower crawled out of the shelter to look around the battlefield, the former instantly running towards us to check for injuries.

While she checked the few minor injuries Crosswire and Autumn had sustained, Steel Curtain and I focused on Starshine. Autumn’s bullet had hit near the joint where his wing connected to the rest of his body, destroying a lot of the structure of the wing and making the limb hang over his body, practically useless. The crash had left the Pegasus with a number of other injuries, though he had enough control to keep anything from being too badly damaged.

“It is a sad day when two Pegasi are firing at each other in anger,” Steel Curtain intoned, striding up to Starshine and pulling his helmet off. His mane was streaked with sweat, causing it to cling to his head like a helmet, very different than the live fire it had seemed to be when we met.

“Fuck! Steel Curtain, what the fuck are you doing here!” Starshine exclaimed on seeing the buck’s face.

“Looking for other Dashites, like you,” he answered, “Now that you see who I am, do you believe me when I say I deserted?”

“Fuck, I guess I don’t have a choice. Why the fuck did you desert, though? I know you were unhappy with a lot of shit, but I didn’t think you were this unhappy,” Starshine said, doing a good job of hiding the pain he was undoubtedly feeling.

“Because Lieutenant Sunbeam tried to make me take part in a branding, when I had made it absolutely clear I would have nothing to do with that. I have been against the practice since I was first made aware of it. Exiling soldiers because of basic violations is ridiculous and wrong. The commanders were willing to accept that much, and kept me away from it, though they never stopped,” Steel Curtain explained.

I remained quiet, letting the two Pegasi speak. They obviously knew each other, and I wanted to take the opportunity to get to know a bit more about Steel Curtain. He had been quiet and withdrawn, offering nothing about himself, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to learn. I had already found out more that he was likely to share on his own if I were asking.

“I can’t imagine she was happy with that,” Starshine said, “What happened?”

“She said I would be part of the next round if I refused, so I agreed with her. I said that I was perfectly willing to exile myself to the surface, but that I would not allow the privates before me to be harmed. When she disagreed with that, I turned my guns on her and made sure she wouldn’t be able to follow through with exiling those poor kids. They were barely even old enough to enlist.”

“Fuck! Guess that explains why they pulled enough firepower after you to level Cirrus. They must be pissed at you!”

“Not pissed enough to risk an incident with the surface. If there’s one thing Command knows, it’s that any hostile contact with the surface will result in all of the towns banding together against us,” Steel Curtain said, “And I am perfectly okay with that. I am making it my responsibility to find all the soldiers that were exiled this way and bring them together. It’s unlikely that they will be welcomed back to the Enclave, given that they’ve been branded, but that doesn’t mean they can’t come together down here.”

“Fair enough, and I would be interested in helping with that, as long as that angry friend of yours doesn’t put a bullet in my head,” Starshine said, looking at me with a wary glance.

Steel Curtain followed his glare and said, “I’m sure she would be willing to put your crimes here aside if you pledge yourself to helping them.”

The silence that followed was tense with meaning. I knew exactly what Steel Curtain meant by the statement, even if he didn’t know the entirety of my past. “I suppose I can’t say no. You promise not to do anything like this again? And you promise to put aside any vow of loyalty to Seahawk?”

“Yeah, if it keeps you from shooting me, I promise,” Starshine said, nodding vigorously, “Now, would you mind untying me?”

I grumbled quietly to myself while I walked back over to Lemon Snack’s body, wrenched my knife out of her shoulder, then walked back to Starshine and cut the ropes holding him.

The green Pegasus gingerly got back to his feet, wincing as his wing fell open. “Thanks, I guess. So, Steel Curtain, what were you thinking of doing with the Dashites? I kinda need a plan if I’m going to be working with them.”

“Survive. I don’t see what else we can do. At this point, our concern should be making the ponies of the wasteland see that we are not all like the rest of the Enclave,” Steel Curtain answered gruffly, “My suggestion would be to find as many as you can and start a new settlement, far enough removed that you can have your privacy, but close enough to trade.”

“Yeah, sure, I can do that,” Starshine said, nodding, “And I’ve got a few good locales in mind. If I could asked for one last thing, could you get that medic of yours to take a look at my wing?”

“Sure,” I answered, turning to look for Suture. She was working on stitching up a gunshot wound on Autumn’s flank, but was close to being done. “Hey, Suture, when you’re done with Autumn, could you come over here and give me a hoof?”

“Of course! Just a moment!” the medic answered, finishing up with the stitching. A few moments later, she was walking over. “Oh, you let him up. I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Starshine is helping Steel Curtain with the Dashites in the area. Apparently, they know each other from when they were both still a part of the Enclave. They want to gather the Dashites together and start a community, start to work to give Pegasi a better image with the wastelanders,” I explained, “but he needs his wing to be looked at before he can go.”

“I see. He won’t cause any problems down the line?” Suture asked, looking at the mint green Pegasus with a wary eye before approaching and looking at his wing.

“I gave my word not to. I’m on the straight and narrow now. Don’t want your angry friend here to find a reason to shoot me,” Starshine announced, his voice strained as Suture manipulated his wing, observing the damage.

“The name is Evergreen, and I’m not going to shoot you, unless you give me a reason to later. I believe in justice, not murder. This work you are doing isn’t a free pass. It’s an offer at redeeming what you had a hoof in causing here. Don’t forget that,” I growled. The buck had to at least understand why his actions had been so terrible.

“Yeah, I won’t be forgetting this place anytime soon. Seahawk is biting off more than he can chew for sure if there are ponies like you standing against him,” Starshine said, lifting his hooves in a gesture of placation.

“What do you know about him?” I asked, “I’ve heard only rumors and the over-zealous rantings of both Lemon Snack here and Greymane.”

“Fuck, you crossed Greymane?! How the hell are you still alive?” Starshine asked, a surprised look on his face.

“Because there are more of us than there are of him. And that is not to say that he didn’t almost kill us all. We underestimated him, but he underestimated me as well. Now, what do you know about Seahawk?” I demanded.

Starshine sighed and lifted a hoof to run through his mane before he answered, “Geez, the fucker keeps himself distant even from those of us doing his work for him. Only ponies I can think of that have actually talked face-to-face with him are Greymane and a fucker that goes by the name Mareina. She’s a real piece of work.”

“Mareina? Who’s that? It doesn’t sound like any kind of name I’ve ever heard before,” I said, bringing my tone back to a more even level. There was no need to be interrogating the buck anymore.

“That’s cause she ain’t a pony. She’s a griffin, and a right mean one. She’s in charge of a whole crew of mercs; call themselves the Razor Wings, or Razors, for short. Every single one of them are tough, mean bastards that’ll kill you as much as look at you, and Mareina is the meanest of all. You ever cross her, you better be sure you can win.”

“Just like Greymane,” I muttered, nodding to Starshine in gratitude, “I’ll keep that in mind. You sure there’s nothing else you can tell us about Seahawk?”

“Nothing more than you already know. Like I said, bastard likes to keep to himself. Now, if we’re done here, I’d kinda like to get a move on,” Starshine said, furling up his wings as soon as Suture released him and pawing impatiently at the ground with a hoof.

“Fine, just remember your promises,” I said, “And good travels.”

“Make sure to keep off that wing for at least two weeks! It needs time to heal!” Suture put in before the buck could take off.

“Will do, and I will remember my promise. Soldier’s honor, if that even means anything anymore,” Starshine answered nodding his thanks at the medic, “Good travels to you as well. I’ll be sure to get a message to one of the major towns once I’m established. You should hear from me then.”

With that, the buck turned and started trotting away, heading towards the northwest, and quickly dwindled to little more than a dot on the horizon.

“So now you know my past,” Steel Curtain announced suddenly once the other buck was gone, “Nearly as bad as your own.”

“I highly doubt that,” I answered with a cynical laugh, “All you did was put a town in the way of danger. I’m probably directly responsible for the dissolution of at least three, if not their complete destruction. Not quite anything on this scale, but there it is all the same.”

“I suppose so. I apologize for my secrecy before. You can never know who to trust in the wasteland,” he said quietly, hanging his head, “And I want to clear the air, so I’m going to explain what Starshine and I were talking about, concerning the branding.”

“I hope you can talk and walk at the same time. We have quite a bit of ground to cover if we want to make it to Metro before nightfall,” I said, turning and heading to where Crosswire and Autumn were sitting, cleaning and reloading their weapons.

“I saw you let that Pegasus go after my beautiful shot,” Autumn complained, sliding a fresh clip into her rifle and chambering a round before sliding the whole thing into the strap on her back.

“He agreed to help Steel Curtain with something. They knew each other, so I figured it was a good idea not to put a bullet in his head. Besides, what he’s doing will only help us in the long run,” I answered, “Now, you guys ready to get moving, we’ve got quite a ways to go.”

“Ready and waiting,” Crosswire announced, getting up and sliding his SMG into its holster on his barding.

In the next few minutes, we were gathered together and leaving the ruins of the town of Buckview behind, making our way back to the road and Metro.

“So, basically, the leadership of the Enclave military made the decision to start branding and exiling junior soldiers for breaches in code, or any semi-serious breaking of the rules. None of us non-commissioned officers could figure out why, and if the officers knew, they weren’t talking, Sunbeam especially. I made it clear I would have nothing to do with it, as becoming a Dashite is generally a personal decision, and the brand is simply meant as a deterrent, to keep ponies from making that choice. Hell, who actually wants to get their cutie mark burned off?” Steel Curtain explained once we were well on our way.

For once, it seemed as though our journey would be relatively quiet, but that didn’t mean that we would be lowering our guard. The trail we were following was just as decayed as the one we had followed the day before; odd, considering that it had kept a well-maintained trade route with Metro through the caravans. At least it seemed fairly clear of raiders, which was a welcome change for once.

“All right, I can understand that, but why the sudden shift in policy? That’s what doesn’t make sense to me,” I asked. That was the one point of the explanation that I simply could not understand, despite Steel Curtain’s attempts to explain.

“Neither could any of us. I have my theories, but none of them can be confirmed until I come across some ponies exiled that way. Starshine is an average, run-of-the-mill Dashite that chose to leave the Enclave, as I have, but there are plenty of others that aren’t. One of the reasons I want to gather them all together is to keep anything Command has planned to as small of an effect as I can.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked, “What could the Enclave have planned?”

“Well, I think they may be using the branding and exiling as an excuse to get eyes on the ground, and as the settlements tend to be accepting of Dashites, as I’ve seen, it would be an easy way to get spies into places usual soldiers wouldn’t be able to. I think somepony in the Enclave leadership is looking to learn more about the surface, though I can’t imagine for what purpose,” Steel Curtain answered.

“Fair enough,” I answered, “So now I have this mystery of Seahawk on my hooves, as well as this new mystery of what the Enclave is trying to do, which is even more ill-defined than the threats we already know.”

“Basically,” Steel Curtain confirmed, nodding curtly.

“Well, I guess all we can really do is keep our eyes open and keep plugging along as we have been. By the way, if you want it, you’re free to keep traveling with us. I could use someone with your kind of firepower,” I offered, shooting a look at the buck.

“I would be honored to accept, Evergreen,” he answered, bowing to me in midstride, “You have my services at your disposal.”

The rest of our journey passed in relative silence, with all of us focusing our gazes on the surrounding landscape, keeping our eyes open for any danger that might show itself. Sunflower was riding on Suture’s back, keeping quiet and most likely still grieving for her home. I was fairly sure that it was the first time she had ever had to leave, and I knew how terrifying that could be.

Evening was just falling when the shanty-town surrounding Metro became visible, and it was only a short journey from there until we were picking our way through the lopsided buildings to the actual gate of the town. On seeing us, the guard on duty grinned widely and stepped to the side, giving us passage through.

“Good to see you all back in one piece!” she announced jovially, “The mayor is really looking forward to talking to you all!”

“We’ll be sure to make his office our first stop!” I called out in response, stepping past her and descending the stairway to the underground city.

Once we were inside the city itself, Steel Curtain became noticeably quieter and kept glancing about nervously.

“You all right?” I asked, actually concerned for the buck. Until this point, he had always seemed calm and collected, and now he was as jumpy as a young colt.

“I don’t like not being able to see the sky,” he answered, “It makes me uncomfortable.”

“You mean you’re afraid of being underground?” I asked, chuckling at his expense.

“I didn’t say that!” he protested immediately, puffing his chest out, “I said it makes me uncomfortable. It’s a totally differently thing!”

“Sure it is!” I exclaimed, laughing. Everypony else joined in, and for a brief moment, the horrors of our world were forgotten.

Unfortunately, we had to come back to reality once we arrived at the mayor’s office, though we didn’t have to wait once we got there. We were immediately ushered in to his office, where he was waiting for us behind his desk, a wide grin on his face.

“Ah, Evergreen, you’re back! I’m excited to hear what Millberry has to say! The radio definitely had a lot to say about you!” he announced happily, getting up from his seat and walking around the table to shake my hoof.

“You heard that, did you?” I asked, grinning awkwardly.

“I certainly did! Every last word. You should be commended for your valorous work. Now, Millberry: what is their response?” the mayor asked, returning to his seat.

“Yes, for now,” I answered, pulling out the agreement the governor had given to me and sliding it across the table, “All he wants to cement the agreement is a water purifier. We went to Stable 60 to try to find one, but theirs had been destroyed.”

The mayor took a few moments to grab the paper and read it, and his grin expanded to a full smile while he did so. “Wonderful! Thank you for trying to fulfill the agreement in its entirety. It is regrettable that it wasn’t possible. I’ll go through my contacts and see if I can locate a spare purifier for them. Now, I believe I owe you this,” the mayor exclaimed, pulling out a sizeable pouch and sliding it across the table towards me.

I tentatively reached out a hoof and grabbed the pouch. It felt heavy and clinked when I moved it. I pulled open the drawstring and peered in, and was met with a sight of hundreds of caps stacked together.

“Three thousand caps, just as we agreed!” the mayor said happily, “And I consider it money well spent. Now, I would suggest going out, getting something to eat, and getting a good night’s rest. You all look like you could use it! We’ll discuss our future partnership tomorrow, when you all have had time to rest. You’ll want your wits about you when we discuss it.”

“Sure,” I answered slowly, still dumbfounded by the fortune I was holding in my hooves, “Oh, there’s something you should know: Buckview is gone. The entire town has been demolished, and almost everypony there was killed. The only survivor is this little filly, Sunflower,” I said, gesturing to the filly, “Seahawk’s forces are responsible. He’s starting to make his moves.”

The mayor fell silent and adopted a thoughtful expression as he considered the new information. “This is terrible news,” he finally said, “Please, tell me everything.”

I related the entire story of what we had seen and done in Buckview, beginning with our arrival at the town and ending with our release of the Pegasus buck, Starshine. The tale took far longer than I would have expected as I wanted to be sure the mayor knew all the details.

When I finally finished, the mayor was sitting in shocked silence. “I had heard the rumors, of course,” he finally said, his voice an echo of the sad expression on his face, “but to hear them confirmed is simply… terrible. I’ll need to think on this. I’ll take the evening to think on this, and we’ll talk in the morning. I trust Suture will see that you are taken care of?”

The mare nodded quickly in response, and after a few quick ‘Good nights’ we were walking out the door. As we were about to leave office, the mayor called out to me, “Evergreen, thank you for your work. We would not be in as nearly a good position as we are without you. Metro will always be open to you.”

“Thank you, mayor,” I said, nodding gratefully and stepping out the door.

As a group, we made our way to Suture’s infirmary, where she provided each of us with a bed before leaving for a few minutes before returning with a few plates of food and some clean drinking water, a veritable feast for the wasteland. Once we were all settled and eating, she started rooting through her cabinets and chests, pulling out her more specialized medical supplies and treating our various injuries properly, rather than the quick field dressings and healing potions that we had been using so far.

By the time she was done with her work, I felt like every injury I had received in the last few days was fully healed. It was truly incredible the effect being properly taken care of could have on a pony.

In the downtime we had, we talked about everything we had seen, most notably the ponies we had helped and how we thought they would recover. Suture was vehemently optimistic about Hat Trick, even though it was unlikely that he would ever fully recover. As for Starshine, we were split. Suture, Steel Curtain, and I all believed he would hold to his promise and contribute to the progression of the wasteland, but Crosswire and Autumn Mist were cynical and reserved, not wanting to trust him, especially after what he had helped to do to Buckview. In the end, we simply agreed to disagree, until his actions could prove either of us right.

From there, the evening took a much more pleasant spin, with all of us swapping jokes and light-hearted tales, and generally just enjoying each other’s company. Even though he was a new member of our group, Steel Curtain managed to make himself a part of the interaction, even if he refused to remove his armor, saying it would be too much of a hassle to get back on in the morning. By the time we were getting ready to sleep, I had nearly forgotten about all of my troubles, and I couldn’t have been happier about that. The last few days had been truly terrifying and sobering, and I needed the few moments of joy that my friends could bring.

Level up!
Perk Gained – Gunslinger: You’re accuracy with pistols and similar small arms in S.A.T.S. is significantly increased.
Skill Note: Explosives (50)

{Well, I finally managed to get this chapter to the length I’m planning on having most of the rest of the story be (about 40 pages in a Word document, if anyone cares), so the rest of the chapters should be right about this length, give or take a bit. As always, thanks to Kkat for the creation of Fallout: Equestria, and thanks to Cody and MUCKSTER for editing. You guys are the best. Again, I have set up a hub page for the story here. Feel free to check it out.)

Chapter Eight: Loose Ends

Fallout Equestria: Redemption
Author: Cooperdawg
Chapter Eight: Loose Ends
“Our Past is what defines us.”

With the coming of morning came the understanding that I would be getting a new job as well. I had spent so much time in the last few days so completely focused on the job for Millberry, and the mystery surrounding Seahawk, that it seemed almost unbelievable that I could have something different to work towards, and with different ponies. I had spent so long working with the same group of ponies, like Pearlescent and the governor of Millberry, that it would be odd to be doing more work for Metro, and not have those two to deal with. At the same time, I was looking forward to having a new focus, especially if it got us out of the wastes around these few towns. A change of scenery from the unchanging wasteland would be nice.

I rolled off of the bed to my hooves, checking my Pipbuck for the time, and was surprised to find that it was already midmorning. I hadn’t expected to sleep this late. Yet, as I looked around the sparse back room of the infirmary, Autumn Mist and Crosswire were still sleeping, the latter snoring loudly. Suture and Steel Curtain, however, were nowhere to be seen.

I wandered out of the room we were sleeping in and into the main part of the infirmary, where I found Suture speaking with a brown buck that looked positively miserable.

“Just make sure to drink plenty of water for the next few days, and you should be fine,” she was saying, “If you get any worse, come and talk to Coral. She’ll see that you’re taken care of.”

The other pony nodded wordlessly in thanks, then turned to walk out of the infirmary, his head held low and coughing slightly.

“He sick?” I asked, stepping into the room and approaching the maroon mare.

“Oh, Evergreen, you’re awake!” Suture announced in surprise, turning to look at me, “I hadn’t expected you to be up yet. And yeah, he just has a slight cold. He’ll be fine.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “If he looks that miserable with just a slight cold, I’d hate to see what would happen to him if he went out into the wasteland. And why wouldn’t I be up? I was planning on getting an early start,” I answered, walking over to where my barding was sitting and pulling it on, making sure everything was seated comfortably, “Hopefully today, but waiting until tomorrow wouldn’t be the end of the world.” I couldn’t help but to laugh at my own joke.

Suture simply rolled her eyes at my comment on the buck, or the joke, I couldn’t figure which one, presumably deciding to leave her response to either subject non-verbal. “Well, we were up talking awfully late last night, and I simply had to get up because I do have a responsibility here. It is my infirmary, after all.”

“Fair enough,” I answered, retrieving Hammer from the counter where I had left it and checking for any wear that would need my immediate attention before slipping it into its holster, “Did you happen to see Steel Curtain when he got up?”

The maroon mare remained silent for a few moments as she thought, her head tilted so she was looking up at the ceiling. “Ummm, no, I didn’t see him. I believe he was already up and gone by the time I got up. I’m really not surprised, considering that he’s a Pegasus. They sleep often, but not usually for long, you know.”

I shrugged in response. I wasn’t worried about the Dashite leaving us, especially since he had seemed particularly interested in joining up. He would show up when it was time to get moving. Changing the subject, I asked, “So, when are we meeting with the mayor today? I’d like to get a move on as soon as possible.”

“We can head down as soon as everypony is awake. I’m pretty sure he’ll jump us up to the top of his schedule once we show up,” Suture answered after a slight hesitation, “I know there is a lot on his mind that he wants done, and you’d be the best mare to give the jobs to.”

“Something wrong?” I asked, “Did I do something I wasn’t supposed to?”

Suture shook her head vigorously to wipe away my fears. “No, nothing like that. I just… We weren’t entirely honest with you last time we spoke here,” she said slowly, watching me for my reaction. When I didn’t say anything, waiting to hear what she was talking about, she continued, “The Messaging Crystal we talked about, the one you found, well, we didn’t tell you the whole truth about it.”

“What do you mean? You said it contains some special message for the ponies at the settlement around Mt. Hoof, right?” I asked, confused. The explanation she had given me the last time in Metro had made perfect sense, and I couldn’t understand why she was telling me different now.

“Well, yes and no,” she said nervously, looking around as if to see if anypony were listening in on our conversation. When nopony revealed themselves, she continued, in a hushed voice, “When I said that we had found who the message was originally intended for, I wasn’t telling the truth. We do know who it was meant for, but it never got there. When we found it here in the Metro station, it was still sealed. We got lucky when we found out that the pony it was meant for is in the Mt. Hoof settlement, and is still alive. Simply discovering that was a miracle in and of itself.”

“Wait, what?” I asked, now completely lost, “If the pony it was meant for is still alive, and the damn Crystal is pre-war technology, then that pony must be at least two hundred years old!” I exclaimed, finally realizing what she meant, “They’re a ghoul, aren’t they?”

Suture nodded slowly, “Yes. The standing arrangement we have with that settlement is that we need to get the Crystal to that pony, and they will give us the basic supplies we need.”

I nodded slowly, still wrapping my head around the revelation. It made sense why she hadn’t told me the truth the first time. She had barely known me, and I had still been considered a raider by most at that point. It only made sense that they would be careful with what they revealed to me. But that didn’t change the fact that the lie hurt.

“So, you think the mayor is going to give me the job to bring it down there?” I finally asked, pushing the issue of them lying to me out of my mind. It wouldn’t serve any purpose to dwell on it. Besides, what was done was done, and there was nothing I could do to change it, and I should be grateful to these ponies, considering how welcoming they had been to me.

“Probably. It’s the most obvious next step,” Suture answered, nodding in agreement, “and it’s the one thing that we need here above anything else. The alliance with Millberry will help, but it was also more of a test for you than it was urgent for us.”

“Well, at least I passed,” I said, managing to force a grin, “Now come one, let’s get the others up then get down to the mayor’s office. If we need to go that far south, we’re going to want to get started. That’s a lot of ground to cover. It’s going to take a few days just to make it that far, and that’s without any distractions, and I’ve already got one in mind.”

Suture nodded her agreement, even as she shot me a questioning look, and we both walked back to the room where we had slept. “What distraction are you thinking of? Is there somewhere south of here that will be a problem?” she asked as we shook Autumn and Crosswire awake, much to their protest.

“Yeah, there is. The camp where I made my home for the last several years is south of here. I want to stop there and find something I lost. I know there are still a few raiders alive, and they will be a problem down the line, but what I really want is to find my journal. There is a lot in there that I want to read, about my life before I was kicked out of Grovedale,” I answered quietly, watching Crosswire for a reaction.

All the buck did was nod appreciatively as he pulled on his barding and settled his saddlebags across his back. Once that was done, he gave an audible answer. “There’s still a couple of bastards there that should be taken care of, as well. Without you to keep ‘em in line, they’re probably making any trade through the area completely impossible. You at least understood that some caravans need to get though if they’re going keep coming. I can’t see any of the survivors of our little fight having the same idea.”

“Exactly!” I announced with a grin, “So I’ll be getting my journal back, and we’ll be doing the caravans a favor! Now, let’s move! The camp is more than a day’s journey from here, so we should get started as soon as we can!”

Less than ten minutes later, we were walking through Metro proper towards the mayor’s office. It looked as though our meeting would only consist of the four of us, as Steel Curtain was still nowhere in sight. You’d think a Pegasus in full power armor would stand out. When we arrived at his office, we had to wait for a few minutes, as he was already in the middle of a meeting with one of the other officials from the town.

A few short minutes later, the door to the mayor’s office opened, and a very obviously annoyed unicorn mare sauntered out, an angry expression plastered on her face. “I just want to make sure that you remember my family’s contributions to this city, Mallet!” she growled, “We need food and medicine, especially since my mother is sick!”

The mare was closely followed by the mayor, who seemed to be almost groveling behind her, wearing the most apologetic expression I had ever seen anypony with, which was saying something, “I’m sorry, Amethyst, we simply don’t have the supplies to spare. Every bit of food we have needs to be rationed to make sure everypony in Metro gets a full meal, and our medicine needs to be stockpiled for any serious injuries or illnesses. We simply cannot spare anything for anypony, unless it is an extreme situation. I am currently in the process of fixing our shortages, but it is going to take a little while. Nothing is easy or free around here. I know you know that.”

The mare snorted at his words and turned her head away from him, pointedly showing her back to him. “I will tell you again, Mallet, that most of this city is not very enthusiastic about you trusting the future of our home to the hooves of a self-admitted raider. I don’t care what Shooting Star says about her; ponies don’t change that quickly.” As she said the words, her gaze met mine. I had never before seen so much hatred and spite in the eyes of another pony, not even Autumn Mist when we first met. Whatever raiders had done to this mare in the past, it had to have been so bad that nopony who had the reputation of a raider could ever be forgiven or trusted in her eyes. With her hateful gaze locked onto mine, she continued, “All it will be is a matter of time before she takes advantage of us all, and then where will we be? Dead, that’s where.”

With that, the mare marched passed me, pointedly going out of her way to not pass within two feet of me, an impressive feat, given the close quarters of the waiting area. As soon as she was out of sight, the mayor, Mallet, sighed heavily and hung his head in defeat.

“I’m sorry you had to hear that, Evergreen. Amethyst is a talented business mare, but her vision tends to be very short-sighted. Now, if you could step inside, we have business of our own to discuss,” he said, lifting his head again to look at me. His gaze was still apologetic, and I could only imagine that he had to feel responsible for the problems of every single pony living in Metro.

I nodded wordlessly and followed him back into his office, my friends a step behind me. Once we were all inside, Suture pulled the door closed and we approached the mayor’s desk. As the mayor took his seat, he reached under the desk for something and pulled out the Messaging Crystal. He gently placed the Crystal on top of the desk, and we all simply watched it for a moment in silence, as though it would magically activate and divulge all of the secrets that it held.

“I’m guessing that you’re sending me to Mt. Hoof,” I announced, breaking the silence, but unable to tear my gaze away from the Crystal, captivated by the little glowing light inside that flitted from place to place, giving the damn thing a shimmering effect, despite the relatively weak lights of the office.

“You would be right,” Mallet answered just as simply, “They are the only ponies who can offer the supplies we need, and this Crystal is the only way we are going to get those supplies. You already know the job, Evergreen: get this crystal to those ponies, and secure their aid for Metro. If you can, bring this entire situation with Seahawk to their attention as well. From what I know about them, they are one of the best-armed groups in the wasteland, and they would be able to provide a lot of security to the rest of the wasteland if we could convince them to help us.”

“They won’t agree to anything like that,” Crosswire chimed in, “Not if they are still the way they were the last time I was there. To them, giving up a few basic supplies is no great sacrifice, but I can’t see them fighting for anypony but themselves. The ponies in charge would see it as demeaning at best, and at worst as an insult.”

I found myself staring at the buck with a shocked expression. “Exactly what do you know about these ponies?” I asked, “And more importantly, how do you know?”

Crosswire sighed and turned his gaze from the mayor to the Crystal. He took a few moments of silence as he organized his thoughts, then said, “Guess I really can’t avoid it any longer. I grew up at that settlement. There isn’t a more introspective group of ponies in the entire fucking wasteland. Even the Enclave is more outgoing than they are. That’s one of the reasons I couldn’t stand it there. How the fuck can anypony spend the entirety of their lives in a single place, never going anywhere else? It’s unimaginable to me.”

“Exactly who are they?” Autumn asked, stepping up to the Crystal and examining it more closely, “’Cause by the sound of things, they aren’t much better than the Enclave.”

“Some would say they aren’t,” Crosswire answered, “And while I’m certainly not happy with the direction the leaders of that place took it in, I can’t say I hate them. It was home, once. As for who they are, well, you’ll all figure it out quickly enough when we get there. I may not be a part of them anymore, but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to start giving away everything about them. I owe them that much.”

Watching the ragged grey buck as he spoke about the small settlement, I could tell how painful it was for him to remember. There must have been something terrible that had happened to him for all of his memories of that place to be tainted this way. “Well, thanks for that information, Crosswire,” I announced, stepping forward and sweeping the Crystal into my saddlebag, “It’ll help a lot when we need to deal with them when we get there. Now, mayor, we need to talk about price. As much as I want to be doing what I’m doing, I am a mercenary. I’m thinking same price as for the job with Millberry, with the same conditions.”

Mallet eyed me warily for a moment as he thought. “I suppose I really can’t say no, since you aren’t asking for a bonus, given the added dangers of traveling through the mountains,” he finally said, “All right, Evergreen, you’ve got yourself a deal. There’s three thousand caps in it for you to get that crystal down there and secure their agreement to help us. Here’s you’re two hundred cap advance.” He reached under his desk and produced a pouch from which he counted out the caps.

I scooped up the money and added the caps to my growing fortune. It was odd that I no longer thought of two hundred caps as a large amount, even though it was far more than some ponies ever saw in their entire lives. “Thank you, mayor. We’ll be back just as soon as we’re able. In the meantime, I want you to know that I plan on making a detour up to Seaddle once I get back from Mt. Hoof.”

Even as the words left my mouth, I saw the mayor’s lips turn up in a grin. “Going up to talk to Shooting Star, eh?”

“Pretty much. I need to set some things straight with the buck before ponies around here start to get the wrong idea about me. So, if that’s all, we better get a move on. Mt. Hoof is a long way from here and we’re going to need a few days just to get that far,” I said, turning and heading for the door.

“Of course. And good luck, Evergreen. I fear that you’re going to need it,” the mayor answered as I walked out the door.

The four of us made our way out into Metro proper before pausing to take stock of our supplies. After a quick check of everypony’s saddlebags, we discovered that the only things we really needed were food and water. Since Suture ran the infirmary here, we had enough medical supplies to last us a while, all at no cost. And with our detour to the Ironshod factory, our weapons and ammo situation was far better than any of us had expected.

We took the five minutes to stop by Metro’s few small snack bars (I hesitated to call them restaurants) to replenish our food supplies, then started making our way towards the staircase towards the surface, hoping that we would run into Steel Curtain somewhere along the way. Given his reaction to going underground the day before, I was expecting to find him on the surface anyway, though I didn’t have a clue what he would be doing up there all day. The shanty town wasn’t particularly well known for having any kind of quality food or gear.

We asked the guards at the base of the stairway if either of them had seen Steel Curtain head for the surface as we passed by. All we got in response was that they had seen a heavily armored Pegasus pass by earlier on that day, and that he hadn’t come back since. Not knowing of any other armored Pegasi, we figured it had to be him, and proceeded outside.

When we finally emerged back on the surface, the rain was coming down lightly, so lightly, in fact, that I had to stop and pause for a moment to even be sure that there was rain. We began pressing our way through the shanty town, pushing past hardened and seedy wastelanders that were all armed to the teeth to protect themselves from the raiders and bandits that made the wasteland home, and ignoring the various merchants trying to hawk their wares to anypony passing by. None of them appeared to be selling anything at all interesting or useful.

Several of the ponies we passed reminded me rather sharply of the various ponies that had passed through my gang at one point or another, with the air of somepony that would not hesitate to kill anypony else simply if they happened to get in the way. It was a stark reminder that the town had absolutely no formal security, and that everypony there was expected to take care of themselves. An even more terrifying thought was that any of these ponies could be working for Seahawk, staying close to Metro to learn what they could before reporting back to their master.

Before long, we had made it to the southern edge of the town, where we found Steel Curtain sitting and gazing pensively up at the clouds. He didn’t react as we approached, though I couldn’t tell if it was because he didn’t hear us, or if he didn’t care. Either way, I could tell by looking at him something was eating at him. Even through his armor, he seemed to be slumped over, as if some great weight were resting on his shoulders. To my surprise, I found myself saddened as well, simply seeing him the way he was.

“Hey, Steel Curtain, you doing all right?” I asked softly, coming up to his side, “You look like something is really bothering you.

The buck stiffened up at my words and sat up straighter, as though he were trying to hide how he had been feeling. He coughed loudly to clear his throat, and I could see some color emerge on his cheeks as he blushed, though I couldn’t imagine why. All I had done was ask if he was all right. “Yes, I’m fine, everything considered,” he finally managed to say, “Just a lot on my mind. Every day that I fail to find a solution, more and more soldiers are being wrongfully branded and exiled. It has to stop.” His expression and tone as he spoke was a mixture of determination and fear. It wasn’t hard to tell that there was more to the problem than he was admitting.

“Anypony you know at risk of getting exiled?” I asked carefully. It would go a long way to explaining why he felt as strongly as he did about the issue.

Steel Curtain nodded silently, closing his eyes briefly as they teared up, but not before a single tear managed to escape and slide down his cheek. “My brother. He had just signed up a few days before I had to make my break for the surface. Fuck, my leaving must be causing such problems for my family, especially as I’m probably being considered a traitor up there, rather than just a simple Dashite.”

“Shit. I’m sorry, Steel Curtain,” I muttered, my voice dropping in sympathy. While I meant the words, it was hard for me to imagine what the buck must be feeling, as my family had always been safe, up until the day they were killed. All the same, given how much I had loved my parents, I could imagine how much it must be hurting him, knowing that they could be in danger and that he was powerless to do anything about it.

I was surprised by just how badly I felt for the exiled soldier. I had known him for barely two days, and already he was such an integral part of our group, at least to my mind. Hell, if he hadn’t been with us, I doubt we would have all survived the fight with the slavers, much less the ponies that demolished Buckview.

Steel Curtain lifted his head slightly and gave me a sidelong glance, a small smile of gratitude lifting the corners of his mouth. “Thank you, Evergreen. Knowing somepony else cares means a lot. Despite what most ponies may think, most Enclave soldiers aren’t mindless automatons. We all have our own hopes and dreams as well,” he said quietly, but the emotion in his voice was very obvious.

I looked away quickly as I blushed, not wanting the Pegasus to see. “Well then,” I announced with a cough as I rose to my hooves, “let’s get a move on! We’ve got a lot of ground to cover. Crosswire, I want you in the back. Watch for anything that could sneak up on us from behind. Autumn Mist, take the center and keep your eyes on the hills. You’ve got the best chance at catching anything from a distance. Suture, you’ll stay in the center as well. You’re still healing from that fight against Greymane, so I want you out of harm’s way. Steel Curtain, take point with me. If anypony thinks they can intimidate us, I want them to think again when they see you.”

Everypony quickly answered an affirmative to their directions and we set out, taking the same road south that Crosswire and I had taken barely more than a week ago to get to Metro for the first time. Walking back now, I was struck by just how different we were. Crosswire had completely abandoned the persona of being a quiet, obedient underling, and was now the most reliable pony I knew. As for myself, I doubted anypony had ever changed as much as I had so quickly, unless they had wandered out of a Stable for the first time in their lives, only to have to fight and kill almost immediately afterwards.

I had changed from being a harsh, unfeeling gang boss, probably as arrogant and cruel as that slaver we had killed, to being somepony I was actually proud to be, for the first time in my life. There were now several ponies in the wasteland that I knew were alive only because I had decided to act. Had the old me come across them, I could guarantee that that wouldn’t have been the case. I had been selfish and self-centered, caring about nothing but my own life.

Now, I was a completely different pony. I had already risked my life on multiple occasions for others, like when I had gone to the Iron Hooves camp supported only by a mare who very much wanted to kill me in order to save Crosswire’s life. All I could do now was hope that it would be enough so that my parent’s souls, wherever they might be, could at least begin to forgive me for all of my wrongs.

We made good time as we marched south, pressing through the unyielding wasteland on a path that would take us by Grovedale, then up into the foothills of the mountains, right where my base had been settled. Those fuckers had a lot coming to them, and not just because I wanted revenge for what had been done to me. I couldn’t care less about that anymore. The problem was that I knew what they would become if I wasn’t around to keep them under control. Besides all that, they still had my journal.

Unfortunately, no matter how quickly we managed to walk, we were still bound by the distance between places, and since we had been so late in starting our trek, the sky was already beginning to darken as we approached the small collection of homes where Crosswire and I had stayed while on our way to Metro.

“Hey, Evergreen, are you thinking what I am?” the buck called up to me from the back of our formation.

“I don’t know. Are you thinking about how awesome it would be to hug a manticore?” I called back sarcastically even as I veered of the path towards the same building that we had used as shelter.

As I slowed my pace, Suture and Crosswire caught up to Steel Curtain and me, and the latter had a very confused expression on his face. “Why the hell would you be thinking about that?” he asked incredulously, “And why the hell would you ever want to try it? Fuckin’ manticore would tear your head off before you could come within ten feet.”

Sadly, the buck was probably right about that. I had seen a few of the creatures wandering around in the mountains while I had still been living there, and though they hadn’t had anything close to the size of the shadows I had seen that first night in the mountains, I could tell that they were fearsome creatures. Our group would be able to easily handle one or two of the beasts, but more than that and we would have a serious problem on our hooves.

“I was being sarcastic, Crosswire,” I pointed out, grinning, “Only an idiot would try to get that close to a manticore. For the record, I was planning on staying here anyway. It will put us within a day of another good place to stop.”

“Grovedale?” Autumn asked as I pushed open the door and stepped inside, “Isn’t it only a little bit south of here?”

As I was about to answer, I was hit with the almost overpowering stench of something dead. I cast about the room and my eyes settled on two decaying corpses, one of which was a large unicorn, and the other was a small Pegasus: the bodies of the thug that had nearly killed me and the addict that he had killed before going after me. Dried blood surrounded the bodies, staining the floor dark brown. Flies were buzzing about the bodies, disturbed from their meal when we entered the building.

“Shit, I didn’t think that they would still be here,” I muttered, walking towards the unicorn’s body, “As for what you asked, Autumn, I know a place a bit farther south than that, up in the foothills.”

“Who were they?” Steel Curtain asked as he walked up beside me, his nose scrunched up against the smell, “Did you know them?”

There was the sound of retching from behind us, and we turned to see Suture clutching the doorframe, her head around the corner to outside, vomiting, presumably, at the smell, since she had already seen plenty of dead ponies. “I’m…urk… fine,” she muttered, though she definitely didn’t sound that way.

Trusting that she was going to be fine, I turned to answer the Pegasus, “Not in so many words. The Pegasus was an addict who sold Crosswire and me out for a hit of Dash. When it became obvious that we were better prepared than expected, the unicorn killed him. He worked for a buck that goes by the name Tripwire. Bastard got me pinned before Crosswire shot him off of me.”

Steel Curtain remained silent as he looked over the bodies, his eyes lingering on the Pegasus for much longer than the unicorn. “What happened to this Tripwire? Why is his body not here?” he finally asked, looking away from the bodies and gazing into my eyes. His gaze wasn’t accusing, but I could sense his desire to understand what had caused these ponies’ deaths. For as skilled as he was, he was still very new to the wasteland.

“We let him go,” Crosswire answered for me, drawing Steel Curtain’s gaze away, “Even being a thug, the buck wasn’t stupid. He only attacked us because he was desperate. Unfortunately, the wasteland probably got him. I remember him mentioning something about running out of supplies.”

“I see…” Steel Curtain muttered, turning his head to look back at the bodies, “The Pegasus looks vaguely familiar. Do you know his name?”

I reached back in my mind, trying to remember the details of that day, but all I could easily recall was the fight. I felt bad, because I could remember that his name had been said, and not knowing felt like I was betraying Steel Curtain in some way. “I’m sorry,” I muttered, following Steel Curtain’s gaze to the bodies, “I can’t remember either of their names. Can you, Crosswire?”

The grey buck shook his head, “I was upstairs the whole time. I didn’t hear a thing until you started yelling. Don’t worry about his fate, Steel Curtain. The poor bastard was an addict. He would have gotten himself killed eventually, since all he cared about was where his next hit was coming from.”

Steel Curtain sighed loudly and lowered his head, “I suppose you’re right. I just can’t understand how he would have allowed himself to fall this far. Every Pegasus I have ever met has been proud of who they were, whether they were an officer, citizen, or Dashite. I never thought I’d see one of us reduced to this.”

“I hate to be the one to say it, Steel Curtain, but welcome to the wasteland. This kind of shit is as common as the rain. Everypony has their problems. Some just choose to solve them… differently,” I said, with a pointed look at the body of the Pegasus, “Now help me get these bodies out of here. This building is the best shelter for miles, and I’d rather avoid sleeping outside if I can.”

Within a few minutes, we had the bodies moved outside, but not without Steel Curtain saying a few words over the Pegasus’ corpse, and we were all settling down inside the structure. Crosswire and I steadfastly refused to let anypony go upstairs. We wanted the ponies that had lived here to be able to rest in peace. Somehow it seemed like moving them would be a disgrace to their memories, even if their skeletons were open to the air. Yet, they had died holding each other, as a family. How could we take that away from them in death?

After we ate, and the others were drifting off to sleep, Crosswire approached me, keeping his voice low to avoid waking anypony. “Evergreen, are you sure that you want to go back to the camp? That place holds nothing but bad memories for the both of us.”

I saw absolutely no reason to tell Crosswire everything. After all, he had been the one at my side every single day since this had all started, not to mention before that. “I need to get back there. I need to get my journal back. There is so much in there from my old life that I have forgotten…” I explained, trailing off, before looking back up at the tech, “Besides, I thought that you would want to delay getting to the settlement as much as possible?”

“No. I’d rather get there as soon as we could so we could leave them behind that much sooner. But why the hell is it so important that you would risking going back there?” he pressed, obviously hiding something that was bothering him about his birthplace.

Giving him a chance to organize his thoughts, I decided to answer his question. “That was one thing I had that was from before my life as a raider. When I was young, my parents gave it to me. I wrote in it every single day, including when we were living in the camp. Sometimes I would barely write more than a sentence or two, especially during our time in the camp, but there were days when I would fill entire pages with the thoughts that were filling my head,” I answered, my voice taking on a distant quality as I thought back and tried to remember some of the things that I had written back when I was younger, but nothing specific would come to mind.

I could recall emotions, like times I had been happy or sad, but I could never remember the cause of those emotions. Sometimes, an image would come to mind; something I had seen that had prompted a thought that I had then rushed to write down. Most commonly, I would remember an impression, like a recollection of seeing something that had impressed me, but with no memory of what it was, or how it had affected me. But for all of those sensations I could not remember a single specific entry, except for the last one, when I had written about the constant of war, and how it changed everypony it came into contact with.

How many of the ponies that I had fought and killed would have been perfectly normal, had they not been forced to do whatever was necessary to survive? How many innocents that had turned to preying on others simply to survive would have risen to become great, if they were only given half a chance? Or even worse, how many ponies would rise to greatness if only they could get out from under the hoof of those ruling over them, like the Pegasi of the Enclave or the slaves being held captive by the Princesses-only-knew how many masters?

The implications of that train of thought left me feeling light-headed, and Crosswire was beginning to look at me oddly, so I returned my attention to our conversation, pushing the thoughts to a closet in the back of my mind, where I would be able to revisit them later, when I was on my own. “So, yeah. I need to get that journal back. Besides that, now that I’m no longer around to keep them under control, they’ve probably reverted to being typical, crazy raiders. We’ll need to take care of them to keep anypony from wandering too close to them and getting themselves killed.”

Crosswire kept his eyes fixed on me, clearly unconvinced. “You do realize that you’re putting us all at risk, Evergreen? Over a book, even if it is important to you? Yes, we’re much better fighters than them, but that doesn’t mean that they couldn’t get a lucky shot. We aren’t invincible,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, I realize that, but I might have written something in there about this thing in my head, since it used to visit me when I was living in Grovedale. Anything I can learn about it can only be to my advantage, right? Besides, didn’t you agree with me about going after them?” I asked.

“Yeah, but I hadn’t thought about the risk. But I suppose that they are raiders,” Crosswire conceded, albeit reluctantly,” All right, Evergreen, if you think this is the right choice, I’m behind you.”

“Thanks, Crosswire. I’m going to need your help. The plan I’m putting together is ambitious, but it just might work. I’ll tell you tomorrow, along with everypony else, once we get closer to the camp. Now, why are you so reluctant to go back to the Mt. Hoof settlement? It was your home once, wasn’t it?” I asked, bringing the conversation back around to him.

He immediately looked away from me, staring off into a dark corner of the room. “I don’t want to talk about that. My history with them is… complicated… to say the least.”

“Come on, Crosswire,” I argued, adding just enough of an edge to my voice to get the buck’s attention, “At this point, I’m going to need every scrap of information I can get on these ponies. You’re the best source of that information that I have. At least tell me this for now.”

He remained silent as he mulled over my words, the finally lowered his head and sighed. “Consider my situation with them to be the same as your situation with Grovedale. They don’t want me to come back, and they probably wouldn’t do very nice things to me if I did show up again. Unlike Just Law, those ponies have no concept of mercy towards ponies who wronged them. I know I mentioned before that they have very strict rules, right?” he explained, looking to me for confirmation. When I nodded, he continued, “Well, I broke one of those rules. I stole something I wasn’t supposed to have, and when I was caught, I was thrown out on my ass, left to fend for myself without so much as a snack cake, much less a weapon. They left me to die, Evergreen, and they knew it.”

The revelation left me completely speechless. To think that this quiet buck would be thrown out of a community for simple theft was unbelievable. I could understand some sort of punishment, since he did break an established rule, but exile seemed a little extreme for his crime. “Damn… I’m sorry, Crosswire. I didn’t realize,” I started, then realized how little the buck would care for an apology about this, “Well, look at it this way: you’re only going back because you’re working with me, and I was given a job to transport something to them. Wait! I just thought of something! Would you happen to have an idea of who this damn Crystal is supposed to be going to?”

Crosswire lifted his head in thought, shifting his glance up to the ceiling as he sifted through his memory. “I might know who it’s supposed to go to, but it’s only a guess. I don’t want to start giving out information that could be wrong,” he answered, “I think I’ll leave this one to them to answer, all right?”

I nodded in response. It was only fair, after all, especially given how much he had already revealed, and how painful the memories must be for him. “Yeah, we can do it that way. Now let’s get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, and it will only get us partway to the settlement. We’re going to need to be in good shape for this.”

Crosswire nodded his agreement, then moved off back to his own spot that he had chosen to settle down in for the night. Before long, he was snoring, and my own eyes were growing heavy with sleep.

We rose early, ate a quick breakfast, and were back on the road just as the clouds were lightening with the rising sun. If we managed to make good time from here, we should be able to make it to the camp by early afternoon, barring any distractions, and I already knew just how empty the wasteland was between here and there.

As we stepped outside, I motioned to Suture and Steel Curtain, pulling them aside before we truly got underway. “So, Suture, do you think that he’ll be able to fly today?” I asked, gesturing to the Pegasus, “He’d be much more useful up in the air, rather than roughing it on the ground with us.”

The maroon mare hesitated for a moment while she thought, then turned to Steel Curtain. “Let me see your wing. I need to see how well it’s healed,” she said, taking on the tone of an impatient doctor.

Steel Curtain obediently lifted his injured wing, wincing slightly after having kept it furled up for so long. Suture took the tip in one of her hooves and started to manipulate the wing, rotating it in every possible direction, checking it for any remaining damage. Finding nothing, she let the wing go and looked up at the buck’s face. “Well, I can’t find anything. You should be fine to fly. Just be careful.”

She had barely gotten the words out of her mouth before Steel Curtain had launched himself into the air, spreading his wings wide and gliding, then flapping violently for altitude before diving again, rocketing downwards so fast that I half expected him to slam into the ground. Instead, he snapped his wings open at the last moment, skimming by the ground with barely five feet to spare. From there, he ran himself through several different exercises, each one more complex and demanding than the last.

I was completely enraptured by the sight, unable to tear my gaze from the Pegasus as he flitted across the sky, twisting and turning as he pushed himself to his limits. It was amazing to see how graceful he could be even while wearing a full set of heavy armor. It made me wonder what kind of acrobatics he would be capable of without the armor to hold him back.

I shook my head violently at the thought and forced myself to tear my gaze away from him, instead looking for the rest of my friends. They were all standing with their heads glued on the sky, watching the Pegasus dance around against the sky.

“Well, shit, he can really fly!” Autumn Mist exclaimed, grinning broadly, admiration very clear in her voice.

“Yeah, that he can,” I answered, finding myself grinning as well, “Now come on, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”

I waved up at the Pegasus, trusting the he would see us start to move and fall into place above us, ranging out to scout as he had done during our first trip together. We started out on the beaten trail, heading south towards Grovedale and the foothills where my camp was waiting, and the last ties to the life I wanted to forget were lingering, simply waiting to be cut free.

Throughout the entirety of our journey, Steel Curtain didn’t come down once, and I couldn’t blame him. For the last three days he had been bound to the ground, forced to fight in a way that was completely foreign to him. I really couldn’t be surprised that he would choose to stay in the air while he had the chance to.

Luckily for us, this part of the wasteland was relatively safe, as there was Grovedale to our south, and Metro to the north. Occasional raider bands would travel through the area, but none would ever remain here long, as the caravans were usually well armed enough to protect themselves, and they tended to keep the roads clear. As a result, we were making great time, and the walls of Grovedale passed us off to our right as we traveled into more dangerous land, deciding that we weren’t going to try to trade with the town, even if we needed to trade.

As noon was passing by, we started into the foothills of the mountains, which was when the rain started to fall for the first time that day. Unfortunately for us, it wasn’t a light rain. It was coming down in sheets, quickly soaking through our barding and making our manes stick to our heads. The sheer volume of water reduced our visibility to mere feet in front of us, forcing Steel Curtain down and onto the ground with us, just so that he wouldn’t lose us in the hills.

All the same, we continued marching, pushing through the weather towards our goal. In the end, all the rain would do is help me. Both Crosswire and I knew the layout of the camp by heart, so the only problem would be seeing where the other raiders would be hiding, but they would have the same problem with us. But that didn’t stop it from being any more miserable.

Barely an hour and a half later, we were starting up the trail that would lead right to the gates of the camp, which is where I slowed to a stop to address my friends.

“All right, everypony, listen up! Just a short distance ahead of us is a raider camp, the same one that Crosswire and I came from barely more than a week ago, as Suture well knows,” I announced, turning so that they could all see me.

“What the hell are we doing out here? I thought we were trying to get to Mt. Hoof?” Autumn asked, very obviously confused.

“We’re here because these ponies are a threat to the area, and they have something of mine that I need to get back,” I answered, “The survivors of our fight are tough ponies, but they are also extremely cruel. It was all I had been able to do to keep them under what little control I could manage. Without me there, I can promise that they are all going to be just as deranged as those raiders we killed while traveling back to Millberry from Stable 60.”

“I assume that you have a plan for dealing with these ponies, then?” Steel Curtain asked, reaching down for his helmet and pulling it on over his matted down mane. Just like that, he went from being somepony that I knew and was comfortable around, to being an armored stranger. Even his voice seemed different, and it made me very uncomfortable.

“I do,” I answered, nodding my head, “And if I’m right, they won’t know what hit them. Right now, we’re about a mile away from the camp, so we’re close enough that it will be easy to get in close and do some damage, especially for you, Steel Curtain. Now, about half a mile ahead, the trail splits off, with a small track heading up farther into the hills while the other continues on to the camp. Almost none of the ponies there know about it, but it leads up to an overhang that provides a relatively good view of the base from above. I want Autumn Mist and Suture to go that way, since it will provide the best angle for you to attack from.”

“Just how good will my view from up there be?” the dark mare asked, sliding out her rifle and checking the bolt of any wear.

“You can see a good portion of the base from up there, but not all of it. The weather is also going to play hell with the visibility,” I explained, “but you’ll do far better up there than you would from on the ground. Can you manage that?”

“Yeah, I can manage. Why’s Suture coming with me, though? I would have thought that you would want her with you on the ground?” the sniper asked.

“Normally, yes, I would, except that some of the ponies that survived the fight the last time I was here will recognize her. If they see her, then I know that they’ll see right through what I’m trying to pull here. Now then, Steel Curtain, the weather will hide you perfectly while you’re flying, so I want you to circle around and watch for any sudden activity on the ground. Once you hear shots, I want you to sweep in and start shooting, all right?” I continued, looking to the Pegasus.

“What about the visibility?” he asked, his helmet distorting his voice, “Even with my helmet’s visor, it’s difficult to see more than a dozen feet.”

“Yeah, it’s going to be tricky, but if you can pull the stunts you were doing this morning, I don’t think you’re going to have a problem,” I answered.

“Fair enough,” he answered with a grunt, “I can do that.”

“Now, Crosswire, you and I have the toughest job. We’re going to march right up to the front gate and demand to be let in. We need to make them think that we’re coming back, and that we haven’t changed a bit. If we can get inside, and get to the pony that they put in charge, the entire fight will be a lot easier. Think you can manage that?” I asked, looking to the grey buck. I was asking a lot, considering how much effort it had taken for the both of us to change as much as we had.

He hesitated as he considered his answer, his face an emotionless mask, then finally nodded curtly. “I can do that, boss,” he said as his mouth split in a slight grin.

“Good,” I stated, smiling at the buck, “Let’s move! If all goes well, this will all be over before we know it!”

We started forward, Crosswire and me in the lead. There was no need to watch our surroundings when we knew that any danger would come from in front of us. When we passed by the small side trail, Autumn Mist and Suture split off, heading up higher into the hills while the rest of us continued forward. Before long, they were out of sight, and we were approaching the final bend to the camp, where I had found the stash of gear that Crackshot had been hiding from me.

“This is your cue, Steel Curtain,” I said, “Get up in the air and wait for gunshots.” Immediately, there was a brief gust of wind that blew even more water into my face as the Pegasus launched himself into the air, vanishing from sight within seconds. Now I just had to hope that everything would work as I hoped it would.

Crosswire and I approached the gate, walking with a stride that I hoped would communicate our confidence. As he had before coming out of his shell, Crosswire was walking stiffly, his eyes constantly shifting around as he took in every aspect of our surroundings. I composed myself and held my expression to one of anger. It honestly wasn’t that difficult, since these ponies were the only thing standing between me and peace of mind.

It didn’t take them long to notice us. We were just coming within twenty paces of the gate when a voice called out, “You’re really this fucking stupid to come back here, Ever?” the pony it belonged to stepped out from behind a piece of cover on top of the wall. I wasn’t surprised to see that it was one of the ponies that had been fighting by Crackshot’s side the day we had been forced to leave, “Though I’m surprised to see that you’re still alive after the round that May Bell put in you.”

“She could never kill anything with the first shot if her life depended on it.” I growled, “Now open this fucking gate and tell whoever is in charge around here to come out. We have some things to discuss.”

“Trying to take back control?” the buck on the wall asked, “Good luck with that. But, for old time’s sake, I’ll open the gate. I think Crackshot will want to take care of you himself.”

Before I could answer, he disappeared from the wall, and the gate started to swing open, grinding loudly on rusted gears. I could hardly believe my ears. How the hell could Crackshot still be alive? I had seen the amount of blood on the ground after I had shot his leg. Nopony could lose that much blood and live. It simply wasn’t possible.

“Keep your head on a swivel,” I warned Crosswire under my breath, “I don’t like the sound of this.”

“You don’t need to tell me twice,” he answered just as quietly as he let me lead our way into the camp.

We walked through the familiar portal, making our way into the gloomy interior of the camp. I was relieved that this didn’t feel like a homecoming. Instead, it felt exactly as it should: as though I was walking into an elaborate trap. If it were possible, I’m sure that Crosswire would have stiffened up even more than he already was as we walked into a rough circle made up of the rest of the gang, many of which were ponies I had never seen before. They all had the same bloodthirsty and hungry look on their faces. Many of them seemed to have only a tenuous grasp on sanity, if even that, and several seemed to be trembling slightly. Those were the ponies I kept my eyes on, as they were the kind of raiders that enjoyed eating their victims. As bad as I had been, I had never allowed one of them within a mile of the base.

My vision was positively flooded with bars denoting the raiders around us. Most of them were blue, for now, since the order to attack hadn’t yet been given, but there were several in the mix that were red, most likely the craziest of the bunch that were only being held in check by the restraint of the others. I tried to do a quick count as we walked, but quickly lost track at about twenty-five, far more ponies than I had ever kept around.

Standing in the center of this rough circle was Crackshot, though he had changed a lot in the last week. The most obvious difference was that his right foreleg was missing, and the stump was swaddled in multiple dirty bandages. But there were other, subtler differences as well. He no longer held himself with the bearing of somepony that was an underling to somepony else. He stood tall, with a confident grin on his face, as if he was completely sure that nothing could knock him from his position.

“Bet you weren’t expecting to see me still among the living, Ever,” he sneered, “But then again, I also wasn’t expecting you to be stupid enough to show your face here again. Definitely not the best decision.”

My response was to shrug. “To be honest, Crackshot, I was expecting you to be dead. Probably would have worked out better for the other ponies here, since they would most likely have ended up with a smarter leader. I can’t imagine that the last week has been too profitable for you.”

Crackshot laughed, a low, grinding sound that communicated more contempt than it did joy. “You always were quick to start throwing insults around, Ever. Unfortunately, this time, you don’t have the power or position to back it up. All you’ve got is that one washed-up old tech. Crosswire, wasn’t it? Since you’re in such a weak position, and Clipper happens to be dead, I’m willing to offer you a place at my side. All you need to do is kill him,” Crackshot said, gesturing to Crosswire.

I made a show of considering the offer for a few moments, looking back and forth from Crackshot to Crosswire, letting the conceited yellow buck think he held all the right cards before grinning wickedly and locking my gaze on his. “I think I’m going to have to pass. Being your plaything doesn’t have much appeal to me, and I could never be docile enough for you. Besides, you never were one to count strength that you couldn’t see. Sure, I may be outnumbered, maybe even severely so, but there is no doubt in my mind that I have you all outgunned,” I said snidely as I pulled Hammer from its holster, “This is your one and only chance, Crackshot. Throw down your weapons, tell everypony here to do the same, and you walk away, alive. Fight, and you die.”

“Is one revolver really supposed to frighten me, Ever?” Crackshot asked, chuckling, as he pulled out his rifle and somehow balanced it on his stump, “Because I think you took a serious blow to the head in the last week if you think that puny pistol can beat my rifle.”

“It doesn’t need to,” I ground out, “I take this to mean that you won’t surrender? You’re going to throw away the lives of every single pony that is supposedly loyal to you because you can’t see when you’re beat? Face it, Crackshot, I’m better than you at everything. Only reason you won our last fight was because I wasn’t quite ready for it yet.”

“Wrong. I won our last fight because I’m better and stronger than you, Ever. It’s long past time you realized that,” the yellow buck leered, lowering his head to aim through his rifle’s sights.

“My name is Evergreen,” I snapped even as I slipped into S.A.T.S. and lined up a shot to the buck’s head. I was done talking to him. For good measure, I also lined up two more shots on the two ponies to his right, which would give me a clear alley to get up to my old quarters where, hopefully, my journal would still be.

Time snapped back to reality, and the rounds fired. The weather had affected my accuracy somewhat, but not nearly enough to actually worry me. As a result, every single round I fired was on target. Crackshot went down hard, his skull basically imploding as the round smashed into it, killing him before he got a chance to pull the trigger. The other two shots sent the two raiders I had aimed for to the ground as well, both incapacitated with shots to the chest, and leaving me the space I needed to run.

I launched myself forward, pushing past two bucks that had managed to either not be shocked by Crackshot’s death, or not caring about it, and ran for the ramp that would bring me up into my old RV. In my wake, I heard the staccato firing of Crosswire’s SMG as he opened fire, along with several shrieks of pain from various raiders.

As I rounded the corner onto the ramp, I slowed by just a step to fire a couple of rounds towards the mass of raiders, trusting their sheer numbers to allow for at least a couple of grazing hits. I wasn’t disappointed as I saw a mare wielding a bat studded with nails fall to the ground, a bullet lodged in her side and one taking one of her rear legs out from under her. I continued my run, reaching the top of the ramp and slipping into S.A.T.S. once again. The spell had recharged enough for a single shot, which I lined up on a unicorn buck wielding a shotgun. The rain dropped my accuracy severely at this range, but I didn’t need to hit to buy Crosswire the time and space he would need to get out of the way.

I let the spell go, and my last round fired, skimming by the buck’s neck, rather than striking him in the head as I intended. All the same, he flinched from the shot, and I saw Crosswire take the opportunity to fire a short burst at a pair of ponies charging him with melee weapons and make a break for his workshop.

It was in that moment that Steel Curtain made his first pass, sweeping through the main courtyard of the camp, guns blazing. The trail of fire that preceded him cut down a half-dozen ponies in mid-stride, reducing them to little more than quivering piles of flesh and blood as the rounds tore through their bodies, shredding anything they touched. The Pegasus cleared the camp and arced back up into the dark sky, quickly disappearing from sight. With that pass, I noticed a lot of raiders break off from the general melee, scattering to whatever bits of cover they could find, surprised by the firepower they had just witnessed. Unfortunately, none of them were smart enough to try to make a break for it.

Three of the raiders were making their way towards me, so I dodged into the RV, kicking the door closed as I did, and hopefully buying me enough time to reload and prepare. Crosswire was more than capable of taking care of himself, especially since we had the element of surprise.

I had just managed to shake loose the empty shells from Hammer’s cylinder and ram home a single bullet when the sound of hoof-strikes echoed through the RV, the sound of ponies trying to force their way in. Without time to do anything else, I slammed the cylinder closed and fired a round at the thin, sheet metal door.

The round easily punched through, eliciting a grunt of pain, followed by alarmed shouts as my victim presumably fell back and off the ramp. “Let’s kill the fucking bitch,” a voice announced, and there was another sound of hooves striking the door.

This time, it caved in under the pressure, allowing a pair of ponies inside. One was an earth pony buck wielding an axe, and the other was a unicorn mare floating a wicked looking serrated blade before her. I was already dropping Hammer into its holster and reaching for my knife when the buck reached me, swinging his axe in a broad arc that could probably have decapitated me, but I jumped to the side, and the blow missed me cleanly over my left shoulder and the buck was left reeling as he tried to recover from the attack.

I ripped my knife from its sheath and darted forward, hoping to take advantage of the buck’s lack of balance, but was met by the mare, who’s blade managed to slip past my defenses and slice my leg open just below where my barding covered.

I grunted in pain and backed up, lowering my head and hunching my shoulders, trying to present as small a target I could while still leaving myself space to attack. Blood was now flowing freely from the wound in my leg, tracing a line down my leg and slipping over my Pipbuck, obscuring the screen.

The mare was grinning wickedly, but paused as she allowed her companion to recover and turn on me, then continued to hold back as the buck launched himself at me again. As I had done before, I dodged to the side and tried to strike, hoping to kill, or at least wound, the buck. Once again, the unicorn was faster, and once again intercepted my blow, this time opening a wound on my neck, thankfully away from any major arteries.

I backed up even farther, panting from the exertion and pain and trying to buy myself more time. I could still hear the sounds of combat coming from outside, with the now familiar sound of Steel Curtain’s minigun keeping the raiders suppressed, as well as the occasional retort of Autumn’s rifle as she joined the battle.

I forced my focus back to the problem at hoof. My usual strategy wasn’t working here, and this mare was perfectly willing to slowly wear me down, cut by cut, until I was unable to continue fighting. But they were also fighting in a predictable pattern. All I had to do was get lucky.

Again, the buck with the axe rushed me, and again, I dodged to the side. Except this time, I didn’t try to attack him. Instead, I twisted and struck at the mare, knocking her blade to the side with my Pipbuck and lunging forward with my knife, which I lodged in her neck. Blood spurted from the wound and around the hilt of my knife, spraying me in the face.

Needing the time, I released my knife and kicked the mare out of the way, sending her limp body into the wall, and turned only for the buck’s axe to crash down on my back. The attack felt like a hammer blow, and I fell to the ground gasping for air as the metal plates on the back of my barding crumpled under the strength of the blow and bit into my back. As I struggled to regain my hooves, I could feel blood flowing from the wounds in my back, and another hammer blow fell, this one thankfully a little off from the first, which meant that my barding was once again able to withstand the blow.

Unfortunately, it didn’t stop the force of the attack, and I once again collapsed as even more of the small metal plates bit down into my back. Knowing I had mere seconds to get out of the way, I did the only thing I could think to do and rolled. My weight forced the plates on my barding to bite even deeper, making my shout in pain. But the move bought me the time I needed as the buck’s axe slammed into the floor of the RV, instead of into me.

I tried to push myself to my hooves, but couldn’t manage the strength to do so, and collapsed almost as soon as my belly cleared the ground. I could only lie there and watch in terror as the buck wrenched his axe out of the ground and started advancing towards me, a wicked look in his eye. With every step he took, my eyes took in more detail, from the ruddy brown color of his hide and the greasy black of his mane, to the spatter of blood, my blood, coursing down the blade of his axe to drip onto the floor.

Once again, I attempted to struggle to my hooves, but this attempt was just as fruitless as the last, and I was left lying there, my vision filled with the sight of the buck’s hooves as he came to a stop before me. I was just about to resign myself to the inevitable when a black form shot into the room and slammed into the buck, sending him flying into the far wall to slide limply down to the ground.

From there, the black form pounced on the buck and attacked him viciously, raining down blow after hammering blow with its hooves. It didn’t let up until the buck had stopped quivering and simply lay limply on the ground, obviously dead, even to my pain-filled mind.

Its target clearly taken care of, the form turned and approached my gingerly. I concentrated my vision on the form’s head, and finally managed to make it out. My heart soared in my chest as Steel Curtain came up to me knelt down in front of me.

“Evergreen, are you all right?” he asked softly, his voice distorted by the helmet. Even so, I could make out the fear in his voice.

When I tried to answer, all that came out was a pained cough that led to a severe fit that left me exhausted and panting. “I’ll be fine,” I finally croaked, “Just get me a healing potion or three.”

The buck nodded and reached into one of his armor compartments for a trio of the potions, which he opened and fed to me. I felt the wounds on my leg and neck close as I drank, as well as some of the damage that had been done to my back. By the time I was finished, I was feeling strong enough to stand.

Carefully, I started to push myself to my hooves, grimacing under the pain of my armor digging into my back. Realizing what I was attempting, Steel Curtain stepped forward and helped me up, holding me steady as my legs threatened to collapse underneath me. After a long minute, I finally managed to push the pain far enough into the back of my mind for the Pegasus to step away and let me stand on my own.

“How’s the fight going out there?” I managed to say, shocked by how weak my own voice sounded. I could still hear the occasional burst from Crosswire’s SMG, as well as a periodic shot from Autumn’s rifle, so the fight must not have been over yet.

“Just cleaning up the straggler’s now. Last I saw, there were only four left on their hooves,” Steel Curtain answered.

I grunted as I shifted my weight to my recently injured leg and started to cast about the room, trying to see if it had been significantly altered since I had been forced to leave it behind. “Good, now help me look around in here. I’m looking for a leather-bound book. If we’re lucky it’ll still be in here,” I said, walking by the Pegasus and retrieving my knife from the fallen mare.

I started rooting around in the various drawers and cabinets, dumping all of the contents on the floor in my rush to find the journal. For the first few moments, Steel Curtain simply stood by silently, watching me tear the room apart.

“This thing really means a lot to you, doesn’t it?” he finally asked, stepping forward and helping me sift through the mountain of junk that I had piled in the center of the room.

“It’s one of the few objects in life that I care about at all,” I answered shortly, abandoning the pile of junk and moving to inspect the corners of the RV, in case it had fallen back there, “It was my journal. My parents gave it to me when I was just a filly. There are entire years of my life in those pages, and I want to remember those years.”

“I suppose I can understand that,” the Pegasus answered, now beginning to help me in earnest. Between the two of us, we covered every single square inch of the RV within five minutes.

Just as the sounds of battle from outside were falling silent, the Pegasus lifted something that looked oddly familiar from a dark corner underneath the pallet I used to sleep on. He flipped it open and started reading aloud.

“Well, I don’t know where to start, so I guess I should introduce myself. I’m Evergreen, and this journal was a present from my mommy and daddy for my seventh birthday! Momma’s real name is Rose Garden, and she is the loveliest pony I know!” he read, his voice taking on a bemused tone.

“Hey! Who said you could read it!” I snapped, trying to run over to him, but gasping in pain at the exertion and tumbling towards him instead.

He neatly sidestepped my barely controlled fall, extending a wing to keep me from actually crashing into the ground, and continued reading. “Daddy’s real name is Nightingale, and even though he can be a little scary sometimes, he is always looking out for Momma and me! They are both always watching out for me, and even though they are busy a lot, I know they love me a lot, just as much as I love them! Well, that’s all I can think of for now,” he finished, closing the book again and looking up to me. He reached a hoof up and pulled the helmet off of his head. Underneath the sopping wet helmet of his mane, I thought I could see a tear running down his face.

“I can see why you value this book so highly,” he said, his voice oddly choked up, holding it out to me, “Especially since you had parents like those, who truly cared for you, and would have done anything for you, above all else. What happened to them?”

I reached out and took the journal, cradling it close to my chest as tears started to well up in my eyes. “They were killed years ago, outside of Grovedale, in a raider attack. After they were killed, I basically grew up there, until Just Law threw me out.”

“Why’d he do that?” Steel Curtain asked. His tone wasn’t accusatory, or even the least bit threatening. It sounded as exactly what it was: a simple question.

“I broke one too many rules. I kept on stealing from others, since the food I was earning for my work wasn’t enough to really keep me going. I was losing a lot of weight and was becoming really sickly. Unfortunately, I wasn’t very good at stealing and kept getting caught. Just Law had finally had enough and simply threw me out of the town, warning me not to come back. From there, things more or less just spiraled downward until I ended up here,” I explained, “This journal was the only thing from that life that I held on to.”

Steel Curtain nodded sympathetically, then snapped his head to the side at the sound of somepony climbing the ramp.

“Hey, Evergreen, you up here?” Crosswire asked as he walked in, then, when he saw the tears in my eyes, he asked, “You all right?”

“Yeah,” I answered with a sheepish grin, “Steel Curtain just found my journal and decided to read the first entry. Brought a lot of old memories back. What’s up?”

“Everypony out there is taken care of. All that’s left is the medical shack. I’m pretty sure Heart Attack is sitting in there drunk off his ass,” the tech explained, “Thought you would want to come along to finish cleaning up.” The way he said it made it very clear as to what he expected to happen, but I wasn’t sure I would be able to pull the trigger, especially if the old doctor wasn’t actively trying to hurt me.

As the buck turned to walk out the door, I noticed a spot of red on the barding over his shoulder. “Wait, Crosswire, you’re hurt!” I exclaimed, walking over to him and pulling out a healing potion, “Heart Attack can wait. We should see to you injuries first.”

Crosswire slowly turned around, moving with obvious difficulty, and looked down at the potion I was offering. “I’ll be fine,” he said, his magic gripping the bottle and floating it over to himself, “but I guess it couldn’t hurt.” He drained the bottle with a few swallows, then tucked the empty bottle into his saddlebags. He then turned, moving much more smoothly now, and walked out of the RV, with Steel Curtain and me just a step behind.

We made our way through the carnage, stepping over the broken bodies of the dead raiders, walking through mud that was less the color of dirt and closer to the color of rust with all of the blood that had seeped into it. Just as we were approaching the medical shack, I came across Crackshot’s corpse, and slowed to a stop.

“You should have just dropped your weapons, you stupid bastard,” I growled, “Now look what your stubbornness caused. At least that’s one less group of raiders for the wasteland to worry about.”

I stepped over the buck’s body, putting his fate out of my mind, and rejoined Crosswire and Steel Curtain at the door to the shack. They both stepped aside and let me be the one to open the door.

Inside the dim structure, I found the aging unicorn sitting in his usual spot, nursing a glass of some sort of clear liquid, exactly as I had expected to find him.

“So, Crackshot lost,” the doctor drawled, his speech slightly slurred. He dropped his gaze from me to the glass he was clutching, then lifted it and took a drink, “Guess you’re here to finish the job, eh, Ever?”

I sighed heavily and walked into the shack, shaking my head slowly, “I didn’t come back for revenge, Heart Attack,” I answered, “So I’m not going to hurt you unless you attack me first.”

“Heh, that’s not like you, Ever,” the unicorn stated, chuckling lightly, then hiccupping, “Not like you at all.”

“Stop calling me that,” I snapped, uncomfortable with all of the reminders of my old life. This aging buck still saw me as what I had been, and his words reminded me of how much control I had had then. But, with every time I heard him speak my name as he did, I was reminded of how unhappy my life had been.

“It’s your name, ain’t it?” Heart Attack asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion, “What else am I supposed to call you.”

“How about my full name?” I asked, harsher than I had intended, “Call me Evergreen. It’s how everypony knows me nowadays.”

“Are you really the same pony that was chased out of here a week ago?” the doctor demanded, squinting his eyes at me, then taking another drink.

“No, she isn’t. She’s learned a few things since then,” Crosswire chimed in as he entered the shack.

Heart Attack shifted his gaze from me to Crosswire, and actually laughed. “That you, Crosswire? Damn, I’m surprised you’re still alive!”

“And why wouldn’t I be?” the tech demanded, “Because I ran away with my tail between my legs, wanting to live rather than go down fighting?”

“Well, that’s the type I had you pegged for,” Heart Attack muttered, going to take a drink, then realizing that his glass was empty. He sighed and eased himself out of his chair, hobbling over to the cabinet, with his empty glass clutched in a hoof, where he kept his supply of liquor. He reared up on his hindlegs, impressive considering how drunk he probably was, and pulled out a bottle filled with a clear liquid, nonchalantly filling his glass back up while balancing on only two legs.

“Well, I’m happy that you were wrong,” Crosswire snapped back, “Otherwise things wouldn’t have started looking up for me.”

“Fair ‘nuff,” the doctor grunted as he returned to his seat. He took a long pull from his drink, then turned his gaze to me. “So, if you’re not going to kill me, what are you planning to do with me, Evergreen?” he asked with a chuckle, most likely at my name, “There’s too much wrong-doing connected to my name for any settlement to even consider taking me in, and I doubt my old bones will last too long out here on my own.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do, Heart Attack, but I can’t just shoot somepony who isn’t offering any resistance. That just isn’t who I am anymore,” I answered quietly, “Do you not have any ideas for what you can do?”

The doctor remained silent as he swirled his drink around and peered into it, as if he were looking for answers. “I’ve got an idea. Don’t know how much you’re gonna like it though,” he finally answered in a resigned tone.

“What do you mean?” I asked, fearing what the answer would be. Heart Attack had always been one for extreme solutions to problems; it was how he had ended up as the medic for a raider gang. But on the other hoof, his extreme solutions were often the only thing left that would actually get a result.

“Well, the way I see it, I’ve been alive for a long time, longer than most,” he answered as he took another gulp from his drink, “Now, don’t give me any of that shit about how I’m still young enough to make something of myself. In another time, maybe I would be, but in the wasteland, I’m old, washed-up, and I enjoy drink far too much to ever settle down in a ‘civilized’ settlement.”

“So what are you suggesting?” Crosswire asked tentatively. I could even detect a note of fear in the ragged buck’s voice. So at least I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like the direction this conversation was going.

“Well, ever since I was a young colt, I’d wanted to see what was on the other side of those clouds. Some of the peaks around here are tall enough to poke through. At least, it looks that way from down here. I figured I’d climb my way up one of them and see what I could see,” the doctor said with a melancholic grin.

“That would be suicide,” Steel Curtain announced from his place by the door, “The Enclave would shoot you down before you came even close to the top of the cloud cover.”

Heart Attack looked over to the armored Pegasus and nodded slowly. “Guess you would know that best, since you look like you’re one of ‘em. Well, at least nopony could say that I didn’t try.”

“I can’t let you kill yourself like that, Heart Attack. You’ve put me back together far too many times for me to let you just go and get yourself killed,” I growled, “Look at me. I was the one in charge of this group, and I’m working with Metro now. The mayor there is one of my strongest allies now. If I could do it, then you can!”

“I’m happy to hear that you managed to find a better life, Evergreen, but this ain’t your choice,” the doctor replied with a sigh, draining his drink, “My entire life, I’ve been living to somepony else’s expectations. For once, I’d like to do something because I want to do it. It might as well be the last thing I do.”

“But why this?” I demanded, my voice taking on a pleading tone. I simply couldn’t understand why he didn’t want to try. Every pony I had ever met had wanted nothing more than to survive, yet here was a buck who was basically giving up, at least to my eyes.

“If you’re thinking that I want to die, Evergreen, that isn’t it,” Heart Attack answered, as if reading my mind, sounding sober for the first time ever, despite the amount of alcohol we had seen him drink, “I want to live, but I don’t want to do it on somepony else’s terms. Besides, there’s always the chance that they won’t shoot, right?” He shot a questioning glance in Steel Curtain’s glance as he said they words.

The armored Pegasus shrugged in response. “I suppose, if there wasn’t a patrol in the area, but they keep a pretty sharp eye on anything approaching the clouds. I’d be surprised if anything made it through.”

“It’s settled then,” Heart Attack announced resolutely, “Come morning, I’ll be heading for the closest mountain that pierces the clouds.”

I fell heavily backwards onto my rump, grimacing from the sudden pain it awoke in my back as it jostled the metal plates that were still very badly mauled out of place. I was completely incapable of believing that this buck wanted this for himself. Yet, I knew I couldn’t take this away from him. As he had said, it was his choice to make, and it wasn’t as if he was going looking for death. It was simply likely that this course would lead to it.

The doctor saw me fall back, and smiled wanly. “I know it isn’t what you want, Ever,” he said, “but it’s what I want.”

“I… understand,” I finally managed to force, grinning weakly in response, again trying to push the pain of my injuries from my mind, “Just promise me something. Promise me that you’ll be careful.”

“I suppose I can do that,” he answered, “Now you lot need somewhere to stay for the night, and I doubt you want to move all those bodies.”

“Not particularly,” Crosswire said, “I was thinking that we’d just stay in here. It’s out of the rain, and there’s more than enough space for all of us.”

“Hah! You make it sound like there’s going to be more of you showing up,” Heart Attack exclaimed with a laugh.

“Yup. Two more,” I answered, “And I should probably get outside to look for them. They won’t have a clue what to look for out here.”

With that, I staggered to my hooves and made my way out of the shack and back into the rain. A quick check of my E.F.S. revealed two blue bars approaching the camp from the direction of the gate. I wandered in that direction, each step causing me more pain, forcing me to limp severely. The healing potions may have healed my injuries for the most part, but my damaged armor was still biting into my back, and I could feel fresh blood flowing under my armor.

Despite the pain, I forced a grin onto my face as Autumn Mist and Suture came into sight. On seeing me, they noticeably perked up and picked up their pace, rushing over to meet me.

“I’m happy to see that you’re still on your feet, Evergreen!” Suture announced happily, “I guess the battle went well? Autumn wasn’t really saying a whole lot while we were up there.”

“That’s ‘cause I could barely see. If it weren’t for that Pipbuck I picked up from the ghouls, I would have been less than useless!” the sniper exclaimed, rolling her eyes as though she had already said the same thing several times.

“Yeah, we’re all in one piece, for the most part. Crosswire took some fire, but we already handled that,” I answered, forcing the grin to remain on my face, which seemed to be a losing battle, waiting for them to walk by so I could turn and follow. I at least wanted them to settle down before worrying Suture with my injuries.

“That’s good. What about you and Steel Curtain?” Suture asked, turning to look at me with a critical eye.

“Steel Curtain made it through unscathed. No real surprise there. These ponies didn’t have any weapons capable of even scratching his armor, much less pierce it. As for me, I may have gotten bludgeoned a bit, but we already took care of the worst of the damage,” I admitted with a shrug, trying to play off the injury. Unfortunately, the shrug was exactly the wrong thing to do as it pulled on my barding, and dug the broken plates into my back, making me grimace and whimper in pain.

“If you’re making that face simply by shrugging, then I really need to take a look at you,” Suture stated adamantly, “Show us where we’ll be staying, and I’ll see what I can do.” The medic then turned and started forward again, but stopped dead in her tracks after only two steps to stare at the carnage.

“Goddesses,” she whispered under her breath, “So many dead…”

“Don’t do this to me now, Suture,” I begged, “They were trying to kill us, and none of them were good ponies. If we didn’t do it, somepony else would have, and there would be a lot more dead innocents out there.”

“You weren’t a good pony either, Evergreen,” the maroon mare pointed out, her voice harsh, “I understand now that they were raiders, and that they can’t be reasoned with. I didn’t know that when we first met. But it’s still hard for me to see death on this scale.”

“I understand,” I said sympathetically, limping forward to take the lead, “Now follow me. I’ll show you where we’ll be staying for the night. As I passed them, I heard a sharp intake of breath from Suture. It could only mean that she had noticed my armor.

“I know, Suture, but like I said: we took care of the worst of the damage. When Steel Curtain got to me, I didn’t even have the strength to stand. You can take a look inside,” I said, trying to placate her. The mare’s only response was to snort at me.

I led them both to the medical shack, and after a quick introduction to Heart Attack, Suture turned to me and pointed towards one of the cots. “Lie down, now,” she ordered, not unkindly. Once I was on the bed, she pulled out a syringe of Med-X and jammed it into my leg. Very quickly, my entire body started to feel numb, and my thought’s started to become fuzzy. “Even with that, I imagine this is going to hurt a lot,” she announced, reaching for the bindings of my armor, which she deftly undid, “I’m sorry I can’t do anything more about it.”

She started to pull my barding off, and I couldn’t help but to cry out in pain as the broken steel plates were slowly pulled out of my back. I had use to think that getting shot hurt, since at least that pain was quick, but this was the kind of pain that kept dragging on as the plates dragged new furrows up my back and onto my neck, the barding too damaged for Suture to do anything else with it, and the remaining armor too thick for her to cut it off. As she worked, I could audibly hear the metal plates squelching as they were pulled free, each onr sending fresh rivulets of blood dripping down my side and neck.

By the time she was finally done, I was lying on the bed panting, tears streaming down my face from the intense pain, and practically bathing in my own blood. When I tried to move, I was overcome with a wave of agony that spread from my mauled back and simply whimpered, unable to manage anything else.

My armor discarded, Suture turned her attention back to me. Her sharp intake of breath told me just how bad it looked. “Princesses above, this looks worse than a simple bludgeoning. What the hell happened?”

“The fucker that had her pinned was using an axe. By the time I got there, he’d already rendered her completely defenseless,” Steel Curtain answered for me, “I’m just lucky that I managed to get there before he could swing the thing for the last time.”

Suture shook her head slowly as she accessed her Pipbuck, using it to pull out another syringe of Med-X, which she immediately gave me. The powerful painkiller forced the pain back, at last allowing me to catch my breath, but it wasn’t successful in blocking out even close to all of the pain that I was feeling.

“Ok, well at least now I can actually do something about the injury,” Suture said quietly, laying aside several different implements and various other supplies, “This might hurt a bit.”

The maroon mare started tending to the deep wounds, slowly cleaning them out and bandaging them up, refusing to use healing potions, claiming that they were too inefficient, and that natural healing would be the best course of action for this type of injury. Though she was trying to be gentle, the pain was nearly unbearable, even with the double dose of Med-X. It felt as though a red-hot spike was being driven into my back with every attempt she mad to clean out the wounds, rendering me almost incapable of thinking. The only thought I could truly manage was something along the lines of ‘Princesses please stop this fucking agony!’ My last thought before the pain finally rendered my unconscious was that I probably would have preferred to die over having to suffer this kind of agony.

When I finally woke, it was to the sound of a light rain coming down on the roof of the shack. I shifted experimentally, testing my movement, and was surprised when I felt almost no pain at all. All I really felt was a bit of tightness and soreness around the area where I had been injured, but nothing more than that.

Slowly, I pushed myself up so that I was propped up on my legs and was able to look around the room. The first pony I noticed was Suture, who was sleeping on the cot next to mine. Just by looking at her I could tell that she was completely passed out, which told me that she must have spent hours trying to piece me back together.

I scanned the room and noticed Heart Attack rooting through his cabinets, occasionally pulling out some container or other, which he was piling together in the center of the room, next to a set of old, chewed-up saddlebags. I felt my heart sink as I remembered that he was packing for the journey he would be taking today.

I watched him in silence for several minutes, noticing on my E.F.S. that nopony else was in the shack, simply trying to think of anything more I could say to try to dissuade him from this course of action. Ponies with his skills were rare, enough so that many towns would accept him without question, despite his checkered past. But as hard as I tried, I couldn’t think of a single thing to say to him. It was as he had said the day before: It was his choice to make, and nopony else’s. As much as I disliked that, I could respect it. After all, it was all I had wanted since I had left the camp and tried to forge a new life.

The old doctor turned around during his work, and finally noticed that I was up. “’Bout time you woke up, Ever. Back still hurting?” He asked, making his way over to me and taking a look at the bandages wrapped around my back. As he moved, it seemed to me that he was a bit more sluggish than usual, but his walking did seem to be straighter.

“It feels much better than I had expected,” I answered, looking up at him, “Especially given how much it hurt at the time. How long was I out?”

“About ten hours, give or take,” he answered, his voice sounding a bit strained, yet I couldn’t detect a single slurred word, which was awfully surprising.

“Heart Attack, are you actually sober?” I asked, not even making an attempt to hide the disbelief in my voice.

“For the first time in years,” he answered with a pained grin, “And let me tell you: it’s fucking hell. But this trip ain’t something I want to do with drink fogging up my head. If I’m going to do this, it needs to be done right.”

“Shit,” I said, unable to think of anything else to say. Heart Attack had been a part of the gang back when I had first joined, several years before I had risen to be the pony in charge. Not once in all of those years had I ever seen him sober, even for an hour.

“You’re telling me,” he scoffed with a toss of his head. He spent another few minutes checking over the bandages, reassuring me that everything was healing well, before starting to go back to his packing.

“So when did Suture finally finish working on me?” I asked, looking over at the sleeping mare, “I passed out rather quickly, and knowing her as well as I do, she wouldn’t quit until there wasn’t a thing left that she could do.”

Heart Attack stopped dead in his tracks and turned around, a confused look on his face. “Suture? Oh, you mean your friend who knows a bunch about medicine?” When I nodded, he answered, “I think she finally fell asleep about three hours ago. Apparently, there was a chance that your injuries could have been much more severe, since there were a bunch of sharp metal disks digging into your back. She cleaned out each individual wound, and then made sure that none of them had penetrated deep enough to actually damage your spine. That process took her hours.”

I shook my head slowly, simply astonished that she would use so much of her energy to make sure I was all right. “Shit, she needs to stop doing this to herself,” I muttered, slowly climbing to my hooves. I was a little shaky at first, but whatever it was that Suture had done left almost no residual pain, and all I needed was a few moments to gather my strength. I wouldn’t be up to full fighting condition today, but there also shouldn’t be a whole lot in our way between here and Mt. Hoof.

“What, burning herself out?” Heart Attack asked as he returned to rummaging through his cabinets, “As far as I can tell, it was worth it if it got you back on your hooves. This little group of yours is one devoted set of ponies. I’m actually surprised you got them all together, especially that big, armored Pegasus. How the hell did you get the loyalty of an Enclave soldier?”

“He’s not Enclave,” I answered automatically, “He deserted in protest to something their military was doing. I probably shouldn’t go into it, since you want to try to get above the clouds. And they aren’t devoted to me. They simply share some interests with me, or about me.”

“It doesn’t look like that from where I stand,” the doctor stated with a chuckle, “I’m telling you, Ever, those ponies would do almost anything for you, and I doubt some of them would even know why. Especially that angry young mare with the big rifle. Then again, I doubt that she knows why she does almost anything.”

I couldn’t accept a word of what Heart Attack was saying. Autumn Mist was along to make sure that I didn’t relapse to being a raider again. She had made that fact clear on several occasions. As for Steel Curtain, he simply shared my interest in securing the wasteland’s future for itself. Sure, he and I were friendly, but the others, Crosswire especially, still had their trust issues with him. Crosswire and Suture were the only two that I truly believed were entirely loyal to me, and Suture only because of how much I had helped, and was helping, her home.

“By the way, if you’re looking for the others, they went outside to salvage what they could from the camp,” Heart Attack continued, not reacting to my silence, “I think they’d like to see that you’re up and about.”

I nodded dumbly, hunting about for my barding, but couldn’t find it. Somepony must have taken it with them for some reason. So, without anywhere to put my weapons, I simply walked out without them, trusting that they would all be armed, and that if something went wrong, Steel Curtain would be able to react well enough to buy me time to grab a gun.

I stepped outside, discovering that the rain had let up to the point where it was just a light misting, meaning that our visibility had improved back to the point where we could at least see more than five feet past our noses. I immediately spotted Crosswire, who was sifting through a slowly growing pile of junk, pulling out random bits and pieces which he would occasionally strip down even farther, or just stash away into one of his many pockets or into his saddlebags. Sitting next to him was my barding, which appeared to be in mint condition, armor plating included.

I wandered over to his side and lifted the barding off the ground and started to inspect it for myself. With a careful eye I could tell where the patchwork had been done, but the buck had done a terrific job in getting it back up to combat strength. The only thing he hadn’t managed to repair was the red stain of my blood on the plates surrounding the patched pieces. “Wow, thanks for fixing this up for me, Crosswire,” I said, pushing the sight of that out of my mind and pulling it on, settling it so that it sat comfortably, “I can barely even tell that it was damaged!”

“Well, you know me,” he answered happily, “I don’t leave any job half-done. And it’s good to see you on your hooves again, Evergreen. I guess that injury of yours was more serious than we thought.”

“Seems that way,” I answered, perusing the junk pile, “So are Autumn and Steel Curtain just going around and grabbing whatever looks useful?” I asked, seeing everything in the pile from broken down weapons to scraps of torn barding.

“Pretty much, though almost all of it is total junk. Some of these guns aren’t even good for salvaging parts. I’d forgotten just how bad this gang was at maintaining its gear. I’m starting to be surprised that they even had anything to shoot us with at all.”

“I’d always been wondering about that, even when we were still here. You could only ever do so much, Crosswire. Even yours and my guns weren’t in the best condition,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” the grey buck pointed out as Autumn Mist and Steel Curtain approached with more junk. Autumn Mist had deposited her rifle somewhere, making it easier for her to carry more, but her levitation skills made it very easy for her to carry several large containers of various bits of salvage. Steel Curtain had pulled the wing sheaths off of his armor, probably for the same reason, as well as the fact that it seemed unusually warm out today, even though it was still fairly early in the year. Once they had deposited their loads, they practically ran to where Crosswire and I were standing, both with large grins plastered on their faces.

“Evergreen, you’re finally up! Suture was up for hours, and some of the things she was saying had us worried!” Autumn exclaimed, coming up to me and wrapping a hoof around my neck in an impulsive hug.

I was taken aback by the sudden gesture, but still managed to reach up to return it and answered, “Yeah, Heart Attack was just telling me that my injuries must have been far more severe than we thought if Suture had to work that hard on them. I’m just thankful that she managed to fix all the damage. I can’t imagine what I would have done if there had been something permanent!”

“You’re telling us that!” Steel Curtain exclaimed, “You’re the one with the plan, Evergreen. We’re just following along and helping out.”

“That’s not true!” I protested, “All of you have had a lot of influence in what we do. I’m just the spokespony.”

“Believe what you want, Evergreen, but this is your mission. Sure, we share our opinions on things from time to time, but the jobs are being offered to you, not us,” Autumn argued with a chuckle that did nothing to take away from the seriousness of the comment.

I looked from one to the other, seeing the same stubborn agreement in all of their expressions, and sighed in exasperation. “I’m not going to be able to convince any of you otherwise, am I?” I asked.

“Nope,” Crosswire answered with a mischievous smile, “So you better get used to it, boss.”

“Please, Crosswire, don’t call me that. There are too many bad memories connected to that word for me, including the way I was treated by a lot of ponies, especially yourself,” I pleaded. Luckily for me, he understood.

He nodded solemnly, the smile fading from his face as he thought about what I meant. “Sorry, Evergreen. I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s fine. Now, Since Suture is still sleeping, we might as well finish up this salvage job. Crosswire, you’re the one in charge of this. Tell me what you need, and I’ll help find it,” I announced, steering the conversation away from those thoughts.

The buck immediately perked up, pushing the memories aside and answered, “Anything and everything that looks the least bit useful. I’ll sift through it and pick out the bits and pieces that I can actually use. I imagine that Autumn Mist and Steel Curtain have already grabbed most of it, but there has to be a bit more out there.”

I nodded resolutely and turned to the other two. “Well, you two know where you’ve been, so point me somewhere you haven’t checked yet.”

“We haven’t really gotten to the southwestern quarter of the camp yet,” Autumn said, “We were just about to head over there.”

“Sounds good,” I answered, smiling, and joined them as they made their way to that end of the camp.

We spent the next three hours going over the camp with a fine-toothed comb, pulling out any scrap of machinery, metal, or fabric that we might be able to use for any purpose, and piling them up for Crosswire to filter. In the end, we had a respectable pile of salvage that we could use to both refit and repair our own gear, as well as trade with various settlements. Carrying all of it would be difficult, but if we planned carefully, we should be able to divide it amongst ourselves fairly evenly.

As we were finishing that job, which ended up with me carrying almost a third of the salvage, since I had so little else in my saddlebags, Suture came wandering out of the shack, followed by Heart Attack. Though she still looked tired, she also appeared to be in good spirits.

“I see you lot have been busy,” she announced as she joined us, eyeing our bulging saddlebags wearily, then noticing the small pile we still had left to give to her, “I’m guessing I need to carry that?”

“It’s barely an eighth of the whole load,” Autumn Mist explained, “Since you’re carrying most of our medical supplies already.”

“Well, it’s nice to see that I was considered,” Suture answered, smiling, “I’m also going to guess that we’re leaving shortly?”

I nodded. “Yeah, we’ve already wasted enough time here, and there’s still a good distance for us to go. If we’re lucky, and don’t run into any obstacles on our way, we should still be able to make it to Mt. Hoof before it gets too dark.”

“Fair enough. And I’m going to assume that nothing is hurting since you’re out here moving heavy loads around?” she asked, eying me carefully.

I nodded vigorously. “Yup, everything feels great. You did a terrific job, Suture. Thank you,” I answered as sincerely as I could.

The mare watched me for a moment for nodding, a satisfied expression on her face. “Thanks for letting me sleep, then. I know how much you hate traveling at night,” the medic said, handing me my weapons and saddlebags that I had left inside, then moving over to the pile of salvage and quickly packing that, letting her Pipbuck’s inventory spell even everything out efficiently. As she did that, Autumn Mist retrieved her rifle and Steel Curtain reattached his wing sheaths, fluttering his wings a bit to settle them back into place.

Before long, we were all loaded up and ready to go. As a group, the six of us set out from the camp, heading out the trail that would take us to the main road that cut through the mountains. For me, it was the first time I had walked out of that gate with peaceful intentions, and it was also hopefully the last time I would ever need to walk out. In my mind, I put stepping out of that gate as the splitting point between the life I had used to live and the life I was now trying to live.

Heart Attack traveled with us as far as the main road, where he pointed out which mountain he was going to head towards. It was a peak that looked to be almost a full day’s walk away, but it was also the closest one whose summit was hidden by the clouds.

“I’m not going to try to stop you anymore,” I said to the old doctor, “I’ve accepted that this is your decision. But I am going to tell you to be careful. If you’re still willing to do one last thing for somepony, let it be this: Make your dream a reality, for all of us down here. If a wasteland pony can fulfill their dream, it will be an example to everypony else down here. They will know that their dreams are worth following, and if enough ponies start to believe that, then maybe we’ll have a shot at a good future.”

Heart Attack looked at me with a determined expression, every line of his body showing his intention to make it just as far as his body would allow. “I think I can manage that, Evergreen. And thank you for giving this old pony one last chance to make something of himself.”

I nodded silently, unable to find any more words. Everything worth saying had already been said, and everypony knew it.

Heart Attack briefly said his good-byes, mainly to me and Crosswire, then turned and walked off, heading west towards the distant peak and the setting sun. The five of us watched him until he disappeared behind a bend in the trail. After a few more moments of silence, we finally resumed our own journey, each of us lost in our own thoughts.

Mine were focused on Heart Attack. Throughout my years in the gang, he had never distinguished himself as anypony special in my eyes. He had simply been the drunkard that happened to know enough medicine to stitch us up after a particularly tough raid. Now, I had seen just how different he had been, and I was starting to think that maybe every single pony in the wasteland had this potential in them, if only they were willing to give it a chance. Unfortunately, there were so many ponies in the wasteland that had simply given up on their dreams that I doubted that anything could ever get most of them to believe again.

It was our dreams that gave us direction in life, that gave us a reason to get up in the morning, struggle through the day, and work to find somewhere safe to lay our heads at night. Suture had been the one to teach me that simple survival was not a dream worthy of being followed, and that how a pony follows their dream is just as important as having one. Now Heart Attack had taught me that choosing to pursue that dream, against any risk, is sometimes even more important than taking the sure path to survival. He had shown me that taking the path that guaranteed life could easily drive a pony away from what was important, and drag them into a life that left them as an empty shell, much as he had been before we had returned to the camp and given him the chance to make his choice.

At least now I could say that I had a dream, and it was no longer anything as simple as securing my own survival, or even the survival of my friends, though I would certainly give my life if it would save theirs. My dream now was ensuring that every single pony in the wasteland had the chance to choose their own future, and that they would have a chance to live in a world where every single day wasn’t a struggle for survival. I wanted to see a world where ponies could live for their dreams, and not just their lives. If there was anything worth fighting and dying for, it had to be that.

I was so engrossed in my own thoughts that I didn’t notice the various red bars appearing in my E.F.S. Snapping myself back to reality, I motioned for us to stop, then turned myself about, keeping a careful eye on both my surroundings as well as my E.F.S. The former was a narrow trail that was winding its way between to rather tall ridges, probably three times as tall as I was, meaning that we were basically walking through a box canyon. The latter was positively riddled with red bars, in every direction.

“Shit, ready your weapons everypony,” I announced, reaching for Hammer as a roar I had heard only a few times before echoed around us. It sounded as though it was coming from far away, but I knew better from listening to the stories told by the older members of the gang. Manticores were particularly good at making it hard to tell where they were coming from. “We’re surrounded.”

Level Up!
Quest Perk Gained – Story of a Broken Heart – The recovery of your journal grants you a greater understanding of your past, increasing your mental willpower.
Perk Gained – Quick Striker – All attacks with melee weapons are 20% faster.
Skill Note: Melee (50)

{I apologize greatly for the great delay in getting this chapter out. With the combination of finals and my computer dying the day I moved back home from college, there were a good two weeks where absolutely no progress was made. Thankfully, my computer has been repaired, and I am settling into a good routine to get writing done at home during the summer (not easy, considering how busy I’ve been.) Everything should be getting back to a normal now! I made this chapter a little shorter, both to end the long hiatus on updates, and because I wanted the next plot elements to be in the next chapter, rather than this one. As always, thanks to Kkat for writing the original Fallout: Equestria, and thank you to my wonderful editors, Cody and MUCKSTER, for bearing with me (and badgering me these last couple weeks). Also as always, I have the hub page for the story here.}

Chapter Nine: Old Lessons

Fallout Equestria: Redemption
Author: Cooperdawg
Chapter Nine: Old Lessons
“Sometimes you need to look back in order to move forward.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” I swore loudly as I ripped Hammer from its holster and started dancing around in circles, trying to keep all of the red bars of my E.F.S. in sight at once, “We need a goddamn miracle! Steel Curtain, get in the air and keep an eye out! We’ve got a fuck-ton of manticores looking for an easy meal!”

The armored Pegasus nodded smartly, then shot into the air, twisting about so that he could do a wide sweep of our immediate surroundings. I kept my eye on him for just long enough to be sure that he was looking in the right direction before tearing myself away to face the rest of my friends.

“Crosswire and Autumn Mist, get your guns ready, we’re going to need them. Crosswire, I want you to watch for the fuckers that are getting too close for comfort, along with me. I’m going to assume that once Steel Curtain finds a group, he’ll be making sure to keep his fire a good distance from us. Autumn, I want you to pick off anything that looks like it’s trying to flank us. Keep your head on a fucking swivel, all right?” I ordered quickly. Just as I finished speaking, another roar tore through the wasteland, this one much closer than the previous had been.

Both ponies nodded quickly at my orders and pulled out their weapons, making themselves ready to fight for our lives, and this was going to be a close one. “What do you want me to do?” Suture asked, nervously shifting from side to side as her eyes darted about our surroundings, her pupils fully dilated in sheer terror.

“Stay alive. That 9mm of yours isn’t going to do shit against these guys,” Crosswire ordered, “Their hide is far too thick. If you can, find a good nook or cranny to hide in, and try to not draw their attention. We should be making more than enough noise.”

The maroon medic shot the tech a terrified glance, then looked to me. “Evergreen, are you sure there isn’t anything I can do to help?”

I paused for just a moment in my preparations, which at this point mostly consisted of tearing through my inventory on my Pipbuck, searching for anything that could help us in this fight. So far, the only two useful things I had managed to find were a pair of frag grenades, which wasn’t much for this fight. “Well, Crosswire was right, Suture. A 9mm isn’t going to do a whole lot against a manticore except piss it off. Your best bet would be to do as he suggests and try to stay out of sight. We’ll take care of them.”

“Evergreen, in case you forgot, I have a Pipbuck as well, and I can see how many there are! If they are as dangerous as you suggest, you aren’t going to be able to fight them off!” Suture exclaimed, a panicked tone creeping into her voice.

I swore quietly to myself, mostly because I had forgotten that the medic had a Pipbuck. Since she didn’t use it as Autumn Mist and I did, it was an easy detail to overlook. “Fine, you’re right, Suture, we aren’t going to win, not if we try to drive them off with a show of force,” I answered, and then was interrupted by a howl that seemed to be right on top of us. Instead of finishing my thought, I turned towards the source of the sound and came almost face-to-snout of one of the largest manticores I had ever seen.

I pulled the trigger out of pure reflex, sending a round slamming into the Manticore, but since I hadn’t aimed properly, all it did was clip the beast’s side, rather than taking it out with a clean headshot. All the same, the monster reared back, roaring in pain, giving me time to turn around and start sprinting in the opposite direction.

“RUN!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, leading, or so I hoped, my friends back the way we had come, looking desperately for some sort of formation we’d be able to use to take away the manticores’ advantage in numbers.

We charged along the mountain path, multiple roars and howls now following after us, along with the sound of clawed paws scrabbling against the rock as the monsters chased after us. Just as the last red bar disappeared from my sight, leading me to believe that we had slipped the noose, something slammed into me from behind, sending me tumbling to the ground with a shout of surprise.

When I finally came to a stop, I was lying flat on my back, staring up into the face of the manticore I had shot. The monster showed absolutely no hint of being hurt, instead, it looked pissed. Over its shoulder I could see its tail slowly drifting back and forth, the scorpion stinger on its end always pointed right at me.

I growled from deep in the back of my throat and tried to shift my body to get my revolver up and against its head. Just as I got the barrel jammed against its throat and was about to pull the trigger, the distinctive rattle of Steel Curtain’s miniguns echoed throughout the wasteland and the manticore shuddered violently as it soaked up the bullets, then collapsed to the side, dead.

I wasted no time in getting back up on my hooves and charging away from the body, especially since I got the chance to see what was coming after me. At least a dozen manticores were chasing after us, forcing themselves to fit on the narrow mountain trail where they could get the most speed. Luckily for us, it also fed them into a bottleneck.

“Evergreen, over here!” I heard Crosswire shout at me from somewhere off to my left. Without even thinking about it, I veered off in that direction, trusting the buck to be leading me somewhere safe.

Very shortly, I found him perched atop a small outcrop of rock, with Autumn half-sitting next to him, peering through the scope of her rifle. “This is your brilliant defensive position?” I called out as I struggled up to side of the rock, being dragged up the last foot by both Crosswire and Suture.

“Can you find anything better on short notice?” he shot back, releasing me as soon as I was up and floating his SMG back to a usable position.

Before I could come up with a response, I was nearly deafened when Autumn Mist fired her rifle, barely a foot away from the side of my head. I turned to yell at the mare to watch out for ponies next to her, but thought better of it when I saw the mass of manticores that were nearly on top of us.

I slipped into S.A.T.S. and took a moment to simply take a look at everything approaching us. I could see ten manticores directly in front of me, with a few others that seemed to be trying to circle around to come up at us from the sides, not an ideal situation to be in. Taking a brief moment to catch my breath, I lined up three shots to the manticore closest to me, setting two rounds to hit it in the chest, and the last in the head. Hopefully I would learn that I wouldn’t need that many shots to take down just one of the creatures.

Time snapped back to reality as the rounds fired. To my horror, I discovered that the three rounds weren’t even close to enough, as the round meant to strike the monster in the head flew wide and it barreled down towards us, making a line straight for me.

Before it could reach me, a staccato of gunfire from Crosswire intercepted it, sending it tumbling to the side in its haste to get away from the stream of gunfire. I could tell by watching it, however, that it was simply wounded, and was by no means out of the fight.

Autumn Mist fired her rifle again, taking down another manticore with a perfectly placed headshot. “Are you two going to help me, or what?” she growled as she took careful aim at one of the monsters trying to flank us, then fired again, sending the manticore tumbling to the ground where it skidded for at least five feet before finally coming to a stop in an expanding pool of its own blood.

“We’re trying! These things can soak up a fuck-ton of damage!” Crosswire growled as he reloaded his SMG, only to empty it again into the body of a charging monster.

I fired the last three rounds of Hammer into the same manticore that Crosswire was targeting, which finally succeeded in putting the thing down, then reloaded the revolver as quickly as I could, scanning around us the entire time, which was when I noticed something that truly terrified me.

The manticores were no longer charging straight at us. Instead, they were running loops around our small outcrop of rock, moving fast enough to make Autumn Mist miss every other shot that she fired, and surrounding us so completely that I knew there was no way in hell we were going to be getting out in one piece without some sort of miracle.

They knew that we were trapped, and all it would be was a matter of time until we made a mistake. Now, it was no longer a hunt for them, but just a matter of time. They would bait us, make us think we had a clear path out, but the moment we tried to take it, the noose would tighten, and we would all be nothing more than another meal.

I cast about desperately, searching for something that would give us a clear path out. As I was searching, my eyes settled on the small box canyon that we had been walking through when the manticores had appeared, and an idea came to me. I tossed my head about, staring at the sky while searching for a familiar black form. I finally spotted the Pegasus and gestured wildly for him to come down to us.

Within moments, Steel Curtain was hovering just beside us, the barrels of his weapons spinning fast enough that it seemed like one solid piece. “Things aren’t looking good, Evergreen, and there’s only so much I can do!” he shouted down at me.

“I know!” I shouted back, “but here’s what I need from you! I need you to clear a path back to the canyon, and keep them off of us long enough so we can get through! I have a plan to get us out of this mess!”

The Pegasus looked from the canyon and back to me. “Are you sure about that?” he asked, the look on his face telling me that he thought I was completely out of my mind.

I nodded vigorously, slamming Hammer’s cylinder closed again. “It’s that or we die here,” I stated simply, “Now GO!”

Steel Curtain hesitated for a split second, an odd expression on his face. Then, his expression hardened, he nodded curtly, and took off into the sky, flying out beyond the ring of manticores surrounding us and towards the box canyon before arcing around to sweep the monsters between us and the trail.

“This had better work,” Crosswire growled as he chambered a round into his freshly loaded SMG.

“You’re telling me,” I answered, just as Steel Curtain made his pass, strafing a half dozen manticores with the stream of lead from his weapons, and providing us with an opening that would hopefully be enough to get us where we needed to be.

We took off from our position, running at a dead sprint and firing at the manticores that were nipping at our hooves. Autumn Mist was even managing to fire with some degree of accuracy with her rifle, despite the speed we were running at. Steel Curtain made another pass, buying us a few feet of space from the predators as they recoiled from his weapons, and then another, which opened up almost a dozen feet between us and them.

It was then that we started through the box canyon, which was narrow enough that the manticores would have to follow one at a time, and that was hoping that they wouldn’t simply go around.

As we neared the far end, I slowed my pace so that I was the last in our line, needing to be there for my plan to work. Just as Crosswire and Autumn Mist cleared the far end of the canyon, I skidded to a stop, reaching into my saddlebags.

“Evergreen, what the fuck are you doing!” Crosswire shouted, sounding almost panicked, “Get your ass out of there!”

“Saving our hides,” I muttered under my breath as I pulled out the pair of grenades I had, yanked out the stems, and tossed them into the canyon, where they landed almost exactly at the feet of a charging manticore, barely five feet away from me.

Once the grenades were free, I turned and started to run, hoping my friends would have my back, but I didn’t make it far before the grenades exploded, sending shrapnel pinging off of my armor and biting into my exposed rear legs. I tumbled to the ground to land at Suture’s hooves, panting in pain and struggling to stand again.

I heard Autumn’s rifle fire repeatedly over the deafening explosion, hopefully eliminating the few manticores that had managed to make it through the blast. “We need to get the fuck out of here! They’re still coming!” Crosswire shouted, coming up to my side and dragging me back to my hooves.

“But she’s injured!” Suture argued, “We need to get that shrapnel out, or it could become infected!”

“Not in the middle of a fight! Evergreen bought us the time we need to get out of here, now we need to move!” the tech shouted back, then turned so he was staring me in the face, an angry look in his eye, “Can you still run, brilliant leader?”

I nodded weakly, still panting. “If it means I get to live, then yeah, I can run.”

His expression of anger didn’t change at all at my answer. His only indication that he had heard me at all was a barely perceptible nod. He let me go and turned to run down the trail, pushing Autumn Mist to let the young mare know that the time for shooting was long since passed.

The four of us thundered down the trail, with Steel Curtain occasionally coming into sight ahead of us as he circled around, strafing the manticores from time to time to maintain the lead that my stupid stunt had bought us.

“I think you missed that chance for a hug!” Crosswire shouted at me as we ran, a classic example of his poor attempt at humor, which only ever seemed to surface during life-or-death situations.

“You know what, Crosswire. I think I’m okay with that! Now would you shut up and save your breath for running!” I shouted back, lowering my head in an attempt to get more speed.

We ran for what seemed like hours, charging down the sparse mountain trail, the manticores never very far behind us, occasionally gaining enough that we would need to stop and fight for a few moments, just to ensure that they weren’t gaining too much ground. If it weren’t for Steel Curtain, our escape would have been ended almost before it began. It was his ability to sweep through the advancing manticores and drive them to cover with the power of his miniguns that kept us ahead, but there was still only so much the one Pegasus could manage. The brief moments he took to reload his weapons were the most terrifying. It was then that we usually had to turn and fight them off. Without the support of Steel Curtain’s guns, we wouldn’t have stood a chance.

Our only hope was that the Mt. Hoof settlement was closer than we thought, and that the ponies there would be willing to help a group in need. At least we were running in the right direction…

Our fatigue was beginning to tell on us, as I had expected it would. I noticed it first when we started having to fight with more frequency, which told me one thing: we were starting to slow down. Every time we had to resume running, it seemed harder, and my body was beginning to protest to being driven as hard as it was, especially with the shrapnel still embedded in my hindquarters. I had pushed the pain out of my mind as best as I could, but the repeated motion of running was beginning to bring that pain back to the forefront of my mind.

I knew that there was no way that we would have been able to keep up our pace for as long as we needed to get away from these monsters, but I had hoped that we would be able to keep it up for long enough. Instead, it seemed as though our mission was doomed to die an early death, all the way out here at the claws of some manticores simply looking for a meal.

It was just as I was sure that my legs were going to give out that I heard a clap of thunder tear through the wasteland, followed by what sounded like an entire army opening fire at the same time. I couldn’t help but to stop dead in my tracks and turn my head around, searching for the source of the noise, or, failing that, find whatever it was that was being shot at.

I found the latter first, which happened to be the dozen manticores that were still following us, except, instead of charging after us, they were faltering, many of them turning and breaking back down the path we had come, but not very many made it that far. Instead, they were being gunned down by weapons of almost unbelievable power, a combination of heavy weapons and beam weapons that simply shredded the monsters, leaving behind a field of total destruction.

By the time the shooting finally ceased, my ears were ringing loud enough that I couldn’t even hear my own voice, and I was sitting on the cold, hard ground, too exhausted to even get up again. I turned my gaze to search out whoever it had been that had saved us, and my eyes fell on a sight I had not expected to see: a group of five ponies, all dressed in some of the most impressive armor I had ever seen. These ponies were no mere wastelanders; they had to be members of the Steel Rangers. There simply was no other way they could get their hooves on that kind of armor and firepower.

“You… you saved us. Thank you,” I panted, “We would never have made it without your help.”

“We didn’t do it to help you,” the pony in the center of the formation grunted, presumably the leader of this patrol. His armor was equipped with a pair of massive barrels, probably grenade launchers, or very high caliber weapons. “We stepped in because your idiocy lured an entire pack of manticores to our doorstep. And since secrecy is our only defense here, we can’t allow you to leave.” He turned to look at the four ponies beside him, “Take them back to the Outpost, separate them, and lock them up. The Elder will decide what to do with them, especially that one.” He nodded his head pointedly in Crosswire’s direction.

At that moment, Steel Curtain landed in front of us, facing down the full patrol of armed and armored Steel Rangers, miniguns already spun up. “I’m not going to let you simply take my companions captive,” he growled, lowering himself into a fighting stance.

The leader of the patrol stared the Dashite down, or at least that’s what I assumed he was doing behind his helmet, then laughed raucously. “Do you really think you can take all five of us, Enclave?”

“Yes,” Steel Curtain answered bluntly.

“Huh. Feather-brained idiot,” The leader stated as he kicked some control on his armor, which cause a lot of other noise from inside his armor. Then his weapons fired, engulfing Steel Curtain in bolts of streaking, blue lightning and rendering him completely immobile as it overloaded the power supply of his armor. “Spark rounds. You idiots have your heads so far in the clouds that you forget they exist. Get him back with the others, but strip his armor as well.”

“Wait, you can’t just…” I started, but was quickly cut off as the lead buck approached me and silenced me with a kick to the head that made my vision break out in stars.

“You are the one that led manticores to us. For all we know, you meant to do so. Even worse, you travel with an exile. You have no position to make demands of us,” he growled at me, his voice filled with anger. I could easily envision his eyes boring into mine, broiling with rage, “Now I suggest that you don’t resist. Accidents are known to happen to ponies that do.”

He quickly and efficiently bound my hooves with a length of cord and hoisted me onto his back, then did the same to Suture. To carry both of us this easily, this buck must have been enormously strong. The other four ponies did the same thing with the others, though it took two of them to lift and carry the immobilized Steel Curtain.

I tried to keep my gaze focused on where we were headed, but the bulk of the buck’s armor, as well as the sheer featurelessness of the mountains and my exhaustion, made it a near impossible task. Despite my efforts, I was soon passing out from sheer fatigue.

When I finally came to, I was alone. I pushed myself up into a sitting position and cast about, looking for anything that would identify where I was. I quickly learned that I was in a small, dark room, outfitted with only a simple bed, where I was lying, and some basic toilet facilities. The door that led out into wherever was large and made entirely of metal. I stood up from the bed to go inspect it, and found out, to no surprise, that it was completely sealed.

I sighed and returned to the bed to take stock of my situation. My barding was gone, along with my weapons and saddle-bags, which included the Messaging Crystal that I was supposed to be bringing to the Mt. Hoof settlement, which I now knew this was. I was being held prisoner by these ponies for presumably leading a pack of manticores to their home, and for traveling with Crosswire, who was an exile, and Steel Curtain, since the Enclave was one of their sworn enemies from the sound of things. On the plus side, it seemed that my injuries had been tended to.

Unfortunately, a short search of my cell turned up nothing useful that I could use, and I was left only with the hope that my friends weren’t being mistreated, and that one of them had a better opportunity to act than I did. All I could do now was sit, wait, and hope that somepony would come soon to talk to me and let me explain the situation. Of course, that was assuming that they were willing to listen to anything I had to say.

With none of my possessions on me, I was left with nothing but my thoughts to occupy my time, and they quickly turned to all of the recent events I had faced alongside my friends. The most obvious thought was that Crosswire had once been a member of the Steel Rangers, which I guess explained his technical prowess with anything that happened to have moving parts.

The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense, even became obvious. He had always said that his home had extremely strict rules, and the Steel Raners certainly fit that description, enough so that I could believe that they would exile somepony for a simple theft.

Of course, thinking of Crosswire led my thoughts down the path that I had firmly shunted off to the side a few days ago, when I had been thinking about the potential that ponies had, and how that potential changed when they were forced into a certain life, rather than being able to choose their own. I had thought about how many ponies might have become great, or at least had a chance at being somepony better, had they either simply been allowed to live or get out from under the hoof of their masters, but now, after having fought the raiders under Crackshot, I started thinking about the other half of that train of thought. How many ponies would become much worse, especially in our world, if given half a shot at being able to do so. I had met hundreds of deranged and crazed ponies that reveled in bloodshed, and they had never struck me as the sort that would take the opportunity to become better. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

Many of those ponies were the kind that I always kept a special eye on, because I knew that they would take advantage of the smallest opportunity to create as much chaos as they could, so long as they could sate their own sadistic bloodlust. To combat that, I would usually give them the worst jobs, like guarding the camp while others went out on raids, just to try to keep their violence in check.

All of this put together meant that maybe ponies wouldn’t change at all if given different opportunities. All I had to do to find an example was to look at myself. Sure, I had become a raider for several years, but I had never been happy doing it. It took a pony forcing me to reassess my entire life by giving me a view of the life my parents had wanted to make me realize that that was where I belonged, and now I was finally beginning to find some happiness again.

It was a very disheartening thought, to be sure, but that didn’t mean that I could simply forget about it. I had to hold on to the hope that there were other ponies out there that wanted a different life than the one they had been dealt, just like I did. Sure, there would be ponies that have given up all hope at a better tomorrow, and it would be up to me to prove to them that it could still happen.

All I had to do was overcome the countless obstacles in my path. Obstacles like Greymane and the other mercenaries working for Seahawk, like the ones we had fought outside of Buckview. Then there was that other mercenary that Starshine had mentioned: that Griffin, Mareina, and the Griffin mercenary group that she led, the Razor Wings. Then there was Seahawk himself, as well as the underlings that were leaving orders for Greymane and Mareina, like whatever pony had left the dead drop for Greymane in the Ironshod factory. I could tentatively add the ponies here at Mt. Hoof as well, considering the way we were being treated. Finally, there were the countless raiders and gangers that called the wasteland home.

It was a tall order, against enemies that were much better equipped, and prepared, than I was. The only real challenge I had needed to face so far was the fight against Greymane, and he had rather easily beaten us, mostly thanks to that technology he had that protected him from our attacks. Knowing that Mareina had a similar standing in Seahawk’s hierarchy didn’t do much to reassure me, especially given the warning Starshine had given us about her. What little I had heard about Griffins already led me to believe that they were ferocious fighters. That one had distinguished herself as being better than most did not bode well for me.

I was in the position of just living from day to day, tackling my problems as they came, with only a general idea of what I wanted to accomplish, but I had no real plan of how to do it. I was simply hoping that something would come along with all the answers, some sort of kill-switch that would solve all of my problems and make the wasteland into what I envisioned, but I was starting to realize that I was sorely underestimating what it would take. Problems were not fixed with the single push of a button.

I didn’t have a clue what kind of resources Seahawk had at his disposal, beyond a rough estimate of what kind of forces he had at his disposal, but that said nothing about weapons, supplies, or locations. I literally knew almost nothing about what he, or she, was capable of. Hell, I didn’t even know what fucking gender the bastard was.

I was going to have to start planning ahead, and make sure that I was actually working towards what I wanted to accomplish. Luckily, I had a small start with Millberry and Metro. Then, if Starshine held true to his promise, we would have the aid of him and his Dashites. Finally, there were the ghouls that were heading west from Stable 60, who, even if they couldn’t provide much in the way of militant help, could at least help us with whatever machinery and technology we needed.

I was definitely off to a good start, but my only goal so far had been to finish the jobs I had been given. Now, I needed to make sure that these places were actually willing to help against Seahawk. Going and talking to Shooting Star was definitely the best way to start on that. He could easily spread the news around the wasteland about Seahawk. All I needed to do to that end was get out of here.

And that was where my problem was. I was trapped, held prisoner by a group that had attacked one of my friends, exiled another, and was blaming me for simply trying to survive. With that kind of a track record, I would need a miracle to get out of this mess alive. At least I still had my Pipbuck…

The door slid open with the sound of escaping steam and I snapped my head to the opening to see who was coming to speak to me. A pony walked into the room, and I knew from the barrels attached to the armor that it was the pony that had been in charge of the patrol that had saved our lives, except now he had his helmet off. He was a dark red in color, contrasting sharply with his stark white mane. His expression was severe, making me fear what was going to come next.

Once he was inside the room, the door slid closed again and sealed with an audible thud, letting me know in no uncertain terms that I was not leaving unless they wanted me to. The armored buck stood in stony silence for several moments, simply watching me. I could feel his gaze sizing me up, taking in every little detail he could, but I knew he was looking for threats or tells, not admiring my flank.

“So, I’m guessing you were thinking that we wouldn’t know who you are, Ever? Leader of the raider gang to our north?” he stated harshly, his voice giving absolutely no quarter.

Oh, fuck, this wasn’t good. Now I was well and truly buried if I had to convince them that I wasn’t a raider, on top of everything else. “Well, for starters, I wasn’t expecting you lot to be this close to that camp,” I said, “But I’m also not connected to that place anymore. Made sure of that yesterday.”

“Is that so?” the buck asked sarcastically, “Because this is what I saw: A dirty pony in scarred and bloodstained barding, charging at our bunker, leading a pack of ravenous manticores right to our doorstep. You were accompanied by none other than Crosswire, an exile tossed out for theft and assault, as well as one of the most unmanageable young mares I have ever laid eyes on. Throw in an insanely reckless, probably disgraced, Enclave soldier, and everything points to you being a raider, Ever. The only reason you’re alive at all is because the Elder wants answers out of you.”

“Where does Suture fit in to you neat little theory, then?” I demanded, my anger getting the better of me, “She doesn’t fit the raider stereotype in any fucking way! And don’t you dare say that we were forcing her to be there. Any idiot with eyes could see that she wanted to be with us.”

“I’m guessing that you are referring to the maroon mare with the blue mane?” The buck asked with a raised eyebrow, “The answer is rather simple. She was cast out from whatever town she came from, and somehow found her way to you. A raider would never let a skilled medic go.”

I shook my head slowly, unable to believe how dense this idiot of a buck could be. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I growled, “I mean, seriously? Who the fuck would toss Suture out on her tail? Have you even talked to her? There is no pony more devoted to her home than she is! She’s the fucking doctor from Metro! She’s traveling with me because I’m working for them, as a mercenary!”

“Likely story. I bet all of your so-called ‘friends’ are going to tell the same one?” the buck asked, his lips curling up in a victorious smile.

“No shit they’re going to say the same thing. It’s the fucking truth!” I yelled, “What the fuck do I have to do to prove that? Did you even look through my bags?”

At that question, the buck’s grin vanished and his severe frown returned. “We did, and everything we found points to you being a raider. An absolutely ridiculous amount of caps, obviously taken from a caravan, not to mention an incredible amount of scrap junk, electronics, and components, no doubt Crosswire’s that he stripped from anything that came within reach. And finally, something that belongs to us.”

“Something that I was being paid to deliver,” I shot back, “If you don’t believe me, send a fucking messenger to Metro to talk to Mallet. He’ll confirm everything, guaranteed.”

“You know as well as I do that that isn’t going to happen. We survive because nopony knows where we are, and we intend for it to stay that way. Besides, that particular object was meant to be in our possession over a week ago. Why would Metro’s mayor delay?”

I sighed heavily, finally managing to cool some of my anger off. “Because when the first caravan was headed this way, I was still a raider. One of my raiding parties hit that caravan and brought me the Crystal. Since then, I have left the gang behind, went to Metro, and gave them the Crystal back. After doing some work for them, Mallet decided to give me the job of bringing it down here. There is no more honest answer than that one,” I said, hoping that the buck would actually listen to me.

“So you admit to attacking a caravan carrying materials meant for us?” the buck asked harshly.

“What? Yes, I ordered a raid, but how the fuck was I supposed to know where it was going? That was before I figured a bunch of shit out! I’m a completely different pony now!” I snapped, getting to my hooves and standing defiantly before the armored Pegasus. I was angry enough that I didn’t care that he could easily paint the walls with me without even breaking a sweat.

“Do you want me to tell you how many times I’ve heard a pony say that, Ever?” he growled, lowering himself slightly, as though he expected me to charge him.

“My name is Evergreen!” I shouted, then did exactly as he expected. I didn’t give a shit that it would simply make my situation worse. I was standing here arguing with a buck that refused to listen to a single word that came out of my mouth. I was just hoping that some cranial trauma would finally get my point across.

In the split second before I reached the buck, I saw a hint of surprise in the buck’s eyes. He obviously hadn’t expected to hear what I had just said. Unfortunately, the surprise wasn’t nearly enough to buy me the advantage I needed.

The buck twisted his body, letting me slam into one of the barrels hanging off his armor, rather than hitting his head as I had intended, then spun around to fling me into the wall. I hit hard, the air being driven from my lungs as I collapsed on the ground. I struggled to my hooves and turned to face the buck, who was bearing slowly down on me, a conflicted look on his face.

As he approached, the conflicted look disappeared and was replaced by one of determination. I was finally back on my hooves and prepared to do whatever I could to defend myself, but I was sorely unprepared for the power contained in his buck as he twisted around on reaching me and kicked.

The first blow sent me back into the wall, once again driving out what little air I had managed to breathe back in. Before I could stand, he rested a hoof on my side, much as I had done to Crackshot the day everything had begun, except the strength behind his stance was many times greater than anything I could manage. “What did you say?” he growled at me, his face twisted in anger, but with hints of confusion.

“My name… is Evergreen,” I panted, wincing under the pressure of his hoof, “Not Ever. I’m not… a fucking raider.”

“I need to tell the Elders about this development. You had better re-think how to treat your hosts,” the buck snapped, then kicked me in the head, hard enough for the dark of unconsciousness claim me.

My head was pounding terribly when I finally came to. A quick check of my Pipbuck told me that I had been unconscious for almost two hours. I slowly rose to my hooves, holding my pounding head with one, and made my way to the bed, where I lay down. It was a gross understatement to say that things were not going well for me. At least it seemed like I had managed to surprise the bastard into needing to actually speak with his superiors before killing me.

I lay down on the bed, hoping that I would get a chance to recover before having to defend myself again. Unfortunately, that chance was not going to come as the door opened once again. I rolled over onto my side so that I could get a glimpse of who was walking in, and was surprised to see an aging Earth Pony mare, rather than the armored red buck from before. She had a light orange hide with a dark green mane liberally streaked with grey. Her cutie mark was covered underneath a mass of flowing blue robes.

“I apologize for your treatment at the hooves of Star Paladin Apple Crisp. He can be rather… severe with strangers,” the mare stated, walking far enough into the room so the door could close behind her, “I am Elder Bitter Orange, the leader of this Outpost.”

“Do you train all of your Paladins to completely ignore anything anypony else has to say?” I growled, albeit weakly considering my headache, “And the kick seemed like overkill too…”

“As I said, I apologize for your treatment. He has many preconceived notions of others that make it very difficult to convince him of anything. On the one hoof, it makes him an excellent interrogator. On the other, well, you experienced it,” the Elder explained calmly, “However, something you said threw him completely off track. Something about your name, I believe it was?”

I nodded, immediately regretting the motion as it set off a whole new level of pain in my head. “Yeah,” I muttered, “He said that you all knew of that raider gang to the north of here, and that I used to be in charge of it. Well, he kept referring to me as Ever, which is how the ponies in that gang knew me. When I left, I started going by my full name again, which is Evergreen.”

“I see,” the Elder trailed off, pulling a clipboard out of her robes and noting something down on it. After several moments of her simply reading whatever was on the clipboard, she looked up again and fixed me in a piercing gaze, “So you are going to stick to this tale of yours that you are a mercenary in service to Metro, and that the mayor there sent you to us to deliver the Messaging Crystal?”

“Of course I’m going to stick to that story! It’s the fucking truth!” I growled, “I told that Paladin that you could send a messenger to talk to Mallet. He’ll confirm the whole thing.”

“So you said. Unfortunately, we have no way to do that. I am sure Apple Crisp informed you that our location is kept secret because we do not range very far. Our strength in this region is not nearly enough to become involved, or known, to the masses,” the Elder said, almost an exact repetition of what the damned Paladin had said.

“Then I don’t know what else to say!” I snapped, “Since you refuse my one attempt at verifying that I am telling the truth. I don’t have anything else except my word and the word of my friends, most of whom you lot hate!”

“If you mean Crosswire and the Enclave soldier, then I will agree that you have made a very poor choice of companions,” the Elder agreed, “the others, however, are complete strangers to us, though the one mare certainly acts like she would be a raider if given half the chance.”

I couldn’t help but to laugh at the statement, despite the pain. That these ponies thought that Autumn Mist could ever become a raider was simply unbelievable.

“Is something funny about this? You have caused a major breach in security, not to mention a lot of uneasiness among our younger members,” the Elder stated angrily.

“I’m sorry, I just can’t believe that you lot think Autumn Mist could be a raider. Her biggest motivation for traveling with me is that she’s promised to kill me if I ever even start to revert to that lifestyle. She despises raiders with every single bone in her body. I fully believe that she would rather put a bullet in her own head before letting herself become one.”

“You claim that, and yet she has resisted every attempt to speak with her so far, even going so far as to attack the Knights and Paladins sent to speak with her,” the Elder explained, “All of which are actions that point to her being a pony that is not accepted in… ahem… ‘civilized’ settlements. We have since had to keep her isolated simply for the safety of our personnel.”

“Probably because you lot took us captive and she hasn’t got a clue what’s happening to anypony else in our group. We are fairly close knit, especially after all the shit we’ve been through in the last week and a half,” I answered, “And Autumn is the kind of pony that takes the protection of her friends very seriously, especially since she’s a sniper.”

“I see… And what of the other mare? The maroon one. Tell me about her,” the Elder asked, suddenly changing the subject.

“Did you even talk to that Paladin?” I demanded, rising to my hooves, despite the pounding it caused in my head, “Because I told him all of this!”

“I am merely seeing if your answers are changing or not, Evergreen. Now please, tell me about her.”

I snorted angrily before speaking, “Suture is a medic, from Metro. She started traveling with us at first to make sure that we didn’t go back on our word with the mayor and actually did complete the job he gave us. Since then, she’s stayed with me because everything we are doing is to ensure the future of both Metro as well as the entire fucking wasteland. For a wasteland pony, she is innocent and naïve, but her skills are invaluable to us. Is there anything else specific you want, or should I start listing off her sexual preferences?”

“No, I think this is fine. What I really want to know is why you led a pack of manticores to our door if you were trying to make a delivery,” the Elder demanded, making another note on her clipboard.

I shook my head slowly, completely baffled at this mare’s ability to jump from topic to topic, as though she didn’t even care about my answers. “I didn’t mean to lead them straight to you. They surrounded us a few miles back on the trail, right outside a small box canyon. There were far too many for us to fight off, so we ran, hoping they would give up. It was just dumb luck that your patrol found us before the manticores caught us. They saved our lives.”

“Hmmm… that fits the behavioral patterns of the manticores in this region, so I am inclined to believe you. However, this does not excuse your bringing two sworn enemies of this Outpost to us,” the Elder claimed, “What do you have to say in their defense?”

“What the fuck do you want me to say? Crosswire is probably the best friend I have, and is by far the most reliable pony I know. You lot lost a real asset when you kicked him out.” The Elder glared at me disbelievingly at those words, but allowed me to continue. “As for Steel Curtain, he isn’t actually an Enclave soldier anymore. He deserted and became a Dashite, and simply managed to do it before they could strip him of his armor, weapons, and cutie mark.”

“Is that what he told you?” the Elder asked pointedly, making another note on her clipboard.

“Yes, it’s what he told me, and I believe him! Unlike some, I am willing to take ponies at their word if they haven’t given me a reason to doubt them! Everything Steel Curtain has done since he joined us has been proof that he is what he claims to be! Hell, he’s saved my life more times than I care to admit!” I snapped, “Why can’t you lot seem to see anything more than what is simply right in front of your noses? Ponies are more than what they appear to be!”

“We are being cautious, Evergreen. As I already told you, secrecy is our best defense. As much as I wish I could believe you about this Enclave soldier, your word is simply not good enough to prove that he is not everything he appears to be. He even speaks like an officer, though I imagine you didn’t notice that,” the Elder claimed, “He is an enemy and a threat that cannot be underestimated. To that end, we will need to act accordingly. Thank you for speaking with me, I will be sure to take this all into account before judging you and your companions.”

With that, the mare turned and started to walk towards the door which slid open smoothly at her approach. She was halfway through the door when the implications of her words struck me.

“Wait! What are you going to do to him!” I shouted, lunging for the door to try to keep her from leaving. Much to my surprise, I barely made it six feet before two armored ponies appeared in the portal and shot me with some sort of stun weapon that tore my body from my control and left me to fall helplessly to the ground, where I lay, muscles quivering.

All the same, my words had the desired effect and the mare stopped and turned to stare at me haughtily. “Why, he will be executed, of course. An enemy of his stature is simply too great a threat.”

I struggled weakly to get myself into a more comfortable lying position and tried to speak, but all I could force out was a pained groan. I redoubled my efforts, throwing every ounce of will I had into my effort to speak. “You. Can’t. Kill him,” I forced out, every word sending lances of fire through my chest as I fought through the effects of the stun guns.

“And why not? The Enclave and Steel Rangers are our sworn enemies. They have control of the entire sky, while we are down here, fighting for the very survival of our order. Our existence is a personal insult to them. Even if he is not highly ranked, his speech and accent denote him as someone born to one of their upper class. His loss will cause many repercussions that will only aid us,” the Elder explained.

“He isn’t… one of… them,” I panted, “I need him. He’s… my friend.” I fought against the pain in my limbs as the stun rounds started to wear off and finally managed to make it to a sitting position where I stayed, sweat dripping down my face and forcing my mane flat against my head.

“A friend? Enclave operative don’t have friends. They use ponies for their own means. He is trying to use you, Evergreen. Even if everything else you told me is the truth, I can guarantee you that everything you told me about him is a lie,” the Elder stated, taking a step back into the room.

“I don’t believe that. I can’t. You haven’t seen him, listened to him,” I persisted, strength finally beginning to flow back into my limbs, “He is not your enemy.”

The Elder shook her head slowly, her expression shifting to one of pity. “I am sorry that he managed to fool you this completely, Evergreen, but the proof is staring you in the face: the Enclave would never allow one of their soldiers to leave with full possession of their armor and weapons. They know that we exist, and the risk of one of their sets of powered armor falling into our hooves is too great. They would only trust one of their best operatives to come down here with those things.”

“YOU DON’T KNOW HIM!” I shouted with all my strength, loud enough to shock the mare into taking a step back and for the two armored ponies to step into the room, weapons carefully trained on me. “He fears for his family, worried sick at how they are probably being treated since he is labeled as a traitor and deserter. He doesn’t know if his younger brother is going to be exiled as a result of his actions, and the worry is tearing him apart! And all you fucking assholes can do is pretend that it’s all a ruse, or a ploy for ponies like me to lower their guard!”

The Elder struggled to regain her composure, resettling her robes about her before fixing me in an angry glare, “I knew that he had you in his pocket, though I guess I didn’t realize just how well. Let me get one thing straight, Evergreen. He is not what you think he is. Ponies like him excel at manipulating others to their own ends. You are just another victim.”

“’Enclave soldiers aren’t mindless automatons. They have hopes and dreams, just like everypony else’,” I quoted, staring the mare down, “That’s what Steel Curtain told me, not three days ago, outside of Metro. Would somepony who said something like that really be as ruthless as you claim? Would somepony like who you claim he is wander around the wasteland with me, going out of his way to save a bunch of slaves, whether or not I agreed to help him? Tell me what you have seen that proves he is some sort of super-secret agent?”

“His armor. His weapons. His behavior. All of these are evidence of what he his. You are putting too much stock in his words and actions, all of which are more than likely carefully engineered to make you believe everything he wants you to believe,” the Elder explained, as though it was all the most obvious thing in the world.

“Are you listening to yourself?” I snapped, rising up to my hooves and forcing the guard to take another step forward. I was fully expecting to get shot again, but I was also past the point of caring. “’I’m putting too much stock in his actions and words’? What the fuck else am I supposed to use to judge him? I can’t read fucking minds, so actions and words are all I have! Isn’t it what we choose to do that defines who we are? You’re the ones that don’t believe enough in words and actions. Instead, you listen only to what you already think is true, rather than opening yourselves up to different possibilities.”

The Elder once again shook her head at me and when she looked at me, it was with an expression of sadness. “I am truly sorry that he has confused you so completely. The simple fact that you believe so strongly in his lies has convinced me that all of your other claims are indeed the truth. To that end, this is my offer: tell me everything you know about this Steel Curtain, including everything you have seen him do or heard him say since you met. In return, you and the rest of your friends go free and I allow you to complete your mission. I’ll even pardon Crosswire. This information could make a great difference.”

“Let me get this straight. You expect me to sell out one of my closest, hell, one of my only friends, simply to let myself and my other friends to go free, even though we are being wrongly held in the first place? Why the fuck would I do that?” I growled angrily, beginning to pace in an attempt to keep my rage in check, “We shouldn’t even be prisoners! You said yourself that you believe me!”

“True, but Apple Crisp also told you that we cannot let you go free. I take this to mean that you will not accept the offer?” the Elder asked pointedly.

I stopped my pacing and sat silently for a moment, trying to calm myself enough to relax my expression, though I was still seething on the inside. “No, I won’t accept your offer. But I do have one of my own to make,” I said before the Elder could get a word in, “Give me any task that you need, or want, done that I can accomplish, and all of us go free. Steel Curtain included.”

Bitter Orange stared at me in blatant disbelief, her jaw hanging slightly open. I found a certain sick satisfaction in the fact that I had thrown her so completely off guard. “You’re willing to risk your life for this buck? Even after everything I’ve told you?”

“I would die if I knew it would guarantee the lives of my friends,” I responded bluntly, “Besides, all you’ve told me is what you’re assuming about him. I have no reason to believe any of it. So tell me what you want done, and I’ll get it done.”

“I… I need to think about this,” the Elder stammered, obviously completely at a loss for what to say, “If you are telling the truth about everything, this Pegasus included, well, I don’t know what to think. I still believe that there is more to him than meets the eye, but you don’t strike me as somepony that would allow themselves to be easily led astray, yet you are defending him with your very life.”

“Because that is what friends do,” I stated adamantly, “So either give me an answer now, or go take your good old time to think about it. But either way, make up your fucking mind.”

“I… I don’t know. I’ll be back soon,” the Elder stated haltingly as she made her way out of the room, “I promise that I will withhold any action until I come to a decision. I can’t do anything more than that.”

Just before the door closed behind her, I managed to get one last shot in. “At least it’s a fucking start.”

With the Elder gone, my anger quickly deflated, since it no longer had a target. All the same, I started breathing deeply, trying to exercise my mind to allow me greater control over my rage. Even though my anger had been completely justified, losing my shit like that to a pony of her stature would not always turn out this well. I had gotten lucky.

Once I had finally calmed myself, I returned to the bed and started to fiddle with my Pipbuck, trying to see if I could access the radio from my prison. To my surprise, the radio was still functioning, and I was able to get a clear signal.

The song that had been playing, some pseudo-rock ballad whose lyrics I couldn’t understand, came to an end, and there was a pregnant silence before the voice of the DJ, Shooting Star, rang out into the cell. “HELLO, SEADDLE! Guess what time it is? That’s right, it’s time for the news! I’ve got a few good tidbits for all of you, as well as a few things that may be hard to hear. As I always do, I’ll start with the good news.

A group of slaves being led to the Mill by none other than Chainlink himself were set free when none other than your Heroine of Seaddle stepped in and cleaned up shop, and rather efficiently from the reports I’ve received. The survivors, however, did report saying that the Heroine seemed very reluctant to accept their thanks, claiming that she didn’t deserve it. I can’t decide if I should applaud her modesty or start digging to find out why.

In other good news, the cities of Metro and Millberry have officially signed a treaty of alliance, and have begun to share supplies, as well as provide limited protection to the roadway between the two towns. It still isn’t entirely safe, but they are making a difference.

Now, the bad news. The town of Buckview is, indeed, gone. The entire town has been burned to the ground, with only one survivor: a lone filly by the name of Sunflower who was saved by none other than the Heroine of Seaddle. Unfortunately, the Heroine had already departed before I could get word of who was responsible for the attack. So my warning to all of you is to steer clear of Buckview until we know for sure what’s out there.

Well, that’s all I have for you all tonight. This is DJ Shooting Star, signing off.”

I sat in dumbfounded silence for quite a while after that sign-off, simply trying to comprehend everything that had been said. It seemed that this DJ never had anything to say that wasn’t about me or something that I had gotten involved in, and that simply seemed unbelievable to me. There was so much in this region that there had to be something else he could report on, or somepony else trying to make a difference.

Another part of me was surprised at how quickly news of my reluctance to accept praise for my actions had reached him. Even more surprising was his reaction. That he took my reluctance to mean that I was modest was insane, though at least he was open to the idea that there was more to the story. The wasteland being what it is, almost nothing was ever as it seemed.

I put the reports out of my mind, since mulling over them would do absolutely nothing to get me out of this situation, but it also seemed like nopony would be coming back to my cell any time soon. That being the case, I might as well try to relax, maybe sleep a bit if I could, since good rest was so hard to come by in the wasteland, and the last good night’s sleep we’d had had been in Metro three days ago.

I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes, trying to force myself to relax enough to drift off, but sleep wasn’t coming easy. Part of my mind was lingering on the theory the Elder had put forth about Steel Curtain, trying to make me recognize the potential that it was true. I didn’t want to accept it, especially since he had been such an integral part of our group for the last several days, and we would most certainly have been killed on several occasions had it not been for his influence.

I sighed heavily and rolled over, my body restless and itching for action. Steel Curtain was nothing if not earnest and determined. He had gone out of his way to help us, and offered up a lot about his past when it was brought up, almost as though he was trying to prove himself to us. In the fucked up world we all lived in, that meant a lot. It was a willingness to trust that most ponies didn’t have. I know I sure as hell didn’t.

But that niggling doubt remained in the back of my mind, insisting that the Elder could have been right, even if the possibility was extremely low. I felt guilty simply thinking about it, but I couldn’t deny the potential. Unfortunately, the only thing I could do about it now was promise myself to speak to the Pegasus later.

Finally, those thoughts dealt with, I started to doze off, my mind going blank and giving me over to the depths of sleep.

oooOOOooo

“So, isn’t it nice knowing that you can’t even trust the word of your ‘friends’ anymore, my dear Evergreen?” a voice, the voice asked, silky smooth and holding the promise of the greatest pleasure I could ever ask for.

I lifted my head from the pillow and looked for the source of the voice, steeling myself for what I might see, already aware that this room held no shadows to hide it. To my surprise, it was wearing the guise of a pony I had never seen before, though that didn’t make it any less grotesque than some of its chosen forms from the past.

It was taller than most ponies, just enough to be noticeable, but was also thin to the point of emaciation. Its coat was as black as a moonless midnight, almost seeming to absorb the light around it. Its mane bore the same color, flowing down its neck like liquid darkness, shimmering in the bright white light of the cell. Steeling myself even further, I shot a glance at its cutie mark. Even thinking I was prepared to see it I flinched at the sight of the embracing skulls, seeing once again the deaths of my parents in my mind’s eye. One of them even had a bullet hole in it, like the one that had killed my mother.

“If there is anything I can trust in this world, it’s their word,” I shot back, “Steel Curtain has been nothing but honest with us, offering up anything about his past that we asked. If that isn’t a sign of trust and friendship, I don’t know what is.”

“Trust, yes, but is it really a sign of friendship? All he wants is to be sure that you won’t shoot him in the back. You were the same, once. Making up stories so that the raiders wouldn’t shoot you on sight, claiming to have taken the lives of dozens of ponies that never even existed, all to make yourself seem a desirable asset,” the voice replied, undaunted by my opposition. It acted exactly the way it always did: unhurried and excessively patient, almost like it believed it had all the time in the world to twist me to its designs.

“Would a pony like the one Bitter Orange described throw himself, alone, at a gang of slavers for a bunch of ponies he had never even met, much less should care about if he were a secret operative?” I growled.

“If the trust he had to gain was important enough, yes. But he is ultimately of no concern, as you well know,” the pony stated, stepping across the room so smoothly it seemed like it was gliding to stand by my bed, “The only pony of any concern is you.”

I slid off the bed so that it stood between me and the pony, not wanting it any closer to me than necessary. “I no longer believe that. What could be more important than working to help better the lives of others? It took me a long time to come to that conclusion, but it was obvious enough when it came. Working only for myself, I was never happy. Sure, I had a comfortable position with a lot of power, but I couldn’t trust anypony around me. They were all too busy scheming to get rid of me. Once I started trying to help others, the real value of life became obvious. They started coming to me for help, offering me thanks when I did, and actually treating me with a degree of respect.”

The pony shook its head slowly, a toothy grin spreading over its grim features. I was taken aback when I noticed its teeth were filed to sharp points. “Oh how little you know. You think you have respect and hold the gratitude of others, but as soon as the chance at something better comes along, you will be tossed to the wayside, forgotten. And when that happens, who will be by your side, ready to pick you up? The pretty medic? She is loyal to her home first and foremost. It will always come first in her mind. The angry young sniper would still rather kill you and put her family to rest than live the rest of her life knowing she could have had vengeance. The Pegasus is a self-admitted traitor and deserter. How long will it be before he turns on you? And the tech, so loyal and endearing, straining always for the simple attention of a mare who never looks at him twice. When will he simply give it up for lost and go his own way, seeking his own fortune?”

With every word spoken, my rage grew. This time, it was easy to find. Whatever had stolen it away the last time me and this… thing… had spoken wasn’t affecting me anymore. By the time it was speaking about Crosswire, I was practically shaking.

“All you have ever been able to show me is the bad in others! You overlook their good sides, and everything that makes them a good pony. Would you say the same about Just Law? Would you say that he will shoot me on sight the next time I show my face, even though he and I have come to an agreement?” I snapped, glaring into the deep red eyes of the pony.

“Of course not, my dear Evergreen. Just Law means nothing to you, so speaking of him accomplishes nothing. It is your so called friends you need to watch out for. They have always been what you needed to watch out for,” It answered silkily, unfazed by my anger.

“Never,” I growled deeply, watching in satisfaction as the pony’s expression shifted from one of patience to one of annoyance, “I trust them with every fiber of my being. You say that Steel Curtain is a liar and a traitor, well he deserted because he could not stand to be a part of what the Enclave was doing any longer. You claim that Suture will abandon me should her home ever become in danger? She has already left that town behind to join me of her own accord, after she no longer needed to. She understands what the real threat is, and knows that I’m the only fucking pony in the entire wasteland trying to do something about it! Autumn Mist is my real conscience, the pony I look to when I need to make a difficult decision. All you want is for me to give in to those dark emotions, the ones I have made sure to bury as deep as I can! Autumn can’t forgive me, and I don’t blame her, but she has accepted the fact that I regret my past. And nopony is as reliable or loyal as Crosswire.”

“You are so naïve, despite your years in the wastes,” the pony growled as it changed before my eyes, legs lengthening and body growing until it towered over me, its eyes coming to life so that they glimmered like a pair of red-hot coals, “Nopony cares about you, Evergreen, and nopony ever will. The only solace you will ever find in this life is with me. I am the only one who knows anything about how to find satisfaction! It is with me that you will find the happiness you so desperately seek.”

Despite my anger, I found myself backing away in fear until I was up against the wall, with nowhere else to go. “I tried that once, and it got me into this mess!” I yelled, using volume to hide my fear, “I was lost, unhappy, and didn’t even realize it! How could that possibly be better than this? At least I know there are ponies that I can trust.”

“But you were safe!” it thundered, “You had power and influence! Ponies feared you!”

“I don’t want that anymore!” I shouted right back, “I want peace. I want to be able to wake up in the morning and not hate myself. I want to be able to walk into a town and not be immediately under suspicion, simply for being who I am. If I have to give up some power to achieve that, then I’m fine with it.”

“But I am not!” the pony screamed and lunged at me, forehooves reaching for me.

I tried to dodge to the side to escape its reaching grasp, but wasn’t fast enough. It slammed into me, knocking me into the wall and sending me crashing into the ground. It held me there, pinned and helpless and glared into my eyes. My flesh crawled where it was touching me, making me want to recoil in disgust, but it held me too tightly so all I could do was squirm.

“I am all you will ever need,” it growled as it lowered its face to mine. I tried to scream as its lips touched mine, but all that came out was a muffled groan.

oooOOOooo

I woke with a start, panting heavily, still feeling the rough texture of that thing’s lips against mine, and shuddered at the memory. To my surprise, I was still lying in the bed, though it was completely soaked with my sweat. I slowly got to my hooves, shaking my head to try to chase away my memories of the nightmare, but they lingered, like a bad taste in the back of my throat.

I glanced at my Pipbuck, surprised to see that almost the entire night had passed. The nightmare had seemed so short. I shook my head violently, chasing the cobwebs out of my mind, and turned my thoughts to what I would soon need to be facing.

With luck, the Elder would be coming back soon, and with some sort of task for me. If everything went well, my friends and I would be free, and we could clear the air. They all had a lot of explaining to do, and I was eager to hear what they had to say for themselves, especially the traitor, Steel Curtain. I would do everything the Elder asked of me, just to make sure that I was the only one that had anything to do with them. I didn’t want any other interruptions.

Before long, true to my predictions, the door slid open with that now-familiar pneumatic hiss, and the Elder entered, flanked by the self-righteous Paladin, Apple Crisp, as well as two other fully armed and armored Steel Ranger ponies.

“I’m guessing you finally came to a fucking decision?” I asked, my voice harsh and angry. I was sick of waiting on other ponies to make decisions that affected my life so intrinsically.

“I have,” the Elder answered, somewhat taken aback, “Star Paladin Apple Crisp has brought a particular difficulty to my attention that we could use some aid in. If you manage to resolve the issue in a way that we deem satisfactory, you and your friends will be free to complete your business here, and go on your way.”

“Good,” I snapped, “What’s the job?”

“Follow me, and we’ll show you,” Apple Crisp ground out between clenched teeth. He was very obviously holding himself back from doing something about my behavior.

“Lead the way then. Am I getting my gear back for this job?” I demanded, falling into step behind the large, armored pony, “And am I going to be on my own? I could use the help of a couple of my friends.”

“That wasn’t the agreement,” the Elder interjected, “The agreement was that you would solve a problem for us, so your companions will stay right where they are. As for your gear, you will be given your weapons, ammo, and a small supply of healing chems. We will hold on to everything else.”

“What about my barding?” I demanded.

“You will be given that back as well,” Apple Crisp snapped, “Now shut your mouth and show some respect to the Elder.”

I did as the Paladin asked, simply because I didn’t want to get kicked again. That powered armor really packed a punch.

They led me through the bunker, which seemed like it was constructed to be a labyrinth, until we finally emerged on the surface after climbing several different sets of stairs. Somehow, we didn’t pass a single pony during the entire march. It seemed like the entire place was deserted, except for the itch on the back of my neck, making me realize that every single step I took was being watched.

Outside, the mountains rose up to almost touch the very bottom of the clouds. The rain was coming down gently, just enough to be noticed, but not bad enough to affect my accuracy. We continued walking for several minutes, making our way down a narrow defile that opened into a small hollow that was maybe a dozen feet on a side. The most distinguishing feature was a massive gear-shaped door set into the mountainside that had the number 76 painted on it in bold yellow block print.

“A fucking Stable. You’ve got to be kidding me,” I growled, turning to shoot the Elder a poisonous glare, “The last of these fucking things I was in, we almost ended up dead ten times over. It was full to the fucking brim with feral ghouls.”

“You said any task we wanted. This is it,” The Elder responded calmly, an aloof expression on her face.

I snorted at the comment. “I was expecting something possible. These things are fucking deathtraps.”

“If you don’t want to do it, then we shall simply proceed with what our plans were before, Evergreen. It is your decision,” the Elder stated, “I leave you in the capable hooves of Star Paladin Apple Crisp.” With that, the Elder turned and started back towards the bunker under the escort of the other two armored ponies.

Which left me alone with the Star Paladin, who was glaring at me rather angrily. “So, exactly what is it you lot want me to kill myself for?” I asked with a sidelong glance at the Paladin while I approached the massive door.

“We have it on good authority that there is an experimental power source buried in this Stable. We want it so we can convert it for use on the Outpost. We managed to unseal the Stable some years ago, but never made it farther inside than the main atrium. Everything else was sealed off,” the large red pony answered curtly, depositing a set of saddlebags on the ground, “Here’s your gear.”

I turned away from the Stable door and approached the saddlebags, finding my barding and weapons stored within. I started to pull the armor on, watching the Paladin for any sort of hint at what I might find down there. “You expect me to be able to get through those areas?”

“We don’t expect anything from you. You made an offer, and this is the task Elder Bitter Orange decided to give you. I honestly expect that you’ll be crawling out of their with your tail between your legs before the day is out, and then we can finally forget about this farce and deal with that Enclave soldier and our own exile accordingly,” the Paladin shot back, “So, I’m going to open this door, you’re going to walk in, then I’m going to close it again, so I can actually get some real work done.”

“You’re not sealing me in there!” I protested, turning on the buck, my armor finally settled across my back, “The last one I got stuck in I only survived because the door was open! You are not closing it with me in there!”

“I honestly don’t care what you think, Evergreen. You can play this by our rules, or you can scurry back to your cell to rot. No hair out of my mane for what you decide,” Apple Crisp stated, unfazed.

I watched the buck angrily for several moments, but he stared straight back, obviously not about to back down. “Fine,” I finally spat, “We’ll do it your way. How am I going to let you know to let me the fuck out of there?”

“I’ll come back and open the door at sundown. If you aren’t there within ten minutes of that, I’m sealing it back up and will come back in the morning. If you aren’t back by then, well, we’ll just figure you for dead at that point,” he answered as calmly as though discussing the rain.

“Just make sure you hold to that,” I snapped, sliding Hammer into its holster and sliding my knife into its sheath, “Now get that fucking door open.”

While the Paladin activated the controls, I slid the saddlebags onto my back and checked my Pipbuck for what was actually in them. The Steel Rangers had been rather more generous than I had expected them to be when it came to my healing supplies. I had a full five healing potions to work with. I snorted in disgust and turned my gaze to the Stable door, which was now grinding loudly against its frame as it was dragged back into the depths of the ancient bunker. It was amazing what difference a Stable door being in the open could have on the volume of its opening. The last one had nearly deafened me, yet this one was no more grating than somepony’s hoof being dragged across a chalkboard.

“There. It’s open. Now get the fuck in there so I can get back to doing my job,” Apple Crisp snorted, tossing his head in the direction of the open door.

“Thanks,” I snapped sarcastically as I stepped through the door and into the dim interior of the entrance way. As soon as I was clear of the door, I heard the warning claxon start to sound as the door slid closed behind me, making me wince at the echoes it sent around the small metal box that was the main entrance.

Within moments, I was locked into the Stable, completely alone, and not knowing what to expect. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my jangled nerves, and started forward. The only way I was going to get out of this mess was by going forward, so that was exactly what I was going to do, no matter what dangers this place held.

I followed the only available path through the decaying metal hallways, pressing deeper into the mountainside, and whatever horrors this tomb of the old Equestria held. Before long, I had made it as far as the Steel Rangers had, and stood in the center of the vast, two-story atrium. I quickly realized why they had made it no farther, as every single door leading out of the atrium was sealed tight, far too secure for me to get through. Had Crosswire been here, then it might have been possible to get inside some of them, but I also didn’t know what to expect from the buck anymore. With our freedom restored, he could easily choose to remain, back with the ponies that had raised him. Why wouldn’t he, since they were all just as two-faced as he had managed to be, hiding his real personality from me for all those years.

I pushed all thoughts of my companions out of my mind, focusing on the here and now. As in Stable 60, the Overmare’s office must contain something about what had been going on in here. The Stable had obviously failed as well, since the interior was very visibly decaying, and there was no sign of anypony having lived here in a very long time.

I trudged around the atrium slowly, taking advantage of the calm to examine each sealed door carefully, trying to spot a potential weakness. It took a long while, but finally, I found something. It was a wall panel that wasn’t quite placed correctly on the wall. At first glance, it had simply seemed to be a result of the overall state of decay of the Stable, but as my gaze passed over it a second time, something simply seemed… off.

I approached it cautiously, not knowing what to expect. When I finally reached it, I reached out a hoof and slid the wall panel to the side, surprised at how easily it gave. The panel finally out of the way, I lit up the flashlight in my Pipbuck and shone it into the exposed hollow, shocked at what was inside. A skeleton sat huddled against the far wall of the empty space behind the wall, the bones still wrapped in the remains of a Stable jumpsuit.

I reached in and pulled the remains out, checking through the pockets of the jumpsuit with minute detail, searching for anything of value. All I managed to turn up was a small plastic card that my Pipbuck identified as a Stable 76 ID card. I examined it a little closer, learning that it had once belonged to a cream earth pony buck by the name of Stargazer. He was smiling in the picture, almost handsome if not for the intense anger that hid in his eyes. Unfortunately, the card revealed little more than his name, as every other symbol printed on it was simply some form of number or another, with abbreviated letters denoting what they meant, but without any inkling at what the abbreviations stood for, the numbers were useless to me.

I pocketed the card, hoping it might come in handy later, then turned back to face the main floor of the atrium, wondering what my next step should be. I was already one step farther than the Steel Rangers had ever achieved, I just needed to figure out what came next. Too bad that small space hadn’t been anything more than that.

I started pacing across the floor, scouring my brain for any ideas. It was just at a time like this that Autumn Mist would declare some fool notion that would invariably turn out to be the right idea, but I didn’t have the foggiest idea what that suggestion might have been. For all I know, it would be ‘Let’s shoot my rifle right next to Evergreen’s head again!’ That would be just like the spiteful bitch, always a single hair away from turning those weapons of hers against me. How the fuck was it my fault that she couldn’t understand my regret, and accept my apology! Didn’t she realize that how much it had cost me to make that admission?

In my anger, I nearly missed a soft female voice announce from somewhere to my left, “Classroom access granted,” and the harsh pneumatic hiss of a door long sealed grinding open.

I turned at the sudden intrusion of my thoughts and was shocked to see a door standing wide open, inviting me inside. I made my way to the threshold, but hesitated before entering. What the fuck had I done for it to slide open like that? I hadn’t done anything that I hadn’t tried on my first pass… but I was carrying something new.

The identification card must have acted as some sort of key, allowing me entry into an area this buck had had access to. For it to unseal the lockdown, at least of this area, must have meant that he was relatively important, maybe even the Overstallion himself. Confident that my theory was correct, I stepped across the threshold and into the classroom.

“Please state your name,” the soft female voice announced as I entered, then fell silent, with a near-silent, rhythmic clicking sound in the background, as if something was counting out time.

“Uh, Evergreen,” I announced into the empty room, unsure what the voice was looking for.

“Identification incorrect. Security breach detected. Countermeasures deploying. Lockdown initiated,” the voice announced calmly, and two panels on the ceiling slid to allow a pair of turrets to drop into the room, which instantly fixated on me. The door also slammed loudly shut behind me, sealing me inside with no solid cover to speak of.

As soon as I saw the barrels turn to face me, I was moving, jumping to the side and ripping Hammer from its sheath and dropping into S.A.T.S. to line up a pair of shots at the machines. I lined up two shots to the turret furthest from me, and a single shot to the closer one.

Time snapped back into normality and the rounds fired. The first turret exploded in a shower of sparks and shrapnel that bounced harmlessly off of my armor, but the second survived my shot with little more than scratched plating and opened fire at me, scoring my hindquarters with a red-hot lance of laser fire as I tried to leap behind a desk for cover.

“Fucking bastard son of a three-legged raider!” I swore, popping out from behind the desk to fire another pair of rounds at the offending turret, reducing it to nothing more than scrap.

“Countermeasures disabled. Lockdown lifting,” the voice announced, and the door slid open once again.

“Yeah, fuck you too,” I snapped at the room, twisting around to inspect my newest injury. The laser turrets had carved a nice line across my hindquarters that hurt fiercely. The flesh around the wound was already red and swollen, making any extra movement hurt just that much more. I pulled out a healing potion and drank it to calm the blazing pain, and thankfully lower the swelling as well. The potion gone, and the pain reduced to bearable levels, I started investigating the room, searching for anything of value.

All of the desks were completely empty, as though the students had cleared them out, so there were no leads there. I made my way to the front of the room, and the teacher’s desk, where a computer sat, humming to itself, almost as if it were waiting for me. Sitting on the desk were a few odd papers, some looking like nothing more than a colt or filly’s assignments waiting to be graded, but one or two appearing rather formal or official.

One of them bore the Stable-Tec logo, except with the number 76 inscribed in the central circle. I reloaded Hammer and slid the revolver into its holster before picking up the piece of heavy paper and lifting it closer to the light. On close examination, it appeared to be some sort of contract, with the undersigned, as the Head of Education for the Stable, agreeing to have sole private access to the classroom, and that any violation of that agreement, including lending their identification card to somepony else to simply fetch something, would result in ‘severe repercussions’, whatever that meant. Probably the turrets. Signed at the bottom of the page, in very controlled mouthwriting, was the name Stargazer.

So the poor bastard hadn’t been the Overstallion. He was simply the bastard put in charge of the classroom, which explained why it had opened for me when I had gotten close. The door had been looking or some sort of signal coming from the card, which was probably acting as a key. Which probably also meant that the computer, or security system, or whatever the fuck it was had probably been looking for his name. At least now I knew what to say the next time this happened, if there was a next time.

I placed the form back on the desk and turned my attention to the computer. To my surprise, all I had to do was step up to the monitor, and the screen shifted from the log-in screen to a welcoming message to Stargazer. It must also have recognized the identification card.

The first highlighted option looked to be nothing more than a list of lesson plans, so I backed out of that and selected the second option, which appeared to be a private log, that only had two entries. I hit the first entry, and was disappointed when it was a simple text entry, rather than the voice entry that we had found in the Stable 60 Overmare’s office.

I sat down in front of the screen, settling myself into a comfortable position to read the entry.

‘It’s been fifty long fucking years since that damn door locked my parents and all those others down here, and it seems that’s all it’s taken for the entire fucking Stable to lose its Princesses-damned mind. Midnight Blaze is going to run the fucking thing into the ground with all these new fucking regulations she’s trying to push through. But hooray for good planning, Stable-Tec: there’s not a fucking thing any of us can do to stop her. So now I have to make sure to carry this fucking ‘Identification Card’ everywhere I go. Fucking nuts if you ask me.”

I shook my head in exasperation. This buck thought that he had things bad. He should have considered himself lucky that he didn’t need to compete with whatever the fuck was on the surface at that point. He probably wouldn’t have lasted a day. I scrolled down and hit the second, and last, entry.

‘This is the last fucking straw. First Midnight Blaze makes the goddamn executive decision to make sure nopony can get anywhere without the ponies in charge of those places already being present, but then Arclight has the fucking gall to seal the entire engineering area off from the rest of the damn Stable, claiming that nopony has any reason to go down there. I swear to Celestia, those two are conspiring to tear the whole Stable apart from the inside. First chance I get, I’m making a break for it. Surface can’t be worse than what we’re suffering down here.’

It seemed that there had been more going in in this Stable than I had thought, which really wasn’t a surprising revelation. Judging by the tone of the logs, whoever this Midnight Blaze was had probably been the Overmare, or Overstallion for all I knew, and they were making some fairly unpopular decisions, at least to this buck.

I backed out of his logs and perused what else was available on the main menu. The third option appeared to be a general announcement from the ‘Stable 76 Executive Offices’, whatever that was supposed to mean. Curious, I hit the option, and the screen shifted to show a fairly large amount of text, all of which was dense political language. I muddled my way through the announcement, discovering that it was the regulation that Stargazer had mentioned in his second log. Apparently, the Stable 76 Executive was worried about security, and had made it mandatory for everypony in charge of some function to remain in, or at least near, their offices as much as possible, so that it was guaranteed that somepony who was supposed to be in those areas would be at all times.

I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what would have freaked these ponies out so much, especially since they were living inside one of the best-built bunkers known to ponykind. There shouldn’t have been a reason for their fear, and yet even the tone of the announcement was very obviously one of anxiety. The Executive, who I could only assume was their equivalent of an Overmare, sounded absolutely terrified of something.

I backed away from the computer, knowing I wasn’t going to find anything else useful on it, and started to look around the room again. I had a single pony’s identification card, which meant that I only had access to this room and maybe the dormitories, but that wasn’t a bet I was going to go for yet.

Instead, I began going over the classroom with a fine-toothed comb, searching for anything that might be of value. It took me almost no time to find something. It started as a flash of color from the corner of my eye while I was looking at the corner behind Stargazer’s desk, but manifested to be another corpse when I turned to look.

As with Stargazer, the corpse was little more than old bones draped in a Stable jumpsuit. I approached the body and searched it, expecting to find another identification card. I wasn’t disappointed as the small plastic rectangle slid out of a pocket to land at my hooves. Laying the body to the side, I lifted the small card to my eyes, wondering who this particular pony was.

The card showed a rather young Earth Pony mare, probably about the same age as Autumn Mist, with a bright yellow mane and a light blue hide. The name on the card was Holly Berry, so unfortunately not one of the ponies that appeared to be in charge from Stargazer’s logs.

I placed the card in my saddlebags and stepped out of the classroom, trusting that I wasn’t going to find anything else of interest in there, and back out into the atrium. I paused once I reached the center of the large room, wondering which door Holly Berry’s card was going to open for me. Without any better idea, I simply started walking from door to door, pausing at each one, hoping that one of them would slide open at my approach.

It took me almost fifteen minutes, and I was walking by the last few doors on the second floor, when one of them finally opened. As with the classroom, the eerie female voice called out “Refectory access granted,” and the door slid open with a hiss, giving me access to the room, which appeared to be almost twice the size as the classroom, with most of the floor space being taken up by booths and tables, unsurprising, given what the room was.

Gathering myself together, confident that I knew what I needed to say when the computer would undoubtedly challenge me, I stepped across the threshold. “Please state your name,” the voice announced almost immediately.

“Holly Berry,” I answered, quickly and confidently. I was smiling at my own cleverness, thinking that the entire system was so easy to beat.

To my horror, the voice announced, “Name confirmed. Please provide passcode.”

I didn’t have a fucking clue what it was looking for. I stood in shocked silence for several moments as the quiet ticking in the otherwise silent background wound down. In the same moment that it stopped completely, the voice made another announcement, “Time expired. Security breach detected. Deploying countermeasures. Lockdown initiated.”

In an almost exact imitation of what had happened in the classroom, the door slammed shut behind me and four turrets dropped from the ceiling, all of them turning to track me. Unlike in the classroom, I was already moving, with Hammer in my mouth, as soon as the voice had announced ‘Security breach’. Thanks to my quick reaction, the first two turrets were reduced to scrap before they could even begin firing, but that luck didn’t hold for the other two.

They opened fire, peppering my armor with low-caliber rounds, most of which bounced off harmlessly. A few bit into the armor, lodging into it, but not quite making it through to me, a fact for which I was grateful. Unfortunately, my armor only covered so much of my body, and several bullets bit into my legs, most of them simply getting grazing hits, but one bullet bit deeply into the meat of my left hindleg, sending me toppling to the ground.

I managed to get myself behind a booth and out of the direct line of fire, except I was stuck unless I could take out those last two turrets. I pulled another healing potion out of my saddlebags and chugged it, groaning in relief as the wounds in my legs and hindquarters sealed up and the pain faded to nothing more than a distant memory. I took the few moments of quiet to replace the rounds I had fired out of Hammer, then steeled myself for the next few seconds of insanity.

I rolled out from behind the booth, rising to my hooves in the same motion, and slipped into S.A.T.S., lining up a pair of shots at the closest turret. The rounds fired and the turret exploded in a shower of sparking metal. That one taken care of, I dashed to the side, trying to stay just ahead of the last turret’s targeting matrix, wanting to buy some time to get closer.

I zigzagged across the room, going from cover to cover and finally getting close enough to the turret that a quick pair of shots were all that were needed to reduce it to sparking scrap. As soon as the last turret was destroyed, the female voice came back. “Countermeasures disabled. Lockdown lifting.”

I snorted angrily, reloading Hammer while the door slid open again. It would be just my damn luck to think I figured something out, just to have it blow up in my face, almost literally. At least now with the turrets in this room taken care of, I would have all the time I could use to look through around. Hell, if I was lucky, I would find something to eat as well.

Following that train of thought, I started my search in the back area of the cafeteria, where the food was stored. Not only did I find some old, preserved food, but I also stumbled on a computer that had most likely belonged to Holly Berry.

I popped an old, musty snack into my mouth and started to chew, my mind automatically blocking out the aftertaste that was the result of sitting around in a musty Stable for two-hundred years, while I approached the computer. Just as it had in the classroom, this one lit up at my approach, recognizing the young mare’s ID card on me, and gave me full access to her files. I ignored all of the random announcements and inter-Stable correspondence that had also been on Stargazer’s computer, and started with her personal entries. There were only three of them, with the first being separated from the other two by almost a full year. I accessed the first and sat back to read, interested to see what shadows the Earth Pony’s thoughts would cast light on.

‘Wow! I can’t believe that Midnight Blaze gave me, of all ponies, the position as Head of the cooking staff! Mom would be so proud of me, if she were still here. At least I know that I can honor her memory doing what we both loved to do. I’m just so happy that Midnight Blaze recognized it! I swear I will not let her, or anypony in the Stable, down!’

I re-read the entry several times, trying to figure out what about it was relevant to my current conundrum, but couldn’t think of anything. It struck me then that all these were simply the young mare’s private thoughts, and that this one had taken place almost a year before the other two, and the same year in which Stargazer had been complaining about whatever new regulations were being enforced. With that in mind, I accessed the second entry, expecting something just as gushy as the first.

‘Well, I really don’t know what to say, but I feel like I should write something down. Our esteemed Executive Officer is saying that something is threatening the security of the Stable, but… it doesn’t seem like anything is any different than it was last month, or the month before that. All the same, she’s starting to make some new changes to our security. Most of them aren’t too bad, just some extra hardware being installed in all of the private and limited access areas, as well as an upgrade to the Stable’s security software. But some ponies aren’t too happy with the changes, especially Stargazer and his friends. Blueberry has been telling me that he has gotten a lot stricter and much harsher in his punishments these last few weeks. If that buck does something to hurt my little sister, I’m going to have to go to the Executive Officer about this. We simply cannot risk hurting the children. As Midnight Blaze always tells us: ‘The children are the future.’ I just hope that it doesn’t come to that.’

I was shocked at the change in tone of the mare’s writing. Even without being able to hear her voice, I could tell that she was under a lot more stress, and that the Executive Officer, who I was beginning to suspect was Midnight Blaze, was no longer held in as high of regard as she had been before. In fact, Holly Berry sounded actually afraid of the pony.

Almost afraid of what I was going to read next, I opened the accessed the next entry. I had no idea what to expect, but if the scene of the abandoned Stable around me was anything to go by, it wasn’t going to be good.

‘Oh, this is terrible! Stargazer has really fucked up this time. Why couldn’t he have just waited, or tried to talk to the Executive Officer, or even the Head of Security? Why did he think that anypony would think that his taking action was okay? I was in the atrium, chatting with Silver Bow, and Stargazer marched right by us, heading for the Executive Officer’s office. He disappeared inside, then came back a few minutes later with the angriest expression on his face that I have ever seen! The Executive appeared immediately after, just as angry, shouting that he had destroyed us all. I rushed straight here. I’m just so… so scared. I simply don’t know what’s going to happen. I think… I think I’m going to try to talk him down. Somepony needs to, and I don’t think Midnight Blaze is going to do it.’

I stepped back, thinking I knew what had happened to the poor mare. She must have gone to the classroom to confront to the buck, only to somehow end up dead. I didn’t know exactly how she had been killed, but it fit.

Since she had been speaking to another pony right before that last entry, I decided to check the cafeteria itself more closely. It was possible that Silver Bow had followed her in after the argument between Stargazer and Midnight Blaze.

True to my belief, I found a corpse lodged in a booth, in a clear line of sight to where one of the turrets had popped down. Its jumpsuit was also riddled with holes, leading me to believe that whoever it was had been targeted by the security system.

I searched the pony’s corpse, finally finding another ID card. As I had expected, this one was of an off-white unicorn mare named Silver Bow. As her name suggested, she had a silver bow tied into her bright red mane and was smiling broadly. It was the kind of smile that managed to light up her eyes, even if it was only a picture.

This time, instead of immediately pocketing the card, I examined it a bit closer, trying to see if there was anything on it that could possibly give me a hint at what information the security system wanted from me when I walked into a room. The only bit of information that seemed to be at all promising was the number that followed the abbreviation ‘P.C.’. My hope was that those letters stood for ‘Pass Code’. I committed the number to memory, then stuck the card into my saddlebags and went off in search of whatever door this one would open.

I had already found the Head of Education and Head of the cooking staff, so this unicorn, Silver Bow, must have been the Head of something as well. That seemed to be the way this Stable had been designed: extremely structured, with everypony having a specific job. I didn’t have a clue what I would do, however, if I came across a corpse that didn’t belong to somepony in charge of something, since they seemed to be the only ones with access to anything.

Once back in the atrium, took a moment to sit down and gather my thoughts. My current strategy wasn’t working too well, especially since I had already used two of the five potions Apple Crisp had given me, and had only managed to clear two rooms. At that rate, I would be full of holes before I managed to get into the engineering areas. I was going to need a new approach, yet it seemed like this place was designed for ponies to always be where they were supposed to be, which was bad news for me.

My biggest chance at survival at this point was to figure out what pass code the security system was looking for when I entered a room. If I had that, getting through this Stable was going to be easy. Unfortunately for me, that was one hell of a hurdle.

Well, I had my next attempt already planned out, and sitting around wasn’t going to get me anywhere. I rose back up to my hooves and started marching around the atrium again, searching for whatever door was going to open up this time. Unlike the last one, I found this door quickly. In its usual fashion, the door announced that I had gained access to the Laboratories, a fact that made me more nervous than I cared to admit. I had already learned that the Stables were experiments in and of themselves, so getting into an area that was meant for experiments inside one of these damn things just didn’t seem to bode well.

As I stepped into the room, my fears were entirely confirmed as a grisly scene met my eyes. Almost every single horizontal surface was covered in thick layers of rust and grime and the floor was absolutely littered with bodies, many of which were easily small enough to be the corpses of children. Luckily, my years of dealing out death had hardened my stomach, so the only feeling I felt was a skipped heartbeat as my mind registered the massacre I had stumbled upon.

I was so shocked that I almost missed the security system’s challenge. “Silver Bow,” I announced distantly, waiting for the inevitable counter-challenge.

“Name confirmed. Please state passcode,” the system predictably announced.

“Seven-Five-Two-Nine-Nine-Six-Four,” I announced, trying to force a bit of confidence into my voice. In the silence that followed, I found myself holding my breath, poised to spring into action the second it should become required.

“Passcode confirmed. Welcome, Silver Bow,” the system announced before falling silent and leaving me alone with only a few dozen corpses as company.

I let my breath out in a loud gasp, relief flowing through my body as I let my head hang down. “Thank the Princesses for that,” I muttered as I stepped farther into the room, doing my best to step around the bodies in my way.

It didn’t take me long to find Silver Bow’s small side office, and the computer that sat there, humming to itself, simply waiting for my approach. It would have been a lie to say that I wasn’t curious about what had happened in this Stable, and I stepped eagerly up to the computer, almost excited to learn more about what had killed everypony in here.

Silver Bow only had a single log entry on her computer that was dated for the same day that Holly Berry had announced she was going to talk to Stargazer. After reading the first few lines of the other half-dozen logs and realizing that they had nothing to do with anything that appeared to have happened down here, I was starting to think that that was the day everything had gone to shit. Almost apprehensive about what I was going to learn, I accessed the one file that seemed to be relevant.

‘I need to write this quickly, since I’m supposed to be meeting Holly Berry in the atrium today, for our usual weekly chat, but I simply must keep this record. It is a scientist’s duty to make sure no facts are lost, though I can’t guarantee that I will be writing without any bias. Holly is my friend, after all. The simple facts are the Midnight Blaze, our ever so esteemed Executive Officer, has been making many poor decisions recently, believing herself to be warding off some sort of danger to us. If she sincerely believed that something could possibly happen to us after fifty years of nothing, then I must believe that she is no longer fit to lead this Stable. Unfortunately, all possibility for a reasonable presentation of this thought is completely gone, since that idiot Stargazer decided to start shouting her down with that same demand on an almost daily basis for the last week. It doesn’t help matters much that she’s been working so closely with Arclight these last weeks on the new hardware installations. Those two bucks have never gotten along. I just hope that Security Chief Hot Lead manages to keep the peace. Thank the Princesses I managed to schedule a meeting with him today for just after my chat with Holly. Hopefully, between the two of us we’ll be able to figure out a solution.’

Despite the fact that I knew that Silver Bow had never made it to her meeting with the Security Chief, the log lifted my spirits significantly, since it implied that the Chief had come to the laboratory at some point that day, maybe shortly before Silver Bow had been killed. It made sense, because I couldn’t imagine that the mare had planned on going into the cafeteria with Holly Berry that day.

Feeling confident that this trail of bodies was finally coming close to a conclusion, I wandered back out into the main area of the lab. I was somewhat put off when I realized I would have to search each and every body to find one that belonged to the Security Chief. Doubtlessly several other ponies in this mess had to be Heads of their own departments, and would have information shedding light on why they had all gathered in here, but my only concern was why it had all happened in the first place. Leave it to the Steel Rangers to discover that answer, if they wanted. My concern was still, first and foremost, getting into the Engineering section and finding this Stable’s power source.

I reluctantly began the grisly work of searching the bodies. At least knowing that I was searching for a grown pony let me disregard the smaller bodies of the colts and fillies, but that didn’t make the job any easier. It took me almost a full hour of shifting bones and jumpsuits around to finally find the one I was searching for.

The Chief’s ID card identified him to be a severe-looking Earth Pony with a dark blue hide and white mane. Where every other picture had been of a smiling pony, Hot Lead showed no such inclination. As I had done with Silver Bow’s card, I memorized the Pass Code on it, and set out to track down the Security office. If the structure of Stable 60 was anything to go off of, I was expecting to find it somewhere down the same hallway as the one that the Overmare’s office would be in, or the Executive Officer’s, in this case.

As I expected, the door leading towards the Executive Office slid open at my approach, and there was what appeared to be a lengthy hallway behind it. What I wasn’t expecting was the challenge as soon as I stepped into the hallway.

“This is a restricted area. Please state your name,” the voice announced, making me stop dead in my tracks.

“Hot Lead,” I immediately answered. I couldn’t figure out why the system was already challenging me. Technically, I was still in a public area, so I shouldn’t need any sort of clearance to walk back here.

“Voice recognition failed. Security breach detected. Deploying countermeasures. Lockdown initiated,” the voice answered, shocking me so much I didn’t even think to grab Hammer before turrets were dropping out of the ceiling, with one every dozen feet or so, leaving me with four of the damned things to contend with.

The hallway was too narrow for me to do anything but run and shoot, so that was exactly what I did. I ripped Hammer from its holster and slid into S.A.T.S., lining two shots up against the first turret, and utterly destroying it when they fired a heartbeat later. Even as the sparks from that turret were hitting the ground, I was charging under it, firing at the second and third turrets, trying to knock them out of commission before they could do any real damage.

As luck would have it, I managed to reduce the next two to scrap before they managed to do any more than scratch my armor with the low-caliber rounds they were firing, but the last turret had more time to get shots on target. As I ran down the hall towards it, rounds started sparking off my chest, deflected by the steel plates of my armor, but just as I was taking aim, the turret shifted its aim, and sent a round straight through my right foreleg, making me tumble to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

I came to rest almost directly underneath the turret, thankfully out of its arc of fire, groaning in pain. Taking care of the immediate problem, I painfully twisted about so I could bring Hammer to bear and fired a pair of rounds into the turret, reducing it to scrap and showering myself in fragments of hot metal.

In the oppressive silence that followed, I took several moments just trying to push back the waves of fire coming from my leg, but I knew I would have to endure much worse if I wanted to get back to my hooves. Steeling myself for what I knew was coming, I contorted my body so I could get the wounded foreleg out in front of me, finally bringing the damage into sight as well as enabling myself to reach my saddlebags.

The intensity of the pain caused by the movement almost made me black out, but I managed to stay just this side of consciousness. Panting at the effort it took, I started to examine the wound, finding a neat hole punched straight through my right foreleg, just below the joint of my knee. I dug through my saddlebags and pulled out the third of my precious healing potions. I knew that this one wasn’t going to be enough to completely heal the wound, but it should at least enable me to move without blacking out, and would hopefully let me leg support my weight.

I quickly drained the potion and gasped in relief as the waves of pain from my leg abated, letting me finally breathe normally. As I had suspected, the potion didn’t fully heal the wound, and a small-ish hole was left that was still weeping blood. Luckily, I had learned enough to know how to tie a simple bandage, and Apple Crisp had been kind enough to give me some. Within minutes, my right foreleg was swaddled in a bandage, ranging from just under my armor until a few inches above my hoof.

That done, I shakily rose to my hooves, being careful to keep my injured leg off the ground. I wanted to make sure I was stable before trusting my weight to that leg. When I was absolutely sure that I was steady, I gingerly set my hoof down, slowly testing my weight. To my surprise, it managed to hold my weight rather well, thought it did hurt a bit. I would be able to manage a bit of pain if it meant I could at least walk normally.

The injury taken care of, at least to the best extent of my abilities, I continued forward, looking for the Security Office. Chances were that it would require the passcode again, and also the voice recognition, and since I wasn’t male, and had no clue what Hot Lead had once sounded like, there was no way in hell I was going to succeed at that. My one hope was to be faster than whatever turrets popped out of the ceiling when I inevitably failed.

Before long, I found the office, and watched with trepidation as the door slid open, giving me the illusion of easy access. I knew that I would be shooting something once I walked in, and I wasn’t looking forward to it. Unfortunately, simply standing here wasn’t going to accomplish anything, and I still had a lot to do if I wanted to get out of here and finally learn the truth behind my so-called ‘friends’ motivations.

I snorted briefly in anger and annoyance, then stepped through the door, Hammer already out and ready. I was not going to be caught unprepared again.

‘Please state your name,” the security system predictably demanded.

“Hot Lead,” I snapped around Hammer’s grip, fully expecting the attempt to be ignored.

“Voice recognition failed. Security breach detected. Deploying countermeasures. Lockdown initiated,” the computer intoned, just as I had expected it would, but I was already moving, taking cover behind a large metal cabinet and keeping my ears angled towards the center of the room, listening for where the turrets might drop down.

My eyes were glued to my E.F.S., watching for any bars to appear. Only one did. I remained where I was, body primed and ready to spring, not sure what to make of that. So far every room I had been in, except the laboratory, had been protected by at least two turrets, so it made no sense that this room, the center of security, would be protected by only one, unless of course, it was extremely powerful, like the two laser turrets that had been in the classroom.

I swallowed loudly, preparing myself for the fight, and leaned around the corner of the cabinet, looking towards the ceiling for a target. As a result, I was caught completely by surprise when a plasma burst struck me in the chest, fusing the front plates together and burning my chest, but otherwise I was luckily unscathed.

“Celestia fucking a one-legged mule!” I swore, snapping my head down and bringing Hammer to bear on whatever it was that had shot me. I was shocked when I came practically nose-to-visor with a robo-brain. Something about seeing somepony’s brain suspended in the clear glass dome that made up this thing’s head just seemed plain wrong, and I had to fight the automatic gag reflex that threatened to make me lose my weapon.

I recoiled in shock and disgust, firing Hammer instinctively. Three rounds smashed into the glass dome, cracking it, but the thing was made of sterner shit that most glass in the wasteland, and it didn’t break. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to correct the mistake as the robot opened fire with its plasma caster, forcing me to bound away from the cabinet. I managed to stay just ahead of the robot’s aim, buying myself time to try to line up a shot.

In my haste to get away from the robot’s stream of fire, however, I forgot to look at where I was placing my hooves and went tumbling head over hooves as I tripped over something on the ground. Thankfully, the fall took me behind the Security Chief’s desk, which absorbed a plasma round that would otherwise have burned through my head.

I sprang back up to my hooves, wincing slightly as I landed heavily on my injured leg and slid into S.A.T.S., lining up two shots on the robo-brain’s dome. An instant later and the dome shattered, flinging preservative liquid and bits of liquefied brain all over the room, splattering me with some.

In the sudden silence of the aftermath, I simply stood in place, panting heavily and eyes locked on my E.F.S., watching for any other targets. It was only after a full two minutes of silence that I finally reloaded Hammer and spat it back into its holster. My next action was to pull out my canteen and wash out the taste of preserved brain from my mouth. After two mouthfuls of water thoroughly swished around every corner of my mouth, I doubted I would ever get the terrible, bitter taste out of my mouth.

It was only when I gave up on the water that I looked down to see what had tripped me. I was shocked when I realized that it was the body of a pony. Almost fearfully, I knelt down over the body and went through its pockets, searching for its ID card. It didn’t take me long to find.

Holding it up to the light, I was surprised to see the face of a rather young mare with a bright orange hide and dark, almost scarlet, red mane. If it weren’t for the dark circles under her eyes, I would have thought that she was actually happy living in this fucked up community. What really got me, however, was the name: Midnight Blaze. Somehow, the Executive Officer had gotten killed inside of Hot Lead’s office. Even more disturbing was the fact that her jumpsuit had a burn in it about the same size as the area of fused plates on my chest, meaning that she had probably been shot by the robo-brain.

I shook my head slowly, unable to comprehend how the most powerful figure in the Stable, meaning that she had to have had full access to every single area of the Stable, could have been killed by one of the security measures she had installed. I tore my gaze from her body and looked to the desk, where Hot Lead’s computer sat, silently awaiting my attention.

I wandered over to it and accessed his logs, where I found two waiting, both dated for the day of Stargazer’s confrontation with the Executive Officer, and the day everything had fallen apart. With a lump in my throat, I accessed the first log.

‘Head researcher Silver Bow has taken an important step in coming to me with her concerns. So many ponies down here are content to simply sit back and complain, or protest, or do whatever it is they think they can do to enforce their individuality that none of them think that I can be talked to. All of these problems could be avoided if they were simply smart enough to do so. Thankfully, Silver Bow is intelligent, as well as well-respected by the general populace. If I can convince her of what the Executive Officer is doing with Arclight, then maybe we can head off the inevitable. If only Stargazer wasn’t so damned aggressive, then none of this would have happened. I just have to hope that this meeting will solve all of these problems before something happens that even I won’t be able to fix, especially given the new upgrades that Arclight installed to the security system.’

Without even pausing, I accessed the next log. Doubtless it would put all of the pieces together for me, and hopefully give an explanation why all of the ponies had been gathered in the laboratory.

‘Damn Stargazer! I was just about to leave for my meeting with Silver Bow when he marched down here, proud as can be, and demanded to see the Executive Officer, claiming that she was no longer fit for duty, due to her showing too much favoritism to Arclight. Doesn’t the fucking idiot realize that she needs to be working with Engineering to finish these upgrades? If only the bastard could realize why we’re doing what we’re doing. Midnight Blaze managed to get him to leave, but not before things got really heated. I’m afraid of what might happen if we let this go for too long. So, just in case, I’m ordering everypony to gather in the laboratory, so that my meeting with Silver Bow will be public, and everypony will know that she requested it. Hopefully that way I can give them some answers before they lose their minds. I just need to hope that Stargazer doesn’t do something stupid. Until we get the next install completed, the security system is unstable, and the smallest hiccup in normal operation will cause a total lockdown, and with all the department Heads gathered in one place, the rest of the Stable will become a deathtrap. Fuck, if Silver Bow isn’t in the laboratory and something goes wrong, we’ll all be dead. Well, here goes nothing. Let’s just hope I’m not too late.’

I sat back on my haunches, shocked speechless at what I had read. Stargazer must have done something insane only minutes after Hot Lead had left his office, just long enough for him to get to the labs, and just long enough for Holly Berry to have made it to the classroom to confront him. Princesses above, that single pony’s actions had caused the deaths of hundreds of defenseless, innocent ponies, all because he couldn’t get what he wanted and didn’t want to listen to the explanations.

I shakily got to my hooves, still trying to put everything together in my mind. I now knew what had happened down here, and the revelation was terrifying. These ponies had put so much stake in a simple security system, and as a result, the system meant to protect them had been what killed them. It was simply mind-boggling.

Well, now I knew what had happened, but what I truly wanted to learn was why. It was obvious enough from Hot Lead’s log that Stargazer’s issues with Midnight Blaze and Arclight stemmed from some sort of twisted jealousy of the engineer, despite the tone of his own logs. But none of that explained why he would react as violently as he did. There must have been some sort of reason, something to spark the risks he took. It simply didn’t make sense.

Luckily for me, I had exactly what I needed to get where the answers were most likely being held. In Stable 60, the Overmare had had access to everything. Every single file in that Stable had been routed through her computer. Here, it seemed that Midnight Blaze held even more power, so I fully expected the same to be true. If anywhere in this fucked up place would have the answers I wanted, it would be her office. That also meant that it would probably be the best defended as well.

I wasted no time in heading out of the Security Office and down the hallway towards the Executive Office. As I expected it would be, it was at the very end of the hallway, yet to my surprise, it was already standing wide open. Wary of any sudden movement, I stepped across the threshold and into the circular office.

Nothing challenged me. The room was silent, as was the entire Stable. It seemed odd, creepy even, that everything had been defended by some sort of security system up to this point, yet the office of the most powerful pony in the entire Stable was completely unprotected.

I stepped around the desk so I could approach Midnight Blaze’s computer, and found a corpse lying at the floor on the floor in front of the screen. I approached the body, fairly sure that I already knew whose body it was. All the card would be was confirmation. It only took me a few seconds to find, and then my prediction was confirmed. Looking up at me from the surface of the card was a handsome, brown unicorn buck with the name Arclight. No wonder Stargazer had lost his shit when he came here to yell at the Executive Officer.

Moving the body aside so I could get at the computer, I was shocked to see what was already there. The screen had a translucent black stain across it, bad enough that I could tell it was the remnant stain of a splatter of blood, but the words on the screen were still legible. I could also see what appeared to be streak stains through the blood, so whoever’s blood it had been must have tried to wipe it away so they could continue working.

The text behind the blood was even more telling. The top line read ‘Executive Office Security disabled.’ The bottom, however, was what caught my attention. It read ‘Disable Stable Security? Y/N’.

I reached out a shaking hoof and tapped the ‘Y’ button. Almost immediately, the computer came to life, with lines of text scrolling by on the display faster than I could read them. Everything then came to a sudden stop and a small box appeared, asking for a confirmation code. Hoping for a miracle, I pulled out Midnight Blaze’s ID card and typed in her Passcode. The computer started working as soon as I hit enter, and for a minute I thought that nothing was going to happen. Then, against all prediction, another box popped up proclaiming that the code was accepted and the security system had been shut down!

It seemed unbelievable that I had managed to completely nullify the defenses of this Stable. And yet, if what was on the computer was true, that was exactly what I had just done. What disturbed me was that it seemed far too simple. Just enter a single passcode, and everything is fixed? That didn’t seem like the way these Stables were supposed to work.

Putting my concerns aside for the moment, I accessed the logs, looking for whatever records Midnight Blaze had kept. She had three separate logs on her computer, with the first being dated almost twelve years before the other two, which were both dated for the day everything had gone bad. Wanting to keep everything in order, I accessed the first log, and was shocked when it was a voice recording.

“Well, today is the day I get to take over as the Executive Officer of Stable 76. Now that mom is dead, the mantle passes to me. She taught me everything she could to make sure I was ready, but I don’t think anything is ever enough. Besides, I wasn’t supposed to take over for at least another five years. That damn freak illness that took her away from us caught us all off guard. Well, I suppose there is no sense in wasting time. I need to read the orders that were left for us from Stable-Tec. Ahem, ‘Congratulations, Executive Officer of Stable 76. You have been chosen to lead one of the most ambitious programs in the history of ponykind. You Stable has been selected to test the new EQ-WIN Personnel Security System. Unfortunately, we at Stable-Tec did not have time to fully install the system before we needed to move you all in, so it falls to you to have the system installed. You can find the process later in these orders. Good luck!’ Wow, they really didn’t give us much to work with… Well, no time like the present to get back to work. I’ll need to speak to Arclight down in Engineering about seeing how far we’ve gotten with the testing. With how smoothly everything has been running so far, I’ve no doubt everything is running perfectly.”

The mare’s voice had been light and kind, the kind of voice that belonged to a pony I knew was a good pony. What could have happened to make everything go so wrong so quickly? The only place I was going to get those answers was the logs, so I accessed the next one.

“Fuck, I’m such a fool,” the voice started. It was still the same voice as the first log had had, but I could tell that it was under much more strain, and there was also a much harsher undertone to it that hadn’t existed before. “Twelve fucking years and it took me this long to check that one Goddesses-damned folder. Had I done that when I first started then everything would have been avoided. I should have realized it that first day when I went to talk to Arclight. I should have realized it when he told me that he knew nothing about any sort of security system installation. My mom had seen through Stable-Tec, the bastards. She understood that following their orders was a fucking death sentence, so she ignored them. For thirty fucking years, she ignored them. If only I had thought about that, then we wouldn’t be here! If Hot Lead can’t stop this, then I will be responsible for all of our deaths.”

I was shocked into near inaction at that revelation. I had been sure that every single pony in the Stables had thought that Stable-Tec had built them to protect them, and that the betrayals hadn’t been until much later. But apparently, this mare, Midnight Blaze’s mother, was smarter than most and had figured it out. Too bad Midnight Blaze hadn’t been just as intuitive. I reached out and accessed the last log. For better or for worse, this was the last I was going to learn. Once I was in the Engineering section, I didn’t really care about finding Arclight’s office. All I cared about was finding that fucking power generator and getting out of here.

“Dammit, everything is going to hell. I just found out from a private message from Arclight that Stargazer is on the warpath, and is on his way up here to confront me. If only we had more time! Hot Lead said he had a meeting with Silver Bow, the Head researcher, today, and that he should be able to calm almost everypony’s fears with that meeting. I’ve told him to tell her everything, my mistakes included. If I’m lucky, they will unders…”

“Midnight, thank the Princesses I made it up here before Stargazer did,” a voice cut in. It had a clear note of worry in it and was undoubtedly masculine.

“Arclight, what the fuck are you doing here? If Stargazer sees you, we’ll have no hope of talking him down! You know he already suspects us of being less than professional!” Midnight Blaze protested.

“Let the idiot believe what he wants. That message you sent to Hot Lead made it to me as well. If both of us give him the same explanation that Hot Lead is going to give Silver Bow, then he might listen to us. Coming from just one of us it will sound like a poor excuse. But if he hears it from us and Silver Bow, he’ll have no choice but to accept it,” Arclight answered.

“Ugh, fine. I guess it’s too late to do any…” Midnight Blaze started, but was cut off again as a third voice entered the fray.

“I finally found you, you sneaky bitch! And with him here no less!” the third voice snapped, sounding almost hysterical. The pitch and tone reminded me pointedly of a raider in a blood frenzy.

“Stargazer, please calm down and listen to us. We’re going to explain everything,” Midnight Blaze tried to protest, but the buck quickly interrupted again before she could continue.

“Oh, sure. Now you want to explain. Five fucking years after you start making our lives hell you want to explain. Too little, too late, Midnight. I’m here to make sure that you step down!” the teacher shouted, any semblance of sanity gone from his voice.

“Stargazer, we’re going to shut the whole system down! That’s why Arclight is here!” Midnight Blaze shouted back, just as angry as the buck, if not quite as crazy.

“Oh, sure it is! That’s why you’re the one at the computer and he’s standing over you, right? Come clean with me, Midnight. Tell me that it’s him over me!” Stargazer snapped.

“Wha… You’ve got to be kidding me!” Midnight Blaze shouted, “All of this because you think I’m in love with Arclight and not you! I don’t love anypony! I’ve been too busy trying to keep this Stable running to look for a fucking coltfriend! This has to be the most immature, childish, and idiotic complaint I have ever been faced with!” There was the sound of the mare getting to her hooves, still shouting at the other buck, calling him all sorts of names and calling his birth into question, before she finally shouted, “Arclight, start shutting the system down, I’ll be back in a minute. This fucker needs to understand something about professional respect! And shut off the log!”

I sat stunned, scarcely able to believe my ears. My suspicions had been true then. The entire Stable had been killed because one buck wasn’t able to take no as an answer. If that wasn’t sad, I didn’t know what was. Well, at least I knew the truth now. What had seemed to be such an intense mystery had turned out to be nothing more than romantic drama, if this could even be called that.

I slowly shook my head, climbing woodenly to my hooves and making my way to the door. I wandered down the hallway, picking my way around the scrap of the turrets I had destroyed and emerging back out in the atrium. Every single door was now standing open, a silent testament to my efforts, including the one to the Engineering area.

Not quite knowing what to expect, I stepped through the door and started down the stairs that would bring me to the lower levels of the Stable, where all of the machinery that kept it running was held. As I descended, the rumble of machinery came into hearing, somehow still running after a century and a half of being forgotten. Lucky for me, the main power plant was easy to find, though it didn’t look like anything special to me.

It was simply a large, black machine that took up most of a single room and had tubes running the full length of its height, disappearing into the floor and ceiling. It was humming loudly, and enough heat was radiating off of it to make the air surrounding it shimmer. I wasn’t able to get closer than two feet without becoming distinctly uncomfortable in the heat.

My job done, I simply turned around and started to make my way back out, but paused at the bottom of the stairs. This was a Stable that still had functioning machinery, which meant that it might still have a working water purifier, and I still needed one to complete my deal with Millberry.

I turned around on the spot and headed back into the Engineering area, investigating every single room for what I wanted. I finally found it on the deepest level of the bunker, sitting quietly in a back corner room, seemingly far away from the main thoroughfare of the area, but all of the signs and labels around it pointed at the fact that it had to be a purifier. I remained just long enough to ensure that it was still in working condition before turning and walking out of the room. It was far too large for me to disconnect and carry with me. Besides, there was no way in hell the Steel Rangers would just let me walk out of the Stable with it. I would need to strike a deal with them to get my hooves on it. Hmmm, maybe I could give them Steel Curtain, if he didn’t give me a good enough reason not to expect him to betray me, just as he had his home.

I made my way straight up to the entrance, pausing only once to check the bandage around my wounded leg, since the pain was starting to flare up again. I found that the bandage was starting to stain red as the wound continued to bleed, but as long as it held my weight, I would be able to manage. Before long, I was sitting and waiting at the door, with only a half hour left until Apple Crisp was supposed to open it for the evening.

The half hour passed quickly, partially thanks to the light doze I had managed to fall into. The emergency claxon of the door opening, coupled with the deafening grinding of the door on its frame, however, was more than enough to fully wake me and give me time to make myself appear somewhat presentable.

I sat directly across from the open door, chest thrust out in victory, waiting to see the look of shock that would inevitably be on the Star Paladin’s face. When the door finally rolled to the side and out of the way, I was not disappointed.

The red buck’s jaw dropped open, and his eyes were full to the brim with confusion. Every line of his body shouted his shock at seeing me, alive and victorious. It took him several moments to collect himself, and when he did, his usual stoic expression took over, hiding any semblance of emotion he might have had.

“Evergreen. This is a surprise,” he intoned, stepping forward until he was just on the other side of the door, “I’m guessing you managed to accomplish the task that Elder Bitter Orange gave you?”

“The generator is about a hundred feet beneath your hooves, Apple Crisp,” I answered smugly, “And the path there is entirely open. Your welcome.” I stood and sidled past him, stepping back out into the clear mountain evening, where the light rain washed over me. Once past the buck, I sat down and tipped my head towards the sky, letting the water run over my face and wash away the grime of the Stable.

“Hmph. Impressive. If you would give me your weapons, then, we can return to the bunker. You will be held until a team is sent down to ensure that you are telling the truth, and not taking advantage of our trust. You can keep your armor and ammunition,” the buck stated without any sort of inflection.

“That wasn’t the deal,” I snapped, turning my head to fix the armored stallion in a piercing glare, “I upheld my part of the bargain, now I want to see my friends. I need to make sure they aren’t being mistreated.”

“We aren’t going back on anything. We simply don’t trust you and want to make sure that you’re telling the truth. As soon as it is confirmed, you’ll get your weapons back, and will be brought to your friends,” Apple Crisp growled, letting some of his annoyance at me show.

We stood facing each other, staring each other down and both trying to intimidate the other into backing down. Unfortunately for me, the Paladin must have been made of the same steel that was used to build his armor, and I had better things to be doing than get into a staring match with a stubborn buck.

“Fine, we’ll do things your way,” I said, shrugging. I pulled Hammer and my knife out of their respective places and tossed them on the ground at the Paladin’s feet, then started walking towards the bunker.

From behind me I heard the sounds of the Paladin rushing to pocket my weapons and catch up to me, where he took the lead and slowed our pace to a stately march. I obediently fell into step behind him, grinning to myself. He would feel like such an idiot when they discovered that I had been telling the truth.

He left me in my cell and turned to leave, letting the door close shut behind him and leaving me alone. The pneumatic hiss of the door closing made me jump nervously, half expecting some turrets to drop from the ceiling and open fire. I took a deep breath, reminding myself that this was the Steel Ranger Outpost, and not the Stable. Besides, I had shut down the security.

I finally calmed myself down and wandered over to the bed, where I dropped my saddlebags to the ground, and lay down. Fatigue was quickly overtaking me, and knowing the Steel Rangers, and how they had been operating so far, it would be several hours before they sent a team down to see that I had kept my word. I might as well get some sleep while I could.

I woke up on my own, in the morning as I determined when I checked my Pipbuck. Growling in annoyance to myself I crawled off of the bed and started pacing the room. I wouldn’t be able to get anything done until somepony came down to let me go, and I was definitely annoyed that it had been this long and nopony had come and talked to me yet.

Thankfully, I didn’t need to wait long before the door slid open, leading me to believe that they had some way of monitoring me. Bitter Orange stepped through the open door, flanked by Apple Crisp and another armored pony.

“So, Evergreen, it seems that you managed to complete the task I gave you. That was unexpected,” the Elder announced, her voice very controlled. It was easy to tell that she was trying to keep herself from showing any emotion, but she wasn’t as good as she thought. She was shocked, enough so that she didn’t know what to do.

“I did, as I said I would. So me and my friends are free to go about our business then, as per our agreement?” I asked pointedly, glaring at the older mare.

“Evergreen, you must understand that situation we are in. You and your friends are a risk that I don’t think we can take,” the Elder started, but I didn’t let her continue.

“So you’re going to break your word, and become nothing more than a more advanced gang?” I snapped angrily, “I should have guessed. I’m surprised you haven’t exiled yourself, for being just as duplicitous and deceptive as Crosswire.”

The Elder and Apple Crisp both shot me a surprised look, as though they hadn’t expected me to say something like that. “I… I’m sorry,” the Elder stated, starting to turn to walk away, but I leapt forward and almost made it to her, would have had Apple Crisp not gotten in my way.

“You lying cunt!” I shouted, “It would be just like you lot to break a promise! There isn’t an ounce of honor among you, despite your claims! I did what you wanted, was almost killed doing it, and this is my reward? A fucking cell?”

Apple Crisp pushed me roughly away, making me stumble and limp over my wounded leg, but I managed to stay on my hooves and recovered to shoot a poisonous glare at the Elder, who was now watching my with unbridled rage.

“What did you just say about us?” she demanded, no longer even attempting to hide her emotions.

“The truth,” I growled in return, “That none of you have any honor. You made a promise, Elder Bitter Orange. Honor it, and I will take back everything I said. You are the pony in charge here. Your decisions and your actions reflect on everypony here, reflect on the entire Steel Ranger order. If you carry this choice out, how long will it be before every single one of you isn’t trusted with anything, simply because you couldn’t keep a single fucking promise. How long before none of the ponies that are supposedly loyal to you begin to question the honesty of your orders?”

The Elder faltered in her anger, trying to find a response, but she started to crumble under the withering glares of both me as well as Apple Crisp and the other armored pony.

“While I hate to agree with somepony that isn’t one of us, I must say that Evergreen is right,” Apple Crisp stated, “And while I think that she needs to watch how she reacts to news she doesn’t like, I can understand her reaction in this case. She did precisely what you asked her to do. I saw the inside of the Stable with my own eyes. We couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

I was shocked nearly speechless at the buck’s admission. I had expected him to be firmly against me in everything, this included. I couldn’t even imagine what it must have taken for him to speak out against his own Elder.

“Star Paladin Apple Crisp, how could you claim these things? You should understand the dangers they pose to our safety more than anypony!” the Elder sputtered.

“I do. I also understand the meaning behind a promise held and the consequences of a promise broken. If you break this one, Elder, we will never be able to expect any aid or cooperation from anypony. If you let her go, then news of our honesty will spread. We may be able to gain some influence again at long last,” Apple Crisp answered severely, his voice carefully controlled. He was obviously treading on very thin ice, siding with me.

“I… Hmmm. If you are disagreeing with my decision, then I suppose I must try to see it from your perspective. I understand her anger as well, but…” the Elder muttered, visible shifting from side to side with her thoughts, “No, you’re right, Apple Crisp. We must uphold our promises. Return her weapons. I will lead her to her friends myself.”

“Alone, Elder? With the outsider?” the other pony, a mare by the sound of her voice, asked, a worried not creeping into her voice.

“Yes, alone,” Bitter Orange confirmed, “It’s the least I can do to make up for my insult.” She looked at me, her gaze actually apologetic. I had severely underestimated the influence that Apple Crisp had on this mare. I had thought him the thoughtless follower, instead it seemed that he filled the role of advisor instead. I wouldn’t make that mistake again.

Within moments, I had my weapons back, as well as the rest of my possessions, including the Messaging Crystal. “Why are you giving this back to me as well?” I asked cautiously.

“You were given the job to deliver it, Evergreen, so we shall allow you to complete that delivery, once you’ve met with your friends. Now, shall we get moving?” the Elder asked, nodding her head towards the door.

I watched the old mare for a few moments, then shifted my gaze down to the Crystal in my one hoof. The light, that damned mysterious light, was still flitting around inside. I let out a large sigh, pocketing the Crystal, and lifted my gaze back to Bitter Orange. “Lead the way.” It was finally time to get this confrontation out of the way.

The Elder led me through the bunker, but instead of heading up and out as we had before, she led me deeper inside, towards a different holding area, I guessed. Many ponies stopped to watch us as we walked, some armored, and some not. The ones whose faces were in the open had expressions ranging from surprise to outright hostility. It seemed that solving a problem they hadn’t been able to didn’t do much for my reputation here. I doubted that even Apple Crisp would speak for me on anything more than the deal I had agreed to.

While we walked, I could tell that something was weighing heavily on the Elder’s mind. She finally stopped midstride and turned to face me. “Evergreen, I find myself needing to apologize for my behavior. Apple Crisp, and you, were right. I was willing to throw away our honor for a little additional safety, and I would have been wrong. Your behavior has done nothing but confirm everything that you have claimed, and if the radio is to be believed, the wasteland has actually improved with you around. While this is not a confession of support for what you are doing, I can understand that you are doing what you, as well as many others, believe to be good work.”

I watched the mare carefully, looking for any hint of deception from her, but she seemed to be sincere. “I accept your apology, Elder, on one condition. Promise me that you will uphold your word with every pony you come across from here on out.”

“I… I promise,” the Elder stated with a curt nod, then she lowered her head, her ears dropping as what appeared to be sadness overcame here. “It’s odd. I’ve spent so much of my life leading these ponies, and this is the first time in all of those years that I have found myself regretting any decision I have ever made. I don’t know whether to thank you or to hate you for it.”

“Thank me,” I growled, “Every leader has to learn regret. How else are they supposed to know what to avoid?”

“Hmmm, I suppose there’s some truth there,” the Elder said, nodding, “Then thank you, Evergreen. Now, let’s continue. No doubt there is much you wish to do today.”

“Don’t mention it,” I muttered, falling into step behind the Elder.

Within minutes, we were in the other holding area, which was little more than another hallway with closed doors on both sides. Bitter Orange made her way to a console and typed in a few commands. Immediately, the doors slid open and the sound of hooves could be heard approaching the hallway.

The first pony out was Crosswire, wearing an expression of surprise, and, on seeing me, a mixture of shock and joy. The two-faced bastard would be split on what to think. The next pony to walk out was Autumn, who was angry, as I fully expected. What other emotion did the bitch possess? It irked me even more when her angry glare deepened on looking in my direction. Did she have no clue that I had risked my life to save hers? Next, Suture crept into the open, her mane a tangled mess and deep, dark circles under her eyes. Doubtless she was crying over the fact the she doubted she would ever make it home again.

The last pony to come into the open again was Steel Curtain. Without his armor on, he was no more impressive than Crosswire. In fact, he appeared to be even slimmer than the unicorn. Surprising, given the amount of condition it reportedly took to operate power armor. I couldn’t deny that he was in perfect shape however, as my eyes were drawn to the curve of his chest and the strength in his legs, as well as the gloss of the feathers in his wings. Despite my will, my eyes were drawn to his flank, where I laid eyes on his cutie mark for the first time. As his name suggested, his cutie mark depicted a large bullet, both intricately stylized and bluntly simple at the same time.

I lifted my gaze back to his face, which bore an expression of surprise, but also of fear. Why would he be afraid if he was a Dashite? The Steel Rangers would have no interest in somepony that knew nothing about the current state of affairs of the Enclave, and he had been a Dashite long enough that any intelligence he had would be long obsolete. Unless, of course, he was receiving information in some way from them…

“So,” I stated bluntly, facing my ‘friends’, “I finally get the chance at some honest answers. Elder, I think we need to have our little reunion in private, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course, Evergreen,” the Elder answered, bowing slightly to me and backing away, leaving me alone with the four ponies.

“Evergreen, are you all right?” Suture asked, her eyes darting from the bloody bandage around my leg to the furious expression on my face.

“Never been better,” I ground out, “Not that you really care, Suture. I just bet you can’t wait for us to finally be done with this damned mission so you can return to your comfortable life in Metro, huh?”

“Evergreen, what the hell has gotten into you?” Crosswire growled, stepping forward and drawing my glare towards himself, “Suture didn’t deserve that! She’s probably been sitting in there, crying for worry over you, not to mention the rest of us!”

“What the fuck would you know about it, Crosswire?” I demanded, rounding on the buck, “I barely know who you are! The buck I thought I had known for five years has completely changed in the last week and a half, and now I’m learning that there’s even more than you told us! Exactly when is the whole truth about who Crosswire is really going to come out?”

The unicorn stood stock still, glaring at me, not even making an attempt to hide his rage. “What the fuck happened to you, Evergreen?” he snapped, “The mare I know would never say things like this, especially not after the ordeal we’ve all been through!”

“I opened my eyes, Crosswire! That’s what happened. I realized that none of you have any reason to really be traveling with me, unless it’s for your own, selfish purposes! I figure all you want is to get inside me, like any other two-faced raider bastard, and the rest of you are just as transparent. Autumn Mist wants nothing more than to put a bullet in my head and end my life, as repayment for the family I killed. Suture cares only about Metro, her home, so as long as we are working to protect that, she’ll claim to be on our side. As for Steel Curtain, there is a lot more to him than meets the eye. Of that, I am absolutely certain!”

Deep inside, I felt that what I was saying was wrong. I felt an intense regret at the pain I must be causing my friends, but a powerful force quickly stamped out those thoughts and feelings, leaving me with nothing but my feelings of rage and betrayal. Within seconds, even the memory of that regret was gone.

“Evergreen, what did those ponies tell you about me?” Steel Curtain asked, his tone almost pleading, “I swear to you, on my honor as a Pegasus, that anything they told you was a lie!”

“Oh, is that what you expect me to believe. Your ‘honor as a Pegasus’?” I said, vocalizing the apostrophes, “I bet it’s just as true as every other lie you’ve told me so far, isn’t it, Steel Curtain?”

“Evergreen, I haven’t lied to you, about anything!” the supposed Dashite claimed, sadness making his eyes glisten.

“Oh sure. Tell me, then, who were your parents?” I demanded, taking a step towards the Pegasus.

“My… parents?” Steel Curtain asked nervously, taking a step back. I nodded at him, a grim expression on my face. “My… my father is, well probably was, now, a councilor in the government of Stormfront. My mother was an official from Cirrus. Small time, compared to dad, but important enough in her own right, I guess. Why does any of this matter?”

“Your parents are high-ranking officials from their respective homes, and their son is a soldier in the Grand Pegasus Enclave. That doesn’t sound odd to you? Doesn’t seem like a prime background for a pony who could do, oh, I don’t know, special jobs?” I said, stepping closer to the Pegasus until he was backed up against a wall.

“Evergreen, it isn’t his fault that he came from the high and mighty!” Autumn protested, grabbing me by the shoulder and swinging me around to face her, “I heard him as clearly as you did when he explained it! He’s a Dashite. What the hell has made you think otherwise!”

“Gah, you wouldn’t understand, Autumn!” I snapped, turning away from the young mare, but she stopped me, grabbing onto my mane with her magic and tearing me back around.

“Why wouldn’t I, Evergreen? Because I haven’t seen the things you’ve seen? Because these Steel Ranger fucks haven’t filled my head with their propaganda bullshit?” she spat, losing control over her temper.

“It wasn’t propaganda. It was well thought out arguments. Our winged friend is hiding something, and I intend to find out,” I growled, tearing myself away from her magical grip, losing a few strands of my mane with the effort.

As I turned back to face the Pegasus, I saw Suture from the corner of my eye, tears streaming down her face as she cried, with Crosswire at her side, trying to comfort her. When I stepped towards the Pegasus, his head lifted, and he stepped towards me. On my E.F.S., his bar shifted from blue to red.

“I’m sorry about this, Evergreen,” he said sadly, then jumped.

My injured leg got in the way of being able to effectively block the ragged unicorn’s attack, and he managed to knock me onto me side and land atop me, keeping me pinned to the ground.

I bucked wildly, trying to throw him off balance, but he held himself steady, grappling with my flailing hooves until he had all but one pinned. I was just about to knock him hard in the head when I noticed his horn glowing. I had forgotten completely about his magic. In the next instant, something hard smashed against me head and everything went dark.

Level Up!
Perk gained: Concentrated Fire – Repeated shots at a previously hit target are much more likely to hit.

{Another chapter done, and let me tell you all that this one was probably the most fun I have written in a while! I’m really excited to see what you all think about it. As always, thanks to Kkat for the original Fallout: Equestria, and thanks to my editors, Cody and MUCKSTER. If you so wish, you can check out the story from the hub page here. Also, my apologies for the large delay! Cody recently got a new job, and hasn’t had much time for editing these last couple weeks. As always, the hub page can be found here.}

Author's Note

EDIT: Recently discovered that I screwed canon with the name of the Steel Rangers. This has now been fixed. Sorry for any confusion.

Chapter 10: Broken Spirit

Fallout Equestria: Redemption
Author: Cooperdawg
Chapter 10: Broken Spirit
“A what point is even friendship not enough?”

I slowly started to come to, my head pounding as though a stampede were running through it. Keeping my eyes screwed up against the light, I shifted my body, testing my movement, and found myself tightly bound. I racked my brain, trying to remember what would have led to this, and the memories of my confrontation with my friends rushed back to the forefront of my mind. Crosswire had managed to knock me unconscious, the fucking traitor, and now they had probably left me here for the Steel Rangers to deal with.

“Why… why would she say things like that?” a soft voice asked, sounding somewhat choked up. It had to be Suture. No other pony would break down like that when we weren’t anywhere close to somewhere safe.

“I don’t know…” another voice answered, this one gruff and annoyed. Crosswire was the only one that would have this sort of reaction. “I’m hoping we’re going to get some answers, especially since how out of character it is for her. She never even turned on anypony like this back in the camp, and some of them seriously deserved it. Something isn’t right.”

“Well, she better have a fucking good answer,” Autumn Mist snapped, “A lot of what she said is just plain fucking wrong, especially considering what we’ve all been through these last few days.”

“That’s what I’m hoping as well,” Crosswire answered simply. I heard the sound of several sets of hooves stepping towards me and finally forced my eyes open, wincing at the renewed pain the light caused.

“At least she’s finally awake. Took her fucking long enough,” Autumn Mist growled. I shifted my gaze to her face and saw an expression of almost pure anger there, exactly as I had expected. The mare really was nothing if not predictable.

“The fuck you got me tied up for, Crosswire? I’m pissed, not violent!” I snapped angrily, straining against the ropes holding me in place.

“Just a precaution, Evergreen. Something is different about you, and we don’t know what else might have changed,” Crosswire explained, “And I want to know exactly why you started yelling at us like you did. Nothing you said made any sort of sense! It just isn’t like you!”

“I think I already gave you that answer, Crosswire: I opened my eyes. You lot are nothing but a bunch of selfish bottom feeders. You’re using me to get what you want, then the moment you don’t need me anymore, you’re going to throw me to the roadside and continue on your own!” I answered, making sure the ragged buck heard every note of anger and betrayal in my voice.

To my surprise, all he did was slowly shake his head and lower it to the ground, as though in pity. “You’re not going to goad me back to anger, Evergreen. I’ve already gotten over that. Now, I just want to get my friend back. What could possibly make you think that any of us are here for selfish reasons? If that were the case, Suture would have stayed behind in Metro when we came out here, Steel Curtain would never have asked to join us, I would have walked away the minute we were clear of that damned camp, and Autumn Mist would have shot you dead that night I almost died. None of that has happened.”

Some of what the tech was saying made sense, but I couldn’t seem to make myself react to his arguments. Anytime I tried to form words that would answer him rationally, or consider the truth behind his views, my thoughts were utterly crushed and the flame of my anger fanned to new heights. I found myself incapable of reasoning out any other beliefs other than the ones that I had walked into this room with.

“You say that, but what’s to stop Autumn from putting a bullet through my head this very second?” I snapped angrily, unable, and somehow even unwilling, to stop the words.

“You want me to?” the mare snapped, grabbing Hammer out of my holster with her magic and aiming the sleek black revolver at my head.

“Autumn, control yourself. We already agreed that Evergreen can’t be at fault for this. I know her too well. Nopony can change her opinion on something unless she lets them, and I can’t see her letting the Steel Rangers twist her views about us all like this,” Crosswire snapped, grabbing the weapon with his own magic and tearing it away.

“So you say, Crosswire. I think you’re putting too much faith in her willingness to trust us,” the dark mare snapped as she turned and trudged away, “Do what you want. I’m fucking done with this. If she figures her shit out, she better have a fucking apology ready.”

I watched the mare walk away, and some deep, primal part of myself was torn at the sight of her turning her back on me. Inside, I could feel whatever force was guiding my thoughts struggle to stamp out the feeling of hurt and turn it into more rage, but I refused to allow it that victory. I protected that feeling of grief and sadness, holding it safe like a flame from the wind as though it were the one small part of me that I now knew for sure was the only part that was entirely what I wanted it to be.

“Nothing to say for yourself, then?” Crosswire asked, looking down at me with grief-filled eyes, “Or is this what you really think now?”

“What do you want me to say, Crosswire?” I snapped, still not strong enough to fight the pressure in my mind that I knew was controlling me, “I can’t apologize, ‘cause I’m right! Nothing any of you have claimed holds any strength. Nothing proves that you are right!”

“Then look past our words!” the buck snapped, letting some of his frustration show, “Look at our actions! All of us are still here, at least trying to help you! We came here because we want to help you, Evergreen. We came here because we believe in what you’re trying to do.”

“Autumn obviously doesn’t!” I snapped, nodding my head in the direction the young mare had walked.

“Can you blame her? You drove her away, Evergreen, with the way you’re acting and the things you’ve said. And I’ll tell you what, the rest of us are getting awfully close to being done as well. If we have to worry about you turning on us every time you get left on your own for more than a few hours, well, I don’t know how long we’ll be able to put up with that,” the buck stated sadly, lowering his head and looking away from me.

Those words hurt me more than anything else so far had. The threat of once again being left alone in the wasteland was far too much to bear. I fought against the force in my mind, trying to drive it aside, trying only to get out a few simple words to let Crosswire know that I didn’t want this.

“I should have expected you’d have nothing to say to that,” the tech stated morosely as he started to turn around, “I guess Autumn Mist had the right idea after all…”

I struggled even harder against the shackles in my mind, throwing myself mentally against them, fighting with every ounce of strength and will I had to just call my friend back. “Crosswire, wait,” I finally managed to gasp, the first words in hours I’d spoken to him that were not laced with anger or hate.

The buck stopped mid-stride and turned to look at me. “What, Evergreen? I’m getting tired of listening to your insults. If you’re just going to yell at me again, save your breath. We’ve decided to go back to Metro if you weren’t going to listen to reason and at least try to do something about all of this, and we don’t intend for you to come with us, if that’s the case.”

I started to sweat with the effort of getting my own words out. Every single one felt like a battle won, but even then I feared it wouldn’t be enough. “I need you,” was all I managed to force out before the force in my mind overpowered me and drove me into silence.

Something in the tech’s eyes told me that he saw the struggle I was in, and knew how much more was being implied by the words than the obvious. A thin smile appeared on his lips. “I knew we couldn’t give up hope yet,” he stated, with just enough joy in his tone for me to know that he had been the one fighting hardest to keep my friends together, striding back over to me, “I need you to think, Evergreen. What happened to change your mind about us like this? It had to have been a single event, since I can’t see anything else doing this to you.”

I fought through the haze in my mind, battling against the force trying to keep me from analyzing my own memories, trying to think back and remember why everything had changed. I could remember the fight that brought us to the gates of the Rangers’s Outpost, and could remember the interrogations that followed. But in the space between the Elder leaving that first night and my new way of thinking, there was nothing but darkness. Whatever had happened to me, it had to have happened then.

“First night,” I forced out, finding it almost impossible to speak, making the words come out as little more than whispers, “Something… happened.”

“You mean that whatever happened to you happened during the first night we were here?” Crosswire asked, trying to puzzle out my meaning.

I nodded weakly. Even that simply action had been difficult, like fighting an uphill battle against an enemy that had had months to dig in.

“I think I have an idea,” Steel Curtain announced, finally showing himself and walking into my sight. I could see that the Steel Rangers had not yet returned his armor, making the Pegasus appear much smaller.

“What is it?” Crosswire asked after several moments of silence. Steel Curtain had fallen silent as he watched me, his gaze also obviously taking in the severity of my struggle. I could even see the pain in his eyes at the realization that there was nothing he could physically do to help me.

“Do you remember the day we all left Grovedale, and the nightmare that Evergreen had that night?” he asked, never taking his eyes from me.

“Yeah. You mentioned something about how she might have some sort of ancient evil living in her mind, something that the Princesses had sealed away thousands of years ago,” the tech answered.

“Exactly. I think it finally managed to gather enough strength to force a change in Evergreen in an attempt to make her return to the way of life she had been living. With all of us gone, it would only be a matter of time until she turned back to a raider’s lifestyle. It seems that whatever kind of creature this thing is, it feeds on misery and death. A raider is the easiest path to those things, and a powerful mare like Evergreen offers a better chance at a long life,” Steel Curtain explained.

“So you think that it was that thing that is twisting her thoughts like this?” Crosswire finished, tearing his gaze from the Pegasus and looking down at me, “It makes sense, and certainly follows with what we’ve learned about her life in Grovedale.”

Steel Curtain nodded solemnly and stepped up to me and looked down on me with a sad gaze. “Evergreen, listen to me. I know a part of you is fighting against whatever it is that is making you angry at us, and I can see that that fight is not easy. Just know that the rest of us are here for you, even Autumn Mist.”

I forced a nod, wanting to at least confirm to the Pegasus that I had heard him. “How… do I win?” I ground out between clenched teeth, the combination of my trauma-induced migraine and the sheer strength I needed to force the words out draining my strength at an alarming rate.

“Answer’s simple,” Autumn announced from her corner, “Tell the fucking thing no. Lucky you, you’re going to get your chance far sooner than you thought. Crosswire hit you hard enough that we spent most of the day just waiting for you to wake the fuck up. All we needed to know was that you wanted it.”

I turned my gaze to Crosswire, looking for confirmation from the buck and receiving a sad nod in response. “Go to sleep, Evergreen, and think about fighting that thing. It’s only come to you in dreams so far, so you’re going to need to fight it on its own turf. Seems like it has more power over you when you’re awake anyway.”

I nodded weakly and allowed my body to relax, hoping that will would be enough to win this fight. Thanks to the immense effort to maintain the small amount of control I had managed to gain over myself, not to mention the headache, I was soon struggling to keep my eyes open. It was with a heavy heart that I finally let sleep take me.

oooOOOooo

This time, things were different. This time, my mind was clear, and I knew what I was about to face. In the world of my dreams, the creature had very little control over me, and I knew, without any doubt, that my thoughts were my own.

I opened my eyes and looked about the room, the same that I had been lying in when I fell asleep, searching for it and steeling myself for the confrontation that was about to come. Not immediately noticing anything, I climbed to my hooves and started walking around the room. After making a full circuit, nothing had revealed itself, and I was beginning to doubt that this would work.

Suddenly, a cold gust of wind passed through the sealed underground chamber, making me shiver. I turned to face the direction the wind came from and saw it standing, already fully revealed, and with a shocked expression on its face.

“Evergreen, you surprise me,” it stated, a detectable note of pleasure and wariness in its voice, “I didn’t think you had the strength to come here on your own.”

“You’d be surprised what ponies can accomplish when everything they care about is on the line,” I spat, turning my body to face the creature.

A thin smile split the creature’s lips and it started walking towards me. Deep inside my chest I could feel my terror rising, making me want to back away, but I held my ground, unwilling to give this thing the satisfaction of still having control over me. This fight was my choice, and I would maintain that control.

“I think you overestimate yourself, Evergreen. But most of all, you overestimate them. It isn’t like you to see the best in others. I would know. I’ve been with you all these years. If there is anypony in this entire world that know you best, it is me,” it said, but its intent was easy to see. I had thrown it off guard with my appearance, and it was trying to salvage the situation.

“No,” I argued adamantly, stomping a hoof, “You only know what you want me to be like, but that isn’t what I was taught. You should know that, considering what you choose to wear as a cutie mark.”

The creature shifted its head to look at the mark on its flank, the two embracing skulls that I knew represented my parents. The smile disappeared from its face to be replaced by an unsure expression. I could tell that it was trying to puzzle out what I meant, which gave me a very clear advantage.

“It strikes me as odd that you use them to try to gain influence over me, but you don’t know the first damn thing about what they taught me,” I pressed, smiling mirthlessly now, “I find it hard to believe that you would try to use something that you know so little about, especially since you’ve been so careful with everything else.”

It lifted its gaze to stare me down, its red eyes blazing with anger, like two smoldering coals within the blackened logs of a dead fire. It opened its mouth as though it were about to speak, but I continued before it could get a word out. “Which makes me think that you can’t know anything about them, since they died well before you started showing up in my head. All you could get from me was my memory of their deaths, as well as my feelings for them. But you don’t know the first thing about them!”

“I know enough! I know that they influenced you greatly, and that is all I need!” it shouted, giving me my first real victory over the thing that I had ever had.

“And so the real purpose comes out,” I stated angrily, “You don’t want me to be happy. All you want is control over my life so you can take whatever you want from it. Well, let me tell you something. That isn’t going to happen. My life is mine, and nothing is going to take that from me.”

“You need me, Evergreen! The proof is all around you! How many times in all of those years in the gang were you seriously injured? Ever since you left, you’ve spent more time recovering from injuries than you have pursuing this ‘mission’ of yours! I can keep you alive!” it argued, taking another few steps towards me.

My smile broadened, knowing that I was going to win this altercation. “I would rather die happy and doing something I believe in than live a full life as something I despise,” I said, stepping towards the creature until our muzzles were only inches apart, “Now get out of my head.”

“I will not give in this easily!” it shouted and leapt at me, trying to bear me to the ground, except this time, I was ready for it.

I side-stepped as soon as I saw it start to move, letting it fly past me to land with a loud thump somewhere behind me. I turned and leapt at it myself, confident enough in my abilities that I believed I’d be able to win.

I collided with its side and drove it to the ground. It started to struggle underneath me, fighting to get the upper hand, by I had the better position, and held it pinned just long enough to shift my body about to free up my left foreleg and bring my Pipbuck down hard on its head.

It ceased its struggling, dazed by the blow, and I struck again. This time, its head smacked down hard against the ground, dazing it even farther. I climbed to my hooves and stepped around to its head, watching it intently for any movement. Slowly, it started to lift its head and looked at me with a hateful expression.

Grimacing at the creature, I turned and bucked as hard as I could, feeling something give underneath my hooves. By the time I faced the creature again, it was lying motionless on the ground, unconscious. A grin crept over my features as I couldn’t help but feel victorious, even if it was only temporary.

Thinking I had the opportunity to end this threat once and for all, I took a step closer to its head and raised a hoof, intending to cave in its skull. Just as I was about to finish it, I got light-headed and toppled over, striking my head hard enough on the ground to black out.

oooOOOooo

When I woke, it was thankfully without a headache, though I was bleeding slightly from my nose and ears, a fact that worried me until I realized that the flow had just about stopped. No permanent damage, then. I lay silently, motionless, for several minutes, simply collecting myself. Nothing seemed off or abnormal, and thoughts of my friends weren’t causing me any pain or anger. It seemed as though I had actually managed to fight that thing off, at least for now. There was no doubt in my mind that this solution was only temporary, especially considering it had managed to eject me from the dream while unconscious, or at least what I perceived as unconscious.

I listened, straining my ears to learn whatever I could of my surroundings. All I could make out was somepony’s muffled breathing. It was soft and measured, the breath of somepony that was fast asleep. Stretching my limbs slightly, I learned that I was still bound. Unsurprising, given the chance that I would be unsuccessful at regaining control over my own mind.

Once I opened my eyes, I was met with a surprising sight. The breath I had heard belonged to Steel Curtain, who lay asleep not five feet away from me, lying on the cold metal floor of the empty room Crosswire had tied me up in. I shifted a little more, hoping to wake the Pegasus.

Somehow sensing my movements, Steel Curtain started to move, his eyes fluttering as he emerged from sleep. Finally, one of his bright green eyes opened and fixed me in its gaze. The other eye snapped open and he raised his head up to stare at me with a hopeful expression. “Evergreen! You’re awake! How are you feeling?” he asked, his tone much more concerned than I was used to hearing from him. The emotion in his voice was almost painful to hear.

I grinned slightly before answering, trying to show the buck that I was me again. “Better now that I don’t have to fight for my own thoughts anymore. I’m sorry about the things I said, Steel Curtain. I didn’t mean any of it.”

“It’s already forgotten,” he assured me as he rose to his hooves and moved to untie me.

Within moments, I was free. My first action was to rise to my hooves and stretch. Spending a whole day tied up was the one sure way to have every single muscle group cramp up, and I needed to get rid of those knots.

“Thanks,” I said, stretching out my hind legs and watching with a bemused grin as the bucks eyes wandered over my body. It seemed like I wasn’t the only one that was having trouble controlling where their eyes went. “I have to say, Steel Curtain, you’re a lot smaller than I expected outside of that armor. I expected you to have a bit more bulk.”

The Pegasus chuckled and tore his eyes away from me, turning to pull a set of saddlebags from a chair and toss them towards me. Inside were all of my belongings. “Physical size actually works against us. The Steel Rangers are trained to be as strong as they can possibly be, which means they put on a lot of size, but it actually isn’t necessary to be all that strong to operate our armor. Sure, some strength and fitness is necessary, and we are trained to be functional soldiers, but we just turn out smaller in the end than most ponies expect us to be,” he said, tossing me my barding.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” I stated as I pulled the armor on, “That armor looks heavy as hell. Wouldn’t you need to be that strong to use it?”

“Not at all. It’s powered armor, which means it does most of the work for us. Wearing it takes no more strength than it would take you to wear armor about twenty pounds heavier than what you’ve already got. It’s a workout, to be sure, but it’s a hell of a lot easier than it looks. But that’s the reason why stun rounds are so effective against us. If the power system gets knocked out, even if it’s only temporary, we can’t move a muscle. Same goes for the Steel Rangers. I would be surprised if any of them were strong enough to move without their armor being powered,” Steel Curtain explained.

I shrugged, unable to do anything but take the buck at his word. “So where’s everypony else?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Probably still sleeping. It’s pretty early still, and I know Crosswire didn’t fall asleep until late. He’s been worried sick about you ever since you asked for his help,” the Pegasus answered carefully. I could detect an odd note in his voice, as if he was concerned about something.

“What’s wrong, Steel Curtain?” I asked, “I can tell something is bothering you, so just spit it out.”

The Pegasus remained silent for several moments as he thought, then finally sighed in defeat. “It’s Crosswire. He’s a good pony, to be sure, and it isn’t that I have any problems with him, but… Shit, I don’t know…” he trailed off, looking everywhere except at me.

“You can talk to me, Steel Curtain,” I said quietly, “After all the shit I went through to get here, I promise, you can trust me. You guys are the only real friends I have, and I would never willingly betray any of you.”

“I know… it’s just, awkward,” Steel Curtain said, finally lifting his gaze and meeting mine. I held my tongue, letting the Pegasus get control over his own thoughts. After several moments of silence, he sighed in exasperation, “All right, here it is. I can see the way he looks at you when you don’t see. He’s been with you longer than anypony else alive, and he would do anything for you, Evergreen. And I mean anything. I’m pretty sure he’s in love with you.”

I was shocked into near speechlessness. I had thought that those thoughts were a result of that thing in my head’s manipulation, not actual truth. Fuck, I owed Crosswire one hell of an apology. “I… I didn’t realize,” I stammered, “Shit, I really messed up, didn’t I?”

“Well, I think he realizes you didn’t mean any of what you said but… yeah, you did,” the Pegasus answered with a sad grimace.

“Fuck… I am not looking forward to that conversation,” I said, “But why is that a problem with you? His feelings for me really don’t affect you, do they?” I was afraid of what the buck’s answer might be. Another part, one I almost didn’t want to acknowledge, was yearning for his answer.

As if confirming my fears, the Pegasus went quiet and tore his gaze away from me. “I really shouldn’t say. It’s nothing,” he said, sounding as if he was trying to convince himself.

“Steel Curtain, if it’s this much on an issue, it isn’t nothing. We need to have each other’s backs, and if his feelings for me are an issue for me, well, I need to know,” I said, reaching out a hoof to make him look at me, “Even if I can’t answer them.”

At that, the Pegasus’s head snapped up and he fixed me in a painfully hopeful gaze. “Wait, you mean… you don’t feel for him that way?” he asked, then his expression turned to one off horror. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have pried like that.”

“Steel Curtain, it’s fine. No, I don’t love him. He is my closest friend, and I value his loyalty more than anypony knows. I’m going to hate to have to let him down… but I can’t force something that isn’t there. But why does any of this matter?” I asked as his expression lightened and his ears perked up. I didn’t want to hear his answer, because I didn’t want to have to face what it could possibly be, but I couldn’t bear not knowing.

Unfortunately, the Pegasus was saved from needing to answer when Autumn Mist walked into the room, oblivious to our conversation.

“Evergreen, you’re finally up. I’m going to guess that everything is back to normal since Steel Curtain untied you?” the mare asked with a watchful tone. Her expression was carefully composed. It wasn’t hard to tell that she still wasn’t happy. When I nodded, she continued, “Good. As for anything you said, I can see that you’re about to start ranting an apology, so forget about it. Everything is forgiven. I remember the night in Grovedale, when we all found out about this thing. I don’t envy you, and I get it. Honestly, I’m surprised you managed as well as you did to fight through that fucking thing’s control. Let’s just hope this was the end of it.”

“I wish I could say it was, Autumn, but I don’t think that’s the case,” I said sadly, “But you guys know me well enough now to know when I’m being me, I hope. This thing isn’t gone yet, and I’m going to need all of your help for when it decides to show its face again. I managed to piss it off, and it isn’t going to be subtle anymore. Things aren’t going to be easy, but I need to know I have you guys at my back.”

“Say no more. I’m there. Need to keep an eye on you after all,” the dark mare said with a mischievous grin, “So, when are we going to get a move on? We’ve already spent far longer here than we should have.”

“We’re just waiting for Crosswire and Suture to wake up and join us. Then we need to get our gear from the Steel Rangers and get this Crystal where it was meant to go. From there, back to Metro,” I said, “I can ask who to deliver it to once we get our gear back.”

“Sounds like a plan to me. I vote we give the sleepers ten more minutes, then get a move on. I hate being underground,” Steel Curtain announced with a nervous expression cast up to the ceiling.

I nodded in agreement and emptied my saddlebags, wanting to reorganize them while we waited.

Those ten minutes passed quickly, and before long, all five of us were gathered together for a quick breakfast before moving on. As with Steel Curtain and Autumn Mist, Crosswire and Suture assured me that there was nothing to forgive. All through the meal, I watched Crosswire carefully, but couldn’t pick up any hint of the feelings that Steel Curtain alluded to.

It wasn’t surprising. Crosswire had always been skilled at hiding his emotions, especially considering what we had been for all those years. That particular conversation was going to wait until we had some privacy, though. I wasn’t going to humiliate him in front of everypony else.

Once we finished eating and had all of our gear stowed away, I made my way back to the main hallway and waved down one of the passing Steel Rangers, asking the armored pony to fetch the Elder. The young stallion gave me a questioning look, but nodded curtly when it became apparent that I wasn’t joking and disappeared around a corner, reappearing a short time later with both Bitter Orange and Apple Crisp in tow.

“I see that you are in much better spirits today, Evergreen,” the Elder announced jovially, “That’s good to hear. Your friends mentioned how you weren’t feeling well yesterday.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” I answered vaguely, “And I was hoping we could get our weapons back. We were wanting to move on today and get on with our jobs. There is still a lot to be done.”

“Of course,” the Elder said with a nod, looking over to Apple Crisp. The Star Paladin gave the Elder a look of disapproval, but stepped forward and deposited a bag that, when opened, contained all of our weapons. Steel Curtain’s gear, however, was conspicuously absent.

“Where’s Steel Curtain’s armor and weapons?” I demanded, “We’re going to need those as well. As you well know, the wasteland is a dangerous place, and he is our one pony capable of taking a hit.”

Before the Elder could answer, Apple Crisp spoke, “Elder, I must once again protest this. The Pegasus is going free because this mare managed to accomplish an impossible task, but that does not mean we should trust him! If we return all of his gear, it could well mean our destruction.”

“Star Paladin, we have spoken about this, and I have already made my decision. The Dashite’s armor is being stored in our research labs. It was simply too heavy for us to easily transport down here. We can stop there on your way out for him to recover,” Bitter Orange said with a sharp glance at the red buck, “Now was there anything else you needed?”

“Only to know who exactly we’re supposed to be delivering this Crystal to,” I said, pulling the enigmatic thing out of my barding.

“Ah, of course. Once the Pegasus has his armor, I will show you all to her. No doubt she will be surprised to see it,” the Elder said with a sad grin, “Now, if you would all follow me, I will show you to the research labs. Star Paladin, you are dismissed to see to your duties.”

“Yes, Elder,” the massive red buck intoned, obviously unhappy with the situation, then turned and disappeared around a corner.

“Sorry about him,” the Elder said, “He means well, but it is nearly impossible to change his opinions on anything. Please follow me.”

The Elder led us deep into the base, passing dozens of armored and non-armored ponies. I had had no idea that there were so many ponies here. It made their claims that they didn’t have the strength to defend themselves seem almost ludicrous, until I realized that the vast majority of the ponies around us seemed to be young, very young. The average age seemed to be a couple of years younger than even Autumn Mist was.

“I can see you looking around, and I know you can see the obvious. Everypony here is so young, in many cases too young to be fully active members of the Steel Rangers,” the Elder said, looking over to me, “I was hoping you wouldn’t. We are the very definition of the fact that numbers are not everything. For every combat-able pony we have, there must be three of us that aren’t fully trained. We’re doing our best, but it will be many years before we can hope to rival the strength we once had here.”

“What happened to the older ponies?” Suture asked, stepping forward until she was just a step behind me.

The Elder sighed heavily as she organized her thoughts. “A tragedy from long before any of you were born. I was still just a filly, and Elder Flash Powder was our leader. He ordered the Knights and Paladins to take control over a nearby power station that he wanted to restore to working condition to provide some extra power to the Outpost. Unfortunately, the station was already inhabited by a band of ruthless mercenaries. Even given our technological superiority, they were experienced and dug in. We won, in the end, but lost eighty percent of the ponies sent to take it. We’ve been struggling to recover ever since.”

“Whoever was in charge was an idiot not to retreat and reassess the situation. They got everypony killed,” Steel Curtain said, “We were trained to know better. If we encounter a force we can’t beat, we fall back, reassess, and re-engage, if we deem ourselves to have a chance at victory. If not, we’ll regroup, call for reinforcements, and then strike.”

“We learned that lesson the hard way, from that fight. Flash Powder relied too heavily on our technology. He thought our armor made us invincible. Now we know better,” the Elder answered, her voice choking up slightly. There was something more to her story, but to ask would be too much like prying into her private business. She was already letting us go, I didn’t want to push our luck.

We finished the journey in silence, though luckily it wasn’t long enough for the silence to become awkward. Inside the research lab, Steel Curtain’s armor sat on a pedestal, obviously recently disconnected from the lab equipment. The Pegasus immediately darted forward and started to pull on his armor, a process that absolutely fascinated me.

For a system that appeared so solid, it came apart into a surprising number of pieces. It didn’t take long before I had completely lost track of what was supposed to go where, but Steel Curtain obviously knew exactly what he was doing as he quickly donned the armor with the air of a well-trained soldier. Within minutes, he was fully armored. I was actually a little sad to see his well-toned body disappear underneath the black plates.

“Ah, much better,” he sighed with an ear-to-ear grin, “I can’t even tell you how much safer I feel now.”

“You’ll see that we returned everything that was attached to it when you were taken in,” the Elder said, “you’re ammunition included.”

“I see that,” Steel Curtain answered, hitting a control and reloading his weapons with a series of loud clunks, “Good to see that everything is still working.”

“Of course. Now, I believe you all have one last task to see to?” Bitter Orange asked, turning to me.

“Yes. Could you please lead us there?” I asked, nodding at the older mare.

The Elder nodded simply and led us out of the room. To my surprise she led us up towards the surface. The room she stopped in front of was on the first level underground, surprising, given the possible importance of the pony we were finally meeting.

“Right in here. Now be careful, she is quite old. When you’re finished, simply send for someone to take you to the surface, and you can be on your way. Thank you, Evergreen, for all of your help,” the Elder said with a slight bow, then turned and walked away.

I watched the old mare disappear, then turned to face the closed door in front of me. I was finally going to get rid of the damn crystal that had heralded the biggest change in my life. I swallowed and opened the door, stepping inside to face whatever would come.

The chamber was sparsely furnished, with only a simple bed and desk inside. Seated at the desk, hunched over some paper or other, was the shape of an Earth Pony ghoul. Some pieces of hide were still intact, revealing that the pony had once been a deep purple in color, and the few wisps of mane that were left were a light pink in color, mixed in with some darker shades of the same color.

“Miss, I have a delivery for you, from Metro,” I announced as I stepped into the room, reaching into my barding to pull out the Crystal.

The ghoul turned to face me, fixing me in a piercing stare that I swore cut right through to my very soul. Those light green eyes held so much pain in them that I was surprised this pony was still sane. She had lived through hell and was now forced to survive in an underground bunker in one of the most hostile environments known to ponykind. But despite her pain, her stare was not unkind. If anything, I would call it curious.

“Come closer, dear. My eyes aren’t what they used to be,” the pony said, her voice rasping as every ghoul’s did, but the tone was lighthearted, and held a sense of humor I hadn’t heard in anypony for many years.

I complied, stepping up next to the ancient mare and offering the Crystal up to her. She looked down at it then carefully, almost gingerly, lifted it from my hooves.

“I was told that one of these was on its way to me the day before the bombs fell,” she mused, looking into the depths of the Crystal, her eyes following the flitting light inside, “I’ve spent the last two hundred years hoping it would find its way to me, if only to find out why I was important enough that the newest technology should be wasted on a mare such as myself.”

“Well, it’s finally here,” I answered, grinning slightly, “I hope it contains some good news.”

The mare smiled sadly and looked up at me. “Anything it contains is from the closing days of the war. No news was good then, but maybe it will bring me some closure. I can see that you’ve spent a lot of time with it. I think it’s only fair that you hear what is inside.”

“Are… are you sure?” I asked, even though part of me was jumping at the chance to find out what secrets the damned enigmatic thing held, “I don’t want to pry into your private life.”

“I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t sure,” she said with a knowing grin, “Now come, sit. We’ll see what was so important that it had to reach somepony like me, who had no real bearing on the war. Besides, I don’t think that this is any news that anypony should have to hear on their own.”

Quietly, I did as the old ghoul asked, seating myself at the table directly across from her. She carefully placed the Messaging Crystal between us, then placed both her hooves on the table so that the Crystal was contained between them.

“Wait, what about my friends?” I asked, looking over to where everypony else sat by the door, anxious looks on their faces, “Are you sure you want them to be a part of this as well?”

“If you trust them, then that is enough for me,” the elderly mare responded, giving them little more than a cursory glance before turning her attention back to the Crystal in front of us.

Ever so slowly, she brought one of her hooves into contact with the rough, yet polished, surface of the Crystal, her eyes screwed up tight in concentration. Suddenly, the Crystal began to glow from the inside, the small flitting light coming to a halt in the exact center of the thing and shining to fill the inside with a harsh bright light that almost hurt to look at.

After a few moments a voice resonated from the Crystal. “Miss Cheerilee, this is Apple Bloom,” a light voice with a slight southern accent said from the depths of the Crystal. The voice was filled with such sadness that my heart was almost breaking simply listening to the two-century old message, despite my anger at the duplicitousness the mare had been a part of with Stable-Tec, “I hope that this message reaches you before it’s too late. I… we, that is, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and I… decided to send this message to you as a sort of apology. With the direction this war has taken, we realize the terrible things we’ve done just to make sure that ponykind survives. We tried to figure out where we went wrong, but… it just seems like so many of our ideas will lead to nothing more than more heartache, and you were the only pony we could think of to send this apology to. Especially since Applejack and Rarity are so caught up in their own ministries and have no time for the work we’ve been doin’.”

The voice of Apple Bloom fell silent for several moments as the mare apparently tried to catch her breath. I looked across the table, tearing my gaze from the Crystal to look at the aging ghoul before me. Tears were filling her eyes, and several wet trails could be seen coursing down the remains of her cheeks. In all the years this mare had survived, I could imagine that it would take a lot for her to have this sort of emotional reaction.

“Well… I suppose that that is really everything there is to say… We realized the hurt we’re going to cause, and we’re sorry. I should have listened to Scootaloo months ago when she started saying how much this business was bothering her. Now it’s too late… I… I guess I just wanted you to know that we set up a place for you, in Stable 113, outside of Seaddle. We just want you, our old teacher, to be safe. I promise, it’s one of the control Stables. You’ll be able to survive there, if anything goes wrong.”

The Crystal dimmed as the voice dissipated, becoming a completely dull shape, with even the light that had been on the inside no longer to be seen. Cheerilee, the ghoul I was sitting with, was crying openly. “I got the passes to the Stable the same day I was told about the pending arrival of the Crystal. Fearing the worst, I booked my journey out here for that same day. I never made it in time… the bombs fell during the crossing. Those of us that survived the radiation from the drops became like me. By the time I made it to Seaddle, the Stable was long since closed. I should consider myself lucky that I survived this long… At least I learned that they felt some remorse for their work. They were such innocent fillies so long ago, wanting nothing more than to find out what their Cutie Marks were… I guess that same curiosity followed them even into adulthood. They did always need to know everything about everything,” Cheerilee said sadly.

“There are far worse ponies than them, even in those times,” I said, surprisingly moved by the sincerity in the message, “If you like, I could stop by that Stable, see if there’s anything left for you there. We’ll be able to get in.”

The old ghoul looked up at me, a small glimmer of hope in her eyes. “Please. It would mean the world to me.”

I nodded solemnly in response. “They aren’t the only ones that were looking for a reason to live again,” I said, “Some of us today are still looking for the reason to deserve life anymore.”

“You are?” the old mare asked, a knowing look in her eye. It was the look of a mare who knew all too well the tricks younger ponies used to hide their emotions.

All I could do was nod confirmation. “I’ve made my share of mistakes. It’s long past time I fought to make them right.”

“Good. Then do this for me, and I will forgive you for your past,” she said, a hard look coming into her eyes, promising both forgiveness and damnation. I now had two ponies holding me to my pledge to live a better life. It would have to be enough.

“I’m guessing that I’m going to find you here, then?” I asked, getting back onto my hooves.

“No, I’ve been locked up in this bunker for far too long. It’s time I faced the world again. I’m going to head for Metro, since it seems that they have become a respectable city, though I will need some time to prepare for the journey.”

“We can speak to Mallet on your behalf then, when we get back,” Suture spoke up from the door, “He’ll see that you’re properly welcomed.”

Cheerilee nodded her appreciation at the maroon medic. “Thank you. Now, if that is all, I have a lot of preparations to make.”

“Of course,” I said with a curt nod as I turned and made my back to the door. My friends were already filing out, leaving the old ghoul to her memories and preparations.

In the hallway, Crosswire was standing with a bemused look. “It’s been a long time since I’d spoken with her. Bitter Orange discouraged any of us younger ponies talking to her. She said that it generated too many of the wrong ideas in us, would make us think too much about the whole world, rather than just the Rangers. I’d forgotten that she had once been connected to those three.”

“It is incredible,” I agreed, “I just like the thought that I’m not the only one that realized my mistakes. Those three had at least as much to make up for as I do. At least I never knowingly mislead ponies to their deaths.”

“What do you think we’re going to find in Stable 113?” Suture asked, “Do you really think the Stable-Tec heads left anything behind for her?”

“Well, it was a control Stable, so for all we know it could still be sealed,” Crosswire answered, “but yes, I think we will find something. From the sound of that message, Apple Bloom really wanted her to get to that Stable. My guess is the other two left something behind for her as well.”

“Hmm… I hope you’re right. She’s had so much pain in her life, she deserves a little closure. She obviously loved those three a great deal when they were still fillies,” Suture said, looking over to me with a hopeful look on her face.

“You don’t need to ask me to go. It’s the only right thing to do,” I said quickly, holding a hoof up to keep the medic from getting to emotional with me, “I’d already thought we would stop there on our way out from Seaddle. Besides, I haven’t got a clue where it is. Shooting Star probably does, though.”

“That makes sense. We still have a lot of other work that needs to be done as well. It’s smarter to make our way there when it’s actually on our way, rather than having to detour to get there. Message said it was outside Seaddle, so I can’t see it being too far anyway,” Steel Curtain added.

“Well, you all know my vote,” Autumn Mist said, her voice distant and aloof, “I hate Stables, and I’d rather have nothing at all to do with this one as well.”

“Honestly, Autumn, I agree with you,” I said, turning to look at the dark mare, “But this could be important. Don’t you want to know what led to all of this?” I waved a hoof around, taking in the entirety of the world we lived in.

“I know what caused it. The war with the fucking zebras. Nopony could take the high road and find a peaceful solution. Instead, they had to go and fuck life up for the rest of us,” Autumn spat angrily, “And the apologies of three mares that have been dead for two hundred years don’t mean a whole lot to me. But hey, if you think it’s important, Evergreen, then I’m there. I trust you enough for that.”

I nodded my acknowledgment of the compliment and turned to face down the hall. “Thanks, Autumn. I appreciate it. Now that we have that decided, let’s get a move on.”

We made our way out of the bunker, emerging to find that the rain had actually stopped for a short time, and it felt as though it had been that way for a while, as the air was heavy and humid, and we were all soon sweating profusely as we made our way out of the small canyon that housed the Outpost. I could only imagine how hot Steel Curtain’s armor was getting.

“Keep your heads up and your eyes peeled,” I warned as we turned the last corner to reveal the trail leading out of the mountains, “There could still be a pack of manticores out here.”

Heads perked up at the order and everypony looked a little more alert. Despite our care, the way seemed clear, and not so much as a radroach crossed our path. Within a couple of hours, we were coming up on the trail that would lead towards my old camp. I found my gaze being drawn to the peak in the distance that Heart Attack had been making for. I hoped that he made it to the peak and got to see the sky. Ponies deserved to realize their dreams, especially if they were something as simple as that, something that would have been a given to anypony from before the war.

My mind began to wander, wondering what it would be like to be able to lift my head and see the sun whenever I wanted. A fierce anger gripped me at the injustice of the Pegasi, stealing away the sun from the rest of us. They were punishing us for the simple fact that we didn’t have wings, and I could easily believe that even if a Pegasus was born on the ground that they wouldn’t be welcome up there.

“Hey, Evergreen, what’s the plan? It’s starting to get dark out here, and the camp is pretty close,” Crosswire’s voice said, breaking my reverie.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts then looked at the ragged unicorn. “Honestly, I would rather not go back to that place. We shouldn’t be too far from some simple shelter. There’s ruins all over this part of the mountains: Lean-tos and pre-war structures the caravans use as shelter. We can use one of those.”

“Sounds like a good plan. I think I know where the closest is. Let me lead,” Crosswire said, pushing his way to the forefront of our formation.

I let the buck take the lead, falling back into his position on our flank. My eyes automatically started scanning the horizon, searching for movement, but it seemed like all life had left the region. My E.F.S. was completely blank, excepting the blue bars that were my friends.

We pushed on through the gloom that was quickly growing darker, casting long shadows over the ground to our side. By the time the shape of the old ruined structure presented itself before us, it was completely dark, and we only managed to find our way forward by the grace of our Pipbucks’ lights and the lights coming from Steel Curtain’s helmet after he pulled it on and hit a few controls.

We came within thirty yards of the structure when Crosswire brought us all to a halt, his ears swiveled forward towards the structure. His horn was glowing and his SMG was floating beside him, pointing in the direction of the ruin.

“What’s the problem?” I asked, coming up next to the tense buck.

“Somepony is already here,” he said, “And I don’t think they’re caravaneers; I don’t see any Brahmin. Anything on the E.F.S.?”

“No, nothing,” I answered after a cursory check, “You sure somepony is here?”

“Shut up a moment and listen,” he said, though not harshly. It was the tone he reserved for when we could potentially be in danger.

I did as he asked, straining my ears and taking a few tentative steps towards the structure. Sure enough, I could make out the faint rustle of barding and the clopping of hooves on concrete. I couldn’t imagine why nothing was appearing on my E.F.S. though. At this range, something should show up.

“Any ideas?” Autumn Mist asked, her rifle already out and primed. I could see the tension in her limbs as she mentally prepared herself for combat.

“This doesn’t have to end in blood,” Suture said quietly, “We don’t know who these ponies are. That doesn’t mean they’re bad.”

“No, it doesn’t,” I agreed, “but it doesn’t make sense not to be careful. We might have created a power vacuum in the area when we took out Crackshot. These ponies could be trying to move in to replace him. On the other hoof, they could simply be travelers, like us. I don’t like this.” I looked over to Steel Curtain. “How good is your visibility with that helmet?” I asked.

“Pretty good. With it being dark, I can make out a pony at fifty yards,” the Pegasus answered. Damn, it must have night-vision for that kind of range.

“Good enough. Do a quick flyover and see if you can make out if these ponies are raiders, wastelanders, or something completely different,” I ordered.

Steel Curtain nodded quickly, then launched himself into the air. The color of his armor made him disappear almost instantly, so all we could do was wait for him to reappear.

It took almost ten hoof-biting minutes, but the Pegasus did finally land amongst us again. “I trust when you and Crosswire say there’s somepony here, but I can’t see anything. Wherever they are, they know how to hide from somepony in the air. I don’t think raiders are smart enough to do that effectively.”

“I agree. So these aren’t raiders. That leaves one option, since it’s too dark to make for another shelter. Suture, you’re with me. Autumn, watch us. First hostile movement on their part, I want you to start shooting. Crosswire, keep to the shadows if you can, but I don’t want to intimidate these ponies. Steel Curtain, it goes without saying for you to stay out of sight,” I ordered, “Suture and I will approach and make it known that we’re here. If we’re lucky, they will be as hesitant to start a fight as we are.”

Nods greeted my orders all around, and within moments we were ready to go. Slowly and confidently, the medic and I approached the structure, making no effort to hide our approach. When the main entrance came into view, I stopped. “Hey, anypony in there? We’re looking for shelter for the night!” I shouted, “We aren’t looking for a fight, either! We’re just travelers!”

All those small tell-tale sounds disappeared instantly. I began feeling distinctly ill at ease. I couldn’t say why, but I knew we were being watched and carefully judged. These ponies were careful, and if they didn’t like what they saw, I had a distinct feeling that we wouldn’t be walking away, despite our skill.

“We aren’t here to fight,” I shouted, “We’re tired and need to rest. If you need to know, I’m just a pony working for Mallet, of Metro. I promise, we have no ill intent.”

“Why should we believe this pony?” a heavily accented voice asked. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. I spun around in place, trying to place the origin of the sound, but I could see nothing. It had sounded like it was close, but there was nothing on my E.F.S. A quick glance at Suture told me that the medic couldn’t see anything either.

“We cannot,” an equally accented voice, this one much deeper, answered, “They are a risk.”

“Hey, we don’t want to fight!” I repeated again, “We’re peaceful, I swear, by the Princesses above, we don’t want to fight!”

“She swears by false gods and the agents of evil. Was it their power that let her find us?” the first voice asked.

False gods? Agents of evil? Never had I heard those words being said in response to the Princesses. “Please, I don’t want a fight,” I said, my voice almost begging. I was still spinning around, wanting to face the pony I was begging to, but nothing was revealing itself.

“No. She has not been touched by their evil,” the second voice answered, almost conversationally.

“But there is much blood on her. I can see it,” the first voice insisted.

I looked down at myself, but the only blood I could see was a little bit of my own dried blood on my barding and some that had stained through the bandages that were still wrapped around the wounds in my legs. The voice made it sound like I was bathing in blood, so I didn’t have a clue what it meant. The entire conversation was beginning to freak me out. It reminded me far too much of the creature in my head.

“What pony is not covered in blood,” the second voice said, “The blood is this world, not the pony. There is truth in her words. She did not approach for a fight. I will speak with her.”

All of a sudden, a blue bar appeared in front of me, and a pony-shape emerged from the shadows and stepped into the light cast by both Suture and my Pipbucks. The maroon mare let out a shocked breath as the pony stepped into the light, revealing that the figure wasn’t a pony at all.

Black and white stripes covered the buck’s hide, and on its flank, in place of a cutie mark, was a highly stylized glyph. The best way I could think of to describe it was as a Semi-circle that had multiple lines running across and along the arc, with a few small circles in the area enclosed by the arc itself. His eyes shone green in the light, and his stare, though not harsh, was heavy, and I found myself wanting to get out from under it. He was weighing us carefully, and it didn’t take a genius to see that he was on edge. Every line of his body was poised to spring. I did not want to give this pony a reason to.

“We’re just looking for a place to rest,” I repeated, drawing myself up to my full height and stating the zebra in the eyes, trying to show him that I wouldn’t be intimidated. I knew many ponies in the world still despised the zebras, even now, two hundred years after species should no longer matter. To me, they were just survivors of a life none us had asked for, the same as I was.

“All five of you?” he asked pointedly, his gaze leaving mine for the barest instant as he looked over my shoulder to where Autumn Mist was undoubtedly sitting.

I was briefly shocked into speechlessness, but thankfully, Suture was well enough in control to answer. “Yes, all five of us. We just faced a lot of danger up in the mountains, and we were making our way back to Metro. This was the closest shelter to our path.”

“If you are mere travelers, why did the armored Pegasus fly over us? And why is the young one aiming at my head with a rifle? Do you truly mean no harm with this evidence of aggression?” he asked, looking at me. His stare was not accusing, it merely presented the facts. If anything, that unnerved me even more. Had our positions been reversed, I would have probably already started shooting.

“We’re being careful,” I answered slowly, “This area is not safe. Until a few days ago, a large raider gang lived a short way away. I couldn’t know if you were friendly or hostile. I sent Steel Curtain to see if he could figure it out. Autumn is preparing, just in case you decide to attack. We don’t want to fight, but we can if we have to.”

“Can you win?” the zebra asked suddenly, the question catching me off guard.

“I… I would like to think so, especially after the dangers we have faced,” I said, “We have faced many enemies that most would run from, rather than face down, and we’re all still alive. That has to count for something.”

“Surviving against brutes and barbarians is no special feat,” the zebra intoned, “They are not real enemies, merely obstacles in the path of the determined.”

“Then what does count as a real fight?” I demanded, my annoyance at the zebra’s superiority overcoming my unease at his obvious confidence. “We’ve fought organized forces out here, most notably a small force out near Buckview. They weren’t raiders, or barbarians.” Our altercation with Greymane also sprang to my mind, but I didn’t mention that.

“I hear the truth in your words. You have convinced me that to fight you would be difficult, and invite more troubles than I am equipped for,” the zebra stated. I noticed immediately that he hadn’t said anything about losing.

“So what does that mean? Can we stay? It’s too dark for us to go anywhere else,” I asked hopefully, “And where is your friend?”

“You may stay, for the night. In the morning, I imagine we will take our separate paths. Our goals do not coincide,” the buck answered simply, turning and walking towards the structure.

“I must protest this decision,” the first voice rang out, but once again, I could not make out the source, “There is evil in this mare. I can see it.”

“The truth in her words outweighs that. Evil has touched all in this blighted land. Not even we have avoided its touch,” the buck answered conversationally.

“There is more in her than in most! We are in great danger!” the first voice insisted, and its owner materialized from the shadows to block the buck’s entry into the ruin. The zebra it belonged to was small, enough so that I thought that Autumn might be larger than she was. She was covered by a dark cloak that hid most of her body, and when she turned to look at me, I took a step back in shock. Where her eyes should have been were two milky white orbs. The zebra mare was blind.

Despite the buck’s words before, the zebra mare’s words made him pause and turn to look at me, and I could see the doubt in his eyes, as well as in his stance. He had positioned his rear legs so he could quickly push himself to the side, should fighting become necessary.

“What pony hasn’t made mistakes in their past?” I asked, “I know I have. You have to believe me, I’m only trying to help ponies now. I left that life behind.”

“You were a raider, the one in charge in these parts,” the large buck stated. It wasn’t a question.

“Yes, I was, but I left that all behind. I’m working with Metro now. You have to believe me,” I pressed. My tone was no longer fearful. I was becoming convinced that there was no longer going to be a peaceful solution. Already, I was mentally preparing myself for the coming struggle. Something told me it was going to be at least as difficult as the fight with Greymane had been.

“I am required to do nothing. The protection of my charge is my only obligation,” the buck stated harshly, “And she views you as a threat.”

“Then what makes you better than us?” Suture spat angrily, stepping forward so she was between me and the large zebra, “You call us evil, and now you’re going to attack us simply because that blind mare says so? We have done nothing but ask for peace and a place to rest. If you attack, you will be as bad as raiders. I have grown beyond the pointless bigotry of other ponies, but your actions here only serve to support their hatred of your species!”

“She dares to insult us so? These ponies have allowed themselves to be greatly corrupted by the evil of this land, if they resort to these methods,” the small mare said angrily, her speech becoming faster and more excited, and the accent making it almost impossible to understand her.

“They insult us because they speak the truth,” the buck stated, his stance relaxing. I could see a grin forming on his lips, thought I couldn’t say what he thought was funny, “And they are right. Regardless of what you see that is hidden to me, they are not enemies. Not on this night. I will not fight.”

“You will do as I say! I am your charge, and I cannot sleep with this evil near me!” the small mare insisted. I had to strain my ears to make out her words, her accent was distorting them so much.

The larger zebra turned to the small and said something in their own chattering language. While I couldn’t understand a word of what he said, I could deduce it easily enough. His tone was the same of every guard I had ever heard when facing overwhelming odds or a situation where they didn’t believe violence was necessary: letting her know in no uncertain terms that he was not going to fight, no matter what was said. I didn’t need to know the language to know that.

By the time he finished speaking, the small mare had a chagrined look on her face, though her ears were still laid back against her head in anger. He turned back to where Suture and I stood: me poised and ready to spring, and her standing as though ready to bolt for her life. “I apologize for her behavior. We have spent so much time needing to fight every pony that crossed our paths, we have forgotten the company of civilized ponies. It is as you said, everypony, and everyzebra, makes mistakes. This has been ours. Please, join us and be welcome.” With that, he turned and disappeared inside the structure. The smaller zebra looked at me darkly for a moment, the blank white orbs of her eyes boring into my chest, before she disappeared into the ruin as well.

After a few moments, Crosswire appeared from the shadows. His SMG was once again stowed safely away in his barding. “Well, I can safely say that I wasn’t expecting that,” he stated dryly, “Good job in keeping him from turning us into paste, Suture.”

“Oh, I imagine that small one was more than capable of fighting as well,” Autumn Mist said as she trotted into our circle, her rifle still floating beside her. Once she was settled down with us she put the weapon away, sliding it into the loop on her back.

“You think? She was blind,” I asked, “How much good would she be in a fight?”

“Well, she was awfully perceptive for being blind. And the way she was moving her head definitely didn’t look like she couldn’t see. Trust me, I knew a pony once that was. Bastard barely moved his head at all,” Autumn insisted, “Besides, she’s a zebra. They’re all supposed to have some kind of kooky power.

“Seriously, Autumn? You’re bigoted against zebras as well?” Crosswire asked as Steel Curtain landed amongst us.

“No, but I’m just saying, the legends and stories my parents told me said that almost every zebra has some sort of special power, kinda like ponies with our cutie marks. I mean, they do all have a unique glyph on their flanks, also like our cutie marks. Stands to reason that they all have some sort of unique ability or talent as well,” the young mare insisted.

“It would make sense,” the Pegasus said, “And it explains why she has a protector. She definitely can’t see the same way we do, but she doesn’t seem as… dependent… on him as a blind pony would be. So either her other senses are much sharper than they would be, or she does have some sort of sixth sense to make up for the absence of her eyesight.”

“Does any of this really matter?” I asked, “In the end, we’ll be parting ways in the morning, and it won’t matter anymore. Let’s get in there and get some rest. I’m too hyped up from that exchange right now for sleep, so I’ll take first watch. Steel Curtain, I’ll wake you when I can’t keep my eyes open anymore.”

The Pegasus nodded his acknowledgment and we made our way into the ruin. The two zebras didn’t even seem to notice our entry, but I was under no illusions that they knew we were there, and that at least one of them was watching us very closely. My friends settled down in the corner opposite of our two hosts, and I positioned myself by the door so I could see out. I wasn’t really expecting any trouble tonight, considering how quiet our journey this far had been, but there was no sense in lowering our guard. The wasteland was still the wasteland, and that was not going to change anytime soon.

It took a few moments for me to finally settle down, and by that time, I could hear the change in breathing from my friends that meant they had drifted off to sleep. I had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

My eyes were beginning to grow heavy when I felt movement at my side. I turned sharply and came nose-to-nose with the large zebra stallion. I couldn’t help but to let out a short shout of surprise as my heart leapt into my throat. I shifted over to give the zebra some space, as well as to gather my shattered nerves. A small grin was on the zebra’s face.

“Let a mare know when you’re sneaking up on her,” I complained, trying to keep my voice low so as to not wake up any of the other sleeping ponies.

“Why would I tell a pony I was sneaking up on them? Seems to cause the opposite of what I wish,” the zebra answered ponderously, his grin widening.

“Very funny,” I said with a grimace, “So you’re protector and a comic. Great.”

“A zebra has to find something to laugh about in this bleak world that we must live in,” he answered solemnly, the grin fading from his face as he looked out into the gloom beyond the doorway, “Otherwise the madness overcomes you, and life becomes unbearable. Do you not agree?”

My mind turned to the few moments with my friends where we had all laughed as a group at some joke, or to the feeling of victory after we beat the fighters outside of Buckview, the first time all five of us has fought together. “I guess you’re right. It’s easy to forget about those moments. They tend to get buried under the daily atrocities we’re faced with.”

“You see many of those?” the zebra asked me. His tone wasn’t accusing or prying, but sympathetic.

“More than I would care to admit. Have you ever been to Buckview, the small town that was far to the east of here, almost to the forest?” I asked. When the zebra shook his head, I continued, “Well, it was leveled, completely burnt to the ground. My friends and I were the ones that confirmed it. Only survivor was a small filly. The ponies that destroyed the town had piled up all the bodies in the main square and burned them. The fire was still going when we got there. Fuckers came back the next morning, so we did the only thing we could and avenged them. Nopony deserves a fate like that, not if they are trying to build a town and keep it afloat. All they wanted was to survive.”

“That is terrible indeed. With all the struggles of this life, it is not easy to face death on that scale. I saw something similar once, many years ago, before being given my current charge. I was still living in the zebra lands, and the home of my ancestors. A tribe that had chosen to worship the harshness of this world, the equal of your raiders, attacked a village. They didn’t have the grace to burn the bodies, but left them where they fell. Blood still stains the ground of that land,” my companion offered. I got the feeling that he was much older than he appeared to be, but I could see in his eyes that the sight still haunted him.

The silence grew between us, as there was very little that could be said on top of what had already been shared, so I decided to take a risk. “Your charge, she seems very… severe,” I said carefully, not wanting to upset the large zebra. He seemed like he was usually light-hearted, but being with strangers always made everypony guarded. Zebras were no different..

He sighed heavily and dropped his gaze down to the ground. “She can be very difficult. She has grown much and changed more in the years I have been with her. Life on the road is not easy, and if a zebra is not careful, it can harden you to the value of life. Were it not for the words of your red friend, I fear I would have done as she wished and attacked you, and I would have been wrong to do so. But we came from far away, from a land that has been damaged much more than this one. Next to my home, this city would be considered a haven of peace.”

“Where was that?” I asked, curious. Seaddle was bad, even I knew that. There were the countless gangs and raider bands that moved about the wasteland itself, not to mention the never-ending turf war that was constantly being waged in downtown itself. “I was born up to the northwest a ways, a few days travel outside of the city. My parents moved us inland, trying to find an easier life than one with all the dangers that the coast offers.”

A gloomy look came over the zebra’s features as thoughts of his home came forward. “It pains me still to think of home, and the reasons I had to leave, even given the harshness and the dangers. I hail from our ancient capital, Roam, but had to leave when Yaari was given to me as my charge. The circumstances of her birth demanded that we leave, and it was my duty to see her safe to our destination.”

“Why is that?” I asked, “She doesn’t seem especially different from anypony else I’ve met.”

“Then you must keep very odd company indeed,” the zebra said, shooting me a look that told me he knew I was just trying to be polite, “Yaari was touched at birth, but none could tell if it was by the stars or by more benevolent spirits. Either way, it has shaped both our lives ever since that fateful day. I am sure you noticed that she does not see the same way we do, by the light of day or our artificial forms of illumination, but rather she simply knows what is in the world around us. She is not blind in the usual sense of the word. Her words from our meeting should have proven that. She saw something in you, some great evil. Even without her Sight, I can feel it as well.”

“It’s… a complicated issue,” I offered meekly, “I don’t have any plans for the wasteland beyond trying to help it, but… we all have obstacles we need to face. This one is mine.” Even I had heard enough about zebra superstition to know that simply offering up the fact that some creature was living in my head and twisting my thoughts would be a death sentence.

“Your words carry much truth. I have spent most of our journey trying to determine what my obstacle will be. As the months have passed, more and more I am beginning to think that it is Yaari herself. The harshness of the road has not been kind to her, and I have not always been fast enough to spare her from harm. Her experiences have hardened her from the easy-going young zebra she once was. You’ve seen what she is, and I fear what she might become.”

“Why is she your responsibility?” I asked, shifting myself to face the zebra head-on. As soon as the words left my mouth I saw him stiffen. This had to be extremely personal, but it was too late for me to back down, but at least I could try to temper it. “What I mean is, why you? What made you so special that somepony… er… somezebra else couldn’t watch her? Where were her parents?”

“Her parents… Her father had died some months before, fighting to protect the small village where we lived. Her mother died of grief only days after her birth. She held on long enough to see Yaari into this world, then departed. It is my belief that it was the grief of her mother that gave her the gift, or curse, that she now lives with,” the zebra answered slowly, as though weighing his words carefully before speaking them. “She was given to me because I was all that was left for her to go to. Everyzebra knew from the moment she opened her eyes that she could not remain in the village, and as the only Outsider that had been brought in, the duty fell to me to see her taken care of.”

“But why did you have to leave? Just because she was born blind? That doesn’t make any sense!” I protested, “That village threw her to the horrors of the wastes simply because she was born different?”

“You don’t understand, and I cannot blame you for this. You were not raised as we were. Had she simply been blind it would have been different, but when she opened her eyes that first time, she could stare straight into the soul of anyzebra around her. Even now, she sees straight to the core of anyone that crosses our path. It is how she saw the evil in you. It is why we had to leave. It is simply our way.”

I snorted, completely unconvinced. “We can hardly be blamed for something that isn’t our fault,” I snapped angrily, “I didn’t choose to bear my burden.”

“We never do,” the zebra answered me sadly.

“Eresti, why are you speaking with this foreigner?” a sharp voice, one that I easily identified as coming from Yaari, suddenly cut in.

“Because, despite what you may see, young one, she has a good heart. Even one as limited as myself can see that. The evil you can see is not her choice,” Eresti answered, his tone just as sharp as the young zebra mare’s was.

“But she is still a stranger and cannot be trusted! Do I need to remind you of your charge again? Or the mercenaries on the steppes?” Yaari snapped, advancing until she stood only a few feet away from the massive zebra. I could see her glaring at him, the colorless white orbs that were her eyes boring into Eresti’s.

Once again, the massive zebra stiffened and pulled himself to his full height, where his head, even while sitting, towered a full foot over me. “You do not,” he ground out, “but nor will I allow such rudeness to one that has not earned it. Strangers only remain that way if no attempt is made to learn of each other. We all face the same dangers, it is only right that there are some who choose to fight against the madness as we must. Your safety is my life, as it always is, but your life is in no danger with these ponies.”

“But that is the problem! They are ponies, not zebras! Their motives are always unknown. All we can know is that they care only for themselves!” the young mare spat.

“Now wait just a minute,” I protested, rising to my hooves and facing the mare, “What the fuck did I do to deserve that! All I’ve done these last two weeks is help others! Fuck, half the time it ended up with me coming a lot closer to death than I would like!”

Yaari snapped her head around so that her eyes were gazing straight at me. It felt like my entire soul was being laid bare to the small zebra. “I can see what you are, Evergreen. I see every secret, and every life that you have taken. So many innocents that needn’t have died, yet they met their ends at your hooves. Even now, all your actions serve only to achieve what you want. You simply delude yourself into thinking you are helping others, but in the end, it is all about you and your precious redemption. Nothing can remove the stain of innocent blood from your soul,” she snapped, stepping towards me until our noses were almost touching.

“At least I’m trying to be better,” I answered quietly. Her words had struck me far deeper than I wanted to admit, casting a shadow over my soul that I doubted I would be able to shake easily. A part of me knew that she was right, that everything I was doing was wasted effort in the end. I had lived too long doing the wrong thing, taken far too many lives to be forgiven. Even though there were ponies that welcomed me, towns that were happy to see me, there were always going to be ponies that would never forgive me, that would always know me as the one that had destroyed them. There would always be ponies like Autumn Mist.

“And failing badly in the attempt,” Yaari sneered, “You claim to be better, but how many dozens have you killed since your supposed change of heart?”

“They were all raiders or gangers!” I protested angrily, “The only fight that wasn’t against somepony like that was the one outside of Buckview, and they were responsible for the destruction of that entire town! I’ve been fighting to save lives, to try to help others. Where is the wrong in that?!”

“Ponies are still dying. You haven’t changed a bit, Evergreen. The evil in your heart will never be wiped away, and you know that. You are nothing more than a cold-hearted killer, and you shall never be more,” the small zebra stated, then turned to return to the corner where she had been sleeping. “Esteri, come away from there. I don’t want her polluting your thoughts.”

With an apologetic glance in my direction, the massive zebra rose to his hooves and followed Yaari to the corner, where he settled down to get a bit of rest.

I sighed heavily and turned to the corner where my friends were sleeping. I needed some time to sort all of this shit out, and I couldn’t do that if I had to be on watch. Within moments, I had Steel Curtain roused and was lying in the spot he had just vacated. I figured that with a night’s rest, everything would be clearer, but trying as hard as I could, sleep would simply not come. My mind was too full of visions of torn bodies and dead ponies, the result of my life. My entire history was littered with blood and corpses, and it seemed that they would be everything that I would ever leave behind.

As the sky lightened with the dawn, I was still lying awake, and my thoughts had dragged me down into a spiral of self-loathing. I could find no reason to disagree with Yaari. Every time I thought I had found a reason for my fighting that didn’t benefit myself, I could easily think of half a dozen reasons why it did. As my friends began to wake, I resigned myself to the fact I was not going to find a reason and that the small zebra was right. I would never be anything more than a killer focused only on my own gain. Hell, I’d said more than once: I wanted redemption, and I was now resigned to the fact that I was never going to get it.

We ate a quick meal before setting out, bidding the zebra pair a good journey on our way out, and set ourselves on the road towards Metro. We were still a long way away and I was already exhausted. There wasn’t much conversation during our journey, which was something I was not going to complain about. I didn’t think I was capable of conversing normally with my friends anyway. What did I have to say to them? I had made myself out to be some sort of Paragon of good, or to put it in Shooting Star’s words: a hero, when the truth was that I was just as fucked up as any other pony out here. Every choice I made resulted in somepony dying, and they all expecting me to be capable of making those kinds of decisions again.

“So are we making for that house again?” Crosswire asked as we paused for a midday meal, “Even if we want to push ourselves unnecessarily, we aren’t going to make Metro by nightfall, so we need to think about where we’re staying for the night.”

“I don’t see why not,” Autumn Mist mumbled around a mouthful of a snack cake, “It’s a good spot. What do you think, Evergreen?”

At her question, everypony turned their gazes to me. For the first time, I felt uncomfortable under their stares. I didn’t know what to say, and I didn’t want to make the choice. Somehow, I knew that even a choice as simple as this would only lead to more bloodshed. But at the same time, I needed to maintain the façade that I knew what I was doing. A strong leader never shows that they aren’t fit for the position. “Yeah, sure,” I finally managed to force out, “It’s as good a place as any.”

Autumn Mist nodded resolutely at my announcement, and the others seemed content with the answer as well, all except for Crosswire, who kept his steady gaze on me for several moments more.

“You all right, Evergreen? You haven’t seemed quite yourself today,” he asked, a concerned note in his voice. I looked at him and saw the worry clearly reflected in his gaze.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just… didn’t sleep well, that’s all,” I said with a weak grin in a bad attempt to deflect his worry. Unfortunately, that was exactly the wrong thing to say, especially given my particular situation.

“Dreams again? Anything you think we should know about, or can’t you remember?” Suture asked, moving herself over next to me in an obvious attempt to help me should it become necessary.

I quickly shook my head. “No, nothing like that. I just didn’t sleep well, that’s all. Had a hard time falling asleep, and it wasn’t very restful. I’m just tired, I promise. I swear to you guys, if something had happened that concerned that… thing, I would let you know.”

“All right, if you’re sure. Just remember, we’re here to help,” Steel Curtain said, his voice betraying just as much concern as both Crosswire and Suture were showing. Even Autumn Mist seemed abnormally concerned.

“Thanks, I appreciate it. Now, can we get moving again? We’ve already been stuck in the open for longer than I’m comfortable with,” I asked, getting to my hooves in an attempt to get away from all the attention. All their concern with my… condition… was making me feel like I was some sort of invalid, and I hated it.

Nopony argued with me, and in just moments, we were on the move again, any last bites of food being swallowed while we walked. As before, we made good time, pressing on through the light rain that we easily put out of mind. The assurance that my friends were there for me did nothing to dispel the fears and doubts that had taken root in my mind, and with every step I became a little less sure of what I was trying to do. Why was I really trying to organize the wasteland against Seahawk? For all I knew, just letting him move in and control the different towns would bring stability to the region. Nopony ever accepted change easily, so a show of force would be necessary, and though Buckview might have been a little too far, I couldn’t deny that it definitely gave me a healthy respect for strength of his forces. I was starting to believe that the only reason I was following this path was because it would keep the status quo, at least well enough that the various leaders of the various towns would still be in charge of their small spheres of influence and could tell themselves that very little had changed. In the short term, it would save lives. But in the long run, when all the dust settled, would it really make a difference? How many would die in the fighting before it was all said and done?

Before I knew it, the sky began to dim as evening approached. The house we were going to use as shelter had just appeared on the horizon, but as it grew larger, I noticed that something seemed off.

“Hey, everyone, hold up. Something doesn’t seem right,” I ordered instinctively. I had made the choice to come here. Now, I had to deal with the consequences. At least I knew what I was capable of. “Steel Curtain, can you fly in there and see if anything is out of place. I don’t think we’re alone.”

“More unexpected visitors to our shelter?” Crosswire asked with a sardonic grin.

“Maybe. Would it really be that surprising? We’ve been cleaning up the trade routes pretty well. Who’s to say that others aren’t traveling as well?” I shot back as Steel Curtain nodded his acknowledgment and shot into the sky.

We waited in silence as the buck gained altitude and arced towards the small house. He made a couple of passes, both high enough that nopony on the ground should be able to see him unless they knew what to look for, then winged his way back towards us where he landed gracefully a couple of feet away.

“I’ve got bad news,” he said almost before his hooves touched the ground, “There are ponies there, and they are definitely not friendly.”

“Raiders?” Autumn asked, already floating out her rifle.

“Worse. Slavers,” the armored Pegasus answered icily.

I felt my stomach drop at the words. Once again, my decision had led to bloodshed. No matter what I did, I couldn’t escape it. “How many?” I asked distantly, the words only coming because my body and mind were reverting to the formula of fighting. They knew what was needed here. I would deal with the emotional fallout later.

“A decent sized party. From the air, it looked like there were at least a half dozen of ‘em outside. Who knows how many are inside,” Steel Curtain answered.

“So a small enough group that we should be able to take them pretty easily,” Autumn Mist announced, chambering a round in her rifle, “Good. So what’s the plan, Evergreen?”

I looked from pony to pony, taking in all of their determination to save whatever slaves were being held inside that house. Even Suture had that look on her face. She was beginning to understand a fact that I now wished I had never learned: If you wanted to save some ponies in the wasteland, others had to die. Inwardly, I sighed. What was the world coming to when I could convince a mare that despised fighting that killing was necessary? I didn’t want this anymore. All I wanted was for the blood to end.

But that wasn’t what was expected of me.

“Autumn, you’ll take up a position on that small outcrop over there,” I said, pointing to a small hill a short distance away that would give the sniper a relatively clear view of the house that was topped with several large boulders that should give her some cover, “Steel Curtain, I want you in the air keeping those bastards from moving around. If any of them come into the open, they’re yours. Crosswire and I will split up and hit the house from opposite directions, so that they have nowhere to run. Suture, I want you with Autumn Mist. If a stray shot happens to find her, we’ll be too far away to help.”

Everypony nodded their understanding as I laid out the plan. Overtop their determination, I could see another emotion on their faces: trust. My other plans had mostly worked well, with only minor flesh wounds being the worst injuries, and they trusted my decisions, almost without question. Normally, I would have been honored. But now, I just didn’t want that kind of responsibility. The day would come when I badly misjudged something, and then somepony would die. I just had to hope that that day wasn’t today.

“All right,” I said with a sigh after a few moments, “Let’s do this. Keep the slaves alive. They are why we’re doing this.”

Now there was no more time for second-guessing. Our course was set and, my decision or not, I had to play the hand I’d been dealt. I knew how to kill, and that was exactly what was required here.

I made my way in a broad arc to come at the building from the side so that I would be out of Autumn Mist’s line of fire. A glance at the sky while I moved revealed that Steel Curtain was already winging his way up, becoming smaller and smaller until he was just a small dark spot against the vast grey cover of the clouds. For better or for worse, once I got a bit closer, we would all be in position.

It only took me a matter of minutes to get into position, at which point I saw no reason to drag the waiting out any longer. I strode out of cover openly, Hammer already in my mouth, and marched up to the closest pony I could find.

“Hey, everpony, look at this stupid motherfucker,” the dirty yellow earth pony stallion announced as I approached, “Bitch is just asking for a little, heh, hospitality. How much you think we could get for a looker like her?”

“Jack shit, asshole,” I snapped, shoving any doubts to a far corner of my mind. They would eat me up later, but for now, I needed to be mean. “Free your slaves, and I’ll let you lot live. That is my only offer. Refuse, and you die.”

“What? You gotta be fucking kidding me!” the buck laughed heartily, throwing his head back and clutching at his belly in his mirth, revealing an incomplete set of dirty yellow teeth in his mouth, “You really think that a single pony could take out all of us? You’re out of your fucking mind!”

By this time, several other ponies had wandered over to watch the scene that was unfolding. All in all, there were six slavers that I could see, not to mention the ten or so slaves that were staked to the ground with explosive collars that were barely a dozen feet away from me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see hopeful looks on many of their faces, and even a hint of what might have been recognition.

“Why does nopony ever think to count?” I muttered before looking the dirty earth pony. “I take it you don’t accept my offer then?”

“Fuck no, but I got one of my own. Fuck me, and I’ll forget the bullshit that came out of your mouth there,” he answered with another laugh even as he lifted a well-polished shotgun and aimed it at my chest, “Otherwise I got a different kind of load to give you.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” I stated icily, then pulled the trigger. The shot flew exactly where I intended and slammed into the stallion’s face, just under the center of his nose, before exploding out the back of his head. The shotgun fired as the buck’s tongue hit the trigger reflexively, but the force of Hammer’s shot sent the barrel wide, and only a few pellets of shot sparked off of my barding, with a couple biting painfully into my already wounded leg.

I managed to keep my footing and slipped into S.A.T.S., where I set up three shots on three separate slavers, hoping to kill all three, thought the chances of that were pretty slim. Time snapped back to reality and the bullets fired. Two of the slavers fell to the shots, one’s head disintegrating under the force of the shot, and the second almost getting decapitated as the round tore through his neck. The third shot flew wide to bury itself in the wall of the house.

In the next instant, I was diving to the side and trying to get into whatever cover I could find, gritting my teeth against the pain in my leg, even as the world erupted with the sounds of battle as my friends joined the fighting. The sudden movement re-opened the wound I already had, and the bandage around it was quickly stained red with blood, not to mention sent a spike of pain straight up the limb, forcing a cry of pain from my throat.

I forced myself around the corner of the building where I could catch my breath and gingerly put my weight on the leg. If it wouldn’t hold, I would not be in good shape for this fight. Luckily for me, it held, although it was painful. But pain was something I knew how to deal with.

I gripped Hammer tighter in my mouth and turned the corner again. Four more slavers were on the ground, three of them felled by shots that could only have come from Crosswire’s SMG, and the third completely decapitated by a perfect headshot from Autumn Mist. The front door of the house opened violently enough to swing 180 degrees on its hinges to slam against the wall before the strained metal of the hinges gave and the door fell to the ground.

“What the fuck is going on out here!” a voice shouted as a large unicorn mare stepped out of the door, floating an obviously well-maintained assault rifle beside her. Her bright blue coat was streaked with sweat and grime, and her unkempt yellow mane was falling around her face as though it had a mind of its own. A sniper round shot past her head to cut down a pony following her out, and the mare glared out in the direction of the shot, straight at the hill where Autumn Mist was shooting from. “Stupid cunt,” she muttered, then raised her rifle and fired three precise shots.

An intense rage gripped me, narrowing my visions until all I saw was the unicorn, and I charged straight forward. I only had two shots left, but I didn’t give a fuck. A pony was shooting at one of my friends that should have been well out of the line of fire, and that was not okay. I barely made it halfway before the mare turned her head in my direction, a somewhat startled look on her face, and tried to lever her assault rifle at me.

Too slow. I fired both rounds that I had left, not even caring about trying to use S.A.T.S. The first struck the unicorn in the side, opening a neat hole that immediately started to gush blood and elicit a shriek of surprised pain. The second slammed into the rifle, knocking it off center so that the shots that bellowed out of it flew high and wide, cleanly missing me. The two shots bought me enough time to drop Hammer into its holster in midstride, then lower my head and slam into the mare’s side myself, driving her to the ground with a grunt.

We landed heavily, and I wasted no time in lashing out to gain the advantage, landing a sharp blow on her head that broke her concentration and sent the rifle clattering to the ground. A staccato of gunfire rang out behind me, but I pushed the rest of the fight out of my mind, trusting that Crosswire and Steel Curtain would keep any other slavers off of me.

The mare was a surprisingly strong for a unicorn and managed to land several solid blows that made my ears ring and dislodge me somewhat from my position on top of her. I kicked a leg against the flowing gunshot wound, forcing a cry of pain from the mare, then pressed, using the agony of the wound to make the mare fall back and give me an opening. I lashed out with my other leg, but the unicorn warded the blow off with her own, then heaved against me, knocking me off balance and buying herself enough space to kick me viciously in the gut.

I lost my grip on her and fell back, wincing as my full weight came down on my wounded leg, but immediately pushed myself back to my hooves and renewed my attack. I didn’t have the advantage of momentum anymore, but her injury was far worse than my own. The unicorn and I battled back and forth, with her matching me blow for blow. Our movements were too tangled and close for anypony with a weapon to interfere, and we both knew it.

But the advantage was with me. The gunshot wound was making the unicorn tire faster, and I fought to back her up against the wall of the house, then sprang to the side, feinting at her throat, then landing the blow against her wounded side instead. The mare staggered into the wall, coughing up a dark glob of blood as she did, so I pressed the attack, landing blow after blow on the mare. I finally managed to maneuver my way to the mare’s rear, where I jumped on her and wrapped my front hooves around her neck in a stranglehold, then used my weight to drag her to the ground to land heavily on her wounded side.

“I suggest you don’t kill me yet,” the mare coughed out, fighting for breath with every word. Blood was now flowing from her mouth and nose, staining the ground around her head a dark crimson.

“And why would I do that,” I panted in return, not letting up the pressure of my grip at all. I was bleeding from several small cuts as well, most irritably from a cut above my right eye that was leaking blood into my eye, making it difficult to see from that side.

“Because they all die if you do,” the unicorn snapped, her stare looking straight at the bound slaves.

A quick look confirmed that she wasn’t bluffing. Floating in the air before me, surrounded by the same deep blue aura that surrounded the mare’s horn, was a detonator, with the button depressed.

“If I die, my magic fades, the button rises, and the bombs go off. You’ll have failed, cunt,” the unicorn spat weakly, a line of red streaming from her mouth as she did, “And the best part is I don’t know how much longer I can hold on. That shot of yours did an awful lot of damage.”

It didn’t take a genius to see that the mare was telling the truth. Already, blood was seeping out from under her body, and I could feel the strength draining out of her. Her breathing was growing weaker, not to mention the fact that it sounded wet. She had a minute, at best, to live. The detonator was floating too far away from me to reach in time, which left only one option.

“Crosswire, start getting those collars off, now!” I shouted, loosening my grip slightly so the unicorn could get more air, “And you had better stay alive for as long as fucking possible.”

“Heh, you really think I’m just going to let you free them? Cocky bitch,” the unicorn muttered as Crosswire galloped past me towards the slaves, “Don’t forget, all I need to do is let go.” Already, her voice was beginning to grow quiet, and I could feel her beginning to grow limp in my grasp. She wasn’t trying to hold on to life. If anything, she was trying to speed her own death.

“Don’t even think about it, bitch,” I snapped, praying to any deity that would listen to make the mare hold on for long enough so Crosswire could do his work. “You let that thing go, and I promise you I will make sure you die slowly.”

“Far too late for that, cunt. At least I’ll die knowing you failed, and all those fucking slaves will have died for nothing! They could have lived long lives, maybe even earned their freedom somewhere down the line. Instead, you’ve doomed them to death,” the unicorn laughed, blood now spurting from her mouth with every other word.

She was in her last moments, and she was using them to taunt me. I doubt she knew exactly how much her words were adding to the grief and self-loathing I was already suffering. I knew exactly what situation I was in, and if any of those slaves died, their blood would be on my hooves.

The slavers breath began to become shallow, and her eyes began to close. I didn’t have much time. I saw only one solution, and there was every possibility that I wouldn’t be fast enough. All the same, I shifted my weight, bringing my rear legs up underneath me and bracing them against the ground on either side of the slaver. Even as she exhaled for the last time, I sprang forward, lunging for the detonator with my open mouth.

As the magic holding it evaporated with the slaver’s death, my mouth closed around the detonator. I clamped down hard, praying that I had managed to keep the button depressed, and landed on my stomach, driving the wind from my lungs, as well as another white-hot streak of pain through my injured leg. In the moments after, I guessed that I had to have been successful, because there was no explosion. Either that, or I had been killed in it as well, but I didn’t feel dead.

I gingerly rose to my hooves, keeping my injured leg off the ground and turned to look at Crosswire, who was standing with a dumbfounded look on his face, a collar floating next to him and the freed slave staring at me in near adoration.

Something landed heavily and I turned to see Steel Curtain watching me, his eyes wide. “Did you just do what I think you did?!” he exclaimed, his voice excited, “Holy shit, that was amazing! You just saved all their lives! Crosswire’s too! He had that collar right next to his head when you jumped!”

I turned back around to look at Crosswire, who seemed to finally be coming back to his senses. “Holy shit, Evergreen. I was not expecting that to work. Guess you really didn’t have much of a choice though, right? Bitch was bleeding out anyway. Thanks for the save. I’m sure this lot appreciate it too.”

I couldn’t speak around the detonator in my mouth, and I didn’t want to risk it, but then something popped into my head. I whirled back around to face Steel Curtain and waved wildly towards the hill that Autumn Mist had been on.

“What? Oh, Autumn? She’ll be all right,” the armored Pegasus said with a relieved grin, “That slaver had one hell of a good shot to hit her from all the way out here with that rifle, but Suture got working on her almost immediately. That’s why I wasn’t in the fighting. I flew back there to make sure Suture didn’t need any help. You and Crosswire seemed to have everything more or less under control over her anyway.”

Relief flooded through my body and I fell heavily onto my rump. I was exhausted, both mentally and physically. My leg was killing me, and after that hoof-to-hoof fight, I felt like my entire body was one large bruise.

“Yeah, I don’t blame you,” Steel Curtain said, walking up to my side and reaching into his saddlebag for a healing potion and offering it to me. I glared at him, but only got a puzzled look in return. Finally, the Pegasus’ face lit up with understanding and he put the potion back with a bemused grin. “Right, you’ve got a detonator in your mouth. Can’t really drink a potion with that there. I’ll go see how far Crosswire is with those collars, and I’ll put them somewhere where the explosion won’t kill us.”

I nodded at the buck and forced myself back to my hooves so I could join him. Crosswire already had five of the ponies freed, all of whom were clustered together and watching me. It was hard to tell what they were thinking, but it was obvious that they thought they knew who I was. Doubtless they’d call me the Heroine of Seaddle the first chance they got. I really needed to talk to that fucking DJ. I really didn’t deserve the title. My fucking ‘heroic’ act had almost gotten all ten of these ponies killed.

Before long, Crosswire had the last pony free and Steel Curtain was arcing away into the evening sky, loaded down with ten explosive collars that were set to explode. It was a good thing to; my jaw was really beginning to hurt.

He was still just coming back from over a nearby hilltop, winging his way towards us when Suture and Autumn Mist joined us, the latter leaning heavily on the former with a stark white bandage wrapped around her chest. “Don’t worry,” Suture announced as she approached, “It isn’t as bad as it looks. That was just the easiest way to bind it. Torso wounds are the hardest to clean out.”

“Yeah, yeah. It doesn’t even hurt,” Autumn insisted, yet made no attempt to stand on her own.

“That’s the Med-X, Autumn,” Suture stated candidly as she helped the mare lie down against the wall of the house, then made her way over to me. “I see you managed to hurt your leg again, and – what the hell is in your mouth?”

At that moment Steel Curtain landed and nodded at me, and I spat the detonator onto the ground. In the distance was a muffled explosion. “Detonator,” I said, working my jaw to try to get rid of the ache, “The leader managed to get it out and prime it before I could finish her. Grabbing it like that was the only way to keep them alive.” I nodded in the direction of the clustered ponies we had managed to save.

“Well, at least you managed to do it,” Suture said with an approving nod, “They certainly didn’t deserve to die. Now, let me look at that leg of yours. Lie down, it will be a lot easier to examine that way.”

I did as the medic bid and watched as she unwrapped the bandage around my leg. As it came free, I couldn’t help but wince at the sight. The wound I had suffered in the Stable had fully re-opened, and I was pretty sure I could see bone.

“You were walking on it, weren’t you?” Suture demanded with a sharp look at me.

“More like fighting,” I stated lamely, “Didn’t really have a choice. They would have ended up dead had I not, not to mention myself.”

“I see. Well, you really need to be more careful,” Suture lectured me as she cleaned out the wound and re-bound it, “Otherwise, it will never heal properly. You really shouldn’t be walking on it at all, but I know that isn’t an option, so we’ll just have to make do.”

I grunted in response. The fatigue was starting to catch up with me, and all I wanted to do was sleep. Unfortunately, there was still work to be done, namely dealing with all the freed ponies.

Already they were slowly approaching me, as if they were worried what my response would be. The pony in front was a brown earth pony buck with a jet-black mane. He looked young, but held himself as a pony that had seen a lot of the wasteland. Something about that struck me as incredibly sad.

“You’re really her, aren’t you?” he asked, a note of awe in his voice, “I knew you would come! I just knew it!”

“I’m nopony special, kid,” I muttered, shifting uncomfortably, but was unable to go far as Suture was still finishing up on my leg, “Just a pony trying to help where I can, for whatever good it does.” My melancholy was starting to come back with a vengeance, but I had to keep it under control. These ponies didn’t deserve that. Crosswire had been right the last time we freed a bunch of slaves: I had to be more diplomatic with the other ponies that crossed out path.

“Which is far more than most are willing to do,” the buck insisted, “We would have most likely ended up dead by the end of the month without you! These slavers don’t give two shits about any of us. Treat us barely better than a bunch of fucking raiders.”

That comment drew my attention, and I fixed the buck in a harsh glare. “Careful what you say. Raiders are an entire world apart from slavers, trust me. We cleared out a raider den a week or so ago. Slavers actually treat their slaves like ponies. No, they don’t treat them well, but they do recognize that they have to live. Raiders only see others as something to play with. There is not an ounce of concern for the well-being of their victims in their heads.”

The buck took a startled step back, a look of shock plastered on his face. “I… uh… ok,” he stammered, “If you say so. They didn’t seem to treat us like ponies.”

“Tell me something, kid. What can a slaver do with a slave that they’ve disfigured or maimed? I’ll tell you: kill them. Which means they lose profit. In the end, all slavers care about are caps, but they can’t make caps with damaged goods,” I stated, “If you get in this situation again, remember that. Anypony can survive if they know how to behave around slavers. You listen to every word that comes out of their mouths until you find that chance to get the hell out.”

“Oh… I see,” the buck muttered, his ears dropping in defeat, “I’m sorry.” He turned around and started to walk away, his head held low, every line of his body showing how dejected he felt.

Something about his obvious sadness resonated with me, reminding me of how shitty I was feeling as well. At least his feelings were something I could fix. “Kid, I didn’t mean to be so harsh,” I said, feeling a small amount of happiness when the buck’s ears perked up at my voice, “I just want to make sure that you lot know what to do if this ever happens again. Being enslaved is no small problem, but being caught by raiders is much, much worse. At least getting caught by slavers is survivable.”

“Yeah, I guess you have a point,” the buck admitted, “We just didn’t think anypony would show up to save us. We thought it was all over.”

“You were closer than you think. Slavers are good fighters. We were just better,” I answered, looking over to my friends. Suture had already finished with me and was helping Autumn Mist get comfortable, where it looked like she was giving the injured mare another shot of Med-X. Steel Curtain was with Crosswire, who were both talking to the other ponies about the Princesses-knew-what.

“They must be lucky, getting to travel with you. I mean seriously, how many ponies get to travel with the Heroine of Seaddle!” the buck exclaimed, becoming very animated as he did.

“I’m the lucky one,” I stated quietly, keeping my eyes locked on them, particularly Steel Curtain, “I’ve put them through so much, and they still stick by me. I couldn’t ask for more. I’m still afraid that this is all a dream, and I’ll wake up and be alone. They are all that are really keeping me going anymore. I would have died long ago without their help.”

“Well, every hero needs help right? Shooting Star was right, you are a driving force for change. I’m just happy to see that you’re still here. The last few days have been scary hearing nothing about you,” the buck said, a genuine note of worry in his voice.

I let out a sigh, trying to decide what to say. I finally settled on holding back any comments until I was actually speaking to the DJ himself. “He needn’t have worried. I just had some other work to see to with a group that doesn’t like to advertise themselves,” I said vaguely, letting the buck use his imagination.

“That’s good to know. Well, we’d better get out of here! Don’t want to attract too much attention to you. Thank you again for the help! You saved our lives!” the buck shouted, trotting back to the other freed ponies.

I followed him over, not intending to simply let those ponies wander out into the wasteland by themselves. They would be preyed on before they got half a mile away. When I approached, I didn’t get a chance to get a single word in before every single pony was practically swarming me, thanking me for my help. I suffered through their gratitude, every single word just digging a deeper hole in my soul, making me feel all the more guilty for how close I had taken them to dying.

When they were finally wrapping up and about to leave, I shouted out for them to wait. “I am not letting any of you leave tonight! The wasteland is far too dangerous at night. The only reason we ended up here was because of nightfall, and this house is a good shelter. I suggest you lot stay here with us for the night. We’re headed to Metro in the morning, and you are all more than welcome to tag along that far.”

The look they gave me was far too close to worship for my liking. I was really going to have to talk to Shooting Star about this reputation he was giving me. This shit was just getting too ridiculous. Pretty soon, ponies were going to be risking themselves in my name, thinking that the shit I did was as easy as wanting to. Sure, I wanted the wasteland to change, but not by letting other ponies be reckless.

As a group, we made our way into the house, with the former slaves settling down in their small groups of previous acquaintances at random on the ground floor. Unfortunately, there was not a whole lot of extra space, so we were going to have to go upstairs.

I gingerly led the way up, remembering the scene Crosswire and I had found there the first time we had stayed here. I would do everything I could to avoid disturbing that resting family.

We started to settle in, with Autumn Mist and Suture taking the first room we found that was open, where the medic helped Autumn settle down on the bed. While she kept insisting that the dark mare was going to be fine, Autumn Mist was still moving stiffly, and grimacing every so often when she twisted a certain way. I hoped it was simply because the young mare wasn’t used to getting shot.

Steel Curtain opted to settle down in the hallway, claiming that his armor made every sleeping spot about the same anyway, and he’d be able to react to danger much quicker from there. All that left was the last bedroom, the one I didn’t want to step in.

Crosswire had no such issues, and marched right in, but paused at the doorway. I slowly followed him, but stopped at the next to him, feeling my heart drop down to my stomach and tears beginning to form in my eyes. The slavers had made it up here. Two things made that perfectly clear.

The first made me realize why the buck had claimed that the slavers were no better than raiders. The corpse of a young mare, easily about the age of Autumn Mist, lay on the bed. She had been a unicorn with a light blue hide and pink mane, though both were ragged and streaked with blood. Open sores covered her body, all of them now black with congealed blood. It was obvious that she had been repeatedly raped and beaten, and had finally succumbed to the injuries, probably a few hours before we had arrived. As gruesome as the sight was, it was not what brought the tears to my eyes.

At the foot of the bed was a pile of bones: the skeletons of the family that had died here when the bombs fell. Sitting almost perfectly on top was the tiny skull of the child that had lain between its parents. Its eyes were staring straight at the door, seemingly boring right into me, fixing me in their cold, empty stare. It felt like the world had lost even more of its innocence.

Level Up!

Perk gained! – Sniper – Your chance to hit a target in the head while in S.A.T.S. has been significantly increased.

{Again I find myself apologizing for a long delay. Believe me, it is not intentional, my life is just busy between work, working on several other projects, and generally enjoying my summer. Also had the problem of my hard drive crashing halfway through July (thankfully lost none of my writing). I realize that some decisions I made in this chapter might annoy some people, and step on some toes (which is something I usually try to avoid) but to my mind there was no other way I could have done things, considering the directions I want this story to go. As always, thanks to Kkat for the original FoE, and thank you to MUCKSTER and Cody for your invaluable help with editing. Feel free to check out the story at the hub page right HERE.}

Chapter 11: Shattered Illusions

Fallout Equestria: Redemption
Author: Cooperdawg
Chapter Eleven: Shattered Illusions
“We all start with innocence, but the world leads us to guilt.”

I don’t know how long I stood there, staring down at that small, dusty pile of old bones, just trying to hold myself together. Something was breaking inside me, and had been for a long time. It wasn’t the world we lived in. I had grown used to the wasteland shortly after getting kicked out of Grovedale, and had seen more than enough horrors to become hardened to it. It wasn’t even the severity of life or the cost of survival. It came down to ponies’ blatant disregard for death. They no longer cared if anypony lived or died, and treated the dead as just another inanimate object. I was no different.

And here, a family that had managed to stay together right up until the very end, and had remained together for two hundred years past that, had been brutally cast aside, as if their lives or love didn’t matter. How had we allowed ourselves to reach this point? Life should matter, and we simply no longer acted like it did. Suture had been the first pony I had met in years that had cared if others lived or died, was actually willing to fight me to keep others alive, and the first thing I had done was yell at her that they deserved to die. And now… now I was twisting her to that way of thinking. Already, she was beginning to value some lives less than others. How long would it be until she cared as little about killing raiders and slavers as the rest of us did?

“Evergreen? Are you all right?” Crosswire asked me, a very clear note of concern in his voice, “You’ve been standing there silently for five minutes.”

“No… I’m not all right, Crosswire. Something is seriously fucked up with this world. How could they just toss them aside like that?” I answered, almost choking up when I tried to talk.

“Because they were the type of ponies that simply didn’t give a fuck about others. Just look at her. Normal ponies don’t do that kind of shit,” the ragged grey buck answered, gesturing at the corpse of the mare on the bed. “But seriously, Evergreen, is there anything I can help with?”

“No, I don’t think anyone can help me, honestly,” I answered quietly, thinking back on Yaari’s words. The young zebra mare had been right about me, almost. At least I still gave a shit whether or not some ponies lived or died. I may be a pony that was good at nothing other than wanton slaughter, and whose actions were only thought out to benefit me, but at least I still cared about the lives of others. “I need to talk to Suture about something. Just… try to get some rest, I guess. We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

With that, I turned and left the bedroom, leaving the grey buck baffled, his mouth hanging open with a comment that I didn’t give him the time to voice. I made my way down the hall and into the room that the medic was sharing with Autumn Mist. They were both still awake, since it seemed that Autumn was having a hard time getting comfortable on the bed because of her injury.

I stood quietly in the doorway for several minutes, letting the medic do her work before intruding on her concentration. It took a while, but they finally managed to get the dark mare settle down, and I wandered in. “So, how’s she doing, Suture? Honestly now,” I asked, stepping up to the bed and looking down at the young sniper with my best attempt at a concerned expression.

“Honestly, she will recover, but the shot did some serious internal damage. At least I managed to fix the worst of it. She’ll be fine in a day or two. That slaver was one hell of a good shot. Good thing you took her down when you did,” Suture answered with barely a sideways glance at me. She was still entirely focused on Autumn, carefully probing the bandaging around her wound to make sure it was holding.

The comment made me wince. A few short weeks ago, and the maroon pony would have been at my throat simply at the idea that I was going to kill someone else.

“I’m still not sure how I missed the bitch,” the sniper muttered darkly, “It wasn’t even that hard of a shot.”

“It happens. At least it turned out the best for us,” I answered. It probably wasn’t the right thing to say, but it was all that my pre-occupied mind could come up with.

“Yeah, I guess. Well, as Suture keeps insisting, I should get some sleep,” Autumn Mist said with a pained yawn, wincing as the movement pulled at the bandages, “So if you got something to say to her, please step outside. I’m a light sleeper, and these holes in my side aren’t helping matters.”

I nodded my acknowledgement at her and turned to look at Suture. “Do you have a moment?” I asked, trying my best to keep a begging tone from keeping into the words.

“Yeah, I guess. It can’t wait until morning?” she asked, looking away from the sniper lying prone on the bed for the first time since they had joined us outside.

“I would rather it didn’t,” I answered, stepping towards the door and holding it open for the medic. She hesitated for a moment before following me, stepping out into the hallway.

Steel Curtain was lying down by the stairs to the main floor, far enough away that he shouldn’t hear us if we spoke quietly. I still wasn’t sure how much I wanted the others to know, or how much I thought they could now without undermining their belief in me, but Suture was the only one I could think of who could possible help me with the problem I was facing right now.

“So, what’s so urgent that you needed to talk to me now, Evergreen? We’re all tired after that fight, and we could all use some rest, you especially,” the medic asked, cocking her head at me quizzically.

“Tell me that I’m doing the right thing, Suture. Tell me that all of this is worth it,” I blurted out, sitting down heavily on my rump as my rear legs gave out, “Tell me that there’s a reason for the lives lost.”

“Evergreen? Where is this coming from?” Suture asked, sitting down next to me, her expression a study in concern, “As far as ethics and moral are concerned, you’ve been one of the most stable of all of us.”

“How can you say that? You are the only pony I know that gives two shits about who lives or dies out here! Sure, I want to help where I can, but… if I’m too late to help somepony, I don’t feel especially bad about it, at least so long as I know there was nothing I could do. To me, they’re just dead, another victim of the wasteland. How the fuck is that ethical? Shouldn’t I care more about them?” I demanded, struggling to keep the volume of my voice under control.

The maroon mare remained silent, her head hung low so she was looking at her forehooves, with a conflicted expression. “I don’t know what you want to hear, Evergreen. You’re the one that taught me that the wasteland is a harsh place, and that some ponies have to die if we want to save those that are worth saving. I still want everypony to have a chance to live, but I’m not as stupid as I once was. Lives are important, but living even more so.”

“But that’s the problem,” I muttered as a tear fell from my eye to trace a path down my cheek, “I don’t want to live, not like everypony else does. All I want anymore is to know that my life is still worth something to somepony. I don’t want to be hated or feared, but I can’t settle down in some town and just live out my days without doing anything, but any other course will just end up with me dead in a ditch somewhere.”

“What’s really the issue here, Evergreen? You’ve never had this kind of problem before. If anything, I think you’ve been too callous about other’s lives. And now you’re asking me where everything went wrong? What’s going on?” the medic asked, fixing me in a worried stare.

“I… I just don’t know what I’m doing anymore…” I said, not finding the strength to lift my head to return her stare, “I feel like I’m corrupting you from the pony you once were. I just… I don’t know if I can do it anymore… all the death.”

“Evergreen, I’ve adjusted because I’ve had to. As you all have shown me, the wasteland is not a nice place, and I need to learn how to defend myself if I want to survive out here. Thankfully, I haven’t had to kill anything more intelligent than a feral ghoul yet, but that isn’t corruption. And death: Evergreen, the wasteland is full of nothing but death. No matter where we go we are going to be faced with it. Hell, we’re fighting against a pony that thinks it’s okay to burn an entire town to the ground. I have no problems with letting a pony die that willingly slaughters so many. After all, I was quite willing to attack you that day your gang rebelled against you, wasn’t I?”

“So you agree with what we’re doing?” I asked hopefully, lifting my chin by a few degrees so I could at least look at her face.

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t, Evergreen. This needs to be done, and so far, you’ve been the only pony willing to stand up and do it,” she answered with a smile, “So stop worrying. We’ll win, we have to. Already, towns are flourishing because of our influence. For the first time ever, Metro has a trade agreement with another town, and you’ve managed to solve a problem that has been plaguing Millberry for a long time, even if that solution hasn’t been implemented yet.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’m still not happy, but at least I can rest knowing that I’m not making the wrong decision about Seahawk. It’s just so hard to see what the right choice is sometimes,” I muttered, forcing myself to my hooves, “Thanks, Suture. I feel better. See you in the morning.”

“Make sure you actually sleep, Evergreen. You’ve looked exhausted all day. And remember, we’re here for you. A lot of what we’ve faced would make anypony feel unsure. Good night.”

Despite what I had said, sleep wasn’t going to come easy. Crosswire was already snoring by the time I wandered into the room. My eyes were automatically drawn to the pile of bones, and my hooves brought me to them. I sat down, sadness gripping my heart and soul, and gazed into the empty voids that were the eye sockets of the child’s skull.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered after a few moments of silence, my head dropping to stare at the ground between my hooves and a few tears sliding down my cheeks to drip onto the stained carpet of the room, “I’m sorry we couldn’t be here to stop this.” I shifted my head to look over at the corpse of the mare that was still lying on the bed. Rather than move it out, Crosswire had simply lain down against the wall on the floor. He was probably expecting that we wouldn’t be coming back here in a while, and after all, to him, as with so many others in the wasteland, it was just another dead pony.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t save you,” I said to the body, “Maybe in the end, we can stop this happening to others… somehow…”

I forced myself back to my hooves and made my way over to Crosswire, where I lay down beside him and tried to get some rest, but as I had predicted, sleep wasn’t going to come easy.

Every time I closed my eyes, visions of ponies I had failed flitted before me. I saw my parents, bleeding out onto the ground in front of Grovedale; then Heart Attack came forward, walking to his death which I had done nothing to stop; Hat Trick, lying broken and bleeding on the roadside, and the bodies of his entire caravan lying in the farmhouse, carved up by a raider’s knife. I saw the pile of bodies at Buckview, sending a column of smoke into the sky as they burned, and also the bodies of every single innocent pony that had been killed as a result of my choices while with the raider gang. Everywhere I went there was death and misery, and I had done little, if anything, to stop any of it. All I did was react to the situations, fighting to save a life or two, but nothing I had done was going to be a permanent solution. Not yet.

I was going to stop Seahawk, and give the towns a reason to fight together, and to start striking back against the wasteland. I would do that, or I would die trying. It was all that was worth it anymore. And then, maybe, I could forgive myself.

The gradual lightening of the room woke me some hours later. My sleep had been restless and full of nightmares, but at least I had managed to get some. The way the night had begun, I thought it was going to be another sleepless night.

I rose to my hooves and made my way out into the hallway. The first thing I noticed was that Steel Curtain was nowhere to be seen. A little worried, I walked down the stairs and picked my way between the ponies we had managed to save. Some of them were starting to stir, and the ones that were already awake quickly moved out of my way, giving me a clear path to the door. A few of them might have muttered something about me saving their lives, but I wasn’t listening. All I cared about was finding Steel Curtain.

Outside, the rain was coming down in a steady downpour, quickly soaking me through my barding and forcing my mane flat against my head as I stepped outside in search of the armored Pegasus. I finally found him sitting out on the road, staring up into the sky with a depressed expression.

“Missing home?” I asked, coming up beside him and sitting down, far enough away from his side that I hoped he wouldn’t think it meant anything.

“No. I don’t miss Stormfront. Don’t think I ever could. It’s my family, not knowing if they’re all right or are being held because I’m a traitor. Dad would be able to cope, he’s strong like that, but Mom… she isn’t as strong as he is. She was born and raised in a small town, far enough removed from the big-city politics that she’s never had to worry about it. And my brother… fuck, he’s probably been kicked out of the military and made an outcast,” he answered glumly, then, his face hardened and an angry frown overtook his glum expression, “And there isn’t a fucking thing I can DO about it!” He finished with a shout, getting to his hooves and starting to pace.

“We’re working on it, Steel Curtain. Once we get this shit with Seahawk taken care of, the Enclave is next on the list. Your family will be fine, I promise,” I said, trying to calm the agitated Pegasus.

He rounded on me, his anger etched into every line of his expression, and his body almost shaking with all his pent-up emotion. “Can you guarantee that, Evergreen?” he demanded, “Can you tell me right now that my family is ok?”

I was taken aback by his anger. I had never before seen him this wound up. “No, I can’t. But I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that they will be, one way or another. I can’t promise that they are fine now, but I can promise that I will do everything in my power to help.”

Steel Curtain simply stood stock-still, watching me, then snorted and turned to face back up to the sky. “I guess that has to be enough. But what are you going to do, Evergreen? You barely know what to do about Seahawk. What’s the next step with him, huh? Or are we just going to be doing Mallet’s bidding for the next few months, rather than going for the source of the problem?”

His question caught me flat-footed, and I didn’t know what to say. “Well, I haven’t heard anything beyond what you know. He simply has done too well keeping his plan quiet. The only lead I can even think of right now is that Pegasus friend of yours. What was his name again?” I asked, trying to defend myself.

“Starshine. And if that’s what you think, then we should find him,” Steel Curtain said, looking at me with a determined glare.

“I’d love to, but we haven’t got a clue where he is! I remember him telling us that he would get in touch with us once he has that town set up,” I retorted, “So until we know where to find him, we should keep getting the towns in the area prepared for war, because that is what this is going to become before it all ends.” I didn’t want to tell the Pegasus that I didn’t know if I could keep fighting like I had been. Not with all the death it was causing.

“I suppose you have a point. Is this side trip into Seaddle really necessary then?” Steel Curtain asked, looking at me critically.

“It could be. Sure, I want to get that bastard Shooting Star to stop calling me something I don’t deserve, but look at it this way. In order to tell everypony the news as well as he does, he has to have a pretty reliable source of information, which means there could be things he’s holding back because it will make him a target. If we can meet with him face-to-face, we might be able to learn something about Seahawk or the Enclave, or just the wasteland in general that will help us,” I explained.

“Makes sense,” Steel Curtain muttered, “At least you sound like you know what you’re doing.”

“I have an idea, Steel Curtain, I can’t do anything more than that. Not until I have more information,” I said, rising to my hooves, “Now come on, let’s go inside and get something to eat. We have a long day ahead of us.”

“Isn’t every day a long day?” he asked morosely as he too got up.

“Yeah, what’s your point?” I asked with a smirk and a flip of my mane as I turned towards the house.

“Nothing, I guess,” he answered. His tone had lightened up a bit, a fact of which I was very grateful. I needed him to be focused.

By the time we were back inside, almost every pony was up. Crosswire already had most of the remainder of our food spread out, and was sharing it with the ponies we had managed to save.

“Hey, Evergreen. I figured we could share since we should be back in Metro this afternoon anyway, and we’ll be able to re-stock,” he explained once he saw me enter.

“Good idea. How is everypony? Is Autumn up and moving?” I asked, walking up to him and picking a couple of packages of pre-war food out of the pile which I promptly opened and started eating.

“Yeah, she’s stiff, but she’s up. Suture can really work wonders,” the grey buck answered with a grin, “I would know.”

“Yeah, I suppose you would,” I answered between mouthfuls, “Think we’ll be able to get on the road soon? Weather is shit, and I’d rather not spend more time than we have to out there.”

“Yeah, it shouldn’t be too long before we get moving. We just getting to Metro today, or did you want to start towards the city as well?” the tech asked.

“If we get to Metro early enough, I would like to try to get a move on towards Seaddle, but if it looks like we’ll be caught in the open by the time night rolls around, we’ll probably just stay in Metro. I’d rather not risk doing something stupid.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Crosswire said as he started packing up the last remains of our food, which was a much smaller pile than what we had started with.

We set out not much later, all fifteen of us. Most of the ponies we had rescued weren’t from Metro, but they agreed that it would be much better to at least get back to civilization before trying to make their way back to their respective homes, if those homes were even still standing.

The rain was oppressive, soaking all of us completely through and making the journey miserable, but that meant it was making everypony else in the wastes miserable as well, so we were hopeful that we wouldn’t run into trouble. Unfortunately, the weather intensified as we traveled, soon evolving into a full thunderstorm, lightning and thunder included. With every flash of lightning, we were flinching, thinking that it was the start of an attack on us, but the wasteland remained empty.

The weather also slowed us somewhat, as the downpour turned the beaten up road into a stream of mud, with only occasional solid patches where the old asphalt roadway was still intact. Goddesses, it sucked that Equestria’s industrialization came so close to the end of the war. Had it been sooner, most of these paths would probably have been built to last, and we wouldn’t be having a problem with mud.

All the same, we trudged onwards, lowering our heads into the biting wind, and just setting one hoof down in front of the other. Complaining would get us nowhere, and everypony knew it. All we had was the next step, and eventually we would make our destination.

We arrived much later than I had hoped, the shanty town appearing before us like some large beast, materializing through the rain as we stumbled within its bounds. I was surprised at how many ponies were still going from stall to stall, buying and selling.

Even more surprising was the quality of the clientele. The last time we had left, I had noticed that they all seemed to be just this side of being raiders, all of them hardened wastelanders with unkind eyes, never more than a twitch from drawing a weapon. Now, there was a decent smattering of normal ponies in the mix. Most were still just this side of raiding, but there was a difference. Maybe helping to secure the roads between Millberry and Metro was making it possible for those ponies living on the frontier to come in and trade for things they needed.

I could only hope.

We left our following at the gates to Metro, as most of them weren’t known by the guards, and so would not be risked until they could be checked out, but my group was let through on sight. It was bliss to finally get out of the rain, though I felt like I wouldn’t be dry for the rest of eternity.

Our first stop was Suture’s infirmary, where she checked both mine and Autumn’s wounds. It was the first time I saw exactly what kind of damage the young sniper had taken. Two small puncture wounds were placed almost exactly at her center of mass, and one of them was still sluggishly leaking blood. It had probably reopened during our walk. It was a bad injury, and would probably have killed her had Suture not been right there.

My own injury was much easier to heal. Now that we had full access to an infirmary, it took the skilled Earth Pony medic only a few minutes to clean out my wound, apply a salve and bind it up tightly with bandaged soaked in healing potion before I felt worlds better.

“So what’s the plan, Evergreen?” Crosswire asked once Suture was done with our injuries. He was seated against one wall, stripping and cleaning his SMG, but with both eyes fixed carefully on me.

I hesitated for a moment, convincing myself that I already had a plan, and that it was something that I needed to do. Even so, I still felt a whisper of the words the young zebra mare had told me, that everything I ever did was only to benefit myself. I didn’t want to use my friends like that.

“The weather is total shit, and I really don’t want to spend more time out there than I have to. On that note, Autumn Mist and I could both really benefit from a good night’s rest here, where we don’t have to worry about getting attacked in the middle of the night,” I answered, somewhat shakily, returning the tech’s gaze.

“Makes sense to me. We should probably go out into the market and restock our supplies then. We’ve been using a lot of ammunition, and most of our food is spent. Is there anything else we need?” he asked, swiftly reassembling his weapon and sliding a fresh clip into it.

“Maybe some parts to repair our barding?” Autumn Mist suggested from the bed where she was lying. She still looked pale, but her voice was regaining at lot of its strength, “Especially considering the amount of fire we’ve been taking. I don’t think basic leather barding is really going to cut it anymore. If we can, we should all invest in some armor like Evergreen’s.”

“That makes a lot of sense, though it is going to be expensive,” Suture said while she cleaned her hooves and mouth in the sink, washing away the bit of blood that had accumulated while she was treating us, “Do we have enough to take care of that?”

“Well, after the last payment we got for helping Millberry, not to mention the payment we’ll get for delivering that Crystal, we’re sitting on a pretty good fortune of caps. Might as well put it into circulation here. Besides, we only need reinforced barding for you, Crosswire, and Autumn. Shouldn’t be too expensive,” I answered. This was a subject I had no problems with. Nothing could be a better investment than improving our armor.

“That’s agreed then. Want to go take care of that now, Evergreen?” Crosswire asked, giving me a penetrating glare. I could see what was on his mind, and it was making me distinctly uncomfortable. I could tell he had finally worked himself up to talking about his feelings, and that was not something I was looking forward to discussing. But I also couldn’t put it off any longer.

“Yeah, sure. We should probably stop by Mallet’s office first, though,” I answered, pulling out a pouch full of caps, which I tossed at Steel Curtain, “Steel Curtain, would you mind taking care of food and ammo while Crosswire and I get the caps for the barding?”

The armored Pegasus caught the pouch in his mouth and placed them into a compartment on his armor before nodding curtly. “Yeah, no problem. Didn’t you promise that one weapon dealer you’d go there first?”

“Yeah, so make that appearance and let her know what we need. We should get a good price,” I said while I made sure my saddlebags were settled comfortably over my barding.

“Will do. I’ll meet up with you guys once I’m done with those supplies,” Steel Curtain said, then disappeared out the door.

Crosswire and I took another few seconds to make sure we had everything we needed, which mainly meant that we took Autumn’s and Suture’s barding, then made our own way out into the market.

We barely made it three steps out of the infirmary before Crosswire brought that subject up. “Evergreen, we need to talk,” he said. His tone was strained, but determined. It wasn’t hard to tell that he had taken a long time to work himself up to this.

“I know, Crosswire, and I think I know what you’re going to say,” I muttered. With everything else going on in my head, this wasn’t really something I wanted to worry about. My personal life shouldn’t be what I was worried about, yet it seemed like fate wasn’t going to allow anything else.

“You do?” he answered, genuinely shocked. He was now staring at me intently, and I could see his feelings for me plastered on his face. He wasn’t even attempting to hide them, and it made me feel very uncomfortable. “You mean to tell me that you know exactly how I feel about you? That I’m in love you?”

There it was, laid out in the open for all to see. I sighed heavily, dropping my head in defeat. “Yeah. I wouldn’t have if Steel Curtain hadn’t said anything. He told me that he noticed you looking at me and stuff like that. End result is pretty logical from there.”

“Steel Curtain told you?” he asked, his voice wavering somewhat, and his expression confused, “Why would he… I mean, how did he know? Wait, you answered that. Why?”

“Ugh… Crosswire, this entire situation is something I’m really not comfortable with. I haven’t thought about stallions in… well, ever, honestly. I’ve always been more concerned with surviving. Steel Curtain told me because he thought I should know, and I’ve been oblivious to that sort of thing for as long as I can remember.” That statement wasn’t entirely true anymore, as I had noticed Steel Curtain looking at me quite a bit himself recently, but that wouldn’t have been a good thing to tell the grey unicorn.

“Then… then you feel the same way?” he asked me, the clopping of his hooves on the concrete floor coming to a stop as he turned to look at me, forcing me to a stop as well. The hopeful look on his face was painful to see, especially knowing what I had to tell him.

This was it, the moment I had been dreading, and there was no way I was getting out of answering. “Crosswire, I…” I choked up, my throat closing on me and not letting me speak. Crosswire was looking at me with such hope, and such feeling, that saying no was proving to be a lot harder than I had anticipated, but it was still something I had to do. “I’m sorry. You’re my closest friend, my first friend. It isn’t what you want to hear, but… I just don’t see you that way. I would give my life for you in an instant, but, I just don’t think I can see you as a coltfriend.”

My words crushed him, as I knew they would, but I wasn’t going to torture the buck by making him think I shared a feeling that wasn’t there. His head dropped down, his ears flat against his head, and I saw the light of feeling disappear from his eyes as he locked his emotions back up inside himself again. “Oh… I see,” I trailed off, starting to walk again, although his steps were much more deliberate now.

“Crosswire, I know it hurts,” I called after him, trotting to catch up, “but you know me. I wouldn’t try to foster something that I didn’t feel. If I tried to pretend, it would just be worse. You know that. You’d know I was lying the second the words come out of my mouth.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he muttered, his voice low and depressed, “Was it something I did or said? Maybe pushing you too hard when I thought you were being indecisive?”

I quickly shook my head. “No. Nothing like that. I just don’t have any romantic feelings towards you. Everything you’ve told me, you’ve been right. I did need to start trusting my instincts, and I was making stupid decisions when I pushed those ponies we saved aside. I’ve been listening to you, Crosswire,” I said, trying to keep my tone sympathetic.

“It’s Steel Curtain, isn’t it?” the grey unicorn asked suddenly, his head coming up and fixing me in an accusing glare, “You love him, don’t you?”

“What! I… what?” I sputtered, caught completely off guard by the question, “Where the hell is that coming from? Crosswire, I’m trying to be honest here. I don’t want there to be any bad feelings between us! Like I said, you are my closest friend, and I couldn’t imagine going back out there without you!”

“You say you didn’t notice me looking at you, or the way I feel, but I’ve seen you sneaking glances at him,” the tech pressed, his tone becoming sharper. He was being irrational, and I knew it, but that didn’t make the words hurt any less.

“I don’t know!” I exclaimed, bringing us to a stop so I could properly face him, “Yeah, I’ve been looking, but I just don’t know how I feel yet. I haven’t known him long enough!”

“And yet you find a chance to be alone with him all the time. Like this morning, in that storm. I noticed when you woke up and went outside, then the both of you came back together. Do you two feel so ashamed about it that you have to do things in secret, and make the rest of us suffer?” he snapped, his eyes now filled with anger.

There were very few things that Crosswire could have done to piss me off, but that was one of them. I reached out and smacked him across the face, hard. While he stood there, holding a hoof to his face, a shocked expression plastered on his features, I started shouting, not caring about the audience that was quickly forming around us, eager for a change in the monotony of their small city. “How fucking dare you! I went out looking for him because he wasn’t inside when I woke up and I was worried! He’s as much a part of our group as you are, as much a friend to me as any of you! He’s been worried sick about how his family is probably being treated up there, and all you can think about is if we are fucking?! Fuck, you don’t even know how awkward the conversation was when he told me about your feelings!”

I had to stop to catch my breath, and in that instant, I could see that my words were finally having an effect on the grey buck. The anger was disappearing from his expression to be replaced with shame. He had backed up, trying to get away from me, but ended up trapped by the circle of ponies that had formed around us. So instead, he sat down, his eyes looking down at the ground between his hooves, and his ears were laid flat against his head.

“I don’t want this kind of shit to come between us, Crosswire,” I said, softer now. Seeing him respond to my anger had dissipated most of it. I was still angry, and expected an apology, but I had made my point, and he had gotten it. “You’re my friend and you always will be. I’m willing to forgive that comment because you weren’t thinking when you said it, but seriously. I don’t make others suffer if I can avoid it.”

“I know that, Evergreen,” Crosswire finally answered after several moments of silence when the group around us started to dissipate, once it became clear that there wasn’t actually going to be a fight, “and I’m sorry. It just… hurts.”

I sighed and took a step towards him. “I know. I’m sorry there isn’t anything I can do to fix that. Maybe someday you’ll find a mare who will appreciate you far more than I apparently can,” I said, leaning in and giving him a small peck on the cheek. I could do that little bit for him, at least. “For what it’s worth, you’ll probably end up far happier than I could ever be.”

The grey buck was now blushing, his cheeks bright red as he tried to regain his composure. “Well, thanks for being honest, I guess. I’m sorry I made an ass of myself.”

“I already forgave you,” I answered with a smile, hoping this would be the end of the problem, “Are we all right, then?”

“Yeah, we’re good,” he answered, returning my smile weakly and getting back up to his hooves and starting to walk again.

He still hurt, that much was obvious, but at least we had made sure that he would heal. There wasn’t anything else I could do for him.

We were admitted into Mallet’s office almost immediately after arriving. It seemed that the blue Earth Pony had been on a break, but his secretary had assured as that he would see us. True to her statement, he jumped up excitedly from his seat as soon as we entered, and even poured us a drink for when we sat down.

“Evergreen, it is good to see you! I was starting to worry!” he exclaimed happily while he set the full glasses on the table. Crosswire’s was immediately surrounded by a yellow aura as he lifted it with his telekinesis and drained it. It didn’t take a genius to know why.

“We did run into a few troubles, but nothing we couldn’t handle,” I explained with a grin, gripping my own glass with a hoof and taking a sip. The alcohol had a good oaky flavor and burned a bit as it went down, warming me from the inside and doing some good to dispelling the chill from my bones that the rain had put there.

“I see. Well, I assume you delivered the Crystal?” Mallet asked, seating himself at his desk again.

“Yes, we did, though it turns out the mare it was meant to go to lives with the Steel Brotherhood in a bunker in the mountains,” I explained with a sardonic grin, “They weren’t too keen on letting us go, but I managed to convince them.”

“Well, I am certainly glad of that fact. Here is the price we agreed on then,” Mallet said, pulling out a bulging pouch, “I counted out the money a few days ago, though feel free to count it yourself.”

I grabbed the pouch and opened it. It was stuffed with nothing but caps, easily the three thousand we had agreed on. “Thank you Mallet. I think you would also like to know that we managed to wipe out the remnants of my old gang. The entire region is free of any organized groups now, except for the Brotherhood, but they’ve been keeping to themselves.”

“Really? Well, thank you for that. It will certainly make some trade in that area much safer. Now, I do have another job for you,” Mallet said, watching me with a joyful, yet at the same time business-like expression.

“I’m afraid I can’t really accept anything right now,” I answered, lifting a hoof to stop the mayor, “I’ve got a trip planned to go up to Seaddle and talk to Shooting Star. From there, I’m making a stop for the mare I delivered the Crystal to. Considering her age, we both deemed it safer for me and my friends to take care of. From there, we’ll see, but I don’t want to start accepting jobs when I can’t guarantee their timely completion.”

The buck’s expression changed to one of disappointment, but only briefly. He recovered quickly, smiling agreeably. “Of course. I understand completely that you need to do what you think is right. Keep in mind that if you ever need work, our doors are open to you. I’ve come to rely on your talents.”

“Thank you Mallet, I appreciate that,” I said, finishing my drink and getting to my hooves and heading towards the door. Right before I left, I thought of something I needed to mention. “Oh, if you have a caravan heading to Millberry, let their governor know that I secured his water purifier. The Steel Brotherhood agreed to part with one that I found in a Stable out that way. All they need to do is send the ponies to retrieve it.”

“Really?” the buck asked, genuinely surprised, “That is rather incredible. I imagine they will be quite pleased to hear that. I’ll make sure the next caravan has the message. Thank you once again for your help, Evergreen.”

I nodded my acknowledgment, then stepped out the door, making my way out into the market, Crosswire beside me. “Well, that went well,” I mused, rather pleased with the result of the meeting. I was three thousand caps richer, regardless of the fact that we were about to spend most of that money, and I had a plan for what we were going to do next that would, hopefully, avoid any needless death.

I couldn’t say what it was, but something about being in Metro made me simply feel better. Yaari’s words were still with me, and definitely still haunting me, but being in this town made all of that seem irrelevant. We had a plan to go out and save the wasteland, and I was confident we could pull it off with very little meaningless killing.

“Yeah, it did,” Crosswire answered, his speech slightly slurred.

I looked at him sharply. The drink had been strong, sure, but Crosswire hadn’t had that much of it. Then I noticed the empty bottle floating next to him, shaking violently in a very tenuous magical grip. He must have had a bottle of something in his saddlebags, and I hadn’t even noticed him grab it.

“Crosswire, why are you drinking? We still have work to do,” I asked, coming to a stop and reaching out a hoof to steady the buck, who I noticed was already becoming unsteady on his hooves. He must have pulled out the bottle while I was talking to Mallet.

“’Cause I needed a drink,” he growled, walking by me, a stormy expression on his face. I followed after him, since he seemed to be going in a completely different direction than the infirmary. Along the way, he stopped at a bar and bought another bottle of alcohol, which he promptly started drinking, despite my attempts to stop him. He was actually going out of his way to ignore me, and was using the crowd to keep me from getting to him to physically stop him. Before long, he was stumbling around, knocking into ponies who proceeded to shout at him.

I finally managed to catch up to him and lean him against me. He protested, but the drinks had done far too much for him to have any real control over himself anymore.

“Dammit, Crosswire, you really have some shitty timing. Couldn’t have waited until we had the barding getting upgraded, could you?” I growled, shifting the tech so he was leaning against me and making my way, slowly, to the infirmary. Suture would have to watch him while I got the barding taken care of.

It was slow going, and he fought me most of the way, claiming he wanted to go to the bar for more drinks, but I had the stability he was lacking and managed to keep him on track towards the infirmary. When we finally walked in, Steel Curtain was already back, and Suture was going about the room, checking her various cupboards and drawers, probably making sure all her supplies were where she expected them to be.

“Hey, Steel Curtain, help me with him,” I said as I entered, now struggling as the tech tried to get free and leave.

The Pegasus was immediately at my side, wrapping a wing around Crosswire’s body to keep him from wandering and steering him over to a bed, where the tech collapsed. “What the hell happened to him?” he asked with a confused glance in my direction. Already, Suture was at the tech’s side, looking him over.

“We talked, and I tried to let him down easily. He didn’t take it too well, and we shouted at each other for a minute or two, both saying some things we probably shouldn’t have, then apologized and went and met with Mallet. I thought he was all right, but then he pulled a bottle of something out of nowhere and drained it when I wasn’t looking,” I explained.

“Let him down easily? What does that mean?” Suture asked me, breaking her concentration over the buck for a brief moment to look at me.

I flushed, looking away awkwardly while I tried to decide how to answer. Thankfully, Steel Curtain covered for me. “Crosswire had his eye on Evergreen, but she doesn’t feel the same way. So she was letting him know that she wasn’t interested in a romantic relationship.”

“Yeah, that,” I stated lamely, walking over to the grey buck’s side. He was basically passed out at this point, partially because he was lying down, and partially because it looked like Suture had given him something. “You probably don’t need to worry too much. He was just really drunk. Really fast.”

“That’s what I’m concerned about. Most alcohol shouldn’t affect him like this. If he drank something especially concentrated that quickly, well, he could be in danger. I’m going to have to have him monitored tonight. At least you didn’t leave him wondering. Better he does this now than when we’re in the wasteland,” the medic said, pulling out a piece of equipment and taking some readings of his vitals.

“That’s what I thought. Wasn’t fair to him to let him think there could be something. I feel terrible about it but it just isn’t in me to make him think otherwise,” I said, looking down at Crosswire’s now still form.

“Sounds like the right choice to me. Let’s just hope he feels the same way when he finally comes ‘round,” Autumn said from where she was lying, a comic book in her hooves. It was easy to forget just how young the mare was.

“Yeah, I hope,” I agreed with a nod, then turned to Steel Curtain, “So, since these three are all otherwise occupied, can you help me get this barding situation organized? Crosswire didn’t bother waiting until we were done to get drunk.” I was already reaching into the tech’s saddlebags and pulling out Autumn’s and Suture’s barding. While I was doing that, Suture was undressing Crosswire and handed me his barding, which was intercepted by Steel Curtain.

“Of course,” he said with a quick nod, stowing the clothing in his armor.

It didn’t take us long to make our way down to the markets and find a pony willing to do the upgrades for us. The only point of contention was price. After a full ten minutes of haggling, we finally got the merchant to agree to upgrade all three sets of barding for only two thousand caps. It was still a lot more than I wanted to pay, but it was easily the best price we were going to get. Lucky for us, it guaranteed a night here, as the armorer would need at least that long to do the work.

Steel Curtain waited until our walk back to the infirmary to say anything to me about my conversation with Crosswire. The fact that he waited that long at all was a surprise to me. “So, I’m sorry you had to do that earlier,” he said awkwardly as we passed by a small kiosk selling what looked to be barbecued mole rat. Even after a life spent in the wasteland, I couldn’t understand why some ponies ate meat. It just didn’t look appetizing.

“It had to be done,” I answered simply. The memory of the conversation was still very fresh in my mind, and it wasn’t something I was really ready to talk about yet, “I’m not happy about the outcome, but at least it happened now.”

“I suppose you’re right,” the Pegasus answered, then looked at me with a concerned expression, “You think he’s going to be all right?”

I sighed heavily, since that was the question I had been trying to answer myself all day. I finally settled for what I felt at the moment. “Crosswire is stronger than he looks. He’s had tougher let-downs than this. He’ll be upset for a few days, but he’ll get over it. He always has.”

“That’s good to hear,” Steel Curtain said. His statement was met by a pregnant silence, then he asked something I wasn’t expecting at all from him. “Evergreen, are you all right?”

The question caught me completely off guard, and I needed several moments of spluttering to finally gather my thoughts. “What… yeah, I’m fine. Totally fine,” I said quickly, hoping it would be enough for the Dashite.

“Please don’t try that with me, Evergreen. Believe it or not, my hearing is pretty good, and I heard you talking to Suture last night. You can’t have a conversation like that one night, then be totally fine the next day. She might buy it, and Crosswire might buy it, but I don’t. I was in the military, and everypony there tries to hide things. I picked up how to tell when others are doing it,” he stated with an annoyed tone, “I’m asking because I care. If there’s a problem, you need to let us help you.”

I mulled over his words for a few moments, walking in silence and trying to decide what I thought about it. He had a fair point, but there was no way any of them, with the possible exception of Crosswire, could know what I was thinking. Even then, he was never the one that had to make the decisions. He didn’t know what it took to have the fact thrown in your face that every choice he ever made had never done anything but result in the deaths of innocent ponies.

Even worse, I knew now that I wouldn’t be able to hide from Steel Curtain. He’d seen through me once already. Trying to avoid it would only make matters worse. Which left one option: honesty.

“Steel Curtain, the problems I’m facing aren’t anything anypony else can help me with. If you want the truth, here it is. Those zebras we met said some things to me that bit deep. Not because they were insulting, or harsh, or anything like that, but because it was the truth. That mare, Yaari, does have a weird ability, like Autumn Mist suggested. She was able to tell exactly what I was with just a look, and pointed some things out I haven’t thought about before,” I said, slowing to a stop and looking sadly at the Pegasus.

“Let me get this straight. A zebra we’d just met said something to you that has since gotten into your head and made you doubt pretty much every decision you’re making?” he asked me, one eyebrow raised and his head cocked to the side.

“It isn’t just that!” I exclaimed, wanting to do nothing more than throw my hooves into the air in exasperation, “She knew me, Steel Curtain. She saw all the blood on my hooves, every bad decision I have ever made. She saw right through me, right to the fact that all I really want is for nopony to look at me as a reformed raider, but as just another pony, and I can’t do that, no matter what I try!” The more I spoke, the more desperate and upset my voice became. I had managed to repress my feelings on the matter, but that simple question from Steel Curtain had brought it all rushing back to the surface.

He was now looking at me in complete surprise, as though he hadn’t expected me to be this on edge. “Do you really think that’s how the rest of us see you?” he asked me, taking a step towards me and reaching out a hoof to place on my shoulder. When I didn’t shy away, he moved the hoof to my face and lifted my head so I was looking him in the eye. “Trust me, Evergreen, to us, you are far more than just a reformed raider. You’ve done amazing things these last few weeks. Saving that filly from Buckview and avenging all of those ponies, giving hope to an old mare that has lost everything, saving a whole bunch of slaves, not only once, but twice! And that is only what I’ve been around for. I’ve heard about your other work, like helping Millberry and saving an entire Stable’s worth of intelligent ghouls. Ponies don’t do that kind of thing anymore. They only care about themselves. Except for you.”

“But you guys are around me all the time. You see what I want. But everypony else, they still see me as what I was,” I trailed off, looking around at the dull grey walls of the Metro station, noticing for the first time the piles of rubble and garbage that were collected at the base of those same walls. It made me realize that, as much as it tried to be civilized, Metro was still just another wasteland refuge, filled with ponies that had nowhere else to go, or didn’t have the strength to venture out for something better, “Or as something I will never be.”

Finally, I had found an argument that one of my friends didn’t have an immediate argument for. Steel Curtain could do nothing but look at me sadly, his mind working madly behind those beautiful green eyes. “If you start thinking like that, then nothing we do will be worth it,” he finally said, “And that isn’t something I’m going to allow to happen. We’re here for you, and we are not going to abandon you.” Then he did something I was totally unprepared for. He darted in and planted a kiss square on my lips, holding it long enough that I started to respond to it despite my shock, then broke away. “Don’t forget that.”

Just as suddenly, he removed his hoof and started walking away, making for the infirmary. “Come on, we still have a lot of work to do if we want to get out of here early tomorrow. I hate being underground.”

The shock from his kiss held me firmly rooted to the spot as he walked away. I could still taste his lips on mine and, even worse, I longed for more. That singular action had awoken feelings in me that I didn’t think I had, and now that my eyes had been opened to them, I didn’t want to be left without.

But, the magic of that kiss considered, I didn’t know how I felt about it. My body was aching for more, but my mind was screaming at me to first figure my own shit out before I went screaming into a relationship I probably wasn’t prepared for. Hell, I was having problems that even Steel Curtain couldn’t give me an answer for, and he had an answer for everything! What did it say about me if I just forgot about those problems, and then tried to admit someone else’s feelings for me when I couldn’t even bring myself to like me?

I shook my head violently, breaking free of the spell the kiss had put me under and rose shakily to my hooves. I still wanted more, but at least I had the willpower to say no. Steel Curtain would hopefully understand.

In the infirmary, I stumbled onto a scene that held me rooted awkwardly to the spot, trying to reason out what I was seeing. Two older ponies, a male unicorn with a dark blue hide and cream colored mane and a pink Earth Pony mare with a greying red mane, were shouting at Suture. The medic was almost cowering against the wall, looking everywhere except at the two angry ponies. Steel Curtain was sitting on the opposite side of the room, going through all our new supplies and looking like he was trying his hardest not to watch the fight. Autumn Mist was lying flat on her bed, trying to make herself as small as possible, since its location placed her almost exactly in the middle of the fight. Her comic book lay forgotten on the ground in front of her, and she didn’t look like she was going to try to grab it anytime soon.

“What the hell do you mean, ‘You knew you were going to be fine’!” the buck was shouting, “You’ve been missing on a regular basis for the last two weeks! I don’t call that fine!”

“But… but just look at who I’ve been with! I’ve been fine! They are looking out for me and need me!” Suture protested, her voice on the verge of tears.

“I’m looking, and all I see are a bunch of wasteland barbarians, one of which is already passed out drunk!” the mare snorted condescendingly with a glare at Crosswire’s unconscious form.

“Not to mention that the others seem to be a mare that is far too young to be doing anything this dangerous, and now apparently also a Pegasus that probably thinks himself strong enough to do whatever he pleases with whomever he pleases!” the buck added harshly.

Now that comment got to me. “Hey, just who do you think you are, coming down here and yelling at her and throwing insults at a bunch of ponies you don’t even know? You’re judging us before you’ve even met us!” I snarled as I walked into the infirmary proper, watching in perverse amusement as the older ponies’ eyes practically popped out of their eyes in their shock that I had spoken to them like that. Suture was staring at me in horror, like she couldn’t believe I had done it either.

“I beg your pardon?” the buck sputtered angrily, “We are the only ponies with any right to speak with her! She is our daughter!”

Oh shit, was the only thought that strolled through my head at that.

“And as for you, Miss,” the mare said as her eyes roamed over my body, taking in every single flaw in a single glance, with a noted pause at the bandage around my leg and the blood stains on my armor, “I believe our assessment is perfectly valid, considering your appearance.”

“And that fact that I spent the last four fucking days on the road has nothing to do with the fact that I’m dirty?” I growled, my anger at these two ponies bias overriding any doubt that had come forward at their revelation that they were Suture’s parents.

“Only wastelanders see the need to travel, and our daughter is a doctor. She does not need to be out there, not when she has the security of our home,” the buck sneered at me, turning away to face Suture again, “Now, we were having a discussion with our daughter, not with you.”

“A discussion with Suture is a discussion with me!” I exclaimed, walking through the pair so that I was standing next to the terrorized medic, “She’s saved my ass far too many times for me to just abandon her.”

“Evergreen, you don’t need to do this,” Suture muttered quietly, stealing a scared glance at me before her parents interrupted.

“We will not tolerate any interruptions!” the mare announced, “Now leave us alone with our daughter!”

“I do need to, because you’re parents are just the sort of ignorant idiots that I can’t stand,” I told the medic before I locked my eyes on the older mare’s, putting every ounce of anger I could into the stare. “Now listen here. Your daughter is the only reason all of us are still on our hooves at all. Without her, we would have all died a long time ago. She is, quite literally, invaluable to us.”

“I don’t care…” the buck started, but I silenced him with a glare.

“Also, she is helping me fix a problem that is threatening the security of the entire wasteland, not just Metro. I need her, and so long as she is willing to help me, she is welcome,” I continued, making sure that my anger was making it into my words as well.

“I don’t care who you are,” the mare stated icily, walking up to me until her muzzle was mere inches from mine, “but I am not going to let you put my daughter’s life at risk. I can already see that she has come far closer to death than I would like. It’s in the way she holds herself, and the way she moves. And I can see the scars on her hide, scars she didn’t have the last time I saw her!”

“Mom, that isn’t fair!” Suture protested, pushing the older mare back and stepping between us, “I chose to go! My getting injured isn’t anypony’s fault! It’s just a risk of traveling.”

“A risk you don’t need to take, Suture! You have security here. You have a life, and a job. Why are you throwing that away to go into the wasteland?” her father asked, some of the anger fading from his voice as a note of desperation crept in. He was stepping forward until he was standing close to Suture.

“You’re right, I don’t need to take the risk, but I’ve chosen to,” Suture answered, looking her father in the eye, “Working here has never given me much satisfaction. Out there, I’m actually doing some good. I want to be there. Everypony here does their best to keep me out of harm’s way, but sometime that just isn’t possible.”

It seemed like traveling with us, and having me standing beside her, was giving the maroon mare some courage. Sure, my showing up had helped her, but I was fairly sure that she would have worked up the courage to speak up for herself eventually.

“But they don’t seem like the kind of ponies you should be consorting with, Suture,” the mare stated, looking from me, then to each one of my other friends, her gaze condescending the entire way, “I mean, look at them. All of them dirty and streaked with mud.”

“Sure, they’re rough around the edges, but I am convinced that there are no better ponies out there,” Suture stated, walking over to where Autumn Mist was lying, “Take Autumn Mist here. She’s young, but I’ve never met a pony as determined as she is to see right done in the wasteland. And since she’s the one I’m around the most, considering she’s our sniper, and I stay as far away from the fighting as possible, I know I’m right about that.”

The dark mare looked up at the medic and smile weakly. “I’m going to get you for this later, Suture,” she said darkly, but with undercurrents of humor in her voice.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” Suture answered with a smile as she turned back to her parents, “Steel Curtain is fighting with us because he believes in helping the wasteland. Our travels have brought us into contact with slavers and raiders, the worst that the wasteland has to offer, and he is dedicated to wiping them out and helping as many as he can.”

From his corner, the Pegasus looked up, the expression on his face showing that he hadn’t expected to be drawn into the discussion as well. “Ponies don’t deserve to be enslaved,” he added, “Enclave is too fucking close to that, and I couldn’t stand it up there either.”

“Fine, but what about them?” the buck asked, turning to look at me and Crosswire, “They look like a pair of raiders themselves, especially the unicorn.”

“I can speak for myself,” I announced, stepping forward. I didn’t want to face the thought that he had struck far closer to the truth than I was comfortable with. “I’m Evergreen, and somehow everypony here has more or less decided to do what I say. Our mission is my choice, through a combination of fate and wanting to make a difference. Without Suture, though, I can guarantee that I wouldn’t be here, or doing what I’m doing. I am only alive because she is still with me.”

The mare shot me a dirty look. She obviously hated me, and nothing I could say was going to change that. “So you claim. But what about him? He appears to be exactly like what he is: a drunkard.”

I narrowed my eyes at the mare, stepping between her and Crosswire. “He just so happens to be my closest and most loyal friend,” I snapped, “but he got some bad news today and decided to drink it off. Not exactly a choice I approve of. He’s our tech and repairpony. Can hack any door or open any lock in the wasteland. At least, I’ve yet to find one he couldn’t bust.”

“So he’s a criminal and a thief?” the mare pressed, somehow managing to put an even snootier look on her face.

“Have you ever been in the fucking wasteland?” I growled, “Do you know how many locked doors there are between us and a stash of supplies that could be the difference between life and death? Do you know the value of being able to hack into a turret control panel and turn off the defenses of a building, rather than have to worry about being shot in the back every time you turn down a hallway? Didn’t fucking think so.”

The venom in my voice must have struck a nerve because the mare backed off, a shocked look on her face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize,” she muttered as she backpedaled, trying to gather herself.

“No, because you didn’t think. All you did was think about what our skills would get for us here in this town, rather than out there where the only form of civilization is survival of the fittest,” I snapped, “And I will not tolerate any more insults to my friends!”

“You see. I’m traveling with good ponies,” Suture said, stepping forward again and placing a hoof on her mom’s shoulder, “This is something I have to do. And I couldn’t abandon them after everything we’ve already been through. Besides, they’d fall apart without someone there to put them back together.”

“I suppose,” her father said hesitantly, stepping forward to embrace Suture, then he looked at me. “Can you guarantee that she’ll come home?” he asked, the intensity of his gaze pinning me in place.

I wanted nothing more than to say yes, but that would have been a lie. “No, I can’t,” I said, shaking my head slowly, “but I can guarantee that every single one of us will be doing everything in our power to keep her alive. The wasteland is a nasty place, but if you’re smart, you can survive. We’ve managed pretty well so far.”

The buck held me in his gaze for a few moments longer before he looked away, as though he was measuring the strength of my words. “I suppose that will have to do,” he muttered as he turned back to his family. “Promise me something, Suture. Promise me that you’ll be careful.”

“Of course, dad,” the medic answered with a sad grin, “I’m always careful.” She embraced her father closely, then turned to her mother.

“It’s obvious that I won’t be able to dissuade you, as much as I would like to,” she said, moving her gaze to me, “but I will say that if she dies, and I discover that you could have stopped it, I will kill you myself.”

“If I let something like that happen, you won’t need to,” I answered, my stare just as intense as hers.

The mare snorted at me, then looked back to Suture. “Be careful, my dear. I love you,” she said as she pulled the medic into an embrace.

“I love you too,” Suture answered as the two ponies stepped away, then disappeared out of the door. “Thank you for standing up for me,” she said a few moments later, once they were out of earshot.

“I couldn’t just stand there and let them insult me,” I answered simply, then looked at each of my friends in turn, “or any of them.”

“True, but still. I appreciate it,” the mare said with a sad grin as she walked over to the counter where she had been working and re-organized the supplies that had been sitting there.

“Anytime,” I answered, and made my way over to where Steel Curtain was sitting so I could help him with the supplies.

From there, we all worked in silence, doing what we could to prepare for our journey. Suture spent the time doing what she could to return Autumn Mist back to full strength, or as close as she could get, by morning while Steel Curtain and I divided up the supplies as evenly as we could. Before long, the day had made the transition to night, and we all retired to our own beds to rest.

I almost wished that Steel Curtain would have said something about the kiss, nearly as much as I dreaded it. I wished even more that he would give me another one.

For the first time in days, I slept well. I woke in the morning feeling remarkably refreshed, and ready for the journey north. I couldn’t say if it was the security of being in a guarded town, or just the atmosphere or Metro itself, and I certainly wasn’t going to complain, either.

I rolled off my bed to my hooves, shaking my head to chase away the last cobwebs of sleep, and looked around. Suture was already up and about, moving from place to place as she tidied up as she prepared to leave. Steel Curtain was also missing, no surprise there, and Autumn Mist was gone as well. Only Crosswire was still in bed, and I was fairly certain he was not going to be happy when he finally woke.

“Morning,” I grunted, stretching out my legs, almost moaning in pleasure as the stiffness simply melted away, “I’m guessing Steel Curtain went outside?”

“Oh, good morning, Evergreen. He did say he was going out there. Something about not liking being underground, I think,” Suture answered, turning to face me just long enough to answer before going back to her work.

“Figured as much. What about Autumn Mist? I didn’t expect her to be gone,” I asked, walking over to the medic to see what she was working on.

“She offered to go pick up our barding. Said she needed to stretch her legs after being cooped up for so long,” Suture answered absently, “Can you go after her, make sure she doesn’t get lost down here? I don’t think she’s ever been in Metro proper on her own.”

“Yeah, sure thing. Try to get Crosswire on his feet soon. I’d like to get out of here as soon as possible,” I answered, even as I walked out the door into the city, not even waiting for the medic’s response.

This early in the morning, Metro was still rather quiet. A few ponies were up and about, going from place to place as they attended to their business, but there were definitely far less than there had been during the day rush yesterday. I snaked my way through the various booths, stalls, and homes, making my way to the merchant that had promised to upgrade our barding.

Once I arrived, I found Autumn Mist already there, chatting with the merchant. The three sets of barding were sitting on the counter between them, and it looked like the sniper was talking about something to do with her barding, since she was holding a piece of it in a hoof in front of the merchant.

“Good to see you up and about, Autumn,” I announced as I approached, “Is there a problem with the upgrades?”

“Huh? Oh, hey Evergreen,” Autumn Mist answered, turning to look at me, “No, nothing wrong. Just asking about mobility. The heavier this stuff gets, the harder it is for me to move around, and I hate that.”

“Fair enough,” I said, turning my attention to the merchant, a green unicorn buck with a mane the color of rust. His cutie mark was a trio of Sparkle-Cola caps. “So, how does it look? Everything come together well?” I asked as I took one of the sets of barding and examined it. The plates were almost identical to my armor, so I knew how effective they were going to be in a fight. They also seemed to move easily, so Autumn’s questions about mobility were probably completely moot. Weight would be the only issue, since it was significantly heavier than standard barding.

“No problems. I do this kind of work quite a bit,” the merchant answered, watching me with a careful, calculating eye, “All I need is my payment, and they’re yours.”

“Autumn didn’t bring it?” I asked, surprised, looking at the dark mare.

“Nope. You’re the one with all the caps, Evergreen. Rest of us have our personal spending money, but you’re the one with the fortune. Didn’t think about that before I left,” Autumn Mist answered.

“Oh, sorry about that. Here you are, as agreed,” I said, reaching into my saddlebag and pulling out a pouch of caps that I had counted out the night before to pay for the armor. I tossed it at the merchant, who caught it deftly with his magic and stowed it away under the counter.

“Thank you for your business,” he said quickly, then turned away. No matter how civilized Metro was compared to the rest of the wasteland, the merchants were still only concerned about their money.

I shook my head at the merchant, stowed two of the sets of barding in my bags while Autumn Mist pulled hers on, then started on my way back to the infirmary. Autumn was just a step behind me.

“So you’re feeling better, I take it?” I asked as we walked, glancing at the dark mare’s side as we walked. It was still bandaged, but I wouldn’t have been able to tell that she was injured judged on the way she was moving.

“Much. I still don’t know how Suture does it, but I feel like I didn’t even get shot. I’m sure my side is still a mess, but hell, I feel great,” Autumn Mist confirmed, “And I have to say, it barely feels like I’m wearing this armor! That guy really knew what he was doing!”

“Yeah, it certainly is comfortable, as long as nopony is smashing it with an axe while you’re still wearing it,” I answered, looking back to the spot on my armor that was still clearly patched where just that had happened only a few days ago. It was odd to think had much had changed since then. The plates were still stained with blood, despite all the rain.

“Yeah, I can’t imagine that was much fun,” the sniper said with an evil grin and a sidelong glance at me.

“About as much fun as having a sniper rifle go off right next to my head,” I answered, returning her grin. To her credit, Autumn winced at that.

“At least it was better than the alternative. I was really strung out that day,” she said, lifting a hoof to smooth out her short mane.

“I think we all were,” I answered solemnly, “At least it turned out for the best.”

“Yeah, no shit,” Autumn said with a small laugh, “I can’t imagine what I’d be doing now if I had shot you. Would have probably wound up bound and rutted like that mare we saved. What was her name again? Sparkle or something?”

“Sparks,” I answered, the smile fading from my face. She was the mare we had rescued from raiders, the same ones that had maimed almost every single limb and smashed the horn of the caravan leader, Hat Trick. We had brought them back here, which made me think about trying to find them before we left. Unfortunately, we didn’t really have time. We simply had so far to go.

“That was it!” Autumn exclaimed happily, “I’m so bad with names. But yeah, I probably would have ended up like her, though nopony would have shown up to save me, I bet.”

“Then you’re welcome for not shooting me,” I said, forcing a smile back to my face and trying to put a bit of humor into my voice.

The dark mare laughed at that, but didn’t actually say anything. We finished our walk in silence, arriving at the infirmary to find that Crosswire was finally awake, and that he looked like hell.

He had dark circles under his eyes, and from his expression I could tell that he had one hell of a headache. Served him right for being that stupid yesterday. Now he got to live with it.

“Finally up I see, Crosswire,” I said jovially, walking up to him and reaching into my barding for his newly upgraded barding, “Here you go.”

“Fuggoff,” he muttered darkly, his magic gripping the armor all the same and pulling it towards himself, “Feel like my head got closed in a door… repeatedly.”

“Well, that’s what you get for drinking like that the day before we need to travel,” Suture admonished him, her voice holding not a single shred of sympathy.

“Fuck… Stop me if I ever try that again,” he muttered darkly, barely managing to pull the armor on before he rushed to the sink and vomited.

“As fast as you drank that shit, I didn’t have a chance to stop you,” I told him, laughing at his expense, “Otherwise I would have!”

All I got in response was an undignified snort, followed by another bout of vomiting.

“At least he’s getting it out of his system,” Suture commented, watching him with an amused expression, “He’ll feel better once he’s done.”

True to the medic’s prediction, Crosswire seemed much more himself when he finally pushed himself away from the sink ten minutes later, even though he still looked like shit. Suture gave him a minute to clean himself up, then we were out the door, making our way out of the infirmary and back up to the surface. Our journey to downtown was finally beginning.

It was a good day for travel. For once, it wasn’t raining, although the clouds were threatening, as they always did. For the first time in days, I felt confident about the day, like it was going to end well.

We found Steel Curtain on the outskirts of the shantytown in the middle of a hoof-wrestle with a burly-looking Earth Pony buck. As we approached, I saw the Pegasus’s eyes dart over to us, lock onto my face, then dart back to his opponent. His body tensed up more, and I saw him strain even harder against the dirty brown Earth Pony. With a triumphant shout, the Dashite threw the last of his strength into the competition and slammed his opponents hoof down against the table they were wrestling on.

“Yeah! That’s a hundred caps!” Steel Curtain exclaimed, launching himself in the air where he did a victory lap around the small area where we were standing. It was an impressive display of emotion from the usually stoic Pegasus.

“You wrestled him with the power armor on?” I asked the Earth Pony incredulously, “What convinced you to do that?”

“He didn’t look so tough. I should’ve been able to take him,” the buck brooded, nursing his hoof. He was watching Steel Curtain with a sullen look, but it wasn’t the kind that made the back of my neck itch.

“A lot of ponies underestimate me. It’s how I’m still alive,” Steel Curtain stated as he landed at the table again, “Good fight, though. You had me worried for a moment.” He reached out a hoof towards the other buck.

“Yeah, I guess it was a good competition,” the buck answered with a grin, reaching out and giving the Dashite a hoof bump, “And I guess a bet is a bet.” He reached into his saddlebags, drew out a pouch and counted out a pile of caps, which he then tossed at the Pegasus.

“Thank you,” Steel Curtain said with an elaborate bow as he pocketed the caps, then turned to us. “Good timing, everypony. When we started that wrestle, I thought there was a chance you guys wouldn’t believe me.”

“You’re in powered armor. I can’t believe it was even a competition,” Crosswire stated dryly with a sidelong glance at me. That one look told me everything. He was convinced that the Pegasus had merely been waiting for me to show up, as a way to show off.

“Was the bet really worth it, Steel Curtain?” I admonished him, “After paying for those upgrades, we’re awfully low on caps, and without a sure means of income for the next little bit, we need to save what we can. Seems like an awful risk just to prove your strength in a hoof-wrestle.” Damn, it sucked having to keep the peace. For better or worse, I was impressed. That Earth Pony had been big and could have easily flattened me in a one-on-one.

Steel Curtain shrugged, as if trying to dismiss the lecture, but his ears did droop a little. “I guess not. Seemed like easy caps, though. His strength caught me by surprise.”

“Fair enough, but come on, we’ve got a long way to go. Seaddle isn’t exactly close to here,” I answered with a shrug.

Steel Curtain nodded, still grinning widely and fell into place as we made our way out of the shanty town and started heading north. We moved quickly, wanting to get as much distance behind us as possible, especially considering the weather. It was going to take at least a full day of walking to get within sight of the city, not to mention making it inside the city limits, which was not something I wanted to do after nightfall.

It struck me after a while that this was the farthest north I had been in a long time, since my parents moved us here from the coast. With that thought came a distant memory of a dream I remembered having the night Crosswire and I had been thrown from the gang. There was a structure somewhere up here that my family had used as shelter for a few days during our journey south. With luck, I would be able to find it again.

I altered our path to be slightly towards the northwest, since that was where my family had come from, so many years ago. I was working on the assumption that my parents had traveled in much the same way as I did: go in as straight a line as possible to my destination.

A few times during the mostly uneventful journey, I thought I saw something streak by overhead, something that was far too large and too fast to be a bloatsprite. Every time it passed, it also seemed to be going in the opposite direction as the time before, leading me to believe that it was following us, or at least keeping tabs on our position. When it passed us for the third time in the afternoon, I called a halt and motioned for Steel Curtain to join us from his usual position in the air.

“Hey, have you seen those things flying by overhead?” I asked the Dashite as he landed in front of us. His mane, normally styled like a Mohawk, was clinging to his head from all his sweat, a result of the heavy humidity.

“Yeah, but it’s been too far away for me to get a good look. Didn’t look like anything I’m familiar with,” he answered, his voice concerned.

“Could it have been a Pegasus?” Crosswire asked, coming up beside me.

The question made Steel Curtain hesitate, and he got a distant look in his eyes as he thought. “No, I don’t think so. The Enclave discourages any movement below the clouds that isn’t some sort of show of force. They wouldn’t send a single soldier down here. Not like that at least. Besides, the shape didn’t quite strike me as being like a pony.”

“What do you think it could be? You’re a lot closer to it than we are down here,” I pressed. I was starting to get an uneasy feeling in my gut, “What else is there that can fly that fast that’s that small? It didn’t look like it was big enough to be a dragon…”

“A dragon?!” came a startled cry from Suture, “Where?”

“It wasn’t a dragon. Far too small. Besides, they were almost completely wiped out in the war. There might have been a few survivors up in mainland Equestria, as well as a couple in other places, far from here, but not enough that we’re likely to run into one in Seaddle. Might have been a griffin, though. I know there are a few mercenary companies near this area that they might have been called in to fight for one of the various gangs downtown,” Steel Curtain swiftly reassured the maroon medic.

But that didn’t reassure me. My thoughts immediately went to the warning Starshine had given us. One of Seahawk’s lieutenants was a griffin mercenary captain named Mareina. If Greymane had gotten word back to the bastard about us, which he most surely must have done, then she would know to be on the lookout for us. So her entire mercenary company would know about us as well. If Steel Curtain was right, there was every chance that we were walking into a trap.

Deciding that that was most likely, I relayed my thoughts to the others, telling them everything I was worried about. They listened carefully, and were silent when I finally finished.

“This could be bad,” Autumn Mist stated, the first one to break the silence, “We’re going to need to be really careful. That thing looked like it was flying fast enough to try to get a message out, or something. For all we know, they could have been flying messages back and forth all day, and we’ve only seen a couple of them.

“That’s possible, but unlikely,” Steel Curtain answered her, “With the reputation she has, at least as far as the Enclave knew before I left, I would be surprised if they didn’t have some sort of radio contact between each other. We might have seen some of her forces re-deploying or something. She might be stacking her forces against us. Surely she knows what we’re capable of.”

“That seems much more likely,” Crosswire agreed with a nod, “We’ll keep moving, but we’ll have a good advantage now that we know something is up. What do you think, Evergreen?”

I remained silent, thinking over all the possibilities in my head. Steel Curtain and Crosswire had a point: It was entirely likely that Mareina was preparing an ambush for us. Hell, I’d be surprised if one of them wasn’t trying to do something against us, especially considering how our last fight against Greymane had turned out. But something was nagging at me, something I couldn’t put a hoof on.

“How many different mercenary groups with griffins in them are there?” I asked, hoping somepony would have the answer. My question was met with silence. “All right, then we’ll have to assume the worst. We’ll keep moving, but we need to be extra careful. Chances are that Mareina knows who we are, and where we are. I want everypony’s head on a swivel.”

Everypony quickly agreed, and we started moving once again, although quite a bit more carefully than before. Steel Curtain was circling over us much more than usual, watching for anything approaching from behind us, as well as from every other direction.

As the day progressed, my worry began to grow that we wouldn’t find any good shelter for the evening, but my worry was very quickly rendered unneeded. As we approached the outer limits of Seaddle’s suburbs, old ruins and shattered complexes dotted the countryside, and our surroundings gradually changed to one of empty wasteland to a ruined urban area. We weren’t in Seaddle itself, not yet, but we were close. It would make our traveling more dangerous, as anything could be living in the desiccated remains of those buildings, but it also meant that, with a little care, we could have a good place to spend the night.

We were just passing by a ruined restaurant when Steel Curtain dipped out of the sky and hovered before us. “Hey, I saw some smoke rising up from a building about three blocks away. It’s situated in a small courtyard with maybe a dozen feet of clear space on every side,” he announced.

The buildings we were traveling through must have blocked my sight. “What kind of structure did it look like?” I asked. What I wanted to know was why a building would be so isolated from everything else. Pre-war Equestria valued efficiency, especially in the design of its big cities. No open space would go to waste, especially not for something like this.

“No clue,” the Pegasus answered with a shrug, “The front was far too faded for me to make anything out. If I had to guess, it looks like some sort of recruitment center. The grounds around it weren’t paved, so they could have been some sort of testing grounds for recruits.”

It made sense, sort of. The war had lasted years, so it would follow that the cities would continue to grow, and the recruitment centers would still need their space. Now the question became what was causing the smoke. It was only late afternoon, so there was still more than enough light to see by, so simply sending in Steel Curtain to look around wouldn’t work. He would be spotted in an instant, unless he had already happened to see something.

“Were you able to tell what was causing the smoke, or if there are any ponies around there?” I asked urgently. I was starting to get nervous. It was entirely possible that we were close enough to the city that some of the gangs from the inner city could be claiming territory out here, and if that was the case, we were in a lot of trouble.

“No, the smoke was distorting my vision too much,” Steel Curtain answered, “You want me to go check it out?”

Fuck, this was not a good situation to be in. “No,” I vocalized, “There’s too much light. You’ll be spotted. Autumn, you’re good at staying hidden, right?” I asked, turning to the dark mare.

She shrugged noncommittally. “I’m all right. You want me to get up there and see if I can find anything?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. It wasn’t our usual method, but we also didn’t have much choice.

“Yeah. I’ll come along with you, just in case things go to shit. The rest of you, be ready to come in guns blazing, just in case the shit hits the fan,” I answered. Here was to hoping that we would be far enough away that my absolute crap talent at remaining unseen wouldn’t be an issue.

With everypony ready to jump at a moment’s notice, Autumn Mist and I started weaving our way through the rubble littering the streets until the acrid smell of the smoke hit our nostrils. It smelled like somepony was burning circuitry, or some other sort of technology, making me want to sneeze, or gag. Judging by Steel Curtain’s directions, the building was half a block away, on the other side of the apartment complex we were passing.

“Let’s go in here, take a look from the cover of the building,” Autumn Mist suggested, pointing a hoof at a door leading into the apartment.

“Good thinking, “I agreed, turning and approaching the door. I tried the handle, but it was locked. “Shit, the door is locked. Can you see another way inside?” I asked, turning back to the sniper.

“Gimme a sec,” she answered, her head looking form place to place as she searched for another option. Her eyes settled on something, and she trotted over to a pile of rubble that had accumulated under a window. “Over here. Boost me up, I think I can fit through this window.”

I trotted over to the rubble and climbed up as far as I could and still have sure footing, then braced myself against a jutting beam. “All right, go for it,” I said, nodding at her.

She stepped forward, climbing up onto my back. Without the weight of her armor, she would have been light. As it was, my back still hadn’t fully healed from our fight against Crackshot, and the weight of her hooves against the stitches was painful.

“Shit, this is locked too. Give me a sec, I can get it without too much sound,” she said from on top of me, her weight shifting as she moved around. A moment later, there was the sound of shattering glass, and I was pelted by falling shards.

“Hey, careful!” I growled, then grunting as the mare tried to hoist herself into the opening she had made.

“Shit, no good. The armor is just too much,” she muttered, dropping down off of me, where she started to pull her barding off. A few moment later, she was standing in nothing but her hide and Pipbuck, her armor and weapons arranged in a neat pile at the base of the rubble pile. “All right, let me try now.”

She stepped forward again, using me as a step ladder to lift herself into the window. This time, she made it through. There was a clattering of hooves on ceramic as she landed on the other side, in what must have been a bathroom, as well as a string of violent curses.

“Fuck, does nopony know how to clean up after themselves!” I heard her exclaim from the other side, a clear note of disgust in her voice. Then, she called out to me, “Okay, Evergreen, toss me my barding and weapons. Judging by what’s in here, it might be inhabited. Once you do that, I’ll make my way to the door and unlock it from this side.”

I did as she asked, sliding her rifle through the window first, followed by her barding, then finally her saddlebags. Once the last item was through, I made my way to the door, where I sat waiting for her to open it. Looking in the direction of the recruitment center, I couldn’t spot anything on my E.F.S. It was simply too far away for me to pick anything up. That, or they had stealth gear, like the zebras we had met. That was not a comforting thought.

After two minutes of waiting, I heard a quiet click from the door as the deadbolt was removed, then it slid open to reveal an Autumn Mist that was completely covered in grime. The smell hit me a moment later. She reeked of a badly maintained bathroom. “Don’t say a fucking word,” she snapped, “Whatever fuckers trashed this place liked throwing their shit everywhere, literally.”

I held my tongue, but couldn’t stop the grin that was rewarded with an absolutely murderous glare from the mare. “So where to now?” I asked, “You’re better at this shit than I am.”

“This way. We need to get to the top floor, then find a window facing the courtyard. If there is something up here, I would recommend using your .45, rather than that revolver. Everypony for three blocks will hear it if you shoot that thing in here,” She answered, her horn glowing as she drew her own pistol.

I nodded and grabbed the smaller pistol from my saddlebags. It didn’t have even close to the same weight as Hammer did, making me feel much more vulnerable, but I couldn’t argue with the logic.

We made our way as quietly as we could through the building, literally slogging through the crap that Autumn had described, avoiding windows whenever we could. It was amazing to see just how dirty this place was, and it was more than just the passage of centuries. Autumn Mist led the way, stepping carefully around anything that looked unstable, or that might cause a lot of noise. I couldn’t see anything on the E.F.S., but as we had learned, that didn’t mean that nothing was there. After a few minutes, we had made it to the top, running into nothing more dangerous than a small colony of radroaches that had studiously ignored us.

Autumn Mist pushed open a door into an apartment and crept along the wall until she was next to the one dirty window that looked out on the courtyard. I followed her in, being just as careful, picking my way around the abused desk and walking on the tips of my hooves around the three bottles’ worth of shattered glass on the floor. Autumn was leaning on a dresser that was next to the window, leaning over it so she could try to peer out the window. Unfortunately, there was far too much grime on it at the moment for us to see through.

“Shit, I was worried about that. Evergreen, see if you can find a rag or something to wipe a small hole in this shit. If you can make it wet, it will work better,” she said, sliding her rifle out of its loop and carefully unscrewing the scope from it.

The only thing I could find that might work was a piece of the filthy shredded sheet that was somehow still clinging to the wire bedframe. I ducked down low to avoid passing in front of the mirror and crept over there, depositing my pistol on the ground and pulling out my knife. I cut a small square off of the sheet, then crept back to Autumn, where I pulled out a bottle of dirty water and soaked the rag.

My Pipbuck now clicking slowly at me, I handed it to the sniper, who grabbed it in her mouth and carefully wiped away some of the grime from the side of the mirror. She then grabbed her scope with her magic and held it up to the small hole and peered through.

“See anything?” I asked after a few moments.

“There isn’t much, but I did see a few shadows. Here, take a look,” the sniper said, moving to the side so I could look.

I grabbed the scope in a hoof and held it up to the hole in the grime. The recruitment center was built like a cube, seated perfectly in the middle of the courtyard, with one of its corners facing us. The top floor had been blown apart, and the smoke was curling up from the corner to the left of the one facing us. As Autumn Mist had said, I could make out the shadows of movement on the top floor, but they seemed to be concentrated around something. The building was simply too far away for me to make out what it could be.

“Hey, Autumn, is there any way to zoom in closer on these guys?” I asked, looking away just long enough to see the mare’s horn glow, grabbing a dial on the scope, and twist it.

“Try it now,” she said, her voice tense. I could tell that she knew I had seen something.

I peered back through the scope and centered the sights on what the shadows were moving around. Strapped down on a table near the large fire was the shape of a creature that could only be a griffin. I could make out the stain of what might have been blood around the areas where the ropes were binding it. There were several ponies circling around him, many of them carrying or floating weapons. On the far wall of the room I could make out a symbol on the wall. It looked like a pony’s skull with a dagger stuck in one eye socket.

I pulled back from the window and handed the scope to Autumn Mist. “Take a look. There’s a griffin being held captive, and I’m pretty sure these fuckers are a gang. Look at the symbol on the wall.”

The sniper peered through the scope for a few moments, then backed up, nodding. “Looks like it. One of Mareina’s, you think?” she asked me, floating up her rifle and reattaching the scope.

“Might be, but I don’t think so. It wasn’t wearing any armor, and what little clothing it did have was in tatters. Besides, I can’t see a mercenary group as powerful as that simply letting one of their members get caught and not immediately start a war to bust them out,” I answered.

Autumn Mist nodded in agreement. “We’re saving him, then?” The tone of her voice told me immediately that she wanted to, if only to get rid of a gang that tied someone up like that.

“Yeah. Stay up here, but if you can find a better vantage point in one of the other rooms, go for it. I’ll make my way back to the others and we’ll start the attack. Once you see us going in, support us,” I answered, already heading back for the door.

“Sounds good. I’ll meet you up there once everything is clear,” the sniper answered, following me out as she went on the hunt for a better perch.

I picked my way back the way we came, and before long I was rejoining the rest of my friends. Crosswire was pacing, tracking back and forth across the small yard where they were waiting. Steel Curtain was simply sitting and cleaning out the barrels from one of his miniguns, and Suture was taking the chance to eat a quick meal. As soon as I was in sight, Crosswire rounded on me.

“So what’s going on? Where’s Autumn Mist?” he demanded, trotting up to me.

I quickly laid out the situation, up to and including Autumn’s and my thoughts on the captured griffin. When I was finished, I was met with three thoughtful, not to mention nervous, expressions.

“It could be one of hers,” Steel Curtain said, “Even with the appearance or behavior not matching professional mercs, it could be.”

“I know, but if it isn’t… I just can’t leave them to die,” I answered, “Fuck, no one deserves to be tortured, not even raiders.”

“I agree. We should try to help,” Suture added, “I’m not saying we should trust them, but Evergreen is right. They don’t deserve that.”

“Whatever you decide, I’m with you,” Crosswire said, “If you think the griffin deserves our help, then let’s help it.”

“Well, Steel Curtain?” I asked, turning to the armored Dashite.

“My point is only that we can’t know for sure. But if you think it’s the right call, I’m in,” he answered simply, “So where do you want me?”

I smiled broadly at the Dashite. “In the air. You’ll come in at them from the sky and keep them suppressed, at least long enough for the rest of us to get inside the building so we can fight our way up. I’ll take point, and Crosswire will bring up the rear. Suture, I want you between us, watching for anything coming at us from the side. I have a feeling that they’re going to want to kill the griffin as soon as they know they’re under attack. Autumn Mist will do what she can to support us, but I want that griffin kept alive,” I ordered, looking from pony to pony as I gave my instructions.

“Sounds like a plan. How many do you think are inside?” Crosswire asked, floating out his SMG.

“There could be a few dozen in there, for all we know. I saw several up on the top floor, but the smoke was obscuring any good chance at counting. Building looks to be an outpost for one of the inner city gangs, though. I’m hoping it’s only a minor one,” I answered.

“Fair enough. At least in the halls of a building numbers won’t count for much,” the unicorn tech stated, racking the bolt of the SMG.

“All right, everypony ready?” I asked, looking each one of them in the eye. Steel curtain finished reassembling his gun, then nodded at me. The other two followed suit. “Then let’s move.”

We set out in a loose formation, Steel Curtain hovering slightly above us until we got close enough for him to begin his attack. We managed to get to the corner of one of the intersecting streets without incident, and I nodded up to the Dashite. He nodded back, slipped on his helmet, and took off into the sky. A second later, the distinctive sound of his miniguns split the near-silence of the ruins, followed by panicked shouts and the retort of Autumn’s rifle.

As soon as the chaos started, I ran, making straight for the closest door, Hammer in my mouth. Not wanting to take a chance that it was locked, I aimed and fired mid-stride, the bullet impacting the door at the handle and blasting the locking mechanism to pieces amongst a shower of splinters and bits of metal. I shouldered my way through the door and cleared off to the side of the lobby to give Suture and Crosswire space to get in.

The room was nearly empty, except for two very startled ponies that were still in the process of trying to figure out what all the noise was. One was a red unicorn stallion with an orange mane that had a riot shotgun leaning against the wall next to him. The other was a white earth pony mare with a scraggly blue mane. A small black SMG was attached to her barding. Both of them looked at us, expressions of shock plastered on their faces. Then, the unicorn’s horn started glowing orange, and the shotgun floated from the wall.

I immediately slipped into S.A.T.S., lining up a pair of shots to the unicorn’s head, trusting Crosswire to take care of the mare. I activated the spell, and the first round flew true, slamming into the unicorn’s head at the base of his horn. He head snapped back, blood, bone, and bits of brain painting the wall behind him. The second round slammed into his now exposed throat, resulting in a minor explosion of blood, splattering the mare who was shocked into dropping her weapon.

A staccato of gunfire followed from Crosswire’s SMG, and a half-dozen holes opened up in the mare’s body and she collapsed into a swiftly growing pool of blood. “Let’s move! We still have the advantage of surprise!” Crosswire exclaimed, advancing on the bodies and efficiently stripping them of their weapons, ammo, and caps.

I nodded and took off down the nearest hallway, looking for a staircase. A quick glance at my E.F.S. revealed about a dozen red bars, far less than I had been expecting for the size of the building. We met no more resistance on the ground floor, but as we pushed up the first stairway we found, I could hear chatter coming from upstairs.

“Who the fuck is attacking us?” A harsh, deep voice was demanding, “And don’t tell me it’s the fucking Enclave again! Those fucks don’t give two shits about the wasteland!”

“Who the fuck else can it be? There’s a fucking armored Pegasus with a pair of miniguns raining down hell on us!” a voice absolutely quaking with terror answered. Judging by the volume, they must have been awfully close to the stairwell.

I slowed my pace, motioning to Suture and Crosswire to do the same. If they weren’t saying anything about an attack from downstairs, they must have not heard our gunfire over the din coming from outside. Taking the opportunity to replace the three rounds I had fired, I crept slowly up the stairs. At the top, I stuck my head around the corner and spotted three ponies standing in a room less than twenty feet from me.

I checked my saddlebags and pulled out a frag grenade. Steel Curtain had found a couple of the small explosives in Metro, and I was more than happy to have that option available again. I motioned for Crosswire and Suture to step back, then pulled the stem and rolled the grenade into the room.

“I’m telling you, it can’t be the fucking Enclave! Somepony get the fuck out there and tell me who is atta-“ the buck’s rant was cut off as the grenade exploded. In its place were agonized screams and a few panicked shouts. In my E.F.S., several bars started to move erratically. There must have been several ponies nearby that had been outside the blast radius.

“Move!” I shouted at my two friends, even as I drew Hammer again, then vaulted around the corner, head turning in search for my first target.

Unfortunately, he found me first. A barrage of bullets impacted my side, though my armor easily deflected the low caliber rounds. I swung my head around to the source of the gunfire to spot a young unicorn mare wielding a small submachine gun. A split-second of aiming, and I sent a round ramming into her chest, sending her to the ground where she proceeded to cough up dark globs of blood.

I switched direction and ran into the room towards the dying mare, vaulting over her body and coming out through a different door into an almost identical hallway. Here, three ponies were taking cover, two Earth Ponies and one unicorn, all of them wearing shocked expressions as I emerged.

Only one of them was even close to facing the right direction to direct their fire at me, and the blue bar in my E.F.S. told me that either Crosswire or Suture would be emerging around the corner on the other side of the hallway. I slipped into S.A.T.S. and line up a shot for the Earth Pony that was facing me. My best shot was an eighty percent chance to hit his head. Perfect. He was wielding a heavy revolver that he was trying to center on my chest, but he was far too slow.

The spell activated, sending a round straight into his head, turning his skull unto a mess of blood and bone. I launched myself forward, pushing off of the still-collapsing body to collide with the pink unicorn mare behind him. She was still turning in my direction, bringing a relatively well-maintained assault rifle to bear. I hit with my shoulder, driving her head into the wall and bringing her down to the ground.

By this time, Crosswire was turning the corner, and he unleashed a volley of gunfire on the last Earth Pony mare, eviscerating her and splattering both me and the unicorn with gore.

She fought viciously, her magic still gripping the assault rifle as she tried to bring it to bear against me. I smacked the weapon with a hoof, deflecting it away and sending the burst into the dead Earth Pony behind me, then brought my hoof down on her horn, eliciting a shriek of pain. She kicked viciously, catching me in my relatively lightly armored stomach and driving the breath from my lungs.

The maneuver bought her a little space, and her horn glowed again as she tried to bring the rifle to bear. Unluckily for her, I felt the barrel brush the back of my mane. I dodged my head to the side just as the weapon fired. One round skimmed painfully off my neck, but every single bullet from the burst shot past to bury themselves in the mare’s head, killing her instantly and spraying the side of my face with blood. The rifle bounced painfully off the back of my head to come to a rest next to the mare’s corpse.

I pushed myself away from the corpse, using her barding to clear the blood from my eyes, then ran off in search of Suture. I found her cornered in a room a dozen feet away, facing a pair of Earth Pony brutes, one wielding a machete, and the other a shotgun. She was holding her pistol in her mouth, and Machete was bleeding from a bullet wound in his leg. Crosswire was nowhere to be seen.

“You’re going to die now, cunt!” Machete screamed just as I rounded the corner, and leapt at Suture.

I ran into the room, aiming at Machete, but Suture fired, and a 9mm round buried itself perfectly in the brute’s head, going in through his right eye and sending his body careening into the ground. I shifted my aim at Shotgun and pulled the trigger, sending a pair of bullets into his chest, sending him to the ground, then finished him off with a third shot to the head. I didn’t want to have to kill him, but there was simply too much going on for me to risk it.

“You all right?” I asked the medic, panting as I caught my breath. Suture’s face was drained of all color as she stared at the fallen buck in front of her. I swung the cylinder out of Hammer, emptying the spent shells and reloading.

“Yeah… I… I just killed somepony,” she muttered under her breath, her voice shaking. She was on the verge of tears, and I did not have time to deal with this, but she was going into shock. I was reminded rather sharply of the first time she had killed the ghoul back in the Stable.

“Come on, Suture, snap out of it!” I shouted, trying to get through to her, “He was going to kill you! Was mid-swing with a blow that would have decapitated you if you didn’t shoot!”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” she muttered, tearing her eyes away from the corpse and looking at me. Her stare was completely blank, and tears were starting to form in her eyes.

“It’s going to be all right, now let’s go! Crosswire still needs help!” I exclaimed, putting a hoof on her shoulder to show my support. I then turned and ran back out the door, running after the blue bar on my E.F.S. that could only be Crosswire. It was currently tangled with at least four red bars.

The sound of hooves behind me told me that Suture was right behind me. At least she was still well enough in control to follow. We made our way through the building and to the nearest stairwell. It seemed that the only remaining sounds of battle were coming from upstairs.

At the top of the staircase, Crosswire was hunkered down behind a bullet-ridden desk, four ragged ponies lined up on the far side of the room. The rain that was slowly starting to drizzle down immediately let me know that we were on the top floor. Several bodies were cast about, some of them eviscerated from Steel Curtain’s support, and more nearly decapitated from Autumn Mist’s rifle. The survivors were all huddled together under the small piece of roof that was still standing, at just the right angle from the building Autumn was in so she couldn’t see them. The smoke from the fire was off to our right, thankfully downwind.

“How’s the situation?” I asked, ducking down next to the tech.

‘Bad. They’re threatening to kill the griffin if we don’t back down. He’s over there,” Crosswire answered, tossing his head somewhere off to our left, towards a wall I couldn’t see around.

“Have they made any other demands?” I asked, fairly sure they were going to follow through with that threat if we weren’t careful.

“No, just that. What are you thinking?” he asked me, looking up at me with a determined glare. I knew exactly what he expected me to say.

“I’ll try to talk them down. If not, I’ve got this,” I answered, reaching into my saddlebags for another grenade. They were more than close enough that I knew I’d be able to reach them with a well-aimed buck.

The tech nodded somberly, then loaded his SMG with a fresh clip. “Well, if you’re going to try diplomacy, you better start now.”

“Hey, all your friends downstairs are dead! Drop your weapons and come out slowly, and we’ll let you leave! All we want is the griffin!” I shouted, hopefully loud and clear enough to be heard.

“Fuck you, cunt! If you don’t back off right fucking now, you can kiss the featherbrain good-bye!” a harsh female voice answered, though there was a note of desperation in the voice. They knew they were fucked, they were simply trying to save face.

“No deal. We have the better position, and the better guns. This is your last warning!” I shouted. I really wanted them to take the deal. Far too many ponies had already died today.

“Fuck you and your deal!” was the only answer I got.

Crosswire shot me a knowing glance, and I sighed. A quick look at Suture showed me that the mare was still in shock, but I could see a hardening look come into her eyes. “Save him,” she muttered, just barely loud enough to be heard, “It’s why we came here, why I… killed somepony.”

I nodded at her, then took a step back from the desk. “I fucking warned them,” I swore, then pulled the stem from the grenade, tossed it into the air, and bucked it towards them.

My aim was perfect, and I heard the sound of scrambling hooves, immediately followed by an explosion and agonized screams.

“Kill the gri-“ the mare started to shout, but was cut off by the loud retort of Autumn Mist’s rifle.

I leapt out of cover, only to see a pony lying in the open, a pool of blood forming around the now headless body. Another pony-shape was draped over the cabinet they had been using as cover, the barding riddles with blood and shrapnel. The last two ponies were lying in a rapidly expanding pool of blood. One of the two was dead, and the other was rapidly bleeding out from a severed artery in her throat. I pulled out Hammer and ended her misery with a single bullet.

“Crosswire, Suture, see to the griffin. Make sure he’s all right!” I shouted over my shoulder as I searched the sky for Steel Curtain. I finally spotted him making a pass from the west, and waved him down. “Go get Autumn Mist and tell her it’s safe to join us!” I shouted at him. He nodded smartly and took off towards the apartment building.

I then turned and joined my friends at the griffin’s side. They already had him untied, and Suture was woodenly treating the chafe wounds on his wrists and ankles. She was probably finding solace in doing something she was familiar with. No doubt she’d have an emotional breakdown when we finally settled down for the night.

The griffin was panting heavily, a transparent lid in his eyes blinking rapidly as Suture treated him. He was wearing a tattered duster overtop of what could only be a basic combat harness. I could see several pockets for ammo, as well as a couple of holsters strung underneath his shoulders. Effective gear, but hardly exceptional. As impressive a creature as the griffin was, he simply didn’t strike me as a hardened mercenary. My gut told me that we would have nothing to fear from him, but I wasn’t going to let my guard down.

“So how did a flier like you get captured by a bunch of fucks like them?” I asked, walking up to his side.

He turned his head and fixed me in his sharp yellow gaze. “Fucked up and landed somewhere that looked safe without clearing the surrounding area,” he answered, “You can see how that worked out. What are you going to do with me?”

“I already did it. You’re free, aren’t you?” I asked, gesturing to the cut ropes on the ground.

“Seriously, no debt?” he asked, raising an eye ridge in disbelief, “I don’t believe it.”

I shrugged and turned around, looking at my E.F.S. for a sign from Autumn Mist or Steel Curtain. I spotted both of them, coming at us from the direction of the apartment building Autumn had used as cover. They were probably moving together, just in case we had missed something. “You don’t have to believe it. Doesn’t make it any less true,” I answered, “I saw someone in need, so I lent a helping hoof. It’s what I hope others would do for me.”

“Fuck, you don’t see much of that out here,” the griffin answered, rolling off the table and standing on his own as Suture wrapped the last bandage around one of his limbs, “Thanks, I guess.”

“Don’t mention it. What brought you to Seaddle anyway?” I asked, turning and fixing the griffin in a questioning glare, “I haven’t seen a lot of griffin’s out here. Any, actually.”

Now it was the griffin’s turn to shrug. “Seemed like a good idea at the time. Home got a bit too restrictive, so I figured I’d try my luck out here. I’ve only been in the city a couple of days. It didn’t turn out quite as I’d hoped. I’ve been on that table for almost twenty-four hours.”

I could understand the feeling all too well. It’s how I almost ended up dead in the mountains before I stumbled on the raider gang. From there, it had only been stupid luck that hadn’t seen me become one of their victims. “Well, at least you’re still in one piece. That’s more than most get.”

“Don’t I know it,” the griffin answered with a hollow laugh, his gaze roaming about the room and settling on the disfigured corpses littering it. “So, who exactly do I owe my rescue to?” he asked nervously after a few moments of silence.

“Name’s Evergreen. The grey unicorn is Crosswire, and the medic is Suture. Autumn Mist and Steel Curtain are on their way up as we speak,” I answered, letting a thin smile creep onto my face, “What about you? What’s your name?”

“Marcus,” he answered quickly, “So what brings you to Seaddle? You don’t look like you belong to one of the gangs.”

“I’m trying to get to Shooting Star’s radio station. I need to talk to him about some stuff,” I answered vaguely just as Autumn Mist and Steel Curtain came up the staircase.

“Evergreen, you would not believe what we found!” the dark mare exclaimed as she emerged, the smell from the building she had spent so long holed up in immediately spreading to me and making me want to gag. Thankfully, I held the reaction back. “These fuckers must have been heavily involved with some drug trade out here to get a fortune like this!” She floated out a rather large bag the clinked metallically as she set it down.

I walked over and opened it up. Inside, the bag was absolutely filled with caps. A fortune like this would take care of any of our financial needs for the next couple of months, if not more. “Holy shit,” I exclaimed, not finding any other words to properly sum up how I felt, “Nice find. Grab anything else of interest?”

“Just some weapons and ammo that we can trade when we get back to civilization,” the mare answered, nodding her head at both her and Steel Curtain’s bulging saddlebags. Several weapons were hanging off of the sniper’s sides, and Steel Curtain had a couple of shotguns hanging off his armor.

“Good work. Oh, this is Marcus, by the way. The griffin we saved,” I answered, nodding at him.

He inclined his head awkwardly, as if suddenly nervous about being around so many of us. “Fuck, wasn’t expecting to see an Enclave soldier out here,” he said nervously, his eyes fixed on Steel Curtain, who was still wearing his helmet.

As if on cue, the Dashite pulled his helmet off and ran a hoof through his mane, trying to restore it to some sense of order. “I’m a Dashite. Just managed to get away with my armor,” he answered stiffly.

Marcus visibly relaxed. “Oh, good. Haven’t met an Enclave soldier yet that likes us griffins. They don’t seem to trust us much.”

“They don’t like anything that could potentially threaten them, and the griffins are one of the few species that managed to survive the war mostly intact,” Steel Curtain answered gruffly.

“I guess that makes sense,” Marcus said, scratching his head with a taloned hand, “Never really thought about that.”

“Nopony ever does,” the Dashite muttered sadly, walking past him to where Crosswire and Suture were sitting, the former quietly speaking to the latter.

The silence lengthened as Autumn and I talked about the various bits of salvage she had picked up in the building and Steel Curtain and Crosswire tried to console Suture. We would be moving on soon to find somewhere safe, but I also wanted to see what the griffin would do.

He seemed to be standing awkwardly, his eyes darting from me to Steel Curtain, almost unsure of what to do. After several minutes of simply standing there, he approached me. “So, Evergreen, I feel like I owe you something for saving my life. Even though I’ve only spent a couple of days in Seaddle, I do know where that DJ’s station is. What do you say to me leading you there, to repay you?” he asked.

I wasn’t expecting the offer, and I’m pretty sure my look of surprise told the buck just that. “Uh, yeah sure. We were going to make our last push there in the morning, since it’s getting late, and we’re still just on the outskirts of the city,” I managed to get out.

“That’s settled then! Tomorrow, I’ll lead you all to the radio station! Did you have a plan for where you were going to sleep tonight?” he asked with a grin, or at least as much of one as he could manage with a beak, “Also, did any of you happen to find a pair of pistols that don’t have mouthgrips?”

“Yeah, I found a couple downstairs,” Autumn Mist answered, her horn glowing brightly as she floated a pair of wicked-looking pistols, and a few magazines of ammo to go with them, out of her bags and over to the griffin. He smiled broadly and grabbed them, checking to make sure they were loaded, then slipped them into the holsters under his shoulders.

“I’m not sure exactly where we were going to stay. Probably somewhere small and out of the way,” I answered to his other question, “Why, you know a place with all your experience?” A chagrined look came over his face at that.

“Well, no. It was just a question,” he muttered quietly.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll figure it out,” I said, walking past him to where my three other friends were still sitting.

Suture seemed to be sitting straighter, but her ears were still drooped on her head. I walked up behind her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Are you all right, Suture? I know that wasn’t easy, but I hope you know it had to be done.”

The words tasted like ash in my mouth. I had literally told her not two days ago that I didn’t want this to happen to her, and now here we were. I felt like I had failed her somehow.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” she muttered, her eyes still downcast, “Was it like this for you, the first time. Did you regret it?”

A memory of a lost and frightened Stable Dweller came to mind. I had been young, starving, and wounded, and that pony had had everything I would need to survive. In desperation, I had pulled out my knife and jumped her from behind and knifed her down, ending her life bloodily. It hadn’t been a quick or clean kill. “Yeah, I regret it,” I answered, “And I spent the next three days crying my heart out in the wasteland.”

In many ways, that kill had been the beginning of my path down the dark road that had ended with me in charge of that raider gang. I still remembered the look of fear and pain I had seen in that poor mare’s eyes while I stabbed her, over and over again.

The maroon mare lifted her head and fixed me in a gaze so sad I felt my own heart sink into my stomach and tears start to form in my eyes. “Why is it so easy for you now?” she asked, a note of desperation creeping into her voice.

I had to remind myself that, compared to almost every other pony in the wasteland, Suture had led a privileged life. Her parents were still alive, and she still had a home. “Because my life became one of kill or be killed. Almost every single day from the day I killed that first pony, I was forced to kill in order to save my own hide. After a while… I guess I just got used to it. I’m not proud of it, by any means, but there isn’t much I can do about it now,” I said with a shrug. This wasn’t a topic I particularly wanted to linger on, especially as Yaari’s words were starting to come back to me.

Here was another perfect example of how everything I did simply led to more death. In an attempt to save a griffin I didn’t even know, I now had the blood of a dozen more ponies on my hooves. The cycle was never-ending.

“Please don’t let that happen to me,” Suture muttered, her head going back to staring at the ground again.”

I stared at the mare, hoping with all my heart that I would be able to hold to the next words I was about to speak. “I promise.”

Level Up!

Perk Gained: Intense Training: Perception +1

Skill notes: Explosives (75)

{Well, writing this chapter certainly took far less time than I had hoped, which is something that makes me happy! Also, this chapter was brilliant for me in terms of brainstorming some of the next events (clarification: I have an ending in mind, but everything between there and here is more or less determined by how my characters deal with what’s going on), so a lot of fun things are going to be happening in the next few chapters. Thanks (and credit) as always go to KKat for the original Fallout: Equestria. Thanks, also as always, to me editors, MUCKSTER and Cody. As always, the Hub page is available on Google Docs here.}

Chapter 12: A Voice in the Darkness

Fallout Equestria: Redemption:
Author: Cooperdawg
Chapter 12: A Voice in the Darkness
“Truth can open one’s eyes to the harshness that is our reality.”

The aftermath of the battle passed in almost utter silence. Marcus had been observant enough to keep his questions to the bare minimum so the rest of us could deal with our own problems, namely helping Suture get over the fact that she had killed a pony for the first time. I still didn’t trust the griffin, but circumstances had taken the issue mostly out of my hooves. I’d saved his life, so in a way, I was responsible for him.

We managed to find a building to settle down in for the night not long after leaving the ruined recruitment center. While we were organizing the watches for the evening, I made sure that Marcus, who was very insistent about helping, would never be left on his own. As sincere as he sounded about wanting to help us, I was not about to put our lives solely in his talons, not so soon after meeting him. As trusting as I was, everyone still had to earn that trust.

With the arrival of morning, I felt better, but not by much. The deaths of those gang ponies were still weighing heavily on my mind, and the looming meeting with Shooting Star was making me feel even more morose. He was the one that had dreamt up the title “Heroine of Seaddle’, and probably expected me to live up to that reputation. He was going to be sadly disappointed.

Our breakfast was held in almost complete silence. Suture was still looking depressed, and nopony knew what to do about it. As a result, the entire affair was short, with everypony wanting to finish up as soon as possible, so at least we would have the routine and familiarity of travel to fall back on.

Within twenty minutes of waking up, we were out on the streets. Our shelter had been a small grocery store nestled between what seemed to be an unfinished, or ruined, housing project and a blown-out husk that had once been a public office. The streets were littered with trash and rubble, some of which appeared to be fresh. No surprise, given the reputation the city had with gang wars, and the fact that a small gang, or an outpost of a larger one, had a base all the way out here.

“Steel Curtain, I want you in the air. Keep an eye out for anything else like you saw yesterday. If we can, I’d like to avoid any more clashes with the local gangs. Marcus, you’ll be with him, but also guiding us towards Shooting Star’s station. Crosswire and I will take point on the ground, Suture will be in the middle, and Autumn Mist will be in the rear. Let’s get going. Hopefully we can make it with as little trouble as possible,” I ordered, then beckoned the griffin over before he could take off.

“What do you need, Evergreen?” he asked, somewhat nervously, as he approached.

“I need to know what route you plan to take. It’s true I’ve never been downtown, but that doesn’t mean that I’m just going to let some griffin I just met lead me around blindly. Where are we headed?” I asked sharply. My intention wasn’t to intimidate him, but I needed to make sure that he knew where he stood.

“Oh, right. Well, for now we just need to get into downtown proper. Once we get there, there’s a Metro line on 18th Street that we can get into that leads all the way to the Hayridge Park, only a couple of blocks from the station itself. At least, I think the line is open. I spotted Metro stations at both places, so trains must have run there at some point,” he answered, shakily at first, his voice becoming more sure as he laid our route out.

While he was speaking, I was bringing up a map of the city on my Pipbuck. While I didn’t have any locations for the Metro stations, or for anything downtown, on that note, marked, I could see where the streets were. The route seemed solid. “Ok, we’ll do that. Get up there and keep an eye out.”

The griffin nodded smartly and launched himself into the air, where he started circling over us with Steel Curtain. A quick glance at the rest of my friends on the ground, all of whom nodded their readiness, although Suture’s was a little delayed, and we were ready to set off.

The first part of our journey was met with almost no sign of any other living being, and the reason quickly became clear. On almost every street corner we passed there was at least one wall painted with familiar artwork: a pony’s skull, with a dagger stuck through one empty and starting eye socket. With every step, it became more apparent that the ponies we had killed had belonged to their own gang, and we had effectively wiped them out. Any survivors that hadn’t been at the center the day before must know now that there was nothing left. I would give them a few days before another gang moved in and took the region over.

The only signs of life I noticed was a few shadows moving about at the edge of my vision. Occasionally a red bar would appear in my E.F.S., but if they were survivors of the gang, they knew better than to try to attack us, at least so I hoped. I wasn’t the only one that noticed, either.

Crosswire came up to my side, only an hour or so after we set out. “Evergreen, we’re being followed,” he told me quietly, his eyes darting to a window caked in grime behind which a shadow darted out of sight, “And they’re doing a damn good job of it. I’m beginning to think our fight only went so well yesterday because we caught them by surprise. If they are setting an ambush for us…” He left the rest unsaid.

“Yeah, I noticed the same thing,” I answered, “I’m hoping that they’ll drop off once we get out of their territory. They’d have to be stupid to think attacking us would be a good idea.”

“Depends on their weapons. I remember hearing that a few of the Inner City gangs managed to get their hooves on energy weapons, and some of them managed to ransack some of the old military bases. If they pulled anything of real value out of those places, we’ll be in trouble,” the tech responded.

“We’ll keep an eye out. Hopefully a power-armored Pegasus with a pair of miniguns will be enough to scare them off,” I stated, “Besides, that gang seemed smaller than most. We should be getting out of their territory soon.”

“That’s been worrying me as well. Sure, we’ll leave them behind, but then we’ll simply be stepping into some other gang’s turf. Chances are they heard about our attack. I’m telling you, Evergreen, we’re walking into a trap!” Crosswire snapped.

I sighed, and turned my head to look at the buck. “Do we have any other choice?” I demanded of him, “We have no other leads if we want to start striking against Seahawk. Shooting Star’s information network is all we have. We already exhausted the supply of what that dead drop told us, and we aren’t going to hear anything from Starshine until he manages to gather the other Dashites. So if you have a better suggestion to give us a direction, then please share.”

Crosswire glared at me, but didn’t say anything. I could see his mind working to come up with an answer in the set of his ears and the clenching of his jaw. “I guess you have a point,” he finally ground out, “but I’m not happy. This is probably the most dangerous thing we’ve done. We can’t let our confidence get to our heads! Remember the Ironshod Factory, and what happened to Suture?”

The memory came rushing back: the maroon mare lying on the stained floor, slowly bleeding out from multiple rifle wounds, all because I didn’t stop to think that Greymane would be looking for the dead drop. We had barely managed to save her in time. “I haven’t forgotten, Crosswire,” I insisted, “but things have changed. We’re much more of a team now than we were then. Don’t underestimate that.”

“Hmph, as long as you’re sure,” he grunted, then backed off to return to his position on our flank.

As we progressed, the artwork on the walls slowly changed, until the skull became a rare sight that was often lost under the graffiti of a half-dozen other gangs. By the look of things, we were entering into a highly-contested area of the city, which meant that we were undoubtedly downtown. The most prevalent symbol I could see looked like a hoofprint made in the color of freshly-spilled blood, with what looked to be a broken horn contained within it. I did not like that implication.

“Marcus, how far to the Metro station?” I called up into the sky when the griffin passed by, one of his pistols held in a taloned hand. His head snapped towards my voice, and he arced his way down to me so he could answer.

“Not far now. A few blocks, maybe. Distances are harder to judge in the city, given all the rubble. We should reach it in the next ten minutes though. I definitely recognize this neighborhood,” the griffin answered, scratching his head with his free hand while he perused the ruined building around us.

I followed his gaze, looking for any defining landmarks, but there wasn’t much to see. Most of the major intersections were filled with rubble, making most near-impassable. The ubiquitous gang graffiti made most of the slate-grey walls almost invisible under the layers of paint, but here and there a wall remained unblemished, except for the two centuries of grime that had accumulated. The paved roads were also starting to make my hooves ache. What I wouldn’t give for the dirt paths of the wasteland. They may be harder to navigate, but at least a pony could walk for days without their hooves feeling like they would fall off.

We walked by a manhole cover that had been fused to the passage beneath it, and my Pipbuck began to click warningly at me as I walked through the greenish steam that was rising through the two small holes that were bored into its surface, but I still remained silent. Something felt wrong, like we were being watched.

A few moments later, the back of my neck started to itch, and I threw myself to the side, just as a high-velocity bullet passed through the air where my head had been a moment before to slam into the asphalt at my hooves, pelting me with sharp chips. One of the damn things bounced off my cheek, and blood started to seep sluggishly from the small cut it left there. “Sniper!” I shouted, even as I drew Hammer and twisted to fire a few rounds in retort. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a clue what I was shooting at, so I simply fired the rounds blindly, hoping at least to scare the marksony into cover to buy us a few precious seconds.

My friends took the opportunity to dive for cover, dodging behind a few of the more significantly sized pieces of rubble or hunkering down behind the burnt our remnants of an old bus. Marcus had launched himself into the air and was flying in a complicated pattern, as if he was daring the sniper to try to attack him. Steel Curtain had flown around the corner of a nearby building and stayed there, hovering and watching me, looking for direction.

I held my ground, trusting in my friends’ ability if something went wrong, and kept my eyes glued on the direction I thought the sniper round had come from. All the fucker had to do was show himself, and I would be able to act. My revolver wasn’t accurate at that kind of range, but these streets were littered with rubble I could use as cover. I’d find a way there.

Another round fired, and I leapt back. The shot hit the asphalt in front of me, showering me with more of the pavement, but I noticed that the round would have missed had I not moved. The sniper wasn’t shooting to kill. “What’s going on here?! Show yourself!” I demanded, my words slightly muffled behind Hammer’s grip, as I spun in place, looking for a bar on my E.F.S. I spotted it a moment later.

A trio of blue bars, much to my surprise, were approaching from the west. When their owners emerged from that street, I held myself carefully still. By now, all of my friends had shots lined up. If shit hit the fan, we’d be able to win, I was sure of it.

The leader of the group was an Earth Pony mare with a cream hide and dark red mane. Her cutie mark, what little of it wasn’t ravaged by a jagged red scar, looked like an ammo box. Her two companions, both Earth Ponies, walked on either side of her, like a pair of bodyguards. One was a badly scarred blue stallion with a white mane. It was hard to find any part of his body that didn’t have at least one scar on it. The other was a white mare with a brown and green mane, not unlike my own. Half of her face was deformed by a massive scar left behind by what must have been a terrible burn, not to mention a knot of scar tissue on her forehead that I could only imagine the cause of.

All three were heavily armed. The stallion was equipped with a battle saddle that, while not as well-maintained as Gerymane’s had been, was still equipped with a pair of assault rifles. The other mare, the one with the burned face, was carrying a riot shotgun strapped on her back, and it looked like she could very easily swing it into a useable position. The leader was carrying a revolver that looked to be every bit the equal of Hammer. All in all, a bad standoff to be in.

“You’re on the turf of the Earth Marchers,” the leader practically snarled as they approached, “So give me one fucking reason why I shouldn’t have my sniper finish you right this second.”

“If it’s that much of a problem, why haven’t you already?” I shot back, altering my stance just enough so I could bring Hammer to bear on these ponies.

“Because you aren’t one of those motherfucking unicorns,” the leader answered, “But I see that two of your companions are. Don’t you know they’re the ones that caused all this shit?”

“The city was razed by zebra balefire bombs, not unicorns,” I retorted, “And I would be dead a hundred times over if it wasn’t for my friends! All we’re doing is passing through. We aren’t a part of any of the gangs here.” This was just what I needed, a fucking supremacist group wanting to shake us down.

“So why are you coming from the Skulls’ part of town, then? You the ones that vanished them?” the mare with the burns asked. Her voice was quiet compared to the leader, and I thought I detected a hint of anxiety in her voice, the kind that comes from a pony that has been hurt over and over again.

“Wasn’t the intent, but yeah, we got into a fight. They were torturing someone, so I went in and freed them. Only raiders do that kind of shit,” I growled, “Now listen, all I want is to get to Shooting Star’s station. I’ve got business with him.”

“Ha! So you’re just another fucking wasteland pony that thinks you can just waltz into Downtown to speak with the oh-so exalted DJ, huh? Well, newsflash for you, bitch: this is our turf. And you went and brought those two horned fucks with you,” the stallion snarled, taking a step towards me.

The leader immediately stuck out a hoof to stop him, and that was when I noticed it. Her right foreleg, the one now extended in front of the stallion, was nothing but metal and machinery from the knee down. I had seen a lot of injuries in my time in the wasteland, but this trio was by far the most scarred group I had ever come across.

“Back off, Shatter. We cannot hold them responsible for their ignorance. It is our duty as Marchers to educate them,” the leader stated imperiously, stepping forward and turning her gaze to me. It wasn’t one of malice, but of pity. This mare actually pitied me because she thought she was so much wiser than me.

“What are you talking about?” I snapped, “I don’t care about your supremacist bullshit. Crosswire and Autumn Mist haven’t done anything to this city! You all might think Earth Ponies are so much better than anypony else, but that isn’t the way the world works!”

“Oh how wrong you are,” the leader purred as she approached, only stopping when she was ten feet from me. I could easily make out the grinding gears of her leg. To think that she had managed to find a pony here in the city to replace her limb. “Unicorns are the cause for all of our troubles. Who was it that ignored the rising tensions of the war while those that lived on the outskirts of Equestria were forced to suffer the atrocities committed by the zebras? It was the fucking unicorns of the Canterlot elite. All of those snobbish unicorn nobles who believed themselves so far above the petty squabbles of the country that they let war become first a possibility, then a reality!”

“And what about the unicorns that lived on the frontier? What about the unicorns that lived in this city, practically on the border with the zebra lands?” I shot back, “There was one group that screwed up, so you’re using that as an excuse to wantonly slaughter unicorns?”

“Of course not! We are better than that!” the leader laughed, “Raiders kill those that cross their path. Wasteland ponies kill those that offend them. We rehabilitate them. Tell them your story, Tinder.”

The white mare with the burned face stepped forward, Shatter following her step for step. “I was born on the outskirts of the city, in one of the Stables,” she muttered quietly, her hard eyes losing some of their light as she turned her head to the ground, “Our resources were running short, and we were forced to open the Stable door if we wanted a chance to survive. We had no clue about the gang wars in the city when our first survey groups went there. I was a part of that first mission. We made it all the way into downtown before Surplus found us.”

The leader nodded knowingly at the name, leading me to believe it was hers. “And tell them what I did. Tell them about my mercy.”

Tinder nodded slowly, then lifted her head so she was looking me in the eye. “She told us our lives would be spared if we joined her ranks, but also that no unicorns could be allowed to ever use their magic. We agreed, because we had no other choice. We thought that the agreement would be the end of it, but Surplus does not do anything by halves. When she told us how we were going to make sure we held to our promise, and when we could not agree, we fought. My face was burned in that fight and we lost. Surplus made sure those of us who were unicorns could not use our magic, and shattered our horns.”

I heard a sharp intake of breath from behind me. I didn’t need to look to know that it had come from Crosswire and Autumn Mist. I looked at the knot of scar tissue on the mare’s forehead, and finally realized that it was the stubbed remains of a horn. This mare was no more an Earth Pony than Marcus was.

“You… mutilated them?” I asked slowly, turning my gaze to Surplus. A familiar rage was growing in my chest, and all I wanted was to lash out to kill this bitch that thought she had this kind of power over other’s lives. “You’re no better than a fucking raider!”

“The typical wastelander reaction. You see something you do not understand, so you become angry and offended. Tell me how you would be better than me if you struck me down, if you even could?” Surplus sneered.

“I’m better than you because I’d be shooting you to save the Princesses-know how many unicorns from having their horns smashed!” I shouted, “You’re deluded, thinking that you’re better than anypony else! As far as I’m concerned, you’re just another thug! That Stable needed help, and you used their desperation for you own selfish gain! That is not being a better pony!”

Part of my mind started reminding me that I wanted to avoid needless death, but my anger at what this pony was doing stamped the doubts out. Even worse, she thought she was right, and felt nothing but righteousness in her acts. That was simply unacceptable. There was survival, and then there was what this bitch wanted.

And yet, for all my directed rage, all she did was laugh. The sound was raucous and painful in my ears, as if the mare had never actually learned how to laugh. Between gasps for breath, she managed to say, “You… you actually believe that! You’re one of us, and you believe they are actually worth something! Only when I take their horns away are the uptight bastards worth anything, because they have to finally learn how to be a real pony!”

That was enough. I couldn’t in good conscience let this pony continue. Sure, some of her lieutenants probably shared her ideals, but she was obviously the driving force. Killing her would give the other gangs a chance at making sure her ideals died with her. To that end, I strode forward, shortening that gap between me and her. Her sniper could hang for all I cared; mine was better.

“That’s where you’re wrong. Simply by existing, every unicorn I have ever met and talked to is worth far more than you ever will be,” I growled, a dark, evil sound that sprang from deep in my chest. With that one statement, I saw Surplus’s eyes twitch as the first glimmer of doubt crept into them. The stallion, Shatter, took a cautious step back as well. Somewhere, out of my sight, I could feel the crosshairs of a scope settle on my head. None of that mattered anymore. All that mattered was this bitch in front of me.

“You can’t be serious. I have a sniper ready to blow your brains all over the pavement! I own this part of town!” Surplus shrieked at me, as if her power over a small group of ponies meant anything to me.

“Just like I once owned the mountains to the south,” I snarled in return, “And I can guarantee that my sniper is far better than yours.”

I lifted my chin, bringing Hammer to bear, and watched as Surplus attempted to turn to dodge out of the way, but she had let me get far too close, thinking that her power would somehow protect her. It was the same mistake every gang leader I had ever known made. I flexed my tongue, and the heavy .45-70 round leapt from Hammer’s barrel, striking Surplus in the throat and sending her to the ground amidst a growing pool of crimson.

In the next instant, all chaos broke loose. I jumped forward, using the still-falling body of Surplus as springboard, and felt an impact on my armor, most likely from the sniper. Luckily, the plating held, doing nothing more than bruising my hide.

All around me, the sounds of battle were breaking out. The familiar whine of Steel Curtain’s weapons in the distance, coupled with the retort of Autumn’s rifle, told me that they were suppressing the sniper. The chatter of Crosswire’s submachine gun and the distinctive reports of Marcus’s pistols were directed somewhere towards my left, where the stallion had been standing. Already, I could hear his assault rifles firing blindly up and to the left. He was already going down from the amount of fire directed at him. That left only one target.

Still mid-air, I turned my head to the left and slipped into S.A.T.S. My chance to hit Tinder in the head was almost perfect, but something held me back from pulling the trigger. Her eyes, and shotgun, were directed towards me, but her gaze was not resting on me. It was resting at my feet.

I canceled the spell and landed, twisting to cover the mare with Hammer. A quick check of the data that was always just on the edges of my vision told me that there were only two rounds left in Hammer’s carousel.

True to what I had seen, Tinder wasn’t looking at me. It seemed that she had locked the entire fight out of her mind. Her eyes were focused solely at Surplus who was bleeding out over the pavement, trying to bring her revolver to bear against me.

The scarred mare took a tentative step forward, the shotgun wavering somewhat in her grip, until she was standing over Surplus. “Six long fucking years of hell. Finally, I have this chance to repay you for what you did to my home!” she snarled, her grip on the shotgun becoming much surer.

“Tinder… I own you,” the dying mare spat even as blood poured from her ruined throat.

“Not anymore, bitch,” Tinder spat, then fired three rounds from the 12 gauge straight into Surplus’s head, completely destroying it and splattering herself with gore.

“Evergreen, we got the sniper!” I heard Autumn shout from behind me, as well as the sound of clattering hooves against pavement as my friends joined us. There was the unmistakable sound of Crosswire sliding a fresh magazine home into his submachine gun and the weapon levitated into my sight as the tech came to stand beside me, his weapon trained on Tinder.

“Hold you fire, Crosswire. I think there’s more to this mare than meets the eye,” I ordered, dropping Hammer into its holster and lifting a leg to block the tech’s shot.

All the while, I didn’t shift my gaze from the scarred mare. She was now looking at us, blood coating her face and chest, slowly dripping down her face as her sweat mingled with the light rain that was just starting. The look in her eyes was unsure. I couldn’t blame her. If she made one wrong move, I would not hesitate to kill her.

“Drop the shotgun,” I ordered, gesturing with a hoof and pitching my voice so she would know that there was no choice.

The look in her eyes became even more unsure, but she did as I commanded, dropping the weapon on the ground and kicking it towards me.

“Autumn, grab it,” I said, taking a step towards the mare, who shied away from my approach. The look in her eye was distinctly nervous now. Despite her tough ganger act, she knew that she was dead if she so much as sneezed right now.

The shotgun lifted away from my feet, surrounded by a yellow glow. Tinder watched the weapon fly away, and almost longing look in her eye. It didn’t take a genius to know that she longed after the magic, not the weapon. Slowly, her gaze returned to mine, and her doubts were practically plastered on her face. She was terrified. “Are you going to kill me?” she asked. Despite her appearance, the words still had determination behind them. This mare was a survivor; that much was instantly clear.

“If I was going to kill you, you’d already be dead,” I stated simply, shrugging, “You’re still alive because you didn’t attack us, and you didn’t make any sort of aggressive moves towards us. As long as that remains the case, you’ll continue to live.”

“And what if I agree with Surplus?” she asked me with a look at the now headless corpse.

“It’s already obvious that you don’t. Something about repaying her for what she did to your home? I can only imagine you meant her de-horning all of them?” I asked, just as knowingly. I had a potential resource in this mare, and I was not going to let that go to waste.

My comment cracked a grin on the mare’s face. On the side that was not scarred, it brought life to her features, but on the other, it was little more than a tweak of the deadened flesh. It reminded sharply of a ghoul. “You’ve got that right. I spent six fucking years waiting for my moment to kill her. You finally gave me that chance.”

“You’re welcome. I’d like you to return the favor, though. What Stable are you from?” I asked. Around me, my friends lowered their weapons. This mare wasn’t a threat to us anymore, and they knew that. We’d be careful around her until we were sure, but she would have to be stupid to try anything against us now.

She looked at me sharply, her expression going instantly from one of gratitude to one of wariness. “Why do you want to know?” she demanded.

“Because a friend of mine wants me to look into a Stable on the outskirts of the city: Stable 113. We have reason to believe that something was left for her down there,” I answered simply. I didn’t want to clue this mare too much into what we wanted, but her reaction told me that she was from the Stable we wanted.

Unfortunately, being vague was not the way to win this mare’s trust. “So you expect me to simply believe you because of that? Who the fuck is this friend, and what was left there? How the fuck would they know?” she growled, “I’m grateful you gave me this chance, but I am not going to throw my home to more bullshit just on your say-so!”

I sighed heavily, looking at my friends. Crosswire was shaking his head. “Evergreen, no. We don’t know her enough. Who knows what could happen if we just start telling random strangers our plans!”

“I agree. We can’t trust her. I get not wanting to kill her, but let’s be real here! She was still in that fucked up gang!” Autumn echoed, striding forward.

“Trust has to start somewhere,” Suture said quietly, coming up on my other side, “Like trusting a pony from a dark background after she caused the death of a loved one.”

I had almost forgotten about that, and it was the memory of what I had done to Suture that made me believe her. “Trust has to start somewhere,” I echoed, smiling to myself, “I couldn’t agree more. Tinder, my friend is a ghoul from Ponyville that survived the war in its entirety. She taught the heads of Stable-Tec when they were still just fillies. They tried to contact her at the end of the war, but their message was sent too late. By the time she left to go to Stable 113, where they tried to give her a place, the bombs were already dropping. We think they may have left something behind for her in the Stable before the end.”

Tinder had a shocked look on her face, as if she hadn’t expected my honesty. “You aren’t kidding?” she asked, her voice unsure, “Even after trying to hide the truth a minute ago?”

“I’m not like Surplus. I’m not some wasteland ganger, looking for more influence. I’m just a pony trying to make life better for everypony else,” I answered, “And you aren’t my enemy. And hell, it’s your home. Who else would know if what we’re looking for is there?”

“I haven’t been back in six years,” she muttered, lowering her head in defeat. Then, I saw her limbs stiffen and her head rise again, “But you have a point. You gave me another chance at a better life. I am not going to waste it. I can take you there and get you inside, if you promise not to hurt anypony there.”

“Not unless they attack me first,” I said, nodding, a smile tugging at my lips.

“Then we have an agreement. Didn’t you say something about wanting to talk to Shooting Star first? ‘Cause if you are, this is the wrong way to go. He’s on the other end of the city,” Tinder said, nodding as well.

“Marcus here was leading us to a Metro tunnel he saw from the air that should lead to the park where his station is,” I explained, nodding at the griffin who had landed a little ways away from us and was adjusting his holsters.

“Hmmm… I guess that would work. Certainly faster than going back around. You’re going to want a supply of radiation chems, though. Some of those tunnels are still really heavily irradiated. Lucky for you, our base has quite a supply. Parts of the city are still pretty bad, but that is where all the best salvage is,” Tinder said with a curt nod.

“Can you lead us there?” Crosswire asked, stepping forward.

The scarred mare nodded, “Yes, I can. But… we might have to fight when we get there. With Surplus and Shatter dead, the entire gang is going to lose it while they try to replace them. You created one hell of a power vacuum.”

“We’ll handle that when it comes up. I’m just hoping we’ll be able to intimidate them to leave us alone and give us the chems,” I said, looking around at my group. Most were my closest friends, and I knew full well what they were capable of. Marcus was certainly skilled with his weapons, but he was too naïve. All in all, we made for a terrifying sight. Hopefully this gang would agree with me.

“We’ll see, but they don’t frighten easily,” Tinder said, “By the way, my full name is Tinder Box.”

“And mine is Evergreen. My friends are Crosswire, Suture, Autumn Mist, and Steel Curtain. The griffin is Marcus,” I said, gesturing to each in turn, “Now lead on. I want to reach Shooting Star’s station before nightfall.”

Tinder Box nodded and gestured in the direction we would have to go: directly back the way she had approached with Surplus and Shatter. She strode past me, retrieving her shotgun from Autumn Mist as she did, and started walking, expecting us to follow.

As she passed, I finally got a good look at her Cutie Mark. It was a flame, burning bright against the white of her flank. It fit her, in every sense.

Tinder Box lead us through the rubble-filled streets of the city. With every step, I felt like we were traveling deeper into a maze, yet she never wavered from her path. Before long, I was completely lost amongst the ancient, ruined structures.

Steel Curtain flew down beside me and slowed me down so that we were lagging behind the rest of the group. Tinder gave us a concerned look as we dropped back, but kept her pace.

“I’m not so sure about this anymore, Evergreen,” he told me in hushed tones, “For all we know we could be walking into a trap. Hell, I barely know where we are anymore, and I’m in the air!”

“I know, and I’m getting nervous as well,” I admitted, shooting a look up at the white mare, “But she told us she would be leading us there, and I decided to give her my trust. If we start questioning her, and it turns out we’re wrong, well… Let’s just say I don’t want to end up in that situation. It almost happened with you.”

“Yeah, I suppose. I just don’t like these walls, and these streets are a natural maze,” the Pegasus complained, “but if you think this is the right choice, I’m behind you.”

“I’m not sure of anything, Steel Curtain. I’m just doing what seems right to me,” I protested as he lifted back into the air.

He glanced down at me, his eyes lit up with what I could only call trust. “That’s the difference between how we feel.” With that, he lofted back up to where he had been circling, watching for the other ponies of the gang to attack us.

His words left me feeling uneasy. I knew he had a point, and that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that he was the only one willing to say something about it. I already knew that Crosswire and Autumn Mist didn’t entirely agree with my choice, but they weren’t saying anything, and that was the source of my uneasiness.

I picked up my pace a bit so I was walking alongside the rugged tech. “What do you think about this,” I asked him simply, knowing he would appreciate me honesty.

“Doesn’t really matter what I think anymore,” he answered, a hard edge to his voice, “We’re doing what you want regardless.”

“Dammit, Crosswire. Now is not the time for this shit. Do you think this is a trap?” I demanded angrily, loud enough for Tinder Box to turn her head and look at us. We held our silence long enough for her to return her attention to the path ahead.

“It damn well could be,” he answered harshly, “But either way, they can’t have expected us to have been able to kill that mare that was in charge. Our advantage, if this is a trap, will lie there. But Evergreen, you need to think more. You’re taking one hell of a risk trusting this mare.”

That accusation rendered me silent while I thought about what he meant. There was no question that he was right. It was a risk, and a big one at that. But so was walking into this city in the first place. “When do we start giving our fellow ponies the benefit of the doubt again, Crosswire? For two hundred years, we’ve been living in fear of one another, needing to find a reason not to draw weapons on a stranger, rather than trusting that they don’t mean us any harm. Equestria was a peaceful place once, where a filly could travel on her own all the way from Ponyville to Manehattan and back. It never will be that way again until we start trusting each other. That has to start somewhere,” I said quietly, lowering my head.

“I agree, but this isn’t the time or place. We are in unfamiliar territory, and now there are two people in our group that we barely know at all. We got lucky once with Steel Curtain, but Marcus is a complete unknown. Tinder Box is unstable, at best, and she’s a ganger,” the tech shot back.

“And we weren’t?” I responded sharply, “If anything, we were worse than her, and don’t tell me I’m wrong. I saw the worst our gang had to offer.”

Crosswire shrugged at that. “That reason is exactly why I’m going along with you. You’ve managed to get us out of the worst shit so far. Who knows, maybe this will work out for the best in the end as well. Now you better get back up there; keep an eye on her.”

I sighed, but did as he asked. That was the problem with Crosswire. He was so stubborn that there was little chance of ever getting to fully commit to an idea until it had completely played out. He had no problems about admitting he had been wrong, but he would never entertain the idea that he could be wrong.

“How close are we?” I asked Tinder Box as I strode up to her side. A glance at her and I realized I had unconsciously approached on the side where her face was scarred, her right side. Her eyes darted towards me for just a moment before returning to the road ahead.

“We’re getting close. There’s a hole in the wall of the old office building ahead. The bombs from the war left the entire building as little more than a shell, and we use it regularly as a path into the city. Our base is situated in a small neighborhood on the other side of the building,” she answered simply.

“Is there any other way in?” I asked, “I don’t really like the idea of marching through the front door.”

“None. We blocked everything else off,” Tinder answered, shaking her head, “To prevent exactly the sort of attack you’re thinking of. If it comes to that, our only chance will be in the overwhelming force we have. That Enclave soldier and griffin will be the real advantage.”

“He’s a Dashite,” I answered automatically, “Not Enclave. Got away with the armor, and they haven’t worked up to courage to come after him down here yet.”

“Either way, his weapons are going to be a big help. Now, we’re here. Let me do the talking. If we’re lucky, we should be able to get into the base before anypony realizes something is wrong.”

I nodded and took a few steps back, letting Tinder Box take the lead. She led us around a corner, and there ahead of us was a small hole blasted through the solid concrete walls of a ruined office building. Standing guard were two heavily scarred ponies. One of them was an Earth Pony stallion wielding a 10mm SMG, and the other was a former unicorn mare with a sawed-off shotgun. Nothing we couldn’t handle.

“Tinder, you’ve been gone long enough! Where the fuck are Surplus and Shatter?” the mare asked, stepping forward and swinging the shotgun around so it hung in easy reach of her mouth.

“They’re still heading towards the market to see if they can salvage anything from the Skulls old HQ. Told me to bring this bunch back so we could question ‘em,” the scarred mare answered, jerking her head back at the rest of us.

“Why the fuck are they still carrying their guns, then?” the buck demanded in a superior voice. He strode forward, using his larger bulk to tower over the smaller white mare. “I know how Surplus works, and she would not let them keep their guns.”

“Well Surplus ain’t here, Ratchet, so back the fuck off. I let them keep their guns in case somepony from one of those gangs uptown decided to try something. They willingly surrendered and agreed to come back, and they haven’t tried shit the whole way back. Now are you going to get out of my way, or do I need to explain to Surplus why you stopped me from following her orders?” Tinder growled, shoving the buck back with a leg.

The invocation of her name did the trick. “Hmph, fine. But she ain’t gonna be happy when she finds out, Tinder,” he growled, stepping to the side so we could enter.

“Well that’s my problem, isn’t it? Come on, you lot. Let’s go,” Tinder snapped, looking over her shoulder at the rest of us, then proceeded to walk through the wall.

We followed behind, and I was surprised to see how empty the building was. Within moments, we were alone again. “Your gang is certainly trying to hold on to a lot of space,” I whispered, looking around at the abandoned buildings around us.

“We use most of these buildings, but we just don’t live there. Storage and shit. Unfortunately, we keep the chems and medical supplies back at the old pharmacy near the apartments where we sleep, and that’s where most of the gang spends their time. At least Ratchet is dumb enough to believe me, and Razor Wire, the mare, is too scared of her own shadow to argue with him,” Tinder answered in a hushed tone of her own.

“Will we be able to bluff our way past the ponies by the pharmacy?” Crosswire asked.

“No likely. Enough of the ponies around here are so strung out on one drug or another that we’ve needed to keep careful watch over our stores. We might be able to take the guards out quietly, though,” Tinder answered.

“Yeah? How’s that?” Autumn asked, walking up to join us at the front.

Tinder shot the dark unicorn a pointed glare, then answered, “You have a knife there, Evergreen. Knives are quiet. I’ve got one as well. Between the two of us, we should be able to startle the guards and put ‘em down quick.”

“You sure you want to just kill them?” I asked warily. I was all for fighting when my life was at stake, or when somepony was doing something I really thought was wrong, but jumping a guard or two just because they were in my way didn’t sit right.

“Pretty much every single pony here buys into what Surplus believed. Fuckers deserve it, if you ask me. So, yeah, I just want to kill them. That a problem?” Tinder demanded, arching an eye at me.

I shrugged noncommittally. “I suppose not. How long will we have before somepony realizes something is wrong?”

Tinder looked around her, as if looking for somepony listening in on our conversation, then said, “If we’re lucky, they won’t figure it out for a few hours. If we’re unlucky, we won’t kill those guards quietly. Most likely, we’ll have at most ten minutes before somepony wanders by the pharmacy and notices the guards missing.”

I nodded. “Ok. How far to the pharmacy?”

“It’s just up ahead,” the scarred mare said as we turned a corner the opened on a small square. The pharmacy was immediately apparent by the two ponies standing guard, both wielding shotguns. A few other ponies were milling about the square, walking to and from other various buildings, some labelled as barracks, others as dining areas or something ubiquitously labelled as the “Lounge”. I did not like what that implied.

“Ok, follow my lead up here. I have an idea to get us inside. Evergreen, if this works, you and I will get in there quietly, but everypony else will have to wait outside. It’s our best chance for getting in their quietly. Joyride owes me a favor, which is why this might work,” Tinder explained quietly as we approached.

Several ponies turned to watch us with curious expressions, but they usually turned their attention back to whatever they had been doing once they saw Tinder Box in the lead. The one trait I noticed that every single pony here shared was that they were all heavily scarred to some degree, even more so than raider bands usually were.

We approached the guards at the pharmacy, who were by now watching us with wary expressions, and Tinder strode up to them, holding herself as tall as she could manage. “Joyride, I need to get in there for some medical supplies. This sack of shit that surrendered to Surplus needs a few healing potions to take care of some internal injuries before the boss gets back. Your partner can watch the others while you watch us, deal?”

I obligingly tried to put on as much of a pained expression as I could. It wasn’t too hard, considering the bruise that was forming underneath my barding from where that sniper shot had hit.

The light green stallion she was addressing rolled his one remaining eye, as if a half-dozen ponies tried to do this every day and drawled, “You know the rules, Tinder. Nopony gets to go in without Surplus’s say-so. Not even you. Go beg for a fix somewhere else.”

“Fine, let her die before Surplus gets to question her. It’ll be on your head. And need I remind you that you owe me for that shit against the Rawhides?” Tinder growled in return, “I’m calling that favor in, now.”

The stallion froze, eyeing first her, then me, with his single red eye. “Seriously, for this? Fuck, fine. Strike, watch them for a minute. We’ll be right back,” he growled, then nodded at the door, “Let’s go, and make it quick.”

He turned and unlocked the door and walked inside, clearly expecting us to follow. Tinder caught my eye as we started for the door and gave a near-imperceptible nod of her head. I returned the gesture and reached for my knife as we stepped through the door.

Inside, the pharmacy was far more organized than I had expected for a street gang. They actually had their various supplies and drugs separated by use in the various aisles. And they had managed to get enough power to the building so that half of the lights were on, bathing the store in a soft white light. Joyride was walking towards an aisle that looked to be stocked with various bandages, syringes, and other medical supplies.

“Once he turns down the aisle, I’ll go for his head, keep him quiet. You support me,” Tinder whispered, pitching her voice so I would be the only one to hear her.

I nodded and pulled my knife out of its sheath, readying myself. Joyride turned down the aisle, starting to speak. “Here we are. Grab what you need and let’s get the fuck out of here.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Tinder Box leapt, launching herself into the air at the stallion’s head. I ran after her, intending and striking at his back or chest, whichever target presented itself first.

Tinder landed on his back, plunging her dagger into the back of his neck as her hooves wrapped around his throat, cutting of his breath and not letting more than a squeak escape his lips. I stood behind her, body poised to attack should it become necessary, but she bore the stallion to the ground, holding him as his struggles grew weaker and weaker until he finally lay still.

The entire process fascinated me, because the mare showed absolutely no hesitation, and her face was set into a grim mask of determination throughout the entire attack. I was used to being around ponies that would usually shy away at attacking a pony from behind, yet she didn’t care at all. Even as a raider boss, I always looked every pony I killed in the eye.

“Come on, we don’t have much time,” the white mare growled as she wrenched the knife free and cleaned it on the dead stallion’s barding, “If you need medical supplies, grab them. I’ll go check for the radiation supplies.”

I nodded and started sweeping items into my bags. Healing potions, bandages, a few syringes of Med-X, all of it was stuff that we had, but never in bulk. Once that was done, I wandered down the aisles looking for Tinder. I finally found her at the end of an aisle containing nothing but inhalers of Dash and injectors of another half-dozen different sorts of drugs.

“Fuck, I hate it when they move shit around in here,” the scarred mare grumbled as she turned into the next aisle, “Finally! Fuckers never put the useful shit near each other.”

I followed her into the aisle and was met with the sight of dozens of bottles of Rad-X and just as many pouches of Rad-Away. Tinder was wandering down the aisle, slipping supplies into her saddlebags as she walked. I followed after her, doing the same. “You really think we’re going to need this much?”

“You haven’t been in those tunnels. I have. Surplus always gave those of us who weren’t born as Earth Ponies the worst jobs. Trust me, we’re going to need it,” she answered.

We had only been in the pharmacy for five minutes when our bags were almost bulging with supplies. We took another minute to drag Joyride’s corpse back to a corner of the store, but there wasn’t anything we could do about the blood except hope that the next pony that walked in would walk the other direction.

We were just starting to leave when I stopped the mare. “Joyride said something about looking for a fix. You strung out on anything like the other ponies here?” I asked, putting a hoof on her shoulder to stop her.

“What? Of course not. I’ve been straight ever since I was forced to join. It was my point of pride that I never got addicted to anything,” Tinder protested, twisting out from under my hoof and continuing on.

I wasn’t given a chance to answer, but Suture’s words were still ringing in my ears. Trust had to start somewhere. If this mare had a drug problem, she would either tell us before it became a problem, or she would leave before it mattered.

When we finally emerged back into the square, my friends were sitting in a standoff against a half-dozen ponies, a few of which were heavily armed and looked to have recently exerted themselves. On seeing those ponies, Tinder Box stiffened.

“Oh, shit,” she muttered under her breath as we walked out.

“Tinder, there you are, you lying cunt!” one of the armed ponies said. It was a brown stallion that looked to be a former unicorn, judging by the scar on his forehead, “Ratchet told me that Surplus ordered you to come back here with these fucks, yet I found her corpse out in the streets, her brains plastered all over the pavement with Shatter’s corpse next to her practically torn to ribbons from gunfire. I suggest you tell your new-found friends here to drop their weapons, or I’ll kill the whole lot of you!”

Tinder took a few careful steps forward, her eyes watching the stallion. She came to a stop a moment later, amidst a small pile of rubble. “Are you telling me you wouldn’t have offed her if given the chance, Magnum? She did to you exactly what she did to me, and I know you hated her just as much for it. You’re just pissed I got to her first.” The mare’s shotgun slipped from her back and swung around so it was hanging in front of her. The movement seemed to be an accident, but the weapon now hung in easy reach of her mouth, a fact that seemed to be lost on the buck facing her.

He laughed, his entire body shaking with the action, making the barrels of the shotguns hanging from his battle saddle vibrate, telling me they weren’t in very good condition. The ponies around him laughed as well, all brandishing their own weapons. Most looked to be in rough shape, though a few seemed to be well taken care of. Those were the ponies I would have to target first, if this went south.

“Oh, Tinder, you ignorant bitch, do you really think we didn’t know how much you hated her? Did it ever cross that twisted mind of yours that we wanted her to do this to us? She set us free! And now you had to go and fuck it all up!” Magnum laughed, “And here you are, thinking I agree with you! Even worse, you’re helping the ones that killed her, including two dirty unicorns, a fucking Pegasus, and a Goddesses-damned griffin! You don’t give two shits about this gang, do you?”

“Never have,” the mare growled, lowering herself and bringing her shotgun within reach. I lifted my leg, bringing Hammer closer to my mouth as well, knowing that a fight was about to break out.

A flash of inspiration hit me. “So, now that Surplus is dead, who’s the pony in charge around here? I’m sure we’d be able to strike a deal,” I asked, putting a bit of fake fear into my voice, looking from face to face,” The odds are against us, and all I want is to get out in one piece.”

Several eyes lit up as they realized nopony was technically in charge. The top lieutenants were either dead or traitors, so the floor was open. Magnum was one of the ponies to get a sudden look of ambition on his face. Perfect.

“Me, of course. I’m the only other pony she sends off to be in charge of other scouting parties,” he answered imperiously, thrusting out his chest as every single self-important buck did.

Immediately, an off-white mare standing to his right spoke up. “Fuck you talking about, Magnum? Surplus would never put you in charge of the gang! You weren’t even born an Earth Pony like me! If anypony would take over, it’s me!” she snapped, turning to face the brown buck. She was holding a dirty revolver in her mouth. It wasn’t in good condition, so its accuracy was probably shit, but she was so close to him that it shouldn’t matter.

“You?!” another pony asked incredulously. The voice belonged to a pink mare wielding a submachine gun, “You don’t even know how to organize your own saddlebags!”

Several other ponies started speaking up, either declaring their own suitability to lead or backing the ones they supported. Within minutes, the entire camp was divided into a half dozen different factions, facing each other down, weapons out and ready.

I strode forward until I was standing in front of my friends, staring Magnum in the eye. He was the only pony that was still facing us, though the ponies around him were barely paying attention to us anymore. They were all too busy trying to keep their weapons pointed at their new enemies. “You might want to try to get some control if you want to be in charge, Magnum,” I stated, putting as much charm as I could into my voice, which admittedly wasn’t much, but it was probably the most interest a mare had ever shown the scarred buck, “After all, I’d prefer to deal with you.”

Predictably, the buck took the bluff and ran, rising up on his hind legs and shouting, “I am the one in charge here! Now shut up, the lot of you! This is what we’re going to-“

He was interrupted as a half-dozen ponies opened fire. Most of the shots directed at him flew wide to either hit ponies around him or fly off to impact the buildings around us, but a few key shots struck him in the chest, back and head, and he dropped, dead before he hit the ground.

Those first shots lit the powder keg around us as the half-dozen factions started shooting at one another, with a few potshots being taken in our direction. Ponies scattered in all directions, running for cover or to make it to the sides of the ponies they supported. Within minutes, the camp was a warzone, complete with angry curses and agonized screams.

My group made to run for the hole back out to the streets, but the sheer mass of fire around us made almost any movement impossible. As it was, we were pinned against the pharmacy. As I watched, a small group of ponies turned and started for us, almost all of them wielding crude melee weapons.

“Steel Curtain, Marcus, get in the air and find us a way out of here!” I shouted over the din, waving a hoof at the two before turning and dodging out of the way of a crazed buck running at me with a lead pipe. I swung my Pipbuck at him and struck him on the back of the head, sending him to the ground, dazed, where Tinder finished him off with a shotgun blast.

Behind me, I heard the two flyers launch themselves into the air, followed by several surprised shouts and gunfire that sounded like it was directed into the air. The iconic whine of Steel Curtain’s miniguns answered the gunfire, eliciting several shouts of agony and death. The amount of incoming fire lessened significantly, maybe enough for us to get out.

“This way!” I shouted over my shoulder at the rest of my friends, then turned and started to run through the gap Steel Curtain had opened. From behind me I could hear the retort of Autumn’s and Suture’s pistols as they fought off the gangers now trying to stop us, as well as the blasts of Tinder’s shotgun. I doubted we’d still be alive if they weren’t all too busy fighting each other.

Once out in the open, we became more of a target, though Marcus and Steel Curtain did a terrific job keeping anypony from being able to get close. A small group of gangers wielding old pistols turned their attention to us and managed to break through the defensive wall formed by the Dashite and the griffin, but were quickly cut down by a combination of mine, Crosswire’s and Tinder’s fire, Autumn being busy trying to keep Suture out of the line of fire.

We managed to break out of the thick of the fighting mostly thanks to Steel Curtain’s weapons, as very few ponies had the firepower to withstand him, but the off-white mare was blocking our route into the building, flanked by three of her supporters.

“You started this fight, and I am going to claim victory with your head!” she shouted as she brought the revolver to bear against me and fired. True to my prediction earlier, the weapon was inaccurate, and instead of hitting me in the head as the mare no doubt intended, the round slammed into my chest, but was deflected by my barding. Almost simultaneously, I brought Hammer up and slid into S.A.T.S., lining up a pair of shots to the mare’s head, since the chance to hit really wasn’t ideal, no doubt a result of the pain now throbbing in my chest in time to my heartbeat.

The spell triggered, and the mare’s head imploded as the shots flew home. The buck to her right flinched away from the carnage, only to have a pair of holes open up in his chest from Marcus’s pistols. I adjusted my aim and fired again, felling another mare with a shot to the throat. The last pony fell as the buckshot from Tinder’s riot shotgun tore half his face off and knocked him into the wall, leaving a smear of red behind.

We charged past the corpses, breaking out into the relative safety of the streets. “Marcus, take point! Get us to those tunnels!” I shouted up at the griffin, looking over my shoulder for any pursuit. Thankfully, the fight I had started was consuming all of their attention, and nopony was coming after us.

It wasn’t until the Metro sign loomed in front of us that we slowed our pace. If nopony had followed us here, they weren’t going to. We came to a complete stop at the top of the staircase leading down, and Steel Curtain and Marcus alighted next to us, both of them taking the moment of calm to reload their weapons.

“Well, that was fun,” the griffin muttered as he pulled out a bandage and wrapped it around a bullet wound in his arm, “Didn’t think those fuckers’ aim was that good.”

“No shit,” Tinder answered with a chuckle as she chugged down a healing potion, making a pair of bullet holes in one of her shoulders close up, “Though I have to say that was great thinking, Evergreen. Getting them to turn on each other was genius!”

“Wasn’t hard to figure out,” I answered, shrugging, “In a gang, if the leader is taken out without anypony having a chance to plan for it, that kind of shit is always going to happen. I just sped it up. Seemed like the best way to get out. Thinking of, is everypony all right?”

Everyone quickly answered me positively. The worst injuries were the bullet wounds taken by Tinder Box and Marcus, and those were already well taken care of. While they answered, I started dumping my radiation supplies onto the ground. Simply standing this close to the Metro was making my Pipbuck click slowly.

“Good. Everypony grab some supplies and take some Rad-X now. For those of you with Pipbucks, take some RadAway when your rads hit 600, so we can make them last. We’ll take care of completely cleansing our systems when we get out of there. Hopefully Shooting Star will have some supplies that will help us with that. Everypony without Pipbucks: pick a partner. You drink when they do. Steel Curtain, does that armor of yours have a rad-meter?”

“Yeah, it does. I’ll be good,” the Pegasus answered swiftly, stepping forward and grabbing some supplies and dumping them into his saddlebags.

“Good. Crosswire, you’re with me. Marcus, it’s you and Steel Curtain. Tinder Box, I’ll put you with Suture. Keep close and keep an eye on those rad-meters. Let’s move,” I ordered as I popped a pair of pills of Rad-X, then started down the broken steps into the Metro.

Very quickly, the radiation jumped up to about ten rads per second, an amount that would kill us in very short order if we weren’t prepared. It also meant there was a very good chance of running into ghouls down here. They thrived on radiation.

The main ticketing square was littered with various kinds of trash, ranging from empty Sparkle-Cola bottles to old newspapers to abandoned suitcases overflowing with rotting clothing. All of it was testament to the destruction witnessed by the city. Here and there, ancient skeleton lay on the ground, the positions implying they had been tossed about, as if they were toys carelessly tossed aside by a giant.

“A bomb must have come down close to here for it to look like this,” I muttered as we strode through the waste. My rads were already approaching four hundred, and I was beginning to feel nauseous. We had barely been down here for five minutes…

“Yeah, it hit two blocks down, one of only two to hit the city itself,” Tinder answered, her voice strained, “We think the bomb broke something important in the maintenance tunnels down here, which is why they are still flooded with radiation.

“That would make sense. If the bomb struck by one of the utility access points, I could see the balefire getting in there and wrecking the spark generators. It wouldn’t take much to disrupt that kind of equipment and make them start to leak radiation, not to mention the radiation from the bomb itself,” Crosswire agreed.

I nodded tiredly, fighting back the urge to vomit as I slurped down a Rad-Away that tasted like spoiled oranges. Why did they all have to taste like spoiled oranges? “Let’s just keep moving. This place is flooded with radiation, and we’ve got a pretty good distance we need to go.”

Everypony nodded in agreement, and we picked up our pace, descending a set of broken down escalators to the actual train platforms. “Which way to the park?” I asked Marcus, turning to face the griffin. He looked even worse than I felt. The feathers on his head and neck were dull, and he looked like he was struggling to keep his stomach under control.

“North,” he answered weakly, pointing down one of the tunnels before reaching into one of the pockets of his duster and pulling out a pack of Rad-Away, which he promptly drank.

“Good. Tinder, you know these tunnels better than we do. Take point with me. Steel Curtain and Marcus, I want you two on the flanks. Suture and Autumn will be in the center, and Crosswire will be in the rear. Let’s go,” I ordered, jumping down onto the rotten ties of the tracks and starting to walk.

Everyone else quickly fell into position and we pressed on into the dark tunnel where the only source of illumination was a string of weak red emergency lights along one wall and the lights from our Pipbucks. About three hundred yards, and another pack of Rad-Away, in, we were met with a wall of rubble and destroyed railcar.

“We need a path around this. Anypony see anything?” I asked, turning to face the rest of my friends. Tinder was still examining the rail car wedged into the rubble behind me.

“There looked to be a maintenance entrance about twenty yards back,” Crosswire reported, coming up from the back of the formation.

“Either that or we can break out the window of this rail car. It gets pretty narrow in there, but we should be able to make it if we go one by one. Even the Dashite should be able to make it through with his armor,” Tinder said from behind me.

“That’ll be our back up. Going through something that small will slow us down. The maintenance access should make us move quicker,” I said, stepping past my friends and heading for the door Crosswire mentioned.

The tech fell into step beside me and approached the door as we approached. Beyond it, I thought I could hear movement, but nothing was showing up on my E.F.S., a fact that made me very unhappy. He fiddled with the locking mechanism for a few moments, then the entire metal entrance folded on itself and slid into the walls.

All of a sudden, a dozen red bars appeared on my E.F.S. as a few dozen small lights appeared in the dark room beyond, reflecting the light being cast by my Pipbuck. Something growled, and I saw Crosswire’s horn glow and his SMG float out to face the light.

“Ghouls,” he muttered darkly, backing up a step. The tone in his voice was all I needed to hear to know that a fight wasn’t going to be avoidable.

I nodded in response, lifting my leg and drawing Hammer. In that moment, the ghouls screamed and leapt forward, coming at us in a tide of undead flesh. I slipped into S.A.T.S., lining up shots at the first ghouls that gave me a half-decent chance to hit and triggered the spell.

Three ghouls fell immediately as the heavy revolver rounds tore into their bodies, and another two fell as Crosswire’s SMG tore into them. But no matter how fast we were, there were simply too many. Three bodies collided with me simultaneously, driving me to the ground and forcing the breath from my lungs and sending Hammer spiraling off into the dark. I lashed out with my Pipbuck, striking a ghoul in the chest with it and managing to force it off of me where a shotgun blast took its head off. The other two lunged at me, but I twisted, making one’s teeth close on my armored shoulder and the other miss completely.

The ghoul on my shoulder started to worry at it, trying to break through the armor plating, and as a result made it near impossible to use that leg. The other backed its head up and attacked again. I brought my free leg up, the one with my Pipbuck, and wedged it into the ghoul’s mouth. It clamped down, but since it wasn’t actually grabbing me, I had a moment to reach for my other shoulder where my knife was sheathed and pull the weapon free.

I jammed the knife up to the hilt into the throat of the ghoul grabbing my Pipbuck, then twisted and pulled it free. Dark ichor flowed from the wound to flow down my leg and slip under the hem of my barding, soaking my hide. The ghoul fell limply to the side, dying, and I turned to deal with the ghoul on my shoulder.

At just that moment, somepony shouted, “Glowing One!” and a bright flash of green light enveloped me, spiking the amount of rads I was soaking up to almost twenty a second. I finished my attack, stabbing the ghoul on my shoulder through the temple, but the ghoul I had stabbed through the throat rose up from where it was lying beside me, the fatal wound completely healed, and lunged at me.

This time, I wasn’t fast enough to get my Pipbuck in my way, and it clamped down on the already injured part of my leg, sending a wave of agony through the limb. I screamed in pain and tried to stab at it, but it reared back, taking a large chunk of flesh with it, nearly making me black out from the agony.

It lunged again, but right before it connected, a shotgun blast caught it in the side, picking it up and tossing it away from me like dust caught in the wind. I pushed myself away from the dark room where ghouls were still pouring out of, holding back cries of pain as I held my injured leg against my chest, bright red blood pouring out of the ghastly wound to soak my barding.

A glowing pony shape appeared in my vision, slowly approaching me. It looked like a ghoul, except that the exposed muscles under its tattered hide were glowing bright green, and the amount of rads I was soaking up was spiking as it neared. Around me, I could still here the sounds of battle. My friends were too busy fighting the rest of them off to help me.

Already, I could see the amount of rads I was absorbing creep past seven hundred. Another few minutes, and I would be rendered unconscious. From there, it was only a matter of time until it killed me. Suddenly, the Glowing One leapt, its jaws opened wide as it lunged for my throat. I did the only thing I could think to do and lifted my injured leg to stop it.

I screamed as it bit down on my leg, widening the wound left by the other ghoul, and tore at my flesh, tearing another section of meat away. I could now very easily make out the exposed bone of my leg. It lunged again, and I brought my hind legs up, kicking. I caught it in the chest and knocked it away, but couldn’t get enough strength behind the kick to knock it over.

It recovered quickly, running at me as I pushed myself another few inches away, my leg now feeling completely numb. That wasn’t good. I came up against something small and metal that clattered when I reached it. Praying that it was what I thought it was, I twisted, keeping my shredded limb clear of the ground, and grabbed for it with my mouth.

Luck was with me as my teeth closed around Hammer’s grip, and I brought the heavy revolver to bear, aiming at the Glowing One. I fired, sending a round straight through the ghoul’s chest. It staggered back, but it looked like the round had passed clear through its chest, leaving a gaping wound, but it was still on its feet running for me.

I fired two more times until the hammer clicked on an empty chamber. The first round struck it in the leg, making it falter. The second struck it square between the eyes, sending a mass of glowing grey matter out the back of its head and making it collapse in a heap on top of me, leaking radioactive fluids all over me.

From some combination of the smell of the thing and the amount of radiation in my body, I retched, spilling what little I had managed to eat for lunch over the body, then fell back, gasping for breath. I needed a Rad-Away, and a healing potion, but I didn’t have the strength to reach for either. The inside of my mouth tasted like tin, even after I dropped Hammer, and I could feel my strength ebbing away. Blood was flowing freely from my mangled leg, covering my armor and seeping into the fur on my belly.

Around me, the sounds of battle faded and the sound of a maintenance door being closed and sealed echoed through the dark confines of the tunnel. “Shit, you think they can get through there?” somepony asked, panting heavily. The voice sounded feminine, but it didn’t have the gentleness of Suture’s voice or the harsh slang I usually equated with Autumn Mist, so it had to be Tinder Box.

“If that doesn’t hold, the ponies that built this place didn’t do their fucking jobs,” Crosswire swore, then there was the sound of slurping as he drank a package of Rad-Away.

My vision started to swim, the edges going black as I drifted towards unconsciousness. “Fuck, where the hell is Evergreen? I swear I heard her scream during the fighting,” Steel Curtain asked with a worried tone, and there was the sound of something heavy moving as the armored Pegasus marched around the tunnel.

He found me a few seconds later and dragged me back to consciousness when he accidentally stepped on one of my rear legs that was jutting out from under the dead Glowing One, making my cry out with the sudden pain.

“Shit, Evergreen! Suture, get over here, now!” the Pegasus ordered, pulling the corpse off of me before settling down next to me and lifting me into an awkward sitting position.

The maroon mare appeared next to me, holding two packages of Rad-Away to my lips. “Drink these first. You’re going to die if you don’t!” she insisted, pressing the loose plastic into my mouth, then squeezing the vile shit into my mouth.

I wanted to vomit, but she ordered Steel Curtain to tilt my head back and forced me to swallow. When he released me, I started to cough weakly, and felt my stomach about to rebel, but then the Rad-Away hit my system, carrying away the feelings of nausea, at least for now.

Then the pain from my leg hit me, and I tried to move it, only to find that it wasn’t responding to me. “Suture… my leg,” I groaned, “I can’t move it.”

“Shit, that ghoul did a lot of damage to the muscle tissue,” the medic muttered to herself, one of the few times I had heard her swear, and ignored my comment. Her muzzle disappeared into her saddlebags and re-emerged a few moments later with a pair of healing potions. She quickly un-stoppered them and held them out to me, one-by-one.

I drank them both, and the pain faded somewhat, but I could still feel blood flowing freely from the wounds. “Suture, it hurts,” I complained, “Why can’t I move it?”

The lucid part of my mind realized I was in shock, but I couldn’t seem to make the rest of my thoughts, or my mouth, reflect that knowledge. A small corner of my mind told me I was dying.

“Suture, she’s getting weaker,” Steel Curtain said from beside me.

“You think I don’t see that!” the medic growled angrily, her head disappearing back into her saddlebags, then coming out with two syringes of what appeared to be Med-X, as well as another injector I had only seen a few times before.

First, she injected the Med-X. The first syringe made the fire in my leg dim somewhat, though it still hurt. The second completely numbed it, and made me feel like I was floating on a cloud. My mind became fuzzy, and that small, lucid corner of my mind told me that it wasn’t like Suture to dose a pony like this. She was always far too worried about addiction.

“Fuck, I hate using this stuff, but we don’t have a choice. Evergreen, if you can understand me, bite down on this. What I am about to do is going to hurt,” the medic said, putting a thick piece of fabric into my mouth.

Not knowing why, I did as she asked, biting down on the cloth. A moment later, she used the other injector on my injured leg. I tried to scream through the cloth as fire raced through my leg, making me contort my body as I tried to break out from under Steel Curtain’s restraining hooves.

The fire spread from my leg out into the rest of my body, and I could feel my heart start to hammer against my ribcage, feeling like it was about to burst out. A wave of cold followed the fire, and my leg started to throb in time to my heart. I shifted my gaze to my leg and saw the flesh flowing around the grievous wound, obscuring the bone. Before my eyes, blood vessels grew and connected with each other; muscle tissue and tendons grew along the bone to give it back its mobility. Finally, my familiar brown hide grew along the exposed muscle, resulting in a flawless leg. It looked like it had never even been scratched.

The cold sensation finally faded, leaving me lying on the cold, hard ground, panting in exhaustion. My strength was completely gone, drained out of me by a combination of pain and the drug Suture had just used to heal me. Steel Curtain was no longer restraining me, but merely holding me as I panted, my eyes only half open.

“What the hell was that? Did it work?” he asked hurriedly, looking at Suture who was sitting with a regretful expression.

“Hydra. It’s a concoction that regenerates limbs, but it also floods the system with Taint. That’s why I hate using it. If she’s lucky, the Taint won’t affect her badly, maybe a benign tumor here or there that we can safely cut away. If she’s unlucky… well, Taint is known for causing severe cancer. I just hope that since I injected into her leg, and not some other part of her body that she’s going to be lucky. And yes, it worked,” she muttered sadly, reaching into her bags for another healing potion, which she held up to me.

I drank it down, feeling my strength start to flow back into my limbs, then reached for my canteen and emptied it into my mouth, relishing the cool taste of the water. “I’m all right,” I finally breathed when I finished, “Help me up. We can’t stay here long.”

I wanted nothing more than to sit and gather my strength, but my rad-meter was already pushing six hundred again. We had to get out of this deathtrap. I struggled to my hooves, Steel Curtain helping me first roll over, then get my legs under me. My regenerated left leg felt odd under me, but it held my weight.

“Tinder, we’re using your route. The maintenance tunnels are a no-go,” I muttered with a weak grin at the mare, who gave me a dark look that spoke volumes.

“No shit,” was all she said as she turned and approached the front of the crashed train and readied her shotgun.

The retort of the gun echoed loudly in the tunnel, but the glass in the front of the train shattered, blasting inwards with the buckshot. The scarred white mare used the barrel of the weapon to clear the glass away from the edge of the window, then clambered in, squeezing her way past the rubble and back into the passenger section of the train. The rest of us followed after her, one-by-one, until we were all gathered together on the far side of the blockage.

We drank another package of Rad-Away each, then set off down the tunnel. We were getting close to our goal, but our supply of radiation chems was dwindling quickly. Thankfully, my E.F.S. wasn’t picking up anything ahead of us, though I wasn’t trusting the device at the moment, as it hadn’t managed to detect those ghouls.

“How close are we?” I demanded of Tinder as we trotted down the tunnel, hugging the wall to the side of the train, since its hulk took up almost the entire tunnel. Walking through the train had proven to be impossible, as there was almost no space for any of us to maneuver. If something appeared to attack us, we would be so many sitting corpses.

“The station ahead will take us out where we want to be,” the mare answered tiredly. Her eyes were drooping and I could see the stagger in her step that told me she was suffering from radiation poisoning.

“Good. We need to get the fuck out of here,” I growled, putting a little more life into my step and accelerating to a canter. Everypony else followed suit, and we were soon pounding through the tunnel, finally emerging onto the platform of the station, which was thankfully empty. We charged up the broken down escalator and when we reached the top, the rads we were taking in finally dropped down to almost nothing.

We promptly collapsed, reaching into our bags for the last of our radiation meds and finished them off, lowering the amount of radiation in our systems to low, if not negligible levels. Suture wasn’t happy, saying that we were all still at risk, me especially after her use of Hydra, but there wasn’t much we could do about it.

After almost twenty minutes of simply gathering our strength again, we rose to our hooves, or talons, and pressed on, making our way out of the Metro station and emerging out into an open square. The center looked like it would have once been covered in soft, green grass, but all that was left was bare dirt with a few stalks of dead, brown grass lying limp against the dirt.

The buildings around the square were dilapidated, sorry excuses for structures. Many of them were either collapsed or on the verge of collapse. The only structure that appeared to be even close to intact was what could only be Shooting Star’s station. It was a solid brick building whose walls were scorched black, but several antenna and dishes hung off the roof, held together with a complicated network of wiring.

It was almost directly across the square from us. After everything we had been through, and considering what I was going to have to say to the buck, the distance seemed like a few miles.

We started walking, fanning out into our usual formation, with me and Tinder leading the way. As we neared the radio station, the door opened and a pair of ponies emerged. One was a white unicorn stallion wearing combat armor and wielding a combat shotgun. The other was a sand-colored Earth Pony holding a submachine gun in his mouth. They glared at us, pointing their weapons in our direction, despite our obvious advantage in numbers.

“That’s close enough, Wastelander,” the unicorn shouted from the door when we were about thirty yards away, “What do you want?”

I came to a stop, and the rest of my friends gathered around me, most of them reaching for their weapons as well. “I just want to talk to Shooting Star,” I answered, “It’s important.”

“We’ll be the ones to decide that. Now talk, or get the fuck out of here,” the unicorn growled, brandishing the shotgun.

“Look, he’s been going on and on about me these last couple of weeks. I think at the very least I should be able to talk to him,” I answered impatiently, stomping a hoof.

Unfortunately, they both laughed. “Oh, isn’t this rich. Another fucking mare claiming to be the Heroine. Look, I respect that you managed to get out here, and you even managed to get an impressive group together to look the part, but she’s been spending all her time down in the wasteland around Metro. She doesn’t have a reason to come all the way up here!” the unicorn exclaimed between breaths, still laughing.

“And how do you know I don’t have a reason to come up here?” I snapped, striding forward. The movement made them immediately stop laughing and level their weapons at me again. “If he knows that much about what’s going on around Metro, and has ponies in place to talk to some of the ponies I’ve managed to save, then he has a good information network. I need that network. There is shit going on in this wasteland that everypony is ignoring, and I intend to fucking do something about it!”

The two stallions exchanged a glance, then looked back at me. “All right. I’m going to give you one chance to prove that you’re the Heroine of Seaddle. What was the first thing you were on the radio for? If you’re some random pony that started listening after she become known, you won’t know that.”

I sighed, thinking back to the first time I had listened to the radio back in the Pearlescent’s inn in Millberry. “He was talking about me going into Stable 60 and saving the ghoul population that had managed to survive down there,” I said, picturing Marmelade’s face, and the look of gratitude that had come across his features when he saw the sky again for the first time in two hundred years.

The two stallions paused, then holstered their weapons. “It really is you…” the Earth Pony mused, stepping forward until he was standing just across from me, “Luna be damned, the DJ is going to blow a gasket when he finally meets you. Shit, I can’t actually believe you’re here!”

“Only because I need to be. Can we go in? They’re all with me, and if need be, you can consider me responsible for them,” I asked, taking in my friends with a gesture.

“Of course you’re all welcome! Fuck, I know he wanted you to come out here, he even thought about getting a few of his contacts to approach you, but decided against it, as he thought it would simply interrupt you!” the unicorn exclaimed, “This way. Your friends can rest in our mess while you talk to the DJ.”

I nodded my acknowledgment, and the two stallions led us into the station. The main entrance was organized like as a barricade, with a row of sandbags erected facing the door. A heavy machine gun was set up just across from the door, and a hardened red mare with a yellow mane was sitting at its controls, sighting at the door. She visibly relaxed and sat back to light a cigarette when the two stallions entered. Apparently everypony here was willing to trust us since we had been let in.

Honestly, the level of security surprised me. This DJ must have a lot of influence if he had this many guards protecting him. My guess was that they were probably part of some organization in the city, maybe one of the more powerful gangs that happened to own this part of the city.

The stallions led us to the mess hall and provided us all with another few packages of Rad-Away each once they found out how we had gotten here, then told us to help ourselves to their food.

Then they looked to me. “Well, you ready to meet him, Heroine? You’ve come a long way, and can rest first if you want. We have free beds.”

“Don’t call me that. My name is Evergreen,” I growled. I hated the title, and everything it implied. How could I be anypony’s hero when the only guarantee when I showed up anywhere was more death? “And I’d rather just talk to him now. I can rest when we’re done.”

“Oh, of course… Evergreen,” the unicorn said, stumbling over the name. It was immediately obvious that he had expected me to embrace the title, and he was thrown off by the fact that I didn’t want to be called that.

He led me in silence through the cramped hallways of the structure towards a stairwell that led up to the second floor, where the DJ presumably kept his equipment. Every scrap of floor space was in use for something in the building, with only the bare minimum being left open for us to walk through. Everywhere else was being used as storage for weapons, ammunition, medical supplies, maintenance supplies for both the structure itself and the ponies’ weapons, and a half dozen other essential things these ponies needed to survive out here. If nothing else, they were extremely well supplied.

“Who are you ponies?” I finally asked as we approached the stairs, my eyes being drawn to a crate that was labelled ‘.50 API’. I did not want to face the weapons they belonged to. A fifty caliber weapon was one thing, but one loaded with armor piercing and incendiary rounds was simply terrifying.

The unicorn laughed, and it was a real laugh, unlike the ugly sounds I was used to hearing from raiders and slavers. “I can imagine your confusion. I bet the only ponies you’ve run into in the city have been your standard ganger stock, like that white mare traveling with you. Looks like she’s from the Earth Marchers a few blocks to the south. We heard a lot of noise from there earlier. Your doing?”

I nodded, “Yeah, we came up against them as we got into the city proper. Tinder Box was from Stable 113, outside the city, and was pressed into the gang when they found their expedition a few years back. She helped us get into their camp and take the radiation chems we needed to get through that Metro tunnel.”

“Hmm, nice work. That gang was starting to make a nuisance of themselves, challenging our scavenging patrols. To answer your question, I suppose most ponies would only consider us a gang like any other now, since we hold this part of the city, but we’re more than that. Most of us are descended from the remnants of the old Equestrian military that survived the bombs. They held on to the military lifestyle, since it seemed like it would be needed in the world that resulted. Good foresight on their part. In the end, we still consider ourselves the Equestrian military, though we know we don’t have the authority to back it up.”

“Why are you protecting Shooting Star?” I asked, curious. I was surprised that any fragment of the old military had survived, but I could also see why it would happen. I remember my parents telling me that a lot of ponies had joined up out of the belief in what they were fighting for. It stood to reason that some of them would hang on to that even after Equestria fell apart.

“Because he’s the only one up here that gives a damn about anypony else. Take any group you can think of: the gangs, the Steel Rangers, the Enclave, even Metro. They all are out to help themselves. Sure, some of them are more willing to help outsiders than others, but in the end all they want is to ensure their own survival. We protect Shooting Star because he cares more about broadcasting that signal than he does protecting his own hide,” the unicorn stated, “As far as I know, you’re the only pony in the entire damn region that feels the same way. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here, and he wouldn’t have bothered talking about you.”

His words left me silent as I thought about what he meant. It was true that I had almost thrown my life away in my attempts to help others, and it was definitely a better line of thought than the one that Yaari had left me with. Maybe that was the balance I needed to find. Maybe it was about doing what I could to help others, despite the risk to myself, even if I had to kill in order to do it.

“Well, we’re here. Go ahead on in. He’ll know who you are the moment he sets eyes on you, I’m sure of it,” the unicorn said with a smile, gesturing to the door in front of me before turning and heading back down the staircase.

Now that I was here, I was hesitant to open the door. For weeks I had heard this stallion talking about me as if I was the greatest thing to happen since the spark battery, and I finally had a chance to do something about it. To my shame, a small part of my mind wanted to make sure that didn’t stop. I resolutely put that part of my mind down and opened the door.

Beyond the door I was met with a scene straight out of the old technology magazines I would find from time to time in ruins: Tables and benches absolutely littered with wires, switchboards, computers, and recording instruments of all kinds. An entire wall was taken up by a vast collection of holotapes, most of which looked to be records of Shooting Star’s shows, along with a few ancient music tapes, probably what he used to fill the void between shows.

There was only one pony in the room, and there was no doubt that it was Shooting Star. He was a fit Pegasus stallion with a bright blue hide and even brighter yellow mane that was kept back from his face by a bright red headband, but was allowed to flow freely down the back of his neck to cascade around his shoulders. On his flank was a brand of Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark, which told me immediately that he had been born above the clouds, making me instantly jealous of him. He had actually seen the stars, the moon, and, most importantly, the sun.

He was standing at a microphone facing a window that looked to be heavily reinforced that gazed out onto the landscape of the city. It was also facing south, towards the wasteland I knew.

“Hellllooooooo Seaddle!” the stallion announced in his usual joyful tone after taking a deep breath, “You are listening to Shooting Star, you ever so reliable, and might I add handsome, DJ. But you didn’t tune in to hear me talk about myself, you want to hear the news! Here are the juiciest details that have crossed my path:

Another group of slavers have been vanquished, thanks to the attentions of your Heroine of Seaddle! A few days ago, a rather large shipment of slaves was seen traveling the region between Grovedale and Metro, but our Heroine stepped in and set those ponies free, and even guided them safely all the way back to Metro! How is that for a good influence!

In other, more somber, news, the Heroine has not been seen since she departed from Metro shortly afterwards. If anypony knows, I would be more than grateful to learn where that Paragon of Ponykind has hidden herself this time!”

I felt myself becoming more and more uncomfortable with every word he spoke. It had been bad before, when he was still learning about me. Now, he made it sound like I was some sort of superpony that would always sweep in to save the day. The image of a dead mare lying forgotten on a bed was all the reminder that I needed that that wasn’t the case.

The DJ took a breath from his oratory and shot a glance over his shoulder towards me, and I saw his eyes go wide and his jaw go slack. There was no doubting the look of recognition in his eyes. Fuck, now I would have to put up with him shouting my praises to the entire wasteland.

“Hold on now, Seaddle, I have the biggest update of the week for you!” he shouted ecstatically into the microphone, “I have just received the answer to my very last question, and you will not beeelieeeve it! Take one guess who is standing here in the studio of yours truly? If you guessed the one and only Heroine of Seaddle, you are exactly right! Who would have thought she would show up here, just in time for my show!” He turned so that he was facing me, and so that there was space at the microphone beside him.

“Come on up here, Heroine! I have waited a looooong time to finally be able to do this!” he announced with a vigorous gesture of ‘come here’ with his hoof.

I hesitated, then slowly did as he bid, making my way up to the microphone. I was very conscious of the fact that I was still coated in blood, most of it my own.

“So, Heroine, what brought you all the way up here to my little corner of Seaddle, hmmm? Isn’t there someplace else you’re needed more?” he asked me, his tone questioning, but not accusatory. It was surprising just how much life and emotion the buck could put into his words.

In a small corner of my mind, I could hear Crosswire urging me not to publicly destroy the image that the stallion had made of me. Part of me wanted to announce that I hated the title anyway, but the wiser part of me knew that would be damning. So, as much as I hated it, I had to play along.

“Honestly? I need your help, Shooting Star. There’s only so much a single pony can do in the wasteland, and I need to know where I can do the most good. I’ve spent the last weeks in and around Metro, but that is only one small part of the wasteland. I need to look farther out, if I’m actually going to make a difference,” I answered, trying to put a little life into my words, but my exhaustion at the events of the day, from the battle with the Earth Marchers to the fight with the ghouls, not to mention the excessive radiation of the Metro tunnels themselves, left me feeling drained, and I could feel my voice reflecting that.

“I don’t think there is anything you could have said that would make me more proud,” the Pegasus buck said with a lively smile that lit his entire face, “You see, most ponies would be mad at you for coming all the way out here when you could be helping others, but you and I see the world differently. You know that the wasteland had been this way for a long time, and that putting out a few fires here or there really isn’t going to change anything. We know that we need to fix things at the most basic level, to improve the lives of eeeeveryyyypony, if we are going to ever accomplish anything. I can respect that.”

Just like that, the stallion had taken my poorly worded statement, and put it into a format that I’m pretty sure anypony could understand. “Yeah, pretty much,” I answered simply with a shrug, not sure what else to say.

“Well, I love to hear it. But let me ask you something, first. How do you feel about what you’ve been doing, about the difference you’ve been making in so many ponies’ lives?” he asked. I could practically hear him hold his breath as he finished the question, he eyes glued on me.

I hesitated, thinking back on everything that everypony had ever told me ever since I had left that camp such a short time ago. There was Yaari’s approach, that no matter how much good I tried to do, I would never be anything more than a killer, and that my hooves would always be stained with the blood of the innocent. There was Shooting Star’s view: that I was some sort of hero, destined to save the wasteland from itself. And then there was the view I had just heard: that I was a pony that actually cared about what happened in the wasteland, and that I was willing to put my life on the line to see some good happen.

“How do I feel about my choices?” I mused out loud, asking the question to myself, “They aren’t easy. I know from my interactions with slavers, gangers, and your own guards up here, that ponies are trying to emulate me, thinking that all they need to do is pick up a gun and go out there to put things right, but it isn’t that easy. Every choice I make carries consequences, and I haven’t always been equipped to deal with those,” I answered as honestly as I could, “Some days are harder than most, like when my friends get hurt, and I don’t know how serious the injuries are, or when I have to choose between letting somepony decide to follow their own dreams, even if it could mean their death, or stopping them to ensure that they live, even if it shackles them to a life they don’t want. But most of all, it’s hard knowing that every time I try to help somepony in need, I know that I will most likely have to kill again. The responsibility of that many lives, even if most of them deserve their fate, isn’t something I can just write off. As terrible as those ponies are, they are still living, breathing ponies, and their deaths are just as real as anyone else’s.”

A heavy silence followed my speech, and Shooting Star let it deepen, probably giving the audience the chance to take it all in, then he spoke, but his words were soft and light, unlike the energy he had put into them before. “That was very well said, and there are many lessons we can all take to heart from it. Thank you, Heroine, for joining me. I know a lot of ponies out there must feel so much safer now, simply knowing what your voice sounds like, and knowing that you take every decision you make seriously. I know I, for one, feel better.

Well, Seaddle. That is all I have for you tonight. Thank you for joining me for this very special broadcast. Now, here is some Sweetie Belle to soothe you this hopefully peaceful night. This is Shooting Star, signing off.”

He reached out with a wing and hit a switch on a console, and a small light lit up, letting a soft, sweet melody drift out from the speakers. He hit another switch, and the microphone and speakers went dead, limiting the music to the radio, so he and I could speak without the distraction of the music.

“Ah, Heroine, you do not know how long I have wanted to meet you!” he exclaimed suddenly, all of his previous energy returning in a rush as he smothered me in a crushing hug, his wings flaring out and wrapping about me as well.

I let him embrace me, tapping him awkwardly on the shoulder with my one free hoof, my left one. I was still getting used to the idea that a large part of the limb had been regenerated from almost nothing but bone. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally let me go, sitting back on a stool and fixing me in a lively gaze. “So, what can I do for you?”

“Well… for starters, please call me Evergreen. I get why you came up with that title,” I said, not quite succeeding at suppressing a shudder as I thought about it, “but I hate it. I don’t feel like I fit it at all, and I don’t feel like I will ever deserve it.”

Shooting Star nodded in understanding, and odd look on his face. He had a sort of half-grin on his face that lit his eyes up with some sort of humor, but it wasn’t quite a full smile. “Good. You wouldn’t be the pony I know you are if you thought you deserved it,” he stated, getting up from his seat and wandering over to one of the consoles. He flicked a few switches and a holotape popped out. My guess was that it was the recording of this most recent broadcast. He held it in his hooves, almost cradling it, then picked up a roll of adhesive tape and applied a small strip to the tape before pulling out a pen and scrawling something on it.

“I don’t think you understand,” I said when it became obvious he wasn’t going to say anything else until he was finished with whatever ritual it was he was going through. “I don’t deserve the title. You may know something about what I’ve been doing these last couple weeks, but you don’t know anything about me, Shooting Star. Part of the reason for me coming up here was to tell you everything, so at least you heard it from me rather than somepony else.”

“And you’re also here because you need my information network,” the Pegasus said with a jolly tone, “So you can imagine that I probably already have a good idea of what you want to tell me so urgently about why you aren’t a hero.” He shot a look at me over his shoulder and winked. This was a very odd stallion.

He walked over to the shelf with all the other holotapes and cleared out a small section. “I think this is a good place for this one,” he mused to himself, his wings fluttering against his sides, “It is special, so it deserves a special place.”

“Look, Shooting Star, I’m trying to be serious here!” I complained, walking up behind him. I arrived just in time to see him step back from the shelf, where the holotape now sat, the words ‘Meeting a Heroine’ looking out into the small, chaotic room.

“And I am as well. Special moments are not to be rushed,” he admonished me, hopping into the air to turn around to face me, “So, since this matter of yours is so serious, let’s sit down, shall we?”

He pushed his way passed me and sat at one of his consoles, then swiveled the chair around to face me, propping his forehooves up on his rear legs and resting his chin on them. It looked like a very unnatural position for a pony to sit in.

I sighed and sat down where I was, looking down at the ground. “Well, I guess I should start at the beginning. I am here because I wanted you to hear this from me, and not from some pony that happened to know who I am, who I really am,” I started, then looked up at the Pegasus, “So here goes.”

I told him everything, starting with my exile from Grovedale, telling him about my years in the raider gang, not leaving out any of the details, and finishing with my most recent escapade against the Earth Marchers and the ghouls in the Metro system. The only facts I left out were the ones concerning the monster living in my mind. That wasn’t something he would ever be able to help me with. All told, it took me almost two hours to relate the entire story. Parts of it seemed ridiculous, even to me. I was exhausted, but this wasn’t something I could let wait. One of my main reasons for coming up here was to talk to this buck, so waiting was not going to do me any favors.

Throughout it all, he sat silently, only nodding occasionally at some moments, but otherwise sitting stock still. When I finally finished my tale, he sat back, a smile spreading over his features. “Here we have proof that even the best information network will let things slip through the cracks. I do appreciate you coming to me. My sources told me that your past was shadowy, but they didn’t know just how much in the dark it was. Had anypony else told me the tale you just did, I would not have hesitated to go up to that radio and lay you bare to the entire wasteland. Most ponies like you would deserve it.”

My expression dropped as a feeling of despair opened up in my chest. I deserved treatment like that, and he knew it as well. At least he had received the truth from me, and not somepony that had told him simply out of spite.

“I can see from the look on your face that you think I should, right?” he asked, a note of humor creeping into his voice.

I looked up in surprise, and nodded.

“Well, here’s the thing: it takes guts to come to somepony like me that has influence, and lay your entire life bare to him. It takes the sort of decency that ponies just don’t have anymore. So I can safely say that you are not going to willingly start slaughtering random ponies out there, am I right?”

“Right now, I’m finding it hard to cope with having to kill anypony, including the gangs and slavers,” I admitted, “It seems like everywhere I go, death follows, and there is nothing I can do to stop it.”

“And that is exactly why I find myself trusting you. So, in other business, let me guess at the other reason why you came out here: You need information about this Seahawk, or at least about Mareina or Greymane?” he asked, as if that small interaction was enough to put my spirit to rest about who I was.

“I… well… yeah,” I finally managed to get out, “You don’t care at all about what I was, what I still am, in a way. I’m nothing but a killer…”

“You’re a killer that is selective about who you’re going to kill. That’s the difference between you and a thug. And don’t think I haven’t noticed your friends. I’ve heard all about them as well. The maroon mare, the medic, is from Metro, and ponies from there would have nothing to do with a raider. The other mare, the dark one, I don’t know as much about, but from what I hear, she is almost religious in her pursuit of justice against raiders and slavers. As for the other two, well, I can understand the plight of your Dashite friend, and if one of your old followers is loyal enough to you to tag along despite everything, I can’t help but think that he agrees with you,” Shooting Star said with a grin, “But, as I was saying, you want information?”

I sighed heavily, getting to my hooves and walking over to the window that looked out into the wasteland. Physically, I could see the broken shells of the towers and buildings that had been the Seaddle skyline. Only on the horizon, as a dim, hazy line, could I make out the wasteland I had grown up in.

In my mind, however, I saw those familiar hills and wreckage-choked roads, as well as the abandoned structures, hasty fortifications of small bands or caravans, and the mud-streaked hides of the caravaneers themselves. There was a lot worth fighting for out there, and I had made it my job to see it done. The words ‘Meeting a Heroine’ crossed my mind, and I thought I finally had a glimmer of understanding of why the DJ had chosen the title.

“Yes. I’ve exhausted my other options, and I know Greymane is on my tail. I’ve spent too long already fucking around with Metro. It is long past time I started actually doing something, but I haven’t got a clue where to start. All I knew was that the bastard would be targeting Millberry, but I took care of that a while ago. Then there’s the fact that I know almost nothing about Greymane, despite the fact that we’ve crossed paths. Then there’s Mareina and her mercenaries, not to mention Seahawk himself,” I growled, tearing my gaze away from the window to look at the DJ.

There was a glint of excitement in his eye as well as that constant smile on his face. He was odd, but he knew what he was doing, and he knew what he wanted, I could give him that. “Evergreen, my Heroine, I think I can help you,” he said as he rose, “As far as any of them go, individually, I can only tell you as much as anyone else. Greymane is a vicious killer, and will take any job, so long as the pay is right. The fact that he’s signed on with Seahawk is surprising, since he never seemed the sort for causes. Same goes for Mareina, and she’s as vicious, if not more so, than Greymane is. As for Seahawk, well… I’d only ever heard the name in passing before all of this, which tells me that whoever it is, is a lot smarter than we give them credit for. My guess would be that it is a codename, or some other nickname for somepony that doesn’t want to reveal themselves.”

“So what can you help me with?” I growled, “They are the ones chasing me down, and Greymane has already come close enough to killing one of my friends. I’m pretty sure it’s only luck I haven’t crossed paths with him again!”

“A combination of luck and him needing to re-think his approach, I think. Judging from your story, you came awfully close to beating him, and the point would not be lost on him. He’s probably stepped back, letting Mareina have her shot before having another go himself,” Shooting Star amended me, “But what I can help you with is something that might give you an idea of where to go. I could be wrong, but I have a few hunches about what it is that Seahawk wants, but he doesn’t know where to get it. What I can give you, Evergreen, is a name: Whinny Island. It’s an old naval base off the coast of the mainland. I think you’ll find something there that could be of use, and not only because it’s the only military base around these parts that hasn’t been ransacked.”

“Whinny Island? Seems like an odd name for a military base,” I said, pulling up the map on my Pipbuck. Sure enough, now that the DJ had pointed it out, there was a marker on the map for the island, though I had no clue how I was going to get there. It was way too far out to sea for any of us to be able to swim.

Shooting Star shrugged. “Who knows why they named it that way back when. Doesn’t matter anymore. What you need is a way to get there, and I can give you that as well.”

“For free?” I asked sarcastically. If he said yes, I was going to call bullshit. Nothing was ever free in the wasteland.

“Of course. You’re already doing far more for me than anypony else. It would be petty for me to ask you to do anything else. I already have a recorded show with you in it, not to mention the fact that you’re out there cleaning the wasteland up and convincing the towns to work together. I couldn’t think of anything else,” the buck laughed. I snorted, which only made him laugh louder.

“Fine! Don’t believe me!” he practically cackled, “Doesn’t make it any less true! Either way, you’re going to want to find a pony by the name of High Seas. He’s an old pony that runs a small fishing boat a few hours walk to the east of the city. For a fee he’ll take you anywhere you want to go. If you tell him I sent you, he’ll probably give you a discount, though I won’t promise you that’s true.”

“You think it’s still running? When’s the last time you got in touch with him?” I asked with a disbelieving tone. It simply seemed too good to be true.

“Yeah, I know, what with all the dangers out there, but he’s a tough nut. If anypony is still alive, he is,” Shooting Star insisted, rising to his hooves and making his way to the door, “Now, we’ve been talking for quite a while, and I imagine your friends are starting to wonder where you are. The beds are open to you all, as are our cleaning facilities. They aren’t anything fancy, just some tubs and dirty water, but it’s better than nothing. Why don’t you go down, get some rest, and we’ll talk again in the morning before you head out, eh?” He opened the door and held it that way for me to step through.

“Are you sure? Thank you. After today, we need the security of a place like this. Thank you again for your help, and understanding,” I muttered, nodding my head in appreciation.

“I’m sure, and I wouldn’t imagine doing otherwise. We both seek to better the wasteland in our own ways. I’m no good with a gun, so I use my voice. But you can take the more direct route. Together, we can change this city for the better. Now go, get some rest. We’ll speak in the morning.”

With that, he ushered me out of the room and closed it behind him. With nothing else to do, I wandered down the stairs and made my way back to the mess hall where my friends had been gathered earlier.

They were all still sitting around, talking, laughing, and generally enjoying themselves. A few of the ponies that belonged to the group protecting the building had joined them, and were animatedly trading stories, mostly just with Crosswire and Tinder Box, as the others didn’t have much to tell of their own wasteland experiences.

When they saw my arrival, the attention immediately fixated on me, and it was really unexpected. “So, Heroine, I guess the meeting went well, huh?” Tinder laughed raucously, nearly falling off of her chair in her mirth.

I looked from pony to pony, my confusion probably very evident on my face. Steel Curtain, after five minutes of laughter on everypony’s part, finally took mercy on me. “We turned on the radio down here just in time for that broadcast,” he said, grinning broadly, “You did well, but seemed as emotional as a plank of wood compared to Shooting Star.”

“Well, you try getting forced into a radio broadcast when you’re exhausted after a long day of travel and fighting,” I growled, but there was no real anger in the words. If anything, I was happy to see my friends laughing with each other.

“We’re just fucking with you, Evergreen,” Autumn Mist laughed, walking up to me and draping a leg around my shoulders. Her breath smelled markedly of alcohol. Great, my friends has been drinking. “How’d the meeting afterwards go? You were up there for quite a while. Have some fun while you had the chance?” she asked as she smacked my rump with her tail, then started laughing uncontrollably, grabbing her side with her free hoof and nearly falling over.

I recoiled in horror, my gaze automatically being drawn to Crosswire, then Steel Curtain. The former had a look of anger that was quickly stamped out, but not before I noticed. The latter had a worried expression.

“What! No! We talked, or… I talked. I told him everything about me, like I said I was going to do. It took a long time to tell that story…” I trailed off, my gaze dropping down to the floor.

“How’d he take it?” Suture asked softly, getting up to guide the dark mare back to her seat and giving her a bottle of water to drink.

“A lot better than I expected. He basically said it was a non-issue since I was the one that made the attempt to come out and tell him. From there, we talked about what we’ve been working on for so long,” I answered, being intentionally vague, considering the two members of our group I knew almost nothing about.

“Well, that’s good,” Steel Curtain said from his corner. An open bottle of Sparkle-Cola was sitting open on the table in front of him. One of the local ponies was standing by his side; the earth pony that had met us at the door, “What kind of advice did he have?”

“He gave me a name, something to look into once we’re done with Stable 113,” I said, looking over at the Dashite. I hoped that my expression was enough to tell him to drop it. I still wasn’t completely willing to trust our newest traveling companions. I was more willing to trust Tinder Box, considering her background, but Marcus’s past was still almost entirely unknown to me. He had helped us out of enough sticky situations that I trusted him in a fight, but the sensitive information concerning Seahawk and his allies was something I wanted to keep purely amongst those of us I really knew. It was simply too dangerous otherwise, especially considering the fact that I expected the griffin to be leaving us now that he had guided us here.

Unfortunately, it was Tinder that asked the question, rather than the armored Pegasus. “You mean the Stable isn’t the only reason you’re up here?” she asked, cocking her head to one side in confusion, “Exactly what is it you’re doing here then? The entire city has been ransacked and belongs to the gangs. Not even your influence can change that. And what do you mean about telling the DJ about who you are?”

I sighed heavily. I was backed into a corner, and there was very little I could do about it. “Yeah, I’m up here for more than just the Stable. We accepted that job on behalf of our friend because it was on the way here. And my past is far more checkered than you think, Tinder. I’m not a hero. I’m just a pony that realized I was doing the wrong thing, and decided to try to do better.”

“Fair enough, we’ve all got our skeletons, but exactly what are you up here for? Like I said, no one pony will ever be able to influence all the gangs,” the white mare insisted, reaching out for a bottle of vodka that was sitting next to her and taking a generous swallow.

“I have to admit, I’m intrigued as well,” Marcus added, “After seeing you in action yesterday and today, you are definitely a pony to be reckoned with, and I am really interested to find out what cause would grab your attention.”

“This isn’t something I like talking openly about,” I said bluntly. Hiding the truth wasn’t going to gain me anything, and I didn’t want to start sharing everything I knew, but I felt I could trust them enough to tell them where I was going to be going. “Suffice to say I’ve found a threat to the wasteland that I don’t intend to simply let happen. Shooting Star told me of a place I can go to find something that might help. He called it Whinny Island.”

“The old naval base? No shit,” Marcus mused, scratching his chin with a taloned hand, “Isn’t that interesting. I’ve heard a lot of bad stories about that place. They say it’s haunted, and that no one who has ventured there has ever returned since the bombs fell.”

“Ghost stories don’t frighten me! I say what are we waiting for!” Autumn exclaimed, rising to her hooves and thrusting a hoof victoriously into the air.

“We’re waiting until after we’ve dealt with the Stable. From what I can make out, the Stable is between here and where we need to go to get there anyway,” I answered, “Not to mention the fact that I am still exhausted and covered in blood after today.”

“Oh… right,” the dark mare muttered, her head falling back to the surface of the table in despair, “I hate those fucking holes in the ground.”

“Interesting job. Traveling with you is definitely an interesting experience,” Tinder said, taking another swig of her drink, “It’ll be interesting to see what happens. Am I taking you to the Stable tomorrow then?”

“That’s the plan,” I confirmed with a nod, then turned to Marcus, “As for you, you fulfilled your end of the bargain. You’re free to leave anytime you like. Thanks for your help in getting us here. The Goddesses know your help was invaluable.”

The griffin shrugged, then said, “Honestly, I’ve got nowhere to go. All I was doing before those fuckers nabbed me was fly aimlessly about. With you, there’s actually something happening. If you don’t mind, I think I’ll stick around a bit until something comes up that grabs my interest.”

I couldn’t find a reason to say no, so I nodded. Besides, he might come to be as important to this group as Steel Curtain had. “I guess I could use another set of eyes in the air. Thanks, Marcus. As for the rest of you, get some rest, especially you, Autumn,” I said pointedly, glaring at the dark mare, “As always, we’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

I turned away from them and made my way out into the hallway, stopping the first pony I saw to ask where the cleaning area was. Once given directions, I made my way there, relishing the thought of finally being able to clean myself up.

I had just managed to pull my blood-soaked barding off when Crosswire appeared in the door. “I have to say, I’m impressed you managed to not blow the whole ‘Heroine’ thing on the radio,” he stated, leaning against the door frame.

“You were right, Crosswire. I don’t gain anything by turning the wasteland against me. At least Shooting Star heard me out and knows the truth. We’ll see how he handles it on his next show,” I answered, grabbing a bottle of water and emptying it over my head tow wash out the worst of the blood from my mane and face. From there, I started scrubbing at the blood that had caked onto my chest, not to mention the mud, dust, and dirt that had gathered over the rest of me from the city and Metro tunnels.

“Well, at least you know how to learn from your mistakes then,” he said, then fell silent.

After a few moments, I looked over at him. He was standing stock still, staring at me. His expression was contemplative, as if he was trying to ask me something, but didn’t know how. “Was there something else, Crosswire?” I finally asked, pointedly staring back at him.

“Something happened, didn’t it?” he finally asked, “Between you and Steel Curtain? I can tell. Both of you are acting very different, and you can barely keep your eyes off him. It was bad before, but I’m sure everypony is noticing it now. Autumn’s comment, drunk though she was, made me really notice it.”

“Really, Crosswire? You need to do this now?” I growled, turning on him, “My personal life is just that, personal. We’re both still fighting just fine, so what business is it of anypony’s?”

“It’s our business because it might affect us in the future. If the shit hits the fan, and you need to decide between me and him, who are you going to choose?” the ragged tech demanded, stepping away from the doorframe and towards me.

I didn’t answer immediately. The question that I would ever have to make that kind of choice had never crossed my mind, and I did not like the issues that it brought up. “I… I don’t know,” I stuttered, “I’ve never thought about it.”

“Then at least be honest with me! Did something happen!” Crosswire demanded angrily, taking another step towards me.

“We kissed, all right! It caught me completely by surprise when it happened, and I still don’t know how I feel, but it happened, ok! Fuck, Crosswire, this isn’t like you!” I snapped, turning away for him to grab another bottle to rinse myself off with.

The unicorn seemed to deflate, as if that one comment killed the last of his hopes. “All right. It is him then. Sorry, Evergreen, I just… nevermind.” He turned and strode out the door, his head hung low.

“Crosswire! What’s wrong! Talk to me!” I shouted after him, but he ignored me, disappearing around the corner. I watched on my E.F.S. as he made his way back towards the mess, and then to somewhere else, probably the sleeping area.

If his feelings for me were still such a problem, we were going to have to talk about it. All I could hope for was that he would listen when the time came. First, I would have to talk to Steel Curtain, and figure out where we stood. None of that was going to be easy, since I still didn’t know what I thought about it all.

I took my time to finish cleaning up, doing my best to clean off my armor as well, before pulling it back on and heading towards the barracks. When I finally arrived, almost everypony else was already asleep, so I simply crawled into a bunk and lay down, hoping that sleep would come easily.

Level Up!
Perk gained: Fast Hooves – Your reload speed with all weapons has been increased by 25%
Skill Note: Guns (100)

{Another finished chapter, and another step towards some moments that I have been looking forward to for a long time. Thank you, as always, to Kkat for the original FoE, as well as to Cody and MUCKSTER for their editing and tearing this story to shreds to make sure the characters remain themselves. As always, the hub page on Google Docs can be found here. Also, an extra note here: Cody is pretty much unable to edit anymore, as he is simply too busy, so if anyone is either willing to pre-read and edit, please message me!}

Chapter 13: Turning Point

Fallout Equestria: Redemption
Author: Cooperdawg
Chapter 13: Turning Point
“And who are you, that I must bow so low?”

Another day, and another unfamiliar bed. Sometimes I missed the familiarity of a regular lifestyle. Not that I didn’t think what I was doing was necessary. In a way, I even enjoyed our work, knowing that I was making progress, despite appearances to the contrary. Now, saving ponies was the only thing that drove me forward. It was a large change in such a short time, but all that told me was that this was what I was supposed to be doing.

At the end of the day, I could say I was actually happy, far happier than I had been in years. I had a group of friends that were willing to do just about anything for me, and, shoot me for thinking it, but also a potential relationship that could offer me stability and security in this fucked-up world that we called home. Every day I saw evidence that ponykind had allowed this to happen to us. It was in the haze on the horizon, and the blasted lifelessness of the wasteland.

I could still see the pictures in my mind’s eye, from the small book I had treasured so long ago, before my life had gone so completely wrong. They were pictures of rolling green hills, and orchards that went on as far as the eye could see, every single tree laden down with fruit. And our leaders, the ones meant to deliver us to safety and ensure our protection, had wasted it all. Now all that was left was a broken shell, sometimes not even that. Civilization as we knew it had ceased to be, but from the fires of hell, something else had emerged, something that gave us an opportunity to build something better.

In a way, the apocalypse could be said to have saved us all. I knew that I valued the friendships I had more than anything else I had ever owned. Part of me, the cynical part that I tried to keep buried, told me that ponies had once considered friendship a given, and that they had forgotten the value of what a friend was.

And sometimes, taking away the safety and security of those preconceptions was the only way to teach us that everything good in life was to be valued, that even the smallest of kindnesses should not be overlooked. The bombs had ended a world in which ponies were expected to help their neighbors, then ushered in a world where the simple act of cutting a rope led to the belief that there was a debt to be paid. The words “It’s simply what a friend does,” had probably not been uttered in a very long time.

And that was why what I had was so special. In this world of greed, death, and misery, I had found a group of ponies, as different from each other as anyone possibly could be, that were willing to save lives because that was simply what decent ponies did. I couldn’t be prouder to know that they were my friends.

And to add something even better to all of this, I finally had my journal again. It had taken me a while to find a usable pencil, but ever since I had picked one up while wandering in Metro I had renewed my tradition of writing in it every time I got a chance. I had also started a new tradition of reading some of my earliest entries, and they all brought back images I had long since forgotten, like the morning so long ago my parents had woken me with a fresh meal, with real food. It had been the first time I had ever eaten real food, and now the memory of all of those tastes were coming back. It brought a smile to my face.

I pushed myself to my hooves and pulled on my saddlebags. Shooting Star had promised to speak with me before we left, and I intended to do just that. I had a few questions I still needed to ask, and I was willing to do whatever the DJ wanted to have them answered. At the end of the day, the wasteland ran on a barter economy, and information was one of the most valuable commodities in existence.

The mess hall was nearly empty, populated only by a few of the soldiers protecting the base, as well as Crosswire and Tinder Box. It seemed that the tech had found a kindred spirit in the scarred white mare as they had their weapons laid out on the table between them, discussing something about how to best clean and maintain the precise machinery that allowed the firearms to function.

They spared only the barest nods in my direction when I arrived before returning their focus to the discussion. I didn’t mind. All I wanted was a bite to eat.

A burly green Earth pony was standing behind a set of table that had been moved to form a sort of buffet. Laid out on them was a vast variety of food, from seemingly fresh sandwiches to the ubiquitous pre-war packaged food. There were even a few options for the carnivorously inclined. The buck was wearing a chef’s apron and had a ridiculous poofy white hat on top of his head.

“Ah, our Heroine of Seaddle!” the Earth pony boomed as I approached, “Tell me what I can treat you to? We have everything! Fresh produce imported all the way from the remote settlements of Baytown and Fresh Springs; Fresh meat from the hunters beyond Buckview; or, of course, the ever-so-popular pre-packaged food? You’re wish is my desire!”

I was taken aback by the enthusiasm in the buck’s voice. “I’ve never heard of Baytown or Fresh Springs,” I muttered as I perused the available food, “Where are they? And how the hell did you get their food all the way here?” Any town that was capable of producing its own food must be powerful indeed. They would need a way to protect their interests, since they would always be the target of raiders looking for a quick and easy meal. Even slavers would find the draw irresistible.

“To answer the second question, our main base has an arrangement with the two towns, and gets regular shipments. Any time soldiers are moving from here to our base, the replacements bring a few crates of fresh food with them. As for the first question, they are not well known, but we still have connections with some of the ponies that live there, thanks mostly to Shooting Star’s radio equipment. They are remote ponies and don’t really like the company of others, though they are willing to trade their surplus goods with us in exchange for weapons and ammunition,” the buck explained with a slow nod of his head, “They live beyond the mountains to the south, on the other side of the peninsula that we call home. If you look at the map on your Pipbuck there, I am sure you will see what I mean.”

I pulled up the map and zoomed out as far as it would allow me. Sure enough, I could make out the shape of the landmass on which Seaddle sat. It was a relatively thin strip of land, jutting out into the ocean from the main body of the continent. The mountain range I knew so well extended almost to the coast, with only a small strip of arable land available for any sort of farming, though I imagine they did a good job of protecting the land from the torrential downpours that were so common here.

“Huh, I didn’t know anypony lived that far south,” I mused, lowering my leg and looking at the buck, “Is the food they make any good?”

The buck laughed, a hearty sound that originated deep in his chest and practically shook the walls. “Good? It’s the best meal anywhere this side of Equestria. What few reports we can get from the homeland tell us that there is a group of ponies near the old city of Hoofington that might be able to produce fresh fruit and vegetables as well, but everything we hear from that region tells us that the land is sick, poisoned even. Seaddle was not targeted by nearly as many bombs on the Last Day. I will guarantee that our food is better!” He announced, pounding his chest in pride.

“Your food? Did you grow up there?” I asked pointedly, my gaze now wandering to the apples and carrots lying on the table. They looked healthy and juicy, and my mouth was watering just looking at them.

“Hah! You’re sharper than most!” the buck exclaimed, a wide smile splitting his face, “Indeed, I was born in Fresh Springs, and there was no better place to live. But, as with all safe and secure homes, life was dull. Mine was a spirit born to wander, and I did so from the day I earned my cutie mark! Didn’t stop until I fell in with the Captain. Decided that fighting to help the ponies of the Wasteland was better than wandering aimlessly.”

“Captain? Is he the one in charge of all of you?” I asked, reaching out and grabbing one of the ripe, green apples to inspect it more closely.

“Aye. Captain Rolling Thunder. Those of us here are only a small group, tasked to protect Shooting Star. The rest of us are safe and sound at the old military base to the west. There are enough of us there to protect ourselves, but not quite so many that we can really help the wasteland, at least not in the way the Captain wants to,” the buck said sadly, “That’s why we volunteered to come here. At least we can make a difference protecting the only sane voice to be heard by all ponies in this part of the world.”

“I might have to talk to this Captain at some point. He sounds like a useful pony to know, especially to someone in my profession,” I said, smiling as I took a bite of the apple. It was by far the most delicious thing I had ever tasted. Sweet, and at the same time tart, juice flowed into my mouth and down my chin. I was so used to food being bland, so old that it had lost all flavor, that I had almost forgotten food could have a taste.

My face must have shown my thoughts because the buck started to laugh again. “Ah, I love to see ponies eat real food for the first time, and discovering that food can be enjoyed, rather than just eaten for survival. And the Captain would love to meet you, Heroine.”

“Please, just call me Evergreen,” I finally managed to say, finding my voice again as I took another, much larger, bite.

“And I am Spring Bounty. If you do travel to Camp Resolve, tell the Captain I sent you. He will make you welcome! And please, take these for your travels. They’ll remind you of better things in the lifeless wastes we call home,” the massive buck said, giving me a bag full of fresh fruits and vegetables.

I immediately stashed the treasure in my saddlebags. My friends would be amazed at the taste of the fresh food. I’d share them for our meal when we got to Stable 113. I was already looking forward to it. “Thank you, Spring Bounty. Now, I need to go see Shooting Star. We’ve got a few things to discuss before we can leave.”

The buck nodded his acceptance as I turned and trotted out of the room, my spirits lifted to levels I hadn’t felt in a long time. It was amazing what effect a little bit of good food could have on the mind.

Within minutes, I was standing at the door of the DJ’s studio, and knocked.

“Come in,” his iconic voice answered immediately, still joyful and upbeat.

I pushed the door open and found the DJ standing at one of the many consoles in the room, typing something. “Give me just a moment. I won’t be long,” the Pegasus said, sparing me the briefest of looks over his shoulder.

He finished his work, typing a few last, seemingly decisive commands before shutting the console down and turning to face me. His face instantly lit up with joy when he recognized my face. “Ah, my Heroine, I was looking forward to seeing you this morning. I’ve been receiving reports from the Wasteland about last night’s show. Hearing your voice has given many ponies hope again. And I also learned something you might wish to know: Millberry has sent a caravan south, with the intention of traveling past Metro, and even past Grovedale. Would you happen to know why?”

I nodded, a smile spreading across my features at the knowledge that my work was coming to something. “I would. Part of the deal with Millberry was securing a water purifier or recycler for them. I found one in a Stable outside the Steel Ranger Outpost, and they agreed to give it to Millberry, since their bunker already has a purifier.”

“Ah, I see. Well, that is something worthy of telling as well. I’ll be sure to tell the city on the next show. I must say though, it is rare for me to get news like this right from the mouth of the mare responsible. It’s refreshing,” Shooting Star with a smile, “But I doubt you came up here to listen to me blather. What questions are still on your mind, my Heroine?”

“I thought I asked you to call me Evergreen, Shooting Star. I hate that title. I’m nopony’s hero. I’m just a mare trying to give them all a chance to live,” I complained, stepping past the DJ, a stormy look replacing my smile.

“I know, Heroine, but in my mind, you are one of the few with the strength to save us. If anything, your past makes you all the better for it,” the DJ answered, his hooves clopping on the ground as he turned with me.

“What!” I shouted, turning on him, my anger briefly getting the best of me before I tamped it down and locked it away in a corner of my mind. This buck did not deserve my anger, not after everything he had done. “How could you possibly think that?” I asked incredulously, once I was under better control of myself, “I made a living out of murdering other ponies. My followers routinely mutilated the corpses of our victims, and I did nothing to stop them! How the fuck does that make me better suited to save this fucking wasteland! I know of at least a half dozen ponies that want to put a bullet in my skull out of principle!”

Despite my tirade, the DJ still had that damned smile on his face, like he was in on some joke that the wasteland was still waiting to see. It was infuriating. All I wanted was to see this damn buck crack, to get angry, or sad, or disappointed, or something. He was too fucking happy.

“And that is why you are better suited. You know the price of failure, or the cost we will all pay if you give up. You understand what evils lie out there, and because of that, you know what you are fighting against,” he answered calmly, he façade completely unbroken.

“But I don’t!” I exclaimed, “Seahawk isn’t like the raiders or the slavers. They are unorganized, brutish, and largely stupid. The ponies loyal to him are anything but! He has the loyalty of killers like Greymane and Mareina, and the other mercenaries he commands are well-equipped and smart. Did you hear anything about my fight with them outside of Buckview?”

“No, I can’t say I have. You were the only one’s present in that fight that have had anything to say about it. I know of one other survivor, but he is well out of my reach right now,” Shooting Star answered, slowly shaking his head, “So tell me about the fight.”

I sighed, thinking back to the ruins of that town. Immediately the image of smoke rising into the chill air, fueled by the fire set into the corpses of the ponies that had called the town home came to mind. “The entire town was a wreck. Nothing taller than a single story was still standing. We were just making ready to head back towards Metro when they approached from the east. For all I know they were taking cover in the forest. Their leader was smart enough to know how to manipulate the leaders of the town, at least for a while. When they stopped cooperating, she knew enough to be able to overcome their defenses and burn everything to the ground. As far as I know, she only made one mistake.”

“And what mistake was that?” Shooting Star asked thoughtfully.

“Not listening to me when I said we were more than capable of killing her and avenging the innocent lives that she had taken,” I growled, “But the fight wasn’t easy. They had good combat armor, which meant that only headshots were a guaranteed kill, and their weapons were well maintained, not to mention military-grade. They knew what they were doing and how to do it. We were simply better.”

“But one of them survived,” Shooting Star pointed out, an amused tone in his voice.

“Yeah. Starshine, a Dashite from Stormfront. Steel Curtain knew him when they were both still in the Enclave. How’d you know?” I asked, turning to look out the window.

“Because you gave him a job to gather all the Dashites in the region, and I didn’t get this brand out of love for the legends of Rainbow Dash,” Shooting Star answered gravely. It was the first time I had heard him speak in anything but a joyful tone.

I turned to look at him, but he was facing away from me, looking at a small picture. In it was a young blue Pegasus with a striking resemblance to the DJ himself standing between another two Pegasi. One was a sand-colored stallion with a bold expression and a crew-cut brown mane, and the other was a dark blue mare with a flowing green mane. It didn’t take a genius to see that it was his family.

“Starshine came here?” I asked, stepping towards the DJ.

He replaced the picture and turned to face me, the smile returning. “He did, though I had to turn his offer down. I’m needed here. I’m afraid he’s received the same answer from most of the ponies he’s spoken with. Some have agreed to go with him, but many are not. I don’t think anyone really understands what the Enclave was hoping to accomplish with this little project of theirs, especially not anypony down here.”

“What do you mean? Steel Curtain told me about what they were doing. He said they were branding and exiling soldiers for small infringements,” I argued, “Why wouldn’t they want to band together and fight back?”

“Because Steel Curtain does not have all the information. He forgot to think about the possibility that some of those ponies volunteered,” Shooting Star explained, a severe expression on his face. He strode past me and stood by the window, looking out on the skyline. “I’ve fought the hard fight for this city for so long… And now the Enclave has found the one way to trip me up.”

The change in the Pegasus was surprising, and it made me uncomfortable. I had thought that I wanted to see him crack. But as much as his constant joy had annoyed me, it was truly unnerving to see him as anything but. Even worse, he seemed angry. “The biggest drawback of my work is that even the Enclave can pick up my broadcasts. In the beginning I wanted them to, until I realized that I was giving them information about everything that was down here, including the locations and strengths of all of the towns and settlements. To a military like theirs, every scrap of information is valuable.

When I realized that, I changed my approach, hiding specifics. Now, I never mention locations, or mention the strength of towns, except if they may need immediate help. I hide everything I can from them in an unceasing war of information. And now all that effort is for nothing!”

“What are you talking about? Why would ponies volunteer to be branded and exiled?” I asked, “It doesn’t make any sense. They’ll never be able to go back!”

“They don’t care. Their loyalty to their leaders is unwavering. The Enclave has finally found a way to get past my strategy. Mark my words, Evergreen, those ‘Dashites’ are just as loyal to the Enclave as any other soldier. They were sent for one purpose: spying on the towns and the ponies in them. Stormfront is preparing for something. I would bet every single holotape I own on that,” Shooting Star growled, turning back to face me, an ugly grimace twisting his features, “They took a truly personal choice and made it into something we must now all be suspicious of.”

“What do you suggest I do, then? I can’t just start killing Dashites on the chance that they might be allied with the Enclave,” I asked, my voice wavering a bit. I didn’t like this side of the DJ.

“No, you can’t. It would destroy your image. Chances are that whoever is in command ordered them to look and act like the other Dashites, so they will be nearly invisible, standing out only because they are Pegasi. Doubtless some of the soldiers were victims like your friend claims, exiled to hide the operatives. But that makes it worse. We can’t even use the time of their arrival as a way to judge. I’m still trying to decide how to report this to the Wasteland,” Shooting Star said, the grimace disappearing to be replaced with a sad expression as he turned his gaze to the microphone.

“Then don’t. It will only cause mass panic and more hatred towards Pegasi than what already exists. Let us handle it. If what you say is true, then Starshine will be close to finished with what I asked him to do. I’ll talk to him once he contacts me, and we’ll figure out what to do. I’ll think on the problem until then,” I answered, reaching out to put a supporting hoof on the DJs shoulder.

That simple gesture brought his sunny disposition back, and he jumped up, his smile returning, and wrapped me in a tight embrace. “This is why you are my Heroine! Even in the face of despair and adversity you have a plan! I’ll will watch and listen, and if I hear anything, you will learn of it. You know when my shows are. Every time you tune in, I’ll be sure to include something that may help you in some way. I need to be a bit careful how I give you the information, but it will be there. Now, I don’t think there is anything we can get from each other now, my Heroine, and the wasteland awaits your aid. Thank you for your presence and your kind words,” he exclaimed, finally releasing me from the crushing embrace and charging off to one of his consoles, probably to prepare for his next show.

“Of course, Shooting Star. Glad I could help,” I said awkwardly, making my way towards the door, “And good luck.”

“You will need it more than I, my Heroine. The wasteland is a better place now I have finally met you, and it will continue to be better as long as you live. Now go! Your journeys await!” The DJ announced, shooting me one last, beaming smile.

I smiled in return and retreated out the door, heading back downstairs to meet with my friends. This felt like it was going to be a good day, one of the few we had ever had.

We didn’t waste any time in gathering our things and leaving the radio station. Tinder Box was in the lead now, since she knew best where we needed to go. A small detachment of the ponies based at the station guided us as far as a few blocks out, to the limits of what they considered their territory.

From there, it was a simple, straightforward route through the city to the outskirts. Tinder told us that the Stable was housed in the basement of an old workshop, close enough to the city that it shouldn’t take us more than an hour or two hours to make it out there.

While we traveled, I considered how I would explain the problems that Shooting Star had presented. The scattered loyalties of the Dashites was a truly worrying problem, since a plan had been forming in my mind about how to possibly use them. Now, all of that was worthless. There were easily a few of those operatives that would join Starshine’s efforts, if only to get themselves closer to another source of information.

The more I learned about the problems plaguing this city, the more I realized how out of my depth I was. I was a single pony facing mercenaries willing to slaughter entire towns, killers capable of taking on four other, better equipped ponies, and winning, and governments that were throwing their own soldiers into the flame just to gain a minute edge. All I had on my side was my determination to do right and the support of my friends. I might as well have been a hare trying to fight back against an eagle.

The density of buildings was just starting to thin out when I decided that the rest of my friends needed to be aware of what was going on. Steel Curtain, in particular, since he was connected to what was happening. “Hey, everypony, hold up a second,” I announced, bringing us to a halt, “Let’s take a quick break. I need to explain some things that Shooting Star told me, but I’m not willing to let down our guard while traveling in the city. It concerns what our next moves are going to be in the next few days.”

“Oh? What did he tell you?” Steel Curtain asked, alighting next to me and taking a generous gulp from his canteen.

“It’s about Starshine, and the Dashites he’s been gathering,” I started, then proceeded with the rest of what the DJ had told me. I left nothing out, including telling them about the DJs own troubles with trying to keep information from the Enclave. I finally finished by telling them about my promise to do something about the problem once Starshine got into touch with us.

“Fuck, I should have realized the Enclave was smarter than we were giving them credit for,” Steel Curtain swore, stomping a hoof in anger and sending up a small cloud of dust.

“I can’t say I’m too surprised. An organized military like they have would not have a hard time coming up with a plan like this. All they would need is the permission to do it,” Crosswire said, “The question is what are we going to do about it?”

“I don’t know yet,” I admitted, “But for now, we can’t trust any Dashite we meet unless they prove, beyond any doubt, that they are not still loyal to the Enclave.”

“Isn’t this going to cause problems with him?” Tinder Box asked, pointing a hoof at Steel Curtain, “Because you said he is a Dashite, but he still has the armor of an Enclave soldier.”

“It might,” I agreed with a contemplative nod, “but thankfully, most of the towns we deal with on a regular basis know him. The only problem we might have is with Millberry, and that is only if those Dashite’s that are loyal to the Enclave make their loyalties known. Hopefully, the fact that he’s traveling with me will set aside any doubts as well. Despite my hatred of the title, Shooting Star’s efforts are making me a known entity.”

“But how are we going to tell the Enclave ponies apart from the true Dashites?” Suture asked quietly, “I can’t imagine they’ll be going around simply announcing their true loyalty.”

“I agree. We need to think of some way to determine the real deal from the imposters,” Marcus put in thoughtfully, “Maybe a question about why they were exiled?”

“That wouldn’t work,” Steel Curtain snapped, “Evergreen already explained that a lot of the ponies that were exiled were young soldiers fully exiled on the grounds that they would screen the deployment of the undercover troops, many of whom are probably young enough to blend in. No matter which way we cut it, we’re caught in a fucking trap!”

“Not necessarily,” Autumn said, the first time she had spoken throughout the entire discussion, “The wasteland is full of Pegasi that have left the Enclave behind. We already know you, Starshine, and now Shooting Star as well. If we can find other experienced Dashites, like the ones that Starshine is gathering, then they should have some idea about how to differentiate between the two. I can’t imagine that the operatives will willingly slander their own leadership, regardless of how well they’re prepared. My guess is that they will hold to a few suitably hateful lines, but hold back from the truly harsh shit, like what we’ve heard from Steel Curtain.”

“That might work,” I stated with a nod in the young mare’s direction, “It’s definitely something to think about. But that’s all I wanted. Thought you all should know the situation. When Starshine finally contacts us, we need to have an idea of how to move forward. I hate walking into shit blind.”

“Thanks for sharing, Evergreen. It’s interesting, knowing a bit more about what’s going on,” Tinder said, nodding appreciatively at me, an odd half-smile on her face, “Now, shall we continue? We’re getting close.”

True to the scarred mare’s words, we were approaching the old, dilapidated workshop that supposedly housed Stable 113 after a rather short journey. It stood off to one side of a power distribution facility, most likely meant to house the machinery and tools needed to run and maintain the fragile, and now destroyed, components that once allowed the electricity be routed to the city and surrounding areas.

“You sure this is it?” Autumn grumbled as we pushed our way through a hole in the chain-link fence around the perimeter, “This place looks like a graveyard.”

“It’s supposed to. We didn’t want a giant sign over our home announcing to the wasteland ‘Look here! There’s a Stable!’” Tinder Box retorted.

She led us to the building and pushed the door open. Her shotgun slid down into a reachable position as she stepped through the door. I unconsciously readied myself for combat as well.

“Hey, Evergreen, do you really think you’re going to need everyone down there?” Marcus asked as we followed the white mare inside. His eyes were darting from the door to the sky, and his expression revealed how nervous he was. He was almost more jittery than Steel Curtain had been in Metro.

“Probably not. Why? You afraid of being underground?” I asked, turning to look at the griffin with a questioning look.

“Yeah. I can’t bear not being able to see the sky,” the griffin answered, his voice shaking, “I’ll keep watch out here, wait for you all to get back.”

“All right,” I answered, shrugging, “Steel Curtain, you want to stay topside as well? I know how much you hate going underground.”

“Yeah, I think I’ll do that,” the armored Pegasus said, the note of relief clear in his voice, “See you all when you get back.”

I nodded at the Pegasus and continued inside. The workshop was in tatters. What few horizontal surfaces were left were littered with debris and litter, ranging from empty bottles of Sparkle-Cola to various electronic scraps and scrap metal. In one corner, and ancient vending machine sat, its lights still flickering anemically. It didn’t look like anything could have been hidden here.

Nevertheless, Tinder Box made her way around the main counter and hit something underneath the register. From the far corner of the room came the sound of gears grinding loudly together, and an entire section of the floor rose up, split in half, then slid into slots in the floor specifically designed to hold them. What was left was a metal staircase leading underground.

Autumn Mist let out a low whistle as she approached the stairs. “Impressive. You lot keep it running?” she asked, looking back at Tinder Box.

“As well as they can. If that door were to ever seize up, either open or closed, the Stable would probably fall apart within the month. Despite their forced contact with the surface, those ponies aren’t ready to be a part of the Wasteland. It almost destroyed them the first time,” the scarred mare answered pensively as she walked up to the staircase and started on her way down, ”But on the other hoof, they can’t survive without periodic scavenging parties to dig up some old tech or food. They simply can’t sustain themselves alone.”

I followed after her as she led us down a short maintenance corridor that opened on a large room. One wall was dominated by the massive gear-shaped door of the Stable. The number 113 was pained in bold yellow letters on the front.

Next to the access panel was a small intercom unit. Tinder Box marched up to the device and activate it, then sat down to wait for a response. It took almost two minutes, but a frightened voice finally answered from the other side. “Who is this? What do you want with us?”

“It’s Tinder Box. I came back with a pony that the Overmare needs to meet. And don’t worry, I’m not with that damned gang anymore. These ponies are here to help us,” Tinder Box answered quickly and succinctly.

“Tinder Box? I thought you weren’t ever coming back?” the voice asked, finding a bit of strength in the familiarity.

“Didn’t think I’d have a chance. Now are you going to open the door?” the white mare asked shortly.

“Oh, uh, yeah. Of course. Step back, and give me a moment,” the voice said. A few moments later, and a siren started up, followed by the now-familiar grinding of the Stable door being pulled open. On the far side, an emaciated yellow Earth pony buck stood waiting expectantly.

“So… who are your friends, Tinder?” he asked nervously. He was practically shaking in fear. I found it hard to believe that he would be the pony sent to watch the door.

“This is Evergreen,” Tinder Box answered, gesturing to me, then to each of my other friends in turn, “Her friends are Suture, Autumn Mist, and Crosswire. Another two are waiting topside. Now, care to bring us to the Overmare? We have a lot to talk about.”

“Uh… I need to clear you all with security first. We don’t allow weapons past the door,” the buck answered shakily, his eyes darting to each of us in turn, fixating on our weapons.

“Uh… I don’t think so,” Autumn growled, taking a step forward, “It’s my policy to hang on to my weapons at all times while inside a Stable. Things are way too fucking dangerous for my liking.”

“Dangerous? Our home is what has kept us safe for all these years!” the buck exclaimed, his tone hurt.

“And every one I’ve stepped in in the last three weeks has nearly killed me. I agree with Autumn Mist. We’re keeping our weapons. You have my word we won’t draw them unless we’re attacked first,” I argued, “Tinder Box was kind enough to guide me here because I helped her. I’ve come on behalf of a friend that was meant to take shelter in this Stable before the bombs fell.”

“Friend from before…” the buck trailed off, his expression confused, “How is that possible?”

“I’m guessing you’ve never been outside?” Crosswire asked nonchalantly, “Well, here’s the quick version: The bombs did not kill everypony. A lot of ponies survived, but some of them were mutated by the radiation. Now, they are extremely long-lived, some of them having survived since the end of the war.”

“Exactly,” I agreed, nodding at the tech, “My friend is one of those ponies. She is the reason I’m here.”

“But… your weapons,” the buck protested.

“Are staying where they are. I already gave you my word that we wouldn’t use them. Now, can we please see your Overmare?” I asked, walking pointedly forward.

As I expected, the buck didn’t have the backbone to resist. He deflated, his head dropping to stare at the floor, then nodded weakly. “Ok. Follow me.” He turned around and led us out of the entrance and deeper in the Stable.

It was odd, seeing one of the things still in operational condition. The walls were clean and the lights shone brightly, casting a bright white glow over everything. Even with my suspicion of the place, it felt much more comfortable than I expected. But that didn’t stop the feeling that something was going to go seriously wrong every time I stepped around a corner.

During our walk we crossed the paths of several other ponies. All of them immediately shied away at the sight of us, running back to wherever they thought they would be safe. I couldn’t imagine why. We were following one of their own quietly, there shouldn’t have been a reason for their fear.

When we entered the atrium, it was full of ponies sitting together, laughing, talking, and simply enjoying themselves. As soon as we appeared, however, all sound ceased and every pair of eyes locked on to us. The atmosphere of comfort and happiness evaporated, leaving behind a bitter air of almost palpable fear and nervousness.

“Outsiders… What do they want with us?” somepony asked, the voice practically quaking with fear.

“Is that… Tinder Box with them? Why did she come back? I thought she was staying with that group topside?” another asked.

The fear and unease in the room was almost unbearable, and I couldn’t help but feel the need to say something. “I’m not your enemy,” I announced, looking from face to frightened face, “My name is Evergreen, and I am here keeping a promise to a friend of mine, a friend that knew the ponies that created Stable-Tec. In the Wasteland, I’ve made it my job to help ponies wherever I find them. You have nothing to fear from me.”

“Why would this friend of yours want you to come all the way here?” somepony asked, pushing their way forward. It was a burly charcoal Earth pony buck with an auburn mane, “What does our Stable have that they could possibly want?”

“A message I found that was meant for her explained that she was meant to take cover in this Stable before the bombs fell. When I finally got the message to her a few days ago, she asked me to come here on her behalf, to see if anything had been left behind for her from the founders of the company,” I answered honestly, “I figured it was the least I could do for a pony that has seen so much heartbreak.”

“Hmph, sounds like a wild story if you ask me,” the buck snorted, “I may not know much about outside, but even I know the war ended two hundred years ago. Nopony could have lived that long. It’s impossible.”

“That’s ‘cause you’ve never met a ghoul,” Crosswire drawled. I could swear he was taking some perverse pleasure in throwing these ponies off guard with knowledge about the Wasteland.

“A what?” the buck asked, his gaze snapping to the grey unicorn.

“A ghoul. Picture a zombiepony, then imagine that it isn’t completely batshit insane and still knows who it is. That’s a ghoul. They survived the bombs, but the radiation made them into what they now are. Somehow, all that radiation made it possible for them to live for a hell of a long time,” Crosswire explained.

During the exchange, my eyes wandered, and eventually landed on the large circular window that overlooked the atrium. Standing in it, facing us, was a stern-looking mare. Her hide looked to be the color of rust, and her mane was bubble-gum pink. On her flank was a symbol of a gear. Her gaze was fixed on me, her eyes boring into my own. There was no doubt in my mind that she was the Overmare.

“Crosswire, drop it. The Overmare knows we’re here. Let’s get this over with and get back outside. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, and I don’t like the idea of Steel Curtain and Marcus just sitting out there in the open any longer than they have to,” I ordered, walking past the tech and urging our guide to continue.

He did as I asked, leading us through the maze of passages, but not without a lot of confused and fearful gaze following us. After a short walk, we finally stood in front of the door to the Overmare’s office.

“Ummm… I’ll just leave you here then. Tinder knows the way out once you’re finished,” our guide murmured nervously, shifting from hoof to hoof, then disappeared back the way we had come.

Not wanting to drag things out any longer, I stepped up to the door and knocked. An imperious voice answered almost immediately. “Enter.”

I hit the mechanism to open the door, and it slid back into the ceiling. The room beyond looked exactly like every other Overmare’s office that I had stood in: Large, round, and with a massive wooden desk placed exactly in the center. The back wall was taken up by the mainframe that governed all the automatic functions of the Stable.

Seated at the desk was the stern mare I had seen from the atrium. Up close, I could see that her cutie mark was actually a Stable door, rather than a gear. “You’ve caused quite a stir,” she intoned from her desk, “And I do not like things upsetting the careful balance we have. Despite our forced contact with the surface, many of us are not prepared for the full immersion that it most likely required for our long-term survival. Your presence catalyzes changes I don’t think we are ready for.”

“I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have come if it weren’t important,” I answered, stepping inside and coming to a stop across the desk from the mare, “But let me introduce myself. I’m-”

“I know who you are,” she interrupted me, “Shooting Star’s broadcasts do make it this far, and it doesn’t take a genius to know you’d be coming here on your way to wherever it is you go. So tell me: what do you want? Technology, supplies? I’ll tell you now, our supplies are already far more limited than I wish them to be. That gang she is with already took most of it.” The Overmare’s stare was now centered very precisely on Tinder Box.

An image of numerous shelves lined with medical supplies crossed my mind. Doubtless most of those supplies had come from this Stable. “I don’t want supplies. I want information,” I answered, setting a hoof on the desk and drawing the mare’s attention to myself. “A few days ago, I was in a bunker to the south of the city, up in the mountains. I met a pony there that survived the war. She was supposed to take shelter in the Stable, but never made it in time. We think the founders of Stable-Tec might have left something behind for her.”

“Survived? Who is this pony you’re talking about?” the Overmare asked, her grim façade giving way to confusion.

“Her name is Cheerilee. She was their teacher when they were still only fillies,” I said, watching the Overmare for any signs of recognition. To my surprise, she did perk up at the mention of the name.

“So she did survive…” she muttered under her breath, then she re-focused her gaze on me. It was much softer now. “She sent you here in the hopes that something was left for her?”

I nodded. “Yes. She no longer wants to go traipsing across the Wasteland, chasing rumors of what could be, but it’s what I’ve been doing for weeks.”

“I see. I do have something for you then. When I opened my sealed orders, handed down from the very first Overmare of this Stable, there was a message contained within, with orders that it was only to be opened by a mare named Cheerilee. That must be what they left behind,” the Overmare said thoughtfully, turning and walking towards the computer, “Come over here. I’ll download it onto your Pipbuck so you can bring it to her.”

I did as she asked, walking around the desk until I was standing beside her at the terminal, my left foreleg held up so she could interface it with the computer. “You’re trusting me at my word, just like that?” I asked, not sure that the mare was being straight with me.

“I am, for two reasons. The first is that the chances that you know that name are so small, you have to be telling the truth. The second is that I could honestly care less. The message has been a mystery to us, and one I am more than willing to part with,” the Over mare answered, grabbing my leg and hooking my Pipbuck up to the computer. Within moments she had accessed the files and downloaded the message. “I want a promise,” she said once she was finished, “You don’t listen to that message until you are with her. It was meant for her, and it will be opened only when she is there. Am I understood?”

“I promise,” I answered, nodding, “I know a thing or two about how meaningful messages like this can be, especially after hearing what was in the last one.”

“Good. Is there anything else you need from us?” the Overmare asked, returning to her seat.

“No. I came only for the message, though if you had any supplies for trade, I wouldn’t mind making a deal. We have extra weapons and ammunition we can give you in exchange,” I answered hopefully. In truth, the weapons we had salvaged from the gangers, both Skulls and Earth Marchers, were weighing us down. I wanted to get rid of them as quickly as possible, but they were too valuable to simply dump by the roadside.

“I suppose we could spare some food and medicine. Tinder Box knows where you can make the trades. Now, if that is all, I have a lot of work to do,” the Overmare stated as a way of dismissal.

We left the office, letting Tinder Box lead us through the passages to the small general shop. A few minutes of haggling later, and we left with a healthy supply of fresher food and medicine. From there, we started on our way outside. Again, ponies were watching us while we left, but they didn’t stop us. Many of them seemed happy to see us go.

Part of me wanted to stay and try to convince them that they wouldn’t be able to hide from the wasteland forever, but I knew that it wasn’t my place to interfere with their lives. Their Overmare was obviously capable and had a plan. Any interference from me would simply make things worse.

I sighed as the heavy steel door slid shut behind me. It felt like another opportunity lost, despite the fact that I knew there was nothing I could do to change it. We made our way up the stairs and into the workshop where Tinder Box took a moment to close the hatch again and kick some garbage over it to hide it somewhat.

“Fuck, I didn’t think I’d feel that out of place when I finally went back,” Tinder swore, her voice wavering slightly while she worked, “It’s hard to believe I was born down there.”

“Sometimes all a home can be is the place we’re from,” Autumn muttered, “I know that’s my case. My family just drifted from place to place until they were ultimately killed.”

“I suppose you’re right. So, Evergreen, what now? I did what you asked and brought you here. Now where do I stand?” Tinder Box asked, looking at me with a questioning gaze.

“You’ve been really helpful, Tinder, and I know you saved my life a couple of times in that fight down in the Metro tunnels. I don’t think anypony would complain if you were to join us, if you wanted. I know I could always use another ally on my side,” I answered hopefully.

A smile split the mare’s features as she looked at me. “Heh, you mean travel the wasteland, righting wrongs and killing any fuckers that get in our way? Yeah, I think I can do that. Thanks, Evergreen. Let’s hope I fit in better here than I did with Surplus.”

“I can’t imagine we’d have too much trouble. Now, come on. We’ve got a long way to go today still,” I answered with a smile as I opened the door and stepped out into the open.

The first thing that struck me was the sheer number of contacts on my E.F.S. They were everywhere, and most were red. Whatever had happened up here, it was bad. The entire workshop was completely surrounded! My thoughts immediately turned to Steel Curtain and Marcus, and what had become of them.

I received my answer moments later when I spotted Marcus pinning a de-armored Steel Curtain against the ground. His armor lay in a disassembled heap a short distance away. The light blue Pegasus jerked against the griffin as soon as he saw me exit, managing to free enough space to get his head free.

“Evergreen, RUN!” he shouted before the griffin wrestled him back to the ground and put him in a sleeper hold. The Pegasus was strong, but without the added power from his armor, the griffin was stronger.

I immediately drew Hammer and fired a round at the griffin, catching him in the shoulder and opening a flood of bright red blood from the wound. It knocked him back off of Steel Curtain, letting the Dashite get to his hooves and charge towards us.

“Evergreen, get the fuck out of here! It’s Mareina’s gang! Marcus has been with them this whole fucking time!” he shouted, running to me and shoving me to the side. His voice was hoarse and strained, unsurprising if he had been fighting against Marcus the entire time we were underground.

I moved with his push, starting to gallop as the bars on my E.F.S. started to move. There were so many of them…

“Stop them! Seahawk wants that bitch taken care of!” a shrill voice ordered.

I turned my head to see who was speaking, but that was exactly the wrong thing to do. The movement slowed me just enough for a pair of griffins in the air to line up their weapons. The bullets reached me just before the sound of the rifles did.

The first sliced into my right hind leg, piercing cleanly through the limb and cutting it out from under me, sending me tumbling to the ground, but not before the second impacted against my shoulder, tearing through the armor and imbedding itself in my flesh.

The pain was almost unbearable, feeling like white-hot pokers were being driven into my body. I screamed in agony, already feeling warm blood flowing from the wounds. When I finally came to a rest, I lifted my head as high as I could, looking ahead towards my friends. Part of me was praying that they were coming back for me, but I knew that it would be impossible. This was the end of the line for me. The future rested in their hooves now. Mareina had me, and there was nothing I could do about it.

“GO! RUN!” I screamed through the red haze of pain, struggling weakly to get my legs under me, but my wounds put any option of supporting myself out of the question, “Get to Metro! Tell Mallet to prepare! Seahawk is making his move!”

Tinder Box, Autumn Mist, and Crosswire nodded and took off, but Suture and Steel Curtain hesitated, pausing as they considered going back for me. By then, it was too late. The two mercenaries that had shot me were already landing beside me, taking aim at my friends.

I may have been hurt, but I wasn’t helpless, I pulled my knife from its sheath and threw it at one of the mercenaries with a snap of my head. It imbedded itself in the griffin’s throat, bright red blood gushing out and staining the white feathers. The griffin collapsed, choking on its own blood and drawing the attention of his fellow to me.

Ahead, Steel Curtain and Suture were still watching me, conflicting emotions on their faces. The Pegasus, in particular, looked like he was about to break down. “Fucking go!” I screamed, putting every ounce of rage and pain into the words as I could. In the next instant, something hard cracked against my head and everything went black.

oooOOOooo

So this was death. Odd, since it felt exactly like every other shitty day with a hangover. Which made me think: I really did not want my afterlife to be with this kind of a headache. It was probably my price for killing so many ponies.

I sighed, hanging my head. I had tried my best, and it hadn’t been enough. In the end, I had trusted too freely, and it bit me in the ass. At least I had taken one of the bastards with me in the end. Maybe Marcus as well, the traitorous fuck, if I was lucky.

I lifted my head again, trying to get my bearings. If this was what my afterlife was, I might as well start figuring out where it was. Hopefully I wouldn’t be completely alone. It looked like I was right where I had been when I was killed, sitting outside the small workshop, blood staining the ground around me. Looking up, I gasped in shock.

The clouds were missing. Above them, something was very wrong. The sky was solid black, not even the soft blue-black that I had seen in pictures, but a deep, midnight black of the sort that no light would ever pierce. Unbidden, tears came to my eyes. I had spent so much of my life yearning to see the stars with my own eyes, and now, in death, they were mocking me. It just seemed so unfair.

I collapsed, crying softly to myself at the unfairness of it all. Not even the knowledge that my life had bought the lives of my friends was enough to soothe the feeling of betrayal. I stayed like that for what felt like hours, but what did time matter to me anymore? I had an endless amount of it.

“So now you see where this policy of trust got you, dearest Evergreen,” a familiar voice proclaimed, interrupting my thoughts, “You’re cut off, injured, and much closer to death than you have ever been, and what do you have to show for it? A hoofful of grateful, cowardly ponies and a small collection of so-called friends that will fall apart now that you’re no longer around to hold them together?”

I lifted my head, looking for the source of the voice. I already knew what it belonged to, but I couldn’t believe it. I was dead, I had to be. “Where are you?” I growled, forcing myself back to my hooves and wiping my eyes, “Can’t you just leave me alone!”

“Now why would I ever do that? You are far too much fun,” the voice laughed. It obviously thought that it was back in control again, “No, Evergreen. Now, there is nopony left to protect you. You’re mine, and you will stay that way.”

It materialized from the shadows, its emaciated form fitting in all too well with our dark surroundings. Its eyes glowed red in the dim light, lending it an otherworldly appearance. I turned my body to face it, lowering myself. I knew it was strong and fast, but I didn’t have anything left to lose, and I was not going to simply let it beat me.

“No, I’m not. I’ve never been yours, and I won’t let you twist me like you did before. I hurt them far more than they ever deserved, and they still forgave me!” I yelled in defiance.

“Because they are fools, just like you!” it exclaimed, stepping forward. I could see the hunger in its eyes. It wanted me, badly, and would stop at nothing to get what it wanted. Despite all of its strength and power, it was awfully single-minded and could think of nothing else other than its goal. There, at least, was my advantage.

“Fools that are willing to trust a pony as fucked up as I am! They deserve my loyalty, if only for that reason! It’s more than I deserve, but they don’t care!” I growled.

“And it will be the end of them,” the creature hissed, grinning widely as it approached me. The expression didn’t fit on its face. It made the thing appear crazed.

“No, it won’t. Unlike most, I know they also believe in what we are fighting for. Even if they don’t stay together, they’ll continue the fight. They might even try to come back for me.”

“Do you really think that’s going to happen? What’s in it for them? They just saw you, their driving force, fall, like any other failure in the wasteland!” the creature shrieked.

“They’ll come back for me, because they know I’m still alive, and more than that, Steel Curtain loves me. He won’t just give up, no matter how many times I yell at him to,” I answered, finally admitting to myself the truth of what I had seen in him for the last days. The harder part would be admitting to myself what I felt.

The creature laughed, a harsh, raucous sound that hurt my ears. “Love! You think love means anything in this world? Look around you, Evergreen, and tell me what love has done for this place!”

“I have looked,” I snapped, “And I have seen the beauty in the Wasteland, that is all the more precious for how rare it is. I’ve seen ponies on the edge of death ask first about their friends and colleagues before asking for help. I’ve seen parents willing to start a fight simply to protect their child. I’ve seen a Pegasus risk his very life, simply because of his love for the Wasteland. And above all of that, I’ve met five ponies kind enough to trust a pony that is good at nothing more than taking the lives of others.”

I paused, gathering my thoughts. Already, I could see the look of doubt on the creature’s face. For the second time, I had put it off guard. It was used to me floundering about with weak answers, or with no answers at all. It had no clue how to deal with me when I knew exactly what I wanted. “And I have found something more worth fighting for, beyond just the future of the wasteland. I’d die for them, for all of them, because they’d do the same for me. In the world we live in, nothing else could possible mean more. Even more, I love him too.”

There, I had said it. Call me crazy for admitting something like that when I still couldn’t decide if I was capable of taking so many lives, but I couldn’t just sit here and pretend my feelings didn’t exist. It wouldn’t be easy, but hopefully it would work.

The creature laughed again, but now its laugh was hollow. “You’ve got to be kidding. Do you really think that will help you here? He has no power over me. Nopony does!”

“I do,” I growled, and leapt.

It shrieked in rage and side-stepped. I landed next to it, but couldn’t turn in time before it tackled me, bearing me to the ground and pinning me beneath its bulk. It lashed out with its hooves, battering my body until I was curled up, simply trying to protect my head.

After what seemed like forever, the barrage ended and the creature backed off, letting me move out from underneath it. I crawled away and turned my head to face it.

On its face was an odd grin, like it knew a joke I could only guess at. “Oh, this is too rich. You know, my Evergreen, I’m going to let you go, this one time. The next time we speak, you will be begging me to take you back.” Its grin widened into a smile and it faded away into the shadows, leaving me confused.

The next moment, the darkness from the sky descended, wrapping me in its embrace and carrying my consciousness away, like some great tide sweeping me away.

oooOOOooo

As I slowly came to, I realized that my wounds had already been cleaned and treated. For whatever the reason, it didn’t seem like these mercenaries wanted me dead. Next, I became aware of the fact that my armor, saddlebags, and weapons were gone. My Pipbuck was still on my leg, probably because it was almost impossible to remove the things without the right tools.

Finally, I became aware of the shackles around my hooves, binding them together with chains that were just slack enough to allow me to walk. I shifted my legs, testing my mobility. The chains rattled loudly against each other, drawing the attention of someone nearby.

“Hey, boss, she’s waking up!” they shouted, the voice harsh and raucous. Then, there was the sound of movement as someone settled down next to me.

“You have me to thank for being alive, Evergreen. Consider it my thanks for making my job so easy,” a familiar voice sneered in my ear, “Oh, and for the fresh food as well. It may not be meat, but it’s a welcome change from the same old shit we get every day.”

I twisted my head, trying to see the source of the voice and was met with Marcus’s face. It was drawn and pale, probably due to the amount of blood he had lost from my shot, but it looked like his injury had already been well taken care of. His expression was conceited, and he had a grin that made me want to smash his beak into the rest of his face. “Fucking traitor,” I growled, twisting my entire body in an attempt to get my hooves underneath me, “I’ll kill you for this!”

“Good luck with that. You’re finished, Evergreen. Done. Your little movement dies here. Without you to push them forward, that merry little band of yours will collapse under its own weight within days,” the griffin laughed.

The furthest thing from my mind now was morality, and I wanted to kill this feather-brained fucker. The bastard had betrayed us. I saved his life, and he had betrayed us. I could forgive a lot of shit, but this was too far. I strained against my bonds, finally managing to prop myself up. “They’re stronger than they look,” I snarled, “And they believe in what we were doing at least as much as I did. But the one question I have is why? You saw what we’re fighting against, and you still betrayed us! You helped us, even! I saved you!”

That last comment elicited another round of raucous laughter, which was echoed by a number of griffins now watching the exchange. “You really think you saved me?” Marcus laughed, “You truly believed I was some naïve idiot that got caught by some good-for-nothing gangers? Here’s a newsflash for you: We paid them to hold me until you got there. We knew they were all going to end up dead, ‘cause that’s the way you work. When that idiotic sniper of your found the caps we used to pay them, I thought you’d see right through the scheme. Lucky for me you’re just another stupid wastelander that thinks trust can save the day.”

I forced myself to stand, my rage burning deep in my chest, and lunged at the griffin. Something stopped me in mid-air, swiping me away from my target and throwing me to the ground. The air was forced from my lungs and a spike of pain drove into my wounded shoulder as I landed on it.

“That’s enough of that,” an imperious voice proclaimed. The owner of the voice landed beside me, standing over me in a stance that communicated absolute victory, “If you can’t play nice, Evergreen, you’re going to get yourself hurt.”

She was a large griffin. The feathers on her head and neck were a tawny brown, blending perfectly into the golden yellow of the fur that covered the rest of her body. She wore an ancient duster, not unlike the one Marcus had been wearing, except hers was worn overtop a set of olive green, military grade combat armor. I doubted I’d ever discover where she had managed to find a set in the Wasteland that was fitted for a griffin. Perched atop her head were a pair of goggles, the straps so covered in dust and grime I couldn’t even begin to imagine what color they had originally been.

Her yellow eyes, with their vertically slit feline pupils, were lit up with humor, and the skin around her beak was crinkled with what I could only imagine was meant to be a smile. All it appeared as to me, however, was a slight parting of that raptorial beak which was easily capable of shredding flesh.

That was the main difference between griffins and ponies. In the harshness of the Wasteland, some ponies chose to start eating meat, if only because it was easily available, but we weren’t carnivorous by nature. Griffins were, and they reveled in the hunt and the kill. It was probably one of the many reasons they made such skilled mercenaries and assassins.

A jagged scar ran across one side of her face and down her neck to end on her shoulder, appearing as if some giant creature had dragged a claw down her face, and the feathers had grown back only patchily to cover it up.

Strapped across her back was a military assault rifle, not unlike the ones I had seen being used by the ponies at Shooting Star’s radio station. In a holster under her duster, I could also make out the sleek body of a plasma pistol. Energy weapons were rare in this city. The fact that she had one was a testament to her resourcefulness.

“Mareina,” I growled at the griffin, “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Obviously not enough, Evergreen, otherwise this would have been avoided, and your life wouldn’t be over. You had your chance to back off, but you just had to keep going, didn’t you? Never stopped to think about how it could end?” she asked gleefully, a sadistic grin splitting that beak even farther, giving me a clear view her long, thin pink tongue and the dark chasm of her throat. I could easily picture her capturing and killing a pony to eat.

“You’re a mercenary. Why the hell are you fighting for Seahawk? What do you possibly hope to gain by helping him enslave the entire fucking Wasteland?” I growled, forcing myself back to my hooves and doing my best to ignore her jibes.

“Two reasons. The first is that Seahawk has the deepest pockets, and I only work for the best. Second: I’m getting sick of this life, always worrying about my next meal, or if our water will last for the next week. What Seahawk plans to do is bring the entire Wasteland together, under a single banner. Then, all of our needs will be taken care of, and we will be able to live in harmony once again,” Mareina explained casually, examining the talons on one of her hands.

“Really? That’s your reason?” I asked, arching an eyebrow at her, “Forcing these towns to cooperate won’t solve anything, and even if they start working together, that doesn’t carry a guarantee of solving the resource shortages. Metro has been rationing their supplies carefully, and Millberry has been in desperate need of a water purifier for a long time. Do you really think the fact that they would all be listening to the same egotistical tyrant will solve anything?”

“It has to be better than what we already have,” Mareina answered, shrugging, “But all the same, there’s nothing more you can do about it. You’re mine, to do with as I please, and I think I know of a few offers that will set me up nicely.”

I didn’t want to know what she was talking about, but I was getting the feeling that she didn’t mean to kill me, and that was a terrifying thought. There were two constants in the wasteland for when a pony was captured after a fight. The first was that they ended up dead. The second was getting sold to slavers.

“Why? Why not just kill me?” I asked, striding forward, but I was stopped short by Marcus who stepped in front of me to halt my progress with a stance that clearly indicated his willingness to hurt me if I did anything stupid.

“Because I don’t profit from your death,” Mareina answered, that grin returning to her face, “Killing is Greymane’s style. The over-zealous bastard hates the idea of leaving an enemy alive, and I can’t blame him. But the Mill is impossible to escape. That is a fact that has been proven a hundred times over.”

Now her intent was clear. She was going to sell me to the Mill, and there was no doubt in my mind that they knew exactly who I was. I had already interrupted several of their caravans and killed a lot of their muscle and suppliers. Going there might as well have been a death sentence for me, except for one problem. The words I had spoken to that terrified buck we had freed rang in my ears again. Slavers wouldn’t kill a pony if they stood to profit from that pony’s life in some way.

The slavers would keep me alive, but they were going to give me the worst jobs, either the most dangerous, the most humiliating, or both. If I couldn’t get free soon, there was no way I was going to be able to prevent that.

Mareina was watching me, probably trying to gauge my reaction, and judging from that damn grin on her face, she was getting exactly what she wanted. I couldn’t deny that I was terrified, but fear had never managed to paralyze me. If anything, it made me unpredictable.

With a shout, I leapt forward, intending to strangle the bitch with my chains, or, failing that, inflict as much damage as I could before one of them killed me. I had already resigned myself to death, and anything would be better than becoming a slave.

I had badly underestimated her strength and speed, and being shackled wasn’t helping me at all. She neatly sidestepped my attack, the grin never fading from her face, and lashed out with a taloned hand. The claws slashed across my side, drawing deep furrows in the flesh. Slick, warm blood immediately started to flow, but I managed to stay on me hooves.

I turned to face her, panting heavily, and leapt again. This time, she stood her ground, rearing up on her hind legs and taking my charge in her chest. My injured shoulder impacted against the solid ceramic of her armor. It felt like I had run face first into a wall as I stopped short, the griffin not even budging an inch.

She laughed, an almost maniacal sound as she grappled with me, using the chains around my legs to pin them against my sides as she slammed me against the ground, driving the breath from my lungs, then pulled back with a fist. “And this is why you don’t fight me,” she said, grinning, and brought the fist down.

My vision exploded in stars as I blacked out for a second time.

When I finally regained consciousness, night had fallen. My hooves were bound even tighter now, making it almost impossible to move, much less stand. When I opened my eyes, the only thing I could see was a firepit about ten feet away. The glare from the flames drowned out anything else I might have possibly been able to see.

I was lying uncomfortably on my side, with a rock digging painfully into me. I shifted, trying to move off of it, but all I succeeded in doing was moving it to press against a bandage covering one of the claw wounds left behind by my fight with Mareina. I couldn’t help but to cry out in pain, which drew the attention of everyone around me.

“Hey, the bitch is waking up again. Good thing the boss ain’t around. I still need to pay her back for killing Kierst,” a harsh voice said, the voice holding a promise of sadistic things to follow.

“Stand down, mercenary. Mareina left orders that she was to be unharmed unless she tried attacking somepony, and you are going to follow those orders,” an eerily familiar voice responded. The voice was cold, so much so that I felt shivers run down my spine.

The sound of hooves clopping against stone echoed around me as the owner of the voice walked around so I could see him. The stallion that came into view had a red hide and a grey mane. For the second time in my life, I was facing down Greymane, and he hadn’t changed at all since the last time we had met.

“I have to admit, Evergreen, you surprise me. I told Mareina that her little trick wouldn’t get you, that you were far too perceptive a pony to fall for it. It isn’t often I’m proven wrong,” he mused, his cold voice at odds with the amused grin on his face.

“I had my reservations about Marcus, but he seemed to be playing me straight,” I growled, “I’m not the kind of pony to simply question someone else on sight. I learned the hard way that sometimes you have to take somepony else at their word.”

“Exactly the wrong lesson to learn, in my experience. The only pony I’ve ever been able to trust explicitly was Seahawk. Now you see how your chosen path was never fated to succeed. Trusting in others always leads here,” Greymane stated nonchalantly.

“Leads where, Greymane? To me lying on the ground, shackled and about to be shipped off to the Mill, or to you, standing there surrounded by allies, but with not a single pony you can rely on in your entire life?” I asked pointedly, getting a small amount of satisfaction from the buck’s doubtful expression.

He recovered quickly, his stoic expression returning, and grinned. “I’d rather be the hated mercenary that is free and alive than the beloved Heroine chained and shackled, whose fate only holds death in store,” he answered.

“But when you die, Greymane, will you be able to say that your life was worth something? If you were lying on the ground, bleeding out, would somepony risk themselves to try to save you?” I pressed, putting as much conviction into the words as I could.

The red buck hesitated, his gaze briefly dropping to his hooves before he raised his head and looked me straight in the eye. “The life of the mercenary is a lonely one by definition. When I die, it will be because somepony was stronger than me, or faster than me. When we met in the Ironshod Firearms factory, I thought for a moment it might have been you. Now, I see differently. You are just another wastelander that failed where so many others have as well.”

“I haven’t failed yet. And you didn’t answer my question,” I stated, “Is there somepony out there that would risk their life to save you?”

“Of course not. Ponies like that don’t exist anymore. They all died with the end of the Old Equestria,” Greymane said with a toss of his head.

“That’s where you’re wrong. I had to convince my friends to leave me behind, and even then, they hesitated. Steel Curtain would have killed himself if it meant saving me,” I said, glaring into the mercenary’s eyes, “They were all willing to throw themselves into danger for me, and that isn’t something you can command through fear, Greymane.”

He snorted, sneering at me. “Pretend that your life is worth something all you like, Evergreen. At the end of the day, you are the slave and I am free.” With that, he turned and trotted off, leaving me to my thoughts.

I didn’t like my prospects. I had tried to make them kill me, and all it had accomplished was some fresh wounds and a bruised ego, but at least I had seen for myself just how vicious and strong Mareina was. Now, I had tried to reason with the pony that was possibly my greatest enemy, but his head was so far in the clouds that he simply dismissed everything I had to say.

Being a slave was bad, but it wasn’t the end of the world. I would survive, because I knew how to. I had the knowledge that my friends were out there, trying to help me, and that they cared for me. I knew that out there was the stallion that loved me, and that I loved in return. Nopony, not even Greymane, could take that away from me.

The night grew chill, and not even the warmth from the nearby fire was enough to drive the cold from my bones. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been forced to sleep outside. It was easily long before I had ever become a raider. My only solace was that the pair of griffins tasked with watching me were forced to suffer with me.

At one point in the night, they were replaced, and one of the replacements was no other than Marcus. He was looking a lot healthier, but the easy-going and friendly expression I was used to seeing from him was gone, replaced with the same mean glint in his eye and the superior set of his ears that I had seen in every other griffin in the camp. When it came down to it, he was no different than any of them, except for the fact that I knew him.

“Come to gloat some more, Marcus?” I asked angrily, not expecting an answer, “Leading my around by the mane wasn’t enough for you? Need to rub my face in the mud a bit more?”

“Actually no, Evergreen,” the griffin responded haughtily, “It’s just my turn to guard the merchandise. Slavers from the Mill will be here tomorrow morning to pick you up, and it’s my job to make sure you’re still here for them by then. Not that I expect you to be able to get away.”

The silence grew between us after that last. There wasn’t really anything else to say on the subject. “Why didn’t you just let them kill me?” I finally asked, “It would have made everything easier.”

Marcus shrugged, a gesture that was almost invisible through his duster. “Because I remember my mother teaching me that being alive in any fashion is better than being dead, and I felt like owed you,” He stated, though the cruel tone was gone from his voice.

“Owed me for what? ‘Making your job easy’?” I sneered, “Wasn’t exactly the fucking intention.”

To my surprise, the griffin sighed, “That, and because you actually thought I was on your side and treated me the same as everyone else in that little group of yours. You gave your all to everyone, and only expected the same in return. It was… different than what I’m used to here, and it was a refreshing experience. That’s why I owe you. I don’t expect you to understand. In the end, I thought you deserved to survive for a bit longer. Who knows, maybe by the time Seahawk has everything under control, the Mill included, you’ll still be alive. Then, I’m sure he’ll have a place for you. Can’t really say for sure, though. Only Mareina and Greymane have ever met him in person.”

“Great, my one hope at life is that the bastard I am actively trying to stop will pardon me when he’s finally won. You do realize I’m about the only pony out here with the influence to get anything done, right?” I demanded. I no longer cared about who I was speaking to, or that my words would undoubtedly reach the fucker. I just needed to vent.

“And that’s why you’re here. Mareina said the order to take you in came straight from Seahawk. Seams you pissed him off somehow. Not the brightest thing to do,” Marcus answered, grinning.

“At least I was trying to do something good,” I answered sullenly, “How many ponies are there that can claim the same?”

“Not many, true. But then, most ponies know better than to throw their lives away on a worthless cause,” Marcus answered with another shrug, then fell silent.

I let the silence grow, wondering to myself if what I had been doing was truly worthless. No matter which way I looked at it, however, could I find a reason that fighting for pony’s freedom wasn’t a good thing. What Seahawk wanted just seemed far too similar to slavery.

Before long, dawn was breaking, and the sky began to lighten somewhat as the sun rose beyond the unyielding ceiling of clouds. My future as a slave was only hours away, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. To make matters worse, it began to rain, and it wasn’t a light drizzle, either. It was a total downpour of the sort that soaked me completely to the bone.

It was probably around six in the morning when the slavers appeared, escorted by Mareina. The slavers were a pair of unicorns. The first was a light green stallion wearing dirty red barding. His matching red mane was scraggly and unkempt, and his teeth were yellowed. His partner, a purple unicorn with a two-tone blue mane, was much better put together, but she had the sort of expression that told me immediately that she was vicious and cruel. What really caught my eye, however, was the Pipbuck on the mare’s leg.

“Here she is, Shackle. Her name’s Evergreen. I imagine Eulogy really wants to get his hooves on her, considering what she’s been doing to his business,” Mareina announced, gesturing to me as they approached.

“He did say something about a special bounty to go to the pony that grabbed her for us,” the stallion confirmed, “I think it was somewhere in the neighborhood of four thousand caps, opposed to the usual five hundred for a good slave. Though I have to say, she doesn’t look like much.”

“That would be agreeable,” Mareina answered with a nod, her beak splitting in a grin, “And she may not look like much, but she’s smarter than she looks.”

“You’re going to want to watch her carefully, as well,” Greymane announced, appearing from somewhere out of my line of sight, “She’s got a resourceful streak a mile long, and can be vicious as hell if she gets in a fight.”

“As we expected, otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to kill our forces,” the mare answered. Her voice was soft and delicate, but there were undertones to it that I had only ever heard coming from the truly fucked-up raiders, the ones that found joy in making their victims suffer. It was the kind of voice that terrified me.

“And we’re always prepared for the trouble makers. Volt, fit her with one of the special collars, and make sure it’s on a different frequency from the rest. We wouldn’t want any accidents,” Shackle ordered.

“Of course,” the mare, Volt, answered with a short nod as she strode forward, her horn illuminated with magic as it drew a collar out from her saddlebags. Unlike every other slave collar I had ever seen, this one did not have a smooth inside. Instead, the inside curve was covered in small spikes.

“Now try not to struggle too much,” Volt proclaimed as she approached me, her magic unclasping the collar and swinging it open, “You don’t want this collar to be put on wrong. You’ll find that your life will be cut quite short.”

I recoiled instinctively from the mare, but my bound hooves only let me move so far. Volt had no trouble in grabbing my head with a hoof and holding me in place as she wrapped the collar around me and slammed it shut. The ends met with a resounding click, signaling the end of my life as a free pony, at least for the time being.

The spikes immediately dug into my flesh, making me want to choke. Within seconds, I could feel my throat become slick as my blood welled out from the dozens of puncture wounds, though none of them were actually serious enough to threaten my life. This collar was designed to be as uncomfortable as possible, and any wrong move would cause pain.

“I see you’ve already noticed what this collar does, slave,” Volt mused, her curled gaze following my every move, “I’ll tell you that it was designed to never become comfortable, so you will never forget what you are. Now, which one of you can unshackle her for me? We need to give her a demonstration of what happens if she misbehaves.”

A griffin dutifully stepped forward and undid the chains around my hooves. I instinctively shifted to get my hooves under me, wincing as the blood rushed back into the limbs, but finally managed to make it up. Hopefully, being as compliant as possible would avoid any needless pain and make them think I was perfectly willing to do whatever they wanted. It was my only ticket to get out.

“I don’t recall telling you to stand, slave,” Volt growled, her voice pitched to sound commanding. She lifted her Pipbuck so she could access it and tapped a few buttons.

Electricity shot from the collar, making me cry out in pain as my muscles seized up. I toppled over, no longer in control of my own limbs and screamed again as the spikes against my neck bit into my flesh again.

The flow of electricity finally stopped, but my muscles were still trembling with the after-effects of the collar. I simply lay where I had fallen, panting and trying to catch my breath. Somewhere deep inside me, a tiny part of my spirit broke. A shock collar made escaping impossible. They had at their disposal a way to stop me in their tracks whenever they wanted.

“Stand,” Volt ordered.

I barely heard her. My injured side and neck were still throbbing, and tremors were still going through my muscles as they continued to react to the powerful current that had just flown through them.

“I said stand, slave,” the mare repeated, a tone of warning.

Another wave of electricity hit me, making me arch my back and moan as my body instinctively tried to get away from the source of pain. When the wave finally ended, I was gasping for breath, trying to force my limbs to obey me and lift me to my hooves.

“Too slow,” the mare growled as I finally made it to a sitting position, “Your response needs to be fast. Wasting time is wasted caps.”

Again, my muscles were turned to so much useless meat as she triggered the shock collar for a third time, making me flop to the ground, sending another spike of pain into my neck. When the pain finally ceased, I lay where I was, whimpering in pain. My body wasn’t capable of taking this kind of punishment, and standing was going to be impossible if she kept shocking me.

“Now, stand, slave. That is an order,” Volt ordered again.

I struggled to comply, managing to get my forelegs under me and force myself to a sitting position, but there my strength cut out and I collapsed, gasping for breath. It felt like there wasn’t an ounce of strength left in my entire body, and all I wanted to do was pass out.

Instead another jolt of electricity passed through my body, making me cry out in pain and writhe on the ground. Somehow, through that haze of pain, I managed to make it to my hooves, finding some source of strength from the fear of being shocked again. I stood there, trembling, and watching the purple unicorn as she looked at me almost disinterestedly over the screen of her Pipbuck. Sweat was beading on my forehead to drip down my face, mixing with the rain.

“I’m impressed. Most pass out before they make it to their hooves,” she mused, lowering the Pipbuck and turning to face Shackle.

“I hope you’ve had your fill of fun, Volt. We still have to get back to the Mill,” the stallion complained.

“Before you go, I will stress again my point of watching her carefully,” Greymane insisted, striding forward, “She, and her group of friends, almost managed to best me in combat. She is not to be underestimated.”

“Yeah, yeah. We’ve met plenty of her type before. Wouldn’t be the first time we enslaved one of those ponies that managed to get featured on that fucking DJs show,” Shackle answered with a dismissive wave of his hoof.

He pulled a pouch of caps from his saddlebag which he then tossed at Mareina. “Four thousand caps, as agreed. Thank you for your business.”

He turned and started to walk away. Volt followed him, sparing only a brief glance in my direction, obviously expecting me to follow.

I did as she expected. What other choice did I have? My legs were still shaking with the aftereffects of the shock collar, but falling would mean another bout of electricity, and I wanted to stay under my own control for as long as I possibly could.

As I walked past Greymane, the buck watched me with a penetrating glare. “We will meet again, Evergreen. That much I am sure of,” he intoned as I passed, “But you will determine what the circumstances of that next meeting. For your sake, I hope you will have learned your place by then.”

I held my tongue, biting back my stinging reply. There was no doubt in my mind that if I did anything else that these two slavers did not specifically give me permission to do, I would be shocked again. Blood was already leaking out from under the collar fastened around my neck, the result of falling several times and having those dozens of tiny spikes dig into my skin.

As we walked out of the camp, I could feel every set of eyes on me, especially that pair of green eyes that belonged to Greymane. I could feel the sense of victory in the air. These mercenaries knew they had just removed one of the greatest threats to their work, and now they would be almost unimpeded in everything they did, barring the local resistance. But nopony was left to fight against them on the large scale. Not even Metro would go out to fight for another town. Mallet would only fight to defend his town, and I couldn’t blame him for that.

After a short time, we were well away from the camp and out in the middle of the wasteland. Ahead, I could make out another encampment that was already being cleaned up as its owner prepared to move. It immediately became apparent that the camp belonged to the slavers. Chained to the ground on the outskirts of the camp were a dozen ponies, all of them dirty and with broken and defeated expressions. They were going to be my new companions.

The first thing Shackle did when we arrived was to chain me up with the others, tacking me on to the back of the train of slaves. Every single pony there was watching me, and I could see the same hopeful look in all of their eyes. They knew exactly who I was, and they believed this was all just some ruse, that I would do something heroic and save us all. By the Princesses Above, how I wished I could.

I didn’t know how they recognized me. My leg, side, and shoulder were wrapped in bandages that had been stained a color somewhere between red and brown, and my hide was coated with a mixture of mud and blood. Even though Mareina had had my injuries treated, she hadn’t bothered to clean me up.

Once Volt and Shackle had moved on to help with breaking the camp, the slave next to me in the chain finally broke the silence, risking punishment just to speak with me. “Heroine?” he asked quietly, as if he barely dared himself to speak.

“No. Just Evergreen. I’m nopony’s hero anymore,” I muttered in return, “Seems I finally met my match.”

“You mean… you didn’t plan this?” the buck asked after a moment’s silence.

I lifted my head to look at him, wincing as the spike cut off my supply of air for a brief moment. He was a dirty grey unicorn with a ragged blue mane. He was wearing a tattered vest that was doing almost nothing to protect against the wind and rain. He might as well have been wearing nothing at all.

“If I had planned this, I wouldn’t be wearing the collar,” I answered sadly, “and I would have some sort of weapon beyond my hooves. I’m sorry, I’m not what’s going to save us.”

“But… you’re the Heroine of Seaddle! You’ve saved so many already!” the buck protested, “I’ve heard about your traveling companions. Won’t they help us?”

“They’re probably trying to put something together, but I’d be surprised if they even know where I am right now,” I answered, “Last time I saw them, I was shouting at them to get to Metro, to warn Mallet. For all I know, we’re on the opposite side of the wasteland from them. Fuck, I can’t believe it’s come to this,”

“So, what are we supposed to do?” somepony else asked, their voice still holding a note of hope.

I turned my head to find the source of the voice. It belonged to a young purple Earth pony mare, probably about the same age as Autumn Mist. Her mane was still more or less styled, with a long pony tail hanging over one shoulder.

“We survive,” I answered bluntly, “We do what they say, when they say. It won’t be easy, and it won’t be pretty, but we can only hope to be free by doing everything they tell us to. Right now, they have all the power, and we cannot try to act until we even the balance somewhat. Believe me, I have no intention of giving up, but right now there isn’t anything any of us can do. When we get to the Mill, then we might have a chance.”

“But nopony has ever escaped from the Mill,” the first buck protested, “Haven’t you heard the stories?”

“No, I haven’t,” I admitted, “But I remember hearing that nopony could ever spit in the face of the Wasteland and make anything of themselves, and I think I’ve pulled that off. At the end of the day, those are only stories. What matters is what we do and how we do it. Just because nopony has ever escaped doesn’t mean we can’t.”

They watched me, their expressions hopeful despite the situation we found ourselves in, and I could feel their determination to survive, if only because of my presence. Part of me hated the thought that I held such influence over these ponies, but another part of me realized that it meant that the collar around my neck didn’t stop me from being who I was. It was just another obstacle to overcome.

I could still fight, even if I no longer had a weapon. The battlefield wasn’t filled with bullets and explosives anymore, but rather the idea that I would be shackled for the rest of my life. The battle was no longer for my life, but for my freedom, and I would be damned before I gave up fighting for that. Besides, I still had a few choice words to say to Steel Curtain before I could let myself give in.

Level up!
Perk Gained: Black Widow: You deal +10% damage to male opponents and have unique dialogue options when speaking with members of the opposite sex.
Skill Note: Melee (75)

{I have been waiting to write the chapter for SO long, and I truly hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I did planning for it and writing it. What has happened in this chapter has been the plan for a very long time, and I have a lot of plans ahead for what is going to be happening. As always, thank you to Kkat for creating Fallout Equestria, and thank you to for his editing. This would not be in nearly as good as shape as it is without him. As always, the hub page to the story on Google docs can be found here.}

{Some may have noticed that Cody was not thanked as is usual this chapter. Unfortunately, he has had to back out of editing due to work, school, and life in general. If anyone reading this is willing to help out, or knows someone who would be, *please* point them in my direction or let me know. I really want more than just our two sets of eyes on this.}

Chapter 14: The Mill

Fallout Equestria: Redemption
Author: Cooperdawg
Chapter 14: The Mill
“The mind is as much a shackle as any chain.”

I’d heard a thousand theories about being a slave in my lifetime. I’d heard that the slavers take pride in beating us down, making us think we’re worthless, and that they can take our lives at a moment’s notice. That was proven false the moment I was bought for four thousand caps. It gave me value, far over that of normal slaves, and my supposed masters would not let me go to waste if they spent that fortune in finding me.

I’d heard that they make a point to prove that slaves have no power, that every action we take will accomplish nothing for ourselves. The fact that one slave getting hurt in a forced march and bringing the entire entourage to a halt shows that even our simplest actions are enough to force a group of more than ten slavers to a halt, even if their solution is as simple as a bullet to the head. They still had to stop to respond to a slave’s action.

I’d heard that a slave’s life is worth only what our masters decide it’s worth, and that our only purpose is to do exactly what they wished, without even considering the possibility of doing anything else. Their means of controlling me was clear evidence that they feared what I was capable of.

I had said that the secret of survival as a slave was being compliant, listening to every word that came out of the masters’ mouths and doing exactly as they wished as soon as they said it, even if it meant endangering our lives. Now I was learning that the truth went beyond that. The secret to survival as a slave was to make them believe you were doing exactly what they wanted, when the truth is the exact opposite. I had learned what the limits were within seconds of having the collar placed around my neck, and I would have the scars to remind me of those limits for the rest of my life, both on my neck and on my soul. But they had also taught me where my power lay.

My advantage was my value. The pony all these slavers looked up to, this Eulogy, had spent a fortune to find me, and take me, and that made me more than a simple slave. It made me a prize, and ponies always took special care of their prizes.

There was no doubt that I was going to be humiliated and forced to do things I would never otherwise choose to do, and doubtless many of these things would threaten my life, but my first rule was there for a reason. At first, I had thought that anything would be better than slavery, including death. Now, I thought differently.

I was going to survive, even if it ended in me hating myself. At the end of the day, all that mattered was finishing what I set out to do, and I was not going to disappoint Shooting Star, Cheerilee, and every other soul in the Wasteland that was counting on me simply because I couldn’t do something that would keep me alive.

Ponies had told me that the one simple rule of the wasteland was that survival had to come at any cost, and it was a sentiment I agreed with, to a point. At this point in my life, I would not turn my back on the things that made me who I was: my desire to see the wasteland become something better and my drive to protect every innocent life that I could. As long as I held to those two simple facts, I would do anything, even if it meant murdering a pony in order to protect others.

Shooting Star had a point when he said that most could not do what I did, and I hadn’t been lying when I said that it took more than simply picking up a gun and walking out the door to make something of our world. What I hadn’t said was what it required, and that was a willingness to take as many lives as necessary to make a dream into a reality.

Since the first few questions, my fellow slaves had mostly remained quiet, focusing their energy in staying on their hooves and not lagging, especially after one of our number was put down for spraining an ankle on a rock he hadn’t noticed in time. I couldn’t help but think that the slavers were using that buck as an example to the rest of us. For most of them, it worked, but all it did was make me angrier.

Despite my anger, I held my tongue. Drawing attention to myself would do me no good. Staying in one piece was more important than anything else, as any untreated injury could easily become infected and lead to sickness and ultimately, death. The injuries I already had were making me tire quickly, not to mention the torture that Volt, that damned bitch with the Pipbuck that controlled my shock collar, had put me through that morning they had bought me, but my injuries had at least had been cleaned and bound, so my risk of getting sick was fairly low.

It had been almost two full days since then, and we had spent the entire time marching. With every step, I felt our fate draw nearer, and it terrified me. Once I stepped a hoof inside the confines of the Mill, my chances of getting free would drop dramatically, and there was nothing I could do to slow our approach to that place.

I could tell by the cockiness in the slavers’ strides that we were drawing close. For most of the journey, they had been wary, carefully watching our surroundings and always having their weapons at the ready. I felt a small amount of pride at the fact that it was probably my repeated attacks on their caravans that made them wary of the wasteland, not to mention the fact that I was one of their slaves. It was just another example of the way that I held power over these ponies.

But now they were confident. Their weapons hung at their sides, almost forgotten, and they were talking and laughing amongst themselves .The few snippets I managed to hear of their jokes didn’t do much to improve my opinion of them. How anypony could find a punchline about crippling a pony by severing a leg funny, I would never understand.

Their lightheartedness made me more uncomfortable, because it meant our destination was close. Doubtless we would arrive by nightfall, and then the real hell would begin.

The first thing I noticed was the smell. The sky was just beginning to darken with the setting sun, out of my view as always, but the slavers continued forward with sure steps, rather than stopping us to set up camp.

The smell reminded me of my old camp. It was reminiscent of ponies that had forgotten what hygiene was, or that there was another option to living in your own filth. There was also the smell of burnt flesh, a sickly-sweet stench that made me want to gag. Several of the other slaves did.

“Hah! Sounds like they like the aroma!” One of the slavers laughed. He was a thin, dark-blue Earth pony buck with a puke-green mane styled into a Mohawk. His name was Whip Lash. Fitting, considering his cutie mark of a whip made out of razor wire, and the matching weapon that hung from his barding. Thankfully, I hadn’t seen it put into use yet.

“The fuck you talking about, Lash?” Volt answered, her disgust twisting her features into a cruel mask, “Even I can’t stand the stench of this shit hole. Still can’t believe Eulogy isn’t pushing for some better real estate.”

“Can it, Volt. Gripe all you want, but not in front of the merchandise,” Shackle, the apparent leader of the group, snapped, “Now get back there and make sure they’re all following along nice and quiet. Especially that special purchase from Mareina. Eulogy ain’t gonna be happy if he doesn’t get his hooves on her.”

“I guess somepony in this group has to do the real work,” Volt sighed, slowing her pace until she was walking alongside us slaves.

Her horn began to glow with a strong lavender aura, and a simple .22 pistol levitated out of from her barding. She sidled along the chain of slaves, finally matching our pace when she drew beside me.

“So how does it feel just being another one of them, slave?” she sneered, using the barrel of the weapon to push a stray strand of my mane away from my face, “Nothing special, nopony worth mentioning. Just another empty face and worthless life.”

“She’s the Herione of Seaddle! She isn’t worthless!” the dirty grey unicorn buck that had first risked himself to speak to me answered passionately, “She’ll save us all, just wait and see!”

“She’s going to save all you gutless pukes? Is that what you think?” Volt sneered, lifting a leg and accessing her Pipbuck, “We’ll see just how well she manages that when, with a simple press of a button, I can do… this.”

I knew what was coming, and no amount of bracing was going to let me withstand it. The surge of electricity coursed through my body, locking up my limbs mid-stride and sending me tumbling to the ground. My collar bit painfully into my neck when I landed, making me gasp for breath as the spikes dug into my windpipe. The chain around my left leg that connected me to the rest of the slaves continued forward, wrenching that leg out in front of me and making me cry out in pain as it strained my already-vulnerable muscles.

“Tell me, slave: how is she going to possibly save you when I can put her on the ground with a flick of my hoof?” Volt sneered, walking past me and standing alongside the buck.

The line of slaves had now come to a halt, unable to drag my weight through the mud. Compared to them, I was in shape and well-fed, and it showed. “Just because you can use a button to stop her doesn’t mean she can’t save us! She’s smart and resourceful! How many different groups of slavers has she taken out, huh? How many ponies like us has she managed to save so far?”

That was exactly the wrong thing to say. Volt frowned, a positively gruesome expression on her thin face. “Too many,” she growled, bringing her pistol to bear, “and it is exactly this kind of resistance we need to put a stop to. Tell me, slave: Do you think she can save you this very second?”

The buck’s gaze darted over to me, then back to Volt. In that split second, I saw the fear in his eyes, as well as the desperation. That glance was a cry for help, and for a miracle I couldn’t deliver.

During the exchange I focused on regaining control over my limbs, struggling, and finally succeeding in dragging myself back to my hooves.

“She can’t do shit. Not as long as I control her,” Volt sneered, watching me with one eye. The second I was up again, she hit the button, sending another stream of electricity through my body.

I collapsed again, and in that moment, I saw the hope and belief drain out of these ponies. I was helpless, and they all saw it. They finally understood that I couldn’t save them.

The expression on the buck’s face was the one that tore my heart the most. He had believed so strongly in me, had stood up to his slaver with the belief that I could protect him, and now he was realizing that I had no such ability.

“I’ll tell you what,” Volt mused, floating her .22 closer to her face so she could inspect it, “I’ll make you a deal. If you can get her to even try to stop me, you’ll get to keep your life. And as for you,” she stated, turning to face me, “If you even think about helping him, I will make your life a living hell, and I will make sure Eulogy finds out about your disobedience. Just because we have orders to keep you alive don’t mean that he will be as charitable.”

She held my gaze for several moments, her piercing glare making sure that I knew, in no uncertain terms, that I didn’t have a choice in what to do.

“So what’s it gonna be, slave?” she continued, turning her head back to the buck.

She cautiously shifted his gaze from Volt to me, and held me pinned with a gaze so desperate that I felt myself torn. “Please, Heroine. Help me. It’s what you do. You save ponies!” he pleaded, his voice the sort of pleading whine I had used to hate. Now, all it did was make me feel pity.

I was faced with a choice, and it was a simple one. I could screw my own chances for survival and step forward to help this buck, and maybe save one life. Or I could hold my tongue and do nothing, and make my chances for survival that much better. My rule was compliancy, and there was a reason for that rule. Helping this buck would not improve my chances of getting out. It would do exactly the opposite.

I had to make the choice that would let me continue my fight, even if I would regret it for the rest of my life. I remained where I had fallen, turning my head away from the buck and staring at the dirt beneath my hooves. I focused my gaze on a small rock that happened to catch my attention. It was small, barely larger than a pebble, but it had smooth edges, like it had been worn down over the years, unlike all the jagged stones and pieces of rubble that littered the wasteland.

“Heroine, please! I need you!” the buck pleaded, “I have a family! They need me. I… I can’t die here. Please… help me.”

I shut his voice out of my mind, reducing his words to unintelligible sounds. The rock became the focus of all of my attention. Underneath the grime of the wasteland I could make out the marbling of the stone, with streaks of white, red, and black criss-crossing its sleek grey surface. As I focused, I could make out a tiny hairline crack spread across one of its faces, forming a small black chasm and breaking a few of the marbled streaks apart.

“It don’t look like she’s listening, scum,” Volt sneered, chambering a round in her pistol. The sound was loud and jarring, and startled me out of my reverie for a moment.

“Evergreen, please! Help me!” the buck begged, crying now. His sobs were heavy, and I could see him shaking in my mind’s eye.

I stared at the rock at my hooves, at the way the dirt and mud of the wasteland clung to its surface holding it trapped against the ground where even a solid kick would have trouble dislodging it. I felt like I was that rock, and that I was so stuck in my own thoughts that I couldn’t stand up and defend a pony that needed it. I hated myself for it.

I closed my eyes, shutting the world out and focused instead on the feel of the dirt beneath my body, the bite of the spikes of my collar against my neck, and the cold steel of the chain around my leg that bound me directly to that buck.

A gunshot tore through the wasteland, making me flinch. A moment later, I heard the sound of something heavy falling to the ground. I fought back against the emotions welling up inside me, against the injustice of what had just happened, my anger at the mare that had taken a life, and the hatred of myself for doing nothing to stop it when I had been the only one with the ability to.

Throughout the sounds of rattling chains, I held my eyes shut. I knew what was happening, and I couldn’t face it. Not yet. That buck was being removed from the chain and I was being rebound to the next slave in line. His corpse was going to be left at the roadside for scavengers. A corpse that could still be alive, if only I had chosen to act.

“All right scum, we’ve got a schedule to keep! Move!” Volt shouted, an undercurrent of sadistic pride in her voice.

I lurched to my hooves, head still hung low, and limped along behind the line of slaves. I tried to keep my eyes firmly focused on the ground in front of me, but out of the corner of my eyes I spotted a dirty grey lump on the ground, and a lolling head whose glassy, staring eyes were fixed on me. I felt fixed in that gaze until we turned around the side of a hill in front of us.

The Mill sat before us on the other side of that hill, sprawling across the landscape like some twisted nightmare. It got its name from the massive structure of the grain mill that the complex had originally been intended for, but now, that mill had been stripped for parts, leaving behind a rusted metal shell.

The main tower was now being used as an exhaust tower, and thick, oily black smoke was pouring out of an opening at the top. In the dim light of the wasteland, it looked like the tower was covered in blood.

A tall wall that was several feet thick circled the entire perimeter and was topped with rolls of razor wire. Nopony was ever going to escape by climbing over those walls. Even if they did, the guard towers erected at regular intervals gave anypony on watch the perfect vantage point to spot any potential escapees, and then shoot them. Part of me doubted that the threat stopped some ponies from trying.

Nestled between two massive stone columns and reinforced by several barricades of razor wire and firing lines was the steel gateway into that hell. Looking at it made the entire complex look more like a fortress than a slave camp.

As we neared, I could hear sounds coming from within the complex. The loudest was the whining and grinding of ancient industrial machinery. Whatever was going on beyond that steel gate, it was big, and I was on my way to meeting the pony in charge of it all.

We were marched right up to the gate, weaving our way through the maze of razor wire that guarded it. A half-dozen heavily armed ponies were sitting around an improvised table playing cards as we approached.

One of the ponies, a green Earth Pony mare with a dark blue mane that was cut into something that might have resembled a crew cut rose from the table and turned to face us. “Took you fucking long enough, Shackle. We’ve been expecting you for two days. Where the fuck have you been?” she asked angrily, her gaze shifting from the slaver to us. “Is this all you have to show for your efforts? A dozen starved and broken ponies? I expected better.”

“This is better. That bitch in the back is the one responsible for all our losses these past couple of weeks. Had to go a little out of the way to pick her up, but the boss is going to be happy once he knows we’ve got her,” Shackle retorted, lifting his head and puffing out his chest.

“You don’t say?” the mare drawled, striding past the convoy and coming to a stop next to me, “So you’re the cunt that offed Chainlink, eh? Call me impressed. Fucker was one of the best fighters I knew. How’d you do it?”

“In my experience, a bullet to the head kills most ponies pretty easily,” I answered simply, shrugging, “He was no different.”

The guard laughed, throwing back her head and revealing a row of yellowed teeth and the stench of half-rotted meat. “Oh, you I like! You’re gonna want to watch that attitude though, slave. Answers like that amuse ponies like me, but fuckers like them don’t take too kindly to it,” she chuckled, nodding her head in the direction of Shackle and Volt.

“Stop fucking around, Shrapnel. Some of us actually have work to do. Now open the damn gate,” Shackle growled.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got it,” Shrapnel answered, rolling her eyes as she chuckled at their expense. She made her way to a small gatehouse set into one of the columns and briefly disappeared in the gloom. A moment later, there was an anemic grind and the gate began to swing open. Shrapnel reappeared, leaning against the column. “You know the drill. Drop this stinking lot off at the pens, but bring her straight to Eulogy,” she said, gesturing to me with a jerk of her head, “He’s going to want to welcome her personally.”

“She’s just a slave, Shrapnel. None of ‘em get special treatment,” Shackle retorted as he started to lead us through the gate.

“Your funeral. I’m just telling you what’ll make the old buck happy,” Shrapnel answered with a shrug as she waited for us to pass.

I couldn’t hear Shackle’s response, as the gate began to grind against its hinges again, slamming shut with a metallic clang behind us. We were now sealed within the walls of the complex. Most of us would probably never walk out as free ponies again, but I was determined not to be one of that number.

We were led along a rough dirt track that traced a path between mounds of wreckage before passing into an area that could only be the main courtyard of the complex. Here, a vision of hell met us.

Most of the area was taken up by the slave pens. They looked to have once been stables for livestock before the war, and it didn’t look like much had changed. They had been reinforced so the slaves within couldn’t simply break their way out, but otherwise, the original steel cages in the outdoor areas did a perfect job of keeping the slaves contained, while still giving them the option of taking shelter indoors.

Another part of the courtyard, bordering the slave pens, was the industrial complex that had been built up around the base of the old grain tower. The heat and stench of industrial toxins coming from there was overwhelming, making us gag and sputter for breath. The sounds of work came from within the structures there, and now I could also make out the sounds of shouts and the crack of whips.

The last part of the courtyard, built up as far from the slave pens as was possible, was the slaver’s area. A corrugated steel fence surrounded it, separating them even further from the pens and work areas, and the single gate was guarded by a pair of armed guards. Through the gate, I could make out their mess and rec areas which were populated with mean-looking slavers, as well as a few ponies I was fairly certain I had seen in the shanty town outside of Metro.

The rec area was also populated with several slaves, all of them mares. Some were serving the slavers, while others were being forced to provide whatever entertainment they could. The entire display disgusted me, and I could feel a familiar rage building within my chest. I wanted to charge in there and kill every single slaving bastard for what they were doing. Nothing less would suffice.

“Get in there, scum! Somepony will be along shortly to give you your instructions. I suggest you don’t get too comfortable. You won’t be sitting useless for long,” Shackle ordered, holding open a reinforced door to one of the pens. The chains were removed from our legs as we filed into the dark confines of the pen. The only light came from the open door to the outside cage.

As soon as I stepped through the door, it slammed shut behind me. In a moment of crushing defeat, I realized that I was trapped, and had no idea of what I was going to do to get out of here. I had no allies, no weapons, and no information. It was easily the worst situation I had ever found myself in.

I stumbled through the pen, trying to find an open spot to lie down, but it was crowded, with bodies piled against each other for every scrap of open space. The smell of unwashed bodies was thick and cloying, actually managing to overpower the toxic fumes from the industrial site.

Not finding anything inside, beyond a few annoyed grunts and curses, I stumbled into the outdoor cage and collapsed on the first open patch of ground. No matter how hard I tried, I could not stop the tears from welling up or coursing down my cheeks. I had managed to keep it together this long because of our march and my focus at trying to find every possible weakness in this place that I could, but now that I was locked up and had nowhere to go or nothing to do, I had nothing to stop my emotions from rushing back in a crushing tide.

I had chosen not to act, and a life had been lost as a consequence. No matter what any pony said, that blood was on my hooves. I may not have pulled the trigger, but I had done nothing to stop it. And all because I couldn’t risk threatening my own safety. It was a curse to know I was one of the only ponies capable of fighting back, or to have a reason to fight back, and something inside me was breaking at the thought that I had simply sat by and let the buck be murdered.

In the silence of my mind, I vowed that I would avenge that nameless buck, and that Volt’s death would be neither quick nor painless. She would suffer, and she would understand exactly why I was not a pony to be fucked with.

I couldn’t say how long I lay there, feeling sorry for myself and wishing for things to be different, but it couldn’t have been long. The sky was still bright enough for it to be late afternoon, at worst, when somepony approached me. They came from within the slave pen, so I immediately knew that they were a slave as well, but that didn’t mean much. A simple rule of society was that even a slave force would construct a hierarchy among itself, with some slaves becoming more powerful than others. And it was always the newcomers that inhabited the lowest rung of that ladder.

“What are you doing out here? Only the veterans get to sleep outside,” the voice growled angrily.

I lifted my head, doing what I could to wipe the tears away, and looked up into the gruff face of an elderly Earth Pony buck. He had a red hide and ratty white mane that hung in wisps from his head. He stood over me in a stance that communicated a physical strength that most ponies his age usually no longer possessed, especially given what he was.

“There wasn’t any space in there,” I answered, needing to put all of my focus into my speech just to keep my voice from breaking, “And I… I just needed to lie down.”

I lowered my head again, resting it on my forelegs. My thoughts were drifting back into the abyss of self-hate when the buck kicked me, making me stagger up into a sitting position in shock.

“I don’t think you get it, new blood,” he growled, “You don’t get to be out here. I’ve seen hundreds of ponies like you come through here. You’ll be dead in a few days, and I don’t want you stinking up our space.”

“I’m not going to die,” I retorted icily, the comment jarring me out of my slump. It made me realize how much I had let that buck’s death affect me. It was terrible, to be sure, and it was going to take a lot before I forgave myself, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t be on my guard. “These bastards will try, but they will not succeed,” I continued, staring into the buck’s eyes.

He seemed surprised now, something that gave me a small amount of satisfaction, but a hard and angry gleam was still present in his gaze. “Being angry isn’t going to help you either.”

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. Here this buck was, trying to lecture me, when I knew exactly what was needed to survive. I had survived far worse things than this buck could even imagine. “Oh I know exactly what it takes to survive,” I said with a grin as I rose to my hooves, “But having to worry about bucks like you trying to call me out really isn’t part of the plan. You see, from my perspective, we’re all exactly the same. They certainly see it that way, and I don’t see a reason to disagree with them. And that means that you have no power over me beyond what I choose to give you.”

The look on the old buck’s face was priceless. The anger was completely gone, replaced by shock. “I have been here for almost five years!” he sputtered, “I have survived longer than most ever do, and you think you can lecture me! You don’t know what it’s like to be a slave!”

“If you mean that I don’t know what it means to have a collar slapped around my neck and not have the freedom to choose what I’m going to do, then I agree with you. I haven’t got a clue what I’m in for,” I growled, “But that doesn’t mean I haven’t experience slavery. My chains were a different kind, and they held me tethered to a life I hated because I didn’t know any better. And honestly, I don’t care about the fact that you’ve been here for five years. At the end of the day, none of that matters. All that matters is what we do with what we have left.”

“But we don’t have anything!” the buck protested, bringing another twisted grin to my face.

“Exactly my point,” I said with a smile, “We have nothing. So what do you have that makes you better than me? A few years more spent in hell? I promise you, I’ve seen more death and destruction in these last few weeks than you’ve seen in your entire life. I’m no rookie to hell.”

The buck looked like he was about to say something more when the loud ringing sound of the door to our pen being opened echoed through the cramped confines of the building, and a harsh, familiar voice shouted, “Where’s the stupid bitch that killed half our caravans at?”

My smile disappeared from my face and I sighed. “Would it kill them to use a name? How the fuck do they tell us apart if they don’t use a fucking name?” I muttered as I pushed myself through the crowd until I stood in front of Volt, getting a little bit of satisfaction out of the old buck’s expression when he realized I was the one Volt was looking for.

“Right here, Volt. Your boss want to see me?” I asked, trying to sound submissive. It didn’t help that I hadn’t been this low on the social ladder in years.

“Watch your tone, slave. Do I need to remind you what you are?” She sneered, lifting her Pipbuck in warning.

“No ma’am,” I immediately answered, bowing my head and lowering myself slightly in front of her. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a hint of a grin creep onto her face. She thought she had me completely under her control.

“Good. Follow me, and keep your eyes down. Not many slaves get the pleasure of Eulogy’s presence,” Volt ordered, then turned and stepped out of the building.

I followed her out of the pen and across the courtyard towards the fence that separated the slaves from the slaver’s area. As we passed through the gate, I realized that the slaver’s buildings weren’t fenced off from the slaves, but the other way around. The steel fence hid the large open areas beyond from the gaze of the slaves, and it wasn’t hard to see why.

The space the slavers had to themselves was massive, easily twice the size of the courtyard surrounding the slave pens, and it contained everything they could ever need to live comfortably, up to and including a clinic and fully-stocked armory. The building we were currently approaching was larger than most and was a sturdy brick structure that had a massive neon sign hung over the door that read ‘Eulogy’s Pad’. I barely managed to withhold a grimace at the showiness of it all. This Eulogy’s ego must be triple the size of anypony I had ever met, except maybe Seahawk, though I hadn’t actually met him yet.

Once we reached the door, Volt pulled it open with her magic and gestured for me to walk in. I stepped past her, feeling her gaze drilling me in the back every step of the way. When I was finally through the door, I heard it slam behind me and the slaver strode past me, a cruel grin on her face.

“Eulogy, I got that cunt that killed Chainlink and Ingot down here. You said you wanted to see her?” Volt announced loudly, making her way over to a wet bar that was set up on one wall and picking up a bottle of whiskey. She took a moment to examine the label, then opened it and took a large gulp.

“Thank you, Volt,” a deep voice answered that was coming from somewhere above me, “You can take that bottle of whiskey as a mark of my gratitude. I want to speak with her privately.”

“You sure about that boss? Want the frequency for her collar, in case she decides to do something stupid?” Volt asked, a note of surprise in her voice.

“If it makes you feel better. I don’t think she’ll be trying anything here. She has nowhere to run and nothing that gives her an advantage. Acting now would gain her nothing, and I know she understands that. Leave us,” the pony answered. The voice was still coming from above me, but was moving to my right. I was twisting my head, trying to see where its owner was.

He finally came into sight a few moments later as he descended the large staircase whose base was facing the wall ahead of me, putting the actual staircase out of sight. At first glance, Eulogy looked just like every other pony I had ever met. He was a nondescript brown Earth Pony with a black mane and was wearing a rather simple bright red vest. His cutie mark appeared to be a gravestone, which I hoped had something to do with his name, rather than the business of death that he was a part of.

As I watched him, however, I noticed something that set him apart from everypony else I had met that was a part of his slave operation. He was actually clean, his hide free of the dust, grime, and sweat that every other pony in the wasteland simply got used to. That doesn’t mean that the rest of the wasteland doesn’t believe in hygiene, but wasting good, clean water on washing one’s body is something that simply isn’t done, and dirty water never quite gets that last layer of grime off. The fact that this buck was clean, really clean, meant that he had to have a very steady supply of clean water, a feat almost unheard of in the wasteland.

“If you say so, boss,” Volt finally muttered, stashing the bottle of whiskey in her barding and making for the door. She paused for a moment to give something to Eulogy, then continued on towards me. As she passed me, she kicked me in the gut, making me retch and fall to my knees, “Don’t forget your place, scum. The likes of you shouldn’t even look at him.”

I heard the door open and close again while I struggled to regain my breath and drag myself back to my hooves. When I finally succeeded and looked up, Eulogy was standing only a few feet away from me, an almost amiable grin on his face.

“I apologize for her,” he said, turning towards the wet bar once he saw that I was all right, “She’s a little severe, but she keeps the caravans in line, so I keep her around. I prefer my employees here to be a little more even-tempered. Would you like a drink?”

“A… drink?” I asked, trying to wrap my head around what was going on. This buck was supposed be the slaver in charge of all the slaving operations in the Seaddle wasteland? And he was offering me, his slave, his property, a drink? It didn’t make sense.

“Yes. I have whiskey, rum, beer, wine, maybe even a bottle of good North-Equestrian vodka around here somewhere. What would you like?” he asked as he poured himself a glass of some amber liquid that looked like a bourbon.

In my mind’s eye a saw a half-empty bottle of Apple Whiskey. I had never had a chance to finish that bottle; I had wanted to save it for an occasion really worthy of it. Now, it had probably disappeared down the gullet of one of those damned mercenaries working for Mareina. “I’ll take a bottle of beer, but not that cheap shit,” I answered. It was an old joke we’d thrown around in the old gang, and one of the few things from that life that I had held one to. To my amusement, Eulogy actually laughed.

He pulled a brown bottle out of a fridge and made his way over to me. I grabbed the beer from his hoof and took a drink, relishing the barely-cooled taste of ancient hops sliding down my throat. It tasted like shit, but anything was better than the tiny amount of dirty water that the slavers had been giving us on the road.

“You don’t seem that different from one of us, Evergreen, or should I say Heroine of Seaddle? Shooting Star seems to be really enamored of you recently, but you really aren’t that different from us,” Eulogy mused as he took a sip from his whiskey.

“I’m no Heroine. Just a pony trying to make things better,” I answered automatically, “And I don’t think any pony is really that different from anyone else. The only differences are the things we believe in.”

“So you think those cowards in Metro aren’t too different from raiders?” Eulogy pressed, an eyebrow raised in surprise at my answer.

“Hah! Raiders are an entirely different thing altogether. Crazed bastards can barely remember what they are, much less keep track of a set of morals and ethics. But everything else: gangers, merchants, ponies like me, and even slavers like you, we’re all more or less the same: all just trying to survive in a world that keeps trying to kill us. The differences come from how far we’re willing to go to do that,” I answered with a grin, taking another swig from my beer.

“No, there’s more to it than that. You’re hiding something. What are you, Evergreen?” Eulogy asked pointedly, “And don’t lie to me. I’d hate for this conversation to become uncivil.”

I hesitated. My past had become a very personal thing, and it wasn’t something I shared easily. My friends knew only because that life had affected almost all of them, but Tinder still didn’t have a clue. But on the other hoof, lying to Eulogy could be a very poor decision. “I was a raider not too long ago,” I admitted, lowering my head to look at the faded label on my beer. It was too worn to make anything out except for the light blue shade that used to be the background, “It took one of my friends showing up out of nowhere one day and saying a few key things to me that made me realize how much I hated that life.”

“So you just changed gears and started helping others? Just like that?” Eulogy asked, “I don’t believe it.”

“Life is never that simple. At first, it was just about survival. You know, finding the right supplies to keep myself going, and helping Metro seemed to be the best way of giving myself somewhere I could go back to, to trade for supplies and food. My intention was to become a mercenary. Life had other plans in mind,” I explained.

“So now you travel the wasteland, righting wrongs and getting involved in things that are much larger than you are,” Eulogy said with a lopsided grin, “Not exactly the healthiest choice, though I’m sure Volt taught you that.”

“I stopped caring the day I walked into Buckview and saw the entire town burned to the ground and the ponies that used to live there thrown into a single pile and lit on fire. Somepony has to keep shit like that from happening. If not me, then who? We don’t live in a world where we can wait for somepony else to come along and put things right. We can only rely on ourselves,” I stated simply, draining the last of my beer and dropping the bottle on a table.

“And that’s when things started becoming more difficult for you, didn’t they?” Eulogy asked, “Because you had to keep digging. And that led you to me.”

“What led me to you was the fact that I chose to trust someone, and they betrayed that trust. I’m here because we were outgunned and surrounded, not because I chose to do something to try to make the wasteland a better place,” I growled.

“I suppose the heart of the matter is that you took out two of my caravans, and killed a lot of my best slavers,” Eulogy stated, finishing his drink as well, “If you haven’t noticed, I appreciate the finer touches of life. If there’s anything the ponies of old understood, it was luxury, and that is something I attempt to live by. But that sort of life requires resources, the kind of resources that are only available to those that are involved in the trade of something plentiful, yet is always in high demand. There are not many markets like that in today’s world, and your actions have dented my production and made my lifestyle more difficult to maintain.”

“It doesn’t matter how gilded the life is. Your business is the destruction of the lives of others. That isn’t something I can stand for. Not anymore,” I retorted, “Every single one of those ponies out there has a life, and family, and friends. You have stolen all of that away from them. Think for half of a second: If you offered them food and shelter, I could almost guarantee that most would stay and work for you, because they would be safe. Instead, you choose to enslave them and drive them to the brink. How many slaves die in a month, or a week, or even a day?”

“You are making the same assumption as every other slave that has stood before me has made. You saw the industrial site and assumed that I keep all of you here to work. You couldn’t be more wrong. Your particular slave pen is my workforce. The ones who work the mill and keep this place running, but the other pens are only temporary. I am not in the business of forming a workforce; there is no way I could keep it all under control with our limited size. No, I am in the business of trading slaves. Fully ninety percent of the slaves that come through here are sold elsewhere, most to mainland Equestria. Somepony in Fillydelphia has a huge operation in the working and is begging for slaves from anywhere he can get them. I am more than happy to oblige, especially given the offering price. That one pony has made me quite rich,” Eulogy said with a smirk.

“And what is that wealth worth?” I pressed, “What good do all of those caps do you if you don’t use them? Every cap I have ever made I have spent on ways to help either myself or my friends, because out there, on the road, I can’t shoot a cap at somepony, and I can’t use one to save a friend’s life.”

“The typical viewpoint of a wastelander,” Eulogy mused, “I am not a wastelander. I am a businesspony. My slavers are the ones that need to go out there, not me. Which brings me to my last point, and the one that is most important to you. You have killed a lot of my employees, which puts me in a bit of a bind. When I put out the order to find you, I was expecting some higher-than-thou pony that cried themselves to sleep every time they were forced to kill. Instead, I am now discovering that you know the darker sides of ponykind, and you have no hesitations about taking a life, which gives me some options. I am not stupid enough to trust you with a full position as one of my slavers, but you would go to waste as a slave. My offer is this: I take that collar off of you, and you work in the slave pens, keeping the population under control and keeping them efficient. What do you say?”

The offer took me completely by surprise. I opened my mouth, intending to announce my acceptance, then stopped myself to think. If I said yes, then I would have a huge advantage, namely, my collar would be gone. But there were a lot of problems. I would be watched, probably constantly and closer than if I was a slave. The slave pens were the most heavily guarded area of the entire complex, which meant that if I ever tried anything, I would be found out almost immediately. And then the last problem: controlling a population of slaves meant hurting them, maybe even killing them. I had vowed to save those ponies, to make their suffering end. If I accepted, I would be doing the exact opposite.

I steeled myself for the inevitable response and set my jaw in a determined expression, or at least I hoped it was determined. “I would rather die,” I growled.

The smirking grin disappeared from Eulogy’s face to be replaced by a look of disappointment. “I see. I can’t say that I am surprised, though I wish you would see reason.”

“Being made to hurt those ponies would go against everything I believe in today, Eulogy. ‘Seeing reason’, as you put it, would mean betraying everything I have spent these last weeks fighting for. That is not going to happen. And before you ask, I’m not afraid of what’s to come. I can guarantee that I’ve survived worse,” I said, taking a few steps towards the buck.

“I believe you. The wasteland is a harsh place. Ah well, I had to meet the mare that was able to impress the good DJ. I imagine he would be interested to know the things I learned this afternoon,” Eulogy mused, his grin returning. He obviously thought that the threat of destroying my reputation would make me agree with him.

“Go ahead and tell him. I’d rather that than to accept your offer,” I said with a shrug. This was where my fight back started. He believed he had such an advantage over me, that knowing my past would make Shooting Star despise me. He was going to be in for a rude surprise when he learned the truth, and that would make him angry, and angry ponies made mistakes. Mistakes in a world like ours ended in death.

“You truly aren’t very smart, are you, Evergreen?” Eulogy asked with a cock of his head, “I will destroy your image. If you ever manage to get out of here, a feat that has never been accomplished since I have been in charge, you will not be able to go anywhere without being spurned. You will be finished!”

“I was finished the day this collar was locked around my neck,” I shot back, “And as you said, nopony has escaped ever since you took over here. So your threat, very simply, isn’t one.”

Eulogy shook his head slowly, that grin of his spreading into a full-blown smile. He looked me in the eye and reached into his vest for something that looked like a detonator, with the only exception that it had two buttons. “It can’t be said that I did not give you the choice to have a better life. You could have become something here, Evergreen. No matter, you have made your choice, and I will support it.”

Before I could say anything, he pressed one of the buttons. Instantly, my body was wracked with pain stemming from the shock collar, robbing my limbs from my control and eliciting a shriek of agony from me. Unlike with Volt, Eulogy didn’t let up on the charge, and kept me lying in agony, electricity coursing through my body, until the blissful nothingness of unconsciousness claimed me.

When I finally came to, it was to the familiar revolting smell of unwashed bodies. I cracked my eyes open to discover that I was lying in a corner of the slave pen, surrounded on all sides by other slaves, all of them quiet and curled up around themselves. There wasn’t a whole lot of trust between ponies in here.

I shifted slightly, wanting to get out from the press of bodies, but groaned in pain the second I moved. Every single muscle protested against any sort of movement, and it felt like they were on fire. Eulogy must have continued shocking me even after I had already passed out. I did my best to shut the pain out of my mind and forced myself to my hooves, gritting my teeth against my body’s protests.

My legs were shaking badly when I finally made it up, and my heart was racing, but I couldn’t prevent the slight grin from spreading across my face at my success. After a moment or two of steadying myself, I tiptoed around the sleeping ponies as I made my way outside.

It was odd, that I considered the stench of the industrial site preferable over the smell of other ponies, but then, I had never really been forced to live in such close quarters before, but had spent a lot of time scavenging from old pre-war sites. Either way, I breathed a large sigh of relief when I finally made it out of the pen.

Outside, it was dark, and a quick check of my Pipbuck revealed that it was very early in the morning. I switched it over to the radio function and dialed in Shooting Star’s station while I found an open patch of ground and lay down. The soft music that poured forth from the small computer did a lot to sooth my jangled nerves, and I found myself actually smiling at the sound. In the hell that my life was quickly becoming, there were still things that were unchanging, and as long as those things remained, I would know there was still hope.

A few songs later, and after I had turned the volume down to keep it from disturbing others, or from getting myself in trouble, the recording of Shooting Star’s most recent show came on.

“Hellooooo Seaddle! I hope you are all sitting down, because it is time for the news! Unfortunately, today is not a day for good tidings. It has come to my attention that only hours after having left my station, our Heroine was attacked by mercenary forces, and she was captured. I’m afraid I cannot say what has happened to her since then, as her companions have not been heard from since, either. My question to all of you is to keep your eyes out for them. If you find them, please, speak to them and discover what has happened if you can. A mare that has taught us so much about what it means to be a better pony should not be so easily forgotten. That is all I have for you tonight. And Heroine, if you are listening, we are looking for you, and we will help you.”

The voice faded into the night, and the soft, slow chords of one of Sweetie Belle’s ballads rolled out into the cool night air. I was shaking my head slowly, tears coming unbidden to my eyes.

“Please tell me you lot aren’t trying to find me,” I whispered, “I told you to go to Metro. Mallet needs to know about what’s happening.”

“I wouldn’t bother with that show, if I were you,” a voice intruded on my thoughts, “It’s just going to make surviving here that much harder.”

I turned my head to fix its owner in a hard glare. In the darkness, all I could make out was the long, ragged condition of what appeared to be a dark mane and the dull amount of light reflecting off the pony’s eyes. The voice sounded female, but that was all I could determine. “What the hell would you know about it?” I asked icily, “What if this is what keeps me sane?”

“I’m not arguing that,” the pony answered, the shape shifting slightly as she shrugged, “I’m arguing for your survival. There was another pony in here not too long ago that had one of those computers. She’d listen to the show religiously every night. Eventually decided that death would be preferable. She didn’t come back to the pens after the work day was over.”

“Good thing for me that I have every intention to survive,” I snapped, “And nothing is going to stop me.”

“Funny. That’s exactly what she said when I warned her of the same thing,” the mare muttered, “I’m not telling you how to live your life. I’m warning you against doing something that’s already killed several ponies.”

“I’m sure they didn’t have the same reason to listen to the show as I do,” I said, shifting myself somewhat so I was facing the pony.

“And what reason is that? You know him or something?” the mare asked, her tone chiding.

I took a few moments to decide what to tell her, and finally decided that honesty was the best course to convince this mare that I knew what I was doing. “Yeah. I was grabbed on my out of the city after meeting him, but that’s not what I mean. That Heroine he’s talking about, she’s me. I hate the title, but after speaking with him, I’ve come to understand his reasoning for giving it to me.”

It wasn’t an idle statement. Talking to the buck had given me a lot of insight into the way he did things, and the way he saw the world. I still felt like I didn’t deserve the title, but I knew why I didn’t. The rest of the wasteland didn’t. To them, I was everything the name signified.

The mare remained silent for several minutes as she thought about what I had said. “I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting that. Of course, you could be lying to me. I have no way of knowing. What’d you do to screw up this badly?” she finally asked.

“Trusted someone I shouldn’t have. Ponies like me find a lot of enemies. One of mine outsmarted me, so I ended up here. My friends are still out there though, and they’re still alive. Hope isn’t lost yet,” I said grimly, lifting my gaze to look out over the walls and towards the horizon. The darkness was still too thick to make anything out, but I could make out the line of the clouds over the black edge of the walls.

“If you’re sitting in here with one of those collars on, hope has been gone for a long time,” the mare grumbled and lowered her head, making her just another dark lump against the ground.

“I disagree,” I shot back, finding a small measure of satisfaction when her head came back up. I could imagine the questioning look on her face, “It’s just a different kind of shackle. At least now I don’t have to worry about getting shot at every day.”

I fell silent after that and looked back out to the horizon. I must have been lying there much longer than I had thought, since the sky was beginning to lighten with the coming dawn. It was going to be the first full day of my new life as a slave.

“Some chains are worse than others,” the mare retorted one last time before she also fell silent.

I couldn’t find a reason to disagree with her. In my current situation, it did definitely feel like my collar was a much worse shackle than I was used to, but part of that could be the reasoning that it was locked around my neck, and I knew exactly how much damage it could do to me. I sighed and lowered my heads to my forehooves. Hopefully I’d be able to get some sleep before the hell of tomorrow started.

The sound of the door to the pen being slammed open roused me from the uneasy sleep I had managed to find, leaving me feeling groggy. For a few moments I couldn’t remember exactly where I was, but the harsh shouts of whoever had opened the door, not to mention the slow shuffle of the ponies around me, served as a very quick reminder.

I rose to my hooves along with everypony around me, casting about as I did for the mare I had spoken with the night before. The only pony that looked like it could have been her was a deep brown Earth Pony mare with a blonde mane that shot me a quick glance as we filed out of the pen to stand in a line outside. Her gaze was neither angry nor supportive, but more of a look to see me in the light of day. I could feel her judging me and weighing me against whatever she thought I should be.

Once we were all lined up, one of the guards, a ragged blue unicorn buck I hadn’t seen before, announced where we would all be working. I was assigned to scrap recovery, whatever that meant.

The announcements finished, each group of slaves was led to their respective work areas. By watching, I could tell that most slaves had a usual job; not surprising, given the specialized equipment that an industrial site like this would use.

My particular group was made up of only a half-dozen ponies, including myself. Three of these slaves struck me as abnormal, in the sense that their expressions and the way they held themselves did not look like they were from some town or caravan. It almost felt like they had been raiders or bandits, judging purely on the way they held themselves.

While in the presence of the guards, they were quiet, even submissive, but that didn’t stop me from seeing a few angry glares pass between them, making me feel distinctly uncomfortable. They would be a danger if the guards ever lost control of them, and my only saving grace was that I knew how to deal with their kind, but other slaves wouldn’t have that kind of experience, especially the other two in our group.

One was a small Earth Pony stallion who looked to be a few years younger than Autumn. His grey hide was covered in dirt and grime, and his black mane hung in knotted tangled over his neck. His cutie mark was a trio of bottle caps, making me think that he must have traveled with a caravan. The last member of our group was an older unicorn mare who had a lifeless gaze in her eyes that I had come to equate with those ponies that had been stuck in this place for a long time. She had a dusky orange hide that was covered in sores and what little was left of her bright red mane hung in thin clumps from the top of her head. She looked like a mare on the verge of death.

We were led out of the Mill and a short walk away to the ruins of an office complex that was situated on the edge of a crater. Part of an office building had tumbled down off of its foundation into the crater, leaving the innards of the structure exposed to the elements. What few glances I got into the crater itself revealed a mess of rubble and scrap, as well as a collection of greenish rain water. This must be the remains of a balefire bomb impact site.

“All right, maggots, listen up ‘cause I’m only saying this once, and that only because one of you is new. Your job is to get down there and pull out as much scrap as you can carry that we can recycle for the Mill. If I don’t think you brought out enough, you’re going back in. You each get one dose of Rad-Away, and I’ll give it to you whenever I damn well please! Now, get to it!” the guard in charge of out small group ordered once we reached a small structure set up on the edge of the crater.

At first glance, the small shack looked like any other random structure, but I quickly realized that it was the guard’s outpost for this particular job and had been built next to the easiest path down into the crater.

As soon as the orders were given, the other slaves in my group started down the trail into the crater. I stayed a few steps behind the ponies that looked like raiders and kept a careful eye on them. They wouldn’t be supervised down here, and that was when they would take advantage of whatever small amount of freedom they could find. Being a mare, I would have to watch my back.

“This is the last trip for me, I think,” the elderly mare murmured as we descended the trail. My Pipbuck was starting to click slowly at me, warning me of a higher level of radiation here. It explained why we were going to receive a dose of Rad-Away.

“What do you mean? If you’re quick and careful, this job shouldn’t be that hard,” I answered, reaching down into the rubble and pulling out a solid length of scrap metal that I deposited into the saddle-bag that I had been provided for that very purpose. I was hoping that my demonstration would convince the mare that it wasn’t as difficult as she thought, but all she did was shake her head at me.

“I’ve been here for a long time, dear, and I have never been given that dose of Rad-Away. The radiation takes a long time to build up, but we are never given a chance to get rid of it. I think this will be the last day I crawl into this crater,” she answered with a sad smile.

“Why would they lie to us like that?” I demanded, a bit more angrily than I intended. The outburst drew a surprised look from the mare, but she quickly reasserted her sad expression.

“Because they enjoy seeing us suffer. Mark my words, dear: Not even raiders can match these guards in sheer savagery. But don’t weep for me. I will finally be able to join my beloved family,” the mare said as she drifted away, down a thin trail I hadn’t even noticed until then.

I watched her go, wondering at how bad things had to be for that mare to not even care about her imminent death. In just a few short moments, she had disappeared around a piece of rubble, and my chance to say anything else to her was gone.

The raiders were already out of sight on the main trail ahead of me, and I wanted to keep an eye on them for any potential trouble, not to mention the fact that they couldn’t get the jump on me if I knew where they were at all times. I hurried to keep up with them, spending a bit of my precious energy to trot down the trail. I rounded the curve ahead of me just in time to see one of the raiders disappear inside the crumbled remains of a collapsed office building.

As I neared it, a voice from off to my side stopped me. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” it said. The voice was high-pitched, but undoubtedly male, and had the dismissive tone I was used to hearing from old bucks that didn’t care whether or not I listened to them.

I turned my head in the direction of the sound and spotted the young buck that had come down with or group. He was standing in the midst of a tangled wreck of metal and pulverized concrete and was watching me with an uncaring gaze.

“And why not?” I retorted, “There’s got to be some good scrap in there.”

He shook his head slowly and turned to look down at the rubble at his hooves, as if trying to determine the best way to drag it all back up to the edge of the crater. “Did you even look at those three? They’d chew you up in seconds. Everything in that building belongs to them. The last pony to follow them in didn’t come back out.”

“They’re slaves. By definition, nothing belongs to them,” I snapped, “Besides, I’d rather know where they are and avoid getting jumped then to let them do whatever the hell they want.”

The buck shrugged his shoulders and pawed at the ground. “Suit yourself. I ain’t gonna stop you. It’s your funeral, not like anypony is going to notice.”

I snorted and approached the door. I paused for a split second to listen for any noise coming from the other side before I pushed the door open and stepped inside. The hallway I walked into was dark, with no windows, and no working lights, to break up the shadows. Once the door closed behind me, I was left in utter darkness, with only the dim light from my Pipbuck making it possible to see at all. How the raiders could find their way around in here was beyond me.

Using my Pipbuck as a flashlight, I made my through the halls, sticking as close to the wall as I could and only using the computer to light the ground immediately in front of me. At the same time, I was keeping a close eye on my E.F.S., watching for any movement from the raiders I knew were in here.

After a few minutes of blindly walking through the dark, I stumbled, literally, into a small foyer that was criss-crossed with hoofprints in the dust. A pillar of light streaked into the center of the room through a large hole in the wall opposite me, and almost twenty feet up. Whatever this room was now, it appeared to have once been a massive lounge or meeting room.

My complete lack of stealth ability notwithstanding, I was grateful for the light. It made me feel like I was actually a part of the world again, rather than some shadow trespassing somewhere I shouldn’t be. I made a full circuit of the room, examining the motes of dust that were flitting about in the pillar of light. I was also looking out for any signs of these ponies visiting this place regularly, which seemed to be the case, given the volume of hoofprints on the ground.

What struck me as interesting about this room was that my Pipbuck had stopped clicking at me. Somehow, this part of the building was free of a dangerous level of background radiation. Even given the danger of my situation, I let out a sigh of relief. It was one last thing to worry about, at least for the moment.

As I passed on of the hallways extending back into the depths of the building, I noticed a trail of hoofprints breaking off from the mass and following the hallway. I struck out after them, slowing my pace to watch my step a little more carefully. I didn’t want to stumble into another room to find it occupied.

The trail led me through the building and down a set of stairs into what appeared to be a sub-basement. Down here, I had to be extra careful about watching where I stepped. Conduits snaked along the walls and ceiling, and they had broken in several places to litter the ground with tangled cables, not to mention the disgusting mass of broken glass and stains. It looked like the raiders had no difficulty in finding alcohol, and then leaving the glass from the broken bottles everywhere they could.

I was so focused on trying to not make a sound that I completely missed the appearance of the blue bars on my E.F.S. It wasn’t until one of the ponies said something that I stopped, holding my breath out of fear that I had betrayed myself, and switching my Pipbuck’s light off as well.

“Fuck, what the hell happened to her? I thought we left enough water for her to live off of yesterday,” one of them announced angrily. His outburst was quickly followed by the sound of something colliding hard against a wall.

“Apparently not. The other bitch probably took it from her. She don’t look like she’s suffering much,” another answered with a tone of contempt.

I finally looked at my E.F.S., and was surprised to see four bars on it, rather than the three I was expecting. There was another live pony in there with them, as well as at least one corpse.

“Well, what do you have to say for yourself, cunt? Want to beg our forgiveness for taking away our other plaything?” the third raider sneered. I could easily picture him leaning in close to whoever their victim was to make himself more intimidating.

To my surprise, an angry burst of unintelligible chatter answered the raider, but it wasn’t unfamiliar to me. I’d heard it once before, spoken in almost the exact same way, but directed at a buck I had come to respect that night. The speech was zebra.

There was the sound of someone hitting what sounded like a body. “Shut up with that outlandish noise,” the first raider growled angrily, “You’re in pony lands now, bitch, so you better talk like the rest of us, or you know what happens.”

Another burst of zebra answered him, which was met with what sounded like another blow. “He told you to shut up! Can you not understand us now, either?” the third raider shouted, “Fuck, this cunt is dumber than a pile of radioactive rubble.”

“Probably still smarter than you, Dart,” the second raider said, chuckling at his own joke.

“Fuck you, Gorge,” Dart shot back angrily, then, in a more submissive tone, “So how about it, boss? Can I take her first, teach her a little lesson in manners?”

“Fuck no! You know the way things work, Dart. I get first rights, and you two can have whatever is left over. That shouldn’t be a damn surprise,” the first raider snapped.

Dart grumbled something unintelligible in response, but it didn’t sound like he was going to argue. It was the classic response I was used to seeing from raiders.

Their conversation had pissed me off, not only because they were casually discussing raping somepony, but because I was fairly certain that I knew who they were going to rape. Of course, the question of what the hell she was doing here was crossing my mind, but that was largely secondary to my need to act.

I strode out from around the corner to find myself facing a room that was lit from a few flashlights the raiders must have been keeping near the entrance where I had first come in. The lighting wasn’t great, but it was enough to make out a few details. The three raiders were gathered together, circling the huddled from of a small zebra mare.

The harsh white light was casting stark shadows against the wall, but also kept my approach in the shadows, not that I was trying to be stealthy anymore. I marched along the hall, surprised at the fact that the raiders seemed to be completely ignoring my approach. It wasn’t until I was about to step into the cone of light that one of them finally noticed me.

“Woah, what the fuck? The fuck are you doing here?” Dart exclaimed, stepping back in surprise.

Gorge immediately stepped forward, pushing the other raider back with a hoof. “Now, now, Dart. Don’t be rude to our new guest,” he said with a twisted smile, “She must be really desperate for some company if she followed us down here.”

“You’re going to let her go,” I ordered, pointing at the zebra with a hoof, completely ignoring the two raiders. My eyes were focused on their leader, since it was his decision that they were going to follow.

“Why should I? Dart and Gorge have a point, you know. We could offer some nice company. In return, you get to keep your life,” he answered with a toothy grin, revealing an incomplete set of rotted yellow teeth.

“You’re going to let her go because I am a whole lot meaner than I look, and I am more than capable of killing you if you don’t listen to me,” I growled, lowering my body slightly, “You ever hear of the raider gang south of Grovedale, up in the mountains? They belonged to me, and when they kicked me out, I went back and killed everypony that was left.”

My announcement had conjured a momentary look of fear in the raider, but it was quickly swept aside by an expression of confidence, and one that wasn’t entirely sane. He started laughing, a low, ugly sound, and his grin widened. “But you ain’t in charge of anything here. I am. So here’s what’s gonna happen. I’m going to ride you, and you’re going to convince me that you like it. If you do that, I’ll forget your little threat there, and you get to live. If not, well, our other friend down here just died, so we have a vacancy.”

“This is your last warning,” I growled, preparing myself to attack, “Let her go, and we all walk away. If not, you’re all dead, and that is a promise.”

All three raiders started laughing, and one of them, Dart, by the looks of it, actually felt to the ground clutching his sides. “Oh, you’re something else, cunt. I’m going to enjoy breaking you,” the boss sneered, “Dart, Gorge, hold her down.”

The two raiders circled around until they were behind me, and I forced myself to wait and let them do the hard work for me. When they moved forward to hold me, I finally moved, bucking back with my hind legs. My right leg caught Dart in the chest, forcing him back with a sharp release of breath. Gorge, on the other hoof, had taken a much lower angle of attack, and my hoof caught him square in the nose. I felt something give, and a shout of pain followed my kick.

An expression of surprise slowly wiped the smug grin from the raider leader’s face, and I saw him take a tentative step back as his two underlings collapsed, Gorge clutching at his shattered face, and Dart trying to regain his breath.

I leapt the second my rear hooves were on the ground again, barreling into the leader’s chest and forcing him to the ground. I wrapped my hooves around his neck and started to squeeze, cutting off his breath. He started to beat against my sides, making me wince in pain, but I held on. Letting go would mean my death.

The leader’s attacks grew steadily weaker, but I could see his two lackeys recovering. They would be on me in a few seconds, which gave me little choice on what to do. I readjusted my grip on the leader’s neck, giving him the briefest gasp of air, then wrenched my hooves to the side. His neck snapped with an audible crack and his body went limp, leaving me free to deal with the other two raiders.

Dart moved first, charging me with his head lowered. I sidestepped, letting his momentum carry him past me, and extended a leg, tripping him as he went by to land in a tangle of limbs atop the corpse of his leader.

Leaving Dart to disentangle himself, I turned my attention to Gorge, who was still lying on the ground, blood-soaked hooves clutching his face. I strode up to him and paused when I reached him. He hadn’t even noticed my approach and lay in a heap, his pain blinding him to everything else going on.

I was about to act when a shout of rage reached me from behind. Dart charged me from behind, holding a shard of metal in his mouth like a knife. I twisted and brought my Pipbuck to bear, blocking his awkward thrust with the hardy computer. A splash of blood on the screen revealed that there was nothing guarding the piece of metal where the raider was gripping it. It was the typical action of a raider so obsessed with the kill that they hurt themselves in an attempt to draw blood.

Dart attacked again, and again I blocked his attack with my Pipbuck, but this time I struck back. I pivoted on my other leg, swinging my hind leg around to kick Dart in the chest, making him stumble back and gasp for breath. Before he could recover, I attacked again, using my Pipbuck as a bludgeon to strike him in the head and daze him. He dropped the shard of metal as he coughed for breath, and I shoved him aside to stumble into a wall.

In the brief second I had before he regained his balance, I swept up the shard and turned to face him, and not a moment too soon. He was already charging me again. This time, I let him, but moved with him when he reached me. His momentum swept me up and against a table, sending the flashlights tumbling away and drowning us in darkness. I felt him shift on top of me, and chose that moment to strike, darting forward with the shard of metal and burying it in his chest.

Dart grunted, and the weight on top of me disappeared as he backed off. I rolled off of the table and grabbed for one of the flashlights, turning it to point at Dart. He was stumbling against a wall, one hoof clutching the piece of metal embedded in his chest, coughing up thick wads of blood. I must have pierced one of his lungs with that piece of metal.

I made my way over to the buck, keeping the beam of the flashlight focused on him and poised for any tricks he might be trying to pull, but he slid down to the ground as I approached, coughing wetly. There was no question that he was dying.

My face set in a mask of determination, I placed the flashlight on the ground, facing him, and stepped forward, pinning one of his forelegs to the ground with a hoof, and forcing the other away from the shard of metal in his chest, which I then wrenched free. A stream of blood followed it out, and Dart let out a shuddering breath and swiped at me, but the attack was weak and clumsy and hit nothing but open air.

“This is all that rapists and raiders deserve,” I growled as I knelt forward, setting the edge of the piece of metal against his throat. The look in his eye was terrified, but there was nothing in his gaze that would stop me from doing what had to be done.

I drew the shard across his throat, opening up the major veins and left him to bleed out. My attention was now solely on Gorge, the only raider left alive. He was still on the ground, but was now watching me with a terrified expression.

“Awe, come on. You don’t have to kill me! I’ll work for you, yeah! You… you’re obviously stronger than they were! I won’t give you any trouble, I swear! Now, come on, put the knife down,” he begged, the words coming out oddly through his broken nose.

“Did you rape the dead mare?” I demanded as I approached, still holding the bloody shard of metal.

“What does it matter anymore? She’s dead, and it’s a damn sight better than being a slave! Come on, we can be friends!” Gorge sniveled, holding up a hoof as if to stop my progress out of sheer force of will.

“It matters. Did you rape her?” I repeated. I was now only a few steps away from him, and could practically smell the fear coming off of him.

“Look, they made me do it, all right! It was a matter of survival! If I didn’t do what they told me, they would have killed me. You know how it works, right?” he asked, his tone becoming even more pleading.

I shook my head slowly. “It doesn’t matter. A better pony would have stood up for what is right. You’re no different than any other raider I’ve ever known, and the wasteland will be a better place without you.”

As Dart had done, Gorge attempted to stop me with a healf-hearted swing at my head with a hoof, but I had the upper hand. I blocked his clumsy attack easily with my leg, swept the leg he’d used to attack me to the ground, and broke it with a sharp twist.

Gorge let out a shriek of agony, which I ignored as I stepped forward, knocking him onto his side with a swipe of my Pipbuck. As he lay in a dazed heap, I struck with the piece of metal, burying it in his throat.

I stepped back, watching him for a moment as he clutched at the shard of metal with his good leg, trying to stem the flow of blood even as he started to cough and sputter. I turned away, focusing now on the zebra mare that was tied down, leaving the raider to drown in his own gore.

The knots holding her down weren’t complicated, and it took only a few seconds to undo them and help her to her hooves. I supported her until we were standing in the light of one of the flashlights, then let her go to collect the other one. When I returned, she was sitting on the ground, eyes fixed on me, but the gaze wasn’t a normal one. Two very familiar, milky white orbs held me pinned beneath their gaze.

“I thought it was you, Yaari,” I said, sitting down across from her, “How the hell did you end up here? Where’s Esteri?”

“Missing. I’ve been trapped here long enough that I must believe he is dead. It’s been days since I’ve felt the breath of wind,” the mare answered harshly. Even now, after I had saved her, she still hated me. “And you have not changed one bit.”

“Maybe not,” I answered with a shrug, my tone a bit more biting than I had intended, “but my skill at killing is the only reason the two of us are alive and able to walk out of this building on our own. But you didn’t tell me how you ended up here. I didn’t think Esteri would let you get captured without getting killed first.”

“He certainly tried,” Yaari practically growled at me, “We were travelling northeast when a group of slavers attacked us. Normally it would be no problem, as Esteri and I are more than capable of fighting a group like that, but something was different this time. There were far more of them than there should have been. We were separated during the fighting, and I’m not the fighter Esteri is. I was pinned and rendered unconscious. When I came to, I had this thing around my neck.” She gestured to the slave collar around her throat.

“Shit, could they have known about you and him? If they brought a force that large together, I can only imagine that they knew how dangerous you two are,” I asked as I retrieved one of the flashlights. We’d need the light to find our way out of here.

“It’s a possibility I cannot ignore,” the zebra answered, her voice becoming a bit more neutral.

“Well, we’ll figure something out. The two of us should be able to come up with some plan to get out of here,” I said, if not happily, then with at least a little more joy to my voice than I had been feeling for the last several days.

To my dismay, Yaari laughed. “Do you really think that we’ll be able to escape from this place? I may be blind, Evergreen, but even I am well aware of the walls and guns that stand between us and freedom. Escape is something that cannot be done.”

“Perfect. It should be easy then,” I answered as I started forward, following the trail of prints that had led me down here.

“What are you talking about? It’s impossible!” Yaari snapped, her hoof-steps echoing loudly on the floor as she hurried to catch up with me.

“And I’ve made a life based around doing the impossible. Also, if the guards believe it’s impossible to escape, they will be much more lax in their duties. When guards become complacent, the miss things, and those oversights are what I’m going to take advantage of to get out of here,” I answered stiffly.

“Do you really think you can do it?” Yaari asked, her voice evening out even further. If I didn’t know better, I would think she was beginning to agree with me.

“I have to. If I give up, then I’ve lost, and I refuse to do that. Seahawk will have to kill me before I stop fighting,” I growled angrily, “He’s won this fight, and it’s certainly set me back, but no more than I’ve put him back by interrupting his plans. His only advantage over me is that every plan I interrupt doesn’t personally hurt him, only his lackeys. Since the only support I have is from my friends, every single time I lose I am set back drastically, my current situation being a prime example.

We were now entering the foyer that had shown me the trail the raiders had taken. As we walked through the light streaming through the broken wall, Yaari stopped and turned her head towards the hole. Her eyes closed and I could only imagine her relishing the feel of the slight breeze against her face.

“It seems I’ve misjudged you, Evergreen. I still see a great evil, but every time you open your mouth, the complete opposite comes out. I can’t understand it,” she sighed, turning her head to face me, “And I would very much like to. It’s not normal for me to read another so wrongly.”

Now it was my turn to sigh. I had precious few allies already, and it would do no good to alienate the one possible friends I had in here. “That’s because there is a lot of evil within me. It simply isn’t something I can do anything about right now. It takes all of my strength to simply keep it at bay.”

“I don’t understand,” Yaari stated, taking a step towards me and pinning me beneath that piercing stare of hers, “How can you be aware that you are full of evil, yet still be so capable of fighting against it?”

I sat down, hanging my head to stare at the ground beneath my hooves. “Believe me, it’s not easy. Suffice to say, the evil isn’t me. It was, once, but not anymore. I simply haven’t been able to shake it. It takes all of my willpower to keep it from taking over again. I almost failed just a day or two before we met.”

“That’s not enough. What you speak of sounds like the work of the stars, and the malicious spirits that serve them. Explain, now!” Yaari growled. Every pretense of neutrality was gone from her voice. She sounded angry, and I had no illusions to the fact that she would attack me if my answer wasn’t satisfactory.

I let out a heavy sigh. I didn’t want to tell her the truth, but I also didn’t have much of a choice, at least not anymore. “All right. You sure you want the truth? It’s going to be hard to believe.”

“Tell me, Evergreen, and know that your answer will decide whether or not you survive this day. Do not mistake my lack of conventional sight to mean that I cannot defend myself,” Yaari snapped.

“You asked for it,” I answered quietly. I then proceeded to explain everything that I knew about the think living in my mind. I told the zebra how it had first infested my mind, appearing as my parents, and offering me encouragement and support. I continued with how it slowly became darker, changing from dreams I could not wait to return to, to nightmares that almost destroyed my life, leading to my banishment from Grovedale. I told her of how it had taken control over me, leading to my life with the raiders, and the dark years of murder and torture that had become my life as a result. I finished with an explanation of what we believed it was, a spirit released with the waning power of the Princesses, and how it was still fighting to turn me back to a life of death and destruction.

Throughout it all, Yaari remained deathly silent, her milky white eyes following my every motion, never leaving me for even a second. I could feel her judging me, weighing every word against what she saw in me. I could only hope that I could show her the good within me as well.

When I finally finished my tale, the zebra mare remained silent for a long time, her expression one of pensiveness. When she finally spoke, it was in very controlled tones, her accent more noticeable than usual. “You believe yourself to be fully in control over you own thoughts?” she asked. She was tense, that much was painfully obvious, and it wasn’t the sort of tension that I usually saw in frightened or confused ponies. It was the kind of tension I saw in ponies that were backed against a wall, with no other option than to fight for their survival.

“I think I am. It’s tried to twist me back to its way of thinking several times in the last several weeks, and only succeeded once because of how weak I was at the time. If it wasn’t for my friends, it would have completely regained control over me. But they were there for me, and I took control back. The last time it spoke to me was shortly before I was officially enslaved, and it backed off. I think it wants me to suffer. It thinks I’m going to come crawling back to it in desperation or something, I don’t know. What I do know is that I’m not going to let that happen. I’m either going to escape in full control over myself, or I’m going to die in here, with this collar around my neck,” I answered confidently, looking the mare directly in the eye.

“But so long as it lives inside you, you can never be in full control. Creatures of the mind excel at acting unseen and unheard. Even now, it may be driving you towards these acts, letting you think you are in control of yourself, until it has pushed you into a position where it can take advantage of you again,” Yaari argued. Her stance had relaxed somewhat, but she was still very much on edge.

“I refuse to believe that,” I retorted, “If you’re right, then nothing I do will have any impact, and I know from experience that that isn’t true. I beat it back before, and it will not regain control over me without a fight. Every time we’ve spoken, it has made it very clear what it wants me to do, so I make sure to do the exact opposite. I don’t enjoy killing, but I know it’s unavoidable. The difference is that that thing wants me to enjoy taking lives. I’ll admit, Yaari, after we spoke in that caravan shelter, I was pretty broken up for a few days. I saw myself as nothing more than a killer, good for nothing better than taking lives.”

“Aren’t you? The first thing I saw you do when you appeared was kill those three ponies that held me captive. For all their strength as raiders, you made it appear easy. They didn’t even land a single blow,” Yaari challenged me.

“I’m good at killing. I’ve spent five years perfecting the skill, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy it, or that I don’t realize the effect it has on me or those around me. One of Shooting Star’s guards put it in terms that I’ve taken to heart. I kill because it’s necessary. I take the lives I need to take in order to protect the lives of ponies that are otherwise defenseless. I don’t have a problem killing raiders, slavers, or any other pony that thinks it’s all right to take advantage of others. Killing them makes life safer for the rest of us,” I answered, “So condemn me if you have a problem with that. At least I know I’m fighting for something better. I’m killing so that others don’t have to, and if my soul has to spend an eternity in hell for that, then so be it. At least I’ll die knowing that I’ve changed the lives of others for the better.”

“You really believe that, don’t you?” Yaari demanded, “You think you’re actually doing some good in this world, despite the blood and death that follow you?”

“Are the ponies I’m killing now the sort of ponies we want rebuilding the new world? They are trying to control others through force, enslaving or killing as it suits them. My parents taught me about a world in which ponies were happy for a very long time, and I’ve met a pony that has survived since those days. Even with all the regret she has towards those times, I could tell that she missed those golden years greatly. That sort of freedom is what I want for this city. I want ponies to be able to travel from town to town without fearing for their lives. If I have to kill a few dozen ponies for that, then so be it. But if you’re going to insist that I’m a bad pony simply for killing, then I’ll make sure not to kill the ponies that are about to rape you next time,” I said with a snort, then rose back to my hooves and started walking again, leaving the zebra behind.

I could understand her reasoning. Hell, I agreed with part of it, to an extent, but there had to be limits. Everything I had learned about the mare was that she saw the world purely in black and white. We could spend a lifetime debating the subject, but the harsh truth was that nothing in the world was that clear cut. There were extremes, to be sure, but every pony has some sort of redeeming quality. The deciding factor was what they chose to do with their lives.

The sound of hooves echoing off the walls made me tense up for a moment, but they weren’t hurried, so I was confident that she didn’t mean to attack me, but I made sure to keep myself ready to move should she try to surprise me. Instead, she drew up beside me and matched my pace. Together, we made our way slowly out of the structure, stopping occasionally to collect a few hunks of scrap metal and other salvage to bring out with us. When we finally emerged out into the overcast day, we had a very healthy, not to mention heavy, supply of junk stuffed into my saddlebags, and the makeshift bag we had hastily strung together for Yaari.

We started the climb out of the crater, struggling on the uncertain footing to keep from falling and injuring ourselves. The weight of the salvage made the climb difficult, and any misstep could result in a very bad injury. We were roughly halfway back to the top when we stopped for a break.

“I need to apologize for my words,” Yaari announced suddenly between panting breaths, breaking the long silence between the two of us, “I spoke unfairly and allowed my emotions to cloud my judgment. The idea of this evil you are grappling with made me think of nothing but that evil, when your actions are proof of good intent. You saved my life, and I am grateful for that. Esteri often chastised me on my habit of being more severe than necessary with strangers, and it is very easy to forget those lessons when he isn’t there. If you think you can find a way out of this place, I will help you.”

I stared at the mare in shock, since I hadn’t been expecting her to say anything like that. The last time we had met, she had wanted Esteri to murder us, simply because they knew what I had been, and it had taken the buck shouting her down to get her to reconsider. She must have gone through a lot for her to have this change of heart now. “I… Thank you, Yaari. That means a lot to me. I promise, I’ll find a way out of here, and we’ll find Esteri and set things right.”

The zebra nodded curtly. “Good. There is still much to be done. Now, we have taken enough time. We should not be late.”

With a short nod of agreement, I rose back to my hooves and slung my saddlebags over my back. It weighed a lot, and I would probably curse myself later for trying to carry so much, but I did not want to be sent back down for another load.

“Well, what have we here?” the slaver drawled as Yaari and I dragged ourselves up the last few feet of the trail to finally stand on level ground before the small shack, “I was wondering where she got off to. Thought the crater killed her. Where’s you come from?”

“She was trapped beneath a section of wall that had collapsed,” I announced before Yaari could speak, shooting the mare a look that I hoped would convince her to remain quiet, if she could even see it, “I helped her get free.”

“I see. How charitable of you. Now, where’s that group of three and the old mare? I’m on a schedule here,” the slaver demanded, striding up to me, “Since you went so far out of your way to help this helpless excuse for a maggot, I’d imagine you know where the other are as well.”

I stood my ground, glaring into the slaver’s eyes, daring him to challenge me. “I don’t know where they are. Helping her took a long time, so I haven’t got a clue where the others are.”

“You sure about that, scum?” the slaver growled dangerously, leaning closer to me until the cloying smell of his breath made me start to feel nauseous, “Lying to me would be a very poor decision.”

“I’m positive,” I answered stiffly, not breaking eye contact.

The slaver snorted, the burst of air hot against my face, and so vile that I had to fight back the urge to gag, and turned around. “Fine. We’ll wait a little longer, then you maggots have to take whatever it is you’ve found back to the industrial site. They’ll decide whether or not you lot have to come back here.”

We were given a generous half hour to rest before the slaver lost his patience and gave us the order to move, using the thin whip attached to his barding as an incentive for us to drag ourselves back to our aching hooves and to pull the heavy packs back on. He then led us on a forced march back across the blasted terrain separating us from the Mill, where he left us at the gate to talk to the other guards.

The short walk felt like it had taken hours, every single step harder than the last as the weight on my back fought to drive me into the ground. Yaari was struggling to keep up with me as well, practically dragging herself along. Her head was hung low and her ears were hanging loosely about her head, but she managed to keep up with us, hard as it must have been.

At the gate, I fell into step behind the only other surviving member of our group, the young stallion who had urged me not to follow the raiders into the office building. He was the only one that seemed to know where we were going, so I gladly let him lead. Our long trek was finally nearing its end. Hopefully, we’d have a chance to rest once we arrived.

The Industrial sector was even worse than I had feared. The foul-smelling fumes assaulted us from the moment we stepped past the gates, several orders of magnitude more powerful than they were at the pen. The entire area was built like a maze, with walls and fences rising seemingly at random, making our path a twisting, difficult trek that quickly left me disoriented, despite the compass in my vision.

Everywhere, ponies were at work, either slaving away at what looked to be impossible tasks, like cutting down rusting hulks of broken-down vehicles into usable chunks of scrap or working massive pieces of what was probably extremely dangerous industrial machinery with little or no safety equipment or training, or overseeing the work of the slaves, usually through the liberal use of whips.

Our path brought us to an office overseeing the main production floor where all the scrap metal was being melted down and shaped into various pieces of more useful materials, like fenceposts, hinges, and even bullets. Standing outside of the door was a mean-looking Earth Pony stallion with a mane the color of blood and a cream-colored hide covered in splotches of naked skin, mostly scar tissue.

“Took you lazy slaves long enough. Let me see what you’ve brought,” he growled once we arrived, striding forward to meet us, only to come to a stop a few steps short. “Where the fuck are the rest of you? I was told six slaves would be bringing me salvage, not two ponies and a fucking zebra! I swear, everyone in this place is fucking useless. Regardless of what you’ve got, it isn’t going to be enough. Get back out there and bring me more!” He ordered, pulling out a police baton and striking the young stallion viciously in the head, sending him reeling.

“Drop what you’ve got in the collection area and get back out there. Move, now!” the overseer snarled, moving to swing his baton again, but we were already moving, hurrying to get out of his way and away from the arc of his weapon.

Part of my spirit was completely crushed. I had expected to get a chance to breathe. Instead, we were being sent straight back to work. My entire body was aching, from the tip of my nose to the end of my tail, and it was all I could do to even remain on my feet, yet I had to keep going. To stop would mean more injury and pain, something that would keep me from working on a way to get out of this nightmare. My entire plan hinged on not drawing attention to myself, yet I was already failing miserably in that regard. If I were to collapse, it would only mean more attention drawn towards me.

We forced ourselves onwards, dropping what we had collected in a massive pile of scrap metal and other junk. The sheer size of the pile made my contribution seem like an ant, of the non-mutated variety, offering tribute to a dragon. It was yet another blow to my spirit after how heavy my load had been on my back.

Now that the load was gone, walking was easier, and we had a chance to catch our breath was we made our way back to the gate where the slaver that was in charge of our group sat waiting, a smug look on his face. It dawned on me that he had known exactly what was going to happen, and was now taking a great deal of pleasure from the defeated looks we must have been wearing.

He led us back out into the wasteland, right back to that crater. I already hated it.

“All right, maggots, get back in there and fill up those bags! We ain’t got all day!” he shouted, cracking his whip over our heads again, hurrying us back down the trail and into the irradiated depths of the giant hole.

By the end of the day, we had made the trip between the crater and the Industrial area a half-dozen times, and every single part of my body was in a state of pain I didn’t think was actually possible. I had thought that I’d pushed myself to my limits before in the past. Now I knew that I had never come even close. Unfortunately, I was far too exhausted to take any sort of pride from that fact.

When we were finally led back to our pen and locked inside, I found the first scrap of open space and promptly collapsed, my legs no longer capable of supporting my weight. The dirt of the floor stung fiercely as it got into the weals left behind by the slavers’ whips, but the pain was secondary compared to the soreness of my muscles.

Yaari collapsed beside me, panting heavily, her limbs shaking. She didn’t have the advantage of the endurance that I had spent a lifetime building, not to mention the fact that she had spent who-knew how many days locked up in that collapsed structure. I was amazed that she had managed to remain on her feet at all.

A short time later, we were given a meager meal of pre-war food and a small cup of what I could only assume was water taken out of the dirtiest hole the slavers could find. It wasn’t much, and I finished it quickly, my stomach still growling for more.

“You shouldn’t have done that, though I suppose we can’t blame you, being new and all,” a pony near me mused as he slowly ate his meal, taking the time to savor each bite, “If you take your time, it seems more filling. You’ll be thankful for it later.”

“I’m just so hungry,” I answered tiredly, too tired to even look over and see who was speaking, “and I feel like I couldn’t stand again, no matter how hard I’m pushed.”

“Well, you’d better get used to that feeling. It’s not going to get any better,” the pony stated with a knowing smirk as he swallowed the last of his meal. It didn’t sound like he was trying to be supportive, but rather was taking pride in the fact that he knew something that I didn’t. Even in a place like this, ponies tried to find a way to get power over others.

His words sounded too much like the truth for my comfort. I was being forced to face the reality of what slavery was, and it was nothing like what I had believed. I had thought that life would be bearable if all I did was listen to everything I was ordered to do. Instead, I was being forced to the very limits of my ability. I had no clue how long I was going to be able to keep up without becoming completely burnt out.

Regardless of my limits, I was going to have to start working towards finding a way out of here, and that would require finding allies. Yaari and I would not be able to accomplish an escape alone. I would need help from a few carefully places ponies within the entire infrastructure of the Mill if I was going to get out. I could only hope that I would last that long.

Level up!
Perk Gained: Iron Hooves – Unarmed attacks now deal 20% more damage.

Skill Note: Unarmed (40)

{And here we reach the end of another chapter. This one proved much more difficult to write than I was expecting, since I am used to writing characters whose actions are not limited and are free to act as they see fit. Writing a slave is definitely something I am not used to, and I hope I’m doing an acceptable job of it. Thanks, as always, go to Kkat for the original FoE. Also, thanks to MUCKSTER for his tireless efforts at editing for me (even if he does require the occasional prod). I would also like to thank AdobE for helping me with proofreading and editing. It’s nice having another pair of eyes to look at this. Also, the hub page for the story’s GDocs can be found here.}

Chapter 15: The Abyss

Fallout Equestria: Redemption
Author: Cooperdawg
Chapter 15: The Abyss
“Given enough time, even the strongest of ponies will break.”

I stood on the edge of a cliff, looking down on the wastes I knew so well. The ground stretched out to the horizon, beyond which I could see a glimmer of light reflecting off the vast expanse of the ocean separating us from the Equestrian mainland. Above me, the clouds roiled, as they had every single day of my dreary life, hiding behind them the one thing I had been yearning to see every day since I was old enough to know what I was missing.
Silhouetted in the distance was the Seaddle skyline, its broken spires reaching hungrily for the sky, like so many broken fingers trying to claw their way back into the sunshine. If I strained my eyes, I thought I could make out a small brick structure wreathed in cables and relay dishes. In my mind’s eye, I could picture a bright blue Pegasus strutting about a small radio studio, smiling to himself as he prepared for another show.
As I watched, a darkness started to grow out from the core of the city, growing and growing until everything had been swallowed by its writhing, seething mass. The darkness spread towards me, enveloping everything it touched. In just a few moments I saw the familiar shapes of Millberry, Grovedale, and even Metro get consumed by the shadows.
And yet even those places could not sate its boundless appetite.
It rushed towards me, faster and faster, until it crashed against the base of the cliff I was standing on. The impact shook the rock beneath my hooves, threatening to send me toppling into the dark mass below me. It was all I could do to keep my footing.
The darkness retreated a bit, only to come crashing back with even more force. Below my hooves, the once-solid rock started to crack and splinter. Large pieces of rock started to break off from the cliff to be consumed by the darkness, but still I stood my ground. Part of me realized that to fall would mean that everything I cared for would be lost.
A third time, the darkness retreated, then paused, gathering itself before it surged forward once again. When it struck the rock below me, I felt the blow resonate in my chest as the entire cliff face shuddered. Even more rock shattered and fell into the dark as a massive crack appeared immediately underneath me.
In desperation, I jumped back away from the ledge, praying for solid ground to land on. The instant my hooves touched the ground, the rock simply crumbled away, sliding down towards the seething darkness, and carrying me along with it. As the darkness reached out for me, I tried to scream, but no sound would come. It was in utter silence that the darkness took me, taking away everything I had ever known.

oooOOOooo

I woke with a start, my heart hammering in my chest and the muscles in my back and neck screaming in agony at the sudden movement. For a few moments I was unable to breathe as the collar around my neck bit into my flesh, sending fresh rivulets of blood coursing down my legs and chest. I lay in the silence, panting and trying to reassure myself that it had simply been another dream, another nightmare to torment me even in sleep.

Ever so slowly, my heart rate returned to normal and I was able to take normal breaths instead of gasping pants. Beside me, Yaari grumbled something in zebra and shifted her body in an attempt to get more comfortable, but soon settled back down into an uneasy sleep. For the last week, she had been the only pony, or zebra, that I had been able to speak openly with. Nobody else was the least bit interested in entertaining any of the ideas I had, and I had to be careful about who I spoke with anyway. One word in the wrong place, and I would be stuck in an even deeper hole than I was already in.

Even so, Yaari was an odd companion. Having grown up in the ancestral zebra lands, she had an entirely different outlook on life than I was familiar, and comfortable, with. What struck me as the most different between us was our beliefs. I had been raised to revere the Princesses, and while I might not be devout in expressing my belief, I certainly respected what they had represented. But Yaari saw Celestia as nothing more than a foreign monarch that chose to defer rule to her sister when the times became too difficult for her to handle, and Luna as evil incarnate.

That particular gem of knowledge had touched off a series of arguments that resulted in neither of us speaking to the other for an entire day, practically an eternity in the Mill. I simply couldn’t understand how she could believe that Princess Luna was evil. Sure, she had attempted to usurp Celestia’s rule over a thousand years ago, and had been imprisoned in the moon for a millennium, but on her return to Equestria she had become a beacon of wisdom and guidance to the common pony. Her return had been the example that anypony, no matter how bad their crimes, could be redeemed.

Yet Yaari insisted that at her core, Luna had been evil. Being locked in the moon had opened her up to the stars’ influence. She said that Luna always had the potential to become Nightmare Moon again, and that in order to free herself at all, she must have made some deal with the stars; something that in zebra legend never ended well.

In the end, we had simply agreed that neither of us was going to be swayed to the other’s point of view and had dropped the matter, but that didn’t mean that we agreed on everything else. Her past had left her with many different ideas about what a pony’s, or zebra’s life should amount to, and the ways in which those lives should be lead. Many times, those philosophies clashed directly with my own, or otherwise confused me so completely that I gave up completely on trying to understand. Why would anypony honestly want to look down on another simply because of what their eye color was? It simply didn’t make any sense.

We had found an uneasy peace in the last week, more out of necessity than out of any love for the other. I don’t know if I would call her a ‘friend’, but she was certainly someone I was glad to have around while we struggled to survive in this hellish place. It would have to do.

I was unable to find any more rest for the rest of that night, something that would haunt me over the entire work day. Rest was already so hard to come by that I dreaded the next endless hours of back-breaking labor. As the sky lightened with the dawn and the Mill slowly started to rise, I steeled myself, mentally and physically, for the coming day.

With a familiar ring, the door to the pens opened and we were ordered to fall out and line up for inspection. It was a regular routine that was deceiving in its simplicity. Sometimes ponies would be pulled out of the lineup for some reason or another and when they showed up again, if they showed up, it was with fresh cuts and bruises. To me it was simply another reason to not draw attention to myself.

I stood in my usual place in line, with Yaari on my left, the top of her mane barely reaching my shoulder, and the brown Earth Pony mare that had spoken to me before on my right. I stood silently, my head bowed and eyes fixed on the ground in front of me, waiting for the order to get to work, but it was much longer in coming than I was used to.

Raising my head in curiosity, I almost jumped back in surprise when I was met with Volt’s face mere inches from my own, a sadistic grin plastered across her face. “Morning, slave,” she stated, the grin never for a moment fading, “The Boss wants to speak with you, though I can’t possibly imagine why he wants to exchange words with such a pathetic excuse for life again.”

“Of course, Volt,” I answered with a submissive nod, bowing low enough that a few strands of my mane brushed against the ground, not that it could get much dirtier.

The purple mare snorted at me, apparently not believing my submission, but turned away all the same, starting to walk towards the gate that separated the slave pens from the slavers. I was obviously expected to follow.

As we passed into the slaver’s area, I swept my gaze across it, taking in everything and anything I could, searching for anything that might give me some sort of advantage. All I could see were the doors leading to the various buildings and outhouses, as well as the bar that was already serving a surprising number of patrons. Everything was dilapidated and rundown, but none of these ponies seemed to care. All of them were simply lounging around, drinking or tormenting the mares that were tasked with their entertainment. Even as I watched, one of the slavers approached one of the mares, a perverted grin twisting his features, and led her into one of the buildings, all to the cheers of the others around him.

The entire scene made me sick.

It wasn’t until we were approaching the doors to Eulogy’s Pad that I noticed something that might end up being useful. The large neon sign had several thick cables snaking down the wall from behind it. As Volt opened the door and waited impatiently for me to walk through, I craned my head to try and see where they led, but they twisted into an alley on the side of the building and out of my sight. The beginnings of a plan were starting to form in my mind, but I would need help.

“Look all you like, slave. This is the only glimpse of freedom you’re ever going to get,” Volt sneered as I stepped past her. She gave me a kick in the rump to hurry me through the doors as she closed them behind me, then shoved me aside and walked into the room towards the massive blue couch that dominated the main floor. A pool table stood nearby, carefully set up for a game that I doubted anypony remembered the rules for.

Eulogy was lounging on the couch, dressed in the same (or possibly different) red vest that he had worn the last time we had met. His front legs were propped up on a luxurious red cushion and a tall, slender glass filled with some clear liquid was perched on the table next to him.

“You wanted to speak to her again, Boss?” Volt asked as she approached the buck, tossing her head in my direction.

“I did. Thank you, Volt. You may return to your duties. She won’t cause any problems here,” Eulogy answered with a dismissive gesture, not even turning his gaze towards the purple unicorn.

“Suit yourself,” she snorted as she turned and strode away, shoving me roughly to the side as she did so. “Mind your manners, slave.”

“Please, Evergreen, come closer. I do so hate to yell,” Eulogy called from his couch, now turning his gaze in my direction. He looked pleased with himself, but there was a questioning look in his dark green eyes as well.

I obediently strode forward, lowering my head to the ground in the way I had learned kept ponies from being noticed by the guards, and hoped that this meeting wouldn’t end the same way the last had. As I marched forward, a glimmer of light caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I stopped mid-stride, lifting my head in confusion and fixing my glance on the source of the glimmer.

Facing me was a large mirror that had somehow survived the war and the following centuries. Its perfect silver surface hung on the wall framed in a beautiful golden molding. My breath caught in my chest at the sight, but my heart plummeted at what it contained.

My mane had lost any semblance of shape or form and hung listlessly from the top of my head, framing my face in a dirty, tangled heap. A week of accumulated dust, grime, and grit made it near impossible for me to make out any of the green streaks that I knew were there, somewhere. My hide matched my mane, the usual rich brown faded into a dull beige. Several open sores wept some foul, clear liquid; the result of not receiving any radiation medication and working in areas that were heavily irradiated.

Color aside, my hide hung on me like the flesh on a ghoul. It looked like it had simply been tacked onto me as an afterthought, as something meant to hide the bones and muscle beneath, not that there was much of the latter left. I could count every single one of my ribs sticking out from under my hide, and my legs had lost a lot of meat. The skin around my eyes and nose was drawn and pale, giving me the look of somepony that hadn’t slept in years.

My eyes were the only thing that still held any color, the fierce green looking back at me from sunken eye sockets. The whites of my eyes were stained with yellow and marked with criss-crossing red veins, giving me a sickly, weak appearance.

The collar around my neck stood out starkly, the smooth metal surface contrasting sharply with the brown of my hide. Its edges were crusted with blood, and the flesh around it was red and swollen, locking it even more in place. I couldn’t help but wince at the sight.

I looked like a slave.

“It is a beautiful relic isn’t it? One of my most prized possessions,” Eulogy intoned from his seat, his voice distant, as though he was remembering some far off time.

“Am I included in that list?” I muttered from where I stood, tearing my eyes from my reflection and fixing my gaze on the Earth Pony that was holding me captive.

“Even now you have such a high regard for your worth, dear Evergreen. You must remember that, for the moment, you are still but a slave. The price I paid for you was mostly a bounty to stop the raids against my caravans. In here, you are worth no more than any of the others you share your quarters with,” Eulogy chuckled. He was speaking haughtily, in a fashion that I imagined was an attempt to copy the old nobility. It didn’t fit our surroundings.

“Can’t blame me for thinking I’m still worth something to somepony,” I answered with a shrug, picturing a strong, blue body crowned with a brilliant orange and yellow mane in my head.

“I suppose not. After all, there are many out there that still idolize you. Despite my attempts, simply enslaving you has not diminished the tales of your successes,” Eulogy sighed, shifting from his seat and rising to his hooves. He reached out for his glass and took a sip before setting it back down.

“If I’m the same as all of them, then why am I meeting with you again? It isn’t like any of them get private meetings with you,” I asked as he approached me.

The question made the buck smile, but it held little mirth. Instead, it seemed to have amused him in the way a mole rat’s struggles amused the predator trying to eat it.

“Because you are unique, where they are not. Even after a week of living amongst them, being one of them, I can see your insistence that you are still somepony worth mentioning. No other slave has ever held on to a sense of worth that way before,” Eulogy explained, “Which in fact brings me to the reason you are here. I have given you a taste of what it is to be a slave, and you have suffered as one. The offer I made the last time we spoke still stands. Agree to it, and the pain ends. Work for me, and the collar will be removed. You will still be watched, of course, but you will be free, more or less.”

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted. The life of a slave was far more difficult than I had expected, and the possibility of not having to worry about the constant pain and fear anymore was something I very much wanted. But my self-chosen curse was that I could not think only of myself. Yaari depended on me; alone, this place would chew her up. Together, we had a chance at survival.

“Sorry, Eulogy, but a little pain isn’t going to change my mind. I’ve seen too much and suffered far more than you can possibly imagine. A few whiplashes and a couple more scars aren’t going to make me betray who I am. So go ahead and zap me into unconsciousness again. The threat of pain doesn’t scare me,” I growled.

“So you would rather remain a pony that is worth nothing, and has no freedom, than to be able to call yourself a free pony?” he asked incredulously, his calm façade breaking a bit.

“You aren’t offering me freedom, Eulogy. You’re offering me a different kind of shackle.
If you were really going to set me free, you would take this collar off and open the front gates for me,” I retorted, “So I’d rather be a slave on my own terms than on yours.”

Eulogy’s expression shifted from a disinterested mask to one of incredulous surprise. He wasn’t used to being told no, and I found a certain amount of satisfaction in seeing him break down. “A slave on your own terms? Such a thing doesn’t exist! I own you! I decide what happens with your life. With a flick of my hoof I could end your very existence! And you still think you have power over your own life?”

“In a word: yes. Now are we done here? I have some work to get done. That scrap doesn’t collect itself,” I stated, putting as much condescension into my voice as I possibly could. I was well on my way to getting this pony angry, and I didn’t care. Eulogy was the pony that valued me. He wasn’t the sort of pony to kill me because I got under his skin.

Even as I watched, Eulogy’s face twisted to a study in surprise, then shock, and finally anger. “If that’s the way you see it, then I’ll make sure you get back to work,” he sneered, any pretense at being a high-class pony disappearing. For a few moments, at least, he was just another wasteland thug. “Report to Scythe in the Factory. He’ll give you your job. Now get out.”

With that, Eulogy turned away from me and strode back to his couch, where he grabbed his drink and finished it in a single gulp. I bowed submissively to him, trying to keep from grinning, and would have failed, had I not already turned and started for the door.

The slavers directed a few curious looks in my direction as I walked past them, but none moved to stop me. I was happy for that fact, since I didn’t have a clue what I would have done had one of them done something. I made it through the gate without incident and made my way towards the factory. Scythe was the cream-colored overseer that had directed my scrap-collecting group back to the crater my first day here. I had yet to hear him speak in anything but a yell.

“Why the fuck are you in my office, maggot?” Scythe screamed as I pushed why through the swinging door. The office was bare, with only a desk, a small table covered with old liquor bottles, and a weapons rack loaded down with all sorts of inventive melee weapons, one of which was his namesake.

“Eulogy’s orders, sir,” I answered, bowing my head to the slaver, “All he told me was to report to you. I wasn’t told what my duties would be.”

Scythe snorted, rising to his hooves and reaching for a whip that had small length of barbed wire attached to it. “So you think you can just walk into my office like you own the fucking place? You’ve got a thing coming, you ignorant piece of shit!” He shouted around the whip.

I instinctively stepped back, but Scythe was a master when it came to tormenting slaves. The whip cracked and I couldn’t help but cry out in pain as it bit against my left side. Warm blood flowed from the furrows dug out by the barbed wire and I stumbled back against the door.

“Sorry, sir. I didn’t mean any offense! I was just following orders!” I whimpered, curling up on myself.

“You’re sorry? How the fuck is that supposed to make me feel better, maggot?!” Scythe shrieked as he cracked the whip again, opening up another wound on my other side, an almost exact mirror of the first.

“I was just told to report to you! I didn’t want to get caught for being lazy!” I cried, any attempt at showing any sort of mind of my own gone. The pain of the two whiplashes was all-consuming.

“Hmph, I highly doubt that,” Scythe grunted, but he did lower the whip, “If Eulogy wants you working for me, I think I know exactly what task he wants done. Get on your hooves and follow me. Don’t fall behind.”

He strode past me, coiling the whip up and hanging it from his barding. I remained completely motionless until he was past me and through the door, then quickly pulled myself to my hooves and followed after him. He led me through the maze of fences and workers to a massive machine.

“This is one of our two working smelters. Your job is going to be making sure that the molds on the conveyor are in usable condition. Hemlock will be overseeing your work. If I hear anything about you slacking off, you’ll wish you’d never been born. Am I clear?”

“Absolutely, sir,” I answered, nodding vigorously.

Scythe snorted disbelievingly, but turned and walked away, leaving me standing on my own. Unsure of what to do with myself (there was no sign of any other pony nearby, and I was completely turned around) I simply walked a little closer to the machine, trying to get an idea of how it worked. It was roughly cubical in shape, with a massive opening at the top where the scrap would be dumped in. Next to me, at about chest height, was another opening that fed out into a conveyor belt that doubled as a mold, shaping the melted metal into ingots that could later be worked into other things.

I was so engrossed in my study of the machine that I didn’t notice the approach of another pony. “So Scythe is finally giving me someone else to help out over here, huh?” a strong, and attractive, voice asked.

He caught me completely off guard, and I almost pulled a muscle in my neck when I turned to face him. I did, however, open up a few more cuts from the damned collar. “Oh, I’m sorry I’m not working! I wasn’t told where anything was and Scythe just left me here! I’m looking for Hemlock,” I stammered out. Part of my mind realized that I was acting much more skittish and frightened than normally, but the wounds I had just received from Scythe were still bleeding, and the memory of what had caused the injury had me feeling a little defensive. Sucking up to these ponies for a time, at least until I figured out the rules that they lived by, wouldn’t be a terrible idea.

“Calm down, new blood. He treats every new slave like this. I’m Hemlock, by the way. I’m guessing you’re supposed to be helping me run this thing?”

I nodded dumbly, finally getting a good look at the pony. He was a light blue unicorn, but had the build of an Earth Pony used to hard labor. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he was at least as strong as Steel Curtain was. A pale yellow mane, kept cut close to his head, was the perfect accent to his blue eyes. He was wearing a simple black vest, whose only purpose I imagined was to keep the straps of his saddlebags from chafing against his hide. What surprised me the most was the slave collar around his neck.

“You’re a slave as well?” I asked, unable to keep a note of surprise out of my voice.

“That’s right. Been doing this job long enough that Scythe more or less leaves me alone. I don’t usually get much help, which unfortunately means I know exactly what job he wants you to do,” Hemlock answered with a nicker and an uneasy smile.

“What do you mean? It looks simple enough: Just collect scrap and drop it down that chute up there, right?” I asked, waving a hoof at the scaffolding that would let a pony climb up to the chute at the top of the smelter.

“Yup, but that’s my job. Your job is to make sure the molds are all in good condition and to keep any of the metal from being wasted, and we aren’t given any sort of protective gear,” Hemlock explained, “The last pony they sent to help me ended up being carted off after only a few hours. The burns to her legs were too much for her to keep going.”

My jaw dropped in shock. This was basically a death sentence. “How the hell do your job alone then?”

Hemlock shrugged. “My job isn’t to keep the molds in order. They usually send a pony over once a week or so, just often enough to keep up with the rate the molds deteriorate in, but they never last long. Sorry, new blood, but that’s just the way things work down here. Now, once I drop this heap of scrap in up there and start the machine up again, it will start running automatically. You’ll only have a few seconds to inspect the molds before the metal flows, and replace it with one from that pile there. Put any cracked or warped molds into another pile so we can melt it down as scrap. If you’re too slow, the metal will just flow onto the belt itself. Trust me, you don’t want that to happen.”

I looked at the side of the machine where the pile of molds were. I made my way next to them and looked into the belly of the smelter. The very next mold to be used had a fairly large crack running through it, and would need to be replaced. If I was quick, this job shouldn’t be too hard or taxing. It would be hot, sure, but if I didn’t make any mistakes, I should be all right.

Before Hemlock had a chance to start up the machine, I grabbed a mold from the top of the pile and swapped it out for the broken one. It fit perfectly, and the process took me no more than a second, more than enough time for me to grab another and get it ready to put in place as soon as the first had moved, should it be necessary. No, this shouldn’t be too difficult at all.

With a loud grinding and belching noise, the smelter came to life, releasing a cloud of oily black smoke out of the opening right next to me, making me cough and my eyes water from the toxic fumes. A wave of heat followed that sucked the air out of my lungs. It took me a few seconds to force a full breath of air, and by then, the conveyor was already moving.

I barely managed to replace the next broken mold before the red-hot metal filled it. A hiss of pain escaped my lips as the intense heat from the metal washed over my legs. I thought I could already feel blisters starting to form.

Mechanically, I continued working, again barely in time for the next expulsion of red-hot metal. The temperature never let up. If anything, the constant disgorging of metal was making it hotter, and what sweat I did manage to work up instantly evaporated from my hide. Every breath felt like I was swallowing sandpaper, and my mouth quickly became dry, my tongue feeling like a lump of wood in my mouth.

It didn’t take long for the repetition of my work to become automatic. Reach for mold, wait for a deformed one and replace, reach for another mold, repeat. Anything that had a crack or other deformity, I would simply toss aside to be gathered later. The only thing that made it hard was the unceasing heat. The pain from my legs had long since been reduced to a dull throbbing that I had pushed to the back of my mind. Thinking about my pain would only make things worse.

I had become so engrossed in the timing of my work that I was shocked when the smelter shut down with a sudden grinding, accompanied by the sound of something popping and the smell of burnt circuitry.

“Damn it all! Now what the fuck am I going to do?!” Hemlock shouted from somewhere above me. His voice sounded tired, but his frustration made any hint of exhaustion seem meaningless.

I turned to ask him what was wrong, but was caught by surprise when my legs refused to respond and I went sprawling, sending molds sliding all over the place with a loud clatter. I looked down at my forelegs in surprise and was shocked to find myself looking down at the dried leather of bare, and dehydrated, skin, pockmarked with blisters. They looked to be only a short time away from gaining a truly bad burn. The constant heat had singed away the fur of my legs and basically cooked the skin. It was no surprise that walking was difficult.

I shifted them, and nearly cried out at the sharp pain that resulted. Instead of a shout, it was a more of a moan, but was still loud enough to draw Hemlock’s attention.

“Shit, new blood! Are you all right?” he asked with genuine concern, rushing down the scaffolding to stand near me. His hide had been blackened by the constant smoke hanging about the top of the smelter, but seemed otherwise the worse for wear.

“Argh, the pain,” I groaned, “I can barely move my legs.”

Looks exactly like what happened to the other mare,” he commented sympathetically, “Lucky for you, I managed to get my hooves on a couple of healing potions for just this problem. Slavers know that ponies are going to get hurt doing this job, so they give me just enough medicine to keep you working for the day.” He trotted over to a table nearby and retrieved a vial of that beautiful red liquid.

He unstoppered it for me and held it up to my lips. I drank greedily, relishing the taste of it and the feeling returning to my legs. The fur didn’t grow back, but at least the inflammation disappeared and the blisters healed, giving me the ability to at least walk again.

“Well, now that you’re taken care of, we have a bigger problem. Some of the circuitry in this damn thing fried, which means it’s just a pile of so much junk. If we can’t get it fixed, we’re both fucked, my friend,” Hemlock explained, waving his hoof at the smelter, “Scythe will kill me if I don’t meet the day’s quota, and if I die, you can sure as hell be sure that you’ll be following me.”

“Isn’t there somepony we can talk to that knows how to fix it?” I asked, rising to my hooves and facing the unicorn.

“There might be somepony down in maintenance, but they have so much else to get done that they won’t have time to get down here to work on it,” Hemlock explained.

“What if we offer them that?” I asked, nodding my head to the other healing potion that Hemlock had pulled out of the table drawer.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?! You need that if you want to walk once we’re done here!” Hemlock protested.

“And we both need it if we’re going to survive the day. Will offering them that give them the incentive to come down here and fix the damn thing?” I demanded, “Because I would rather suffer from some Princesses-damned burns than to get myself killed!”

Hemlock hesitated for a moment, fixing me in a confused stare. “You are not like most,” he finally muttered, “Yeah, it should convince one of them to come down here, but I have some other work to get done. You’ll need to bring it down. Take that passage to wherever it lets you out, then turn left. The maintenance wing is at the end of that passage,” Hemlock explained, pointing the way out to me.

“I’ll be back soon,” I said, stepping over to the table and grabbing the healing potion. I didn’t have any saddle bags, so I had to carry it in my mouth.

Now it was simply a matter of making it look like I had every right to be doing what I was doing. There were a hundred different ways this could backfire, but as Hemlock had said, we were dead if we didn’t get that smelter up and running again. The slavers here weren’t the sort to be understanding about a mechanical failure.

To my amazement, I managed to make my way all the way to the maintenance area without anypony stopping me. I was given quite a few angry stares, but I was careful to maintain the posture that I had been given orders and was hurrying to see them carried out. Even the slavers were smart enough not to interfere with a slave on a job. Getting into the maintenance area, however, was going to be particularly more difficult.
Two slavers were sitting outside the passage to the small area, playing cards. When I approached, they immediately stopped their game and faced me.
“Well what do we have here?” one of them, a dirty red unicorn mare, sneered, “What are you doing here, slave? I don’t recall asking for a healing potion.”
“I was sent to speak to the ponies in maintenance,” I answered swiftly, depositing the potion on the ground. I had learned on my second day that speaking to a slaver while something was in my mouth was a sure way to get myself beat.
“On whose orders?” the other, a grey Earth Pony buck demanded, taking a step towards me and reaching for a baton with a foreleg.
“Scythe’s. The smelter where I’m working broke down, and we need somepony from maintenance to come fix it,” I answered quickly.
Dropping the massive slaver’s name did the trick. The two guards here shared a worried look even as they stepped back from me. “Ah, I see,” the mare muttered, “Well, I ain’t going to get in the way of Scythe’s business. Head on in and then get out. We don’t want you here any longer than necessary.”
I nodded my acknowledgement and retrieved the healing potion before trotting past them. The workshop they had been guarding was populated with only three ponies. Two of them were Earth Pony bucks laden down with a variety of normal tools that were hunched over a bench working on some piece of machinery. The last was a unicorn mare with a pink hide that was working on what looked like a collar. Instinct drove me towards her, and I wasn’t going to deny the luck of finding somepony that seemed to know how the collars worked.
“Hey, I need your help with something,” I announced as I approached, setting the healing potion down on the bench next to her.
“Bother one of them. I’m busy,” she snorted at me, not even lifting her head from her work, nodding quickly in the general direction of the two bucks.
“Considering that fact that you look like you actually know what you’re doing, I’d rather talk to you,” I answered, “Unless you want to get in the way of Scythe’s operations.”
As it had before, the overseer’s name got results. The mare sighed and looked up at me. A vicious scar cut across her face, the knotted flesh scrunching up part of her muzzle, giving her a permanent lopsided grin. “I’d be careful dropping his name like that. The fact that you have a healing potion with you makes me think he didn’t order you to come down here at all.”
“Strictly speaking, he didn’t. But I’m working for him, and the machine we need to get our work done has broken down. I need your help to get it running again or both my partner and I are fucked,” I answered, “Take the potion as payment to get it done now.”
“Time-sensitive job?” She asked, reaching out for the potion. I put a hoof out to stop her.
“We have a quota to meet by the end of the day. It’s yours if you’ll help,” I answered.
She stared me down for a few seconds, measuring me with her stony grey gaze, then nodded. “Done. Lucky for you I’m one of the ponies around here that actually knows how to work on this kind of shit. Now let me guess what the problem is: One of the smelters blew a conductor to one of the heating elements?” She reached for the potion again. This time I let her.
“I smelled burnt circuitry. Couldn’t even begin to tell you where it was coming from. That’s never been my job,” I answered, thinking of Crosswire.
“Still better than most would have been able to tell me,” the mare grumbled as she collected a few materials, “Now let’s go. I have to make sure to have that done before the end of the day.”
“Why are -,” I started, before being cut off by the mare.
“Not in front of the guards,” she snapped, clouting me around the ears as she walked past me, saddlebags loaded down with all sorts of implements and materials.
I followed after her, rubbing my head with a hoof, waiting until we were away from the guards and seemingly alone in the passages. “Why were you working on a collar?” I asked, unable to contain my curiosity.
“Because somepony around here needs to build the new ones. Now don’t go and get any ideas,” she snapped, “Talk like that is what gets ponies in trouble around here.”
It was already too late to stop me from getting ideas. “You know how to get one off, don’t you?”
She stopped midstride and rounded on me, putting a hoof to my chest to stop me dead in my tracks. “Do you even know what the fuck you’re asking?” she hissed, keeping her voice hushed, “If any of them even get a hint that you even said that, you’ll be dead! First you drop Scythe’s name as a way to bully your way past some guards, and now you’re asking me this shit! How stupid can a pony get?”
“Stupid enough to know that I can find a way out of this place, but I can’t do it alone. This collar I’m wearing is a shock collar. I won’t be able to escape if they can stop me in my tracks with the press of a button. At the very least, I need somepony to disable the shocker and the explosives. I’m not asking you to remove it, just to tinker with it,” I argued.
The mare gave me a shocked look. “You haven’t got a fucking clue who I am! I could turn you in right now and live the high life for a few days for calling you out,” she growled.
“But you aren’t going to,” I retorted, holding her gaze, “I’m not some frightened Stable-pony that’s scared of getting hurt. I was born out there, and I’ve survived far more shit than most ever have to witness. I have a reason for wanting to get out beyond wanting my freedom back. I don’t expect you to understand.”
“I think I understand better than you expect,” the mare stated in return, her voice evening out somewhat, “But give me one good reason I shouldn’t turn you in.”
“You hate them all as much as I do. Any chance to show Eulogy that he’s fallible is something you want. I’ve heard it said that ponies can’t escape from this place. Help me do just that, and you’ll know that he can be beaten,” I answered, putting just a bit of pride into my voice.
“I’m not going to do it for nothing,” she growled at me, though she did lower her hoof.
“I don’t expect you to. Here’s the deal: You get one of my healing potions every day for the next week. Once that’s done, you’ll pop this thing off, do whatever you need to do with the wiring to make sure they can’t kill or incapacitate me with it, then put it back on. That’s when I’ll make my move.”
She shook her head slowly. “You’re only going to give yourself a week to come up with a plan to get out of here? It’s never going to work. Here’s my offer: You give me ten healing potions, and I’ll fuck with your collar whenever the hell you’re ready to try to get out of here. If you think you can do it, you’ll need more than a damn week to put a plan together, not that you’ll succeed. And when you get caught, your better not fucking rat me out.”
“I don’t even know your name,” I agreed with a smile, stepping past her, “Now come on. All of this is moot if we don’t get that smelter working again.”
The mare muttered something unintelligible under her breath, but followed after me. From the look on her face, the words hadn’t been particularly polite.
Together we made it back to the smelter where Hemlock was just returning with a fresh load of scrap. He deposited his bags at the base of the scaffolding and watched us approach.
“I’ve got to admit, new blood, I didn’t think you’d actually pull it off,” he drawled, and odd smirk on his face.
“When I say I’m going to do something, I do it,” I retorted, “You know where this thing blew out?”
“Fuck if I know. All they have me do is run the damn thing. Haven’t got a clue how all the pieces fit together,” the buck answered.
“Just get out of my way and let me see. I know these things better than either of you,” the maintenance mare growled, shoving her way past me and approaching the machine.
Hemlock eyed her, his gaze traveling all along her body, and a wicked grin spread over his features. “Don’t mind if I do,” he said with a smile, taking a step back to let her pass. He sidled past her, approaching me, and I could see his eyes roaming across her flanks, stopping for several seconds as he peered between her legs. I really wanted to kick the bastard square in the jaw, or perhaps somewhere a bit more precious.
“Lay off the mare and let her save our asses, Hemlock,” I snapped, “It was enough of a rip-off for her to take my potion.”
“Just enjoying the view, new blood. Buck like me doesn’t get to spend much time with mares.”
“Here’s the problem,” the maintenance mare announced, “Thing’s temperature is set way too high. It melted the casing of the conductor. I can fix it, and will need to turn the temperature down a couple hundred degrees if we don’t want it happening again. I suggest you let Scythe know as soon as possible. He won’t be happy, but he’s smart enough to realize that we can’t push the machines so hard and keep them running reliably.”
“Will we meet our quota for the day? I’d rather not die ‘cause we had to turn the heat down,” Hemlock demanded.
“Depends on what your quota is. Honestly, for the kind of metal you’re melting, this thing was way overheated anyway. Chances are your production won’t be slowed down at all. Few seconds per load, at most.”
“Hmph, fair enough,” Hemlock muttered, “How long is it going to take you?”
“Ten minutes, at most. Hard part is where the damn thing is placed. Just need to… hrg… get my hooves in there,” she grunted as she twisted her body to reach the piece, “You two might want to take a short break. I won’t be long.”
True to her word, the mare finished fixing the machine within a few minutes. While Hemlock dragged his bags of scrap up to the top of the machine, she pulled me aside.
“We’re all in the same pen at the end of the work day. Find yourself a vest and use it to smuggle your potions out to me. I’ll find you there,” she told me, then walked away before I could get another word in.
“All right, new blood, we’re ready to get rolling again! You ready down there!” Hemlock called out to me.
I watched the maintenance mare for a few more seconds, the turned and trotted over to my place at the base of the machine. “Yeah, I’m ready,” I called back. By sheer luck, I had found a solution to what I thought was the biggest problem facing me. Now all that was left was to work on the beginnings of the idea that I had started to form this morning.

With the adjustments the maintenance mare had made, my work was much more bearable. It was still hot, but I no longer felt like I was being cooked alive simply by standing so close to the smelter. Since I was no longer in near as much pain, the worked progressed a lot quicker, and I was actually surprised for a moment when Hemlock had to break to retrieve more scrap.
During that short “break” I had to collect all of the busted molds and march them down to one of the production sites to be repaired. It was a long walk, and Hemlock was waiting impatiently on me when I finally returned. No words were exchanged, but we simply got back to work.
This process repeated itself several times throughout the day, with the breaks coming at the perfect times for me to get away from the smelter to cool down. My legs were still burnt, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been the first time, and I was actually capable of walking on them.
As the light began to dim with the coming night, Hemlock finally announced that we were done for the day, and that we had met our quota. I was exhausted, but knowing that things were starting to come together for me was a definite boost to my morale that gave me just enough energy to keep going.
“All right, new blood, before you get excited, you need to get down to Scythe’s office and let him now about the machine. Since it was your brilliant plan to get it fixed, it’s your responsibility to tell him,” Hemlock ordered me, putting a hoof in front of me to keep me from walking away.
“It’s your machine. Why don’t you tell him?” I argued, “I don’t see why it should be my job.”
“It’s your job because I told you so,” Hemlock growled, moving around in front of me, an ugly sneer marring his handsome face, “and I’ve got an… appointment… to keep in the pens.”
“I’m not going to be your scapegoat so you can go rape some unlucky mare,” I snapped, pushing my way past him.
Hemlock let me past, and I thought that would be the end of it, but he caught me by surprise when he jumped me from behind, wrapping his hooves around my neck and forcing me to the ground. My cry of shock died in my throat.
I fought viciously, throwing my head back in an attempt to stun him and hitting him in the side with my forelegs, hoping to force him to let up the pressure a bit. He had me in a perfect headlock, and it seemed like my struggles were in vain.
But Hemlock didn’t have a clue of how to truly render a pony defenseless, and in true stupid fashion decided to lean in close to my ear to whisper something. Before he even got the first word out, I turned my head and bit down, catching his ear between my teeth, then twisted.
His shriek of pain was deafening, but it did cause his grip to loosen up. I let his ear go and twisted my entire body, breaking free of his weakened hold, and rolled to the side, coming to my hooves in a single smooth motion. Even with my exhaustion, fighting was simply second nature to me, and I simply reacted.
Hemlock didn’t move a muscle, but simply lay where he was, clutching his head with a hoof. I could see a small trickle of blood coming from under where he was holding. I knew I hadn’t torn it off, but a small part of me was happy to see the bastard hurting.
“Don’t ever fucking touch me again,” I growled.
“I’ll tell him you used a potion to get the smelter fixed,” was the panted reply.
“And why should I care?”
“Because then he’ll only give me one a day for you, instead of two. Then where will you be?” Hemlock asked, getting shakily to his hooves. His ear was definitely still attached, but I had caused a small tear near its base that would make it hang a little lower than the other all the time. It gave him a somewhat lopsided appearance.
I kept the buck pinned beneath my stare, trying to come up with something to argue with, but he had a point. I was going to need at least one of those potions every day to keep myself in working condition, and the other was my payment to the maintenance mare. If I lost one of them, I would be in serious trouble. “Fuck you, Hemlock,” I snapped, “Only because I need those potions.”
With that, I stalked off, leaving the buck behind me. I could feel his stare boring me in the back with every step until I turned a corner. I had just made myself an enemy. Only time would tell what kind.

As I came up to Scythe’s office, I couldn’t deny that I was nervous. The last time I had spoken to him, he had beat me for a reason so minor that I believed he would make up a reason to hurt me again. If he had heard about me using his name to get things done, it would probably turn out much worse for me than a few lash marks, no matter how painful those were.
By the time I was in front of his door, I was visibly shaking. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, raised a hoof, and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” his deep voice intoned, holding the promise of pain in its deep rumble.
I pulled the door open and stepped inside, keeping my eyes glued on the floor. Immediately, I could feel the buck’s displeasure. It felt like a palpable thing, hitting me in the chest in time to my racing heart.
“What the fuck do you want? The work day is over,” he growled. I heard the creaking of wood as he rose from his chair. His hoofsteps sounded like war drums pounding in my ears.
“I… I needed to report on the smelter,” I stammered out, my mouth suddenly very dry. I licked my lips in an attempt to calm myself. It wasn’t like me to lose it like this. Something about this buck simply made me fear him on an instinctual level. “It broke down earlier: the conductor to the heating elements blew out. A pony from maintenance came down to fix it, but had to dial back the temperature a bit, otherwise it would have just broken again. We still met our quota, but it is a little slower than before.”
“So you came into my office to tell me that something broke, and is now slower than before? Is there at least any good news?”
“Um… unless we try to push the smelter past where it is now, it shouldn’t break down again for a while?” I offered, lifting my head slightly to look at Scythe. He was standing closer to me than I had fought, with barely two feet separating the two of us. There was a frown on his face, and a malicious shine in his eyes. What scared me more was the hunger I saw in his gaze. It was unwavering, pinning me in place as his eyes explored my body. I wanted nothing more than to turn on the spot and run.
“No. I’ll tell you the good news, slave. You’re here, which saves me the trouble of having to find you. Do you want to know something absolutely fascinating that I learned today? A buck guarding the maintenance area came up to me and asked me if I had sent a pony down there. I’m sure you can imagine my surprise since I ordered no such thing.”
My stomach felt like it flipped over itself, making me feel nauseous. I took a step backwards, wanting to throw up, but afraid of what would happen if I did.
“STOP RIGHT THERE!” Scythe shouted.
I froze.
“You dropped my name as a way to fix that machine. You used me as a way to protect yourself. I DO NOT appreciate that kind of dishonesty in my slaves. Do you know what this means, slave?”
I shook my head, instantly regretting it as my stomach started to rebel. I fought it back down, managing not to throw up, but couldn’t bring myself to speak.
“ANSWER ME!” he screamed, small flecks of spittle landing on my face and making me wince back.
“N….n-no sir,” I finally managed to force out. I had never been this terrified before. My limbs had completely locked up and it was all I could do to keep the massive buck in my gaze. This was beyond the flight-or-fight response. I would be surprised if my body would let me do anything beyond cower.
“It means you need to be punished,” he growled, a deep, rumbling sound that reminded me of the thunder preceding a heavy lightning storm.
The first blow caught me completely by surprise. It landed on the side of my head and snapped my head painfully to the side, so suddenly that the collar didn’t immediately turn with it and cut painful wounds into my neck. I fell to the side, coughing and retching in equal measure, and finally lost the battle with my stomach, vomiting all over the floor.
A grunt of disgust came from behind me, and I heard the sound of something being lifted from the wall. The whip lash bit deeply into my side, and I screamed in pain. It became all too clear in that instant the Scythe had barely nicked me with the whip earlier that day. Now he was really laying into me, determined to cause as much pain as possible. I screamed again as the whip struck me on the other side.
I quickly lost count of how many times he hit me, but every time hurt more than the last. I was lying limp on the ground, sobbing openly and completely covered in blood when I heard him put the whip down.
“What would you say, slave? Have you been punished?” he growled at me. If anything, he sounded more worked up than before.
“Yes, sir. It won’t happen again,” I forced out, the words broken up by my sobs.
“I don’t agree. You think you can use me as a way to do what you want. I need to show you who’s truly in charge out here,” he snapped. I heard him take a few steps forward until he was perched over me. “This will teach you who truly holds the power over your life.”

I had made it so far in life without anypony ever successfully taking advantage over me. In that moment, all of those years amounted to nothing as Scythe pinned me to the ground. The first unintelligible grunt was the prelude to my worst nightmare as he thrust into me. Thankfully, the pain of my injuries coupled with his complete lack of concern for my wounds caused me to quickly black out.

My world was pain. Consciousness returned only slowly, and the only thought I could form in my mind was that I wanted the bliss of unconsciousness to claim me again. Every twitch of my muscles sent another lance of fire screaming across my body. But fate was not kind, and I remained awake.

I tried to force the pain from the front of my mind and bring myself back under control. I wasn’t certain that I’d be able to do it, but slowly, the pain faded and I was able to breathe. I realized I was lying on a bed, rather than the cold, hard ground, but that fact didn’t strike me as odd.

When I was finally able to form a complete, coherent thought that wasn’t focused on my pain, the full realization of what had happened to me struck home. Memories of the experience came rushing back, flooding my mind with the sensations and emotions that had been writhing inside of me during the entire ordeal before unconsciousness had claimed me.

Most of the pain I was feeling came from between my legs, and I could only imagine how long Scythe had continued after I had passed out. I shuddered violently, the movement sparking another wave of pain from my physical injuries. I had failed in a way I’d never failed before. Years of living in danger, one of the few mares in a Raider gang, and I had managed to keep them at a distance that whole time. And now, from a single stupid slip, I had let that slaver rape me. I had let a fucking slaver get into my head and make me think I couldn’t fight back, and I had paid the price.

Tears sprung to my eyes, hot and stinging as they poured down my cheeks. I was completely worthless. What kind of goddamn savior was I if I couldn’t even protect myself from a fucking brute? I deserved what he had done to me, because I was too stupid to put myself in a position to prevent it. I had killed dozens of ponies like him, and what had I done when he threatened me? I cowered in the corner and let him have his way with me. It was fucking pitiful.

I was asking to ponies to trust me, to believe in me, and for what? To believe that I was capable of defeating an enemy a thousand times more powerful and dangerous than a simple thug working for some slaver? And I wasn’t even capable of fighting one of them off. Maybe getting captured was one of the best things that had ever happened to me. It put me in my place, made me realize that my life truly was worth nothing. Greymane was right when he told me that I was just another pony overreaching myself. What hope did I have of winning against a force like the one Seahawk commanded? I might as well have been trying to fly above the clouds. No matter how hard I tried, or struggled, I would always fall short. It was simply the way of things.

“She’s finally waking up. Scythe really messed her up badly, boss. I don’t know how well she’s going to recover,” a rough, though not unkind, voice intoned.

“You’re going to make sure she recovers, Bone Saw. Use our medical supplies if you have to. That mare is too valuable to me to simply let die. Save her life, or it’s yours on the line,” a familiar voice snapped back.

The sound of hoofsteps approached my bed, and I cracked an eye open to see who was coming towards me. I was surprised to see Eulogy, in his classic red vest, standing beside me.

“You made a big mistake, Evergreen, though I’m sure you realize that. Scythe is a mean bastard, but his talents at keeping a workforce motivated are almost unrivaled. I hope you learned that you shouldn’t antagonize him,” he said softly. If I wasn’t so certain of his contempt for me, I would have thought that he actually cared about me.

“Of course, sir. I was completely out of line. I deserved my punishment. I promise, it won’t happen again.”

“I don’t believe you,” he answered with a snort, “You aren’t the sort of pony to think that disobeying your captors is wrong. I don’t think you ever have been, so don’t lie there and lie to me.”

“I swear, sir, I won’t disappoint him again!” I pleaded, tears coming to my eyes again.

“Now that, I know, is the truth,” Eulogy said with a satisfied smirk, “I’m going to come clean with you: I lied before. You are valuable to me. I spent a lot of caps to get you here, and I consider it an investment. I can’t let you die until I get a return on that investment, and the only way to do that is to make sure that the entire Wasteland knows what’s become of you. If you die before then, it won’t matter. My power will come from the knowledge that I can contain you and control you. If all you do is die within a week of coming here, then that means nothing. So listen to me, and listen to me carefully, Evergreen. You are going to survive. I command it, and as my property, you are going to listen.”

The last words were spoken in a whisper, no more than a few inches from my ear. They sent a shiver through my spine, and I felt the cold grip of fear around my heart. I peered up at the slaver, seeing the grim mask that was his expression. This pony was powerful, and there was no doubt in my mind that he would fulfill every promise he had made. If I screwed up, he could do far worse things to me than merely kill me.

He snorted again before he turned and walked away, quickly disappearing from the room to return to whatever work he had interrupted to see me. He was quickly replaced by Bone Saw, the thin, sickly Earth Pony medic that tended to the slavers, and the few slaves they deemed valuable enough to receive medical treatment.

“I’d make a serious effort to listen to him, slave,” he mused as he worked on me, cleaning out the wounds on my back and wrapping them in actual, clean bandages, “If Eulogy wants something, he usually gets it. He maintains this illusion of being a gentlepony, but I’ve seen him get mad. Even Scythe knows better than to get the boss mad.”

I said nothing, reflecting instead on what had been said. Eulogy had just proven to me that nothing I did was ever going to make much of a difference. I had resisted him, pushed his offers aside in some mule-headed attempt to prove that I could maintain my individuality.

I had thought that surviving as a slave would be easy. All a pony needed to do was listen to the slavers and they’d be fine. But I hadn’t predicted the everyday troubles of needing to get something repaired, or needing to get access to resources that a slave simply couldn’t reach. What I had truly miscalculated on was the cruelty and malice of the guards and slavers themselves. I had thought that they’d be just like most other ponies in the wasteland; mean, but at least reasonable. But they viewed slaves as just so much chattel, to do with as they pleased. It was truly eye opening, and in that revelation I found a fear that I didn’t know I could feel. With every passing minute, the prospect that I had believed escape was even close to possible became more and more ridiculous.

Before long, Bone Saw had finished with his work and left me alone. The wounds on my sides and back were healed, but there was still a stain on my soul, a stain that I doubted I would ever be able to remove, no matter how much time I was given.

The medical advances caused by the Great War between Equestria and the Zebra nation were truly miraculous. I had ended up in the infirmary with many deep lacerations and a lot of serious bruising, and within thirty hours, Bone Saw had me recovered to the point where he deemed me ready to return to work.

As soon as the declaration was made, I was forced to my hooves and pushed out the door. I had really lost track of time. Night was already falling, and I could see a line of ponies making their way back to the slave pens. I hung my head and started towards them. It was time to focus on survival. If I couldn’t get out, at the very least I could ensure that I didn’t hurt myself any more than I already had. Fighting back would only get me hurt more.

The slavers allowed me to pass without comment, then slammed the iron door closed behind me. Amongst the slaves, I heard a few mutterings that sounded vaguely like they believed I was dead. Who could blame them? I had been missing for a long time.
I stood silently where I was, looking over the room with tired eyes. I don’t know what I was looking for, but I didn’t find it, and I sighed heavily, pushing my way past the ponies lying by the door until I was outside. Even then, I couldn’t find any peace. The dark night sky seemed to be mocking me, the weight of all those clouds settling on my shoulders, whispering in my ear that none of my struggles had ever cause any difference, that in a few years, everything I had ever done would be forgotten, and any small change I might have caused would be undone.

I started to cry again, an empty, meaningless reaction to a life that had come to nothing in return. I simply felt empty inside, like something had come by and drained me of everything good that I believed in. Looking at the sky, I couldn’t help but wonder why I had thought that our lives held any value at all.

For all my life, I had believed that the Princesses were still looking down on us, still influencing out lives, and I wanted to believe that they still cared about us. But now, looking up at the dark expanse of clouds above me, I realized just how little any of that meant. The Princesses were dead and gone, killed in their castle over two hundred years ago. What was a pair of corpses going to do for a pony like me? Even if their souls had somehow lived on, why would they possibly want to help ponykind after we had fallen so far? The Equestria I had learned about had been a land of trust and friendship for a far longer period of time than anypony had any right to think was possible, and now look at us. Ponies would rape and kill another if they stood to gain the least amount of power or profit from it.

“Evergreen, are you all right?” a soft, concerned voice asked from beside me.

I turned my head to face Yaari, the milky white orbs that stood in for her eyes glowing with reflected light. The zebra mare was actually concerned about me, though I couldn’t possibly imagine why. She had never liked me, and our conversations had proved beyond a doubt that we shared more differences than similarities.

“You were right, Yaari,” I muttered, “about everything. We’re never going to escape this place. It’s over. They won.” I lowered my head again, closing my eyes in an attempt to get some sleep. It would give me a brief respite from this hell.

“You were injured, Evergreen. I know from speaking with you and knowing you that you have suffered pain before. I do not remember thinking that it had ever stopped you before,” she stated, her tone questioning.

“You just don’t get it, Yaari. What point is there in struggling anymore? I’m completely worthless. I can’t even protect myself from a Celestia-damned thug.”

“It was a fight you would have lost either way, Evergreen. In here, yes, we are weak. But that does not mean that we cannot find strength. I know from your tales that you have always been skilled in picking your battles. Even against Esteri and myself, you exercised caution and restraint, when any other pony would have simply attacked.”

“You don’t fucking understand, Yaari!” I snapped, lifting my head and glaring at the small mare, “It wasn’t a fucking choice! I froze! I couldn’t even imagine that fighting was a Luna-damned decision! I was a fucking slave!”

Yaari stared at me for a few moment, her large, white eyes unblinking. “I remember a pony that swore she would die before she stopped fighting,” she stated evenly, taking a step towards me, “I remember a pony that believed anything was possible, as long as they fought hard enough for it. I remember a pony that would follow a damned Princess, only because she believed that Princess wanted peace for her followers. What would that Princess think now?”

“What does it matter? They’re both dead. Have been for centuries,” I growled, lowering my head again.

“What happened to the pony I remember?” Yaari snapped suddenly, stepping forward again until she was nearly on top of me. The sudden anger in her voice made me jump in shock and I shied away from her, instinctively curling up to protect myself, my tail swinging between my legs.

I couldn’t answer. My shock at the zebra mare’s outburst held me pinned in place beneath her angry glare. For several long seconds, silence hung between us like a physical wall. Ever so slowly, Yaari’s posture relaxed.

“You were stronger than this, Evergreen. I saw that evil in you, but you made me see past it, and there I found a strength I have not seen in any other, even Esteri. I saw it that day you saved my life from those raiders, risking your own life to save one that hated you. What happened?” There was genuine concern in her voice, the type of concern I had only ever heard coming from the mouths of my friends, wherever they were. She reached out with a hoof, and any thought of comfort ran from my mind as I pulled back again.

“Don’t touch me!” I exclaimed, trying to put as much distance as I could between us without disturbing the ponies around us.

Yaari froze a look of confusion creeping over her features. As I watched, the confusion changed into understanding. “They did to you what you saved me from…” she muttered, loud enough for me to hear her. “Evergreen, I am sorry, but you must be stronger than this! There are ponies out there that are relying on you, that need you! You promised me freedom, and I did not think you were the sort of pony to break their promises.”

Before I had opened my eyes, those words might have meant something to me, but now, they were only so much noise. “How can another pony rely on me if I can’t even protect myself? I survived a raider gang without them once laying a hoof on me. Now look at me. A simple thug was able to best me, and I let him. Face the truth. It’s over.”

“I don’t believe you,” the zebra announced, “The Evergreen I know wouldn’t give up like this. I saw you kill three raiders without receiving so much as a scratch, and you’re going to let one defeat destroy you? How many times have you lost before, Evergreen?”

“Enough times to know that you can’t recover from some defeats. I’m finished, Yaari, that’s all there is to it. I’m a worthless excuse for a pony, who thought they were clever enough to get away with spiting slavers while under their power. Just leave me alone and get used to living here. Eulogy was right. Escaping is impossible.”

There was another extended silence, then Yaari finally took a step back from me. “Fine. Believe what you want. But I shall not give up fighting. You made me believe we could return to our free lives, and that is what I intend to do. Wallow here in your misery if you think it right, but I will not.”

With that, the zebra turned and left me, disappearing inside. I watched her go, thinking that she would learn. She had the same delusions I did, that our lives mattered for anything in here. One way or another, she would learn.

{This chapter was difficult for me to write, for some obvious reasons. I knew, objectively, that living as a female slave in a post-apocalyptic setting has some unspoken expectations, but it wasn’t something I didn’t necessarily want to write. In the end, the story followed the path of realism rather than my personal desires, and it is what it is. Thank you, as always, to Kkat for the original Fallout: Equestria, and to my editors, MUCKSTER (who helps me a lot even during the writing process), and AdobE. The Gdoc for the story can be found here.)

Chapter 16: Unfamiliar Battlegrounds

Fallout Equestria: Redemption
Author: Cooperdawg
Chapter 16 – Unfamiliar Battlegrounds
“When you get knocked down, the hardest thing to do is to stand back up.”

Regret. That was the one thing that stuck in my mind when I woke the next morning. Regret at how I had misled so many ponies into thinking I was something I wasn’t. Regret at fooling myself into believing that fighting back was something that we were capable of doing. And mostly, regret at making so many believe that we could make a difference in the world.

I had been shown, beyond any doubt, that I was weak. Maybe not in body, otherwise I would have been killed long ago, and maybe not in mind, since I had fought off that creature in my mind for so long without letting it get the best of me. No, where I was truly weak was in spirit. One setback, one loss, and I became a broken shell of who I thought I was. I tried to believe that I was somepony tough, someone others had to be careful with. Now, I was learning how wrong I was.

Power was a relative thing. Out there, in the wasteland, I had held power because of my skill with a gun and the loyalty of my friends. But in here, I was nothing. I had no weapons, and the only ally I had was a blind zebra that still didn’t understand her place in the world. The ones with power were the ones that could easily kill us without any sort of repercussion. After all, slaves died all the time. What was one more?

“All right, maggots, on your hooves!” A slaver ordered from the door, unlocking it and swinging it open.

For a brief moment, I thought about staying where I was, and letting the slavers finally bring the farce that was my life to an end. As the other slaves shuffled out around me, I very nearly followed through with that plan, but something stopped me.

I forced myself to my hooves with a sigh. As bad as things were for me, my one motivation for everything I had done in life was to survive. It wasn’t in me to just give up like that.

I filed outside, slipping into line with the rest of the slaves. Yaari took her usual place beside me, and I could tell by her stance and the set of her jaw that she was angry. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why.

The slavers took stock of us, as they always did, making sure we were all there. It didn’t take long. It never did. As soon as they were finished, I slid into the file of ponies heading for the factory. Nopony had told me that I was doing a different job, so it was my assumption that I was working the smelter again. The lack of slavers yelling at me to go somewhere else only confirmed my belief.

Hemlock was already there by the time I arrived, pulling on his saddle bags in preparation to go collect the first load of scrap to be melted down. He shot me a hate-filled glare, but said nothing as he finished settling the bags on his back, then made his way down the passageway where the scrap pile was.

While he was gone, it was my job to go and collect the extra molds I would need to replace any broken ones. I needed to be quick, because there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he would start without me, then blame anything that went wrong on me. And anything that went wrong here would draw Scythe’s attention.

The day passed quickly with the repetition of the work. It was hard, but it wasn’t dangerous, not like a lot of the other jobs around here. The heat was harsh and uncomfortable, but the adjustments the maintenance mare had made lowered the rate at which the molds broke down, so I only had to replace about one in ten now, as opposed to the one in five I was doing the last time I’d been here. That small difference made it possible for me to avoid the heat for a longer period of time, enough so that by the time Hemlock needed to go collect more scrap, I didn’t even need one of the two healing potions I had.

My forelegs hurt from the heat, and I could feel blisters starting to form, but the pain was nothing compared to some of the injuries I had suffered. I shuddered slightly at the memory of a blunt axe crushing the barding on my back and making the armored scales bite into my flesh.

I shook my head to clear the memory out of my mind. I needed to be focused on the here and now. I had made the choice to survive, and that was exactly what I was going to do. I may be weak, and I may be worthless, but I was still a pony in my own right. That was reason enough to want to survive.

While I had the short break, I collected the broken molds and brought them to where they would be repaired for the next day. When I returned, I was surprised to see a pony wedged inside a panel on the side of the machine.

“What are you doing?” I demanded, galloping over and yanking the pony out. I couldn’t suppress a cry of surprise when the pony turned out to be the maintenance mare that had repaired the machine.

“Hey! A little warning would be nice!” she snapped, glaring at me while she lifted herself from the dirt and brushed herself off, “And to answer your question, I’m here making sure everything is working properly. That, and I needed to give you something, since you obviously haven’t followed my advice and found yourself a vest.” She reached into her saddlebags and pulled out something that looked vaguely like a heavily used pile of rags, then held it out to me.

It turned out to be a threadbare vest with a few outside pockets and one hidden on the inside. The dust and grime of the wasteland had turned it into a dirty brown color, leaving me no way of figuring out what color it had been originally.

I studied it critically for a few moments before shrugging and pulling it on. It wasn’t a perfect fit and hung loosely from my shoulders, but it would serve its purpose.

“Thanks,” I muttered, making my way to the conveyor and setting down the few new molds that I had picked up.

“I didn’t do it for you. I did it so you’d have something to use to carry those potions.”

Her comment made me stop short. She was still willing to help me, even if it was for her own selfish purpose. Even if she didn’t believe I would succeed, she was willing to risk herself in order to help me.

“Tell me honestly: do you think I can succeed?” I asked, looking back at the mare who was watching me with a questioning expression. It was the first time since Sythe had raped me that I had any thought towards still trying to get free.

“It doesn’t really matter what I think, does it? You’re still going to try regardless. If you want my personal opinion, I think you’re going to get yourself killed. Nopony stands up to Eulogy and gets away with it.”

“You’re probably right,” I muttered, falling silent for a few moments. Why had I thought I could succeed? In a place this large and this established, so many ponies had probably attempted to escape in the past, and I fully believed Eulogy when he told me that nopony had succeeded.

“Gah, why the hell did I think I could do this!” I exclaimed, kicking the molds and sending them scattering across the floor. The sudden movement awoke a multitude of aches and pains in my already sore body, but the outburst of emotion felt like it opened a dam somewhere inside me. Rage filled me, and I had the urge to run down the passages of this place until I stood before Scythe again. Except this time, I wouldn’t be the one being beaten down.

But none of that rage could change the truth. Any fight I put up would be hopeless. A pony like Scythe, I could probably beat. At the end of the day, he was just a brute, an enforcer. The real evil was Eulogy himself. So long as he was in charge, every possible attempt I would make at escaping would be met with defeat.

“What are you talking about?” the mare demanded, “You’re the one that insisted you could win. You’re the one that insisted Eulogy could be beaten. Why the sudden change of heart?”

“Because he’s stronger than any of us think! Look at me! Out there, in the wasteland, I was somepony. In here, I’m just another damn slave. I can’t fight, because if I try, a dozen different enforcers will just beat me to within an inch of my life. It’s dangerous to even think for myself.”

“Then you need to find a way to become stronger. Look, I’m not blind, and I’ve seen you with that zebra. It’s obvious the two of you know each other. Whatever it is that’s gotten into you hasn’t affected her, but she doesn’t have half the attitude or ability you do. If you abandon her, she’s going to get herself in trouble. And I’m going to be honest as well: before you walked into my shop asking for help, I thought that my life was over. But you saying that you could best Eulogy made me think that it just might be possible. That’s something no slave inside these walls has truly believed in a long time.”

I snorted in disbelief. “I’ve seen too much cruelty out there to put any stakes into hopes or beliefs. You think the slaves here have it bad? At least you get a meal and something to drink every day. I’ve seen first-hoof what the raiders out there are willing to do to others, and it isn’t something I would wish on my worst enemy.”

“It can’t be much worse than what Scythe did to you,” the mare snapped, “And I don’t care about how sorry you feel for yourself. You’re just another slave that he abused. In that regard, you’re nopony special. But suit yourself. My offer still stands. And Evergreen, keep this in mind: will you be able to live with yourself if something bad happens to that zebra because you felt too sorry for yourself to fight back?”

I watched in shocked silence as the mare turned her back on me and marched down the passageway and out of sight. I wanted to say something in return, something about how I at least survived what Scythe did to me, but I couldn’t make the words come. By the time I had finally worked up the nerve to speak, she was already gone.

I spent the rest of the work day lost in my own thoughts. A lot of what I had come to believe still had a lot of weight, but the maintenance mare’s words were sticking with me. How different was my experience than any other pony I had ever come across? How different was my experience from Sparks, the mare I had saved from some raiders not too long after getting kicked out of my own gang? No matter how much I tried to convince myself otherwise, I had to admit that the mare had a point.

But that didn’t mean I could just shake the thought that I had been deluding myself. I had thought that I was invincible, that since I was fighting for something greater that I was somehow immune to the horrors that the wasteland was simply waiting to visit on us. It was now painfully obvious to me that I had been wrong, and truthfully, the fact had been staring me in the face for so long. After all, wasn’t my capture of Suture so long ago just about the same thing that was happening to me now?

The bell signifying the end of the workday rang suddenly, jarring me out of my reverie and back to the present. Somehow, I had managed to make it through the entire day without incurring any sort of serious injury or the attention of the taskmasters. Maybe my new approach to this was actually working.

Maybe I can use this to free myself. The thought was sudden, yet quiet. Just a few hours ago, it wouldn’t have occurred to me at all. I shook my head, driving it from my thoughts, still convinced that fighting wouldn’t accomplish anything. Survival was the only thing I could care about. All the same, I slid the two healing potions off the table and tucked them into the hidden pockets of my vest when Hemlock’s back was turned. It was surprising how snugly they fit, and as I moved around to test my movement with them on me, I found, to my amazement, that unless I really started jumping around, they wouldn’t move much. Whoever had put this vest together really knew what they were doing.

I felt no hesitation at hiding away both potions. I still had a few blisters on my forelegs, but nothing I needed a healing potion for. Tomorrow would be a different story, but then I would most likely only need one.

I couldn’t explain why I was stowing them away, but I knew it was with the intent to give to the maintenance mare. The only explanation I could give myself was that it was in the interest of protecting myself from the shock collar.

I trotted after Hemlock back to the slave pens, where we were swiftly shepherded back into our cage. The slavers here were nothing if not efficient. As I made my way into the pen, I noticed a new train of slaves being led into the camp. Like every other train of slaves, they appeared downtrodden and defeated. Most were bleeding from several wounds and were already emaciated from the lack of food.

Watching them, I felt a pang of guilt deep in my chest, a reminder of all the slave groups I had stopped before I wound up here myself. Even now, knowing that I was nopony special, I felt like I needed to try to help them somehow, but the thick metal bars and the slavers between me and them told me how hopeless that attempt would be. All I would accomplish would be getting myself killed.

The maintenance mare found me while I was lying in a corner of the pen, nursing my meager meal of centuries-old snack food and the irradiated muck the slavers considered water.

“You look different, like something finally breathed a little more life back into you,” she mused as she pushed her way past some of the other slaves to reach me.

“I’ve been thinking a lot,” I answered, taking a small bite of a snack cake. Eating it slower seemed to make it more filling, “And you had a point. I’m not different from anypony else. Doesn’t change the fact that it’s probably impossible to actually get out of here, though.”

“So you’re going to steal back that hope you gave some of us, then?” she asked me, taking a seat next to me and dropping her own meal in the dust before her.

“What do you mean, some of us?” I demanded, turning my head to glare at her, “Did you tell others what I wanted to do?”

“Of course,” she answered with a shrug, “There are a few ponies here that I’m willing to trust. If you’re smart, you’ll do the same. They made the same arguments I did, but stopped when I told them how serious you seemed. Are you telling me now that you’re taking all of that back?”

“Answer me this: How am I supposed to accomplish anything if every single one of my movements is watched so closely that I don’t have a single moment to myself? They have control over every small part of our lives in here, and I need time and space if I’m ever going to do something!”

“But you do want to?”

“Of course I fucking want to! Do you think I want to be a slave?” I snapped, “But these fuckers have shown me that I am nothing special. One fucking mistake, made in order to save my life, and I was reduced to nothing more than a sniveling coward.”

“Then it seems to me you’ve already made a step in the right direction,” the mare added with a smirk, “This morning, it seemed like you didn’t want to do anything if it put your survival at risk.”

“I still won’t,” I growled, “My life is all I have left. That bastard Eulogy took everything else from me.”

“But you’re willing to say you want more. Seems to me like all you need is to realize that some things are worth dying for.”

“Oh yeah? What’s so worthwhile for you?” I snapped. At this point, I just wanted the mare to go away and leave me alone. This conversation wasn’t accomplishing anything except pissing me off.

“Seeing Eulogy lose. I’d die if some of the other slaves here got to see him taken down a peg. Hell, I’d worship the pony that got the news of his failure out to the rest of the wasteland. When ponies realize someone can be beaten, that’s when they rally to you. If you get out of here, you’ll have that proof.”

She took the last bite of her meal, then stood up and started to walk away, not even looking back at me.

“Wait!” I called after her, standing and reaching out a hoof.

She paused and looked over her shoulder at me. “What? I don’t have a lot of time to spare for ponies that are willing to just lie here and wait for death.”

I quickly looked around, but our little corner of the pen seemed to be more or less ignored. All the same, I shifted my stance somewhat to guard what I was doing from any prying eyes. “Take these,” I whispered, reaching into my vest and pulling out the two potions, “I’ll have another one for you tomorrow.”

She stared at me for a few moments, as if debating whether or not to accept the potions. Her hard glare didn’t let up for a second, peeling away the façade I was so desperately trying to keep up. In the end, practicality won, as nopony would ever be insane enough to turn down a freely offered healing potion, slave or not.

“Don’t let me down,” she snapped, sliding the potions into her own vest before marching away.

Left alone for the night, there was little more I could do except think. About what the maintenance mare had told me, about what I thought of myself, and, most importantly, what I was going to do. The mare had made me realize that being raped was nothing special out here, and while I knew that fact from a logical point of view, I had made the mistake of thinking that I was somepony special, that terrible things would always happen to others, and never to myself.

Unfortunately, all the soul searching in Equestria wasn’t enough to make me feel like I could still win. But on the other hoof, I would never win if I didn’t start to fight. It was certainly a problem unlike any other I had ever faced. For now, at least, my only course was to wait and prepare. I needed eight more healing potions. That was when I have to truly decide what I wanted.
_________________________________ ______________________________

It took me only two weeks to collect the potions I had promised the maintenance mare. As soon as I handed her the last, she told me to let her know when I wanted her to disable my collar entirely. It had been two days since then, and I was no closer to deciding what I wanted.

Some days, I just wanted to break into one of the slaver areas and kill as many as possible before they finally overpowered me, but I knew that was going to be a total waste of energy. Other days, that depression that had settled over me after Scythe had raped me returned in full force, and it was all I could do to drag myself to my hooves in the morning.

I knew what choice I had to make; the struggle was in finally committing myself. I needed to get out of here, but I didn’t have a clue how I was going to do it. I’d spend a few sleepless nights wondering at everything I’d seen. During the days, I paid careful attention to my surroundings: where security was tightest, and where the slavers seemed to relax a bit more. Most of all, I looked for places that would give me an advantage against the slavers. I needed things that would distract them, scare them off, or at the very least confuse them. Without some sort of advantage, I was never going to get out, and worst of all, I was never going to be able to do it alone.

Unfortunately, Yaari was refusing to speak to me. For whatever reason, she was still holding a grudge from when I had told her off shortly after returning from the infirmary so long ago. It frightened me. The maintenance mare’s warning that she would get herself into trouble still echoed in my ears, and I was scared she was going to get herself hurt.

The day started like any other, with me being roused by the loud bells that rang every morning, like clockwork, forcing us to our hooves for another brush with death. The nearly three weeks I had spent within these walls had transformed me. Where I had once been well-built, I was now wiry and emaciated. I found myself becoming short of breath very easily, and I always seemed to have something in the back of my throat that no amount of coughing would dislodge.

As with every other day, we filed out of the pen to be counted before being sent off to our work places. Since my arrival, I had seen a dozen ponies arrive to join us, all to replace others that had died. The newest of these was a young Earth pony buck who hadn’t quite been broken by the journey to the Mill. I gave him a week to survive if he kept his attitude up.

Hemlock and I barely spoke any more. Our communication was usually limited to the occasional grunt in response to a barked order from the other. We spent the day focused on our work, maintaining civility towards each other only because a fight would draw the attention of the slavers; something we both wanted to avoid.

But that was where the day ceased being like any other. As the sky was dimming with the coming night, we heard several loud noises, like the collapse of a wooden frame and the sound of metal clanging against metal, coming from the slavers’ recreational area. These sounds were followed by the quick staccato of gunfire, and then a silence so profound I thought for a moment that all noise had been drained from the world.

“What the hell was that?” Hemlock demanded, turning to glare at me.

“Don’t ask me! I had nothing to do with it!” I snapped back.

“Don’t give me that shit. I’ve seen you and that maintenance mare talking. I’d be willing to bet that you caused that!”

“I’ve been here the whole day! How could I have possibly caused that! Besides, they were shooting at something. It could hardly be me!”

Hemlock fell silent for a few moments before replying. “Either way, something isn’t right here.”

Only a few minutes later, a slaver armed with an assault rifle appeared by our smelter. “To the courtyard, slaves. Eulogy’s orders,” he growled, motioning with the rifle barrel for us to start moving.

We did as ordered, as much as out of our own desire to see what was happening as the order to do so. When we finally reached the courtyard, I felt my heart leap into my throat. Lying in the center of the courtyard, beyond a loose ring of slaves, was the shape of a zebra. It could only be Yaari. Standing beside her was Eulogy, in his usual spotless clothing, this time in the form of a neatly pressed, black pre-war business suit. The tie he was wearing with it was blood-red, something I don’t think was done unconsciously. The only difference in his dress from the last time I had seen him was in the pistol holstered at his side.

As we came closer, I could see that the stones under Yaari were stained red, the result of multiple gunshot wounds to her legs and flanks. Thankfully, none of the injuries appeared to be too serious, and she should recover fully with medical attention.

I forced my way to the front of the circle, only ten feet way from where Yaari was lying. Her chest was still rising and falling as she breathed, which gave me a little comfort in the fact that she was still alive.

Eulogy had a cruel grimace on his face, the kind that made me believe that he wanted somepony to try something, simply so that he’d have the excuse to kill them. It was not the kind of expression that belonged to a sane pony.

Beyond the circle, smoke was still rising from the slaver’s rec area. The bar, and the wooden awning over it, had collapsed. I found myself hoping that a few slavers had been crushed underneath it.

“Now that you all are here, I can finally begin!” Eulogy announced, surveying all of us. “The only reason I called you all here from your tasks is to remind you of a simple fact: you exist at my mercy, and any action taken against me will be met with severe consequences.

This sad excuse of a zebra decided it would be wise to fight me, and she chose to do so by destroying something of mine. It seems that you all have forgotten that disobeying me is an unforgivable crime. I will remind you all of the consequences for defying me.

Faster than I could shout in protest, faster than I could act, faster even than I could think, Eulogy pulled his pistol and leveled it at Yaari’s head.

“This is the price of disobedience.” The echo of the pistol shot ingrained itself into my memory, burying itself so deep into my mind that I knew I would hear it every time I closed my eyes.

There was a lesson I learned many years ago, way back when I first joined the raider gang in the mountains south of Metro. The lesson was simple: Shock is often all you need to force a pony into action. The shock of something hitting a pony in the face is often enough to snap them back to reality, and was something I had used against Suture in Stable 60, when we had been under attack by feral ghouls.

That gunshot felt like a hard slap to my face. Watching Yaari’s body jerk as the bullet passed through her skull, spraying blood, bone, and bits of brain across the stones of the courtyard felt like a kick to the stomach.

This was the exact definition of shock, and by all the deeds ever done by the Princesses above, did it make me want to act. I had felt anger before, and rage was an emotion I was all too familiar with, but never before had I felt the need to physically tear a pony apart with my bare hooves.

Yaari and I had had our differences, but she had supported me and helped me where no other would, and that was a mark of a far greater personality than most ponies these days possessed. To see it snuffed out so casually, as a lesson to others, awakened a rage in me that I never thought I possessed.

But even more importantly, that gunshot changed something. With that one simple act, Eulogy had forced me into the position where fighting for my freedom was no longer a choice. It was now a demand.

Blood slowly flowed over the rough stone of the courtyard towards the circle of slaves. For me, it carried an accusation. It told me that this was the result of my inaction, but it also spurred me into realizing that I needed to snap myself back to the reality of the world. There were still ponies out there that were depending on me. Even if I didn’t want to, I owed it to them, if only to avenge Yaari’s death.

We were all led back to our pen and locked up for the night. I tracked down the maintenance mare, finding her in a corner with a few other ponies that I didn’t know.

“We need to talk. Now,” I demanded.

She looked up at me, shocked. After a few moments, she gave the slightest nod and followed me outside.

“I’m sorry, Evergreen. If I had known-,” she started, but I cut her off.

“I don’t want to hear it. Yaari got herself killed by being stupid. While that doesn’t mean I don’t care, it does mean that I can’t just sit on my ass any more. I need you to disable my collar. I’m leaving, tomorrow.”

“I can’t do it here! All the tools are in my workstation. You’ll have to find a reason to visit me there. But… you have a plan?”

“Not yet,” I admitted, “But I’ll think of something. I always have. Be ready for me tomorrow. I’ll be there as soon as I can find an excuse.”

I left her before she had a chance to respond. As I had said, I had to think of something.

The next morning found me still awake, lying in my small corner of the pen. Surprisingly, I wasn’t tired. My rage was keeping me fueled with energy, and my desire to kill was an incredible source of motivation to stay up, planning.

I had the skeleton of an idea for how to get out. All I needed now was a little bit of help, and I knew just who to ask.

Throughout the morning ritual, I behaved like nothing was out of the ordinary. Even after I reached the smelter with Hemlock, I did nothing to make him think anything had changed.

All the other slaves were noticeably more skittish today, though. Unsurprising, giving what had happened yesterday. As hardened as these slaves were to death, it still had to be a shock to see one of their own gunned down in cold blood before them.

But there was another advantage for me. With all the other slaves being so much more careful, the slavers wouldn’t be expecting any of us to try anything. In a way, Yaari’s death gave me the perfect opportunity to escape.

I waited until midday before I acted. When a damaged mold came through the smelter, I replaced it as I normally would, but instead of placing the damaged one off to the side as I normally would, I wedged it into the tracks of the conveyor belt, throwing it off course and bringing the entire things to a grinding halt.

“The fuck was that!” Hemlock shouted from his vantage point above me.

“No clue, but it looks like the belt was damaged,” I shouted back, “Shut the machine down! I’ll go down to maintenance and get somepony there to come up here to take a look.”

Before he could answer, I pocketed one of my healing potions and started trotting down the pathway towards the maintenance areas.

As I approached, the two guards that were stationed there stepped forward to stop me.

“What the hell are you doing here, slave?” one of them, a buff Earth pony buck armed with a sleek black pistil growled at me.

“Our machinery was damaged. I came down here to find somepony to fix it for us,” I answered quickly.

“Oh? And why should we care if a couple of you get punished for letting the machinery break?” the other asked. She was a unicorn, with a filthy peach hide. Strapped to her simple leather barding was a hunting rifle.

“Well, I was going to use this to pay one of them to fix it, but I suppose I could give it to you to let me in,” I offered, pulling out the healing potion from my vest.

I was gambling on the fact that I knew they had to pay for their potions. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be above taking from me. If they were, I was done for.

“Hmph. Fine, just make it quick,” the Earth pony grunted, swiping the potion from my hooves and returning to his table. The mare glared at me for a few more seconds, but retreated as well.

I hurried past them into the small office the maintenance ponies used. The mare was at her bench, working on some set of electronics whose purpose I couldn’t identify.

She turned her head as I got closer, but showed no sort of reaction on seeing me. “Problem with the smelter again?” she asked me. She glanced over at one of the other ponies in the office: a pale blue unicorn buck who I recognized as being a new slave.

“Yeah. The belt was thrown out of whack,” I answered, picking up on her hint, “We need it up and running as soon as possible.”

Come with me to the stock room then. I’ll need your help to carry the tools I need,” she said, picking up the electronics she was working on and walking past me and down a short hallway to a small storeroom. It was filled with crates and boxes. The few I could see that were open were filled with electrical components, scrap metal, and various kinds of tools and technology. Everything a skilled pony would need to fix anything.

“We only have a couple minutes to do this,” she said quickly once we were alone, “so hold still and try not to take deep breaths.”

I heard the sound of something being attached to my collar, just under my right ear, then a brief electric shock coursed through my body, making me gasp in pain.

“Fuck! What the hell was that?” I snapped, turning my head to glare at the mare.

“Side effect of the device. I need it to mask the signal from your collar if I don’t want it to blow up in my face while I do this. Now turn your damn head and let me work.”

A few moments later, I could feel the collar shifting against my neck, the spikes on its inside scraping painfully against my throat as it moved. After almost a minute of this, I heard a click, and I was free.

The maintenance mare let out a gasp of shock. “By the Princesses,” she breathed.

“What is it?” I demanded, the burst of joy at no longer having that damn thing around my neck stifled.

“Your throat… I’ve never seen anything that bad.”

“It’s just a few cuts. They’ll heal in time. Do what you need to do.”

“Right, give me a minute,” she answered quietly. Two minutes of tense silence followed, with only the occasional sound of metal scraping on metal or a small spark. Finally, she spoke again.

“Okay, it’s all done. It’s nothing more than a piece of metal now.” There was a pregnant pause. “If your deception is going to work, I’m going to need to put it back on.”

For a few moments, I considered telling her to leave it off. After all, if everything went as I hoped it would, I would be free. If I failed, it wouldn’t matter if I had it on or not. I’d be dead either way.

Unfortunately for me, my idea required fooling the slavers into thinking I was still under their control.

“Do it,” I growled, gritting my teeth against the pain I knew was about to come. As ready as I thought I was, the pain of those spikes digging back into my throat was much more intense than I had been prepared for. My vision very nearly blacked out for a few moments, and I found myself gasping for breath.

“You all right?” she asked me, a note of genuine concern in her voice.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I gasped, forcing myself to bring my breathing back under control, “Listen, I need your help with one other thing.”

“What’s that?” The concern had now been replaced with wariness.

“You know that big neon sign over Eulogy’s place?” I asked. When she nodded, I continued, “If you could get to the control center for that stuff and overload it once you’re finished with the smelter, it will give me the distraction I need.”

“You have a plan then?”

“I wouldn’t call it a plan,” I mused with a grin, “but it’s certainly something.”

“You don’t have a plan, and you want to rope me into this?” she accused with a harsh glare.

“I figured that coming up with a plan would simply give them the opportunity to figure out that I was planning something. This way, it’s entirely unexpected. I just need the distraction to keep them from looking to closely,” I answered. I moved my head around a bit, trying to settle the collar back into place, but those brief minutes it had been off had made my entire body adjust to thinking it wasn’t coming back. Now it felt like the first time I had worn it again, except with the added pain of open wounds.

The mare shook her head at me. “You’re insane.”

“So you’re not going to help me?” I asked, a hard edge creeping into my voice.

“I didn’t say that. I said you were insane. In that case, you might just be crazy enough for this to work. But we’ve wasted enough time as it is. If I’m going to fix whatever you did to that smelter, we need to leave now.”

When we stepped out of the maintenance area, my spirits were significantly lifted. My rage was still there, simmering just beneath the surface, but now I was acting. The simple truth that I was doing something made the whole world seem clearer. All those questions that had been swirling around in my head had disappeared, and while I expected some of them to return in time, for now, I could focus, and that meant I could win my freedom.

When we reached the smelter, Hemlock was leaning against it, his eyes closed. Without it running, it wasn’t surprising that he didn’t have anything else to do.

“Wake up!” I snapped, shoving him aside to make space for the maintenance mare.

“What the fuck was that for?!” He was glaring at me from where he had stumbled, his eyes almost glowing with hatred.

“You were in the way, and she needs to get in there to fix this thing,” I retorted, “So just stay over there, out of the way.”

“You could have been a little more gentle,” he grumbled, “It’s hard enough to get decent sleep around here.”

I didn’t bother responding, but turned my attention to the mare, who was already checking the conveyor. “Well? How quickly can you get it running?”

She didn’t answer for a few moments as she inspected the damage. “Well, nothing seems too badly out of place. It shouldn’t take me too long to get it working again. Just give me a few minutes.”

While she worked, the tension in our small work area grew steadily thicker. I simply couldn’t shake the feeling that Hemlock knew something was up. The seconds dragged on into minutes, and with each passing moment, I became more sure of the fact that I would have to make sure that Hemlock wouldn’t tell anypony what I was up to once I was out of his sight.

I tried to occupy myself by pacing around the area, but all that did was draw the perverted male’s attention.

“Nervous about something, Evergreen?” he sneered, his voice taking on the tone he usually reserved for the more timid slave mares.

“I just want this thing to get fixed as quickly as possible. I don’t really relish the thought of us drawing Scythe’s attention,” I lied quickly. In all honesty, it was only a half-lie. I was terrified that our delay would make the slaver notice something.

“Relax. So long as we hit the quota, he won’t have anything to say to any of us.”

“There, all done!” the maintenance mare announced, breaking into our conversation, “So long as you don’t push this thing too hard, it should hold up for quite a while.” She started back for the passage towards the service areas, but not before pausing to give me a knowing look. I was going to have to move quickly.

Once she disappeared, I climbed up the scaffolding after Hemlock. “I’m going to run down to the salvage drop-off for a fresh batch of scrap. It looks like we’re running low.”

“That’s my job, Evergreen. If we’re running low, I’ll take care of it,” he answered shortly.

“You already do so much, Hemlock. I’m offering to help you out here,” I insisted. Both of us were now standing at the top of the scaffold, with the red maw of the smelter just past Hemlock.

“Why the hell would you want to help me?” he demanded, rounding on me, a suspicious glare twisting his features into an ugly caricature of what they should have been, “What the hell are you up to?”

I realized in that moment that nothing I could say was going to convince this buck to let me go. Silence reigned between us for several moments as I weighed my choices, but every trail of thought led to the same place: it was too much of a risk to let him live.

With a sigh, I decided to tell him the truth. “I’m getting out of here, Hemlock. You’re only chance at living right now is to just let me go and hold your tongue. If you try to stop me, I will kill you. I’ve done it before, and I am more than capable of doing it again.”

He stared at me in shocked silence, his jaw silently opening and closing as he struggled to find something to say. “Are you out of your fucking mind?!” he finally shouted, “You’re going to get us both killed! No! I’m not going to let you fucking do this! I’m not going to let you risk my life just cause you’re little friend got herself killed!”

“I already told you, Hemlock. If you try to stop me, you’re dead! So either you let me do what I want, or I kill you right here and now. It’s that fucking simple!” I shouted back, finally letting some small portion of the rage churning inside of me out.

A faintly familiar icy feeling was building in my chest. It had been so long that I had nearly forgotten it, but now that it had returned, I remembered exactly where I knew it from. It reminded me of long, wet days in a small camp to the south of Grovedale, nestled in the mountains, well out of the way of any common trails. It conjured images of cruelty, both needless and justified, as well as acts of pure sadism. It was the exact same thing I had felt every single day for more years than I cared to remember, while ponies died at my command, and cruelties committed by my wish.

So this is what it’s going to take, I thought to myself, with only a small amount of resignation. I need to revert back to what I despised about myself if I want to stand a chance of getting out of here.

I was strangely accepting of the realization. After so long trying to make up for my choices, after these last weeks of trying to make up for all the evils I had committed, I was surprised at how easily I was willing to turn back to those thoughts. I still didn’t want to kill him, not if he gave me a choice otherwise, but in that moment, I knew I wouldn’t shy away from it.

“You really think you can kill me, Evergreen? After how easily Scythe took you apart?” His mouth split in a crooked grin, “You really have a problem with delusions, don’t you?”

He was choosing death.

So be it.

I didn’t say anything in return. Any more words would be a waste. We were both set in our paths. All that was left was to decide which one of us would be able to continue. I launched myself forward, tackling him and crossing my forelegs over his neck in a headlock above the slave collar. I squeezed as hard as I could, managing to cut off his breath before he could let out a scream.

He fought me viciously, kicking at my head and sides, but his advantage of strength was countered by my leverage, skill, and position, and all of his efforts were ultimately futile. Ever so gradually, his protests slowed, and then finally stopped. I held on for another minute, making sure he wasn’t simply faking it.

When I finally let him go, his body slid limply from my grasp. His chest was no longer moving, and his eyes had taken on a glassy, distant stare. I took all of this in with a sense of detachment. His death was simply a necessity, and I would probably do worse before I was finally free.

I pushed his body to the edge of the scaffold until his legs were dangling over the smelter. “You got exactly what you asked for, you fucking asshole,” I growled before shoving him over. The smelter accepted his body with a loud hiss. To my ears, it sounded like it approved of the offer.

Now there was no turning back. Hemlock was dead, my collar was disabled, and in a few minutes, there was going to be a massive electrical overload that was going to draw the attention of most of the Mill. No matter what happened, I was set on this course.

I wasted no time in galloping down the passage I saw him take every time he went to collect fresh scrap. If I was lucky, the salvage team would be on its way to drop off a fresh load of scrap shortly. My plan was to use the distraction of the electrical overload to slip into their ranks and get outside the walls that way. One slaver was no threat to me. Not anymore.

The pathways steadily became more familiar the closer I got to the drop-off. Before I realized it, I was running down a hall that I clearly remembered from my brief work as a salvage collector.

My mind was so set on my course that I didn’t notice the shape of a large, fit pony come into view.

“What the hell are you doing out here, maggot!” The voice hit me like a hammer, making me scramble to a halt mid-stride. An icy dagger of fear threatened to make all of my rage drain away, but the memory of what had happened to Yaari, not to mention myself, kept that flame burning.

Ever so slowly, I turned to face him, the slaver I had feared to face for the last weeks, the one whose presence dominated my nightmares. Scythe.

“We need more scrap for the smelter. Hemlock sent me to collect it,” I answered swiftly adopting the stance and look I knew he expected to see from his slaves.

“Did he? Now why would he do that, when I very clearly assigned him to that job, and not you?” he asked me, taking a few steps towards me.

I instinctively backed away, keeping the moderate distance between us. “Sounds like something you should ask him. I’m just doing as I’m told.”

“No, you aren’t. Hemlock wouldn’t dare cross me. But you… you would, I think. That striped bitch was close to you, I think. You want revenge, don’t you?”

I took another few steps back. Maybe I had underestimated this massive slaver. If he knew that I had been friends with Yaari, he was much more observant than I thought, and that did not bode well. I already knew exactly how strong he was, and while I believed it was possible for me to beat him, it wasn’t something I wanted to put to the test.

Something in the way I moved, or the way I looked, must have tipped him off, because his expression changed from one of concern to one of surprise and anger. “No. You don’t want revenge. You’re trying to escape!”

“This doesn’t fucking concern you, Scythe. Just turn around and go back the way you came,” I growled, instantly doing away with the frightened slave farce, lowering my stance and glaring at him with as much hatred as I could muster.

“You are! Nopony escapes from the Mill! Didn’t you see that! That idiot stripe tried, and all it did was get her killed. Now it looks like I need to do the same to you,” he sneered, his voice taking on a threatening tone while his features stretched into a sadistic smile. He reached down and pulled his whip from his barding, “I think we need to have another lesson in discipline.”

“Just fucking try it. You don’t stand a chance against me, Scythe. Not anymore.”

He laughed. It was a sound completely devoid of any sort of humor or joy. It was the kind of sound that came from a psychopath after he cornered his most recent victim. “You haven’t got a clue what I’m capable of, maggot. You didn’t even see half of what I can do the last time we had this discussion.”

“That goes for both of us,” I growled, then darted forward.

He lashed out with the whip, I jumped to the side at the last second, letting it snap against the ground. Still, it had come far too close than I would have liked. The long weeks of malnourishment were really taking their roll on my body, making it more difficult to do something as simple as dodging. Instead of charging straight at him, which he obviously expected, I started circling around him. We would last out with the whip every few seconds, and every time I barely managed to get out of the way.

Fatigue quickly started to set in and I could feel my legs getting tired. In a fight of endurance, I didn’t stand a chance. He was healthy, while I hadn’t eaten a full meal in weeks. I continued to dart around him, staying just a few inches ahead of the whip. That’s when I saw it. On the other side of his barding, nestled against a foreleg, was a knife. If I could get close enough, and could get my mouth around its hilt, I would have a weapon.

His advantage was his strength. Mine was my speed, but the combination of fatigue and his whip were enough to almost take away whatever slim advantage that speed had. But I still had my rage. All it would take was a risk.

Scythe was becoming increasingly frustrated, the whip lashes coming at faster and faster intervals. His anger was making him predictable, and I was able to read his movements and avoid the attacks before he had even swung. I waited a few more seconds, taking a few steps towards him before jumping back again, trying to make him angrier, trying to make him slip up.

And then he did. In a fit of rage, he over-reached, sending the whip wide off to my left. I took the opportunity and charged, lowering my head and ramming into him with my shoulder before he could recover. He stumbled back, not losing his footing, but at this range, the whip was useless.

I struck again, hitting him in the head with a forehoof. His head snapped to the side with the blow, moving the whip away from me, and briefly exposing his left side, where the knife was. I stepped to the side and attacked again, rearing up and driving both hooves into where his shoulder connected to his neck, but he was ready for this one. He moved with the attack, giving himself just enough space to bring the whip back into play.

With a swing of his head, the whip lashed towards me. I twisted, shouting in pain as the barbs ripped through the back of my vest as if it wasn’t even there and cut into the flesh on my back. It was painful, but it didn’t take me out of the fight.

Before he could pull the whip back, I turned towards him, wrenching the whip to the side and forcing his head to twist. He tried to pull back, but I lashed out with a hoof, not at him, but at the whip still trailing over me. I quickly wrapped it once around my hoof and pulled. As I had hoped, he wasn’t able to keep his grip on it and the whip was torn from his mouth,

I took a step forward and hit him with my whip-wrapped hoof, drawing blood along his face and neck where I hit. His cry of pain made the agony in my back and on my hoof worth it.

My only hope was to keep attacking, not giving the bastard a chance to recover and strike back. I had a weapon now. Despite the pain, it would have to be enough.

I landed blow after blow on Scythe’s head and neck, drawing fresh blood with every single attack, but somehow, he remained standing. When I swung again, one of his hooves came up, stopping me short, and he turned his head to look at me. The sadistic smile had returned.

“My turn.” His head came down, slamming against mine, sending me stumbling back as stars exploded in my vision.

I tried to ready myself for another blow to the head, but instead, I felt my legs get swept out from under me. I landed hard enough to knock the wind from my lungs, and before I could recover, a kick struck me in the gut, making me retch. Another kick landed, but I wrapped myself around this one, holding on to Scythe’s leg so he couldn’t pull back again, and rolled into him.

At first, his leg resisted the movement, but then something gave, and with a pained scream Scythe collapsed on top of me. I released his leg and pushed myself up, forcing him up and off of me.

He stayed down behind me as I scrambled to my hooves, wheezing as I tried to recover my breath. When I turned to face him, he was struggling to stand, but I had dislocated his left shoulder. Not a crippling injury, but severe enough that it gave me a distinct advantage.

Before he had a chance to recover, I charged him again, landing a kick to his injured leg that sent him reeling, then another to his head. Finally finding my chance, I darted in for the knife, using my body to keep him from grabbing me. Scythe made a half-hearted attempt to stop me, but I had managed to position myself so he couldn’t get a solid blow.

The knife slid easily from its sheath, and I backed away, holding it in front of me. Scythe was glaring at me, murder in his eyes. I stood my ground, waiting. He finally managed to drag himself to his hooves, his broken leg held up off the ground.

“I’m going to gut you, maggot,” he spat at me, spraying spittle mixed with blood from a broken tooth everywhere.

“Not this time Scythe. This time, I win.” I strode forward, not in a charge, but in a casual approach. I had beaten him, and I knew it. There was no way he’d be able to beat me now, not with a broken leg.

“Do you really think you’re going to get away with this? You’re not the first one to try and escape! Eulogy has stopped them all, and he will stop you!”

“Too bad he doesn’t know what I’m trying,” I answered as I circled around to his injured side. My opening was right… there!

I darted in, striking Scythe in the side with the knife, ripping open a large cut in his side. He howled in pain and fell, blood flowing freely from the wound.

“And this… this is revenge,” I growled. I kicked him in the head, enough to daze him and let me attack without threat of him fighting back. Then I buried the knife up to the hilt in his throat and twisted. Blood started gushing from the terrible wound, and his protests were cut off as he started to drown in his own gore. For the first time, I saw his eyes fill with something other than rage. For the first time, I saw one of these damned slavers show fear.

I turned around and left him. Bastards like him didn’t deserve mercy, and I would certainly not be the one to show it, not anymore. The knife I left wedged in his throat would preserve his suffering for as long as possible, a thought I drew no small amount of pleasure from. I had learned something in these last few days. I learned that being cruel and malicious was no way to live, but neither was trying to live every day without hurting somepony. The only real way to survive was to be hard, but forgiving. I would still sacrifice myself for my friends, but anypony that got in my way would soon learn that I was not about to show mercy, simply because I didn’t want to hurt them. Death was a simple fact, and everypony had the opportunity to avoid it in a fight. If they chose to attack me, then I would be more than happy to fight back.

I had to move quickly. With all the noise our fight had caused, somepony had surely heard. If I could make it to the scrap area quickly, and the maintenance mare came through with the distraction, I might still be able to get away before somepony came looking.

To my good fortune, there were a lot of ponies milling around the scrap heap when I arrived. It looked like a group of slaves had just returned from the crater and were depositing their loads into the pile.

As I approached them, a sound unlike any other I had ever heard tore through the Mill. It started off like a low whine, just at the edge of hearing, but became steadily louder until something popped loudly, followed by the sound of glass shattering. The sound could only mean one thing: maintenance mare had come through for me and overloaded the electrical system to Eulogy’s sign.

The slaves dropping off their scrap were looking around in surprise, trying to find the source of the noise, but soon turned their attention back to the job at hand. Delaying too long was an excuse to get whipped, but they had delayed long enough to allow me to slip into their ranks unnoticed.

I followed them through the corridors and out into the main courtyard. Slavers were gathering by the gate into the slaver’s area, watching Eulogy’s building with expressions of shock. The bright neon sign had practically exploded and was now burning multicolored flames. In the confusion, nopony noticed that the slaves filing through the gates had an extra member.

We arrived at the shack at the edge of the crater, where the same dirty slaver that had been in charge of the group on my first day as a slave was waiting.

“Took you maggots long enough! Get in there and get back to work!” he shouted.

I started by walking along with the other slaves, but stepped out of line as we passed the slaver.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing slave? Wait a minute… You’re not supposed to be here!”

“Nope,” I agreed with a smile, then lunged at him. He tried to pull a pistol from his barding, but he was too slow. I collided with him and wrapped my hooves around his neck, twisting to get his mouth away from the weapon, then swept his legs out from under him.

We landed heavily on the ground, with me on top. I used my Pipbuck as a weapon, bringing it down on his head, again and again, until I felt something give. When I finally stopped, he lay motionless, his skull smashed in, and his features almost unrecognizable.

I pushed myself to my hooves before I started going through his barding. The pistol was a simple 9mm, a weak weapon against any serious enemy, but good enough for my purposes. It felt good to have a weapon again.

When I finally turned my attention back to the others, they were all staring at me in shock, jaws open wide.

“What did you just do?” one of them, a young unicorn mare, asked, “We’re going to get in so much trouble.”

“I just secured my freedom,” I answered. The rest of you need to lie low and out of sight. Help is coming, I promise.”

With that, I turned and ran, out into the Wasteland. It was the first time in months I was able to truly stretch myself out, and while my legs hurt from the exertion, I was very nearly smiling. My plan had worked. I was free.

A gunshot rang throughout the wasteland, but there was nothing to show where it had come from, or where it was aimed. There was no doubt in my mind that I was the target. My escape been too easy, and I knew it. Now the pursuit was on. It was me against Celestia knew how many slavers. They had every advantage, but I had my determination to survive.

By now, they had probably figured out that my collar was disabled, but I had enough of a head start that they shouldn’t be able to easily catch me. They were simply taking potshots, hoping to get lucky. I just needed a little more time, and I could lose myself in the hills outside of the mill. If I was lucky, I’d be able to make my way into the mountains, and from there, I could make my way back to Grovedale, and then Metro.

I put on another burst of speed. Every atom of my body was screaming at me to stop, and my lungs were burning as I wheezed for breath, but I did not let my pace slow. I needed every small advantage I could get, and that meant maintaining as much of my lead as possible.

Every so often, I’d see a red bar appear in my E.F.S., but it would just as soon disappear. Whether or not they were ponies, mole rats, or something else entirely never crossed my mind. I simply kept running.

A fresh flurry of gunshots peppered the ground around me as I finally rounded the turn in the trail that took me behind a hillside, and so broke the slavers line of sight. I finally allowed my pace to slow, but only enough for me to be able to see where I was placing my hooves. A misstep here could easily result in a twisted ankle, and then I could kiss my hopes for escape goodbye.

A few minutes later, I was finally in the hill country itself, where the rolling plain gave way to rocky crags and desolate hillsides. I left the trail at the first opportunity, trusting in the map on my Pipbuck to get me where I wanted to go, and set off deeper into the hills. After a time, I started to hear shouts, but they were faint and indistinct. In all truth, they were probably echoes from the slavers that had finally entered the hills after me.

With each passing minute, I felt more secure. I was still in grave danger, but I had put some distance between myself and them, and none of them had a Pipbuck they could use to track me. All the same, I started taking extra careful steps. Instead of taking what looked like the easiest path, I chose the hardest. It was easily one of the most difficult days of travel I’d ever suffered, but it was unlikely that the slavers had any clue which direction I had taken.

Somehow, I kept myself moving for the entire day. I had managed to make it through the hill country and up into the lower peaks of the mountain range. It was probably the farthest any escaping slave had ever made it.

It wasn’t until the sky was beginning to darken with the setting sun that I started looking for somewhere to rest. I finally settled on a small crevice in a mountainside that would shield me from sight from almost any direction, while also providing a little protection from the weather.

Thankfully, the rain had picked up from a steady drizzle to a deluge, dampening any sounds and making it difficult to see any distance, not to mention the fact that it would erase any trace of my passing. With luck, the slavers wouldn’t be able to find me.

I made myself as comfortable as possible as I settled down to wait out the night. My expectation was to remain alert all night, listening for any sound, but the run had taken more out of me than I thought, and I was soon drifting off to sleep.

The sound of shifting rock woke me some time later. I was instantly awake, ears perked for any other sound. What I heard might have been hoofsteps just outside my crevice, but I couldn’t be sure. It wasn’t until I heard a familiar voice that I realized how much danger I was in.

“Where the fuck could she have gone? Eulogy is going to throw a fit if we don’t find her,” the pony was muttering. I hadn’t heard Volt’s voice in a while, but it wasn’t a voice I forgot easily, especially after what she had forced me to do. I still remembered that buck she had murdered on the day I had first arrived at the Mill, after offering him a chance at salvation if I tried to save his life.

Ever so carefully, I shifted myself around and crawled as silently as possible out of the crevice. I followed the sound of the voice and finally caught sight of the still-green bar on my E.F.S.

“She can’t have gone too far. For fuck’s sake, she’s a Princesses-damned slave! How the hell did she even manage to kill Scythe?”

I approached carefully, keeping an eye on my E.F.S., but it looked like Volt was the only pony out here. As I neared the ridge that separated us, I pulled out my pistol. It was old, rusty, and in terrible condition, but it would do the job I needed.

“Pipbuck broken?” I called out, stepping over the ridge and trotting towards her, pistol held ready, “Any idiot with one would have been able to find me with their E.F.S.”

She turned on the spot to face me, her expression shifting to one of shock. “Big mistake, bitch. You’re dead now.” She lifted her Pipbuck and hit a button on it.

Her expression slowly changed to one of confusion when I didn’t react. “That’s not going to work this time, Volt. This time, I’m the one in control. You don’t have any fancy remotes or electronics to knock me out anymore. And for the record, I do not intend to get captured again.”

“Good, because our orders are to kill!” the slaver snapped as she levitated out her weapon, a wicked looking black pistol.

I slipped into S.A.T.S., relishing the chance to finally use the system again, and took my time analyzing the situation. My Pipbuck was telling me that her weapon was an upgraded .45 repeating pistol, a nasty enough weapon on its own. It was certainly not something I wanted to get hit by, but it would also serve as a valuable replacement to the shitty 9mm I had.

More importantly, the system confirmed that Volt was alone, which meant that killing her would gain me an even more significant lead, not to mention my own revenge. I lined up my first shot to hit her in her left foreleg, the one with the holster for her pistol. The second shot I aimed at her other leg. After another few moments of double-checking my accuracy, I activated the systems.

The 9mm fired, and I very nearly got a high from the familiar feeling of recoil against my jaw. Both shots flew true, knocking the slaver down with a cry of pain. Her pistol went flying to clatter a few dozen yards down the mountainside. I’d collect it once I was done with Volt.

“All of you slavers are weak,” I growled, advancing on the bleeding mare. As with Scythe, her face was completely devoid of any sign of anger or superiority. All that was left was fear. “You think you have power over us, but the second one of us stands up, you go running in terror. Scythe thought he held me under his control, but look how far that got him. Do you want to know the best part though? He was easy to kill.”

Volt was now trying to back away from me, scrabbling against the ground with her hindlegs, dragging the useless forelimbs after her. I fired another round, hitting her in her left hindleg, eliciting another shriek of pain.

“You’re fucking insane! I thought you were supposed to be some sort of Heroine out here! Since when do heroes fucking torture ponies!” she screamed, but it was a scream of pain.

“I never gave myself that title. That was Shooting Star. Truth is: I’m just a pony willing to do whatever’s necessary to get the life I want. Unfortunately for ponies like you, that includes getting rid of all the self-important fucks that think it’s okay to go around destroying the lives of others. As for me torturing you, I’m only doing it to give you a taste of what you’ve been doing to others for so many years.”

“Look, Evergreen, I can be reasonable! I’ll go back to Eulogy and tell him we lost the trail! He won’t be happy, but you’ll be able to get away!”

Just like every other useless sack of shit: she turned to begging when she knew I intended to kill her.

“No, Volt, you aren’t reasonable. You’re a sick, twisted mare that enjoys watching other ponies writhe in pain. Besides, killing you gives me a greater lead on your friends anyway.”

“Come on, you don’t mean that! How does killing me possibly help you!”

“It helps me by letting me possibly forgive myself for letting you kill that buck. If I kill you, how many ponies’ lives will be avenged? It’s the least I can do for them!”

Her eyes widened in sheer terror and she redoubled her efforts to try to get away from me. I strode forward again and stepped down hard on her one uninjured leg.

She tried to pull out from under me, but the bullet wounds had sapped her of her strength. Throughout the entire struggle, she didn’t once turn her head from me, a fact for which I was happy. I wanted her to see a slave kill her. I lifted the pistol and settled the barrel against her forehead, right at the base of her horn.

“This is for all of them,” I whispered, then pulled the trigger.

Blood sprayed my face as Volt went limp beneath me. I spat the 9mm out and started stripping her body.

Her saddlebags were filled with various junk that I dumped beside her body. Most of it was food and water, with a few random pieces of less useful scrap. Her ammunition I found stored in a series of straps in her vest along her right foreleg. In the end, I filled the saddlebags with all of her ammunition, food, water, and the few medical supplies she had, except for a single dose of Med-X that I injected to ease my sore muscles.

With the drug coursing through my veins granting me a second wind, I descended the mountainside in search of Volt’s weapon, which I finally found nestled amongst a pile of rocks. It had survived the fall with only a few scratches marring the finish. I took a few minutes to check the slide and ammo feed, but found nothing out of the ordinary. Overall, it was an impressive weapon. It would serve until I got back to civilization where I could restock my personal armory.

I slid the weapon into the holster I had lifted off Volt, then set off into the mountains. A quick study of my map revealed that I was only a couple of days travel outside of Grovedale. Sure, Just Law had banned me from the town, but I hoped that even he would make an exception for a pony escaping from slavery. If nothing else, at least I would be familiar with the land.

The going was rough, especially since I still hadn’t fully recovered from my flight just a few hours before. My one advantage was that it seemed like the slavers had spread themselves out thinly, which meant they had no clue where I was, or in what direction I was going. Throughout the entire day, I didn’t spot a single shred of evidence that I was still being followed, but I was not going to believe I was safe until I was reunited with my friends.

The only close call came when I was finally nearing a familiar part of the mountains, near where my old raider camp had been. A red bar appeared on my E.F.S., so I hid myself in a small cluster of boulders, keeping the rock between me and the bar. There was nothing to tell me if it belonged to a pony, manticore, or something even angrier, but the simple fact that it was hostile was enough of a reason for me to stay as far from it as possible.

After twenty minutes of tense silence, the bar disappeared. I spent the next hour keeping as low a profile as possible while I traveled. The E.F.S. was an impressive and useful piece of technology, but a pony’s ears could reach farther than it could. If that bar had belonged to something else with even better hearing, I most definitely did not want to draw its attention.

I had vowed never to return to that raider camp. It held so many terrible memories of times when I had despised everything about life, memories that were ingrained in the very bedrock of the mountains, but I had never considered at the time that I would be escaping slavery along this route. The sad truth was that it was the best shelter for miles in any direction.

The outer gate was still stuck open when I arrived a few hours later. That meant one of two things. Either the place had remained abandoned for the last weeks, or whoever was living here now hadn’t been able to get the motor working again. My E.F.S. was blank, but I never relied exclusively on technology.

It took me nearly an hour to explore the camp in its entirety, and the only evidence I found that anypony had been here were a few empty Dash canisters scattered on the floor in Heart Attack’s old shack. At least a small group of junkies was better than an entire band of raiders.

Finally convinced that the camp was empty, I settled down in my old RV. Even after all this time, I was surprised at how comfortable I felt lying down on those old, familiar pallets. After the last two days of running, sleep claimed me within minutes of lying down.

I woke early the next morning. A survey of the camp revealed nothing threatening. It was starting to look like I had actually slipped the net and was going to make it out, but that didn’t mean I was going to let down my guard. Grovedale was only a few hours away from the camp, but the last stretch was through completely open territory.

The day started out easily, without anything in sight that was even the slightest bit threatening. By the time I was in the lower foothills, I was traveling in the open, not even trying to hide myself. And that was where I made my mistake.

A gunshot tore through the wasteland. I jumped in surprise, twisting around, searching for the source of the noise. I spotted it in the distance behind me. Standing atop a hill was a shape that looked vaguely pony-like. While I watched, I saw a flash from the silhouette, followed by another gunshot. The bullet hit the ground thirty yards short of me, but that left no doubt in my mind that I was the target.

I turned on the spot and started sprinting. I was such a fucking idiot! Grovedale was still a good distance away, and now the slavers were on my trail again. I needed a fucking miracle if I was going to get out of this mess alive.

Fear is a hell of a motivator. I don’t think there has ever been a time in my life when I have run faster. All I could consciously think was that to slow down would mean to die, and that was not something I was going to let happen. Every so often, I would throw a glance over my shoulder, and every time I did, the number of slavers seemed to increase, and the distance between us shrunk a little.

Time telescoped, and as the minutes passes by in seconds, I finally spied the walls of Grovedale emerge ahead of me.

“Help me! They’re trying to kill me!” I shouted, as loud as I possibly could.

I could see movement on top of the walls as somepony responded to my shouts. As I drew closer, I recognized the guard-mare that had nearly shot me when I dragged Suture here to save her life.

The mare lifted her rifle. All I could to was to continue running, and pray to anything that would listen that she chose to shoot the slavers.

There was a flash from the wall, and the sound of the rifleshot echoed loudly in my ears. Only the fact that I heard the sound at all told me that I wasn’t the target. As I neared the gate, I slowed my pace and turned to face the slavers, drawing my pistol as I did.

Multiple ponies on the wall had now opened fire, and slavers were falling quickly as they scrambled to a halt. A few of them to potshots at me, but the bullets flew wide. After a few seconds, they had given up on any attempt to chase me down and were fleeing in the other direction, back towards the mountains.

The silence that fell over the wasteland was deafening. I didn’t know what to do, or where to look. Finally, after so long, I was free, and I was safe. I sat down heavily, simply staring out after the fleeing slavers. The bodies of their fellows lay where they had fallen, their blood mixing with the mud churned up in the rain. The sight seemed surreal and left me speechless.

“What the fuck was all o’ that! And who the hell led ‘em here!” Just Law’s voice shouted from the wall above me.

“Slavers,” I answered after several moments, finally finding my breath again, “And they were after me.”

“Stay right there! Ah’m coming down,” he announced. From his tone, I could tell he didn’t recognize. In all honesty, I probably wouldn’t recognize my own reflection either.

The gate opened and Just Law sauntered out, flanked by a pair of guards. “Who in the hell are you? Ah don’t appreciate ponies leading armed slavers to mah gates!” he demanded, coming to a stop only a few steps away from me.

I forced myself to my hooves and turned to face him. “I know I’ve been through hell, Just Law, but I didn’t think I looked that bad,” I said with a tired grin.

He glared at me for a few seconds, then his angry expression slowly changed into one of shock. “By Luna’s shining ass, is that you, Evergreen? What the fuck happened to you? How’d you end up here? Ah thought you were staying around Metro?”

“To answer the first two questions: yes, it’s me. And they happened to me,” I tossed my head in the direction of the dead slavers. “I fucked up a few weeks ago up in Seaddle and trusted someone I shouldn’t have. Bastard betrayed me to slavers, and I’ve spent the last month biding my time to escape. Finally got my chance a couple days ago. I’ve been on the run ever since.”

“Ah think ah need a little more detail than that, Evergreen. If you remember, ah told you ah don’t really want you back here.”

I sighed heavily and lowered my gaze to the ground. As I did, I was reminded of the collar around my neck. I looked up again, and fixed my gaze on Just Law. “Would I be wearing one of these if I was lying to you, Just Law?” I lifted my head slightly to give him a look at the blood I knew was flowing from the collar. “Look, you can put me under house arrest again for all I care. All I want right now is to be able to lie down somewhere that I know is safe and to be able to eat a meal and actually feel satiated again. It feels like it’s been years since I last ate. In return, I’ll tell you everything. I just need to rest, then I’ll be on my way up to Metro. If my friends listened to me, they’ll be there.”

Just Law watched me for a few seconds, and I could tell from his expression that he was horrified by the state of my neck. After several minutes of silence, his expression finally softened. “Ah’ll not let it be said that Grovedale don’t look out for ponies in need. You’re a pony that managed to escape from the Mill, a feat that has never been achieved before. The least ah can do is patch you up. Come inside, I’ll get a tech to get that collar off you, and our doctor will patch you up. I’ll hold on to your weapon, but you’re welcome to stay at the infirmary until you’re well enough to move on.”

I smiled at the grizzled buck, the first genuine smile I had given in weeks. It felt good to feel safe again. I followed him inside the town, all the way to the infirmary. He left me there while he went in search of one of the town’s technically savvy ponies. The doctor patched up most of my other wounds while he was gone, though there was still a lot of work to be done by the time he returned.

The tech cautiously approached me, eyeing the collar nervously. “Are you sure this thing is disabled?” he asked me.

“Absolutely. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have a head,” I answered dryly, “The locking mechanism should be fairly easy to undo as well. A friend in the Mill opened it up for me so she could disable everything. Now if you don’t mind, I would really like to be rid of this thing.”

The tech glared at me briefly, but proceeded to work on the collar. Only a few seconds later, it popped off, and I took a full breath of free air. Everypony else in the room took in a gasping breath.

“How the hell are you even conscious?” the doctor demanded, instantly stepping forward and starting to treat the wounds on my neck, “This is far more than simple puncture wounds! Are these electrical burns?”

“Yes, they are. That collar had a shocking mechanism in it for the slavers to control me. Thing fucking hurt.”

Just Law shook his head. “Ah can’t believe they did this to ya, Evergreen. Look, just get better, all right. We’ll talk once you recover. I insist that you take a couple days here to rest. Doc, make sure she gets everything she needs, food and clean water included.”

“Will do, Law,” the doctor answered with a curt nod, “Now you just settle down and let me work. This is going to take a while.

True to the doctor’s claims, it took nearly an hour and a half for every one of my injuries to be properly bound and treated, but by the end of it, I actually felt like a real pony again. Once she was finished, the doctor left without a word, but returned a few minutes later with a plate of real food and a bottle of clear water.

“Eat up, but take it slow. Don’t want to shock your system. I’ll check in on you when you’re finished.” She disappeared outside again after setting the tray down in front of me.

It was, without a doubt, the greatest meal I had ever eaten. I had to exercise a lot of restraint to keep myself from eating it all in a few bites, but the simple meal made me feel better than all of the medical treatment combined.

While I ate, I decided that it was finally a good time to tune into Shooting Star’s radio station again. It took me only a few seconds to dial in the radio station, and the music was a soothing supplement to my meal.

The show came on a short time later, and I couldn’t have been happier with what I heard.

“Helloooo, Seaddle! This is your resident, and might I add, one-and-only, star DJ, Shooting Star! For once in these last harrowing weeks, I finally have good news. I got good word that the Mill, that miserable center for slavery nestled near the western coast, has been buzzing like a radroach hive all day. Word is, somepony has made an escape. I am already doing everything I can to figure out who managed to finally slip through that net of villainy, and when I find them, I promise you all, everything will be done to protect them so they can spread word of what happens in that wretched place! That’s all I have for you tonight, so stay safe out there!”

That damned blue Pegasus would be beside himself when he figured out it was me that managed to get out.

Level Up!
Perk Gained – Survival Instincts – Your survival of a terrible ordeal has left you with better instincts of avoiding danger, as well as a permanent increase to pain tolerance.
Skill Note – Unarmed: 50

{Here it is, after a six month hiatus. I apologize deeply for the massive delay, but life had other things in mind for me for the early part of this year. The good news is I finally found the spark and motivation for writing again, and am finally working consistently again! Thanks go to MUCKSTER for sticking with me through my delays and understanding that I had more important shit going on in my life for a while! Hopefully, you can all forgive me for the delay and rejoin Evergreen and her adventures (or attempts to survive). Cheers!}

Chapter One: New Beginnings

Fallout Equestria: Redemption

Chapter One: New Beginnings
“Can you ever forgive me?”

War. Some say it never changes, and, for the most part, they would be right. The act of war has remained the same for over two centuries, ever since the bombs fell that wiped out all of civilization as we once knew it. Some few lucky souls escaped into the Stables, and survived below the surface as the apocalypse scoured it clean, but most were left to the horrors it left in its wake as it destroyed everything we had ever created. No, war never changes, but it isn’t the endurance of war that is its most horrifying aspect. What is far more terrifying is the way it changes those it touches, how it siphons off everything that once made them great, and leaves nothing but a husk capable of nothing but killing and death.

I sighed and dropped my pencil next to the ragged notebook that I kept my journal in. I couldn’t say what had prompted me to write those words, but it seemed right. I turned my gaze to the old, blasted-out window of the RV which held both my office and my bed and surveyed the small encampment that had been my home for the last three years.

It was little more than a pile of pre-war vehicles stacked on top of and around each other to form simple structures and a basic barricade. Most of its inhabitants didn’t have an enclosed room to live in, just a simple overhang protected on three sides and with a roof. The only actual high-tech part of the camp was a pre-war gate that one of the gang had managed to jury-rig to the surrounding wreckage.

As I watched, the gate to the wasteland slowly slid to the side and three ponies walked through the opening, two bucks and a mare, all with saddlebags absolutely brimming with loot.

Finally, I thought to myself, the search party has finally returned.

I pushed myself to my hooves and stepped out of my home. “Took you three damn long enough!” I shouted as I descended the ramp to meet them in the courtyard. The leader of the group, a ragged yellow earth pony buck with an orange mane and crossed rifles for a cutie mark, stepped forward.

“Sorry, boss,” he drawled, “Took us a while to find anything worth grabbing. Finally happened on a caravan with only one guard. We made short work of them and stripped it bare; left the corpses for the radhogs.”

I snorted in annoyance. “Don’t care. You know the rules: one day out, no more. Any longer than that and I have to consider your either dead or compromised. It’s been twenty-six hours since I sent you out.”

The buck flinched back from the unspoken threat, but managed to stand his ground, anger flashing in his eyes. He shook off his saddle bags and dropped them at my hooves. “But look at all the great loot we found!” he protested, shaking a hoof at the bags, “Spark batteries, ammo, some barding that’s actually in good condition, and this!” He revealed a crystal that was roughly the size of one of my hooves.

I had seen a lot of crystals in my time. Some few hardy ponies still worked some of the old crystal mines, either voluntarily or, shall we say, compelled to at another’s wish, trying to remove what few gems were left in the ground to buy themselves some more time at life, no matter how bad it was, but this crystal was different. It seemed to glow with some inner magical light that flitted around as I watched. I carefully took it in one of my hooves and held it up to my eyes for a closer inspection, but all I got was a better look at the mysterious glow inside. It was shapeless and didn’t fill the crystal entirely. Instead, it seemed to flow from place to place, much as water would inside a canteen, but it didn’t follow the normal laws of physics, often flowing against the pull of gravity, or swirling in patterns that directly contradicted the way I moved it. Pretty as it was, it seemed useless, and, even worse, worthless.

Once again, I snorted in annoyance and dropped the crystal on the ground. I shifted my gaze back to the buck in front of me. “Pretty, but it doesn’t help us. Sorry, Crackshot, none of this is anything special, and you broke the rules to get it. I need to keep discipline. We don’t want anyone here getting any ideas, you know.” I reached down to the holster on my right forehoof and pulled out my .45 caliber pistol. I gripped it tightly in my mouth as I took aim, watching the fear spread across the yellow buck’s face. Just as I was sure he was about to wet himself, I pulled the trigger, sending a bullet straight through his leg.

He collapsed, screaming and clutching at his shattered knee as I spat the pistol back into its holster. “Doc, clean and dress the wound; he’s learned his lesson. Crosswire, go through the bags and organize the loot. Start using what you can and store the rest in the safe boxes,” I ordered as I lifted the crystal and deposited it in one of the pockets on my barding. I wanted a closer look at it, in private, where others wouldn’t be bothering me and I could be alone with my thoughts.

“Sure thing, Ever,” the gray unicorn buck with a screwdriver and wrench for a cutie mark answered. He started shouting orders at the others in the gang to start going through the loot as I returned to my RV.

Ever. That was the name the raiders I led knew me by, but they had no idea what it meant. To them, it was just a word that I answered to. Some tried to take guesses at what the second half of my name was. After all, no pony had name that vague, and even though they weren’t even close to being intelligent, they weren’t stupid either. I had heard guesses covering everything from the ridiculous Everdead to the marginally cleverer Everthere, since I seemed to always know what was going on inside my gang. The only reason none of them had figured the truth out, and killed me as a result, was because I was careful to always dress in a fashion that covered my cutie mark. None of them would understand what it was, and even less would approve of it.

Raiders are a dangerous bunch, especially if you’re the one in charge. To the average wasteland pony, the best you can hope for from a band of raiders is a quick death. Raiders in a gang had to be careful, though. One slip, one moment of weakness, and the others would tear you apart. But a leader’s position was even more precarious; you had to be hard, much harder than anypony else in the gang, and you couldn’t show mercy or compassion. That kind of behavior would get you killed just as though you were a wastelander, but the death would not be quick, especially if the leader happened to be a mare, like myself.

I slid the slab of sheet metal that served as my door closed and set the crystal down on my desk as I removed my barding and the utility suit beneath it, revealing, for the first time in days, my dirty brown hide. It was pockmarked with numerous scars, both of the bullet and knife variety. My life had not been easy.

I stepped towards the corner of the RV where I kept a washbasin and a bit of dirty water to clean off the worst of the wasteland that stuck to me. As I washed, I couldn’t pull my mind from the words I had written earlier. There was a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that kept telling me that they were much truer than I cared to admit.

Almost none of the raiders in my gang knew I could read, much less write, and seeing as most of them couldn’t, either, they also didn’t care. As far as I knew, Crosswire was the only other literate pony in the whole bunch, and he was the only one who knew I was as well. If I had to be honest, I would say that Crosswire was the only friend I had in the entire gang, and I used the word loosely. He was still a raider, after all.

Sadness gripped me as a realization struck me. As well as I knew Crosswire, and as well as he knew me, he still knew next to nothing about me. Not even he knew my full name or had seen my cutie mark. There was simply too much risk involved. One word in the wrong place, and I would be dead.

I turned my head to regretfully glance at the symbol on my flank. None in the gang would be able to say what it was, for none of them had seen anything like it. I doubted anypony alive had, since even I had only seen it once before, in a book I had scavenged from an old library in downtown Seaddle when I was much younger. It was a pinecone nestled next to two pine sprigs. The picture had appeared as I had read a passage in the old book that talked about the great forests that used to cover Equestria. The section that had most captured my attention was the one on the great pine trees that stayed green and lively throughout the year. I had been so enraptured because those trees shared a name with me: Evergreen.

Sighing, I tore myself from the memory. It was one of the few happy things I had left in my life. I stepped away from the wash basin and dried my green and brown mane on an old towel that probably added more dirt than it removed and organized it in my usual fashion. Most of my mane was swept behind my head, to keep it out of my eyes, but I left a single strand hanging before me, as a reminder that I had once not needed to hide my name and cutie mark.

As I returned to my desk, I couldn’t help but to think on the irony of both my name and my cutie mark. In a world wrought with atrocities happening every day, a world where the only life left was the animals that had evolved to fight and kill, and ponies bred to do the same, I was stuck with a cutie mark of something that hadn’t existed for two centuries, and probably never would again. Sure, there were still forests in the wasteland, like the Everfree forest across Eternity’s Crossing, the ocean that separated Seaddle from the rest of Equestria, and there were even a few small ones around here, but they were all filled with life that the radiation and taint had twisted into unrecognizable forms, almost all of them deadly. In a world defined by death, I seemed to represent life, and that annoyed me, given that a day rarely passed where I wasn’t either being shot at by, or consequently shooting, other ponies.

Finally ‘clean’ for the first time in days, I sat down at my desk and examined the enigmatic crystal once again. As before, the closer inspection revealed nothing new. I turned on the light of my salvaged Pipbuck and held it up to the crystal, hoping the more concentrated light would reveal something I had missed before. My efforts were in vain. I growled in frustration and dropped the crystal into one of my pockets, just to see what the hardy computer would do with it. Surprisingly, it labeled the crystal as a ‘Messaging Crystal’ and gave it a value of more than two thousand caps!

I started in surprise and smacked the screen of the computer with a hoof, just to be sure, but the image remained. I shook my head in disbelief; even I could be wrong in assessing something’s value, I guess. I left the crystal in my pocket and stepped outside for some fresh air, looking out towards the horizon. Yup, it looked like rain again. It always rained in Seaddle.

I wandered down the ramp and joined Crosswire at the gate where he was overseeing the replacement of the spark battery that ran the mechanism that opened and closed our gate. We may have been raiders, but that didn’t mean that some of us couldn’t be smart. It was how we had managed to survive this long without one of the larger gang completely taking us over. I had put a lot of effort into making sure this camp would be near-unassailable. So far, it had been.

“What have you got for me, Crosswire?” I asked as I came up beside the stoic unicorn.

He barely spared me a glance as he answered, “The battery we had in there is almost entirely burnt out, and most of the ones that Crackshot brought back were only half full, if that. I’m doing what I can, but it looks like we’ll be switching them out every other week. What I would give for a fully charged spark battery…”

“At least it’s better than pulling it open ourselves every time,” I pointed out, “I’ll take what I can get. What’s your take on Crackshot, though? Stupid bastard broke the rules, but I’m worried he was out long enough to get seen and lead someone out here. We haven’t been faced with any real problems yet ‘cause nopony knows where we’re holed up, and I’d like to keep it that way. We’re the raiders out here. I don’t want us to get raided.”

The unicorn buck actually turned to look at me as I confessed my worry. It was a dangerous gamble to take. He could easily start talking to the others and use it as an argument for kicking me out, or doing other, less savory, things to me. “Doesn’t much matter anymore what I think. They came back, so if somepony followed them, there’s nothing much we can do about it. Wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep our eyes open for a few days, just to be sure,” he answered, then turned back to the gate, “Now if you don’t mind, boss, I got actual work to do.”

I nodded imperiously and made my way over to the shack that Heart Attack used as his doctor’s shop. I pushed my way inside and saw Crackshot lying asleep on a cot, with Heart Attack sitting at his small table in the corner, nursing a glass of Celestia-only-knew what.

The unicorn doctor looked up as I entered and sighed. He knew what was coming next. I trotted over to Crackshot and roughly kicked him over. He woke instantly, sputtering in surprise and pain as I knocked him over onto his back and stood over him, one hoof on his chest. I leaned in close and whispered, “So, Crackshot, tell me how many other ponies you saw while you were out there.”

The color drained from his face as he stared into my eyes, seeing all the pain I would inflict on him if he didn’t answer honestly. Have I mentioned that I am not a nice pony?

“Uh… there were only two, the caravaneer and her bodyguard, I’m sure of it! I was real careful!” he cried out.

It wasn’t hard to see the lie in his eyes. “Wrong answer,” I said, and started applying pressure with my hoof. His breathing became strained as I pressed down on his ribcage, “You’ve got two more tries to get it right.”

He wheezed something unintelligible, so I let up a little bit, just enough for him to get the words out. “I swear, there were only two! I was real careful! Just ask Clipper!”

Clipper was the earth pony mare who had been a part of the group. “I’m sure she’d back you up, Crackshot, since you’ve never given her much of a choice in the matter of your ‘relationship’, and I’m sure she wouldn’t want to get caught in the backlash of actually telling me the truth. You’ve got one more try before I give you an injury that even the good doctor can’t fix,” I said, pushing until I heard a quiet crack that meant one of his ribs had finally given way. It was a serious injury, but not fatal, and not even close to what I would do if he didn’t answer me.

He moaned in pain and tried to squirm out from under me, but I held him fast. “Well, are you going to answer me?” I demanded, starting to press down again.

“No, please! I’ll talk!” He wheezed, his voice thick with pain, “We may have seen one other pony, up on one of the hills. She disappeared as soon as I looked at her. It could have just been a trick of the light, you know, the sun making a radhog look bigger than it actually is!”

I snorted in disbelief. “Doubtful. Heart Attack, get this waste of space taken care of. Much as I loathe admitting it, he’s a good shot and we need him up.”

“Would have been easier if you hadn’t gone and used him as a doormat, boss,” the pale unicorn complained as he stood up from his table. He was slightly shaky on his hooves, but that was no surprise. I couldn’t remember ever seeing the buck sober.

I stepped out of the shack just as Crackshot started yelling in pain as the doctor re-set his ribs. Now I had a mystery on my hooves: I had to find out if this mystery pony might have followed Crackshot and his group back here. I walked across the courtyard towards the awning that served as Crackshot’s quarters. Clipper was lying on the ground by his bed, cleaning her gun. She was a small, blue earth pony with a bright pink mane. True to her name, her cutie mark showed a pair of hedge clippers, not that any of us had ever seen a hedge before. Unlike most hedge clippers, however, the ones on her flank were dripping with blood. Her skill wasn’t in tidying up gardens.

“Clipper, I need to talk to you,” I announced as I entered. She started in surprise, but didn’t argue. She had once been one of the most hot-headed ponies in my gang, but Crackshot’s arrival, and eventual ‘taming’ of her, to use kind words, had made her quiescent and subservient. When pushed, she was still a vicious fighter, but nopony ever noticed her in camp anymore.

“Oh, of course, Ever. Whatever you need,” she muttered, getting to her hooves. She couldn’t bring her gaze up to look me in the eye.

“My eyes are up here, Clipper, not on the ground,” I snapped. She looked up obediently, resignation in her eyes where once pride had been, with only the barest hint of defiance at being spoken to that way. “Crackshot just told me that he saw a pony on top of a hill while you all attacked the caravan. Is he telling the truth?”

She almost shied away at the mention of the buck’s name, but my stare held her in place. “I… uh…” she trailed off, not sure what to say.

“Be honest with me, Clipper. It will be better for your health,” I said menacingly.

She swallowed loudly and glanced around before looking back at me. “Yeah, we saw somepony on that hill. I couldn’t make out much detail, but I think she was an earth pony. Took one look at us and ran. Crackshot said to ignore her, that we had been gone too long already, and that we had to get back.”

I felt the rage at the buck’s idiocy welling up inside me, but at this point there wasn’t anything I could do. I had already punished him, anything more and I would be crossing the line into unnecessary cruelty, and not even a gang of raiders would stand for that. “Is there anything else I should know?” I asked pointedly.

Clipper stared into my eyes for a few moments, absorbing the promise of pain at a dishonest answer, then finally answered, “He left a small stash of the best loot just outside the walls. I don’t know what he’s planning with it.”

“You sure about that?” I demanded, looking to the knife in its sheath on my shoulder.

Clipper followed my gaze to the knife and shuddered. “I… I…” she fell silent and slumped down in defeat. “He thinks he can run this gang better than you. He was going to gather up some supplies during his next few raids and, once he had enough, kill you in your sleep and take over.”

I nodded slowly. Now this, I could act on. I wasn’t surprised, though. I would have been more surprised had somepony not been trying to get rid of me. Crackshot was just the best possibility. Despite his idiocy, he was skilled with his rifle and had an easy time getting the others to listen to him. “Hmmm, can’t say I’m surprised. Damned idiot has been a pain in my rump since he showed up last year,” I mused, “Where’s the loot stashed?”

“A short way down the trail, nestled between a couple boulders, just out of sight of the walls,” she said, her voice wavering, “I can show you.”

“Good. We’ll take care of that now. Come with me. I’ll grab Crosswire, and we’ll take a look at just what Crackshot has been keeping to himself. Bastard is going to have hell to pay if it’s anything valuable.” I stomped out of the room and trotted to the gate, Clipper keeping pace beside me.

Crosswire was just finishing his repairs of the gate as we came up behind him. “Grab your gun, we’ve got to head out for a bit,” I told him as I approached the button that would open the gate and hit it. The machinery groaned to life and slid the slab of sheet metal to the side, revealing the narrow mountain path that led out of our camp.

“Wait, what?” the buck asked in surprise, “But Crackshot just got back! What could we possibly need already? We haven’t even finished going through the loot he brought with him!”

“And it’s because of him we have to head out. Bastard has been keeping the best pieces to himself. Clipper here knows where they are. Now grab your gun and let’s go!” I snapped. My anger was starting to get the best of me. While the buck wandered away to get his weapon and tools, I fought my anger into submission and locked it up in a closet in the back of my mind. I would still need it later, after all.

Once Crosswire rejoined us, we headed out into the wasteland proper. I had always mentally separated the place where I lived from the unprotected expanse of the open world, even if that home was little more than a pile of salvaged carts and carriages that could easily be considered part of the wasteland. It gave me a sense of security in this mad world we all inhabited.

Clipper led the way down the trail, eyes flitting from place to place, as if she expected something to jump out and attack her at any moment. I left her to her paranoia and gazed up at the sky. The rain hadn’t yet arrived, but the clouds were getting darker. It wouldn’t be long now.

Five minutes later, Clipper came to a stop and pointed at a small cluster of rocks just off the trail. I walked over and found the small stack of ammo boxes and sacks that Crackshot had left out here as his own personal stash. A quick glance behind me revealed that it was, in fact, out of sight of the camp. For all his idiocy, the bastard had planned this spot well.

I focused back on the stash on opened one of the sacks. Inside was a treasure trove of guns and grenades. I couldn’t even begin to imagine where he could have even begun to gather all of this. I opened the other sack to find it full to the brim with medical supplies and chems, with some varieties that even I had never seen before. I shook my head in disbelief. “Crosswire, what’s in the ammo boxes?”

“’Bout what you’d expect. Ammo,” he announced in an annoyed tone, “Most of it is fairly standard pistol or rifle rounds, but there are some here that I’ve never seen before.” He floated up a large round that looks like it was shaped for a pistol, but it must have been half again as wide around as the barrel of my .45.

Despite the implication of the planned mutiny I was seeing, I couldn’t help but grin. I reached into the sack containing all the weapons and pulled out a wicked looking black revolver and set it down on the ground at my hooves. “I think they’ll fit that,” I said, still grinning as I walked over to the ammo boxes and pulled out every round of that size I could find. By the time I was done, I had a respectable pile of bullets. I carefully loaded the revolver and placed the spare bullets in one of my pockets. “I’ve needed a new gun for a while now,” I laughed as I replaced my .45 with the revolver and put the smaller gun in my saddle bags, letting the Pipbuck’s inventory spell take care of sorting it out.

I returned to the sack containing the weapons and started to fill my pockets and bags with grenades. There were a lot of different kinds, ranging from standard explosive and spark grenades, to even a couple of energy and plasma grenades. Just as I was finishing loading myself up, and the rain began to fall, I noticed a new bar appear on my Eyes Forward Sparkle, or E.F.S. It was blue, so whoever it was wasn’t actively hostile, but I wasn’t going to take any chances.

“Crosswire, Clipper, somepony has just decided to pay us a visit,” I said, shaking my head in the general direction of the approaching pony, “Why don’t you go and greet her? I think I’d like to have a talk with her.”

The other two ponies grinned and nodded as they started making their way quietly to where the stranger was advancing up the trail. “Oh, and don’t hurt her,” I called after them, “Having a pony writhing in pain is not a good way to start a conversation.”

Crosswire spared me a quick glance and nodded, then disappeared over a rock, Clipper right on his tail. There was a shocked cry, then the sound of running hooves as whoever it was tried to flee. She should have realized that a pony wandering the wasteland wouldn’t have the endurance or fitness of a pony living in a settlement, not matter how dirty the settlement was. Before long, the two raiders reappeared, dragging a sobbing earth pony mare between them.

Her hide was a dull red in color, and her blue mane was held back from her face by a black headband. Her eyes were a deep purple, but what caught my eye most was her cutie mark. It was a single, detailed butterfly. Everypony knew what it meant when you saw a butterfly on a building, or bag, or case: there were healing supplies either in it or nearby. This pony had to have some knowledge or talent in medicine.

“Please, don’t hurt me. I’ll leave and won’t tell anyone about you! Please, just let me go!” she whimpered as Crosswire and Clipper dropped her at my hooves.

“I don’t hurt anypony unless they really deserve it,” I said, not quite able to keep my voice even. It must have sounded like a sneer to her. I wasn’t being strictly honest, but it was close enough. Besides, this pony wouldn’t know the difference. She looked up at me in disbelief. Her face showed that she had no intention of believing what I had said, no matter what I tried to do to prove otherwise. I couldn’t blame her. To her eyes, I was just another raider.

“What do you want with me?” she asked fearfully. I could tell from the look in her eyes what she feared the most. As a mare, that same fear was hidden away in my heart as well, especially since more than half of the raiders in my gang were bucks. Only reason it was still simply a fear rather than a reality, was because I was stronger than all of them.

“Information,” I said simply, “But it is hardly courteous of me to question you out here in the rain. Please, join us. Crosswire, make sure she’s taken care of. I wouldn’t want an accident to happen.”

“Sure thing, boss,” he said and lifted the mare to her hooves. “Come on now, you’ve just been personally invited to partake in our hospitality by the boss herself. You wouldn’t want to say no to that, would you?”

I grinned at him as I turned back to the trail. I heard the mare mutter some sort of negative as I stepped back onto the path. “Clipper, grab whatever you can. We’ll need these supplies, especially the healing potions and chems,” I ordered.

I heard motion behind me as the raider mare started to fill her bags and heave the medical sack onto her back. As we started to walk, I heard the stranger call out to me. “So, what do I call you?”

I turned back and fixed her in my gaze. She was frightened, that was plainly obvious, but she had enough courage to question me while surrounded by three raiders. That took guts. “Call me Ever. Everypony else does.” I turned back around and started to walk.

The raiders at the camp were surprised to see all the loot we brought back, and several ponies, mainly the ones who had been around longest, knew what it meant. They dashed back to their beds to make sure their own gear was in good condition. There was no way something this big could come up without there being some kind of violence. Some of them even looked excited at the prospect.

“Clipper, bring the medical supplies to Heart Attack. She’s going to need them. Much as I’m pissed at him right now, we need Crackshot on his hooves,” I ordered, then turned to Crosswire, “I’ll take our guest from here. I need to know what she’s found out about us, and we’ll go from there. Finish up with the loot that Crackshot brought back. I want to know what we’ve got by tomorrow morning.”

“Sure thing, boss,” the gray unicorn answered and wandered off, leaving me with the maroon mare.

“Follow me, and don’t try anything,” I stated simply and started up the ramp to my RV, trusting to the intimidation of the camp to get the mare to comply. The sound of her hooves on the ramp confirmed my assumption. I stepped into the RV and motioned for her to enter. She hesitated for a split second, then did as I bid. I pulled the sheet metal door closed behind her, then went and sat at my desk.

I ignored the mare’s frightened look as I picked the pencil up in my mouth and started to write down the events of the day, letting the sound of the rain coming down on the roof relax me. The sun was starting to descend, which was when I always recorded everything that had happened that day. It was an admittedly odd habit, but was something I had done since I was just a filly.

“You can write!” the mare announced in a shocked voice as she finally brought herself to look at me. The sudden silence after the outburst led me to believe that she thought the outburst would get her hurt. I grinned around the pencil in my mouth as I continued to ignore her.

When I was finally finished, I placed the pencil on the desk and turned to look at her. She was looking at the ground, trembling slightly. It was the same look of pure terror I had seen in too many ponies to begin to even try and remember. She thought she was going to die. “Why shouldn’t I be able to?” I asked, “Just ‘cause I’m a raider I shouldn’t be able to read or write?”

She remained silent and closed her eyes. A single tear emerged from her closed eyelid and slid down her cheek.

I sighed and took a step towards her. “I’m going to tell you something now, out of courtesy. You want to answer me when I ask you something. For now, that’s what will keep the pain at bay. Stay silent, and you’ll see just how bad things could be.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Sure you did,” I argued, “I used to think the same thing, till I met Crosswire. Now there’s a clever bastard.”

She looked up at me in surprise. “You mean he can read to?”

“I sure hope so,” I laughed. It struck me how hollow the sound was, as though there was no real mirth behind it. “He is our best hacker after all.”

“Oh… I didn’t think about that,” she admitted.

“Wastelanders like you rarely do,” I said, “You think we’re all mindless psychopaths who want nothing more than to steal, rape, and kill anything we can get our hooves on, and not necessarily in that order, either. You’re going to want to do away with that mindset quickly. It’ll only get you hurt or killed here.”

The mare sat silently as she absorbed the information. She hung her head again and started to cry. “I don’t want to get hurt,” she whimpered, “I can’t stand seeing others in pain, much less being in pain myself.”

“That how you got your cutie mark?” I asked, gesturing to the butterfly on her flank.

“Yeah, I guess so. I’ve never really thought about it. I just want to help ponies,” she muttered, “It just seems natural.”

I found myself being jealous of this mare. Nothing I had ever done felt natural to me. Things had become familiar, even comfortable, but never natural. The closest feeling I had ever had had been… The thought trailed off in my mind as I realized the only time I had ever felt natural doing anything was that night I had read about the evergreens and my cutie mark had appeared. I remembered wanting to see a forest that wasn’t trying to kill me and living under the sweeping canopies of the trees. It was a fantasy I had used to help me get through the worst nights of my past, but those days were long gone.

“You’re lucky,” I admitted, “I don’t know a lot of ponies who felt at ease doing what they did.”

The mare lifted her head up and gave me an odd look. “You weren’t always a raider, were you?” she asked.

“Can’t think of many ponies that were,” I snapped, anger rising in my chest, “and what I was before really isn’t any of your business.” I was angry because it had taken this mare simply speaking about her cutie mark to make me realize how unhappy I was. I felt the urge to lash out and hurt her for that, but held myself in check. She wasn’t to blame for my unhappiness.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to anger you!” she said as she backed away from me, “Please!”

“Just go clean yourself up!” I snapped, gesturing to the small wash basin in the corner, “You’re covered in filth.” The distraction would let me calm down and gather my thoughts. I needed a clear head while I dealt with his pony. Hurting her would get me nowhere, yet.

She slunk away to the corner. “This… this water is irradiated!” she called out a moment later.

“Well, of course it is,” I snapped, “I’m not going to waste clean water on washing! We’ve got enough of a supply of Rad-Away that using a bit of irradiated water to clean up isn’t going to kill you!”

“Oh, of course,” she said gloomily as she slowly and gingerly scrubbed away the grime of the wasteland, as though the water itself were more dirty than her hide.

It took the mare a whole ten minutes to wash herself: a ridiculous amount of time in the wasteland. She had to be from one of the towns that dotted the landscape; maybe Metro or Grovedale. I tore my attention from the lists of supplies I was studying as I heard her settle down in the corner farthest away from me. “I’m not going to be able to leave, am I?” she asked quietly.

“No, not for a while,” I said honestly, “That’s what you get for trying to sneak up on a raider camp. You should count yourself lucky. I could have just shot you dead, or given you to them.” I shook my head at the window that opened on the camp.

“And I suppose I should thank you for that, but what are you going to do with me?” she asked fearfully.

I forced myself back to my hooves and turned to face her. “I don’t know. You have a valuable and rare skill set, which isn’t something that I’m inclined to waste, but I also know that you aren’t going to agree to help us. Add on to that the fact that the second I leave you to your own devices in the camp, they’ll descend on you like a pack of rabid hellhounds, and I can’t think of anything to do with you.”

“If it kept me alive, I would help you,” she muttered. The lie was easy to see through.

“Don’t lie to me,” I snapped, “Even now, you see us as nothing better than mindless killers, even if you know that we actually can be intelligent. I didn’t keep you alive to hear what I want to hear. I need to hear what you know. Were you connected to that caravan?”

“Which one?” she asked, her voice trembling slightly.

I rolled my eyes at her. “You know exactly which one. The one that Crackshot raided earlier.”

“Oh… that one,” she muttered, “I know… I knew Bliss rather well. I’ve stitched up several of the injuries she’s gotten over the years. She was the pony who owned the caravan.”

“Did you travel with them?” I asked, “Because Crackshot said he saw you on a hillside nearby, and I don’t imagine a medical pony would just be randomly wandering the wasteland on her own, especially if she isn’t armed.”

“I… no, I wasn’t traveling with them. I was following them. It was stupid and ill-planned, but I had to,” she admitted.

“Why were you following them?” I asked pointedly, “Especially if you know it was stupid. They must have been paid for whatever job it was, and if even only half of what I know of those caravaneers is true, then they wouldn’t even think about going back on a contract. What made this one so special that you had to follow along?”

“Please believe me, but I can’t tell you that. I made a promise!” she pleaded, terror making her tremble, “I’ll do anything you ask, anything, but I just can’t talk about that!”

I gave her a hard stare and glanced at my knife. “Suit yourself.” I pulled the knife out and advanced towards her.

“Please! Don’t hurt me! Ask me anything else, and I’ll talk. I promised I wouldn’t tell. I promised, I promised, I promised.” She kept repeating that as I walked towards her, steadily becoming quieter and quieter. She closed her eyes as I came close, still repeating the mantra under her breath.

I paused as I came within reach of her. She was still whispering ‘I promised’ under her breath, as if the words would grant her some kind of magical protection from harm. Somehow, I think they may have. I sighed to myself and spat the knife out, leaving it quivering in the floor between her hooves. She looked up at me in surprise and fear, not knowing what to make of the gesture.

“Tell me honestly that nothing I say or do will get you to talk about that,” I demanded harshly, staring daggers into her eyes.

She hesitated under my stare. “N… Nothing,” she finally whispered, hardly daring herself to speak. “I promised.”

Sighing loudly, I retrieved my knife, sliding it back in its place on my shoulder. I could easily read a lie in a pony’s face, so I could also tell when they were telling the absolute truth. “I think I figured that out, so there’s no sense in me hurting you if it won’t get me any answers. Let’s try something else. I gave you my name. What’s yours?”

The mare hesitated as she considered me carefully. She was still terrified, but it looked like she knew she was safe, for now. “Suture,” she finally said, and lowered her gaze. I saw her eyes focus on something on my leg, then her head snapped back up and looked me square in the eye. “You’re from a Stable!” she announced.

Once again, I was sighing at this innocent and clueless mare. I was surprised it had taken her this long to notice the computer. “No, I’m not,” I said, truthfully.

“But… the Pipbuck! Only Stable ponies have those!” she protested, gesturing at the device on my left foreleg.

“Take a moment and think about what I am, Suture. I think that will explain it,” I said. Now, instead of anger, I felt something I hadn’t felt in a long time: shame. This pony; this small, terrified pony was actually making me feel ashamed about what I was doing to survive.

“Oh.” She whispered, “I should have realized.”

“Yes, you should have,” I snapped, “I pulled this piece of junk off some poor Stable 52 pony who had gotten out and was wandering around the wasteland. When I found her, I could tell that the thing wasn’t working near as well as it was supposed to be, since she didn’t see me coming. Poor girl didn’t know what hit her. At least her end was quick, unlike some. I was still on my own at that point. I still haven’t gotten it to full working condition, even with Crosswire’s help.”

She looked up at me with a look of horror on her face. Looking in her eyes, I actually saw a spark of anger. “How could you!” she shouted, “She was probably disoriented! It was probably the first time she had seen the sky! She was defenseless, and you just… just…”

“Murdered her?” I snapped, finishing the accusation for her. Suture looked away in fear, remembering where she was. “Yes, I did murder her! I had to! I had no water left, and it had been three days since I had eaten! Her saddlebags were full, while mine were empty. She was healthy and well-fed while I was sick and starving! If it makes you feel any better, it was the first time I had killed! I did what I had to to survive! The wasteland would have eaten her up and spat her back out within a few days anyway. Everypony knows that Stable ponies can’t survive out here.”

The comment only served to reignite Suture’s anger. “And just how do you know that, Ever? I’ll have you know that I’ve met several ponies that have come out of a Stable and done just fine for themselves! You murdered a defenseless pony for her food and water instead of asking! She would have helped you!”

“And how do you know she would have helped me?” I shot back, “Because she’s more civilized than us? Because the Stables make ponies better than the wasteland does? Because I’m a raider and she wasn’t? I’ve seen plenty of ponies out there who couldn’t be considered raiders who would shoot a stranger for their water or food. It’s nothing new. It’s the world we live in!”

“And they are vile creatures, just like you! How could you so easily order ponies to go out and kill others just for some loot! They weren’t even trying to hurt you, and you just, just… killed them!”

I snorted in frustration. “Don’t give me that crap. Had that caravan seen Crackshot before he pulled the trigger then you can bet your cutie mark they would have shot first. It’s how the wasteland works. I chose the path of the pony that is willing to do what is necessary to survive. You hate me now, but you’ll thank me later for keeping you alive, trust me.”

Suture remained silent. I guessed she decided that she had overstepped the boundary of what was safe. “Believe it or not, I don’t care what you think of me. If I had to start life over, nothing would change,” I snapped, “This world isn’t forgiving. This world isn’t nice. The old days of peace are gone. They have been for over two centuries, ever since that damned war that got us here started! Now get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.” I was going to have to deal with Crackshot tomorrow. The appearance of this medical pony had gotten in the way of those plans.

I stepped away from her towards the pallet I used as a bed. As I lay down I decided to mention one last thing. “Oh, I should probably let you know that I am a very light sleeper.”

I was woken the next morning by the sound of gunshots. I was instantly on my hooves, revolver in my mouth. A quick glance to the corner revealed that Suture had been just as suddenly woken as she struggled to shake the sleep from her head. I pushed her fate out of my mind as I crept to the window and looked out. My survival had to come first. As tempting as it was to learn what had been so special about that caravan, it wouldn’t do me any good if I was dead.

The camp had become a battleground, except the attack wasn’t coming from without. I saw a group of ponies gathered around the medical shack, firing at anything that moved. In the center of the formation was Crackshot. Heart Attack must have taken the easy way out and given him a couple of healing potions to get him on his hooves. He had his rifle balanced on a foreleg as he sighted up his targets and shot. Every round found its target. There was a reason for his name. Already, most of what little opposition there had been was dead.

I dropped back into the relative safety of the RV and crept towards the door. I could feel my heart start to race at the prospect of combat. I may not have been as crazy as most of the other raiders, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy a good fight.

Carefully, I slid the door open, and was caught by surprise when a buck charged in and flattened me to the ground, jamming a rusty knife against my throat, scratching my hide just enough to draw blood. The sudden attack sent my revolver tumbling from my mouth and towards my desk, out of my reach.

“Bet you didn’t see this coming, eh, Everthere?” the buck mouthed around the hilt of the dagger in his mouth.

“That’s where your wrong, Rusty,” I wheezed as I finally got a lungful of air back, “I figured it all out yesterday, and I’m always prepared.” I wasn’t going to tell him that the attack had taken me by surprise, even if I had known that it had been planned. I had been sure that I had a few days to play with.

While he tried to work out what I meant, I shifted my body slightly, angling so that a kick of my rear legs would do some damage. Once I was in place, I struck, bringing a hoof up into the area between his legs.

He automatically groaned in response, dropping the knife and freeing my throat as he curled into a fetal position. I pushed him off of me and retrieved the knife he had dropped. While he was still struggling to recover, I buried it up to the hilt in the base of his skull. His moaning and trembling stopped almost immediately.

I dashed over to my desk to retrieve my revolver and was shocked to see Suture standing over the body with a sad look on her face. “He’s dead,” she whispered.

I spat the pistol into its holster on my leg and stared at her. “Well, that was pretty much the plan,” I said, “He was trying to kill me, after all.”

She looked up at me, a distant look on her face. It didn’t look like she had even registered what I had said. “I couldn’t save him, and now he’s dead.”

“He was dead before he even hit the ground,” I snapped, “and if you want to keep from joining him, you should shut up and follow me.”

I picked up the revolver again and slid out of the RV, keeping a careful eye out for any other surprise attacks. As I crept down the ramp, I saw the body of a mare lying on the ground in a pool of blood, killed by Crackshot and his followers. Her name had been Razor, and she had been one of my closest allies. Seeing her dead probably meant that the few ponies that had been loyal to me had shared her fate.

I saw a shadow of movement come from one of the buildings as I reached the ground. It was Crosswire’s workshop. I truly hoped the buck was still alive. He was one of the few I could really count as being truly loyal, in every sense of the word.

I still hadn’t seen any hostile ponies as I approached the corner that would lead to the main courtyard of the camp. My E.F.S. showed a mass of red bars off to my left, where the medical shack was, as well as a single blue bar coming from the direction of Crosswire’s shack to the right. I was so focused on the bars that I forgot to look behind me.

Two bucks tackled me to the ground and tried to hold me there as a mare stepped out in front of me. “Who would have thought that the Great and Powerful Everthere would be so easily overcome?” she mused. The voice sounded oddly like Clipper had used to when she had first joined the gang, before Crackshot had broken her.

I rolled my eyes up to see and sure enough, Clipper was standing over me, a look of defiance and anger in her eyes that I hadn’t seen ever since Crackshot had shown up. “Yeah, that’s right, bitch. You thought I was weak and helpless, and let me tell you, it was hell acting like that in front of everypony all the time, but now, it’s my time to shine!”

“Oh yeah?” I mumbled around my revolver, “Well you forgot that I still have a gun!” I twisted my head around and pulled the trigger. The recoil shook my teeth and made my jaw hurt, but in a good way, the way that let you know you were still alive. The round smashed through Clipper’s chest, opening a wide hole and sending a spatter of blood out her back. She cried out in pain and collapsed, bleeding heavily.

The sudden gunshot caused the two bucks holding me to flinch. The movement gave me just enough room to work with. I started squirming and struggling against them, loosening their grip. They fought against me, but it was a battle they were fated to lose. As soon as I had enough space I twisted around, bringing the revolver to bear. Two more quick shots and both bucks were dead with a bullet through their heads. I wriggled out from under them and regained my hooves. Suture was bent over Clipper, trying to save her life, despite the horrific wound in her chest.

“Give it up,” I snapped, “She’s not worth it.”

“Everypony is worth it,” Suture argued angrily, “The minute we stop believing that is the minute that ponykind is doomed.”

I rolled my eyes and leveled the revolver at Clipper’s head. One more bullet and it was finished. I really liked this gun. “Well she isn’t. Now come on, we’re not out of this yet.”

“You shot her! She was defenseless, no, worse than that! She was completely helpless!” Suture yelled at me, getting to her hooves and taking a step towards me. There was a hard look in her eyes, as though she were considering attacking. As I watched, the bar on my E.F.S. that represented her flashed from blue to red and back again as the mare struggled to make up her mind.

Before she could act, I jumped forward, landing two solid blows with my forehooves and knocking her to the ground. I spat my revolver into its holster and glared at her. “Clipper was a mean bitch who wouldn’t have thought twice about shooting you in the head, if she didn’t give you to Crackshot as a gift first! That bullet wound I gave her was going to kill her, no matter what you did, unless you have a whole jug of healing potion hidden somewhere that I can’t see! And finally, do you really think you could take me? I saw you thinking about attacking me. I don’t think you’ve ever attacked a single pony over the course of your entire pathetic life! I have made a living dealing out death!” I growled, leaning in close to her and dropping my voice to a bare whisper.

Suture whimpered in both pain and fear as I stood over her. “It’s just not right,” she whispered back, “Everypony deserves a chance, no matter how bad they seem. Even you, Everthere.”

“Don’t call me that,” I snapped, “It’s not my name, just what the others came up with for me. Now get up. You said your bit, and I made my point. I don’t intend on letting you die just yet; you could still prove useful.”

I turned away from her and crept up to the edge of the wagon my RV was wedged on top of. I stuck my head around the corner, not trusting my E.F.S. to tell me exactly where everypony was. It was quite terrible at determining elevation, not to mention distance.

I saw Crackshot standing in front of the door to the medical shack, surrounded by the ponies that had decided to risk joining him against me. A quick glance around revealed that he had finished his bloody work of killing the raiders that had remained loyal to me, or at least almost finished killing them all. There was still that one last blue bar, and I was praying with all of my heart to Celestia that it was Crosswire.

“Clipper, you got her yet? I want to get this whole farce over with! We have a lot of work to do!” Crackshot called out in my direction, “And those gunshots had better not have been fatal! I want her to look up at me and know who it was that beat her!”
I felt a familiar rage igniting in my chest. That this idiot of a buck thought he had outsmarted me was unthinkable. That he thought he could use me as a trophy was unacceptable!

I turned to Suture. “Stay here. I’ll take care of this,” I growled and stepped out into the open, opening up the closet in my mind that I had sealed the day before, letting all of my anger at the buck flow through me. He would need a bloody miracle to survive this.

“Did you really think you had beaten me so easily, Crackshot?” I drawled, playing for time. From the corner of my eye, I saw that last blue bar start to move, shifting around behind me to come up on Crackshot’s formation’s flank. “And if you’re wondering about Clipper and the others you sent with her, they all got to meet Hammer.” I didn’t know why I decided to name the revolver, it just seemed proper.

“Hammer?” Crackshot asked, his eyes so full of shock and confusion at seeing me that I doubted his brain had even registered that Clipper had to be dead.

“Eeyup,” I answered as I pulled out the revolver, “Hammer.” I slipped my tongue into the trigger guard and started shooting. There were only three bullets left in the cylinder, but I only needed one. The first bullet flew high, making the yellow buck drop to the ground in reaction. The second bullet was a little wide, but instead of being a clean miss, it buried itself in the chest of one of the mares standing near him. As she went down, the third and final bullet finally found its target, hitting Crackshot where his right foreleg connected to his shoulder.

He cried out in agony as he hit the ground, blood gushing from the wound. The ponies around him gaped in surprise, the earth ponies dropping their weapons as their jaws dropped. I casually reloaded Hammer, keeping an eye on the rest of them as they struggled to come to a decision.

“Don’t just stand there! Kill her!” Crackshot shouted, his voice thick with pain. The ponies glanced quickly at him, then back at me. Having an order given to them spurred their minds to action and they readied there weapons for the attack.

I pushed the last round into Hammer as the ponies wielding melee weapons charged, crazed looks on their faces. Instead of standing my ground, however, I dove to the side, dropping the revolver into its holster as I did. My roll brought me up next to a small shack. I dove inside, trying to buy myself some time. At least now the ponies with guns wouldn’t know where to shoot.

I only had a few seconds before the shack would have a few more guests. I had to use those seconds well. I reached into my barding and pulled out one of the grenades that I had looted the day before. It looked just like an apple, except for the fact that it was silver and had an orange band circling it, denoting it as a standard explosive. I pulled the stem out and rolled it towards the door, then dove to the other side of the single room, taking cover behind the bed. A second later I heard the door open. It had been a while since I had seen a grenade go off, and my memory was a little rusty on exactly how large the explosions were.

“Come on, Everthere, don’t make this difficult,” a unicorn mare said, sliding her combat knife against the sheet metal wall of the shack, making a grating sound that made my head hurt.

“Hey, Edge, what’s that?” another buck asked.

“What’s wh…” was all Edge got out before the grenade exploded, spraying the group of ponies with shrapnel.

The shockwave hit me a split second later, making my ears ring as it reverberated around the walls of the small shack. Luckily, that was the worst of the damage I received, since the bed had kept the shrapnel from hitting me. I pushed myself shakily to my hooves and shook my head, trying to clear out the ringing in my head. As my hearing finally started to return, I began to hear pained groans coming from the doorway.

I approached it to find five ponies lying on the ground, three of them dead, and a fourth, unconscious, well on his way to joining them. The fifth pony lay in a rapidly expanding pool of blood, several shards of shrapnel embedded in her chest and legs. One of the shards had clipped an artery in her leg, which was the source of all the blood. “Please… Please help me,” she whimpered, some sanity returning to her face, “I don’t want to die.”

“You don’t get that luxury anymore,” I growled. I reached down and pulled out Hammer. “Just pray that whatever you find in the Beyond is better than what you’ve got here.” I leveled the revolver and pulled the trigger, ending her misery.

A quick check to my E.F.S. revealed that about half of the bars that had been red were gone, and that even a couple of the ones that remained had become blue. It looked like Crackshot’s lackeys were losing their will to fight. I grinned widely as I stepped out of the doorway and turned to face the medical shack. To my surprise, Crackshot was missing, but there was a streak of blood leading into the medical shack.

“Celestia’s spirit, she’s still alive!” A buck called out in surprise as I emerged.

“What the fuck does it take to kill this bitch!” a unicorn mare asked as she chambered a round in her rifle.

“A lot more than you’ve got,” I growled, but before I could fire, somepony jumped me from behind. I was really getting sick of that. We rolled in the dust, kicking and fighting against each other for the advantage. My aggressor obviously had no idea what they were doing as they beat against my raised legs, rather than going for my exposed flanks. A quick twist and I was on top, shoving the pony under me into the dirt. A spot of blue mane in my vision, however, shocked me into hesitating, and I felt a bullet pierce my barding just behind my left shoulder and bury itself in my hide.

I cried out in pain as I collapsed on top of the mare under me, my leg no longer capable of supporting my weight. The mare under me grunted in pain as she took my weight and the air was forced from her lungs.

“Yeah, we got her now!” the buck called out as he galloped towards me, “And boy are we going to have fun!”

I felt him walk up behind me and prepared myself for the worst, praying only that I was covering up the mare under me well enough to keep the buck from noticing her, but my worst fear never came to reality. A burst of gunfire echoed through the camp, and I heard the buck’s body hit the ground heavily. Another burst, and I heard a shriek of pain from the direction of the medical shack. That was the last I heard before falling into the deep black of unconsciousness.

“We’ve gone far enough, we have to help her now!” I heard a mare’s voice saying as I came to. My side felt like it was on fire, and I could feel a warm trail along my shoulder and down my leg. I cracked an eye open and saw a line of blood flowing down my left foreleg, tracing a line over the screen of my Pipbuck and leaving a thin trail behind us. The little pony on the computer’s screen had an unhappy look on her face as a symbol flashed, saying that I had lost a lot of blood and that my torso was crippled. Well, that explained the weakness.

“I doubt that even the moon is far enough away from there. We barely got out as it is,” a buck’s voice answered. This voice I knew well: Crosswire. “And I’m surprised that you want to help her at all, since you’re that one that got her into this state!”

“She kept hurting ponies! I had to do something!” the mare retorted. It had to be that medical pony, Suture.

“She’s a raider! It’s what we do! And now you want to help her, after you attacked her?” Crosswire snapped, “I’ll never understand you medical ponies. Fine, if you want to help her so much, we can make a stop here. It should be safe enough.”

I heard Crosswire grunt as he lowered me to the ground. “What do we need to do first? I could tell you how to get a two hundred year old gate mechanism running, but I don’t know the damndest thing about fixing ponies.”

“We need to get her barding off and get a look at that wound,” Suture said, “Do you at least have some healing potions in your bags? That would go a long way to helping.”

“Nope, sorry. Just electrical components, scrap metal, and my tools,” Crosswire answered. I heard him rummage through his saddle bags and pull something out. “This should get that barding off right quick.”

I felt something slip into my barding at the seam and start to tear through. A few seconds later and it was done. He lifted the barding free of my body as Suture started to poke at the wound.

“She’s damned lucky that bullet didn’t hit any of these grenades,” Crosswire muttered as he dropped the barding on the ground nearby, “or there’d be nothing left to save. How’s she looking?”

“Not good,” Suture announced, “She’s lost a lot of blood.” I felt her hoof press on the wound and I groaned involuntarily.

“Oh, you’re awake! That’s good! Can you tell me how much it hurts?” Suture asked. Her voice was completely calm and composed, but I could hear the undertones of her anger at me in it.

“Like Luna herself fucked me with her horn,” I groaned. Crosswire laughed at that.

“That is disgusting,” Suture admonished me, her face scrunching up at the image, “Well, the bullet is still in there, and I have to get it out, so this is going to hurt, not that you deserve anything less.”

“Pain I can deal with. Just don’t kill me. I’ll haunt you for the rest of your life if you do,” I snapped, though the pain in my side made it hard to make the words have the sharpness I wanted them to.

“Fine by me,” Suture retorted. I felt something dig into my side and had to bite my lip to keep from crying out. Blood filled my mouth as I bit my lip, trying to drown out the intensifying pain of whatever it was the damned medical pony was doing to me. The thing, whatever it was, dug around in my side for what seemed like forever before finally starting to retreat. The pain was unbelievable, and my mind completely whited out and I felt myself slipping back into unconsciousness. Just as I was about to black out, the pain was gone and something dropped onto the ground in front of my face.

I shifted around to look and saw a flattened bullet lying in the dirt a couple of inches in front of me. “Now you know what it feels like to suffer,” Suture said angrily as she pressed a pad of gauze to the bullet wound.

“You think I haven’t suffered before? I’m the fucking boss of a fucking raider gang. You don’t know the first thing about what that means. Trust me, I know suffering,” I ground out under her not-so-careful ministrations.

“You mean you were the boss of a raider gang, Ever,” Crosswire spoke up. His voice was oddly quiet. “Pretty much everypony is dead, with the exception of a couple of psychos, and they were the reason we had to run out of there.”

I felt something sink inside of me. Once again, I had lost everything and felt as out of place in the world as a pile of rocks at a birthday party. “At least tell me Crackshot is dead. If anypony deserves it, it’s that bastard.”

“Judging from the amount of blood, I’d say he is. Didn’t see a body though,” Crosswire said, “And at least I know now why you always wore that utility barding. You wouldn’t have been able to hold on to anypony’s loyalty with a mark like that one on your ass.”

Fear gripped my heart like a block of ice. I twisted around, ignoring Suture’s cries of protest, and stared at my flank. Sure enough, my pinecone and pine needles were bare to the wasteland sky. I lifted my gaze to see Crosswire looking at them with a bemused look on his face. I even felt Suture pause in her work to take a look.

“I have to admit, it isn’t what I expected from you,” the medical pony said, ‘Even if I don’t recognize what it is, I was expecting something more like a bloody bullet or a knife covered in gore. You know, something more raider-ish.”

“So exactly what is your name, Ever?” Crosswire asked wistfully, “You owe me that much for saving your hide.”

I sighed and looked the hardened buck in the eye. “It’s Evergreen. I got my cutie mark while reading a book on the forests that used to cover Equestria. An evergreen is a tree that never loses its leaves, or needles, in this case, in winter, like most trees do.”

Crosswire snorted in amusement. “I always figured you were softer than you acted. I’m surprised it took this long for them to turn on you.”

“Oh, then why are you still here?” I asked pointedly, “For all your talk, I don’t see you thinking of turning on me!”

“’Cause you’ve got a good head on your shoulders. Unlike most raiders, you actually have half a brain, and, unlike even less of them, you even put it to use. If anyone can survive in the wasteland, I figure it would be you. Why leave and get myself killed? It’s why I joined in the first place.”

“There we go. Bleeding has pretty much stopped and that bandage should keep it from getting infected,” Suture announced before I could answer. I had never figured Crosswire as that loyal of a pony, or even as a pony that could be more than a raider. I guess even the hardest killer could surprise. “Just try not to strain yourself for the next few days, or try to find a healing potion, and you’ll be right as rain in no time.”

I struggled to my hooves and turned to look at the medical pony. “Thanks for your help, Suture. I guess I owe you one.” Even I could be grateful, when the situation called for it, and I had no illusions to the fact that I would be dead if it weren’t for this naïve pony’s help.

“Nope, I was just paying you back for keeping me alive back there, excepting the fact that it’s because you were there at all that I was in danger,” the maroon mare answered, “ I wouldn’t have helped otherwise. Now, since I imagine I’m no longer in any real danger from your raiders, I’m free to go?”

“You sure you don’t want to stick around in case we get shot up again? Maybe let us get you somewhere safe?” I asked, trying to talk her into sticking around. A medical pony of her skill was a rare find indeed, and I was still very curious about why she had been following that caravan.

She turned and fixed me in an angry glare. “Not if the entire wasteland was after me. You may have kept me alive, but you aren’t a nice pony, Evergreen. I can’t travel with somepony who enjoys violence as much as you do.” With that, the mare turned and trotted away from us, quickly disappearing into the wasteland.

I shifted to look at Crosswire. “Now what?” I asked lamely. For the first time in three years, I no longer had a direction and my only lead at something to do had just run off down the trail, refusing to have anything to do with me.

The gray buck looked up from where he was repairing my barding. “You’re the boss, Evergreen,” he said with a grin, “Even if you do have a pansy name.” He handed me my fully repaired barding and I slipped it on, quickly checking to make sure all of my things were where I had left them, especially that Messaging Crystal. Something abnormal was going on, I just had to find out what.

My thought’s turned to some of the things that Suture had said. She was right: I wasn’t a nice pony. I had known that for a long time, but my life didn’t allow for anything else. It had been be tough or die for as long as I could remember. I had killed a lot of ponies, and many of them in ways that had let them linger, suffering as the injuries slowly consumed them. I was also very skilled at getting information others wanted kept hidden from me, as many of my former gang members could attest to, if any of them had still been alive. I shook my head, feeling the feeling of shame welling up in my chest again.

Maybe, just maybe, this betrayal, and this injury, could be the start of something new. Perhaps there was a chance at becoming a good pony again, even for somepony as broken and twisted as I was. I knew this, hoped this, because of something I had witnessed in the last day: there was still at least one pony in the wasteland that cared more about others than she did about herself.

“All right,” I breathed, looking down at my Pipbuck and checking the regional map. Seaddle was to the north, out of the mountains and on the coast. To the west were the remains of a once-great forest, so there probably wasn’t a whole lot to find out there. I lowered my leg and checked to make sure Hammer was in its holster. I felt a bit of comfort return to me as I saw the revolver nestled on my foreleg. “How about north? I haven’t been that way in a while.”

Level Up!
New Perk Added: Sharp Eye – You can detect (most of the time) when other ponies are lying to you if you can look them in the eye.

{As a first attempt at a pony fic in general, I think this chapter went rather well. The entire idea came from the idea of Evergreen's character: a raider boss with a hidden secret and a painful past. Hope it was as much fun to read this first chapter as it was to write! Thanks to Kkat for the original Fallout Equestria! Thanks also to Cody (still think it’s awesome my non-brony friends are willing to help me with this) and Green Leaf editing and helping this thing whip itself into shape!}

Chapter Six: Measure of Strength

Fallout Equestria: Redemption
Author: Cooperdawg
Chapter Six: Measure of Strength
“Just because you have power over somepony else doesn’t mean you should use it.”

As idyllic as the scene seemed to be before us, and as much as I wanted this moment of relative peace to last forever, I knew it could never be, not so long as we continued to face these inescapable dangers, and especially not so long as there were still threats in the wasteland. The sweep of the blasted landscape before me spoke of total destruction; the legacy left behind by ponies that were supposed to have been so much greater than history has revealed to us. Yet, as I looked out towards the horizon, the sight of the blasted terrain retreated with it until all I could see was the sweep of the mountain sides, reaching up to pierce the clouds. At this distance, I could almost pretend that those distant grey peaks harbored something better than what the world had offered to us so far.

The shift of a body next to me brought my focus back to the here and now. I was sitting outside of a cave next to the only three ponies in the wasteland, that were still among the living, that gave two shits about whether I lived or died. I had truly reached the point where I considered each and every one of them my friends, including Autumn Mist, despite the fact that I was sure she still wanted to kill me. We had all faced so many dangers in the short time we had been together that I knew there were no others in the entirety of existence that I wanted at my side. I had come to rely on these ponies, when before I trusted nothing beyond my own knowledge and skill, and to lose any of them would be a loss so great that I doubted I would ever be the same for it. All I had to do to keep that from happening was to protect them as they had worked so hard to protect me.

“Well, I hate to be the one to say I told you so, but… I fucking told you so, Evergreen,” Autumn Mist finally said, breaking the silence. Trust it to her to break the sense of peace I had finally achieved.

I turned my head to fix the dark blue mare in my gaze, giving her a withering glare that I hoped would communicate my disappointment. “Look at it this way, Autumn. We managed to give a group of ponies a chance at life again. I’d call that a victory, even if you don’t.”

“That bunch isn’t exactly what I would call a ‘group of ponies’,” the dark mare sneered, her face twisting in disgust, “They’re more like a mobile maggot farm.”

Her bigotry towards the ghouls still surprised me. Everything I had seen about the mare gave credence to the argument that, beneath her rough exterior, was a pony that still cared deeply about the morals and values she had been taught as a filly, and yet she demonstrated such hatred towards ghouls, even going so far as to threaten them with her weapon when they had risked themselves to save us. Unsurprisingly, that hatred hadn’t made it impossible to accept a Pipbuck from them. I suppose anypony could put their racism aside long enough if they stood to gain from it.

“Why do you say things like that about them?” Suture asked, her tone accusing, “Especially after everything they have suffered? They were forced to abandon their homes with the war, and even in the Stable that was supposed to keep them safe they were forced to live in a way that even we deem hard. What have they done to deserve this kind of treatment from you?”

Suture was possibly the most compassionate pony I had ever met, to a fault. If there was anypony in our group that I felt the need to protect, it would be her. She was with us only because of her medical skills, which far outshone those the rest of us possessed. She had proven in the Stable that her combat skills left a lot to be desired, and that was if she didn’t allow her horror at actually handling a gun control her. I was pretty sure that the only reason she was still mentally with us was because she had finally managed to differentiate feral ghouls from sentient ponies, and that only after I had hit her to snap her out of her shock at having killed one of the things to save my life.

“What have they done?” Autumn shot back, her expression shifting to one of anger, “You mean beyond breaking the laws of all that is natural? Those ponies are more than two centuries old! They should have died decades ago! There’s no place for them in this world anymore, and yet here they are, taking up resources that those of us who should still be alive need to survive.”

“Autumn, do you really think that the Princesses would have cast them aside as you seem to want to do?” I asked, trying to keep my tone from becoming accusatory.

“The fuck do you know about it, Evergreen?” Autumn snapped at me, turning her glare from Suture to me and waving a hoof in the air as if to wipe away my argument. I felt like her stare was burrowing into me, searching out my soul to lay all of my sins bare to the world. “It wasn’t until recently that you gave two shits about ponies like them, or even like us. So don’t talk to me about what the Princesses would have done. They are dead and gone. Might as well leave them there, where they belong.” She stood and spun around to stalk back down into the cave, anger radiating off of her.

“I’m telling you, Ever, that one is unstable,” Crosswire stated, “We need to keep a closer eye on here. Every time she opens her mouth I’m worried that something she’s going to say something or do something we will all regret.”

I turned my head until I was looking at the ragged grey buck. His messy orange mane was hanging from his head like the end of a mop. Despite his best efforts down below, there were still streaks of blood left in it from when he had impaled a ghoul on his horn. He was staring off towards the horizon where the sun had set, a thoughtful expression on his face.

“I know,” I sighed, dropping my head to stare at the dirt and rock between my hooves, “but there isn’t a whole lot I can do about it. She barely listens to a word I say, unless it concerns her chances at surviving the next five minutes. I’m trying to get her to loosen up, but I’ve only known her for three days. She still hates me, and she has every right to.”

That comment got the grey unicorn to glare angrily at me. “Stop doing that,” he snapped, frowning deeply, before turning to look back into the distance.

“Doing what?” I asked, throwing my hooves up in confusion, “She does! I murdered her family! What better reason is there to hate somepony?!”

“Ever since you’ve decided to chase after forgiveness, you’ve been doing nothing but say that you deserve the hatred and suspicion of every pony we’ve come across, even if you had nothing to do with their troubles!” Crosswire elaborated gruffly, “And it’s starting to drive me crazy. You used to be so self-assured and confident. Now I see you second-guessing every decision and asking what everypony thinks of your actions. The reason I chose to join your gang in the first place was because of your decisiveness, Evergreen, and now that value in you is disappearing.”

I was struck speechless, but even had I been able to say something, I couldn’t think of a single rebuttal. Crosswire was completely right. I had been allowing other ponies to walk all over me, under the argument that it was all to make up for the evils I had done. Those were no less real, but that didn’t mean I should change my whole personality simply so others would trust me more easily. If I did, I would be doing a disservice to myself and the ponies that looked to me for direction. Even worse, it would be a betrayal of who I was, and that was not something I was willing to give up.

“And one other thing, Evergreen,” Crosswire continued after a short pause, making me fear his next words, especially given what he had just been saying, “Thank you.”

“What?” I stammered, jaw dropping. “You just called me out on everything since… Why the hay are you thanking me?” I was struggling to organize my thoughts and follow the tech’s flow of logic.

Crosswire was looking right at me, lips pursed as he gathered his thoughts to answer my question. His eyes were filled with a level of gratitude that I had never seen him before, chasing away all the shadows of anger that had darkened his face. This Crosswire I had seen over the last few days was nothing like the one I had known for the last three years in the gang.

“You’ve pulled my tail out of the fire more times than I care to admit, and I don’t just mean from combat,” he finally said, “When you picked me up three years ago… I was going through a tough time, but that’s a story for another time. Just know that you saved my life that day. Beyond that, I had grown… settled… into my role in the gang. I’m not sure when it happened, but I realized in Metro that I had been losing myself to the raider lifestyle, after you told me you were done with it all. I had been committing acts that I used to believe were repulsive, yet I wasn’t thinking twice about them. I don’t want to think about what might have happened to me had we not left when we did. I feel like you saved me again by bringing me with you, just not my life this time, but my soul.”

Listening to the buck speak of me in that way, I realized just how badly I had misjudged him, and worse than that, underestimated him. I was so used to him being around that I was simply taking his presence and skills for granted when he deserved so much more than that. But simply coming to the realization wasn’t enough if I didn’t act on it.

“You’re welcome, I guess,” I answered quietly, “To be honest, I was just acting to save my own flank, at least at first. The fact that you were still alive was nothing more than a convenience for me then, and I’m sorry for that. Now, I’m proud to say that I consider you a friend, Crosswire. I promise that I’ll try to find a balance.”

The buck shrugged and turned his gaze until he was looking past me towards the south. A longing look came over his face and I saw his eyes focus on something far off in the distance. “That’s never really mattered to me, though I do appreciate the thought. We need friends out here if we’re going to survive, and I feel more at home here than I ever did down where I was born. It was enough to know that you were watching my back with the only expectation that I would watch yours in return. I’ve never asked for anything more. Fuck, I don’t even want anything more.”

“We can all only offer what we are willing to give,” Suture chimed in.

“Exactly,” Crosswire agreed, bringing himself back to the present. He stood and turned to look down the cave mouth, “I should probably get down there and make sure Autumn doesn’t start shooting our new allies. If I can, I’ll try to get some food ready. See you both down there in a few, assuming we’re not leaving until morning.” He shot me a pointed look, obviously expecting some sort of confirmation.

I nodded, “Yeah. I don’t like traveling at night: visibility is always shit.” When he nodded and started to walk down I called after him, “And Crosswire! Thanks for talking to me about this stuff. You’re not my subordinate anymore. You have something you want me to know, good or bad, speak up.”

A grin split across the buck’s features and his eyes lit up with a mischievous light. “No time like the present to start then,” he said, chuckling, “Figure your shit out and get a plan for what we’re doing. I’m fine with this mercenary work, but try to make sure it’s for something, rather than just to make us money. That’s barely a step above being a raider.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I shot back, “And I think I’m going to focus on watching how this whole Seahawk thing plays out. Fucker like him is the kind of pony you need to keep an eye on.”

“Works for me,” the tech said with a quick nod and disappeared into the crack.

The silence that followed Crosswire’s departure was loaded with tension. I could feel Suture’s disappointment in me as the maroon mare stared at me, her gaze boring into my side. I didn’t know what I was going to say to her. From my point of view, I had only done what was necessary, and I refused to apologize for that.

“Go ahead and say it, Suture,” I finally said, “I know what’s eating you, and I know I won’t get any peace until you vent.” I turned just enough so I could meet the mare’s gaze.

Her eyes instantly locked onto mine, brow furrowed in anger and mouth pursed in a position that told me that she was containing a lot of brash thoughts. “You had no right to do what you did to me down there, Evergreen. I thought you were better than that,” she snapped, “I considered you a friend, and all you think to do is hit me!”

“What else was I supposed to do?” I demanded, rising and walking until I was a few short steps away from her. I allowed some of my annoyance at her behavior to seep through to my face and the way I held myself, just enough so the mare could see that I wasn’t accepting her anger or guilt. “I needed you down there, we all did. Fuck, you saved my life! That ghoul was going to tear me to shreds had you not acted. Hell, it already was! Then, when we needed to get our tails moving to somewhere safe, you just stood there, completely unresponsive. What the fuck else was I supposed to do?”

“Talk to me, like civilized ponies do!” Suture shot back, “Not hit me. All that accomplishes is breaking my trust.”

“I tried to talk to you!” I shouted, “Several times! First time was right after you killed the ghoul, but you barely acknowledged me. Then, I tried to talk you out of it in the infirmary, but it was all I could do to get you to realize that I even existed!”

Suture glared at me in blatant disbelief. I could see the thought going across her face: ‘Yeah right you tried to talk to me. I’m sure all you did was smack me.’

“Don’t look at me like that! I did try! We needed you Suture, and you weren’t there for us. Had we not been in the depths of a Stable populated with hundreds of creatures trying to kill us, then I wouldn’t have done that, but there wasn’t time for the gentle help. What I did worked, as I knew it would. Besides, I didn’t hit you that hard.”

Suture held her gaze on me for a while longer before looking away, thought I couldn’t tell if it was in understanding or exasperation. “You really believe that, don’t you?” she asked quietly, closing her eyes and lifting her face so the breeze was blowing across it, shaking loose a few strands of her blue mane to flutter in the wind. It thought I noticed a trail of moisture seep down the side of her cheek.

“I do,” I said confidently, “I’ve seen ponies freeze up the way you did before, and giving them a good smack across the face is the most surefire way of bringing them back to reality, at least for a short while. The fact that you stayed with us is a testament to your will. You’re stronger than most ponies, even if you don’t admit it.”

Suture let out a sigh and hung her head before turning to look at me again, “Then I suppose I should thank you,” she said, “I’m still not happy with it, but I can understand why you did what you did, and it sounds like it was the right decision. Just… try to be gentler if it happens again.”

“I shouldn’t need to do it again. Most ponies only experience that once, unless they force themselves to do something equally traumatic, but I’ve never really seen that happen,” I said, standing and walking until I was standing side-by-side with the mare. “So how about we go down and get something to eat, huh? We could use a good meal after all the shit that happened today?” I asked, bumping her rump with my own to urge her towards the cave.

“Why not?” she agreed, a smile slowly creeping over her features.

Our meal consisted of little more than a few preserved pre-war snacks, along with what little food the ghouls had stored in the Stable, most of which was also at least 150 years old. Autumn Mist kept herself mostly separate from the group during the entire meal, choosing her own company over the easy camaraderie the rest of us had found with the ghoul population.

Speaking with them was an enlightening experience, as almost none of them refused to speak about the years before the war, as most ghouls that old did. We stayed up early into the morning, listening to tales of pre-war Equestria, where the greatest worry the ponies had was the occasional dragon roosting in a nearby mountain or a stampede heading towards a town; all difficulties that could easily be solved, and rarely through the use of violence.

It was a stark contrast to the reality we all knew today, where a pony’s survival wasn’t guaranteed for a single hour, much less a single day, but, at least for a night, it allowed us to forget our worries as we lost ourselves in the stories of a brighter time.

In the morning, we gave the ghouls a few helpful hints that would allow them to survive in the wasteland before starting out on our way back to Millberry. Just as we were about to start walking, Marmelade came up to us.

“I just wanted to thank you all for your help one last time,” he said, bowing deeply to each of us in turn, “You’ve given us back our lives, and that is something that can never be repaid. I know I already made the offer, but I feel the need to repeat it: If you ever need anything, do not hesitate to ask. We will help you in any way we can.”

I smiled and walked up to the ghoul, where I placed a hoof on his shoulder. When he looked up, I met his gaze and answered, “Thank you, Marmelade, both for the offer and for everything else. I hope we’ll never have to take you up on that offer.”

“If the world is as kind of a place as it should be, then you may never need to,” the ghoul answered somberly, “Now then, good luck in your travels. May the Goddesses watch over you.”

“And you as well,” I said, “I hope you find somewhere to make your home.”

With a final nod towards each other, we turned and started on our way, headed in opposite directions. Marmelade had told us of his intent to head west, towards the coast, where the damage from the war would hopefully have been limited since it was fairly far from Seaddle itself.

The day was gloomy, but the rain was holding off, at least for now, and we made good time. We were lucky enough that we came across nothing dangerous during our journey, beyond a few mole rats that quickly fled at our approach. It seemed that the day would actually be a good one for a change.

The landscape between Stable 60 and Millberry was largely made up of rolling hills, with a few gullies and the remains of farmland scattered throughout it all. From a distance, it appeared as though some of the blasted barns and farmhouses might have been inhabited, but in the Wasteland, looks were often deceiving. We followed what little remained of the old trade route between the coast and the city, which had been little more than a maintained dirt road before the war, leaving nothing but a portion of land that was slightly flatter than the surrounding countryside.

Every so often, we would pass the remains of some poor soul that had died before the war, or somepony that had been killed by the wasteland. Unfortunately, those fresher corpses were far more common than the old ones, a testament to how far ponykind had fallen.

We were barely halfway to Millberry when we came across a sight that made us stop dead in our tracks. A wounded unicorn buck was lying in the remains of the roadway, blood trailing after him towards a shattered farmhouse a few hundred yards off the road. We slowly approached the body, only to find, through some miracle, that he was still drawing breath.

Suture was instantly at his side, positively dumping out the contents of her saddlebags, trying to try to save the broken buck’s life, or at the very least postpone his death. His wounds did not look good.

One of his hindlegs was completely missing; the source of the trail of blood, and it appeared as though his other leg had been broken in several places, since it was simply dragging uselessly after him in the dirt. His hide might have been green under the obscene amount of dirt and blood that covered it, and what little that was clearly showing was crisscrossed with several angry wounds, many of which appeared to be fresh. His mane was a light orange in color, but was also streaked and matted with blood. One of his eyes was swollen shut and the top off his horn had been broken off. Both Crosswire and Autumn recoiled in horror when they saw that.

In an effort to save the buck, Suture took out two of our swiftly dwindling supply of healing potions and urged the unicorn to drink them. The potions closed many of his wounds, but I feared that all they really did was postpone the inevitable.

I slowly approached the buck, standing on his other side to give Suture the space she needed to work. “What happened to you?” I asked softly, hoping he was aware and lucid enough to answer, “Who the fuck is so sick that they would do this to a pony and simply leave him to die?”

The buck force himself to twist around Suture’s ministrations until he was looking up at me, agony carved into every line of his body. He cracked his good eye open just enough to fix me in a pain-filled stare. “Raiders…” he breathed, his voice just loud enough to be heard, “Came out of nowhere. Killed my crew, did this to me. I barely managed to break free. ”

I felt a terrible rage grip my chest, similar to the emotion that had ruled me for so long, but this time in response to a terrible evil done to another pony. This was not something I could let be. “Where are they?” I growled, already making up my mind to act.

The buck weakly lifted a hoof and pointed towards the farmhouse. “They set up their ‘funhouse’ in the house, but spend most of their time in the barn,” he answered hoarsely, “Do you have any water?”

I nodded stiffly and pulled out my canteen, which I then opened and held to the buck’s cracked and swollen lips, letting him drink deeply. “How many are there?”

The unicorn gasped as I took the canteen away, his tongue working wildly to catch the few drops of moisture left on his muzzle and swallow them before they could drip to the ground. He winced as Suture probed at one of his wounds before finally answering, “I don’t know. A half dozen, at least. More than we could handle, at any rate, and it ain’t like we weren’t fucking prepared.” He winced again as Suture moved to the remains of his missing leg, then screamed in pure agony as she started to tend it.

“Evergreen, hold him down! I can’t work if he’s thrashing about like this!” the medic ordered, her tone brooking no argument.

I instantly complied, holding the buck against the ground, both my hooves on his shoulders, leaning down on top of him with all my strength to try to stop the thrashing unicorn from tossing me and injuring himself any further. A few minutes later, Suture finally gave me the okay to let him up. She had bound up what little remained of his leg, but already, the bandages were stained red. A severed limb was not something that was easy to survive in the middle of the wasteland.

The broken stallion simply lay where he was, panting heavily as he struggled to regain his breath. Suture took my canteen from me and held it out to the buck, letting him finish off the last of my water as she cradled his head.

When his thirst had finally been slaked, he looked up at me, taking a moment to focus his gaze. “I can see what you’re thinking, stranger,” he said, his voice slightly stronger than it had been before, “Don’t try it. It’s not worth it. My crew is dead. Killing those fucks won’t bring them back. Those raiders were meaner than most, I should know. I’ve dealt with more than enough of those fucking psychopaths.”

“It’s not about your crew,” I snapped, struggling to keep my anger contained so I wouldn’t lash out at the buck or my friends, “It’s about the next group of travelers that come this way. What will happen to them if they aren’t equipped to protect themselves? If I don’t do something, they’ll be dead, and the wasteland will claim another group of ponies.”

The buck coughed, bringing up a glob of dark blood from deep in his chest which he spat into the dust by his side, then lay panting for another few moments before finally gathering the strength to speak again. “Please, stranger, listen to me. You’ve already done more than most by helping me. Don’t throw your life away by going after a gang of raiders. Your kindness can be put to much better use elsewhere. Don’t let it all go to waste here. The Wasteland needs ponies like you if things are going to get better.”

I shook my head, gaze narrowing on the buck as some of my anger leaked out. “No, it doesn’t,” I snarled, “I saved one life, sure, but how many will die if I leave those fucking sadists alive? I know how raiders work. I’ve seen it first-hand, more often than I would care to admit. Somepony needs to kill those fucks, and I say, why not me? You call me kind, and I understand why, but you don’t know me. All I’m good at is killing ponies.”

The unicorn gave me a worried look, then spun his head around to look at Suture. The maroon mare was staring at me, an equally frightened look on her face.

“Evergreen…” she started, but I lifted a hoof to silence her.

“I wanted to make a difference, Suture. This is where it starts. We stand to gain nothing by this, but that shouldn’t matter. Ponies like them need to be put down, for the safety of us all. Will you be fine here on your own for a bit?” I asked.

Suture remained silent, searching my face for answers. When she saw that I was completely determined to follow through with this course of action, she closed her eyes for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. I… I can protect myself… if I have to,” she said, glancing nervously at the pistol in her barding.

I nodded curtly then returned to Crosswire and Autumn, who were standing just close enough to have heard the exchange. I took them both in with a single, determined glance. Crosswire looked prepared to go along with whatever I said, and even Autumn looked like she was prepared to join in.

“I don’t care what either of you decide,” I announced, “I’m going in there to kill those fuckers. Help me or not, it’s up to you.”

“It’s good to see some of your fire back, Ever,” Crosswire said, floating out his SMG and inspecting it, “I’m in.” A devilish grin spread over his features, and for a moment, he and I were back in the same position we had been in countless times before, right before we attacked a mark, except this time we were doing the fighting to protect others. It was a refreshing difference.

“I actually agree with this decision,” Autumn said, her face a grim mask, “Lead the way. I’ve got your back. Fucks like them need to be wiped out.”

I nodded to both of them, then turned to survey the lay of the land between us and the farm. There was a small rise a dozen yards ahead of us and off to our right: the perfect place for Autumn Mist to lay down some sniper support. I pointed a hoof at the rise and looked over to the sniper. “Autumn, get up there. You should have a clear line of sight to the barn, where most of them should be.”

The dark mare took a few steps towards the rise, then looked towards the barn before nodding. “Eeyup, that will do,” she said, pulling out her rifle and climbing the rise. Once at the top, she settled down in a half lying, half sitting position, her rifle floating before her close enough to peer through the scope.

Once she was in place, I turned my gaze to Crosswire. “We’re going in, guns blazing,” I said, “From what the unicorn said, there’s only a half dozen of them. Should be easy pickings for us.”

Crosswire nodded and racked the bolt of his SMG, chambering a round, smiling broadly. “Then let’s stop wasting time and get to work.”

I pulled Hammer from its holster and started running, making straight for the sun-bleached and blasted barn, Crosswire a half-step behind me. We made it more than halfway to the barn when the first sign of any sort of reaction became apparent.

An earth pony mare standing on the upper level of the barn paused in her rounds and stared out of the desiccated wall at us, almost as though she were stunned that two ponies would be crazy enough to charge the barn. “Attack!” she shouted, reaching for a pistol in her barding.

As she pulled it free, a loud crack echoed across the Wasteland and the raider’s head exploded, sending a geyser of blood into the air as the body slumped lifelessly over, tumbling out of the barn to land with a wet thump just in front of us.

I leapt over the body and crashed through the barn door, rolling as I hit the ground and coming back to my hooves several feet inside amidst several surprised shouts.

Facing me was a collection of ragged ponies dressed in typical raider attire: spikes, metal, and assorted gore. Most were still turning to face me, shocked looks actually chasing away the insanity on their faces. I slipped into S.A.T.S. and lined up a pair of shots at a crazed brown buck just in front of me who had already managed to swing his weapon around to face me.

Time snapped back to reality and Hammer fired, sending both bullets flying squarely into the buck’s chest, shattering his sternum and sending him tumbling to the ground where a pool of blood quickly started to form.

The four remaining raiders were just getting their weapons into a position where they would be useful when Crosswire reached them, unleashing a hail of lead from his SMG that felled another of the raiders before they had time to fire a single bullet.

One of the raiders started to turn to respond to this new threat, but the other two remained fixated on me. I brought Hammer around to aim at a unicorn mare wielding a .45 pistol and pulled the trigger, sending a round into her throat.

The bullet tore through her neck, resulting in a waterfall of blood that caused her concentration to snap, sending the pistol clattering to the ground. She fell to the ground, hooves grabbing at her throat to try to stem the tide of red.

I wasted no time to check that the raider stayed down, instead turning to face the other pony facing me: an earth pony buck with a severed head as a cutie mark. Despite the carnage Crosswire and I had unleashed, he was grinning broadly, his eyes wide, but pupils contracted to a pair of small dots. This buck was not sane, a fact that was driven home as he started to giggle, advancing towards me, lifting a rusty .32 revolver.

I heard a burst of SMG fire from Crosswire’s direction, as well as the retort of a 10mm pistol as he battled the other raider. I spun Hammer around to fire at the buck facing me, but just as I was about to pull the trigger, Autumn’s rifle fired again.

The sniper round tore through the buck’s back and shot out of his chest to hit the dirt at my hooves, spraying me with blood and debris as the buck collapsed, dead before he hit the ground.

I turned to help Crosswire, but he had already gotten the upper hand on the last remaining raider, backing her up into a corner where a last burst from his gun silenced her.

The immediate danger taken care of, I finally had a chance to look around the barn, and the sight would have made me feel sick, had I not already been used to seeing things like it. Bodies were strewn about the barn, many of them strung up from the rafters, dripping blood and bits of rotting flesh. Two corpses were stacked up on a nearby table and appeared to be fresher than the others, probably the bodies of some of the unicorn’s crew. One of them was a cream colored mare with a red mane, reminding me starkly of my mother. The other was a white buck with a dusky mane. Both looked like they had been torn to shreds as some cruel form of entertainment.

I tore my gaze from the bodies, trying not to think about what their last hours must have been like, and instead turned my attention to the boxes and containers that were strewn about the room. Most of them contained useless junk, but I was able to recover a few rounds that we could trade as well as a couple of simple frag grenades, which quickly disappeared into my saddlebags.

I could hear Crosswire rummaging about on the other side of the barn, likely doing the same thing I was. “Finding anything good?” I called over, dumping the contents of a small crate onto the ground and pawing through it with a hoof, but it was nothing but a few scrap components and a bottle of wonderglue: nothing worth picking up.

“Couple of low-caliber guns, some rounds. Nothing else worth mention,” he answered, “We should clear out the house. We can’t be sure that this was all there is. For all we know the house could be full up.”

I nodded slowly, “Sounds like a plan. I’ll lead, you cover me.”

We made our way out of the house, gaze fixed firmly on the windows of the house as we approached, but I couldn’t spot any movement, and judging from Crosswire’s lack of reaction, he saw nothing as well. I kicked the door open as we arrived, Hammer firmly gripped in my mouth and ready to fire, but there was nothing in the foyer beyond, except for the expected raider decorations. Severed limbs and heads decorated almost every surface that could hold them, and the floor was practically covered in blood and other fluids, but there was no sign of anything living.

“Keep your eyes peeled,” I ordered, slowly stepping into the building, “You go left and sweep that way. I’ll go right. Circle around and clear it room by room. We’ll meet up on the far side.”

Crosswire nodded curtly and started moving, his SMG floating out in front of him. In seconds, he disappeared behind a wall.

I turned my attention back to the task at hoof and started moving, starting with the simple dining room to my right. As I moved, it became painfully obvious that this group of raiders had fallen to depths that I would never have allowed. Everywhere I looked were the remains of ponies of all ages. Several appeared as though they had been allowed to linger for the raider’s pleasure, but judging by the way they were bound, with spikes driven through their limbs to hold them pinned against whatever surface they were lying against, I doubted many lasted long.

I kept moving, staying in each room only long enough to confirm that there were no raiders lying in wait. Each room held new nightmares, new images that would stay with me for a long time: a filly strapped down to a table, where she had presumably been repeatedly raped before finally being allowed to die; a buck, most of his limbs severed, yet the marks on his body showed that he had most likely survived most of the amputations; the corpse of a unicorn whose horn had been smashed off with a hammer and whose flanks had been branded over, destroying her cutie mark. The images made me sick and enraged me at the same time, making me hope that we would find a raider still in the building who I could make pay for these crimes.

When I finally made it to the kitchen where Crosswire was waiting for me, I was seething with rage. The kitchen itself was littered with empty liquor bottles, another example of the depravity these raiders had fallen to. Crosswire stood by a countertop, his expression mirroring mine. It was blatantly obvious that he shared my fury, and nothing but blood would satisfy it.

“I really hope one of these fuckers is still alive,” the tech growled, eyes narrowing as his anger leapt to the surface, “Because if I get my hooves on them, they won’t be anymore. My side of the house was clear. Let’s get up there and finish this.”

I nodded and made my way to the stairs, which I immediately started to climb. The footing was treacherous, as the stairs were covered in a layer of blood and grime, so I took my time, carefully watching where I placed my hooves.

As I reached the top of the stairs, I heard something to suggest somepony up here was still alive. I could hear a deep voice grunting, as well as what sounded like the rhythmic slapping of flanks. A white-hot rage consumed me at the thought that one of these raiders was actively raping somepony while I was here trying to save lives.

“Crosswire, cover me,” I ordered as I tore Hammer from its holster and charged into the room the sound was coming from.

I crashed into the room to find a raider buck mounted on a mare who was in very bad shape, tied down on the bed. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she was sobbing as the raider repeatedly thrust himself into her. I immediately slipped into S.A.T.S. and lined up a shot to the raider’s side, aiming so that I would incapacitate him, but keep the fucker alive.

As the spell activated, Hammer fired and I screamed, “Get the fuck off of her you motherfucking son of a bitch!” The bullet struck exactly where I wanted it, sending the buck tumbling off the mare and to the ground. I leapt forward, spitting Hammer back into its holster and pulling out my knife. This goddess-damned, worthless piece of shit deserved a personal touch.

I placed a hoof on the buck’s chest, centered on top of his ribcage, and started to press down, much in the same way I had done to Crackshot so long ago. The raider was gasping desperately for breath and struggling weakly to shake me off. “This is what you get for living this life!” I shouted into the buck’s face, which was twisted in pain as his ribs started to crack, “And a simple death is far too good for a rapist like you.”

“Bloodclot? You all right in there? I heard a gunshot!” I heard a voice call from the hallway. It sounded like it belonged to a mare.

“Crosswire, take care of her. If she’s a raider, put her down. If she isn’t, get her under control so we can figure out exactly what the fuck is happening here!” I ordered, shouting around the knife before turning my attention back to the buck below my hoof.

Before I could say anything more, I heard Crosswire speak from the door. “Bloodclot is a little busy at the moment.”

“What?! Who the fuck are you?” the mare demanded, her voice rising in surprise and anger.

“Justice,” was all that Crosswire said in response before firing his SMG in a quick burst. In the silence that followed the gunshots, I could hear a body fall heavily to the ground.

“Looks like it’s just you and me now, Bloodclot,” I said wickedly, glaring down at the buck. His green eyes were wide and staring, full of fear and pain now that he was no longer the one in control.

“You think you’re so tough don’t you, cunt?” he wheezed, trying to sound tough, “Well just you wait. The rest of my gang will have heard the gunshots and they’ll be up here faster than you can say ‘Take me’.”

“You mean the gang that we’ve already wiped out, you sick fuck?” I demanded, increasing the pressure until I felt something significant crack beneath my hoof, eliciting a shriek of agony from the buck, followed by a flow of blood from his mouth, “Trust me, nopony is going to show up to save your life, and if they did, they would probably deserve to be killed for their efforts.”

At those words, he ceased his struggling, realizing that he had no hope of surviving this encounter. “Don’t kill me, please!” he protested, almost begging. Tears started to stream from his eyes and mix with the blood that was in his mouth, “I can do better, I swear!”

“I believe in second chances,” I said quietly, leaning in close so my knife was just kissing the surface of his neck, “Only reason I’m here is because of them, but you are not worth one. Nopony can do something like this to others and expect forgiveness. My evils were terrible, but not once did I ever force a pony to linger, or suffer.”

Before he could answer, I pushed forward, sliding my knife into his throat and ending his life. I pulled the blade out and cleaned the blood off on his barding before sliding the weapon back into its sheath.

“Is that all of ‘em, then?” Crosswire asked me, coming up to my side and surveying the buck’s body.

“Yeah,” I answered, “Now we just need to deal with this.” I turned my gaze so I was looking at the ravaged mare tied down on the bed. Her hide was light blue and she had a white mane streaked with strands of grey. Her cutie mark was a Sparkle-Cola bottle with its bottlecap still attached.

We both approached her from separate sides, and I pulled out my knife so I could cut the ropes holding her down.

She started whimpering as soon as my knife came within a foot of her. “Please… Please don’t hurt me. I just want the pain to stop.”

I stopped and looked over to Crosswire, who had a wounded expression. “We’re not going to hurt you. We’re here to help, I promise. Just relax and we’ll cut you free,” the tech said, then returned my gaze and nodded.

I slid my knife into her bonds and cut the ropes on her foreleg, then repeated the process with the hind one. Both legs curled up against her body as soon as they were cut free, an instinctual reaction on the mare’s part to protect herself.

“How… how did you get in here?” she stammered, her voice shaking with fear and pain.

“Because we were stronger than the raiders. They won’t be able to hurt anypony anymore,” Crosswire answered softly while I finished cutting the mare loose.

“That’s… good,” the mare whispered, curling up on herself on the bed. She started to shiver, then shake violently as the shock of what she had experienced caught up with her. “Oh, Goddesses, what has happened to me!” she started to sob, burying her head in the pillow.

“Shit, Crosswire, get out and let Autumn Mist know that everything dangerous has been taken care of, then get back to Suture and that unicorn and make sure they’re both all right,” I ordered, looking up at the buck with an urgent look on my face.

“Don’t you want some help here?” he protested, gesturing at the sobbing wreck before us.

“You’re a buck, Crosswire,” I pointed out, “and she was just raped. Trust me, get out.” I lifted a hoof and pointed at the door, pitching my voice so that the buck would get the point.

Crosswire hesitated for a moment, gaze flitting back and forth from the mare to me, before he finally turned and walked out of the room.

Once he was out of earshot, I knelt down next to the mare and placed a hoof on her head, where I started to gently stroke her mane. I wasn’t sure exactly how to deal with this situation, but I wasn’t going to allow this mare to deal with it on her own.

“Ssh,” I whispered, just loud enough to be heard over her sobs, “You’re safe now. Nopony is going to hurt you. I’m here to help.”

Slowly, the mare’s sobs slowed until she was just lying on the bed, panting and gasping for breath. “Why… why did this happen to me?” she asked quietly, making me strain my ears just to pick up her words, since her head was still buried in the pillow.

“Sometimes bad things happen to good ponies,” I answered, “but you were strong enough to make it through. I know it’s not easy to admit it, but you are a lot stronger than you think, to have made it this far under that kind of treatment.”

“Are… are my friends dead?” she asked next, lifting her head and looking me in the eye. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, but I could still see her hope reflected.

“Do you know a green unicorn? We found one on the road. He was the pony who pointed us here,” I answered, hoping that they knew each other so I wouldn’t have to tell her all her friends were dead.

“Hat Trick is alive?” the mare asked, her voice rising slightly, “Are… are you sure?”

“He was the last time I saw him,” I answered, “He was pretty banged up, but our medic was using every skill and resource at her disposal to save him. Knowing her skills, he should pull through. How about you take a little time to clean up and we’ll go down and meet up with them, all right?”

The mare nodded weakly and slid off of the bed where she stood shakily on her hooves, making me worry that she might fall over. She took about ten minutes to clean off the worst of the grime using a few bottles of dirty water, then we left the farmhouse together, with me doing my best to shield her from the awful sights. Unfortunately, I couldn’t block everything, and by the time we were outside, she was openly sobbing again.

“How could ponies bring themselves to do that to others?” she asked, tears streaming down her face.

I remained silent for a few moments as I thought of how best to answer that question. It wasn’t long ago that I had been involved in similar practices, if not quite that gruesome. “They think it gives them power,” I finally answered, choosing my words carefully, “To them, other ponies are nothing more than something to be used, then thrown away. They think, that since they are so much stronger than anypony else, that they have a right to exert that strength. Over time, it twists them into what you saw in there.”

“Oh…” the mare muttered, obviously not expecting such a detailed explanation, “Well, thank you, for saving me from… that. I don’t think I can ever repay you.”

“You don’t need to,” I answered quickly, “I couldn’t pass by knowing that those sick fucks were still around, destroying the lives of hard-working and good ponies. I consider it a bonus for me that there was still somepony worth saving in there that was still in one piece.”

The mare nodded quietly, and we walked the rest of the way in silence. When we finally reached the road, the rest of my friends were gathered together, watching as Suture was still hard at work trying to fix up the green buck.

“Goddesses! Hat Trick, what happened to you!” the mare announced, running up to the unicorn’s side and kneeling down next to him.

“What, Sparks, is that you?” Hat Trick asked, his voice still weak, but much stronger than it had been when we found him.

“Yes, it’s me. These ponies came in and saved me. We’re going to be ok!” Sparks answered, crying again, but this time, it appeared that they were tears of joy and relief.

“Yes, we are,” Hat Trick said, a smile creeping over his face. He turned slightly so he was facing me, “Evergreen, I can’t thank you enough for this. You saved my life, and the life of one of my closest friends.”

I couldn’t help but to laugh. It seemed as though everypony had been thanking me all day, and though I could admit that I had done some things worth being thanked for, it was just such a new experience for me, that I barely knew how to react.

“Don’t mention it. I couldn’t just walk by knowing that others could be in such danger,” I finally responded, “Now, we should probably try to get moving. You’re both in really bad shape, but between the four of us, we should be able to get both of you back to civilization, where you can get some real help.”

Hat Trick groaned as he shifted position, his face screwing up in pain. Despite Suture’s best efforts, it appeared as though his injuries were still very serious. Moving him would not be easy. “Are you sure about this? Millberry is a good distance away.”

“Leave it to me,” Autumn piped in, stepping forward. She slid her rifle into its strap on her back, then took up a broad stance and closed her eyes in concentration. After a moment of inaction, her horn started to glow, followed by a yellow glow surrounding Hat Trick. A few moments later, a second layer of overglow formed around Autumn’s horn, and Hat Trick started to shift. Slowly, he was lifted into the air until he was floating about three feet off the ground.

All of us were staring at the mare, completely dumbfounded. I had seen how powerful her telekinesis was, hell, I had even experienced it, but there was a difference between lifting a heavy object and lifting a pony. That she could manage a full-grown pony, without rage driving her as it had with me, like Hat Trick was impressive.

Autumn cast about, looking at each of us in turn, a sheepish look on her face. “What? I’ve been handling heavy loads for years, even needed to levitate myself on occasion. I’ll be able to handle his weight back to Millberry, so long as we don’t take too long.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “You just took me by surprise. All right, let’s get moving. I’d like to get these two into the hooves of a medic that isn’t in constant danger.”

Everypony nodded in agreement and in the next few minutes we started down the road towards the Millberry. Sparks and Hat Trick kept expressing their gratitude to us, but between thank yous, we managed to hear their story.

Hat Trick had been in charge of a small caravan that ran supplies from Metro, through Millberry, and then to the west coast; a dangerous trail, but he had had a crew of nine ponies that made sure the caravan was well protected. Three days ago, when they had been traveling west from Millberry, they were ambushed by the raiders, who managed to cut down half the defenders in the first seconds of the attack. From there, it had only been a matter of time before the rest had been captured. After three days of torture and torment, Hat Trick finally succeeded in slipping his bonds and crawling away from the farmhouse, where we stumbled on him. Sparks, who had been hired as a guard and who had been working with Hat Trick for years, was the only other surviving member of the caravan.

We hadn’t seen them on our passage to the Stable because we had taken a slightly different path there, and the weather had kept us from paying that much attention to our surroundings. Regrettable, but they weren’t blaming us for not finding them yesterday.

With the two injured ponies, the remainder of our journey took longer than expected, as we had to take regular rests to give Autumn time to gather her strength. Even with her incredible telekinetic strength, lifting a pony for a long period of time was strenuous. As a result of this slower pace, the daylight was already starting to fade when we finally saw the walls of the town appear on the horizon.

Before long, we reached the town itself and were ushered inside. Our first stop was the infirmary, where both Hat Trick and Sparks were immediately admitted at no charge for the services they had done for the town over the years. The doctor and Suture spoke for some time about the treatment that she had been giving the broken buck, then she spoke with me about what had happened to Sparks. Once she had all the information, the doctor insisted that they would both be fine and told us to go report to the governor.

On leaving the infirmary, I could detect a definite change in the behavior of the citizens of the town. They had been relatively kind when we left two days ago, but that had been an ambient kindness that most likely came from the fact that we had spent a night in their town without causing any trouble. Now, it seemed as though ponies were going out of their way to help us or to show some sort of kindness. I suppose it was possible that some sort of tale of what we were trying to do to help the town was making its way about the population.

When we entered the town hall, the scene was significantly different than it had been before. This time, I took the time to take in my surroundings, and I was fairly impressed, as far as refurbished buildings could impress me, which unfortunately wasn’t much. The wood that the structure was made up of was barely rotten, and the floor was covered in richly colored carpets that cushioned the hooves beautifully. The walls were decorated with old, pre-war portraits with plaques beneath them, displaying names like Fancy Pants or Blueblood, representing what must have once been members of the nobility, or other important ponies, from that time. I felt like I was walking through a museum.

Another contrast was in the ponies we met this time around. I immediately recognized the two stuck-up, self-important assholes that I had tried to talk to before, and, surprisingly, they saw, and recognized, me as well. The buck I had talked to two days ago excused himself from his colleague and approached me.

“Ah, miss, it is wonderful to see you again! How may we help you?” he asked me, his tone overly polite. He even said it all with a slight bow.

“What the hell caused the difference in behavior in all you ponies?” I asked, backing up a step, “First time I showed up here, it was all I could to get any sort of response out of anypony, now here you all are helping me with any small issue!”

The buck laughed at my words, throwing his head back in the process. I was surprised to see that he even managed to laugh pompously, despite his apparent kindness towards me. “Why, I thought you would have figured it out, my dear, considering what you’re wearing on your leg there,” he said, finally getting himself back under control and pointing at my Pipbuck.

“What are you talking about?” I demanded, “What the hell does my Pipbuck have to do with any of this?”

“Why, the radio of course! You’ve been all over it for the last day! We’ve heard all about your foray into the Stable and your rescue of the ghouls that have been trapped down there. Sure, some folks aren’t too happy about the fact that there are a bunch more ghouls to deal with now, but we here in Millberry are concerned with preserving our history, and those ghouls have a lot of it. Those of us who run things around here consider you lot heroes for what you did there,” the buck explained, grinning broadly as he led us down the hall towards the governor’s office, “Now I know the governor is going to want to speak with all of you immediately. Just walk on in!”

I nodded graciously, still struck dumb by the fact that I had been on the radio. Once we were done with this meeting, I would need to take some time to find that particular station to find out exactly what was being said about me.

The buck nodded in return and sauntered off to speak with the colleague he had left for our sakes. I watched him go, mind still reeling, before finally turning my attention to the door that led to the office.

I lifted a hoof and knocked. Almost immediately, the door opened to reveal the governor standing before us, smiling broadly.

“I heard you had returned, miss Evergreen. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me! We have a lot to discuss!” he announced, ushering us inside and past the gathering of other ponies waiting on his attention. He led us into his office where he offered us all a drink of some amber liquid he had stored in a glass bottle that was somehow still intact, despite the years.

I accepted and cautiously took a sip, finding the drink pleasantly alcoholic. It wasn’t my Apple Whiskey, but it was good enough, and I wasn’t going to complain about free booze. “So what do we have to discuss, exactly? I was just stopping by to bring you up to speed on a few developments,” I said, extremely confused at the whole situation.

“Oh I am quite aware of that,” the governor announced, waving my question away, “It is quite obvious what you are going to say, since you came back from the Stable with little more than a few new Pipbucks and the gratitude of the survivors. You were looking for the water purifier I requested, weren’t you?”

I nodded dumbly, unable to do anything else. How much was being said about me on this radio station that all these ponies knew exactly what I had been doing for the last day and a half, and how much of that was being picked up by my potential enemies, most notably Greymane?

“Yeah, that’s right. We did tackle that Stable for you lot. Took a huge fucking risk to do it too! What’s that worth to you?” Autumn demanded, stepping up to the desk and slapping her hoof down on it. Her eyes were narrowed in anger and she was glaring at the governor.

“Quite a bit, actually,” the governor answered, eyeing the dark mare warily, “It proves to me that you were telling me the truth the first time we spoke, and that Metro is serious about the agreement. I don’t know of any mercenaries that would go out of their way to enable an agreement before checking with their original employer, not even Greymane. As such, I am willing to accept the alliance, so long as, at some point in the future, a water recycler, or purifier, is provided to us. I know I can trust you to follow through with this agreement. I’ve even put my agreement into writing.”

The governor reached under his desk and pulled out a large piece of paper that was covered in elaborate writing and had his signature boldly displayed at the bottom, “This is a signed declaration of allegiance from Millberry to Metro. It will be honored,” the governor announced, sliding the paper over to me, “Now, then. Was there anything else you needed?”

I gingerly took the paper, giving it a brief look before rolling it up and sticking it into my saddlebags. The entire situation was simply surreal. This governor was far more trusting than anypony I had ever met, and yet, he seemed completely sure of the decision he was making. Maybe my attitude really was making a difference. “Uhh… yeah, there was one thing,” I finally said, “There was a gang of raiders holed up in one of the old farmhouses along the trade route to the west coast. We ran into a caravaneer on the road by the name of Hat Trick. He managed to survived the torture the raiders subjected him to, but he’s in bad shape. We got him and one of his guards, Sparks, out and into the infirmary here in town. We also took out the gang, but you may want to organize some better protection for any caravans headed out that way. I doubt we killed all the raiders out there.”

“Hat Trick’s caravan got hit?” the governor asked in disbelief, shaking his head slowly, “That doesn’t bode well. He had one of the best organized caravans in the region. That’s why he made the western run: he was the only one with the strength to make it safely. I’ll do what I can to fund a replacement. You said he survived. How bad are his injuries?”

“Pretty bad,” Suture answered, “One of his legs was badly amputated and the other was broken in multiple locations. Then there were several lacerations inflicted on his body, as well as many other injuries, both small and large. The worst was that he had the top portion of his horn smashed. I don’t know if he will ever recover his ability to use magic, and if he does, it will be far less powerful that what he is used to.”

I didn’t want to know how painful and far-reaching the effects of having a horn smashed off would be if Suture was claiming that it was his worst injury. I was still firmly of the mindset that the amputation of his leg was the worst. But then, maybe a horn injury was more psychological, rather than physical. It was, after all, the defining feature of a unicorn.

The governor hung his head at the news. “I wouldn’t wish that fate on anypony,” he said, his voice filled with sorrow, “but at least he is still among the living. His knowledge and experience will be a great aid to the town. Thank you for saving him. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“Not that I can think of. We’ll be returning to Metro in the morning. If you need to get in touch with us we’ll be staying at the Drunken Mare for the night,” I said, turning to walk out the door.”

“Very well. Good travels, Evergreen,” the governor announced, bowing his head to me.

I bowed my head in return and stepped out the door. My companions followed me closely as we made our way back to the inn. Now that night had fallen, the streets were mostly empty, except for the occasional pony heading to or from a bar or brothel, and the short walk was uneventful.

The inn was full and loud when we entered, with many ponies sitting at the tables, drinking and swapping stories. I quickly spotted Pearlescent at the bar and pushed my way through the crowd towards her.

The white mare noticed me approaching and a broad smile sprang into existence on her face. She shooed four of the patrons off the bar stools and motioned for us to sit. “Evergreen, I was beginning to worry that I would never see you again!” she shouted with joy once we were seated in front of her.

“There’s no need to worry!” I laughed, “Everything went exactly to plan!” None of my friends managed to hold in their laughter at that statement.

Pearlescent looked from one to the next, one eyebrow raised as all three of my friends laughed at my statement. “I’m guessing that means you were being sarcastic?” she asked once they had quieted enough for me to hear her.

“You better fucking believe it!” Autumn yelled, still chuckling, “We didn’t make it five minutes inside that fucking death trap before we were fighting for our lives! Damn thing was full to the brim with feral ghouls!”

“I remember us being down there for almost fifteen before we had to start shooting!” I protested, pouting.

“Fine, I’ll give you your fifteen. Either way, that thing was definitely not empty!” Autumn retorted, “I can’t even get straight how many times we almost died!”

“Well, the important thing is that you didn’t,” Pearlescent stated steadfastly, pulling out four glasses and filling them with some kind of liquor, “And besides, I heard on the radio about the ghouls you helped get out of there. At least the trip out there wasn’t completely without result. Here, these are on the house for helping ponies in need.” She slid the glasses over to us.

I immediately picked mine up and drained it, letting the alcohol slide down my throat, where it started to burn comfortably in my stomach. Crosswire and Autumn repeated my action. Only Suture hesitated in picking up the drink.

“I’m all right. I don’t drink,” she said, lifting a hoof to push the glass away. Her gaze was still happy, so at least I didn’t have to worry about any imminent mental breakdowns, which made my next decision that much easier.

“Aww, come on Suture!” I insisted, pushing the glass back towards her, “If it helps, I promise none of us are going to get shot tonight! Come on, you deserve a drink for all the shit I’ve dragged you through since Metro!”

Again, the maroon pony hesitated, eyeing the glass warily. “I don’t even know what’s in it!” she protested, “How am I supposed to know it’s safe!”

“Honey, it’s alcohol, of course it isn’t safe,” Pearlescent said, laughing, “Now do as your friend suggests. I don’t give out free drinks often.”

“Come on, Suture! If any of us needs to relax, it’s you!” Crosswire added, nudging her with a hoof.

Suture cast about, trying to find support from somewhere, but found nothing. Even Autumn had an amused look on her face. “Oh, fine,” she finally said, reaching out and picking up the glass. She put it to her lips and tilted her head back, letting the dark liquid flow into her mouth. Immediately, she started coughing, much to our delight.

“What the hell was in that!” she wheezed, still coughing, several moments later. Crosswire was laughing heartily and started to pound on her back to help her catch her breath.

“It’s something I like to call ‘Atomic Whiskey’,” Pearlescent said with a laugh, “It has enough kick to it that I have never seen a pony drink more than five and stay on their hooves.” She looked at us all with a critical eye, as though challenging us to try it.

I sighed heavily, wishing that I was able to take her up on the offer, but we simply didn’t have the time to waste on recovering from the inevitable hangover in the morning. “I’m sorry, Pearlescent, but I have to decline. We’ve got to be moving early tomorrow morning. We have a lot of ground to cover if we want to make it to Metro in a reasonable time, and given our experience getting here, I would rather not travel hungover.”

The mare nodded understandingly. “I can respect that. Want a normal drink, then? Something that you can enjoy without the downside?”

I laughed at that and reached into my saddle bag, pulling out the bottle of Apple Whiskey. “I’ll stick with this, thanks,” I said, and promptly opened the bottle and took a drink.

“I’ll take you up on the offer,” Crosswire said, placing a few caps onto the table.

“As will I!” Autumn announced, also throwing her money down.

Pearlescent nodded and got their drinks, then left us to ourselves while she tended to her other patrons.

We sat quietly for a while, enjoying our drinks in the relative safety that the town provided. I stopped drinking when my bottle approached the halfway mark, just far enough that I was feeling the buzz of the alcohol, but not quite so much that I would be hungover the next morning.

Before long, we started talking, mostly about our experiences during the last few days. Nopony was willing to offer up a whole lot of their past, except for Suture, who regaled us with tale after tale of her life in Metro, most of which was boring city drama that concerned ponies none of us had even heard about. All in all, it was a very pleasant evening, and we all retired to our room late that night, at least content with each other’s company, if not outright happy with it. While everypony else settle down to sleep, I remained outside the room for a few minutes to try to find the radio station.

It took me a while, but eventually, I found it, or at least, I thought I had from the descriptions I had heard other ponies in the bar give about it. It was in the middle of a sad song about a mare that had lost her husband to a buffalo stampede while living on the old Equestrian frontier.

As the song came to its end, the broadcast shifted to a loud and boisterous DJ. “Good evening, Seaddle! This is your DJ and eye in the sky, Shooting Star! Have I got some juicy news for all my faithful listeners tonight! Of course you all remember that nice tale I got to spin for ya’ll yesterday, right? The one about the mare who decided to crawl into that old Stable and dragged a bunch of ghouls trapped down there for two hundred years back to the surface? Well, I have just learned that she is still very much alive and doing what she can to make our home a better place! The report I got is that she went way out of her way on the trade route from Millberry to Seaside to save the leader of a caravan. Now why is this special, you ask? Well, this buck had a crew of nine protecting him, but still got hit by a gang of raiders that had taken up residence in the area. Now, as sad and unbelievable as that is, not only did our Heroine save the poor buck’s life, but she also decided to clean up the whole gang as well, saving one of the guards that managed to survive in the process! How’s that for a good deed, everypony!”

The buck’s voice cut out for the sound of a raucous applause, mixed in with a bunch of cheering, all of the noise obviously recorded.

“Now, I know a bunch of you are wondering exactly who this savior of ghouls and guards is, because I’m wondering the same damn thing! Where has she been hiding all these years, and what kind of society would result in somepony capable of all this? Those are the questions I want answered! So, Heroine of Seaddle, if you’re listening to this, would you mind stopping by my studio downtown sometime for a chat? I’d love to find out where you’ve been hiding out, and why you waited till now to act! Unfortunately, that’s all I have time for tonight! Good night, Seaddle. May the sun greet you with the dawn! This is DJ Shooting Star, signing off!”

The buck’s voice faded away and the music returned, leading into a song by some mare going by the name ‘Sapphire Shores’. The pop sound that emerged from the small computer was far too sprightly for me, so I switched the radio off, and simply stood where I was, trying to puzzle through what I had just heard.

Barely a week had passed since I had been driven away from towns, or had to explain myself in depth to the guards to be admitted, and now I was being hailed as a hero on the radio. For some reason, that didn’t sit right with me. I doubted this DJ knew anything about me, especially what I had been. No matter what he said about me, saving a few ghouls and a couple of caravaneers wasn’t even close to making up for the kind of shit I had done, or the evils I had committed. Unfortunately, I had more important things to do than detour to downtown to set a DJ straight.

I sighed heavily, mostly because I was unable to do anything about the broadcast, and returned to our room where I lay down heavily on the bed. Despite my racing thoughts, I fell asleep almost instantly.

I woke early the next morning, well refreshed and ready for the long trek back to Metro. Sometimes I was surprised at how well I slept, considering everything I had seen and done, but I was not going to question things that worked in my favor. I slowly pushed myself to my hooves, stretching my back and legs, and looked around, only to see that the room was empty. My friends must have already gone downstairs.

I grabbed my knife and Hammer from the nightstand where I had dropped them the night before, replaced them in their respective places, and slipped out the door. I made my way downstairs where I found my friends sitting at the bar, all enjoying a hot plate of food and talking jovially with Pearlescent.

“Ah, there’s our ‘Heroine of Seaddle’!” Pearlescent announced with a laugh, waving a hoof dramatically in my direction. Her gesture drew everypony else’s attention, and they all laughed loudly at the title, though none as loudly and violently as Crosswire, who nearly fell out of his seat, clutching at his gut.

“Yeah, I get it,” I muttered darkly, sliding into a free seat, “I don’t know why he’s saying these things about me. He doesn’t have a clue who I am!”

Pearlescent grabbed a plate of steaming food and slid it in front of me before answering. “That’s exactly why he’s reporting on you. Before the last couple of days, you were nopony. Now that you’ve done a few things that have had, or will have, a far-reaching impact, he’s taking notice and is trying to figure out who exactly you are. I would suggest taking him up on his offer and make the trip to Seaddle. Better he hears the story of your past from you, rather than from somepony that doesn’t know you for who you are now. That way, you’ll have the chance to present yourself in the most favorable light possible. Shooting Star isn’t known for being kind to wrong-doers, and if he gets the wrong image of you, well… it won’t be good.”

I nodded somberly, “Yeah, I suppose that’s true. Somepony like him sounds like they would have a lot of influence. Problem is, I have more pressing matters to attend to. I took on a job, and I can’t go on a random tangent just because not speaking with some DJ will be an inconvenience. I made a promise to the mayor of Metro, and if he decides to agree with me, I already have my next job lined up.”

At the mention of that possibility, I noticed Suture hesitate for a brief second, her eyes revealing a spark of guilt, before reverting back to the happier expression she’d had before. I shrugged mentally at the added mystery at what that could mean. Chances were I’d find out when I got back to Metro. Whatever it was, there were probably good reasons for it.

Pearlescent grumbled in halting agreement. “That makes sense, I suppose,” she said, “But still, I wouldn’t make any plans after that next job other than going into Seaddle. Trust me on this.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I answered, then finally started digging into my meal. As it had been two days ago, the food was delicious, a mix of fresh fruit and vegetables as well as cooked food that had been preserved for two hundred years. In other words, it was a gourmet meal compared to what I usually ate.

While I ate, Pearlescent wandered around the bar, cleaning up the mess left over from the crowd the night before. While doing so, she wandered over to a corner and turned on the radio, tuning it to Shooting Star’s station. The soft music the buck usually played drifted throughout the bar, hushing us all so we could listen.

I closed my eye and simply let the music flow through me. It was an instrumental piece that sounded like it was being played by several well-trained classical orchestra players being led by an especially talented cellist. Unfortunately, as it was with all good things, the song came to an end and Shooting Star himself came on the microphone.

“Good morning, Seaddle. I hope that the piece by Octavia’s orchestra was enough to get you all perked up and ready to face the long, harsh day. I promise: I’ll try to keep the sad songs out of the rotation today! Now, for the news! I’ve been getting reports that the town of Buckview has not been heard from in some time, leading many to believe that something bad has happened to the town. I’m working on getting some eyes out there to let me know what’s going on, but that’s a dangerous road to travel, since a lot of slaver activity has been seen in the area. All we can do is hope that a caravan makes the trip sometime soon and lets us all know if those ponies are still alive. Well, that’s all I have for now. Good luck to you all until next time! This is DJ Shooting Star, signing off!”

The music returned, this time an upbeat song by Sweetie Belle, of all ponies. It seemed that the co-founders of Stable-Tec had managed to do quite a bit of side work while devising plans to kill the ponies that relied on their Stables to survive.

I sat silently while my friends discussed the news, thinking about what the DJ had said. The more I thought about it, the more nervous it made me, especially when I remembered the recording I had found in the Ironshod Firearms factory. It had mentioned that Seahawk would be making his move soon, and since I hadn’t heard of anything especially malevolent coming from the west, especially since the entire area was well-traveled all the way to the ocean, I figured the enigmatic character had to be hiding out in the east somewhere. Now, I just needed to see if the information fit the theory.

“Hey, Pearlescent, exactly where is Buckview?” I called out, shouting so I could be heard over my friend’s conversation.

“It’s a few days walk to the east, near the edge of the Bucklyn Forest,” the proprietor answered while she wiped off a table, “Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted, furrowing my brow in thought, “Something just doesn’t seem right about this. I might need to make a detour out that way to take a look at what’s going on.” The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense. The work I was doing with Metro was to present a strong front to Seahawk when he started his push into Seaddle, so it would make sense that I would want as much information as I could get on the enigmatic figure. If my suspicions were right, and this town’s disappearance was due to him, then that would only help my cause.

“Didn’t you just say you couldn’t afford any detours?” Pearlescent asked, shooting a questioning look in my direction.

“Yeah, I did, but this might be related to what I’m doing,” I said, “Besides, isn’t it rather odd that a settlement to the east would just suddenly stop reporting in? Most of the gangs are to the south, in the mountains. It just doesn’t add up.”

“Do whatever you want dearie. It’s not my job,” the white mare said, moving to another table.

At this point, all of my friends were looking at me. “That your choice, then?” Crosswire asked pointedly.

“Yeah, we’ll check out the rumors about this ‘Buckview’. It should actually work out in our favor. Grovedale and the IF factory are almost directly on the way there, if we need supplies. I know I want to stop by the factory to stock up on ammo for Hammer. I’m starting to run dangerously low,” I said, standing resolutely from my seat to emphasize my decision.

“Wait, what kind of supplies do you guys have stocked up in the factory? Are there any .308 rounds?” Autumn asked, a hopeful look in her eye, “I’ve only got a couple of clips for my rifle left, and I’d rather not have to pay for more.”

“Yeah, there are .308 rounds, as well as a few small arms that you’ll be able to grab for close quarters work, should we need it again,” Crosswire answered.

“Sounds like a plan, then,” I announced, “We’ll detour to the IF factory, grab some extra supplies, then make for Buckview. If we really need to, we can try to stop at Grovedale on the way.”

“Why ‘try to stop’?” Autumn asked curiously, one eyebrow raised, “Couldn’t we just stop there for the night since it’s on the way anyway?”

“I wish. The law there recognizes me and knows my past. Last time Crosswire and I stopped there a week ago, the mayor turned us away and said he was doing us a favor by not shooting. If we’re lucky, and we really need to, we should be able to convince him to let us in,” I answered, seeing no reason not to tell the mare. She knew about my past, after all.

“Well, at least somepony out there remembers what you were,” she said, a smile spreading over her features, “It’s only right.”

I sighed heavily at that. It seemed that even despite everything we had been through, Autumn was still firmly in the ‘I hate Evergreen’ club. “Yeah, we get it, Autumn. I’ve done a lot of bad things. Can we please move on from that?” I looked up and fixed the dark mare in my gaze, trying to make her see how hard I was trying to change.

“What?!” the mare asked, throwing her hooves up like she didn’t have a clue what I was talking about, “I’m just saying. It’s karma!”

“Whatever,” I muttered, turning to walk to the stairs, “I’m going to get my bags. Let’s try to get out of here in the next few minutes, all right? It’s going to take a few hours to get to the factory.”

Everypony followed me upstairs to our room where our saddlebags were waiting, already packed. It took almost no time for us to pull them on and head back downstairs, where Pearlescent was now cleaning up the remains of our meal.

“Thank you for everything, Pearlescent. I appreciate the work you put in for us. Hopefully I’ll be able to make it back here sometime soon,” I said as we walked by, pausing long enough to speak with the white mare.

“Don’t mention it, dear. The Drunken Mare will always be open to you and your friends. Good luck out there. I fear you’re going to need it,” she answered.

I nodded my thanks and started moving again, stepping out the door, where, to nopony’s surprise, it was raining. This time, it was a slow, steady drizzle that was just hard enough to make the ground soft enough to build up a layer of mud. We made our way through the side street to the broad central avenue which we followed out to the main gate, where the guards nodded their acknowledgment of us. A couple of them even muttered ‘Good luck’. Maybe things were finally starting to look up for me.

Before long, the walls of the city disappeared over the horizon behind us, and we were trudging through the empty wasteland, following the remains of an old highway that connected Millberry to the larger settlements and factories to the east, like Grovedale and the IF factory. Shattered carts and desiccated corpse of skywagons littered the highway, building a natural maze that we had to pick our way through, being careful not to cut ourselves on jagged pieces of rotting wood or rusting metal. Occasionally we could see movement in the distance, like a shadow on a hillside that disappeared as soon as we noticed it. I wasn’t too concerned with those. Any raiding party out here would be very hesitant to attack a group like ours. We were very obviously armed and walked with the confidence of ponies who knew how to use their weapons. It would take a lot of motivation, or insanity, on the part of a group of raiders to try to mess with us, or so I told myself.

With a good night’s rest behind us, we made good time, pressing through the remains of civilization. Midday was just passing when the factory first appeared on the horizon. After another hour of walking, we were coming up on its main entrance that was still hanging open after I had kicked my way in a week before. As we approached, the words “Ironshod Firearms Factory discovered’ flashed across my vision.

I slowed to a stop and lifted my leg to inspect my Pipbuck. With a couple of hooftaps I had the map pulled up and started to investigate. To my surprise, there were now several icons on the map, denoting the places I had visited over the last few days. I must have missed the notifications because of how tired I had been and since I had been focused on helping Autumn with Hat Trick and Sparks when we arrived at Millberry, but now I could see little icons denoting most of the places I had been recently: Millberry, Stable 60, the IF factory, and also something labeled Matchbox Farmhouse. That must have been where we fought the raiders.

“Hey, Evergreen, are you coming?” Crosswire called back to me once the rest of the group noticed I had fallen behind.

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” I answered, trotting to catch up, “Was just playing with my Pipbuck. Didn’t notice before when the location tags activated. It caught me by surprise.”

“Well, pay attention. It’s been a week since we were here last, and we’ve told several ponies since then that we’ve cleared this place out. I wouldn’t be surprised if it has some new inhabitants,” Crosswire said, walking through the open door into the lobby.

The remains of the protect-a-ponies were still lying where they had fallen a week before, their husks now covered in a thin layer of dust, but it didn’t seem like there as anypony here. Just to be sure, I walked out into the factory floor and turned in a circle, a careful eye on my E.F.S., but there was nothing except for the blue bars denoting my friends.

“It seems clear,” I announced, “let’s get up to the fourth floor where the armory was.”

Everpony else nodded their agreement and we started moving, climbing the remains of the rusted stairway to the second floor. The halls were dark and dreary, since there were almost no windows in the entire structure and the only light was coming from the small emergency lights set in the wall that were somehow still being powered. The walls were covered in ash, grime, and dust, giving the entire building the feel of a tomb. Every so often, we would stumble across the skeleton of a pony that had died here when the bombs had fallen.

As we pushed our way through the wreckage that Crosswire and I had caused the last time we were here, I thought I saw something move from the corner of my eye, and it looked like it had been heading for the infirmary. It had been no more than a shadow, a quick distortion of the light, but it was enough for my instincts to scream at me that something wasn’t right.

“Hold up!” I called out, bringing everypony to a stop, “I think I saw something move. Keep your eyes open. I don’t think we’re alone in here.”

“You sure?” Autumn Mist asked, “I’m not seeing anything on my E.F.S. except for us. These things are supposed to be foolproof.”

“But they aren’t always. If somepony is skilled enough at hiding themselves, they can fool the E.F.S. Come on, I want to check it out,” I explained, taking the lead and making my may towards the infirmary.

We turned the corner to that section of the building and saw the remains of the massive robot that Crosswire and I had fought. Even looking at its broken remains, it was a terrifying presence, and I was reminded of the sheer amount of power that the thing had possessed.

“Fuck, did you two have to kill that thing last time you were here?” Autumn asked as we approached it, walking around it to take in all of its armaments and the damage that had been necessary to finally disable it.

“Yup. Fucking thing was one tough nut to put down. Took a plasma grenade and four clips of ammo to finally do the job,” Crosswire said, grinning at the wreckage, “And now I can strip it for parts, since I forgot to do that last time.”

“Plasma grenade, huh?” Autumn muttered to herself as Crosswire walked up to the destroyed machine and ripped off one of the access panels. Wires started to fly as he gutted the machine, occasionally pocketing a component or mass of wires. I couldn’t distinguish how he decided one component was worth his time when others weren’t.

By the time he finally finished, I was starting to get impatient. I had the distinct feeling now that somepony was watching us, and I couldn’t tell if the intent was good or not. Unfortunately, knowing the wasteland as well as I did, their intent was probably not good.

“Hey, Evergreen, you find what you were looking for?” Suture asked, coming up beside me, “You were the one who wanted to check out the infirmary.”

I looked around me, staring at the corners and any spots of shadow where somepony could be hiding. “No, I haven’t seen anything else,” I admitted, “But something doesn’t feel right. It just feels like something’s… out of place.”

“I really don’t get where you’re coming from with that, Evergreen,” Autumn announced loudly, walking around the perimeter of the room, delving into desks and cabinets while she looked for worthwhile things to grab, “We haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary yet. I seriously doubt that anypony is here watching you, except for me.”

It was as she said that that I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I spun around to face it and called out, “All right! I know I saw something there! Get out here and show yourself instead of hiding in the shadows like a coward!”

In response, a deep voice started laughing from the darkness and I saw a pony-shaped shadow detach itself from its surroundings and approach us. “My, my, my, you have much sharper eyesight than most of those self-proclaimed ‘adventurers’ I’ve come across,” it said as it stepped into the light.

The buck before us appeared as nothing special, except for his weapons. He was wearing a battle saddle equipped with what looked to be a pair of powerful automatic rifles, not the kind of weapons I wanted to be downrange of. Besides that, he was just an average-sized buck with a crimson hide and a grey mane. The only thing that spoke of his potential danger was the way he held himself. He stood confidently, chest thrust out, as though he was sure there was nothing in the entirety of the wasteland that could put him down.

My mind screamed to a halt as it pieced the obvious together. This buck had a grey mane. Greymane. It had to be. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “So, how can we help you?” I asked, not wanting to tip him off to the fact that I was fairly sure I knew who he was. All the same, I saw him narrow his eyes at me as if he had recognized me.

“You can start by explaining why you’re here. Time was that nopony would come within a mile of this place, yet here you are, on the second floor scavenging components from my broken sentry bot, talking like you’ve been here before, like you were the ones who disabled it,” he said, his voice as cold as ice. His eyes were echoing his voice. This was not a buck I wanted to cross, yet I knew I already done just that.

“Yeah, we had to after it attacked us last time we were here. My friend and I needed some new weapons and ammo, since our supply was low. I figured that between both of our skills we should be able to scavenge something useful from here. Lucky for us, we managed to. The weapons we grabbed have saved our asses a half-dozen times since we were last here,” I explained.

“Hmph, likely story,” the buck snorted, “So why don’t we put all this bullshit aside. I know who you are, Evergreen, and you know who I am. You are messing with shit that you don’t want to be involved in. So here’s my offer: give me the money, ammo, and messages that you stole, and I’ll let you walk.”

Surprisingly, I didn’t become afraid when I heard him say that. I became angry, and also confused. “How the hell do you know who I am, and how the fuck do you know I took that shit, Greymane?” I demanded, taking a step towards the buck.

I could see a hint of uncertainty creep into his eye: a potential weakness. This buck wasn’t used to others standing up to him. He probably hadn’t been since he had built up the kind of reputation he had. Even so, he regained his composure quickly enough that I wasn’t entirely sure I had caught the look in the first place. “I’m busy, not stupid, Evergreen. I know how to listen to a radio and how to eavesdrop on conversations in inns. I know you’ve been working with Metro and Millberry, and I know why. I’m only giving you this chance because it is painfully obvious you don’t know what is going on.”

“Then explain it to me, because after spending the last week with ponies from both of those settlements, I’m awfully confused! Those are good folk, and they don’t need some sort of overlord coming in to fuck up the way they’ve been surviving for the last two hundred years!” I snapped, “From everything I have seen so far, there is no reason for anypony to come here with the intent to take charge. Sure, things aren’t perfect, but they never have been! Things are starting to come together, though! I’ve seen it with my own eyes!”

Greymane sighed heavily, dropping his head in exasperation before lifting it again to glare at me. “You really don’t see it, do you?” he asked, “Seahawk is coming to give us our future! For two hundred years, ponykind has been living broken, shattered lives. I should know; I’ve spent the last thirty years living one. Seahawk has found a way to fix everything, to make things back the way they were. Make our lives peaceful, without the need for ponies like you and me! Isn’t that something we should all want?”

“Evergreen, if this is Greymane, I really think you should watch what you say,” Suture muttered from my side, her anxiety clearly audible in her shaking voice, “Those guns look powerful. I don’t think we’d come out on top if it comes to a fight.”

“Listen to your friend, Evergreen. You don’t have what it takes to beat me. You’re better than most, I will give you that, but it is not good enough. You play at a life I have spent all of mine preparing for,” Greymane said, “Give up and go back where you came from. This is no place for somepony of your stature.”

I doubted that anypony could have said anything else at that moment that would have pissed me off more. Here was a buck that was known for being a merciless mercenary, who was capable of overcoming just about any sort of danger that a pony could come across in the wasteland, suggesting that somepony could just come into a region and set everything right, and yet he resorted to petty insults.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” I said, “Are you even listening to yourself? I listened to that message, Greymane. You were given orders to kill the governor of Millberry if he didn’t listen to you! How the fuck could that possibly mean Seahawk has peaceful intentions!”

Greymane maintained his angry glare, but shifted his body slightly so he was facing slightly off to one side of us. “I should have known you wouldn’t listen to me. It is your own ignorance that stops you from seeing what is coming. When Seahawk arrives, there will be nothing standing in his way to stop him from taking over the entire region. When he has done that, then true peace will reign! I cannot believe that you are so opposed to having things return to the way they once were, before the war.”

“Maybe they shouldn’t go back to being like that,” I snapped, “Look how it ended up!” I waved a hoof around to gesture at our surroundings, “We live in the shattered remains of a world because the one that existed before failed at preparing for its own future! They lost sight of what is important, now we are here, living in the result of their mistakes. Going back to what was isn’t going to help anypony. We need to learn from our mistakes and build a new world! Sure, it will take longer, and a lot of ponies are going to die in the process, it’s unavoidable, but in the end, the result will be worth it! We will have a world we can be proud of!”

Greymane sighed again and shook his head slowly. “So I suppose you will not be giving me my possessions?”

“I guess not,” I answered, widening my stance and lifting my right foreleg slightly, putting Hammer within easy reach. I didn’t have much ammo left, but I should only need a round or two.

“More’s the pity. You had potential, Evergreen. Seahawk would have found a good place for you in the New Equestria,” Greymane said sadly, sounding sincere enough that, for a moment, I believed he meant the words, then he leapt, jumping off to our right to land atop a desk where he swept the barrels of his weapons to cover us.

Everything went to shit in the next few seconds. He opened fire, raining down a hail of lead with his weapons while we scrambled for cover. I ended up behind the remains of the sentry bot, but had no clue where any of my friends were. I cast my head about, searching for their blue bars. Two were off to my left, towards the door to the infirmary. Another was to my right, probably taking cover behind a desk.

I waited for the volume of incoming fire to lessen, then rolled out of cover, bringing Hammer to bear. Once I could clearly see the mercenary, I slipped into S.A.T.S. Time slowed, and my vision zoomed in to focus on the buck, but something wasn’t right. He was less than twenty yards away from me, standing motionless on a desk while he reloaded, but I had a zero percent chance to hit any part of him. It just didn’t seem possible.

I tried to set one round for his torso, but the system wouldn’t allow me, telling me that the chance to hit was too low. I growled in annoyance, then slid out of S.A.T.S. If I couldn’t line up a shot with the system, then I’d just do it on my own. I had lasted long enough without it anyway.

As time snapped back to reality, I took careful aim, centering the sights of Hammer on Greymane’s chest, then pulled the trigger. Hammer kicked in my mouth, and I saw the bullet fly true. To my horror, just as it came close enough to him that it should be burying itself in his chest, it was deflected off to one side by what appeared to be a translucent layer of magic.

The buck started laughing, throwing his head back in his mirth. “Did you really think that one shot would be enough to kill me, Evergreen! I am Greymane, the greatest mercenary to grace the wasteland! One simple revolver will not be enough to kill me!”

He swung his body in my direction, spraying the entire area with bullets. As I dove into cover, I felt a few bite into my flank and legs. It had been so long since I had been shot that the pain caught me by surprise and I landed with a thud that drove the air from my lungs.

“Evergreen!” I heard Suture shout in horror, then there was a scream of pain as the medic’s shout drew Greymane’s attention.

Slowly, I dragged myself back to my feet, gasping for breath. Hammer lay in front of me, almost forgotten, with blood on its handle. As I finally caught my breath, I coughed, and a small glob of blood came out with it, leaving a coppery taste in my mouth, to land with a wet slap next to the pistol.

“Evergreen, get your shit together!” I heard Autumn Mist shout. Her call was pronounced with a pair of retorts from her rifle. Judging from the laughter that followed her attempt, I could only imagine that she had had met with as little success as I had.

I swallowed, pushing the pain from my injuries to the back of my mind, and reached for Hammer. Once it was settled in my mouth, I could quickly tell where they blood in my mouth was coming from; one of my teeth had been knocked loose by the gun’s recoil. I was surprised it had taken this long to happen.

I took a moment to listen for Greymane trying to determine where he was, and where he was shooting. From the sound of things, he was trying to keep Autumn Mist and Crosswire pinned. I was guessing that the tech was with her, since I had heard the mercenary shooting to my right when Suture had spoken, and he was now shooting to my left.

With Greymane now occupied with the sniper, I crept to my right, coming out of cover where I could see the mercenary focused entirely on the infirmary entrance, which he was filling with an obscene amount of lead. He must have been shooting what amounted to a small fortune in ammo alone, without even taking into account the cost of the saddle and guns.

Grinning around the grip of Hammer, I leapt out of cover and opened fire, pelting the buck with bullets. He may have been in possession of a magical barrier, but it couldn’t last forever, especially after the punishment we had already inflicted to it.

Unfortunately, the five rounds I had left in Hammer’s carousel were not enough to break the barrier, and my firing only drew his attention. I dashed across the room, just barely ahead of his fire, and finally came to rest behind a desk that had been split in half, though I couldn’t tell if it was from the fighting that had happened here, or from the apocalypse. I reached into my saddlebags for a reload, but found to my horror that I had no ammo left. I didn’t have a single round left for Hammer.

Gritting my teeth in determination, I spat the revolver into its holster and pulled out my .45. It wasn’t nearly as powerful as Hammer, but it could still shoot. That would have to do.

Another pair of shots rang out from Autumn’s rifle, followed by a staccato of gunfire from Crosswire’s SMG. I reached into my bag for a grenade and jumped out of cover, launching the apple-shaped explosive at Greymane.

With the concentrated fire, Greymane faltered on his desk, unsure of which threat to face. As the grenade exploded, I saw the barrier shatter, rendering the mercenary vulnerable. I slipped into S.A.T.S., finally able to take advantage of the targeting software. The chance to hit his torso through the smoke of the grenade was lower than I would have liked, but you couldn’t always get everything you wanted. I lined up four shots and let the spell take over.

The four shots rang out, but only two found their target, eliciting a cry of pain from Greymane’s direction. I jumped up onto the desk I was behind and continued to fire, hoping I could inflict enough damage to kill the buck.

To my horror, Greymane had been expecting this and had jumped away from the desk to land by the door to the factory floor, where he turned his battle saddle on me. Several bullets hammered into my side, one of which managed to pierce through my armor and bury itself in my side, which sent me tumbling to the ground with a cry of pain.

“No you don’t you over-zealous son of a cunt!” I heard Crosswire shout. There was the sound of pounding hoofsteps as the tech darted out of the infirmary and turned his SMG on the mercenary, opening up with a fully automatic spray of bullets.

As I struggled to my hooves, I heard Greymane grunt in pain, then back away into the factory floor, shooting wildly as he retreated. By the time I was finally back on my feet, the room was no longer an area of immediate danger. I saw Crosswire dash into the factory floor, Autumn Mist close behind him.

I followed after them, but slowed to a halt as I reached the door, remembering Suture. “Make sure the son of a bitch gets what he deserves!” I shouted after them, “I need to find Suture!”

Not even bothering to listen for a reply, I turned my back on the door and stepped back into the room. I listened carefully, trying to pinpoint where the maroon mare was. I centered my gaze on her bar in my E.F.S. and galloped to where she was lying. What I saw almost made my heart stop.

Suture was lying in a swiftly expanding pool of blood, gasping for breath and struggling weakly to get into her saddlebags where she kept her medical supplies. There were three holes punched through her barding, gunshots in her chest that were the source of all the blood. I ran to her side and pulled out a pair of potions, ripped them open and offered them to the mare. She drank deeply, but the potions had little to no effect on her obvious injuries. I could only hope that they were mending the internal injuries.

Suture coughed weakly as I pulled the potions away, bringing up a small tide of blood. This was not good. I dug through her bags, and mine, searching for more potions, but could only find three. I pulled all three open and made Suture drink. As before, the potions seemed to have very little effect. The smell of blood was quickly becoming overpowering, and my hooves were already covered, resulting in me smearing the maroon mare’s blood over everything I touched.

“Suture, you’re going to be okay, I promise!” I said, trying to wipe the blood off her muzzle, but all I did was smear it around, “I’m going to be right back! I need to go into the infirmary and look for more potions, all right! Just stay awake, promise me that!”

Suture nodded weakly, but said nothing. I could see her struggling just to stay conscious. Given the extent of her injuries, I was surprised that she still hadn’t already passed out.

Leaving her where she was, I ran as fast as I could into the infirmary where I proceeded to tear it apart, searching for medical supplies. Unfortunately, Crosswire and I had completely cleared the area of medical supplies the week before. All I could find were a few pre-war packets of chems like Mint-als and Med-X, but nothing in the way of healing potions.

Giving the attempt up for lost, I ran back to the injured mare’s side, where I propped her head up so I could at least try to help her. The sounds of battle were still coming from the factory floor, but they were distant, as though the fight was happening on the far side of the building.

“Okay, I couldn’t find any potions, Suture, but I can still help you! Tell me what to do!” I begged.

“Stop… bleeding,” Suture murmured, so quiet that I had to lean in close just to make out the words.

“Right, the bleeding,” I said, pulling out a mass of white bandages. I pulled her barding off and started to wrap them around the mare, tying them as tightly as I could without strangling her, hoping it would be enough to stem the tide of blood still flowing from the gaping wounds. The bandages were quickly soaked with blood, and I had to wrap another layer on just to keep the blood from leaking out. By the time I was finished, it looked like Suture was some sort of ancient mummy.

Knowing what kind of pain Suture was probably in, I rooted around for a few shots of Med-X that I quickly administered. Suture’s eyes and twisted grimace slowly relaxed as the drugs took hold, easing some of her pain.

“Listen to me, Suture, you need to stay awake. Once Crosswire and Autumn Mist get back we’re going to get you somewhere where you can get help, okay. You just need to stay awake,” I said, pleading with her.

It was all I could to do keep from breaking into tears. She wouldn’t have been injured if I hadn’t insisted we come here. We should have just gone straight to Metro and paid for new weapons and ammo there. But I just had to go with the free option, even knowing that the site had been home to something I had taken from one of the best fighters in the entire wasteland. Now, she could be paying the largest price, just for a few guns.

Suture nodded weakly at my words, but I could see that it was a losing battle for her. Just as she was about to lose consciousness, I heard her mutter, “Not your fault.” Her eyes closed, and for a moment, I was terrified that the worst had happened.

I lowered my head to her chest and held my breath. Thankfully, I could still hear a heartbeat and she was still drawing breath. But more important, it was in that moment of total silence that I noticed that the sounds of battle had faded to nothing.

I lifted my head and turned my head to look back towards the door. Crosswire and Autumn were standing just inside the frame, horrified looks on their faces.

“Is she dead?” Crosswire asked, not unkindly, but entirely devoid of emotion. He wasn’t being harsh, it was just his way to ask the blunt questions.

I slowly shook my head. “No, she’s still alive, but only barely. Where’s Greymane? Did you kill him?”

The question prompted Autumn’s face to twist in anger. “No. The filly-raping asshole got away, but not before we gave him some wounds he won’t soon forget. Bastard is so wrapped up in his own reputation he forgot he bleeds just like the rest of us.”

It was with that comment that I noticed both of them were bleeding from multiple wounds, mostly gunshots. It was surprising that any of us were still on our hooves.

“So what’s the plan now, Evergreen?” Crosswire asked, a note of worry creeping into his voice in his voice, and a knowing look in his eye, “We’re in some deep shit and need a quick decision, and I haven’t got a fucking clue how to handle this.” He walked towards me until he was looking down at Suture’s unconscious form.

“We came here to accomplish something. I don’t want to leave without doing that, but nothing is worth the life of somepony else, so here’s what we’re gonna do. Crosswire, I want you to go up to the fourth floor and grab the weapons and ammo we came for. You know what we need,” I explained, pulling off my saddle bags and handing them to the buck for extra carrying space, “In the meantime, Autumn and I are going to start carrying Autumn out of here. It’s risky moving her, but she’s going to die here if we don’t.”

Crosswire nodded smartly, “Sounds like a plan. Where are you going to head for?” It was just like him, not to question a decision that had been made.

“Grovedale. It’s the only settlement close enough with the supplies we need to save her life. I’ll gladly take the risk of Just Law putting a bullet in my head if it means I can save Suture’s life,” I answered, drawing strength from my determination to see Suture survive.

Crosswire nodded somberly, but Autumn was giving me a confused look. “Just Law? Who the fuck is that? And what did you do to piss him off?”

“Just Law is the pony in charge of Grovedale. I used to live there before I became a raider. I already told you why Grovedale is a problem for me. Just Law is just the one who’ll carry out the sentence. Crosswire and I went back a week ago hoping he would have forgotten or that somepony else would be in charge, but that wasn’t the case. Now, are your inane questions done yet? Can we save her now?” I demanded, glaring at the dark mare.

“Yeah, sure. I’m warning you though, I don’t have near enough strength right now to carry the whole way on my own. If you haven’t noticed, I’m not in the best shape myself,” Autumn pointed out harshly.

“We’re all shot up. Just lighten her up and I’ll be able to carry her,” I growled, shifting Suture until I had her resting across my shoulders. I heard Autumn summon her magic and most of Suture’s weight disappeared off my back, making it relatively easy for me to lift her.

Once I was on my hooves, I shot a glance at Crosswire, who was settling the extra saddle bags across his back. “Crosswire, you don’t know how much I appreciate this. I would have died long ago without you. Be careful and try to catch up quickly. We’re going to get a head start; I don’t know how much time she has,” I said, looking up Suture with worried eyes.

He nodded tiredly, “Ok, but don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine, but Greymane could still be out there. Keep your eyes open.”

“I’ll be careful,” I said, then started walking. Crosswire broke off to find the stairwell up while Autumn and I descended down to the first floor and made out way back out into the wasteland.

The rain was still coming down, but it wasn’t enough to wash away Suture’s blood from my hooves or the guilt in my heart. I couldn’t deny that it was entirely my fault that Suture had gotten hurt, regardless of what she had said. It had been my choice to come here, and my failure for not thinking of the possibility that Greymane would be waiting for us. Now, somepony I felt responsible for was paying the price for my failure. She had even suggested that I be careful talking to Greymane. Instead, I had completely ignored her and goaded the buck into attacking us.

The pain of my injuries quickly made itself known as the rainwater sluiced over me. Every step became a struggle as my body argued loudly to stop pushing forward. We had barely covered half the distance to Grovedale when I collapsed. I had been plodding along, trying to make my mind stop beating me up over the situation I had gotten us into, then my legs had simply given out, sending me to the ground and making Suture fall into the mud.

Autumn cried out in shock as I fell, her magic failing as she tried to take all of Suture’s weight. “Evergreen! What the fuck!” she exclaimed walking up to my side and nudging at me with a leg, “Get up! We’re not even close yet!”

I struggled weakly, trying to catch my breath, but my body simply wasn’t agreeing. “I’m trying,” I muttered, finally getting my shaking legs under me, but when I tried to stand, I simply fell over again, my exhaustion getting the better of me.

“I can’t carry both of you,” Autumn growled, leaning down and forcing me to my feet, “So you better get up and stay there. I am not letting you off the fucking hook!”

I stood there, leaning against the dark mare for a full minute before I was finally steady enough on my feet again to try to lift Suture. Slowly, I pulled the injured medic onto my shoulders and tried to stand, but her weight, even with Autumn’s help, was simply too much, and I collapsed again.

“I… I can’t do it…” I panted heavily into the mud, “she’s just too heavy.”

Autumn growled angrily and I heard her rooting around in her saddle bag. She walked over to me and knelt down by my head, floating a small, brown container in front of me.

“Eat two of these,” she ordered, pulling the cap off the small brown bottle, “Then you’ll be able to carry her.”

“What is it?” I asked, lifting my head slightly, but I couldn’t make out the writing on the label.

“Buffout. It’ll get you back on your hooves long enough for us to get to Grovedale. And if you’re worried about addiction, I’ve got two points for you: the first is that one use isn’t going to get you addicted, the second is that if you don’t, Suture is going to die out here,” Autumn explained, her voice harsh “Now swallow those pills and let’s go.”

Weakly, I stretched out my tongue and waited for Autumn to dump two of the small tablets onto it. I swallowed and simply lay in the mud, waiting for the pills to take effect. It didn’t take long.

The first sensation I felt was akin to a second wind. My breathing became stronger and I was able to make it to my hooves unassisted. By the time I was lifting Suture, I felt fit enough to take on an entire gang of raiders by myself. With the help of the drugs, Autumn and I resumed our journey, pressing through the rain and mud to get to Grovedale before it was too late.

When Suture’s breath became shallow and harsh, I knew we were racing against time, and that the odds were sorely stacked against us. I tried to pick up the pace, but Autumn Mist kept me in check, reminding me that the only reason I was even on my hooves was because of a bunch of drugs and that I didn’t want to push myself while under their influence.

It took effort, but I managed to restrain myself to Autumn Mist’s careful pace. With it, we managed a steady trot that ate up the remaining miles, until we were standing at the gate of Grovedale just as the day’s light was beginning to dampen.

“Hey, I recognize you! What the fuck you think you’re doing, coming back here!” the guard shouted down at us, “And what the fuck are you carrying?”

“I wouldn’t have come back if I didn’t have a choice,” I shouted back, “but right now, I don’t. My friend is barely alive right now, and she needs help, fast, if she’s going to survive. This was the only settlement close enough for us to make it before she dies! Please, if you have any mercy left in your heart, let us in!”

“No can do,” the guard responded, “Direct orders from Just Law. If I let you in, I’d be no better than you, and he’d throw me out on my rump, if he doesn’t shoot me first. Looks like you’re gonna have to try something else.”

“There is nothing else!” I snapped, “If you don’t open that gate, she is going to die! That is a fucking guarantee! I’ve already done all I can to help her, but it isn’t enough! I don’t have the supplies or the know-how to save her!”

“Not our problem,” the guard snapped in response, floating her rifle around until it was leveled directly at me, “Now if you would kindly turn around and get the fuck out of here, that would be appreciated. Otherwise…” She chambered a round, making sure we could hear it.

“Listen up, you fucking bitch!” Autumn shouted, just as I was crumbling to the ground in utter defeat, “We just dragged our asses all the way out here to save our friend, and you’re just gonna turn us away? You’re no better than a bunch of fucking raiders!”

“What?! You’re calling us the raiders?” the guard shouted in shock, “What the hell do you know about it! You’re the one traveling with one!”

“Yeah, traveling with her to make sure she doesn’t fuck up. I’ll tell you right fucking now, Evergreen was an evil bitch, and I can never forgive her for what she’s done, but in the few days I’ve been with her, she’s done nothing but the right thing, so get off your fucking high horse and let us in so our friend doesn’t die! You’re nothing but a bunch of raiders if you don’t at least try to help those in need!” Autumn retorted.

I simply stood there, shocked into inaction. Autumn Mist was actually speaking out in my defense, and it seemed to actually be having an effect. It seemed there was more to her than I had initially believed. I would need to keep a careful eye on her from here on out.

“What… I… You…” the guard stammered, “Just Law, get over here, I need you!”

“What the hay is the problem now, Lighteye,” I heard Just Law say as he appeared on the wall and looked down at us. “Evergreen! Ya’ll had the gall to come back ‘ere?! Lighteye, shoot ‘em. I warned ‘em not to come back.”

“Fine, shoot us and let all of Seaddle know never to trust this town again. We came here because it was the only chance for our friend to survive. If you’re going to kill us for that, then I hope Shooting Star gets a good look, so the rest of the wasteland can see,” Autumn shouted.

The next few seconds were filled with a tense silence as Just Law simply glared at us, his mind obviously working overtime as he tried to decide what to do with us.

“Ya’ll got to be fucking kiddin’ me,” he finally said, “Is that why yer carrying a half-dead pony around yer shoulders, Evergreen?”

“Yes!” I shouted at him, “She took some serious fire earlier today. I did what I could, but it isn’t enough! She needs real medical attention! If you think I’m trying to kill you than just take a good look at us! We’re both shot up and injured. There’s no way in hell we could pull anything off!”

“Humph, fine! You can enter, on one condition, Evergreen! I get your guns and you don’t get them back until you leave. Is that clear?” Just Law shouted down.

I just about fainted in relief. “Yes, it’s a deal! Can you have somepony help us with her to the infirmary?”

Just Law didn’t respond, but simply nodded. I couldn’t imagine that he was too happy with the situation.

Slowly, the gates opened, and a group of guards came out to relieve us of our weapons, which they then took away to the town armory. Two bucks took Suture off my shoulders and started carrying her through the town. I followed after them, starting to shake as the Buffout started to wear off and I came down from the high it had put me on.

Every step through the town was a memory, and very few of those were good anymore. As long as I had lived in Grovedale, it had never been a happy life. My first memory of the town was my parents getting shot and killed just outside its walls. Now, the walk through the barren streets was one of regret and accusation. Many ponies here still remembered me, and they made the fact that they recognized me painfully obvious as they shot angry glares and hostile gestures in my direction.

The streets were much as I remembered them: narrow and suffocating. Lives here seemed to be lived in eternal hardship, as every pony had a duty and an expectation that that duty would be done without prompting. Every building had been renovated in some fashion, but the renovations were mostly slats of recycled, rotting wood thrown under a load-bearing wall to keep the structure from collapsing entirely. Even though the town was surviving, and on some counts thriving, it always seemed to be on the verge of total collapse.

Luckily, we were soon away from the claustrophobic confines of the buildings and in the infirmary. The building was dark and smoky, a result of the doctor’s habit of chain smoking, but he kept his work places clean, and I knew from experience his skill with medicine.

He was soon working on Suture with barely an exchange of words, doing everything in his power to preserve what little spark of life she had left. I took my place on a bed nearby, just wanting to get off of my hooves for a moment, but as soon as I lay down, my body took that as an excuse to shut down and I passed out.

By the time I woke, I found myself lying on an infirmary bed, barding missing and injuries bound. I shot up from where I was lying and cast about the room, searching desperately for Suture. Instead, my gaze found Autumn Mist and Crosswire, who were sitting quietly and talking in hushed tones on the other side of the room. They both appeared to be in one piece, and they had similar bandages wrapped around their various wounds, just as I did. However as long I had been out, it seemed that we had all been well taken care of.

Slowly, and painfully, I pushed myself to my hooves and joined them. “Where’s Suture?” I asked, not quite wanting to hear the answer.

“She’s alive. Doc has her in a separate room to recover. Says she needs at least twenty-four hours of total bed rest until he even thinks about letting her go. He’s got her sedated right now to make sure she can heal,” Autumn explained.

I nodded slowly, relieved beyond any measure to hear that she had survived. I turned to Crosswire, “Did you make it into the town all right?”

He nodded and answered quietly, “Yeah. They took my guns and all the supplies I grabbed from the armory, but they led me here once they knew I was traveling with you.”

“Good. I wouldn’t have put it past Just Law to have not let you in simply because you were with me,” I said, “He’s been known to be petty.”

Crosswire simply shrugged in response.

We fell into a conversation about nothing, trying simply to pass the time until somepony showed up to decide what to do with us, but I couldn’t get my mind off of Suture. Pearlescent’s words about how her life was not my responsibility any more than Autumn Mists’ or Crosswire’s were echoing in my ears, but I couldn’t bring myself to believe them. Suture wasn’t a fighter, yet I kept putting her into positions where she was in danger. There was no excuse for that.

After an hour of pointless conversation, the door swung open and Just Law sauntered in, his revolver very openly displayed in a holster across his chest, just out of reach of his mouth.

“So, Evergreen, tell me exactly what Ah’m s’posed to do right now. Ah’ve got a lot of ponies telling me I should put a bullet in yer head because ye decided to show yer face again. I’ve also got a bunch of ponies insisting that yer this ‘Heroine’ Shooting Star’s been goin’ on about these last few days,” he drawled, leaning against one of the beds and fixing me in a cold glare, vocalizing the quotes around the title.

“They aren’t lying,” I answered, deciding there was no use to try to deceive the buck, “Shooting Star has been talking about me, but I’m definitely no heroine. I’m just trying to help some ponies out, trying to make up for all the shit I’ve done.”

“That so?” Just Law asked, raising an eyebrow, “Well, regardless, my hooves are tied right now, and Ah can’t just let ye wander the streets of my town. Ah’m placing ye under house arrest here until ye leave, understood? And when you do, I expect you to not try to come back. Ye were exiled fer a reason, and Ah ain’t the forgiving type.”

“Then what happens if my employer gives me a job to come down here, Just Law? I’m working rather closely with the mayor of Metro right now, and there is every chance he’ll send me down here for a job in the near future. I’m not going to risk my job because of something like this. I changed my ways. Maybe you need to change yours as well,” I argued pointedly, letting some of my anger at the buck slip through into my voice.

“Then Ah guess that’s a hurdle we’ll need to cross if it comes to that. If ye’re doin mercenary work, I s’pose I can’t just turn ya’ll away, but if we do need to do business, it’ll be at the gate, deal?” he asked, spitting on one hoof and holding it out to me.

“Deal,” I answered, spitting on my hoof and bumping his. I felt another weight lift off my chest. When Just Law made a deal, he held to it.

The buck nodded slowly, then made his exit without another word, leaving us to ourselves again. We turned back to our conversation, trying to pass the time once again, but my heart wasn’t in it. Luckily, the next interruption was not long in coming.

The door swung open not ten minutes after Just Law had left and I was faced with one of the most bizarre sights I had ever seen in the wasteland. Standing before me, in an infirmary in the middle of a nowhere town, was a fully armored Enclave soldier, guns and all. His helmet was clipped to his side, at least letting us see his face.

The buck was a light blue in color, but his mane looked like a live fire atop his head, with swirls of reds, oranges, and yellows dancing around each other, as if in a fight for dominance. His face was set into an expression of determination, and I could see a fierce strength in his deep green eyes. The oddest thing about his appearance was that his armor was not jet black as most Enclave power armors were. He had streaks of gold painted on it, almost like war paint, but they made his armor appear much lighter and more streamlined that it really was.

The two guns hanging off his armor were a pair of 7.76 miniguns, not exactly the kind of weapons I wanted to be caught in front of. He also had a pair of knives strapped to his chest-plate, though I couldn’t see what use they would be if he was fighting from behind the confines of his helmet.

“Can I help you, Enclave?” I asked, not quite sure what to make of the buck.

“Are you the Heroine of Seaddle?” he asked in a deep, rich voice. The same strength that I had seen in his eyes was apparent in his voice as well, and he spoke in a direct fashion that brooked absolutely no nonsense or deviation.

I sighed and hung my head. “The DJ on the radio has been calling me that, but I’m no hero. I’m just a pony trying to make up for my mistakes and do a job. Saving those ghouls was simply a bonus to my real business out by the Stable.”

“But you are the one who performed those actions?” the buck asked, taking a step forward.

“Yeah, I am. What’s it to you?” I demanded, standing up to face the buck. Even on my hooves, he towered over me, an example of strength and power that I hadn’t seen before, even in most Earth Ponies. It really wasn’t all the surprising, though, given the strength needed to be able to use a set of power armor.

“I’m searching for some ponies that have been cast out by the Enclave leadership. From the news I’ve received, they may have ended up near that Stable. Can you tell me if you’ve seen anything that could aid my search?” he asked.

My mind instantly went to the two Dashites we had killed in the cavern, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell this buck about them. “What’s it matter to you where they are? If they were cast out, then they’re Dashites. I thought the Enclave didn’t fuck with the Dashites as a rule?”

“I’m not Enclave, not anymore. They simply weren’t in a position to take my armor or guns when I left. Consider me as much a Dashite as any other wasteland Pegasus. Now, have you seen them or not?” the buck demanded.

I remained silent for a moment, weighing my choices, and finally decided on the truth. “Yeah, I came across them, but they’re dead now. They were camped out in the cavern that Stable 60 was stashed in. As soon as my friends and I showed up, they tried to kill us. We killed them in self-defense. They weren’t sane.”

The buck was completely silent at the conclusion of my explanation, and his expression was one of hard determination, leading be to be nervous of what his next action would be. “Was there anything odd about them, other than their sanity, or lack thereof?” he asked, voice held carefully emotionless.

“Yes,” I answered, “One of them professed his loyalty to the Enclave with his dying breath. It struck me as odd since he was branded as a Dashite, albeit badly.”

“Fuck,” the buck swore, “I get so close, simply to have it torn from my hooves. Thank you for your help.”

As he turned to leave, I called out after him, “Wait! What the hell was up with them? And where do you think you’re going to go now that your lead is gone?”

The Pegasus paused at the door, the slowly turned around to face me. “The answer to your first question is none of your business. The question to your second is east. There are rumors of more Dashites that way.”

“East? Towards Buckview?” I asked, “That’s where we’re headed, once our friend recovers.”

The buck raised an eyebrow in interest. “Why are you going to Buckview? What’s out there for you?”

“Chasing a rumor, like you. There was a report that nopony has heard from the town in a few days. I have a theory, but I need to go out there to prove it. The reason for that is my business. I’m just thinking it will be safer to travel as a group, instead of alone,” I answered.

“You sure about this, Evergreen?” Crosswire asked, “I mean, he’s Enclave. Sure, he may say he’s a Dashite, but he’s got the armor and the guns that say otherwise.”

“I’m actually with Crosswire on this one. I don’t know if I trust him,” Autumn put in.

“Seems your friends are against me, Evergreen. Thank you for the offer, but I don’t think I can accept when the tables are against me,” the buck said, then turned to walk away.

“They didn’t say they were against it,” I called after him, “They simply said they were wary. I’m willing to trust you, because, for some reason, I believe you. I’m curious as to why those Dashites seemed to still be loyal to the Enclave, and it seems to me like it could be related to what I’m working on. To that end, I want you to travel with us, at least as far as Buckview. We’re both going that way anyway. It would be better to go working together than to get in each other’s way.”

The buck remained silent with his back to us as he considered my words, then slowly turned to face me, face set in determination. “Fine. Agreed. We shall leave as soon as this friend of yours is recovered. If our partnership is found to be agreeable, we may be able to continue it even after Buckview.”

“Sounds good to me. I’m Evergreen. These two are Crosswire and Autumn Mist. Our injured friend is Suture,” I answered, gesturing to each in turn.

“My name is Sergeant Steel Curtain, er, I mean Steel Curtain. I am still adjusting to life outside the Enclave,” the buck answered, blushing slightly in embarrassment at his slip, “I have lived my life so long in their service that speaking my rank, even if I no longer hold it, is simply a habit.”

“Understandable. I know how easy it is to fall into a rut,” I answered, “Welcome to the crew. With luck, we should be able to head out in the morning.”

Steel Curtain nodded his understanding. “Good. In that case, I will go to the market to purchase some supplies. Is there anything you need?”

“As many medical supplies as you can get, mostly healing potions. We’ve used all of ours in the last few days,” I said, reaching into my saddlebag that was lying on the ground next to me for a pouch of caps, which I tossed to the buck, “Here, to help cover the costs.”

He nodded in appreciation, then stepped out the door without another word.

“So, were traveling with a Dashite wearing full power armor now, are we?” Crosswire asked, “This is going to be interesting.”

I found myself nodding in agreement. “At least it’s another layer of armor and bullets between us and the other guys.”

Level Up!
Perk Gained! – Scrounger – You are much more likely to find ammunition when scavenging.
Skill Note: Medicine (25)

{And so another chapter is done. I hope you guys like the new description style I tried out this time around (I tried to not make it interfere too much with my writing style in general). Hopefully, it helped make everything a bit more real. I know it did for me. As always, thank you to Kkat for the creation for Fallout: Equestria, and thank you to my editors Cody and MUCKSTER. As always, here is the link to the Hub Page: Redemption.)