Centuries old ash rose up around my right forehoof as it came down upon the edge of the cracked and worn highway. I shifted my body forward and stood for a moment, scanning the countryside. My Pipbuck’s radiation meter began clicking steadily louder in my ears as the cloud of fine powder settled about it and my front hooves. Big surprise, the stuff was highly radioactive. For the past several hours of walking, I’d noticed my Pipbuck’s heads-up-display flickering out in a burst of static, making many of its features worthless. For the moment, I ignored the steady clicking of rads I was soaking up and instead scanned the twisted, jagged branches of the Dead Forest with tired, dry eyes. With my E.F.S. being down, it was all I had.

As I turned my head slowly to look across the hillsides and small valleys, a humid breeze picked up from the north and stirred up small clouds of ash as it flowed along the earth. Upon reaching me, the wind ruffled my mane and tail gently, offering a bit of relief from the constant oppressive heat that seemed to smother the wasteland. The wind thankfully blew away the offending clouds that had settled about my forelegs before it could rise any higher and irritate my already stinging nose. Much of my black coat was already covered in the pale grey stuff, along with my sweat stained blue jumpsuit and black riot armor.

Shifting my weight upon my hind quarters, I glanced down to my ash covered body and brushed my right fore hoof across my chest, watching as the fine powder drifted away on the dying breeze. The ticking of my Pipbuck began to die down and I could only imagine how many rads we’d soaked up since leaving Old Oaks this morning. Thank the goddesses above, we’d found enough Radaway while searching the ruins the night before; otherwise, I doubted we’d be able to make it to Janesville. The sound of movement from in front of me caught my attention and my ears swiveled towards the noise, my hoof dropping back down to the pavement as I focused on the possible threat.

As I scanned the nearby trees once more with my yellow eyes, I tried looking for any signs of something living among the blackened husks. I attempted to pick out any threatening shapes among the trees, trying to ignore the bursts of static that popped up where normally my E.F.S. would be. At times it would almost seem to work, green dots popping up in my vision to indicate the location of the caravan behind me and the ponies scouting ahead of me. However, as quickly as it appeared, it would disappear, replaced with a blur of static grey lines.

After a moment of standing still, hoof poised to bring Luna’s Ruse up to my mouth, I determined the sound had most likely come from the trees surrounding the roadway. The breeze had disturbed the twisted, craggy branches, causing them to rub up against one another. Beyond the distant rumbling of thunder, it had been the only sound anypony had heard for hours now. After everything they’d been, it was beginning to unsettle a few of the locals. Their nerves were already frayed, as we’d been forced to stop a couple times due to somepony thinking they’d heard raiders sneaking up on them. If I was honest, it was doing the same to me. Or was it the lack of fighting? I’d really expected something to try and kill us by now. Or maybe it was just the location? I wasn’t one to normally be spooked by places uneasy, yes, but down right scared… well, not since I’d been a foal. Then again, the name my Pipbuck had assigned to this place hadn’t helped matters.

The Dead Forest.

As far as names go, I suppose it was quite fitting for our surroundings. While it certainly wasn’t the most original name, it worked well. Before the bombings and mass deaths, the forest’s real name had been Old Oaks. I suppose when you got right down to it, us ponies weren’t the most original when it came to naming places, as Spirit had pointed out a few hours ago. I snorted softly and looked away from the nearby branches, gently swaying in another humid breeze, to look out across the hillside I had stopped upon.

For miles around, all anypony could see were the blackened, twisted trees covering the hillsides and flat lands surrounding the road and well beyond it. Most of the trees had been reduced to little more than short wooden stumps or pony-high posts. Their branches had been ripped away by the balefire-storm that had killed them. In places within the forest, black bits of bark stuck up from the blanket of grey ash that covered everything. In other parts, whole fallen trees rose up like islands along with stones and even a few bits of buildings, blown all the way from New Oaks.

A few of the trees among the forest still had their upper halves intact. Their branches looked like the clawed fingers of some fossilized creature grasping for the sky in their final moments of life. Most stood little higher than six or eight feet in height. Others towered over their smaller brethren and looked to be a good four or five stories in height. Those were far rarer, since these trees had been raised solely for their lumber and thus fewer would grow to be so large. It would seem these were also the resting place of ponies seeking refuge from their doomed cities, as most large trees had small clusters of skulls gathered below them. Some with horns, most without... some adults, some foal-sized. Alongside the dead lay rusted weapons or personal effects, hastily removed from homes as they fled in the dozens to the forest. All were half buried within the ash where they had been dropped as their owners perished from the fire, smoke, or radiation.

Ash.

Slowly, I rose to all four hooves and shook myself off. A cloud of grey ash rose up from my coat and equipment, causing my Pipbuck to click like mad. I snorted heavily to clear my nose of the stuff and brushed my tail back and forth across my flanks to clear whatever ash had gathered about my backside. The stuff got into everything, to which Wild had more than happily related to anypony who’d listen when we’d stopped a few hours ago to give everyone a chance to rest and relieve themselves.

In truth, this was something I’d found rather surprising... the ash, not Wild (I seriously doubted there was much the wild tempered mare could do or say that would surprise me anymore). The ash covered the ground from the edges of the pavement all across the deathly silent forest floor, up into the hills and beyond. According to Stone and Jackhammer, the blanket of ash stretched all the way towards the crater that had been New Oaks and further to the south. I’d have expected the rain or wind to have blown much of it away after a hundred and fifty years. For whatever reason though, it hadn’t. In some places it easily came up to one’s knees and shoulders. Again, that was according to what I was told. To step off the road was almost certain to end in death from the high levels of radiation.

Looking away from the desolate ash covered wasteland, I stared ahead at the roadway and frowned. While the highway was mostly clear of ash, there were still places where it had blown across it. Walking through it resulted in the stuff getting packed up tightly in our horseshoes. Ahead lay just such a patch, and just beyond it stood Carrion and Balefire. They were stomping their hooves against the pavement in an effort to knock the ash from between their shoes. Carrion seemed far less worried than Balefire, likely due to the radiation being less hazardous to the ghoul. He began walking once more before Balefire had finished. My young green friend quickly rose up and, after giving me a wave, began following after the surly, former army officer. Undead or not, having one's hooves filled up with itching irradiated powder was annoying.

Thankfully, the ash pile was only hoof deep and barely five feet wide. As my friends had before me, I paused and began stomping my hooves upon the asphalt to try and knock the ash out from them. While I worked on freeing the last of the ash from my hind hooves, I glanced towards the radiation meter on my Pipbuck’s display. It had steadily been rising from green to yellow, though it was still quite a way from red. Another couple hours and I’d be forced to use one of the Radaways in my saddlebags or risk radiation poisoning... or at least a more severe case of it. I’d take pissing blood over throwing up my internal organs anyday of the week (even though it burned like hell coming out).

As I knocked the last of the the ash free, I glanced back the way we’d came and looked to the darkened sky where Old Oaks must have been. The storm we’d spotted earlier that morning before leaving was making its way slowly across the wasteland, creeping ever closer to the highway and our little convoy of ponies. Wild had said it likely wouldn’t hit until we were a few hours from Janesville… if everything went as planned. I snorted and shook my head, wondering how often things ever went as planned. A distant flash of lightning lit up the sky for a moment, which was followed a second later by a distant boom of thunder. The storm seemed much closer than it had before.

Lowering my gaze from the sky to the roadway, I scanned the line of rickety wagons slowly trudging their way up the hill. The last in the row had just crested the last hill we’d climbed and began working their way down the other side. Most of those riding that were able to walk had dismounted to help ease the burden of those pulling them, leaving those who could not to rest. Everypony, however, looked tired. The high radiation levels were sapping the strength of those trudging through it and those that had been injured in the fighting around Old Oaks. I found myself regretting the choice I’d picked for this journey, but as Wild had pointed out when we’d stopped earlier, it was really the only choice we had.

The pegasus had flown us here from San Ponsisco, and while we’d been unable to see everything from within the armored passenger compartment of the sky chariot, she had seen just how far off the vast field of ash had stretched around the small town. I suppose that also explained the lack of any real effort on building a wall around the town. After all, why build a massive wall of junk when you were surrounded by a irritated forest? Because somepony might use the road to attack you, was the answer my more tactical side shot back. A sudden shadow passing overhead caught my attention and I glanced skyward.

A slender orange mare came into sight, pulling a sleek black armored chariot behind her above the trees. The armored chariot and hooves of the pegasus skimmed inches above the dead forest before looping back towards the roadway where I stood. Wild passed overhead again, glancing down and giving me a salute with one foreleg before winking playfully at me, her red mane and tail flowing out behind her. As the chariot came over, I spotted two ponies standing watch on either side of the armored transport, leaning out the side doors. As I watched Wild slowly bank herself and the chariot to the left, I spotted Stone waving a hoof off towards the south and yelling into the headset’s mic he had on under his hat. His marefriend nodded her head before she leveled them out and, with a powerful flap of her wings, sped off towards whatever he’d spotted.

We’d been lucky thus far, as our eyes in the sky had little to do beyond spotting a single radscorpion that appeared to be making its way towards the road. Stonehoof’s sharp eye, steady hoof, and uncanny skill with his rifle had dropped the mutated beast before it had even reached the wagons. Few had even known of the threat. However, if they should spot a larger threat, I would have liked to have some more time to know about it. I lamented the lack of communication we had with one another, and made a mental note to look into fixing that in Janesville. I doubted radios would do much better in this radiation field than my Pipbuck, but at least it would be better than waiting for them to get close enough to shout a warning down to one of us.

Out of habit, I glanced to my E.F.S. to check the surrounding area for any signs of hostiles. Of course, now was not one of the times it would decide to work, and static was all I saw. With a snort, I looked back out across the landscape with my own eyes, seeing little more than the twisted dead trees and miles of ash covered hills. Once I was sure whatever Stone had spotted from the air was nowhere nearby, I lifted my right foreleg up to my chest and switched the display on my Pipbuck to a map of the area.

We’d covered a little over ten miles thus far, and we’d only been walking for about seven hours. That was actually better than I expected, though it still put Janesville some twenty miles away. If we managed to maintain our current rate, we’d arrive in the Confederate protected town in another day and a half of travel. That was, of course, not counting if we were forced to stop before nightfall.

I lowered my hoof back down to the pavement, and I once again began trotting slowly down the roadway. Carrion, Wild, and Balefire had suggested we push on through the night, in an effort to reach Janesville sooner and to put as much distance between ourselves and any raiders who might be following us. They also wanted to avoid the approaching storm, in case Wild’s predictions that it was not filled with acid rain proved incorrect. Stone had disagreed, however, with the rest of my friends, as had Jackhammer and Silver.

They’d pointed out quite correctly that we’d be risking more lives to travel under the cover of darkness than we would if we waited. After all, nopony was certain when or even if raiders would be after us. What was certain were the ever present hazards of the wasteland, even while traveling along a highway. With no light to see by, any of the sizeable cracks or holes in the pavement we avoided in the day could result in broken wagon wheels or even limbs and necks if the fall was sudden enough. If we used lights, from those with Pipbucks or simple torches and flares, we might as well baste ourselves and lay down on the ground for the local wildlife to enjoy an all-you-can-eat pony buffet. Spread out as we were in a line, it would be very difficult to protect everypony from giant radscorpions. Well, Stone hadn’t exactly used the words ‘pony buffet.’ Wild had provided that uplifting comment, once her coltfriend had made his point.

I agreed with them, and despite time being an issue (even if the raiders and storm were not a threat, the radiation was and lingering on the road any longer than necessary meant using up more Radaway) traveling at night was just too risky. We would lose a good seven or eight hours of travel time while we waited for the sun to rise... if it chose to do so at the correct time that is. I would have given more thought on that worrying issue if I hadn’t noticed Balefire ahead of me. He had stopped in the middle of the roadway. Normally that wouldn’t be something I would immediately react to, but I still unclicked the safety off my weapon. Mainly because a dark red glow of magic shimmered from my friend’s horn. A glow that also surrounded his assault rifle slung across his back.

My dark green friend appeared quite fixed upon something just off the side of the pavement, within a dark cluster of dead trees and shoulder deep ash. I quickened my pace towards him while rechecking Luna’s Ruse as it bounced against my chest armor. I glanced to my E.F.S. (old habits are hard to break, and I’ll be happy to be out of this damned forest), but once more there was nothing to see but more static. Although, there did seem to be an increase in radiation the closer I came to Balefire and the road’s edge...

“Problem, Bale?” I asked as I came to a halt beside him. For the moment, my friend did not respond yet continued to watch that cluster of trees. A glance to his face revealed his dark red eyes slowly passing across the tortured landscape, ears perked for any sound from beyond the road. I also noticed he’d swung the assault rifle around his body, the barrel pointed towards the ground. Something had him spooked. I turned away from him to scan the ash covered forest floor, trying to see whatever it was that had caught his attention so completely.

After several minutes of looking I couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary... at least as ordinary as a forest of dead, charred trees could be in an irritated wasteland. Still, I looked for any signs of hoofprints between either the black stumps of the dead trees near the road and those still intact trees further up the hillside. Nothing. All I could make out was a mass of twisted branches and the long burned hulks of trees. The carpet of ash was as smooth as it had been since we’d set hoof outside of Old Oaks. Nothing had disturbed it in quite sometime and I doubted anything ever did. All I could see that stood out was a pair of skulls near the base of a large tree, one with a broken unicorn horn. They lay atop the ash and, upon looking closer, seemed to be filled with the stuff. After another two minutes of silence, my friend finally spoke up.

“I thought I saw something moving out there among the trees...” he said softly. His head shook slowly as he blinked his eyes rapidly to clear them. “Must have been mistaken I guess.” He didn’t sound so sure of that, and I glanced once more across the nearby hillside.

“Ain’t nothin’ movin’ among them trees no more,” a voice spoke up from behind us, causing us both to jump a bit. Turning around, I spotted Jackhammer trotting up towards us. The stallion was still pulling the lead wagon beside another pony from Old Oaks. “Ain’t been nothin’ livin’ in them woods for over a hundred years now Ah reckon. Nothin’ but bloat spirits and th’ odd radscorpions. Th’ whole forest is plum soaked in radiation from th’ bomb that destroyed New Oak’s.”

“I think it’s one of the more irritated areas in the wasteland,” Balefire said. He stepped away from the side of the road while he swung the assault rifle back around his shoulder, the glow of his horn going out.

Everything within the wasteland was irradiated. It was a fact of life that everypony had to deal with. The amount varied by location and could be anywhere from barely a few rads worth to an amount that would kill an unprotected pony in seconds... and even a protected pony in minutes. I hadn’t really worried, knowing we’d brought a good supply of Radaway... but if there was enough to mess with the Pipbuck’s targeting spell.

“You’d be dead within an hour of entering it,” Silverluck said calmly from atop the wagon. The grey coated mare scanned the black twisted trees Balefire had been eyeing carefully, her ears laid back. “My sister and I crossed through a narrow patch along the eastern edge and nearly paid for it with our lives. Nopony goes into the forest willingly, and only then as a last resort...” She frowned and looked away from the trees back down to Jackhammer.

“Highway’s clean... well, as clean as anythin’ in th’ wasteland, Ah reckon,” Jack added as he slipped a canteen from his saddlebags and unscrewed the cap. “Back when ponies were resettlin’ th’ area, a bunch of ’em cleared th’ road of all th’ ash that had built up over th’ years. It was th’ best means of gettin’ in and outta th’ area.” As he spoke, he waved the canteen towards the pavement before placing it to his lips to take a long drink. The stallion beside him took the chance to take a drink from his own as we spoke.

“I still don’t understand why anypony would settle so far away from any other town or settlement, and in a place that’s known to be hazardous to one's health,” I said as I look awayed from the pair of stallions to the ash covered hillsides around us.

“Not everypony likes th’ idea of givin’ their freedom up ta the Confederacy. For a long time, ponies been used ta dependin’ upon only themselves and their family. Mostly cause trustin’ any other pony mighta resulted in gettin’ yerself shot in th’ back. A lotta ponies still thinkin’ governments are just gonna get ’em inta another mess like th’ war that caused all this in th’ first place,” the stallion beside Jack piped up, his canteen held in his hooves as he looked to me, “Sides, not like we’ve been livin’ in some pit or th’ hellhole Hoofington turned inta.”

“Ponies made a livin’ by travelin’ this here road back and forth between Janesville and Old Oaks sellin’ charcoal. Only takes a couple days if ya got a good wagon, a good team, and th weather on yer side,” Jackhammer spoke up after replacing the cap atop his canteen. “Ah used ta take th’ road a few times back when Ah was a mite younger. Before them Super Mutants started ambushin’ caravans and th’ like.”

“Alright, fair enough. I didn’t mean any disrespect to your home,” I said, holding up a hoof in apology to them all. I didn’t want this to turn into another argument like the one back in Old Oaks’ city hall.

“We know ya didn’t mean anythin’ by it Marshall. Yer just new ta this whole thing,” Jack responded with a smile towards me, nodding his head a bit.

“Maybe, but I’m learning and I’m not as new as I used to be,” I answered before turning back to Balefire. He was once more scanning the surrounding hillside and that little cluster of trees. “Well, if you're sure you didn’t see anything, we’d better get moving. There’s still a few hours of daylight left and I think we can make it another couple miles before we need to stop for the night.” As I finished speaking, he turned his head back around towards me and shifted his weight on his hooves.

“Yeah, must have just been my eyes playing tricks on me... probably just all this ash blowing around,” he answered, glancing off towards the trees again and sounding more like he was trying to convince himself of what he’d seen instead of anyone else. “Let’s get a move on then,” he added, before taking a couple steps away from me. Despite his words, he hardly sounded very convinced of what he said. As I watched him walking away, he glanced once more towards the right side of the road, ears flipped to the sides of his head in concern.

I followed his gaze and stared at the cluster of trees. Behind us, Jackhammer and the other stallion begin pulling the lead wagon past me, following after Balefire. I scanned the clump of dead trees, wondering what had so spooked my young friend when something caught my eyes. The unicorn skull... had it always been turned towards the road?

Cocking my head a bit to the side, I stepped closer to the edge of the pavement. My Pipbuck began clicking louder as I neared the shallow tip of the ash bed to get a better look. Once more I ignored it, for there was hardly a time in the past several hours it hadn’t been clicking. Instead, I focus on the skull. There was no sign of it having been moved in the past several minutes, the ash around it was undisturbed. Anypony walking towards it would have left hoof prints... and if magic had been used, the ash would still have been disturbed someway. I was almost certain that it’d been facing towards the other skull beside it... which as I noticed it was turned towards the road as well... what the?

“Something the matter, Shadow?” For the second time today, I found myself jumping in surprise as somepony spoke up behind me... or in this case, some buffalo. Once I’d hurriedly stepped back onto the roadway and shook loose the ash from my hooves, I turned and looked to my large brown friend. Her blue eyes lifted from me to the trees behind me.

“No... nothing’s wrong,” I answered quickly, tapping my left hoof against the pavement to knock loose the last bit of ash from within it. “Balefire thought he’d seen something a few minutes ago, and I suppose it had me a bit worked up.” Glancing back to the skulls for a moment, I looked back up to my friend and asked, “Is everything alright with the wounded?”

“I believe they shall be fine, so long as we reach Janesville as quickly as possible. Exposure to this much radiation is not good for their bodies’ natural healing processes. A few of the more severe wounds have begun to seep a bit,” she replied, eyes fixed upon something behind me; most likely the skulls. Her eyes softened a bit. “Hmm... there is no reason to be embarrassed by your worry. The spirits of the dead rest uneasily here.”

“I suppose that’s true anywhere in the wasteland.”

“Yes... but in such places as these, it is far more noticeable to even those who would not normally notice such things.” She slowly scanned the hillside, looking over the trees and the remains half buried within the ash. “Many lost their lives within this forest violently while seeking shelter.” Finally, she lowered her gaze from the forest to me. “Large cities are also such places, especially those that continue to take lives such as Kanter City.”

“And what about places like San Ponsisco?” I asked as I finished wiping the ash from my forelegs and turned to walk away from the trees. Spirit fell into step beside me, as we moved behind Jackhammer and Silver’s wagon. As I turned away from my friend to look at the path ahead, I saw both Silver’s sister and daughter curled up in the back asleep.

“San Ponsisco is a rare place within the wasteland. While the loss of life within its borders was as great as any other city within Equestria, it does not feel as dark and cold as other places I have visited.”

“Oh?” I turned back to my friend, brow arched as I regarded her with curiosity.

“I believe most ponies refer to them as cold chills or shivers whenever they enter into a place like this.”

I glanced away from the wagon ahead of me, and the peaceful forms of two young mares asleep, and looked over the ash covered wasteland we were walking through. Beside the road lay, half buried in the ash, a badly rotted two wheel wagon. Little was left of it’s wheels beyond the iron or steel rims. In the back was a small pony skull beside what appeared to be a cat skeleton. Whether due to her words or the scene before me, a chill ran up my spine and I looked away. I remembered a similar feeling when I’d first stepped out of the Stable... and when I’d made my way through the ghost town of Lonesome Hoof. Or within the subway tunnels under Kanter City...

“It is a... unsettling feeling. One that most surface ponies do not feel anymore,” Spirit went on as we passed by the small wagon and its grim cargo, “After growing up surrounded by such horrors, one becomes immune to them.” She sighed softly and closed her eyes, whispering to herself in another language. Several minutes ticked by before she finished and opened her eyes once again. “As I said, that feeling is all but absent within the walls of San Ponsisco. The dead of that city seem more at peace than anywhere else within the wasteland. Perhaps due to your people’s attempts at reclaiming the city. Rebuilding and repairing the homes and businesses of the ponies who had once called it home. The quiet sounds of a decaying city have been replaced with the sounds of laughing foals and happy ponies going about their lives.”

“If only everything in the wasteland could be solved with something so simple as the laughter of foals,” I added, looking once more to Silver’s daughter as she slept.

“Who is to say it can not?” she asked, her horned head turning to look down to me as I turned and looked back at her, “My father believed that showing a bit of kindness could do more good than all of the weapons in the world.” A soft snort left her nose as she looked back ahead of us, “I am not so blind to say it can solve every problem in the world. No amount of kindness will halt a radscorpion from attacking you, or stop raiders from doing what their twisted minds say they must. But ponies are far too quick to distrust someone new or if they do not look like themselves, to go for their weapons when presented with a problem.”

“Not all ponies are like that,” I said, thinking of those ponies from Crossroads who helped me out when I needed it. Or Stone, Wild, Balefire, and all my friends I’d made while out in the wasteland, who’d helped despite what I was attempting to do. “There’s good ponies left in the world.”

“Of that I am certain for I have followed one such pony back out into the wasteland, despite the wisdom of staying someplace safe,” she responded with a hint of a smile on her short muzzle. Her eyes went back to the road ahead, “I fear though that there are far more ponies causing problems then there are those fixing them.”

After that, we both fell silent and continued walking until we over took the lead wagon. Spirit turned and began speaking softly with Silver about her sister and daughter, how they were faring on the trip and if she’d noticed how their wounds were healing. I only half listened, as I mulled over what my medical friend had said. She was right, of course, there were far more ponies running around the wasteland making things worse for those just trying to survive. Those of us who were trying to do good were few and far between...

In all the time I’d ever listened to the radio, both in the Stable and in San Ponsisco, I hadn’t heard Three Horns say much about anypony helping others. Oh, there was talk of local ponies defending their towns from raiders and mutant beasts. Reports of the victories the Confederate Military had with the Super Mutants up north, and with raiders closer to home. But nothing else... no stories of ponies going out of their way to help others. Just stories of towns going silent, caravans missing, and small settlements burnt to the ground.

A shadow passing overhead broke me from my thoughts and I looked up to watch as Wild flew quickly overhead. The long black shape of the armored chariot was close behind her as she flew back along the line of wagons. I then turned back to look ahead of me, to see the sight of Balefire and Carrion walking on either side of the highway. Both were alert for any dangers that might come from the forest or road ahead. I then glanced to Spirit, as she offered advice to Silver on how to soothe a fever her daughter was getting.

A smile slowly formed across my face as I watched my friends working to protect the ponies around us. No, I wasn’t the only pony willing to help others... there were a few who believed like me... I’d just had to show them how.

I blinked at that thought and tilted my head to the side as I looked back over to Spirit. Part of me didn’t like thinking that it was simply because of me that they had banded together to help others... but another part thought otherwise. A part of me that said if not for what I’d attempted to do, none of my friends around me would have ever met. Stone would likely be sitting in Crossroads, working as a guard or escorting another caravan for bits. Wild would be drunk atop her little rock pillar home. Carrion would still be in Kanter City, fighting a losing battle against raiders. Balefire... he could have ended up like my sister. Spirit would have likely gone off to her own death, seeking revenge for her father. Something Second Sight had said to me popped into my head suddenly...

In such a way your fate is set, to a pony who is not born yet. Such strength and kindness she will give, it will reshape the world in which we live. Something Equestria had lost before, forever lost, she will restore.

She, however, is just the start. It will take more ponies to return it to its heart.

All these heroes bound to only one, their deeds will fix what was undone, and reconnect the world’s fractured plain, that then harmony and peace again might reign.”

Second Sight had spoken of others following this mysterious hero’s example, working to make the wasteland- no, Equestria, a better place. While I wasn’t for sure if what I’d seen had really been from the future, or even if what she’d said had been true, I still found myself wanting to believe it. That harmony and peace might return to Equestria someday through the efforts of ponies willing to stand up for what's right. Ponies (and buffalo) like my friends... like me. A large brown shape stepped up beside me, snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked over to Spirit.

“I am pleased to see your mood has improved somewhat,” she noted, her horned head cocked towards me a bit as we walked on, “I am curious as to why, as there is little worth smiling about given our surroundings or situation.”

“I was just thinking on what we’ve been talking about,” I began. The roadway was beginning to climb higher as we advanced up the hill. “Maybe we are the only ones out here doing good, ‘fighting the good fight’ as DJ Three Horns likes to say... but it’s a start.”

“A start?” a voice called out from across my large friend’s brown coat. As the buffalo slowed her pace a bit, I spotted Silver’s sister leaning up over the side of their wagon and listening intently to what we were saying. “A start of what?” the mare asked. I noticed that her sister and Jackhammer seemed interested in what I was saying as well. Spirit nodded her head towards me to go on and I glanced over six pairs of eyes watching me.

“Well... everything has to begin somewhere, doesn’t it?” I asked, looking from the ponies and buffalo beside me and back to the road ahead. “After all, Equestria didn’t just spring up from nothing. It took the three tribes working together to create it over many, many years of hard work. This is a beginning of something. Don’t ask me to explain it though, I really can’t… I just get this feeling that this could be something that just might change the world for the better.”

“Thinkin’ a mite highly of yerself, ain’t ya?” the stallion pulling beside Jackhammer called out, smirking towards me.

“He did save us from those raiders, Grill,” Silver said from her seat atop the wagon. “And according to the radio and his friends, he saved a bunch more out east. I’d say that gives him some room to talk. Besides, he’s right… Equestria only came about because three ponies had the vision to do more than simply fight among themselves.”

“It isn’t about me...” I began, only to have Spirit cut me off.

“It is about what he represents. A pony willing to sacrifice himself for others is a rare thing within the wasteland. I have traveled far in search of my people and I have found few who are so willing to do as much as Shadow,” the soft spoken buffalo said, smiling warmly over towards me before going on with a nod of her horned head. “I believe there are still good ponies in this world who would be willing to rise up and help others. All it takes is for one pony, who is willing, to show them how and give them hope. I would say the spirits spoke truly of you, my friend.”

“Maybe. I came out here to try and help those who couldn’t help themselves or who had given up hope. If in so doing I set an example for others to follow… well, all I really did was show them that they can make a difference,” I answered as we crested the hill. At last, it gave me another look to the distant horizon beyond the highway and over the tops of the tree covered hills.

“Th’ more Ah hear ya talk... th’ more Ah’m wondering if ya found that badge, or if that badge found you,” Jack said as he trotted alongside Grill. The old stallion offered me a nod of his head before turning back to the roadway to watch for potholes. “Ya sound like how Ah’d think them Marshals woulda sounded.”

“Or one of those heroes from the stories daddy used to read to us,” Silver’s sister spoke up again, smiling towards her sister. For her part, Silver merely smiled back and nodded her head before glancing my way. A thoughtful look crossed her face as she silently watched me for a moment before looking away.

A hero, eh? I looked ahead to the worn highway as silence settled over the group once again. Each settled in for the remainder of our journey today. A hero. There might be some ponies who’d not wish to be called such a thing… I was just doing what I could to help. Did that automatically make me a hero? I knew for sure that at least one little filly thought it did and smiled to myself. If for nopony else, then I’d be a hero… goddesses above knew the wasteland needed one.

After another two hours of walking the winding highway 77, we at last called a halt to our journey once we’d found a good defensible spot for the night. Or at least something that would do well enough. We couldn’t really afford to be overly critical when there were so many tired ponies ready to drop where they stood. The roadway had gradually begun to straighten out the further west we traveled, and it was on one such long stretch of the highway that we’d stopped. On our right side, the ground had steadily been dropping away as the road followed along the path of a long ago dried up river. Its banks were quite steep and covered in smooth stones. While it would not be impossible for somepony or something to climb them, it would make it far slower going and thus allow us to have our backs to something. Of course, that something could bite us all in the flanks if we ended up surrounded on the other three sides… but it was better than being out in the open.

The two lane highway made it rather difficult to gather everypony up in close to one another. Because of that, we’d be forced to spread ourselves out a bit wider than any of us liked. I found it rather ironic that after discussing how best to defend ourselves that we settled on using the classic circle of wagons from any number of western movies I’d seen as a child. Still, it seemed to work. We set up three of the wagons on either side of the highway, blocking it off completely and making a decent defendable position that ponies could sit up and fire from behind. If things truly got dire, we could tip them over to offer greater protection for the ponies inside the circle. Three more wagons sat blocking off the southern side of the highway, their wheels kept several feet away from the edge of the pavement and the ash covered ground. Luckily the forest had been cleared a bit from the roadway, and there was a good half mile of open ground between us and the tree line. This had likely been done fairly recently, given that the two local towns traded. The remaining three wagons were placed within the center of the circle, and held the most critically wounded as well as the majority of our supplies. These would remain guarded throughout the night, while teams of five ponies watched each of our little makeshift forts throughout the night.

Looking away from the wagons, I scanned the inner circle and the two dozen fires crackling merrily away. All of them were surrounded by ponies attempting to keep warm from the chilly wasteland air. I was a bit worried about lighting fires at first, since it would alert others of our position, but it was either that or let ponies freeze to death. Stone had reluctantly agreed that the fires would be necessary and Balefire had pointed out that even a raider could figure out where we’d taken the townsfolk once they learned Old Oaks was deserted. The highway being the only safe option for so many ponies to take, and since the raiders were largely coming from the east...

The fires also helped with moral, which was unsurprisingly low among everypony here. The forlorn looks most had as I trotted past were understandable, given the fact they’d just been driven from their homes and had lost friends and family to the raiders’ attack. The further away from the makeshift wall I went, I saw more than a few ponies held in the forelegs of others. Many were seeking comfort from the horrors they’d recently gone through. I sighed softly and left them to their grief, trotting towards the far end of the little camp, where a single chariot had been parked beside a campfire. The scent of food drew me a bit faster, along with the sounds of familiar voices.

As I was passing the last of the wagons, I noticed a mare gently plucking away at a guitar beside a fire as her fellow passengers set about fixing dinner. I noticed most seemed to be smiling, and it lifted my own spirits a bit to see a bit of joy despite everything that had happened.

The sky chariot sat parked upon the highway with one armored side facing outward towards the river bed. The other offered cover and shelter for my friends seated beside it. As I drew nearer, I could see them all quite clearly in the fire Stone had built to cook dinner. My large grey friend sat with his back to me, busy stirring a fair-sized, beaten cooking pot with a spoon. Even from where I was, I could hear something slosh against its sides as he worked. Beside him lounged Wildfire, the mare had her head tucked up against Stone’s flank as he sat, her head towards the fire. I couldn’t imagine how tired she must be after spending her entire day pulling the sky chariot about. While she’d once told me flying to a pegasus was nothing more tiring than walking for a unicorn or earthpony, we’d still covered a good deal of ground today. What’s more, she’d also done more than fly in a straight line. Across from the couple was Carrion. The ghoul pony was leaning against the side of the armored chariot with his flak helmet off and horn aglow with magic as he carefully cleaned his assault rifle. Years of military training, it seemed, was hard to let go… even after so long. Beside him sat his saddlebags, upon which his dented helmet rested. Further towards the front of the chariot, sitting in the open doorway to the passenger compartment, was Balefire. His own horn was glowing as he carefully worked a cloth over one of his revolvers. Sitting beside him, I was surprised to see Tinkerbelle. Although, given the fact she had her snout buried in something that appeared to belong somewhere inside the chariot, I suppose I really shouldn’t have been. The earth pony had been amazed at the sky chariot, and had likely leapt upon a chance to more closely study it. I’m sure Balefire didn’t mind a chance to more closely study the young mare either. The only one not present was Spirit, who was no doubt busy with her medical duties to the wounded.

Upon hearing my hoofsteps approaching them, Stone’s ears twitched back towards me and a second later his whole head followed. Though much of his face was hidden in shadows from the fire behind him, I still saw a smile spread across his muzzle as he spotted me. He quickly waved me over towards them with a fore hoof.

“Bout time ya decided ta come join us, Shadow. Dinner’s bout ready and Ah doubt Ah’d be able ta keep Wild’s greedy hooves from takin’ yer share.” At the mention of her name, the pegasus shifted her head a bit and promptly bit Stone’s flank, right on his cutie mark no less. My large friend let out a rather high pitched yelp and swatted a hoof playfully at his lover. “Wh’d Ah tell ya about that?” he asked.

“Well given our current sleeping arrangements, I doubt we’ll get a chance to do that tonight. Shame, I do so love your preenings,” she answered as she rose up onto her hooves, wings rustling a bit along her sides. “I suppose I’ll just have to wait till Janesville when we can get a proper bed, hmm?” she asked, nuzzling along Stone’s blushing cheeks as she turned to me and winked.

“Ah... um, reckon we can do that…” he answered before turning and nuzzling her own cheek in return.

“Get a room you two!” Balefire called out from the other side of the fire. The young stallion grinned fully towards the happy couple. A moment later, a metal spoon struck him in the forehead and he fell back into the chariot with a thud, muttering, “Ow… my horn…” Tink glanced up from the wires she’d been looking over to see what was going on for a moment, ears perked.

“Wild, the mechanics of your chariot are amazing! I’ve never seen such a perfectly working example of old world tech before in my life!” the young mare practically gushed with a wide grin. Her bright blue-grey eyes stared at the orange pegasus as if she held the secrets of the universe itself. “Does it run solely off energy absorbed from static electricity by flying through clouds or is there an energy spell matrix in the generator with a self sustaining spell to feed the chariot power?” the young mare asked, staring intently at the orange pegasus who could only blink at the earth pony.

“Er… sorry Tink, I’m afraid I never really paid a whole lot of attention to the technical aspect of things back in basic training. At least as far as sky chariots are concerned. I was trained more in our basic power armor.” At the mention of power armor, the orange earthpony’s eyes lit up and she actually squealed in joy. “Uhh…” Wild flicked her ears back in alarm at the sight of the young mare.

“You know about power armor? Oh, I have so many questions!!” she exclaimed, ears perked towards Wild as she leaned forward out of the chariot’s door. “I’ve gotten my hooves on a few pieces of Steel Ranger armour, but it no longer functioned and I’ve toyed around with a couple robots but I’ve never seen pegasus power armor before!” My winged friend smiled a bit sadly towards Tink as she looked down to the black colored armor that covered her upper torso.

“Well, I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed, kiddo. Most of mine has been damaged throughout the years and no longer functions either.” She snorted softly and shook her head. “Hell… I don’t even have a complete set anymore.” Her smile faded completely as she finished speaking, the sad look completely replacing her normal jovial one. At least until Stone nuzzled her unkempt mess of a red mane and kissed her on the tip of an ear. And just like that, the look of regret left her face, replaced by the more familiar smile.

“Now, who’s ready for dinner?” Stone asked, quickly changing the subject before Tink could ask any more questions. Although, I did wonder what had become of Wild’s armor to cause her such sadness. Still, I wasn’t about to dig into her past. Not if it was going to cause her any distress. Slowly, Stone began ladling some sort of lumpy stew into bowls. A red glow surrounded two of the bowls and floated them over to Balefire and Tink. The dark green unicorn offered a smile to the mare beside him as one bowl was offered. She smiled back and held out a hoof to take it. Another surrounded by orange magic made its way to Carrion’s side. The ghoul never once looked up as he continued working on his assault rifle.

Making my way around Wild and Stone, I took the second to last filled bowl from my friend’s hoof. Carefully, I carried it in my mouth and walked over to a spot between Carrion and the open doorway of the chariot. Setting the bowl carefully down upon the cracked pavement, I turned my head around and began unbuckling my saddlebags. Thankfully I’d continued using them while in San Ponsisco and had the rusting buckles replaced a week after arriving. They easily came free from my sides and I slid them down to the ground, letting them drop the last few inches in a small cloud of ash. It felt good to have that weight off my back and I sighed, stretching my shoulders a bit. The armor would have to stay on, since we were hardly in a safe place here.

As I settled down onto the roadway, I unswung Luna’s Ruse from around my neck and sat it down beside my bags. I pointed the barrel up and mouth grip within easy reach should we be attacked. With all that settled, I reached out and scooped up my bowl and began eating with the spoon Stone had shoved in. It smelled strange… but not bad, and was filled with brown lumps. I wasn’t sure what they were, but I noticed some sliced carrots and bits of onions. They weren’t fresh, so they’d likely came from a can. Still, they tasted good, if a bit mushy. The brown lumps were sort of stringy, though.

We ate in silence for a time, the only sound coming from our corner of the camp was the scraping of spoons on bowls or the crack of the fire. As I chewed, I looked down to my Pipbuck. Perhaps a bit of music would help restore the good mood, or a bit of news… well, not the news. As DJ Three Horns was so fond of saying, most news in the wasteland was bad news. I’d just lifted my right foreleg up when I noticed the display on my screen. I had earlier set it to show the radiation levels, given that the map and E.F.S. features were worthless at the moment. What I saw was somewhat worrying; I’d soaked up a fair amount of radiation today… anymore and I’d be suffering the effects of radiation poisoning.

Setting my bowl down quickly, I turned and began rummaging through my saddlebag for some Radaway when a thought popped into my head. In truth I’d thought about it before, but pushed it aside as unnecessary at the time… but now we had the time. And I was rather curious about the answer.

“You know, something's been bothering me ever since we entered the forest,” I began, looking over to Stone. He normally had the answers to most of my questions regarding the Wasteland. I let the flap of my saddlebag fall close. “How’d the Super Mutants withstand this much radiation?” I asked, while tapping the package of Radaway I’d pulled free while my Pipbuck was still happily clicking away. “I know somethings like radroaches and scorpions actually thrive in the shit… but even they have to have a limit to how much they can withstand.”

“Yer right, course,” Stone said from across the fire where he was finishing his own bowl of stew. He looked up to me, tilting his hat back with a hoof. “Only th’ most hardy of creatures can withstand this much radiation for longer than a few hours. But like th’ road here, there’s a few other areas within th’ forest that ain’t as soaked with radiation as th’ rest of it.” He pointed his hoof behind me at the hills beyond the riverbed. “Keep in mind, it ain’t from personal knowledge, just from what Ah heard talkin’ to travelers. There’s supposed ta be whole cave systems up in them hills. Some rocky ravines and hills where th’ ash never built up and, of course, more dried up river beds like th’ one behind us.” Setting his bowl down beside the stones that made up the firepit, he added, “Also don’ rightly affect ’em like it does normal ponies. Ah’ve actually seen it heal th’ yellow hided bastards once while guardin’ a caravan passin’ near Tombstone.”

I recalled the skull I’d seen in Sticks. It had been far larger than a pony’s, yet still pony shaped. I also recalled the other signs of the battle that had been fought over the ruined homes by the Steel Rangers and a band of Super Mutants. It was no wonder the Rangers had so much trouble fighting their enemies. Beside being stronger and tougher than a pony, they could heal just from being near a strong enough source of radiation. I bit into the top part of the Radaway package and ripped it open before swallowing the contents quickly.

“The eggheads back in San Ponsisco think it’s similar to how ghouls can withstand and even benefit from radiation,” Balefire spoke up from just behind me. I turned to look at my young friend as I tossed the empty plastic package away. My young friend was holding his bowl in his fore hooves while he ate. Beside him, Tink ignored her own food in favor of tinkering with something she’d pulled from her saddlebags. “Super Mutants aren’t like scorpions and radroaches. Those have been around the Wasteland for as long as there’s been a Wasteland. Super Mutants are a rather newer edition, only having been around for the past sixty or so years. Near as anypony can figure, they are just ponies that soaked up too much radiation either while scavenging or just poor luck. Instead of becoming ghouls, their bodies mutated as well as their minds.”

“Ah’ve heard stories over th’ years that some ponies were actually seekin’ out th’ changes,” Stone spoke up again. His ears flicked back as he went on, “One of th’ last traders Ah spoke with that came ta Crossroads was talkin’ about this cult up north that was preachin’ how th’ Super Mutants are th’ answer ta how ponykind survives th’ new Equestria.” He shook his head sadly. “Ain’t bad enough that a pony’s gotta worry bout raiders and slavers, but cults now as well.”

“I’ve heard of them, call themselves the Brotherhood of the End,” Balefire said as his horn glowed with magic. He lifted his bowl up and set it down beside him in the doorway. “They’ve started coming into towns loyal to the Confederacy just recently. Mostly up north of San Ponsisco and have been preaching their rhetoric to anypony who’d listen. One of my buddies in the 1st Corps told me about hearing one of them speak. He said most ponies ignored him, but a few seemed to take his words to heart.”

“And you let them?” Wild asked, sitting her empty bowl beside Stone’s on the ground. Her stormy blue eyes regarded Balefire, head tilted to the side.

“The Confederacy has no law against religious beliefs, or freedom of speech. Unless they are doing something illegal, the local law enforcement and garrisons can’t do a damn thing to them,” he answered. Though by his tone and words, it was clear he wanted to do something about them. I bet most felt that way if a group came into their home and began telling ponies the only way they were going to survive was by sitting in toxic waste. I could only imagine how many would die from doing that...

“Not how Ah wanna end up, tossed inta some room packed with barrels filled with balefire sludge...” Stone muttered, shaking his head.

“Is that how they do it?” I asked, looking between my friends. Fuck… that… just fuck...

“Don’t rightly know. That’s th’ rumor anyway. Course they also say they don’t away ask a pony if they wanna join their little group,” Stone answered, ears remaining laid back as he looked from me to the fire. “Heard that’s what happened ta the settlement of Clear Lakes. No signs of a fight, no bodies. They just up and disappeared in th’ middle of th’ night. Just don’t seem right ta do that ta a pony.”

“I’m afraid there could be some truth to that rumor. The local Sheriff had reported a caravan of Brotherhood members stopping in their town for the night. Never could prove it.” Balefire ran a hoof through his black mane, red eyes dropping to the fire burning in the center of our group. “Since then, Mom’s- well, the President ordered the local law enforcement ponies of all our towns to be on the alert for any reports of kidnapping. Plus, they won’t allow more than five priests of the Brotherhood into a town at once. As for how they do change… what you heard makes about as much sense as any other way I’ve heard of.” His ears laid back as he went on, “From being injected with pure balefire straight into your bloodstream to taking a bath in the shit. I can’t imagine why anypony would willingly do that. I’ve seen ponies die from radiation poisoning before. Seen a couple of them come back as feral ghouls afterwards... it wasn’t pretty.”

“No… it’s not pretty what happens to a pony when they’re exposed to that much radiation,” the rough voice of Carrion broke in. I looked back over my shoulder to the ghoul, his orange eyes fixed on the assault rifle floating before him. The weapon looked as good as... well, not new but better than most. “While it was happening to me, I had to watch an entire city die from it.” He glanced up for a moment towards Balefire. While the effects of the radiation left much of his face a ruined mess, I still caught sight of a glimmer of pain in his expression. “I do not believe anypony would willingly submit themselves to that. At least none with half a fucking brain in their heads.” With that said, he levitated his bowl of food up to himself and began slowly eating.

“Um… we actually had one of them show up at Old Oaks about eight months ago before caravans stopped coming to town,” Tink said, drawing our attention to the young mare and causing her cheeks to flame up a dark shade of red. Beside her, Balefire appeared worried his words had upset Carrion and was looking worriedly towards the ghoul. He swore softly to himself and looked to the earth pony sitting beside him. “He stayed a few days before the mayor and sheriff asked him to leave.”

“Anypony seem interested in what he had to say?” I asked. She tilted her head to think.

“Not really, no. I think most ponies found him insulting and a bit unsettling, what with his rotting face and green glowing eyes...” At that, she glanced over to Carrion, ears flicked back. “...I mean no disrespect, Mr. Carrion.” The ghoul snorted and simply nodded his head towards her. She relaxed somewhat, as did Balefire beside her. The young earth pony began to reach for her bowl of food when it was surrounded by an aura of red magic and floated towards her. She took it and offered Balefire a small smile. “Thanks.”

“Insulting how?” I asked as I heard Wild snicker behind me. I noticed Balefire’s cheeks turned a darker shade of red than Tinks.

“Hmm?” Tink looked back to me and blinked for a few moments before she realized what I’d asked. “Oh… yeah, sorry. He was sorta preachy about how ponykind wasn’t going to survive much longer as we were. That we needed to abandon our old gods and embrace the ‘End’ as he called it.” She shook her head slowly, her short cut blue green mane dancing about her face. “That didn’t settle too well with a lot of folks. I mean, nopony would ever accuse us of being big worshipers of the Princesses but we still respect them.”

“Ah reckon that would be enough ta make some displeased with ’im,” Stone spoke up as I began once more eating my own meal. “Faith’s about all most ponies in th’ Wasteland got anymore besides a good gun.”

The conversation slowly began to peter out as ponies finished their meals and began returning their bowls to Stone one by one. Wild settled back against Stone’s flank and lit a cigarette. I noticed she was careful not to blow the smoke into her coltfriend’s face. After another twenty minutes, Tink yawned widely and began collecting her things. The young mare stood up and bid us a goodnight before starting to walk off in search of her grandfather. Balefire quickly stood up and offered to walk her back and I chuckled softly to myself.

I yawned myself and idly glanced to the clock on my Pipbuck. It was already past eleven thirty. Well, I was supposed to take watch in a few hours so I’d best get some sleep. Standing up myself, I picked up the empty bowl and moved over to place it down beside the others. I nodded my thanks to the chef, though I’d still wondered about something and decided to ask about it. “Thanks for the meal, Stone, I don’t think I’ve ever had anything like that before. What was it exactly?”

“Yer mighty welcome, Shadow. Ah know how hungry a pony can get while walkin’ beside wagons,” my friend answered with a grin as he began picking up the bowls. He began wiping them out with a rag he’d pulled from his saddlebag. “Eh, wasn’t anythin’ special really, just a can of carrots and onions. Ah found ’em a couple months ago while searchin’ a wrecked transport wagon out near Crossroads. Th’ rest was just some radhog Ah shot while we were on patrol this afternoon.”

I went rigid at the mention of radhog, my ears wilted along with my tail. As in… meat? Behind me, I heard a deep snort. Was that Carrion laughing at my plight? A moment later, I heard the ghoul getting up as Stone merely laughed. Wild glanced up from her smoke and arched a brow to the lot of us. Her ears perked towards me as Stone reached up with a large strong hoof to slap me on my armored shoulder.

“Don’t ya fret none, Shadow, it ain’t gonna kill ya! I’ve been eatin’ meat fer most of my life. Out here, ya learn ta eat what ya can so ya don’t end up gettin’ eaten yerself. Sides, it’ll put hair on yer chest,” my friend said with another chuckle as he picked up the bowls and began putting them away into his saddlebag.

All I could do was stand there lamely while my stomach tried to decide whether to void itself or ask for seconds. “But… I already have hair on my chest…” I said with a slight whine to my voice. This, of course, caused more chuckles from Stone and Carrion as well as a smirk from Wild. It was the only warning I got before she spoke.

“Well… maybe it’ll put some hair on your balls so you’ll use ’em for something besides almost getting shot off.” She waved an orange hoof vaguely towards my hindquarters and offered a playful wink.

“You walked right into that one,” Carrion said as he trotted past me to begin his watch.

“I swear, I get no respect from you lot…” I lamented and reached for my canteen to get the odd flavor off my tongue.

With the mood lightened and our numbers somewhat diminished, I helped Stone clean his bowls and battered pot. We ended up cleaning them with a bit of sand he had stuffed in a pouch in his saddlebag along the edge of the road. Using water would have been easier, but given the majority of what we carried was for drinking, that wasn’t really an option. As we worked, lightning flashed off in the distance, followed by the now familiar sound of thunder rumbling across the hills. I prayed once more that Wild was correct and we’d manage to avoid the worst of that storm. It seemed to have grown a bit more menacing throughout the day. Then again, perhaps it was simply the darkness that added to it.

With our task finished, we returned to the chariot and I bid my remaining friends a good night. Settling down near the sky chariot, I pulled my saddlebags close and rested my head down upon them, using them as a makeshift pillow. A rather lumpy pillow filled with shotgun shells. At least I remembered to not use the side I stored my health potions in. Rolling over onto my left side away from the fire, I attempted to make myself as comfortable as possible on the concrete and closed my eyes. Thankfully, the day’s journey had worn me out and I began to feel sleep overtake me.

Slowly I began to wake, the feeling of life flowing back into my tired sore body, reminding me what I’d been through the past couple hours. Something soft brushed against my mane and I could feel it yielding as I shifted my head upon it… a pillow? Had somepony placed one beneath my head as I slept? As more and more of my senses returned, I could feel soft sheets rubbing against my bare fur and a warm bed beneath me. I was laying on my side, as I so often did while sleeping.

Wait… where was I? There’d been no real beds on the train… and with that thought, returned the memory of my last waking moment. A zebra assassin who I’d thought dead rose up suddenly and shoved a weapon into my face. I recalled staring down the barrel of the weapon… pain… than nothing at all…

Weakly, my eyes fluttered open and I blinked a couple times to bring the world into focus. For a moment, I sat confused as to what I was staring at until the scene before me cleared itself. Dim lighting was coming in from just to my right, motes of dust floating down a beam of sunlight behind which was a nearly bare white wall. The white paint alongside the light was quite bright and I quickly shut my eyes. I was stunned for the moment until I decided to try another look and inhaled a deep breath through my nose. The scent of clean linens, freshly washed floors, and the almost overpowering smell of antiseptics entered my nostrils. I snorted once, revealing a slight tight dryness to my throat… how long had I been sleeping?

Laying still for a moment to allow myself more time to awaken, I listened to the sounds coming from around me. I could hear the steady beep of a nearby machine, the breathing of other ponies somewhere behind me, along with the muffled sounds of conversations beyond the wall my bed sat against. There were more noises coming from what I assumed was another wall towards the foot of my bed. It sounded like a good many ponies were walking past along a sidewalk. There was also the creak of wagons as they rolled past in a street. So… I was in a town somewhere… and in what I was now certain was a hospital room with other patents. Had somepony else aboard the train been injured?

With more confidence in my strength, I pushed myself slowly upright on the bed. A bit too perfectly I admit to leave that soft pillow. I once more opened my eyes, though more carefully this time and turned my head away from the light of the window. As I scanned the room from left to right, I saw it was fairly large with a number of windows along the far wall from my bed. All had shades that attempted to block out the bright rays of a morning sun. Between the windows along the length of the room, sat more beds similar to my own. Most appeared occupied with sleeping ponies, their brightly colored coats standing out against the white sheets and walls of the room.

Some had very visible injuries, limbs in casts and held up by pullings to keep them from moving. Machines also sat beside their beds, helping them with breathing or monitoring their hearts. A few had white bandages around their heads and shoulders. None seemed awake yet, either sleeping naturally or so heavily medicated that they simply could not wake up just yet. At the sight of so many wounded, I flinched and wondered what must have happened to me. A quick look beneath the sheets of my bed revealed no sign of injury there, which just left my…

With deep breath I lifted a forehoof up towards my face carefully searching for any bandages that might be wrapped about it. I did not feel anything… in fact I felt no pain at all… but I hadn’t just been dropped off inside a hospital for nothing. Despite the slight shaking of my hoof, I found nothing along my forehead and face… however as I ran it across my jaw I felt something that was not normally there.

Lowering my hoof, I felt soft bandages wrapped around my neck and going under my jaw. I carefully attempted to swallow, and almost at once felt as if something was constricting. I fought back the urge to panic and, after a moment of fear, found that it wasn’t so much constricting as it was more tight. It was if half my throat was blocked with something. Well… that explained the tightness of my throat I suppose. As my hoof continued to explore my neck I felt fear tightening within my chest… had I lost my voice? How would I be able to eat? Ears wilting atop my head, I fought back the urge to cry when somepony spoke.

“You will be fine, Isabella, please do not worry yourself too much.” I’m not embarrassed to say I let out a rather foal-like meep of fright at the sudden deep voice coming from somewhere beside my bed. Losing control of my limbs, I dropped back into bed. I landed thankfully on my pillow and swore softly to myself. “I am sorry, I did not mean to frighten you,” the voice spoke again and I realized I knew that voice.

Shifting my eyes towards the source, I found myself looking towards the corner of the room near my bedside. It was mostly hidden in shadows as the light from the windows had yet to reach it. However, having been accustomed to the darkness over the past few days of sleepless nights, I could make out the shape of a pony sitting upon the floor. Blinking rapidly, I brought my upper body upright once more. Strands of my long grey mane fell into my face with the motion, but I ignored it as I opened my mouth to speak. However, all that came out was a rasping cough which forced me once more back into my bed. A moment passed as I attempted to get the cough under control, before a glass of water was pushed up against my muzzle, held in a large black hoof. I opened my mouth and felt the cool glass touch my lips while the clear liquid flowed down my sore throat, offering much needed relief. In my haste I began drinking faster, and once more the voice spoke up.

“Easy now, don’t want to choke yourself to death so soon after the doctors got you all patched up, do you?” There was a hint of humor in his voice, along with something else. Worry perhaps? Most ponies would find that surprising for the imposing figure of Noctensis, a Lieutenant in the Night Guard. He was a large mass of muscles, dark colors, and gleaming silver and purple armor. While it was vastly different in color, material, and design to that worn by the more notable Royal Sun Guard, it was close enough to be clear that this was no normal pony. Still, I knew Noctensis better. Perhaps only because I’d gotten to know the pony behind the armor. As the water began to drain from the glass, I took the opportunity to look into the face of the stallion standing beside my bed.

At first glance, one might mistake Noctensis for a typical pegasus stallion, albeit a very handsome one. His coat, what you could see beneath his Guard armor, was a rich midnight black and normally was well brushed and cared for. Though it looked a bit more messed up tonight… today? He stood a good deal taller than your average stallion, even with his armored boots off. His wind swept mane and tail were an equally dark color to his coat, a dark blue that bordered on black. His cutie mark was one of the few spots of color upon his body and was that of a white circular shield. Within it, a crescent moon sat between flared out leathery wings. That was where the similarities to a typical pony ended, however, and the differences began.

The most noticeable thing one would see upon looking into Noctensis’ face was his eyes. They were more cat like in appearance, with black slit pupils surrounded by a rich, vibrant yellow color. In the darkness of the room, they almost seemed to glow. Up until two years ago I’d never seen a pony with eyes quite like his. The next thing somepony would notice about him was his larger than normal ears, with tufts of fur sticking up from their ends. At the moment, they were laid back slightly in concern. I rather liked his ears. As if sensing me looking at them, they rose upright and peaked towards me. It was followed a moment later by a small smile upon his large muzzle, a smile with a number of sharp fangs. It was another difference Noctensis had from the average pony, one that most found far more unsettling than his eyes. I admit, when I’d first meet him and others like him, the fangs had worried me as well. They were the teeth of a predator. But, like everything else about him, I’d become used to them and found myself wishing he’d smile more. Something my oldest sister would have insisted upon, in fact. The last major difference of the stallion before me was the limbs upon either side of his body that would normally mark him as a pegusi. Unlike the feathered wings of a pegasus, however, they were the leathery wings of a dragon or a bat. It was because of them that most ponies referred to his kind as ‘bat ponies’. A name most of his kind had simply come to accept. However, they were more properly known as negasi, the personal guards of her highness Princess Luna.

“Better?” Noctensis asked, once the last of the water had been drained from the glass and I finished swallowing. Nodding my head, he sat the glass down upon the table beside my bed, one I hadn’t even noticed before. Resting also upon it was his helmet, with it’s almost fin like crest casting odd shadows upon the wall behind it as the sunlight at last reached my bed. The silver and purple armor still bore signs of recent combat, small specks of blood that I attempted to ignore.

It was surprising he’d not cleaned it and the rest of his matching silver and purple guard armor yet. Noctensis so rarely went anywhere without insuring it was properly taken care of. The suit was quite old and had been worn by generations of his family in service to the Princess of the Night, and he was rightly proud of it. I also noticed he no longer had his foreleg armor on, a fact blatantly evident earlier when he’d held the glass up for me. The sharp claw like blades that had been affixed to the hoof armor would have been a bit awkward so near my face… not to mention what they were no doubt covered in...

“What… happened?” I asked after a moment of silence, and I’d been sure I wasn’t about to end up in another coughing fit. At the question, I noticed his ears drop a bit. He sat down beside the bed, placing his forehooves on the sheet beside me.

“In all of the confusion from the fighting, one of the wounded zebra pulled the body of one of the dead atop him to hide. Most likely he was attempting to wait for us to lower our guard before he sprung up to renew his attack. To what effort I’m not sure… a single zebra, while deadly, could do little to so many armed ponies,” Noctensis spoke, his eyes refusing to meet mine. I suddenly realized he seemed to be blaming himself for what had happened. I’d seen him do it before. “I believe he thought once I’d left the car he could quickly dispatch some of you while everypony else was distracted,” he explained. Something that the previous attacks had succeeded in doing given we had begun the journey with more than we currently had...

I well recalled a zebra suddenly standing up before me as I’d made my way towards the back of the train and the car holding our prisoner. I’d wanted to ensure that none of them had gotten past us and into his car. If they had, there was no telling the chaos that would have been unleashed aboard the train. Far more than a single zebra strike team could hope to sow. Like him, I’d thought all the zebra had been killed, but this one had survived and had all but shoved his weapon into my snout as he rose to his hooves. The last thing I remembered clearly was staring in fear as he begun pulling the trigger… I should be dead. I looked to my savior with confusion and he went on to explain.

“I heard Midnight shout a warning behind me and turned to find a zebra already pointing his weapon at you… I hesitated for a moment before I reacted. I flung one of my wing blades towards the back of his head. The sudden impact threw off his aim and, as he fell forward, his neck lowered and the gun went off. If I’d been a second too late… or too slow, the gun would have gone off while in your face and you’d be dead.” Noctensis’ head remained lowered. “I haven’t frozen up like that in a long time… at least not since basic training.”

I blinked and lay there thinking about just how close I’d come to dying… I mean… I knew the risk was there. Princess Luna had made those risks quite clear, and had made it clear it was not a royal decree. She was not ordering me to take this assignment for her. She simply asked me to… and how could you not say yes when one of your Princesses asked you for your help? It’s not like this wasn’t my first brush with death either within the last three (four?) days. Swallowing slowly, I realized I had a very permanent reminder of just how close I’d come to dying… if it hadn’t been for the stallion sitting beside me. I looked down to my side, noticing he’d not moved from his spot with his head still held down.

He blamed himself for letting me get hurt. Despite my own fears, I felt the corners of my mouth pull back in a small smile and a bit of heat build up in my cheeks. I lifted up a grey coated hoof and lay it gently atop the larger black one near my side. His golden eyes shifted to look upwards at me, ears rising up from their lowered state.

“None of us noticed him, we were all caught by surprise. It wasn’t your fault, Nocty,” I said softly, using the nickname I’d given him. I smiled as I saw his tufted ears twitch to the name. He’d taken the loss of every pony under his command somewhat personally, and had fought harder than most to protect those of us that remained. I had also noticed how much more he risked himself whenever I had stumbled into danger. Oddly it was due to this tendency that we’d even met. “You do seem to keep saving my life… a mare could get used to that.”

Noctensis lifted his head, eyes settling on mine. He carefully twisted his hoof around to take ahold of mine and gave it a soft squeeze with the other. The unhappy frown he had been wearing was soon replaced with a slight smile. I suppose to some this might seem odd; such a large strong stallion, a member of Luna’s Royal Guard, looking so unsure of himself… but then I did know him a bit better than most. Sitting up a bit more on his hindquarters, he leaned over the bed to bring his muzzle against the side of my cheek to place a soft kiss. The warmth on my cheeks doubled and I chuckled softly, despite the slight pain it caused my throat. All I wanted was to lay back in bed and return to sleep. However, before I could relax fully, I needed a bit more information about what happened after I blacked out…

“How are the others?” I asked.

“They are well, only minor injuries save for Thunderwing… he was K.I.A. when Rubyheart got to him.” I sighed softly at the mention of the dark blue pegasus’ death. He’d been well liked by the rest of the squad, though I’d found his sense of humor a bit on the dirty side. Something that most ponies in the military seemed to share if a few of the others were any judge. Still, he’d been a good stallion. I wondered how many more of us would die before this mission was over. As if reading my mind, Noctensis spoke up again. “I still wish you had said no to her Majesty’s request,” he whispered before kissing me again, a bit further up my snout.

“We’ve been over this, Nocty…” I answered softly, though I’d begun to believe he was right… this was no place for me. I was no soldier, just a simple rock farmer. Granted my sister was well placed… but that hardly meant I was anything like her. There were few ponies quite like my sister. Thank the Princesses for that. This of course still left me with no clear reason why I, of all ponies, would be called before the Princess of the Night… or why she’d ask me to go on this mission.

“I know… I know,” he responded. He sighed softly, his warm breath blowing across my neck and shoulders causing me to shudder a bit at more happy memories and times.

“What about the prisoner?” I asked, attempting to keep my mind on track less it dissolved into other thoughts… later perhaps… it had been sometime after all.

“We’re preparing to transport him to a secure room within town while the train is refueled and repaired. The stripes struck the engine before paying us a visit, killed the engineer and her assistant before damaging the boiler. Luckily there was enough pressure left in the tank for us to reach Tombstone,” he explained before glancing to the wall behind me. Turning my head just enough, I spotted a clock positioned just above a doorway. “In fact, it’s due to take place within the hour. I better get going if I’m going to lead the patrol.” Giving my cheek a final nuzzle, he leaned back to fully stand up.

“You’re going to be released in a few hours, I’ll return then. Midnight has gotten us all rooms at one of the local taverns so I’ll help you back to them,” he said as I rested my head back atop the pillow and stared at the ceiling. I nodded my head once and listened to him as he picked up his helmet from the nightstand and began to fasten it back atop his head. Afterwards, he leaned over and placed his lips over mine. I returned the kiss with a pleased little murmur. He pulled away, less the kiss turned into something more. “I’ll see you shortly.” He smiled, revealing his sharp fangs before trotting off towards the door.

For a moment I mulled over the possibility of simply going back to sleep, but I doubted I could so easily drift back off now. Not after that kiss… and not while the possibility of something happening with the prisoner loomed within my mind. So instead, I sunk back into my bed and waited for either word of how the transfer went or for my release from the hospital.

After thirty minutes of laying beneath the sheets of my bed, I began to hear a commotion from beyond the windows. Curious, I shifted a bit to see what was going on. By now, a few of my fellow patients had awoken. Those nearest the windows, and those who could stand on their own, pushed the shades away. Outside was a simple looking dirt road with buildings, which would not be out of place in a western, lining it on either side. Wagons were parked to either side of the road and a number of ponies stood on the sidewalk. Locals by the look of them, all watching something beyond the windows’ field of view.

Noctensis stepped from beyond the window frame, trotting into the street with his leathery wings tucked to his sides. His purple and blue guard armor gleamed in the light of a midday sun. I noticed his golden eyes squint as he scanned the street ahead. Though they could tolerate it, negasi still were not big fans of sunlight. He’d once told me it hurt their eyes, which were much more suited to the dim light of the moon and the darkness of the night. Behind him came the rest of the squad, weapons drawn but pointed towards the ground. Mixed among them were army regulars and local law enforcement… it seemed Noc was taking no chances with this.

As the others within the hospital room began to talk, I saw Hardrock stepping into sight. A harness was across his shoulders and his beloved battle-saddle mounted machine gun vacant. The large earth pony hardly seemed troubled by the wagon he pulled on his own, despite the heavy load in the back. My eyes then shifted from the large stallion to the contents of the wagon he was pulling along the street. Siting within the back was our prisoner. Or rather, the tall metal box he was being shipped within. It was bullet proof, a fact that was proven at our last stop, and had a number of magical wards to keep anypony or zebra from getting inside quickly. They were not infallible, and could be dispelled if given enough time and an individual with the knowledge to do so.

Once it had passed the windows, I noticed the little convoy of ponies turning down the street, heading towards one of the buildings along it. When it rolled to a stop outside a bank, I arched a brow and rubbed a fore hoof along my bandaged neck. Were they… were they seriously going to just lock him up inside the vault? Did the bank even have a vault? As I sat watching, Noc give a quick glance to the rest of the group before breaking away to trot inside the bank… they were, weren't they? I suppose it was likely the only real secure place within the small town… but I’d thought Princess Luna had been planning this for a year now. Surely she would have planned for something like this?

Over the course of the next hour, Noc and the remaining members of our team began assisting with the unloading of the heavy metal crate. The group’s unicorns’ horns were flaring to life as they levitated it as best they could. Yet another ward written across the iron sides of the container were there to resist unicorns from doing just that. In case there were any assisting the zebras in their attempts to capture the prisoner. At best all a unicorn could do was lighten the box, but it would float no more than a couple inches off the ground. After a sudden fright when Hardrock’s hoofs busted through the wooden sidewalk and the box nearly toppled atop him, they managed to pony-handle it into the bank and out of sight. I released a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding and sat back against my pillow. While trouble could still threaten them within the bank, it was at least enclosed. Noc had explained to me at the beginning of this trip the many hazards of being out in the open.

Little else happened over the next hour and a half beyond the wagon being pulled away. The crowd also began to disperse when it was clear nothing exciting was about to happen. It was during this time that one of the nurses entered the room. She had come to tell me that I was going to be released soon due to them needing the bed for a more critically wounded pony. It seemed the zebras had begun a new offensive down south and all the local towns were being sent the wounded. After a few minutes of getting myself up right, I followed her out into the hallway and down to an examination room where a doctor would check me over one last time.

The check-up went quickly, likely due to the knowledge that in a minute several sky chariots would be landing nearby to drop off the wounded soldiers. The doctor told me what I already knew, that I had been incredibly lucky. Any closer to my windpipe and I might not have survived the trip into town. Any lower and I would have completely lost my voice. He prescribed some medicine for me to take and told me to try and get some rest… something I highly doubted would happen given the group’s mission, but I nodded anyway and thanked him for his help. Once more, the nurse arrived and dropped off what little personal effects I’d had on when I arrived; my ill fitting uniform and armor, as well as my sidearm which I vowed to become more familiar with.

Noc arrived twenty minutes later as I was signing the last of the release forms, his helmet tucked under one wing. He thanked the nurses working the front desk for seeing to me and we trotted for the exit. The bright afternoon sun caused me to squint a bit as we stepped outside. Noc chuckled softly beside me, teasing me about hanging around him too much and becoming such a night owl. I snorted and started to shove him away when a bit of dizziness overcame me. Luckily, he steadied me with a hoof before draping a leathery wing across my back to keep me close.

With his help, we crossed the dry packed dirt street and stepped up onto the wooden sidewalk along the other side. I glanced into one of the windows of the bank as we passed, thinking how odd the stone columns along the front wall looked within the western town. Inside, I saw a number of ponies waiting in line at the teller windows. Several others seemed to be trying to get a look behind it at the large steel vault door.

“Don’t worry, he’s safely tucked away for the next twenty four hours,” Noc said beside me. I nodded my head, looking away from the windows to the sidewalk ahead. So, we’d be laid up for a day as the train was repaired and a replacement crew was located. I suppose that wasn’t as bad as I had originally thought… the longer we stayed in one place though, the more attacks we could expect to suffer. I glanced across the street at a young mare and two fillies following behind her, before looking away… yes, the sooner we got moving the better… for everypony. I noticed we’d apparently reached our destination and looked up to the sign above the door.

“The Drunken Mare… really? A saloon?” My eyes shifted from the wooden sign hanging above us to the stallion beside me who smiled sheepishly down to me. “Wait… this was Berry Punch’s doing, wasn’t it?” I asked, though I already knew the answer and groaned as we trotted inside. The mare in question was already drinking a couple locals under the table. Beside her, Midnight and the others were enjoying themselves. The dark colored unicorn waved a hoof towards me to come join them. Noc, however, came to my rescue before I could get pulled over towards them. Although, given his choice of words, I wasn’t so sure rescue was the correct term.

“Sorry, but Doc said she’s got to take it easy. She’s going to spend the next couple hours in bed.” At that, the mares in our group all looked at one another before grinning and giving me playful winks.

I groaned and facehoofed as gently as possible. Noc looked at the mares in confusion, before he realized what he’d just said, resulting in a drawn out grunt. Before the winks and whistles could grow to anything else, the large winged stallion pulled me towards the stairs and helped me up them as quickly as I was able. Once we’d reached the second floor, it was a short quick trip down the hallway and into one of the many rooms along it. It looked about how you’d expect a motel room to look: a medium sized bed, a dresser, and a mirror with a small cabinet in one corner of the room. A window with closed curtains was in the middle wall opposite the doorway and allowed a bit of light to spill into the room. Oddly it reminded me of my foalhood room, and I smiled at the fond memories.

Noc moved past me as he closed the door, placing my equipment upon the dresser before sitting his helmet beside them. As he did, I made my own way towards the bed. He’d been correct about getting some rest for a couple hours… whatever they had me on when I’d been unconscious was still making me a bit unsteady on my hooves. I had almost reached the soft looking blankets when one of my fore legs gave out from under me and I stumbled a bit.

A black foreleg, the hoof covered with silver armor, caught me before I ended up in the floor and another steadied me. Once more I found myself pressing against Noc’s side and his muzzle pressing close to my cheek. Looking to my right, I met the stallion’s golden orbs and blinked once. As my breathing rose, I suddenly had a feeling the doctor’s request for me to take it easy was going to be for nothing. Closing my eyes, I leaned towards his muzzle, feeling his lips pressing into mine…

With a start, my eyes snapped open and my forelegs flailed about above me for a moment before I realized where I was. Thankfully, instead of staring into the golden eyes of a batwinged stallion as he was leaning down to kiss me, I was looking up at a familiar overcast grey sky. I released a relieved sigh and rested my head back against my saddlebags before I arched a brow slightly. Wait… was I actually happy to be back in the Wasteland rather than dreaming about making out with another stallion? Even if I was a mare in the dream... and he was sorta cute as she’d said. Once more, I blinked and slapped my fore hooves over my eyes.

Really brain… you, too? It’s not bad enough I have to put up with Wild’s constant ribbing about my sex life, but now you're getting in on the action? Oh fuck, wrong choice of words. Also… what was up with these dreams? It was the second time I’d dreamed of those ponies… and it also seemed as if the two were connected… odd...

Letting my forelegs drop back down to my chest, I let out a snort of frustration and rolled over onto my side. Figuring out my odd dreams could wait till later. For now, it was time to get up. With a tired groan, I began to sit upright, ears wilting as I heard the cracks and pops coming from my back and shoulders. Well… I suppose I learned a valuable lesson today.

Dear Wasteland, a cracked hundred and fifty year old highway was not the best thing to sleep on. Your as of yet unkilled wanderer, Shadow.

All complaining aside from both body and mind, I did feel amazingly rested. It seemed as if I’d gotten a full night’s sleep. Looking to my Pipbuck’s clock, I noticed it was well past six in the morning… I’d slept through my turn at watch. Why hadn’t Stone or one of the others gotten me up? My ears soon began to pick up more than just the pops of my bones from my right and I looked up from my clock. Behind me, ponies were waking up, getting breakfast ready and foals up from their beds. I also heard the creaks and groans of our aged wagons as ponies began to replace their bedrolls. The sound of flapping wings and the clatter of hooves alerted me that Wild had arrived. I looked away from the waking camp, over to my pegasus friend.

The bright orange mare stood a few steps away, ears perked towards me along with her stormy blue eyes. Her wings flexed themselves once more before folding neatly to her sides as she sat down where she landed. Most telling about her mood at present was the wide grin she was wearing. Oh good… she’s already grinning… Celestia forbid the day start out without some ribbing from my friend. I was about to ask why they’d let me sleep in until she spoke first.

“So… it does work I see. Hmm… seems the rumors the mares in my old unit told me were true. Earth ponies are really better equipped than pegasi. All the while I thought it was just my Stone,” she said simply, grin widening a bit as she added, “Maybe that’s why so many go Dashite.”

What? My mind went blank for several seconds as it attempted to process what my oddball friend just said. I blinked several times when nothing came up and shook my head in confusion. “Wild… ugh… it’s too damned early to be so confusing. What the hell are you talking about?” I asked as I began to stand up. When I did, something came to my attention with the sudden movements, it felt as if something had become stuck to my lower body. I glanced down to see if I had become entangled with somethi… OH… SHIT.

With a squeak of surprise, I quickly sat back down on the pavement (wincing as I did) and placed my forelegs in front of myself. As if things weren’t bad enough, I noticed that Wild wasn’t the only one to spot my display. A pair of guard mares near the eastern facing wagons were looking more at me than at the the road. I blushed and glared at the pegasus across from me. Sadly, Wild ignored my attempts to make her burst into flames and appeared about ready to lose it. Her wings unfolded from her sides as her shoulders shook with barely contained laughter. Just then, Stone arrived to make things all the more awkward.

“Bout time ya woke up,” my friend said as he trotted past Wild, giving the mare a kiss on the cheek. He paused when he noticed how she’s acting and arched a brow. “What’s gotten into ya?” he asked, to which she snickered and I groaned in response. With a shake of his head, the large earth pony moved over beside the still warm embers. He began picking up his saddlebags from the ground, glancing over to me. “Well, don’t just sit there, Shadow. We got another long day ahead of us, it’s time ta get up.”

“Oh… hehe… don’t worry Stone... most of him already is,” she managed to say between snickers before falling over onto her back with laughter, hooves kicking up at the sky. Stone, for his part, simply cocked his head and looked back and forth between us.

Why me? I sighed and shook my head, ignoring Wild for the moment. I looked over to Stone, who thankfully hadn’t caught onto Wild’s hints. “Stone, why didn’t you wake me last night after your turn at watch?” I asked, while at the same time thinking of things to calm parts of me down.

“Wasn’t much need for ya ta take a turn at watch, what with all th’ ponies we got around willin’ ta lend a hoof,” my large friend said as he began strapping his saddlebags in place. “Plus, ya tend ta push yerself a bit ta hard. Noticed it while we were travelin’ out ta San Ponsisco th’ first time. Figured ya could use th’ rest while we got th’ chance at it.”

“I appreciate your concern, Stone, really I do… but I don’t want somepony else doing what I can do myself. It just doesn’t feel right,” I responded, ears twitching as I noticed Wild had gone silent. Perhaps she’d gotten it out of her system. “These ponies need just as much rest as I do. More so I think, given what they’ve had to endure for the past two days or more.”

“Yer right, oh course, but it was a couple of them that asked ta take yer turn at watch. Said it was th’ least they could do ta repay ya for all yer doin’ for’em.” I arched a brow to his words and glanced over to the camp. A few of the ponies going about their breakfasts waved towards us when they saw me looking. “Yer shapin’ up ta be a hero in most of their eyes Ah reckon. It ain’t just th’ young foals who think so.” The tone my friend’s voice took as he spoke that last bit caused me to look back towards him, both brows arched. “Yer my friend, Shadow. Almost more like th’ brother Ah lost if’n Ah’m honest with ya. Ah respect ya a good deal for what ya done and what yer doin’ now.”

“Stone… I don’t know what to say…” I never got a chance to figure out what I could say as the sound of laughter from above me caught my ears. Tilting my head backwards, I looked up and spotted a rather dark looking cloud hovering only a few feet above me and Wild’s grinning orange face poking out from the side of it.

“Since there’s not enough time for you to put that to good use, and since walking with five legs will slow you down and be a bit uncomfortable, I found something to fix that ‘problem’,” she said, using her wings for air quotes. I barely had time to figure out what she was up to when she gave a little hop off the top of the cloud and slammed her hooves back onto it. With a rumble of thunder, the cloud opened up and poured its’ payload of very cold water onto me.

“There… allll better!” she sing songed as she stood atop the now mostly white cloud.

I sat there on the now damp pavement with my mane plastered to my face and neck. My stable jumpsuit clinging to my body and water dripped off my muzzle. Wild took a close look and began (you guessed it) laughing her plot off, falling back upon the cloud to roll around. A few nearby ponies looked over to see what was going on and began snickering a bit themselves. Even Stone was fighting a losing battle to keep from laughing directly in my face. Et tu, Stone?

“Oh… it… hehe… it isn’t that bad… hehehe… besides, a few more rads… won’t kill you!” Wild snickered as she hopped off the cloud to sail down to the ground beside Stone.

Once I had been suitably embarrassed by my friends, in front of everypony within earshot of Wild or eye sight of me when I’d stood up earlier and with my personal problem seen to thanks to the sudden cold shower, I trotted on. After they had laughed themselves silly, the three of us set about getting the sky chariot ready for another long patrol after a quick breakfast. Thankfully I’d managed to dry off by the time we’d finished, getting a bit of revenge on the orange mare by shaking myself off near her once she’d settled in. There wasn’t a whole lot to reload the chariot with, luckily, and we would be finished in only a couple minutes… that is, if Wild could have stopped snickering whenever she looked my way.

Behind and to either side of us, the ponies we were escorting were doing much the same with their own wagons. Tossing saddlebags, bedrolls, and other items back into the transports as the elderly and wounded were more carefully helped up inside. Smoldering fires were put out with buckets of ash retrieved from the roadside, and teams began harnessing himself back into place.

Among the ponies there, I spotted Fiona. The doctor was moving away from one of the wagons and towards the next. Beside her was the unmistakable form of Spirit. The buffalo towered over the smaller town doctor and those ponies around her. The pair were making a quick last minute check of the wounded scattered about the caravan, to ensure that they were well before we set off on the road. Behind them, I saw the bouncing manes and tails of Fiona’s two young foals along with a number of other children from among the caravan all taking one final chance to play. A blue rubber ball with yellow stars and lightning bolts was being tossed between them, and the sounds of their laughter was easily heard over the preparations to leave. It was good to see and hear, after the horrors the young ponies had witnessed over the past several days. Their laughter was bringing a few smiles to the ponies around them.

Returning to the task at hoof, I walked over beside the cooling embers of our fire and began picking up the last of the supplies Stone had removed from the chariot the night before. Despite my thoughts to the contrary, he actually couldn’t fit everything into his saddlebags. Though I had not seen the battered pot and bowls since he’d cleaned them last night. Wrapping my teeth about the wooden handle of the box, I lifted it up and balanced it upon my back, the canned food within rattling a bit as I walked.

As I was carrying the box of supplies back towards the chariot, my ears perked towards the the rumbling sound of thunder. The cacophony silenced most of the conversations going on among the others. Ponies stopped what they were doing and glanced skyward, even Fiona and Spirit paused in their rounds to stare up at the sky. The normally thick layer of grey clouds were beginning to be replaced by far more ominous black ones, seeming to boil with energy above us. These dark storm clouds lit up the dim morning with sparks of bright white and blue bolts of lighting. They seemed content to stay within the air… for now. Luckily for us, the storm had not overtaken us as we slept. Unluckily for us, it showed no signs of dying out or passing us by.

“I wouldn’t worry about it, we should almost be to Janesville by the time the weather turns ugly,” Wild called out from the front of the chariot. She was checking over the flight harness for any tears or defects. “Besides, you know better than anypony else that a little cold rain water won’t kill you.”

I could sense the grin on her face as I set the box onto the floor of the chariot. With a snort and roll of my eyes, I shoved the box back inside the chariot with a fore hoof. Perhaps a bit harder than I needed by the sounds of cans rattling against one another. I wasn’t overly worried about them, however. Those cans of food had withstood a balefire bomb and years of neglect and rough handling as they were sold and moved from place to place by wasteland ponies. A bit of jostling wouldn’t bother them any. Though, come to think of it, should we really be eating something like that?

Before I could ponder the health risks of hundred and fifty year old canned food, I caught the steady clop of hooves approaching from behind me. By the sounds of it, it was more than a single pony. Looking back, I saw Balefire and Carrion approaching the sky chariot. Both stallions were glancing occasionally to the rumbling sky above them.

“Good morning everypony, did you guys sleep well?” Balefire called out as I turned to face them.

“Well enough. Although it seems some ponies neglected to wake me up for my turn at watch,” I responded with a playful frown towards Stone. My earth pony friend snorted and shook his head before I rounded back on the young pony before me, giving him a playful glare.

“Uhh… yeah…” was all the dark green unicorn could say. He smiled towards me as he rubbed the back of his head with a foreleg, ears lowered in worry. “At least you seem well rested,” he finally got out, his smile cracking a bit as he looked up to me. Beside him, Carrion snorted and took the opening of the sudden silence allowed to speak up.

“The path ahead is clear,” he said, before the current conversation can go continue. “I managed to climb one of the hills further down the road and got a good view of what we’re walking into. There are a few spots where sinkholes have appeared and swallowed up one side of the highway, but it appears to have left the other half of the road intact. If it turns out too unstable to pull the wagons across, the ground is level with the road and we can easily go around them. I checked with Spirit and she said we have enough Radaway for the detour if needed. Beyond that, we should be good for the several miles.”

“Oh well, maybe a few more rads will kill you,” Wild called out from the front of the chariot. The winged mare stepped away from the flight harness to look between Carrion and myself, grinning as always. “Sorry bout that, Shadow… but they say cleanliness is next to godliness.” As I leveled a stare at her, she chuckled and went on, “Carrion’s right though. I did my own quick reconnaissance flight around the forest and saw little to no trouble us beyond what he mentioned. I did see something just over the next ridge, however, outside his field of view... could be a rock slide or just a couple fallen trees. Afraid I couldn’t really tell for sure what it was and if I went much higher, I’d likely have attracted some unwanted attention.”

“Th’ Enclave’s th’ last thin’ we need troublin’ us,” Stone added from nearby.

“What about behind us?” I asked, agreeing with Stone. While I’d not seen this Enclave that Wild had told me about… I trusted her opinion on them. They seemed like bad news, and Celestia knew we had enough of that.

“Clear as far as I could tell, but there were a number of places I couldn’t see the road clearly. There could be a group of raiders following us hidden by all the hills and valleys.” Hmm… that didn’t bode well at all. It seemed everypony around me agreed, judging by their looks. I snorted softly and reached over to my saddlebags to begin pulling them up and across my back.

“We should assume we’re being followed and get moving as quickly as possible,” Carrion replied, the ghoul saying what everypony else was fearing. As he spoke, his ears flicked back against his old army flak helmet. “The raiders could just as easily be cutting across the forest instead of taking the road. Yeah, the radiation would kill them eventually, but they don’t often think in the long term.”

“Carrion’s right, th’ raiders will likely be chompin’ at th’ bit to get ta these ponies,” Stone added once more, glancing back the way we came. “If they think they’ve gotta better chance at catchin’ us by comin’ in straight, then they’ll do it.”

“Agreed, the sooner we get moving the better. As soon as Longstreak arrives, I’d like you three to get back up in the sky. Keep a close eye behind us, in case the raiders are closer than we think,” I said after tightening my saddlebags buckles in place. I looked from Wild to Carrion and Balefire. “Since they’ll be focusing on our backsides, we’d better get a few more ponies to help scout ahead with the three of us. I’ll go speak with Silver and Jackhammer while the others get themselves ready to go and inform them on our fears. I’ll see who they suggest to join us as well.”

Once the last of the supplies were settled into the chariot, I departed quickly to search for Silver and Jackhammer among the crowd. I set my first stop for their wagon located at the front of the convoy. Given how most ponies were all ready to get moving, it seemed the best course of action. I’d passed three wagons before I spotted Longstreak and Tink walking towards me. The young mare smiled as she saw me and the older stallion nodded his head in greeting.

“Good morning, Marshall, how are you today?” the young earth pony asked, sounding far more chipper than she had the day before. I suppose a good night’s rest and getting some old world tech to tinker with could put a smile on anypony’s face. Well, anypony with a love for technical things as she seemed to have. Me? I’d be happy to just be seeing Sugar off to school once I returned home.

“Doing about as well as one can expect having slept on the road,” I answered with a light snort and smile given to the pair. “I was just heading out to look for Silver and your grandfather, Tink. Are they still up front?” I asked the mare as she came to a halt before me. Longstreak simply trotted on past, likely to join Wild and Stone. Good… the sooner they got airborne, the better I’d feel knowing we had eyes in the sky.

“Yeah, Silver’s dead set on staying up front where she can keep an eye on the ponies behind here,” Tink answered, head turning to glance back the way she’d just came. As I followed her gaze, I spotted the grey mare in question standing atop her wagon. She was speaking with a number of gathered ponies and helping her wounded sister up inside the transport. “Despite Grandpa’s warnings about her staying closer to the back. I think both of them were talking about coming to look for you… at least until I mentioned I was going to come ask you something…”

“Leading from the front is all well and good, but leading from the front is what got our previous leaders killed,” a unicorn mare said from beside the wagon Tink and I had stopped near. Looking over, I noticed she was one of the armored guards Silver had under her command. Her armor was badly dented and she’d likely been in the thick of the early fighting through Old Oaks. Her rifle was in bad shape as well, but appeared serviceable. Beside me, Tink seemed ready to say something, even getting so far as to open her mouth. However, she hesitated and quickly shut it as she realized that what the other mare had said was true.

“I’ve read enough military strategy books that point out the foolishness of leaders being up near the fighting.” As I spoke, I nodded my head to the unicorn as she checked over another mare who was getting strapped into the harness of the wagon. “However, given our current situation, I doubt there’s really any place safe for anypony. Better she’s up front inspiring the ponies that follow her than seen hiding in the middle.”

“A… fair point,” the unnamed unicorn said. Her horn glowed a light blue as she lifted her rifle up from the ground where she’d laid it against the wagon’s wheel.

“Isn’t that how you fight, Marshall?” Tink asked, bringing my attention back to the orange coated mare. I chuckled at the question, having a good idea where she got it from.

“Oh? Heard that from Three Horns I take it?” I asked. She nodded in response before hurriedly adding more.

“Yeah. Balefire was telling me a couple stories about the fights you and your friends have gotten into.”

“Hopefully he hasn’t gotten as colorful in describing my exploits as Wild has…” I rolled my eyes and earned a small chuckle from the gathered mares. “I suppose some of what they say is true and that I do lead from the front. Celestia’s horn, I’ve gotten shot up enough to tell me it’s a horrible idea. Now… I believe you mentioned wanting to ask me something?” I asked, head tilted to the side as she suddenly looked from me to the ground between us. She kicked her left fore hoof against the pavement as she did so. Wait… this reminded me of Sugar when she’s about to ask me for extra frosting on her cupcakes…

“Well… I was just sorta wondering if… well, if I could maybe ride in the sky chariot with the others today?” she asked at last, doing a damn good impression of Sugar’s puppy dog eyes as she looked back up to me.

“Well… I think that’s a question best asked of Wild, as she’s the one doing all the flying and pulling. Still, I doubt she’d object much.” Tink perked back up and gave me a hopeful smile as she looked from me to the black armored chariot. I glanced back and noticed Balefire looking our way, the young stallion smiling and waving to Tink. The orange mare only half waved back towards the stallion, seeming almost oblivious to the grin he gave her when she responded. Her focus was more on the large machine behind him. “Just make sure Balefire knows I need him to stay on the ground with Carrion,” I added hastily before she started walking away. Knowing Bale, he’d likely try and get aboard with the mare. While Wild had hauled us all across the Wasteland to reach Old Oaks, I didn’t want her pulling more ponies than she needed. Especially if we got into a fight.

“Alright, sure thing, Marshall,” Tink said, and hurriedly ran off as Long and Stone begin climbing inside the passenger compartment.

As I sat and watched, I saw her rush up towards the front of the chariot where Wild was finishing the last checks of the harness and helmet she wore. The orange pegasus’ ears perked towards the orange earth pony as she pointed a hoof back towards me and then to the chariot. As I expected, Wild seemed to laugh at something and nodded her head towards the open door. With a pleased shout I could hear from where I was, Tink jumped up and trotted happily back towards the chariot. Balefire, who had been watching near the back beside Carrion, suddenly seemed more interested in the pony entering the chariot than in the ghoul speaking to him still. Upon noticing he had lost Balefire’s attention, the old unicorn rolled his glowing orange eyes and let out a heavy breath.

“It would seem Balefire has become quite focused on that mare. If the world had not already ended, I would believe it to be a sign of such things to come,” Spirit said from behind me. I turned to see the smiling face of my buffalo friend as she walked towards me from further down the line. There was no sign of Fiona, so I assumed she had stopped to help another pony.

“I would tend to agree, Spirit,” I responded and turned around to face her as she brought a family of four along behind her. A single earth pony mare and three young fillies all around Sugar’s age.

The mother was wounded, one foreleg wrapped heavily in what appeared to be bed sheets. Thankfully the fillies seemed unharmed, though worried for their mother. Movement to the side caught my attention and I glanced over to see the two stallions pulling the wagon beside me, looking across their shoulders towards the group. The tall, skinny dark-yellow unicorn bore similar features to that of the three foals… the father perhaps? The other unicorn beside him was younger and also bore some striking resemblance to the older pony, so perhaps he was his son. I found myself rather hopeful that they were all one family. It would mean the slim possibility that at least one survived Old Oaks without losing anypony close to them.

“I trust we will be on our way soon?” Spirit asked. She reached up a hoof to unlatch the tailgate of the wagon, letting the wooden door drop down to swing below the bed. As she did, one of the fillies, the oldest, leapt up into the back of the wagon and scurried up towards the front to greet who was indeed her father. The two youngest, meanwhile, seemed to be having some trouble with getting inside. Spirit seemed torn between tending for the mother or helping the foals.

“Soon, I was just on my way to speak with Silver about that. Wild should be getting airborne as well, to keep an eye on us as we sit here,” I answered, stepping forward to help the tired looking buffalo. I wondered if she’d even gotten any sleep last night, between caring for everypony else. The two fillies looked up and smiled when they saw my badge, though seemed to shy to ask any questions like Fiona’s children had. I gently lifted one and then the other into the back of the wagon, where they scurried off to greet their father up front.

“Good. While we have enough Radaway to last us beyond the trip, I would still rather not risk it,” Spirit continued as she checked the mother’s bandages and frowned. She’d likely want to change them, seeing how dirty they had become. However, like everything else she had, bandages were limited.

“Well, if things go as well as they did yesterday, we should make good time towards Janesville. Wild and Stone both agree we have at least another full day of travel before we reach the town,” I said as the three fillies all came climbing across the wagon’s contents to look down at their mother. “In fact I should get going. I still need to speak with Silver before we start moving again.” Spirit merely nodded her horned head towards me as she treated the mother and I turned to go. I suppose I should have know better… you do not tempt fate in the Wasteland… she was a real bitch after all.

I had barely taken a half dozen steps away from Spirit, and was just coming abreast of the two stallions pulling the wagon, when the ground between us exploded in a shower of smoking concrete and ash. Sharp bits of stone pelted my armored upper body and protected me from the worst of it. The stallions, however, were wearing much more basic armor and were cut a number of times. Thankfully nothing life threatening though. However, the sudden explosion caused them to panic a bit and back away, pushing their wagon into the group behind them. The three young fillies, watching their mother from within the wagon, let out screams of fear and ducked back inside. The move likely saved their lives as bits of stone impacted the wooden sides of their cover. At the back of the wagon, Spirit threw herself over the wounded mare.

“AMBUSH!!!” somepony behind us yelled. I snapped my head back to see where the fire was coming from. It took me only a second to spot the two groups of raiders, sitting atop one of the bigger tree’s branches and reloading a pair of rocket launchers. The spike-armored monsters were grinning like jackals down towards us. I narrowed my eyes upon them. The hell they were killing anypony else… I whirled back to the stallions, who were beginning to collect themselves, and slammed a fore hoof into the pavement.

“They’re behind us!! We’ve got to get out of here!!” one of the ponies behind us yelled out, clearly frightened at the thought of just standing still in the center of a highway. A couple wagons ahead, I could hear Silver’s voice calling out for calm, and to get everypony loaded up.

“Alright everypony, stay calm and don’t panic! Let’s get everypony into their wagons as quickly as we can! It’ll take them a few minutes to reload those old war launchers so let’s make use of that time! When Silver’s wagon starts moving, follow it! Jackhammer knows the way out!” I yelled out for those who hadn’t heard Silver’s shouted commands over the rising sounds of fear. Despite our calming words, it was clear we were seconds from full blown panic. The pullers, whose wagons were full, attempted to get them out of range of the pony portable heavy weapon. Those behind the wagon I was near were looking ready to go around. The stallions had recovered and were pawing at the pavement, ready to get underway, but there was a problem.

“Hurry, get inside!” Spirit called out from behind me. I turned as she finished helping push the wounded mare she’d been caring for back into the wagon beside her foals. The three young ponies were crying loudly for their mother. The second that the amber colored mare dropped in beside them, she was wrapped in three sets of small hooves. The wagon was beginning to pick up speed when something zipped past my face and impacted the back of it. Small bits of wood flew out from where a round had struck the tailgate, thankfully stopping it before it could strike one of the ponies huddling inside. Another struck near my hooves, helpfully pointing out that we had more than a couple of raiders with a rocket launchers to worry about.

As another of the wagons began moving around us, I saw more raiders coming up the roadway. Their mix of ill-cared weapons fired blindly at anything that moved, or simply in the air for the hell of it. How’d they get so close without somepony spotting them? They were less than two hundred feet from us and were charging straight towards the caravan. They thought we were an easy target. Well, they were about to find out how wrong they were. Through the rising cloud of ash being kicked up by their hooves, I saw something flash between the press of spiked armored bodies that froze me in my tracks...a blue and yellow jumpsuit… worn by ponies from my Stable (and perhaps all Stables).

For a moment, I thought I even saw the number forty five crudely written upon a blood covered shoulder pad which itself looked close to the type of riot armor we used. Were these some of the same raiders who had attacked my former home? At the thought of these… monsters wearing armor taken from the bodies of my former security ponies… my friends... these same bastards who had killed my sister. I felt my anger rising at what had been done to her and everypony else I’d known. I stepped forward as another wagon roared past.

I heard somepony behind me call out my name, but I ignored them as I began advancing towards the raiders, Luna’s Ruse coming up to my mouth. My teeth had barely closed around the firing bit of my weapon before I squeezed the trigger and felt the shotgun recoil back into my mouth. The solid round screamed as it flew from the barrel and across the open highway. The long range of the shot robbed the slug of much of its force. However, it managed to slam into the chest of a raider near where I’d seen the blue and yellow. While it lacked the full force, it still sent the hapless stallion back onto his ass, blood gushing from the hoof sized hole I’d just put into his upper chest.

A few rounds zipped past my body as I fired again, the heavy roar of Luna’s Ruse drowning out the shouts coming from behind me. The slug struck another raider in the foreleg, knocking him down onto the pavement but not killing him outright. The hobbled stallion began to rise back up, his horn flaring golden magic as he lifted his rifle towards me, intent on taking me with him. A second round ripped into his other shoulder, sending him fully to the ground.

As I looked for another target, the rage I’d felt began to ease a bit, allowing me to notice a raider wielding a zebra made assault rifle near the middle of the herd. He was doing a poor job of hitting anything, but with the amount of ammo he was spewing it was only a matter of time. I had just tightened my grip upon the trigger in my mouth when the raider’s body jerked back suddenly and tumbled to the pavement. Fresh blood spurted from a large wound in his side. Another beside him flailed helplessly as rounds tore into his exposed hide, ignoring the crude armor he wore and sending him to the ground atop the first.

Wild and her sky chariot raced past overhead, the mare’s battle-saddle weapons roaring to life once more as she unloaded upon the raiders running along the roadway. In one doorway, Stone sat braced against the frame. His rifle was held up as he snapped off a rapid shot, downing another raider. In the other door I spotted Longstreak, his own rifle raised as he fired off two quick shots into the mass of raiders below and sending at least one stumbling to the ground. I was about to fire once more when I heard somepony yell out my name again and I paused to look back.

“Shadow!!” It was Carrion’s voice and, after a moment, I spotted my undead friend. He was urgently waving a hoof towards me from across the road. I stumbled back a bit as a wagon drove between us and I coughed at the dust that the wheels and hooves kicked up. Looking back up, I spotted the ghoul again and he shouted out with a hoof pointed towards Wild and the chariot. “They’ve got us covered! We need to get these civilians out of here!”

I nodded my head before looking once more towards the raiders, spotting a flash of blue and yellow for just a moment again among the blood encrusted raiders. It caused me to narrow my eyes once more. Carrion was correct, we needed to focus on getting these ponies out of here first… I hadn’t come out here for revenge, after all. Shaking my head and turning away, I attempted to calm the fire still burning hotly within me as I directed another wagon past. I’d only been this angry once before…

Aww… you should have really given in… it would have been much more fun…

What the fuck? I stumbled a bit over a pothole in the middle of the road as I looked about me for the source of that voice. The raiders were too far away to have been one of them, and it sure as hell wasn’t Carrion’s raspy voice. One of the ponies racing past?

He’s not yours to play with. Now, go back to your spawn and leave him…

Wait… I’d heard these voices before… back around Tombstone… in the bank and later while searching for the stolen supplies. But I hadn’t heard them together like this… and it almost sounded as if they were speaking with one another? Were the voices in my head carrying on a conversation now and, by the sounds of it, about me? Fucking lovely…

“Shadow?” a calm voice said from beside me. A gentle large hoof came upon my shoulder, turning me around to look into the kind eyes of my buffalo friend. Spirit looked a bit worried to me. “Are you alright? I thought I heard somepony speaking with you.”

“I’m fine…” I think, I added mentally before what she just said sunk in. She’d heard the voices, too? “Wait… did you just say…” I began to ask when a round pinged off her armored shoulder guard and zipped between us to impact the ground near my fore hooves. We both blinked and looked down to the small cloud of dust settling back down around the hole before looking back up to one another. “Right… I think we have more pressing issues at the moment.”

“Shadow!! A little fucking help here!!” At Carrion’s shout, we both turned to see what had happened to the ghoul. I spotted him not far away from us, with his shoulder to the tail end of one of the wagons that had passed us earlier. He was trying to free it from where one of its’ wheels had become wedged quite firmly in one of the larger cracks that criss-crossed the highway. At the front, the two lead ponies strained at the harnesses to pull themselves free of the rut, sweat running down their exposed coats. Not far away, I saw another wagon had slid almost entirely off the side of the road, and had thrown a couple of the ponies out of the back. Even now they were scrambling to get back inside as the two stallions pulling it fired back at the raiders.

“Spirit, go help those ponies back into the wagon!” I shouted as I began moving towards the nearer of the two. Bullets began to increase in number as the raiders took notice of the trapped ponies on the roadway. Without another word, the large buffalo rushed past me. Even in a rush she managed to make almost no noise as her hooves struck the hard concrete.

Half turning, I snapped off a final round towards the nearest of the raiders before turning back towards the stuck wagon. As I got closer, I saw just how wedged the wheel had become. The pair pulling strained with all their might against the weathered roadway, which seemed unwilling to release it’s captives. Fucking wasteland… always trying to get ponies killed it seemed. Closing the distance quickly, I lowered my left shoulder and slammed it hard into the back of the wagon beside Carrion with a grunt of pain. Almost at once, my hooves begin to skid across the concrete.

“We’re not gonna make it…” the mare in the back said to herself. She held her foal tightly against her chest, tears staining her amber colored coat.

“The… fuck we aren’t…” I snorted. I dug my hooves harder into the unyielding pavement, sweat beginning to run down my face and neck. Rounds began striking the pavement around us more quickly, one imbedding itself between Carrion’s and my head to punch through the wood. It missed the mare and the foal sitting inside the wagon by mere inches. The young filly cried out in fear as her mother attempted to comfort her even as she herself wept. Unfortunately, the filly’s cry seemed to attract more of the raiders’ attention. I snarled at the thought of what those bastards would do to them… at what they’d done to Ebony.

“Come... on!!!” I shouted over the sounds of panicked screaming and gunfire. Silver’s words for calm had long since gone to hell. My shoulder screamed in protest as I shoved it hard against the wagon, my hooves skidding over the roadway. Carrion was having no better luck, the ghoul snarling as he slammed his shoulder back into the wagon’s wooden frame. His glowing orange eyes were closed tightly as he strained every muscle to move the wagon. My ears detected the groan of wood coming from below and in front of me as the wheel fought against the confines of the split in the road. Worryingly, I heard a few snaps as well. Broken wheel or trapped… we were screwed either way. Had to get them free.

“Come… the… fuck… ON!” I yelled again and shoved against the frame with a snort. Finally, I felt the wagon shifting forward. With a groan of worn aged wood, the wheel popped free of the crack and rolled back atop the pavement. With nothing to restrain them, the wagon jolted forwards, alarmingly towards the river banks. However, the pair pulling it began to turn them away and back towards the road. I grinned and turned to see Carrion picking himself up off the ground. Spirit hurried over to rejoin us, the wagon she’d gone to help already well on its way to rejoining the others.

“We’d better get moving while Wild…” I never got to finish that sentence as something streaked past overhead. It was far too small to be my orange winged friend and her chariot, though the look of horror on Spirit’s face told me all I really needed to know. Turning back towards the wagons, I saw the streak of silver metal slam into the highway, half way under the wagon we’d just freed. A ball of fire and smoke appeared below it, sending it and the ponies within into the air… and over the side of the embankment. A single body tumbled away from the blast. The remains of the harness he’d been attached to the wagon with flapping about his blue coated body. As he rolled to a halt, he’d left a trail of blood splattering along the highway. The other driver stumbled slowly to his hooves, looking to be in shock. Somehow he’d not been sent flying away from the blast, but I noticed he was missing one his hind hooves and had a number of wounds all across his flanks.

No…

I stood to run towards the edge of the road where the wagon had tumbled away, but a hoof grabbed ahold of my shoulder and yanked me back down to the pavement. At the same time, a storm of lead flew over my head, a few striking near me and a good deal impacting the unlucky stallion who’d just stood up. Blood flew from his body as it was ripped to shreds before my eyes. He’d never even had a chance to cry out in pain. I looked over and saw Carrion beside me, ears laid back alongside Spirit who was attempting to make herself as flat as possible as rounds passed overhead.

“Stay down! They’ve got a battle-saddle with a heavy gun behind us!”

Looking back, I saw a large orange earth pony mare trotting slowly forwards. A very large gun was mounted to the saddle she wore across her back with an equally large drum magazine on the other side for balance. She was grinning madly, her teeth filed to sharp points as her weapon roared again. The muzzle spat out fire and death as she advanced towards us. Luckily for us, she couldn’t get the long barreled weapon lowered enough to strike us accurately. That wouldn’t be a problem if she got much closer, but if we moved we’d be as good as dead as that stallion. I doubted we could hope for another jam like the one back in Stable 45…

A second later, the problem fixed itself as the mare’s head simply exploded, showering those nearest her with bits of skull and gore. A second after this rather sudden event, her corpse dropped to the ground like a puppet whose strings had just been cut. The weapon sputtered out as the trigger no longer had any pressure on it. Something far larger than the rocket swept over us almost at the same instant as the body struck the pavement. I risked a glance upwards to see Wild and her sky chariot swooping over us and back towards the raiders, Stone offering a nod down towards us as they passed. I was going to owe that pony a lot after all this was finished…

With their focus once more upon our air support, I pushed myself to my hooves and began running hard across the open roadway. Spirit and Carrion followed suit a few steps behind me. The pavement was pot marked with fresh holes from the heavy weapon ripping across it, in some places smoke was still rising from the shots. I stumbled a few times upon the larger ones. However, I managed to keep my hoofing and pass the body of a very dead stallion. A round struck behind me and another flew over my head. The raiders had noticed us again it seemed. My eyes went to the blue stallion who was beginning to pick himself up, eyes unfocused and taking a few stumbling steps back towards where the wagon should have been. A round struck near his hooves, but he didn’t seem to really notice it.

“Spirit get to the wagon, I’ll get that pony ahead. Carrion, cover us!” I yelled as I changed direction, hooves skidding upon the pavement a bit. I heard Spirit change direction behind and start running hard for the edge of the roadway. Being the larger target, I’d hoped she’d manage to drop out of sight of the raiders. Further behind me, I could hear the rattle of Carrion’s assault rifle as he fired back at the raiders. The noise caught the dazed stallion’s attention and he looked up from the highway. His eyes widened just in time for me to slam into him. My momentum carried us over the edge of the highway and out into the air.

The stallion in front of me wore a rather confused and comical look as he stared at me. We were in the air for only a moment before gravity decided that earth ponies were not meant to fly and dragged, rather harshly I might add, us back towards the ground. I slammed back into the river embankment, seemingly striking a spot where there were more stones than earth and felt my lungs emptying themselves of air. Just in front of me, the stallion landed hard on his back and let out a yelp of pain. He began sliding further down into the river bed still on his back, hooves kicking in the air wildly. I wasn’t so lucky as I landed on my side and began rolling down behind him. I managed to tuck my legs up close at least to try and avoid any broken limbs. My stomach churned as the world went end over end. Grey clouds were replaced by white ash, which itself was replaced by brown earth followed by grey skies once again. For a moment, I saw the blue stallion laying prone before he disappeared again as I rolled over. A second later, I felt myself roll over that same stallion who’d come to a halt before me, and onto the ash covered riverbed beside him. A large cloud of ash rose up around us, sending my Pipbuck into a frenzy of clicking.

For the moment I lay there and groaned, my eyes closing as I ignored the irradiated ash that I’d sunk into. I quickly took stock of myself… it didn’t feel like I’d broken anything anywhere, nor was my Pipbuck yammering about any major internal injuries for once. A few seconds later, I felt and heard someone drop down beside me. I decided it’d be best to see if I was about to be gutted by a raider or not. Opening my eyes quickly, I lifted my head up from the ground and turned it to glance to my side. Instead, I found a rotting hoof inches from my snout and buried just up to its fetlock in the ash. I leaned my head back and looked upwards to follow the limb towards the slightly cocked head of Carrion. He regarded me for a moment laying in the ash, a slight smirk on his lips.

“You’ve got to be the luckiest son of a bitch ever born, ya know that?” he asked while holding a hoof out to me. I snorted, ash flying up from my muzzle as I took the offered hoof. I let him help haul me upright and out from the pony shaped hole I’d made in the much shallower ash covering the riverbed.

“So I’ve been told…” I answered him, shaking off a bit of the ash from my coat and armor. “... and so I’ve been noticing,” I added before looking from my friend to the stallion laying still behind me. As quickly as I was able, I made my way towards him and checked his pulse. It was strong and his chest was rising and falling steadily. He must have simply gotten knocked out when he’d hit the ground or when I rolled over him. He had a number of shrapnel wounds along his flanks and down his hind legs, which had been the source of the blood. Most seemed to have cloated or been covered in ash. I doubt that was going to do him any favors, but neither was dying from blood loss. He was lucky not to have lost any limbs from the explosion. I sat down beside him and rubbed a hoof over my forehead. “What's the situation on the road?”

“Wild’s got the assholes pinned down for the moment, but it won’t take them long to force her to back off. They’re packing some serious fucking firepower beside that single battle-saddle.” As he spoke, his horn glowed orange as he began replacing the magazine on his assault rifle with a fresh one from his saddlebags. “There’s a lot of ’em up there, Shadow. Easily forty or more raiders.” With a click, the old mag slid free. “If they reach this section of the road and happen to peak over the edge… we’re as good as fucked.”

A quick glance around our current surroundings confirmed his statement. There was no cover to be found anywhere beyond a couple stones that ‘might’ give a single pony some protection. The only thing else within the riverbed besides us was the wrecked remains of the wagon a few steps away, where Spirit was tending to somepony behind it. It would provide some cover should it come to it, but it would be worthless for anything beyond small arms.

“What about the rest of the convoy?” I asked, looking back to the ghoul unicorn. He trotted a bit further away from the bank, orange eyes scanning along the largely flat surface of the riverbed above us in both directions. I had a feeling I knew what he was thinking about and followed his gaze towards the edge of the roadway.

“Last I saw of them before jumping over the edge was a dust cloud down the highway. If they’re smart, they’ll keep running,” he answered, orange glowing eyes going from the top of the riverbank back down to me. “Those raiders will be after them again once Wild’s forced to fall back.” He waved a hoof down the river, towards where the convoy was now following the highway. “It’ll be safer to follow the river as far as we can. It’ll keep us out of sight of the raiders for the most part.”

“Agreed, we can find a way back up onto the road further down. If we have to, we can follow it as close to Janesville as possible. Once Wild realizes we’re not with the others she’ll circle back to look for us.” I stood slowly, dusting ash from myself quickly before taking a few steps towards the wagon. “See if you can wake him, I’ll go check on Spirit and anypony else that survived the crash. We’ll need to hurry if we’re going to avoid those raiders and regroup with the others.”

Clouds of ash rose up into the air as I hurriedly made my way across the open riverbed towards where the wagon had crashed. Thus far, Spirit had remained focused on her task. Glancing back up to the road, I could hear the continued sounds of gunfire as the raiders slugged it out with Wild, Stone, and Long. If not for them, the raiders would have likely already reached us. Whether my friends knew it or not, they were buying us a bit of time as we gathered ourselves up.

As I reached the wagon, I stepped carefully over the ground where a number of personal effects, supplies, and bits of wood from the wagon were strewn all about. The wagon itself had broken in half. The front had landed on it’s side while the bottom was facing back towards the road and where I’d rolled to a stop. The back had all but disintegrated on impact, and was a mass of wood planks, broken crates, and a chest. Stepping around the front side of the wagon, I avoided the still spinning wheel and turned to see all who had survived the fall.

Laying a few feet away from the broken wagon lay a badly wounded mare. The ash she had sunk into was turning crimson with her blood. Spirit had already wrapped much of her lower body in bandages as well as one of her forelegs. I could only suspect the wounds had been caused by the large splinters of wood laying beside the pair on the ash. I winced and looked back to the wagon, seeing an old stallion with his neck turned at an unnatural angle. As I scanned the rear of the debris, I noticed a yellow hoof sticking out from beneath a couple of trunks and moved to check on whoever it was. However, I stopped when Spirit caught my eye and she shook her head.

“No one else survived the fall. This mare is lucky to have been thrown from the back of the wagon as it went over the edge or else she may have suffered a similar fate as the others,” Spirit said, as she finished tying a bandage around the mare’s neck with her mouth and hoof.

I wasn’t sure how lucky she really was, given the number of her wounds and the trail of blood that was left upon the ground and edges of the wagon where she must have landed.

“How is the driver?” my friend asked while retrieving a health potion from her saddlebags. With a careful hoof, she opened the wounded pony’s mouth and began to pour the red liquid inside.

“He’s alive. I only managed to quickly check him over, but he seems alright for the time being. I noticed a number of wounds all up and down his hind quarters, bits of metal sticking out and the start of some bruises along his body, but he seems good,” I answered quickly. Spirit merely nodded her horned head before putting the empty bottle away into her saddlebag. As she did, I looked to the mare and asked, “Is she going to be alright?”

“I have managed to remove most of the wood from her wounds. I am running low of disinfectant, but I’ve done the best I can with cleaning her wounds. I believe she will be fine unless a serious infection sets in.” As she finished speaking, a rocket came streaking overhead before disappearing behind the trees. After a few seconds more, there came the sound of a not so distant explosion and ash fell from the trees nearest us.

“Alright, I believe that’s our signal that it’s time to fucking go. Get her ready to travel and I’ll check the wagon for anything useful. Carrion said the raiders won’t be far behind us once Wild’s forced to retreat.” Spirit thankfully had already begun to get the wounded mare onto her belly so she could be more easily lifted up from the ground.

As I was turning away to check over the scattered remains of the wagon’s contents, my hoof brushed against something in the ash and I looked down. A stuffed bunny looked back up at me with mismatched button eyes, half covered in ash. I tilted my head and looked back over to the mare… a sense of dread overcame me. There’d been a filly with her… when Carrion and I had been attempting to push the wagon free on the road. “Spirit… did you say she was the only survivor?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yes. She was thrown from the wagon as it struck the ground and landed back atop the frame. The elderly mare and stallion were both killed on impact,” she said. Hoof steps from behind the wagon announced Carrion’s arrival, the wounded wagon puller laying across his back and atop his saddlebags.

“Wait… you just found three ponies inside?” I asked, turning back to quickly look over the remains of the wagon… had the little filly been crushed beneath the boxes of supplies and personal effects? Maybe she’d been ejected like her mother…

“Shadow we need to get moving, I’m pretty sure I just saw Wild and the others bug out a second ago. Soon as those raiders get done fucking themselves we’ll be next,” the ghoul said, looking from me to Spirit.

I ignored my friend and stepped closer to the front half of the wagon as I began pushing boxes aside looking for the filly. Dammit… this was going to take too long, and time was not on our side… but I couldn’t leave without at least making sure she’d not survived the fall. Looking about quickly and, not for the last time, cursing all this damned radiation that was making my Pipbuck all but useless.

“Shadow, there’s no time to look for anything that survived that fall. Those raiders will be coming soon,” Carrion tried again, stepping towards me.

I turned around to answer him when I noticed something about the ground to my left just beyond the crash site. Hoof prints… small ones leading off across the open riverbed and up the shallow bank on the other side… before heading straight into the forest. “Oh, fuck no,” I whispered as I pushed past Carrion. He grunted in response and narrowed his glowing eyes upon me. He was about to make some comment about watching my step when he spotted what had my attention. He turned his head to look at the mare laying across Spirit’s back and then to the ruined wagon behind me.

“Fuck me…”

“What is wrong?” Spirit asked, stepping towards the both of us. Her hooves sank into the ash a few inches away from the smaller prints. Blue eyes scanned our faces for a moment before she followed our gaze to the ground and along the path the foal sized hoof prints went. Tilting her head she stood silently for a moment before she agreed with the both of us. “Fuck you indeed…” Carrion blinked and looked over at the buffalo with a confused look on his face, brow arched above one glowing orange orb.

Looking back down, I spotted the stuffed bunny laying beside my hoof, a few feet away from the foal’s tracks. With a sigh, my ears lay back against my head and I reached down to dig the worn toy from the ash. I ignored the foul taste of the stuff inside my mouth and I turned back to stuff it into my saddlebag. I now noticed Carrion had stopped giving Spirit the evil eye and was instead staring at me.

“And just what the fuck do you think you're doing?” he asked, his own tattered ears laid back as he waited for an answer. Behind him, I saw Spirit watching us both quietly.

“What I promised these ponies I’d do,” I answered with a snort to clear the ash from my muzzle and looked from him to Spirit. “I need you both to get those wounded ponies back to the others as quickly as you can.” As I spoke, I sat down in the ash and began reloading Luna’s Ruse as quickly as I could. The sound of a good number of hoof steps further down the road could be heard approaching our position. We were out of time…

“You run off on your own into that fucking forest and you’ll be as good as dead as that poor foal…” Carrion growled out, stepping up near me as I slotted the slugs into the drum feed of my shotgun. He jerked his horned head towards the tree line behind me and added, “You heard them. Couple hours out in that shit and you’ll be throwing up your internal organs from the radiation before you keel over dead.”

“I can’t just walk away from this Carrion…” I began as the last round slid in. Before I could close the drum and finish my sentence, Carrion cut me off.

“I know you fucking can’t… that’s why I’m saying let me go in after her. I’ve already hacked up most of my inner shit when I died the first time. Ghouls are more resilient to radiation than you smooth coats anyway.” I blinked and looked to my friend, almost tilting Luna’s Ruse back far enough to let all those shells slide out all across the ash covered ground. This was coming from the same pony who'd never been one to stick his neck out unless he had to. But… that wasn’t really true was it? He’d come with me… even though he didn’t have to. “What? I may not have a fucking heartbeat anymore, but I still don’t wanna see a kid hurt… I ain't that fucking cold yet.” The steady click of my radiation meter told me he was quite right about everything. I smiled up to the stallion standing before me.

“I agree… you’d be the better choice for this type of thing... but everything you just said is also true about why I need you to go with Spirit.” I nodded towards the wounded stallion across his back and the mare over Spirit’s as I remembered to snap the drum of my weapon shut with a flick of my hoof. “Those two need to get back to the others as quickly as possible and, in case you hadn’t noticed, we’re trapped in this river bed for Celestia above knows how long. The radiation down here isn’t much better than in the forest and if it overwhelms Spirit and I while we’re carrying them back, we’ll be sitting ducks for the raiders if they come up on us. Besides… I need you to tell Wild something for me.”

“Let me guess… you want us to tell her that if you're not back in a few hours to leave you behind and head on to Janesville? That we shouldn’t risk the others’ lives to try and save you?” the ghoul asked.

“No… I want you to tell her if I’m not back in a few hours…” I rested a hoof on his shoulder, looking into his eyes with the most serious look I could muster and added, “...that she needs to come find me. I don’t wanna be out here after dark, it gets fucking cold out here.” For a moment, the stallion’s face was unreadable, before a slight grin threatened to break his normally frowning lips. I saw a smile forming on Spirit’s muzzle as well before she shook her head and spoke softly in her native language.

“You’re fucking one of a kind…” He laid a hoof upon mine. “Ya know that, right?” he asked, brushing my hoof off his shoulder after another second.

“I’ve gotten that impression, yes. For now at least I’m one of a kind, but who knows what the future might bring,” I answered with a grin, standing up and glancing back to the roadway above. “Now, we’d better get moving before those raiders get any closer and spot us.”

“Watch yourself within the forest, Shadow,” Spirit said from behind Carrion as the ghoul pony adjusted the stallion laying still unconscious across his saddlebags. “I fear this sudden rise in violence within the woods will make the dead resentful of our presence.”

With nothing else to say, and knowing neither would talk me out of it, we offered one another a final good luck and nod of our heads before both my friends turned to leave. Carrion quickly took point, as Spirit fell in step behind him. The odd pair galloped off as quickly as they could, weighted down with two wounded ponies. Clouds of ash rose up behind them and, for a moment, I looked worriedly towards the roadway. I hurriedly prayed to whatever goddesses happened to be listening that the raiders wouldn’t notice it. While I heard no shouts of alarm coming from above, I could hear a number of voices approaching. None of them sounded like anypony I’d want to stay and meet.

With a final look to the crashed wagon, I turned away from it and the ash cloud left by my friends. I soon passed it to begin my own flight from the area. My hooves sank into the ash beside the young foal’s tracks, my eyes following them up to the twisted forest ahead. Climbing from the riverbed quickly, I made my way closer to the line of blackened trees, the click of my Pipbuck increasing. Behind me, I could hear the sound of ponies shouting. Whether about the crashed wagon, my friends, or myself, I wasn’t sure nor was I going to try and find out. Flicking my ears back against my skull, I plunged into the shadows of the Dead Forest.

Slowly, I trudged my way through rather ominous remains of the forest. Overhead in the darkening sky, thunder rumbled loudly, at times shaking the remaining branches of the looming trees above me. It was the only sound within the dead wood beyond the crunch of my hooves in century old ash and the odd creak of the trees. I glanced upward to look over the rolling black clouds that seemed ready to release their payload of irradiated rain upon me. More radiation was not something I needed right now. As I took another step, I did my best to ignore the growing pains in my lower body and the sickening taste of bile in my mouth from the vomiting fit I’d suffered ten minutes ago. No… more radiation was definitely not something I needed right now since the amount I had already soaked up was doing a fine job of killing me.

I took another step forward, ignoring the ash that clung to my lower body. I let out a startled yelp as my foreleg sunk deeper into the ash than I’d expected, nearly all the way up to my shoulder. Swiftly, I caught myself before I could tumble face first into the thick clinging powder and steadied my hooves beneath me. Beneath the ash, I could just hear my Pipbuck clicking away madly at being submerged in the stuff and I sighed. I was going to need to stop and take some Radaway soon.

Regaining my hoofing fully, I glanced around me at the blasted husks of trees that now had me surrounded on all sides. Their blackened trunks were largely free of the ash and looked rather unsettling enough like burned flesh. The long dead trees’ roots were all but swallowed up in the thick blanket of ash, as were the remains of the dead. As I’d seen from the road, there were a number of bones scattered about what had once been the forest floor. Most noticeably were skulls of ponies, mules, and a number of other intelligent races alongside the smaller skulls of woodland animals. Their empty sockets appeared to track me as I passed. Thankfully none seemed to move to follow my slow plodding through their domain.

With a grunt of effort, I forced my way through the deep drift of ash. I felt it shift about my body as I struggled to maintain my hoofing through the stuff. It was the sole reason I’d not made much headway in the last hour and a half since leaving the highway. I’d gone from walking through hoof deep deposits to being nearly up to my haunches in the stuff. The fact that it clung to my armor, clothing, and any patch of exposed fur was not helping matters either. The added weight was only making my already slow progress through the deeper sections come to a grinding halt. It had also a nasty tendency to bunch up between my hind legs, but I was trying my best not to notice that. If I survived this little walk, I idly wondered if I’d end up glowing in the dark… Wild would likely have a field day with that...

With another grunt of effort and a snort at the thoughts of my lower body glowing, I worked my buried limbs forward through the ash. I also hoped I’d not stumble into another hole or trip over a hidden rock or skull. I checked once more to ensure I was still on the right path, it being very possible to get lost within the field of white and black. A quick glance to my right told me I was still following the little filly. The shallow hoof prints of a young foal were just barely visible in the deep ash. Her smaller, lighter form made her passage through the dark woods much easier it seemed.

Not weighted down by armor and gear, she could and was probably walking atop the ash. Its clinging nature did not slow her down in the slightest it seemed. Why she was going further into the forest however was unclear… had she been frightened after the crash and ran away from the wagon? Was she wounded and confused? Thus far, I’d seen no signs of blood along her trail… so, I was hopeful that she wasn’t wounded. Though I was worried about how much radiation she’d soaked up. Being a young filly, her body likely couldn’t handle as much as an adult pony’s could. She had no Radaway… and would be reaching the point of no return soon… if she hadn’t already.

With a final bit of effort, my right foreleg bursts through the ash. The action sent the white stuff flying up into the air as my limb came back down upon a more shallow section of the ground. Working my hind leg forward, I quickly brought my left foreleg out to join the right, the ash now coming barely up past my hooves. With a bit more wiggling, I managed to free both hind legs. I quickly stepped away from the very noticeable path I’d left through the drift behind me and shook myself clean of the white dusting as best I could. The thought of how easily somepony could follow me made me ponder the wisdom of stopping, if even for a minute. A quick look back revealed the pony sized path I was leaving behind me in the ash.

I fought the urge to sit down, knowing that if I did I’d likely not want to get back up. I knew I was on the clock. Struggling through the ash was sapping my strength, and the constant radiation was not helping matters. I already had a couple spots along my exposed hindlegs where fur was showing signs of falling out. Remaining on my hooves, I turned back to my saddlebags and unlatched the buckle holding the flap closed. I had to spit out the ash that had remained stuck to the metal. Not like swallowing it could do any more harm, I thought to myself. Pushing the flap back, I reached inside and rummaged around for my Radaway, finding them quickly after pushing aside my spare shells and rations. I had only four left…

Letting the flap fall to a close, I turned back around and lifted my right hoof up to hold the little packet of medicine. Carefully, I used my teeth to rip the top open. The scent of oranges filled my nose before I bought the plastic up to my mouth and began sucking the stuff down. As the fluid ran down my throat, I noticed the radiation warning in my flickering E.F.S. began to lower. Finishing it quickly, I lowered my hoof and tossed the plastic package away into the ash. As I allowed the Radaway to work it’s magic on my body, thunder once again rumbled overhead. A second later, it was followed by something wet striking the tip of my nose. It seemed the rain was catching up with me now.

Wonderful.

I scanned the trees around me for any sign of the filly as several more drops fell nearby. When there was no sign of the little pony, I began looking for anything else that might give me some idea where she was even going. Yet, there was just nothing to see but hoof prints continuing onward into the forest, white ash, and black dead trees.

Three Radaway was all I had left in my bags. Two would be enough to see me back to the highway if I wasn’t slowed down too much by the ash or anything living within the woods. While I hadn’t seen any sign of radscorpions, I knew they were likely lurking somewhere around. Still, I could just backtrack towards the highway, using the path I’d already forged through the mounds of clinging white powder. However, doing so would likely end with me dead. I doubted the raiders that had followed me into the forest had given up just yet. I hadn’t heard them in over an hour now, but that likely just meant they were taking their time… knowing I had nowhere to run.

I grunted and glanced behind me. No… there’d be no going back that way. Finding another way back to the highway would be my only option really… that was if I was really going to leave the filly to her fate. Could I do that? To save my own life and leave a young foal out here alone in the wasteland? No… I couldn’t do that was. I reached that answer quickly, but paused when I thought of Sugar? Was it fair to her if I died for a lost cause? Could I really die and leave her alone? No mother or uncle? I’d asked myself that question a couple times the past twenty four hours and I still had no good answer. But then… my entire reason for being out in the wasteland was a lost cause according to some.

A flash of light lit up the dark woods around me, followed quickly with the deep rumble of thunder and the sound of rain striking the trees and my armor. Drops of cold rain struck my nose once more, causing my ears to twitch. Water was starting to run down my sides and left clean streaks in the white powder that covered my black coat. With a tired sigh, I reached a hoof up to remove my sweat stained hat, freeing my mane for a moment. Despite the risk of further radiation poisoning from the falling rain, it felt rather good striking my sweat soaked forehead and neck.

I was just about to replace my hat and press on, when a sudden noise caught my attention. Having been out in the forest for the past hour or so, and on the road for longer, I’d gotten used to the noises it had made… but this was not one of them. However, it sounded far away and I could barely make it out… or even tell where it was coming from thanks to the steady drone of the rain falling around me. It almost sounded like a voice. The young filly?

I went still and strained to hear the voice again. My ears swiveled this way and that to try and pick up the sound again, to find the source of the voice. The rain was beginning to increase and was making pinpointing it almost impossible. Unless I got closer or it louder… wait… there was another sound coming from behind me...

Twisting around as quickly as I could, I spotted two raiders attempting to sneak up on me while I’d been so focused on trying to locate the source of that voice. Luckily I’d heard their ragged breathing and the creak of their worn armor plating against one another. Both raiders were earth ponies and both had their firearms holstered while, within their jaws, they held long bladed daggers with sharp curved tips and serrated edges. Seemed they’d hoped to catch me unaware and either slit my throat or try and capture me for whatever foul reasons.

As our eyes met, they realized their attempts at stealth had failed. For a moment there was silence as we looked at one another, the rain falling upon us all but forgotten. As thunder rumbled overhead, the moment of silence and peace was shattered as they both lunged forwards to try and cover the last dozen feet or so to me.

Raising Luna’s Ruse upwards, my lips closed around the firing bit. As quickly as I could, I swung the barrel towards the closest raider and squeezed the trigger without bothering to aim. At this range, if I missed with a shotgun, I would owe Cinnamon an apology when I met her on the other side. The lead raider’s sickly yellowed eyes widened in surprise as his forward momentum was halted completely by the solid slug striking him in the shoulder and chest. Both blew apart in a spray of red mist, bits of bone, and rusty armor plating. The remains (for he was very dead after such a wound) were flung away from me by the force of the impact and landed in a shower of ash. The second raider’s snarling face came into view as the first flew away. Despite the fact that I knew he was too close, I still attempted to twist my head about fast enough to bring the weapon’s barrel to bear.

With a crash of metal armor striking metal armor, he landed half atop me and slashed out wildly with his blade. The curved tip caught me across the muzzle and pain exploded all across my face as I heard flesh rip. I felt and saw warm blood splash across my eyes. I screamed in pain, dropping Luna’s Ruse from my mouth and stumbling back, momentarily blinded. The raider’s hooves had also struck my armored chest and I felt the kevlar plating and material buckle inward at the impact. With the weight of the other pony pressing against me, I had to fight to retain my hoofing. I knew that if I fell to the ground now, I’d not be getting back up.

Fighting through the pain in my face, I brought my right foreleg up and smashed blindly into the body of my attacker. I felt flesh impact with my hoof so I knew I’d struck him somewhere without armor. The Raider grunted and loosened his grip on me, letting up a bit. I couldn’t tell how much room I’d gotten, but it was enough for me to hurriedly bring my right foreleg around to rub it wildly against my eyes in an attempt to clear the blood from my eyes. If I was to survive this fight, I’d need to be able to see. The falling rain helped my hurried efforts, and my soaked armored limb removed enough blood that I could see more clearly from my left eye, but not my right. I’d have to worry about it later as my restored vision was not bringing me good news.

The raider’s snarling, blood-splattered face filled my sight, brown teeth bared and locked firmly about the handle of his blade. He was still far too close for Luna’s Ruse. I’d be dead before I could even bring the shotgun even part of the way up to my mouth. I could only react to his attacks. I quickly brought my still raised foreleg up to defend myself from his second slash towards my face, the heavy impact of the bladed weapon hitting me hard and forcing me to take a step back.

I brought my foreleg up again and deflected another blow meant for my neck. This time the blade slid across the armor and into the softer material between them. It was a small cut, and all but ignored thanks to the intense fire burning along my face, but it was a reminder that I couldn’t keep this up for long. Sooner or later he’d get lucky, and I had no way to counter him this close. Blood was already starting to run into my left eye again and I had to blink it constantly to keep it largely clear. This left me open to his attacks, but it couldn’t be helped.

He took advantage of it a moment later. As I was distracted trying to keep my vision clear, he lunged towards me once more, his intent clear. He wanted to knock me either onto my side or back where he’d have an easier time of gutting me. Once more I could only react to him, though this time I went for an attack of my own rather than to try and block his. I lashed out with my foreleg, putting as much of my strength as I could into the swing and caught him in the side of his head with my Pipbuck. Sadly the strike did not stop him from slamming into me with the weight of a full grown stallion and a couple pounds of gear and armor. My three hoof stance had me unbalanced and, with the raider’s added weight, I felt myself stumbling backwards into nothing.

Perhaps I should have remained on the defensive… this thought passed through my head as the ground beneath my hooves disappeared entirely. Above me, the raider’s eyes widened as he followed me over the edge. It seemed only fair he’d come with me. After all, it’d been his forward momentum that’d pushed us over the edge. The pain in my face was momentarily forgotten as I once more found myself tumbling end over end down an ash-covered embankment.

Luckily the drop was not far, though we did roll for a ways from the base of the hill once we struck the forest floor again. I managed to avoid the worst of being rolled over by my attacker. His spiked armor would have likely done a fair more bit of damage if he’d not rolled over my armored upper half. I was stopped suddenly by slamming into one of the blacked trees of the forest and felt a fresh wave of pain wash over me. I could feel blood all but pouring from my wounds and I was nearly overwhelmed with pain. As I tried to remain conscious and bring the spinning, red-colored world back into focus with my single eye, I spotted the dark shape of the raider climbing up to his hooves from an ash pile he’d come to a halt within.

It would seem I’d taken the worse of the fall…

Shaking his head as he rose fully, the raider looked about, slightly dazed, before his yellowed eyes halted upon me. His scarred muzzle split into a wicked grin of sharp teeth upon seeing me on the ground. He actually chuckled and looked about the ground for a moment before spotting his knife, sitting blade first in the ash between us. The cocky son of a bitch made his way slowly towards it, while looking me over… this was not going to end well.

As I attempted to rise up to my own hooves, I heard movement to my right. I saw him turning to look towards what was no doubt more of his friends showing up. However, his grin quickly vanished and he froze in place. The pupils of his eyes shrank to pin pricks as he stared intently at something near us. At first I thought it was a simple ruse, to get my attention off him so he could rush me. Though honestly, he’d already passed up a perfect opening to do just that when he’d first seen me. More movement to my right caught my ears and I saw the raider take a step away from whatever it was. I risked a look, as I’d not often seen raiders genuinely afraid before. It didn’t take me long to find what had him so surprised and afraid, because it surprised and frightened the hell out of me, too...

There, standing not five feet away from my prone form, was a feral ghoul. It’s coat had all but fallen out due to the radiation that had killed it, leaving exposed rotting flesh in it’s wake. Ugly looking scars criss crossed the ghoul’s hide. Much of its face had either been ripped away by some other mindless beast or had simply rotted off, leaving it’s jaw bones exposed for me to see. Behind what was left of it’s muzzle were its eyes, glowing an otherworldly green as it glanced from me to the raider standing across from it. There was no intelligence in them, it’s mind long since gone by what had happened to it.

Now, after all I’ve seen and been through, a single ghoul was not enough to make either myself or a crazed, hardened raider fear for our lives. No… the dozen or more other feral ghouls standing behind it were. It seemed we’d fallen into a herd of them, all gathered within what appeared to be a clearing in the forest. From beyond the edge of the clearing, glowing green orbs stared intently at us from the trees… I couldn’t tell how many there were as they shifted about, some sounding closer. Movement from behind us made me realize there were likely more of them there… or it had simply been the raider pissing himself in fear… luckily I’d taken care to empty my bladder twenty minutes earlier. Something, however, was off… none of the ghouls were moving to attack either the raider or myself. But they were clearly ferals…

A much louder movement from behind me caused me to quickly look back. I saw the raider struggling to free his firearm from the holster across his side. It appeared to be a simple pump action shotgun, a weapon more favored by unicorns than earth ponies. The movement also caught the ghouls’ attention and a dozen or more green eyes fixed themselves upon the frighted raider. He’d barely gotten the barrel clear of the holster when he fired his first shot wildly into the feral herd.

Unlike me, he was using buckshot and it was only due to this that he managed to hit anything at all. The pellets scattered about the small clearing, striking a number of ghouls. His lack of aiming for a single target, or even vaguely towards a target, meant that the shot spread far wider than it should have. Though he hit a number of ghouls, none were hit with enough pellets to do more than anger them.

The ghouls’ odd behavior ended as they were attacked and, as one, they began growling and advancing slowly towards the raider. Those with still intact ears had them flattened against their skulls, their glowing balefire-filled eyes fixed upon their target. I expected to be killed then and there, as those nearest me began moving forward. However, they merely stepped over me or went around my prone form. They clearly could see me… they had to know I was awake… yet they ignored me.

The raider seemed just as surprised as I, perhaps expecting them to fall on me and give him time to either escape or move further away where he could more safely shoot them. With whatever plan he had thought up failed, he began backing away from the ghouls as they closed in around him. He managed to pull back on the pump of his weapon, ejecting the spent shell and leveling it back towards the nearest group of ghouls before the herd was upon him. The ghouls ears’ laid back and they began to growl at the raider.

I’d seen a lot since coming to the surface. Scorpions the size of ponies and bigger, miles upon miles of desolate wasteland, towns protected by the scrap of ages past, and good ponies killed by those who no longer deserved to be called a pony. However, what I saw now… was beyond any of those things. To watch as another living thing, even if it was a raider, was ripped apart by a herd of feral ghouls… to listen to his agonized screams as his limbs were broken and even ripped from him by the rotting teeth of the former ponies. Bits of flesh and bone were thrown into the air as they opened him up… that was something I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget… if I managed to survive this that is.

With the ghouls focused upon the unfortunate raider, I once more attempted to climb to my hooves. Thankfully, my body decided to go along with my wishes and allowed me to once more stand up. My legs still felt like lead, however, and I wouldn’t likely outrun the ferals once they noticed me. Fighting them was not a better option given their numbers, but it was better than being ripped apart. As I reached for Luna’s Ruse, which had remained safely swung over my head, movement in front of me caught my attention. I looked up, fearful of what I’d see.

One of the ferals stood in front of me, blood running down his exposed jaw bone and teeth, green eyes fixed upon me…

...fuck…

Welcome to Level 19!

Perk Added: Soylent Green Is Ponies!: In this new Equestria, it’s eat or be eaten. While ponies are not known to eat meat often (if at all), they still have the ability when times are tough. And times are indeed very tough. Meat can be consumed to restore health and stamina when hungry, though at a much slower rate than with vegetables, fruits, and grains. This perk does not lower your gag reflex, however. Sorry.

Author's Notes:

Well, it's finally come out... and it's not quite as long or as good as I'd hoped. Still, I've been writing and re writing this one for months it seems. I never could get it quite right, and between planning my trip for Bronycon, work going nuts, and some health issues I've had my hands full. It also didn't help that when I did finish it, my editor and prereader were both busy with work and school. Curse real life getting in the way of our ponies!

Once again I find myself apologizing for the lateness of a chapter. I really dislike how long its taking me to get these to you guys, as I well know the feeling of waiting for something to update. Hopefully the next chapter will not be so long in coming.

Until next time!

Editor and Chief: TheGamefilmGuruman

Pre- Reader: BronyKen who has also been doing a reading of my story and can be found on his U Tube channel here.

Original Cover Art: TimeForSP

Current Cover Art: MisterMech Go. Worship his work.