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The following day, the storm had passed. I awoke in the same place, in the same cave from the previous day. I noticed all of my companions asleep on the ground too; none of them had left the cave. It was time to move onto Manehattan and assist the Rangers at battle. I got onto my hooves, turning off the PipBuck’s light before shaking all of my companions awake one by one.

Once they were all awake, I checked the outside world noticing the storm had passed. I exited the cave and was back out onto the Wasteland.

“Come on, the coast is clear.” I commented before trotting my way back to the Manehattan wall. They all followed closely with Violet trotting ahead of all of us. She obviously wanted to get back before the Alicorn’s took over Manehattan. When we reached Manehattan, the security had doubled. This wasn’t a good sign; this showed that The Steel Rangers were losing the fight.

I trotted myself up to Elder Lockhart, with the others following as I trotted alongside Violet. The gate looked dinted slightly, as the Rangers had built some defences such as exterior walls to the wall itself.

“Lockhart!” Violet called out, Lockhart turned to face the mare before walking up to her and preventing her from walking any closer to the wall.

“I’m sorry Violet, you and your friends cannot pass this wall. It’s too dangerous!” He called back to her and looked towards me. “I’m sorry.”

“Why not?” Crystal asked, “I mean sure they might have doubled in forces, but we want to help!”

“Yeah, we want to help y’all in battle!” Dodge smiled reassuringly, “give us the chance to help your Rangers!” Dodge looked at them with a hopeful look. Lockhart shook his head in disagreement.

“No, I can’t risk the lives of travellers for my Rangers. It’s too dangerous; you’ll die as soon as you enter.” He turned away to face his Steel Rangers giving them a nod to seal the entrance as quickly as possible. Hope was running dry and I had no choice but to intervene and try and convince him myself.

“Lockhart, if you don’t let us pass, millions of Rangers will die. This Wasteland will become even more dangerous than it was. Please, you have to let us passed.” I looked at him, using the last bit of hope I had left. I saw a smile quiver onto his face, but it quickly disappeared and then he rotated himself to look at me showing pity.

“Oh alright, but if you die, do not blame me. You only have yourself to blame for your death.” He turned back to his Rangers, shaking his head at them. This sent the message to them that they shouldn’t seal the gate…yet. As the gate began to lift, my companions and I began to trot towards the lifting gate. The sound it made was screeching, I felt it scrape against the inside of my ears before crawling under the small gap, into the city. Shit was about to get real.

As my vision was filled with a city under conflict, I saw buildings enlightened by flames and many corpses filling the hell ridden streets of Manehattan. Many missiles were fired from Alicorns higher in buildings. Rangers were under heavy fire, as some sniped the Alicorns from the buildings, blowing their heads off as they did. Each Alicorn fell, but with each life taken, more joined in the fight.

A Steel Ranger shoved us all down to cover as a missile hit the very spot where we were all standing, leaving a loud bang with a fiery blaze and smoke. The Ranger looked at us with an alarming look.

“What are you all doing here!?” The Steel Ranger peeked over the large piece of metal. Bullet after bullet pinged off of the burnt metal surface, as a bullet just misses the Rangers head.

“We got sent in by Lockhart, we’re here to help!” Dodge exclaimed, as a bullet flew into the ground, sending a tiny piece of rubble upwards. The sound of gunfire grew louder as the Alicorn threat closed in onto us.

“Well just one thing. Try not to get yourself killed!” The Ranger responded to Dodge, looking at us all. “Good luck!” The Steel Ranger quickly moved out, getting shot into the head. They collapsed with a great thud before blood poured out of the gaping hole within the helmet. I stared in shock and Violet even turned away cringing.

“We have to go, now!” I shouted, before charging over to a destroyed building and taking cover by the wall. A bullet storm came down at us, the overs swiftly made it across taking cover also.

“Tornado, what do we do!?” Crystal looked at me frantically as an explosion was heard outside. I felt the floor shake from the shockwave. I collapsed and quickly stood myself up and aimed my Combat Shotgun. They were too far away; I quickly switched to my rifle and entered S.A.T.S. targeting the body and the right fore-leg of one of the Alicorns in the upper levels of the opposite building.

BLAM, BANG!!

“We fight them, stick to cover. Don’t expose yourself for too long, just a quick peek and quickly hide.” They all nodded in a reply. I checked around the cover, before a bullet swerved and missed my head.

“We can’t just charge in, I’ll think of a tactic.” Violet got down onto the ground. “And we can’t just stay here; it’ll be easier for them to pin us down.” A scream of agony was heard within the sound of gunfire from one of the Rangers.

“And your plan is?” Crystal turned to Violet, “would you mind telling us?” She shot her a look with an angry expression. “We obviously don’t have much time, do we?!” An explosion erupted just feet away from me.

KABOOM!!

I felt the wall crack, again collapsing onto my front letting out a groan. Dodge came to my aid and looked at Violet with a worried expression.

“Violet, we have to move. Otherwise this building is going to come down on top of us.” Dodge lifted me onto my hooves, looking into my eyes with a smile. A smear of ash was on his cheek. “Hey, you alright partner?” I gave him a light nod.

“You see that wreckage over there? Go there, now, other Rangers are there. They’ll be able to cover us.” Violet prepared herself for the charge, as she lifted herself onto her hooves. Her armor was now slightly cracked, but it wasn’t too damaged.

“Ready on your go.” I responded, evading a bullet that aimed straight for my head. It landed with a loud crack as it hit the rubble of the building. I felt the building above me shake yet again, as dust fell onto me. I let out a loud cough, but it was unheard over the roaring gunfire.

We all charged for the wreckage, the Alicorns sending a hellfire of bullets down onto us from rage. I dived for the wreckage, but was unlucky. A bullet caught my flank before I fell with a yelp. It was only my flank, so I could still walk though it did sting.

“Tornado?!” Crystal quickly took cover, as she sat down and she holds me and I look up at her, hissing in pain. “Your flank!” This made me blush. Only because she was looking at my flank.

“I’ll be fine; it’s just a flesh wound.” I stood up, feeling an intense burning stinging pain. I looked through a gap, watching the Alicorns rain hell upon the Steel Rangers below them. A large wave of explosive energy boomed at their place.

“Is he okay?” Dodge came to my side, looking at my wound. I quickly turned away, blushing even darker as another Pony stared at my flank. They both frowned and laughed lightly.

“Guys we have trouble! Alicorn threat, twelve o’clock!” Violet exclaimed as she spun her Minigun at the oncoming forces. Some of the Alicorns fell in a yelp of pain, some of the bigger and more heavily armored ones charged through as the bullets pinged off of their thick armor. I attended Violet’s side, taking a couple of shots with my rifle. My shots weren’t strong enough.

“Crystal, stay here!” Dodge sat Crystal down behind cover, where she couldn’t be shot or seen. He charged ahead, lifting his revolver into his jaws. He pulled out some modified rounds of his; he clearly made these during the storm while we were asleep. From the printing, they were incendiary rounds. He placed each bullet in one by one, as he took cover behind a large stone wall.

“Dodge, no!” I reached out, Violet pulled me back. I tried to break through her strong grip, but she kept pulling me back. She really tried hard to prevent me from going to him.

“No, let him handle this!” As she said that, Dodge fired a shot at one of the slightly bigger ones, which caused the Alicorns coat to enlighten. The flames danced around its coat, as it began to run around frantically before crashing into a building and collapsing. Dead.

“C’mon guys, over here!” Dodge called over as a large missile came down from above. It landed by Dodge causing him to get thrown backwards slightly.

KABLAMO!!

He landed onto his back, just by the wall. His face was covered in gunpowder and he coughed violently, before waving his hoof as a sign of saying he was okay. Violet rushed over to him, I followed out and Crystal followed behind me.

“This was a huge mistake!” Crystal pointed out, following me over to the collapsing building to where Dodge was. “We should never have come here!” I turned and stopped Crystal as gunfire came down on us. Violet reached Dodge and helped him up. I heard her echoing calls through the gunfire, only just.

“Listen to me Crystal; if you give up now, we abandon everything. Just like I said, if we give up, the Wasteland will become a hell of a lot more dangerous.” I held her close to me, looking deeper in. Violet’s call snapped me out of the daze before I nodded and quickly ran over. Crystal followed me quickly as I dived down.

“How many are we talking?” Crystal asked, taking a peek to see any Alicorns. Some more marching from the street opposite levitated some heavy weapons into the air. The road they came from had a dry fountain of the two rulers, Celestia and Luna. Obviously built in Pre-War times. The sunlight was on our side though; the sunlight blinded the vision of the Alicorns ahead of us. This gave us an advantage.

“Five or six, all blinded by sunlight. Now’s our chance!” Violet made sure that Dodge was on his hooves for the fight. She nodded to Dodge. “Fire the shot.”

KABLAM!

Dodge fired an incendiary shot at an Alicorn, setting it on fire completely. I watched the flames burn away the sickly yellow coat of the Alicorn, as entered S.A.T.S. and aimed for the head and torso of the one on the right.

BANG! BANG!

I sent two spinning shots into the Alicorn, knocking it down. Both its leg was crippled along with its head. The bullet didn’t manage to hit the brain, but it dug far enough to inflict pain upon it. I saw the Alicorns face turn from a fierce grin, so a painful cringe in a matter of seconds after firing. The Steel Rangers around us fell with a loud thud, as some of the others cowered behind the cover that was available to them. Crystal levitated her Assault Rifle and opened fire on some of the other forces that were blinded by the light. She crippled two and as usual, Dodge finished them off.

“Area clear!” A Ranger that sounded like a mare boomed, before trotting up to me and my companions. I could tell by her soft trots she was grateful in some way from how we helped. She stopped by us all. “You four, I’d like to thank you for the help in battle.”

“Hey, it’s no problem. We’re here to help.” I responded with a smile on my face, “is there anything else we can do?” I asked, looking around at the Alicorn corpses that surrounded us. Massive holes were in the ground from the explosions and blood was sprayed across the battlefield like a slaughterhouse.

“Well other than aiding us in battle, no. We just need to push the Alicorns back and if we can, kick them out of the city.” But hope was far from reach. She glanced back at her soldiers and let out a deep sigh.

“You Steel Rangers are stronger than that, no offense, but I don’t think you’re giving it your best.” Crystal suddenly joined in the conversation, walking up next to me. “Give them your best!”

“As much as we want to we can’t risk Ranger forces, if we put too many at risk, we won’t be able to win our war with the Enclave!” The Steel Ranger responded with a stern tone to her hissing accent. She turned her attention to Violet, the Steel Ranger we took with us. “So, Violet these are your friends?”

“I’d say so, I’ve made a deal with them. As long as they hold their end of the bargain, I’ll hold mine.” Violet shot a look at her ally. She walked up to the mare in heavy armor, just like hers and stared into the visor. “And I’ll make sure they keep their end of the bargain, they’re here to help, not kill us.”

“Whatever Violet, all I can say is, we’re watching you. All of you!” The mare across from Violet exclaimed at the top of her lungs before trotting back to her Steel Ranger allies. The fight was over – for now. It was only a matter of time until those Alicorn bastards would attack us again; we had time to travel further into the city before an ambush began yet again.

I began to walk down the street where the last wave of Alicorns came from; I drew my attention to the Pre-War fountain. How its elegance stood out, it didn’t fit in with the destroyed city around it. I observed it closer, looking at the amount of detail along with ashes that was on it. I found an audio tape laying within the area to where the water was meant to be, I downloaded it onto my PipBuck and began to play it. A peculiar sounding voice was heard as I began playing it, it sounded dry as if it was a ghoul.

“To anypony who discovers this message I have something important to say. The fountain before you is a relic from Pre-War times, it cannot be knocked down. It is sacred, it is old. It’s something so valuable to me. Not just to me, but many others too. It has made everypony here think that peace could one day be with us, we all know it won’t - but it lets us imagine.”

The audio file ended there, I let out a small chuckle in thinking that the fountain in front of me was sacred. I snickered slightly and suddenly felt a punch go into the back of my head. I rotated my head around, noticing Violet shaking her head at me. After this I suddenly quieted down, but seriously how could anything like this be sacred? It’s only two Alicorns which interlock in flight, one with a horn missing and the other with no head. It was already damaged enough.

“Don’t mock him for what he believes in.” Violet looked at me sternly. I looked shocked from the sudden accusation, but I took it lightly.

As we continued down the road, we were on full alert. Alicorns could attack from anywhere, but as I thought of it, the inevitable happened. Another ambush came onto us, a battle cry from one of the buildings was heard as a missile came our way at a high speed.

“Spread out!” I bellowed before quickly running away. As I said that, my companions and I spread out quickly, but as the missile hit the floor. I was sent forward, slamming into a huge pile of rubble. I picked myself up, noticing Crystal knocked out cold and Violet bleeding from her left hind leg. Dodge seemed okay, coming out to me and quickly running across as another missile was launched towards him.

KABOOM!!

The explosion echoed through the streets, Dodge came to my aid. His lips moved, but the gunfire made it impossible to hear his voice over the ruckus. I looked at him slightly confused, as my ears began to ring from all the attack outside the isolated building. When the noise finally calmed down, I could hear him - just.

“We have to go!” I heard his voice speak in a shaky tone, he pulled me by the hoof and I pulled from it. He looked at me with a shocked expression. I looked at him, feeling a stinging scar on my cheek from the rubble.

“No, not without them!” I quickly charged towards the two bodies in the building opposite us. As soon as I got onto the road, the gunfire was shot down towards us where one bullet slashed the back of my right hind leg. I fell over with a yelp, landing onto a torn, burnt, red carpet face first. The scar on my cheek had a severe stinging sensation. The gash on the back of my leg burned like if it has been set on fire, I looked at the wound that was gushing with blood before getting back onto my hooves.

I encountered the two bodies of the mares, both unconscious now. I wasn’t going to let them die. I looked towards Dodge, looking through the blizzard of shrapnel flying across the road that divided the two buildings, seeing him preparing to run across. I shook my head, living Crystal onto my back using my head. I felt her weight pushing down on me, before struggling to lift Violet onto my back. I was grunting from the sheer pressure that was being placed onto me.

I needed him to cover me, but I knew he wouldn’t risk his life for me. Or them. He was good in combat, yes, but selfish in some aspects. I showed him a look that represented begging, I needed him to do this for me. As I trotted towards the weak, cracked arch to peek out onto the battlefield, another storm of bullets came my way as I quickly took cover behind the wall.

“Dodge, please. Just cover me!” I looked at him, hoping he would agree to watch my back while I ran for cover. “It’s not just one life, it’s three lives!” Another missile headed down the street at a lightning fast speed, trailing a thick, black smoke behind it before colliding with a wall.

KABANG!!

Another ringing sound returned to my ears, they were taking as much of a beating as the city itself. I heard heavy hoofsteps banging on the cracked asphalt of the roads, looking towards Dodge for one final attempt to convince him to cover me. We weren’t going to survive if he didn’t. None of us. Another missile was fired our way, this time landing closer to me. This made me shake slightly and nearly fall over with a powerful thud, luckily I didn’t collapse and I managed to keep the two unconscious mares on my back.

“Okay, I’ll help. But if I die, that’s your fault!” He seemed to only care about himself and himself only at times like these, but I still believe he’s a caring stallion. He shot two shots towards some of the Alicorns marching down the street towards us.

“I’d say that’s a deal!” I agreed, preparing to leave the building of rubble. I felt the building shake around me as if it was about to collapse, time was running short at this point. I quickly charged out, quickly hid behind a chipped, stone barrier. Bullets flew down at me, Dodge followed, firing a few incendiary shots with his Revolver. He sat next to me as I heard the screams of agony from the burning Alicorns.

“I’ll tell you when you’re clear to go.” Dodge peeked over, chomping down on the Revolver in his mouth before taking aim and firing with another blazing bullet that left a trail of flame. The bullet missed the Alicorn he aimed for. He took aim yet again and took the shot.

BANG!

The bullet hit the eye of the Alicorn, making the eye explode with a frenzy of blood before setting on fire and burning the wound. The Alicorn fell to the ground and squirmed in pain while patting the flame within the eyehole. I watched it burn in a fire blaze, it spread around its body while the Alicorn squirmed on the floor before it became completely lifeless.

The other Alicorns began to send a storm of bullets our way, I quickly ducked behind cover as bits of the barrier chipped off of the top, and Dodge took a few blind shots. I placed the two mares down, having no choice but to attack them myself. I quickly peeked over, entering S.A.T.S. I targeted all four limbs of the nearest Alicorn before exiting S.A.T.S. to cause the damage.

BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!!

I quickly reloaded my Combat Shotgun as I took those shots; the Alicorn was close to death. Because of this, I decided not to use S.A.T.S. I charged ahead, engaging in combat, firing my Shotgun and exploding the limbs off of the Alicorn. Blood splashed into my face and the two front limbs flung off in different directions. I quickly ducked back behind cover with the two mares and Dodge. I lifted the mares back onto my back and stood up, the numbers of Alicorns slowly decreased as Dodge burned each of them one by one with his incendiary shots. The remaining ones fled to get help, as Dodge chased them about half way.

I followed him slowly as I carried the mares on my back, groaning slightly. The weight was too much, but I couldn’t give up. He stood still, staring down the road where the Alicorns fled. I found myself out of breath already, I felt like I was going to drop dead - I sure hope I wasn’t.

As we continued through the disturbed city of Manehattan, the streets lay ruined from battle. Skeletal corpses lay wasted within some of the buildings, gathering dust and settling into the dirt. The sight was horrific; the poor tortured souls that were in direct contact with the Megaspell, ones who were born before me. I couldn’t help but feel pity for them.

We came onto a large stretch of road with multiple other roads, crossroads. The buildings around us were tall and were ready to just collapse. Was there any hope for this city? There were more Alicorns than Steel Rangers, but there was just a small amount of hope left for it - I wasn’t going to let it run dry.

I entered the tallest building here, The Steel Spire. It was one of the only standing buildings. It had a slender look to it, the stone that it was made of, cracked and broken. The top part of it, the circular dish at the top had some of the windows cracked. It was abandoned, which was unfortunate. But also fortunate for us, no Alicorns yet.

“We’ll stay here.” I spoke, walking up to the elevator at the end of the room. The doors were a dirty maroon color, with a mysterious pattern upon the door. The button glowed a tangerine color as the sound of movement was echoing through the building - and also the sound of rubble cracking.

“Sounds like a plan Tornado, but for how long?” He glanced at me, “the Alicorn’s will find us, I know it.” As the elevator doors opened, I walked in while carrying the mares on my back. I noticed the elevator’s light was flickering violently, the circular bulb seemed cracked and blood stained slightly. I also noticed blood along the walls and floor as if a Pony was dragged in here and finished off with a bullet to the head.

“It should only take a day for them to get back on their hooves, trust me on that.” I prodded the button, watching the elevator doors close. I felt the mechanism below push the elevator we were in upwards slowly; the flickering light was annoying me. I reached into my bag, revealing the pistol before shooting the bulb.

“Celestia dammit!” Dodge backed into the wall as the shot went off. I activated the light on my PipBuck which lit up the elevator. “You didn’t have to do that, Torn.” I saw the light sparkle off of his eyes as he glared at me.

“Well, would you rather have a flickering light?” Dodge remained silent as those words left my mouth. The doors opened as we reached the top floor, letting a ping noise out. I exited the elevator, instantly noticing the view of the Wasteland from the windows. We were close to the thick, dark clouds above and the sound of the gale force winds were heard outside. Also the sound of gunfire was heard from the streets below.

I walked down some uneven steps, nearly falling a couple of times before reaching a living room area. I placed Violet and Crystal down onto a rugged, red carpet with a similar pattern on it to the elevator. The carpet was slightly tainted with blood and Dodge trotted towards the window to look at the disgusting view of the Wasteland.

“It’s hard to believe that all this used to be peaceful.” I heard Dodge mumble to himself. I walked up to Dodge, looking at him with a slightly confused look. I then myself, looking out into the Wasteland, feeling what he felt.

“Yeah, all of this used to be a land full of happiness and harmony. But now, all that has gone and it’s like as if it never existed in the first place.” I simply responded, I looked at him with a slightly saddened look. “Look, I’m going to help the Rangers at battle.” I began to head towards the elevator, noticing him following me.

“I’m coming to.” I abruptly stopped hearing those words, before rotating towards him and walking up to him. “If you’re going out there, you need help.”

“No, somepony has to stay here and guard them,” I didn’t want to leave them both. “If they die, what’s the point of us living?” He walked into the elevator, just looking at him. He followed me, but I blocked the doorway.

“I’m going with you.” I saw an angered expression come onto his face; I shook my head lightly, letting out a sigh. “You need help Tornado.”

“No, I’m sorry.” At that moment, I felt him yank me out, shoving me to the wall. He made me stand on my two hind legs, holding me in a strong pin. I just stared at him expressionless, no anger, and no fear...just nothing.

“You can’t just leave, what happens if you die out there?!” His anger was enraging within him. I tried to wiggle my way out of the pin. I couldn’t, he was too strong for me.

“Look, I’ll be fine I promise you. It’s either me or you. But I know you won’t, you care about what happens to others but you’re not a risky Pony.” He released me with a sigh, I plopped back onto all four hooves. “I’m sorry Dodge, I’m so sorry.” I walked into before pressing the button.

As the doors closed with a screech, I saw him just staring at me with a frown before the gap was sealed by the doors. I felt the elevator dropping before looking at the bloodstained floor with a frown of my own. I promised the Rangers something, and it was a promise I needed to deliver. Even if it means giving my own life.

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Footnote: Level up!

New perk: Reinforced Strength Tier 2, huzzah! Your resistance against explosive damage has been increased by 20% and this also makes your limbs stronger too! So now it takes more than just one direct explosive hit to cripple you!

Current level: 9

Next Chapter: Chapter Ten: Breaking the Defense Estimated time remaining: 7 Hours, 21 Minutes