---

Risk.

I was taking a risk for my companions, I was willing to go down and fight without them. With the two mares unconscious and Dodge and I being the only ones conscious, I had no choice but to trust him with them. This also gave me no choice about going back down onto the streets of Manehattan.

As the elevator reached the bottom of the shaft, the doors opened yet again with a screech before I exited the small box like room. I saw the ravaged streets of the city as I exited out of the doors, noticing how the sun was beginning to set. Some rubble from a surrounding building fell from the top, slamming down onto to the ground and breaking apart. No Rangers were nearby either. I was alone.

As I wandered down a different street, filled with piles of rubble and collapsed, steel segments that make the buildings frame, I found two Steel Rangers. One was on the floor, with a massive open wound inside the abdomen of the armor. As I got closer, I noticed there were many bullet holes, showing me that they were shot by a shotgun spread. I noticed a sobbing noise coming from the Ranger across from the wounded soldier.

I decided to go to the Ranger, this one was a mare. She was sobbing silently. I just stared at the body, feeling nothing but pity for her.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” I said in a calm tone, looking down at the dead Ranger below. “I know how it feels to lose somepony close to you.”

“He was my brother, he was the only part of family I had left and now he’s gone. If you truly know how it feels, tell me what happened to your family.” The mare Ranger spoke, her voice sounded depressive and low. I just kept staring at the bloody corpse.

“I lost my parents, and my sister was taken from me, who is now somewhere out in the Wastes, and is nowhere to be found. Yet - I just hope I find her soon, she’s the only bit of family I have left.” I turned my full attention to the Steel Ranger next to me. She did the same to me.

“I’m so sorry; I sure hope you find your sister. It’d be horrible for you to go through what I’ve been through, especially when you haven’t seen her for years.” The Steel Ranger hugged me gently, making sure the heavy plated armor didn’t crush me.

“Thank you.” I simply replied, grateful of her concern. “Again, I’m sorry for your loss.” She turned away from me to go back to mourning her brother’s body. She sounded like her emotions were breaking down.

“It’s not your fault, I am just glad somepony has a heart out here. It’s not every day that I see a Pony like you, who shows respect for those who are upset.” She responded before sobbing quietly, her helmet making it echo slightly. I shook my head feeling pity for her, before beginning to walk down the street.

As I passed through an archway, I entered a building of what appeared to be a bank. All the stalls and stairways were blocked by rubble and massive, gaping holes were in the ceilings which allowed the sunlight seep through. There were a few corpses beneath the rubble, new ones too - this meant that the ceiling had collapsed recently. Maybe from an attack?

I saw two Alicorns on the balcony opposite me; I quickly took cover behind a large piece of rubble as I heard their yells of command. Calling for forces and orders of attack. I felt a sniper bullet shoot passed me and onto the ground.

“Oh shit!!” I yelled, quickly taking a peek to see if there were anymore. “Oh this isn’t good.” There were now five Alicorns on the balcony. I quickly hid back behind cover, readying myself for combat. My Combat Shotgun couldn’t hit them from here. I quickly swapped to my rifle, and entered S.A.T.S. it was a small percentage, but I do have a chance of hitting them. I targeted the chest of the nearest one before releasing a shot.

BANG!!

At that moment, I heard the bullet hit the stone wall. This indicated that I had missed, I peeked round, seeing a small bullet hole. It was way off, nowhere near on target. I had no choice but to move closer and risk my life even more. Well it was what I was here to do, and it’s what I’m going to do. I quickly darted for a pillar, before taking cover behind it. I took aim with S.A.T.S. and had more of a chance of hitting the target. I targeted the same area and shot my Rifle.

BANG, BANG, BANG!!

All two out of three shots hit the target, making it flinch in pain. I saw the blood draw from the chest as it did and splat onto the wall slightly as well as the floor.

I aimed manually and sent another had, which ripped the Alicorn’s head off. It fell back in a spray of blood as the others rained hail upon me with their ammo. Bullets flew past my face, some just missing and some hitting the marble ground and walls. I reloaded my rifle quickly and then aimed around again, firing two more shots from my battle saddle, hoping that they would hit some of the others. I heard a few yelps as I took cover yet again; this indicated that I had hit my target.

“Come out of hiding little Pegasus, your fate is sealed!” I heard one of the Alicorns burst out with a hiss. This made me tremble - the thought of what was going through their minds was cringe worthy. I would imagine they would think of torturing me in unbearable ways, ways that I would never forget. Like if the rest of my life was one big aftermath.

I refused to show my face, before taking a few breaths and then engaging into S.A.T.S. and targeting the one closest to me twice and the one behind it once. All three selections in the head.

BLAM, BLAM, BLAM!!

Both shots from the first target hit, knocking them back with a stunning blow. The third and final shot just missed the Alicorn by a millimetre. This gave me a chance to make a move - I quickly moved ahead while shots were sprayed down at me. I quickly hid behind the counter, ducking my head low avoiding all the shots. I had a chance to fly up onto the balconies, but my wings weren’t exactly in the greatest of conditions. It was worth a try.

I quickly swapped my weapon to the Combat Shotgun, before taking off and flying towards the remaining Alicorns and spraying the shells at the. I saw the shells contact with the skin, making it ripple and burst. I knocked the two I targeted down with a blast of blood, then tackling the final two and blowing their faces off. I had no regret from what I did, in fact I felt more proud than ashamed of brutally slaying those last two Alicorns.

As I wandered down the thin corridor, I felt sick in the stomach. This might have been part of the withdrawal from the Visionary Water. I walked towards the end and collapsed into the corner, before reaching into my bag and yanking out a bottle of the liquid. Just like the Ghoul said, only take small sips per dose. I took a small sip from the water, before gulping it down and placing the cap back onto the top.

A bright flash of light came before my eyes, as it faded out, the Equestria before the Megaspells came into view. It was nice to see the beautiful sight of the Equestria before this whole war started. I found myself in a different location this time - this time I was in the exact same spot as last time; the hallways were not cracked and filled with rubble. All of the lights were bright and the sunrays from outside shined into the room ahead. I looked to my left, hearing the loud voices of Ponies in the bank.

I slowly wandered down the hallway, back onto the balcony to where the Alicorns were back in the real world. The staircases were not covered in rubble and there were no holes in the ceiling. A massive crowd of Ponies consumed the floor below, as the counters had Ponies attending to those who wanted to withdraw funds. While no-pony was paying attention I quickly hovered over the crowds before landing with a thud. Oof! That hurt. I looked incredibly odd and out of place in the crowds of Ponies.

As I exited the bank, I looked at the beautiful scenery of Pre-War Manehattan, the blue sky and golden sunlight, posters for the Ministry of Awesome and other Ministries were scattered around and stuck to lampposts. While I was too busy admiring the scenery, a Pony bumped into me violently.

“Hey watch is you ass-fucker” I heard the anonymous voice mumble. My ears went down as I heard those words.

“S-sorry.” I simply responded, trying to weave in and out of the colossal waves of Ponies. I felt them barge into me and their eyes, fixing onto me. As if they knew who I was and why I was here. As if they knew I wasn’t real in their world. I reached a small tunnel where it was surprisingly empty. No Ponies were going in and none were coming out, this gave me some space. I was not going to allow the crowds get the better of my anxiety around tight spaces.

I walked into the tunnel, already feeling alone as soon as entering. I noticed the lights were a tint of blue and the sky-blue tiled walls had graffiti on them that insulted the government. Saying how twisted they are and how corrupt and dark they really are. I then noticed my sister come into vision yet again. Like last time, she was fake. I knew it this time, but she acted like she could see me.

“Come on Torny, come on!” I heard her voice echo in the long tunnel. I slowly trotted over to the vision, but she ran. She ran down the tunnel, I noticed the lights around me going out one by one. The darkness surrounding me with a threatening feeling, I didn’t like it one bit. I just continued, following the image of my sister through the darkness.

“Wait up!!” I yelled after her, quickly trotting up to the vision. “Please!” She ignored me and continued onwards. I felt tears brew up within my eyes and continued trotting after her, until she eventually stopped in front of me.

She turned to face me, with the same jolly smile she had the last time I had seen her. This also made me smile to see her face yet again. I feel the tears fall down my cheeks. She held her hoof out to me, keeping the smile on her face.

“Come on brother, reach out for my hoof.” I heard her soft elegant voice echo through the tunnel, I reached for her slowly. I tried to make contact with her hoof, but I was defeated. It wasn’t real; my mind fooled me yet again.

“I can’t.” I admitted, looking down. “You’re not real.” I frowned sadly, only wishing she was real. But my hopes and dreams were not yet achieved. I yet again went to reach for the mare, but couldn’t feel her.

“Of course I’m real brother,” she responded, as if she heard me. “Try again.” She encouraged me, but I had no option to ignore before the vision turned into a burst of light.

I returned to reality, seeing I was back in the very corridor I was before. I noticed the cracks on the walls, and the fact it was dark like before. From this point, I knew I was back in the Wastes. I got the scent of radiation drifting by my muzzle, looking towards the bodies of the Alicorns. I knew what the withdrawal symptoms were visions. But they were not going to occur until later.

I got onto my hooves, before trotting onwards. Not the way I came, but where the corridor lead, I entered into was looked like a bank vault room. There wasn’t just the one, there were many, lined up in rows on both sides of the room. This room seemed cleaner than most, and all the lights were on, brightly too. I noticed something though, all the lock mechanism’s on the doors were cracked (unlocked in other words), some were even opened slightly. Bodies of Alicorns were in the corridor. This indicated that a Pony was here before me, but also noticing a blood trail leading into one of the vaults.

I yanked the door open, noticing the corpse of a white Pony, with a candy red and black mane. With the Pony’s eyes wide open, blood was dripping mouth and also its guts hanging out of its belly. This Pony also had a PipBuck. This Pony was a Stable Dweller...just like me.

I looked at the number on the on the Ponies jacket, noticing the number ‘10’. This Pony was from Stable 10, I checked the saddle bag of the Pony for any items, and it wasn’t like they needed them anymore. I found a pouch of caps, taking it. I also found a Zebra Rifle, also noticing a small portion of ammo for the gun. I was going to save this gun until later; I need to find more ammo for it first. I placed both the ammo and the weapon itself into my bag, before sealing it back up and getting onto my hooves.

Although, before I left, I closed the eyes of the Pony before applying a kiss on the forehead, feeling its cold forehead against my lips.

“You did well, you tried.” I sighed heavily, feeling nothing but pain and pity. “Trying is the only thing anypony can do out here.” I felt sadness overwhelm me, seeing that another Stable Pony came out here. But obviously they were not prepared for the world beyond the Stable door.

Clank!

I heard movement outside the vault. I quickly ducked down next to the Pony, acting dead. I also smeared myself in some of the blood and gore. Yuck! This made me feel sick, the feeling of the guts all over me. The blood wasn’t so bad, but the bloody guts felt sickly on me. I closed my eyes slightly, leaving a small gap for me to see anything.

“Hey, this door wasn’t open before.” I heard an Alicorn say outside the vault, her voice was powerful. She peered into the vault. “Hey, looks like somepony got another one. But they should really close the door, if it isn’t closed, it will raise suspicion.” What!? And the trail of blood wouldn’t?!

The Alicorn entered the vault, looking down at both of us. “Ooh, look - they both have those leg terminals.” The Alicorn hissed, poking her head down at me. “Strange, this one looks just like that mare.” That mare she mentioned was obviously my sister. This enraged me more than the burning sun, what did they do to her!? I quickly stood up and aimed my Combat Shotgun at the Alicorn.

“Where is she!?” I exclaimed, “Tell me, don’t think I won’t blow your brains out you bitch!” The Alicorns stared at me in shock, while the one across from me drew her weapon. She aimed her Shotgun at my head.

“And don’t think I won’t.” I saw the grin come onto her face. “You want to know where she is hmm? Was Cyclone Flash her name?” I could tell this wasn’t going to end well. I felt my emotions mix with happiness, anger and even sadness.

“Y-yes, tell me where is she?!” I prepared to take the shot, I wasn’t afraid to kill her. But all she did was grin, poking the shotgun at my head.

“Oh, Cyclone was such a good mare. She’s apparently on the run from the Grand Pegasus Enclave, I don’t know why.” The Alicorn’s expression sunk into a frown. “She passed through here, but she didn’t stay long. She said she was in some sort of rush.”

“I’m Tornado Dash her brother, I need to find her now!” I demanded, stomping on the ground slightly. The Alicorn actually felt sympathy for me, but also I could tell she was mocking me.

“Oh, she left this for you then. She left this for you and then left!” The Alicorn levitated the tape to me and then lowered her Shotgun. With that, I also stood back and sat down. I downloaded the tape to my PipBuck, with that the Alicorns left me. They didn’t attack me.

I quickly went over to the audio tape that was called Message for Tornado. I took a deep breath and pressed play on my PipBuck.

“Tornado, hey. How’s it been buddy? I heard about you breaking out of Stable 30 and now knowing that you are in the Wasteland, I need to leave you this message. Don’t follow me, whatever you do, don’t follow me. Where I am going is one of the most dangerous places in the Wasteland and I cannot bear to lose you. Tornado, you’re the greatest brother I have ever had, you made me smile and laugh. You gave me a better childhood than I hoped for. Just know this, if I die, I’ll always be in your heart. I love you brother...”

The message ended there, I felt my heart fall before tears grew in my eyes. I loved her too much to lose her; I just had to find her. But I couldn’t all I did was sob silently, knowing that this could be the last time I listen to my sister’s voice. And I didn’t even escape, I got thrown out. Seriously she thought that I guy like me escaped?! Hell no!

“I love you too, sister.” I spoke with my voice breaking down. I curled up and cried softly, hearing my cries echoing throughout the bank’s vault hallways. I couldn’t bear to lose her either, she was the only piece of family I had left and now I could lose it. “I’m going to find you, you can’t stop me.”

I got onto my hooves before trotting out of the vault and heading back the way I came, I had to help the Rangers. I trotted into the hallway and then back onto the balcony, yet again passing the bodies of the Alicorns I killed. I glided down carefully, quickly folding my wings back in and landing.

As I walked out of the bank, I continued down the road before hearing echoing gunfire in the distance. I then trotted ahead to notice a small group of Rangers, fighting against some more Alicorn troops. I quickly ran to them, taking cover behind a barrier.

“You there, help us!” One of the Rangers called to me, before getting shot in the head. The Ranger collapsed, decapitated from the weapons power. I nodded before readying my Combat Shotgun.

I aimed at one of the closest Alicorns who was charging towards me with S.A.T.S., I targeted its chest two times and then its head one more time before releasing the spreading shot.

BLAM, BLAM!!

I quickly changed the magazine, before aiming back at the Alicorn and releasing another two shots.

BLAM, BLAM!!

The Alicorn fell face first onto the floor letting out a scream of agony, bleeding from the wounds. Dead. As the sun just finished setting, darkness surrounded us. No street lights were there to aid us with our vision. I aimed yet again, this time blind firing. I couldn’t see exactly where my targets were, then opening fire and hearing a few cries of pain, followed by the sound of flesh tearing.

Then, I saw the horns of the Alicorns give off a luminous glow, as others levitated their weapons. This helped us a lot, it makes me feel lucky not being a Unicorn or Alicorn. I silently trotted around as they shot their Assault Rifles and Shotguns at the Rangers. The Rangers gave everything they could to the Alicorns, as more of the Rangers were taken down by the Alicorns.

I trotted up behind one, reaching into its bag and taking all the ammo and caps I could, before firing two spreads of shells into the back of its skull. I heard a loud thud, followed by a cry of agony and the sound of blood splattering onto the floor.

“Over there!!” One of the other Alicorns alerted, before they rotated to face me. They unleashed their lead upon me; I quickly darted to the left, heading back to the Steel Rangers. As I passed them, this gave me the opportunity to tell them to run.

“Go, I’ll take care of them!” I insisted on fighting this battle, I quickly took off before looping and flying down at the Alicorns, unleashing the Shotgun shells at the small group of Alicorns. I didn’t kill any, but I did hear the shells make contact with their skin.

I landed into one of the buildings, this looked like an office. I had a full view of the courtyard, a huge Equestria flag graving in the center (where I was fighting) and many silhouettes of tall buildings, all of them missing the roofs and also huge chunks torn from them.

I felt the bullets shoot passed me, before I took cover behind a wall. I swapped to my Zebra Rifle, I felt the need of trying this weapon out and I had enough ammo to kill them all. Or just enough ammo anyways. I used my wings for this and I shot a burst down at them, hitting one of them on target. I saw a flame ignite in the center, which lit up my vision. I heard the tortuous sounding screams of the Alicorn who was being burned alive.

I aimed around the corner and shot another burst, setting yet another one on fire. The dying screams filled the air, as I took cover. I just evaded a sniper bullet, before peeking around again. I shot the last two, making it look like a fire show. The flames danced and I sat back, watching them burn to death before the collapsed one by one, ending their agony and their lives.

Once it was all over, I flew down and landed next to the bodies of the flaming Alicorns, seeing the flame was dying out slowly. The Rangers came out of hiding and walked towards me, I placed the Zebra Rifle back into my bag. The Rangers all stood in a line, apart from one. One of them walked forward.

“You, what’s your name?” The Steel Ranger asked me, his voice boomed as I noticed the threatening Minigun by its side.

“Tornado, Tornado Dash.” I spoke with a slightly shakily voice, I didn’t do anything wrong did I? I just saved their lives; I can’t have done anything wrong. But I waited for their response, feeling myself shake slightly.

“Oh, I’ve heard of you. You’re that Stable Dweller, well I must thank you for saving the skin of most of my Rangers here. If you didn’t come along, we surely would have died.” The Steel Ranger commented on my actions - this surprised me, I was expecting something else.

“Hey it’s no problem, but I am going to say this, I thought you Rangers would have been prepared for a battle like this.” I admittedly said, before taking a step back. The Ranger sighed, not in pity but more of an agreement.

“Well, we didn’t see this coming; we’ve always expected the Enclave to prepare an attack like this, not Alicorns. But I have something for you anyways.” The Steel Ranger revealed a set of armor, giving it to me. I took it slowly, staring at it in amazement. “It’s Power Armor, use it only when you need to though, it isn’t in tip top condition. Though, when you do use it, it shall aid you in battle.”

“Thank you.” I spoke, placing the heavy chunk of armor into my saddle bag. “It means a lot.” I flashed them a smile. “Good luck in battle, are there any others I can help?”

“Thank you and no, there’s one last defense. All the Rangers are going there to push them all back, if you want you can aid us there, but we do recommend that if you have any companions you round them up first. This is going to be a tough one.” The Ranger suggested, “Trust me, you don’t want to be fighting alone out there. There are far worse things along the way than Alicorns.”

“Okay, I’ll go get them. Where exactly is this defence?” I asked curiously, I needed to know before even thinking of going into battle.

“It’s by the north-end exit tunnel, that’s where the Alicorns are coming in. We have to give them one last push and then the problem should be solved. That device, your PipBuck should tell you where it is.” The Steel Rangers departed from me, walking away. I nodded before turning away and slowly walking back the way I came.

I travelled through the collapsed buildings, before passing the large bank I was in before. I trotted down the street, noticing a rats scurrying across the floor. I coughed lightly as I came back to where the spire was, I quickly sprinted for the tower, hoping the mares were awake and also okay…I hope my companions were prepared for what we were getting into here, because it could cost us out lives.

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Footnote: Level up!

New perk: Team Player, when you’re fighting alongside allies, the amount of damage done using guns is increased by 10% but during this you lose 5% sneaking ability.

Current level: 10

Next Chapter: Chapter Eleven: Pushing Them Back Estimated time remaining: 7 Hours, 3 Minutes