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It wasn’t long until we reached another settlement, this one wasn’t exactly one built for the living. This was a small Ghoul Pony village built around the abandoned Stable, Stable 55. This small town wasn’t on the map due to it being one of the first to be hit by a Megaspell; no Pony ever came back here. This once lovely town was known as Greenshire, now it is known as Ghoulshire. As we entered, the Ghouls shot us some looks.

One particular Ghoul Pony trotted up to us. His wings were completely blown off, the bones that would support his wings were decaying and his eyes were a pale grey. The remains of his mane were a blonde color and his now fleshy and disintegrating coat was a brown color.

“A normal Pony? A fresh, normal Pony?” His throat sounded dry, he looked slightly surprised to see us both. “And you’re not trying to kill us.” His mouth quivered into a smile. “We haven’t seen Ponies like you in many years.”

“What do you mean Ponies like us?” I asked curiously, staring at his mouldy face.

“Well, most fresh Ponies like you are Raiders and shit. They never come by, but whenever we leave this place, they all try and kill us.” He responded, the smile remaining on his face. “I haven’t seen fresh faces like yours come down to see us Ghouls in a long time.”

“Well, I don’t know why they would kill you.” Crystal spoke softly; she walked to the Ghoul smiling reassuringly. “I have known many Ghouls in my time and I think all of you are nice.”

“You really think so?” The Ghoul responded looking at her, “you really can look past how we look?” He nodded his head. “Thank you.”

“It’s no problem.” She kept the elegant tone of her voice; she looked at me with the smile. “Am I right Tornado?”

“Of course.” I said, putting on a slightly fake smile. God, the way he looked made me want to throw up, but I’ll be honest here he sure is the first nice Ghoul I’ve seen in a while.

“I think it’s about time I told you both my name, the name’s Shade, I am nothing special really. I’m just some Ghoul trying to live out his life, and living here seems pretty nice.” He stepped aside, revealing the remains of buildings. “I’m pretty sure everypony knows about the history of this town, even when you’re a Stable-Dweller.” He pointed to the jacket I was wearing.

“Interesting, so you built a town within these ruins?” I asked, looking at the shanty houses and rubble houses and the Ghouls wandering around.

“Not me, we did. All of us, as a team built this town together.” He smiled proudly, “we had all the resources and items to build with at the time, so we thought we would claim it before anypony else did.” His smile then turned into a frown. “I’ve heard that the Resistance wants us out of here.”

“The Resistance?” I asked curiously, I looked at Crystal to see if she would know. She took a step forward and sighed.

“The Resistance is a faction who is against both the Steel Rangers and The Grand Pegasus Enclave.” Crystal spoke out. “They don’t serve under any of them; they’ll kill any Steel Ranger or Enclave unit that comes within a five mile radius.”

“Yes, that’s what they are!” Shade responded, waving a hoof. “They have been sticking posters up about eliminating the Ghoul threat, Pah! All they can do is try.” A smile came across his face again. “Follow me you two, let’s take our conversation somewhere else.”

We both nodded as he began leading the way through the destroyed town that was once Greenshire. We passed many Ghouls in poverty and some living in shanty huts, even some in the old, destroyed buildings. We came to a certain hut; this one was made of bamboo sticks, which were much like the Zebra huts from the Equestria before today. These bamboo sticks were rotten and decaying.

Shade shifted the door, walking into the dark hut. We followed him inside, once we were in, he checked left and right before shutting the wooden door.

“Now, it’s time.” He said, igniting a torch on the wall. It was dim, but it made everything within the hut visible.

“Time for what?” I was really confused at this point; I didn’t know what he meant. But I was intrigued.

“Time for you to test out my latest creation.” He looked at me and Crystal, “I call it, Visionary Water. It allows you to see the Equestria that this world once was, y’know to experience what it was like before the war.”

“Is that even possible?” I asked, looking up at him in hope.

“Of course, with the right herbs and items, you can make any type of drug.” He responded with a tone of optimism. “At least, I hope so.”

“I’m willing to try it, what about you Crystal?” I looked towards the mare and smiled softly as if I was to say everything will be fine.

“I’ll give it a try.” She responded, slowly walking closer. The Ghoul smiled with a gentle grace and nodded.

“Excellent!” He pulled out two bottles of glowing blue water labelled Visionary Water, “just take a small sip, large doses of this isn’t exactly safe.” He warned us, passing us the bottles.

“What happens if large doses are taken?” I spoke, unscrewing the Sparkle Cola bottle cap and placing it in my Saddle-Bag with my wing. I held the bottle with a tight grip.

“Well, forty-five percent of radiation. So drinking a mouthful of that stuff could give you radiation sickness.” He frowned slightly, “that’s a problem I still need to fix.”

“Well, bottoms up.” I looked at Crystal and she nodded. We both took a small sip and then swallowed, waiting for the effects to kick in. The next thing I knew, the world around me throbbed a sky blue color. I soon found myself in a world covered with green, grassy plains. The sky was a beautiful sky blue and the sun shined in the sky. So beautiful. I knew it was a dream, since the sky glowed and so did the grass.

The sight of Ponies galloping in the Wilderness and small village like towns with perfectly built cottages for homes stood. Perfectly visible. I knew I was no longer in the hellish Wasteland I was in before. Well, in my head I wasn’t, but in the real world I was just standing in the Ghoul’s hut. Crystal wasn’t in sight because she was in her own Equestria.

These were Pre-War times; posters of the ministries were seen on trees, buildings, pretty much anything that can hold a poster. I always followed the Ministry of Awesome; it made me feel proud to be a Pegasus, but the Enclave itself…not so much. Remembering from what happened in my past, I never really trusted the Enclave again after what happened.

I noticed a lemon colored Pegasus flying towards me. Her mane and tail was a minty green color and her eyes sky blue, just like the sky itself. Exactly the same shade too. She landed down in front of me and let out a jolly giggle.

“Hi there mister, what are you doing on this fine day?” Oh how I wanted days like this, where Raiders weren’t pointing guns at me, where war didn’t exist. The smell of fresh air, so beautiful. It was as if I could smell and touch everything around me.

“Oh, I’m doing great.” I spoke, still partially oblivious to her and more distracted to my surroundings.

“You look lost sir, do you want any directions?” She asked, letting one ear fall and the other stand. She looked at me confused but she walked closer slightly.

“Oh no, I’m fine.” I just smiled at the Pony, “this is Equestria…right?” I asked. But then I realized that was a stupid thing to ask, it made me look like an idiot.

“Of course it is silly, are you sure you’re not lost?” She giggled softly. It sounded like a little fillies giggle. “I can help you.”

“No I’m fine thanks.” She smiled as I said that, I blushed in embarrassment. I was so glad Crystal wasn’t here; I didn’t want to act like an idiot in front of her.

“Well, if you really are…then okay.” I could tell she felt awkward, her eyes were looking around. She tried not to gain eye contact with me. “Well, I’d better go. Have a nice day.” She quickly took off and flew into the clouds. I watched her and then looked around at the imaginary world around me.

After a bit of wandering in this world, I finally managed to reach a lake. I’d never seen water so crystal clear before, the irradiated water back in reality was so murky, so dirty that you couldn’t even see the floor of the shallow water.

I saw something in the corner of my eye, something the same shade as my coat. When I looked towards it, there I saw my sister, standing on the other side of the lake.

“C-Cyclone!?” I called over. No response from her, she just stood there in silence. “Cyclone!” I called over again, tears now growing in my eyes. I hadn’t seen her since the Raiders took her. I then flew over to her, but before I could make contact with her, I zapped out of the imaginary world.

I suddenly collapsed onto the floor in both shock and the after effect of water. Crystal awoke from hers and she saw me on the floor, tightly closing my eyes and shaking.

“Tornado!” Crystal quickly levitated me slightly, but she looked at the Ghoul for help. Shade came to help me, they both sat me up.

“He needs some purified water; it should get rid of the side effect. If we don’t hurry, he could pass out!” Shade looked at Crystal with a frantic gesture. Crystal nodded and searched her saddle-bag.

“Hold on, I think I have some. I’m not quite sure!” She spoke searching through her bag. I was shaking like a leaf in the wind, I didn’t have any control over it, and I couldn’t even move any body part. It was as if I was paralyzed.

“Hurry up, he’s about to faint!” Shade screamed at Crystal with his dry voice, “He’ll go any second now!” Crystal yanked out a bottle of purified water.

“I’ve got a bottle, Tornado open wide.” I couldn’t control my mouth actions; she managed to open my lips slightly. Then she tilted my head back, making the water rush down my throat. I suddenly opened my eyes, seeing myself back in the hut. I let out a gasp for air, before coughing violently from the water.

“Oh thank Celestia, he made it.” I heard Shade speak. “How are you my friend?” He titled my head towards him. I felt weak, just gaining control of my limbs again.

“W-what did I see?” I asked weakly, “tell me, what I saw.” I demanded, catching my breath back. He looked confused.

“What are you talking about?” He asked, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I saw, my sister. Why? She wasn’t even born in those times, how and why did I see her?” I glanced at him with a feeling of anger.

“His sister?!” Crystal looked at Shade, shocked. She stroked my cheek to make sure I remained awake.

“It must be a side effect. Hallucinations could be it.” He spoke, “I’ve never really heard of such side effects from these types of product.” The Ghoul quickly helped himself to a tatty, torn book on the shelf and began to read through it. “Give me a second.”

My vision became clear again and I felt as hot as blazes. I took a gulp, looking at him skipping through the pages. He suddenly stopped on a page, seeing the causes and outcomes on the page.

“It’s mild hallucinations, but they are bound to get worse.” Shade admitted with a regretful sigh. “If you go with withdrawal then it’ll get worse, if you have too much, it’ll get worse. So you can’t win.”

“Why didn’t you tell us this?!” Crystal exclaimed, “You nearly killed him!”

“Because I didn’t think it would happen, everypony else who tried it seemed fine.” Shade admitted, lifting a hoof. “I promise you.”

“Others have tried this?” I asked eventually getting onto my hooves, I wobbled out of control. I felt like I was going to collapse.

“Of course they have, I just had to keep my mouth shut before you started asking questions.” He grimaced, walking closer to me. “I’m sorry for all of this, and to show how sorry I am, you can stay here for the night. I promise you.”

“Where are you going to stay?” I questioned. I looked at Crystal who was close to me, surprisingly.

“Oh I don’t get much sleep anyways, I’ll be fine. You two stay here.” Shade left the hut and a small grin came across his face when he shut the door. Silence filled the air; Crystal instantly stood in front of me and looked into my eyes.

“Tornado, tell me…what was she like?” Crystal’s voice tone was soft, “and please, tell me…I want to know more.” I knew this would cause curiosity, I shouldn’t have said anything. But I couldn’t refuse to tell a mare like her.

“Okay, I’ll tell you. I can’t exactly remember everything, but I can remember her personality and looks.” I sat myself down on the rough, camping like bed. Crystal sat down next to me, shuffling a little closer. She clearly wanted to know more.

“Well, just say what you can. I know you won’t want to say too much.” Crystal admitted with a sigh.

“My sister was one of the nicest Ponies I knew, she was always there for me and she never refused to help me. She always stood up for me and she helped me survive when we were in the Wastes. Until the Raiders took her away from me.” I felt tears building up in my eyes, “I just hope she’s still alive.”

“She sounds like a great sister. I’m sure she’ll be fine Tornado, trust me on that.” Crystal hugged me and stroked my back. “We’re in this together; we’ll find her before we die…I promise.”

“I can only hope.” I hugged her back, feeling her warm, soft coat. I just held onto her tightly, embracing her and closing my eyes. I began to doze off; Crystal laid me onto my back and tucked me under the ragged covers, before she got under the covers on the other side of the bed.

Within the night, screams and gunfire was heard from outside. I woke up to see Ponies opposite me. Crystal remained asleep; I sat up in alert, noticing that they were wearing torn, padded armor. They looked down at me and levitated their guns to their sides. Some had battle-saddles because they weren’t Unicorn’s.

“So you’re that Pony everypony is talking about?” Spoke the Unicorn standing at the front, “you’re that Stable-Dweller that has been causing the buzz around towns?”

“What?” I asked, completely confused from what he just said. “What are you talking about?!”

“You, you started some buzz. You’re going to come with us right now, Saberhoof wants to see you.” He responded, coming closer to me.

“No, I’m not going anywhere. Why are you attacking these Ghouls!?” The screaming and gunfire went on for minuets on end, before coming to an abrupt halt. Crystal awoke to the sound of our voices.

“Ghoul Ponies are considered a lesser race; we believe they don’t belong in the Wasteland. What we believe is that they are mistakes of the Great War.” He explained to me, lifting a hoof. “What makes you say otherwise?”

“If you actually spoke to them, you would understand!” Crystal screamed in a burst of anger. The dishevelled Pony looked towards Crystal with a sinister glare.

“They may seem nice, but underneath their ugly outsides and behind their nice behaviour are flesh eating, radiation absorbing, monsters!” He got into Crystal’s face. “I don’t think you understand what the Ghouls are like.”

“I understand perfectly, you’re just too scared to against what you believe in.” She shot them a look. “Look at you all, you’ll judge something by how it looks…clean up your act.” He went to strike Crystal with a powerful blow as she said that, but just before he swung I grabbed his hoof and then bent it backwards.

CRACK!

They all aimed their guns at me, while I held the Pony down. “If you even touch her, I’ll break more than just your hoof. I’ll break you!” They prepared to fire their guns at me.

“Stand down!” The raggedy Pony groaned, as I held him in a tight hold. “Stand down, immediately.” Crystal stared in shock at my violent behaviour. They stood still, not wanting to move a muscle.

“Yeah, now all of you…leave. Go! And tell your leader, not to bother me again. If you do, they’ll be hell to pay!” They all started to back away, out of the door. I pulled out a pistol using my wing and aimed it at the Pony’s head.

“Wait, what are you doing?!” He yelled, “They’re gone and we promised not to bother you!”

“You have thirty seconds to tell me who sent you, if you run out of time, you die!” I cocked the gun back and poked him in the back of the head.

“I’ll never speak, and you don’t have the fucking guts to kill me!” He screamed, glancing back at me showing anger. The moonlight seeped through the gaps in the bamboo surface of the wall.

“I think I do, tell me…who sent you?!” My patience was wearing thin. I wanted to pull the trigger by each second that past. I felt no regret building in me, just aggression and violence.

“You really want to know? I am part of an army known as The Resistance. We don’t side with the Enclave or the Steel Rangers, in fact we oppose both. While they’re killing each other on the frontlines, we attack from the side-lines when they least expect it.” He explained. A look of honesty flashed in his eyes and he groaned again in pain. “Our leader, Saberhoof is the one who sent us.”

“Tell me about Saberhoof.” I spoke, finding myself pull the gun away. I gently released my grip from his fractured hoof.

“He’s a noble and loyal leader, he has lead us into battle and escaped without a single hair taken from his golden mane. He is the one who sent us; he is the one who made us attack this place. As I said earlier, he wants to see you immediately.” He injected himself with a Stimpack and hiss from the prick.

“He really is telling the truth, I can see no lies in his eyes. If Saberhoof really wanted to see me, did he really need to attack a whole town for it?” I thought to myself, looking at him.

“Where is he?” I asked, shooting him a look. “Surely he would have come with you.” Crystal was still shaking in fear, hoping that this Pony wouldn’t backstab me.

“He’s in the tunnels south of here and approximately five miles south-east of Stable 10.” He explained, lifting a hoof. “Once you reach Stable 10’s entrance, you’ll see a no entry sign, you can’t miss it.”

“I have one place I need to visit first, I’ll be sure to drop by after that.” I admitted, looking at him and nodding to him. “I promise.”

“Well, just don’t be too long, the boss hates waiting…especially when it’s somepony who catches his eye.” The Pony struggled to get onto his hooves, when he did; he started to limp towards the door of the hut. “I hope to see you soon.” He said, leaving without saying another word.

I just remembered that Shade left the hut; I quickly stormed onto my hooves and raced for the door. I threw it open and saw a corpse filled, blood-soaked town before me. Some of the Ghoul Ponies were alive, bleeding out slowly. I walked around, looking at them in horror. Some of the houses were on fire and slowly burning away, no sign of the Shade though.

“Tornado?!” Crystal called for me following me out. She stared in horror at the sight before her. “Oh my god, how could they do this to them!?”

I just remained silent, searching for the one Ghoul Pony I cared about. I still couldn’t find him. I reached the edge of the town, looking over into the night, scorched plains of the Wastes. Dust glided with the gentle breeze across the plains and I looked around, seeing no sign of a running Pony. I had feared that he had either been taken or killed.

“He’s gone, I don’t know where…but he’s gone.” I glanced over my shoulder to look at Crystal, who was panting in exhaustion. I looked back out onto the Wasteland before trotting down the hill and back onto to the roads.

We were back onto the roads, and heading towards Manehattan. Signs began to show that were made of rusted metal, they were also covered in ashes. They weren’t far apart; in fact there were many signs of warning.

The signs stated: WARNING, high radiation levels ahead, proceed with caution.

We were still a long way from Manehattan, but the irradiated fumes floated into the air a sickly green color just like the sky of daylight (obviously it was night right now). Anything that went within a few miles of that gas would be killed instantly. I constantly looked at my PipBuck, checking the radiation meter. It began to click.

Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick.

“We have to be cautious now; the radiation meter is starting to go off.” I spoke, starting to look for a way around the radiation. I started to walk off of the roads, checking the sidelines. All of it was irradiated. I looked at the map on my PipBuck, noticing Stable 55 nearby.

“Is there any way around?” Crystal questioned, looking at the horrid gases that lie ahead. I kept walking around, occasionally checking the device on my leg to where it is. A green glow came from the east of us, the sun was rising.

“Stable 55 is a way, but the problem is it probably only has one way in and one way out.” I sighed contently; I began to trot around, looking for any possible routes. Nothing. Something then caught my eye, a body of some sort in the distance. I glanced to look at it, instantly recognizing what it was. The night made it hard to see and the green gases weren’t helping either. It looked like the Pony was lying in a pool of blood and was covered in bloody battle scars. I knew who this was.

“It’s that sheriff, Dodge. From Appleloosa. But why is he out here? And why isn’t he at Appleloosa. I need to help him, I can’t let him die!” I thought to myself, beginning to trot to the possibly dead sheriff.

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Footnote: Level up!

New perk: Big Mouth, your skill in speech has been improved by 20%, making it easier to convince Ponies to let you past, give you weapons, and give you discounts on goods.

Current level: 5

Next Chapter: Chapter Six: Stable 55 Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 38 Minutes