---

Light.

A very bright light flashed before my eyes, and the sound of my own gasp was heard. As the blinding light died down, I saw the thick clouds of the Wasteland sky and the sickly green tint of daylight. I sat up, slightly, noticing that I was on my own. I seemed to be in some ruins, where tall, ancient buildings stood and where Pre War markets stood with their windows completely shattered. How the hell did I get here?

I noticed in the distance, a large, steel wall was seen. It looked like somepony was trying to block something, out of a city. And then I noticed, it was Manehattan. I noticed Crystal in the distance, carrying many scavenged goods in her medical bag. I saw a bright smile on her face when she faced me. I smiled back, but with a weak, sickened smile.

“Finally awake Tornado?” Those were the first words she said to me? For being unconscious for hours upon hours, that was a bit crap. But without showing any-form of sarcasm I just nodded lightly.

“How long was I out?” I asked, looking around the Wasteland.

“A few hours, me and Dodge carried you here. We literally just arrived here.” She commented, passing me some food and drink. The food was irradiated, I could tell by the color, but the water was purified. I picked it up, taking off the cap and sniffing at it.

“A few hours huh? Certainly doesn’t feel like it.” I responded, taking a sip of the water. The fresh taste of water rehydrated me instantly. “It feels like days.” I then took a big chug of the water and swallowed it in one gulp. I looked at Crystal.

“Look, you feel okay now, right?” Crystal looked at me with concern coming over to me.

“Of course I do, I needed the rest.” I got back onto my hooves, “I’m not hungry.” The radiation made it harder for me to eat anything. I’ve had radiation in me before and it is not a nice feeling. Crystal followed me as I trotted towards the large wall, blocking the city off from anypony outside of it.

“Dodge has gone to scavenge items; I sure hope he’s okay.” Crystal admitted, “We can’t exactly expect to survive out here when it’s just the two of us.”

“Crystal he’ll be fine, if he can keep a town safe, he can keep himself safe.” Well, not counting the moment when we found him outside of Stable 55, unconscious and badly battle damaged. As I edged closer to the wall, I noticed many Steel Ranger guards and also a familiar face there too. Elder Lockhart. Dodge also made a return, with no items scavenged. It’s as if where he went, Ponies had already grabbed what they could get.

“I couldn’t find anything.” Dodge frowned and sat onto the hard, dusty ground, “The only thing I found was some caps, but not many.”

“It’s better than nothing right?” I spoke optimistically. “Now come on, let’s get moving.” I trotted up to Elder Lockhart and the first thing he did was smile.

“Oh Celestia, thank heavens you’re alive. And I see you’ve found a friend. But you never told me your names.” Lockhart sighed slightly.

“I’m Tornado.” I spoke out, and looked at Crystal. “And these two are Crystal, and this is my new recruited gunslinger, Dodge.” Dodge nodded as a greeting.

“Well it is surely nice to meet you all. And that reminds me; apparently you all infiltrated Stable 55 and managed to get out alive.” He glanced at me especially.

“How do you know that?” I looked at him, “you weren’t there were you?”

“No, it’s been all over the radio. Don’t those PipBucks come with radios?” Lockhart looked confused slightly.

“Yeah they do. I just don’t listen to much radio.” I admitted, looking at my PipBuck, scrolling over to the radio.

“Well you should, the guy on the station is praising you and you certainly deserve it.” As Lockhart said that, I activated the radio on my PipBuck and began to listen to the stallion’s voice.

“Good afternoon everypony, how is everypony doing. Pretty shit right? Well I have some good news for you, our hero from Stable 30 and his posse managed to get through Stable 55 alive. Possibly one of the first and only Ponies to do so. Although, they had a clash with an Enclave commander and the Pony we worship got stabbed, I hope he’s holding up okay. And now for your daily dose of music, hit it!” With that, classical sounding music began to play on the radio.

In the meantime I stood there, completely shocked. How did they know what I was doing? I was about to faint from flattery. Crystal and Dodge were staring at me also shocked. The music played onwards and I began to drool slightly, this was normal for me as when I normally stare into one place, I lose control of my saliva glands. I suddenly snapped out of the trance and wiped my lip. I kept the radio on, the music was nice and I wouldn’t mind hearing more of that broadcaster.

“Tornado?” Crystal walked up to me, “they knew about us doing all this?” Crystal looked confused. The only thing I could reply with was a nod.

“So we’re heroes now?” Dodge came into my view, peeking his head towards me.

“I’m a hero, you’re my trusty sidekicks who wear tights.” They stared at me and then I chuckled; “only kidding, yes you are. Although, I wouldn’t call myself a hero.”

“Why not?” Dodge smirked, “I mean think about it, and you’ll get all the respect you deserve.”

“But, I just don’t see this world having heroes.” I began to trot up close to the scrap metal, fortress type wall. “Heroes do not exist. I’m just a wanderer looking for his sister.” Dodge sighed.

“Well okay then, be like that.” Dodge stood next to me. Crystal joined me also, getting closer to me.

“Tornado? Do you ever get that feeling where you think you like somepony?” Crystal asked me. I banged on the door, demanding the ability to enter.

“It comes and goes to me Crystal, why do you ask?” I stood back. “Would you let us in please?!” The guards above shook their heads and pointed to Lockhart as if to say, ‘go and ask him’. Crystal came back up next to me.

“Oh, no reason.” She looked around. “Just wanting to know, that’s all.” She admitted softly. I walked to Elder Lockhart once again.

“Would you please tell me why we’re not allowed to go into Manehattan?” I looked around myself. “It would be nice for you to open the gates.”

“I’m sorry, we cannot do that. Not yet. We just want to clear all the remaining Alicorn’s from the gate before letting anypony proceed onwards.” He admitted, “so the Enclave, are they really coming back for another strike?”

“I would imagine so the-“ I caught a glimpse of heavily armoured Enclave troops landing by the gate. “The Enclave are attacking, battle stations!” Lockhart yelled and turned to me. “Aid us in battle if you must, but if not stay down and don’t come out until it’s over.”

I prepared myself for battle, as I saw the Enclave troops landing and opening fire down at the Steel Rangers below. Minigun rounds were shot by Steel Rangers towards the Enclave, which clipped one of the Enclave troop’s wing, sending it tumbling down with a crash.

KABOOM!!

A loud explosion went off as an explosive strike came down; I hid behind cover and pulled Dodge and Crystal down with me.

“Crystal, you’re the medic, don’t engage into battle, me and Dodge will handle this.” My Combat Shotgun didn’t have enough range to take down any troops; I switched to my rifle and targeted an Enclave troop with S.A.T.S. I targeted the head and the right wing, hoping to hit one of them.

BANG!

My first shot missed, I quickly aimed for the wing and took the second shot.

BANG!!

Bullseye, the Enclave troop was flying out of control and landing with a crack, as her head was ripped from her body. Dodge managed to fire two shots into a troop, but he could only cripple it. Dodge took aim and shot the head, finishing the troop off with an execution. Another explosive strike was coming down from the troops above before the missiles hit the ground, sending out a shockwave and a loud explosion.

KABLAM, BOOM, KABOOOM!!!

Many Steel Ranger corpses filled the area, as few remained. More and more Enclave troops were coming down at us, firing their Assault Rifles and Laser Rifles in their battle saddles. I peeked over, manually targeting one. I shot them; blowing the head off and watching the corpse crash into their allies, causing them to all crash and die.

The Enclave began closing in on our position, Elder Lockhart, came out of cover. He was covered in blood was carrying a Minigun in a battle saddle.

“That is enough, the Enclave have no right to be here.” He spun his Minigun, “so stand down while you can.” Another injured Steel Ranger came out; her helmet had been ripped off. Her coat was white, her eyes a violet color and her mane a violet color with white streaks. Her horn was scared slightly but not broken.

“Yeah, Elder Lockhart will kill you all!” Dodge looked at her, admiring her bravery. “I don’t think you know your place, Enclave scum!” Dodge whispered to me.

“Maybe we could recruit her.” He whispered into my ear, a smirk appeared on my face.

“Well, I’ll do what I can, we need all the gun crazed Ponies we can get.” I chuckled to myself. Looking at her. The violet eyed Unicorn looked at us and recognized me and Crystal, as if we had seen her before, she came over to us.

“Hey, you two. I know you, back from the caves. My name’s Violet Moon, but you can call me Violet. I’ll tell you more about myself once we clear these Enclave troops away!” She turned to them, spinning her Minigun. “Ready Elder?”

“Ready!” Lockhart replied, as Violet jumped by his side again and opened fire what was a blizzard of bullets, The Enclave troops had no other option but to retreat as wave after wave of bullets, eviscerated their troops one by one. The remaining Enclave troops fled, Lockhart and Violet looked at each other and nodded.

“That was amazing!” Dodge called out to Violet, “I’ve never seen a mare do such things!” He walked up to Violet and grinned. Crystal was shocked at the comment, as if she felt like he was sexist.

“Well, thank you. You must be their new recruit, am I right?” Violet giggled lightly, “hey you two, come on over.” I stood up and pulled Crystal up with me. We walked over; Crystal was keeping her head down.

“So, your name’s Violet.” I held out my hoof with a smirk. “It is a pleasure to meet you.” She shook my hoof and then shook Crystal’s.

“Pleasure’s all mine.” She returned with. “Come on, there’s a camp nearby, while we wait for the city to open up its doors we’ll go there.” She began to trot away from the wall, me Crystal and Dodge kept up with her.

“So Violet, what’s the status of the battle at Manehattan?” Crystal asked curiously. She trotted ahead, I followed Crystal closely. I took a look around the barren landscape of the Wasteland, bridges decaying and broken and billboards collapsing.

“So far, we’re losing the fight. Alicorns have a lot of firepower; right now we’re barely holding one section of the city under control.” Violet replied, “If we lose Manehattan, we lose our last hope of defeating the Enclave.”

“Your Rangers got torn up back there!” I admitted, “The Enclave made you all look like a bunch of pussies with guns, if you want to win the fight, you need to think of plans!” Though I spoke harsh words, she understood what I meant.

“Look, I know, we’re trying everything. Nothing seems to work and now they’re trying to terminate Stables.” A tear came to my eye and I stood in front of her.

“Listen to me, you have to stop them. You can’t let them do that.” Crystal came by my side and Dodge stood by Violet.

“Tornado, calm down. Please.” Crystal looked at me with deep concern, “I promise you, we’ll save Stable 30. But right now, we have a job to do.”

“Crystal is right Tornado; we have to help the Rangers win the fight in Manehattan first.” Dodge sighed to himself. “If we don’t, the Wasteland will be in even more shit than it already is.”

“Okay, here’s the deal Tornado. If you help me and the Rangers hold back the Alicorn and Enclave threat from Manehattan, I promise you I will help you stop the Enclave from attacking your home.” Violet had a saddened expression.

“You promise me?” I looked at her, shocked that she would help me. “Pinkie promise?”

“Pinkie promise.” She hugged me in a tight embrace. “I know what it’s like to have your home taken from you.” The radio was still playing on my PipBuck, so I finally shut it off. When we broke away I sighed. I finally knew a Pony who had their home taken away.

When we reached the camp, a sign stated: Camp Steel.

I knew this place would be a Steel Ranger camp. Many dirty, ragged tents were around and the Steel Ranger troops would socialize with each other while waiting for some sort of attack upon the camp. I heard many talk about the steel wall over at Manehattan, wondering why no more Rangers were allowed to be sent in. Violet entered her tent, we followed in.

“Well it isn’t massive, but it is home for now.” She nodded and sat down on her stained bed. Crystal and Dodge sat down next to each other, while I remained stood up, looking around at the different items she owned. There were Hellhound claws and different types of guns and ammo shells.

“You collect ammo shells?” I asked, observing one of the crooked bent ones.

“Be careful with that. That’s the shell from when I killed my first Hellhound.” She instructed, I placed the shell down carefully with a nod.

“Well, you said you were going to tell us about yourself.” Dodge pointed out, “so go on, and tell us.” I walked over to Crystal and sat beside her, keeping my eyes on hers with a smile before looking up at Violet.

“Well, you all know my name. So it’s about time I tell you about myself, I was born and raised in the streets of Manehattan, but up until now the Alicorns raided the place and took everything. It’s been that way for ten years now and the Steel Rangers had been developing a plan to flush them out. That’s where I come in, I joined up just to kill some Alicorns, not because I wanted to or needed to, and I joined to kill the monsters who took my home from me.” She grew angry with tears in her eyes, she looked away.

“Go on, please tell us more.” Dodge insisted, I shook my head to Dodge.

“Dodge, give her time!” I glared at him, “stop being impatient.”

“Can you both not argue?!” Crystal exclaimed and put her hooves between us, looking at both of us.

“No, no, it’s alright, I’ll continue. Back when I joined The Steel Rangers, my special pony was raped and killed by Alicorns. I wish I stopped them, but I couldn’t.” She buried her head in her hooves and wiped her own tears away. “I wasn’t there for him when he needed me!” Dodge sat next to Violet and wrapped his arms around her, she hugged him back and he just rocked her left and right gently.

How Crystal and I did feel pity, we rolled our eyes to Dodge’s affection for her. It was too soon for him to be doing stuff like that. Crystal stood up and yawned; I looked up at her.

“Where are you going?” I whispered, “It’s still the afternoon.” I added, standing up onto my hooves.

“I’m going to take a walk; do you want to join me?” Crystal returned in a whispering tone. I nodded and she smiled slightly.

“Look, we are going for a walk. Is that okay with you?” Dodge nodded and I exited the tent and Crystal followed. We began to walk out of the camp, and I sighed softly to myself.

“Tornado, have you ever dated a Pony?” She spoke in a shaky accent. Not incredibly shaky, but shaky. “Back at the Stable of course.”

“I haven’t. No, I was alone in most of my Stable life. Hardly any friends and no family.” I sighed softly and stopped, turning to face her. “What about you?”

“Well, I had one. Had though, he’s gone now.” Crystal admitted, looking away slightly. I noticed her head dipping downwards slowly. I moved closer to her slightly, my ears going down as hers did.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” I stopped, placing a hoof on her shoulder and turning her to me. I looked at her with a smile. “I’m sure you’ll find the Pony you deserve soon, and who knows, maybe he could travel with us.” I showed a grin, showing my teeth slightly. She hugged me, closing her eyes.

“Thank you Tornado, you’re the greatest friend I’ve ever known.” This made me blush…big time. Hearing those words leave a Pony's mouth flattered me; I felt the heat rushing to my cheeks so quickly before my cheeks were as hot as an oven.

“Hey, it’s no problem Crystal. You’re mine too!” I stroked her mane, before feeling a bullet just skim my mane with a loud echo from the gun, quickly breaking away from her and placing my Combat Shotgun into my battle saddle.

Crystal fell back, staring up at me before getting onto her hooves. “Where did that come from!?” Another bullet flung at us, just missing my head yet again. I ducked down quickly and looked around frantically. Another bullet swerved into the ground, as the echoing booms of gunfire was heard in the distance. I squinted my eyes, noticing a small group of Raiders in the distance. The sniper walking up to us and firing each shot. The next bullet aimed for Crystal, nearly hitting her in the hoof. She quickly rolled and stood up onto her hooves.

“Crystal, they’re Raiders. Get down!” I quickly yanked her down, getting on top of her to cover her from the gunfire. I pulled out a pistol, using my wings and aiming down the rusty site. I fired a shot carefully; they were too far for S.A.T.S. to work. The bullet missed them.

“I missed, again!” A distant voice hissed. “And so did you!” I saw the Raider placing a bullet into his barrel, at this moment I could kill him. I aimed my sights up with his head before firing a bullet at his head.

BANG!!

He fell back with blood gushing from the centre of his forehead, the Raiders acknowledged the Raider's death before looking back at us and beginning to charge. I got off of Crystal, helping her up and looking at her frantically.

“We have to go, now!” I placed my pistol in my saddle bag before taking flight and lifting Crystal off of the ground. The weight was heavier than I thought, carrying a Pony wasn’t easy. I fought through the weight and flew back; bullets came up at me like a blizzard and chipping some feathers off of my wings. Tried to dodge the bullets, evading them. Well, most of them.

Crystal glanced at them, as a bullet nearly took her horn off. She let out a shriek as the bullet barely missed her head, however it did leave a small mark of her horn, a chip if anything. She looked up at me as another blizzard of bullets came up at us. I quickly spun to evade, it worked. I quickly darted down back to the camp, what I just did wasn’t smart. I just lured a whole group of Raiders to the camp. I lifted Crystal onto my back as I prepared myself for landing; I landed onto my hooves as Crystal got off of my back.

“Are you okay?” I looked at Crystal, catching my breath back. Unfortunately she shook her head as I noticed the chip on her horn. It wasn’t big, but it was visible. “Does it hurt?” I took a closer look at it, noticing that it was deeper than I thought. It hit the core. She could still cast magic, but the core was the painful part.

“It’s fine, I’ll be alright!” Crystal held her horn before moving away and holding it. She hissed from the agony. “Really, I’ll be alright.”

“Well okay, but Crystal. Talk to me if you need anything.” I found it useless to argue with her, so I began walking back towards the tent that Violet and Dodge were in, I hope they didn’t get down to business. I doubt they would have, they barely know each other.

I entered the tent to see Dodge sitting with Violet, before their attention centred to me and Crystal. I walked in, looking at them and frowning.

“We have to go, now!” I exclaimed, lifting Dodge to his hooves. He stared at me completely clueless of what was happened at this moment in time.

“What are you talking about?! We’ve just got here!” Dodge answered with. He stared at Violet, “Violet, we surely can’t leave yet, tell them!”

“No, both of you listen to me. Crystal and I got into some trouble with Raiders and now they’re on their way here!” I looked around in panic. Any second they could be here. I quickly pulled Violet to her hooves and looked at them both.

“You brought them here?! Are you insane?!” Violet exclaimed, “we are not leaving, we need to kill them, if it’s a small group then it won’t be too hard. There are many Rangers here, we can take them.” Violet and I exited the tent, noticing a whole group of Raiders. This time the group contained a larger number than before.

“Violet, if the Rangers can fight them, then we have to get into the city. Tell Elder Lockhart to let us in, we’re going to help them clear the entrance to the city!” I began to trot back towards Manehattan, Crystal and Dodge following. Violet fell behind, unsure of what to do. She finally came to the decision to follow us.

As we ran away, gunfire was heard behind us. This made me feel nothing but guilt, leaving them on their own. But they’re Steel Rangers, they’re up against Raiders. It shouldn’t be too hard for them. I hope.

BRWRWRWRWRWRWRRW!!!

Thunder was above us, the sky was getting darker as the clouds thickened. The thunder clapped louder, I could feel the vibrations in the ground as the claps of thunder went off. I kept trotting, feeling the rain begin to come down onto us.

“We have to find shelter.” I stated. I found a cave and squeezed into the entrance, before falling onto the floor. I helped myself up. “In here, we should wait here until the storm calms down.” The thunder and gunfire in the distance continued going off as the sound of heavy rainfall was heard.

Violet entered first, looking around the cave before releasing a huff in displeasure. Crystal entered next and Dodge last. I activated the light on my PipBuck which lit up the small cave with a green light.

“We just need to wait it out, right?” Dodge sounded unsure, “If Raiders find us, then we’re dead. No escaping, instant death.” He moaned to himself. He shot me a look and walked up to me.

“Is there a problem?” I questioned, looking into his eyes. He just stared at me, the light reflecting off of his pupil.

“Yes, we’re going to die if we’re not lucky, so if we survive this, you’ll be lucky!” Dodge seemed angry. Possibly because I trapped us in a cave that doesn’t have any other way out. Yeah, that’s probably why.

“Well, it’s better than sitting out in the rain isn’t it?” I spoke calmly before sitting down, “I’m going to sleep, if you’re not then feel free to stay up. I do not recommend any of you leave during the storm, it is dangerous out there.” I laid myself down, keeping the light on just in case I wake up early. I closed my eyes slowly and fell asleep, waiting for the storm to pass.

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Footnote: Level up!

New perk: Up Close and Personal, your skill with shotguns has gone up by 20% but your strength with melee weapons has been reduced by 5%

Current level: 8

Next Chapter: Chapter Nine: A City Under Siege Estimated time remaining: 7 Hours, 41 Minutes