I had to favor my bad leg, thinking with every step that the pain was worth it as long as Caltrop was still alive. Even if this was all pointless, and he wasn’t still breathing, it would still be worth me murdering the bitch responsible for his death. I don’t know how long I’ve been traveling down this tunnel, but I could feel cold air coming from up ahead, so I had to be getting close to the main tunnel. Well, that or there was a Windego ahead and that ghoul sent me off to my doom...that would be a really bad end to my week.

I don’t know if they were echos from outside, falling rocks, or just my mind playing tricks on me, but there were a few rapid noises that sounded remotely like gunfire. Once again I lost focus of my light spell, the mote dimming out and letting me see the dim light coming through the tunnel ahead. Murmurs came through the air, echoing into the darkness around me and sending the thoughts of the train into my mind again. They were incessant thoughts, pushing me to go faster to get away from that disgusting stallion before he came back and finished what he started. I needed to reach the light at the end of the tunnel, and this time I hoped to the goddesses it isn’t more gems.

The sounds became more intense the closer I got to the end, picking up into the sound of quickly beating hooves with a few magical energy weapon reports interspersed. The tunnel I was in widened as I reached the brighter tunnel, it’s slope shifting upwards incredibly steep compared to my own, and ran up to my right straight out into the open daylight. The grey cloud cover never seeming so welcoming as I felt myself relax a bit.

“Oh hell, we can’t just leave her down there!” That was the voice of Caltrop!

“The fucking hellhounds beg to differ!” Brightshine yelled as she streaked by, Caltrop hot on her heals. A low growl filled the air from their section of the tunnel, and without my consent, my legs knew that it was catch up to them, or die. Brightshine spotted me and fired my revolver a couple of times, getting a whimper to emit from right behind me. “Nice of Y’all ta join us. Now would yah kindly, RUN!”

I don’t know what her plan was, but I dared not look back, only focusing on running. Oh goddess did my leg hurt as I pulled myself up the slope, growling as I used my magic to hold the bone inside as straight as I could. It was incredibly taxing, but I could swear that the heavy scraping noises and panting muzzles of hellhounds were coming from right at my flank. Just one of their claws nicking me at all and I was done for, torn to ribbons faster than I could pray for my forgiveness from the goddesses..

Brightshine reached the top first, stopping and spinning to face into the tunnel. What the fuck was she doing? A firm stance and a smirk across her muzzle weren’t going to stop claws that could cleave a Steel Ranger in half! Unless she planned on trying to slow them down so we could escape, but her general cocky attitude she’s shown made me think that it was unlikely she’d do something that noble. I flew past her, barreling right into Caltrop who had for some reason stopped as well.

“Boss, you’re alive!” He shouted and wrapped his legs around me in the most inappropriately timed hug in the world.

“Fucking quit it! We’ve got to go!” I shouted, wrestling myself from his grip.

“Not another step!” Brightshine shouted with an intensity I wasn’t ready for. Both Caltrop and I froze, looking up as three hulking examples of the worst the wasteland had to offer skid to a halt at the mine entrance. Had the dust they kicked up not slowly drifted away, I would have thought that perhaps time had stopped. The three hounds glared at Brightshine from a seemingly invisible wall, separating them by only inches.

“Ponies stay out, no trespassing allowed.” A crimson coated hound spoke with a hiss to his words, stepping forward while putting one of his enormous clawed hands to the dirt and drawing a line in it. He didn’t even stop when his claws cut through the old mine cart track like it was paper. I have seen their kind only once before, and that was through the saftey of my scope. Three of them tore through a whole squad of paladins like it was nothing, only taking one casualty in return to the five rangers they brought down. I’ve never in my life wanted to be this close to them.

“Ah know that Honey, but the bridge on tha otha side is gone.” She took a step back with a smile, not moving her gaze from the lead hound even once. “But yah see, we ain’t in yah mines no more, and we ain’t goin back in. So as long as yah little truce wants ta hold, y’all bettah scurry along.” She waved her hoof and lightly flicked my revolver at them.

“Yes, but no more tresspasses will be forgiven.” The lead hound snarled, looking over to Caltrop and I before swinging his arm out as he turned around. It happened so astonishingly fast, I didn’t know what he had hit until he was already a few steps in. “Payment for this offence.” Half of the barrel on my .44 dipped off the gun and fell into the dirt, bouncing to their side of the line where the smallest of the three picked it up and ran off with it.

“My gun…” I can’t believe that my favorite gun was gone. Brightshine simply shrugged and tossed the thing into her saddlebag like it was nothing. “You fucking broke my gun!”

“Boss, that’s all it is, just a gun!” Caltrop put his hoof on my shoulder and making me calm myself enough that I wasn’t going to just throw myself at her for destroying Grandma’s old revolver. She gave that to me after I got my cutie mark, and I have shown it nothing but the tender loving care a firearm like that deserves. And thanks to this bitch, it’s broken. “Please PC, just think this through.” He gave me a soft pat and a nervous smile as I glanced at him.

“Yes PC.” Brightshine mocked him and put her hoof against her forehead, leaning herself back. “Think at all tha poor, innocent lives Ah’ve helped ta save by destroyin yah evil, murderin gun.” She paused from her over dramatic acting and dropped her hoof. “Y’all don’t get ta bitch about a fuckin gun, not when yah took away mah sister.”

“Oh, how insensitive of me.” I spit out and walked towards her. “My mistake, seeing as that gun was worth more caps than she was.”

That hit a nerve somewhere in Brightshine and she hit me with one hell of an uppercut, sending me a couple steps back. She sneered and levitated Caltrop’s detonator out, shoving it into my view just fast enough I would stay ahead of it as I backpedaled. Caltrop didn’t deserve to go out like this, even if he’s an annoying fuck up, so I had to keep walking back. I was forced to a stop when My rear hooves struck something solid and I found myself pressed back up against a wooden structure as the detonator stopped just in front of my muzzle.

“Burst was worth more ta meh than what a thousand a yah could ever be.” Brightshine’s words were short and harsh, whipping at me as she kept me pinned with the floating red button. “And Ah have had just about enough a tha shit that’s comin from yah muzzle, so y’all know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna make sure yah regret it.”

There was a flash of red that came from her saddlebag, a long red cloth floated out and over to Caltrop. It wrapped itself around his muzzle tightly and bound it shut, tieing off in a neat bow. The next thing that came from her pack was a length of brown rope, winding and snaking around his legs before pulling taught. To his credit, he didn’t even fight it, knowing that as long as I didn’t speak up, he’d be fine. Next, I watched as her horn’s aura flared and Caltrop began to lift off the ground. She took the remote away from my muzzle and pulled the helpless Caltrop through the air towards me, and I knew what came next would suck.

“Now, what y’all are goin ta do is carry him all the way to tha sheriff's office without so much as a single syllable comin outa yah muzzle.” She spoke through her strain, setting him onto my back ever so lightly before cutting her magic. My leg shuddered under the strain, and I have to focus my own magic on the weak bone inside to keep it from coming apart. I bit my lip hard enough I could taste blood, and groaned as Brightshine strode past me. “Excelent. Now, be a dear an just follow me ta yah holdin cell.”

My hooves felt like they weighed a million tons each, while my legs felt like they were made of glass. I could feel the bone in my fucked up foreleg creaking each time I took a step on it, painfully moving forward at an agonizing pace. But I kept my muzzle shut. Being a bounty hunter meant that Brightshine had to see the uselessness of killing somepony who doesn’t have a reason to die, and I had to do my best not to give her that reason.

Heading out from where the mine was, we followed the wall of the enormous three story Wooden building that I had bumped into, walking out past it and onto the main street of what I could only assume was Timber. I've only ever been here once, and it was at night and I left as soon as I had arrived, so the layout was unfamiliar to me. The town to my left consisted of a few dozen homes which were mostly skeletal frames, a large run down grocery store, and the sheriff's office down at the end. To my right is what looked like a standard motel, some saloon looking two story restaurant, and a bank down all the way at the end. Now that I was out in front of it, I could see that the large wooden building beside me was partially deconstructed. The words Marehaeuser Timber Mills was stretched across the flaking green paint in large white letters.

“Y’all need ta keep up.” Brightshine yelled out as she headed off to our left. She wasn’t even looking back for us, instead only spinning the remote in her magic. “Ah got plans ta see mah brother and his wife tonight, so Ah’m gonna need ya ta hurry up.” Finally she tilted her head back just enough that I could see her smile. But just as quickly as I saw it, it drooped into a frown.

The closer we got to the sheriff’s office, the more I could see it was more or less just the one wall. My guess is that stripping these buildings down has become a lot more profitable than getting the lumber mill working again. Though, who in the wastes is buying up so much damn timber? There are plenty of good shitholes to make a home out of cheaper than building your own.

“Tha hell are y'all doin! Ah still needed that ta keep mah contracts in!” Brightshine shouted, waving her forehoof to the empty building. A large, yellow coated stallion poked his head around the corner, a bright smile growing across his muzzle.

“Howdy there sis!” He chuckled, and strode out from the foundations. She didn’t have any chance to escape as he bumped right into her and pulled her into a tight hug, squeezing her so tightly I could swear she was turning blue.

I whined as my legs didn’t want to stay up anymore. Slowly lowering myself to the ground, I got out a quick few pants before Brightshine gasped for air. Her brother dropped her and stepped back as she half laughed, half gasped. She had such a genuine smile on her face, one might just forget that she’s holding two prisoners under the threat of death. Well, not easy for me to forget anyway.

“We moved everything ya needed over ta tha bank. Figured it was more secure than here, and with tha wood this place had, it should bring in a whole heap a caps!” He smiled and ruffled Brightshine’s mane. “Y’all gonna show up fer supper?”

“Yeah, just gotta throw this junk in lock up an Ah’ll be right over.” Brightshine smiled and got to her hooves again. Treating us like we were common criminals was forgivable, but did they really have to move the ‘lock up’ to the bank? That’s literally as far across town as you can get. “Come on, missy! Get a move on already, Ah dun wanna have a cold dinner!”

What a bitch.

You know what I hate? Magic nullification items. More than anything, I hate those stupid grey rings.

“There, all nice an cozy!” Brightshine smiled as she walked out of the sea green bank vault both Caltrop and I had been chained inside. “Oh, and before Ah forget, there’s no need fer this anymore.” Her horn flared as the collar around Caltrop’s neck clicked, popping open and floating to her. She hadn’t unbound his muzzle, but at the very least I could breath a sigh of relief that he was safe for the moment. All I had to do now was have Caltrop break free of his bindings again once they were gone and we could sneak our way out of here.

“Who did you bring in this time?” A heavy stubbled stallion came in with a sigh, making the two ponies guarding the vault stand uncomfortably at attention.

“The mare fer tha Percussion Cap bounty.” She smiled back to me and gave me a wink and a blown kiss. “Not mah easiest catch, she was damaged in transit, but ah think tha big stallion should be impressed with her.” She levitated a square sheet of paper from her saddlebags, waiting silently as he looked it over in his hoof.

“Come on Brightshine, what proof is there that this is the Contract mare?” He groaned and darted his eyes between the contract and me. Even though he wasn’t staring, there was something about his eyes that seemed just as insane as the train guards, and I hated it.

“Geeze ya act like this is yah first time doin this. Look at her cutie mark and you’ll see it matches the description.” She rolled her eyes and hoofed at her saddlebags. “But here, She’s known fer wearing these, but why dun yah go an bother Martial?” She floated over my coat, hat, and gun harness to him. They were so close, but I couldn’t get my magic to focus on even #1. “He said he knows tha bitch, so go fuckin ask him. Use yah fuckin head fer once!”

Somepony I know put the contract on me? Fuck. Odd thing is I don’t know any ponies named Martial. Maybe it was the pony who was Big Shot’s boss, or maybe the head of whatever slave faction I’d been killing off in my work. The answer didn’t much matter just at this moment, seeing as I’d find out soon enough and murder the hell out of them.

“Don’t get your reigns in a bind, this is suitable evidence.” He smiled and nodded to one of the unicorn guards. Their horn lit up quickly, the blurry form of a rusty iron pipe being swung dropped Brightshine to the floor with a thump. Did they just… double cross Brightshine? The stallion in charge looked down at her and poked her with his hoof. “Take her to the train and get a collar on her. The boss wants her shipped up to U Cig for re-education, and Miss Amble’s got a knack for breaking unicorns.”

Holy fucking shit, these assholes just sold her out! This… this was not good. Deviations in any plan are not good. I tugged at my bindings, finding that the metal racks Caltrop and I were up against were solidly built, not giving an inch for my efforts.

“You know what, send that other pony in there with her, he can suffer with her as well. We’re short on quota this month and the contract only requires the mare.” The stallion pointed his hoof to Caltrop, and instantly I tried to wrestle at my bonds. “If U-cig wants tough customers to break, she’ll be their crowning achievement. He can just suffer with the rest of them.”

“No, leave him alone! He’s not worth your time!” I shouted, finding out that once again I should have kept my muzzle shut. The iron pipe slammed into my head hard and sent my vision dark for a moment.

“Bitch, everpony is. Even if they’re only two caps worth.” I could feel the stallions breath along my neck and I squirmed, pushing myself as far from his stink as I could get. “You’ll have to excuse my employer’s boss. As it turns out, there was a small revolt in his villa workforce, and he wanted to stay and personally ensure that it wouldn’t happen again.” Even with as much as I tried, he just crouched lower and leaned in towards me. “Though he does send his dearest regards, and he’s requested you be kept alive until you and the other cunt on the contract are both there to hear his terms.”

My vision slowly became less fuzzy as my head hung to the side. Caltrop struggled against his bindings, looking at me with wide eyes as he panicked and tried to scream through his bound muzzle. The unicorn floated his pipe over and brought it down on Caltrop with a stiff thump, making Caltrop’s eyes go half lidded as he looked at me. A single line of blood slowly dripped down his head as he shut his eyes and slumped back. I tore at the ropes holding me, uncaring of how they ground painfully against my hoof. If only I could use my fucking magic, then I could save him!

“You know what though? I’m not so sure you’re worth the extra caps alive, seeing as I can tell you’re going to be trouble.” He put his hoof under my chin and slightly turned my head towards him. “Maybe there will be an ‘accident’ later tonight. Who knows?” Smiling softly he looked dead into my unfocused eyes. “If you behave, you might just make it through the night, alright hot-stuff?” He tapped my cheek and stood up, taking a step back. “Alright you two, seal this box up tight. Nopony in or out.”

Caltrop’s limp body was picked up in the amber glow of the guards magic, drifting forward as the cage guard swung the door open. I watched in horror as he was put onto a small tarp next to Brightshine, the plastic sheet then began to slide away, quickly disappearing past my view and out of my hearing. The heavy steel door shut with a slam, and the squelch of rusty door pins locking into place meant that I was secured.

After everything, the one friend I had ever made was taken from me. You tried. It was a mistake to have even thought anything good could have come from it. Can’t you see, you were happier than you were for a long time. And now I’m alone again. You can’t give up now. So all I can do is wait for tomorrow.

“I’m sorry…” I whispered out, silently wishing that my tears could make this all go away.

I must have passed out at some point, shaking my head slowly and spitting out my mane from my muzzle. Opening my eyes, I found a pair of round, pink eyes staring back from the end of a short and flat muzzle. I blinked a few times in confusion as I didn’t move a muscle.

“What… are you.” The eyes spoke in a higher pitched whiny voice. They pulled back, the small shape of a hellhound taking form. From the octave, I could only assume that this young hellhound was a girl, though being only the fourth one I’ve ever seen up close and having no real way to identify gender, it was my best guess. Her navy blue coat and white underside were pristine and only now as she stood back did I realized how small she was. Even on her hind legs, I wasn’t sure she’d come up more than to the top of my chest.

“Hello... there.” I spoke softly, unsure of what to do. In the far corner from me was a small mound of dirt, and the dusty paw prints that led over to me made me weary if there were more hounds about to burrow up and rend me to pieces.

She gasped. “Oh, you can speak! That narrows it down!” Her eyes lit up and she pressed herself in close again. “Are you a pony perhaps?”

“Yes?” I stammered, not even sure of the question myself. “How is it you’ve never seen a pony before?”

Shrugging, she walked around and looked me over intently, sniffing uncomfortably at me. “Some of the older dogs tell stories about them, but we never see any in the den with the pact they made and all. They always say that ponies are violent towards us, and that we should attack them on sight, but you don’t look dangerous.” She stopped and went wide eyed. “Are you dangerous?”

“Kid, that’s probably something you shouldn’t ask somepony… er, someone after you speak with them.” I couldn’t outright tell her I killed ponies for a living, but lying to a kid? That seems a bit much. “To answer, yes I am.” Her eyes locked in terror. “But I only hurt those who hurt me.”

That made her relax. “Oh, I know how that is.” She looked solemnly to the floor. “Down below the other pups are always picking on me. So what if I’m small? It doesn’t mean anything! I came up here to prove that I’m just as tough as the others!”

“Great, out of anyone in the world, I get a run away runt.” I closed my eyes. “Kid, it’s not safe up here, you should go back.” The hound huffed and kicked at the concrete floor.

“No! I’m not going back until I can prove them wrong!” She raised her voice slightly, making me cringe. If the guards heard her, then we’d both be dead. She spoke again, but in a whisper. “My name isn’t Runt either, that’s just what the others call me.” She looked up to me with wide, sad eyes as her muzzle trembled. “It’s Sandy.”

“Well then Sandy, my name is Percussion Cap.” I couldn’t help but smiling when she made a face like that. “And I need your help.”

“Wha… what can I do?” She looked to the floor and scraped at it with her oversized claws. “I’m the worst dog in the pack. I can’t even bring back a trophy.”

“Tell you what, if you help get these bindings off me, I’ll help you get your trophy.” I leaned back against the metal rack and tried to pull my hooves apart. Sandy’s face lit up at the suggestion and she quickly got up. She was small enough she could get under the shelves and had soon wiggled her way behind me. “Just be really careful you don’t lop my hooves off!”

There was a deafening metallic squeal as her claws cut not only through the ropes, but through the metal post the ropes had been wrapped around. There was the sound of a bottle shattering from outside the vault, and the hushed murmurings of somepony who was drunk grew.

There was a loud rapping at the door. “HAY. What tha hell are ya doing ‘n there?” The slightly slurred words of one of the guards came through the walls. “What wass that noise?”

“Sandy, don’t make any sound.” I whispered, straightening myself up and clearing my throat softly. “That was…” Come on PC, THINK. “...the sound of my heart breaking!” Fuck, that was the dumbest lie I’ve ever told. Well, I need to stick with it now. “You took my one true love from me, and I'll never forgive any of you monsters for it!”

“Oh, shut uhp.” There was a thump against the door as he drunkenly knocked at it again. “Wallow in sorrow quieter than, oral make ya quiet. Ghot it?” Thank Celestia for cheap and plentiful whisky. I could hear as he cursed and made his way back from the door, and only then did I pull my hooves out from behind me.

“Nice work Sandy.” I whispered, pulling my hooves up and lifting the magic nullification ring from my horn. As she crawled her way out from under the metal shelves, I held my hoof out, dropping the ring in front of her with a smile. “This is a really rare magical item. You bring something like this to your pack and you’ll be on top of the heap in no time.”

“Thanks! I’m just glad I was useful for once!” She scooped the ring up in her claws, clutching it tightly to her chest. “I never believed them anyway. Ponies aren’t dangerous at all!” She looked up to me with the bright eyes of a foal. “Are we… friends now?”

“Sure, squirt.” I smiled and got a giggle out of her. “You best run on home now. I’ve got work to do, and you probably won’t want to stick around to see what happens.”

“Alright. Goodbye, friend.” She gave me a toothy grin and galloped… do hellhounds gallop? Whatever. She disappeared down into her hole, and once again, I felt sad that I was alone. But I could change that now. I had a new plan, which involved me killing my way to the top of this town, then finding out where they sent Caltrop. I will repeat this process as many times as it takes to get him back, even if I need to wipe out every goddess damned asshole this wasteland has to offer. I wasn’t going to be a bounty hunter anymore, not after what I’ve been through.

Right here in this room? I was a clean slate, free to start over with no more rules to hold me back. It’s time to make a name for myself. It’s time…

A muffled scream came from outside the vault, but was quickly silenced. With no allies left, no weapons around, this was going to come down to my bare hooves. But that’s fine by me, anything to set things straight again. There was a squeal as the pins in the doors rolled back, and I lowered myself down, ready to pounce. But as the door swung open, I stopped and could only stare into the sharp blue eyes of my Grandmother.

She spun her gun around on her hoof as the body of the guard smoked lightly, small blue flames flickered out of deep cracks in his skin and coat. “Fine mess you’ve gotten yourself into, PC. Your mother would be so proud.”