Yeah, I knew this was going to be a problem.

“Hey! I wasn’t done with dat!” Caltrop snapped as I levitated his bottle of whiskey away from him. He squinted as he pushed my hat over his eyes and looked over to me in confusion. Even though he’d been alright in the bar, the second we got moving he’d been in a state of a blissful buzz. I’d told him that he could still have a few bottles on him because I know you have to ween off an addiction like this. I should have carried them though, and that was a mistake that I’d now correct.

“You already drank almost half the bottle in the last half hour.” I grumbled. We’re only a couple hours out of Filly and I didn’t need him tripping over himself when any raiders showed up. I reached into his saddlebags with my magic and pulled the other bottles out. “You’ve had enough.”

Up ahead was the mined canyon from months ago. Walking through the jagged walls sent a shiver down my spine, and I glanced along to the worn rocks at the top for trouble. Seeing this place again brought back a mix of memories. It felt like so long ago that we were here. Caltrop almost died then, and honestly I’m not sure what I would have done if he had. I’ve relied on him for so much since then, and he on me. While I wouldn’t have been in half of that trouble because of him, I wouldn’t be the same mare I am. I didn’t want to go back to who I was.

“How the fuck would yah know when I’ve had enough?” He snarled and swiped at the bottles. The fact that he’d had that much already made his reflexes just that much slower already. After a few swipes, he stopped and just sneered as I put them in my own bags.

“The same way I knew where you were.” I sighed and continued walking. I watched as Sandy wandered along the path ahead of us. At least with her, it’s almost like she’d never left my side. She was just as curious and talkative as ever. Still, I hate to call her mindless, but it scared me to know that she didn’t give a second thought to killing that stallion when I told her to.

“Yeah? And how the hell did yah even manage dat?” Caltrop grunted and took his place back along my side.

“With my help.” Null spoke up from the other side of Caltrop. He’d kept his steathbuck on even before I’d returned to him and Sandy. I didn’t mention it because I wasn’t sure of what Caltrop’s reaction to him would be. You know, as he had been the one to take me away and all. At least one thing I’d predicted would happen actually did.

Caltrop could still scream like a filly.

“What the fuck!” He cried out as he nearly jumped over me to hide. I say nearly, because he came down on my back fairly hard. My rear legs might have been stronger now that they were metal, but my forelegs gave out under the added weight. We both flopped into the dirt hard. Caltrop at the very least had the sense to roll off of me before I jabbed him with my horn. I just let out a sigh and laid there for a moment.

“See? I told you he wasn’t imaginary!” Sandy chimed with a bright smile on her muzzle.

“I know yah!” Caltrop growled as he pushed himself back to his hooves. “Yah the one who took PC!” He sputtered as he wrestled with the sling to Storm’s rifle. Though I liked his initiative, I didn’t need him attracting all the raiders from five miles around. With a roll of my eyes and a strong grasp of my magic, I tugged his chin until he looked down at me.

“Yeah, he’s the guy.” I said sternly. “No, you can’t shoot him. We work with them now.” I pushed myself up and dusted myself off. “So stop fucking around before you attract every raider from here to manehatten with that thing.”

“Hey, look!” Sandy squeaked. “Friends!”

We all stopped in place as our attention was drawn forward. I looked up to see more than a few raiders standing in the roadway blinking at us. A couple of them had shovels in their muzzles, and a couple others had mines. I’m not to sure how they hadn’t heard us coming, but everypony stood as still as statues.

Entering the mined canyon to find somepony already there was an uncomfortably familiar situation, and this time we were on the side that had exploded last time. The air whistled through the canyon with a low drone. I wasn’t sure why none of us had gone for our guns. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was reminded to look down at the dirt at my hooves.

Yeah, fuck me.

I don’t know how we’d gotten that lucky in the first place, but there were freshly filled in mine holes everywhere around us. Caltrop let off a whimper as he looked down to find his hoof inches from a trigger to one of them. Wait, that one looked older, dustier. Were these assholes burying new mines without even noticing the old ones were still here? I’ve said it before, but this time I mean it. I am literally surrounded by morons. At least the raiders knew not to shoot at us.

“PC, can’t you just… you know, shoot ‘em?” Caltrop whispered to me, so close to having kept my respect towards his intelligence. Seriously, he was such a dolt.

“No.” Null answered for me. “The explosives are too close.”

“Is yah name PC?” Caltrop snapped in his harsh whisper. As lovely as it was to have them fight, I wasn’t sure what we could even do about this. If I’d been a smarter mare, I’d have just opted to go around this place like we should have both times. Goddesses, sometimes I wanted to just beat the crap out of myself for the shit I got into.

“Hello, friend!” Sandy smiled as she hopped through the dirt. Each step brought a cringe from everypony who watched. Sure, Sandy could walk through those mines by the prison safely, but hopping? My heart stopped every time her paws hit the dirt. “What are you digging for?” She smiled at one of the more imposing looking stallions, who never looked more scared in his life. His gaze slowly shifted to one of his compatriots. The stallion gave a nervous grin as he held a mine in his muzzle. “Oh, neat!” She exclaimed. “I used to dig up mines sometimes as well!.”

“That’s… great… kid.” The gruff stallion next to her replied. “Listen, we’re kinda busy…”

“Do you need any help?” She chimed before bolting across the dirt to one of the fresh mine holes. Both the Ganger stallion and I reached out in silent horror as she skid to a stop in front of it. With a growl, she grabbed and tugged it out onto the flat ground again. Then she held out a claw and punched it right through the primer housing. “See, all safe now!” She beamed a smile to him. “I can help!

“Sandy, why don’t you just come back over here where it’s safe.” I called out to her. Safe? That was a lie big enough that anypony but Sandy would have seen through. If I could get her to disarm the ones around us, then maybe we could’ve just turned around and left. My life had unfortunately never been that easy.

“Actually,” The raider stallion grinned at her and waved his hoof. “Come over here and show me how ya did that.” The moment he said that, I saw his intentions clearly in his eyes. She may be one hell of a weapon in combat, but her innocence and curiosity would get her killed at this rate. I had no intention of letting Sandy walk right into his murderous hooves.

“Sandy, stop.” I ordered. She froze up on the spot and looked over to me in confusion. “Remember those ponies on the mountain? The ones that attacked Storm and I?” I waited until she nodded. After a moment, she made the connection as to what I’d tried to get across.

“You’re bad ponies.” She growled and dropped down onto all fours. I watched in horrid fascination as everything about her seemed to change. Her pose, her face and expression. In a moment, she’d lost the spark of innocence she just had. What sat between the raiders and I was a tiny blue death machine, nothing more. One of the raiders dropped his shovel in favor of going for the shotgun on his side. Sandy simply barked and lept at the raider who’d talked to her.

Things went downhill fast. Wrapped in my levitation, out came my revolver. I aimed and got a shot off at the earth pony who had the shotgun. The round punched through his side, but he seemed unphased by the hit. Just my luck, he was probably on drugs. A correction and another quick pull of the trigger, I put his brains all over the pony behind him. Unfortunately, that pony was a unicorn mare with a mine held in her muzzle. She simply grabbed the shotgun from her cohort and pointed it at me.

A shot from Caltrop rang out. His first time using the thing, I wasn’t surprised he missed the mare. I’d just wished that he could have missed the mine still in her muzzle. A furious blast erupted through the air, and both Caltrop and I were peppered with shrapnel. Luckily, the blast didn’t trigger any of the other mines. The bloody and lacerated pony that Sandy had attacked looked like one of those pre-war pinatas. From his back, tumbled Sandy. She flopped onto the dirt behind him and lay there.

As I stared, I’d forgotten about the last pony. He took a few shots at us, one which zipped along my shoulder. In the midst of all the chaos, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. I kept hoping that she’d get back up, but she didn’t move. Another shot came from Caltrop. The muzzle flash went off right next to my face, and shocked me back into the fight. No, Sandy wouldn’t die. I refused to lose someone to this fucking canyon.

I whipped my revolver around to the last pony. I fired at him again and again. At this distance, it was hard to miss. Each shot found a home in him. I wasn’t sure which hit had killed him, but as he slumped to the dirt, I didn’t care.

“Sandy!” I cried out as I took a step forward. She needed help, and I wouldn’t let her down. As I tried to move though, I found a pair of hooves restrain me.

“If yah move, we might explode.” Caltrop whined as he held me back. “Who know’s how many mines are still here from the last time.” He spun me around to look at him. He looked like he’d been through hell. More than a few deep cuts bled down his head and across his chest. There was a sick sucking noise as he breathed in labored breaths. A bloody hole in his side where a bullet had stuck nearly stopped my heart. He gave me a bloody smile and held on to me. “I’m sorry, but ain’t nopony helpin’ her without havin’ any idea where the mines are.”

That was it!

“Null.” I snapped and tore my gaze from Caltrop. As I looked around, I didn’t see him at all. That bastard better not have fucking left us here. “Go fucking help Sandy.” I glared angrily at the air around me in hopes that he’d get the point. For what felt like forever, only the low drone of the wind and Caltrop’s ragged breathing met my ears. “Null, if she dies, it’s on you.”

“She is still breathing, but only just.” Null’s voice came from over by Sandy. With a soft click, he shimmered back into sight. From his saddlebags, he floated out half a healing potion and kneeled next to her. Carefully, he poured a little at a time over her. Gingerly, he took his hoof and turned her head over a bit. All I could do was watch as I left Sandy’s fate up to the same pony who’d brought me nothing but pain and suffering.

“PC?” Caltrop wheezed. “Could you grab the…” He paused and wobbled a bit before sitting down hard. “the bottle in my bag?” He looked pale and on the verge of passing out. I hoped that he wasn’t asking for more booze. Turns out, I found a health potion he’d had tucked away in there. Quickly, I opened it and forced him to drink some. Once the lacerations on him sealed up, I lowered the bottle and pressed it against his side. He let out a whimper and bit his lip from the pain, but he knew he had to endure it. I got through almost half the bottle before his side closed up.

“How the hell did you get shot, anyway?” I asked, as his breathing became less ragged by the moment. Putting the cap back on, I stowed the potion back in his bags. If he had one helpful item, maybe he had more? I rooted around a bit more until I found a soft and flat cylinder. As I pulled it out, I was annoyed to see that it was a roll of duct tape. I was really hoping for some bandages.

“Here, get patched up.” Null shouted as he tossed a roll of dirty looking cloth to me. From the way it smelled, it probably came right off the raiders themselves. “Your friend will be alright, but I am sure she’ll be out for some time.” Null sighed and picked her up in his magic. “Once you two are ready to go, I can guide you through to the other side.”

“No, we’re going back out and heading around.” I didn’t want to try our luck going through this place. “We’re all still alive, and the last thing I need to do today is lose another limb.”

“Fine, but it will cost you five favors.” Null shook his head and looked particularly annoyed.

“Whatever. At this point, I don’t care.” I shoved my revolver back into it’s holster and sat down. If this was how a normal contract goes, maybe I should invest in some healing items for the next one. “Caltrop, you alright?”

“Yeah.” He smiled up to me and flopped his head against my side. “Thank’s for savin’ me.” After a moment he squinted in pain and whined. “I think dat potion gave me a hangover.”

“Pretty sure that’s the booze.” I sighed.

Amazingly, we hadn’t seen another pony since the mine incident. Sandy was healing up fine from her injuries, and wouldn’t have more that a couple of scars to show from it. What worried us was that she hadn’t woken up yet. Null told us not to worry, and that she would wake in time, but Caltrop and I still still did anyway. Sandy had earned her friendship with us back at the prison, and I didn't want to think that we might have gotten her killed. We’d camped out on the same hill that Caltrop and I had used after we left Novacain’s medical clinic. Being back there was eerie, but I was glad to have had Caltrop close this time.

It was late the next day before we’d arrived at Steel Junction. We were up in my overlook outcrop on the hill above town. I looked around using some binoculars that Null had brought with him. Of all the nights we had to do this job, of course it would be one that Keg Tap would throw one of his parties. It looked as if everypony had shown up, and I felt a pit in my stomach form. Doing this sneakily would be a doozy of a task.

“So, what is your plan?” Null spoke up.

“For now?” I lowered the binoculars with a sigh. “We wait. There’s too many bystanders.” This had the potential to get messy if we went in now. Not to mention, if one of them got mixed in the crowd, I don’t think I could sort them out. “Our best option is to just wait for tomorrow.”

“We’re already behind schedule.” Null groaned and fidgeted with stuff in his saddlebags. “I’m going down to at least confirm our targets are still there.”

Right when he said that, I wanted to speak up. The way he said it made me want to warn him not to make a move yet in case somepony noticed him. With a soft click, Null shimmered into thin air and left us behind the rocks.

“Yah know,” Caltrop sighed as he flopped down next to Sandy. “I think I’m startin ta hate workin’ with these guys.”

“Trust me, I know what you mean.” I grumbled and brought the binoculars up again. The party was in full swing down there. Ponies were singing along with whatever music they had down there, and stumbling over each other drunk. Hard to believe that in another day I’ll have to kill Keg and parties like this will never happen here again. “You want to know what’s worse?” I glanced back over to Caltrop. He had a look on his muzzle like he didn’t want to know. “Null is the most likeable of them.”

“Fuckin great.” Caltrop grumbled and summarized the entire last month for me.

We both spent a few minutes just thinking in silence. I wasn’t going to say it was the first time I had my doubts about working for Flint, but this was definitely the worst I’ve felt since I agreed to do it. Even though I’ve got Caltrop back, I’m not sure I’m making his life any better. Sure, I can fix his drinking issue, but all I did was trade one shithole for another. Even if one is a whole hell of a lot more polished than the other.

“Alright, we are good to go.” Null spoke up as she shimmered back into view next to Caltrop and I. He brought his pipbuck up and started fiddling with it intently. With another click, he plugged in some other kind of hardware to the arcane device. “Now where was that frequency?”

Frequency?

A short beep emit from his pipbuck before his gaze popped back up to the town. In that moment, I felt like a boulder plunged into the pit of my stomach. There was a bright, multicolored flash from down the hill. A near deafening roar pierced the air. I turned toward the town just in time for a rush of air to blast a hefty amount of dirt and dust into my eyes.

“What the hell did you do?” I coughed and choked on the dirt. I rubbed my eyes clean enough that I could see again. What I found was horrifying. A small mushroom cloud billowed up from where the pub had once stood. Nothing but a large ring of splintered and burning wood debris could be seen among the thick smoke. They were gone. Most of the town had gathered and they were all just… gone.

“Master Flint feared that you might have reservations about your mission.” Null stated abruptly. “He asked that I show you that backing out isn't an option. He also want to show you that anypony who is associated with those who shun the rule of Red Eye, run the risk of paying for that crime.”

“Fuck dat asshole!” Caltrop shouted as he sprung to his hooves. Null was fast, but he wasn’t that fast. Caltrop lunged at him and brought a hoof right across Null’s cheek. The zony went down into the dirt hard, but didn’t seem to stay down. “Yah just killed the whole town!” Caltrop screamed. “How can yah justify dat?”

“This was my mission, Null.” I snapped as well. How could he have just done something that stupid was beyond me. “I don't fucking care what Flint told you. My mission is done my way.” I drew out my pistol as he picked his sorry flank up off the dirt. “That means you listen to me, not go off half cocked because Flint told you I wouldn’t be up to it.”

“It wasn't my call.” He said as he shook off Caltrop’s hit. With a flash from his horn, he cut off my magic. He caught my revolver in his own and spun it around at me. I felt like a dumbass for forgetting in my anger that he could do that. “I didn’t want to kill them, believe me. At least the balefire egg made it painless.” He almost sounded genuine, but it was hard to care when he was pointing my own gun at my head. “There was no other way to guarantee the death of everypony involved.”

“The fuck there wasn't!” Both Caltrop and I said at nearly the same time.

“I don't care if Flint told you to go kill yourself!” I snapped and took a step forward. The barrel of my own revolver pressed up against my temple as Null didn’t give a single inch. I reached up and bat the gun away from me, not moving my glare from him. “There would have been another way.” I wasn’t sure a single word I said would get through his fucking skull, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t have to beat it in. “You may be alright with it, but I don't kill innocent ponies.”

“Oh really?” He spat back as a smile crossed his muzzle. “What did you think this job would be like? Hunting down criminals?” He gave a hearty, but forced laugh that did nothing but piss me off more. “Were the thirteen slaves in the building not innocent?” He paused and grimaced again. “What about Keg Tap? Did he deserve to die?”

“I don’t care what PC said before,” Caltrop chimed in. Just by doing so, Null turned the revolver on him. “Yah a fuckin monster.”

“You better stow that attitude before we return. Flint is not going to be appreciative of your words.” Null sneered and glanced back over to me. “You know what happens to disappointments.” He spun the revolver over and tossed it into the dirt at my hooves. I felt my own magic trickle back into my horn He spun around and looked back at me from over his shoulder. “We are still on a schedule. It is time to go home.”

“No.” I said as levitated my gun up and put it in it’s holster. “We aren’t done.”

“What did you say?” Null’s expression went from stoic to downright pissed.

“You fucked this up.” I growled. “Tell me, what happens if I get back, and your fucking bomb didn’t kill all of them?” I watched as he seemed both surprised and insulted by the idea. “If just one of them ghoulified, what would Flint do? Hmmm?” I trotted forward and forcibly pushed past him. “I’m going down there to check for survivors. Leave if you want, but if anything happens to me down there, it’s on you.”

Without another word, I trotted down towards the town. I didn’t understand why I cared so much other than I didn’t expect this to happen. Needless death has always pissed me off, but this was so much worse than before. Probably because I had been the only pony who could have stopped it. Null may have pushed the button, but in the end it was me who killed these ponies.

“PC, wait up!” Caltrop called out.

I didn’t wait. I took a good look around at the results Null had achieved. The few who weren’t at the party had emerged from their homes to find out what happened. More than a few of them cried out for their friends and family who’d been at the tavern, but enough of them simply stared at me in anger as I passed by. I didn’t know how they knew, but I’m sure they blamed me for everything.

The tavern itself was a complete loss. I stepped over a few charred boards and the scattered dismembered limbs of the patrons as I approached it. The smoke burned my eyes, and the scent of charred flesh stung in my nose. The whole building had been reduced to a pile of wooden refuse around two ponies high. Most of the place must have collapsed into the basement when it went, and most of the patrons had gone with it.

Even if the survivors and remaining towns ponies were to start digging, it would take days to get them out. And that would have been long enough to kill anypony who managed to survive. Still, buried alive for days is a bad way to go, fairly high on my list of ‘ways not to die’. I lifted a board that was still crackling with balefire and traced it around a few of the sections of rubble. Each section caught slowly, but grew fast.

“PC…” Caltrop said at almost a whisper as the fire grew. “You know there could be survivors in there.”

“I know, but it’s too late to help.” I looked over to him and shook my head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think…” I don’t know why, but I felt like because of this I was a monster. Caltrop knew what I meant, I think. He simply hugged me tightly as the balefire funeral pyre grew to a raging blaze. “This isn’t how I’d thought it would be.”

“We’ll just do it better next time.” Caltrop said as he brushed my mane. “We’ll do it the right way.” A clattering of boards and rubble came from the pile as it burned. We both looked and watched as it shifted under the fire. Smoke poured from lower and the fire grew, and we simply stood there as the town looked on in horror. Then one of the piles moved again.

With something between a grunt and a scream, a few of the smoking boards were pushed aside. With a gasp from the ponies watching behind us, and to our amazement, a half charred form crawled out from the wreckage. Wearing more stripes that any zebra I’d ever seen in my life, a zebra stallion rolled down the wreckage and cried. Nearly half of his body was blistered and burnt, but he simply picked himself up and let out a pained cry.

As he did, I un-holstered my revolver. I had no way to tell if he had been one of my targets, but this town didn’t have the capacity to treat burns like his. Even if they got him help, he wouldn’t have lasted the two days it would have taken to arrive. It would be the first truly innocent life I’d have to take, but it would at least be out of mercy.

“You.” The Zebra half gurgled in anger. He brought his gaze to a rest on me and charged. “You murdered them!”

I answered him with a pair of shots from my gun. Both rounds struck him in the chest, but he refused to go down. With only a second to act, I pushed Caltrop away from my side. I hadn’t been ready for this, and in my panic, my cyberlegs didn’t act fast enough. They tripped me up, and I flopped down into the dirt. I hit my head as I went down and lost my grip on my gun.

“You ruined everything I’ve worked for!” The zebra growled before he started to pummel me. My vision went blank from the pain of the onslaught, but I could imagine every hit. I had no idea how he could move as fast, or hit me as much as he did. Bones snapped, and my organs pleaded for me to get up and move. The only things that reacted were my cyberlegs, and even then they didn’t do much.

I wouldn’t go down easy at the very least. Even blinded by pain, I fought hard. With one good buck from my rear legs, I felt something snap in him. The force of the kick pushed him off me, but only momentarily. Even so, it was enough to gather my senses and look around again. Part of the zebra’s chest had caved in, but he simply came back at me. I readied my legs again, but he was smarter than I gave him credit for.

With a low sweep that required more flexibility than he should have had, he kicked the power cable from my leg. With a yell and a flip, he did the same to my other leg. I was officially defenceless as he stood over me. With a yank, he pulled my right leg off of me and held it high in his hooves. I panicked and looked around. I just needed to find my gun again…

The familiar report of my revolver sounded through the air, and the side of the zebra’s head blew outward. He collapsed into a heap next to me as Caltrop rushed to my side. He spit my revolver down into the dirt and scooped me painfully into his hooves.

“Nice shot.” I weakly whined. Fuck he’d done a number on me. It would take more than just a healing potion to fix all this. I looked down at my chest to see one of my ribs poking through my skin. Then again, a healing potion would be a nice start.

“I was aimin for the leg.” Caltrop muttered with a weak smile. “Don’t worry, we’ll get yah patched up, I promise.” He pulled me close and hugged me painfully. I didn’t care though. I was still alive, and I felt better knowing that he was here with me. Fortunately for me, the pain started to fade as the darkness of unconsciousness took me. I just hoped that when I woke up, I wouldn’t still feel like a monster for what we did here today.