“Boy, ya sure did get walloped pretty good in tha side there.” The mare who had dusted the manticore and saved my life was dabbing at my side with a cold cloth. For a unicorn, she appeared to know quite a few spells, including one to make ice. I winced as the cold feeling was countered by the sharp pains my ribs gave me from the pressure of her hoof. “Ya know, this would be a whole lot easier if ya removed all of yer guns.”

And leave myself open to the whims of an asshole? I think not.

“Fighting that thing was a stupid mistake on my part. I should have never tried to take it on.” I muttered under my breath. I turned my angry gaze toward Caltrop, who of all things wasn’t even paying attention. He had his muzzle buried in an old financial magazine that meant nothing now that the world was more concerned over killing for it’s wealth, than trading for it. A sharp jab to the side preceded the numbing sensation that the painkiller gave off.

“Hey, if ya’ll hadn’t distracted it, I’d be nothin but another meal fer tha buzzards by now.” She gave my side a pat as her magic dissipated the cloth and ice into nothingness. “Tha name’s Brightshine by tha way, it’s a pleasure tah meet ya.” She held her hoof out with a smile.

“Yeah, well I’m grateful for the assist back there. But we’re late as it is and should be moving on.” I snagged my coat and hat in my magic as I stood up, surprised to feel it tug away. This mare had wrapped her own magic around it and was pushing it back down.

“Awe shucks, I’m sure ya can at least stay fer lunch!” A look of determination came over her face as she gave me the smallest of smirks that only served to piss me off. But my body betrayed me as a deep growl came from the pit of my stomach, somehow drawing one out from Caltrop as well. Fuck, if only we didn’t leave those steaks behind. “See, even yer friend’s stomach is agreein tah stay!”

“He’s not my friend.” I grumbled and gave up the battle for my gear. “Alright, we’ll stay, but make it quick. I still want to make some progress by sundown.”

“Fair enough.” She smirked and set my gear down next to Caltrop. “Lucky for you, old Mr. Carver here was tha first tah fall from tha manticore. Though, ah wish ah coulda saved his son, poor thing shoulda known not tah stray that far from tha cart.” She nodded her head to the backside of the overturned cart, the mangled remains of what I can only assume was the pony she spoke of lay heaped against the side of it. “A shame really. He coulda avoided this whole ordeal if he had just listened tah reason.”

“I see…” I didn’t really care about what happened. Dead is dead. Can’t change that.

“Why don’t ya pick out somethin, whatevah ya’ll want and I’ll whip it up.” She floated a large bag from inside of the mangled metal wagon, tossing it over to me. It struck the dirt and spilled out a plethora of canned goods. Canned corn, canned beans, canned radishes. Even canned pineapple.

“Ya got any Carrots?” With the premiss of food, of course Caltrop found the time to pay attention now. I used my levitation to grab the cans and neatly stack them, streaming the ones in the bag out past my face so I could see what they were, the last can I pulled wore a faded orange label with a smiling mare on the front with a carrot in her hooves.

“Yeah, looks like we’re fresh out.” I smirked and tossed it as hard as I could behind me with my magic. No, Caltrop doesn’t get what he wants, not after the shit he pulled. I smiled up to him as he stood teary eyed from the simple response.

“Hey, ya’ll don’t go wastein somethin like that now.” The mare spoke up, levitating the orange can past my head and over to Caltrop. He took the can and pulled it close to his chest with a gasp, cradling it like it was a foal. “Not tah mention, treats are few and far between when travelin, what’s tha harm in lettin him enjoy himself a little?”

“You offered lunch, not a lecture on my goddess damned wasteland ethics.” I shot her a glare as she levitated some of the broken wood from the cart into a pile, building a fire put to cook on.

“At least she has ethics.” Caltrop muttered.

“What’s tha story with you two anyhow?” She kicked a few rocks into place around the wood before putting a hoof into the leather coat she wore. She pulled out an old torch striker and bit down on it. It rang to me a bit weird that not only was she not using magic to use the thing, but she seemed to not find it absolutely frustrating to use tools like an earth pony must.

“Well, ya see…” Caltrop started off, quickly stopping himself before hesitantly glancing at me. He shifted uncomfortably away from me as I was just waiting to hear what he was going to say. I lifted my hoof and rolled it to try to encourage him to continue. “I… I screwed up one a the jobs Boss was on. Screwed it up bad enough I got her kicked outa Filly. So now I gotta follow her till I can pay her back.”

The mare huffed through the tool as she worked it, sending spark after spark into the wood. A small wisp of white smoke came through the bottom of the pile, quickly becoming a large cloud as the fire caught. The mare spit the tool back into her hoof as she levitated her Yellow and blond streaked mane away from the young flames.

“So, ya’ll are her slave?” Hoofing the tool back into her jacket, she dug around in her saddlebag until she pulled out a metal framed cook stand. She opened it with a flick of her fetlock, setting it over the wood and levitating a large pot onto it.

“No, not at all.” I laughed to myself, staring into the fire as it grew. “Caltrop is free to walk off whenever he wants. Hell, I want you to take him off my hooves. If anything it saves me from getting into any more trouble like this.”

But you don’t really want that, now do you?

“So, Mr. Caltrop. Tell me, is she always this uptight?” She shook her head and levitated a can opener out, her magic pulling the can from Caltrop’s hooves as well. The air was filled with the crackling from the fire as he shrunk down on his hooves and looked at me. Why the fuck did he have to act like a scared filly all the damn time? After that shit this morning in town, you’d think he’d want to make good on trying to impress me.

After what seemed like minutes of silence, he finally found the courage to speak up. “Can I… decline to comment?”

“No.” I spoke up. From the way the two of them both perked their ears, it looks as if my response had caught them off guard. “You wanted to be friends, so I want to hear it. Good or bad, I want you’re unbiased opinion on how much of a bitch you think I am.”

“Do ya promise not ta hit me after?” Even though he sounded hopeful, he should have known the answer.

“Not a chance. You’re already way past me having to buck the shit out of you for getting us into this.” I ground my hooves into the dirt. How badly I wanted to just toss him down and stomp his face in until he wasn’t breathing. How the fuck has he survived this long in life if this is the shit he get’s into? He’s either the most fortunate stallion I’ve ever met, or the ponies he stays around are some sort of ablative armor for his moronic actions.

“I think ya’ve been the only pony I’ve ever seen who can be so mean without havin to resort ta killin folks.” He cringed and waited for the inevitable to come bearing down on him. But that took a lot of strength to say, and it’s just about the first thing out of his muzzle that I didn’t outright hate hearing.

The screeching of the can opener against the rusting lid of nearly two hundred year old vegetables made a shiver run down my spine. “Well now, ain’t that somethin.” The mare spoke up as her magic pryed the lid up and spilled the contents into the pot. “Ya’ll two are complete opposites it seems, yet ya’ll are travelin tagether like two peas in a pod.” She pulled a can of beats from the bottom of stack I set up, making me struggle to catch all of the cans before they clattered to the dirt. She continued without even missing a beat. “If ya’ll don’t mind me askin, where are you off in a hurry tah? If we’re headin the same way, maybe we could stay tagether. Ya know, safty in numbers.”

“Thanks, but we’re fine on our own.” It was hard to focus on answering her question as I held the ten odd cans in my magic, throbbing pains streaked down my horn into my skull as I focused on placing them down neatly again.

“Boss, if she’s headin tah Dodge, what’s so bad about teamin up?” Caltrop just earned himself another beating for miraculously telling another pony our destination. He might as well just wear a fucking neon sign that shouted ‘Come ruin PC’s life!’ on his back.

“Well Ah’ll be! Yer in luck as ah just so happen tah be headin out there myself, lookin fer work an all seein as my last charge is layin dead over there.” And with that, I officially hate my life again. I upgraded it from hate to a mild dislike this morning. Now? I think I’ll just leave it where it is until the day I die. “After lunch ah’ll make sure tah get my things all ready and we can all head out tagether! Oh we are gonna have just a fantastic time gettin tah know one another!”

“Great.” I sighed. “Just… great.”

A spike of pain shot through my side that made me groan.

“Ey Boss? Ya need more Med-x or somethin?” My resident master of the obvious here was back to his cheerful self as well now that he had his fill of soup.

“I’ll be fine.” I don’t know why it was so hard for these two to be quiet. It’s still another three days till we get to dodge and they both seem contented to make me loathe every second of it. The only thing I need to do is just focus on the horizon. This is just the same as every time I’ve gone out before, nothing’s changed except the company I keep along the way. Not to mention, we should be nearing Driftwood, and if my luck returns, maybe they will have a different contract there I could pick up.

“Hot diggity dog, ah just had a fantastic idea!” Brightshine was far too excited to have been traveling with us for all of an hour. The soup, while good, was a waste of time. If we had left as I suggested, and waited for nightfall to make dinner, we might have made it halfway to the base of the mountain. Not to mention, we waited for so long, the painkillers started to wear off. “Ah used tah be a prospector of sorts round these parts and if it’s Dodge we’re headin for, Ah know of a few mine shafts that could cut our trip right in half!”

That was actually surprisingly useful, provided it’s not dangerous.

“Weren’t all the mines all cleared out for Stables before the end of the war?” Caltrop’s question caught me off guard, as I didn’t think he was smart enough to bring something like that up. Though, he had said he grew up around one of those things, so I guess it makes sense enough.

“Honey, if that were true, there are so many mines that ah’m bettin they coulda saved everypony in the land when tha end came.” She floated out her magical energy rifle, twirling it in her levitation. “That ain’t ta say they didn’t leave some interestin things in some a them though.” She brought the weapon’s sights to her eye and smiled, making me wary that she’ll ‘accidentally’ shoot me. “Why, ah found ole’ Betsy here just sittin in a corner as pretty as tha day she rolled outta tha factory!”

“This shortcut, how dangerous is it?” I don’t care if there was buckets of gemstones in the mines, if there were things in there that wanted to kill us, then we would be hoofing it around the mountain. Even if that ended up adding another day to our trip.

“There ain’t nothin harmful in that cave cept for the dark.” Even with her saying it, I highly doubted that. “And ah’ve got a spell ta help with makin sure that aint a problem. Mah name ain’t Brightshine fer nothin!” Well I was sure it didn’t have anything to do with your intelligence.

“Fine, we’ll give it a shot.” I still didn’t feel like it was a good idea to vary from my normal routine, but shit had already gone so far off track from normal that I just wanted to get this job over with. The sooner I could get paid, the sooner I could go back to Filly and start again with my regular work. Scanning the horizon, I could see the thin lines of smoke coming from the direction we were headed still quite a few miles off. As much as everypony inside was an asshole, the sight of a settlement meant I could relax slightly.

“Do ya’ll mind if ah stop by home for a few? Mah brother might be willin tah lend us a hoof.” Great, let’s just keep bringing more assholes along with us. Just let me quickly find more of those neon signs real quick… “If he’s doin a run up tah Timber, maybe we can ride along.”

“Hey, don’t Timber have one of them train things?” Caltrop sounded nearly giddy at the thought of it. “Ever since I was a foal I wanted ta ride on one.” Fantastic. That last thing I want to do this week was sit in a giant, uncontrollable steel box and wait to be killed when it crashes. Even worse is I’ll have to listen to Caltrop whine the entire time we’re dying.

“It sure does! Runnin all tha way from Driftwood tah Timber, and Mah brother is the lead puller on tha team.” She leaned her head back as she trot. “Ah just hope he’s finally back tah work.”

“Why hasn’t he been workin?” Which was yet another good question from Caltrop. I’m sure that running something like that was a fairly dangerous job, considering you’re completely exposed and not exactly subtle with those things.

“A few days ago we got news that mah sister was killed. He took it particularly hard.” Brightshine sniffled a bit as she spoke. “Her and ah were never that close, an she always had a habit of gittin herself intah trouble, but she was younger than tha both of us. Yah never know how much ya miss somepony till their gone fer good.”

So what if somepony died. Shit like that happens in the wastes every day. If somepony you know dies, you just deal with it an move on. It’s that simple. If it’s truly that easy, why were you so afraid of exactly that when Caltrop was hurt?

“FUCK YOU.” I couldn’t take this anymore as I angrily turned and barreled into Caltrop, sending him sprawling to the dirt with a surprised look. He cried out in the foalish way he did, letting out a whine as I pinned him down, panting through my teeth.

“Wha… WHAT THE HELL PC!” He shouted and squirmed, going wide eyed as he said my name.

“SHUT IT.” I growled. “What did you do to me?”

“I… what?” His eyes were tearing up as he started to shake out of fear. “I don’t know what ya talkin about!”

I lost it at that point. I was so incredibly tired of the last week that I just wanted it all to go back to the way it was. I never wanted anything to change, but he was what started this. He’s the one who’s got my brain stuck on him. I don’t know how, and I don’t know why, but I don’t want it.

A swift buck in my bruised side send me to the ground as Brightshine came to Caltrop’s aid. I cried out as I slid along the dirt, my side rippling in waves of pain while I tried to stop myself. In an instant, I had righted myself and removed #3 from it’s holster. I spun it and pointed it at the cream coated mare standing over the still whimpering stallion, finding that she had her rifle pointed at me as well.

“How bout ya’ll just take a moment tah think over ya next move carefully.” Brightshine’s normal happy demeanor was gone, replaced by the cold look that I had seen on so many others in my line of work. “Yah can start by explainin what yah ment by what yah said tah him.”

I clenched my teeth and swung my head down in frustration, lowering #3 as my anger drained just enough that I didn’t do something stupid and get myself killed.

“That fucking idiot behind you?” I lifted my gaze to him, watching as he lay in the dirt behind her with pain filled eyes. “He’s important to me. I don’t know why, but even though he screwed up my life, for some fucked up reason, I can’t stand the thought of not having him around.” There brain, I admitted it. “I’ve known him for a week, and he’s the most fucking useless pony I’ve ever seen.” I laughed as Caltrop’s eyes were wide now as he listened to me rave like a lunatic. “But I can’t get rid of him in my head, even when he pulls shit like earlier.”

Brightshine tipped her rifle down as my words gave her pause. “Ya’ll are serious? That’s what this is about?” She shook her head rolled her eyes. “Scared tha poor guy half tah death cause ya’ve got feelins for him an shit. Yer fucking crazy, yah know that?”

Caltrop pushed himself up and walked closer, pushing past Brightshine forcefully as he had a look of determination on his face that I had yet to see from him before.

“So all that shit ya told me this mornin, about how ya don’t care about me at all, it was all a lie?” He stopped just short of me, breathing in deep, huffing breaths. “Ya cared this whole time an ya just never said it.”

“I still don’t know if we can be friends. I’m going crazy just with this shit in my head, how good of a ‘friend’ do you think I’ll make?” I couldn’t look at him. This was it. For better or for worse, everything was on the table now. “Besides, I thought you wanted to hear me say it. Why the fuck are you so angry?”

“Because friend’s don’t FUCKIN lie to each other.” Caltrop was legitimately angry, and the worse thing was I felt bad about it. Mom and Grandma could yell at me all day and I never felt a goddess damned thing. But this? This made me feel worse than knowing I failed another contract. Caltrop lept forward, grabbing around my neck with his hooves and squeezed. For a moment, I thought he was going to kill me, but instead I found myself pulled into him.

I stood against him as he hugged me, not quite sure what to do, seeing as my family wasn’t really the most caring kind. I hadn’t been hugged by anypony other than my mother, and the last time she had done that was when I was still a foal. So there I awkwardly stood in his embrace, trying not to wince as my aching body screamed for him to let go.

“Now ain’t that just the cat’s meow. Ya’ll are gonna bring a tear tah my eye.” Brightshine spoke up finally, helping to at least take away the uneasy silence.

“And if you don’t shut your muzzle, I’ll make damn sure you’ll have plenty of tears.” This is already awkward enough without some cunt making it worse. “A ‘hug’ from him is already annoying enough.

“Come on Boss, it ain’t so bad. Ya might like it even if ya give it a try.” His encouragement didn’t make me feel any less foolish. Looking up with a grumble, I hesitantly put a hoof around his neck. Briefly the thought of strangling him ran through my mind, but was quickly squelched by the same nagging thoughts I’ve been plagued with. I pulled myself closer to him as he did the same.

And it felt… warm. He felt like mom used to when I was just a filly, so warm and loving. A beacon of safety in a broken and desolate existence of pain and suffering. I hated admitting it to myself, but as I pressed my muzzle into his chest, I felt good.

“I… I still blame you for making me go soft.” I couldn’t make myself speak at more than a whisper when I finally pushed myself away. The emptiness of the wasteland came into focus sharply as the warmth of the embrace left me, everything just seeming a bit bleaker than before. I shook the feeling off as much as I could, turning back and walking toward the settlement on the horizon. “Come on, we’ve had enough of a break.”

Even though my will to fight against Caltrop was gone, for the next five minute or so as we walked I fought my own thoughts. Do I come off as being a desperate mare? Do I really care what he thinks about me? Why would it matter?

“Hey, Boss. Ya feelin alright?” His voice made my thoughts tumble away as I found myself lost for a moment, wondering when he had snuck up beside me.

“What? Why are you still calling me that?” If we were ‘friends’, wasn’t it only natural that he use my name?

“Well, so far, ya always hit me when I call ya PC.” He stuck his hoof out and put it on my shoulder as we walked. “Besides, I’m no good in a fight. Ya the best chance I got when it comes down ta it, so when ya take charge it makes sense for me ta just keep sayin it.”

“Do what you want. I don’t care anymore.” I shrugged his hoof away and pressed on, wincing as my aching foreleg stung with each step. It’s too bad I couldn’t get this thing healed up properly, constant annoyances are always the worst. Case and point, Caltrop smiled and made a noise not unlike a magic capacitor charging up.

“Really? I can call ya PC or Cap and ya ain’t gonna hit me?” He was making this into something much bigger than it was, and it was just giving me a headache.

I stopped and smacked him upside the head with my forehoof.

“Shut up ya dolt.” It was hard not to continue hitting him, but as he whined and pouted, I knew that would be good enough. “You know what? Boss sounds perfect to me.” And with that, he looked like I had just crushed his foalish childhood dreams. I guess I can at least TRY and make him feel better about it. “Think of it less as a title, and more as an imposed nickname.” That wasn’t so hard, was it?

“Ah dun know, sounds pretty kinky if ah say so mahself.” Of course Brightshine had to make a comment. “Hold on just a moment so ah can get mah rope fer the both of yah.”

“It’s not like that.” I reaffirmed, poking a hoof against Caltrops muzzle. “That wasn’t a lie this morning. It goes no further than friends, got it mister?” His response was a simple nervous gulp and quick nod. “Good.”

“Ah-hah, there it is!” Brightshine shouted “Found somethin even betteh!”

“I fucking told you, it’s…” I turned around angrily just in time to see Brightshine’s magic holding a small crossbow looking object, her eyes now hidden behind a set of welders goggles. “What the hell are you doing?” Something wasn’t right about this, and all she did in response to my question was smile. “Brightshine, put the weapon away.”

“Ahm sorry hun, Ah can’t do that.” Her horn flared up steadily, brightening more and more as my own levitation reached out for all of my guns. She’s within fifteen feet of me, wearing what looks to be some sort of leather coat. My guess is that it’s got plates in it, or at least is reinforced, but that just discounts #2 and #6. I settled on #3 as I flipped it to it’s burst setting.

“But, I thought ya wanted ta go with us ta Dodge?” For the first time, I think Caltrop speaking up was usefull. If he can get her attention, maybe he can hold it long enough I can finish this quickly. “Driftwood is just anotha half mile from here! We could just go our separate ways once we’re there an forget this even happened!”

My luck was once again no where in sight as even if she was looking away from me, the combination of near blinding light from her horn and her goggles meant I had no idea where she was looking. It was too risky to wait any longer. I needed to take my shot. I lined up the gun through the light and squeezed at the trigger. At the same time, I felt the sharp prick of a bolt striking my jacket, punching through but not making it far enough into my chest to do anything more than sting.

But as the light from her horn stayed in my vision, I knew I had missed. I swung the gun around in my magic, taking a step to the side to reposition and found myself muzzle down in the dirt. I tried to get back up, but my legs refused to move. The panicked thought ran through my head that the bolt in me might have been poisoned, and the paralyzing feeling gripping me only confirmed it as my horn quit and dropped my pistol to the dirt as well.

“Thank ya kindly fer takin down that Manticore. It’s venom was tha last thing I was needin ta do mah job.” The soft twang of her crossbow made Caltrop yelp, forcing back the memories of mom and the raider when I was younger into my head. Please, goddesses no. “Ya see, mah trouble prone sister? She was a slave owned by a friend a mine, and when he wanted her back, ah learned that some bounty huntin bitch killed her instead. Now, Burst Flare wasn’t the best a family, but she was MAH family.”

The light from Brightshine’s horn dimmed as she approached, her goggles lifting up as she glared down to me with a burning hatred that I hadn’t seen from her the entire time. Putting her crossbow away as Caltrop now collapsed to the dirt, she pulled her magical energy rifle out and spun it around.

“Don’t yah worry yah pretty little head, Ah aint gonna kill yah. Contract pays better if the both of yah are alive, but damn if I ain’t just itchen tah make yah pay for what yah did tah her.” She looked off to the horizon and waved her hoof. “Though, maybe he’ll still let meh finish yah off when he’s done with yah.”

She brought the rifle down onto my head hard, and from there everything went black.