“The Road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone and I must follow if I can...”

My journey towards Ponyville ended quite suddenly with an ambush and me getting my ass handed to me. I regained consciousness as I was being dragged by my forelegs into a dim-lit saloon, feeling something metal around my neck...oh hell, an explosive slave collar.

“Well well well, if it isn’t the bitch from New Appleloosa. I heard you took out some of our guys in Dodge.” The voice was definitely familiar, but I couldn’t quite place a hoof on it. The owner of the voice stepped out from the shadows.

“Oh, hey! It’s Geldy! How’s your friend down there?” I said sarcastically, receiving a hoof to the jaw for it.

“Throw her in one of the cages, I’ll deal with her in a bit.” the stallion ordered his cronies. I found myself thrown into a cage off in the corner of the room with a Stallion and what looked to be his daughter in it. I looked over to them, a slight feeling of sympathy going through me.

After twiddling my hooves in silence for more than just a few minutes, the Slaver from the bar finally came up to the cage. He grabbed me by the collar of my jacket using his hoof and slammed me into the metal bars, dazing me a bit and ringing my bells.

“You sure do know how to treat a lady to a good time.” I grunted as I tried to pull myself back from the bars.

“Bitch, you don’t even know your place, do you?” He smirked, licking around his lips as he looked over my body. I knew that look as I got it from at least two stallions a week, though, they usually learned pretty fast what happens afterward. Although, I don’t really have the option to kick his flank in a one on one fight while stuck in this cage.

Well, I guess I could use that to my advantage. Hopefully he won’t do much of his thinking with his brain and see right through this.

“Maybe that’s because no stallion has ever been able to handle me.” I grinned and cocked an eyebrow to him. He seemed to pause as I spoke, stunned. “What makes you any different than the losers who normally try?” I stood up and turned myself as best I could, giving him a little slap with the end of my tail.

His face flushed red as he gave me a look that he obviously thought made him look attractive. In truth, I found it appalling, so much so that I’d rather be shot than do anything with somepony like him. “Cause I’m the one in charge of the product. I know how to handle a mare better than anypony here!”

“Then prove it, hot shot.” I licked up along the foreleg he held me by, giving a little moan as I looked into his eyes. Goddesses, that wasn’t a taste I’d get out of my mouth easily. The moment he gasped back, I knew I had him. “Now, go find me a bed and some rope so you can show me just how well you can handle me.” I blew him a kiss, as he pulled his hoof back out of the cage. He nodded and trot off with his new plan for me in mind.

He came back with a decently sized coil of rope, one end of it tied off in a lasso. Unlocking the cage door, he proceeded to toss the lasso around my head and yank me out of the cage, kicking the door shut with a slam. I looked back to the Stallion and his daughter, giving them a little wink as I was led off toward the stairs. He lead me into one of the rooms, shutting the door behind us as I climbed up onto the bed.

"You know what? You took too long." I crouched on top of the bed, licking my lips and rocking my hips as he dropped his end of the rope. By the look on his face, he definitely wasn't thinking with his brain anymore. "Let's skip the foreplay, I want to see what you've really got for me!" I gave a playful growl as he looked like I had just handed him the best weapon in the wasteland.

"Oh, I'm going to rock your world." He shouted as he bounded up and onto the bed. I caught around his neck with my hoof, using his momentum to swing him down into the bed. "The hell are you doing, bitch!?" He swung his hoof back and smacked me across my muzzle. To be honest, for a moment I was worried the pain might make me break character, but that was about the weakest hit he'd thrown yet. I expected more out of him as he wasn't even making this hard.

I grinned wider. "I want to know what it's like to ride a REAL STALLION!" I leaned down and licked along his neck as he grunted his approval, once again regretting every moment of it. In hindsight, the taste was fine compared to when he put his disgusting hooves on my hips. I had him where I wanted him, and that was the last straw. I dropped down ontop of him, using both my forehooves to press into his neck, pinching the arteries closed. It was over in only a few seconds, but now came the tricky part.

I quickly pulled the rope from around my neck, hooking it around his forelegs. Cutting off circulation to the brain only lasts ten or so seconds, so it was crunch time as I lifted his hind legs and looped the lasso around them as well. As he stirred back to consciousness, I took the other end of the rope in my mouth and quickly tied it to the bedframe. As I finished, he opened his mouth to call out in alarm. As fast as he had been to smack me, I was much faster when it came to hitting him where it counted, the only thing escaping his muzzle now was air.

He flopped to his side in pain, letting out a soft whimper. Unfortunately for him, I couldn't get caught yet and he was still too damn noisy. I turned around and gave his pride and joy the strongest buck I could, swearing that I could feel a small pop as my hooves sunk into him. Needless to say, he figured passing out was going to be easier than deal with the pain.

Content with my work, I searched his bags and pockets for the collar and cage keys before walking over to the bed and nudged him ontop of me, slowly making my way to the door. I pushed it open quietly, which was no small task, and set him down on the walkway outside, making sure the others hadn't come back out yet.

I went and gingerly scooted the bed up against the doorway, letting me get just enough slack on the rope I could make sure that this would definitely be a ride he would remember. I hopped over the bed and dragged his body to the railing, straining myself as I lifted him up. With one final heave, I pushed him over and watched as he fell. As the rope went taught, I heard a soft pair of pops that were probably his shoulders dislocating, which serves the bastard right for the shit he had pulled. I smiled to myself as he swung there, carefully making my way back down the stairs to the cage, removing my own collar as I did so.

I opened the cage with the father and daughter inside “Hey, wait for me to distract everypony before you two make your escape.” I informed them of my plan as I tossed the collar key inside. Just as I turned to leave, I stopped “Oh yeah- don’t think I’m doing this for free though.” and with that, I was off making as much noise as possible.

Normally my plans involve me shooting other ponies, not actually getting shot at myself. So, I can’t stress enough just how terrified I had become when all hell broke loose around me.

Almost there...almost to the front gate...Just as I was almost out, an apple shaped grenade landed next to me and exploded, sending me flying right into a wall. My ears rang, the world spun, and my vision was fading fast. The last thought that ran through my mind before I was swallowed by the void was me hoping the stallion and his filly made it out okay.

I opened my eyes to see myself in pitch blackness. From what I could feel, I was no longer wearing my jacket and shirt, nor my satchel. Neither of my guns could be found either. I also felt...warm. Not ‘wrapped in a blanket by the fireplace’ warm, a neutral warm.

I blinked as a calm, soothing voice echoed in my head. It sounded female, but like there were multiple ponies talking at once. “Come...child of.....Harmony....”

“Wait...what?” I asked out loud.

“Go....towards....light....” The voice answered.

Just as I was starting to question my sanity, a bright rainbow light phased into reality in front of me. I started out with a light trot, quickly turning into a gallop as I realized that I wasn’t getting any closer to the rainbow.

I smirked as the light had finally started getting closer....and going up...”Oh fuck!” I shouted as I realized I was falling. I screamed myself hoarse before hitting something rather solid.

I woke with a start, gasping for air. My chest felt tight and burned like someone was holding a hot brand against it.

“Z-zombie!” I heard a small voice scream before receiving a fresh whack to the head, a loud CLANG echoing through my reverberating skull.

“Ouch! Fuck! I’m not a damn zombie!” I shouted, grabbing my aching head.

“Ya sure abou’ that miss? Y’all were dead. Mah daughter an’ ah were just burying yah outta respect fer yah savin’ our lives.” a stallion said. I blinked a few times, getting my bearings. I was sitting in a shallow grave that the stallion and little filly from the cage had dug out.

“I was dead...if that’s true, how the hell am I alive now?” I asked, clearly not believing I was really a corpse and that the stallion didn’t just forget to check for a pulse.

“No clue, ma’am.” he replied.

I rolled my eyes “Just...remember, the next time you decide to bury a pony, check to see if they are-”

“Still alive? Ah did, y’all had no pulse or anythin’” The stallion cut me off.

I sighed “Sure. Anyway, put that damn shovel down before you hurt somepony again.” I clambered out of the grave and looked around, it certainly was night time...not exactly a good time to travel in these parts because of the Everfree Forest.

I settled down with the Stallion and his daughter for the night after they begged me to stay. I cleaned the dirt and mud that had gotten on and in my rifle thanks to me nearly being buried alive while ignoring questions from the little filly whose name I had learned was Swivel Spark. Her father, Stratos (a weird name for a unicorn, I know.), cooked some Bloatsprite meat over the fire.

“So, Miss Storm, was it? What brings y’all this far South?” Stratos asked as he gave his daughter some of the meat.

“Bounty Hunter, after somepony up in Ponyville.” I replied without giving much detail on the subject.

Stratos winced “Oooh, Ponyville’s gonna be hard ta get into, what with all the ferals up there.”

Before I could respond, the light flutter of wings along with the creaking of something metal echoed from the darkness. I instinctively readied my rifle, aiming towards the sound. Stratos pushed his daughter behind him and readied his shovel. Like that’ll do any good in a real fight… I thought. A loud thud followed by wheels screeching to a halt came from about five feet out of the range for the light of our fire to illuminate whoever was out there.

My stance slacked as a familiar wall-eyed ghoul trotted happily up to me, a cloth sack hanging from her mouth “Oh, it’s just you Ditzy. What the hell are you doing all the way out here this late? And how in Luna’s name did you find me?”

The ghoulified mare just set the sack on the ground and smiled at me, her chalkboard already reading “Muffins?”

I sighed, knowing that might be the only thing I get out of her until I opened the bag “No, sorry. I haven’t had the time to get any muffins for you.”

Her ears drooped and her smile faded a bit, causing me to feel slightly bad for not having any of the baked goods on hoof for her. I poked the bag, the fabric slipping to reveal the object she had brought, a fairly old model of Pipbuck. There was a small note attached to it that looked to have been written by Harmony. I picked up the rare piece of wasteland tech and read the note.

“Storm. I’ve sent you this not only as a way to show my appreciation for how you helped out the town, but as a way to help you in all the fights you seem to get yourself into. Seriously, you need to not get shot so much, that or lose some weight, you are hard to drag all the way into town. Consider the Pipbuck a gift from a friend to a friend, but in all seriousness, that thing was expensive, so I do expect at least a quarter of it’s value paid back to me.

Your friend,
Harmonic Drive.

P.S. If you could cover Ditzy Doo’s shipping costs as well, I’d be mighty thankful.

I groaned and dropped the note on the ground, stomping it underhoof. Not only is Harmony costing me caps by sending me an extravagant gift that I STILL have to pay for, she has absolutely no faith in my combat skills! I mean yeah, lately hasn’t been going perfectly, but I don’t see her out here completing bounties.

I opened the old arcano-tech device, looking at it’s padded interior. I had never gotten to see one of them up close before, the few working ones I’ve seen were all already attached to somepony. I stuck my left forehoof down, using my right to lift it against my leg. It didn’t look like it had any sort of connector that fit into the other side, but when I pushed it shut, it clicked together.

Immediately my vision filled with lines of bright green scrolling coding, several weird icons and indicators fuzzing into place. I shut my eyes tightly a few times as they adjusted to the oddness of the projected images. There was a compass and a bar indicating my general health at the bottom left of my vision, as well as an indicator at the bottom right telling me that I was wearing my weapon, and miraculously how many rounds were still left in it.

A new image popped up into the center of my vision, looking like a long wavy line in a rectangle. The top of the image read: Your Pipbuck and You: A quick start guide! There was a click before the sound of a country mare filled my ears.

“Greetin’s and salutations new Pipbuck user!

"Mah name is Applebloom, current Co-CEO of Stable-Tec industries. Please take a moment ta listen ta this here short instructional guide on usin’ yer new Stable-Tec Pipbuck! As yah may have already noticed, yer Pipbuck comes fully equipped with a wide array of features ta help yah in yer everyday life. Features such as a built in compass an auto mappin function. Never git lost again when yer Pipbuck autonomously an’ discretely remembers everywhere y’all evah been!

"Another fantastic feature is the all-in-one identification an organization spell! Anythin’ that yah can place in yer saddlebags or assorted clothing is automatically added ta yer inventory screen an’ detailed with things such as quantity, weight, an’ quality. Tired of scroungin’ through yer bags ta find the one thing yah need? The Pipbucks sortin’ spell is also designed ta fetch whatever yer hankerin’ fer and bring it right ta tha top of yer saddlebags.

"Next is tha all important medical screen. It’ll give ya detailed readins’ of all yer vital stats, an’ even tell ya if one of yer bones is busted! Think about how much time y’all will save if yah don’t have to guess whether or not yah need ta just trot the injury off or ta git yerself ta tha emergency room!

"Another amazin’ feature of yer Pipbuck is tha Planner and Organizer functions! Yah can easily keep track off all tha details ta tasks ya need doin’, and can even record an listen ta reminders you or others set! Now yah can make sure that y’all won’t forget yer special somepony's anniversary or ta pay tha bills!

"Lastly, we here at Stable-Tec have yer personal safety in mind, an’ have included a spellset fer use as a last resort. With just tha simple thought of usin’ it, our patented Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell, or S.A.T.S. for short, can assist ya in aimin any sorta weapon ya can git a hoof on. We personally guarantee that if ya need ta use it more than once per fight, yah ain’t usin a genuine Stable-Tec system."

"Disclaimer: Stable-Tec is not liable or responsible for any injuries that you may sustain during any fight while using the patented Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell. S.A.T.S. is not recommended for use by pregnant mares or any foal under the age of 10. Please use time alteration spells responsibly."

"That concludes our basic tutorial! We here at Stable-Tec sincerely hope that y’all enjoy tha many features provided on yer new Pipbuck. If yah should have any problems, please head on down ta yer nearest Stable-Tec retailer an’ we’ll take care of whatever yah need! Y’all take care now!"

The audio stopped as the image in my vision disappeared, leaving me in a profound silence with the others looking at me curiously. The crackling fire made the lack of conversation all the more uncomfortable as they looked to me to break the silence.

“Well, that was… interesting.” I remarked, looking down at the old world device. “Who knows how they thought all this shit up back before everything blew up.”

Ditzy raised her hoof and smiled. Oh, right, of course she would.

I once again found myself in the black void with the rainbow light just ahead of me.

“Come….child….your….destiny...awaits….”

“What the fuck are you?!” I shouted back at the light. No response. Irritated, I began galloping towards the light once again, having the same amount of luck as last time. This time, however, instead of falling, a silhouette of a pony’s figure appeared in front of me, the shape being a bit lighter toned than the surrounding blackness.

I don’t know what prompted me to do this, but I swung a hoof at it, only to have my attack blocked and for me to get knocked on my ass. The black figure then raised it’s hooves and began beating the everloving shit out of me.

I screamed out in pain as bones cracked and flesh was pierced. Just before I could scream at it to ask what the hell was going on, it all disappeared and I was once again standing a few yards away from the light, fully intact.

I looked myself over, noticing all my injuries had healed themselves, then I heard the calm voice in my head once more.

“Not….ready….”

And just like that, I was falling again.

I woke up, out of breath and somewhat sore. The morning pressed on slowly as we all prepared ourselves for our journeys, Stratos taking the time to cook the rest of the bloatsprite meat he had left over. Ditzy had offered to give Stratos and Swivel a ride to Tenpony Tower over in Manehattan, where they lived. I had been surprised to find out that two ex-slaves lived in that den of prissy assholes, but then again, who am I to judge where they wanted to stay.

I shook my leg a bit, remarking on how odd the weight of the Pipbuck felt. It wasn’t that it was cumbersome, it just felt so… out of place. I checked my gear, paid Ditzy the fee Harmony incurred, and said my goodbyes. As the skycart took off, I realized that I have no idea where I was. Not once between last night and now had I asked where the hell we were, and none of the terrain here even looked familiar.

I sighed, hanging my head down and attempted to facehoof myself for being so fucking stupid. Instead, I smacked myself with the Pipbuck. Wait, the tutorial said this thing had a map spell on it, didn’t it? I clicked across the menus, finally coming across the cartography menu. I was not too far off from my original route, and actually closer than I thought. I could probably still make it there on schedule if I skirted the everfree forest for most of the way. I stretched my legs and started off, heading towards the map marker for Ponyville.

As lines of red moved about on my Pipbuck’s compass, I was reminded that the edge of the everfree forest always creeped me out. It was as if somepony had decided that there had to be a straight boundary of where the wasteland ended and the forest began. Most of the sickly looking tree’s still had foliage on them, helping to conceal the odd horrors that lived within. I made sure to keep myself spaced a good thirty yards from it, wanting to have time to react if any beast inside decided that it wanted to see how pony tasted.

It didn’t take long following the forest edge to reach the ruins of Ponyville, the clocktower on the outskirts of town being the first thing I saw crest the horizon. It was where I was headed, thinking that I could set up my observation point in the steeple. The closer I got, the better off it looked like the building was still unoccupied by anypony. Then again, with all the houses around here, who would live in a clocktower?

I quickly made my way inside, staying low and being as quiet as I could in case anypony was actually in town. Climbing the rickety old stairs made me cringe with each step, the old wood bowing and creaking more than I felt they should. Finally though, I made it to the top, ducking under the enormous hanging bell to peek over the railing to the town below. My eyes immediately caught movement near a giant dead tree a ways across town, prompting me to pull out my rifle.

“What do we have going on here?” I whispered as I peered through the optic, watching as a large pack of feral ghouls shambled about the streets. Well shit. I’ve lost interest in counting past thirty, and that’s just there! If the target really was here, I’d need to think up some way to get through the hordes of undead ponies. A streak of non-shambling movement pulled my attention toward the library.

“Hello there.” I whispered to myself again, this time with a grin. The figure was a crimson coated unicorn, his black and red striped mane flagging him as my target. My smile dropped off as I noticed the feral ghouls were just letting him walk past. “Just how is it you’re doing that?” I frowned and watched as he disappeared into the homey looking tree. I turned my sight to a large sign by the door.

“The Golden Oak Library.” I sighed and pulled my gun back, leaning back down into the old stairwell. “Maybe there’s a book in there that tells me how to sneak past three dozen zombies.”

Footnote: You’ve reached Level 14!

Skill note: Sneak raised from 60 to 74!

New Perk: Unknown Forces - There seems to be unknown forces watching over you like “Guardian Angels”. You now gain a 10% chance to ignore a fatal blow in combat.