“I don’t know if I can say I’ve lived through everything but I’ve walked this earth alone with bare hooves broken in the snow.”

I awoke an unknown amount of time later to the sound of music coming from my PipBuck. I groaned and lifted my aching body off of the concrete floor I had been laying on. A sharp pain shot through one of my hind legs, causing me to yelp. The flashing on my PipBuck caught my attention and I lifted it up to see one of the back legs on the little on-screen character flashing with “CRIPPLED” right next to it.

“What rhymes with shoes and often gives you the blues? That’s right, it’s time for the cashews! Okay, that doesn’t really rhyme… How about, the news?” I frowned a bit as I messed around with my PipBuck, trying to figure out how to turn the damn radio off...I’d rather not alert anything that might be nearby. “There seems to be a pretty powerful blizzard over in the Ponyville area, so if you insist on traveling through that area children, be sure to bring an extra coat or two.” My ears perked up at the weather announcement. Was it still really that bad outside? I must’ve not been out that long then.

My head snapped to the left as I heard a loud bang as if somepony had just slammed into some sheet metal. “In other news, the trade town of Dodge has recently been attacked by some Old Appleloosan Slavers. We have the pleasure of interviewing the mare in charge herself.” I turned my attention back to the radio broadcast as a familiar mare’s voice chimed in.

“Why those no good, backstabbin backwater slavers broke our deal. Deal was they get the hell outa Dodge an Ah promised Ah wouldn't offer any contracts on their heads, but Ah guess they got tired of wantin ta live. Ah'm happy ta report that the townsfolk here owe their lives to a good friend a mine who single hoofedly saved the whole town by takin care of em.” Harmony stated over the radio.

I sighed heavily at the indirect mention of me ‘If I was that much of a help to you, why’d you make me pay for half of this damned PipBuck?’ I thought to myself.

Another noise caught my attention, this one sounded a bit farther off though. I continued my search for the elusive off switch for the radio as DJ PON3 spoke up again “Time for some music my little ponies, here’s Pon E. King with Stand By-” Finally! The radio clicked off and silence fell over the surrounding area.

I did the best I could not to yelp every time I moved my broken hind leg as I crept along, occasionally letting out a small whimper. Every little noise I heard, every creak, every drip...it all kept me on edge. After what I saw in Ponyville, I certainly think being frightened was called for, more so due to the situation I was now in. I gave a small laugh through the pain as it all sounded like the start to a bad joke.

“So, I’m at the bottom of a sunken, decaying building,” I grunted, pulling myself through the dim light my pipbuck shone against the old walls. “...with a broken hind leg, and no supplies to speak of because the contract ran off with them.” Glittering, scattered silver lines appeared twenty feet or so ahead, as I got closer, they solidified into the rusty remains of shelving units. Row upon row of old shelves lay toppled backwards, twisting and jutting out from a mound of dirt that poured through the wall.

I stopped when I noticed that one of the jutting pieces of metal was different than the others, looking more like the barrel of a gun then the end of some old shelves. Delighted at the prospect of arming myself, I pulled myself up the dirt mound, biting into the rusty firearm and tugging at it with what little strength I could muster. With a good yank and a shower of dirt, my prize was free! I spit the corroded metal from my muzzle to look at my prize…

Only to find that the receiver of the gun had been so badly rusted, that it tore in half like a sheet of paper. I turned my gaze to look at the other half, jumping and flailing when I came muzzle to muzzle with the brown skeleton of a half buried pony still holding the other half. I came down from my jump hard on my broken leg, biting my cheek to contain the scream to my muzzle and drawing blood.

“Oh fuck… that hurt!” I tried to keep my voice down to a whisper, tucking my busted leg as close to me as I could. With an injury this bad, the chances of survival alone were dwindling fast. “I need to find a way out of here...” I whispered to myself, tensing up as the sound of my words reverberating made me realize just how quiet it was down here.

Something in the dirt pile shifted, my gaze catching the hoof of the skeleton I had jumbled as it rolled down and stopped where it was extended nearly perfectly horizontal on the pile. A buzzing sound filled my ears as a light through a doorway the direction it pointed flickered to life momentarily, going dim with just enough time for me to see dark smears staining the walls of the hallway. I am past believing that it was just a coincidence, so there was only really one thing I was left wondering. Is the skeleton trying to show me the way out, or guiding me down a path that would keep me with him for eternity?

For lack of a better option, and my injuries giving me little time to dwell on it, I forged ahead down the black abyss of the hallway.

After stumbling onto an old mechanical door with a sign next to it reading “Stairs”, I sighed and lightly slammed my head into it with a loud clang echoing throughout the dark halls. “Just my fucking luck...a way up with a door that requires power in my way.” I beat the door with my hoof and was surprised it punched right through it.

I retracted my hoof and shown my pipbuck light on the door. The entire thing was just a large slab of rusted metal, there was even a dent where I had hit my head against it.

I backed up, getting ready to ram the thing open when I bumped right into something behind me. I yelped and probably jumped higher than I’ve ever jumped before. When I landed, another sharp pain shot through my broken hind leg causing me to scream out in pain and whimper a bit.

I gently sat down and lifted my foreleg up so that my light flashed onto what I had run into. Another pony skeleton sat up against the wall, it’s jaw open as if the poor bastard was still screaming from whatever fate had befell it.

A chill went down my spine as my imagination went wild on thoughts of how this pony could’ve died, ranging from slowly starving to death, radiation, or getting eaten alive by rats...okay, that last one isn’t as likely, but it didn’t stop my mind from going there!

After spending a few more moments regaining my composure and letting the pain subside, I rammed into the rusty door, tearing it like tissue paper and receiving pain all throughout my body as bits of rusted metal tore into my flesh. Great, going to need a tetanus shot along with a splint for my leg…

One half of me wanted me to just lay down and cry while the survivalist in me told me to keep pushing on no matter what. I have to admit, the former was winning out as tears started welling up in my eyes. Then I remembered that skeleton I had found by the door. “Come on Storm, you don’t want to end up like that...pull yourself together.”

I took a deep breath and continued limping on up the stairs, stumbling halfway as my body just sort of gave out. I lay there and sobbed quietly. Without my guns I was defenseless. Without my supplies, I had no way of fixing myself up enough to get to a doctor. The possibility of me dying in this stairwell was quickly becoming more of a reality than I was comfortable with...and I had nopony to blame other than myself.

Upon closing my eyes, I heard a stallion’s voice. “Come on Storm, it never is a simple walk down this old broken road we Bounty Hunters tread.”

I opened my eyes to see a tall stallion. He was a brown unicorn with a silver mane cut short. “D-dad...I...I can’t go on...I’ve lost all of my stuff, one of my back legs is broken, and I am just too tired to go on…”

The stallion leaned closer to me from where he stood “So you are just going to give up? That’s not the young mare I raised.” He held out a hoof “Come on, times may be hard, but to give up is to let the wasteland win.”

I closed my eyes and sighed, taking his hoof and pulling myself up. When I reopened my eyes, I was holding onto one of the metal pipes against the wall instead of my dads hoof. I shook my head, concluding that he was just a hallucination.

With newfound determination, brought on by a figment of my imagination no less, I limped onwards, peaking the stairs and pushing through a door onto floor one. I was still tired and my entire body still surged with pain, but that did little to stop me from searching for a way out.

I snuck around the old hallways of what I had concluded was a school from the broken desks littering the old building.

As I neared the end of the hallway, I heard loud banging emanating from the metal door blocking the stairs up. I quickly hid around a corner and slowly peeked around to look at the door. The old wooden door burst off it’s hinges and out tumbled a familiar red unicorn wearing my satchel and guns.

I blinked at the pony whom I had thought had run off and left me for dead and limped out from my hiding spot. He looked up from the floor, spotting me before quickly popping back up to his hooves and dusting himself off. I looked at my gear, wondering to myself if it was still all there, or if he had dumped anything I could use against him out somewhere. “You didn’t run off... why?”

“Did you want me to? Because I can still leave you here to die if that's really what you want.” Predious replied smartly, giving me a sly grin to complete the perfect picture of arrogance that he was. Goddess I wanted to smack him for that.

“Don't get me wrong, I’d like to live. I’m just confused as to why you, my bounty, didn’t just run off with all my stuff.” I held my hoof out, happy to see his horn glow and pass my satchel back to me. I took a moment to put it on, making sure it was secure before he levitated my rifle over.

“Doesn’t feel right, never did get used to how things work in today’s world.” I blinked in confusion at his response. He certainly was the oddest bounty I've ever been tasked with, but I guess if somepony wants his brand of crazy brought back to them, I can deliver. "Not to mention, I too would like to live. If I am to make anywhere outside, I need somepony who's a bit more... combat savvy than I. You know what they say about lovers and fighters after all!"

Yeah. I've met half feral ghouls that make more sense then this guy.

“Whatever, if we want to make it back to civilization, then we’ve gotta get our flanks out of here, preferably after we find some healing items for my fucked up leg.” I sat down and hoofed through my saddlebags, looking to see if I had anything I could use. The last few jobs were easy, so I’ve been running light on supplies for this one, and all I had was a single healing potion and a med-X. I don’t want to use either of them in case we run into something up on the surface. “You see anything salvageable up on the next floor?”

“Not so much, no. Just room after room of medical equipment.” He scratched at his chin with a hoof. “So odd. What kind of medical facility carries no healing supplies?”

“One we should have never fallen into, now let’s go.” I stood back up, wincing as I kept my leg tucked up.

“Just as a point, the one thing I did happen to find down in the basement was a rather odd looking door. There may be something of value behind it that warrants taking.” He furrowed his brow with a smirk. Normally I’d say fuck off, but I needed anything I could get to salvage this contract. On top of that, it could have more healing items in it.

“Really? Did you look around when I was unconscious or something? Cause it was dark as hell down there and I didn’t see a door.” I used my gun as a crutch, propping myself up as I got used to the pain.

“Not that basement, the one upstairs.” He shook his head with a chuckle. “In the other half of the building.”

“Fine. But you try anything, anything at all, and I will shoot you again.” I prodded at his chest with my hoof before he knocked it away.

“Please. Why would I try anything when you are far more interesting than any of those books were at the library?” He gave me a sly smile, as I rolled my eyes with a sigh. “No, I think I will try to unravel the enigma that is you.” He trot to the stairwell, stopping on the first step as he looked back to me. “So! Why not start by giving me your name?”

“Why the hell would I tell you anything?” I hobbled my way up to him, pushing at him as he made sure to slow down with my refusal.

“How about, because I gave you your stuff back? Or didn’t run away when I could have in ponyville.” He sped up again, this time going fast enough that I was afraid he was going to make a break for it. I was about to reach for my rifle when he spun himself around, walking up the stairs backwards. “Come on, you owe me at least your name.”

“I don’t owe you shit. You chose to come back and help me, and I chose not to shoot you in the face.” I misjudged my hoofing and tripped, waiting to feel the smack against the concrete step. Predious’s horn glowed, holding my head only an inch or so above the step. I pushed myself back up, continuing as he backed his way through the top floor doorway. “Fine, my name is Storm.”

“Ah! So the bounty hunter does have a name.” He smiled as he stopped just short of backing into the hole I had made on my way down. I used my gun as a crutch again as I hobbled my way past him, feeling the cold wet of the snow that had melted freezing my hooves, reminding me that up here was a whole hell of a lot colder than the basement was. I glanced into one of the rooms that broke off from this one, viewing a set of what I was sure used to be fairly comfortable couches set apart from each other. Next to each couch was a set of old medical machines. One of them I had recognized as an EKG machine, or, at least that’s what Harmony had called it when she was fixing it up.

“See, what did I tell you? Nothing but random medical junk.” Predious strode past me, heading through the doorway at the end of the room, his hooves clicking along the porcelain floor tiling that stretched out along it. I hobbled after him as he stopped when he reached the end, looking back at me as if I was ruining his fun. “It’s just a broken leg, not a terminal illness. Just mare up and walk it off.”

Now the question is, do I shoot him, or keep the gun as my crutch?

“Look, if you want me to go any faster, why don’t you find me something that will actually help.” I shot back at him, stopping as I leaned against the doorway. Which was great, because this way I could use my gun, and the next words out of his mouth would dictate if he deserved another bullet or not.

“Ugh. Fine, I’ll help” He sounded so dejected at the thought, when not minutes ago he was all over giving my stuff back. “Just… wait there.” He trotted into the room closest to him, disappearing for a moment before reappearing with a thick, leather belt. He crossed the hallway into the next room, starting to hum to himself. A loud crash made me shudder, my eyes drawn to him as she smiled and trot back across the hallway yet again, entering the next room closer to me.

His voice carried amazingly down the empty hallways, reverberating them to give me the impression that they were in fact humming to me. A sharp ripping of fabric broke the illusion before he exited that room with a bounce. He froze in the hallway and stared at my unamused expression with a smile.

“You done?” I sighed, feeling much more relaxed when he nodded and walked over.

“Sorry, sometimes I just get so carried away.” He floated the two belts and torn fabric over, rigging up a sturdy sling that kept my leg pinned to me. I took a few hops to test it out, finding that it was incredibly stable, but was loose enough that it didn’t restrict my blood flow.

“Fairly sturdy. Thanks, I guess.” I slung my gun over my neck and hobbled down the hallway before he could comment. “Now where is this door you were talking about?”

“It’s not to far, just up ahead.” He strode up beside me, using his horn to gesture around the corner at the end of the hall. “So… Miss Storm.” He paused and fell behind again for a moment in thought. “Or is it Mrs. Storm?” And he’s back to prying.

“What it is, is none of your goddess damned business.” I glared at him as I turned the corner, smacking right into a century and a half old cleaning cart somepony had left in the hallway. I kicked the cart down the hallway as hard as could, my anger flaring as he chuckled to himself and raised a hoof to comment. I beat him to it. “Can you just please walk in silence until I can turn your ass in?”

“With a temper like that, I’m going to guess single.” His voice was oil on water as he continued down the hallway. I take it back. If somepony ever asks me to capture someone like him again? I’ll just ask them to save the annoyance and shoot me right then.

“Tell me again why I shouldn’t just shoot you now?” I grumbled. Truly, the idea was sounding like a much better idea. Everything I’ve learned in my time as a bounty hunter is telling me to just kill him and report that the contract was unsalvageable, but still, I can’t help but feel it would be the wrong course of action.

“Because you admire my timeless charm?” He hoofed his mane back and puffed out his chest, giving me his most endearing smile.

“You know what, a couple of days ago, there was this raider I gelded.” I smiled as I approached the corner, checking around it before continuing. “I’d still choose him over you.” I flicked my tail in his face and moved on. About ten feet forward was where the building had sheared off, with the top floor of this building ending up just about a foot shorter than the basement was on the other half. I grunted and pulled myself up, being mindful not to knock my slung leg against anything. Predious bound up effortlessly, striding forward towards a large set of white double doors, dim light spilling out from the gaps between and underneath them. He went to speak, and I was about to yell at him to shut up, but he surprised me with what he said.

“You’re the one with the Pipbuck here, tell me, is it clear on the other side?” It was a valid point, and a quick check of the EFS on my Pipbuck told me ahead was all clear, the only thing on it being Predious’s marker. Edging up to the door, I put my ear against it, listening intently for a few moments.

Without another option, I pressed forward hoofing open the doors in front of us. On the other side was a small-ish well lit waiting room, a set of rotting chairs were arranged in the right corner across from a desk that held the skeletal remains of a long dead unicorn hanging across it. Directly in front of me, and stretching across the entire room, was a large pink spell barrier. I trot up to it curiously. I have only seen a few of them around the wasteland, but never up close.

“Hey, do you…” That’s as far as I got before Predious bumped into me and sent me sprawling through the shield. I screamed as I landed roughly on the tiles, torquing my busted leg hard.

“OH, GODDESSES!” He panicked, as he backed away. I don’t know if he was apologizing because he didn’t mean to push me through, or if he was surprised it didn’t kill me. “I was lost in thought and I didn’t see you had stopped. Are you hurt?”

I growled and pulled my rifle from my back, aimed and fired, hitting him dead center in the horn. He let out a yelp and felt to the floor, his mane flinging forward as he turned his head to shield it. With just the lightest brush against the pink barrier, part of his mane lit on fire. He scrambled backward with a gasp, batting at his head until the flame went out. I tried to hold myself back, but I just broke out into hysterical laughter.

“THAT WASN’T FUNNY!” Predious was fuming, though to be honest, getting your mane lit on fire was a pretty good justification for it.

“You should have seen it from where I’m standing.” I wiped a tear from my eye as I tried to calm myself. “That face you made when it… and the noise!” I held at my side as I kept laughing. It felt good to really get a good laugh in, seeing as I never got many chances to do that when working alone. Now that I think of it, I think the last time I really had genuine fun was when Harmony and I got into that brawl at the bar with those stallions from Manehatten. Goddesses that was a good fight.

He angrily snatched something off the remains of the pony on the desk and brought it up to his chest. He strode forward angrily, reaching the shield and passing through it without hesitation. I frowned as a small part of me wanted all of him to catch fire this time, but as I looked at the thing on his chest, I realized it was a security badge.

“I already said I was sorry, and you go and shoot me. I’m just trying to be friendly, and you are nothing but hostile.” He growled as he prodded me in the chest with his hoof. “Why do you feel you have to be such a mean pony?” He winced as I worked the action on the gun, feeling as I put it to his chest.

“Nice? Mean? I’m the mare with the gun.” I tipped my head to the side, watching as he sighed. “Now let’s get moving. We aren’t getting any closer to leaving standing around here.”

“Fine, whatever.” He rolled his eyes and walked around me, slowly heading to the set of double doors leading out of the security checkpoint.

“That’s the spirit.” I remarked cheerfully, hobbling along behind him.