I fell asleep in her embrace.

It was the best sleep I’d had in months… maybe years.

It ended all too quickly, with Crimson Knife nudging us awake. “I apologize for waking you, Shade, but Ash needs to talk to Echo. Then she’s free to go, provided she takes it easy.”

Her eyes locked onto me, even as she kept speaking to Mom. “I know her family history… you make sure she takes it easy. Take it easy means take it easy.”

I moved to protest, but Mom shushed me softly. I wasn’t going to run out and get hurt. Well… I didn’t plan to.

“Will she be able to sleep at home tonight?” Mom’s voice was weird. It had been so long since I’d heard her talk about me at all, it barely sounded like her. Not the her I knew.

Crimson Knife nodded, smiling. “Yes, I’m discharging her from my care.”

Shade got out of the bed, her hooves clipping softly on the metal floor. I followed, dragging myself roughly after her. Where she moved gracefully, I felt like a sack filled with bricks. The bed was just a little too high for me, and I stumbled as I got out, catching a look at myself a mirror as I recovered.

Parts of me were just covered with bandages. Both flanks and my midsection. I’d taken a beating out there, but one thing I marveled at was how my coat shone. “I’m so clean.”

“Yes, I had to sterilize you before I could admit you.” Crimson’s voice was coming from somewhere outside the room, and I spotted her through the open door putting away an array of gleaming surgical tools. I hadn’t noticed her leave the room. I heard the slightest noise as Shade shuffled uncomfortably behind me, giving me her own motherly check. When I looked again, the surgeon unicorn was gone.

“Are you okay?” Mom’s voice from behind me snapped me away from the mystery that was Crimson Knife.

“Huh… yeah, just thinking about the… how long was I out?”

She smiled, tears in her eyes. “Only a night.” She pulled me back into a soft hug.

It had really only been a night since I’d been in that street with Rose?

I’d forgotten about my newfound sister! “Oh fuck!”

Shade frowned, and I knew she was about to chastise me for swearing, her motherly duties freshly placed back on her.

“Hey, Kid.” Ash’s voice from behind me cut anything that would have come from my swearing short, and I spotted the griffin in the next room. His feathers were a mess, and his golden eyes were bloodshot.

“We need to have a talk.” Rose would have to wait just a little longer.

I glanced once at Mom, who just smiled at me, and then followed the griffin as he led me out of Crimson’s Underhoof clinic. It was always hard to tell what time it was outside when I was underground, but from the number of ponies around, ghoul or otherwise, it was very early morning. He led me into the tunnel leading aboveground, and I was beginning to get uncomfortable with how he hadn’t said a word. He should have yelled at me, or told me he was glad I was back, or something.

I squeaked as I was yanked into a tight embrace by the griffin, his claws digging into my sides. “Don’t scare me like that, kid.”

“I’m sorry.” There were a lot of sorrys going around.

“It’s okay… but I need to know what happened. Let’s get up out of these tunnels, then you can tell me all about it.” He put me down gingerly, then nervously slicked the feathers on his head back. He was never much for tunnels. To help him out, I started walking first, headed towards the stairs up and back out into Hoof.

The entryway was exactly as I had left it all that time ago. It seemed like a lifetime had passed since I’d come here to meet up with Ziel…

Fuck!

“Ash, is Ziel okay?!” I hated myself right then. My beloved cousin, who I’d grown up and laughed and lived with. I’d forgotten that she’d gone down into those tunnels just like I had. I didn’t know if she was alive or dead, eaten by some horror or trapped in some tunnel with no way to get back.

He looked surprised, and my hopes dropped. “No one told you?”

With a calm laugh, he waved it off. “She’s fine. She’s working the wall right now. She took your disappearance like a champ, but I’m sure you’ll see her as soon as her shift is over.”

“Did she get away okay? What about Easel?”

“They are both fine. They looked for you when you went missing, but couldn’t find you or Nail.” He opened the door leading to a room opposite of where I’d gotten my equipment, which I remembered with a cringe I had left hanging from a busted grate deep in the sewers. Inside was a low table, and a dirty blackboard hung on one wall.

“Which is what I want to talk to you about.” He ushered me into the room, and closed the door behind me. I sat in front of the table, and he took a seat across from me on a crudely made chair. “What happened? Where did you go?”

I looked at him, sighing. I wasn’t going to hide anything from him, but I would have prefered a longer break from the memories.

Without further ado, I set into it. Nail and I finding the locked facility, and the dwellers. His sacrifice to buy me enough time to get away. Scrambling into the air duct, and falling into the tunnels.

The griffin listened, a look of deep concern hiding itself behind his steepled talons. I could see his two sides conflicting. The loving uncle, always caring for me, and the dedicated protector of the town’s residents. He had to be a Whitecoat right then, and I could tell it was eating at him.

Fleeing the hydra. Sleeping when I could, shivering in the dark. Killing the ghoul. I left out no details. Running from that last dweller drew a response from the silent griffin. The flamethrower pony and the big metal door. He leaned forward, claws digging slightly into the table between us.

“You went into Neighwhere?”

“Ash, why didn’t Cinder die with the rest of the Paragons?” Ripple and his friends had killed everyone but her. It had never been clear from the stories what had happened to her, but they hadn’t involved her dying, which is the end I would have chosen.

Ash sighed, trailing a talon down the side of his face. “We never got the chance. She was powerful, and after Neighwhere she just holed herself up with a few survivors. Haven’t seen so much as a flicker from her since… and I was hoping she’d gone and choked on her own blood by now.”

I nodded slowly, frowning as thoughts of Cinder and her domain shone fresh in my mind. He sounded defeated when he spoke of Cinder, and I understood why. “I was taken in. They kept me in a cell. They tortured me, and used me for labor. Then Rose helped me escape.”

Best to focus on the positive. My sister, the smiling savior. The sister part… I kept that out. I felt that that was just for us. One thing of great importance did spring to mind as soon as I thought about family though.

“Cinder said Ripple was alive up north.”

He frowned. “I’ve heard the rumors. It’s a dead end, trust me. I don’t need that one spreading around town, either.”

Tapping absently on his beak, he stared off at the wall for a few seconds before his eyes locked back onto me. “So. The pony you brought here, she’s one of them? Cinder’s lot?”

I shook my head, annoyed that he’d dodged the subject of Ripple, but Rose was still an important subject to me. “No. She’s not. She grew up there, but she saved me. She got me away.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure she did it freely? Didn’t it cross your mind she could be spying on us, trying to find a way in for her raider buddies?”

It hadn’t occurred to me, but it was ridiculous. She’d saved me, and risked herself doing it. She was not spying.

My face flushed with sudden anger, and I growled at him. “She’s not. She helped me.”

He sighed, slumping his shoulders. “Okay. That’s all I needed to know…”

“Ash, even if she was a spy, she can’t go back. We… I killed the pony that chased us. I think he was Cinder’s second in command or something… he was…” I drifted off as I spoke. I had started off so strong, thinking I could tell the griffin I’d made my first kill with at least bravery in my voice, but it died, until I was speaking in a whisper.

Standing stiffly, he walked around the table towards me. He ran a claw through my mane, looking me in the eyes. “Fluster and Ziel will want to see you, and you should probably stop by your aunt’s place...”

“Should I talk to them about…”

He shook his head. “No, just let them enjoy you being back. You can share that burden later.”

I looked up at him, searching his eyes for any sign of anger or pride that I’d made my first kill. I only saw regret clouding his golden eyes. He let out a heavy sigh, and I knew he was finished with my debriefing. His eyes glanced towards the door, but he stood there with his claws in my mane.

“Where’s Rose?” I cut him off when I realized he wasn’t going to mention where she was.

“She’s safe. We gave her a comfy bed at Doc Care’s.” I was standing even as he spoke, but I felt him push me back down. “I don’t want you doing anything hasty. She’s under guard, until we know why she’s here.”

“I already told-”

“I know, kid, I know.” He patted my back, and removed his talons from my fur. “We just gotta make sure.”

He turned, opening the door behind me. “White double door, broken chains?”

I looked at him, puzzled.

“Cleanup.”

Oh. The facility. The dwellers. I nodded.

Whitecoat business.

He disappeared into the hall, and I followed shortly. Fluster, Ziel, or Rose? I weighed which one I went to visit first.

The door outside was ajar. Ash must have not closed it behind him in his haste and I stood there staring into the rain. It was coming down in sheets, and I could barely see across the street in the pale light. Whenever it rained this hard, Fluster would be under her awning, trying to see the mountain.

I owed it to her to see her first. I think seeing anyone else would have hurt her feelings.

Fluster’s house was dark and empty as I walked through it. She had never had many possessions, even when Ziel and I would spend our days with her as fillies. Her living room contained a table with a minigun on it, and nothing else.

The gun always seemed out of place. Fluster was very opposed to me using violence, and had thrown a fit when Ziel had joined the Whitecoats. It was another of those things I never asked about. She always looked sadly at it, but left it in the living room.

The stairs up were devoid of any of the posters or decorations that other ponies favored, and her bedroom was just as sparse. A single mattress, and a wad of blankets in the corner for Fern.

The stairs up were in her room, and I passed through quickly. I wanted to see her, get the hugging out of the way, tell her everything was alright, and then move on.

When I pushed open the door to the roof, I spotted Fern’s tail sticking from beneath the rain cover. I trotted quickly through the rain, and slipped under the awning.

Fern was there, his woody form curled protectively around Fluster. I didn’t recognize her at first, wearing a tattered and filthy robe. Her wings were visible through the shredded cloth, but most of her scars were hidden.

“Fluster?” I couldn’t see her face, and she showed no sign of being aware of my presence.

She turned, and the look on her face forced me to sit down.

It was like the world had ended. Grief beyond what I could imagine was etched into her face. She knew I was back… she must have known. Why was she so sad?

Faster than I could react, she pulled me into a deep hug. Her wings wrapped around me, practically cocooning me in with her and her sorrow. Tears were streaming from her eye, but she made no sounds.

Fern was whining as he looked up at us, the only sound other than the pouring rain.

“Never again.” It was so quiet, I barely heard her. Her voice was scratchy and hoarse, a whisper made of gravel.

“Don’t scare me like that ever again.”

I nuzzled into her scarred chest, relishing the feathery embrace. If Ziel and Rose weren’t at the front of my mind, I could have stayed there for hours. For Fluster, though, I stayed. I stayed until her tears stopped, and I felt her hug slacken lightly.

As her wings unwrapped, the wasteland came back into bleak focus. Her eye was bloodshot, and had developed wrinkles that hadn’t been there the last time I’d seen her, but I could see the happiness trying to break through the despair.

“I’m sorry.” I said it again. I imagined I’d be apologizing a lot. I hadn’t done anything wrong, but what I’d put my loved ones through… they deserved an apology.

She nodded at me, a tear-stained smile on her face. I smiled, so glad to see her happy. Ash had been right. Telling her about my kill would have been a bad move.

Quickly, she went to fretting over my scratches and bruises. I told her about my time underground, leaving out all the details she didn’t need to hear. The killings, and exactly what happened in Neighwhere. Her expression was mixed when she finally let me go.

I apologized again, and left Fluster and her leafy guardian on the roof, feeling a weight lift from my withers as I trotted back through her nearly empty house.

It had stopped raining while I’d been on the roof with Fluster. The streets were hoof deep in water, but it was draining into the underground as quickly as it could. I splashed my way through the shallower puddles, avoiding the deeper spots I’d memorized over the years.

My next stop was to find Ziel. Ash had said she was doing wall duty, so that’s where I was headed. The wall ran around the entire town, bridging the gaps between buildings and securing our safe little haven from the horror of Hornsmith.

I shuddered now that I knew what the wall actually kept out.

I scanned the usual guarding Whitecoats. The ones on the wall tended to wear hoods to keep the rain off, but it also made them look like clones from my lower angle. I knew that if Ziel was up there, she’d be the smallest one. Also, her striped legs would help set her apart, but I couldn’t see any legs past the platform they were standing on.

The best way to find her would be to just keep walking. I’d enjoy the open air and lack of rain, and hope she saw me from wherever she was on the wall. I’d felt a sense of urgency about today, but that had been until I’d seen Fluster. She’d calmed me down. I wasn’t in a real hurry. I could just take my time, relishing my freedom.

I couldn’t keep Rose waiting too long though.

After I’d made a complete circuit of Hoof, scanning every Whitecoat with increasing exasperation, I’d had enough.

“Ziel!” I shouted, hoping that she was at least near enough to hear me.

I only heard a splash before I was tackled by a laughing zony. We fell into a deep, muddy puddle, soaking me with dirty water. I was snatched up into a deep, shaking hug. She was laughing too hard to do much else, so I settled into the hug, chuckling myself. I wasn’t sure what we were laughing about.

Eventually, she got a hold of herself, and held me out in front of her, checking me out. “I knew you weren’t dead! I just knew it!”

She was a lot stronger than her size let on, and all I could do was squirm in her grasp. I spat out a mouthful of gutter water, and nodded at the zealous zony. “Yeah… yeah, I’m fine.”

She let go, flicking mud from her hooves as she took a step back. “Ya know, I’ve been following you for a while. Did you hear me?”

I smiled widely at her, jumping over an annoyance I should have felt at her delaying my search. She’d been using me to get better at sneaking for years. “No! You’re getting better!” She really was if I hadn’t heard her.

“So, what are you up to now that you’re back from the dead?” She nudged me, then pressed in tight against my side.

“I gotta go see somepony.”

“Oh yeah, your stray! Who is she? She seems… I dunno, ragged around the edges. Not that I’ve talked to her, but I heard talk.” She was practically vibrating with giddiness. At moments like that, no amount of armament or uniform would make her anything but the excited filly I’d grown up with.

“Yeah, its my fault she’s being held captive, and I have to talk to her… before she tries something.” I remembered the bleeding corpse slumped in front of my cell door. I didn’t want that to happen to anypony in Hoof. It would be entirely on me if it did.

“Can I come?”

“Uh…” I paused, not entirely sure how well Ziel and Rose would get along.

“I’m coming anyways. A Whitecoat has to protect the good ponies of Hoof, and I suppose even you count.”

I let out an exasperated sigh. I knew that if she went off on the “I’m a Whitecoat and it’s my duty” spiel, I wouldn’t be able to talk her down. Rolling my eyes, I gave in before she really started extolling her various duties and roles. “Fine...”

She grinned widely at me from beneath her hood.

Ugh, she was always so hard to dissuade.

The Whitecoat standing outside Doc Care’s appeared to be in a foul mood. He glowered at the two of us as we walked towards him across the street. I recognized him as belonging to the camp that blamed Ripple for the evils of the world, and guessed that he was none too pleased to be on guard duty because of me.

“What do you want?” He growled, his eyes locked on me. Ziel warranted not even a glance from him, with all of his dislike focused onto me.

“We’re here to see Care’s patient.” Ziel piped up happily, either oblivious or just indifferent to the glare I was receiving.

“Help yourself.” He grunted and stepped aside.

Ziel thanked him happily and led the way into the clinic. His eyes followed me, and I was quite glad to leave him outside in the damp. Doc Care’s clinic I was much more familiar with than Knife’s. Whenever I’d been sick, or twisted a hoof, or got a cut playing too hard with Ziel, I’d go there and he’d make me better.

The three legged pegasus was hovering in the waiting room, scribbling in a dog-eared notebook. He looked up at us and nodded lightly, the pencil gripped in his mouth seeming to be of more importance to him than talking to us. He gestured with his head towards a side door, and then he went right back to scribbling.

The hall past the waiting room was lined with hanging curtains. Behind each was a room for whatever sick or injured ponies needed them. I wouldn’t have to check each one, because at the end of the hall was the only room with a door. Lazing in front of it was a dozing Whitecoat, a long shotgun resting at his side.

His eyes followed us as we approached down the long hall. We were moving like ponies on a mission. Without a word, he let out a long sigh and moved aside. As I passed, I saw that his eyes were bloodshot and he smelled strongly of hard cider. I heard a sound of derision from Ziel, but neither of us said anything to the drunk Whitecoat.

The door wasn’t even locked. I pushed it open, leading the way for my cousin. All of these rooms were furnished for recovering ponies, and I spotted Rose lounging on a raised bed in the corner. She was bouncing a ball against wall with her magic absently, though her face brightened noticeably when she saw me coming through the door. Even with the smile, I couldn’t help but notice that she was still carrying a lot more injuries than I was.

Her front legs were completely wrapped with bandages, a few of which still showed patches of blood. Her face wasn’t as bruised as it had been, but there was still noticeable discoloration and one of her eyes was only half open. A single potion would have fixed most of that, which meant that she’d been left to heal naturally.

“Was wondering if they’d let you come see me. I can’t exactly walk about on my own.” She lifted one of her rear legs and I let out a slight gasp. She was shackled to the bed.

“Pretty sure the griffin wants to make sure I’m not gonna slit any throats while I’m here.” Her eyes went from me to Ziel, and narrowed cautiously. “Who’s the stripe?”

“Hey!” Ziel stepped forward angrily. They’d just met, and Rose had already started pushing our cousin’s buttons.

I quickly stepped between them, hoping to end any hostilities quickly. I knew just the way too.

“Rose, this is Ziel. My cousin.”

Her eyes went as wide as they could with comprehension, and she smiled broadly. I couldn’t help but notice that she was missing a tooth when she did so. “Well that changes things a bit, doesn’t it?”

I glanced at Ziel, who lacked the excitement she’d had just seconds before. She was frowning, glaring at the grinning pony.

“Ziel, she saved me from Neighwhere. Cut her a little slack.” She looked at me, and stepped back just a little. The glare eased, but the frown remained.

“Rose.” I looked back at the smirking pony chained to the bed. Enough damage control. “Are you doing okay? I would have come earlier, but I had obligations.”

All she did was shake her chained leg at me, really emphasizing the length of the metal links. She was stuck there.

I sighed. “Right…”

The white coat that the zony at my side was wearing reminded me of what Ash had said. Don’t do anything stupid. Breaking my sister out counted as that.

“I’m sorry… but I can’t let you out right now. The best I can do is convince Ash you’re not a threat.” I scuffed my hoof at the ground, avoiding her gaze. I felt bad, having to leave my sister in chains.

“So I just wait here? Do you have anything to read, or am I stuck with this ball?”

“I could take the ball.”

“Ziel!” I growled at the zony once again, and knew that I should probably separate the two until a later time. I needed to find Ash again, and get my sister out of here and into Hoof. She needed a regular life, like the one I had.

“Listen, Rose, I’m gonna go talk to Ash. I’ll get this sorted out, and then I’ll show you around town. Just… hang tight, okay?”

Rose grunted, and threw the ball again. She settled back into her rhythm, dismissing us. I couldn't blame her if she was a little mad at me. I’d get her free.

I just hoped I could catch Ash. Maybe if I bugged him, I could push my sister’s release to the forefront of his mind.

I gave a glance to my sister, and then went out into the hall. Ziel pushed the door shut behind us, and made a derisive snort. “Real prize you brought back, that one.”

That was the final straw.

“Ziel, shut up.”

Stopped hard in her tracks, and her voice was quiet in response. “What?”

“Go back to guarding your wall, Ziel. I’m gonna go find Uncle Ash.” I didn’t want to raise my voice, because it felt wrong to yell at her. I'd never told her to shut up before. I just couldn't hear her badmouth my sister anymore. Once I had Rose free… everything would work out.

I gave her a look, hoping that she knew I was sorry, and turned away. I ran off, out of Doc Care’s, and into the streets. It was raining again.

Hopefully, I wasn’t too late to catch Ash before he left. I knew he’d be at the armory, getting a team ready to go take out the dwellers I’d found. I’d seen cleanup teams before, but until recently I had never understood what the big deal was.

The streets hadn’t had much time to recover from the rain, and with the sudden deluge that had kicked in I could now barely see where I was going. Luckily I knew the streets like the curves of my cutie mark. That didn’t stop me from tripping through some of the puddles that hid potholes, though.

Finally, I got to the entrance to Underhoof, soaked through and partially caked in mud. I stumbled through the door, and for lack of anything better I shook myself like a dog. The entryway was already soaked from recent use, which meant I couldn’t be far behind Ash and the cleanup crew.

I let out a little shriek as I looked into the armory.

“Whoa there, girl, it’s just me.” Viola, the ghoul in the gasmask, was cleaning a rifle on the table. I hadn’t been expecting a ghoul, and even though she was the friendliest ghoul I knew of, her appearance frightened me. The memory of the ghoul I’d killed was slamming into my thoughts.

Trying to hide the fact that my heart was hammering in my chest, I swallowed back some fear and stammered a little as I started talking. “Uh… h-h-hey Viola. Have… have you seen Ash?”

“You okay?” Those soft eyes stared at me through the glass of her mask, and that helped a little.

I nodded.

“Sorry, Ash just took a team down for cleanup. Flamethrowers and everything.” She put down the cloth that she’d been working into the stripped open weapon. “They should be in the tunnels by now. You just missed ‘em.”

“Oh.” I sat down right there, the wind gone from my sails. I guess I was lucky, because I really had no idea what I was going to say to Ash to get my sister the freedom she deserved.

It just didn't feel like a “please” would have cut it.

I realized a few minutes into waiting for Ash that I really had better things to do. I’d get Rose out, I would, but I needed to spend some more time with my mom. She was somewhere in town, doing some odd job or another… and I needed to spend more time with her.

Staring out into the rain, I paused. Being back felt weird. I had free time. I could go to all my favorite places, see all the ponies I wanted to, spend time with my family. After the tunnels though… I doubt I’d ever feel the same. All the things I did for fun just felt so pointless.

Letting out a deep sigh, I pulled a cloak from a rack on the wall and headed out into the rain to find my mom.

I found mom in the main warehouse, tinkering with a broken crane. She was happier to see me then than I could remember from a majority of my life. Her eyes had a new light in them. After she finished hugging me, she went back to work. I watched her for a while, covered in grease and neck deep in the guts of a conglomerate of gears and wires, before I got bored.

I stayed near her, in the vicinity of the big robot head that lurked at the back of the warehouse. When I had played around it as a filly, it had been the coolest thing. Now, it was just the remains of another thing out in the wasteland that killed ponies.

Ripple had survived against one of these. So had Fluster. Ash had told me as part of his stories of adventure. I could survive too, if it came to it.

I gave the head a little kick, and went back to helping mom.

I was asleep when Ash and the cleaners finally got back. After work, mom and I had just gone home and fallen asleep watching the rain. When I woke up in the morning, warm and safe, I felt strangely conflicted. I’d missed Ash, but mom and I were definitely making up for lost time.

I wanted Rose free of her little cell, and I wanted to spend more time with my mom, and I wanted to find out more about Ripple, and I wanted to learn to defend myself better, and… there were just too many ands.

When I went out looking for Ash after breakfast, I made a beeline for the first Whitecoat I saw. An older mare with a smoking habit stood on the corner, idly taking in the day. She didn’t look particularly busy, and I’d learned long before that the best way to find any particular Whitecoat was to ask a Whitecoat. “Do you know where Ash is?”

The cigarette floated from her mouth, and she leisurely blew a smoke ring into the air over my head. She looked around a bit, and after what felt like an eternity she finally gave me an answer.

“He left Hoof for a couple days. Had to flap out to Penance for something.”

My jaw dropped. I couldn’t help but feel that he’d run away from me… he knew I’d be asking him to let Rose free every chance I got, so he’d left. That bird-brained meany. Fucker. I couldn’t even decide how mad I was at him.

I let out a huff and stamped a hoof. “Fine. Thanks for your time.” With that, I stormed off. I could go over his head on this, if he wanted to run away from me.

I’d go see my Aunt and Uncle.

Xiera and Raw Deal were the closest thing to official leaders that the Whitecoats had. Deal had taught most of the older generation Whitecoats how to fight, and Xiera had saved more lives than anyone cared to count. It was convenient as such that Raw Deal was Ripple’s blood related uncle. My great uncle. That just confused everything, so he was just uncle to me.

Their house was on the other side of Hoof from mine, but I made it in good time. The sun was even shining through the clouds a bit, so I didn’t have to fight through the rain to get there.

Out front, several Whitecoats were sparring in the mud. Zebra fighting, something my Aunt Xiera had brought to the group, was taught widely to the Whitecoats. Hooves were flying, and each blow was parried before it could be deadly. I really wanted to learn more after my ordeal had shown me just how unprepared I was for the wasteland, but that would come later, after I had dealt with some of my ands.

The front door was wide open, and I wiped my hooves on the ratty rug inside the threshold.

“Aunt Xiera? Uncle Deal?” I called into the house, knowing that at least one of them was around. Probably my uncle… he didn’t leave the house very often.

“It’s been a while since you came this way.” The gravelly voice rasped at me from another room, and I trotted after it with a little smile. The pony sitting in the room was one of the founding members of the Whitecoats, a patriarch of Hoof, and more importantly, my uncle.

He’d seen better days, even before he’d been lit on fire. The burn scars covered half of his body, and he sometimes gave me the creeps, but I still loved him. He defended ponies, like Ash did.

“Heard about your trip. Glad you’re safe.” Deal always kept me at a distance, but he did that to everypony except Xiera and Ziel. He wasn’t even looking at me as he spoke, which was something I’d gotten used to years ago. Always working, always at the task at hand, but he would always talk to you if you needed to talk to him.

“Thanks, Uncle. Listen… I need something from you.”

He glanced at me, then looked back at what he was doing. “What?”

“I need you to let the pony that came back with me free. I can vouch for her, she’s not a spy like Ash thinks.” I kept calm, knowing that if I got too excited, I’d probably lose any chance with him.

“I agree with Ash on this one. We don’t know her, we don’t know why she came here with you.” He had stopped working, and I now had his full attention.

“I trust her. She helped me escape.”

“I heard as much. Don’t you think it could be a setup? Some attempt to get our gates open so they can just walk in and take everything we have? We don’t know how many ponies are in Neighwhere still… could be a dozen, could be hundreds.” He stood, keeping the even tone that I had heard him use before while chewing out Whitecoat recruits.

“I didn’t see too many. Their numbers aren’t that big, if you don’t count the slaves.” My voice cracked as I mentioned the slaves, of whom I had been for a day. There were still ponies being treated like that every day…

“Have you ever seen a pony use a slave as a shield? I have.”

I started breathing heavily. I hadn’t thought about that. To use another pony like that… I definitely wouldn’t put it past them, not after what I’d seen them do.

“No… I…”

“Do you want that to happen to me? To your aunt? Your cousin? Your mom?” He stepped closer to me, the even tone scaring me more than it should have. My breathing was growing rapidly, and I felt tears begin to well in my eyes. The thought of anyone I knew going through that… I…I couldn’t live with that.

I knew Rose wouldn’t do that. Not to me.

Not to her sister.

“She’s my sister, okay!?” I snapped at him. That meant that she was just as related to him as he was to me, and I was really hoping that it would buy me some leverage in my argument.

He stopped, his eyes narrowing as he searched mine. “You really believe that?”

Not even pause to think about it. “I do. She helped me escape, saved my life, and as a reward we chained her up in a room.” I tried to look imposing in front of the scarred and battle-worn pony.

“I don’t know about you, but that’s not how I treat family.” I blushed as soon as I said it, remembering how I’d treated my Mom for years. That wasn’t gonna happen to my family anymore.

Deal looked at me in silence for a long time. He was always hard to read, with half of his face melted like that, but his eyes showed intense concentration. Eventually, he let out a sigh. “You know if she tries anything, I’m going to kill her.”

I smiled at him. That was a yes.

“Ash won’t be happy about this.” He said it with a sigh.

“I know, but he’ll see I was right, and then he’ll have to deal with it.” I was overjoyed that I’d won. That’d teach Ash to run away instead of dealing with me. I gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, uncle!"

“Not exactly the nicest digs, are they?” Rose was looking up at me from the ratty mattress tucked into a corner of the room. I was so happy she’d been let out. I hadn’t even listened as the Whitecoat that had been assigned to escort her to her new home had rattled off the town laws to its newest member. I’d just watched my sister gazing around the town, free of the cell she’d been so unjustly kept in.

I shrugged at her in response. This little apartment belonged to a pony that no one had seen in four years. It was a safe assumption that they weren’t coming back. I knew why Deal had chosen it though: it was far from the armory and anything he didn’t want her near, and close to lots of ponies with weapons that wouldn’t hesitate to kill her if she tried anything. I could see one of the Whitecoat houses through the cracked window.

Honestly, it was pretty nice as far as Hoof homes went.

She didn’t have any possessions, so I guessed she was going to have to start from scratch. If I was her, I’d start working on personalizing my living space. That required a job…

“Have you given any thought to what you want to do around here? There’s scavving, repairs, farming, becoming a Whitecoat-”

“How about finding dad?” She cut me off with an excited grin.

My mouth hung open as I lost track of my list. Dad? Ripple?

“Y-you want to find Ripple? We just got back to town… do you remember what happened out there?” Now that I’d gotten back, staying home just sounded appealing.

“Hack Job came from a bunch of ponies that need the exact treatment you gave him. We both grew up with the stories, and you know as much as I do that if anypony is going to be able to clear out Neighwhere, it’s him. We just need to find our dad.” She had that weird smile that she got every time she mentioned Ripple. It was kind of off-putting, but it was just one of her quirks. I would get used to it.

“Where would we even start? Ash said the rumors weren’t true. There’s a good chance he isn’t alive, and its just some other pony in the north.”

“Cinder never lies about Ripple. It’s the one subject I know she’s truthful about… I could tell from the way she looked whenever she talked about him. That’s a look you can’t fake.” She looked completely convinced of that.

“Well…” She was making sense. If half of what Ash had told me about Ripple was true, he would be able to finally make Hornsmith safe. If, and that was a big if, he was actually still alive somewhere. For all these years. Without making any effort to come home, or write, or send any sign at all.

“The way I see it, we need maybe one or two others to come with. Maybe the stri… Ziel. We could use a trained gun. We’ll need supplies, preferably stuff no one will miss. Then, we’ll need something to prove who we are when we find him.”

That last part made me think of one thing, cutting through everything else that had been jumbling inside my head. Ash still had Ripples pipbuck around his wrist, so that was just right out as an option. There was one thing that was still in Hoof though. “I… I do know of one thing we still have.”

Her eyes swiveled back to me, away from the imaginary checklist she was building. “Eh?”

“Mom still has his gun.”

Her eyes got wide. “Show me.”

It always amazed me how clean the gun was. Every other weapon I’d ever seen, even the ones used and cared for by the Whitecoats, had rust on it. Maybe not a lot, just a little patch near a receiver or barrel, but that shotgun was still the only one I’d ever seen completely rust-free.

Rose was wide-eyed and staring. She’d done little else since we’d gotten into my house. A few snide comments at my living situation, but then she saw the gun. I’d grown up around it, so it had lost most of its allure to me.

“This is what he used…” Her voice was low, meant more for herself than me.

I nodded anyways. “Yeah. From how Ash tells it, this was almost like an extension of him.”

“Cinder tells it the same.”

We stood there in silence for a few minutes, viewing the weapon from two very different upbringings. The gun, to its credit, gleamed in the dull light filtering in from outside.

“So, when should we go?” The mischief in her voice shattered the somber moment we’d been having. I glanced over at her, and the grin was back. Only when Ripple was involved. It was still a little creepy.

“I… I haven’t even agreed to go yet…” I glanced down at my front legs, healing wounds still visible through the fur. “But… I think it shouldn’t be for a few days. We need to secure supplies, and get Ziel on board.”

“And then it’s just a quick trot out to where the caravans meet up, and we hitch a ride north. Simple.” Her plan sure sounded good… and I knew that the caravans had a meeting place outside of Neighwhere, with fairly regular traffic. The plan was sound.

I couldn’t stay in Hoof my entire life, hiding from the monsters I knew were out there. If we did this, and against the odds managed to find Ripple…We’d be getting a father back. Ash would have his friend back. Mom… well, I imagined she’d liven up a bit.

The wasteland would have a hero back from the dead, and the monsters that had hurt so many would pay.

Well... if it all worked the way we wanted.

Ash had apparently gone for a long trip, because it was two days later and he still hadn’t come back.

I’d started pilfering what I could for our trip, and stashing it in my room. Rose was just laying low. I figured it would be counterproductive for her to be caught taking supplies… but no one would really look twice at me. I spent enough time in the warehouses as it was. They never noticed when I would slip something into my bag.

The hard part, I found, was asking Ziel to come with us. If I worded it wrong, she would turn us in. I’d been buttering her up towards Rose every time I saw her, but she still frowned at the mere mention of the crude pony.

As the days wore on, I felt that we were really missing our window.

I finally worked up the nerve to just straight out ask my cousin, and damn the consequences. The sun was going down somewhere past the clouds when I found her, as the lights were beginning to flicker on throughout Hoof. She was the lone sentry on a stretch of the western wall, so at least I didn’t have to worry about anyone eavesdropping.

“Hey Ziel!” I called up to her as I climbed the stairs leading to the wall top.

She looked at me past the rifle she had propped against herself. The look was an exasperated one, but from how she was sitting down I knew she was so bored she wasn’t going to ask me to leave.

“What new and wonderful thing do you have to tell me about Rose Laurel now?” Her voice was dripping with how little she wanted to hear it.

“No, nothing on that. I have to ask you a question.”

She smiled at that, immensely pleased that I’d moved on to another subject. I knew the question itself would wipe the smile away.

“So…” I thought quickly of how to word it. Nothing seemed to really hit the magic note I needed, so I decided to just force my way through it. “Will you come with me and Rose to find Ripple?”

The smile did just as I had predicted.

“Find… Ripple?” The frown was more confused than angry, so at least I had that going for me.

“When I was in Neighwhere, there was a strong belief that Ripple was still alive, to the north. Past Canterlot somewhere.”

She stared at me, frowning. The silence was growing uncomfortable.

“Well?” I had to ask, just to see if I could nudge her into an answer.

“You’re going whether I say yes or no, aren’t you.”

“We’ve already got supplies, and a plan. We just need a zony with a gun and the skills to help us get there.”

I heard her grumbling to herself, but I didn’t make out what it was. She must have been working it through in her head, because she let out a deep sigh and looked at me. “Why? You I understand, but what does the brat get out of it?”

“She… I…” It’d come out eventually, so I just let her in on my secret. “We get a father back if he’s still alive. Rose is my sister.”

“Shit. Really?” She let out a long sigh. With that, I knew I had her.

Rose had been in charge of the planning, as I had been busy with my pilfering and stockpiling. Her room was still spartan except for the bed, which she’d pushed into the corner. On the floor, around which she was pacing, was an assortment of crude maps.

She glanced up as I walked in, and shook her head once. “These are just awful. I know that it’s drawn by caravans… but could they draw more than just a line? Look, look at this.”

I trotted up, intrigued at what she was ranting about.

“Right here. That’s us. That’s Neighwhere and the mountain… and then just north…” She jabbed her hoof at the map before us, at an expanse of nothing with a single line drawn through it. There was a single dot a short way in, but other than that there was nothing until the Canterlot region. “There’s nothing but radiation, mutants, death, raiders, and whatever else I assume is out there.”

“What about Penance?” I pointed to the single labeled dot between Hornsmith and the rest of Equestria. “I hear it talked about, supposedly all the caravans go through there.”

“And we will too, but it would really help to know what else was out there. Rivers, towns, mountains… anything. I don’t even know if this is to scale.” She was closely scrutinizing the hoof-drawn map, and I smiled at how much thought she was giving this. We needed thought. My experiences outside of town had pretty much been entirely luck. A plan would be good.

“Isn’t that why we are heading to where the caravans meet? To find this sort of thing out?” I pointed at the spot outside of town with a big red circle and “caravan” written next to it.

She nodded. “Yeah… I just wish we had a better idea what was out there before we left. Speaking of which, how are we doing on the final piece of our little puzzle?”

It had skipped my mind, due to the distraction of the map. “Oh, yeah. Ziel is in.”

Rose nudged me hard with her flank, letting out a little laugh. “Ha. I knew you could do it. So we’re all set to go. When do we leave?”

I glanced out the window, into the rain. Ash was still gone, and the storm looked like it was going to last for a few days. “Tomorrow morning, first thing. Under the cover of the storm, that’d be our best bet.”

“So you better do your goodbyes, but don’t tip anyone off that we’re leaving. Send the stripe this way when you see her. I’ll catch her up on the plan… and I’ll be nice. Don’t worry.” She waved me off with a playful grin, and I headed back out into the rain. If it was really my last night in Hoof for a while, I wanted to spend it with mom. She was going to be pretty torn up by what I was about to do.

-----

I’d gone to find Ziel, who was glaring at me a little but still consented to going with us. Hugging her, I told her to find Rose. She needed to be brought up to speed, and I needed to go find mom. I hurried off, leaving the zebra to find her way.

The streets were muddy, but I splashed my way through them hastily. I had only a little bit before I had to get some rest. The next day was going to be busy.

I knew something was up as I rounded the corner to see my house. I spotted Fern, the large white timber wolf standing out brightly against the dingy surroundings of the front of my house. It meant that Fluster had stopped by, but she normally took her companion in with her.

His ears perked up when he saw me, and he wagged his leafy tail. I stopped just long enough to rub his chest with a hoof, and headed past him inside. A whine followed me up the stairs, and I knew he wasn’t liking staying away from Fluster. She must have asked him to wait for a good reason.

Voices were coming from mom’s room and I crept my way up, trying to be as quiet as possible. I wanted to be able to tell if my intrusion was at a good time or not.

“You aren’t worried about it? What that girl went through could ruin a pony.” Fluster’s voice was raised, almost in anger. I couldn’t think of ever hearing her angry before. Her voice was somehow still soft.

“So she stays in Hoof. Learns a trade. She grows up here, has a family, stays safe. That doesn’t seem so bad to me.” Mom. It was still weird to hear her talk about me, not to mention to me.

“What if she’s like him though? Do you think Ripple would have hid from the world once he knew there was a problem? Did he run away and hide from Hate?” I heard the flap of wings to emphasize the statement. “You know that Ash has been filling the girls’ heads with stories for their entire lives. What if they wanted to experience that life? You know what that life costs. We both do, too well.”

There was a long silence after that, and I pictured my mom and Fluster staring at each other. One of them was crying slightly, I could hear the soft sobbing, but I wasn’t sure who.

I shifted slightly, and the floor let out a loud creak. With a flinch, I tensed up and hoped that they hadn’t heard it, but a voice called out. “Echo? Are you home?”

Sighing, I responded and started walking forward. I’d been caught, and that conversation was over. “Yeah Mom, I’m home.”

To my surprise, I saw tears running from Fluster’s eye before she hastily wiped them away with a wing. I’d been betting on it being mom that was crying. There was an uncomfortable silence as the three of us stood there.

The pegasus was the first to break the moment. “So how is Rose fitting into her new home? I imagine she’s glad to be out of the tunnels.”

I shrugged, thinking back to the room. “She’s liking it, but she doesn’t have many comforts there.”

“You can take her through the warehouse sometime.” Mom suggest helpfully, apparently not aware of how much time I’d been spending there anyways. Aside from the supplies I’d been pilfering, there was a stockpile of furniture. It was probably what the building had been used for before the bombs.

“Yeah, I think she’d like that.” I’d take her when we got back.

The feeling in the room was uncomfortable. It felt like how it did before, when we were distant. Did they know what I was planning? Is that why they’d been talking about my eventually wanting to leave? Had they figured it out?

I realized that I was breathing fast now, with my mom and aunt staring at me.

“Mom… Fluster… you know I love both of you, right?”

They exchange a glance before looking back at me with smiles. The smile still looked weird on Mom’s face. I kept expecting the pained expression I’d gotten used to over the years. I was thinking way too much.

“Of course honey…I mean Echo…” Mom stumbled as she spoke, and I realized she was trying out pet names for me. I saw her mouth to herself “Sweetie?” before she just smiled.

Fluster snickered at the now blushing blue pony. “You should talk to Ash about that. He could give you some pointers.” Her eye met mine and she smiled softly. “And of course I know that. What brings it up?” I didn’t miss the quick glance they shared after that.

“I just…” I had to make it not suspicious. I’d just heard them talking, and I wasn’t leaving in the morning. Just going about my business. “Didn’t want you to worry about me.” I tried giving Mom my softest look; one that would tell her I would never hurt her.

I’m not sure how convincing I was.

“Well, Fern won’t like me leaving him for too long…” She glanced between Mom and me once more and smiled. “So I’ll say good night and be on my way.”

“Night, Fluster.” Mom and I spoke in unison. The pegasus chuckled, turned, and left the room. We heard the door close shortly after, and it was just the two of us. A month before, I would have dreaded this, but now everything was different.

I was really feeling the guilt about my decision to leave the next morning, especially as Mom smiled at me. I just wanted to stay in Hoof with her and my family…

That was the thing. If Ripple was really alive… my family would be whole. I’d have a mom, a dad, and a sister. Full, functional families were not something you saw frequently out in the wasteland.

“So… are you hungry?” Mom, trying to get back into the habit of doing mom things. That made me smile wide, the guilt buried just a little.

In my peppiest voice, I said yes. I hadn't eaten much in the last few days, and I’d probably not get a chance to eat well in the near future. “Let’s have a big dinner.”

Smiling softly, Mom nodded, and led the way into the kitchen. Between the two of us, I knew we could cook up something memorable. I really wanted Mom to have a happy memory to cover me until I came back with Ripple.

We’d be gone before she woke up. I had prepared a short letter to leave behind, which hopefully wouldn't be found until we’d put some distance between us and Hoof. It would be on my pillow.

Dear Mom.

I know that this isn't what you wanted, but I have to leave. I’ll be right back, once I’ve found dad. Rose and Ziel are with me. We’ll stay safe, stick together, and find him. Trust me.

I love you,
Sorry.
Echo.

I just hoped that the letter would ease her panic. It probably wouldn't.

Author's Notes:

It's finally out. Sorry if its not the most exciting chapter I've ever written, but it's a necessary chapter. Also, it was called Sorry before I took that hiatus.

Thanks to Wirepony for the edits.

Thanks to ponies bothering me about the chapter (you know who you are).