Back in Desert Springs, I lived a pretty relaxed life. I worked when I had to, played when I could, and took quite a lot of naps. Of course these naps weren't always peaceful, as I was often woken up by somepony with a problem of some kind. My least favorite way for somepony to wake me up is when they decide to shake me. Like somepony was doing to me right now...

I groaned and rubbed at my eyes. I somehow managed to fall asleep sitting at Finder’s bed with my head resting near his hooves. As I shifted I felt a blanket slide off my back. "We need to talk." Whoever it was the voice was deep and rough, not somepony I knew.

Blinking my eyes I found the room to still be dark. My Pipbuck told me it was just a little after 3 in the morning. Great.

"Can't it wait until the sun’s up?" I yawned and tried to keep my voice at a whisper. Finder was still asleep and he needed as much of it as he could get.

"No, now." He said before walking back outside. Celestia this pony's bedside manners are terrible.

I glanced at Finder once more before following the other pony through the door. Beryl was sitting at the bar with a candle, polishing bar mugs and glasses with a rag. He nodded to me as we passed but I couldn’t read his expression.

As I stepped out into the street I nearly jumped out of my wings as the older buck spoke up too loudly at three in the morning. “Follow me, I would prefer to talk with more privacy.”

I looked around at the dark, empty street before shrugging and following him. “So… You’re Mr. Carbuncle right?” I waited for him to respond, but as the moments dragged on I continued. “I’ve heard some interesting things about you while I’ve been here.” Not that I didn’t trust Beryl but I wanted to get all sides of the story.

“I do what needs to be done to protect my town. No matter where the threats come from.” I figured he would say something like that. There was something in his tone that was starting to worry me. “Here.”

We came to a stop at a small house that was built sometime after The Great War. After unlocking the door the unicorn motioned me inside. I walked past him into the dark room lit only by a single candle on a wooden table in the corner. The room was furnished modestly; a small couch with the stuffing falling out was next to the table, and a desk sat against the opposite wall with a dead terminal on top. As soon as I heard the door close I felt something dull and heavy hit the back of my head. I blacked out before I even hit the ground.

“The other day he hit a merchant with a baseball bat because he thought his prices were too high.”

Well this isn’t good.

^^^

I grit my teeth against the pain as I fought my way back to consciousness. “For an old guy he sure can swing a bat…” Okay Updraft deep breaths, you aren’t dead yet so that probably isn’t his intention. Let’s see… aside from the extreme pain in my head and what’s probably a concussion, everything else seems fine. As I tried and failed to rub the back of my head with a hoof, I discovered all was definitely not fine.

I opened my eyes to find I had been brought into some kind of basement. Again the room was lit by a single candle on a wooden table, but on the wall next to it were rows of huge lockers. But what bothered me was the ropes tying me up like some sort of cargo. All four hooves were tied together tightly, the ropes digging deep into my legs. My wings however were cruelly tied together with barbed wire, and as I started regaining my senses that pain came to the front of my mind.

“About time you woke up. Now, we can talk. Why are you here.”

I fought back tears as all the pain started coming back at once. My wings and head hurt the worst; but my legs, back, and neck were all letting me know they received little better attention from my captor. He was not gentle when he moved me down here. All I could think to say as I laid on the cold stone floor is to ask the same question I always do.

“Why? Why are you doing this to me? What did I do to you... to deserve this?”

He laughed. He actually laughed at my question. “Because your a winged bitch just like the last one. Now answer my question. Why are you here?”

“I don’t... understand. I’m just helping a friend-” My reply was cut off as he kicked my side. I coughed and tried to regain my breath but he kicked me again.

“Don’t lie to me pegasus. You know you’re kind has been here before, did your damned enclave tell you that? They used to fly over the town occasionally, watching what we were doing with the gems.”

He wore a sickening grin as he leaned down next to me. “That is until I shot one of them through the wing. The rest of the cowards left her to die as they flew off, haven’t come back since.”

He stood up and walked over to the lockers, opening one as he started looking for something.

“I dragged her back here and tied her up, just like you. Of course she resisted at first, but I can be very persuasive when I need to be.” He trotted back to me and dropped a fearsome black helmet next to me. It was clean and shiny at one time, but now it was covered in bloodstains.

“You know she lasted nearly a week before she talked. Though she was much bigger and stronger than you, so I don’t expect much.”

I struggled against the ropes around my hooves in some vain attempt to look stronger than I felt at the moment. “I already told you, I’m just trying to help a friend. I’ve never even been above the clouds, I’ve lived in Desert Springs my whole life.”

He stood up with a sigh. “The things I do for you ponies…” He muttered under his breath as he walked back to the lockers. “Is that so? You’re a wastelander like the rest of us then?”

“Yes.” I was reluctant with my answer. I didn’t know where he was going with this but it couldn’t be anywhere good.

“No enclave plots or sneaky plans then? Just a rogue pegasus, skilled in combat, traveling with a mutated abomination of a pony who happens to be skilled in all manners of espionage, traveling the desert on some kind of errand?”

“Wait how do you know anything about Finder you creep?”

“The little brat stole something from me, it had to be him. And after I’m done here I’m going to get it back.” He shouted at me as he leaned down to my face. I avoided looking at him until he stood back up and smiled.

“Well if you're going to claim to be one of us...” He trailed off as he turned around, then back to me with some kind of crude saw held in his magic. “You might as well start looking a little more like us.”

No. Nonono he can’t be thinking about doing that. “You can’t be serious! Come on I swear I’ll tell you whatever you want to hear just put that thing away!”

That sick grin came back. “I was afraid I wasn’t going to get much fight out of you, but maybe I was wrong. Don’t worry I’ll let you talk later. But for now shut the fuck up!”

I tried to yell for help as he pressed his weight on my back. But another rope was levitated around my muzzle and pulled far too tight, preventing me from opening my mouth. He put a hoof on the back of my head and pressed my chin to the floor.“Don’t worry your body will go into shock soon and you won’t feel much after that.”

Tears filled my eyes as he shifted around on my back, removing the barbed wire keeping my wings together. He bit into the tip of one wing and held the other down with a hoof. I felt the cold metal of the saw press against the base of my wing, and his lips curve into a smile.

“Let her go Carbuncle!”

I couldn’t see much from my position, but I immediately recognized the voice of Quick Wick. The unicorn let the wing in his mouth drop to the floor as he sighed. “Ah yes, the young interloper. You never did learn to mind your own business, I should have killed you when you first arrived. Well no time like the present!”

All I could see was the bright green glow from Carbuncle’s horn, but I heard Quick slam into something hard. Carbuncle was off my back in a flash as he charged the recovering earth pony. I moaned as I tried to shift my body to see what was happening.

I didn’t get to see why it happened, but I did get to see Quick thrown across the room like a rock into a locker. He didn’t get up right way, and when he did it was noticeably slowly.

“What’s the matter youngster? Can’t keep up with a seasoned fighter like me? You’re not even worth my time, you’re nothing!” Carbuncle shouted as he charged with his bat in his telekinetic grip.

The blue pony glanced at me, and the confidence in his eyes washed even my fears away. His next three moves were all so fast I barely kept up.

Carbuncle first swung his bat, and Quick ducked under it and to the left. The old unicorn tried to follow up with a kick to where my friend’s head would be, but Quick feinted to the right faster than the old pony could react. With one smooth movement he drew a small double barrel shotgun from it’s holster on his leg.

The bang was deafening in the small space, but Carbuncle fell to the floor having no clue what had even killed him. Quick had unloaded both barrels into his head at point blank range… There wasn’t much left.

After holstering his gun he rushed to my side and untied my muzzle first before moving to my legs. “You know we really need to stop meeting like this, I’m already getting tired of seeing so much of your blood.”

I rewarded his comment with a ragged coughing fit, more of my blood spattering on the floor. Well that’s not good. “Sorry…”

His eyes met mine and all the pain was forgotten as he smiled at me gently. “You have nothing to apologize for. I always knew Carbuncle was a crazy bastard but this is just sick.”

I nodded and rose to my hooves, another coughing fit slowing me down. My insides felt like they were put through a wood chipper, did he kick me all the way down here? Actually that wouldn’t surprise me. Quick offered me a healing potion, and I felt immensely grateful as many of the less serious injuries began to heal.

“Quick you alright? I heard a shot.” Beryl rushed down the stairs and into the basement, a huge sword and a kitchen knife held in his magic. “Updraft! Thank Celestia we found you in time. I think I figured out what they’ve been doing to their victims after they kill them.”

I tilted my head and shared a worried glance with Quick. “What do you mean?”

“In the kitchen, second fridge. Care for the body though, Olivine rushed me with a kitchen knife when I tried to talk to her. Crazy bitch.” He dropped the offending knife on the floor at his hooves. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see what that sword could do to an unarmored pony.

“Well what do we have here…” It wasn’t a pony I recognized, but I knew enough about guns to know having an assault rifle pointed at you was not a good thing. “You three have made quite a mess of things.”

The green unicorn walked down the stairs with measured slowness. He was taking in as much information about the situation as he could before making any decisions. I preferred it when my enemies were stupid and charged right into incoming attacks.

“Jasper don’t tell me you’re in on this too.” Quick looked angrier than I ever recall seeing him before. Jasper laughed as we all backed farther into the room, keeping his rifle trained on Beryl.

“Not exactly. I knew that these sickos were cannibals yes, but I never could stomach the stuff. However I did have a pretty nice business deal going on here. A business deal you twats just ruined.”

I wasn’t sure what I could do to help here. Quick never reloaded his shotgun, Beryl had that gun aimed right at him, and I didn’t even have a weapon. But I did have speed, and with a little luck I could make this work.

“But don’t worry I already know how I can make a recovery. Just imagine, all the cheap labor I could get out of those damn kids if you weren’t in the way? And if the local bar owner ends up dead during his savage attack on the town mayor, who would take over the bar? Onyx can’t run it, and there’s only one pony here with the caps to give her an offer she can’t resist.” He adopted a smile I could only describe as greasy, and I could tell it was taking every bit of Beryl’s patience to not rush for him.

“Which leaves me with you.” His eyes turned to me, and it took me a moment to realize he wasn’t looking at me. He was looking at me. “Yes I can think of a few things I could do with that. Maybe even move in to keep you down here, in your very own bird cage.”

By now I was without a doubt the most angry one in the room. “You sick fuck! Don’t you have even a shred of decency? Or are you willing to debase yourself in every way possible? Killing ponies, threatening kids, and breaking the heart of somepony as kind as Onyx isn’t enough for you? Now you want to enslave another pony like this just to feel some kind of accomplishment?”

I could see the panic rising in his eyes as he aimed the gun at me now. “Carbuncle was a fool to leave you alive, you’re too unpredictable.”

Oh I’ll show him how unpredictable I can be. With a thrust of my wings I dashed to my right, drawing his shots away from the others as he filled the room with noisy death. As I reached the wall I used my wings to jump almost all the way to the ceiling before kicking off the wall and flying at him as fast as I could.

He expected me to fly directly at him, and he fired another burst of bullets into the air in front of him. Unfortunately for him I was aiming for the knife on the ground nearby. I landed and grabbed the knife in my mouth, keeping my momentum going as I rolled forward and stabbed the knife deep into his chest. Maybe I was still shook up after the fight with Big Guns, but I didn’t stop until I had stabbed his chest twice and slashed a long cut across his neck.

I stood there panting as I dropped the knife to the floor. He stood and reached a hoof out to me before falling into a puddle of his own blood. I collapsed as my exhaustion overwhelmed me, but Quick was by my side for me to rest against.

He held me close as I cried into his shoulder. It was all just too much. This, Finder’s condition, the stable, it was all just too much too fast. “Why are so some ponies just so horrible?”

Quick’s soft voice helped to calm me down. “The wasteland is a cruel, unfair place. It tries to take away everything you love and tear you down piece by piece. Those horrible ponies are just the ones who gave up. They let the wasteland beat them down and turn them into monsters. They’re not bad ponies, they just gave up on the good fight.”

I wiped my face with a hoof and nodded. “Thank you.” Beryl had politely waited to the side as I had another little breakdown. After I felt good enough to stand on my own he trotted past us and up the stairs. I took several more moments to catch my breath before following him. Quick was the last one up the stairs, and I had a feeling he paused to reload his gun this time.

The entrance to the basement was concealed by a removable piece of the wood floor. This house was probably built on top of the remains of a house built before the war if I had to guess. Next to the hidden stairs was the door to the kitchen, Olivine’s body laying in the doorway. Beryl’s sword had cut from one shoulder almost all the way to the other, nearly cutting the mare in half. Well that was a pretty terrible way to die.

I sat with Beryl in the main room while Quick walked into the kitchen. I could tell something was bothering him. “Beryl are you alright? Is what Jasper said bothering you?”

Again I just couldn’t read his expression as he shook his head. “I shouldn’t have let you come alone. I knew something was wrong.”

I smiled wryly and nudged his shoulder with a hoof. “You knew these two were cannibals and they liked to tie up pegasi in the basement? Come on don’t beat yourself up over it I’m fine.”

He didn’t smile back. “Yeah but what if you weren’t fine? Even if we found out and stopped them from ever doing it again, you’d still be dead. Like who knows how many other ponies he’s killed right in front of us! I’ve lived here nearly my whole life Updraft, and Carbuncle’s been here as long as I can remember. How many ponies has he killed, how many did they chop up and eat by now? And we did nothing to stop it.”

He sighed and glanced at the front door. “What if it had been Onyx next time, or one of the kids? I came out here to get away from this kind of stuff, but I guess there’s just no escaping the wasteland is there?”

Quick came back before I could respond and I didn’t want to press the issue with an audience. “Yeah that’s definitely not radgator meat in there. Good thing they won’t be hurting anypony else.” I nodded as we all walked back outside. The sun was just starting to rise, and the ponies were already milling about in the streets.

“So what now?” I asked as I looked back at the house warily. I was definitely going to hug my wings a little closer tonight.

“Well first of all you’re going to go see Onyx.” From the look Beryl was giving me I must have looked as bad as I felt. “With Jasper gone we’ll need to figure something out with the mine too. Since it was his all the work went through him and he kept a lot of the profit from what was found down there. Quick will you help me gather everypony at the bar?”

He nodded and they both trotted away in different directions. I watched Quick go until he disappeared around a corner. With a sigh I slowly made my way to the clinic. With every step I was becoming more sure that something was wrong with me.

I had just killed Jasper, brutally. Sure it was not only self defense, but for the sake of other ponies as well. But unlike after I had killed the slavers, I didn’t feel even remotely upset about it. I didn’t even feel empty or at any kind of loss. Killing him didn’t have any special meaning to me more than taking out the trash or sharpening a knife. I wasn’t sure how to feel about this.

He had just made me so angry! Since I was a filly I believed that everypony can become better, and nopony deserves to die. But it seems like every day since I left Desert Springs I’ve faced ponies so horrible, so absolutely wrong that the only way to help the good ponies is to take out the bad ones.

Was the wasteland turning me into a killer? Was I becoming the very thing I’ve always sworn to protect ponies from? Sure it’s easy to argue that the only ponies I’ve killed were bad and were trying to hurt other ponies. But already it was getting easier each time to kill, what will I be like by the end of the month? Will it start becoming easier to kill ponies just because it’s more convenient?

These thoughts plagued my mind as I walked down the street. I had passed the clinic, instead venturing further to the edge of town. I found the rock that Griff had sat on waiting for us to return from the crater, and decided it did look like a pretty good place to sit.

The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, one of the few times you really get to see it. I felt the brilliant light wash over me, basking in it’s warmth and promise of a new day. Almost instinctively my wings opened up as I sat there lost in my own thoughts. I wondered what the new day would bring with it.

Each day was a new promise of hope, a new chance to make a difference in the world. No matter how bad the previous day was, that hope is what always kept me going. The belief that no matter how bad or hard life is, every day is a chance to make it just a little bit better.

I closed my eyes and smiled. I will likely have to kill again, and there’s no telling what kinds of horrors will face me as I wander the wasteland helping those I can. But no matter what, so long as Celestia’s beautiful sun is still shining down on us I will never lose hope that I can be better. That the wasteland can be better.

Bleh I shouldn’t do so much thinking while I probably have a concussion.

With a deep breath I rolled to my hooves and made my way back to the clinic. My muscles ached all over, but at least I still had my wings. Even if they were a bloody mess yet again.

As I neared the bar I could hear a loud commotion going on inside. Most of the townsponies had gathered inside or around the building to hear the news. And they were not very happy.

I caught pieces of conversations as I tried to make my way through the small crowd.

“Did he say old Carbuncle’s dead?”

“Well somepony’s got to take charge around here.”

“Well I vote for Quartz.” One black-coated buck shouted and laughed as another jabbed him in the side.

“Your brother? Oh come on we all know how that will end.”

“With the whole town making and drinking booze?” They both laughed as I ducked past them and into the bar.

Inside the bar was just as busy as outside. Ponies talked in loud conversations all throughout the bar, each group trying to talk louder than the rest. Beryl spotted me and without a word pushed me back to the clinic. After he closed the door behind us it got much quieter.

“Where have you been I told you to come straight here.” After he checked me over to ensure I hadn’t suffered any further injury he stepped back with a sigh. “We heard about what happened the other night you know, Onyx and I were worried about you.”

“I’m fine alright? No need to worry.” Then remembering I was yet again an injured mess in the clinic… “Okay maybe I’m not ‘fine’, but I can take care of myself!”

Onyx trotted in from Finder’s room and took one look at me. Without a word she motioned for me to get on her table yet again. After a quick check up and confirming that I did in fact have a minor concussion, the unicorn turned her attention to my wings. She hung her head with a sigh and admitted, “I still have no idea what to do about that. I’ve looked through all my books since you got here but I don’t know anything about pegasus anatomy. The talons have a doctor that fixed up the griffon’s wing, so I’ll see if I can find her again.”

She sighed and mumbled something about needing a drink. “Isn’t it a little early in the day to start drinking?” I couldn’t help but ask, the sun just came up!

Beryl laughed and shook his head. “Why else do you think she married a bartender?”

“Alright that’s enough out of you, go on! Shoo!” Onyx chased Beryl back into the bar with a surgical tray held in her magic. I couldn’t help but smile at the couple’s antics. “Never get married it’s a trap. Okay anyways just hang tight here and I’ll try and find that griffon for you.”

“So you like music right?” The large griffon asked after she finished examining my wings. She opened her bag and pulled a roll of bandages, something I was starting to get tired of seeing. “Or at least you sure seemed to enjoy the show last night.”

My cheeks flushed with embarrassment as I poked a hoof at the floor. “Sorry about that. I’ve just never heard music like that before.”

She laughed as she wrapped my wings up. “No worries, most people haven’t. That kind of music wasn’t very popular before the war either.”

I sat up straighter and extended my wings fully. “No I mean the only music I’ve ever heard is when one of the merchants that visited my town would record some of DJ-Pon3’s broadcasts. And it was always such sad music. But last night that music was…”

“Upbeat?” I nodded trusting she knew what I was talking about. I had absolutely no idea what that word even meant. “So is that why you got up and left during our last song? The one about home?”

“Yeah… I miss home.” She had finished with my wings and walked around to stand in front of me.

“Tell me about it. Griff, the twins, and I all grew up in the same village. We kept to ourselves above the clouds so the Enclave didn’t bother us. Until the last “Crusade” when the other griffon's decided to pick a fight they couldn’t win. Bastards nearly made us extinct because of their pride.”

“Crusade?” I was thrilled to meet someone who seemed as interested in history as I was. Plus she knew something about the other pegasi too!

“Well that’s what we call them. The Clavers just called them Griffon Wars. There were three total, and the damn Enclave has won every one of them. Now the only griffons above the clouds are hiding in caves and living on scraps like the rest of us.”

She put a hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes. “Look I heard that you’ve never been above the clouds before. I don’t know what you’re expecting if you ever get to go up there, but I don’t want you to be caught off guard. There’s only one difference between being up there and being down here. Down here they’ll shoot you in the face, up there they’ll shoot you in the back.”

^^^

“Come again?”

I was enjoying my lunch at Beryl’s when the Captain had made her proposition. Seeing as Nowhere didn’t have a mayor, Beryl and Quick were elected the town leaders for now. Aside from the four of us, Onyx and a hooffull of other townponies were also here.

“Look I know you don’t really have anyone in charge here, and trust me it shows. You’ve got no defenses, no guards, you don’t even have a basic set of laws to follow. All I’m saying is let my Talons make this place a home, and you’ll have protection from even the strongest raider gangs in the wasteland.”

“And let you all start making rules and telling us what to do? No thank you.” Quick replied and was followed by a few others.

“I’m not saying we’re going to start changing the way you all run the town. Look this place is a small, dying town in the middle of nowhere.”

“Well yeah, hence the name.” Onyx chimed in as the others laughed.

“But don’t you want more than this? Just barely scraping by, not knowing if a caravan will even show up to bring your much needed food? I know you ponies have the goods to trade, but no caravan’s gonna make the trip out here if they don’t feel safe. That’s where we’ll come in.”

Vera sat down at the bar next to me and sighed. “Look we’re about to head out and hit the Sand Dog stronghold, and that’s a good start. But if you ponies want this place to really be safe we’ve got a lot of work to do. Now I’m willing to do it because I see one hell of a business opportunity out here, but I can’t do it for free. Give us a place to hang our coats up and we’ll keep you safe.”

Beryl looked around at the many conflicting faces around the room. “I don’t know. I mean it sounds good and all, but we’ve never had any problems here before.”

“Well I don’t see what’s the hold up.”

Everypony (plus one griffon) turned to look at me. Have I mentioned before how much I hate being the center of attention? “I mean… I guess you have a point, why buy security if you’ve never been attacked before right? But just because you haven’t had problems before doesn’t mean you never will. Extra security is always nice to have, plus what are you losing? Maybe a few of the empty buildings around town will be full of griffons?”

I looked around at the gathered ponies as what I said started to sink in. “Plus the extra business around town can only be good. Talons need food and water to take on their trips, lots of ammo and weapons. Armor repairs and medical supplies, not to mention booze at the end of the day right Beryl?”

He laughed and rubbed the back of his head with a hoof. “Yeah I must admit that business has been great since you all showed up. I may run out of stock soon at this rate.” Several of the others agreed.

“And with that the caravans will be bringing more supplies with each trip to sell, making it more worthwhile for them to come. Maybe set up some discounted protection from the Talons and boom! You got yourselves a pretty sweet deal here.”

Vera scratched her chin before nodding. “Yes I suppose I could work something out like that. Give protection at a discount in order to assure future business deals, I could spin that. Not like every Talon will be working the bigger jobs all the time anyways.”

I stood up and stretched. “Right, then I’ll leave you guys to it. I’ve got some graves to go dig.” Everypony else stared as I grabbed the shovel from my bags and walked out the door. I almost made it a block before Quick caught up. Not as fast of a runner as his name suggests.

“Updraft wait! What do you mean graves?”

I spit the shovel out and balanced it on my back. “Well somepony needs to dig graves old for Carbuncle and the others. Figure it might as well be me.” Not to mention I was the one who killed Jasper…

He stood dumbfounded before I heard a familiar laugh beside me. Leek trotted up with Sunrise laying on his back. She smiled and waved at me weakly. “Yeah she does that. Not like it’s the weirdest thing she does. I killed nearly a dozen raiders yesterday, and she dug graves for all of them.”

I shrugged before turning to Sunrise. “And how are you feeling? Sand snakes aren’t that bad right? I told the big guy that you’d be fine but he just kept crying about it.”

Leek snorted but Sunrise hugged him tightly. “Aww, big softie. I feel fine though thanks to you. Guess I owe you one.”

“You don’t owe me anything. I did what anypony else would do. So guess you two are sticking around for a while?”

Leek started to say something about keeping away from griffons, but Sunrise cut him off. “Yes we’ll be staying under Onyx’s care for a few days until she’s sure I can get around on my own. She won’t let me pay her though…”

I turned to Quick and tilted my head. “Does she charge any of her patients?”

He shrugged. “She’s never charged me for any of the kids either. Guess she get’s money from Beryl to pay for things. That’s the only thing everypony here has in common, they all like a good drink.” Fair enough.

I checked my Pipbuck and found it to be just after noon. “Well I’d best be off, I’ll leave you two to your sightseeing.” With a nod I spread my wings and flew a few ponylengths from the ground.

It didn’t take me long to get back to the house that started my day off. The door was still open, the body of Olivine clearly visible to anypony that happened to look inside as they passed. I gently closed it as I walked around the house.

I started digging the two graves a fair distance behind the building, leaving plenty of room since there will probably be some Talons living here within a week. As usual digging the graves was the easy part, at least for me.

After making sure there weren’t any kids around I carefully carried Olivine’s body outside and laid her in her grave. Only now did I recognize her as the green unicorn from the other night. The one that enjoyed cutting my mane and tail up.

After burying her I went back to get Carbuncle. Just touching him made my stomach turn, and not just because he no longer had a head. I may have rushed a little more than usual to get him in his grave and buried…

I used two large rocks as their headstones, but without knowing them all I could scratch on there was their names.

“I sure wish it could have ended differently, that we all just could have been friends. But I guess not everypony can put their differences aside. Guess I need to find out where Jasper lived next.” I wasn’t talking to anypony in particular, so I was rather surprised when Quick answered.

“He lived by the entrance to the mine. I’ll take you there.”

“Well you don’t have to, not like any of this mess is your fault.”

He trotted over and put a hoof on my shoulder, staring into my eyes. “And it isn’t your fault either alright?”

I couldn’t look him in the eyes. “Jasper was…”

He shook his head and walked over to the two graves. “You buried these two, I’ll go bury Jasper alright? You’ve done more than your fair share.” I started to argue but he held a hoof up and cut me off. “Plus I think there’s a certain purple filly who wants to see you. Head over to the Oasis.”

He walked back to me and hugged me tight (ohmygosh). “You deserve some time off alright? Just walk in the direction of the orphanage and look for the only blue building on the way, can’t miss it.”

It took less than a second for me to return the hug. “Thanks, this really means a lot to me.” After one more look at the two graves I wandered off in the direction of the orphanage. I wondered what the Oasis even was. It can’t be a bar, Beryl would have mentioned it by now. Quick said something about the younger kids working in a gem shop, maybe that’s what it was? Well as I approached the blue building in question I guess I was going to find out.

It was painted (rather poorly) to look like blue water in the middle of the desert, with fake trees and a sign proudly proclaiming it as ‘Oasis’. As I walked in the front door I’ll admit it turned out to be the last thing I expected.

Sure enough when I checked my Pipbuck it said Oasis Spa and Bath. Huh.

“Updraft you came! I’ve been looking all over for you.” Geode shouted as she tackled my leg with a hug.

“Whoa there kiddo of course I came. As soon as I heard my favorite filly needed me I came right away.” I grinned and tousled her mane.

“Really? That’s so cool! Mom Updraft’s here and she said I get to fix her mane like mine!” I followed her into the next room, a sign above the door labeling it as the Bathhouse.

I was immediately greeted by four ponies, all of which had drastically different colors. I recognized Sapphire first, as well as a purple unicorn I saw at the meeting with Vera earlier today. There was also a red earth pony and a green unicorn. Oddly enough they all had matching brownish-red manes and tails.

“Welcome to the Oasis! How may I assist you?”

“Oh thank Celestia a customer? I’ve been dying of boredom over here.”

“Oh and a Pegasus pony too? Maybe I’ll finally get to use that book I found.”

“Girls!” The older purple unicorn shouted, and several apologies followed from the others. “I’m sorry about that dear, I’m afraid we don’t get much business out here. How may we help you?”

A lot of questions were going through my head, like why there was so much clean water in here and what kind of book did the green unicorn find. But firstly, “What is this place?”

The red earth pony was the first to answer, nearly jumping in place from excitement. “This is the Oasis silly, only place in all of Nowhere to go if you want your mane done, or a hot bath, or a massage, or anything fun really. Most of the ponies here don’t like fun though…”

“Baths? Where do you get all the water from?”

“Well we have the town’s only water talisman here. Most of the water is run through the old water system so everypony has water in their respective homes and businesses, but we have enough leftover to run a few baths for our customers. What do you say?”

I rubbed a hoof at the floor out of embarrassment. “Sorry I don’t have any caps.”

Amethyst laughed and urged me to one of the changing rooms. “Nonsense. It’s all been paid for by that handsome stallion from the orphanage.”

Oh. Of course it was. With a nod and maybe a tiny hint of a blush I walked into the changing room she directed me to. Which I thought the very existence of such a room was silly but whatever. After removing my bags and barding I walked back into the bath house. Without anything to defend myself with I felt strangely naked…

“Now just lay down in this bath and relax. Careful though the water may be a little hot.” As soon as my hooves touched the water I practically melted into the tub. I probably looked like a chem addict as I laid there in pure bliss. “I take it you’re enjoying it?” Amethyst laughed as I nodded dumbly.

“Come along girls let’s not bother her, after all the point in a spa visit is to relax.”

^^^

That filly needs to lay off the snack cakes was all I could think about as Geode bounced around the room. After the most incredible bath ever followed by a massage, I followed her into the Mane Stylings room and laid down on the cushion she motioned to. “Just wait right there I’ll be right back.” And with that she was gone again, never even stopping to breathe.

She came back a minute later with her mom, looking decidedly less excited. “Mom says I can’t do your mane and tail all by myself because she thinks I might mess up.”

I smiled and patted her head. “I’m sure she only wants to make sure you do your very best, right Sapphire?”

“Of course dear, I just want to make sure our guests are always given the very best of service.”

The next hour was spent relaxing and trying to follow the directions of a rather excited filly.
More than once Sapphire stepped in to give advice, but overall I still trusted Geode to do a better job than I would. Not like she could make it worse than it already was…

“So what do you think?” Sapphire pointed a hoof at a wall mirror. I stood up and trotted over, seeing myself for the first time since I left Desert Springs.

My coat was pristinely clean, it almost looked like it was shining. My wings were no longer bandaged and in quite a mess, but I could preen them tonight. My mane and tail however, had never looked so well kept. I still didn’t like my hair being this short, but Geode made it look incredible. It was perfectly cut and cleanly combed, something she used making the silver streaks shine.

“So, do you like it?” Geode asked hopefully. I turned and wrapped her in a tight hug.

“It’s wonderful! Thank you so much this means a lot to me.” Sapphire laughed as I wrapped her filly in a ball of fur and feathers.

“You really are a big softie you know that? All hugs and no bite.” I made sure to pull her into the hug too, just in case. Wouldn’t want anypony to feel left out after all.

After the hugs were over I was left with a decision to make. I didn’t really want to hang around here and seem like a bum, but I didn’t really have anywhere else to go. Fortunately Sapphire seemed to notice the lull in conversation and provided an escape for me. “You know I think some of the kids at the orphanage wanted to ask what it’s like to fly. And who better to tell them than a pegasus?”

How about a gryphon who actually knows how to properly fly? But I was grateful nonetheless for something to do. “Well why not, I don’t have anything else to do anyways. Are you coming Geode?”

She was about to answer in her usual energetic manner, but her mother cut her off. “I’m afraid not, we have a reading lesson to do.” The filly let out an adorable ‘aww’, but Sapphire was not perturbed. “Like it or not I will not have my filly grow up uneducated. Now come along, we have a lot to do before it gets too dark to see your hooves.”

I waved goodbye as they left, and was going to walk back to the front door. But after seeing an open window I decided to take a quick flight. I spread my wings and… immediately started preening them. Sure they weren’t that bad, but now that I knew how they were supposed to look it bothered me whenever they weren’t right.

After depositing the loose feathers I pulled out the window, jumped through the small opening and took to the sky. Okay I was barely level with the surrounding rooftops but I was still off the ground! It was a short flight to the orphanage, and after two knocks on the door I went inside.

Quick was nowhere to be seen, but many of the fillies and colts were playing all over the room. As soon as I walked in I was assaulted by a flurry of questions as they all crowded around me. Seeing a good opportunity, I flapped my wings and took to the air above them. They were all silent for just a moment before Pyrite spoke up.

“That’s so awesome!” Soon they all joined in and I had to fight back a laugh. Something so simple to me was something entirely new to them. Seeing the door was still open I decided to do a few tricks outside. I flew through the doorway over their heads and spun around to face them as they followed me out.

“You wanna see something cool?” They all cheered as I ascended as high as I dared to go. I’m no Wonderbolt of old Equestria, but I’ve learned a few tricks over the years. After I got high enough to look over the whole town, I started doing small circles trying to get a steady rhythm. After I built up some speed I started spiralling downwards towards the kids.

The lower I got the faster I went, until the world passed around me in a blur. I found one unicorn filly standing apart from the others, perfect. Waiting until the last possible moment I circled around the filly before flying straight up through the circles I was making above her. With a cry she was lifted off the ground several feet in the air, but just before she started falling I caught her on my back. I flew back down to the ground and gently set the unbalanced filly on the ground, but I was soon swarmed by the other kids.

They all asked me rapid questions I couldn’t possibly hope to answer as they surrounded me. But one set of eyes in particular caught my attention. The filly I performed the trick on earlier was again standing apart from the other kids as she watched. But coat was a pristine white, and her mane and tail seemed to be even whiter. But her eyes held no color.

Quick was trotting back from town so I flew to him for an answer. “Hey Quick who is that white filly? I don’t think I’ve seen her before, but she doesn’t seem to get along with the other orphans.”

He didn’t respond at first, and when he did it took me completely by surprise. “You look… You look really… um…” He shook his head and pointedly looked away. “You mean Morning Star?”

Alright then… “I guess, she doesn’t play with the other kids much does she? I haven’t seen her before today.” I looked back to see Graphite keeping the rest of the orphans busy with a game of tag while I talked with Quick. One of these days I’d have to do something for that nice colt, he really does help take care of the others.

Whatever had distracted Quick seemed to wear off as the conversation went on, and he dipped his head with a sigh. “I’ve tried to help her make friends with the others, but it’s harder than you think.”

“Oh, and why’s that? She just not the social type?” I could certainly relate. Albeit not by choice, but I often stayed away from most other ponies when I was a kid. After a while you just get used to being alone most of the time.

He offered a grim smile as we walked towards the filly sitting quietly by herself. Hiis voice dropped to a whisper as we got closer. “Not exactly. The wasteland isn’t exactly kind to the handicapped.”

As we approached the fillies ears perked up and she turned to face us. The unicorn filly smiled brightly when Quick gave her a hug. “Hey sis, I want you to meet somepony. Updraft this is my sister, Morning Star. Morning Star, Updraft. She’s the crazy pegasus everyone’s been talking about.”

I smacked him with a wing at the mention of me being ‘that crazy pegasus’, but gave him a harmless smile. Morning Star nodded and took a step back. “Hello and nice to meet you again. But next time could you not lift me into the air? While I’m sure it would be cool for most ponies, I don’t exactly like moving so fast honestly…”

Oh my goodness. This filly is absolutely adorable, I just wanna squish her in the fluffiest of hugs ever. I shook my head to clear my thoughts, focus Updraft! “Of course, I didn’t mean to scare you or anything, I apologize. And Quick you never told me you had a sister!” I smacked him with a wing again, much to his chagrin.

“Ow knock it off, and you never asked! Anyways Star I’m ready to work on that project whenever you are. Sorry this morning was.. kinda busy.” He laughed nervously and tried not to look in my direction.

She nodded furiously and started walking back into the orphanage. Quick started to follow but I held him back with a hoof. “Hey not trying to be rude or anything, but is she… you know..”

He waved a hoof in dismissal. “Yes, she’s blind. Been that way since birth. Back then dad always hated her for it, said a crippled pony is a dead pony. Well he’s gone now and she’s still going so I guess we know how far that attitude got him.”

I nodded as we followed after her. But one question plagued my mind as she harmlessly navigated around the other fillies and colts as they were playing tag. “But how does she move around so easily? I mean that’s amazing that she can do that without seeing anything.”

He laughed at what I thought was a legitimate question. “We found a way around that a long time ago. Star may be blind, but she has incredible magical talent. Years ago we stumbled upon an old wagon full of books outside Manehatten. Many of them were burned and damaged pretty bad, but in a locked safe we found several spell books that were mostly undamaged.”

“So whenever time allows I spend time reading the spell books to Star and she makes sense of them. I’ve never seen a pony so dedicated to learning something, it’s really unbelievable honestly.” He sure does like to brag about his sister a lot, then again maybe that’s just normal? “Anyways a while back we found a spell that helps detect magic around the caster. Well everypony has magic in them, it’s just usually hard to notice unless it’s being actively used.”

“After Star messed around with the spell she figured out that it’s not too hard to turn the ‘sensitivity’ of the spell up, so long as you put a buffer between yourself and the feedback to keep the stronger magic sources from overwhelming you. So that’s what she does to ‘see’ ponies around her, without actually seeing them. Make sense?”

“Okay not going to lie, I have no idea what you just said. So I’m just going to nod my head and say yes.” He laughed and motioned me inside after him. We walked through the foyer and down the hall to the last room. Star led the way inside to what was clearly Quick’s bedroom. His shotgun hung from a bedpost in it’s holster, but other than a table and a few chairs the room was otherwise empty. He really didn’t keep much for himself did he?

Quick grabbed a book (Barrier spells of the Solar Guard, Government property! The possession of this book by unauthorized personnel is prohibited and punishable by law.) off of the table and opened to a page bookmarked by a familiar colored feather. I decided not to mention it to him as I tried to hide a blush.

“Okay let’s see… here we are. The use of portable barriers to protect a moving target. In order to protect VIP’s in transit, it was of the highest priority of the Solar Guard to develop a method of providing adequate protection without slowing the operation down. It was for this reason that High Mage Buckler sought out to develop a barrier spell that attaches to the target and moves with it. Herein are the notes of High Mage Buckler and the spell matrices regarding this spell.”

Wow. This kind of stuff was leagues ahead of my own understanding of magic, no way I could keep up with this.

“Hey Updraft still with us?”

I blinked my eyes back to wakefulness as I yawned. “Huh? Yeah totally, I was just praying to Celestia…” For some reason Quick didn’t look convinced as he smirked at me.

“Then why could I hear you snoring?” I tried to glare at him, but it probably didn’t have quite the effect I wanted it to have since there was an errant sheet of paper stuck to the side of my face.

Graphite was sitting in a corner of the room laughing as I pawed at the paper to get it off. “Not to mention your wings were all spread out and twitching and stuff. Have a dream about flying?”

I sat up with a huff and pointedly looked away. “I’ll have you know I don’t have to take this kind of abuse, I can leave at any time.” But when I cracked an eye open to look at Quick his smirk turned to a look of concern.

“Updraft you really should probably get some sleep soon. I doubt you got much last night, and you got a job to do tomorrow remember?”

I waved him off with a hoof as I stood to stretch. “Nonsense I feel fine. Besides don’t you need me to do anything around here? I mean since you are lending me a place to stay for the night…”

Graphite looked at me in surprise. “You aren’t going to sleep in Finder’s room again?”

I frowned at no one in particular. “No, Onyx won’t let me. Says I need to sleep in an actual bed and she won’t take no for an answer.”

“And she’s right. Now go get something to eat at Beryl’s and I expect you back here ready for bed in an hour.” Beryl sat on his haunches and crossed his forehooves, allowing for no argument. Well I was going to anyways.

“What are you my foalsitter now? No.”

He gave me a warning look and extended a hoof. “Are you sure? I’ll have to use my secret weapon if you don’t make the right choice here.”

Secret weapon, what is this a game of Ponies and Dragons or something? “I said no. YOu’re not my boss, and I’ll have my bedtime when I want to.” This argument was absolutely ridiculous…

“Very well, you leave me no choice. May Celestia have mercy on your soul…” He stepped aside to reveal Morning Star who had previously been quiet throughout the conversation.

At first I imagined her using some kind of spell to make me do as I’m told or just to outright levitate me to Beryl’s. Instead I was startled when she trotted up to me and stopped just a hooflength away. She took a deep breath before looked up at me with the absolutely most adorable face I’ve ever seen. Her pristinely white coat and mane were accented only by her silvery eyes, which looked at me with the barest hint of tears. “Please listen to my brother? It would make me really happy.”

I died. Quick was a monster releasing this kind of weapon on fellow ponykind! Even during the Great War they never would have stooped so low! I couldn’t stop myself from scooping up the white filly and holding her close, even wrapping my wings around her for maximum cuddles. “I will do anything it takes to keep you from ever crying Star.”

I heard a muffled ‘yes’ from Quicks direction, and I returned the favor with a wing gesture that an Earth Pony could never repeat or likely understand. Before separating the hug I leaned in and whispered in Star’s ear. “I’m going to go eat at Beryl’s, but I’m probably gonna go sneak into Finer’s room and sleep next to him again okay? But don’t tell Quick yet!”

She laughed and nodded. “You got it. He really can be overprotective sometimes, I know it’s really important for you to be with your friend.”

With one last squeeze we separated and I left them to continue their magic studies. Stepping outside the orphanage I was surprised to see that it was already dark. I really did fall asleep for a while then.

It was a nice night out at least. Gentle breeze, cool temperature, and nice thermals all around. Would have been a great night for some flying if it wasn’t slightly soiled when I was approached by a familiar reddish-brown mare. She didn’t even say a word as she trotted up to me, stopping abruptly a shoving me back with a hoof.

“You’ve got some serious nerve walking around here like you own the place. This town was perfectly fine before you showed up and started changing things.” She snarled and glared at me.

I had half a mind to tell her how not fine this town was, but I decided against insulting anypony who might be eavesdropping. Instead I offered her a goodnight and walked around her.

The look on her face was priceless before she recovered and rushed to block my path again. “Now you listen here, I’m not gonna let you just ignore me. I want you to get out of our town! What do you have to say to that?”

I shrugged and continued walking around her. “Okay, I’m leaving tomorrow anyways on a job for Vala.” Again it took her a moment to recover, but this time she stepped in front of me and shoved me back.

Alright now she’s starting to get on my nerves. “No, I want you to leave now.” She smiled and apparently seemed to think she was winning this little competition.

I grinned and poked her nose with a hoof, obviously not the reaction she was expecting. “I’m afraid I have an appointment with a very sleepy friend. Afraid I’ll have to reschedule our next meeting tomorrow.” I gave my wings a flap to accent my point. After all it was rather silly that she was trying to block a pegasus’ path by standing in front of her.

She screamed and lunged at me, thrashing wildly as she tried to get a good hit in. Years of training as a town guard made it easy for me to get the upper hoof, and with a few quick movements I was on top of the angry mare. I may not be a strong pony, but after I rolled her onto her belly it was easy to keep her pinned under me.

“Listen! I don’t know what it is you have against me, or pegasi for that matter, but I really don’t care. What matters is that you have to look past that for the sake of everypony around you. You have to, for their sake and for yours.”

“Or I can just get rid of you and it won’t be a problem anymore!” Despite her obvious aggression and raised voice, her muscles were growing less tense as she calmed down. “Why should I have to change just for you?”

Sensing an opportunity to gain a little trust, I got off of her and sat down. Well it’s now or never, but if you don’t take chances then you don’t make friends. “When I was a filly, I grew up in a little town a lot like this one. Of course the other kids would tease and make fun of me, but that wasn’t such a big deal. As soon as they needed to reach something high they usually came to me instead of their parents, and any problems they had with me were soon forgotten.”

She laughed mockingly as she stood up beside me. “Yeah sounds like a real hard knock life.”

I ignored her and continued my story. “The older ponies though, were not so easily changed. Most of them hated me just for my wings, and no matter what I did they still hated me. I tried not to let it get to me, but after I got my Cutie Mark they went too far.”

“I was walking back into town from the field I used to practice my flying. I had just reached the first abandoned house when two earth pony bucks surprised me and pulled me inside. Expecting another beating I immediately tried to find a way out, but they had something much worse in mind. After all I had my Cutie Mark now…”

Her criticizing grin soon turned to horror as I continued my tale. Though it was probably hard to understand my ramblings through the choked sobs as I continued. “I tried to fight them off, I really did. To call someone for help, to do anything I could but they were so much stronger than me and I was just so tired after a long day and-”

“Shut up! I don’t want to hear about your stupid sob story! So what if you had it rough, we’ve all had it rough! What makes you so different huh? What makes you special?”

“Because I didn’t give up!” She took a step back after my sudden outburst. It took me a moment to catch my breath and collect my thoughts, but when I did it was with renewed confidence.

“Even though they hurt me and tried to bring me down, I never gave up. I kept fighting every day I lived there and I’m still fighting! I’m still trying to prove that I’m just as much a pony as you even if I have wings on my back. I’m never going to give up on my dreams just because some ponies don’t think I’m worth the dirt on their hooves.”

Now it was my turn to be on the offensive. “But what about you? Didn’t you ever have a dream? Hope that our lives could be better than this?” I asked as I waved a hoof around us. “The wasteland is cruel and horrible. But it doesn’t have to be! We can make it a better place, one pony at a time.”

She scowled and spat at the ground. “Such dreams are for fillies and colts. Grow up like the rest of us and accept life for what it is.”

I rubbed at my red eyes and looked back in the direction of e orphanage. “You ever stop and wonder if the colts and fillies are right? That is adults are the ones being immature and petty?”

That seemed to make her stop and think. After a long silence she stood up and started to walk back into town.

“Wait! I never caught your name, mind if I ask?”

She called back over her shoulder. “I do mind. And it’s Hessonite.”

^^^