I walked through the darkness completely alone, barely able to see my own hooves through the swirling mist surrounding me. “Finder? Bora… Anypony?” My voice seemed so distant, like it wasn’t even mine. Suddenly the mist gave way to several pony-like shapes in the distance. “Who’s there?” Why did my voice seem so shaky? So… scared?

The shapes approached me slowly, and I recognized them as the slavers I killed before. They were covered in blood and gaping wounds. Wounds I had caused. “Why?” They whispered to me in unison. “Why did you kill us? You didn’t have to, but you wanted to. Why did you kill us?” Again and again they asked as they slowly approached me.

“Stay back! I-I didn’t have a choice, you were just going to keep on hurting other ponies!” I tried to back away but I somehow had my back against a wall. I turned to see the horrid wall inside The Black 9, covered with the desecrated corpses of children. The faces were all turned to me, pain written across their faces.

“You didn’t save us. Why didn’t you save us! Why won’t you help us!?” Their voices grew louder and louder as they continued to ask. I turned to run only to find the slavers from before had surrounded me. “Why did you kill us you monster! Why!?” They continued to walk closer to me, always yelling, always asking.

I awoke gasping for air and covered in sweat. I couldn’t feel them but I knew tears had to be streaming down my face. I turned to see Finder sitting in the doorway to the little shack with a conflicted expression on his face. He dropped his ears before walking out of sight, leaving me alone in the dark room again. It took a few minutes to compose myself but I finally built up the courage to walk outside with him. He was sitting next to the door staring up into the clouded skies, trying to get a glimpse of the moon.

“Bad dream?” He looked at me with a wry smile.

“Yeah you could say that…” I felt a little pathetic as I continued to sniffle, but Finder didn’t seem to mind.

“Want to talk about it?”

“Not really…” I didn’t even want to remember it, much less talk about it. Seeing those things once was bad enough, but now that I was starting to see them in my sleep I don’t think I’ll look forward to taking naps for a long time.

“Hey we’re friends right?” I nodded and pawed at the dirt with a hoof. “Well as your friend I want to help you, but I can’t if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.” I flinched a little as he placed a hoof on my shoulder, but I couldn’t help but give in to his kind words.

“Okay you’re right. But if I start crying again you’re responsible got it?” After taking a few deep breaths I told him about the nightmare I had. His first reaction was to hug me until I stopped crying again, but after that all he could do is scratch his head.

“I got nothing. I mean I believe most dreams mean something, but honestly I have no idea about this one. Was that the first time you’ve ever killed a pony before?”

“Finder that was the first time I’ve ever seen a dead pony before. There was only one funeral in Desert Springs when I lived there, and Miss Lapps made me stay home since it was raining and I was still little.”

He tapped his chin for a moment before shrugging. “If you ask me that dream seems like a good thing honestly.” He walked back into the shack and started packing his things.

I followed and did the same as I thought about his answer. “How could something that horrible possibly be a good thing?” I wasn’t comfortable talking about the subject at all. More than anything I wanted to bury those memories some place deep in the back of my mind. But still Finder is my friend and he’s given me nothing but good advice so far… well mostly good advice but still.

“Well the way I see it…” Okay seriously how did he talk so perfectly while holding things in his mouth? “You’re having bad dreams about seeing dead ponies right? More specifically ponies who didn’t really need to die right? Well seems to me it bothers you that innocent ponies are getting hurt. That’s just perfectly normal.”

I picked up Commander Hurricane’s journal and looked at the old worn cover. Time certainly hasn’t been kind to the old book, the cover was cracked and the edges were frayed. But it was in good condition considering how old it is. I’ll never forget the first night I started to read it next to the fireplace in town hall. It took me nearly an hour just to read the first paragraph but I felt on top of the world when Miss Lapps said she was proud of me. Finder startled me out of my reverie by tapping a hoof on my shoulder.

“…ready? Sun’s going down we should really get moving. It’s best to only move at night.”

“Huh? Oh umm yeah I’m ready, why at night again?” I wrapped the old book in my blanket and gently set it in one my bags before sliding them over my back and following Finder outside.

“Hellhounds mostly hunt by smell, but their eyesight is just as good as a pony’s and with as many of them as there are, going by day is just suicide. Going at night lets us ignore that problem for the most part. We’ll head through an old military camp just outside of town, I usually find a few good things in there and we can use the cover to get into Las Pegasus without them noticing.”

“Okay but what about their smell? I heard they can smell twice as good as any pony.” Finder grimaced but we started walking at a fast pace by his lead.

“Oh they can smell way better than that. But we always had a way to fix that, don’t worry about it. The biggest problem is the radiation. Like I said before the zebras hated this place so they hit it with at least three balefire bombs, maybe more. They wanted to make sure even if somepony survived the explosions by some miracle, the ridiculous amount of radiation would kill anything instantly.”

“But you have a plan for that right? I mean you’ve been there before so you have to know a way around that.” I remember he told me to be careful to avoid balefire craters, but if there was that much radiation the whole place would kill you right?

“Actually there isn’t a way around it. You just have to suck it up and deal with it. That’s why I always bring lots of Rad-X and RadAway. Luckily your friend Airem had a lot of the stuff I bought with the caps you let us keep.”

I nickered but smiled despite myself. “You’re still mad about that?”

“Yes I’m mad about that! That money was ours fair and square and you gave it all to a bunch of strangers.” He put on his usual pouty face but I wasn’t buying it.

“Those ponies went through who knows what at the hooves of those raiders, and we both agreed that they deserved it. Besides it’s not like we gave them everything, you can still go back and open all the wall boxes, and all the gems are still there too!”

“Yeah but still… that was a lot of caps, we could have bought our way into Tenpony Tower with that much.”

“Tenpony Tower? No thank you, the only good thing I’ve known to come out of that place is DJ-Pon3’s broadcast, and we don’t even get it all the way out here anyways.”

“Hey that’s not true, my parents traded with a few nice ponies there, and the guards are pretty nice so long as you follow the rules. Heads up by the way…” He pointed ahead of us as we crested another small hill, and I finally got my first look at Las Pegasus.

It was huge! I’d never been in any city other than Desert Springs, but that didn’t even compare to Las Pegasus. Massive buildings reached for the sky; wide, paved streets ran in and out of the city; there were still some huge glowing neon lights hanging from some of the buildings. But what really caught my attention were the two massive craters within the city. They glowed a sickly green, and each one looked bigger than Desert Springs. After asking about them, Finder told me being in one those things would kill you in less than half an hour, and that there was at least one more on the far side of the city.

I could also see the small military camp Finder talked about. It was directly in front of us and just on the outside of town. He navigated us perfectly so that it would provide us cover as we made our way closer to the city proper. After a bit of planning Finder decided he would take point and I would follow right behind. I would fly so I wouldn’t set off any traps or make as much noise.

We quickly made our way to the military base without any trouble, and Finder led me inside the perimeter fence through a hole and into the first small building. It appeared to be some kind of barracks, with old beds and personal belongings scattered across the only room. We rested for a moment before Finder slinked back outside with me close in tow. I wanted to scavenge everything I could find, but I was too scared of falling behind to leave Finder’s tail.

We passed several more buildings and ruined tents before he led me into a large concrete structure with steel doors. Luckily the doors were already wide open, they were so rusty I was sure you could hear those doors being opened on the other side of Las Pegasus. Inside wasn’t much darker than it was outside, which didn’t really matter since I couldn’t see anything either way. I could barely see Finder and I certainly couldn’t hear him, following him was going to start getting really tricky. I barely saw him move into the next room, and I rushed to follow him. By the time I entered the next room he had already disappeared in the darkness. Not good.

"Finder?” I whispered as quietly as I could, but it still sounded deafening in the eerie silence.

“Finder?”

I heard a loud screeching noise before being tackled head on to the ground. I couldn’t see a thing but whatever it was felt big and leathery. It wrestled with me until I finally was able to push it off, rising to my hooves for whatever good it did me. It charged me again but from behind this time, pinning me under its superior weight. I could feel something sharp trying to press its way through my wingblades’ harness, and I was finally able to roll onto my back and face whatever it was that was attacking me.

I couldn’t see much, but the black monster on top of me was more than I wanted to see, and with a quick swipe of my right wing I slashed its neck with my wingblades leaving a gaping wound. The creature shrieked and bit at me again, barely missing my head as I squirmed on the floor underneath it. I slashed with my wing again, this time across its face and over one of its eyes.

That seemed to make it angry, and it began clawing at my stomach as it shrieked and bit for my throat again. This time I wasn’t so lucky… I felt its fangs sink deep into my neck as I slashed at one of the monster’s wings. The bite on my neck hurt but didn’t seem too bad. It drew its head back with a scream before going to bite my neck again. Not this time, I brought my left wing between me and the monster so all it got was a mouth full of wingblade. I rolled to my left and used the leverage to drag the scaled blade out of its jaws and across its face.

It screamed a final time before collapsing on me, its blood soaking into my coat and matting my fur down. I was struggling to shove it off of me when I heard another shrill screech from the darkness. “Oh come on!” I finally got the giant bat-thing off of me and rolled to my hooves, waiting for the impact that was sure to come soon. Still waiting…

…

Maybe it was too scared to- wham! I was hurled tail-over-head as I rolled across the floor, my back hitting the wall and my head slamming into something hard. I fought to regain my senses as another one of the monsters landed on my chest. I tried pushing it off of me with my hooves, but this one was even bigger than the first! And with my wings pinned underneath me this time, I stood little chance. The struggle was brief and I soon felt its fangs sink deep into my side… then I didn’t feel anything at all.

“Why didn’t you save us? Why didn’t you stop them?”

“Why did you kill us? It hurt so much! Why did you kill us you monster?!”

Thump.

I could feel the shallow beating of my heart, and my ears were ringing, but I was scared to open my eyes. My whole body felt numb but I was slowly gaining some feeling in my limbs.

Thump.

My blood felt like ice and my throat was as dry as the desert outside. I let out a groan which divulged into a painful coughing fit. As my hearing slowly started to come back I could hear voices faintly talking.

Thump.

Oh for Celestia’s sake what is that noise? I cracked my eyes open and they were immediately met by a blinding amber light. After they adjusted I made it out to be a (rather dim actually…) lantern lighting up the large room. It was clearly some kind of cafeteria, badly damages tables lining up in rows and a kitchen on the far side of the room. The voices continued talking somewhere nearby.

Thump.

I managed to turn my head to the right, and what I saw nearly gave me a heart attack. A hellhound was sitting cross-legged about a foot away from my head and another was leaning against a far wall. The noise was apparently coming from my leg as he rhythmically picked it up and let it drop to the floor, somehow managing not to cut me with his claws. I let out a quiet whimper as I tried to move away from the pair. It didn’t work, but it didn’t go unnoticed either.

“Looks like the pony is waking up.” The one on the far side of the room said as he lit a cigarette. The closer one grunted and shifted to face me.

“Told you she would, ponies never give up even when they should. Why are you here pony? Dogs don’t come to your home, why do you come to dog’s home?”

I tried to sit up but my limbs just wouldn’t listen. Opening my mouth proved to be far more painful due to my dry throat and mouth. “Water… please…”

The closer dog held out a jug of water for me, and rolled his eyes as I tried and failed to reach for it. He pressed it to my lips and helped me drink much more gently than I would have expected considering their violent reputation. He seemed almost happy to see me, whereas his friend looked at me like I was nothing more than an inconvenience.

“Ponies are so weak, cannot even fight bats.”

The ‘nice’ dog set the jug of water on the ground next to me with a scowl. “Brute was killed when bats surprise him, and I remember his strength.” Hellhounds having trouble with Bloodwings? Then again that makes sense, all that size doesn’t help when it probably only takes one bite to kill. “So tell me pony, why you come to dog’s home?”

My voice was still scratchy, but at least it hurt a lot less to talk now. “I’m… looking for somepony…”

“Bats find you first, lucky we always come when we hear them cry. But unless you are looking for dog, then I think you are lost. There are no ponies here, only dogs and bats unless you go into the tunnels.”

I wanted to ask him what he meant about the tunnels, but I think it would be best if I just answered his question before I made the giant with super sharp claws angry. “Finder? I know you’re in here… Please… tell them…”

The dogs looked at me oddly before their ears perked toward the far side of the room. Finder crawled out of a wall cabinet under the kitchen sink, his face painted with nervous apprehension. If only I could have laughed when I saw the faces of the two hellhounds when he crawled out…

“Come here pony we won’t hurt you, especially since you have no gun. Come, tell me why I can’t smell you.” Said the farthest dog with a wry grin.

Finder still looked worried, but when we made eye contact he rushed over and fussed over the many scratches and bite marks. “Damnit I shouldn’t have gotten ahead of you this is my fault. The bloodwings never used to come out this far sorry.

“Dogs are pushing them out of the city, we kill them as fast as we can. Tired of them hurting the young ones, and the elders reward us for each one we bring back.” The closer dog held out a paw to Finder with what I assumed was supposed to be a friendly smile. Anything with that many sharp teeth should warn ponies before they smile… “Breaker, Rock Breaker.”

Finder looked like he was shaking head to hoof, but he reached out and shook the hellhound’s outstretched paw. “Finder, and she’s my friend Updraft.”

“And this is my brother Trueshot. So little pony, I too would like to know why I cannot smell you.”

“Well…” Finder gestured to a small necklace he was wearing. It was a mall white rock with some kind of inscription in it. “This is a talisman made by the zebras. It gets rid of any smell somepony- I mean someone may have. I guess they used it with those stealth cloaks to sneak into places.”

“And you found this thing… where?” I rasped as I finally built up the strength to sit up. I felt way too light headed to do anything more though.

“Well actually I have three.” He began as he started strolling around the room, gathering up the belongings I lost during my fight with the bloodwings. “A long time ago me and my parents sneaked into an old zebra camp outside of Equestria. Turns out they were using it to send spies in and out of the country, and they had all kinds of cool stuff there! Of course you had to get past the robotic tanks, and the talisman traps, the horrible monsters in the jungle around it… good times.”

Rock Breaker coughed into his paw to catch our attention. “Yes that is nice, now why are you in dog’s home?”

Finder smiled as he found Hurricane’s journal and gently placed the dusty old tome back in my saddlebag. “Well about two years ago, I got separated from my parents when a group of slavers caught up to us near the Everfree Forest. We had to run into the forest to get away from them and I got attacked by killing joke. When I woke up they were gone, and I was in a small shed near Ponyville. After I told my friend Updraft about it, we decided to go looking for them.”

Rock Breaker sat patiently as he listened to Finder’s story, seemingly interested in how different life is for ponies. Trueshot however began tapping his foot and starting growing restless. “We always used to come here whenever things were bad. No pony ever followed us, so as long as we avoided you guys it was just about the safest place in the wasteland. Well I guess not all hellhounds are mean, but better safe than dead right? Anyways we came here to look at some of our old hiding places to see if they’ve been here recently. I promise it wasn’t to cause you any trouble or steal anything.”

Breaker looked at him with a bemused grin. “I never said anything about stealing, why you bring it up?” After laughing as Finder flustered and stammered, he stood up and pat him on the shoulder, his massive size dwarfing us. “Do not worry about it, this city belonged to ponies far before it was dog’s home. Besides my family are the only dogs that sell things to ponies, so there is plenty to share with guests.”

He stretched his toned muscles as he stood to his full height, which was an absolutely horrifying sight. I never wanted to fight anything that big, with that many ways to kill me with horrible dismemberment. He turned to me and nodded to the door. “We need to go: the sun is coming up and we have meeting with father. You should stay here until you can move better. Night is smart, most dogs are asleep or tired. If you go during the day, do it when it is the hottest: most dogs like to dig and stay out of sun.”

With a curt nod he walked slowly through the door, having to duck and sidestep through it in order to fit. His smaller brother had much less trouble, but he turned back and looked me straight in the eye. “I do not like you. You are a trouble maker, you try and change things. Well we are happy the way things are, and if you cause any trouble remember I am not as kind as my brother. Or as forgiving.” And with that he hurried away, his tail disappearing around the corner.

I blinked once and turned to Finder as he sat next to me, but he could only shrug. After a few moments a sly grin spread across my lips. Without warning a wrapped Finder in a tight, surprise hug. “Gah! Get off!”

“Nah, you’re too cuddly.”

I sat alone in the cafeteria, my eyes roaming over the empty, dusty room. After giving me one of his talisman necklaces, Finder came and left periodically bringing things he scavenged from the nearby buildings. Bullets mostly, but there were some good scraps of clothing and even a knife! I had been practicing my magic ever since I regained feeling. It was getting much easier to create flames on my wingtips, and one time I even covered my whole wing in fire! One day I may even be able to use it as casually as the old Cirran pegasi: that would be awesome.

Finder slinked in carrying a large shotgun in his mouth. Putting it on one of the tables, he started taking it completely apart. Curious, I walked over and sat next to him. “What are you doing that for?”

“Well it really isn’t in very good shape so it wouldn’t sell for very much. But some of the parts are pretty good, so I’m just going to take the good parts with me so I don’t have to carry the whole thing. Back at the mine I have piles of gun parts laying around, so next time I’m there I can try and put something together that will sell for way more than all the crappy guns I took apart. It’s something my mom taught me.”

I placed my hoof on his shoulder. “We’ll find them, I promise.” He looked up from the table with sad, hopeless eyes. He gave up on finding them a long time ago, didn’t he?

“I don’t believe you, but thanks anyways…” After a few moments he stood up and walked to the door. “I need to be alone for a minute… Please stay here.”

I waited for a minute and stared at the door before sighing and turning back to the table. I just couldn’t understand what he was going through. I never really had any parents, and barely any friends either. But he did, and he lost that. He lost the ones that were always there for him, the ones that taught him everything he knows. Maybe there was a silver lining in not having much to lose.

I finished taking apart the shotgun with a lot more trouble than Finder was having. Dumb guns, blades are so much easier to work with… Afterwards I wanted to go looking for Finder but remembering what he said I went back to practicing my magic. I spent hours going between reading and practicing, finally taking a break to look outside. It was almost dark already and still no sign of Finder. That’s never a good thing.

Okay so now I have two choices. I can either do the smart thing and stay here until Finder comes back, like a sensible pony would do. Or, I can go wandering aimlessly through one of the wasteland’s most dangerous playgrounds looking for Finder. After gathering my things I made the obvious choice and stepped outside into the quickly fading daylight.

Let’s see… if I was a sad cat-pony looking for someplace quiet, where would I go? Well I remember Miss Lapps had a cat when I was a filly, and whenever things got noisy at town hall she would always crawl under my bed in one of the back rooms. So, someplace dark, quiet, and reclusive… I could find that. Flying to the top of the two-story cafeteria building (Just don’t look down, just don’t look down!) I got my first good look at the immediate surroundings.

I had a few more buildings to cross before I would be out of the camp, then after crossing a big, paved road I would be in the city proper. The closer buildings were smaller businesses it looked like, but the towering Skyscrapers were just a hop, skip, and a jump away. To my left were a few industrial buildings, one of them had massive smokestacks jutting into the sky. Factories probably, and they were separated from the city by a large perimeter fence and on the same side of the street as this military camp.

Reclusive? Yes. Quiet? Definitely. Dark? Probably. Seems like a good place to start, especially since I really didn’t want to go wandering around through those massive buildings where I’d get lost pretty quick. I looked through my bags and pulled out one of the little packages labeled Rad-X. Finder said the radiation wasn’t a problem until you crossed the big street that circles the city, but I wanted to be safe. I popped the small pill into my mouth. Tasted like chalk… bleh.
Taking a deep breath, I spread my wings wide. The fence around the camp was about two hundred feet away, and it was three times the distance to the fence surrounding the factories. I backed up to get a running start, but I could hear the sounds of gunfire coming from the factory. Magical energy weapons, probably hellhounds then. I looked down at the necklace around my neck and said a silent prayer to Celestia before jumping from the roof wings spread wide.

Unlike when I flew from the roof of the Black 9, this time I was trying to pace myself and see how far I could get. Immediately I was hit with that feeling of falling, and I could feel the fear gripping at the corner of my mind. But I didn’t close my eyes, I kept my focus on the factory fence, intending to land just outside and behind the nearest building. I almost made it before a beam of light arced past me, almost singing my mane as it flew past my head.

The shot broke my concentration and sent me spiraling out of the air, barely spreading my wings in time before landing and preventing a rather nasty fall. Okay I still crashed, but I managed to catch myself and keep it from being too bad… Crash landing, yeah we’ll call it that.

I never even saw where the shot came from! And worse still there was almost nothing to hide behind out here. I laid down next to the remains of a burnt wagon, hoping my dark coat would help me blend in. More shots arced overhead seemingly at nothing, and after a few moments I decided they were never even shooting at me. Okay, so there were definitely bad guys at the factories, but what were they shooting at? I hope it was just more bloodwings, but worry took hold and I couldn’t get it out of my head that they somehow might have found my friend.

Staying low to the ground this time, I sprinted across the opening and flew over the fence, landing behind the largest building in the compound. There were a lot of shouts and growls coming from inside as well as more shots being fired, occasionally one or two arcing through the second story windows.

A metal door marked ‘Exit’ was set into the wall near me, the door itself long ago torn from the wall and was laying on the ground outside. I crept next to the door and peaked my head around the corner to get a look inside the towering structure. The door led into a massive factory floor, conveyor belts running across the room with parts and pieces of guns on them. Several sets of stairs led to a second floor balcony that ran all around the room with several offices and hallways branching out to the rest of the building. The only other entrance I could see to this floor was a set of two massive bay-doors on the opposite wall from me, one of which had been left a crumpled, broken mess on the floor.

And then I saw them; I thought, hoped that it was only one hellhound in here. But as I looked around the massive room I could see seven, four of which were waving around MEW’s. I could see Rock Breaker and Trueshot among them, but they seemed more interested in looting the better looking gun parts from the conveyor belts and floor.

But what were they shooting at? I could see several scrapped robots scattered around the room, but I doubted they would give so many hellhounds any trouble. Continuing to watch, I finally caught a glimpse of what they were chasing throughout the large building. It was Finder!

Oh ha-ha I get it, the dogs were trying to catch a cat… Well I wasn’t going to just stand here until one of them got a lucky shot. Making sure my saddlebags were tied up tight and my wingblades firmly secured, I stepped into the doorway and took to the air. Flying across the room, I stopped in front of the open bay door at the far side.

“Hey dogs! Bet you can’t catch the pretty birdy!” I stuck my tongue out at them before laughing and flying outside, beams of light flying out after me. I could hear several frustrated growls as most of the dogs chased me outside. I counted four, so that only left one inside that actually cared about catching Finder. Several more beams lanced past me, and I couldn’t help but take advantage of the opportunity. “Oh come on! You couldn’t hit the broadside of a manticore with that kind of aim!” I ducked between several low hanging wires, barely avoiding them and trying to maintain as much speed as I could.

They were fast, almost as fast on the ground as I was in the air. But as long as I kept my height advantage I should be fine…. I just had to say that didn’t I? As I flew between two of the industrial buildings a Hellhound jumped out of one of the windows, lunging at me with his massive claws. Fortunately he misjudged my speed so I flew harmlessly past him as he swiped at the air behind me. He braced himself as he flew into a window in the opposite building, breaking through it and landing unharmed other than his pride.

Okay no more flying between large buildings if avoidable. More shots flew around me, one of them getting close enough to singe my tail as it flapped in the wind behind me. Not cool! I needed to lose them, and fast. Circling around the building on my left I started back towards the factory. I noticed something running on the ground below me. At first I thought it was another hellhound, but upon closer inspection I saw that it was my friend.

“Go into the city! Big red building with a neon sign, can’t miss it! Go to the fourth floor and no matter what don’t go down!” With that he disappeared around a corner deeper into the industrial buildings. Well I didn’t plan on going down anyways but thanks for the advice I guess. More shots rang out around me, two coming close to my head this time. They were getting better…

I flew over the fence and across the street, hoping the sturdy fence would at least slow them down a little. Nope, the lead hellhound jumped into it and knocked down like a pile of leaves, and the rest followed through howling. I flew into the city proper, flying low and zipping between the street lights trying to make myself a harder target. Big red building, neon sign. Worst directions ever! I tried to go faster to put a more comfortable distance between me and the aggravated hellhounds, but I was already panting hard and could feel my wings were starting to give out.

I was about to dive for the nearest storefront when I saw it. Giant red hotel reaching for the sky with a massive neon yellow and pink sign proclaiming ‘Princess’ Paradise’ on the front. Thank you Celestia! Climbing as high in the air as I could I reached the fourth floor and flew through one of the many broken windows. I collapsed to the floor of the surprisingly bright room, the lights still humming with life in the ceiling. I wanted to take a moment to rest, but I could hear movement just outside the door. Several doors were opened and closed until finally the door to the room I was in swung open and Finder looked at me with relief.

“Come on we have to hurry!” He rushed back outside and I had to push my weary limbs to follow. Outside was a long hallway that stretched to my right and left, each side covered in similar doors. I followed Finder to the right until we reached the end of the hallway. Taking a left, we were met with another long hallway that was an exact copy of the one we left. Running about halfway down it we turned and entered a room on the right side, the door had a sign that read ‘Casino Floor Manager’.

The room was clearly well furnished in its prime, several nice wooden chairs sat around a matching table and long, rotted drapes hung in front of the windows. A small kitchen was set into the wall to our left, a bedroom to our right. Finder closed the door behind us quietly before walking into the bedroom, beckoning me to follow. Despite the bed smelling and looking terrible, I really wanted to collapse onto it and rest my wings and lungs. Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance as Finder waved me over to one of the walls. “Help me pull this grate off.”

There was a large air vent set into the wall, just big enough for an average sized pony to crawl through. With a little effort we managed to pry it from the wall and Finder led the way inside. I pulled the vent back over the hole and followed Finder through the air duct, eventually reaching a small room. It had a single light hanging from the ceiling, a desk with an old terminal, and a dusty but relatively nice bed. On the floor there were two more beds made from blankets as well as some assorted trinkets and loot organized around the edges of the room.

“What is this place?” I asked as I finally got the opportunity to lay down and rest. The concrete floor was hard and cold but I didn’t mind too much.

“I guess the ponies who used to live here had problems with visitors, so some of the hotel rooms have these hidden rooms. You can take the bed if you want, my parents haven’t been here in a long time anyways.” He was unpacking some things from his saddlebags and organizing them with the rest of the loot on the floor. “That was amazing by the way!”

I looked up at him with weary eyes. “What was?”

He turned to me and blinked. “Updraft you flew! Like, really flew!”

Oh.

Level Up!

Comprehensive Pony: Smart ponies read. Smart ponies read a lot. You've learned to study like few in the wasteland have, giving you an advantage over your rivals. +1 additional skill point whenever you read a skill book.

Character Updates!

Name: Rock Breaker
Gender: Male
Race: Hellhound
Age: mid-twenties
Appearance: Dusty gray fur, blue eyes. His right ear has a hole in it from a bullet
Cutie Mark: N/A
Size: Far larger than a normal hellhound, he towers over the rest of his pack.
Occupation: Scavenger, he gathers things dogs don’t need and trades them to ponies for things they can’t find in Las Pegasus.
Weapons of Choice: Claws and teeth, he doesn’t trust any conventional weapons to match the damage he can inflict with his sheer strength.
Skillset: He can dig fast, much faster than an ordinary hellhound. He’s also massive, giving him many physical advantages. Not very smart though, has almost no knowledge of arcano devices or guns.

Name: Trueshot
Gender: Male
Race: Hellhound
Age: about 30
Appearance: Dusty tan fur, green eyes.
Cutie Mark: N/A
Size: A little smaller than an average Hellhound
Occupation: Scavenger and hunter, he finds loot with Rock Breaker and tells him what is worth taking or not. He also hunts down the bloodwing population of Las Pegasus, getting tribute from the pack’s leaders for every bloodwing he kills.
Weapons of Choice: Rifles mostly, he keeps a trusty Magical Energy Rifle slung over his shoulder at all times.
Skillset: Excellent marksmen, he is renowned among his pack for being able to take out bloodwings mid-air with a single shot every time. Though he isn’t very good at using smaller weapons, and his close quarter’s combat skill leaves much to be desired.

Author's Notes:

Okay so I’m going to try something new here… I’m going to let you the readers decide what happens next in the story! (This is just an experiment I’ve been wanting to test, play along if you want ^_^) Will Updraft and Finder…
a) Find Finder’s parents in Las Pegasus safe and sound?
b) Find no sign of them, but decide to continue looking near old Appleloosa?
c) Learn of a tragedy that claimed their lives?
You the readers have the control! Let’s see what happens…

As always a giant thank you to Kkat for being awesome and for letting us take part in the world she created, and also a big thanks to Twilight_Sparkler for coming back and giving me great advice every chapter! And of course another big thank you to The 24th Pegasus and LoyalLiar for giving me permission to dabble in their amazing world building and add to my story.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, as always feel free to leave them below or PM me~