I feel cold, the darkness was pressing in all around me. It threatened to crush me, and it took all of my strength to keep walking forward. The pain increased with each step, but I wasn't going to give up. Just put one hoof, in front of the other... I sang the song in my head as I pressed forward, slowly getting closer to the faint light in the distance. A heavy weight settled on my shoulders, getting heavier with every step. It felt like I was being crushed, and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't help but collapse to the ground.

Tears formed in my eyes as I grit my teeth against the pain. Everything hurt so much! I tried again and again to get to my hooves but the chilling darkness pressing against me just made it hurt more each time. I wanted to quit, to make the pain and sadness go away.

I could see my home, Desert Springs behind me. Its warmth was just out of reach and I could take no comfort in its peace. I saw Sandy and Lily walking through the streets, each wearing carefree smiles as they trotted into Mr. General's store. Miss Laps was talking with the Rose Sisters, and for once they all seemed like they agreed on something.

I wanted to go back there, back to those peaceful times when the most I had to worry about was a drunk ganger or a complacent merchant. Before I knew how the wasteland really was, before I had anything expected of me. I felt my body slowly being pulled back there, the pain fading away the closer I got to those happy memories.

"Why did you kill us?"

"Why didn't you save us?"

"NO!"

I will not sit by and let ponies suffer like this anymore. I've wasted enough time already just sitting around Desert Springs doing nothing, if there's even just one pony I can save from the wasteland then I'm going to do it or die trying!

I grit my teeth and fought back the tears in my eyes as I tried again to get to my hooves. Nope, I was barely off of the ground before I collapsed. Again! This time I stood all the way up, but I buckled as soon as I tried to take a step.

Come on Updraft, again! I got my hooves under me and fought with all of my strength. It hurt more than anything I've ever felt, and I had a hole blown through my chest before! I took one step, then another. The farther I walked the worse images started coming to my mind.

Me being bullied and hurt as a filly back in Desert Springs. Four lifeless bodies looking at me for answers. A wall of horrified faces, and a pile of corpses. The eyes of bloodwings stalking me in the dark.

And not all of them were memories. I saw Finder covered in blood at the hooves of some slavers, and Bora trapped in a cage surrounded by raiders. I saw myself pinned under Raze, covered in my own blood and fear in my eyes. More and more images came to my head, each worse than the ones before it. But I kept on walking, getting closer to the faint light one step at a time.

Finally I got within reach of its soft glow warming my heart. As I reached out to touch it...

"...up! She's waking up!"

"Get Onyx, quick!"

"... Doesn’t look so good."

What's with these ponies, can't they see I'm trying to sleep? I could make out two voices, both were male and not ponies I've ever met. I heard a set of hoofsteps echo off of the wooden floors as another pony walked in.

"Alright alright, let's give the patient some space." A third voice, female and about my age, intoned. "Out! Come on out with you, let the doctor do her work."

Thank you, now I can go back to sleep.

"Alright wakey-wakey, you're awfully slow to get up considering how lucky you are to be alive."

I sprung to full alertness and sat up. "Gah! Where's Finder? Is he okay? The hellhounds! Raze was about to-"

"Whoa now simmer down Sally, take it slow. You're body hasn't recovered from the venom yet, and your wing is still messed up."

Now that she mentioned it... Ow! I had a huge headache, my body ached all over, and it felt like a thousand needles were stabbing my wing. I groaned and laid back down with a hoof over my head. "What happened?"

She sat down on a chair next to the bed and started skimming through a pile of books. "So you really don't know? He wasn't kidding you really were out cold the whole time. You and your friends got attacked by bandits out near the minefields. Your griffon friend fought em' off but a radscorpion got ya when you were laying there alone."

Radscorpion? But aren't stings from those always fatal out here?

"They brought ya here hoping we could help but we haven't had antivenom here since I was a filly. But somehow you're still alive and well, had one hundred forty two degree fever too! Darndest thing I've ever seen I'll tell you that much."

She gave me a glass of water which I gratefully accepted. After drinking the whole thing in about ten seconds flat I looked at her sheepishly. "Sorry I'm a little thirsty may I have another?"

She laughed before standing up and taking the glass with her magic. "Well aren't you just a polite one. Tell you what it'd do your body good to move around, why don't you go to the front and get something from the bar. Drinks are always on the house for all of our patients. Sorry about the pain though I'm all out of Med-X so the most I can give you is a pat on the back."

I slowly climbed off of the bed and onto my hooves, stretching my limbs while being careful not to agitate my hurt wing. "I can't thank you enough, how much do I owe you?" I spotted my bags in a corner of the room and started digging through it to find my caps.

"Don't worry about it I'd never charge a pony to save their life. You can pay me by not going and getting yourself killed." She smiled and set the empty glass on the table next to the door.

It was a little challenging but I managed to give be a light hug and a 'thank you'. I grabbed my bags in my mouth before walking through the door and into the front of the ragged building. Hospital in the back of a bar? Seems legit. The room was mostly empty save for two ponies at a card table in the corner. The farthest wall had a door and two windows, the sunlight outside pouring in and lighting up the room in all of its dusty glory.

To my right was a bar that ran the length of the room. Behind it stood a dark green unicorn stallion wearing a black leather vest and a smile.

“Well if it isn’t the latest miracle of the wasteland, how ya feelin’?”

I set my bags on the floor and sat on a barstool. Resting my head on the bar top I looked at the bartender with a small hint of a smile. “Bleh. I’d rather be sleeping honestly.”

He laughed and poured himself a drink. “I would have thought a day and a half would have been enough. But hey to each their own right?”

I buried my face in my hooves on the bar. “That long? Finder must have been so worried…”

“That your friend’s name? He’s a strange one that’s for sure. Then again from what I’ve heard about killing joke he’s lucky to still be alive.”

He pulled several bottles out from behind the counter with his hooves and began mixing small amounts of each into a small metal canister. After giving it a few shakes he poured the contents into two small glasses and carried it over to the two ponies at the card table.

I watched the exchange with mild interest. None of them said a word: he simply set the drinks down and left them to their business. He walked back behind the bar and propped his hooves on the counter.

“So while I’m at it is there anything I can get for you to drink? Hard cider, cold beer, maybe some Applejack Daniels?” He gave me a wink with that last one prompting me to guess it was hard to come by out here.

“Actually I was wondering if you had any… um… Brahmin milk?” I looked away sheepishly as he put on a horrified expression.

“You actually drink that stuff? No wonder radscorpion venom couldn’t kill you, you’ve gotta be tough as nails to keep that stuff down!”

“Oh… Well I mean if you don’t have any…”

He laughed and patted my shoulder. “No worries I’m sure I can find some around here lickity-split.” He walked through a door behind the bar and out of view.

I almost dozed off as soon as he left but a voice from behind me made me spring to life. “Brahmin milk huh? Must have been a long day.”

“Sandy?” Springing from my seat I hugged my friend tightly. I didn’t even notice the pain as I cried into her shoulder. “I’ve missed you so much!”

She chuckled and hugged me back. “Yes I can tell. And what’s with all these bandages, have you been getting yourself hurt again?”

After a moment I let go and wiped the tears from my eyes. “Just doing my job and helping ponies. What about you, why are you way out here?”

We both took seats at the bar as she talked. “Well after you left things got a little crazy for a while. The Red Gang searched the whole town top to bottom for you but after they gave up they all left and haven’t come back for anything but water. A couple ponies volunteered to help with the guard duty, including that cute buck from the scrap shop.” We both giggled as I tried to imagine that little guy trying to intimidate a ganger.

“And of course Lily too. She finally told that old pervert of a bar owner to buck off so I didn’t really have much of a choice but to let her join me on guard duty.”

I wish I could have been there to see that, you go Lily! “Anyways I’m just here escorting a caravan through the area. The mayor thought of the idea. We start providing escort services for a small fee, and in return the caravans start spreading the word about our little town. Everypony wins.”

“But aren’t the gangs supposed to be doing the escort stuff? I thought they were getting rich off of that scam.”

She scratched her chin for a moment and shrugged. “The Red Tails are barely even present anymore, they seem to be falling part. No surprise since Red Baron is crazy as a loon.” She whispered that last part with a wink.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Tell me about it…”

“The Green Rangers are doing… Celestia knows what. They keep watch over the caravans and the town, but they keep sending groups of ponies in every direction only for them to come back sometimes days later carrying crates and loaded with scrap.”

“The Blue Blazers are touchy as usual, every time somepony sneezes they act like a bomb went off. And the Yellow Jackets still hate everyone and everything so nothing’s changed there. As far as business goes the only gang that isn’t slacking off is the Green Rangers, which is funny since they’re the only gang doing anything other than watching the town.”

“That’s not surprising since those ponies are the only ones who care about anything other than guns, alcohol and mares.” We both shared a quick laugh as I rested my head on the bar top.

“Hey Updraft?”

“Hmm?”

“I got your milk.”

Wait, what?

“Hey did you fall asleep already?”

“…huh?” I lifted my head to see the buck behind the counter looking at me with concern. A quick check of the room assured me that Sandy was nowhere to be seen. Did I really just dream that?

The green unicorn set a tall glass on the bar a few inches from my hooves before taking a seat on one of the barstools next t me. “Something on your mind? I’m a pretty good listener. Comes with the job.”

I looked at the glass of milk with a sad smile. “S’nothing. Just tired… And a little homesick.”

With an ‘ah’ he scooted his chair a little closer. “The woe of the wanderer, the travail of the traveler, the- you get the point. A lot of ponies come through here with that exact problem, and do you know what I always tell them? If your heart is telling you to do something, you’re not going to be happy until you do it.”

“Easier said than done. I’d love to go home even for just a day but I can’t. A creepy gang leader wants me to be his wife or something, and Celestia knows what he’ll do if I tell him no.”

“Oh. Well that is a bit of a problem. Afraid I can’t really help with that one, forced marriage is a new one to me.” He shrugged and got to his hooves, walking to the front door to greet a few ponies walking in. “Hello and welcome to Beryl’s Bar. I’m the owner and operator of this fine establishment, is there anything I can get for you?”

Beryl huh? ‘What a strange name’, I thought as I drifted off to sleep again. Oddly enough it was the best sleep I’ve had for a while, despite me sitting on a barstool and using a hoof for a pillow. No horrible nightmares that leave me a crying mess when I wake up, no confusing dreams, just peaceful sleep.

It was dark outside when I woke up and the bar was filled with ponies drinking and gambling. Even the barstools around me were filled with ponies laughing and sharing stories. To my left was a particularly large stallion laughing heartily at a joke that was probably a lot less funny to sober ponies. How had I been sleeping through this?

“Oi! The lass is awake, let’s give her a warm welcome!” Somepony shouted from somewhere in the room. Immediately all eyes fell on me and for a moment the whole bar went silent.

“Umm… Hello everypony, my name’s Updraft…” I don’t think my cheeks could have burned hotter.

“A toast for Updraft! The crazy pony who took on three hellhounds and won!”

“That’s not exactly true…”

“Here here! And without any guns either!” The crowd began to drink and cheer even louder as they all began to chant my name. Oh dear.

“This is the kind of stuff that makes legends you know? Keep this up and ponies will be telling your stories or years.”

I nearly jumped out of my seat when a griffon sat down next to me, my reaction getting a chuckle from him. “Relax I don’t bite, especially after what you went through to save my life.”

I sat up and turned to face him. “Oh so you were the griffon we found in Las Pegasus? What happened to you?”

He took a sip from a bottle of Applejack Daniels. "My crew and I were escorting a high priority client through the area and got ambushed by bandits, a lot of them. They hid in the sand until we were right on top of them then they sprung up like landmines, dozens of them. Most of my Talons got butchered in seconds, and the rest died before we could find any kind of cover."

He took another sip of whiskey and offered it to me. I kindly declined. "By the time we got to an old radio station nearby, the only ones left were myself, the captain, the twins, and the client. The bandits didn't know how many of us were left but they were already starting to surround us. With nowhere left to run we made the only choice we had left. The twins and I flew north for all we were worth while the captain waited until the bandits were too distracted to notice her flying with the client to the south."

"The twins got out no problem, but I wasn't quite so lucky. My wing was the first casualty, then a leg and arm. By the time I made it to Las Pegasus I was probably full of holes and definitely running out of blood. I had four more slugs in my 8 ga. and let me tell you that sure can make a mess out of a hellhound's face at point blank range. So I hobbled my way into that cellar and waited for death to come."

"Next thing I know I'm waking up in the middle of the desert and some crazy pegasus is trying to fight three hellhounds with a knife and wingblades."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "So you're the one who saved Finder?"

"Well I was saving myself as much as anyone, but yeah. Your friend is surprisingly shy considering he looks like someone from a kids' nightmare."

"I know he may look a little scary but trust me he'd never hurt anypony. He's as nice as they come." I stared at my milk with a frown. It was definitely room temperature by now.

"He really cares about you, you know? He stayed by your bed the whole time until Onyx practically shoved him out. And ever since then he's been working on something for you up on the roof. You two know each other for long?"

How long had it been? Just over a week? Time sure flies when you're on an adventure and constantly running for your life. "About a week. Actually I'm going to take a walk if you don't mind." He nodded and took another sip of his whiskey.

I stood up slowly and grabbed my bags in my mouth again. My back still ached too much for me to put anything back there just yet. Walking outside I finally managed to get away from the small crowd inside and around the bar. I hope they don't mind me slipping outside seeing as I'm apparently the guest of honor or something.

Now to find out how Finder got up on the roof. I tried flying up there but fully extending my wing was as far as I got before I decided that was a terrible idea. Stairs? No... Ladder? No... As I neared the back of the bar I could see a pile of trash and lumber piled up against the building. Aha!

I started climbing the makeshift staircase being careful not to step on any- OW! Nails... Finally I got high enough to see Finder sitting on the opposite side of the roof, overlooking the door. He was surrounded by books and was carefully turning the pages of one I recognized as my Cirran-Equestrian dictionary.

I carefully made my way to the top of the rubble, but as soon as I reached out to put a hoof on the roof I felt something shift beneath me. Oh no...

I fell into the collapsing wood and scrap, getting more than a few scratches on the way before the dust settled. I landed on my back covered by some of the junk and paralyzed from the pain.

"Updraft? Updraft! Hold on I'm coming!"

I grit my teeth and clenched my eyes shut from the pain as I laid there. Aside from my back feeling like a manticore did a tap dance on it, something definitely felt wrong with my right wing. It only took Finder a few moments to be at my side and throwing the debris off of me.

"Are you alright? Is anything broken?" He helped me to my hooves and out of the pile. I sat on my haunches and tried to not show how much everything hurt.

"I think everything's okay, but I bet Onyx will be upset that I already got myself hurt again." I tried to laugh but it hurt too much so I settled for a pained smile.

Finder laughed and gently dusted me off. "Come on Angel of the Wastes lets go get you patched up. Again."

I booped him on the nose before slowly rising and walking around the building with him. "I told you to stop calling me that."

"And Onyx told you to not hurt yourself anymore so it seems we're all just bad listeners." Fair enough. Wait how did he... never mind. It's Finder, I've given up trying to understand how he does things.

We walked back into the bar and I did my best to stand up tall and hold my head high. Most of the patrons didn't even notice us as we sneaked around the majority of the ponies. The griffon from before quirked an eye as he saw me covered in more scratches than before but he didn't say anything as we passed him and walked back into the clinic.

"Hello welcome to the hospital in the middle of nowhere, what can I-" Onyx stared at me with a scowl, which quickly turned to a resigned shrug. "I'm not even going to ask. Come on let's get those bandages replaced."

I thanked her and climbed up on the same bed I woke up on this morning. She used her magic to gently remove all the dusty and scratched up bandages covering me. She pulled out a bottle filled with some kind of gross looking green paste and covered her hoof in the stuff.

"This will help heal all of the scratches and bruises much faster than normal without any scarring. Sure a healing potion does the same thing even faster, but this stuff is easy to make and a lot cheaper to get out here." After applying a small amount all over me (That stuff was cold!) she wrapped me up in clean bandages.

"Okay so this time let's try to make it a full day at least. And next time I'm charging you, I've gotta make a living too ya know."

Finder took out his bag of caps as he browsed her stock of medical supplies. "Any chance I can buy some of this stuff? I have a feeling I'm going to need to start carrying a lot more medical supplies than usual." Even with my back turned I just knew he had to be nodding in my general direction.

"Well I can't guarantee the best prices but I'll sell you what I can spare. No Med-X though we've been out of that stuff for a while."

"I don't trust the stuff anyways. I've met too many ponies hooked on the stuff. What about healing potions and bandages? Also I'd like to have a jar of that green stuff around for the less serious injuries..."

I gave Finder my share of caps and left him to do business with Onyx. I never was very good at bartering, ponies always just told me a price and I paid it. The party in the bar was still in full swing with ponies getting more drunk by the minute. I saw the griffon still sitting at the bar, quietly sipping on his Applejack Daniels.

"Not much of a party goer?" I took a seat next to him and again politely declined his offer of whiskey.

"Usually, I just got a lot on my mind. A lot of good friends died on that last job, and all that's probably left of them now are just memories."

Wow, nice one Updraft. I leaned over and gave him as tight of a hug as I could manage, and with a confused expression he returned it.

"What was that all about?"

I waved to Beryl across the room and without a word he soon disappeared through the door behind the bar. "Hugs make everything better, duh." Seriously did he not know that?

"Right, I would love to see the science behind that."

"Well earlier you were all depressed and stuff right? And now here we are discussing the science behind hugs and why such a strange way of showing affection is capable of improving one's mood. I'd say that's slightly better than being sad right?" See I can be a smart pony too sometimes.

He laughed and took another drink of his whiskey. "Anyone ever tell you that you have a strange way of looking at things? Name's Griff by the way. Yeah I know Griff the griffon. My parents had a great sense of humor."

"Updraft, nice to meet you. And hey where I'm from the general store is run by an old pony named Mr. General so you're not the only one."

"So what's your story anyways? What's a crazy pegasus doing wandering around in the desert with a mutated earth pony saving injured griffons?"

I laughed and swatted at him with my tail. "Hey I'm not crazy, just eccentric. Anyways long story short I can't go back home so I'm just wandering around helping who I can. Right now Finder and I are trying to find his parents since they got separated awhile back."

Beryl came back and set a tall glass of Brahmin milk in front of me. "It got cold so I heated it back up for you." He looked at a moment and shivered before walking off to tend to another customer.

I took a sip from the glass and smiled as I savored the taste. Most ponies couldn't stand the stuff but to me few things tasted better after a long day. Griff looked at me like I'd just taken a bite out of the bar.

"You actually... Drink that? Like you're willingly subjecting yourself to that?"

"Have you ever tasted it?" He stared at me blankly. "Aha! If you've never tried it then how do you know you won't like it?"

"I've never tried radiation sickness either but I'm pretty confident I won't enjoy that either." He gave me a flat look before taking another drink of his whiskey.

"Now you're just being a big baby. You don't know what you're missing." I took another sip and let out a content sigh.

"Fine I'll take a drink of that stuff if you take a drink of this." He slid his bottle of whiskey in front of me and adopted a mischievous grin. "You've refused to drink it every time I've offered to you and I think it's because you can't hold your liquor."

"You sure about this? Think about it long and hard."

"Prove me wrong." Oh how he was going to regret those words. By now there were several ponies around us listening in and cheering me on. I took the bottle in my hooves and swirled its contents around. This must have been pretty expensive, it was pretty clean and the bottle was nice too.

It was about a quarter of the way full. Oh this will be easy. I set the bottle down on the bar and looked back at Griff. "You're fucked." I picked the bottle up by the neck with just my mouth and drank the whole thing, not even stopping for air.

The other ponies all cheered as I set the empty bottle back down, my hooves never even leaving the counter. "I've been drinking that stuff before I even had my Cutie Mark, you sure called that one wrong."

The crowd around us was growing larger as I passed the glass of milk to Griff. "You're up and try to not disappoint all these ponies."

He looked at the drink before him with a hint of fear. "This isn't going to make me sick or something right?"

"Only if your weak now come on I held up my end of the deal." Poor guy had no idea what he got himself into.

He took a calming breath, closed his eyes, and took a large drink of the milk without batting an eye. To his credit he actually swallowed and held it down. For about three seconds. His eyes opened as he started to panic.

"What is that?! The taste won't go away!" He grabbed somepony’s bottle of booze and started to chug it down. Apparently that only made it worse because he ripped through the crowd and out the front door.

I cheered and threw my hooves in the air. "I win! Who's next?" Surprisingly quite a few ponies decided to make a game out of it to see who could keep it down the longest. Even Beryl gave it a try.

Out of the seven contestants only one was able to keep it down, and he was a young colt who didn't even have his Cutie Mark! I gave him a kiss on the forehead for his bravery.

It took a few hours for the party to die down. It was just Beryl, Griff, and I when Finder and Onyx trotted out of the back room. I took my last drink of Brahmin milk (Griff still looked at it with a scowl every time I drank some.) before standing up and stretching my aching muscles.

"What took you two so long?"

Finder set his bags on the floor and hopped up on a barstool. "Well since I'm no good for fighting I figured I'd try to learn a little more about being a medical pony."

Onyx trotted behind the bar and gave Beryl a kiss (Aha! I knew it!). "And he's quite good at it too. With the practice you'll get from traveling with her I'll bet you'll be a respectable doctor in no time."

"Hey I'm not that bad..." I looked back at my bandaged body... the wing which was yet again wrapped up... "Anypony know a good health insurance company?"

Griff rolled his eyes and collected his things. "They would never accept your application with your track record. Come on let's get some beds before it gets any later."

Onyx frowned as she started to clean off a table. "And expect a visitor as soon as the sun is up. I managed to keep Mr. Carbuncle off your back for today but tomorrow he's gonna want to ask you some questions."

Beryl snorted as he cleaned off the bar. "That old codger is the self-appointed mayor of this town, thinks he runs the place for some reason. Chases off anypony he doesn't like and keeps most of the caravans away."

Onyx threw a dirty rag at him. "Oh come on those are just rumors. Sure the old buck can be a bit... off putting, but he doesn't chase ponies off without a good reason."

"Last week he hit a merchant in the head with a bat because he thought his prices were too high."

"Well they were awfully high..."

"The week before that he threw rocks at a group of talons that were just trying to get water on their way through."

"Well they did come into town carrying a lot of guns..." Even she didn't sound convinced by that argument. Beryl sighed and moved on to cleaning the barstools.

"Look I'm not saying he's a foalnapper or something, just be careful about what you say around him. You're in no condition to be traveling the desert yet, and I don't want to go out there looking for you because he decided he doesn't like the same color you do."

"Thanks for the warning I'll be sure to keep that in mind." I ushered Finder and Griff out before things could devolve into some kind of marital dispute. We walked through the street enjoying the calm night and cool air.

I frowned and sniffed at the air. "Enjoy it while you can. Sandstorm's coming, probably tomorrow morning sometime." The others just stared at me. "What?"

Finder tried to suppress a giggle, but Griff didn't hold back as he fell over laughing. "You really think you... can smell... a sandstorm?"

My face turned red as I tried to make my mouth work. "N-no of course not! There's more water in the air than normal and that means a strong northerly wind is coming in. Those always bring sandstorms!"

By now they were both laughing uncontrollably. Griff especially just wouldn't let it go... "Can you smell my breath and know what I'm having for breakfast tomorrow?" Finder thought that one was particularly funny and soon he was on the ground laughing as much as Griff.

"Alright fine don't believe me then, but don't come crying to me when you wake up tomorrow and your bed is full of sand." I let out a 'humph' and trotted away as they both kept laughing in the street.

"Wait Updraft come back, we need your freaky knowledge of the weather so we'll know when we need to pack an umbrella!"

I left the two giggling fillies behind and trotted around a corner and out of sight. As I walked the length of the town I saw several hotels with vacancy, but I was looking for something in particular. No windows or at least ones that could close. Finally I found what appeared to be an old mansion with a sign proudly proclaiming 'Miner's Motel'.

The firehouse red building had definitely seen better days, and it was easy to see the repairs and adjustments the owners have made over the years to keep it standing. I walked through the double doors and into the motel's lobby.

It wasn't much to look at save for the scratched and faded murals on the walls depicting life before the bombs fell. One was of children playing in the streets of town, another of a group of ponies covered in black stuff at the end of a work day. I walked along the wall looking at the artwork until I walked face-first into an opening door.

The two mares looked at me with surprise until their gaze wandered to my back. Whatever apology the leading, green unicorn mare had in mind died as she sneered. "Oops, didn't see you there." She raised her nose and trotted past me, swatting my face with her tail.

The other, blue mare stopped and looked at me with eyes full of a familiar look of hatred. She walked by me as well but decided it would be funny to buck my chest with both hindlegs after she passed.

I slammed into the wall and gasped for air. "Hey! What... what was that for?"

They both stopped as the first mare laughed. "Oh boo-hoo, why don't you fly off and go cry about it to be rest of your bird friends?"

The earth pony mare took a step towards me. "Yeah why don't you just leave? Not like we want you here anyways."

The unicorn caught on and took a few more steps towards me. "Aww too scared to move on your own? Don't worry we can help."

I stood to my full height and tried to hide how much my body was hurting right now. "Can we not do this? I don't want any trouble I'm just looking for a place to stay the night."

They both looked at each other before turning to me with warm smiles. The unicorn walked over until she was right in front of me, making sure to demonstrate the large height difference between us. "Oh well why didn't you say so in the first place! Don't worry dear we know just the place for you."

By now I already knew what was about to happen and I dropped the cool pony act. There was no way I could really put up a fight like I was and they knew it. I slumped against the wall and let out a resigned sigh. "This is going to hurt a lot isn't it?"

She leaned down and whispered sweetly in my ear. "You have no idea."

I was met with the familiar taste of dirt as I was yet again shoved to the ground. After hurling me through the motel’s front door, the unicorn mare dragged me into an alley across the street. Sometime along the way another unicorn mare joined in, and she was the worst of the three. She came up with one particular game they all seemed to enjoy. They would prop me up on my haunches before bucking my side and seeing how far they could get me.

I sure hope ponyball doesn’t catch on…

Eventually they got tired of kicking me around so they settled for another cruel activity. Again the third mare was the one who came up with the idea. They found a pair of dull, rusty scissors and thought it would be funny to start cutting patches out of my mane and tail.

Okay kicking me around and calling me names was bad enough, but this is what finally drove me to anger. I mean sure I know I’m not the prettiest pony ever and I don’t spend a bunch of time getting myself to look ‘just so’, but still this was different. This wasn’t something I could fix or just pretend it didn’t happen. Who knows how long it will take for it to all grow back! And in the meantime I’m going to be wandering around looking like a complete basket case!

I was pinned on the ground by two of them as the unicorn continued cutting piece after piece of my hair. I looked up at her with the angriest eyes I could manage. “Aw are you mad? We’re only trying to help you look as stupid as you actually are.”

“Yeah we’re just trying to help don’t be so ungrateful.” Echoed one of the other mares as she laughed.

Snip. Snip. I tried as hard as I could to push them off of me but they were big ponies, I was not. That on top of my previous and new injuries pretty much left my options with staring at them and thinking angry thoughts. As expected it didn't make them stop.

Finally she got bored with thrashing my hair so she threw the scissors away and stretched. “This is impossible, you’re just too stupid for me to recreate it.”

“Vos creo quispios achanua omni tempore vos habere cogitatios.”

“What was that?”

“That’s Cirran darling, an ancient and educated language. I said that you’re lying. You create something that stupid every time you have a thought.”

For the first time that night the green unicorn lost her temper. She lunged at me and was barely held back by the other two mares. “I’ll kill her! Hear that bitch I’ll kill you!”

“Then do it. Do it! I know you’ve wanted to since you first saw me!” I screamed as loud as my dry throat could. “You’re all the same. You think this is the first time I’ve been treated like this? I was dealing with this shit before I even had my Cutie Mark. I lost count how many times ponies found me in a bloody mess in some dark alley or collapsed building. So just go ahead and kill me already, do us all a favor.”

All three of them were dead silent as they listened. Finally the unicorn mare snorted and trotted back into the street. “Come on Hessonite we have better things to do.” She paused as she eyed my saddlebags lying near the entrance to the alley. With a smirk she grabbed it with her magic and disappeared around the corner.

The reddish-brown mare followed her, but not without kicking me one more time just because she knew she could get away with it. The blue mare didn’t leave though, instead she sat and stared at me with a hint of confusion.

“Is that true? You were treated like that even as a child?”

I closed my eyes and tried to breathe deep breaths, no matter how much it hurt. “Yes. I didn’t have any family growing up in Desert Springs, and as I’m sure you could guess I didn’t make a lot of friends. So whenever the other colts and fillies got bored, or whenever an older pony got drunk… Well I was an easy target for them to let go of some anger.”

She held a hoof over her mouth. “That’s awful… But wait this doesn’t make any sense he told us you were from above the clouds. That you were here to start trouble.”

“I’ve never even been above the clouds. I’m too scared of heights to fly that high anyways.” She tilted her head as that sank in. I decided to ask her a question since she at least seemed reasonable enough to talk to. “Why?”

“Why what?” She moved a little closer so she could hear me better, but she still acted like I was going to jump up and bite her at any moment.

“Why do you hate me? What have I ever done that you think it’s okay to hurt me so much?” Tears came to my eyes as I thought back to all the times this has happened to me. Not once did they ever give me an answer.

I looked her in the eyes but she quickly turned her attention to the ground in front of her. “I… I’m sorry I have to go.” She turned tail and trotted out of the alley, her gaze never leaving the ground.

Still no answer… I couldn’t move on my own and I definitely couldn’t sleep through this much pain. So I just settled for lying there with my eyes closed until somepony nice enough to help found me. Luckily it wasn’t too long before I heard the shuffling of hooves and whispers near me. I couldn’t make out what they were saying but there were… three of them.

I cracked open an eye to see the most brilliant and beautiful purple eyes staring back at me. With a shriek the purple coated filly jumped and ran away, stopping to hide behind an older colt with black fur and a dark, silvery mane. He looked at me with sad, blue eyes.

“Are you okay miss?”

No, I’m not. I opened my mouth to speak but I couldn’t seem to find my voice, so I settled for nodding my head and closing my eyes again. I felt something poke me in the side causing the pain to flare up.

“Pyrite knock it off! She’s obviously hurt. She need us to help her, not make things worse by poking her with a stick. Go get your sled I don’t think she can walk on her own.” I decided the black colt was definitely the oldest of the three. “Just wait a little longer miss we’ll get you fixed up right as rain in a jiffy.”

I wanted to ask him what a jiffy was but instead gave him a smile. The unicorn filly never took her eyes off of me as she hid behind the earth pony colt. He however seemed more interested in looking around the alley at the evidence of what happened earlier. There were spots of blood here and there, a small pile of hair nearby, and several feathers that fell out at some point.

I lost track of how much time had passed before the other kid came back dragging a sled behind him. Unlike the sled Finder made this one looked like it was made before the war. And it had actual straps instead of rope!

Unfortunately for me it was also a children’s toy, so even as small as I am I definitely didn’t fit all the way onboard. Which made the ride quite unpleasant. Bump, ow. Bump, ow. I was surprised that the black colt didn’t have any trouble dragging the sled with me on it. He sure was strong for his age.

Come to think of it the three of them didn’t have any trouble picking me up and setting me on the sled either. Maybe they were used to hard work?

We finally arrived at… wherever they were taking me. It definitely wasn’t Onyx’s hospital, this was a rundown house just outside of town. They heaved me over the back of the older colt and he carried me to the door. He had a much harder time carrying me by himself, and my hooves were dragging on the ground the whole way.

The door creaked loudly as the purple filly opened it for us. The room was dark except for a single lantern lighting up a table on the far side of the room. The young buck sitting there didn’t take his eyes off of the bag he was sowing together. “You’re late. What happened Graphite, they give you four trouble again?”

“Something like that…” He carried me over to a corner of the room and laid me down on something soft.

The blue earth pony at the table finally looked up from his work and immediately rushed to my side. “Oh shit what happened?” He rushed back to the table and brought the lantern back with him.

“I don’t know. We found her in the alley behind Miner’s. She must have made the wrong pony mad I guess.”

“Okay and where’s Ammonite?”

Graphite sighed as he ushered the other two kids into another room. “Jasper’s making him work overtime again.”

The stallion cursed under his breath before turning his attention back to me. “Okay can you walk?” I tried to stand up on my own and actually managed it on the first try! But walking… well let’s just say I was glad there was something soft under me.

“Alright don’t hurt yourself.” He crawled under me and picked me up with what must have been practiced ease. Grabbing the lantern in his mouth he carried me through the large house, stopping when we reached a bathroom.

“Okay so this might seem a little awkward so just pretend I’m a mare or something. Can you sit up by yourself?” Wait what? He set me in a bathtub and I weakly nodded as I did as he asked. The shower faucet didn’t work so he filled up a bucket with warm water and grabbed a sponge.

Okay he was right this was definitely getting awkward. First he removed the bandages I somehow still had left, then he started gently bathing me with the sponge. With only dim lighting. And he was a stallion. If Sandy was here I’d never live it down.

“So you’re the pony everypony’s been talking about right? I heard a griffon brought in an injured pegasus the other day, you don’t hear about that too often.”

I finally felt like I could at least talk enough to ask a question or two. “About what?” My voice sounded so weak and distant I almost didn’t recognize it.

“Well a pegasus for one, but a griffon showing genuine compassion. Most of the Talons out here are all business, all the time. They usually won’t even share food with a starving foal unless they can get something out of it. They care about their own kind and caps. Nothing more.”

But Griff wasn’t like that was he? He seemed so nice to me…Then again I saved his life, and in return he saved mine. Maybe he was just trying to get even with me? I sure hope not, I always wanted a griffon friend. Someone else who could fly and maybe teach me-

I squeaked as I felt something rub against the bottom of my wing. Now I’ve never really slapped a pony across the face before, and let me tell you it really hurts your own hoof. “Oh I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to do that you just really surprised me!” I hid my red face behind my hooves as he rubbed his cheek where I hit him.

“So wings really are a sensitive spot, guess the rumors are true.” He paused a moment before chuckling and picking the sponge back up from the floor. “You know for an injured pony you sure can hit pretty hard.”

I felt embarrassed as I tried to hide behind my tail. Unfortunately it was much shorter than it used to be… “I’m really sorry. It’s not that, just brings back a memory I really don’t want to remember.”

He thought about that for a moment before dropping the sponge back in the bucket. “So what are you doing all the way out here anyways? I mean we don’t get many visitors out here besides the gem caravans.”

“Just traveling with a friend. We were hoping to find his family out here, but so far no luck.” He grabbed a towel that looked like a bunch of dish rags sewn together and started drying me off. I noticed he kept his distance from my wings this time.

“Tell me about it. After running an orphanage for all these years if there’s one thing I’m familiar with, it’s broken families. The wasteland is full of em’.” Great, so he’s super attractive and super nice. Did I mention how glad I was that Sandy wasn’t there? “How old is your friend? We accept all ages if he’s interested and willing to help pay the bills.”

“He’s a little younger than me I think. But what was that about paying bills?” It was probably selfish of me but I dreaded the thought of Finder staying here. Sure if it made him happy then I wouldn’t make him leave, but he’s about the only friend I have out here.

The buck sighed as he finished toweling me off. “Well unfortunately it isn’t much of a charity we’re running here. Food isn’t cheap out here and neither is the rent we have to pay to own a building in town. So the older kids work in the mine and the younger ones work in the gem shop. It’s the only way we can make enough money to make it by.”

“So that’s why everypony is all the way out here? A gem mine?”

“Yep. Most gem mines went dry during the war, but this one was closed early because there were so many cave-ins. We can’t get to most of the gems yet since the tunnels are in such bad shape, but we make enough money from the caravans to get by.”

He hung the towel on a hook and helped me back out of the bathtub. I felt good enough to walk so long as he let me lean on him. (I swear that’s the only reason I was doing it don’t you dare think otherwise!)

He led me back though a hallway and into a bedroom full of bunk beds. Several of them already had sleeping fillies and colts on them. He motioned for me to take the bottom bed nearest to the door. "Name's Quick by the way, Quick Wick."

And the name's here just keep getting stranger... "Updraft, thanks and nice to meet you." As I laid down he crept back into the hall, as soon as he left the room got too dark to see.

Unfortunately my heart was fluttering in my chest a little too much for me to sleep just yet so I laid there and thought about what I was going to do next. There was definitely a sandstorm coming tomorrow no matter what those blockheads thought, so we are going to be stuck here for a day or two at least.

Maybe I could do a little work and try to earn some caps? Certainly sounds like they could use some help around here and I really don’t like the idea of little kids having to work in a mine for their food.

With a plan in mind I eventually drifted off to sleep with a smile on my face. All things considered today wasn’t so bad after all.

No Level Up.

Character Updates!

Name: Griff
Gender: Male
Race: Griffon
Age: 32
Appearance: The majority of his feather are brown, with white feathers accenting his wings, neck, and arms; his white feathers have a teal accent; teal eye color.
Cutie Mark: N/A
Size: Average for a griffon.
Occupation: Talon mercenary.
Weapons of Choice: Double Barrel 8 Ga. Shotgun (Brushgun), ad his two quick draw revolvers, .45 Long Colt.
Skillset: Unknown

Name: Quick Wick
Gender: Male
Race: Earth Pony
Age: 20
Appearance: Blue coat; “well kept” brown mane/tail/eyes.
Cutie Mark: A candle
Size: average
Occupation: scavenger, runs an orphanage
Weapons of Choice: Unknown
Skillset: Unknown, but he's super good looking so who cares! Shaddup Updraft quit breaking the fourth wall!

Author's Note

I want to give out a big thanks to Kkat for being awesome as always, and for letting me take part in her amazing world building. I also want to thank The 24th Pegasus and LoyalLiar for letting me use some of the ideas from their universe to make mine a little more unique.

As always feel free to PM me if you have any question, comments, or concerns! Or feel free to leave them in the comments section below. ^_^

P.S. How do you guys feel about chapter length? Like the 9k words long chapters more, or the shorter ones closer to 5/6k words?