Chapter 8: Outlaw

For the fifth time in the past ten minutes or so, my eyes fluttered open and my head snapped up straight. Even the wind blowing through my mane and whistling in my ears couldn’t do much to keep me awake. The past few days’ events had taken a lot out of me, and the only sleep I’d managed to get lately was from unconsciousness. I was fairly certain that unconsciousness didn’t even count as sleep. Coupled with the little food I’d eaten since I’d fled the Enclave, it was leaving me feeling pretty drained.

I stifled a huge yawn and cast a drowsy glance down at the Wasteland beneath me. Night had fallen hours ago, but that sure wasn’t going to stop me from flying. Night ops were old hat for a recon trooper. This barely registered as an inconvenience. My eyes had long since adjusted to the dim moonlight making its way through the cloud cover. I could see just well enough to know that my nose was level with the horizon and not facing straight at the ground.

I could have toggled on the ScoutBuck’s night vision spell, but enhanced visibility wasn’t explicitly necessary for high-altitude flight. I wasn’t expecting to run into any physical hazards or hostile attacks as high up as I was. There was very little light to amplify, anyway. Nah, I’d make use of that in a situation where I really needed it. Like if somepony was trying to fill me full of holes.

In an effort to keep myself awake, I pushed my goggles up onto my forehead. The cold air rushing past my face caused me to squint and blink back tears as it robbed my eyes of moisture. I perked up a little, but it was still very much a losing battle. I was going to have to find someplace to put down for the night before I fell asleep on the wing. Flying all day and into the night had taken me well past the midway point towards my destination. I could afford to spend one night out in the Wasteland and continue on in the morning. Stars knew my sore wing would thank me.

Drawing my focus back to the ScoutBuck’s screen, I perused the map in search of a suitable place to take shelter. There were no locations in the immediate vicinity, but I was currently on approach to a small village nestled upon the outskirts of a larger town. That seemed to be my best bet, but at the rate I was flying it would still be another fifteen minutes at best before I made it as far as the perimeter.

My wings beat harder as I poured on a little extra speed. If I could shave a minute or two off of my travel time, so much the better. I easily could’ve kept going if I wasn’t so mentally exhausted. Long flights were nothing new to me, and I was quite accustomed to gliding for long periods of time to conserve energy. That said, my magically-heightened senses were picking up something I was not accustomed to dealing with. In fact, I avoided it at every turn when possible.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I growled angrily. “I’m almost there, for Cygnus’ sake!

I felt it long before I flew into it. It started as an uncomfortable crawling beneath my skin, and progressed to a feeling not unlike static buildup on my coat. My throat dampened with every inhalation as the air grew thick with moisture. I was even able to taste the barest hint of sweet, refreshing water on my tongue. Rain. I was flying headfirst into a storm, and a big one at that.

It wasn’t much longer before I hit the turbulent weather. A sudden updraft caught my wings, causing them to billow out and yank me upwards a few meters. The wind that was once a byproduct of my passage through the air was now also howling strongly at me from my right side. Turning stubbornly into the air current, I fought against the crosswind and began my descent as I grew closer to my destination. I didn’t want to risk a crash caused by rogue winds. The closer I was to the ground, the better.

The sound of driving rain greeted my ears as I approached the ground. An instant later I plowed straight into what felt like a solid wall of cascading water. Multitudes of water droplets pelted my exposed hair like so many tiny hammers. I blinked and shook my head to keep the runnels of water from seeping through my mane and obscuring my vision. Raindrops collected on the ScoutBuck’s screen as I flew on, pushed slowly off the side by the wind as I flew on. I was thankful to have it right where it was. With the screen suspended just in front of my eye, it kept me from having to blink to clear the rain. On one side, at least.

I shifted uncomfortably as my jacket continued to take on more water. It was sodden to the point of dripping now, and the increase in weight was a noticeable burden. Ignoring it as best I could, I pushed forward, desperate to make it to shelter and get out of the rain. I squinted through the downpour, feeling a sudden jolt of excitement when a small town resolved itself and steadily grew larger.

The familiar shape of bombed-out buildings rushed up to greet me as I streaked into the town. I swept my gaze up and down streets in my search for suitable shelter, but it was slim pickings from what I could see. Most of the buildings in the small town had either been destroyed during the war or had collapsed from a combination of age and the elements. Abandoned carriages and autowagons littered the empty roads, left behind when their occupants had fled for safety. Rainwater had begun to pool up in potholes in the pavement due in no small part to the storm’s severity. Runoff was streaming into the gutters at the sides of the road with such intensity that I could hear it splashing down even over the sound of the rain.

I didn’t find a suitable place for shelter until I’d neared the center of town. My ears perked up when I at last spied a small building at the street corner that looked promising. I couldn’t make out the text on the building’s sign in the dark, and so had no way to determine what its purpose was. Large plate glass windows overlooked the street, still miraculously intact after all this time. The interior beyond the windows was pitch black, but the building had four walls and a roof.

Swooping over to the door, I made a running landing and cantered into the shelter offered by the awning overhanging the sidewalk. Grasping the door handle with a hoof and half-expecting it to be locked, I was pleasantly surprised when it swung open with the tinkle of a bell and a squeal of rusty hinges. I stepped through the door as quick as I could in my haste to be out of the rain, my senses on full alert in case the building was occupied. I jumped and stifled a yelp when the door snapped shut on my hindquarters, the bell tinkling again as it bumped into my rump.

With the door shut, the noise from the storm deadened considerably. The deluge of rain was still audible from indoors, albeit muffled and far less obtrusive to my sense of hearing. I could hear water pattering down off of my soaked coat and landing on the floor mat beneath my hooves. Centuries of dust turned to wet muck as the puddle beneath my hooves steadily grew in size. My lip curled involuntarily at the thick sheet of grime coating the floor, and I nickered in disdain.

“Gross,” I complained. “Even that building in Ponyville wasn’t this dusty. Or the stable, for that matter.” My soaking wet coat and jacket were chilling me to the bone, and I shivered at the cold. I had to find a way to warm up, or at least dry off.

Reaching a hoof up to the ScoutBuck, I hit the toggle to activate the night vision. It didn’t give me much light in the pitch black room, but it did enable me to see. A quick glance showed me three or four aisles with shelves between them. By the door where I’d come in was a metal garbage can and a booth with an overturned register, drawer ajar. At the very back of the room a small group of refrigeration units lined the wall. A corner grocery store?

A sudden pop up message on the ScoutBuck told me I’d discovered a general store. It took a moment to sink in, but when I realized how fortuitous it was that I’d found such a place I began prowling the aisles. If this was a general store, there was a good chance I could find some things to solve my problem. Maybe flashlights to cut through the darkness, lighters or matches to start a fire and get some heat… And maybe if I was really lucky, I’d find some food that hadn’t been looted yet. My stomach growled hungrily at the thought.

My frustration grew in sharp increments as I passed through each aisle and found nothing of use. The shelves were either completely bare, or they held items that were of no particular use to me. When I reached the end of the last aisle I lashed out in anger, batting aside a row of bottles and sending them tumbling to the floor.

“It figures,” I snarled, kicking away a bottle that had fallen nearby. I watched as it sailed across the room and hit the window with a dull thud. “I don’t know what I was thinking expecting there to be useful supplies left in this place.”

I shivered again and took another long look around the small store. No, there had to be something in here that I could start a fire with. I really didn’t feel like getting sick because I couldn’t dry my coat. I’d had survival training, what were the methods I could use to light kindling with limited resources? Think!

Friction was out, there was no way I’d be able to rub two bits of dry wood together long enough to generate decent heat. I didn’t have sunlight to reflect off of metal or through a lens, and I definitely didn’t have flint to generate a spark. I wracked my brain for more obscure ways to start a fire. I’d always heard it was possible to ignite steel wool with a battery. I hadn’t found either one of those when I’d looked through the aisles earlier.

Sighing, I looked down at the scattered bottles from my earlier outburst. They were all bottles of something called Wonderglue—some sort of extra-strength adhesive glue. I went to step over the bottles and froze in my tracks when an idea bubbled to the surface. Chemical reactions… Super glue! That could work! All I had to do was find kindling to keep the fire going and a safe place to start it so I wouldn’t burn the whole store to the ground. Adequate ventilation would also be a concern, but a quick look around revealed some windows up by the ceiling that I could open for that purpose.

Bolting over to the door, I snatched up the garbage can and dragged it to a spot just beneath a window. Hovering up to the window’s lofty perch, I was careful to avoid smashing my wings on anything as I unlocked it and tugged it inward to open it. Right, that was two things sorted. Now I needed to locate some kindling.

A little bit of poking around by the register turned up an old newspaper rack. I couldn’t see the condition of the papers through the night vision, but I had to imagine that they were all yellowed with age. I plucked one up and took a look at the headline. The very first word caught my attention and made my spine tingle when I read it. As a pegasus it held very special meaning to me, though it had never actually been relevant to me in the present day. I’d sure heard about it in history classes, though. Everypony had.

Cloudsdale… It had been our capital once upon a time, but the zebras had bombed it into nonexistence with their very first megaspell strike. They’d deliberately targeted us, no doubt due to our role as the backbone of Equestria’s infantry forces. My spine tingled with pride as I recalled my teachings of the vital role the pegasi played in the war.

Without Equestria’s legions of shock troops at its disposal, the zebras had severely hampered our nation’s military strength. Losing Cloudsdale had also caused the pegasi to retreat above the cloud cover and close off the skies for good. Those striped bastards had planned things well. They’d hit us right where it hurt the most.

I threw the paper back down onto the rack and dragged it over to where I’d set up the garbage can. Two more things and I’d be ready to go. I reached down to scoop up the bottle of glue I’d kicked earlier and brought it over to my impromptu fire pit. For the final piece of the puzzle, I dug a hoof into my ammo pouch and pulled out the remainder of my magical bandage roll. Unraveling it until it was just a wadded mass of cotton, I tossed it to the bottom of the garbage can and took hold of the glue. I’d heard about glue having some kind of chemical reaction with cotton that caused it to spontaneously combust. Hopefully it wasn’t all just a load of horseapples.

I fumbled the cap off of the glue bottle and took it up in my mouth, carefully leaning over the rim of the garbage can to empty its contents all over the pile of bandages. With the bottle drained and the bandages soaked, I stood back and waited. And waited. And waited. I was rewarded for my troubles not with fire—but with nothing but a few curls of smoke. Nickering angrily, I stepped back away from the can to avoid inhaling the fumes.

“Dammit!” I shouted, giving my wings an agitated half-hearted flap. “Okay, there’s gotta be another way to do this…” I thought for a moment, raising my foreleg to rub my chin pensively. When I caught sight of the pistol holster strapped to my leg, a thought surfaced. “I wonder if the heat from a magical energy beam would be enough to get an ember going?”

Sliding my pistol free, I ejected the small spark cell and reached a hoof back into my ammo pouch for another. A pop and crackle from over by the garbage can drew my attention, and I peered into it to investigate. It seemed that the mostly-depleted spark cell’s contacts had rubbed up against the metal surface of the garbage can, leaving blackened scorch marks wherever they’d hit. This accidental circumstance prompted another idea to bubble to the surface.

Turning my back on the garbage can, I made another sweep of the store. This time I went slowly and made sure to scan every possible surface. I was looking for something small and made of metal, like a paper clip or a bobby pin. If I could bridge the gap between the spark cell’s contacts with a thin enough piece of metal, I could get it to heat up enough to get a fire going.

Bottles, cans of cleaning solvents and pest spray toppled off of the shelves and scattered as they collided with my hooves. I’d just thrown a box of moth balls and some mouse traps to the floor when I spotted the answer to my problem. With no further delay, I seized the box in my mouth and trotted back over to my makeshift fire pit to tear it open.

I fumbled with the box for a moment, and the ancient cardboard crumbled at the slightest touch. As the box tore open, a cluster of ovular dull grey objects exploded outwards and went tumbling away in every direction. One such object came to rest up against the garbage can and I scooped it up in a hoof. Holding it up to eye level so I could examine it, I noted that it was a tightly packed bundle of metallic fibers. An abrasive that I could repurpose as a firestarter.

“Steel wool,” I muttered triumphantly. “It’s perfect.”

Reaching over to my side, I threw the flap of my ammo pouch open once again and sifted through it until I’d managed to find another small spark cell. Snatching up one of the ancient newspapers, I rolled it into a loose cylinder with no small amount of difficulty and twisted one end so it wouldn’t unravel. With my makeshift torch constructed, I tore at the piece of steel wool until it was frayed and twice its original size. Loading the bundle into the paper cone, I picked the small spark cell up in my mouth and touched its contacts to the wool fibers.

Once the spark cell’s contacts touched the steel wool, the fibers began to glow cherry red and catch flame. As the embers spread to the paper cone, I blew on the fledgling fire to encourage it to burn brighter. It wasn’t long before flames were licking up out of the cone’s end like a torch, and I picked it up as carefully as I could. Tipping it over the edge of the garbage can, I dropped it onto the pile of cotton that was my failed first attempt at a fire.

When I was sure I wouldn’t smother the flames, I crumpled up several of the old newspapers and tossed them into the can one by one. The fire grew stronger as I fed it more fuel, but paper wouldn’t last me very long. I had to find something that would burn a little longer if I wanted to get enough heat to dry myself off.

After a little more poking around, I was able to come up with a few pieces of wood to burn. The newspaper stand itself had been mostly wood with a quartet of wheels to give it mobility, and I’d also managed to find a stool behind the checkout counter. It took a bit of awkward finagling, but I broke down both objects bit by bit and fed them into the garbage can to build up the fire. By the time I’d finished breaking down the stool and started on the newspaper stand, I had a pretty healthy flame going.

I made a nice pile out of the remainder of the wood and stripped down to my bare coat, placing my sodden jacket up against the fire-warmed metal can’s exterior to help dry it. With my jacket drying, I huddled up near the garbage can with the hopes of drying my own soggy hide. The ambient temperature wasn’t too cold, but the rain had dampened and cooled the night air a fair bit. Wet as I was, the warmth of the fire was inviting and provided a great deal of comfort and peace of mind. Something about the wan orange glow cast by the crackling flames made me feel safer.

The open window above seemed to be doing an adequate job at keeping the smoke from building up. It was a fairly small fire, and I figured it wouldn’t be an issue unless I decided to get a large bonfire going. I held my forehooves out towards the warmth of the fire, doing my best to ignore the rumbling in my gut. Even though I’d practically turned the place upside down and knew better, my stomach was still insistent in its demand for food. It couldn’t be helped. I’d just have to wait until I made it to my destination to scrounge up something to eat.

The warmth of the fire had a tranquilizing effect on me, and I was barely able to stop myself from nodding off several times. A brilliant flash illuminated the store and was followed by a loud crack of thunder that wrenched me out of my stupor. Shaking my head to clear the grogginess, I stood and meandered over to the plate glass windows at the storefront. I held a hoof up against the window and rested my forehead on its cool surface, looking through the dusty portal at the raging storm outside.

Rain. Thunder and lightning. Neither of them had been scheduled like the weather back home. It was surreal how wild and untamed the weather was. Large raindrops pelted everything beyond the window like bullets, slamming into the ground so hard they kicked up a fine mist. The street was beginning to turn into a lake as the drains failed to keep up with the water runoff. I could see various bits of litter drifting on by with the current, some pelted so hard by the rain they were temporarily submerged. Every so often a bolt of lightning would fork downwards from the skies above, illuminating the storefront and everything outside for a split second.

Above the clouds—that was where I belonged. Not down here in the Wasteland roughing it like these barely-civilized dirt munchers. I rapped my forehead against the glass repeatedly, eliciting a dull thunk each time my skull came into contact with the window. Stupid. Stupid. This was my life now, whether or not I liked it.

My shoulders slumped, weary with the weight of the resignation to my future. I turned, leaving the window behind me to return to the warmth of the fire. I didn’t want to think about this anymore. Dwelling on things was a bad habit of mine and I needed to shake it if I wanted to survive down here. The best thing to do at this point would be to listen to my body and get some sleep. I’d feel a lot better in the morning with a fresh start and the final leg of my trip ahead of me. If I could reach my destination fast enough, I could even find somewhere to scrounge up some food.

Nodding in approval, I balled up my jacket and lowered myself to the dusty floor, cradling the fire-warmed fabric between my forehooves. Burying my face deep into the folds of my jacket, I let the sounds of the raging storm lull me to sleep.

It was a nice cool morning following the storm, and I felt pretty good all things considered. I breathed deeply, savoring the delightful scent of damp earth as it entered my nostrils. The wind was blowing through my mane again, and I was back on course to my destination. I felt pretty confident that I could reach it by or just before noon. Flying through the night had allowed me to make pretty good headway on my trip. A glance at my map told me that I’d managed to fly nearly three-quarters of the way to my destination last night alone. I’d set out pretty early this morning. My overnight stop hadn’t hampered my travel time any, though strictly speaking, I wasn’t exactly on a schedule. I was in a bit of a hurry to get to this ‘Sanctuary’ though. The faster I could re-establish order and a routine, the faster I could find my place in things and settle down into Wasteland life.

Caps were my number one concern at the moment. The majority of my problems all seemed to stem from the fact that I was dirt poor by Wasteland standards. I needed to find somewhere to live and a way to put water and food in my stomach. To do that I’d need caps, of which I had precisely none. I’d gone from everything to nothing in ten seconds flat. I had no home, no money, and no way to make sure I stayed fed or even safe from the elements or those with ill intent. There was nopony down here I knew, either. Nopony who would be willing to support me for the time being. I had no relatives or friends whose hospitality I could depend on while I got back on my hooves.

I suppose I’d been asking for it by sticking my neck out for my father. Crabby old bastard hadn’t even appreciated it. It would figure that the one time I decided to do something nice for him I’d end up fucked in the ass for it. I fully expected him to find some way to undermine my sacrifice by telling my mother and sister how stupid I was. That’d be just like him. Always harping on about my mistakes and never acknowledging the things I did right. Maybe with me out of the picture he’d finally start to feel guilty about treating me like shit all my life. I truly hoped guilt was festering in his gut like a bad apple.

I smiled wickedly when I pictured the dressing-down my mother would give him once she heard the news. We never would’ve wound up in this mess if he hadn’t been so paranoid about secrecy. I didn’t know why he was so obsessed with concealing my stars-given talent, but everything would’ve been so much better for everypony if he’d just let me apply for the Wonderb—

A bright pink energy bolt streaked past my head close enough to singe my hair. I heard the distinctive crack of the weapon’s report a split-second later, and I could taste ozone on the air as a result of its passage. Raw instinct and training kicked in as I rolled left and banked hard. My quick response allowed me to dodge a follow-up shot from the unknown assassin, but just barely. Speed. I needed speed. I had no way to return fire short of my energy pistol, and I was liable to drop it in the middle of a dogfight. I needed to break away and disengage as fast as possible if I wanted to survive this.

Tipping my nose down, I launched into a steep dive. The sound of the whistling wind in my ears became a deafening roar as I began to accelerate. Several tense moments passed before my pursuer opened fire again, putting to rest my hopes of having shaken them. Pink bolts whizzed past me in a sporadic pattern, leading me to guess that my assailant was most likely using an energy pistol. That was somewhat relieving news. If they weren’t fielding Sunburst rifles, that meant they didn’t have power armor either. If worse came to worst, I’d at least have a chance at defending myself.

I made a slight adjustment to my wings so that my trailing feathers were oriented in opposite directions. The maneuver threw me into a tight corkscrew—an effort to make myself a little harder to draw a bead on—but it didn’t discourage my attacker one bit. I tensed up as even more energy bolts soared past me too close for comfort. Maybe I was going about this the wrong way. Maybe I needed to get aggressive and lose my tail with a more offense-oriented approach.

Once the next volley of fire lanced past me I rolled hard to my right and looped back in a hard turn. Color drained away and I could see my vision starting to tunnel as I pulled tighter through the turn. I clenched every leg muscle I could before the high-G turn could deprive my brain of sufficient blood flow to remain conscious. Tilting my head back and squinting through the blackout, I was just able to spot my pursuer’s tail blowing in the wind. The pony in question was trying to stay on my six, but they were moving far too fast in their attempt to close the distance. Braking had shortened my turning radius and it wasn’t long before I was on my attacker’s tail. Color was returning now that I’d finished my maneuver, and I accelerated to close to melee range.

Up ahead of me, the stormy grey mare’s wings beat with the speed of a hummingbird’s as she tried to pull away. One quick glance told me I wasn’t dealing with a wasteland-born pegasus. Dark grey officer’s fatigues revealed the mare’s allegiance to the Grand Pegasus Enclave. My jaw dropped and an involuntary gasp slipped out. They’d found me again? How had they tracked me so fast? Nopony in the Enclave should have been able to determine my current whereabouts. I’d flown halfway across Equestria since yesterday afternoon!

My mouth had been halfway to the grip of the knife on my shoulder when I thought better of it. I needed answers. I needed to capture this mare alive and figure out why not one—but two search teams had managed to find me already. An involuntary shudder went down my spine when I remembered that armored, wraithlike figure’s promise to hunt me down. If regular troopers could track me down, a specialist like him could probably manage it twice as easily. With my goal clear, I beat my wings a little harder and gave chase.

My target turned out to be a nimble little flyer, and she shot a quick glance over her shoulder before putting on a quick burst of speed. I felt a fire light in my chest and broke out in a grin. If that was the way it was going to be, then I certainly wasn’t going to complain. It had been a long time since I’d played a little game of cat and mouse. Not since my flight school days. I beat my wings harder and hastened to catch up, tingles of exhilaration working their way through my body in my excitement.

The mare banked and rolled erratically to try and shake me, but I stuck to her like glue. When she entered a steep climb I slowed in order to maintain visual. I didn’t speed up again until she’d finished her half-loop with a roll, completely reversing direction. A roll-off-the-top. Classy!

A searing heat across my left foreleg made my mistake clear as day. I hissed and pulled my burned leg inward towards the security of my body. The offending bolt of energy that wounded me continued onward before fading far in the distance. A quick look over my shoulder elicited a growl of frustration. She was behind me! How had she gotten behind me? I’d followed her through that entire loop! No way was I about to let this pony outfly me. I’d never been bested in aerial combat, and I was not about to let that change. This time it wasn’t a training exercise—my life was on the line.

My best option given the circumstances was counter-intuitive but always effective on the unsuspecting. It was time to hit the brakes. I flared my wings out like two massive sails and lurched to an abrupt halt. An instant later, a grey streak soared past me and I flew off again in pursuit of my troublesome assassin. To her credit she was quick to react. When she realized what had happened, she nosed down and went into a steep dive to break line of fire. I followed close on her tail, folding my wings and dropping down after her like a hawk striking prey.

A faint pink tint enveloped everything I could see and increased in saturation as I picked up speed. If I was in this dive for too long I risked serious injury, but if my prey could handle it so could I. Time stretched on for what seemed like an eternity as I plummeted after the fleeing mare, and when she abruptly pulled up out of the dive I grinned triumphantly. Shifting my angle of attack to intercept, I pulled my nose up out of vertical and pointed it at a spot several meters ahead of her flight path. I still had the speed advantage. She was mine now.

As I neared the Enclave mare I stretched my forelegs out ahead of me. If I hit her in the midsection I could pin her wings to her sides and she’d be completely helpless. Unless she wanted to risk falling out of the sky, she’d have to remain securely within my grasp. There was of course the nagging little thought at the back of my mind reminding me that I didn’t know how strong this mare was. I had no idea if I’d be able to restrain her once we made it to the ground, but I’d cross that bridge when I came to it. In a worst-case scenario I could always pull my knife on her.

Seconds before I made contact with the mare, quite a few things were made crystal clear. Everything lurched violently as a pair of hooves wrapped themselves around my midsection and pulled me into a sharp dive. I flailed as I lost sight of my target, thrashing and twisting in a desperate attempt to escape the clutches of the pony who’d grabbed me. How had I missed a second pony? I would’ve noticed another pony when I’d looped around to tail my target!

My blood ran cold when I realized my mistake. I didn’t have much time to dwell on it in the rapid descent, but I managed to put all the pieces together moments before we hit the ground. Back when I’d been tailing her through her roll-off-the-top—that was when everything should’ve been clear as day. I’d been tailing one mare while the other dropped back on to my tail and stuck with me. When I’d banked to go after her I’d let my guard down. I thought she’d gotten behind me, but in reality it had been two mares who looked exactly alike.

My thoughts came to an abrupt halt when my body was driven hard into the dirt. As rough landings went, it was a rough one. Rocks and tiny bits of grit ground at the flesh beneath my coat as my momentum grated me against the dirt like a piece of cheese. My pursuer and I both cried out when my jacket snagged on the ground and sent us tumbling end-over-end, each of us fighting to gain the upper hoof on the other. With the way my luck had been going, naturally I came out on the bottom.

“The jig is up,” a familiar voice said from behind me as we tumbled to a stop and the speaker clambered atop me. A foreleg found its way to the back of my neck and slammed my head against the dirt, while at the same time a pair of hind legs straddled my back and pinned my wings to my sides.

“The noose is out,” the exact same voice said from above me. With great difficulty, I managed to swivel my free eye around towards the speaker. Hovering just at the edge of my peripheral vision was yet another pegasus. Two Enclave troopers. Oh, I was so fucked.

“We finally found you,” the two mares finished together. It was then that recognition struck me like a lightning bolt. Their identical coat and mane colors, the similar voices… It was the Wind Twins. Captains Gust and Gale—the same two mares I’d been flying with the night I’d fled the cloud cover.

Dread seeped into my gut like I’d swallowed a glass of ice cold water. Why here? Why now? How had they found me, and why had they gone through all the trouble to take me alive? They’d been shooting at me only moments before! The only motive I could think of was their pre-existing hate for my family and I. I was certain that was why they’d been so keen to see me trip up on the reconnaissance flight. There was no doubt that this was the reason why Gale had been so furious that I’d escaped punishment.

“Well, well, well,” the mare above me said. I recognized the curt haughty tone as belonging to Gale. “Look what we’ve found, Gust. A treacherous little rat.” I winced as the mare dropped to land by my head, her wings stirring up dirt and scattering it into my eyes. “Accessing and purging classified data? Interrupting an interrogation in progress and assaulting a superior officer? Desertion, disobeying orders, refusal to cooperate and fleeing arrest?” I glared defiantly at the mare as she lowered her head so that we were eye-to-eye. Gale grinned wickedly. “I knew you’d slip up one day. Oh, how I waited for you to make the wrong move. What a lucky mare I am to have been the one to catch you.”

“If we’re going to do this we have to do it quick, Gale,” Gust said from atop me. “Remember what the recon debriefs said? This area is a Steel Ranger and insurgent hotspot. We don’t want to be caught alone out here. Less so while we’re busy dealing with this asshole.”

Steel Rangers. The last thing I wanted was to be caught pinned to the ground if one of those walking tanks showed up. One glance and we’d all be nothing but tiny little bits of pony mulch. What was that other thing she mentioned? Insurgents? What in Equestria was she talking about?

“I remember, Gust,” Gale said, pawing at the dirt with a hoof. “I think we can afford a few moments of glory. It’s not as if we broadcasted our presence by flying in on a sky-tank. It’s just us. You, me… and the traitor.”

“Alleged traitor, thank you,” I interjected. “How the hell did you find me? I’ve flown almost halfway across Equestria since last contact with Enclave troopers.”

“We have our ways, though I find it amusing that you think your movements wouldn’t be predictable,” Gale sneered. “The Council should’ve known you weren’t to be trusted when you botched that mission last year. They let you off with a slap on the fetlock and look where we’ve found you a year later—hightailing it straight back to your little insurrectionist friends.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I snarled. “If I’m a rebel like you say I am, don’t you think I would’ve defected immediately after ‘intentionally’ botching that mission? A mission that was successful, by the way. I’d just like to point out that I got the target. Eventually.”

“That’s a load of horseapples,” Gale said, her triumphant grin fading to make way for a disgusted scowl. “If that was the truth we wouldn’t have tracked you all the way to—”

“Gale, come on,” Gust snapped, her urgent hiss loud in my ear. “What if he’s made contact with them already? We spend too much time down here and we’ll be lucky to avoid being shot full of holes!”

Made contact with who? What were these two lunatics talking about?

“Right. You’re right, I’ve let this idiot distract me for long enough.” I tried to follow Gale as she moved out of my peripheral vision, walking over to stand somewhere behind me. “It’s time to be done with you once and for all.”

“Sorry I don’t fit into your busy schedule,” I snarked, “But if you’re in such a hurry, why didn’t you just shoot me earlier and be on your merry way?”

“There’s a couple reasons,” Gale said, her tone casual. “For one, we weren’t ordered to. The primary reason, though? The one most important to us?” Gale began shuffling through her equipment, and I heard the familiar hum of crackling magical energy once she found what she was looking for. “We want to see the look on your face once you finally hit rock bottom. Cover his mouth, Gust. He’s going to scream.”

Before I could voice my confusion, Gust’s free hoof clamped down over my muzzle. My heart began to quicken in a panic, and flashes of my encounter with Curb Stomp and Garrote flew through my mind at a breakneck pace. What was she about to do to me? Was she going to geld me, or kick me in the balls until I passed out from the pain? Jam something so far up my ass I’d be left to suffer and die from internal trauma?

I felt it the very next moment, and Gale was right—I did scream. Unbelievably intense pain flared up on my right flank, and I heard as much as felt the sound of sizzling flesh. The smell of burned hair and skin reached my nostrils not long after. Adrenaline was surging through me now, and I thrashed with the power of a pony possessed to break free of Gust’s hold on me. My forelegs clawed and scrabbled at the dirt and I managed to get my hind legs under me, tossing the mare off of my back as I scrambled to my hooves.

“What did you do to me!?” I screamed as I turned to level my gaze at Gale. Waves of pain continued to radiate outward from my flank, combining with the adrenaline to make my legs quiver beneath me.

“Just a little volunteer work, Outlaw,” Gale said, practically spitting the last word. “If your loyalty lies not with your fellow ponies but instead with your rebel ilk, then you may as well look the part. By the authority granted to me by the High Council, you are hereby officially expatriated from the Grand Pegasus Enclave. You have no right to a trial or an appeal. Any and all possessions issued by the Enclave military shall be relinquished at this time, and any attempts to regain entry into Enclave territory will be met with lethal force.

“Now,” Gale continued, smiling sweetly. “You can either turn around so I can do the other side, or we’ll pin you again and do it by force.”

Gale’s words faded out, to be replaced by a high pitched ringing in my ears as I turned to examine my flank. The little winged horseshoe that had been with me since I was a foal had gone. In its place was a hideous patch of raw, burned skin in the shape of a cloud and lightning bolt. An unmistakable, irremovable sign imprinted upon me with a magical energy brand. A sign telling anypony who saw me that I was a traitor to the Enclave. Even as I watched, the branding iron’s magic continued to work, causing the parts of my cutie mark it hadn’t burned to slowly fade away. Moments later, there was nothing left on my right flank but an exact replica of Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark.

My cutie mark… they’d taken my cutie mark. They’d turned me into a Dashite. I’d just lost any hope of ever seeing my family or home ever again. It was just as Gale had said—if I showed my face above the clouds now, they’d kill me. As the realization began to set in, my thoughts decomposed into an incomprehensible droning buzz. An eyelid twitched and red hot fury surged through me as I fixated on Gale’s grinning mouth clamped around the handle of the branding iron. Her unbridled glee at my misfortune lit a fire inside me and my chest started heaving as the rage bubbled over.

Both sisters barely had time to react as I flared my wings out and deftly snapped them, boosting myself forward towards the smiling mare. I crossed the distance between us in a split second and drove my hoof into Gale’s mouth with every bit of strength I could muster. The mare cried out in pain and spat out the brand along with a few teeth as she reeled from the blow. I managed to catch the brand before it hit the ground and without a passing thought, swung it as hard as I could at Gale’s head.

A jolt of exhilaration coursed through me when Gale screamed in pain, and I pulled the brand back for another strike. The feel of the impact through the brand, the sickening crack each time it made contact with Gale’s skull touched me on such a primal level that all I could think about was causing her more pain. She had to suffer. She had to pay for what she’d done to me, and by Polaris I’d make sure she did. I hit the Enclave mare again and again until she went limp and fell to the ground. Even when she ceased moving, I didn’t stop. I was lost, completely overtaken by bloodlust to the point where I was further enraged when the sharp end of the lightning bolt lodged firmly in the dead mare’s skull.

I regained some small semblance of sanity when a screaming ball of mare slammed into me and drove me into the dirt. I rolled to keep her from pinning me but she rolled with me, her hooves throwing punch after punch at my head. The branding iron had fallen when she’d tackled me, but I spotted it as I came up on top of her. Snatching it up in my forehooves, I slammed it down across her neck before she could throw me into another roll.

“You… lunatic!” Gust choked as I pinned her to the ground by her throat. “You… murdered… my sister! You... murdered her!”

“You took my cutie mark!” I screamed into Gust’s face, leaning forward to press my nose to hers. “You hunted me down to brand me like an animal! At least Aeolus had the common decency to try and shoot me instead of disfiguring me!”

“You’re.. dead,” Gust said, tears beginning to stream from her eyes as she began to suffocate. “They’ll… find you. They’ll kill you.”

“Doubt it,” I said coldly. “I have no worth to the Enclave anymore. Why waste time hunting me down? I’m a Dashite now thanks to you and your sister. I’m a Dashite… and you two are just casualties of the Wasteland.”

I was about to press down harder and crush Gust’s windpipe, but I froze when a modulated voice called out from nearby.

“Well, look what we have here,” the unknown voice said, and I looked up to see a pair of Steel Rangers approaching us, bristling with ordnance. My blood ran cold and I fought to push the multitude of ways I could possibly die to the back of my mind. It was fairly difficult when my eyes kept sweeping over multi-rocket launchers, missile launchers and grenade machine guns. Swallowing nervously, I eased back to let Gust breathe. “I thought that was just tracer fire in the skies, but it looks like it was really a couple of little birdies settling a disagreement.”

“What do you want?” I said, my tone even and neutral. It was best not to piss these two off. If I said the wrong thing they wouldn’t hesitate to turn me into a smear on the ground. “I don’t want any trouble.”

“It’s been a while since our Elder has heard from your commander,” one of the Rangers explained. “The lapse in communication is starting to piss him off. Seeing as how we’ve been fortunate enough to happen across you two, I figure you can offer up some kind of explanation for us.”

“What’s he talking about?” I whispered to Gust, hoping the armored Ranger’s helmet would make hearing me difficult.

“Oh don’t act like you don’t already know,” Gust spat, coughing and spluttering as she caught her breath. “I don’t know who you’re trying to convince with this act of yours, you treacherous wretch.”

“Watch it, bitch. You should be thanking me for easing up. Actually, you should probably be thanking them.”

“You killed my sister and you want me to thank you?” Gust snarled, her expression twisting in utter shock.

“Regardless of the circumstance I think sparing your life deserves a certain degree of gratitude, yeah.”

“Go fuck yourself!”

“Hey!” the Ranger barked, and both of our heads snapped over to focus on him. “No whispering. Couple of Enclave ponies get to whispering nearby, I start to get nervous. Maybe they’re plotting something, y’know?” The Ranger rolled one armored shoulder in a shrug and began to pace back and forth. “Maybe they’re coming up with a plan to pull one over on me and my partner here so they can turn tail and flee. You’re all on thin ice as far as we’re concerned. Trust is a two-way street, and your commander hasn’t been giving us much of his.

“So here’s what’s gonna happen,” the Ranger said, ceasing his pacing and leveling what was clearly a missile launcher at the pair of us. “You’re gonna answer my question. If I don’t get an answer I like, you’re coming with us back to base. If you decide you want to get smart and run, I have no problems turning you into a crater. Are we clear?”

“Look pal,” I said, rising to my hooves and stepping slowly away from Gust. “Like I said earlier, I don’t want any trouble.”

I had to get away from these two. This was a complicated situation and I was in way over my head. Combined with what the twins had been saying, there was a lot going on here that I didn’t understand. Whatever these Steel Rangers were talking about sounded like something I didn’t want to be caught up in. I couldn’t even begin to fathom why Enclave troopers would work with Steel Rangers, let alone conduct operations groundside for any length of time. Those Rangers had to be fucking with us.

“There won’t be any trouble if you cooperate with us,” the Ranger said, tracking me as I moved away from Gust.

“Look, this is all a misunderstanding,” I said as Gust rolled over and pushed herself to her hooves. “Yeah it’s true that I was an Enclave soldier up until a few days ago, but this is the first time I’ve ever been this far east. It’s also the first time I’ve been on the ground for this long, so whoever it is you’re talking about I’ve never even met. Even if I was still in active service, I doubt my CO would be involved with Steel Rangers. We hate each other.” Wait, why’d I say that? Backpedal! “Uh... present company excluded?”

The two Rangers shared a glance before turning to look back at me. I tried to imagine flat expressions behind their helmets.

“I can verify that this traitor is no longer affiliated with the Grand Pegasus Enclave,” Gust said. What the hell was she playing at? What did she stand to gain from backing me up? “As you can see if you look at his flank, my sister and I were in the process of branding him a Dashite when things went...awry.” Gust’s voice cracked and she raised a hoof to wipe at her eyes. She shook visibly for a few moments while she regained her composure before dropping her hoof and fixing the Rangers with a steely glare. “I don’t think he’ll be of any use to you. I, on the other hoof, will answer your questions to the best of my ability. I’ve heard enough to understand that you’ve got things a little confused.”

That bitch! She was trying to convince them to get rid of me in exchange for her cooperation!

I started creeping slowly backward, being careful to keep Gust’s body between myself and the Rangers as I did. If I could get far enough away before they noticed, I could be in the sky and gone before they could blow me to bits. Odds were equally likely they’d blow her up and then blow me up right afterward, but it didn’t deter me any. If there was one thing I’d learned the past few days, any chance to get away with my life was a chance worth taking.

“Whoa, where’s the fire, buddy?” One of the Rangers called out, and I froze like a startled deer. “You got somewhere to be?”

I hesitated for a moment, weighing my options before I realized that there was really only one. Time to jet.

I turned tail and bolted as fast as my legs could carry me, hastily unfurling my wings as I ran. Both Rangers started yelling the moment I took off, and the projectiles started flying shortly after. Rockets streaked past me as I began ascending. Grenades and other munitions exploded underhoof, throwing up plumes of dirt and rocks that pelted me from beneath as I gained altitude. Much to my surprise, it looked like I was going to make a relatively clean getaway. I was just starting to relax, thanking the stars that neither one of them had been equipped with a minigun when everything became a blur.

A sudden flash of heat and light from directly below partially blinded me and robbed me of my hearing. At the same time I felt the wind knocked out of me and breathing became difficult. The world around me started spinning, and I began looking everywhere in a panic as I desperately sought shelter from the Rangers. My chest was aching and I coughed as I tried to draw breath, spraying blood into the air and throwing my mind into turmoil.

My heartbeat was the only thing I could hear clearly as it pounded in rapid, erratic terror. I could barely hear the wind over the ringing in my ears and my own heart and breathing. I had to put down. I had to find someplace to land and rummage for healing potions. I had nothing, and if I couldn’t find medical supplies I was dead meat.

I hastily scanned buildings beneath me as they passed by. I was having a difficult time beating my wings hard enough to keep myself in the air and I was losing altitude at a steady rate. Whatever that rocket detonation had done to me had left me winded. It was impossible for me to catch my breath, and I felt my strength fading as I wheezed and coughed up more blood. An autowagon service station about fifty meters ahead of me caught my eye and I set my sights on it. Autowagon repair had to be a dangerous profession. Dangerous professions would require emergency medical kits on site. That was my best bet.

When I made my approach to the service station I was flying almost too slow to keep airborne. I gave a few desperate flaps to keep from stalling and nosed down to speed up my landing. When my hooves touched down I overbalanced, stumbling forward like an awkward drunk. Pausing a moment to steady myself, I started moving towards the door of the service station as quick as I could without falling over. My breathing and heartbeat were loud in my ears and my vision kept threatening to white out before slowly fading back into color.

By the time I reached the door and managed to open it, I could barely catch my breath. I plodded slowly into the service station, wheezing in a desperate attempt to sate my body’s thirst for oxygen. My heartbeat was thundering in my ears as I made my way into the service station’s dark interior. I wasn’t that far from the door when I felt myself convulse, and I couldn’t suppress a sudden hacking cough. More blood dripped out of my mouth to patter down onto the worn linoleum floor in a shower of crimson specks. My legs gave out beneath me a moment afterward and I flopped down hard to the floor.

Oh stars, I was going to die. This was it. Not even a week in the Wasteland and I was already knocking on Death’s door. I squeezed my eyes shut tight as burning hot tears began to well up. I didn’t want to die. I missed my home, I missed my family and friends above the clouds. Would they even miss me? They’d never even know I was dead. I was about to drown in my own blood farther away from my home than I’d ever been in my life, and nopony knew I was even here. I was… I was going to die alone.

“Hello? Is somepony there?”

Or maybe not.

Feigning death, I continued to lay prone, conserving what little of my energy I had left in case I needed it. I tried to see as much as I could with my free eye, but the interior of the station was dark except for dim light seeping in through the boarded-up windows. A moment later, I spotted a new source of light. A pale orange glow drifted out from a back room, and I saw a weapon enveloped within the magical field of a unicorn. The pony herself wandered in just after the gun, and I snapped my eye shut when she took note of me lying on the floor.

“What in Celestia’s name…?” the mare said, completely befuddled. “Oh bloody hell. Probably another raider having a laugh. You lot have caused me enough trouble, yeah? I’ve about had it up to my bloody horn dealing with you bastards while I’m scavenging.” The unicorn walked carefully over to me, but she kept her distance. She held her weapon close and ready to fire, though she didn’t point it directly at me. I had an idea, but I needed her to get a little closer. “Wait a moment, this is no raider… What’s your story, mate? You alright?”

I didn’t answer, and I tried my best to remain motionless. The curious unicorn wandered closer, and I gathered every last bit of my remaining strength. When she’d gotten close enough to me to touch, I pushed myself to my hooves and hooked a foreleg around her neck before she could back away. I reached over to my knife sheath and tugged it out, holding it firmly against her throat and silencing her cry of protest. When the steel met the flesh of her neck, I heard her weapon clatter to the floor as she lost concentration and dropped it.

“G-Give me all… Give me your healing potions,” I wheezed. “Give ‘em to me and you can… can go.”

“Can’t you ask like a normal person?”

“I’m serious,” I said. “Just give… give me your healing potions. I’ll open you like a letter, I swear to Polaris.”

“Haven’t gotten as far as I have letting other ponies bully me, mate,” the unicorn said. “I’ve been raised not to negotiate with hostage takers.”

As she said it, I felt the barrel of a pistol seat itself firmly against my chin. I noticed a sudden absence of the familiar weight on the leg I had my pistol holster strapped to. Looking down, I noticed it was conspicuously empty. The twinkling of unicorn magic beneath my chin made it obvious that I’d just been outplayed. I really was going to die now. I’d just burned my only chance at help by trying to shake down this Wastelander. My legs shuddered and gave out again, and I collapsed back down to the floor.

I laid there out of breath as the last vestiges of my strength began to ebb away. My eyelids were growing heavier by the second, and I no longer had the energy to force them back open. As they drooped shut for what I imagined was the final time, I offered up a prayer to Polaris for guidance as blackness claimed me.

It came as quite a shock when I regained consciousness. Not only was I surprised to still be amongst the living, I wasn’t expecting to feel as good as I did. I still didn’t feel one-hundred percent, but I was doing leaps and bounds better than when I’d passed out. Breathing was a lot easier—if slightly uncomfortable—and my hearing had returned to normal. I realized my jacket and effects were missing when a cool draft blew through the building’s interior, gently rusting my feathers and mane. I also felt bandages on a bunch of small wounds I’d been too distracted to notice myself.

An uncomfortable prickle at the back of my neck told me I wasn’t alone. Putting two and two together told me that it must have been the unicorn I’d tried to rob. I thanked my lucky stars I had my back to her. I wasn’t sure I could look her in the face after she’d helped me despite everything.

“Why?” I asked quietly, blurting the biggest question on my mind.

There was a short pause before she answered, in an accented Equestrian dialect that I wasn’t quite familiar with. “Not quite sure I know myself,” the unicorn said. “I mean, I reckon I sort of thought about it a bit afterward but I’m not quite sure why I helped as quick as I did.”

“What did you come up with once you thought about it?” I asked, before hastily adding, “If you don’t mind saying, that is.”

“Well not to sound racist or anything, but the first thing I took note of was your wings,” the unicorn answered. She walked over from where she was standing behind me to sit where I could see her, albeit just outside of melee range. “We don’t exactly get many pegasi ‘round here. Then when I noticed your patch and equipment, I figured you were Enclave.”

“You’d have been right a few days ago,” I said. “Since then, not so much.”

The unicorn nodded. “So I tried to put myself in your horseshoes. I’m an injured Enclave pegasus seeking medical supplies. Dunno where the bloody hell I am, probably scared out of my gourd dealing with the shock of Wasteland life, and I’m already not thinking quite straight. Next thing I know, a scavenging unicorn mare is walking up to me with a loaded gun, and she probably came prepared. I’d be right foolish not to pass the chance up.”

“So you’re saying you took care of my injuries because you can sympathize with me?”

“Yeah, I reckon that’s about the size of it,” the unicorn said, lifting a hoof to scratch at her cream-colored muzzle. “Did the best I could. Healing potions have stopped the bleeding for the most part. I’ve bandaged all of the small cuts and scrapes, but I couldn’t seem to do anything about that burn on your flank. That one that looks sort of like the symbol for the Ministry of Awesome.”

I suddenly felt sick, and I curled tightly into a ball. “That’s a Dashite brand. They… The Enclave brands ponies that defy the government’s ideologies. It’s a magical energy scar, there’s no healing it. It’ll be with me until the day I die.”

The unicorn frowned grimly. She looked like she wanted to inquire further, but thankfully she did not. “I’m sorry to hear that. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be stripped of your cutie mark. Look, er…”

“Mach,” I supplied.

“Mach,” the unicorn parroted. “My name’s Greaser. I imagine you’re probably wondering why I didn’t leave after patching you up.”

“It’s one thought among many, yes.”

“Well, you’re still not out of the woods yet,” Greaser said. “I’d like to take you to be examined by a good friend of mine. This bloke’s the best surgeon I know, bar none. He’ll be able to look you over good and proper. Make sure you heal up right.”

I immediately grew suspicious. “I’m just supposed to trust you?”

“Mate, I could’ve let you bleed to death,” Greaser said, rolling her eyes and sighing. “I could’ve killed you bloody loads of times since then as well. Unconscious ponies are rather vulnerable, you understand. I know you probably think I’ll try to find a way to take revenge for being held hostage, yeah? That’s not the kind of pony I am. I dunno what things are like up there above the clouds, but we’ve got all sorts down here. We got off to a rocky start, but I believe in second chances. I just want to help you, mate. That’s all.”

I sat up with some difficulty, hissing in pain as I moved my forelegs and exerted my chest muscles. Yeah, I was still definitely in pretty rough shape. Was it a good idea to accept help from a mare I’d tried to kill? If she was lying and still harboring serious feelings of resentment, she could sell me up the river and I’d be none the wiser. Then again, she had a really good point when she said she could’ve killed me several times over already. If she was anything like Solara though, she could hold on to a grudge for a very long time.

I looked up into her emerald green eyes as I pushed myself up and tried to get a read on her character. She smiled hopefully at me, and in that instant I knew she was a good pony. Her cheerful spirits were infectious. I felt myself grinning back with my usual lopsided cocky grin, and I gave my wings an excited half-flap. After all these days of traveling alone, I finally had somepony who was actually willing to travel along with me. She could be a companion. A friend.

“I really appreciate what you’ve done for me, Greaser,” I said. “You’re good people. Now show me to my stuff and let’s blow this joint.”

“Good on ya, mate!” Greaser said, rushing over to give me a hug. My wings exploded outward in surprise. “I know things went tits-up at first but you’ll be glad we met, I’m certain.”

“I’m not sure how much weight my word carries to you as of this minute, but I believe you,” I said, reaching up a foreleg to hug her back. “I really do.”

Footnote: Level up.

Perk Added:
Mark of the Dashite – You’ve been officially exiled by your people. Visible proof of your alleged loyalty to Rainbow Dash has made Wastelanders quicker to trust you. As a result, you receive a permanent 10-point bonus to your Speech and Barter skills.

Author's Notes:

Chapter header by CaptainHoers!! Go read his stuuuuuff

I apologize for the delay, y'all. There's really no excuse, but the explanation for the wait is all outlined in my last (not current) blogpost. If you're curious, head on over there to see what the dealio was. I hope to get a short little intermediary chapter out in between the next full-length one, that way at least you guys will have something to tide you over.

Cheers, everyone. I hope it was worth the wait.