Forget Me Not

Written by Noakwolf.

Rocking calmly back and forth, a gray pegasus mare dressed in a thick leather duster sat in a rocking chair. She was laid back and relaxed, a fedora was covering the top of her long blond dusty mane as she enjoyed the quiet day. The air was cool and the town life around her at peace. It was a fine day. Dark clouds were above and a cool breeze was in the air. Yes, it was a good day.

Buildings around her seemed inactive. It was a slow day in this town, and she liked it that way. Though, across from her, two small foals came running toward her. One a was an orange coated earth pony filly with a yellow mane. The other, a smaller buck with a blue coat and a short white mane on his little head.

Neither of them seemed to have their cutie marks, and by the look of things, they seemed to be interested in her. Deep down inside, the gray mare prayed they didn't come to her, but one could only hope for so much.

"Lucy!" Both foals exclaimed cheerfully as they approached her.

The sound of their voices broke her peaceful time outside. "Yeah?" She replied, sitting up straight in her rocking chair.

The little buck spoke first, "Glitter Chip told me you know an amazing story... Like, the bestest one ever!"

"Yeah," The filly called Glitter Chip added, "and Conway says I'm lying!"

"Duh, my dad tells the best stories. I bet Lucy ain't got a tale worth telling at all."

"Nuh-uh, she does too know the bestest story!" Glitter Chip interjected.

"No, she doesn't!"

"Yes, she does!"

At this point, Lucy was becoming frustrated by the continuous pace of the children's argument. So, sighing she raised a hoof to silence them. "Listen kids... I'm not too fond of telling the story, and frankly I was enjoying my peace and quiet."

"But Lucy!" Glitter Chip begged.

"I'm sorry, kids, I just don't-" Out of nowhere, she stopped speaking in mid-sentence.

Something had caught her attention. It was a stallion, clad in a suit of thick dark power armor. An army helmet and a red visor along with a breather piece covered the stallion's face, only his red horn stuck out from the helmet's top. A thick duster, not unlike her own, covered the rest of his body. What was odd about him though, was the fact that no part, minus his horn, was showing. It was all covered by thick metal plating, or by the duster.

Galloping at an easy pace the stallion came up to Lucy and the foals. Lucy seemed surprised to see him, as a look of both surprise and confusion could be seen in her eyes. "W-what are you doing here, I thought you were gone on patrol?"

The voice of this odd stranger was low, and dull. Yet stern and calculated. "I had completed a patrol, and I have acquired spare time."

"That fast?" She added.

He did not respond, rather he just gave her a simple nod. The armor-clad stallion looked down at the foals in front of her who looked like they had been groveling before her. "Why are the young groveling to you?"

"They want me to tell them a story, and I said no."

The huge metal clad pony sat down on the ground, "I have acquired time."

"Yeah," Said Glitter Chip, "even he wants to hear the story!"

Lucy looked back at the metal pony with a mournful, yet nostalgic look. "Well... Have you heard the story from when I was younger?"

"Negative." The stallion replied.

She rubbed the back of her neck with a sad look about her, "I didn't think you would've..."

Glitter Chip hugged Lucy's leg, and stared up at her with wide adorable eyes. "Please..." She whimpered.

Lucy felt down deep inside that she didn't want to tell a story. Especially the one they wanted to hear. The only other reason she had told anyone the story beforehand was because a whole group of ponies wanted to hear it. But now, in the presence of him... This changed her outlook on the whole situation.

"Please..." The small filly begged once more.

Lucy sighed, and made herself comfortable in her seat. "Okay, but just this once."

Bouncing with joy, Glitter Chip sat down with her friend, and eagerly awaited to hear the story once more. A sadness churned around in her stomach as she spoke. And while it did take some determination, she forced herself to tell the story.

"Well... Where should I start?"

The trunk of a black old wagon flipped open. Dust scattered itself in the air as light dimly touched the dusty objects within. A red unicorn stallion, with a long scraggly brown mane, coughed and waved a hoof around his face to clear the dust. His light brown eyes scanned the contents of the trunk, only to find that nothing of value was inside.

Patting down his brown trench coat, he shook his head. "Well, still nothing."

A little grey pegasus filly with a yellow mane stood there looking at him sadly, "No food? Not even a little?"

"Not even a mouse sized little." Added the red stallion.

Both of the ponies stood there and looked up the long, desolate road. Old banged deteriorating carts lined the sides of the cracked and blasted highway.

"We've searched all of the good carts already, and still not a thing." The filly said in a discouraged tone.

"Hey, kiddo, cheer up," The stallion said with a smile, "we'll find something. We've just got to try a little harder, that’s all."

In the distance, the ruins of what seemed like a large city could be seen. Tall ruined buildings stood still, as the dark clouds hovered above, with the wind whistling. "It’s just that I'm hungry..."

"Well, that simply won't do! It just won't. Come on, let's keep moving. Maybe we'll find us something tasty." The stallion chirped enthusiastically.

Trotting lightly, they both continued down the road at an easy pace. "Like, what do you think we could find to eat in the city, Wester?" The filly asked.

"Hmm, I'm not sure. Maybe cake, or better. Cupcakes!" The pony called Wester replied.

The filly's mouth watered as the thought of warm cupcakes filled her mind, "With that pink swirly frosting?!"

"You bet, kiddo." Wester chuckled.

Moving farther up the road, they saw a roadside market. Markets such as this were common shopping centers outside of large cities, and more importantly, food might just be inside. Ripe for the taking.

Pausing along the side of the road, Wester stared at the store cautiously. "We could try there."

The filly scanned the area around the store and said uneasily, "It doesn't look like there's anypony there... Do you think it's safe?"

"If we move quickly, we should be fine. But you're right, there's usually something hanging around these stores. Hopefully, nopony’s home, so might just get lucky with this one."

Coming up to the the store, both ponies moved carefully around the side of the building. The filly followed closely behind Wester, who had a gun on his leg ready to fire. And, opening his holster, he peaked behind the corner of the store. He had intended on entering from the back of the building. That way, even if there were traps or someone inside, they would be less likely to get their attention.

Like he had thought, there was a backdoor with nothing around it. Gesturing the filly to move on, they both trotted over to the door. As they approached it, a sense of hopefulness built itself inside them. Only just as Wester tried opening the door, he had found that it was locked tightly.

The once hopeful feeling they felt faded away instantly. "Great..." Wester grumbled.

"What are we going to do, Wester?"

At his side was an old metal pipe that had fallen off of the building. And, picking up in his mouth he mumbled, "Shtand back, Lucky."

Like he had instructed, she took a few steps back, and with several powerful swings at the doorknob, it snapped off. Causing the locked door to easily move back.

Spitting out the old pipe Wester continued to spit out the nasty taste that was left in his mouth. "Lucky. Remind me that pipes don't make good food."

Lucky giggled, "You're so silly, Wester."

Wester smiled at her and pushed the door open. It was almost completely dark inside the store. And minus the sounds of metallic echoes he had made from his pipe, it was quiet.

"It seems to be empty." Wester said, poking his head through the door.

"Does that mean that there might be food in there?" Lucky gasped happily with wide eyes.

"Yep, it sure does, kiddo. But just remember, vandalism is wrong."

Lucky rolled her eyes at his silliness and followed him inside the old pre-war structure. Wester pulled out a flashlight from his saddlebag and, with Lucky's help, he tied it to his shoulder. The building creaked, and moaned while they walked on. Their hoof steps echoed off of the walls, almost giving the illusion that someone else might be there.

Broken and smashed, the dozens of aisles that once held food seemed to be bare. Only rusted, crushed up cans remain. Lucky picked up one of the cans dishearteningly.

"Aww... So much for food."

Wester walked over to the right of the very last aisle, for next to it was a pushable door labeled, "Storage." Smiling, he waved his hoof for her to come.

"There might be something in the storage. You never know what we might find."

She galloped over to him, and together, they pushed open the door to the storage room. Sadly, not much could be found in the storage either. All that was left were old metal boxes on shelves that were either tipped over, or smashed.

Wester pointed to one section of the small storage room. "Go check those boxes over there. They don't seem as smashed as the others. I’ll check these shelves over here."

Lucky stepped over to the boxes Wester had mentioned, feeling down about their misfortune. With each step she took, she kicked one of the empty rusted cans aside, until she almost tripped on something. Stumbling slightly forward, she looked down at what kind of heavier object could have cause her to trip. Oddly enough, there rolling slowly away from he,r was a can of beans. And a fairly large one at that.

Picking it up, her eyes lit up with joy. "Wester! Wester! Look what I found!" She chimed bouncing over to him.

He blinked a few times at her, and shined his light down on the object she was carrying. Once his own eyes saw what she was so happy about, he too lit up with a cheerful mood. "W-Why... Lucky, that's my girl! This should be plenty for both of us."

Lucky glanced at the worn labeling on the can. "It should be enough for both of us, but they're a little old... And a little stale."

"I'm glad me and the beans have something in common." Wester chuckled.

"Stop it," She laughed playfully nudging him in the foreleg, "you're not old."

Their happy moment did not last long. A sudden loud bang instantly sent frightening chills down their spines. The bang was followed by the sounds of doors being slammed opened. What came next, was the last thing they wanted to hear. The voices of other ponies. And not just the voices of scavengers, but sound raiders.

Wester put a hoof to his mouth and motioned Lucky to follow him. Both ponies stepped lightly as they came to the door that lead back out to the store, before placing their heads right against it. Together, they listened to the unexpected company to confirm whether or not they were friendly.

From what they could hear, it had sounded like there were three ponies. Each stallions, with rough scratchy voices. Wester turned off his flashlight quickly, and listened to them speak.

"Hacksaw, check over there. The boss will have our heads if we come back empty hoofed. Dozer, you check those aisles, and keep that gun of yours ready. There's a whole pack of ghouls around here, and the last thing we need is to stumble onto the fuckers."

Pushing the door slightly open, Wester stuck his head out to get a look of who was where. Luckily, the cover of darkness hid him well from their sight. As he scanned the market around him he tried to see what weapons the ponies were armed with. It was already clear that one had a gun, and it was likely that the others did to.

In the darkness, he could faintly make out the shapes of the ponies. From what he could see, it looked as if they had roughly configured armor made from various pieces of scrap. Along with what looked like outrageously styled manes, he was absolutely sure they were raiders.

Moving his head down to the little filly at his side he whispered, "Lucky, stay close to me, and step lightly. If we're careful enough, the darkness should keep up out of sight. Now, we're just going back the way we came, so it should be simple, right?"

She nodded at him, "Right. Easy peezy."

He smiled at her, and pushed the door open slightly more for both of them to move through. Just as Lucky left the storage room, Wester eased the door shut and lead her back the way they came. They kept themselves low using the aisles as cover. All the while they did their best to avoid the dozens of cans that littered the floor.

The raider's hoofsteps echoed loudly off of the walls as the scavenged. "You find anything?" One raider called out.

"Nope, not a fuckin’ thing. It would help if there was some fucking light in here!"

"Here, let me see if the lights to work. Sometimes these old place got generators." The voice replied.

The two ponies continued to move easily to the back exit, and just as they did, a loud click echoed through the store. A loud hum followed, and a few lights overhead flickered on. The once shadow covered store was now flooded by light exposing the two ponies.

One raider had just left an aisle, and saw them. "What the hell? Hijack, I found somepony!"

Several insane laughs followed from the pony named Hijack who could be heard dashing over to his comrade’s position. "Don't just stand there, kill them! Fresh meat! Oh, won’t the boss be happy about this!"

Terror filled the two ponies, but Wester knew she needed to be protected. Pushing her forward, he shouted at her as he charged the pony who had spotted them. "Run, Lucky! I'll hold them off!"

Lucky did as she was told, and ran off toward the back exit. Wester pulled out a knife from a sheath on his coat. Sprinting toward raider he tackled the pony fiercely. Like he had guessed the raider was armored with various pieces of scrap. What was even more relieving was the fact that the pony only had a spiked bat as a weapon.

Both of them wrestled on the ground, tugging, and beating each other ferociously. With the knife gripped firmly in his mouth, Wester took huge clean swipes at the raider. Large bloody gashes were across the raider’s body with blood profusely leaking from his wounds. The raider named Hijack, a purple unicorn stallion with a large mohawk mane saw his comrade fight with Wester.

In the corner of his eye, he saw Lucky running off toward the exit. "Quick, Hacksaw, get the girl! I'll take care of this fucker!"

Levitating at Hijack's side was a double barreled shotgun ready to fire. From his current position, both Dozer, and Wester were in view. It was difficult to take a shot, so he galloped toward the two in hopes that he could blow Wester’s head apart right next to him.

Wester finally managed to pin the raider to the ground and slam the end of the knife into his neck. Blood shot out from the wound, as with each of the pony's fading heart beats more blood would squirt out like a fountain.

Laughing madly, Hijack with his weapon ready came right next to Wester, and putting the gun's barrel against the back of his head, he smirked. "Nighty nighty, asshole."

Before he could fire, Wester ducked, and when the first shot of the raider's gun went off, Wester got low. Using his hind legs, he bucked the raider in the face causing him to stagger back and drop his weapon. Hijack swore before he recovered himself. By then, Wester already had the gun in his mouth, and with the last shot, Wester shot him in the head from point-blank range.

Falling to the ground, Hijack's body twitched unnaturally. Wester dropped the gun from his mouth tasting the blackened raider saliva. Although, his eyes widened as a terrible sound froze him.

"Wester, help!" Lucky cried toward the end of the store.

Along with her cries for help, he heard the devilish chuckles of the raider named Hacksaw. "Stop squirming! I'm jus’ going to have a little fun with ya is all!"

Fury burned wildly inside him and sprinting as fast as he could, he made his way to the source of the cries. There, near the exit they had came through, was the raider, his hooves wrapped round her with a huge grin spread across his face.

"Wester!" She cried once more, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Rage filled his mind, and a magical aura surrounded his horn. His eyes glowed brightly as the magical energy consumed his body. And, with a powerful blast of magical power, the raider let go of Lucky, and rose up into the air. Bucking and fighting the raider panicked as he was lifted higher, and higher into the air.

"What the hell! Put me down! Fucking put me down right now!" He wailed in panic.

But soon, the raider started to be consumed by the magical energies around him, and screaming horrifically in pain, he disintegrated into a fine dust. No sooner had the raider turned into dust that the power around Wester faded. And with all of the magical energy gone, he fell to the ground coughing hoarsely.

Lucky was shaking and, as the soft specs of dust fell on her, she saw her friend kneeling on the ground coughing. "Wester!" She exclaimed rushing to his side.

Each hacking cough Wester made had caused large amounts of blood to come spilling out of his mouth. His legs were trembling, and his voice had become low and raspy.

She had one hoof on his back patting him gently, and in an urgent tone she asked, "Wester, are you okay? You did it again. You used your magic again."

Taking deep breaths Wester stood up wiping the blood from his mouth, "I'm... Fine, Lucky. It's just... He had you and..."

"No!" She interjected. "I know I was in danger, but you know what happens when you use magic! You know what it does!"

She hugged his leg tightly, sobbing softly into the sleeve of his brown coat. He looked down at her tremble on his leg with her eyes on the verge of tears. And hugging his leg tighter, she muttered worryingly, "Please... Promise me you won't use your magic again... I don't want to see you hurt yourself...”

He coughed lightly a few more times before responding, "Lucky... Sometimes I..."

"No, promise me..." She said tearing up while hugging him.

Placing his other foreleg around he whispered back to her, "I promise... I promise I won't use my magic again."

She looked up at him sniffling, "You promise?"

"I do." He answered softly with a warming smile.

And patting her on the back, he said in a reassuring tone, "Come one kiddo. Let's get out of here... It’s getting late.”

The night was still, smoothly, the wind howled stirring the dry powder-like dirt of the wasteland ground. After the incident with the raiders, they moved on into the ruins of the old city where they found temporary shelter. They had took shelter inside an old apartment complex near the outskirts of the city. The complex itself was simple, cozy, and protected.

Holes were blasted through some sides of the walls. Old support beams above were split in two, while those beams that still stood seemed to be holding firmly the ceiling above them. They were on the second story of one of the apartments. There was a nice dry carpet and a few pieces of devastated furniture helping tie the place together. A small balcony was at the end of the room. Giving the two an outside view of the area around them.

Wester had lit a fire with low flames, that produced little to no smoke. On top of the fire was a steel pot with the beans they had found earlier bubbling softly. Wester was stirring the beans slowly, carefully making sure that all of the pot's contents were receiving the same amount of heat.

Sitting near the fire, Lucky gazed at the low flames sadly. She firmly held a dirty old blanket around her body, as a cool draft went through the building.

Wester stopped stirring the food for a moment and turned to her. "Lucky? Are you okay?" He asked.

She looked up at him and shook her head. "I just feel sad..."

Stirring the beans in the pot a few times he asked, "What are you sad about?"

Taking the blanket, she wrapped it around her more snuggly. "I just don't want you to go."

"Heh," He chuckled, "I'm not going anywhere any time soon, kiddo."

Lucky didn't reply, leaving a brief gap of silence between them. And, tapping the end of the spoon on the edge of the pot, he said, "Dinner's ready. Do you want some?"

She nodded, retaining her sad expression. Pulling a bowl out of his bag, he poured some of the piping-hot food into it. He slid it over to her and smiled at her warmly.

"Eat up, kiddo. You'll need the energy."

Taking the bowl with her hooves, she sat and began eating. Giving her a playful look, he said, "I know how to cheer you up. Will that make you feel better?"

Cocking her head to the side, she gave him a puzzling look. "Well! I guess you'll need just that, after all, nothing fixes the blues like some good ol’ cheering up!"

Lucky scooted over to the side of the fire to see what Wester was talking about. Quickly, he made his way over to an old television set that was against the wall. Fortunately for him, the giant piece of old-world technology had wheels. While not very good ones, it made it easier to move. A huge hole was blasted straight through it as he rolled it over to her.

Taking the empty can of beans he tossed it over to her. She caught it and peered at it oddly. Wester got behind the television set to where she could see him through the hole.

Pointing the the empty can she held he said, "That's the remote. Use it to change the stations."

Holding the remote with both hooves she pressed down on the can making a clicking sound with her mouth. Wester then proceeded to make a whooshing noise to make it appear as if the television were changing channels.

Standing up on the other side of the television he started to speak in a dull tone. "Today's weather will be sunny... Maybe. With a slight chance of sunshine... Maybe... And then we'll have rain. Lot's of rain. So pack your umbrellas kids it's going to be-"

Lucky smiled, and pressed the can again while making the same clicking sound once more. Wester changed moods instantly, as though another show was on. And in a serious voice he acted as if he were in space.

"Space... The final frontier... This is the voyage of the starship Galaxia. It's mission... To find new-"

"Click." She said giggling.

Quickly Wester changed the way he acted, and ducked low to the ground to the point to where Lucky couldn't see him behind the television. "Filmed before a live studio audience." He said without showing himself.

Within moments he had started to sing, "Sunday, Monday, happy days! Tuesdays, Wednesday, happy days! Thursday, Friday, happy days! The weekend comes, my cycle hums. Ready to race to-"

Pressing the can she giggled once more, "Fast forward."

Wester began to act as if he were moving fast, and pressing the can she laughed. "Play." She chuckled.

Wester quickly started to pretend he was in the show. "Well, how are you doing today?"

"Terrible," He replied to himself, "Becky just took my wagon!"

He gasped, "Whoa there, partner! You? And Becky? There’s a shocking thought!"

Putting his hoof to the side of his mouth he made a low laughing sound as though the audience was laughing. Lucky started laughing at the stallion's antics. Only after a few seconds of laughing she began to cough roughly.

Wester stopped what he was doing instantly and came to her worryingly. Resting a hoof on her forehead he asked, "Are you okay? Do you have a fever, or are you choking on something? Or-"

She playfully nudged him back and giggled, "I'm fine. Some of the bean juice just made me cough."

He whipped his brow in relief and sat next to her. "Well, I'm glad you're okay. Did you like that, or was it too much?"

She snuggled next to him with the blanket wrapped around her. "Yeah. I liked the one about the pony and Becky."

"I liked that too." He cooed putting a hoof on her head and ruffling her mane.

After he ruffled her mane, she rested her head against his foreleg. "Wester?"

He looked down at her. "Yeah, kiddo?"

"You've told me that you can't use magic because it hurts you... Why does it hurt you?"

He took his free hoof and rubbed the back of neck unsurely. "Well... I'm not sure you want to hear that story."

She nuzzled his foreleg closing her eyes before giving him a sweet yawn. "I want to hear it though."

"Well," He hummed in thought, "I guess you deserve to know."

She started to gently breath and listen to his story. "When I was a younger buck, me and a few friends of mine went traveling. Until one day, we stumbled upon a group of raiders outside of this old factory. We fought them pretty well, my buddies had the other raiders but I was fighting with this one raider that strayed off from the main group.

He was pretty tough, and he gave me some serious knocks to the head. It turns out that the factory we were fighting in was filled with barrels full of tainted gung. He thought it was a good idea to stick my head in it... I tried to fight back against him, but he managed to get most of my horn in it... Ever since then, my magic's been strong... But it costs me."

"Will you ever get better?" She muttered tiredly.

He smiled contently at her brushing a little of her yellow mane to the side, "I hope so. Maybe your uncle at Ironstead can fix me."

"I hope he does... Then you won't get hurt anymore."

"I hope he does too, Lucky, I hope he does too."

"Wester?" She asked once more.

"Yeah, kiddo?"

"Can you sing that song for me? That song you were singing when you found me."

"Sure..."

For some reason, he found it hard to sing the song she had mentioned at first. Sighing heavily, he built up the nerve to start singing gently to her.

"Here I stroll down this lonely road,
searching for a home,
then I found you all alone,
soaked to the bone.

We ran on through the world together,
seeing a world I never saw,
oh we made up new numbers,
and we gazed upon the water,
in everlasting awe.

Here I stroll down the road,
I’m not lonely or sad or mean,
now we walk on through the days,
like a an everlasting dream."

Small, soft snores came from her as she drifted off to sleep with her head resting on his leg. He looked down at her and smiled, feeling a wonderful warmness fill his chest.

"Goodnight Lucky. Get your rest, we've got a long day ahead of us." He whispered letting her sleep soundly.

The sound of soft clinging metal caused Lucky's ear to twitch. At first, the sound didn't bother her, but as a chilling breeze brushed against her grey coat, she shivered. She tried to pull the blanket she had wrapped around her tighter to prevent the breeze from hitting her. Sadly, a combination of both the draft and the rattling metal had finally woken her up.

She sat up rubbing her eyes sleepily. Smacking her mouth she could tell her mouth was slightly dry. "Wester?" She cooed tiredly.

Scanning the room around her, Wester was next to the balcony packing their things inside their bags. By the way things had looked, Wester seemed to be almost done packing their things. The last few items that he was packing were the pot, and bowls along with a group of papers with pens. As he packed the pot it clanked loudly, at the very least this explained where the rattling was coming from.

The once warm comforting fire was now reduced to nothing more than a chard, smoldering collection of blackened wood. Tiny bits of smoke rose up from the smoldering pit, as a few embers kept what was left of the fire burning.

Wester noticed that Lucky was up, and quickly put the last bowl inside his bag. "Did I wake you up, kiddo? If you want to sleep a little longer I can give you little more time to-"

"No," She a yawned stretching out her forelegs, "I'm up..."

He smiled at her putting his saddlebag on his back, "I didn't sleep too well last night, so I got up earlier and started packing us up."

Taking the blanket she used to sleep with she handed it over to Wester, "Did you sleep well?" Wester asked.

Lucky took her hoof and rubbed the side of her head, which felt slightly sore. "I slept okay, my head kinda hurts though."

He kneeled down to her, "You probably slept on it wrong. But that's okay it'll go away in a little bit."

She blinked at him, in his eyes she could tell he had something interesting to share. "Hey, you wanna see something cool?"

The thought of what this cool thing was intrigued her. "Sure, what is it?"

Motioning for her to follow him he lead her to the balcony of the old abandoned apartments. Unlike the night before, the whole area around them was now visible, as gray light from the twisted cloud cover above illuminated the world around them. For miles, land that was once consumed by darkness was now visible.

The ruins of an old city surrounded them. Taller three, to four story brick buildings lined the edges of cracked streets filled with rusted wagons from days long since passed. In the distance was a large yellow antenna. One that looked as if it broadcasted some kind of signal out into the wasteland.

Wester pointed to the distant yellow landmark, "You see that?"

Lucky nodded at him seeing the antenna in the distance. "That's our destination. Ironstead. If what I've heard about that town is true, it should be protected enough from raiders. Which means that your uncle should be there safe and sound."

"How far away is it, Wester?"

"Hopefully, not far. It's near the center of the city, and by the way the land around here looks, we'll have to do some exploring to get around some of the more blocked areas."

A sense of excitement filled the filly's heart. The very thought of her uncle warmed her, because after their long trip, this was the end. The final stretch of their journey. And nothing would get in their way of reaching Ironstead.

Patting her lightly on the back, Wester playfully chuckled, "Come on, kiddo, let's go. If we move quickly, we should make it there in no time! And who knows, those swirly pink cupcakes just might be there waiting for us!"

Together, they strolled out of the old apartment complexes into the ruined streets of the old city. Like Wester had mentioned, several buildings seemed to have collapsed entirely, causing some of the more direct paths to be blocked by the rubbled. This didn't bother them much, for whenever they came at an impasse such as this, they tried finding another way around.

Most of the time, they did find alternate routes, though it just made their job of reaching the town that much more of a challenge. It didn't take them too long to reach the main street of the city. Following the road straight down would take them right to the city's center.

Trotting along the sidewalk, echoing metal bounced off of the pre-war structures. Eerie was the whole city, and the bleak lack of sound fueled this strange feeling. Wester kept in mind that even though all was quiet at, any sudden moment that silence could be easily broken by the sounds of gunfire. Every now and again, he would scan the area around him carefully while they moved. To him, it was very reassuring to have some understanding of the environment around them. Just because this was their final stretch didn't exempt them from being attacked at any moment.

To their right was an old corner store. Like most of the other buildings in the city, it too was a damaged deteriorating building of the wastes. Near the store's entrance was an beaten up Sparkle Cola machine. Smaller dents covered the sides, along with cherry red chipped paint peeling off it’s front. The light over the machine which advertised the product flickered sporadically.

Wester stopped and glanced at the machine. "Hey Lucky? Are you thirsty?"

She paused too, turning her attention to the machine he was looking at. Her mouth was dry, and looking at the machine near the store's entrance did seem inviting.

"Do you think that machine still works?" She asked.

Wester shrugged, "It won't hurt to find out would it?"

He nudged her gently, "Let's go take a peek. Maybe there's still some cola inside."

They both came over to the machine. Dirt stained broken glass crunched underneath their hooves as the machine made a low, almost daunting humming sound. Wester rubbed confidently his hooves together peering down to the filly at his side.

"Watch a pro in action kiddo..." Wester boastfully said taking the knife from his side.

Holding the blade firmly in his mouth, he stuck the end in a groove along the side of the machine. All the while, he muttered to himself as he attempted to pry the machine open. Pulling hard the machine ached, and moaned metallically. He grunted applying more direct force to the machine's opening groove.

Lucky observed him uneasily, and stepping up to him she asked, "Do you... Need any help?"

He raised a hoof up to her and shook his head, keeping the knife dug firmly into the machine. "Nah, I'm good. Jusht... Give me a second..." He tiredly uttered.

With a few more good pulls, a loud snap made both of the jump slightly. The loud noise they had heard however, was followed by the machine’s door creaking with the now opened cola machine ready to be looted.

With one hoof, he pushed the cola machine's door to the side exposing the inner-workings of the contraption. Both ponies stared disappointingly into it. Rusted gears and valves filled the machine, and what little soda was left, wasn't even soda. It was just bottles. Dusty old bottles that were empty and dry.

Rubbing top of Lucky's head he flattened his ears mournfully, "Sorry, kiddo. Looks like we won't get a chance to drink anything till we get there."

No sooner had he said that, that her eyes got wide with excitement. For near the end of the mess of bottles looked like a brown bottle filled with some kind of liquid. She reached inside, and in her hooves she held a full bottle of Sparkle Cola.

Wester stood there baffled by the site. He grinned an embarrassing grin while scratching his thick brown mane on his head. "Well, shoot. I am getting old if I didn’t see that. They say the first signs of old age is blindness after all."

Twisting the cap off of the bottle's top, a crisp satisfying hiss graced their ears. Bubbles formed near the top of the inside the bottle, not before quickly returning to the normal brown fizzy liquid it once was.

"Drink it up, you found it. You deserve it." Wester admirably added.

She glance down at the bubbling drink, and shook her head raising it up to him. "I won't have any unless you have some too."

Wester was slightly taken back by her response, "I'm fine, kiddo, you found it. It’s yours."

"No," She insisted, "you opened the machine, so you get some too."

"Well, shucks kid," He smiled thankfully picking up the drink with one hoof, "you know you still could of had the whole thing."

She shook her head at him giving him wide sparkle filled eyes. "I know, but you deserve some to. You’re my friend, and my friends get to share what we have."

"You’re a sweet kid, you know that?" He replied taking a few sips of the carrot-flavored beverage.

He sighed blissfully before taking his last few sips. "Here," he said giving the rest of the bottle to her, "you have the rest."

She smiled, taking the soda with her small hooves. "See. We share what we've got." She said taking a few large gulps of the soda herself.

Before they knew it, the bottle was empty. She sighed contently feeling the carbonated drink tickle her belly. Dropping the now empty bottle on the ground, they moved on.

As they trotted off down the street Wester kicked the bottle to the side. "Next time ,we'll have to make them last longer than that... Lest we get infected with the hiccups."

They both chuckled softly to themselves as they continued onward down the main street of the city. Overhead, the clouds twisted. The sound of thunder echoed in the far off distance, breaking the eerie silence of the ruined city.

A rusty bent can rattled and shook as it leaped forward. Lucky was kicking the can forward with one of her hooves, smiling while she did so. It entertained her, and seeing the look of content happiness on her face warmed Wester's heart. The two had come close to the end of the main street, for across from them was a massive bridge.

The cables and supports that once held the bridge together now creaked loudly as the old weathered steel of the structure ached. A dry riverbed lay underneath it; old sewer pipes that once leaked old sewage into the river now sat dry like the river that was once before them.

Demolished carts lined the sides of the bridge. Some hung off the edges, holding onto the edge tediously by the old twisted railings of the bridge. Lucky had started to get a little ahead of Wester, and this made him worry slightly. He wasn't sure what was inside the city, for even while they had not seen much thus far, the possibility of danger lurked around every inch of the ruins.

"Kiddo, don't stray off too far." Wester called to her.

She kicked the can a few more times before responding to him, "Okay Wester. I just want to kick it a few more times."

He kept his gaze on her for a few moments before quickly scanning the area around them. From where they were it would only be an hour or so to the settlement of Ironstead. Wester knew that if they continued on the path, they were going at they would surely reach their destination by then.

Suddenly, a terrifying shiver raced down his back. His ear twitched as the far off sound of voices reached his ears. Terror filled him, and getting low to the ground he moved as fast as he could to Lucky, who had not yet heard the voices.

She gleefully prepared to kick the can once more, only before she could Wester came to her side with a panic-struck look. Urgently, he whispered to her. "Lucky! Get down!"

At first, she was puzzled by his behavior, but when Wester had that terrified look on his face, she knew that something was wrong. Complying with his orders she immediately got low while he rushed up to her. Staying low, they moved behind an old concrete divider near a charred wagon by an alleyway. By now, the voices he had heard were more clear.

The voices in question were rugged, scratchy, and rough. Much like the voices of the raiders they had encountered the day before. Wester raised his head carefully over the top of the divider, trying his best to not expose himself.

"What is it?" Lucky asked with worry in her voice.

Wester continued to peer over the top of the divider for a few more seconds. "They're raiders... Quite a few of them. They're probably the gang those raiders we found at the store belong to."

From what he could see the raiders seemed to be scanning the area. They were not on a patrol, the way they investigated everything they passed suggested otherwise. They were looking for something; or rather, someone.

Each raider was heavily armed, equip with some sort of rifle and armored in thick leather barding. A mare spoke first, who sounded like the leader of the group. "You find anything yet, Split Tooth?"

"Nah, nothin’. Not a fuckin sign of anything." The stallion named Split Tooth answered.

Her voice became agitated, "Then keep looking! I want to find the ponies who murdered our guys! When you do find them bring me their fucking heads!"

There was a low tired murmur that came from the rest of the group. "And quit your complaining! If we don't find them soon, that ghoul herd that's been roaming these parts will, and I'll be damned to see them get torn to pieces by some mutated freaks first!"

The two ponies were horribly scared. The fear of the raiders finding their location caused the terror inside them to intensify. Lucky looked up at Wester with a frightened expression in her eyes.

"What are we going to do?" She asked Wester, keeping her voice to a minimum.

Wester surveyed the area around them. In the alleyway something caught his attention. An old sewer entrance. The raider's voices grew louder, as with every passing moment they grew closer to them.

He pointed to the sewer entrance's brown lid that lead down into the sewers below. "There, we'll go down there."

Lucky gazed up at him curiously, "Where will it take us?"

Wester glanced over the divider for a split second to check the position of the advancing raiders. "Hopefully past them. Once we're away from them, we'll finally make it to Ironstead."

Before Lucky could respond, a stallion in the raider group shouted. "I think I heard something! It sounded like it came from over there, behind that cart!"

Urgently, Wester took hold of one of Lucky's hooves. "Come on! We need to move!"

Together they dashed down the alleyway to the sewer entrance. He did his best to lift the heavy cast iron cover quietly. Once it was removed from the sewer entrance, a ladder was exposed leading down into the dark underground.

Wester motioned his head toward the ladder leading down into the sewer, "Go down, Lucky, hurry! And don’t worry, I'll be right behind you."

She climbed down into the hole unsurely, making her way down slowly. Once she was far enough down, he jumped quickly inside taking the heavy metal cover and placing it back on top of the sewer's entrance.

It was pitch black. The sound of water rushing down the tunnels echoed off of the walls loudly, and a musty moist smell filled the air. Wester made his way down to the bottom of the ladder, upon which he removed his flashlight from his bags and turned it on. Instantly, the small area around the two ponies was illuminated.

Lucky felt slightly nervous by all the darkness around them, so moving herself close to him she hugged his leg trembling slightly. He just looked down at her for a brief second, and kneeled down to her.

"Lucky... Sugar. Don’t be scared.” He whispered in comforting voice.

He took the knife from his leg and presented it to her. “I think you should take this. It’ll protect you from any nasty monsters. "

She sat on her haunches taking the knife with both hooves. "I... I... Don't know if I can take this..."

He gave her a reassuring smile. "Sure you can."

"What if I hurt somepony or-"

"I know it might seem scary at first, but we've all got to defend ourselves." He said resting a hoof on top of the knife's hilt.

"This isn't a toy kiddo. It doesn't have any fancy lights or action phrases. It's a tool."

Wester took one hoof and pointed directly at the space between his eyes. "If anything, or anyone tries hurting you. Take the end of that knife and plunge it right between their eyes. And if you can't get them there, try their neck or chest."

With the hilt she put the knife close to her chest, "I... I think I understand."

"Just remember, kiddo, use it only as a last resort. Just because you own the knife, it doesn't mean it can't harm you too."

She took the knife in its sheath, and tied it around her leg. Chuckling, Wester ruffled her mane playfully. "I swear, at this rate, you'll become a little warrior in no time."

Lucky managed to return a small smile, and gesturing his hoof for her to follow him he said, "Come on, kiddo, let's see where this thing ends."

In the darkness they moved, only the light from Wester's flashlight gave them sight in the dark underground. As the two ponies moved on, they came to a large room filled with pipes and pressure tanks. The rushing water seemed to part off from their path. A sign painted in chipped white letters read, "Exit" with a small white arrow painted below it was on the side of the doorway leading in. All along the top, and sides of the walls were old pipes. Rattling, hissing and leaking out built up pressure.

Treading lightly, they entered cautiously. Beside the large iron pressure tanks were several larger than average crates. Each crate was stacked neatly on top of the other, while the two ponies didn't pay the wooden boxes any mind, they still took into account that they could be used as a form of cover in case they ran into something... Less than desirable.

The room didn't seem to end, and flashing his light towards the end of the room there in white painted letters was the words ‘Exit’ above a door. As they came to the door at the pressure room's end a horrible, ghastly hiss echoed throughout the room. Both ponies froze where they were. Staring directly at the exit nearly fifty ponies away, the two could make out the dark figure of someone. Or rather, something.

Wester nudged Lucky worryingly and turned off his light. He put a hoof to his mouth, signaling that they needed to be quiet. She nodded back to him, and back the two went to the wooden crates. Unlike the rest of the sewers, the room they were in gave off a greenish aura off of the walls. It wasn't dark enough to be blind, but not illuminated enough to be seen easily.

Heavy hoof-steps could be heard, as their sounds echoed off of the walls clearly an anxious sweat started to build on their brows. The sound of ghastly panting shortly followed. Wester looked over the top of the crates to make out the dark silhouette in the room with them. Lucky poked her head up as well, trying her best, she found it hard to make out the odd creature.

It seemed to limp, and shuffle slowly around the room. "It's a ghoul..." Wester whispered.

"A what?" Lucky responded quietly.

"A ghoul. They're ponies who took in a little too much taint for their bodies to handle."

"So they're like zombies?"

"Yeah, like zombies."

He glanced once more over the crate and checked the room quickly. "It looks like there's only one... But I’m not sure, maybe two? I don’t know... If just get close enough though I can kill it quietly."

Lucky felted worried for her friend's safety. "Be careful..." She muttered.

"I'll be back kiddo, this shouldn't be too difficult." Wester said before moving around the crate, and up to the ghoul.

He stepped as lightly as he could, trying his best not to make a sound. As he came up to the creature however, he stepped on some gravel that he had not seen. In the quiet room the sound was loud, and clear.

Like a watchdog snapping to attention the ghoul perked itself up and scanned the area around it. At this point, Wester knew that killing it quietly may not be an option. So, to be safe he pulled out his pistol.

With it gripped tightly in his mouth he continued his advance. The horrifying creature sniffed the air and moved itself in his general direction. He became shocked. Wester stood absolutely still in terror as the monster came closer, and closer to him. Finally, it was within an arm's length from him. If there was any time to take on the creature, now was the time.

Pulling the trigger back, he fired the gun, only instead of a gunshot the gun made a disappointing clicking sound. He panicked. The gun had jammed on him, and putting its full focus on him the ghoul shrieked and tackled him.

"Shit!" He swore as it pinned him to the ground.

The gun had fallen out of his mouth and into the darkness. Above him, the monster bit and snarled at him like a mad dog trying to kill its prey. With both of his fore hooves on it’s chest, he kept the creature off of him. But it had its full weight on him, and he knew he wouldn't last forever.

"Lucky, hurry! Get the gun!" Wester cried out struggling to keep the ghoul off of him.

Lucky's heart pounded as she raced to Wester's aid. Desperately, she searched for the gun near him. Only, without some sort of light, it seemed almost impossible as the dark worn metal of the weapon camouflaged itself well with the dark floor. She did what she felt was right next. She pulled out the knife from her side with the intent of killing the ghoul.

However, out of the darkness, another ghoul leaped out onto her. With the knife still in her mouth she struggled desperately to get out of the second creature's grasp. By pure force and determination, she wiggled free and confronted the monster. Her heart pounded fiercely as fear spread itself through her body. But she had to be brave. For Wester, and for their survival.

Taking a massive swipe at the ghoul with the knife she managed to lodged the whole knife into the creature's side. It cried out monstrously in pain, staggering back from her for a moment. Sadly, the creature's pain did not keep it from coming back to her. This time, it was filled with a monstrous rage. And, in a mad frenzy-like state, it attacked her.

She screamed as it hit her, and pinned her to the ground. "Wester! Help me!" She cried.

Her cries rang loudly in his head. Out of pure emotion, a magical aura formed around his horn. In one powerful blast of magical energy the ghoul on top of him blasted into dust. He stood up, eyes glowing a bright velvet color, with his horn glowing equally as bright.

"Leave her alone!" He screamed madly blasting the demented ghoul above her.

With half of its head vaporized, the ghoul fell to the ground dead. Lucky had her forelegs blocking her face. She was shivering, with her eyes closed.

Wester coughed hoarsely as his legs became weak. He found it hard to keep himself balanced for all of his sense were disoriented. The room around him spun, and a loud ringing filled his ears. Wester could feel the blood flow down from his nose while he stumbled and coughed.

He crashed into a wooden crate trying his best to keep himself together. But no amount of will or determination could prevent his body from coughing up blood.

Lucky slowly got up from her position. Desperately came over to him as she listened to him wheeze, and cough loudly. Moving to his side she took one of his hooves.

In a worrying tone she asked, "Wester? Are you okay? Did it hurt you?"

"Wha... What?" He mumbled shaking his head and blinking.

"Wester? Are you okay?" She repeated once more.

Slowly his sense started to return. His head pounded, and his chest felt sore. "I'm... I'm fine... Did... Did it hurt you? Are you hurt?" He answered weakly.

She put a hoof to his forehead. "No, I’m fine... You feel warm and you sound weak."

He coughed a few more times, trying to cope with the pain. "I'm fine... It just got a few good punches at me, that’s all..."

"Don't ever scare me like that again, Wester... Please don't..."

He stood up messaging the side of his head with one hoof. For a moment, he coughed softly a few times, clearing out the last of the blood from his coughs. "I'm sorry, kiddo... It won't happen again... I didn’t know there was two of them."

She took one of his hooves, and shook her head. "I just don't want to lose you..."

"Don't worry, kiddo. You won't... I don't plan on leaving you any time soon... I thought I had told you that already." He answered as calmly as he could, while still repressing the urge to cough.

With the sleeve of his coat he wiped away the blood from his nose. "Come on... Let's get out of this place. We're almost there."

Lucky didn't reply as he walked toward the exit. She just looked at him with worry. Truly, she felt scared for him, even if they were so close to their destination, an awful feeling rolled around inside her. And as she trotted up to his side it bothered her. Maybe it was the fear inside her. The fear of losing him. She wasn't sure, and only time could tell whether they made it or not. Going down those dark sewer tunnels though, she felt that this part of the trip had been the longest thus far, and the most challenging.

The heavy cast iron lid of the sewer in the middle of the road lifted up and to the side. Out from the hole emerged Wester, who stuck his head out to scan the area. The cool dry breeze blew against his long brown mane. For the moment, everything had seemed safe. Only the same sort of blasted wagons, and ruined buildings of the old city surrounded them.

"It looks safe." Wester called down to Lucky.

One by one, they came out of the old sewer hole. However, Wester still felt the pain fester inside his head, yet he ignored it. Though as time went on it seemed the more he tried to ignore it, the more worse it became. But to keep Lucky calm, especially when they were so close, he gave no sign to indicate that the pain bothered him.

Finally out of the sewers, the two inspected their surroundings. Behind them was the bridge the raiders were at. And almost half a mile away was the massive steel gate of Ironstead. The gate itself was at the very end of the road. Taller skyscrapers stood tall along each side of them, and Iron wagons beaten, knocked over, or demolished littered the long path ahead of them.

Wester's legs felt weak, he could tell that it was becoming difficult to move. Raising a hoof to his eyes he tried to view the gate of the town from where he stood. "There it is Lucky... We're... We're almost there..." He huffed tiredly with a heated sweat started to build on his brow.

Lucky glanced up at him unsurely, and putting her hoof to his head she felt the hot temperature of his brow. "Wester, you're burning up, maybe you should sit down-"

He shook his head and started to walk in the direction of the gate. "No," He insisted, "we're almost there... We can make it."

She didn't feel right seeing him in such a bad state, but they needed to keep moving. Their destination was right before them. All they needed to do now was reach it.

As they continued on, more and more, they realize that skeletons littered the streets. While corpses of this nature were a common site in the wastes, these particular specimens were different. Each was armed, and clad in bloody roughly configured armor made of scrap. Possibly ponies who had in the past encountered the ghouls that surrounded the area.

One even lay with a armed and loaded rocket launcher. Could these ponies also be raiders? Or were they something else? The armor suggested that they were raiders, for even the armor was covered in crude and perverted symbols. Wester didn’t seem to notice, for even his walking had become sluggishly. Each step he took seemed to be more of a shuffle than an actual step.

They just kept moving straight, and taking a step over the armored skeleton with the rocket launcher, Wester tripped. He fell flat on his face, though his trip had managed to trigger something. The weapon beeped loudly, and with a loud click it fired the rocket. Wester got up, recovering himself.

Whilst rubbing his sore face the rocket flew toward the bridge. Lucky and Wester saw as it soared through the air before coming into contact with an old flight wagon that had been stuck on one of the main support beams of the bridge. Both of them flinched as the explosion echoed clearly through the silent landscape. In addition to a loud explosion, the wagon fell down from the top of the support. It came down crashing destructively against the ground.

Both ponies looked back at the bridge nervously. Wester blinked and said, "Maybe nothing heard that-"

Wester was rudely interjected by the sound of a powerful gunshot. One of the old glass windows of a wagon next to them exploded into pieces following the fired shot.

Not too far off from their position could they hear the sound of ponies crying out in rage. And over the bridge they saw the raiders they had so desperately tried to avoid. They were in full gallop, weapons armed and ready to kill.

The two pony's eyes widened in terror. "Run, Lucky! Run!" Wester cried.

Together, they gave all they could to run away from the oncoming raiders who charged to them. Wester's feeling of weakness slowed him, almost to the point of a light jog. Lucky didn't want to leave him, or in anyway abandon her friend. She nudged him urgently with desperation in her eyes.

"Come on, Wester! We're almost there! You can do it!"

Wester was huffing, and panting heavily. "I'm... I'm trying, kiddo..."

Bullets soon started to fly by them. At the pace they went at, the raiders were already halfway caught up to them. The bullets hit the rusted metal of the wagons around them sending out sparks, and chipped metal flying.

Lucky looked back one more time to see how much ground the raiders had covered. Only to her surprise, the once intimidating sound of bloodthirsty uproars were replaced with the sound of agonizing pain and mayhem. A sense of great fear overcame her at that instant. For it was not just the raiders that had heard the rocket go off, but a large ghoul herd as well. The very same that the raiders had remained cautious of.

"Wester! We have to run! Come on!" She urged him.

He was wheezing unnaturally, giving off small coughs as the sweat on his brow became worse. The gunshots of the raiders could be heard as they desperately tried to fight off the herd. Though, second by second the gunfire slowly faded.

Lucky could see several ghouls detach themselves from the main herd madly dashing their way toward them. The ghoul's speed was quick. They ran nearly twice the speed the raiders had, and within moments, they would be upon them. Wester quickly glanced back at the horrifying monsters quickly come closer to them. Looking back to the gate he saw how much farther they needed to go. They still needed to cover another five hundred feet of ground before even coming close to the gate.

Even before the could get two hundred feet the ghouls would have caught up with them. Seeing the condition he was in he stopped. Sweat dripped down his face as he stood there, a contemplative look spread across his face. Lucky halted, and in panic took his foreleg and pulled on him.

"Come on, Wester! Come on! They're coming!"

He was breathing heavily, coughing small but hoarse coughs as he spoke. "No... Kiddo, you have to go on."

She looked up to him in shock. "W-What?! No, I can't leave you! You need to come on, we're almost there!"

"They're coming too fast, and I won't make it... Not like this."

Tears began to roll down her small grey cheeks. "No! No! You can't stay, we can still make it!"

Wester looked toward the ghouls who were almost at them. He gritted his teeth as tears built up in his eyes. By now, even if he tried to slow them down, one or two of them would get to her, and he wouldn't let a single one of those monsters touch her. In a low, unsteady voice he whispered.

"Lucky... I'm... I'm sorry..."

She looked up to him. Eyes wide, and tears flowing down from her eyes. Forcefully picking her up, he took her to one of the wagons next to him. One that had an enclosed cabin with dirt windows and doors. There she could be protected from what he was about to do.

She kicked and fought him viciously. "Wester, put me down! Don't do it! Please don't! Please don't!"

Opening the door to the wagon he pushed her inside and slammed the door shut. Taking an old metal barrel next to the wagon he pushed it in front of the door. Looking back to her one more time he said.

"I'm sorry."

She got up, and from the inside of the wagon she pounded on the window crying. "Wester... You promised me..." She whimpered.

Wester had tears run down his cheeks as he stood there ready to embrace the oncoming herd that charged toward him. He took in a deep breath, and sighed. "You've got to keep it together, Wester... You have to do this, for her..."

Closing his eyes he could hear the heavy pounding hoof steps of the nightmarish creatures. Softly, he sung to himself as the aura around his horn grew brighter. His eyes soon started to glow, and as he felt the magical energies flow inside him he faced the ghouls.

With large tears rolling down the sides of his face he cried blasting them with powerful beams of pure magical energy he sung, "Here I stroll down this lonely road... searching, for a home... then I found you all alone, soaked to the bone."

Each ghoul that was hit with his magical energy turned slowly vaporized into piles of pure white ash. "We ran on through the world together... seeing a world I never saw... oh we made up new numbers... and we gazed upon the water, in everlasting awe... now we walk on through the days, like a an everlasting..."

And as the last of the few ghouls dissipated into dust his energy began to subside and the once brightly glowing aura in his eyes and horn faded.

“Dream...” He muttered feeling the energy slowly disappear, and feeling his body become consumed with pain, he fell to the ground.

Lucky was determined to get to him, and taking the knife he had given her she used the hilt to break the glass. With the blade she cleared away any extra parts of the window. Jumping out of the wagon she rushed to his side. Holding his head with her hooves she looked down at him with the smoldering piles of the ghouls, now turned to ash surrounding them.

Wester was coughing large amounts of blood from out of his mouth. Her tears fell down onto his brown coat as she spoke to him. "Wester... I thought you said that you wouldn't leave me..."

His hoof was trembling terribly, and brushing her yellow mane to the side, he said as warmly as he could, "D-Don't cry, kiddo... I... I promised myself I'd always protect you..."

She buried her face into his chest and cried. "I don't want you to go... You're my only friend..."

"Shhh," He replied softly resting his hoof on her back, "You can still make it... I'm sorry I couldn't make it with you... I'm... I'm sorry... Please... Make...I-It..." His voice became weak, until his coughing, and breathing stopped altogether.

She rose up slowly from his chest and looked at him sobbing. "W... Wester?" She muttered.

She shook him slightly. "Wester?" She asked once more.

"Wester!" She shouted shaking him.

"Wester, please get up! Please!"

She looked around at the empty ruins around her, and shouted as loudly as she could holding her friend in her hooves. "Help! Please help! Somepony please help!" She cried into the silence.

"Please," She cooed crying, "please... Help me... Please..."

From afar, on the top of the massive steel wall of Ironstead, a pony looked out the poor pony cry through the lenses of a pair of binoculars. He was an orange unicorn with a red mane, and dressed in a set of blue dusty cloths. A rifle hung at his side by a strap as he continued to look out at the sad pony.

Another pony, this time a muscular green earth pony stallion, came up to his side. "What’s going on out there?" He asked the orange look-out pony.

The pony removed the binoculars from his eyes to address the stallion. "That pack of ghouls, sir... One pony out there took them all out..."

The stallion raised an eyebrow at him, "What? That whole herd?"

"Yes, sir. The whole thing."

Turning his attention to the small grey pegasus in the distance he pointed toward Lucky. "And who is that out there?"

"Her? Well, she was with the stallion out there, sir. It doesn't look like he survived the herd, sir."

Both of them could hear Lucky cry out for help once more. "Sir... It's just her... What are we going to do? Protocol states that we're not supposed to waste resources on wanderers when ghouls could be around."

The earth pony stood there for a moment, listening to the hopeless pleas of the filly. "Send some of our boys down there to get her."

The look-out stallion looked puzzled by his order, "Sir?"

"That's an order, and if you don’t, I’ll have you tell command how you disobeyed me when I gave you a direct order." He added sternly.

"Y-yes sir... I'll go get some pony right now on it." He answered before making his way down the wall.

Staring out at the small filly, the stallion sighed to himself. Not letting so much as another word leave his lips. How could he speak? Hearing the cries caused him to remain silent, and as the filly’s voice rattled around in his mind, he watched her. Hoping for the best.

A green line on black metal monitor spiked up and down at an easy pace. Each time it spiked up, it made a slight beeping noise, indicating the heart rate of the patient connected to it. Attached to the machine by thin white wires was Wester. He laid on a white examination bed, motionless. His eyes shut tight and his breathing shallow.

A small chair was pulled up to the examination bed's side, which Lucky sat on. With her hooves folded on the bed, she buried her face sobbing softly. The room around them was gray and plain. Counters were covered with a variety of medical instruments. Be it syringes or tubes containing various medical potions, the counters were littered with the equipment.

In a box near the corner of the room was a set of old power armor. Her uncle used to be a medic, and the power armor was a memory of the days he had traveling the wastes.

An old ceiling fan with four lights connected to it spun above them slowly. A door at the end of the room opened and stepping through it was an older pony. The pony in question was Lucky's uncle, who wore a long white lab coat. He was an unicorn whose mane was silver, and his coat a dark gray. Perched neatly on his nose was a pair of old glasses which he pushed up onto his nose slightly every other moment.

Lucky raised her head to see who had come through the door. Taking her hooves she wiped away some of the tears from her face. "Uncle... Will... Will he be okay?"

He bore a saddening look as he came to her side. Sighing, he answered her in a mournful tone. "Lucky... Whatever his mutation is, it did a number on his body..."

"How bad is it?" She asked quietly.

Rubbing the back of his neck unsurely, he replied, "Several major blood vessels throughout his body have ruptured. His brain is suffering from severe tension... I'm afraid he's beyond any help I can give him here..."

"But there has to be a way!" She insisted.

"Like I had said before, I don't have the resources or help to help a pony in his condition. Not only this, but he is beyond the help of medical potions."

"But..." She cooed taking one of Wester's hooves, "He's my friend... I... I don't want him to go."

"I'm sorry, Lucky," He said wrapping a hoof around her, and in a comforting tone he added, "but I've done all I can to help him ease into the next life. I'm afraid your friend won't last past the next two days."

She began to cry once more, "Are... Are you sure there isn't something we can do?"

He sighed sounding unsure, "Only if there was some way I could give him a machine which healed the stressed ruptures around his body, and repair the hurt parts of the brain, I could theoretically keep him alive."

Lucky looked toward the power armor in the corner of the room. "What about that?" She asked pointing at it.

He turned his gaze to the box of armor. "My armor?"

"Doesn't it have magic healing stuff? Can't it do all the things you said?"

"It can... But, I'm not sure what the outcome might be..."

Lucky thought for a moment, contemplating about the option which circled around in her mind. "Will he be okay if you put it on him?"

Scratching his head he thought about her idea. "It would save him... But to make sure the brain becomes repaired, I'm going to have to let the system replace parts too stressed to function."

"Will he be the same? That is... If you do it?"

He shook his head at her, "The section of his brain that holds memories will be the part most affected. Some parts of his personality will stay, but I can't guarantee that he'll remember you, or anything you've done together."

Lucky found it hard to speak, for the sadness inside her made her choke up. "Will he be able to live normally?"

"He won't be himself completely, but yes. He'll still have to eat, drink, sleep and rest like any other pony."

"Will he be able to live... Happily?"

"It is possible. I can’t say for sure."

She smiled, looking at her friend rest peacefully. "As long as he's able to live a happy life..."

"Are you sure you want me to do this? Even if he doesn't remember you?"

"I don't care if he forgets me," She added giving off a warm smile, "I just want him to be happy. Because I've got to protect him now... He's my friend and I won't leave him behind."

"If this is what you truly want for your friend, Lucky," Her uncle said hugging her, "I'll do it. I'll try and save him."

The gray pegasus stopped her story, smiling. Rocking back and forth in her chair she had a few tears roll calmly down her cheeks. "Well kids... That's the story." She muttered..

Both kids folded their fore-legs and pouted. "Last time you left it at the same place! I want to know how it ends! Were they happy? Did he make it out okay? What happened!" Glitter Chip exclaimed.

"Yeah," Conway agreed, "I want to know how it ends? Where they happy in the end?"

"Listen kids, you asked for the story, and I've told you the story. If you don't like it make an ending up."

"But Lucy!" Both of the young ponies begged in unison.

A few more tears rolled down her eyes, "Listen kids I said-"

"Were they happy in the end?" The armored stallion asked.

Looking at the stallion, she sat there speechless. "Were they?" The stallion asked once more.

Smiling at the stallion, she gave him a loving smile. At first she didn’t say anything, though looking at him in her uncle’s armor. Building up the will to speak, she answered him.

"Yes, Wester... Yes they were..."

The End

Author's Notes:

Proofread by:

Noakwolf

LyonAzakura

Thefullmetalbrony