Jason pushed the door to the small room open as the cool air of the night swept past his form to acquaint itself with the interior. He left the wooden barrier open for a few more seconds as his companion walked in while brushing past his legs.

"Short day," Jason commented as he closed the door behind him.

The stallion magically took off the holsters with the weapons still inside, and removed the bag from his waist. While stripping out of the Regulator Duster, he scanned the contents of his bag and took out the small sack of bits that Applejack had given him.

"This is gonna help quite a bit," he chuckled to himself.

Dogmeat then gave a low whine while splaying his ears against his skull.

"Fuck you, that was funny."

Jason shook his head at his companion before looking back at the small sack of gold coins.

'Thirty a Cap? Jesus Christ, I'm going to be loaded... or targeted if I end up getting too many bits at once. I should try and keep low for now. Who knows what that Celestia might think if I just walk out of town with enough money to hire a small army.'

He placed the bits on the desk as he lifted his forelegs to disrobe the duster. With a fluid motion, the clothing came off and carried the Stetson from his head and onto a nearby chair, where it would hang until morning. Jason turned to the bed and moved the cover aside with a hoof. Once the white sheets were exposed, he carefully hefted himself into it, and adjusted to a comfortable position.

"Ahhhh," he sighed. "Goodnight, Dogmeat."

Dogmeat hopped onto the bed and licked Jason's face a few times before circling a bit and laying down next to him. Jason closed his eyes as the world became dark once again.

\\\\\\//////

"And that should handle itself soon enough," Luna proudly proclaimed as another filly's nightmare was banished.

She had always enjoyed walking the plane of dreams, her own little realm that so few could truly find. Since her return, she had kept up a hobby of finding nightmares of intense proportions and putting minds at ease. Recently, she had to keep checking up on Ponyville, especially a select few of those closest to her. Dear Sweetie Belle had been foalnapped by the gang known as "Jaws," and was having reoccurring nightmares about them. At one point, Luna had to wake her up to stop the flow of the dream before it could get too bloody and surreal.

This night, however, there were fewer nightmares in Ponyville than she had seen in a long while. Just as she thought about trotting over to see the children of Manehatten, however, a new nightmare popped up amidst the dreams of the small town. She gazed into it, being drawn in by its seemingly mocking outlook, almost as if to challenge the semi-immortal Princess to a game of stability. With a smirk, Luna jumped down into the nightmare, ready to brave any kind of challenge it tried to throw at the suffering soul.

\\\\\\//////

Luna opened her eyes and found herself gasping in shock at the horror that was before her.

All around, bits of what looked to be a once mighty building were scattered across an open field. Pieces of jagged metals pointed to the skies like rotted limbs, grasping away at the sky to try and cling to whatever life they had in their final moments. The air was stale with an overpowering sense of death and ruin.

She scanned the area closest to her and noticed that they were mostly ruined one-story homes, made out of wood. Some were boarded up, while others exposed horrifying things to the Princess. To her right, barely a few pieces of wood stuck out of a pile of rubble that held what looked to be the skeleton of a large primate. It clung onto something that she couldn't see, driving her curiosity into overdrive as she pumped her wings. Looking at the wreckage from above, she could now see that whatever the skeleton belonged to, it had a family. A family that it held within its grasp as they died, huddled together in a pile of charred bones.

A stream of tears began to fall from her eyes as she imagined having a fate so horrible. For a nightmare, this was all too foreign. It was almost as if it were-

BANG BANG BANG

"We got him now, boys!" A female voice called from somewhere behind Luna.

The alicorn turned around to the large building, still in the air, and flew above the structure. As she did, Luna was shocked to find massive parts of it missing, exposing what looked like a school to the grey world beyond. Inside were bipedal creatures, wearing what looked to be makeshift armor from rusted metals and bits of rubber. One of them, however, was wearing a blue suit and crouching behind a large green bin.

The one in blue stood up and rounded a break in the building's structure before raising its hands and pointing a small device at one of them. From the device, a series of loud clicks echoed through the world as one of the other bipeds had their cranium explode in a shower of gore. The remaining two ignored the loss and charged the blue one with what looked to be a club and a knife.

What could be considered the female rushed up to the blue one and swung at him, knocking the device out of its grasp before trying to slash its throat. The blue one dodged to the side before pulling something off of its back and pointing it at the female's leg. A thundering sound echoed through the dream as a scream pierced Luna's hearing before the female collapsed due to a missing limb.

Just as it got up, the blue one was struck in the head by the last one in makeshift armor, sending it back to the ground. The blue one tried to crawl away, but the last one brought down the club onto its leg, causing a male voice to scream through the world as Luna felt the impact in her own leg.

The one in red brought up the club for a final blow, but before it could swing it in any direction, a series of cracks sounded through the air, resulting in a shower of blood exploding from the torso of the last standing creature. As it collapsed, the blue one looked up to find the source of the sounds. By the edge of the cliff, another biped stood. It wore some kind of duster with a matching Stetson. Its skin was darker than the others, and in its grasp was a device that was longer than the other ones Luna had seen.

The new creature placed the device on its back as it drew a small needle from a pocket.

"If I had known you'd actually be willing to take these Raiders on, I'd have told you to find some better gear first," it spoke in a calm tone.

The blue one lifted its injured leg a bit, causing strain that Luna could actually feel in her own limb, before the new one brought down the needle. Pain faded from the world as Luna's leg felt as though it were being massaged from the inside. Realization struck her as she began to separate herself from the vision, unable to hear the conversation between the two figures.

\\\\\\//////

Luna gasped as she felt air rush into her lungs, the shock of leaving the Dream Realm too sudden for her magic. She began to cough lightly as she tried to form her thoughts.

'That wasn't a dream,' she thought to herself, 'that was a memory. What in Equestria is in Ponyville right now?'

Author's Notes:

Sorry this chapter was so short, but I'm trying to rethink another story, Crimson, as well as working on a new story that doesn't involve Crossovers. It's called Axios. Anyways, thanks for keeping up with this story, and if you favorite, please like. If you'll excuse me, I have Calculus homework to attend to. Yes, it is quite a lovely Monday morning, thanks for reminding me!

Next time: Apple Bloom learns to love all things green!