Chapter 6: Radio
"It's all you'll need to know."

My ears twitched. They swiveled left toward a loud crack at the same time my eyes snapped open. Light poured in, completely filling my vision as if I had looked directly into the sun. Slowly bringing a hoof up to block the light from my face, I turned my head toward the rifle's drifting echo.

As my eyes adjusted to the late morning light, I recognized the ruined second floor wall of my shelter. The window had long since been shattered and any remaining glass was lost to time. Dirt and mold covered the concrete floor, including the frayed carpet whose design had faded into obscurity. The bright blue sky was easily seen through the gaping hole in the ceiling, reminding me that I needed wings again.

"Come on out," shouted a pony from outside the room. Their voice was barely audible over the roaring wind as it blew by the open window and hole in the ceiling. I sat up and turned sideways, reaching my left hoof for the saddlebag that had made an uncomfortable pillow. "We've got you surrounded," the voice continued unanswered by me.

Any fool could have simply snuck up on me while I slept, slit my throat, and be done with it. Surely they weren't yelling at me, were they?

Grabbing hold of my bag, I dragged it close and dug through it for the Med-X needle. The whole time I watched and listened to the window.

"Just give us the filly!" yelled the voice.

Filly? What filly?

My magic floated the needle close to my foreleg. I felt it pinch for a split second, causing me to wince slightly as I injected the contents into my bloodstream, and tossed the empty needle aside. Bringing an orange bag of RadAway into view, I tore a corner off and began drinking it. I did not know if I needed the medication or not, but taking it again wouldn't hurt. The radiation had to be purged from my system. It is evil, sadly, for my current body.

The last of the vile tasting liquid was squeezed into my mouth. Gulping it down, I dropped low and made my way to the window.

"You can't hold out forever, birdbrain," shouted another voice.

Birdbrain? Are they talking to me? Surely they’d know the difference between a pegasus, gryphon and a unicorn?

Slowly sitting up and peeking through the window, I could not see much. Some ponies had taken refuge behind a rubble pile containing a land wagon about sixty yards down the road, their backs to me. I saw one was injured, a yellow earth pony with a bandage around his fetlock. There was a pink unicorn in your standard issue metal and leather barding. She had her side pressed against the wagon and was busy tearing down her rifle in her magic.

The third and final living member was a green earth pony. He, or she, was sitting on the rubble above the others. Yet unlike others I had seen do similar things, the earth pony held a piece of metal in front of them. It was large like a door, perhaps it was one from a wagon. Perhaps not. I could not be certain.

What was left of the fourth member sat about twenty yards from my position. Their ashy remains glowed softly, faint wisps of smoke drifted along the wind along with the top layer.

Of the so called birdbrain, I saw nothing. No feathers, no glints from the windows, no moving shadows. Whoever they were, they had either moved on when the ponies showed up, or refused to move, choosing to wait it out.

I sat there contemplating on my plan of action. I could simply slip out the back door and move on to find the mule. Doing that would let me finish my task today. Or I could observe and find out what was going on, perhaps saving a pony or two first. Who needed saving was still up to debate. Were the ponies bad? Was the birdbrain bad? Were they two competing factions? I was lost as to who was friendly without a pipbuck.

"You know what you must do," a crackly voice said from behind me. It came from a mare. That was obvious enough.Glancing over my shoulder toward the source, I quickly scanned the room and saw nothing, causing me to frown. The room was eerily quiet aside from the outside wind. Nothing stood out as odd. The door was still shut, there was nothing standing there in the center of the room like some fool.

Once more my eyes scanned the room. Every shadow, every crack in the boards. Something had to be the source of the voice. Or perhaps... someone playing a trick on me. Once more I failed to pick anything up.

A bright red flash and a loud zap drew my attention back to the window before I could investigate further. The earth pony on top of the rubble pile turned away from his cover and jumped down next to the injured one. There was a glowing and smoldering hole in the metal he had been using for cover.

His voice was incoherent to me from the distance between us. However, those two ponies near him looked at him and nodded.

I watched the pink one bring the freshly repaired rifle around the corner. The muzzle flashed, a loud hollow crack echoed off the buildings in response. I did not see where the bullet hit, presumably inside one of the buildings, but I did see the return fire. That hoof-sized beam of red light seared into my vision as it streaked past the unicorn's horn. She cycled the bolt with her magic and nothing happened. Looking at the rifle, she pulled back into cover and started field stripping it a second time.

"Who's got who surrounded, hm?" I hummed to myself as the earth pony picked an smg up in their teeth, stuck their head around the corner and fired off a burst before hiding again. The rapid pops echoed off the buildings, combining to sound like Hyde in a way.

"I know what to do," I said to the air, nodding. Slowly moving away from the wall, I picked my stuff up in magic, heading for the door to go on my way. "It’s not my fight. The Goddess will let the best fighter win."

“Where do you think you’re going, Shell Shock?” the voice said from my right as a speaker crackled to life. My eyes widened, my jaw dropping slightly as my ears turned toward the voice. Looking over toward the bed, I saw nothing but the place I had slept on.

“There is no Shell Shock here,” I yelled toward the voice.

“Oh really?” the mare replied in a curious tone, causing me to tilt my head. “How about We start this over? Excuse me a moment.” Her voice cut out for a moment. Silence fell upon the room as the warm static filtered up and into my ears. The random rapid-fire pops of gunfire out the window made my ear turn in that direction.

“This is stupid,” I mumbled to myself as I looked toward the window. The wall blocked my view beyond, but I did hear a pony shout that they had been shot by a laser. I merely rolled my eyes. They would not last long against a pony in cover.

"Greetings, oh Great and Powerful Shell Shock! Or shall I call you Dog? Perhaps Lilium? Your name doesn’t matter to me, honey," came the mare's near sarcastic voice through the static, causing me to look over at the wall near the bed and tilt my head. "Radio here, and pony have I got a proposition for you. Let's cut to the chase, mkay? I have a job. But first, you must find the source of my voice. Follow the soothing sound of the ghost. OooooooOOOOOooooo."

With a roll of my eyes, I walked over toward the static, ripping the mattress off the frame with my magic. The covers flew everywhere and the bed frame nearly jumped off the floor. But I saw it. It was an old two-way radio set used by Equestria during the war. The backpack was smashed in and repaired, but the dials on the frequency adjuster glowed brightly. There was a speaker attached to where the headphones plugged in at.

I knelt down and pulled the radio pack close. It looked in working condition, but battered beyond normal use. Like somepony had kept the radio with them throughout the many, many, years since the wasteland was born.

"That’s it, honey. Lift the radio and you’ll find headphones underneath. Put them on. We’ll continue our conversation then.”

Frowning deeply at her annoying tone, I pulled the speaker out and lifted the device up. Sure enough, there was a headset underneath. The wires looked frayed slightly like they were about to fall off, but workable with some quick repairs, if I found the parts. They were plugged in to where the speaker was and the radio was strapped on over my saddlebags in place of Hyde. It was heavy, but nothing I couldn’t handle. Hyde was shoved in one of my bags as I pulled the headphones over one of my ears.

The foreleg panel was strapped on and I made sure to flip the frequency locks to locked position, just to be sure it wouldn’t slip. Sitting down, I placed a hoof to my ear to block out the gunfire from outside. “Okay, Radio, I’m here. Now what?”

“Go to the window,” she replied quickly. The static was still there, but not as bad. It was a lot like a record player’s warm pops and crackles.

Looking toward the window made me frown. It was obvious why she wanted me there; to snipe me. But it made no sense in a way. She could have sniped me any time I had been in front of it. If she put the radio under my bed, then why go through the theatrics to kill me? Why didn’t she just do it then when I was sleeping?

“So you can shoot me?” I asked quietly, slowly walking over to the wall and leaning against it. Radio chuckled in my ear for a few long moments as I stared at the window frame.

“No, I won’t shoot you with my pipbuck assisted Anti-Machine Rifle loaded with armor piercing rounds. What a waste of a perfectly good bullet.”

I felt my heart skip a beat as a chilly feeling crawled up my spine. My throat suddenly felt dry at her reply. Gulping quite audibly, I shut my eyes and listened to the ponies outside. My left ear turned toward the wall as a pony yelled, “You’re fucking dead, birdbrain! Just wait until we get in there!”

“Do you hear them?” Radio asked rather pointedly.

I rolled my eyes. “Obviously. What’s it matter to you?”

"What's it matter to you?" she parroted back to me. I frowned as I slowly brought my face into view of the window. The ponies below had not moved much.

The yellow earth pony was lying in the road not far from the rubble. Smoke steadily rose from their jaw. It looked, to me, that the pony had tried to stick their head out and had been shot. The unicorn was looking at the other pony while she was putting the rifle back together.

"Nothing," I told Radio. "It matters not to me if these fools kill each other."

"Over a filly," she added. "Think about it. What are those two going to do if they find the filly, hm?"

"Kill her mother, or take them both into servitude," I sighed and rubbed my forehead, shutting my eyes. Taking a deep breath to fill my lungs, I slowly let it out and felt my nerves calm down slightly.

"Exactly. You know what you must do."

"Save the mother and filly," I muttered and shook my head.

"And you will be rewarded soon. Keep the radio with you at all times," Radio said before the static vanished.

I took another look at the ponies. The distance was far too great for me to use my lightning spell with any semblance of accuracy, if I could use it at all. My invisibility should have worked still, yet it did not. I felt... weak, helpless, and wondered if that is what Tail Blade had meant when she confessed that she was frightened by my change.

If I could not use my alicorn abilities, then what good was I?

*** ***

"Why am I doing this?" I whispered to myself, keeping low behind an ancient newspaper dispenser. The pages inside had long since vanished and the glass on the open door was smashed in. Wind whistled past my ears, carrying even more bits of ash away from the pile in the road's center.

I glanced around the bin before hiding again, noticing the wide exposed gap between the unknown ponies and I. If I merely galloped across I'd be spotted quick and get shot in the face by either them or the birdbrain.

Shutting my eyes tightly, I concentrated on becoming invisible. I focused on the tip of my horn and tried to send my magic to it. Yet I felt nothing at first, but then I heard something. It was a faint echo like some kind of laugh resonating inside my skull. Frowning, I tilted my head back, banging my skull against the metal box.

Pain shot through my brain like a lance of fire jabbing into my ear. I winced, clutching the side of my head.

"I hate Mondays," I groaned. Whether or not the day was Monday was unclear, but my point stood. Monday was usually a crap day.

The wind howled by my ears, whipping dust and ashes off the top layer of ground. My gaze tracked the ashes as they left the pile and drifted off into the sky.

The sky...

I was oddly reminded of my conversation with Lasso about it. He had assumed the sky was always grey and it had become blue only within the last few years, yet that was not the case.

The fool.

With a smile and a plan, I reached out with my telekinetics, grabbing hold of the nearest objects; rocks, metal bits, an old rusty pistol with no ammo, a Sparkle-Cola bottle. I looked at them, contemplating on throwing them toward the two ponies Radio had said to kill. All I would gain would be two pissed off ponies.

Tossing the junk away and putting the bottle caps and bottle in my pack, I slowly stood up as my bones popped and protested from the weight of the radio pack.

My hooves dug into the concrete, gaining a strong foothold before I leaped over the newspaper dispenser, landing on the other side with a loud clop of my hooves.

I broke into a gallop, lowering my head so that my horn might act as a spear when I slammed into them, but kept my eyes on my targets. So distracted on their task of shooting the 'Birdbrain', they did not hear my hooves slamming into the dusty road.

A red energy beam danced across my nose. The bright light seared into my vision at the same time I thought I could smell my fur burning. The air popped, and a loud zap filled the air before I could blink.

"Shit-shit-shit!" I yelled and picked up my pace. Ducking my head low to the ground, I skidded left as a second beam hit the concrete where I would have been had I not turned.

Ahead of me lay the safety of the ponies I was supposed to kill. Or so I thought. The lower half of my vision was in complete shadow. I could not see where to put my hooves as I turned right, jinking away from a straight path to throw off Birdbrain. It worked for a time, zipping left and right while the remaining ponies fired at Birdbrain’s position.

My luck ran out just as I was about to reach the safety of the rubble.

Pain shot through my hind leg, causing it to collapse under me as I let out a short scream. My flank hit the dirt next, followed by my side and then the radio. I clawed at the ground with one hoof, digging into the dirty road in a vain attempt to stop myself. Instead of stopping, my momentum carried me through.

I found myself flopping onto my belly against my will and sliding to a stop not far from the ponies. My muzzle slammed into the ground, white momentarily filling my vision while pain shot through my jaw.

"Mondays suck," I groaned. Luckily for me, any and all pain was momentary thanks to the Med-X I had taken earlier. Though my jaw still throbbed and felt numb.

The two of them looked down at me. That pink unicorn mare was possibly the leader of the bunch. Her leather and metal barding looked in better condition than the green earth pony's. His was in serious need of repair and wouldn't last more than a few days before it looked like it'd tear itself apart.

"Today's Thursday," the earth pony replied to my groan. The pink unicorn glanced at him with her eyes, leaving her muzzle pointed at me. Her eyes slowly narrowed at him. Magic surrounded her horn and the floating rifle I suspected to be mostly broken based on how she had to unjam it after every shot.

What kind of monster never maintains her own gun?!

Her gaze went back to me. The both of them stared into my eyes. I stared back. My left right hind leg felt like it was about to catch fire just under the skin from the heat.

"It's Monday to me," I grumbled. Slowly, I pushed myself up into a sitting position and looked down at my leg. The cloth barding had taken the brunt of the blow and fused into my leg. Creating some kind of rippled and charred texture that reminded me of barbecued meat. Even smelled like it, too.

It would have been no problem if I had been an alicorn, but noooo. Dead Hoof had wanted to make me a stallion so I could fuck him in the ass with a real dick. Why he thought that was a good idea was beyond me. Stallions are weird.

"Hey!" the mare shouted, stomping her hoof into the ground. Both her voice, and the noise of her hoof clopping onto the ground drew my attention to her face. It was contorted into a scowl, narrowed eyes, teeth clamped tightly together.

"Go easy on her, boss," the stallion added. "She just took a nasty tumble."

I pointed my hoof at him, eyes narrowed into a glare. "I don't need your sympathy! I'm here for one reason."

"Baron Steel finally sent us help? About damn time," the mare said with a relieved sigh. "I thought for sure our last runner didn't get through."

"What?" I tilted my head, my eyes fluttering in surprise. "Who the fuck is Baron Steel?" Quickly shaking my head, I facehoofed. "Nevermind! Just what the hell is going on here?!"

Both ponies frowned. The mare looked toward the edge of the rubble pile before looking at me. "They didn't tell you?"

I shook my head. "No. No pony ever tells me any of their plans. It's like they won't trust me!" I waved my foreleg around. "It's just go here, do that, go there. Stab those ponies for me, okay? I'm too fucking lazy to do it myself. Pretty please with a cherry on top? I'll pay you~"

The ponies looked at each other. The stallion's eyes were slightly wide. Whether it was surprise or not I could not say. The mare mouthed something to him. He shrugged in response.

"Well that stupid pegasus stole Baron Steel's foal," said the stallion with a deep grumble. He went over to the edge and partially peered out. A beam of red blasted past his face, causing him to jump back in shock.

"That whore's probably going to sell the foal for Dash," the mare added. She floated her rifle up and pulled the bolt back. This close to her, I saw how rough the action was. It caught in one place, moved, got caught again, moved more. She grunted when it got stuck halfway and pulled it even harder. The whole bolt slid back and out onto the ground in a pile of parts. I watched the spring fly off into the wasteland, never to be found again.

My frown only grew more when I saw how pitted the metal was. There was no shiny smooth sheen anywhere, not even what I could see of the barrel's interior. Just rusty shit. I would have tossed the weapon away. It wasn't even fit for scrap.

"Give me the damn thing!" I yelled, quickly snatching the rifle with my forehoof. Pulling it close and giving it a quick glance showed the reason why the gun kept getting jammed with each shot.

The mechanism for lifting the rounds up to the barrel was missing completely. It was, for all intents and purposes, a single shot rifle that was annoyingly complex.

"This gun's a piece of shit," I told the mare as I shoved it back to her.

She took it in her hooves and looked down at it. Her ears folded back slightly. "I spent so much on it!"

"You got ripped the hell off." I rolled my eyes.

Why haven't I stabbed them yet? I don't know. I just don't know anymore.

I knew from her words that the hidden mare was a pegasus, and the mare needed Dash. But...

My eyes widened slightly when I realized something. There was only one Dash addicted pegasus I knew. Perhaps there was more than one, perhaps hundreds, maybe even thousands, or all of them! But I only knew one.

My head turned to the side, eyes narrowing slightly. "This bird-pony wouldn't happen to be maroon with a dark blue mane, would she?"

"So you've seen the whore around then." The pink unicorn nodded.

I glared at her as my magic firmly gripped Hyde's handle and slowly pulled. "Wraith is not a whore." My voice was drowned out by Hyde as he revved to life the second his teeth cleared my bags.

The mare's eyes widened to the size of pie plates. She took a few steps backwards, not noticing she was heading for open ground. "H-hey! Put that away. We're on the same team!"

"No." I shook my head, a smirk crossing my lips. "I changed sides to Wraith's just now." Aiming Hyde at the mare, I nodded at her and revved the sword to make noise. "Now back the fuck up."

She gulped, looking behind her as she took another step toward the open ground. The green stallion was looking at me, his eyes narrowed to fine slits.

"How about a deal?" the stallion finally opened his mouth to speak. My gaze shifted to him for a moment before returning to the mare. "Lake and I will leave you, and that whore alone."

Hyde was aimed at him. My eyes narrowed even further. "Don't call her that. I'll shove this sword so far up your ass you can taste your own shit!"

Lake looked at the nameless green stallion. Then at me and nodded rapidly. "We can do that! We can go. Just don't kill us, please?"

Well it was better than having to clean Hyde later.

I took a deep breath and slowly nodded. “Alright. Go. Get out of here and never bother me, or Wraith again.”

*** ***

The shiniest surface I could find was pushed out beyond the wreckage. It was tilted forward and back, side to side, in an attempt to find where the maroon pegasus was hiding. I was leaning against the cover so I wouldn't die. The two ponies had snuck off not long ago after I took their broken weapons and shoved them in my bags for later sale.

Again I saw nothing inside the buildings. No shadows, no movement, nothing at all to indicate she was hiding there. Whomever had trained her in the art of hiding did a very good job.

Wind whipped past my ears, blowing my mane past my vision and obscuring the mirror.

Using my hoof, I cleared my vision by tucking my mane behind my ear and using the earphone to keep it in place. Radio had said to rescue Wraith, but did not specify how, so I took it upon myself to scare the daylights out of the ponies instead of killing them.

A red beam of light collided with the mirror, glancing off and flying right past my ear. I jumped back, blinking back the temporary blindness caused by staring directly into the stupid beam as it flies by your face. The pop and zap came swiftly, as did the smell of burning ozone and fur.

At least I knew she was still there and smart enough to shoot the mirror away. It had shattered into many tiny pieces when it landed on the ground.

Ears turned to my left to listen for movement, I leaned against the wall again. "Wraith?" I called out as loud as I could. "It's me! Shell Shock! Don't shoot. I got rid of the others. I'm alone now. It's just you and me. Don't you remember me from the island?"

There was a long moment of silence where I heard nothing but the wind. Nothing but my own breathing and heart beat. It got to the point where I thought I had been wrong about who was out there.

"Wraith?" I yelled. "How about I throw my weapons into the street and step out unarmed? Sound like a plan?"

This time I heard the faint warm crackling and pops from the radio underneath the wind. Placing a hoof to my ear to block out the sound, I tilted my head and listened.

Nothing from Radio and nothing from Wraith.

I frowned and took the earpiece off to hear clearly. Followed by removing Hyde and tossing him out into the open. My bags followed after. They landed in a heap not far from me.

With nothing standing between me and death, I tested my luck with death for a fourth time and stepped out into the open.

"You're not Shock," a familiar voice shouted from one of the rooms. My gaze slowly moved from one room to the next, but I still did not see her.

"Think before you shoot!" I shouted, stepping away from my gear. "Look at my mane, my face! You've seen my memories. I saved your flank from a horrible death! If you still think I'm not me, then shoot. I don't care anymore."

I shut my eyes and waited for death. Waited for her to think back through her withered mind to the bunker with the killer plants. She would remember that at least, or so I hoped.

No shot came. Only her voice. "What's your filly's name?" she yelled, her voice echoing off the walls around me.

Opening my eyes, I went to tell her I had none, but my words stopped cold in my throat.

Surely Wraith would know I had none, and thus it was a trick question. But, as I thought about her question and whether or not I had a filly, I remembered one I traveled with for some time; Sienna. However Sienna and I had traveled with Axe, not Wraith. Perhaps Axe told her about Sienna, and Wraith thought the filly was mine in some strange way. Though I had thought she was for a few weeks. Then she vanished. Taken from me by that Steel Ranger Celly.

Gulping, I smiled a bit and lifted my injured hind leg off the ground to relieve the pressure on the wound. "Sienna!"

What grass there was swayed with the wind whipping past my face. The debris to my left creaked and moaned softly, cold metal popping as something snapped. I looked toward the sound and quickly side stepped away. The roof of the wagon collapsed downward ever so slightly.

"Pick your stuff up, slowly," shouted Wraith, drawing my attention away from the barrier. I looked ahead again, and then up at the second floor. Movement on the first level stole my gaze. A fleeting shadow, possibly a trick, possibly not. It was hard for me to tell with his fast it moved.

My horn glowed as I reached for my bags and Hyde.

"With your teeth," yelled Wraith.

I frowned and let go of my stuff. But with a deep sigh, I used my teeth to pick my saddlebags up along with Hyde like I was some dirty earth pony or pegasus. One or two of my teeth felt like they shifted ever so slightly, sending a faint pang of pain through the roof of my mouth. Gulping it back, I adjusted my grip until it went away.

"Happy?" I tried to shout, but it came out garbled.

"Walk forward." Her voice carried across the gap.

Tilting my head slightly, my eyes looked up at the building to my left, ears following suit. They were empty, the glass was missing from most windows, and the interior looked in a piss poor state of repair. I tilted my head the other way and glanced to my right. It was much the same; decrepit, decaying, and no pony around.

I had no idea if it was a trap, nor did I know if I had made the right choice in letting the two ponies go. They could be hiding nearby and waiting for the maroon pegasus to show herself for all I knew. If they were I would not hesitate to ram Hyde down their throats.

The dirt ground its way into my worn hooves, reminding me that I desperately needed to get them looked at. With each step on my injured hind leg, fire danced around the wound and into my brain, telling me it was still sore I still saw no sign of the pegasus as I approached the building.

The building's interior was a cafe with overturned tables and chairs. All the fabric on the chairs had been ripped off at one time, the ponies leaving the stuffing strewn about. It was as dark as the night inside there causing me to nearly trip over something.

Looking down at my hooves, I saw the foreleg bone from a long dead pony. There were no other bones with it. Hissing, I kicked it aside and looked around the shop again.

The empty shelves along one wall had been ransacked. A thick layer of dust covered everything except for a few light hoofprints.

"That's close enough," Wraith yelled from somewhere in the shop. "Drop your stuff and step back."

I gulped and did as instructed. My jaw was thankful, but I kept looking at Hyde and feeling vulnerable without him.

Movement drew my attention as she stepped out from another room leading to the back of the building. A dark grey cloth covered the doorway and was only apparent when it moved due to the shadow being cast over it. The pegasus was wrapped in cloth torn from the nearby chairs and benches. The only part of her you could see was her midnight blue mane and her glowing eyes.

Those eyes glowed a soft orange in the dark of the building, partially illuminating her wrapped muzzle. The odd looking revolver held in her mouth and the eyes reminded me of a different pony than Wraith...

"Axe?" I asked, tilting my head upon noticing the glowing eyes. I had thought Wraith to be the addict, but it seemed I was wrong.

She dropped the pistol from her mouth. Quickly catching it in her wing, she tilted it and aimed it at me. I stared at the weapon’s square barrel and was confused as to which pegasus twin was staring me down.

"Why can't you fuckers leave me alone?!" she yelled, her glowing eyes narrowed. Her gaze felt like she was trying to use her mind to kill me.

I stared her in the eyes and made no move for my weapons. The thought crossed my mind that she possibly had no idea who I was or even remembered our meeting. It was so long ago. And yet... She had asked about Sienna, so she had to remember.

I dared not risk the wrath of a pistol fired by an angry pegasus. Nodding slowly at her words, I took a step back. "Axe, is it? Or is it Wraith? You two are so alike it seems."

"I'm not going back to him," she growled and stepped toward me. I could not tell if she was frowning or not.

"And why should you? You're clearly a capable mare. What happened to your armor?"

Her gaze shifted to my right, her ears turning in that direction. She looked at me again, wings puffed up. "Comet has it."

I nodded. "I see. Look. I was told by Radio to help you get rid of those two ponies. I was sleeping in that building over there when they cornered you." I turned sideways and pointed my radio hoof down the road.

"Radio? Whose radio? Wait. That thing gets a signal?"

Looking at her and nodding, I gave the pegasus a small smile to reassure her that it did work. "Yes. I was on it earlier. Why?"

She looked toward my left at something I didn't look at, her ears following. The pistol stayed on me. "I need to contact the supply raptor when it comes into town tomorrow." She unfolded her non-gun holding wing and let the feathers feel the wind that didn't blow through the building, then closed the appendage.

I frowned at her antics. "What has you so anxious?"

She looked at me again. This time her ears turned to listen behind her. There was no noise from the other room. Though her eye glow was still as strong as ever. She sighed deeply and sat down. Standing up again, Wraith looked over her shoulder at the room. She then looked at me and sat down again. "You really don't know anything about what is going on?"

I slowly shook my head, shutting my eyes. "No. I do not. I have been living in Alicorn Town with Dead Hoof minding my own business. Regular pony business is not my concern. He bought me a drink, which turned out to be Killing Joke. It turned me into what you see before you. I'm hunting down the seller so I can rip his head off after I get a cure."

Again, Wraith looked over her shoulder for a moment before looking around the room. Her wing slowly pulled the pistol in and held it at ease. She looked at me, then the room behind us, and me again. "Okay. Shock, my father sent me to this city so our small fleet can trade with ponies that make Dash."

I frowned even more. My ears turned forward and my eyes narrowed. "What for? Planning to distribute it?"

"No!" Wraith hissed at me. "Wraith needs it, remember?"

"So you're Axe," I said. She nodded. I nodded slowly as well. "I remember that particular 'quirk' about her."

"We tried to get her off Dash but it nearly killed her," she replied quietly. "So we had to find a steady supply of it. No pony makes it on the island."

"And Baron Steel is the drug kingpin here in Trottingham?" My head tilted almost like a bird's.

"Sort of... He gets it from some other pony and distributes it. I thought I could get it cheaper if I slept with him. He agreed and I stayed here to make sure we kept getting it at that same price."

"So... you sold your body to help your sister?" My head tilted the other way. She nodded. In a way that mare from earlier was right. Axe is a whore. I couldn't see myself in her position. I would have cut the stallion's head off and gotten it for free.

"And that brings us to now... You see, he and I... Well..." She tapped her forehooves together and bit her lower lip. "We had a foal together."

I facehoofed. "Axe!"

"It was an accident!" she yelled back. "Once he found out about it, he locked me in a room so I couldn't leave!"

I set my hoof down and frowned at her. "I wonder why? He wanted to protect you and his foal! He was looking out for your health!"

"I don't want my foal growing up with her mother the sexslave who's paying for her aunt to get monthly Dash shipments."

I opened my mouth to ask her another question, but was interrupted by a sound I had not heard since before becoming an alicorn all those years ago. The ear piercing wail of a cranky foal pierced the relative silence of the room. It clawed at my ears, scratched at them and tried to dig deep into my skull to stab at my brain. My ears pressed against my mane in an attempt to drown the cry out. Axe quickly looked at the cloth covering the doorway and rushed inside. The pistol dropped to the ground behind her with a clatter.

The radio's earpiece crackled to life with warm static. I placed it against my ear and tilted my head some, listening in to see if Radio was there.

"You saved them? Now keep them alive," was all she said before the static vanished again.

*** ***

"You're joking," Axe quietly said. She was sitting on top of a mattress lying on the storage closet floor with dirty covers over it to keep it looking somewhat useful. The room was dark, yet she had no trouble moving around thanks to her eyes. The foal was wrapped up in a bundle of blankets she held in her forelegs. I could not say how old it was nor could I identify the race beyond she wasn't a unicorn. The only thing I noticed about her was that she was extremely young. Young enough for Axe to risk staying in one place for many days until she was found by the bandits.

The cloth covering the door behind me had a vision slit cut into it, allowing very little light in. Not far from the door was a covered laser rifle I assumed she had used against the ponies and me.

My leg continued to ache while my teeth stopped annoying me. I finished checking Hyde for damage and put him in the bag.

"No," I replied to the maroon pegasus, shaking my head slowly. My voice was low so as to not wake the grumpy tiny pony. "I am not. Alicorn Town is far safer than the wasteland."

"It's full of alicorns!" she hissed quietly, her glowing eyes narrowed.

I nodded. "Yes. And that is why it is safe. No pony is insane enough to attack a town full of alicorns."

Unless they were Steel Rangers or Enclave.

"He is. You don't understand, Shock. He's got resources. You're wearing one of his uniforms."

I looked down at my stable barding and poked it. The cloth was the same as I remembered, and it made sense for a stable pony to have the ability to make drugs, but Lasso had said the uniform belonged to a crazy pony.

"What?"

"He's got his hooves dipped into many places; me, various settlements, some crazy as fuck pony with a monstrous steel machine. It moves on tracks and squeals like a wounded animal. I heard a story it shrugged off a plasma shot! You don't fuck with Baron Steel Skies."

I sat there staring at my barding for a few moments. The blue and gold cloth was covered in dirt, sweat, and smelled like burnt meat.

"You sure you want that bardin'?" Lasso's voice floated in my mind. "Some crazy fucker owns it. He ain't all there in the head. He'll come lookin' fer it an' I'm gonna tell him to talk with you when he does."

"Axe?" I asked as I lifted my foreleg up and pointed at the shoulder. "You say you've seen the pony that owns this uniform. What does this symbol mean?"

She looked at my shoulder as she gently brushed the sleeping fillyl's mane. Axe's eyes narrowed, her wings puffed up as she looked at it. "I'm not sure, but I've seen it on the front of the pony's machine. It's faded, but there along with the old world's flag."

I nodded slowly. "Anything else you can tell me about it? What does it look like? Is it armed?"

"Oh yeah it's armed," she replied quickly and nodded, then shook her head. "It's got an enclosed turret on top with a single cannon that looks like it'd fire a bullet the size of my hoof."

"Anything else?" I tilted my head.

"It also spits green fire from the hull where the tracks are like some kind of dragon. There's a name on the side of the gun barrel; Banhammer I think is the name?"

I frowned deeply as I slowly looked around the tiny room. My ears folded back. It was quiet, but that could change any moment. I had let Baron Steel Skies' ponies go free, they saw me wearing this pony's uniform. They will most likely report to their boss one of 'Banhammer's' crew threatened to kill them and saved Axe. Their boss is going to question whomever owns Banhammer and they're going to come looking for me here.

"You need to come with me if you want to survive the week," I said quietly and started to remove the radio pack so I could take off the cloth barding.

"Where?" she replied, frowning deeply. "Shock, I'm in no shape to fly with you on my back, plus all of our gear and Cola!"

"We don't need to fly. I'm trying to find a mule merchant. He is in a town not far from here. If we keep moving we can stay ahead of the enemy and get you and your foal to your family."

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