Sometime later I awoke inside of a ramshackle hut, laying on a rather uncomfortable bed. For how my last few days had gone, I honestly felt pretty good. I had woken up in an actual bed with only a little soreness. I was getting a little tired of passing out so much though. But I digress.

I looked around, trying to figure out where I was. The shack was just a single room, made from mismatched planks and scavenged wood. The majority of the room was taken up by the bed I was on and a dresser. Another cot had been shoved to the side of the room, where a sleeping gray pony lay. There were no windows, but between the cracks in the walls and door, plenty of light filtered through.

Remembering how I had lost consciousness in the first place, I glanced down at my leg. The whole thing had been swathed in bandages. I could only barely feel a small twinge of pain. I guess I could thank Shield for that. Gingerly, I set my injured leg onto the ground. Putting pressure on it really didn’t hurt that much, so I stood up. I took a few cautious steps, but everything seemed to be in order.

“The hell you doin’?” A stallion voice asked from behind. I turned and saw the gray pony had woken up. He had lifted his head up and was looking at me with critical eyes.

“I was...going out.” I replied, feeling guilty for a reason I couldn’t quite place.

“Fine, fine, just start walking on a shot leg. No one listens to the damn doctor anyways. Just get the hell out so I can use my bed again. You’re healthy enough to not need to stay in here.” He mumbled, grumpily.

“Err... um.. Thanks I guess?” I felt my face grow hot with a blush. The gray stallion just muttered under his breath and bucked his cot closed. With one final glare in my direction, he fell into the bed and hid his head under the threadbare pillow.

Sheesh, somepony wasn’t a morning pony. I nudged the door open and stepped out into the bright sunlight. Temporarily blinded, I lifted a forehoof to cover my eyes. As my eyes adjusted, I realized I was in a town. It was tiny, even smaller than Ponyville, but it was an actual town. Other shacks and run-down houses surrounded a town square, where a few ponies were constructing a stage of sorts. Stalls had been set up in the main area, peddling food and water as well as various other goods. A makeshift wall surrounded the village, guards keeping watch along the top. It didn’t look too secure, as the guards were only able to stand on certain parts.

“Hey Zenith!” I heard Sunrise yell. I looked up and saw her gently coasting down from above. “Good to see you up and about, glad we were able to find you so easily!” she finished, alighting down beside me.

“Yea.... thanks Sunrise.” I replied, displeasure coloring my voice as I remembered how useless I had been during my rescue. I had been utterly helpless during the entire fight, both at the campsite and in the slaver base; just a burden. Sunrise and Shield could have died for me.

If I was going to be staying in this wasteland for any length of time, I’d need to learn how to defend myself. The first step would be those books from Twilight’s. ”Hey Sunrise.. is there a library or some place I could stay for a while?” I asked.

“Yes, with me. I live right over there, the house with the red door.” Sunrise said, indicating a house set dead center off from the town center with her wingtip. “I won’t take no for an answer! I’ll come by later with something for us to eat.”

“But- I wouldn’t want to-.” I said, grateful for Sunrise’s generosity, and a little resentful that I had to take advantage of it.

“No buts! Go!” Sunrise pressed. She nudged me forward with her wing and I head off.

Make no mistake, I was thankful that Shield and Sunrise had come for me. I just didn’t like that it had been necessary. Twilight would have been able to do so much more. I knew I desperately needed the help if I wanted any chance of getting home, but I hadn’t done anything for them...

No one paid attention to me as I made my way across the town. They went about their daily business, probably used to strange ponies coming and going. In truth, this was almost a nice change of pace. Ponies used to stop and stare whenever I passed and started whispering rumors. I made it to the house without any interruption and pushed the door open, closing it gently behind me. This room wasn’t nearly so run down as that which I woken up in.

For one, the wall were actually painted. Granted, it was peeling and faded, but the yellow paint gave the room a bit of cheer. A couch, salvaged from who knows where, took up most of the room. A pile of pre-war debris, pictures frames and scraps of what used to be furniture, had been swept hastily into a corner of the room. The carpet was patchy, albeit soft. The murky yellow light seemed to give the room a certain honey sweet glow, despite the fact it was from the windows simply being dirty. Two rooms shot off from this one; one was clearly a kitchen, but the I couldn’t tell the function of the other. Stairs lead off from the latter.

Nopony else seemed to be home. Now was as good a time as any to start studying. I pulled out Twilight’s store of books and let them fall onto the ground beside me. I inspected the book titles and figured Defensive Magical Theory: An Overview was probably the best place to start.

Hours later, the door creaked open, drawing me out of my self-induced exile into the world of books. I had long finished Defensive Magical Theory: An Overview and had started on the books Twilight wrote containing actual applications. “Zenith?” Sunrise asked. The sun had long since gone done, leaving the room bathed in a bloody red glow from my horn.

I set down the book and glanced over my shoulder, suppressing a yawn. “Oh, hey Sunrise. Where ya been?” I asked. Sunrise was covered in dirt and sweat, both saddlebags fully loaded.

“Oh, just around town. Their sheriff recently died, for this town it’s kind of a big deal. Figured I’d give a shot at getting the position.” She explained. “Have you eaten?” She asked, looking at me critically. I shook my head no and she dropped one of the saddlebags beside me. I opened it up and stuck my face in, both smelling and seeing what was inside. Fresh, but tiny apples filled the inside. I took a few cautious bites then started to devour them, hunger now realized.

“Thanks,” I replied around a mouthful of food. On to step two of my plan. “Do you know if there’s anywhere I could practice a few spells out? Maybe targets or something, I don’t really want anypony around.” I asked. Most of the spells in Twilight’s books required aim and plenty of practice to get them just so. I’d continue to be pretty damn useless without actually being able to hit the broad side of a barn.

“Mhm, there’s a dead orchard some of the guards use to practice right outside the wall, but I don’t see why you need them. There are plenty of guards around the town. It won’t really be necessary,” Sunrise attempted to reassure me. She sat down on the couch beside me, clearly tired.

“When Dream came, I didn’t do anything to stop it. He just was able to take me and had been doing the same to dozens of other ponies. That wouldn’t have been a problem for a real unicorn. I could’ve just teleported away or used some war magic or anything useful. But I just sat there like a useless filly! I can’t act under pressure, I froze up!” I was nearly in tears, but I kept my head locked on the ground.

Sunrise was silent for a second, probably shocked by my outburst. “Are you sure you want to do this? You won’t need to protect yourself here and once you’ve killed you can’t ever take it back, understand?” Sunrise asked, her voice filled with sadness

“I’m sure.” I  mumbled. I took another apple just so I wouldn’t have to keep talking.

“Tomorrow, I’ll show you the range then, if you promise me to get some sleep and stay off that leg as much as you can. I’m going to head up to my room, you can either sleep down here or there’s another bedroom upstairs.” Sunrise finished, standing up with a sad sigh.

“Yes mom.” I replied, teasingly sarcastic. Sunrise chuckled and turned away, heading towards the stairs.

“You know, I’m not that much older than you. No way I could be your mom.” Sunrise joked before leaving. That night, I stayed up even as the sun began to rise, perusing the books. Just like the night before one of Twilight’s “pop quizes” I crammed in as much as I could.

____________________________________________________________________________

Early the next morning, Sunrise led me out to the shooting range. To be honest, I was still dead-tired but I had to start practicing as soon as possible if I would be of any help in a fight. Here, it seemed that a pony could be attacked at any time, at any place, if the attack on the caravan was grounds to go on. Even this town wouldn’t be safe. What if it became a target because of the apples? Or because the water supply? I had to learn to help. Maybe I had become slightly paranoid. Just slightly though.

“Are you sure you’re ok out here alone?” Sunrise asked. She sounded worried; I could at least run all right.

“I can always teleport back in if anyone starts to come.” I answered. I could focus enough to cast if I saw them in the distance first.

“Ok well... I’ll be around town.” Sunrise said, taking one last look over her shoulder before taking off and gaining altitude with every flap of her delicate wings. She looked so pretty when she was flying away like that.. But now it was time to focus on other things.

First things first, I had to be able to keep my shield up in a fight and still be able to do something else. There wasn't much call for protection spells in Ponyville, but Twilight had written extensively about them, especially the bubbles her brother was known for. With only a slight exertion, I managed to erect a nearly translucent blood-red shield.

The actual spell wasn’t that taxing, but it took a lot of concentration. The more hits it took though, and the harder each hit was, made maintaining it increasingly difficult. That needed to be rectified. Slowly, I picked a small rock up in front of me with a sheath of telekinesis. Then another, and another, and another. Once I had about ten decently sized rocks floating on their own, I froze.

This wasn’t that bad, but each of the rocks was pretty small and they were just sitting there. Telekinesis was probably the most basic spell an unicorn could do, anyways. I slowly started to rotate the stones in an orbit around my horn. But my concentration slipped and two of the rocks collided. The surprise made me lose control of everything else and the shield spell unraveled with a backlash, sending me on to my side.

I got back to my feet and took a deep breath. All things considered, that had gone well for a first try. “Take two.” Just... slower this time. This time around, the same set up arrived much quicker and the stones started to rotate. One dipped low, I focused harder and managed to tighten up the spell. This wasn’t so bad!

I started to perhaps get a little cocky. I sent a rock through the shield, shooting at the dead trees. Giddy with glee, I shot another, harder this time. Unfortunately, I forgot to account for my shield and the rock bounced back and nailed me straight in the forehead. Both spells collapsed and I was knocked off my hooves again, seeing stars.

Dammit.

This was stupid. I had a fair reservoir of power, yet I couldn’t even get the most basic of spells to work in conjunction! I wasn’t about to quit now though, I had barely even started. I went through the same motions, starting with much larger rocks this time, about hoof sized. This worked easily enough so I started gradually replacing each rock with one larger and larger.

Finally, after nearly an hour of slow, but steady progress, I looked up to find four large boulders slowly orbiting in the air around me, all while the shield still pulsed.

“Thank Celestia!” I yelped, letting the spells peacefully drop. That was enough of that for one day. I could successfully maintain my shield while casting other spells. Now that defense had at least partially been taken care of, I turned to offense. One of Twilight’s most basic offensive spells turned something everypony would know into something more dangerous. It turned one of the elements, namely fire, into a ball of energy. It was a pretty crude spell, but I had no doubt about its effectiveness.

I called to mind the familiar heat of a flame spell and fed more and more energy into it until a ball floated above my horn, all while calling up a new shield spell. My limbs quickly started to shake from the effort. With a grunt, I sent the flames spiraling out from me, only to embed themselves in the ground directly only feet in front of me with flames licking at the edge of my shield. At the sudden drain, I jumped back, breathing heavily.

“Well, well, look what we have here. Little miss perfect having troubles?” Shield’s voice asked from behind me. I frowned, although the voice was teasing, I couldn’t help but pick up a little disdain in his voice as well.

I sighed and turned to face him “Now that you’re here? Yes.” I responded. I smirked, trying to rile him up a bit.

“Cute. Didn’t see you havin’ problems when I had to save your flank.” Shield retorted. Ouch.

“Look, Shield. I just want to say... thanks.” I mumbled. He had come to rescue me despite us having a... let’s say disagreement about my trip to the library. I couldn’t find fault with that and that quickly sent him flying into my good books.

It was also worth seeing the surprise on his face. “Oh.. uh.. well... Whatever. Weren’t for you, Sunrise just wanted me to.” He didn’t come off as the most convincing pony in the world.

I mentally prepared myself for the next bit. “I’d also like to say... I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gone into the library. You probably just wanted to keep me safe, but you need to understand I had.” I hesitated again, just like with the reveal to Sunrise. Before I could continue though, Shield butt in.

“Just forget about that, alright? It ain’t that big of a deal, just bunch of superstitious shit I even started believin’ in. Though I gotta ask ya, what made you want to see it so bad?” I froze again, internally debating with myself as to whether I should be honest with him. I decided to bite the bullet and retrieved my picture from its safety.

“This. I am... used to be I mean, Twilight’s apprentice. That flash you saw was the remnant of the accident of a magic vortex that I got sucked into which landed me well... you know the rest.” I sighed, and took out the picture of Twilight and myself. For a few seconds, he said nothing, just stared. Finally, he whistled and looked up into the air.

“Welp, that’s a mighty fine tale. Can’t say I’m that convinced, but it certainly explains more than it doesn’t. Reckon I might I as believe you. Ain’t nothin’ to lose.” At least I was two for two on convincing ponies of my origin. I’ll take all the minor positives I can. I sucked the picture back into my otherspace pocket, not wanting to keep it exposed for any longer than necessary. The last bit of magic left me more than a little light headed.

“Thanks...for believing me too.” I replied, falling back on my haunches. Maybe just a little rest before heading back into town. I sank lower, laying on my stomach. Maybe just a short nap, really short of course. I wasn’t that tired...

I felt a light nudge in my side and laughter coming from Shield. Groaning, I peaked an eye back open and saw him standing beside me, failing to contain his mirth.

“Need a break? Ain’t heard nothin’ from Sunrise but how you ain’t eating enough and I’m sure all that magic ain’t helpin’ none. Mare worries more about you than anything, though looks like she’ll get this whole town to worry about soon.”

“Yea, I’ve been wondering about that. What exactly is the sheriff here and what do you have to do to get to be it?” I asked. I remembered that Sunrise had mentioned something about it last night, but never really bothered to explain. To be honest, I was thirsty and hungry I was from the long session under the sun, but it could wait. Sunrise would have something.

“Sheriff here is more like a mayor to be honest. Doesn’t really have nothin’ to do bout fighting. Mainly just keeps the town runnin’ nice and smooth and if there’s any trouble with outside towns they’ll make the final decision regarding it. Round here, it’s a straight election to see who gets to be sheriff. No other qualifications needed. One of the last places that does it to be honest.” Shield replied, taking a seat across from me.

“So why is Sunrise doing it then? She doesn’t really seem like the type to want political power.” Twilight had always told me that politicians were mainly dirtbags who were just in it for the money. Apparently, only Celestia kept them from going completely power-mad. Then again, this was Twilight and she was the biggest stickler for rules ever, so she probably exaggerated.

“She’s got this half-assed idea about making the wasteland a better place for all. Seems good, but I don’t really see how that’s going to happen. She wants to start here and keep movin’, wantin’ to bring peace to everypony. Myself? I don’t see it happening, but I was never much one for thinking. I just survive. Maybe it’ll work though. She certainly can rouse a crowd pretty damn well.” Shield replied. He sounded consigned, like nothing would make this hellhole any better. At least Sunrise was trying which was more than those slavers.

“I’m glad she’s trying to help. At least somepony is, this place isn’t going to get any better just by sitting around. ” I said with a sigh. Maybe I could help out in little ways, at least for Sunrise’s sake and before I found a way home. She had scratched my back, now my turn to scratch hers. “I’ll definitely help her out.”

“Well, I’m sure you two will fit together as good as two peas in a pod. Why don’t we go back into town? You really should eat after performing that much magic and you look pretty damn tired.” Shield observed. I nodded; at this point i could barely keep my eyes open.

On the way back, I stumbled several times from sheer fatigue. Damn, it was getting awfully hard to keep my eyes open now. Suddenly, I remembered Spike’s pendant. I had always tried to store as much energy in it as I could and it seemed like now would be a good time to take a little back. I siphoned a little of the energy and magically nudged the amulet. What greeted me inside the necklace was a veritable sea of energy, the years of storage serving me well. I probably should’ve done this earlier, but I could be pretty scatterbrained at times.

Once back inside the town walls,Shield led the way to a stall and fished fished out coins. The vendor handed over a couple more of those tiny apples.

“Eat those.” Shield instructed nudging the apples. I lifted them with my magic and felt a minor headache come on. Even still, I took bites of the apples as we head to the side of the town hall center. “Meetings come up here real soon, Sunrise is going to speak on why she should be elected. Each of the candidates gets a minute or two. Figured you’d want to see it.”

Almost as if on cue, Sunrise and two other ponies stepped up onto a raised platform set up in the middle of the square. They must be her competition. One of Sunrise’s competitors stepped up, taking the first speech. I didn’t really pay attention much to the first two speeches to be honest, I was more lost in my own thoughts. For Sunrise’s though, I paid my utmost attention.

“Ponies of Rust. The loss of our sheriff is a tragedy. I knew Longshot well. He was a good stallion and a noble leader for our town. But now is not the time to grieve. Now is the time to move on.”

“Living in the past will bring ruin to all you know and love. Every day, this land grows more dangerous. While we recently wiped out one nest of filth, dozens of others remain. And each day, more ponies join the ranks of raiders and slavers. Each day another pony falls to the corruption of the wasteland.”

“By itself, the land that once knew naught but peace and harmony will continue to degrade, until even we, the consummate survivors can no longer flourish and ponykind will die for good. Unless united, we stand against the perils and change it. Under my leadership, Rust will no longer remain a town of dejected and broken. It will no longer remain on the fringes of remaining civilization. Together, we will rise above this. We will rise above this... this mess of the world.”

“Together we can shape something new. Something like centuries ago, back when our goddess reigned and brought prosperity to the land. Under my leadership, we can prosper once again. But everyone must give their part. The day you choose me to be sheriff, the transformation begins. Everyone will be taught how to defend themselves, for the good of the settlement and we will expand the farmland with all the new hands.”

“This will not only give the people more to eat, but better land and will give your children a future they will be proud of. But we can’t stop there. This settlement alone can’t begin this path. All other towns will come to see the beauty of our way. Through reason and peace, we will show them that our way is the best.”

“We will not give any ground. Our town will never back down from a challenge, not from raiders or starvation. This, I promise. No matter what, none of our children will have to live this life. This life of pain and fear. They will have something new, something better. With your help and my leadership, we can accomplish great things. Thank you.”

Sunrise finished her speech and stepped down, leaving a silent populace in her wake. For another moment they seemed stunned and then all at once broke into simultaneous stomping, showing their support for the pegasus. Sunrise’s natural charisma added to the message of her speech, stirring a fire inside me. Sunrise flashed them a brilliant smile and waved, before retiring to her house. I made my apologies and excuses to Shield and quickly followed her, not bothering to worry about the other two speeches. Nothing could compare to Sunrise’s. I entered the door several seconds behind Sunrise. Inside, she stood near the couch, shaking slightly and breathing heavily.

“You were great Sunrise. There’s no way  they won’t choose you. And I’ll be right here with you.” I reassured her, glancing down at my hooves. My face suddenly felt hot.

“Thanks Zenith, that means a lot to me.” She replied. “I know it might sound silly but I always get a bit nervous before getting up to speak infront of people. I’m definitely good at it; it’s my special talent but I still always think I might do something wrong. I’m a bit ridiculous sometimes.” She finished with an anxious chuckle.

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll do a great job.” I replied, continuing to try and comfort her.

“Well at least I have your vote of confidence. I heard you displayed some rather impressive magic earlier.” Sunrise said. She seemed disappointed. Her words sounded sour, almost like disapproval.

“Yea, I practiced some offensive  magic.I told you I didn’t want to be helpless anymore and I’m going to be sticking to it. “ I said resolutely. Sunrise sighed and gently shook her head. “You aren’t... angry with me, are you?” I asked, eyes now locked on the floor.  Even with my absolute resoluteness, I felt disappointed about Sunrise’s disapproval. I would think she wanted me to fight, considering her talk just outside the house.

“I just... wish this wasn’t so... I’d like for you to be able to live in peace. But I know its what you want and if it’ll make you happy, I’ll be all for it.” She replied, flashing a tentative smile. “Why don’t we get some rest? Celestia knows that we both need it after this day.” I nodded, feeling my fatigue starting to come back. “I’ll show you your room now.” She said, heading upstairs with a bounce in her step. I followed and she pushed open the left side door. Sure, the room was broken and beaten down. But the bed seemed to still be pretty solid and there was an actual honest-to-Celestia bookshelf on the side.

“Wow, this is...thanks Sunrise” I smiled sleepily. “I’ll see you in the morning.” I half mumbled,  as I collapsed onto the bed.

“Good night Zenith.” Sunrise whispered as she affectionately nudged me into bed. She closed the door and left me to my dreams.