Chapter 6: Learning the hard way

“Can you please remind me why we are going through this dark death-trap rather than just flying with me over the mountain range?”  I asked mist pouring out my muzzle, as I stared into a massive rocky tunnel with train tracks that led into the velvet black inside.

Midnight sighed. “We can’t fly over the mountains as they go above the clouds.”

She was wearing what she called a “Battle Saddle,” some contraption that Earth and Pegasi ponies used that strapped the guns on either side of the body so they could hold larger guns and be fired by the mouth bit.

I stomped my forehoof on the gravelly ground as I asked, “Why do you say that as if it’s certain death up there?”

She didn't reply just like the last time.

We had found an old wooden carriage with broken wheels. It was not in very good condition and Midnight wanted me to get into it while she flew through the tunnel blindly. She hinted that there were these creatures called “zombies,” inside and to make the trip as fast as possible.

“So you want me to shoot these things if we are attacked right?” I asked for the third time ensuring I was completely prepared.

“Correct” said Midnight. “Use the shotgun, it’s better for close range. Just don’t shoot me.”

I had a mounting worry as I looked at the partially rotten and damaged carriage before getting into it which was already strapped to Midnight. I finally asked “How long is this tunnel?”

She put a hoof on to her chin thinking before replying “Uhh, a few kilometres I think.”

I felt like I was hit by something heavy. “A few kilometres!?!” I said loudly.

Midnight looked at me as she neighed. “Yeah a few kilometres.”

I put my hooves together before saying in prayer, “please Luna get me through this tunnel alive.”

Midnight did a double take, “what now? Luna?”

I shook my head and mumbled, “nothing.”

“Ready?” She asked.

I tightened my Scarf and gulped. “Yes.”

*                                        **                        **                      **                                                *

Midnight took off from the ground causing the carriage to swing into the air with me holding onto the back with my combat shotgun levitated beside me. I turned my Pipbuck light on when we entered the tunnel as the blackness enveloped us, the only light coming from my Pipbuck. I kept an eye on my EFS which showed just one green light and no red.

I heard a high pitched gurgling screaming sound come through the darkness as a red light appeared on my EFS. A large scabbed and rotting pony shaped thing latched onto the side of the cart, its eyes misted white and glaring at me baring rotting teeth. The thing was so horrifying I shot it point blank without thinking.

BANGGGG

The shot echoed horribly in the tunnel as the zombie pony's head exploded, its body falling off the side of the carriage.

My EFS flared red and hundreds of red lights exploded onto my EFS. I shouted to Midnight “lots of hostiles.” I need not to have bothered as I heard her battle saddles automatic machine fire begin.

Pftata tat tattat was all I could hear from the front as Midnight tried to fly at top speed while shooting the ones attempting to jump onto her and into the carriage.

Another zombie jumped onto the carriage, it opened its mouth and let out a big “SCRAHHHH” baring its teeth as it tried to snap at me.

I slipped into SATS

BLAM

I took a chunk out of its head off but it was not dead as it tried to push itself to me. I took aim manually.

BLAM

I missed the head and hit the side of the old carriage causing the side of it to break away in a shower of splinters causing the zombie to fall into the mass of zombies below us.

“Amethyst” Midnight shouted over her shoulder “Can you levitate some grenades out of my bag and let them loose on these. There are too many of them to shoot and at this rate we won’t make it.

I blew another zombie apart as she said this.

“What are grenades?” I shouted back.

I heard her grunt before she yelled back, “Little metal apple things with a pin in them. Pull the pin and throw it.”

I levitated these things out of Midnights bag which she kept in the carriage. It was one of those metal apples that explode. I did as she said and pulled the pins on three and lobbed them over the edge of carriage. I watched them sink into darkness before me.

BOOOOM

The light from the explosion lit up the tunnel momentarily, the explosion was ear-splitting loud, Sure enough my ears began to ring after the massive echoed explosion.

Midnight was still shooting as another zombie jumped into the carriage with me. I fired at it causing it to fall in a mess of ichor and rotting flesh at my hooves, as it did so three more began to scale into the carriage.

I slipped into SATS and fired into two of them before the last one jumped onto me knocking me down. It pinned me down so I smacked it with the butt of the shotgun. It tried to bite me savagely but my barding protected me from the horrible thing. I bucked the zombie off me and slid into SATS and fired into it.

I was out of bullets so I pulled out some shells to put into the gun when another one jumped onto Midnight causing the carriage to sway heavily as she tried to get it off her.

“Amethyst?!!”

I turned the shotgun onto this zombie only semi-reloaded and slipped into SATS to get off a shot that did not hit Midnight.

BLAM

The zombie turned into a shower of ichor that sprayed over Midnight, I caught a little bit of it in the face. It smelled horrible.

I finished reloading at good time because when I was done I felt the carriage sway heavily again due to four zombies that were climbing into the tiny carriage with me. I shot two but two more replaced them. I could not keep them away from me.

I screamed as I became overwhelmed. I let off all my shots until I ran out. Another stupid plan entered my head, I didn't know if this was going to work as I began to fight the zombies with the shotgun itself trying to keep them off me. I could feel Midnight slowing down due to the added weight. But it was worth a try. I only hope I don’t kill Midnight while attempting to articulate this plan.

I stuffed the shotgun in Midnights bag and levitated it onto me, I then pulled out the knife telekinetically and shoved the handle in my mouth and with extreme concentration wrapped my field of telekinetic energy around myself then jumped from the carriage and onto Midnights back which almost caused her to fall out of the air.

“Amethyst?! What the fuck are you doing?” she screeching swaying heavily.

“Nuffing” I shouted at her through the knife in my mouth. I then wrapped my hooves around Midnights neck attempting to stabilise myself which was proving quite difficult due to the wing motion on either side of her body. I levitated the knife from my mouth and cut the reins to the cart causing the cart of zombies to fall to the bottom of the tunnel with a horrible smash.

I felt Midnight less encumbered as I felt her speed up and fly so close the ceiling of the tunnel I could almost feel my mane brush against it. I put the knife back into the bag trying to keep the telekinetic sheath to lighten myself up which was proving far more draining than anything I had done so far with my magic.

“FLY!!!?!” I screamed over the screeching and gurgling noises that the zombies were making. My magical field slipped and died around me and I felt Midnight drop slightly.

“Sorry” I told her as she flew.

Midnight continued to fly at break neck speed as I shot at the zombie things from her back, the movement of her wings on either side made it incredibly difficult to get off a good shot. I put the shotgun back changing tact.

I braced myself knowing that this would be taxing and rather than focusing to lighten myself I focused on my least used and most useless of my two spells. Face screwed up in concentration a thin transparent barrier slowly formed and spread from the tip of my horn until it enveloped us completely in a ball of magical energy.

It was working better than expected. The zombies that were jumping up at us hit the shield causing it to ripple, that was until my concentration began to slip. I began to breathe deeply and closed my eyes to try and maintain the concentration which didn'r last very long.

Once again the downfall of my magical skills, lack of concentration and discipline. I could not maintain the shield for long and it broke when a zombie hit the shield causing it to fade away. Exhausted and hardly managing to cling onto Midnight I levitated my shotgun out.

Midnight shouted back at me “Put that shield thing back on”

“I... I can’t” I gasped. I felt beads of sweat leak down my forehead but maintained grip on the gun. Another zombie jumped up and grabbed onto my hind leg which I attempted to kick off with no success. It started to bite and thrash at me showing rotting teeth and foam forming at the mouth. I shot it manually without thinking as I felt myself slip slightly from Midnights back.

BLAM

It fell to the ground and at the same time I felt it bite down just below my barding above my hoof of my hind leg but not before I heard Midnight scream as she dipped from the air slightly.

“Fuck! Amethyst you fucking hit me” She shouted sounding quite hurt and panicked.

My heart dropped as I looked at her leg. I had hit her in the lower part of her hind leg and blood was leaking from just below the protection of her barding.

“I’m sorry” I shouted back, I began to feel a burning sensation around my eyes.

I could not believe I just shot her. If she was injured or hurt, it was my fault.

No more zombies seemed to be coming at us and the red blips on my EFS were now behind us and they were fading away. I saw light at the end of the tunnel just over Midnights mane and with relief we burst into fresh air. However Midnight didn't drop to the ground straight away but flew a few hundred meters away from the tunnel entrance before dropping down and landing on the ground next to an old tree that looked long dead.

I jumped off her back and she collapsed onto the ground breathing heavily. She looked exhausted. I panicked when I saw blood all over her leg; my eyes began to leak tears.

I levitated out a small bottle of antiseptic which turned out to just be a bottle of pure alcohol and clumsily poured it onto the wound.

“Ahhhh Owwww” cried Midnight still lying down, her cries of pain muffled from the ringing of my ears.

I poured a healing potion into her mouth and she coughed on it, but that did the trick. I could see the wound healing.

I looked at the bite mark on my leg then gasped. It was not a bite mark; I had also shot myself but not as badly as Midnight.

I tended to my own leg which involved pulling back the woollen socks. I cleaned it and wrapped a healing bandage on it not wanting to waste healing potions.

“Sorry,” I said to Midnight again wiping my forehead with a hoof.

I sat on my haunches gasping for air still exhausted from the struggle through the tunnel.

This was my fault I thought. I shot her and myself. I couldn't maintain the shield long enough and almost took Midnight out of the air twice. Poor Midnight was so exhausted she was still lying on the ground on her stomach gasping for air and coughing.

I sidled over to Midnight and gave her a hug causing my heart to leap a little, “I’m sorry,” I whispered again but into her ear.

She shook her head “No- Thank-You” she gasped, “You did good Amethyst.”

I looked at her stunned “B-but I shot you and shot myself.”

She nodded, “You made a mistake. We all do, but you kept me and yourself alive and you did well for such a novice," she said

“Thanks,” I mumbled knowing I didn't deserve this praise.

Midnight pushed herself up and took a drink from her canteen. She put the bottle away then asked, “that shield thing you did. Why couldn’t you keep that up for longer?”

I paused knowing that now was the time to get laughed at for my mediocre magic.

I took a deep breath before saying, “my magic skills suck.”

She looked a little stunned at my reply before saying, “Oh come on I’m sure you know lots of spells. After all you are a unicorn.”

Great now she’s silently laughing at me. I gritted my teeth but opened my muzzle to tell her, “I only know two spells. That shield that you saw is one that I can't maintain very well. It is incredibly weak and is taxing to keep it up. I don’t even know why I cast it when I can’t keep it up for longer than twenty seconds.” I scowled and went on, “my only other spell is telekinesis which seems a little stronger than when I got out of the stable but a spell that we learn as fillies.”

I didn't tell her about my lateness with learning any magic or my mother’s abilities or go any further. I didn't want to make myself look weak in front of Midnight.

Something must have shown on my face as Midnight said, “Look Amethyst, if that’s the best you can do then that’s ok. As long as you try your best that’s all that counts.”

She put a hoof on my shoulder as I looked up to the older mare and nodded, “Yeah I know.”

“Up you get” she pushed. “We have to continue. We can’t stop here.”

*                                        **                        **                      **                                                *

We continued to trudge in the direction of New Saddle, the land was covered in sickly trees all missing leaves. The woods here looked a lot thinner than in white tail wood. Every now and then the cold wind would make the branches and twigs rub against each other which added to the overall creepy scene.

I heard something over the wind and rustling, my ears perked. I heard old fashion music with a harmonica and drums. A green light popped up on my EFS.

“Watcher?” I called out loudly. I saw the spritebot come out from behind a tree.

“Amethyst what?” asked Midnight.

I ignored her running up to the spritebot and wrapped it in a sheath of magic and dragged it towards me in front of my face. It still played music.

“Watcher?” I called out again shaking the spritebot magically.

It popped and a tinny voice came out, “Amethyst? Is that you?”

I nodded and pointed at Midnight. “Watcher this is Midnight, Midnight this is Watcher,” I then pointed a hoof at the spritebot to indicate Watcher.

“So?” Watcher said. “I see you found yourself a friend.”

I nodded, but Watcher continued, “Where are you off to now?”

“New Saddle” I informed, “Somepony in Cantal thinks there might be a water talisman in the M.A.S hub out there.”

Watcher didn't seem to acknowledge this information and instead asked, “You didn't just use that tunnel over there did you?”

“Yeah we did,” I said feeling a growing dread thinking of the place. “Never again” I told him taking a glance at Midnight.

“You do realise that you could have just used the valley nearby right? The one that is safe,” he said matter-of-factly behind the robotic tone.

I looked back at Midnight and judging from the look on her face she didn't know about this either.

Watcher went on as if in a hurry, “You don’t happen to know your virtue, do you Amethyst?”

“A whaty what what now? I asked flabbergasted by the use of a small word that I had not heard of before.

“A Virtue” he said again.

“And what’s that?” I asked trying hard not to facehoof.

His robotic voice broke out, “Well. Let’s use Fluttershy as an example as you clearly already know about her. Fluttershy’s virtue is kindness. There are other virtues as well; laughter and honesty are a few other examples.”

“Oh right. I already have one.” I said confidently before scowling. “My virtue is failure. After all that is all I’ve been good at all my life.”

“That’s not true” Midnight said to me.

“You as well” Watchers voice rang out, “Find yourself a virtue as well Midnight. Anyway I got to go see you two.”

“Watcher wait,” I shouted at the spritebot.

With the sound of static music flared back into the spritebot. I grabbed it telekinetically and shook it again, but Watcher did not return. The music faded out and somepony began to speak.

“Hello Equestria. This is Red Eye. Together with unity, we will rebuild Equestria...” The voice that was speaking had a boring learnt-by-heart speech. My attention waned.

Midnight said, “Do you really want to listen to Red Eye?”

“Not really,” I replied.

Midnight facehoofed as she pushed me away from the spritebot breaking my levitation field on it as it zoomed away.

“He did that last time as well.” I said feeling a little pissed that Watcher just cut me off like that.

Something else came to mind though so I asked, “Who’s Red Eye?”

“Some slaver stallion that has a base in Fillydelphia. Thinks he rules Equestria or something like that,” Midnight replied. “His radio channel sucks, all he does is drone on about how he can make Equestria better and in between his speeches horrible tuba music is all there is to listen to. Nopony listens to it.”

“He uses slaves?” I asked horrified.

Midnight nodded.

“That’s. That’s vile.” I said. Yet it made me wonder. How would you rebuild Equestria to its former glory using slave labour? How could you rule as well as Luna and Celestia when everypony at your rule hates you?

Midnight went on, “ponies are sold to slave camps like his. It has turned into a major trade and earns quite a few caps.”

I felt my skin crawl at the thought and I didn't reply.

*                                        **                        **                      **                                                *

As we made it into the former outer suburbs, old houses that resembled nothing but wooden skeletons on streets, some with bent and rusted mailboxes began to appear. On the skyline I could see tall dark buildings resembling nothing but dark skeletal structures in the fading light.

“We should find some shelter soon,” Midnight mentioned. She echoed my thoughts as I began to shiver a little in the dropping temperature. “We don't want to be out in the open during the night.”

I nodded and said, “been there, done that, never again,” thinking of my freezing night by the river.

Crack

BLAM BLAM

My EFS flared three Red Hostiles as bullets struck the gravelly ground near our hooves.

Midnight took to the air as I looked at who was firing.

The hostiles were in a small house that was still intact somewhat, patched together with wooden batons and steel sheeting. I could see a unicorn aiming a gun through a shattered upstairs window.

BLAM BLAM

I felt a bullet hit my left shoulder with an iron fist punch. It didn't penetrate the barding but I could feel a  bruise coming on.

I pulled out my rifle and I galloped a little closer weaving in an S formation to make myself harder to shoot. I slipped into SATS and almost took the shot when a memory came to my mind freezing me to the spot. A memory of the raider compound and the feeling of killing another pony, I gritted my teeth and killed SATS.

BZATTTZZZ

I was hit by something. Something that made my nerves light up on fire causing me to hit the ground in agony.

BLAM

I felt a bullet pass through my hind leg as I heard

Rtatataattatatata followed by a scream.

The agony stopped but I could feel the searing pain in my hind leg as I got up. A unicorn stallion ran out of the front door pointing a gun at me. I slid into SATS as I heard another round of

Rtatatata

He then collapsed in a bloody heap.

“AMETHYST!”

Midnight landed next me and she looked thunderous. My ears perked back as she lifted a forehoof.

WHACK

She backhoofed me across the face then grabbed me aggressively. “Do not fucking do that again” She screamed at me, “Do that and you fucking die!”

I was shaking from the pain in my leg and how angry Midnight was at me.

“Now look at your leg,” She said less aggressively. “That could have been avoided.” She looked at me sadly and said in a sympathetic voice “Amethyst. If they shoot at you, you shoot back. That’s the rules out here. Don’t follow the rules and you die.”

I nodded feeling upset with myself. “I don’t want to kill,” I finally managed to say quietly.

Midnight shook her head. “And you think I do? If you want to survive out here then you’re going to have to get used to it.” Midnight took a breath then finally said, “Now take off that barding so we can fix your leg up.”

Midnight helped me out of my comfortably warm barding exposing the lower half of my body to the freezing air as it penetrated my wound causing it to go numb.

I poured some of the alcohol onto my wound, I gasped at the pain and almost dropped the bottle. The alcohol felt like liquid ice.

Midnight grabbed it and put the lid back on and pushed a healing potion at me which I drank. The wound healed quite well leaving my skin raw and slightly scabbed where the bullet hole was, leaving my white coat stained maroon around the wound. I then put my lower barding back on, once again feeling warm.

“Time to loot this place I think,” Midnight said looking at the small yet damaged two story house.

Midnight pushed the front door open and I followed her through the door feeling deflated after being scolded. I could still feel where she struck my face. My thoughts were extinguished when we walked into an abattoir.

The house smelt of death and pony corpses were strung up, defiled and skinned. Blood stained the floor and I almost vomited when I looked at a pile of meaty rotting bones piled in the corner.

“Midnight?” I asked softly trying not to breathe. She looked at me indicating I was allowed to talk to her despite what happened outside “Can we be quick in here please?”

She nodded and pointed a hoof at a safe under the stairs next to a terminal.

I went up to it and plugged my pipbuck in at top speed wanting to get out of this horrifying place. I hacked the terminal easily and I downloaded all the information it had. I then unlocked the safe being done in less than 30 seconds.

“Wow Amethyst. You have an eye for these terminals” Midnight stated.

I nodded and levitated the entire contents of the safe into my saddlebags. Midnight went off upstairs to loot up there. I looted the downstairs area and found a few locked ammo boxes and a locked first aid box, the yellow butterflies stained with dry blood. I floated these into my saddlebags as well without pausing to unlock them. On the bench I found a small gun and some bullets and put these away too.

Midnight came downstairs, her saddlebags bulging and we both left the building gasping for fresh air when we exited the building.

“Let’s find someplace to settle down for the night, “I said as we finished our little break for fresh air.

“Agreed,” Midnight replied, “before more raiders show up at this place.”

*                                        **                        **                      **                                                *

“This isn’t much shelter but it'll do,” Midnight said happily, steam pouring out of her mouth in the cold. She was pointing a hoof at a small rusted metal garden shed with an intact but grimy window, the rusted door hung from the top hinge. The shed was located in what had once been the back yard of a house that was nothing but a concrete slab with twisted metal re-bars poking out of the concrete.

It wasn’t much but it was the best we could find so we sidled inside and closed the door. I turned my pipbuck light on and we took off our saddlebags. I laid on my stomach and crossed my hooves before letting out a sigh and wiped my forehoof across my forehead.

Midnight was lying on her stomach as well, her wings dropping a little. I could see on her face that she was exhausted.

Stomach aching with hunger I pulled out an old tin of carrot, corn and pea soup along with a spoon from my saddlebags now laying in the corner of the shed. I pulled the top of the tin from the O Ring magically to reveal the contents. I had gotten used to eating this old food and it wasn’t too bad.

I levitated the spoon and began to spoon the contents into my mouth hungrily in a way that would probably have caused my mother to pass out.

“Wantchshum?” I asked through a mouthful of food.

Midnight smiled at me amused before saying, “Sure.”

She pulled out a bowl from her saddlebags and I tipped some of mine into it and she started to eat as well.

When we were finished, Midnight gave a little hiccup before telling me in a tired but amused voice, “Every time I’ve seen you eat. You eat like a lady. It’s funny seeing you eat like that” she gave a little giggle.

I smiled at her before saying, “I was hungry. But I think you’re cute when you eat despite the mess you make around your muzzle.” I clopped my hoof to my mouth. I said it without thinking and felt myself go red. I attempted to correct what I said but when I opened my muzzle nothing came out but a little squee. This made it worse.

Midnight laughed so hard tears leaked from her eyes. Gasping for air she said, “Amethyst you, you are an adorable thing, you know that. I could cook an egg on your face it’s that red.”

I felt so embarrassed and I didn't dare open my muzzle again until I no longer felt that burning sensation around my neck and face.

“Let’s put some music on,” I said to Midnight thinking I needed some music just to distract me. I turned my radio on to the soft mellow tunes of Sweetie Belle humming along to the mellow beat.

The song ended and DJ Pon-3’s voice sounded through the radio.

Goooood Evening Equestria.

This is DJ Pon-3 bringing you the soft tunes of Sweetie Belle all the way from Manehattan.

Let’s start with the news shall we…

Seems some Steel Rangers are pilfering through stable forty one and some ponies got caught in the crossfire. I’d recommend everypony to stay away from stable Forty one. If you don't know where this is it is south of Manehattan. Do not approach the steel rangers, especially if you have any technology that they might want.

We also have some sad news from north eastern Equestria that saddleshore was hit by a freak storm that caused much of the town to fall from the cliffs and into the ocean. There are some casualties and the remaining town is currently inaccessible due to eight feet of snow falling in a single night.

We have some happier news.

That bright white mare from stable eight six is on the move again everypony. She seems to be heading into New Saddle and she single hoofedly took out another raider house a few hours trot from the old train tunnel near Cantal.

Anypony who sees her say hi from me.

I facehoofed when DJ Pon-3 said this. All I managed was to get shot. I opened my muzzle to protest but Midnight put a hoof to her muzzle indicating for me to hold my tongue

-to tomorrows weather.

To the north of Equestria from Trottingham to Stalliongrad we have reports of falling snow and a possibility of Blizzards. Cantal is expecting about an inch of snow overnight, New Saddle expecting thick fog and possibility of snow or sleet, New Appaloosa will be cold and cloudy…

I stopped listening to the weather after this. I didn’t really care if it was snowing in Stalliongrad or if it was raining in Manehattan.

How did DJ Pon-3 got this information about me? We have seen no ponies except for the raiders. And they were dead. The only other explanation I could think of was that I had an extremely cunning and sneaky stalker.

I couldn’t hold what I wanted to say to Midnight so my muzzle burst open as I said, “Where is this DJ Pon-3 getting this stuff from. I didn’t ‘single hoofedly’ take out those raiders. All I did was get shot while you saved my hide.”

Midnight nodded then said, “Yeah but you’re the hero. Not me.”

I shook my head. Midnight couldn't be any more wrong. I tried to protest but Midnight interrupted me.

“You are the mare from the stable, innocent and kind. You took out that raider compound with no combat experience and saved the ponies inside and now ponies think you are something to look up to. Something that everypony should be doing. I think DJ is pushing you into the limelight as a beacon of hope. This wasteland is tough Amethyst and really I am not expecting any praise from anypony for saving you. The only thing I do expect is that somepony learnt from it.” She gave me a glare with her stark red eyes.

I cringed and said even though I disagreed with most of what she said, “Yeah I guess so.”

“Well we better get some rest so we can get up nice and early tomorrow to make better time,” Midnight advised.

I knew she was exhausted so I nodded and turned the radio off halfway through another Sweetie Belle song. I was going to sort my saddlebags tonight to get rid of the junk and keep the useful stuff I gathered from the raider house. I would just do that tomorrow morning before we leave.

I found myself the softest patch of dirt in the shed I could and curled up before turning my pickbuck light off which plunged us into complete darkness. I did one last scan of my EFS and only found Midnights green blip near me. I looked at Midnights green blip for a few seconds before turning off my EFS thinking; My companion, my saviour, the mare I like a lot, the mare that I could love, the mare that could never be mine. I sighed and turned off my EFS and fell into the darkness of sleep.

*                                        **                        **                      **                                                *

I felt somepony’s hooves on my side shaking me, “Amethyst?” whispered a voice, “Amethyst wake up.”

I jerked awake. “Midnight?” I groaned and looked through the darkness. Her scarlet eyes looking down at me, I saw a smile break on her muzzle.

“You were really asleep,” she said laughing a little before continuing, “It’s time to get going.”

I pushed myself to my hooves and turned my pipbuck light on, feeling the burning of the eyes as they adjusted to the sudden light. I sidled over to my saddlebags and mumbled to Midnight, “Just need to sort my saddlebags from the items we got yesterday.”

I heard Midnight snicker before saying, “I think you need to sort your mane as well.”

I levitated my mirror from my saddlebags that I kept in my toiletries bag. My mane was a bird’s nest. I facehoofed then levitated out my brush and started to attack my mane pulling out all the knots.

When I was done I started shifting through my saddlebags sorting junk from useful items.

Most of the things I pulled from the safe were old decrepit paper documents that I threw away. I found another memory orb that my Pipbuck read as being “Summer Sun Festival party at Bon Bon and Lyra’s.”

I found ammo for my shotgun and rifle as well as some for Midnights assault rifles. The rest did not fit any of our guns. I found some of those metal apple things that Midnight and my pipbuck called, “Grenades,” and a Stealth Buck that read differently than the prototype I had before “Renders the user invisible for five minutes.” I also found some caps, pre-war coins and a spark battery.

I checked my pipbuck for the information I downloaded from the terminal and found some documents from the raiders. I would read these later as Midnight clearly wanted to get away so quickly.

Midnight pushed a memory orb to me saying, “I think you should have this. It’s quite useless to me.” I picked it up and put it in my saddlebags reading what the memory was from my Pipbuck, “Amethyst Star, trip to Canterlot for interview with Twilight Sparkle.” I looked at the name. She had my name. Amethyst.

Levitating and strapping my saddlebags in place I finally said to Midnight, “ok let’s go.”

We stepped out of the shed into cold, humid and grey nothingness. I could only see about eight feet in front of me and nothing else.

“What’s going on?” I asked Midnight. “What is this, why can’t we see. I looked through the heavy grey and could see hundreds of thousands of tiny particles floating through the air.

Midnight looked like she tried hard not to facehoof. “This is Fog. You haven’t seen fog before?”

I shook my head.

Midnight sighed as I led the way guided by the arrow on my compass, “Fog for a better word is basically clouds on the ground.”

“Right, so this is water?” I asked as I waved a hoof in front of me seeing the tiny droplets of water move fast as they were blown from the wave of my hoof.

Midnight nodded before saying, “you should keep your EFS up so we can see enemies before they see us.”

“Right” I said. I activated my EFS with the only light being Midnight. I privately thought it didn't really matter if it was on or off and it only gave us a slight advantage as we couldn’t really shoot much with this fog clouding our vision like this.

I felt something catch my forehoof and I fell into the dusty ground smacking my chin on the asphalt hard causing stars to appear in my vision, “owie,” I squealed tasting the coppery blood in my mouth.

“Gee Amethyst, your so clumsy,” Midnight muttered offering a helping hoof.

“Thanks,” I muttered wiping my grazed chin with a hoof and looked at what I tripped on, which turned out to be a pot hole.

I floated out my canteen and drank some water to wash the blood away. Midnight and I continued as I thought scathingly, stupid fog, stupid road, stupid me, stupid wasteland.

*                                        **                        **                      **                                                *

After a few hours the air seemed to get darker yet the fog seemed a little thinner. I was just about to ask Midnight if she was up to taking a fifteen minute break when a red blip popped up on my EFS.

“Midnight hostile ahead,” I whispered as I floated out my rifle and pointed it into the grey mist directly at the direction as Midnight took to the air.

I fired once and the red blip went out.

I blinked, was it gone? Did I hit it? I couldn’t have hit it. I was a bad shot even with my EFS let alone hitting it manually or blind.

“Amethyst?” called Midnight from the mist, “How the hell did you hit that? Was that a lucky shot or?”

I trotted over to where Midnight was. I found a tusked beast looking thing lying on the ground with a bullet hole in its forehead.

“Lucky shot,” was all I could say.

I did a double take as I saw Midnight take out a knife and started to skin the thing I killed.

“What in Luna’s name are you doing?” I asked shocked as she began to cut meat away from it.

“Collecting the meat for food,” she replied.

“You’re going to eat that,” I asked shocked. “Ponies don’t eat meat.”

The look she gave me showed that she was a little sympathetic at my ignorance and a part of the look she gave me also told me I was wrong.

“Rad Hog is good, it's quite delicious” she replied. “You will eat it because food is scarce. We take what we can and if it’s edible and safe then we eat it.”

I shook my head telling her, “I’m not eating that”

She looked at me and scowled. “Fine, you can starve tonight while I eat double helpings.”

I gritted my teeth adamant that I was not going to eat it.

Midnight finished cutting up the meat and put it into a plastic pack before tying it and putting it in her saddlebags. She then looked over to me and sighed.

“I’m sorry Amethyst but you're not going to eat all our good food because you’re too squeamish to try something new. I have eaten this before and I can assure you. It is not poisonous and will not make you sick.”

I trusted her but still it was meat so that’s what I told her, “Its Meat. I’m not eating it.”

“Amethyst you’re as stubborn as a mule,” she said starting to look a little irritated.

“No I’m not,” I said stubbornly. “I’m not eating it.”

Midnight just shook her head and we continued without rest.

*                                        **                        **                      **                                                *

After a few hours we decided to take a rest at an old fuel station. It had started to snow outside and thought it would be worth taking a breather.

The fuel station was a mess. The walls were cracked and were covered in graffiti, the ceiling inside sagged, the tiles were broken up, and the tills were smashed. The place had been thoroughly trashed.

It was not the best place to take a rest, but it was better than a tin garden shed with four squared meters of room.

*                                        **                        **                      **                                                *

Midnight lit a fire in the grate in the office at the back and used broken chairs and paperwork to fuel it.

I opened the door telekinetically and stepped out of the door as Midnight looked back, she said “Where are you going?”

I poked my head back in the office telling her a little defensively, “looking for stuff of value.”

“Ok be careful,” she replied as I stepped back out into the very messy and damaged hallway.

I went through to the counter. I saw that the tills were smashed to oblivion and looted. Under the counter was a safe that had dents and scorch marks on it. It looked like somepony had attempted to blow it open.

The curiousness of this enticed my curiosity. I took a quick look around to make sure I couldn’t get into it via terminal, however the terminal was smashed.

I sighed and pulled out my lock picking tools. I began to pick at the lock with the bobby pin with little luck. I tried to carefully move the pins but they kept getting jammed or my bobby pin would slip against the tumblers causing them to snap back down.

Finally the bobby pin broke. I levitated the broken pin out and slid a second in and tried once again until it broke. I tried with my third and tried to not break it but that too snapped. My curiousness pushed me to keep trying so I pushed a fourth one and gritted my teeth feeling extremely frustrated.

I tried a different tact. I pushed down hard on the screw driver putting a very large amount of pressure on the chamber of the lock and pushed the bobby pin inside and raked the bobby pin extremely hard against the tumblers. I felt and heard a soft rush of clicking but the lock did not move. I withdrew the bobby pin and looked inside to see one tumbler at the back. I couldn't move it with the bobby pin and I didn't want to take pressure off the chamber. Instead I doubled the pressure of the screwdriver, putting strain on my magic almost to the point that I did in the tunnel when levitating myself.

I prayed to Celestia for the lock to give as I began to breath deeper to maintain pressure until finally

BANG

The lock gave way as the tiny tumbler inside broke causing the lock to give way and the door to swing open.

I looked inside curiousness welling inside me. I was hoping my efforts would pay off but when I looked inside it was completely empty. I felt extreme anger whip up inside me like a storm.

“Fuck you” I bellowed at the safe and I slammed the door of the safe telekinetically which let off a massive BANG that echoed throughout the fuel station.

I bucked the safe letting off some of the steam but missed and my hind legs sank through the decayed wooded counter instead causing me to almost fall face forward onto the broken tiles.

My hind legs became wedged in the decrepit counter and I attempted to pull them free. Unfortunately they were jammed. Feeling incredibly pissed I wrapped a levitation field around the counter to lighten it and pulled forwards and felt my hind legs come free. The counter teetered, causing the extremely heavy safe to land on top of me which knocked the wind out of me. I then felt the counter smash over the top of myself and the safe.

I heard Midnight shout, “Amethyst? What the fuck are you doing out here?”

“I’m ok,” I shouted at Midnight from under the safe still squashing me into the ground.

I levitated the safe off me. I then levitated the counter and pushed that off me as well and stood on my hooves. Midnight was already in the room.

Midnight flew over to me looking stern, “Can’t you even loot things without hurting yourself?” she asked.

I scowled at her then said, “I’m ok. The safe just didn’t have anything in it.”

Midnight looked at the wreckage that I just made. She pointed at it saying “It looked like you tried to murder the safe and what it was sitting on.”

I then gritted my teeth and said, “I’m going to look in the bathrooms” thinking of medical supplies.

Midnight tagged along with me.

*                                        **                        **                      **                                                *

We went back into the office after looting and found a single healing potion in a locked medical box I picked open.

The fire had made the room nice and warm.

I took off all my barding and clothing allowing the warmth of the flames to lick at my coat which had bruises beginning to well up. My right flank was still crusted with blood from the previous day.

Midnight uncorked the healing potion making me look up at her. She pushed the bottle forcefully into my muzzle which I drank causing my bruises to heal.

“Don’t make me waste another one Amethyst,” she said stiffly. Her expression softened before saying, “I’m sorry. I just don’t want to see you hurt.”

Without further ado Midnight left the room to “gather some things,” leaving me feeling guilty for wasting the only healing potion we managed to find. We still had a few left but I didn't like wasting them.

So to distract me I laid in front of the fire on an old torn hearth rug absorbing its warmth and throwing in a chair leg telekinetically every now and then.

Midnight came back through the door with a rope tied around her pulling a verity of objects strapped around an old sheet that was being dragged behind her. The objects were what looked like junk. A few bricks, a sheet of metal, a cooking pot, it looked like she went through a lot of effort just to get them here.

“You know,” I said looking at her. “I could have just levitated all that stuff and brought them in here in 10 seconds flat. If you need help just ask.”

Midnight whinnied, “You need some rest so I thought I would...”

But I cut her off, “I need rest? You’re the one doing all the work,” I pointed out getting to my hooves.

She just shook her head then said, “okay you want to help, set these up like a hotplate,” she pointed to the bricks and sheet of metal, "and put it in the fire.”

I did as she asked.

“Take this,” she said passing a hoof with an old rusted spatula.

I levitated it and said, “What?” but my question was answered as Midnight pulled out a bag filled with meat and blood.

I facehoofed.

“Oh Amethyst, Come on,” said Midnight, “its food, if you don’t want to eat it then fine. But you're cooking it.”

I gritted my teeth floating out the glutinous dripping meat and placed them onto the hotplate with a loud Tssss.

“Now just cook them until they are brown. Then we... I mean. I eat,” said Midnight.

She then sat back and watched me cook while I shot dirty looks in her direction.

When the meat was cooked my own stomach aching with hunger, I threw them in Midnights bowl and passed them to her scowling as I watched her eat the meat. She was pulling faces of pleasure at eating in front of me making groaning and umm yum, omnomnom sounds.

So I pulled out a memory orb at random and waved a hoof at her as I let myself be taken inside it.

========OooO…OooO========

The feeling of hunger and the wafting smell of food left me as well as the hot warmth was replaced by a fresh and flowery scented air, the air was warm but a different warm that I left behind. It was a pleasant fresh warm, not a dry hot warm from the fire. I was standing in the backyard of somepony's house over two hundred years ago. The grass was green, flowers grew in the garden beds and birds flew across the sky that was bright blue and a great ball of light high in the sky. Celestia’s sun was high above me. Ponies had gathered for some kind of get together. My host was once again a unicorn mare.

“Ohhh Lyra,” called a pastel yellow earth pony with a blue and pink mane.

“Yes?” my host called out.

“Could you grab the potato from inside please?” she asked.

“Sure thing,” my host said and she wandered up to the door, opened it telekinetically and dragged out the bowl of potato and put it on the table with all the other food.

I was glad my host was not overly hungry. If I saw all this back with Midnight my eyes would pop out and my stomach would demand I eat some.

My host sat down next to the yellow earth pony who then nuzzled her cheek and gave her a little kiss when she sat. I myself felt a little excited but my host didn't think much of it. They must be a couple was the first thing that came into my head.

Everypony at the table was gathering food and drinking alcohol, a purple pony with an even purpler mane looked tipsy as she chatted to a stallion next to her.

My host began to pile food onto her plate and she leaned over and whispered in the yellow pony’s ear, “Do you want some bacon Bon Bon?”

Bon Bon shook her head as she ate from her own plate.

My host levitated some charred looking meat onto her plate and judging from the amount of meat still on the platter not many ponies had chosen to eat it.

Oh no no no I thought. Please no. I entered this memory orb to get away from this, not to eat it.

My host levitated the meat with some green food and ate hungrily, the meat was a little chewy and salty but not unpleasant.

Somepony next to my host that was not Bon Bon leaned over and said in a mare’s tone, “Princess Celestia really out did herself this year at the celebrations didn’t she?”

Lyra nodded still eating before the same pony continued to speak

“And your skills on the lyre are truly amazing the way you performed at the sunrise this morning. Don’t be surprised if the Princess herself invites you to the Grand Galloping Gala this year,” She said clearly thrilled with Lyra’s ability on this instrument.

My host swallowed and I felt a hoof touch my hosts face as Bon Bon turned Lyra’s face to her before saying softly, “That’s because she’s my Lyra, the music you make makes my heart melt,” before planting a kiss on my hosts lips.

If I was in my own body I would have taken off in excitement at being kissed by another mare but all Lyra did was smile and say, “I love you too Bonnie.”

When everypony had eaten their fill I felt my host rise to her hooves.

She filled her lungs with air before saying loudly so everypony could hear her, “hello everypony, thank you for eating at out little function here at our home. I would like to play for you and have given it some thought before deciding to do so. I have come up with a new tune and I would like to treat you to it. Nopony except for Bon Bon has heard this yet, so I hope you all like it.

I felt my host tense and heat up with nervousness as she levitated a lyre that was sitting on the table. She levitated it so it was in her view but at head height. The yellowish telekinetic sheath then applied to all the strings on the lyre as she began to play.

The tune was seemingly beautiful. I felt the music tug at my heartstrings, I felt it penetrate my soul. The beauty of the music echoed through my ears. I felt my host bob her head once at a brief pause then continued. I had never heard something so beautiful. Everypony at the table had fallen completely silent listening to the resonating beauty of the music.

The music ended with a magnificent long final note and everypony clopped their hooves. I felt my host wipe her forehead with a hoof and a smile broke across her muzzle.

My vision dissolved into blackness as the memory ended.

                                                ========OooO…OooO========

It took me a second to realise I was back in my body. I felt a salty taste in my mouth as I got up. Midnight was looking at me with a huge smirk breaking across her muzzle.

“Whuat?” I asked suspiciously and a piece of meaty something fell out of my mouth. I scowled at her “What did you do?”

She laughed and said, “put a piece of meat in your mouth,” she said snickering. “I mean I can do anything I want to you while you’re in those memory orbs, you don’t notice anything.”

I scowled and as I did so my stomach gave a huge rumble. I gritted my teeth and I snatched the bowl of meat away from Midnight and telekinetically ate the meat. It tasted a little salty and bitter and was a little chewy but I didn’t care, I was hungry and I practically ate meat in the memory anyway.

“Well look who’s decided to eat the meat. You see, I told you that you would eat it if you were hungry enough,” said Midnight looking very amused indeed.

I squinted at her giving her a death stare, “I'm only eating it because you were the one wafting it around and eating in front of me while I’m starving.” I then pointed a hoof at her, “And also because you thought it would be funny to fill my mouth with it while I was out.”

When I was done I laid on my back clutching my belly. The meat was like a dead weight and I didn’t know if I liked it very much. But at least I wasn’t hungry anymore.

“What was in the memory orb?” asked Midnight curiously.

Still lying in my back I responded, “Some mare that played the lyre during a function they call, ‘the summer sun festival.’ She reminded me a little of you for some reason,” referring to the eating of meat.

“Amethyst, are you ok?” asked Midnight as I rubbed my aching belly.

“Belly ache” I said to her, “No doubt from that meat you made me eat.”

“It’ll pass” said Midnight confidently.

*                                        **                        **                      **                                                *

Seeing as we would be staying the night I decided to use the spare time to read through the material I took from the terminal at the raider house.

Entry 42:

“Them slavers passing through make good caps when we charge the earth for passage to New Saddle. Just yesterday we made two thousand caps from threatinin them and the slaves they had.

Had a few fight back a week back and they had fifteen thousand fucking caps on them as well as the ten slaves they had. All the slaves we got as an added bonus once we killed em.

“More caps fer us. Got them slaves and made ‘em fight in the little ring we made out back. Put a colt an filly together and tha’ filly killed tha’ little colt. Couldn’t believe it but so we put ‘er up with Bard who taught ‘er a lesson tha’ colts are king, so he killed her. Good job too. Not that it mattered we just killed most of ‘em and sold the biggest stallions away to passing slavers.

I stared at this shocked. This monster talking of killing innocent ponies and boasting about it and putting foals into a ring and make them fight. My stomach rebelled as I imagined a filly and colt with guns or knives fighting with each other all bloodied and injured.

I moved onto the next entry

Entry 44:

“Fucken dickheads up at New Saddle directin’ travellers through a new fucking route half a day’s trot to the north, we are goin’ broke cause of them assholes. Haven’t made any caps fer over a fortnight. Had Berk go send up five of us an leave three of us behind. Says they be back with twenty k caps when they get back in a few days. Better fucking hurry up or we might have to move.

I moved onto the next one

Entry 45:

“It’s been ten fuckin’ days and Berk and his mob still haven’t returned. It’s almost fucking winter and he is still out there. Maybe they got killed. We will need to wait out winter than move on to another post. We livin’ off scraps already but we should be fine. We migh’ get couple of stragglers come past and if so then we loot the food they have fer more and cut them up fer food.

Argh yuuuk they eat ponies. Argh these raiders are sick. Celestia damn them I thought.

But then I remembered. We killed them anyway so they cannot kill any more ponies.

I looked over to Midnight who looked content while sorting her things in her saddlebags. Maybe she’s right. Maybe these ponies did deserve to die.

I looked at the other data which were all images.

I opened the first one which showed a defiled pony corpse, in my haste to get rid of it I moved to the next one which was even worse. It was a blank flank filly bound and beaten. She was bleeding heavily and was crying, a mustard coloured buck was standing over her with an evil grin.

I felt a tear leek down my cheek as a cold wave a fury erupted through my body that lit my nerves on fire. I gave a sniff and looked away.

“Amethyst are you ok?” asked Midnight.

“Yes I am,” I replied more aggressively than I was supposed to.

“No you’re crying,” she said, “What’s wrong?”

I bit my lower lip and showed her my pipbuck thinking privately that she would not want to know.

Midnight recoiled at the image. “Amethyst delete that shit. That’s fucked up, where did you get that?” Midnight asked shocked.

“I got it from that place we went to yesterday, that raider place, from that terminal” I replied. I exited the folder that contained the images and found that it had about seventy eight inside. I hit delete.

My anger starting to ebb away leaving me feeing hollow.

I finally told Midnight, “There. Gone.”

Footnote: Level Up

New Perk: Precision -- You now have improved aim outside of SATS!