I had thought I knew what a village was. Seeing the zebra town nestled against the sea yesterday, with its three small structures, gave me the impression that settlements in the wasteland were small and easily hidden.

We could see Rustic an hour before we arrived.

It was settled on top of a large flat hill, with rocky structures having shapes too defined to be natural. Compared to the zebra village, Rustic was a city! Easily having somewhere over ten structures, I started to wonder, if Rustic is just a town outside of Sandstone, how big was Sandstone?

When we got closer I saw a path that spiraled up and around the hill into Rustic. A stone wall wrapped around the towns edge with only one entrance.

Tabben had spent the hours trying to coax Mek to tell a story or two about the time she was sailing with the pirates. Instead, Mek spent most of her time messing with her armor and appreciating the terrain. I felt that it would be a good idea to follow her example, and steeled myself for when he inevitably decided to talk to me.

"So," Tabben said next to me, catching me off guard, "you're a wanted mare. Bounty hunters are after you for an easy 2000, and even after learning the name of the mare who placed the bounty, you don't feel like asking about them?"

Oh horseapples, I did want to ask, but to ask him? Mek seems to know a little, but considering Tabbens got it in for this Wildcard, he probably knows more. I guess I'll have to ask, I think I can manage a little inquiry with the buck. At least I hope I can manage.

“Yes, I'm curious, you said mare?” Guess that excludes the buck on the terminal back in Destiny Labs, “Why would she want me? And why do you want to keep her from me?” I asked.

“Well, yes, she's a mare.” he paused for a moment before taking a deep breath,  “Wildcard, the name for a pony who doesn't work for herself, despite what she thinks. She's used by others to great affect, often turning the tide on conflict in her bosses favor. She changes hooves often, and will be played till she is discarded.” He nodded to himself, his brow furrowed as he was considering something, then continued, “I don't like her for personal reasons, suffice it to say that ruining any endeavor she's involved in is worth my interest. If it'll sate your curiosity, she's the only other pony that knows my true name, and I hate my true name, that's reason enough for you to know.”

No, it isn't, but pressing this matter wasn't going to be worth the effort, so I decide to change my line of questioning.

“And what would she want with-” I asked before being interrupted.

“Don't know, ask her employer. She doesn't personally care about you. She set up the bounty for whoever is calling the shots for her. And trying to find out who's got Wildcard in play wouldn't be easy, she changes hooves so often I don't bother keeping track even if I do find something.” He explained. “Maybe you should be asking yourself, 'why would anypony want to capture me?'” he suggested.

“Maybe when you sprung that trap back at the research facility, some pony didn't like it and got Wildcard to put the bounty out.” Mek offered.

The timing did line up, he said the bounty went out the same night I sprung the trap. Maybe it was that dark blue buck with silver hair that was 'playing' Wildcard. If he set up the trap, he must have seen the records as well. Was I being hunted because of those recordings?

'If you see a pony with a gold cutie-mark and sapphire eyes, please kill them.'

I saw it now, going into Sandstone would be beyond dangerous, I'd need to cover my features, or sneak in somehow. Could I manage that with just Mek?

I haven't accepted Tabben's help. If I can manage to separate him from us, I can rid myself of this fiery killer, then I won't need to worry about him killing any more ponies for me. But for now I'll just bide my time, we can split after Rustic.

Climbing the ramp to Rustic, my mind wandered from that problem, to the prospect of seeing a town of ponies. I was honesty having a tough time trying to picture it. I certainly hoped that Tabben's assurances of the towns safety was justified. The image of twenty or more ponies jumping at me for the 2000 caps couldn't leave my head.

We reached the front gate, A large double metal door, made of scrap, denied us entry. The door was rusty of course, everything in the wasteland is rusty. To either side of the gate on the wall was a pony in heavy armor, guns trained on us. They were yellow on my EFS.

“Tabben's back, with his 'catch', open the gate,” one of the ponies said. As the doors swung open I could feel Tabben's grin as he walked in. My EFS Assured me of my safety and I cleared my head of the picture of a big pony pile falling on me. I followed Tabben and Mek inside. The gate closed behind us, becoming latched with a metal bar.

The buildings I saw from a distance, and on our climb up, had been the tall ones. The tallest buildings were three stories high. Two story buildings were the most numerous. The buildings had open windows with no apparent means to close. Windows on the first floor were small and barred, but the windows on higher floors were wide enough for a small pony to fit through.

On the street I could see a number of ponies. Some moving from building to building, others working with some two headed beast tied to a wagon. To my surprise, the beast was talking to the ponies, both heads! Since nopony was freaking out, I assumed that was the norm. The wasteland was a strange place.

I also noticed, from what I could see, that there were twice as many mares as bucks. None of the ponies gave us their attention, finding whatever task they we on being more important.

“Welcome to Rustic, Mek, Bounty.” Tabben said.

“Its Rain, don't call me bounty.” I ordered.

“Apologize and I will, till then, enjoy your new nickname!” Was he really a pony? Maybe he was an ass who simply resembled a pony. An ass with a magical horn that set ponies on fire. Curses.

We trotted on, Tabben had a destination in mind, of course he did. Following him, I heard laughter behind me and before I could check the source something bumped into me, almost knocking me over. Looking behind I saw a small unicorn with a cyan coat sitting down, rubbing her face in pain. A filly?

This was my first time seeing a filly, and I quickly learned something about myself I had never been aware of before. Children are adorable. Feeling a slight breeze past me, I got on my hooves and helped the filly back up. She must have been at least six years younger then myself, she had a cutie-mark of a bag of caps fallen over, its contents spilt.

“Sorry for running into you miss, I didn't look where I was-” she started before looking past me, her eyes wide before being downcast.

Following her gaze, I saw Tabben had a filly pegasus with a copper coat grabbed by his magic, he took a bag from her and put her on the ground, she looked at him a little embarrassed. Giving her a 'tut-tut-tut', he then levitated the bag to me. What in Luna's name, stealing from a filly, there are some ponies you don't steal from! I kept myself from pulling Trust out and rounded on Tabben.

“I don't want it you, you, bastard! Give that back to her!” I ordered him. He looked at me for a moment, his expression was neutral, as it was when he took the bag from the pegasus. He then smiled.

“As you wish miss Bounty, here you go Golden, you can keep your hard earned caps, the mare insists on it. Make sure you share it with Penny.” The pegasus looked from Tabben to me to the cyan unicorn and back to me before speaking up.

“Thanks for that miss, we appreciate it!” she enthusiastically said, and she quickly flew over to the other filly and they both left, “We'll talk later Tabby!”

“Stealing. From. A. Filly!?” I approached Tabben, each word punctuated by a stomp of my hooves.

“I'll admit, that is pretty low,” he replied, “good thing I have a smart wasteland pony like you at my side, just up and willing to part with their caps like that.” Why was he still smiling?

Wait. There was a double meaning in his words. He didn't see me as a smart wasteland pony, so just up and willing to part with their caps...

'Their' caps, my caps.

I checked my pipbuck, to see that all my caps were gone. I hadn't had much, only a small handful from the raiders, less then one hundred caps, but they were still gone. Those fillies stole from me?

“They stole from me?” I asked, not quite sure if that had actually happened or if Tabben was playing some trick on me.

“As I recall, I was about to give you your measly number of caps back from a friend of mine, when you decided to let my friend keep said caps. So no, they did not steal from you. So you don't have to fret on the idea that a pair of fillies just played you, or that yours truly just tried to help you. Because you know, they didn't steal from you.” He said, with that damn grin of his.

Oh great, Mek was grinning with him!

“Ayep, that's how it went down, saw the whole thing, was mighty nice of you Rain,” she said.

I had a choice, be mad at the fillies, or at my 'companions'. Before I could figure out some way to make their caps vanish in a puff of smoke, I noticed a pair of red bars on my EFS, changing my mood from controlled anger to quiet alarm.

“Someponies want to hurt us,” I said quietly, eyeing the pair, I continued, “those two near the three story building with the large barrels in front.”

Mek glanced over, Tabben didn't, he kept walking ahead, waving for us to follow.

A short building caught my eye, Aid Center was written on a rusty cross, in the window was a small piece of paper that said 'Don't worry, we've got the antidote!' The antidote for what? The wasteland? Wouldn't that be something. We trotted past it to a building on the other side of the road.

Tabben had led us to a loud building with three stories. This building was bigger then most of the others, and it had a makeshift sign hanging from a rail over the door, naming this place the 'Broken Chains Bar'.

Walking inside, the mare to buck ratio didn't change. Many ponies sat around tables, some playing with small pieces of paper, cards, others were eating and drinking.

Almost all of them looked up from what they were doing and caught sight of us. I noticed conflicting expressions from all the mares when they eyed Tabben. They varied from angry to happy to annoyed to longing. Several of the mares glared at me and Mek!

The ponies that could see my stripes gave me appraising looks, but besides that, nopony did anything else than look. Tabben went to the bar on the far wall, behind the bar was a brown earth mare who was looking at Tabben like a pest.

“Barkeep, I'll have a Wildfire!” he requested.

Barkeep sagged a little, Tabben went from pest to trouble with a single sentence.

“One Wildfire,” Barkeep said after clearing her throat, “coming up! And it's Vintage, not barkeep!”

The atmosphere in the room shifted slightly, I noticed several ponies pull out their guns and put them on the table, but still continued their business. I was not liking anything about this. Tabben led us here to be captured! Vintage pored Tabben a mixed drink, and before giving it over she lit the drink, it was on fire!

Tabben fiddled with the drink as the front door opened up. The two bucks I saw on my EFS had arrived, they quickly spotted me and walked over. Both of them had revolvers holstered to their shoulders, the one on the left was taller, with a black coat, while the one on the right had a dirty gray coat; both were earth ponies.

“You'll be coming with us, miss, you're wanted, and we're gonna bring you in. Keep your hooves where we can see them and nopony will get hurt.” The taller one said.

Mek got in front of me, she was taller then both, and more intimidating in her armor.

“You ain't taking nopony anywhere, ya follow?” she said, Tabben was still fiddling with his drink.

In a blink, both bucks had their guns out, aimed at Meks head, but they hesitated, and I saw why. Everypony but me, Tabben and Mek, had a gun aimed on them. Tabben turned around, levitating his drink nearby.

“Now, look here you two," he started, "this is Rustic, maybe you're new here, so let me tell you how things go down here. If you are an outsider, and you fire a gun, and that includes your guns, you will be shot, by their guns.” Tabben said, indicating everypony in the bar. “Now I know you want the bounty on her, that's fair, bounties are jobs after all. Just don't do your job on Rustic soil, it's best for your health, follow?”

After a small pause, that I think only Mek and myself felt tense over, they holstered their guns.

“Good, now that you're aware of Rustic's law, let me tell you about my law.” He walked closer, he downed the drink with practiced ease and nudged Mek to the side. He was standing in front of the bucks, they eyed him cautiously, “Pointing a gun at my friend, could get you killed, but I'm in a good mood right now, so I'll only make you run for your lives.”

His magic flared, and a wall of fire wrapped around Tabben and the bucks, severing the three from the rest of the room, besides the front door. I backed away from the wall, feeling the heat. I didn't want to be near his damned magic. The door opened, and Tabben, staring at them, fear now clear in their eyes, gave an order.

“Run.”

And they ran, leaving the bar, the door was closed behind them and the wall of fire dissipated, the floor and nearby tables looked completely fine. On the floor lay two guns, did they drop their weapons when they fled? I could have sworn they holstered them. Tabben, looking at the door, shrugged and turned back to Vintage.

“A round for everypony. Celestia blessed be for Rustic hospitality!” He exclaimed, and the rest of the bar cheered! He turned to Mek and I, “Told you it would be safe here.”

No, that wasn't safe, Mek could have lost her head right there!

“Safe? Mek could have died, and you call that safe!?” My blood was pounding, no, I could not stay with him to Sandstone, Mek and I are going to leave tonight, without him. He gave a long, drawn out sigh, and Mek turned to me.

“Rain, he knew what he was doing, I'm certain everything was managed,” She turned to him, “right?” a touch of warning in her voice.

“That's right,” he nodded, “Spitshine had her magic ready in case they fired, revolvers need the hammer to hit the bullet to fire, and she had her magic on them.” Tabben levitated the guns to a mare sitting near us, “That's her, she gets the guns for the extra security during that 'scuff'.” The mare nodded at Tabben and went back to her meal, after pocketing the guns. “Don't worry, yee of little faith, somepony like me lives as long as I have by being as capable as I am.”

A white buck with a large brown, round and flat hat had walked in, spotted Tabben and addressed him.

“Now Tabben, whats this I hear about you ordering a Wildfire?” He asked.

Tabben gave the white buck an embellished retelling of the events. I caught during the conversation that the buck was a sheriff, he seemed to be in charge of keeping the peace in Rustic. Tabben's tale included me and going to Sandstone, and the sheriff looked pleased by that.

“In that case you can take Golden Blur and Penny Shine back with you.” The sheriff said, catching Tabben off guard and interrupting his story.

“Wait, they need to go back? Now isn't the best time, that mare has bounty hunters after her, I can't take the fillies with me while I'm with her.” Tabben glanced at us and asked, “Can we continue this in private?” The sheriff nodded and Tabben turned to Mek, “You can get a room here for the night, I have responsibilities to take care of, I'll see you in the morning.”

Mek gave him a nod. Tabben and the sheriff left the bar and I turned to Mek.

“Can we talk?” I asked, and she nodded. She got us a room from Vintage and we took our conversation there.

Our room was on the first floor, a small window let the sunset's light inside. There were two cots and a small stone slab in-between to rest things on, nestled next to the wall.

“I don't want us to travel with Tabben, lets leave during the night. We can make it around sunrise and not have to worry about the bounty hunters at night.” I suggested.

“And why do you want to do that, an extra hoof would be best. Tabben's good at taking care of heavily armed ponies, and your bounty will mean dealing with heavily armed ponies. I can understand not wanting to put up with him, but there's still safety in numbers.” She replied.

“He's also a killer!” I can't seem to get that across.

“Sweetie, every pony in the bar is probably a killer, in case you forgot, I killed a pony just yesterday,” she raised an eyebrow at me, “I don't recall you hating my guts after that happened. Tabben kills, but he does have rules, that's better then most ponies.”

It was true, Mek killed yesterday, and I'm certain she's killed before we even meet. Ponies kill ponies to steal things from ponies or to save ponies from ponies. I didn't want to admit that he was right, that somepony like Tabben was the norm, that killing at the drop of a hat was how things worked in the wasteland.

Everypony in the bar had been ready to shoot the bucks that threatened me and Mek, simply because they were about to cause trouble. The wasteland is a cruel and dangerous place; the ponies here have lived it their whole lives, and I haven't.

My island was almost the wasteland, a small bit dangerous, but it didn't have raiders or radiation or monsters, besides the occasional sealurk. Compared to everpony in this town, I've lived a sheltered life.

I don't want to kill ponies, but I suppose that doesn't give me the right to hate ponies that kill to survive. I'm starting to understand now why Tabben lashed at me earlier. Tabben had been willing to return my caps, despite his dislike of me. The people of Rustic know him, and though the ponies seem to have mixed feeling about him, I did see one common thread between them, respect.

“Mek, are you two actually friends?” I asked, they were both from Evercrest, they seem to have some history together, but I want to hear her say it.

“...Yes, we're friends,” but she quickly added, “don't tell him I said that or I'll buck you to the moon. He'll kick ya when your down, and pick ya up from the dirt afterwards. He's full of himself, but he's not a bad pony. He'll deny it if ya ask, but he goes to the slave auction when he's got the caps and buys a few ponies their freedom, then brings them here.”

“Slave auction?” Something else I knew nothing about.

“Right, there are ponies called slavers that sell other ponies to ponies. Ponies sold by slavers are slaves. They have no freedom, live miserable lives, and usually die shortly after becoming slaves. There's a market in Sandstone for the slavers to sell them.” As her explanation was given to me, I felt myself getting angry again. Damn the wasteland, there were ponies that stole another ponies entire life? Their freedom, possessions, everything!? Wait, was that what Peg Leg had in store for me? Ruby had spared me from that. And Tabben as sparing other ponies of that fate?

I, honestly, did not expect that. Horsesapples. I'm going to have to apologize to the damn buck. I wondered, if things had gone differently, had Ruby not been on that ship, would I have been freed by Tabben?

“So, are we still going to run off in the night?” Mek asked.

“No, we aren't. Um, Mek,” I hesitatingly asked, “Could you ask Tabben to be, well, less murderous around me?” She shook her head.

“Tabben doesn't like ya,” she replied, “if ya want him to do that, you'll have to ask him yer-self. If you want him to play nice, you need to play nice too.”

Well, that's going to be all sorts of humble goodness. Maybe killing in the wasteland is necessary, but as long as I'm traveling with company, I'm going to insist on my companions being less bloodthirsty. I have to tip the scales after all.

“That... sounds fair. Lets sell that equipment Tabben gave you and resupply as best we can here. Oh, I'll also need to pick up something to cover my stripes.” I said. Since I have come to admire the alteration to my side, I'm a little sour that I need to cover it up.

Leaving the Broken Chains bar, its name carrying new meaning, we looked for a shop to exchange the items we've gotten since the ship ran aground. Selling ammo for guns we don't have that we got from the raiders, the extra set of heavy armor and two rifles, and scrap metal. I considered selling the drugs I got from the ship, but decided to hold on to them. I was curious about their effects, but have yet to find an appropriate moment to look into it. I didn't want to sell the healing talisman here, that could wait for Sandstone.

We got ammo for our guns, Mek replaced the gun she was using for a combat shotgun, less reloading, and in better condition, and I got myself a new length of rope. The most important purchase however, was also one of the cheaper items, a brush! My mane and that brush were going to have a terrible battle sometime in the next few hours.

I also managed to get some light barding from the exchange, it covered my vitals with some padding, and it covered my stripes, so, conventional and obscuring! It looked new, it was dark blue and it looked like some embedded letters on the side were removed. It only covered my body, my legs were still exposed, which worked for me, I didn't want to be slowed down by armor.

Leaving the shop, I almost bumped into the pegasus that I had 'given' my caps too. We looked at each other for a moment, and a grin grew on her face.

“Any chance I could get my caps back?” I asked her, my tone neither commanding or threatening. She considered it for a moment.

“You want the caps back? Okay, I'll give it back if you catch me, sound good to you?” She asked, looking to make a game out of my caps.

I looked the filly over, copper coat with a golden mane, which was braided, as well as the end of her tail, it was something I tried once, it takes time and effort to braid ones tail or mane with just hooves. She also didn't have a cutie-mark, I think I was younger than she is now when I got my own cutie-mark. Looking at me with her golden eyes, I smiled, and glanced to Mek.

Why not make a game out of it?

“On the condition that you can't fly higher then two meters.” I answered. She giggled and was off. She was fast!

So was I.

“I'll meet you back at the room!” I yelled to Mek as I bolted after the filly.

On my island, there was nopony to play with. There's only so many times you can read your mothers medical reports before it becomes beyond boring. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't alone, but a ghost makes for a poor playmate. On my island I had to make my own fun. The trees and foliage were varied and chaotic, I made it a challenge to race a whole lap around the island. I was racing against myself, my pipbuck keeping track of time; I worked to beat the clock. I guess if there's anything that would attribute to me being light on my hooves, it would be that. And also the whole half-as-heavy as a normal pony my stature because of the megaspell taint.

Chasing that filly brought that all back to me. She would fly up to the tops of the one floor buildings, and I would surprise her by jumping up onto it. She'd go through twisted corridors, using her size to her advantage, I'd work around it with a creative stunt that would prompt a 'that was awesome' from her. She was having fun, and so was I. For the first time, I was racing against another pony, the finish line being if I lost sight of her, or one of us tired out. We moved at the same speed, she was more agile, I was more enduring. We raced with everything we had, ignoring the odd looks or complaints from anypony we moved around.

Not wanting this race to end with the filly losing to fatigue, I came up with an idea. When it came to reaching things out of ones reach, pegasai would fly to it, unicorns would use magic, what did earth ponies like me have? Ingenuity, or in this case, a rope. Wanting to always beat my time, a rope always made the course more dynamic, hook a branch and swinging around it always shaved off some time. There was plenty of time to practice, making it easy to work with, I could wield it almost as an extension of myself. And for the first time since leaving my island, I had some rope to use.

Getting the rope in my mouth, I prepared a lasso and waited for a moment to let it fly. The copper and gold filly slowed around to make a sharp turn and I lunged, While in mid jump the rope went out, I saw it almost reach her, but she slipped away.

I couldn't keep up with her and re-roll the rope, so I left it behind and continued the chase-

Where did she go?

“Using a rope is cheating!” She said from behind me.

I didn't even look, I jumped back, right towards the voice. I heard a light squeak as I hit something soft behind me. I curled around as I hit the ground and jumped to the filly that fell beside me, landing over her, I tapped my hoof on her head.

“Gotcha!” I said, victorious.

“You cheated, it doesn't count.” she pouted. I nodded in agreement.

“In that case, you can keep the caps, the chase was well worth it.” I admitted. She looked at me in surprise and smiled.

“You're fast lady, I've never seen an earth pony keep up with me!” she praised, then added, “I'm Golden Blur, fastest pegasus on Sandstone island!” her chest puffed out with bravado, “But you can call me Golden. You and Tabby friends? Looked like he was teasing you when he was going to give you back your caps.”

“No, we're not friends,” I considered for a moment, “We're acquaintances that got off on the wrong start.”

“Aquainti-whats?” she replied, then asked, “Well, that's okay too, Tabby is gonna go to Sandstone tomorrow, and we're going with, you coming to?”

Wait, this filly and her unicorn friend were the ones the sheriff was talking about? If they're coming with us tomorrow, I'd be putting them at risk. I guess Tabben will manage to keep them here, he is a capable pony after all, right?

“Yea, I'll be there tomorrow, but its going to be dangerous, you should probably stay here with Penny.” I said, I do NOT want to be responsible for a fillies death, least of all this one, or her friend.

“Its always dangerous, crossing to Sandstone is never safe, but at least with Tabby and you and the big orange one in the awesome armor, it should be something close to safe, right?” Something was missing from that list.

“What about your parents?” I asked, oh, dear that was not a happy look on her face.

“Its always dangerous, crossing to Sandstone,” was all she said in regards to that. Open mouth insert hoof. I needed to bring her back to the happy cloud we were on...

“...Race you to the bar!” and I was off before she could answer.

“What, no, hey!” was all I heard in reply. The bar was several buildings away and I moved like the wind. After my mad dash I was surprised she wasn't waiting at the bar for me, I'm pretty sure she would have won if she had flown over the buildings. I heard hooves touch the ground behind me, and my competitor said “You really are fast.”

“I thought you'd fly over the buildings, guess I won this one fair and square.” I said with a small amount of pride in my voice. I continued, “You should head to bed, its getting late, I'll talk to Tabben when I next see him about our trip tomorrow.” I wasn't going to let the fillies follow us, but I felt I should see what Tabben's take on it was, there must be more involved if the sheriff asked him too do it.

“Good night miss,” and she turned to leave.

“It's Rain, call me Rain, Golden. G'night.” I said, and she smiled at me, fluttering off into the night.

I went inside, not looking forward to the pill I was about to swallow, I owed somepony an apology, and I can see him throwing it into my face.

Or at least, I would have done that, but somepony had left their only rope back in the ally. And I wasn't leaving Rustic without a good set of rope. Heading back to the ally, I heard something behind as I was gathering the rope.

I was hit, hard. I went flying right into a stone wall, my face smashing into it, and everything went dark.

I stirred from a dreamless sleep to a be woken by pain, like I had been hit hard by something solid and wall-ish.

I could feel the heat of a fire nearby to one side and the cold touch of night on my other side. Opening my eyes, I found myself outside. Of Rustic. The buck with the gray coat back at the bar was sitting opposite of the embering campfire, his back to me, keeping an eye on the wasteland.

Trying not to make a noise, I got up on my hooves- My hooves were bound. My saddlebags were on the ground near the buck, but I still had my barding on. Horseapples, how was I going get out of this. Eyeing the rope my hooves were bound in, I began to suspect this was the same rope I went to retrieve in the ally that got me in this mess.

Remembering that the gray buck had a partner, I looked around to spot him, and noticed a sleeping pony a few paces from me and assumed that was him. Since I was stuck for the moment, I appraised myself as best I could. The throbbing in my head was still present, I suspected I had a bump, or at worst, a concussion. Through my breathing I could also feel that a couple of my ribs were bruised. I winced in pain, no, one of them was definitely fractured.

As I lay there thinking, I figured something out. A pony with a bounty on their head was a pony with their freedom stripped. Putting a price on my head meant there anywhere I went, there would be somepony hunting me for the caps. Wildcard stole my freedom by placing that bounty on me, I wish I knew why. And now I was captured, my hooves bound, my freedom truly lost.

During my line of thinking, my captor noticed that I was awake.

“I'd recommend not being to loud, don't want to attract any critters, and Bash wouldn't like to be woken up,” the gray buck warned. I doubted I'd be doing myself any favors screaming, especially with injured ribs.

Well, this is great. I went and got myself caught! I should have been paying more attention, just because Tabben scared them off didn't mean they left Rustic. Curses, now how was I going to get out of this. I couldn't count on anypony saving me, I wouldn't count on it, I needed to find a way out of this.

Hooves roped together, I could probably chew through, but I doubted my guard would fail to notice. Turning my head around slowly, I worked to get a grasp of the terrain. There were a good number or dead shrubs and broken rocks around, the camp was set to the side of a large rock, hiding the campsite from that direction, which I assumed was where Rustic was, cause I couldn't spot any trace of it from the other directions. In the night, its easy to spot a light source, I'm certain there would be something to give Rustic away.

After spending an hour, maybe two trying to come up with some idea to get free, I heard a light clicking noise out in the distance. The guard noticed too, he got on his hooves and moved over to me, looking out into the night. We both stared into the night, him with a look of fear, me with curiosity. Then a new bar showed up on EFS, it was red.

“Something's coming,” I warned, then noticed several bars show up, “a number of somethings!” Now I was afraid, the clicking was getting louder, and the buck woke his companion. I could now make out several things scurrying in the dark towards us. Before I could make out any details the taller buck, now awake and aware, dragged me away from them and put my back to the rock overlooking the camp. After double checking that the rope was secure, he went to the other bucks side and got a shotgun ready.

The clicking became intense, the red mess on my EFS was almost upon us. The firing began.

There were more than six of them, half as big as a pony, they stood low to the ground on eight legs, four to each side, with a pair of large claws that were longer and sharper then the claws on sealurks. The creatures had a tail that stood raised back above their bodies, that ended in a barb.

The two bucks moved, keeping out of range of their attacks, while firing back. In my bound state I was still able to roll, awkwardly, so I took the opportunity and tried to get out of there in the least dignified manner presentable, I rolled out. Either the bucks didn't notice, or were unable to deal with me, I was however, pursued by one of the critters. It was difficult to keep away from its claws, I tried to line one of its attacks to line up with my hooves to get at the rope, but my legs got cut deeply for my effort. Thankfully the rope fared less than my legs did.

With my hooves free, I rolled and painfully got some distance from it. I was quickly becoming lightheaded from blood loss, it had really cut deep. I hobbled past the creature, I needed to reach my supplies if I was gonna get my legs in a condition that facilitated fleeing.

As it came at me, I dodged its claws, but felt its tail catch my flank. Getting some distance on it, I returned to the camp and saw that my captors had fallen to the beasts, two of them, not including the one that stung me, were feasting on their bodies. The others were mowed down by the dead bucks final battle. I was starting to feel sick as I got my to my bags. Fumbling with a potion,  I quickly and messily pored it over the cuts in my legs. Slinging my saddlebags on my back, I started to get out of there when my stomach interrupted me with a proud display of its contents on the wasteland dirt. The purge of my stomach gave the thing chasing me a chance at another pass, I rolled under its attack and moved away.

The other monsters took notice of me and started on me, but I got out of there. With my legs relatively healed, I ran. On the other side of the rock hiding the camp I did indeed see the small lights of Rustic, wanting to put as much distance between me and those things, I sprinted. As I ran I noticed that this was an odd direction to approach Rustic. The mercenaries seemed to take me in the opposite direction of Sandstone. Why was that?

I was having trouble thinking straight, the pain in my chest kept growing, reminding me of a nearby remedy, I downed two healing potions, and the pain in my chest lessened, but my head was still hazy, and my leg throbbed.

Time seemed to slip from me, my awareness falling apart. One moment I was at the bottom of the ramp and next thing I noticed was the closed gate before me. I asked the guards to let me in, they were kind enough to do so.

As the gate opened I took a few steps into Rustic before I was swallowed by fatigue and weakness.

Zerkash was sitting at a stone table, drinking some greenish liquid that smelled of grass. He was sitting with two others, a tall dark buck, and a gray buck. The bucks that captured me.

Taking in my surroundings, I found myself in the Busted Chains Bar. The exit to the bar was the familiar door with the rusty latch.

The two bucks looked at me, wanting to say something, but chose not to. They got up and went to the door, looking back at the zebra, then went through and the door closed behind them.

Wait, they were with me too?

Only for as long as it took me to convince them to move on. They are not the first I've seen here, I doubt they'd be the last.

They weren't? Did everypony that died near me come to this door? Am I some sort of lobby separating the dead from the ever after.

Heh, that probably wouldn't be to far off, Rain. The raider, the two hunters from earlier, and those two just now. At first they all wanted to stay, but I convinced them that the other side was better. The other side is not the wasteland, so it was a pretty easy thing to do.

What would happen if they had stayed?

Then you would change. They have influence over you while in this 'lobby'. It is subtle and you have managed to shrug it off, but I suspect that if it became crowded here, you would lose yourself.

Oh that was not a happy prospect. That was all kinds of terrible, the regretful dead controlling me, warping me. The idea scared me.

It would be best if I avoided any wholesale slaughters in the future.

Wait, why did Zerkash still stay with me?

Because I did not want to leave the wasteland. It is a terrible place where horrible things happen, but I know of a fool that wants to 'tip the scales'. So I stay, to help any way I can. Such as teaching how to swing a harpoon.

He smiled at me and took a sip from his drink. He chose to stay by my side over going to the ever after, why would anyzebra make that choice?

Because you're a fool that cared. No-zebra is waiting for me on the other side, so I shall stay and help the only pony that cared.

He lifted his hoof to the table and a second mug appeared, filled with the same green water.

Care to try some tea?

I sat with him and took a sip from the cup, it had a very earthly taste, and made me feel nostalgic for the grass back home. We drank in silence for a little bit. When my drink emptied Zerkash stood up.

Lets make do with the time we have right now, pick up your spear, we shall spar.

Would sparring in a dream actually make me better at fighting?

Not physically, but it will help you be mentally prepared for fighters that have more skill than to simply shoot a gun.

The tables dissipated, and a spear appeared to both our sides, and feeling neither fatigue nor short of breath, we sparred. He was better, I was defeated often, but each strike recovered immediately, and surely over the sparring I saw what he meant.

We sparred and sparred, until I caught a faint smell of a morning breeze..

Looks like time is up, move forward Rain, the day is new and has need of you.

The smell of a cool morning breeze brought me out from the lobby. Opening my eyes painfully, I found myself in a very comfy cot, there was another smell in the air that felt oddly nostalgic. It was odd cause I was certain I'd never smelled it before, and looking around I saw medical supplies in the room, my saddlebags and barding were near my cot. There were several other cots, all empty, and at the back of the room near the only door was a purple unicorn writing something with her magic.

“Where am I?” I rasped out, I could use a drink, the tea was nice, but it didn't sate my very real thirst. My voice made the mare jump and turn to me in surprise.

“Oh, you're awake.” she composed herself before continuing, “You're in Rustics aid center, you collapsed at the gate last night suffering from the late stages of rad-scorpion poisoning, one of our late guards recognized you and brought you here for treatment, congrats by the way, not too many places have rad-scorpion anti-venom on hand.” She said.

Well, I now had a name for those critters, rad-scorpions. Poison, that was in my mothers notes, anti-venom wasn't common in the wasteland and death by poison was often unavoidable.

“Why do you have it?”

“Rad-scorpions are a common threat in the quarry, stings are treated, and tails are collected to make the anti-venom.” she explained, then added, “You needn't worry about the cost of the anti-venom, the young filly covered you, her name was... Golden? Since you're awake I'll go inform the sheriff, he wanted to talk to you about a request.”

I wonder what that was going to be about.

“Where's Tabben, and Mek?” I asked.

“Tabben? I heard that Tabben came yesterday, caused a little trouble at the bar, and left a few hours later to chase after a mare, like he always does.” She said with a hint of amusement, “Afraid I don't know anypony named Mek, sorry.”

Chase after a mare, they must have left to search for me. But we didn't run into each other, did they head to Sandstone to find me? Either thinking I was caught, or I ran away, Sandstone would be the best destination to look for me. I'd have to leave soon if I were to catch up...

No, its already too late, if they traveled all night then they would have reached Sandstone by now, I don't know if they'll figure out I'm back at Rustic, and I cannot assume they will. I'll need to leave once the sheriff says what he needs to.

“You're free to move about the room, I'll be back in a couple minutes.” the unicorn said before departing.

I got out of bed and moved about, taking in, well, everything. I saw implements and tools for medicine I'd only read about, and I was taking the time to look over all of them.

Reading about them was one thing, but seeing them gave another layer of understanding to how they were to be used. There was a small box with the three pink butterflies on it attached to the wall, locked, the cabinets were locked as well, I could see why she wasn't too worried about a stranger being left alone in here.

While I was admiring a stethoscope, the mare returned with the sheriff. The white buck with the stylish hat appraised me.

“You're heading to Sandstone, right miss?”  he asked.

“As soon as possible.” I replied.

“In that case I'd like to request that you escort two fillies to Sandstone, Golden Blur and Penny Shine. I saw you and Golden running about the town last night, so with your combined speed you should make it there unharmed.” The sheriff said. I was surprised by his request, and a little upset.

“You're asking a mare who's just passing through, who never BEEN to Sandstone before, to escort two fillies across the wasteland?” I asked incredulously. He did look a little uncomfortable after hearing that.

“Well, its either that or they'll run off on their own, they're part of Orphanage, and they have an important message to deliver to the gang in Sandstone. I'm not ordering you do escort them, I'm asking. I don't want them to travel alone, and Tabben would be cross with me if I did. I don't like dealing with an angry Tabben-,” he looked at me, hope in his eyes. There was no way this was going to end well.

“Fine, I'll go with them.” and I heard a yippee from outside the window, “On the condition that she shows me how to use this.” I pulled out the healing talisman from my bags and pointed it towards the unicorn, her eyes widening in surprise.

An instructional lesson later informed me of the power of the talisman and how to use it. Healing talismans are not normally used for raw healing, and are instead used in combination of medical equipment to augment the healing process. A healing talisman has a set amount of healing in it that regenerates over time, and equipment optimize this output. A talisman can be used without equipment, but depending on the injury being addressed, there's the risk of the talisman burning out and becoming useless.

“Thanks for the information, as well as treating me.” A thought crossed my mind, “I was wondering if I could buy some medical equipment. Nothing big, just small things like a scalpel, surgical thread, tweezers and so on.” I asked the purple unicorn.

“Oh, anything to aid a fellow medic, and thank you for the opportunity to aid a zony, don't see to many around these parts, it was a real treat.” she replied.

A zony? The child of a pony and zebra, I guess with my stripes I could pass as one. Not feeling inclined to point out I wasn't born with these stripes, I purchased some medical tools and after a kind farewell left for the general store.

I needed to buy a new set of rope, as well as some alcohol from the bar, I'd need something to sterilize my new equipment.

With all that in mind, the sheriff told the fillies to meet me at the bottom of the ramp to Rustic. As I waited for them I pondered to how we were going to cross the distance with speed, I doubted Penny could move as fast as myself and Golden. Maybe if I carried her?

Penny arrived first, telling me that Golden needed to get something together and that it will take a bit of time.

“So, have any stories?” she asked me, “You know, some sort of adventure where you fought off a giant sea monster, or raided an island of hidden treasure, or maybe how you met Tabben?” she fired off. Thinking over it, I didn't see a reason not too, and I decided to tell her the story of a particular shark.

She was taken by my story, I wasn't very good at telling it, and she kept asking me for details, but I filled her in as best I could.

“And then it exploded? Did it explode twice? It would be so awesome if it did!” she proclaimed. I doubted I'd still be alive if it had indeed exploded twice.

I heard the sound of something coming down the ramp, looking up I saw something that I could only tie one word to. Awesome.

Golden was attached to a small hoof-made carriage big enough for one pony, with a large rubber wheel on each side.  As she pulled to us, Penny hopped in.

“Well, that's going to make this easier, I was starting to think I'd have to carry Penny.” I said.

“No way, this is loads more fun!” Penny replied, “Hey Golden, let me tell you an awesome story about how Rain killed a shark!” And with that, Golden bolted off ahead of me, and the trek commenced.

We went at a slower pace then the chase we had last night, Golden was moving for two after all. I was wondering if she was pacing herself and I kept an eye on her stamina as we moved across the wasteland. We'd make it to Sandstone by noon at this pace.

We had to abandon the trail twice to avoid unwanted attention. My EFS revealing threats before they discovered us.

As we moved I noticed a large cloud plume in the distance, it rose like a pillar into the sky before the unseen winds at the top took it east. The cloud was almost as wide as it was tall, it was the kind of cloud that would fill you with dread before it brought a storm down upon the sea. I could see traces of lightning in the cloud, and I understood what Mek meant.

That was the first evidence of the Boiling Bay.

“We need to head this way for a bit, there's a small hidden structure we use to store supplies and hide in when there's trouble,” Penny said, “We just need to check it out, shouldn't take long.”

Seeing no harm in it, I nodded and followed them off the path. We passed over a hill of blackened rock and was stunned by the sight. I stood at the edge of a basin, no, a large crater. My eyes panning from horizon to horizon, I figured it must have been at least fifteen kilometers in diameter.

When Mek told me that the megaspell destroyed half the island, I was a little skeptical. While it had been an exaggeration, I couldn't blame her for it as I looked upon the large basin, rounded like a crescent moon.

Charred black rock was the color of choice, but I could see the dull tan sandstone in places where the charred rock had broken or given way to erosion. The basin sloped down into the sea, I could see a large cluster of tan stone hugging the coast. Black and brown structures floated near the shore, and a short distance from the shore into the bay the water had turned from a dirty blue to foaming gray, steam rose and fed into the pillar that loomed into the sky.

Sandstone was indeed, bigger then I imagined. Very similar to Rustic, however closer to the center were stone buildings well over six stories tall, and I also saw a number of metal structures that rose even taller, but I could count their number on my hooves. I was too far to see any ponies, but I could imagine it, a large number of ponies and zebra living next to the testament of Equestria's greatest weapon, going about their lives without even giving it a second thought.

Stopping to take in the sight, I had almost lost track of the fillies, and I bolted after them, working to make up the distance. Following them for a few minutes, I saw the structure they were referring too, it was a small derelict boat, it lay on its side propped in between some large slightly melted rocks, the back end of its hull melted like the rocks. I caught up to them before they made it to the ship. My EFS was all clear.

“Noponies home, so do what you needed so we can move along.” I said, I didn't like the idea of being in one place for too long with the fillies out here.

As Penny moved to an opening in the ships side, Golden was getting herself unattached from the mini wagon, and then followed Penny. Something caught my eye a few paces to the side and moved to take a closer look.

There was a small device laying on the ground, it was circular and had a small red circle in the center. I knew what this was, Solar had warned me about mines. To disarm a mine you need to press the red circle on it before it goes boom, if you get too close it'll beep twice then explode. Not wanting to risk my health testing this, I left the mine alone as a thought crossed my mind.

Did the fillies place these?

Beep.

My head turned to the source of the noise, in front of the ship Penny and Golden had stopped in unison, the noise came from a small red light laying on the ground in front of them, right in front of the ships entrance.

Penny took a step back, Golden flew forward to try and disarm it. I ran towards them, I ran with everything I had, but it wasn't fast enough.

Beep.

I saw the fillies engulfed in a ball of fire, small bits of metal being sent every which way. Golden turned as the fireball engulfed her, her small body being bathed in the orange inferno. Small bits of metal showered Penny, her coat becoming riddled by debris before she too was engulfed by the fireball.

The fire plumed up into the sky, I felt the heat rush past me, I didn't notice the metal fragments that bombarded me. I watched in horror as both fillies were sent flying back, their coats burned, they're bodies wounded, metal fragments embedded in their hide.

Penny fell back and slid across the ground, living a light trail of blood. Golden crashed past her, rolling over as she slid, I heard bones break. The smoke billowed to the sky, and both fillies lay still for a moment, as if the world had stopped moving in consideration of what happened.

Their lives were hanging on the brink, and I was the only pony around to do anything about it.

I felt a calm wash over me, a calm that came from years of working to save wounded patients, of making hard calls and choices that determined whether the wounded lived or died. Wait, where did this calm come from? I've never been in this kind of situation before.

But my mother, she must have. Putting aside the growing questions, I embraced the calm and time seemed to move forward. I went to work.

Golden was airborne when the mine blew, and had been knocked father from the blast then Penny, I reached the pegasus first. She would need my attention first.

Her hooves were a mess, the forward legs were completely broken, riddled with metal fragments, her wings had been burned almost to the bone, she must have shielded her face because it was the least damaged part of her body. I saw her take in a ragged breath, she was alive!

A pony can take quite a bit of damage before perishing, if managed and stubborn, a fatal wound can take hours to claim its victim. Golden didn't have hours, she didn't even have minutes.

Not on my watch, I wasn't going to lose any child on my watch. I wasn't going to let the wasteland steal them from me! I pulled out the healing talisman, her life would be well worth the sacrifice, there was nothing to think about, I placed the talisman on her and she was enveloped in a pink glow. As the glow grew I worked to remove the metal embedded in her, sparing the talisman the work of clearing it out itself.

Hoping that would be more then enough, I rushed to Penny's side. She wasn't as close to the mine as Golden was, which unfortunately meant that she was still conscious. Her eyes were gone, her face was burned horribly, she was cradling her head, crying from the pain. Her horn was singed, but looked intact.

I pulled out a syringe of Med-X and used it on her, it would dim the pain to something I hoped was more manageable for her. Then I started the painful process of extracting the debris lodged in her. While I worked, I tried to hum my healing song, but I couldn't seem to find the note, maybe it was the stress of the situation, but I couldn't call it up, to my damned frustration.

After pulling out everything I could find, I fed her several healing potions, and the wounds closed up, the burns being replaced with a fresh coat of cyan fur. Unfortunately, her eyes were a lost cause. The potions didn't heal what remained of the orbs, and I found myself in a terrible position. I need to clean the wound, but I didn't have anything to induce anesthesia.

Pulling out another syringe of Med-X, I gave her half the dose and watched her breathing slow.

“Penny, I need to clean your eyes, and it's going to hurt, I need you to be strong and stay still as best you can, can you do that?”

She nodded, she was crying, she wouldn't be able to see again, but she could still cry. I gave her a small bit of rope to bite down on, and held her head firm as I went to work.

She screamed into the rope, her legs wanted to flail about, she wanted to get away, but the combination of the painkiller and her own will kept her in place. It seemed to take hours, it only took a couple minutes. After I finished, she passed out, and I wrapped a bandage around her eyes.

Though I had cleaned the scalpel I used to clean her wound, I was certain she was going to have to deal with a post-op fever from the shrapnel I had to extract.

I went over to Golden to see that the talisman had worked miracles. Besides her mane no longer being braided, she looked no different from when we left this morning. I picked up the talisman, it still had a pink glow to it, so it hadn't expended itself saving the filly.

Given time, the talisman would recharge, I could get Penny her eyes back after that. I couldn't use it now, I was uncertain how much it would be able to accomplish in its current state. The idea of its magic dying before it finished replacing her eyes made me shudder. It would take a few days for it to recharge, and I worried about what could happen in the next few days.

I brought the fillies together and looked around for other mines, shooting them to clear the area, then I took a peak inside the boat. Inside lay a small body curled into a ball in the corner, it didn't show on my EFS Taking a closer look, I saw it was a blue colt, the poor thing had died of dehydration.

And like that my emotions returned, the calm ended, and I started crying like a filly.

What kind of pony traps a children's hideout. The colt died in here because it was afraid to leave! What was wrong with the wasteland!? There was no reason for this, nothing beyond the simple need for cruelty.

I don't have the time to think about this right now. Right now I need to get these fillies shelter, get them safe first, then I could do some moping.

Covering the small corpse in the corner with a dried up blanket, I carried Golden and Penny inside, I closed the door and lay next to them.

I saved them. No, there was more to it than that. I don't think it would have turned out so well if that calm hadn't washed over me. Was something of my mother's presence still with me? I played Penny screaming in pain as I held her in my head, and shuddered. I would not have been unable to manage that without the calm. I thanked whatever it was that made me like this, because I'm certain only one of these fillies would have survived otherwise.

Had they left Rustic alone, neither would have survived. I had tipped the scale, ever so slightly. So why wasn't I happy? I wanted to lay down and sleep, and never wake to the wasteland again. I wanted to feed the bastard that did this one of their own mines, see how they liked it. I needed to count the good.

We're almost at Sandstone, I saved their lives, and even though Penny lost her eyes, there's the likelihood of getting them back soon. Once they wake up, we'll be on our way, and I can say good riddance to this sandy hole of misery.

I lay next to them for half an hour, keeping them close, I hummed a lullaby I heard in a recent dream, stroking their manes as time ebbed by.

Golden was the first to wake up, she looked from me to Penny in confusion before comprehension dawned on her face. She looked herself over, spreading her wings to count the feathers, and was surprised to see herself completely free of damage.

“But... how? It blew up right in my face.” She was looking at me, “Why am I fine, and Penny isn't?”

I told her about the talisman and its limited use.

“But, you should have used it on her! I would have been fine, a few potions and I'd be Golden!” she winced shortly after hearing her pun, “Her eyes... how bad are they?” she sniffled out the question.

“They're gone, but when the talisman recharges we can get them back, I'm certain.” I offered her hope, and Golden latched onto it greedily.

“Oh, okay, that's good then. Still, you should have used it on her, at least she isn't a bird brain that's afraid of heights.” Wait, was I still talking to the fastest flier in Sandstone?

“Hey now, don't beat yourself up over it, I was the pony that made the call, if I should have used it on her, be upset with me, not yourself.” I said, she nodded, and it looked like she took my words in, because her expression lightened a little.

I then noticed a red bar slinking on my EFS.

“We have company, stay here and keep and eye on Penny, I'm going to deal with this.” I ordered.

Somepony was moving towards the door, quietly, I wouldn't had noticed had it not been for EFS. I unstrapped my harpoon, kicked open the door and caught the pony by surprise.

It was a buck earth pony with a red coat and mane, his cutie-mark looked like an exploding mine, severed hooves being blown from the blast. He looked at me in surprise, a mine in his mouth, and he started laughing. Of course it was a raider.

He tossed the mine at me, I knocked it back with the handle of my weapon, sending it sliding to him. It beeped, and he quickly disarmed it. The distraction gave me the opening I needed to close the distance. I went into SATS, two hits to the head. The first hit sent him off balance, my second hit was critical and permanently damaging, I slashed across his face, and his eyes shed crimson tears.

I bucked the side of his head, spinning him, and seeing him fumble around trying to place his attacker now that he was blinded, I coldly left him to his fate, returning to the ship. He cursed at me, making obscene promises he would be unable to keep.

As I entered I heard the sound of a mine beeping, and shortly after a terribly loud boom, and the red on my EFS faded. I guess his cutie-mark was prophetic. I wasn't going to be kind to anypony that would harm a child. Not now, not ever.

I returned to find Golden standing over the colts remains in the corner. She looked like she was going to cry, but tears never came.

I pulled her away from the body, back to Penny's side, and trotted outside. Eyeing the rocky ground, I found an indentation and started making a pile of rocks next to it. Golden eyed me with curiosity as I worked, braiding her mane and tail back up in the meantime. When the pile was big enough, I went back into the boat and got the blue colts corpse, and placed it into the intended grave.

I placed the stones on the body, and Golden helped me, it took some time, but we managed to bury the body, and even had a headstone for it.

“Was it somepony you knew?” I asked her, she shook her head.

“Golden, Rain!?” Penny was crying for us, oh horseapples, she woke up alone and blind. I quickly came to her side, assuring that we were still with her, and everypony was safe.

Being blind terrified the filly, it would terrify me. It took us some time to calm her down and assure her that it was only temporary.

The detour had been a complete disaster, the 'safe-house' had been stripped before the dead colt had arrived, we left as soon as Penny was able to collect herself. They still needed to get to Sandstone to relay a message to their friends, and I needed to find my own companions. As Golden was getting herself reattached to the wagon, Penny spoke up.

“Rain, thanks.” Penny started, “Thanks for saving us, I.” Her words got caught in her throat, “I thought we were goners that time. We thought the safe-house would be safe, that kind of thinking gets ponies killed, so thanks for saving us,” she finished.

“Think nothing of it, I did what I should have done, you don't have to thank me for doing the right thing.” I responded, and Penny shook her head

“Yes, we do.” she said, “Rain, the 'right thing' to most strangers would be to leave us to our foalish fate. You used something valuable to save Golden, nopony besides a good friend would do that. So yes, thank you Rain. We won't be forgetting it, and you shouldn't either.” Golden didn't seem to completely agree with Penny, but didn't say anything on the matter.

My act was an oddity in the wasteland, I guess I could add that to the list.

Has Zebra stripes. Can sometimes heal with a song. Is doomed to doom Equestria. And is a nice pony who will save other ponies at her own expense. Curse the wasteland.

Opting to avoid returning to the path, we headed towards the northern side of Sandstone. Getting closer, I saw that Sandstone had a large wall separating the city into two chucks, the inner area where all the taller structures were, and an out area that was more exposed to the wasteland.

Following Golden, we reached a small crevice that lead to the city, and not too long after descending into the crevice we ran into a pair of colts. The colts had guns in their mouths aimed at us, but when they saw Golden they lowered them and greeted her.

“Hey Teal, Buckster, is May around? We have news from the quarry.” Golden chimed up, and Penny took notice of the names.

“Yea, big message, we may need to relocate Orphanage.” Penny said loudly in their direction.

The two colts eyed me, and Golden, and their eyes widened when they saw Penny's head wraps, but led us on. The roof of the crevice sealed as we moved along, becoming a cave that was lit by small lanterns. One of the colts, Buckster I think, let out a low whistle and two fillies came out of a small side passage in the cave, saw us and went back the way we came, guns in their mouths.

Turning down a passageway, I was surprised to see the cavern open up to a large clearing, the sky visible above. Long metal lines crawled from the top of the walls and hung over the center of the cavern, water gutters I realized. The clearing had a pond in the middle that a pony was drinking from, the gutters leading right over the pond to dispense rainwater into it. Around the wall of the clearing were tents and ponies, mostly children, but a number of adults too, moving around working on various tasks.

One corner of the cave seemed to be focused on tending to weapons, while another had unicorns and unicorn children working with magic on some arcane devices.

Golden saw my mixed look of confusion and curiosity, she turned to me.

“Welcome to Orphanage, Rain, our home!”

Footnote: Level up. Lvl 5.

New Perk: Friends with the Doctor - Healing you provide to your teammates is increased by 30%

Skill Note: Medicine (75) Melee Weapons (50) Next Chapter: 5. Give and Take Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 40 Minutes