Every time I let my guard down something happens to change everything, NO MORE. - Tempest Knight

My wound had stopped bleeding and my scales had already regrown even though my fur had yet to grow. Applebits was happily eating something, I suspect prewar food that Lightning had found, since she hadn't eaten anything for almost twenty four hours. Lightning went off with Shadow Star to explore the immediate area and scavenge what they can before we begin our travels again. I took the time to plot out our course with Bulls Eye who had thankfully saved our map from the tank.

"Canterlot, why in Celestia's name would we go there?" he asked as I traced my hoof over the updated map.

"I need to get something from my chamber, I assure you that we won't need to go into the city itself." I replied still trying to find the fastest and safest rout to my ultimate destination.

"From what I've heard from our trip to Ten Pony the city and surrounding areas are filled with a pink cloud, going anywhere near it means almost certain death." the brown stallion said as he dead panned.

"I am not asking any of you to follow me inside, I just don't want to split up too far." I replied now with an edge to my voice.

"Talk to Bits, I'll go along with whatever she says." Bulls Eye finally said with a sigh as I too the map over to where Applebits sat and entertained the fillies.

"Paladin." I said lightly as I came upon her right side.

"General." she replied with a bright smile as the fillies started to tickle eachother as if they hadn't a care in the world.

"Bulls Eye wants me to get your opinion on something." I said as I pulled out the map and laid it down.

"What would that be?" she asked giving a glance towards the old stallion.

"I need to make a stop in Canterlot as I have a few things there I must acquire." I said pointing to the map.

"Do you have a rout planned?" she inquired as Bulls Eye raised a brow.

"I have charted one that should take us around most of the Hellhound territory, and I am aware of the danger the cloud surrounding the city proposes." I said before looking up to see Lightning and Shadow return but land on a street over.

"Okay, whats the problem?" she asked me.

"Contact with the mist over a prolonged amount of time and without healing potions will lead to certain death." I said with a worried frown.

"Okay?" she once again said but this time she also frowned.

"I would like it if you and the others could hold near Canterlot and allow me to retrieve my things, I shouldn't be long and you all should be safe." I said looking into her red eyes.

"Okay we can hold nearby, it would be best to avoid having to go into the city because of the mist anyways, but if you must then I understand." she said with a small smile before turning around to Bulls Eye who just gave a nod.

I finished drawing the rout and gave him back the map before taking back to the skies. I looked down the street I saw Lightning and Shadow land on to see their shadows protruding from inside a building. I landed just outside and listened, all I heard was a short laugh before a lips smacking against each other as I peered about the corner to bear witness to the two pegasi sharing a very passionate kiss. I ducked back behind the wall as they broke off and began to walk my way, ducking into the shadows I made myself nearly invisible as I had used to do when I'd sit in on royal meetings as hidden security. The two walked by me as they nuzzled each other before breaking apart and flying back to camp, I smiled as my oldest friend finally found himself a marefriend, and unlike me could easily hold onto her.

I turned the corner and walked past the towns limits as I stared off to the faint orange glow in the distance as the sun rose, my thoughts settled on Rainbow Dash. A lone tear dripped off my muzzle as I closed my eyes and pictured her face when we first met, that cheeky grin she had, her get to the point attitude. I stopped smiling when I noticed something odd, when the bombs fell I felt all that death, but if she were dead I would know. I opened my eyes to see my chest plate glowing as though I were using its magic, but instead I focused on the love that would never get off my mind. After a long time of waiting it was still glowing, if she were dead it would have brought her soul to me as it did the undead warriors, but alas it hasn't which means, oh God, she is alive. I quickly stopped my magic and stood as I looked to the sky and cried out of joy, my beloved was still alive, though I had no possible idea of how.

I must have stood there for quiet some time since my entire party had caught up with me, it did come to mind that we would be marching this way. I turned to look at them and smiled when I saw that Shadow and Lightning were standing together before I spoke.

"Okay everypony, our target is the Canterlot ruins, from there I will be able to figure out our next target after I collect a few of my necessary items." I said and Lightning frowned.

"We can't go in there." he said as I laughed.

"I'm not asking you to, I am the only pony entering the ruins, you will all remain at a safe distance until I return." I said before starting to walk our long walk.

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Most of the trip had been uneventful, Shadow and Lightning flew above and behind us while Applebits and Bulls Eye had either flank of the fillies, I of course was at the tip of the spear as we made our way towards what I had labeled as the first of many locations I wanted to search for supplies. This just happened to be an old M.o.P. hospital that was built to support the medical needs of a long turned to dust earth pony town. I drew my swords as we neared the building since my last adventure had turned into a battle and I gently pushed on the doors. The doors of course didn't move so I looked back to my group, before I could say anything Lightning flew in through a window and disappeared.

"So much for the plan." I grumbled just before the door unlocked.

"Thought I'd get the door for you before hanging out here for the rest of this excursion." he said as he walked with his head held high beck to Shadow and her two sisters earning a nod from Bulls Eye who turned around and began watching our surroundings for movement.

I looked to Applebits as we had decided to enter just the two of us before I entered the building with her in tow. Inside there were many pony skeletons that lay broken and about as though someone had been here recently and scattered their remains. I walked up to the nearest console before I began hacking it as Applebits opened a cabinet filled to the brim with guns.

"Well then, somepony was stocking up." she said as she sifted through the different firearms.

"Anything in there functional, Shadow could use a weapon and it wouldn't hurt to have something that we can find ammo for?" I asked her before I noticed that she had already set aside two weapons, a twelve gauge combat shotgun, and a .44 semi-automatic magnum.

She just looked at me and gave me a already did smile before continuing her efforts while I backed out of the terminal. Going back in I managed to unlock it just to find that all the data had been corrupted, frowning I walked away from the interface and opened the cabinet of the desk the terminal was mounted on to be greeted by a beautiful safe, leaning down to look more closely at it I could see the bar that held it shut from me clearly. Using one of my swords I carefully cut the bar and opened the door, inside was a wonderfully preserved pip buck with a beautifully engraved chrome housing. I picked it up gingerly in my magic and gave a low whistle at its armored strap with lavish padding on the inside.

"Nice find, but we all have pip bucks already." Applebits remarked before catching herself, "Well all of except you that is." she said smiling.

"Do you think it would be right?" I asked as I looked over the well cared for device.

"You see anypony else using it in the past two hundred years?" she asked sarcastically so I slipped it onto my left hoof ad turned it on.

The screen loaded up with a Stable Colt and registered me as its user before my eyes were assaulted by a heads up display I wasn't expecting since I had never had a pip buck before. On the top I could see my armor integrity and on the top left I could see my ammunition count which I hadn't noticed before but was rather low for all four of my cannons and on my top left I could see my new EFS radar with built in compass, an old soldier could definitely get used to this. I left the safe as I continued onward up the stairs and discovered the medical supplies I had hoped would still be here alongside a fresh corpse that I was not ready for. Applebits walked into the room behind me and gawked at the unfortunate pony who had been cut open just as my EFS caught a hostile target in a few rooms away.

"Paladin I want you to round up whatever you can out of this room and get back to the others, I'll be right behind you." I said as I walked out of the room and back into the hall.

"Understood." she said probably seeing the hostile as well.

I slowly walked up the hall as I drew one of my swords again before stopping just before the closed door the hostile was behind. As I knew that the EFS will tell you somepony is hostile even if they don't want to fight I knocked on the door. I got no reply and that is when I noticed that it was the mares restroom and that whoever it was, was currently indisposed though I probably scared the crap right out of them. The doors handle then glowed pink before cracking open just far enough that I could see a dirty green mane with blue strips as a bloodied up pink muzzle poked out, she had two eyes of different color, one green the other blue, and both went wise when they saw me.

"I'm not here to hurt you." I quickly said ensuring that my sword was out of sight as I noticed a second red mark on my EFS behind me and heard a scream followed by the unmistakable sound of twin twenty millimeter cannons going off. "Applebits!" I said before galloping towards the room I left her in.

Slamming through the wooden door I found her slammed up against a wall with a nasty gash across her right cheek and the hostile standing over her muttering to himself. As her turned I noticed something odd about his feature that didn't seem right, like the fact that most of his skeleton was visible and that his eyes were glazed over when it let out a terrible shriek and charged me. I quickly remembered the motion picture of Zombie Ponies that Rainbow Dash took me out to that gave me, yes me he who can summon the dead, nightmares for a month as this zombie pony had its head blown off by a shotgun blast that originated behind me.

"Are you okay?" I heard the shaky voice of a mare say as she pumped her weapon.

"Thanks to you." I said without turning to her, instead I walked over to my wounded friend and checked for any other wounds.

"I'm sorry Down Feathers, I'm so sorry I couldn't save you." I heard the mare from earlier say as she mourned over her undead friends headless body.

"Friend of yours?" I asked with a sympathetic look.

"He saved me from raiders and healed my wounds, even if you used a few of their body parts to do it." she said as she sobbed, her shotgun resting on the floor.

Upon seeing her I did notice that she had stitch marks on her body with different colored fur and a black tail.

"I figured that I would help him by being his nurse but then he went feral and I locked myself in the bathroom so he wouldn't kill me since I didn't have the heart to kill him to save myself." she was now wailing as she cried.

"Why don't we give him a burial and you come with us?" I asked feeling sorry for the mare as she kissed the corpse suggesting that she had fallen for him.

"Okay." she whispered before standing up and running to me in a great big hug nearly knocking me down.

"Easy there girl, easy." I soothingly said as I stroked this mis-matched pony's back with my right fore hoof.

"Tempest am I seeing things, or did a walking corpse just attack me?" Applebits said as she got up and blinked a few time before realizing that there was a new pony in the room and that the one who attacked her was now missing his head.

I nodded to her before the mare pushed off of me and looked at my companion apologetically.

"I am sorry about Feathers, he was a dear friend for a long time, but I suppose all ghouls go feral at some point." she said giving a frown.

"Applebits if you got the supplies we need go down and get the others, I need a grave dug for her friend." I said without any emotion as my military training took over.

"I'll come with your group until the next town or so, I just can't stay here." the mare said as more tears fell from her face.

"I understand completely, do you have a name?" I asked as I began to levitate Feathers body and caved in head out the door ahead of me.

"Cotton Candy." she said as she tilted her head as I was using magic with no horn.

"That is a nice name, mine is Tempest Knight." I said as we both departed the room.

Outside my team of friends had quickly dug a hole for the pony we were to bury so I set him down inside of it before I began the ceremony I remember when my pony grandparents died.

"May we always remember Down Feathers as he was in life, a caring pony who went out of his way to help the injured and the sick." I said I bowed my head, everypony else following my example. "We lay thou to rest as thy service is complete, may you find peace in the world beyond and in the embrace of your loved ones." I finished as I looked to Cotton Candy.

"Thank you for helping me when I needed it most, I'm sorry our time together was so short but, but..." she had started to say before breaking into tears as she fell apart.

Putting my wing around her I breathed a soft flame into the pit as his body caught fire and began to sing a song describing the beauty of heaven and how we shall all meet again upon its gates in an ancient tongue. When the flames began to die down Bulls Eye and Dark Lightning filled the hole in and Applebits placed a cross marker for his grave.

"Rest in peace." I said before turning away and continuing our course to Canterlot.

Author's Notes:

So Temoest now has a feeling that his beloved may not be dead, while he doubts this he must admit that his connection to the dead has omitted certain souls from his access such as Luna, Celestia, Pinky Pie, and Rainbow Dash which strikes him as odd. To top it all off he encounters a feral ghoul and meets a pony that was saved but at the cost of turning into (for lack of better terms) a Frankenpony. Hope you are enjoying it, stay brony.