As we set off on what was sure to be the start of my own legendary tale, I only really had one feeling. Fear. I feared what we were doing, where we were going. I feared what was going to happen to Mom while I was gone. I feared Velvet Kiss, even though I knew she wasn't really a threat. I feared that we wouldn't find the Heartmender, that we wouldn't be able to save Mom.

If it hadn't been for Lightning, Rocky, and Coco, I think I'd have driven myself crazy with my fear. But, as it turns out, having friends to help talk things through helps immensely. Fear was not an emotion I needed. I needed courage, hope, and instinct. I needed to be able to survive. We needed to be able to survive.

If we couldn't survive out here, we were dead, and so was Mom. And I was not going to let that happen. I was going to find the Heartmender, even if it killed me.

“Are we there yet?” I heard Velvet Kiss lament from behind me. It was the fifth time since we'd set out on our journey that she'd asked that same question. I was ready to kill her.

Instead, I took a deep calming breath and responded without glancing away from my automap. “Not yet, Kiss. Now quit asking, it's annoying as all fucking get out.”

“But we've been walking for hours! I never walk this much,” Kiss replied.

“Seriously, do you ever shut up?” Lightning said. “Remind me again why we brought her along.”

I stopped and grimaced. Why had Mom agreed to send Kiss with us? Because she's technically the enemy, I thought carefully. And keeping her close is more important than letting her run free. The logic was sound enough. Keeping Velvet with us meant that she wasn't off making trouble for others.

“Because, we need her abilities,” I said.

“Thank y---” Velvet started to say.

“What we don't need, is you flapping your jaw every five minutes. We're not even out of the city yet,” I interrupted. I glared at Kiss. “The only data we have on the Heartmender is that they left the city and one possible route based on complete hearsay. So until we get to the first settlement along that route, let's just all stay quiet and get along, alright?”

“Fine,” Kiss said, lowering her head.

I moved back into a steady trot. I had never truly been this far out away from home before, and we were headed even further, out of the city. I had to keep my head on straight. No mistakes, no more of my friends getting hurt. Get out, find this Heartmender, get home. Simple.

The city was quiet as we made our way through the empty streets. Usually there was a bustle of trading caravans migrating from settlement to settlement, but not today. It made our whole journey that much more somber, I supposed. At least most of the settlements on the outskirts of the city were friendly, like Filiet. Even though that place stunk to high heavens, the ponies there were decent and honest.

“Hey, hold up,” Coconut said in a hushed tone, her voice distorted slightly by her power armor. “I'm picking up some activity on my E.F.S.”

I grimaced, lifting my hoof and giving the signal to stop. I brought up my own E.F.S. and began scanning the buildings around us. There were a few red dots with up arrows above them. That meant they had to be in a building nearby and on our left. I looked over at Coconut, who nodded.

“Alright everyone, stay low. It could just be radroaches, or it could be something else. We don't want to draw undue attention to ourselves. Rocky, keep an eye out,” I said.

“Will do,” Rocky replied softly.

We crept along carefully and I tried my best to keep quiet as I glanced up at the building. I couldn't see exactly where the dots were in the building, only that they were upwards. We had to hope we were making as little noise as possible to not draw their attention, whoever they were.

I breathed a sigh of relief as we made it past the building. I was silently cheering inside until I heard it. A series of crunching sounds from behind us. I spun about, watching as a pony in power armor dove from the building, landing onto the ground with a force so massive it nearly knocked me over. Several large cracks appeared in the concrete below it. The pony in the armor lifted their head and regarded us carefully before speaking.

“Unicorn, pegasus, unicorn, earth pony, minotaur,” it spoke in a clearly masculine voice. “Descriptions match. These are the ones we were notified about.”

“Huh?” I said, pinning my ear back. His blip still appeared red. No matter what, he was still considered hostile. “What do you mean? Who are you?”

“Your worst nightmare, sweetie,” a voice from above said.

I snapped my head towards the source of the voice. Standing just inside a hole in the wall of the building was a dark gray unicorn stallion with a slicked back blue mane. He appeared to be older. A combat shotgun hung in the air next to him, engulfed in his magic.

Shit! Mercenaries? Were they working for the Hellraisers, come to get us? How did they even know we were headed this way? I thought frantically. I glanced sidelong at Velvet Kiss, wondering... no... she wouldn't put herself in danger. The pony in the power armor had clearly mentioned her as well.

“Who are you?” Coconut said. “And what do you want from us?”

“My... employer sends his regards. He was fairly certain you were going to try and follow him out of the city, so he hired some extra protection,” the unicorn said.

My eyes narrowed. “Xerves.”

The unicorn's eyebrows raised slightly. “Yes... he said you would probably know his name. He also said that we were to kill you if you did try to follow him.”

I grimaced. Xerves somehow knew we were coming here? This way? How in the hell did he know that? My eyes widened. A bug... it's the only possibility. He knew we'd be leaving the city, because he bugged me, I thought.

“So what, Xerves hired you to do his dirty work?” Velvet Kiss piped up. “You stupid fucks. He's probably gonna kill you after he's done with you.”

“Oh, I'm more than prepared for that,” the unicorn said. “Been at this merc game a long time, and I've been double-crossed more times than I can count. This is no different. I get my caps and I get to kill people. It's a win-win scenario for me.”

“Tell me where he is,” I said angrily. “Tell me where Xerves is.”

“Sis?” Lightning said under his breath as he glanced at me.

“Tell me!” I shouted, ignoring my brother. I was mad. Xerves... Xerves tried to kill my mother and he was just... toying with us! I had to know where he was! Before I could say anything further, I felt a claw on my shoulder. Rocky stood next to me.

“We cannot afford to be delayed,” he said. “Our journey is of the utmost importance.”

“Negative,” the unicorn said with a grin. “You aren't going anywhere. Sledge, take them down.”

“Affirmative,” the pony in the power armor growled. He launched forward into a charge, the weight of his power armor shaking the ground as he came on like a freight train.

“Shit!” Coconut shouted as she moved to the side, her rifle popping out of her own power armor. She took aim and fired, hitting the armored pony directly in the chest. It didn't stop him. In fact, it didn't even slow him.

The armored pony barreled right into Coconut, who met his charge without flinching. I could hear Coco grunting with effort even over the screeching of their armor smashing together, but it was clear that the other pony was stronger. He tucked his shoulder in and did… something, and Coconut went lying to land in a heap.

I moved quickly to assist, my horn igniting. A gunshot rang out and sparks hit the ground in front of me. I glanced up at our other assailant, grimacing angrily.

“Stop playing around, Sledge,” he said.

The armored pony stood and turned towards the rest of us. With another paw of his hoof, he lurched into a charge again. This time, headed right towards me.

I yelped and froze, unable to move. I watched as Rocky appeared out of nowhere in front of me, his mechanical claws reaching forward and grabbing onto the armored pony. He roared loudly as his feet dug in, before physically lifting it from the ground. With another huff and a roar, he threw the armored pony to the ground and began pounding at its head.

I blinked. I had never seen Rocky so... so fierce before. It was like he was an animal, pure and uncaged fury being released all at once.

The armored pony however, still seemed unfazed by the damage. Calmly he lifted a hoof and kicked out, forcing Rocky away. He stood.

“Interesting,” it said. “Data analysis complete. Cybernetic enhancements. You are special. I shall enjoy ripping you limb from limb.”

“Now now, Sledge. We need them alive,” the unicorn said. “Boss wants to kill them personally. We're mercenaries, not assassins.”

“My apologies,” the armored pony said. “Executing capture protocols.”

My eyes widened as I realized that the armored pony wasn't a pony at all, it was a robot! The way it talked, the way it moved... the way it took a hit. There was no way this thing was a real pony. If it was a robot, then there was a chance we could get away from these fucks without getting caught. We weren't even out of the city yet, and we were already wasting too much time.

“Rocky!” I shouted. “It's a robot! Aim for its power core!”

Rocky nodded, his yellow eyes narrowing at the armored pony. He roared and strode forward, his claws unfurling. As he did, shots rained down from above.

The unicorn had finally entered the fight. He ducked back as Coconut and Lightning took aim and returned a hail of fire from their respective weapons. I glanced about to find Velvet Kiss, but couldn't see where she'd ran off to. Great... first fight and she left us, I thought to myself How am I gonna explain that to Mom?. I turned to assist Rocky, feeling confident that the other two had their opponent well in hoof.

The robot lifted a hoof, firing what appeared to be a netting of some kind. I reached out with my magic and grabbed it, forcing it off course. Rocky charged, slamming into the robot hard. It went crumpling to the ground as Rocky launched himself onto its back. He clawed and ripped at the robot's armored exterior, hunting frantically for the robot's power core.

The robot heaved itself back to its feet, spilling Rocky unceremoniously to one side. It stood calmly, its visor lit up bright red.

“Shit, laser!” I shouted as I ducked behind a pile of rubble.

A bright beam of reddish energy erupted from the robot's visor, making a scorch mark on the ground where I'd been. The robot turned to my hiding spot, its laser charging back up. It stepped forward menacingly.

“Your fight is with me!” Rocky roared as he slammed into the robot's side, causing it to discharge its laser weapon into the ground.

Rocky brought his claw up into the robot's throat, cutting through the armored plating to the cybernetics below. With a bellowing roar, he ripped pieces of electronics free. The robot sputtered and fell over, unmoving. Rocky stood there, panting loudly. Or at least that's what it sounded like to my ears.

“You alright?” he said.

“Yeah, I'm fine,” I said. “We'd better help the others, though.”

“Right,” Rocky replied.

I glanced over at where the others were holed up, still locked in a firefight with the unicorn mercenary. He appeared focused on them. I was about to move, to take a shot when a blast of laser fire struck me, sending me flat on my face. Pain shot throughout my entire body. I glanced back to see the head of the robot, floating freely in the air.

“Do not attempt to resist capture,” it said. “Resisting means death. And believe me when I say, I will enjoy killing you.”

“Oh yeah, enjoy this,” I growled, lifting Justice into the air. I activated S.A.T.S., the interface showing just the head as a viable target. I queued up as many shots as the spell would allow for, a total of three, and released.

Justice fired three consecutive shots, each one slamming into the robot's floating head. The first two barely did much damage, but the third cracked it's visor. It started to glow an angry red. My eyes widened.

“Stupid meatbags,” the robot head said. “I hope that in killing me, you kill yourselves. Good bye.”

“Shit, run!” I shouted as Rocky helped me scramble to my hooves.

We ran hard and fast, ducking into the ruins of the building as the robot's head exploded in a fiery blast that incinerated the ground below it and ignited several skywagons along the road. I groaned as I poked my head out. The others, were they okay? I smiled as I saw Coconut standing over Lightning, shielding him from the debris and heat.

“Alright, that's it!” I heard a voice shout from above. The unicorn sniper growled under his breath. “You've gone and pissed me off. You killed my robot.”

“I don't think you're doing anything,” a voice said from behind him. Velvet Kiss appeared out of nowhere, the glossy chitin of her natural form gleaming in the dim light. With a flick of her magic, she disarmed the stallion and forced him to the ground. I saw her grin menacingly as she picked up his weapon with a flare of telekinesis. She stepped forward.

“Wait!” I called out. “Velvet, stop! He knows where Xerves is!”

Velvet growled under her breath and rolled her eyes. “Fine, I won't kill him.”

Her eyes glowed and she shapeshifted, returning to her ‘normal’ form. I could hear the gasps coming from Lightning and Coconut. Velvet scoffed as she picked up the unicorn with her magic and lowered him from the open crevice down to us. When she finished, she reverted back to her normal form, her horn flashing as she teleported next to me.

The unicorn merc sat up, gritting his teeth, saying nothing. I trotted over to him and lifted his chin with my magic, staring him in the eye.

“Now, tell us where Xerves is,” I said. “I need to know what he's planning.”

“Sorry honey, not paid enough to know where my employer is physically located. Last I heard, he was on his way out of the city. We were only hired to slow you down,” the unicorn replied casually.

“Can we kill him yet?” Velvet said angrily. “He's pissing me off.”

“No,” I said, returning my attention to the unicorn. “Who are you? Why would you work for somezebra as psychotic as Xerves?”

“Name's Iron Comet,” the unicorn replied. “And isn't it obvious? I'm a merc. Xerves had caps. I needed work. It's as simple as that.”

“And you don't know where he is?” Rocky interjected.

“No. Like I said, we were only hired to slow you down. He thought you might come looking for him, something to do about somepony he killed,” Iron Comet said.

“Almost killed,” I said. “My mother. Xerves poisoned her.” I glanced over at Lightning and Coconut. They were still staring at Velvet Kiss, who looked exceedingly annoyed with the attention.

“Look, I did my job. You've spent more than enough time sitting here jawing at me. Let me go and let me tend after my robot friend,” Iron Comet said.

“Your robot friend tried to blast our faces off,” Rocky said.

“Yes... well, Xerves didn't say nothing about a minotaur,” Iron Comet replied.

“Why should we let you go? You tried to kill us,” I asked.

“I agree. He may have a communications line set up to Xerves. If we let him go, he could warn Xerves,” Velvet said. “I say we kill him.”

“You gonna listen to this pyscho bitch? I wasn't trying to kill you fucks, just delay you,” Iron Comet said angrily. “Besides, you're the ones who killed my robot.”

“You did fire first, and he attacked first,” I retorted.

“I do not agree with Kiss's sentiments of murder, but I do agree that we shouldn't allow this pony to walk free,” Rocky said.

I glanced over again at Lightning and Coconut. “What do you two think?”

“Bwuh?”

I rolled my eyes. “I asked what you thought about how to deal with this merc.”

“Oh, right,” Lightning said. “I agree with Rocky. I don't think we should kill him. We're not murderers.”

“Ugh, fine, then I'll do it,” Velvet said, stepping forward. “That's why I'm here, aren't I?”

I put up a hoof, stopping her in her tracks. “I can't let you do that Velvet. We'll tie him up here and call in to the MMMM. They can come pick him up. We can't afford any more time loss. It's getting dusky and we need to get to the last settlement before getting out of the city by nightfall.”

Velvet grimaced but nodded. She wasn't going to challenge my authority, it seemed. I turned to Iron Comet. With a flick of my horn, I bound his hooves with some rope in my saddlebags.

“Lightning, call it in,” I said.

“You know this won't hold me. I'll be gone before your little MMMM fucks get here,” Iron Comet said.

I grimaced. He was right about one thing. The only reason he hadn't used his magic to get away now was because he was disarmed and surrounded. If we left him there...

“I may have something to deal with that,” Velvet said with a sigh. Her horn glowed, floating something small and rounded out of her saddlebag. “A magic inhibitor should prevent you from using your magic to escape.”

“Where did you get that?” I asked.

“Envy gave it to me before we left. I've got a few more. It was... in case I needed to use them against any enemy unicorns,” she said, her eyes meeting mine.

I processed that for a moment. Did Envy know that Xerves had hired this pony? That would mean that Xerves would had to have been in contact with her somehow. And in that case, it meant that Xerves... Xerves knew about the Heartmender. He had to. It was the only thing that made sense. And if he knew about the Heartmender... then he was ahead of us. And we were running out of time already.

“Do it,” I said. “We need to go.”

Velvet nodded, lowering the inhibitor onto Iron Comet's horn. “There, there. Now sit here and be a good little unicorn.”

Iron Comet glared and tried to access his magic, growling loudly when it did nothing.

“You're gonna regret this,” he said. “You just made me your enemy. This won't be the last time you've seen me!”

I paid no attention as I trotted past him and back onto the road. I could hear his shouts and curses as we moved farther away. His interruption may have cost us the entire mission.

The others followed, unsure of my sudden need to move. I was going to have to explain it to them, but first I needed to touch on a more important subject. My brother and my best friend's continued staring at Velvet Kiss, like she was some oddity to note in a book somewhere.

“Velvet,” I said as we walked. “I think perhaps you'd better explain to Lightning and Coconut. Otherwise I think they may stare at you this whole time.”

“Yeah... how did you do that back there?” Lightning said.

“What he said,” Coconut added.

“I... Fine. I guess you were going to find out sooner or later,” Velvet said, grimacing. She sighed and took a deep breath. “I'm a changeling. Capable of transforming into other ponies at my desire.” To illustrate, her horn glowed and suddenly there was a copy of Lightning walking next to my real brother. Velvet changed back just as easily.

“Wow, that... that's actually kind of cool,” Lightning said.

“It explains quite a bit of why you were brought onto this mission,” Rocky said. He walked calmly next to me. “Are you alright?”

“I'm fine. We don't have time for this, we need to get to the settlement before nightfall,” I said, continuing forward in a hurried fashion.

“Sweetie, slow down,” Coconut said, retracting her visor. “We can't move as fast as you. Well, Lightning can, but I certainly can't in this power armor. We're all tired and we'll get to the settlement here soon.”

“We can't waste any time,” I said angrily. “It's already too late.”

“What do you mean?” Coconut said.

I stopped in my tracks. I sighed loudly. “Xerves knew we were coming this way. He knew we were leaving the city. Can you follow where I'm going with this?”

“Xerves knows why we are leaving the city,” Rocky said calmly. “He knows about the Heartmender.”

“Right,” I said. “And if we don't hurry... he'll find them. And then there won't be any hope for Mom... ever.”

Coconut grimaced and stepped up next to me. I felt a cold metallic hoof touch my shoulder. “Starry... we'll get there before he does, I promise. But we can't do that on tired bodies and empty stomachs.”

“I do not require food or sleep,” Rocky said flatly.

“Not helping man, not helping,” Lightning said. “Coco's right. We're all tired, well most of us are tired. We'll get to the settlement and then we'll plan out our journey from there after some rest and some food.”

I sighed again. “You're right,” I said with a nod. “I just... that unicorn... he already delayed us. I'm just worried that Xerves has already found the Heartmender's trail.”

“If he has, we'll follow him and deal with him when the time comes,” Coconut said.

I grimaced and nodded again. “Let's go then.”

We started forward once more, filled with a more renewed purpose than before, but still just as tired. Within the hour the first inkling of civilization appeared. We joined up with a caravan heading to the outskirt settlement nestled next to an old prewar bunker known as Bunker City. Not the most exciting name, but it did an excellent job describing what wasn’t the most exciting place.

The closer we got to Bunker City the more apprehensive I felt. I was worried that Xerves was going to find us, I was worried that he was going to find the Heartmender, and I was equally worried that we'd done the wrong thing with Iron Comet. The others may not have liked it, but I was teetering on whether I should have just let Velvet Kiss take care of it. I wondered if the knife in my bag was influencing that line of thought. Either way, I worried that it wasn't the last we'd seen of the unicorn merc.

We parted ways with the caravan just outside the city and headed through the gates. Bunker City was on the very border of Chicacolt. Many of its buildings consisted of prewar tanker wagons and military vehicles that had been rebuilt into shops and domiciles. The bunker itself had been turned into the city's primary inn and place of leadership, since it had enough beds to house ponies weary from the roads. In the distance, the cold Wasteland stretched out beyond. Even with the radiation gone, the Wasteland was still there. I shuddered. It was the first that I'd ever seen it in such a raw capacity.

The guards at the gate led us to the inn, where we were able to just sit and attempt to get some rest. I didn't like the concept of just resting. Xerves was out there somewhere, and he knew that we were there too.

I groaned and leaned back against the wall of our room, drawing the attention of Rocky. The minotaur loped across the room and sat next to me. His yellow eyes pierced the dim light.

“You are alright?” he asked.

I nodded. “I... I'm fine. I just can't stop thinking about it.”

“Xerves.”

“Yeah... he knows, Rock. He has to. And you know what really worries me? How he knows,” I said.

Rocky rested his claw on my shoulder. It felt reassuring. I blushed.

“You think Envy had something to do with it,” he said matter of fact.

I grimaced. “I do. Does that bother you? I know how highly you hold her in regard.”

“I am not so blind to see the world before me. You have shown me that you are willing to do anything for your mother, it is no far cry to see a mother do anything for her son,” Rocky said. “Regardless of my training, if Envy is responsible for allowing her son to remove the only hope we have for your mother, I will do what is necessary.”

“I... Thank you,” I said, leaning up next to him. “That... that means a lot to me.”

“You're welcome,” Rocky replied. “I... we... we are alike, you and I. We both see the world for what it is. I wish we had met under... friendlier circumstances.”

“Me too,” I whispered. “Me too.” I sat in the comfort of his presence, knowing that somehow deep inside, we actually understood each other. A warmth in my stomach told me that maybe I just wasn't crushing. That maybe I'd actually found a soul worth caring for. One who understood what the world was really like.

“No,” I heard Velvet Kiss say.

“Oh come on,” Lightning said from across the room. “Please?”

“No! Leave me alone!”

I rolled my eyes. “I'd better go see what the commotion is all about.” I stood and made my way over to where Velvet was sitting.

Lightning and Coconut were sitting across from her, several magazines splayed out in front of them. My eyes widened a bit as I realized they were those old Wingboner magazines we'd found in the power station.

“What's going on here?” I asked.

“We're trying to get Velvet to change into Miss Equestria, page forty-two,” Lightning replied eagerly.

“Yeah,” Coconut said.

“Let me get this straight. You're trying to get her to change into a porn queen?” I said blankly.

“Well when you put it like that....” Lightning said, looking down at his hooves. “Sorry, Velvet.”

I glanced over at Velvet. She rolled her eyes.

“Look, if I do one, will you guys leave me alone from now on? If you haven't forgotten, we still need to eat,” Velvet said.

“Promise,” Coconut said. “We won't bother you about it again.”

“Fine,” Velvet replied. A flicker of green engulfed her body and in her place was one of the most beautiful mares I'd ever seen. She was clean and her mane bounced a little in place. She winked at both Lightning and Coconut, both of whom had dropped jaws. Another flicker of magic and she returned to plain old Velvet.

“That was... awesome!” both Coconut and Lightning said at the same time.

“Looks like they like you,” I said softly. Coconut and Lightning were too engulfed in their own laughing to hear me. “It's good to have friends who like you for what you are, isn't it?”

“Please. I was only doing it because I need to eat too,” Velvet said.

I raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Yeah. Changelings don't eat real food. I mean, we can. But honestly, we feast on feelings. Specifically, love,” Velvet said. “That was enough to keep me sustained for a while.”

I blinked. “You eat what?”

“Love. We can sense it. Just like I can between you and the big guy over there,” Velvet replied, throwing her head back towards Rocky. “You've got a crush on him, don't you?”

I blushed fiercely. “No, I don't.”

“Hah, you so do. So cute,” Velvet said. “Got a thing for the non-equines don't ya? I don't blame you. He's cute once you get past the robot parts. Wonder if his d-”

“Velvet, seriously. Cut it out,” I said sternly. “Sorry, I just... please don't say anything?”

Velvet grinned. “No worries, Starry. I won't say anything about it.”

“About what?” Lightning said.

I rolled my eyes. Of course my brother had chosen that moment to pay attention.

“Nothing, Bro. Come on guys, let's go see if we can get something to eat and then stock up for the road. If we're going to beat Xerves and find the Heartmender, we're going to need our strength. Besides, somepony here might know something,” I said, smiling.

“A heart-what? Never heard of it.”

“Heartmender? Xerves? I don't know anypony by that name, sorry.”

“The Heartmender? You're looking for the Heartmender?”

I paused for a second. “You've heard of them?”

The unicorn seated at the bar nodded. “The Heartmender is a legend. Supposed to be a pony capable of powerful empathic magic. But it's only a legend. I don't think they actually exist.”

I grimaced. Nopony in Bunker City, except for one lone unicorn, had ever heard of the Heartmender, and even he thought she was a myth. We'd spent the last hour or so eating at the local (and only) bar in town, and I'd gone around to try and see if anypony could tell us anything.

Of course, they couldn't. Not even the name Xerves rung any bells with anypony. I sighed, trotting back outside the bar with the others.

“Nothing,” I said. “Only one pony and he doesn't even think the Heartmender is real.”

“So what do we do now?” Lightning said.

“I say we follow the map marker still,” Coconut interjected. “Keep going along the trail.”

“Wait. We're just following a stupid map marker?” Velvet said, raising an eyebrow. “So whoever this Heartmender is, no one knows where they are? Or if they even exist in the first place?”

“They exist,” I said matter-of-fact. “They have to exist. Otherwise, why would that one pony ever have heard of them in the first place?”

“Yeah... in a legend! Geesh, you guys are dumber than you look, you know that right? Legends aren't real,” Velvet protested. “What's next? You're gonna tell me that there's a Mare in the Moon?”

“We have to believe,” Rocky said simply. “Legends are merely stories based in some truth. Even if the Heartmender isn't some all powerful empathic pony, they must have some knowledge of a medical process that could save Starry's mother.”

Velvet groaned. “Alright, look I get it. You want to save your mom, and that's real sweet. I just don't think we have enough information to go on.”

“No, but Xerves might,” I said, cutting her off. I caught a glimpse of something on one of the roofs in the distance. I grimaced. “By all indications, he knew we were coming this way. He must know we're on the right track. If we can find him, maybe we can get the information out of him somehow.”

“That's a good idea,” Coconut said. “But how are we going to find him? The only lead we had we tied up and left in the middle of nowhere.”

“He's going to tell us,” I said, pointing past the others.

Standing on top of nearby roof was none other than Iron Comet himself. The mercenary frowned. I could see that he had somehow managed to remove the magic inhibitor. Not only that, he was accompanied by the floating severed head of his robot companion. Several of the nearby townsponies watched carefully as the mercenary jumped down to our level.

“I told you already that you would see me again. Seriously, leaving me on the side of the road with a magic inhibitor? You should have just killed me,” he said angrily.

“You got free fine enough,” I said flatly. “For what it's worth, I'm sorry about your friend. He shouldn't have attacked us.”

“Oh, Sledge wasn't my friend. He was just a robot I built. I was trying to get you to let me free,” Comet said. “Didn't work, of course. But, one of the perks of having a robot is always having an extra set of hooves to get rid of a magic inhibitor.”

“I see,” I said with a grimace. “Well, you're free now. So would you care to clue us in on where your employer might be hiding?”

“All I know is that he's left the city, but you won't be following him,” Comet replied. “Word on the street is, not only are the Hellraisers on the lookout for several ponies who escaped their captivity recently, but they strangely enough match your descriptions.”

“So what? You going to be a bounty hunter?” Velvet said. “Don't forget, last time I kicked your butt solid.”

“You got the drop on me, I'll give you that. You won't again,” Comet said.

“Isn't there some way we can work this out?” I asked. “You don't owe anything to Xerves.”

“Sorry sweetie. It's nothing personal. I listen to the hard jingle of caps, and nothing else,” the unicorn said. He lifted his rifle into the air. “So, let's come along quietly this time, alright?”

“Right, because there's not five of us and one of you,” Lightning said. “You're outnumbered, and you don't have your robot to help you.”

Iron Comet grinned. “Who said I was outnumbered?” He whistled sharply and stepped back a few paces.

All around us guns popped out of nowhere. The ponies brandishing them were dirty and unkempt, their eyes wild and mad with excitement. Hellraisers. How they'd gotten into the town unnoticed, I wasn't sure, but one thing was for certain, they meant business. I looked around at the suddenly empty streets. The townsponies didn't want anything to do with this. I grimaced at the lack of help given to representatives of the MMMM. I suppose it made sense all the way out here. The ponies on the outskirts didn't trust anyone they didn't know.

“We don't have time for this,” I hissed under my breath. “Rocky. How many do you think there are?”

“By my system's estimation there are around twenty ponies in the vicinity, including the mercenary,” Rocky whispered.

“I don't like that number. What can you do about the sharpshooters?” I said.

“I can deal with them if that's what you're asking,” Rocky replied.

“Give up you lot!” Iron Comet growled. “You're done here. The Hellraisers get their bounty, I get paid double, from them and Xerves. Win win, really.”

I grimaced. “Rocky, take down as many as you can and give us a path to escape. Lightning?”

“Yea?”

“I need you to run interference. Keep their eyes on you at all times. If you're distracting them, they won't see Velvet. Velvet, you need to use your stealth, get to our room and get our stuff. Can you do that?” I asked.

Velvet nodded. “I don't prefer dying here either.”

“What about you?” Lightning asked.

“Coconut and I are going to work on dealing with fancy pants. He's right about one thing, we're outnumbered here, but he's calling the shots. If we can remove him from the fight, we may have a shot at escaping with our lives,” I said. “We'll split up and meet just outside the city. Don't get caught.”

I sighed and recalled Mom's training on dealing with an overwhelming and impossible situation. The most important thing in that kind of situation was to distract the enemy long enough to get away. Granted, Mom would have never put herself in this kind of situation to begin with. It didn't help my confidence level any that I had. Would Mom have killed Iron Comet the first time? I didn't know, and that's what worried me.

“Tick tock,” Iron Comet said. “Make your choice. I'm pretty sure they don't care if you're alive or dead. I get paid either way.”

“Rocky, go,” I said.

Rocky roared and jumped towards the nearest Hellraiser. With a sickening *crunch* he grabbed the ponies neck and twisted. He snarled and picked it up and threw it across the plaza at another group of them.

Gunfire and chaos erupted. Lightning took to the skies above, flying back and forth as he fired shots into the crowd of ponies. Everypony seemed to be focused on him and Rocky, they didn't even notice Velvet transform into one of them and slink off. I grinned and bumped up next to Coconut across from Iron Comet.

“Outnumbered, eh? You're outgunned,” I said, lifting Justice into the air. I took aim and fired.

Iron Comet snarled and moved to the side, his horn flaring as he used a bit of magic to deflect the bullet. “You're going to have to do better than that, filly.”

Coconut charged, her metal frame carrying her forward. I kept firing, keeping Iron Comet busy deflecting bullets, not giving him enough time to avoid Coconut. She struck him dead on, sending him soaring through the air into a nearby wall. He grunted and crumbled to the ground.

“Come on!” she shouted.

I nodded, following behind her. Shots rang out as the raiders realized that we were escaping, that it was futile to fight the pissed off minotaur and the flighty pegasus. I glanced back and watched Rocky and Lightning run off in the chaos together. Several of the raiders followed them while several more followed after us.

“Keep going!” I called out as we ducked in and out of alleyways made of corrugated metal boxes.

Bullets deflected off metal, creating a cacophony of noise that filled our ears. The edge of the town had to be coming up soon, and we were still being followed. I wasn't sure how we were going to escape this and lose them. I'd hoped that once we'd gotten out of the city into the Wasteland that the raiders wouldn't follow, but now I wasn't so sure.

Coconut and I lunged forward, making our way out of the alley amidst pure and utter chaos. Raiders were everywhere. Gunfire erupted, taking down three of them in our path. I glanced up to see several of the guard ponies from the town. They were fighting back! We had a shot after all! I charged ahead, lifting Justice out. I took several pot shots at a few of our pursuers, forcing them to fall back.

“We've got to meet up with the others and get out of here!” I shouted.

“What about the townsponies? They can't hold off a force like this all by themselves.” Coconut said apprehensively. She turned and fired her rifle, hitting a raider in the chest. He dropped back and lay still.

“And we can make the difference? Coco, we're in over our heads here!” I pleaded. “Normally I'd be all for helping, but we have to retreat.”

“If we retreat, then these ponies have us to blame for their troubles,” Coconut said. “Think Starry, what would your Mom do?”

I grimaced. She had me there. Mom would never let a settlement be destroyed by a group of raiders. She'd do better. She'd expect me to do better, and she would be very cross with me if I came home and let this town go to complete shit. I sighed and nodded.

“Alright, fine. What's your plan, then?” I asked.

“We make our way up to the guards up there and assess the situation,” Coconut said. “If we can, try to pick up the others and fill them in.”

I nodded again. “Lead the way. Hopefully we can drive off these bastards.”

Coconut trotted back into the fray, myself hot on her hooves. We picked our way through the battle, which had escalated into a full on firefight. Hellraisers fired on guards, guards fired back against Hellraisers. I couldn't keep track of who was who, I just knew that we needed to get to the guard tower. From there, we would at least stand a chance at figuring out how to fight back.

Quickly we climbed the stairs up the guard tower, coming face to face with the barrel of one of the guard captain's rifles. We lifted our hooves to indicate that we were friendly.

“You two! What are you doing up here? Civilians are to stay indoors,” the captain barked.

“We're here to help you,” Coconut said. “I'm with the Steel Rangers, my friend here is with the MMMM. These raiders are here because of us. We're hoping that we can help drive them out of town.”

The guard captain grimaced and lowered his rifle. “So you're the reason these sick fucks are here? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't put you down myself.”

“Um... him?” I said meekly, pointing past the captain.

The captain spun about and looked right up into Rocky's cold yellow eyes. Lightning stood next to him, looking no worse for wear.

“We mean your town no harm, captain,” Rocky said calmly. “But my friends are right. You do need our help.”

“Alright, fine. What did you have in mind?” the captain said with a sigh. “We're just a trade outpost. We don't have the kind of firepower to deal with a force this large.”

“No, but you do have a locked armory,” I heard a voice say. I glanced over to see Velvet Kiss, smiling widely as she carted our stuff through the air. “Sorry I'm late. Ran into a few of those raider fucks on the way up.”

I grinned as I took my saddlebags from her. I knew she'd come through, somehow. Velvet was slowly learning to be part of a team, or perhaps it was merely her own survival instinct keeping her here. I honestly couldn't tell which.

“Well, yes, but we've never been able to get inside...” the guard captain trailed off. “It's locked by a security system.”

“Rocky? What do you think? Can you get in with your interface?” I asked the minotaur.

“It's certainly worth the shot,” Rocky said with a shrug. “I cannot guarantee my systems are compatible.”

“Would using my PipBuck help?” I said.

Rocky's eyes narrowed for a second and then he nodded. If he'd had a mouth I swore he'd have grinned widely.

“That might do it,” he said. “Let's get down there and find out.”

After navigating the chaos once more, we found ourselves in the bunker below, in front of a massive steel door. I grimaced as I stepped up next to the terminal connected to it. We hadn't even seen Iron Comet since the fighting started. I was greatly worried we weren't done with him just yet.

“Here it is,” the guard captain said with a grimace of his own. I could tell by his eyes that he was afraid, angry, distraught. “We've tried to get in on occasion when the thing resets, but it's no use. The password is locked tight. I'm going to go back up and try and hold the raiders off while you get inside.”

I nodded, lifting my PipBuck. A cord extended from it, connecting to the port on the terminal. I looked to Rocky. He stood next to me, his arm opened by a hidden compartment. Another cord snaked out from it. I took it in my magic and hooked it into the input on my PipBuck.

“Alright... let's see what we've got here,” I said as I engaged the terminal's security functions. Numbers and letters mixed with special characters scrolled up the screen in random order.

“This is an extremely high security terminal,” Rocky said suddenly. “The... the encryption alone is far above my understanding.”

I narrowed my gaze at the screen. There had to be a way inside! This was quite possibly the only way we were going to save this town. There had to be something! I tapped a few keys, trying to discover the password as best as I could, but each time the screen changed to a different random order.

“Wait,” Rocky said. “Can you go back? There's... there's a pattern.”

I looked up at him. He was entranced with the screen, his yellow eyes wide. I returned to the screen and tapped a few more keys. The previous order of characters appeared briefly.

“There,” Rocky said, pointing at a few of the symbols. They appeared to be random in nature, but they were very similar. “Select that one.”

I moved the cursor over and selected it. A new screen appeared, different than what appeared when I selected incorrectly. “That... that did something. Can you find another one of those?”

“I can try,” Rocky said. His eyes scanned the screen over and over until he lifted a finger, pointing at the far left of the screen. “There. That one.”

I selected the symbols, bringing up a third screen. It appeared to be mostly the same. I couldn't understand it, but somehow... somehow Rocky could see what the hell was going on. Did it have something to do with his cybernetics? I shrugged. If it got us into this place, I didn't care.

“There,” Rocky said, pointing at the middle of the screen.

I started to move the cursor over when I heard yelps from the guards behind us. Gunshots rang out. I glanced back to see that two raiders had breached the bunker. They were accompanied by a pony I had hoped had died in the initial chaos. Iron Comet growled as he stepped into the light.

“We're not done here, kid,” he said angrily. “Get them.”

The two raiders snarled, starting forward only to meet the cold metal of Coconut's hooves. My power-armored friend slammed into them, sending them soaring to the ground in front of Comet. He chuckled.

“You guys are good, I'll give you that. But we've got this place surrounded. There's nothing more you can do,” he said. “I'm going to give you a chance to surrender now before I have to kill you.”

“Starry, hurry,” Lightning said. “We'll hold him off. You get that door opened.” He spread his wings and soared across the room at Comet.

The unicorn growled and stepped to the side, letting Lightning take a nosedive right into the wall.

“Pathetic,” he said. “Just pathetic. You should learn to never just blindly charge into a fight, you fool.”

“Don't you call him pathetic!” Coconut roared. She charged forward, letting the weight of her power armor carry her. She slammed into Iron Comet, sending him back into the same wall as Lightning.

Iron Comet was on his hooves in an instant, his magic reaching out for his rifle. He lifted it just above Lightning's head and stopped. “Hold it right there!” he shouted. “Anypony else makes a move, and I splatter his brains everywhere.”

My eyes widened. The screen on the terminal still sat there blinking at us. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Coconut stopped cold in her tracks. I couldn't move. Iron Comet stood above Lightning, his gun trained on my brother's forehead. A cold sneer formed on his lips.

“That's right. Now, I don't personally enjoy killing,” he said. “But I'll make an exception here. You four have been a pain in my ass, and I haven't even known you all that long.” His eyes narrowed. “Wait. Four? Weren't there--?”

“Forgot about me, dumbass,” Velvet Kiss said as she appeared out nowhere next to him. Her magic reached out, slicing Iron Comet's rifle into pieces. Another blast of magic hit Comet himself, pushing him across the room far away from Lightning. “Starry, get that door open! We got this!”

I nodded, returning to the screen. I hit the button to select the symbols that Rocky had previously pointed out and was instantly met with a single prompt.

> OPEN DOOR?

I blinked. That was it?! Just answer three prompts and that's it? I thought to myself. I quickly typed Y and hit the enter key. A soft hissing noise sounded from the door as it began to grind open.

“It appears that we were successful,” Rocky said.

“We hope,” I said as I disconnected from the terminal. I glanced back across the room where Velvet Kiss had Iron Comet bound in magical energy.

“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me,” he said. “I won't fall for that trick again, changeling.”

“Oh, so you do know what I am,” Velvet said with a wry grin. “Feather boy. Are you alright there?”

Lightning groaned as he stood. “Yeah, my head hurts like a son of a bitch, but I'll be alright. Hey, you guys got the door open!”

Almost as if on cue, the door finally finished opening, a large crunching noise followed by a hiss. The lights inside the armory turned on automatically, revealing a sparse room. In the center of it was... a robot? Yes, a robot. And that was it. A robot surrounded by a circular platform and a terminal connected to it.

“What the...?” I said. “Where's the weapons? The armor? There's nothing here!”

“Hah! Fools. There was no hope for this town the moment the Hellraisers stepped inside,” Iron Comet spat. “They were doomed from the get go.”

“Shit... he's right,” Coconut said. “Without any additional firepower... the town will be overrun.”

“What about the robot?” Velvet Kiss said.

“What about it?” Coconut asked.

“Well... if it was locked up here, it stands to reason that it must have been a combat model. If we can get it up and running...”

I blinked. “That's it. She's right. If we can get the robot working, we can use it to defend the town, drive off the Hellraisers.”

“None of us here know that much about robots though, Sis,” Lightning said.

“No. That's not true,” Rocky interjected. “He does.” He pointed at Iron Comet.

“Oh, 0that's rich. Now you need my help,” Iron Comet said with a laugh. “Well you can fuck right off. I'm just going to wait here until the Hellraisers kill you stupid fucks.”

“Do you really think that the Hellraisers will honor your agreement?” Velvet said with a grin. “They're not known for being honorable, after all. They are raiders. They'll kill you before you ever even get to see your precious caps.”

Iron Comet scowled for a moment. His eyes darted to the floor as he thought things through. “Alright. But I want my freedom. My freedom in exchange for activating the robot.”

“Deal,” I said before anyone could say a word. “Contingent on the fact that you never try to come after us ever again.”

“Hold up, are you sure we can trust him?” Lightning said. “What if he turns on us?”

“I won't,” Iron Comet said. “You are right about one thing. The Hellraisers aren't honorable to the mercenary codes. I would be lucky to be killed as reward for the bounty, but in all likelihood, I'd be sent to the Pier as one of their sick fuck slaves.”

“Velvet, release him,” I said. “But keep his gun. What's left of it, I guess.”

Velvet grimaced, but she nodded her assent. Her magic died off, dropping Iron Comet to the ground. The stallion stood and glanced over at me.

“You know, you'd make a good merc, kid. You've got guts. I like that,” he said. He trotted over next to me and stopped. He leaned in and lowered his voice. “You should know... Xerves told me he was headed north out from here. Through the Badlands. He told me... that he knew you would come for him, that he'd wait for you there.”

“Why would you...?” I asked, glancing over at him.

“Mercenary's honor. I gave my word to leave you alone in exchange for the robot. That makes us even, and I don't like that. This is a freebie. Now you owe me,” he said with a wink. His voice returned to normal levels. “Alright let's see here. This thing is... wow. It's definitely prewar. Never seen anything quite like it.”

“Can you activate it or not?” Rocky said, a hint of anger in his voice.

“Hold your bull horns big guy. I didn't say I couldn't,” Iron Comet said. “Just... give me a claw here while I poke at the terminal.”

I glanced over at Lightning, Coconut, and Velvet. My brother and best friend had glares on their faces, while Velvet had a hard grimace. She appeared to be studying the situation unfolding in front of us.

“I don't know about this, Sis,” Lightning said. “What if he does something to the robot?”

“I... I don't know, but I believe he's sincere,” I said.

“I'm not sure of him myself,” Coconut said. “But I do know that I trust Starry. We should all just be extra cautious, though.”

“He's not lying,” Velvet finally said.

“How can you tell?” Coconut asked.

“I... I can read emotions. It helps with feeding,” Velvet said, blushing. “He's sincere. He realized once I told him what the Hellraisers would do to him that I was right, we're his only chance of getting out of this with his ass intact.”

“Wait... what?” Lightning said. “Feeding? Like, food?”

“Not the time,” Velvet hissed as she glanced outside the bunker. “We need to hurry. The guards can't hold off the raiders for much longer.”

I followed her gaze. She was right about that. The guards had managed to stabilize before the bunker entrance, but beyond that the town was chaos. I shuddered to think of how many might have already died in the firefight. I was shaken out of my reverie by a pony walking towards the entrance, the guard captain. His eyes were wild.

“We're getting dangerously low on ammunition. Were you able to get inside the armory?” he asked frantically.

I nodded with a grimace. “I'm afraid there aren't any extra weapons or armor though. Just a robot, combat model it looks like. We're trying to get it up and running right now.”

“Got it!” I heard Iron Comet shout. “Alright, now. When I tell you to do so, bust open the casing. The lever's stuck, and it won't open, so we've gotta do it manually.”

“Alright,” Rocky replied.

The guard captain's eyes narrowed. “Do you think this will work? We're barely holding on as is.”

I nodded again. The captain sighed and returned his own stiff nod. He trotted back off towards the firing line where the other guards had holed up. I returned to the others.

“Is it working?” I asked.

“We believe so,” Rocky said. “Are you ready for me to open the casing?”

“Yes. Go ahead and crack it open. The robot's systems are starting up now...” Iron Comet replied as he hit a key on the keyboard attached to the terminal screen.

Rocky stood up next to the casing holding the robot in and reached out with his claws. With one swift motion he pulled apart the casing, releasing the large robot. It's terminal screen attached to where it's eyes would be lit up and it slid forward on treaded legs. The screen lit up, showing the face of... a happy pony?

“CLICK,” it said. “BEEP CLICK BEEP.”

“Umm... hi?” I replied.

The terminal screen changed to a pony laughing and then back to a smiling pony. I blinked. What the hell was this thing? There was no way this was a combat robot!

“CLICK CLICK CLICK,” the robot said. It's screen changed to a question mark.

“I think it's trying to communicate with us, but it's voice processor is broken,” Iron Comet said. “Robot, can you understand us?”

The robot's head bobbed up and down. A picture of a smiling pony reappeared on the screen.

“Good. We need your help. There are innocent ponies in this town, they need help. Bad ponies,” I said. “Do you understand?”

The robot nodded its large head once more. An image of an angry pony appeared on the screen. It made another clicking sound and rolled forward again. It's front legs lifted, converting from tread to what appeared to be two laser cannons.

“I guess it really does know what to do,” Lightning said, his voice in awe.

The robot moved towards the entrance of the bunker, pushing it open with relative ease. I grimaced.

“Come on, we'd better follow it, make sure it knows who the good ponies are,” I said.

“If it's all the same to you, I'm going to stay right here,” Iron Comet said. “Perhaps I can glean some more information from the terminal about the robot. Maybe try to send commands to it.”

“Velvet, you stay with him,” I said, earning myself an eyebrow raise from the stallion. “Not in case you do something you're not supposed to, for protection. Velvet can hide in the shadows and get the drop on anypony.”

Velvet nodded. For once, I was surprised she didn't have a witty comment or sassy retort. She was doing her job, like she was asked. I smiled. Perhaps... perhaps she wasn't so bad. I mean, she'd already helped save us several times. I made a mental note to thank her later.

“Come on!” Coconut said as she trotted out the bunker after the robot.

I followed closely behind her, stepping back out into the war zone proper. At least, it had been a war zone until we showed up. The robot's presence had definitely had an effect on the raiders and the guards alike, silencing everypony as it ground past. It lifted one of its laser cannons, firing a bolt of red that tore into a raider. Once everypony realized what side the thing stood on, the fighting began anew.

I made my way through the craziness, keeping tabs on our new metal friend while taking potshots here and there with Justice.

The robot meanwhile, kept pressing forward, firing here and there at every raider it could hit. The effects of this were inspiring. The raiders fell back until they were fleeing entirely. Cheers could be heard from above the roar of the gunfire. We were winning! Within mere moments, the robot had helped turn around the entire scope of the battle.

And then it was quiet. The robot stopped cold and turned back around, heading back towards the bunker. It had a dancing happy pony on its terminal screen. It slid into the bunker and disappeared.

Several hours later, we stood in the bunker across from the robot's pod. It had returned there, presumably to recharge. Iron Comet had kept his part of the bargain, and he'd been gone by the time the guards arrived back to retake the bunker. I had sincerely hoped it was the last time I'd ever see him.

“We did it! Those raiders won't bother us again!” the guard captain shouted with glee as he walked up to us. “Thanks to you five. I don't know what we'd have done if you weren't here.”

I grimaced. “Probably never would have gotten attacked in the first place,” I said. “After all, it was our fault that the raiders showed up.”

“I have no anger towards you concerning that,” the guard captain said. “You did what was right in the heat of battle, and you helped your fellow pony when it counted. That makes you alright in my book. My name's Jitters. Anytime you need a place to stay in Bunker City, you can count on us.”

“Thank you,” Rocky said. “How many casualties?”

Jitters frowned. “Thankfully, casualties were kept to a minimum. Most of the traders and shop owners were holed up in their stores, and raiders' primary focus was on the guards. We lost ten good ponies today, but we saved much more.”

“We're glad we could help,” Coconut said. “The Steel Rangers never back away from fighting the good fight.”

“Neither do the MMMM,” Lightning said with a grin.

“Yes... about that. I've used the communications radio to put in a call to Theater. A caravan is on its way to resupply us. We've officially decided to join the MMMM. This kind of problem has shown us that we can't defend ourselves on our own out here on the border. We need help,” Jitters replied.

I nodded, glancing over at the robot pod. The robot had re-activated, its screen once more a smiling happy pony. “What will you do with him? He seems friendly,” I asked.

“I... I don't know. The townsponies all agreed that while he was the reason we were able to pull through, they're frightened of him too. Prewar technology aside, robots aren't always the safest to have around,” Jitters said. “Not to mention the upkeep and maintenance.”

“And you can't just shut him down now that he's been awakened,” Rocky stated.

“Right. I was sort of wondering if... well, if he could go with you,” Jitters said.

The robot whirred and clicked loudly, almost excitedly. His screen changed to a happy dancing pony and he almost seemed to dance himself on his treads.

“Huh. Now there's a sight I'd never thought I'd see,” Velvet said. “A happy robot.”

“Do you understand us? You want to come with us?” I asked, turning to the robot.

“CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK!” it said frantically. It sounded... excited.

“At least it's not another mouth to feed,” Coconut said. “Could come in useful out there in the Wasteland.”

“It's agreed then. We'll take him. But he's going to need a name,” I said. “We can't just keep calling him Robot.”

“Robby?” Lightning said. All eyes turned on him. “What? What'd I say?”

“CLICK,” the robot said. The screen changed to a laughing pony.

“I think I know what to name him. Click? Does that sound good to you?” I said.

“CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK!!!!!!”

“I think it likes that,” Rocky said.

I chuckled to myself. Another member added to our motley crew, bringing our total up to six. And while I couldn't help but laugh as I watched the others with Click as the robot whirled around in place happily, my mind was distracted. I couldn't get what Iron Comet said out of my mind. Xerves was waiting for me. Me. Not anypony else, but me. I couldn't shake that away as much as I tried.

I glanced away out the window of the bunker and looked out at the town. The damage was extensive but the ponies were already cleaning up the bodies of the dead raiders, looting before disposing of them. In the distance, I could see ponies burying the guards that had perished in the fight. I thought of what I had almost done. I had been ready to leave, to let this town perish, just to feed my own agenda.

In that moment, I had been just like Iron Comet, self-serving and amoral. My thoughts turned to the knife in the saddlebags. That vicious, wicked thing capable of making me feel terrible emotions. Had it been responsible for that? I was sure it wasn't. Instead, it had been all me. I had been willing to let an entire town be slaughtered just to get to Xerves, to find the Heartmender before he could.

What in the world was wrong with me?

Author's Notes:

And there we have it folks, Mending Hearts Chapter 7 in the bag! This chapter took me forever! Thankfully what gave me an appropriate kickstart on this happened to be a patron! I had a new $15 patron sign up, by the name of Iron Comet, whose reward included a cameo in a chapter. And thus, Iron Comet in the chapter was born. Will we see him again? I'm sure we will. I'm not well known for making one-shot cameos that don't have impact on the story.

If you've been living under a rock, it's worth noting that I am now doing regularish book giveaways of Fallout Equestria: Starlight on Patreon! The next of these is scheduled to occur in July, where I hope to be giving away a full set of books if I can get enough patrons lined up.

Speaking of Patreon, I have some ridiculously awesome patrons. Stryker, Silentwoodfire, Cylestea, Iron Comet (i.e. the higher up club) you guys are the best. Give these guys some applause. For reals. For the guys at the low end, you're also super cool, as every little bit helps.

If you do like what you're reading, and you want to consider supporting me monetarily somehow, check out my Patreon! I also do take private donations if you don't want to do the whole subscription thing. PM me for details on that.

I'd like to give a big thanks to Wirepony, McMesser, and Heartshine. My core peeps. Y'all are the best as well.

Moving forward towards Chapter 8: The Badlands!

-V