I awoke to find Mirage’s head resting on my shoulder. She was snoring softly. It was almost as if she were whistling. I looked to the sky and recoiled at the brightness. The sun must have risen hours ago. How long had the two of us been out here? Wow. I never thought I’d think it, but thank goodness I was in the Crystal Wasteland. If I had fallen asleep in the open on the other side of the border, I doubted I would have lived to see the sun.

“’Bout time you two finished hibernating.”

A glance behind me told me why I had been so lucky. Lamentation was standing by the door of the inn with his rifle at the ready.

Packrat was standing next to him with our bags. Her lip was still swollen, but she looked a lot better than she did last night. She smiled and hopped up and down. “You and Mirage have gotten really close. Should I start planning the wedding?”

“Egh. Hardly.” It seemed Mirage was awake. She scooted away from me. She pointed one of her wings at me. “If you did anything to me while I was asleep I swear I’m going to—”

“Suck his blood?”

Mirage glared bullets at him. “Go fuck yourself.”

“I’d rather that than touch any part of you.”

Racist comments aside, this was what I imagined a married couple would sound like. Though I doubted these two would ever fall in love with each other.

Mirage snorted and spat. “Are you ready to lead the way?”

Lamentation nodded. “Though let me be the first to say this is a stupid idea.”

“You can leave if you want. I’m sure we can find our way there without you.”

“Not a chance.” Lamentation started walking. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my old age, only an idiot travels the Wasteland alone.”

The first time I had met Packrat, she had been alone. I wasn’t sure if I would truly call her an idiot. She could be idiotic, but I didn’t think the label of idiot truly fit her. If anything, Packrat’s real vice was her heroism. She had saved me, Lysandra, and Mirage in the short time I had known her. Each time, she willingly threw herself into danger for another pony’s sake. We were about to do the same thing. This wasn’t to save anypony directly. We were attempting to slay a monster because it was on Mirage’s to-do list. I was allowed to kill monsters, but this wasn’t the best use of our time and resources. Heroism had its place. I wasn’t sure if Packrat knew that or not.

Packrat trotted to my side. “How’re you doing, Savage?”

I shook my head and pointed at her.

She shook her head in return. “This is nothing. I’ve survived a lot worse than breezadore bites.” She motioned towards Mirage and Lamentation. “What do you think of these two?”

It was too early to tell. If my friendship with Carbine taught me anything, it was first impressions weren’t important. As far as first impressions went, however, I wasn’t overly impressed with our new companions. I liked them, I supposed. I didn’t hate Mirage for sure. I wasn’t entirely sure I trusted Lamentation. I understood his mentality of not wanting to be alone in the Wasteland, but he hadn’t batted an eye at his dead comrades. That didn’t sit well with me. I didn’t want him expelled from the group, but I wasn’t ready to welcome him with open hooves either.

To answer Packrat’s question, I shrugged.

She nodded. “Yeah. I like ‘em too.” That wasn’t what I had said but whatever. “I know Mom’ll be excited to have more ponies around town. She could barely contain herself when she met you and Lysa.”

Really? I thought back to Maud Pie’s monotone welcome. If that was her excited, I wondered how dull she would be if she were bored. I couldn’t deny that made me more optimistic. If the mare in charge of Boulder Springs liked me, it gave me a better chance of saving Carbine. That and actually having a place to live my life.

The only question was what I wanted to do with my life. I recalled the conversation I had with Lyra, or maybe it would be more accurate to say the conversation I had with myself. I wanted to live. I was going to live. In all honesty, I didn’t know what that truly meant. Obviously it meant not dying. I knew there was more to it. Without Lyra, I didn’t know what that more to it was anymore. I had friends, but Carbine was not the type of pony I wanted to base my life around. Which was ironic, considering he was the reason I was associating myself with Boulder Springs in the first place. I couldn’t picture myself forming a relationship with Packrat or Shadow either. I trusted Lysandra even less than I trusted Lamentation. I wondered if that was what I really wanted. To find a mare to settle down with. To replace Lyra….

I felt something hard hit the back of my head. I rubbed my head and saw Mirage standing next to me. She was wearing her hoof claws, and the spike-ball was attached to her tail. What had she hit me with? I received my answer when she slapped my head, again, with her wing. “Don’t go spacing out on me, Savage. I need you at full attention when we go bug hunting.”

Fair enough. Thoughts about my future could wait. After all, there was no future to be had if I didn’t make it through the present.

I may not have been overly impressed by my new companions, but they were more impressive than the hive. The hive was a cave. That was it. I supposed there would be something inside the cave, but I was expecting a large compound of some sort. Roughly ten vulpas buzzed around the mouth of the cave. Those must have been the guards. These vulpas were bulkier than the ones I had previously encountered. They were not taller, thank goodness, but they looked as though they could take a few hits.

Packrat nodded to Mirage. “This is your thing, Mirage. You tell us what to do.”

Lamentation scoffed but didn’t say anything. Mirage smirked at that. She nudged me with her wing. “Still have the minigun?”

I shook my head and pointed at Packrat. She and I had switched off during the trek here. I carried the assault rifle and the other weapons, while she carried the minigun. Thank goodness she had dropped her junk off at Boulder Springs. Otherwise we would have left the minigun behind. Facing a squad of ten large vulpas, I was glad we had it.

Packrat whipped out the minigun, and it fell to the ground. THUD! Oh no. We were situated on a hill and had taken cover behind some boulders. We could hide from the vulpas, but they would have heard that sound.

I raised my head to sneak a peek at the vulpas. They had heard the sound alright. A swarm of ten bulky vulpas was flying towards us. I glanced back at my companions. Mirage must have seen the panic in my eyes. She picked up the minigun and flew over the rocks. She wasn’t able to fly very fast due to the weight of the weapon, but she was fast enough to get over our cover and start firing.

She screamed guttural sounds as the minigun roared. Some of the bullets missed; others tore the vulpas to pieces. Mirage clipped their wings and tore off their legs. The vulpas hissed. Blood dripped from large wounds. I hoped there was no venom in there. We were going to have to walk through that in a minute. Four of them were dead before they hit the ground. Five more hit the ground writhing. Lamentation and I finished them off with a few headshots.

That left one more vulpa. Click. Click. Click. Smoke was flowing from the barrel of the minigun instead of bullets. Mirage grunted and hurled the minigun at the vulpa. It didn’t go very far before gravity sent it plummeting towards the ground.

The vulpa lunged towards Mirage. I expected her to try and evade it. That’s what I would have done. Mirage simply scowled and retrieved her shotgun from the holster on her back. She took aim and prepared to fire. The vulpa’s eye exploded before she had the chance to. The vulpa lost its bearings and crashed onto the ground before us.

Lamentation nodded. “You’re welcome.”

Mirage holstered her shotgun with a dirty look. “Glory hog.”

He shook his head. He looked at me and Packrat with a smirk. “That’s the problem with monsters. They don’t appreciate good deeds.”

Mirage rolled her eyes. She descended so that she was standing on top of the pile of rocks. “The bugs are dead. We can go inside now.”

“Nope!” All eyes turned to Packrat. She was rummaging through the vulpa’s thorax with her head inside its body. “I know it’s in here some—ooh! Found it.” She emerged covered in the vulpa’s blood with a large sac dangling from her mouth. She dropped the sac into her bag. “Okay. Now we’re good.”

Mirage and Lamentation shared incredulous stares. When they looked at me, I smiled back. After the Sugar Favor Fun Store, I was used to Packrat’s looting. She took sacs from the other vulpas as well. While Packrat was busy, I took the first steps into the cave. I couldn’t see anything past the mouth of the cave. I would need the lamp from her PipBuck to make any real progress.

I heard a sound behind me. It sounded like a fire coming to life. I turned my head. Lamentation was standing behind me with a cigarette in his mouth. The glow of the cigarette did not produce much light, but it was something. At least I could see my companions.

Mirage snorted beside him. “Put that thing out. You’ll give us all cancer.”

“Just you.” He blew smoke from his nostrils into her face.

Mirage coughed and flapped her wings to dissipate the smoke. “You prickhole.” She pulled out her shotgun. She wasn’t going to shoot him was she? Luckily, she didn’t. Even better, she turned on a flashlight above the barrel. “Better than your fucking cancer stick.”

Lamentation grunted. He spat his cigarette by Mirage’s hooves and put it out. “Satisfied, bat?”

“Nope. This is a terrible idea.” Packrat stepped forward. There was a green light emanating from her PipBuck. “We’re at a huge disadvantage in here. The PipBuck lamp and flashlight don’t give us nearly enough light for us to fight.”

Lamentation snorted. “What do you suggest? Luring them out with some candy and bright colors?”

Packrat looked at me with a grin. “Something like that.” I was wondering if I should start worrying now or if I should wait. Packrat trotted towards me and tapped my grenade necklace. “Savage has incendiary grenades. If we set this place on fire, we might be able to lure the breezadores out.”

Lamentation raised a hoof. “One question: how do we set rocks on fire?”

Packrat’s answer was simple. She pointed up. Her PipBuck lamp shone on the ceiling.

Oh. This was more what I was expecting from a hive. The ceiling of the cave was a large oozing membrane. The space was crammed by vulpas, eggs, and other creatures. I watched as vulpas tore into some of the helpless creatures. A small dog and a bird were being feasted upon. The animals squirmed, but they were overwhelmed. They were being eaten alive. This was abhorrent and disgusting. I also witnessed a pair of vulpas fighting over a mate. Others were in the process of mating, which was equally abhorrent and disgusting.

Lamentation stroked his chin. “I wonder why they haven’t noticed us yet.”

Mirage shrugged. “The more important question is who’s going to use the grenades?”

“Who else but you?”

Mirage showed her fangs. “Let me guess, because I’m expendable?”

“No. You can see in the dark, can’t you?” Mirage nodded. “That gives you an advantage over the rest of us. You can go further into the cave and find the best place for the grenades. If you’re not using light, it’ll decrease your chances of being found. I also doubt Savage and I would be able to reach the ceiling without wings or magic. And speaking of wings, you’re the most agile. You can probably escape before the fires gets you.” His lips curled. “Not saying you aren’t expendable. But you do have actual use.”

Mirage sighed. “Well, it’s something.” She cast her eyes upon me. “I’ll take the grenades.”

I removed the incendiary grenades without removing the pins. All yours, Mirage.

“Savage. You mind carrying my stuff? I don’t want to be weighed down.”

I shrugged. I felt that I was practically Packrat’s pack mule already. Mirage removed her hoof claws and tail spike, but she kept her shotgun. Of all the places to store the grenades, she chose her mouth. She could have emptied her bag and carried the grenades in there. Her mouth seemed dangerous.

“This way something’s bound to go up in flames,” Lamentation muttered.
Mirage either didn’t hear him, or she didn’t care. She saluted and took off. It took no more than eight seconds for her to completely disappear from sight. It was as if the darkness itself had swallowed her. I felt very thankful I would not have to venture deeper into the cave.

Lamentation started to walk out of the cave. Packrat trotted behind him, and I brought up the rear. The three of us took our positions behind the boulder. We trained our guns at the mouth of the cave. Mirage should be flying out at any second with a swarm of angry, likely burning, vulpas behind her. If at all possible, I wanted to kill the Legendary Vulpa as soon as it emerged.

We waited. The strange thing about waiting was it made time slow down. I felt that I was staring at the cave for hours. The sun hadn’t set, so I couldn’t be too dramatic and say days. In reality, it was likely only a few minutes. Every second felt as long as a year. Where was she? Where were they? And was I hearing buzzing, or was I just losing my mind?

The period of eternal waiting was filled by some of the quickest moments I had ever been a part of.

Mirage burst forth from the mouth of the cave. She spun around in midair and fired two shots from her shotgun. “Grenades! Grenades!” She fired another shot. “And would somepony get me my goddamned claws!”

I heard her the first time. I had removed one of my grenades with no band. I removed it without pulling the pin and bucked it towards Mirage, while Packrat levitated the claws. Mirage flew towards the claws and grenade with her hooves outstretched, and her tail ready to strike. In one smooth motion, she slipped on the hooves and caught the grenade with her tail. With a flick of her tail, she flung the grenade into the cave and shot at it. The force of the explosion knocked her backwards. She fell onto the ground and skidded when she hit the ground.

From the other side of the cave, I heard a symphony of thuds. I assumed I was hearing the sounds of dying vulpas. How many were we killing? I had no love lost on vulpas after my experience with the venom. My encounter yesterday had not exactly warmed my heart towards them either. Still, something about this felt wrong. We had invaded their home, and we were destroying them. Vulpas were monsters but not in this case. If anything we were the monsters right now. This line of thinking wouldn’t stop me from killing any vulpa that so much as looked my way. But I couldn’t help but acknowledge we had no moral ground in this situation. So much for this being the civilized Wasteland.

Vulpas who had survived the flames and explosions, and Mirage’s sporadic fire, came out of the cave. Most of them didn’t get far. A majority of the vulpas were on fire. Some of them died while in the air, while others fell to the ground after their wings burnt. I watched one vulpa crawl towards Mirage with both of its wings and half its face burnt. The other half of its face was slashed to pieces by Mirage. Lamentation, Packrat, and I provided cover by shooting the stragglers. Packrat’s assault rifle was a national treasure with how much damage it was doing. Carbine would have loved it. Lamentation’s shots were rarer than Packrat’s, but each shot registered a kill.

Since I had issues with my guns yesterday, I wanted to stay conservative with my shots. I had learned Savage only needed to be reloaded, but Memento had legitimately jammed. I didn’t want to overuse it and risk another jam. I kept my eyes on the vicinity around Mirage. If a vulpa got too close or appeared prepared to attack, I fired. Savage put a hole in a vulpa’s wing, while Memento shot another in its stomach. I fired again. I severed a vulpa’s leg, as it was about to strike. Mirage finished it off by eviscerating it. Mirage’s body was drenched in the blood and guts of vulpas. Ew. I didn’t envy her in the slightest. If anything, I empathized.

The assault rifle went off twice more. The bullets pierced the final vulpa’s chest. It fell to the ground, and its life ended via one of Lamentation’s well-placed shots. Mirage gently descended. As soon as her hooves touched the ground, she collapsed onto her belly. Packrat and I immediately ran down towards her.

“Mirage, are you okay?!”

Packrat lifted Mirage’s head. Her eyes were closed, but she was breathing. The Nocti smirked and nodded. She kept her eyes closed. I imagined she was exhausted. Packrat gently laid Mirage’s head on the ground. “I’m going to see what these guys have. Mind watching her?”

Not at all. I sat down beside Mirage. That was all the answer Packrat needed. She skipped towards the nearest vulpa and began inspecting the corpse. Lamentation approached me and sat down as well. “You seem to have taken a liking to the bat.”

I supposed I had to an extent. We weren’t particularly close, but I considered her to be my friend. I still stood by my thoughts earlier. But Mirage and Lamentation had both grown on me. I supposed fighting by another pony’s side was the ultimate test of comradery. I shrugged.

He chuckled. “Now that she’s finished her mission, I wonder what she’ll do when she wakes up.”

“Get as far away from you as possible.” Mirage opened her eyes. Her eyes were glaring, but there was a good-natured smile on her face. “If I never see you again, it’ll be too soon.”

“You took the words right out of my mouth.” Lamentation retrieved a flask from his bag and drank. He offered it to Mirage. “Whiskey?”

“Thanks.” She stood up and had a drink. “Savage?”

I shook my head. I wasn’t thirsty.

Lamentation shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He took his flask from Mirage and had another drink. Then he rested his head against the hill. “You know, there’s something that feels wrong about all this.”

I agreed with him on that. Though I was surprised to find Lamentation felt the same moral quandary I did.

Mirage cracked her neck. “And what would that be?”

Lamentation motioned to the dead swarm in front of us. “Which one of those was the Legendary Breezadore?”

Mirage looked around her. “Hmm. I have a description in my bag.” She trotted up the hill. I heard her rummaging through her bag. “Okay. According to reports, the Legendary Breezadore is, and I quote, ‘a big blue motherfucker with a squeaky voice and pink mane.’ That describe any of our friends down there?”

No. No, it didn’t. There was an entire rainbow of vulpas. Some of them were even blue. None of them had a pink mane. I also hadn’t heard any of them speak. They hissed; they roared. They didn’t talk.

“Yeah, one.”

Everypony looked at Packrat. She had been standing inside the cave. I assumed she was looting the vulpas who had never made it outside. She was slowly backpedaling, and I noticed her legs were shaking. I didn’t like that.

Mirage glided to a space beside Packrat. “Which one.”

“That one.”

“Whe—oh shit!” Mirage sprinted away from the cave and flew back behind the rock cover. “Guys, get up here!”

Packrat followed. Lamentation and I shared a worried expression before rushing up the hill. All four of us were panting. In addition, Lamentation was glaring. “My legs aren’t what they used to be. So would one of you mares mind telling me what I’m running from?”

Mirage poked her head out from the rocks. She pointed with one of her hooves. “From that.”

Lamentation raised his head first. He quickly lowered it and pressed a hoof against his chest. His glare intensified. “Are you serious right now?” He was whispering, but his tone was as cold as ice.

Mirage nodded. “Yeah. That’s the last one.” She took a deep breath and put on a brave face. “But we made it this far. He might be a big motherfucker, but he won’t stand a chance against us.”

Lamentation grunted. “What’s all this we and us nonsense?” He nudged me and looked at Packrat. “We’re not NCR. We have no stake in this mission or loyalty to the bat. We can just leave.”

“No, we can’t.” Packrat put a hoof on Mirage’s shoulder. “I told her we were going to help her, and we’re going to do that.” Lamentation opened his mouth; Packrat shook her head. “You’re staying with us, mister. And after this, you’re taking me to Failed Wish.”

Lamentation flinched at Packrat’s tone, which was almost as icy as his own. “You’re insane.” He glanced at me. I wasn’t going to just leave Packrat. I kept my answer short; I shrugged. “You’re all insane.” He continued to grumble to himself, but he didn’t make any attempt to leave.

That was the end of that conversation. It seemed I was in this for the long haul. In that case, I needed to get a look at what I would be fighting. I raised my head to…-Oh my.

The average vulpa was slightly smaller than a foal. The bulkier vulpas had been roughly the same size. The creature I saw making its way out of the cave was double the size of an alicorn, possibly larger. It had more wings than a regular vulpa. I was sure it also had more teeth. Its claws glinted like steel. Most terrifying of all were its eyes. It didn’t have the bulging eyes of a normal vulpa. Its eyes looked almost like a pony’s. Despite its size, this one had softer features than the other. Its dark blue coloring seemed less baleful than the others. Its pink mane was significantly glossier than the other vulpas.

What in the name of Celestia or Cadance, or whatever other poor excuses for goddesses we had, had created this abomination? Had it even been created in the first place, or had there been a transformation of some sorts? It looked more pony than the others. Could something like this happen to me? Those questions aside, this was still a large creature with multiple ways of killing me. And it looked very angry.

I was terrified. I wanted to pull the trigger, but my mouth wouldn’t bite down on the bit. I wanted to start running, but I was frozen in place. Bang. Packrat fired the first shot. A slug from Opus hit the Legendary Vulpa in the neck. The slug exploded upon contact. The Legendary Vulpa reared back and screamed. It didn’t roar or hiss; it screamed. It touched its neck with one of its claws. Its red eyes frantically searched the area for what had attacked it.

“Where are you?”

“Right here.” Packrat was running down the hill with a plethora of weapons levitating around her. I noticed the glint in her eyes. Packrat was all business. And she needed help. Mirage and Lamentation hadn’t moved. That needed to change.

I stomped on the ground to get their attention. I pointed to Mirage, and then pointed to the sky. We needed her in the air. That way she could keep an eye on everypony. She could call out strategies from there, as well as be a distraction when it was needed. Her combat was also suited to close-quarters, and that worked at its best when she was airborne.

I then looked at Lamentation and stomped on the ground twice. He needed to stay up here. His job was to provide cover fire. He was older, and he had already complained about his legs. Having him running around wouldn’t do anypony any favors. Similar to Mirage in the air, Lamentation’s position allowed him to see what was going on, and he could act accordingly.

He smirked and readied his rifle. “Stay here, huh? Don’t have to tell me twice.”

Mirage openly scowled at me. “And where are you going to be while I risk my life in the sky?”

The only place left. I couldn’t stay here with Lamentation. If the Legendary Vulpa was being attacked by two ponies up here, it would have extra incentive to attack this spot. Packrat had the ground covered, and I wasn’t especially mobile anyways. It wasn’t like I could take residence in the sky either. I pointed to my position. The cave.

Her eyes widened. “How are you going to get in there?”

I was glad she asked. I doubted I’d be able to get there without her. I reached into my bag and retrieved a flashbang. I tossed it to her, and she caught it in her mouth. I closed my eyes and mimed throwing it. When I opened my eyes, I saw Mirage rolling hers. “I’m an NCR soldier. I know what a flashbang is, dummy.”

No need to be so rude.

She gave me an uneasy glance. “Are you sure about this?”

Of course I wasn’t. Dashing past a massive insect wasn’t one of my life goals by any stretch of the definition. It was where I felt I could be most effective, though. Mirage and Lamentation were my comrades, but I wasn’t ready to call them my family yet. I wasn’t sure about Packrat either, but I felt she was getting there. If there was any way I could help her, I wanted to do it.

I nodded to Mirage. I hunched and prepared to spring. Once the flashbang went off, I would make a break for the cave. The Legendary Vulpa was currently occupied with Packrat. It lunged at her with its large stinger. Packrat rolled out of the way of the stinger but into the path of one of its claws. The claw cut into the side of her face. Packrat screamed, as she staggered backward. She blindly fired the assault rifle. She completely missed the Legendary Vulpa.

Lamentation tilted his head towards Mirage. “What are you doing just standing there? Get over there!”

She didn’t argue with him or shoot him a dirty look. Mirage slipped the spike-ball onto her tail and grabbed a few syringes of anti-venom in her mouth. I couldn’t help but notice she could fit a lot in her mouth. She burst into the air. Mirage sailed towards the Legendary Vulpa. She poised to attack with her claws, but she chose to dive at the last second to avoid an incoming claw. Not only did she avoid the attack, but her tail struck the monster in the chest. It recoiled slightly, but it was enough. Mirage spat the flashbang into the air and knocked it into the Legendary Vulpa with her wing. She swooped towards Packrat and used her wings to shield the unicorn from the bang.

I closed my eyes and started running. I heard the flashbang go off. I had a few precious seconds. I opened my eyes after a few seconds—just in time to have one of its claws rake into my side. The impact knocked me onto my side. I started to slide, and I used my momentum to roll towards the cave.

The Legendary Vulpa was thrashing near me. Its claws swiped in random directions. It spat out a constant stream of venom. Mirage returned to the air. She ducked and weaved around its attacks. Packrat had retreated away from the thrash zone. She was removing a syringe from her cheek, and I watched her gulp down a healing potion. Her body was starting to spasm as well. It had taken me three days to recover from vulpa venom. Even then, I still felt the side-effects for a short while. I couldn’t imagine how Packrat was doing. She was my first priority. I had to keep that thing away from her while she took some time to recover. Then she’d need a long rest.

I winced, as I felt my side sting. I wasn’t sure if the pain was from the scratch itself or the venom. Though the two weren’t mutually exclusive. I gritted my teeth and removed a green band grenade. These had a good track record against vulpas. Legendary or not, this one shouldn’t be different. I hoped.

I was about to buck the grenade, but there was a surge of pain. I was distracted for a moment. One moment too many. The grenade hit the ground before I had the chance to kick it. And I heavily doubted I had any kind of immunity towards green waves of magic. I galloped further into the darkness of the cave. The only sources of light I had were the fires blazing around the membrane on the ceiling. I could barely see in front of me. That was fine if I would be safe from the grenade.

Boom.

The grenade exploded. I didn’t look back at the wave. I continued galloping. My hooves were aching; my side was burning. Still, I kept running. I could have died if I slowed down. I wouldn’t slow down until I knew that I was safe. Or, as it turned out, if I tripped over my hooves. My body crashed onto the ground and hit a boulder. Great. Now I could add my back to an ever growing list of hurt body parts.

I slowly rose to my hooves. There was no sign of the green wave. The good news was I had survived. Aside from the pain in my body, there wasn’t a lot of bad news. I was away from the action, but that wasn’t a problem so long as my comrades were safe. I needed to get back, though. I wanted to help them.

I started to turn back towards where I had come, when something caught my eye. In the flickering of the flames, I noticed an object sitting a ways off. I trotted towards it. Despite growing closer, I couldn’t make out what the object was. Its silhouette was small. Almost like…-I picked up the object and took it into the light.

My suspicion was correct. This was one of the Fallen Ang—Ministry Mare figurines. Due to the low light, and the effects of the venom, I couldn’t tell what her colors her. I was certain she was a pegasus, and I could barely make out her butterfly cutie mark. This must’ve been Fluttershy. What was this doing in the vulpa hive? I assumed it belonged to a vulpa victim. Either that or it was a possession of the Legendary Vulpa. Hmmm. If that was the case then hopefully I could use it as a distraction.

There was not much else to explore, and I knew I was safe from the blast. I galloped through the darkness towards where I believed the mouth of the cave to be. Thankfully, I was right. The massive monster had its back towards me. That gave me a good opening, especially if I could hamper the stinger at the end of its tail.

I lined up Savage with the stinger. As I bit down, I heard a loud scream. The scream distracted me, and the shot went wide. I barely clipped the edge of one of its wings. Not enough to do any damage, but it was enough to get its attention.

The Legendary Vulpa turned towards me. As it turned, I saw the source of the scream. Mirage was writhing on her back. Her side and tail were bleeding. One of her front loves was limp; I assumed it was broken. The source of the scream was not among those injuries. I had seen vulpas spit venom. I had never seen venom hit a pony in the eye. The area around Mirage’s eye had been seared black. The venom ate away at her flesh in a manner I hadn’t thought possible.

Mirage rolled onto her belly, and I saw her eye. It had lost its color. It was just a white oval. It was as if her eye had been replaced by an egg. I was fighting an enemy who could do that to me at any given moment. And I was currently its primary focus. As Carbine would say: motherfucker.

The Legendary Vulpa glared at me with its pony-like eyes. “Why do you want to hurt me? Why do ponies always want to hurt the breezies?”

That was for Mirage to answer, not me. I was just here to make sure nopony got killed. I may not have been doing the best job I could, but, as far as I knew, I had yet to fail. Also, breezies? I supposed that meant breezadore was more correct than vulpa. This was thoroughly not the best time to be contemplating what terms I should be using to define my enemy, but it was good to know for future reference.

A wet, sticky, noise, came from its throat. It was about to spit at me. I had an idea, and I absolutely hated it. I reached into my bag and wrapped my jaws around the figurine of Fluttershy. The Legendary Breezadore opened its mouth, but it hesitated before spitting. “Fluttershy? You came all the way here for Fluttershy?”

No. I just needed a distraction. I wasn’t even sure if it would work. But I was willing to take this risk if it gave me an opening. I removed the other regular grenade with my hoof, but I didn’t remove the pin. The grenade fell to the ground. It barely made a sound. Good. I would need stealth for this to work. I slowly walked towards the Legendary Breezadore. I kicked the grenade forward with each step. I clutched Fluttershy tightly. I hoped she would continue to shield me from the bug until I needed her again.

Given how close I was to its claws, I decided that time was now. I reared my head back and tossed Fluttershy into the air. The figurine sailed past the Legendary Breezadore’s head. It turned its head and snatched her with one of its wings. It smirked. The condescending look in its eye reminded me of ‘Chestra whenever she would scold me. “Foolish, pony. You have no—”

As soon as I had thrown Fluttershy, I swatted the grenade into the air with my tail. I gave it a good buck. According to my calculations, the grenade should have been going right for its mouth. I had a feeling it would open its mouth to say something. Tell me, Legendary Vulpa. What was that about a foolish pony?

There was a sound. I couldn’t quite find the words to describe it. The closest I could come to was, pshzing. A thin green light, so thin I barely noticed it, pierced the Legendary Vulpa’s cheek. Its cheeks had already received damage from Mirage’s claws. There were a few scorch marks too, which I assumed were residue from Opus. This shot simply broke the camel’s back.

The grenade burst. The Legendary Breezadore’s cheeks exploded. Flesh, blood and venom poured from the remains of its head onto the ground. Its body toppled to the ground. Its wings and claws twitched. I didn’t know how, but there were still signs of life in its eyes. Though, I didn’t expect it to last much longer. Lamentation readied the strange looking rifle and aimed it at the Legendary Breezadore’s head.

“Fluttershy?” Its voice was weak. I was surprised it could still talk since the insides of its mouth were mush. I looked about and found the figurine by its tail. I knew I would be risking my life if I grabbed it. But after what he had done to the Legendary Breezadore and its home, I felt I owed it some decency. I approached the figurine of the pale yellow pegasus, picked it up, and brought it. I couldn’t tell if the Legendary Breezadore saw her or not, but I wanted to believe it did. Otherwise, the Legendary Breezadore died weak, in pain, and alone. Poor bastard.

“Savage!” Packrat coughed out her greeting. Her cheek was bleeding, and the right half of her face was covered in blood. I hoped it came from the Legendary Breezadore. She staggered towards me and collapsed after two steps. I ran towards her. I checked the right half of her face. There didn’t seem to be any wounds capable of that much damage. There weren’t any on her head either. She wasn’t in critical condition, but she needed rest. It didn’t matter how fine she thought she was. I wouldn’t go with her until I was sure she was okay.

“Savage!” Mirage barked. “Do me a favor and get me some hydra and Med-X?”

As you wish. I fished some I had purchased from the Caravan out of my bag. I turned to face Mirage an…-my Goddess. That felt even more blasphemous now that I no longer believed in Cadance’s divinity. It was more of a visceral reaction to what I was looking at. Mirage was using one set of claws to hold open her eyelid. The other claw hovered in front of her eye. Her hovering claw was shaking.

I dropped the chems at her hooves and turned my back.

“Well don’t just stand there. Give me the Med-X.”

My stomach churned as I turned towards her. I could take solace in knowing she wouldn’t tear out her eye without the Med-X. Which meant I wouldn’t need to watch. I injected the needle into her cheek, so the pain killer could affect her face quicker. She gulped and let out a long breath. “You might want to close your eyes.”

I did. I was thankful I didn’t watch Mirage tear out her eye. But hearing it was just as bad. The pain killer was not absolute. Her scream was bloodcurdling. I heard her claws raking out her eye. The sound was wet and squelching. Then I heard a sharp pop, which was followed by a bout of intense and shallow breathing.

“H…-hy…-hy...-hydra….”

I dared not open my eyes. I turned towards Mirage and offered her the bottle.

“Stop dicking around, and give me the damn bottle!”

I opened my eyes. One of her hooves was pressed against the empty socket. Her hoof was soaked in blood. I opened the bottle and shoved it into Mirage’s mouth. I stared into her other eye, as she gulped it down. I didn’t want to see her regrow her eye. Nor did I want to see her discarded eye on the ground.

She pushed the bottle away and turned away. “That should be enough. Thanks.” She staggered towards where Packrat had been laying down. Mirage lied beside her and groaned loudly. “Fuuuuuuuck.”

I heard a whistle behind me. Lamentation stepped up beside me with the strange rifle strapped to his back. “Those mares got real fucked, didn’t they?” There wasn’t much I could add to that statement, so I didn’t bother. Lamentation chuckled and walked into the cave. “I’m going to lie down and sleep. You all join me when you’re ready.”

I would, but I wanted to spend some time with Packrat and Mirage first. They seemed like they could use some company. I sat down beside them, and I gently nudged Mirage.

She groaned and rolled her eye. “Oh, yeah. Great. Just peachy. Fine and dandy.” No need to be so sarcastic. I was simply trying to say hello. She cast her eye away from me and sighed. “Sorry. That came out wrong. I’m just kind of on edge right now. You get that?”

I nodded. I gestured to the scar on my neck. I knew what it was like to lose a vital part of the body. At least Mirage would be getting hers back.

“How’d you get that by the way, Savage?” Packrat had managed to sit up. “You’ve never told me.”

I shook my head. I wasn’t in the mood to write down my back story. I also felt that if I told them how I got my scar, I’d also have to tell them about my journey to through the Crystal Wasteland. And about Lyra.

“Oh, come on, Symph? Are you really that embarrassed of me?”

Lyra Heartstrings XIII was standing beside Packrat. She was pouting at me. She lowered her head and kicked at the ground with her hoof. “Is it because I’m really hot? Or because I’m stupidly hot?”

I tore my eyes away. I closed my eyes and shook my head. It’s just the venom, Symphony. She’s not there. No matter how much you want her to be. It’s just the venom.

I awoke to the sound of loud grunting. I kept my eyes closed and plugged my ear. I didn't bother with my other ear because it was almost useless anyways. My attempt to repair until morning was equally useless. I sat up and looked around. Mirage was sleeping loudly beside me. I had expected her to sleep upside down. She instead slept standing up with her wings wrapped around her body like a cocoon. The acoustics in her cocoon were incredible. Her snores echoed; it was almost cute.

I looked away from her. I couldn’t see Packrat or Lamentation from where I was. I decided to investigate the grunting. I grasped the hellhound tooth. I doubted I’d need a weapon, but I felt better with one.

I walked towards the source of the grunting. As the grunts grew louder, the cave grew brighter. The fires were still burning. Although the embers weren’t as bright as they were earlier, they were bright enough for me to watch Lamentation straddling Packrat.

Oh. I turned away with a slight blush. I couldn’t say I was all that surprised. She had slept with Lysandra, and she had made a few advances towards me. I’d rather she fully rested before having sex, but it didn’t seem very strenuous. Lamentation seemed to be doing all the work. On second thought, Packrat didn’t seem to be reacting at all. She wasn’t grunting or moaning. The sounds she made resembled how she snored….

I ran the tooth down a rock wall. The wall screeched violently. Lamentation jerked; Packrat didn’t react. “Savage?” He thrust once and flashed me a grin. “Kinda busy here.”

I walked towards him. My grip on the tooth tightened with every step.

“Really? You’re going to make a scene?” He removed himself from Packrat. “If it makes you feel better, I didn’t hurt her like I did that grey bitch.” He looked down at Packrat. “You know. I’ll bet she was enjoying herself.” He brushed his hoof against her face.

I tackled him. Lamentation recoiled and fell onto his side. He rubbed his lips and smiled. He didn’t smirk; he smiled. That made it so much worse. “Oh. Now I get it. You want her, don’t you?”

No. Packrat was a friend. She was someone I wanted to protect. She and Lamentation could fuck each other till the stars fell from the heavens for all I cared. But I refused to let her be taken advantage of. She wasn’t just a body for Lamentation to have his way with. Neither was the grey mare he—Passion. We asked where she was from, not who killed her. Passion hadn’t been killed by slavers. Lamentation was that monster.

"You'll be happy to know that she was really tight." He stood up and licked his lips. "And moist." He chuckled. "In fact, I want another taste."

He stepped towards her. I charged at him again. This time I swiped the tooth at him. Lamentation calmly avoided me. He kicked at my back leg. I lost my balance and landed on my belly. Lamentation pressed his body on top of mine. That was not comfortable. I struggled beneath him to no avail.

“Let me tell you how this works, Savage.” He bit down on my injured ear and violently tugged. I tried to scream, and the hellhound tooth fell. He laughed at the sound I made. “You’re going to stay quiet about what I do during the night. In return, I don’t kill you. See? That’s how you survive out here. You watch out for each other and don’t mind the little things your companions do. But if you tell the bitch or the bat about tonight, I’ll slit your fucking throat. I don’t know who did it to you the first time. But I promise you this. I won’t do a shitty job of it. So how ‘bout it, Savage? Want to be my friend?”

“The fuck are you two doing? Each other?”

Lamentation turned towards Mirage. “You’d love to watch that, wouldn’t you?” He shook his head. “Savage and I were just practicing how to grapple. Right?”

I nodded without looking him in the eye.

“See?” He patted me on the back and stepped off me. “He’s not bad. He just needs to learn his place.”

First lesson, Lamentation: always be on your guard. I had an opening. I didn’t want to take it, but I knew that I had to. It was the only way to ensure Lamentation never hurt another mare again. I snatched the hellhound tooth and rounded on Lamentation before he had the chance to react.

The tooth cleanly sliced through his…-I didn’t want to think about it. The sound he made was something in-between a gasp and a whimper. He slipped his front hooves between his legs. His hooves moved around, frantically searching for something that wasn’t there. He collapsed onto his side. Blood pooled beneath him. He was gasping for breath. Good. I could have ended his pain, but I didn’t want to. Nopony did that to Packrat. Nopony threatened me. I didn’t like how I did it, but I was glad I did it.

I watched the life leave his eyes. In his last act, his face contorted into a snarl. “I’ll see you…-in Tar…-taru…-s, Sa…-vage….”

No, there is no Tartarus, Lamentation. You and I will never meet again. I sighed and sat on my haunches. Fuck. Now I knew why Carbine liked that word so much. It was a stress reliever. I couldn’t say it made me feel better. But just thinking it was almost soothing. It was as if acknowledging the atrocity I witnessed, and committed, brought a semblance of normalcy to the situation. I just gelded a stallion and watched him die in front of me. There wasn’t much normalcy that could be added to that at all. Fuck.

“What the fuck?”

I turned towards Mirage. She was pointing her shotgun at me with shaking hooves. “You just…-I mean I know he was an asshole but…-why? Why’d you do that to him?”

Before I could answer, I heard a yawn. Mirage and I both looked towards Packrat. She slowly lifted her head and yawned a second time. She rubbed her eyes with her hoof and smacked her lips. “Oh, wow. I really needed that sleep. My girl’s feeling kinda sore though. I don’t remember using it last night so—oh, shit, hi, Savage!” Her face turned cherry-red. She looked away from me and saw Mirage. “Oh, um, hi, Mirage! He he he. Funny you guys should be here. An—hey, um, what’s with the shotgun?”

Mirage dropped her shotgun instantly. “Oh. That’s why you did it.”

Packrat titled her head. “Did what?” Mirage pointed towards Lamentation with her wing. Packrat’s eyes followed and saw where the wing was pointing. Her eyes widened, and she hopped to her hooves. “Holy fucking shit! What happened? Is he okay? I mean, no, he’s not okay. He looks dead. He looks really dead.” She fell onto her haunches; her shoulders slumped. “He died right in front of me. I slept through it. I couldn’t save him….”

He wasn’t worth saving. Not after what he did to you. I couldn’t say that with words. Aside from pissing on him, I didn’t know any other way to convey it through actions. Even I had some minuscule of respect for the dead. Barely, but it was there. I passed on urinating on him. I had another action to perform. I walked towards Packrat. I noticed Mirage watching me warily, but she didn’t say anything. She also didn’t pick up her shotgun, which was reassuring.

I stopped walking just in front of Packrat. She shook her head and wiped a stream of tears from her eyes. “Savage, do you know what happened?”

I hugged her. I pressed her close to my chest and refused to let her go.

“He he. Um, you okay, Savage?”

Was I okay? She had just been raped, and she wanted to know if I was okay. I hugged her even tighter than I had before. Packrat. I won’t let anypony hurt you again. I promise.

I hoped with all my being that I would be able to keep it.

Footnote: Level Up!
Perk Added: One-Eyed Snake Charmer. Woah, there, buddy. Dick move ;). Seriously, though. You get a 4% damage bonus when fighting males who still have their, uh, genitalia.

Author's Notes:

Author's Notes:
Hey, everyone! As always, i want to thank Kkat for the original story, other authors for contributing to the 'verse, and for my readers for sticking with this story.

Sorry this one's a little later than normal, which feels weird to say since it's right on time. I've been working on other projects the past few days, and Zoid Hunter came out last night. It's awesome!

Generally speaking, I liked this chapter. It continues my weird trend of having antepenultimate chapters with highly graphic content. Speaking of which, there are two more chapters to go in Coalescence. If you've continued reading to this point, I thank you very much, and I hope you'll enjoy the ending.

Later days!