I didn’t know how I felt when I woke up. Lightheaded but strong. Satisfied but somewhat empty. Lucid but still under the effects of vulpa venom. Unless, of course, the Lyra Heartstrings XIII beside me was real.

I kissed her on the cheek.

She pushed me away. “No. I’m still mad at you.”

“Whatever for, my dear?”

“You know exactly what.” She slithered off the bed and sat down beside the used syringe. “And since I’m a figment of your imagination, it means that you yourself know it was a bad decision.”

I chuckled. “You felt very real all throughout the night.”

I was hoping that would take her mind off this argument. At the very least, I was hoping to get a blush. But Lyra shook her head without so much as a hint of one. “I don’t want to see you destroy yourself. Symphony—”

“—Savage.”

“Symphony. You saw what the venom did to Packrat. I don’t want to see the same thing happen to you.”

I trotted to Lyra’s side. I placed a hoof around her shoulder. She may have been a hallucination, but I could feel her. She was so warm. I rested my head on her shoulder. I kissed her cheek again and whispered into her ear. “I promise you, Lyra. That won’t happen to me. I would never kill myself. Not when I want so desperately to live.”

“I know….”

“You don’t sound like you know.”

Lyra gently moved my head so that we had eye contact. “I know you say you’re content now. But living for the sake of living may not be sustainable. You need something or someone to keep you going.”

“I have you, don’t I?”

Lyra didn’t look at me. Her gaze was firmly on the syringe. “Yes, but for how long?”

“Long enough.”

Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. It barely reached the corners of her mouth. “Why don’t we go for a walk?”

“I would’ve thought you’d be exhausted after last night.”

She laughed mockingly at me. “Please. Who do you think you’re talking to.”

The love of my life. Obviously.

The two of us walked out of Maud Pie’s house and stepped outside. Packrat had been right about there being a festival. The street of Boulder Springs was littered with ponies both drunk and unconscious. Mirage was here too, with her wings wrapped around her body. I didn’t see Packrat or Dionysus. The married couple must have spent the night together.

“Mornin’, Sparkles.” Shadow approached me from behind and tapped me on the shoulder. “You feeling better?”

I nodded.

“That’s good to hear. Squirt wouldn’t shut up about you last night. There were all these stories about how Savage saved her from breezadores, or how you killed a hellhound. Or how you swatted her every time she’d stare at your flank.” She shook her head and laughed. “She’ll be happy to know you’re out and about. Although it’s a damn shame you missed the party.” She pointed towards one of the unconscious mares. “You missed a real show last night.”

I pointed at Shadow, and then to all the unconscious ponies with a questioning glance.

“Are you asking what happened last night, or why I’m not a sprawling drunk?”

I nodded.

“Well, to your first question, Sparkles. What happens in Boulder Springs stays in Boulder Springs.” We still were in Boulder Springs, so her answer didn’t make sense. But Shadow seemed to be convinced that it did. “As to your second question.” She laughed. “I’ve been around for over two hundred years, Sparkles. And I’ve built up a pretty big tolerance for booze.” Shadow arched her back and stretched out her legs. “But, after a night like that, I feel like taking a dip in the spring. Care to join me?”

I gave her a quizzical glance.

“No. I’m not flirting with you. I’m just saying this might be your only chance to see me naked.”

That sounded like flirting to me. Not that I minded. I wanted to be happy. I heavily doubted Shadow was the mare of my dreams, but I could still have fun with her.

“Fun with her? So is that all I was to you, Symphony? A mare you could have with?” Lyra was standing next to me. She looked disappointed again. Possibly even more so than she did earlier.

“You know that’s not true.”

“Do I?” She tilted her head towards Shadow. “You just finished with me, and you’re already moving to your next conquest.”

“Stop being so dramatic. I’m just taking a bath.”

“A bath. Sure. Then it’ll be just a kiss. And then just sex.”

“You know something? You seem to care an awful lot for a mare who isn’t even real,” I snapped. And I instantly regretted it. I looked away from her. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I might be moving too fast. I just….” I tried to look at her, but Lyra had disappeared. I tried to call her name, but all I heard was a wet, disgusting, rasp.

I turned towards the spring and started walking. Fine. Ignore me, Lyra. Two can play that game. Shadow was in the process of undressing when I reached the water. I had never noticed just how tight her uniform fit around her rump. If only her flesh wasn’t rotten, I might have been attracted. But alas it wa—well now. It seemed I still had some venom in me after all.

Shadow’s naked body was not like other ghouls I had seen. I saw a body vibrant with color. Admittedly, I couldn’t tell exactly what color I was looking at. It could have been cyan, turquoise, maybe aqua marine. I decided to settle on mint-green. It was a color I was used to.

I barely noticed the nubs on her back. Those must have been where her wings used to be. Hmm. That simply wouldn’t do. No. A mint-green pony had to be a unicorn. And after I thought of it, I saw it. The nubs had disappeared, and a majestic horn had appeared on her head. Then she turned towards me. I saw her eyes. The same sun-gold color I knew and loved.

“Hello again, Lyra.”

She nickered. “It’s rude to stare, Sparkles.” The words were Shadow’s; the voice was Lyra’s. I could live with that.

My response to Shadow was to trot towards her and coyly shrug. I simply smiled at Lyra.

I wasn’t sure if I should refer to her at Lyra or Shadow at this point, so settled on Shyra for the time being. Shyra shook her head at me. “Hold on, Sparkles. I’ll admit; I was flirting a little bit. But I’m not interested. I took a vow of chastity thirty years ago, after my last lover died. This is just a bath.” Shyra leaned backwards in the water. Her hooves were completely submerged, while her face and chest were above the water. “There’s a difference between resting and relaxing. It’s not a big one, but it’s there. I just thought you’d want to relax after getting shot at.”

The water was surprisingly deep. I stood up straight, but the water had covered half of my chest. I swam a little closer to her and smirked. What was more relaxing than being with a beautiful mare?

Shyra giggled and splashed some water on my face. I returned the favor. We spent a few minutes splashing each other with radiation. I hadn’t taken a rad bath in what felt like years. I closed my eyes and sighed deeply. This was amazing.

“The fuck are you two doing?”

I opened my eyes. Mirage was hovering in the air. She was frowning at us, but she also looked slightly confused.

“Ever hear of a bath, Wings?”

There went the confusion. “Of course I’ve heard of a bath! The NCR isn’t full of savages, you know.”

Shyra turned towards me. “Savages, huh? How insensitive of her. I think she should apologize.”

I nodded. I wasn’t offended but why not go with the joke?

Mirage groaned. “I’m sorry I used the word ‘savage,’ like that. There. Happy?”

I was actually impressed by how little sincerity she displayed. In fact, I actually laughed. It was a terrible sound. Strangely enough, I didn’t care. I just enjoyed the moment. I pointed to Mirage once I had finished laughing and motioned for her to come join us.

“Pfft. As if.”

Shyra’s eyes gleamed. “Ahh. So you know what a bath is. You just don’t take them.”

“That’s not what I mean!” She pointed towards me with her wing. “I don’t want to take a bath with a stallion. I don’t want him getting any ideas.”

Shyra laughed. “Trust me, Wings. He already has ideas. He’s a stallion. Besides, it’s not like your armor leaves a whole lot to the imagination.”

Mirage grumbled something. Since she was in the air, I had no idea what she was saying. Maybe if I’d taken some Goddess—no! I didn’t want to admit that Lyra was right, but she wasn’t entirely wrong either. I did feel guilty for using the vulpa venom. Hmm. Perhaps guilt wasn’t the right word. It wasn’t that I felt shame. What I felt was something closer to stupidity. I knew it was dangerous; the effects wouldn’t last long either. But I was willing to bear the risks if I could see Lyra again. But thinking about Goddess, as amazing as it felt, was a dangerous line of thinking. I wasn’t stupid enough to start taking Goddess yet. The problem was the yet.

I heard a loud plop. I looked over to see that Mirage had joined us. She frowned when she noticed me looking at her. “What’re you staring at, Savage?”

I pointed at her.

She was grumbling again. Although I could clearly hear her calling me a “smartass.” Happy to be of service. I laid on my back and floated in the irradiated water. It wasn’t particularly deep, so the sensation of floating wasn’t as relaxing as it could’ve been. But I’d take what I could get. I stared up at the cloud covered sky. I didn’t waste time with existential thoughts. I just took Shadow’s advice. I had rested already. Now it was time to relax.

And, for a few minutes, I did. Mirage swam literal circles around me, but she kept to herself. Shyra had already left. At least, I had heard some splashing earlier. Since I didn’t hear her speak for a while, I assumed the sound was her leaving. I thought about watching her leave. Taking one last look at Lyra’s body before the venom wore off, which it likely already had at this point. Ultimately, I thought that went against my new dogma of doing what made me happy. And right now, relaxing made me very happy.

“Hey. Savage?”

All good things must come to an end. The relaxation must have done its job, because I wasn’t even annoyed by Mirage’s interruption. I sat up and looked at her. She was facing me, but she didn’t seem to be truly looking at me.

“Have you given any thought to what I said yesterday?”

I’d slept since then, as well as ingested hallucinogenic poison, so I wasn’t exactly sure what she was referring to. My face must have reflected that, because hers became quite animated. “You actually forgot? You fucking asshole.” She emphasized her displeasure by dunking her head into the water for a few seconds. When she raised her head, she looked as irritated as she did wet. “I don’t know what I thought that would accomplish.”

That made two of us. Though there was something else that was confusing me. Shadow was a ghoul, and I a crystal pony. I knew both races were not harmed by radiation. I didn’t know that to be the case for Nocti. True, I had never heard Mirage complain about the radiation. On the other hoof, neither had Packrat. While there was radiation in the Crystal Wasteland, it wasn’t exactly common. Even if she wasn’t the Holy Mother, I could still thank Princess Cadance for keeping most of the Empire safe. I wondered how much the NCR actually did for the ponies it had under it—oh. That’s what she had asked me about.

I tapped Mirage on the shoulder.

“What?”

I wasn’t sure how to say what I wanted to say. This would be so much easier with words. I remembered Mirage couldn’t read lips very well either. Hmm. I pointed to myself and then tapped the side of my head. I was trying to let her know that I thought about it.

“You hit your head?”

I shook my head.

“Your head hurts?”

I shook my head a second time. Third time’s the charm, Mirage.

She tilted her head and used one of her wings to rub her chin. “Hmmm. Okay. It probably doesn’t have to do with your head. Maybe your brain?”

I nodded. Now we were getting somewhere.

“Is your brain acting up? Like, are you seeing shit?”

Not at the moment. I shook my head.

“Okay. It’s not that. You were thinking?”

I clopped my hooves together. Well done.

I expected her to smile. Instead, she frowned. “Don’t be so condescending.”

Fine. Don’t appreciate me trying to be nice.

“Does this mean you were thinking about what I asked?” I nodded; she gulped. Then she started laughing. “I can’t believe I’m actually nervous. I guess this is what it’s like having friends.”

Yeah, it’s the worst. Funny thing, I wasn’t sure if that was a joke or not. I did know I was about to feel really bad for letting her down. I offered her a sad smile and shook my head.

She returned that smile. “I’m going to guess that means you’re declining my offer?”

Yes. Other than being happy, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I still wasn’t sure where I wanted to live, or whom I wanted to pledge allegiance to. But I wasn’t interested in being a soldier. Even less so when I didn’t give a rat’s ass about its goal. Making the Wasteland a better place was something admirable; I could admit that. I supposed I just didn’t care about the greater good anymore. I wondered how much of that was because of ‘Chestra.

Mirage shrugged. “Eh. I figured you’d say no. But it was still worth askin’. Besides, we haven’t gotten back to Vanhoover yet. You’ll change your mind when you get there.”

Now I felt more inclined to spurn her offer.

She rested her head against the water and closed her eyes. “Remind me to thank Shadow for inviting me in here. This actually feels amazing.”

Actually, I was the one who invited her but whatever. The bath was Shadow’s idea. I agreed with her on one thing; this did feel amazing. It was nowhere close to how I felt after taking Goddess, but my body did feel stronger. That reminded me. Packrat had said Strings survived. I might not have cared about the world as a whole, but I did care about my slice of it. Since we would be escorting her as part of a contract, she would likely be counted as a prisoner. That meant there was one place I’d find her.

I tapped Mirage on the shoulder and waved.

“You headin’ out?”

I nodded.

“Where to?”

I pointed to the schoolhouse.

“Are you visiting the kid or the tin stallion?”

I’d forgotten about him. What was his name? Temple? Tempura? I’d figure it out sooner or later. I might as well say hello to him while I’m there. I nodded.

“I ask which one you’re visiting, and your answer is yes.”

Was there a question in there somewhere? If there was, Mirage didn’t try asking a second time. I waved at her, she rolled her eyes, and I trotted towards the schoolhouse. A heavily scarred zebra armed with a large halberd sat on the steps of the schoolhouse. He glared at me with his good eye. “Do you have permission to enter?”

I didn’t know I needed permission. I wondered who could give it. Maud Pie, of course. I wondered if I could pretend to have permission from Shadow or Packrat, and if they would cover for me later. Perhaps the priest?

“Who’s out there, Azreal?”

Right on cue. It must’ve been divine intervention. Spectrum peeked his head through the other side of the door. He smiled when he saw me. “Ah. The hero arrives. Your maiden has been waiting for you.” He fully opened the door and stepped outside. “It’s alright, Azreal. I’ll be his chaperone.”

Azreal nodded and stepped aside. I walked past him and entered the schoolhouse. The interior was nicer than I expected. It was filthy, but at least the filth consisted of dust rather than blood and excrement. There was only one room, but metal bars had been installed to create cells. There were seven cells; only two of them were occupied. One of them held a sleeping filly with a broken horn. The other held a green stallion.

“I heard about your adventures last night from Packrat.” I turned towards Spectrum as he spoke. He smiled and laughed. “Of course, she was drunk, so she wasn’t sure how much was being embellished.”

That made sense. Although Mirage and Shadow were there last night as well. Each of them could have covered for Packrat’s drunken embellishing.

“Your other companions corroborated most of Packrat’s claims. However, Shadow has always had a penchant for storytelling herself. As for Mirage….” He shook his head. “Sorry. It’s not the place of a priest to pass judgment.”

Then what was his job? Just to listen to another pony’s problems and make them feel better?

“Would you like to speak with your friends, Savage?”

I could hardly call these two my friends. One I knew almost nothing about, while the other I simply felt pity for. But, yes. I titled my head towards the door with a raised eyebrow.

Spectrum shook his head. “I can give you privacy, but I can’t allow you to be here alone.” He sat down and retrieved his book from his cloak. “I’ll be here reading. Let me know when you’re satisfied.”

He was being very helpful to me. Why? I mouthed the word to him.

“Assuming the stories are true, then you protected Packrat from that fiend. I’m always grateful to anypony who helps one of my friends. You also saved that filly’s life. I think that makes you a pony worth helping.”

Maybe. But I think he was confusing gratitude with responsibility. Not that I was complaining. But I also didn’t have much of a reason to be here. Strings seemed to be okay. I supposed I should actually speak with her. I gazed at the other occupied cell. Templar would be one of my travelling companions as well. He also seemed far more likely to hold a conversation with me. I trotted towards his cell and sat down outside of it.

“Hello, Savage.” He had been hunched over reading a book. He was now sitting up. “May I help you?”

I shrugged.

“Here.” He ripped a page out of the book and slid it towards me. Then he rolled me a pen. I was actually surprised they’d given him one. It wasn’t an especially dangerous weapon, but he could still stab a pony in the eye if they dropped their guard. If I were in his hooves, I’d have tried it already. “Funny story, Savage. The guard was against me having a pen. He said it could be used to take out his good eye.” Great minds think alike. “Shadow insisted I wasn’t a threat, and that the guard was…-well, I’d rather not quote her. Still, it was rather nice of her.”

I supposed it was. But I wasn’t here to discuss Shadow’s occasional penchant for politeness. I had curiosity I needed to satisfy. I wrote down my first question and slid the paper towards him. “Who are you?”

He read the paper and nodded. “My name is Templar. I was formerly a Paladin of the Vanhoover Steel Rangers. I currently preside over a small community known as Failed Wish.” He slid the paper back to me.

I wrote my next question and returned it. “Failed Wish?”

“Like I said, it’s a small community. I buy slaves and give them their freedom. Most of them stay. Some say they want to repay my kindness. Most ponies just want to find somewhere they can call home. However, some ponies use their newfound freedom to blaze their own trails. Passion was one such mare.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “What a waste of life. Truly a shame.”

He passed the paper back, and I returned it. “Why did you leave the Steel Rangers?”

He winced when he read my question. That meant this would be interesting. He held his silence for a while. I wasn’t sure if he was refusing or trying to find the right words. He was under no obligation to speak, but it would be in his best interest. I’d trust him more if I knew more about him. Though I supposed as long as he was shackled and weaponless, I didn’t have to trust him.

“I hurt my best friend.” He went quiet again, but he didn’t look like he was finished speaking. “I wanted to be more than friends with her. I desired her company; I burned for her body. My desire warped into obsession. I…-acted upon my obsession.”

I had an idea of what that meant. “I killed someone who did that to my friend.”

“As well you should. I don’t deserve her forgiveness. Let alone her friendship. I fled before I could be court marshaled. It’s high time I face the punishment for my crimes.”

“Aren’t you afraid?”

He shook his head. “I have seen The Light.” He pointed to his book. “A journal written by a mare over two hundred years ago. A mare who believed in equality above all other things. I’ve found redemption in bringing her dream to life. It’s given me peace.”

In the end he was just another religious nut. He and ‘Chestra would get on great. Hmm, scratch that. She’d view him as an infidel and kill him on sight. One less nut in the world.

I walked away from Templar and looked into the other occupied cell. A white filly with a fractured horn sat huddled in a corner under a blanket. She watched me with her small amber eyes. I took a step towards her. She flinched; she didn’t retreat. I took a few more steps and sat down in front of her cage. I raised a hoof and waved at her. The corners of her mouth curled into a small smile, as she waved back. I scanned the rest of her cell. Aside from the blanket, she had a half-empty bowl of oats and an empty bucket. I wasn’t sure if the bucket was for drinking water or taking a shit. I hoped it wasn’t meant for both.

I wasn’t sure what to say. Even if I did, I had no idea if she could read. Ultimately, I decided to nod and walk away. As I started to leave, I heard a squeak that sounded vaguely like words. I looked back at her; she wasn’t looking back at me. “Thank you.” Now she looked at me. “You didn’t kill me. Thank you”

I wasn’t sure if it was due to the effects of the venom or my own warped psyche, but I saw a dark green Pegasus colt in the cell beside her. His face was obscured by shadow. I couldn’t tell if the specter was thanking me for saving a foal or blaming me for one I didn’t. The uncertainty made me uncomfortable. I nodded to Strings and walked away without looking back.

Spectrum smiled at me when I reached him. “Are you satisfied, Symphony?” I blinked and rubbed my head. I must’ve heard that wrong. He chuckled. “I asked, are you satisfied, Savage?”

That’s better. I nodded. Spectrum escorted me out of the schoolhouse. Azrael grunted at me as I left. I ignored him. Spectrum smiled at me before taking his leave. It was a smile I returned.

“Savage!”

And there it went.

“I’m so happy to see you!”

That made one of us. I felt my posture gradually droop as Dionysus rushed to my side. He tried to hug me, but I dodged him.

“How’ve you been?”

Better.

“Did you sleep well?”

It was okay.

“Have you seen Packrat?”

Not yet.

He just kept babbling on. It was Father this and wine that. He also shared the entire synopsis of his favorite play. It was a story of a mare who abandoned her homeland and married a charming stallion, who promptly left her for a mare of noble birth. Enraged and scorned, she took revenge by murdering the second mare and her family, her own children, and condemning her husband to a long life of solitude and despair. This was followed by her riding off into the sunset in a chariot pulled by dragons. But of course.

“You should read it some time. I can always read it to you.”

I’d rather be shot to death than have him read to me. The bullets would hurt less.

“Ah, just the stallions I wanted to see.”

I’d never been more thankful to hear Shadow’s voice. She pointed at Dionysus. “I need you to run ahead and wake up your wife.” Then she pointed at me. “And I might have a play date for you, Sparkles.”

Now I was less excited to hear her voice. I snorted at her condescending tone.

She sighed. “Fine. Don’t call it a play date. Just keep Tart busy for me.”

Tart? That rang a bell. Knowing Shadow, it was a nickname. Who’s was it? Tart. Tart. Tart… Oh, now I remembered. I’d be happy to keep her occupied.

“I’m sure you would.”

“Ha ha. Very funny, Lyra. I’m simply worried is all. You remember how she threatened Packrat the last time they spoke? Somepony has to keep an eye on Lysandra.” Though I couldn’t help but wonder why she had returned to Boulder Springs. I doubted she would return simply to kill Packrat, unless she had a group of armed invaders. Dear Cadance not above, please don’t let Lysandra have a group of armed invaders.

I nodded and walked beside Shadow. Dionysus waved and hoofed it. Thank goodness. Also, he was much faster than I thought he’d be. He may have been a pain in my flank, but at least he had potential use as a scout or a messenger.

As Shadow and I walked, I understood why Lysandra might be in town. The Flim Flam Caravan was stationed near Maud Pie’s place. It was convenient that they arrived the day we were set to leave. I wasn’t sure if Maud Pie had contacted them or if this was pure luck. After a minute or so, I was close enough to notice the ponies standing around the Caravan. Mirage was sitting in front of the Caravan, while the sisters were speaking. I had a feeling they were giving Mirage the same performance I had seen.

I couldn’t see Lysandra. She either refused to be part of the routine, or she wasn’t here. But somepony else was. I felt a pair of hooves wrap around my neck. It took a lot of self-control not to snap. Besides, I could think of only one pony who would actually hug me like that.

“Hey, Savage!”

Hello, Packrat. I tapped her hooves to say hello. She let go and sat beside me. “So. You’re, um, doing okay? You were pretty fucked up when we found you.” I nodded. “Okay then!” She beamed at me before turning towards the Caravan. “I’m sad I missed the show Aren’t you?”

You better believe it.

Shadow was already speaking with the sisters. “We’re going to need healing potions, bandages, Med-X, hydra—”

“—The Junk Jet.”

“The—nice try, Squirt. A gun for the newlywed. Food, water, and a shit ton of ammo. What can you lovely mares do for us?”

“Thousand caps,” Shaim said without hesitation.

“A thousand caps?!” Shadow hissed. “How much radiation did you put on your Sugar Bombs this morning?”

“Enough to know that none of you stayed on to complete our last run. We paid you for a job you didn’t finish. There’s a debt. Add in our pain and suffering, and I think a thousand caps is a reasonable total.”

“Pain and suffering?” Packrat looked worried. “What happened? Didn’t Lysandra stay with you?

“Sure did. Until she robbed us!”

Oh. It seemed Lysandra was what happened. For some inexplicable reason, I wasn’t the least bit surprised.

“Tart shouldn’t count against us.”

“Still doesn’t do you any favors.”

“Fine.” Shadow’s tone was bitter, but she had resigned. “A thousand caps.”

Packrat tapped her on the shoulder. “Can’t we just get Mom to talk to them and negotiate a price? Mom’s a real good negotiamater.”

“Negotiator, Squirt.”

“That too!”

I could feel Shadow rolling her eyes. “The problem is that if Maud has to negotiate with the Flim Flam Caravan, then she’ll find out we all messed up a job. We all had our reasons, but somethin’ tells me Ole Rocks isn’t going to care.”

Packrat opened her mouth, then immediately closed it. She nodded. “Actually, you bring up a good point. Let’s just pay the nice mares.”

Shadow reached into her saddlebag and retrieved a large coin purse. “Hear any rumors?”

Shaim snorted. “That’s an extra 75.”

“50.”

“65.”

“55.”

“60. Final offer.”

“Deal.”

The two mares shook hooves.

“I’ve heard there’s a gang calling themselves the White Hooves.”

“How many?”

Shaim shook her head. “Don’t know. The real question isn’t how many but how many of what?”

I didn’t quite follow. Apparently neither did Shadow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means they’re not just ponies. Griffins. Buffalo. If it can hold a weapon, they want it. We spotted a group of them not too far back.”

“Were they armed?” Dionysus asked. I could tell from the look in his eyes he was trying to be helpful. He would’ve been more helpful if he didn’t waste our time with stupid questions.

Shaim rounded on him. “I just said ‘if they can hold a weapon they want it.’ Yes. They were armed.”

Dionysus shrank back. Shadow gave him a nudge on the shoulder before turning to Shaim. “Thanks for the information.”

The filly held out a hoof. “Thanks for the caps.”

Shadow begrudgingly paid the filly. She grumbled something to herself before speaking aloud. “Okay, kids, listen up.”

“Don’t call me kid, Shadow,” Shaim snapped.

“I wasn’t.” Shadow flicked her hoof in our general direction. “I was talking to my kids. Speaking of which, we’re heading out in twenty minutes. I’m going to get the prisoners. The rest of you grab your shit and say your goodbyes.”

Packrat wasted no time. She hugged each of the Shim Sham sisters. Each of the twins kissed her on the cheek; Shaim shoved her away. Undeterred, Packrat dashed into her house. Dionysus trotted after her. Likely to say goodbye to Toothpick as well as collect her effects. I was mildly curious as to what Toothpick thought of Dionysus. But not nearly enough to ask him. Fuck Toothpick.

I trotted into Maud Pie’s house. I started walking up the stairs when I heard Maud Pie calling my name in her deadpan voice. I followed the sound of her voice to her office. Maud Pie was sitting at her desk. Beside her desk were my effects. Had she looked through my stuff?

“I packed your bag. I didn’t look at your stuff.”

I had no idea how that was possible. If she wasn’t going to question me, I wouldn’t question her. I grabbed my saddlebag, as well as the battle saddle. It was such a pain to get that thing on. I looked at Maud Pie. She was staring back at me. I had forgotten she wasn’t one for social cues. I put on the battle saddle without her help, grabbed my bag, and walked out of her office.

“Packrat always kisses me on the cheek before she leaves. Are you going to kiss me on the cheek?”

I stopped walking for a second. I turned back to look at her. There was the same deadpan expression. I had no idea if this was a legitimate question or a joke. I shook my head and headed outside.

It took about twenty minutes, but our group had gathered near the outskirts of town. Shadow stood ahead of us; Templar and Strings stood behind her. “Alright, kiddos. We’re about to take a trip through the harsh, unfeeling, Wasteland to a city every bit as dangerous. Personally, I can’t wait to get out there and have some fun. But some of you might not make it back. I myself might finally meet Celestia by the time this is all over. If anypony here has any doubts about coming, now’s the time to speak up.”

I looked at my companions. If the smile on her face was anything to go by, Packrat didn’t seem fazed. She was likely just excited at the prospect of another adventure. Especially if it kept her distracted from thoughts of the last one. Mirage didn’t look nearly as excited. Her frown was all business, which made sense. She would be returning home, and she would be doing so alone. Why should she be smiling? I considered feeling guilty, but it wasn’t worth my time. Neither was looking at Dionysus.

Shadow broke into a loud laugh. “Nopony’s saying anything? Well, that’s fine by me. She tilted her head towards the prisoners behind her. “Dionysus. Sparkles. Come take these ponies off my hooves will ya?”

“Um, okay.” Dionysus began to walk forward, but I blocked him with my hoof. “What’s wrong, Savage?”

I didn’t try to answer him or look in his direction. My stoic expression was fixed on Shadow. If I had to spend this journey tethered to another pony, I at least wanted to know why.

“Let me guess, Sparkles. You want to know why I asked the strapping young stallions to escort the prisoners instead of the centuries old ghoul, the NCR pony with no stake in the prisoners’ safety, and Packrat?” Packrat’s hoof shot into the air. “Because you’re more likely to get distracted than Sparkles.” Packrat put her hoof down. Shadow chuckled. “Besides.” She lightly tugged at Strings’ chain. The filly let out a shriek and stumbled forward. “This one seems to have taken a liking to you. Might as well keep her comfortable.”

I supposed. I removed my hoof from Dionysus’ path and approached Shadow. She offered me the chain attached to Strings’ collar. There was a groove in the chain for me to slip my hoof into. I did so; Dionysus did the same with Templar’s chain. Templar kept a respectful distance from Dionysus. Strings took a few steps towards me. She shrank away when I looked down at her. I hadn’t even glared.

“Nice going,” Mirage muttered.

Now I was glaring, but I made sure Strings couldn’t see it. When I looked back at her, I was smiling. Not that I had much to smile about. But like Shadow said, might as well keep her comfortable.

“Well look at you, Symphony. You’re almost decent.”

I shrugged. “I’m okay.”

I felt Lyra’s hooves caress my neck. I breathed in her fragrant scent. Her hot breath tickled my ear as she whispered, “You keep being a good boy, and I’ll be sure to be a bad girl.”

“Savage!” Mirage’s aggressive tone broke me from my reverie. “You still with us?” I nodded. “Oh yeah?” She snickered. “What did I just say?”

“Nothing, Wings. I was the one talking.” Shadow cracked her neck and rubbed it. “But I’m all ears if you have something to add.”

“Actually, I do.” Mirage flapped her wings and flew beside Shadow, which seemed overly dramatic to me when she could’ve just walked four steps. Mirage started drawing in the dirt with her tail. She had drawn a circle with three stars and two lines inside. The lines divided the circle into two roughly equal halves with a narrow strip, and one star, in the center. She tapped the circle with her tail. “This is a crude map of Vanhoover.”

“Really? I thought this was to scale.”

Mirage grimaced, but she didn’t verbally respond to Shadow’s snark. “The star in the center is the Fairchild Casino. This is our goal. These other two stars.” She pointed to each of them with her wings. “Are the entrances to the city. The NCR to the right and the Rusty Rangers to the left.” She paused to glance at Templar. She held her stare for a moment before shaking her head and returning to the map.

“Is something wrong, Mirage?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No. I thought about saying no offense. But, you’re a slaver. So, fuck you.”

He was far more than that. I thought about sharing that information, but it wasn’t worth it. Not when it could potentially remind Packrat of what happened with Lamentation. Templar sighed in response. It didn’t sound as if he were exasperated. He seemed sad, hopefully remorseful. And on another note, Rusty Rangers? Was that really the best she could come up with? Granted, I couldn’t think of anything either. I had the excuse of not knowing of their existence till a few days ago. Mirage had been fighting them for who knows how long and could only come up with a foal level insult. For shame.

Mirage tapped her hoof against the star to the right. “I think we should take the NCR entrance. Since I’ll be with you, it shouldn’t be a problem for you to get into the city. Since I need to return to the base, it ends up working out for all of us.”

Packrat pouted. “Does that mean you’re really going to leave us, Mirage?”

Mirage nodded. “Yes. My mission to exterminate the Legendary Breezadore was successful. I have to give my report.”

“Are you going to come back to us after you give your report?”

Mirage shook her head. “I have no idea. It all depends on what and where my next assignment is.”

Packrat gave Mirage a hug. “I’ll miss you.”

Mirage looked surprised. But her shock gave way to a small smile. She wrapped one of her wings around Packrat and reciprocated the hug. “I’ll miss you too, Squirt.”

“Hey!” Shadow snapped. “That’s my nickname for her. Get your own, Wings.” Mirage looked even more stunned this time. Before she could recover and respond, Shadow continued. “Going to the NCR side might be better for you, but I don’t see how it benefits the rest of us. We have no business with the NCR.” Now it was her turn to have fun with the map. She pointed to the Steel Rangers star. “One of our contracts is with the Steel Rangers. It makes more sense to handle that before paying a visit to Fairchild. Besides, I don’t think the SR would feel as inclined to deal with us if we knocked on the NCR’s door first.”

“They won’t feel very inclined either way. Knowing them, they’ll pay for you Templar. Then they’ll take Strings to Fairchild and collect her reward themselves.”

“She’s not wrong.” Everypony, and zebra, looked at Templar. “I haven’t spoken to my companions in some time, but I doubt they’ve changed their ways since I left. The city of Vanhoover is a breeding ground for greed, suspicions, and violence. The Steel Rangers are no different. That city is—”

“We’re here to make plans, not get preached to. Keep it short, Tin Stallion.”

He sighed. Now he sounded exasperated. “Mirage is right; they’re assholes.”

“See?” Shadow patted him on the back. “Was that so hard?” She turned her attention to Mirage. “Let me get this straight, Wings. If we go through your side, the Steel Rangers won’t do business with us. If we go through their side, they won’t let Fairchild do business with us?”

“That about sums it up.”

“Gamó!”

Dionysus gasped; everypony looked confused.

“What did she say?” Packrat asked. Dionysus bit his lip. His eyes darted as if he were afraid he would be caught by one of his parents. He then whispered into Packrat’s ear. “Ohhhh.” Packrat nodded. “She said ‘fuck.’” Dionysus almost fainted; Packrat just laughed and kissed him on the cheek.

Mirage rolled her eyes. “Any thoughts, Shadow?”

“Plenty. And none of ‘em good.” She didn’t elaborate any further.

I didn’t know what she was thinking, but I had an idea of my own. I used my hoof to draw a circle outside the city. I then drew two lines from the circle. The first line stretched to the NCR checkpoint; the second line went the opposite route to the Steel Rangers.

Shadow nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking too, Sparkles.” Packrat raised a hoof. “We’re thinking that we split up before we enter the city. One group takes Strings through the NCR checkpoint. The other takes Templar to the Steel Rangers and get into the city that way. We’ll all meet up at the Casino and get out from there.”

Packrat didn’t look happy. She was frowning; her eyes kept moving from pony to pony to zebra.

“What’s on your mind, Squirt?”

“I’m thinking about, um, who I want to group up with. I want to spend more time with Mirage before she leaves, but I’ve barely seen Shadow lately. I want to go with my husband, but I really like travelling with Savage. Hmmmmm. This, um, one’s a toughie.”

“No, it’s not.” Shadow pointed to me and Mirage. “You two are going to look after Squirt.”

“Why us?”

I agreed with Mirage. I wasn’t complaining; I was simply curious.

“The answer’s easy, Wings. Dionysus is with Templar, and Savage is with Strings. Each of them needs at least one more pony with them for back up. And since you’re leaving once S and S get to the checkpoint, they’re down a pony.”

Packrat raised a hoof. “Oh! So either you or me has to go with them. Right?”

“That’s right, Squirt. And since you want to say bye to Wings, you should go with her.” She titled her head towards Dionysus. “’Sides. He and I still have things to talk about.”

Dionysus nodded happily. “Yιαγιά Oκιά’s been telling me great stories about my family.”

Shadow groaned. “I told you not to call me Yιαγιά. I like θείτσα.”

“But you’re old enough to be a Yιαγιά.”

“That’s the problem.”

Mirage leaned towards me. “Any idea what the fuck they’re talking about?”

I shrugged. I assumed Greco semantics. He was likely calling her their equivalent of grandmother, while she preferred to be his auntie.

Shadow cracked her neck and muttered something to herself. To the rest of us she said, “The journey should take us two days. Three is the Wasteland wants to throw us a going away party or two. We should be heading out now. Everypony ready?”

I glanced down at my bag. Below Glimmer and the Daring Do manuscript was my stash of vulpa venom. I had just seen Lyra, which meant the effects lasted far longer than I had thought. I didn’t have the urge to take another hit right now; I also didn’t know how long it would be before I had another chance.

“If you ask me, you should wait till tonight. That way you can enjoy yourself, and you won’t have to travel in that state.”

Lyra had a point. I’d be travelling while under the effects of vulpa venom regardless. Probably best to not make it worse.

“Savage?” I faced Shadow. “Are you ready?”

I nodded.

I was currently very happy I’d waited to take my dose of vulpa venom. For the first few hours, our journey had been uneventful. Shadow had made a few jokes. Mirage had gotten irritated over something. Dionysus had irritated me. It was normal. Alas, normalcy doesn’t last in the Wasteland. Packrat had been looking through her balloon binoculars; I had forgotten she had those.

“Hey, Shadow. I have a question.”

“What is it, Squirt?”

Packrat passed the binoculars to Shadow and pointed to the east. “What are those?”

Shadow looked through the binoculars. She nodded her head. She returned the binoculars to Packrat. “Those, Squirt, are the Wasteland throwing us a party. Fly-ders.”

“And what’s a fly-der?” Dionysus asked.

I had a pretty good guess. If I was right, I really didn’t want to be.

“A flying spider. Or, to put it another way, the worst fucking thing imaginable.”

I felt the scar on my throat burn. I could think of worse things. Although it wasn’t a particularly long list. I readied the battle saddle and peered through Savage’s scope. Unlike vulpas, these were tiny little bastards. I couldn’t see them in detail. What I could see was that there was a lot of them. Too many for us to fight. The good news was they were about twenty meters away from us. They hadn’t noticed us yet, so there was still time to avoid them. The question was how were we going to do it?

“What do you think we should do, θείτσα Oκιά?”

Shadow sat on her haunches and looked up. “It’s sunset now, so it’ll be getting dark soon. I don’t like travelling the Wasteland at night, especially not with fly-ders around. We’ll make camp here. Hopefully they’ll be gone by morning.”

“And if they’re not?” Templar asked.

“Then we take the long way to Vanhoover.”

“We’re seriously going to delay our trip because of some bugs?” Mirage didn’t look happy with the situation.

“Yes, Wings, we are.” From her tone, Shadow didn’t seem too happy with Mirage. “Packrat was telling me last night that you’ve had some trouble with breezadores.”

Mirage’s nostrils flared. “Yeah, what of it?”

“Fly-ders are much worse than breezadores. They’re smaller, faster, and they want to eat you. And with a swarm of that size, they can and they will. Believe me, I’ve seen it happen.”

That caught my attention. After reading about her in the Daring Do story, I was curious as to what other adventures Shadow had gotten into. There was a lot to learn from a mare who had lived for over two centuries. I still wanted to know if she and Daring Do ever had that fight.

“What happened?” Packrat seemed just as interested as I was.

“You know I don’t like talking about my past, Squirt.”

There was an edge to Shadow’s voice that Packrat ignored. “Yeah, I know. But, um, you always say it’s better to focus on the present. And the present, um, has the fly-bers—”

“—Fly-ders.”

“Them too! I’m just saying if you told us your experience with them, we could, um, come up with a better plan.”

Shadow’s laugh was raspy and uncomfortable to the ears. “I know you don’t believe any of that for a second, but it was clever.” Packrat looked disappointed, but it only lasted for about a second. “Clever enough to have an actual point. It was back when I was with the Shadowbolts. A meteorite had fallen into some Celestia-forsaken jungle. Me and a small unit travelled with an archeologist to find the thing. After retrieving it, we escorted her and the meteorite to the Ministry of War Tech in Vanhoover.”

“What for?” Mirage asked.

Shadow shook her head. “Didn’t ask. Didn’t stick around long enough to find out. What I do know is that we were attacked by fly-ders on our way out of the city. I was able to escape without a problem, but one of my comrades was eaten alive. So, Wings, if it’s all the same to you. I’d rather not fuck with fly-ders.”

Ultimately, we didn’t fuck with the fly-ders. We walked for about twenty minutes before we stopped to make our camp. There had been a small hill Shadow thought would make a great vantage point. We had gathered on the hill. The fly-ders were much further. Hopefully they’d move on in the morning. Shadow had started a small fire. We had drawn lots to determine the watch order. I had the first watch of the night. That suited me just fine. Once everypony and zebra fell asleep, I could inject another dose of vulpa venom in privacy. Currently, there was only one holdout.

Strings was watching me. She was huddled up beside me, almost like a pet. I couldn’t tell if it was endearing or creepy. What I could decide was it was keeping me from spending more time with Lyra. That was unacceptable. I pointed to the other ponies and then nodded at her.

“I’m not tired.” Just my luck. “I wanted to stay up with you.”

Ugh, fine. She could stay up with me. Strings hadn’t said a word to any of my companions thus far. I doubted she’d say anything if she watched me take a small dose of venom. I retrieved a syringe and a venom sac from my bag. I pierced the sac and extracted a third of the syringe of venom. I put the sac back into my bag.

Strings was staring at the syringe. “Is that for me?”

I shook my head. I pointed to myself.

“What is it?”

Liquid happiness.

I injected the venom into my body. It took a few moments for the effects to sink in. Sink in they did. The first thing I noticed was the fire. The fire had been small. Not quite embers but close to it. Now I saw a roaring fire. It even felt warmer. I held my hooves closer to the flames and enjoyed the warmth.

Lyra rested her head on my shoulder. “It’s a nice fire.”

“Yes, it is.”

Lyra’s gaze fell to the syringe on the ground by my hooves. She gently flicked at it with her tail. “Are you sure you should be taking this while on watch?”

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

“As long as you’re sure.” She nodded towards Strings. “She’s cute.”

“She’s practically a filly.”

“I mean cute as in a cute kid.” She snickered. “No. The real cute one is that zebra stud.”

“Oh, shut up.”

She laughed. “What? You’re not jealous, are you, Symphony?”

I snorted. “And what would I have to be jealous about?”

I felt her hot breath against my ear. “Absolutely nothing.”

Lyra starting nibbling on my ear. It felt wonderful, but I had to move away from her. “There’s a child watching, Lyra.”

“And?”

“And?” Did she really just ask that? “It’s not appropriate.”

“Neither is taking drugs.”

Oh. We were having this talk again. “Is this an attempt at analogizing taking drugs to public sex?”

Lyra looked startled. “What? No! Don’t be stupid, Symphony.”

I glared at her, but she paid no mind. “I’m saying you want to do things that make you happy, regardless if they’re appropriate or not. So, you should be consistent.”

“There’s a difference between taking a shot of vulpa venom in front of Strings and having sex in front of her.”

“What is it?”

I blinked. “Excuse me?”

“You said there’s a difference. What is it?”

“Watching sex could scar her.”

“And seeing her savior injecting himself with literal poison isn’t scarring?”

“Sex is a special act between two ponies.”

“It’s not like she’s going to see me.”

“Sex is private!”

“And we all know how public you are with your drug use.”

My lips curled into a snarl. “Oh, just shut up.”

“I’m not trying to convince you against taking vulpa venom; you clearly aren’t interested in common sense.” I snorted, but she ignored me. “But at the very least you can be consistent with your actions and motivations.”

“My motivation is consistent. I want to do things that make me happy. Having sex in public isn’t exactly appealing to me. and right about now you’re not that appealing either.”

She turned her back on me. At first she was quiet, but then I started hearing something. A wet, raspy, choking sound. It was a laugh even more disgusting than my own. It certainly wasn’t appealing either. She rounded on me. I no longer saw Lyra in front of me. I had forgotten the time when I woke up after being struck by the poison arrow. Vulpa venom leads to hallucinations. Not all of them were pleasant.

Lyra’s face opened up to reveal an undulating black mass. Her head leaned backward; tendrils lashed out of the mass into the air above her. The tendrils snapped violently at each other. The violent choking sound continued. It no longer came from the mouth on her face. It was coming from the several mouths that had formed on her chest and legs. Each mouth opened to reveal several sets of teeth and a tongue coated in black slime. The sights and sounds were awful, but they had nothing on the smell. It smelled of mucous and feces, and the smell came from each mouth. Every time they laughed, the smell grew more intense. And they didn’t stop laughing.

I felt nauseous. I was sweating heavily. I tried to breathe, but my breath was caught in my throat. I backpedaled away from the monster that was once Lyra Heartstrings XII until I felt something pressing against my back. It was cold, hard, and metallic. I knew what it was once I heard the tell-tale click.

“You and everything you own is now property of the White Hooves.”

I could see faces in the firelight. Not all of them were pony. One of them had feathers and a curved beak. Another had horns coming from the sides of its head. I couldn’t tell if I were being ambushed by a herd of multiple species or if I were hallucinating. And if I were hallucinating, how much was real?

The gun was jammed into my back. “Wake up my friends before I shoot you.”

The gun at least felt real. I had to assume the other creatures were as well. Even if they were all ponies, they were still ponies with guns. I approached Shadow. I touched her on the shoulder and roughly shook her awake. She grumbled something and raised her head. “Ugh. Look, Sparkles, I get that you’re into me, but is no way to—oh.” She moved her head around the fire. She tilted her head down and looked at where the syringe was lying. “Fuck.”

Well said.