“Well, look who it is, boys! The flightless wonder!”

Canvas tensed his body, turning around to face the pony who had addressed him. The pony was a portly one, a bit on the short side, perhaps not too muscly, but what he lacked in stature he seemed to make up for in the respect he commanded amongst his goons.

“J-J-Jettison!” Canvas stammered, backpedaling away. “L-l-leave me alone, I-”

“Goin' somewhere, chump?”

With no time to react, the yellow pegasus found himself shoved forwards, thrown to the ground by one of his tormentor’s lackeys.

“Look at you, lamebrain!” Jettison snickered, shoving his hoof at Canvas. “Such a waste of a pegasus! All of us have been flying for AGES now, but you? Hah, you can hardly even get yourself off the ground without falling back down!”

“Wait,” one of Jettison’s goons murmured. “I thought Jet couldn’t fly neither.”

“SHUT UP, NIMBUS!” Jettison snapped, the area growing quiet as the goon flinched back. “I can TOO fly! I… I just choose not to!”

“W-what do you want from me, Jettison?” Canvas began to cry. “I-I didn’t–”

“Hey, what’s going on over there?”

The bullies turned, their leader looking particularly unamused at the intrusion. From around the corner, a young turquoise pegasus had stepped in, quickly spotting his friend on the ground.

“Canvas?” Windspeed called out, quickly turning to stare down the head bully. “Jettison, what are you doing?”

“Back off, Wind.” Jettison muttered. “I’m just making sure this turd knows his place.”

“Jettison,” Windspeed seethed. “That ‘turd’ is my friend. Get your hooves off him.”

“Or what?” the bully smirked. “You gonna go tell on me?”

Before he could say anything further, Windspeed launched himself at Jettison, approaching the bully with a sudden burst of speed. The boy’s cronies were quick to act though, and they managed to latch themselves on to Windspeed, keeping him from moving any further.

“W-Windspeed!”

“Shut up, dodo!” Jettison hissed, kicking Canvas in the face. Canvas reeled back in shock, staring up at Jettison. Before he could say anything further, tears started to stream down his face.

“Aw, you gonna cry?” Jettison laughed. “Hah! You’re such a lame piece of crap, you–”

He never got the last word out. While he had been mocking, Windspeed broke free of the boy’s minions. In a burst of speed which would be the talk of the playground for many weeks after, Windspeed flew directly at Jettison, tackling the bully into the clouds. Canvas stared in awe, watching as the two boys fought, exchanging blow for blow and bite for bite.

It took a while for the adults to show up, and when they did the bully’s goons were nowhere to be found. The teachers were the first ones there, quickly stepping in and pulling the two boys apart. Soon after, the parents were called in, and once brought up to speed, each began blaming the other child for instigating the attack.

“How dare you let that colt harm my boy!” Jettison’s mother lashed out. “My darling little Jettison, beaten to a pulp by your savage bully of a child! I’ll see you in court for this, I swear!”

“Your child is the menace here!” Windspeed’s father retorted. “Everyone here seems to know it except you! I’ll bet he started this whole mess!”

“Lies! My precious child would never…”

As the adults continued to bicker, Canvas looked over at Windspeed, the latter standing in the toughest-looking pose he could muster as he nursed his wounds. With a quick glance to make sure no one was looking, Canvas slipped away, sneaking over to his friend.

“W-Windspeed,” Canvas whispered, startling Windspeed for a moment. “Th-thank you.”

“No problem,” Windspeed smiled, attempting to give a hoof bump before reeling his leg back in pain.

“I-if you don’t mind me asking, though… why?”

“Huh?” Windspeed screwed up his face. “What do you mean?”

“I-I mean…” Canvas muttered. “Y-you got hurt. A-and you’re friends with Jettison, I thought. S-so… why fight him like that?”

Windspeed paused, the young colt trying to gather his thoughts in response.

“Because it felt right.” The colt finally said. “It’s what the Enclave would do. They help weak ponies, ponies in need. Even if they could get hurt, they help.”

Windspeed paused, puffing out his chest with pride.

“And if I’m gonna be in the Enclave someday, then I want to help ponies stay safe, no matter what!”

As Canvas began to reply, something caught his attention. A sparkling, shining light, coming from vaguely behind Windspeed. Curious, the yellow colt turned his head, and instantly his eyes grew wider than he had ever thought they could. He quickly grabbed Windspeed, silently pointing at the turquoise colt’s flank.

Where there had previously been just bare fur, a trio of sea-green wind spirals had appeared.

Windspeed had earned his Cutie Mark.

“W-what?!?”

I’m surprised I even managed to get that much out. I misheard him. I had to have misheard him. That was the only explanation. Windspeed, my best friend in the world, he… he wouldn’t kill me! That’d be insane! He couldn’t…

But then why is he pointing his guns at me?

“I’m not repeating myself.” Windspeed stated, lifting a mouthpiece trigger to his muzzle. “I know you heard damn well what I said.”

“Th-this isn’t funny, Windspeed!” I stammered, my legs and wing frozen in place. “Y-you’re usually pretty funny, b-but this isn’t one of those times!”

“This isn’t a joke, Canvas!” Windspeed snapped, before looking down solemnly. “God, I wish this was a joke, but it isn’t. To think, of all the soldiers in the Enclave, and all the ponies in the sky, that it’d be us two standing here right now... It’s got the makings of a cruel joke, that’s for sure.”

“B-b-but why?!?” I shouted. “I-I’ve never done anything wrong! You know I’ve never done anything wrong! I-I mean, yeah, I looked at the holodisk, b-but that thing said I’d face jail time for this! N-not execution!”

“I’m sorry.” Windspeed sighed. “They told me you stole the holodisk. They… they think you’re a terrorist.”

I froze at the word.

“W… w-what?!?” I sputtered, reeling back from the Wonderbolt’s revelation. “T-t-terrorist?!? Th-that’s insane! Windspeed, you know I wouldn’t do anything against the Equestrian Sky! This… th-this has to be a misunderstanding!”

“That’s what I said, too.” Windspeed muttered, a dry laugh escaping his lips. “You don’t really have the spine to do anything like what they were suggesting. And even then, why would you? You’ve got no issues with our country. But they seem to think otherwise. Bastards didn’t say much, but they swore they had ‘reason to believe you were plotting against us.’ Wouldn’t give me the full reason, but it sounded like it had something to do with your sister.”

“My… what?” I screwed up my face, completely caught off guard by the response. “Sky Blossom? W-what does she have to do with any of this?!? Windspeed, please, n-none of this is making any sense! Y-you have to believe me, I’m not plotting against anyone!! I-I just want to go home, please, please let me come home with you!!”

“I wish I could.” The Wonderbolt muttered, choking slightly on his words. “I so badly wish I could, Canvas. But this is straight from the High Council. They’re counting on me. If I don’t succeed, I… I don’t even want to think about what they’ll do to me.”

“P-please,” I pleaded, my heart beginning to pound in my chest. “Think about this. Y-you don’t have to do this, do you? You can-”

“Do you think I want to do this?!?” Windspeed snapped, barring his teeth in a snarl. “You think I just woke up this morning and decided, ‘Oh gee, I think I’m gonna go kill my best friend today! That sure seems like a good idea! That seems like a fun way to spend my afternoon!’ Is that what you think is going on here?!? I’m a soldier, Canvas! Or maybe you forgot? I don’t have the luxury of refusing. I don’t get to ask why. It doesn’t matter if my target is a stranger or my own mother, if I’m ordered to shoot, I fucking shoot. And you’re not exempt from that.”

I flinched backwards, my mouth agape as I felt tears form in my eyes. It finally sunk in what was happening. I was going to die. Windspeed was going to kill me. I was going to be gunned down, slaughtered on the Wasteland floor. And my best friend was going to do it. My knees buckled, and I collapsed onto the ground, only barely managing to hold myself upright.

“Windspeed…” I sobbed, tears streaming down my face. “Please… don’t kill me…”

Windspeed paused for a moment. His mouth contorted into a wince, and for a brief moment, he started to lower his weapons. But as quickly as he had lowered them, he raised them again.

“Orders are orders.” He said morosely. “I’m sorry. I’ll try to make it as quick and painless as possible.”

Slowly, Windspeed put the trigger in his mouth, and I saw the rifle barrels start to aim for my head. In an instant, a primal instinct surged through me. My body regained the ability to move, and with all the force I could muster, I launched myself to the side – right as the rifle fired twin magical energy beams right where my head used to be.

“Wha…” Windspeed groaned, turning in my direction. “Canvas, please don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

“Are you kidding?!?” I spat. “I-I’m not gonna let you kill me! Th-there has to be something wrong with your orders, I didn’t- ah!” I yelped, my sentence cut off by another beam of energy, this one so close to hitting I could feel the heat from the shot along my body.

“Canvas.” he repeated, his voice taking an authoritative, commanding tone. “Quit resisting. I know it’s difficult, but I have to do this.”

“P-please, think about this!” I cried, desperation beginning to set in. “Th-there has to be some other option here! Y-you could leave me alive, but just tell them you killed me! O-or you could try to convince your superiors that I d-don’t need to die! Or you could, uh… y-you could stay down here, w-with me!”

Windspeed froze, his movements completely halting for a moment. For a few seconds, he stayed that way, completely unmoving, like he’d been turned to stone. A moment later, he tilted his head downwards ever so slightly, but he didn’t say a word. A few beads of sweat dripped down my face. I squinted just a bit, hoping to make out some kind of expression on his muzzle, but his mouth was as stoic as he was.

Did… did I do it? Did I get through to him?

Hesitantly, I chose to believe that I’d succeeded, and one throat clearing later, I pressed my advantage.

“Y-yeah, we could… w-we could work something out! Y-y’know, this place isn’t that bad once you get used to it… heh…”

I paused, a frown teasing at the corner of my lips as images of ghouls and radroaches and wood beasts raged through my mind.

“O-okay, it’s pretty bad, there are monsters basically everywhere… b-but you’re a Wonderbolt, so it’s n-nothing you couldn’t handle… e-either way, there are some safe places we could stay, m-maybe not quite New Cloudsdayle quality, b-but much nicer than you’d expect… p-plenty of mares around, I know y-you like to be a mare’s stallion, heh… a-and hey, the air isn’t as poisoned as we thought, s-so it’s not like-”

“Canvas, stop.” Windspeed interrupted. “Do you even have any idea what you’re suggesting? Disobeying the counsel is treason of the highest order. If I did that, I’d be no better than a Dashite. I’d lose everything, Canvas. My position, my home, my friends, my family, everything I have ever known. I can’t just throw that all away! Even… even if it means that I have to kill you.”

Just like that, my glimmer of hope faded, my ears drooping and my heart sinking in turn.

“B-but-”

“This is your last warning.” Windspeed threatened. “If you keep resisting, I’ll be forced to fight you. If we fight, I will win. You know I will. I don’t want it to come to that, and I know you don’t either. So hold still, and let me… let me finish this. I promise, you won’t feel a thing.”

I stared at Windspeed, my whole body trembling as he stared back. What do I do now? I needed to do something, but what? As far as I could tell, I had two options. I could stand there and accept it, let Windspeed shoot me, and have that be the end of it. I’d die, Windspeed would go home scarred, but successful. My attempts to get home would all be in vain, and my life would end, right here, and right now.

Or I could stand and fight.

I don’t quite know what compelled me to do what I did. I’d always imagined that, were I ever to find myself in a situation like this, I’d have given up. I never expected to be put in a situation like this, mind you. It was just one of those idle thoughts, the kind you have when you’re alone in your room and have nothing to do. And yet, there on the Wasteland floor, I did something I never thought I would do in a million years.

I drew the Artisan and pointed it at Windspeed.

Windspeed faltered, taking a very slight step back. I imagine his eyes widened a bit, too. Slowly, silently, the Wonderbolt lowered his head.

“So that’s how it is.” Windspeed sighed. “Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

In an instant, Windspeed flared out his wings and thrust them downwards, kicking up a cloud of dust all around us. I flinched back, coughing through the dust, when all of a sudden, I heard two shots fire. I cried out, a stinging pain slicing across my back as the magical energy grazed my skin. I stumbled backwards, quickly trying to escape from the cloud and regain my vision, but just as I got out of the dust, I heard another sound – the thundering sound of galloping.

Before I could react, Windspeed had rushed up to me, firing another shot in my direction with his approach. I yelped, my heart pounding as I turned and ran away from him. Instantly, an array of thoughts fought their way to the forefront of my mind, the internal struggle causing my thoughts to rapidly volley from one idea to the next. Somewhere between my ideas of running away and fighting back, I managed to turn around, trying to lock the sights on my attacker…

My friend…

I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t shoot my best friend. I just stood there for a moment, unable to see him as my enemy even though he was literally trying to kill me. Windspeed paused too, and though I couldn’t see his eyes behind the helmet, I had a feeling they were widening. But the moment passed in an instant, and the Wonderbolt charged at me in a speedy zig-zag to throw off my aim. The artisan wavered in my vision, the sights unable to settle on anything, and-

WHAM!

I spent too long thinking. Before I could decide, Windspeed was upon me, and he didn’t hesitate to ram into me with the full force of his charge. I yelled, tumbling backwards, head-over-hooves from the force of the blow. I finally stopped as my body slammed into a boulder, but I didn’t get to rest long – another round of energy blasts was fired at me, one shot hitting me square in the leg, evaporating a patch of armor that covered it. I scrambled to my hooves, crawling around behind the boulder as quickly as I could. As Windspeed readied another shot, I tried to use what little time I had to think of a plan.

Ok, ok, I’m not gonna shoot him. Even if he’s wearing armor, I can’t shoot him. But then what? What do I do? Maybe… maybe shoot his guns? Yeah, the guns. I’ve done that before. God, I wish I knew how to use that S.A.T.S. thing, that would-

In the middle of my thought, the rock I was hiding behind erupted into rubble, a shot from Windspeed’s guns all but vaporizing it in an instant. I yelped, quickly crawling my way behind another rock. No more time to think, I just had to act. I risked bringing my head up from cover, and to my relief Windspeed looked to be reloading his guns. Perfect! With a few deep breaths to steady my nerves (as well as my aim), I closed one eye and lined up the shot…

BANG!!

No good. To my dismay (and, conflictingly, somewhat to my relief) the shot sailed clean past him, a long ways off from my mark. Before I could line up another shot, Windspeed finished reloading and unleashed a magical volley of his own. I ducked down behind cover again, only to hear a loud whooshing sound. I looked up, and before I knew it Windspeed pulled into an aerial loop, launching up into the air, and then back down behind me in the blink of an eye. Had I not been hyperventilating, I’d have let out a low whistle – it may not have looked impressive to a Wastelander, but any pegasus knows that a perfect loop is difficult to pull off.

It almost kept me from realizing that I was now on the wrong side of my cover. I yelped, leaping over the rock and making a mad dash away from Windspeed. The Wonderbolt pursued, firing another volley of shots at me. I grabbed the Artisan again, the sights shaking wildly as I tried to line up another-

Augh!! Fuck!! One of Windspeed’s shots hit me square in the side. Thank God I had armor, otherwise I imagine my body would have been disintegrated. As it was, the armor had been burned away, crackling and sizzling off in a cloud of ash. All that was left was an intense heat, as though someone had directly lit my coat on fire. I tried in vain to fan off the scalding spot with my wing, to no avail. To make matters worse, the shock of getting hit caused me to drop the Artisan, the gun tumbling into the dirt below me. For a brief moment, I tried to return for it, but another magical energy shot smashed into the ground next to me, swiftly forcing me into running the opposite direction of the weapon.

“Canvas, stop!” Windspeed called out. “You’re just making this worse on both of us!”

I refused to respond, my hooves pounding against the wasteland floor as I willed myself to keep moving. All of a sudden, I heard a loud *THUD*, and a cloud of dust kicked up in front of me. I only got a small glimpse of Windspeed in the middle of the cloud before I made the dumbest decision of the fight.

I squeezed my eyes shut, clenched my teeth, and rammed straight into the Wonderbolt.

With all the armor he was wearing, it was like ramming into a brick wall. My body slammed against him, my head ricocheting off the metal plates, disorienting me to the point that I swear the PipBuck indicators moved out of my line of sight for a minute. Fortunately, in spite of the pain, I still had enough weight and momentum behind my charge that I toppled him to the ground, knocking the rifle trigger out of his mouth. For a split second, Windspeed didn’t react, most likely a bit dazed from the impact. But he quickly got over it, and before I could react he grabbed hold of me, bringing me down to the ground with him.

In a panic, I tried to pull away, but Windspeed had a tight hold of me. I saw Windspeed reel back for a punch, leaving me only a split second to react. With escape not being an option, I wrapped my hind legs around him as best as I could and started slamming my forehooves into the one weak spot I could see – his muzzle.

We tumbled along the Wasteland floor, locked in a brawl for what seemed like eternity. I pounded my hooves against his face as hard as I could, Windspeed retaliating with punches of his own. His, of course, had much more force behind them, aided both by his superior strength and the metal armor encasing his hoof. With every blow, the wind was knocked from my lungs, forcing my breaths to become wheezing gasps. I struggled to keep from seizing up, my whole body wanting to curl up into a ball to lessen the damage. It hurt so much… like being hit with a sledgehammer. Repeatedly. I screamed, trying to ignore the pain as I continued to beat down on Windspeed as forcefully as possible. For a moment, I saw blood on my hooves – I wasn’t sure if it was his or mine.

Eventually Windspeed managed to get his hind legs underneath me and, with a single buck, threw me from his body. I wheezed, flailing my one good wing, trying in vain to keep myself upright as I arced through the air. I failed, and within seconds I slammed into the ground, coughing up blood and breathing heavily. Struggling to my hooves, I stole a glance at Windspeed – if not for the ragged breaths and the blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, he’d have looked like he walked straight off a Wonderbolts poster, standing straight and tall, barely a scratch on him.

Painfully, I got to my hooves, scrambling away as best as I could. Windspeed fired another shot at me, causing me to change direction. He fired again. And again. And again. I kept trying to evade his shots, but my weariness got the better of me, and I collapsed on the ground by a husk of a tree. Slowly, I grabbed onto the tree, propping myself up and turning to face the Wonderbolt.

“I guess I win.” Windspeed muttered breathlessly, turning and spitting out a mouthful of blood. “I told you this would happen. I don’t want you to suffer, alright? I really don’t. So please, please, Canvas. Hold still, close your eyes. It’ll be like… like pulling a tooth. A second of pain, and then it’s all over. Ok?”

I sobbed, staring at my friend through watery eyes.

It’s over. I’m gonna die. I’m never gonna go home, never gonna see mom again, never gonna do anything ever again, because I’m gonna die right here. My only friend in the world is gonna kill me, put me down like I’m just some sick bird.

Slowly, I curled up into a ball, squeezing my eyes shut.

“Ok…” Windspeed sighed, readying his guns. “Ok. Now just… just relax. Think about painting, you like painting. Think of a nice, beautiful landscape painting. Just think about that, and before you know it, it’ll all… be… ov-”

“Don’t make a fuckin’ move.”

Windspeed stopped. My ears perked up at the voice, my eyes snapping open and darting to the side. There, my gaze focusing on a lone, purple-coated earth pony. A purple-coated earth pony with a gun up against Windspeed’s head.

“T-Temper?!?”

Windspeed cocked his head slightly to the side.

“You know that thing?”

“Fuck you.” Temper groaned. “I am a ‘her’, not a ‘thing’. Don’t treat me like a fucking animal.”

“I- but- wha-” I stammered, finally losing what little grip that I had on what was going on. “W-what are you doing here? H-how did-”

“You can’t cover your tracks for shit, feathers.” The mare smirked. “Might have been behind you by a day or two, but it wasn’t hard to follow ya.”

“Look, ma’am,” Windspeed seethed, “We’re a bit busy right now, alright? And it’s a personal matter, so can you-”

“Shut up, soldier boy.” Temper interrupted. “Oh, and I’d suggest you stop shooting at my… acquaintance, or else I’ll blow your fuckin’ head off. ‘Course, I might do that anyways, seems like it’d be a heap of fun. But you’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Uh huh.” Windspeed deadpanned. “Perhaps I wasn’t clear. Stand down. This doesn’t concern you-”

“Hey, I said shut the fuck up!” Temper spat, shoving her gun into the back of Windspeed’s head. “Or did you miss the part where I said I’d turn your head into paste?”

“Oh, can it, wasteland scum.” Windspeed growled, a hint of a smirk gracing his lips. “This armor’s standard military issue. Completely bulletproof, or didn’t you realize?”

Temper frowned momentarily, before giving a smirk of her own. Slowly, she shifted her aim down.

“I bet that neck joint isn’t.”

Windspeed’s smile faltered. For a moment, he remained perfectly motionless. I could feel beads of sweat running down my face. A part of me wished he wasn’t wearing a helmet, if only so I could get a better read on his expression. With that helmet on, it was almost impossible to tell.

“Well?” Temper grinned. “What’s wrong, soldier boy? You don’t sound quite so hot now.”

“Alright.” Windspeed sighed. Slowly, he retracted his guns back into his power armor. “You win, he’s all yours. But before I go, might I have a word with my friend here?”

“Yeah,” Temper rolled her eyes. “‘Cause you two seem real buddy-buddy. Maybe I should-”

“W-wait,” I interrupted. “Temper, l-let him talk. He’s not lying.”

The mare raised her eyebrow, her gaze flickering between the two of us for just a few moments. Finally, she groaned, edging Windspeed forwards with her gun.

“Make it quick.”

Windspeed nodded, pausing only briefly to brush the dust off with his wing. Once he was close, he leaned down, whispering right into my ear.

“That little shit behind me is wrong, just so you know. The joints are lined with bullet-resistant fabric. It might not stop a sniper round or a high-caliber rifle, but it would certainly stop that pea-shooter.”

I felt my heartrate accelerate again, my eyes remaining locked on Windspeed. The helmet made it hard to tell, but it looked like he was keeping his gaze locked on me as well. For a few moments, we remained like that, neither of us saying a word, thoughts running rampant in my mind as I tried to figure out an escape route, in case things escalated again.

“You know I don’t want to kill you.” Windspeed admitted, lowering his gaze slightly. “Even if I have to, I don’t want to. Fortunately for both of us, she’s giving me an excuse to put it off. I still can’t abandon this mission completely, but here’s what I can do for now. I’ll walk away. Tell the heads I had to make a tactical retreat. You actually did a good bit of damage to me, so with any luck they won’t question it.

“I can’t stay away forever, though. Sooner or later, my COs will make me come find you again. So… let’s say you have two days. Forty-eight hours of safety. I wish I could give you more, but command wants you dealt with quickly, so that’s probably all I can get away with. Should be enough time for one last painting, yeah? Or at least enough to say your goodbyes, not that I can imagine there’s anypony down here you’d want to say goodbye to. After that… I have a mission to complete. And I can’t let friendship get in the way.”

Windspeed pulled back, ruffling his feathers a bit. With one last look at Temper, he started to trot away, Temper’s gun trained on his neck the whole while. A few paces in, Windspeed paused.

“You know,” he called back, hesitating for a second before he continued. “When you do finish your goodbyes... it’s not an easy decision, I know, but… well, if I come to find you and my mission’s been done for me, it’d make this all a bit less… complicated.”

I stared at Windspeed, his words slowly sinking in as he unfurled his wings.

“Just something to think about.”

In one swift motion, he crouched down, and then shot up into the air. Before I knew it, he was nothing more than a dot on the horizon, and an instant later, he was entirely gone.

Author's Notes:

Level Up!

New Perk: Run ‘n Gun – With this perk, you have a reduced accuracy penalty with mouth-held Firearms and Energy Weapons while walking or running. Now you can fight on the go!