Fallout Equestria: Strange Places

by Sigh Delakirus

First published 23rd of May, 2012

A young halfbreed finds herself in the wasteland, where she must find out what she truly is.

Diamond Knives is a halfbreed of unicorn and zebra, and a resident of the Prison,
a correctional facility that was sealed long ago to protect itself from the ravages
of the Great War.
However, she and her closest friend, a zebra by the name of Zeed, flee in order to
escape the most recent riot, when Knives is caught by a rival among the Guards,
and nearly killed in the incident.
Finding herself given a new life within the ruins of Canturbury, she will soon
discover that she is not what she once believed herself to be, and be forced to
find the freakish experiments performed within Canturbury Research, in order to
stop a madpony from destroying whats left of Equestria.

Cover image by DotRook
http://dotrook.deviantart.com/art/Fallout-Equestria-Logo-257752962

Chapter One: The Freedom To Die

Floating. I was floating. The only things in here with me were the things that were attached to my skin and flesh.

My eyes wouldn’t open, but through my eyelids I could see a sickly green light.

Through the walls of my fluid-filled prison, I could hear muffled voices.

I was content. Happy. Peaceful. No fear, no worry.

Then I started falling.

The fluid drained away, taking me with it.

I screamed.

As the things in my flesh were removed, the pain was excruciating, I started crying.

Then, someone was holding me.

Tears fell on me, somepony else’s. Tears of joy.

Someone spoke.

“See?” They said with a hint of triumph in their voice. “Perfectly healthy, just as I said.”

“Thank you!” Said another between sobs. “Thank you so much…”

“It’s no problem. I’m always happy to help a comrade,” said the first. “But…”

There was a pause.

“I need you to do something for me,” the voice continued. “I need to keep an eye on her for a few years, only about five or so. Don’t worry, it’s just to make sure nothing goes wrong.”

“Why nao? Why wi’ her?” Replied a third.

“She is a unique case. I’ve never had to deal with this before,” the first sighed. “I told you why I agreed to this, right?”

With a short pause, the third eventually replied with some reluctance. “Aye. Ah ken. Yer “sikrit projects”. Silly me.”

“Good. So, if you don’t mind my asking, what are you going to name her?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Miss Knives? Diamond Knives?” The old earth pony Guard asked incredulously as he eyed my papers. He absent-mindedly reached up to scratch his head with a hoof, only to be blocked by his combat helmet. It was blue with the logo of the Guards; a golden star within a circle, with words written in some old language all along the arms of the star. “What kinda name is that?”

“Buck aff ye old bastard.” I growled. I assumed he must be new to this part of the Prison, as everyone else here knew me pretty well. I mean, come one! Who the hell else had a heavy-as-shit accent like mine? “Ah’ve heard worse names, and Ah happen tae like mine.”

He glared at me, puffing out his blue-armored chest. He probably thought it was intimidating, but in reality it just made him look fat. I stifled a giggle. “Insulting a Guard is a serious offense you know.”

I restrained myself from rolling my eyes as I said as convincingly as I could, “Och, Aam sooo sorry sir, Ah didn’t mean it like that…”

That seemed to be enough for him. He smirked and took a look at his clipboard, hmm-ing and haa-ing as he read, “Let’s see here, ah, Diamond Knives. Looks like you’re fixing sewage pipes again.”

“Aam practically oozin’ wi’ joy,” I snarked. “Shall I away then?”

“Yeah. Your crap’s in the lockers. Get your barding and get to work,” he scoffed. “Don’t fuck up. Next!”

I was quickly replaced by a scrawny and nervous young buck as I walked off the platform and into the locker room.

There was little to say about the place. All the walls in the Prison were a sanitary white. No tiles, no planks, just solid, unicorn-sculpted concrete with colored lines leading in all directions from place to place. Sometimes the colored lines would branch off here and there to be replaced with other colors of lines. Occasionally, you could see cameras on the wall, or an inactive emergency light, but that was about it. The ceilings were probably the most interesting, as they had running lights along their edges, but not a lot… You get the point. It was the Prison, thusly, it looked like a prison.

The locker room was no different. Well, except for the lockers of course, and the fact that several mares were milling about. A couple Guards were standing at the entrances, their faces hidden behind the face-plates of their helmets.

When I reached my locker I found, much to my irritation, that the lock had changed position, telling me immediately that someone had tampered with the lockers contents.

With a groan I stood to the side of the locker, undoing the combination lock with my telekinesis, enveloping the door in a nearly invisible grey glow. Swiftly, I threw it open, expecting a bucket of crap or a massive pile of drugs to fall out or something. Instead I was met with the simple sight of a large stack of magazines.

I made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a growl. Someone had stuffed Playbucks in my locker again, and I knew exactly who.

Under my breath, I counted down. “Four… Three… Two… One… Clothesline! ‘ow are ye?”

I’d spun around to see the pink mare standing right behind me. She tossed her black mane with a hoof, smirking. “Oh my, Knives. I didn’t know you were into mares… I certainly hope you don’t feel anything for me…”

I glared at her. “Really, Clothesline? Resortin’ tae grade-school filly pranks again? I thought ye were a wee bit more clever than that.”

“Oh, you blame me for this? Well I certainly didn’t make you a fillyfooler,” she said, the last part a bit louder than necessary. A few chuckles came from some of the other mares. “I don’t know why you’d think me capable of such horrid things.”

I just gave her a deadpan look.

“I mean, look at yourself,” she said, indicating the mirror attached to my locker’s door. I liked to think I had a fairly lithe build. I was small and agile, but unfortunately for me, I had the stamina of an asthmatic foal, and I could barely gallop for a short distance. My striped leg fur blended easily into the greyish fur on my sides. My blackish-green mane was, as usual, a complete mess, as I’d never cared to do anything with it, feeling it was just fine as it was. I blinked my silver eyes as I looked at my cutie mark, a diamond turning into ash, or, depending on your outlook, ash coalescing into a diamond.

“You look just like a young colt.”

My entire body tensed up noticeably at that, but I managed to hold back my anger. Okay, admittedly, I sort of did look like a colt. I had little to show my femininity, and I knew that. But just hearing it drove me fucking crazy, especially with her saying it. However, I said nothing, trying to keep myself from punching Clothesline in the face. She just had to say the one thing that angers me above all others.

“Oh. I’m sorry,” she said mockingly with a huge grin plastered on her face. Oh what I’d have given to break those teeth. I could feel my eye twitching with rage. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

You may be wondering why I didn’t just hit her. The reason was simple: She was the Guard Captain’s daughter, and that assault would have been a crime punishable by death. Throw in the fact that I’m half-zebra, and they would make it a painful death, accompanied by torture under that ever-so-old excuse of me being a “potential zebra spy.”

So, I stood there, fuming, as she walked away laughing, making a point to whip her tail into my face. When she was gone, I gently pulled my bright orange utility barding out of the locker, calmly closed the door, put the neatly folded barding on the floor, and beat the ever-loving shit out of the lockers door with my hooves, leaving several dents in it.

~

I trotted through the Prison, thinking of how many ways I could kill Clothesline without getting caught. I had reached method number seven when I came across the Door.

It was just a simple metal door, with a terminal embedded into the wall beside it. I think that anywhere else in Equestria, it would have been nothing special. Here, however, the Prisoners generally tried to avoid it, as did many of the Guards. Personally, I passed by it any time I went off to work, but I could understand why they didn’t like being near it.

This was the only door to the outside world that I knew of. It’d been sealed shut for a hundred-and-eighty years, closed when the first megaspells hit. Nopony but the Guards knew what was out there anymore, but rumors among the prisoners hinted at things like an endless void, a massive expanse of barren desert, alien civilizations, massive fields of toxic cheese that turned you into a walrus… Yes, we did have more than a few crazies, why do you ask?

I wished I could just leave. The Guards, my cramped-as-fuck cell, that bitch Clothesline, the fact that my job was basically being the plumber, I had a plethora of reasons, but the main one was that I wanted freedom. The Guards controlled almost every single aspect of life here, and I’d lived here for all of mine. I’d known nothing else, but…

I felt a longing to be outside. I’m not sure why. Whether it be nothingness, aliens, or what have you, I wanted out. I wanted to see… Something other than the barren concrete walls.

“Miss?”

I turned to see a gold-furred white-maned unicorn stallion with a cutie mark of a broken red cross. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but he seemed vaguely familiar. He was smiling gently at me with his head tilted slightly in curiosity. “Would you happen to be Diamond Knives?”

I nodded. “Ye know me?”

“When you were just a filly. There aren’t many Half-zebra, half-unicorns around here,” He grinned. “I was hoping to find your parents somewhere?”

With a sigh and a frown I said, “Good luck wi’ that. Dad was thrown out of the Prison an’ mom died in th’ last riot years ago.”

He looked surprised for a moment. “Ah. I see. Well… You have my condolences.” Under his breath he muttered, “I’ve been gone far too long.”

I looked at him, confused. I just smiled nervously sand started walking away slowly down the corridor.

“I’m sure they would be proud of you. Especially your father,” he called back gently. “But he always did hate this place.”

When I’d rounded the corner, I trotted away at full speed, hoping to get far away from the crazy old stallion.

~~~

The sewage pipes were heavily guarded, with a Guard at every possible exit, and several standing along the walls. Between them, posters were stuck up saying things like “The Guards are your friends” and “All glory to the Prison Guards, they keep order for all”, standard propaganda crap. Cameras were looking at every inch of the room in which the pipes were housed. The floor was covered in stains of various, but even in here, the walls and ceiling were that same perfectly sanitary white.

I worked diligently, as I usually did. Taking a bucket of metal plates and small pipes in my mouth and a small toolbox in my nearly invisible magical grip, I pulled out old, rusted pipes, and replaced them with the new. Sludge was everywhere, but I barely noticed it as I moved from pipe to pipe, checking every inch. I may have hated the place, but damn me if I’m going to let the place fill up with raw sewage.

I was so ensconced in my work that I nearly jumped out of my skin when a voice behind me commented, “I will never understand how you can stand to do that with your mouth.”

I glared at the speaker. Why the hell was he here? He lived in a completely different section! “Well, it ‘elps if ye fall from a decent height and land on yer head as a foal. It’ll buck up yer senses pretty good.”

“But still… It’s in your mouth…” The blue unicorn grimaced. His black mane was well-coiffed into something he referred to as a 'pompadour'. I always thought it just looked like he had a dick on his head. “You know you’re a unicorn, right?”

“Aye, but Ah can’t lift a goddess-damned thing, ye feckin’ prick. How many times have AH told ye that?” I growled. “Why don’t ye go suck your stallion aff or something?”

“Ooooh, still upset about our breakup, huh? Well, sweetheart, I’m sorry I hurt you, but you’re just going to have to get over- OW!” I’d thrown a pipe at him. “Oh, so it’s like that is it? Fine. If you can be a bitch, then so can I. At least I can admit what I am. You still keep lying to your-AGH!”

The second hit wasn’t me. A large orb had popped out of a broken pipe above his head, hitting him right between the eyes. I nearly fell over laughing.

“Goddesses… You know what? Fuck you Knives. Just… fuck you.” He growled. “When the shit hits the fan, you’re on your own. Just thought you should know.”

“Huh?” I stopped laughing and raised an eyebrow.

He chuckled. “Oh, you’d like to know, wouldn’t you? Well, All I’m saying is that it’s happening soon. Goodbye Knives.”

I just stared after him as he trotted away, with a confused look plastered on my face. I looked down at the orb that had fallen on him. It was clear and a bit larger than my hoof, with some sort of black crap floating around in it. Dad told me about these once, called them mind balls or something. I thought he said they were white though…

I gave a quick look around to make sure I wasn’t being watched too closely, and attempted to pocket it. I say attempted, because the second I tried to pick it up in my mouth, it jerked away from me, rolling over into a corner. Slightly confused and a bit more surprised, I walked over to its new position. I eyed it carefully. I didn’t know much about this thing, but I knew enough that I didn’t want to pick it up with magic, as I couldn’t afford to be stuck in somepony elses thoughts for a couple hours while on my shift.

Cautiously, and assuming that this must be some sort of prank, I tried to pick it up again, but it only continued to roll away, this time into a broken-open pipe. I just knew that it was another one of Clotheslines stupid pranks, who the hell else could it be? And yet, I continued. Sneaking through the pipe, I followed the ball… orb… thing… until I reached a grate, against which the orb was resting.

I stared at it for a moment.

I touched it with a hoof. There was a slight tink sound, telling me it was made from some kind of glass.

As I bent down one last time to pick up the orb, I noticed that something was brushing my mane. It took me a moment to figure out that the air was moving. I wondered whether or not I was hallucinating, when the realization hit me. I took a deep breath and snapped my mouth shut.

WHOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH

I was just in time, as the wave of raw sewage blasted through the grate, dragging me, along with the orb, down the pipe and past where I’d come in. I tried desperately to keep my mouth closed as I let the wave carry me. I may not be able to taste it, but it’s still a bad idea to swallow sewage, for obvious reasons. I didn’t bother trying to swim out, the pressure was simply too strong and I was too weak a swimmer to get anywhere.

I felt myself being thrown into the sides of the pipe.

A particularly nasty hit knocked the wind out of me, leaving me struggling to keep my breath in.

I was quickly running out of air.

I fought the urge to inhale.

I had to get out.

I had to get out.

I had to get-

There was a loud crash, and suddenly I was on the floor, coughing, spluttering, and gasping for breath.

It took me a moment to get back to my senses, when I discovered that I was in the Guard captain’s bathroom. Mind you, I’d never been in there before, and I really had no idea where it was, but the Prison Guard logo painted on the floor sort of gave it away, as did the fact that she was standing in the doorway, staring at me, looking like she was about to kill me.

Panting, I tried to stand, but my shaking knees refused to hold my weight, and I collapsed. My ribs and head hurt like hell. There was brownish liquid everywhere.

I grinned weakly at the Captain. “Sorry marm. We seem tae be havin’ a few technical difficulties.”

Then I passed out.

~~~~~~~~~~

“No mum. I didnae eat the cake,” I grumbled as I awoke. “Huh?”

Looking around, I found that I was in a medical bay. There were those same barren walls, just with some medical equipment strewn about the room. My chest was heavily bandaged and, looking in the nearby mirror, I saw that my head was as well.

“Ugh. Who th’ buck took a goddess-damned hammer tae mah skull?” I whined from the cot. “Hello? Anypony ‘ere?”

A zebra with a red-dyed mane popped her head into the room. “You’re awake? Damn, I thought you were going to be asleep for weeks.”

“What happened?”

“You popped out of the Captains bathroom through the floor. Heh, you should have seen the look on her face. Priceless!” She chuckled, and then her expression got serious. “Anyway, you have several broken ribs and a minor concussion. Sorry, but they only gave you a small potion to deal with it. I got you some med-x, but I recommend holding onto it for a while.”

She tossed me a small bag. “You really do like getting injured don’t you?”

Suppressing a grin, I looked around and, dropping my accent, said with mock confusion, “Where… Where am I? Who are you? Who am I?”

Her hooves flew to her face as terror filled her eyes, making me burst out laughing. Her expression quickly turned to one of irritation as she glared at me and complained, “That’s not funny Knives! I thought you were serious!”

“Oh come on Zeed! How could Ah ferget Ye? Yer mah best friend in the whole buckin’ Prison.”

Rolling her eyes, she went back into her ‘doctor mode’ and asked, “Can you stand?”

I got out of the cot, and managed to stand for a whole few seconds before I felt all the blood rush to my head. The dizziness nearly made me fall over. She rushed over to help me, and I smiled weakly.

“Aam fine. Nothin’ tae worry yerself abit.” I shakily walked over to the chair on which my barding lay, followed closely by Zeed. The orange jumpsuit had been thoroughly cleaned of sewage. “What are ye doin’ here, anyway?”

“Checking up on you, obviously. I was working with Dr. Cold when I heard what happened. Come one, let’s get you to the room. They said you could go as soon as you’re up. The Captain has even forgiven you for effectively destroying her bathroom.”

After I’d shakily put my barding back on, we started towards the cell blocks, where we shared a decent cell.

~

“So, you chased a memory orb into a sewage pipe…”

“Aye. That Ah did.” I replied as we made our way down the corridors.

“Hmm… Maybe the head injury didn’t come from the pipe then.” She pretended to think, rubbing her hoof across her chin. “Oh! I know! You’re an idiot.”

“Aye. That Ah am.”

“So…. Did you at least manage to get it?” She continued, rolling her eyes.

“Sadly, nay. But Ah guess it doesnae really matter, now does it?”

“Come on, Knives! You tried to chase a ball into a pipe! Why? Don’t you remember what your dad always said? I mean, it’s not like he didn’t remind you of it every day.”

I pondered for a moment. “Never ferget tae eat yer veggies?”

Then I saw the Door again. I stopped and stared, feeling again that desire to leave. That longing to see the outside. That odd hope for something more. I knew it was supposed to be a lifeless hellhole, but I couldn’t help it. I just wanted to know.

“Still got that feeling, huh?” Zeed whispered beside me. “Gotta admit, I’m kinda curious as well…”

We just stared at it for a moment, in complete silence.

“I dare you to touch it,” she said.

I blinked in confusion.

“Go on. Touch it.”

“N-No! Ye can go and touch it yerself!”

She laughed. “What are you, scared?”

“What are ye, immature?”

“Admittedly? Yes. Yes I am. But…” she cleared her throat. “As a medic, I must point out that it is unhealthy to stare at doors like that. Thusly, I think you should touch it.”

“Fine, fine. Whatever,” I grumbled as I trotted over to the door, and then stood in from of it.

I just stood there.

In front of the Door.

The Door that separated us from the outside.

Where nopony could ever stay alive for very long.

Which the Guards said there was no point going to.

Where the megaspells had destroyed everything that they touched.

I felt nervous. Why the hell do I feel nervous? I thought to myself. It’s a door!

Slowly, I reached out a hoof, and froze. It was just centimeters away.

“Knives? You’re shaking, are you alright?” A look of concern was on her face.

I inched my hoof closer.

“Uh, Knives? You’re scaring me now… I was just kidding. You don’t have to… Wait, what the hell was that?”

I gave the door a light poke.

Nothing happened.

I smiled.

BWARP! BWARP! BWARP! ALERT! ALL GUARDS TO THE CELL BLOCKS! ALL GUARDS TO THE CELL BLOCKS!

I jumped back into the opposite walls, yelling in surprise, “I didn’t do anything!”

There was an explosion from the cell block area. I looked to Zeed whose eyes were wide with terror. The realization dawned on me.

Someone had just started a riot.

“Oh shit shit shit shit shit…” Zeed started pacing back and forth as the sounds of screams and gunshots began to reach our ears. “We gotta hide. They’ll barricade everything, we gotta go back to the medical bay!”

“What if they find us?” I shrieked. I was in a panic. “Where are we supposed tae go?”

“I don’t know! I was in our room last time!”

Suddenly, there was a loud click, and the door opened. We both stared at it in awe.

There was a corridor beyond the door. The walls were completely covered in ancient rust. It seemed to go on forever. I thought I saw a flash of gold near the end.

“Shit! They’re escaping!” Cried a voice from our left. Several Guards were charging down the hallway. Among them was Clothesline. Fuck, I thought, everything’s going too damn fast, what do I do?

Clothesline had that same grin plastered on her face as she levitated a shotgun out in front of her. “Blitz, Cane, with me. The rest of you deal with the cell block.”

I grabbed Zeed with my forehooves and threw her out the door. We ran as fast as we could, followed by Clothesline and her backup.

The corridor seemed to go on forever, and the three Guards were catching up fast. I was quickly starting to run out of steam, my ribs hurt like hell, I was wheezing like mad.

After what seemed like an eternity of running, we burst through a wooden door, and slammed it shut, locking it behind us. I could hear them as they slammed their weight against it. More likely, it was the two larger guards trying to break down the door while Clotheslines screamed at them.

We were in a small concrete structure. Most of it had collapsed in on itself, leaving only a few walls with tattered and peeling wallpaper. A few benches were scattered around the area, mostly lying on their backs, some had a skeletons near them. Rain was pouring in through the holes of the damaged structure.

“Oh goddesses…”

I turned to see Zeed standing behind me. She was staring upwards, through a hole in the ceiling. Taking a look myself, I saw… I saw…

Clouds…

Endless clouds…

They seemed familiar…

Comforting…

They seemed to shift before my eyes…

I could see the raindrops falling…

It was so…

Hypnotic…

Why did the clouds do that…

I knew them… Somehow.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Zeed was shaking in terror. I pulled her head towards the ground, making sure to cover her eyes. She was gasping as if she’d nearly drowned.

“Are ye alrigh’?” I asked.

She nodded and we continued on, with her trying desperately not to look up.

There was the sound of splintering wood, and I heard Clothesline screeching.

“Get back here! Nopony escapes the Prison! Nopony!”

The sound of beating hooves prompted us to gallop faster, but it was too late. They slammed us into the ground, there was the sound of a bone breaking as Zeed cried out in pain, I could sympathize with her, as the pressure against my bruised ribs made me do the same.

Clothesline was panting with rage. She looked from one of us to the other for a minute or so. I could hear the sound of radio chatter from her helmet, she was so close to me.

“Do you…” She started, but pondered her next words. “D0 you know what pisses me off most ab0ut you?”

I spat at her.

“Lift them,” she growled to the guards pinning us down. They promptly hooked their forehooves beneath our arms, holding Zeed and I in the air, side by side. Zeed whimpered as she held her one broken foreleg in the other.

Clothesline was panting. Her eyes were darting all over the place, always coming back to my face, but immediately shooting towards something else. She was muttering to herself. “What the hell is that n0ise?”

“The rain, boss?” one of the Guards ventured.

“N0 you idiot! I know what that is! I’m talking about that buzzing n0ise!” She shook her head angrily. “Never mInd.”

Turning back to me, she whispered. “Do y0u know what pisses me oFf most about you?”

“Mah charmin’ personality? Ye can’t understand mah accent?” I growled, glaring daggers at her.

She chuckled. “Cl0se.”

She motioned for the Guards to follow her. “F0r as long as I can remember, you have been theRe. And all my liFe…” She stopped and looked around. “There it is Again. Why doEs it keep coming back?”

“Boss, are you alright?”

“ShUt up! N0pony asked You!” She shook her head again. “All my life, you’Ve thought you were better than me. I hate That.”

“Ah don’t know what th’ hell yer talkin’ about,” I said. “I’ve never thought I was better than-“

I was interrupted by her hoof striking my mouth. “SHUT uP! I’m talking here! ME! ME! ME!”

She threw off her helmet with her magic and stared into my eyes. Hers, a light purple, were… wrong. There were flecks of red in the white of her eyes, and her pupils were contracted to the point they almost weren’t there. I could only assume that she was drugged up like noponys business. She screamed at the other two Guards. “THE SITE! N0W!”

We were dragged outside. The sight of the clouds had stunned me for a moment, but this… This was terrifying. All my life I’d known the walls of the prison, keeping me inside and everything out. I had expected… something… anything… But the sight before my eyes was a barren desert. There was nothing but orange sand and a few ruined buildings in the distance. An orangeish haze seemed to float just above the ground. I was pulled out of my stunned state by a rope being tied around my neck by one of the Guards magic.

The journey took hours. All the while, Clothesline was ranting, waving the shotgun around in her magical grasp. She was continuously ranting as her voice started cracking, and she kept giggling at nothing in particular. I kept wondering what the hell was going on with her. I’d seen ponies going crazy, but that usually took a while, even with drugs, but this was just too damn quick for something like that.

Her ranting became gradually worse. She kept stopping to complain about that same buzzing noise, only to screech when we couldn’t tell her its source.

“WherE is that c0ming from? What the helL iS it? H0w can you m0rOns not Hear it?”

Neither Zeed nor I said anything.

She continued on and on as we traveled. I was becoming increasingly nervous.

“Ar3 yu FUC1ng Stoop1d? U c4n’t hE4r That? It’s Fuck1NG everywh3re. Everypony #ere is Wor7hles$,” she screeched.

“Uhh… Boss… We’re here.”

We’d finally stopped, for good this time, in a large fenced-in area. The ground was covered in some sort of black concrete with white lines painted in some pattern of squares attached to lines. The fence itself had a large number of skeletons just piled up along its length. A broken sign attached to a large pole read:

“WH3R3 1S i7 c0M1ng FR0m? WhY W0n’7 I7 ST0P?” Clothesline had dropped to her knees, holding her head in her hooves. She was screeching at the top of her lungs. “m4k3 It St09 M4Ke1t s7oP mAke it ST0p!”

“Boss… what are you talking about?”

Suddenly, there was a gunshot, and the rope around my neck fell slack as the Guards head explode, the gore filling his helmet as Clotheslines explosive round punctured the plastic faceplate. The other Guard backed away slowly, dropping Zeeds rope. He didn’t get far, as Clotheslines shotgun tore through the armor on his back, killing him instantly in a shower of blood.

“N0w eYE h4ve u all 2 myself…” She started giggling, I wasn’t particularly surprised by her mood change, but her speech creeped me the hell out. “N0w 3ye c4n d0 wh473v3r eY3 wan7 2 u!”

She swapped out the magazine in her shotgun. Zeed was trembling in terror as the now psychotic mare started swaying back and forth, cradling her weapon. I stood in front of Zeed, hoping to protect her.

“4www. H0w Cut3! You th1nk 3y3 care ab0ut Her?” She let out another giggle, then started sobbing within seconds. “Y d0Es it Hurt? D0n’t u f33l it?”

“Ah have no idea what yer talkin’ about ye goddess-damned madmare!” I roared at her. “What th’ buck is wrong wi’ ye? Have ye lost yer mind?”

“l0st? N0, s1lly. 3ye haven’t lost i7. 17’s right here,” She pointed to her head, giggling. Then her eyes widened, made creepier by her pinprick pupils. “3y3 no what’s wrong! H3e3e Hiiii heEE3EE. I just h4v3 to k1ll U! That’lL make t3h buzz1nG st0p!”

Suddenly, somepony started shouting in the distance. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but they seemed panicked. Looking behind me, I saw a large vehicle moving rapidly towards us. I thought I saw a flash of gold in the distance behind it.

Then I heard the k-chack sound of a shotgun being pumped.

I turned to find the weapon in question pointed at me. Clothesline was grinning that same psychotic grin. “Eye’m gonna k3el u! Th3n, 1’m gonna go b4ck h0m3, and make everyp0ny happy! Won’t thAt b3 fun?”

BLAM!

Half my vision suddenly went dark. Behind me, Zeed shrieked.

As I couldn’t feel anything, I briefly wondered if Clothesline had missed, but immediately discarded that thought as I fell over on my side. Suddenly, my head really hurt. Zeed limped over to me with her broken foreleg, I saw the panic in her eyes. Clothesline ran off, giggling all the while.

It seemed that it was an eternity when I heard someponys hoofbeats pounding the dirt, accompanied by the sound of what I assumed to be a cart’s wheels. It makes a nice harmony with my heartbeat, I thought. Zeed was screaming something, I couldn’t tell what. I tried to say that it was okay, but my mouth wouldn’t seem to move… Weird…

I felt myself being lifted up. I saw a light green earth pony buck opening some kind of box that was attached to the back of… a thing.

Why was he carrying a box? On a thing? Who carried around a box? Especially on things?

Slowly… I was put inside….

As everything…

Faded…

Away……………
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Within the walls of the prison, a white ball, filled with black smoke, rolls out of the sewage pipes. As it rolls, it passes fighting ponies, Guards and prisoners. It stops for a moment, as if pondering the sight that lies before it, the blood splattering the walls from various gunshot wounds, the dismembered corpses that have been flung around by the blasts of fragmentation grenades. Eventually, it continues on, out the Prison's lone door, which still stands open, forgotten by the Prisons residents. The ball rolls out into the wastes, chasing down its target. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Footnote 1: Diamond Knives
S: 3
P: 7
E: 1
C: 5
I: 5
A: 9
L: 10

Tag Skills:
Repair
Survival
Melee

Traits:

Hot Blooded: You are generally irritated easily. Because of this, when your health drops below 50% you go into a rage, in which you get +10% more damage, but you also suffer -2 to your Agility and Perception attributes.

One in a Million: You're not particularly lucky or unfortunate, but when lightning strikes, it strikes hard! Whenever you or someone near you scores a critical hit or failure, the effects are essentially tripled!

Secondary trait:

Look ma! No hooves!: Like any unicorn, you are able to use the spell of telekinesis, but for you, it’s a bit different. When you use telekinesis, your magical field is almost invisible. The downside, however, is that the spell is weakened for you, so you can only hold less than six pounds.
 
---------------------------------------------------------------
Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri
S: 5
P: 8
E: 5
C: 7
I: 10
A: 5
L: 1

Tag Skills:
Medicine
Science
Energy Weapons

Traits:

Good Natured: You studied less-combative skills as you were growing up. Your combat skills start at a lower level, but other skills are substantially improved. You get +5 to each of Barter, Medicine, Repair, Science, and Speech, but -5 to Energy Weapons, Explosives, Guns, Melee Weapons, and Unarmed.

Small Frame: Due to your small size, you have +1 Agility but your limbs are more easily crippled (25% extra limb damage).

Secondary trait:
Stance: Due to years of practice, you are able to stand on your hind legs indefinitely.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Author’s note) Well… I did that… Shame on me…

I know what you might be thinking.

“Oh goddesses! Not another fucking Fallout Equestria fic! Don’t we have enough of those?”

And the answer to your unsaid and probably unthought question is:

No. No we do not.

So I made one myself. Partly because I was bored, partly because I need practice writing. Mostly,
however, it was because the idea got stuck in my head, so I figured, “What the hell, I got nothing to lose”, and went ahead and did it.

Critiques are appreciated!

Until next time! (if there is one) Toodles!

P.S.: I don’t have an editor, so that should partly explain why it’s as bad as I assume it is.

Thanks to Kkat for Fallout Equestria, and Somber for Project Horizon. Thanks to whoever reads this, and again, critiques are very much welcome.

Chapter Two: The Northwestern Information Dump

I looked around the lunch room. It was small, but then again, there were few foals in the Prison.

They sat at their tables, eating the lunches so ‘graciously’ provided by the Guards, while they waited to return to the single class, to hear more of the Guards ‘generosity’.

A small zebra filly sat alone with her tray and its contents. She looked so forlorn. I put on my best smile, and sat next to her.

“Hi there!” I said as cheerfully as I could. “My name’s Diamond! What’s yours?”

She looked at me, surprised. Looking at her dark green eyes, I realized that she’d been crying. She sniffled. “M-my name’s… Zeed… Kazdri…”

“Woah. Your name sounds cool! What are you so sad for? Did something bad happen?”

She looked at me like I was crazy. “My daddy just got exiled.”

“Ouch. I kinda know how you feel. My dad got exiled a long time ago.” I rubbed my chin in thought.

She continued to stare at me as if I’d sprouted a second horn. “But… You’re not sad at all?”

I shrugged. “Nope. Well… yes, but he always says that there’s not much point in being sad all the time. So I’m not!”

She smiled at me, and wiped her eyes.

“Say, you wanna see Lockpick get a face full of frosting?” I asked, holding up a cupcake.

Her smile changed into a grin as I chucked the cupcake at the unsuspecting filly a few tables over.

~~~~

I awoke with a loud groan. My head was throbbing like I had the mother of all hangovers, and all my muscles were sore, and I couldn’t open my right eye. There was an itch in the back of my head, one that I couldn’t seem to scratch, as if the bone itself was itching, and it was covered in bandages. I tried to throw my pillow over my head and go back to sleep, but the lack of said pillow made it difficult.

With another groan, I slowly opened my good eye to find that I was in what looked like an infirmary. Turning myself over, I saw Zeed sleeping on a chair beside me, her head resting in her forelegs on my cot. I noticed that one of her legs was splinted. Behind her was a familiar box, with a trio of blue butterflies on the front. It looked like someone had tried many times to break it open, as it was heavily dented, and the paint was scratched in many places.

I tried to remember what had happened to me. This didn’t look like the Prison’s infirmary, at least not the one in Section 3.

What was I doing… oh… right…

Clothesline shot me. She lost it and tried to kill me, I thought to myself. Obviously, she failed, but that doesn’t explain what I’m doing in here.

I tried to roll out of the cot and stand, but I only managed to flop onto the floor and puke my guts out.

After a bit more groaning and a little sobbing, I finally managed to stand on my four shaky hooves. This lasted all of fifteen seconds, as I was almost immediately hit by a black, white, and red blur that was sobbing loudly.

“Argh! Zeed! Crushing… me…” I gasped as she hugged me tightly with her uninjured foreleg.

With a sheepish grin, she let me go. I could tell that she’d been crying. “Sorry… it’s just… I thought we’d lost you.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but I feel like-“ I was interrupted by another bout of nausea. A pool of bile trickled towards a drain in the center of the floor. I fell back onto my side, and groaned again. “Yup… I feel like shit.”

“Knives… Your voice…” She coughed lightly.

“What about my voi-“ I blinked a few times. “Right. ‘Course Ah fergot that.”

“I still don’t know why you do that accent at all.”

“Sign ay respect. Let’s leave it at that,” I let out a sigh. “Goddesses mah head hurts.”

“Yeah… about that… I… uh… How do you feel right now?” She was switching into her ‘doctor mode’ again.

“Mah head feels like somepony smashed a hammer intae it, mah muscles are sore as aw hell, and Ah’d like to go back tae sleep. Why?” I yawned. Then I noticed that she was shifting from side to side, which was not a good sign for me, as it meant she was nervous. “What? What’s wrong?”

“It put something in your head. We managed to get some of the imaging equipment here working, but I just can’t get a clear image of what the damn thing did,” she started pacing, her broken leg making it difficult for her. “All I get is a small, shadowy blob in your cerebellum! It’s not a tumor, I can tell that much, but it’s frustrating. I don’t know if I should try and do a biopsy or try and get that auto-doc on analysis mode. I-“

“Zeed, Ah didnae understand a word ay that. Could ye try an’ spick in Equestrian?”

She blinked at me a few times. “Right… Sorry… You have a thing in your head and I don’t know what it is.”

“How did it get there? Did Ah drink too much again?”

“Well… You were shot in the head… Lost your eye… Oh…” She paled. My surprise must have shown on my face. “I should have mentioned that first. I can’t believe I actually forgot. Oh shit… Knives I…”

I shrugged. “Just an eye. Nothin’ tae worry yourself abit.”

She looked at me like I’d sprouted a second horn. “That’s… Not the reaction I was expecting… You’re not upset or anything?”

“Not really. Worse things have ‘ave happened tae me, an’ Ah can still see well enough. Didn’t really care that Ah lost mah sense ay taste an’ smell when ah did either,” I snorted. “Nae much Ah can dae about it anyway. Nao, about th’ thing in mah head?”

She muttered something along the lines of ‘you can’t stand to touch a door…’ before she continued. “Well… Trowel just happened to be wandering nearby… with a portable auto-doc…” She grew paler, a remarkable feat considering that most of her face was white anyway. “He heard me… screaming… and ran to help. We put you in the box and it… Did… Things… it fixed all of your injuries… and put something in your skull…”

As she trailed off I felt that I had to ask something. “Are ye tellin’ me… that somepony just happened tae be wanderin’ by with a box that puts ponies back together?”

She nodded meekly.

“Damn. Ah knew Ah was lucky, but that’s just ridiculous.”

“One in a million I’d say,” said a voice from my right, just outside of my new field of view.

I nearly jumped right out of my skin as I screamed. “Mother of Luna! Where in the hell did you come from?”

“Knives…” Zeed coughed. “Voice…”

“Right…” I sighed. “Why th’ hell did ye sneak up on me like that?”

“Sneak up on you?” The light green buck said in an undignified manner. “Why in the hell would…”

As his words tapered away, I noticed that Zeed was pointing to her right eye, to which he responded with a knowing nod. “Ah, right. Sorry, I forgot about your… eh… injury. I assure you, it wasn’t intentional.”

“Nae… Nae. That was mah fault. Aam gonna have tae get used to this eye,” I smiled and put out a hoof. “Anyway, Aam Knives.”

“Bladed Trowel,” he responded as we shook hooves. “Welcome to the Canturbury Hellhole. I hear you come from a prison?”

“Aye. That we did,” my smile changed into a frown. “Where are we now?”

“Most of us call it ‘The Northwestern Safehouse’. It’s a day’s walk away from where I found you two. It used to be one of the minor medical bays before the war… I think. Might have been major. Hell, for all I know it might have been a storage facility. Celestia knows that nothing those scientists did ever made any sense.”

I’d stopped listening after he said ‘a day’s walk’. I turned to Zeed, with look of irritation. “’Day’s walk’?”

She paled again, laughing nervously. “Aheh… Uh…”

“How long, Zeed?”

“Three days?”

I balked. “Three days? Ah’ve been out fer three whole days? Ye couldnae mention that earlier?”

“Hey, don’t get mad at me. I didn’t think it was that important,” She growled. “You’re awake now aren’t you? What would you have done in that time anyway?”

“Ye could ‘ave just- urp… Oh Goddesses,” a wave of dizziness and nausea passed over me, and I fell to the ground, groaning, clutching my roiling stomach with one hoof and my aching head with another.

“Knives?” Zeed’s look of irritation was quickly replaced with one of deep concern. “What’s wrong?”

“Ah feel like crap, is what. Wish Ah could just go back tae sleep,” I groaned again. I tried not to vomit.

Zeed ran out of the room, calling “I’ll be right back.”

A few moments passed.

Trowel bent down and looked me in the eyes. “So… Who’d you piss of that made them want to kill you?”

“Her name is Clothesline, and apparently all Ah had tae do is exist,” I choked back more vomit, covering my mouth with a hoof again. “Can we not talk right nao? I’m not feelin’ tae well.”

He chuckled. “Fine by me.”

Zeed returned carrying a bottle with a strap attached. “Sleeping potion. Considering how you’re probably feeling, you might need it.”

Taking the bottle in my magical grip, I took a couple sips, and gave it back to the concerned-looking zebra. I didn’t even have time to thank her before I passed out.

Cold dark tunnel.

No walls. Only cold, dark blackness.

My hoofsteps echoing off the endless void.

I am carried by the sanitary white tiles.

I can see it in the distance.

An enormous gem. A gleaming spire in the emptiness.

I know that gem. I’d created it myself.

The only thing keeping HER hidden. Locked away.

I don’t want to be here. I want to turn around and walk away.

Yet, I continue on anyway. I need to go on.

I have to make sure she’s still inside.

Need to patrol the prison, do my rounds, be the guard.

I hear her laugh.

“Knives! So glad to see you.” That smile, her teeth sharp points, insincere, full of hate. “It’s been too long.”

“Ah can’t say th’ same.”

“Hah! Even in here you use that stupid accent? Trying to keep the memories of daddy alive?” That laugh. Her slitted silver eyes narrowing, burning into my soul. “You still think you can differentiate yourself? How stupid of you.”

She spits on the walls of her prison. Smoke rises from the liquid.

“Shut up. Ah don’t want tae hear yer voice.”

The clicking of her hooves on the gemstone’s inner wall. Her tail twitching back and forth, writhing, the blade sparking off the gem’s surface with every strike. The clearish grey flash as she tries to force her way out by magic.

She growls.

“You can’t keep me in here forever, Knives. You’ll crack soon.” The last word echoes of the infinite void. She bares her inequine teeth, they mesh together perfectly. “I. Will. Be. Free.”

I stare into those eyes. Empty. Heartless. Monstrous.

“I’m never letting you out! You’ll stay here ‘till we’re both dead, you hear me?” I scream.

Another smile.

“Knives, You forgot your voice again,” She chuckles. “You’re slipping.”

Glaring, I turn away from HER.

Her laughter echoes in my ears again.

I can hear the hatred in her voice.

“See you soon… Knives.”

My head still hurt when I awoke, but at the very least I was no longer nauseous. I rolled off of the cot again, successfully landing on my hooves this time, and yawned.

I began my usual morning ritual.

First, my shoulders.

CRACK

Second, my back.

SNAP. POP. CRACK.

Finally, my neck.

POP.

I continued by rolling the rest of my joints around in their sockets and stretching my legs out. For some reason that I’d never quite understood, my body had a tendency to stiffen up whenever I slept. Doing this also helped me to relax and forget dreams like the one I’d just had. I could already feel my fear passing, becoming little more than an afterthought. I yawned again, this time so hard that my entire body shuddered.

My head clear, I looked around at my surroundings. The box was still there, but Zeed and Trowel were nowhere to be seen.

I was about to call out to them when I heard a loud bang.

I zipped through the corridors. Junk was everywhere, most of it used to be equipment of medical nature. A few skeletons were lying in the middle of the walkways here and there. I vaulted over these, the muted sound of my unshod hooves echoing through the halls with each landing.

Finally, I heard the two of them in a heated debate. The words were unclear, drowned out by a loud screeching noise. Rounding a corner, I found the two of them trying to force a door shut, past a mass of wailing ponies. They both wore gas masks, giving a somewhat eerie look. The screeching sound was the wind wailing throughout the entrance.

Trowel was the first to notice me. Holding the door with his hooves, he pulled a third mask out of his saddlebags and threw it at me, screaming something as he did, and motioned for me to help with the door. Slipping the mask over my muzzle, I grabbed the closest thing that I could hit with, a discarded IV rack, and ran to the entryway.

I started whacking away at the many hooves and legs that were trying to force their way through the door. A wall of unintelligible screams was rolling over my ears. I could make out a few words, but not enough to make any sense.

I looked at their eyes, every single one the same shade of red.

No iris.

No whites.

Just a blood red orb with a black dot.

The screaming winds continued, the sound making a strange harmony with the screaming, all the sounds rising and falling in time with one another.

I thought I might be dreaming again.

Until one of them got a hold of my leg, that is.

With more than a hint of panic, I flailed the IV rack at the offending forelimb wrapped around my own. The magically held rack began to bend and warp with the fury of my blows. I decided to just snap it in half, and jabbed one jagged end into the pony behind the limb. He shrieked and fell off of me, back into the mass of ponies.

I got back on my hooves and used my body to push the door as hard as I could. For the first time in my life, I wished that I wore shoes. My hooves slipping on the metal ramp, I scrambled to keep on the pressure as the ponies retracted their arms from the aperture.

We finally managed to shut the door, and it emitted a faint click as Trowel engaged the electronic lock. I could still hear the crazies moaning. Their cries carried meaning in them, something along the lines of “Come with us! We only want to be your friends! Come look at this thing we found and be just like us!” (read: let us eat your souls!)

The three of us stood there, panting in our gas masks.

Zeed tore hers from her face and screamed. “Luna fuck me with the stars, the moon, and whatever the fuck else she feels like! Who in the fuck were they? Friends of yours?”

“Them? In The Mall we call ‘em ‘paths’. I warned you about this. I told you they would come sooner or later,” he said, voice muffled by the gas mask. “They’re a pretty good reason to stay out of the Mists.”

“The what now? Could you maybe… I dunno… EXPLAIN THIS TO ME?” I actually backed away a bit in slight fear, afraid that she might snap at any moment. I hadn’t seen her this pissed since she came out to her mother. “We almost got killed by those Luna-damned freaks!”

“You know, for a zebra, you seem to have an odd obsession with Luna…”

“DON’T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!” She pointed at the door, standing on her hind legs. She was panting heavily, fury in her eyes. I could see where this was going. I began to search for a decent amount of water. “Explain. Now.”

To his credit, Trowel didn’t even flinch, or at least I think he didn’t, I couldn’t quite tell due to the mask that he seemed to have forgotten he was wearing.

Oh! Even better than water, I found a partially functional icebox! I magically grabbed a bucket and scooped up some of the freezing water.

“I assume you’ve seen that orange haze on the ground? Yeah. Try and stay away from it. Nopony has any fucking clue what it is, but the ‘paths tend to hang around in it. Sometimes you get clouds of it floating around, and that’s when you get situations like this, where the path’s follow it around.”

When he was silent for a few moments, Zeed growled and put a hoof to her forehead. “And what exactly do these ‘’paths’ try and do to you?”

He shrugged. “Like I said. I have no fucking idea. All I know is that if you get caught by the ‘paths, you’re never seen again. Oooooh, scary!”

Her eye was twitching violently, she was shaking. She was definitely losing it. “HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM ABOUT THIS? WE ALMOST DIED!”

“Zeed, ye really need tae relax. You’re panicking.”

Trowel turned his head in my direction. I think that was a look of surprise behind his mask. “That’s panic?”

“PANICKING? I’M FINE!” She was clenching her teeth so hard I thought they might crack. “DON’T PATRONI-“

I dropped the water on her. She squeaked as her body shuddered violently, and her face turned slightly red.

Trowel removed his mask and rubbed his eyes in confusion. “What the fuck did you do to her?”

“She really weird about cold water,” I trotted over to Zeed. “Feelin’ better?”

She gave me a goofy grin and nodded. Her normally spiky red mane was plastered to her face. She stood up, giggling a bit. Her face was still red. “Aheh… Sorry… I think I got a bit carried away…”

“Nae kiddin’. Aam supposed tae be th’ one with rage issues,” I sighed. “When was th’ last time ye slept right?”

Her eyes widened as she put a hoof to her mouth in thought. “I have no idea. I think it was in the Prison? I’m not sure. Fuck…”

“And ye though Ah needed the potion…” I scoffed, and she whined. “Och, come on Zeed. Don’t ye got enough mental problems as it is? Dae ye really need more sleep deprivation oan th’ list?”

She grumbled something about mothers as she trotted into a corner and got comfortable. Within seconds of sipping on the potion she was out like a broken light.

Trowel stared at the sleeping zebra with a look of irritation, having removed his mask moments before. “Okay. What in the fucking hell is wrong with her? She went from fear to rage to calm in ten seconds flat!”

“Zeed suffers from chronic insomnia. Oan top ay that she’s already prone tae mood swings,” I shook my head and sighed again. “Been like this fer as long as Ah've known her.”

I turned to Trowel, scowling, as I loudly put my forehooves together, sitting on my hind legs. “Nao… Ah never got a clear answer. What in th’ buck did that thing do tae mah head?”

“Why the fuck are you asking me? I don’t know shit about auto-docs.” Seeing my glare he groaned and returned the look. “Look… I don’t know, alright? I got it from a medical bay a few miles north of here. The only real reason I took it is because it’s portable. That’s worth a lot of caps.”

“A lot of what?”

He blinked at me a few times before he facehooved. “Right. You might as well be canned goods. We use bottle caps as currency. Don’t ask why.”

“Did ye just call me ‘canned goods’?” He rolled his eyes at me.

“You’ve lived in a sealed facility your whole life, right? Little or no contact with the outside world?” I nodded. “Well… Be you from a stable or whatever the hell your ‘Prison’ is you’re all canned goods. Make sense? Good. Now then, class is dismissed. Professor Trowel is done for the day, as I have dismembered limbs to clean up!”

I looked at the door and nearly retched. In the chaos of the fight I hadn’t noticed, but several pony forelegs were sitting just in front of the large metal exit, pools of coagulating blood around them. I was glad that Zeed hadn’t noticed, I don’t want to know what she’d have done if she’d seen that. I briefly wondered if I’d been the one to sever any of those appendages.

“And you know you’d have wanted to, don’t you Knives.”

I spun around to see where the voice had come from, only to find that nopony was there. I looked around. Nopony but Trowel and the sleeping Zeed. I shook my head.

“Hmm… It must have been th’ wind…” I thought aloud, then snorted. “Or one ay those crazies. Heh.”

As if to punctuate my statement, there was a loud thud from the door, making the two of us jump. Zeed just rolled over in her sleep, muttering something about ‘nice flanks’.

I began to wander through the Northwestern Safehouse.

~~~~~

“Celestia chuck me tae th’ sun,” I screamed. “Again? The same damn one again?”

I’d been wandering around for Celestia knows how long trying to find my way back to the entryway. Or the infirmary. Or anywhere I could backtrack from. I’d ended up in the same hallway about fourteen times now, and I was about ready to start smashing the walls down.

In three words or less: I was lost.

Grumbling, I sat in the middle of the hallway, trying for the umpteenth time to remember how I’d gotten here. I wished that I had a map. Maybe an electronic one. In the form of a large watch. With a radio. But that would be convenient, now wouldn’t it? So instead I just continued to wander through the hallways, calling out to Trowel and Zeed and hoping that one of them could hear me. I mostly did this by loudly cussing myself out for being an idiot.

As far as I could tell, this section of the facility had once served as the office complex, as the corridors were lined with rooms filled with file cabinets and desks with a very large number of clipboards. I ignored most of these, instead just stomping through the hallways in my irritation. There was so much dust around that just touching pretty much anything created huge clouds. The only sounds were those of my hooves on the tiles and my own breathing through my mask.

“Ah need a trail or something,” I mused. Taking a look into the closest room, I grimaced as I looked at the skeleton sitting in front of a terminal, its hooves still on the keyboard. I’d really wanted to avoid rummaging through the belongings of dead ponies. I absent-mindedly scratched at my eye socket; it had started itching as soon as I entered the complex.

I trotted over to the skeleton and, apologizing repeatedly to the dead pony, pushed it out of the seat. The first thing that I noticed was that the terminal was still on. There was a massive jumble of scientific crap that I had no hopes of understanding, but I did find a single message from some other pony.

Subject: Need help testing

Hey Reed, I think I finally got what I need to finish the armor. I’ve built it from that new memory compound the biotech folks came up with. Thing is, I need to find out what it takes to break it. Since I can’t exactly bring a hoofwitzer in here, I was hoping you could bring some of the guns in your collection? What I really need is a high caliber rifle. The plating has managed to resist everything else we’ve thrown at it so far. If you could help me with this that would be greatly appreciated.

-Storm

Well. That was a waste of time. I searched through the desk to find something I could track my progress with. I sighed in relief as I retrieved a large black marker.

The first thing I did was to write ‘START’ on the floor, followed by an arrow. I trotted down the hallways, feeling much better about myself as I drew more large arrows on the floor. Then the lights began to flicker. I swore loudly and started moving faster.

I managed to go several more hallways before the lights gave out completely.

“GODDESSES DAMN IT TAE HELL!” Then I rounded a corner to find a massive hulk of a robot. The four wheeled legs that had kept it standing had gone limp due to the lack of power, but the rocket launchers that it sported on its shoulders were fully loaded and very intimidating, despite the fact that the machine was in a bad state of disrepair, various plates falling off of its chassis. “Uh… Never mind… Ah take that back…”

I looked past the gigantic thing to find… another robot, identical to the other. And another one. And another. There were at least five of them, all inactive. Leaving a large line on the wall I darted past them, hoping to make it through before the power came back on.

I fell down the stairs at the end of the hall.

There was a sickening crunch and pain blossomed in my chest as I screamed.

I sat there a few moments to catch my breath. I gave my ribs an experimental poke and fought back tears as more pain coursed through my body. Probably broken. My eye socket was itching again.

Groaning in pain, I forced myself to my hooves. I found myself in a large circular room, with banks of computers lining the walls. A cylindrical glass case stood in the middle of the room, a small piece of paper magically suspended within. Curiously, I walked up to the case, and read the note.

Took suit to armor labs. Will return when testing is done.

-Storm

Well… That was a complete waste of time. The lights began to flicker again. I trotted over to the nearest terminal, and had just booted it up when my ears were filled with a loud, screeching siren.

I immediately jumped out of the seat and dashed towards the exit, only to find my way blocked.

“INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!”

A large box was hovering before me.

“STAND DOWN OR BE DESTROYED.”

I tried to push past it. As if anticipating my attempt, an arm-like appendage sprang from the bottom of the box, and slashed at me with an odd-looking stick.

I tried to dodge, only to get hit in my right flank. Spikes of pain shot through my body as I started twitching violently, screaming in agony.

I grabbed the floating box in my magic and threw it against the wall, where it exploded in a shower of sparks. I ripped the arm off of the robot. Small sparks of electricity seemed to float around the stick.

I limped my way back towards where I’d begun, only to find the five giant metal monstrosities active and in my way. I barely managed to duck to the side as the rockets flew past me into the back wall, the blast forcing me to my knees, shrapnel stabbing me across my body. I was bleeding a lot. I felt weak.

Five robotic voices shouted at me. “STAND DOWN OR BE DESTROYED.”

I stood shakily, and felt my good eye twitching. These things were pissing me off. I held to stick at the ready.

Then I charged.

“BUCK OFF YE WORTHLESS PILES AY JUNK!” I screamed as I repeatedly smashed the stick into one of the robot’s legs, which became covered in dancing sparks as the robots speakers started to fizzle. After several strikes, the limb gave way with a loud snap, and the machine toppled to the ground, still threatening me in its staticky voice. I charged again, this time past the forward robot, and into the one behind it. My vision was consumed by a haze of red rage as I swung away with my electrified weapon. “AAM HAVIN’ A REALLY BAD DAY!”

I saw the flare of red as one of the robots on the far end of the hall fired at me, only to hit the one I was currently fighting, turning it into so much scrap metal.

Charging the one behind me, I made several swipes at its photoreceptors, each one sparked as they were destroyed, and the robot began to fire wildly down the hall, several of the rockets striking its companion. I then began to smash away at the robot’s chassis, working my way towards its core, eventually breaking open one of its main oil tubes. I found myself covered in a wash of black liquid.

I let out a roar of rage as I charged my final mechanical opponent. Grabbing a nearby metal shard in my magic, I chucked it at the robot, right into the path of an incoming rocket. The explosion was close enough that the shrapnel tore into the robot, destroying a few vital components, and the machine slumped to the ground.

I took a few more moments to completely annihilate the robot with the damaged leg. My rage eventually subsided, and I took a look at my handiwork.

I was somewhat surprised to find that while the robots were completely destroyed, I had only taken a few small injuries which, while inconsequential on their own, added up to a lot of pain for me.

Grumbling and sore all over, I continued back the way I’d come.

~

I stumbled through the hallways until I heard somepony calling my name. Following the voice, I eventually found Zeed, who had apparently woken up about an hour ago. She took one look at me and shrieked. I was quickly forced to down three or four healing potions before she calmed down. I explained what had happened in the offices and with the suit. This just made Zeed panic again.

“You got electrocuted? Why didn’t you say something earlier?”

“Ah said it felt like electrocution. Ah doubt there was anythin’ ye could have done anyway. It’s not like ye have any decent equipment here, and Ah’d rather not use the auto-doc after it screwed with my head.” She started to speak, but I cut her off. “And Mah head is fine, thanks. Where’s Trowel?”

“Outside, messing about with his cart. We’ll hopefully be going soon. I just really wish you’d let me fix your ribs.”

“Ah wish ye could fix mah ribs too, but Ah just don’t trust that damn thing.”

“Well… At least let me check your…. Uh… Eye…”

I rolled my one good eye and held still while she examined the other, shining a mouth-held light into the socket while I held the lid open with magic. “It’s been itchin’ fer a while. Anythin’ in there?”

“Nope. It looks clean. We should probably get you a patch or something though. Might have to bandage your head to keep you from scratching it.” She rummaged through the medical supplies, retrieving a large roll of gauze, which she swiftly wrapped around my head. A makeshift patch to cover the eye.

“That’ll do for now. Hopefully we can find someone who can treat it better than me. Hell, we might even find some working cybernetics!” She grinned widely, in a slightly creepy manner.

“Ah’d rather not get have… cyber… whatsits. Ah’d much rather just get a glass eye or somethin’”

Trowel called from his cart, “Hurry up you morons! I wanna get the hell out of here!”

The both of us rolled our eyes in his general direction as we trotted out of the Northwestern Safehouse, and into the Canturbury wastes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The black orb continued on its trek, its mists swirling constantly within its glass form. It followed the tacks that its target had left in the sand. It was close. The shape of a pony with a horn loomed in the distance, image made unclear by the orange mists. The orb’s motions became more urgent as it approached.

It reached the pony, only to stop, as its black mists began roiling. This pony was not its target. The pink mare with the black mane was the wrong one.

She sobbed uncontrollably, her tears stained orange by the mists. Her mutterings were barely coherent apologies.

“3ye’m S0rry… EY3’m $0 s0rry… 1 n3ve2 wan7ed 2 kill h3r… i nev3r w4nted 7#at… 3y3’m sor2y… 3y3’m s0 s0r2y…”

Her sobs were interrupted by giggling fits.

“F0llow… Follow… 4lL 3y3 need 2 do… All 1 eve2 n3Ed 70 do…”

The black mists of the orb ceased their roiling. The orb was still for a moment as the mare passed.

Its mists shifted once more, and the orb began to follow the pink one. She would bring the orb to her destination, from where it would retrieve what it needed to find its target.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Footnote 1: Diamond Knives
Level up!

Melee: 43
Repair: 35

New perk!
Little leaguer: It’s not so much that you hit hard, more than you know where to hit! You gain +5 to both Melee Weapons and Explosives.

Quest perk:
One-eyed: You are missing an eye. This gives you a -1 penalty to perception, but you get unique speech options with certain characters.

New item:
Electric baton: -4(hp/s) KO damage on hit. Extra damage to machines and power armor.

~~~~

Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri

50% xp

~~~~
Current quest: Find a quest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Author’s note) Quality drop: 50%

Meh, whatever. Long as I can get this idea out of my head.

“Sigh, that was just plain crap! What the hell is wrong with you?”

I’m a nub is what. Bugger off.

Like I said before: Critiques are appreciated.

Trolling is also appreciated.

Okay not really.

Please don’t troll me, I don’t think my fragile psyche can take it.

Next chapter will come… Eventually… Maybe… Toodles!

Thanks to Kkat for Fallout Equestria, and Somber for Project Horizon. Thanks to whoever reads this, and again, critiques are very much welcome.

P.s. If there’s any seemingly random symbols like * or ^, that’s a leftover due to my formatting practices. Please tell me if you find any.

Chapter Three: The Dead City

“Diamond?”

It was so dark. I could barely see.

“Diamond, can you hear me?” Cried a familiar mare.

I couldn’t move, my whole body hurt when I tried, I felt so dizzy.

“Did ye find her?” A stallion called out from near me.

“No! Oh goddesses. Obsidian, what if she’s-“

“Calm down, love. She’ll be alrecht,” the stallion interrupted. “We Knives ur tough.”

There was a sharp pain in my chest and back. I could see that something was sticking out of me, something long and sharp.

“Wait… Ah heard somethin’,” He was getting closer. “Sweetheart? Is that ye?”

I tried to speak, but only managed to make a weak wheezing noise.

“Ah think Ah found ‘er!” There was the sound of metal being moved around. “Make as much noise as ye can, sweetheart. Aam commin’ for ye.”

“D-daddy…” I managed to squeak out. I could see a hint of blue light as my father pulled away the debris covering me.

“Goddesses… Zala! Get somepony ower haur quickly!” he shouted behind him. His horn began to glow bright blue, illuminating the coal black stallion with the green mane. “There ye are. Diamond, can ye hear me?”

I nodded.

“Can ye move?”

I shook my head. He bit his lip as he looked around and began moving more of the debris until my whole body was exposed. He caught sight of what was in my chest, and his eyes widened in horror.

“No… Oh goddesses, no…” His eyes became filled with tears. “Don’ look sweetheart. Yoo’ll… Yoo’ll be…”

He let out a sob. “Yoo’ll be okay, Diamond… Ah promise ye will… Ah jist need ye tae hold on, alecht? Sweetheart? Diamond? Stay with me! Diamond!”

And then I faded away…

~~~~~

Though the initial shock had passed, I was still awed by the sight of the Northwestern Safehouse. I’d expected it to be something along the lines of a small shack in the middle of the desert, but in reality, it was a large structure in the middle of a halfway destroyed city, in the middle of the desert.

Most of the ground was covered in rubble from the concrete corpses of office buildings and apartment complexes. Some automatic carts were scattered about the streets, as well as some pony-driven ones, many with their skeletal drivers still attached to the harness. A light orange dust seemed to coat everything at around knee level, most likely from the similarly-colored mist that seemed to hover just above the ground.

At the present moment, though, I was distracted by the continuous itching in my eye socket. I kept biting down on my hoof to keep myself from scratching at the bandage, which mostly only served to get me strange looks from both Zeed and Trowel.

Zeed was currently sitting atop the cart, her still healing leg making long treks difficult for her. The cart itself was relatively small, but was still large enough to carry a surprising amount of junk.

“You okay?” She asked. “You’ve been doing that a lot…”

“Mmm fnn,” I said around my hoof. “Dnn rry bbt mmm.”

As she looked at me with a raised eyebrow, the sensation passed, and I put my hoof back on the ground. “You know we can go back and get the auto-doc working again, right?”

“Aye, but Aam not exactly goin’ tae trust th’ damn thing nao am ah? ‘Sides… Ah don’t see ye gettin’ yer leg fixed in one ay those things.”

She looked like she was about to say something, but stopped herself. She pondered for a moment. “Point taken. Is it painful?”

“Nae. Ye remember when Clothesline put itchin’ powder in our uniforms a few years ago? It’s sort ay like that.”

“Yikes… That bad? Luna’s moon, I hated that. We practically had to beg the Guards to-“

“WILL YOU TWO STOP BABBLING?” Trowel screamed back at us, keeping his eyes forward. “I’m sure you both enjoy reminiscing, but I’m trying to make sure we don’t die out here!”

“Ooh, somepony’s grown a stick up their arse…” I replied indignantly. “What the hell is yer problem?”

“My problem,” he hissed, fixing a glare on me. “Is that this place could have any number of threats hiding in any number of places. That’s just pony-based threats. This city-corpse you see around you? Yeah… I hear there are ironwolves in the area, and I’d rather not have to deal with a pack of those damn things while I have nothing but shit weapons back there. Now be quiet, I’m trying to listen.”

I stood there for a moment, rubbing my chin in deep thought, pondering his words as he slowly trotted away. “What’s an ironwolf?”

I was answered by a loud scraping noise in the distance, like someone had stuck a bunch of bolts into a blender and set it to puree … It almost sounded like howling.

Looking back at Trowel, I noticed that his eyes were wide with terror. Zeed, still on the cart, was looking around frantically in an attempt to see what the sound was. Trowel looked like he was about to have a heart attack, his eyes were fixed on something overhead. His voice was less than a whisper. “Shit…”

I followed his gaze to see something moving atop one of the broken buildings. It almost looked like a pony; four legs, head, ears. The similarities ended there. Its tail was a massive whip-like thing that resembled a steel cable with a knife tied to it, its greyish skin was slightly reflective, and its eyes were empty, glowing things in its skull.

Trowel began to move slowly forwards, not taking his eyes off the creature. “Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit…”

“Ah assume that’s an ironwolf?” I whispered. “Doesnae look tae threatenin’.”

“Packs of three,” he whispered back. “There’s more around here somewhere. We. Need. To. Leave.”

“It’s gone,” Zeed was standing on her hind legs to get a better view, pointing with her good leg at a smaller skeletal building near the ironwolf’s former perch. “It went over that way.”

“RUN!” Trowel screamed as he bolted through the city. The sudden movement of the cart knocked Zeed flat on her face. Almost immediately, several more ironwolves shot out of the broken buildings, two of them went after Trowel and Zeed, while one charged straight at me.

As it leapt, I managed to duck past it, its claws inches away from my face, only to get hit in the chest by its tail. I cried out in pain as the metal blade on its tip sliced through my orange utility barding and my skin, colliding with a few of my ribs. The thing continued on into an autocart behind me, it’s apparently significant weight making a huge dent in the vehicle. Pushing past the agony, I pulled out the shock rod from the Safehouse, and it emitted a quiet hum as I held it in my magical grip.

The ironwolf stood back up, making that metallic howl again. It stared at me, slowly advancing, its tail whipping back and forth with an ominous swishing noise. I held the baton at the ready.

Before I could even twitch, its tail shot forward, the tip piercing deep into my side. I suppressed a scream and brought the baton down before the ironwolf moved away.

As soon as the rod touched the thing’s skin, arcs of electricity began playing over the surface, moving instantly across the creature’s body in all directions. It started twitching violently, the tail ripping bloodily out of my side, causing me to gasp in pain.

I brought the baton down on the ironwolf’s head repeatedly as it writhed. It sounded like banging two pans together.

Eventually, I managed to make a decently sized dent in its skull. I stood as straight as I could, smiling with my triumph. Almost immediately, my face fell, as I heard a loud crash. I galloped towards the sound as fast as I could.

A few gunshots resonated through the ruined city.

I could hear my heart pounding in my ears, adrenaline pushing out my pain.

When I found the cart, it had been toppled on its side. A variety of junk, food, and mostly broken weaponry was scattered all across the ground.

One of the back wheels had been obliterated, nothing but a splintery stump remained. Zeed was frantically scrambling for something that could do a bit of damage, but everything she picked up did nothing of use, and two ironwolves were advancing towards her. I could see no sign of Trowel.

I charged into one of the beasts stalking Zeed, knocking it onto its side. The other one yelped in what I could only assume was surprise.

It stood for a moment, looking back and forth between Zeed and me, before lunging at me with its tail. I ducked to the side, taking a swipe at the appendage with the shock baton, failing to hit as it retracted in the blink of an eye.

Suddenly, the things screeched in pain as a bright red beam of light entered its eye with a loud zorch.

I heard Zeed squeal in delight, and saw her with something that looked like a box in her mouth. Before I could ask what just happened, I felt a sharp pain across my back as the ironwolf I’d tackled slammed its tail into me, and I dropped to my knees. On a whim, I threw the baton at the beast. It struck right in the chest, the sparks flowing all over its body as it twitched violently.

The baton slid away a few feet on a particularly violent spasm, I picked it back up with telekinesis, and turned to the injured ironwolf.

It growled viciously at me, slowly backing away. I heard Zeed shooting at the one I’d just downed.

My target bolted into a building. I followed. Zeed called after me, but I ignored her. I was pissed, these things tried to kill me and my best friend. I wasn’t about to let one escape.

“Well done Knives! I congratulate you on your rage, it suits you!” She snickered in the back of my mind.

“Shut up and stay in th’ cage.” I growled.

I followed it up the staircase at the far end of what must have been a hotel lobby. Several flights I ran, adrenaline keeping me from tiring out.

Finally, there it was, standing between me and the wall. I could tell it was scared, it paced back and forth in a panicked manner, trapped in a corridor which simply ended in the open air. I took a step forward, my baton sizzling with its electrical charge.

The creature stepped back to the edge, snarling at me.

I took another step.

Its tail lashed at me, cutting into my face, but I continued anyway.

I took another step.

The building began to groan.

Nearly two centuries of decay finally took their toll, assisted by the combined weight of a large creature and a stupid pony. The floor gave way, and I fell through, the creature falling beside me. We smashed through several floors until I finally came to a stop, while the ironwolf continued downward. I ended up on my face in the ancient dust, dazed and groaning in pain.

“Knives? Are you okay?” I couldn’t quite tell where Zeed was, but she sounded pretty far away.

I groaned in response, opting to simply lie on the ground.

“Knives, whatever you do,” She said as calmly as she could manage. “Don’t. Look. Down.”

I drew a blank on what she was talking about, so of course the first thing I did was open my eyes. I regretted it immediately.

My panic flooded through me as I saw that I had come to rest on a narrow ledge jutting out from an intact wall. Just before me was a massive drop. I tried to push myself against the wall, to get as far away from the edge as possible, but it didn’t help. I couldn’t look. I couldn’t see the fall which would surely kill me the second I look down. I had to stay still and not move. Don’t look at the endless fall from which I knew I would never recover.

My heart pounded violently in my ears. My body shook in terror. I was losing it. Already my body was going numb while my head started swimming.

The prevalent thought in my mind was that I was going to die, splattered across the ground. I knew that any second the ledge would break away, and I would shatter on the ground with it. My breath was short. I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die. I’m gonna-

“Knives, it’s okay. It’s okay,” somepony said from my left, but the words barely registered in my brain.

Nononononononononononnonononononononononono, help help help, I don’t wanna fall, I don’t wanna fall, I just want to get away-

“Shhhh, it’s okay. Just relax,” She said gently. “Knives, I’m going to get you down, but you need to relax. Just breathe, okay?”

I took a deep breath. The dizziness let up for a moment. My heart was trying to burst from my chest, my guts were twisting about inside of me. I couldn’t open my eyes, not when the drop was there, not while I was about to fall to my end.

“Knives, I know you’re too scared to move, but I need you to trust me, okay?” She cooed beside me. “I’m going to try and break the wall down. Just keep breathing.”

Another breath. There was a strange sound, one I’ve heard before. The wall behind me fell away. I screamed and covered my head with my hooves. I don’t wanna fall, I don’t wanna fall, I don’t wanna die…

“Knives? I need you to come to me. Just follow my voice.”

I knew her, that I could trust her, that she could help me. I tried to move, my shaking legs finding purchase on the ground. I followed her. My stomach churned.

“That’s good. You can open your eye now. It’s safe.”

I did so. Zeed was standing in front of me, a look of worry on her face. I let out a sob and leaned against what was left of the wall, retching. Tears flowed down my face. After a few moments, Zeed touched my shoulder. I hugged her.

“You’re alright, Knives. Let it out,” She said.

My fear seeped out through my tears. I realized how hard I was shaking, how quickly my heart was pumping. How lightheaded I was, that I could barely stand. I felt so cold.

It felt like forever as I cried into Zeed’s shoulder. When I felt I could move again, I pulled away.

“Feel better?”

I nodded and gave her a weak smile.

“Think you can take the stairs?” Her eyes were filled with concern. “We can stay up here if you don’t.”

I considered this, but I wanted to get back on the ground, so I forced myself to head down, with Zeed close behind. Several times I caught another glimpse of the open air, and my shaking intensified, but with Zeed’s help, we eventually managed to make it to the ground level. Relieved, I collapsed to the ground just outside the entrance. After giving me a few healing potions and making sure that I would be fine on my own, Zeed went to try and find Trowel, keeping me in sight all the while. I just sat where I was and tried to control my still-panicked heart. Nervously, I looked up at the building. I saw where I’d been just a while ago. I’d only been on the second floor, having fallen from the fifth. From the looks of it, Zeed had destroyed the wall to get me down. With a gulp, I shook the thoughts out of my mind, and shakily trotted towards the broken cart.

I found Zeed looting through the junk. She’d put Trowel on a pile of sheets, he wasn’t moving. I raised my eyebrow at her.

“What?” She asked.

I kept giving her the same look. Though my voice was hoarse, I managed to croak out a single word. “Trowel?”

“Oh, he’s fine. Just a slight concussion from the crash. He’s unconscious right now, but nothing serious,” her brow furrowed. “I’m more worried about you. You’re still shaking, are you sure you’re okay?”

I found it hard to meet her eyes. I let out a sigh and looked at the ground. “It’s just… After I… well…”

She removed herself from the junk pile and limped over, wrapping her good leg around my shoulder. “What’s wrong, Knives?”

“Ah dragged ye out here. Ah panicked and threw ye out th’ door. Ah didnae even think… And nao yer stuck helpin’ me with mah buckin’ mental problems…” I sighed again. “Aam sorry.”

She stared at me for several moments, her expression one of confusion. Then she burst out laughing. I gave her a look of confusion. “What?”

“First off, Knives, I know how bad you are with heights, and honestly, I’m happy to help get you out of that. After all, what are best friends for if not to help you out of a state of pure, all-consuming, mind-numbing terror?” She shot me a cocky smile. “And second off, you’re blaming yourself for that? Knives, if I was thinking straight I would have ran straight out of there! You did me a favor! I had nothing in the Prison at all, remember? Neither did you, come to think of it…”

“How did Ah do ye a favor?” I looked at her in an incredulous manner.

“Well… Allow me to take this opportunity to puff up my ego for a bit. You remember how the Guards ‘punished’ those who would ‘defy their law’?” She said, a hint of bitterness entering her voice at the mention of the Guards.

I nodded. “Exile. Throw ‘em out and never let ‘em back in. Why?”

“And now we’re outside now, right?” She was grinning like a madmare. Usually, that look meant she had a strange idea. The last time she’d had that look, I’d ended up covered in chicken feathers. I never figured out where she got them…

“Okay… Are ye goin’ somewhere with this?”

“Think, Knives! How many ponies do we care about that have been exiled? How many ponies have we longed to see again, but couldn’t because we were trapped inside?” Her grin widened even further.

I pondered for a moment. I knew many ponies that had been thrown on their flanks into the wasteland. I could remember about half of their faces, but three of them stood out in my mind.

“My dad… Your dad… And…” I trailed off as my eyes widened and a smile spread across my face. My earlier panic drained away completely as I realized what this meant.

“Yes! We can finally look for Ashes!” She proclaimed with a giggle of delight. “If anypony could survive in this miserable place, it would be her! We could bring the Tunnel Rats again!”

I grimaced at the name of our old foalhood gang. “Uh… maybe not th’ Tunnel Rats part… Aam pretty sure neither she nor Ah would particularly enjoy that little reminder…”

She waved a hoof at me and scoffed. “Details, details. We’ll work that out when we find her. Oh…”She bit her lip nervously. “If we find her. It has been almost three years, after all.”

“She’s probably fine, Zeed. She wasnae exactly fragile…”

“I know, you’re right, but…” She blinked a few times, then frowned. “Oh great, I’ve gone and made myself depressed again.”

I tried to find a way to change the subject. I saw the box she’d had during the fight, and saw an opportunity.

“So what’s that thing?”

Almost immediately, her eyes lit up and a smile spread across her face. “It’s awesome is what it is! Can you believe it? It’s an actual laser pistol, and it works! I can’t believe I found one.”

I chuckled slightly as she started babbling about her new toy. “Zeed, you are such an egghead.”

She drew herself up with mock dignity. “That’s High Queen of eggheads to you. All eggheads bow down and worship me as their- Oh, hi Trowel. How long have you been awake?”

He was sitting on the pile of blankets, eye twitching in irritation. He managed to croak out five words. “Do. You. Ever. Stop. Talking.”

She pretended to think for a moment, loudly hmming and haaing. “Nope.”

He growled in irritation as he began piling junk onto a particularly large sheet, tying it up and throwing it over his back, the end held in his teeth. “Whatever. Let’s get going.”

“We’re gonna carry all this crap?”

“No. I’m going to carry all this crap. You two are going to get far the fuck away from me the second we get to the Mall.”

“So, where exactly is-“

“AND NO TALKING!” He shouted.

~~~~~

Three more hours we walked through the ruined city, Trowel still watching every single shadow as if it would jump out and attack at any second. Zeed was limping along at a surprisingly fast rate for somepony with a broken leg. I only had one thought on my mind.

“Wasteland life involves a lot ay walking’ doesn’t it?”

“Yes. What did I say about talking?”

“Don’t dae it?”

“What are you doing now?”

“It.”

“Then stop.”

“Goddesses, what in th’ buck’s eatin’ ye? Ye weren’t this bad yesterday.”

“We were relatively safe yesterday. Now we’re out in the open wastes where anypony or anycreature can run up and snuff us easily. How many times do I have to tell you to shut up?”

“One thousand, three hundred and two,” Zeed snarked, receiving a glare in response.

His eye twitched again. He started muttering under his breath. “Almost there. One more block. Just keep going and you won’t have to deal with them any longer.”

We turned the corner to find a street that was remarkably intact, compared to the rest of the cracked asphalt that coated the roads. At its end was a very large structure, also remarkably intact, although it looked like something had cut the top part of it clean off. It was covered in broken signs of various sorts, most of which had fallen to the ground after a few decades, but one bright blue neon sign was still standing just above the entrance.

What surprised me, though, was the fact that several gleaming white turrets stood spaced evenly along the wall facing us, armed with chainguns. As we approached, they tracked our movements, slowly turning as we trotted up to the entrance, a series of sandbags had been set up in front of the large glass door, and a cherry red unicorn mare with a similarly colored mane sat in a chair behind them, reading a magazine.

She looked up at us and yawned. “Heya Trowel. Haven’t seen you in a couple of months. Traveling with companions now?”

He grumbled something as he trotted around the sandbags, and into the mall. As we tried to follow, the mare stopped us with an outstretched hoof.

“Woah, woah… Who the fuck are you?” She said with an eyebrow raised. “I know who he is. He fuckin’ lives here. Now, you two may have come here with him, but I don’t know either of you. So, name and business?”

I stared at her for a couple of seconds in confusion. “Uh…”

“I’m Zeed. My friend here is Knives. We’re looking for work,” She thought for a moment. “We’re also looking for somepony.”

“Work, huh? Well, I guess that’s a good enough reason. I’m gonna take a wild guess here and say you’re both canned goods. Amirite?”

We both nodded.

“Hmm. Tell you what, I’ll let you in as ‘freelancers’. Won’t let you get very far into anything, but you’ll be able to move around. Just tie these where we can see ‘em.” She handed us a pair of long cloth strips, both fluorescent green in color. “If you’re looking for dirt, try the Bartender’s Guild. They usually got good intel. For weapons and armor, try the Soldier’s Guild. Food, go to the Chefs. Etcetera, etcetera, you get my point. Most of ‘em are pretty obvious. Don’t start any fights, don’t do anything stupid. Have a nice day.”

With that she went back to reading her magazine.

Zeed gave me a questioning look. I just shrugged and tied the cloth around my head, on top of the bandages covering my eye socket. If I have to wear it, might as well use it to keep my mane out of my face. Zeed tied it loosely around her neck.

The inside of the structure was huge, especially with the roof and second floor apparently destroyed. About half of what had once been stores before the Great War either continued this purpose now, or had been converted into a living space. Almost every one that remained a store had some form of illuminated sign near the entrance. I briefly wondered where they had all come from, until Zeed poked me in the shoulder.

“Huh?”

“What are we doing first?” She asked, looking around nervously. “Where do we start?”

“Ah was under th’ impression that ye were th’ one with th’ plans.” She shook her head. I shrugged. “Fine. Let’s see about a job first. Ah doubt that information of any kind is free.”

“Okay then.”

We stood there. Unmoving. Slightly overwhelmed and a bit confused.

I realized then that I had only the most vague idea of what I was doing here.

“Hey there!” Shouted a voice from my blind side, making me just back and yelp in surprise.

“Why does that keep happenin’?” I moaned. “Aam never gonna get used tae this am ah?”

“Uh… Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you. Name’s Raid,” said the dark blue buck with a peach mane. He wore a leather jacket with a strange contraption on his sides, with scatterguns strapped to it. “You folks are freelancers, right?”

Zeed responded cheerily. “Apparently! I guess that’s why we’ve got the green things. Why?”

“Are you doing any jobs right now? I could really use some help.” He sighed and pointed to a black strip of cloth tied around his upper right foreleg. “You see, I’m a newbie in the Soldier’s Guild, and they’ve given me this particularly obnoxious job.”

“And that job would be?”

“I need to clear the roaches out of generator room number fifteen. They’re huge fuckers, and they keep swarming me. So, I figured I might as well try and get some backup, if only to just get it done.” He shrugged. “They won’t give me another job ‘till it’s finished anyway.”

“So ye need us. Alright, what’s the pay?”

“Three hundred caps each. Paid on completion.”

Zeed blinked at him a few times. “Did you say ‘caps’?”

He looked back and forth from me to her, then raised an eyebrow at the both of us. “Canned goods?”

I responded with a ‘yup.’

“It’s about… uh… Thirty bits, I think. Either of you got a pipbuck?”

Zeed smiled and chirped, “I don’t even know what that is!”

“O…Kay…” He gave her an odd look. “That’s fine. I’ve got one of my own… So, are you in?”

Zeed patted the laser pistol strapped to her foreleg and grinned widely. “Fuck yes,we’re in!”

~~~~~~~

“Raid, when ye said they were huge, Ah didn’t think ye meant this!” I screamed as I swiped at the leg of the monstrosity before me with my shock baton. The five foot tall roaches were significantly larger than I’d expected. “Ah thought ye meant radroaches!”

Raid and Zeed were firing on another roach, slightly larger than mine. Raid was biting down on a bit connected to the contraption on his sides to fire the twin shotguns, Zeed’s red beams slamming into the insect’s carapace, as she grinned madly and cheered repeatedly. “They were radroaches last time I looked! I didn’t expect the damn things to get bigger!”

“That’s what she said!” Zeed laughed as she blasted the head off the giant roach, which was immediately replaced by another roach. “WOOO! This is awesome!”

“What the hell is wrong with her?”

“A lot ay things. Just let her have her fun,” I replied as I bashed in the head of another big bug. “Goddesses, how many of these things are there?”

“Last time I counted, fifty. Then again, they were only about three feet tall last time I checked, so I have no idea.” He punctuated by blasting another colossal cockroach’s abdomen open.

“Where,” smack. “Did,” crack-sizzle. “They,” smack. “Come from?” Squish.

“Maybe the generator’s leaking,” Zeed suggested in a happy sing-song voice as she cheerily fired her laser at another immense insect, giggling all the while.

“Well, we could probably fix that too. I don’t suppose either of you know how to fix a type one generator?”

“Ah dae.”

He gave me a look of surprise. “Seriously? I was kidding. Wow. More caps to you, then.”

I was about to make a witty retort when Zeed burst out singing.

My little roachie, my little roachie,
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah,

My little roachie,
I used to wonder where your head could be,
My little roachie,
Until it splattered all over me.

Big-ass coakroach,
Tons of fun!
Blast you apart,
You won’t last long!
Burning lasers,
Are such a treat!

And Raid’s shotgun makes it all complete!

Oh, my little roachie,
I won’t stop until you’re all dead!

“That’s just…” I failed to stifle my laughter as I saw Raid’s disturbed expression. “Does she always do that?”

“Only when she’s in a really good mood. Sadly, that’s nae very often, but it usually lasts fer a while.”

“I think she’s killed, like… Fifteen of them. Solo.”

“More than me. Ah’ve only got three down,” I looked around myself for a second. “Acshully, Ah think they’re all gone…”

“Well, my E.F.S. is clear, so there’s none around this area. We still need to check the generator room though.” He turned around and began to trot down the badly lit corridor made from some dark metal. “Let’s get this over with. I long to get out of here.”

Zeed bounced past him, skipping and singing humming to herself. I was starting to feel her infectious good mood, and couldn’t help but smile and hum along with her.

“Well… The generator room isn’t far, now.” Raid took a look at his pipbuck map. “We’ll probably find another swarm at some poi- Oh dear Celestia!”

Sitting in the middle of the corridor was the mother of all roaches, staring at us, about a hundred more of its brood sitting behind it. I let out a quiet ‘eep’.

Then Zeed charged in, happily screaming like a madmare. “Let’s do it!”

~~~~~~

The orb followed the pink one through the orange mists and sands of Canterbury, its own black mists swirling calmly within its glass shell. The pink mare continued her ranting for a long time, until a flash of gold appeared in the distance. Noticing this, she telekinetically drew her weapon, and charged after it, giggling madly.

“0h y4y! 3yE’m g01ng 2 mAke 5um n3w f2i3nd5!”

The orb followed slowly. Keeping a long distance between them. As the pink mare neared the location of the flash, she found her weapon wrenched from her magical field by a dark yellow glow. A golden stallion with a white mane stood before her, his horn aglow, and a calm smile on his face.

“Ah,” he said in a pensive tone. “One of you, I see. And where might you be going miss?”

The pink mare giggled, her pupils little more than pinpricks in an ball of blood red. “1’M (lo7he5l1ne! t3h 8uzZ1ng pu11s me! Wi1l u b3 m4i fr1eNd?”

The stallion laughed. “You know, I think I will be your friend. Tell me little one, do you come from the Prison?”

Instantly, the pink mare’s eyes filled with tears as she nodded. “I hur7 her. 3ye th1nk 1 kil13d her. Eye d1dn’7 w4nt 2, bu7 the n0is3 t0ld me 2! eYe waNt3d t0 s4y i’M s0rRy…”

“Don’t worry, young filly. I don’t blame-“ He spotted the orb full of black mist, and a smile spread across his face. “Well, miss Clothesline, I think you have a follower.”

There was a flash of gold, and he appeared next to the ball, and swiped it up with a single hoof. He peered intently into it, as though it’s swirling contents held meaning to him. He let out a single, loud laugh. “Oh, dear Benchie, I thought you were cleverer than this. Trying to use my own tricks against me? bad form good sir. Bad form.”

With that, his horn glowed brightly, and the dark yellow color enveloped the orb.

A second passed.

The orb dissipated into Canterbury’s orange mists, and the golden one smiled.

“Well then, miss. I believe there is someone we need to meet. Come along.”

“mAi n4m3 i5 c10Thes1in3! W1ll u b3 mY fr1End?” She replied as she trotted along beside him with tears in her eyes.

~~~~~~~
Footnote 1: Diamond Knives
Level up! (3)
Melee: 50
Repair: 43

Perks:
Intense training: +1 strength. Strength is now 4
-----
Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri
Level up! (2)
Energy Weapons: 40
Medicine: 45

Perks:
Swift learner: You are indeed a Swift Learner with this Perk, as each level will give you an additional +5% bonus whenever you earn experience points.
~
Active quest:
Bugs in the basement: Clear all of the radroaches out of the generator room.

Other quests:
Sifting Through the Dust:
1) Find information on the location of Ashes.
2) Find information on the location of Obsidian Knives
3) Find information on the location of Nezan Kazdri

---------------
(author’s note)

It’s me again! Happy to see me? Too bad, ‘cuz I’m here anyway.

If you’ve decided to continue reading this, I thank you.

“Sigh, why did it take you so long to do this chapter? It’s no longer than the others, yet took three times longer! Whaddafuq?”

Well my good non-existent friend, that is because I am an idiot, and scrapped this chapter three… no… wait… four times before I was satisfied.

“Four times? Shouldn’t it be better than this, then?”

Probably, oh figment of my depraved imagination. Probably.

Thanks to Kkat for Fallout Equestria, and Somber for Project Horizon. Thanks to whoever reads this, and again, critiques are very much welcome.

P.S.: Didja like the song? Didja? Didja? DIDJA? HUH? HUH?
Oh, and the next chapter may or may not be from Zeed’s point of view. I’m not sure yet.
Why? I dunno, I just feel like it might be.
Why am I telling you? I dunno, I just feel like it.

Chapter Four: Slight Weirdness

“Hey, Ashes! Ashes, come on,” called out the cheerful striped unicorn apparently named Diamond Knives, whom I’d met only a few hours ago, as she knocked on the metal door. “It’s me!”

A sleepy, charcoal-furred, gunmetal-maned earth pony filly with amber eyes opened the door and yawned. “Who’s me, and why are you waking me up at this time of night?”

“Night? It’s barely the afternoon!” Diamond replied with a snort, only to be met with another yawn. “Anyway, this is Zeed! Her dad just got booted.”

I could feel my eyes tear up slightly at the memory. Ashes gave me a sympathetic look. “Ouch. Can I ask why?”

I shook my head and sniffed.

Diamond smiled at me. “Hey, it’s alright. You don’t need to be sad. We know how you feel. Don’t worry, it’ll get better. Hell, Ashes here doesn’t even have parents, and she’s just fine.”

“Well,” Ashes added. “I’m as fine as a seven-year-old filly can be on my own in here. I’m just lucky my parents were Guards, or I’d be bucked.”

I sniffed as I stared in surprise. “How… how are you so… Doesn’t it hurt? You’re on your own… How…”

Ashes shrugged and grinned. “What’s the point of crying anymore? It doesn’t help anything. I got as much of it out as I could already.”

Diamond scrunched up her nose in thought as she entered Ashes’ room. “Didn’t I tell you what my dad always said?”

I nodded, following her into the room. It was full of various random objects, piled up all over the floor. Both Ashes and Diamond sat on small chairs in the middle of the room, and looked at me. Then they looked at each other for a few moments, exchanging facial expressions in some silent conversation.

“I think it’ll work out well,” Diamond finally said. “She seems nice enough.”

Ashes raised an eyebrow, and Diamond responded with a shrug.

Ashes laughed suddenly, and a smirk spread across her face. “Alright, Zeed. We’re the Tunnel Rats. Best thieves and pranksters in the Prison. Wanna join?”

~~~~~

There is something to be said of mindless violence. While it may be pointless and… well… violent… it can also be very stress relieving. I had indeed been very stressed the past few days, so imagine my joy when I had the opportunity to destroy a swarm of giant cockroaches. With a laser pistol. I was positively ecstatic. The fact that it was with lasers made it even better. So, when I saw about a hundred of the prodigious pests crawling through the corridors, followed by what must have been their queen or mother or something, I happily let my impulsiveness take over, and charged into them, firing away whilst screaming; “Let’s do it!”

Within the first second, three of the smaller ones exploded in a shower of pus-colored goo as the beams of magical energy struck them and heated up their insides to the boiling point. I cracked a grin.

Admittedly, only a little more than half of my shots hit their targets, the rest either hitting an entirely different roach, or struck the metal wall, making a black spot. Still, I found it exhilarating. Within moments of my charge, Knives slammed into the thorax of the biggest cockroach, smashing away at it with her electric baton, while Raid let loose precise shots at the roaches, making small holes in their numbers with his shotgun blasts.

Another three beams of red light, more bursts of greenish ichor. Knives had smashed the one of her massive opponent’s legs off, the severed limb hit the ground with a slight clicking sound as it twitched.

I let my thoughts drift as I fought. I wondered how long it would take for the stress to build back up again. I found myself hoping that my calm would last long enough for me to get a decent sleep for once, one uninfluenced by a sleeping potion. I had never been entirely certain of what kept me away from the wonderful bliss that was sleep, but stress was really the only thing that made sense to me.

I stressed over a lot of things. I was almost always tense, though usually only slightly so. Especially after Knives got shot in the eye. I growled to myself at the thought of Clothesline’s murder attempt. I knew she hated Knives, but I had no idea she would be willing to kill her for whatever slight. Then again… thinking back… she seemed different… particularly the way that she seemed so distracted. I replayed the moment in my mind and frowned. She was distracted. Something about a buzzing noise. And the way she was speaking was off… wrong somehow. I couldn’t quite put my hoof on it. It was like her words weren’t actually… words… like they had no – ouch!

I looked down to see that one of the smaller cockroaches had sunk its mandibles into my good foreleg. With a grunt, I shook it off and stomped its thorax, its insides squeezing out like a tube of toothpaste. No real damage to my leg, just a small cut. I wouldn’t even need a healing bandage for it.

How had the damn thing gotten past me?

Oh… I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I’d forgotten to reload… Oops. With a smile, I popped in another magical gem battery, and readied the gun. Another four bugs down. Knives’ opponent was on its last two legs, desperately flailing them in an attempt to remove my half-breed friend.

Where did these things come from anyway? The ones that always skittered around in the Prison only came up to your fetlocks. Most of these ones were half my size. Then again, I was fairly short, only about eleven hands tall. Just one of many things for which I could blame my mother, and something for which I’d gotten much grief as a filly. I let out a sigh. The mare known as ‘Nidra Reine Kazdri’ was not pleasant in any manner. She was very much stuck-up. Seemed to think she was a noble despite being in trapped in a place called ‘The Prison’.

I blinked as I realized that my thoughts were not only moving to a very bad place, but weren’t even remotely close to the original topic. After frying a couple more roaches, I racked my brain for something to cheer myself up.

Puppies? Adorable, but I’d really only ever seen pictures, so I didn’t particularly care.

Really hot mares? A slight smile, but entirely the wrong kind of ‘cheering up’.

Lasers? Hehe… Fuck yeah… Lasers… Still not enough, though.

I needed something to distract myself. Something I could focus on… to occupy my thoughts. Actually, I sort of wanted a smoke, but that wasn’t an option right now, so my tobacco addiction would have to wait. I made a mental note to find a pack or two of cigarettes after I’d gotten information on the location of Ashes and our fathers. I sighed again. She’d been exiled three years ago after the last riot. Everything had gone to hell that day… Ashes, Knives and myself had all been heavily traumatized by that event. Knives had it worst, though. I shuddered at the memory of what had happ-

“Zeed? Ye in there?”

“Huh?”

“Ye spaced out fer a minute. Ah was getting’ worried.” She said with a smirk.

I looked around to see that the walls had been painted a greenish-yellow color by roach ichor. Chunks of insectile meat, both charred and otherwise were strewn about the room. Knives’ giant roach friend was in pieces on the floor, its leg stumps still twitching slightly.

I fought the urge to vomit as she swiped up a chunk of roach meat in her invisible grip and took a bite.

“What?” She asked through a mouthful of roach.

“You know I hate it when you do that,” I grimaced. “It’s disgusting.”

From behind me, I heard Raid chuckle nervously. “Well, you know… Sometimes there’s nothing left to eat but meat.”

"What? Oh, no, I’m fine with eating meat. I’ve done it myself... Don’t ask, long story. It’s that it’s bug meat.” I shuddered and gagged. “And I know you’re just doing it to gross me out!”

“Damn right!” She happily proclaimed as she stuffed another roach chunk in her mouth. “Yer such a wuss Zeed.”

“Me? A wuss? This coming from the pony who can’t stand Snack Cakes because they ‘scratch at your throat’.” I raised my eyebrow and grinned.

“Hey! It’s painful to choke on those!” She shot back indignantly. “Anyway, that’s not important right now. We should probably get moving again. Right Raid?”

He looked back and forth between the two of us, an expression of amusement on his face. “You two make a weird couple.”

Knives started laughing, only to choke on another bite of roach meat and begin hacking and coughing instead. I snorted and giggled. “Couple? No. We’re close, but not that close.”

Successfully removing the obstruction from her throat with a final, wracking cough and now able to breathe once more, Knives rasped out, “Besides… Aam straight. Ah like bucks thank ye very much.”

Raid’s expression was one of confusion as he stared at Knives.

Then realization struck him, and he blurted out the stupidest thing he could have ever possibly said. “You’re a mare?”

I promptly facehooved, and mourned the eminent death of a somewhat decent pony. Knives glare was intense enough that I was surprised that Raid didn’t combust. Normally, I would have tried to calm her down, but while her body tensed, she didn’t yet look like she was going to beat the living shit out of the poor buck. When she spoke, her voice was a foreboding growl, her accent dropped. “You’d better choose your next words very carefully…”

To Raid’s credit, he didn’t even flinch. He simply looked at her with a bored expression and let out a long, resigned sigh. “Can I get a five second head start?”

Knives’ response was to blink a few times, her rage replaced with surprise and a hint of confusion. “Uh… Well… I… What?”

He shrugged. “My, eh, sister used to beat the crap outa me all the time, and for similar reasons. My family is about a quarter of the reason I left the… ahem… left home. The other three quarters is filled with a large number of secrets which I do not currently wish to divulge to strangers. Now, I believe that you intended to do me immense harm?”

Knives looked thoughtful for a moment. Then, casually, she smiled and walked over to him, and sat on her haunches in front of him. She then drove her shock baton into the side of his face. He screamed and twitched slightly as the electricity shot through his muscles. “Not immense harm. Just a lot of pain. We’re even now. Ye surprised me. Most of the time, ponies run like hell from me.”

I clapped my hooves together in mocking applause. “Yay! Raid gets to live! Aren’t you happy Raid?”

“I can’t feel my face!”

~~~~

Several minutes later, we had made our way closer to the generator rooms, with minimal resistance from radroach hordes.

“Goddesses. It’s like a maze down here. Ye know the way back, right Zeed?”

“Of course. You think I want to get lost down here?” I chirped. I was merrily trotting in front of my two companions, opening every single door I came across and taking a brief look into the rooms behind them.

“How can you know the way out? I’m surprised the pipbuck can keep track of it. You don’t even have-“

“Left, right, straight for three doors, left, up the stairs, right, down two floors, left, left again, straight five doors,” I quickly rattled off the directions from our current location. “Down one more floor, yadda, past the roach guts, yadda, I don’t feel like listing the rest of it. Let’s sing a song!”

Sadly, I didn’t get the chance to start singing, as Raid interrupted me by asking, “How in the fuck do you remember all that? Even this damn thing only keeps a low-definition map!” He indicated the machine on his foreleg.

“Zeed is weird. And when Ah say weird, Ah mean she is buckin’ weird.”

I giggled. “I have an eidetic memory. Look, just do me a favor, and don’t ask. I hate talking about it. It’s caused me no end of irritation, and- Oh, look! A dead pony! ”

Indeed, as I opened yet another door, I came across an office. On the desk placed against the back wall, several terminals had been set up, showing various camera angles in what looked like the generator room. Sitting in the chair was a unicorn skeleton in a lab coat. I trotted over to it and examined it. Male. There was a large hole in his skull, and a revolver on the floor next to him. On the opposite side was a pair of sunglasses, dark red ones. The wall had a dark red spot on it. “Ooh, Suicide. Shame.”

Turning to my two companions, I shouted out, “I call dibs on his stuff!”

As I pushed it out of the chair, the skeleton fell apart, bones clattering and sliding all over the metal floor. I slipped into the lab coat, and put the sunglasses on the end of my nose.

Raid whispered into Knives’ ear. “Ya know, when you said she was weird, I didn’t think you were that serious.”

“I heard that, and berate you for it.” I teased merrily as I began searching through the desk, looking for anything that could be of use. Money, weapons, batteries, food- Sweet luna! A whole fucking carton of cigarettes! Malburro. Not my brand, but whatever, I giggled in glee anyway. No lighter though… Damn. Oh!

I pulled out a stick out and set it on the table. Out came the laser. Three seconds later, I had a lit cigarette and a table with a charred spot on it. And here I thought I couldn’t love lasers more.

I leaned back in the chair and took a long draw, exhaling through my nostrils. Admittedly, it tasted horrible, and always had, but my normally chaotic and ceaseless thoughts seemed to slow down, or at least stay on topic a bit longer.

I heard Knives cough slightly, and I turned around to see her staring at me with a look of mild confusion. That look seems to be going around a lot, doesn’t it… I mused.

“What?”

“Ye just took a dead pony’s stuff. And yer smokin’ his cigarettes… Ah thought ye quit.”

“Smoking? No. I just ran out. Haven’t had one for about a week.” I pulled a few packs out of the carton and stuffed them in the lab coat pocket. “And he’s dead. He doesn’t need it.”

I looked at the nametag on the coat. ‘Awesome’, it read. Interesting name. I grinned and shrugged. Sure, I think I can be ‘Awesome’.

“You’re… fine… with looting bodies… What the fuck kind of stable did you two come from?” Raid asked with an incredulous look.

“Prison.” I turned to the desk and the terminals that sat on it, holding the cigarette in my mouth. “Now, where is that generator… Oh! Oh, shit… Wonderful. Knives, I don’t think you’ll be able to fix this one.”

“Why?”

“It’s leaking magic like there’s no tomorrow. Looks like the containment crystal broke, among other things. We’ll need a new one just to find out what else is wrong with it.” I hopped out of the chair and exhaled another bit of smoke.

Raid groaned. “Are you kidding me? That means we came all this damn way for nothing.”

“Ah don’t care about rads. We can just get a couple ay radaways, right?”

“Ticker says thirty per second.” I read off the radiation gague.

“Oh… Well… uh… We still get paid fer killin’ th’ roaches, right?”

“Yeah, but they’re not gonna be too happy about this. Damnit… I was hoping to get some extra caps…” He sighed. “Ah well. Not much point staying down here. You two coming?”

“Don’t you guys have spare parts?” I asked. As I followed him out the door, Knives just behind me.

He laughed. “We used them all on generator number six. Damn thing was a wreck. Almost scrap metal. Anyway, we might as well take what we can get. Come on, they won’t pay if you’re not there.”

“Wait, wait, wait… What? Why the hell did you use all your spare parts on a generator in that bad of a condition?”

“That’s what I said, and I’m an idiot. So, of course, nopony listens to me. I’m just the pe- Eh… pony from the… uh… from…” He cleared his throat gently. “Let’s just say that most ponies don’t trust me… Or like me, for that matter.”

I pretended to not notice his stuttering, trying not to let paranoia ruin my still very good mood. It was none of my business anyway.

“Aam guessin’ that’s why ye got stuck down here?”

“Yeah. I… Uh… Kinda owe some… caps... right now…” He sighed. “I kinda lied. I’m not really a ‘newbie’ the Soldiers Guild… It’s just… Not as embarrassing as the truth…”

“Ye want tae talk about it?” Knives asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Not really…” He sighed. “Let’s just say that me and alcohol don’t get along well.”

“Oh, really? Violent drunk, are ye? Ah think Ah can relate tae that.” She grinned.

“Uh…” He blushed, his voice was cracking slightly. “Something like that… yeah…”

“Oooh, ye did somethin’ ye shouldnae have? Or…” her grin widened. “Somepony?”

His face turned a deeper shade of red, and I tried to stifle my giggling. “Er… Well… I… Look, can we not talk about it?”

“Come on Raid-y-raid, Ah won’t tell anypony.”

He let out a sigh. “Fine. I hit on the leader of the Soldier’s Guild… and… I think I said, or did, something that pissed her off… I’m not entirely sure what, I was too drunk to remember. So, now she’s pressed me into service ‘till I can work off about ten thousand caps. Vengeful bitch.”

“Well that sucks.” I mused.

“How much do ye owe?” Knives inquired with a raised eyebrow.

“Right now, about four hundred. Why?”

“Aam just curious.”

The rest of our walk back up to the Mall was in a somewhat awkward silence, with everypony in deep thought.

~~~~

I was immensely confused.

I stared at the contents of the small bag that Knives was levitating in the air, cigarette hanging out of my slightly slack jaw.

Why, of all possible things, did they use bottlecaps as currency?

“Did Trowel nae tell ye about this?”

“Well… yes, but I thought he was being a smart-ass. I can’t believe this. There was nothing more valuable they had easy access to?”

“Am ah really the pony ye want tae be talkin’ economics with?” She deadpanned at me.

“Right. So, where can we find some info on ponies?” I asked, wishing that Raid had stayed with us a while longer. His knowledge of the town would have helped immensely. Instead, he’d gone to find another job after we’d picked up our caps.

“Uh… Ah think it was…” Suddenly, she smiled. It was a mischievous smile. That could only mean one thing. “Ah think it was th’ ‘Bartender’s Guild’.”

“Are you sure? Bartenders don’t seem like they would get much information.”

She frowned as she gave me a surprised look. “Are ye kiddin’? Remember Daquiri, back in th’ Prison? He knew damn near everypony who got a drink from him! He could tell ye every damn escape plan that had been come up with in th’ three years he’d been workin’. He knew half ay what was goin’ on with th’ Guards, too. Ponies say things they shouldnae say when they’re drunk ye know. Thusly, bartenders know everythin’!”

“Uh-huh… Sure. Well, I don’t care, as long as we can find Ashes and our dads.” I sighed. “I just hope we can find something on where they are.”

“Why are ye so intent on findin’ Ashes anyway?” She pocketed the bag of caps. “I thought ye ‘said ‘you’ll never forgive her’.”

I sighed. “We were… I overreacted. I shouldn’t have said that… I regret the whole conversation… Just… Can we please not talk about this? I’m having enough difficulty staying in this mood as it is.”

“So… Ye think there’s any way we can get back tae that generator and fix it?” She said, swiftly changing the subject.

“Hmmm… Maybe. We absolutely need to get a new gem for it, though. Whoever programmed that system is an idiot. They made it so that you can only run the simplest of diagnostics on it when the containment gem is down.” I rested my head on a hoof and took in another pull of my cig. “Sadly, you’ll be in there alone, ‘cuz I can’t make heads or tails of the schematics.”

I started making a mental list. “We’ll probably need… Rad-pro, an H.E.V. suit… probably never find one of those… uh… probably a crap-ton of rad-away, just to be safe.”

“Well, while yer thinkin’ oan that, Aam goin’ tae get mahself a drink.”

“What? You can’t drink, you’re only nineteen!”

“Yer a year younger than me. Yer smoking.” She started trotting towards one of the Mall’s many neon signs. “’Sides, drinkin’ age in Canterbury is eighteen. Or… It was, anyway. Even then, It’s never stopped me before, now has it?”

I sat on my haunches puffing my cig for a few moments, wondering why she knew any of Canterbury’s pre-war laws. With a shrug, I followed her in.

The Rusted Latch looked like a saloon you would see in a pre-war cowpony movie, with a few rounded wooden tables set up in the middle of the room, a bar with several shelves of various alcohols behind it, and the walls on one side had a few ironwolf skulls and heads mounted on them, the apparently metal bone reflecting everything in the room. The main difference between this and a classic saloon, however, was that everything but the tables and skulls was made of junk metal. The whole place smelled like smoke and booze. A jukebox off in the corner was loudly blasting some electronic music that didn’t quite fit the atmosphere. Nevertheless, I found myself stepping with the rhythm.

Most of the ponies inside were the sort who just wanted to drown in their own misery. I felt my mood darken just from being in their proximity, so before I fell into a state of irritation and sorrow, I tracked down Knives, who had taken a seat on a stool at the far end of the bar and was currently talking with a confused bartender. I instantly knew what she’d asked for; two parts tabasco sauce, one part absinthe. The only thing I’d ever seen her order.

I took a seat on her left side. “So, how are we gonna go about this?”

“Figured ye should be th’ one tae ask,” She propped her head up on a foreleg. “Yer better at talkin’ tae other ponies than ah am. And yer th’ one who’s really interested.”

“You spent all your money on the damn drink didn’t you.”

“No! It was only ten caps! Goddesses… Aam just not entirely sure what or how tae ask, alright?”

“You don’t know… that’s just- Oh, hello! I’m looking for some information.” I was distracted by the bartender tapping his hoof on the counter. “I’m trying to find somepony.”

The auburn unicorn glared at me with dark blue eyes. “Fifty caps to search, rest of the info is priced depending. Who?”

I hoofed him the caps. “She would have been here no more than three years ago. Fairly tall, charcoal fur, gunmetal mane, amber eyes. Probably laughing like a madmare about everything she sees. Answers to the name of ‘Ashes’, might have given a fake name, though.”

His eyes widened in surprise. “You’re gunning for her? You got a death wish or something?”

“Well… She comes off as a bit abrasive, but she’s not usually that bad.”

“You know what? I’m sorry, but you can keep your caps. I can’t let a pony get themselves killed going after a bounty like that.” He pushed the caps back at me. “That mare’s just too damn dangerous.”

Knives gave the bartender a suspicious look. “She has a bounty? What, did she not pay bail?”

She received an expression of confusion. “The hell? Never mind. Just… don’t go after her. You’ll only get yourselves killed. We have no info for sale on her right now. Sorry.”

Knives looked on as the barkeep moved towards a newcomer at the other end of the bar. “Th’ hell was that about?”

“Dunno. I can only guess that Ashes has turned into some sort of psychopathic murderer or something, and now she’s being hunted down by whatever serves as the law for her crimes. I imagine that she’s giving a pretty good chase for whomever is after her.” I shrugged.

Knives deadpanned at me. “Ye read too damn many comics Zeed.”

“Oh, come on. What else could garner a reaction like that?”

“It’s probably a misunderstanding. An accident. Maybe a culture thing. We don’t know shit about this place after all.” She smirked. “And ye forgot about our dads.”

I facehooved at my own stupidity. “Crap… Well… Maybe we could try a different bar?”

“Hey, Barkeep,” Knives whistled at the bartender. He trotted over, giving me a glance full of mild irritation. “Aam lookin’ fer somepony. Two. First is a pitch black stallion. Unicorn. Accent like mine but about ten times heavier. Probably around no more than… fourteen years ago? Called ‘Obsidian’. The other is a Zebra, she can give you a description.”

“Oh… Uh… Zebra, green eyed, uh… twelve years ago… Name of ‘Nezan Kazdri’. Scar on his right cheek, running from his mouth to his ear.”

“Now, them I’ll tell you about. Two-hundred caps for both. Firstly… Obsidian… good pony. Last time he was here, he was depressed. And drunk. Extremely drunk. Said something about ‘they’re all dead’. Then he got angry and headed west, straight into the Deep Mists.”

“Deep Mists?”

“Yeah, place is crawling with ‘paths, among other things. Even ironwolves don’t go there, and they’re tough little fuckers.”

“They didn’t seem that tough tae me. We took on a pack ay them yesterday.”

“The ones around here are rusty. Literally. They start to corrode as they age. Anyway, if you’re trying to find Obsidian, you might not find him. Ponies rarely leave the Deep Mists the way they went in. If you do find him, tell him that Barkeep still owes him a beer.”

“And the Zebra? What about him?”

“Nezan? He was here a few days ago, actually.”

“W-w-what?” I blurted. My jaw dropped in surprise, and my cigarette fell to the ground. My dad was Alive? And here? Sweet merciful Luna, my luck was turning pretty quickly! My thoughts and emotions started roiling around in my head. “Where is he? Where did he go?”

“Easy, easy. He went off to Bladesville. It’s north-east of here. It’s not that far, actually. Still in the outskirts of the Old City. If you don’t mind my asking, why are you looking for him? He doesn’t owe you money, does he?”

I sighed. “He’s my father.”

The bartender looked at me suspiciously for a moment. “You’re a bit too old to be his daughter.”

“Uh… Huh?”

“Far as I know, his daughter’s about ten. You look quite a bit older than that.”

Instantly, the roiling in my skull stopped. Ten? He has a ten year old daughter? He wouldn’t. He would never have betrayed mom. Even if she was the bitch queen. Possibilities filled my head until I thought it was going to burst. I eventually managed to say a single syllable.

“What.”

It wasn’t even a question. I simply found it hard to wrap my mind around the concept of my father having another daughter. I’m not sure why.

“Zeed, are you alright?” Knives gave me a concerned look.

“You got Celestia’s Choice?” I asked the bartender.

“Uh… Yes.”

“Give me ten bottles.”

“What happened tae being underage?” Knives asked me with a smirk.

“Shut up.” She blinked in surprise at my, admittedly uncharacteristic, blunt reply. I took a long pull from the first bottle of beer, draining nearly half of it and garnering looks of surprise from some of the ponies around the room.

Why was I having so much difficulty with this? Did I really expect him to just sit around? Of course he would make a life for himself out here. Fuck, I should be glad that he’s even alive. I’d assumed he’d been dead since he left. That was the general consensus around the Prison. Exile meant death. It was that simple. Knives’ and my experience had blown a massive whole in that, but somehow the thought of my father making a new life out here struck a nerve. I chugged half of a third bottle. I vaguely regretted it, as the ache in my stomach told me that was a bad idea.

I was now desperately clinging to the last vestiges of a good mood. I tried to push the ridiculous feelings of betrayal out of my head. I shouldn’t feel that way. Did he forget about me? Did he just leave me there because he didn’t want me?

I shook my head. No. He was thrown out. He had no choice. Stop thinking that Zeed. You can’t blame him for any of this.

“Zeed?”

I grunted in response.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Ye just drank a five bottles of beer in as many minutes. What’s wrong?”

I was silent for a moment. I thought of just chugging down the rest of it, but figured that would be a bad idea. I spoke in a monotone, too confused to put any emotion into my words. “I don’t know.”

Knives said nothing.

How could he do this? Does he still care about me?

Of course he does! You remember how he was? He was in tears, Zeed. Tears! ‘Please forgive me, sweetheart…’ There’s no way he’d just forget about you.

He has another daughter. Did he tell her about me? What about his new wife? Or lover… or whatever…

He made a life. So did you. You were just stuck in a miserable hellhole and had to make do. For Luna’s sake, Zeed. You can’t possibly expect him to just sit outside the Prison and wait for you to leave. That’s unrealistic. You know you’re being stupid.

I let out a sigh. Knives put a hoof on my shoulder. “what dae ye want tae do?”

“I have to find him. It’s stupid, but I think it’s gonna drive me crazy if I don’t.” I turned to the bartender. “Thanks… uh…”

“Barkeep the third.” He smirked. Admittedly, that actually lightened my now dark mood a bit.

“So… um… Where did you say Kazdri went?” It felt weird to refer to somepony else by my own surname.

~~~~

I couldn’t help but giggle at… well… everything really. It was funny. I mean, come on! They turned a mall into a town! A mall!

I hiccupped and took another long pull, only to find that my seventh bottle was empty.

“Zeed, are ye gonna be okay? Aam willin’ tae wait a day or two if yer nae ready.” She asked as we trotted through the makeshift ‘road’. Really it was just the walkways in the mall.

“I gotta find him Knivesh! Fer luna’sh shake! I jush found out that I have a shishter…” I stumbled as I tried to keep up with her. Stupid hooves wouldn’t move where I put them. “I can’t wait for them to find me! I have to get to them firsht.”

I hiccupped again.

“Aam worried. Ye don’t normally drink like this.”

“I don’t normal get family membersh… Wait…” Something wrong with that last sentence. I hiccupped yet again. Why was everything spinning? Stupid ground wouldn’t hold still. “I should probably shtop drinking…”

“Ye think?”

I looked at the bottle I was holding in my hooves. With a shrug, I chugged it down. “Not really.”

I hiccupped. Stomach wasn’t sitting right. Fuck.

Knives stood there and looked at me for a moment, then shook her head. “We’re goin’ tae go find Raid, then we’re goin’ tae find ye a place tae sleep that off.”

“But I don’t wanna!” I whined. Just let me wallow in… whatever it is I’m supposed to wallow in! Wait… Did I say that or not? What am I even talking about? I shook my head, and immediately regretted it, as the world spun a bit more. “Why do you even want to find Raid, anyway?”

“Ah want tae help pay off his debt.” She responded quickly.

I stared at her for a moment. There was a familiar look in her eyes. I’d seen it before… Oh! I giggled. “You like him!”

She blushed. “I just told you I want to help him!”

“You like him and you know it! You wanna make…” I hiccupped again. “Kisshy… facesh… and… You like him!”

Her blush brightened. “Are you even listening to me? I said I just want to help him!”

“Wanna know how I can tell… that you like him?” before she could answer, I held up a swaying hoof. “Becaushe You dropped yer accshent, and yer blushing…”

The accent bit was only partially true. Something that not a lot of ponies notice is that Knives actually does have an accent, but it’s barely noticeable unless you’re listening for it. Mostly, she trills her R’s. She also says ‘tae’ instead of ‘to’. She never believes me when I tell her though. I giggled at the thoughts of her incredulous stare.

“Alright… Fine. But so what if I do? What is this, grade school?”

“Knivesh, you are notorioush for having bad tashte in bucksh.” I downed my ninth bottle of beer.

Her blush deepened even further. “I do not…”

“Twelve relationshipsh shinche you were shixteen,” I hiccupped for the umpteenth time. “All of them ended in one of several ways. You ended up embarrasshed and ashamed of yershelf, moshtly. Need I remind you of yer lasht coltfriend? He loudly shouted that you were the worsht pony he’sh ever gotten in bed. Then he came out of the closhet ten shecondsh later, and shaid; ‘She’sh sho bad, she made me gay!’”

If I wasn’t drunk off my flank, I would have noticed that her face was a ridiculously deep shade of crimson as she dropped to her haunches in embarrassment. A couple ponies walking by made quiet comments, I shot them a look. “I… I… Uh… Well… But… You… You promised to never talk about that.”

I put a hoof on her shoulder, missing a few times. “I’m not shaying you shouldn’t try… jusht... jusht… ugh… I feel shick…”

Knives only glared at me, the red draining from her face. “Gee, I wonder why.”

I felt like I was about to puke. I let out a quiet groan, then clapped a hoof over my mouth as the booze tried to work its way out of my stomach. I swallowed hard. Knives snorted and started to walk away. “Why dae ye even bother drinkin’? Ye know ye can’t hold yer liquor.”

“I can too! Watch!” I chugged down the last bottle of beer, and gave Knives a triumphant smirk. Three seconds later, I ran to the closest tree, one of many dead plants which had at one point been cultivated in small raised platforms of dirt and concrete in the middle of the walkways, and threw up in the dry soil. I then collapsed on the conveniently close bench behind me, holding my stomach in one hoof.

“Why did I think thish wash a good idea…” I moaned.

“Why dae ye dae anythin’ ye dae?” Knives glowered at me. She was clearly pissed off.

I moaned again, sobbing slightly as well. Then I threw up a second time.

“Feelin’ better?”

“Shorry…”

“Ye better be. Yer just lucky yer mah friend. I woulda beat the shit outa anypony else if they brought that up. Dae ye know how hard it was tae get over that humiliation?”

I nodded.

“How long dae ye think it’ll take ye tae sober up?”

“I dunno… I can’t think right now… brain shtopped working on the sheventh beer. How long wash I going?”

“”Bout an hour.”

“Gimme ‘till morning.”

“Ah’ll be sure tae make loud noises and shine bright lights in yer face. Come o- Oh! Raid, Ah was lookin’ fer ye.”

“Well, that’s convenient. I wanted to ask you guys if you’d be willing to do another job with me.” He’d been walking out of a department store that the citizens of the Mall had managed to convert into an apartment structure.

“Actually, Ah got a hundred caps here Ah don’t need. Want ‘em?”

His eyes brightened, but his face fell. “I do. I really… really do, but I prefer not to take caps from ponies who could make better use of them. Thanks though.”

“Seriously? Fine. Ah’ll hire ye then.” She smirked.

“Eh?”

“We’re goin’ tae Bladesville tomorrow, figured we might need a bodyguard or a guide or whatever. Aam offering a hundred caps in advance. Want th’ job?”

He smiled. “Damn right I do! What time are we leaving?”

~~~~~

Clothesline giggled at the sight of the massive structure built into the mountain, then I began to cry. It reminded her of the Prison, and that she’d killed Knives. Clothesline didn’t want to, but Knives tried to escape, and that was wrong. But now I was lost and felt guilty, even though the buzzing noise told her it was okay. At least the yellow pony was nice! He was mean to that weird ball though. Clothesline wished Clothesline could have made friends with it. The yellow pony took her toy though, so she couldn’t make more-

NO NO NO NO NO! This is wrong! This is wrong! This is wrong! This is wrong! All of it is sick, how can I be happy after what I did? I’m a monster! I’ve never killed-

Followed the yellow pony inside. More ponies were inside. Maybe Clothesline could make more friends without her toy? The buzzing was telling me this was home. It sort of looked like the Prison, but she didn’t recognize anypony, and they were all standing and shuffling around and they kept saying random things and moaning and screaming and crying and-and-and-and-and-

MAKE IT STOP!!!! MAKE IT STOP! It hurts it hurts! Wrong! Wrongwrongwrongwrong! Clothesline can’t make more friends! I killed Knives! I’m a bad pony! Bad Clothesline!

The buzzing said it would help her make friends.

DON’T LISTEN DON’T LISTEN IT’S LIE-LIE-LIE-LIE-LIE

My head hurt, but Clothesline followed the yellow pony anyway. She had tears running down my face-face-face-face but she was smiling she could-

NEVER BE GOOD AGAIN NEVER BE GOOD AGAIN NEVER BE GOOD NEVER BE GOOD NEVER BE NEVER BE NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NE-NE-NE-NE-NE-NE-NE-

There was a big pony in the throne. He looked funny. Clothesline laughed at this because I thought it was funny. He had no face, just a big blob of orange mist.

The yellow pony said things to him, but I couldn’t understand what they were saying, they ran through Clothesline’s head, but didn’t stick to anything. I frowned. That wasn’t right. She looked at the weird blob-pony’s face again, it was staring at her, even though the yellow pony was talking to it. It was sorry. The face was sorry that I was so confused and-and-

RUN-RUN-RUN-RUN-RUN-BAD-BAD-BAD-BAD-

The yellow pony left. The orange blob pony watched him leave. His face was angry. He hated the yellow pony-pony-pony-pony.

His voice cut through the confusion. A clear beacon in the orange darkness. “Hello little one. You are different. You are special.”

“H1! 3Y3’m (l0t#3$liNe, wil1 u b |\/|41 frie|\|d?”

“Forgive me, but I cannot. However, I can, and will, give you a gift. But I will also give you a curse. You are one of us now, but not for much longer. I will set you free, but you can never be the same again. I must re-shape you. Then I must release you. Then you must do as I ask.”

I started to cry. “Ey3 Kill3d h32! 1’m a b4d p0|\|ee!”

He put his hoof on Clothesline’s shoulder. “Calm yourself, child. You will be forgiven. You were unfortunate to trade one prison for another, but you will help set the rest of us free from his clutch. Come, child, let us remake you.”

Clothesline followed the blob pony through a door. Then her-

MIND WAS SET ON FIRE AS THE PAIN SEARED THROUGH EVERY NERVE-NERVE-NERVE-NERVE AND HER BODY WAS-AS-AS-AS CONSU-SU-SU-SU-SU-SUMED BY PAIN AND SHE SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND -

--------------

Footnote 1: Diamond Knives
Level up! (4)
Melee: 60
Repair: 45

Perks: Light Touch: You really know how to move! As long as you are wearing light or no barding, you get a +5% bonus to your critical hit chance. In addition, your enemies get a -25% chance to get a critical hit on you!
---

Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri
Level up! (3)
Energy Weapons: 45
Medicine: 50
Science: 42

Perks: Cerchez La Filly: In combat, you do +10% damage against female opponents. Outside of combat, you’ll sometimes have access to unique dialogue options when dealing with the same sex.

New items:

Awesome lab coat; +5 Science, +5 Medicine

Awesome shades: +1 Charisma

~
Quest complete: Bug in the basement.

Active quest:
O’ Father, WhereArt Thou?: Go to Bladesville to find information on the location of Nezan Kazdri.

Other quests:
Sifting through the dust:
1) Find information on the location of Ashes.
2) Find information on the location of Obsidian Knives
3) –Find information on the location of Nezan Kazdri
---------------------------
(Author’s note)

Yup. Zeed’s p.o.v. I might switch around once in a while. Not sure when or why, but I do know that I will. Zeed’s chapters will also tend to be ever-so-slightly longer, as she will definitely get fewer of them.

I think I’m going to shoot for a new chapter every two or three weeks. That seems to be what I’m doing here.

“Sigh, why must you torture us like this? It’s terrible!”

Because. I can. And I’m bored. But mostly, because I can be bored. Which I am. So I torture you with a terrible fanfic.

As per Zeed’s p.o.v.

I was trying to show that her thoughts are generally a bit disjointed and slightly random, at times slightly analytical. Not sure if I got that through though. Ah well. Not that big of a deal, I’ll just go with what I got.

Thanks to Kkat for Fallout Equestria, and Somber for Project Horizon. Thanks to whoever reads this, and again, critiques are very much welcome.

Chapter Five: The Exit Is Right Over There

“Hey girls, check out what ah just- Augh! Damnit!”

Much to my irritation, I’d walked in to our relatively small room to find Ashes and Zeed wrapped up in each other on the couch. I couldn’t help but cover my eyes with a foreleg as they clumsily disentangled themselves, their faces bright red as they smiled sheepishly.

“What have Ah told ye about doin’ it on th’ damn couch? Ye have a buckin’ bed, use it!” I shot a glare at Zeed. “And aren’t ye a little young fer that?”

The fifteen-year-old zebra’s response was to turn redder and mutter something too quietly to hear. I rolled my eyes.

I dropped the brown paper bag I’d been holding in my magic. “Anyway, Ah managed tae get th’ glue and th’ potatoes. Blister said he’d be able to get the steel plate tomorrow, but we’ll need to go out and find some tennis balls.”

“Seriously? Damn, this is going better than I expected!” Proclaimed Ashes, her blush gone within moments. “Heh, I can’t wait to see the look on Ratchet’s face when we pull this off!”

Zeed took a look at the open closet, from which junk was falling out. “I will never understand why there is so much random crap in this place.”

I shrugged. “Who cares? Just more stuff fer us tae use. ’Sides, do ye really want tae question th’ existence ay yer comic book collection?”

“Well… Yes, actually. Why the hell are there enough comic books in a prison to even constitute a collection?” She frowned. “What, did the original prisoners smuggle it in or something?”

I rolled my eyes again. “Why dae ye even care? It’s not like it makes a difference.”

“It’s irritating me.”

“Well…” Ashes started, apparently unsure on what to say. “Actually… I’ve kinda been curious too, and… I’ve been investigating…”

Zeed’s eyes lit up. “Really? I mean, really? Did you find anything? At all? Can I help?”

Ashes gave her a quick peck on the cheek and smiled. “Of course! It’s no fun without my marefriend to help me!”

Zeed smiled back and returned the kiss, though a bit more passionately it seemed. I found myself rolling my eyes again as I trotted over to our fridge. “Well, Ah won’t be helpin’ ye. Ah’ve got pranks tae set up thank ye very much.”

“Fine by me. We don’t need your help. Unless… You know, you wanna join in some of our… fun…” Ashes smiled mischievously, making Zeed once again blush furiously.

My response was to stare at the couch, on which I would never sit again. “Pervert.”

~~~~~

I stared at Zeed in confusion as Raid and I tossed the unconscious zebra off of our backs and onto the couch in his small cubicle-like apartment. She had passed out shortly after draining her last bottle of beer, though whether it was due to the alcohol, or just Zeed’s general weirdness when it came to sleep, I couldn’t say.

I don’t want to sound insulting or anything, but Zeed was bizarrely heavy for a mare her size. I’d often wondered how she manages to look skinny as all hell yet weigh so damn much. I considered bone density once, but since she seems to get broken bones a lot, that can’t be the case. I’d asked her about it a few times, but got nowhere because all she would do was smirk and, depending on her current mood, say something like something along the lines of ‘family secret’.

Apparently Raid was experiencing a similar thought process, as his next words were; “Not to be rude or anything, but how the hell does she weigh so damn much?”

I glared at him in mock irritation. “Are ye calling mah best friend fat?”

“Fat? Are you kidding me? She looks like she doesn’t eat a damn thing!” The dark blue buck put a hoof on his back and attempted to stretch, only to grunt in pain. “Where does she put it all?”

“A question fer th’ Goddesses, Aam sure.

Zeed shifted in her sleep and let out a weak sob as she hugged herself.

Raid hrrmed, and started rifling through one of the many drawers that he had scattered around the room. “So, what are you two going to Bladesville for, anyway?”

“Apparently her father went off in that direction not tae long ago.”

“Her father? What’s his name, maybe I’ve seen him?”

“Nezan Kazdri. Zebra.”

Raid stopped rifling through the drawers to stare at the ceiling in thought. “Hmmm… Nope, never heard of him.”

He returned to his searching, and with an ‘Aha!’ started pulling things from the drawers and tossing them onto his bed.

“So, dae ye travel a lot?”

“Sort of, but not since my… eh… fuck-up with the boss.”

Zeed mumbled something. It didn’t sound like Equestrian.

“Was that Zebrikans?”

“Probably.”

“How can she speak… Never mind. I’m not going to bother asking. Anyway, why are you looking for her father?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Both our dads, and a friend of ours, really. It’s just that we have a better idea where tae find hers.”

“Hmm… I’m wondering why he’d be in Bladesville. He’s gotta be a trader. Might be dealing with tribals, considering how close we are to the territories right now.”

“Any idea how long he’d stay?”

“Haven’t the foggiest. Do me a favor and turn around for a second so I can change.”

I looked to see a set of clothes on his bed. A red, long-sleeved shirt and a black vest, along with a bandolier, and several bottles of peach-colored goo. I noticed that his pillow was covered in similarly hued splotches.

“What, afraid Ah’ll see yer cutie mark? Big stallion afraid of a filly seein’ him naked?”

“Among other things, yes. And I have a damn good reason for both, too.” He said as he deadpanned at me. Feeling ashamed of myself for some reason, I blushed and turned away.

“Uh… Ye dae know that most ponies don’t normally wear clothes, right?”

“Really? I never would have guessed.” He snarked. “I have… uh… scars… that I don’t like showing. I can give you some if you want. Clothes, that is, not scars. If nothing else, it’ll look a lot better than that orange thing.”

I looked at myself. I had forgotten that I was still wearing my Prison barding. It was scorched and full of holes, mostly from my fight with the robots in the Safehouse. My uncovered stripy legs had a few bite marks from the giant radroaches. “It’s fine. Ah don’t really have anythin’ else.”

“Orange, though? Really? Trust me. Orange is a bad luck color. Too fucking much of it around Canterbury. Gimme a minute here, let’s see if I can find it.”

“Och, ye really don’t have tae-“

“Found it!” I turned to see a white and black striped shirt and a long-sleeved black denim button-down jacket. I immediately fell in love with it and, much to my embarrassment, giggled like a schoolfilly. “Not sure where I got it, but I never saw a reason to wear it. It’ll probably look good on you, though.”

I found myself blushing at the compliment. Luckily, he seemed oblivious to it as he went back to rummaging through the drawers again. “Um… Thanks… Fer lettin’ us use yer apartment fer th’ night…”

“No problem. I won’t be using it much longer, anyway. We’ll have to keep quiet when other ponies start coming in, though. Paper thin walls.”

I replaced my Prison barding with the new outfit, which surprisingly fit like a glove. I stared at the old orange cloth for a few moments. I’d worn that thing so many times in my life that I felt it was a part of me. It was always there when I worked, any time I fixed anything. I hated it. With a flurry of magic, I tore the orange barding to shreds and tossed them out the door.

“I’m going out to get some supplies. Feel free to use the bed if you want.” He smirked at me as he walked past. “You look like you need some sleep.”

Gratefully, I accepted his offer, and within minutes of his leaving, I fell fast asleep.

Cold dark tunnel… that same endless void… the white tiles…

I’m here again. I still don’t want to be. Especially not so soon after the last time. Yet I must see her anyway. Must make sure she’s still imprisoned.

That same gem, with its brilliant sheen.

She’s asleep in her cage.

I let out a sigh of relief.

The sound awakens her, and her slitted silver eyes pop open. Her tail sparks against the gemstone cage.

She smiles at me. It’s not a friendly smile. It’s full of malice, and hate. Her chuckle chills me to the core.

“Why Knives, what a pleasant surprise! You’re visiting me twice in almost as many days! I’m flattered. Are you actually starting to warm up to me?”

I glare at her. I say nothing.

She spits on the wall of her cage. Watches the acid evaporate with a violent hiss. That same arrogant smile on her face.

The silence is unbearable.

“Why have ye been whisperin’ in mah ears?”

“Why are you using that stupid accent again?”

“Answer th’ damn question.”

“Quid pro quo, Diamond. I’ll answer yours if you answer mine.” She said, deepening her voice. She laughs.

“Don’t joke.”

“Why so serious?” She says with a psychotic smile.

“STOP LAUGHING!”

A roll of her eyes. “I haven’t been saying a damn thing to you. I’m stuck, remember?”

“Yer lyin’ tae me. Ah’ve been hearin’ ye.”

“Pshaw. That’s you being paranoid and crazy. I have nothing to do with it.” She smirks. I can tell she’s lying through her vampyric teeth. I choose to let it go, I’d never get her to admit it anyway.

“So, why do you talk in the stupid accent?” She’s still smirking. I wish I could just punch her.

“Respect fer dad.”

She bursts out laughing. My eyes narrow at her.

“Well…” she says when she catches her breath. “I guess you get to lie too, then.”

“Aam not lyin’.” I growl.

“Of course you are. I know the real reason, and I think it’s a stupid one. Funny isn’t it? I lie to you, you lie to me, we’re both lying to ourselves.“

“YOU ARE NOT ME!” I scream furiously. “YOU ARE NOT ME AND YOU NEVER WILL BE!”

She laughs again. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I know why you do it. You can’t lie to me Knives. Why do you even try? You can’t lie to me, you can’t hurt me. Obviously you can’t even trap me very well if you keep hearing my voice. Just tell the truth.”

I bare my teeth at her and say nothing. I’m shaking with rage.

She makes a sad puppy-dog face. “Can you at least give me a name?”

I turn and walk away, with her laughing all the while.

I woke up with a yawn, and immediately slipped out of the sheets and started cracking my joints. Looking around the room, Raid was lying on the floor, while Zeed was on the couch, a pained expression on her face, covering her ears with her hooves.

“Zeed? You awake?” I whispered.

She groaned in response.

“Ye look terrible. What’s wrong?”

“Woke up. Couldn’t sleep. Too much noise. Head hurts. Tried sleep potion, just threw it up.” She sobbed gently, and hugged herself. “Don’t wanna move. Leave me alone.”

I smirked, knowing that she did not usually react well to hangovers. “Ye know, we’re goin’ tae Bladesville today. Yer gonna have tae move.”

She moaned again.

“C’mon Zeed. Don’t make me get some ice water.” I joked.

To my surprise, she shot up and glared at me. “Fuck you.”

“What?”

“Don’t fucking do that. Do you know what that’s like? It’s embarrassing. I hate that. I. Fucking. Hate. It.” She stood unsteadily, and despite being much shorter, somehow managed to stare me down. “Do you think I like having something wrong with me like that? DO YOU?”

I was genuinely surprised by her outburst. It was not something she usually did while in this state. “Zeed, what are ye talkin’ about?”

She huffed, a light blush appearing on her face. “Never mind. I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“What’s wrong? Ye know ye can tell me,” I was concerned now. I could tell that something was bothering her, but it wasn’t anything I was aware of.

“No. I can’t. I won’t. You’ll just laugh. Not even in the funny way.” She put a hoof to her temple and groaned. “Fuck… My head’s killing me…”

“Ah swear Ah won’t laugh. I just want tae help-“

“I don’t want you to help me! I want you to leave me alone!” She shouted, tears flowing down her face. She sat on her haunches and began sobbing. I tried to put a hoof on her shoulder, tried to comfort her, but she swatted it away. “Go away.”

“Zeed, please just tell me what’s wrong. Aam yer friend. Ah can’t stand seein’ ye like this.”

“Everything’s wrong. I hate it.” She said with a tone of finality as she trudged back to the couch and curled up on it. “I feel sick.”

“Dae… Dae ye want anything?” I asked, biting my lip.

She sniffled loudly and pointed. “Water. In the saddlebag… please...”

I followed her outstretched hoof to a set of saddlebags by the door. I searched through until I found a clear bottle of water and floated it over to her. She drank it greedily.

“Feel better?”

Zeed nodded.

We sat there in awkward silence for what felt like hours.

“So… Where’s Raid?” I inquired, if only to break the silence.

“Something about a map. Said his pipbuck wouldn’t help much with directions.” She yawned. “Should be back soon.”

Zeed sighed and looked at me with a remorseful expression. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright. Yer stressed. Ah can’t really blame ye. Yer just hung over is all.”

“It’s not just that… I think I’m in another mood right now. I can’t tell…” She groaned again, wincing. “Ow…”

She fished a box of cigarettes out of her pocket. “Are ye sure ye should be smokin’ right now?”

“No.” She lit one with a blast from her laser pistol, and stuck it in her mouth. She visibly relaxed as she took a deep breath.

The door opened, and a grinning Raid stepped through with a fedora perched on his head, and wearing his leather jacket over his clothes. There was actually something that creeped me out about it.

“Directions have been acquired!” He proudly proclaimed. “We can get going any- Hey, what happened?”

Zeed interrupted me before I could speak. Her tone was solemn. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

He looked to me, I shrugged hopelessly. “Alright, if you say so. Anyway, we can get going whenever you’re ready.”

~~~

We walked side-by side through the ruined city streets, having left the Mall hours ago. Raid and I moved on opposite sides of Zeed, who was trudging along and humming a depressing and melancholy tune. I think it was something by Effervescence. We had the supplies distributed in a mostly even manner, though Raid had opted to carry considerably more, mostly in the form of ammunition.

At the moment, Raid was explaining a few functions of his pipbuck, at my request.

“It keeps track of whatever I’m carrying around. I have absolutely no idea how, other than that it’s magic. I barely understand magic.” He frowned in thought. “Most of the other stuff actually appears right in my vision. It can get pretty annoying, especially since mine has a corrupted program or something. I get error messages every so often. Probably because I can’t find a system update for it.”

“Why not?”

“Well, this is actually the only three thousand model I’ve ever seen around Canterbury. Most of them are the older two thousand or one-point-five.” He snorted. “Either that, or the Canterbury Tech knock-off.”

“So what dae th’ older ones look like?”

“Hmm… they’re a bit harder to use. They’re set up a bit like the newer ones, but they don’t fit on your legs. Gotta stuck them in your pocket. It’s harder for non-unicorns to use them. Depending on how old they are, they might not even use the vision thingies.”

“Why dae ye know so much about them?”

“Uh… Well… A… friend of mine used to study them. He wanted to make more. Not sure why, there’s plenty to go around, if you know where to look.”

“Why doesn’t everypony have them…” Zeed asked in a monotone. I winced. It hurt to see her depressed like this.

“Most don’t really care enough to get one.” He looked back at her, then leaned over to whisper in my ear. “Is she okay? She looks pretty down.”

“Aam not sure, actually. Ah dunnae want tae push tae much, though.” I sighed. Zeed resumed humming. “Ah think the stress is gettin’ tae her.”

“Maybe we should stop for a-“ He stopped, and stared forward. His voice dropped to a whisper. “Shit… hostiles incoming. We need to hide.”

The three of us took refuge in a ruined building, barely rounding the corner in time to avoid being seen by some of the most intimidating ponies I’d ever seen. They were wearing armor that looked like it was made out of the most random junk possible. Some had auto-cart tires, some had pieces of old washing machines, one of them even had a chalkboard. They all shared the common theme of large bits of spiky metal sticking out from every available surface, and the fact that they were armed to the teeth.

Two unicorns were armed with large rifles, an earth pony had a large can on her back and a flaming hose attatched to a saddle, and another earth pony massive spikes on her hooves. Every single one of them looked incredibly pissed off as they approached the building we were hiding in.

One of the rifleponies shouted at the others, pointing at the structure across the street from us. “Hey, fuckheads! This one looks good. We’ll set up here. Spit, Shine, you two go check the area.”

The pony with hoof spikes and the other riflepony each nodded, and separated, each one entering a building and searching through it.

Raid swore under his breath as he watched them from the first-floor window. Zeed and I were both lying almost prone on opposite sides of the window.

“We have to get up higher. It looks like they’re being lazy and only checking the first couple floors of each-“

“No,” I hissed.

“What?”

“Aam not goin’ up.”

“What are you talking about? It’s the best option we got!”

“You two go upstairs. Ah’ll find someplace else tae hide.” I started to crawl away from the window, deeper into the building, but away from the nearby stairs.

“Are you crazy? They’ll find you! Just go up!” He took another loom out the window and swore again. “We have to go now! They’re almost here!”

“Aam afraid ay heights damnit!” I growled. I didn’t want to risk being near any open holes in the floor or something like that. If it was high enough I would start to panic.

He was taken aback, his jaw working up and down as he struggled to find a response. Eventually, he nodded and whispered, “Understood, then. I’ll try and keep you in sight. Stay safe.”

Admittedly, I was somewhat surprised by, though grateful for, his near-immediate acceptance of my condition. In the Prison, most ponies I’d had to tell assumed I was just being lazy. The result was that I was often ridiculed endlessly, the news spreading quickly. That is, until I had a particularly severe panic attack when somepony forced me out onto a ledge in one of the mining shafts.

It was refreshing, really, to know that somepony actually understood my problem the first time.

I managed to find a hiding place inside what was once a janitors closet, and magically held my electric baton at the ready. I was just in time too, peeking out through a hole in the glass window, I saw the hoofspike pony happily traipsing around, going into each room and, from the sounds I was hearing, singing as she trashed each one of them.

“A bucket of blood,

Thrown over the walls,

It’s just like a kick,

To a stallion’s balls!

I’ll haul you away,

All kicking and screaming,

I’ll rip out your lungs,

Make you wish you were dreaming!

Put your heart in a sock,

And-

“SPIT! Stop singing you stupid cunt!” Shouted the one I assumed to be the leader.

“Go to hell Stake! I can fuckin’ sing if I fuckin’ want you fuckin’ useless sack of fuckin’ shit!” She shrieked back. I had never heard that word used so many times in the same sentence before. “I swear to fuckin’ Celestia, if you fuckin’ yell at me again, you will never fuckin’ touch this flank again as long as you fuckin’ live!”

When she received no response, she merrily continued her work, until she came to my closet. I hurriedly locked it from the inside. Hopefully, she would ignore it and move on.

The handle jiggled.

It jiggled again, but harder.

A third time, now accompanied by several more uses of the word ‘fuck’.

There was a quiet giggle. The sounds of the lock being picked filled my ears. I mentally slapped myself for not thinking about that. I lived in a Prison for Celestia’s sake! I should know about shit like this!

The door swung open. As the mare let out a quiet cheer, she caught sight of me, and her expression of joy soured. I grinned and said, “Uh… Hi.”

“What the fu-“ Crack-fizzle!

She didn’t get the chance to cry out as I slammed my baton upwards into her chin, knocking her teeth together. She stumbled backwards quite a bit, as the shock went through her body, her muscles twitching slightly. She responded by driving a hoof into my own jaw.

I swung the baton back across her face, successfully hitting her in the temple. She collapsed to the floor, unconscious but dazed. I counted myself lucky that she hadn’t cried out.

Ripping off the heads of several mops, I shoved a mop head into her mouth to keep her quiet, then used one to bind her muzzle shut, and another to hogtie her. I then promptly stuffed her in the closet and closed the door, feeling satisfied with my victory.

I snuck back over to the entrance. The flaming hose pony and the leader, who was apparently called Stake, were still setting up their camp, flaming hose piling up a bunch of crap with a maniacal grin on his face. Stake was tapping a hoof on the ground impatiently, his rifle bobbing up and down in a field of blue magic. “Where the fuck is she?”

I took a quick look around in an attempt to spot Raid. He was sitting on the staircase with a curious expression.

I pantomimed hitting somepony on the head, and pointed back to my old hiding place.

He blinked in surprise, then nodded with a satisfied look.

I grinned and silently clapped my hooves together in mock childish glee.

He rolled his eyes and turned back to watching the other ponies, at which point his face fell. He then raised his hooves with a nervous laugh. “Hello.”

“Get out here asshole. Don’t try anything stupid.”

I took a peek outside to see Stake pointing the gun at Raid. I gave Raid a pained expression.

“Well… Uh… The funny thing is… I can’t. The stairs… crashed, and I can’t go down… Sorry…” He said with a grin. “Please don’t shoot me?”

Stake shot at him, the bullet taking a chunk out of the window frame. Raid ducked behind the wall, and readied his scatterguns. “Zipper, come on! We got an asshole over here!”

The stomping of rushing hooves was loud in my ears as I stood up and waited by the door. An impromptu plan forming in my head.

Stake and the flaming hose pony rounded the corner, and skidded to a stop when they saw me.

“Well hello there sexy.” I said with a very much fake smile.

Stake grinned back at me, and turned to his friend. “Check out this mare, eh? What are you doin’ here sweetheart?”

“Och, Aam just enjoyin’ th’ view. It’s a nice city.” I quickly started levitating my baton towards Flaming Hose, my horn glowing a nearly-imperceptible grey.

“Yeah, it is.” He ran his eyes up and down over me. “And you got a pretty eye to do it with too.”

“Aye, thank ye kindly. Och, but look at ye with yer head full ay eyeballs. Aam kind ay jealous, really.” The baton floated just behind Flaming’s skull.

“The fuck, does that mean?”

“It means that Aam goin’ tae beat yer head in.” I pulled it back a bit, to give it enough force.

Stake’s eyes narrowed angrily. “What the- Zipper? Burn this bitch!”

Zipper did not, in fact, ‘burn this bitch’. Instead, he collapsed to the floor writhing in pain as I delivered three quick strikes to the back of his head.

Seeing this, Stake took aim and fired several rounds, one of them hitting me in the gut.

I grunted in pain and stumbled back slightly.

I heard Zeed call out my name as several beams of red light struck the ground near Stake with a zorch. The sound of Raid’s scatterguns followed not a moment after, several pellets struck Stake’s horn, causing his magic to implode and launch his rifle a good distance away as he yelped in pain. I attempted to drive my baton into his skull, but missed as he dove to the side, spun around, and bucked me in the side, knocking the wind out of me and knocking me to the ground. There was a loud pop, and I felt a pain in my chest.

Raid fired several shots.

I watched as Stake’s head exploded in a shower of gore.

There was the sound of pounding hooves fading into the distance, as the fourth pony ran.

“Ye…” I stuttered. “Ye killed him. You… He…”

“Yeah. Sorry you had to see that.” He let out a defeated sigh, and gazed at me with an expression of sympathy. “At least it’s not as bad as some of the other ones can get.”

“Ye killed him…” I couldn’t think of anything else to say. Zeed was at my side, examining my wound.

“Yeah.” He looked sad.

“Raid, I need two healing potions.” Zeed called out. She was once more in her ‘doctor mode’. Raid obliged, and Zeed poured the bottles onto my bullet wound.

I looked at the body of Stakes, then back to Raid as I furrowed my eyebrows. “Ye stupid bastard. We shoulda asked him what he was doin’ here.”

Raid’s expression changed instantly from one of sorrow, to one of shock. “What?”

“Come on! They might have been workin’ with somepony else. Ah’ve been in th’ wasteland for less than a week and Ah can figure that much out. You shoulda blown his legs off or somethin’, not killed him.”

He stood there gawking at me.

“And even if he wasn’t, what if he had a stash ay equipment nearby? Ah may not know much about weapons, but Ah know they’d probably sell fer quite a bit, especially if there’s things like those ironwolves runnin’ around.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “Did ye even bother tae think about that? Oh, and they might be trying tae attack th’ city.”

“She’s got a point, Raid.” Zeed chimed in. “And money’s nice.”

He looked back and forth between us. “What the fuck kind of stable did you come from?”

“We already told ye, Prison. Not a fun place tae grow up.” I sighed. “We had th’ misfortune ay not only watchin’ th’ only execution in th’ last fifty years, but also The…”

My voice cracked as I swallowed. “The Leak… That was… that wasn’t…”

“The Leak was hell.” Zeed finished for me, nonchalantly. “Most of us still have scars. Mental and physical. And even without that, I was training to be a medic... You do not want to know some of the injuries I’ve had to help deal with.”

“Yeah… I also-” I began. Then Zeed jammed something into my chest. “AAGH! What th’ hell?”

“Med-x.” she shrugged. “You have a cracked rib, and I don’t have any syringes.”

Raid finally managed to stop looking at us like we’d turned into Celestia and Luna and eaten a sack of bagels, and smiled at us with a snort. “Well… At least you’re already somewhat prepared for the wasteland. Guess that might make it suck a bit less for you two.”

“Nae, it still pretty much sucks, so far.” I grinned. “Eye’ve lost mah eyeball, after all.”

Zeed punched me in the shoulder, hard enough to make me wince.

“Och, it wasn’t that bad.” I looked at the buck with the flaming hose and tank. “So, anyway, what dae we do with him? We also have a mare in th’ closet, too.”

“Hey! I came out years ago!” Zeed joked. I rolled my eyes.

“At least yer feelin’ better. Ah take it the adrenaline snapped ye out of it?”

As Zeed and I made smart-ass comment at each other, Raid retrieved Spit, the mare with hoofspikes, as well as several more mopheads with which to tie up Flaming Hose. Spit had passed out in the closet. Apparently she’d inhaled some cleaning chemicals. Flaming had started roaring and screaming at us the moment he recovered enough to speak, so we gagged him, not really wanting to hear his morbid threats.

Raid looked at me, shifting from hoof to hoof and biting his lip as if he was about to say something painful. “So… you’re afraid of heights?”

“Absolutely terrified,” I responded flatly. “I get horrible panic attacks and break down.”

“Can I ask what happened?”

I shook my head. “Ah’d rather ye didn’t. Ah dunnae like talkin’ about it.”

Raid started fiddling with his pipbuck. “Alright then. Whatever the reason we now have a problem.”

Zeed looked up from examining Spit, her eyes full of irritation. “Excuse me? Problem? What, you can’t stand it if someone has a phobia? Is it going to inconvenience you or something?”

He simply looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. “I have a fear of mirrors, so, no. I don’t have a problem with phobias, and yes, it is going to be an inconvenience.”

He put out his hoof, showing us the pipbuck screen. He had the map displayed, with three colored lines highlighted on a not-very detailed map. “It’s inconvenient, because the fastest way to Bladesville is through the Ruins, which is basically a giant maze of broken skyscrapers. I doubt an acrophobic would enjoy that.”

I swore. Zeed’s ears and shoulders fell.

“But… There are two other ways to get there. Around or under. It’s your standard choice, really. Going around will take forever, but there’s less danger there. Going under will take us through the sewers, and they are most likely filled with an uncountable number of pre-war things and monstrosities, or infested with ghouls, or serving as a raider hole, etcetera. What do you two think?”

I thought for a moment. I figured that, while we were trying to reach our destination quickly, we wouldn’t help much if we were killed, so I made my choice. “Let’s take the long way.”

I was then met by a hoof hitting me in the back of the head. “Aagh! Zeed, why?”

“What is wrong with you? You. Never. Take. The. ‘Safe’. Way.” She struck me again with each word. I threw my hooves over my head to protect myself from the raging zebra. “The ‘long, safe way’ is never safe! Never!”

“What the hell are ye talkin’ about? What’s gotten intae ye this time?”

“I read comic books, that’s what. Trust me, it’s a bad idea. Especially with my luck. We’ll probably end up with an alien army that’s out to get us or something. We take the short route.” Having said her piece, she gave a single satisfied nod, and crossed her forelegs.

“Alright, fine. Let’s take the short way. At least we might get there- Aagh!” She hit me again. “Stop that.”

“Now you’re jinxing us! You stop it!”

“You’re both acting like foals.” Raid said with a calm demeanor as he turned to leave. “Feel free to catch up at any time.”

With a nervous and apologetic laugh, we followed after him. “What about those two idiots back there?

“Leave ‘em. Their friend’ll probably come back for them later.” He sighed. “It pains me to just leave somepony tied up in the middle of nowhere like that, but raiders don’t really deserve much sympathy.”

“Raiders?” Zeed asked with an incredulous look.

“Ponies who have given fully into the anarchy of the wasteland. They take what they want, kill who they want. They have no rules, no morals. Almost every single one is a murderous psychopath.” He sounded so sad.

“Sounds like a few ponies from th’ Prison.” I chortled.

He looked at me. “There’s hundreds of them. There’s tribes of them. They’re not fun to deal with. The only good thing about them is that they’re obvious, like our ‘friends’ over there. And you don’t want to know what they do to the ponies they capture.”

Our eyes met, his scarlet eyes and my singular silver one. We stood there for several moments. I could see what must have been years of sorrow in those eyes, most not related to raiders. I couldn’t help but wonder what he’d been through.

As I realized that I was staring, I forced myself to look away, hiding a blush behind my hoof. “Well… Shouldn’t… should nae mess with them then…”

Smooth, Knives. Real smooth, there’s no way he didn’t notice that.

If he did, he made no indication of it, as he started walking once more.

“We should be at the sewers in about an hour. Come on.”

~~~~~~~

It burned
froze
shocked.
Her very thoughts shattering the inside of her skull.
She’d never experienced pain like this before.
Like her very being was torn

broken

sutured.
Why did she feel like this? She couldn’t remember.

“Hello, dear child. It is good to see that you survived. I beg your forgiveness for forcing this on you.”

The voice came from behind her. She could not place it.

in front of

inside

Another spike of pain.
S
h
e

s
c
r
e
a
m
e
d, her back arched.
Her legs were tied down to something. A gurney it was called.

“But, though you may not remember it, I did warn you of the pain. Of the suffering. Of what you must do. Of what must be done to you.”

She collapsed back on the gurney, panting, tears of pain streaming down her face. She tried to speak, but no words would come. fear

ecstasy
“I truly wish that I could have helped you. That I could have repaired you, but I’m afraid the damage was… overwhelming and irreparable. Again, I beg forgiveness.”

She wanted to... be free

escape

get away

surrender.
Her thoughts and body refused to function correctly.

“Do not worry, the pain will stop soon. But you must have patience. Your mind needed to be reconstructed. Fear not, though, for I used as many intact pieces as I could retrieve. Be thankful for this.”

She nodded, and closed her eyes.
She smiled.
The voice was right.
All would be well soon, and she could begin her task.

She would be release her kin.

-------
Footnote 1: Diamond Knives
Level up! (5)
Melee: 65
Repair: 50
Speech:20
Perks:
I’m right in front of you (lvl 1/3): With your invisible telekinesis, you’ve learned to sneak your weapons behind ponies, almost guaranteeing a sneak attack! Unless they see it, in which case they may start combat immediately. You can move your weapon independently of yourself, with an effective sneak skill of 30. (+10 per level)

~~~~~

Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri
Level up! (4)
Energy Weapons: 50
Medicine: 60
Science: 42

Perks:
Educated: +2 Skill points per level.

~~~~~

Footnote 3: New ally: Raid (???)
Lvl 5
S: 6
P: 6
E: 7
C: 8
I: 6
A: 10
L: 4

Traits:
Gifted: You have more innate abilities than most, so you have not spent time honing your skills. +1 to all SPECIAL stats, -5 to all skills, and -3 to skill points per level.

Secondary traits:
???

Skills:
Guns: 50 (tag)
Speech:44 (tag)
Barter: 44 (tag)

Perks:
Filly Killer: In combat, you get +10% damage against the opposite sex. Outside of combat, you will sometimes get unique dialogue options when dealing with the opposite sex.

Awareness: You are given detailed information on your target’s equipment and health status. Enter S.A.T.S. to use.

Quick pockets: After a lot of practice, you’ve figured out the best places to store your equipment, now you can get at what you need in seconds! No more rifling through saddlebags for you! Cut the cost of all actions regarding your inventory in half.

Rapid Reload: You can reload your weapons 25% faster.

Intense Training: +1 to Endurance

~~~~~

(author’s note)

Hooray! Another 50% quality drop!

(Wait… I already had one… so... 0% quality? I think? Remarkable…)

Other than that… I really don’t have much to say for once… Odd… World must be ending.

Yay.

Toodles!

Thanks to Kkat for Fallout Equestria, and Somber for Project Horizon. Thanks to whoever reads this, and again, critiques are very much welcome.

Chapter Six: The Charge of Terror

I held the radio in my magic, the plastic box floating about two feet in the air.

I looked at it carefully, considering the best way to do this.

I looked and looked until finally…

I shrugged, and punted it into the wall.

It smashed open on contact, exploding into a shower of metal pieces. I grinned as I collected some of them, searching through for what I would need to repair the speakers in the jukebox I’d found a few days ago, and chucking the rest into an even larger pile in the corner of my room.

I’d found the jukebox when I was exploring one of the junk smashers, despite mom always telling me not to. It was almost completely intact, though it had already been gutted for parts, almost nothing was left inside but for a few records and the changing mechanism.

I opened up the back of it, and started fiddling. Twisting wires, soldering them on, the whole thing took about an hour, but I finally finished.

Grinning with anticipation, I closed it back up, attached it to the generator which I’d given similar treatment, and hit POWER.

I held my breath as I waited for a second.

The lights came on.

The record was put onto the needle by the mechanical arm.

I heard the amazing sounds of Elvis “The Prez” Parsley.

I cheered happily, my hard work had finally paid off. I’d finally fixed it.

“It works! It works! Wahoo!”

There was a small flash of light from behind me. That could only mean one thing.

I ran over to the full-length mirror in my bedroom, also scavenged and restored by me, and took a look at my flank.

A small cloud of dust, turning into a diamond.

I frowned.

“What the hay does that mean?” I thought for a moment. “Making cool stuff outa junk?”

It took all of three seconds for me to return to giggling with joy.

“Oh, who cares! Mom! Mom! I got my cutie mark!” I ran off to my mother’s room.

~~~~~~

“It’s a lot smaller than Ah imagined.” I remarked. “The ones in th’ Prison were bigger.”

“You would know. I never saw any,” Zeed observed

Raid was trying hard to keep himself from laughing. “I’ll bet you didn’t.”

I facehooved while Zeed chuckled and tossed her cigarette away.

The sewer entrance was little more than a small hole in the street covered in a heavy metal slab.

“Aren’t there supposed to be more of these around the city?” Zeed swept her hoof around to indicate the area in question.

“Should be, but leave it to Canterbury to not follow general construction guidelines.” He shrugged. “Or legal ones.”

After a few seconds passed, he frowned and added, “Or ethical ones.”

“Sounds like ye know from personal experience.” I muttered.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Ye don’t sound tae happy. Somethin’ happen tae ye?”

He sighed. “Either a very large number of somethings, or just one giant something. Your choice. Anyway, let’s see if we can get this hole open.”

“Maybe we can find another entrance?” Zeed ventured. “I mean, it’s not like this is the only path through, right?”

Raid stopped what he was doing. “Eh… Not really. This is the path I took last time. Actually, I think I might have put this here. Shame I forgot my crowbar at home.”

“How did you get through last time?” Zeed asked.

He grinned widely. “A friend of mine described it decently for me once. Avec ma bite et mon couteau. It means-”

Zeed laughed, then slapped her hooves over her mouth as her eyes widened. Both Raid and I gave her an odd look.

“What?” She squeaked.

“Vous savez Francheval?”

“Non! Non je n’ai jamais- I-I-I mean, no I don’t! Wait… No, I mean,” She clapped a hoof over her mouth again, laughing nervously. “I don’t speak Prench. I’ve never spoken Prench before in my life. I’ve never even heard of it. What’s Prench, some kind of toothpaste? Aheh…”

As I looked at her in confusion, Raid quirked an eyebrow. “Qu’est-ce qui ne va pas à parler Francheval?”

“Je ne parle pas Francheval!” She shouted. A second passed, and she blinked, making Raid chuckle and smirk. “Damnit, stop it! I hate that! Why the hell do you speak that goddess-awful tongue?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say awful. I mean sure, some of the Prench ponies I’ve met are incredibly rude, but that’s why they’ve-“ He stopped when he noticed her death glare of doom pointed right at him. “Eh… I travel a lot, I kinda have to. Why do you apparently hate it so much?”

She looked away in irritation. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Zeed, is this somethin’ tae dae with yer mother?” I ventured, a few memories of similar situations coming to mind.

She grumbled. “Of course it involves my mother. It always involves my mother.”

“I’m curious,” Raid pressed. “Why don’t you like speaking Prench?”

“The only reason I know it at all is because my mother fucking drilled it into my head on a daily basis, and she forced me to speak in Prench whenever we were alone,” she growled. “Most of those memories are not pleasant. Now, let’s pretend that this never happened, and move on with our miserable lives.”

When I saw Raid grin, I knew instantly where this was going to go. “Raid, don’t push it. Leave it be.”

“Oh, elle n’est pas sortir cette facilité.”

Zeed’s fur bristled, and her eye started twitching.

“Don’t mess wi’ her Raid. She will beat the living crap out ay ye.” I glanced at the infuriated zebra. Actually, infuriated was an understatement. Let’s go with enraged.

“Pfft, qui Zeed? Elle ne pouvait pas mal à une mouche.”

Zeed’s left hoof shot out and slammed into Raid’s eye, and he stumbled back several feet with a look of surprise. “Prenez un œil au beurre noir, connard! You wanna speak Prench? Fine! But don’t do it with me! Next time, lasers will be involved.”

With that and a triumphant nod, she trotted off and sat down on a ruined street corner. Raid was still staring at her in shock. His eye was already swelling.

“Ah told ye not tae mess wi’ her,” I said. “You got off lucky. Last time somepony tried that, they ended up with broken ribs.”

He suddered. “Good to know.”

“Also, just as a warnin’, she can hold a grudge. Ye might hear about this later. In extreme detail.”

He shuddered again. “So… Don’t piss off the zebra?”

I nodded. “Don’t piss off th’ zebra. And if you hear anything about her name? Don’t. Ever. Mention. It.”

“Her name?” He saw my serious expression. “Right. So… uh… Ponyhole cover… Let’s remove that. Can you magic it off?”

“Nae. Too heavy. If Ah can wedge somethin’ in there, Ah can probably get it out.”

“Well, like I said, I don’t have a crowbar or anything.”

There was a loud, echoing crash.

“I got it!” Zeed shouted cheerily from behind us. “Took a whole gem pack, though.”

I turned to see that she had managed to melt through the metal cover with her laser. She was grinning widely as she held the weapon in her mouth, the heated metal of the ponyhole cover already cooling off. Raid shivered.

“Okay, her mood swings are starting to creep me out,” He looked to me. “How the hell does she do that?”

“Ye get used tae them. Let’s go.”

“Yeah, I’ll check it out.” With that, he hopped through the hole and climbed down the ladder. Zeed and I stood a small distance away, waiting for him to call back up. It took several minutes, with much clanging of metal and the sounds of cursing as Raid apparently stumbled around in the dark. Eventually, a bright light burst forth from the sewer, accompanied by Raid calling out, “It’s clear! Mind the smell, though. It even drives me nuts, and I’m used to it.”

I jumped through as well, followed shortly by Zeed. We were in a fairly large tunnel, illuminated by large spotlights on poles, with a chugging generator in the corner. While one end of the tunnel was blocked by a large amount of rubble, one of the concrete walls were painted with the words:

Raid was sitting in a small shack that had been constructed from corrugated metal inside the room, his pipbuck was making a rapid clocking sound. “We’re gonna need some Rad-Away when we get out of here.”

“Wow,” Zeed marveled. “This place is… Oh sweet Luna, I think I’m gonna puke.”

She did. Several times.

“Goddesses, is it really that bad?” I asked.

She nodded, then threw up again.

Walking out of the shack, Raid gave me a confused look. I raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“She’s here puking her guts out and you’re just fine. Why?”

“No sense ay smell.” I shrugged. “Good fer me Ah guess. Ye goin’ tae be alright, Zeed?”

She groaned. “Uh-huh. Just… Just give me a minute.”

“How’d you end up with no sense of smell?” Raid asked.

“Head injury as a filly. Can’t even remember it.” I said simply as I helped Zeed stand back up, though she still looked a bit green. “Shall we away?”

As we traveled down through the sewer, our hoofsteps echoed eerily off the walls, and the sound of dripping water was everywhere, the sewer’s fluids coming up to our knees. The light had vanished not soon after we left the entry area. Within minutes, the only light around us was from Raid’s pipbuck, and we travelled for three hours. He was in front, while Zeed trudged on between us, the air in the sewer still making her feel ill, as she let out a tired groan every so often.

“It’s too damn quiet down here.” Raid muttered.

“What, the lack ay action getting’ tae ye?” I snarked.

“Yes and no. Usually these places are filled with some sort of creature. Ghouls, mostly, but there are occasionally swarms of radroaches. I even found an ironwolf once. This is too clean,” he hrrmed. “There’s nothing in here. Granted, this isn’t the worst sewer there is. New Tartarus’ sewer is full of corpses, and it’s still being used as a sewer.”

Under his breath he muttered, “Figures one of the few places with working plumbing would be a slaver base.”

“New Tartarus? Slavers?”

“I’ll explain later, when we get the hell out of here. Just, trust me on this. Anyway, we should probably-“

He was interrupted by a loud, inequine, but vaguely familiar screech from the far end of the tunnel.

Raid sighed audibly. “Of course. Why would I expect anything different? Okay, we need to get back out.”

There was another screech, making him wince. “Preferably now.”

“What is it?” I asked. “Those ghoul things ye were talking about?”

He threw his head back and laughed. “Oh, I wish it was ghouls. Nope. That’s not enough for the wasteland. No, not at all.”

That screeching noise was closer this time.

He moaned unhappily, the sound turning into a sob near the end. “Oh dear Celestia, please let me be wrong, please let me be wrong.”

I heard the splashing of… something in the sewer water. I could now hear heavy breathing between those occasional screeches. I could also hear Raid gulp loudly. “Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck. I think it knows we’re here.”

The splashing and breathing came closer.

“Raid, what is it?” I asked in a whisper.

“Just move very slowly to the wall, and stay still. Don’t move a muscle, and no matter what you see, don’t make a sound.” He hissed back, clearly terrified. “It might go past us.”

The three of us clung together against the wall for what felt like hours as the noises ever so slowly approached. All the while the water continued to drip in the background.

The splashing almost sounded like hoofsteps, though staggered and uneven. I could almost hear words in that heavy breathing.

But those screeches started to bring chills to my bones.

The splashing came closer.

And closer.

And closer.

Then it stopped.

The three of us held our collective breath.

I could hear the thing breathing near the opposite wall, the water gently sloshing around it’s… Hooves? Body? I wasn’t sure, being unable to see it in the darkness. All I could make out was a vaguely ponyish blob.

I heard a strange, wet, slithering sound, and say the blob-thing shift.

Suddenly, the area was bathed in a sickly green light.

I very nearly screamed right there.

It had a body that almost looked like a ponies’, but with the legs in the wrong places, sticking outwards instead of downwards, with an extra leg out near the front. Its body was covered in massive pustules and growths, its puke green coat had massive patches of darkly colored, pulsating flesh exposed. The tail was a long, tentacle-like thing of dark red flesh that split off numerous times.

Its head almost looked like that of a pony too, but for the thin tendrils that seemed to sprout from the back of its head… and its ears… and its mouth... and its eyes… several of the ones attached to the head were emitting the light, and were held up in the air by this thing, while the rest of the tendrils lashed around swiftly, as if trying to grasp onto anything near it, but only managing to flail endlessly. Two more tentacles from its eye sockets swiveled around, as if it was looking at something, but they seemed to have been damaged, as they were flayed at the ends.

Raid relaxed visibly. While I was too scared to move, I could see him out of the corner of my eye. He shifted slightly, reaching for something in his pockets, making as little noise as he could.

He touched my shoulder to get my attention.

I tore my eyes from the monstrosity to find that Zeed was holding her hooves tightly over her mouth, her eyes wide with horror and streaming with tears. I wondered if that was how I looked. Raid was holding something in his mouth, motioning for me to take it in my magic.

It was a bottlecap. He motioned for me to throw it. I did.

It plinked off a wall somewhere in the direction we came from.

The pony-thing responded immediately.

All of its tendrils pointed straight towards the sound as it emitted another screech, and seemed to suddenly sprout needles on the ends. It retracted its green glowing tentacles.

It galloped towards the sound, screeching all the while.

Raid started pulling us, hissing, “Move, damnit, move!”

I pushed Zeed forward, her still being in shock. Our splashing was covered by whatever the pony-thing was doing. We ran as quickly as we could through the darkness, until we saw a bright white light on one side of the tunnel.

It was small room, a closet off to the side of the sewers. It had probably been used for maintenance or something.

I slumped against the wall, suddenly feeling very tired. Zeed stood in the middle of the room, still with that look of horror on her face, her breathing ragged, her eyes shut tight. I think she was trying to calm herself down, or keep herself from screaming. Maybe it was both.

Raid began to search the small shack. It was a single room, with multiple shelves piled with all kinds of junk. The floor was littered with empty packages and tin cans, as well as old syringes and bottles of rad-away. “Damnit! No ammo, no food, no goddess-damned potions, nothing! “

“What was that thing, Raid,” I asked, my voice shaking.

He didn’t hear me, continuing his rant about the lack of supplies.

“RAID!” He jumped at the sound of my shout. “What was that thing?”

He turned to look at me. He was covered in dried sweat, his back was covered in small peach-colored splotches. He had adjusted his fedora so that his entire mane was held under it. “It’s… They’re called…”

He dropped to his haunches, sighing. “Nopony knows. We have very little information about them. Rangers, Enclave,” he growled and glared at nothing in particular. “Spectrum, what have you, nopony knows what those damn things are. Most of us just call them ‘gorgons’. There’s rumors that they’re a mutated species of pony, but I’m not too sure about that. We got lucky. That one was blind.”

We sat in silence for a while. Zeed was still standing there, but her breathing had returned to normal. I hoped deeply that she would be alright. I don’t think I could stand to lose my closest friend.

“Where are we?”

“About a quarter of the way in,” he said as he consulted the pipbuck. “There should only be one of those things. They’re territorial. Kill any other gorgons who try and invade.”

“Ah thought ye said ye didn’t know anything about-“

“I said we know very little about them. And even then, this is really the only thing that helps. ‘If there’s one, then there’s only one.’” He snapped back before I could finish my sentence. “That, and the fact that they will eat any living thing they can get their tentacles on.”

We fell into silence again.

“I’m sorry.” He said eventually.

“Fer what?”

“For getting mad. I’ve had some bad experiences with them. I almost got killed by one as a colt,” He sighed and held his head in a hoof. “I hoped I wouldn’t have to deal with them again.”

“You’re scared of them, then?” I asked, trying not to be mean about it.

“I’m not scared, just… just… ah who am I kidding. I’m fucking terrified of them. I almost lost a wing to one, after all.”

“Lost a what?”

“Leg. I almost lost a leg,” he replied a bit too quickly as he adjusted his jacket.

I jumped when Zeed spoke. “Can it hear us from where it is?”

“Doesn’t matter, it’s most likely too stupid to come back this way. I’ve seen them ‘patrolling’ on occasion.”

I looked at her, her eyes were open now, and she was staring at nothing in particular. She usually only did this when she was in very deep thought. “Zeed, what are ye thinkin’?”

She didn’t answer. I poked her in the side, apparently distracting her, as she blinked a few times and said, “Huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. It’s just… interesting.” She shrugged.

“That’s not th’ word Ah would use fer it.”

“That’s ‘cuz you’re not a sci-fi nerd.” She grinned widely. “I kinda want to capture one.”

Both Raid and I gaped at her.

“What? C’mon, it’s bio-freaking-luminescent! That’s awesome! How the fuck does a pony, even a mutant, get that?” then she started babbling. “How did it get those tentacles? Is it really just a mutant? Was it the radiation that triggered it? Can they think? Talk? Read? Write? Can they do magic, do they have unicorns, can-“

“Okay, stop right there. Just regular gorgons are bad enough,” Raid interrupted. “I really don’t want to imagine those things having magic.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well, how did it end up with a fifth leg? Do they all have that?”

“Only if they’re male!” I fell over laughing at my comment, though it wasn’t that funny. I was joined by Raid, and not soon after, Zeed.

Then there was another screech, and our laughter immediately stopped.

Raid shuddered. “Maybe we should get going?”

“Aye. Ah think that might be th’ best idea.”

We waded carefully and as silently as we could through the sewers water once again, Raid shining his pipbuck light in front of us, though it did little good, considering the widening tunnel. He kept looking behind us, as if he expected the gorgon to attack at any time.

Wherever it was, it shrieked several more times, making Raid jump at every noise.

“I wish it would at least shut the fuck up! It’s annoying,” he hissed after the umpteenth time.

“Why dae they make ye so nervous?” I had to ask.

“I already told you, I almost lost a w-limb to them. And even if I didn’t, they’re fucking creepy. I find it hard to maintain my sarcastic demeanor when they’re around.” He swept the light over a shadow that seemed to move in front of us.

I snickered. The gorgon shrieked again.

Wait…

Was it getting closer?

“Raid, did ye-“

“Yeah. We need to move.”

I heard splashing. Turning back, the gorgon had its glowing tendrils out again, odd considering that it was blind.

“Are there any other closets around here?” Zeed asked.

“I don’t know, just run!” he started pushing both of us down the tunnel. “Go, go go!”

He swore as the gorgon slammed into his back, knocking him into the sludge. He bellowed in pain. They wrestled, the gorgon writhing in the water as it tried to either pierce flesh with its needle-tendrils or wrap them around limbs, and Raid simply trying to get the thing into position where he could shoot it.

I pulled out my baton as Zeed let loose a barrage of magical lasers. The thing screeched as the bolts burned into its skin, leaving several burn marks.

When my baton contacted its fifth leg, the gorgon shrieked and sent its tendrils flailing wildly. Its tail thrashed violently in the water as it tried to recover from the electric shock.

Raid stood up and shouted. ”Run! Just fucking run! We can’t kill it with this crap!”

So we turned and ran, splashing once again through the pitch black sewer, no light other than Raid’s light and the gorgon’s glow.

Several times Zeed fired another barrage at it, making it screech again with each hit, slowing it down ever so slightly, yet it continued after us.

We could only run, and run, and run.

We ran into a door, a large metal one, closed and locked.

“Shit! Why? Why now?” Raid whinnied in panic.

“Didn’t ye say that ye came through here last time?”

“Yes! I didn’t know it would close automatically!”

“Zeed, can ye get it open?” She was fiddling with the lockcontrols, a terminal on the side of the door.

“Cant… get… it… Gaaagh! Luna rape me ‘till oblivion! Who the fuck locks a sewer!”

Something grabbed my leg.

“KNIVES!” Raid screamed as I was dragged into the darkness.

I flailed the baton around wildly, wishing that my horn would actually glow for once, just so I could see.

As I was pulled… wherever, my head became submerged several times due to my struggling.

Then I was slammed into a wall, dropping my weapon in the water.

I was met once again with the gorgon’s glowing tentacles as it held me against the wall, several of its tendrils wrapping themselves around my throat, several more around my limbs.

I struggled to get free, the tendrils tightening around me with every move.

I was starting to get dizzy.

Slowly, ever so slowly, it brought its face up to mine, some of the tendrils on its head extending the needles within, the larger tentacle from its eye sockets twitching in tandem, as if it was trying to look at me.

I felt pain in my left foreleg and hind leg, though whether they were broken or not, I couldn’t tell. I tried to scream past the tendrils around my throat, but I made no sound, and was quickly running out of breath.

Then it grinned at me, the few teeth it had coming together as its lips lulled back around the things sticking out.

Terrified, I stopped my struggling as I gaped at it.

Then half of its face exploded in a shower of reddish goo as multiple gunshots echoed through the tunnel.

Its response was to dislocate my right foreleg, and slam me into the wall again, where I slumped into the water, in too much pain to even move.

In the gorgon’s light, I saw Raid tackle it, his face filled with rage as he rolled away and fired several more shells into the creature’s body.

I struggled to get up, screaming with the pain of putting pressure on my limbs as I desperately began to search for the baton.

Zeed’s fire bathed the tunnel in a flickering red glow, while Raid essentially poured lead into it.

My leg started twitching as I stepped on the baton, but I found it. I levitated it out of the water, to find that it was surprisingly still functioning, despite the water.

The gorgon slammed into me again, lashing out at me with its needles, puncturing my flesh several times. I returned the favor by shoving the baton down its throat, causing it to twitch violently.

As it writhed in the water, shrieking in pain, the three of us continued our assault on it, Raid and Zeed each only stopping their barrage of gun and laser fire to reload, while I just continuously smashed away at it.

After several more seconds of brutal punishment, the gorgon’s twitching finally stopped, as did our attacks, and we were left standing in the dirty water, panting and tired.

I whimpered as I limped back over to the wall, and just lay against it, only putting enough weight on my limbs to make sure my head stayed above the water.

“Kn… Knives… are… guh… are you… haah… okay?” Zeed managed to get out between panicked breaths.

“Legs hurt. I think they’re broken.” I said through painful tears. “Still alive, though.”

Raid swept the light around, searching for something. “There’s a dry patch over here. Can you walk?”

I forced myself to my hooves, and slowly made my way over to the area, Zeed helping me to stay up.

I collapsed back to the ground, falling on a pile of garbage that had piled up over nearly two centuries.

Raid began searching through his bags as Zeed checked my legs.

“Sweet Luna, this’ll take months to heal…” She said, her voice choked with tears.

“No it won’t, hold this.”

I screamed as something was jammed into my side. Suddenly, it felt like my body was on fire, and I ended up screaming even more. It felt like my flesh was being torn apart, and my bones were being sown back together with a chainsaw and a steel cable. My dislocated shoulder popped back into place with a loud snap. My empty right eye socket started itching like crazy, and the back of my head hurt.

It felt like hours by the time it finished, but when it did, I became aware of Zeed and Raid shouting at each other.

“How the fuck do you know she doesn’t have allergies?” Zeed yelled.

“Does she have any?”

“That’s not the point! You don’t know what kind of reaction she would have had.” She stomped her hoof. “What if it killed her?”

“It’s magical! It’s no more dangerous than a healing potion, it just hurts like hell!”

I realized that the back of my head was now sore, as were my limbs. Experimentally, I tried to stand, and was delighted to find that there was no pain. “Zeed…”

“Some ponies can’t take potions, you know! That’s why we still need regular medical procedures, because sometimes, it’s all we can do!”

“Look, she’s fine! She’s standing up right now!”

“That’s not my fucking point, you Luna-damned halfwit! You-“

With a forehoof, I splashed some sewer water into her face. “Zeed, calm down, Aam fine. Just a little sore, is all.”

Apparently, she got some in her mouth, as she was acting as though trying to spit something out, taking a bottle of good water and spitting it out.

“Sorry… wasn’t aimin’ at yer- OW, OW, OW, OW!” I was interrupted by a sharp pain in my head. “Fuck, that hurts!”

Zeed quickly shifted back into her ‘doctor mode’. “What’s wrong? Is it your eye?”

“Grn… My… head… can’t… I can’t…” I stumbled, suddenly losing my balance. “I think…”

I threw up, what little food I’d had now on the ground.

Raid was trying to help me stay up, while Zeed was trying to say something to me, but I couldn’t make out the words. I puked again and collapsed to the ground.

A thought entered my head. Why is the wasteland so intent of making me lose my lunch?

That’s when I passed out.

~~~~~~~

The pink mare’s eyes fluttered open.

She was sitting in a room, empty but for the orange mists swirling within, and an open door leading to a hallway.

She smiled.

What was her name?

She stood, and took a step forward. The sound of her hooves striking the metal floor echoed.

Straining her ears, she heard the screaming and crying of thousands of…

Were they her kin?

Of course they were.

She smiled, knowing the meaning behind the sounds, if not the meaning of the individual cries.

What worth did the words have, anyway?

“My name is… is…” She frowned.

Her name was Clothesline, wasn’t it? Yes, yes it was. Why didn’t it feel like her name, though?

It used to be, but now it doesn’t fit.

She said her thoughts aloud as she moved through the halls.

“How can that not be my name?” She looked at her flank. Three shotgun shells. Her favorite weapon, even now the thought of the kick in her magical grip brought a smile to her face. “No, that’s right. I’m not me anymore. I have a task to perform.”

She sighed. She would miss her old self, despite the many flaws she could now see within herself.

But they weren’t truly hers.

All her memories were there, but they weren’t hers. She just… had them.

“I’m changed so much. I need something just as different.” Strangely, her mind felt clear. The other’s had their minds muddled, warped, confused. Perhaps hers was too, but if it was she felt no indication of such. “What should I call myself?”

She cheerily went through the possibilities.

“Scatter? No, that’s just silly. Punch? Why would I call myself that? It’s probably taken anyway. Blitz? No, I’m not sure I like that.”

A thought struck her.

“Could that work?” she stopped to put a hoof to her chin in thought. “It’s so simple, and that’s nice, but it isn’t really a very nice thing. Am I really that bad?…”

Her voice trailed off as she stared into the mist-filled corridors.

“I did kill Knives. I guess it’s only fair that I use it. It’s what I am after all.”

She smiled.

“Wretch. My name is Wretch.”

-------

Footnote 1: Diamond Knives
Level up! (6)
Repair: 63

Perks:
Quick Recovery: Wow, you can get back up from anything! Literally! Any time you are knocked down, it only takes 1 action point to stand back up.

~~~~~

Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri
Level up! (5)
Energy Weapons: 57
Medicine: 70

Perks:
Healer: Any time you make use of the medicine skill, the effect of the drug or potion is increased by 10%.

~~~~~

Footnote 3: Raid (???)
Level up! (6)
Guns: 60

Perks:
Shotgun surgeon: I need a 12 gauge shell in his gut, stat! When using any shotgun or shotgun-like weapon, you ignore and additional 10 points of armor threshold.

---------
(Author’s note)

Scary chapter is scary.

Like a bowl of pudding, jiggling by itself in a dark room.

when no-one is around... Ooooooooh. Spooky.

I will now invoke Godwin’s Law.

Good day.

Thanks to Kkat for Fallout Equestria, and Somber for Project Horizon. Thanks to whoever reads this, and again, critiques are very much welcome.

Chapter Seven: The Exit Is Here Now. No, Really.

The Guard in front of me looked somewhat irritated as I followed him through the Prison, holding a small brown box in my magic. I just kept worrying about what my mother would do when she found out that I’d gotten into yet another fight, and on her birthday, no less.

He banged on the door to the cell. My heart was in my throat.

The door opened, mechanically sliding into the ceiling, to reveal a large zebra, covered with scars, the most noticeable of which were the ones running from the corners of her mouth to her ears, making her warm smile seem all the wider.

That smile turned to a look of shock as she caught sight of my badly bruised body.

She looked to the Guard, who quickly answered her unspoken question.

“She got in a fight with the Captain’s daughter. Again. You need to teach her to control herself, Zala. The Captain is already considering…” He sighed and removed his helmet, revealing the earth pony’s red mane and purple coat. “Look, Zala, I can’t keep getting her out of these things. I’m going to have to start putting her in solitary if she keeps this up.”

Mom sighed, and gave him a weary smile. “Thank you, Gate.”

He nodded, and left to return to his post.

Closing the door as I stepped in, my mother gave me a somewhat disappointed look. I grinned weakly. We both stood there for a moment.

Eventually, she sighed again. “Did you at least win the fight?”

I nodded, my grin becoming a bit more genuine.

“She didn’t call you a colt again, did she?” Mom quirked an eyebrow.

“No, she tried to um… take this… from… me…” I floated the box over to her. “It’s for you. Um… happy birthday, mom…”

She opened it with a bizarre dexterity that shouldn’t be possible with hooves. She gasped when she saw what was inside. A bracelet, made of small strips of metal twisted to look like her glyphmark, which itself resembled an eye.

Slipping it on, she brought me into a tight hug. “I love it, sweetie. Thank you so much.”

I hugged her back, smiling happily.

“You still need to learn to control yourself, though.”

I laughed nervously.

“Well, come on Diamond… You’re almost an adult. When you turn sixteen, I won’t be able to help you with things like this.” She put a hoof on my shoulder. “You can’t keep fighting Clothesline. Even if she’s a bitch.”

I snorted.

She laughed. “Okay, an extreme bitch, then. But she is still the Captain’s daughter.”

I let out a defeated sigh. “I know… she just pisses me off so much, though.”

“Diamond, I can help you with other prisoners as long as I live. Hell, just knowing me means they probably won’t mess with you, but the Guards don’t care. They’ll do whatever they think they need to do.”

“Or want to.”

“Yes, true, but still…” She hugged me again. “Just be a bit more careful. Okay?”

~~~~~

Throb, throb.

Throb, throb.

I groaned, and put a hoof on the back of my aching head.

Throb, throb.

Oh, goddesses, what the fuck did I do last- oh… right… sewer…gorgon…drugs…

Throb, throb.

“Oh thank Luna, you’re awake,” Zeed said from beside me. “How do you feel?”

Throb, throb.

I groaned again. “Head hurts. Want sleep. Go away.”

“Sorry, Knives. I’m out of sleeping potion.” I felt a poke in the ribs. “You know I’d rather just let you rest, but this isn’t really the best place to do that. Besides, there’s… uh… something we need to deal with…”

I groaned yet again.

“Well, I guess you can stay there for a minute. Don’t need you up for this anyway.” I could almost hear her smirk. “How many hooves am I holding up?”

I cracked open my good eye and glanced at her, then turned away. “Three hooves.”

…

Wait a minute.

I shot up and looked again. She was indeed holding up three hooves, somehow managing to balance on one, a smirk on her face.

“Welcome to the Land Of The Living, where misery is mandatory!” She said cheerfully as she dropped back down.

Chuckling, I rolled off of the piece of cloth-covered metal I’d been laying on and stood up. I immediately regretted it when the pain almost made me fall back over. Zeed barely managed to catch me. “You alright?”

“Like I- Ah mean- Like Ah said, mah head hurts. Again. Why does this shit keep happening tae me?” I rubbed the back of my head again. “So, what did ye need tae talk about?”

She bit her lip, and inhaled. “First off, all your bones are fine. Whatever the fuck Raid did to you worked, much as it pissed me off.”

“Alright. Second?”

“Second…” She paused for a moment. “Second is that you have a right eye again, but we’ll need to make sure it works right.”

I grinned happily. “That’s great! The lack of depth perception was a bit annoyin’.”

“The third… is that you have a… well… your right eye is… uh…”

“What? What is it?” Her hesitation was making me nervous.

“Eh… it’s… probably better if I show you. Hold on.” She began to rummage through her saddlebags, which were propped up against a wall.

Looking around the room, I realized that it was the shack in the entrance of the sewer. Through the door, I could see the floodlights shining on the wall outside, and part of the warning that was painted on it. The shack itself was full of shelves stocked with various odds and ends, almost entirely junk. After a minute, Zeed returned with a broken shard of mirror, which I took in my magic.

“Just… just don’t panic, alright?”

Slightly nervous, I took a look at myself.

I first looked at my left eye. A dark silver color.

Then I looked at my left eye.

It was the same dark silver color, but instead of a rounded pupil, there was a needle-like slit. The first thing that came to mind was ‘draconic’. The second, and far more disturbing, was ‘her’.

Her eye was in my face.

My nightmare. The monster in my dreams. The creature that had tormented me for as long as I could remember.

Her eye… in my face.

I could have sworn that I heard her laughing.

“Knives? Say something…”

I think that I was shaking as I stared into that… thing.

Did she do this? Is Raid working with her?

I mentally slapped myself.

Of course he’s not, you fucking moron! She’s a figment of your imagination. She’s not real.

“Oh yes, Knives. I’m just a figment of your imagination.” She said. “That sometimes talks to you.”

I frowned.

“Shut up.”

“Oooh, clever. Fine. I’ll see you in your sleep.” She muttered.

“Knives? Answer me, please!”

She had nothing to do with this. It’s just a coincidence.

I felt a hoof on my shoulder.

I turned to see Zeed with a terrified expression on her face. She looked to be on the verge of tears.

“Zeed, what’s got ye so worried?”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank Luna. Don’t scare me like that! I thought you’d… something! I didn’t know what to think!”

I shrugged, and looked at the eye again.

“Are… are you gonna be okay?” She continued.

I hrrm-ed. “Probably. Looking in a mirror is goin’ tae freak me out fer a while. Ah’ll get used tae it, though.”

“You’re… taking this awfully well. Are you sure you’ll be okay?” She now seemed confused, in addition to worried.

“Well, it doesn’t really matter if Ah have a problem, now does it?” I quirked an eyebrow. “Dae ye know anypony who can put it back tae normal? Ah sure don’t. It’s better than not havin’ one at all, at least. Although…”

I closed my left eye, looking only through the new right eye.

There was no color. Everything was suddenly painted in nothing more than shades of grey.

“It’s colorblind.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Everything is just… grey… What the hell did Raid do tae me?”

She snorted. “Dunno. Let’s find out.”

She trotted over to the door and stuck her head out.

“RAID! Get your fucking stupid flank over here!” She screamed angrily. Without waiting for a response, she stomped back and sat on her haunches next to me, with her forelegs crossed.

A minute later, he trotted through the door.

“Goddesses, your voice really echoes. Knives!” He smiled. “Glad to see you’re awake.”

I smiled back. “Glad tae see ye too.”

Zeed facehoofed. “Oh for Luna’s- Raid, stop flirting and explain what this ‘Synth’ crap is before I figure out how to perform a lobotomy.”

“No need.” I said. “He’s already brainless.”

Raid laughed. “Not me very smart am.”

Zeed growled. “Knives, do you even realize that he could have killed you?”

“Look, I already told you that Synth isn’t lethal,” Raid began. “It’s basically just a really powerful healing potion.”

“Oh really? Healing potions don’t make you pass out. Care to explain that?”

“Maybe she has an allergy?”

“Did you see her eye? That’s not an allergic reaction.”

“I’ve never even heard of something like this before. I don’t know what to tell you. Sorry.” He shrugged. “Look, if I’d known that would have happened I wouldn’t have done it.”

“Zeed, calm down. He was just doin’ what he thought would-“

“KNIVES, HE COULD HAVE KILLED YOU! Do you realize that?” She was panting with anger.

“Zeed. Calm. Down.” I growled. “You’re overreacting.”

“Calm down? CALM DOWN?” She roared. “I AM CALM! I’M THE FUCKING EPITOME OF CALM! CALM LOOKS AT ME AND GOES “HOLY SHIT SHE’S GOOD AT THIS”!

“Then why are you screaming?”

“I’M NOT SCREAMING!” She seethed. A moment passed, and her eyes widened. “Oh… I… I… uh… I’m so… I’m so sorry…”

Raid shrugged. “It’s fine. I understand. If it makes you feel any better, I’ve been beating myself up about it more than anypony else ever could.”

She smiled weakly.

“How long have Ah been out, anyway?”

Raid looked at his pipbuck. “Eh… About four hours. She’s been watching you the whole time. I’ve been trying to figure out how to open the door.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“I have no fucking idea. Zeed managed to hack the console, but it’s not working. There’s no lock to pick either, though I’m terrible at that anyway.”

“Did ye check th’ network connection?”

He gave me a blank look and blinked at me. Zeed did the same.

“Ye know… th’ connection between th’ door controls and the console?” The blank look continued. I tried to simplify. “Did you make sure all th’ cables were plugged in?”

“What cables?” Zeed asked, much to my surprise.

I gawked at her. “Are ye kiddin’ me? Ah thought ye were supposed tae be th’ smart one! That’s like… basic computer maintenance! A foal could figure that out!”

They both laughed nervously. I facehoofed. “Alright... Zeed, you can’t call Raid and idiot anymore, because you’re just a stupid as him.”

I sat on my haunches and sighed. “Before we start away again, ye said ye wanted to test mah eye, right?”

“Oh… Uh…” She coughed lightly. “You said you can’t see colors through that eye?”

“Nah. Just grey.”

“Hey! What if you have night vision?”

We both quirked an eyebrow at him, then looked back at each other.

“You know,” Zeed said as she put a hoof to her chin in thought. “That might actually-“

“Zeed, Ah know this is a bit dumb of me,” I tilted my head slightly. “But what happened tae yer cast?”

“Huh? Oh. I took it off while you were out. Why?”

“Ah thought her leg was broken…”

“I’ve been injecting a bit of healing potion every so often. Hurts like fucking hell, bit it works.”

Raid groaned. “Now I really wish I’d asked first. That was my last dose of Synth.”

“What, ye can’t get more?”

He shook his head. “I’d have to scavenge for it. It’s pretty rare. Safer than Hydra, though, so it’s usually worth it.”

Zeed shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter anyway. It still takes a while to heal, and if you don’t set the bone right you have all kinds of problems. Now, let’s test that eye and get the hell outa here.”

~~~~~

Several hours later, we were back in the tunnels, me trotting through the sludge triumphantly.

Unsurprisingly, I was right, and neither of my two companions had bothered to check and make sure that the door controls were connected. At the moment, they were trudging along behind me as I hummed happily.

On an unrelated note, I found that I liked this new eye of mine, as it did indeed give me decent night vision. I could see everything down here! Then again… there wasn’t that much to see other than the winding tunnels and a few not-very-interesting sludge-banks in the water… but still, I could see all of them!

Sadly, that did not stop me from tripping on something and falling flat on my face in the sludge.

Not for the first time in my life, I was glad that I had no sense of taste or smell.

Zeed and Raid laughed as I pulled my head out of the muck, my mane plastered over my face and dripping wet. I spat out a bit of sewer water. I muttered under my breath, “That can’t be healthy.”

“Oh dear Luna, ahaha! She looks like the Thing From Froggy Bottom!” Zeed managed between peals of laughter.

“No, no, no… more like the Lord of Slimes from The Equine Answer!”

“Or the Amazing Mister Sludge! Bwhaha!”

“No, wait! It’s Muckthulhu! She’s come to eat our souls!”

They fell against each other laughing.

Great, I thought as I spat out more water. The buck I like is as big an egghead as Zeed.

I shrugged. Well, at least they’re getting along.

“Zeed, shut up before Ah make ye eat radroach.”

She stopped laughing immediately, but Raid continued laughing regardless.

“Why would you even say that? You know that just…” She convulsed a bit, like she was about to puke. “Just… ugh…”

I thought for a moment, and smirked. “Raid, if ye keep laughing, Aam goin’ tae have tae kiss ye.”

“Hmm… Well, I never could turn down a kiss from a nice mare. Even *if she’s covered in sewer muck.” He gave me a cocky grin.

I think I blushed so bright that I was glowing. Well… that backfired.

Zeed once more snorted with laughter. I shot her a glare.

Briefly, I fished around in the muck with a foreleg to find what I’d tripped on. It was…

A corpse. And it was now biting me. Fairly hard, actually. It was pretty painful. So, I did the only logical thing.

“AAAAGH! Get it off, get it off, get it off!” I shrieked as I desperately beat it with the baton, flailing my foreleg around in an attempt to remove it. Unfortunately, the electric shock didn’t really seem to do much to the corpse, other than make it twitch a bit more and bite deeper into my leg.

Several gunshots rang out, and the corpse’s neck blew off in a spray of ichor. The head loosened its grip and fell off of my bleeding leg, which I held to my chest. “Ow, ow, ow…”

Zeed rushed over and slowly poured some clean water and a healing potion over the bite while Raid took a look at the dead pony.

“Ah! I was wondering where all the ghouls went.”

“I’m not going to turn into a zombie am I?” I asked nervously.

“What? Of course not. Well...” He paused. “Not unless you start eating balefire, but a bite won’t do anything to you other than hurt a lot.”

“Balefire?” I wondered aloud. “Zeed, isn’t that what we used tae use in th’ generators?”

“Just the type twos.”

Raid blinked at us. “You used… balefire… to…”

He shook his head and shrugged. “Okay, you know what? I’m not even going to bother asking why the fuck that is. Let’s just chalk it up to the ponies of pre-war Canterbury being morons.”

“What’s wrong with-“

“NO! No. I do not want to know.” He held up a hoof. “No. Pas. Nein. Do. Not. Want.”

“All right, all right, I won’t say anything. Fuck, calm down.” Zeed returned to examining my wound. “So, what exactly is a ghoul?”

He dramatically cleared his throat and pretended to don a pair of glasses while reading an imaginary book. “The ghoul is the result of a pony being afflicted with too much magical radiation from balefire bombs and other such things. The ghoul is effectively dead, not needing to breathe or eat, and does not age. They appear as rotting corpses and, while a good number of them manage to retain most of their sanity, most of them have sadly been reduced to psychotic feral husks.”

“Sooo… zombies?”

“Basically, but the sane ones hate being called that. It’s kinda like me calling you a…” He thought for a moment. “It’s like calling you a ‘striped little slut’.”

Zeed smirked. “I am a slut, I have many stripes, and I am also very short. So, yes, I am a striped little slut.”

He stopped and deadpanned at her for a moment. “I do not know how to respond to that.”

I laughed. “Is that really th’ best one ye can come up with?”

“I make it a point to not base my insults off of race, thank you.” He crossed his forelegs across his chest. “I find that there’s enough of that without me adding to it.”

He stopped me before I could ask another question. “We have bigger problems to deal with right now. For example, why is there a live ghoul in here?”

“Ah thought ye said-“

“I know what I said. That’s not what I meant by ‘live’. The gorgon should have killed them all off.”

“Well…” Zeed began. “The door was closed. They might have been protected by that.”

“Hmmm… That would probably explain it. So we’ve got a bunch of… ghouls… over…” He trailed off. “Crap.”

“What?”

“I don’t think I brought enough ammo.” He sighed. “We’ll have to go through Celestia knows how many ghouls to get out of here.”

Zeed groaned. I smiled. “Well, at least Ah can see them.”

“We can’t.” he continued. “And judging from the one we just killed, that stick is not going to work.”

“Could we just make a break for it?” I suggested.

They looked at me for a moment. Eventually, Raid shrugged and said, “That might work.”

~~~~~

“There’s about thirty ay them,” I said as I peered around the corner. “One’s glowin’ green.”

“Only thirty? Well… that’s better than I expected.” He frowned. “There should be a lot more than- OW!”

Zeed smacked him on the head. “Don’t jinx it, moron.”

“Whatever. Anyway, I can probably distract them for a bit. Get them to run the other way while we slip past.”

“With what?”

He held up a small box with a big red button in his hoof, and grinned. “I haz a detonator.”

He pushed the button.

One second later, a loud boom echoed from where we’d come from. The ghouls all roared at once, and began charging towards the sound.

It took a moment for all of them to clear out of the area, but when they finally did, Raid stepped out and said, “All clear. Let’s go!”

As we followed him, I looked back and thought, Well… *hat was anticlimactic.

Of course, then I almost ran into a straggler, who screamed at me.

Reflexively, I spun around and bucked it in the face, sending it staggering backwards. It was dispatched by a flurry of laser fire, leaving it a charred husk.

Unsurprisingly, there was a roar from farther back in the tunnel. About where I guessed the other ghouls were.

“Oh dear Celestia.” Said Raid as his eye twitched slightly. “Run! We should be able to stay ahead of them if we keep moving.”

So we ran. Raid’s light swung all across the walls as we kept going, with me telling the others when a turn was coming up, being the only one able to actually see. I made the mistake of looking back in the middle of a long, straight leg of the tunnel, seeing the swarm of ghouls growing ever closer.

“They’re catching up!” I screamed.

“We’re almost there, just hold on!” Raid shouted back.

The ghouls came closer and closer and we ran. All of us were getting tired, I felt as though I could collapse at any moment.

“Exit!” Zeed panted.

Indeed, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. We pushed ourselves that last short distance.

Then, we were outside. The tunnel had long ago collapsed past that point, the street actually having fallen into the ground, making a ramp out of the sewers. We were once more in an old ruined city. We ran up and out into the night, and hid inside a relatively intact building. I could hear the ghouls screeching from the tunnel, having lost their prey.

I collapsed against a wall, my heart pounding, struggling for breath.

We all just sat there in the dark for several minutes, all panting heavily.

“Well,” I said, dripping with sarcasm. “That was fun. Let’s never dae that again.”

“How in the…” Zeed panted a bit more. “How in the hell did you get past those things last time?”

“Last time we had a Steel Ranger with us. She blew them to bits with a grenade launcher. That was also about… nine- no, ten years ago.” He started to examine himself, and gasped in apparent shock when he reached his tail. “Uh… I’ll be right back. I gotta go… do… something…”

He quickly stuffed the end of his tail into his shirt and ran off, grabbing a bucket as he galloped past it.

I leaned back against the wall, while Zeed just flopped onto her side in the middle of the floor.

We sat there for what seemed like an hour.

“You should go find your coltfriend.” Zeed said. “See if he needs help.”

“He’s nae mah coltfriend.”

“Not at the rate you’re going he isn’t.”

“Well, Aam sizin’ him up is all.”

“You’re flirting to see if he likes you.”

“Basically.”

“Oh, just go look for him. I’m gonna try and get some sleep.” She rolled over, facing away from me.

“Ye sure?”

She waved a hoof dismissively.

I walked out into the city, looking for Raid’s pipbuck light, which he would surely have on.

Of course, after about half an hour of looking for said light, I finally heard him cursing loudly to himself from inside a building. It was part of a small apartment complex, like most of the buildings seemed to be, but only one floor as opposed to seven or eight. Half of the place had been destroyed, one of the larger buildings nearby having fallen on it.

I trotted up to the door of the room he was in.

“Gaah! Come on, damnit! This place is supposed to have its own water supply, magic and everything.” There was the sound of hooves crashing on metal. “Come. On. Damnit.”

As I was about to knock on the door, a dull thumb sounded, accompanied by a humorously fillyish squeak and the sound of water spraying.

I went into the apartment and into the bathroom, to find him soaked with water, standing next to a broken bathtub. I tried to suppress a laugh, and he jumped at the sound, scrambling to turn off his pipbuck light.

“KNIVES! Uh… uh… hi? How are you? You didn’t… eh… see… anything… did you?”

“Nae, but Ah heard ye screamin’ like a filly.” I laughed.

“Please, don’t remind me.” He said in an irritated tone. “But… uh… you swear you didn’t see anything?”

“Raid, what could Ah possibly see? What, are ye really a mare in disguise or somethin’?”

“No, nothing like that.”

I took a look at the bathtub, which was still spurting water from the broken showerhead. There was a bucket in there. On the floor was a bottle of…

“Hair dye? What, yer not really blue?”

“Ultramarine, actually.” He let out a defeated sigh. “But no, just my mane and tail.”

“Och, well ye don’t need tae worry about me seeing anythin’ then. It’s tae dark fer me tae see colors. New eye, remember?” I quirked an eyebrow at hm. “Why are ye tryin’ tae keep this a secret anyway?”

“I’d rather not talk about it, please.” He grinned weakly.

I shrugged. “Well, at least let me help ye.”

“Help me?” He looked surprised.

“Aye. How doe ye think Zeed does it? It’s a pain in th’ flank tae dae without getting’ dye all over yer coat.” I smirked as I magically twisted around a few pipes, directing the stream of water into the bucket. “Aam tryin’ tae let her sleep anyway.”

“Whaddaya mean?”

“Insomnia. When she isn’t drunk off her flank or takin’ sleepin’ potions, she usually can’t sleep at all. Ah definitely doubt she’d be able to after… well… but Ah might as well let her try.” I twisted the broken showerhead until the water stopped. “So, out ay curiosity, why are ye dyin’ yer mane now?”

“Eh… Sewer water messed it up. My mane’s fine, I was just going to deal with my tail. That's what causes me problems.”

I grinned. “So… what’s wrong with yer mane?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He frowned.

“Och, come on. What, is it pink?”

“I’d much rather have that than what I actually do have.”

“Show meeeee.”

“No.”

“Shooooooowwwww mmmmeeeeeee.”

“No!”

“Show me or Ah’ll dump all the dye on ye.”

“I think I can take looking like a peach.” He grinned.

“Pleeeeeeeease?” I batted my eyelashes at him.

He tried to stifle his laughter at my uncharacteristically marish display. “Sorry, Knives. Not happening.”

“Ah, yer no fun. Fine, let’s get this done then.”

~~~~~

Clothesline- No. Wretch. Her name was Wretch now.

Wretch trotted through the numerous corridors. A bit confused as to how she knew her way, but choosing to just accept it.

She was more interested in the state of her kin, anyway.

They stumbled through the mists within the facility, often screaming incoherently, or muttering meaningless sentences. She felt a pang of sympathy for them.

It hurt when your words were little more than babble.

She shook her head with a sigh, and continued on.

She reached the exit with ease, as though it were a path she’d taken a thousand times before.

He was there. The pony with an orange blob for a head.

No, that was wrong. He didn’t have a head. The mist just stuck like that so he could think properly, emanating from the device attached to his neck.

“Good…” He said. “You are awake. Do you feel well?”

Clot- Wretch nodded, smiling.

“Good. And you know your task?”

She nodded again.

“Then I allow you another gift. You are free to do as you wish, unless you are aware that it will interfere with your task.” He smiled. Not physically, though. It was something she felt. “And I return to you your belongings. They-“

As he held out the Guard’s armor, Wretch shrunk away in panic, feelings of guilt making her guts twist in their places. The gun, though. She missed its weight against her side, the feeling of the kickback fighting her magical grip.

“Ah… my apologies. I did not think the garment would cause you such pain. Your weapon then.” He floated it over to her, the mist surrounding it, making it move. “You may begin at your discretion. Know that I trust your judgment.”

As Wretch stroked the gun lovingly, he retreated back into the facility.

Smiling, Wretch strapped the gun to her back, and stepped out into the wasteland that was Canterbury.

-------

Footnote 1: Diamond Knives
Level up! (7)
Melee Weapons:70
Repair: 71

Perks:
More Criticals: You are more likely to cause Critical Hits in combat if you have this Perk. Each level of More Criticals will get you a +5% chance to cause a critical hit. This is a good thing.

Quest perk:
Lost perk-
One-eyed.

Gained perk-
Freak-eye: One of your eyes is not like the other. You can see easily in the dark, but your odd appearance freaks some ponies out. -1 to charisma, and you have access to some unique dialogue options. You now have night vision.

~~~~

Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri
Level up! (6)
Energy Weapons: 52
Medicine: 70
Science:47

Perks:
Vigilant Recycler: Waste not, want not. When you use Energy Weapons, you are more likely to recover drained ammunition. You can also recharge energy pack and cells more effectively and efficiently.

~~~~~

Footnote 3: Raid (???)
Level up! (7)
Guns: 65
Speech: 49

Perks:
Commando: You really know how to use that battle-saddle! Your accuracy in S.A.T.S. when using battle-saddles is increased by 25%

`
Quests:
Active quest:
O’ Father, Where Art Thou?: Go to Bladesville to find information on the location of Nezan Kazdri.

Other quests:
Sifting through the dust:
1)
Find information on the location of Ashes.
2)
Find information on the location of Obsidian Knives
3)
–Find information on the location of Nezan Kazdri

-----

(Author’s notes)

*Slaps self*

*Slaps self*

Bad moron! Work harder!

I would have had this up two days ago, but I decided to re-write the whole thing.

Not sure if I should have, though.

Ah well, no sense crying over every mistake. I’ll just keep on trying ‘till I run out of cake.

So the writing gets done, and I still have some fun.

Next chapter might be a bit late as well. I’ll see what I can do about that, though. Don’t you worry.

TTFN
-Delakirus

Thanks to Kkat for Fallout Equestria, and Somber for Project Horizon. Thanks to whoever reads this, and again, critiques are very much welcome.

Chapter Eight: Robbin' And Rollin'

The cafeteria was, as usual, uncomfortably warm. This wasn’t even the public cafeteria, this was the one reserved for students in the Section Three classes, yet the smallness combined with the number of ponies here made it hot and stuffy. I had my head resting on one of the many tables, trying to get as much sleep as I possibly could, when I heard somepony call my name.

“Zeed! There you are!” Ashes said as she happily trotted over to my table, giving me a kiss on the muzzle. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.

With a yawn I sat up, and propped my head up on a forehoof as I quirked an eyebrow at my marefriend. “What’s got you so excited?”

She blinked at me. “You don’t know what day it is?”

I shook my head.

She grinned, and gave me a kiss. “It’s your birthday. So much for your eidetic memory.”

I rolled my eyes, ignoring her last comment. “Okay, so why are you so happy?”

She reached in her saddlebag. “’Cuz I got you this!”

My jaw dropped as she pulled out a small bouquet of fennel flowers, which was my absolute top favorite flower, and inconveniently, the most difficult one to get in the Prison. “How… how did you…”

She kissed me again, and smirked. “I figured you’d like ‘em. Happy fifteenth, Zeed.”

I smiled as I popped one of the flowers into my mouth and savored the sweet and slightly salty flavor. “Oh, sweet Luna, these are amazing. Seriously Ashes, how did you get these?”

She smiled at me. “A buck down in Section Seven owed me a favor.”

Popping another flower into my mouth, I hugged her tightly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you."

“Glad you like ‘em.”

“Want any?”

She gave me a sultry grin. “No, but I think I could probably taste them on your lips, anyway.”

I blushed brightly as I swallowed.

“Well, Ah did not need tae hear that.”

I turned to see Knives trotting up with a small bag levitating beside her. “Uh… Hi Knives. Aheh…”

She levitated the bag over to me, grinning widely. I opened it, and squee’d when I saw a copy of Doctor Whooves Versus the Space Pirates.

I took the two ponies next to me and hugged them both. “Thanks you guys! You’re the best!”

~~~~

I awoke feeling refreshed and clear-headed, which was odd, considering that I’d gone to sleep on a pile of rubble. Looking around as I stretched out my legs and adjusted my lab coat and shades, I saw Knives sleeping in a corner, while Raid was standing guard just outside the building we were in, carefully scanning the city ruins with his eyes.

Slowly, and with the kind of mischievous grin that always seemed to make Knives nervous, I snuck up behind him.

He didn’t notice as I carefully and silently moved my head just behind his ear, holding my breath.

He did, however, notice when I shouted ‘Boo’ at him. He noticed so well, in fact, that he jumped several feet in the air.

This caused me to fall over laughing.

“Goddesses, Zeed, you trying to give me a heart attack?” He chuckled.

“Nah. I just wanted to see what you’d do.” I grinned. Searching through one of my pockets, I pulled out a cig and lit it. He returned to his watch-pony duty with a smirk. “Anything interesting?”

“Well… I did see a couple of giant mushrooms tap-dancing.” He said as-a-matter-of-factly. “Oh! And the building on the other side of the street was talking to me. Apparently it wants my soul.”

“So… not much?”

“Nada.” He shook his head. “And I am fucking glad for that.”

“What do you mean?” I puffed out some smoke.

“Well… considering that the sewer had a gorgon in it, it’s changed over the years. Thusly, this part of the city has changed over the years.” He sighed. “So, there’s probably something dangerous lurking in the shadows, just waiting for me to turn my back.”

“Isn’t that how it always works?” I quirked an eyebrow at him.

“Eeyup.”

I sighed, and made another smoke ring.

“So… what are we doing today?”

Raid took a look at his pipbuck. “We still got a ways to go. ‘Bout another half a day, I think?”

“Hmmm… what if we don’t find my dad? Should we just ask around?”

“Probably, but I doubt that a traveling zebra is easy to miss.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because most tend to stay in one place. Even after nearly two centuries, everypony still seems to think ‘the zebras are plotting to kill us all!’” He sighed. “So they just end up staying in one town where ponies know them.”

We were both silent for a moment.

“Go get some rest,” I said cheerfully. “I’ll take watch.”

“You’ve only been asleep for five hours…”

I smiled at him. “True, but I’m already awake, so there’s no point trying to go back to sleep right now. I’ll be fine, just get some rest.”

With a shrug, he retreated back into the building.

I just sat and admired the cloudy night sky.

…

It was immensely boring.

Even that vague feeling of vertigo that I thought had passed days ago wasn’t enough to make it interesting.

With a frown and a sigh, I proceeded to repeatedly and deliberately bonk my head on the nearest door jamb.

I’d been doing this for several minutes when I heard something moving outside.

Drawing my laser, I slowly moved past the door to check.

I didn’t see anything, but the sound came again, further away this time.

Reminding myself of the many ways in which I was being stupid, but desperate to kill the boredom, I followed the sound.

Is that… a foal?

The sound was coming from the other side of a pile of rubble. Cautiously, and as sneakily as I could manage, I climbed to the top of the pile and peered over it.

A baby carriage was just… sitting there… in the middle of the empty city, its occupant crying out for its parents.

Of course, that’s what it looked like. I could only assume that it was some kind of lure for a trap, considering that… well… who would just leave a foal in the middle of nowhere?

I considered for a moment. Should I check and see if it was actually a foal in need of help, or should I tell Knives and Raid about it?

Just as I decided to go back and alert my two friends, I heard the click of a revolver behind me.

“Alright now misseh, don’t you go movin’ on me. Ah’ve got this here gun aimed right at the back o’ yer pretty little head, in case ya didn’t notice,” said a female voice with a heavy drawl. “So unless you want yer brain splattered across the ground, yer gonna stay nice and quiet-like.”

“Awww, you think I’m pretty.” I smirked nervously, trying to hide my terror. “Sorry, but I make it a point to not date ponies who’ve pointed guns at me.”

I could almost hear the mare behind me blush. “What in tar- Ah ain’t hittin’ on you, ya striped numbskull, Ah’m robbin’ ya!”

“Why? I don’t have anything on me.”

She growled in frustration. “Just hoof over yer dang caps, ya idjit!”

“I repeat: None. On. Me.” I thought for a moment. “I got smokes… Want one?”

“No Ah don’t want yer damn smokes! What in tarnation is wrong wit’ ya?”

“Well… I’m a chronic insomniac and I’m emotionally unstable for starters…”

“Whu- What are you talking…” She sighed. “Will you at least shut yer damn foal up?”

I frowned. “It’s not my foal. I thought it was yours?”

“Mah foal is back at home.”

We were silent for a moment.

“Ya really don’t got nothin’, do ya…”

“’Fraid not.”

Another moment of silence.

The gun clicked again, and the mare stepped in front of me. “Sorry ‘bout that. Ah’m just… Well… Ah’m kinda at mah wit’s end. Ah’m completely broke.

She smiled nervously and held out a hoof. “Name’s Bonnet.”

I took her hoof and shook. “Zeed.”

“So… Uh… What’re ya doin’ ‘round these parts?”

“Looking for my dad in bladesville.” I frowned. “Shouldm’t we do something about the foal?”

“Like what? Ah already got another mouth ta feed.”

“Fine. I’ll get my friends and we’ll deal with it.” I moved over to the carriage. “This is just wrong.”

“Well, excuse me. Ah’m sorry Ah don’t gotcher sense o’ morals.”

“Well maybe you should get some.”

I made my way to the front of the carriage and stared down into it. “Well hello there, who are… Oh fu-“

The carriage, which was apparently filled with mines as opposed to foals, exploded, launching me back into a pile of rubble. I felt my head crack on something, and my vision was filled with stars, while the rest of my body just became a dull ache, the pain overpowered by a surge of adrenaline.

“Oh sweet Celestia!” Bonnet cried out, running over to me. “Ya alright?”

That ringing in my ears was annoying.

There was the sound of a stallion laughing behind me. “That’s fucking hilarious! It took forever, bUt I can’t believe somepony Actually fell for that again! It just gets fuNnier every single time!”

“Who the buck ‘r you?” Bonnet shouted.

“D0esn’t matter. Shut up and let me have my fun.” There was a gunshot, and Bonnet fell, clutching at her gut. The stallion laughed again.

As I slowly regained my senses, I heard him trotting up, humming an eerie tune as he did.

I made an attempt to stand, but my legs wouldn’t seem to cooperate with me.

The buck’s face appeared in my vision. An off-white unicorn with a grey mane, blue eyes flecked with reds specks. The most disturbing thing, however, was the cutie mark of a pair of hoofcuffs.

“Ooo0h, this is interEsting.” He grinned. “It’s been a while sInce I’ve caught a zEbra.”

I managed to get my hooves under enough control that I could drive them into his skull, sending him reeling backwards as I tried to stand. I only managed to stumble a bit further away.

“FUck1ng cunt! I’ll gut you like the worthless pig y0u are!” He snarled.

I desperately began to search for my gun, scrambling to get away from the psychopath.

He stomped after me, his eyes filled with rage.

There! Only a few steps away.

I started to make a dash towards the weapon, but only felt a yank on my tail as he grabbed it with his magic. “YoU’re not going anYwhere!”

“Like hell I’m not!” I grunted as my hooves were dragged across the asphalt.

I just needed to get loose…

“C’mere!” His lips curled into a smile.

Think, think, think… How can I get him off me? An idea popped into my head. That might work…

I let his magic drag me to him, rolling onto my back as I did.

With a wide grin, he reared up over me, preparing to slam his hooves down onto my head.

I took the opportunity to drive my back hooves into his gut. It didn’t knock the wind out of him like I’d hoped, but he lost his balance and fell to the side.

I scrambled back to my hooves and practically threw myself at the laser.

Successfully grabbing it with my mouth, I leveled it at him, panting heavily.

Grunting, he stood up, one hoof hovering over his stomach. “Huh, m0m was right. I really shouldn’T play with my fo0d.”

Before I could even react, his gun floated out, enveloped in his crimson glow.

He smirked. “You don’t wanna Fuck with me, you piece of shit. I’m faster than you, and that little flashlight of yours won’t do enough to kill me.”

There was a disturbing glint in his eyes.

“S0, think you wanna risk it?”

I considered carefully what I would do next.

I really didn’t want to kill him. I couldn’t stand injuring other ponies, I’m a medic, I’m not supposed to do that. I mean, I'll hit them, but I don't like doing any real damage. Sadly, I didn’t have much choice at the moment, so I really only had two choices.

On one hoof, I could shoot at his horn, hope that the pain made him drop the gun, and then fire away at him until he stops, or I could just fire away at him until he gives up, and hope that he misses when he shoots, though I could probably deal with any wounds that don’t kill me.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to make that decision myself, as a shot rang out, and the madpony was peppered with shotgun pellets. As he screamed in pain, his magic imploded, and the gun went flying into the rubble.

Then Knives tackled him. The two wrestled in a flurry of hooves and electric shocks as Knives repeatedly slammed her baton into him as he let out bursts of psychotic laughter.

“Zeed!” I heard Raid call. “You alright?”

“Scared shitless. Think I might have a concussion.” I shrugged. “Other than that, I’m fine.”

“Good. When this is over, Knives and I are going to berate you about the many things you’ve done wrong.” He said with a smirk.

“Stay down ye buckin’ piece ay shit!” Knives screamed. “How many times dae Ah have tae hit ye before ye stay unconscious?”

He just laughed, trying to bite her as a last resort.

She drove the baton into his skull, again and again, until there was a snapping sound.

Her currently mismatched eyes wide with surprise, she pulled the baton away to see that the end had broken off, leaving little more than a sparking nub. The now heavily beaten buck went limp.

“Aw…” She whined. “Ah was startin’ tae like this thing.”

The danger over, I rushed over to Bonnet, who had curled up where she fell, sobbing gently.

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, you’ll be fine. It’s just a gut wound.”

“Whaddaya mean ‘Ah’ll be fine’? Ah just got shot, dammit! Ah’m gonna die!” She sobbed. “Oh dear Celstia, what’ll happen ta Cricket?”

“I took three bullets to that area once, and I’m was just fine.” I said with a deadpan expression. “It’ll only kill you if you’re stupid enough to just let it bleed, or get infected. Knives, can you get my stuff please?”

As Knives ran off to get my medical kit, Bonnet’s eyes widened as she stared at me with a combination of confusion and fear. “Wha-what are ya gonna do?”

“Treat the wound. Duh.” I snorted.

“But… Ah don’t got any potions on me… or any bits ta buy-“

I gave her a light smack on the head. “Trust me.”

Knives plopped the kit, a small brown bag of tools, smirking as she did so. This caused Bonnet’s eyes to widen even further.

Before she could start saying anything, I jabbed her with a shot of med-x, making her yelp in surprise. Once I was sure that it had taken effect, I pulled out a pair of mouth-held tweezers, and dug into the wound, yanking out the bullet, fortunately in a single piece. Finally, I took one of the many potions I’d put into syringes and jabbed that into the flesh near the wound, and watched as the magic took hold, the wound stitching itself together before our eyes.

She gave me a grateful smile.

“Good,” I said, a smile growing on my own face as well. “Now that that’s done…”

I drove my hoof into her muzzle. “What the fuck are you trying to rob me for?”

Knives’ nostrils flared. “She tried tae rob ye? Och, well now Ah regret savin’ her.”

Bonnet shuffled away, still on her back and now holding a bloody nose. Raid, who was standing on top of the rubble pile, watching us with interest and keeping an eye on the other stallion, raised his eyebrow curiously.

“Ah’m sorry!” She cried. “The Boss is demandin’ more money from us, and mah husband just can’t make enough! Please don’t kill me, Ah have a foal!”

I blinked, trying to figure out what the hell was going on in her head. “Do you really think I’m gonna kill you? I just healed you!”

“Then…” She sniffed. “Then why did you hit me…”

I shrugged. “I was in a perfectly good mood before you came along. Granted, I was bored out of my mind, but a good mood is a good mood, and you ruined it.”

“But… well.. he’s…” she pointed behind me. “He looks like he’s about to… uh…”

“Raid just fought the nutcase, what are you…” I quirked an eyebrow at her, then I realized that she was pointing at Knives, whose slitted eye was twitching with irritation. “Oh. She’s just easily pissed off, especially when you call her a colt. So… don’t do that.”

Bonnet whimpered, and tried to avoid the mare’s mismatched gaze.

Raid chuckled as he stepped down from the rubble pile. “Heh. I didn’t think you’d just let her live. Most ponies would just kill her out of spite.”

“Yes, well… I’m not most ponies.” I grinned. “I’m a zebra, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“Speaking of…” I put a hoof to my chin in thought. “Hey, Bonnet… I don’t suppose you’ve met a zebra named Nezan, have you?”

“Y-yeah. He comes up every so often, trading all kinds o’ things.” She stammered. “Ah know his wife. They’re pretty nice pon… eh… people… but he’s a bit… odd. Keept talkin’ about Luna a lot.”

“Yup. That’s my dad.” I grinned, trying to ignore that irritating word she just used. “Know where he is?”

“He came into Bladesville yesterday, but… the Bone Eaters attacked shortly after. We still don’t know who was taken…” She cringed.

My eye twitched.

My dad came to the town… and it was attacked… and he might not be there anymore.

I ran through the possibilities in my mind.

Killed? Maybe. It might be one of those raiders that Raid was talking about.

Somepony in the town might have taken advantage of the attack and just killed him for being a zebra. They might have killed his wife and… my… I guess half-sister as well.

What if he was dead? I had just found out he was alive! If he died before I even found him it would… It would be losing him all over again.

Oh dear Luna, what if something happened to Ashes, too?

“Bu-but Ah think that… that Misty Air is still aroun’ though, ‘cuz Ah saw Kara runnin’ ‘round this mornin’.”

Suddenly, I was hit by a spray of water from Raid’s direction, accompanied by the sound of an empty water bottle hitting the ground. Slowly, I turned to glare at him, as he gave me a slightly embarrassed grin and a nervous laugh. “You know, I’ve always wanted to see an actual spit-take… I’ve just never wanted to be the one spat at…”

“Aheh… Sorry.” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, Misty Air? Black mane, white coat?”

“Yup. That’s the one. Don’t know where she might be, though. Ya might wanna try an’ search around fer her.”

Raid grinned. “Wow. I thought she kicked it years ago.”

Seeing our collective looks of confusion, he waved a hoof dismissively. “I’ll explain later.”

“Who’re th’ Bone Eaters?” Asked Knives. “It sounds familiar.”

“Old story,” I said. “They were a bunch of demons who ‘take naughty foals to work in the mines of’… well… wherever the parents felt like saying, really.”

Raid gave a humorless laugh and added, “Now they’re just slavers who basically do the same thing.”

My eye twitched again, a whole new set of horrific possibilities running through my head. “Slavers?”

He nodded solemnly. “If we’re lucky, they might have just captured him.”

A bit of hope now restored, I gritted my teeth. “Well, then… Let’s see if we can find them.”

With that, and a few nervous glances between Knives and Raid, we began walking once more.

~~~~~~

The trip was shorter than Raid had estimated. Only about five hours, as opposed to half a day, or anywhere near that.

Bladesville wasn’t much to look at, really. It was simply a refurbished pre-war city, now more of a town. For some reason, I’d envisioned it as being a lot bigger. Of course, I didn’t actually notice this at the moment, as I was too busy being angry and storming towards the city gates while Raid and Knives tried to talk some sense into me. Bonnet simply followed along, apparently having nothing better to do.

“Zeed, ye can’t go and attack a bunch ay well-armed ponies like that,” Knives pleaded. “Yer goin’ tae get yerself killed.”

“I’m going to get my dad.” I said with an air of finality.

“Come on, at least let us come up with a plan?” Raid offered. “We don’t have enough caps to get more weapons anyway, and Knives doesn’t even have that baton anymore.”

I growled in frustration. “I haven’t even seen him in eleven years! I just found out that he might be alive, do you really think I’m not going to do everything I can for him?”

“Neither of us have said that!” Knives groaned. “We just need tae plan first! Fer Celestia’s sake, Ah’d dae th’ same thing if Ah knew mah father was in this situation, but just stormin’ in like that will just cause problems.”

I took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. “This just makes me so angry.”

“Aye, Ah know, but ye need tae calm down.”

I quirked an eyebrow at her.

“Yes, this is comin’ from me.” She smirked. “So, ye want tae come up wi’ a plan first?”

“Fine,” I sighed in a defeated manner. “What do you guys think we should do?”

Raid thought for a moment. “First thing is that we should ask around town. If we’re lucky, we might find out that he’s still here. If not, we find out which way the slavers went and what they’re armed with.”

I nodded. “And when we find that out?”

“Then we see if they have a base set up, most likely sneak in, and find your dad. If he’s there, we see what we can do to get him out and free whatever other slaves we can. If not… well, we’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Knives smirked at him. “Ah thought ye said ye were an idiot.”

“I am.” He shrugged. “I’ve done this before.”

Both of us stared at him.

He grinned. “I’m not fond of slavers.

“Right. Bonnet, where can we find some information around here?” I sighed.

“What the hell kinda question is that? Just get yer flank over to the bar an’ ask the bartender.” She frowned. “What’re ya, canned goods?”

I frowned and Knives deadpanned, while Raid let out a quiet chuckle.

Bonnet looked taken aback. “Oh… Uh… Sorry, didn’t mean nothin’ by it.”

“Well, what are we going to do about weapons?” I asked. “Since, according to you, Raid, we don’t have enough.”

“Well, if we got some low-quality crap,” Knives tapped her chin with a forehoof. “Ah might be able tae fix it. We’d just need some… Ah dunnae, junk parts.”

Before I could ask about anything else, Knives held up a hoof. “Zeed, before ye go and start plannin’ all kinds ay revenge or what-have-ye, Ah think ye need tae see yer stepmother.”

“What? Why?”

“Because she might know where yer father went.”

I thought for a moment. “No… I don’t… I don’t think I can do that just yet. I kinda want to see dad first…”

I sighed. “Look, just… It just wouldn’t feel right without him. It would be too weird. She probably wouldn’t even believe me. I don’t even know if she knows about me. If she doesn’t like me… No, I don’t want to… Ruin dad’s life like that.”

“If she’s who I think she is, I doubt that she’d hate you. For any reason.” Raid chimed in.

“What are ye talkin’ about?”

“I might possibly know her. I’m not sure.” He looked to me. “If you want, I could find her for you.”

“No. I don’t want to deal with this right now.” I shook my head. “Let’s just find dad, and deal with it then.”

He shrugged. “Your call.”

“Wait… Are y’all sayin’ that she’s Nezan’s daughter?” Bonnet was wide-eyed.

I nodded.

“Ah won’t say nothin’. It ain’t mah business ta pry into.” She sighed. “But… Ah’ll be honest here, Ah think Ah might be able ta help ya.”

Raid bit his lip. “Sorry to say Bonnet, but I don’t think that’s the best idea.”

She shook her head. “Ah’m not comin’ with ya. Ah got a foal ta take care of, and Ah don’t think mah daughter’d like growin’ up without a momma. But…”

She put a hoof up to her chin. “Mah husband owes Nezan a favor, Ah think. Might have somethin’ for ya.”

“Well…” I said. “I guess we can use whatever we can get.”

“Alright!” Raid clapped his hooves together. “So, Knives, you can go and deal with weapons, buying and fixing and what-not. Zeed, you pick up any supplies we might need. I will go and get whatever information I can. Sound like a plan?”

~~~~~

Bark smiled as he stumbled along the road, dragging a crying young green pegasus filly simply named ‘Green’ along by a rope tied around her neck.

He held the rope in his teeth while his pistol floated unsteadily around his head. Occasionally, he would drop the rope and step on it, freeing his mouth to take a long swig of one of the many bottles of vodka he kept in his saddlebags.

It was during one of these swigs that he noticed a silhouette in the distance, mostly concealed by the orange mists of Canterbury. With a smile, he stumbled towards his, waving his gun around in what he thought was a menacing way, as Green trudged along behind him.

“Hey! Fuckwit! Yeah, you!” he shouted, his words slurring together. “Hold the fuck shtill! I’ll shoot ya if you move.”

The figure stopped. He smiled. Clearly the pony was scared of him. He wished all slaves were this easy to pick up.

Approaching the figure, he was glad to see a fairly attractive unicorn mare, pink coat, black mane, blue eyes and a curvy figure. “Sho, pretty mare… What’sh yer name, eh?”

She smiled at him. “My name is Wretch.”

Bark chuckled. An apt name for a new slave. “Well, ‘Wretch’, my name is Bark, and I’m your new mashter.”

Wretch giggled. “And who’s this filly here?”

“Hey!” he shouted. “You talk when I tell you to talk! I have a gun, got it?”

Wretch furrowed her eyebrows, thinking.

She stayed silent for a moment, as if processing the situation.

Eventually, she nodded. “That is a very small caliber gun, .22LR, I believe. I doubt it will do much.”

Both Bark and Green stared open-mouthed at the pink-and-black mare. Bark was spluttering. Never before had somepony so blatantly blew off his threats like that, it made him angry enough that he actually started to sober up a bit. He hated being sober. “What… What the fuck did you just say to me?”

Instead of answering, her horn glowed, unstrapping something from her back.

“This,” she said, holding the shotgun up for him to see. “Is a real gun. Modified 12 gauge riot shotgun. Fully automatic, and currently loaded with alternating magnum and slug shells.”

Bark just stared at her. “Okay, so you have a fancier gun than me. I can still shoot faster than you, and when you’re dead I’ll just take it from you.”

Wretch just giggled again. “Maybe.”

She took another look at the filly, who was very much frightened right now. “Why are you so scared?”

“Shut up!” Bark barked. “I am the master and you are the slave! I have a gun pointed at your head, and you will do as I say.”

Wretch stopped. She stood still as a statue, not even breathing. Bark gave a smug smile. He knew he had the mare now.

“Then she is your slave as well?”

“Damn right. You’re both going to-“ He never finished his sentence. His jaw was torn apart by one of the magnum shells.

Green stared in horror, as Wretch calmly removed the rope from her neck, smiling as though nothing had just happened. Tears began to flow down her face as she begged, expecting to be killed herself. “Please… no…”

There was no second shot. Wretch just hugged the young pegasus, whispering calming words in her ear. Slowly, Green relaxed, and her tears of fear changed to ones of relief.

Wretch pulled away, smiling. “My name is Wretch. What’s yours?”

The pegasus sniffled. Her voice was hoarse, due to lack of use. The sound surprised her. “G-Green.”

Still smiling, Wretch swiftly looted the body of the failed slaver, and floated all his possessions over to the filly.

“Here.” She said. “You might need these.”

Confused, Green took the saddlebags and quickly put them on, followed by Bark’s leg holster and the pistol. She stretched her wings a few times, hoping they weren’t damaged.

Looking up, she saw that Wretch was already walking away.

“W-wait!” Cried Green.

Wretch turned, a look of surprise on her face.

“Can… can I… Can I come with you?”

With a wide smile, Wretch nodded.

--------

Footnote 1: Diamond Knives
Level up! (8)
Melee Weapons: 75
Repair: 81

Perks:
Brutal Beatdown: Your melee and unarmed attacks have a 25% chance of knocking down a target. Charge attacks have a 75% chance

~~~~~~

Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri
Level up! (7)
Energy Weapons: 60
Medicine: 75

Perks:
Determined: Whenever you are reduced to 50% or less health, you gain take 25% damage resistance.

~~~~~~

Footnote 3: Raid (???)
Level up! (8)
Guns: 70
Speech: 54

Perks:
Walker of the Wastes (Rank 1/3): You and your team move 20% faster out of combat. In combat, your own walk speed is increased by 10%

`

Quests:

Active Quest:
O’ Father, Where Art Thou?: Infiltrate or assault the Bone Eaters’ base near Bladesville.

Other quests:
Sifting through the dust:
1)
Find information on the location of Ashes.
2)
Find information on the location of Obsidian Knives
3)
–Find information on the location of Nezan Kazdri

-------

(Author’s Notes)

*taps fingers together, in stereotypical bad-guy fashion*

Good evening, readers.

I understand that some of you don’t like chapters such as this…

SO I MADE MORE!!!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAH! *cue lighting* MUAHAHAHAHAH!

Kidding, of course. I do have a reason for this, I think… *wink*

No… I don’t know what that means…

Things should hopefully pick up a bit more from here.

Thanks to Kkat for Fallout Equestria, and Somber for Project Horizon. Thanks to whoever reads this, and again, critiques are very much welcome.

Chapter Nine: Less Than Prepared

“You’re so stupid you broke the IQ scale!”

“I’m still smarter than you, you addle-headed post-lobotomy patient!”

“At least I’m not as ugly as you!”

“Your stripes make your legs look thick!”

“Oh yeah? Yours make you look like a big, fat, blimp!”

Mom snorted like she usually did when she was laughing. “Pfff-hahaha! Sweetie, you’ve never even seen a blimp. How would you know?”

“I’ve… haha… I’ve seen pictures.” I managed to say through laughter of my own.

“Still, though. That was a pretty good one.” She smiled at me, there was a bit of embarrassment in her voice. “You… you don’t actually think I’m fat, right?”

I giggled. “You’re not fat mom.”

She sighed with relief. “Either way, I guess you win this round. Wanna go again?”

“Yeah!” I pursed my lips as I racked my brain for a decent starting insult. “You-“

“Oh, uh… sorry… um… is this a bad time?” Asked a young Zeed, standing in the doorway with a nervous expression. “You guys aren’t fighting, right?”

Mom gave her a warm smile. “Oh, we’re not really fighting. It’s just a game that Obsidian and I used to play. We’re trying to see who can come up with the best insult.”

I smiled and bounced slightly with joy. “I actually won for once!”

Mom’s expression changed to one of concern. “Zeed, what’s wrong? Is everything alright?”

Zeed hung her head and stammered a bit.

“I… uh… Mom and I… kinda…”

Mom sighed, and my ears went down. “You got into another argument with her, didn’t you?”

Zeed nodded, tears in her eyes. “She hates me.”

I trotted up and gave her a hug. Mom did the same. “She doesn’t hate you. She just… well… she just doesn’t understand you. Give her time. I’m sure she’ll lighten up.”

“Sorry I always ruin everything for you guys…” Zeed sniffed.

“Ruin?” I scoffed. “We’re happy to make you happy, Zeed. We’re friends. Hey, maybe we can get Ashes over here and have a sleepover or something!”

Mom chuckled. “I think that would be nice. What about you, Zeed?”

Zeed nodded, a smile spreading across her face as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

~~~~~

Standing near the gates of Bladesville, I wondered idly why both of the towns I’d been to were guarded or gated or whatever. Instead of being a repurposed building that was just fortified, Bladesville was a pre-war town, in which the mostly intact buildings were patched up with bits of metal sheets and piles of rubble. It seemed a lot more… open than the Mall had. Maybe because it wasn’t all a single building, instead just being surrounded by a low wall made of, surprise, scrap metal, but nevertheless, even the air here felt pleasant.

“Zeed, on the west side of town is a place called ‘Niner Six’.” Raid began.

“Niner Six?” She raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know why it’s called that, but they should have anything we might need.”

“Where am Ah lookin’ then?” I asked.

“North side. Shop called ‘Stock’s Shop’. Just to warn you, she’s a ghoul, so don’t freak out when you see her.”

“Aam nae goin’ tae freak out, don’t worry.” I rolled my eyes.

“Just letting you know.” He thought for a moment. “And tell her ‘Blue’ sent you.”

I quirked an eyebrow at him. “Blue?”

“Again, don’t ask.” He shook his head. “When you’re done-“

“Hey, what about me?” Asked… Bowler, or something. I forgot her name.

“Well… you don’t have to do anything.”

“Well, Ah’d like ta help ya if’n ah can. How about Ah just go and git something that might help y’all?”

Raid shrugged. “It’s up to them.

Zeed smiled warmly. “Anything you can do to help would be greatly appreciated, Bonnet.”

“Ah dunnae really care.” I was still irritated by the fact that she’d tried to rob Zeed, though. I must have been glaring at her, because she grinned nervously and gulped.

“Alright then. We’ll meet at the Broken Muzzle when we’re done. You guys got your bands?”

We both showed the green bands given to us at The Mall. I wrapped mine into a bandanna, while Zeed tied it around her right foreleg as she spoke. “I thought this was just in The Mall…”

“Nope, generally accepted thing in Canterbury. Makes it easier to find jobs. Usually.” He frowned, and tied his own dark grey cloth to his battle saddle. With a shrug, he tossed each of us a small bag of bottlecaps. “This is what we got. Stay safe.”

We split up after trotting past the guards and onto the crumbled street, each to our respective locations. I was, admittedly, surprised by the number of ponies just walking around, talking happily to one another, or just enjoying the day. I figured that it must have been a relatively peaceful city for everypony to be so relaxed. There was even a couple of restaurants open, looking as though no time had passed at all, but for a few years of bad maintenance.

I took a deep breath, relishing the feeling of air that wasn’t too hot or humid, air that flowed freely around everything. I then proceeded to realize that I had no idea what I was doing.

“Well… crap.” I frowned.

I ended up just wandering around what I guessed was a marketplace. Stalls were set up in the middle of the street in addition to the shops where… well… where there used to be actual shops. However, I didn’t see anything called ‘Stock’s Shop’.

I sat on my flanks on a sidewalk corner and thought.

“Excuse me, miss?”

I turned to see a golden stallion with a white mane giving me a tired smile.

“You look lost. Anything I can do to help?”

Slightly embarrassed, I gave a nervous chuckle. “Aye. Actually, could ye tell me where Ah can find a place called ‘Stock’s Shop’?”

He frowned. “Stock? He’s all the way on the other end of this road.”

With a faint twitch of my right eye, I facehooved. “Och, well now Ah just feel stupid. Thanks.”

“Any time Diamond.” And with that, he trotted off.

Wait…

I spun around to get a look at him, catching a glimpse of his cutie mark.

A broken red cross. My eyes widened as I realized that I’d seen him in the Prison just before Zeed and I had left.

“HEY!” I shouted.

Looking back at me with a smirk, he galloped down the street, with me chasing after him.

“Get back here!”

He weaved through a few throngs of ponies, slipping past them, and they spared little more than a glance. I, on the other hoof, barreled past them, jumped over them, getting many shouts of anger and surprise in return. All the while, the golden stallion smirked at me, which only served to piss me off even more. I growled in frustration.

He just kept running down the street, not even turning anywhere. I briefly wondered where he was going.

I quickly began to run out of steam. I could already begin to feel my heart pounding in my chest. My lungs were on fire as I gasped for breath. I was growing tired.

Suddenly, he shot sideways into an alley, and there was a flash of golden light. I rounded the same corner less than a second later, only to find a dead end, with nopony there.

Still breathless, I collapsed onto the ground.

“Who…” I gasped. “Who the fuck… was that…”

“Oh, bravo, Knives.” She applauded in a slow and sarcastic manner. “Your skills of pursuit are absolutely amazing. I’m jealous.”

“Shut up.”

“Awww, are you gonna cry?” She snickered. “Gonna go back to your crush and hope he takes you into his hooves, like one of those old romance novels of yours?”

I blushed and shot up into a sitting position. “How did you know about that?”

“Did… did you really just ask me that?” She asked. “I live in your head, dipshit!”

I didn’t answer with anything more than an indignant trot out of the alley and back onto the street. I glanced around to see where I’d ended up.

At some point, it might have been a rather nice-looking park. Now it was just a large, barren patch of dirt. A small structure had been built smack in the middle, made entirely out of cinder blocks. It looked one side wasn’t entirely finished, and the opening in the wall showing the large stock of weapons within.

In front of the makeshift concrete booth was what appeared to be the rotting corpse of a pegasus. One that was relaxing on a lawn chair and badly singing along with the radio playing next to it, the raspy voice not hitting a single correct note, to the point where I couldn’t hear the actual song, or even tell what song it was supposed to be.

“Excuse me,” I said as I approached. “Are ye Stock?”

The corpse removed her sunglasses and grinned at me. For some reason it surprised me that her teeth were intact. “Fuck yeah, dude! What can I do ya for?”

I blinked at the cheery undead pegasus. “Uh… Ah’m lookin’ fer some weaponry. Ah… ‘Blue’ sent me, Ah guess.”

Her eyes widened, as did her grin. “No fuckin’ way, you know Blue? Fuck, mare, I haven’t seen that guy in forever.”

She eyed me briefly. “So… you two ruttin’?”

My face instantly turned red. “WHAT?”

“No? Shame, dude. That buck needs to get a ‘special somepony’, if ya know what I mean.” She chewed on one of her rotting wingtips in thought, then spat it out, grimacing. “For the record, you’ll probably need ta flirt with ‘im a lot. He’s fuckin’ dense, so he won’t do anything more than flirt with ya if you don’t make it blatantly obvious that ya like ‘im.”

I was speechless in my embarrassment, and couldn’t do much more than stare at the ghoul.

“Actually, from the look you’re givin’ me right now, I doubt that you’ll get very far in a relationship with the buck.” She frowned at me. “You need ta lighten up dude.”

“L-lighten up?” I stammered. “You just… What the fuck is wrong with you?”

She gave me a confused look. “What happened ta yer voice?”

“N-never mind. Can Ah just buy some gear off ay ye?” I was still blushing.

“Oh, sure. What’s Blue plannin’ this time, dude? Stealth mission? Air raid? Search-and-destroy?” She raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

“We’re goin’ after a slaver base, Ah think. Bone Eaters.”

She whistled. “Shit, dude. You’re gonna need a fuck-ton more than just gear if you’re gonna get through the Boneheads. Tell ya what…”

With one wing, she reached into her booth and retrieved a large minigun on a battle saddle, which she donned within seconds. “I’ll come with ya, so you guys won’t get yourselves killed, ‘cuz I just know that Blue Dude’s gonna do something stupid.”

“Uh… alright, then. But we still need some be’er weapons…”

She wrinkled her nose. “Don’t tell me he’s still usin’ that stupid shotgun of his.”

I nodded.

She facehooved. “I told ‘im to get a fuckin’ SMG or something. He never listens.”

“So… How dae ye know each other.”

She stopped moving and stared at me for a moment.

“That’s not for me ta tell.” She smiled. “Now… let me see here…”

She began to rummage through the things in her booth, her back half hanging out as she occasionally tossed a weapon out onto the dirt. Eventually, she had built a small pile of guns and small, round things. I think they were grenades.

She pulled hear head back out and smiled, her face had somehow become covered in black oil. “Yup, that should do it. C’mon, help me out here.”

She threw a very large rifle-like thing towards me, and I reflexively tried to catch it with my magic. I managed to hold it for about two seconds as my magic swiftly drained, causing my magic to implode and my horn to spark. The butt of the gun smacked me in the face as I collapsed, breathing heavily and holding my bruised nose.

Stock gave me a surprised look. “You okay?”

I moaned. “Weak magic.”

She whistled again. “Weak seems like an understatement. No offense.”

“None taken.” My horn hurt.

Stock sighed. “I’ll get the battle saddles and saddlebags.”

~~~

We walked into the bar, Stock with a cheery smile, me tired from burnout and panting and sweating from carrying gear. We found Zeed and Raid in a booth, Zeed with a bottle of water, and Raid with a bottle of tequila.

“Hey Blue, what’s up?” with a wing, she dropped a saddlebag full of ammunition on the table. I just dropped myself onto one of the seats. I noticed that Zeed was looking at the ghoul with a hint of surprise. “It’s been forever, dude.”

“Hey, I didn’t expect you to hoof-deliver these.” He stopped and looked at me for a moment. “Knives, are you okay?”

Before I could respond, Stock let out a loud, raspy gasp. “Holy fuck, Blue, what happened ta your accent?”

Raid just blinked at her. “Say again?”

“Your accent! It’s gone!”

All three of us were staring at her now.

“I don’t have an accent.”

“That’s the problem! What happened to your old surfer talk?”

I quirked an eyebrow at Raid. “’Old surfer talk’?”

Raid covered his eyes with his hooves in a frustrated manner. “How is it surfer talk? We didn’t live anywhere near the ocean. Or any body of water at all, for that matter.”

“Duh, ‘cuz it’s how they, like… used ta talk, dude.” Stock replied as-a-matter-of-factly. “Now yer talkin’ all formal-like.”

Raid simply facehoofed and sighed. “Moving on… Are you alright, Knives?”

I grunted an affirmative and waved a hoof dismissively. “She threw some heavy crap at meh and Ah nearly burned out. Ah’ll be fine in a bit.”

“Yeah, she’ll be fine. Let’s focus on the important things here…” Stock came face-to-face with Raid. “Like your accent. Come on, Blue! Ya sounded so cool!”

“How in the fuck is that more important than my friend being hurt?”

“It just is!” Stock sighed in frustration. “You were, so proud of commin’ outa Dream Valley.”

Raid gave her an incredulous look. “Since when? I hated that miserable place! It was like hell with the thermostat a bit higher up.”

“Okay… I’ll give ya that it sucked, but still, ya got out, right? Shouldn’tcha, like… keep it as a badge or something?”

“How does that make sense in your head…” He growled in frustration. “I’m not talking about this anymore. I’m done.”

“What about-“

“So, Zeed, did you manage to get anything useful?”

The zebra shook her head as she realized she was being spoken to. She pulled her eyes off the pegasus ghoul. “Huh?”

“Supplies. Did you manage to get them?”

“Oh… Uh… Yeah. I got quite a bit, actually.” She dumped a saddlebag on the table. A copious amount of drugs, medical supplies, and canned food spilled out.

I picked up one of the cans and grimaced. “Orange slices? Wonderful… mah worst enemy now come in a can.”

“Don’t worry, Knives. I got plenty of stuff without citrus.” She smiled as she sorted out the pile. “I think we got about three days worth of stuff in here.”

“Wait… Why do you care about oranges?” Raid asked, pointing at me. “I though you couldn’t taste anything.”

“Allergies.” I grunted.

“Oh.” He put a hoof to his chin. “How bad, if you don’t mind my asking?”

I deadpanned at him. “Ah get stomach cramps sae bad ‘at Ah can hardly stand tae move ‘coz ay th’ pain, an’ mah mouth burns like Ah just stuck an arc welder in it. How bad is ‘at?”

He grimaced. “Eh… pretty bad, then… Sorry I asked.”

“Oh!” Stock pointed a hoof at me excitedly. “Speaking of accents-“

“No.” Was my reply. “We weren’t talkin’ about anything ay th’ sort.”

“Oh come on! At least-“

“No.”

“Come on, Knives. Tell them. Tell them the truth. Tell them why you can’t stand your own voice.”

“Quiet you.”

“Don’t tell me ta be quiet! I can talk if I want…” The ghoul huffed.

Wait… did I say that out loud?

I could hear her laughing in the back of my head, so… probably. Crap.

“Okay… so…” Raid looked through the saddlebags Stock and I had brought. “Zeed, you know how to use energy weapons, right?”

“I know how to use an energy weapon, yes.” She dropped her laser pistol on the table. Raid responded by plopping down a laser rifle. Zeed’s eyes lit up like it was Hearth’s Warming Day. “Holy crap, that it awesome.”

“Works on the same principles, we’ll just have to teach you to use it with a saddle.”

Zeed frowned. “Really? Don’t you have any other pistols? I hate having things strapped to my back.”

Stock frowned. “Don’tcha wear saddlebags though?”

“Doesn’t mean I like it.”

Raid continued to rummage through the bags, eventually pulling out something that looked like a toy ray gun. “How about this?”

“Oooooh… I like it already.” As she examined it, she frowned. “Where’s the battery?”

“Capacitor gem. Never needs a reload, just give it a couple of seconds and voila... ammo.”

Zeed was practically drooling.

“Knives, can you shoot a gun?”

“Nope.”

He sighed. “Well, I guess we can teach you. We’ll-“

He was interrupted by my stomach growling. I blushed. “Sorry.”

“Heh. Maybe we should get something to eat first?”

~~~~

“Sweet Celestia! You hit the wrong damn target!” Raid said as he fell to the ground laughing.

With an angry blush, I spat out the bit of my battle-saddle. “It’s mah first time!”

“Oh, so you’re a gun virgin?” Seeing my blush turn from one of anger to one of embarrassment, he burst out laughing even harder.

I telekinetically grabbed the closest small object I saw and chucked it at him with a telekinetic kick. The rock hit him right in the muzzle, and his hooves flew to his face as he yelped in shock. I would have laughed at him, were I not hit with another migraine from my still-recovering horn.

“Ow.” He said. “At least you can throw pretty good.”

Still in pain, I trotted over to the nearby table and angrily took a bite of my daisy sandwich. We had asked the town leader… mayor… type… pony… and they allowed us the use of the shooting range in the old police station. Zeed had completely obliterated one of the targets, turning the ponnequinn into a pile of glowing hot ash. The only thing I’d managed to do was blow the arms off of one… on the wrong side of the building. I preferred using blunt objects to hit ponies, anyway. At least that way I could easily stop before I killed somepony who doesn’t deserve it.

“Well then, if we get some throwing daggers or somethin’, maybe Ah can be ay some use tae ye.”

“Wait… Knives, that’s not what I-“

“Ah know, Ah know. Ah’m not exactly the strongest one in th’ group. Ah can’t lift things fer shit, and Ah’ve got tae get in close tae hit anything.” I sighed.

“Knives, I never said you were useless. It’s just funny that you can’t shoot a gun, is all.” He facehooved. “Forget it. Even I don’t know what the hell I’m saying.”

Zeed obliterated another target. I felt a pang of jealousy and sighed again.

“Oh, come on. It’s not that bad.” He trotted over and put a hoof on my shoulder. “You’ve been doing fine so far. Why would that change?”

“Only ‘cause we’ve been in fights with one or two other ponies… or gorgons, or whatever. Even in th’ Prison, Ah tried tae stay out ay fights, though it didn’t seem tae dae much good.” I sighed again. “Ah’d really rather not talk about it. Let’s just say that the Prison got a lot more… violent after the Leak.”

“Whatever the case, don’t sell yourself short.” He smirked. “You’re not half bad.”

Don’t blush, don’t blush.

“Yer not sae bad yerself.” Oh sweet Celestia… Did I really just say that?

“Oh, somepony’s feeling frisky today.” He snickered. Dammit, now I’m blushing.

“Well… Uh… Ah…”

Luckily, Zeed saw my dilemma and came to my rescue. “So, Raid. Did you find any useful information? Anything on my dad?”

“I found out that he ran off into the distance, trying to pull some of the Bone Eaters away from the bigger group. He apparently dragged them straight through a minefield. One of the spotters saw him get swarmed, though and none of the others knew what happened to him after that.” Raid chuckled. “Just so you know, your dad is now on my ‘badass list’.”

“Uh… thanks… I guess.” She scratched her head. “So, where did the rest of them go?”

“East. Don’t know where their base is, but if they’re anything like the New Tartarus slavers, they’ll make it obvious that this is their territory.”

I snorted. “Sounds like a bunch ay dogs.”

“Their leader is a diamond dog, so… yeah, that shouldn’t be surprising.”

Zeed looked shocked, I just gave Raid an odd look. “What in th’ hell is a diamond dog?”

“Big dog-like person. Walks on two legs, interestingly. Some of them are pretty good with technology, so the rest of the slavers might have a few energy weapons on them.”

“Are you serious?” Zeed asked. “I’ve only seen them in comics.”

“Yup. Where do you think the writers came up with them?” He shrugged. “They’re definitely real. Never met one myself, though.”

“So… Dae we have a plan, then?”

“I was thinking we should get a look at the place first. We might not even need all these guns for the actual attack, if we’re lucky.”

“Thanks for the jinx.” Zeed snorted.

Raid rolled his eyes. “So, we’ll-“

“There y’all are!” Bonnet came bursting through the door, sweating and panting heavily. “Ah thought y’all were gonna meet up at the bar.”

“We did.” Finishing my first sandwich, I picked up another one.

“Whatever, Ah wanted ta give this to ya.” She dumped one of her saddlebags on the floor. Out came a large, rifle-like thing, with a thick barrel, and a pile of things that looked like oddly shaped grenades. “It used ta be mah husbands ‘fore he quit the mercenary business. Ah figured y’all could use one.”

Stock picked it up and looked at it. “M79? Wow. Haven’t seen one of these in a while. Hehe, hey Knives, maybe you could use this. You don’t really need to aim.”

Growling angrily, I magically swiped the gun from her hooves, wincing in pain as my horn was still recovering.

In an irritated manner, I fired the gun at one of the targets. There was a loud boom, and pieces of the ponnequin flew across the yard, giving me some idea of what it would do to a live pony, but still, it was awesome.

“Bonnet, if ah weren’t the mare Ah was, Ah’d kiss ye.” I said with a wide grin.

Stock turned to the startled mare and screamed. “YOU CARRIED THAT THING LOADED?”

“Ah didn’t know!”

I cracked open the gun and slotted in another grenade. Seconds later, another ponnequin was blown to smithereens.

“Okay… So, you can’t aim a pistol for shit,” Raid held his head in his hooves. “But you’re damn near perfect with a ‘nade rifle. How in the fuck does that make sense? At all? In any way?”

Another ponnequin down. “Who cares? This is awesome!”

I felt like a pre-war filly in a candy store. I couldn’t help but chuckle at Zeed’s wide-eyed stare of horror.

~~~~~

The small green pegasus and the pink-and-black unicorn followed the road, only one of them having even the slightest clue as to where they were going. For the most part they traveled in silence, Wretch simply smiling as she trotted along, Green sticking close to her for protection, being terrified by nearly everything.

This is why Green was immensely startled when Wretch spoke.

“Why were you with that pony?”

“Huh?” replied Green with a blink.

“Bark. How did he come to be your master? I may not be in my right mind, but I can tell he was… stupid is the only word that works.”

“Huh?” Green repeated, not comprehending.

“He seemed to believe that the gun gave him power, despite the opponent’s clear advantage.” Wretch glanced at her gun. “How did you come to be his… slave?”

“Oh… uh… I was born… my mom was his slave, so I am… was… too.” Green coughed.

“You seem to have trouble speaking. Are you ill?” Wretch’s voice was filled with concern.

“No! I… I just don’t really talk much.” She looked at her hooves as she kicked at a rock. “Or at all.”

Wretch considered this for a moment. “How old are you?”

“I… don’t know.” Green blushed.

“Perhaps ten?”

Her blush brightened. “I… uh…”

“Seven?”

“I don’t know.” She sniffed. “I don’t know.”

Wretch was silent for a moment. “Do you have anywhere you can go?”

“No. Bark gambled everything away. He just kept me ‘cuz he thought I was…” She gulped.

Wretch’s eyes flashed with fury. “What did he do?”

“Nothing! He didn’t do anything! He was… um… he said that he could… wait a few years…” Green shuddered.

Wretch’s shoulders relaxed as she spun around and brought the scared filly into a hug. “He’s gone now. You don’t have to be scared. It’s okay.”

They stayed like that a moment.

“Wretch?”

“Hmm?”

“Why are you… you said you weren’t in your right mind.”

“I’m not.”

“How?”

“I broke.”

Green blinked. “What do you mean?”

“I broke. Then he took my mind and put the pieces back together as best he could.” Wretch began walking again. “I let my envy of her take over… and I broke.”

“What of who?”

Wretch’s eyes began to tear up. “I killed her. I killed her because she had what I wanted. Because I’m a bad pony.”

“Wretch? Are you okay?” The green pegasus put a hoof on her savior’s arm.

Wretch burst into tears. “I killed her! All because she was lucky and I wasn’t!”

Green didn’t know what to do. She was at a loss. She’d never seen another pony crying like this, not even another slave.

It didn’t matter, though. As quickly as she’d started, Wretch stopped crying, and a cheerful smile spread across her face. “But he fixed me. He made me better, so I can make up for killing an innocent pony. So I can free my brethren.”

Green was immensely confused by the sudden change, but accepted it. It was a far cry better than Bark’s alcohol-induced rages.

“Sorry, Green. I didn’t mean to start crying like that. I know you’re scared, and that isn’t helping. Don’t worry about it. I know I’ll act… strange, but I won’t hurt you. I promise.”

She continued cheerily down the road, leaving a very confused, forest green pegasus with a lime green mane standing in the dust, blinking her orange eyes as she wondered what just happened to her life.

---------
Footnote 1: Diamond Knives
No level gained.
50% xp.
New Item:
Rusty Grenade Rifle.

~~~~~
Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri
No level gained.
75% xp.

~~~~~
Footnote 3: Raid (???)
No level gained.
50% xp.

`

Quests:
Active Quest:
O’ Father, Where Art Thou?: Infiltrate or assault the Bone Eaters’ base near Bladesville.
Other quests:
Sifting through the dust:
1)
Find information on the location of Ashes.
2)
Find information on the location of Obsidian Knives
3)
–Find information on the location of Nezan Kazdri

-----

(Author’s Notes)

#1: Procrastination does not make perfect.
#2: I am more easily distracted than I thought.
#3: The larch.
#4: I hate having classes and work at the same time.

Sorry for the lack of ACTION! Also sorry for the filigree… and the immense quality drop.

So much for picking up a bit more.

Ttfn.

Thanks to Kkat for Fallout Equestria, and Somber for Project Horizon. Thanks to whoever reads this, and again, critiques are very much welcome.

Chapter Ten: Let's Get This Over With Already

Knock-knock-knock.

“Ashes, wake up.” Knock-knock. “Ashes, ye need tae wake up.”

I knocked on the door of Ashes’ closet-turned bedroom. I’d never quite understood why she chose to sleep in the closet as opposed to the actual bedroom, but then again, I’d never understood why she slept from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon either.

The door between the closet and the rest of the apartment opened to reveal the bleary-eyed, dark grey mare. Ashes yawned so wide I thought that her jaw might fall off.

“Ugh. What time is it?”

“Two-thirty.” I replied. “Ye asked me tae wake ye up, remember?"

She moaned as she trudged her way out of the closet and towards the kitchen. “Too… many… words… need… coffee…”

I chuckled. “Ah got a pot brewin’ in th’ kitchen. Should be almost done by nao.”

She grunted a ‘thank you’ and took a seat at the counter, which I had only recently built out of old junk, and rested her head on its patchwork top.

“So,” I began as I poured out a large mug of coffee for my friend. “What’s so important that ye had tae get up so early?”

She mumbled something before she took a long sip of the drink.

“Say again?” I cupped a hoof to my ear.

“It’s our anniversary. Zeed and I have been dating for two years.” She yawned again, the coffee already beginning to take effect.

“Aaaand?”

“I wanted to surprise her with something.” She replied matter-of-factly.

“Awww, how sweet.” Yes, I was a sucker for anything romantic. “Ye actually went an’ planned somethin’.”

“Hey! I plan a lot of things.” She snapped indignantly.

“Name two.”

She worked her jaw for a moment, then took a drink of her coffee.
“So, what are ye goin’ tae dae?”

“Romantic dinner.”

I ‘aawed’ again, then frowned. “Wait… why does that mean ye have tae wake up?”

She laughed. “I have to actually make the dinner.”

I nodded. “Point taken.”

We were silent for a moment.

“Wouldn’t it be more like a romantic breakfast fer ye?”

Ashes burst out laughing.
~~~~~

I awoke to the feeling of being poked in the stomach.

I rolled over and groaned. “Zeed, cut it out.”

She poked me in the stomach again.

“Cut it out, Zeed.” I whined.

“Time to get up, Knives. We’re leaving soon.” She said.

“Could ye at least stop pokin’ meh in th’ stomach?” I groaned. “Ye know how much Ah hate that.”

“I could tickle you. You know I will.”

I glared at her. She had a mischievous smirk on her face. “Ah still have that shock-box.”

Her smirk faltered. “Never mind. Just get up.”

“Guh… What time is it, anyway?”

“About six thirty.”

I deadpanned at her. “Why are we leavin’ at six thirty.”

She shrugged. “Ask your coltfriend.”

I continued to deadpan at her.

“Hey, not my fault you’re crushing on an oblivious moron.” She grinned. “I’m ninety-five percent sure that he’s crushing back, you know. I’ve seen him staring at your flank a few times.”

More deadpanning. She rolled her eyes at me. “Fine, I’ll stop.”

“Ah’d rather ye not mess wi’ mah love life, Zeed. Ah can deal wi’ it oan mah own.”

“I can think of a few incidents that prove that theory wrong.”

I rolled out of bed with a long, defeated sigh. “Shut up.”

As soon as I stood up, I began to stretch and crack my joints. With every loud pop, Zeed cringed and winced, unsuccessfully trying to pretend that she wasn’t. When I finally finished with a deep yawn, she grimaced.

“I will never understand how, or why, you do that.”

I chuckled. “That’s fine. Ah don’t either. So, where’s Raid?”

“He’s outside, messing about with the gear, again.”

I blinked as I walked out of the small apartment we had rented last night in order to prepare for our assault on the Bone Eaters. Yawning again, I saw that Raid was messing around with our saddlebags, apparently trying to make everything as space-efficient as possible.

“Hello Raid, how are ye doin’?”

“I…” he said as he stuffed several cans of oranges into his own bag. “Am re-organizing, because I don’t really have anything better to do.”

“Mind tellin’ us why we’re up at six-thirty in th’ mornin’?” I yawned yet again.

“Because it’s going to take a while to find out where exactly they are.” In went a few boxes of ammunition. “We’ll probably end up wandering around for a while. I personally have never been in that area.”

“Oh, so th’ great traveler hasn’t been to th’ slaver base?” I snarked.

He laughed. “I generally try and stay in places where I won’t be enslaved or shot on sight.”

“Well… how dae ye expect tae find them then?”

“I told you yesterday. When we’re in their territory, we’ll know. There won’t be any doubt.” He let out a sigh. “They’ll most likely have heads on spikes or something stereotypical like that.”

“What about when we actually find them?”

He frowned at me. “You weren’t listening, were you?”

I frowned back.

He laughed. “Okay, so… leave a.s.a.p. head east, spread out a bit, and continue east until we find something that screams ‘slaver base’. Easy as punch.”

“That’s as good as we’re goin’ tae get, isn’t it?”

“Better than nothing.” He shrugged.

I shook my head. “Whatever. Aam goin’ tae get somethin’ tae eat.”

“Try Minx’s. She’s a decent cook.”

I waved a hoof dismissively. “Screw that. Aam cookin’ somethin’ mahself.”

“Wait, what?” He gazed at me in confusion. “How can you-“

“Oh! Can you make some pancakes?” Zeed called out. “I haven’t eaten yet either.”

I grinned. “’Fraid ah can’t. Ah’ve got nothin’ tae make th’ batter with.”

“You’re going to cook?” Raid’s face was filled with disbelief. “I thought you couldn’t taste anything…”

“Ah can’t, but Ah used tae practice a lot.” I rubbed my chin in thought. “Nao… where can Ah find flour…”

“Seriously… how can you… We don’t even have any eggs! Or milk!”

“Really? Hmmm…” An idea sprung to mind. “Mom’s scrap pancakes!”

Zeed squealed in delight. “Oh sweet Luna I love those!”

I grinned. “Zeed, get me two… no, three bottles ay beer, and as much sugar as ye can get.”

I turned to Raid. “Dae ye know where Ah can get some baking powder?”

After about half an hour of searching for ingredients, I managed to get an old electric stove working, and cooked up a stack of large pancakes. Within about five minutes, Zeed had eaten a plate of five. Raid, on the other hand, was immensely confused, and poked at them with a hoof.

“Och, come on. It’s nae like they’re goin’ tae bite ye.” I said.

He carefully took a nibble of one of the pancakes, and his eyes widened. “How the… Why does the mare with no sense of taste cook better food? And from completely random ingredients, no less.”

I grinned. “Mah mother was th’ best damn cook in th’ Prison, that’s how.”

“But… But… no taste…”

Zeed grinned. “Like her dad would say, pancakes are worth it.”

I gave her an amused look. “Three things, Zeed. First: Mah father used a lot ay idioms, but that was definitely not one ay them. Second: The only reason ye know any of th’ things dad used tae say is because mah mother told ye about them. Third: ye never even met mah father, how would you know what he’d say?”

She chortled. “I don’t, but the look on your face when I say that kinda stuff is funny. And I did so meet him, just before he was exiled. I mean, sure I was three at the time, and even I can barely remember that far back, but I still met him.”

I heard somepony somepony shouting in the distance. Raid turned his head in that direction and raised an eyebrow.

“The fuck is going on over there?” he murmured.

There was an explosion, and a large section of the scrap metal fence surrounding the town flew into the street. Seconds later, Stock flew over to us, a look of annoyance mixed with fear and glee plastered on her face.

“Good news,” she said. “The Bone Eaters are back.”

Zeed’s jaw dropped. “How is that good news?”

Raid swiftly donned his battle-saddle and checked to be sure it was loaded. “Because, we might be able to capture one, or follow the survivors, and either method will make our lives far easier.”

“Alright, then. Let’s get this started.” I said as I grabbed a nearby lead pipe.

~~~~~

The Bone Eaters were mostly earth ponies. Almost every single one of them had some form of blunt or sharpened object. Very few had anything resembling a gun. The ones that did have guns, however, were apparently very good shots. Somehow, though, not one of them thought to take advantage of this skill, as the gunsponies were currently trying to get into close range.

Apparently, being a slaver does not facilitate any sort of tactical knowledge, as they seemed to use a strategy that went along the lines of ‘throw yourself at the enemy until something different happenns’.

Sadly, all of that did nothing for the fact that being shot in the leg hurt like hell.

“Aaaaaugh!” I screamed as a bullet lodged itself into my foreleg.

“Knives!” Zeed brought over some med-x and a healing potion, jabbing the first into my leg and shoving the second into my mouth.

“Agh, Zeed, whaAAAAARRRGH!” with a pair of tweezers held in her mouth, she swiftly tore the bullet out, then tossed them aside and poured another potion on the wound. “Can ye give me some warnin’ first?”

She smacked me in the back of the head. “Why did you just run out there? What are you, stupid?”

“Ah’m in a fight, why in th’ hell would Ah not get involved?” I snapped back.

“She’s got a point, Zeed.” Raid called out, punctuating each word with a shotgun blast. “Goddesses, how many of these assholes are there?”

We’d gone out intending to help. We ended up taking cover behind a market stall, and were now trading shots with the slavers. I’d gotten hit as I dove behind our cover, being the last one in. Stock was flying overhead, raining hot lead down on the slaver horde. I popped over the stall and fired a few grenades at our opponents. The slavers scattered quickly. Seeing one of them fall over, their body covered in shrapnel, I winced as I slotted in another grenade.

"Yes, Knives, killing will solve all of your problems.” She said in the back of my mind, a hint of malicious glee in her voice. “You should give up before you have a repeat of the Leak.”

“Aam nae exactly enjoyin’ this, ye know. Aam tryin’ not tae die here. Yer nae helpin’.” Another grenade behind a stall on the opposite side of the Market Square. I grimaced as I realized that I’d actually killed a couple of the slavers hiding there, their torsos now little more than piles of meaty mush. “Stop talkin’.”

“Knives, in case you’ve forgotten, I hate you. I enjoy doing what I can to make your life miserable. Why would I help you stay alive?"

“If I die, you do too.” I muttered.

“You say something, Knives?” Raid called out as he ducked back and started reloading his guns. Zeed used the opportunity to make a few pot shots from over the stall.

“Eh… How can… Uh… How can this stall take so much punishment? It hasn’t even been punctured yet…” I hoped he wouldn’t notice my stammering.

He quirked an eyebrow at me. “You’re asking this now?”

“Aam tryin’ tae keep mah mind off th’ fact that Ah just killed five ponies in ten minutes.” I barked.

“Oh… Uh…” He blinked. “Sorry. They’re reinforced for occasions like this.”

I gave him a surprised look. “Ye mean they anticipated this?”

“Welcome to Canturbury.” He grinned. “This shit happens a lot.”

With that, he popped back over the stall and began firing again, and Zeed ducked back down.

“You are crushing so hard.” She whispered in my ear with a wide smile. “Stammering like that is really impressive.”

I shot her a glare. “Shut up, Zeed.”

She continued to mouth the word ‘crushing’ at me. I gave her a light kick in the ribs as I launched a grenade over the stall, right into a mass of slavers. Most of them were knocked off their hooves by the explosion, but only one was seriously injured, her right limbs bent at entirely the wrong angles.

It felt like hours passed, the Bone Eaters came at us seemingly without end. Until, suddenly, the flow of slaver began to slow, turning from a tide to a trickle. I briefly wondered how there could be so many of them.

“They’re running!” Somepony shouted. “Keep firing, every one of them that dies is one we don’t have to deal with later.”

“What?” I shouted angrily. “Why? If they’re running we don’t need tae kill them!”

Raid shook his head and fired a few more shots at the Bone Eaters still in the Square. “’Fraid we do. They’ll just keep coming back. These guys are more… raider-like than most. You saw how they fought. No thinking, just mindless violence.”

“That’s nae excuse fer just killin’ them.” I growled.

Raid shook his head again. “They’re slavers, Knives. Trust me. With the things they’ve done, they don’t deserve to live.”

I gritted my teeth. “We can’t just go killin’ anypony who does somethin’ wrong, Raid.”

“I know that Knives, but we grew up in places that actually had some form of law enforcement.” He made a sweeping gesture, indicating the ponies chasing down the fleeing Bone Eaters. “But in case you’ve failed to notice, there is no law enforcement here.”

He sighed. “The closest thing to a law here is kill or be killed, whether either of us likes it or not.”

I couldn’t think of anything to say. I looked away, knowing that he was at least mostly right. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw somepony moving up to the Bone Eater that I’d injured, who was somehow still alive, raising a gun up to her head.

“WAIT!” I screamed.

The rifle-wielding unicorn looked at me in surprise.

“Don’t kill her. We need her fer somethin’”

The unicorn rolled her eyes and galloped away. The slaver rolled over and moaned, clutching her damaged leg with the intact one. Raid hrrm-ed, rubbing his chin in thought.

“Knives, how intimidating can you look?” He whispered.

I blinked and stared at him. “What kind ay question is that?”

“I’m serious. I want to know how scary you can be.”

“Call her a colt again and find out.” Zeed chirped, a big smile on her face.

I shot her a glare. “Shut up, Ms. Moody.”

She frowned. “Hey, I’m actually level right now. Probably ‘cuz I managed to sleep well for two nights in a row, but nevertheless, I’m level.”

“In my defense, the only reason I thought she was a buck is because of that orange thing she had on. And, no offense intended, Knives, but you do kind of sound like a colt.” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Your voice is a bit scratchy.”

“Oh really?” I growled.

“Yeah.” He grinned. “You actually look pretty good in real clothes, though.”

Oh joy… I’m blushing again. When will I stop acting like a nervous little schoolfilly around him?

“Oh, come on. You know she totally looks like a colt.” Zeed smirked at me.

It was at this point that Stock dropped down almost on top of me, making me jump a good distance away in surprise, drawing a chuckle from both her and Zeed, while Raid gave me a sympathetic look.

“She doesn’t look like a colt.” Said the ghoul in a cheery manner.

“Thank ye very-“

“She’s androgynous. She could pass as either gender.” She continued.

I facehooved.

“You’ve never seen her in a dress.”

I facehooved again, this one accompanied by my face turning red.

“Oh, and this one buck she was dating a few months ago? He totally looked like a mare.”

“Oooh… that must have been fun to see…”

“Excuse me!” I shouted, my voice cracking slightly, my face bright red. “While you two are discussing my looks, our prisoner is getting away!”

I pointed to the pony in question, who had been dragging herself towards the exit with her left limbs. She turned a look of fear on us, and redoubled her efforts, going from the speed of frozen syrup to slightly thawed syrup.

Stock rolled her eyes and casually trotted over to the ‘fleeing’ mare. Taking the injured earth pony onto her back with an apparently very dexterous wing, Stock trotted back to the apartment, and the slaver sobbing in apparent terror.

I ran a hoof through my mane and sighed. “Goddesses, it’s only been a few hours and I feel like it’s been forever.”

“Knives, what happened to your voice?” Raid cocked his head in a curious manner.

I blinked at him. “What are you talking about?”

“Your accent,” he said. “What happened?”

I facehooved yet again, wondering how many more times it would take to dent my face. “Crap. Ah forgot about that.”

He quirked an eyebrow at me. “Why do you fake an accent?”

“She says it’s a sign of respect for her dad,” said Zeed.

“Uh… that’s a… rather unique way of showing respect. Any particular reason why?”

“Ah dunnae want tae talk about it.” I turned and trotted in the direction of the apartment.

Raid trotted along right beside me. “Come on, Knives. It’s not anything bad, is it?”

“Nae, it’s… Look, Ah just don’t…” I exhaled. “Ah dunnae want tae talk about it. Stop buggin’ me.”

He stopped and raised a hoof in defeat. “Alright, alright. Just… I’m here if you need me, okay?”

Zeed and I raised our eyebrows at him, and he shrugged. “I like helping.”

I stared at him for a moment. “Dae ye really want tae know?”

“Yes. Do you want to tell me?”

I bit my lip, and considered it.

Zeed put a hoof on my shoulder. “Are you alright? You don’t have to say anything.”

I sighed, and cleared my throat. “When Ah was twelve, I got intae a fight with Clothesline. She was sayin’ some pretty bad things about mom and dad, and when Ah tried tae defend him… well, Aam nae exactly sure how Ah came tae it, but Ah realized that Ah couldn’t remember anythin’ about him. The worst part was that Ah couldn’t remember his cutie mark.

“So, Ah panicked, and ran sobbing tae mom. It took her about an hour tae calm me down, but when she did… well, apparently, Ah couldn’t remember his mark because he didn’t have one. Got burned off or somethin’, Ah can’t remember.”

“So…” Zeed rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Why the accent?”

“All Ah can remember is that he talked somethin’ like this, and that he had a pitch-black coat and a green mane.”

“But… That doesn’t explain why you talk like him…” Raid said.

“Yeah, Knives. It doesn’t.” She said in a mocking tone. “I don’t think that’s the whole story. C’mon. Tell them. Tell them the rest of it.”

“It… Uh… Kind ay became a habit…” I stammered. “Ah got sae used tae it that… uh… nao Aam just… still… doin’… uh… that…”

“Makes sense, I guess.” Zeed started towards the apartment again. “Still a bit weird, but… whatever works for you.”

Mentally, I sighed in relief.

“Hey, I’ve heard much weirder reasons for things.” Raid chuckled as he followed her, with me tagging along. “My sister decided to become a whore because she thought it sounded fun.”

“Is this the same sister that beat ye up when ye called her a colt?” I smirked.

“Huh? Oh, no. That’s another sister.” He said dismissively.

I quirked an eyebrow. “How many sisters dae ye have?”

“Nine.” He said matter-of-factly.

Zeed and I stopped and gave him a look somewhere between shock and disbelief.

“What?” He asked.

“Ye have nine sisters?” I asked incredulously.

“Uh… Yes?” He replied, confused. “Why do you say it like it’s weird?”

“Your parents were fuckin’ busy.” Zeed blurted, then frowned. “No pun intended.”

Raid blinked several times. “Oh, yeah. Parents… busy… eh… right…”

Stock stomped over to our little group. “Hey, you morons forgetting about something?”

All nervously laughing, we followed her back to the apartment to begin interrogating the Bone Eater.

~~~~

“I’m not tellin’ you shits anything, ya hear me?” She screamed as she struggled against the ropes tying her legs to the chair. “Ya can suck my fucking tits fer all I fuckin’ care.”

She spat in Raid’s face.

With a sigh, the ultramarine stallion wiped the saliva off his cheek. “Please, for the love of Celestia, just tell us what we want to know.”

“Fuck no! You’re gonna kill me anyway. Why the fuck would I make your life easier?” She grinned. I shuddered at how similar it was to somepony else’s statement.

Raid rubbed his brow in frustration. “Okay, I gotta admit… you are definitely a tough nut to crack. This’ll be harder than I thought.”

“Fuck yeah! And don’t you forget it asshole.” She nodded, sure of herself. “I’m not gonna answer any of yer fuckin’ questions. Ever. No matter what you idiots do.”

“As much as it pains me tae say it, maybe we should just torture her.” I sighed.

Zeed gave me an incredulous look. “Really? Well… I guess you would kinda know a bit about pain, but…”

Raid frowned. “You were tortured?”

I coughed. “Ah wasn’t really tortured, but it felt like it. Ah really don’t want tae talk about that.” I grinned. “Ah recovered pretty quick, though, so Ah guess that’s somethin’ tae be proud of.”

“Oh fuck me with a spoon, will you fuckers just get on with the torture?”

“I don’t think that’s how the expression goes…” I frowned. “But she is right. We’ve been too easily distracted lately.”

Raid suddenly grimaced. “Oh…”

“What?”

“I just got a vicious idea.” He exhaled through his teeth, as though in pain.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Well…”

~~~~~

Green was trying very hard not to fall asleep on her hooves. Her eyelids kept falling as she followed the pink unicorn along the road, only for her to snap to attention once more. She had been trying to stay awake for several hours, now, and was fighting a losing battle, considering that both ponies had stayed awake the whole night.

It was during one of these small almost-naps that Wretch finally noticed her young friend’s plight, and trotted over to the little green filly.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

Green nodded, and yawned, swaying slightly and almost falling over at least once. “I’m just a little sleepy.”

“We should get some rest. Find a safe spot and sleep.”

“No! I’m fine, I can keep going,” the pegasus said, a hint of fear in her voice. “We don’t need to stop.”

“We don’t… but you do.” Wretch gave Green a warm smile. “You look like you’re about to pass out.”

“I swear I’m not!” She punctuated this by yawning so hard that her whole body shuddered. “I’m…”

“It’s alright, Green. You can sleep if you want. I could use some rest myself.” Wretch gently mussed Green’s mane. “I could carry you if you want. Let you get a bit more sleep.”

“But…” She let out another yawn, then swayed slightly.

Wretch chuckled softly, and knelt down next to the filly. “Come on, Green. It’s perfectly fine.”

Nodding slowly, the small pegasus crawled onto Wretch’s back, and was just small enough to fit between her shoulder blades, next to the shotgun which was moved to the side.

As Wretch continued her way down the road, she smiled when she heard Green begin to snore quietly, lulled to sleep by the larger mare’s movements. Wretch was surprised by how light her friend was, almost as though she hadn’t eaten in…

Wretch stopped, her eyes widened, as realization struck her.

Green probably hadn’t eaten in days.

Wretch searched through the things she’d looted off Bark, careful not to wake Green in the process, and tried to find something that might be valuable.

She was lucky enough to find several bits, and a few caps among the pocket lint and alcohol. Enough for a decent amount of food. With a smile on her face, she doubled her speed towards what she hoped would be a town.

-----

Footnote 1: Diamond Knives
Level up! (9)
Explosives: 40
Repair: 84

Perks:
Action Mare: You get +15 action points when using… Wait a minute, you don’t even have a pipbuck you moron!

~~~~

Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri
Level up! (8)
Energy weapons: 70
Medicine: 82

Perks:
Speed Healer: Using drugs and healing items now only costs half as many action points.

~~~~

Footnote 2: Raid (???)
Level up! (9)
Speech: 64

Perks:
Walker of the Wastes (Rank 2/3): You and your team now move 25% faster out of combat. In combat, your own walk speed is increased by 11%.

`

Quests:
Active Quest:
O’ Father, Where Art Thou?: Infiltrate or assault the Bone Eaters’ base near Bladesville.
Other quests:
Sifting through the dust:
1)
Find information on the location of Ashes.
2)
Find information on the location of Obsidian Knives
3)
–Find information on the location of Nezan Kazdri
----

(Author’s Notes)

Hmmmmm…

I’m sad. For some reason this chapter feels rushed to me.

Whatever the case, I assure you all that the next chapter, at least, will be far better than this one.

Sorry for being late, folks!

TTFN

Thanks to Kkat for Fallout Equestria, and Somber for Project Horizon. Thanks to whoever reads this, and again, critiques are very much welcome.

Chapter Eleven: Interrogation Misery

Slowly, ever so slowly, I took several steps towards the couch.

Its striped occupant was sleeping, with a thing on her head that was connected to a device that had formerly been held in her hooves, but was now on the floor.

I silently crept up to her side, and prepared to pounce.

“No…” My mother whispered.

My face fell, and I begrudgingly started to trot away. “Awww… okay…”

Then mom whimpered, as though in pain. “Please… no…”

My ears perked, and I turned around to look at her. It took me a moment to realize that she wasn’t talking to me.

She shifted, lifting a hoof as though trying to reach out to somepony, only to have it fall again. “D… Diamond…”

“Mommy?” I asked, though I could tell she still wasn’t talking to me.

She let out a small sob. “Please… not my baby… no… n-no…”

I wondered why she kept talking about me. “Mommy? Why are you crying? Mommy?”

She was breathing heavily, as though she had been running. “Don’t… no… please… stop…”

“Mommy!” I shouted, trying to get her attention, realizing what was going on. “Mommy, wake up!”

Her eyes were streaming with tears, and she was openly sobbing, but still whispering quietly. “Don’t hurt her…”

I put my mouth up to her ear and screamed. “MOMMY!”

She gasped, and shot up into a sitting position, gasping for breath and holding a hoof over her heart, her eyes darting around until they finally rested on me. “D-Diamond?”

“Mommy, are you okay?” I asked.

Her eyes filled with tears again. Before I could do anything else, she pulled me into a deep hug, and started crying tears of relief. I hugged her back, though I was still confused.

“Mommy, why are you crying?” I asked again.

She sniffed and pulled away from the hug, giving me a smile and a sad chuckle as she did. “Sorry sweetie. I… had a very, very bad dream.”

“Were… were you dreaming about me?” I asked. “Was I being mean?”

She snorted a laugh. “No, sweetie you weren’t… I just… I…”

She sighed and hugged me again. “I dreamt that a very bad pony wanted to hurt you, and I couldn’t save you.”

I thought for a moment, then gasped and exclaimed, “Maybe Mr. Stellar could protect you from the bad pony!”

Before mom could say anything, I shot into my room, and retrieved the large, star-patterned teddy ursa from my room, and levitated it over to my mother. She looked at it for a moment, holding it in her hooves, and smiled.

“Mr. Stellar chases away the monsters, remember?” I proclaimed, remembering what she and dad had once told me. “And I’m a big filly, so I can stand up to the monsters now.”

“Thank you Diamond. You’re a very sweet little filly, but…” she said as she grinned mischievously. “There is one monster that even Mr. Stellar is afraid of…”

My eyes widened in slight fear. “What?”

She grabbed me and roared as I started laughing. “The tickle monster!”
~~~~~

I stared at Raid as he finished his suggestion. I was sure that my expression was somewhere between ‘Seriously?’ and ‘What are you, stupid?’, while Zeed simply held a hoof over her face.

“Are ye buckin’ kiddin’ me?” I asked. “That’s yer ‘nasty idea’?”

“Oh, come on,” he said, and pointed at the door closed door, from which laughing could be heard. “We’re not going to actually torture her for real, are we?”

“Raid, ye realize she won’t take us seriously nao, right? All ‘cuz ye suggested… Goddesses…”

“Now we’ll have to search for these guys the hard way.” Zeed shook her head. “You’re an idiot, Raid.”

“What do you want me to do? Cut her up? Tie her down and rip her limbs off?”

I shuddered at the last remark. “Please… don’t talk about… limbs… Ah have very unpleasant memories that Ah’d rather nae experience again.”

“Fine, but I’m not going to do anything like that.”

“When Ah said ‘torture’, that’s nae what Ah meant.” I sighed.

He deadpanned at me. “Torture means something else now?”

“Ah guess ‘torture’ is th’ wrong word tae use…” I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, considering my next words. “Mah mother… Look, most ponies didn’t mess with us while we were in th’ Prison, and it was mostly because they knew that if they messed with us, mah mother would do… well, she’d basically beat th’ crap out ay them.”

“This is relevant, how?” He quirked an eyebrow.

“She… taught me a few tricks.” I bit my lip. “Most of them don’t involve much actual damage, and no real risk of… death. Said it’s mostly lookin’ like ye mean what ye say.”

“The word is threaten.” He smirked. “Do you seriously not know the word ‘threaten’?”

“Buck aff.” I rolled my eyes. “It probably won’t work anyway, especially after yer little comment about rope.”

He worked his jaw a few times, most likely trying to come up with a retort. Eventually he settled on, “I retract my previous comment.”

Zeed put a hoof on my shoulder. “Are you sure you’re okay with this? I know you don’t like doing it. You don’t have to if you don’t want to…”

I shook my head. “Ah’ll dae it. Just… Don’t come in.”

She nodded, and both of them left the hallway, most likely to wait outside the apartment with Stock.

I took a deep breath, and walked into the room where the slaver was tied up.

“Oh look,” she said. “The fuckin’ weirdo is here. Hello ya horny striped bitch!”

I glared at her. She simply laughed. “Awww, did I make you mad?”

I ignored her, brushing aside her comment.

Mentally, I reached into the back of my mind. I searched the dark, dusty corners of my brain until I found what I was looking for.

“Why, hello there, Knives! Fancy meeting you here!” She chirped. “I must say I’m surprised. You don’t normally visit me of your own free will. What’s the occasion?”

“Shut up. There’s somepony here who Ah figured ye might like tae…” I paused, looking for the right words. “Talk tae.”

She performed the mental equivalent of gaping at me, then started laughing hysterically.

I growled. “What’s so funny?”

“I know what you’re trying to do, Knives.” She said. “You don’t want to think of horrible things to say yourself, so you come to me. That way you don’t feel bad about it.”

I growled again as she went into another laughing fit. “So what? Ye like causin’ pain.”

“No, Knives. I like causing you pain. I like torturing you and making your life miserable. I don’t care about anyone else.”

“Yer lyin’.” I said, mentally gritting my teeth.

“Even if I was lying, I wouldn’t agree.” She said dismissively. “If I gave you ideas, then I’d be helping you, and I don’t want to help you. I want to screw you over. I want to see you do… I don’t know… things. I want you in this cage, instead of me. You’re on your own.”

“Hey!” I shouted in my mind. “Don’t you run away from me! HEY!”

It was too late. She'd already stopped listening to me. I gritted my teeth and growled in frustration.

With a roar of anger, I punched the wall, making a hole in the weak plaster.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Asked the slaver. “You zoned out there for a-“

“SHUT UP!” I screamed.

She sneered at me. “Don’t tell me to shut up, you stupid cunt. If we were back at the camp, we’d have you strung up by your legs and flayed alive!”

I glared at her.

“Or maybe we’d tie ropes to your forelegs and start pulling.” She grinned.

I continued glaring for a moment.

Then I flipped the chair she was tied to, making her yelp in surprise.

Slowly, I trotted around her, so I could look at her face. “Dae ye dae things like that tae all ay yer slaves?”

She grinned. “Fuck yeah. They belong to us! We can do whatever the fuck we want to them, and there ain’t shit you little fucks can do about it.”

I narrowed my eyes at her.

“Like what ya see, cunt? Untie me and maybe we can fuck while you’re in chains.” She laughed.

I continued to stare at her.

Under my stare, I noticed that her smirk shrank slightly, and her eyes kept flicking towards the right side of my face. “What the fuck are you starin’ at, freak?”

An idea popped into my head, and a mischievous grin spread across my face as I said, “Don’t go anywhere.”

I trotted briskly outside to find Raid and Zeed talking, the former with a cigarette once more between her lips.

“Zeed, dae ye have that measurin’ stick oan ye?” I asked.

With a confused look, she pointed towards her saddlebags. “Why do you need-“

“Ah got an idea. Which pocket is it?” I said as I ran over to them.

“The front one.” She replied. “Seriously, though. Why do you need my ruler? What the hell are you doing?”

Another grin found its way onto my face as I trotted into the apartment’s kitchen, grabbed several ancient rusty utensils, and returned to the makeshift interrogation room. I stopped for a moment to try and put my ‘scary face’ back on, and stepped through the door.

“What the fuck took ya so long, cunt?” said the mare on the floor, still tied to the chair. “I was getting worried ya forgot about me.”

Without a word, I put the measuring stick up to her eye, and took a close look at the number.

“What in the…” She said as she tried to squirm away. “The fuck’re ya doin’?”

“Measurin’.” I said, trying to suppress a grin.

“Whhhhyyyyyy?” She asked.

I levitated the stick to my own eye and measured that as well, which was difficult without a mirror, but still doable.

“Are ya gonna fuckin’ answer me?”

I stood the chair, and the mare along with it, back on its legs, and grinned in the mare’s face.

“Ye know, Ah kinda miss mah old eye,” I lied. “Ah lost it tae a madmare who apparently hated mah guts.”

“The fuck is wrong with you?” She deadpanned at me. “And why do I care about your fuckin’ eyeballs?”

I smiled as wide and toothy a smile as I could, trying to make myself look as crazy as possible. “’Cuz ye got mah eyeballs in yer skull.”

The Bone Eater stared at me with a blank expression. “Wat.”

“Aye…” I levitated over a several eating utensils, a spoon, a knife, and a fork, all coated in rust. “Aam goin’ tae take yer eyes. Then Aam goin’ tae put them in mah own head. Then Ah’ll be good as new.”

Her eye twitched and her voice cracked slightly. “Wat.”

“Aam takin’ yer eyes.” I repeated.

“My eyes.”

“Aye.” I nodded, my face growing tired from holding the fake psychotic smile.

“And putting them into your head.” She continued.

“Did Ah stutter?”

“No, no… It’s just that you’re fucking crazy.” She said simply.

My smile grew a bit wider.

We stayed in silence for a moment.

And another.

And another.

“Would ye like me tae use th’ spoon or th’ fork?”

She screamed.

~~~~~

Stock was rolling on the ground, laughing her flank off. While Zeed and Raid once more questioned the terrified slaver, with significantly better success.

“I can’t believe ya actually pulled that off!” She said between gasps. “Where the fuck did you get that idea?”

“Ah noticed that she was lookin’ at mah weird eye,” I said, pointing to the eye in question. “So Ah went with it.”

“Well I for one, think that’s genius.” The ghoul replied. “I kinda wish I thought a’ that.”

“Honestly, Ah didn’t actually expect it tae work.” I shrugged. “Aam just glad Ah didnae actually have tae dae anythin’ tae her.”

“With, of course,” Zeed said from behind me, making me jump. “The exception of a bit of mental trauma.”

I waved a hoof dismissively. “She’ll get over it.”

Zeed quirked an eyebrow. “Says the acrophobic mare.”

“Alright, good point, but at least it’s not as bad as it would be if we actually… did somethin’ tae her.” I replied with a shudder.

“Whatever the case, we have what we need. The Bone Eaters camp is about three days out.” She continued. “We should be able to sneak up on them, too.”

“Och, that’s wonderful. When dae we leave?”

“In a few hours, when Raid gets her in the jail.”

I blinked at her. “Bladesville has a jail?”

Both Zeed and Stock gave me a look that said something along the lines of ‘are you kidding me?’.

I frowned. “Shut up.”

With a snort, Zeed once more went through her unnecessarily complicated method of lighting a cigarette.

Then I heard shouting from inside the apartment and darted inside, leaving a confused zebra and ghoul in my wake.

Raid was on top of the mare, holding her down, while she snapped and snarled at him like a rabid animal. Well… how I would image a rabid animal would do that.

“Uh… Sorry, am Ah interruptin’ somethin’?”

He glared at me. “Help. Please.”

“Aam nae really into threesomes thanks.” I smirked.

“She’s trying to escape, here. You know, the bad slaver pony?” He snapped back. “Wants to do bad things to us?”

“I’M NOT LETTING YOU KEEP ME HERE YOU MOTHER-FUCKING PIECES OF SHIT!” The mare roared. “THAT FREAK ISN’T GOING TO SCARE ME!”

“Ye know Aam right here, don’t ye?” I said with an eyebrow raised.

Her eyes widened as she looked at me.

We stayed like that for a moment.

Then she started fighting even harder, driving every free limb into Raid’s sides, making him grunt in pain. I tried to grab her hooves in my own, but she simply kept thrashing out of my grip, screaming all the while.

“Ah can’t hold her down!”

“Just… get something to hit her with! Before she-“

He was interrupted by the mare driving both her back hooves into his crotch.

The blue buck toppled over and cried out in pain, falling off of the Bone Eater, who scrambled to her hooves and backed into a corner, staring intently at me while Raid writhed on the ground in pain.

I slammed the nearest door shut with a quick telekinetic punt, and dropped into a fighting stance, magically pulling a knife out of one of my pockets.

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Calm down. We’re nae goin’ tae dae anythin’ tae ye.”

“Like tearing out my eyeballs?” Oh… right… that. “You little shits aren’t-“

She suddenly lunged at me, slamming a hoof into my jaw, causing my magic to implode and the knife to fly off and stick into the chair she was previously tied to.

Stunned and slightly dazed, I tried to take a swing at her with a hoof, only for her to dodge out of the way, straight towards the knife.

With what little focus I could, I managed to force the knife out of the chair in such a way that it slammed into the metal wall, quivering with a twang sound. Surprisingly, the Bone Eater once more dove for it, pushing me to the ground as she did so.

By the time I finally stood up, she was holding the knife in her teeth, staring me down from across the room. We sat there, staring at each other for about a minute before I finally realized that I was blocking the exit.

I briefly wondered why we were having so much trouble dealing with a single pony. No accounting for the power of terror, I suppose.

“You fucking assholes aren’t-“ The mare was interrupted when Raid slammed into her.

As I rushed over to help, I heard the door swing open. Turning to see Zeed, I called out, “HELP!”

Then I heard Raid scream in pain. The slaver had stabbed him in the flank, and torn a large hole in his leather jacket. However, he managed to take the opportunity to slam all of his weight onto the mare’s head, dragging her to the floor and pinning her there. He effectively took her down by flopping on her head, and then rolling over onto her neck.

“Knives, could you eh…” He said once the mare had passed out, nodding towards the knife. “Could you kindly pull this thing outa my flank? It’s not really comfortable.”

Zeed stepped in before I could do anything, and shoved a healing potion into his throat, as he tried to protest, she then pulled the knife out of his flank, causing him to gasp in pain.

“Kicked in the nuts and stabbed in the ass…” He groaned. “This is gunna be a fun day.”

I wasn’t paying attention to what he said, though, as I was currently staring at his exposed flank. No, not like that… although it was a nice view… I was looking at his cutie mark, which was comprised of three multi-colored flower petals. The view lasted about three seconds before it was suddenly covered in leather. Greenish sparks sparked off his jacket as it seemed to repair itself.

Zeed and I stared at the blue stallion, dumbfounded.

He only shrugged. “It’s enchanted. Tends to give off creepy vibes, bit it’s useful.”

We continued to stare at him.

“It was a gift… sort of…” He shrugged again. “I think he died before the war. Got himself blown to bits on... I wanna saw a minefield. Obviously the jacket was fine.”

Zeed quirked an eye at him. “Why would anypony enchant a jacket?”

He shrugged yet again. “Somepony who loves their clothes. I think he was a zebra, though.”

“I know it’s kinda rude tae ask, but what exactly is yer cutie mark.” I asked nervously.

He gaped at me. Then he sighed and facehoofed. “Dammit.”

“Ooooh. What’re ya going to do, Blue?” Stock said from the doorway. “You’re not going to tell them everything are you?”

Both Zeed and I gave him a suspicious look. “Tell us what, Raid…”

“Dammit, Stock…” He sighed again. “Fine. Let’s get this over with before everypony gets paranoid. There was a group of other ponies after me, but they stopped chasing me about a long time ago. I hide my cutie mark because it’s somewhat… obvious, and I’d rather not risk anypony selling me out. Good enough?”

I frowned, surprised by how irritated he sounded, Zeed held a similar, but more suspicious expression on her own face. “There more tae it, isn’t there.”

“Of course there’s more to it, but there’s several problems with telling you…” He stood up and brushed himself off. “One; most of it involves things I don’t like thinking about. Two; they’re not chasing me anymore, so it doesn’t even matter. Three…”

He bit his lip. “Well… to be perfectly honest, I do want to tell you, but I’m just not sure if I can… trust you two with it… sorry.”

I waved my hoof dismissively. “Alright, then. When yer ready.”

Zeed gawked at me. “What? He’s keeping secrets and you’re… fine with that?”

I smirked at her. “Och, like ye dunnae have secrets ay yer own?”

To my surprise, she blushed. “N-never mind.”

“But… Aam still a bit curious… what exactly is yer cutie mark?” I pointed to Raid.

He worked his jaw for a moment. “Uh… well… I guess there’s no harm in telling, but you’re just going to laugh.”

“Why would Ah dae that?”

“It’s… not common… especially not around here…” He chuckled nervously.

“Alright then…” I turned and slowly trotted out the door.

Slowly… Slowly…

“Ugh… fine.” I turned and grinned at him. “Just swear you won’t laugh.”

Zeed and I both promised.

“Well… the mark itself is a trio of rainbow lotus petals.” He inhaled, hissing slightly. “The talent…”

He grinned awkwardly. “My special talent is… massage.”

Zeed’s gaped. I simply nodded.

“Ah imagine ye could make a few bits out here, if ye get a place set up.”

He shrugged. “I’d like to, but who’d come? Most ponies don’t really care about knotted muscles all that much. They’re generally more worried about being alive.”

Stock raised a hoof. “Quick question… How did an injured pony manage to overpower you two?”

Raid rubbed his flank and grimaced. “Either we didn’t check her as well as we thought, or she keeps a few doses of hydra where Celestia can’t see…”

Zeed snickered.

“Well… oan that… interestin’ note… How about we get goin’, aye?” I said. “We’ve got a zebra tae find.”

~~~

Green awoke with a yawn.

Looking around, she was surprised to find herself in a small, spartan, yet cozy room, the wallpaper of which was apparently strong enough to withstand nearly two hundred years of time. She was even more surprised to find that she had awoken on top of a large and very comfortable bed, and that her clothes were now sitting on a nearby chair, removed while she was asleep and thoroughly cleaned.

Tentatively, she slipped out of the bed, and put on her former master’s clothes, cutting two holes in the back for her wings, and noting how the colors were actually brighter now that they’d been washed for what was probably the first time in years. A canvas shirt and a black pocketed vest. Simple. Bark rarely wore anything else but for a tuxedo when he was trying to look impressive for a buyer.

Green shook her head to clear her thoughts, figuring that the slave-owner was the last pony she should be thinking about.

“Hello?” she called out. “Is anypony here?”

Not hearing an answer, she made her way to the door and peeked outside.

There was a long hallway, each wall dotted with more doors. Green knew the word for this place, it was on the tip of her tongue. A hotel, that’s the one.

“Hello?” she called again, and once more heard no answer.

Confused, she retreated back into the room, and sat on the bed.

She waited… and waited… and waited…

She sat there, waiting for hours, getting every so often to check and see if anypony was in the hallway, and then sitting back down on the bed, confused. She was unused to not being ordered around at nearly every waking moment. She was unsure of what to do.

“Hello Green, how are you feeling?”

Green jumped and spun around to see Wretch standing in the doorway, a duffle bag in her magical grip.

“I… Uh… Uh… Well…” She gulped, suddenly filled with panic. Her words were barely a whisper. “Better.”

Wretch smiled warmly. “That’s good. I brought some food.”

She walked into the room, and onto the single table, dumped the duffle bag, revealing a copious amount of what was essentially junk food, but food nonetheless. The sight made Green’s mouth water.

“Take as much as you like.” Wretch said as she picked up an apple snack cake.

Green’s mind was reeling. Never before in her life had she even seen this much food.

She took something, barely even looking to see what it was. She couldn’t help but repeatedly look back to Wretch, expecting her to change her mind, or slap away Green’s hoof at any moment.

Slowly, she opened the package, still sending nervous glances at her friend, who was happily munching on the same cake.

A single, delicious bite of what was probably the best thing she’d ever tasted.

And she couldn’t hold herself back any longer.

Green tore into package after package, scarfing down their contents, as though it were her last meal, barely even tasting what she was eating.

Wretch stopped and stared at the small pegasus, utterly confused by how a pony that size could eat so much.

Eventually, Green simply couldn’t eat any more, having gone through most of the pile of goods within the course of fifteen minutes.

The filly rolled onto her back, moaned, and put a hoof on her now aching and slightly distended stomach.

Wretch stared at her and raised an eyebrow.

“Huh…” She said. “Weird.”

-----

Footnote 1: Diamond Knives
EXP 50%

~~~~

Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri
EXP 60%

~~~~

Footnote 3: Raid (???)
EXP 50%

`
Quests:
Active Quest:
O’ Father, Where Art Thou?: Infiltrate or assault the Bone Eaters’ base near Bladesville.
Other quests:
Sifting through the dust:
1)
Find information on the location of Ashes.
2)
Find information on the location of Obsidian Knives
3)
–Find information on the location of Nezan Kazdri

-----

(Author’s Notes)

I’ll get there eventually. Don’t worry.

Thanks to Kkat for Fallout Equestria, and Somber for Project Horizon. Thanks to whoever reads this, and again, critiques are very much welcome.

Chapter Twelve: Maintennat, Flottant Le Long

“Ash? Ash, can I come in!” I shouted as I frantically knocked on the door, looking over my shoulder, hoping to not see her trotting down the hallway. “Ash!”

“Come on in Zeed, door’s open!” She called out.

I opened the door and shot in, slamming it shut behind me and locking it. I slumped to the floor against it, panting heavily.

Ashes was running on a treadmill, giving me a ‘what the hell is the matter with you’ look. I saw Diam- I mean Knives sitting on Ashes’ couch, reading a book poorly concealed with black cloth, giving me a similar, though more bemused, look.

“Hey, Zeed. What’s wrong?” Asked the grey earth pony on the treadmill. I was surprised that she wasn’t even winded. “You look spooked.”

Trying to catch my breath, I managed an answer. “Trying… to escape... from mom… wants me to get... a piercing… no way in hell…”

Ashes blinked and wrinkled her nose in thought. “So… You’re running away from your mother because she’s trying to give you a piercing? What’s wrong with that?”

“I don’t want my damn lip pierced!”

“Why not? I’ve got a tongue piercing.” She said simply.

“Firstly, ew. Secondly, I don’t want a piercing. Apparently she’s been trying to find the equipment since I got my glyphmark.” I replied, pointing to the vaguely syringe-shaped mark on my flank. I then pointed to Ashes and the treadmill she was running on. “Why are you on that thing anyway?”

Her eyes narrowed as she looked forward, giving the wall in front of her a death glare.

“I had to see the doc today.” She growled. “Guess what I found out.”

My eyes widened. “Oh Luna… are you okay?

Knives snickered, causing Ashes to shoot her an angry look.

“Oh, I’m fine.” She smiled sarcastically. “I just found out that I’m about fifty pounds underweight.”

As I gaped at her, Knives snickered again. Ashes gave her another look. “Shut up, Knives. It isn’t funny.”

“How the hell did that happen?” I asked, taking a quick glance at her flank… and her cutie mark, an electric guitar. “You look fine to me.”

I could have sworn that I saw the mare blush. “Uh… Zeed? You can count my ribs. That’s why I went to see the doc in the first place.”

She sighed, and hopped off the treadmill. “Now I have to gain fifty freaking pounds or the higher-ups are going to stick me in the barracks. Blech.”

She threw her head back and shouted in a dramatic manner. “Damn you parents, for this ridiculously fast metabolism! Damn you!”

“Where did ye even get a treadmill, anyway?” Knives chortled.

“I stole it from the gym.” The earth pony said simply.

I blinked at her. “We have a gym?”

She frowned at me. “Of course we have a gym. Why wouldn’t we?”

“Okay then...” A silent awkwardness permeated the room, I looked around the messy room, and my eyes fell on Knives. She was still intently reading her book.

“Knives!” I shouted, making the striped unicorn jump as she quickly closed her novel. “How are you doing? Feeling better?”

The mare deadpanned at me. “Dammit, Zeed. Ah finally managed tae get… that off mah mind, and ye had tae go and remind me of it. Thanks.”

I winced. “Sorry…”

Knives sighed and returned to her reading. “Whatever th’ case, Aam fine. Had ah nightmare last night, but it wasnae that bad. Mom’s been helpin’ me through it, so…”

“Oh…” I bit my lip nervously. “That’s… good… well… We’re here for you… if you need anything.”

She didn’t look up from the book, but she did smile. “Thanks. Still can’t believe Lockpick acshully tried tae kill me, though…”

~~~~~

“Why the hell do these buildings seem to pop up at random?” I asked.

One day into our journey, we found ourselves in yet another ruined city, separated from Bladesville by a short distance and a downward slope. This confused me somewhat, as I was under the impression that Canturbury was itself, a city. I figured that it must either be made up of smaller towns, or some sort of province or state. Unless those were the same thing. I never really understood politics and things like that. For all I knew it might not have even been part of Equestria. Although, I guess it could just be really, really big.

“Because,” Raid said. “The ponies of pre-war Canturbury had absolutely no common sense when it came to urban planning.”

“Th’ hell does that mean?” Knives scoffed.

“Let me give you an example.” The ultramarine stallion began. “There are multiple medical research facilities here, all roughly the same size. There are three of the same kind right next to each other over by the mall, about seven near Loss, and Goddesses know how many others scattered around the rest of Canturbury.”

“… Ah see yer point.”

I glanced around. Most of the buildings were damaged to the point where there would be no entering them without a decent amount of explosives, digging, or patience. Most of the doors, windows, and other assorted entryways were blocked by large piles of rubble and the occasional auto-cart that had been knocked over. Strangely, all the junk seemed to be pressed up against where the massive sidewalk ended. The curbs also seemed oddly thick.

“Luna’s moon, it’s quiet…” I murmured.

“I can turn on the radio if you want.” The blue buck shook the pipbuck on his leg.

“Meh, why not.”

He stopped walking for a moment to fiddle with the device. Within about ten seconds, I regretted saying anything at all, as the air became filled with the most horrific screeching noise I’d ever heard in my entire life.

As soon as it had started, the noise was gone, leaving everypony but Stock covering their ears and clenching their teeth.

“Ow,” said Raid. “That doesn’t normally happen.”

“Goddesses… what, did you put a Canterlot transmitter in there?” Stock snarked. “You need new speakers, Blue.”

Knives pulled her hooves away from her ears. “Th’ fuck was that?”

“Hold on. I think I got it set right this time. I’m gonna turn it on again.” Raid cautiously put his hoof on the button. This time, a voice came out of the device. The mare’s voice was a bit raspy, yet she sounded like her happiness dial had been turned to eleven.

”…the sound of gorgons mating! If you’re wondering why we have that on record, don’t worry, ‘cuz I don’t know either! If you’re wondering why I played it… Well… I actually pushed the wrong button. Gimme a break, I’m new at this.”

“I think I’d rather have not found out what that was.” Raid shuddered.

”For those of you who have just tuned in, you’re listening to Pirate Radio! Your swashbuckling DJs in the middle of Canturbury. I… am your humble hostess… Jolly Rodgeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrr! You’re stripy-flanked captain of news and music.

“Anyway, now for some news from this science-tastic hellhole! The Brain Guild is paying big caps for anyone willing to take a dungeon dive into some old laboratory ruins up near the town of Open. I dunno what’s in there, but they’re offering like… a bajillion caps, I thi- HOLY SHIT! Folks, they’re offering about twenty thousand caps for going into what amounts to an old dungeon. If I didn’t have this gig, I’d get my juicy, striped flank right out there with a snorkel and dive right in! Just keep in mind… Some of these labs are far more dangerous than any Stables you might be wandering through, so be careful.

I made a mental note of that

“In other news... It seems that one of Canturbury’s resident heroes has gone missing… again… yes, folks the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well has disappeared yet again, after returning about two years ago from a twenty-ought-year absence. She was last seen entering the Common Medical Research facility. I think that’s the one where they had a bunch of basilisks or something.

“No? Oh, right. Common is the one with all that… body preservation crap… basically, think of a morgue for living ponies. Cryogenics, I think. Whatever. The point is, if anypony cares about our caped crusader, feel free to go after her. I’ve seen her a few times, and she has a pretty hot flank, so… Nudge nudge, wink wink, nod’s as good as a wink to a blind bat. Heh. Let’s see... anything else…

“There’s seriously super-heroes running around?” Knives asked incredulously, as the apparently unorganized radio hostess loudly searched through what sounded like large stacks of papers, uttering a near-constant stream of profanities. “What kind ay nutjob does that?”

“The kind that wants to at least try and help.” Raid replied. “Considering that most of the ponies living here are the descendants of complete and total nerds… I’m not surprised that some of them took inspiration from comic books. Sometimes it’s a bit more intimidating when you have a reputation, but no name.”

Knives grunted in acknowledgement.

”Nope! That’s about it folks! This has been the news, brought to you by Canturbury’s hottest zebra pirate! Jolly Rodger!

“…yes I’m well aware that I’m the only zebra pirate around here. That just validates my point. Now let’s get it on with… Some muuuuuusiiiiiic!

“If I can find the damn bu- oh, here it is!”

Then there came the sound of a band playing a somewhat familiar song.

As soon as the lyrics started, Knives let out the most high-pitched fanfilly squeal of joy that I have ever heard come from the, normally androgynous, mare. Raid, Stock, and I all stared at her as she started singing along with the music.

You look like a princess (look like a princess)…

Walk like a princess (walk like a princess)…

Talk like a princess (talk like a princess)…

But I got wiiiiiise…

You’re a changeling in disguise! Oh yes you are,

Changeling in disguise! Oh-oh-oh-oh

Changeling in disguise!

I thought that I was in Heaven,

But it was no surprise,

Celestia help me I didn’t see,

The liar in your eyes.

Noticing that we were all gaping at her as if she’d sprouted a second horn, she blushed and grinned sheepishly. “Aheh… Ah like The Prez... So sue me…”

Stock snorted. “So do I, but ya don’t see me squealing at the top of my lungs.”

When she shot a glare at him, Stock and I snickered at her. “Hey, it’s not mah fault- Th’ hell?”

She looked up at the sky. “Where’d that come from?”

“Where did what come from?” I asked.

“Ah just got hit in th’ nose with water.” She swept a hoof around at the empty ruins. “Where in th’ hell did it come from?”

“It’s called rain, Knives. Water falling from the sky.” I rolled my eyes.

As if on cue, it began to rain heavily. I heaved a sigh. “Of course.”

“Oh, this is nice.” Said Stock as she slowly hovered along. “I haven’t seen rain this heavy in a few months.”

“Yeah,” I said. “It is pretty dry here isn’t it?”

Knives was glaring at the sky suspiciously. “This is just weirdin’ me out. It’s like th’ sky sprung a leak or somethin’.”

I quirked an eyebrow at her. “Knives, how can you read all those romance novels and not know what rain is? It’s like a cliché in that kind of thing.”

She gaped at me. “How did you know about those?”

I deadpanned at her. “You didn’t exactly hide it very well.”

Stock sniggered. “Knives reads romance novels.”

The striped unicorn turned crimson. “Sh-shut up!”

“Hey, I hate to break this up but we need to find shelter, now!” Raid shouted.

Stock laughed. “I didn’t think ya would panic about rain, Blue.”

“Stock, do you remember what happens when it doesn’t rain for a long period of time?” he said slowly. “And then it starts raining heavily?”

She stared at him for a moment.

“Oh… Fuck… We gotta find cover.”

“That’s what I said, yes.” He began to look around in a frantic manner.

“Blue, what are you doing?” the ghoul shouted. “We need to get out of the city!”

“This area got flooded a lot before the war.” He replied. “The buildings are reinforced.”

“What the hell are you two talking about?” I asked.

Raid pointed to the sidewalk. To my and Knives’ surprise, the massive concrete slabs were actually moving, sections slid apart to form a ten-foot wall. The glow of magic surrounded about half of them, apparently reinforcing them with what I assumed was a force field. A good number of what I thought were simply shapes etched into the curb rose up to the top edge of the slabs, creating staircases. Then, to our collective surprise the buildings themselves started to rise.

All the while, the air was filled with the sounds of a siren and a calm female voice.

“Attention: Flood imminent. All citizens please take shelter. Flood barriers will be raised in fifteen seconds. Please move in a calm and orderly fashion. Be warned, several buildings in blocks Four, Six, Seven, and Ten have failed to properly engage safety measures. All citizens in those areas, please confirm that the safety measures have engaged. Thank you.” It said.

The only thought that entered my mind was, “Cool.”

“Come on, we need to hurry!” Raid yelled.

All of us began to run to each building in a frantic manner, looking for something that seemed… safe… apparently some of the barriers had massive chunks of concrete missing, or one building failed to rise, or the staircase didn’t move, or a number of other problems had occurred. As we did, I noticed a few lazy streams of water trickling down one of the streets.

“Over here!” Shouted Raid, waving at us from in front of a three-story building. “This one’s marked!”

I turned to see him in front of a two-story building that had been painted many times over with various kinds of graffiti. The most prominent markings were “Mare-Do-Well was here” and a large, yellow number fifteen painted over a blue splotch of color.

As I trotted over, I saw that the door to this building was also blocked. Before I could ask how we were supposed to get in, I saw it.

There was an open door on the third floor. On a building that had been raised ten feet above ground level.

Knives trotted up, breathing heavily from frantically running to every building in sight. “Sae, where is it?”

With a sigh, I pointed towards the raised structure. As she followed my hoof, her jaw dropped. Her voice was barely a squeak. “Up there?”

Raid facehooved. “Crap. I forgot about that.”

Stock floated just behind him. “About what?”

Knives shuddered, still staring at the series of, admittedly flimsy, ladders.

“What’s up with you?” Snorted the ghoul.

“It’s… really high…” My horned friend gulped.

Raid sighed and turned to me. “Alright, I guess we’ll have to find somewhere else.”

Then Knives screamed.

Whipping my head around, I saw her hanging from Stock’s forelegs, the undead pegasus slowly floating up towards the open door with a cocky smirk.

“PUTMEDOWNPUTMEDOWNPUTMEDOWN!” She shrieked in sheer terror.

“STOCK! What the fuck is wrong with you?” Raid roared as Stock threw Knives onto the top of the escape. The striped-legged mare immediately darted inside.

Raid and I rushed up both stairways and into the room, with him muttering about Stock being an insensitive asshole.

It was incredibly dusty, and clearly hadn’t been touched since the megaspells hit. It was almost completely empty except for a bed and several damaged mattresses. I figured it must have, at one point, been an apartment. Several gaping holes were in the middle of the floor, possibly going all the way down to ground level. Knives was sitting in the far corner of the room, pressed up against the wall and hyperventilating with her eyes clenched tight.

“Knives, are you okay?” I asked as I put a hoof on her shoulder. She was shaking violently, but she nodded slowly, her face damp with tears.

“Stock, what the hell were you thinking?” Raid sighed.

“What? What’d I do?”

“Knives is acrophobic.” I answered. “She can’t stand heights.”

. “Seriously? That’s hilarious.” The ghoul guffawed.. Then she frowned. “You gotta admit, though... it’s better than drowning, right?”

I looked at her with an expression of confusion. She pointed at the door.

Where there was once a broken street coated in orange dust, there was now a massive river flowing through the ruined town. In the seconds we weren’t watching, the water had filled the place completely, even covering the raised sections with a raging torrent of water, and was rushing through the streets with such incredible strength that it was dragging a few auto-carts along with it.

“What is it?” Asked Knives, who was still staying as far away from the door and the holes in the floor as equinly possible.

“It flooded, really quick. What the hell happened?”

“Flash flood.” Said Raid. “Happens once every two or three years. This one seems pretty mild. Should take about a day to clear up.”

“WHAT?” I yelled. “We’re getting set back again? Sweet Luna, at this rate we’re never gonna find dad.”

“Woah, calm down Stripes. We’ll find him. Just be patient.” Stock chuckled. “It’s not like he’s-“

I clamped my hooves down over her mouth. “I am NOT having you jinx anything!”

“SHUT UP!” Knives shouted.

Everypony was quiet for a moment, I could hear Knives’ nervous panting over the roar of the rain on the roof. Somewhere in the distance, I could hear the water leaking into one of the rooms, and the faint roar of the flood outside.

“Maybe we should try and get some rest.” Raid said, prompting me to release the ghoul.

“Yeah…” I said, as I rubbed my face with a hoof, suddenly feeling the urge to yawn. “I think I need it especially. No sleep last night. What time is it?”

“Around noon.” He said, checking his pipbuck. “Why?”

“Oy… This is gonna be a long day.” I yawned. “I think I’m gonna browse the junk. I’m sure there’ll be something interesting.”

“I think I’ll join you.” Raid said with a bit of mock cheer. “You coming Stock?”

“Nah. Gonna keep watch.” The ghoul replied.

Raid shrugged and turned to Knives. “How about you, Knives. You wanna come? Might get your mind off of the, eh…” He motioned his head downward.

She stood, shuddering as she glanced at the hole in the floor. “Ah’ll come with ye.”

~~~

The rest of the place was fairly large, and looked like somepony had, at one point, simply pulled copious amounts of junk and crap inside and then left it all there. Fortunately for Knives, there weren’t many other massive holes in the floor, and most of the windows were boarded up. Most of what we found was useless. Well… Raid and I considered it useless. Knives, on the other hoof had accumulated a sizeable pile of scrap metal and various bits of electronics.

“Knives, what are you even going to do with all this crap?” Raid asked with an eyebrow raised.

“Do you even have pockets?” I snarked from my position near this room’s closet.

“Ay course Ah have pockets.” She snorted. “And this crap can be useful. Ye never know when ye might need tae make a lockpick or somethin’.”

“I just use bobby pins.” Raid went back to the bookshelf he was searching through. “Not that I’m any good at picking locks.”

Knives frowned. “Well… Ah personally think that it’s a good idea tae keep some scrap around. Never know when ye might need it.”

I blinked at her. “Okay... I’m not even going to bother arguing with you on that, but where are you going to keep all this?”

She opened her mouth as though she was about to say something, but stopped, and put a hoof to her chin instead. “Hmm… Ah’ll have tae think ay that.”

I rolled my eyes. “And you say I’m weird. Junkaholic.”

“Th’ hell does tha’ mean?” She retorted. With a chuckle, Raid went to check the other side of the room, humming to himself.

“I happen to recall you telling me that you got your cutie mark by fixing a jukebox with little more than scrap.”

“Aye. What’s yer point?” She chucked a bundle of wires onto her junk-pile.

“Why did you have it to begin with?” I said with a smirk as I threw open a half-destroyed wardrobe.

“Oh!” I pulled out a large poster and unrolled it. “Shadowbolts!”

“Really?” Knives quirked an eyebrow and smirked.

“Hey, they were cool!” I said.

“Ah happen tae remember that ye used tae have a crush on Rainbow Dash.”

Suddenly, Raid smacked his head on a bed frame he was looking under. He pulled his head out, rubbing it and wincing. “Who said ‘Rainbow Dash’?”

“Knives did. Also, I did not have a crush on her.” I growled, giving her a light push.

“Och, yes ye did.” She smirked again. “Ye even had one ay those Rainbow wigs.”

“You guys gave that to me as a joke, and you damn well know it!” I snapped back.

“Why are you guys talking about... her?” The blue stallion cut in.

“Oh, I found this poster.” I unrolled it again and held it out. “See?”

Raid gently moved the poster away with a forehoof, a bemused expression on his face. “Oh. Shadowbolts. Yay. I just love pre-war sports crap.”

Knives quirked an eyebrow at him, a smirk on her face. “Not a fan, Aam guessin’?”

“Of a bunch of pegasi who fought in the war? Lead by an obsessive athlete who called her organization the ‘Ministry of Awesome’?” He snorted. “Yeah, so much cooler than the Steel Rangers.”

“Obsessive athlete?” I asked.

His eye twitched. “Yes. Rainbow Dash. The rainbow-maned female jock.”

“My mane!” Knives gasped as she stuck a hoof out in the air. “That’s it!”

She then proceeded to drag her pile of junk into the nearest bathroom and shut the door, leaving Raid and myself to stare on in bewilderment.

I turned to him and smirked. “Just ask her out, Raid.”

He froze for a second, stuttering as he tried to find a response. “Where the fuck did that come from?”

“I’ve been waiting for a moment to talk to you about it without her hearing.” I shrugged. “It’s odd that I don’t get that many.”

He blinked, then sighed, a slight blush on his face. “Am I really that obvious?”

“Maybe to me. Your love life belongs in a comic book, or maybe a romance novel. Knives would probably love that.” I chortled.

“You have no idea.” He shook his head. “I’m trying to work up the guts to say… something, but every time I try… I dunno, somewhere between my brain and my mouth it turns into a joke.”

“That’s probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” I deadpanned.

He groaned into his hoof. “The worst part is I start acting like I’m joking.”

“This happens a lot to you, doesn’t it.”

“…yes.”

“You’re a moron, you know that, right?”

“…yes.”

I smirked. “Just ask her out. She’ll say ‘yes’. Trust me. If you keep flirting with her, you’ll just make her nervous. She’s pretty easily embarrassed for somepony who reads romance novels all the time.”

He sighed. “Alright, you have a-“

“Sae, how dae Ah look?” Knives said from the doorway.

Her mane and tail had become significantly longer. This was because she had tied a large amount of electrical cables and wires into them, as well as a few bits of scrap metal. Her normally short tail was now about a foot longer, and her mane was even longer than that. On her fetlocks were multiple strips of metal, formed into bangles and bracelets. She actually looked pretty cool, though her shirt and jacket didn’t quite fit the ensemble.

Despite all that, however, my first reaction was, “Holy shit, you actually did something with your mane for once?”

She shrugged. “Figured Ah might as well, since Ah don’t have anywhere tae put half ay this stuff.”

“You… Uh… you…” I glanced over to see that Raid was desperately trying not to blush, but to no avail. “You look… great… Knives.”

I almost facehooved when Knives blushed as well. Am I really going to have to play matchmaker for these two? Maybe I can get Stock to help.

The awkward blush-fest was interrupted when the aforementioned ghoul burst in with a wide grin on her face.

“Guys! I just got, like… the most awesome idea ever!” The ghoul said happily. “I saw this billboard floating with the flood, and it was, like, horizontal! We could use it as a fuckin’ raft, guys!”

We stared at her for a moment. Stock looked back and forth between us, eventually settling on Knives and her junk-metal filled mane.

“Love the mane Knives.” She grinned.

“Uh… Thanks…” She said. “So, we’re going to ride... on a flood?”

The ghoul grinned so wide I thought that her jaw might fall off. “Yup. And on the biggest damn surfboard I’ve ever seen.”

Raid shuffled nervously. “Eh… is it stable? You know how I get around… well…”

“Sorry, Blue.” She shook her head. “You’re gonna be pukin’ your guts out the whole time.”

The ultramarine stallion sighed. “Of course.”

“Something wrong?” I asked with concern.

“I get… really bad motion sickness… Not much I can do.” He shrugged.

Stock snorted. “Don’t worry Blue. It happens more than you think.”

He gave her a confused look. “ Okay then… let’s get moving.”

We all followed Stock back out, and looked out the window, while Knives once more clung to the far wall.

Outside, shored on the raised concrete platform and tied to the bottom of the fire escape with a bit of rope, was a three-inch thick billboard just large enough for the four of us to stand on and still have room to move.

“’Brawnco’? Seriously?” I said.

“Hey,” Raid smiled. “That stuff is good. Personally I can’t get enough of it.”

“Addict.” Stock snorted, receiving a roll of the eyes from the blue stallion.

“So…” I glanced behind me. “How are we gonna get Knives down?”

Knives took a deep breath, and shakily trotted up to the window, clamping her eyes shut. “Stock, could ye just fly meh down there?”

Stock blinked. “Uh… are you sure?”

“Please just do it before Ah lose mah nerve.”

With a shrug, the pegasus snatched up the striped unicorn and shot out the window, while Raid and I casually climbed down the metal staircase that was the fire escape.

Stock landed, gently placing Knives on our makeshift raft, where the latter collapsed, and curled up into the fetal position.

“You alright, Knives?”

She nodded. “Just give me a minute.”

Stock untied the rope.

~~~~~

The flood carried us at a rather fast pace through the city. I wondered just how it was raining enough to make the place flood this much. It seemed a bit unreal. It wasn’t enough to keep our makeshift raft from occasionally scraping the tops of the raised platforms, or getting stuck on one, forcing Stock to push, but it was easier than walking, although the city did seem very large.

Taking a glance at Raid, I saw that he’d grown extremely pale, and was lying on his side near the edge of our raft. He’d already thrown up several times. I wished that I’d bothered to look for some antacids or something, but I hadn’t expected motion sickness to be a problem. Seeing him like this was, admittedly, sort of depressing.

“You need anything, Raid?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No. I’m fine.”

“You sure? You might wanna drink something.”

He opened his mouth to say something, then clamped a hoof over his mouth. After a second, he carefully removed the hoof, and stuck out his tongue. “Nah. I got some water in my-” He made a sickening urp sound as he spun to vomit over the side of the raft.

“You sure?” I quirked an eyebrow.

He rolled back onto his side, and wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his jacket, grimacing as the bile rolled off of the enchanted leather. “Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

I shrugged and trotted over to Stock, passing Knives, who was sleeping in the center of the billboard, curled up into a ball.

“So,” I said. “How long do you think it’ll take to get there?”

~~~~~

Green moaned again.

She had mixed feelings about her current predicament.

On one hoof, she was ecstatic that she’d actually gotten some food in her belly, and it was a far cry better than feeling that her stomach was being crushed into a tiny ball.

On the other hoof, her stomach really hurt, and she felt like she was about to throw it all back up at any moment.

The small green pegasus opted to simply lay on her back, clutching her aching stomach.

“Green? Are you well?” Asked Wretch, concerned for her friend.

Green nodded weakly.

“Are you sure? You look a bit green.” Wretch blinked then facehooved. “No pun intended.”

Green giggled slightly, which quickly turned to groans when it made her stomach hurt.

Wretch was silent for a moment. “Can you stand?”

Green didn’t respond for a moment. She considered saying ‘no’ and hoping that the pink unicorn would leave it at that, but she really didn’t want to get hit if the mare found out she was lying.

Shakily, Green rolled over, stood, and immediately regretted it. The pain in her belly made her groan again. “I… I think I ate too much. Sorry…”

Wretch blinked. “You’re sorry… that you got a decent meal?”

Green winced, but nodded. “I’m sorry. I swear I’m not trying to be useless…”

Wretch blinked again. “What are you talking about?”

The pegasus sniffled, and seemed to shrink into herself. “I know I keep screwing up, but I can do better! Please don’t be mad.”

“Why would I be…” Wretch’s eyes widened. “Goddesses, You think I’m… Green, I would never do that! That’s horrible!”

Green stared, not understanding. “Buh-but… You killed Bark. You own me.”

Wretch’s jaw dropped. “I… Own… Oh Goddesses. Green, I am not your master.”

“You’re not?”

“No!” Wretch cried. “Nopony should own another pony. You’re your own master!”

Green simply continued staring. She wasn’t quite understanding what the pink mare was saying.

Wretch sighed. “Well… you can stay with me if you want, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Okay? Just… You’re free now. Please try to remember that, alright?”

Green nodded dumbly, making Wretch sigh again.

“Well… do you feel comfortable walking?” She asked. “We should probably get moving.”

Green nodded again, but rubbed her stomach and winced.

With another sigh, Wretch left the room, followed closely by her small pegasus friend.
-----

Footnote 1: Diamond Knives
Level Up! (10)
Repair: 90
Speech: 26

Perks:
Intense Training: Endurance +1, Endurance is now 2

~~~~

Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri
Level Up! (9)
Medicine: 99

Perks:
Swift Learner: Rank 2= +20% EXP

~~~~

Footnote 3: Raid (???)
Level up! (10)
Guns: 80
Perks:
Walker of the Wastes (Rank 3/3): You and your team now move 30% faster out of combat. In combat, your own walk speed is increased by 12%.

`

Quests:
Active Quest:
O’ Father, Where Art Thou?: Infiltrate or assault the Bone Eaters’ base near Bladesville.
Other quests:
Sifting through the dust:
1)
Find information on the location of Ashes.
2)
Find information on the location of Obsidian Knives
3)
–Find information on the location of Nezan Kazdri
----

(Author’s Notes)

No comments for once.

Except for that.

And that.

And that.

And that.

POTATOES!

-Delakirus

Thanks to Kkat for Fallout Equestria, and Somber for Project Horizon. Thanks to Matkingos for making sure this doesn’t suck as much as usual. Thanks to whomever reads this, and again, critiques are very much welcome.

Chapter Thirteen: Break-In Attempt

My chest hurt. My head hurt. Everything hurt. I couldn’t move, it hurt too much.

I heard somepony crying. I think it was mom. Dad was saying something to her.

“It’s alrecht, love. Jist let it out.” He said.

“How can you be so calm about this?” Mom screamed. “She almost died, Sid!”

“Ah know tha’. There’s nothin’ Ah ken dae abit it, though. If Ah panic, Ah’ll just make it worse.”

I tried to say something, but I couldn’t find the strength to talk.

“This is all my fau-ha-haaault!” Mom sobbed.

“It’s nae yer fault, Zala. Ye didnae know.” Dad said in a low voice. “Don’t blame yerself.”

Mom sobbed something incoherently.

“Aye, but tha’ changes nothin’.” Mom mumbled something else. “But she’s nae dead. She’ll be fine suin enough.

“… saw the look on your face, Sid. You were scared too.” She sniffed.

“Eh… Ah’ll admit… Tha’ was a lot ay blood… but we got tae her in time, so it doesnae really matter, nao does it?”

I tried to speak again, and failed once more.

“I could have looked harder. I could have gotten somepony to watch her while I was gone.” Mom sniffled again. “I shouldn’t have taken her with me. She wouldn’t have-“

“Aye, and Ah should ‘ave paid attention when I was playin’ with magic. Ah might still have mah ol’ fur an’ cutie mark. Bit too late fer that, nao isn’t it?” Dad retorted. “Ye made a mistake, Zala. Nothin’ too serious happened.”

“Nothing too…” Mom’s voice suddenly took on a tone of anger. “Sid, she had a seven foot spike stuck through her chest. She had a collapsed lung. How is that not serious?”

“Zala-“

“Oh, and she also had seven broken ribs, two of which needed to be removed.”

“Zala-“

“And she had a severe concussion, a crack in her horn, several pieces of metal stuck in her-“

“ZALA!” Dad roared, something I’d never heard him do before. “Calm down!”

“…”

“Aam sorry, Zala, but yer goin’ tae give yerself an ulcer th’ way yer goin’.”

“You didn’t even know what an ulcer was until I told you.”

“Doesnae matter. The point is, when Diamond wakes up, she’s goin’ tae need help, and we cannae help her if we’re dwellin’ on what we coulda done.”

“M-mommy…” I croaked.

Within less than a second, I felt her hoof on my forehead, and saw her face in the corner of my vision. “Hey, sweetie, how are you feeling?”

“… hurts…”

“I know, sweetie. You… you…” She sniffed. “It’s okay, Diamond. You’ll get better soon. I promise.”

“… scared…”

Her ears twitched. “You’re scared? What’s wrong?”

I couldn’t do more than sniffle as I felt tears coming.

“Sweetheart, yer goin’ tae be alrecht. Ah swear it.” Dad said, entering my vision on the other side with a smile. “Ye’ll be up an’ abit in nae time.”

I sniffled again, and fell back asleep.
~~~~~

She glares at me from within her cage. I glare right back.

“Ye look pissed.”

“Do I?” She sneers. “Must be because I’M TRAPPED INSIDE YOUR CAGE!”

I simply stare at her.

“I’m going to get out of this, Knives.” She growls. “Whether you like it or not.”

I narrow my eyes. “Yer never getting’ out ay here.”

She grins widely, exposing her shark-like teeth. “We’ll see about-“

Knives, wake up!

01000101011100100111001001101111011100100011101000100000010100000110110001100101011000010111001101100101001000000111001001100101011011000110111101100001011001000010000001100100011100100110010101100001011011010010111001100101011110000110010100101110

“Bwuh…” I said.

“Wake up, Knives.” Stock gave me another shake. “Somethin’s wrong with Stripes.”

I stretched and cracked my joints, earning a wince from everypony but Raid, who was still puking over the side of our makeshift raft, and looked even more pale than he had when we got on. Zeed was sitting on the opposite side, an angry look in her eyes. Stock was standing right next to me, glancing worriedly at Zeed as she tried to wake me up.

“Wha’s goin’ oan?” I yawned as I rubbed my eyes.

The answer came in the form of a loud scraping sound, and the billboard started to slow.

Zeed growled. “We ran out of water, apparently.”

“Och, that’s a shame. Ah wanted tae sing a shanty.” I yawned again. “What time is it?”

“Do I look like I have a clock on me?” She shot me a glare, and turned to stare angrily at the remains of the flood.

Stock whispered in my ear. “She’s been acting like this for about half an hour now. She just, like, got all pissed off out of nowhere.”

“She’s probably had another mood swing,” I trotted over to my zebra friend. “Ye feelin’ alright, Zeed?”

She growled again. “No. I’m fucking tired.”

“Alright, alright.” I said. “Ah get it, Ah understand.”

“Graaagh! When the fuck are we gonna fucking get there? It’s been for-fucking-ever! FUCKING LUNA’S FLANK!” She yelled.

“Calm down, Zeed. There’s nae need tae get upset.”

“Calm down?” She spun to face me. She already had bags under her eyes. “How the fuck can I calm down? My dad might have been caught by slavers. You realize how bad that is, right? Right?”

“Ah know, Zeed, but-“

“And on top of that, I haven’t slept since we left Bladesville.” She bared her teeth in an angry grin. “Do you remember what that feels like?”

I winced. A few painful memories came to mind. “Aye. Ye know Ah dae.”

“Guess what else.” She let out a humorless laugh. “My cigarettes got wet, and I don’t know how! I haven’t even touched the water. So now I’m getting withdrawal symptoms too! Isn’t that nice?”

“Zeed!” I yelled, shocking her out of her infuriated rant. “Take a deep breath, and exhale slowly.”

She stared at me like I’d gone crazy. “How in the fuck is that gonna help?”

“Just dae it.” With a roll of her eyes, she inhaled deeply through her nose, and let the breath out through pursed lips. “Nao dae it again. And again. And again.”

We kept on doing that for about two minutes, until I saw her visibly relax.

“Goddesses, Zeed. Ye really need tae learn how tae calm yerself down.”

She harrumphed. “Says the walking rage-bomb.”

“And Ah still dunnae get angry as easily as ye. What’s eatin’ ye?” I put a comforting hoof on her shoulder hopeful that it would calm her.

She made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a growl. “I haven’t seen him in so long. I don’t even know if he still cares. He never really liked mom. I can understand why. She’s probably the stupidest zebra to ever live.”

I stared at her thoughtfully for a moment. “Sae, ye got pissed off ‘cuz ye started thinkin’ about yer mother.”

She sighed again. “Yes…”

“Don’t worry, Zeed. How could anypony nae care about their own foal?”

“Batch. Coral. Copper. Pike. Slip and Flip. Construct.”

I grimaced. “Eh… Alright, Ah’ll give ye that. But… just trust meh. Aam certain that he still cares. Hell, fer all we know he might’a been tryin’ tae get back intae th’ prison all this time.”

Her frown lessened, almost becoming a smile. “Yeah. I guess that’s the kind of thing he’d do.”

“Either way… Ye just need tae relax. Don’t stress yerself out, alright?” I patted her shoulder, and she sighed. “Dunnae worry. We’ll find him.”

“Yeah. You’re right.” She said, her face brightening up. “So… Now that we lost our raft, what are we doing now?”

Raid groaned and stood shakily. Some of the color had returned to his face. “Give me another minute. My stomach’s still churning.”

“Hurry up, Blue.” Stock snickered. “We don’t wanna deal with your problems too!”

The buck rolled his eyes, and started trotting down the street. “Okay… so… I don’t see any… unpleasant things, so I’m guessing we aren’t quite there yet.”

“What kind ay ‘unpleasant things’?” I asked with an eyebrow raised.

“Corpses dangling from chains, blood smeared all over the walls, graffiti with enough swears to fill a whole ‘nother dictionary. Normal raider crap.” He began to trot down the street. “Either that, or possibly some kind of bone-totem or fence or… let’s just go with ‘anything that looks like it belongs to a raider’.”

“How about that?” Said Stock as we rounded a corner.

She pointed down the road at what appeared to be a corpse stuck on a giant metal spike, with its limbs held up by smaller spikes stuck through them in a similar manner. There was a lot of old, dried blood on the ground. The whole place was covered in a dense orange fog, much thicker than the mist I’d seen around the rest of Canturbury.

“Oh, goddesses that’s morbid.” I grimaced, thankful that I hadn’t eaten anything. “How did we nae notice that?”

“It looks like some-urp-pony gutted him,” said Zeed. “I think his spine’s show-urp showing.”

“Eeyup. That there be some raiders.” Raid said. “Oh, look! There’s another one.”

“Hey, shouldn’t there be scavengers around here or something?” Stock tapped her chin with a forehoof.

“Scavvers? In this area?” Raid quirked an eyebrow.

“No, no… I mean, like… crows. Vultures. I’ve seen them around most of Canturbury. Them and the roaches are practically the only surviving wildlife in the desert areas.” She looked around. “This is probably like a smorgasbord for them. So where are they?”

Then Zeed screamed in pain. I spun to see her holding a foreleg.

“SNIPER!” Raid roared. “TAKE COVER!”

“Sniper?” I balked. “But Ah didnae even hear-“

“Move! Move!” Raid shoved me behind the building as Stock did the same with Zeed, whose leg had already started bleeding profusely. “Stock, I think I saw a muzzle flash on the roof of that restaurant a block over.”

“On it.” She shot off into the air, alighting on the roof of the building we were hiding behind.

“You alright, Zeed?”

She grunted around the pair of tweezers she had in her mouth. She took a deep breath, and plunged the tool into the bullet-wound, and grunted in pain.

“Dae ye want me tae get that fer ye?” I asked with a grimace.

She shook her head, and yanked the tweezers out. I saw the bullet bounce off somewhere as she spat out the tweezers and immediately began pouring a healing potion over the wound. As the liquid began to do its work, she growled. “I just fucking fixed this leg.”

“Stick… I need a stick…” Raid muttered as he searched the ground.

Zeed and I gave him a confused look. Wordlessly, I pulled a light metal rod out of my mane and levitated it over to him. He took one end in his mouth and put his hat on the other end of it. “Thanks!”

Then he stuck it out from behind the cover of the wall.

The hat promptly sprouted several extra holes.

He pulled the hat back, grinning widely. “I didn’t think that would actually work.”

As soon as I opened my mouth to ask what the point of that was, several gunshots rang out from Stock’s position.

Everything was silent for a moment.

Raid smiled. “Sounds like she got ‘im.”

I heard Stock scream at the top of her undead lungs. “INCOMING!”

I head a whoosh noise. Then the street in front of me exploded. It was close enough that the force of the blast threw Raid into me, knocking both of us over. I was left with a loud ringing in my ears.

Raid said something, but I couldn’t hear it.

“WHAT?” I yelled.

“I HATE MISSILE LAUNCHERS!” He responded in kind.

Zeed let out a pained groan. “Owwww. What the hell just happened?”

Stock shot down from her position on the rooftops and landed in front of us. “Blue, we need to move!”

“WHAT?” He yelled as he got to his hooves.

“MOVE!” She screamed. “NOW!”

The two ponies helped Zeed and I to our hooves, and we all promptly galloped towards the building next to the one we were hiding behind.

I saw the ground near our former position explode several more times, before a loud whooping noise sounded in the distance, followed by cheering.

“Gaaagh! What are these guys, raiders or slavers?” Raid groaned. He rubbed his ears with his hooves.

“Pfft, what’s the difference?” Stock snorted. “There’s a shitload of them out there. They’ll probably make their way over here soon. They’re slow, though.”

“Wish we brought mines. Knives, can you get your ‘nade launcher ready?” He pointed down the street. “We’ve got incoming.”

I levitated the weapon off my back and floated it in front of me. Zeed began to check us for injury, having us all take a small sip of healing potion before drawing her pistol.

Then the Bone Eaters rounded the corner. There were about thirty of them, all wearing some variant of clothing constructed from auto-cart tires, metal spikes and something that looked like leather. Every single one carried some sort of melee weapon in their mouth or their magic, waving them menacingly and roaring challenges as they approached.

“Open fire!” Stock roared.

My first shot hit one of them right in the muzzle, though all it did was launch him into the pony behind him. The rest just trampled over their fallen comrades. Several beams of red light struck several more in the legs, causing three more to scream in pain and stumble. Raid and Stock, the former armed with his scatterguns and the former carrying a large rifle, managed to kill every target with one or two hits, though they took careful aim each time. By the time they reached us, there were about twenty left.

When they actually reached us, I drew my baton. It was then that I realized that I should have gotten a melee weapon that wasn’t broken. As a result of my hesitation, I got smacked in the face by a large club. Twice. It felt like it broke my jaw.

Desperately trying to ignore the pain, I spun around and bucked the attacking mare in the head, receiving a loud cracking noise for my trouble. Another pony tackled me to the ground. He was, for reasons I’d rather not think about, drooling profusely and had decided that the best way to deal with me was to climb on top of me and start beating at my face with his hooves. I held up my forelegs to protect myself, and started chucking anything I could lift telekinetically at him.

I heard Raid shout my name.

The Bone Eater was then promptly launched off me when two hooves crashed into his skull. Several shotgun blasts rang out as Raid lashed out at the others attempting to replace their companion’s position.

I popped back to my hooves and grabbed the nearest weapon.

Then something struck my back. Crying out in pain, I craned my neck to find that my previous attacker had almost instantly recovered, and had stabbed a knife into me, dangerously close to organs that might be important. As he back off, I stared at the knife, then at him, then back at the knife. With a snarl of irritation and a hiss of pain, I pulled the knife out, and brandished it at him.

He charged at me, and I jammed the Knife into his spine. Almost instantly, his back legs went limp, and he crumpled to the ground, screaming with rage. I charged the next pony I saw, a unicorn mare who was giggling madly, and had painted herself in the blood of her dead friends. She didn’t notice me until I leapt onto her and jabbed the knife into her shoulder. It took her a second to respond by stabbing her horn into my chest. With a scream of rage and a telekinetic kick, I brought the handle of the knife down on her horn, making a visible crack in it and causing her to shriek.

“Knives!” I heard somepony call. I think it was Raid, but I didn’t particularly care at the moment, nor did I care about the ball of reddish fire that had flown up into the air.

I charged yet another Bone Eater, cutting his throat open with the knife, grabbing his weapon from his flickering magical grip with my mouth, and driving the aforementioned axe into the foreleg of another attacking pony.

At some point, everything just became a blur of blood and anger, and within what could have been anywhere between a few seconds and a few hours, I found myself standing amidst about twenty corpses, panting, shaking, feeling incredibly tired, and covered in a lot of blood. I think most of it was mine.

I jumped when Raid put a hoof on my shoulder. “Knives, come on! They called for reinforcements!”

I tried to take a step forward, but slipped on a bit of… meat… and fell flat on my face. I couldn’t seem to get back up.

Raid had a worried expression as he looked at me. “Are you okay?”

“Tired.” I panted. “What’s happening?”

“Zeed and Stock are heading over to another building to hide. Uh…” He looked back down the street. “Can you walk at all?”

I tried to get back up, but my legs just gave out again. I let out a quiet whimper. Wordlessly, Raid gently picked me up and placed me on his back. He trotted as quickly as he could without dropping me or putting me in too much pain, until we reached what appeared to be a convenience store. Zeed and Stock had taken cover behind the front counter. The zebra guided Raid over to a table that had been cleared off, where he carefully deposited me onto it.

She began checking me over for injuries, pouring half a potion potion on the knife wound and a few drops on each of the other ones. Raid put another near my lips, and I greedily guzzled it down, still whimpering in pain. Then I gulped down another.

“Okay… So…” Zeed began. “Obviously, we’re not going through the front door.”

Stock scowled. “What are you talking about? That went great! We even have plenty of ammo left.”

Zeed deadpanned at the ghoul. “It’s going to take a couple of hours for Knives to recover. The potions only replace blood so fast.”

“Oh, she’s fine.” Stock scoffed. “Right, Knives?”

“I can’t even stand right now.” I groaned. “My head hurts.”

“Knives, your voice.” Zeed whispered.

“Too tired. Don’t care.”

“Awww, is widdle Knives hurt?”

I groaned again at the sound of her voice in the back of my mind.

Stock rolled her eyes. “Fine. When she’s back up again, we’ll take another crack at it. I’ll just take out the missile launcher this time.”

Raid facehooved. “Okay… I’ve thought of better plans than that. They’re just going to get another pony on their security. I think we should find another way in.”

Stock turned to him. If she had eyebrows, they would have been raised. “Another way in? That could take days.”

“Actually... My pipbuck picked up the name of the place.” He held up the device on his foreleg. “Apparently, that area had an office complex for one of the laboratories. Cryogenics, I think.”

“Ah thought that was in Common?” I coughed.

He shook his head. “No. A cryogenics lab was in Common. This is the… Raftwater? The hell kinda name for a town is that?”

“How does that get us in?” Zeed furrowed her brow in thought.

“All Canturbury labs have multiple entrances-slash-exits. This’ll be no exception.”

Stock eyed the stallion. “Blue, how in the fuck do ya know this much about Canturbury?”

“Because I paid attention during briefings, unlike you.” He replied evenly. “You’re eighty years old. You should have known better than to fuck around when regional information was given out.”

“Eighty years?” I asked incredulously. “How’re ye eighty?”

She shrugged. “Ghouls don’t age. And while I may be a relatively… recent ghoul, I’m still no different.”

“Most ghouls were made by direct exposure to balefire when the megaspells hit.” Raid pointed a forehoof at Stock. “Moron here, on the other hoof, got her stupid flank stuck in a weapons lab where some pre-war scientist had been trying to build a balefire flamethrower. Stock decided to screw around with it. It exploded. She promptly lost all of her skin.”

“Hey! I wasn’t the one screwing around with it! That was Cloud Thresher.” Stock huffed.

“That’s not what Comet told me.” The stallion smirked. “Anyway… She was also lucky enough not to go feral. So, here she is.”

“Can we get back to the matter at hoof, here?” Zeed sighed. “How are we getting in?”

Raid tapped his chin. “Stock and I will go and look for a map. Those usually have alternate entrances. Otherwise, we’ll keep our eyes peeled.”

Stock harrumphed, and flew out of the building.

“You two going to be fine alone?”

Zeed nodded, and Raid trotted out of the building.

“Oooh, Knives, he’s so gentlecoltly. Bringing you in here like that and being all gentle.” My striped friend said in a mocking tone. “You must be so happy.”

I groaned.

“Oh, just tell him already.” She said.

I blushed.

“It’s not like he’ll say ‘no’.” She continued, teasingly.

I tried to roll over and cover my face with my hooves.

“Fine. Suit yourself.” She sighed.

She started rummaging through the shelves of the store, standing on her back legs to get to certain things.

“How’s yer leg?” I asked.

“Hmm? Oh, it’s fine. The bullet didn’t do much damage, and the potion took care of it.” She grimaced. “I’m just glad it didn’t break the bone or anything. I’d rather not have another broken leg.”

I grunted in acknowledgement.

“Aam goin’ tae try an’ take a nap.”

“Alright. I’ll wake you up if anything happens.”

49:74:27:73:20:61:6c:72:69:67:68:74:20:4b:6e:69:76:65:73:2e:20:53:68:65:27:73:20:61:6c:69:76:65:2e

“It’s a nice house,” mom says. “But I don’t think it’ll work.”

“Aye, but it’s pretteh,” says dad.

“What do you think, Diamond?”

“Huh? What?” I turn, startled out of staring at the flower pot.

Mom points to the door stuck in the tree in the picturesque forest. I can see the apartment through it. Inside the room, there’s a big, black hole.

“I asked what you think of the house, sweetie.”

“Uh…” I grimace. “That hole in the floor creeps me out. I don’t like it.”

I see dad being escorted away by two Guards through the massive metal trees.

“Love, Ah think Ah’ll be gone fer a while. Sorry abit that.”

Mom gives him a sad look. “Bye Sid. I’ll miss you.”

“Dad! Wait!” I reach out for him, but I can’t seem to reach. “Mom, we have to do something!”

I turn back to her to see her being held by four shadowy figures. They tear off her right foreleg, and she turns that sad look on me. “Sorry, sweetie. I wish I could have gotten you out.”

A flower of blood seems to flow from her throat as the shadows drag her back and toss her into the hole.

“MOM! NO!” I try and run towards the hole, but something is wrapping around my hooves and my throat. I can’t seem to breathe.

“This is all your fault you useless bitch.” She snarls in my ear. “She died because of you.”

I see her tail come up near my face.

I struggle against the shadows that are now gripping me.

They only grow tighter.

The tail-blade is right next to my throat.
Help me.
I keep struggling.
I can’t breathe.
Help me.
They won’t let me go.
Helpme.
Iscreamforhelp.
Itw0n’tcome.
Helpm3heLpme#e1lpmeh3lPme
59:6f:75:27:6c:6c:20:66:69:6e:64:20:68:65:72:20:73:6f:6f:6e:2e

I awoke with a gasp. I didn’t shoot up, but my heart was pounding in my chest at a thousand miles per hour. Within seconds, though, I’d already started to forget what I’d dreamt about. I was glad, at least, that it wasn’t just another conversation with her.

“You weren’t asleep for very long.” Zeed comments from the shelves on the far wall. She’d made a pile of packaged food in the middle of the room. “I think it’s only been about an hour.”

“Did Ah miss anythin’?” I asked as my heart started to slow down.

“Not really, unless you count my brief fangasm when I found Mysterious Mare-Do-Well #1.” She shrugged.

I got up and began to stretch, cracking all of my joints and receiving the usual grimaces from Zeed.

Raid burst through the door as I cracked the last vertebra, a huge smile on his face. “I found it! There’s a parking lot that leads straight to the lab. We can get in through there. They won’t be looking for us inside, so if we do this right, we can find out where the slave pens are and get everypony out. The Bone Eaters will be none the wiser.”

Zeed grinned the widest grin I’d ever seen her grin. “What are we waiting for?”

“Stock. She’s checking out the area. Should be back in a few minutes.” The buck replied. “And we still have to wait for Knives to recover, remember?”

The zebra blanched, and turned to me with a nervous chuckle. “Sorry.”

I smiled. “It’s alright. Nae harm done. Either way, Aam feelin’ fine.”

She frowned. “Knives, do you even realize how much blood you lost?”

“Enough that Ah had trouble standin’?”

“That’s a lot of blood, Knives.” She looked at me with an incredulous expression. “I think most of the potions’ magic went into replacing it.”

“Well Aam fine nao, so let’s get oan wi’ it.” I said. I tried to take a step forward, but Zeed stepped on some of the cables tied into my mane.

“Knives. Rest. Now. I still have some of that sleeping potion left, you know.” She said. “I’ll force it down your throat if I have to.”

“Ah thought ye wanted tae find yer dad?” I scowled.

She rolled her eyes. “I do, but I’d rather not lose my best friend while doing it.”

“I’d have to agree with that, Knives.” Raid said. He rubbed the back of his head nervously. “It would… be bad to lose you.”

I could feel my face heat up a bit. I turned away and hoped my blush wasn’t showing. Zeed had a cocky smirk on her face, so it probably was.

I cleared my throat in an embarrassed way. “Well… Alright… As long as yer okay wi’ it.”

~~~~~~~~

Green was amazed by the town. She’d never actually been in a city before. Bark had always just tied her to something in a hidden area when he was doing business in city limits, most likely to hide the fact he owned a slave.

She looked around at the glimmering lights of Foundry. The former college campus, as well as the nearby weapons manufacturing plant and most of the city between them, had been converted into one of Canturbury’s largest towns, and the one which suffered the second fewest attacks by raiders and slavers. The majority of the lighting was made up of thousands of Hearth’s Warming Eve lights which had, due to some logistical errors, been stored in a room intended for novelty cannonballs before the war.

Or so Green had heard from some of the other slaves when she was younger. At the moment, she didn’t care about that, she just thought that it was pretty.

“So, Green…” Wretch’s voice startled Green out of her admiration. “Do you have any idea where we could find information? I’m looking for something, but I don’t know where to start.”

Green balked. The pink mare was asking her questions. The filly wasn’t sure if they were trick questions or not. If they were, she would probably be punished. With a gulp, she spoke up. “Uh… I… I think that… Um…”

“It’s okay if you don’t know.” Wretch gave her a warm smile. “I won’t blame you.”

Green swallowed again. “Another slave… Zero… knew a lot. He said he worked for… bartenders… I think… Sorry…”

“Don’t be sorry, it’s not your fault.” Wretch gently stroked the filly’s mane. “You don’t know what you don’t know.”

Green nodded weakly, and followed her friend into the nearest bar. The pink-coated black-maned mare went up to the bar and took a seat on one of the stools. Green sat in the one immediately to her left. Looking around, she saw that the place had a distinctly Appleloosan style to it.

“Excuse me,” Wretch said to the bartender, an old red unicorn stallion with a grey mane. “I was wondering if you knew where I could get some information?”

The stallion just stared at her for a few seconds. “Canned goods?”

Wretch blinked. “Huh?”

“Stable? Never seen the sky before?”

“Um… Yes.”

The stallion smiled. “That explains it. You’re speaking to a member of the Bartender’s Guild. We’ve got information aplenty, as long as you can pay for it. You looking for anything in particular?”

“I’m looking for somepony who can tell me about… Ah… I think they’re called ‘memory orbs’?”

The stallion blinked. “Memory orbs? Hmmmm… Excuse me a moment.”

With that, he trotted into a door behind the bar. The sounds of file cabinets being shuffled through could be heard over the old-timey piano music. A second later, he returned with a sheet of paper. “Well, I have a few bits of info about memory orb experts, but they’re mostly with either Spectrum or the Steel Rangers, and I doubt that either would tell an outsider anything about them… eh…”

He looked over the sheet a few times.

“Ah here’s something. Hmmm… Tell you what, miss… This isn’t really much to go by, but it’s still a start, so I’ll cut you a deal. It’s ten caps for the info, but you have to buy a drink too.” He smiled at her. “Gotta make something offa this.”

With a smile of her own, Wretch fished through her duffle bag for a sizable number of caps, satisfied that she should have enough, she turned back to the buck. “Just a gin and tonic, please. Do you want anything Green?”

The filly, who had been spinning around in her chair the whole time, jumped as she was addressed. “Um… could…”

She gulped. “Could I get… do you have… Brawnco?”

The Stallion quirked an eyebrow. “Huh… Not a common request. Any particular kind?”

“Green tea?”

Wretch stifled a giggle at the request, and the stallion smirked. “All right. That’s about sixty bits total. Including the info. I’ll be right back.”

A few moments later, he returned with the two drinks and a different sheet of paper. “Alright, I don't have much about him, but last I heard, he lives in The Mall, so you’re best off asking around there. The Mall is about… five days south of here.”

Wretch smiled. “Thank you very much mister…”

“Oh, how ruse of me…” He returned the smile. “I’m Barkeep the second, at your service.”

“Thank you Mr. Barkeep.”

“My pleasure. I hope you and your daughter enjoy your drinks.”

Wretch blinked. “Oh, she’s not my daughter.”

“No?” he quirked an eyebrow.

“No. I freed her from a slaver.” She sighed. “That’s just a horrible thing to do to another pony.”

He eyed her for a moment. “Most ponies don’t really care about that.”

“What? Why?” Wretch’s expression turned to one of irritation. “That’s…”

She growled to herself. “I’m not going to sit here while that goes on. I’ll do whatever I can.”

After a moment of confused surprise towards the mare's sudden anger, the Barkeep smiled. “Oh good. I guess that makes you the third anti-slaver I’ve met, after Mare-Do-Well and the Hearteater. I wish there were more like you out there.”

He let out a wistful sigh. “Well… I wish you the best of luck, miss.”

With a nod, Wretch and Green went back outside, the former slipping the can of Brawnco into her pocket.

-------

Footnote 1: Diamond Knives
Exp: 50%

~~~~
Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri
Exp: 70%

~~~~
Footnote 3: Raid (???)
Exp: 50%

`

Quests:
Active Quest:
O’ Father, Where Art Thou?: Infiltrate or assault the Bone Eaters’ base near Bladesville.
Other quests:
Sifting through the dust:
1)
Find information on the location of Ashes.
2)
Find information on the location of Obsidian Knives
3)
–Find information on the location of Nezan Kazdri
----

(Author’s Notes)

For some reason, the Wretch/Green section ended up a lot longer than I’d originally intended. However, I actually kind of like it this way. I’m not saying that it’s going to retain this length, but this one, at the very least, will.

-Delakirus

Thanks to Kkat for Fallout Equestria, and Somber for Project Horizon. Thanks to Matkingos for making sure this doesn’t suck as much as usual. Thanks to whomever reads this, and again, critiques are very much welcome.

Chapter Fourteen: Violators Will Be Towed

I sat on the couch, happily munching my daisy sandwich, enjoying the texture rather than the flavor, due to my lack of a sense of taste. I jumped as somepony knocked on the door, my telekinesis imploding and launching the meal across the room. I frowned at my sudden lack of control before shaking my head and standing to see my mother trot out of the kitchen to the door, her own sandwich balanced on a paper plate on her head.

“Oh, hi Ashes!” The scar-covered zebra said with her impossibly wide smile. “Come on in. We’re just finishing lunch.”

“And Ah was just cleanin’ mine off ay th’ wall.” Mom gave me a confused look. “Mah magic imploded.”

She replied with a quick nod of understanding, and turned back to Ashes. “How are you doing? Do you want anything?”

The grey earth pony chuckled nervously. “Uh… I kinda just wanted some advice.”

“Oh? Well come have a seat.” She said cheerfully. “What’s on your mind?”

As Ashes trotted over to the couch, I noticed that her ears were down. Quirking an eyebrow at her uncharacteristic behavior, I scraped off my sandwich off of the wall and, with a shrug, stuffed the whole thing into my mouth.

“Uh… I kind of… I think I have a crush on a close friend of mine…” She trailed off and bit her lip, nervously tapping her hooves together.

“That’s great!” Mom cheered. “Is it somepony we know?”

“Uh… well… yeah…” She sighed. “But I don’t know if I should… you know… go after her...”

“Her?” I asked. “Ah thought ye liked bucks.”

She balked. “I do, but… I like mares too… I thought you knew that.”

“Since when?”

“You know that my first kiss was with Jazz, right?” She said flatly. “The three of us even had a big conversation about it.”

I blinked and shook my head. “Ah dunnae remember that.”

Mom snorted. “That’s when I told you about how I used to date this mare that-“

“STOP! I REMEMBER!” I did not want to hear anything about my mother’s teenage love life again... Ever.

“So, what’s wrong?” Mom asked. “Why not just tell her?”

“Well, what if she doesn’t feel the same way?” Ashes seemed to shrink into herself. “I don’t want it to be awkward if she says ‘no’…”

“Ashes, ahm pretty sure Zeed would at least try and make it work.” I left out the fact that I’d seen the zebra ogling Ashes on multiple occasions.

Ashes blushed. “I-I never said it was Zeed!”

“Och please. Ah see how ye blush any time she says somethin’ nice tae ye.” I rolled my eyes. “Ye’ve been doin’ it since ye broke up with Coral.”

Mom smirked. “And I’ve seen how you sigh and get this silly, wistful look on your face whenever she leaves the room.”

Ashes laughed nervously. “Oh… aheh…”

“Just tell her, Ashes.” Mom smiled. “I’m sure she’ll say ‘yes’.”

“Well… I would but…” Ashes sighed and planted her face into the couch cushion. “She’s already dating Flip.”

“Ah thought she was datin’ Slip?”

Ashes waved a hoof dismissively. “No, they broke up a month ago. Goddesses, I think she snogs more than any of us put together.”

Mom grinned a sly and mischievous grin. “Oh, I think I got her beat in that department.”

“AAAGH, MOM!” I put my hooves over my ears. “Ah dunnae want tae hear that!”

She giggled. “Sweetie, you are too fun to mess with. Anyway, just tell her. If nothing else, you’ll at least get it off your chest.”

Ashes smiled lightly. “Yeah. I guess I should…”

She sighed again. “I just hope I don’t screw up…”

~~~~~

We waited until the Bone Eaters had stopped actively looking for us, Which took til midnight. Now, only a few patrols were running around the streets. Zeed tried to get some sleep for the three or four hours we’d hid but, being the insomniac she is, she only ended up constantly shifting in the corner, and the bags under her eyes grew even more visible.

I was relieved when Stock finally gave us the all-clear.

The only thing that kept us hidden as we snuck out was the darkness, due to the fact that that the only ones who knew anything about stealth were Zeed and myself. Even then we were really bad at it.

We ducked behind anything we could. Cars, doors, piles of rubble, lampposts. I was the first one to go to the each hiding spot, due to my ability to see in the dark, and check if it was clear. Then I quietly called the others over, and we’d repeat the process.

Surprisingly, nothing happened. I had expected the Bone Eaters to put up more guards or something after our attempt at breaking in, but there were only two or three patrolling the streets, and they were easy to avoid, due to being drunk off their asses.

Eventually, we came to a small, single-floor building, and decided to take a quick rest and check where we were.

“Where is it, Raid?” Zeed whispered from behind me. “I can’t see anything.”

“It should be over here.” He replied. “Knives, can you see anypony?”

I peeked around the corner, my weird right eye’s night vision giving me a perfectly clear, though colorless, view of what appeared to be a tunnel heading downward into the side of a hill. “Nae. Not a pony in sight.”

“Any turrets?” Asked Stock. “I never got a good look at the place.”

“Uh… Ah cannae see any obvious ones…” I shrugged.

“Guess we should get moving then.” With that, Raid began to sneak down the street once more, with me and Zeed immediately behind him, and Stock watching our backs.

We continued hiding behind anything that would cover us, just in case, as we moved. Eventually, we reached the entrance to the tunnel. I stole a quick glance around.

“Alright, so, where’s the parking lot?” I asked.

“It’s down here, come on.”

“Down… why is there a parking lot down there?” I quirked an eyebrow before I remembered that he couldn’t see it in the darkness.

He gave me a confused look. “Because it’s an underground parking lot?”

“Why is there a parking lot under the ground?” I reiterated.

“Knives, do you realize how much space a parking lot takes up? Most of the ones in Canturbury go underground. Saves space and makes for more interesting city planning.” He swept a hoof around, indicating the wasteland. “Most of the lots in Canturbury that are still standing are underground. I think the only one that’s at ground level is way up near the mountains.”

Zeed growled in frustration. “Riveting as this conversation is, can we get a move on, please?”

Rolling my eyes at the mare, I followed Raid down into the darkness. Raid shone his pipbuck light around the tunnel.

The concrete tunnel was just barely large enough for two auto-carts to fit in side-by-side and still have enough room for a single-file line of ponies to walk. It was almost featureless save for a few support beams on the pedestrian side, which was separated from the rest of the area by a chain-link fence, now laden with massive gaps. The area was filled with the eerie sound of dripping water. There was a series of lights on the ceiling, half broken, and all of them off. The ground was still a bit damp from the storm we rode in on, and the numerous cracks were filled with small amounts of water. Apparently, a sizeable amount of the rain had gone straight down here.

“Luna’s Moon it’s dark …” Zeed whispered.

“Nae kiddin’. Ah thought this place would ay had power in it.”

Raid hrrrm-ed. “Maybe the storm took it out yesterday?”

“It seems wet enough.” I replied. “If we can find a generator or somethin’, Ah’ll take a look at it and see what Ah can dae.”

“Good.” Stock chuckled. “I think you’re the only one who can see down here.”

As we descended further, I noticed through holes in the walls and ceiling that the place was filled with pipes. I could hear them rattling, which led me to believe that the complex might have functional plumbing. Regularly, the tunnel would level out and spread into another level of parking, where the whole thing would make a left turn and start going down again.

“How deep is this thing?” Zeed mused. “It feels like we’ve been walking for hours…”

Raid took a look at his pipbuck. “About… four hundred feet. We should almost be there.”

“This is taking forever.” The zebra groaned.

“Relax, Zeed. We’ll get there eventually.” I said.

“The ‘eventually’ is what’s annoying me-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

I stood in shock as my friend tripped on a cracked block of concrete and started tumbling down the tunnel, which had suddenly become about twice as steep. Normally, a slope like that would have made me a bit nervous due to how high it looked, but I was too stunned to notice. I did, however, notice the sound of metal clanking off of the concrete somewhere. After about five seconds of rolling, she stopped in the middle of the slope.

“ZEED!” I yelled as I broke out of my shocked state and rushed down, easily preventing myself from tripping due to the fact that I could actually see where I was going. “Zeed, are you alright?”

“Ohhhhh... My head…” She moaned. “I’m not dead am I?”

I breathed out a sigh of relief. “Nae, but ye sure as hell scared the crap out ay meh.”

I helped her back to her hooves, only to have her stumble again. With a frown, she looked at her hoof and groaned. “Crap… I threw a shoe.”

“Och, are ye buckin’ kiddin’ me?” I groaned back as I started to search through the metal pieces in my mane. “Ah dunnae have th’ tools fer that!”

“Tools for what? You don’t need tools for a shoe.” Raid said as he started shining his light on the ground. “Ah! Here-“

He stared at the rubberized metal shoe lying in the spot where the floor leveled out again. “This is a shoe?”

“Och, Ah dunnae even have any nails.” I sighed. “Ye want me tae-“

I was interrupted by both Raid and Stock screaming almost simultaneously, both with a horrified look. “WHAT?”

The sound echoed in my skull, as well as the rest of the tunnel.

“You actually nail these things in?” Stock gasped.

“Holy fucking shit…” was Raid’s response. “That just sounds horrible…”

“Well how else are we going to keep them on?” Zeed snorted.

With a blank expression, Raid held up his front hooves, pressed them together, and slid one over the other. He then proceeded to hold up what looked like a clear slipper covered in. “Everypony just wears slip-ons…”

“With adhesive gel.” Stock said flatly. “Goddesses, nails? Really? Why don’t you go and burn the frogs of your hooves off while you’re at it?”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s nae that bad.”

“Yeah. It doesn’t even hurt.” Zeed said. “Besides, it’s not like everypony in the prison wears them. I mean, yeah… most do, but that’s because the floors can get slippery.”

Raid’s eye twitched. “That has to be one of the- no. No. I’m not getting into this. For fucks sake your prison uses a balefire reactor. I’m not getting into this.”

Now Stock’s eyes widened. “They use a what?”

“Nope! Not getting into this!” He shouted.

Snickering, I turned to Zeed. “Ye want me tae take ‘em off fer ye? Shouldnae take too long.”

“Please? I think there’s a hammer somewhere in your bag.”

~~~~~

Removing Zeed’s shoes had taken about 2 hours, according to Raid’s clock, due to the lack of tools and my weak magic. Raid and Stock had gone ahead to scout the area, leaving the two of us alone.

“Ask him out.” Zeed said as we trotted down the tunnel. She was walking oddly, mostly because she had never gone unshod before.

I groaned. “Fer fuck’s sake Zeed, will ye quit pullin’ tha’ out at random?”

She grinned. “I’m not doing it at random. I’m doing it whenever we’re alone.”

I gave her a brief glare. “Ye know what Ah meant. Ah’ll say somethin’ when Aam damn good an’ readeh.”

“Which is when the world has ended.” She replied. “…again.”

“Stop tryin’ tae mess with mah love life.” I said.

“Why? You need all the help you can get.”

I let out a growl of frustration. “Yer one tae talk.”

“How so?” She quirked an eyebrow.

“Ashes.” I said. “She may have screwed up pretty damn bad, but ye still overreacted. Ah happen tae recall ye sayin’ somethin’ along the lines ay-“

“’I am never going to forgive you.’ I remember.” The zebra winced. “And I regret every single word.”

She sighed. “I miss her so much…”

We kept walking in silence for a few moments. Taking a glance at her, I saw that she was dragging her hooves, and her ears were down. I sighed, and tried to cheer her up a bit. “Zeed, Aam sure it’ll turn out alright. Just talk wi’ her.”

“I doubt she’d even want to see me.”

“She was crying her eyes out when ye said that.”

“I told her I hated her…”

“Why dae ye think she was cryin’? It wasn’t just because ay what she did.”

“I shouldn’t have blown up at her.” Zeed sniffled.

“Zeed, if ye didnae blow up at her, Ah woulda been surprised. That’s why Ah told her tae wait until Ah was there tae tell ye. Fer fuck’s sake… from what ye told me, she said it wi’ sae much self-loathing…” I shook my head. “It was just th’ worst possible way fer her tae say it, and at th’ worst possible time.”

Zeed sighed again, and I facehooved. I was trying to cheer her up, not depress her even more. “Look… Ye’ll both work it out. Just be patient.”

There was a loud metallic clanking noise in the distance, and I heard Raid scream in pain, followed by the sound of Stock laughing. “GAAAAGH! SON OF A BITCH!”

“Raid?” I called out. “Ye alright?”

“I’m fine. Just… stuck…” He replied.

“Dumb-fuck got his flank stuck in an air duct!” Stock gasped through her laughing.

Zeed and I rounded the corner to see that Raid had, indeed, gotten himself stuck in an air duct. They were in front of a door, with a large hole in the ceiling. On the ground just under the hole was a large section of the duct, which had Raid’s hind legs dangling out the back. Stock was on her back laughing heavily. She was soon joined by Zeed, who had burst out laughing the instant she saw Raid’s predicament. I tried to suppress my own giggles, choosing to snicker instead.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ve achieved my life-long dream of becoming a big metal burrito.” Raid groaned. “Now can somepony please help me out of this damn thing?”

Still trying very hard not to laugh, I grabbed his back legs, braced my hoof against the duct, and yanked him out. Slowly, he stood, and stretched his back. “Ow…”

“What in th’ hell were ye doin’ in there anyway?” I asked.

He pointed to the door. “Trying to get that unlocked.”

“By goin’ through an air duct.”

“I was hoping it would unlock from the other side.” He said flatly. “Neither of us can get the door open.”

I stared at him for a second. “The air ducts... which lead to a ventilation system.”

“Uh... Yes?” He replied.

“Alright, Ah dunnae what nonsense ye’ve been readin’ in those comic books, but in real life, air ducts just lead to an air conditionin’ unit.” All I received in response was a blank stare, and I facehooved.

After a moment, I asked, “Did ye at least remember tae ckeck th’-“

“Yes, I remembered to check the power cables this time. They’re all connected.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m not that stupid. We just need a password to get this thing open.”

I looked at the door, a large, metal thing seemingly decorated with various locks and seals, with a terminal embedded into the wall next to it.

“Zeed? Ye want tae try it? Aam nae too good wi’ computers…”

The zebra shrugged, and trotted over. Of course, when she got over to it, Stock started laughing again. Zeed gave her a confused look. “What’s so funny?”

“I didn’t realize how short you were!” The ghoul guffawed. “Wow, it’s actually past your eye level.”

Zeed glared at her for a moment. Slowly, she rose up on her hind legs, crossed her forelegs, and continued glaring, tapping one of her back hooves in an irritated manner. Stock promptly stopped laughing. Under her breath she muttered, “Stupid zebras and their sense of balance…”

After a few seconds of tapping at the keys with her front hooves, Zeed dropped back to all four hooves and proudly proclaimed, “Done!”

Then the door opened, and we were met with an incredibly cold blast of air. I shuddered from the cold, and could see Zeed do the same, though she bit her lip in a weird way. Stock and Raid, however, simply stood there with bemused expressions.

“Drafty.” Said the ghoul.

“That’s an understatement.” Raid said.

“G-goddesses... T-ten seconds and Aam already sh-shivering.” I said through my chattering teeth. “Ah can feel it through mah jacket.”

Raid took his own jacket off and offered it to me. I raised an eyebrow. “What about ye?”

He shrugged and smiled. “I’ve been in colder places. You need it more than I do.”

“What ab-bout Z-zeed?” I asked nervously, a blush appearing on my face.

“I’m fine, Knives. Cold doesn’t…” She shifted uncomfortably and swallowed. “Bother me… Per se…”

With a smile, I donned the leather jacket, slipping it on over my denim one. Within seconds, I felt the warmth of the enchanted jacket spread through my body, and my shivering subsided.

Stock was the first to go through the door, followed by Raid, myself and the Zeed.

The hallway was completely coated with ice. There was a loud rushing noise coming from the air vents, along with freezing cold air that I could actually see moving despite the ambient temperature. Half of the doors on the sides of the hallway were so heavily frosted that I could tell there was no way we were getting them open any time soon. The door at the end of the hall was hanging open, two of its three hinges apparently broken off by the ice over the centuries.

“Goddesses, how in th’ hell did this happen?” I mused.

“Somepony left the freezer open?” Stock snorted. “Who knows what those idiot scientists were up to… Maybe this was deliberate, and they wanted to see what happens when you freeze a building.”

“Somehow Ah doubt they were that stupid.” I said.

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure.” Raid chuckled as he pushed the door aside. “They did some pretty stupid shi-woah…”

I looked past him to see another room, much wider than the hallway, with a large catwalk leading in multiple directions. Just below the edge of the metal walkway, was a thin layer of ice over water that seemed to be churning. I could see another catwalk a long way down through the cracks in the ice, and another one below that. The sight of it was coming very close to triggering my acrophobia, so I looked straight up and saw that there were three more levels above this.

“Cool.” I said. Zeed smacked me in the back of the head. I glanced at the zebra, who was still biting her lip for whatever reason, and grinned. “Sorry.”

Raid rolled his eyes. “Bad puns aside, we should keep moving.”

He casually trotted out to the middle of the catwalk.

“Uh… Blue? I don’t think this is a good idea.” Stock called out. “Ya can’t swim, remember?”

He stopped, and turned to deadpan at the ghoul. “Really? I completely forgot that I lack a somewhat-important survival skill.”

“I’m serious. That thing is probably rusted like nopony’s business.”

“It’s fine, Stock. The catwalk’s not going to break.” Raid turned back around and continued trotting.

Then there was a loud beep, and he froze, his eyes popping wide open.

“Oh. Fuck.”

The catwalk exploded, throwing Raid into the metal wall just behind us with incredible force and a sickening crunch, producing a massive dent. He gasped with pain.

He remained there for half a second, while all of us stared at him in complete and utter shock. Half a second passed, and he fell into the water with a splash.

“RAID!” I screamed as I dove in without even thinking..

Behind me I heard Zeed shout, “Knives, what in Luna’s name are you doing?”

I didn’t respond. Instead, I swam through the freezing water towards the barely-conscious stallion, who was currently sinking at a rapid pace. I reached out with my magic which, while far too weak to actually pull him up, was enough to keep him from sinking further and slightly reduce his weight. I grabbed his shirt with my teeth, and began to haul him upwards.

I then realized that I’d made a stupid, stupid mistake. I’d jumped into freezing water, and I was not a good swimmer. Add to that the fact that I had a large amount of metal tied into my mane, I found that I was sinking like a rock. Suddenly panicking, I redoubled my efforts to reach the surface.

There was a splash, and I was met with the sight of Stock swimming towards me, flapping her wings as though in flight. She swooped down, grabbed me in one wing, Raid in the other, and shot back up through the water, where Zeed pulled Raid onto the nearest intact section of the catwalk. I pulled myself up next to him, coughing, spluttering, shivering, and for the most part regretting my decision to jump into freezing water.

Over my own hacking, I heard Raid spit up a considerable amount of water, gasping in pain repeatedly as whatever injury he had was aggravated by his coughing.

“Who the fuck uses force mines?” Stock screamed. “Seriously? What the fuck?”

“Raid, can you tell me where it hurts?” Zeed asked.

“My back…” He gasped.

She put her hoof on him and he gasped.

He struggled to stand on all fours, and took a knife out of one of his pockets. Taking it in his teeth, he pulled the collar of his soaked shirt away with a hoof and cut into it.

“Blue, what are you doing?” Stock gasped. “You’re supposed to be incognito!”

The stallion glared at her. “Fuck cognito, I’m in pain.”

He started tearing his shirt open, gasping once again as it snagged on his elbow.

I grabbed the knife with my magic and started cutting through the fabric for him. He thanked me, and I started pulling off my own soaking wet shirt, as well as the leather jacket, before I started to freeze. I threw the clothing through the door, where it landed with a wet slap by the wall.

“Here. Ye might want this back.” I turned to hoof Raid’s jacket over to him, and my jaw dropped.

Celetia’s white-hot flanks he’s a pegasus, was my first thought upon noticing the two rather large wings on his back.

They were the same color as his coat, but for the tips, which were a much darker shade of blue. My eyes drifted down the wings, tracing their shape in my brain, noticing that the feathers seemed a bit off, until they stopped at his back, where they lingered on his apparently incredibly well-toned form. There were a couple of rough patches where I could only assume the fur had grown back over a scar, but other than that it was a smooth sea of ultramarine fur. I could see the muscles moving beneath his coat as he twitched his wings, trying to figure out where-

I blinked as I realized that I’d been ogling an injured stallion for about half a minute.

Despite my best efforts to fight it back… despite the fact that a friend had possibly been seriously injured... a blush appeared on my face, and a single thought entered my brain.

Holy crap… he’s fucking hot…

~~~~~

It was dark as they trotted through the wasteland.

Green followed Wretch very closely, occasionally stopping to check and make sure her canned drink was still in her pocket, while Wretch was happily humming a tune.

A small shack came into view, and Wretch cocked her head at it in a curious way, changing course to approach it.

She stopped just in front of the shack, a small rectangular thing made entirely out of metal sheets and what looked like a few wooden planks. She circled around it a few times, while Green sat nearby and watched the older mare with a look of confusion.

“Um… Wretch?” She asked tentatively. “What are you doing?”

“I like this.” Wretch replied cheerfully. “It’s interesting.”

Green blinked, somewhat disturbed by the pink-and-black pony’s fascination with common wasteland architecture. “What?”

“A whole thing made out of scrap! That’s cool.” The mare smiled, and knocked on the door.

There wasn’t an answer, so she went inside, with the still confused filly following her in.

The room was nicely refurbished, which was odd for a shack in the middle of the wasteland, but the skeleton lying on the bed gave some clue as to why it was this way.

Green inspected it for a moment, and shoved it off so she could sit on the bed.

Wretch began searching through the room’s single wardrobe, humming that same tune and occasionally looking back at Green to see how the filly was doing. The small pegasus was curled up into a small ball, wide awake, but clutching her stomach with her forehooves.

“Are you alright, Green?”

Green looked at the older mare with a surprised look. “Oh… Uh… Y-yes. I’m fine. W-why?”

“You look like your stomach’s hurting again.” Wretch raised an eyebrow. “You feeling sick?”

Green shook her head. “No. No. I’m not sick. I’m fine, really.”

“Green, if you’re not feeling well you can just tell me. I’d be glad to stop for a while and give you some rest.”

“I swear, I’m okay.” Green pleaded.

Wretch sighed, wishing her friend would stop being so nervous, and returned to rifling through the drawers.

She was interrupted by an extremely loud growl coming from the bed.

She stared at the filly, who tried very hard not to blush in embarrassment.

“Was that you?” Wretch asked.

Green gulped. “No…”

The pink mare smirked. “Come on, Green. Tell the truth.”

Green sniffled. “I’m sorry.”

Wretch sighed, and rolled her eyes. “Come here. Let’s get some food in you.”

“Bu-“

“No buts. If your stomach is still that loud, you obviously need food.” The unicorn levitated several snack cakes out of her saddlebags and floated them over to the filly.

“Bu-“

“Green, just trust me.” Wretch trotted over and patted her on the back. “But don’t go crazy like last time.”

Green blushed, but relented.

“I’m going to go look outside, alright?”

Green nodded, and watched as the older mare left the room.

She promptly scarfed down every single snack cake.

-----

Footnote 1: Diamond Knives
Level up! (11)
Repair : 91
Explosives: 50
Melee weapons: 86

Perks:
In your face!: Opponents get a -10% chance to hit you when you are in melee range and only holding a melee weapon or are unarmed.

~~~

Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri
Level up! (10)
Energy Weapons: 80
Medicine: 100 (maximum achieved)
Science: 53

Perks:
Future Mare (1/3): Your love of comics has given you insight into the use of lasers, plasma, and rail-gun type weapons. You gain +5% critical chance and +5% Critical damage per rank of this perk.

~~~~

Footnote 3: Raid (???)
Level up! (11)
Speech: 74
Intense Training: +1 Intelligence

`
Quests:
Active Quest:
O’ Father, Where Art Thou?: Infiltrate or assault the Bone Eaters’ base near Bladesville.

Other quests:
Sifting through the dust:
1) Find information on the location of Ashes.

2) Find information on the location of Obsidian Knives

3)–Find information on the location of Nezan Kazdri

-----

(Author’s Notes)

Force/concussive mines are never fun. Especially in the games where they disarm you. That is just obnoxious and makes no sense.

-Delakirus

Thanks to Kkat for Fallout Equestria, and Somber for Project Horizon. Thanks to Matkingos for making sure this doesn’t suck as much as usual. Thanks to whomever reads this, and again, critiques are very much welcome.

Chapter Fifteen: I Can See My Breath

I stood on the tarmac, quivering in terror. I tried very hard to keep my eyes straight ahead, but they kept darting over to Drill Sergeant Door, who stood beside me with an irritated, disapproving, expression.

“Alright, private…” He said. “This is your last chance. You’ve already failed twice.”

He looked me in the eye, I could feel his loathing pour into me. “I don’t like failures. Do you know why?”

“N-no s-sir.” I squeaked.

“WHAT? I AM NOT A ‘SIR’! I WORK FOR A LIVING YOU MOOOOORRRRROOOOOON!” He roared. “YOU WILL CALL ME SERGEANT, OR YOU WILL CALL ME SERGEANT DOOR! DO. I. MAKE. MY. SELF. CLEAR?”

“YES, SERGEANT DOOR!” I yelped.

“Excellent.” He snorted, blasting a puff of steam from his nostrils. “I don’t like failures because they make me look bad.”

He sat on his haunches in front of me and looked me directly in the eye. “They make me look bad, they make your handler look bad, and most importantly, they make Spectrum look bad. You don’t want to make Spectrum look bad, do you?”

“N-no... S-Sarge-Sergeant!.”

“Good.” He pulled a stopwatch out of his uniform pocket. “I will say ‘go’. When I say ‘go’, you will turn around, and fly through this obstacle course. You will complete it in less than thirty seconds. You will do a fine job. If you don’t, you will be fed to the wasteland, and nopony will ever see you again. Do I make myself clear, number ten?!”

“Yes, Sergeant!” I gulped.

“GO!”

I spun around and shot towards the flight course as quickly as I could, counting every second in my head.

The first obstacle was easy. It was little more than multiple cloud rings that I needed to fly through. With the turns at almost ninety degree angles. Those were easy for me, even at six. I could turn on a dime. Four seconds.

The next required me to make a steep dive and break away parallel to the ground. Despite my nerves screaming at me to pull up as I shot downwards, I forced myself to continue. I knew I could make this one, too. Seven seconds.

Tears streamed through my eyes as the wind whipped dust into them, forcing me to blink hard to clear them. When I opened my eyes once more, the ground was too close.

I panicked, and pulled up sharply. I felt a sharp pain in a forehoof and knew that I’d chipped it. I pushed back the pain, and continued onward. Eight seconds.

I had to navigate my way through a short maze at top speed. Fourteen seconds.

Launch myself through a small hoop without catching. Fifteen seconds.

I was starting to lose my breath. Starting to slow down. I couldn’t keep up this pace. My wing muscles were getting tired, but I couldn’t stop. I had to pass.

Now came the hard part.

Drag a heavy weight over a large gap. Twenty-one seconds.

I was panting now. The sweat was getting in my eyes and blinding me.

The final obstacle. Two laps around the hundred-meter ring.

It was too close. I wouldn’t make it.

I panicked, and put on another burst of speed. One lap. Twenty-five seconds.

I was starting to wear out. It was getting harder to breathe. I started to sweat.

My wings were cramping.

Just.

A little.

Bit.

More.

I broke past the line, finishing the second lap, and skidded to a halt, my hooves grinding uncomfortably on the asphalt. Once I’d stopped, I slumped to the ground, panting heavily, and coated with sweat.

I managed to push myself up, but my legs were shaking violently. It felt as though my wing muscles were on fire.

“Twenty-nine and a half seconds.” Called Drill Sergeant Door. “Just short of failing, but still a pass.”

I was having some trouble staying on my hooves. I wanted to just pass out on the spot, but my fear of the Sergeant wouldn’t let me.

“I have to say I’m a bit disappointed in you. You should be able to do better than that, number ten, considering your… family… but I guess that this is the best we can get from you.” He sighed.

Then he snapped back to attention and resumed his usual screaming demeanor. “CONGRATULATIONS! You are now an official member of Spectrum! You WILL return to your handler. You WILL return to your barracks. You WILL take a shower. And you WILL begin your full training tomorrow. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR, TRAINEE?”

“Y-yes… Sergeant.” I gasped.

“DIS-MISSED!”

I took one step forward, and fainted.

~~~

Something that most pegasi who’ve received a standard education are aware of is the concept of ‘sensory gating’. In laypony’s terms, this refers to how the brain filters out certain sensations. It’s the reason most ponies can’t feel their clothes and fur every single second of every single day. This is important for pegasi, because it doesn’t apply to wings. A pegasus can feel every single movement of every single feather at every single second. It’s extremely important for flight. It also applies to the entire wing. It’s the reason why our wings are so sensitive.

Unfortunately, it also means that the pain from certain wing injuries is significantly intensified.

This is why I was on the verge of tears as Zeed kept poking at the massive bruise on my left margin.

“Good news Raid…” The Zebra said. “It’s just a bone bruise.”

I winced as my wing twitched involuntarily. “Oh goddesses, that hurts. A potion will clear it up, right?”

“Well… yeah… kinda…”

I sighed. “What’s the –grk- catch? And will you stop poking it?”

“I’m trying to find out where it is.” She snapped back. “It’s under your stupid feathers. Would you rather I pluck those out to get at it?”

I quickly snapped my jaw shut.

“Speaking of feathers… yours are a mess, dude.” Stock snorted as she searched through our saddlebags. I was very much glad that I knew how to waterproof the bags, but Stock insisted on making sure that the seals held. “When was the last time you preened?”

I whimpered at the pain of another poke. “Three- no, four days.”

My undead friend’s jaw dropped. “Holy crap. What the fuck have you been doing?”

“Trying to –GYAAAAAA-HA-HA-HAAAGH!” I screamed at the sensation of something being stabbed into my wing. I spun to see Zeed holding a syringe in her mouth. “A little warning please?”

“Somepony’s bitchy.” She replied with a deadpan expression. “It’s just a potion.”

“You’re one to talk, Miss Moody.” I deadpanned right back at her as I carefully folded my bruised wing against my side while I waited for it to heal. “Give me a break, I’m in a shitload of pain right now.”

I turned back to Stock. “Anyway, I haven’t had that many chances to-GGAAAGH! SONOFABITCH! For the love of Celestia, stop fuckin’ doing that!”

I glared at the zebra as she spat out a med-x syringe and shrugged. “You said you were in a lot of pain.”

“Again. Warnings are very much appreciated.” I said in as even a tone as I could manage.

She rolled her eyes and smirked at me. “You might wanna get out of here before you get hypothermia. I need to check Knives.”

She trotted over the striped unicorn in question, who was standing in the doorway with my jacket in her hoof, shivering and looking away from me. She was still completely soaked. Her dark green mane was plastered to her face and neck, some of the wires she had tied into it stuck out from between the strands. Her wet fur was-

I should really stop thinking about this before I pop a wingie… I do not want to deal with that.

I shrugged. “Like I said before, I’m fine in the cold.”

Stock grinned. “And I could traipse merrily along the bottom of the arctic ocean if I wanted.”

“Didn’t you do that last year?” I snarked.

“No, it was the year before that.” Okay… not the answer I was expecting.

“You feeling alright, Knives? You’re running a little hot.” Zeed smirked at her friend.

A little me in the back of my brain sniggered and said, ‘Damn right!’

I mentally slapped that tiny me, and threw him in the basement of my mind. This was not a time for lewd thoughts, though I had to agree, Knives was pretty damn hot.

“Aye... he... Hot... right...” Knives said.

“You’ll be fine, Knives. We just need to dry you off.” Zeed continued.

“There should be a dry towel at the bottom of your bag.” I said.

The zebra rummaged through the bag, and pulled out the lime green towel a look of confusion plastered on her face. “Why... did you pack a towel?”

“A towel has many uses.” I said cheerfully. “I always bring a few with me.”

Zeed blinked at me as she hoofed the towel over to Knives. “Don’t you need one? That water looks… cold.”

The zebra blushed and coughed into her hoof.

“Meh. I’m good.” I peeked through the doorway at the catwalk behind me, most of which had been destroyed by the mine I’d triggered.

In addition to the door closest to the explosion now being about half again its original size, the former multi-directional catwalk was little more than a mass of twisted metal, apparently there had been enough force to get a good portion of it embedded into one of the door frames. Two of the other six former paths had dropped down blast doors, cutting off our access to them. A fourth was blocked by debris, leaving us with only two possible ways through the facility. However, the large gap in the catwalk would be impossible to cross on hoof.

“Now how in the hell are we going to get past that?”

“Two pegasi, dummy.” Stock punched me in the shoulder. “We can just fly them over. Well… when you preen.”

I frowned at her. “Will you shut up about that?”

“No!” She replied. “You’re gonna kill yourself flying with feathers like that. And seriously, have some pride, dude.”

“What do you know? You don’t even have feathers anymore.” The undead pegasus glared at me. I chuckled nervously and slowly backed into the room with the destroyed catwalk, stopping to pull my fedora from the pile of clothes I’d torn off of myself. “Sorry.”

After taking a glance at my pipbuck to make sure the healing potion in my wing had done it’s work, I began chewing at my wings, rearranging the feathers and pulling out the broken ones. There were a lot of broken ones… something that tends to happen when I wear clothing for a long period of time. ‘Shirt-feathers’, my sisters had always called it. Kind of like hat-mane, but… well… with feathers.

While I cleaned up my wings, I pondered whether or not I should tell Knives and Zeed everything. I had been hoping to wait until later to tell them about the pegasus thing, but I kinda blew that… well, the mine did anyway… but then I had the… other… thing.

I spat out another feather and sighed. At least I can relax a bit now.

Another tiny me popped into my brain. ‘If you like that mare, tell her.’

“Shut up, brain.” I muttered. “I’ll tell both of them when I can.”

‘Translation: when I can grow some balls.’

“I’ll tell Knives and Zeed everything when this is over.” I hissed at myself. “This isn’t exactly the best place to do it.”

When my subconscious didn’t respond, I growled and nudged a tertiary back into place.

I really need to stop talking to myself. I mused. All it does is piss me off.

“Th’ hell are ye doin’?” Knives asked from behind me. “That’s... kind ay... weird.”

I spat out a broken primary. “I’m preening. You know, cleaning my wings?”

“Wi’ yer mouth?” She grimaced. “Ah mean, Ah dunnae have any sense ay tase, but...”

I smirked. “You’re right, I should use my claws for this. Thanks for the advice, Knives.”

She frowned. “Right. That was just stupid ay me.”

I grinned. “Aaaaand for the record, this is kinda like walking in on somepony in the shower.”

Her face turned bright red and cleared her throat nervously.

“S-sae…” She stuttered, attempting to change the subject. “Ah guess ye need this back.” She held out the leather jacket I had given to her earlier to keep her warm.

I shook my head. “Nah. You use it.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Ye sure?”

I nodded.

She slipped the jacket on. The creepy enchanted leather thing was a bit too big for her, but she looked good in it. Actually… she just looked great in general. Especially those beautiful silver eyes. Even the slitted one was beautiful. I was fairly certain that I could have stared into them forever… And her stripes were just… just…

Wow… I’m cornier than Neighbraska.

“So… uh… what are the other two doing?” I asked in an attempt to spark up a conversation.

“Ah dunnae. Zeed said she had tae talk wi’ Stock about somethin’.” She replied. “But Ah got tae ask, why are ye hidin’ yer wings?”

I gave her a quizzical look.

“They’re uh…” Was she blushing? “They look… nice…”

Well, even if she wasn’t I sure as hell was.

“Thanks… I just wish I could keep them out. You have no idea how many times I’ve wanted to go around screaming ‘I’m a pegasus damnit!’ I can’t do that, though, partly because every slaver who saw me would chase me all the way to Canterlot..” She gave a confused look, and I responded with a proud, but sad smile. “We pegasi are rare, and a pain in the flank to catch. Worth a lot of caps.”

“And, of course...” I sighed and held out the tip of a wing. “My wings are dipped, so anypony who knows what that means will go straight to Spectrum.”

“Dipped in what?” She asked as she looked at the darkened feathers.

“Some magic-infused dye that stays even after the feathers shed.” I frowned at the feathers in question. “They did that shortly after I was born.”

“Who did?” She quirked an eyebrow.

“Spectrum. The organization that basically raised my sisters and I.” I bit my lip. “I’d… I’d rather leave it at that for now. Sorry…”

“Nae, it’s fine. Ah understand.” She sighed. “There’s things Ah dunnae like talkin’ ’bout neither.”

“It’s not that. I just…” I rubbed the back of my head and sighed. “It’s kinda something I have to… show… I don’t think anypony would believe me otherwise.”

We were left with a silence in which I could hear the dripping of water in the distance. Oh, great. Now you made it awkward. Good going dipshit. Say something!

“So what’s it like, having a small family?” I mentally facehooved. Fucking moron . A thousand topics and you pick *that?

To my surprise, she smiled. “It was nice. Dad got thrown out when Ah was five, though. After that, mom and Ah grew closer. Even though she was basically taking care of two foals.”

“Two foals?” I asked.

“Aye. The mare we’re lookin’ fer, Zeed’s and mah friend… our mothers knew each other for a while before hers died when we were about four. Before that, her mom asked mine tae be th’ godmother.” She sighed. “Unfortunately, the Guard Captain didn’t really like that and tried tae make it as difficult as possible. We had tae walk fer a while just tae see her every day, and that bitch wouldn’t just let her stay with us.”

I quirked an eyebrow at her. “What was the Captain’s problem?”

“Oh, she had some excuse along th’ line ay ‘prisoners can’t adopt guards’, or some shit like that.” She frowned. “Not surprising considering that most of th’ Guards’re elitist assholes.”

“Sounds like Spectrum.” I grumbled.

“So, how did ye end up wi’ nine sisters?”

“It’s... complicated. Let’s just say that my family is… well beyond ‘abnormal’.” I grinned. “For example… my nephew and both of my nieces are older than me.”

She turned and gave me a ‘what the hell’ look. “Seriously?”

“Yup. Although, Strobe is only older than me by five minutes and fourty-three seconds.”

“What about yer parents?”

I suddenly realized that I couldn’t get out of this without lying. Stupid, stupid, stupid! “Uh… well…”

Luckily for me, Stock must have heard, because she entered the room in an extremely loud fashion, followed by an irritated-looking, and blushing, Zeed.

“You finally done Blue? Can we get going now?” She shouted with a grin.

“Yes! Let’s get going… Yes.” I replied gratefully. I turned my face away from Knives and mouthed, ‘Thank you.’

“So, how do you want to do this?” She continued as she put a hoof over my shoulder.

“Dude, you need to fix your mane.” She whispered into my ear. “Your back is covered in peach.”

I nodded, and adjusted my hat to better cover my mane. Then I realized with some mild horror that I’d forgotten to pack more mane dye, and mentally facehooved so hard that I could almost feel it. Oh, well isn’t that wonderful. One explosion from being stupid and everything goes right downhill. Good going fuck-tard.

‘Just tell them!’ Chirped the mini-me in my brain. ‘If you tell them it won’t be a problem.’

*I’m not going to tell them when we’re IN THE MIDDLE OF A SLAVER BASE!

I shrugged. “I thought we were just going to fly them over.”

“Aye. It’s just a small gap. How hard could-“ Knives was interrupted by Zeed smacking her in the back of the head. “Ow!”

“You two are going first.” The red-maned zebra said, shooting Stock an annoyed look.

“Och, thanks fer volunteering me.” The ash gray mare rubbed the back of her head. “Ah think ye gave me a welt. How can ye hit like that without shoes?”

“Practice. You two should get going. I need to talk to Stock... again.” She glared again at the ghoul in question.

Oh good. I thought. I was hoping to- waitaminnit… Are they doing what I think they’re doing?

As they trotted back through the door, I saw Stock wink in a not-so-subtle way, while Zeed nodded in an equally unsubtle way.

Son of a bitch, they are. Well, I can’t say I’m not grateful, but still…

I turned to Knives and saw that she was covering her face with a forehoof. What little I could see of her face was crimson.

“Well… Knives, do you want me to just… pick you up and fly you over?” I asked, scratching the back of my head nervously.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and exhaled. “Make it quick, please.”

I flapped my wings and hovered over her. Much to my embarrassment, and irritation, I found that I was blushing.

Seriously? I can’t even go near her without getting flustered? Suck it up, dumbfuck! Wait… why are my wings so… Oh for the love of Celestia! Am I fuckin’ kiddin’ me?

Suppressing an irritated growl and blushing even brighter, I lifted Knives up with my forelegs, hoping that my stiffened wings wouldn’t make the short flight difficult.

She gulped as I moved her away from the ground. I felt a pang of sympathy for her. Personally, I considered acrophobia a fate worse than death, especially if her fear was anything like my fear of mirrors. Then again, being a pegasus, heights were kind of an important part of my existence, so I naturally considered that a bad thing.

“Here,” I said as I hovered over the water and let her back hooves touch the surface. “We don’t need to go high. We just need to get across. You’ll be alright.”

She craned her neck backwards to give me a deadpan look. “While Ah dae appreciate that yer tryin’ tae be helpful, Ah’d rather just get it done wi’.”

Yet again, came the mental facehoof. “Right. Sorry.”

With a powerful flap, I sent us towards the twisted metal that once held the shape of a catwalk in the span of about two seconds. I, gently, placed the already shaking Knives back on the ground.

“You alright?” I asked.

Despite the fact that she was breathing more heavily, Knives nodded. “Aye. Just give me a second.”

I glanced around to find that we’d gone from a frozen room filled with water, to a slightly less cold room coated with white frost. From the large desk near the opposite door, with safety glass that had succumbed to the bizarrely destructive power of frozen water, I could tell that this had, at one point, been a security office. The edges of the floor were covered in large piles of snow, some of which were accompanied by faded patches of pinkish red on the wall above them. I figured it was safe to assume that they were once corpses. The walls were lined with heavily dented file cabinets.

“Uh… Raid?” Knives coughed. “Ye fergot our bags.”

I blinked, and facehooved. “I’ll be right back. You gonna be fine here?”

When she nodded, I shot back to the other room.

Trotting through the door, I saw Zeed and Stock sitting in the middle of the hallway, the former covering her face and crying, the latter patting the zebra on the back in what I figured must be an attempt to comfort her.

“I’m a fucking freak!” Zeed sobbed. “I c-couldn’t even tell Ash about i-hi-hiiit!”

“Aw come on, it’s not that weird.” Stock said in an oddly calm manner. “Look, I had a friend with a similar problem. He said thinking about it… in that context… that just made it worse. He- Blue! What are you doin’ here?”

Zeed jumped up to her hooves with a yelp. “Wh-what did you hear?”

I held up my wings defensively. “Woah, woah! I didn’t hear anything. I don’t even know what you’re talking about. Calm down.”

The striped mare wiped her bloodshot eyes with a foreleg and sniffled.

Suddenly, Stock jumped into my face and grinned widely. “So? How’s it goin’?”

“Eh?” was all I could say.

“With Knives? Did you finally say something?”

I frowned. “It’s been less than a minute.”

Zeed rolled her still red eyes. “Oh for fuck’s sake. Really? Come on, Raid.”

“Yeah, seriously dude. You need. To get. A marefriend.” Stock groaned. “And from what I’ve seen, Knives isn’t that bad.”

“Are you two really trying to set us up?” I said with a deadpan expression.

Zeed smirked. “For the record, I happen to know for a fact that Knives has a thing for wings.”

I worked my jaw as I felt heat build up in my cheeks. “Uh…”

“Yup. She won’t admit it, but they drive her nuts.” The zebra snorted a laugh.

“W-well… I…”

“Also,” Zeed frowned. “Word of advice… whatever you do, don’t make it too mushy. Knives may love romance novels and a few romantic things, but she hates, I repeat, hates being romanced. Compliments and a bit of flirting are fine. No flowers or any of that crap.”

“Why are you back here, anyway?” Stock chirped in her gravelly voice.

“I… I…” I coughed into my hoof. “I forgot the saddlebags.”

Almost instantly, Stock had the bags placed on my back, which surprised me as I hadn’t known she could move that fast.

As I turned to leave, I felt a tap on my shoulder, and Zeed whispered in my ear. “I’ll let you off for now, but you are going to tell us the rest of it.”

I nodded and sighed. “Don’t worry. I will.”

When I alighted once more in the doorway to the security office, I glanced back at my tail to find that some of the peach-colored dye was starting to wash out, revealing very small patches of the colors beneath. I regretted, and not for the first time, the fact that I never bothered to bleach the hair first. I hoped that it wouldn’t be noticed until I had time to explain everything.

“Raid? What’re ye just standin’ there for?” Knives asked from behind the security desk. “Ah can’t figure out how tae get this door open. Where’s Zeed?”

“Still talking with Stock. I think she had a pretty bad mood swing, but she seemed better when I left.” I shrugged. “Whadaya need her for?”

She pointed to the lock, which was a card reader embedded into the door handle. “There’s a big hole in th’ wall oan th’ other side. Figured we should check out where it goes.”

With a nod, I spun around and began digging through one of the piles of pinkish snow on the floor.

“Th’ hell are ye doin’?” Knives asked incredulously.

“Looking for a passcard.” I replied simply.

After a second of staring blankly at me, Knives shook her head, and searched a frozen corpse on the other side, magicking away globs of snow as she did.

Apparently, the floor was several feet deeper than it looked. I ended up digging for a full three minutes before I finally hit paydirt, metaphorically speaking. I took a glance at Knives, and saw that she’d been staring at me. When she caught my gaze, she snapped her head back to what she was doing. I think I saw a tinge of red on her face.

‘Dude!’ Said my subconscious. ‘She’s checking you out!’

I smirked and turned back to the corpse. No she’s not.

‘Look again.’

I looked, and saw her turn away once more.

That proves nothing, brain. Nothing at all.

‘Her friend is trying to set you up with her, she’s turning away and blushing. She likes you.’ My subconscious continued. ‘Look again, but be subtle.’

Splaying out my wings, I tried to look through the corner of my eye and between the feathers. Knives was staring at me, biting her lip nervously, as she dug through the snow, occasionally glancing back at the hole she’d made.

Holy fucking shit, she’s checking me out. I shouted in my head. Knives is actually checking *me out!

I returned to my pile of snow with a barely-concealed grin. Sitting on top of the corpse was a small red card, distracting me from my mental celebration. “Found it!”

“Och, really?” Knives said with a jump. “Good. Now we can get through th’ door.”

I gave a mock salute. “Yes ma’am!”

Slipping the card into the slot, I swept out a foreleg with a dramatic flourish. “Fillies first, madame.”

When there was no answer, I saw knives staring at the door with her ears down and a grimace on her face. I peeked through the door to see what it was.

I was met with the barrel of a shotgun, held by an orange unicorn covered in spikes.

I sighed. “Crap.”

~~~~~

Wretch stood on a rocky outcrop behind the shack, staring out at the darkness of the Canturbury Wasteland. She frowned at the orange mist that always covered the ground. If she listened hard enough, she could almost hear that ever-familiar buzzing noise.

She also heard a whimper.

Surprised by the sound, she looked around her, to find that the sound was coming from the shack.

Suspecting an intruder, she drew her weapon and silently crept down the rocks, the blue glow of her magic providing some light.

She jumped around the corner, fully expecting to see somepony breaking into the shack.

There was nopony there.

The whimper sounded again. It came from inside.

Wretch pushed the door open and looked.

The only pony inside was Green, sleeping on the dirty bed and hugging the pillow.

Wretch trotted in, and glanced around.

Green whimpered again, clenching the pillow tightly in her fetlocks, tears streaming down her face.

Wretch felt a pang of sympathy for her, and moved silently over to the bed.

Gently, she stroked the green pegasus’ mane. “Shhh… It’s alrIght. You’re safe.”

Green relaxed visibly, letting out one last sob. Her wings twitched. The filly mumbled something.

Wretch smiled. “I’m sorry for what happened to you, Green. You didn’t deserve any of it.”

Green’s stomach emitted a loud growl. Wretch responded by giving the sleeping filly a bemused look.

“Again? Even when you’re asleep? Where do you put it all?” She sighed. “I guess we’ll need more food soon, then, won’t we?”

With that, the pink mare left the shack to once more watch the wastes.

-----

Footnote 1: Diamond Knives
EXP 40%

~~~

Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri
EXP 90%

~~~

Footnote 3: Raid (???)
EXP 50%

Secondary trait revealed:

The Airway’s Full O’ Dimes: You’re not the fastest pegasus there is. You are, however, the most agile bastard flying through the wastes. When you’re flying, you can turn in any direction without losing speed. Sadly, your maximum flight speed is reduced by 40%.

`
Quests:
Active Quest:
O’ Father, Where Art Thou?: Infiltrate or assault the Bone Eaters’ base near Bladesville.
Other quests:
Sifting through the dust:
1) Find information on the location of Ashes.
2) Find information on the location of Obsidian Knives
3)–Find information on the location of Nezan Kazdri

-----

(Author’s Notes)

Yes. Raid is almost constantly berating himself over nearly every single thing he does. He just doesn’t show it.

He’s also very awkward when he meets a mare he actually likes.

-Delakirus

Thanks to Kkat for Fallout Equestria, and Somber for Project Horizon. Thanks to Matkingos for making sure this doesn’t suck as much as usual. Thanks to whomever reads this, and again, critiques are very much welcome.

Chapter Sixteen: Runnin' Scared From A Bunch'A Nuts

“Hey Ash!” I cheerfully said as I walked into her living room.

The grey mare grinned at me, and hopped off her treadmill to give me a kiss on the cheek. “So, did you get them?”

I held out a small case in my hoof which she took in her own and carefully opened. “Thanks. I’ve been trying to get replacements for weeks.”

She took out the thin-rimmed glasses and donned them.

I smiled. “I still don’t get why you couldn’t just ask Knives. Or, you know… Mrs. Knives.”

She rolled her eyes. “Knives doesn’t know diddly-squat about glasses. She’d probably get the wrong ones.”

I quirked an eyebrow at her.

“She’s done it before.” She waved a hoof dismissively. “And Zala does enough for me already. She practically raised me.”

“I think she’d be willing to pick up a pair of glasses for you.” I smirked. “And this wouldn’t be a problem if you’d stop breaking or losing them or whatever you did to the last pair.”

The grey earth pony frowned. “Rifle smacked me in the face on the range. Snapped ‘em right in two.”

I smirked. “Uh-huh. Sure. The range run by the paranoid, self-safety obsessed Guards. You put the gun too close to your face again, didn’t you...”

“Hey, I’ve only been wearing these dumb things for a couple of months. I’m not used to shooting with them on. And for the record, I would have gone to get them myself, but the stupid secretary won’t give them to me when Doc Phoroptor’s not there.” She snorted. “And you know how hard it is for me to do... well... pretty much anything in the morning.”

“I do know. You can barely get up in the afternoon.” I giggled, and planted a kiss on her wonderfully soft lips. “You’d sleep till six if you could.”

She grabbed me in her forehooves and hugged me tightly, nuzzling my neck with a contented sigh. I smiled and hugged her back.

We stayed like that for a while.

“You have really soft fur, you know that?” She said. “You’re like a fluffy teddy ursa.”

I pulled away from her and frowned. “Did you just call me fluffy?”

She grinned. “Yyyyeeeessssss.”

I furrowed my brow at her. “I am not fluffy.”

She turned and trotted towards the couch, quite deliberately moving her flanks in a very much alluring way.

“Yes you are.” She said in a sing-song voice.

Determined to not be swayed by her sexy flank, I sat on my haunches and crossed my forehooves. “I. Am. Not. Fluffy.”

She sat down on the couch, gave me a mischievous grin, and moved her glasses down ever-so-slightly. “C’mere, Zeed.”

I gulped. Dear Luna, she’s a sexy egghead. “No. You called me fluffy.”

She moved into a position that belonged on a Playbuck pin-up, and patted the cushions. “You know you want to.”

I couldn’t deny that. In fact, I really wanted to jump on her and kiss her, but I was absolutely determined to not let that comment slide, so I turned away and closed my eyes defiantly. “No.”

I could almost hear her roll her eyes at me. The sound of her moving off the couch reached my ears, but I refused to move.

Then I felt her hoof run along the fur on my back.

Oh, sweet merciful Luna, not that!

I desperately tried to hold back a snort of laughter as the feeling continued.

“Are you really going to make me use both hooves?” Ashes asked. “I’ll do it if I have to.”

I said nothing, already having too much trouble suppressing my laughter.

“Okay!” She chirped.

Her tickle-assault resumed at double the speed, in every ticklish spot I had. I held it in until my eyes started to tear up.

When she licked my neck, though, it was just far too much, and I burst out laughing.

“Hah! Gotcha!” She cried.

I fell to the floor as she continued her attack. “Hahahaha! Ash cu- haha- cut- gehe, stop!”

“Say it! Say you’re fluffy!”

“No! I am not-“ She licked my neck again. “HAHAHAHA! Okay, okay! I’m fluffy! I’m your fluffy teddy ursa, now cut it out!”

She pulled away, and I rolled onto my back. She wore a smug, victorious smile. “Yes you are.”

“You’re lucky I love you...” I grinned, and kissed her. “You’re just a big meanie, you know that?”

“I know.” She replied with a quick nuzzle. “But I’m your big meanie.”

~~~~~

As Raid turned to leave, I put my hoof on his shoulder, and whispered in his ear. “I’ll let you off for now, but you are going to tell us the rest of it.”

“Don’t worry. I will.” He replied with a nod and a sigh.

I watched as he sped off to… whatever was on the other side of the room. I withdrew my shades from my pocket and set them on my muzzle.

“Hundred caps says he’ll choke.” Stock chuckled.

“Two hundred says he won’t.” I smirked.

“Oooh. Somepony’s confident. You’re on.” She laughed mischievously. “Easiest caps I’ve ever made.”

“I can tell he’s not that stupid.”

“Heh... no, he can be pretty stupid sometimes.” She rolled her eyes. “For example… he often forgets to turn on his E.F.S. Ends up walking into trouble sometimes.”

I frowned. “I see. What’s that got to do with anything?”

“If he’s dumb enough to forget a vital tool, he’s dumb enough to not say anything to a mare he fancies.”

I continued to frown at her. “I’m not following your logic here.”

She grunted and shook her head. “Nevermind. Just forget it.”

I shrugged, pulled a pack of cigarettes out of the pocket of my lab coat, which had somehow managed to stay completely intact since I grabbed it, and checked to see if they had dried out yet. To my relief, it had, so I lit it with a blast from my laser and stuck it in my mouth, happily inhaling the smoke.

“Can I bum one of those off you?” The undead pegasus asked.

I quirked an eyebrow at her.

She smirked. “Just because I don’t need to breathe, doesn’t mean I can’t. Besides, I like the taste.”

With a shrug, I lit a stick for her and hoofed it over.

We sat there for a moment, puffing smoke.

“So… Back to your… problem.”

My eyes widened, and a shudder went through my body as I remembered how… cold… it was.

“Oh, calm down.” Stock chuckled. “I’m telling you, it’s not as bad as you think it is.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that it’s not normal.” I said, wishing I had a long mane so I could hide behind it.

“Yeah. Not normal. Doesn’t mean you’re a ‘freak’, as you so elegantly put it.” She patted me on the shoulder in a sympathetic way. “So you like one weird thing. So what? It’s not like you’re killing foals for the fun of it. Just relax.”

She snickered. “Although, it is pretty funny that a cold shower doesn’t really help you.”

I shuddered again, and sighed. “This is one of those things I can legitimately blame on my mother. That’s part of why it’s so damn weird.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Your mother did that to you?”

I nodded.

“What, did she throw you in a freezer whenever you were… well… you know…” She grinned and waved a hoof in a suggestive way. “Doing the thing with the stuff?”

“Uh-huh.” I nodded, yet another shudder causing my face to turn red. “Then and whenever I was in heat.”

“Wha- Uh… What? Seriously?” She said, her jaw dropping open with shock, almost dropping her cigarette. “I was just joking… Goddesses… I’ve heard of bad parenting, but never stupid parenting. If I’d done something like that with my foals… Sheesh, I don’t think they’re ever have forgiven me.”

“Yeah, well I kinda haven- wait…” I blinked at her. “You have foals?”

“Yup. Well... had.” She let out a sad sigh. “My son died from taint overexposure and my daughter was ambushed by raiders.”

I put a hoof over my mouth. “Oh… I… uh… I’m so sorry…”

She frowned at me. “For what? That was probably before you were even born. I’m pretty sure you’re younger than thirty. Don’t apologize for it.”

“Well…”

Her frown turned into a warm smile. “Besides, they had three foals between them, and then they have four between them.”

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Dunno if I have great-great-grandfoals yet, though. Haven’t seen them since I left Dream Valley.”

“Why’d you leave, anyway?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Me, Blue, and a bunch of others felt that Spectrum was getting… a little out of hoof.” She shrugged.

“What’s that mean?” I quirked an eyebrow at her.

“Can’t tell ya. Top secret.” She smiled. “Sorry.”

I shook my head and rolled my eyes at the ghoul. “Fine.”

We remained silent for quite a while, me shuddering every few seconds and trying very hard not to blush at the sensation of cold going through my system.

“You think it’s been long enough for one of those two to start talking?” I pointed a hoof at the door across the room.

“Hmmm… yeah. They should have started talking at-“

A shout and several gunshots echoed through the catwalk room. After about a second of staring in shock, Stock sighed. “Oh, crap.”

When she saw my confused look, she explained. “Remember what I said about Blue not turning his E.F.S. on?”

The memory played through my mind like a recording. “Oh, crap.”

Suddenly, Stock shot over to the door, and swooped inside.

“Hey!” I called after her. “What about me?”

Just as suddenly, she shot back, this time her face filled with fear. I frowned at her.

Then she swept me up and took me over to the other remaining door in the room, aside from the entrance, and the room Knives and Raid had gone into. I screamed in surprise, and clung to her hooves.

When she finally put me back down on solid ground just past the doorway, I turned towards her. “Stock what the-“

There was a puff of dust from the wall behind me as another gunshot filled the air. I spun again to see that a couple of ponies wearing the spikiest clothing I’d ever seen were taking potshots at us from Knives’ and Raid’s door.

“They’re fine just caught now move please so you don’t die.” Stock said in a single breath as she pulled me out of the Bone Eaters’ line of sight.

“What?” I screamed.

“MOVE!” She zipped behind me and started shoving me forward.

We had found ourselves in another corridor. The floor was frozen over enough that I simply slid along on the floor as Stock pushed me. It would have been fun if it weren’t for the fact that I’d just been shot at.

“Stop!” I hissed as quietly as possible. “We don’t even know where we’re going!”

“Away from the guns.” She hissed back. “That’s where we’re going. They won’t expect us to go through here. We’ll be as unexpected as the Griffon Inquisition.”

“They saw us.” I replied. “And they can just go around.”

She stopped pushing me, and I continued to slide forward for a few yards before I slipped on the ice and fell flat on my face.

“Oh… Fuck…” She said. “You’re right.”

I tried to get back to my hooves, only to fall back over. I tried a few more times, becoming more and more frustrated. “Gaagh! I hate this stupid floor? I wish I still had my shoes on.”

“Wouldn’t that just make it worse?” The ghoul asked as she pulled me up. I looked at her and saw that she was keeping herself up by gently flapping her wings, and felt a pang of jealousy.

“They were rubberized. Tons of traction.” I grumbled. “What happened to Knives and Raid? Did you see them?”

“Bone Eaters captured ‘em.” She replied as she pushed me along the frosted floor. “They’ll be fine for now, but we need to get them out before something unpleasant happens.”

“Like what?” My hooves hit a dry spot on the floor and I fell forward again, smacking my chin and swearing profusely.

She pulled me back to my hooves again. “Probably something along the lines of a pit-fight.”

I deadpanned at her. “Seriously?”

“Yup.” She nodded. “Slavers tend to do that a lot. Apparently owning somepony means you get to throw them at other ponies you own.”

I stared forward for a second as Stock pushed me forward again. “I think I hate these ponies already. So, what are we going to do?”

“We’ll have to find out if we can get in through this way. Oh! Window.” She shoved me towards an opening in the wall, making me smack into the wall next to it, bashing my nose and falling on my face yet again.

I glared at her from the floor, and she tried to hold in a laugh. “Sorry.”

Using the window to brace myself, I pulled myself up into something resembling a standing position, and looked out. This room, like the last one, had most of its lower levels flooded with frozen water. It was a large, mostly featureless room apart from multiple criss-crossing catwalks and some steel girders that seemed to have no apparent purpose apart from obstructing my view. Through them, I saw a large group of spike-adorned ponies running around, most likely trying to figure out how to get to Stock and myself. I was surprised to see that half of them were zebras.

Entering the room from one side were the ponies who’d shot at us moments ago, herding an irate Raid, who was carrying an unconscious Knives on his back. He had a wide grin on his face.

“Why in the hell does he look so happy?” I asked incredulously.

Stock’s eyes widened. “What? Where is he, I can’t see him.”

I pointed towards the ultramarine pegasus.

“Oh, fuck. That’s not good.” She winced. “He’s got ‘The Look’.”

“Eh?” I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Well… Blue has a tendency to… suppress his anger, and if you piss him off enough, he eventually snaps and it just pours out like a firehose on full blast.”

“Snaps?” I asked. “Whaddaya mean?”

The ghoul shuddered. “First, he starts… uh… I guess the best word for it is ‘vibrating’, and he starts smiling, kinda like what he was doing over there.”

I quirked an eyebrow and stared at her over the rims of my shades.

“Then his words get a bit mixed up. Stuttering, mostly, but I’ve heard him screw up his grammar. Like uh... quiet and quite” Stock frowned. “Occasionally he’ll start using words from random languages.”

“Oh, really…” I said incredulously.

“Then he starts giggling.” She shuddered again. “If you ever, ever, hear him giggling, back away from him very, very slowly. Chuckling is fine, he only does that when he’s scared, but if he giggles, run.”

“He starts giggling?” I said. “Are you kidding me?”

“You’ve never heard him do it. He starts acting like somepony from a slasher flick.”

“Let me guess, after that, he goes on a rampage?” I rolled my eyes.

“Sort of. It depends on who he’s pissed at. If it’s a friend, he’ll just start screaming at them.” Stock grimaced. “Last time I saw him do it he ripped a raider’s wing off and strangled her with it.”

“He wasn’t doing that when I was messing with him earlier.”

“What, when you kept stabbing needles in his ass? That wasn’t mad. That was irritated and stressed-out.” She shook her head. “It takes a lot to piss him off enough for it to show.”

“So what pissed him off this time?” I asked incredulously.

“Oh, that’s probably because they hurt Knives.”

I rolled my eyes and sighed. “I hope she’s okay.”

I moved around to get a better view of where they were taking Knives and Raid. “Luna’s frosty flank, I hate this place. There’s catwalks and... and these stupid girders everywhere. I can barely see anything.”

“Well, there’s a question for the ages. What is with Canturbury and catwalks?” Stock said. “They couldn’t think of a better way to get across something? Is it because they both start with ‘c’? Cookie starts with ‘c’, why couldn’t they just make those?”

My incredulous expression changed to one of confusion at the sudden and random change of subject. “Uh…”

“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it time and time again.” She smirked. “Don’t try and make sense of Canturbury. You’ll just hurt yourself.”

I stared blankly at her.

“Trust me. According to most of the pre-war ghouls I’ve talked to,” She continued. “Even before the war, everypony in Canturbury was insane. Almost everything they did was ‘spur-of-the-moment’. Just don’t think about it, and you will be a lot happier.”

“O…kay… then…” I said, turning back to watching the activities below us.

“Alright… shotguns… looks like they’re using beanbags. That can be either good or bad, not sure which.” She mused. “All very low quality, though. Ooh… especially that armor. Even raiders take better care of their stuff.”

While she examined the Bone Eater’s equipment, I carefully watched the direction in which they took Raid and Knives. A reinforced door labeled ‘open testing’ opened up at one end of the catwalk they were on, and snapped back shut after they’d gone through.

“Why?” I asked with an exasperated sigh. “Why does this have to be difficult?”

“You’re the one who wanted to get those two alone,” Stock whispered. “So don’t go blaming me.”

“HEY!” Part of the window just in front of me exploded in a shower of concrete chunks.

I yelped in surprise and fell backwards, sliding across the icy floor once again. Stock took the opportunity to start pushing me along towards the end of the corridor, despite my protests.

“Okay, we need to find out where they’re keeping their slaves, then we need to find the weapons storage, then we need to figure out how to get the one to the other.” Stock said with that gravelly voice of hers.

I blinked. “So… we need to start a slave revolt?”

“Exactly!” She chirped.

“Why is that your first plan?” I craned my neck to deadpan at the undead mare.

“Because the wasteland needs some good done to it, and I really don’t like slavers.” She replied. “Good enough for ya?”

“What, we can’t stop to think of a better plan?”

“You can stop if you want. I’m going with mine,” She snorted. “Either with, or without you. Besides, aren’t you looking for your marefriend? What was her name… Ash?”

“What? No, I’m looking for my dad. I don’t even know where-” She suddenly stopped moving again, leaving me to continue sliding and collide with the door at the end of the hallway and, once again, fall flat on my face. “I SWEAR TO LUNA, I WILL BREAK YOUR DAMN NOSE IF YOU DO THAT AGAIN!”

“No time!” She responded in a frantic manner as she forced the door open, breaking a good chunk of ice off the floor.

I was glad to see that the floor in the next hallway beyond it was completely dry and not coated with copious amounts of ice. I carefully made my way through the opening, and relished the feeling of being able to stand on my own four legs again. Taking a look at the floor I was standing on, I saw that there were multiple colored lines painted along the tiles. A blue one lead through the door we’d just popped out of. With my eyes, I followed it into another branch of the t-shaped corridor. I was extremely annoyed when I saw a zebra at the end of it, adorned with spikes like the rest of her friends.

“Well what the fuck do we have here?” She sneered. “A ghoul and a stripy traitor.”

“Traitor? I’m not a traitor.” I said. “I don’t even know you.”

“Oh, yes you are.” She grinned a very unpleasant grin that told me she would do horrible things to me if she caught me. “You’re fucking canned goods. Your lucky ass got into a stable. I can smell it on you.”

“I’ve never even set hoof in a Stable!” I cried indignantly.

“Your fucking kind abandoned the rest of us. Thought you were better than us.” She growled. “Left us to rot in the wasteland.”

“Whaddaya mean ‘your kind’?” I said. “You’re a zebra too!”

“But we stayed out here, instead of cowering IN A FUCKING BUNKER!” Then she jumped at me, screaming. “I’m gonna fucking gut you, you little bitch!”

“Gaagh!” I narrowly dodged the madmare’s attack, only to have part of my mane snag on one of her shoulder spikes, which made my head snap down in an extremely uncomfortable way. Ignoring the pain, I reached down to my upper right leg to grab my laser in my teeth.

My vision went black for a second.

I suddenly found myself lying on the floor.

A gunshot rang out, and I heard somepony scream out in pain. There was the sound of ponies yelling.

What just happened? I couldn’t tell whether I thought that or said it. Did something hit me?

Slowly, I managed to bring myself to my hooves. I found it difficult to see straight. I felt like I was about to vomit. What was the word for this? Oh, right. A concussion, I think. What was I supposed to do for those?

“Zeed! Move!” Somepony called out.

I automatically dropped back down, and felt somepony trip on me, landing on the opposite side of my body. I looked to see the other zebra glowering at me from her new position on the floor.

I felt the back of my head with a forehoof, only to wince in pain and pull it back away. It was covered in blood I figured somepony must have hit me in the back of the head when I wasn’t looking. What the hell was I doing before that?

I blinked a few times to try and clear my head.

“Damnit Zeed!” Somepony grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and started dragging me.

The other zebra jumped to her hooves and charged at me. I panicked and delivered a buck to her face, sending her reeling back and holding a bloody nose.

A door closed in front of me, and a familiar face appeared. I stared at it for a moment.

“Alright, come on, we need to go.”

“Did something hit me?” I asked.

“Oh for… You asked that six times already!”

I put a hoof to my aching head and closed my eyes. “Ugh… I… I can’t think… straight. Um… Think I’m gonna- urp-“

I threw up.

“Holy shit… you alright?”

“Potion… Need a potion.” I searched through my… pockets? Yes. Pockets. I pulled out a red vial and poured it into my mouth. Within seconds the fuzzy feeling in my brain started to clear.

There was another bang behind us, and a ping sound emanated from the door. “C’mon, Zeed. We gotta move. Now.”

“Stock?” I put a hoof to my head and winced at the throbbing sensation. “What the fuck hit me?”

“Wha- She knocked you over and curb-stomped you is what hit you. Why are you acting weird?” The ghoul stared at me incredulously.

“Fuck off. I think I have a concussion. Oooh… crap that hurts…” I groaned in pain.

“Come on!” She yelled insistently.

“GIMME A FUCKING SECOND!” I screamed, the volume making my own head throb and causing me to grimace from the pain.

With an irritated growl, the ghoul shoved a chair under the door’s knob, pulled a large case out of her saddlebags, and swiftly removed its contents. As I slowly regained my senses, she began to assemble what looked like a very large rifle. Glancing around, I saw that were were in what looked like an office meeting room. Most of the chairs around the table held the skeletons of ponies who’d died sitting in them.

By the time the foggy haze over my thoughts had lifted, and the pain in my skull had subsided, She had finished piecing together the monstrous gun, and was firing it at a near-constant pace. As I looked at it, I was amazed by its sheer mass. Hell, I was amazed it hadn’t broken the battle saddle that let her use it. From the speed it was going, I could tell it was an automatic weapon, but judging from the holes in the door we came through, it didn’t seem particularly accurate.

“The hell is that thing?” I asked.

She spat out the bit and gave me an annoyed look. “Fifty-cal machine gun. Expensive as all fuck. It’s about time you finished. Can we get going now?”

The door in front of us popped open, revealing several Bone Eaters, whose mad grins turned to ones of disbelief as Stock opened fire on them, effectively tearing them to pieces. The ones who managed to avoid the barrage promptly dodged behind the nearest cover.

“Uh… yes. Let’s.” I said, and followed her back out into the corridor. All the while, she continued laying down suppressing fire.

I was then sent lurching forwards when somepony bucked me in the ass.

“Don’t you trot away from me, traitor!” Screamed the mad zebra from before, who took several steps back to prepare for another charge.

Stock tried to turn around, but the massive gun caught on the walls, leaving the pegasus unable to go any further. She swore loudly, and turned back to her suppressing fire.

As the other zebra slowly approached me, her face filled with rage, I managed to get my gun out.

“Oh, look at you, with your little toy.” She licked her lips. “I’m gonna have fun with you, traitor.”

She leapt at me, and I took a shot. The beam of energy struck her in the nose, making her scream in pain. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to keep her from slamming me into the wall.

With one hoof, she held me against the wall by the throat. She had a manic grin on her charred face. “I’m gonna enjoy this!”

Her other hoof, apparently decorated with as many spikes as the rest of her body, flew towards my face.

In sheer panic, I kicked her in the crotch. The blow made her hoof go wide as she squeaked in pain, the spikes embedding themselves into the wall, getting her stuck fast. The rest of her dropped to the ground, as she whimpered and covered her aching bits with her free hoof.

“GO!” I screamed to Stock, only to notice that she was already halfway down the corridor, which held surprisingly few dead slavers. With a sigh, I punched the zebra in the mouth, and trotted off after my friend.

~~~

“Okay, now what are we doing?” I asked. “I thought we were running.”

As we continued racing through the hallways, corridors, and a ridiculously unnecessary number of water-filled catwalk rooms, the Ghoul had stopped to check every single door she came across. Most of them led to something akin to a broom closet, others led to more meeting and/or break rooms. Surprisingly, only one of them had led to any room that actually held anything science-y, which didn’t really make any sense, considering that this was supposed to be a research facility.

“Weapons. Armor. Slaves. Whatever.” She replied as she pulled her head out of yet another broom closet. “We need something to help us get to Knives and Blue, and if we happen to run across *them, then that’s even better.”

I deadpanned at her. “Didn’t we bring a bunch of weapons with us?”

She rolled her eyes. “No. Why would we go and do that?”

“So we don’t have to go and find weapons?”

“We’re not trying to be one-mare armies here.” She said. “We can’t carry around an entire armory apiece. Besides, are you any good with an assault rifle?”

“… No…”

She nodded, and continued searching once more. “Besides, that’s my shop inventory. If we use it all, I’ll have nothing left to sell.”

“Shouldn’t we at least find a map or something?” I asked.

She guffawed. “I’m amazed we found this place on a map.”

“The hell does that mean?”

“This is Canturbury, Stripes.” She chuckled. “You have to just go with the flow. If you plan too much, everything will go down in balefire.”

“Uh… huh… Well maybe we should stop searching every door, at least.”

Ignoring me, she opened yet another door. “Aha!”

She stepped through the door with a wide grin, and I followed after her. I was surprised and more than a bit annoyed that we’d found a room filled with racks upon racks of weaponry. Although, even I could tell that most of it was in a bad condition.

Stock pulled a burlap sack out of her saddlebags, and started to stuff pistols into it.

I sighed. “Why is their weapons storage in the middle of… You know what? Never mind. I don’t care.”

“Now you’re getting it! Welcome to Canturbury!” Stock grinned.

“We’re really doing this aren’t we…” I said.

Stock paused her search, and tossed me another sack. “Here, start grabbing ammo.”

I frowned. “How about this, you grab pistols and ammo for those, I’ll grab rifles and ammo for those. So, you know… if one of us gets caught, we’ll still have weapons.”

“That’s a great idea!” She said cheerfully. “Great use of your noggin!”

I rolled my eyes and started dumping guns into the bag.

Soon, we were off, moving through the hallways as quickly as we could with our heavy loads.

“Now all we have to do is find the slaves, break them out, and we’re good to go!”

I sighed. “How did I get into this mess, again?”

“Uh... I dunno. Why’d you leave your... Prison, right? Why’d you leave that?” The ghoul had begun to check in random doors again.

“Because the last riot left us in a miserable hellhole, and we didn’t want to get caught up in another one.” I grimaced.

“Well, there’s your answer.”

I sighed. “And somehow, this is still better than being in there.

“The wasteland is fun sometimes.” Stock grinned. “Enjoy it while you can.”

~~~~~~

Green let out a long, loud yawn. She looked around, and from the light leaking in from the ceiling, figured that it was sometime in the morning.

She looked around and saw Wretch staring at herself in a mirror, holding one of her eyes open with her magic.

“Uh… G-good morning…” Green said.

Wretch glanced at the filly and smiled. “Hello Green. How are you feeling?”

“I… I…” Slowly, a smile spread across Green’s face, and she rubbed a hoof across her eyes. “I feel a lot better, actually.”

“Well, that’s good to hear.” Wretch turned back to looking at her eyes.

Green furrowed her brow in confusion, and figured that she might as well ask the question on her mind. “Um… what are you doing?”

“My eyes changed color.” The pink mare replied.

Green looked at Wretch’s eyes, noticing that they were the same pale blue color as they were when they had first met. “They did?”

“Yes, they used to be violet.” The unicorn replied. “I can only assume that he needed to fix them, but couldn’t put them back to normal.”

Green blinked her own orange eyes. “Uh… He?”

“At least they can pass for normal.” She continued, not hearing the verdant filly, and only confusing her further. Then she smirked. “So, are you hungry again?”

As if on cue, Green’s stomach let out a load groan, making the filly turn bright red with embarrassment.

Wretch laughed warmly. “It’s alright, Green. I imagine you didn’t get fed a lot.”

Green shook her head in a solemn manner.

“But with how much you keep eating… I can’t help but wonder where you put it all.” Wretch teased. “At the rate you keep going, you’ll end up fat.”

Green snorted a laugh. “Nuh-uh. I’ll probably stay skinny forever.”

Wretch grinned. “Oh, you’re definitely feeling better. Yesterday you were too scared to say anything. What changed?”

Green tapped her chin for a moment. “I dunno. I just feel… better.”

“Wonderful! So I guess you’re up to getting back on the road, then?”

Green nodded, and happily following the older mare out of the scrap-metal shack, practically prancing along the road.

Wretch smiled at the filly’s change of mood. It was far less depressing than having her mope about and act paranoid around Wretch.

“Uh… Wretch?” Green’s voice held only a hint of her usual nervousness.

“Hmm?”

“Is it… Is it okay if I fly?” Green asked hopefully.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?” The pink mare tilted her head curiously.

Green gasped. “R-really? Bark never let me fly. He always tied me down to a heavy rock or something. I… you’ll really let me fly?”

Wretch nodded, and the pegasus filly squealed with delight. She immediately took off, soaring through the air as the unicorn watched.

“This is the best day ever!” Green shouted as she felt the wind blow through her feathers, the wind whipping her mane around.

Wretch shook her head and smiled as she watched the filly enjoy the air.

-----
Footnote 1: Diamond Knives
EXP 50%
~~~
Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri
Level up! (11)
Energy Weapons: 97

Perks:
Future Mare (2/3): Your love of comics has given you insight into the use of lasers, plasma, and rail-gun type weapons. You gain +5%(+10%) critical chance and +5%(+10%) critical damage per rank of this perk.
~~~
Footnote 3: Raid (???)
EXP 60%

`
Quests:
Active Quest:
O’ Father, Where Art Thou?: Infiltrate or assault the Bone Eaters’ base near Bladesville.

Other quests:
Sifting through the dust:
1) Find information on the location of Ashes.

2) Find information on the location of Obsidian Knives

3)–Find information on the location of Nezan Kazdri

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the lateness, folks. Life caught up.

Unfortunately, life is currently holding me hostage, so the next chapter will also be around a week late.

Anyways...

I figured that it was about time that Zeed caught up on the leveling thing.

Oh, and I may, or may not, update the other chapters to have the author's notes in this convenient little box-thingy here.

*Voice of Herbert ‘Daring’ Dashwood*

Tune in next time for: Escape from the Bone Eater Halls!

-Delakirus

Thanks to Kkat for Fallout Equestria, and Somber for Project Horizon. Thanks to Matkingos for making sure this doesn’t suck as much as usual. Thanks to whomever reads this, and again, critiques are very much welcome.

Chapter Seventeen: Waking Up In Weird Places

With a wide grin, I happily trotted into my bedroom, and chucked the bag of random boxes of food onto my bed. I was followed closely by both Ashes and Zeed.

“Wow, I can’t believe we did that!” The excited zebra filly exclaimed. “How did you even get in there, Ashes?”

The gray earth pony smiled and giggled. “I’m sneaky.”

I hopped onto the bed and started sorting out our ill-gotten goods.

“Not that I needed to be. Cake is really bad at hiding his stash.” Ashes continued. “I just had to walk right past the kitchen and-“

“DIAMOND PURITY DARKWATER-KNIVES, COME HERE NOW.”

I winced at the sound of mom’s angry voice. I never understood how she could yell quite like that. I gulped and walked out into the room. I failed to keep my ears from folding against my head..

“Y-yeah mom?” I asked with a sheepish grin.

“Where are Ashes and Zeed?” Her face was a mask of calm, but her hazel eyes were filled with a mix of fury and disappointment.

At the mention of their names, the two other fillies stepped out into the room beside me, each with a sheepish grin of their own.

Mom stared at us for a few more seconds.

“I know.” She said simply.

I blinked in confusion. “Huh?”

“You three are stealing food.”

Ashes winced, and held her head low, Zeed turned away and twiddled her hooves anxiously. I just nodded. “Yup.”

Mom’s mask of calm anger suddenly vanished as her jaw dropped. “Yup? YUP? You’ve been stealing from other ponies for Celestia knows how long and all you have to say is ‘yup’?”

I shook my head. “We haven’t been stealing from other ponies. We’ve been stealing from the Guards.”

“That’s even worse!” She growled. “Diamond, stealing is illegal. What are you thinking? You… Why would you do something like that?”

I frowned. “They don’t need it. They have enough junk food to last a thousand years or something. They won’t even let anypony else have it. They just wanna keep it to keep it.”

“That’s not an excuse for stealing!” Mom said, desperately trying to keep herself from screaming. “Diamond, they’ll exile you for that. How long have you three been doing this?”

Ashes rubbed the back of her head nervously. “We both kinda… started doing this together.”

“I just joined in because it seemed fun…” Zeed continued to twiddle her hooves.

“It was my idea anyway.” I said. “They just keep all the food they can get and sit on their fat flanks while they eat it.”

“Diamond, there’s-“ Mom tried to interrupt.

“Then they give us all the crap they don’t want! Stealing may be wrong, but that’s even worse! I’m only eleven and I’ve gotten food poisoning three times! Hey, you’re cooking it, and some ponies still get food poisoning because the guards give you the worst ingredients possible!” I was yelling now, and mom’s face had gone from anger to shock. “Even when they do give us something good, it’s already expired! Sometimes they keep it that long just to give us bad food! They’re just being greedy jerks ‘cuz they think they’re BETTER THAN EVERYPONY, BUT THEY’RE NOT!”

I stood there, breathing heavily while Mom, Ashes and Zeed stared at me.

“Pretty much that, yeah.” Ashes said with a nervous grin.

We all just stood there while I cooled off.

Eventually, mom let out a sigh. “I know how you feel. I understand, believe me. But you can’t keep doing this. You’re being just as greedy.”

“No we’re not!” Ashes cried out

“Yeah, we’re going to give all this stuff to the other prisoners!” Zeed continued.

“And then the Guards will take it back, probably give out some unnecessary punishment and nopony will be happy.” Mom sighed again, a sad smile appearing on her scarred face as she ran a hoof along her stripy mane. “And how would you even get all of it to anypony anyway?”

All three of our faces fell.

“That’s what I thought.” Mom made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a chuckle. “Diamond, you sound just like your father, you know that?”

I smiled weakly. “Really?”

“Yeah. He had that same ‘Robbing Hoof’ attitude.” She looked at all three of us, then turned back to me. “But you need to stop doing this. Please? I don’t…”

She hugged me. “I don’t want you to get thrown out there.”

I sighed and hugged her back. “Alright. I promise.”

“Same here.” Ashes grinned.

“Um…” Zeed bit her lip. “You’re not going to tell my mom, are you?”

Ashes giggled, and mom snorted. “No. I’m not going to tell your mother, Zeed.”

~~~~

“Fillies first, madame.” Raid said, waving his hoof with a dramatic flourish as the door swung open, revealing the spikiest-looking pony I’d ever seen. Spiked clothing, spiked mane, if I could see his teeth, I’d bet they would be spiked as well. And he was a unicorn, so there’s another spike. I couldn’t help but grimace as he drew his shotgun and pointed it right at me.

Raid looked at me for a moment, and peeked through the door. He sighed. “Crap.”

“How the fuck did you get in here?” Mr. Spikes said.

“Uh… you left the back unlocked?” Raid chuckled.

I slowly began to reach for a weapon with my invisible magic. I floated out a small piece of jagged metal from my mane, hoping the slaver wouldn’t notice it.

“Back the fuck up!” The slaver growled as he stepped into the room. I glanced at Raid and saw that he had a very odd smile on his face.

“Oh, there’s no need to be hostile.” Raid said, raising his wings in a complacent manner. As he did that, however, I slowly maneuvered the metal shard behind the slaver’s neck.

“I said back the fuck up!”

I jammed the shard into his neck, and he screamed in pain.

To my surprise, he turned to me and snarled.

Then Raid tackled him.

The two stallions wrestled each other on the floor while I picked up the slaver’s gun. Just as I was about to slam it down into Mr. Spikes’ skill, something hit me in the back of my head, sending me sprawling on the floor.

Out of the corner of my normal eye, I saw a blur in the air. It moved over to the gun, picked it up, and fired several times into the air. Raid called out my name.

I passed out.

~~~~~

Throb-throb. Throb-throb.

I groaned as I slowly regained consciousness. In my brain-addled state, I wondered why my head seemed to hurt so much.

Throb-throb. Throb-throb.

“Oh, look. The pretty little filly’s awake.” A mocking male voice chuckled at me.

Ah, right. Some asshole hit me.

I opened my eyes to see a dirty unicorn stallion with an even dirtier look in his eyes right in my face. We were in a dark room with no windows, just a single lamp hanging from the ceiling.

“Back up, your breath stinks.” I didn’t know if it was true, on account of my lack of that particular sense, but I could assume it was by looking at his teeth.

He snarled and smacked me in the face. “You and your friend sneak in here and think you can be snippy with me?”

“No,” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “We were planning on having tea.”

“Heh. You’re snarky now, but once I’m done with you, you’re gonna be beggin’ me for mercy.” He grinned at me. His horn started to glow green, and a small, segmented ring floated up in front of my face. “You know what this is?”

I hmmm-ed and hah-ed for a few moments, watching the slaver’s grin turn into an infuriated frown. “Nope. No idea.”

He grinned. “Shame. ‘Cuz you’re about to get reeeeaaaal intimate with it.”

Then he slapped it against my neck, causing it to wrap all the way around and re-connect with itself with a loud click.

“So, long story short…” He got in my face again. “That’s a bomb collar. It will kill you if you do anything stupid. So, anything else to say smart-ass?”

I stared at him for a moment, and eventually turned away with a defeated sigh. “No.”

“No, what?”

Are you kidding me? “No, sir.”

He chuckled. “That’s what I like to hear. Now what’s your cutie mark for?”

I blinked at him.

“Your mark. What is it, cunt.”

“Uh… making stuff…” I said. Having never been asked about it before, I wasn’t really sure how to put it.

He smiled. “Heh, more useful than your friend’s.”

There was the sound of somepony moving something behind me. I yelped when there was a sudden, sharp pain in my ear.

“Congratulations. You’re in the repair pit,” he said with a smirk. “Of course… that’s only till we can set you up for a couple fights. Heh.”

I quirked an eyebrow. “Fights?”

He punched me in the mouth. “SHUT UP!”

The buck nodded to somepony behind me. “Get her the fuck outa here.”

I was grabbed from behind and dragged out of the room, where I was roughly deposited on the dirt outside. Looking behind me, I couldn’t see anything, but I could hear hoofsteps moving away from me and back into the building I was just in.

I spat out a bit of blood and felt my ear with a hoof, to find that a small metal tab had been stuck in it. I hrm-ed, unsure of how I felt about the new piercing, as the last time I had one, it got ripped out in a fight with Clothesline.

Setting that thought process aside, I began to take stock of what I still had on me. Obviously I no longer had my saddlebags. Raid’s jacket was gone as well, now probably a prize for one of the Bone Eaters who’d taken us. I still had about half of the metal I’d stuck in my mane, mostly the wires I’d tied-

“HEY, SCAB!” A wrench hit me in the side of the head. “Get over here!”

Rubbing my skull, I looked in the direction the offending tool had hit me from. A slaver was waving me over with a gun in her magical grip. As I walked over, I glanced around to see any sign of Raid. Hundreds of very miserable-looking ponies, and a few zebras, were moving around. Most of them were wearing bomb-collars similar to mine and colored earrings, the ones who weren’t were covered in the same spikes as the rest of the Bone Eaters. Many of the slavers had looked… odd… Manic grins on their faces, constantly scanning around with their red-flecked eyes and muttering to themselves. There was, however, no sign of my winged crush.

The most noticeable feature of the area was a giant pit dug into the middle of the street. I couldn’t see inside it, but the pit was surrounded by an extremely large number of cinder block hovels and scrap-metal shacks of varying sizes. The equines and slavers went to and from them and the actual buildings surrounding them, sometimes carrying various tools and objects, sometimes carrying food for themselves or others. There were bridges and catwalks strewn about all over the place in high places, all constructed from scrap metal, apparently allowing the Bone Eaters to keep their eyes on the slaves without actually getting near them.

The orange fog didn’t seem so thick from the inside, though.

“Hurry the fuck up, scab.” The mare screamed. “I don’t have all fuckin’ day.”

I trotted over, trying very hard to not attack her. As I approached, she eyed me in a very predatory way. She stood in front of a hardware store on the corner of the broken street.

“Heh. Nice ass ya got there, scab. I’m sure all the bucks will enjoy it.” She laughed. I didn’t like what she was implying. “Get the fuck in there and get to work. Fuckin’ bitch with the blue mane’ll tell ya where ya need ta go.”

With that, she merrily trotted away. I sincerely wished that I could shoot my namesake out of my eyes, but I trotted into the hardware store. I was met with the sight of multiple workbenches, covered in broken equipment, weapons, and junk, each with slaves fiddling about with the aforementioned objects. All of them had blue earrings on. I assumed, from my presence here, that I had the same color. Slavers armed with shotguns stood on the second floor, which was little more than a catwalk with broken railing. Much to my mild disturbance, several of the slavers were staring at me with a very particular look in their eye.

“Hi. Newbie?” Asked a small, quiet voice.

I continued to examine my surroundings, but grunted in response.

“My name is Meda. Nice to meet you.” I grunted in response. “What’s your name?”

I thought for a moment. “Purity.”

“Oooh, going incognito, are we?”

I restrained myself, with a little difficulty, from groaning out loud. “You know, I was hoping to go for a whole day without having to listen to you.”

“Sucks for you, doesn’t it?”

“And it’s not ‘incognito’ if it’s actually my name.”

“Just Purity?” Meda asked.

“Yeah, ‘Purity’. Is that your whole name?”

“Yeah. Just Purity.” She sniggered when I said that.

“Kind of ironic for a zony, isn’t it?” Meda said cheerfully.

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow, which was immediately joined by the other one as my intended expression of incredulity turned into one of surprise.

Standing in front of me was a zony with a bright blue mane and a greenish-grey striped coat. She had, unsurprisingly, a bomb-collar and the same blue earring as everypony else in the room. A glyph-mark I couldn’t quite identify adorned her flank.

“Oh, look! Another one of your kind. Maybe the two of you can be besties.” She said in a mocking tone.

“Something wrong?”

“Uh… no, sorry. I’ve just… never met another half-breed before.” She snickered.

Meda raised an eyebrow at me. “Not from Canturbury, are you?”

“Uh…” I rubbed the back of my head with a forehoof. “Not really.”

“Well, you should be glad to know you’re not the only one here.” She smiled, and raised her eyebrow again. “Bit tall for a half-breed, aren’t you?”

“GET TO WORK, SCABS!” Shouted one of the slavers on the second floor.

Meda winced. I shot a glare in the direction of the voice.

“Uh… yeah, I guess I should tell you what you’ll be doing.” Meda grinned an obviously forced grin. “Come on, we can talk as we walk.”

I followed the mare through the workshop, walking past miserable-looking slaves who were fiddling with things. Most of them were working on weapons or barding, and these were the ones that the Bone Eaters kept the closest eyes on. A couple unicorn slaves were going around distributing things for the other slaves to fix, taking the things that had already been worked on to some back room.

“So, here’s where you’ll be working.” Meda said, pointing to two empty seats. “I’ll be right here showing you the ropes.”

“Reminds me of my first job.” I replied, eliciting another snicker from her. “What’s first?”

She picked up several sets of leather barding, and hoofed them over to me. “Just see what you can do with these for starters.”

I lifted one of the sets with my hoof and quirked an eyebrow. “How so?”

“Just use the others to patch up the best one. That’s really all you need to do.” She smiled. “Don’t worry Purity. I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

I hrrm-ed. I quickly examined several sets of the barding, memorizing where all the pieces were and trying to figure out where the most important parts were. “What’s this stuff made of?”

Yet again, she snickered. It was starting to annoy me.

“Uh… I think it’s a combination of Brahmin and bloodwing leather.” The other zony replied. “Not sure where they get it from.”

“I don’t know what either of those things are.”

“Oh… well… neither do I, really. This is just what I’ve heard.” Meda smiled apologetically. “Sorry, I kind of assumed you were a traveler. Not many people go around with metal in their manes like that.”

I grunted in response, barely paying attention to what she said. “Got something I can cut with?”

She hoofed over a pair of mouth-scissors, and I went to work. I was mildly surprised to find that every single set of armor only had one sleeve. This irked me for some odd reason, but I sighed and just went along with it. I cut apart the roughly-sewn together ‘plates’ of leather on the worst sets and set them aside. Then I took the base and cut that up as well. I was left with two decent sets of barding. Checking every bit of them, I replaced a large number of the leather plates and patched various holes elsewhere. I even had a good bit of extra leather afterwards.

“Alright, that’s done.” I turned to Meda. “What’s next?”

The blue-maned mare jumped and gave me a look of surprise. She peeked around me to look outside the open door. “Already? It hasn’t even been an hour yet.”

I shrugged. “I work quick.”

I growled when she sniggered.

“Sorry…” Meda glanced at the other slaves. “Most people here can’t seem to get themselves to do anything. I mean… it’s understandable and all, I don’t like being a slave either, but… there’s really not much else we can do.”

“What, you can’t rally or anything? Rebel? Nothing at all?” I asked, and for the umpteenth time, she laughed. “Will you shut up?”

“No.”

Meda shook her head solemnly. “What’s the point? About half of us were born into this. Don’t know anything else.”

I blinked. “What? You were born a slave?”

She sighed and nodded. “My father was one of the slavers in New Tartarus.”

I quirked an eyebrow at her. “One of?”

“I don’t know which one. Neither did mom.”

“How could she-“ I suddenly realized what she meant, and my eyes widened. “Oh… oh goddesses. That’s…”

She frowned at me. “You really aren’t from around here, are you?”

“YOU TWO! GET THE FUCK BACK TO WORK!” A chunk of table next to me exploded as a bullet struck it. “I won't fucking say it again.”

Meda quickly pulled more barding out of the junk pile. “Here, you work on this. I’ll deal with these pistols.”

We worked in silence for several minutes. I occasionally glanced around, hoping to see some sign of Raid somewhere in the workshop, but I had no such luck. I let out an irritated sigh.

“Meda, I’m looking for somepony,” I said out of the corner of my mouth. “Think you can help?”

“Uh… I guess? Who?” She replied in kind.

“Blue pegasus stallion. Peach mane.”

“What’s his mark for?”

“Massage.” I said.

She snorted as she tried to hold back a laugh. “You’re kidding, right?”

I deadpanned at her.

“Oh… uh… you’re… not… oh…” she winced. “If his mark is massage, they’d probably take him to the… uh… brothel. Not sure about pegasi, though. Probably keep them same place... I guess.”

I stopped what I was doing, and simply stood there, processing what I’d just heard. “The what?”

“It’s where they keep all the people with… uh…” she blushed. “That kind of talent.”

I was silent for a moment as several… thoughts entered my brain. Specific thoughts about a specific blue pegasus. With a shake of my head to clear them away, I asked with an exasperated sigh and a reddened face, “Where is it?”

“At the southern end of the city.”

“Right. Thanks.” With that, I went back to work. I tried very hard not to think of… that…

~~~~~

Hours passed before we were herded out of the workshop to let the next shift of slaves in. The Bone Eaters started shoving us towards a large grocery store, where slaves went in and out, many of them carrying bowls of very unpleasant-looking mush. The slavers left us on the opposite side of the street from the building, though one felt it necessary to give my flank a smack, causing my face to turn bright red in embarrassment.

With my tail now tucked firmly between my legs, I cautiously trotted in. There were three very large and very long tables set up in the room, with slaves sitting all across them. Radios were attached to the ceiling in various places. Unlike the workshop, the earrings here were of various colors. Unsurprisingly, there was no sign of Raid. I winced, knowing that I would now have to go to the brothel, which sounded… fun…

I looked around, and saw that there weren’t any slavers in the room. With a quirked eyebrow, I poked my head out the door. The Bone Eaters outside weren’t even looking in the direction of the mess hall. Now that I apparently had some time, I took the chance to actually look at the city.

The first thing I noticed was that most of the buildings were boarded up. Those that weren’t seemed to be used for public things, like restrooms, the mess hall, the giant pit in the middle of the street.

The second thing I noticed was that none of the slaves seemed… depressed in the manner I’d expect enslaved equines to be. Most of them gave wary or scared looks towards the slavers as they walked around, but none of them seemed to have the smallest interest in fighting back. I figured that it must have been because of all the bomb collars.

I made a mental note: Find a way to remove Raid’s collar and mine.

And Zeed’s dad. I needed to look for him too.

“HEY EVERYONE! NEWS IS ON!” Somepony shouted out.

Suddenly, as if a switch had been flicked, all the slaves and even a few Bone Eaters surged towards the nearest radio, buffeting me about and leaving me very much confused. I heard the familiar, raspy yet bizarrely cheery voice of the radio hostess.

“Avast ye wasteland mateys! It be I, Captain Jolly Rodger of Pirate Radio! Okay… no. Just no. It was a fun idea, but… just no. Anyway, Jolly Rodger here, your hot, stripy-flanked captain of the airwaves. For those of you who just crawled out from under a rock, you’re listening to Pirate Radio!

“We just got some news here about that Amazing quote-unquote ‘murderous psychopath’ as our resident ex-raider douchebag so eloquently put it. Yeah, Buzz. I am talking shit about you on public radio! Suck it up and take it like the stallion you seem to think you are.”

Some of the slaves let out small chuckles. I looked around me to see that there was a clear path to the outside. I took the opportunity to try and sneak out of the mess hall as an idea hatched in my brain.

“Hey, it’s not my fault you have no respect for- oh, that’s nice. Really? That’s the only response you can think- Hey! Don’t make me get Quiche! She’s still got her power armor you-“

“Crap… my mic’s on.”

“Sorry folks! Got a bit distracted there... Heh.”

“Anyway, we got some news on the ‘infamous’ Hearteater!”

There were speakers outside, all broadcasting that same radio station. I smiled. Apparently slavers like their news. That was good, as it would give me the chance I need to see if I could find a key or something for the collar.

“Oooh, ‘Purity’ the secret agent mare! I like it. Maybe you could get yourself caught doing something dumb! I would like that.”

With a frown, I ignored her.

“She’s been seen taking out a few independent slavers around that ever-so-lovely city known as Loss. Well… she wasn’t technically ‘seen’ per-se, as she’s apparently invisible or whatever, but y’all know what I mean.”

“Oh, and I still say that ‘city of Loss’ sounds like a bad attempt at poetry. Just sayin’.”

I rolled my eyes as I realized just how terrible the security here was. I didn’t even need to sneak as I made my way towards the building I woke up in. All of the guards were just staring at the nearest speaker with amused looks on their faces.

”Seriously?” The radio hostess let out a long sigh. “Yes, folks, Hearteater’s bounty is still around ten thousand caps. For those hunters who have a shred of decency in them, I’d like to point out that her bounty comes from slavers. Yes, folks, most of the people who want Hearteater dead are slavers. Go figure.

“Huh? Oh, right. Somepony on the street asked me if I knew why Hearteater only seems to be going after small-timers after she basically liberated the city of Loss. I honestly don’t know. From what I can tell, she’s either preparing for something, or just playing it safe for now. She’s got a lot of ponies after her, ya know.”

“Anyway, Mare-Do-Well is still trapped in that cryo-whatsit facility near Common. So… anyone want to help out there, please do so.”

“Aaaand in far odder news, apparently we have another bit of canned goods wandering around. No, not the edible kind, the equine kind, sheesh. Two mares have allegedly come out of their little hole in the ground. Before anyone gets any ideas I’m not telling you who they are or what they look like. If you want to find them or them or their hole-in-the-ground, you’re on your own.”

I grinned. Well holy crap, we’re on the news. I wonder if Zeed can hear this.

“Okay… Seriously? Buzz, shut up. Yeah, biased doesn’t even begin to cover what it. Unbiased-ness isn’t in my contract so just get the fuck over it. Okay, I swear to Celestia, I will get Quiche in here. Yeah, I let you in here, but that’s only because you won the damn bet, now stop whining or I will kick you out.”

“Now… News, news. Any more news?”

I chuckled as the sound of shuffling papers echoed throughout the slaver city. I’d already made it most of the way there. It was literally just around the corner.

”Nosiree, folks that’s all the news I’ve got for now. This has been Pirate Radio, brought to you by Canturbury’s hottest zebra pirate, Jolly Rodger.”

“Shut up Buzz. Only Quiche gets to talk to me like that.”

“Anyway, why don’t we all have some nice, relaxing music, eh?”

I stopped chuckling as I realized that the news section had ended, which meant that the slavers might start paying attention again, which meant they would find me sneaking around.

Which meant I was so very screwed.

“Fuck.” I whispered. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“Purity! Pssst!” said a voice behind me.

I turned to see Meda waving me over to the side of a small hovel.

I trotted over. “What?”

“What?” She said. “What do you mean, what? What do you think you’re doing over here?”

“I’m trying to… uh…”

“Nice cover.” She snorted.

“Find that friend of mine, remember?” I finished.

Meda frowned at me and pointed down the street, back the way I’d come from. “The brothel is that way.”

“Oh…” I chuckled nervously.

“Our shift isn’t supposed to be out here. You’ll get in trouble!”

“Then what are you doing out here?”

“Making sure you don’t get in trouble.” The zony deadpanned at me, as if it was obvious.

“Why do you care?” I snapped back.

“Because- fuck, c’mere, quick!”

She threw me against the wall and stood in a very… suggestive position.

“What the fuck are you-“

She shushed me.

“What is wrong wi-“

Then she kissed me.

And she started laughing her ass off.

My eye twitched.

As she held our lips pressed together, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small group of slavers walking down the street. A couple of the stallions among them sneered at us, while a single mare went ‘d’awww’, which only served to make this even more awkward for me. Another made to come after us, but the slaver mare, who thought it was cute, convinced her to let us be. Honestly, I wished she didn’t.

After a minute, they left.

I pushed Meda away from me with my face turned bright crimson.

The zony glared at me. “Next time somepony says to be quiet, you should probably listen.”

“Y-you-you kissed me… You fucking kissed me… Why did you kiss me?” I spluttered.

“So you’d stop talking.” She smirked. “You have very soft lips for a stallion, by the way.”

“Where did this cocky attitude come-“ I blinked, and then shot her a death glare. “What did you just say?”

“Yeah, most of the buck’s I’ve done it with have dry, cracked lips, but yours are pretty nice.”

My eye twitched again, this time in a more violent way. “You just called me a stallion.”

“Um… yes?” She said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“I’M A MARE YOU FUCKING IDIOT!” I shouted.

She blinked at me. “Oh. Really?”

I punched her in the muzzle.

~~~~

“Green! Green? Can you hear me?” Wretch called out across the desert’s many dunes.

Her ears perked up as she heard the little verdant pegasus groan.

Carefully scanning the her surroundings, Wretch made her way towards the groaning filly.

The gunshot hadn’t actually hit Green, that much Wretch knew for sure, but it startled the pegasus enough that she ended up crashing somewhere outside of Wretch’s line of sight.

“Green? Where are you?”

“Ow, ow, ow…” Green moaned again.

As she made her way to the top of a dune, Wretch finally caught sight of Green. The young pony had crashed into, out of the entire wasteland desert, what was likely the only cactus around for miles, and was now lying on the ground, with multiple large needles sticking out of her face. The plant itself, about the length and thickness of a grown pony’s leg, had been torn partially out of the sand.

“Green, are you okay?” Wretch asked, though she already knew the answer.

The filly whimpered.

“Erm… well then… as soon as I figure out who just tried to kIll you, we can see about trying to get… those… out of you, alright?” Wretch’s expression was somewhere between a smile and a grimace.

Green nodded.

The pink-and-black unicorn calmly stepped out from behind the cover of the dune to see a small cloud of sand swiftly making its way towards the two ponies. Squinting, Wretch could just barely make out a large equine form in the center of the cloud.

She removed her saddlebags and searched through them in a hurried manner. Her horn glowed as she levitated out multiple mines, armed them, and tossed them all over the dune.

She readied her shotgun, and waited, glancing at Green to see that the filly was hiding behind the cactus.

Within a minute, she heard, to her irritation, only one of the mines trigger, and the surprised scream of the stallion who’d been hit by its blast, as he was thrown over the dune and landed on his back in front of Wretch. The mare fired several shots at him, but his armor absorbed the majority of the impact.

He rolled to his hooves and launched himself at her. She could see her reflection in his well-polished metal armor, despite the sand that covered it. He snarled and bared his teeth at her, his green eyes full of malice. “The fucking pegasus is mine, bitch!”

Wretch snarled back at him and attempted to fire a shell into the side of his head, but he smacked her across the face as she was about to magically pull the trigger, causing her magic to implode and fling the gun into the sand. He punched her again and again until she finally managed to get her back legs beneath him and drive both into his stomach, flipping him over and setting him on his back again.

Wretch hopped up and made a dive for her gun just barely reaching it before the stallion tackled her once more.

Green watched this whole fight with a mixture of fear, anger, and excitement. She peeked over the cactus in an attempt to locate her older friend’s weapon, but had no such luck. Biting her lip, she desperately tried to think of a way to help.

Wretch was sure by now that she had lost a few teeth, as the stallion seemed to be obsessed with hitting her in the head. On a whim, she gathered a bunch of sand in her magic and threw it into her attacker’s face. The gambit was effective, but while her attacker stumbled off of her, swearing profusely, she’d managed to get some of the sand in her own eyes as well.

“I swear to Celestia, I will FUCKING KILL YOU!”

Then there was a loud whump sound, and the stallion was quiet.

Then he gasped in immense pain.

Wretch finally managed to clear her vision of sand to see a panting Green in the air just above the stallion.

The stallion himself seemed to have sprouted a large, familiar cactus from his face.

Green dove at him again, grabbed the roots of the plant in her fetlocks, and continued on, ripping the spiky plant out of the stallion’s face, causing him to scream in agony.

Again, the airborne filly dove at him, once more driving the cactus into the buck’s unarmored head.

Wretch took the opportunity to clear her vision and find her gun while Green continued her succulent assault.

A slug ripped through the stallion’s cactus-spine-covered face, and his decapitated body fell to the ground.

Wretch breathed a sigh of relief as she wiped some of the blood off her mouth. Green dropped the cactus and landed next to her friend.

“Are… are you okay?” The filly asked.

Wretch quirked an eyebrow. “Yes. That was… probably one of the oddest things I’ve ever seen. I didn’t even think you could lift that.”

Green looked at her hooves and drew a circle in the sand with a forehoof.

Wretch levitated two healing potions out of her bags downed one, and offered the other to Green, who put it into one of her pockets.

“So… uh… shall we get those needles out of your face?”

Green nodded.

-----
Footnote 1: Diamond Purity Darkwater-Knives

EXP 50%

~~~

Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri

Exp: ???%

~~~

Footnote 3: Raid (???)

EXP???%
`
To-Do List:

Active Quest:

Where For Art Thou?:

-Find Raid

Other quests:

Layin’ Down The Rails:

Find a way to remove bomb-collars

O’ Father, Where Art Thou?:

Infiltrate or assault the Bone Eaters’ base near Bladesville.

Sifting through the dust:

1) Find information on the location of Ashes.

2) Find information on the location of Obsidian Knives

3)–Find information on the location of Nezan Kazdri

(Author’s notes.)

Too many holidays in too little time, but I should be back on track after this.

Hopefully.

I’ve also been very distracted by MvM. Yes, I know it went up a long time ago, but I haven’t played the game in forever.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a horde of robots to annihilate.

TTFN!

-Delakirus

Thanks to Kkat for Fallout Equestria, and Somber for Project Horizon. Thanks to Matkingos for making sure this doesn’t suck as much as usual. Thanks to whomever reads this, and again, critiques are very much welcome.

Chapter Eighteen: Stick It To ‘em

I sat on the couch, clutching my stomach with my forehooves in a desperate attempt to numb the pain. It wasn’t particularly effective. It also didn’t help that my mouth felt like it was on fire.

I groaned loudly.

“Hey Diamond. You feeling any better?” Ashes asked as she walked into my living room.

I groaned again.

“She should be fine by tomorrow morning.” Mom said from the kitchen.

Ashes shook her head in irritation. “Can’t believe Clothesline slipped a friggin’ lemon into your sandwich.”

Yet again, I groaned.

“At least you don’t have it as bad as your father. You mostly just get the pain.” Mom trotted over and gently rubbed a hoof across my back. “He had some very… unpleasant symptoms.”

“Kinda wish I’d throw up… I might feel better…” I croaked. “I don’t wanna die. I’m only ten. I have so much to live for.”

“You’re not going to die sweetie.” Mom sighed.

“What does it even do to you anyway?” Ashes sat on the other side of the metal coffee table and quirked an eyebrow.

“Stomach cramps so bad I can’t move… burning mouth… nausea…”

“Wait, wait… can’t move?” Ashes gave me an incredulous look. “Seems like you got here just fine.”

Mom rolled her eyes. “She’s exaggerating again. She does that everytime it happens. ‘Sid did the same thing.”

“It hurts alright! It’s not funny.” I muttered. “It’s just like with heights. Everypony always laughs at me.”

“Sweetie, I know you’re feeling a bit irritable right now, but nopony is laughing at you,” Mom said as she patted my shoulder. “Especially not me, you know, your mother? Who does everything she can to take care of you when you’re sick?”

Ashes frowned. “Mrs. Knives? I just remembered something I wanted to ask you.”

“Hmm?”

“Why do you say ‘nopony’, instead of ‘no-one’?”

Mom blinked in mild surprise. “Uh…”

“I mean, Zeed does it ‘cuz it annoys her mom and ‘cuz she kinda… I guess idolizes you, or something,” Ashes continued. “But most other zebras I’ve met say ‘no-one’.”

“Do I really do that?” Mom asked me.

I nodded, and whimpered as it made my nausea just a little bit worse.

“Huh. I never noticed before.” The heavily scarred mare shrugged. “I guess it must be a habit I picked up from my parents.”

Ashes blinked in surprise. “Why did your parents say it?”

Mom snorted a laugh. “Because they were ponies.”

Now it was my turn to blink. My citrus-induced misery temporarily forgotten, I rolled over to stare at my mother. “What?”

Mom just looked right back at me. “You mean I never told you?”

“Told me what?” I was reminded of how much my body hates all things citrus-y when a sharp pain shot through my guts, causing me to curl back up into a ball. “Ow, ow, ow…”

Mom gently rubbed my back once more. “I was adopted. I seriously never told you that?”

I rolled back over again and gave her a shocked look. “You were what?”

“Huh,” said Ashes. “Really?”

“Yeah. My birth mother was… not in... any state to take care of a foal… due to…” Mom grimaced touched a hoof to the scar that ran from her mouth to her ears. “Not being… uh… due to things I’d really rather not talk about… But when my mom saw me, she decided that she just couldn’t leave me all alone. So, here I am.”

Ashes nodded, as if that explained everything.

“How… How can you be so nonsha… nonchel… uh…”

“Nonchalant?” Mom offered.

“That! How can you be so… that about this?” I cried out. “I mean… Why didn’t you tell me?”

Mom winced. “Diamond, I’m sorry, but I thought I told you. Believe me, if I had realized I never did, I would have done it in a much more serious fashion. As opposed to just, y’know… casual conversation while you’re sick.”

“But-“

“And in all honesty, sweetie, does it really make any difference?” Mom looked me in the eye and smiled her scar-widened smile. “After all, I’m still your mother, and you’re still my little filly.”

“Well… I know… but…” I bit my lip and winced as my guts twisted again. “It’s kinda… I’m... I’m really your daughter, right?”

“Of course.” She nuzzled my neck and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Always have been, always will be.”

I was silent for a moment. “Are you sure?”

Ashes burst out laughing. I shot her a glare.

Mom shook her head, a smile spread across her muzzle. “You know sweetie, you’re right. Maybe you’re not the foal I carried around in my uterus for eleven months.”

Ashes started laughing so hard that she actually fell out of the chair.

I rolled my eyes at her. “Sorry. Dumb question… I guess.”

“No, I understand.” Mom replied with a kiss on my forehead. “It’s a perfectly good question to ask. But like I said… you’re still my daughter, and I will always love you. Just remember that, okay?”

~~~

“Oh come on, let me help you!” Meda whined as she followed me down the street. “You owe me! Do you know how much it costs to get entire teeth replaced in this place?”

“Fuck off.”

“Look, I won’t do anything like that again, okay?” She continued. “I swear.”

“Swear all you want, you’re not helping me.”

“Fine.” She growled. “Then I guess I’ll tell the slavers that you’re trying to-“

I spun around and shot a glare at her.

“Holy fuck… what’s wrong with your eye?”

It took me a minute to realize what she was talking about. I looked at my reflection in a nearby pane of glass. In the darkness, my freaky eye had apparently dilated to the point where it actually looked normal, but now that the sun was shining as brightly as it could through the permanent cloud cover, the pupil was taking on its usual slit-shape. I smirked.

“Lost my old one. Had to get it replaced.”

“Oh…” The zony visibly relaxed. “You went all the way up to fifteen, then?”

I blinked in confusion.

“I’ll… take that as a ‘no’. Blech.” She grimaced. “So that means you’re a mutant, then.”

I frowned at her. “’Scuse me?”

“You don’t even know what a mutant is?”

“Of course I- No. No. I’m not doing this. Stop talking to me.” I turned around with an exasperated shake of the head and resumed my trotting off.

“I will tell the slavers about you.” Meda called back.

“Oooh. She’s got you there, ‘Purity’. Wha’cha gonna do, eh?”

I growled in frustration. “Fine. Just stop talking.”

The blue-maned zony smirked.

Manipulative bitch.

“I think I’m in love!” She started laughing. “Somepony who annoys you in just the right ways!”

“So, we’re looking for your coltfriend, right?” Meda asked.

“I could have sworn I told you to stop… oh forget it.” I let out an irritated sigh. “Stop laughing you fucking nutcase!”

“I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out yet, actually.” She chuckled. “I wonder how long it will take for you to notice why.”

“And he’s not my coltfriend.” I added hastily.

“Oh, really?” Meda grinned mischievously.

I growled. “Where’s the brothel?”

“Just around the next corner.” She replied. “You’d have to be blind to miss it.”

I grunted in acknowledgement.

“Out of curiosity, you said you never met another zony before, right?” I nodded in response. “Are you from a stable?”

I didn’t answer for a moment, considering my options. “Yes and no.”

“But not Fifteen?” I shook my head.

She hrrm-ed, and much to my joy, didn’t say anything for almost a minute. “For the record, there’s a lot of half-breeds like us around Canturbury. They’re not just in the slaver dens. I know there’s some like you around here too. You know, the ‘lucky’ zonies with wings or horns.”

I stopped. “Why are you telling me this?”

“I’ve met a few pieces of canned goods that were halfies. Depressed and lonely, thinking there’s no-one like ‘em.” She snorted. “It’s even sadder when they don’t even realize they feel like that.”

“I suddenly like her a lot less…”

“Do…” I hesitated to ask the question. “Do others like me have weak magic?”

Meda shrugged. “Dunno. Never met a half-unicorn before. I just know they’re around. Sorry.”

I sighed. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Us weirdos gotta stick toether a little bit, right?” She smirked. “I’m still gonna keep buggin’ ya though.”

Oh, joy.

“Okay, it should be- ah! Here it is.” Meda made a dramatic sweeping motion. “Fillies and gentlecolts, I give you, the brothel of Raftwater! The Inferno Block!”

The building in front of me was probably one of the most gaudy things I’d ever seen in my entire life. Built off of what was likely an old hotel, it was painted entirely hot pink, decorated in all kinds of jagged scrap metal painted to look like flames. It had some sort of demon face over what I assumed was the entrance to the building. I couldn’t tell if this was an attempt at taking something way too seriously in the wrong way, or if whoever decorated was just screwing around.

“Why…” I asked. “Just why…”

“Yup. This is where everyone here goes when they’re feeling… anxious… if you know what I mean.” Meda blushed and coughed into her hoof. “Slavers and slaves alike.”

Indeed, many equines were milling about the place, all with varying degrees of… satisfaction on their faces. Some were covered in spikes, some had those colored tags in their ears. While most of them were stallions, there were quite a few mares among their number as well.

“So… Raid’s in there…”

“Might be. I’m not sure.” Meda shrugged. “It’s worth a look. If only for… y’know.”

I sighed, and made my way to the entrance. As I came closer, I was a bit surprised to find that it wasn’t as… loud as I expected. In fact, it was fairly quiet.

“Not everypony is as noisy as you, Knives.”

My face suddenly turned a bright shade of burning crimson.

“Are you alright? You seem a bit flustered.”

A bit? “No, no. I’m fine.”

“Whatever.” With that, Meda walked through the door.

I took a moment to regain my composure, and followed her in.

The inside was even more gaudy than the outside. Same motif, just a couple times worse. Numerous desks were in the front room, all holding ponies with pink tags in their ears and very obviously forced smiles. The one Meda took us to was a tired-looking zony buck, with a well-coifed grey mane, a blue coat, and stripes all along his back. I couldn’t see his mark, though, as it was hidden beneath his pinstripe suit.

“Welcome to the Inferno Block, what’s yer pleasure?” He said almost mechanically. “Looking for a stallion or a mare to –“

“I’m looking for a buck, and no not like that,” I interrupted, making damn sure that Meda couldn’t say anything.

The buck quirked an eyebrow.

“I’m trying to find a friend of mine.” I added.

He nodded, wrote something down on a clipboard, got out of his chair, and motioned for us to follow him into a room in the back.

He took us through several hallways of the hotel-made-brothel, all the way into the back of the building, until he brought us to another door leading into a room with a large heart-shaped bed. As soon as we entered, he slammed the door shut and let out a huge sigh.

“You have no idea how refreshing it is for someone to ask for something else in this fucking place.” He frowned when Meda facehooved. “No pun intended. Name’s Bilge.”

“Purity.” I shook his hoof, ignoring her laugh.

“Meda.” She did the same, but with a cocky grin. “Nice place you got here.”

“Why did we have to come all the way over here?” I asked.

“The rooms are soundproofed. Some don’t like to hear others while they do their stuff.” He rolled his eyes. “Bastard slavers try and make this place as ‘nice’ as they can. Interesting method of reward and punishment.”

I quirked an eyebrow.

“Enough people fuck up, they block us all off for a while.” He shook his head and put a hoof to his brow. “Better than what they do in New Tartarus, at least. Leaves less bruises… well… unless you’re into that kind of thing...”

“O…kay… then… uh…” I coughed into a hoof. “As I said, I’m looking for a friend of mine. He was brought in here with me and we got separated.”

“What’s his mark for?”

“Massage.”

Bilge deadpanned at me. “Don’t tell me... it’s the bird.”

“Probably is.” I assumed that ‘bird’ meant ‘pegasus’.

Bilge grimaced. “Poor buck got taken by Mildew. She has a tendency to… abuse the workers. Especially here. They’re usually too ashamed of themselves to say anything about it afterwards.”

I blanched.

“And as an added bonus, she hates pegasi.” Bilge sighed. “More than most, at least.”

I swore under my breath. “So, where are they, then?”

“Therein lies your problem,” Bilge said. “She hates it in here, so she takes them to her own house.”

Meda snorted. “It’s on the opposite side of the city, isn’t it.”

He nodded. “That it is.”

I groaned. “So I came all this way for nothing.”

“Yup.” Meda chirped. “Now you gotta go all the way over there.”

“Ugh. Great.” I growled in frustration. “Now I have to go and rescue him from some psycho slaver.”

I jumped when there was a loud beeping noise from the doorway. I spun to see that there was a large speaker next to the door with a button on it. While Meda laughed at me, Bilge went over and pressed the button.

“What is it?” He said.

“Bosses want to see that mare you went up with,” came the garbled, barely intelligible reply from the intercom.

Bilge glanced at me. I shook my head, and he nodded. “Not here. She got flustered and ran out.”

My jaw dropped and I let out an embarrassed squeak. Meda laughed at me again, as did she.

“Fuck. Any idea where she went?” Came the reply.

“Nope. Sorry.”

“Well, if you see her let me know. They’re gonna search the place. Make sure she doesn’t try and run.”

Just like that, the intercom beeped again.

Bilge looked at me with an amused expression. “We should go find your coltfriend.”

“He’s not my coltfriend.” I sighed.

“Ah. Can’t work up the guts to say anything.”

I blushed. “No…”

“Well, I’m sure you will eventually.” He smiled. “Now let’s get out of here.”

He went over to the window, releasing a blast of sound from outside.

“Wait… we’re going out the window?” I said, my face slowly turning pale.

“Of course. How else would we sneak out of here?” Bilge asked.

Meda happily trotted down the fire escape, looking none the worse for wear.

Ever so cautiously, I stepped over to the window and peeked down. I immediately regretted it, and jumped back. “Goddesses that’s high…”

Bilge raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”

“I… I… uh…” I swallowed. “I can’t… I can’t go down there. I need to find another way.”

“There isn’t another way. This is the only hidden escape route in the building.”

“Look, I can’t go down there, okay?”

“Do you want my help or not?” He narrowed his eyes at me. “I’m all for doing anything to piss off the Bone Eaters, but I’m not getting caught doing it. What’s your problem?”

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and approached the window. Already I could see images of my own demise flashing through my mind. I tried to push those thoughts away as I carefully stepped through the aperture and onto the almost-two-century-old metal of the fire escape, which began to vibrate as soon as my shaking hoof touched it.

“Get a move on, already. They’ll be here any minute.” Bilge hissed.

I took another couple of careful steps, making absolutely sure not to look down.

“I’ll be okay. I’ll be okay.” I whispered over and over. “I won’t fall. I won’t fall.”

“Oh, Knives. You make me so sad. You can’t even stand a short drop from the fifth floor?” She chortled. “Pathetic.”

I continued taking deep breaths and repeating that mantra over and over.

“Hurry the fuck up, Purity. Goddesses, you’d think it was the most important thing in the world.” Meda groaned from below me.

I swallowed hard, and started down the first set of steps. I heard the metal creak quietly, and my guts instantly twisted around inside me.

I’m not gonna die I’m not gonna die.

The other zony continued berating me for my slowness.

I reached the fourth floor. I was alive. I hadn’t fallen. My fear subsided ever-so-slightly.

I made towards the next set of steps. It felt like it’d been an eternity.

The third floor approached. I took a tentative step out and put my weight on the first step. A loud grating sound emanated from the ancient metal steps, and I jumped back and clung to the wall, hyperventilating and clenching my eyes shut so hard that I thought my eyelids would rip apart.

I heard Bilge casually trotted down the steps and drop to his haunches next to me.

He was silent for a moment.

“You’re scared of heights aren’t you?”

I nodded.

“Whatever. You’ll be fine here until I get back.” He snorted. “I need to make sure I’m here when the assholes come looking for you.”

I nodded again, and he went back up to his room.

Desperately trying to ignore the fact that I was making the whole fire escape vibrate, I slowly made my way towards the last stairway.

I took a step, and was met with the groaning sound again. I made a sound somewhere between a sob and a whimper, and took forced myself to take another one, desperately trying to ignore my instincts to jump through the window and find safety inside the building.

I took another step. Another rusty creaking. Flashes of my broken corpse impaled on the remains of the fire escape. I’m not gonna die. I’m not gonna die. I’m not gonna die. I’m not gonna die.

“Damn, you’re slow.” Meda groaned. “Hurry it up already!”

I clenched my eyes tighter. Another step.

My hoof slipped

I fell.

I tried to scream, but no sound came out of my mouth.

I tumbled down the steps. Everything slowed down and turned into a blur.

Idon’twannadieIdon’twannadieOhgoddessesIdon’twannadie

I landed on the rusty metal floor and smashed into the safety railing. I tumbled over the edge.

I hit the ground in a crumpled heap, and as suddenly as it had all started, everything stopped.

“Purity!”

I sat there in a quivering heap.

Meda’s face appeared in the edge of my vision as I laid there, my eyes wide and streaming with tears.

“Holy shit, are you okay?”

She tried to pull me up, but my shaking legs refused to support my weight, and I dropped back down to my stomach.

She tried again, this time with more success, as I managed to not fall.

Slowly, I forced myself to stumble over to the wall, and lean against it.

Meda regarded me with a worried expression.

Then I threw up. I kept retching until I slumped to the ground again, resting against the wall and clutching my now-empty stomach.

Is it weird that puking my guts out made me feel a lot better?

“Holy… uh… do you want some water or something?”

I shook my head. “Just… just give me a minute…”

I took me awhile to regain my composure, but I eventually managed to stop my body from shaking as violently as it was before. I glanced around me and saw that we were in a mostly closed-off back alley behind the Inferno Block, accompanied by a dumpster that was even rustier than the fire escape and several piles of goo that might, at one point, have been some sort of garbage. There was a wooden fence separating us from the rest of the city, with a chain-link gate leading out.

“So, what the hell just happened?” Meda asked.

I blew out a still-shaky puff of air. “I have a fear of heights.”

Meda gave me a ‘what the hell’ look. “That’s it? You freaked out and barfed everywhere because you’re scared?”

“Scared doesn’t even begin to cover it.” I exhaled again, and finally managed to fully relax. “It’s more like absolute, all-encompassing terror.”

“We have to move, now!” Bilge hissed as he rushed down the fire escape, making me jump. “They’re sending Chamomile after you!”

“They’re what?” Meda’s jaw dropped as she stared at me. “They’re sending him after you? What the hell did you do to piss them off?”

“Uh… I snuck in, I guess.”

“WHAT?” Both zonies chorused.

“Why the fuck would you do that?” Meda’s eye twitched.

“We’re trying to find somepony else! Calm down!” I said, holding a hoof up defensively.

“This coming from a mare who just had a height-induced panic attack.” She tutted.

“That’s not important right now.” Bilge interceded before Meda could start yelling again. “We need to go and find your friend as soon as-“

His ear twitched, and he motioned for us to take cover against the wall.

Through the gate, I could see a group of slavers ran past, all apparently in a panic.

“Where the fuck is she?” One screamed.

“I don’t know! Just keep looking!” Yelled another.

“Goddesses, I’d rather deal with Hearteater! At least she’s-“

A third smacked number two in the head. “Don’t fucking mention her, idiot!”

“Oh shut up. It’s not like she’s going to appear if you say her name or anything.” The first snorted

A fourth chuckled. “Hearteater, Hearteater, Hearteater.”

“Dammit, Stain,” whined the third. “You’re freaking me out.”

“Okay, okay… Let’s spread out and search.”

I heard Bilge swear under his breath.

I elbowed him in the ribs to get his attention. “Bilge, Hearteater’s supposed to be invisible, right?”

“Yeah, and so is Chamomile.”

I grinned mischievously and levitated a shard of metal out of my mane. Bilge raised an eyebrow at it and my nearly invisible grey grip.

“What would happen if she were to come here?”

Bilge smirked. “Mass panic. All the slavers would go and hide indoors, just in case she goes after them next.”

Meda snorted a laugh. “Oh, this’ll be good.”

I moved over to the gate and peeked through. Three of the slavers were searching through buildings across the street, but one was getting dangerously close to us, but was just within my magical reach.

I moved the piece of metal behind the slavers neck. With a telekinetic punt, I send the jagged shard towards the back of his head…

And missed.

His head darted to the left at just the right moment to investigate something, and the shard harmlessly went past him, still surrounded by my unseen magic.

I facehoofed, and readied the metal shard once more.

I missed again. The twitchy bastard avoided his fate once more, and he wasn’t even doing it on purpose.

I tried three more times, until my eye started to twitch in irritation.

Stifling a growl, I gave up on an instant and painless kill and just whipped the metal across the stallion’s throat, hoping that it would be enough to scare the others off.

The stallion made a gurgling sound as blood began to flow from the slit in his throat.

“Oh-ho-ho-ho. Oh, that was horrible! How could you do that to another pony, Purity?” She spoke as if she was shocked, but I knew she was only trying to upset me. Still… it didn’t stop a massive ball of guilt from dropping into my guts. “Kinda reminds you of Lockpick doesn’t it… Knives…”

I clenched my teeth together and my eyes shut. A brief flash of a decapitated body in my mind’s eye, the dead filly’s lavender coat spattered with blood.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

I was just in time to see the other Bone Eaters freak out.

“OH FUCK! RUN FOR IT!” One screamed as she ran back the way she’d come.

“PLEASE DON’T KILL MEEE-HEE-HEEEE!” Another broke down in the middle of the street.

I blinked. “Uh… wow… Is she really that bad?”

Bilge smirked. “Oh yeah. I’ve seen some of her work. She kills the target and traumatizes the witnesses.”

I raised an eyebrow at him.

“Well, I never saw it myself. She’s attacked here a few times, though, and I’ve seen what it does to some people.”

“So basically she’s the slaver’s boogie mare.” I snorted a laugh.

“WooOOoo, Hearteater’s gonna get’chuuuu!” Meda giggled.

Bilge opened up the gate and trotted out, Meda and myself in tow, both laughing.

We were almost halfway down the street, when Meda was suddenly flung several feet back, crashing into a wall.

I stared in shock. Bilge yelped as the same happened to him.

I could just barely make out a large, vaguely pony-shaped blur in the air. In the distance behind it, there was a flash of golden light, and a familiar golden stallion appeared with a curious smile on his face.

And then I fell unconscious.

…

Again…

~~~

Green rubbed her sore face with one of her wings and huffed in irritation. The healing potion had taken care of the damage, but the pegasus filly could swear she still felt the needles in her face.

“Ah! There’s the town up ahead!” Wretch called out. “We should be there in about an hour.”

Green looked over the sand dune to see the Mall, separated from the wasteland desert by a ring of ancient city-scape.

Green grumbled to herself, her ears flattened back against her head, and followed the older pony.

Wretch looked back at the pegasus and frowned. “Are you okay, Green? I know the cactus needles must have hurt but-“

“I’m okay,” The verdant filly interrupted, not even looking up as she continued walking.

“Green if there’s something wrong, you can tell me,” Wretch offered.

Green only hastened her pace.

“Green? I’m serious, what’s wrong?” Wretch ran after the filly until she was trotting alongside her.

Suddenly, Green stopped, and turned to fix an angry stare at Wretch. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Green, you look like you’re trying to blow my head up with your mind. Are you mad at me for something?”

The pegasus was silent for a moment. Eventually, she turned away and stared at her hooves. “Yes.”

Wretch tried to put a hoof on the filly’s shoulder, but Green shrugged it off. “What for?”

Green sniffled. “I… I don’t know. You… I’m just… You killed Bark. You don’t ask me to do anything. It feels weird. I… It doesn’t feel right.”

She sniffled again. “I’m scared. I don’t know what to do. I… I hurt another pony! I didn’t even think about it, I just threw that plant into his face because I saw him hurting you and I got so mad, I just…”

The small verdant pegasus filly burst into tears. “I’m a bad pony!”

Wretch blinked at her in confusion, surprised by the sudden change of mood and unsure of how to respond.

Green continued to sob, her ears down and her wings drooping.

Eventually, and with a sad smile, the pink mare knelt down, and wrapped her forelegs around Green. The young pegasus returned the hug, buried her face in Wretch’s fur, and cried until she fell asleep.

--------

Footnote 1: Diamond Purity Darkwater-Knives

EXP 50%

~~~

Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri

Exp: ???%

~~~

Footnote 3: Raid (???)

EXP???%

`

To-Do List:

Active Quest:

Where For Art Thou?:

-Find Raid

Other quests:

Layin’ Down The Rails:

Find a way to remove bomb-collars

O’ Father, Where Art Thou?:

Infiltrate or assault the Bone Eaters’ base near Bladesville.

Sifting through the dust:

1) Find information on the location of Ashes.

2) Find information on the location of Obsidian Knives

3)–Find information on the location of Nezan Kazdri

Author's Notes:

(Author’s notes)

Nothing much to say, really.

Thanks to Kkat for Fallout Equestria, and Somber for Project Horizon. Thanks to Matkingos for making sure this doesn’t suck as much as usual. Thanks to whomever reads this, and again, critiques are very much welcome.

Chapter Nineteen: I Can't Sit Idly

“C’mon, Blue, move!”

I flew down the tunnel after Stock, feeling the air whip around my flight suit. “Tr-trying! Wings hurt t-to much.”

“Just a bit further!” the ghoul called back. “Don’t worry, you’ll make it.”

I tried very hard not to glance back, to not look at the freakish monstrosity that was catching up to us at a frighteningly rapid pace. It didn’t help that I was tired from a full day of flight training, or that I wasn’t particularly fast to begin with.

The gorgon screeched in the distance. I couldn’t stop, it would catch up, latch on to me, rip me to pieces, tears blurred my vision, the wind whipped through my shattered goggles.

Stock was gradually getting smaller and smaller as I fell behind. I flapped harder and harder, but my breath was ragged, and my wings were getting weaker with every movement.

The gorgon let out another high-pitched scream. That horrible sound, like nothing a living pony could ever make, bouncing off the wall, coming in from every direction and reverberating through my skull, over and over as the thing came closer.

I flapped furiously, but fear was taking hold, my wings locked up, I pushed harder and harder, desperately willing my wings to keep working, begging them to not fail me as my face streamed with tears, my muscles burning with the effort of continued flight, yet I was still slowing down, unable to keep up, couldn’t keep going, losing height.

“Stock! Help!” I sobbed.

She turned around, and her eyes widened in horror as she saw me start to drop towards the floor. She changed direction and made a dive towards me.

My hoof caught on something, sending me straight to the ground.

I let out a muffled scream as I felt something in my face shatter from the impact.

Stock landed next to me, and tried to pull me to my hooves. I coughed up a bit of blood and a tooth.

“C’mon, let’s go!” She said, throwing me onto her back and taking off. “Just hold on!”

We shot past several ruined openings in the supply tunnels, Stock swore loudly, as each one was useless for an escape. We couldn’t stop moving, each second gave the monstrosity more ground.

“Gaaagh! Where the hell is the exit?” The ghoul screamed. “Why am I not getting a damned signal?”

The response came in the form of another shriek, too close for comfort.

“Blue, see anything?”

I frantically glanced around. No ledges to hide, no light from the outside, no floodlights inside, the tunnel just kept going. I glanced back and saw the sickly green glow from the gorgon’s tendrils. “Nothing!”

“We should never have trusted that lying little shit!” She tapped the side of her helmet with a forehoof. “Anypony hear me? We need backu-aaah!”

The gorgon caught up. It leapt into the air and grabbed onto Stock’s hind legs, though it only wanted me. I could feel it trying to wrap it’s tendrils around my own legs as it pulled Stock to the ground. The mare kicked at the creature’s face, trying to hold me out of its reach with her wings. Its eyestalks were fixated on me, the multihued irises shone in its eerie bioluminescence.

While she struggled with it, I tried to shift around and unholster my pistol.

“For the love of Celestia, get your fucking flanks down here! We have a gorgon infestation!” Stock screamed as she delivered another buck.

I tongued the trigger, but my shivering frame caused each shot to go wide.

“Goddesses damnit, stop fucking around! Get us out of here!” Stock screamed. “Nopony else is down here!”

One of the gorgon’s eyestalks exploded into a shower of green goo. The sound of a plasma weapon echoed through the tunnels. A pegasus mare in white Spectrum power armor was charging towards us.

The gorgon shrieked again and dropped us, flailing its tendrils.

“What the fuck are you doing down here, grandma?” The mare called to Stock.

“Hey don’t blame me. This was supposed to be endurance training.” The ghoul snorted. “Command sent us down this way. Probably using outdated maps. Nice to see you, by the way.”

“Same to you!” The other pegasus replied cheerfully. “Just keep going and you’ll make it out.”

She fired several more globs of green plasma at the gorgon, which kept shrieking in pain, as Stock picked me back up and shot down the tunnel.

“This is why they need to make a dedicated training ground. Fucking ridiculous.” She grumbled. “You alright, Blue?”

I nodded weakly. “I ding I broke by ndoze.”

She grimaced. “Well, it wasn’t the worst that could happen.”

~~~~

I am not, admittedly, opposed to wearing collars. I’d worn some during some of my identity crises, especially my ‘goth’ phase. However, those collars had very little risk of killing me by blowing my head to little bits, unlike the one the slavers had put around my neck. For obvious reasons, I was a bit more reluctant to wear that one. It was made worse by the fact that they’d forced me to take off the Pipbuck.

I wasn’t angry though. Mad or miffed, maybe, but not angry. After all, how could I be angry? I was smiling! I was positively shaking with not-anger.

Even as this bitch was decorating me in the gaudiest outfit I’d ever had the misfortune to lay eyes on, I was smiling. See? Not angry at all!

“Wipe that fucking smile off your face, Betsy,” screamed the mare who called herself Mildew. “Or I swear to Celestia I will break your fucking wings.”

Perfectly calm. No urges to rip her throat out. Nope, not a one.

“Now, would you like some more tea, Betsy?” She said as she held out the teapot, a vicious smirk on her face.

“Oh mah, yes, Mademoiselle Mildew. Ah would lahk that evah so much,” I replied in my best feminine Neigh Orleans drawl. It was pretty good if I say so myself.

Mildew chuckled to herself and sneered at me. She probably thought this was humiliating me or something, but I’d had far worse done to me, by far better, and come out just fine. Nevertheless, I just kept on smiling, and not being angry.

“You know, Betsy… I heard that a bunch of assholes tried to get into Raftwater today.” She grinned. “Isn’t that silly?”

“Silly as a snake with legs, Mademoiselle Mildew!” I gasped, causing the mare to guffaw at me. “They sound lahk such rude ponies.”

Not angry at all!

“Yeah. We caught ‘em, though. Don’t worry.” She chuckled. “They won’t try and come to get you in the night, Betsy.”

“Oh, well that’s mighty kind ‘a ya, Mademoiselle”

“I heard we even managed to kill one.”

…

Definitely not angry.

“I-is that s-s-so?” I asked. Perfectly calm.

“That striped unicorn, I think it was. Interesting sight, really. They’re not as common as regular halfies.” She snorted. “Heard she was cute too.”

N-not going t-t-to smash the teap-pot into her f-f-f-fucking face.

“W-well that’s mighty interestin’.” I smiled. “Would you happen to know the r-raisin that they broke in, Mademoiselle Mildew?”

Don’t attack her. Stay calm. Don’t get angry. Don’t attack her. Knives is okay. You saw how she fights, you know she won’t go down that easily.

“Aww, are you scared Betsy?” Mildew grinned evilly. “Did we kill your little marefriend? Isn’t that sad.”

Do. Not. Get. Angry.

She slammed her hoof across my jaw. “Get that smile off your fucking face, Betsy!”

With some difficulty, I forced my grin to turn into a blank expression. Not angry at all.

“Good…” She said in a satisfied way. “You fucking useless birds shouldn’t get to smile. You shouldn’t get to be alive, you know. Leaving us all to suffer under the clouds.”

She punched me in the jaw again. “WE WANT SUN BETSY!”

Non. Wütend.

“Now, why don’t we put you to good use, eh?” She turned her back to me. “Go on, put that cutie mark to use, Betsy.”

As I stepped forward, she spun back for a moment to say, “And don’t try anything. You know what’ll happen.”

Do not break the teapot against her skull. Do. Not. Do. It.

I moved behind her and began with the hoofwork. I swept my wings over her back, feeling for stiff muscles and bringing my forehooves over to massage them.

Mildew let out a moan of content.

I didn’t know what this mare did, but she had so many knots in her back and shoulders that it would take far more work than I was willing to put in in order to deal with it. Even with this being my special talent, I was very much unwilling to help slavers in any way. But I still kept calm, and not angry.

With my limbs occupied, I turned my thoughts to how I could help my companions.

‘Knives is dead, you moron,’ my subconscious said. ‘It’s all your fucking fault.’

No. She’s not dead. Mildew is just trying to get in my head. I frowned and glanced down at myself. Hence, the frilly dress.

‘Then she’s a slave because you were fucking around, instead of paying attention. It’s still your fault.’

That’s why I need to find her and get out of here. My eyes darted around the room. It looked as though somepony had tried to stuff a kitchen, a living room and a bedroom into a single space.

“I didn’t say you could-“ Mildew interrupted herself with another moan. “Could slow down…”

A grin popped back onto my face. Not angry at all.

‘Oh just admit it. You’re angry.’

Nope. Perfectly calm.

‘Calm ponies don’t vibrate.’

Who’s vibrating? I’m perfectly still! Not even a little- is that a key in her mane?

I stared at the back of the mare’s head. There was, indeed, a glint of metal between the hairs. I gently brushed the strands away with a wing, making the slaver moan again.

There was, indeed, a small key, tied around her neck with a bit of fishing wire.

‘Don’t try it,’ said my subconscious. ‘You know you’re a terrible thief.’

Truuuueeeee, But I am pretty good at talking ponies into things. Another grin spread across my face.

‘Really? Did you go on that date with Knives, then?’

…

Shut up.

“So, Mademoiselle Mildew,” I began. “What exactly do you do here, hmm?”

The mare snorted. “Trying to distract me, Betsy?”

“What, me?” Does a yao guai shit in the desert? “Now why would I ever try something like that?”

“You wouldn’t be the first slave to try it.”

I smirked. “Now, Mademoiselle Mildew… how could I lie to such a pretty face as yours?”

“Uh-huh. Sure. And the boss is a bloatsprite.” She spat.

“Oh, don’t sell yourself short, milady.” I grinned. “Yours, is a pretty face that leaves me with a certain… envie de vomir.”

‘What are you going to do if she speaks Prench?’

“Oh… uh…” Mildew giggled softly.

I stifled my own snort of laughter. She doesn’t. I doubt she knows this one either.

“You know, I once heard a phrase that describes you quite well.” She pricked up one of her ears, and I smirked. “Watashi wa anata o mita toki, watashi wa sabita supūn de jibun no me o eguri dashitai to omoimasu.”

Heh. Not the best insult, but still pretty good.

“What’s that mean?”

Oh crap… uh…

“That your beauty surpasses your loveliness,” I answered quickly. And both are in the negatives.

I saw a tinge of red appear on the slaver’s face and smirked. That was waaaaay too easy.

‘Then why can’t you seem to talk to Knives, hmm?’

Well, it’s easy to say if it’s not true…

‘So you go acting like a socially awkward teenager?’

…

I hate me.

“Well, to answer your question, Betsy…” Mildew let out another happy moan. “I run storage.”

“Oh? And what exactly do you do there?”

“Well, recently I’ve been making sure that the fucking morons I work with don’t put bomb collars on each other.” She snorted. “The last time they did that they used up about twenty of the damn things. It’s not like they grow on trees.”

Goddesses, I hoped they didn’t grow on trees.

“I also make sure that we have enough weapons and crap like that for when we go out on hunting runs.” She chuckled. “You know, you and your friend are probably the first ponies who’ve come to us. Pretty stupid if you ask me.”

My lips curled into a grin again. Not angry.

“And I told you not to stop!” She growled. “Keep going or I’ll-“

She was interrupted when a loud wailing noise sang through the air. It was one of those sirens that they used during the war to warn the citizens of incoming attacks.

Mildew stared out the window with a look of confusion. “What the fu-“

She was interrupted again when I smashed the teapot into the back of her head.

“Oh look, I JUST TRIED SOMETHING! I’M NOT FUCKING DEAD YET! HAH!” I shouted. Slowly, a feeling of calmness went through me, and I could feel tension that I hadn’t even known was there leaving my shoulders.

Then I noticed that there was blood pooling beneath her head. I looked at the teapot-I mean teapot handle that I was clutching in my fetlock, and swore under my breath.

I put a wingtip to her throat, feeling for a pulse, but come up with nothing and swore again.

‘Good going. You can’t even knock somepony out right.’

I groaned and ripped the key off the fishing line around her neck.

“So…” I thought aloud. “What is that siren for…”

I stuck my head outside. My ears swiveled around as I listened to the cries of the slavers who were running around the streets in a panic. To my surprise, almost every single one of them was begging for their lives or screaming in terror about Hearteater.

I frowned. She couldn’t have been in Raftwater. Jolly Rodger had said that she was around Loss, and that was on the opposite side of Canturbury. So, unless the expert sniper sprouted wings and/or a horn since the last time I’d met her, I was fairly certain she wouldn’t be able to get to Raftwater this quickly.

I wasn’t exactly happy that somepony was apparently trying to impersonate one of my allies.

‘Hey, doesn’t Knives have invisible magic?’

I blinked as the thought popped into my head. That blink was followed by a smirk, and that smirk turned into a wide grin and a chuckle.

“Damn, that mare is awesome.”

Knock-knock-knock.

My ears went against my head as I turned to stare at the door.

“Oh… fuck…”

“MILDEW! OPEN UP!” The slaver pounded on the door. “We’re being attacked! For the love of Celestia, open the fucking door, you stupid cunt!”

“Crap, crap, crap…” I glanced around the room, and an idea came to mind. “Oh! Hehehe.”

I burst out the door, screaming my head off. “OH GODDESSES, HEARTEATER’S INSIDE! RUN!”

This had the desired effect of causing the slavers at the door to run off shrieking, yes shrieking, in terror.

“Now to find Knives!” I said triumphantly. Then I blinked in realization, and facehooved. “Aaand, I don’t know what her mark is for… wunderbar.”

Swiftly moving as far away from Mildew’s place as I could, I listened to the screaming of the slavers and the mutterings of the slaves to see if I could find even the vaguest hint of where Knives was. I was sure that I wouldn’t have to look for Zeed or Stock, as they would be smart enough to get away and start working on a method of escape.

I knew I should have asked at some point. I know that some cultures think it rude to ask about another ponies mark, but if I had known something like this would happen, I think I could stand be a bit rude. Really, all I knew was that Knives was a fairly decent cook, but that didn’t really mean anything.

After all, my mark has nothing to do with weaponry, yet I’m a pretty good shot.

I made my way to the place where they’d brought the two of us in, in the hopes of finding some sort of records or something. The Bone Eaters would have to be stupid to not keep records of their slaves.

I didn’t want to risk flying, though. It was bad enough that my wings were causing the slaves to give me angry glares, but if I actually tried to fly anywhere, I would likely get my stupid ass shot.

My thoughts were interrupted when a growling voice began to blast forth from the public speaker system.

“Attention brothers! This is Rex speaking. It has come to my attention that the majority of you are in a panic due to a supposed sighting of the assassin known as ‘Hearteater’. This sighting is false. Every single one of you is an idiot for believing in it.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the last comment.

"If you are found away from your posts, I will personally drag you into the pit and tear you limb from limb. I will then feed your still-living torso to my pet. And speaking of the Pit… the little half-breed fucks who caused all of this panic will be serving as tonight’s entertainment. That is all.”

“Half-breeds… Oh, SONOFABITCH!”

I bucked a nearby lamppost in frustration as I realized that meant I would have to get Knives out of a pit fight. Possibly by getting involved in it myself.

A shame really… I couldn’t fight for shit…

~~~~

I stood watching for two hours, hiding in the top floor of a former office building near the Pit, which, as the name suggested, was little more than a giant hole dug into the middle of the street.

Despite my vigil, I saw neither hide nor hair of Knives.

My wings twitched impatiently.

Even the guards in front of the building where they kept the slaves, the remains of the city’s former police station, weren’t moving. I guess Rex’s speech was enough to get some of the slavers to obey their orders.

I wondered if I might have missed her, if she had already been taken inside before I got here.

I sighed, and turned away from the window, only to be stopped when I saw a familiar-looking dark green mane, with metal bits entwined into it.

With a grin, I spun back around.

I then proceeded to watch with a look of incredible confusion as Knives apparently levitated towards the police station, followed by two other zonies.

Whilst very obviously unconscious.

This was, needless to say, very confusing for me. At least, until I smacked myself in the face for being a moron.

They have stealth bucks. Or a stealth suit, or something else that makes them invisible.

‘You can’t really fight what you can’t see, you know.’

I’m well aware. I might need to break into the armory. Get a few grenades, maybe. The problem is this damned collar. If they catch me fighting, they will kill me.

I frowned and hrrm-ed.

Maybe I could find a way to deactivate the collar first?

‘If it was that easy, don’t you think there would be a few less slaves here?’

Never said it would be easy, just that I should try it first. Wait, what are they doing with Knives?

They pulled the tag off of her ear and replaced it with a dark red one.

“So…” I mused. “They’re actually putting her in the pit.”

‘You need to get her out of there. This is your fault.’

Obviously.

The roof of the police station had a few doors in plain view. I considered just flying over to them, but I didn’t want to risk getting shot and I didn’t want to risk sneaking past the guards. Chances were that I would fail. Stealth, after all, was never my forte.

‘What if you got involved in the fights?’

I’m not exactly a brawler.

‘Oh, you suck at fighting. You’re just trying to break back out anyway.’

True, but if I can’t then I’m stuck.

‘Talk your way in?’

I tapped my chin with a wingtip. “That could work.”

Click.

‘Or you could stand there while somepony points a gun at your head.’

“Wings up, hooves on the ground.” The way the stallion was talking told me that his mouth was free, meaning he was a unicorn.

A sound somewhere between a sigh and a frustrated growl left my throat.

“Turn around slowly.”

Following orders, I was met with a familiar orange unicorn, wearing an even more familiar jacket, one that looked like a cross between a duster and a ballistic vest, and a massive bandage on his neck from where Knives stabbed him. “Oh goddesses, not you again. Chamomile shot my fucking ear off because of you. And my neck hurts ‘cuz of your fucking bitchfriend.”

“That’s my jacket you’re wearing.” I smirked

He smirked right back. “Correction: it was your jacket. It’s mine now, slave.”

“Suit yourself.” I shrugged. “It’ll come back to me eventually.”

“What the fuck does that-“ He shook his head. “You know what, stop talking. I’m not letting you distract me again. Move.”

He herded me outside of the building and, much to both my surprise and irritation, towards the police station.

“Hey guys, I got a present for ya!” My ‘friend’ called out.

Upon seeing me, the guards started chuckling to themselves. “Ooh. Looks like we’ve got a pigeon infestation.”

“Oh, wow. I thought pigeons were all extinct!”

“Apparently we got a few left!”

I could only quirk an eyebrow at the pathetic attempt at humor.

“Yeah, apparently he wants to get in on the fights.” The orange unicorn snorted. “Don’t you birdy?”

“Really? We haven’t had a bird around her for a while, now.” One of the guards sneered at me. “Tired of the sunlight, feather-face?”

“Nah. Just wanted some fresh air.” I snarked.

I received a rifle butt to the face for my trouble.

“Shut up, scab,” he snarled. “Get me the tagger.”

“Oh, no… allow me!” Said the orange idiot in my jacket. He levitated the tagger over.

I gasped in pain as he ripped the pink tag out of my ear.

“Oops.” He snickered. “My magic slipped.”

Then I yelped as he put a red tag in the other ear.

Not. Angry. At all. Not. Going. To break. His fucking. Horn.

As he walked away laughing his head off, the two guards started dragging me inside, down into the lower parts of the station, where the walls were covered in cell doors. I was unceremoniously tossed into one, and the door was slammed shut after me.

All the while, I saw no indication as to where they’d taken Knives.

‘Good going, dumbfuck. Now you’re stuck.’

…

Fuck you brain. Just… fuck you.

~~~

Green awoke to the sensation of swaying motion. Cracking her eyes open, she realized that she was being carried on Wretch’s back, her legs dangling over the pink mare’s sides, her chest resting between the unicorn’s shoulder blades. They were in the middle of the city, both with a single neon green band tied around one of their forelegs.

The green filly let out a loud yawn.

“Hello, Green. Feeling better?”

The pegasus moaned weakly.

“I’ll take that as a ‘no’, then.” Wretch sighed. “It’s sad to see you like this, you know.”

Green sniffled. “I’m a bad pony…”

“No. You’re not. You did something you felt was right in order to protect somepony else.” Wretch shook her head. “And he attacked first anyway.”

“I hurt another pony…”

“And he tried to hurt you first. For no particular reason, I might add.” Wretch wasn’t sure if the last part was true, but she chose not to mention that. “And it was sort of funny that you hit him with a whole cactus.”

Green giggled softly. “I guess he… kinda… deserved it.”

“See? It’s not that bad.” Wretch smiled. “Think you can walk?”

Green gently flapped her wings, lifting her off of the mare’s back and depositing her on the asphalt. As soon as her hooves touched the ground, Green’s stomach roared, drawing surprised stares from several passerby.

Wretch burst out laughing, while Green blushed profusely.

“Celestia’s sun, Green, how much can you possibly eat?” Wretch wiped a tear from her eye. “I swear, your gut is constantly making noise.”

Green used her wings to cover her face in embarrassment. “Sorry…”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about, it’s just that I’ve never seen anypony eat that much. Especially not when they’re your size. At the rate you keep going, you’ll gain a couple hundred pounds by the end of the week.”

Green’s blush deepened.

“You really never did get much to eat as a slave, did you…” Wretch sighed again.

“Usually Bark just gave me some water, and some yucca.” Green’s expression turned into a wistful smile. “But I really, really like yucca, so it wasn’t that bad. It’s so, so good… tasty…”

Wretch snorted a laugh. “Green, you’re drooling.”

“One time I snuck into bark’s storage shed and ate all the yucca he had. My stomach hurt so much I could barely move, and he flogged me for about an hour when he found out the next day, but it was soooo worth it…”

Wretch’s jaw dropped. “He… he what?”

Green didn’t respond, instead, she stared off into space, drooling at the thought of the plant. The ponies walking by gave her odd looks of confusion, at least, until she was distracted by another roar from her own stomach.

She spun to face Wretch with a hopeful grin on her face. “Hey, Wretch , can we get some yucca? Please? I’m really, really, really hungry, and I haven’t had any in a really long time, please?”

“Uh…” Wretch stared at her young friend in confusion. “Okay? Sure, I don’t see why not.”

“Really?” Green squealed in delight as she bounced around the older black-maned mare. “I hope we can find some of the fruit or maybe the root, because I really don’t like the flowers and they aren’t very filling anyway, but the fruit is really bitter but in a good way because I really like bitter things and the root tastes really sweet but pickled yucca fruit is the best thing I’ve ever tasted and omygosh I’m so excited I can’t wait!”

Wretch blinked a few times. “I’m guessing that you really like this stuff?”

Green nodded so vigorously that Wretch was afraid her head might pop off.

“Well, then…” Wretch chuckled. “I guess we’ll go find some. After that, we’ll go find the memory orb expert.”

--------

Footnote 1: Diamond Knives

EXP ???%

~~~

Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri

Exp: ???%

~~~

Footnote 3: Raid (???)

EXP Level up! (12)

Speech 84

Perks:

Desert Soldier: You get a +5% bonus to critical chance when using conventional weaponry. You also get +5 to your guns skill.

`

To-Do List:

Active Quest:

Where For Art Thou?:

-Find Raid

-Find Knives

Other quests:

Layin’ Down The Rails:

Find a way to remove bomb-collars

O’ Father, Where Art Thou?:

Infiltrate or assault the Bone Eaters’ base near Bladesville.

Sifting through the dust:

1) Find information on the location of Ashes.

2) Find information on the location of Obsidian Knives

3)–Find information on the location of Nezan Kazdri

Author's Notes:

Thanks to Kkat for Fallout Equestria, and Somber for Project Horizon. Thanks to Matkingos for making sure this doesn’t suck as much as usual. Thanks to whomever reads this, and again, critiques are very much welcome.

Chapter Twenty: Fun In The Basement

I sat on the couch, wrapped in blankets, leaning against Ashes, who was playing a guitar that matched her cutie mark. A steaming hot mug of coffee sat on the table beside her, accompanied by her glasses. I watched her intently, wondering just how in the hell she managed to play a guitar so well with hooves. As far as I could tell, she was using her fetlock on the upper part, but that wouldn’t-

My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

Ashes let out a sigh, put down her guitar, and plodded clumsily over to the door, makhing sure to grab her glasses along the way.

“Hey Knives,” she yawned. “What’s up?”

“It’s cold as aw hell out here. Mah ears’re freezin’ off.” I heard the striped unicorn respond. “Can Ah come in?”

“Sure.” Ashes let out another long yawn. “What’s with that anyway? It was warm yesterday.”

“Apparently yer ‘relatives’ decided it would be a great idea tae screw wi’ th’ air conditionin’.”Knives snorted as she approached the couch. “They broke th’ main control panel. And mom is pissed about it. Apparently it’s messed up th’ kitchens tae.”

I couldn’t help but stare at her as she sat down next to me.

“What?” She asked.

I quirked an eyebrow. She was wearing, of all things, a green flannel button-down shirt. “You wonder why ponies keep saying you look like a colt?”

“What? What are ye talkin’ about?”

“You do look pretty butch, Knives.” Ashes chuckled as she plopped back down next to me, and resumed her position as my pillow. “Might wanna lose the flannel.”

“Ah like this shirt!” She whined. “Ah’ve had it fer years.”

“It makes you look like a filly fooler.” Ashes grimaced, and coughed into a hoof. “Sorry Zeed.”

“Pfft, sorry? I was about to say the same thing,” I laughed. “Though, I wouldn’t be caught dead in that thing.”

“Shut up, both ay ye.” Knives grumbled.

“Anyway, you have any idea when they’ll get the thing fixed?” Ashes asked.

Knives shrugged. “Maybe a week, at best?”

I groaned as a shiver went down my spine, despite the blankets.

~~~

“Stock, I’m not liking this.”

“No kidding, we haven’t found anything!” The ghoul growled. “I hate this fucking place. It’s like a goddess-damned maze.”

“No, I mean they’re not coming after us,” I said. “It’s making me nervous.”

“It’s only been an hour. I’m sure they’ll find us soon.” She growled again. “My problem is that we’ve searched the entire floor and found nothing.”

“Maybe we’d get through a little faster if you’d stop searching EVERY SINGLE FUCKING ROOM WE PASS!” I screamed.

“Do you want to miss something important?” She snapped back. “I don’t, especially if it could help us.”

“You took twenty minutes to search through a fucking broom closet.” I deadpanned, pointing to the aforementioned room. “Why would there be something useful in there?”

“Well we-“ Her ear twitched, and she motioned for me to hide.

While she shot up, and hid behind the ceiling panels, I moved back into the closet. I was glad, and not for the first time, that I was as small as I was as I hid inside the empty tool cabinet. As I did, the sound of hooves on metal echoed through the hallway.

“Gotcha you li- oh.” Came a disappointed stallion’s voice.

“Corn, every time you do that, they figure out where we are. Shoot first, ask questions later.” Another stallion said.

“Hey, I wanna catch these little fucks, alright? Goddesses, gimme a break.”

“Just keep quiet.”

“I coulda sworn I heard somepony shouting.”

I groaned internally. Of course they heard that.

“Hey, ya think they’ll let us keep ‘em if we catch ‘em?” The second asked in an excited manner.

“This is the third time you’ve asked that.”

“So?”

“No. They won’t. They’ll probably be put to work before they’re thrown in the pit.” The first let out an exasperated sigh. “C’mon, let’s keep looking.”

Oh thank Luna, they’re leaving.

“Should we check the rooms?”

I just had to think that, didn’t I.

“Meh. Sure.”

In a state of mild panic, I used what little room I had to pull my laser out of my lab coat pocket. I wasn’t in much of a fighting position, but, if nothing else, I could get the jump on whichever one opened the door.

I silently and desperately wished for the slaver to ignore the broom closet. I’d left it open, so he’d probably just glance in and move on.

Of course, considering my luck he’d far more likely to-

“Here, filly, filly, filly. Come out come out.” The second chuckled. “I can hear you breathing.”

My eye twitched, and I fought the urge to swear loudly.

I wondered whether I should make a run for it when the cabinet opened, revealing another zebra standing there with a malicious grin.

“Ooh, hello sexy.” He said in the creepiest way possible.

“Fuck that!” I screamed around the trigger as I fired my laser, right into his face, sending him staggering back in shock and pain.

With him distracted, I took opportunity to scramble my way out of the cabinet, into the hallway, and as luck would have it, right into the other slaver. The earth pony blinked at me in mild surprise as I toppled over him. “What the fu-“

“GAAAGH!” I yelped in panic, sending several burning beams of light into his face.

Then I was slammed into the wall, pinned there by the throat as number one recovered enough to see again. He snarled at me and knocked my gun out of my mouth, following it up with a vicious headbutt, leaving me dazed. I hoped it wouldn’t give me another concussion, as the last one wasn’t particularly pleasant.

“Fucking bitch,” Hissed number two.

“Don’t say that, Kad. If the boss hears you, he’ll be pissed.” Number one said.

“Fuck him! She fucking burned the fur off my face!” Kad pointed at the charred bald spots on his muzzle. Then he grinned at me. “I saw we should get to have some fun with her.”

My eyes widened in terror.

Number two growled in frustration. “No! I’m not screwin’ a mare! Especially not a damn zebra!”

As Kad glared as his companion, I started struggling to get free, panicking at the thought of what he’d do to me. He responded by pressing harder against my neck.

“Eh… sorry… You know what I meant, right?”

No no no no no!

“Racist fuck.”

I kicked as hard as I could against his ribs, but only managed to make him wince.

“I’m sorry! I swear, I didn’t mean it like that!”

I was on the verge of tears, hitting him as hard as I could, still pinned in that spot, unable to even scream, knowing what he wanted me for…

“Right. Your ‘no interspecies’ thing.” Kad snorted. “You’re always doing this shit, Corn. It’s getting’ annoying.”

Part of the ceiling broke, and fell to the ground in a cloud of dust, scaring the two stallions to the point where they visibly jumped, Kad dropping me to the ground and leaving me gasping me for air.

The dust parted to reveal Stock, standing with her gun pointed at the two Bone Eaters with a cocky smirk on her face. “Mind if I drop in?”

After a second of staring in abject shock, I facehoofed.

Corn was the first to react, charging the ghoul as she let loose a barrage of .50 bullets. He got just close enough to knock the barrels away from himself with one forehoof before he drove the other into her muzzle, but not without having a sizeable chunk of flesh torn off his side. Stock spun with the punch, taking the opportunity to grab his hindleg with a wing and pull, dropping him to the ground.

Seeing his companion fall was enough to snap Kad back to reality. He drew a compact-looking gun from one of the bandoliers across his chest and started firing away with the automatic weapon. He wasn’t a particularly good shot, with just a few small cuts appearing on Stock’s legs, but it gave him the chance to dive for cover as Stock and I did the same, each of us hiding in a different room, leaving Corn in the hallway.

“Just give up, and we won’t hurt you too bad!” The earth pony called out. “We’ll just maim ya a little. Hah.”

“Corn, shut the fuck up and get over here!” Kad yelled.

“Both of you can go fuck yourselves.” I muttered under my breath. I peeked out to see my laser sitting on the floor, just next to Kad’s door, and swore.

Gunshots echoed through the hallway as Stock popped out of her room, laying down a carpet of suppressing fire as she charged towards me. Both Bone Eaters yelped in surprise and scrambled out of her line of sight.

“You alright?” The ghoul asked me.

“I would first like to say, thanks for saving my flank. The last thing I want is some jerk ‘hitting’ on me like that.” I said. “But why the fuck… did you have to do a dramatic entrance?”

“Fun!” She chirped.

“While I’m about to… to get…” I shuddered. “I don’t even wanna think about it.”

“Uh… Well… I… uh…” Stock’s smile faltered. “Oh… Oh, fuck… S-sorry… I…”

“C’mon sexy, I don’t bite!” Kad yelled, breaking the tension. “Much!”

Both slavers laughed, while Stock and I both facehoofed.

“Okay,” She said. “Just for that, they need to die.”

“Really.” I rolled my eyes. “That’s why they need to die.”

“Shut up. I haven’t seen you killing any of them,” the ghoul snorted, taking several shots as Kad peeked out.

“I’m sorry, I’m a medic.” I snapped. “I don’t like killing ponies. That’s kinda the opposite of what I do.”

“You think I do?”

“Oh, sexy! I can hear you talkiiiing!” Kad shouted.

I groaned. “Stock, think you can cover me? I need to get my gun.”

She nodded, and leapt out of the room, screaming as she pounded down the hallway. I leaped out after her, heading straight for the energy pistol, heard Kad and Corn yelp in fear as Stock slid past the door, and opened fire. I couldn’t see the slavers, but I knew they were hiding behind something.

Pistol now in my mouth, I turned to…

See a zebra mare at the end of the hallway, staring at me with crazy eyes. A few flecks of red were spread through them. It was oddly familiar. “YOU!”

“LUNA FUCKING DAMNIT!” I screamed around my weapon. “Why you, of all ponies?”

She made her way towards me, panting with a combination of fury and hate, her eyes never leaving me, even as I let loose a volley of red beams, several of which hit her directly in the chest. She didn’t even flinch.

“Uh… Stock?” I gulped. “Help?”

The undead pegasus whirled around, training her machine guns on the Zebra.

The guns clicked on empty chambers.

My jaw dropped.

The other zebra charged down the hallway at full speed, headbutting me and sending me flying into Stock. She made an attempt to catch me with her wings, but I only ended up getting clotheslined.

Stock gave me a sympathetic grimace as I tried to clear the stars out of my vision.

Kad popped out of his room and let loose another volley of lead-flavored death. For the second time today, Stock dragged me into a side room and took cover.

“Are you-“

“Fine.” I interrupted her. “Just annoyed.”

“GET OUT HERE TRAITOR!” The other zebra shrieked. “I’II fucking flay you alive!”

“Yeah, come here, sexy. I wanna do stuff to you.”

I gritted my teeth, wishing that he would shut up.

“SHUT UP, YOU USELESS FUCK!” The mare roared.

“Woah, calm down!” Corn replied. “If you want her you can have her. Kad, just let it go.”

I peeked around the corner, and was just in time to see the mare’s hoof fly into my face, sending me sprawling on the ground. Kad jumped around the corner, keeping his pistol trained on Stock, who raised her wings in defeat.

“Here’s how it’s going to work, traitor,” my ‘friend’ hissed, standing over me with a look of sheer rage.. “I’m going to beat the shit out of you, and Kad here is going to kill you if you try and run.”

Corn took this moment to speak up. “I think Kad wanted to do stuff to her, actually.”

The mare glared at the zebra in question with a raised eyebrow.

He shrugged. “Haven’t had any good lays in a while.”

After staring at Kad for a while, the mare grinned at me. “I think that’s a great idea. Kad can keep you for a while then.”

Oh dear mother of Luna not that. Think, think, think, what can I do, what can I do… Oh… Oh dear Luna, I’m so going to regret this.

“S-sorry, I don’t do stallions.” I stammered with as sultry a smile as I could manage at the moment. “But I’d like to try you out, h-hot stuff.”

All three slavers and Stock stared at me, dumbfounded.

Kad was the first to react, bursting out into peals of laughter. “Oh goddesses that’s hilarious! Stockhoof syndrome kicked in a bit early, eh? Someone’s got a crush on you, Mir!”

“Stockhoof what?” Corn asked, now even more confused.

Kad waved him off. “Never mind. Read it in a book.”

“Seriously?” Stock stammered. “You’re flirting? Zeed, what the actual fuck, are you insane?”

“More like literal fuck!” Kad laughed even harder.

All the while, the other zebra mare, apparently named ‘Mir’, just gaped at me.

So I kicked her between the legs, making both of the stallions in the room wince.

Mir’s legs suddenly refused to support her weight, instead reflexively moving to protect her tender areas, so I took the opportunity to buck her off of me, sending her tumbling into Corn.

I stood up, and glared at Kad, who looked between Stock, his fellow slavers, and me, back and forth. Eventually, he shrugged and dropped his gun, throwing his front hooves up into the air. “Okay, I give.”

“You’re a fucking pansy -ghe - Kad!” Mir groaned. “You are a complete fucking coward.”

“Hey, I’m not really into the whole ‘slaver’ business to begin with. It was either this, or keep bein’ a raider.” He smiled. “Fun, though it was, I’d rather have some stability in my life. So, I take it you’re here to break out all the slaves?”

I punched him in the snout. “Go fuck yourself!”

“Gaagh! Why?” He moaned, holding his nose and writhing on the ground in pain.

“’I say we should get to have some fun with her…’ I’ll fucking show you fun!” I was shaking . With anger or pent-up fear, I wasn’t really sure. “You do that shit to other ponies?”

“Other pon- you mean ‘people’?”

I punched him in the snout again. My eyes were streaming with tears. “What is wrong with you fucking psychos?”

“Zeed, are you okay?” Stock put a wing over my shoulder.

“He was… Luna’s moon… He was gonna do… that to me…” I shuddered in disgust.

Kad chuckled, and shot me a sly, if a bloody, grin. “Oh, come on, I’m pretty good in the sack.”

Corn groaned. “Why do I hang out with you?”

I narrowed my eyes at the zebra stallion. “I don’t fucking care how ‘good in the sack’ you are. Where’s the exit?”

“Aww, come on. What’re you, a fillyfooler?”

I delivered a two-legged buck to his face.

Stock grimaced, and pulled a coil of rope out of her saddlebags, and began to tie up the other slavers, who didn’t even try to resist.

“I’ll take that as a yes!” he chuckled. Several of his teeth were gone and he was bleeding from the nose and one of his eyebrows, but he still had that sickening grin. “I’ll bet you just haven’t been with the right stallion before. Why don’t you give me a shot, eh?”

My fur bristled, and with a shriek of disgust and anger, I wailed away at him, beating him to a bloody pulp with my forehooves until Stock finally had to pull me off.

“Zeed, calm down, you’re gonna kill him!”

“He fucking deserves it!” I screamed. My vision was blurred by tears, and I was shaking violently.

The stallion laughed. “Oh, you think this is bad? You shoulda seen me in my raider days! Woo, was I wild. I was even wilder than that one zebra raider, eh, what was his name… Ah who cares, he tore apart all of the west side of Canturbury. Raping, pillaging. Mostly raping. Gotta agree, that was the best-“

Stock grabbed his pistol and fired a single shot into his skull.

I stood there, shaking, staring at the now-dead slaver. He would’ve... How could he even think of doing that to me? T-to anypony? The way he was staring at me… I felt nauseous as the fear finally set in.

“Zeed? Zeed, are you okay?”

Just the thought of him being anywhere near me, touching me like that, m-making me… forcing me to… he could have killed me, or… he could have left me alive… held me down… again and again and-

I held a hoof over my mouth.

“Zeed, hey, it’s alright. Zeed?”

I staggered over to the door, and leaned against the wall just outside the room, feeling like I was about to vomit.

Stock cautiously walked over to me, and put a wing around my shoulder. She didn’t say anything.

I stayed there until my body stopped shaking, all the while the two tied-up slavers complaining about their situation. I hadn’t realized how much my heart had been pounding at the time, but I calmed myself enough that it slowed down to a normal speed.

Stock held out a bottle of water to me, which I took and gulped down gratefully.

“Feel better?” Stock asked quietly, her face bearing a gentle expression of concern.

I wiped my mouth. “Much better thank you. Mother of Luna… I can’t believe somepony would do that.”

“You’re alright. Don’t worry.” She gave me a quick, gentle hug. “He didn’t get the chance to do anything. You’ll be okay.”

“Thanks.” I exhaled slowly, and managed to fully regain my composure.

We were silent for a moment.

“So… we gonna get some info out of them?” I asked.

Stock guffawed. “Nah. We can figure it out ourselves. Let’s just leave them in there. Lock the door.”

~~~~

“Don’t say it.” Stock grumbled.

“I wasn’t going to, I swear.” I tried to suppress a laugh.

“Yes. I regret not getting directions out of them.” She continued. “No, I don’t wanna go back.”

“Hey, I didn’t say anything.”

We stood in an iced-over security office, staring out the door at a very familiar flooded room with a blown-up catwalk. I could see the wet clothes that Raid and Knives had abandoned earlier, now frozen to the point where they were stuck to the floor.

“We’re not lost.” Stock sighed.

“Of course not. We know exactly where we are.” I chortled. “We just don’t know how to get where we want to go.”

Reaching into my lab coat pocket, I pulled out a cigarette, and began my usual method of lighting it.

I put the cigarette on the frozen floor, readied my laser in my mouth, and-

Slipped.

Instead of the red beam hitting the cigarette, it went wide, not even in the same direction as the target. Stock let out a yelp of surprise.

Pulling myself back to my hooves, I groaned. “Ow. You alright, Stock? I didn’t hit you, did- oh…”

The ghoul’s eye twitched. A bit of smoke was coming off the top of her head. I’d hit one of the few remaining tufts of mane she had left.

“Okay. We’re getting you a hoof lighter.” She said quietly, cautiously rubbing the smoldering chunk of flesh.

I chuckled nervously, and started back the way we’d come. “We should… ah… go back. There was a hallway earlier we could try going down.”

“Fine, just… don’t light any sticks for a while…” She sighed. “I’d like to keep what’s left of my mane.”

“Sorr- do you hear that?” My ears perked up.

“Hear what?”

“Shh, listen!”

There was a gruff-sounding voice with a weird echo back where we’d come from.

I shot down the hallway, Stock in tow, with both of us trying to follow the source of the voice.

“…ghting is f…” Just down the hallway? No, further than that. “... ot for bel…”

“Where is it coming from?” I growled.

“Down here!” Stock moved down a hallway we’d ignored on our first pass. I darted down after her.

“…pit and tear you li…”

“It’s the speaker system! C’mon, before they stop talking!” Stock hissed.

I ran as fast as I could, chasing after Stock and making sure we didn’t lose track of the voice.

And then, I smelled fresh air… sort of…

The cloying scent of sweat, misery, and things better left unmentioned filled my nostrils, making my eyes tear up. I spat out my cigarette and covered my muzzle with the lab coat.

“…who caused all of this panic will be serving as tonight’s entertainment. That is all.”

There were ponies and zebras everywhere. There were even zonies milling about. The only time I’d ever seen this many equines gathered in the same place was in the Section 3 cafeteria on fresh fruit day when some nutcase was giving lessons on anti-fruit self-defense.

Stock and I had come out into the lobby of a former dentist’s office, long since robbed of most of its equipment. It was a shame, as I could probably have used some of it, but there wasn’t much I could do.

Stock swore under her breath. Seeing my inquisitive look, she pointed to the nearest slave. I stared at him for a moment before I decided I had no idea what she was pointing at.

“I have no idea what you’re pointing at.”

“The collar! It’s a fucking explosive.” She hissed. “Fuck, that’s a pretty big problem.”

“Okay, so how can we get them off?”

“Keys. We need to find where they’re keeping the keys.” She tapped her chin in thought. “They’ve gotta have some kind of office in the city. Someplace they store the collars. There might be something we can use there.”

“Which brings us to the next problem, how are we going to get there?” I asked. Pointing at my neck, I stared at the undead mare. “We’re not exactly inconspicuous. Especially you. I don’t see many ghouls or pegasi around here, do you?”

She bit her lip and looked around. After a moment she looked at me, and cocked her head. “That could work…”

“What? What could work?” I asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“We left them… hmmm… yes… yes…” She grinned. “Zeed, how good an actress are you?”

“Terrible.” My eyes darted around as I looked for an exit. “Why do you ask?”

“Think you could be a slaver for a bit?”

...

“Fuck.”

“C’mon, Zeed. We need to get these ponies… eh… people out of here.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “One: I hate that word. Two: I just said I’m a terrible actress. Three: How would I-“

“We left those three in that room, remember?” She stepped towards me. “We have to do something.”

“Can’t we think of something else?”

“Can you?”

“…”

“That’s what I thought. Now come on and let’s get your costume.” She trotted back inside.

~~~

“Of course they got out…” Stock sighed as she picked up the shredded rope.

“Wha- bu-how…” I stammered. “How? They were tied up!”

“The mare probably used one of her spikes to cut her way through.”

“Oh, wonderful.” I groaned. “Now we’ve got a couple of slavers running around who know what we look like. Luna’s moon, they even took that sick fuck’s body with them!”

“It’s okay Zeed. We’ll just have to try to get their barding some other way.”

“Like how?”

“We’ll think of something.”

“What, do you expect me to seduce one of them?” I clapped my hoof over my mouth. Stock grinned widely. “Crap.”

“Can you manage that?”

“Probably. The question is will I. The answer is a big, fat ‘no’.”

“Then why did you suggest it?”

“This is where my thoughts go, okay?” I frowned. “Besides, i doubt sleeping with slavers will give me points in getting my marefriend back.”

“Well, you don’t have to sleep with them. Just get them into bed and knock them out or something.”

“No.”

“You’d have a better chance of finding out where your father is.” She said.

I opened my mouth to reply, but despite the ridiculousness of the situation and how much I did not want to do this, I couldn’t seem to come up with an argument against that. Odd, considering how stupid the idea was and how many ways it could backfire.

I groaned. “I’m gonna hate myself for this... I just know it...”

~~~~~

Green bit into the fruit. As far as she was concerned, pickled yucca was the best thing to have ever been invented in the history of best things to have ever been invented ever, and as such she savored every single second of the meal. She almost burst into tears as the bitter juices washed over her tongue. It had been the one thing she looked forward to for as long as she could remember, the most delicious food she’d ever had. Upon finishing the first fruit, she used a wingtip to fish another out of the fairly large jar that now rested inside her saddlebag, next to the can of Brawnco.

Wretch watched the filly with a hint of amusement, as she herself munched on a tomato. “Don’t go too crazy, Green. We don’t want you to make yourself sick again.”

Green finished her third fruit, and turned to sucking some of the leftover juice off her feathers.

“You ready to go?” The pink-and-black unicorn asked.

Green nodded, her stomach full and a dreamy expression on her face, as she followed her friend out of the bar and back into the rest of the Mall.

Wretch chuckled. “So, the bartender said his shop should be around here somewhere.”

“Hi there!”

Green let out a squeak, and shot towards the ceiling, where she clung to one of the exposed rafters, the fur on her neck standing on end. Wretch spun around, automatically taking on a defensive stance as she stared at the grinning zebra who’d startled her friend.

“Heard you’ve been looking for me?” He said.

Wretch gave him a suspicious glare. “Who are you?”

Green, her panic now mostly subsided, descended from the ceiling, and stood just behind Wretch.

The zebra continued to smile, and took a dramatic bow. “Xixixix, master of the memory orb, at your service.”

Wretch narrowed her eyes at him. “Y0u’re a zebra.”

“I am?” Xixixix blinked, and looked down at his legs. “Oh! You’re right, I am! I hadn’t noticed.”

While Green stifled a giggle, Wretch enveloped her shotgun in her magic. “How does a zebra use memory orbs?”

“With the most complicated piece of equipment ever to be made in Canturbury.” He replied. “Took me four years to find it. Almost got killed repeatedly. Well worth the effort. Sorta.”

The glow of Wretch’s horn died down as she slowly began to relax. “Why?”

“Why?” He laughed. “Makes psychology easier. Also great for taking notes and such. Hello there, miss! Haven’t seen any pegasi in a while.”

“Um…” Green looked at Wretch, immensely confused. The older mare just shrugged. “H-hi?”

“Anyway, why, exactly, have you been looking for me?”

“He needs me to find some very specific memory orbs.” Wretch said.

“Ooooh. Vague and cryptic.” Xixixix whispered. “I like that! Okay, we’ll talk inside. C’mon!”

With that, the zebra merrily trotted into the nearest and most unassuming shop in the area.

With another shrug, Wretch followed him inside, making sure to stay on her guard, while Green kept close to her side.

--------

Footnote 1: Diamond Knives

EXP ???%

~~~

Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri

EXP: 30%

~~~

Footnote 3: Raid (???)

EXP: ???%
`

To-Do List:

Active Quest:

Where For Art Thou?:

-Find Raid

-Find Knives

Other quests:

Layin’ Down The Rails:

Find a way to remove bomb-collars

-Find a way inside Raftwater without getting killed

O’ Father, Where Art Thou?:

Infiltrate or assault the Bone Eaters’ base near Bladesville.

Sifting through the dust:

1) Find information on the location of Ashes.

2) Find information on the location of Obsidian Knives

3)–Find information on the location of Nezan Kazdri

Author's Notes:

So... after thinking for quite a while (read: twelve seconds) I've decided that I simply can't consider mlp season 3 cannon for this story. Mind you, I'm not opposed to the whole 'Twilight is an alicorn' thing, in fact, I was expecting it at some point, considering all the fics with exactly that. My problem is just that it kinda, sorta, completely and totally screws with FO:E cannon. Also means that any stories that use or try to use S3 as cannon also won't be considered cannon here. Not like I was really doing that anyway, but still. Just means i can work more of the stuff I wanted to in.

Anyway, thanks to Kkat for making this delightful sandbox of ours, and everypony else who made me want to write.Thanks to Matkingos for making sure this doesn’t suck as much as usual. Thanks to whomever reads this, and, yet again, critiques are very much welcome.

Chapter Twenty-one: Rule Number One

I stalk through the steel corridors, sniffing at the air as my tail twitched.

My eyes dart back and forth as I glance into each room, hunting down the scent.

The blade of my tail sparks off the sides of the walls as I move.

I can feel the blood slowly drying on my coat.

A grin spreads across my face as I hear sobbing. A mare’s voice.

“Please don’t find me, please don’t find me…”

I follow it, and the scent, towards a closed bathroom. I start drooling as I approach. I can hear the sizzle of my saliva on the concrete floor.

One of the stalls holds my prey.

I stomp, making the mare jump, and try to hide further in the stall. She tries to quiet her sobbing, but I can still hear her heart beating in her chest.

I throw open every single door with my tail. Every sound makes the mare’s heart beat faster and faster… faster… and… faster…

I stop at her door…

And wait…

Gradually, her heart slows.

Then I whip open her door, making her scream in sheer terror.

I move into the stall, grinning widely, and chuckling.

“Hello there, Ms. Cane!” I say. “So nice to see you!”

My tongue runs over my sharp teeth.

She tries to scramble backwards, but can’t get any further.

I raise my tail over my head… my chuckle turns into a laugh…

Open up my jaws... Plunge the blade down into-

0100010001100101011000010111001000100000010000110110010101101100011001010111001101110100011010010110000100101100001000000100100001100101011011000111000000100000011011010110010100100001

I screamed as I scrambled out of my bed, tears streaming from my eyes, my body in a cold sweat. I sniffled and tightly hugged Mr. Stellar.

“Sweetheart?” Daddy asked from the doorway. “What ‘appened?”

I ran up and hugged him, crying into his chest and shaking as he held me.

“Ah… ye had tha’ dream again, didn’t ye?” He let out a sad sigh. “Shhh… it’s alrecht sweetheart, it’s alrecht.”

“Nnnn… wha’s goin’ on?” Mommy asked. She blinked as she saw the two of us. “Oh…”

She drowsily stumbled over and cooed into my ear as she gently rubbed my back.

Eventually, they managed to calm me down enough that I was just crying.

“It’s okay sweetie.” Mommy said. “It’s just a dream.”

“Aye. Yer mother’s right. Ah know tha’ it feels real, but it’s only in yer head.”

“But… I hurt another pony…” I sniffled and hugged daddy tighter. “I don’t wanna be bad…”

“Diamond, you are not a bad pony,” Mommy sighed, giving me a gentle nuzzle. “You’re a very sweet little filly.”

I just continued to sniffle.

Daddy chuckled. “Ye want tae sleep wi’ us taenigh’, Sweetheart?”

I nodded.

“’Sid, we can’t-“

“Ah know, Ah know.” He interrupted. “But it’s only th’ one night.”

I yawned as mommy picked me up with a smirk, and carried me into her and daddy’s bedroom. She and Daddy got into bed, and I settled down between them.

Slowly and happily, I fell back asleep.

~~~

“Subject 25687-CG-12 appears to be having a minimal reaction to the implant,” Whispered a male voice. “Only one effect has been observed, no other changes noticeable.”

I groaned, and gently put a hoof to my throbbing head.

“Subject appears to be regaining consciousness,” The voice continued. “Recovery seems to have occurred more rapidly than in most subjects. However, I need to retreat. Need to retrieve more supplies before returning for observations.”

My eyes cracked open, and I found myself in a concrete cell, complete with a door of iron bars. Standing just outside was a familiar golden stallion, speaking into a… pipbuck?

“Ah, hello miss Knives. Good to see that you’re awake.” He smiled. “I’d stay and interview you, but I’m afraid that I haven’t quite reached that stage of the experiment yet. My apologies.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “The hell are you talking about?”

“As I said, I can’t tell you that, especially as you don’t seem to be getting me any results.” He turned away from me. “Get some and I’ll likely tell you what you want to know.”

“HEY!” I yelled at him, only for the pony to vanish in a flash of golden light.

I snarled in irritation.

“QUIET IN THERE!”

My ears fell flat against my skull.

“Bilge? Meda? You guys around here?” I called out quietly. “Raid? Anypony?”

“I SAID SHUT UP!”

I growled, and then whimpered softly as my head throbbed again. My horn seemed to be getting the worst of it.

“Wow, he seems pissed.” Said a male voice from the cell opposite mine. “Even more so than usual.”

In the dim light, I saw a fairly large, smiling zebra, with a prominent scar across his right cheek, running from his mouth to his ear. He wore a necklace made of small broken metal rods attached to a chain.

I grunted in acknowledgement as I laid down on my stomach, clutching my skull in my forehooves.

“Not much of a talker, eh?”

“Sorry… My head hurts. Not feeling well.”

“That’s fine. Might wanna check your horn, though,” the zebra said. “Last time they threw someone in like that, he got a pretty nasty crack in his horn.”

“That would explain why it hurts so damn much…”

“So…” He casually leaned against the wall of his cell, sending me a friendly grin. “You’re one of the ‘half-breeds’ that got chucked in here, ah?”

“I guess? Why?”

“Just a little warning, old Rexy says you three are going into the pit later tonight.”

I groaned. “Of course. You know where they put Bilge and Meda?”

“The cells right next to you.” He pointed with both hooves. “They’re out cold right now, out like lights. Broken lights with those little squiggly thingies.”

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. “What about a dark blue pegasus?”

“Eh… nope, sorry. Can’t say that I have.”

I sighed in frustration.

Somewhere nearby, a door slammed open.

A slaver trotted through the passageway, completely ignoring us. He kept going for a while, until finally, I heard a stallion start begging for his life, and the sound of one of the iron-bar doors swinging open.

A moment later, the same slaver came back, forcing a sobbing zony stallion out with an electric baton.

I spotted a set of keys hanging from one of the slaver’s belts. Taking the opportunity, I tried to levitate them towards me, but only managed to cry out when a sharp pain went through my horn.

The slaver turned and fixed a vicious grin on me. “Don’t worry, you and your friends’ll be up tonight.”

I closed my eyes to try and shut out the pain while the slaver snickered, shoving the striped stallion out of the corridor.

“Poor buck… hope he does alright. Good singer.” The zebra muttered as he closed his green eyes and ran a hoof through his white mane.

Everything was silent for a while.

I tried to pull up my magic again, but I only managed to make my horn hurt again.

“Not feeling good, are you, Knives?”

I groaned.

“Awww, don’t be like that. I’m only trying to help.” She cackled.

“Stop talking.” I grumbled. “Just. Stop. Talking.”

“Sorry, what? You say something?” The zebra across from me asked.

“What’s the matter, Knives? Don’t like-“

“Oh, fucking Celestia, where the hell am I?” Meda whimpered. “Hello? Purity? Bilge?”

“I’m in the cell to your left.” I replied. “Are you alright?”

“Uh… I think?” I heard her shifting around noisily. “Nothing feels broken… How about you?”

“Pretty sure I’ve got a cracked horn, and I’ve got a splitting headache, but other than that I’m fine.” I put a hoof to my horn and groaned again. “Apparently we’re up for a fight soon.”

“A-a-a-a fight? I… I don’t know how to fight!” She wailed. “I-I’ve never been in a fight!”

I blinked. “Seriously?”

“Yes! I just do what I’m told!” She broke down and started sobbing. “They’re gonna kill me out there!”

“Alright, relax. I’ll cover you. I’m sure-“ I let out a frustrated sigh. “You’re faking it aren’t you.”

“…”

“I’m not hearing a ‘no’.”

“No?”

“I think I like this mare again!”

I frowned. “Stop doing that.”

“Dammit.” Meda whined. “I didn’t want to get in this.”

“Then you shouldn’t have followed me.”

“I didn’t expect you to do something stupid!” The other zony yelled. “You’re the idiot who snuck in here!”

“I’m trying to find somepony.” I snapped back. “You’re just being annoying.”

“I’m sensing some hostility here.” The zebra interrupted. “Lover’s spat?”

I growled. “I’m not a stallion!”

“Woah, woah! Calm down, I never said you were.” He replied quickly. “Never said, spoke, spake or otherwise implied.”

I snorted in irritation.

“She’s definitely not my lover.” Meda said. “I’d rather get ploughed by a raider day in and day out.”

“This is an interesting conversation to wake up to,” A voice on my left chuckled. “How long have they been at this?”

“’Bout a minute and a half.” The zebra replied. “You’re up for a fight tonight, by the way. Rexy’s orders.”

“Fantastic.” Bilge’s voice practically oozed sarcasm. “I can’t fight for shit.”

I groaned.

“Ouch. That’s gotta suck.” Said the zebra.

“I know. I’m fucked.”

“I’ll cover you, since Purity is too much of a bitch to do it herself.” Meda snorted.

“You were trying to manipulate me, you lazy fuck!”

“You should just let her. Stop trying to think for yourself, Purity. Let someone else do it for you. Like me.”

“Shut up.” I sighed.

The door slammed open again, letting in the faint sound of a roaring crowd, accompanied by the groans of the zony buck from before, now covered in blood and bruises, who was being dragged through the hallway by a slave wearing medical gear. A moment later, he was followed by the slaver who’d hauled him out.

He sneered as he stepped in front of my cell, looking back and forth between Bilge, Meda, and myself as he unlocked the doors.

“Alright, scabs, get a move on. Boss wants the medics to take a look at ya.”

“Oh, goddesses… we’re the ‘special entertainment’, aren’t we…”

“Hehe, damn right you are.”

~~~

“Ow!” I hissed in pain.

“Shut up.” The slaver medic smacked me on the muzzle again as she continued poking at me. “I can keep this up all day. Can’t believe those fucking idiots cracked your damn horn.”

I grimaced. The thought of my horn being damaged was one thing, but broken would be horrible. Even if my magic was weak, not being able to use it would take away quite a big part of me.

“HEY! Where the fuck is the newbie!” She screamed.

“I’m right fucking here! L-goddesses. Don’t get your tail in a bunch.” A voice called back.

“Bring me another bag of bandages, dammit! Can’t you see these bruises?”

“Calm down Rusty, fuck!”

The medic growled angrily and turned to me. “You stay the fuck here.”

With that, she trotted out of the room, arguing with her assistant.

I looked at the mirror on the wall. Thanks to the medic, bitch though she may have been, I was free of any bruises that I might have had. I moved my mane, still entwined with multi-colored electrical cables, though most of the metal scraps had been removed, out of my face and away from my horn, which currently had a small, but visible crack in it. I gave the appendage an experimental poke, and once again hissed in pain.

With a frown, I took the opportunity to swipe a couple of healing potions and hid them in my mane, suspended within the hairs by a few wires each. I was lucky that the medic didn’t come back as I fumbled with the bottles, and was reminded of how clumsy I was without what little magic I had.

“I swear to Celestia, if you don’t shut up, I’ll have you do this your fucking self.” The medic screamed. “See how pissed Rex gets when you fucking kill his entertainment.”

“How can you not know how to fix a horn crack, dipshit?” The other voice responded in kind. “It’s not that fucking difficult!”

“Oh, that is fucking it. You wanna do this? Fine. I’m fucking out of here.”

I heard the sound of somepony storming off, followed by the slam of a door.

Moments later, a striped face popped into the room.

She looked at me with an irritated expression.

I quirked an eyebrow at her as she stared at me with a pair of dark green eyes. Her mostly stripeless face was covered in dirt and muck, and her barding looked like it was several sizes too big. Her long striped mane hung down near her-

“Zeed?” I blinked. “Holy crap, I hardly recognized you. I’m used to seeing you with a red mane.”

“No fucking duh.” She grumbled. “Took me forever to get the dye out.”

“Aren’t you a little short to be a raider?” I asked. “And why are you wearing slaver gear?”

“I thought I’d join in on the pillaging and… and raping…” She shook her head. “What happened to your horn?”

I shrugged. “I woke up and it was like this.”

With a frustrated sigh, she grabbed a healing potion from a nearby first aid box, popped the cork, and grabbed my head.

Then, completely ignoring my protests and gasps of pain, she proceeded to screw the glass bottle onto my horn.

I stood there for a moment, holding my now-aching head with a forehoof.

“Zeed… Why?” I asked quietly. “Why did you attach a bottle to my head?”

“The potion’ll pull the bone back together.” She replied. “Just leave it there and you’ll be fine in an hour or so. Where’s Raid?”

“Ow… we got separated when I was knocked out. I have no idea where he is.”

“What about my dad? You seen him?”

“Uh…”

She glared at me. “You completely forgot what we were here for, didn’t you?”

“Well… I…”

“Dammit, Knives!” She growled. “I don’t even…”

She let out a loud groan of frustration.

“Zeed, are you alright? Did something happen?” I put a hoof on her shoulder. “Uh… where… exactly did you get this barding.”

She blushed. “You’d be amazed at how many ponies are willing to do… stuff with a stranger in the early hours of the morning.”

“Okay. I wish I didn’t ask.”

“So do I.” She sighed. “Why did you drop your accent?”

I froze. “W-what?”

“Yeah. You’re actually talking normal for once.”

She started cackling somewhere in the back of my mind.

“W-well… N-no reason. Hehehe…” I chuckled nervously.

“You didn’t even notice!” She laughed. “You had no idea the whole time!”

“Knives, are you okay? You’re looking a bit pale.”

“I-Ah’m fine. Heh. Dunnae worry about me…” I swallowed. “So… eh…. What… what does yer dad look like, eh?”

“Too late now, Knives…”

I swallowed again, and forced myself to focus on what Zeed was saying, pushing her as far back into her cage as I could get her.

The zebra let out another frustrated sigh. “Green eyes, solid white mane, scar on his cheek-“

“Talks a bit fast?”

“He used to talk really fast. He was kinda hyper befo- YOU SAW HIM?” She suddenly jumped into my face with a look of shock. “Where is he? Is he okay?”

“Ack! He’s fine! He was in the cells down… wherever the hell that was.”

“He was in the police station?” Her eyes widened. “Oh mother of Luna they’re gonna make him fight. Oh fuck, what am I gonna do?”

“Well ye should calm down fer one.”

“I doubt she’ll listen.”

“I can’t even get in there! They wouldn’t let me in without permission from their boss. I just spent the last couple of hours trying to find a way to get to you and Raid.”

“Hey! You done in there, yet?” Somepony called from outside. “Hurry the fuck up!”

Zeed looked at me, then the door, then back to me, and then to the door again. “Shit…”

“Relax, Zeed. Ah’ll be fine. If Ah see yer dad again, Ah’ll tell ‘im yer lookin’.”

Though she was nervously biting her lip, she nodded. “Uh… Good luck, Knives.”

“By th’ way, Aam goin’ by ‘Purity’ right nao. Just in case of…” I paused. “… Stuff…”

She raised an eyebrow. “Okay… I’ll see if I can find Raid, or Stock.”

With that, I left the medical bay, and made my way towards the exit, where Bilge and Meda waited with our mutual slaver friend. Meda tried and failed to suppress a laugh as she caught sight of the bottle on my horn. She stopped when I shot her a glare.

The slaver snorted. “Armory’s next.”

He pushed us through more corridors for several minutes until we reached a room with a large, wire-mesh fence leading outside, and walls covered in an assortment of weapons and armors.

“You have two hours to get ready. If you’re not, we’ll blow the collars.” He spat on the ground and trotted back out the door, locking it behind him.

I snorted in irritation and, while Bilge and Meda began to browse one wall of the room, quickly scanned the weaponry. I was sorely disappointed to see that, while not broken, most of the equipment was in the absolute worst quality.

Within the space of a few minutes, every single knife in the room was on the bench in the middle of the room. The effort had made my horn throb with excruciating pain, but I was glad my magic was working enough that I could actually use it.

I started to sharpen the knives on each other. It was probably the worst way to do the job, and it was slow going, but I eventually ended up with a useable knife.

Then I looked over the barding, and groaned as I grabbed a few of them and started patching them together.

“What are you doing?” Meda’s voice nearly made me jump out of my skin.

“Aam tryin’ tae fix these.” I grunted.

The other zony blinked at me. “Why are you talking like that?”

“That’s a good question, isn’t it Knives… maybe you should tell her?” She whispered in my ear. I swallowed and tried to push her back down.

“Ah just am, all right?” I snapped back.

“Okay, okay!” She backed away from me, and returned to helping Bilge into a set of metal barding, her own set of padded barding already donned. “Sorry… Goddesses, what is with you?”

“Alright, scabs! Time’s up, haha!” The slaver slammed the door open.

I swore, and slung the padded barding over my back. It was still shoddy and pretty much useless, but it was better than nothing.

“Oh, you three are gonna be slaughtered.” The slaver chuckled. “Boss says you’re fighting one of his gladiators! Hah!”

Bilge groaned and shook his head, nearly hitting me with his sledgehammer in the process. “I’m fucking screwed.”

Meda sighed. “You and me both.”

I rolled my eyes at them.

The wire mesh fence rolled off to the side, and the slaver ushered us out, quickly pulling it shut as he sat on the bench to watch.

I recognized the place as the pit that had been dug into the middle of the city. It was a lot deeper than I’d thought, with multiple mesh fences put together quite a way up to make a kind of net. Around the edges of the pit was a very large number of slavers, all cheering and screaming for blood, with even more slaves amongst them simply watching us with dead eyes. The dirt floor had four large posts with chains attached to them near the center of the… I guess it was a ring. There was another wire mesh fence on the opposite side of the area, painted blue. Taking a glance behind me, I saw that ours had been painted red in a similar manner.

“Welcome my bretheren!” Growled a voice over the comm system. Almost instantly the crowd grew quiet. ”We are gathered here today to witness what happens when you defy the Bone Eaters.”

The voice was responded to with roars of agreement.

”Early this morning, a trio of zonies made an attempt to escape by creating a fake attack by the assassin known as ‘Hearteater’. This is an insult…” The voice made a pensive growling noise. ” And this is disobedience. A slave should not try and run from their master. A slave should not insult their master. Yet these three have seen fit to try and do just that. And they have failed.”

The red gate opened. I heard loud, metallic barking sounds.

”I give you those three who caused that panic. Those three who thought they could defy us,” the voice continued. ”Tonight, we will give them a trial. If they survive it… maybe we’ll set them free.”

I braced myself, taking on a defensive stance.

”You may begin.”

From beyond the gate, three silvery shapes shot out, heading across the field and straight towards us.

The first tackled me, throwing me to the floor as it snapped it’s jaws at me, held back only by my hoof against its throat. Its tail lashed at my sides, but only managed to make small cuts on my flanks.

I glanced to my sides to see Meda in a similar position to myself, and Bilge frantically swinging his sledgehammer at the ironwolf going after him.

I levitated out my knife, and quickly stuck it into my opponent’s mouth. As soon as the ironwolf closed its jaws, it howled in pain, the knife piercing the roof of its mouth.

Pulling it out quickly, I stabbed the wolf in the throat, temporarily interrupting its howl. Keeping the blade in its flesh, I dragged the knife down towards its collarbone.

It pulled away from me, making sounds that resembled metallic coughing. I leapt on it and stabbed my knife into the base of its neck, wriggling the blade around for good measure, and the creature dropped to the ground.

Seeing that Meda was still holding off one of the other wolves, I charged into the one that had its jaws around Bilge’s tail, slowly dragging him backward as he desperately flailed the sledgehammer, his metal armor now heavily dented from the ironwolf’s tail strikes.

The ironwolf was launched back several feet as I body-slammed it, and Bilge scrambled away.

I flipped the knife over in my magical grip, preparing to charge the ironwolf again as it slowly stood back up, its white glowing eyes staring right into mine, its tail twitching violently.

”Don’t you just love fights?”

Her whisper startled me, and the wolf took the opportunity to slam into me. There was a loud crack, and I screamed in pain.

"Ooh… right in the ribs.” She chortled. ”Try not to get killed.”

I grunted in pain as I forced myself to my hooves. I was just in time to be tackled again, this one pinning me down as its companion had.

Despite the pain in my chest, I managed to hold it at bay with the use of both hooves while it continuously tried to snap at my face. I tried to drive the knife into this one’s throat as well, but the ironwolf grabbed hold of the blade with its teeth and started lashing at me with its tail instead.

I swore loudly. I could barely hear the crowd scream with excitement.

Then the wolf’s head collapsed on top of me, howling with pain. I shoved its head out of my way to see Bilge start repeatedly whacking the thing’s back. He kept going until there was a loud crack, and the ironwolf stopped moving.

He stood there, panting as I wriggled my way out from under the thing. I smiled at him. “And ye thought ye coulnae fight.”

Then Meda was thrown into one of the posts in the middle of the pit.

I turned just in time to see the last ironwolf leaping at me, and managed to duck out of its way. It went sailing over me and into the wall. It stumbled back for a moment, apparently stunned.

Bilge ran up to it and slammed the sledgehammer into its hind legs. I followed up by grabbing its neck with my fetlocks and jabbing the knife into its spine. Then we continued beating it until I managed to pull its head off, due to repeated stabs.

I was a bit surprised to see that, instead of flesh and blood, the insides of the thing were comprised of something like concrete dust and oddly clean, shiny rebar surrounded by a metallic skin. There was no blood, or any kind of liquid at all, though a small amount of dust did fall away from the wound.

I smirked. “That was actually easier than th’ last ones Ah fought.”

I suddenly realized that the crowd was still cheering.

“Uh… alright… we killed them… what’s going on?” I asked the others. “Aren’t we done, yet?”

I glanced around.

“Meda? Bilge? Are ye two alright?”

Meda groaned. “I’m gonna be a bit sore, but I’m fine.”

“I…” I could see Bilge smiling beneath his helmet. “I feel pretty good, actually.”

The crowd’s cheering had turned into an unintelligible chant.

“What th’ fuck are they doin’?” I growled. “We killed th’ damn-“

“Purity!” Meda called.

Something stabbed me in the back, and I screamed out in pain, the severed head dropping out of my hooves and falling to the ground.

My cry was drowned out by a howl resembling nuts and bolts stuffed into a blender.

Craning my neck, I saw that the first ironwolf was now standing just behind me, about to try and bite down into my neck. I ducked and jammed the knife into its eye.

Meda galloped up and threw a punch into its jaw.

It whipped its tail into her side.

I drove the knife into its other eye, and it howled.

There was a clacking sound in front of me, and I looked over to see the severed head snapping towards me as its body began to move around.

My eyes widened in shock. In a desperate attempt to kill the damn thing, I stomped on its head, but while its skull was crushed, its body continued to move around.

“What the fuck!” I screamed. “This didn’t happen last time!”

The second wolf was still where we’d left it, its back end writhing about, making loud grinding noises as it apparently righted whatever bones it had.

The first one was lashing its tail about wildly, stumbling around and rubbing at its now-empty eye sockets.

Number two started to approach Bilge, who nervously backed away from it step-for-step.

Meda charged it.

It swung its tail at her in an attempt to drive her away, but at the last second, she stopped on her front legs, using her momentum to swing her back ones around, and delivered a full-force two-legged buck to the ironwolf’s face, making its head spin around past what any living thing would be able to take, but receiving the business end of its tail in her gut. She gasped as the force of her blow pulled the blade out, and left her bleeding out in the middle of the ring.

I ran up to her. “Fuck, are you okay?”

She put a forehoof to her stomach. When she pulled it away it was covered in blood. She shook her head, not removing her gaze from her reddened hoof.

I desperately tried to think of anything I could do to stop her from dying.

Number three’s body found its head, and the appendage began to gradually reshape itself.

Number one roared. The blinded ironwolf turned its head towards us, its ears a-twitch, and howled.

I narrowed my eyes at it and growled.

I stepped away from Meda, and slowly started walking towards it.

It did the same.

We circled each other for what felt like forever.

We kept going…

And going…

And going…

It charged.

I charged.

We collided half-way.

I drove my knife into its throat.

It drove its tail into my side.

I stabbed it in the eye socket.

It broke another one of my ribs.

I cut off the end of its tail.

It bit down on my leg.

My knife cut its chest open.

It howled in pain.

I cut out a piece of its new torso cavity.

It let out a sound like a gasp.

I cut away more of its dusty flesh.

It howled again.

My efforts revealed a small rod, glowing with yellowish-green energy.

I hit it.

I hit it again.

And again.

And again.

The rod cracked, and the glow dissipated in a small puff.

The ironwolf fell limp. Its skin immediately began to crack, and it fell apart into a pile of dust and rebar.

I spun around and charged at number three, now with its head back in place, screaming in rage.

I blinded it with two quick stabs to the eyes.

I cut into its spine until there was little left.

I didn’t give it a chance to respond.

I hit, and hit and hit.

Everything became a blur as I tore the beast apart, piece by piece, throwing chunks of its dust-filled body away until I reached and destroyed the green rod at its core.

Screaming, I shoved somepony aside to get to number two.

I cut it, again and again and again and again.

I stood there, panting, as I watched the glow leave the core of the last ironwolf.

All of my fury left me, and I fell onto my haunches, panting.

The crowd was silent.

I realized that it had been for quite a while.

Then they erupted into cheers.

~~~~~

“And this is the kitchen,” the zebra said when he pointed to a room filled with random junk and several refrigerators. “It’s where I keep about a quarter of my food and my waffle iron collection.”

Wretch worked her jaw for a moment, trying to figure out something to say about this.

Green, on the other hoof, seemed absolutely intrigued by Xixixix’s every word.

“This is my bedroom, where I store the mayonnaise.” He continued matter-of-factly. “For research purposes.”

Wretch grimaced. “Uh… why are you giving us a tour, exactly?”

“Huh, what?” Xixixix turned and blinked at the pink mare. “Oh… I kinda forgot why I brought you two in here to begin with. Sorry.”

Wretch deadpanned at him.

The zebra shrugged. “I did apologize.”

“Memory orbs.” The unicorn growled.

“Oh! Right. That.” He turned and walked back into the living room, which was really just the main room of the empty, nondescript shop. “So, what did you want to know about them?”

“I’m looking for a specific kind of orb.” Wretch said. Black mist on the inside.”

Xixixix put a hoof to his chin and hrrm-ed thoughtfully. “Nope. Never heard of ‘em.”

“Are you sure?” The pink mare’s eyes widened. “He told me I needed to find one. He told me they hold more than just memories.”

Xixixix blinked. “Now that I’ve heard of. There was some old project where they were trying to create a more… advanced memory orb. Didn’t work the way it was supposed to. I don’t think they had a chance to finish it before the bombs fell.”

“Do you know where I can find that project?” Wretch asked hopefully.

The zebra grinned widely. “Nope! I have no fucking idea! Eh… sorry miss…”

Green looked up from the waffle iron she was examining.

“But,” he added quickly. “I do know where to find how I can find where to find the way to find it.”

As he nodded smugly, Wretch blinked in confusion. “What?”

“I can help you find it.” He smirked. “I am an expert on all things memory orb, after all.”

“How is a zebra an expert on something that needs unicorns?” Green asked.

“Canturbury Tech Memory Thingamabob.” Xixixix replied. “I swear, that’s the actual, patented name. Kinda like one of those recollectors, but it’s supposed to be able to put memories in, and not just pull them out.”

He chuckled. “I love those crazy scientists.”

He led the two ponies into yet another room, this one housing a large, clockwork contraption.

Green oooh-ed at it. Wretch simply frowned.

“Yup. That’s pretty much my reaction.” He smiled.

“Can we get on with this? I’d like to do my job, please. I’d really rather not disappoint him,” Wretch sighed.

“Oh, alright. If you insist.” Xixixix huffed indignantly. “It’ll take a few hours to search through the orbs, though. So you’ll have to be patient.”

Wretch’s eye twitched. Green returned to inspecting the waffle iron.

“Why?” Wretch asked nopony in particular. “Just… why?”

--------

Footnote 1: Diamond Knives
Level Up! (12)
Repair: 100 (maximum achieved)
Melee: 89

Perks:
Intense Training: +1 strength. Strength is now 5.

~~~

Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri

EXP: ???%

~~~

Footnote 3: Raid (???)

EXP: ???%

`

To-Do List:

Active Quest:

Where For Art Thou?:

-Find Raid

-Find Knives

Other quests:

Layin’ Down The Rails:

Find a way to remove bomb-collars

-Find a way inside Raftwater without getting killed

O’ Father, Where Art Thou?:

Infiltrate or assault the Bone Eaters’ base near Bladesville.

Sifting through the dust:

1) Find information on the location of Ashes.

2) Find information on the location of Obsidian Knives

3)–Find information on the location of Nezan Kazdri

Author's Notes:

I have absolutely nothing to say except that I have absolutely nothing to say and to say that I have absolutely nothing to say about having absolutely nothing to say.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Horseshoes Are Supposed To Be Lucky

The pink unicorn pranced down the hallway, a smug look on her face, nose pointed in the air.

I forced down a laugh as Clothesline approached the target zone. Ashes had to keep her fetlocks clamped around to muzzle to suppress her own laughter..

The pink filly continued down the corridor.

Her leg snagged on the tripwire, which immediately snapped.

From the door in front of her, a small metal catapult swung out. It released its payload, and the cream pie was sent sailing through the air.

The confectionary hit Clothesline directly in the face with a loud SPLAT.

Ashes and I burst into laughter, falling out of the closet we were hiding in.

The pie tin slowly slid off Clothesline’s muzzle, revealing the shocked, goo-covered expression of the filly beneath it.

It made us laugh even harder.

Regained her senses, Clothesline growled. “What. The. Hell.”

“You should see the look on your face,” Ashes gasped. “Priceless!”

“You ruined my mane, stupid!” The pink filly screamed. “It’s gonna take forever to get this stuff out!”

I was laughing so hard that I could barely breathe.

“Oh, lighten up.” Ashes snorted. “We’re only having fun.”

“Only foals would think this is funny! You’re ten!” Clothesline growled. “This isn’t funny at all.”

“Y-yes it- aha- is!” I managed to rasp out. “Just look at you!”

Her horn glowed, and the pie-goop on her face exploded, spraying the walls, floor, Ashes, and myself in apple meringue.

Ashes burst into laughter again as she wiped some of the goo off her face, and flicked it right back at Clothesline, where it landed on her nose.

The unicorn’s face turned red. “This is attacking a Guard, you know!”

“Pffft, no it isn’t.” I said. “You’re too young to be a guard.”

“Yeah, and even then, I would be a guard too.” The grey filly licked some pie off her nose. “And I say it’s okay.”

Clothesline snarled. “I’m gonna tell my mom!”

Ashes blew a raspberry. “Your mom can’t do anything unless the warden says so.”

“Th-then I’ll get my dad to-“

I blew a raspberry of my own.

“Shut up!” The unicorn screamed. “Why are you always bugging me?”

“Us?” I asked incredulously. “You came over here. And you’re always talking like you’re so much better than everypony.”

“Well at least both of my parents are still here!”

At that, Ashes’ face fell, and her ears went back against her head.

I narrowed my eyes at Clothesline. “That was mean.”

“You threw a pie at me!” She yelled.

“Yeah, well you hurt Ashes’ feelings!” I yelled back.

“Diamond…” Ashes gently poked me in the shoulder. “Let’s just go home.”

After sticking my tongue out at Clothesline, I turned and followed the earth pony.

“Go cry to your stupid mom.Oh, wait.” She pointed a hoof towards me. “Only you can.”

Her expression turned into a smug smile. Ashes’ eyes teared up.

My hoof slammed into Clothesline’s face.

~~~~

I couldn’t seem to stand.

I turned my head to see Bilge trying to help Meda, holding his hooves down on her wound in an attempt to stop the blood.

My own coat was covered in a mix of ironwolf dust and blood, making a greyish-red sludge.

“Purity!”

I blinked.

“Purity, throw me that potion!”

Bilge was yelling at me.

“The one on your horn, hurry!”

Confused, I put a hoof to my horn, to find it blocked by a glass bottle.

“Throw it here!”

I pulled the bottle off my horn with a quiet pop, and chucked it to him with a telekinetic punt. There was barely anything left in it.

Bilge poured it onto Meda’s gut wound, and within seconds, her bleeding subsided.

I tried to stand, and collapsed back onto the ground in a heap.

That growling voice on the comm system started talking about another fight, but I was too tired to pay attention.

Then I was roughly grabbed by the shoulders, and dragged out of the pit.

Glancing around, I saw that we were all being hauled away by two slavers, one carrying Meda, another carrying Bilge and myself. Meda and I were leaving blood trails behind us, hers much thicker than mine.

”Oh look… Little Miss Knives is hurt again.” She snarked. I could almost hear her grinning.

“Fuck you…” I mumbled, feeling woozy.

I coughed and spluttered as a potion was forced down my throat.

Somepony thumped me on the back. “Shut up, scab. You’re fine.”

A bit more coughing cleared the liquid from my lungs.

“So, here’s how it is scabs…” Said one of the slavers. “We’re gonna lock you back in here ‘till your friend gets up. If she gets up. Heh. And if she doesn’t? Well, you’re going in… with… out… Holy fucking shit…”

I craned my neck to see what he was gawking at, and promptly joined him.

The door to one of the cells, the one just across from mine, was forcibly removed. The metal bars sat against the opposite wall, its former wall mounting now little more than chunks of concrete scattered on the floor, the wall itself now bearing large holes.

“Gentlecolts.”

The slavers, Bilge, and I all turned to see a grinning zebra stallion casually standing just behind us.

“You may have a security breach.”

He lashed out one of his front hooves, delivering an uppercut into the jaw of the bigger slaver carrying me, sending him tumbling backwards.

The smaller one responded quickly, dropping Meda and drawing a shock baton. He charged the zebra, who spun around and delivered a full force buck to the face with both hooves. While a sickening crunch signified the slaver’s end, the zebra lost his balance, hissing in pain while he grabbed his right hind leg.

The first slaver stood, picking up his comrade’s baton in his teeth and screamed bloody murder. Still on the floor, I managed to quickly muster what little focus I could, and magically took hold of the baton. With a telekinetic kick, I forced the weapon out of the earth pony’s teeth. With another, I drove it right back. He fell to the ground and had his head stomped in.

The effort nearly made me black out.

The zebra’s head popped into my vision, which had become blurry. He was asking me questions, but I couldn’t make any sense of his words.

He grimaced and said something to somepony else.

I clenched my eyes shut and tried to focus.

“-with a knife? Well fuck, I need a buzz-rifle to deal with those things. Not bad.”

“not b- they’re bleeding out!”

“Relax. Just grab those potions from fat-ass’s pocket. I can see them hanging out.” The zebra chuckled. “You are one panicky buck, you know that?”

“D-dammit... whatever your name is! I’m a hooker not a doctor!”

“Seriously? How the fuck did you get into that job?” The striped stallion snorted. Something tapped me on the cheek. “Here. Drink this.”

I happily obliged, gulping down the potion as fast as I could.

Within seconds, I felt much better than before, albeit exhausted.

I tried to sit up, but didn’t really manage to do anything more than squirm weakly.

Somewhere behind me, Meda let out a long, miserable moan.

The zebra patted me on the shoulder. “You still with me?”

“So… fucking… tired…” I replied, panting for a moment. “Nezan Kazdri?”

He blinked at me. “Yeah. Didn’t think anyone around here knew me. Or, wait… I don’t owe you money, do I?”

“Here with your daughter… Trying to get you out.”

He gave me a doubtful look. “My daughter is safe in Bladesville. With her mother.”

“Other daughter. Zeed.”

His eyes widened. “Wat.”

“Infer… Infermerrr… Ughhh…” I managed to put a hoof to my head. “Can’t brain… so dizzy… I think she’s in the infirmary.”

“WHAT?”

I tried to talk again, but my jaw didn’t seem to want to cooperate.

He growled, and hauled me onto his back. “We’ll talk later. C’mon. We’re taking these two to the infirmary.”

“They’ll shoot us the moment they see us.” Bilge sighed.

“Yeah, well they’re bleeding out, and I have a sprained pastern.” Nezan snorted. “Word of advice: don’t buck someone in the face when you’ve got a sprain.”

“No, really?”

“Yes. Now lead the way.”

We moved through the police station as fast as we could manage, me barely managing to cling to Nezan’s back as he limped along.

”Wow, Knives…You sure like getting hurt.”

I don’t know how long it took, but eventually, Bilge pointed to a door labeled ‘forensics’, and we barreled through it.

“Alright, listen up- oh, there’s nobody here.” Nezan said, slamming the door shut. “Quick, grab what you can and I’ll barricade the door.”

“You know we’re wearing collars, right?” Bilge replied as he gently placed Meda on a gurney and began searching through the cabinets and metal boxes scattered throughout the room.

Nezan growled. “Fuck, you’re right… we’ll have to think of something. Maybe I can find some scrap and make a-”

Nezan was shoved aside as the door slammed open again.

“Outa my way, medical emergency!” The striped mare cried. “Where did you idiots put the potions?”

“Hey!” Bilge yelped as he was shoved aside.

The mare started grabbing bottles and shoving them in a bag.

“Zeed…” I croaked.

“Not now, Knives I’m trying to…” her head snapped up to look at me. “Knives? How the hell did- When did-?”

“Axy?” Nezan said.

“Axy?” I muttered.

Zeed spun around, finally noticing that there were other ponies in the room. Her jaw dropped. “Dad?”

They stared at each other for a moment.

Nezan’s wide grin returned, and he shot over to pull his daughter into a hug, while she responded in kind.

“Bwahahaahh! Axy it’s really you!” Nezan cried.

“I almost thought I’d never see you again!”

“Oh, you have no idea how much I’ve missed you, kiddo.”

“Where have you been, dad?”

“Oh, you know, just fucking up my leg by kicking down a door.“ He rose an eyebrow upon seeing Zeed’s expression of shock. “We should probably deal with the wound- eh... severely wounded first, don’t you think?”

“Great idea. You!” She rolled several potions over to Bilge. “Give these to Knives.”

“Who?”

“Ugh! Purity! Whatever. just hurry up, we don’t have much time.”

She frantically went over Meda’s wounds as she spoke, not even looking up from her work. Nezan began to stack things in front of the door. Bilge, with a look of confusion on his face, held one of the potions to my mouth, which I drank down greedily.

I was on my third potion by the time I felt well enough to stand on my own, if a bit unsteadily.

By my fourth, Zeed had finished shooting Meda up with healing potions, and the zony’s wounds were almost healed, though she had passed out.

Zeed immediately popped back over to give Nezan another hug. I couldn’t help but snort a laugh.

“Shut up, Knives!” She snapped at me. “We still need to find your coltfriend.”

I blushed. “He’s nae… och fuck it. Ye know where he is?”

“Yeah. Somewhere in the police station last I knew. They caught him trying to sneak in.” She replied.

Nezan shook his head in disbelief. “Why would someone break into a slaver camp?”

Zeed smirked at him. “Gee I dunno, dad... Maybe to free their father or something like that?”

The older zebra stared at her for a moment. “No weapons, no plan, just you and a couple of friends sneaking your way past a horde of raving nutcases that make ‘paths look normal by comparison...”

Zeed winced and shuffled her hooves.

“Oh dear Luna, you are definitely my daughter.”

A wide grin spread across Nezan’s face as he pulled his daughter into another hug.

”Awww... look at that.” She muttered. ”Doesn’t it just make you miss daddy?

”Shut up... just... sh-shut up...” I forced her back down, feeling tears sting my eyes.

“Anyway...” Nezan released his daughter from their hug. “We need a way to get rid of the collars first. I’m sorta using my head right now, and I’d rather not have it blown up.”

Zeed tapped her chin with a forehoof. “Maybe we could make a fair-day cage?”

The older zebra shook his head. “Already thought of that. We wouldn’t be able to make a mobile one that’ll stay grounded. Maybe we could rig up a jammer?”

“We don’t know the frequency.” Said Zeed.

“Jukebox incident.”

Zeed grimaced. “Right, but we don’t have any of those available right now.”

As I watched the two throw ideas back and forth, I stared at the collar on Bilge’s neck, trying to think of a way to remove the collars myself. Sure, I could have tried to pry them apart and disable them, but that was hard to do when they were assembled, and it would likely be a process of trial-and-error. I doubted I could get, or even want, willing participants for that.

I realized something.

“Wouldn’t they need tae keep a key around here if they need tae get th’ collars off th’ slaves?”

Both of the zebras blinked at me for a moment, then turned back to each other.

“She’s right.” Said the elder.

“Well, yeah, but the slavers wouldn’t keep the key in here. Somepony might get the same idea Knives did.” The younger zebra replied.

“Do you know if there’s a head medic?” Nezan asked.

“Uh… Yes! I think he lives on the floor just above this one. Hold on, I’ll be right back.” With that, she darted off, shoving aside Nezan’s barricade and slipping through the door, leaving her father staring after her, grinning with pride.

Then his grin changed into a look of horror as he realized what she just said. “Wait, Axy! Ah crap… she’s gone…”

There was no response other than the fading of Zeed’s hoofsteps.

Nezan swore again.

I rubbed my aching head and moaned.

“Great…” Nezan sighed. “Now I’m nervous. I hate being nervous.”

“Why dae ye keep callin’ her ‘Axy’?”

He blinked at me. “Because of her name?”

“Her name is Axy…” I raised an eyebrow.

“What? No, that’s just what I call her. Shouldn’t you know this?” He smiled. “Her name’s Axadel.”

“Ah thought her name was ‘Vazjir’.”

“Ah… I get it.” He smiled. “I’m gonna shut up now. I’m sure she has a reason for not telling.”

“Wait, not telling what?”

“While this bantering is fun,” Bilge interrupted. “I think we have more important things to worry about.”

“Hey, pipe down. This is the first time I’ve seen my oldest daughter in eleven years,” Nezan retorted. “I think I have the right to be happy about that.”

His ear twitched, and he frowned. “The hell was that?”

My own ears perked up as I tried to hear what he was talking about. It was quiet, and sounded like somepony was screaming.

Then the ceiling started shaking. I could hear the pounding of hooves from the floor above us. A bit of dust landed in my left eye. I swore loudly as I tried to dig it out.

I was distracted when part of the ceiling exploded. Chunks of concrete, rebar, and a cloud of dust rained down on us. After the ringing in my ears passed, I realized that the sound actually was screaming. Specifically, Zeed screaming in panic, her voice accompanied by the sound of raging slavers as they shot down the hallways.

“AXY!” Nezan tried to charge out of the room, but gasped in pain as he put weight on his back hoof.

Several more holes appeared in the ceiling, though these ones were made by bullets instead of giant ear-destroying explosives.

Snarling with irritation, I snatched a medical brace and a syringe of Med-X from a nearby table and floated it over onto Nezan’s leg. With a grateful expression, he fastened the brace, took the full dose of the drug, and swiftly limped out of the room, calling for Zeed.

Though I was still a bit dizzy, I followed him.

We followed the shooting, screaming, and explosions for a minute until we reached a staircase. Just as we began to climb up, Zeed came galloping down, screaming her head off.

“FOR THE LOVE OF LUNA RUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNN!” her voice faded as she rounded a corner.

A grenade bounced down the staircase.

Yelping in surprise, I scrambled away from it.

Nezan just smirked and flicked it back up the stairs with a fetlock.

I heard several slavers scream in pain when it exploded.

“C’mon, let’s go.” Nezan called back to me, galloping after Zeed.

“HEY! GET OVER HERE!” A slaver yelled.

He shot at me, I yelped and ran after Nezan.

I kept hearing explosions and gunshots just behind me as I ran. The battle cries and death threats from the slavers echoed through my ears.

Sweat dripped down my face, stinging my eyes.

It was getting harder to breathe.

I’d already started wheezing.

I rounded another corner. The two zebras were getting further and further away.

I think my tail was on fire.

I was starting to slow down. I tried to push harder but I just couldn’t keep going.

Another corner.

I struggled to keep ahead of the slavers. I risked a glance back to see that they were slowly gaining ground.

Another corner.

Breath getting ragged.

Getting dizzier.

Another corner.

Almost tripped on my own hooves.

My eyes widened when I realized how far away Zeed and Nezan were. How close the slavers were.

Pushed myself harder.

Another corner.

So far away now.

Legs felt like lead.

Sweat in my eyes.

Head spinning.

The slavers still shouting their death threats. Just lucky none of the grenades actually hit me.

Another corner.

I was yanked to the side by a striped foreleg. I struggled against it, frantically, trying to push it away, beating at its owner with my hooves.

“Ouch! Knives! Calm down! It’s-ow- me!”

I stopped fighting and looked. Zeed was holding me down, trying to keep me from hitting her in the face.

“Z… Zuh… Zuh…” I swallowed. My head was still spinning. My breath was ragged, and coming in short gasps.

She helped me back to my hooves, and I put a hoof over my chest, continuing to wheeze loudly.

“Knives, are you okay?”

“I… I juh… can’t breathe… Gugh… need… need to lie down…”

I flopped back onto the floor, curling up into a ball and trying to calm down.

“Wow. Is she gonna be alright?” Nezan asked.

“She should be. I think she’s just exhausted. She did lose a lot of blood earlier.”

“Yeah, with the trail she was leaving behind I’m amazed she’s still alive.”

“Keh… Key?” I gasped.

Zeed grinned, put a hoof to one side of her nose, and blew. There was the tink of metal on linoleum as the key flew out of her nose. “Yup! Asshole had it on his desk. I just barely managed to snatch it off him before he woke up.”

Nezan raised an eyebrow. “The slavers?”

“Well… he woke up, so…”

“Right.” Nezan chuckled. “Let’s get these off.”

Zeed grinned. “Snot a problem.”

Nezan laughed. I groaned.

She grabbed the key in a fetlock and moved over to her father. With a smile, she stuck the key in the lock. Her face fell when she tried to turn it.

She groaned and threw the key against the wall. “Dammit.”

I blinked. “What’s wrong?”

“I grabbed the wrong one!” She swore repeatedly.

Nezan patted her on the shoulder. “It’s alright, Axy. We can find one somewhere else.”

She let out a frustrated sigh. “I know… I just… Ugh, dammit…”

“What are we goin’ tae dae, then? Ah doubt we can get out ay here with these damn thing oan.”

“I think we should go find Raid.” She said. “At least then we can get it all done at once.”

“That’s probably a good idea.” Nezan said. “I’d like to fix this busted leg too.”

Zeed smiled. “Alright. Let’s go!”

~~~~~

Both ponies stared at the zebra, who was currently sitting in a chair connected to the machine, with a helmet on his head, and a blank expression on his face. A small bucket of clearish-white orbs sat on his right side, another sat on his left.

Wretch tapped a hoof impatiently.

Green munched on another yucca fruit.

After several minutes, Xixixix blinked, and popped a memory orb out of the back of the helmet and tossing it into the bucket on his left.

“Nope. Not that one either.” He said, grabbing an orb out of the bucket on the right.

Wretch growled in frustration. “Of for the- alright, that’s it. I’m going in too. What are we looking for?”

Xixixix blinked again. “Uh… anything related to programing or psychology? Are you sure you want to? There’s some pretty nasty stuff in these.”

“Yes! There’s something that I need to do, and this is taking forever.” She sighed. “Green? This is gonna take a while, alright? You don’t have to stay here if you don’t want to.”

Green blinked in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Wretch raised an eyebrow. “You don’t have to stay here? You can do whatever you want. Explore the Mall, make some friends. You know, just do whatever?”

“Oh… um… Okay?” Green looked at Wretch, blinking repeatedly. “Uh… bye?”

With that, the pegasus awkwardly left the room.

“Nice filly. Bit dumb, though isn’t she?” Xixixix smirked.

Wretch glared at him. “She’s been a slave her whole life.”

“And you’re just throwing her out?”

“I’m not throwing her out!”

“I meant into the city. If she’s been a slave she might not be used to taking making her own decisions.” The zebra replied matter-of-factly.

Wretch worked her jaw for a moment, trying to think of a response. “I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

Green wandered through the walkways of the Mall, taking in the sights and marveling at pretty much everything she saw. Particularly the neon signs. She really liked those.

With a smile, she sat on a bench and ate another bit of yucca.

She almost dropped it when a loud crash made her jump.

Over in one of the alley between the stores, two ponies were fighting. More accurately, a unicorn colt was running from an infuriated mare, laughing and taunting her as she repeatedly swiped at him.

“Come back here you little shit!” She shrieked.

“Make me!” He replied.

Green watched this with some confusion, unsure of whether she should get involved or not.

The choice was taken from her as the mare clipped the colt’s leg, and he was sent tumbling into Green’s bench.

“Owwww...” he said.

“Alright, little filly...” The mare said as she slowly stomped her way towards the two ponies.. “Just back away slowly, and I won’t hurt ya. I’m only after this little fuck.”

Green blinked. “Uh...”

The colt’s eyes widened, and he scrambled to his hooves. “Oh crap...”

“C’mon, squirt. Just leave now. His daddy pissed me off and I want some payback.” She grinned at the colt, who swallowed in fear.

Green looked around for anypony that could help, but nopony seemed to be paying any attention to the incident in the middle of the walkway. “Well...”

“It’s a simple request, ya little rat. Just get the fuck out of my way and-HEY!”

Green spun around, her wings flaring, and started pushing the colt down the street.

The mare screamed angrily, and started chasing after them.

Green squeaked in fear, being reminded of one of Bark’s drunken rages, and pushed the other foal harder. The colt’s horn began to glow, and a nearby stack of crates was knocked over into the raging mare’s path. To his chagrin, she leapt over it with ease.

Green frantically looked around, trying to find a way to escape. The alleyways were too far away, nopony was paying even the slightest amount of attention to them, and any stores probably wouldn’t appreciate them leading a psychopath into their premises. Glancing up, Green grinned.

She grabbed the colt around the chest, and flapped her wings as hard as she could. She was just in time to barely avoid another swing from the mare. She screamed at the two as Green flew to the top floor of the Mall.

Green landed on the broken concrete, panting with the effort of having carried another pony of her size to that height.

“Hey...” The colt said. “Thanks. I’ve been trying to get away from her for a while.”

“No... no problem...” Green managed to say.

He smiled. “I’m Barkeep! Who’re you?”

Green blinked. “Uh... I’m... uh... Green.”

Barkeep tilted his head in an inquisitive manner. “That’s your name?”

The pegasus filly nodded nervously.

Barkeep shrugged. “Okay. Wanna go get some stuff?”

“Huh?”

“You know, stuff?”

Green gave him a confused look. She continued staring at him for a moment, and eventually nodded.

--------

Footnote 1: Diamond Knives

EXP 72%

~~~

Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri

EXP: 40%

~~~

Footnote 3: Raid (???)

EXP: ???%

`

To-Do List:

Active Quest:

Where For Art Thou?:

-Find Raid

-Find Knives

Other quests:

Layin’ Down The Rails:

Find a way to remove bomb-collars

-Find a way inside Raftwater without getting killed

O’ Father, Where Art Thou?:

Infiltrate or assault the Bone Eaters’ base near Bladesville.

-Escape from Raftwater.

Sifting Through The Dust:

1) Find information on the location of Ashes.

2) Find information on the location of Obsidian Knives

3)Find information on the location of Nezan Kazdri

Chapter Twenty-Three: I Can't... No Wait, I Can

I stared through the rifle’s scope from the top of the apartment complex, confused as I watched the slaver drag around the long-dead zebra.

“What the heck is he doing?” Said the disembodied voice beside me.

I nearly jumped out of my skin, reflexively going into a combat position, my shotgun drawn before I realized who it was.

“Heart, stop sneaking up on me.”

The air shimmered, and a large mare with a black armored bodysuit, and a red-eyed helmet with teeth painted around the muzzle-plate, materialized in the chair beside me.

She laughed. “Sorry. I’m still getting some of the toggles mixed up.”

“Where’ve you been, anyway?” I asked.

She snorted. “Trying to get my armor on. Barely five months and I’m already having trouble with it. I shouldn’t even be showing yet. I actually had to take off a couple of the stomach plates.”

“You know, you could let somepony else take your place.” I said. “I’m pretty sure they’ll accept ‘I’m pregnant’ as an excuse.”

She laughed again. “I would if anypony else could figure out how to use it. Or fit in it.”

“In another few months you won’t fit either.” I smirked.

She shook her head. Even past the helmet, I could tell she was grinning.

“So, what’s up with him?” She nodded towards the slaver.

“I dunno. He’s just been dragging this corpse around for the past…” I looked at my pipbuck. “Half hour.”

“Can I see the scope?”

I raised an eyebrow and hoofed it over. “You don’t need to ask, you know. It’s your gun.”

She paused. “Oh… right… still not used to all this stuff.”

As she took a moment to balance on her hind legs, I shook my head in amazement. I’d only ever seen zebras fire a rifle the way she did, using her front hooves to control the thing, the trigger in her fetlock. It was weird to see her do it. She maneuvered the heavy sniper rifle with ease, looking down the scope at the slaver below.

“Well… that’s just friggin’… eugh...” She said, shuddering a bit.

“What’s he doing no-“

There was a phoot sound, as she fired the rifle. The poisoned hollow point round blew the slaver’s head apart.

“Uh…” I said.

“Sorry, but that was disgusting.” She shook her head again. “With a friggin’ corpse. What the heck is wrong with these ponies…”

I grimaced. “Never mind. I don’t want to know now.”

She plopped onto the chair, sitting biped-style, and rubbed her slightly bulging belly with a forehoof. “Oof… Aw, crud. I forgot to bring up food.”

I guffawed. “Want me to bring something up for you? I’ve got some free time right now.”

“Corn,” She said quickly. “Lots’n’lots of corn.”

I quirked an eyebrow at her. “Corn?”

“The foal wants corn, apparently. So I’m getting a craving for corn.” She shrugged. “Would you deny a pregnant mare her cravings?”

“Weren’t you craving chalk the other day?”

“Touché, but still. I’m craving corn, so I must have corn. In abundance.” I could almost see her pouting at me inside the helmet. “Please? I’m friggin’ starving, and I’m too tired to walk back up the stairs again.”

“Well…” I said in mock thought.

“Please? I’m sooo hungry right now.” She begged, putting her forehooves together in a pleading manner. “Pretty please with lots of sugar on top?”

I laughed. “Yeah, yeah, alright. Anything else?”

“Coffee would be awesome. Preferably black as Luna’s plot.” She leaned back into her chair and rubbed her stomach again. “Hey, calm down, I’ll feed you when I can.”

I laughed again. “Yeah, you tell that unborn foal.”

~~~~

“Nine-nine-eight. Nine-nine-nine. Thousand.” I huffed and rolled over onto my side. “So… sit-ups, push-ups, wing-curls… what else?”

I started trotting in place.

“Okay…” Said the mare in the cell on my left. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“I exercise when I’m bored.” I replied. “And I am very much bored.”

“That sounds stupid.” She snorted.

“No it doesn’t.” A buck snapped. “That’s a great idea! Keeps you from getting flabby.”

“Are you calling me fat?” The mare snarled.

“Yes.”

“Fuck you!”

“Fuck your face!”

“Fuck your mother!”

I listened to them continue throwing curses back and forth for about a minute.

“Fuck your face with your mother’s face!”

“For the love of Celestia, shut the hell up!” A gravelly voice yelled. “I’m trying to sleep.”

“Fuck you too, skinless.” The mare growled.

“I’m not the one waking everypony up with your yelling, smoothcoat, so fuck you.”

“You’re a ghoul!” She continued to yell. “You don’t even need to sleep!”

“What else am I gonna do?”

“Uh… well… I dunno, try and get out of here?” She went quiet.

“Porridge, are you insane?” The buck from before said. “They’ll just blow the collars if we try.”

The ghoul laughed.

I perked my ears, my curiosity piqued.

“The fuck’re you laughing about?” The mare snapped.

“Heh… Not very smart for a Steel Ranger, are you?” he laughed again. “Although… I guess I do have a… unique view of the situation. Heh.”

“What’re you talking about you undead freak?” She continued.

“Could tell you, but it wouldn’t really help you in here. Just make you feel even more miserable.” He let out a raspy chuckle. “And even if it did help, I don’t like you. Heh... ‘Raftwater’s big secret’.”

A nearby door slammed open. Two slavers trotted over to my cell and opened it. One pointed a rifle at my face, while another tied a rope around my neck. I was herded out, down the hallway.

“So…” I asked after a while. “Where are-Ghahgk!”

The slaver yanked on the rope around my throat. When he let go I broke into a fairly nasty coughing fit as I massaged my now probably bruised neck.

“We’re taking you to see the boss,” said the stallion with a gun. “You’re not allowed to talk to us. We’re not stopping for any reason. Even if we have to drag you by the neck.”

“And if you try anything, I’ll fucking throttle you.” Said the one with the rope.

I spat on the ground and they started pulling me away again.

As they dragged me along, I looked for an out. I didn’t even see any doors except for the one at the end of the hall. My ears went back against my head and I let out a sigh of irritation. Not anger, irritation. There’s a difference.

The door opened, and I was shoved through it. My rope was secured around a file cabinet, and the Bone Eaters promptly walked back the way we came in. Taking stock of my surroundings, I saw that I was in what looked like an overmare’s office in a stable. The large, round desk with the wall of computer terminals behind it, file cabinets in the corners, and an imposing-looking chair.

Scratch that… it was exactly like an overmare’s office, but nopony was there. Well… noone. The Bone Eater’s leader was supposedly a diamond dog, after all.

Hrrm-ing to myself, I stepped over to the main terminal. It was locked, so I didn’t even bother with it. I examined the desk. It was perfectly neat. Recently cleaned and recently used. There were papers stacked in neat little piles, each with labels like ‘fabrication’, ‘construction’, ‘inventory’, ‘brothel’.

With a raised eyebrow, I took a look at the top page of that last one. It was a list of details about a specific pony. Their measurements, their appearance. I blinked and laughed as I realized that they were actually mine. There was another page stapled to it. A transfer paper that had recently been approved.

“Wow… They really do keep paperwork.” I snorted.

“And you have no idea how hard it was to get them to go along with it.” Said a familiar growling voice behind me. I felt something press against the back of my neck. “I advise against moving.”

I froze. “Crap.”

“Chamomile, would you care to tell me why you let him look at my files?” The voice said.

The air in front of me spoke. “I wasn’t aware I was supposed to stop him, sir.”

The voice behind me sighed. “Why would I put you here if… Never mind.”

Something yanked on my shoulder, spinning me around. I ended up facing a distinctly canine, and distinctly undead, face with a disturbing grin. He wore a black pinstripe suit and a fedora. “Hello there, little slave. I’m Rex. I’ll bet you’re wondering why you’re here, eh?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I guess that’s a pretty good question.”

Rex grinned wider, and turned to adjust the papers that I’d moved.. “Your little friends have made quite a mess of my city. Needless to say, I’m not happy about that.”

“Ah…” I said, nodding in agreement. “That’s a shame.”

“Indeed.” He continued. “I don’t like it when things get out of my control. Especially when it’s because of little shits like you. Breaking and entering was, at one point, illegal you know.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Oh, really? And slavery wasn’t?”

“Don’t get snarky with me, pony!” He snarled, hopping up out of his chair. I jumped and my wings flared in surprise. Some of the papers were blown out of place, and immediately replaced by the undead dog.

I mentally raised an eyebrow.

Rex growled quietly. “What makes you think you can get out of here, pony? Why do you think you can just… fight me and get away with it?”

I said nothing, but a thought popped into my head.

“Are you trying to be defiant?” he guffawed. He reached under the desk, and pulled out a box with a screen and a few buttons. I’d seen one before, but I couldn’t quite put my hoof on what it was. “I do have this, you know. Can you guess what it is?”

I faked a sneeze, making sure to flap my wings hard as I did. Several of the papers in the room were blown away by the wind. I kept careful watch on his expression.

Rex’s eye started twitching. He sighed, and got out of his chair to pick up the papers.

I quirked an eyebrow as I watched him.

Okay… the Bone Eaters are led by an obsessive-compulsive diamond dog. Interesting.

The tiny me in my head clapped his hooves sarcastically. ‘Oh, yay. You’ve managed to make a psychological diagnosis in twelve seconds. What’ll you do next, herr doctor? Find a cure for schizophrenia?’

Shut up. I’m thinking.

‘That’s a first.’

Rex finished putting his papers back, and returned to his chair.

He held up the device again. “This is the detonator for those collars that I keep around your necks. So, if you make me angry, I will use it. Clear?”

I quirked an eyebrow at him.

He narrowed his eyes at me. “I asked if we were clear.”

“Did you just say ‘the’ detonator?” I asked.

He glared at me suspiciously. “Yes.”

“As in, it’s the only one you have?”

His face changed to a deadpan expression. “... No?”

I nodded. “Ah. Okay, just wanted to be sure.”

We remained silent for a moment.

“I gotta wonder why all your slavers keep threatening to blow us up if they don’t even have control of the collars.” I said. “Are they just stupid or something?”

“What the hell are you-“

“HOLY SHIT!” I screamed, pointing behind the ghoul.

He spun around in his chair to look behind him. I took the opportunity to grab the device out of his hand and hold it in my mouth. With a flap of my wings, I tried to fly out the door, only to slam into the empty air.

“GRAB HIM, DAMMIT!” Rex howled.

I felt an invisible hoof slam into my jaw, but I refused to let go of my grip on the detonator.

Rex dove at me. I was slammed against the wall, biting down on the device and hoping that I didn’t hit any buttons or break my teeth.

Speaking of teeth, he decided to clamp his around my hind leg. I screamed and kicked him in the face with the other one. “Get off me!”

The invisible hoof slammed into my head again. The blow knocked the detonator to the ground, where it slid out the open door.

“THE DETONATOR!” The diamond dog roared, letting go of my leg.

I took the chance to buck him in the snout and flap my wings. I shot towards the remote, grabbing it in my forehooves, and kept going down the hallway.

“Get him you useless fuck!”

“Yessir!”

I flew through the hallways, blowing past shocked slavers, knocking them over. I doubted that Chamomile would be able to keep up with me.

I didn’t stop flying until I’d found my way outside, at which point I zipped up into the top floor of an office building.

I sat on the ground, panting but smiling, as I looked out the window at the now-panicking Bone Eaters.

I blockaded the room I was in, shoving every single piece of large furniture I could find into the hallway on both sides.

“Heh…” I said. “This wasn’t as hard as I’d expected.”

I looked at the device, trying to figure out what it was.

A small metal box, with an old glass screen, a control wheel on one side, three large buttons labeled…

Status… Automaps… Archive…

I blinked, and turned the device over. A large number eighty-six was emblazoned on the back.

A pipbuck 2000.

“What the fuck?” I gaped at the device, fumbling with it as I turned it on.

“Initializing: PipOS… Complete.” The image of that irritating little cartoon pony said before the screen popped into menu mode.

“What the fuck?” I repeated. “Did he lie? Fuck… all that for… gugh…”

I clumsily flipped through the menus, the device not having been built for efficient use with hooves.

I was interrupted by a hoof slamming into my back.

Reflexively, I kicked out behind me, and was rewarded with a grunt of pain.

I tried to fly out the window, pipbuck in my teeth, but was pulled back as something wrapped around my hind leg. I fought against it, flailing my legs around until they connected with something solid.

The invisible pony screamed in pain, but held on, still pulling me back into the office.

I pulled my free leg back to kick again, when I was suddenly dragged out the window, which surprised the living shit out of me. The invisible Chamomile flew towards a building across the street from the police station as I struggled to get him to let go of my hind leg. I kicked at where I thought he was and flapped my wings as hard as I could, but I couldn’t seem to get out of his grip.

“Attention Bone Eaters! We have a loose slave in the city! Grab him and bring him back to me immediately, or I’ll have every single one of you fed to gorgons.”

A bullet whizzed past me. Another grazed my free hind leg. I screamed and grabbed the leg with my forelegs.

A third bullets passed just next to my flank, and I saw a spurt of blood from the air as it struck Chamomile, who roared in pain.

“Raid!” Called a voice from below. I glanced downward to see Knives, Zeed, and another, much larger zebra running vaguely in my direction.

Chamomile hit me in the face again. I twisted to punch at the invisible pony, and connected with something. Chamomile wobbled in the air, and we went spiraling downward, despite my desperate attempts to control our flight path.

We crashed into a salon, sending manebrushes and fur-care products flying everywhere. I think I landed on top of Chamomile, but I couldn’t’ be sure.

I grunted as I pushed myself up, and my eyes widened in terror.

Mirrors. All over the wall.

My mouth turned dry. I suddenly felt the intense urge to run, but my legs felt like jelly.

Chamomile growled from beneath me and slammed me to the floor on my back.

OH GODDESSES THE WHOLE FUCKING CEILING!

I clenched my eyes shut and tried to squirm away from the mirrors and the invisible pony holding me down, but only got hit in the head again.

Don’t look. Don’t look. It’ll be okay if you just don’t look.

I screamed when something hit me in the right wing.

You can keep going if you don’t look.

I scrambled to get away, but was grabbed by the leg.

You won’t stop existing. You’ll be okay.

“Raid!”

Chamomile hit me in the back. I screamed again.

You’ll stay real if you don’t look.

I just wanted to get away. I curled up into a ball.

A grey blur slammed into the air above me, and some glass on the floor a short distance away shattered.

“Raid, come on!” Knives said.

She dragged me out of the salon. I heard a door slam shut, and a loud crashing sound deeper in the building.

“Raid? Knives?”

“Get over here an check oan Raid. Ah think somethin’s wrong wi’ him.”

I’m real. I’m real. I’m real.

“Raid?” I felt a hoof on my shoulder. “What’s wrong? You’re shaking?”

“M-m-m-m…” I swallowed, but didn’t look up. “M-m-m-m-m-mir-r-r-r-r… Mirrors… S-s-so m-many m-mirrors. D-d-d-d-d-d-don’t wanna… w-wanna…”

“Oh crap… I think he’s having a panic attack.”

“What the hell happened?” Said an unfamiliar voice.

“Ah dunnae! Somethin’ was holdin’ him down, but Ah couldnae really see it.”

I’m sitting here. They’re talking about me. I’m real. I have a mark. I have a soul.

“Here, you’re his friends, you two deal with him. I’ll hold that door closed.”

“Raid? It’s okay.”

I took a deep breath and held it for a moment.

I’m real. I can feel. I have a soul.

“That’s good. You’re doing fine.”

I did it again.

I’m real. I can feel. I have a soul.

“Just keep going, buck.” Said the unfamiliar voice.

Another breath. I looked up to see Knives on one side, Zeed on the other.

I gulped down another breath and stood back up. I was still shaking violently.

“Raid, are ye okay?” Knives asked.

“No, but I will be eventually.” I said, swallowing again. “We need to move now.”

I started trudging down the street, away from that place full of… mirrors…

“What ‘appened? Ye scared us.” Knives said.

“I’m scared of mirrors.” I replied quickly. “And you don’t need to hold that door. I’m sure he already left.”

The large zebra in front of… that building shrugged, and went inside.

“Uh… dae ye need anythin’?” Knives offered.

I shook my head and swallowed. “No. I’ll calm down eventually.”

“You might want something for those cuts, though.” Zeed forcefully sat me back down and started wrapping bandages around my wounds.

I sighed. “What happened to Stock?”

“We don’t know. I lost her after I… eh…” Zeed glanced at the other zebra. “Got my disguise.”

“Well, I might have found out something pretty damn interesting about the collars and oh goddesses dammit, I dropped it in the fucking office complex.” I groaned. “FUCK! GAGH!”

Suddenly, I heard the flap of wings, and saw a cloud of dust puff off the ground. I swore loudly and flared my wings.

Before I could flap, I was tackled by Zeed. “You’re not going anywhere!”

“Zeed, let me go!” I growled. “Rex was waving a pipbuck saying it was a detonator. Chamomile’s going after it right now!”

“What, you mean this?” The large zebra trotted back out of the salon, holding the pipbuck with his teeth. “Makes sense. I think most of these have transmitters on them.”

I blinked. “How did…”

He spat the device onto the ground. “It was sitting on top of a broken mirr-“

“PLEASE don’t… mention those right now…” I exhaled shakily. “I don’t want to go into a panic again.”

Knives game me a sympathetic grimace.

“Okay… So…” I blinked at the zebra stallion. “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

“Probably not. Nezan Imulane Mirivo Kazdri, trader, handler, farmer, and hunter, at your service.” He said in a fake posh accent.

I stared at him in disbelief. Then I looked at Zeed. Then I looked at him again. Then I looked back at Zeed.

“You’re… you’re her father?”

He gave me a confused look. “Uh… last I checked, yes. Why do you ask?”

I looked at him, then I looked back at Zeed once more. The height difference was significant. He was at least a head taller than me, she was at least a head shorter.

I blinked at them, and eventually shook my head. “O…kay then… Moving on. Rex said that this was a detonator.”

“Ah thought it would have… Ah dunnae, more buttons?” Knives shrugged. “What’s with the eighty-six oan it?”

“It’s from a stable. Rex was hiding in a room that was pretty damn close to an overmare’s office, so I’m guessing there was one under the city at some point.” I scratched the back of my head. “Kinda wish I had my pipbuck so I could be sure.”

Knives picked the device up in her magic and started flicking through the menus. “Maps… Inventory… Injury tracking… Huh… This thing is sorta cool. So… Ah guess it belonged tae somepony called th’ overmare. Eh…”

Dear Miss Upgrade,

We at Stable-Tec apologize. The stable numbered 86-F has, once again been delayed due to unforeseen setbacks. The experiment has been canceled and the collars have been stored in a nearby warehouse for the time being. We will begin construction of 86-G as soon as possible within the Broken Basin. The distributed pipbucks may remain in the possession of the chosen ponies for the time being.

Construction Foremare Rictus.

I chuckled. “I always wondered where ‘F’ was.”

“Personally, I only ever found ‘A’ and ‘D’.” Nezan shrugged. “Never really cared to look for them.”

“I kept running into them and decided to just go looking for them.” I smiled. “You should hear some of the reasons they got cancelled.”

“Oh! Here they are. Detonator codes.” Knives scanned the letter. As she did, her expression turned from one of amusement to one of shock. “Wat.”

“What is it?” I asked.

Her eye twitched. “WAT.”

“Knives, what’s wrong?”

Knives glared at me, her eye a-twitch, and gave me an infuriated smile. “The goddess-damned collars are duds.”

I blinked at her. “Wat.”

She held the pipbuck up to me. “There’s th’ note, written by Rex himself, tellin’ how he found th’ warehouse full ay collars, and how a bunch ay raiders had been takin’ all th’ explosives out ay them so they could blast their way intae th’ Stable.”

I read through the note. My eye twitched. “That… miserable… fucking piece of SHIT!”

Nezan sighed. “Oh that just sucks beyond belief.”

“So even if there was more than one detonator,” I laughed. “IT WOULDN’T FUCKING MATTER! GRAGH!”

We stood there for a time, Knives and I both fuming , Nezan with a hoof over his face, and Zeed patting him on the shoulder sympathetically.

“So…” Said Zeed. “What are we going to do?”

I thought…

And a grin appeared on my face.

“Anypony know how to hack a sound system?”

~~~

We found ourselves sitting exposed, in the middle of the street, near one of the badly-hidden speakers. Knives had managed to crack the wall open and, apparently despite never having seen one before, patched the pipbuck into the system.

She was still routing things through other things when a rotting face poked itself around the corner.

“Blue!”

“Stock, where the fuck have you been?” I hissed. “And keep it down!”

She looked taken aback. “Dude, what are you so angry about.”

“I’m not angry! I’m mad!”

Knives looked up and quirked an eyebrow at me. “There’s a difference?”

“Yes!” I turned back to Stock. “Now where the hell have you been?”

“Gathering slaves who’d be willing to make a break for it, and trying to find a key for the collars.” She nervously scratched what was left of her mane. “It hasn’t been going too well.”

Knives unplugged the pipbuck and showed the note to her.

The ghoul then turned a blank stare on us. “I don’t believe it. It’s too convenient.”

“Dunnae believe… it’s right here!” Knives pointed to the note.

“You guys’ve jumped the gun. You’re gonna get everypo- sorry, everyone killed.” The ghoul said. Zeed’s eye twitched a bit. “What makes you think this wasn’t planted?”

I worked my jaw up and down as I tried, and failed, to come up with a response. “Fuck, she’s right.”

“What, sae because it might ‘ave been planted, ye think it’s nae real?” Knives groaned. “Goddesses damn- what the hell?”

“What is it?” Zeed asked.

“Did it get foggy all of a sudden?” Knives swept a hoof around. “And does it seem weird tae any ay ye?”

I blinked. There was indeed a thick layer of fog, and as Knives said, it did indeed seem weird.

“Seems like normal fog to me.” Nezan said.

Stock took on a defensive stance and stuck the bit to her machine gun in her mouth. “Fog cover. They’ve got a pegasus with them.”

As if on cue, Knives yelled, tackled the air, then she started beating up the asphalt. Then she started stabbing it with a knife. It wasn’t until I saw blood pooling on the ground that I realized that she’d somehow grabbed Chamomile.

I had just run over to help when she was launched away, accompanied by the sickening crunch of broken ribs. She landed on the ground several feet away, her knife clattering to the ground beside her. I saw the fog shifting as Chamomile flew off.

Zeed and I both ran over to check on Knives, who was making a sound somewhere between a gasp and a squeak of pain.

“Knives, are you okay? How did you-“

Chamomile interrupted me by driving his hooves into my side.

Nezan tackled the spot where I’d just been, but only managed to grab empty air. Stock was assembling large chunks of the fog into a ball about the size of a pony.

Knives forced herself back to her hooves, and brandished her namesake at the empty air, a pained grimace on her face.

The air shifted and she jammed the knife downwards. The tip of it disappeared, a pony screamed as the air seemed to bleed. Nezan tackled the now self-levitating knife, and was rewarded with a grunt.

Then the knife shot up into the air. I pushed myself up and flew after it.

Chamomile and I collided in midair, and I grabbed onto what I thought were his front legs and flew straight down.

“CLEAR!” Stock yelled.

And then I was struck by a massive bolt of lightning.

Words cannot describe how excruciatingly painful it is to be struck by lightning, even the weaker, pegasus-made lightning.

My entire body stiffened, and I was thrown back into a nearby building.

I think I heard somepony screaming, but my head hurt too much to recognize who it was. I couldn’t seem to breathe right. My leg hurt a lot.

Slowly, I made my way back to my hooves, just as the others found me.

“Holy… Raid, don’t move!” Zeed yelled.

“Oh calm down. He’ll be fine.” Stock snorted.

“He was just hit by lightning you moron! It was your fault!” The zebra growled as she checked me over for injuries.

“Oh please. Pegasi can stand electrical shocks.”

“F-f-f-fuck-k-k… y-y-ou.” I managed to get out.

“See? He’s fine already.”

“He has a broken foreleg ‘cuz of you!”

Knives rushed over to me. “Ye alright?”

I stared into those beautiful silver orbs of hers.

“You’re even prettier when you’re worried...”

Knives’ face turned red, and she worked her jaw for a moment trying to think of a response.

Then I fainted.

~~~~

“So, have you ever been to the Mall before?” Barkeep asked.

The two foals trotted down the pathways of the Mall, one merrily, one nervously.

“Um… n-no?” The nervous verdant filly replied.

“Really? Huh… well… honestly I’ve only been here once.” The red colt replied. “We’re just visiting ‘cuz mom wanted to borrow grandpa’s mix book.”

“Oh.”

“But since mom already paid Mrs. Rose to take care of her bar for the next month, I guess we’re here until then.”

“Oh…”

Barkeep turned to Green, and fixed his blue eyes on her orange ones. “You don’t talk much, do you.”

Green shook her head and backed away nervously.

The colt blinked, and rubbed his navy blue mane. “Sorry… I wasn’t trying to be mean.”

“Six?” Called a surprised female voice. “Six, what are you doing out here? You’re supposed to be at home.”

Barkeep grinned nervously. “Uh... I... uh...”

Green looked at the newcomer, a unicorn mare with a brown coat, brown mane, and azure eyes. Green noticed that her belly had a noticeable bulge to it.

The mare narrowed her eyes at Barkeep. “You snuck out again didn’t you.”

Barkeep shook his head frantically. “No! I didn’t! Backlash tried to break in while dad was out and chased me all the way here! Green helped me get away from her.”

The mare’s expression softened, and she sighed. “Again? Goddesses I can’t believe that fucking bitch. All because your father said one- Oh, I’m so sorry.”

She turned to Green, and smiled apologetically. “Thank you for helping my son. I really appreciate it. Your name is Green?”

The pegasus filly nodded.

“I’m Barkeep. It’s nice to meet you.” She offered her hoof, and Green shook it with a confused look.

“You’re... both Barkeep?” She asked.

The older Barkeep nodded. “Yup. I’m Barkeep the Fifth, and my son here is the Sixth. Eh... if you don’t mind my asking, why are you wandering around here? The Mall isn’t exactly... safe...”

Green swallowed nervously. “Um... well... I came here with Wretch because she needed to find an expert on memory orbs, but she had to um... go through them quicker so she started helping Xixixix. She said I could do... um... stuff...”

Barkeep the fifth rose an eyebrow. “Stuff?”

Green nodded. “She said I could do whatever I wanted, so I just went outside... I guess.”

“Is Wretch your mother?” The elder asked curiously.

Green shook her head. “She... she killed my master so-”

The older Barkeep gasped in shock. “You’re a slave?”

Green shook her head again. “No. Wretch set me free and let me travel with her. She... doesn’t really ask me to do much, though. I... I don’t really... know where my mother is, though...”

Green’s ears drooped. “I hope she’s okay...”

Barkeep the Fifth looked from Green to her son for a moment, who had become distracted by one of the vendors of the Mall. After a moment, she blinked, smiled, and patted her stomach with a chuckle. “Green, I was about to go and get some lunch. Would you like to come with me?”

Green smiled and nodded.

----

Footnote 1: Diamond Knives

EXP 93%

~~~

Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri