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.