"Uuuugh..."

Over the edge of the bucket, I saw a lock of rainbow-colored mane shift over to sit next to me on the vertibuck's internal benches. Its owner's voice whispered in my ear. "Hey li'l bro. Ya feelin' any better?"

My response was to puke into the bucket and moan again.

"Uh... guess I'll take that as a 'no'..." The mare said. “Want some water or anything? Sorry I forgot to bring some ginger for you.”

I nodded. "Thanks, Lee..."

"Don't worry, Zim, we'll be back on the ground in a minute." Said another young mare with a brightly colored rainbow mane, one of my older nieces, Neon. "Just hang tight."

"Why can't I juss fly?" I moaned after emptying my guts again.

Arc Bolt giggled from her corner seat.. "'Cuz we need ta get past the Orange Storm? Duh."

"Give ‘im a break. He's sick." Neon said.

Lee hoofed me a bottle of clear water, which I sipped on slowly, glad to have something in my churning stomach.

"I don't get it." Arc shook her head. "How can ya fly like a hummingbird, but get sick standing on anything that moves?"

I only groaned again, and thanked Celestia as I felt the vertibuck start to descend.

"Whassa hummingbird?" Neon asked after a moment of thought.

"Uh... I think it's this big bird that, like... kinda flies the way Zim does? Somepony mentioned it in a book."

I felt the vehicle touch down, and saw the door open. Without a second thought, I sped out onto the ground. I sat on my haunches and reveled in being on solid ground.

“Wow. Ya got it pretty bad this time, huh?” I looked up to see Vivid Rush smiling down at me, her multi-hued mane tied in a tail behind her head. “Good thing we’re not actually startin’ yet,huh?”

I nodded.

“Mom!” Neon ran out and hugged Vivid, the older blue mare laughing and ruffling her mauve-coated daughter’s mane.

"How was the ride, squirt?" Vivid asked.

"Kinda boring, but uncle Zim kept blowing chunks." The filly said.

I put a hoof on my stomach and grimaced. "Eugh... I hate riding, like... so friggin' much..."

"Well ya won't have ta worry about that until next week." Vivid grinned, and pointed behind me.

I turned and looked past the vertibuck to see a large greenhouse, being guarded by a pony in Stable Fifteen barding. With an eyebrow raised in suspicion, I trotted inside, the guard simply giving me a nod and a smirk. After a moment of gawking at what was inside, I trotted back over to my sister.

I turned back to Vivid. "Dude... that's, like... a grove of mangoes..."

The mare nodded.

“Which are the most wicked thing that I have ever eaten in my entire life?”

She nodded again.

“Which I thought I’d never be able to taste again for, like, ever?”

Once more, she nodded.

"How many strings did you have to pull for this?"

Lee flew over to lean on Vivid’s side with a cocky smirk.

“A lot. And its not the only thing we're doin' either. I managed ta set’cha up with a massage tutor. Happy birthday, Zimmy."

I blinked. “Dude... there’s tutors for that?”

“Yeah, surprised me too.”

I nodded in understanding. "Righteous."

After a moment, I grinned. “Have I ever told you that you are, fer sure, the most gnarlatious sisters ever?”

With that, I charged towards Lee, hugged her, then hugged Vivid, and then charged back into the greenhouse, cackling with glee, and leaving my sisters and niece giggling on the tarmac.

~~~

“Once upon a time in the magical land of Equestria, there was a mare named Rainbow Dash. She helped free Princess Luna from who-gives-a-crap-where, and helped Equestria in the war against the zebras. Some psychotic fan-mare of hers managed to get a hold of one of her feathers, and decided, ‘Hey! I think I’ll laminate this in fucking magic plastic, and keep it for future generations to enjoy!’

“Once she’d managed to get that done, the world blew up!”

I grinned and let out a dry laugh.

“Fifty years later, another psychotic fan-mare, this one a dashite, ha ha, from the Grand Pegasus Enclave, found the feather in the other psycho’s mostly-destroyed house, and decided to wander around Equestria, bringing even more obsessive fan-ponies together in a group that worshipped that feather. This was the start of Spectrum, the ultimate Rainbow Dash fanclub-slash-mercenary company-slash-religion-slash-government.

"Then, fourty-seven years ago, some scientist, probably a Stable Fifteen reject, came up to them and said, ‘Hey, I know how to make a whole pony from a few cells using this pre-war magic and crap I’ve got.’ So the leaders of Spectrum went, ‘Like, omigosh! Can you make a couple clones of Rainbow Dash for us so they can do a Sonic Rainboom and destroy the Enclave for us?’

"Thus, my oldest two sisters, Vivid Rush and Vibrant Smoke, were born.” I laughed again. “And all of Spectrum was disappointed when they couldn’t do a Rainboom, because that’s not how fucking clones work!”

Knives was looking at me with concern on her face. “Eh... Raid? Yer feathers are-”

“But wait! There’s more! When they found out that their ‘project’ failed, they tried it again! This time they made one clone at a time, but with itty-bitty little changes, BECAUSE THAT’S TOTALLY GONNA SOLVE THE FUCKING PROBLEM!”

“Raid, yer-”

“So they made my other sisters. Motley Split, Chroma Dart, Monochrome Race, Technicolor Streak, Faded Pace, Arc Bolt, and Pale Sprint... Each time going ‘Hey, maybe if we change this thing they’ll finally be able to do it!’” I cackled. “And at long last, they said, ‘Hey, I know! Stallions are supposed to be stronger and faster fliers than mares, right? So if we make one male, he’ll definitely be able to do it!’”

I laughed harder.

“Raid, calm-”

And so I, Prism Blitz, was born! But you wanna hear the kicker? None of us were actually fucking born!” I laughed yet again. “We were grown! IN SOME SORT OF FUCKING PLANT-THING MADE BY A FUCKING NUTCASE, BECAUSE HE WANTED TO SEE IF HE COULD!”

“RAID! CALM TH’ FUCK DOWN BEFORE AH RIP YER DAMNED FEATHERS OUT!” Knives screamed in my face.

I automatically pulled a hoof back to protect my wings, and realized that they’d flared out without my knowing, pushing aside my quarter-regenerated jacket.

“Eh... sorry... got kinda carried away there. Heh.” A nervous chuckle left my throat as I smoothed out my feathers and pulled the jacket’s tattered edge as far as it would go. “Anyway, as time passed Spectrum kinda... ditched everything else and just went full-merc to the highest bidder, second only to the Talon Company in Canturbury, but much less... honorable? I guess? Ah whatever. They started taking jobs that several of its members didn’t agree with, myself included, so we left. And here I am.”

Both of the mares in the room were looking at me with looks of mixed confusion, surprise, and possibly slight fear, though that may have been my imagination. “Questions? Comments? Applause?”

“Yer wings are ruffled.” Knives pointed out. “Ye seem a bit... angry...”

I smoothed my wings out and adjusted my saddlebags, formerly the property of Vill’s deceased friends. “Oh, I’m not angry. All that crap just makes me a bit annoyed.”

She gave me an incredulous look. “Rrrrriiiight... Sae, yer name’s actually ‘Prism Blitz’, then?”

I nodded. “Yup. Most ponies who know it call me ‘Zim’, though.”

“Can I call you Zim?” Vill asked.

I shrugged. “Sure. Not like I’ll stop you.”

“Sae did ye ever manage tae dae this ‘Sonic Rainboom’ thing?”

I gave Knives a blank stare. “You’re kiddin’ right? I was the slowest. You need speed to do one of those, and the only reason... she could do it, was probably because that was her special talent... Well, I think it was anyway. I’m not sure how much of the tales are actually true.”

Knives looked at me for a moment, her beautiful silver eyes shining with interest. Eventually, she shrugged. “Alright.”

“That’s it?” I blinked a few times. “Just... ‘Alright’?”

“Aye. What dae ye want meh tae say? ‘Och, goddesses, a clone! How terrible!’” She shrugged again. “Ye told meh, now Ah know. That’s all there is tae it, really.”

“Huh... I was... kinda expecting more of a reaction... Like, you being pissed off about me lying...”

“Why would Ah? Ah dunnae expect ye tae tell meh a damned thing.” She said, squeezing some water out of her tail. “It’s yer choice, nae mine.”

I smiled. “Thanks. I actually kind of appreciate that.”

“Besides, Zeed’s probably goin’ tae take all kinds ay interest in it, ye dunnae need meh buggin’ ye about it tae.” She grimaced, and started down the corridor. “Especially about th’ ‘plant-thing’.”

My ears went down. “Right... ‘course she would.”

"So what's it like being a clone?" Vill asked.

I rolled my eyes at the young mother-to-be. "Difficult. I have to take my face off every day and wash it. Then I have to eat my own hooves or they'll grow into my brain, and being fueled by equine souls is just so-"

I stopped as her curious expression changed to one of confusion.

"I don't know. What's it like not being a clone?" I pinched my brow with a wingtip and let out a rough sigh. “I mean, I kinda have nothing to compare it to, so I have no idea. Duh.”

"Uhh... well..."

"Is nao really th' best time fer a philosophical argument?" Knives didn't look away from the old pipbuck levitating in front of her. "Ah kind ay want tae get out ay here."

"No, but it helps to not think about the fact that we're pretty much surrounded by slavers who hate us." I blinked and glanced at Vill. "Well... most of us, anyway."

The zebra let out a sigh and pouted.“Not like I wanted to be...”

I gave her a curious look, but she just trotted a bit faster and avoiding eye contact. With a shrug, I checked my jacket again. Seeing that it was now past the wingtips, I nodded in satisfaction.

"There should be an elevator around here." Knives murmured to herself.

The water continued to pour down on us, my eyes stung a bit as my leaking mane dye dripped into them. I sighed as I shook some of the water off my head, and frowned as I caught sight of the peach dye I’d just splattered across the walls. “Sheesh... I really need my hat back.”

"Finally!" Knives exclaimed with a combination of irritation and relief. "Ah almost thought we'd never find th' damned thing."

"Does it work?" Vill asked hopefully. "I don't think I can... uh... waddle up four flights of stairs right now..."

I blinked. "Wait, how did you get down here?"

"I had to go down four flights of stairs." She grumbled.

Knives let out an irritated sigh. "Och, quit complainin'. It should be fine anyway"

The mare hit the call button.

Nothing.

She hit it again.

Still nothing.

She growled and gave it a rough smack.

To which the elevator responded with a profound nothing.

"Never mind. No power. Crap. Raid eh... Ah mean Zim, sorry,” She gave me an apologetic smile, to which I responded with an amused snort. “Can ye help meh pull this stupid door open?"

She pulled Rex's machete from her back and jammed it into the door, and we both threw our weight against it until I could get a hoof into the crack and pull. Knives took the opportunity to slip into the elevator while I held it open. Vill sat on the wet floor in the hallway, looking miserable and rubbing her swollen stomach.

Knives kicked the wall near the door, knocking the fake wood panel off and revealing the crystal matrix inside. “Fuck... Why couldn’t they just use mechanics? It would ay been easier.”

I snorted. “It wouldn’t be Canturbury if they did ‘easier’. Can you fix it?”

“Aye. It’s all connected right... Ah think. Maybe there’s a circuit breaker somewhere on the top. Can ye give me a boost?” I stood still as Knives hopped on my back, punched open one of the metal ceiling panels, and climbed up into the elevator shaft. “Och, come on! Why would they... never fuckin’ mind.”

“You alright?” I asked.

“Aye. There’s a power gem that got loose ay somethin’. Goin’ tae see if Ah can... find... iiiiit...” She hrrm-ed and haa-ed.

“You want help?” I popped my head up through the hatch, only to find that I couldn’t see anything in the darkness.

“Nae, Aam fine. Just got tae find... Ah!” There was a sparking sound, and I blinked as the place was filled with light. I blinked again as I saw Knives examining a hole in the wall of the elevator shaft that was filled with switches and crystals. A hole next to the door two floors above me. She didn’t seem to notice how high up she was. “Seriously, why would ye put th’ lights and th’ elevator oan th’ same fuckin’ system?”

She continued fiddling with the crystal matrix and switches within the panel, her tongue stuck between her teeth in a way that I couldn’t help but think of as ‘adorable’. The lights running up and down the walls of the shaft flickered a few times.

“Wow. You’re doing pretty good right now.” I smirked.

“What are ye talkin’ about?” A whirring sound started beneath me as she flicked one last switch, and a triumphant grin spread across her face. She slammed the door on the panel shut.

“Well, you’re about two floors up. That’s not bad.”

She froze.

“What?” Her voice was barely a whisper.

She swallowed hard and slowly turned her head downwards. Her eyes widened as she looked down at me, while her pupils contracted to the point where I could barely see them.

She snapped her head back up and clenched her eyes shut, wrapping her legs around the rungs of the ladder.

I grimaced. “Oh...”

The striped unicorn let out a choked sob. The ladder was shaking now, almost as much as she was.

“Eh... I’ll just, uh...” With a flap of my wings, I made my way up to her and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Sorry...”

“PleasegetmedownpleasegetmedownpleasepleasepleasepleasegetmedownIdon’twannadiepleasepleaseplease...” She murmured, over and over again.

I bit my lip as I carefully put a hoof on her shoulder. “Grab on.”

She did just that, wrapping her hooves around my neck with surprising quickness, hiding her face in my mane and sobbing quietly. I felt her heart pounding against my chest, and a pang of guilt went through me.

The second I touched the elevator floor, she let me go and scrambled back into the hallway, shoving aside a confused-looking Vill, where she leaned against the wall and clamped a hoof around her muzzle, making sickening noises.

Vill quirked an eyebrow at me. “What the fuck did you do?”

“Uh... well...”

Knives threw up, making Vill and I grimace.

She wiped her mouth, and her breathing slowed down noticeably. None of us said anything as she recomposed herself.

Eventually, she exhaled. "Rai-Zim, can ye dae me a favor?"

"Yeah?"

"Next time ye see me in a high place..." she put a hoof on my shoulder. "DUNNAE FUCKIN TELL MEH!"

I winced. "Sorry..."

She spat on the ground and wiped her mouth again. "Fuck... Ah was fine until ye pointed it out tae meh."

"I'm sorry, okay?"

She looked at me for a moment, and smiled. "Thanks fer gettin' meh down, though. Uh... it was..."

Her face reddened. "Sweet?"

I blinked at her. "No problem..."

She rushed into the elevator. I heard her mutter something about 'quiet'.

I smiled as I stepped in after Vill, who gave me yet another confused look.

’She knows now. Say something,' hissed the little me in my subconscious.

I blinked, and my smile widened. "Knives?"

"Aye?" She hit the button for the top floor.

"When we get out of here, would you like to go out?"

Both she and Vill gave me a surprised look.

The striped unicorn worked her jaw a few times. "Yer askin' meh nao?"

I shrugged and grinned nervously. "Now's as good a time as any."

"Nao. While we're in th' middle ay a slaver base."

My grin shrank a bit. "Uh... well... aheh..."

She continued to stare at me. "Yes. That would be wonderful."

Ding.

“Heh... awesome.” The grin widened so much it almost hurt.

"Aww." Vill said, giggling a bit. "Cute."

Knives glared at her. It lasted about a second before she started chuckling as well as she saw my elated expression. She glanced out the door and her face suddenly fell. “Och wow...”

I turned to see that the elevator had opened into a now-crumbling building with large holes in the walls and ceiling. Shouts, gunshots and explosions snuck in through the openings in the rubble and junk, several bodies were buried under rocks and support beams. Vill’s eyes widened as she stepped forward.

“What the hell?” The mom-to-be gasped. "Oh... oh shit, Bridge is dead? A-and Xin?"

"Friends of yours?" I asked.

She went pale and rubbed her swollen belly. "Uh... well...I...kinda...never mind, can we go?"

"Th' storage building should be a block or two away from here." Knives stuffed the pipbuck back into her mane. "How is it out there?"

I peered out through one of the larger gaps in the rubble. There were corpses and wounded ponies spread throughout the streets, most of the surrounding buildings had large holes in them, and I could hear the sounds of combat not too far away.

"Not bad, but definitely not good." I said. "We'll have to make a run for it and hope we don't run into trouble."

Vill's eyes widened. "Wh-what?"

"Aam goin' tae have tae agree with ye there." I moved out of the way as Knives trotted up to peer through the opening. "There might be some better weapons oan th' way."

She levitated out a small pistol. "Aam nae tae fond ay guns."

I smirked at her. "You seemed to like that grenade launcher."

"Pfft, that's nae a gun." She grinned. “That’s- GET DOWN!”

She grabbed me by the withers and threw me to the ground.

Vill shrieked as something exploded near the opening, making the hole wider and sending concrete chunks everywhere.

I gave Knives an embarrassed grin. “Uh... thanks.”

She smiled back. “Nae problem.”

She looked back out the hole for a moment, before turning back, her smile turning into a smirk. “That date better be good.”

I burst out laughing.

Another explosion blew another hole in the crumbling building.

Vill screamed. And threw her hooves over her head.

Knives glared at her. “Have Ah made it clear that Ah dunnae like her?”

“Yeah, she is kinda whiny.” I admitted. “But still, it’s not like we’re gonna keep her with us forever.”

“Och, goddesses, Ah hope not. Zeed might take pity oan her.” The unicorn rolled her eyes, and offered me a hoof. I took it gratefully and followed her out.

"Come on Vill. Let's get out of here." I said with a sigh.

The pregnant mare continued to cower. "Please, don't make me go out there..."

Knives' clipped ear twitched right along with her right eye. She turned to me. "Can ye just drag her?"

"Okay, okay!" Vill hopped up, though I could tell she was still shaking. "I'm going..."

"Good. Now run for it!"

With that one shout from the striped unicorn, we all charged out from the rubble, Knives taking the lead and once more navigating by pipbuck.

Unsurprisingly, our mad dash for the storage area attracted the attention of damn near everypony in the vicinity. By the time we reached the end of the block, we had at least two dozen slavers chasing after us and screaming for our blood. By the end of the second, a swarm of slaves came screaming for theirs.

Without a word, Knives veered right and barreled through the door of a warehouse at the end of the street, slamming hard enough to dent it. She slammed it shut the second Vill and I ran in.

She was panting hard, and her face was dripping with sweat as she shoved a chair under the door.

"Stuff! Now!" She wheezed, rushing into the main room and frantically stuffing things into saddlebags that had been hanging on the armament-laden walls and junk-covered shelves.

"I'll go take a look and-"

"No time! We-" Her yell was interrupted by a wheezing gasp. "Just grab everything!"

She threw a few bags at me, and a few more at Vill, who was looking thoroughly confused and panicked. I only shrugged and did as I'd been told.

I had just spotted my pipbuck sitting amongst a pile of tools when I heard explosions from the entrance we'd come in through. I swept the tools and pipbuck into the bag and flew back to the two mares, who were already running towards the back exit. We forced the door open, just as the one in front blew inwards, releasing a stream of slaves fighting slavers into the warehouse.

“Fuck!” Knives gasped. I glanced back to see that the mass of equine bodies was now surging after us again. “Just keep goin’! Edge... Edge ay town is nae too far... far now.”

Vill screamed for the umpteenth time as she ran in front of us. I noted that she was surprisingly quick for a heavily pregnant mare.

“We gotta lose ‘em.” I said.

“Nae...” Knives wheezed. “Nae shit... Sherclop.”

With that, she levitated out her pipbuck and flicked through the menus, eventually she pulled out a large bunch of grenades.

She stopped in her tracks and. spun around.

“What are you doing?” I yelled.

She pulled the pin. On every single grenade. At once.

With a telekinetic kick, she sent them all flying into the horde of slavers, who immediately began to panic.

“Ru.. ru..." She took a deep, wheezy breath. "Just run!"

I couldn’t help but grin as I flew after her.

~~~~

“C’mere mea- oh fuck.”

The slaver’s head suddenly vanished as I fired the shotgun, flew back into the air and scanned the area.

“Alright, we’re clear.” I called out. “That’s the last one.”

“We-we’re safe?” Vill asked breathlessly.

I smirked. “Afraid of your own friends?”

She snorted.

“Yeah. We can stop running now.”

Knives said nothing. Instead, she stopped and dropped to her haunches, a hoof on her chest as she continued to gasp for air.

“Knives, are you okay?” I landed beside her and put a hoof on her shoulder.

“I... I...” Her words were punctuated with long wheezing gasps. “I’ve... never... run... that long... in my life...”

“Well you did pretty good. You won’t have to worry about that for a while.” I smiled.

“I... I can’t... I can’t breathe... fuck...” Her front legs gave out, and I barely managed to catch her. “Think I’m... I’m gonna faint...”

I grimaced. “Uh... alright... just... let’s just take a breather, alright?”

She nodded, and I gently put her on the ground.

Vill stood in the middle of the street, panting heavily but looking no worse for wear. “I never wanna do that again! I feel like my guts are about to bust open."

“Agreed.” Knives shakily stuck a hoof in the air for emphasis, before letting it flop back onto the ground..

I shrugged, and started to dig through one of my bags for my pipbuck. Apparently, they’d figured out how to get it off of me, but not put it on anypony else. I smirked as I quickly flipped the latch, fastening it around my leg, and let it boot up.

Knives continued to sit on the ground, her breathing gradually slowing down.

Vill took several boxes of food out of her own bags and hastily opened them up, examining their contents. She sniffed each of them and stuck her tongue out in disgust.

“We didn’t get any bad food, did we?” I asked.

“Goddesses Ah hope nae.” Knives sighed.

Vill didn’t reply. Instead, she grabbed two bottles out of her saddlebags, one ranch dressing and one hot sauce, and popped the corks.

She then stuffed the contents of several boxes into a larger one, and poured a good amount of both bottles into it.

Knives and I both stared in confusion as she gave the box a vigorous shake, opened it again, and stuffed her muzzle into it.

We continued to stare as she gorged herself on the bizarre concoction.

After a moment, she pulled her head back out of the box, wiped the gunk off her muzzle, and let out a satisfied sigh.

"What?" She said when she saw us staring at her. "What? I'm hungry, leave me alone."

Knives, still lying on the ground, shrugged. "Ye got any more ay that hot sauce?

The zebra tossed her a bottle, which Knives caught in her magic and guzzled it down.

"Oooookaaayyyy..." I said. Blinking the confusion away, I started tapping at the pipbuck's controls. "So... we're quite a way further from Bladesville now..."

Knives groaned. "How long?"

"Another day."

"That tells meh nothin'."

"Four days walk."

Both mares let out a long groan.

"My fetlocks hurt enough already!" Vill moaned. "Why did you have to take me with you?"

"Och, quit whinin'. We could ay shot ye." Knives' growl was made significantly less threatening when she wheezed immediately after. "Fuck, mah lungs."

"Well, can we at least get inside for a while?" The young zebra glanced around. "This place is making me nervous."

"Aye." With a grunt of effort, Knives forced herself to her shaking hooves, still coated with a sheen of sweat, and started stumbling towards a nearby apartment building. "Ah'd like tae get inside mahself. Och, goddesses... Ah need tae start excercisin'..."

"You don't already?" Vill asked, a look of surprise on her face. "I don't believe you. I mean, with those long, skinny legs and a sexy ass like that, there is no way you don't work out."

My eyes, of course, immediately went to Knives' backside, and despite my best efforts to pull them away, they just drifted right back.

The unicorn stopped and gave Vill an incredulous look. "Yer kiddin' meh."

"I am so fucking jealous of you." Vill rubbed her belly and pouted. "I gotta lug this around all the time."

Knives let out an irritated snort. "Well, at least ye didnae call meh a colt."

"Hey, tomcolts are hot!" Vill frowned. "I mean, I don't like mares or nothing, but tomcolts get all the stallions."

Knives rolled her eyes and started towards the apartment again. My eyes remained glued to her backside.

"By the way, has anyone ever told you that you're really tall for a zony?"

~~~~

“Shut up.”

“Oh, calm down Wretch. It’s not like a memory orb is just going to up and walk off, now is it?”

“I don’t know. I know next to nothing about it. He could only gave me a few vague images of it.” The pink mare growled.

“Well, then maybe you’ve already found it, and you just need to figure out what it is?” Xixixix smirked.

Wretch turned a death glare onto the zebra. Even though it wasn’t directed anywhere towards her, Green suddenly found herself terrified. Xixixix, however, only continued to smirk.

After a moment, Wretch growled again, and continued trotting through the mall. “l can’t beIieve you ropeD us into this.”

Green swallowed. “Um... I think we should help them, too...”

Wretch stopped again, and blinked at the filly.

“Uh... it’s... it’s just c-c-cuz they were so nice to me a-a-and I th-think I... uh... should do something for them?” Green swallowed again, and her ears went down behind her head.

“See? Even she wants to help them.” Xixixix put a foreleg around Wretch’s neck. “Come on. What harm could it do?”

The unicorn glared at the zebra. “Fine. But as soon as we’re done, we’re going out to Loss.”

Green smiled.

"Good! Let's go find a crazy." The stallion merrily trotted off, glancing around as he moved.

Wretch frowned. "Do you even know who we're looking for?"

"I do!" Green chirped. “She was this really big earth pony with a blue coat and a dark grey mane and these angry green eyes.”

“You mean like the one running at us and screaming?” Xixixix pointed. “Wow! That was easy!”

Green turned and shrieked as she caught sight of the mare in question charging towards her.

The filly barely managed to dodge with a flap of her wings, the mare continuing on despite Green's sudden disappearance and sending Xixixix spinning.

Wretch drew her shotgun, sending the nearby citizens of the Mall running for cover.

The earth pony spun around and narrowed her eyes at Green, whose own eyes widened in fear.

"You piece of shit." The mare snarled. "I almost had 'im. I coulda wrung his little neck if it weren't for you."

"Wow, you're crazy." Xixixix popped up behind her, resting his elbow on her back, and his chin on his hoof. "I've seen 'paths who're less crazy than you."

"What the-" she snarled again, and swiped at the zebra. "Get off me!"

Xixixix hopped away, landing on his back hooves with a flourish. He grinned at Wretch, who stared at him in confusion.

"You gonna shoot her or what?" The stallion asked.

The earth pony lunged at him, headbutting him in his exposed stomach and knocking the wind out of him. He was sent tumbling into a pile of crates.

Wretch fired, but the other mare only growled as the pellets hit, blood spraying from her new wound. She turned and fixed a malicious grin towards Wretch.

"And they say drugs are bad for you." She charged at Wretch, who fired several more ineffective shots before she received a vicious headbutt to the skull and collapsed to the ground, clutching her head in her forehooves.

The earth pony reared back onto her hind legs, preparing to stomp.

She stopped as a loud clang sounded against her skull. Blinking, she turned to see Green hovering in the air, holding a large metal trash can.

The filly grinned sheepishly. "Uh... I'm sorry.... Miss Backlash?"

The mare swiped at Green, who squeaked and blocked with the trash can. It was sent flying out of her hooves, and the pegasus was left holding only the lid.

Her assailant's grin grew even wider, and Green's eyes widened along with it.

The mare lunged.

Green swung the side of the lid into Backlash's face.

The older mare lunged again and once more took a lid to the face.

She snarled. "I'm gonna rip your fucking wings off, and then I'm gonna find that brat and wring his neck. Howzat sound? Fun, yeah?"

Green's swallowed. "S-stay away from m-my friend."

Backlash laughed. "What's a little shit like you gonna do?"

The hovering filly worked her jaw for a moment.

“Green, just run!” Wretch called out, her shotgun making several more holes in Backlash’s side, who roared and charged at the pink unicorn.

Green considered it.

She looked at the trash can lid in her front fetlocks.

Then her face lit up.

“IgottagogetsomethingI’llberightbackbutI’mnotleavingIswearI’llseeyouinaminutebye!”

With that, she flew off.

Xixixix coughed and shoved a crate off himself. “Wow. Longest sentence I’ve ever heard without a breath.”

“HELP ME YOU DUMBASS!” Wretch screamed as she tried to force Backlash back with the side of her shotgun.

“Alright, alright.” The zebra rolled his eyes. He turned to a nearby stallion who was cowering under a chair. “Mares. Can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em. Amiright?”

----
Footnote 1: Diamond Knives
Exp: 75%
~~~
Footnote 2: Zeed Kazdri
EXP: ???%
~~~
Footnote 3: Prism (Raid) Blitz
EXP: 42%
`
To-Do List:
Active Quest:
Raftwater.:
Get your shit and get out
-Completed
Other quests:
O’ Father, Where Art Thou?:
Infiltrate or assault the Bone Eaters’ base near Bladesville.
-Escape 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

Author's Notes:

One ay dese days, life... One ay dese days... Bam! Zoom! Straight ta da moon!

Still, at least it's here now. You can resume your happy lives knowing that this story has once again updated.

I know, I know. No need to thank me.

Thanks to Kkat for this wonderful sandbox I'm ruining with copious amounts of rubbish. Thanks to Matkingos for making sure that this doesn't suck as much as it could, and thanks to everyone who reads this.

In the words of Victor Borge, Threedles!