The doctor lead us to the watchtower near the entrance, the remaining one anyways. He stayed silent throughout the walk despite the amount of questions we asked him. It was very worrying indeed.

We got a good look of the wasteland up the watchtower. I looked and observed what I can see, slightly smiling at the view. The clouds were still there but I could see the faint sunlight passing through. Amethyst walked up next to me, looking through the window

“I...I don’t understand,” Her eyes scanned the vast horizon. “I was forbidden to go out the walls because of this?”

“You never saw the wasteland?” I asked her.

“The wasteland? Heard of it but never saw it…”Came her reply.

“But you live on a tower that can allow you to see such a view,” I told her, slightly confused. “And you’ve been here for a long time, right?”

“I wasn’t allowed to use the elevator outside the tower and there are barely any windows in that place…” She turned towards the doctor. “Is there a reason why I’m allowed to see the world now?”

“You were raised in a beautiful place, Amethyst. It was only right that we kept it that way for you when you’re here,” The doctor told her. “But me and Larynx knew we couldn’t keep the truth from you forever. I mean, it’s ridiculous for you to continue to live in a reality that has passed away.”

“A reality that has passed away?” Amethyst was even more confused now.

“The past, my dear…” The doctor answered. “But I’ll not talk about that for now, it can be quite complicated for you to understand. We shall focus on helping Eclipse, his friends may be in more danger than he thinks.”

I continued to look out the window, searching for something, “Doc, where are they? And how sure are you they are the group I’m looking for?”

“I just know, chap. Providing proof right now will be difficult,” I heard him hum for some time. “But...I believe a filly named Raindrops is one of the ponies you’re looking for?”

I quickly turned around to face him, “Tell me, Doctor, where are they?”

“Good, I got your attention. Don’t worry, you will get them back,” He then walked towards a locker and grabbed something. “Now put this on. Make sure to remove your Stable-Tec suit before putting it on, ok?”

I stared at the gear he gave me. The first thing I noticed is that it was made out of leather and had a hell lot of spikes, especially on the shoulder pads.

“What is...this supposed to be exactly?” I asked him while closely looking at the spikes.

“Just put it on and find out for yourself,” He answered, half-smirking. “Me and Amethyst will be...in another room while you change.”

He placed it on a nearby table and proceeded to go to the room next door with Amethyst in tow. As soon as I heard the door close, I continued to inspect the leather armor. It had a familiar look to it, as if I’ve seen it somewhere. I decided not to waste anytime and just get on with it. With a sigh, I reluctantly removed my Stable suit, though with difficulty as it was pretty attached to me(or maybe I was attached to it?).

“Hey, are you done?” I heard the doctor’s voice through the door.

“Wha-? I mean, no!” I yelled back, somewhat surprised. “Just, just stay there!”

“A-Are we talking to the same stallion?” He mockingly asked. “Because it seems you’re acting a bit...girly.”

“Hey, that’s not true!” I answered back, slightly embarrassed. “It’s been a long time since I’ve removed this...clothing, ok?”

“Ok, ok. Just hurry up there. You seem to be taking lot’s of time.”

I sighed and rolled my eyes, “You can admire yourself later,” I told myself. “Just gotta put on the leather armor first…”

After a few more minutes of trying to wear and adjusting the armor to my likings, I was looking at my reflection on the window. My new look was very intimidating, as if it was made to scare off or warn anyone of my appearance.The armor also looks pretty durable and it covered most of my body, as if it was made to survive most tough situations.

“A leather armor made to withstand the trials of the wastes…” I told myself. “With the looks to scare off most unwanted visitors…”

“An armor that serves as a reminder of who’s in charge in the Wasteland,” The Doctor finished, surprising me. “I’m surprised you made a fitting description for the thing you’re wearing. You know what it is?”

"It’s Raider Armor, isn’t it?” I replied, looking at the Doctor’s reflection on the window. “I’ve wore one once, ended up being shot...Though it wasn’t as protective as this one.”

“Ah, it’s because the armor you’re wearing belongs to a former friend of mine,” He explained. “His name is Longshot, one of the most feared raiders in the waste. He made it to suit his lifestyle.”

“You’re friends with a raider?” I asked him. “I find that pretty difficult to believe, especially since most of the ones I encountered wanted to kill me.”

“Look chap, not all raiders are despicable or rude or disgusting…” The Doctor sighed. “Some are just forced into that kind of living, like Longshot. You see, his family is...was living a terrible life. Food was hard to find and caps nearly impossible to earn.”

“So he became a raider since he had no other choice,” I concluded. “And since raiders raid others, he can get the necessities his family needs from other ponies…”

“Right, and he was determined too. Soon became one of the most feared Raiders out there,” He continued. “I met him some time ago and despite his intimidating look, he proved to be a nice guy. He doesn’t immediately fire his weapon and rarely kills to get what he wants. And when he does get something from someone...he makes sure to pay them back in a way, though that plan doesn’t always work.”

“What happened to him?” I suddenly asked. “Because I have a feeling this armor I’m wearing is his only armor.”

“He told me that he's tired of his raider life, that he wants to go back to his family once more,” I heard him sigh. The next words he spoke was filled with sorrow. “I accompanied him back home since he wanted to give me something. On the way, he told me that his glad to have a friend like me since most of his comrades soon betrayed him. He knows he had many enemies out there, waiting to kill him, and he doesn’t really have that much friends, maybe just three or four if I recall correctly.”

“We arrived to a grim sight...his house, or what’s left of it, was on fire. Outside was 2 smoking corpses of what was once his beloved uncle and aunt who stayed with him when they were kicked from the town they previously were in. Next to the corpses were guns...It was obvious they fought back. Then we heard screams from inside the still burning house. Longshot never hesitated, he just jumped into the flames to save whoever was still there…”

He closed his eyes, as if he was being pulled back to that exact memory. A tear streaked his face. He let out a sigh and shook his head.

“The whole place exploded just as soon as he entered the place. Just...Boom! I was thrown back by the force of the blast and got knocked out. When I came to, all I felt was pain. I struggled to get up and looked at what was once a house. Just debris everywhere…” He finished, wiping some of the tears of his eyes.

“Oh...I’m...I’m sorry to hear that,” I weakly told him. “But...But that doesn’t explain one thing.”

“The armor...It was a tough one. Even then, I found it somewhat broken...Found it on Longshot…” I then heard a loud thud and an angry shout. “They took her, those damn traitors! There was no one in that burning house, no one! Someone must have played a recording there to lure him in and then...Fuck!”

I was taken aback by the Doctor’s sudden use of profanity. I looked back to see him sitting down, face buried in his hooves.

“It’s a filly, isn’t it?” I slowly approached him.

“The most adorable one I ever met,” He replied. “She was the whole world to him and they took her…”

“This isn’t just about my group, isn’t it?” I asked him, slowly piecing together what information I had.

“No...but your group was the primary objective” He answered. “She would be the optional choice…”

“Optional? I don’t think so Doc, She’s now the secondary objective,” I told him. “I’ll find her, Doc, I promise you.”

“Don’t make any promises you can’t keep,” He replied as he stood back up. “Besides, she’s all grown up now...if she’s still alive.”

I took a step back and sighed, “What’s her name?”

“Chara...”

I nodded. “That’s all I needed. Where’s Amethyst?”

At the sound of her name, she stumbled in, wearing a dirty and torn dress. Her once clean coat and mane was also messy.

“What happened to you?” I asked her, bewildered.

“I...um...Don’t like the new look?” She asked with a sheepish smile.

“I love it.” I remarked sarcastically and looked at the Doctor. “Mind if you explain what’s going to happen?”

“You will bring Ms. Amethyst to a nearby raider town, where I tracked your group of friends. She will act like a captured slave, those folks there always have problems with fleeing slaves,” He told us. “I’m aware of the dangers you might face but I trust that you are good with a gun.”

“Wait, wait...I’m going outside the walls?” Amethyst asked him while nervously taking a glance out of the window. “Like, explore?”

“Not exactly explore, my dear. You're just going to assist Eclipse in getting in that town,” He told her. “Once we’re done with that, you’ll be staying once more inside these walls.”

“Oh,” She looked down, ears folded backwards.

“Anyways, once both of you are in, you need to find who you need as quick as possible. You need to lower your chances of getting hurt, or even worse, killed and I want all of you to return unscathed,” He then turned to face me, a serious look on his face. “If anything goes wrong, shoot. Do not hesitate.”

“I’ll pull the trigger if I have to, Doc,” I assured him.

“Good, ‘cause you’re going to need this,” He opened a drawer and placed a shotgun and a knife on top of the table. “You look like a raider, you act like one.”

Looking at the things the Doctor has placed on the table, a sudden thought crossed my mind. “What about my things? I can’t seem to find them.”

“They’re with Selena. We’ll return them to you once you’re done with all of this,” The Doc replied. “Now go, get out of here and find your friends. I marked the town on Amethyst’s map.”

I looked at Amethyst and she showed me her foreleg with a smile. I stared at it with a shocked expression. It was a PipBuck.

“So...got any idea where we’re supposed to be going?” I asked the trotting mare beside me.

“I...got no idea,” She answered softly. “I’m kinda getting used with this thing on my leg.”

“Are you kidding me?” I groaned and stopped walking. “Show me the device.”

She reluctantly showed me her PipBuck, weakly smiling. I easily accessed the map and looked for the tagged area. After a few minutes of looking, I determined that our destination was at least an hour walk to the north.

“Hey, mind if I ask you a question?” Amethyst asked as we walked.

“What is it?”

“What's your cutie mark?”

I stayed quiet for a few minutes, “Why do you want to know?”

“Uhm...just curious?” She replied with a slight hint of embarrassment in her tone.

“Just curious, huh?” I scoffed. “Tried looking?”

“L-Look?! I mean, no!” She yelled before realizing it was too loud. “I never...um...tried looking,”

“What about you? What’s your cutie mark?” I asked her. “I would have looked earlier but I’m not into looking at a mare’s flank.”

She gave me a weird look before answering, “Well, I’m not sure myself, what it means anyways. It looks like it’s related to music in a way, a G-clef maybe.”

“You must like to sing, your voice sounds beautiful, you know?” I complimented her.

“Why thank you, my dear friend. I do like to sing sometimes.” She smiled.

I smiled back and went back to looking around for the town. It wouldn’t be too far now. I was starting to get a bit worried, especially with the lack of any hostile encounters. If the small ones ain't here, then there’s a bigger threat.

“Hey Eclipse, what’s that?” Amethyst pointed to something running.

I squinted my eyes, “I’m not sure but it looks like...Is it headed towards our direction?!”

And it was. I quickly unholstered the shotgun and aimed, though it was a bit tricky holding it with my mouth. Amethyst looked ready to run, staying too close to me and taking at glances at the weapon.

“W-We don’t have to fight, right?” She shakily asked me.

“Mmmph hmpph mph,” I replied, still looking at the running creature. I finally got a closer look at it and nearly dropped the gun from my already shaking mouth.

It was a giant, furry monster with big and sharp claws. There was something strapped to it’s back and one of its eyes is shut tight. It did not stop, even if a weapon was aimed at it, it just kept on running. I fired once, the recoil caused my head to be knocked back and my mouth gave up holding it. The bullet missed it, not even hitting the ground close to the creature. Its movements slowed down and it looked like its hesitant in approaching us.

“Are you okay?” Amethyst asked me after seeing me fall on my rump from the recoil.

“I-I’m f-fine,” I stammered, still shaking. “W-What a-a-about it?”

She looked at the creature, which now fell on it’s fours and slowly walked towards us, “It’s still moving towards us, but slowly.”

I slowly reached for the weapon, thinking that I could get shoot it quick enough before it got to us but Amethyst stopped me, holding me back.

“Look, Eclipse, it looks hurt,” She told me. “And it doesn’t look like it wants to hurt us.”

“Y-You seem t-to be taking the W-Wasteland much m-more calmer than me,” I slowly got back up and noticed the creature has now stopped a few feets away from us.

It opened it’s mouth and a rough and deep sounding voice came out from it, “Longshot?”

“W-What…?” I looked at it with confusion. “Who...Who are you?”

It looked pained at what I said and stood up on it’s two feet, “Don’t you remember me? I’m Sebastian, you’re friend. You saved me from the ghouls, remember?”

I slowly looked at my armor and back at Sebastian, suddenly realizing who he thinks his talking.

“Sebastian...I’m sorry but I'm not Longshot,” I slowly told him.

He looked at me with disbelief, “You’re not...Longshot? But...he’s armor, you’re wearing...it…” His face was at first filled with confusion before turning into anger. He unstrapped the thing on his back and aimed it at me.

“What are you doing with his things!?” He growled. “You..You killed him…”

“No, I didn’t kill him!” I tried to tell him. “I was just give-”

“Liar!” He snarled. “You killed him and I’m going to-”

“He didn’t kill your friend!”

Me and Sebastian were surprised at the sudden interruption. Amethyst quickly went in front of me, effectively putting herself in danger.

“Who...are you?” The furry beast asked with a much more gentle tone this time.

“I am Amethyst, his companion, and I can guarantee he is innocent of your charges,” She firmly stated. He looked at her for a minute and lowered his weapon.

“You...you are good pony. I believe you,” He strapped his weapon and walked towards us.

“Y-Yeah...I believe so…” She weakly said before stumbling to my side.

“Amethyst, are you ok?” I worried asked her. Her face was very pale and she was leaning on me for support.

“Ok…? Oh, I’m feeling fantastic…” She answered, weakly giggling.

“I...I am sorry for my poor judgement,” Sebastian apologized, looking guilty. “I should have asked for your part of the story first.”

“It’s...okay. I guess you really wanted to meet him, huh?”

“It’s been a long time...What happened to him?”

“He...He died, trying to save someone. Turns out he fell into a trap.”

Sebastian sighed and looked up at the cloudy skies, “I should have come with him home. I kept telling him he was in danger but he never listened. Told me he's got another friend to come with him, told me that if he needed help, he’ll go look for me.”

The Doctor’s words echoed into my mind, “He doesn’t really have that much friends, maybe just three or four if I recall correctly.”

“So, how did you get ahold of his armor?” He asked me. “I am curious to how you got it.”

“A friend of his gave it to me to use. Probably the same friend Longshot was talking about to you before he died.” I answered.

He sadly nodded, “I see...What are you going to use it for? And what about your mare, what’s she doing out here?”

“I’m looking for my friends, one’s who were captured by raiders,” I answered him. “I’m acting as one bringing in a slave, which would be her.”

When I mentioned “friends” and “captured”, he didn’t look happy, “Friends...they’re like family out here. Good friends are like family, just like Longshot. I will help you get them back.”

“Sebastian, are you sure you want to help a stranger you just met?” I asked him, a bit doubtful.

“I am sure and willing for I know how it feels to have your friends taken away from you,” He answered determinedly. “Longshot...he would have done the same. What can I do for you?”

I thought for a moment and told him, “Once we arrived at the town, wait for us outside. Protect anyone that comes running out under heavy gunfire coming from the raiders, if possible.”

I also told him the description of each of my former group mates so he knows who and who not to shoot. Though he was bombarded by the amount words I said that may or may not get into his head, let alone, pass through his ears, he seemed to understand what I was telling him and nodded.

“Are we ready to go?” Sebastian asked me.

“I guess so, as long as Amethyst can walk on her own 4 legs,” I told him, nudging said mare to get her off me.

“5 more minutes…” she mumbled.

“Amethyst!”

Well, we finally arrived in the so called raider town, I had to check the map twice. What I saw was just one big building that’s close to collapsing and two ponies guarding the entrance.

“Who are you?” One of the guards pointed a gun at me.

“Are names really important around here?” I asked them.

“Better safe than sorry,” the other said. “Now, who are you?”

“Name’s Jack, buddy,” I answered. “Now will you kindly-”

“State your business here, Jack,” one of them shoved the gun close to my face.

If there was one good thing in the area, it was that they had good security.

“Slave selling…” I answered. “Is that enough?”

Woops...

“Slave selling?” one of them gave a doubtful look at the other. “Hey, Frank, when’s the last time boss ordered a slave?”

Frank shrugged, “I don’t really know, Bob. He doesn’t exactly tell me or anyone else around here.”

“Hey, maybe you should let us in then,” I butted in. “Before your boss gets angry, right?”

Frank once more aimed his gun at me, “And who said you could talk?”

“What? I thought I needed to talk-”

“Okay! That’s enough!” Bob motioned Frank to lower his gun. “You may enter but nothing bad should happen while you’re staying here, alright? Else, you’re dead to us.”

“Sure, sure,” I nodded slowly, “Just make sure it was me that did the problem before shooting me.”

I tugged on the rope connected to Amethyst’s collar (which was really weird but it seemed most slavers did this) and entered the building. As expected, there were some raiders around the area. What I did not expect was that they would suddenly block certain areas and stare at me with with a menacing smile. The feeling around the place was malevolent and I was starting to have second thoughts about this rescue mission.

“Boss is waitin for you up those stairs,” One of them said, sneering. “Just follow th’path and you’ll get t’him. You cans any of ‘em friends of mine if ye ever feel lost, hehe…”

I looked at the raider’s eyes and noticed something. A look of hatred and familiarity. It seems she hates me because she seemed to know me.

The look of betrayal and broken trust.

Me and Amethyst continued to walk the path to the raider’s boss. The feeling of dread at the pit of my stomach with every step I took. “Run! Run!” my mind kept on telling me, “Turn back now!”

“Eclipse...Is there something wrong with how I look?” Amethyst asked me. I looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

“Well, everyone’s looking at me with strange looks and I just thought…” she continued. I looked at the raiders looking at her and noticed something.

“Stay close to me, Amethyst,” I told her, wrapping my hoof around her neck and pulling her closer.

“Uh...Eclipse? Can you please ,loosen your grip on my neck?” she requested while looking at me with a questioning stare. “What’s wrong anyways?”

“It could be just me, or I just happen not to like the look the stallions here are giving you,” I answered while glaring at any males I see. They all just snickered when they caught me staring at them. “Just...trust me.”

“I trust you...but can you please stop choking me?” she asked again, this time nudging my hoof. I did so, but I still kept her close.

The smell of lavender drifted up my nose…

After what felt like hours, we finally reached a door. It was huge and it looked like it was made out of something very durable as there were barely any damage on it; A mighty guardian guarding something or someone important. One of the grunts pounded on the door with a specific rhythm. A few seconds later, it opened with a loud groan, as if it was never opened in ages.

“Well? What are ya waitin for? Git inside,” the one who knocked told us. When he saw us hesitating, he flashed a toothy grin, “Come on, git in. You want to meet the Big Boss, yea? Or do ye want some encouragement?”

Bang! He shot his pistol at the floor, the bullet lodging itself in the floor. That was enough encouragement for both of us to scurry through the door.

The room was dimly lit, the only light source coming from the boarded-up windows. Somewhere in the darkness, I could make out the outline of a table and a chair. A presence could be felt somewhere nearby.

“Ah...Visitors,” a voice spoke out from the dark. Slowly, two red, glowing eyes appeared somewhere behind the table. “And oh, what a surprise...an old friend!”

“What do you want…?” I asked him, not taking my eyes off his.

“What do I want…?” he chuckled and leaned closer, the features of his face becoming more visible. “Nothing more than to see you again…”

Amethyst gasped as I stared in shock at his face; Half of it looked burned and it seemed it wasn’t too long ago as the wounds weren’t fully healed, a psychotic smile was plastered on his face, and his mane was a mess, giving the sense of a crazed lunatic.

“My, don’t you know it’s rude to look at someone like there’s something wrong with their face?” his smile even grew wider.

We slowly backed away from him before the door blocked us. A deranged laughter echoed throughout the room.

“Scared, are you? You should be because you’re the one that made me look like this!” he yelled, leaning closer. He pointed at his burnt face and continued, “Remember this, Longshot? Remember the ‘surprise’ you set up for me? Well, I gotta say, it was a BANG! HEE HEE HEE.”

He started poking at it while laughing crazily. Amethyst whimpered and looked away while I was stunned. The feeling to kill him right there and then suddenly overwhelmed me.

He suddenly stopped laughing and clicked his tongue, “Do you think I make things easy around here?” He proceeded to reach for something below his desk and the floor area beneath us suddenly disappeared. Before we fell into the black pit, my shotgun fired, missing him barely. He laughed as we plummeted down, his voice slowly fading away.

Back into the void…

We both screamed as we fell, fearing when we will hit the ground. Quickly thinking, I managed to use the PipBucks light to illuminate our surroundings. We were just a ball of light in the middle of the darkness.

A memory crossed my mind.

I desperately tried to reach for Amethyst, who seemed so far away from me. I needed to get her, to reach her, I had a feeling the ground wasn’t too far now. After a few struggles, I managed get closer to her.

“Amethyst, reach for me!” I yelled. I looked down and my blood ran cold.

A flash of blue.

I landed hard on my back with loud crack. I panicked for a moment, fearing for Amethyst safety. That is, until I realized she was on top of me, my forelegs wrapped around her midsection. What made me sure of her survival was the rise and fall of her chest.

“Are you alright, Amethyst?” I weakly asked her.

“Te...terrified, but...I think I’m okay,” she replied. I sighed in relief.

“I-I heard a crack...are you alright?” She asked me this time.

The adrenaline that have coursed through my blood must have numbed the pain but I knew I was far from alright. My breathing was erratic, it was hard to move, and there was a metallic taste in my mouth.

“I’m fine, but can you get off me please? It’s kinda hard to breathe.”

“I’d rather let you hold me for a few seconds…please?”

We both chuckled and I agreed to those few seconds. The adrenaline may have gone, the pain slowly intensifying, but the lavender smell calmed me down and it kept me from thinking too much about the pain.

True to her word, Amethyst rolled off me after a few seconds. She could have done it a bit slowly, the action causing me some pain, but I kept my mouth shut and suppressed the sounds of pain.

“Wh-Where are we?” I gasped, trying to breath normally. The area was suddenly flooded by a lavender-colored light.

“It seems...we are in a prison cell or something like that,” Amethyst answered as she looked around. We were in a small room with iron bars separating us from what I assumed was a walkway and more cells.

The beeping sound of my PipBuck got my attention. As painless as possible, I checked the screen. It confirmed my suspicion; my body wasn’t doing so well.

“Say...did you touch the shotgun?” I asked, remembering it suddenly going bang.

“N-No, a dark blue light just suddenly enveloped it and then fired,” she replied. “It kinda freaked me out, since the stallion wasn’t a unicorn so I have no idea who did it.”

“Guh...Well, we need to find a way out of this place,” I forced myself to stand up despite the sharp pain the continuously shot through my body.

“Eclipse, are you sure you’re alright?” She looked at me worriedly.

“I’m fine-” A bit of blood forced itself out of my mouth. This is bad, I thought to myself as I looked at the small amount of blood splattered on the floor.

The smell of copper lingers in the air.

“Eclipse! You’re not okay, we have to-”

“Find a way out. We have to find a way out.”

I leaned against a wall, trying to normalize ny breathing. I pointed at the iron bars, “Check if there’s a door somewhere there. It might seem like more bars but if you look closely, you’ll see hinges.”

Amethyst gave me a worried look but followed what I said anyways. Meanwhile, I was thinking ways of getting out alive, getting Amethyst out of this place alive.

“I found a door!” Amethyst quickly told me. “But it’s locked with chains and a padlock.”

I weakly nodded, “Do you have bobby pins? A screwdriver even?”

“Uh…” she checked the pockets of her dress. “Yes, yes I do!”

“I’m going to assume that you know how to picklock. So, picklock the padlock,” I told her. Damn, that’s a lot of locks.

“I’ll try...but it might take a while…”

She got to work on the lock, taking her time to avoid any mistakes. I would have used the shotgun to blast through the chains if it wasn’t in two pieces. It crossed my mind that the loud crack was from the weapon when I landed on it.

“You didn’t have to do that…” Amethyst said as she worked.

“Did what?” I asked.

“Cushioned my fall, you didn’t have to do that.”

“Amethyst, you would have died if I didn’t do that.”

“But how about you? You’re hurt…”

I sighed, “Whether I used my body to save you or not, the fall wouldn’t kill me. Look at me, look at all the metal on my body.”

Click.

“I did it! The door’s unlocked!” She excitedly told me.

“Great, now open it to make sure.”

The door creaked loudly as it was opened. It was loud enough to alert anyone nearby. I gulped and gestured Amethyst to back away from the door.

The sound of iron being hit echoed.

“Come back here ya little twat! Ah know yer there so come out and face me like a real stallion!”

It was a mare’s voice.

“Garshdangit, stop banging the bars. He won’t come, he made that clear.”

Followed by a stallion’s.

Amethyst looked at me, “What do we do now?”

“We check where those voices came from,” I replied.

"Are you sure? What if..?”

“Trust me, nothing bad will happen to us when we look for them, yeah?”

Amethyst nodded and took a deep breath. With a grunt, I got off from the wall and slowly walked out the cell, followed by Amethyst to light the way. We followed the sound of metal which, surprisingly, is still being heard.

"Hey! Light, ah could see light!”

“Huh? What do you…”

“LIGHT!”

Pretty soon, we reached the area where the sound was coming from. It was also a cell but it was pitch dark in the inside despite the light. I decided to lean in closer to the cells, peering in between the bars to see if there’s was even anyone in there.

“Take this, ya knucklehead!”

Coming out from the darkness was a white hoof, zooming in closer to my face so fast that I failed to react in time before it hit me. The force was tremendous and I was knocked off a few feet away when it connected with my snout. Amethyst yelped in surprise and backed away from the bars before looking at me worriedly.

I was a bloody mess.

I could hear laughter as the darkness slowly receded, allowing the light to take its place. The light revealed two ponies, a mare who looked pretty satisfied with herself and a stallion who seemed annoyed at his companion. Both faces suddenly turned into shock and regret when they saw me.

“Eclipse?! What the fuck are ya doing here?!”

I wiped the blood off my snout and struggled to get back on my four legs, glaring both of them. The mare let out a small squeak.

“Next time both of you gets captured, you’re on your own…” I growled.

I looked for the door and found it was also locked with chains and a padlock. Having no time to pick it, I raised my forehoof and struck the lock with it, the sound of mechanical clicking can be barely heard.

The padlock broke and the door was open. I got tackled to the ground by the same mare I’ve meet maybe a week before.

“Oh sweet Celestia, what the fuck happened to you?!” She proceeded to kiss me in the forehead several times before tightly squeezing me. “And what the hell are ya wearing..that?! We talked about this, we wouldn’ be wearing any of those.”

Her male companion walked to the side of Amethyst, staring at us with an amused look. Amethyst, on the other hoof, looked at us with her mouth agape.

This was the softest side of her I have ever seen so far.

“C-Can you please stop squeezing me?” I tried squirming out of her grip. “I-I can’t breathe…”

Her grip loosened enough to allow me to breathe normally again, “You’re alive...Ah can’t believe it, yer really alive!”

“I don’t think I’ll be alive if you don’t stop this...drama,” I mumbled. “Hey, is it just the two of you down here? Where are the others?”

“They had a better chance of escaping than us, since they had more gun power than them,” the stallion answered. “We were just outnumbered and we know if they manage to surround us, all of us will be here.”

“So the both of us decided to distract most of the raiders while we let the others get away…” the mare continued, “As far as we saw between both you and Raindrops, you really cared about her. We figured you’d at least want her safe, along with that Sweetie Bot.” She squeezed me again.

The stallion nodded, “One of them will check us out pretty soon. To make sure that we’re still here...and to...Sweet Celestia, we need to get her out of here too.”

The mare finally let me go and looked at her companion, “Ya think we can all make it out of here alive?”

“As long as we make it quick.”

Again, I struggled to get up again except this time, I had some magical help from the mare.

“Wait, who’s her?” I asked them.

“Some mare a few cells away, poor girl. One of the goons here would come down and have his way with her,” the stallion pointed the opposite direction of where we came from. “She is not going to last here long if they continue to torment her.”

“Okay then, me and Amethyst will get here while you two stay here and watch out for any raiders,” I told them as I slowly walked towards the direction the stallion pointed.

“Sure thing, Eclipse,” the stallion looked at me and smiled. “Just hurry up, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Tugging on the rope which was still connected on Amethyst’s collar, we both quickly checked each cell we passed by for any mare. By the Doc’s description of this place and the raiders, I expected a lot more life in the dark place. Instead, we found the remains of what used to be living things in most cells we passed by. It suddenly occurred to me that I had no idea who I was looking for.

A name, I needed a name.

Feeling desperate to find our damsel in distress, I yelled out the last name I heard from another pony’s mouth.

“Chara!”

Somewhere, in the darkness, I heard a whimper.

Scared, alone, helpless. Orphaned at a young age and no one to help her.

I managed to locate where the whimper came from. A cell so small and dirty, so filled with filth and stains, that it makes the other cells look comfortable. Cautiously this time, I looked through the bars. With a messy mane, dirty coat, and frightened eyes, the mare cowered before us.

“D-Don’t...p-please…” she slowly backed away from the bars. Frightened eyes looked at us, studied us.

“It’s okay, we’re here to help,” Amethyst assured her. The mare cautiously looked at her.

“She’s right, we aren’t here to hurt you,” I told her. “Don’t be afraid of us.”

She continued to look at both of us, not sure if she could trust these two strangers or not. Meanwhile, I looked closer at the bars, looking for the same old bar door. Rusted bars, rusted bars, rusted bars, no door. I began to frantically search for a way in.

I noticed the mare looking at me intensely. As if she’s trying to recognize me. And then she spoke, a word that always caught me off-guard.

“Father?”

Eyes caught the shine of a metal. A door. Inside.

“Amethyst, can you enclose her in a protective magic bubble?” I asked her.

“I-I think. Larynx taught me how to do it before,” she replied, tilting her head in confusion. “Why?”

“Just do it, I’ve got an idea,” I simply replied. I looked at who I presumed to be Chara, “Do you trust us to get you out of here? Trust me?”

She nodded.

Play the part.

“Everything will be okay, Chara,” I assured her once more and turned to Amethyst, “Now.”

The bars seemed weak enough to be broken through with all the rust it accumulated throughout the years. With some mechanical clicks and determined mind, I managed to break through two bars, creating enough space for a pony to get in or out the cell. As I expected, the bars were sent flying towards to Chara. There wasn’t enough space for her to move out of the way but the protective bubble served its job perfectly. Both bars bounced off the lavender colored sphere and landed on the floor with a clang.

“Wow…” Amethyst looked at the places the bars used to be. “Earth ponies are much stronger than they say..,”

Released, Chara tightly wrapped her forelegs around my neck. For a moment, I felt a connection with her. For a moment, I genuinely believed she was my daughter. I returned the embrace and sighed in relief, we can finally leave.

After a few moments, we let go of each other. I noticed she was teary-eyed. After so many years of being stuck here and being separated from her father, she must be really happy to be out if this place and as a bonus, see her father again.

Longshot and I must really look alike.

“There’s a door inside your cell, we can use that to our advantage,” I told them. “Now all we have to do is call for the-”

“What’s taking y’all so long?” Jewel walked into the light.

“If we’re going to get out, we’re going to have to get out now,” Autumn followed. “One of them will be coming down here soon.”

I pointed at the door, “Through there. It’s the closest exit so far.”

“Okay, everyone quickly...wait, what happened to those-”

A door creaked at somewhere far from us. Amethyst quickly put out her light and we all held our breath. The sound of footsteps followed; someone else was definitely in the room. I walked as fast as possible while being quiet to the door and checked it. It was locked.

“All of you, come here now,” I whispered to them. The faint light of my PipBuck showed where I was.

As soon as I know they were all inside the cell, I steeled myself and kicked the door as hard as possible. The sound of metal hitting hardly at another metal echoed loudly. The door didn’t budge.

I cursed at myself and kicked again. And again. And again. We could now hear someone quickly walking to our area. I tried one more time and gave up, the door just wouldn’t budge.

Coming up with one more idea, I gestured everyone to go to the sides. Whoever was coming was close now, the sound of footsteps getting louder by the second. I readied myself and waited.

A raider appeared and looked at the cell. I immediately acted.

Forehooves on the ground, using it to launch myself into the wall behind me. Hindlegs on the wall, using it to launch myself towards the raider. Once on the raider, I delivered a swift but hard blow to his face, knocking him out instantly.

Jewel whistled as she lit up the place again, “Nice move you got there, bro. Where’d ya learn that?”

“Got no idea,” I replied as I got back on my hooves. I noticed a handgun on the side of the raider and grabbed it, throwing it at Jewel, who caught it with her magic.

“There’ll be more here soon once they notice how long he’s taking to come back,” Autumn said, looking at the unconscious body. “So going to where he came from is out of the question.”

“This handgun doesn’t seem to be the best to fight them and we also have limited ammo,” Jewel sighed, “So what now?”

I walked back towards the metal door, “This door hasn’t received any attention yet from the outside so I can assume that there are hardly any raiders in this side.”

“But it’s locked and you can’t kick it open,” Amethyst pointed out.

Firmly planting my forehooves on the ground, I gave the door a weak kick, “Oh I can, I’m just testing it. Besides, what other choices do we have?”

Taking a deep breath and hoping for the best, I reared up my hind legs and kicked the door with everything I got. I felt the door and for a moment, I thought it wa really stuck. Then the door finally swung open. It revealed a staircase going up.

Another surge of pain coursed through my body and more blood forced itself out of my mouth. Everyone looked at me with a horrified look, worried about me.

“Let’s move before another one of them appears!” I yelled at them. We were running out of time to escape.

“But-”

“Go!”

Jewel went up first as she had the gun. She was followed by Autumn, then Chara, and finally Amethyst. One last worried look at me before following the others. I coughed out a few more specks of blood and took a deep breath. I closed the door on my way out.

No gunshots so far, no battle cries heard yet. Just the sound of us walking up the stairs. I strained my ears to listen for any incoming raiders, some dialogue, a yell, but nothing. It was deathly silent.

This couldn’t be right, I thought to myself, The guard should be awake by now and looking for us.

I could also notice that Autumn is looking around, his ears twitching.

“I could see another door in front of us,” Jewel informed us, her voice low enough that only we(I assume) can hear it.

“Stop, let me go first,” I quickly walked passed by them until I was in front of Jewel. The door was a few inches away from my face. “Make sure you’re ready to shoot once I open this door.”

The door looked liked it was made out of wood. It could have been a beautiful door back then but now, it’s just a rotten piece of wood. I gently placed a hoof on the door and pushed it a bit. It moved with little resistance, squeaking softly as it did.

No reaction from the other side.

Steeling myself, I barged open the door and immediately stood still. I blinked once, twice, the amount of guns aimed at me stayed constant.

“Well, well, well, look what we got here,” a voice from the back spoke out with a mocking tone. “Surely you didn’t think that your escape would be easy now, did ya?”

I looked back and shook my head. Stay low, I try to tell them (telepathically), Just stay low and don’t move. Whether they actually knew what I doing or not, they seemed to understand what I was trying to say by looking at me.

“Hey now, the spotlight’s on me, not those dirty...ponies behind you,” the voice called out again, making me turn back to the mob before us. I took a deep breath and tried to think witty things.

“Yeah, yeah, what d’ya want now?” I mockingly asked. “Wait, could it be? You want my autograph?”

Most of them gave me a confused look, some chuckled, and I found myself standing face to face with the two-faced stallion. He gave me grin, a not-so-good grin.

“After all this years, you still have that smart-ass attitude.”

It was at this moment, I felt I was a different pony. I felt unusually calm despite the guns aimed at me. Words slowly formed in my mind and I said it with hesitation.

Maybe if you succeeded blowing me up, then instead of a smart-ass attitude, I’ll be giving you the silent treatment.”

The stallion smirked and shook his head. He faced his fellow raiders and said, “Can you believe this guy? Acting tough even though we all know he’s terrified of us deep down?”

Then he looked back at me, his face twisted in anger. Suddenly, a pistol was placed firmly at my head, the angry red aura surrounding it slightly burning me.

“Well friend, looks like thus is where you finally drop for good,” he sneered.

I heard a gasp and a growl behind me. I quickly closed the door with a back hoof, I had no intentions of getting them killed too.

“You think you can still save them?” He mockingly asked, “Once I’m done with you, I’ll have my fun with the rest...especially with those three mares.”

The ground slowly started to rumble. The raiders looked down in confusion while I let out a sigh.

About time.

Two raiders were suddenly dragged down into the ground, the sound of manly screams and bones being crushed followed. The rest panicked and backed away from the hole that formed. Two-Face also got distracted and looked behind him, lowering his guard. I took this chance seize control of the weapon that was t be my end and punched him a good few meters away.

Everyone else is now in a panic, torn whether to watch what come out of the hole or shoot at me. Sometimes, being dumb has their perks. To me, that is.

“W-What?! How did you-?” the shocked stallion looked at me in fear.

“Seize control of what was to be my demise? Magic,” I answered, feeling a smile creep into my face. “Though I understand why you’re confused.”

“I-Impossible!” He yelled out, “My magic is supreme! No one else can surpass my magical exper-”

A click and his face paled. The sudden turn of events left everyone in the room paralyzed.

What’s mine is yours.

“W-We can negotiate something! Tell me what you want and I’ll see what I can do!” The stallion desperately pleaded with me. His eyes looked at me and at the gun in quick succession.

“At least you have some common sense in that thick, egotistic skull of yours, eh?” The gun’s muzzle tapped his forehead. “What I want is simple.”

“W-What is it?”

“Let me and my friends go and never bother us again, yeah? Sounds simple enough, no?”

He hastily nodded his head and gestured his men to lower their guns. They did it reluctantly and most went to observe the large hole in their floor and the remains of their friends. Satisfied, I did one last warning tap on his forehead and turned around to get the others.

The door. Where’s the door?

“Even after all this years, you haven’t learned a thing about me. My magic is supreme.”

A strange sensation overwhelmed my body and I was suddenly lifted off the ground. The pistol, which I had complete control over it, has disappeared to Luna knows where.

“You aren’t a unicorn, are you? You’re mane may be big and messy enough to cover a horn but it only takes the touch of another unicorn’s magic to know…”

He turned me around and brought me closer until all I see is his terrible half-burnt face. Eyes that showed triumph, a smile that showed cockiness, and the fact he had barely any mane to cover his head made me question something.

“Where’s your horn?”

His smile turned into a scowl and he proceeded to slam me on the floor.

“Let’s just say a certain stallion thought thar cutting off a unicorn’s horn will make said unicorn not able to do normal unicorn things,” he answered as he continued to force me down on the floor.

“H-How…?” It was getting harder to breath each second.

“He was right on that thinking though, but he failed to realize that some unicorn are expertly trained with their magic and how to release in other ways other than the horn,” he explained, using an exaggerated tone. “Like me, for example.”

He proceeded to wipe me on the floor, the pressure never staying the same. I knew I’ll pass out soon if I can’t get out of his grip. In the nick of time, the ground shook once more. I felt the magical grip on me weaken as it’s user is distracted by the shaking.

And the ground next to the stallion erupted, sending out a cloud of dust and dirt into the air. As soon as the dust has cleared off, it revealed a pretty angry dog-looking creature. Sebastian was finally here.

Then another unexpected action happened. The sound of bullets being fired can be heard somewhere not within the room. Three green streaks of light shot out of the wall, striking a nearby raider in the torso; his death was quick. This was followed by a rectangular piece of the wall, where the lights came from, being ripped apart and then crushed together to form a really small ball.

What followed was the chaotic music of war. Bullets sprayed and either hit the wall, floor, or a body. The sound of sharp claws tearing into raiders, their screams loud and agonizing. The whimpers and cries of two mares, ones who doesn’t understand what’s happening and is too terrified to react. The stallion seemed to be getting angrier by the second as he watches the chaos happen.

“I am DONE with bullshit,” the stallion yelled out. He suddenly lifted me up into the air.

“Hey! Put me down!” I pathetically waved my limbs in an attempt to escape. As quick as it started, the fighting stopped. Five eyes were on me and it was making me uncomfortable.

“To all of you scums who thinks they can fight back against us, you’re wrong,” the stallion said in a booming voice. “Look at your saviour, powerless before us, before ME.”

“Now, I will show all of you scums what happens when you mess with me.”

A sharp pain radiated from my abdomen to the rest of my body. I can feel something sharp enter my body from the back. My body violently lurched backwards in pain. Blood begins to fill my mouth, the taste sickening.

I forced myself to look down and see what had entered through my back had exited from my stomach area. It was a metal pole, with its tip sharpened. It was quite fascinating actually to see this, at the same time, dreadful. I have been pierced with a sharp metal pole and also suffering from blood lose.

My vision blurred and I was feeling weak. I slowly looked around to find for them, the one I had cared enough to rescue. Their looks of shock and disbelief makes me feel guilty for letting them see them, their tears stabbing me again, this time in the heart. Yet I continue to look for somepony, a face I yearned to see one more time.