“Wow, you fuss about the littlest of things huh?” Jewel asked me. “Why, never had anyone to call you a little bro?”

“I...I don’t know…,” I replied.

“You don’t know?” Jewel looked at me with confusion. “What do ya mean?”

“What else does it mean? I just...don’t know, ok?” I repeated.

“You’re saying you’re not sure if you have a older sibling?” She asked me.

“That’s what I’ve been saying,” I answered. “Is there anything wrong about that?”

“Is there anything wrong about that? Of course there is!” She said. “Technically, you’re saying that you don’t have a family...or you’re an only child.”

“I never said anything!” I quickly said.

“Then who are your parents?” She asked me. “Who are your siblings?”

I was about to answer but then I can’t remember any names. Everything’s so fuzzy that I can vaguely remember anyone’s face.

“Who?” Jewel repeated.

“I-I don’t want to answer!” I snapped. Jewel took a step back in surprise.

“Whoa, uhm,” She softened the way she spoke. “Sorry for asking.”

I shook my head and took a shaky breath. I can’t believe that I can barely remember anything. What’s wrong with me?

“It’s...It’s fine,” I told her. “Now, why did you call me…?”

“I dunno, I thought it would be obvious but since you...don’t...uhm…,” She nervously looked away. “You just remind me of mine, that’s all. Both of you talk too much and ask a hell lot of question.”

“Oh, then where’s your brother now?” I asked her.

“M-Mine?” She said with a shaky voice. For a second, it looks like she was about to tear up. She quickly shook her head and gave me a mad look.

"It’s fair I don’t say anything with you about my family,” She told me angrily. “It’s something personal and I’m not-”

“Ok! I get it,” I quickly said, taking a step backwards. “We don’t have to talk about our families. Let’s just continue walking, shall we?”

She sighed and replied, “Yeah, let’s just go. I...I’m sorry.”

We both continued walking in silence. Though the silence was a bit annoying, it did allow me to think properly. I noticed the lack of any other hostiles encounters, maybe because of luck or Jewel’s chosen path to Manehattan. I heard another click from my PipBuck and decided to check it.

“Hey, wait a minute,” I told Jewel as I stopped to look at the screen.

“Hmm? What is it?” Jewel asked as she walked towards me to get a glimpse of the screen

"Actually, I’m not sure. Right now, it just informed me of a...radio broadcast," I explained to her.

"How interesting," She said, sarcastically. “What’s more fun than listening to radio? Hmm, totally not going to Manehattan.”

I just shook my head and rolled my eyes. She was really intent in getting to this city. Before we could continue though, I heard the flapping of wings and the shadows of 2 creatures.

"Hey, what the?" I muttered, looking up to see 2 griffins flying above us. Jewel looked up to and immediately, her eyes widened in surprise.

"Eclipse, we better run...NOW!" She ordered me, still looking at the griffins. I was about to ask her when bullets started firing. We quickly bolted, running as fast as possible to get away from them. I looked behind me and noticed that they were wielding assault rifles.

"What the hell do they want?!" I yelled out.

"They're mercenaries, genius," Jewel replied, taking out her shotgun. “Dangit, and I think they’re here for me.”

"WHAT?!" I exclaimed. Jewel quickly stopped running and aimed her weapon at the griffins, though I don’t think a shotgun would do anything against the griffins based on how far they are from us.

"Look, it’s not uncommon out here in the wasteland to be targeted by some mercs because someone else wants them dead," She explained as she fired, though the bullets barely reached them. “I might just be one of those ponies who apparently got wanted for some reason.”

She continued firing but she’s just wasting bullets. I noticed that the griffins did not do any better. They were firing their guns but they always seem to miss. And by the amount of times they hit their guns just to make it work means that they really need better weapons.

"Listen to me, I'll distract them and you fire. Your gun looks like it's modified for a long range shot, even if it's just a pistol.” Jewel told me. “I can’t continue shooting at them because I’m just wasting ammo. By the time I wasted all of it, they could swoop in and kill us both, got it?”

I nodded and took out my revolver. Taking aim at the busy griffins, I made sure my gun wasn’t shaking and fired. Naturally, I missed the shot and I mentally hit myself. One of the griffins noticed me and averted its aim at me. I fired again and luckily, the bullet struck the wing of the griffin.. The wounded griffin started falling down but then it opened its wings and started to glide towards me, a trail of blood slowly leaking out from the wound. When it got closer, I noticed that there were sharp, metal blades on it.

"Get out of the way!" Jewel quickly ordered me.

I immediately ducked, the sharp blades narrowly missing my head. Jewel quickly aimed her shotgun to my attacker and quickly killed it before it had a chance to get away, the corpse landing a few meters from us. The remaining threat quickly retreated, finally leaving us in peace.

"You really need to improve your aim, bro." Jewel remarked, walking towards the dead body of the griffin. I followed her and nearly gagged.

The scene was really disgusting, the griffin was losing a big chunk of its head and brain, there was a lot of blood starting to pool around the body, and it smelled like someone who died...oh wait.

“I can’t believe that we...YOU are…,” I was interrupted by the bile going up my throat. I swallowed it and gagged once more. “Damn, like killing wasn’t enough, you have to check out what’s left of the corpse.

"Quit your whinin, it’s a necessity in the wasteland. Sheesh,” She said, annoyed. “Now let's see what we can get from this punk."

Jewel started looking at the bags of the corpse before looking at the weapon that is right next to it. Jewel threw it at me, hitting me at the head and it landed on the ground.

"Ow!" I rubbed my head while looking at the weapon that lies near my legs. It was a sniper rifle, with a broken scope and it's condition was way beyond horrible. How it still works, I have no idea.

"What was that for?!" I threw it back at Jewel. She caught it with her magic before putting it down.

"Chill a bit will ya? Since this weapon's completely useless, we can just leave it here. But let's just continue with our journey before any more distractions ruin my day,” She simply answered. I just groaned in annoyance and we continued walking, but not before I kicked the weapon once more.

We reached a town, but it wasn't Manehattan. It seems to be abandoned, as their was no signs of life in the area.

"Ooh, look at this place!" Jewel exclaimed, her eyes darting from ruined building to ruined building. "Let's explore it, shall we?"

"I thought we were supposed to go to the big city without any distractions." I said,rolling my eyes, not excited or anything. Right now, I just want to finish this trip as quick as possible.

"This ain't a distraction, this place is just an obstacle. Besides, we might find something useful here if we scavenge hard enough." She quickly said. "Ok, here's the plan. We split up so we can cover more ground faster. Once we're down, we meet here again. Got it?"

I sighed and nodded. Jewel patted my back and told me to start going. Before I can say anything, she quickly went to the left half of the town. Realizing I had no other choices, I explored the right half of the place. I had no intention going into the rotting building so I just walked along the path. I checked how many bullets I have left, counting up to 14 before reaching a bunch of empty cases.

"Ugh...great." I muttered to myself, recounting again to make sure I did not make a mistake. The silence was very unnerving until I heard a sound behind me.

"Jewel?" I looked behind me to see nothing. I just shook my head and just thought I was hearing things. I continued walking until I reached a huge building. There was a terrace on front of it and I noticed some movements on the shadows that were casted upon it. I was about to call out when I heard a gun being cocked behind me and a voice.

"Look what we have here." A raspy voice said. “Another lost little lamb...and with good stuff on it too.”

I turned around to see a raider with what looked like to be a saddlebag with guns. There was also a handle that connected to it in front of him. I stood there frozen, staring into the eyes of the raider. He laughed, knowing that he caught me unprepared. But before he or I could move, a laser hit the raider, turning it into a pile of pink ash, the saddlegunthingy falling down with a thud. I looked at where the laser originated and saw a pegasus at the balcony of the huge building. He was wearing a coat and was wielding a laser rifle. He quickly pointed at me.

"Hey you, pony with the weird stuff. You see that battle saddle near ya? Get it now!"He told me. I went to where the pile of ashes were and put on the battle saddle with little hesitation, well, after deciding what to do with my saddlebag, which was small, and made some space though it was uncomfortable. I was done, I looked back at the pegasus.

"Great, you're armed now. There's a family up here and we're trapped! We could really use your help. We can't hold out any longer. Quickly, go inside!" He ordered before going back in the building. Hearing the desperation in his voice, I rushed to the entrance of the place.

Inside the place was a warzone. There were a lot more raiders firing at some armed ponies at the higher levels of the building. I walked among the shadows, undetected, and looked for cover. From where I was, I could barely see the same pegasus firing back at the raiders. Having no knowledge with using a battle saddle, I instead took out my revolver and aimed at the closest pony near me. The raider fell down, dead, and the others noticed me and started firing at me. The pegasus also noticed me and started shouting some instructions.

"Don't use the revolver! Bite the handle and pull back!" He instructed me. “And make sure to aim!”

Following what he was saying, I kept the pistol and used the battle saddle. Biting the handle and pulling back, a barrage of bullets fired and I had to balance myself to avoid falling down from the recoil. The raiders immediately ducked, though some were unlucky and got hit. Soon, the gun stopped firing and they started shooting back at me.

"Reload, push the handle to reload!" The pegasus shouted before getting shot in the wing.

I quickly followed what he said and this time, I took aim more carefully and fired. The battle saddle was much easier to use than the revolver and I had an easy time dispatching what's left of the raiders. The gun barrel was already very warm when I stopped once I sure that there were no more hostiles. I looked up to see the pegasus weakly grinning before he spoke.

"Ah, great work! Hey, you, mind if you get that box over there? We really need it." He requested, pointed to a yellow-colored box with 3 butterfly marks. It somehow reminded me of somepony but I can't really get a name in my head. I walked over it and grabbed it and worked my way up until I reached the same level of the pegasus.

"Thanks a lot, we would have died if you did not arrive to help is." The pegasus thanked me before getting the box."By the way, I'm Autumn Wind."

"I'm...Eclipse." I told him, a little reluctant. He nodded and went inside a room. I followed him and saw 3 ponies that are armed, 2 foals and 4 more ponies. He opened the box, which contained what look like to be some healing potions, and gave the armed ponies some before drinking one himself.

"Hey, those raiders were easy to beat. How come you guys are still trapped here?" I asked, looking at the small group.

"Heh, you’ve got a point," Autumn chuckled before looking at me and then at the battle saddle."You remember that guy from outside? What you're using now, he used it a bit better than you against us. That battle saddle was tough match for us since it has a high rate of fire. Our weapons are especially no match for it and it stopped us from escaping in the first place."

“Wait, that’s outside…,”I slowly said. “What about the ones inside?”

“By the time you arrived, we were low on ammo,” He explained. “This weapons are not really ammo efficient. Also, there were more raiders than us and there was only 4 of us who could fight.”

“Wow,” I looked at everyone in the room. “Must be a really tough job to defend everyone, huh?”

“You could say that,” He answered. “So we were glad you came and helped us. For that, I thank you. Please, accept this as a token of our gratitude.”

He gave me a pouch filled with caps. I gulped and looked at the ponies in the room once more.

“You know you don’t have to…,” I said. “But I’ll accept it. Thank you.”

“It’s fair that I give you something in return after you helped us, even if it wasn’t much,” He said. “Again, thank you.”

“It’s always a pleasure to help,” I told him.

“If you want, you can speak with the others. They might want to talk to you,” He told me before going to another room.

I mingled with the folks in the place. Most of them were just glad I arrived and helped out. I also learned that they were the last remaining survivors of a caravan headed somewhere, though how many they are at first I do not know. Other than the friendly mares and stallions, I also talked with the foals. They were just curious about me and kept on asking about my PipBuck. Other than that, they were fun to talk with.

“Uhm, Mister?” A colt poked me to get my attention.

“Yes?” I said, nervously looking at one of the stallions who was eyeing me.

“Can I ask you a question?” He asked.

“Uhm, sure,” I agreed. He looked at the stallion, who nodded at him, then proceeded with his question.

“How did you get that?” He asked, pointing at my PipBuck.

“Uhm, somewhere,” I answered. “I’m not really sure where but I’ll say...an underground place...maybe.”

“Oh, okay,” He said, maybe a bit disappointed at my answer. “Thanks anyways, see you later.”

He went to a room along with the other foal, followed by the rest of the group. I just sat on one of the unbroken chairs in the room and continued checking my revolver. After some time, Autumn came back and walked towards me.

“Hey pardner,” He called out. “You feelin alright?”

“Yeah,” I answered him. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Just askin.” He took a sit beside me. “Have anything else to do?”

“Yeah, I’m supposed to explore this part of town,” I told him. “Why? To look for stuff.”

“You mean scavenging? Explains why you’re in this part of town,” He said, laughing a bit. “The part of town where the raiders are stationed at.”

Then suddenly, we both heard a gunshot coming from outside. Autumn quickly got up and went straight towards the terrace.a few more gunshots followed and he returned back, his face filled with surprise and confusion.

“Holy shit!” Autumn exclaimed. “That’s a lot of raiders down there!”

“What’s happening?” I asked him, standing up. “And what do you mean about the raiders?”

“There’s a lot of raiders coupled with a few griffins,” He briefly explained. “This is crazy! What can cause a group of raiders this big with some griffins to come here?!”

“I-I don’t know. Dangit, is there anything we could do?” I frantically paced around the place.

“Yes, I have a plan but it’s risky,” He answered me. “You up for it?”

“Sure,” I quickly told him. “But tell it to me quickly.”

“Okay, you have to deal with ones on the ground since that weapon can quickly wipe them out. Me and the others will deal with the griffins, our weapons have good accuracy and can quickly incapacitate them,” He told me. “Got it?”

I nodded my head and prepared the saddlegun while he went to go get the others. He soon returned with everyone, the unarmed folks panicked while the soldiers were ready to follow orders. Autumn told the plan to the armed ones and they all nodded. After the briefing, he walked back to me.

“Okay, me and my men are ready. Make sure not to screw this one up,” He sternly told me. “The folks here...they’re family.”

“I’ll try,” I reassured him.

He nodded then told the others to follow him. But before they could arrive at the terrace, we heard more gunshots. The civilians grouped together in panic as the gunshots continued. Autumn and the others quickly rushed to the balcony and I followed them. Once we got there, I noticed that there was a gunfight happening.

“Okay everyone, take out the griffins!” Autumn ordered and they fired at once.

The griffins were caught by surprise and most were taken down quickly. The rest immediately fired at them though it was too late. Once they were gone, Autumn looked at me and nodded his head. I understood his gesture and I was about to go down to deal with everyone in the gunfight when I heard a pained yelp and suddenly the second source of gunfire stopped. I quickly recognized who owns that yelp.

“Jewel?!” I pushed my way towards the front of the group, much to the confusion of Autumn, and spotted her. Jewel was taking cover behind a large chunk of concrete. She was still trying to fight but she seemed very exhausted.

“Eclipse, what are you waiting for?!” Autumn asked me, confused at my actions.

“No time for explanations,” I answered him and I heard them gasp as I instinctively jumped off the terrace.

I landed on the ground, hard, and a small shockwave followed. Jewel quickly noticed me and stared at me surprised.

“E-Eclipse?!” She continued to stare at me in confusion on how I survived the fall. Even I was surprised though I don’t feel like what I’m doing is performed by me or my consciousness.

“Come at me raider scums!” I yelled out to the raiders who looked at me bewilderingly. “Show me your worst!”

I opened fire at them and took them by surprise. I was risking my own life and compromising the plan in a way but I was no longer in control. Instincts had kicked in and it’s in charge.

Footnote: Level Up!
New Perk: Dash Instincts
-Your movement speed and attack damage will increase by 20% if your companions are in grave danger.