"Break into Stable 5 and take everypony in it. If they show resistance, kill them. But leave some alive."

“There! There he is!” One of the raiders yelled, pointing at me. “Quick, call for reinforcements!”

The raiders who were not hit by the initial attack immediately took cover. Meanwhile, Jewel continued to stare at me in confusion.

“Reloading!” I yelled out, hoping Autumn would hear it. Shouting it out seems to be a dumb move in my part but it gives Autumn’s group the signal to cover me.

I took cover beside Jewel and weakly smiled at her. She returned the look before sighing.

“What brings you to this part of town?” I asked her.

“Bunch of raiders chased after me. Not a great idea to split after all,” She replied. “Should have stuck with you, seeing that you have that battle saddle.”

“Quite a burden to carry this weapon,” I told her.

“Eclipse, we got more of them!” Autumn yelled. “And holy shit!”

He was interrupted by a missile nearly hitting the building. More and more gunshots followed and Jewel was more scared than ever. Quickly reloading, I slowly crawled out of cover to see what was happening.

“Well, I’ll be damned...”

“There! Fire!” One of them yelled. I noticed that one of the griffins was aiming something at me and Jewel immediately ran away from her current position.

Before I realized it, a missile hit the ground near me and sent me flying towards a nearby building. I hit the wall with such force that I heard a sickening crack and felt intense pain course through my body before I fell of the wall to the floor. My PipBuck started beeping like crazy as I tried getting up. My head was spinning and I started coughing out blood. At this point, I was surprised that I’m still alive after that shot.

Whoa nelly, that’s a doozy. Get yourself together, you can’t fall now, I thought to myself. Shaking my head and checking if my heavy weapon was still functioning, I weakly returned back to the battlefield. Crazy, I know.

Once I got back, the raiders immediately noticed me and were in shock. Same goes to Autumn and his group, who stopped shooting for a while just to get a good glimpse of me.

“He’s...still alive?!” One of the raiders exclaimed. “What kind of drugs is he on, Med-X and Buck?!”

“Just keep shooting him,” Another ordered. “He’ll fall just like the others who crossed paths with us.”

All of them averted their aim from Autumn’s group to me. I gulped and prepared myself. Autumn did try to get a few shots at them but the griffins drove them back inside the building.

Geez, can we all just calm down? It’s not like we have to keep on fighting.

Suddenly, everything blurred and slowed down. My head started hurting one more time and my PipBuck started beeping once more. Slowly, my headache intensified and my surrounding continued to become even more distorted. Words started flowing into my mind, slowly forming into sentences.

Nothing’s right. Something’s wrong. This isn’t me at all. No, what’s happening? Is this real? Everything I knew just know...doesn’t seem right. No, no...something’s missing.

“Eclipse!” Autumn yelled out, bringing me back to reality. “Get out!”

Very confused and disorientated, I just stared at the crowd. They became a bit unnerved at my actions and were really hesitant at shooting me.

“What are you all waiting for?” The leader angrily asked. “Shoot him!”

“But...Boss, something’s not right about him,” One of them told him.

“Does it look like I care? Just shoot him!” He yelled at him.

I did not really understand what’s happening anymore. The raiders are arguing among themselves, the mercs were just idle, Autumn’s group were as confused as I was, and I’m feeling something was off about my surroundings.

The next thing I know, I smashed through the wall of another building and landed on the floor once more. My ears were ringing and I’m sure that most of my bones in my body were broken. I felt warm liquid starting to pool around my body and my vision was starting to blur. Taking one last breath, the darkness consumed me and I have lost consciousness.

I woke up in what looked like a town of some sorts. I noticed that it was nighttime, with the dark sky illuminated with the bright full moon and the cluster of stars. It was quite a relaxing place but I can’t get the feeling that someone is watching me out of my head.

"Young pony, we meet once more." A voice called out, it's tone very soothing at the same time frightening. I looked around to find nothing.

"Young pony, what are you doing here?” It asked me.

"I-I don’t...I died?" I replied, still looking for the source of the voice.

"Do you want to go back?" Suddenly, a bright ball of light descended from the sky, temporarily blinding me. Once the light disappeared and I could see clearly once more, I saw an alicorn. A name soon surfaced into my mind and I finally recognized her.

"Luna? Wait...what?" I was very confused.

"Hello...friend," She greeted me.

"Friend?” Now I was really confused. Where did I meet her? All I know is her name. “Have we met before?”

“Maybe,” She replied. “Now answer my question, do you want to go back?”

“Back? Where?” I asked her.

“Back to the living, of course,” She replied. “And of course you want to go back, you’re not dead...yet.”

“Oh...I’m not dead…” I sighed. “And how am I still alive?”

“Let’s just say someone helped you,” She replied. “Or maybe because of the technology you have on you?”

“I don’t know. Right now, I’m just glad I’m still alive,” I said.

Silence soon settled in as I just looked at her,expecting something like a small chat. She just stared back at me, eerily. After some time, she stared at the sky and smiled.

“Have you ever seen the stars, my friend?” She asked me.

“Wierd question but I don’t think I have...in the real world anyways,” I replied. “Why do you ask?”

“Just curious,” She replied. “I guess it’s time for you to go. We’ll talk soon again, maybe after you wake up.”

“Wake...up? This is all just a dream?” I asked her.

“No, no,” She replied. “This is more real than you think.”

"Don't ya'll miss these kinds of songs? Too bad we only get to hear the ones before the war. I don't think there are other singers out there that are willing to sing for all of us, in the stables and in the wasteland. Anyways, I hope all of you will have a safe and good night. May Luna, if she’s still there, give you dreams of hope. DJ Larynx signing out."

I woke up gasping for air and my vision blurry. As soon as I can breathe normally and my vision clear, I calmed down. I can see that I was in a clinic. I also noticed that I wasn't alone. Across the room, a white, pony-bot the size of a filly with purple and pink mane and tale was busy moving some stuffs around the place.

"Hello?" I called out to the busy bot. It stopped whatever it was doing and turned around. When it did, I got a clear look at it's face. It's eye color was a light shade of green and seemed harmless. It walked towards me and spoke in the most cutest way a robot can speak(for me anyways).

"Good evening Mister! How was your sleep?" The bot greeted me.

"Huh? Oh uhm, fine I guess...," I said."Just had a weird dream, I think."

"Ooh, was Princess Luna in your dream?" It beeped, bouncing(if that was even possible for a filly bot).

"I guess...I mean, maybe? You know what, I think so." This time, the bot looked at me with A.I curiosity.

"Can you tell me your dream?" It asked."Pwease?"

"Umm, sure. Even if you're a robot..." I told the filly-bot what I can still remember with my "dream". Throughout my story telling, the bot listened carefully. When I was done, it smiled(I think?).

"Wow Mister! That dream sounds fascinating. Though Luna sounds weird." It beeped. Suddenly, I heard a voice coming from outside the clinic, followed by footsteps.

"Sweetie? Who are you talkin to. The dead patient?" The raspy voice asked. I turned to look at "Sweetie" then at the door. The head of a rotting stallion popped out.

"Oh my...oh...oh..." I felt a bit light-headed. “I must be hallucinating, that’s all…”

“Ah, seems we have a rational one,” The stallion said. “ Wake up and smell the ashes, I’m as real as you can be.”

He started walking towards me. That’s when I started to panic. If he’s real then that means he’s a dead pony who is now alive and here to turn me into one of them.

“No, NO! STAY AWAY FROM ME!!” I yelled at him. “I SWEAR IF YOU TAKE ONE MORE STEP, I’LL SHOOT YOU!”

I started screaming hysterically and curled up into a ball.

"Calm down mister! It's just my friend Apple Scotch." Sweetie tried reassuring me. Still, I continued screaming my lungs out.

"Sweet Celestia, you scream like a girl! Is that how you greet a stranger that just rescued you?" The zombie pony said, annoyed. Sweetie turned to him and whined.

"What do you mean you rescued him? I'm the one that decided to help him!" Both of them started arguing. I think I started crying and started mumbling something. Before I knew it, I fainted because of fright.

I awoke in a different place this time. It looked like to be a sleeping quarter. I yawned and looked around the place. What happened a while ago did not cross my mind even once.

"Good morning Mister! How was your sleep?" Sweetie beeped, appearing out of nowhere and giving me a hell of a scare. She also reminded me of what happened before I fainted which made me wonder if Mr. Undead was still there.

"Could you stop scaring me? You nearly gave me a heart attack," I said, sighing in relief to see it was just the filly bot. "Sleep is just fine.”

"Apple Scotch is waiting for you. I'll show you where he is once you're ready!" It beeped once more.

"So the zombie pony wants to see me? Or rather, eat me?" I was once more frightened. “Or maybe even-”

"Don't be so mean to my friend! Just because he looks different doesn't mean you can treat him differently!" Sweetie said defensively. "And he's no zombie, he's a ghoul."

"A what now?" I asked once more. The bot's eyes turned blue as it started giving me info.

"A ghoul is a pony that is subjected to a constant source radiation for a long time. A ghoul also lives longer than a normal pony and uses radiation to heal itself." Sweetie's eyes turned green again. "Do you now understand?"

“Uhh...sure. So where do we meet this friend of yours? I really need answers about certain things.” As I said this, the bot beeped in excitement and lead me into another section of the place I’m in right now. We soon stopped at a room and Sweetie told me that it’ll wait outside the place while me and Apple Scotch are talking. I took a peep and saw the zombie, I mean, ghoul drinking some apple cider.

“Uhm, hey! Am I interrupting your break?” I asked as I went inside the room, the door shutting behind me. The ghoul stopped drinking and turned to me.

“Actually, no. Are we cool now? No more screaming?” Apple Scotch asked me with a straight face.

“Yeah, sure. The filly bot told me what you are.” I replied. The ghoul gestured me to sit down in a chair.

“You mean SB-17? Eeyup, that bot has a pretty advanced A.I, compared to what I’ve seen so far.” He said, taking a sip.

“SB-17?” I asked.

“Sweetie Bot Number 17. Just found her wandering around the wasteland alone.” He replied.

Sweetie Bot...Sweetie Belle? Wait, who’s...Sweetie Belle?

“Does it involve...uhm...a certain someone called Sweetie Belle?” I asked him. Apple Scotch scratched his chin, thinking about my question.

“Ah, yes. The robot is designed after Sweetie Belle after all...and maybe even the bot’s personality is based on her younger days. How’d ya know?”

“Well, I think I met her...I think.” I said, uncertain if I really did. Maybe I did, that would explain why that name appeared out of nowhere.

“So you’re saying...you met Sweetie Belle?” Apple Scotched laughed. “You're pulling my tail! Sweetie Belle lived 200 years ago and you’re not even a ghoul!”

“I…never said I did. I said I think” I told him. He chuckled for a bit and looked at me.

“What makes you say that?” He asks me.

“I just have a feeling. I mean, I seem to have flashbacks, I think, when I go to some places. Like that one place...Ponyville? Yeah, I think that’s the name. It seemed to be a happy town back then. Names...I could remember some, from the past too. Like Pinkie...Pie. I’m not sure but I also think I met her.” I replied.

“Interesting…So I’m guessing your from the past somehow. That answer would have been enough instead of saying something that might confuse me,” Apple Scotch told me, shaking his head.

“Eh, sorry. My mind is just...I still think it's a bit frozen, heh,” This time, the ghoul looked at me, confused.

“What do you mean your brain is still frozen?” He asked.

“I think I was in some sort of...Cryo-pod. Weird, huh?” I answered him. He just nodded in agreement before his eyes widened in realization.

“Cryo-pods you say? So you're saying you’ve been frozen for 200 years?” He anticipates for my answer.

“I guess so, yeah,” I replied. “Sounds crazy but that’s what happened…”

He nods once more and then finishes his drink. Then he shakes his head and starts laughing again. I have a feeling he doesn’t believe me. I mean, my story is truly bizarre. Cryo-pods? Frozen for 200 years?

What did happen during the 200 years I’ve slept? Did I even...exist back then?

“Oh, and before I forget, welcome to Stable 5. I’m the last one remaining in this place. Sweetie managed to make most of the important facilities in this place work so it’s a good place to stay.” He formally introduced to the place. “And since you’re alive, I might as well give you some stuff if you’re thinking of leaving. Your battle saddle was broken when Sweetie found you, same goes for some of the technology you had. Luckily...I managed to fix most of the damage. They’re still broken though.”

“Wait what…”I checked myself at a nearby reflective material. There it is, some parts of the metal brace on my back is gone. I looked at my hind legs and saw that what was once a thin and lightweight armor became a bulky and tough-looking metal boots. I just shrugged and didn’t mind it. It didn’t do much anyway so why bother?

“I also replaced the damaged tech on your foreleg with a left-over PipBuck, though I think I tried merging both technologies...or maybe just tried repairing that piece of junk. Didn’t turned out well, ended losing the motherboard so I just replaced it with the PIP-3000’s. Hell of a challenge, never thought it’d be so damn hard to take apart that tech. Too bad it doesn’t have E.F.S, but it does have S.A.T.S” He explained further.

“Wait, how ‘bout my other stuff?” I asked him. “The Pinkie Statuette and the revolver?”

“Those stuff? They’re at the storage area. Don’t worry, they ain’t broke unlike the rest of you. And so far, I didn’t have to try to fix ‘em.” He finally finished drinking. “Now, before anything else slips off my mind, let’s get you suited up.”

I checked myself at the mirror in the place. I was wearing the same blue-and-yellow jumpsuit I saw on the first day of my adventures, though it has some armor added to it and the number “05” on the collar. It also has a holster for the revolver strapped near me for easy access. My review for the suit? 8/10, could be 20% cooler or better.

"Since it was just me in this Stable for a long time now, I managed to modify a few of these Stable suits. The one you're wearing right now is a combination of the armored and security Stable suit." Apple Scotch explained as he watched me check myself out. "So what d'ya think?"

"It's something, I can tell you that. It's not really that flexible." I said, trying to stretch.

"Then it'll do. You won't need flexibility in your adventures, right?" He said, looking at the weapon holster at my side.

"I guess." I answered him. Once I got comfortable with what I'm wearing right now, Apple Scotch lead me to the diner. He got some food and water and turned on the radio that was placed nearby.

"I don't know about you but I'd rather eat something other than hay. That stuff's pretty hard to get now. Might as well get use to it." Apple Scotch said as he gave me a plate of some weird looking meat. "That's Brahmin meat, or cow meat if you will."

I shrugged and since I was very hungry, I ate without hesitation. It was a weird feeling to eat meat but as long as it's food, I won't complain.

"So, what's your name? He asked. “

"My name? Eclipse…” I answered.

“Eclipse...as in...Dark Eclipse?” He asks once more time.

“What? No, just Eclipse.” I told him. “that’s kind of a weird name, don’t you think? Dark Eclipse...sounds a bit too...ridiculous for my taste.”

“Ok, so you’re not…’them’, which is good,” He taps the table for a while, making some sort of rhythm. “Alright, what’s your story? The real one this time. I’m not saying I don’t believe your cryo-something story but it’s hard to believe. 200 years of being frozen? Come on, that’s just absurd.”

“...200 years of being in a cryo-pod…” I sighed. “I’m not even sure if what I said was true. You're right, my story is just full of...Look, I don’t know who exactly I am or if I existed back then. Look at me, do I look like a pony from 200 years ago? You tell me...you seemed to have been there.”

“I’m not sure.” He simply answered.

“You’re not sure? Why?” I asked him.

“You see you’re like a mix between Pre-War civilian and Wasteland traveller. Though you may not know what a ghoul is, you immediately accepted me as some normal pony once Sweetie told you what I am.”

“Hey there Mister, what’s your name? My name is Sweetie Belle! You could call me Sweetie or Belle or even both, I guess it’s up to you.”

“Trust me, ponies from the past would have not believed me and continued screaming.”

“Monsters, MONSTERS EVERYWHERE! Quick, you! Yes you, I want you to go kill them all, all those drooling freaks dead! And don’t you dare hesitate or I’ll shoot you too!”

“You seem to know how to take care of yourself, seeing as you survived whatever cruel thing the Wasteland threw at you.”

“The Wasteland is a cruel place. Keeps on breaking you and hurting you until you can’t move no more. Trust me, this gear will help you survive out there. But don’t rely on them too much, the rest of the surviving must be done by you.”

“ And...Are you okay?”

He began tapping the table once more, this time trying to get my attention took a deep breath.. I quickly nodded and rubbed my temple of my head. It started to hurt once more when he began talking.

“You sure? Because it looked like you were in another place, you know, like you were thinking of something.” He told me.

“Yeah, I’m sure I’m fine. Just thinking about a few days ago, when I got out of those pods.” I said.

“Ok, you said so.”

Apple Scotch, after some more taps on the table, decided to turn on the nearby radio. Both of us just enjoyed our meal as whoever is leading the radio station talk.

"Good morning to all of ya'll wasteland survivors! And welcome to one of the least heard radio broadcasts since DJ-PON3 talked. And for those that are listening to me, good news! There seems to be little to no slaver activity from Ponyville to somewhere in the wasteland. I'm also getting reports of one unusual stallion...seems he just appeared out of the blue and disappeared once more. Who knows what happened to him. And better a better question, who is he? Is he some kind of hero or just a normal pony in the wastes? Anyways, looks like I run out of news so I’ll just say this for fun. Man, I’ve always wanted to say this on radio.

Raiders are bad, yada yada, ferals too, yada yada. Oh yeah, as always, enjoy your day because everything is fine. If you see something strange, then you know who to call, yada yada. There’s your propaganda of the day. Larynx out!”

After the broadcast, some country music started playing. Apple Scotch got our plates and kept them somewhere.

"Hey kid, mind if you stay here for one more day?" He asked me as he started coughing. "It's been a long time since I've actually talked to a real pony."

"Well, I ain't really in a rush so sure. Might as well ready myself too in the meantime." I replied. He gave me a grin before going to one of the hallways while coughing pretty badly. But before he completely left me, he told me one more thing.

"Meet me in the morning. I have somethin to tell you once I can remember some stuffs."

And I just sat there listening to the song and his slowly fading coughs.

"Heya Mister!" Sweetie managed to pop out of nowhere once again and that scared me.

"What did I tell you about sneaking up like that!" I yelled at it.

"Oh...I'm sorry..." It's robotic ears drooped. I sighed and patted its head.

"It's alright, just don't do that again." I told it. "Now, why are you here?"

"I'm just wandering around, it's pretty boring in this place." It beeped. "I really want to go out but Apple says no. He says that I can easily get destroyed if I go alone. So I was pretty excited when we found you and brought you here!"

"Umm...ok, though what you said was not really related to the other sentences you also just said." I decided to go back to the sleeping area or what I call, "The Hay."

"Hey, where are you going? Can I come?" Sweetie beeped as she followed me. I nodded.

"Can you also tell me another story?" Sweetie asked once more.

"Uh, sure. I'll tell you a story." And that's what I did for most of the day in the Stable. Sweetie listened eagerly and I'm starting to wonder how advanced "she" can be.

"Once upon a time..."

"Luna?" I called out to the Alicorn in front of me. She turned around and smiled.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" She asked me.

"What do you mean?" I asked her back. She shook her head and sighed.

"Aren't you supposed to find some certain pony?" She asked me again. "The mare, your companion on the start of your adventures?"

Then I suddenly remembered about Jewel. I slapped myself for forgetting about her.

"Damnit, how could I have forgotten!" I said, angry at myself. "Don't worry, I'll go look for her once I talk to Apple Scotch."

"I'm afraid that when you do talk to him...something tragic will happen..." She said sadly.

"What?" I asked worriedly. She shook her head again and spoke.

"I must go now but I can give you a gift." She said as her horn glowed. A necklace appeared, hanging a bit loosely on my neck. “Take care of it, it’s quite special.”

“It’s a nice necklace and stuff but I’m serious Luna,” I tried to soften the tone of my voice. “What do you mean that something tragic will happen? Why do you keep on telling me this...vague things or something?”

“As I said, you’ll find out about everything,” She simply replied.”

"Luna, stop leaving me in the dark! I need to know what is the meaning of this!" I said as I stomped my hoof.

"You'll learn on the right time. Goodbye and be careful." Everything started to blur and before I could speak once more, I blacked out.

I woke up in cold sweat. I panicked a bit before remembering that I hit the hay after I told stories to Sweetie. I took a deep breath and exhaled, calming myself as my fast beating heart slowly goes back to it's normal rhythm. I looked to my side to see Sweetie curled up next to me. Though i'm not sure if robots can sleep, this one was. I checked the time on the clock at the nightstand and saw that it was already early morning.

"Oh right...the meeting," I whispered to myself, trying to get up without waking up the filly bot. Try as I might, it woke up anyway.

"Oh, good morning Mister!" She greeted me in a cheery tone. "What's that in your neck?"

I looked down to see the same necklace from my dream dangling loosely from my neck. It was a crescent-shaped moon.

"Oh this?" I gave her a closer look at the necklace. "I think...Luna gave it to me, though it's a bold statement to claim it was from her..."

"Oh sweet!" Sweetie continued to stare at it in awe. With her life-like reactions, habits, and attitude, I was starting to think if this bot had a soul.

"Eeyup," I agreed with her. "Oh wait, I nearly forgot I have to meet with that ghoul friend of yours."

"Can I come?" Sweetie asked. I just nodded and got out of bed. After a few minutes of stretching, we went to the place where me and Apple Scotch decided to meet. Once we were near, I told Sweetie to wait nearby as I don't want her eavesdropping or snooping around. She just reluctantly agreed and sat by the room near the meeting place, which was just at least 1 block away. As I neared the door, I heard some strange growls within the room.

"Apple Scotch?" I called out. When I got no reply, I carefully entered the room. It was a mess but what I saw at the corner was the worst of all. It was him alright, but there was a lot of changes. He was drooling some weird liquid and his eyes were just pure white.

"Apple Scotch, you okay?" I asked him as I slowly backed away towards the door. He looked at me then growled and quickly charged at me. I quickly bolted out of there but he was too fast. He tackled me, pinning me to the ground.

"Damnit Apple Scotch! This ain't funny!" I yelled, trying to free myself from his grip. I was too panicked and unsure of his actions to even think about using the revolver strapped to my side. It growled once more and tried biting me in the neck. Before he could, I heard a loud bang and his head exploded, brain matter and ghoul blood sprayed all over my face.

"W-What the hell just happened?!" I screamed as soon as my mind tried registering what happened. I quickly removed the headless corpse of me and shakily stood up. I looked at the direction where the source of the loud bang was and saw Sweetie. Her eyes were red and on her side was a machine gun. What once was an innocent-looking bot turned into a deadly killing machine.

"Analyzing. Threat completely eradicated." She said before her eyes turned green once more and the weapon kept within the bot.

"Mister, are you okay?" She rushed towards me. I wiped my face as I stared at the corpse in front of us.

"Y-Yeah, what happened to him?" I asked her. She looked down and sadly answered me.

"It was his time...every ghoul has their day. The day they turn into a feral..."

I nodded and after a few minutes, we decided to enter the room. We checked around the place to see if he left something, and he did. It was on his table, a letter that seemed to be recently written and it was for me. I decided to read it.

"Dear Eclipse,

Hey, hopefully I can finish this letter, and better yet, talk to you. You know, this Stable has a dark secret. You can find it yourself, I’m done talking about that. Anyways, I’ll tell you why I need to talk to you by writing the reason here just in case I could tell you.

You see, I’m a ghoul. Ghouls can live for a long time but there’s a price to pay, their sanity, or brain if you think they’re zombies. As time passes, a ghouls mind would slowly go crazy, I don’t know why but it could be because of the radiation it absorbed. Ironic really, as ghouls were made from it and it’s one of the most important thing in their lives. I guess nothing that is given to someone has a bad side. Imagine that, ghouls can be immortals but they end up losing their mind. I laugh at that, even if I know that will be me.

My time is near or maybe my mind is near its breaking point. I’m not like other ghouls, no, I’m way different. I was exposed to a different type of rads, one that ghoulifies someone immediately. And then they turn feral soon after, most of the time. Damn experiment, killed everyone in the Stable except me. Why didn’t it take me to? Sorry, I didn't mean to rant. Let’s get back to the main point.

I want you to take care of good ‘ol Sweetie for me. She may be annoying at time but she means well. She was my first and probably my last friend in my life. Don’t get hurt when I say she’s my only friend, we only met for a day.

Sweetie is a special bot, one that can respond to different things. She’s like a real pony. I don’t know why she’s programmed like that though and why she’s even built with a machine gun. I bet I’ll be killed by those sons of a-

Eclipse, when you go back there, remember this tips. First, when you say your name, be careful on how you say it. Before, there was this faction with the word “Eclipse” on it. They were a bad group, raided nearly every town for their own interest. I don’t know what happened to them. Second, if you see someone wearing a metal suit, it’s best to stay away. It’s either the Steel Rangers or the Enclave. Both are dangerous so if you want to keep your life, DO NOT APPROACH THEM AT ALL COST. I’m not saying they're bad. The Steel Rangers actually protects some settlements in this area and the Enclave...they mean well. Some of them anyways. But better safe than sorry.

I can actually feel it, the desire to eat flesh. This...A normal feral won’t have this desire, I think. It’s something on that rads that made me feel it. To crave it. To taste it. I’m ranting again, sorry. Look, I may not be able to talk to you but there’s one last thing I need you to know before I turn to flesh-eating mindless freak. You must”

I stared at the paper. The last line made me feel curious. What else did he want me to know? Did it involve the 3 groups he mentioned? I sighed and looked at Sweetie. She seemed devastated, feeling guilty for killing Apple Scotch. I kinda feel bad too, seeing her this way. I decided to grant that poor ghoul his last request.

“Sweetie, how are you holding up?” I asked her.

“Just...just fine,” She replied, sniffing a bit. “I just wished we had more time together.”

“Yeah, me too. He seems to be a great guy,” I went to her.

“You know, he told me something about you when you passed out,” Sweetie told me. “He said that you were such a girl. That made me laugh. Then he told me to observe you because he had a feeling that you were not who he thinks you are. I didn’t know what that meant but I just followed what he said. What do you think he meant by that?”

“I don’t really know but I think it’s something good. Or bad, you can never be too sure,” I answered. “Hey, I have a question for you. Eh, more like a request actually.”

“What is it?” She asked, looking at me with her green eyes.

“Want to travel me?” I asked her with a wink. “It’ll be fun. We can go see other places and meet other...er...beings…”

“Sure!” She quickly answered, the cheery tone back in her voice. “I know Apple wouldn't want me to stay here, feeling sorry for his death. I know he would want me to follow my dreams, if I had any. And I guess Apple wanted you to include me in your adventures.”

“Yep, he did,” I told her, smiling. “Now let’s clean this place up and get the hell out of here.”

We removed the corpse and place it at the incinerator. I know that we could have buried him but Sweetie said he wanted to be cremated once he's dead. We also cleaned up the area where Sweetie blew his brains out. Green goo with a mix of red everywhere, yuck. I had no intention to go back here but I felt cleaning the Stable was one way to pay tribute to him. Once we were done, we made our way to the Stable entrance.

“So what we’ll we do once we go outside?” Sweetie asked me.

“Well, I have this one place I want to see,” I told her. “Maybe we can go there?”

Sweetie eagerly nodded. As I opened the door and we walked out the place, I looked back one last time to see the big number 5. To see the giant door close for good.

It was a whole new beginning and story for me. One that could actually be my life. My past. I decided to be known as the stallion from Stable 05. It was much more easier to explain than my cryo-pod story.

As for Sweetie, she’ll now have her own story. As I look at her, I hope that she’ll continue to be the happy filly-bot that I learned to like. Her attitude is really uplifting, even in times of danger.

Together, we walked. To a town I felt I needed to revisit.

Footnote: Level Up
-HuzzaH! Luna’s gift granted you an extra level.
New Perk: Quick and Deadly I
-In times of extreme dangers or emergencies, your reaction time has been increased by 5% and you're un-armed and melee attacks are increased by 10% .