Chapter 2: Trouble

“I once knew a pony who killed a few ponies who knew some ponies that killed a few ponies.”

Black Dawn just made it to the mouth of the canyon, panting heavily, she was hardly fit, she rarely exercised, let alone ate. She hurriedly wiped the salty tears from her eyes, trying to convince herself to calm down, without luck. The hushed voice spoke once again. “Over here!” it said.

Dawn turned round to see a floating robot with an antenna on its head and a grate for a face from where the sound was coming from speaking to her from a crevice in the side of the canyon. The area was littered with them every few metres or so.

 She cocked her head in bewilderment the voice broke her blank expression.

“Yes here, c’mon I don’t bite!” the robot mechanically chirped. Dawn cantered over to the robot keeping a low profile, peering over each shoulder nervously every few seconds terrified of her own shadow.

“What do you think you’re doing walking into bandit turf unarmed? Hell unarmored. It’s pretty risky, you’re first time out?”

Dawn was taken back by this she wasn’t expecting a robot to be making conversation about her situation. “Uh...” Dawn droned out at a loss for words.

“Never mind, you’re way to deep into it now, the way I see it is your stuck between a rock and a hard place, A band of raiders on the outside a settlement of raiders on the inside.”

Dawn was finally getting her head around her own situation “Awh ... Fuck.” She  couldn’t help but say, her voice quivering with every syllable. She was never but in a situation like this. Who ever this pony, eh robot, eh omnipotent being was he knew his geography and he was unfortunately right about her situation.

“Now here is what you got to do if you wanna get out of this mess first.”

“Wait, wait, wait wait.”Dawn cut him off “Who are you? What are you? Are you a pony or a robot?”

“You can call me Watcher as for what I am I’m the best chance you got right now, sorry about the vagueness.You’re going to need a couple things if you want to last out here kid I’ve met others like you, y’know kids on the run without a hope and without a clue what’s your name anyway kid?” The Watcher asked, his voice kept the same mechanical emotionless tone, making it even more unnerving by the fact he was being friendly.

“My name’s Black Dawn and I’m not a kid” Black said defensively, her clouded terrified mind getting the better of her rationale.

“Have it your way, but the bottom line is we got to come up with something or you’re dead, I don’t want that.” This was the first time Dawn had ever spoke to a robot and what it was saying was it cared whether or not she lived or died, not something she came to expect from ponies let alone inanimate objects. Watcher cleared his throat. Somehow.

“As I was saying you’re going to need a few things if you want to last out here, nopony said it’s going to be easy either.” The robot bluntly stated as it began to what Black Dawn could only speculate as the hovering robot equivalent to pacing.

“First things first, you’re gonna need a weapon, second of all your gonna want some armour, if the weapon fails to end some pony’s life, your armour may succeed in saving yours.” He paused in his pacing to get in Black Dawn’s face then continued

“Thirdly a bit of guidance and most importantly...”pausing for emphasis. “Friends.”

Dawn didn’t have any friends, not where she came from. No friends out here neither, the closest thing she has ever had to a friend was this robot she met in a shootout less than 10 minutes ago.

“Friends?” Dawn asked quizzically.

“Friends.” Watcher repeated with a bob of the robot’s head

He continued “As for the weapons and armour all you gotta do is loot a raider’s corpse as for the guida-.“ he was cut off “Wait WHAT!? Loot a raider’s corpse? how am I even going to kill a raider they’re tougher, meaner, armed to the teeth, it took a flying robot to tell me to run for my life. You gotta help me!” Dawn pleaded, desperation in her voice she was regretting leaving the NCR now, deeply.

“I didn’t say you had to kill one, you just gotta find the corpse of one, and I’m trying to help you just... Bear with me.”

“Where do you suppose I’ll find one of them?”

“You seen it on your way in they’re not the chummiest of ponies.” Watcher had a point, on her first encounter with ponies outside the wall they brutally murdered each other.

“As far as guidance is concerned I can help you there, this valley leads to an outpost.” Watcher began.

“I thought you said it was a raider settlement?!” Dawn said getting annoyed by the fact he was getting his own story wrong when he was supposed to be quote on quote guiding her.

“Trust me, okay? you're not the first pony I’ve helped out of a clusterfuck of a situation.”

“Okay, right” Dawn said finally putting some faith into the robot.

“You got to get to that settlement any means necessary try to find a weapon and some armour on your way in, if you see some raiders hide in the crevices in the canyon got it?”

She nodded.

“Great, oh and one more thing about friends if you are lucky you might find trouble on your way in, I heard he was in the area, or more than likely trouble will find you, whatever you do don’t piss him off. Maybe he’ll let you stick with him. As for me I’m out of time. I can control any of these things I am not stuck to one I’ll be in touch. Follow my advice and you should be alri-.” Watcher was cut off and in his stead marching band music played and the robot aimlessly took off plunging deeper into the dark canyon.

“Watcher?  Watcher?! Watcher please.” Black begged out crushed. No response.

“Watcher...?” she pleaded, breaking down as tears began to build in her eyes. He left her, he abandoned her. He was gone. But at least he left with a plan even if she didn’t entirely understand it. And what did he mean if you are lucky you’ll find trouble?

Black Dawn was walking into the big unknown. A void before her. She was trotting into hell. It has been little more than 3 minutes since watcher left her, She was terrified, she’d be insane not to be. Off in the distance she heard a “CRACK!-BOOM HAHAHA!” “There goes Watcher.” Dawn mumbled to herself in a satirical tone to help relieve her own tension. It didn’t help.

Instantly disheartened her pace was slowing, she was beginning to shake when she heard the far off voices of a band of ponies coming her way. They were too far off for her to distinguish the nature of the conversation but she could only imagine it was about how they blew up a little robot. Or something, she didn’t know.

They were just around the corner of this narrow winding and snaking canyon. Black quickly ducked as the watcher had instructed her into one of the crevices, the nearest, deepest and darkest one she could find and perked her ears up hoping they would not notice her black coat propped up against the gray and brown rocks  in the darkness outside.

Her body went rigid, her breathing became short and sharp, her heart pace quickened so much that she could hear it racing through her ears. She wish she could stop herself from making any noise but it appears her fear outweighed her nerve.

The raiders were close now, she could hear their hooves on the ground where were they?10 , 20 paces away?

“Clip,clop Clip,clop” the soft noise of hooves on the hard ground. They were about to pass her. Dawn’s nerves were shot to say the least, she convinced herself of her own capture, her own end. Or worse. They came into view THEY WERE WALKING RIGHT PAST HER! Oblivious to her presence. She began to grind her teeth as she tightly shut her eyes. Every inch of her wanting to scream and run.

 There were 3 of them, all earth ponies, they all carried old rusted bolt action rifles that had duct tape around them. The rifles were on slings across their backs. Black Dawn never really appreciated how lucky she was to be born a unicorn it makes everything much easier from masturbation to firing a rifle. What a weird line of thought in that moment.

They walked right passed her, unsuspecting and unaware. She let out a stuttering and suppressed sigh of relief and began to shimmy along the wall of the canyon out of the crevice when she in the blackness laid a hoof on a twig and in the silence of the clear night made an audible

“Crack.”

Her heart stopped. A voice in a remote corner of her brain screamed at her “HIDE” She shimmied along panicking back into her hidey-hole and did the only thing she could do for herself, hope against the odds.

She let out a suppressed whimper of despair as fear flooded through her veins, polluting her senses. Her body and limbs froze in place, she was fucked that much she knew the question how fucked exactly?

The rear pony of the group stopped as his ears pricked up, he scanned around himself putting his nose high into the air and he looked right at the crevice Black Dawn was hiding in.

He said “Hey Boss I think there is somepony here!” The raider pony said in a slow voice he came across dim witted.

How the fuck did he know that! Black thought. Her heart sinking further into the pit of her stomach.

The lead pony stopped, turned round and walked over to his ‘colleague’.

“You sure about that? You know what happens when you waste my time.”

“Y-yes boss in there.” he wove a hoof at the entrance.

“Well alrighty then” his voice was smooth and sincere and that was a rare trait with a raider. “Whatever you find in there is yours Brick Jaw, you have my word but if nothing is in there, well.”

The pony referred to as “Boss” wandered over to the other raider and began conversation away from the crevice. Brick Jaw lumbered over to the crevice Dawn was shrinking back into. Maybe she could hide herself well enough that he couldn’t see 3 feet in front of him, maybe she was clutching at straws.

Brick Jaw was at the mouth of the crevice a sadistic smile spread on his face. He saw her straight away, she knew he saw here, it didn’t stop her from pretending she was not there, her eyes still shut tight, attempting feebly to block the world out.

Brick Jaw let out a sadistic laugh, overwhelmed with joy and excitement, the anticipation making him jumpy. He unslung his rifle from his back, gripped it with his teeth and towered over Black Dawn. She began to tremble, petrified, she couldn’t see him, but she could feel him, his nostrils exhaling the hot air on her flank.

 He was delighted with this nice little treat he found. Brick Jaw loomed menacingly over her licking his lips. He chuckled through his grip on his rifle and swung at her. He smashed the already cracked and beaten up rifle stock against her ribs, winding her. Knocking the air from her lungs. Shooting a sharp pain through her torso, immobilizing her. A malicious smile on his filthy dim witted face  after the hitting spree he carefully propped his rifle up against Dawn’s hidey hole wall behind him. Bracing himself, licking his lips excitedly.

 Dawn couldn’t hold back the tears. Her face buried against the cold hard wall of the crevice. She knew what was coming next, and what came after that. Her lungs starving for air no matter how deep she gasped her lungs could not be satisfied. Her entire world, deconstructing around her, her illusions of doing great things, living a high life, crumbled and smashed with each of Brick Jaw’s blows.

She would have screamed if her lungs let her but she had to settle for just quietly weeping, the tears fell out in hoof fulls. He pulled her hind legs towards him as he let out another psychotic high pitched laugh. She meekly clawed at the wall trying to pull herself out of his clutches but to no avail. She remained silent, no point in screaming out, not at this stage, not here.

“I May Be Some Time Boss HA-HA.” Brick Jaw yelled out ecstatically not believing his own luck as he prepared to mount her. He stopped, his expression falling blank as he sniffed the air,  not taking his eyes off Black Dawn’s vulnerable exposed flank. “Boss?”

Something was amiss for the raiders. She turned her head and she seen through the blurred vision of teary eyes something new. A masked figure with a glowing blood red visor on a hemlet and wearing a black duster towering over Brick Jaw’s shoulder.

The masked desperado pulled back Brick Jaws’ neck with his fore hoof glimpsing  five metal digits branching out from it and with the other hoof plunged a fearsome black steel serrated combat knife deep into the nape of Brick Jaws’ throat and twisted it. Bubbley Scarlet fluid flowing down from where the blade had pierced. As the masked pony drew the knife slowly from its victim's body Dawn glanced the shimmering inscription along the blade “Relentless”

Black Dawn witnessed in a mixture of horror and relief as Brick Jaw’s eyes rolled into the back of his skull. He tried to scream but nothing but an agonized choked gurgle came out. Dawn rolled weakly around onto her back. She was still panting heavily but her inhalation rate was slowing. She was breathing again, in relief this would-be-samaritan stabbed this bastard. “Thank-you.” She said quickly in between her breaths as she wiped her eyes. The torrent of salty tears ceasing, she was still badly shaken though. Her hind hooves quaked as they still were spread open.

Her rescuer let out a long breath through the filter of his helmet unclipped his mask with the 10 metallic digits on his fore hooves. He lowered the mask from his face it exposed a large muscular scarlet stallion anywhere between 15-25 years older than her. It was hard to tell in the darkness.

He was wearing yellow striped war paint on his face that had faded over the years to give him a brightly coloured and fearsome, ragged worn and torn look.

He had a black scruffy mane grey strands here and there qith poison green old experienced eyes. Underneath his left eye running to his jaw line he was deeply disfigured, his cheek was torn to ribbons and barely retained any of its original shape and was almost completely pale. On the right side of his lip he had a long torn thin scar rising up his cheek giving him a permanent menacing smirk. Bestowing on him a frightening demeanour increased  by his smile which exposed in the back 3 golden teeth.

“Tellin ya kid your fuckin lucky I showed up when I did or he woulda repainted this canyon forty four shades of raped unicorn.” The red stallion said light heartedly trying to defuse the tension in his thick accent. Disregarding the fact he just stabbed a pony to death.

 “Dun bother worryin yer head but them wee shites outside, I took it upon meself to ice em well, soon-to-be iced.” He said his heavy accent obscuring his words damaging his comprehensibility  but he wasn’t totally incomprehensible to Dawn.

“Say kid da fuck ya doin out ‘ere?”The stallion said giving her a quizzical expression his torn up face cocked to the side trying to look friendly.

Dawn managed to finally recompose herself, closing her hind legs sheepishly, even though adrenaline and shock was still pumping through her body making her jittery. She got to her hooves.

 “I.” She stopped, her lungs ached when she spoke causing her to clutch her ribcage. Her hooves quaking beneath her, her entire body on the verge of collapse. The stallion reached into his duster and took out a flask “Here. Need some-tin for the pain eh?” he clutched the cap in his metallic grip and unscrewed it, offering it to Dawn.

She drank the brew hurriedly, she assumed it was a healing potion or water, until it bit her. She would have gagged if she didn’t stop herself. It was a strong bitter hard hitting drink, more than likely almost entirely alcohol. The strongest drank she ever drank could not compare to this. She almost spat it out too but she knew better. She swallowed reluctantly and coughed afterwards as she levitated the flask back to the stallion. It scorched her throat but she had to say the stallion was right about one thing, it helped with the pain. “Did you put Mutant piss in that?” Dawn asked between coughs. The stallion laughed.

“Just fer flavour our lass, now wah ya doin’ out ‘ere?”

“I’m looking for an outpost in this canyon.” The sentence stirred the Stallion’s attention.

“Why looking for something?” he said as clearly as he possibly make himself sound.

“No some pony, any pony...some pony who will be my friend.” She said in a melancholic tone, making even her pity herself.

“Hmmm.” the stallion said inspecting his helmet, thinking.

“You, uh after makin’ some friends plannin’ on goin’ anywhere in particular?”

Dawn shook her head, the Stallion stood up almost completely vertical oto his hind hooves and walked out of the crevice grabbing Brick Jaw’s rifle on the way out. He stood to his full height and beckoned Dawn over  to him as he palmed a cigarette in his clutches. As he lit it Dawn seen the bodies of the 2 other raider ponies, blood flowing out from one from a torn  neck. Their rifles side by side. The stallion threw Brick Jaw’s rifle in with the other two forming a nice little stack. Dawn noticed the leader raider was still alive, the one with the smooth voice, his chest was heaving, he was subdued. An open stab wound in his stomach oozing blood and other bodily fluids, but alive.

“That outpost you were talkin bout it’s the raiders’ turf now, I’m on a job to get a hoofful of hostages out and blow the place two mile high and ah tell ya wah’. I’ll cut ya in on the job. A tidy twenty five percent.”

He was offering her a job! Well sort of, but she still had questions and maybe a few doubts. The primary question being why is that raider still alive?

“Well.”Dawn seen this as her chance to get to befriend  this pony, it would pay for itself.   Dawn didn’t imagine he got them scars helping old mares cross the street.

“First things first, before I accept any jobs my name is Black Dawn, who are you?”She politely asked, forcing a toothy smile. The stallion let out a disappointed sigh, shaking his head.

 “I’m a fella with a job and I wanna know if I can count on ya for it.” The stallion pressed, forcing awkwardness over the two, well over Dawn anyway.

“Twenty five percent isn’t really that much considering the risk plus what is that raider doing tied up?” She said getting cold hooves around her rescuer. Who now has just forced her under pressure causing her to quickly lose faith in him. But he was her best chance out of this.

He looked her square in the eye, his eyes baring hard into her striking a chord of unease in her “Kid, Black Dawn whatever ya wanna call yerself, you must neigh understand who I am to think quarter of me pay is fuck all, don’t worry about that scumbag he’s gonna be our best friend if you accept.” he informed her, changing the tone he asked “Say, what’s the most you ever made in one month?” She was beginning to realise there was no choice. It was this or death.

Dawn shrugged and said “Pfff, I don’t know hundred caps.” More like the 60 she stole.

The stallion unholstered a formidable weapon, Dawn gave an appreciative gasp. It was a red fully automatic shotgun with a jagged bayonet that could cut flesh like butter. With a drum magazine with a flame vinyl on the barrel running down to the action of the gun as well as a dozen emeralds, 6 on either side of the barrel. On the stock there was two crossed cutlass swords and above the cutlasses in bold letters it read “The Red Queen”

“Do you know what this is kid?” he held the weighty weapon in one hoof. He looked her dead in the eye and began to speak.

“This is the best weapon money can buy, they call it the HAAS-15/8G or the Heavy Automatic Assault Shotgun Fifteen Eight gauge, this pumps out three hundred shells a minute, and these drum magazines chamber twenty four monster caliber eight gauge rounds, and there is a spring buffer system in the stock and with these enchanted emeralds, she has as much kick as a newborn foal and the best part is...” he paused for emphasis.

“She nevar’ fuckin jams.”

Dawn didn’t know much about guns but this was clearly a big deal. He took great pride in his weapon and so far she only seen him with a knife “Who are you?” Dawn asked again. She had to know now that she seen this awe inspiring weapon, not just any pony had that kind of firepower. He put the weapon on his back.

He smiled menacingly at her, a spark in his poison green eyes.

“Kid,  I’m Trouble and twenty five of this job is twelve and a half thousand bottle caps.”