“Holy shit… You’re back. AND you brought back our missing scavengers,” the guard called from the top of the wall. He leaned on the railing and pushed back his ten gallon hat just a bit. “You lot continue to surprise me.”

“Bastion, you shit!” Hazel shouted angrily while shaking a hoof at him. “Four days! Four fucking days you left us out there! What took so damn long?!”

The guard took off his hat and held it in front of his chest. “I wanted to send someone fer ya Hazel, honest. But we couldn’t spare anyone. We got hit by Gouged Eye a day after you left. Been locked down since.” His speech made, the guard put his hat back on. “An’ not to put too fine a point on it but, well, needs of the many and all that.”

“Fuck you! Just open the goddess-damned gate!” Hazel growled with surprising intensity.

“Right right, want I should fetch the Doc ta have a look at ya?” he called as he waved at someone unseen.

“Might ‘elp. This bloke Shadow could use a once over,” Sentinel chimed in.

“Alright, c’mon in then. Hey! Someone fetch the Doc!” Bastion said as he disappeared from view. There was silence for a moment and then the gates jerked and began to grind open. Heavy aperture doors of rusting metal pulled apart on unseen tracks, each slab shifting across the one beneath as they each moved. I was so distracted I only just noticed the green text that had appeared in my field of view as it faded.

‘Fee for Entry: COMPLETED’

Beyond the gate stood a pair of guard posts, their occupants eyeing us carefully as we entered. Beyond them, a thick tangle of chain link and another wall. Inwardly I pouted, I was hoping for some grand reveal of the interior with the opening of the gate. But I guess theatrics gave way to utility here. No sooner had I stepped over the tracks than the large gates began to grind closed again. An older stallion in a tattered lab coat trotted up from a security door, a duo of unicorns flanking him.

“We’ll take them from here,” he said in a haughty voice. The two unicorns lifted Shadow from my pack and carried him back through the doors at a quick pace. Hazel waved goodbye and then hurried after her friend with the doctor in tow. One of the guards shut the door again and I heard a heavy latch lock in place.

“Alright then, I assume ya’ll wanna see the mayor now?” Bastion called as he descended a staircase from the parapet.

“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble,” Jerry said with a smile.

“Excellent, right this way then,” he said, heading between the two guard posts. Two chain link fences flanked us, gradually getting narrower and narrower until it was only just wide enough for me to get through, and even then the edges of my shoulder plates caught every now and then.

“Nice choke point,” Sentinel said absently as he followed behind me. “This a recent addition? Wasn’t here last time I was.”

“‘Fraid not, it's been here ‘bout twenty-odd years now,” Bastion called back.

“Shit…” Sentinel hissed. He started muttered under his breath, but I couldn’t make out much. Just something about time.

“Welcome to Deepwater Gulch, folks,” Bastion said as he stepped through the end of the tunnel and to one side. Jerry was the first through and I heard her audibly gasp. When I followed her through, I knew why.

The steep sides of the canyon rose up on either side of us and reaching far into the sky. I was almost certain that they touched the impenetrable curtain of grey clouds far overhead. The rough, red rock walls were pock-marked with large openings and hollows from which gantries, gangways, and rickety bridges crossed the gap to similar openings on the other side. Looking up, I saw a filly waving eagerly from one of the walkways before her mother urged her to keep up. At our level the settlers had burrowed into the mountain creating spaces for shops and stalls. A large griffin in matte black armor leaned against the wall next to a door, a scrap sign overhead proclaiming it ‘The Watering Hole’ as a trio of ponies in similar barding to Sentinel’s drunkenly stumbled out and towards the main gate. Next to it was an open air shop, a counter of carved stone blended seamlessly with the ground and a burly unicorn did his best to sell some goods to a small mare that was eyeing some of the items on display.

“Once you’ve met with Springblossom,” Bastion said, drawing my attention away from the sights and sounds of Deepwater, “we’ll see if we can set you up in one of the communal lodges. ‘Fraid it takes at least a year ‘afore we’ll set ya up with somethin’ private.”

“That shouldn’t be too bad,” Jerry said, peeling her gaze from her surroundings. “We’re used to group living.”

“Good. It’ll be a bit crowded, but you each get a blanket and a pillow. You’ll need to work, but we can discuss that later. Come on then. Mayor’s office is past the purifiers.” Bastion started moving again.

“‘Ere, gimme the sled. I’ll sell the salvage and meet you at the Watering ‘Ole when you’re done,” Sentinel said. I nodded and let him magically take the harness. “See ya soon,” he said as he dragged the cart towards the vendor with the stone counter. I trotted after Jerry and Bastion, catching up quickly as he lead us deeper into the canyon. Jerry’s head whipped back and forth as she took in everything she could, a smile on her face. It was nice to see her so excited.

The canyon widened ahead the rock having been cleared away in a rounded area to make room for several large, rusted monstrosities. I slowed to a stop and looked at the machines. They puttered and hissed, thick pipes snaking through holes in the ground and up out of the machine to large cisterns set up in a neat and orderly row. All of them were chugging away with the same rhythmic fashion, save for one that a team of ponies were hurriedly working on. It shrieked and squealed angrily if it made any sound at all.

A sharp whistle from Bastion caused me to wince. “Boys!” he called. Several of the grease coated ponies looked up, taking the moment to catch their breath. Bastion stood aside and gestured at Jerry. “This fine young lady brought us that flange we needed to get this piece of shit working again.”

“Oh!” Jerry said, her ears perking up. She twisted and fished her muzzle into her saddlebags a moment before retrieving a large metal disc and holding it out proudly. Bastion took it with a nod and haphazardly chucked it over to the repair ponies.

“Thank the goddesses! This will get us up and running in no time. Thank you, miss,” one of the workers called before he turned and started barking orders at the others.

“Beautiful,” Bastion said as he trotted past the worker bees. “Thanks again for that flange. Water is our life here. So when one of the purifiers goes out, it causes a bit of a panic.”

“It was our pleasure,” Jerry said with a sincere smile. A moment later she nudged me.

“Oh, uh, yeah. Happy to help,” I said, affixing a smile to my face as well.

Bastion smiled and shook his head. “All right, I think I’ve dragged my hooves long enough. Let’s see the mayor.”

Mayor Springblossom’s office was half carved from the canyon wall and half built out from it with scavenged wood and metal. It creaked ominously with each step, but neither Bastion or the Mayor seemed to pay it any mind. Bastion stood beside the Mayor’s desk, as she looked Jerry and I over with an appraising eye. Springblossom was a small white mare with a vibrant yellow mane that curled at the ends.

“Bastion here tells me that you two are to thank for fixing the ‘troublemaker’,” she said with a deceptively authoritative tone for such a small mare. I opened my mouth and then promptly closed it as she continued. “Not only that, you found our missing scavengers. Thank you both very much.”

“Scavengers are a bit hard for us to come by,” Bastion added. “Once ponies are granted residence, they don’t much care for leavin’. No matter how important the reason.”

“And I dare say that with recent… issues, Hazel and Shadow might be a bit hesitant as well,” Springblossom said, giving Bastion a decisive look. His ears fell and he looked away. “We’re quite happy to have them back, alive and well.” Jerry and I nodded politely, but remained quiet. “So, now comes the usual talk. Bastion says you wanted to discuss permanent residence in my town.” Springblossom leaned forward, putting her elbows on her desk and pressing her hooves together.

“Yes, please,” Jerry said with a smile.

“I’m going to be real honest. I know you’re escaped slaves,” the mayor said. Jerry’s ears flattened almost instantly. “I know you’re from that forsaken pit mine to the west.”

“Then you know why we want someplace safe to live,” I said flatly. “And what we’ve been through.”

Springblossom gave me a pitied look. “This is the Badlands, sweetie. Everypony that wants in here has had hardships.”

“But we did what Bastion said to,” Jerry chimed in.

“You did,” Bastion agreed. “And that’s what got ya into Deepwater. Finding our scavengers got ya the interview. Now it’s a matter of what you can keep offering.”

“I’m afraid he’s right,” Springblossom added. “Every adult resident of Deepwater is obligated to pay a measure of rent.”

“We’re not opposed to working,” Jerry said quickly, taking a half step forward.

“What skill sets do you have?” Bastion asked.

“I’m a scavenger. A good one. Especially good at finding fuel,” Jerry said, almost too quickly. I could tell she was nervous about being dumped back outside the wall.

“What else?”

Jerry’s ears drooped. “I… I’ve never done anything else…”

Springblossom nodded and turned to me. “And what about you?”

Suddenly I felt put on the spot. “I’m strong. Used to physical labor,” I said.

“Mechanically inclined?” she asked.

“I… I don’t know what that means…” I muttered.

“Can you fix things? Machines and the like,” she clarified.

“Well… no…”

“Experience with weapons?”

“You mean guns? No…”

Springblossom smiled sadly. “So you can’t fix things. And you can’t use a gun, so being a guard is out.”

“I can dig,” I said.

“Through solid rock?” Springblossom scoffed. “We’ve got machines that’ll do it in a fraction of the time. Machines you can’t repair if they break down.”

I was beginning to see a trend here. “Then I can scavenge with Jerry,” I offered, feeling suddenly inadequate at everything. “And we can both farm.”

That got Springblossom’s attention. “You can?”

Jerry nodded emphatically. “They made us as foals.”

Her expression soured a bit. “So its not recent knowledge?” she asked. Jerry and I shared a look and then shook our heads. “Look, I don’t want to tell you that you aren’t able to do something we could use. Scavenging for instance is always needed. But what happens if you get injured. The wasteland is a dangerous place after all.”

“We can learn!” Jerry said hurriedly, leaning forward and placing her hooves onto the desk. “Please. Give us a shot.”

Springblossom smiled sadly and then looked to Bastion. “Bastion, see what kind of lodging there is in the communal hall.” She looked back to us as Jerry’s ears perked up and a small smile crept across her face. “If you want to wait at The Watering Hole, I’ll have someone deliver your probationary resident cards. You’ll need them to stay in the town.”

“You’re… you’re letting us stay?” Jerry asked.

The hint of hope in her voice hit Springblossom like a brick. She slipped out her chair and around her desk to Jerry and gave her a hug. “I’m letting you stay. For now. We’ll see how it works out and go from there. Its all I can promise at this time.”

Jerry threw her forelegs around Springblossom and hugged her tightly. “Thank you! Thank you so much!” she sobbed, tears streaming down her face as she cried happy tears for possibly the first time in her life. She peeled away from the mayor and looked at me. “Free! We can stay! We have a home!” She lunged at me and hooked her legs around my neck, hugging me tight. I smiled, feeling my heart soar and hugged her back.

“A home,” I repeated.

The Watering Hole wasn’t what I was expecting. Granted, the only other bar I’d been in had been Violets, so I didn’t have much of a spectrum to compare it to. The first and most notable difference, it was dark. A couple of poor lamps cast flickering light across a couple of tables and a string of lights hung over a carved rock bar, easily providing the best light in the room. A salvaged piano sat in the corner, and a thin, almost skeletal mare played an upbeat tune that seemed quite out of place given her surroundings. Sentinel wasn’t hard to spot. He sat at the bar and the other patrons were giving the ghoul a wide berth. He’d already ordered himself a drink and three companions for it, all of which were empty. He turned and looked at us as we approached, smiling slowly. “Well, you two look positively happy,” he said. “Good news I take it.”

Jerry smiled excitedly and sat next to the ghoul. “They’re giving us a shot!” she said in a pitch so high it was almost a squeal. She tapped her hooves and bobbed her head side to side, beaming from ear to ear.

“No kidding?” Sentinel said with a half smile. “Glad we got that worked out. I’ll be leaving soon then.” He turned back to the bar and tapped his hoof on the table. “Gimme one more.”

“You’re leaving?” I asked, moving to sit next to him at the bar.

“Sure. Did my part didn’t I?” he asked as the bartender poured a measure of clear liquid that smelled distressingly like paint thinner into one of Sentinel’s glasses. Sentinel’s magic surrounded the glass and lifted it to his lips where he downed it in a single gulp. “I’ll prolly ‘ead out in the morn’.” he said with a non-commital shrug. “Maybe in a day or two. Oh!” he twisted slightly, his magic fishing for something in his bags before he retrieved a jingling sack which he floated over and stuffed into my saddlebags. “There’s the caps for your salvage. Shoulda seen that blokes eyes light up.”

“Why are you giving them all to him?” Jerry asked in a mockingly hurt tone as she tapped her hoof on the bar. “One of those please,” she said, gesturing to one of Sentinels empty glasses. The bartender gave her a ‘you sure?’ look but poured one anyway.

“Because he can carry’em all, lass,” Sentinel joked as he leaned against the bar and watched as Jerry lifted the glass and sipped the drink. Her eyes instantly bulged and she began to cough and sputter furiously as her face began to turn red. The glass tumbled from her grip and Sentinel caught it with his magic and downed it in a single motion.

“Wh-what the hell is that?” she wheezed.

Sentinel opened his mouth and then closed it. He glanced at the glass and the featureless jug the bartender had poured from. After a moment he shrugged. “No idea,” he said. “But it’ll get you good and drunk.”

“I think breathing near it will accomplish that…” I said, waving a hoof in front of my face.

Sentinel shrugged and downed the drink quickly. “C’mon you two. Time for a little celebration. You got yourselves a place of your own now. A home.”

I glanced back out to the canyon proper as ponies trotted this way and that. Freely. A smile slowly grew on my face. “Yeah. I guess we do, don’t we?”

Sentinel hooked a foreleg over each of our shoulders and pulled us close. I dutifully ignored the missing side of his face as best I could with it being scant inches from me. “That you do! Now! Let’s drink! Maybe something a little easier for you lightweights. Three beers, please,” he called to the bartender. The young stallion nodded and three beers were placed in front of us. We each took up one and, following Sentinel’s lead, held them up.

“To new horizons!” he said.

“New horizons!” Jerry and I repeated and clinked the bottles together.

“-free?”

I stirred just a bit, grasping at the fleeing tendrils of sleep as a voice called to me. For a moment I thought it was Jerry. But only for a moment. It was a voice that was familiar, but I couldn’t recall why. It was fleeting. Half-forgotten. I tensed as a hoof brushed through my mane.

My eyes opened, all pretenses of sleep forgotten. A light breeze blew past, setting the green grass rolling in its wake. I blinked once. Then again. Yet the scene did not change. The hoof brushing through my mane once more surprised me and I practically leapt to my hooves, spinning around and stopping dead in my tracks.

I was staring at the ghost from a memory.

She smiled at me, the corners of her mouth crinkling upwards.

“M-momma?” I croaked, reaching out a hoof.

She smiled and nodded, reaching out with her own hoof until it touched mine. I recoiled, expecting something to happen. Nothing did. She simply lowered her hoof and patted the ground next to her. “Sit with me, sweetie. I haven’t got long.”

I swallowed my apprehension and moved to sit next to her. I felt sheepish, and kept my gaze low, casting the occasion glance her way as if at any moment she might disappear. She looked up at me with a blend of pride and sorrow, and reached up to tousle my mane. “Is this… a dream?” I managed to ask.

“It’s been my dream,” she said, “To see my boy again. All grown up. You’re bigger than I thought you’d be. Just about as big as your father.” I caught her hoof with my own, holding it. She felt solid.

Warm.

Real.

“What’s… what’s going on?” I asked.

“They chose you, Carefree,” she said as if it made sense.

“Wha- who? Who chose me?”

“That’s not important right now,” she said. “You are.”

“I’m nothing. Just a slave,” I said. My momma’s face fell, and she pulled me into a ferocious hug. I resisted for a moment, and then fell into the familiarity of it. It was something I hadn’t realized I’d been missing.

Wanting.

“My poor baby. You are so very important. You just don’t see it yet.” She slowly released me and looked me in the eyes. “There’s something coming, Carefree. It is old. It is dangerous. And it is not alone.” The serene pasture we’d been sitting began to darken as ominous black clouds rumbled overhead.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Powerful,” she whispered. The wind began to pick up, whipping at our manes. “They said go to the museum where they first spoke to you. There you can find out more.”

I shook my head. “But… we worked so hard to get here. So hard to get away from places like that. I just want…”

“Her,” she said with a smile. “The cute little filly with the red mane, right?” I blushed and nodded. “I wish you the best with her sweetie. But you need to go to the museum. I also need you to be strong. Be brave.” She lifted my chin with her hoof and fixed me with a look of grim determination as the sky darkened further still. I wanted to look my mom in the eyes, but as the terrible storm whipped around us I looked anywhere but. I felt like a foal again, and I reached for her, holding her hoof tightly. “Be ready.”

I awoke with a gasp, and shot up in my bed, my heart pounding in my chest. I was greeted with the rough hewn stone walls of the communal lodge. The space was large, and more than a dozen ponies lay alone or in pairs through out, sleeping so much more soundly than what I saw at The Dig. Jerry was less than a foot away, snuggled up in the blanket she’d been given. I exhaled slowly, rubbing my face with a hoof. I had been sleeping? But… it was… was so...

Jerry stirred with a yawn, drawing my attention. Her eyes opened a crack and she looked at me blearily. “Did we get’em?”

“Get who?” I asked with a smile.

“The elements,” she murmured, her eyes already drifting closed.

“Not yet. Get some rest, Jerry,” I said quietly.

She nodded weakly, already drifting deeper into sleep. “G’night… Bucket…”

My smile fell just a bit and I leaned over to adjust Jerry’s blanket. I shunted the feelings of hurt to the back of my mind and slipped out of my bed. I needed some air.

The communal living space was several levels up and accessible only by the creaking gantries that had been bolted and suspended in place. I stepped out onto the platform, and leaned on the railing. Three stories below the purifiers puttered and clunked. Even at this late hour there was a team of ponies walking slow circles around them, occasionally stopping to check something I couldn’t begin to understand. I watched them silently, enjoying the cool night air and just… trying to make sense of things.

It had been many years since I’d dreamt of my mother. In recent memory… I barely dreamt at all. Exhausted slumber wasn’t very good for dreaming. As I was mulling over the dream, I heard the door creak open behind me, and the sound of hoofsteps approaching.

“Free?” I smiled, recognizing Jerry’s groggy voice instantly. “What’re you doing out here?” she muttered as she walked over to stand beside me.

“Clearing my head,” I said as I looked down at her, “I had… a confusing dream… I didn’t wake you did I?”

She shook her head slowly. “A dream?” she asked, rubbing her eye, “What about?”

“That’s… not important. Let’s go back to sleep, Jerr,” I said, gently nudging her back to the lodge. She nodded, too tired to argue and we trotted back inside. Whatever that dream was about, it was just that. And I had a more important dream to follow here.

I woke a few hours later, having drifted off to sleep again after heading back inside. I got to my hooves and stretched, feeling my back pop and my sleep stiffened muscles begin to loosen. Jerry was also beginning to stir. Judging by the snoozing and snoring ponies throughout the room, we were the odd ones out.

“Mornin’,” I said quietly to Jerry.

She smiled at me sleepily. “Morning, Free.” She glanced around, noticing just as I had, that we were the only ones awake. “I guess The Dig kept early hours…” she mused.

“C’mon. Let’s go see what we can find to eat,” I said as I trotted to the door. We made our way down the creaking gantries slowly as we made our way down the narrow pathways toward ground level. The lower we got, the more the town seemed to be coming to life. A new team of ponies was coming in to relieve the ponies I’d seen working on the purifiers during the night. Important information was passed on, as well as a few comments or jokes as the ponies traded places. The night shift crew trotted towards the small market district. I nudged Jerry and pointed after them. Surely they’d know a place where a body could get a warm meal.

Following the workponies led us to a cafeteria that seemed more for the guards and maintenance ponies than for the average ponies working there, but for a few caps they were happy to serve us all the same. A large bowl of piping hot stew and a cup of cool water were given over to us and we found a table to sit and eat. We both thoroughly enjoyed the freedom in that small act. Once our meals were finished we sat in relative silence.

“Do you… do you want to talk about it?” Jerry asked quietly.

“About what?”

“About your… dream. It must’ve been something bad if it woke you in the middle of the night…”

I smiled. “Not bad… just…” My voice trailed off. It wasn’t a bad dream. But it was certainly… something.

“You can talk to me about it you know,” she said, tracing her hoof in a small circle on the worn tabletop. “You always let me whine to you about mine…”

“I know. It… It was my momma,” I said. Jerry looked up at me, her eyes just a little wide. “It was so real. I could swear it was like she was right there.”

“Did she say anything?”

I hesitated. “She… she said that I need to go back to the museum…”

“Psssh, fuck that,” Jerry said. “We nearly died getting out of there, and she wants us to go back? Why?”

“She said I was chosen…”

“By who?”

“She didn’t say.”

“Well… now what?” Jerry asked.

“Now I put you to work,” Bastion said as he trotted up to our table. Jerry and I both jumped, not realizing how tense our conversation had made us. He set a steaming mug down on the table and took a seat. “Morning. I see you managed to find our best kept secret here in Deepwater,” he said with a smile. He sipped at his drink and gave each of us an appraising look. “How was your first night?”

“It was nice,” Jerry said cheerfully. “Much better than we are accustomed to.”

“Good. We try our best to keep the wasteland beyond the wall.” He stared down into his mug. “Life’s already hard enough. That said, I got some scavenging work that needs doing, and… well… My go-to’s are currently on the mend.”

“You’re sending us out?” I asked. Bastion nodded. “There’s no tests or tricks this time, right?”

Bastion chuckled. “Nah. That’s only for outsiders. Ya’ll are like family now. Distant relatives, but still family.”

“What is it we need to find?” Jerry asked.

Bastion settled in and pulled a list from his saddlebags. “We heard tell that there’s a big building to the west,” he began. I tensed. “Huge. Got part of a sign still hanging on it,” An image flashed into my head as a huge, rust streaked building popped into my head.

“...the museum…” I muttered. Bastion quieted and looked to me. As did Jerry. I looked to each of them in turn. “We know the place. It’s the Badlands Archeology Museum.”

“You been there?” Bastion asked.

“Yeah,” I said.

“What do we need from it?” Jerry asked.

Bastion shrugged. “Not really sure. Mayor said to have you two go check it out. I guess bring back anything useful.” As he spoke, green text appeared in my field of vision once more. ‘Two Steps Forward…’

Great.

Just… great…

Author's Notes:

Wait... what this? What is happening?!?!?

Currently this chapter (like the other 2) is unedited. If you spot and spelling or grammar errors, please let me know. It would help me a great deal.