.:+:.

Continuing.

The need to keep going, the urge to go, the push to go on. I needed to leave Arabino far behind, I needed to be sure I was safe. It was something I had no control over, my body had reacted as anything would in that situation, the instinct to escape, the instinct to live, the urge to Survive. Everything wants to live, no matter who, what, or why. It was purely natural, something nopony or nothing, could escape. You can’t just get rid of the urge to survive, the will to live. You’re stuck with it.

I had been flying for a few hours I thought, I hadn't even thought of stopping. With each passing minute, I was losing altitude, my speed was dropping, I was fighting a losing battle to keep myself steady. My body had grown numb half an hour in, now I was burning with fiery pain every time I moved a muscle, with each flap of my wings. A cold sweat had broken out over my entire body, I was breathing in short ragged breaths, I felt so hot I was cold. My vision was swimming, every little noise ringing in my ears painfully. My PipBuck was continually flashing a warning at me; Poison- Radioactive Enhanced Venom

Whatever that creature was, it's bite was poisonous, and the healing potions I had taken since I had been flying had done nothing to help. I needed antivenom, but I had none, I didn't even know what that thing had been, or if there was even a cure at all... The edges of my vision were beginning to cloud with black, and against my will, I dropped a few feet, before wavering as I caught myself again.

A good portion of my wounds had come along with Radiation Poisoning along with whatever venom the creature's bite had, nothing Rad-Away couldn't begin to fix, too bad that didn't get rid of deadly poison, or even all the Radiation…. oh how I wished it did..... I dropped another couple of feet, barely managing to catch myself before I flipped over. I needed to land, soon, before I passed out in the air and fell to my death. That wouldn't be very fun, now would it...?

Looking down, in the gloom I spotted the crumbling ruin of a highway, risen up on beams away from the ground. Sections of it were gone, while others crumbled away toward the ground. Dozens upon dozens of wagons and carts were stopped, overturned and destroyed along the entire thing. My PipBuck chimed at me, 'ManeHatten Highway'

I angled down, body hanging limply from my wings, head down and eyes halfway closed. I circled over a fairly intact part of the road, slowing down as best I could before my hooves hit the cracked surface. I stumbled and fell to the asphalt, my chin hitting the hard road. I let out a groan, my wings falling around me, legs folded underneath my torso. I let myself lay there for awhile, hardly aware of anything around me. That was fun...

I forced myself to my hooves, failing to push myself up the first few times, till I could stand on shaky legs, head down and heaving from the effort. The pain in my hoof from the glass was nothing compared to the fiery pain sweeping through my entire body.

The sound of a single shot ripping through the night air jolted me into action, when the bullets lodged itself into the road just next to me. I half jumped, half stumbled to cover behind an over turned wagon (Red Racer Scooters!) leaning heavily against the underside of it. Dozens of rusted over, red scooters spilled out from the cart, wheels and parts scattered around wildly. Looking to my E.F.S, there were four red blips. How could I have been stupid enough not to check my E.F.S. before I landed? I am not a smart pony.

"Hold still AssWipe!!"

BOOM!

A single, thunderously loud shot echoed over the highway, and one of the red blips went out. I spared a look around the side of my cover, narrowing my eyes to see through the darkness. I spotted the figure of a dark grey buck ducking behind a small cart, shotgun held in his magical grasp. He was wearing spiked armor, covered in every inch with blood and other filth. His mane and tail were ragged and stringy, one of his eyes was torn through by a very large scar. His cutie mark appalled me, a bloody, decapitated pony head set on a spike. My stomach clenched at the sight, not out of sickness, but mild anger.

"Get im!"

I switched my gaze to the second pony registering as hostile, an earth pony mare with sickly green hair, wearing the similar filthy armor to the unicorn buck, her mane sticking straight up into spikes along the top of her head. She had a badly worn revolver clamped down in her muzzle, hiding behind the same cover as the first one.

Laying in a pool of flesh, brains, bone and blood lay the head-less body of a pony, set right in front of the cover the other two had taken refuge behind. The head-less corpse was wearing the same armor as the first two. My eyes went wide, well damn, that must have been an extremely powerful gun to have taken the entire head off that pony….. I looked around, who shot him though? And who were those other two shooting at? I didn't think it was me... I had come to the conclusion the shot that had been near my feet had been poorly aimed, and not intended for me at all.

Why would they shoot at me anyway? I knew they were red on my E.F.S., but what had I done to these ponies? What could I have done that might have provoked them? Nothing that I knew off, instead I just got the feeling they were not very good ponies.

"Fucking shoot him already!" The mare yelled, reloading her gun. Who?

"Chew on this!"

The third pony popped up behind a concrete divider set in the center of the highway, his head jerking upward, as he sent the sparking figure of lit dynamite out toward a large shipping carriage with the painting of a large buck surrounded in all manner of different types of donuts (Donut Joe's Special Delivery Donuts!), to the left of me and a little farther forward.

BOOM!

I watched in venom-induced, reality-altering slow motion as the third pony fell down behind the divider, his neck a spewing fountain of blood, his brains splattering against the road, carts and carriages all around him. Another red light on my E.F.S. went out. I ducked back behind my cover again, and sat down, feeling a wave of dizziness overtake me, the poison making me feel faint.

The Donut carriage exploded with a magnificent amount of noise and fire, bits and pieces of the road and the carriage flying everywhere as burning hot shrapnel. The highway seemed to jump and shake, and it groaned in protest from the abuse it was put through from the explosion. I scowled despite my pain, What an idiot! Was that buck trying to destroy the highway?! He was not a smart pony.

I stomped a hoof down on the road, ears pinned and eyes shut tight. The return fire from whatever pony they had been attacking did not sound again after the explosion. I figured that meant that pony was either dead, winded, or wounded.

"He better be fucking dead!" The unicorn buck snorted, "If he's not-"

BAM! BAM!

My first shot missed completely, the second however, even in my deteriorating state, I was able to hit him in the neck. S.A.T.S allowed me to watch the buckshot from my shotgun tear into his flesh, ripping it apart, and allowing the metal to pierce deep into his throat, blood and bits of flesh spurting up around him, coating his grey coat in crimson. The unicorn buck let out a gurgled noise, blood bubbling up out of his mouth, and he fell back. His red light on my compass went out a few moments later.

The mare dropped down behind her cover again, "Fucking son of a bitch!"

I leaned up against the underside of the carriage with my back, breathing heavily and eyes closed. I had bit down on my tongue to keep myself from screaming out in pain when the kick of the shotgun shook me, causing my body to flare up in even more pain. Why the hell did being poisoned have to suck so much?

"I'm comin' fer-!" The mare yelled,

BLAM! BLAM!

Everything went silent, and I saw the last red light on my E.F.S. go out. My shotgun fell to the ground, my hooves no longer able to hold it, the black clouding the edges of my vision even more. I was hardly keeping myself awake, fuck.....

"Well, thank ya kindly Darlin'." hmm..?

In the halflight, the figure of a pony jumped down from the top of a cart directly across from me, his hooves clopping down on the asphalt with a thud. He stood before me, two assault rifles strapped to his back on either side of him, both pointed at me. Well, he wasn't dead... I assumed the explosion had been meant for him, considering his light was yellow on my E.F.S.- for now.

His muzzle was hidden by a black bandana, a very worn out leather cowboy hat sitting atop his head. He was wearing light, black barding that stopped halfway down his front legs. A sleeveless black trench coat that buckled around his neck, falling around his body and his back legs, completely covering his flanks. Saddlebags were tied to his back, settling just under the guns. He was a fairly big guy, though not much taller than me- but certainly more well built from what I could see. A large Sniper Rifle was mounted next to one of the assault rifles, but currently not in firing position. 'Boom.' The Little Me mumbled,

His teal eyes seemed to glow faintly in the shadow of his hat, he just kept staring at me. "Ah appreciate the help." He went on with a thick country accent. "But, Ah coulda took um' out by muh lonesome." He kicked a lever on the guns, and they reloaded with a metal cling. "T'aint often ya see any Pegasi out 'ere ." He told me,

I narrowed my eyes at him, my ears pressing back against my head. I wasn't getting a good feeling from him, and I was pressed up against my back with nowhere to run to, I didn't think I had enough strength to fly anymore. Instead I forced myself to my hooves, deciding I oughtta stand up and take my death with at least a little dignity, not splayed out on the ground. My legs were trembling badly, I looked like somepony had dumped water on top of me with my coat sticking to my skin from sweat. I was breathing hard with the effort of actually standing up.

The buck tensed when I moved before really taking in how weak I looked, and I swear, he was smirking at how pathetic I looked under that bandana. Screw him!

"Back off." I muttered, head low and ears pressed against my head, voice low and wispy.

"No can do." The buck responded. "Yer no raider, but....." I perked a little at the word 'raider', assuming he must be referring to the ponies he, no we, had just killed. "You, Darlin’... you’re not a Dashite." He nickered lowly, his eyes tracing my Cutie Mark. Dashite..? "Ah reckon tha' means yer parta' the Enclave." His hooves spread apart slightly to balance himself a bit more, I knew what was coming next. "Tha' means, yer muh enemy." Called it.

Underneath the bandana, he bit down on the trigger to his guns, taking aim. How did I know he was going to shoot me? Damn my impeccable sense of knowing when a pony wanted to kill me.... his light on my E.F.S. suddenly turned red, I was sooo dead…..

I blinked though, I didn’t even think about the fact he was now an enemy, I was more concerned with what he said, I didn’t understand any of it- and even though I was staring down the barrel of two guns about to fire at me- I couldn’t help my curiosity, "What.... What the hell is the Enclave..?" I asked lowly, in between heavy, strained breaths. A spell of dizziness washed over me, and I swayed dangerously, before falling to one knee. "And.... what the fuck is a... Dashite...?" I must have looked so pitiful.. damn it...

He stopped short, ears perking at the questions and teal eyes widening slightly. "What?" He breathed.

BAM! BAM!

"We found them asslickers now!'

"Hells yeah!!"

"Get um!!"

The buck's head snapped to the side, several more ponies in the same 'raider' armor were racing toward us from farther up the highway. The buck turned his attention toward them, "Damn it! Knew ah shouldn't ‘ave used muh Sniper!"

'Oh yeah... how stupid was he..? That gun was sooooo loud…. no wonder more came....' The Little Me thought miserably. He was not a smart pony…...

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!!

The two assault rifles strapped to his back blared to life, I don't know if he hit anypony though. The black that had been creeping up on the edges of my vision had progressed rapidly, I could hardly breath anymore. I fell forward, hitting the pavement with a pain searing thud, then everything fell away, the noise, the highway, everything...

.:+:.

The pain was immeasurable, unfathomable, and it only continued to grow worse. Every little movement was torture, every breath was agony beyond compare. I didn't know where I was, I couldn't force myself to open my eyes. I kicked and thrashed wildly, moaning in pain, sweat plastering my fur to my body.

There were voices... two I think. I couldn't make out what they were saying, or who they were. I didn't recognize them, how could I? I didn't know anypony, I was alone, without memories, without a purpose, without a reason to live...... Who was I really? Why was I trapped in Zone 4? Hell, what was Zone 4 really supposed to be anyway?!

I let out a small, pathetic whimper. Fuck... I hated this, hated feeling weak, hated feeling pathetic..... What was the point of all of this, all this pain? What had been the point of getting out of Arabino? Why hadn't I just let those creatures kill me? I hadn't any reason to want to live, I only fought because of instinct.

Everypony is afraid to die no matter what they say otherwise. It’s natural……. You could be on the brink of death, facing down hundreds of enemies... It would be so much easier just to die. Not to be in pain anymore. I wanted the pain to stop, but I didn't want to die. Damn the feeling!

There was a voice in my head... no, not a voice, a pony. A small, very annoying pony in my head that was relentlessly kicking out at the black waves trying to consume her. The Little Me. She kept fighting, not willing to back down, not willing to give up. "Give up already," I told her, "Wouldn't it be better... just to let the pain go away...?"

Great, now I was hopeless… my life is freaking fantastic already...

.:+:.

Rain poured down, speckling the window of a large building, filled to the brim with ponies milling around, all in business suits, all looking polished and groomed. I looked down toward my hooves, the marble floor underneath me, which was now a puddle of rainwater dripping off my coat. One of the ponies passed me, frowning and turned his nose up in disgust, clearly not happy with the mess I was making. I cast him an apologetic smile, but he only walked away with a swish of his tail behind him.

I looked around the foyer, everything was hazy, everything blurred and unrecognizable. But I knew what I was doing, I was trying to spot the pony I was waiting for. I didn't know who, I didn’t know where this place was, I couldn't remember.

But I did know that I was jitterish, nervous, jumpy. The weight of a very important message on my mind, a message I had to get to her, at any cost. Something really, really bad was coming,
I could feel it.

.:+:.

The fragmented vision cleared away from my muddled mind. Where in the hell was that? Who were those ponies? Who was I waiting for? And what was I going to tell them?

I tried, and failed to remember anymore. That place was unfamiliar, the ponies were unfamiliar. I didn't remember why I had been there, or what I had been planning to say. Fucking 'Magical Head Injury', fucking blank brain... why was nothing there? Why couldn't I remember? I really, really wanted to remember. So much it was a burning want inside my soul, I wanted to remember, wanted to know who I really was, why I was trapped in Zone 4, why..... why was there so much pain..?

'Oh hell no!' The little pony still fighting yelled back at me, red gaze burning with passion.

"I don't have a reason to live." I admitted, knowing it was true. I had woken up for no reason but to die this horrible, painful death...

'I don't care if you don't think you have a purpose in life!' I blinked, taken aback by her harsh tone. 'You woke up for some reason, didn't you?!' The Little Me shouted, bucking furiously at the waves of black. 'Find a purpose! Find something to live for! You have to try and find out who you are! Find out what Zone 4 is!' The Little Me bucked harder than ever. 'And you damn well better find that stupid buck from the highway and kick his tail for trying to kill you!' Buck...?

I perked, that was right. That stallion back on the highway, he had tried to kill me for no reason! Sure, he spouted something about... Enclave was it? And 'Dashite'? I didn't care, all I knew was that I wanted to get him back for it. No pony tried to kill me and got away with it!

On the account of whether or not I really had a purpose to live, I would revisit that later, I wasn't really convinced of the fact right now. Perhaps it was just the sense of not knowing anything. With such a blank mind, I knew it would be hard to find any purpose for myself but..... I supposed I might as well give it a try. I smirked, stomping a hoof down and nodding. The Little Me was right, I had to find out everything I could about Zone 4, I had to find out who I was. I had to at least try to find a purpose for living.... And I sure as hell wasn't going to rest until I found that buck and made him regret threatening me!

.:+:.

I moaned softly, pulling my forelegs to my stomach slowly. I shivered involuntarily, feeling like somepony had put me in a freezer...... again. Forcing my eyes open halfway, I blinked a few times to try and make everything unblur.

Most everything was dark. I was laid out on a really dirty and blood-stained mattress on the floor, two others pushed up against the wall to my left. The walls were made of scrap metal, welded and bolted together as best as anypony could manage. Several gusts of warm air were seeping in through the many holes in the patchwork frame of the building I was in. To my right, behind a moldy and frayed privacy wall, I could see the outline of a raised metal table, a tray full of medical utensils set up next to it. There were a few head-lights spread out around the table, all of them turned off for the time being. I couldn't help but cringe slightly at the amount of bloodstains on the table, and splattered around the floor near it. Even the wall was flecked with red, my mind immediately flashed to a mental image of somepony being cut apart by a crazy, shadowy demon thingy. I don't know why though, it seemed a little fitting however.

Looking away I took in a few deep breaths, I felt faint, tired, and sore beyond belief. The fiery pain had dulled significantly, I could move without it hurting like hell. I blinked, seeing the IV that had been stuck into my foreleg and held down with some aged tape, leading up to a bag of fluids hung up on a stand next to my bed. There were two thin scars on my shoulders that were almost completely healed, even my coat had grown back, though I knew they would remain pink, cutting through my coat for the rest of my life. I couldn't see the back of my neck, but I was fairly certain there was a scar there too, like the others it was almost fully healed, and I knew my mane would hide it rather well. Not that visible scars bothered me, I actually wouldn't care if they were visible or not.

I glanced behind me, ears twitching at the curtains set over a large window beside my bed, shifting in the breeze blowing from outside. Pushing myself to sit up, I shuffled across the mattress toward the window, nudging the threadbare curtain aside, and set my chin on the window sill. It was night, but despite the dark outside, I could make out the outline of dozens more buildings rising up around where I was. They were all shapes and sizes, made from the same patchwork scrap metal. Dirty yellow light was pouring out from several of the windows, rising up into the night.

I strained my ears to hear, but when I couldn't pick up on anything, I assumed that everypony, whose yellow lights I could see on my E.F.S. were probably asleep, night was the time most ponies slept, after all.

Ding..

I glanced down toward my PipBuck once it chimed at me, the clear, mechanic sound echoing around the room a little. The map had updated; 'BaleFire Town'. I blinked, tilting my head in mild confusion. BaleFire? Like BaleFire Bomb? Why would anypony name a town after....

Ding....

The Map updated again, and I turned to the more localized map. Suddenly, dozens of marks appeared over the interface, things like 'WaterPump station', 'BaleFire Clinic' (where I was now), 'MudLuck's Saloon' and..... my eyes grew wide. 'Undetonated BaleFire Bomb', right at the center of town. Undetonated, as in, still weaponized. Could still blow up, kill everypony...... I shook my head, what crazy, crazy ponies these ones must be!

A flicker of pale, white light shimmering on the casing of my PipBuck caught my attention suddenly, and I lifted my head up to the pitch black sky, knowing all too well the clouds were still blocking off the expanse above them. However, through a very small break in the clouds, I caught sight of the shimmering white light of what I knew deep down was the moon. A ray of its cool, soft light was pouring down to land over me, the only natural light I had seen since I had woken up.

My eyes grew wide, I was still, silent. That tiny ray of moonlight against a backdrop of endless dreary grey all around.......... I smiled, it was beautiful, unlike nothing I had seen since waking up. It seemed to fill me with strength, with energy. My body suddenly didn't ache as much anymore, my senses felt just a little clearer. It was if it's light were healing me, shining into my very soul and filling me with warmth. I took in a deep breath, looking to the patch of light, smile growing a little more. I wished I could see more of the moon, up there behind those damn clouds. It was the first beautiful thing I had seen since waking up.

Then it was gone, the clouds covered it up again, and that tiny ray of moonlight I had been bathed in, it was gone, and I hated the feeling of losing it. I felt as if something very special had been snatched away from me, and indeed something very precious had been. I felt that seeing either the sun or the moon was going to be rare, especially since all of those clouds up there didn't look as if they were going to be moved anytime soon.

But moonlight, moonlight was a very rare, very special thing that probably no pony ever got to witness, and I wished I could see it again. Maybe if I flew up there..?

swish...

I snapped my head around at the barely audible noise, eyes training onto the sheet hung over a doorway directly across from me. The ragged fabric was swaying slightly, as if somepony had pushed through it, or moved it aside briefly, though I couldn't see anypony in the entrance.

My E.F.S. registered a friendly mark for a split second, before it was gone and I was left alone again.

.:+:.

"Oh... Oh my!"

A very, very shocked mint colored unicorn mare with a strikingly green mane, and a syringe for a Cutie Mark was standing before me, eyes wide and dancing on her hooves nervously. She had walked into the room, not seemingly paying attention to what she was doing, too absorbed on the clipboard she had been levitating in her magical grasp. That clipboard had clattered to the floor when her magic imploded upon seeing me.

Her jaw was dropped slightly, not seeming to know what to make of the situation. I gave her a nervous smile, not sure what to do myself, not fully understanding why she seemed so shocked. I had only been hurt a little, right...? The Little Me snorted and rolled her eyes.

"You... You’re awake!" She gasped, "T-That's not possible!" She trotted forward, horn glowing as she cast a diagnostic spell over me to check my vitals. Her eyes grew even wider, a large ring of white appearing around the green orbs. "You..... your vitals are normal, fever's gone...... You look, fine..!"

I agreed, I had fallen asleep after waking up last night, this morning I felt nearly pitch perfect. My senses were sharp, I was alert, my body didn't ache very much at all, my wounds didn't sting as much as they probably should have with the beating I took. I felt pretty damn awesome- all things considered.

She took a step away from me, as if she was suddenly afraid to touch me, eyes narrowing. "Do you have some sort of enhancement?" She asked lowly, looking both intrigued, and wary. What...?

I tilted my head at her, confused. "Enhancement?" I echoed. "Like........ like what, exactly?" I felt so stupid.

She snorted a little, not finding my ignorance amusing. "I'm going to assume it isn't a mechanical enhancement, I would have become aware of it with my Diagnostic Spell...." Her green eyes narrowed even more. "Magical maybe.......... wouldn't you know, though?" She asked, and I smiled sheepishly. Nope!

"Uh.... actually, I don't really remember a lot.." I admitted, and she tilted her head. "I woke up with no memories of my past..." Glancing around I added, "Or what happened."

"Amnesia?" The mare asked and I paused, yep, that was the word for it. Why hadn't I come up with that?

"Something like that I think." I replied, lifting my forehoof and gesturing toward my PipBuck. "My PipBuck tells me it's some sort of 'Magical Head Injury'."

"... I might be able to help with that." The mare said after a moment of silence, my ears perked at the news. "I can’t promise anything, if it really is Magic related, it may be irreversible." She cautioned, but I didn't really care, I just wanted her to try.

"As long as you gave it a shot, I would be grateful." I told her, and she dipped her head at me.

"Very well then," She stepped toward me again, and I sat up straight. "My name's Vera by the way."

"I'm Flash." I told her, and she nodded. She bowed her head toward me, her horn started to glow as she began her work. I felt a slight itch in the back of my head, a little prick as her Magic began to dig through my mind. It felt weird, but it was bearable. We were left in silence for a few minutes, Vera's eyes closed as she began to concentrate on what she was doing. I waited patiently, hoping that something would happen, I would remember something, anything.

When ten minutes had gone by, Vera stepped away and lift her head, her Magic receding. I frowned at the apologetic look she gave me, gah.. damn it... "I'm sorry, but I can’t reverse the effects." She told me quietly. "Whatever sort of Magic hit you, it was powerful, too powerful for me to dispel." I could feel my heart sink at the words, I really had been hoping that this would be a way to get my memory back...

"I...It's fine, thank you for trying.." I told her, then thought to how my body had gone back to normal, how I had filled out again. "Did you happen to use a spell on me, to make my body go back to normal?" I asked, deciding better to find out now, and change the subject.

"I was convinced you wouldn't live, you know." Vera told me in a neutral tone, suddenly changing the subject as her green eyes continued to look me over. I blinked, "Kept telling that damn Merc when he dragged you in here, that there was nothing I could do, but he wouldn't hear of it." I blinked again, wondering who in the hell the 'Merc' was, but I pushed that thought aside for now.

Instead I asked, "What do you mean?"

"I've never seen anybody with as much DireWolf poison in their system as you did." Vera elaborated. "That much could possibly kill a full grown Dragon." She narrowed her eyes at me again, "And besides, I've never seen anybody live through being bitten by a DireWolf in any instance before, in fact, I've only heard of a few very rare instances where anybody actually survived being poisoned by one." Lucky me then? She sat down in front of me, eyes closing a moment. “You’re wounds themselves were serious… but those are easy to fix compared to DireWolf Venom…..” She mumbled, nearly to herself.

"DireWolf..?" I asked, my mind immediately flashing to the large, two-tailed creatures I had encountered in Arabino. Vera’s eyes opened as she raised an eyebrow at me, not sure what to make of the statement. She could apparently see my confusion, but she looked surprised at it.

"DireWolves," She murmured, "Big, ugly things with a deadly poison should they bite you, fairly intelligent too. Radioactive claws and two tails, there all over this part of the Wasteland, though they mostly stay away from the town." Vera paused, looking thoughtful. "They're what you get when a wolf and a cobra are fused together under MegaSpell fire, and spend hundreds of years bathed in radiation, growing in size and strength." I went still, not sure what to make of the information. I felt I should be horrified, confused.... but my mostly blank slate of a mind was letting the information sink in easily, so I wasn't all that shocked about it. I couldn't help but wonder, what in the hell was the Wasteland? Wasn't this Equestria..? I was sooooo confused.

"Yeah.... That's what attacked me...." Was all I could manage to say. "What..... what's happened to Equestria, by the way? You called it… the WasteLand..?" Again, I felt so, sooooooo stupid. Was it really my fault I was this way? Why did my mind have to be so fucking blank?

‘Blank-Flank! Blank-Flank!’ The Little Me sang suddenly, where the hell did that come from?

Vera sighed, not looking particularly thrilled with my Amnesia. If anything, she seemed rather annoyed by it, probably because she knew she was going to have to fill me in on a lot of things. "Oh dear..." She mumbled, "I'll give you a brief, very brief," She empathized the word with a hard stare, "..History lesson, just enough to fill you in on the basics." She took a seat, "And then we can talk about how you plan on paying me for my services. I do have a Clinic to run." Pay....... Pay?!

I stiffened, eyes growing wide. I have to figure out a way to pay her?! Shit!!

.:+:.

I had been unconscious for three full days. I was currently in a town called BaleFire, but that I had already known thanks to my PipBuck. And I knew the reason for the name was because of the inactivated BaleFire Bomb in the center of the town, again, what seriously crazy ponies! Vera was the owner of the Clinic in town, the Clinic I owed a shit-ton of money to for having been given Vera's Services. I couldn't help but feel her prices were outrageous.

700 caps

Yes, caps, the odd currency ponies had all over the Wasteland. Seriously, who came up with that idea? And where the hell was I supposed to come up with 700 damn caps?!

Vera had explained things to me to the best her ability. She had clearly not wanted to get to into it, knowing very well that explaining every single detail would take a very, very long time. I didn't blame her for being aggravated about my lack of knowledge, I was just as frustrated about it as she was. But now I had a better picture of life, a better picture of everything. I knew about the war, I knew that ponies had been surviving on the remains of the Old World for hundreds of years. The bit about the bombs- she explained she set them off.

I was sure to learn more along the way, but I had only needed to know some of it now. Vera however, had not been interested in hearing my story, she didn't care what had actually happened to me, nor did she wish to hear about Arabino, so I kept my mouth shut. Vera was only interested in the money I owed her.

"Lets talk about how you're going to repay me." Vera said in a firm tone, eyes narrowed and face neutral, keeping me in her gaze. I fidgeted my hooves nervously, I didn't have any caps. "How much do you have now?" Oh.... she just had to ask that, didn't she...? Fuck me...

"Uh... only one." I admitted in a small voice. She raised an eyebrow, looking angry at the news. It was pitiful, only one, measly, little cap. 699 more to go..

"You'll have to give it to me." She huffed, holding out a hoof. "And work to repay the rest." Work, work would be good. Work meant money, money meant caps, and caps meant repaying Vera.

I nodded, climbing to my hooves and trotting toward where my saddle-bags had been set off against the wall. My barding was folded and placed inside, and I dug around until I found it, holding the blue cap with the white star in my teeth and turning to Vera. She grabbed the cap in her magical grasp, floating it closer until it was just in front of her muzzle.

I blinked at the disgusted look she gave it, and she floated it back toward me, dropping it back in my bags. "There is no way I'm accepting that." She said firmly. "And I suggest you get rid of it, that's a Sunrise Sarsaparilla Star Cap." She gave me a stern glare, "People collect them, they are very rare, and some will even kill you for it." I swallowed, appalled that anypony would murder for a stupid bottle cap. All it was, was a piece of metal with blue and white paint on it. Ponies in the Wasteland must be fucking crazy........ my mind flashed to where I was, a town built around a still active Super-Bomb. 'They are crazy.' The Little Me intoned dryly.

"You'll need to get some more caps." I sighed, 700 more to go..... "And I will only give you one month to come up with all the caps." Vera went on in a very business-like tone. "You may be able to find work by asking the people around town, see if they need any help with something." She got to her hooves and swished her long, tangled, tail once. "The Sheriff may need something done, I would ask him first." I nodded, taking her advice was all I had at the moment. I blinked, one thought occurring to me, to what she had said earlier;

"Kept telling that damn Merc when he dragged you in here, that there was nothing I could do, but he wouldn't hear of it."

Merc? Like......... Mercenary?

"Vera," I called her attention, she had turned away and picked up her clipboard. She looked my way,

"What?"

"You said a Merc brought me here," I told her, she nodded, "Who was that?"

Vera suddenly looked very disgusted, and I shrunk back, feeling like I might have said something wrong. "Damn buck who's always prancing around, shooting things and demanding to be paid for his 'services'." I bit down on my tongue, almost commenting that she was doing the same thing, demanding to be paid. But I thought better of it, no need to make her angry at me, no Sir-y!

"Calls himself a Mercenary, says he's keeping people safe, but he's really just a gun-for-hire, hardly any better than a raider, and he's bleeding everybody dry." Vera said with a growl embedded in her voice. "He's no good for this town, and he knows it." She looked away toward the window, "Wandered into town a year or so ago, stayed ever since. He's the only one willing to leave and explore, the only one willing to face the Wastes, that's why he's so good at getting money around here." She looked to me, "He's a thief, preying on the good folk who live here, and it'd be better if he just left."

I fidgeted my hooves a little, feeling that her green gaze was so intense, it might burn a hole right through me. I could tell she was angry, I could tell she did not like this buck, but I had to know more. Ugh..... She was not going to like this...... "Do... do you know where he is?" I asked lowly, forcing my gaze to remain level with hers. "I would like to talk to him..."

"It be better if you stayed away from him." Vera told me firmly, stomping a hoof down. "People around here don't like him, and if they see you talking to him, they will not like you." She warned. I blinked a few times, feeling like, if despite Vera's greed for money and her rough attitude, I felt like she was trying to keep me from becoming an enemy to the ponies here. She was trying to protect my reputation... But, that may just be because she wanted me to find jobs here, and if ponies didn't like me, I wouldn't get many offers. It could just be about money, as what I had come to see in her.

Screw it

I stood up a little straighter, forcing my own nervousness away. I didn't care if he wasn't liked around here, I didn't care if I was seen with him. I had to find him, had to talk to him. He had saved my life by bringing me here, and I had to meet who my savior was, no matter how much of a bastard he seemed to be. Vera looked me over calmly, seeming to sense that I was not going to back down, and let out a sigh. "It's your reputation kid, not mine.." She mumbled, though I bristled slightly at the fact she called me ‘kid’- she couldn’t be more than a year or two older than me! "If you’re really set on this, I can't stop you I suppose." She murmured and I nodded at her. Vera waved a hoof toward the window, where on the top of the hill I could see a building at the very top, "He spends most of his time up at the bar, he's the buck named Whiskey." Vera explained, turning away and heading toward the entrance.

I pulled the leather barding on and placed my saddlebags on my back, looking to my PipBuck I surveyed my inventory, making sure everything was in place. I paused, eyes widening once I found that one thing was missing.

The ShieldTune Sonic Emitter

I felt a rising indignation build up inside me, I knew I had not lost it, instantly I knew somepony had taken it. I had no use for the damn thing, but I did not appreciate ponies stealing from me. I stomped a hoof down on the metal floor, hard, snorting in pure anger, my ears pinning back against my head. 'I betchya it was that buck from the highway!' The Little Me inside of my head shouted, stomping around in frustration. I agreed.

Vera had paused upon hearing me stomp on the ground, head tilted and eyes narrowed at how angry I looked suddenly. "Something the matter?" She asked, pausing with the curtain drawn back by her magic.

"Somepony took something from me." I growled, not bothering to look her way, "And I think I know who it was." Yep! A certain, threat-making, robbing buck I had met on a highway, just after I had helped him kill off some raiders, that's who!

Vera paused a moment longer, before shaking her head and leaving the room.

I stared down at the floor, tense, fury and rage building up inside my body. The Little Me was screaming insults at the buck who had threatened me on the highway, insults I wanted to scream myself, but I stayed silent. I was probably never going to see that bastard ever again. He first tried to kill me, then he fucking robbed me. I stomped both hooves down this time, I was pissed, I wanted to buck him in the face!

I looked out the open window, dismal gray light seeping in, the clouds still covering the sky. First thing was first, thank the 'Whiskey' stallion, and then find that thieving bastard, and make him pay for robbing me. I smirked at the thought of pummeling him with my hooves, oh I sooo wanted to.

Throwing my shotgun over my back, I jumped up onto the window sill, pushing off and taking to the air, I should have used the door, but I was too eager to get outside. I downstroked, lifting myself over the roofs of the assorted buildings and shacks climbing the side of the crater in front of me, heading straight toward the Bar at the very top. Ponies looked up at me as I sailed over the buildings, eyes wide and in awe. I glanced down recalling what the buck, no, thieving bastard on the highway had said;

"T'aint often ya see any Pegasi out 'ere ."

I stared in shock, there were no Pegasi here, at least none that I could see. Did that mean I was the only one? Vera had conveniently skipped the part about Pegasi being a rare thing here in the Wasteland.

A few fillies and colts smiled, running along through the few narrow streets underneath me. A small, pale blue unicorn filly with a midnight blue mane streaked with black, and brown eyes, too young to have her Cutie Mark yet, ran along, staying within the confines of the pale shadow I was casting across the ground. For a moment, my anger and irritation faded, seeing the bright smile she was wearing as she followed me. That was one of the few times I was going to see anypony so happy and carefree out here.

I lifted up over a building, losing sight of her among the close confined paths between the town. Vera's Clinic had been situated at the very bottom of the crater, only a mere twenty feet from the inactivated BaleFire bomb within the center of the town. I would admit, the crater was big, but it was also the perfect shelter for the ponies here…. Well, if you didn't think about the ticking bomb just waiting to go off in the middle. Why wouldn't anypony have disarmed it by now?

I looked up, the entire top of the crater was lined all the way around by a huge wall, made from pieces of scrap, and even the engine of some long destroyed machine. I could see a general store from where I was, a water pump station, bathrooms, an armory, houses, a restaurant, and the clinic. There were several levels set up all around, walkways leading over the roofs of lowerset houses, connecting several different buildings to one another, and providing walkways.

Patchwork pipes and tubing were spread out over the entirety of Balefire, buried in some places, raised above the ground in others, and a few going straight through the walls of a few houses and buildings. I couldn't help but notice the leaks spewing from the pressurized water pipes all over the town. Coming to the top of the crater, I lighted down on the metal platform connected to the Bar (MudLuck's), one of the larger buildings in town, with a large, tilted sign of long dead neon letters. I could hear the sound of a radio inside, and the murmurings of other ponies.

I stepped toward the door slowly, pushing it open with a nudge of my nose.

.:+:.

Footnote: Level Up
New Perk: Antivemon Blood (1)-
You have survived a life threatening amount of poisoning. You are now 25% resistant to any type of venom or poison you encounter within the wasteland.