I've been captured by Blood Rose and was currently having a chat with him. Turns out, he's rather friendly and energetic. In said chat, during which I couldn't tell if he knew who I was or not, he proceeded to give me a nickname. But I was unable to hear it due to a sudden and painful headache which send me writhing in pain on the floor, hooves to my skull, eyes closed, screaming.

The pain was indescribable, images of some triangular shapes flashed through my head before fading away again. The pain seemed to vanish as soon as it appeared. I slowly opened my eyes, feeling wet. I really hoped it was water. Nope, it was blood, I tried to stand, but a dizzy spell had me fall back down as my vision dimmed, going out.

There was a dull prick as I felt something stick into my neck before something warm flowed into me. I groaned and opened my eyes again, feeling slightly better. I saw a tube sticking out of my neck, red blood flowing through it.

"I used to travel with a doctor in my youth." Blood chuckled to himself. "I had a crush on his sister once."

My eyes followed the tube, twisting and turning, all the way into Blood's hoof as he sat before me on his desk. Blood's blood was flowing into me. I felt sickened by the very thought of it, I wanted to rip it out, I wanted to end it before my doubt grew too big, I wanted this revenge trip to be over.

"I want to kill you and destroy this world…" I muttered out, staring at him intensely as I kept recalling my dad's corpse and mom's skull.

He looked down at me, his smile dipping as he sighed. "What did I ever do to you? True, I have done terrible things and terrible things have been done in my name. But everything I've done or had someone else done, has had a purpose. Being the leader, I'm often used as a scapegoat for blame when it comes to my clan's actions.

But I am but one pony, I can't dictate everyone's actions. So are you sure it is me who is to blame? Do you have proof of whatever fuels your anger is indeed my doing or will? Or am I just someone to blame due to my position?"

The only thing I had pinning Blood Rose to my parents’ murder were my sister's words. Those were enough. But it was more than that now, Candy. "Slavery," I grunted.

"Ah, yes that debated subject. There are many factors to slavery, including the benefits of slavery." He put a glass of milk down near me.

I stared at it for a bit, my strength slowly returning. "Go on," I said

"True slavery is a terrible thing, but I'd say this world without it might be much worse. Unlike Equestria in the present day, we in the Crystal Empire have been able to rebuild a semblance of a society on the back of slaves. Thanks to so many clans using slaves as a cheap, strong workforce were we able to rebuild. A free pony won't help rebuild the world for free, they may work for caps or food and water. But being free, they will ask for more than they're worth, in which case they'll leave and progress will be halted."

"So it's just for progress?" I asked, still not convinced.

Blood smiled again. "Not just progress, safety too. A slave is protected, a slave is kept alive. Not everypony can survive in this world. Through desperation, hunger and a need for a purpose, a free pony may easily become a raider. Why work together when you can take everything for yourself? Weak ponies of this mindset will gather through their weaknesses or state, usually poor or addicted to drugs, when society threw them out. Why work with ponies that rejected you when you can take what you think you are owed."

“Minute-Mares, they wanted to join society, but weren't welcome. Instead, they ended up taking what they believed was owed to them.” I slowly rolled onto my belly, looking up at Blood. "Why not accept them, show they are welcome?"

"Because they are not, they are often a danger or drain to a community. Would you feed a killer, give your last water to a junkie, waste caps on inferior guards, hug a cannibalistic ghoul? The weak and failures are sometimes better off under the guidance of the strong, as a slave or even a civilian. As I said, if they are not under supervision, they will die or become burdens in other, often dangerous, ways."

My mind jumped straight to Silent Time and Last Meal. There was no way I'd ever hug him. But Stock, he didn't want to be a slaver, he wanted to run his shop in Iron Gem but failed. I could easily imagine him as a slave or dying out in the waste. "This world is crazy."

Blood started clapping his hooves slowly, happily. "And we're just along for the ride."

I bit my lip, thinking of Candy in a cage. "What about kids?"

Blood sighed, a little saddened. "Unfortunately, we're all equal in the eyes of the wasteland, it does not see age or gender, just victims."

I groaned in annoyance, he had a point. After all, I've seen and experienced it, I couldn't deny that despite it being wrong, it, in fact, was right. But that didn't mean I had to accept it. "I still hate slavery," I said as I took a sip of the milk.

"And that's okay, as long as you don't oppose it by freeing a slave or killing a slaver. In time slavery will be faded out, most existing clans have already done so. But they can only do so at the cost of strength and safety. Whereas my clan still has the so-called barbaric act of slavery. The Rose Clan has the lowest number of raiders in its territory because of this very fact."

I couldn't think of a retort, so I did the next best thing. "And what about the approaching war I've heard about?" I asked, drinking more milk.

Blood rotated and flexed his hoof. "All rumors, true though. I plan to go to war with the world, I'd actually be fulfilling your second desire. ‘Destroy this world.’ I believe that's what you said?" He started laughing at me, holding his free hoof to try and cover his chuckles.

"What's so funny?" I asked, cocking my head.

"You have a milk mustache." He blurted out. I blushed a little, licking my upper lip and wondering how dirty I was for my white coat to show milk. To think I had taken a bath a few hours ago, kind of. "So what do you say, want to help me destroy this world?" My jaw dropped, everything was silent as he just kept smiling at me.

"Warlord Blood Rose, it's me Mister Grumble, Acting Chief of Security." Grumble's voice burst through a speaker.

Blood Rose sighed and picked up a mic at his desk. "Grouch of the Featherheads," he said with a snicker, before answering, "Yes? What is it? I'm busy."

"Sir, you wished me to inform you in regards to your daughter~" Blood's mood seemed to have a massive polar shift as he let go of the receive button. Suddenly Blood Rose gave off a dark and angry aura, it intimidated me, and it scared me. He wasn't looking at anyone or doing anything, but his simple tension and his facial expression changing to an almost blank anger was very alarming, considering what he was like before.

He did eventually press the receiver button again. "…So sorry, Warlord Blood Rose, my mistake. Do... do you wish to still hear the report?" Even though it was a static-filled radio, I could still hear the fear in Grumble’s tone.

Blood Rose pressed the button and spoke one word, rather blandly and monotone, "Report." But that one word was filled with anger and a demand for no mistakes.

"Y~yes sir." The quivering and stuttering in his voice was clear. "Silver, the traitor who stole your prized treasure has passed out after three days of intense interrogation. As expected, she has yet to crack. We shall continue in a few hours. Also, sir, the Ninety-Nine have been unable to find her accomplice in Neighbourton or the treasure. They will be returning tomorrow afternoon as ordered. That's all sir. M~may I please be excused?" He rushed through his report as it was clear he didn't wish to be trapped by Blood Rose's intimidating presence emanating from the silent radio.

"Very well, you may go," Blood said as he hung up, putting the microphone down.

Silver Rose, I remembered Armored Wall saying she was captured and being tortured. Pour mare, what kind of pony could hand her over to a monster like a burn victim fetishist Griffin in leather. There were also the ponies sent to Neighbourton, Armored Wall said the Ninety-Nine wouldn't be back for a week, whoever they were. The treasure must also have been what Armored Wall mentioned before, the star core or something of angry power.

I was about to ask him, but his displeased aura froze that thought. I watched in slightly growing fear as he looked over at me. At this point, I'd jump in the hooves of the first Rose Clan leader. He slowly raised his head to look at me. Suddenly, like a light switch, his mood and aura switched back.

"Oh, sorry about that," he said, smiling happily again.

I actually sweated a little. "It's okay."

"Where were we?" He rubbed his chin, I was about to remind him of his off-putting job offer. At this point, if he didn't know who I was, then he must have been a psychopath. "Oh yes, I was about to tell you a story of my past."

"Uhh." I was short of words and ended up just nodding.

"Oh, goody, well it all started long ago." He moved his hooves in the air like waves.

Nothing happened. "Are... are you going to tell me?" I asked, a little confused.

"Oh yes, I was doing that stereotype fade into a flashback thing, with wavy images fading out and a weird sound effect."

"Okay..." I said, increasingly confused.

"Long ago, I was an orphan in the wasteland, roaming around with my best friend and his sister, just surviving. But our safe little birdcage didn't last long. Sure, the slow raider attacks weren't too bad. But it was the outbreak of war that really shattered our simple life. Before that, there were only small squabbles between clans.”

Blood sighed. “But I digress, the war started slowly, wasn't too bad for us. The next big event was meeting a stable junkie, little did I know said junkie would become a great friend. The four of us managed to make a name for ourselves, The Immortals. A name that will become ironic later on." He actually seemed happy, reminiscing about the past, well the first part anyway.

"It all really went to Tartarus when my dad showed up. From there, I went from an orphan to the son of a warlord. Ripped away from my self-made family. At the time I was even dating our medic’s sister, my first love. But my father..." He tensed up, his darkness showing for a moment before he sighed. "There was an incident and Sydney was killed, after that, I put my focus on being a warlord, better than my father. I even fell in love again, but things didn't work out."

I shifted slowly, my chest throbbing a little. "What happened next?"

"I fell in love a third time, and a third time I was struck with a tragedy. It was then that I decided I had enough of this broken world, I'm going to take over and try my best to make it a better place. I'd like you to join me, but there's no rush, answer me when you're ready."

I groaned, I had so many things to think about. "I... I need some time."

He unhooked the needle. "Very well, you’ll have to rest up until we get this little slavery debacle sorted out first."

Blood then proceeded to go to his intercom, but I spoke up before he got to it. "Why me?"

He stopped, chuckling lightly. "Why not?" There was a beep and the door slid open, two large guards stood outside before coming in, picking me up carefully. "Take him back to a cell, one of the more comfortable ones, with a good bed. Give him some food, drinks, and medical supplies and wait for Grumble. Give him back his armor after that."

As I was being carried out, I smiled at Blood. "Thanks."

The guards proceeded to take me down the elevator, un-bagged this time. This place seemed to be rather large, a huge main central elevator, similar to Iron Gem's four main elevators, although they extended to the abyss below. I was taken back to the lower level, past the area I was last put in for torture. Taken into some kind of prison cell area. Quite a few cells contained ponies, sheets of paperwork attached next to their cell with crimes and punishments written on them.

Some were for stealing and slated a few days, while others had 'interrogate', ‘punish’ or 'execute' written on them. Under a multitude of crimes. None of the small concrete cells had natural lighting and some didn't even have a bed, just a skeleton bed frame. I saw a bucket with the word ‘toilet’ written on it and another next to it marked as ‘water’. We soon passed a deck with a Griffin guard sitting at it, looking at a magazine, a dirty magazine.

We passed him soon, but not before the guards stopped to inform him of the situation. I in the meantime managed to get a good look at the Griffin's naughty magazine cover girl, blushing. Selen looked better. The three of them chuckled, noticing me and my blush. We then proceeded to move again, to the cells on the end of the hallway. There was a large bared balcony, a porch for the Griffins, I assume. On the side was written A-8, hallway eight. There were eight of these prison hallways with dozens and dozens of prisons cells, I couldn't help but wonder how many prisoners were in here.

I turned and looked at my cell, it was bigger than my house. There was a queen-sized bed, a drinking fountain, a bathroom with a curtain, sink, and mirror. There was also a barred window. If it wasn't for the bars, I wouldn't have guessed this was a prison cell. I limped in, having gotten enough strength to do at least that. I made it to the bed and lay down, feeling it was firm yet soft. Oh Goddesses, it even smelled clean, not a stain in sight.

I couldn't help but shut my eyes for a few moments, feeling tired. I didn't have any intention of falling asleep, but I did anyway. I stretched, groaning, as one does while waking up. I yelped as I quickly brought my hooves to my chest, it was bleeding slightly as there were small tears in it. I winced in pain, forgetting I had the wound and wishing the Med-X hadn't worn out.

I got to my hooves, bumping into a cart. Wait, there was a cart in my cell? There was Rad-Away, water, cooked meals, Sugar Apple Bombs, strawberry flavored Crystal-Pop, Happy and, I quickly grabbed the syringe, jabbing it near my wound and injecting myself with its pain-numbing solution, Med-X.

I sighed as my pain dimmed, although my head felt light. I decided to crack open a box of Sugar Apple Bombs, eating the sugar coated apple treats which were probably more sugar than an apple. I then proceeded to look around, seeing a cell across from me.

This cell appeared to be burnt, almost nothing in it, except for a mare curled up asleep on the floor. It was hard to make her out due to the lack of lighting, but she was a unicorn with a silver rose as a cutie mark and what appeared to be an eyepatch over her right eye.

That might have been Blood Rose's daughter, the one that betrayed him. I remember her name being Silver Rose, another point to cutie mark naming. I swear parents have a sixth sense for that. I leaned forward to get a better look when suddenly a Griffin with a black leather apron stepped in the way.

"How's my handy work doing?" It was the torture Griffin, smirking at me, tools and blowtorch hanging from his side.

I glared at him. "What are you doing here? Come to admire your handy work?"

The Griffin chuckled. "No, no, well kind of. I've been ordered to deliver some medical supplies and inform you of where you may find a doctor in town who would be happy to help. Looks like I might not get to burn you up, shame. I love being an executor."

I glared at him harder, rising an eyebrow. "What, you have no in-house doctor?" Would seem pretty odd for them to be lacking one considering the number of ponies here.

"There are quite a few doctors in the Iron Fortress, but you haven’t been permitted to any. You’ll have to find your own in Iron Gem. But we have arranged your mangled power armor repair, there’s a mechanics shop who agreed to repair it. Arrangements have already been made and they have been paid, courtesy of Warlord Blood Rose. They are the only one in town who can deal with power armor"

I finished my Crystal-Pop, checking the cap, a three. "Why is Blood being so nice to me?"

The Griffin placed the medical equipment in my cell. "That's what we'd all like to know."

I threw the empty bottle at the Griffin, who proceeded to catch it in his talon. I smirked at him as he looked at me, a little annoyed. "I'm going to kill you," I said, with complete confidence.

He put the bottle in front of my cell and stood back, chuckling lightly. "I'd like to see you try." He then proceeded to walk off.

Soon after that, Grumble, Acting Chief of Security, showed up, looking displeased. "I heard you threatened our top torturer. I also assume I'll be getting the same threat."

At this point I was lying in bed, so I slowly sat up to look at him. "Yes and no, I threaten to kill him because he deserved it. I don't have any desire to kill you because at this point you’re just doing your job."

He chuckled. "He was just doing his job as well."

"True,” I said

“Isn't that a little hypocritical. Not like I'm defending him, but he was doing his job after all." He shrugged.

"I'm still going to kill him," I said.

Grumble unlocked my cell. "Well isn't that petty. Come on, let's go."

I trotted out of the cell, grabbing the medical equipment. I looked over to Silver’s cell, sighing as I proceeded to follow Grumble. We boarded the elevator, proceeding to go up. It looked like we were on the second lowest floor, the prison. Below that was something called ‘The Bird Cage’. We passed a floor called ‘Fort guards’ on floor negative three. Then there was negative two, ‘Storage and production’.

Negative one, Griffin area, and runway. Runway? Did the Griffins transport things? Or could that be the job of Pegasi slaves? Armored Wall did think I was one after all. What else would you have Pegasi slaves do? If they could fly then you'd use them for just that. Of course, all this was guesswork, I could have asked Grumble, but the silence seemed better.

There was a ding as the elevator stopped. Some mundane guards entered the elevator, level zero, ‘The Courtyard’. All of them nodded to Grumble as he gave them an ever so slight nod, seemingly annoyed at the company. The group was chatting among themselves, mainly about how their day's training went. It was all rather mundane until one of them mentioned Slave Town and a friend of his who was killed working there.

I couldn't help but try to shrink back, wondering if it is was my doing. Grumble seemed to pick up on it as he stared down at me, watchfully. I looked away, not wanting to show the guilt on my face. Curse this slow elevator. We eventually stopped just above the courtyard. The group of ponies got off, leaving just me and Grumble, alone.

I stared at the rest of the buttons on the console. One read ‘Mess hall’, I assumed it was for everyone to eat at, which we were just at. ‘Living quarters’ were next, I wondered if the Griffins lived with everypony else? Probably not. The private floor was above it, which I assume was for Blood Rose and whatever else he wanted up there. Then there was the roof, which we were heading to.

"You wouldn't happen to know about the massacre at Slave Town, would you?" Grumble asked out of nowhere, not even looking at me.

I bit my lip, trying not to remember. "No."

"Okay, because whoever did it made widows and orphans of quite a few ponies. Shame really, not everyone can choose their employer, like me. I wonder how many of them were undertrained greenhorns who just wanted to put food in their family’s bellies." I could hear his voice’s judging tone.

I stayed silent for a whole floor as my head drooped low, before muttering. "Yay."

"Then there was this small, yet known slaver ghoul. Who out of the kindness of his heart, takes on a greenhorn pony who failed in Iron Gem and had nothing else to turn to. They have been missing for a few days." I flinched as I recalled Silent Time's past and Stock's face before he turned to dust.

There was silence again, only the sound of the elevator moving as we kept going up. I didn't want to talk, I didn't want to hear any more. But Grumble leaned closer to me, almost whispering in my ear, little rhymes. "I know who you've been sleeping with. I know what keeps you awake. I know if you've been bad or good. So you better be good, for Selen’s sake."

I was about to spin towards Grumble and attack him when a poke of a knife blade on my right wing stopped me. I opened my mouth, but Grumble cut me off. "Let's keep this a secret between us, okay, Star Shot?"

I gulped, opening my mouth. "Does Blood know who I am?"

Grumble pulled the knife away. "Hmm, maybe, I'm not sure. But I do know that if you cause me any problems, then I'll deal with you myself. No Blood Rose to protect you, no witnesses to stop me."

"What do you want?" I said.

"There was a light snowfall while you were asleep. Reports say there'll probably be a blizzard straight through until tomorrow morning," Grumble said, implying this was important to know.

The elevator doors opened up, letting in the cold. The natural light blinded me for a second. When my eyes adjusted, I saw there were ten or so guards, both pony and Griffin, surrounding Blood Rose and a landing pad. There was a metal chariot on one of the few landing pads. It was loaded with my wrecked power armor, mega punchy thing and other belongings. On the ground was a light sprinkling of snow, like Grumble said.

But in front of the chariot were two meek and scared-looking Pegasi, bruises and whip marks apparent on their bodies. They wore a bridle in their mouths and blinkers to control their sight. They also had slave collars around their necks, their cutie marks were burnt off and replaced with a brand of the Blood Skull clan. I pitied them, but couldn’t do anything to help them now.

"Just in time," Blood said, looking towards Iron Gem as a second sky chariot with an escort of two Griffins approached, also pulled by Pegasi slaves.

We stepped out into the open, after I picked up the medical bag. I couldn't help but feel bad for the Pegasi. These were ponies that looked like my age. Whether they were born in the sky or on the ground was unknown to me. But I did know none of them deserved this. I wanted to free them, I had to. I will, in time.

The second chariot landed, Blom stepped off of it. "Not every day one gets summoned by our local warlord, it’s quite an honor. All be it a sudden and unexpected honor that is." Blom looked around, smiling. He stopped, staring at me.

"We caught this one trying to break the power-armor-belly-slide record on the bridge," Blood said, chuckling to himself, the rest of his guard seemed to forcibly laugh at his joke.

Even Blom gave a light chuckle. "Ah yes. Wel,l you see I recruited this slave here to retrieve said power armor for me in the hopes of selling it to you, Warlord Blood Rose, sir. But it would seem he delivered it to you before we were able to clean it up. You know, add some polish and shine, sir." Blom seemed to act like everyone else around Blood, scared, intimidated in fact.

Blood took a step forward and Blom took a step back. "Well as that is the case, I do rather look forward to meeting a certain young unicorn that Mr. Luck mentioned on his visit."

"A yes, the slave’s sister I do believe. I have yet to see her return, but I’ll send her your way, when she does." Blom was actually sweating, his large worrying smile actually giving out to Blood’s small calm smirk.

Blood took another step, looking up to Blom as he was the taller pony. Despite that, it was obvious Blom had to look up to Blood in terms of charisma. "I wish for you to release this pony from your services. As well as your bomb collar, his sister and all said belongings, including the remains of the power armor." Blood's hoof gestured to the second cart.

Blom pulled out a napkin and wiped some sweat from his brow. "Yes, Warlord Blood Rose. Right away. Although am I to assume I will be compensated for my losses?"

Blood's smile dipped, as he tilted his head. "Your losses?"

Blom gulped. "Ah, well yes, sir. The high value of the slave who managed to obtain said power armor, the armor in of itself, minus the uhh, damage. Also, other expenses spent on said endeavor."

Blood sighed. "I would assume my overlooking of your shoddy business practices would have been enough. Tax evasion, selling defective drugs and extortion of the poor with your monopoly of Iron Gem's elevator services." Blom opened his mouth, but Blood spoke again, albeit in a darker mood, "Do not take me for a fool who simply sits in his castle. I know a great many things, Blom. So keep your mouth shut, or else."

Blom stumbled back into a guard, who, to his credit, remained calm. Blom opened his mouth. "But sir, he's not just any slave. He is-"

Blood grabbed a pipe revolver off of one of his guards. Crudely made, cheap, even in the best condition it would be considered crap, but effective and easy to maintain. Blood shoved the barrel into Blom's big mouth before he could even finish speaking.

Blom's body hit the snow-covered metal and concrete floor, the pipe revolver falling next to him. The guard behind Blom remained perfectly still, even after being covered in blood and gray matter, a bullet was logged in his armored chest piece. Blood returned the gun to the guard's holster and a Griffin handed him a napkin to wipe off the back blast. After which Blood smiled and hopped, yes I mean literally, towards me.

Filled with his happy smiley cheerful demeanor, he said, "Well then, I'll have my chief Griffin here escort you to freedom. Then I hope to see you and your sister back here very soon," Blood said before grabbing and shaking my hoof.

"Uhh, sure? But you still never told me why?" I asked, confused by his hospitality and offer.

"You'll have to come back and find out. Oh but when you, do we'll have cake." He jumped in the air, squealing a little.

I chuckled, amused by his antics, but I had to ask. "Before I go, I have to ask about your daughter, Silver Rose?"

As soon as I said her name the mood in the air shifted. I knew it probably wouldn't have been good for me to ask. But how or why would a father despise his daughter so much. I could feel everyone's fear as said anger emanated from the pink earth pony before me. Time seemed to slow as his smile dipped, his head drooping down. I felt frozen, colder than the actual air. Every part of me wanted to run, but I stood my ground.

He slowly moved towards my side. My eyes and everyone else did as well, some looking back at me with anger as if I broke an unspoken rule. I kept waiting for him to say something or do something, the sound of his hooves crunching on the snow the only thing to be heard. But no, he just calmly walked past me and into the elevator. Closing the door and leaving, alone, without saying another word.

"What the hell is so special about you?" Grumble asked, still looking at the elevator doors.

"I don't know," I retorted, picking up my medical supplies and boarding the chariot, trying to avoid eye contact with the Pegasi slaves and the guards who were watching me.

Grumble stood next to me, alongside the chariot. "If anyone else asked him about her in that manner, they would be dead."

I really didn't know what was going on. Blood knew something, but I didn't know what. He was planning a war, yet he also invited me to openly join him. I seriously didn't know if he knew who I was or if he was just a psychopath. Either way, I had made up my mind, I was still going to kill him. But the reason why was in question. Did he really kill my parents?

The chariot began to buzz a little as we took off. I decided to put my mind off of it and look out the window. In the distance I could see one of those towers, apparently, they weren't mountains. It appeared like a blizzard was swirling at the top of it, growing larger as it threatened to eventually sweep over Tri-Hole.

We flew over Tri-Hole's abyss, over Iron Gem, till we got to the large central building Mr. Luck dropped me off in. I looked out to Iron Gem's streets. The same streets I had got lost in. I could see some prominent buildings rising above the others, one even having a radio tower atop it.

From up here, I could see at first what I thought was chaos turned out to have some order. All the wagons flowed to and from the building, heading west, east or down. The north main road and south where large markets were set up, buying and selling goods. Looking at the cluster of buildings that took up the rest of the space, I could see they were mostly motels, entertainment buildings, and general stores.

We proceeded to land on top a few landing pads. We were surrounded by guards, all of which paid me little mind. They were all too busy looking at a Griffin who was carrying the corpse of Blom. We proceeded to move to a flight of stairs on the edge of the building, my power armor was loaded onto an elevator and taken below.

"Here it is. The most profitable location in the crystal wastelands, second only to Yellow Bee's Smelt city," Grumble said, with a slightly happy tune in his throat.

"I don't know what that is?" I said, leaning on the railing, looking past Iron Gem and at the storm.

"If you try to fly away, I'll catch you. Remember, I have wings too," Grumble said, before jumping off the edge and gliding down.

I on the other hoof was escorted down by the armed guards. We got the bottom where Blom and my armor were loaded into a wagon, Grumble at the head of the group. We began to trot towards the Three Stories Bar. The market and torrent of ponies moved out of our way like water before quickly reforming behind us, cautiously giving us a wide berth.

I looked onto the market stalls. Guns, ammo, food and more. Although luckily there were no slaves. I kept looking at the stalls, the merchants nervously smiling as they waited for us to pass, hopefully in peace.

"AHH!" I screamed and backpedaled.

This was followed by a shriek from the merchant. The convoy stopped and all the guards spun around to point their guns at what I screamed at. It was a merchant mare who was selling canned foods. A ghoul merchant mare. She half-hid under her stand, the Griffins’ and ponies’ guns still locked onto her. All the ponies around her stand gave a wide berth, not wanting to be in the crossfire.

"What's going on here?!" Grumble squawked, guns still on the mare.

I looked at the scared ghoul, blushing a little at the scene I caused. "Nothing," I muttered, looking away.

Grumble and the others snickered. "First time seeing a ghoul?"

"No." I blurted out.At this point ponies in the crowd began to giggle, even the ghoul. I just groaned and started walking again. "Let's just go." I said, who knew only meeting a feral ghoul and a asshole ghoul would make me un-ease about meeting another ghoul?

We arrived at the Three Stories Bar, entering with a clatter and a thud as Grumble kicked the doors open. I entered behind him, the entertainment and music screeching to a halt. All eyes were on us, including the armed guards on the balcony.

"Listen up, you rich scum bags! I am here to deliver a message." Grumble stepped out for a moment, leaving everyone staring at me and two guards. I sheepishly smiled as I tried to keep my head down.

Grumble stepped back inside, with Blom on his shoulder. He then proceeded to throw the well-groomed corpse onto the floor. "Don't mess with Blood Rose."

The bar/casino resounded with a collective gasp, I swear I also saw some mare faint. The guards and Three Stories Bar security staff tensed up. "Brother?!" Two voices shouted out from the bar, before running over towards us. It was Blim and Blam.

They ran to their brother's body, Blim hugging it. "What have you done?!" Everyone brandished their guns, pointing it at us, as we pointed back. Well when I say us, I mean the Griffins.

The guards pulled out pipe pistols and SMG's, pointing them down at us. While the Griffins pointed their rifles, anti-machine guns and missile launcher back at them. Unlike the Griffins, the guards didn't seem to be wearing armor, probably to remain subtle.

"Calm down, we're just here to get the kid's collar off," Grumble said, smirking at the distorted brothers.

Blam glared at me with an intense hate in his eyes. I took a step back as I tried to avoid looking at anyone. But then Blim’s horn began to glow and he pulled out a trigger to, what I assure you, was my collar’s detonator.

Things became tenser, Grumble even stopped smirking. "Release him, so far you haven't broken the law."

Blim held out the detonator, flipping the safety cap on the trigger. I could hear the sound of guns being cocked as I gulped. "Blim. Stop!" Blam yelled out, as he finally stopped hugging his brother’s corpse.

Blim still held the detonator, glaring at me. "But, brother… they killed Blom!" He pressed the trigger and the collar started beeping. I groaned nervously.

The beeping slowly grew faster, but everyone remained calm. I was ready to panic, but then Blam stood up and grabbed the detonator in his own greenish magic and pressed the trigger repeatedly. There was a click and the collar fell off my neck and onto the floor.

"There, now leave us," Blam said, tears rolling down his face.

Grumble nodded and we began to slowly back out of Three Stories Bar, guns still pointed at us. "Wait!" I yelled, everyone turned to look at me. "I want my stuff back."

Everyone froze for a minute before Grumble began to chuckle. Blim and Blam growled, before one of them went off to the back, coming back a few minutes later. "Not there."

I rolled my stiff neck, before looking at them. "What do you mean not there?"

"It means they're not there. You can keep the hoody, you seem to have ruined it anyway, now beat it!" Blam said, glaring at us.

"I was told to free you, not help you get a jacket, that's your problem." Grumble and the others began to leave.

“You were ordered to get all my stuff back. That includes my jacket.” I said, standing my ground.

Blim grunted and went to the counter, pulling out a bag filled with caps. He walked over to me. “Here! Now leave!” He put the bag in front of me, still glaring at me. I grumbled in annoyance and took the caps.

We left calmly, feeling the eyes and barrels on our back. I was glad that dilemma was over, but now I had the problem of getting down to the third level. I mainly wanted to check in with Armored Wall, to see if Sharp had returned yet. Flying was out of the question with my wound. The ponies pulling to power armor and my gear unhooked themselves.

"Hey, hey, what about my power armor?" I said.

One of the earth ponies in Blood Skull gear turned and said, "Find the mechanic we paid. Pulling it is your problem now." before leaving.

With that I was left to drag the cart through Iron Gem, remembering Mr. Luck had given Sharp a hotel room. I wasn't an earth pony, so strength wasn’t my strong suit. That and I had to go slow with my injuries, my chest ached with every pull of the cart.

But after trying and failing to find somepony who would tell me where the hotel was for free, I ended up trading some of my medicine for the information. It turned out to be on the south east side of Iron Gem. I still had to pull the cart across the town and through the busy markets and tight streets, passing many local businesses and shops along the way.

The top floor of Iron Gem was for traders, stores, and businesses. But there was a hotel on the surface level, by the name of Eleven-Pony tower. Apparently, it went through the first floor to the second. Being one of the tallest buildings in Iron Gem, the one with the radio tower on it. It was also the home and workstation of Rose Radio.

The hotel looked rather nice from the outside, a simple, yet clean white concrete design. I left my cart and gear outside as I stepped inside. The interior was by far the cleanest of any place I had ever seen in my life. It was all white marble, a royal rich purple and gold carpet on the floor. At a central desk before two elevators was a unicorn with fancy hair and in a suit, looking at me with a stink eye.

He glared at me as I approached the front desk, four laser turrets popping down behind him. "Can I, uh, help you?" He raised his nose, looking at the dirt I tracked in.

"Yes, I'm here to check into my room," I said, smiling up at the stuck up pony.

He tried to hide a little snicker. "You? Have a room? This establishment was built by a previous inhabitant of the famous Ten-Pony Tower. I doubt you could afford it."

"Never heard of it, but maybe you have heard of Mr. Luck?" I said, my smile grew as his sunk.

He proceeded to deactivate the turrets and grabbed me a key card. "Top floor penthouse, do watch the carpet."

I took the keys. "Thanks, please store my things."

He bit his lip. "Right away, sir."

I then proceeded to trot to the elevator with my head held high. By the looks of it, we were on the sixth floor, with five floors above us. The fifth floor was marked as storage and the floors below that appeared as regular rooms. The highly decorative elevator also had three steps and a button marked as 'Spa.'

I couldn't resist pressing it. Water, warm clean water began to fill the elevator's chest high indent, stopping just before the last step. The water began to bubble as it was illuminated by underwater lights, classical music began to play. I took a seat on one of the waterproof seats as the elevator began to slowly move up, being careful to keep my chest wound out of the water.

The elevator doors slid open and I begrudgingly got out. There was a set of clean towels in the hallway. I began to trot to my room, checking the key card, number six dash six. The room on the right at the end of the hall. I was about to enter it when I froze and saw the room across had a name plaque, Rose Radio.

I had only ever heard it once. But I found it to be one of the most annoying radio channels I had ever heard. I grunted in annoyance and decided to just go into my room. I pushed the key to the lock and the gem turned from red to green, enabling me to push the door open. To my surprise, the door was pretty thick. Ample security.

Inside the room was a mix of black and white marble, with platinum. Purple, red, black and gold carpet in some areas. Magical floating lights were all about, with adjustable color controls nearby. There was a kitchen with a stove, sink and a relatively well-stocked fridge. Along with a price chart on the cost of everything, hopefully on Mr. Luck's tab.

I trotted over to the window before looking down onto Iron Gem. Such a beacon of hope, too bad it was fueled by slaves and bullets. This town stinks. Speaking of stink, I needed to take a proper bath and wait for Sharp. I took off my tattered blue hoodie and began to unravel my bandaged hooves. The bandages served no purpose, only hiding my scars. I looked at the chest, contemplating bandaging it up too.

I got into the hot shower, carefully and slowly letting my scars both old and new be washed over. I looked down to see my chest lightly bleeding from its scabbed and stapled wound. I washed my mane and tail, trying to ignore the bits of dry blood coming out, blood that wasn't mine. I spread my wings, cleaning out my feathers.

I hadn't been allowed to fly in ages, I was starting to miss it. But I couldn't help but think of how the ponies of Rad-Hoof reacted when they first met me, a Pegasus. I had never met an enclave Pegasus, except for Candy, and the ones who attacked me when I was young. Hopefully, it was the exception and not the rule.

I tried to let my mind wander to something nice, a mint condition gun, Sugar Apple Bombs, Selen. I smiled as my hooves drifted lower, my mind thinking of her soft parts making my parts go harder. I finally put my wings to use, on everything below my ring. My hooves got the rest covered.

It now felt inadequate compared to Selen, her wings were firmer. Fingers, well in this case claws. They just couldn't compare to hooves, hooves were just disappointing. Touching one's self and being touched is very different. But that was okay, because at this point my erotic de-stressing session was fueled by fantasy more than action. This persisted for a while, three rounds to be exact, white ribbons coating the shower wall, the rest dripping out.

Also unlike after, I felt an emotional and physical connection. Instead of the usual hollow self-pity that comes from one touching themselves. Although there was euphoria, it was barely comparable to the pleasure of Selen. But what I think I wanted more than the physical connection, was the emotional one. I wanted to be able to tell her about all my worries and troubles. Including Dark and Candy haunting me.

After I cleaned the wall, I sat in the shower, letting it wash over me. I closed my eyes and relaxed, drifting to sleep under the warm shower.

At some point, I had used up all the hot water and the shower turned cold, which woke me up. I then proceeded to turn off the water and hop out, draping a towel over my shoulders. Dripping wet, I walked back over to the thick, tinted windows. The city’s rooftops were covered in white powder, a steadily increasing snowfall signified the large storm was approaching slowly.

I went to the counter and turned on the built in radio, pleasantly surprised to find a surround sound audio system set up. "Ah~ I-it’s Rose Radio. Report? Oh yes, the report." I groaned as I tried to change the station, but was unable to.

I then decided to instead go get some grub, as I was hungry. Leaving the radio on to play Rose Radio, hoping it'll improve or they'll go to a song. "There was a commotion on the... umm... the bridge. No information on what, but more importantly the brothers. Blim, Blom, maybe Blam, their names always confuse me... well anyway, one of them is dead."

I opened the fridge, finding an extra item with a note. On the tin was the crudely written word, 'Medicine.' I jumped in joy, realizing it was, in fact, the same scrumptious radiation remover I had before, of which I still didn't know the name.

"The Ninety-Nine are expected to... Uhh... return sometime tomorrow afternoon. S-so music, umm... what do we have? Love Me As Though There Was No Tomorrow. That’s the song, not a request, although I wouldn't mind." Rose Radio started playing the song as I sat down and opened the tin and began to eat it.

The juicy, tasty medicine was sublime. But I was rather distracted by the song. It was a slow love song that mainly repeated the same thing, but with a draping of violins and a smooth voice. I think you can guess what the song was about from the title. For me, that seemed all too true, given what we were planning. Suddenly it hit me, if today was possibly my last day, then I should do something with it.

I don't know if it's pathetic or stereotypical, but I was in love with Selen. Given the wasteland and all the things that wanted to kill one in the said wasteland, one must take what they can get. After all, I probably didn't have time to take things slow. So with that spurring thought, I quickly finished my meal and proceeded to open the note. Determined to go see Selen.

I looked at a clock, seeing it was only seven o’clock. I grabbed the towel and dried off, carefully. Then I went to a medical cabinet, seeing it also had a price chart for an in-house doctor. I proceeded to bandage my hooves, again. Once that was done, I put on the wrecked hoodie and grabbed the caps. Before going over to the phone and ordering a room visit from the doctor.

Shortly after, there was a knock on my door. I opened it and an old green unicorn mare walked in with a doctor’s bag. Once inside, she looked me up and down. "Um, hello?" I said, trying to be polite.

"No signs of sickness, radiation and your wounds appear to be fine, as long as you give them time to heal," she said abruptly.

"I don't have time, I need to be in good condition before midnight. But thanks to this damn chest wound I have to be very slow and careful." Straight to the point.

She sighed and put down her medical bag. "Castrated deep wound with staples, I can fix it. But it'll hurt, even with Med-X."

I gulped. "Do what you have to."

She opened her medical bag and started pulling out equipment. "Take off your clothes and lay on the counter."

I opened my hoodie but kept it on to hide my wings. "I'll keep it on, thanks."

The doctor pulled out some sharp looking tools, along with pliers and cloths. "Take one Plasma pill, then I'll have to remove the staples hidden under the scabbed flesh. I'll have to remove said flesh and any debris, cleaning the wound by direct touch. After which I’ll have you take another Plasma pill and a Hydra potion."

I had hydra before, it was the stuff that regrew a large chunk of my hoof. But I haven’t had Plasma pills before. "What are Plasma pills?" I asked.

She pulled out a packet of little red pills. "They help one produce more blood cells, should stop the effects of blood loss from being too serious." She then put the pill in my mouth, getting me a glass of water to wash it down with. "Go lay down on the counter."

"Yes, ma’am," I said, laying on the marble counter.

She injected the Med-X into my chest and got to work. The urge not to look down was unbearable, as I could hear the dry crunchy sound of my burn flesh being broken. I grunted as I felt a sharp pain, followed by a little ting on metal. "One down."

Fuck Cadence with a death-claws arm sideways, this hurt, all the more the urge grew. At some point, I think she was annoyed with all my grunts of pain. I could tell because she shoved a cloth in my muzzle. I could feel warm liquid running down my side.

"That's a deep one," she said.

In the end, I counted thirty-one. Thirty-one painful Cadence fucking staples. I lay there, my eyes watery, as I just focused on panting and breathing through my nose. I almost relaxed but was racked with pain when I felt a blade cut deep into me. I screamed through the towel when the blade got stuck and she had to move it back and forth, cutting through the blockage.

After what I would consider far too violent and long, she eventually stopped. Before pouring medical cleaning agents in my wound, although you may know it by the name of vodka. I squirmed as it burned intensely. “I think I see bone? You’re very lucky it’s not broken.”

I didn’t feel lucky, in fact I felt dizzy, cold and hot at the same time. I looked at the doctor, who had blood on her face. "One down, two to go."

It took three hours, two for the surgery and one just for me to recover. I'll tell you, hydra really does work. Although I was left with three prominent diagonal scars on my chest. I ended up giving her the whole bag of caps as payment. But at least I could move without worrying that I'll tear myself open.

I decided to head off, after rinsing out my hoodie. Wouldn't be very nice if I showed up covered in blood, even if it's my own. This time I did not use the elevator spa, as my chest was quite tender, aching a little. I ignored it and went to go see Selen, still having two hours of free time. Although I'd likely have to avoid Pink Thing, if possible.

I got to the brothel and after making sure no one was around, I flew up to Selen's balcony. "Selen?" I whispered, peeking my head in.

Her room was empty, all the lights were off. I slowly entered the room, cautious of Pink Thing.Suddenly the door swung open, Pink Thing stood in the doorway with a bottle of whiskey. I froze, she stared at me in confused shock as I stared back blankly.

"You?!" She yelled, I jumped and tried to do a one-eighty as I bolted for the window. "Wait!"

I hit the air breaks, stopping before the window. I looked over to Pink Thing, she was a mess, her face was flushed, eyes watery and mane was rugged. "I don't like you." She swayed side to side and her speech was slurred. "But Selen does, she's at the main residence, go find the G-Spot." She was drunk?!

I simply nodded and proceeded to move past her, going down the stairs. But not before asking. "Where is that?"

"Bottom floor, the door on your right. Go to the building in the back and tell ‘em I sent you." Pink Thing then proceeded to swig some more booze, before closing the door.

I went through the large double doors, finding myself in a street. There was a sign, but that wasn't what I noticed first. No, what I noticed first was the noise. Moans and groans of a sexual nature could be heard emanating from the row upon row of apartment buildings. The sign said 'Welcome to Moaner street, watch your step.'

I turned a new shade of pinkish red, I think it was cherry blossom. I slowly and nervously trotted forward, but almost came to a halt when I saw a mare and stallion doing it in the window. The further I went the more eccentric it got, mares with stallions on open balconies. Mares with mares in the doorways of buildings. I even had to awkwardly go around two stallions going at it in the middle of the street.

One of them winked at me, which made me bolt off in embarrassment overload. I eventually reached the end of the line, right after passing a supply/toy shop. The building on the end of the street was huge, large heavy, yet decorative doors were on display. There were in a rather precarious shape, along with a large changing magic neon sign.

'O-Spot.' There was a weasel or ferret-like creature with yellow and brown fur. It was rather long, its rear was raised up, as it was on its back. But its top half sat up, pushing a glowing green object in and out of its lower half, one in its pussy and another in its ass. Its little legs hanging the air, its tail was bent back. Its cute cartoon screen face had round ears, black whiskers, with eyelashes, looked down at its self-pleasure with a happy open-mouthed smile.

After a few seconds, the ferret changed, no longer holding the object to make an 'O' Shape. But instead, it was now just the one in its ass. This time she was definitely was a He. It had a large erection sticking out horizontally, it wasn't in a pony shape, but rather more of a long curved bullet shape. He had a set of small round balls sticking up between his legs. His hands were also being used to stroke his cock, his eyelashes were also gone. 'Spot.' was written next to it. It was in the shape of a ‘G’, G-spot. Guess I found it.

I went and knocked on the… Door. A little eye slit opened and a voice asked. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"I'm here to see Selen, Pink Thing sent me," I said.

The doors creaked open, light flooding out. "Step inside."

I couldn't see, but I stepped forward. To my amazement the inside was huge. There were two staircases, a fountain, a second story balcony and a large metal chandelier. I looked around, seeing the wooden pillars and hardwood floors. This place rivaled Eleven-Pony Tower. Although where Eleven-Pony went for fancy high life marble, this place’s decor took the hardwood route for sexual worship.

That fountain I mentioned before displayed a mare that was quite wet. Along with two others depicting a stallion's cock as a fountain. I looked to see no one around, so I went to one of the pillars. It was carved with instructions on multiple sexual positions. I couldn't help but look at some of them, for research purposes.

"Hooow! Yay! Welcome to the house of Rosenblatt, Baby!" I jumped away from the pillar. There was a bombastic and loud voice coming from a painting at the base of the stairs.

Suddenly the painting swung open like a door, a figure jumped out. It wasn't a pony, ghoul, Griffin or Death-claw. Its legs were Brahmin-like, its body was very large and muscular. It had horns and stood up straight on two legs. The bulky creature had white fur, covered in black patches. The thing wore pointy sunglasses, a bow tie, cufflinks and a red speedo.

Oh Goddesses using a Griffin as a butt plug, I could see it jiggle. I avoided looking at him, looking up at the balconies instead. Ponies and such exited the rooms and looked down on us. Most of them wore socks and panties, in vibrant colors. Although most of them were stallions. Some had their tails tied up or cut short. There were mares and stallions in belt straps and others in dresses.

There was a cute pony booty in short shorts and top. It was only until the pony turned around did I realized it was, in fact, a stallion. Stallions wearing dresses and mares wearing rough baggy clothes. Although most wore very little. All these sexy ponies and such were making it hard for me.

Some had a marker tied to their necks, with tallies and slander wrote all over there body. Ponies of all sizes, some large and others small. Unicorn and earth pony dressed in multiple outfits and fetish. One unicorn had a book with the words, 'Sex Spells.' written on them. Really? A whole book on sex spells? But all this smut was just a blood-pumping distraction.

Some of them were using the aforementioned ‘toys’. Probably from the Toy shop outside. Dildos and vibrators, anal beads and butt plugs. Strap-ons and gags, paddles and clamps. Of course I never found a porno magazine illustration with said sex toys depicted in use, in great detail. I also never used that as clopping material. Hiding it from my family by wrapping it in plastic and placing it in a tree. It was never struck by lightning one night. To the confusion of my family, I never seemed to have cried over a random tree being destroyed. No, nope that definitely didn’t happen...

The doors slammed shut, snapping me out of my memory, I mean fantasy. The creature then struck a pose, showing off its muscles. "Hey! Yay! Little Pegasus, if you wanna see Selen, you gotta go through me, yay!" it spoke, in a rather bombastic manly voice.

I groaned, not just annoyed at him knowing I was a Pegasus. How did he even know? I had a feeling Pink Thing wasn't being too kind. "Did Pink Thing put you up to this?"

The thing snickered, before striking another pose, the wrong bit still jiggling. "Sure did, hooow! Yay! You can’t leave until you do. So bring that booty to daddy!"

A shiver went up my spine as I took off my hoodie, seeing the paperclip. That, I wanted to give that to Selen, but this big oaf was in the way. "If you're in my way, then I'll, fuck!" I said, blushing deeply, everyone was watching me. How do you fight with an erection?!

"Oh, don't tempt me, Hooow! Yay! I was told to make a purse from your balls, but maybe I'll milk ‘em instead." He smirked at me.

I tried to stay low, as I spread my wings out. "I don't really know what's happening, but bring it on!"

The creature dragged a hoof on the floor as everyone cheered. "Yay! This is gonna be fun. It's Show Time!"

Author's Notes:

Level UP
Level 6!
Plus 5 to sneak, speech, plus 3 to melee.
Level 2 Enduring Will, resist effects of blood loss and damage when below 15% health

Thanks to my editor:
https://www.fimfiction.net/user/275628/EverfreePony

Some nice world building.

The song "Love me like theres no tomorrow" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zJP_kokzcxg

Chapter's title: https://flippyroxshtf.deviantart.com/art/Fallout-Equestrai-Shooting-Star-Chapter-Eleven-708078580?ga_submit_new=10%3A1514830985

NSFW:
https://sta.sh/01sy0m5c02su
https://sta.sh/02cmhaddswmf