Chapter 28 – Discovery, Part 3
“When all the details fit in perfectly, something is probably wrong with the story.”

For a good portion of the trip to The Garden, I could not shake the image of Firebrand being burned to death from my mind. I know he had been sacrificing the working ponies in order to placate his following, but that didn’t give the workers the right to do the same to him, did it?

“Dust!” Gertie shouted, breaking me from my circular thinking.

“Huh?” I blurted out. “Sorry, I was thinking about Firebrand.”

“Son of a bitch got what he deserved,” she said with a cold tone. Her features softened when she looked at me, however. “You’re not blaming yourself for that, are you? That was a tinderbox that was just waiting for the right match to set it off.”

“No… I’m not blaming myself…” I confirmed to her. “I was thinking about whether it was right or not for the ponies to do to him what he was wrongfully doing to them. I mean, is the entire Wasteland eye for an eye? Is there any way to make things better?”

“Dust…” she said, shaking her head. “I know you have some experience down here, but you did spend a majority of your life up there,” she said, gesturing towards the cloud cover. “You only got a taste of what happens down here. You’ve probably seen a lot. But I’ve seen more. Between the raiders, slavers, cults, alicorns, irradiated mutants, psychopaths… I could go on and on. The Wasteland is a fucked up place.”

“I know it can have its rough parts,” I started. “But is there enough good out there to save? Is all of this worth it?”

“I think so,” she replied. “I mean, look at our little group. A Wastelander in love with a disgraced Dashite. And then there’s the Wastelander, griffin mercenary and former Enclave soldier love triangle thing that’s going on. And that’s just our small little corner. There’s stories like this all over the place. Ponies coming together despite their backgrounds to overcome the raft of shit that gets thrown at them every day.”

“Yeah, but,” I started, but hesitated. “Is there enough good?”

“I hope so, Dust,” she said, a small frown forming on her face. “I really hope so.”

A couple of hours in the air, and some inane chatter later, I saw the walls of The Garden rise up over the horizon.

“There she is, The Garden,” Gertie said with awe in her voice. “Probably the most valuable city in this part of the Wasteland.”

It was certainly impressive, and the video I saw did not do it justice. The concrete walls were maybe a dozen feet high and encompassed an area which was easily ten times larger than any settlement I have ever set eyes on. I would dare say it was just about as large as Horseton. In the wall, there was only one large gate, which controlled access in and out of the town. The buildings on the inside were still made of corrugated steel and wood, but it did not have the haphazard construction that other settlements had. The buildings seemed planned, well-constructed, and laid out in a thoughtful manner. The wood was actual lumber, not reclaimed scraps, and the fields of crops… I never got to see the extent of the hydroponics facility, but I would guess this was larger by far.

“How did they do this?” I asked, still in awe of what I was seeing.

“Rumor has it that decades ago, some ponies stumbled across this place. They had all the tools and loads of construction material. Must have been some kind of supply depot before the war. They discovered that the land itself and the well water were all relatively clean. This place is kinda far from the major cities in the area so it must not have been as irradiated during the war and became clean a lot faster.”

“They must be under constant attack,” I mused.

“They used to be,” she answered. “But a lot of ponies move here and take up jobs either working the fields or on security. Ponies from all over come here to trade, mainly for food, and part of the deal always involves weapons or ammo. The Garden’s security force is probably the largest organized fighting force in the wastes, except for maybe the Steel Rangers, assuming they are all united. Even raiders have wised up and don’t bother The Garden anymore.

As we got closer, I could see the large expanse of fields enclosed inside the walls. Scores of ponies were working the fields, with a large number patrolling the town. Dozens of wagons were parked outside the walls near the entrance. Near the entrance of town there were many stalls set up. A mob of ponies were squirming their way from stall to stall, trading wares with the locals. Most of the stalls were selling fruit and vegetables, with a choice few offering other wares.

“Damn, I wonder if Muddy has any plans for this place…” I mused idly.

“Yeah, well let’s hope he doesn’t,” Gertie shot back. I looked and saw a stern glare being fired in my direction.

“Do you see the skywagon?” I asked, trying to change topics.

“Should be easy to find,” she responded, squinting. “I mean, how many skywagons can there be?”

Looking more closely, Gertie was right. Most of the wagons waiting outside were of the pony drawn, wheeled variety. However, there were a handful of metallic skywagons. Some were obviously turned into carts with the addition of wheels. Clever.

“There are some skywagons that were converted,” I told Gertie. “We need to find one without wheels. Let’s land and get a closer look.” I aimed for an open spot, making a mental note of where the skywagons were.

After a smooth landing, Gertie unhooked me from the flight harness as Silver and Flower made their way out of the passenger compartment. They were giggling amongst themselves.

“Anything you care to share?” I asked as they trotted over to us.

The laughter stopped quickly and Silver blushed. “Um, no… just girl talk,” she stammered. I looked at Gertie and we just rolled our eyes at each other.

Flower whistled as she craned her head to see where we were. “I heard the rumors of this place, but I never expected them ta be true. This place is ginormous.”

“You should have seen it from the air,” I answered. “We couldn’t see any Enclave soldiers from the air, so we need to check out the skywagons. Some of them have been turned into regular carts.” I gestured behind their heads. “There are a few over in that direction. You two take those and Gertie and I will take the others.”

Silver and Flower nodded and took off towards their skywagons while Gertie and I did the same. The skywagons that we saw were all civilian models with what used to be plush interiors and non reinforced hulls. I really wish there had been a way to tell the difference from the outside, but the manufacturer of these models kept the same design, only swapping out materials and specific components during fabrication.

“Hey, Dust!” Flower shouted. “Ah think we found it!”

Gertie and I looked at each other and began a canter towards Flower’s voice. It took us a couple of minutes, but we found the two of them standing next to an unusually clean skywagon. Looking over the fuselage as we approached, I saw what gave it away. On the side of the vehicle, there had been the blocky letter “E” with wings which made up the logo for the Enclave. Somepony had painted the words “fuck you” over it with red spraypaint.

“Yup, I’d say you’re right,” I agreed. “Any sign of the soldiers?”

“No… none… no sign of Brownie, either,” Silver said with a sigh. Flower’s face was tight with worry.

“Maybe they’re in town somewhere,” I offered. “Let’s go look around.”

Following the general mass of ponies and other creatures, we approached the entry gate. This settlement, at least from the outside, was more impressive on the ground than it had been in the air. The concrete walls seemed almost impenetrable given their impressive height. Pegasi, griffins, and unicorns with flight magic could make it over, if they dared. Dotted along the top of the wall were security outposts, each one armed with a large anti-aircraft gun. The ponies manning the towers each had sniper rifles. Nopony was going to sneak up on this settlement and get away with it.

The throng of ponies eventually organized into a loose line. The line moved surprisingly quickly, given the sheer number of ponies that were waiting to get inside. As we neared the front of the line, I could see why. The one main line split into two separate lines at the gate. There were two teams of ponies that were searching saddlebags and confiscating weaponry and placing them into secure containers. As each pony walked away, they were given a key.

“The Garden takes security very seriously,” Gertie informed me. “It is the number one trading hub in this part of the Wasteland and they do not take chances with their reputation. One of the main reasons is that nopony gets in with any weaponry other than a pistol, so the only heavily armed ponies inside are the security forces.”

“I can see that,” I said with a whistle. “And you always get your stuff back?”

“I’ve never had a problem,” she said with a shrug. “Don’t worry, Dust. Nothing bad can happen here.”

“Next!” one of the security ponies barked at us. Each guard was wearing jet black ballistic armor. The two that dealt with the waiting line simply had sidearms. It was the ponies in the security tower that were the real threat. Each was armed with a mounted machine gun with belt fed ammo.

“Celestia!” I muttered, impressed by the level of security. “How many ponies do they have working security here?”

“Not as many as you’d think,” Gertie said. “This level of presence is only out during the day. At night, the gate is sealed and it’s just the ponies on the wall.”

I stepped up to the guard who had a footlocker sized box waiting. “Place your weapons except for one pistol each in the box and state your name,” he barked, seeming rather bored.

“Dust Cloud,” I responded, beginning to unsling my machine gun. Silver, Flower, and Gertie did the same.

A pen held in his green magical field began to write the information on a clipboard, also floating in his magical grasp.

“First time at The Garden?” he droned on.

“Yes,” I answered, going through my saddlebags removing anything that could be considered a weapon. Grenades, my knife, and the tiny pistol I forgot I had been carrying all made their way into the box. The guard snickered a little at the small pistol.

“Rules are simple. Don’t cause any trouble. You’ll get your weapons back at the end of your stay. Restricted areas are marked with red and white barriers. No trespassing. No flying. Violations of minor rules results in expulsion. Violations of major rules result in death,” he announced, rummaging through my saddlebags to make sure I wasn’t hiding anything. Once he was done going through my stuff, he looked past me. “Next!”

“Excuse me, maybe you can help me. I’m looking for…” I tried to ask.

“NEXT!” he shouted louder, still looking past me.

“C’mon, I just…”

“NEXT!”

I grunted at the guard and walked through the large steel doors. Stopping just inside, I waited for Gertie to finish her screening.

She came along a few moments later. “Nice ponies, huh?” she chuckled.

“Eh, I can understand. Early on in my military career I was on guardpost duty frequently. It was mind numbing work,” I said with a shrug. “Quite an operation they have, though.”

“Never heard of any problems here,” Gertie replied. “The worst I’ve seen is a hoof fight, and that’s usually at the bar.” She laughed to herself. “Stupid stallion tried to put the moves on me, once.” She gave me a menacing glare and lowered her voice. “Once.” Gertie chuckled after that and I joined in also.

“Now, how are we going to find what we’re looking for?” I mused. “The guards weren’t much help.”

“Hmmm,” Gertie mumbled to herself while scanning the town square. She perked up and motioned at me. “C’mon, I know what to do.”

The town square was a bustling place. As I saw from the air, this town was a little more put together than most. The buildings were still made of salvaged material, but these were in better shape and more uniform than others. The buildings also seemed to be arranged in a more regular arrangement, with actual streets seemingly branching off in several directions.

This part of town also hosted the town market. Ponies, griffins, and I think I even saw a minotaur, had set up stalls and were selling various wares. Most were selling produce of various types, all looking healthy and, if I dared say it, delicious. Some ponies were also selling prepared foods which gave off a delectable odor. One, in particular, stood out among the others.

“What is that wonderful smell?” I asked, sniffing at the air some more.

“That’s The Garden’s Brahmin meat,” Gertie answered. “It is some of the best I’ve ever had. Their Brahmin are much healthier than most of the Wasteland. We should get some later, but right now, we need to go this way.”

Gertie led us to a small stall right near the front. It was a simple stall. The elderly unicorn mare behind the table was selling small containers of blueberries.

“Excuse me,” Gertie caught the mare’s attention. “We’re looking for some ponies that may have come through recently.”

“Well, a lot of ponies come through here,” the mare responded. “Don’t know if I’d remember them even if they stopped and bought something from me.”

“You’d probably remember this group,” Gertie pressed on. “Two Enclave officers and a large unicorn stallion?”

“Hmm… might seem familiar…” the mare said, stretching out her words.

“Ugh…” Gertie huffed. “Here.” Gertie reached into her vest and took out several caps and plunked them down on the table.

“Ah… let me think here,” the mare answered as she collected the caps and hoofed a small container of berries towards us. “I vaguely remember seeing those featherbrains coming through here, yesterday? Two days ago?” The mare stroked her chin while she looked upwards. “Quite the talk of the town. Not often we get honest to goodness Enclave down here. Most of the crowd weren’t too happy.”

“Uh huh,” Gertie answered frustrated. “Do you remember anything useful?”

“If I remember correctly, they headed that way,” the mare said, pointing to one of the roads branching off the square. “They were asking about where they could get a meal. Probably headed to Chuck Roast’s place.”

“Chuck Roast’s? Do you know…” Gertie began to followup.

“Scram… you’re scaring away potential customers,” the mare barked at us.

I grunted at the brusqueness of the dismissal. We all just looked at each other and Gertie shrugged, spun, and headed down the street that had been indicated.

We headed down the street and we gawked at the similar looking buildings arranged neatly all in rows. I could imagine that this was what a large pre-war city looked like, minus the material being used. It reminded me more of Horseton than a Wasteland settlement. Ponies were walking with purpose all around us. Nopony wanted to waste time here.

After a few moments, a delightful smell wafted over us and actually made my stomach growl. “Damn, that smells wonderful!” I blurted out.

“Yeah, it’s what good food can do for a recipe,” Gertie responded. “Some of the best food I’ve ever had has come from this town.”

“Hard ta imagine we hadn’t heard of this place before,” Flower wondered aloud. “I mean, something this big has ta be well known.”

“Well, we are several days away by hoof,” I pondered. “Most of the food you bought here would spoil before we got back to Coltington. As great as this place is, it would be mostly useless for us.”

“I s’pose,” Flower grumbled.

A few intersections away, a sign hanging off a building became visible. It was crudely painted, but there was no mistaking the picture of fruits and vegetables situated right next to a steak of some kind. “Chuck Roast’s?” I asked rhetorically.

When we were several steps away, the front door flung open and a pony stumbled out, followed by a unicorn wearing a striped vest. “And stay out!” he barked and went back inside.

“Yeah… you and what… what… wh… {hic} what… we… er…” the pony stuttered. He stumbled his way across the street and was approaching two red and white barriers.

“Uh oh,” Gertie muttered to herself.

Before I had a chance to ask, the drunk pony stumbled into and through the barriers. Two black-clad ponies I hadn’t seen until now emerged from a nearby alleyway and galloped over.

“You are in violation of Garden rules and regulations. Per the penal code, your punishment is exile,” one of the security ponies announced.

“But, I… I…” was all he got out before he vomited all over the street.

The two security ponies hefted up the dead weight and dragged him down the street and turned a corner.

“Damn, they’re serious about their rules, aren’t they?” Flower asked, her eyes still wide in shock.

“Well, yeah,” Gertie answered. “This is why there’s never been a problem here. Big walls keep the threats out, security takes care of problems inside.”

“Alright then,” I said, darkly. “Let’s go see if we can find our friend.”

We stepped up the building that housed Chuck Roast’s and opened the door. A warm, savory smelling air wafted through the door and washed over us. It had the unmistakable smell of stewed vegetables and meat, but this was surprisingly crisper. The inside was filled with several rows of tables. Ponies, mostly unicorns, wearing red and white striped vests were making their way between tables taking orders and delivering food. The pony that had thrown out the unfortunate fellow from before was standing behind a bar. Behind him was an old fashioned mirrored wall lined with liquor bottles.

“I guess trade is alive and well here,” I muttered. “Let’s go see if Chuck has any information for us.”

I walked over to the bar and squeezed into a small space between two other patrons. Chuck made his way over to me. The mustachioed unicorn was also wearing a red and white vest, but he had a gold chain with a pocket watch attached dangling from one pocket. He was also wearing, of all things, a monocle. “Welcome to Chuck’s! What can I get ya? Not often we see a griffin and a pegasus around these parts.”

“Funny you mention that…” I replied, with a little snark in my voice. “We’re actually here for information… on a couple of pegasi that may have come through here recently. Probably with a large, brown, unicorn?”

“Now… now… I don’t have time to flap my gums!” Chuck answered jovially. “I have paying customers to help!”

“Ugh, fine,” I grunted, hoofing several caps on the bar. “Sparkle Cola?”

“We ain’t got none of that weak shit,” he said. A bottle behind him became enveloped in a magical field. “Here, try this. I’m sure you’ll like it.” His magic tipped the bottle of Wild Pegasus into a small glass. He kept pouring until I had a double shot.

I grabbed the glass and tipped it down my throat. It had been a while since I had a drink. Tartarus, I think it was before all this started. The familiar burn of the spirits when down smooth. “Alright… now, the pegasi?”

“Came in here a couple of days ago,” he answered, stroking his chin. “Think they said they were just grabbing a bite and then heading home.”

“Home, huh?” I asked.

“Yup… that’s what they said,” he repeated.

“Thanks, Chuck. Any way we can get a table?” I asked.

“Sure… let me just get one cleaned off for you!” he beamed. “Apron Strings! Table for four!” he shouted over my shoulder.

A haggard looking unicorn mare turned and sighed. Her horn lit up and a rag flew from her apron to a table a few tables away. After a quick wipe down, she gestured to us to sit down. We squeezed our way over and sat down.

“Dust, why didn’t you ask more questions?” Silver asked.

“Well, I knew…” I started.

“Welcome to Chuck Roast’s,” one of the vest wearing ponies asked as he slid over to our table. “Today’s specials are a wonderful vegetable stew made with fresh carrots, tomatoes, and potatoes. Then, there’s a sumptuous roasted Brahmin steak flavored with local herbs and spices. Can I get you anything?”

We gave the waiter our orders, which he gleefully agreed that each of our decisions were his favorite meal on the menu. After he wrote it down on a small slate he carried, he sauntered off to one of his other tables.

“Now, why didn’t you press the issue with Chuck?” Silver repeated from before.

“Well, I knew he was lying and I knew he wasn’t going to tell us anything,” I said in a whisper, barely loud enough to hear.

“How?” Silver continued her questioning.

“No Enclave soldier would refer to the Wasteland as ‘home.’ If they had said they were returning to base, or the farm, or the plantation, or pretty much anything else, I would have believed it,” I said, shaking my head. “I don’t think we’re going to get any help here. When we’re done eating, we should look around and see what we can find. Something doesn’t feel right.”

After quick agreement, we all sat in awkward silence looking around the room. The bustling atmosphere had a new gloom cast over it as I looked and judged each pony around me, trying to determine who could be trusted. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for the waiter to return with our food.

Flower, Silver, and I opted for the vegetable stew and Gertie got the steak. The smell was certainly amazing. The aroma of the vegetables mingled with pepper and garlic. It was probably the best meal I’ve had since I came down. I hungrily dove into my bowl, slurping at the contents. As each warm morsel worked its way over my tongue and down my throat, I couldn’t stifle small moans of delight.

“This is the best darned stew ah’ve ever had,” Flower blurted out after several bites. “Ah wish we had fresh veggies like this in Coltington.”

“This steak is amazing, too,” Gertie mumbled with a partially full mouth. “It’s tender and juicy and the spices are perfect. You guys have to try it!”

Gertie graciously cut off several small pieces with her talons and passed them around the table. Flower and Silver took the morsels and popped them right in their mouths and began to chew. I was more tentative, having never gotten fully comfortable with eating meat.

Once I did start to chew, I did see what Gertie was talking about. The meat was the most tender I’ve ever tried. Whoever was preparing the food knew what they were doing. The only other place I’ve had meat was in Coltington and Pot Luck’s chef was obviously not the same caliber as whoever this was. And the seasoning was delightful, having the same crisp flavors that the stew had.

We were all so wrapped up in enjoying our meals that we barely spoke after that point. After a short while, we were all finished and were leaning back in our chairs, rubbing our bellies.

Our waiter must have been watching us since he appeared almost immediately after the last bit of food was swallowed. “I trust everything was good?” he asked with a wide grin on his face.

“Yes, absolutely,” Silver answered. “This was probably the best meal I’ve ever had.”

“I will be sure to pass that along to the chef,” the waiter beamed. “Can I get you anything else?”

We informed the waiter we were done and he told us how much we owed. I nearly choked as the meal cost nearly twice as much as I was accustomed to, but it made sense given the quality of the meal. I hoofed over the caps with a tip and we left the restaurant.

We decided to split up to check out the town. Gertie, having been here before, was going to search the outlying areas of the city. Flower and Silver were going to check out the market to see if any of the salesponies had seen Brownie or the soldiers. I was going to the main security outpost to see if I could get any information there. We agreed to meet up by the old mare’s stall by the front gate in a few hours.

The security headquarters was built up into a fortress like building. It was made entirely out of concrete and had large steel security doors and no windows. Black armor clad ponies were walking in and out of the building. Each was armed in a different way, probably due to different duties they had been assigned.

I walked inside the building, and into a large work area. Several desks dotted the floor, each manned by a pony wearing black barding with the word security sewn into a small patch on the left side. Most were poring over piles of paperwork or furiously scribbling down information. To the right, the entire wall was made up of a large jail cell, separated from the bullpen with large steel bars. It was currently empty, probably due to the only two punishments being exile or death. Finally, in the back of the room was a larger desk with an older earth pony stallion seated behind it. He was currently yelling at two ponies.

“Can I help you?” a snide voice called out. I turned to see a small, earth pony mare in black barding looking up from her desk.

“Yes, please,” I asked, as politely as I could. “I was hoping to see if anypony could give me some information.”

The mare sighed. “Ugh, what kind of information?” she barked.

“Sometime in the last several days, two pegasi and an earth pony came into town. I was just wondering if anypony had seen them,” I continued.

I was given another deep sigh. “Do you know how many ponies come through this town on a daily basis?” she muttered, clearly aggravated at me. “Do you expect us to remember everypony?”

“Well, no…” I started.

“So then why are you wasting my time?” she asked, turning back to her work.

I opened my mouth to retort, but felt it wasn’t going to get me anywhere. Resigned to the fact that these ponies were too busy to help or care, I walked back out of the security station.

I spent the next few hours, wandering around and asking any security pony I could see whether they remembered Brownie or the soldiers. Nopony could remember seeing such a group. As it was nearing our deadline, I worked my way back towards the market. Hopefully the others were having better luck than me.

I wandered through the stalls, glancing at the offerings that were not food. Most of the stalls were typical Wasteland stuff: medical supplies, clothes, scrap… but one stand stood out. A young earth pony mare had a small collection of knick-knacks on her table. At a first glance, I would have mistaken them for more scrap. However, at a closer look, most were made of precious metals or included gems of some kind.

I was about to turn and walk away when something caught my eye. Mixed in with other gold jewelry, two pieces stood out. They were small pins made out of gold. The design was unmistakable: it was the block letter ‘E’ flanked by wings on either side. They were Enclave flight pins.

“Excuse me, miss,” I asked, drawing her attention away from a piece she was working on. “Where did you get these?”

“I know, rare, right?” she responded, proud of her wares. “I found them one day on my way to my stall here. They were lying on the ground in a small alleyway.”

“Where is this alleyway?” I asked with urgency. “I need to know.”

“It’s over by city hall,” she answered, pointing behind me. “Can I interest you in them?”

“Yes, and thank you for the information,” I said, flinging a few caps at her after negotiating. She greedily scooped them up as I galloped away.

It took me several minutes to find city hall, seeing as how it was not made to stand out in any way. No signs, more markings, just another corrugated metal building nestled among other corrugated metal buildings. I began to search around, trying to use the mare’s description.

In one of the small alleyways on the side of the building, near more of the red and white striped barricades, was the spot the mare said she found the pins. I quickly found the small pre-war dumpster she had indicated and began to look for clues. The ground was clean, insofar as there was no garbage lying around. There were plenty of hoofprints, but nothing that stood out as unusual.

Starting to lose hope, I opened up the scope of my search. There was nothing of any note on the walls or the grounds. And if I ventured any further in either direction, I’d either be back on the main thoroughfare or I would be beyond the barricades. Neither of those options seemed preferable.

Feeling almost hopeless, I lifted the lid to the dumpster and peered inside. It was completely empty. I sighed deeply, feeling like someone had slapped me. The only good lead I’ve found and it petered out. I started to lower the lid when I saw something fluttering in my periphery.

Lifting the lid again, I looked at the object. It was a small square of material stuck near one of the hinges in the back. It was navy blue in color and was made of a thicker, polyester material. On one corner of the material was a set of two gold bands that curved in toward eachother. It looked like an airpony rank insignia. Turning the square over, there was a smear of red which spanned the entire length of the material.

Was this part of an Enclave jumpsuit? Was that really a rank insignia? And did the two pins come from the two Enclave officers who had obviously been outside of town at some point. My head began to hurt.
Realizing I was running late, I tucked away the square of material and galloped back to our rally point. Flower and Silver were there waiting for me, bit Gertie was absent.

“Dust,” Flower acknowledged me with a nod. “Find anything interesting?”

“Yeah, but where’s Gertie?” I asked, looking around the town square.

“We don’t know,” Flower asked, her voice wavering a little. “We thought maybe ya knew.”

Almost on cue, we heard the scrabbling of claws in the dirt. Gertie rounded a nearby corner, and joined us quickly. She was breathing heavily.

“Sorry…” she began, he words broken up by rapid breaths. “Got… detained… flew… better… sight… security… not happy… let… me… off… with… warning…”

“Warning?” I asked. “I thought they didn’t give warnings here…”

Gertie flashed an evil grin while jangling her pouch full of caps. We all just shared a little laugh.

“So, did you find anything?” I asked. Gertie shook her head, her breathing now slowing. “Well, I did. First, look at this.” I pulled out the Enclave wing pins and showed them to the group. “There are the flight wings that are given to Enclave soldiers when they pass basic flight training. Almost every flyer gets them, even if their assignments are elsewhere. I found these two for sale in the market.”

Flower began to facehoof herself. “Sorry, Dust, I didn’t…”

“Don’t worry about it…” I tried to comfort her. “You wouldn’t have noticed unless you knew what to look for. Besides, they were thrown in with a bunch of other jewelry. Then, I found this.” I put the pins away and took out the piece of cloth. “This, as far as I can tell, is a piece of standard issue Enclave flight jumpsuits. See the rank insignia here? It’s also made out of the same type of fabric as I remember. And then there’s this…” I flipped the piece of cloth over and showed them the red marks I saw earlier.

“Is that b… blood?” Silver asked, her voice wavering again. “Do… do you think it’s…”

“As far as I can tell, yes, it’s blood,” I responded, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “I don’t want to make any assumptions about whose it is just yet. Who knows how that got there.”

Silver gulped hard and gave me a weak smile.

“So, any plan on finding the two dorkwads and Brownie?” Gertie asked.

I paused and thought hard. We had no concrete leads and everypony we talked to was covering it up. The only evidence we had were two pins and a piece of a jumpsuit, neither of which pointed to anything concrete. “No… none,” I admitted, hanging my head.

Silver walked over to me and put a hoof around my shoulder. “Let’s go grab some dinner and maybe we can figure something out,” she said, giving me a small hug. I simply grumbled my agreement.

We went back to the restaurant and had more of the stew and meat from before. Gertie had done some trading for some salvage we had found. She said that we would also be making a small trade with the weapons dealer who was holed up outside of town due to the no weapons policy. Besides, that, the conversation was all about Brownie.

Gertie leaned over to me. “Hey, Dust,” she whispered into my ear. “Do you see those two at your 2 o’clock?”

I tried to sneak a glance in the direction she indicated while pretending to look at Flower, who was sitting nearly in the line of sight. In a booth in the back corner sat two large earth ponies. They were wearing black barding and were very built, which was easy to see in the tight-fitting vests. The odd part was that neither of them had food in front of them.

“How long have they been here?” I whispered back.

“They tailed us when we left the market earlier,” she answered. Her answer meant they had been sitting there for almost an hour trying, and failing, to blend in. “Amateurs,” she scoffed.

“We got somepony’s attention, then,” Flower said, not even trying to look.

“What are we gonna do, Dust?” Silver asked, her voice tense.

“This may end up working for us,” I said with a wicked grin. The wheels spun furiously in my head. These ponies either knew where Brownie was or they could lead us to somepony who does.

“Dust, what are you thinking?” Gertie asked me nervously.

We quickly put my plan into action. There were only two ponies that they sent to watch us, but there were four of us. If we all split up, they would have to decide to tail some of us and leave the rest of us alone. Since Gertie and I had already drawn attention, I assumed we would be the primary targets. She and I would leave the restaurant separately. We assumed the ponies would follow us. It would then be up to Silver and Flower to tail our tails.

As planned, I got up first and made a show of saying goodbye to everypony in my group and trotted out the front door. If nopony began to tail me, Silver or Flower would come running out as if I left something behind. If I heard nopony, then it would be safe to assume I was being followed.

I began to meander back towards the market. Hopefully, I would still not hear anything and knew I was indeed being followed. It had been a couple of minutes since I left. Silver or Flower would have caught up by now, right? If that was the case, then I needed to head towards the inn and get a room and act like I was holing up for the night. Eventually, either there would be a change of personnel or they would just give up and return to wherever it is they went to report on what they saw.

Gertie’s directions were easy to follow and I soon found my way to the inn. The building was a little more solid than most other construction. It was very bunker like in construction made of mostly concrete and steel. The innkeep was not easily bargained with and I ended up paying full price for one room for the four of us. I walked up the room and let myself in. The room was more like a jail cell than a hotel room, but it was clean, had a locking door, and a window to the outside. I laid down on the bed and waited.

A good amount of time later, Gertie came strolling in.

“So?” I asked her, knowing she knew what I wanted to know.

“Seems to have worked like a charm,” she responded with a nod. “The first pony tripped over himself trying to make it out of the restaurant behind you. Flower followed him out and the other one stayed behind. I waited a little while and then took off.”

“Seems like, for once, it’s going to plan,” I said, morosely. “At least that’s the way it always seems, doesn’t it?”

Gertie simply responded with a grim smirk.

We waited what seemed like hours for either Flower or Silver to make it back to the room. Watching the light from the window, we knew it had turned dark a long time ago. We passed it in tense silence, giving each other knowing glances every now and then.

A sound made both of us jump and look at the door. The doorknob was turning. We both placed a hoof/claw on our pistols and watched, tense. The door opened and Flower came walking in.

“Whoa!” she gasped. “Calm down there, fellas!”

Gertie and I both took a deep breath. “Sorry, Flower,” I answered. “It was getting a little tense.” She chuckled a little. “So, what did you find out?”

“Not much, ah’m afraid,” she said, looking down at her own hooves. “Ah was in the lobby with Silver and our two friends. Ah tried to move to get a better angle ta see their conversation and I got made. So I just came up here. Silver’s our last chance.”

The wait became unbearable. I kept looking toward the door, waiting to see the doorknob turning, but it never did. Next, I would go over to the window, which was front facing, and looked for her to be walking down the street. She never was.

“Dust!” Gertie lashed out, glaring at me. “You’re going to create a rut in the floor if you keep it up! Not to mention the fact it’s annoying as hell!” She looked back down and began to scrub the barrel of her pistol furiously.

“Sorry,” I sheepishly admitted. “I’m just worried about Silver. Of all of us, she is least ready for something like this.”

Flower looked up from her position lying on the bed. “Dust, trust me,” she said, almost scolding me. “While ya were gone, Silver got herself in a lot of sticky situations as a courier. And she made it through ‘em all… not always unscathed, but nothing Doc Mender couldn’t patch up. She can do more than ya think.”

I gave Flower an awkward grin and returned to the window to look for Silver.

“Duuuu-uuuust….” a sing-songy voice broke the silence of my slumber.

My eyes began to flutter as they struggled to open against sleep.

“Wakey, wakey, sleepy head,” the voice repeated.

The brightness of the room blinded me at first. Whiteness turned to fuzzy blobs, which then began to sharpen as my eyes focused. A green-eyed, pink-coated mare was looking down at me. “Silver?” I asked as my mind caught up to my eyes. “Silver!” I wrapped her in a very large hug as I heard giggling.

Looking towards the giggling, I saw Flower covering her mouth, mockingly trying to stop her giggling. Gertie was shifting uncomfortably between her two paws.

I separated myself from Silver, keeping my forelegs on her shoulders. “What happened?” I asked.

“Well, I’m sure Flower told you about how she got seen,” she asked, rhetorically, waiting to see our head nods. “After that, it got real boring. The two of them just sat there watching the staircase. Must have been hours. But then one of the ponies got up and left. I slipped out the door after him and followed.

“It was tough… he kept looking over his shoulder and I had to keep hiding to stay out of his vision,” she continued. “And he took a winding path. But eventually, he went to town hall.”

“This late?” I asked, confused.

“Open twenty-four hours,” she said with a shrug. “Anyway, I didn’t want to follow him in so I looked through a window and the pony went into door with a pretty hefty lock. And the door is guarded.”

“That’s no surprise,” I muttered, shaking my head. “How many guards?”

“From what I could see, only one,” she answered.

I looked around at the faces looking back at me. “And I would assume it would be more heavily guarded, or at least monitored, during the daytime?” I asked the group rhetorically.

The sound of a slide being racked on a pistol caught my attention. By the time I turned my head, I saw Flower placing it into its holster. “Ah’m goin’,” she announced, her eyes determined.

“Flower, we have no plan, we don’t know…” I started to try to dissuade her.

“Dust,” she grunted with a stamp of the floor. “Ah’ve been patient up till now since we had nothin’ ta go off of. But if Brownie is in there,” she said, stopping to look me dead in the eyes. “Ah need him. We need ta get him.”

“But…” I tried to interject but got cut off.

“Don’t ya try tellin’ me about going off half-cocked,” she growled. “Remember when ya took off after Muddy?”

“Of course I do!” I yelled back. “And do you remember how it turned out for me?”

Flower growled back at me, her muscles tensing all over her body. Her head craned back and she took several deep breaths. After a few quiet moments, she lowered her head and looked right at me. “Dust, ya can’t stop me from goin’,” she stated. “One way or another, ah’m getting in that building and finding Brownie.”

I ran through every possible argument I could try to convince her not to do this, but none of them seemed convincing, even to me. I didn’t even bother wasting my time trying them on her. “Alright, Flower,” I conceded. “But we do this slow and steady. We stick together and do it as a team.”

“Agreed,” Flower responded, her face tightened into a grim grin.

We all gathered up our gear and made our way through the darkened streets of The Garden. We had to duck into alleyways or around corners to avoid security patrols. Attracting the attention of the security forces was probably not the best idea, especially considering we still had one of the tailing ponies behind us.

As we rounded one corner, Gertie grabbed me as she ducked down a small alleyway. Everypony else paused but she gestured them forward.

“What the…” I hissed at her.

She put a talon across her beak and peered around the corner. I had no idea what she was waiting for, but she was intent on something. Hoofsteps began to echo through the streets. Gertie leaned back in and pressed herself against the wall. I could see every muscle tensing.

When she moved, it was so fast , I barely saw it. As the first hoof appeared in the opening of the alley, she lunged and grabbed the pony. He barely grunted as she threw him against the wall and slammed his head into the frame of the building. After letting go, the pony slid to the floor and slumped into a motionless pile.

“Got any rope?” she asked, as she breathed deeply.

“How the hell did you know this was the pony?” I asked, digging through my saddlebags.

“This is amateur hour here,” she huffed. “I had him made from the minute we left the inn.” After she finished tying up and gagging the pony, she stashed him in a nearby dumpster. “Shall we?”

We caught up with the rest of our group in short order.

“Gertie took care of our tail,” I informed Flower and Silver after they gave me weird looks once we caught up. They both gave us knowing nods.

The area around town hall was just as dead as the rest of the streets had been so far. We snuck up to the front door as I looked for a window to survey the inside.

“Dust, use this one,” Silver whispered, gesturing to a window to the left of the main door.

Peering over the top of the windowsill, I could see the inside of town hall. Much like the rest of the town, it was made of wood salvaged from the construction materials left behind by the way. The entry hall had several wooden doorways leading off to other parts of the building. To the left, however, was a larger, metal doorway with a rather large padlock securing a hasp. And in front of the door, there was a security pony, wearing his barding with a submachine gun mounted on a battle saddle. No other ponies were visible.

Dipping back down before being spotted, I turned to the group. “Just as Silver said,” I informed the group. “One guard in front of a secure, locked door. We need a way to deal with him.”

“Anyone have a bottle of liquor?” Silver asked.

Flower reached into her bags and pulled out a bottle of Wild Pegasus. Silver grabbed it and took a big swig. After leaving her gun with us, she walked up to the door. “Now watch,” she said, as she opened it.

I peeked up over the windowsill to watch. Silver began to stumble as soon as she entered the building.

“Halt! No visitors after hours!” the security stallion barked out.

Silver acted as if she was having trouble standing up. “Well, he… he… hello there, sss... sss...ssstud!”

“Miss, you need to vacate the premises, immediately,” he barked.

Silver still stumbled her way closer to the pony. “B...b...but I was loo… loo… looking for a stud for tonight,” she slurred. She had made it next to the pony. She traced a hoof along his jawline. “And you are… are… are one fffffine piece of meat.”

The guard began to look flustered. “But ma’am,” he began.

Silver placed her hoof over his mouth. “Shhhhh… c’mon, let’s g...g...go have some fun!”

The guard looked around the foyer frantically. The mental conflict he was in showed on his face as his brow furrowed and his eyes darted back and forth. “Aww… what the hell,” he said.

Silver smiled. She wrapped her hooves around his shoulders. “Lead the way, stud,” she purred.

The guard couldn’t move fast enough. He led Silver towards one of the doorways off the main foyer which was dark beyond. He began to unfasten his armor. Right before crossing the threshold, Silver turned her head and nodded. The two disappeared into the dark.

Not missing our signal, the rest of us quickly, but quietly, made our way into the building. Flower and Gertie made their way right to the door. I knew Gertie was already looking for her bobby pins to start her work on the lock. I made my way towards the dark room.

“C’mon baby, don’t be shy now,” the guard murmured.

“Take your time, s...s...stud,” Silver responded.

I walked into the room and snuck up behind the guard and cleared my throat.

“Who’s there?” he asked as he spun around.

Spinning around, I bucked hard at his head. The familiar wet snap as my hooves contacted his head filled the room. His body slumped to the floor.

“What took so long!” Silver hissed. “I almost had to kiss him.”

“Sorry,” I said, getting the rope out of my saddlebags yet again.

In short order, the guard was bound and gagged and we dragged him to one of the dark corners of the room. Silver began to rifle through his pockets. “Ah-ha!” she cried out as she pulled something out of his pocket. She trotted out of the room and I followed.

Gertie was furiously working at the lock, sticking the bobby pin in and twisting. On the ground beneath her were the pieces of several bobby pins. “Fuck!” she cried out and she threw down the piece of bobby pin in her talons.

“Would this help?” Silver asked, dangling a key in front of her.

“Fuck yes!” Gertie gasped, a gleam in her eye. “Son of a bitch is a tough one!”

Silver trotted up to the door, put the key in the mechanism and turned. The door opened easily and we all moved inside and closed the door behind us. We were standing on a concrete surface which sloped down to another door. But this door was more of a windowless airlock. We all exchanged glances and I reached out towards the wheel that dominated the door. As quietly as I could, I turned it.

The wheel did squeak a little as I turned. After a loud thunk, the wheel would turn no more. Grabbing the large handle, I pulled the door and it squealed open.

I was almost knocked to the floor by the smell. The odor of rotting meat and blood assaulted us as the doorway swing open. Silver and Flower put their hooves over their mouths as if they were going to vomit. Gertie was gagging and I was doubled over with dry heaves.

“What the hell?” Gertie asked between gags.

“Smells like the inside of a slaughterhouse,” Flower said, struggling to cover her nose.

After we all calmed down, I looked through the doorway. It opened unto a metal, tubular corridor which ran off in both directions. Periodically, on either side, there was another airlock type door.

“What is this place?” I asked aloud.

“Looks like an underground bunker of some sort,” Flower mumbled as she took it in. “I wonder if the ponies here built it or stumbled across it. And what the fuck is creating that smell?”

“Shhhh…” Gertie shushed us.

I strained to hear what she could possibly have heard. Tinny music was barely audible. It sounded like old classical music. Suddenly, a voice accompanied the music. The voice was deep but strong. I couldn’t identify the language, but whoever was singing was good.

As I strained to listen for more details about our surroundings, moaning began to filter in between verses of singing. It was weak, but I could make out a few different voices.

“Well, it looks like everything is coming from the right,” I muttered, my stomach deciding to start doing somersaults. “Gertie, would you mind being rear guard?”

She still wasn’t fully recovered from the initial wash of the odor, but she nodded and spun to watch the other end of the hallway we were in.

We slowly and quietly made our way towards the singing. As we moved, the singing was punctuated with screams or whimpers. Each sound filled me with more and more dread. I felt pressure against my side and saw that Silver had sidled up next to me. She gave an awkward grin, but I could see the fear in her eyes. Looking at Flower, I could see mix of fierce determination in her eyes, but there was an undercurrent of fear.

After a while, we came to the first room that had light spilling from the gap between the door and the floor. The door was windowless, so we would have to open it to see what was inside. Gesturing to Flower that I was going to enter the room, she braced herself against the wall next to it, ready to help me clear it. Unexpectedly, the door was unlocked and swung open easily and with minimal sound. I swung around one side and Flower swung around the other.

I didn’t know where to look first… or probably, more appropriately, where not to look. The walls were splattered with blood. Some of it had been dry for a long time, some was only a few days old. In one corner of the room were a pair of yellow wings, severed from the body they used to belong to. The joints had been severed cleanly. On a small table next to them was a neatly folded Enclave uniform.

The center of the room was the most disconcerting. Lying on a stainless steel table in the middle of the room was a yellow pony. He was missing all four of his legs with large, bandaged wounds where they would have been. There were also two wounds where the wings would have met the torso. Several bandaged areas covered portions of the lower body.

“I thought raiders were sick fucks,” Gertie mumbled, her voice nearly inaudible. “But why would they do this to bodies?”

And then I saw something that made my world spin. The pony was still breathing…

“He’s still alive!” I blurted out right before I doubled over and vomited. “Why are they keeping him alive?”

“Umm, Dust,” Flower whispered. I looked over and she was holding a box labeled “Grade A Prime Brahmin.”

We all just stood there staring at each other in shocked silence. That was until the pony in the middle of the room groaned.

“Help me!” he rasped, trying to pick his head up.

We all jumped and backed away from the table.

“Help me! Please!” he begged.

“What’s going on here?” I asked.

“They’re cutting us apart… for meat,” he explained, tears streaming from his eyes.

“Wait? What?” I mumbled at the same time as somepony else. “You mean they’re serving pony as meat?”

We all looked at each other knowing what the implications were. We all had meat yesterday. The room filled with the sound of three ponies retching and our stomach contents splattering on the ground. Well, except for Gertie who seemed weirdly nonplussed.

“What?” she said, defending herself. “It’s not unusual for griffons to eat pony meat.” This caused a round of dry heaving.

“Gertie!” Silver barked. “What if it were Brownie you…” she started, before realizing what she said.

“You shut your mouth right now!” Flower barked. An awkward silence filled the room.

The pony on the table began to wheeze. “They’ve kept me this way for days now. They keep coming back for more.” He started coughing with blood splattering on the table beneath him. “Celestia… it may be too late for me… please help the others…”

“Others?” I asked, my blood turning cold.

There was no response as he laid his head down and his breath rattled and there was no more.

I looked around the room at my friends and saw Silver and Gertie were clearly disgusted. Flower had a different look. In all my time knowing her, I don’t think I ever saw her with a look of pure terror on her face.

“Dust… can we please… go find Brownie,” she pleaded.

“Sure thing, Flower,” I answered, giving one last look at the pony on the table.

Our missing friend took on a new urgency. Brownie had been captured for days. We had no idea if he was down here and, if he was, for how long. We had to find him before… well, before something else happened.

A loud scream echoed down the hallway and the singing, which had faded to the back of my mind, reached a fever pitch. We continued our way down the hallway and the singing grew even louder. The next door we came to was the source. This door was open, however.

I peered around the corner and the room was much like the last. Except, blocking our view of the table was probably the largest unicorn I had ever seen. He completely blocked our view of the table. He was wearing a blood stained chef’s uniform and a full face shield. In his blue magical field were two large knives dancing around the room.

He continued his singing as the knives plunged down towards the table. As each knife disappeared from view, a scream accompanied it. The poor stallion on the table was in agony. A piece of flesh rose up from the table and floated to a box on a small workbench on the side of the room.

The knives flew up again and turned their points back towards the table. I had to stop this. I galloped into the room and tackled the unicorn from behind. The magical field disappeared from the knives and they clattered to the floor.

“Who the fuck are you!” the unicorn screamed from underneath me.

“I’m the pony that’s going to stop this sick operation!” I screamed.

My left rear leg flared with pain. I looked and saw one of the kitchen knives back in the blue magical field buried a couple of inches in my leg. Son of a bitch that hurt!

“Looks like I have fresh meat!” he said, licking his lips. His eyes looked unfocused… manic.

My leg burned in pain as he magically withdrew the knife and raised it with the other one above my head.

“Looks like tomorrow will be a full menu!” he cried out in glee.

A gunshot filled the room and the unicorn froze awkwardly. His chef’s jacket had a new blood stain on it. The blood stain grew as he stood there looking at it. Looking behind him, I saw that Gertie had entered the room and the barrel of her pistol was smoking. The butcher, still looking at the blooming wound, slowly slumped to the floor.

“Thanks, Gertie,” I grunted through the pain. “Can you get me a healing potion, please.”

Gertie simply nodded and began digging through her bags.

“Dust…” Flower said, he mouth agape, looking at the table.

I propped myself up as Gertie began to pour the healing potion on my wound. On the table was the pony we saw get arrested yesterday outside the restaurant.

“If this isn’t Brownie, then…” Flower started.

“Flower, let’s just keep looking, OK?” I said, trying to calm her.

I looked at the pony on the table who was wordlessly pleading with me.

“We’ll be back,” I said.

After the wound had stitched itself closed, I stood up. I couldn’t put full weight on it, but it was usable. I limped my way to the door and everypony followed me. As I looked down the hallway, I saw several doors with a cone of light being cast on the floor at the bottom of each.

“Split up,” I ordered.

We all walked up to one of the doors and walked in. I heard Silver and Gertie gasp as they, no doubt, saw horrors akin to the other two rooms so far. I opened my door and looked inside and, fortunately, my room was empty.

“No!” I heard Flower scream.

The three of us left our rooms and galloped to the one Flower had entered. I was the first to get there and my heart sank when I saw the scene unfold. Flower was already leaning over the table. Brownie’s limbless body was on the table. Most of his body was covered in bandages. Amazingly, or perhaps unfortunately, he was still alive as well.

“Brownie, no! What have they done to you!” Flower sobbed.

“Flower?” Brownie wheezed. “Is it really you?”

“Yes, it is. It’s me, Dust, Silver and Gertie!” she cried. “We’re here.”

“I knew ya’d come,” he rasped. “I knew ya’d come for me.”

“Oh, Brownie…” Flower said, crying into Brownie’s neck.

“Flower,” he said, trying to pick his head up. “Ah think this is the end of mah journey.”

“No, Brownie…” Flower argued. “We’ll get ya out of here. We’ll get you help! Dust? We have Hydra, right?”

“Flower,” Brownie said, raising his head enough to kiss Flower on the forehead. “Ah think we both know that ah ain’t makin’ it through this.”

“But Brownie, this can’t be the end… it just can’t,” she cried. “Ah can’t lose you!”

“Flower,” Brownie coughed. “We both knew it coulda ended this way. We both knew the Wasteland doesn’t play fair. Ah’m just glad ah could see you one last time. Ah love ya, Flower, with all mah heart.”

“But Brownie! What about us? What about our life together,” she pleaded. “Ah don’t know if ah can go on without you.”

“Flower, ah’m sorry,” he said, tears starting to run down his face. “Ya know ah wanted to live mah life with ya. You made me the happiest pony in the Wasteland. Ah’m sorry it has to end this way.”

“Brownie…” Flower muttered between deep sobs.

Brownie raised his head and nuzzled Flower’s. Flower pulled hers back and gently kissed Brownie on the lips. She then returned to nuzzling his neck.

“Dust,” Brownie called out after a period of time. “Ah need you ta do me a favor.”

“Anything, buddy,” I said, walking towards the table.

“Ah want you ta put me outta mah misery,” he announced.

“Brownie, no!” Flower protested.

“Flower,” he said, looking her in the eyes. “Ah’m in so much pain. And ah don’t want this ta drag out. Please, let me go.”

Flower clutched Brownie’s body.

“Brownie, please... no…” I pleaded. “Please don’t make me do this.”

“Dust, please... “ he pleaded. “Ah need ya ta do this. Ah can’t have Flower do it and ah’d rather have somepony ah know, somepony who cares for me, ta do it.”

“Brownie…” I pleaded further.

“And, Dust,” he continued. “Don’t blame yerself. This wasn’t yer fault. Every pony’s time in the Wasteland is limited. Mah number was up.”

“Flower… ah love you and ah’m sorry ah can’t keep mah promise ta ya,” Brownie wheezed. “Silver, Gertie, it was an honor and a pleasure ta meet ya and get ta know ya. And, Dust… ya are really one of the better ponies ah’ve met… ya’ve given so much of yerself… please don’t ever ferget it.” His body wracked with coughs. “Now, please…”

“Ah can’t watch,” Flower cried out as she bolted from the room.

Silver gave me a glance and ran out after her.

Gertie stepped up to the table. “Brownie, it was an honor to have known you. May your soul find peace in the afterlife.” Gertie then snapped a salute to Brownie. A small smile grew on his face.

Brownie then looked up at me, his eyes pleading me to do what he had asked. Hesitantly, I drew my pistol from out of its holster and braced the muzzle against his head. Brownie gave me one last, knowing look and then closed his eyes.

I took a few deep breaths and closed my eyes. “Brownie, I’m so sorry,” I mumbled before placing the firing bit in my mouth.

After a few seconds, I gently bit down on the firing bit.

Mission failed.