An Alicorn, I always thought they were legends, an extincted kind of pony from before the war... But right infront of me... Stood a young Alicorn...

"How old is he?" I asked, a bit worried... If they were as powerfull as they were described, his powers could set this whole camp ablaze within seconds.

"Ten years old.." Buttercup didn't moved her eyes from Winter Wind, who looked at us and not understanding what's the big deal.

"What's an Alicorn?" Winter Wind asked his mother, she was too shocked to answer.

"Winter Wind, buddy?" I tried to get his attention.

"Yes?" he looked at me, his wings were odd, they looked perfectly functional..but different then mine's or Shrapnel's...

"Come with me, we want to check you out Okay?" I told him.

"Why?" he answered sheepishly.

"We don't want you to become sick.." I mumbled, not knowing how to hide from him the real reason.

"What about mommy?" Winter Wind asked.

"Mommy's here.." Buttercup replied as she walked toward me. "Lead the way.."

"From here.." I told them both as I walked toward Storm's office, this time the guard didn't even blinked when I approached, but instead he bowed infront of me. "Please, don't do that.." I insisted to his bowing, I'm not somepony special.

"Alright sir, you want me to check if the Commander is able to talk?" The guard asked.

"Yes, thank you" I replied, I looked at Winter Wind hiding behined his mother, probably the guard scared him.

"Commander, sir?" The guard pony speaked into his helmet, still cooler then a PipBuck... "Colonel Gunner's here, with two civillians"

"Let them in, I'm free for now" Storm's voice came from the guard's helmet.

"Roger, from here sir, ma'am." The guard moved aside and let us in. "Anything else sir?" the guard asked.

"No, thank you... Y'know what? take this, buy yourself a drink" I told him as I gave him some Caps from the Caps box.

"Thanks sir.." The guard looked surprised about getting money from his superior, I just enterd with Buttercup and Winter Wind behined me.

"Where are we going mommy?" Winter Wind asked.

"To meet the pony in charge, he will give us a place to stay after that" Buttercup said calmly, she reminded me too much of Rose at that point...

Fuck! Rose!... She's probably worried as hell!... After this I go back home and spend some time alone with her, and I don't care if she's horny when I come back.

"Hold on a second" I told Buttercup and Winter Wind as we were at the office's foor, I walked toward the wall-mounted terminal and enterd my new password. 'Exterminator'. Don't judge...

"Access Granted" the terminal voiced, did it always said that? am I losing my mind?..

"Gunner?" Storm said, I walked inside and his features went from worried to happy.

"Me and nopony else" I said back with a grin.

"How're you doing mate?" Storm asked, he was visibly relieved to see me. He jumped from his seat and hoof-shaked my offered hoof.

"I'm fine, I brought two ponies that were held hostage.." I told Storm as Buttercup and Winter Wind entered the room, Storm's eyes widened as they look at him back, surprised as he was.

"Buttercup?.." Storm mumbled..

"Storm?.." Buttercup's jaw dropped.

"Daddy!" Winter Wind squeaked as he rushed toward Storm, Storm's eyes started tearing as he hugged Winter Wind.

What?!?!... Storm... Is Winter Wind's father...

Should've saw that coming... My mind frowned.

Buttercup ran to Storm and the three hugged for a long minute.

"Umm... Storm?" I asked, my mind was still trying to figure out how in the name of Celestia's and Luna's ass it is possible... Wow I need to stop listening to Storm's creative vocabulary...

The three didn't moved, I thought it was a great time to leave them to a reunion..talking about reunions, I need to return back to Rose. I sped through the camp, soldiers and civilians were all around, I never really paid attention to the amount of soldiers at night, but you could see that at night it was alot more crowded...

What about paying to Cleaver?..

"Fuck.." I stopped in my tracks and changed direction toward 'Eat Up', I entered the store and saw Cleaver drinking a bottle of beer and reading an old magazine. The kind of magazines that Rose told me about, the words 'Play Colt' were printed  on it and a bit yellowed out.

"Cleaver?" I asked, Cleaver's head cocked up to me as his face blushed a little, he threw the magazine away and fell onto his haunches, the bottle spilled beer all over him.

"Celestia damn it you scared the living fuck outa me" Cleaver got up slowly, all sticky and wet from the beer.

"Oops... Sorry... But I have your Caps" I said, Cleaver said it was five hundred... I had the Caps box from earlier, and Shrapnel had some extra.

"Gunner, I told ya not to pay me" Cleaver said simply.

"I know, but I felt bad for taking food without paying you back, so I managed to get some extra Caps to pay you.." I smiled, taking out the Cap box, opening it and pouring all of the Caps inside it on Cleaver's desk, his eyes widened so much I thought they would pop out of his eye holes.

"That's alot of Caps for less then a week.." Cleaver mumbled at the pile of Caps infront of him.

"You welcome, I'm just in a hurry... So I'll see you later... Yeah.." I walked slowly and awkwardly toward the door.

"Thanks, I guess..." He said, not moving his eyes from the pile of Caps.

I trotted toward our cabin and enterd, as soon and looked inside I realized I was doomed.

"Talk to Storm huh?.." Rose said with a dissapointed face.

"Rose... I did talked to him..." I stammered.

"We heard everything, we know what happened" Shrapnel said with Custard standing next to him, hugging him.

"Wh-what do you mean?" I asked, not sure if I wanted them to know all of what happened.

"Chamber, the shipment, the two hostages, you getting injured... Do I really need to continue?" Rose sounded angry, nothing is worst then an angry Rose.

"Chamber isn't dead, and I was healed, see?" I told them as I spinned slowly in place, letting them see my whole not-wounded body, my heart skipped a beat when I looked at my previously injured leg and it looked fine, When? What? How?... Oh right; the healing bottle in the Vulture..

"What do you mean 'Chamber isn't dead'? We heard Nathe declaring he's dead!" Custard countered.

"Let's just say, it was pretty 'shocking'..." I laughed from my own pun, none of the other ponies in the room got it, I quickly recoverd awkwardlly from my laugh.

"Hope it wasn't any of your bad puns that made you laugh, if it was I promise you I'll lock you out of the cabin for tonight" Shrapnel said, tired.

"Don't worry, I'm good" I said, not wanting to spend the night outside.

"Let's go back to bed Shrapnel.." Custard said with a yawn.

"Wait for me there, I have something to say to Gunner, alone.." Shrapnel looked at Rose and hinted her it needs to be a four-eyes conversation. Rose went to our room as Custard went to her and Shrapnel's room.

"What did you wanted to s--" I got bucked in the face.

Of course I got bucked in the fucking face.

The sudden buck made me fall on the floor face-first.

"Fucking retard, Rose here got so worried about you, I'm surprised she still wants to even stay in the same room with you.. She went through enough already! And you just break her heart like she is your little toy.." Shrapnel hissed at me, then turned around and walked toward his room. I looked upwards to see Shrapnel walking away from me, my eye hurted like hell, I decided not to make Rose worry about my eye, I sat on a mattress and let my thoughts wander away.

"Why'd I went to help Bravo squad? I promised Rose that I'll get in trouble only when I have to.." I whispered to myself, wondering for a while. I thought that sleeping will clear my head, I crossed my forehooves and put my chin ontop of them, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

"Hello Gunner.." A familliar voice said, I turned toward the voice, it was the same dark version from earlier.

"No-no, no no... You're just a bad dream... You're just an hallucination..." I mumbled.

"So tell me Gunner, is this fake?" The dark version said, visions of all the raiders I killed replayed in my mind..

"Stop! Stop it!!" I screamed.

"Leave him alone sick bastard" Another voice said, the sane version, the visions stopped immediatly after.

"What are you? Why are you here?" I asked, surprisingly calm.

"We're both you, I'm half of you.." The sane version explained.

"And I'm the other half..the better one.." The dark version said with a chuckle.

"So why I am here?" I asked again.

"You're here because you haven't decided yet" The sane version said.

"Haven't decided? What do I need to decide?" I was confused, like always..

"You haven't decided which of us you really are" The dark version said, he sounded distorted somehow.

"You just said you're both me! I don't get any of this!" I yelled in frustration.

"Soon the truth will be revealed, and we'll know.." The two versions of me said simulationsly.

I woke up, I was still on the mattress, at the camp.. "Just a dream..." I told myself "Just a fucking dream..".

I got up and looked around, it was still dark outside, Rose's door room was closed, I could still hear the fire crackling from inside, I slowly approached the door and put my ear against the closed door to listen for her breaths, she breath deeply when she is asleep and I can tell that from experience... Nothing... Just the crackling sound of the campfire came from inside, I slightly opened the door and peaked inside..Rose was sitting on the bed with her back to me, I opened the door even more and squeezed my body inside the room.

Rose whimpered for herself something I couldn't make out..apperantly she knew I was in the room, and I figured that out when I huffed too loud but her ears didn't perked up.

"I know you're here Gunner, no need for sneaking on me" Rose stopped whimpering, echoing my thoughts.

"Sorry, I ju--"

"Yeah you better be sorry.." Rose stopped me and turned around toward me.

"Rose... What can I do so you'll forgive me?.." I asked.

"Right now? Leave me alone" Rose said, this wasn't the Rose I knew.

"We both know you don't mean that.." I replied.

"And for once I'm regreting that I don't mean that" Rose countered, my heart flinched to that "I'm sick of your false promising! You say you won't do anything stupid and a minute later you're killing ponies in the other side of Equestria". I just stood there and looked at Rose, having nothing to say. "I love you, but it is starting to hurt you more then I would like... If you're doing all of this for me, I can't live with the idea you get hurt just for me..."

"Rose, I know you're angry... But please, don't do this.." tears started to form in my eyes.

"I'm sorry Gunner, but I think it's best if you'll stay away from me" Rose said.

I turned around and walked out of the room, I didn't stopped and kept walking out of the cabin, and I made my way toward Storm's office.

"Everything's alright sir?" The guard in the office entrance asked me, I didn't even looked at him as I walked straight to the inner doors, I entered my custom code into the wall terminal and the doors opened. Inside Storm and Buttercup were making out, they jumped to the sound of the door opening and me entering.

"Storm, what's your next assigment?" I asked, filled with anger already.

"Gunner? Are you feeling alright lad?" Storm asked back.

"Yes, I'm fine... What's your next fucking mission?" I hissed.

"I--there are alot of missions... The work keeps piling up and we are losing soldiers everyday.." Storm mumbled.

"Storm, mission.." I placed my hooves on his shoulders, shaking him and trying to make him talk in full words.

"Gunner, what happened? You ain't yourself..." Storm tried to calm me down, Buttercup looked at me from the side.

"I don't want to talk about this, just give me a mission already.."

"Gunner, I can see that something happened to you, speak" Storm insisted.

"It's... It's Rose, and Shrapnel... And Custard... I know you told them about where and what I did, I don't blame you... Rose can be persuasive at times, but they are now mad at me for that... All of them are..." I admitted.

"I'm sor--"

"Nope! Nope... You never knew it would happen.." I raised a hoof upwards to signal him to shut up.

"Can I do something for you?.." Storm asked me, I opened my muzzle to speak "Not a mission though.." Storm added, I closed my muzzle.

"Thank you, but you got your familiy to take care of now, I won't be a problem anymore..." I said as I walked toward the exit.

I walked outside and took-off upwards in the night sky and rain, the guard was now acclimated to my sudden take-offs, I had to clear my head from whatever that just happened... Tears streamed down from my eyes and the rain just kept on going, the song my uncle used to sing me replayed in my mind...

Take a deep breath... And then let go

Life may not be what you knew..

There is the will inside your heart

So your decisions will always feel right

A flame can be extinguished..

But you can fight to keep it..

I flew in the night sky for a few hours... Searching for anything to distract my mind with, I had only my laser pistol, my barding and some Caps on me... Pretty much nothing... I suddenly heared the same engine, like a Vulture's one... I looked over my shoulder and saw two Vultures chasing me.

"Halt right there! You're invading the air space of Commander Sky Fighter!" one of the Vulture's speakers bombarted my ear drums with the message. I stopped and the two Vultures stopped quickly after.

"I'm just passing by!" I shouted at them, hovering in the air.

"You're now hostage of the Outcasts, please ground yourself and don't resist arrest" the same Vulture bombed my ears again.

"What?! I'm from the Outcasts!" I shouted again, even louder.

"Don't make your situation worst by lying civillian, ground down and wait for arrest, I won't say again"

"Oh I don't think so.." I whispered and dive bombed downwards, the two Vulture's on my tail. They started shooting at me!..

Damnit SteelHooves, couldn't you make your machines a bit less strong? Maybe ones that shoots candy instead?...

I maneuvered between shots that whizzed by me and I was pretty succesfull for a while, until I heard a different kind of shot... I looked around and saw four rockets charging me...

"Rockets?! Gotta be fucking kidding me..." I flew upwards and the rockets... No, the missiles followed me!

"Lock-on missiles?! Had to open my mouth..."

I flipped around and dived bombed once again, when I finally thought I lost the missiles, they splitted into four smaller missiles and they were much more pain in the tail... Litteraly... I tried my best to avoid them, and I did avoided them all.

"What's fucking wrong? Out of ammo?" I taunted, then heard a whistling sound from behined me, a missile was still following me..

"Shit.." I was suddenly blasted into the air, my body started to spas out as I felt painfull electric-like shocks all over me and pleaded that the trauma will make me pass out before I splatter on the ground... I opened my eyes and saw the Vultures flying to where I'm going to crash, this is my death... This time no Bravo 4 or a 'Big-Daddy' to help me... Hell, I lost the range of their radio transmission a while ago... The ground came really fast at me... There was a tingly feeling around my body for a second, then I felt myself hitting the wet ground.

"Urrrggghhh..." My whole body felt like hell and my face were planted inside the muddy ground, the rain just kept on going, I heard the Vulture's engines turning off.

"Search for him, he can't be far away!" a stallion said.

"On it" Another stallion replied, I raised my head slightly and saw I was inside the wreckage of an old village, I was half buried inside the debris I created by crashing here, flashlights were searching outside of the building wrecks I was in.

"Anything?" A mare asked outside, pretty close to me.

"Nothing, keep searching.." the same stallion answered, I started digging myself out of the wrecks, my whole body ached and brusies, cuts and burning wounds covered my entire body.

"You heard that?" The mare said, I freezed in place and looked around, my heart started pounding harder and my mane started to sweat.

"Go take a look.." the first stallion said.

"Roger.." The mare said and I heard her hooves walking closer to me, I started to panic and quitely took my laser pistol out of my sidepack and lined it up with the noise the mare's hooves made, I aimed toward a doorway and waited for her head to peak inside.

The mare peaked around and her eyes were wide from shock, I fired at her and the laser pistol recoiled free from my muzzle's grip, one shot almost scratched her chick and one missed completly, the mare ducked behined the wall and everypony around me knew where exactly where I was.

"Motherfucker! Contact! Contact! H.V.T's in the building!" The mare behined the corner screamed, I heard more hoof steps everywhere, they were at least six here and I bet that they won't hesitate to gun me down as soon as they see me, I could've just use S.A.T.S!...and E.F.S told me they were alot more then six...

"I don't want any trouble! Let me go and I won't come back! I promise!" I called out, cocking my head to every little sound, they were all around the wrecked building I was in, the cieling was destoryed.., My crashing work... If I'll try to fly they would shoot me, and if I won't die from their firearms, they probably have the Vultures ready to blow me up again.

"Buckshit! You just tried to blow my fuckin' head off!" The mare screamed, I looked around in panic and tried to find someplace to hide if they all suddenly enter and shoot.

".50 cal's ready! Move 'side!" Another mare called out, I heard hooves all around walking slowly away...

Wait... .50 cal?... I'm so fucked...

"Three... Two... Light this motherfucker up!" The mare from behined the corner screamed and rolled away from the building, I jumped on the ground and covered my head with my forehooves, all the building around me started to fill with bullet holes, the walls rumbled and dust started to cover everything...if they'll keep that up this building will crash on me..still better then getting a .50 caliber straight out a machinegun.

I heard faint sound beyoned my ringing ears... A Vulture's engine, I know that a .50 caliber's strong, but that dosen't mean you need to lower your expectation of me surviving...

"Cease fire!... Cease fucking fire!" a stallion said, he sounded familliar somehow.

"Yes sir! All .50 MG's cease fire!" Another stallion replied, shortly after the gunning stopped, and my ear's ringing penetrated my head like never before.

"Why are you spraying a building's wreck soldier?" The familliar voice asked.

"There's an intruder inside the building sir" The stallion said, sounding a bit scared.

"You're wasting precious ammo to kill one intruder?!" The superior soldier asked, the familliar one.

"Yes sir?.." The Junior soldier said, sounding guilty.

"Don't make me shoot you right fucking now soldier, take three soldiers and take the intruder out of his hole" The superior soldier hissed.

"Yes sir.." The senior soldier gulped loudly.

"Get in and take him out, if you can: Take him hostage" The superior soldier ordered.

"Move out, you take the door way, we will enter through here" The mare from earlier said.

"Yes sir, let's go.." One of the previous stallion replied, I heard somepony trotting toward the doorway, I aimed my gun at the doorway, just in case.

"Let me enter first, he might panic if you'll enter suddenly, if he startes shooting take him out..." the pony at the doorway said, probably to his radio or something..

"Roger, you got two minutes to convince him to come with us, if you fail we will enter and take him by force" the mare replied.

"Thank you ma'am" The one in the doorway said, sounding relieved.

I spat my pistol and said "Don't you fucking dare step inside.." And then quickly took my pistol back in my muzzle and aimed it at the doorway.

"I don't want to harm you... I'll enter with no weapon on me... Okay?" the stallion told me.

"Why do you want me alive?.." I hissed again, apperantly it was easy talking with the pistol's grip in my teeth... Wierd....

"Because I don't want more bloodshed, you were confused... we were... So let's talk this through... Alright?.." He replied.

"I don't believe you..."

"I can't blame you for that... But please, listen to me... Lower your gun and walk out and I promise we won't hurt you.."

I checked my options... To believe a pony I just met, and his superiors tried to kill me a second ago? Or to wait it out and let them all gun me down... I can always shoot myself... Nope, nope. Not with this thoughts again...

"What do you say?.." The stallion insisted, sounding very pressured.

"Fine.." I said as I put my pistol inside my sidepack and walked toward the doorway.

"Thank you, my name's Clip by the way.." the stallion said, peaking his head and looking at me, he slowly revelead his entire body, a charcoal black unicorn with green mane and bright green eyes.

"Gunner, but your officer wants me dead don't he?.." I asked sarcasticly.

"If he really wanted to kill you he would have blown this building to pieces with you inside" Clip chuckled, we walked toward the waiting army, there were three stands with .50 cal MG's on them, they were operated by two ponies each...and of course they aimed the barrel at me.

"Lower the weapons guys... He's unarmed..." Clip calmed the MG operators.

"Buckshit, he tried to melt my fucking face off..." The unicorn mare I tried to shoot said, her face's left side looked slightly burned but not injured...

"Relax Papercut, just a little burn... Give it a week and you'll look gorgeous as always..." Grip answered calmly, Papercut... The mare I almost killed blushed a bit and her gaze wandered aside...

"Enough, let's bring him back to base.." A gray earth pony with red mane said, he looked like he was in charge.

"I'm from the Outcasts.." I whispered, looking at the ground.

"What did you say?" The gray earth pony asked me.

"I'm Colonel Gunner, from Twilight Camp..." I looked up at the earth pony's bright yellow eyes

"Right... So if you're a Colonel you'll know your privilege dosen't apply at the east" the gray earth pony replied incidentally.

"I'm not coming with you" I exclaimed.

"We'll see 'bout that... Cuff 'em.." The earth pony told Papercut, she nodded and levitated a pair of cuffs and locked them on my forehooves.

"I said, I'm not coming with you..." I hissed, stomping my now-cuffed forehooves.

"Disable him.." Papercut told one of the soldiers that sorrounded me.

"I don't think so.." I said as I streched my wings upwards and took off.

"Don't shoot!... Let him go.." Clip quickly declared.

"Soldiers! Take him down!" The earth pony ordered, all soldiers except Papercut and Clip took aim at me and started shooting.

"This my time to leave..." I whispered as the bullets started to whiz by me, I zig-zagged in air and tried to make myself a harder target, I heard the Vulture's engine heating up beyoned the rain that felt like sharp glass now, and to think that Nathe told me they are quite... And Raptors are louder then that? There's such thing as louder then this?...

I heard the Vultures following me, but this time they didn't shot me... Fuck!... Well... Now they are... I raised my still tied forehooves and looked at my PipBuck, it was almost dawn but everything was pitch black up here, I was two hours away from Twilight Camp, and I don't know where's the border between Storm's domain and Sky Fighter's domain, but I bet they won't stop at the border, fucking Vultures... Can they at least stop shooting me?!... As long as they don't rocket my ass again though...

My body ached like hell, the wounds were burning me alive and I was extremely tired, the Vultures are still behined me?... Too tired to check... They stopped shooting me a while back already, the sun rised and warmed my hide..whatever left of it after I got blasted by the Vulture, my head was woozy and my eyes were burning, I was surprised I survived that blast... How did I survived it?... I may be dead already and just went straight to hell... I could see glimpses of familliar terrain I saw from inside Twilight Camp... That wraps it up for journies outside Twilight Camp, but how can I return back to Rose like that?... Oh, wait: I won't.... She said she doesn't want to see me again, Shrapnel hates me... Custard is probably dissapointed at me, she can't hate anypony... Storm has his familiy now, I doubt he'll stay a Commander for long now.

"What am I going to do now?.." I wondered out loud, it's not like anypony can hear me up here, I decided to land and continue on foot, flying is much more draining... I touched ground and started walking... More like limping with my two cuffed forehooves, at least it wasn't raining anymore. The same music I heard when I was wounded at Twilight Camp a few days ago played again, but not inside my mind... It came from behined a hill...I limped up the hill and saw nothing... The music stopped too.

"So Gunner.... Was it good getting fucked by those Outcasts?" The same robotic voice that I heard from that robot came from behined me, I jumped and looked behined me.

"Sweet Celestia you scared me..." I felt my heart pounding hard inside my chest.

"I'm sorry, I do that every so often..." The robot sounded like he's actually feeling sorry

"Who are you?... What are you?" I asked.

"Oh yeah, I'm Watcher. My purpose is to find ponies like you... And to help them with surviving" the robot said.

"But why me?... And what do you get from it?.."  I asked suspiciously.

"One less pony who becomes a raider sounds like a profit right?" Watcher countered, sounding sarcastic.

"Yup, but why me?... Why not Shrapnel or Rose?... Or even Storm?... Or his family?" I started with my confusion.

"Because" He stopped me "Because not everypony is what I am looking for.." Watcher sounded like he sighed!

"Before everything... You're not a robot?... Right?" I asked, knowing that robots can't sigh.

"This is new, most ponies think I'm the sprite-bot itself..no, I'm in another place controling this robots all over Equestria" Watcher explained

"What do you mean by 'most ponies'?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I guide ponies, folks like you who are trying to survive... But they are all unique, it can't be anypony... Problem is that being the right type of pony isn't enough.." Watcher sighed again, something told me he knew ponies that became monsters...

"But why me?" I insisted, wanting a specific answer.

"You have enough self-will though... I'm searching for ponies, I never said that so early since I met anyone... But I can't tell you more then that, and if you're the kind of pony I'm looking for--" the music suddenly returned and Watcher's voice dissapeared.

"Watcher?... Hello?.." I poked the robot with a hoof, it wobbled in the air and flew away. "Alright.." That was wierd, anyways... I still have to walk back to Twilight Camp. I walked for five minutes and felt that something is wrong..

"Where do you think you are going?" A voice said from my right, I looked at the two raider ponies who stood a few meters away from me, one was an earth pony who held a dagger in his mouth, the second was a unicorn with an old rifle levitated by him and aimed at me.

"Nice to meet you too" I answered sarcasticly.

"Smart-ass" The unicron whispered as the earth pony advanced slowly toward me, pointing his dagger at me.

"I don't have time for this..." I sighed and took off, taking my pistol out of my sidepack and sliding into S.A.T.S, time slowed down almost to a stop, the unicorn started aiming his rifle upwards as the earth pony dropped his dagger in surprise, I marked the unicorn's torso first, then the earth pony's head, I excuted the spell and blasted the unicorn's left side off of him, he screamed and fell on his healthy side, his eyes clenched shut as he wiggled in pain on the ground, the earth pony's head melted into a flame and died instantly, my stomach flipped inside me and urged me to throw up, but I haven't ate anything solid for a few days now.

"Motherfucker!.." The unicorn raider grunted as he looked at his side, his ribcage was visible and I was shocked he was alive.

"Next time, better think before you become a raider.." I hissed, then moved to the earth pony's body and searched for anything good...it had a wierd syringe with no marking on it, I entered my PipBuck's sorting spell and it marked it as a 'Healing potion syringe', I thought maybe I could keep it, but then my mercy took the better of me and I injected the raider with it.

Stupid pony, he tried to rob you... He's a killer for no reason... If it was opposite he would have raped you to death instead of injecting you with anything... Maybe injecting you with poision My mind frowned.

"Why?" The raider coughed, steadying his breath.

"If I can avoid killing, I will" I whispered and took off toward Twilight Camp but not before I cutted the cuffs with the dagger. I glided for a while, too tired to fly properly, so I just tried to stay in the air as long as I can without flapping my wings much. I was above Twilight Camp as I started to dive bomb, then strecthed my wings and slowed my falling to a slow glide, I landed in the middle of the camp and got some eye-balling from some ponies around, mostly from foals. I walked around and reached to cabin 8, I sat on my haunches on the ground next to our cabin, well... My previous cabin. I looked at the door and hesitated to enter or even knock, they hate me and I know it..so why am I trying to prove otherwise?. I could hear walking inside the cabin, my mind started imaging how cold their reaction will be to see I already got out of their lives.

"Where's Gunner?" Custard's voice sounded from inside, my ears perked up to the mention of my name.

"He went out toward Storm's office earlier, I told him something I regret saying.." Rose replied.

'Regret saying'?... Well, should've thought about that before saying that then...

"Is he alright?" Custard asked again.

"I don't know, if I know him he is probably now on another suicide mission, and if I know Storm, he probably refused at first to send Gunner on a mission but gave up after a few tries" Rose explained. Wow she knew me too well...

"Should we check on him?... He might be still at Storm's office, or you can always play with Storm the little 'mare magic' of yours.." Custard chuckled, did she tried to be this kind of persuasive with Storm?..

"But if he's there he might still be mad at me.." Rose countered, I felt kind of sorry for her, but my mind told me she was the one to hurt me, not the opposite.

"You know Gunner, he loves you more then we both can imagine, he'll forgive you as soon as look at you" Custard cheered Rose up.

"I don't think he'll forgive me this time, he looked so heart-broken" Rose whimpered.

"So don't let him stay like this for long Rose" Custard insisted.

"His eyes... They were filled with hurt... I doubt he'll forgive me..." Rose said weakly.

"I need to apologize too, I bucked him in the face.." Shrapnel's voice came from the other side of the cabin.

"You did what Shrapnel?.." Custard frowned, I could almost feel the guilt radiating from Shrapnel right now...

"He might be on a few days mission, if I were you I wouldn't go and find him. If he really wants to forgive us he'll find the time for it, but if we will come like that to him he might just roll his eyes and ignore us" Shrapnel lectured... Well, at least Shrapnel doesn't know much about me, I wanted to enter and say that I forgive them, but I just couldn't... My eyes were filled with tears, I need just to open the door and enter the cabin... Why can't I do that?...

"He might hurt himself after that..." Rose started crying.

"Don't say that, don't even think about that Rose!" Custard sounded surprised from Rose's reaction.

"What if he thinks we hate him?... He did so much for us and now we just hurt him for trying to help others.." Rose whimpered, barely holding back her crying. I couldn't let them feel like that, come on Gunner! just enter already!..

"We don't hate him and he knows that, He'll never stop loving you!"

"I was stupid to act like that! He hates me now for sure!" Rose countered.

"He knows we love him no matter what happens, we all know that Gunner will shoot himself before letting anything bad happen to you.." Custard said, her voice sounded regretfull at the end, she probably realized that it wasn't smart to remind Rose the phrase 'shooting' and me in the same sentence, Rose cried and didn't showed any sign of stopping.

I can't just sit here and listen, I jumped on my hooves and opened the cabin's door wide open, looking inside and entering fully, Shrapnel Custard and Rose sat down on the mattresses, Rose and Custard were on the same mattress.

"Gunner?" Shrapnel asked, Rose's head cocked up the second Shrapnel said that, she looked so guilty.

"Hi there.." I smiled weakly.

"What happened to you?.." Custard looked worried, Rose looked so confused..she probably didn't knew if she wanted to hug me or leave me alone after what she said to me.

"In all honesty? I got shot down from the sky by a Vulture.." I said, Rose's face looked more guilty after saying that. "Hurts less then it sounds or looks like..." I assured them.

"Gunner, buddy... I'm sorry about yesterday.." Shrapnel mumbled.

"It's fine, I forgive you..." I replied weakly, barely standing from exhaustion and hunger."And I forgive you too Rose, because you're broken after what you said to me... But more because I love you... Yeah I know it's cheesy and kitchsy, but it's true.." I said, spreading my forehooves for a hug, Rose stood up and walked slowly toward me, she was shaking and crying... She put her chin on my shoulder and hugged me with her forehooves, right after that she started crying into my mane.

"I'm so sorry Gunner, I didn't meant to hurt you.." Rose whimpered.

"Rose, don't cry... I know you didn't meant that..."

I didn't really knew if she meant that or not...

"Please... Just be angry on me, please..." Rose stammered, did she tried to make me angry on purpose?..

"You know I can't Rose" I told her and she knew exactly why I can't.

"Now, what really happened to you?.." Custard asked.

"I told you, I was blasted by a Vulture... I have no idea how I survived the missile itself, and how did I survived the fall is also a mystery" I explained to Custard, who still looked like she didn't believed me.

"Where have you been that a Vulture managed to blow you up?.." Shrapnel questioned me.

"Long story short?... The Eastern Outcasts aren't very friendly" I smirked, exhaustion and hunger taking over now... How I didn't felt that an hour ago?... Adrenaline maybe?..

"Are you alright Gunner?... You look pale" Custard asked.

"Yeah-yeah... I'm fine, I just.." My eyes closed on me and I fell on the floor with a thump, losing consciousness.

"Is it done?.." A stallion's voice said.

"Yes sir, it's done" A mare's voice replied.

"Very well... Very well..." The stallion said, my eyes opened and I saw blurry figures around me, there was a beeping sound next to me and the scent of chemical was very strong inside my nose..."Let him rest for now.." The stallion added "We'll need him top-shaped soon.." My eyes closed again, and when they finally opened again I was in the same dark and cold corridor I found myself in alot lately.

"Looks like somepony here is picking a side" The dark version chuckled.

"Stop getting wrong shit into his head.." The sane version hissed.

"You two again, what a surprise.." I said sarcasticly, I suddenly had more control on my body then usuall.

"Don't be sad, you just got a glimpe of your true self!.." The dark version cooed.

"What do you mean?.." I asked suspiciously.

"You'll see, and I'll enjoy the show from right here.." The dark version sat on his haunches and looked at me with his empty and dark eyes.

"Gunner... You need to stop letting him control you!" The sane version told me.

"I don't let him control me!... Nor you" I shouted in anger.

"Sure you don't.." The dark version laughed out.

"Fuck off already, I don't even understand what happens here.... Yet... This is just a messed up dream that my mind is creating right?" I demanded an answer.

"Like we said, it'll clear out when you're ready" The dark version smirked.

"I know you are confused and scared, but listen to me... Do everything you can to keep yourself the same pony you were in the Stable.." The sane version whispered.

"I don't get it... You're a part of me?.." I rubbed my head in confusion.

"It'll eventually clear out.." The sane version whispered as everything faded away.

I woke up in a pool of cold sweat, I felt two warm hooves wraped around my neck and a slow and steady breathing from behined me. Rose was sharing a bed with me, and spooning with me... I need to get used to this.

I felt her hooves move a bit and the breathing was suddenly very close to my ear "Good morning Gunner" Her sweet voice whispered into my ear, her warm breathing making my hide to crawl in a good way.

"Morning.." I whispered back with a yawn.

"You passed out yesterday.." Rose said weakly.

"I figured that out... Wait, yesterday?.." I replied.

"Yup, you were out for a day or so, my little pegasus needs alot of sleep don't you?.." Rose teased me, I blushed and tried to turn around toward her. Trying to move Rose to the more dry area of the bed, she didn't seemed to mind to be smeared in my sweat.

"What have you done this all time?.." I asked, wanting to know if there's anything important I need to be filled in.

"I got to complete my male anatomy model I tried to create.." Rose nibbled my ear, my face blushed alot more and I was finally able to turn around to face Rose, she looked at me with a smug smirk.

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to sound like I didn't knew what she was talking about.

"Oh, you know... Fill the gaps of the male body I needed to know better... Though there was a problem with scale... According to the books, you're larger in some places... You better get this checked out..." Rose teased me with a cheesy voice.

"Sorry for the inconvenience..." I said sarcasticly, feeling my whole face blushing red.

"That's fine, I managed to finish my research even with this little flaw" Rose grinned at me and blushed slightly... The blush that was barely visible beyond her light-red hide.

"Glad to help" I grinned back, Rose scooched closer to me and hugged me.

"Don't endanger yourself for me... Please..." Rose whispered into my ear.

"I won't... I promise.." I whispered back, Rose's eyes looked at me, tears were forming and her muzzle was crooked.

"But... If you need to endanger yourself to help other ponies... Please take care of yourself... I won't stop you from doing what you're doing best, I just want you to think about what you're doing" Rose whispered as she blinked a tear.

"I won't go anywhere, I'm here from now on" I smiled at her, her muzzle broke to a weak smile shortly after.

"Good, I wanted to study about something specific and I need you for that.." Rose winked, I knew she was a very talented and corious pony, but why does she need me?... Please don't tell me it's another tease-test...

"What is it?" I asked and sat up.

"I need to check something... How will I say it in a more appropriate manner?..." Rose tried to find the right words to use as she sat up aswell.

"Oh com'on Rosey, you can say it to me..." I replied.

"Here it goes... Remember when I said I'm multi-orgasmic? I want you to help me to figure out just how much..." Rose said and looked away... She blushed so hard her face were the same color as her eyes...

My wings flared out and stayed there, rock-hard.

"I'll take it you like the idea..." Rose giggled at my wings' respond.

"I'm... I'm sorry" I blushed, folding my wings back with my forehooves just for them to get up again.

"Nah, it's fine. They're pretty hot" Rose purred seductively and touched one of the wings, sending shivers up my spine at the touch of her tender and warm hoof against my stoned wing.

"Th-thanks..." I rubbed the back of my neck with a hoof, letting Rose play around with my wing.

"Is that feels nice?" Rose asked a bit sultry and massaged my wing. My wing melted instantaneously in her hooves as the muscles relaxed.

"Mmmhmm" I nodded and closed my eyes. It was clear she had some exprience with massaging wings before.

"I love you" Rose whispered to me and sent a wave of pecks up and down my wing, making me blush even more

"Come over here" I said, moving Rose closer with the wing she massaged, hugging her with my forehooves. And earning a high-pitched 'Eeep' from Rose.

"Wow, are wings supposed to be so hard?" Rose asked as she touched the other wing and massaged it slowly. Her tone less sultry then earlier and more intrested.

"Well... When they're next to sexy mares... Yes..." I replied with a grin.

"It ain't working for you Gunn-Gunn..." Rose chuckled at my failing attempts to be persuasive and moved to the base of the wing, making me melt again.

"I'll keep trying though" I said with a smile, wrapping my two wings around Rose and moving her even closer to me.

"Shut up you stud..." Rose said and launched herself on me, connecting her lips to mine and bounding her forehooves around my head,

I opened my lips and let her kiss me even further, I never kissed a mare like this before. Sure, Rose kissed me plenty of times by now, but she never tried to make out with me, until now... I felt her tongue slip inside my own mouth, I fought back with my tongue and hugged her with my forehooves.

After a minute or two [I was day-dreaming while looking at Rose's deep red-eyes, so I lost track of time] Rose broke from the kiss and gasped for air. Me on the other hoof; I'm a pegasus, we have a different lung control that grants us the option to hold our breath a bit longer then other ponies.

"You've never necked a mare before?" Rose asked, surprised.

"Is it that obvious I haven't?" I grinned back.

"No, you're actually pretty good at it" Rose looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"If I'm good at this you're perfect! I have no idea what I'm doing..." I countered.

"You're hopeless" Rose giggled.

"And you love me like this" I said and pecked her nose.

I felt her move under my wing, shifting behined me and massaging the base of my wings from behined. I closed my eyes and felt her telekinetic massaging my wings, cleaning them and brushing the feathers gently. After a while, I was caught off-guard as Rose forced me on my back and held me there while moving around me.

Rose sat on my chest, taking the air out of my lungs. Her hindlegs pressed gently against the base of my wings, making my wings useless against her attack.

"Now you're mine" Rose purred and kissed me for a few seconds before disconnecting and moving her tail around her body, tickling my own nose with it.

"Rose!... S-Stop it!... Please!" I tried to move her tail away from my nose, but she started to tickle my chest with her forehooves, basiclly disabling me.

"Whose a kitty-cat?" Rose taunted me with a smile.

"Y-You" I coughed from lack of oxygen and too much laughter.

"Who?" Rose tickled my neck and throat with her tail, my eyes started to roll upwards before Rose stopped her tickling. "Whose a kitty-cat, Gunner?" Rose asked again, letting me catch my breath before I answer.

"Not you..." I smiled at her.

"Whose a good Gunner?" Rose taunted again.

"Me.." I said sarcasticly with a roll of my eyes.

"Good boy" Rose smirked.

I felt a bit humilliated, but Rose always do this kind of things to feel better with herself, she is really atheltic and her toned body is one hell of a stallion magnet, but she isn't an especially strong mare in terms of muscle power. So everytime she can overpower me; She will.

"You think I'll go down without a fight?" I taunted sarcasticly.

Rose pressed her hinds a bit harder against my wings, still not hurting me, smirking and kissing me again. I opened my mouth for her and letting Rose take the lead. She loves it when I let her be in control.

Rose backed off from the kiss, carressing my cheek softly and purring slightly. "Feeling dismissive yet?"

"That's kinky" I chuckled.

"Don't worry, I saved the best for the end" Rose assured me seductively.

"You're sure I'm not under the rape-drug influence?" I joked, but Rose didn't thought it was amusing.

"Very funny Gunner..."

"Relax... But before anything gets too intimate, I want to check on Storm.." I insisted.

"What now?... I don't like his 'unique' language.." Rose whined.

"No, he just reunited with his family.." I said simply, Rose's eyes lit up and her muzzle broke into a smile.

"Really? When? How? What happend to them?" Rose bombarted me with questions.

"Easy there, let's pay them a visit and you'll find out everything" I smirked, getting a warm smile from Rose, I got up and searched for my barding just to flinch in pain.

"Are you alright?" Rose asked me.

"Yeah, pretty much.." I whispered and tried to take a step just to flinch in pain even more.

"You're not alright. Here, let me help you" Rose's horn glew bright and my body was wrapped by the glow, levitating me.

"Rose, please." I said weakly, not feeling comfortable letting her levitate me.

Rose chuckled as a respond and turned me around in the air, making me look at her, "Don't worry, I won't hurt you... Much" Rose smirked sarcasticly and started walking toward the cabin's door with me in tow.

"Oh, he's awake" Custard grinned.

"Help me?" I asked Custard, really hating being towed like that.

"I'll let Rose handle this for now" Custard grinned even more, "She knows what she's doing"

"Thank you really.." I frowned, looking aside and seeing Shrapnel watching at me amused. "And what are you laughing about?" I asked Shrapnel.

"Enjoying the show" Shrapnel smiled as Rose opened the cabin's door and walked outside, with me levitating helplessly behined her of course. we walked in the camp's street, it bothers me that this place is more of a small town then a camp... Foals chuckled to see me levitated behined a mare smaller in size then me, this was humilliating...

"Don't be ashamed Gunner, we can't let you hurt yourself more now do we?" Rose asked, clearly amused from the situation, my cheeks blushed slightly.

"Is it a punishment for being a bad pillow?" I asked, looking at Rose's neck and waiting for her head to turn around and look at me.

"No, but you could've been a better one if we're already talking.." Rose replied, turning her head toward me and looking at me with one eye. we reached Storm's office in what felt like years, the guard cracked a little smirk to see me with no barding and levitated around by Rose.

"From here ma'am" The guard tried not to burst out laughing.

"Thank you" Rose said in a lady-like fashion and walked inside.

As we entered the corridor to Storm's office I tried to cover myself from the cold air inside the building... There aren't any windows in here to get sunlight in, and the stone walls aren't helping one bit.

"I feel naked like that, nothing on me.." I muttered as we walked in the building's hallway.

"It'll take just a minute Gunn-Gunn, don't worry" Rose said warmly, she advanced toward the wall-mounted terminal and entered a password, it looked way too familliar... It was my password!..

"How'd you?.." I started

"I know my little pegasus" Rose looked at me with a cute smile that made me blush even more... How can I even blush so much? The door opened and Rose walked inside with me behined her.

"Morning Gunner.." Storm laughed sarcasticly.

"Bite me.." I frowned.

"Somepony here got up on the wrong hoof.." Storm said.

"I heard you found your family" Rose squeaked.

"Yup, thanks to Gunner here. They're now resting in one of the cabins.." Storm grinned. "You helped me way too much already, I can't thank you enough"

"Glad to help" I replied happily.

"So... what'cha thinking 'bout doing next?" Storm said a touched malcontent.

"You know... hanging around.." I chuckled, getting a smirk from Rose and a funny look from Storm.

"He had to do this... feeling 'punny' today aren't we?" Rose said, levitating me down.

"Sorry, can't control myself" I smiled and finally touching the ground with my hooves.

"Anyway, how did you met you wife?" Rose looked at Storm, he brushed his white and black mane, it looked like he painted a white line on the tip of his black mane... But it was natural..

"Well... I met Buttercup ten years ago... I thought she was dead this whole time... And she thought I was dead, six years ago a few raiders kidnapped me and a few more soldiers and civillians when I was a lower rank... Two years before I became a Commander. Until now I was sure that I was the only survivor from that disaster... They both found a shelter in a little settlemet not far from here, but according to Buttercup... The two of them are the only settlers left from there." Storm looked broken, six years without your family and loved ones?... Sounds like a living nightmare.

"What's the name of the boy?.." Rose asked again, looking unsure if that was in place to ask him such thing. "If you don't mind me asking" she added.

"Winter Wind.." Storm smiled, "Last time I saw him he was just a baby... But those raiders seperated me from them.." Storm blinked a tear.

"I'm so sorry" Rose looked sad after hearing that. "But how'd he even recognized you?"

"A picture, for him... His whole life... I was just a picture..." Storm said sadly.

"My apologies, I didn't meant to hurt you more..." Rose said, ashamed.

"But now I finally got to see him... He's just like his mother" Storm's smile returned to him "And better, he's an Alicorn!"

"An Alicorn?" Rose's jaw dropped, she looked at me and saw me smiling "Did you knew that?"

"I was the first to notice it" my smile grew even bigger.

"How is that even possible?" Rose was still confused.

"Apperantly there are Alicorns everywhere in the wastes, but it's a very very rare occasion to happen by itself... If one of the parents is a pegasi and the other is a unicorn it can be done... But the chance is so small it was never known before... Until now" Storm looked proud of himself.

"So... He's a unicorn and a pegasus?" Rose didn't seemed to follow.

"Uh-huh, he's one of a kind" Storm smiled warmly, blinking another tear.

"But... An Alicorn isn't a female kind of a pony?" Rose asked again.

"Well, last time I checked he is a male.." Storm smirked. "Like I said: One of a kind"

"Before you melt Storm's mind with questions, let me trade a few words with him, alright?" I asked Rose. She nodded weakly, still trying to figure out what she was just told.

"Shoot Gunner" Storm leaned backwards on his chair and crossed his hindlegs ontop of his desk.

"I know something you need to know" I said seriously, Storm's features turned a bit sadder to hear that. "Commander Sky Fighter's trying to take over your domain, he wants to wipe out the Nightmare clan once and for all, but taking control over Twilight Camp in the procces"

Storm got up from his chair and walked toward one of the bookshelves "Fuck!" He bumped his forehead against the bookshelf, "I knew he would do something stupid... But this is a new kind of stupidity I never thought he had!.." Storm exclaimed, turning around quickly and looking upwards.

"What do you mean?" I asked, wanting to know the full picture.

"I know why he wants Twilight Camp, and he rather shave his eye-lids off before letting this camp to fall to the wrong hooves" Storm began explaining "You see?... This lab isn't just for Magical-Armor and magical HUD helmets, before the war... It was housing balefire bombs.." Storm whispered, my eyes widened to hear that..

"Balefire bombs?... The ones that destroyed Equestria more then two centuries ago?... The ones that made the world the hell deserts it is now?" I hissed, really hoping to hear a 'no'.

"Yes, and not the regular one or two you find in a regular lab... This lab was making them in mass production, but it was abandoned mid-war... We have our hooves on seven hundred bombs... More then what fell on Canterlot's shields... More then the amount that fell on all Equestria's entire central cities together... Heck; We can make another wasteland all over again if we want to.." Storm said weakly, looking at my eyes.

"You what?... Please tell me you won't do that!" I said, half asking half demanding.

"We have no intention... They're all deactivated for good, but Sky Fighter wants them all, he wants to somehow activate them again and rule Equestria through fear and dictatorship" Storm explained.

"And can he activate them?.." I mumbled.

"According to what he claims... He can even improve their already devestating power" Storm whispered, looking pale and shaking.

"You're telling me that this camp has right now more balefire bombs then what fell on the entirety of Equestria under our hooves right now, and they can explode any second now.." I panicked a bit, Rose looked at us and stayed silent.

"Yes.." Storm's lips mouthed quitely, my heart stopped for what felt like hours, I looked at Storm and thought for myself what the fuck is wrong with him.

"Storm.... You better have good explanation..." I started, just to be hushed by a hoof, Rose's hoof.

"Are you going to use them?.." Rose asked calmly.

"Solid no, the day I'll use those killing machines..." Storm whispered.

"Good, so we have nothing to worry about" Rose looked calmed.

"I don't think you understand.." I started, but Rose hushed me again.

"I won't let Sky Fighter get them, no matter what" Storm assured us, he saw something behined me that made him alot happier. When I looked behined my shoulder and saw Buttercup and Winter Wind walking down the hall toward us.

"Sweetie.." Storm whispered and walked toward her, they both hugged each other and Winter Wind stood next to them, playing with his wings.

"Winter Wind?" I called out, his ears perked up and he smiled as he looked at me.

"Gunner!" He squeaked and trotted toward me, I spread my hooves for a hug as he launched himself toward me and hugged me.

"Hello buddy, how are you feeling?" I asked him, playing with his mane again.

"I'm fine, thank you.." He said.

"No problem buddy" I smiled at him, "By the way, this is Rose... She is my friend" I introduced them to each other.

"Hello there" Rose smiled and waved a hoof at him.

"Nice to meet you" Winter Wind replied, he grew up alot in one day...

"Aren't you a little gentlestallion" Rose smirked.

"He learned that from me" I said sarcasticly.

"Sure he did" Rose rolled her eyes.

"Rose, Gunner.." Storm walked toward us with Buttercup beside him, "Meet Buttercup"

"Nice to see you Buttercup" I smiled at her, bowing politely.

"Thank you very much Gunner.." Buttercup's eyes started to fill in tears.

"It's alright, I can't let those kind of ponies harm the innocents" I replied.

"You must be Rose Storm told me about, nice to meet you" Buttercup said.

"My pleasure" Rose answered with her lady-like behavior.

"I can't thank Gunner enough for what he did" Buttercup continued, getting a smile from me.

"Again, it wasn't alot I did" I started.

"It was alot for us, for me.." Storm stopped me, looking at me with a pair of serious eyes.

"Storm... I did what I needed to do" I countered, rubbing my mane.

"So Winter Wind is an Alicorn?" Rose asked, still not sure if it is true or not.

"Yes, my own flesh and blood is the first male Alicorn to be born from non-Alicorn parents" Storm looked smug.

"Sweetie... Stop.." Buttercup whispered to Storm, nuzzling his neck.

"When he gets used to his wings, I would like to teach him how to fly" I told Winter Wind, his eyes lit up and he looked so eager... I'm still not sure if they can explode when they are too excited.

"Sir, we have a problem.." was sounded from an ear piece Storm had, how I didn't noticed that?

Storm pressed the ear piece deeper inside his ear with a hoof and said "Not now soldier..", He gave a nervous smile and told us "Sorry, I really need to turn this off.."

"Maybe it's important?.." I said.

"Just a second.." Storm moved aside and talked into his ear-piece.

"How did you two met?..." Buttercup asked us warmly, she looked alot better now.

"Oh... We were friends since we were foals..." Rose blushed a bit.

"That's so romantic, where are you from? The south?" Buttercup asked.

"N-no... We're from Stable 154, not so far away from here" I replied.

"Are you Stable dwellers? Storm's a dweller too!" Buttercup told us.

"Yeah, he already told us that" I smiled.

"Are you married?" Buttercup asked, that made me cough a bit.

"Guess that answers your question" Rose said, amused.

"So any plans for the future?" Buttercup chatted with Rose more then with me at this point.

"Not really, he does get himself in alot of troubles though" Rose chuckled, I walked toward Winter Wind who looked a bit bored, but more becasue I didn't wanted to listen to Rose's and Buttercap's chat...

"Hey champ. How are you doing?" I asked Winter Wind.

"I'm excited about my new wings" Winter Wind replied with a confessing smile.

"When you'll grow up a bit I'll teach you everything I know about flying" I smiled at him, Winter Wind's eyes were just like mine, bright gray.

"You promise?" Winter Wind asked me.

"I promise" I answered, and I really meant that.

"What?!.. Buttercup! Winter Wind! Rose! follow me!" Storm panicked a bit.

"What's happening?.." I asked Storm.

"Not now Gunner, help me get you guys to safety.." Storm replied.

"Storm... What's happening?!" I insisted.

"The raiders... They're here again, and this time alot of them..." Storm sighed.

"What's the plan?" I asked in panic, following Storm as he clicked on several buttons on his terminal.

"Staying alive.." he whispered sarcasticly as he clicked on a final button, a bookshelf moved aside, this time a different one, and revealed an old elevator. "From here, now!" Storm ordered us.

"I'm not leaving without you.." I countered

"Yes you are.." Storm hissed at me.

"What about Shrapnel and Custard?" Rose broke our argument.

"I'll bring them, wait here" I said as I sprinted outside and took off toward our cabin, I saw Outcast soldiers running about and what looked like an army advancing toward us from the south, they were alot of ponies... I landed in the entrance of our cabin and entered with a buck.

"Custard!... Shrapnel! Are you here?!" I screamed, my heart pounding and my whole body sweaty and stressfull.

"Yeah?.." Custard's voice came from their room, I charged inside and saw them both sleeping, it was noon...

"Come with me. There's no time to explain... Just grab your cloths and come with me!" I ordered them, Shrapnel shot out of the bed and grabbed his barding in his teeth and started wearing it, Custard was still sleepy though.

"What's wrong?.." Custard stayed in bed, not moving alot.

"No time to explain. Shrapnel, just grab her and fly after me" I said and ran outside, I thought for myself that I need a battle saddle for self defense..but where is the armory here?..

"Alright let's go.." Shrapnel said, his barding on him and Custard mounted on his back holding onto his neck.

I took off and Shrapnel after me, I looked once again on the oncoming army of raiders and saw it was more then regular raiders and mercs... They had vehicles!... And... Griffins?... I landed at the entrance of Storm's office and rushed inside, Shrapnel following me.

"From here, hurry.." I shouted and trotted inside the office, the door was shut..of course it was... I entered the password as fast as I can and the door opened quickly after, I entered inside and saw that the elevator dissapeared..

"What happened?.." Shrapnel asked, noticing I'm feeling lost.

"Fuck!..I can't believe he did that.."

"Who did what?.." Shrapnel asked, looking around and searching for anything I might talk about.

"Storm... There was an elevator right here..." I pointed with a hoof on the bookshelf that opened before.

"Gunner, are you sure you're alright?" Custard asked.

The bookshelf opened and I saw Storm standing there with a battle saddle of his own on him, "Here you are, come on... Get in..." Storm told us.

I said nothing and entered with Shrapnel following me, Storm went to the terminal and entered the same wierd code from earlier. "I'll see you later.." Storm announced with a smile.

"Oh no you won't..." I said and jumped out from the elevator as it closed behined me, tackling Storm and pinning him down.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Storm yelled at me, trying to buck me off of him.

"You ain't risking yourself.." I hissed and pressed my hooves harder against him.

"Watch me.." Storm said and finally bucked me off, cocking his battle saddle and aiming it at me.

"Storm, you won't shoot me.." I frowned.

Storm sighed and hanged his head, "Fine.... But watch out for yourself, I can't tell Rose I let you die..." Storm said, opening a hidden closet filled with battle saddles and ammo belts for them, I took a brown battle saddle and two ammo belts for it, it was slightly large for my size but I can live with that..

"What about you?.." I asked, knowing I won't like his answer.

"I got a camp to save.." He replied and moved toward the office's inner door.

"You got a family to save..." I fixed him, he sighed back and tortted outside, I followed.

As we got outside a few soldiers ran past us and Storm ran after them. I wondred why he ran to the opposite direction of the raiders..but he probably had a plan... I heard multiple engines making their way toward us, and got to see a few vehicles driving toward the raiders... They had a mounted MG ontop and a few ponies inside were using it as a way to transport themselves..

"We call them 'Hammers'.." Storm told me "You can nail your enemies like that" He added with a chuckle.

Quickly after I heard a heavier engine making his way and saw an armored vehicle... A tank....

"Yup... This is a tank mate, and it can shoot them high caliber rounds just like you read it can.." Storm told me, my mind quickly thought on the inside mechanizem and the complicated ways everything is working... From the engine's work to the armor design...

"This is amazing.." I mumbled.

"Yeah, shame it is used for killing..." Storm said as we entered the side of the camp I didn't knew, it was the military barracks..

"Where are we going?.." I asked Storm.

"I donno, the way to suicide is that way" Storm pointed south, toward the raiders.

"Very funny..." I replied sarcasticly.

"I'm not joking" Storm turned around and looked at me anrgily "You're trying to find a way to die, don't you?.." Storm hissed.

"What?... No.." I stammered.

"Oh please, you just jumped out of your only way to save yourself from more bloodshed" Storm took a step toward me, and I took a step backward. "Just go back, the elevator is waiting for you... It will close in ten minutes though so don't take your bloody time.." Storm added and went to his way.

I took off and went toward his office... Do I really want to kill more?... Haven't I have been through enough?..

No, those soldiers are killing themselves and I can't stay aside and let them die... I need to help them...

I changed my direction toward the raiders, they had vehicles and griffins and what not... But I can kill a few of them with no problem... I bucked my battle saddle in mid-air and began speeding more and more... I started barraging the charging raiders and killed a few, but some of them of course started shooting at me back... Most of the raiders I saw had melee weapons, so I dobut they will succeed stabbing me when I am flying... The barrage was pretty succesfull and I got a straight line of dead bodies in the charging thousands of raiders. That will delay some of them, I flew over the sea of raiders and saw they were alot more then I expected, there were some shots aimed at me...

Oh goddess they need some practice with shooting moving targets

I doubled back and barraged another line, this time a griffin joined the party and tried to claw me in the middle of my shooting run.

"Fuck... Off... From... Me..." I grunted and kept his talons away from my face and my body in general... He did scratched a set of three bleeding cuts on my right side, I bucked the griffin's throat and slid into S.A.T.S, aiming at his chest twice and head once, excuting the spell and sending the dead griffin's body plummeting down on the raider's heads... He crushed five other raiders in the process.. But before I could do anything another griffin charged me, and this one was alot more armored! I bucked him in the chest but he didn't even flinched while he started clawing my back, I noticed he was wearinga grenade bandolier, I tried to snatch one of the grenades during our little mid-air struggle, but I had a better Idea..

"Hey giant chicken!.." I taunted him.

"Oh you'll be sorry for that meat sack..." He hissed at me, I was surprised he could understand me for a split second, but recovered pretty quickly after and bit the pin on one of the grenades on his bandolier and pulled it out. I spat the pin at his face and that made him lose his grip on me, he wiped the spit and the pin from his face and realized what I just did, a second after he blew into chunks of meat and blood that made me want to puke, but I suddenly remembered that I haven't ate properly for days. I looked around and saw that I was clear of griffins... For now... I got back to my barraging and dived down toward the raiders as I filled some of the raiders with bullet holes, the good thing of them being so close to each other that killing one raider will slow down the ones behined him.

"Look out for that fucking pegasus!" one of the raiders screamed after I killed the ponies next to him, this was the time I started getting shot more by those inaccurate scums, of course luck was against me as a bullet grazed my left hindleg and made me flinch at the sudden pain, that made me less consentrated and to catch another bullet in my right side, right next to the scratches and too close to my Cutie-mark... I began making my way back to Twilight Camp as another bullet hit my PipBuck's armored casing and dislocated my shoulder. The pain was growing and I started losing blood faster then I would like, when I finally thought I am out of their shooting range I got shot again in my belly, and that was all my body could tolerate as I lost control of myself and free falled down

How the hell they managed doing that?... I tried to flap my wings but every muscle movement made my body to hurt even more and the wounds to bleed even more... how am I still alive?... I had no time to think when another bullet whized by me, dangerously close to me... It was a marksman or somepony with S.A.T.S...

I was directly above Twilight Camp and made my way slowly toward the ground, I got shot again in my shoulder... But this time from another direction... This time it was friendly fire!.. They probably thought I was one of the raiders!... I fell down and crushed into a pile of wooden crates... Didn't soften my landing what so ever, I heard engines all around me and saw three Vultures flying above me... Nopony came to check if I'm still alive...

I just lied with my face upward and waited to bleed out, another Vulture flied and stopped directly above me, stopping and shooting missiles and MG fire at the raiders' direction, the whole place was a mess and an explosion sounded too close to me from the raiders' direction, they started swarming inside the camp but ofcourse nopony stopped to check if I was alive or not, I heard screaming and shooting and explosions all around me.

My head became woozy and lightwieghted, I felt my heart pounding harder and I was shaking, I tried to look at the raiders around me to see if I was clear, but one unicorn raider did saw I was alive, he had a smug smile as he raised his sniper rifle and mouthed 'Gotcha'... He was the one who shot me down... He walked closer to me and his glow wrapped my body... He dragged me on the floor and flipped me around, I tried to crawl away but he just dragged me closer.

"Well, where do you want to feel my gun first?... Up your ass or inside your balls?.." He laughed out.

"Try it down your throat" I said weakly, he bucked my side and laughed as I struggled to breath, the blood loss almost overwhelmed me.

"Let's have some fun.." He laughed out, I looked behined me and saw he set his rifle aside and took a butcher's knife out...

"Screw you.." I said even weaker.

"Oh don't worry... In a second" H laughed again and wrapped my neck in his glow.

I looked at him advancing toward me, but a gunshot stopped him in his tracks and his head blasted into pieces, my neck was free of his glow and I was able to breath properly again. I looked at the gunshot's direction and saw five Outcasts in magical armor shooting their way through the camp, killing Raiders and sparing civillians, they were Storm's elite?.. Whoever they were, their armor wasn't as advanced as the X-01

"Is that a pegasus?.." One of them looked at me with his lifeless helmet and started reloading his side-mounted machine gun.

"I think so... Is he a raider?.." A mare's voice sounded from another magical armor, but her voice was mechanical somehow... All of them had a mechanical voice... More far controlled robots like Watcher?..

"He sure dosen't look like one, check if he is still alive" Another armored Outcast said, the five of them walked closer to me, three were looking around and guarding as the helmet of one of them opened with a vacuum release sound, a face of a pony was inside.

"Well, he's alive... Check if he is still conscious" The pony with the opened helmet ordered, his voice no longer mechanical.

"On it" The robotic mare's voice came out of one of the magical armor suits, her helmet opening just like the other Outcast, a face of a mare was inside. At this point I fought to keep my eyes opened.

"Well?.." The fourth voice asked the mare who was checking me out.

"He's alive and he has a somewhat normal Cutie-mark, no scars or signs of being a raider, infact he has a PipBuck!.." The mare told her squad.

"Might've stole it.." Another voice said, the fifth.

"Come on... Even S.A.T.S or E.F.S won't target him as hostile, he might be innocent!.." The mare tried to convince the others.

"He is a pegasus, then he is an Enclave... I hate the Enclave" The less nice armored Outcast said.

"Then explain the PipBuck?... Enclave aren't ordered to steal them.." the mare countered.

"Not giving a fuck.." He sang out, he was like Bravo 4's Claws counterpart.

"You should soldier, Sky Fighter wants everypony we can save up at the APC" The Outcast with the helmet off declared, was he the leader of the squad?

"Grab him and let's go" One of the guarding soldiers ordered.

"Roger, just patching him up... Oh shit, AMBUSH!" The mare cried out, my eyes closed and I heard shots and bullet shells falling around me, I heard a metalic rustling next to me... When I looked toward it I saw a grenade going off five meters away from me, then nothing.

"Stay with us..." A medical pony said, when I opened my eyes I was in a Vulture's transport room, connected to a blood bag and a monitor, I was sorrounded by three medical ponies who took care of me, I saw the four Magical-armored Outcasts looking at me and the fifth looking away, their helmets completly off of them, I tried to say something but passed out again.

I tapped back to existence once again in another medical room, there weren't any doctors around...I looked around and saw I had been stripped from my battle saddle, my PipBuck was still on me though..I was in a place my PipBuck called 'Eastern Outcast Military Base', the eastern Outcasts?... Isn't it Sky Fighter's domain?... What the hell happened?..

"Welcome back Gunner.." A stallion's voice sounded from my left, I looked to my left and saw a stallion... He looked alot like me... His hide was the same color but a bit darker, his mane was black... His eyes were dark gray... Is it a dream?... No... He's a unicorn...

"What?... Who are you?..." I asked, trying to stand up..but my body didn't listened.

"Where's my manners?.." The stallion stood up from the chair he sat in, "I'm Commander Sky Fighter, the leader of the Eastern Outcasts" the stallion bowed slightly. "And you're at the Eastern Outcast medical facility, you took quite the hits back there" Sky Fighter told me, walking around my medical bed I lied in.

"Where's Storm?.." I questioned.

"Commander Storm?... I'm afraid he didn't made it" Sky Fighter looked a bit sad, my heart flinched to hear that...then I realized who I was talking with...

"What were you doing at Twilight Camp?" I hissed.

"Backing up Storm's soldiers, without us even you wouldn't have made it.." Sky Fighter looked like he failed somepony.

"And Rose?, Custard?... Shrapnel?... Storm's family?!"

My heart skipped a beat to think about Winter Wind's body lying somewhere in the camp.

"I have no Idea who Rose, Custard or Shrapnel are, but Storm's wife was found dead by Squad E-3" Sky Fighter said weakly, I felt a bulge in my throat.

"Rose?... A mare with light-red hide and black mane?..deep red eyes?.." I blinked a tear.

"Oh... I know who are you talking about... Her body was found amongst the mutilated victims... We also found a white-hide mare with brown mane and a list for a Cutie-mark next to her..." Sky Fighter told me.

My whole life turned upside down... I started crying and whimpering...

"I'm so sorry for your loss, I didn't thought you knew the mare... Though they both had a PipBuck, we found also a dead gray stallion with a PipBuck... Did you knew him too?.." Sky Fighter added, not Shrapnel too... I just cried more to hear about Shrapnel's death.

"They were my friends... I failed them... I should've stayed with them.." I whimpered.

"If you did stayed with them you would've died just like them.." Sky Fighter countered.

"Better then knowing they are dead..." I hissed back.

"Don't cry, I know it's hard... But they would want you to stay strong for them.." Sky Fighter put a hoof on my shoulder and smiled a comforting smile.

"You're right... I won't let their death destroy me.." I whispered, though It's not that simple... There's no way I'll just forget them in a second...

"That's more like it... But we needed to change a few things in your body...you were blown by a grenade after all..." Sky Fighter told me.

"What do you mean?" I asked back.

"Well... We installed an implent on your neck... Think at it as an upgrade, it makes your reflexes and perception alot more sensetive, and your right eye.." Sky Fighter levitated a mirror before me...

I had a robotic eye!.. I had a fucking robotic eye... It reminded me Claws' eye...

"What the fuck?..." Was all I managed to say, I checked my new eye out and touched it with a hoof.

"That's not all..." Sky Fighter took the blanket off of me and revealed me my new left hindleg... Another robotic limb... My burnt tail has partly recovered though.

"You made me a monster!" I shouted at him.

"Let's calm ourselves alright?.." he looked like he tried to threaten me more then being threathened himself.

"No... You made me something I'm not..." I hissed.

"Well, your choice Gunner.." He said and clicked on a button on his own PipBuck... What?... Was he a stable dweller too?...

"What have you done?.." I asked, looking around, tearing the monitor cable and blood bag out of me and standing up, ready for anything...

"This..." He said and clicked again on his PipBuck, my whole body was suddenly electrecuted..

"Urrggghhh... S-Stop!.." I groaned in pain, my body fell to the floor and twitched violently.

Sky Fighter clicked again and the electrecution stopped, I panted and tried to stand on my hooves "Now that we know who's in charge... We can talk more politly won't we?..." Sky Fighter looked at me with a devilish smile.

"No.." I said, my body was electrecuted again and I fell to the ground again, twitching.

"What'd you say?.." Sky Fighter asked, stopping the electrecution and letting me answer.

"Go fuck yourself.." I spat and got electrecuted again... My robotic eye shutted down and I could see only through my left eye now.

Sky Fighter clicked on something on his PipBuck, and quickly after two armed ponies entered the room, "Take Gunner to his new suite" Sky Fighter ordered them, the electrecution finally stopped as one of them levitated my limp body upwards, taking me from my hooves and hanging me infront of Sky Fighter, he walked closer to me and raised my head with a hoof."You will learn to love your new life, you'll see it's not that bad after all, take him away.." Sky Fighter said. the guards levitated me through the empty corridors with metal reinforced doors at both sides, we stopped at a seemingly random, one of the guards pressed on a button next to the door and quickly after the door opened, I looked inside and saw it was small and dark, but before I could try and do anything I was thrown inside.

"Enjoy your new cell" One guard said as I fell on the ground on my face and the door closed behined me, the cell was dirty and small...is this the place I'm gonna end my life in?...

I got up and sat on my haunches, looking at my robotic hindleg, it was externally wired slightly... They haven't finished my leg yet... How long have I been out?...

When I looked on my PipBuck, I was out for a month!... An entire month... Rose is dead... Shrapnel and Custard too... Storm just got to see his son, now they are both dead... I was surprised they didn't took my PipBuck off of me, but then again what can I do with it?... This cell was blocking all radio frequencies around, my first guess was that I'm going to rot here for the rest of my life, then again why did Sky Fighter 'upgraded' me?... He has no use for a cyborg pony as a captive, but he could use me in combat...

So why am I here?.. I rubbed my neck and felt a cold metalic on my hoof... This is the implent I guess... My neck was still half covered with dry blood, probably from the surgery.

So I had a robotic left leg, a neck implant and a robotic right eye... What else?... I looked at my body and saw that nothing has really changed... Except for the new leg and eye. maybe it is just a dream?... Is this all a dream?... Or an aftermath of the rape-drug?... I tried to stand up but my body was still weak, my left hindleg still heavy for me to raise properly and my whole body aching from not moving for a whole month.

"He's inside.." The same guard from earlier said.

"Thank you, can you escort him to my lab?" An elder stallion said from outside my cell, they were talking about something..

"For what?" The guard replied.

"The Commander wants to put him in suspended animation for now, to break him.." The elder stallion explained, suspended animation?... Isn't that a method of killing something temporarily?..

"Suspended animation, sir?" The guard asked in confusion, well I guess that will answer my question...

"You'll see, can you get him out of there?" The elder stallion avoided the question and ordered him impatiently.

"Yes sir.." the guard said, my cell door opened and my one working eye was blinded by the sudden light, I saw two shadow figures, one had a long lab coat and the other was wearing a helmet and what looked like body armor, I tried to cover my eye with a hoof as my body was levitated outside of my cell, I looked at the two figures and saw that one was a doctor-ish looking old stallion, the other was a unicorn guard, they walked down the hall with me in tow toward an elevator in the end of the hall.

"What's your name son?" The doctor asked, I thought he asked the guard, but the guard eye-balled me in disgust for not answering.

"He asked you what's your name scumbag.." The guard hissed and dropped me on the ground, my lungs were emptied from air and I struggled to breath.

"H-Hey! watch out! I need him unharmed for the suspension" The doctor frowned.

"Sorry sir" the guard apologized, we finally reached the elevator and the doctor pressed on the elevator button, I recalled that I still have wings and tried to flap them, but when I tried to move them... Nothing happened... I looked to see if something was wrong, but they were fine... I grunted and tried to force them to move, but nothing.

"I see you're trying to move your wings.." The doctor asked me sarcasticly, I said nothing back. "Well, I think you'll be happy to know that we paralysed your wings so you won't try and fly away" The doctor added, the elevator ringed and the three of us entered, the doctor pony pressed on a button far down on the list of floors, we were in a massive building according to the elevator's button count.

"What are you going to do with him?" the guard asked.

"We found something incredible when we examined him, so the first thing Commander Sky Fighter ordered me was to figure out what it was... Now that we know what it is and what it does... We got bigger plans for him" The doctor looked excited, and I was everything but excited.

"What's that 'something' you found?" The guard asked again.

"I'm afraid I can't share it with you, but trust me... It's life changing" The doctor answered.

The elevator finally stopped and the doors opened, the guard looked surprised to see the floor... And I was scared to see it... A giant lab filled with test tubes, but not them small ones for testing mixtures of components... There were ponies inside, floating in some kind of liquid... There were parts of dead ponies on blood-filled surgery desks and alot of machines and torturing devices that looked like they got straight out of hell...

"What... What is this place?" The guard asked weakly, clearly frightened to see this place.

"This... Is my lab" The doctor said smugly, the guard blinked and walked after the doctor inside the lab. "We got here the most advanced equipment we can create or restore, isn't it beatuifull?" the doctor said, I suddenly felt nauseous.

"It's... Something..." The guard barely said, horrified from the sights of the expirements around us.

"Isn't it?... Well, enough chatting, tie him down to the machine and we shall start the expirement" The doctor ordered the guard, the guard gulped and levitated me closer to the machine, it was a wierd frame with stands for four hooves and wings... And a wierd futuristic helmet was connected to the cieling with a thick cable above everything. The guard attached my hooves to the hoof-holders and my wings to the wing restraints and walked backwards, he was terrified even more then I was...

"Before we start, I need you to keep calm no matter what... It might look a bit burtal, but I assure you he won't feel anything" The doctor told the guard.

I knew he was lying about the 'won't feel anything' part, if it was painless I wouldn't be restrained to hoof-holders in such way, the doctor operated on a giant terminal next to him as the guard looked around and looked pale.

"What will happen to him?" the guard asked.

"Suspended animation, he'll stop showing any signs of life for the amount of time we want... We aren't sure it would work one hundred precent, so that's why we chose him... Though we got alot of other expirements planned for him... So let's start with this 'simple' expirement shall we?" The doctor asked but didn't waited for an answer, "We found an implent he already had inside his head... But we couldn't remove it without harming him... So we decided to use him for other things before.." The doctor added, I felt so afraid and helpless it ate me from the inside.

"Are you sure it won't hurt him?.." The guard looked worried.

"I hope not.." The doctor replied and pressed on something, the hoof-holders tightened and I heared something getting closer to me from above, I looked upwards and saw the wierd helmet thing hanging above me, an electric shock went through my body and I twitched in pain. I panted and realized the doctor did it... He's trying to weaken me before killing me...

"What just happened to him?.." the guard shook from fear.

"We need to keep his pulse low so it won't kill him, so we need to make him recieve some electrical shocks in order to do so" The doctor replied, I saw a few ponies coming from the elevator's direction... One was Sky Fighter... I tried to break free but I couldn't move alot.

"Doctor... Are you ready for your expirement?.." Sky Fighter called out.

"Yes Commander!..we were about to start" The doctor stammered while bowing.

"It's alright, let's see what you got, remember; I need to preserve him perfectly.." Sky Fighter said.

"Yes sir.." The doctor said and got to work, pressing on some random keys on his giant terminal. "Behold... The first suspending animation ever!" the doctor said as he pressed on one last key. the helmet touched my head and attached itself to me, I tried to shake it off but I was tied too tight to the hoof-holders, the helmet started working and I felt wierd for a moment... Then I felt a buzzing feeling and my eyes started closing.

"Is that supposed to happen?.." Sky Fighter asked.

"No... Something's wrong.." The doctor declared, looking worried.

"Shut it down doctor!" Sky Fighter ordered.

"I...I can't!" He replied in panic, my eyes fully closed and I passed out. Next Chapter: Chapter 6 - Realization Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 21 Minutes