“You're going to fucking pay!” I screamed as I charged straight at Solomon. “Murdering Bastard!”

It was a stupid idea, but I didn’t care anymore. Nothing fucking mattered, and I was going to rip that saddle arabian bastard limb from limb with my own fucking hooves. I’d make him suffer for this, for killing all of them!

As I should have seen coming, I didn’t even get close to Solomon. Rook took the fancy rifle from the ground and swung it around. Not going to lie, it hit me like a fucking brick.

My vision went dark as I came down hard, skidding along the pavement as everything spun for a moment. I reached up and wiped at my watering eyes, clearing them just in time to see the barrel of Solomon’s rifle being pointed at my face. The scent of cordite filled my lungs, and the dark barrel still smoked lightly in the frigid air.

“How much trouble would one bullet save me? A minute? An hour? A day, perhaps?” Solomon spoke with the same note of arrogance he’d always carried with him. The fucker had been shocked moments ago, but somehow he was already over murdering everyone. “One bullet would be all it would take, and in an instant, it would ensure that you would never cause me a single problem from here on out.”

I wanted to scream at him. To get up and beat him with his own rifle until he was nothing but a fetid and rotting corpse left on the side of this goddess-forsaken road, left to be forgotten by everyone. But as he pressed the barrel between my eyes, and I felt the warmth that it gave off on my skin, I knew that right now, I needed to buy myself time.

“Then again,” He continued, pulling the gun back just enough that it hung over the end of my snarling muzzle. “that would be admitting that you've caused me any trouble at all. And unlike how Delilah used to be, you've never been anything more than just a nuisance to me. But I have a inkling that you may feel differently about that, and so I am inclined to once again be the better equine and pull the trigger.”

Goddesses, I just wish he’d fucking do it instead of sit here and gloat at me.

“But that would be a mercy you don't deserve.” He laughed as he shifted his rifle away from me altogether. “By the gods, all you ponies are pathetic. Sure, you built all the best toys back in the war. But like foals, you couldn't comprehend what power you truly held in your hooves.” He hoofed his rifle out towards Rook, letting him wrap it in his magic before he turned his full attention back to me. “That is why I will always be better than you. And to prove it, you may keep your miserable little life. Consider it my payment to you for bringing the code to the Ark.” Leaning down, he lowered his voice to a whisper. “But for your sake, Night Flight, you better hope we never cross…”

I reached out and smashed my forehoof into his muzzle. There was a solid snap as I connected, and his nose tweaked the wrong way. He let out a surprisingly high pitched whimper as he stepped back, bringing his own forehoof to his nose as blood started to dribble down it.

“You could have fucking left with your life, you ungrateful bitch!” Looking up, he jabbed his bloody forehoof toward Jess. “Fucking shoot him already! Kill this turkey and then get his corpse out of mysight.”

Really, why so fucking petty, Solomon? I thought name calling was above you?

“No.” Jess’s response was cold, and as surprising to me as it was to Solomon. “You made a deal with him. On your word as a business pony, there would be no more death.”

“What do you mean, no?” Solomon forced a laugh out of his bloody snout and looked to Rook like Jess had just told him the most outrageous joke. “So what if I did? What happened was an accident. Besides, what’s one more death between friends?”

“You really are an asshole, Solomon.” She grumbled as I turned to her and watched as she shook her head to him. “You know what? If this is how easy you can walk back on your promises, what’s keeping my deal intact once you find the Ark?” She took a step back from us and lowered her shield and gun. “You fired Cora, killed Galina, and Lamia is fucking dead. Fuck this, I’m out before I get shitcanned as well. You can find yourself another Mercenary.” With a heavy frown and more regret than I think she’d ever felt, she looked at me. “Sorry about everything, kid. I’m going home, maybe you should think about doing the same.”

Home? Was that some kind of fucking joke!? I knew she couldn’t understand where I came from, but Solomon just destroyed the only home I had left.

“What, you can’t quit!” Solomon seethed as blood continued to drip down his muzzle, running down onto his neck. He looked over to Rook expectantly and pointed at her. “Tell her that she can’t quit!”

“I’m afraid that Miss Jess is correct, Master Solomon.” Turning to Solomon, he used his horn to flash away the rifle with his normal, calm and collected look pressed across his face. “Should you kill Night here, the pony on the radio would most likely report it, and you would be seen as entirely untrustworthy by the northern ponies. If that were the case, it could jeopardize our partnership with Mr. Wizard.” Turning his gaze, he watched as Jess walked back down the highway, alone. “And in the case of Miss Jess, it would be best to consider this a win. She has forfeited her back pay, and has no legitimate claim to any part of the Ark.”

“Yes, a win...” Solomon huffed and wiped at his bloody nose. His burning glare turned on me as he seemed to collect himself slightly, but his hatred still remained. “Regardless. Rook, get this low life curr out of my sight.”

“Yes, Master Solomon.” Rook nodded before his horn enveloped me in light, and the two of them disappeared with a disorienting flash.

I blinked a few times, finding that not only where they gone, but somehow I’d gotten turned around. The crackling of fires to my left caught my ear, and I turned to it. I froze as the burning wreck of the hauler sat a few feet away, the charred hulk still billowing smoke high into the sky. I hadn’t been turned around, rather, Rook had teleported me to the other overpass.

The light thrum of an archano engine made me spin around. Rook gave a wave out the window of Solomon’s motorwagon as he turned it around and took off down the highway to the south. A similar noise met my ears from across the valley, and I watched as Solomon’s bus pulled away as well.

“That was a mistake, Solomon.” I muttered under my breath. “You should have killed me.”

You don’t get to die so easily, Night. You still have too much to do. Ugh, I wish I could turn Bombay off for good. None of that shit with her matters anymore anyway...

The screech of shifting debris behind the twisted wreck of Bertha caught my ear. I turned with a gasp, trotting around the wreck. Only when I heard the pained, but oh so fantastic sound of somepony painfully whining did I push myself into a gallop. A bit of the twisted debris that was once Hardcase’s container shifted slightly, and I could hear a groan and cough from beneath it.

“H-hey!” I shouted. Somepony was alive. Buck could be alive! “Hold on, I’m coming!” I darted to the smashed container, wrapping my hooves around the still searing hot metal panel. A cry escaped my own muzzle as the flesh on my hooves sizzled, but I grabbed around that metal until I was sure it was cutting into my skin and pulled. “Come on...!” I shouted and put everything I could into pulling the debris back.

There was an utterly guttural scream from under the container, and I could feel it lift from the other side. Slowly, the two of us managed to tip it over, and I was forced backwards as the smashed container panel flipped and crashed down at my hooves. My eyes filled with tears again as I saw the cracked and blue blood soaked chitin of Hardcase.

“N-night.” He groaned, nearly collapsing as he took a weak step forward. His horn was smashed and sparking, and he had a twisted silver rod spearing from his left side all the way through out to his right. Tears were streaming out of his glowing blue eyes and mixing with the blue blood that ran down his face. “Y-you came b-back.”

“Of course, I didn’t want to leave...” I whimpered as I stepped up to him. “Come on, we need to get you to a doctor.” He gave out a sharp scream as I accidentally shifted the rod stuck in him as I moved to help him walk. “Shit! Sorry…”

“I… I can walk… for now.” He shook as more pulses of blue dribbled out of the countless cracks in his body. “B-but we need to f-find the o-others.” Blood dribbled from his muzzle as he turned and gave a sad glance over the melted chassis of Bertha.

Nodding, I wiped at my teary eye and turned toward where the other containers laid on the road. As much as I wish I could have searched for Boiler and Gearbox, I… I knew that being so close to the blast, they were gone. But if Hardcase could make it, Lucky, Buck, Hispano and Cora could all still be alive.

Next to the twisted wreckage of Delilah’s room, sat the smashed picnic table and radio that had sat in the rec area. A bit further, was the roaring fire that used to be the couch. The smoke from it wasn’t as bad as what was pouring from the chassis of the Hauler, but it stung my good eye more as I approached. But as I got closer, I gagged and turned away as the smell of burning flesh hit my nose.

I whimpered and turned around. I’d only gotten a glimpse of him, but even as I shut my eyes to try to force it away, the burned and boiling shape of Lucky was stuck in my mind. His wooden prosthetic flickered with flames, and his splintered and burning wheelcart gouged itself deep into my thoughts, forcing me to sit down and clamp my hooves around my head as if I could so easily scrape the image out.

Why. Why did this have to happen? They didn’t deserve any of this!

Because YOU fucked up, Night! The voice of Violet resonated through my mind now. It sent a wave of guilt heavier than I’d ever felt wash over me, and it felt like it added a hundred pounds to my already weak feeling legs.

“H-hey!” Hardcase cried out from the drainage ditch on the side of the road. I opened my eyes to find his horn sparking wildly as his flickering magics attempted to move what looked like a large piece of Bertha’s reactor. “Quickly N-night! Help!”

My mind raced, hoping, praying to the goddesses that he’d found Buck still alive. My shaking legs pushed me into a gallop as I raced across the debris filled road, only to lock up again as I crossed it. There, pinned under the chunk of reactor, was the mangled and bloody form of Buck. I sniffled as my guts felt like they were being torn apart inside me. No… he can’t be gone too…

“He’s… he’s barely br-breathing…” Hardcase groaned as his broken horn grew another layer of overglow on it. “C-c-come on, Night! We can s-save him!”

His words transformed into a scream as the heavy piece of reactor tipped up, raising only a couple of inches out of the muddy soil of the drainage ditch. I could see the glowing Buck’s blood soaked body gave off below the debris, and realized that the radiation must have helped to keep him alive.

“Hurry!” Blood streamed out of Hardcase’s wounds as he strained to hold it, and it kicked my mind into action.

I basically threw myself down into the roadside ditch. I growled as I forced myself to ignore the gaping and bleeding wounds across Buck’s body as I wrapped my hooves around his charred and debris-skewered yoke. Like with the container, the bits of metal lodged inside his yoke sliced and cut into my hooves, but I had to save him.

My own scream joined Hardcase’s as I pulled with all of my might. My prosthetic leg dug into the soft roadside mud, forcing me to try all that much harder to gain what little traction I could. A few yanks had given me inches, but still I pulled. It wasn’t enough. I wasn’t enough.

I had to be.

Slice after slice, my bloody hooves slipped off of the old yoke, throwing me back into the dirt. Taking a few deep breaths, I felt like breaking down and crying. Instead I screamed out again, redoubling my own effort. After what felt like an eternity of pulling, Hardcase’s magic gave out, and the heavy debris slammed down again. Against my better judgement, I couldn't fight myself taking a glance to see how close I’d been to have gotten him free.

My already heaving lungs seized as my eyes found that I had gotten him out with inches to spare, but only because both of his legs ended in ragged and bleeding stumps. His right forepaw was gone, and most of his arm was mangled well beyond recognition. It was only slightly worse than what was left of his left arm though, which was split almost down the middle and full of glowing bits of metal. On top of all that, there was a deep gash across his belly, and I could see inside of him through the pooling blood. I struggled to keep myself from gagging at the sight, but failed. Turning, I puked up sticky yellow bile into the dirt.

“Goddess… w-we have t-to...” Hardcase whimpered as he doubled over. He heaved sharply, puking up a stomach full of blood. Coughing and crying, he struggled to stay standing. “Stop th-the bleeding…” He was cut off as he heaved and expelled even more blood.

Looking around, I didn’t know what to do. All of Buck’s medical supplies, they were in our container, and that…

I spun around, quickly finding the remains of half of our container smoldering up the steep valley hillside. Again, I prayed to Celestia as I pushed my hooves into action. Something had to have survived the blast. A potion, a bandage, anything!

It was odd seeing the underside of our container. Bits of now severed wires hung in place, still mounted to the bottom of it, and the now empty bolt mounts that held our beds in place. However, the blast had sheared the bolts that once secured it to Bertha straight off, and as I tried to use the now slack wires underneath to pull myself toward the container, the whole bottom of the half-container tore free and slid down the steep hill.

Buck’s desk was cracked and splintered from the explosion, but still mostly intact as it laid on the backside of the container. Without thinking, I jumped into the wrecked container and threw open the drawers. The torn metal box gave a groan, shifting on the dirt slope slightly with my weight. I let out a gasp and froze up, tensing up as a slow creak built up louder and louder.

Please, please don’t slide down the hill with me inside…

My own thoughts were stopped as I saw the shimmer of a few glass bottles inside the open drawer. Miraculously, three potions had made it through the blast intact. That… that would be enough to stabilize both Buck and Hardcase for now. Thank you! Thank you Celest…!

A sharp groan came from the container around me before it shifted violently. It only slid for a moment before stopping again, but the growing groan that filled it this time was even louder than before. Scrambling, I reached into the drawer and grasped at the bottles, but my movement jerked the half-container more than enough.

With my bloody fetlock painfully gripped around the top of one of the bottles, I cried and threw myself out of the container as it started to tilt. It gave a metallic screech as it twisted along the hillside, slipping around so that the old heavy desk was at the bottom now. With its balance shifted, there was nothing to stop it as it picked up speed on it’s way down. Part of the open container bit into the dirt, and the whole thing rotated. It pitched end over end before it slammed down onto the roadway below, crushing and fragmenting the desk inside.

Pulling close the one potion I’d managed to save in my hooves, I whimpered as I looked at it. No no no… I’d been so close… there’d been enough…

My eyes were pulled to Hardcase as he stumbled down into the ditch where Buck was. Held in his bloody muzzle, and dragging along behind him, was a length of cable like had been run along the bottom of the containers. As I quickly made my way down the hill towards him, he got to work tying the cable around each of Buck’s bleeding limbs.

“I… there was… I’m sorry, I could only save one…” I muttered as I trotted up next to him. I held the potion out and whimpered as Hardcase’s sparking horn gripped it and tore the cap off of it. Without hesitation, he turned it over, and ran it across Buck.

The purple potion washed the softly glowing bloody pulp that was Buck’s head, face, and the gaping wound in his chest. I was fighting a losing battle to my soft crying as the healing wash revealed the extent of his injuries. The left side of his head and muzzle was stripped almost to the bone, and like his arm, speckled with silver bits of reactor debris. A rectangular silver plate the size of my hoof sat lodged in his skull and left eye socket, sending a long splitting crack up to where his now missing ear used to sit. I choked back a scream at the sight of it, but found myself silenced as a soft gurgle escaped Buck’s broken muzzle.

His body tensed up, and he let out a soft whine that stabbed at my very soul. As quickly as he’d done that, he went quiet and limp again. My eyes slowly felt to his blood matted chest, and I felt a small spark of hope as I saw it weakly rising and falling.

“Doc… Doc Sunshine…” Hardcase wheezed as more blood dribbled out of his muzzle. “You have to…” He cried out weakly, wobbling and stumbling forward. He closed his eyes as his magic sputtered out, panting softly as he sat on the ground. “...find a way to d-drag Buck, she’s his only h-hope.”

Looking back toward the city, the gleaming skyscrapers just barely pushed over the edge of the valleys, and never seemed farther away to me than now. How was I supposed to get Buck and Hardcase back there? I couldn’t drag him that whole way, not without a cart or something! Maybe if Hardcase wasn’t dying and I had a few hours, I could’ve built one out of Bertha and Bessy’s scrap, but… maybe I could make a sled.

“I have an idea.” I spat out as I turned my gaze back along the roadside ditch.

The wired bottom of our smashed container met my eyes, and the loose cable hanging over the edge of it nailing home an idea in my head. My legs pushed me into action again, carrying me over to the severed container bottom. I maneuvered myself underneath it, biting the cable and trotting up towards the road with it. The cable went taut, and I growled out from around it as I forced my aching and lacerated forehooves to push me forward.

My prosthetic again slipped on the muddy dirt as I pulled, and it took considerable effort for me to even get the relatively light piece of container to budge. Slowly though, I managed to drag it up onto the roadway, where my prosthetic could finally be on equal hoofing with my real legs. The noise it made as I drug the sheared metal panel behind me was fucking awful, but it was a hell of a lot easier to move across the flat pavement than the dirt.

“That… that’s good thinking…” Hardcase let out a whimper as he closed his eyes and pulled his hooves underneath him. The cracks in his chitin oozed more blood as he struggled to force himself to stand up. But halfway up, they gave out and he dropped to the dirt again. He forced a painful smile across his muzzle as he weakly opened his eyes and looked up at me. “Oh… I just n-need a minute… to get ready.”

I knew we didn’t have the time, but I couldn’t move him without possibly doing more harm than good. So I simply nodded to him as I spit out the cable from my makeshift sled. Trotting back into the ditch, I leaned down and forced my head under Buck’s shoulder. I did my best to ignore the sticky and warm blood that I had to press through, but once I got myself through, I found I could prop him up and drag him a bit easier than before.

While he was easier to move this way, I whined and struggled to heft him up onto the roadway. Each shallow, gurgling breath he gave into my ear though helped to give me strength. Come on, Buck, don’t… don’t leave me yet...

It took me a minute of painfully forcing my hooves to drag him across the old road, but I’d gotten it done. I did my best to use the loops that Hardcase had tied around his bloody limbs as anchoring points along the jagged metal sled. I choked back my tears as I finally stepped back and took in the sight of him strung up on the makeshift sled. Finally, I broke down into a complete mess of sobs and pathetic whimpering.

Oh Celestia this was all my fault…

“N-night…” Hardcase’s soft voice from the ditch again pulled me out of my sorrows. Collecting myself, I wiped the tears from my eyes and matted my face with even more blood from my hooves. Looking over, I found Hardcase had managed to crawl over to the remains of a sickly old stump and propped himself back against it.

“I… I know it’s going to hurt, but we need to go.” I spoke slowly as I turned and made my way over to him. “Right now.”

“No… l-listen…” Hardcase’s voice wheezed as I stepped off the road. I froze up as he held out his hoof for me to stay where I was, but… why would he do that? “Cora… H-hispano, they went to get the b-book.” He groaned as he leaned back against the old stump. As he did, I noticed that only weak lines of blood trickled out of his numerous wounds. “Y-you have to be in C-canterc-cross… when they get b-back.” I wanted to say that was a good thing that his bleeding looked like it was slowing, but I knew it wasn’t.

“Come on then, we need to...” I took a step forward, but was caught off guard when he gave out a gurgle of a chuckle.

“Y-you said it y-your s-se-self.” His breaths were becoming more and more shallow as the smile on his bloody muzzle grew wider. “C-could on-only s-ave o-one…” He let out a sniffle from behind his smile, weakly raising a shaking forehoof to Buck and the sled.

“No…” I whimpered as tears poured down my cheeks again. “Hardcase…”

“It’s… o-okay…” He shakily nodded as he relaxed and closed his eyes slowly. “I ge-get to-to s-see my vi… m-my viol……” His words trailed off as he slowly stopped shaking, leaving me only with the sound of my own soft whines amid the burning debris around me, and the lonely drone of the wind.

He was gone...

“Celestia damnit…” the soft, almost non-existent words slipped from my quivering lips before I turned back toward Buck and shuffled myself over to him. I could hardly see what I was doing through the tears as I bit down on the cable again, but as much as I wanted to give up, something inside forced me to keep moving.

I don’t know how long it had taken. Hours, at the very least. Listening only to the sound of the wind, the grinding of the container on the pavement, and my own quiet sobs. My dried eyes burned as I had run out of tears long ago down the road. But tired, bloody, and at the end of my own rope, I had made it back to the city.

If I lost Buck today… I… I wasn’t going to make it to tomorrow. I’d already lost too much, and if this was the way things were going to be, then I was done. What was the point in getting up every day when more of my friends and family would just die?

But, that was only if I lost Buck, and I would not lose Buck.

My eyes were locked on the front door of Doc Sunshine’s clinic. Each step gave me hope that she could save him. Each grinding and painful pull of the container behind me, filled me with the drive to rip Solomon apart in a way that would force him to endure indescribable amounts of pain and suffering.

I spit out the cable, letting a whine escape the bloody corners of my muzzle. Lifting my bloody cut up forehoof, I poked at my mouth, wincing from the raw and bloody sores that had been worn into it from the cable. Drifting from those thoughts, my eyes fell upon my hooves. The dried and caked on mud and blood mix was crisscrossed at the bottom with the couple dozen still open cuts on them, and just looking at them caused my forelegs to burn like they were on fire.

Goddesses, how the hell had I managed to make it this far? I whined painfully through my muzzle as I wondered just what the hell I was going to do about my own wounds. Thankfully though, my wounded muzzle opened like always, and words started to fall from it, even if it was only at a whisper.

“Buck first.” I nodded to myself as at the very least, my own words sunk in deep and drove me to look toward the rundown looking clinic. “I’ll fix me later.” Stepping up to the old and worn door that Hardcase and I had been at just couple of hours or so ago, I raised my bleeding forehoof and knocked it on the door.

“Hello!? Is there anypony in there?” I raised my voice to what to me sounded like a deafening shout. I paused for a moment, perking my ears to listen. Maybe the old door was thicker than I’d thought, but from where I stood, I couldn’t hear anyone moving inside. Again I knocked, but this time I upped it to a painful hammering. “Doc Sunshine? Please, I need help!”

“Yeah yeah, quit your knocking.” It was muffled, but I was glad to have heard the annoyed voice of Doc Sunshine at all. There was a couple of sharp metallic clicks as the door was unlatched, but she opened it quickly after a moment. She went wide eyed as she saw me. “Oh, it’s you. The fuck do you want?” With a small lean, she propped herself up against the doorframe. Her eyes shifted as she stood there, moving to the container-sled behind me on the road. “Oh, fuck that.” She stepped back from the door and wrapped her hoof around it. “Take that thing somewhere else.”

She tried to shut the door, but I managed to get my hoof in the way of it and stop her. I let out a pained grunt as I did, and it pulled her eyes to the bleeding cuts on my forehoof. No, she would not let him die.

“I’m sorry about before, but I’m begging you.” I wanted to sound sincere, but the way that she looked at me, even after seeing my wounds, told me that she’d already made up her mind. “I will find a way to pay you whatever you want. Just… save him, please.”

“Fuck you.” She all but spat at me as she sharply tried to pull the door away from my hoof. My forehoof gave slightly, but I gripped it tighter to compensate. “After the shit you pulled earlier? I don't care if you were Mr. Wizard himself asking me. Get lost.”

“I'm going to ignore that comment out of my admittedly waning desire not to kill you.” I was losing my patience with her quicker than I probably should have, but it was only because Buck was losing time with every moment she was being stubborn. If she wanted to do this the hard way, then I was going to skip the pleasantries. “You're going to fix him, or I'm going to do a whole lot to make your day worse than mine has been.”

“Oh, really?” She sneered and used her free forehoof to bat at mine painfully. “You think this is my first rodeo, kid? Hah! You can’t threaten me. In fact, even though I’m not very keen on doing it, if you ever come here again, I’ll shoot you myself.”

Some doctor she is if she’s willing to turn away someone who needs help just because he’s a snow dog. Why was it that ponies couldn’t get along with other races? Who cares if they’re a griffon, a changeling, a buffalo, or even a dragon? What was their…

My mind paused as a brilliant thought came to it, and before I knew it, the words were already out of my muzzle.

“You're going to help him, or it won't be me who comes for you.” I felt terrible about it, but I managed to force a smirk across my muzzle. “I'll fly myself up to Mare’s Lake and tell Tephra that you were helping a changeling.” As I’d hoped, I watched as my threat forced her to stiffen up more than a bit. “Yeah, you’ve heard that name before, haven’t you?” Instantly, she was filled with as much stress as a stretched out rubber band, just waiting to snap. She must have thought it subtle, but I noticed the way she shifted herself in the doorway, turning her head to try to hide the back of it to me. “Yeah, see, I saw the brand on your neck when I was here before. So of course you understand perfectly what’ll happen if I go up there and have myself a nice little chat with a certain three story tall dragon.”

“You have no proof.” She snorted, locking her eyes on me with a glare as precise as a doctor’s scalpel.

“All my friends are dead, Doc,” Slowly, I lifted my forehoof from the door, and turned it to point back to Buck. “All of them except him, who is the sweetest, most caring and gentle doctor in the wastelands. He doesn’t need your poor judgement deciding if he lives or dies.” I watched as her gaze steeled, but from the way the stress bled out from around her shoulders and neck, I knew at the very least that my words were getting to her. “I know you don’t trust me, and yes, Hardcase was a ‘scary changeling’. But while I’d rather not disrespect his corpse, I will do just that and fuck you over in a heartbeat unless you at least try to save Buck for me.”

The sharp words I used pulled an annoyed growl out of her, but still, even though she could have at this point, she didn’t slam the door on me.

“So, those are your choices.” I sighed and tried to keep my volume and tone from going out of control again. ”You either try to keep Buck alive, or I swear to Celestia that I will bring Tephra and his followers down on you so fast that you won’t even have time to regret turning me away.”

“Fine. Get him in here.” She took her hoof off the door and swung it open as she turned around. “But no promises. If I can’t save him, I am not taking the blame.”

“Fair enough.” I muttered as at the very least, I found the smallest bit of hope flicker back to life inside of me. It would have to be enough, or none of this would have meant anything. Not my parents dying, not joining the convoy, and… no, positive thoughts, Night. He’ll be fine, you’ll be fine.

Trotting back over, I took a deep breath before leaning forward and digging my head under his massive arm again. The next few hours were going to be the worst thing I’d ever live though in my life, but I had to stay strong. At least, that was the lie I had to sell myself more than any I’d ever had to before.

Why? Well, at least one bit of DJ PowerColt’s broadcast had some truth to it that even I couldn’t deny. I was the survivor, and Celestia be damned, I would fucking survive this.

It had been hours that I’d sat alone in Doc Sunshine’s cozy little clinic-front apartment. Once I’d hefted Buck onto her slab table in the back room, she’d pretty much thrown me back out the door without a care. So here I’d been waiting in her front room, quietly fighting back the urge to replay everything that's happened out there. It was a losing battle, as more than anything, I’d just wanted someone like Hardcase to help keep my mind distracted. But he was gone now, they all were, and I was alone.

Rather than give in, I got to my hooves and walked across the small room. With a quick flick, I turned on the old radio. It gave a sharp snap as the electrical parts in it came to life, and the room filled with the odd mixed smell of ozone and burned dust. Still, the quiet beat of one of DJ Powercolt’s songs began to waft through the air with it’s upbeat tempo. Part of me wanted to turn the volume up from it’s quiet setting to force away the thoughts of today, but for the sake of Buck’s well being, and the Doctor’s sanity, I kept it quiet. After a couple minutes, the bouncy upbeat song ended, and the smooth voice of DJ PowerColt came over the airwaves.

“You know, as much as I try to spare all you cool cats and jiving fillies the overwhelming negativity of the wasteland, I have grim news to bring you all.”

It was odd to hear how sad he actually sounded today. Though I already knew what the news was, the somber tone his voice held somehow felt comforting to me. Truthfully, it was only because of that fact that I didn’t reach up and turn the radio off again.

“The convoy that you all have heard so much about recently, is gone. Some of you might say that it's unfortunate, that it's just the way the wasteland is. Well, not me. That convoy, the one which has left a trail of good will and good deeds as it headed south, was betrayed earlier today. They were lied to and destroyed, betrayed by both the Road Crew, and the bullet fired by a Saddle Arabian prince who has done nothing for the north but make it hell on Equus for us normal folks.”

It was a small comfort to me that Solomon was getting called out on the radio again. Maybe somehow the truth would come out about his deal with Mr. Wizard, and the road crew spared the somewhat misplaced wrath of the ponies of Cantercross. But honestly, I say fuck the Road Crew. Fuck Motor Grader and every single one of those no good construction pricks.

Then again, maybe I shouldn’t want the city to hate them. Nah, that’d be too easy! After I take down Solomon, I’ll turn around and come back here to take down the Road Crew myself. I don’t know how I’ll do it, but I will burn Large Marge and their whole outfit down to the ground.

If anything good could be said today, it's that not all were lost in the convoy. That's right, the survivor walked out of this disaster, alive and unscathed. And you can bet that she'll have hell to bring upon the Prince that did this to her. So to all of you out there who may have thought that there's no place for heroes in the north, let the survivor be a reminder to you all that like any force of nature, you can't so easily stop those who fight to bring the best out in…”

*Fizzle...POP!*

With an electrical snap, sparks erupted from inside the old radio, and it died. The smell of ozone beat out everything as I coughed a few times and waved my hoof around to waft away the choking fumes. At the very least, the radio didn’t sound or smell like it was on fire, so I guess that was a win.

The door to the backroom unlatched and opened slowly. The exhausted, blood coated, and sweaty form of Doc Sunshine appeared in the doorway. Her horn sparked slightly as she lifted each forehoof, using her magic to slip off the long off-white cloth gloves she’d been wearing.

“Alright.” She sighed, stepping out further. “I’ve done what I could to stabilize him.” Another short spurt of sparks from her horn lit up the room as she pulled off the bloody surgeon's outfit she’d worn, leaving her sweat matted coat exposed to the cold open air. Not that she minded, as the moment she was free of those clothes, she looked like she completely relaxed. “I’m assuming that the magical radiation he soaked up was what kept him alive, but... I can’t remove the plate in his skull.”

“What does that mean?” I forced out the words as my rear legs shuddered and struggled to hold me up. That small flame of hope inside me had been flickering for hours, was on the verge of disappearing forever. Through nothing more than my will alone, it was waiting for a reason, any reason, to flare up strong and bright. And if I couldn’t find that reason, I’d let it go out forever, and plunge everything I was into cold and lonely darkness.

“It means that I can’t do anything more.” She shot me a tired glare as she trotted across her small room and straight over to the small tea kettle on the stove. “Even with the radiation helping him, it’s a miracle that he survived an injury like that at all. Even so, he’s in Celestia’s hooves now.”

She picked it up in her magic and carefully poured the cold liquid into an old glass before bringing that glass to her lips. With one swift move, she tilted her head back and chugged it all down. She gasped slightly as she finished it in one go, sucking in a few deep breaths before setting the glass down again.

“Wait, so that’s it?” He’s better but he’s not? What kind of fucked up bullshit was that!?

“Before you run your muzzle off again, it’s not because I don’t want to save him.” She sighed as she turned and trotted over to the small bed. “I don’t have the tools or knowhow to deal with an injury like that. The second I try to remove that plate, he’ll more than likely die. Very few in the wasteland outside of Destruction Bay could do anything more for him now, I’m sorry.”

“I’ll find someone who can help.” I was not going to give up on him that easy. “That, or I’ll find a way to get him to Destruction Bay.”

“Kid, I admire your enthusiasm, but…” Sunshine shook her head before she climbed up onto her bed and carefully laid herself down. “Without proper treatment, he doesn’t have all that long to live, a week at most. Not to mention, he’s in no condition to make the trip north to Destruction Bay. The chances you’ll find somepony in time are…”

“I will find someone!” I snapped at her and stomped at the floor. I winced as all the cuts on my forehooves started to trickle out blood again as they struggled to even keep my weight on them. “I… I have to.”

“Look, I’ll keep him alive as long as I can.” The Doc wriggled into her bed, giving off a sharp yawn as she pulled at a worn and quite stiff looking quilt. “But there’s nothing more either of us can do. He’s in Celestia’s hooves now, so why don’t you go get some rest, and then look for a way to pay me back. Come back in a few days and I’ll give you any updates, alright?”

I didn’t like it. There was no way I’d leave Buck alone in the hooves of some… stranger, even if she had saved him. But I couldn’t stay here forever, she at least had that part right. Maybe she had a good point, and sleep wasn’t such a bad idea. Some time to rest, that’s what I needed right now, and maybe I could still get that free room back at the Gateway hotel.

“O-okay.” I nodded to her, even though she was long past caring about whatever I said.

Turning, I walked over and opened the front door. Stepping outside, the amber hues of evening burned over the rooftops of the old city neighborhood. I winced and shielded my eyes against the sun. Almost instinctively, I turned and opened my saddlebags to pull out my sunglasses.

A small bottle clinked against my bloody hoof, and I froze. Carefully, I wrapped my fetlock around the small bottle and drew it out. My eyes were locked on the chalky tabs of Chill inside, and I knew what I needed to do.

I needed to throw this bottle away, and let my addiction die like everyone else had today. These pills hadn’t saved me from any pain at all, and only brought me to a point where I’d managed to be uncomfortably numb to the chances I’d had to keep today from ever happening in the first place.

With a pop, I flicked off the cap, and stuffed the bottle against my muzzle. Greedily, I licked four tabs out of it before slamming the bottle closed again and shoved it back into my bag. As I chewed painfully on the small tabs, I knew I wasn’t doing the right thing anymore.

But after all the fucking shit that’s happened today, being uncomfortably numb was something nopony could ever blame me for wanting.

Bertha was nothing more than a wreck of burning and twisted debris. The front cab, the reactor bay, her entire front end was just… gone. Her rear frame, and what remained of her hauling bed, were scorched and twisted outward from the blast like a glowing steel flower. The containers that had once sat on her were strewn about the road and up on the valley dirt around her, most of them laying in a smoldering and twisted heap on the road behind the wreck.

“How much trouble would one bullet save me?”

Solomon’s voice came from everywhere all at once. I spun around, but he was nowhere to be found. Panicking, I stepped backwards and tripped. I tumbled onto the cold pavement, hitting my head hard and sending my vision spinning.

“I will kill all of them just because you asked me not to.”

I shut my eyes, trying to force Solomon’s voice out, but somehow it only felt louder. When I opened my eyes again, a voiceless scream came from my muzzle. There, in front of me, lay Violet again. She was just as I’d seen her dead at Drake Pass, and for some reason, now it filled me with more fear and panic than ever before.

Scrambling to get my hooves, I was trapped. I looked down at my hooves, and this time I screamed for real. Rods of rebar had pierced through each of them, pinning me to the highway asphalt. I put my head down and cried.

“No more…” I whimpered. Why was this happening to me!? “Please…”

“You have done well for me, Night Flight.” Solomon’s voice echoed through the air again.

As it did however, a set of hooves walked into my sight. Looking up, Delilah’s steeled gaze stared right at me. Next to her, stood everyone else I’d gotten killed. Lucky, Hardcase, Gearbox, Boiler, and Howitzer. As one, they all shifted their gaze behind me. Afraid, I turned my head around, finding Solomon’s rifle held in Buck’s bloody one pawed grasp.

“Please, Buck… no…” I whimpered as he lowered the barrel to my head. “I… I love…”

BANG!

I woke up in a cold sweat, pain washing over me as a furious banging filled the well-kept Inn room around me.

“If you don’t stop screaming, I’m going to come in there myself and kick your ass!” The angry voice of a stallion bled through the door to my room. “Fucking bitch.”

I let out a heavy sigh as the stallion outside the door trotted off. Goddesses, what fucking time was it? I hadn’t gotten enough sleep for this shit. Then again, at least I was out of that nightmare again, and could dose up.

Rolling over on the old queen size mattress, I reached out to the old nightstand beside it. I stopped to look at the bandages wrapped around my forehoof. Well, It looks like the bleeding had finally stopped at the very least. That was oddly slower than I’d thought it would heal, as the cuts on my hooves hadn’t been all that bad. I wonder if Ritz wants them back now or not?

He’d been kind to lend me a roll of magical bandages, but after being on my hooves for the last five days, I’d wondered if he’d actually take them back even if I offered. Shrugging, I stretched myself a bit and grasped the bottle of chill in my hoof. Pulling it to myself, I popped open the top, and tapped it toward my muzzle.

Nothing.

“Fuck.” I groaned, pulling the bottle up to my good eye. Sure enough, with a quick glance, it was easy to tell there wasn’t a single tab left to be found inside. “Shit.” I let go of the bottle, dropping it on the floor as I rolled back over in bed with a huff.

Well, no chill meant no numbing. No numbing meant that everything was going back to the living hell it had been for the last five days. Fucking great.

“Feeling sorry for yourself again?” The voice of Violet floated through the air. Oh, right. Without more Chill, there’s her. “What, you don’t want me around anymore? I thought you were willing to do anything to get me back again.”

“You’re not the real Violet.” I grumbled as I fought my own urge to turn over to talk to her. She wasn’t even here. If she wanted to speak face to face, then she could fucking ‘pretend’ to walk around to see me at least.

“Yeah, but I’m the only one you’ve got left to talk to.” She sighed. I made the mistake of blinking, and of course, the second I’d opened my eyes from it, she was there in front of me. “Well, that’s not really true, is it? Buck might show up with me as well I guess.” She scrunched up her muzzle as she looked lost in her own head for a moment. “But… would he show up with the whole metal plate in his face… or not?” Shrugging, she flashed a smile to me that I didn’t care nor want to see. “I guess I don’t have the rebar thing going on, so probably not.”

“Goddesses, will you ever shut up?” I groaned as I grabbed one of my pillows and shoved it over my head. Just doing so made my hooves sting, which made all my other little aches and pains flare up all at once. “This has been the worst five days of my life, and I don’t need you making it even worse.”

“You mean the last two days?” She pushed her voice into my mind.

“What?” I snapped at her from under the pillow. That’s impossible! I’ve had too many nightmares for it to have only been two days. “It’s been five days.”

“No, it’s been two.” She laughed at me. “Or did you forget, I’m the part of your brain that’s actually been paying attention to shit? Try to rationalize it however you want, doesn’t change the facts.”

“Whatever, fine, two days.” I was so tired of this bullshit. What did a couple of days matter? I mean, if days didn’t matter at all to her, then why the fuck wouldn’t she just shut the hell up about it!?

“Well, since you ran out of Chill last night… I don’t really have to?” Her voice was forcing a stabbing pain to grow in my forehead that I just knew would turn into a migraine later. Goddesses, if she was this fucking annoying in real life, I might have killed her myself.

“Woah, easy there, fly-boy.” She gave a forced nervous chuckle. “I don’t know why you’re getting so violent. I think that maybe today you should get up instead of being so mopey. You’ve done nothing but sit there and it’s boring. Why not go out and see me torment you in other places? You wanted to suffer, right? That’s why your mind’s got me here at all.” With that, I slipped the pillow off of my head and glared at her. I don’t know why, really, but it felt cathartic to do. “Fine, whatever. I mean, I’m not ‘real’ so I guess what does my opinion matter anyway. Just remember you wanted to ‘turn off Bombay for good’, so instead, you’re stuck with me.”

She rolled her eyes at me before I blinked, and she was gone again. The moment she was gone, the pains across my body dulled slightly, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me. But while it felt good to finally be back in peace and quiet, the point stayed.

I wanted to suffer, to blame myself for everything. Hell, once Buck wakes back up, he’ll probably blame me too, so at the very least, Violet is the best practice I’ll...

*Knock. Knock. Knock.*

Fuck me, can’t I wallow alone!?

“Hello?” Ritz spoke up through the door. “I hope I’m not disturbing you, Miss Night Flight, but you seem to have visitors.”

Wait, visitors? Who the fuck could it be? I rolled myself over again and perked my ear as Ritz unlocked my door and opened it up.

“Thanks, we’ll take it from here.” Hispano spoke up softly before she peeked into the room. Ritz nodded before moving back and allowing Cora to follow Hispano as she stepped into the room.

That tiny flicker of hope that I’d had in my chest since I’d left Buck at Doc Sunshines? Well, after three days of wallowing in uncertainty, it finally decided which way it wanted to go. And as I looked upon the somber but forced smile Hispano wore across her beak, I couldn’t fight the small one that flickered to life across my own muzzle.

Which of course, was when I lost it, and completely broke down. Like I had in my room after I’d lost Mom, and on the mountainside rock after I’d lost Dad, I bawled my eyes out like a foal. But finally, I wasn’t alone anymore.

After getting some water from Cora, as well as a few more Chill pills to deal with the symptoms, I came clean about everything. From my suspicions with the Road Crew, to my addiction, to what happened with Happy and Delilah, and...

“So he really did it then. Solomon deserves what’s fucking coming to him.” Cora shook his head and slumped back against the headboard of the bed. “This place you left Buck at, have you been back there at all?” I shook my head, forcing a disappointed sigh out of him. “You’ll have to show me where it is. Not to say I don’t trust other doctors, but not all of them you meet in the wastes are going to be as nice as Buck.”

“Yeah, I know.” I gave out my own sigh as my mind flashed back to the doctor in Leachate for a moment. “I didn’t want to leave him there, but… what choice did I have?”

“You made the right choice, Night.” Hispano spoke softly as she wrapped her talons around me. Tightly, she pulled herself against my side. “And we’ll get Solomon back for this. He can’t have made it too far in such a short amount of time, so we can catch up easy. And we’re not going to make it anywhere as quick a death as he made it for everypony else.”

“Hispano.” Cora spoke in a low, flat tone. “I know it’s going to be hard for you, but you need to get going.”

“What!?” She squeaked out loudly.

“What?” I spoke up at the same time Hispano did.

“Our job hasn’t changed. I’m going to stay to help Buck.” He held up his talon expectantly, pointing sharply at her as she cling tighter to my side. “But you need to get up to Stone Town and get that book back. That’s out best bet on getting back at him.”

“Hardcase told me you guys left to get the book?” I asked, receiving a shake from Cora’s head.

“We’d only made it halfway before we heard the news.” Hispano sighed, laying her head down on my shoulder. It was nice to have her so close, which is why I never wanted to have her leave again. “And if we’re going to find the Ark…”

“Fuck the Ark!” I spat out. “What’s the point?”

“The point, Night, is that if Solomon get’s the Ark, he wins.” Cora deadpanned at me, driving his point through the cloud of depression in my mind. “He doesn’t get to kill everyone like that and get what he wants. You want to kill him? The easiest way to set that up is to find the Ark first.”

“Fine, I guess.” I hated to admit it, but at the moment I wasn’t in a place to offer a better alternative.

“Good.” Cora nodded and shifted his glance to the small, warm griffon clinging to me for dear life. “Now, Hispano, you need to head up north for the book...”

“Awww, come on, Dad.” She pouted as she wrapped her wings around the two of us. “We just got back here. Just one night for a break? I promise I can leave in the morning super early.”
“I don’t want you to leave...” I pleaded with him. Again, he deadpanned. I knew that he wouldn’t agree to it, but I was on Hispano’s side for this. They just got back, and I wasn’t ready to be alone again. “Just one night.”

“Fine.” He groaned and pressed his talon across his face. “But she leaves tomorrow morning, no excuses.” Both Hispano and I nodded before I squeezed my hooves around her as tightly as she’d been holding me. “However, Night, tomorrow you and I are going to pay a visit to this ‘Doc Sunshine’ about Buck. Then, we’re going to see Mr. Wizard to negotiate for Happy, should he still be alive.”

“What?” I blinked a few times as I cocked and eyebrow at Cora. Shit, I’d completely forgotten about going back for Happy. I mean, could you really blame me though? “Alright. Tomorrow we’ll deal with Buck and Happy.”

“Oh!” Hispano let out a soft gasp into my half ear. “This means I can take you out to the club!” Turning my gaze to her, she might as well have had stars in her eyes to match the ultra-excited expression across her face. “I stopped by there last time we were here, and it’s totallyawesome! It’ll help you take your mind off everything and cut loose for a bit, just trust me.”

“Just don’t stay out too late.” Cora grumbled as he made himself a bit more comfortable on the bed.

With an excited nod, Hispano threw herself off of me. She wrapped her talons around my forehoof and pulled me after her, not even waiting up as she pretty much pulled me straight up off of the bed. I didn’t know what she had in store at this ‘club’, but most of me wasn’t really excited to be going back out into the world.

However, a small part of me didn’t care so long as it was with her. In the absence of Buck, and with the knowledge that I may never get to be with Buck ever again, I needed to make the most of the time I had left with Hispano. I just hoped that my time with her didn’t come to an end the same way it had with Buck...

Everything had gotten a bit fuzzy for some reason...

I wasn’t sure when, but it had been after we’d arrived at the ‘club’ built into part of the second sublevel of Gateway Station. The loudest broadcast I’d ever heard of DJ PowerColt boomed through the dark dance club. Blue and pink neon lights lit up the walls, and ponies danced to the music on a wide black dance floor in the center of the place.

Hispano and I however, had chosen to sit on the edge of the elevated dance floor though. Pairs of ultra-plush chairs had been lined up for couples to sit at. Most of the ponies in these seats though were using them to do drugs, or just straight up going at it with each other. Part of me was sickened by that, but after everything, I just couldn’t bring myself to care. Instead, I just sat there with Hispano, enjoying the music and her company.

Reaching forward, I took a long gulp of the amazing water Hispano had gotten us. I don’t know why, but the fact that it was ice cold didn’t bother me one bit with Hispano radiating her warmth against me. She’d guzzled her second bottle down before curling up into my side, but I was taking the time to enjoy mine.

This didn’t erase what happened today, but it helped. As much as I hadn’t wanted to leave, this helped. And while I knew today was going to be the easiest day to deal with from here on out, spending it with her? Well, it helped.

“Hey.” A familiar voice spoke up to me from the dancefloor as I polished off the last of my water. Looking up, I found a black coated pegasus with a white speckled mane smiling down at me. It was… Salt. “Want to dance?” What was he doing here?”

“Wait… what?” I was to caught off guard to speak, and the words didn’t helpfully just tumble out of me this time.

“Come on, we’ve been chilling long enough.” He smiled, holding his hoof out to me. “let’s let loose a little.”

I shifted myself out of my seat, entranced by the soft but sad look in his eyes. Slowly, I reached my hoof out and took his. With a strength I wasn’t expecting, he pulled me straight up onto the dancefloor. It was almost like I didn’t have a say in it as I felt my body start to move to the music.

“Yeah, that’s it.” He smiled to me, starting to move a bit on his own. “Just let the music run through you.” I smiled at that. Like actually smiled as my hooves picked up along with the beat, and I let myself go.

“Y-yeah.” My laugh came out hesitantly and a bit forced, but I could feel the happiness inside myself wanting to follow through. It ebbed at me, crashing against my mind with the relentlessness of the tide. “It… it feels good.” I squeezed his hoof as I danced, and he raised his in return, helping me to do a little spin around on the dance floor that felt like it went on forever and left me slightly dizzy.

“Of course.” He smiled as he leaned forward and kissed my cheek softly. Instantly, I found my wings flare out stiffly, and a hot blush flushed across my cheeks. “We could do this all night if you wanted, just say the word.”

“I… I love you...” The words tumbled from my muzzle all to easily. Far too easily for the words I’d just uttered to Salt. Why… had I said that to him? “I mean… I’d love to.” I flashed a nervous smile, pulling a soft laugh out of him.

“Best to keep hydrated then.” He swung his other hoof around, holding another bottle of water out to me. “Seeing as we’ve already been dancing for three hours, I’m surprised to hear that you’re up for more.”

Wait, three hours? No, it couldn’t have been. My mind was lost in a haze that cleared the moment the cold bottle of water touched my hoof, and my concerns went out the window. Letting go of him, I opened the bottle and swiftly chugged the contents, wiping my sweaty brow and breathing a sigh of contentment as the tasty contents flowed inside me.

“Alright.” I smiled and tossed the bottle aside before reaching out and wrapping my hoof around Salt’s waist. Pulling him close, I planted my own kiss on his cheek that forced his wings out as stiff as mine had been. “Let’s dance!”

I laughed as I was thrown into another spin that left me even dizzier than before. Colors shifted and merged as the beats to all of DJ PowerColt’s music blended into one upbeat mess of chaos. This time, the spinning didn’t stop, but somewhere in my mind, I knew I was still having fun.

“Tequila!” I heard myself shout at some point, but it became lost in the mess of other sounds that filled the air.

“Sorry for the late report to all you fine dancin’ fillies and colts out there!” DJ PowerColt’s voice stood out among the noise in my head. “Some unfortunate news from out of the railways to the south. A train chartered by a saddle arabian prince has been destroyed during an avalanche caused by a brief skyraider attack in the area. No word on any survivors yet, but it could be days before the Road Crew will manage to get a team out there to clear the tracks again. And before you get your hopes up, no, it wasn’t the Prince who attacked the convoy the other…”

DJ PowerColt’s voice disappeared in a line of static as more cheering, music, and colors filled my head. It came back after another moment.

“In other related news, public condemnation over the Road Crew’s betrayal of the Survivor’s convoy has grown today. In a not-so-surprising move, Mr. Wizard has called for the disbandment of the gang not just in the greater Cantercross area, but from the whole of their territory along Highway Five.”

Again, the DJ’s voice faded out into static, but it didn’t return. I however, didn’t care in the slightest about any of that anyway. I was too focused on feeling fantastic right now, in this moment. It all felt so amazing, so liberating. I’d never let myself go like this normally, and as terrible as the circumstances were, I was glad I came out and did this tonight.

At some point, the wave of colors and noise became less chaotic, and the plain walls of my room at the Gateway Inn resolved themselves into things I could see. I was laying flat on my back on my bed as I looked around. Empty water bottles were strewn around the room, as well as an empty bottle of Tequila. It was a lot for my mind to resolve all at once, but I’d almost missed the best thing about coming out of my dizzy daze.

“That’s it!” Salt moaned with a heat that I could literally feel radiate out of him. “Oh, buck me, you’re amazing!” He gasped as well as he rode on top of me, grinding himself against me in what had to have been some of the best sex I’d ever had. “Better than… ah!... I could have imagined!”

“Fuck!” I gasped, reflexively bucking myself up as I pulled his hips down. I breathed in heavy panting breaths as the feeling of Salt and I together sent waves of incredible pleasure through me. “Oh goddesses, yes! I’m so close, Salt!”

“Do it!” Salt moaned as he bounced up along me. “I want all of you!” His voice wavered as he whined, sounding off pitch as he smacked back down hard and buried me inside him. “Yes!”

“Oh Celestia!” I screamed out, arching my back hard as I felt the most intense orgasm I’d ever had in my life.

My mind fuzzed again, and as it did, I think I passed out. Because when I opened my eyes again, I was laying in bed with the morning sunlight peeking in under the door of my room. Shifting my legs a bit, I could still feel the sweat covered sheets around my legs, and it brought a wide smile to my muzzle. Pressing back slightly into the warm body that cuddled against me, I only had one thought cross my mind..

“Fuck, I needed last night.” I sighed with the first ounce of sincere contentment that I’d had all week.

“Mhmmm.” Hispano’s soft and sleepy voice came into my ear and forced a cold shiver up my back.

Slowly, I turned myself over. Please please tell me that it’s not just her with me in bed. At the very least, tell me that she was cool with what happened with Salt last night…

However, when I turned over, she was the only other one in the room. Wait, so… where was Salt then? Did he leave already? Or… had I simply imagined him? I guess he could have been just an illusion like Violet’s been. But, no. I know what real feels like, and last night felt…

“Goddesses…” I gasped as I realized the truth. Sure, last night was real enough, but I don’t think I slept with Salt. Looking down at Hispano, I almost cringed as she smiled and pulled herself tighter against me.

Oh. Oh no...

Author's Notes:

Once again, I've got to thank The FurryRailFan for his help in getting this chapter ready to go up. Even sick, he's gone above and beyond in going over this story, and there's no amount of thanks in the world that could emphasize how thankful I truly am for that.

And of course, a big thanks to Kkat for creating and allowing us all to run around and blow up our own corners of the wasteland. After five years, the Equestrian wastes continue to keep me inspired and productive. Thank you.