I looked down at Dead Hooves, still lying unconscious from the wound in her side. I don’t know how she got it or even how she let it get this bad. According to Grease, it was already there when they found her in the infirmary. Me and Rocket did the best we could to help her, but without Cross Eye we couldn’t do much other then trying and find spare potions. Then again, we left so much behind at our now destroyed HQ that we didn’t have anything really at all. Almost all the medical supplies had been destroyed by the unknown attacker, whoever it was.

That doesn’t mean we didn’t manage to find anything, a single set of Enclave power armor had been left mostly intact with the exception of it’s front left hoof. A few weapons had been dug out by Silver Gunner, mostly small pistols and knives. He had also come back with a rather interesting weapon he said he found on our supposed attack. An anti-machine gun, or a Spitfire’s Thunder anti-machine gun to be exact. Rocket immediately called dibs on it, and considering he is our heavy weapons expert I expected it.

We also managed to find a few small healing potions, almost all were used on Zoey and Dead Hooves however. We managed to also find some rolls of bandages, which was once again mostly used to help Dead Hooves and Zoey. In other words most of our medical supplies had been used to help them out. We owed them, making sure they got better was the least we could do to start repaying them. They may not have brought Bleak or Soarin back with them, but considering the condition they were in I don’t think they could have.

Silver Gunner was standing with me, holding a double barreled shotgun with him. He set the gun down at the end of the bed, his mechanical eyes staring at Dead Hooves. He looked over to Zoey, whose hind legs were both in a cast. They had been greatly fractured, the healing potions had greatly improved there conditions but they were still rather fragile. I could help but think that Silver Gunner was feeling sadness, even though he was a machine.

“Mission complete,” Silver Gunner said to the unconscious zebra, “I will wait for further instructions.”

I finally had to ask, “Hey Silver,” Silver Gunner looked at me. “If you were built during the war, then why are you being so friendly to Zoey? It’s not that I have anything against zebras, quite the opposite actually, but most things during the war would have been to oppose zebras. So why are you so friendly?”

“An enemy is not judge by its species,” Silver Gunner replied. “An enemy is based on its actions and words. Zoey and Dead Hooves both show they know friendship, therefor they are an ally of Equestria. Same for you Enclave technician Nav, you show you fight the right war and you know where your friendship lies. It is for that reason I trust you and your companions,”

Friendship, that was a word you didn’t hear very often. These days most ponies in the Wasteland would tell you that friendship was a weakness. That anypony would backstab you if for the right reason or price. It was that belief of friendship that made me at times doubt the Enclave. We Angel Hunters were different then most of the Enclave, believing that it was possible to save the Wasteland. We held friendship differently, most of us Angel Hunters were friends from our time as normal soldiers. Sometimes, I think that the Enclave saw us as some strange danger to their cause.

I couldn’t help but let my eyes drift to the shotgun he had put down at the end of Dead Hooves bed. I saw the words “remember” carved into the side, slightly dented from debris that probably covered it. What did she need to remember? Was it something about her life that she couldn’t forget? Was it a memory that was dear to her? Those were the questions that came to my head, but I wouldn’t get any answers until she woke up.

Left Silver Gunner to care for Zoey and Dead Hooves and made my way into the halls of the Raptor. I didn’t make it far before running into Rocket, who had carried Dead Hooves on his back. This was the first time I’ve seen him without his uniform on, instead carrying it in his hooves. Blood stained part of the uniform, showing where he had carried Dead Hooves. I was surprised, we were never to remove them unless we were sleeping or washing them.

“How are they doing?” Rocket asked, rather casual considering the look that I had on my face.

“It seems like there fine at the moment but,” I point to his uniform. “Why do you have your uniform off? Never thought you were the type of pony to defy the rules,”

“I’m not,” Rocket replied “It’s just… are we still part of the Enclave?” I tilt my head in response to this. “I know it seems like a silly thing to say but… Grease can’t get communication up with anypony in the Enclave. It’s almost as if they shut us out or something, and now that Bleak and Soarin are gone-”

“So are you trying to say we’re Dashites?” I asked, somewhat infuriated. “Are you saying we should just abandon the Enclave. Didn’t you tell me that you have a family? A wife and child waiting for you at home?”

“I don’t like it anymore then you do,” He went over to one of the nearby windows on the side of the Raptor and opened it.

We were in the air at the moment, making our ways away from our old headquarters. We weren’t going very fast, considering we had no destination in mind at the moment. Feather and Sharpshot had left without telling us what they were doing or were they were going, leaving us to wander the wastes once we ran out of fuel. Rocket looked down at his uniform, closing his eyes as if he was contemplating something. Moments later he put the hoof holding the uniform out the window and it flew away. I took a step forward, but didn’t find words to show the rage I was hiding inside.

“We aren’t Dashites, but we aren’t Enclave either,” Rocket said, looking at me. “I won’t ever get to see my son grow up, and he might never see me die. I want the best for him however, and he is safe with the Enclave. Besides, I went into this not knowing the land, the ponies, or even the environment. I joined the army because I wanted to show my confidence, having fallen out of flight school and all. I knew this assignment might be my death,” He let out a small laugh. “I guess I should have expect this to happen.”

I didn’t want to believe it, I wanted to believe I was just hearing things, but it was true. The thing was, he was right. We came here knowing we may never go back home, to our families, to see my sister. I had a reason to join, one beyond self confidence. That Bloody Angel killed my brother, he died to make sure they didn’t find me. I felt partly fueled by the want for vengeance, in the end it was that which lead me to the Angel Hunters. I was a nopony then, barely made it through training. When Bleak picked me, they tried to convince him otherwise that there was better options. However he responded by saying that what I lacked in physical strength I made up for as a leader. It was that leadership that lead me here.

“Is it wrong Rocket,” I looked to him, “To want vengeance even when it won’t bring you anything in return?”

“I don’t exactly get what you are saying,” Rocket replied.

“The entire reason I’m down here is because I want revenge,” I shifted my gaze to the uniform I was wearing, “I want to make the Bloody Angel pay for my brother’s death, yet I know in the end it might not matter. No matter what I do it won’t bring him back, nor will it bring us home. So, does it really matter if we go after him or not? Is there any reason for me to want revenge?”

“Any other pony in the Wasteland that was affected by him would want the same thing, so no,” Rocket walked up to me shifted me gaze from me uniform back to him. “Revenge may not bring him back, but this isn’t just simple revenge we are doing this for. The entire Wasteland has been affected by that bastard, it’s our job to make him pay. Dead Hooves probably wants the same, why else would she want to join us?”

I never really thought about why Dead Hooves wanted to join us, but no doubt she had a reason. Besides, she was made a target because of what the Bloody Angel has done. No doubt she wanted some form of revenge. Rocket was right, the Bloody Angel had cause great harm to more than just me, I needed to remember that. I wasn’t doing this for myself, I was doing this for the sake of everypony in the Wasteland.

“Rocket? Nav?” I look behind Rocket to see Grease, his face seemed concern about something.

“Something wrong Grease?” I asked him.

“Well I was keeping an on the bridge to make sure we didn’t hit anything, since we are still in Las Pegasus,” He explained, “And then the Raptors controls started turning on it’s own. I didn’t touch anything I swear it just started turning by itself.”

My eyes widen and I made my way past them and up to the bridge. Just like he said, the controls for the Raptor were somehow turning us to the left. I tried to gain control of the Raptor again, but it for some reason didn’t respond to anything I did. I looked back to see Grease and Rocket watching me. They were hoping I had an answer for what was going on at the moment, but I didn’t have any idea.

“Sorry for doing this,” I suddenly heard a low masculine sounding voice over the speakers. “But you have somepony important.”

I pressed a button to respond back. “Who the fuck is this, and why the hell do you have control of our Raptor?”

“Look, I can only talk for so long and I have a lot that I need to explain so if you would please just let me talk I’ll answer your question,” The voice replied. I fell silent knowing it would get me my answer. “You can call me Watcher, and as I said you have somepony that I need to talk to. I’ve been keeping an eye on her for some time now and she has stuff that she needs to know. I’m sending you to the place she will learn the answer, and the place your other comrades are going as well. I have the controls completely locked in over here, so if you want to get of the only choice you have is to jump.”

“You motherfucker,” I whispered to myself. I once again responded to the voice that called himself watcher. “You do realize you are messing with Enclave security, right? I can and will report you to my superiors if you do not give me back controls of this Raptor.”

“Then I guess you haven’t heard that they disbanded you a long time ago,” I didn’t believe him at first, that was until I heard what he said next. “If you don’t believe me, then tell me the last time you received a transmission from them? If I’m seeing things correctly, then it must have been at least one year ago, about the time that Breaker joined you as well. Am I correct?”

I opened my mouth to retort but found no words for what he said. Watcher, while I have no idea who he is, even though I had no idea how he knew, he was right. The last time we had received any sort of transmission for home was one year ago. That was the day they told us we were getting a new recruit, less than a day later arrived Breaker. Now that I think about it, Breaker actually left before the attack, did he somehow know we were going to be getting attacked?

That didn’t stop me from realizing the truth that horrified me, we were never part of the Enclave. They abandoned us, left us as Dashites one year ago thinking we would die down here. I didn’t need a mark to be one, not when the left us the way we did. Nopony knew, not even Bleak and Soarin. I felt Rockets green hoof on my shoulder, but I didn’t look at him. For the first time since being recruit, I felt worthless. We were rejects, all three of us, and I was most of all.

“Watcher,” I asked the voice. “I… I’ll do anything you need me to. Just please tell me what to do and I’ll do it. No questions asked.”

“If that’s true, then I would first ask you to not get angry at Willow Wisp when you learn the truth,” He replied, I had no idea what he’s talking about. “Of course, I would also ask you to help Zoey. She’s becoming something, and I want you to keep her from becoming what she that is.”

Rocket was the next pony to respond. “Sorry to interrupt Watcher, but I would like to know who you know all these things. I recognize your name, but how did you know about Dead Hooves and Zoey? How did you know about us in general?”

“Well when you're as old as I am you learn a thing or two,” He seemed to chuckle at his bad joke. “To tell the truth I simply use the Sprite-bots across the wasteland and get information through them. I’m just going to say your friend Dead Hooves is somepony I’ve been keeping an eye on for a long time and there are things sh-”

Watchers voice cut out, leaving us all wondering what had happened to him. I looked down at the uniform I was wearing, and something seemed to click as I did. I took it off and looked at the enclave emblem that was on it. Without a second though I took the emblem in my teeth and ripped it off the suit, leaving a hole where it use to be. I looked down at my my hooves, they were slightly stained in blood from some cuts that I had obtain getting out our old base. My red mane was hanging down straight.

“So, I guess we have time to do something else till we get to Ponyville,” I said, a thought hitting my mind as I realized we weren’t on duty anymore. “What is it this Watcher thing wants?”

“Well it seems like we are holding the metaphorical cargo he needs,” Grease said stepping forward. “I will admit that there is something about Dead Hooves, something special in her. Not like she's part of a prophecy of old Equestria but rather the fact that she seems to carry an aura of leadership in her. The same kind of aura I think Bleak saw in you Nav.”

I put a weak smile on my face as he said that. In truth I did see a leader in Dead Hooves. The way she didn't let her disability get the best of her for so long, and the fact she had pushed through all that pain to make it to us. Even the action of trying to save our captain, even though it failed, was a show of her leadership. She was ready to face danger, and she knew what it was like to survive. I was ready to give her leadership, she earned it, and I didn’t know if I really was able to be a leader. Even with all the trust Bleak had in me, I don’t think I was the one who should take his place.

“Dead Hooves is more of a leader then I am,” I announced. “As such I think it would be better if she took on the role of leadership. We may have been disbanded by the Grand Pegasus Enclave but that doesn’t mean we go our separate ways. Besides, none of us know what kind of battle we have gotten ourselves into, and we need to make the bastard who killed Soarin and Bleak pay.”

“Twister was the mastermind,” Everyone's gaze shifted behind us as we saw Dead Hooves was up and moving. Silver Gunner was offer his support to her. She was still not in peak condition. “He sent one of his Alicorn minions to kill you all and take Zoey back, she was the one who killed Bleak and most likely killed Soarin as well. She was all the one who blew up the HQ, and according to her they are making an army.”

I quickly rushed to her side. “What the fuck are you thinking?” I yell at her as I turned to Silver Gunner. “Silver Gunner, explain to me what is going on now!”

“Dead Hooves woke up not long after you left the room,” He said in his monotone, robotic voice. “She said that she had something to tell you and that she needed to tell you directly.”

“I know I’m being stupid right now,” Dead Hooves said, and I noticed she had one of her mechanical hooves holding onto her stomach. “I’m feeling a lot better. The wound hasn’t completely healed, but you need to know what’s going on. Whatever Twisters doing, it’s has something to do with Alicorns and some pony named the Goddess if I remember correctly. There making some sort of army and Twister is telling the Enclave to withdraw all activity from soldiers stationed on the ground.”

“Of course it’s Twister,” Rocket said in reply to Dead Hooves explanation. “It not very characteristic of him to send one of his Alicorn assassins after us however. He must have known the same things Watcher did.”

“Does that mean they’re working together?” I asked, my heart pounding as the thought cross my mind.

“No way,” Rocket replied. “From what I’ve heard this Watcher pony has been around since before the war, like Soarin. If he knows the old Equestria and has as many eye as it seems then I’m pretty sure he would go with Twisters belief of do whatever to survive.”

“I was actually hoping to ask you something else,” Dead Hooves once again spoke up. “Where is Willow Wisp and everypony, I haven’t seem them anywhere.”

“Feather took her somewhere,” She said. “Sharpshot went after them I believe, as well as Stitch. She’s trustworthy, next to Sharpshot she’s the pony I would probably put my faith in the most.”

Dead Hooves let out a sigh of relief and moved away from Silver Gunner. As she started moving towards me she fell down, holding her stomach in pain. It was very clear that while the wound looked better, it was still healing internally. I bent down to look at where she was holding her stomach and saw a small amount of blood on the bandages I had wrapped not so long ago. I quickly lifted her onto my back and looked to Silver.

“Whatever happens, until her wound is fully healed don’t let her out of bed,” I commanded to the robot.

He nodded his head slowly and started making his way back down the hall. I followed not long after him after bidding a quick farewell to Rocket and Grease, making my way to the quarters we had turned into a makeshift infirmary. It really wasn’t much other then two beds and unsorted medical supplies, but we knew it would have to do until we found someplace to set down, which in this case was Ponyville. I set her gently down onto the bed and she looked at me as I pulled the covers over her.

“You really shouldn’t push yourself too hard,” I told her as she recovered from the initial pain she put herself in. “I know you must feel more powerful than before because of the new hooves but that doesn’t mean you're invincible. We barely managed to save your life, we don’t want to go through that entire process again until we have an actual doctor with us-”

“This isn’t the Equestria I hoped for,” She spoke up, causing me to go silent. When she realized I wasn’t going to speak she continued. “I knew it was bad but, in the past forty-eight hours or so I have seen so many good ponies die. I can still hear him in my head sometimes, Stitch’s adopted brother, hoping for someone to save him. Now Bleak and Soarin are gone because of Twister, and I don’t know if Zoey is alive or not.”

“Zoey’s alive, she was worse than you were,” I told her hoping it would make her feel a little better. The expression on her face told me otherwise. “She’s doing well, bones won’t be as strong as before but she will be okay. I know that she will survive, just like you.”

She simply stared at me before shifting positions on the bed, looking down at the pillow. “Something isn’t right with her. I hate to say it but it’s true, she isn’t acting like a normal pony. She ripped part of the alicorns skin off, her eyes looked like they were feral. It was like she suddenly turned into a hellhound with the way she acted. She,” She went silent as she spoke, almost as if she wasn’t sure what to say. “Tossed a grenade into the alicorns mouth. Not even the alicorn deserved to die like that. Twister did something to her, I know it.”

I looked over to the zebra. She seemed to look completely normal to me, but the way Dead Hooves described her was like one of those old propaganda posters we had tossed when we first set up shop in Las Pegasus. I couldn’t deny what she said however, it what happened was Twisters doing. Why did we ever even trust that backstabber? He has done nothing but cause more and more hate amongst the Wasteland. The fact he was even speaking to the Enclave made me sick.

“Everythings going to be okay,” I said calmly to Dead Hooves, completely ignoring the pounding of my heart. “Will do everything we can do help out, don’t you worry about it. What else are friends for? Besides, the worst is behind us now.”

“Actually,” Dead Hooves replied, she was started to fall asleep as she spoke to me. “I think this is still just the beginning. It’s going to get worse, much worse than it already is,” As her eyes closed she said one last sentence. “This is how Equestria is going to end, and how the world will now remember it.”

Author's Notes:

Please like, comment, and follow if you enjoy this story and check out some of my others as well. I also really want your feedback, so any advice you could give me would be much appreciated.