Finally, I had something to make a decent sword. Now I just have to forge it somehow.

The blueprints were free to use to everyone, though we all knew there were secret ones too. Even so, I found a lot of sword blueprint. Short sword, broadsword, long sword, all kind of knifes. Each had their advantages and disadvantages. For example the short swords is much easier to use, but with a long sword you could thrust even further. The broadsword was the biggest and hardest, but it could easily hit more ponies at once. I choosed the long sword in the end. It seemed to be the best one, not so hard to use, but have a lot of possibilities.

I took the claws and the blueprint to a forge and began to make the sword.

The whole station wasn’t that big. It had an iron table, a forge and on the wall were all kind of tools.

First, I had to melt the hellhound claws, then pour it in a frame, hit it with a hammer then cool it with water… And pretty much that's it.

While I was making it, a dark green mare came and asked about it. She had blue mane. Her armor hid her cutie mark. Her name was Grasshopper.

She was a weirdo, and asked me everything. Where I got the claws, how I killed the hellhound, and my life story.

“Oh, alright,” said Grasshopper after she ran out of questions, then she just walked away as if nothing happened.

“Finally, she left,” I murmured. She was a bit annoying.

I had my hellhound sword in several hours. The first weapon I ever made. It was sharp and not so hard. I could levitate it with my horn, which began to regrow giving me more magic.

I swung the sword several times. It gave a nice swinging sound.

I already liked it.

Days went on while I was training on a dummy. Swinging and thrusting it, trying to make as much damage as possible. In the meantime my horn regenerated fully. On the sidenote, it was a great idea to train with weaker magic, because on its full strength I became much better, or atleast I feel so.

I used it on missions too. Began with small encounters such as radroaches and molerats, and when I had to, I fought bigger monsters, like hellhounds, though not alone.

Today is the day. The registration to the tournament is open and I felt confident enough. I studied how the arena worked, and I was ready.

The matches were all kill or be killed. One on one, no mercy. Each macht had a given setup. In some match you could only use swords and knifes. In others only rifles. There were fist fights, which in fact was a huge favor for unicorns, because magic was always allowed. Rarely, but sometimes the arena is full of traps, which just gives us more fun. Watching those motherfuckers trying to avoid them, while killing each other just brings joy.

My favorite one was, when the audience could bring weapons ammo, and pretty much anything and just throw it in the arena anytime anywhere. The two combatants didn’t have anything at the start, so using those were crucial.

The winner of the tournament can participate for gang leader position. Which was just another fight.

I went to the entrance where the registration was.

The sun was shining and it was warm. Nearby the entrance was a Black stallion with gray mane cut in a weird way. His name was Black Skull.

“Sign me up for the tournament, you fucker,” I said.

“You? In the arena? Don’t make me laugh,” said Black Skull.

“Oh yeah? Just wait and see what I’m made of! Sign me up,” I yelled.

“Pff, just run back to your mommy you cutie markless bitch,” replied Black Skull.

“Sign me up or I’ll kill you!” I yelled back, aiming with a pistol on his head.

He looked at me surprised and scared.

“Uhm, alright,” - said Black Skull. - “It will be fun watching you die.”

“In your dreams,” I replied.

He finally wrote my name down.

“There, you fucker,” said Black Skull.

The first day has come.

There were sixteen raiders competing. That means four matches to get to the top.

I’ve been told that in the first match I can use anything, but the arena is filled with traps.

The day was cloudy, but it wasn’t cold.

They lead me through a long corridor and closed me in a small cell. I had to stay there, preparing for my first duel. I brought an assault rifle, a pistol, my sword and some healing potions.

After a bit of waiting the gate opened and I went outside. Only the half of the arena was filled. The first matches weren’t that popular.

“On the right side, we have the deadly, fearless Neck Breaker,” - yelled the Blue Eyes. - “And on the left side we have the one you all know. She doesn’t even have a cutie mark, but already fighting. The one and only Cold Blood!”

The spectators yelled all kind of things. Mostly cheered for Neck Breaker.

“I’ll break your bones, then kill you,” yelled Neck Breaker.

“I wonder how you got your nick,” I said sarcastically.

“It looks like they’re ready! Are you all ready for this fight?” asked Blue Eyes.

The crowd cheered.

“Good, good. Aaand FIGHT!” yelled Blue Eyes.

The fight began. We both ran back to a barrier. It was a solid strategy known by everyone. If you would stay there your opponent would get behind the barrier. You wouldn’t stand a chance without a cover.

The arena had four barriers. Two on each side. I looked for any traps around me. It was easy to spot them, but in the heat of moment you could fall for them.

There were a several landmine around me. The middle was a real minefield though. There were two bigger space between two mines where you could run through with no problem, but the middle was full of it. No chance crossing it in battle.

There were several pressure plates, which was for random deadly traps. I seen them triggering hidden weapons, splashing radioactive gloo all around or just a trapdoor leading to spikes. You never knew which did what, and that’s what made them funny, at least for the spectators. As a fighter, it was quite scary.

I looked outside my cover with my rifle. There, I saw Neck Breaker behind his barrier. His leg was a tiny bit out, so I took aim and pulled the trigger.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“Ohh, Cold Blood shot Neck Breaker on his leg. Could this be the end already?” said Blue Eyes.

“I’m gonna get you for this, you fucking bitch,” screamed Neck Breaker in pain.

This was my chance to surprise him. I began to walk to where he was hiding. I tried to be fast, but I had to avoid the mines too, so it wasn’t easy.

“It seems like, Cold Blood is going for a surprise attack!” yelled Blue Eyes as I approached Neck Breaker.

“Really? Fuck you,” I said to Blue Eyes, who ruined my plan.

I hid behind the other side of the barrier, and got my pistol. I floated it over the barrier and shot aimlessly, hoping one shot would hit him.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

“How the fuck didn’t I hit him?” I thought.

I looked around and saw Neck Breaker on my side aiming his rifle on me.

“Oh, fuck,” I said.

I used my magic and my hooves to kick away his weapon, but I wasn’t fast enough.

BANG!

He shot my left foreleg. I felt a huge pain going through my body, but I had to keep fighting.

I drew my sword out as Neck Breaker jumped on me, trying to finish me.

“Beautiful counter attack on Neck Breaker’s side” said Blue Eyes. The spectators all cheered and yelled things like “Finish Her!”

Neck Breaker was pushing me in the ground, while I kept my sword between us with my magic and hooves.

“You shouldn’t have even join this tournament, you bitch,” - said Neck Breaker. - “But who the fuck cares, one easy win for me you motherfucker.”

As he said that, I got all my strength on my right side and rolled him over.

I was over him now.

“Oh really? How the fuck did I win then,” I smirked.

I pushed his legs to the ground and used my magic to swing my sword through his neck. I decapitated him.

The crowd became surprised. After some seconds they started to cheer and yelled my name.

“And Cold Blood broke the Neck Breaker’s neck! What a match everypony! What an unexpected outcome! Seems like Cold Blood has something more in her than we all thought.” yelled Blue Eyes.

I won my first match against that fucker. One step closer to beat Dead Shot and rule this place.

I had to wait until the other matches were finished. After a week, they announced my fight against someone called Quick Hoof.

How come that everypony had a nickname, but me?

I asked around of him, because knowing who you’re facing is quite useful.

“Just give up you bitch. Run while you can, save your little pointless life,” - said an old brown raider. He had a lot of scar all over his body. - “Quick Hoof is known as the best gunslinger in here. He can kill you in the blink of an eye.”

We were at a local bar nearby the living shack, drinking beer.

“Oh, please,” - I replied. - “Everyone has weakness.”

“Hmm, I do know he had a problem with his left eye several weeks ago.”

“What happened?” I asked curiously.

“He was on a raid when a settler punched his eye. So far he didn’t get back his sight on the left side, but he’s still very good,” said the old pony then finished his beer.

“Well, thanks anyways,” I said.

“Considering you’ll die anyways, it was pretty much nothing,” - replied the raider. - “But, you know what? Fifty caps.”

“What?” I said surprised.

“You heard, fifty caps,” he replied.

“Fuck you, I ain’t giving shit” I said as I left the bar. He didn’t say anything after that.

That motherfucker. I asked for some advice, and he already wanted me to pay for that? Hell no, fuck him.

I had one day before the match, so I used that time to practice. I made a training dummy out of scraps and put it outside the walls where I trained. I tried to shot it as fast as possible while I was hiding behind a small barricade. I was thinking on a good solution to reach it, without being in line of sight for too long, but I had no idea how could I do it. At all. I was stuck behind the barricade, moving out would get me killed if the rumors were right about Quick Hoof.

Maybe if I don’t get out? I got a sick idea. Wasn’t much, but I’ll might stand a chance against him. I ran back inside the camp and started putting and mending plates together. At the end of the day, I was really tired, but ready.

The day arrived. They called me inside the arena quite early. I barely had any breakfast. The sun was shining, but it was cold, because winter was coming, which in the wasteland was horrible. A hella lot of snow falls down making traveling close to impossible. Wood was crucial for fire, unless you want to freeze and die. And of course food, you can’t scavenge in the winter, so you gotta store up a lot. In the camp if we ran out of food, they made the elders and fillies fight to death, then ate the dead body. It was horrible, but it was either me or them.

Anyways, back to the arena. This match was normal one. No special rules, just fight until the other one dies.

“Mares and colts, raiders of our little community! Welcome to today’s match! On the right side we’ve got Quick Hoof!” yelled Blue Eyes.

The viewers started cheering. My little win against Neck Breaker attracted a lot of ponies to this match. Nobody was expecting him to lose against me.

“On the other side, Cold Blood!” yelled Blue Eyes.

A lot viewers booed me, while the others cheered. The crowd was divided to two camps pretty much. Ones that curious about me and my fighting. The other ones just wants to see Quick Hoof winning or me dying.

There I was. Face to face against Quick Hoof, just about five meters away. A dark orange stallion unicorn with straight red mane and a patched eye. He had a revolver on each of his side over his armor, which was made out of scraps, but over everything he had a red cape made out of cloth and a shoddy cowboy hat.

“Ah heard you killed Neck Breaker, slut,” - he said with a smirk on his face. - “Ah wanted’t kill him, but it doesn’t matter now.”

“Indeed, because you’ll die too.” I replied.

He just laughed, but then Blue Eyes started the fight.

I ran to a barrier in haste and hid behind it.

“Here goes nothing,” I thought as I got my shield from my side.

That was my idea. I built a big shield, so I can move and not die.

I ran out from my cover, levitating ny shield before me. I left out a small hole, so I can see where he is.

I was trotting towards him, while he looked a bit surprised.

“A really interesting strategy from Cold Blood. Looks like she knows Quick Hoof's strength.” said Blue Eyes.

When I got close to him, he tried to aim behind my shield, but I was fast enough to block his shot. I kept running and drew out my sword. It was harder to hold it, since I had to focus on blocking his bullets too, but I managed to swing it and cut his face, before he jumped away.

“You’ll pay for that, motherfucker!” yelled Quick Hoof as blood started to stream out of his face. His horn began to glow much brighter as he got his second revolver out.

“Beautiful hit from Cold Blood, but the battle isn’t over yet,” yelled Blue Eyes.

I held my shield, but Quick Hoof was smarter. He used both of his guns on both of my side.

BANG! BANG!

I was able to block one shot, but I wasn’t this lucky with the other one. It got me on my belly. A huge pain followed by a burning stomach. I felt to the ground. Blood was floating out of my body. One of my half wanted to give up and just stop fighting, accepting my death, but the other half, a stronger one forced me to keep going and kill that motherfucker. I got up and charged him as he kept shooting at me. I left a red line of blood behind me, but I didn’t care.

BANG-BANG!

One on the left side, which I blocked, one on my right, which I noticed by the corner of my eyes that he aimed low. I jumped a moment earlier than he shot and managed to jump over it. I kept running forward watching out for the shots with more or less luck. There were close calls, but I managed to get to him. I swung my sword and hit him. The sword stuck in his side and blood started to spill out.

He didn’t say a word, just fell down with soulless eyes.

Quick Hoof died.

In the heat of the moment I didn’t even hear the cheering crowd shouting my name while Blue Eyes was going crazy. I was just standing there smiling at the dead body.

“Ouch,” I said as the pain returned in my whole body. I was full of scratches and there was a hole in my stomach. The world started to fade away as I run out of any energy I had left. I fell on the ground in my blood puddle and blacked out.

There I was, fainted again. No control over my body, just floating in the nothingness, when a light showed before me. It got brighter and brighter every moment until I couldn’t see anything.

I opened my eyes. I was in a bed, and more importantly I wasn’t dead. My wounded belly and my hooves were bandaged.

“Ahh, you’re alive,” said a familiar voice.

I looked up and saw Dead Shot next to a table. The room was small. There were two beds, except the one I was in. A table with medication and drugs. A staircase, which lead to upwards. I noticed somepony else behind me. She was an orange colored cute unicorn mare. She had a long white hair with yellow stripes and green eyes.

“W-where am I?” I asked as I tried to sit up, which in fact failed because of my burning stomach.

“In the basement of my tower, it’s used as a small hospital,” replied Dead Shot.

“We have a hospital?”

“Yes, but it’s only for those who shouldn’t die just yet. You won your match by killing Quakehoof. If you’d die, we wouldn’t have a semifinals,” - answered Dead Shot. - “There you see Orange Juice. She’s our doctor, you never met, because she isn’t allowed to go out.”

“So, she’s a slave?” I wondered.

“More or less, we treat her better than most of the raiders, because she’s really important in need,” he explained.

“But I’ll leave you two, got important stuff to do,” said Dead Shot and walked upstairs, closing the door behind him.

“So, when can I get out?” I asked Orange Juice.

“Oh, you should be fine by tomorrow,” she explained. - “But for now, you have to rest.”

She didn’t have to say it twice, I felt really weak and tired. After a few minutes I fell asleep.

Orange Juice was right. When I woke up, I felt much better. I could stand up, walk, run, everything was fine. I thanked her and went outside, where the same old camp welcomed me, again. If I be the leader I really have to do something about that, because it’s killing me.

I headed to the tavern to get a drink and ask around about my next match. When I got there a pink earth pony mare - about as tall as me - stepped in front of me. She had long purple mane with yellow stripes.

“You are Cold Blood, right?” she asked on an excited voice.

“I am, and you are...” I replied.

“Omigosh-omigosh, I’m so excited to see you, now in person! You were amazing in the arena, I’ve been a big fan of you since your first win, but then in the second one you almost died, but you didn’t and you kept fighting and you won,” gabled the pink mare.

“I’m Pink Wink, but you can call me just Pink,” winked Pink on a slightly more calmed tone.

“That’s uhm, great,” I nervously said. I never had a fan before, and I didn’t expect one.

“Yes, yes. Can I invite you for a drink? Sure can I’ll invite you, COME,” yelled Pink.

She didn’t even wait for my answer, just grabbed me and pulled me inside to a table.

“Wait here,” she said and ran to a bar.

I just sat up normally, and she was already back with two beer and gave me one, then looked at me excited.

I drank a bit of it, and it was really tasty.

“That’s apple… ” I was saying when Pink interrupted me.

“Apple cider, yes, I know it's your favorite and so it’s mine,” said Pink with a huge smile.

This was really weird. How did she know that? I can’t remember telling it to anyone, not that it was a secret. I just never had a reason to tell it to anyone.

“So…” I was asking.

“You want to ask me about your next match?” she smirked with wide open eyes.

I just noticed, she had a lot of red in her eyes. She had to be addicted to a really strong drug.

“Uhm, yes actually,” I replied.

“Oh, don’t worry, I know everything about it!” - said Pink. - “His name is Big Gun. Earth pony, brown coat, short white mane. He’s fat. His specialities are heavy guns. So far he won every match by using his minigun. He also has grenades, but don’t think about just blowing him up. He has armor all over his body. Just as if he had a power armor. In this state, you have exactly 0.1% chance of winning, luckily for you, this match is only melee.”

“Oh, wow, thanks” - I said. - “That’s a lot of information to take in.”

“No problemo,” - replied Pink. - “All you’ve gotta do is this. First he’ll charge at you. Jump left, not right, because he’ll have his sword on his left. He’ll realize that in time and will try to get your back. Turn around, block his hit then counter,” said Pink.

“How the fuck do you know all of these?” I asked surprised.

“Oh, I know everything silly, I’m just having these visions for a long time. They show me exactly what will I see,” explained Pink Wink.

“That’s great and all, but how? Have you eaten something?” I asked.

“Nah, the usual. Two dose of homemade Super Party- Time Mint-als. Some dash, and my daily hydra,” said Pink.

I was speechless. How the fuck is she still alive? I mean, living only on drugs, without eating or anything else? That’s just insane.

“No it isn’t, I get to see the future and all other kind of powers,” said Pink.

The fuck? Can she read my thoughts?

“Yes, actually, it’s a huge mess in your head, but I can read it,” she explained.

“Stop that! Can we talk about my match then?” I asked.

“Sure, so, as I was saying you should…”

The day of the semi-finals.

After she told me everything, it was really late, so I thanked her and went to sleep. I memorized them in the following days, and I was ready. I still didn’t fully trust Pink, but so far, they seemed to be right.

The match in fact really was a sword-fight. And it started just as she predicted. He charged, I jumped left turned around and as she said, I had to block instantly. He didn’t expect any of this, so it was the perfect opportunity to counter. I pushed him on his back and kicked his sword out of his mouth.

Blue Eyes went crazy.

“Oh my gosh, everyone. Cold Blood is in her best shape! Never seen her beating anypony like this. Its as if she just knows what her opponent will do,” yelled Blue Eyes.

“And I surely do know everything. Every attack, counterattack and each of your moves,” I said to Big Gun as I smirked.

He got really angry and started throwing punches at me, while he still laid on the ground.

I knew his pattern so it wasn’t a problem dodging them

Left, right, left, right, right, left, right.

None of his punches got me, and I was just standing there with an even bigger smile. He opened his mouth in surprise and I could see him getting desperate.

“You see now? You had no chance from the beginning.” I said as I walked away.

Big Gun kept being silent on the ground, but his anger grew quite big. He got up and charged right at me.

3..2..1.. Now!

I jumped up with a backflip (which I did with the help of my magic) and punched his face. He fell on the ground again, but this time with a bleeding nose. His anger took control over his entire body now.

“Fuck you, motherfucking bitch! You fucking fuck, just die!” yelled Big Gun out of desperate.

He got up again, and charged me mindlessly one last time. This was the moment I’ve been waiting for. I got my sword and when he reached me, I’ve just swung my sword and cut his throat. Big Gun didn’t even noticed my sword, or even if he did, he didn’t care, because he realized that he had no chance.

“Aaaand we have a winner! Cold Blood with a flawless victory will get to the finals!” yelled Blue Eyes.

The crowd, which almost filled the arena all cheered and yelled my name. And there I was, standing in the middle of the arena without saying a word. I’ve just realized how incredible this feeling was. I was finally someone. Not just another raider. The even harder part has yet to come though. I still had to win the finals and then beat Dead Shot after that. He’s been the leader for a really long time, and that means he’s really strong. But even so, death didn’t seem to be that bad anymore, because I wouldn’t die as noone anymore.

My next match was against Black Rose. A black unicorn mare with short dark gray mane and dark blue eyes. I was on a mission with her once. Just a normal scavenge route in Manehatten, but even there, she was really impressive. She didn’t talk much, but everything she said was really accurate and formal. At the end of our journey we encountered a group of ghouls. There were five for both of us. I got overnumbered there, but when they were all over me, suddenly all of them died. Black Rose killed all of them in the blink of an eye. She was really impressive there. Thankfully, I have Pink Wink now, so it should be a piece of cake now.

“I won’t help you,” said Pink then drank more beer.

“What? What do you mean you don’t help me?!” I asked her.

“You know, there were two sides of the tree. On your side I helped you, and on her side, I helped her to get here. Though she didn’t care at all about me. I wanted to get an interesting match in the finals, plus telling you would be just boring,” she explained and then finished her beer.

“Really? Atleast a little bit of help, maybe an advice? Common Pink, what do you want? Caps, more drink, drugs?” I asked her desperately.

“Ahahaha, silly. I make my own drugs, and I don’t need any of those. You know, I’m pretty much invincible, because I know what will happen and when and I can even change it.” - she said. - “But, come closer.”

I got really close, hoping she might say something really important, when all of a sudden.

“Boop!” Pink pushed my nose.

“Ahahaha, I knew you’ll fall for that but this was still really funny,” she laughed as I blushed in embarrassment.

“Oh common, tell me!” I said.

“Alright, I give you a tip, don’t lose your head.” she said and fell asleep.

We drank a lot of beer, so she probably got tired because of them. It was really late, so I went to bed aswell.

I couldn’t fall asleep for a long time. I was thinking about her tip. Don’t lose your head. Wasn’t it obvious? I never seen anypony without a head alive, and the point of the match was to kill the other one. I was annoyed and confused. Why couldn’t she just tell me what to do last time? Gahh, well I guess I’ll see it tomorrow.

The finals day. I didn’t got more time to get more information, because there weren’t any other match. Only me and her. I still had a bit of hangover, but I was alright.

This was an all-in match. You could use anything you want. I got my weapons, my sword, I put my armors on and just in case I brought my scrap-shield aswell. Pink Wink’s help was still in my head. It just confused me, and made me worry about something I might don’t understand.

The arena was the same old, but it was filled with other raiders from all over the place. It made the arena look living. On a higher point - separated from the spectator zone was Dead Shot. This was the last match afterall, surely he was interested in it.

“Allright everypony! Today is the day you’ve been all waiting for. Are you ready to see the final match?” asked Blue Eyes pony.

The crowd all cheered and yelled either my or Black Rose’s name. There she was, just as I remembered. She didn’t say a word, just stood there, looking at me.

“We have the one and only, the one who beat Big Gun without a sweat, Cold Blood!” - cheered Blue Eyes the crowd - “But wait! Look who we have on the other side? They say she could beat a group of hellhounds with her bare hoof. The deadly, who laughs in the face of death, Black Rose!” the whole crowd was cheering, yelling her name, except Dead Shot, who just sit there, watching us silently.

“Alright everypony. The final match will begin… Now!”

I ran back as usual, hid behind one of the barrier. After a bit of time, I looked out, and to my surprise, Black Rose was standing there, looking at the ground. What was she doing? Did she give up, or something?

I decided to try my chance and shot her. I slowly aimed my pistol and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

She jumped up, and dodged my bullet. That’s not good, she literally jumped away from a bullet, as if she had… predicted it. Oh fuck Pink Wink. She probably told everything to Black Rose.

“Come out little pony, let's play a game,” - said Black Rose. - “Oh, yes, a game, where you die!”

And now she became psychopath… fuck. Her eyes turned red, and she had huge smirk on her face.

“Oh, poor filly, scared of the elderly. You should’ve just stay as a slave, because that’s who you are!” she yelled.

“Fuck you!” I yelled back, and ran towards her raging and pulled out my sword. She dodged and from nowhere got out a sword and cut my right foreleg. It was burning from pain and I fell on the ground, but I couldn’t give up just yet, could I?

She knew all my moves, every step I would take, every thought, everything. I didn’t even have a chance in the beginning, so why fight the inevitable?

“No,” - I said. - “I can’t give up, not yet!”

I stood up. My leg still hurt a lot. Black Rose looked a bit surprised. She didn’t expect me to stand up, or it could’ve just been one of her tricks, to annoy me and make me charge her mindlessly.

“Mindlessly… That’s it!”

That’s what Pink Wink meant. I gotta think through my steps and attack her in new clever ways, not just rush her.

Think Cold Blood, think. I would charge again and try to cut her throat with my sword. But then she could just dodge it and probably kill me.

“Oh what is it now, already giving up? Fight, you bitch! I’m not sure how you got into the finals, but you did somehow! Show me your secret tricks, because even if your other duels were against morons, they could’ve kill you easily,” yelled angrily Black Rose.

She expects me to foolishly charge at her. Let’s give her that.

I ran towards her, pretending to be angry, but when I was about to reach her, she jumped away, just as I thought she would. I stopped right before that and swung my sword, but I missed.

She was really surprised. Her eyes and mouth opened wide, but didn’t say anything. This was my chance. I ran towards her swinging my sword, trying to catch her off-guard, but she realized that. She blocked all of my hits. Looks like she knew that, she can’t rely on Pink’s fate telling, so she started to fight finally. Swings and thrusts continued eachother, but no use, she was really fast. This was a stalemate I couldn’t win.

I focused my magic, on my pistol, which was really hard, because I had to focus on the fight too. I got a bit slower, and so did she. Maybe she had the same idea?

I noticed a gun floating nearby her. Oh god, she really did have the same idea, I have to hurry. It was already exhausting to levitate two things at once, but to move them separately and fast? But I had to. I focused even more now on my pistol, which drained my magic, but atleast it was aiming at Black Rose, just as she got ready too. I dropped my sword pulled the trigger and jumped right.

BANG! BANG!

She shot aswell. I got a bullet in my other leg and fall on the ground. On the other hoof, I shot her head, so I was the luckier one this time, and I got to watch her soulless body fall on the ground in front of me.

Blue Eyes was going crazy through the whole match, but I couldn’t really make out anything in the heat of the battle. But now, he really got crazy, and said all kinds of things about me and about the match. Atleast I assumed from the words I caught from his speech.

My legs were still burning from pain, but I managed to stand up, which made the whole arena cheer and yell my name.

“I could get used to this,” I said with a smile.

“And so, this ends the main event, but don’t forget! Dead Shot will have a fight against Cold Blood tomorrow, about the exact same time,” said Blue Eyes.

Right, I still have that match. But how on equestria am I going to beat him? He’s been the gang leader for a year now. But that’s for later, I have to speak with a certain pink pony.

After I got out the arena, I rushed to the bar asking everypony on the way if they saw Pink Wink. In the end I found her just the place, where she invited me to beer.

“Oh, you’re finally here,” said Pink Wink.

“Don’t play the innocent, I know you told Dark Rose how to beat me, but you didn’t say a word for me “

“Did I? I remember four words,” she replied.

“Well, Uhm yea, I didn’t lose my head, but you could’ve just tell me everything,” I said.

“Why, wasn’t it enough? Plus don’t you think I could’ve just tell her that you will realize how to beat her, and how to fight against you that time, but I didn’t,” she explained.

“Well, I guess you’re right.”

When I said that a tall bald earth pony stepped to the table and put down beer in front of us. I gave Pink Wink a questioning face.

“Oh, don’t worry, it’s on me,” she said.

“Fine, but how the fuck do you pay for all of those drugs and drinks?” I asked her.

“I guess I can’t keep it as a secret, can I,” - Pink started to explain. - “You already know Dead Shot… He pays for everything I do and in exchange I tell him the future.”

“Oh wow, how long have you been doing this?” I asked surprised.

“Well, y’know… about a year.” said Pink.

“A YEAR?! So, you’ve been helping him since he became the leader?” I asked.

“Pretty much.”

A moment of silence passed. I was thinking on how could I make her help me instead of Dead Shot.

“Alright, I know you’ll want to ask me to lie to him and make you win, and in the end you’ll say that you’ll do anything for me, just to help you, so here’s the deal. I’ll get to have any drink and drugs for free, as I did so far, plus you’ll have to find me something,” said Pink.

“Hold on, that sounds a little much,” I replied.

“Is it Cold Blood is it? Because Dead Shot already gives me half of the deal, so you have to make it up for me,” smirked Pink Wink.

That sounded reasonable, and if I don’t accept it, then I’ll die anyways.

“Fine, we have a deal,” I said.

“Great,” said Pink while clapped her hooves together and gave a happy smile.

“So, are you going to tell me what to do?” I asked after a bit of waiting.

“Oh, silly. Don’t worry about that. Just act as usual, and I’ll make sure he won’t even have a chance of knowing what will you do,” explained Pink.

Well then, I think I should just trust her. Afterall it’s thanks to her that I am here. Which reminded me that I don’t even know her that well.

“Oh, my life story, eh?” she asked.

“Yes, but please stop reading my mind, it is really annoying.”

“Alright, as you already know, my name is Pink Wink, I was born in the Manehattan ruins nearby Tenpony Tower. My father was a drug dealer and my mother worked as a dancer in a club. So, I was kinda an accident, but mom couldn’t leave me after I was born. When I was a filly, I once was left alone, and found some drugs, and took some, because I didn’t know what were they. Turned out I ate Party- Time Mint-als , and I just couldn’t stop. It was one of the most delicious thing I ever ate, so I kept eating it until there weren’t any left. And then, I’m not sure what really happened. I was really happy and hyped for a long time, but then suddenly I woke up celestia knows where, and I couldn’t find a way home. I was older and I somehow knew how to survive and even had a shelter. I was experimenting with drugs since then, which caused my visions, and I even joined this gang for life support in exchange of this special ability. Guess who invited me here,” she said.

“Dead Shot?” I asked.

“Exactly, since then, I’m living here,” she said and finished her story.

“And how do you know the future?” I asked.

“Oh, no biggie, I just see it, though you meant how I see it.” she said and drank her beer.

“Image this. You can see a hella lot of reality in the future. The possibility of each one decides how clear do I see them, so I remember seeing you dyeing against Dead Shot, but since we made our deal, that vision got really blurry and almost impossible to see. I could see a reality now, where I tell you exactly what to do and when, but in the end, the other raiders would call you a cheater and you’d end up being killed by them.” she ended.

“Oh, wow, thanks,” I said.

“No problem, until you’ll do your part of the deal, but don’t worry, you’ll do it.”

“Uhm, good,” I replied.

My goddess it was still really weird.

“For the new gang leader!” she said and raised her beer in the air.

“Ohh, you” I blushed and moved my beer up too, then we both finished our beers.

The final match that separates me from being a leader is here, finally. I can’t believe I actually gotten this far. Sure, I had some help, and without Pink I would be already dead, but that’s not the case. I am fighting against Dead Shot, and the outcome seems to be brighter for me.

The weather was nice and calm. The sun was shining. There were clouds here and there, but the sky was mostly clear.

I ate radroaches for breakfast, but this time it was quite tasty. It was just such a perfect day in every way. After that, I went back for my armor and weapons, then trotted straight to the arena where everypony was waiting for me. Dead Shot was there already, but decided to wait for me to “enjoy my last meal.” If he only knew what’s in my pocket.

“Hellooo Mares and Gentlecolts, it’s me, your favorite announcer, Blue Eyes, and today is the day! We’re gonna have a huge-huge duel between two ponies that you all know well. On the left side we have the unbeaten champion, the leader of our little community, Dead Shot!” finished Blue Eyes and everyone began cheering.

“But wait, look who we have against Dead Shot, she came from nowhere and already on top. She’s beaten Neck Breaker and even Quickhoof. The pony you all know, Cold Blood,” said Blue Eyes and the crowd cheered again. It was an incredible view. I didn’t even know there are this many raider in this gang, or maybe they were from other places?

“Alright, calm down everyone! Today’s match rule is something you all love. Let’s say I hope you brought weapons, because you can throw them in the arena this time! We’ll take every weapon except one of their choice and they can use any weapon they find in the arena,” explained the Blue Eyes.

Oh, great. These matches are usually comes down to who is more popular. Though it can get really messy. A good strategy is to keep something that you can use in close range, because most of the time, you get to have a normal weapon from the audience. So, I decided to keep my sword, afterall it was quite useful so far. A tall bald pony with an eyepatch on his left eye and dark blue coat came to me and took all of my other weapons. I saw Dead Shot giving up his weapons too. He kept a switchblade, which was a weird choice. Probably it was thanks to Pink Wink that he chose that.

“It looks like, they’re ready! So let’s get to it already! The match will start in 3… 2… 1… NOW!!!” finished Blue Eyes.

The match started with a bell, and so the crowd threw some weapons inside. I looked around, and saw an assault rifle and a shotgun on my sides. Neither had much ammo, but that was the point of it. To switch weapons in the heat of the battle. The assault rifle had one filled magazine in it, but for the shotgun there was a small box of ammo for it. Pretty good for the beginning. I took them and hid behind the barrier, and looked outside. Dead Shot got about the same, but with explosives and more ammo, I believe.

Suddenly, I heard a metal ping, so I looked around and found a small can. I opened it quickly and found some kind of… food? I noticed that Pink Wink was there, and gave a small wink to me.

These must be PTMs, so, I have to take some to win this. I wasn’t much of a drug addict. Not because I didn’t like them, but because I didn’t have the caps for them. Sure occasionally I took some, but it was always just to have some fun and not for combat.

As I was thinking this a shot flew in front of my head.

“Oh, shit,” I yelled and hid behind my barrier fast. Dead Shot was already shooting me, so I quickly ate the contents of the can. It had a lemon-mint taste, but after I swallowed it, something really strange happened. I could see four times as good as usual and even understand every word the crowd said. The world got slower and my mind got much faster. Hundreds of plans went through my head on just how to kill Dead Shot. Or maybe they weren’t just plans, but possibilities of the future? What did Pink Wink gave me? In many of those visions I saw myself dead, but there were several one where I survived. That’s what I have to follow to win.

I started to run towards Dead Shot, and those visions began to change. I saw lines where his bullets will go, and even more visions of myself dying from those. But in the end, I noticed a reality where I survive, so I used that one. I jumped right and avoided his first several shots. He was fast and aimes at me again, shooting again.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

I jumped left with a flip in the air, and I saw the bullets going away and barely but not hitting me. It was really scary, but I had to trust them. It was by best chance.

I finally reached him and punched him in the face with ease. He tried to counter me, but I knew that already, so he had no chance blocking that.

He fell on the ground, and I saw one of his tooth and his nose started to bleed. I aimed my shotgun on Dead Shot and pulled the trigger, but he managed to roll away and stand up. I aimed back at him, but jumped away instantly. I would’ve died there if I stayed there. He shot his gun, just as I saw it, but ‘luckily’ I survived.

“Fuck you Cold Blood, what did Pink Wink tell you?” asked Dead Shot angrily. His eyes turned red.

“Nothing this time,” I said with a huge smile on my face.

I ran towards him and when he was about to punch me, I put my forehooves on the ground and used it as a pivot point to turn away and buck him. I felt as I broke some of his bones and sent him flying.

“Uhh, ohh” I got really dizzy. The effect started to wear off, I have to finish him quickly.

I pulled out my sword and jumped on top of him.

“You might’ve won, but… I’m bringing you with me to hell,” he said and pulled a trigger of a grenade just before I slashed his throat in half.

“Wait, what? Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck,” I yelled and ran away as fast as I could.

“Fuck in fucking hell you motherfucker, Celestia fuck you in the ass,” I kept saying, but I got behind a barrier.

BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!

The grenade created an exploding chain around it, making anything that had any gunpowder in it explode. After it stopped - which took about ten seconds - I looked outside and stood up.

“And the winner is Cold Blood! After a whole year someone did it and beat Dead Shot! Unbelievable everypony. And here I thought he’ll be the leader forever!” yelled Blue Eyes, and the whole arena got filled with cheer, and my name.

I did it. I’m the gang leader. It’s… it’s… I’m speechless… I thought I’ll just die in like a match or two, but I actually did it. Sure, I have a lot to thank for Pink Wink, so I’ll definitely have to do that task she has for me, but for now. It’s just, wow. All those years of being a slave filly, then I finally got out, and I’m already here, after about two months. It’s just incredible.

Footnote: Level up!

You’ve proven to be strong in a way or another.

+1 to every stat.

Faction Perk unlocked: Gang leader.

You become the leader of a Raider gang. You can send them on missions, and you decide on important matters.