I half expected to find myself in that vast ocean of nothingness like before. Maybe find myself face to face with the creature that lived in my head calling herself, Morning Star, like another version of me. That however, wasn’t what happened, I didn’t dream anything, or at least I don’t remember dreaming anything. What did happen was, I woke up to utter chaos.

Voices filled the air around me and everything hurt. “She’s starting to wake up,” a stallion’s voice said above me.

“Shit, use a sedative spell to get her to go back to sleep then,” a familiar voice said.

“I’ve been trying, but it’s not working, she’s still waking up,” the stallion said starting to panic.

“Aura? Is that you?” I started saying, then pain shot through my body ten times worse than when I’d first awoken. My horn felt like somepony snapped it clean off, and my lower abdomen felt like somepony was slowly running a hot rusty knife slowly up my body. I convulsed and screamed as hard as I could, trying to hold onto my head and abdomen at the same time. Somepony had strapped my hoofs down, which only made things worse.

“Fuck, do something Doc, before she makes her wounds any worse,” Aura said from one side of me.

“What part of ‘I’ve been trying’ don’t you understand Griffon!?” he yelled.

My vision started to flicker with different colors, each one flashing one after the other. The pain increased, making me buck my hips, the sound of flesh tearing filled the air, followed by a fresh wave of pain. I screamed louder, wishing somepony would just put me out of my misery.

“Fuck this then,” Aura said over my blood curling scream. I heard the sound of medical carts being moved aside, then she was back. “Let’s just hope this works.” Her avian face came into view and she was holding a shining memory orb in her talons. She quickly pressed the orb to the tip of my horn, there was a spark, and the world around me and the pain, faded away.

I’m starting to get used to this feeling, the feeling of being part of somepony else’s body, reliving a moment in time that they lived. I was in a mare again, I could feel strong wings at her side, her mane softly blowing in a light breeze. She was on a cloud looking down at a beautiful cloud city watching other Pegasi as they trained in a field just outside of the city. As she watched the ponies train, another pegasus landed on the cloud next to her.

She looked up at him and said, “You’re early Captain, I wasn’t expecting you for another half hour.” Her voice was sweet, but a little cocky and had a hint of confidence to it.

The stallion who landed in front of her was the same pony that was in the tent with Big Macintosh before he died. I hadn’t seen his cutie mark the last time I saw him, I thought it was a little unusual for a pre-war pony, it was a crescent moon with a red hilted sword crossing it. He smiled at my host. “Lightning Dust, it’s good to see you after so many years. I’m early because my meeting ran short, so I figured I’d come straight here.”

My host blushed a little and looked back down at the ponies below. “You said you wanted to see me Captain Night Stalker. Why the sudden need to meet after so long? I figured the personal body guard of Princess Luna would have better things to do with his time than meeting with a discharged solider.”

“Don’t be silly Lightning, I have all the time in Equestria to see an old friend,” he said.

“If that was true then you wouldn’t have said in your message that it was urgent and pulled me away from my students,” she said with a smile, glancing over her shoulder at him. I had to admit, even I found him a little attractive. I could tell that my host sure did.

He ran a hoof through his long black mane. “Ha-ha-ha, still can’t get one past you, can I? You’re right, I didn’t have you meet me here just to catch up on old times.”

“Thought as much, so tell me what you want, and make it quick Night Stalker, I really need to get back to my students,” my host said.

“No, you don’t Lightning. In fact I know you haven’t had students in a few months,” Night Stalker said accusingly.

My host’s body tensed up. “How in Celestia’s name do you know that?”

He smiled. “I have my ways of finding things out. I’m here on Ministry of Awesome business. Rainbow Dash tells me you’ve been requesting a transfer from the academy and back onto the battlefield.”

She huffed and turned on him. “Yeah so what? I’ve already been told five times that my request has been denied. They don’t want a coward joining in on the fighting.”

He smiled at her again. “You’re no coward, I know that for a fact.”

“Oh yeah? Well try telling that to the higher-ranking officers. I gave my report of what happened back then, they read it, said I was a liar, and deemed me a coward,” she said, anger in every word she spoke.

“And sent you here to train flyers, yes I know the story. I’m here because I believe your report, and I want to offer you a new job. That is, if you’re interested,” Night Stalker said, raising his brow.

“A job? What kind of job?” my host asked.

“I can’t tell you here, but I can promise you that it’ll be a lot better than what you’re doing now. I won’t lie, it’s a dangerous job, but if we succeed, we might be able to put an end to this war,” he replied.

She smiled opening her wings. “Well, when you put it that way, I’m in.”

“Just like that, no information?” he asked.

“I just wanna prove that I’m no coward, and I wanna help keep my home safe,” my host said.

“That’s what I like to hear, but don’t accept so quickly. I want you to know what you’re getting yourself into first,” he said, then turned and shouted, “Minuette, you can come up now!”

There was a flash of indigo light, then a unicorn mare appeared next to Night Stalker. The blue unicorn smiled and said in an excited voice, “Are we good to go boss!?” (How was a unicorn able to walk on clouds?)

“Yeah. Can you get us to Canterlot from here?” Night Stalker responded.

“Hey who’s this? And how is she standing on a cloud?” my host asked, looking down at the mare’s hooves. (That’s what I’d like to know too)

She beamed at my host excitedly. “My name’s Minuette, and standing on clouds is an easy spell, my friend Twilight Sparkle showed it to me years ago,” she looked back at Night Stalker, “Sure thing boss, I can even get us back to the base if you want.”

“Just don’t overdo it, I don’t want you tired out from one spell,” Night Stalker said.

“Pfft it’s easy, here I’ll show ya,” she said, and in a flash of magic, the scenery around us vanished and reappeared. We were standing on a cliff overlooking a city I’ve only seen in books back in the Stable. Those pictures didn’t do the city justice, it was beautiful, large regal looking buildings and shops surrounded the large castle that demanded your attention. If I could control my host’s body, I would’ve stared at it for hours. There wasn’t anything as beautiful as this in The Wasteland.

My host however didn’t look over the city for long, her head turned to look at a large golden door set in the side of the cliff that hung out over the castle and near one of the tall towers. Minuette smiled at her then winked as she turned to walk toward the door.

“What is this place?” my host asked as she followed Minuette and Night Stalker.

“Its home,” was all he said as they approached the door.

“Boss, should I go ahead and see if the others are in?” Minuette asked, beaming back at him. Wow, she smiles a lot.

“They should all be here by now, apart from Greta. I told them to be ready for me by noon and knowing the others they were ready an hour before noon,” he said as he placed a hoof on the door. “By the night’s glory, I request passage into the home of these children who look to the night sky for protection.”

“What was that?” my host asked, but as soon as Night Stalker finished speaking, the door glowed and began to open. Not looking back, he walked inside, followed close behind by Minuette.

She looked back at my host and said, “Hurry up, you don’t wanna be stuck out here do ya?”

My host stepped forward and followed them. The door closed behind us. I found it all a little creepy to be honest. If I was Lightning Dust, I don’t think I could’ve followed them. The passageway just inside the door lead to a large open room. It was brightly lit, a few tables were spread out, along with some training equipment, and pillows to lounge on. Along the walls ran rows of books on glittering shelves. On the other side of the room was another hallway that I assumed led to the living quarters or something like that. In the room waiting for them were six other ponies all standing at attention. Four were pegasi, one was an earth pony mare, and the last was another unicorn mare.

“Welcome home Captain,” the earth pony said. She looked like a strong pony, her coat was brown, with a pinkish-red mane that she kept short.

“Thank you, Babs, and the rest of you for being here. I’d like to introduce the final member of our group if she joins, Lightning Dust,” Night Stalker said.

One of the pegasi walked forward. “Why is SHE joining Captain? She’s just a coward who left her post when the Wonderbolts needed her.”

My host hung her head and I could feel tears in her eyes. Night Stalker stepped forward, saying, “Thunderlane, shut your mouth before I make you. I trust her, and that should be good enough for you and everypony in here.”

“Captain we all read the reports from back then, give us one good reason why we should just trust her on your word alone,” Thunderlane retorted, standing his ground.

“Oh, Boss can I tell him please?” Minuette said enthusiastically.

“Go ahead,” he said as my host slowly looked up toward the blue unicorn.

She beamed and pulled a shiny memory orb out from her saddle bags. “This is why we trust her. The original report from the pony who overlooked the Wonderbolts assault toward the beginning of the war said that Lightning Dust abandoned her post, leaving the rest of her squad open for attack later that night. This lead to the death of six Wonderbolts. Only two survived the attack, one was the pony overlooking the battle Cloud Whisper, and the other was Lightning Dust.”

“That report wasn’t true and I said that from the beginning, but Cloud Whisper was my superior and they believed her over me,” my host said angrily.

Minuette lifted the memory orb high in the air and spoke again, “The Boss always found the official report a little fishy. He was friends with Lightning Dust back in their academy days. So, he looked into it, when more and more didn’t add up, he called me in to do a memory sweep on Cloud Whisper. When I did, I got this out of her.”

“What does it show Minuette?” another pale pegasus asked stepping in next to Thunderlane.

This time Night Stalker spoke, “Cloud Whisper faked the report over jealousy of Lightning Dust. The memory was of something she saw back before the last battle with the Wonderbolts. This one thing lead her to pull Lightning away from her post that night. When the attack happened and the other six fell, she faked the report to get back at Lightning and to hide her own mistake. I’ve viewed it myself and know that Lightning didn’t leave her post out of cowardice, but out of respect for her commanding officer. That is why you should trust my word and Minuette’s as well. As for what happened in the memory orb I’m sure Lightning knows what I viewed and I’ll leave it up to her to tell you all, when she’s ready.”

My host looked up at them all with tears in her eyes. “Thank you for that Night Stalker, it means a lot to me that you would go so far to prove that I wasn’t cowardly that night.”

He turned toward her. “I didn’t do it for you, not entirely, I need you here with us. We need a brave soldier like yourself if we’re ever going to win this damned war.”

Thunderlane spoke again, “If the Captain trusts you, then I do too and the same goes for the rest of us I’m sure. I shouldn’t have ever spoken out of turn. I hope you can forgive me.”

She nodded toward them as they all smiled, then looked back at Night Stalker. “So why did you bring me here? You said you could only explain what this job was in secret. After all that, and how much I owe you for clearing my name, I’m sure I can’t turn down anything now. But I’d still like to know what’s going on.”

He turned back to the rest of the ponies. “You’re all dismissed for now, stay here at base, but please let me have some privacy with Lightning Dust.”

“Yes sir!” they all said in unison giving the large pony a salute before walking in different directions.

He turned back toward my host once everypony was out of ear shot. “Come sit with me so we can talk.”

My host nodded and followed him toward one of the large pillows. Once they were settled down she spoke, “You know I had no idea this place was here.”

“Most don’t, I didn’t even know about it until a couple months ago,” he said looking around. “The reason I brought you here is because Princess Luna has decided to bring back an old order of hers from back before she became Nightmare Moon. There is a huge history behind it, but I won’t bore you right now with the details. It was disbanded when she was banished to the moon, this used to be their old headquarters. Our goal is to protect Princess Luna, but also to be a stealth operations unit for fighting back against the Zebras. I want you to be our last member, with your agility and quick reflexes, I think you’re perfect for the job.”

“So everypony here is part of this so called stealth unit?” she asked.

“Yep, Thunderlane and Cloudy Nights, are my Scouts, the two mare Pegasi are Comet Tail and Phoenix Heart, and they’re the Snipers. Our earth Pony friend is Babs Seed, she’s our heavy infantry, Minuette and the other unicorn Amethyst Star, handle information gathering, and they also handle anything we need that has to do with magic, both are top students from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. I’d introduce you to our other new member Greta, but she apparently has other business to attend to right now,” he explained.

“What about you? And what would I be doing if I joined this group?” my host asked.

His smile grew a bit. “Apart from being the Captain, I’m the one that handles stealth operations and assassinations, you would be joining me on those kinds of missions. That’s if you can handle it.”

My host smiled. “Sounds fun, but what makes us different from other ponies like the special forces in the Shadowbolts? And didn’t you say that the Ministry of Awesome was the one who sent you? I thought they didn’t do anything.”

“The Ministry of Awesome is supposed to appear to do nothing, apart from small things like running the Shadowbolts and small projects. In reality, they’re in charge of Luna’s spies and more, the orders come down to the Ministry mare herself, she passes them on to the spies. That’s normally how it goes for me too. On paper, we’ll appear to be working with the M.O.A., but really all my orders come down from Luna herself. This place and our real jobs will be kept secret from most of the government apart from the Ministry Mares Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash,” he said getting to his hooves.

“So, if I decide to join you, then I’ll get to be some kind of spy?” my host asked.

“That and much more, you’ll help play a role in saving Equestria. So, tell me Lightning Dust, are you in?” he asked holding out a hoof.

She took his hoof and shook it. “Yeah, it sounds fun. I have two questions though.”

“What’s that?” Night Stalker responded.

“First of all, what will happen with that bitch who made up the fake report, and what would you have done to me if I hadn’t said yes to you after seeing this place and knowing what I know now?” she asked.

“Cloud Wisper has already been demoted and sent to take over your old job at the academy, she was lucky she didn’t get court-martialed for what she did. As for what we would’ve done if you’d said no. Minuette would’ve taken the memories of this place from your head, you would’ve been placed in a better position working with the M.O.A., and gotten what you wanted. That can still happen if you want,” Night Stalker said.

“Nah, this sounds like a lot more fun, and it’ll be a blast working with you again. So how about you show me my new digs Captain,” she said winking at him.

Night Stalker smiled. “Sounds good, Welcome to the Children of the Night.”

“Good morning Star Shine the earth says hello,” Stardust said as I awoke.

“Call me that again and you’re the one that gets stabbed next,” I said irritably.

“Someone’s cranky. Considering you almost killed yourself, you should be thankful I’m being nice. Your tiny little ass scared the shit out of me. I’m speaking metaphorically of course,” he retorted with a cocky grin.

“Ha ha, ow. Asshole, this fucking hurts y’know. What happened, and where’s Aura? I heard her the last time I woke up,” I asked as I looked around the room.

He sighed as if he didn't really want to tell me. “She’s resting up, we’ve been taking turns watching you sleep. Not in the creepy ‘I like to watch ponies sleep’ way. More like we were waiting for you to wake up. After you passed out, Scribe Hazel took you back here to get you patched up. Little did she know; your guts were just about to redecorate the ground. She ended up riding on Paladin Stalk’s back with you, holding in all your party favors and whatnot. When they got you back here they started operating right away. They had to rejoin your damaged organs and right as they were finishing that part, you woke up during surgery and flipped out. When you started flailing, you tore apart the organs they rejoined and in the process of doing that you also tensed up so much that you tore yourself open even more. Aura grabbed a memory orb from your saddlebags and they were able to knock you out again, but the damage you did just waking up was horrible. You were split open from your sternum all the way down to your uh well you know… anyway they rejoined your organs again and did what they could for the torn tissue and muscle. Then they sutured everything to get you closed up, they also started you on an IV that’s kinda like a healing potion. It’s supposed to repair the damaged muscles and speed up the healing process of your organs. They said that if you didn’t wake up within three days then you’d probably wouldn’t make it.”

“How many days has it been?” I asked a little weakly.

“Four,” he replied nonchalantly.

“Four? You just said that I was supposed to be dead if I went past three,” I replied, wincing at the pain of my pulling stitches.

“Yeah I know. They were gonna take you off the IV and wait until you eventually kicked it, but I stopped them. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from you, it’s that you don’t give up on your friends,” he said proudly.

“You didn’t point a gun at any doctors, did you?” I asked, raising my brow.

“No! No…well…uh…maybe just a little,” he replied, scratching his head as he turned his gaze away from me.

“You dumbass! OWWW. Dammit that hurts,” I exclaimed in agony.

“Quit freakin out, it’s cool. They completely understood after I fired a warning shot,” he said again.

“Oh Celestia. You didn’t,” I said in disbelief.

“You bet your ass I did, I ain’t gonna let them give up on you. Doctors think they’re SO smart with their fancy lab coats and stetha-ear-listener thingies and odds of survival. All they really are, are ponies who found a dirty torn up lab coat and a few equestrian medical journals and suddenly they’re professional doctors with a degree in medicine and all that shit,” Stardust said.

“Stardust they’re real doctors. Otherwise I’d be held together with duct tape and wonderglue. Now go wake up Aura and tell her I’m okay,” I retorted, feeling a little annoyed.

“Alright fine, I’ll go get her,” he said arrogantly. “I’ll have her release the hostages too.”

“Hostages!?” I exclaimed.

“Ha, just kidding. Don’t tie your horn in a knot, I’m not that stupid. She might be though; a bird’s brain is the size of a peanut y’know, or so I’ve heard. I haven’t actually seen a peanut, it might be smaller,” Stardust replied with another grin.

“Just go,” I said annoyed.

“Okay, okay, I’m going,” he said as he walked out of the room.

For some reason the room didn’t really make me feel like I was in a clinic. It felt more like a prison cell. The concrete walls mixed with the florescent lighting made me feel a little like I was in one of the holding cells in my old stable. There were medical supplies everywhere, there was also an annoying beeping sound coming from one of the machines that happened to be hooked up to me.

“Great more annoying sounds. I’ll bet that if I pull off these sticky things it’s gonna make everypony freak the fuck out. Guess I’ll just put up with it,” I said to myself.

Painfully I scooted myself up a little so I could get a better look at myself. My entire lower torso, abdomen, and waist was covered with bandages. I feel so stupid right now. Couldn’t I have slapped myself or something instead of stabbing myself with a spear?

“Great, now I’m gonna have a huge unattractive scar because of my own stupidity,” I said to myself again.

I let myself slide back down to the lying position and tried to relax a little. The pain in my body was like a chronic soreness that persisted like a bad itch that you knew you couldn’t scratch. Suddenly I heard a knock on the door.

“Knock-knock, somepony spilled the beans that you’re awake,” a nurse started to kind of sing cheerily as she walked in. “So, guess what time it is. It’s time to change your bandages.”

She was a stark white unicorn with super curly pink hair with the sun wearing a happy face as her cutie mark.

“What are you on? I want some,” I asked, skeptical of her strange optimism.

“Oh, I’m not on anything. I’m just happy you’re not dead,” she said in her annoyingly cheery voice as she started to unwrap the bandaging.

“Huh. Coulda fooled me,” I said to myself quietly.

She sat there and hummed the most annoying upbeat tune as she carefully unwrapped the bandages. As more and more of them were taken off, the more I could see the damage that had been done.

“So…what’s your name anyway?” I asked cautiously.

“Oh, I’m so glad you asked! I’m Nurse Joy and I’m the attending nurse for you today,” she said sounding overjoyed.

“Huh, Joy, figures,” I said to myself again.

“What was that silly filly?” she asked, closing her eyes and cocking her head.

“Oh, it’s nothing, just making sure I won’t forget your name is all. Said it back to myself, you know how it is,” I replied.

“Okay, but if it was really something mean I’ll send in Nurse Patches instead. She’s a big sourpuss and thinks she’s better than everyone else, but I really shouldn’t say things like that. If she knows I said that, it might hurt her feelings,” she said, still smiling.

Oh, sweet Celestia make her hurry up, she’s so Luna damned happy. I wish she WOULD send Nurse Patches in. I mean c’mon, who’s THAT cheerful in The Wasteland? It’s just not possible, there’s death and tragedy everywhere here. How does she stay so damn uppity? I hope I’m actually still in the bunker and not somehow in a functioning mental hospital because that would be a little extreme, even if I did go all psychopath killer during the fight.

“Oh goodness. It looks like you’re healing up faster than expected, your stitches are only four days old and they look about seven or eight days old. Some wounds grow away so fast, sometimes it’s almost too fast haha,” she said sounding a little surprised.

“Grow away?” I asked.

“Oh, it’s just a fun little thing I like to say sometimes. Isn’t it just the cutest little saying?” she replied

“Uh…yeah...sure…cute, that’s the word for it. Are you sure it looks good? I’m still pretty sore,” I asked.

“I bet you are. You almost tore your little self in half. Unfortunately, I can’t give you any med-x because you could lose consciousness again. We don’t want that, now do we?” she said as she started to wrap new bandages around me.

I wish Stardust would’ve warned me about her, she’s a little intense. Come to think of it, even if he did warn me, I probably wouldn’t have believed him. Seriously, this mare was unbelievably nice for a Wastelander.

“All done,” she sang. “Now don’t get too squirmy, you might pop a stitch.”

“Thank you for changing my bandages Nurse Joy, I appreciate your kindness,” I said, giving a small smile.

“No need to thank me, I’m just doing what I love to do. Now I must be going, the ranger in the next room needs another dose of rad-away and guess who’s got an extra at her nurse’s station,” she said as she walked out of the room and passed Stardust and Aura as they walked in.

“Thanks for the warning Stardust,” I said sarcastically.

“Oh, I should probably let you know. The nurse is a little too sweet for apple pie,” he replied, returning the sarcasm.

“Very funny Stardust. You know I don’t think she can possibly be mean or rude in any way. I think the universe would explode if she was,” I retorted.

“Yeah, she’s a bit over the top, but at least she’s not a total bitch like the other nurse. She threatened me with a scalpel for just asking for water,” he said apologetically.

“Have you ever thought to yourself that you might just be an asshole?” Aura snarked.

“As a matter of fact, yes, I have, and a ponymatic vigor tester said otherwise,” Stardust retorted.

“For the record, you didn’t say please,” Aura said, persisting the conversation.

“Personally, I think the only time anypony’s heard YOU say please is while you’re begging for your life. You know like you’re about to in about ten seconds if you don’t shut your fuckin beak,” Stardust retorted, angrily.

“Fuck you. I could’ve just left you in a ditch somewhere to die instead of doing what I did. Just because you have something against griffons, doesn’t mean we’re all bad. Maybe I’d be a little nicer to you if you weren’t such a dick!” Aura yelled.

“Would you both just shut up!” I demanded, ending their argument.

“Sorry about that Shadow. We still don’t get along that well, as I’m sure you can see,” Stardust apologized.

“I’ve noticed. Anyway, moving on. What happened after the explosion? Was the town destroyed for sure? I heard a report from DJ Pon-3 about it,” I asked.

“Well yes and no. The side of the mountain collapsed when the stable exploded and the debris landed in the town below. Some of the town is intact but the whole area is full of radiation so no one can actually resettle there unless they’re a ghoul,” Aura explained.

“Yeah. Unfortunately, it sounds like that fiend-boss Gator wasn’t there when it happened, DJ Pon3 said so on the radio. He said something yesterday about him going to gather more fiends out west,” Stardust followed.

“Great, now I’ll have the thought that he might kill me in my sleep riding on my conscience,” I said with a wave of my hoof.

“I’m sure somepony’ll kill him eventually, the bastard has it coming,” Aura said, reassuring me of Gator’s impending demise.

I sighed in acceptance and asked, “Hey guys, I have another question. Are we still at the Steel Rangers bunker? I don’t remember them having doctors and nurses and stuff. Also, why isn’t there a Knight or something keeping an eye on you guys? Last time I checked they still didn’t trust Stardust with his weapons and well… Aura, she’s a griffon, so I think they’d be skeptical of her too.”

Stardust nodded and said, “Yeah we’re still at the bunker. You didn’t meet the medical staff before because you were busy with Elder Appleslice, I on the other hoof did. Apparently, all the medical staff you see here are Ranger Scribes. They’ve studied old medical textbooks and stuff very thoroughly, so much that they feel comfortable enough to perform surgery and give other medical treatments. It’s like I said earlier when I was mocking them for being fake doctors. As for the lack of surveillance, that’s a little complicated. When Aura showed up here with me all half dead they were ready to shoot until she explained the situation. They didn’t believe her story completely so they put her into custody until you came back. They thought that since we’re both winged creatures, that we teamed up against you and killed you, me getting hurt in the process. They thought her story was some sort of cover-up so we could stay here and recover. While she was in custody I was being taken care of here in the clinic, when your broadcast came through and they found out you were attacked by the Enclave that was hunting yours truly, they let me go and reluctantly returned my guns. I don’t know why they let Aura go, something about an emissary from the Red Talons coming over for a slumber party or something. Anyhow, they let her out of the BIRDcage anyway, and there’s nothing we or should I say I can do about it.”

“Okay, I guess that makes sense,” I replied slowly.

“Excuse me,” Nurse Joy said delightfully from the doorway. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave the room, Scribe Hazel says that Ms. Shadow Star needs all the rest she can get if she wants to get better faster.”

“Go ahead, I’ll talk more with you guys later,” I said, sending them away.

A couple more days went by slowly and I was finally able to get out of bed and I was almost completely healed, to the amazement of Scribe Hazel. I decided to go and stretch my legs. I still felt a tiny bit sore, but barely noticed it compared to what it was like before. Walking out of the clinic I saw three different signs. One said, 'mess hall', the second said 'shooting range and ammunition supply', and the third said 'Elder’s command room.' Considering all the different flavors of medicine they made me take in the clinic, I chose to go to the mess hall to see about getting an ice-cold sparkle cola.

The bunker sort of reminded me of my stable. The walls were grey, there’s florescent lighting, and I was surrounded by technology. The technology was a little different though, more magical energy weapon type stuff instead of just the casual snack machine.

I walked into the mess hall and was greeted by delicious and interesting smells. I walked up to an open counter and waited for the pony behind it to notice I was standing there instead of staring off into space, “Ahem. Excuse me,” I said trying to get his attention. Instead of giving me even the slightest attention, he still just stood there with the same dumb look on his face. I noticed that he was standing on a hoof mat, I used what little magic I’d recovered and grasped the edge. Then with a mighty yank I pulled the mat out from under his hooves. He stumbled and fell flat on his face, then he looked up at me with a pained expression. “Uh, how can I help you?”

“Sparkle Cola please. Ice cold,” I replied.

“Um, okay well…uh, I think were out of that. Hey did you see somepony standing next to me? I think they might’ve pushed me or something,” he asked.

“Ugh, do you have anything else? And no there wasn’t anypony next to you,” I responded.

“Oh, uh okay. We have Sunrise Sarsaparilla and water. Are you sure nopony was there?” he asked again.

“Yes, I’m sure. What’s Sunrise Sarsaparilla?” I asked in return.

“Uh, alright then, I must’ve lost my balance again. I guess mixing med-x and dash wasn’t such a good idea, by the way, I didn’t say that so don’t tell anypony I did. Okay then, Sunrise Sarsaparilla is a carbonated drink like Sparkle Cola, but it tastes different and stuff, also it doesn’t have any residual radiation in it. Kinda tastes like vanilla,” he explained.

I sighed. “I’ll take one of those then. How much?”

“Like three caps or if you have it you can pay me in chems,” he replied quietly.

“Here. I can’t bring myself to fuel some junkie’s addiction,” I said, giving him three caps and grabbing the bottle.

“Okay have a good one,” he said not realizing what I’d just said to him.

I observed the outside of the bottle and noticed that the label had half of what looked like Princess Celestia’s cutie mark at the top with a barrel in the center over the words reading Sunrise Sarsaparilla. On the back on top of the nutrition facts there was a yellow stallion wearing a desperado cowpony hat over his brown curly mane. Right next him were the words 'Sunrise Sarsaparilla has been super-duper party pony certified.' The over enthusiastic look on his face made me think of a certain ministry mare.

I popped off the cap and started to bask in its vanilla goodness. I inspected the cap a little and wondered if I could use it as currency like the Sparkle Cola caps. It was then that I noticed the blue star on the underside of the cap. “Huh, weird. Whatever, guess I’ll just put it with my other caps.”

When I was finished with the sarsaparilla I tossed the bottle in a wastebasket I passed by while walking down the hall. It was then that I ran into Star Paladin Sapphire. “Ah there you are Shadow Star, I’ve been looking for you. Why aren’t you still in bed?”

“I’ve been feeling a lot better and I wanted something to drink, so I thought I’d head over to the mess hall to get something. Why where you looking for me?” I asked giving her a quizzical look.

“Elder Appleslice would like to speak with you. I was sent to fetch you for her. Would you be able to come with me now, or do you still need some rest? If so, we can have The Elder meet you in your room,” she replied.

“I’ll be fine, I’m feeling good, a little sore, but good,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck with a hoof.

“Okay, then follow me please.” She turned and led me down the hall toward the Elder's office. When we arrived, she stopped at the door then turned back toward me, saying, “She’s waiting for you inside, I’ll be waiting for you out here.”

“You’re not coming in?” I asked.

“Your presence was requested and only yours. Don’t worry though, I’ll be right outside the door,” she said giving me a smile.

I smiled back then walked into the office. I was shocked when I first walked in, not only was Elder Appleslice sitting there at her desk, the Griffon from the other day was standing next to her, both of them watching as I walked in. The door closed behind me and The Elder said, “Good Morning Shadow Star, it’s good to see you up, how are you feeling?”

“A lot better than I did a couple days ago. Why did you need to see me Elder, and why is he here?” I asked looking over at the griffon.

“This is Apollo, he’s the father of the griffon you killed during the attack and part of the council of The Red Talons. I’ve asked him to join us in this meeting today. Take a seat please,” she said gesturing toward the chair in front of her desk.

I did as she said, feeling a bit confused at the situation. “What’s going on?”

Apollo cleared his throat, then spoke in his deep voice, “I’ve come here as a representative of The Red Talon Company, and as a father. First off, I want to let you know that I hold no ill will toward you for the death of my son. He died doing his job, that was all.”

I felt guilt building up as I spoke, “Thank you for that, but I’m sorry that I killed your son. I wasn’t in my right mind at the time, I had no control over my actions.”

“I’ve seen that before, fear takes over and you go into a panic. It was strange how your look changed, the same goes for your personality, but I’m not an expert on unicorns. Maybe that was the way your mind and body decided to protect you. That however isn’t why I’ve come here today, I discussed all of this with the elder a couple of days ago,” he said giving me a small nod of his head.

The Elder spoke next, “I’ve asked Apollo to come here to tell you this himself, and more information that you may find interesting.”

I looked over at the griffon. “What’s that?”

“We received a contract from the Overmare of Stable 28 about a week or so before you were reported to have left your stable. In the transmission she wanted to set up a contract with us to hunt down a mare that left that stable a few years before. She wanted us to find her and bring her back to the stable alive. At the time, we had no interest in the contract, there was too little information and reason for us to risk the lives of our griffons,” he replied.

“She must’ve wanted you to go after my mother, The Overmare was obsessed with finding her. She was looking for this Pip-Buck for some reason, and she probably thought my mother still had it,” I said, thinking back to my stable and it's horrible leader, “But what does that have to do with your griffons hunting me down?”

He nodded. “My thoughts exactly, and I was getting to that. You see, the Overmare wasn’t happy with our denial to hunt her down, so she asked us to come into the stable to question you, the daughter of the mare she wanted. We also refused THAT since we don’t go into functioning stables. The day after that transmission you left the stable, not long after we got another transmission from the Overmare. This time she put a bounty on you telling us that you stole something precious and of great value to the stable. We took the contract this time because we find grand theft to be a high class crime in the Wasteland, even more so for an active stable. The contract was sent to us saying you were to be taken alive, and that we had to retrieve your Pip-Buck. When we weren’t able to get you right away, the contract was changed to just bring your Pip-Buck, your life no longer mattered.”

“That bitch. Why aren’t you trying to get it from me anymore?” I asked.

“That’s easy, you see we have a code in the Red Talons. We will only accept a contract that is given truthfully, we don’t judge the reason why we are needed for a mission just as long as we know the story behind it and that it’s a true one and if the pay is good. When Scribe Hazel told me after the battle that you didn’t steal that Pip-Buck I wondered about it, so when I met with Elder Appleslice the other day. I asked her about Hazel’s story,” he said looking over toward The Elder.

She smiled and continued after him, “I told him what you told me when you arrived. I also told him that I saw that Pip-Buck before when your mother still worked with us before she left for Stable 28.”

“We’ve worked with the Steel Rangers in this area for many years, and Elder Appleslice hasn’t ever lied to us. We took her at her word and broke the contract with your former Overmare. Since she lied to us about the reason she wanted it, I can no longer give her our business,” he said standing up straight.

I thought it over for a moment thinking of how they’d come after me, for everything they said to me during my encounters with them, it matched up with the Griffon’s story. One thing however didn’t make sense to me, the last two times I was attacked, they sent groups of three to attack me, also called a wing, one wing when we arrived at the bunker and two wings the other day. Aura said she wanted to join them and she attacked me the first time on her own. If she really wanted to join them, then why didn’t she give them my location and help in the first assault?

“So, I take it I don’t have to be looking over my shoulder for more griffons trying to kill me?” I asked, still not sure what to ask regarding Aura.

He smiled and said, “Not from us you don’t, unless we’re given another reason to hunt you down that is. If the contract comes from your Overmare though, we’ll refuse it, she’s been proven untrustworthy.”

“I could’ve told you that,” I said with a snicker. “What bothers me though is how she was able to contact you. Apart from my mother, I don’t see how a normal stable pony would know enough about the outside world to know who to contact to place a bounty on my head.”

To my surprise, Elder Appleslice answered, “By your question, I take it you don’t know the true history behind your stable. Do you Shadow Star?”

“What do you mean? I know some things that Box Tape told me, but not much else,” I asked.

“Until ten years ago, your stable used to send out groups of ponies to trade with the neighboring towns and took odd jobs now and then. They always kept the location of Stable 28 a secret, but the stable wasn’t sealed since the war like you thought. The former Overmare was quite friendly with The Wastelanders. I’m sure your Overmare had ways of contacting outsiders if she needed, how do you think your mother got into the stable in the first place?” she explained.

“I always thought the former Overmare was just kind and let her in because of me being hurt.” Was it possible that more had been going on ten years ago when we first arrived at the stable?

“We won’t know all the reasons why your stable was locked down unless you find your mother,” The Elder said sounding a bit disappointed for some reason. Like finding my mother was something she didn’t look forward to me doing.

I was about to ask more when the door opened and Aura walked in, “Listen Elder Appleslice, I wanted to talk with you before your next meeting with…” she froze when she saw me in the room with Apollo and The Elder, her eyes narrowed and she said in a harsh voice, “You!”

He looked shocked and confused. “Aura, how did you get here?”

She looked angrily at the Elder and shouted, “I asked you not to let him know I was here!”

“Aura, I didn’t tell him you were, I was going to speak to you later about this,” The Elder said calmly. “But since you’re here, why don’t you take a seat and we can all talk this out.”

She glared at Apollo, then the elder, then at me. “I have nothing to say to him. Shadow, when you’re done here I’ll be in our room, we need to start planning on what we’ll do when we leave.” She turned around in anger to leave, but Apollo jumped after her.

“Aura please wait, give me a moment I beg you,” Apollo said.

She twisted around, bringing her talons up and pointing one sharp claw right in his face. “I have nothing to say to you. When I was banished, you did nothing to help me. I tried to prove that I was worthy of being a member, and still you did nothing. Don’t come to me now begging for forgiveness, you won’t find it with me,” she said and stormed out in a huff.

“What was that all about? How do you know Aura?” I asked feeling confused.

He sighed. “Aura was once a member of The Red Talon Company, she was a gifted fighter and thought to one day be a member of the council. However, she broke an old law of ours and was banished from the Red Talons, she could never return to us unless she proved she’d atoned for her sins.”

“Let me guess, you were the one who banished her,” I said, giving him my own hard glare.

“No, but I might as well have, I could’ve spoken up in her defense and kept her from getting thrown out, but I stayed quiet. She sees it as an act of betrayal on my part, she’s refused to speak to me even after so much time has gone by,” he said, looking back at me with a sad expression.

“What happened that got her kicked out?” I asked wanting to know more about my friend.

“If she hasn’t told you then I can’t betray her more than I already have. I’m sure in time she’ll tell you. Do me a favor will you, and keep an eye on her, try and see past the hard exterior. She’s a good griffon, and can be a good friend, just never lie to her, or hide the truth in any way. Be there for her when she needs you and be her friend. She’s been alone for a long time and she shouldn’t be,” he said turning away again.

“I will,” I said.

“Good.” He looked back at The Elder and spoke again, “Elder Appleslice, we’ll speak again, thank you for letting me say my piece, I must be getting back home to report to the rest of my group. As always The Red Talon Company is at your disposal if you need us.”

“It was nice to see you again Apollo, and make sure you tell Gigi I said hello. Also on the other matter regarding Cartwheel?” The Elder said.

“I’ll be sure to get the message to them about what’s going on before I return, stay safe Elder,” Apollo replied.

“Ad Victoriam Apollo,” she said back.

He turned to look at me. “As for you Shadow Star, when you have time, please do come visit us at Crimson Canyon. I’d love to show you around and have you meet with the other leaders of our group.”

“Why’s that?” I asked, still lost in what had just happened a few moments ago.

“I’ll let you find out when you arrive, don’t worry though, you’ll enjoy your stay I’m sure. Oh and before I forget, I have a job for you, I need something delivered to New Pegasus, Elder Appleslice has everything including payment, I’ll be giving the receipt to Box Tape when I get to Cartwheel.” Then without another word he walked out the door.

“What just happened?” I asked looking back at the Elder.

Elder Appleslice smelled and proceeded to explain, “Apollo is one of three leaders of The Red Talons and the most trusted in his group with our branch of the Steel Rangers. When you got back and I heard the story about the attack and the aftermath. He came to apologize to us for his actions and to repay us for the misunderstanding. As for Aura and him, you’ll have to get that from her, like Apollo said. It’s her past to talk about, not ours.”

“I hate not knowing what’s going on. Speaking of which, why didn’t you tell me that there were bloodwings in that stable?” I said angrily. “Do you know the shit I had to deal with just to get that damn Pip-Buck for you?”

“Shadow Star, I had no idea what was in that stable apart from the Pip-Buck. The ponies I got the information from said that everypony was dead in there,” she said, in a serious tone. She lightened up a little as she continued, “You did a great thing, more than I would’ve expected. I wish the price you had to pay just to get one piece of tech didn’t have to be paid, but it was, and you’re alive.”

“If you would’ve sent in at least one of your Steel Rangers to help, things would’ve gone a lot better for us in there,” I said, slamming a hoof down on the ground. “Because of everything that happened, I’m not even sure if I’m sane anymore. I’ve been hearing things in my head ever since I left that Goddesses forsaken place.”

“I know that, and I wish I had. I thought with you flying in like you did, that it would’ve been easier,” she responded.

“Well it wasn’t,” I retorted, still a little pissed about the whole thing.

She gave me a look that could only tell me that I was being unreasonable. “I know, I can’t say I’m sorry more than I already have. Things like that happen in the Wasteland. Things never go the way you think it should, the Wasteland finds a way to screw with you every time. Still, from everything I’ve heard in the reports, I have a feeling that you aren’t going crazy. If anything, I just think that what happened to you during your fight and before, was the effects of massive radiation exposure. The doctors are still baffled that you didn’t die from how much you were exposed to.”

I remembered Scribe Hazel saying something like that to me just the other day, when I was still stuck in bed. “Hazel said something like that too, still, it’s done and over with. I take it you already retrieved the Pip-Buck from my saddle bags, so I fulfilled my end of the bargain, it’s your turn to pay up.”

She gave me one of her odd smiles. “I agree, from what I learned when Grimoire left, she went to New Pegasus in search of a pony named Lonely Hearts, he’s some kind of private investigator there. I don’t know how long she stayed in the city, but I know she met with him. From there I’ve heard only scattered stories of her being seen with the NLR and even the Enclave, but I never got any proof. Your best bet to find where she went next is to find Lonely Hearts in New Pegasus and talk with him.”

“If she was seen afterward with this NLR or The Enclave, why shouldn’t I try them instead? That seems to get me closer to her than going to New Pegasus,” I asked.

She looked a little lost in thought for a second. “First, I couldn’t see your mother ever working with the NLR, they’re no friends of The Steel Rangers, and they wouldn’t trust her even as an ex-member of ours. If she was with The Enclave, well, you saw what they’re like. If she’s with them, you’d be better off forgetting about ever finding her. Lonely Hearts was the last known pony to see her that I know of, he can at least get you what you need.”

“What is the NLR and New Pegasus?” I asked, deciding not to argue over if I’d go after her if The Enclave had her. I would, but I didn’t need another lecture from The Elder.

“They’re the New Lunar Republic, they’re a group that started around San Flankcisco. They believe themselves to be the ones that will bring a new government in the vison of Princess Luna. We’ve had conflicts with them a few times over the years. As for New Pegasus, it’s just the ruins of Las Pegasus. It was given the name New Pegasus after some ponies started running the casinos on the Strip. There’s also something about a mysterious pony who lives in one of the casinos that runs everything,” she explained.

I nodded. “I see, well if what I learn leads me to the NLR, I’ll be sure to leave The Steel Rangers out of my dealings with them.”

She smiled. “I would appreciate that, as for where you’ll be going, you can find Lonely Hearts somewhere in New Pegasus. If he’s not there you may find him wandering around a place just south of the Strip called Freedom Town. That part of New Pegasus is dangerous, be sure to keep your guard up when you’re traveling there.”

“I will, and thank you for giving me this information,” I said.

She smiled again. “No Shadow Star, thank you for getting me the Pip-Buck. I only made sure you got your payment for it. Oh, another thing I meant to say before.”

“What’s that?” I responded.

“That creature you let out of the stable, I’ve heard reports already that it’s been seen attacking raiders and is heading north. How dangerous is it?” she asked.

“Why do you need to know?” I replied, giving her a blank look.

“Because if it is heading up north and is a danger to the other Steel Ranger branches, I need to warn them,” The Elder clarified.

I sighed. “She’s a friend, and a pony who had bad things happen to her. She is dangerous yes, but only to those trying to kill her. If the Rangers leave her alone then nothing bad will happen. I swear on my life.”

“Thank you, I’ll be sure to notify the other Elders and make sure they keep their distance, but if what you say turns out to be false then she will be killed,” The Elder said.

I shook my head. “I wouldn’t lie to you about this Elder, she won’t be a problem for the Rangers.”

“Good, one last thing, afterwards you can be on your way. I’m sure your friends are looking for you,” she said, tapping a hoof on her desk. “I’d like to make you a member of the Steel Rangers, I’ll still let you go search for your mother, but once that is done, I’d like you to return here and become one of us. You would be a great addition, I would even give you a promotion right away as a Knight.”

The offer was tempting I had to admit, being a member of the Steel Rangers would give me protection when I needed it and maybe even a purpose in life once I found out what I needed to. I looked back at her and asked, “What about my friends, if I joined, you would let them join too right?”

“Sadly, I’d be thrown out if I let a pegasus like your friend join, and no griffon has ever been a member. This offer is for you, and you alone,” she replied with a bit of disappointment.

I sighed. “Then at least for now, I can’t accept your offer. I can’t just give my loyalty to one faction right now, not when I don’t know enough about the Wasteland. Maybe one day I’ll change my mind, but for now, no. I do appreciate the offer though.”

“I had a feeling you would say something like that, but the offer will still be here if you ever change your mind. If you run into any more Steel Rangers in the future, just tell them you’re a friend of mine and they’ll help you. Now get going Shadow Star, and stay safe. Ad Victoriam,” she said, saluting with her hoof to her chest.

“You too, and thank you,” I said, walking out of the room.

I walked out of the Elder’s room and down the hallway into my group’s room to see Stardust passed out on his bed while Aura was drawing something on his face with a permanent marker. “Hey Aura. Whatcha… doin…?”

“Drawing a dick on his face,” she replied.

“Why…?” I asked slowly.

“The bastard shook my sparkle cola, and it sprayed all over me when I opened it, so I’m getting payback,” she said, mischievously.

“Sounds like he deserves it, let’s wait to tell him about it until after we leave,” I said with a snicker.

“When is that by the way? This place is boring and I don’t like how some of the ponies here look at me,” Aura asked.

I was planning on asking her what happened with the Red Talons, but I think that conversation would be best handled on another day. Plus, she probably won’t want to talk about it right now considering she just saw Apollo. “Actually, we’re leaving pretty soon. We’re going to New Pegasus; the Elder gave me a lead on my mother and we have business there.”

“Cool, just let me finish my masterpiece before you wake him up,” she replied.

“Alright, just don’t take too long,” I said, sitting down and crossing my hooves.

“It’s not like it’s that complicated to draw something like this on somepony’s face. It’s basically done anyway, I’m just going to add a few veins for detail, maybe ponies will think it’s a tattoo,” she said with a quiet laugh.

I couldn’t help but laugh. I quickly covered my muzzle with my hooves so I wouldn’t wake Stardust from his peaceful slumber. I uncovered my muzzle and giggled. “I wouldn’t know, I’m not the artist you are.”

“Maybe not, but at least you can bask in the glory of the dickfaced sniper. You can wake him up now if you want,” Aura said with a giggly snort.

I walked over to Stardust who was snoring very loudly. I took my forehooves and squeezed his nostrils shut making him jerk awake to breathe. “What the fuck griffon? I told you to lea…oh…hi Shadow. Sorry, I thought she was messing with me again. What’s so funny?”

“Oh nothing, it’s just the way you jerked awake looked hilarious, that’s all,” I said, trying not to continue laughing.

We gathered our things and started to make our way out of the bunker while everypony was giving Stardust funny looks and snickering.

“What’s everypony laughing at? Did I grow a horn out of my head or something?” Stardust asked.

Both Aura and I stopped in our tracks and fell to the floor laughing as hard as we could. Stardust stopped and looked back at us with a puzzled look and quickly but subtly checked his head with his hoof.

Once we finished laughing and wiped the tears out of our eyes we kept on making our way out, stopping to get extra ammo, food, and medical supplies on the way. I made sure to get Ol’ Festus, I wouldn’t leave without my trusty repeater again if I could help it. When we went to every single place to get supplies a clerk behind the counter looked intensely like they were trying not to laugh, confusing Stardust even more. After getting what we needed we were walking to the exit and Stardust was still trying to figure out what was so funny about himself.

“You know, they could be laughing at your masculine pink eyes,” I said, still kind of giggling at the situation.

“Either I need sunglasses or you guys are lying to me. Plus, I saw other stallions here with pink eyes and no one laughs at them,” Stardust said.

“Yeah? Well they also wear big scary suits of armor and could probably kill or at least maim anypony who laughs at them,” I said, trying to get him not to think too hard about it.

“Not all of the Steel Rangers wear power armor, so I doubt that,” he said, sounding irritated.

“They could be laughing at how small your wings are compared to mine,” Aura added.

He shook his head. “They’re not that different in comparison, so I doubt that too. I need to find a mirror.”

“No, you don’t. I promise you look fine,” I said, so he wouldn’t go look at himself.

“Somehow I don’t believe you,” he said, getting even more irritated.

“C’mon, have I ever steered you wrong?” I asked, giving him an innocent smile.

We were finally at the exit and the entrance guard was making sure we weren’t walking out with something that didn’t belong to us when…it happened.

“AAAHHH!!! WHY!?” Stardust exclaimed.

“What?” Aura and I asked in unison as Stardust covered a certain portion of his face.

“I saw it in my reflection from this guy’s visor! Who did it!?” he exclaimed, as he frantically rubbed the spot with his hooves.

“Did what?” I asked.

“Oh, come on! Who drew a cock on my face!!??” he yelled again.

“It is a work of art if I do say so myself. Don’t rub it like that, you might get something else on your face,” Aura said, sounding pleased with herself.

“It’s not funny! How am I supposed to get this off!? Shadow, you can magic this off my face, right?” Stardust exclaimed.

“I don’t know any spells like that, so you’re on your own with this one,” I replied.

“Here, take this bandana. You can use it to cover your face until it wears away,” Sapphire said, handing him a bandana with a logo on it. She’d just caught up with us as we were leaving.

“What’s that on the bandana?” I asked.

“It’s the Steel Rangers emblem,” she replied proudly, pointing at the three gears, with apples, a sword pointing upward flanked by a set of wings.

“Thanks, I suppose I should wear this side in so no one looks at me and thinks the steel rangers are working with the pegasi,” Stardust said sheepishly.

“Nonsense. Wear it however you see fit. As far as the Steel Rangers are concerned, you three are our allies and we don’t care who knows it,” the steel covered pony said, then turning toward me. “I have the details and package that Apollo needed delivered. The Elder wanted me to make sure you got it before you left.”

She passed me a package along with a few files wrapped up in paper. I took it and looked back at her. “Where is it going?”

“Apollo said it was to be delivered to First Lieutenant Blazer, he’s at the NLR embassy in New Pegasus, on the North End of The Strip.” She handed me a bag filled with caps. “He also said this is the payment for the job, it’s around fifteen hundred caps.”

I looked at the bag in awe and asked, “Why so much?”

“It’s a high priority delivery, he said he would only trust it in the hooves of Equestrian Express. Now you should all be heading out, Ad Victoriam,” she replied.

“Same to you Sapphire, and thanks for all your help,” I said.

She nodded then walked back into the bunker. Stardust put on the bandana around his head over the artistic drawing Aura left.

We were a few miles from the bunker and the bright gloominess was turning into darkness as I heard thunder in the distance. It started to rain, I wondered to myself if we were being watched by The Enclave somehow. I think that feeling is going to fester in the back of my head until they’re taken care of. “Ugh this rain sucks. Why is it always raining?”

“Now that you mention it, it’s kinda weird considering the fact that this area used to be a desert. It doesn’t rain much in a desert,” Stardust said, also puzzled at the recent bouts of rain.

“You two think about things too much. It’s simple, before the war, pegasi, like dumbass here, controlled the weather. If they controlled the weather they controlled where it rained. It was probably a way for them to control the Equestrian economy,” Aura said, sounding like she was trying to get us to shut up.

“How would they control the economy with rain?” I asked quizzically.

“C’mon you can’t be that ignorant. Ugh…if ponies have a limited water source then they’ll have to pay the government or a government funded water supply company to supply them with more water. Then the ponies get the water they need out here in the desert and the government gets the money they want,” Aura explained.

“That sounds kinda fucked up. Why would somepony build a town in a desert in the first place?” I asked.

“I dunno, but it worked out pretty well for New Pegasus. All the hotels, resorts, and casinos there raked in hundreds of thousands of bits back in the day or so I’m told,” Stardust added.

“Yeah, now The Strip pretty much robs anypony or griffon that gets in there with their rigged games,” Aura said sounding aggravated like she’s fallen victim to rigged games in the past.

“Rigged?” I asked again, feeling like more of a novice than I already did.

“When you’re in a place like New Pegasus you should expect a lot of their games to be rigged. The owners of the casinos and whatnot do stuff like that so they can get more caps out of the ponies who play them. Of course, they have to let somepony win sometimes to keep ponies coming back,” Stardust explained.

I cocked my head, “So, it’s all one big scam?”

“Pretty much,” they said in unison.

I thought about the group the elder told me about and decided to get some perspective from my friends. “What do either of you guys know about the NLR?”

“Oh, the NLR, they’re this militarized group that thinks they can restore law and order to the Wasteland like some sort of saviors. That’s pretty much all I know about them, but you could probably talk to a ranger about it in New Pegasus. I heard they’re occupying a part of The Strip and a few settlements around it,” Aura explained nonchalantly.

I cocked my head again. “Ranger? I already asked the Steel Rangers about the NLR, they gave me just about as much information as you did.”

“No. What she means is an NLR ranger, they’re higher ranking ponies in the NLR. They’re also said not to be taken lightly in a fight, especially the Veteran Rangers. Some ponies say that they’re so tough they chew nails and spit napalm,” Stardust explained in minor detail.

“Chew nails? Spit napalm? I highly doubt that,” I said, shaking my head.

“Suit yourself, don’t blame me if you get in a scuffle with one of them and get dead,” Stardust said, while poking me in the shoulder with his wing.

“Don’t…it feels weird,” I whined.

“Weird huh?” he said mischievously while he continued to poke me.

He was starting to piss me off like he always does. “Stop, or I’ll rip it off!”

“See now there’s something I doubt. Pegasus wings are incredibly resilient, they’re pretty hard to damage unless you use something like a higher caliber bullet or an extremely sharp knife or sword,” he said with a frown.

“What about Aura’s energy spear?” I asked, with a crooked smile.

“Yeah I’d like to know that too,” Aura added curiously.

He smirked, “Like I’d tell you that. Plus, it’s almost like telling my weakness to the enemy with lieutenant beaky listening.”

I couldn’t help but giggle a little as Aura glared at me with the intent of murder in her eyes. “Keep laughing. I dare you shrimpy.”

“Hey! I’m almost normal size! My growth is just delayed,” I snapped.

“Not so funny now, is it?” she snapped back.

“Now c’mon ladies. Don’t start a cat fight. Some offense to the griffon,” Stardust said nonchalantly.

“SHUT UP!!!” Aura and I both yelled in unison.

“Fine, I won’t stop you, but I got caps on you in this one Shadow. You’re easier to travel with,” Stardust said with another smirk.

“Ugh, we can’t argue like this. It makes us vulnerable to an attack,” Aura said, forcefully.

“I agree with the griffon. We don’t know who could be watching us right now, ready to attack,” Stardust agreed.

We kept walking throughout the day as the rain faded away, the dry, cracked, possibly radioactive sand crunching under our hooves and…uh…paws?…Talons? I really don’t know what to call the extremities that Aura walks with, I really need to ask her that one day.

After a while, I finally saw hollow arrow markers on the bottom of my E.F.S. compass. I just hope the upcoming towns or settlements weren’t raider camps or radioactive ditches. As we got close to one of them I saw something sticking out of the ground in the distance. It looked like…um…a refrigerator. Why is there a fridge in the middle of the Wasteland? When I got up close and personal with it I got the notification on my Pip-Buck.

You have discovered.

Daring Do’s Refrigerator Shelter!

Seriously? What the fuck? Refrigerator shelter? “That doesn’t make sense. Why would somepony make a shelter out of a fridge? It’s so small,” I asked confused.

“Haven’t you read any Daring Do books?” Stardust asked.

“Books? The only books I’ve read are textbooks in school in my stable. I didn’t really read many books except for those and The Wasteland Survival Guide.”

“Really!? I used to love those books when I was a colt. I read every one of them. This refrigerator thing reminds me of Daring Do and the Zebra Temple when she’s trying to take refuge from a megaspell blast that the zebras use to destroy the temple because they think she’s still inside and they want to destroy any evidence left behind in the temple. Little did they know that Daring Do got out of her bindings and closed herself in a refrigerator that was lined with lead to survive the blast. The explosion threw the refrigerator a long way and when it landed Daring Do heroically came out and escaped the zebras,” Stardust explained excitedly.

“Why would there be a refrigerator in an old zebra temple and since when do they even have temples? Plus, wouldn’t the refrigerator get vaporized by the blast?” I asked.

“Yeah, it sounds a little farfetched to me,” Aura added in disbelief.

“Well you see, the zebras that were there set up campsites around the temple and they needed a place to put their Sparkle Cola obviously. Plus, how would you know if they had temples or not? Zebras can build whatever they want in their own country,” Stardust explained again trying to prove his point.

“Wow. Egghead much?” I said getting bored of the conversation.

“Yeah. I didn’t realize you were such a fuckin nerd,” Aura added again, also sounding bored of the subject.

“I’m not an egghead or a nerd. I just like A.K. Yearling’s stories that’s all,” he said defensively.

“Whatever. Let’s just keep moving, I don’t wanna keep obsessing over a machine,” I said, ending the conversation.

“Fine. Let’s go,” Stardust pouted.

When we came to the second marker I was surprised to see that it was a destroyed caravan cart and a dead (gag) mutated cow thing.

You have discovered.

Sacked Scarlet Caravan Co. Caravan!

“Too bad. Probably didn’t suspect a thing,” Stardust said, with melancholy in his voice.

We kept walking and I asked, “Something you’ve seen before?” by the look on his face I could already see what the answer was.

“I’ve seen stuff like that many times. Sometimes the raiders, fiends, or whatever other vile thieves are still looting the cart when I find them. When I see them do that I get so angry. I think to myself, what would’ve happened if I flew over maybe five minutes earlier? There have been times where I actually find one that’s still being attacked and all I can do is hope that no innocent ponies get shot,” he said hanging his head.

“Unfortunately, that’s just how the Wasteland works. Ponies die, griffons die, hideous monsters die, etc. It’s not like you can change that,” Aura said, apparently not feeling any remorse for anypony.

“You really are heartless, aren’t you? If I didn’t fly over when Shadow had that big raider pony on top of her about to kill her, she would’ve just been a head on a spike at a giant raider camp,” Stardust snapped.

Aura hung her head and looked away from him. “I’m not heartless. I’m just a realist,” I heard her say to herself softly.

They both kept quiet as we went on towards the last marker on my E.F.S. and I thought I could see something in the distance, but I couldn’t make it out. It just looked like a huge gathering of dead trees. As I was trying to get a better look I tripped over a small wood sign that read 'White Tail Woods National Park Trail'.

I feel like I’ve heard about that place before, it was a pre-war nature reserve. I read in one of my history books in school that ponies would go there with their families and take pictures next to landmarks and leafy green trees and bushes. Now that I got closer I could see that it was just as desolate as the rest of the Wasteland, with an eerie green mist blanketing it like a fog. Almost like Green Mist Valley when I left the stable, only twenty times worse.

The notification pinged on my Pip-Buck that I’d discovered White Tail Wood National Park and I took out my pistol as I saw a crude sign that said 'Danger Cazadores Ahead', “What’s a Cazador?”

“One dangerous motherfucker. We should tread lightly,” Stardust said, eyeing every part of our surroundings as we kept clear of the park and the eerie green misted forest on the other side of the plains that sat at the edge of the desert.

“Can’t one of you pick me up and we can fly over?” I asked.

“Unfortunately, no. It’s more dangerous to fly over on the account that if whoever’s holding you gets stung by one of those things then you go splat,” he said, cocking the bolt on his new rifle.

I sighed. “Great, I’ll call ahead to Death and let him know we’re stopping by.”

Silver Tongue: You gain a 15% chance to persuade somepony during a conversation.

Shadows Edge Rank 1: Get in touch with your dark side! Due to your recent connection with your other half, you now gain +2 to overall damage resistance.

Next Chapter: Chapter 13: The Flood Estimated time remaining: 86 Hours, 56 Minutes