Despite the commotion we caused none of the slavers inside seemed to notice. I mean it's not like Elpis was using silenced weapons. Hell, there were explosions, how did they not know we were here?

The first raider we encountered was mumbling to herself while guarding a doorway leading to a large room filled with printing equipment. Even when Gale strode into view the raider failed to notice him. Gale took his time to aim and decapitated the oblivious mare.

In the next room we crept along the walls, constantly staying low behind cubicles or printing equipment. My hoof slid along each desk we passed and I placed whatever I could grab into my saddle bag.

The flickering ceiling lights revealed new horrors with each flash. The slavers were using the printing presses as improvised torture devices. A pony's mane was tied to one of the rollers and forced through until the machine broke, but not before the majority of their skin had been ripped from their face. My stomach flipped, I wanted to keep my eyes forward and ignore the disgusting sights, but I remembered the pleading mare from New Appleloosa. I said I would keep an eye out for her brother. I took a deep breath, steeled myself, and checked every corpse we crossed.

Clover made us stop frequently. He used his E.F.S to track the slavers and used Gale to take them out. Gale’s weapon was quieter than a gunshot, and for a weapon without sights he had precision accuracy. He managed to cut down all the slavers who crossed our path without alerting the others. Although, the mess it left behind would give us away. Wouldn’t this be easier if Gale had a Pip-buck?

We stopped as Clover pointed out a bear trap sitting in the middle of the doorway.

“Does that ever work?” Mangle scoffed.

“You would be surprised,” Clover whispered, “Activating it would be too loud.” He scooted the trap to one side of the door and carefully stepped around it.

Past the trap was a hallway. Based on my E.F.S the rest of the slavers were in a conference room at the end of the hall, along with two blue dots. I treaded carefully to avoid the stretch of dried blood that led to the slavers.

“Oh, I’ll shut her up,” A scratchy voice said from inside the room.

“This is it,” Clover whispered. “Two entrances. Ardent you watch this door in case any try to make a run for it. We will storm the other. Mangle shrapnel the door.”

“What about the friendlies?” Nibble whispered.

“Wood shrapnel is more shocking than lethal.”

Gale and Nibble took their places on either side of the door. Nibble produced a pistol from her saddle bag wrapped in her purple glow. Mangle bucked the door, the weight of her power hooves smashed it to pieces and the activation of metal plates scattered the wooden bits everywhere. The others went in firing.

I faced the other door ready to slide into S.A.T.S. I heard crossfire and saw multiple red dots disappear from my E.F.S. The door I faced slammed open and a unicorn slaver backed out.

A sawblade from Hemorrhage cut into the slaver’s left legs. The unicorn dropped to his side as blood poured from his wounds. He turned and spotted me and with a crazed look crawled towards me. His only weapon was a knife covered in blood and he had trouble keeping it in his magic. The slaver left a fresh trail of blood as he crawled. At this rate he’s going to die soon. My stomach sank seeing the pain each movement caused him.

Nibble’s words echoed in my head, “What you’d be doing is merciful.”

I entered S.A.T.S. and it targeted his body first. The highlight of the spell emphasized his cutie mark, a baseball bat. He has a white coat as well. No, it can’t be. The little fillies brother wasn’t captured by slavers, he joined them! My heart raced as I exited S.A.T.S. I’m not ready for this. I’m just a foalish colt wanting to play adventurer.

I ran.

I headed back the way we came when I was brought to a sudden halt. I screamed as a metal device clamped around my leg. Pain shot through my limb as sharp points dug their way into my flesh. I tried to remove the device in a panic causing the blades to dig deeper. I started to sob as I struck the bear trap repeatedly.

“That’s a valuable lesson to learn,” a deep raspy voice called out. My eyes raced around for the source of the voice. Nothing.

“Who’s there?” I sniffled. “What lesson?”

“Running away has it’s consequences.”

“As if staying would help!” I yelled. “There is no place for me in Elpis. I could never be useful to them.”

“Maybe you can be, you just need to utilize your Pip-Buck.”

The Pip-Buck? I lifted my free hoof to examine the device. “Can it really make that much of a difference?” The conversation distracted me from the pain.

“One can hope,” the voice said with amusement. “Now, isn’t there something you're here for?”

“Ditzy!” I jolted up, only to yelp and fold back down as the trap tore at my leg. “I have to know if she’s ok.”

“You can’t help anypony while stuck in a trap,” the voice faded out. I didn’t hear hoofsteps, yet I felt as if a presence left the room.

Did that actually just happen? I know of ponies who went insane because of experiences in the wasteland. Is that happening to me? Doesn’t matter, the voice had a point, I can’t do anything stuck in this trap and I need to know how the others are doing.

Using one of my back legs, I placed a hoof on either side of the trap and with a deep inhale I started to force it open. The blades dug into my hooves as I applied pressure bringing forth a new wave of pain. Blood poured from my trapped leg as the blades inched out, turning my tan coat crimson. My strength faded as the pain overwhelmed my resolve.

Shot Chaser’s voice rang in my head, “C’mon barmaid, you giving up so easily.”

I clenched my jaw and pushed with all my strength, the blades sank into my hooves until they collided with bone allowing all the grip I needed to force the trap completely open. I pulled my leg free and lept off the trap, it clamped closed.

I reeled backwards smearing blood across the ground with each step. In a moment of clarity I took out my two healing potions and downed the soothing red liquid. The pain washed away as my wounds rapidly sealed.

Shivering, I curled up and took a moment to recover. My focus strayed around the room until it stopped on a poster. Two almost identical stallions, the only difference being one had a mustache, pointed at me. “Are you doing all you can?” the poster read. No, no I wasn't. I took a deep breath, got up, and headed back to the others.

I passed the white coated slaver face down in a pool of his own blood, he had only made it a few more feet before dying. I put him out of my mind, and entered the conference room. It was littered with dead slavers. Outlining the room were corpses of ponies who had been tied up. They all had bruises, cuts, and burns scattered about their bodies, mainly between their flanks.

A filly rode on Mangle’s back. The child’s eyes were glazed over and she appeared complete catatonic. Bandages covered her rear and blood was already starting to soak through. Bile rose up my throat.

The others hovered around Gale as he tended to a ghoul in the corner. I peeked around them to get a better view. My heart skipped a beat when I confirmed it was Ditzy, and then sank at the sight of her injuries. Two of her legs were broken. She coughed black icor spewed from her mouth.

“What’s wrong with her!” I shouted.

“Quiet Ardent,” Gale said, “She’ll live.”

Derpy’s eyes widened when she heard my name.

“But she’s-”

“Get him out of here,” Clover demanded.

“C’mon Ardent.” Nibble pulled me away. “Let me show you something.”

She dragged me to a computer terminal in a nearby office. Laminated news stories covered the walls. ‘The Little Horn Massacre, No Going Back!’ ‘Earth Pony Accepted to the Ministry of Arcane Sciences’ ‘F.F.I stealing technology from Stable Tech?’ Were some of the headlines that jumped out.

Nibble demonstrated how to download text files from the computer, and explained it was the same process for audio files. Only one text file could be salvaged, the rest were corrupted beyond repair.

“So…” Nibble hesitated, “Ditzy is... a ghoul.”

“Is that a problem?” I said. I knew the majority of ponies were prejudice against ghouls but Nibble’s personality didn’t seem to fit the stereotype.

“No, of course not.” Nibble brightened slightly. “She’s one tough mare. When we got in there she was beating one of the slavers with a piece of piping… but not before he-”

“We are good to go,” I heard Clover say from behind us. I turned to see Ditzy walking with the others.

I moved past Clover to get in front of Ditzy. “Hey, you remember me right?” I said. She smiled and nodded.

“Are you okay?” Another nod and smile.

“Why won’t you answer?” She frowned this time.

“Ardent,” Clover said emotionless. “She can’t talk.” I cocked my head.

“You're such an idiot,” Mangle groaned. I was going to tell her off when Ditzy put her hoof up between us. She faced me and opened her mouth. Her tongue had been cut out.

Darkness covered everything on the way back to New Appaloosa. A miasma of depression affected everypony except Jaded Clover, who seemed like stone in the face of such horrors.

A voice had been taken from the wasteland, not of power or elegance, but a voice of laughter. Ditzy sat next to the filly we rescued, and smiled as she brushed the filly's mane. After everything, she still smiles.

Her smile was contagious, and I couldn’t help but reflect on the positive. I just survived my first adventure. The story is bittersweet, but it’s mine. Although, if I hadn’t slowed Elpis down maybe they would have reached Ditzy in time, maybe she would still have her voice. I need to improve so I don’t slow them down.

I played with my Pip-Buck finding anything to occupy my attention. I flipped through the newly acquired items in my inventory until an idea sparked. I brought out some supplies and hid them behind my back as I approached Ditzy.

“Did you know that place we just came from was a printing press?” I said. She nodded and I continued, “You could take up writing.”

I revealed two ink pots, a few quills, and a stack of papers. Ditzy’s eyes widened and she clopped her hooves together. I set them down.

She grabbed the quill in her mouth and started to write. After a moment she passed me a poorly written note, "Thank you Ardent. This means the world." Ditzy embraced me in a hug.

The filly stared at the paper as life returned to her eyes.

“I could help you write better,” she said “We’re learning in school.” Ditzy’s throat caught seeing the filly become responsive again. She nodded rapidly and sat next to the filly as she wrote out the alphabet.

“Does anypony mind if I turn on my radio?” Nibble asked but only checked Clover for a reply. There were no objection so she turned her Pip-Buck to DJ Pon3’s station while a song just ended. The voice of my favorite broadcaster took over the radio.

“Good evening children!” A stallion’s voice boomed from the radio. “This is DJ Pon3 here to recap the news for today as it comes to an end. There is a group of ponies traveling to Shattered Hoof Ridge and they seem to have a large metal contraption with them. Nopony knows what they are up to so be cautious.”

“Who’s this?” Mangle asked.

“You don’t know who DJ Pon3 is?” I gasped. How is that even possible?

“Tsk. Should I?” She looked away and pulled her legs in.

“They say he’s been on the radio since shortly after the megaspells.”

“Wouldn’t that make him ancient?” Nibble asked, “He sounds young enough.”

“There is always a DJ Pon3,” Gale said.

“We’ve discovered what Elpis was doing in Dust,” the radio announced as it stole all of my attention. “Apparently they found the three headed dog, Cerberus, from the legends or at least the robot version of him. Moments after the discovery they blew his ass straight back to Tartarus, lo and behold it was their newest member who did the honors.

“That’s right everypony the Elite and Legendary Ponies Initiating Survival have a new member, and that member is none other than Dust’s local barmaid. They were last seen heading to New Appaloosa. Well that was all have for today, now to leave you with some Sapphire Shores”

My jaw clenched. Great, now all of Equestria knows that nickname!

Nibble burst out into a snorting laughter, “He-he thinks you're a mare.”

May DJ Pon3 freeze to death on Luna’s moon.

We arrived at New Appleloosa in the dead of night. When we entered town a number of ponies left their homes to check on us. A cheer started when they saw Ditzy was alive. Ponies were sad to learn of her injury, but after a few notes and lots of hugs, spirits were at an all time high. Clover pulled me away from the crowd. He looked pissed.

“Apparently,” he said, “despite you running into zero threats you managed to use three healing potions and endanger another of our members” I swallowed, and my ears flattened.

Clover continued, “Next time we are in combat, if you fail to be useful or die, I will be using you as my personal meat shield!”

I lowered my head. “Do you want me to leave?” I asked. My stomach sank. Dammit, just when I decided to stay.

Clover scoffed, “Maybe if you left all of our gear behind I might forget about you, but no. The only way you leave Elpis is the grave. As one of us, or from one of us. Remember that if you think about running.”

I let out a breath and relaxed. “Wait, from one of us? You would kill me?”

“You are not my responsibility.”

Nibble trotted over to us. Clover gave me a dismissing look, subtly letting me know this conversation was over.

Clover addressed Nibble. “I worked our normal deal into the arrangement”

“Will you be joining us?” She said.

“Not tonight.” Clover flew off.

“What arrangement?” I asked.

“On the completion a successful mission, Elpis gets free booze and a bed for a night,” she said beaming. “How well can you hold your liquor?”

Nibble kicked open the saloon doors. “Bartender, four shots of your strongest!” Despite the hour the bar was relatively busy, and we packed it with the group of ponies who joined us to celebrate Ditzy’s rescue. Ditzy herself left for some much needed rest, the poor mare could barely keep her head up when saying her goodbyes.

“My strongest what?” the mare behind the wooden counter asked.

“Your strongest.” Nibble slid onto one of the stools. The bartender rolled her eyes and brought out four shot glasses. The place made me feel at home, it had a little more floor space, and a great deal more patrons, but had the same atmosphere I felt every bar should.

The bartender grabbed a decanter filled with an oak colored liquid from the top shelf and poured our shots. Nibble grabbed one and lifted it into the air.

“To a successful mission, in which our newbie didn’t die,” she toasted.

I grimaced. “Is that a common problem?”

“Fifty-fifty.” Gale shrugged.

We clinked our glasses and downed the shot. It burned, but was followed by a pleasant smoky aftertaste.

“Hey,” Mangle said, “That one wasn’t awful.” She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a sack. She sat down at an empty table behind us and dropped the bag. The contents rattled together and a few caps spilled out. “I have a fat sack of caps for any shit head that beats me in a hoof wrestle,” she announced.

In moments a line formed to take on the little white mare. No doubt most of them thought it would be easy money, they were in for a surprise.

Gale ordered three ciders and left to join a table with two mares.

Nibble made sure I was firmly planted and kept the shots coming. Nibble went on a rant about how long it took her to get Mangle and Gale to join in on her toasting whenever they completed a mission. I paid half attention as I watched Gale. Within no time he had gotten intimate with his new company. One blushed as he lightly bit her hoof.

“Fuck!” A stallion yelled as Mangle slammed his hoof against the table. He rubbed at his wrist as he made way for the next stallion in line.

Nibble tapped my shoulder and put a shot in my hoof, which I promptly downed.

“You ok?” Nibble asked.

“Me?” I set down the empty shot glass next to the others.

“Yea some ponies can’t handle seeing… what you saw.” She hiccuped.

Images from the slaver holdout plagued my mind, but tonight I was willing to forget them. Tonight I’m technically a part of the group that saved Ditzy and I’m going to enjoy the reward.

“I think... I'm ok.” Aside from hearing voices, but I’m keeping that to myself.

“Good.” Nibble smiled

I turned to check back on Gale, and had to rub my eyes. Instead of the two mares he was with a stallion. The stallion flexed and Gale felt along the muscle. What happened to the-

Mangle slammed a stallion's hoof hard enough to leave a dent in the table. He smothered his yelp with growl. Mangle must have been impressed because she tossed a few caps his way despite the loss.

Another tap, and I emptied the shot glass.

This time Gale was helping a mare line up a shot in billiards, Mangle slammed another hoof down, and Nibble placed another shot in my hoof. The bar spun as the three members of Elpis constantly pulled my attention.

Nibble placed another shot in my hoof and pointed at Gale. “Hey check dis out,” she said. “He’s about to leave wit a whole group to go do Celestia knows what.”

Gale trotted up to a lone stallion. They were too far to hear so I slipped into my trance and let the world fade away as I focused on my hearing.

“You look lonely over here,” Gale coaxed. “Didn’t you know everything's better with company.”

A slight pause.

“Listen,” the stallion said, “I think you're bucking the wrong tree.”

“Well I’m leaving with an orchard, we’ll be at Parsley’s if you care to join.” Gale got up and I ended my trance.

Gale waved and nearly a dozen ponies, mares and stallions, got up and followed him out the door. The lone stallion sat with his jaw slack. With a shrug he downed what was left in his mug and chased after the group. I felt a sting of jealousy, not because of his company, but because Gale knew how to read ponies far better than I ever could.

“See,” Nibble said, “Evertime!” She placed another shot in my hoof. “Hurry and drink, am two ahead.”

“Wha-” I turned to see six empty shot glasses in front of me. Shit, when did I drink so much? Maybe I should slow it down. Nibble lifted the shot in my hoof to my mouth, as I downed the shot my ability to worry about the future fanished.

“So,” I said as my inhibitions melted away. “Jaded Clover is a pegasus, with the wings and stuff. How cool is that?”

“So what? Derps lady is a pegasususus,” Nibble giggled.

The sound of a hoof being slammed against wood grabbed my attention. Mangle had just defeated the last stallion in line and scooped up her caps. He grabbed her hoof.

“Bullshit!” he yelled. “You must have cheated.” The maroon earth pony stood nearly twice the size of Mangle. “I say we finish this outside.”

Even in my drunken stupor my employee side took over. I had stopped a fair amount of bar fights before, not through intimidation of course, but with flattery. I spun my seat to intervene but Nibble spun me back around.

“Don't worry,” Nibble said, “She won't be outside for long.”

I glanced over my shoulder. Mangle wore an excited grin as she lead the way out. The large stallion was flanked by two of his goons. I pointed out my concern, but Nibble just shook her head and passed me another shot. I guess she would know. I downed the shot.

“Gale didn’t-doesn’t have a color to his magic.” I said. “Dat's impressive.”

“Yis he does. It's transparent grey. He told me.” She slammed her shot. “So you like Clover and Gale, but what abouts me?” Nibble ran a hoof along her side.

“Um,” I stumbled, “You like the explosions?”

“Right.” She booped my nose and spun in her seat. “But boring. I have much more than that. If you are impressed wit wings and a grey magic wait till you see what Mengle can do.” As if summoned the maroon stallion was thrown into the bar through one of the windows, and Mangle jumped in after him.

When the stallion didn’t get up she yelled, “I win!”

I hid my face thinking the bartender might call upon me to clean the mess, but Nibble waved her off and assured she would be compensated for the damages.

Somepony tapped on my shoulder. I turned see a white filly standing next to me.

“Did you find my brother?” she asked. I sobered slightly as memories of the colt bleeding out in front of me played over in my head.

“Yeah,” I said.

The look on my face said it all but she still had to ask, “And?”

Your brother was a no good, murdering, raping slaver. “Dead, killed by the slavers.”

She sighed, “I… I’m glad.” She saw my surprised look and frantically waved her hooves. “Not that he is dead. I heard rumors that he was seen with them. I am glad to know that it wasn’t true.”

“Gud I could halp.” I wasn’t sure if lying was the right thing to do, but her knowing the truth wouldn't help anypony.

A more upbeat song from Sapphire Shores started to play from the radio.

“Oh, I love this song,” the young filly said.

“Do you want to dance?” Nibble asked as she jumped from her seat, startling me. “We gotta dance.” Nibble demanded the bartender turn up the volume as she moved tables in order to make a dance area.

My eyes drifted to the three half empty ciders Gale had bought, then to the unconscious stallion surrounded by broken glass, and finally landing on Nibble as she danced her heart out.

Something tells me I’m in for one unbelievable story.

Footnote: Level up New perk: Foal at heart. Unlocks unique dialogue with children.