Nightfall came far too soon. We'd barely reached the bottom of the mountain as the dreary wasteland sky grew ever more depressing. The darkness was heralded by the distant rumbling of thunder and the flashing of green lightning upon the horizon. It was clear now that a storm was coming, and as if my luck hadn't been bad enough already, the change in wind direction, noticeable by the smoke still pouring from the mountainside far behind us, blew the oncoming weather right our way.

I sneered at the sight of the rapidly approaching storm. They were dead, but I would have liked to give the ponies who had caused this whole ‘Wasteland’ mess a beating. Show them the consequences of their royal fuck-up and how many lives this apocalyptic world had claimed. Not a few times had I fantasized about meeting them and disfiguring them with blaster fire. Taking the legs, in which the Earth pony tribe took such pride in, or the wings of the war-like pegasi, or the horn of the unicorns, their mastery over the ancient arcane energies of magic.

This desert really didn't have temperate weather. Either it was so swelteringly hot that it felt as though we were being baked like beached fish, or we trudged through rainfall so heavy, it seemed to drown us with torrential downpours. Even so, it was my own fault we were still out here, after having attempted to walk down the rocky mountain road with such a bad limp. Instincts gathered by years in the wasteland were now scowling at me angrily and mentally berating me for making such a rookie-level decision. It had taken me a good while to finally take a healing potion in an effort to fix it and some Med-X to counter the pain.

Even then I needed a proper doctor to reset it completely. Just another thing to add to the list of things that were wrong with me. Despite that mental reminder, not to mention all the pains, aches, and the constant churning in my gut, I couldn't bring myself to care. Most of my mind was caught up in worry. I'd abandoned Star and had no idea what I'd gotten myself into. Most of all, my concerns lay upon Cherry. The thought of her was like a parasite upon my mind, drawing every part of my consciousness away from my own well-being. Not that I minded, I could be caught fretting over far worse ponies.

My only problem was I didn't know how to apologize for what I'd said. Would simply telling her it was okay suffice?

Of course not, you fucking idiot! My mind berated me. If somepony had said that to you all those years ago, would you have just been fine?

No... I sighed mentally, knowing I may have just lost any of her trust I might have gained.

She'd trusted my judgment when it came to killing those ponies down in the labs, she'd trusted I was making the correct decision when I'd told her to shoot them. Then I'd torn her down with a thoughtless comment.

Damn it! Dragonfire, damn it! I cursed myself over and over.

I should have just let her kill that mare. Neither of us would have lost anything and neither would... I stopped, shaking my head at no pony other than myself. Looking up, I found myself in the middle of a scorched street. A long row of asphalt stretched off into the darkening desert ahead, its surface awash with drifts of sand that shifted in the foreboding wind. The very air itself buzzed with static, and thunder far above as the coming storm drew closer. Looking about, my eyes found the skeletal remains of housing on either side of me, their lonely shadows cast out from the horizon as the sun was dragged away from the world.

My visor lit up with several targets. Radroaches and Bloatsprites mostly, as well as some feral dogs. All were too far away to hinder us, scavenging among centuries-old trash dumps or the dusty remnants of collapsed rubble before the storm undoubtedly forced them back into hiding. From what I could see, nopony had followed us, or if they had they'd yet to catch up. That, or my visor was faulty, or... I raised a hoof to my head in an attempt at calming my worry-filled mind.

The first priority was to find shelter. Crossing the desert at night was a bad idea at the best of times, yet with the threat of a storm, it was practically suicide, especially if that storm turned out to be one of the Razor-Rad storms that sometimes blew in from the Sheen. Reconfirming that the coast was relatively clear, I turned my attention to the closest of the ruined houses. Most of the structures on the right side were still intact enough to fulfill our needs, I just had to hope they wouldn't flood. The crooked frame of one larger house was marked by a shattered glass foyer and many windows.

A scorched and weathered sign above the broken door revealed, despite several of the letters being missing, that the building was in fact called Pieny Shade Retirement Community. The warped metal frame of a revolving door sat between two smashed windows, several blackened skeletons curled up on the cracked steps before it. It would have to do, I told myself limping up to the former retirement home. As I moved, Cherry appeared beside me, her body still trembling.

"Come on, we really don't want to be out here after dark," I told her warningly, a cautious eye glancing at the darkening sky as more flashes lit up the clouds like the wrath of an angry goddess.

Even so, much as Cherry fought not to show it, I could see the dread in her eyes too. For her sake, I picked myself up the best I could. There was still no way I was going to let anything happen to her, not as long as I could move and draw breath. As we entered through the crooked doorway, an eerie silence fell over the desert. It was as if even the wind feared the approaching storm and had fled. Tentatively, I stepped over the many skeletons curled up on the porch. Beneath the charred, black bones and dirt a large doormat read 'Welcome', following the greeting were the details of the long-dead establishment.

For a moment, I wondered why somepony would want to advertise their business where it would be stepped on, yet such queries were as fleeting as the lives of the ponies that commissioned such specially ordered goods. Ahead, beyond the broken door frame, the ghostly reminders of that long-gone population did not fade. Old, rusting wheelchairs bearing yet more skeletons were covered in shards of sharp glass and the dull remains of a foyer stretched out before me. There was a rounded desk against the far wall as well as a few other smaller ones to my left and right, all sagging and rotten. Two skeletons were hunched over a pair of terminals behind the largest of them, and two more clawed at its stained front.

Flanking the desk were a pair of crooked door frames, each leading into long passageways. There were larger, arched openings in the left and right walls, leading to two more grim rooms that looked to have once been living spaces. Now both were nothing more than graveyards, filled with bones, rotting furniture, and mud-coated carpets. The walls fared little better against the wrath of the wasteland, shreds of pine green wallpaper had long since washed away and the carpet had pulled away to reveal the cracked wooden floors underneath, the same image was almost mirrored by the sagging plaster ceiling.

Cautiously, I approached the desk. The establishment's title was written in dark green letters over the faded cyan paint along its curved front, and the skeletons seemed to claw at the words as if they would somehow save them. Peering over, I saw nothing but a dirt-choked office space, terminals, and more bones. A thick coat of mud had built up behind it, almost concealing a rust-bitten safe within the rear wall.

Maybe that task can be a chance for Cherry to feel better? I made a mental note of its location, evaluating the possibility of talking to her before mentioning the thing.

With that in mind, I cautiously proceeded into the left corridor beside the desk. Beyond the door frame was a long dark hallway, no hostiles according to my visor, yet most of the rooms that lined either side of the hall were closed, and it struggled to see through solid walls no matter how decrepit they were.

What was clear in the faint light of my helmet, was the shimmering layer of shattered glass and thick dirt beneath my hooves. Trampled skeletons were strewn about the grime-encrusted floor, the thick lines of which stretched up to about the midpoint on the door frame.

Well, we certainly didn't want to be here if the place flooded, I noted, assuming that was how high the water often rose as I cautiously approached the first door.

My saddle blaster levitated up to point right at the door as I slid open what remained of the decayed frame. Inside was an average size bedroom, plunged into eternal darkness that I'd only now disturbed. Torn fabric clung to the collapsed, wooden skeletons that most of the furniture had devolved into. Crooked shelves sat warily upon the blackened walls, looking out over another mud-stained carpet. Another skeleton sat slumped against a decayed dresser to my right, a second was curled up beneath a collapsed coffee table sitting beside a large couch opposite the door.

To my left was a twin-sized bed, its rusty metal frames the only thing saving it from the decrepit fate all other things in the room had suffered. Its sheets were coated with dry mud, so much so, it could have been mistaken for some sort of strange creature's corpse. Finally, to the far left, there was another door, smothered by a pile of dry dirt and crooked on its hinges. As my eyes wandered, I was reminded that, to me, this was just another ghastly image of the wasteland. Nevertheless, I proceeded into the tomb of a room. If need be, I'd search the other rooms later, but right now I wanted some rest. Besides, most of the critters around here couldn't open doors.

Cherry was quick to follow me and looked about cautiously as she did so, her eyes darting between the two doorways as I approached the second. This door I would check even if the thick dirt coating its surface had sealed it tight. Well, at best the fact it was so well sealed by time proved there was nopony here, at worst, there was something here and it didn't need to use doors.

With a tentative shove of my forehooves and a painful twinge from my lame limb, I forced the ancient mass open. With a dry crack and a scattering of dust, it shunted forward, falling from its hinges to reveal the dirty remnants of an old en-suite bathroom. The tiled walls were laced with thick grime and both the sink and lavatory were covered by a similar coat of filth. Above the former, a cracked mirror sat beneath the smashed case of a roof light. Under hoof, the white and black chequered tiles fared little better than those on the walls. To the right of the door was a bathtub, its legs almost invisible beneath a layer of dirt, and its rim weeping rust. At the dilapidated tub's far end a withered set of pipes sat mangled, crawling out from the wall like vile, rusty vines.

Peering over, I saw that the water in the bath was at least somewhat clean and the slow clicking in my Pipbuck as I approached told me it was more a less normal, as clean as water in the wasteland went anyway. Radiation, not a deadly dose, but not something I usually worried about living in Churn. Just another thing I knew I should be thankful for because out in the wasteland I knew ponies had to drink and bath in a manner far worse than the pool I was looking at.

Moving over to the rusty rim, I looked down at my beaten and tired reflection. My eyes strained, my coat and mane were thick and heavy with sweat. A blanket of thick dust coated my scaled barding and crimson ichor bathed my equally beaten helmet. Looking deeper into the pool, I saw the submerged bottom of the bath was lined with a thin layer of gravel. I raised my head up, as did I lift a hoof, and slowly I brought the forelimb to the water.

It was warm, or warm-ish? We were in a desert after all. Warm enough for at least a quick bath, as clean as any water would get out here. It was then I heard the hoofsteps behind me. I paused and looked back to see Cherry in the doorway. I forced myself to smile, and from beneath her dirtied face I almost caught a glimpse of another, then she glanced at the water.

"Hey, why don't you come get cleaned off?" I suggested kindly, disturbing the calm liquid with my forehoof.

She glanced back at me suspiciously. Then in a brief moment of idiocy, I realized what that might have sounded like. I gulped thickly, my heart increasing its tempo and I grinned nervously at my companion. With that, I took a step back from the bath and simply approached her, my expression begging forgiveness no matter how hard I tried to hide it. Then I merely sighed.

"Look, Cherry, I'm sorry... I–I didn't mean to make you do those things. I just..." I trailed off, wondering if I had irreparably damaged our relationship, or whatever Cherry thought of me.

Had I intended for her to murder and kill? Had I meant to force her to fight? I was the one to take her down there, to take her from her home.

"Dragonfire?" she whispered softly, her eyes struggling to meet my own.

My ears instantly fell flat as I realized that I'd ushered in the moment in which I may lose her trust completely. Ultimately, I'd no idea what to tell her, only that I was sorry and I'd really no idea why I stopped her shooting that mare after she and her companions had tried to kill us.

"I'm sorry for... I'm sorry," she muttered, looking away with a shamed look on her face, her eyes closed tight, ears laid against her head, and mouth drew into a tight frown.

As much as I was ashamed that she trusted me to make the hard decisions in order to survive out here, my look turned to one of slight confusion.

Why was she sorry? It was me who told her to do those things. It was me who made a split-second decision. I'd dragged her away without considering the full effect it may have on her. My conscience was right, it had been my quick thinking that had forced those words from my muzzle, that had even resulted in her being here in the first place. I took a breath, lifting her head up with my hoof. She shivered at my touch, tensing slightly. Yet she didn't fight me, instead, our eyes met.

"It wasn't your fault, I was the one telling you what to do. I was the one who hesitated," I admitted shamefully. "You trusted me to make the right choice and well..." My tongue when limp.

I coughed slightly, fighting not to look away as my mind scrambled for any words it could find.

"Just... Just… I made the decision, not you. You were only obeying what I said because I was the experienced thriver," I improvised swiftly, hiding my deeper concerns.

She stared at me for a long moment, seeming to weigh how genuine my words really were. A part of me insisted that she may think I'd have left her for what she'd done. I dismissed that poisonous, insidious thought before it could properly take root within my mind and upset me further. Her gaze finally faltered when she glanced at the bathtub. Then I could swear I saw even more of a smile.

"I thought about them, you know? When I was alone and afraid. I thought about what makes me happy," she stated woefully, her eyes wandering across the still water.

What makes her happy? What drags her back? Her family? Her time alone in the wasteland? Her time trapped in Cocktail's employment? I'd forced her mind back to one of those.

I had to brace myself against the cold weight of guilt that revelation summoned. Her family was the one part of her I could truly relate to, the loss of her family more so. I paused glancing away.

"Please don't hate me for any of that..." I beseeched, my voice no more than a whimper.

Despite all that must be going on in her head, Cherry actually appeared surprised. Her ears rose, her eyes widening as she looked back at me. Then she just looked shameful for having such a reaction, sinking back sheepishly.

"I don't hate you, I couldn't hate you. You saved me. It's just, I thought I was actually..." She trailed off, staring at the dirty tiles. "You make me happy, you remind me of them."

I felt my heart almost skip a beat.

What did she just say? Did she compare me to her family? She... She'd looked at me, right at me, with that same expression that begged me never to leave her again.

It put my selfish plea for forgiveness to shame in an instant and I lost my breath with how heavy the guilt that slammed into my gut seemed. Like the weight of the world carried upon my back.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere," I admitted, still hiding all of my deeper emotions.

She smiled, a warm, comforting smile.

How could I have thought she'd hate me? How could I have used her trust like I did? I felt as if I'd manipulated her, used her because of a thought I'd set up in her mind.

I took a deep breath, stepping back slightly.

"Thank you," she whispered, as if her whole life had meaning again, something to make her happy, not something she was going to let the wasteland take from her again.

My heart fluttered at her innocent expression. If she'd been anypony else, those eyes may have awakened that fun-loving side of me, instead I returned to the door.

"I'll be in here, come back in when you're..." my words failed me as I noticed the worry in her eyes.

I was leaving her again, I realized. My eyes darted awkwardly about as hers closed and she swallowed.

"That's fine," she whispered, giving me a nod.

I mimicked the action before trotting out and levitating the door back into place best I could, but if the utter filth I used to prop it up again reminded me of anything, it was that I had to be very wary of flooding. I'd worry about that later, right now I was having one of the biggest conflicts of guilt and happiness I'd ever experienced.

As I moved into the middle of the room, I looked about. On the wall above the bed, just beyond the evident reach of the flood waters, an old portrait still clung to a rusted nail. The last shreds of a sunflower-decorated wallpaper weeping from around its rotting frame. The grime-coated image within was faded by both the dampness and heat, further evidence of the desert's inability to decide between the two. The image showed yet another happy family, a smiling stallion, mare, young colt, and a slightly older filly. It was hard to hide the thought that the bones about me may be those ponies up there on the wall, yet those still intact were all fully grown, and given the name of the place I imagined they were mostly elderly. Maybe it was a picture of somepony's children and grandfoals?

Nevertheless, at least I didn't have to consider the fact I may be sharing a room with what was left of a dead foal. Hesitantly, I lay myself down on a foul carpet that sat between the end of the bed and the tattered sofa, removing my helmet. The thick dirt encrusting the surface beneath my body scratched my underside through my softer under-barding. In a painful movement of my aching body, my eyes found themselves upon my crippled foreleg, just above my Pipbuck.

The healing potion had cleared up most of the burns, as for the internal muscle damage. Well, it had done the best it could, I'd have to make it back to at least Bucktown if I ever wanted to have a hope of seeing a doctor. Then there was my internal nausea, my stomach seemed to have settled. Now all I was getting was the occasional cramp and light twitch. That left me exhausted more than anything else. With a sigh I undid the clasps and removed my Pipbuck, moving the crippled limb freely for a change.

With my magic I activated its light, illuminating the room with the sickly green glow as I set it down before me. I still had what data files I could gather from Mister Hayland's private terminal. Everything Overseer didn't want Carnage or this Transcendent to know. He'd just given it to me? I highly doubted he'd just handed them over, and yet here I was, alive and free, relatively speaking. That robot was either really confused or a really super-duper smart machine. I was uncomfortably close to thinking it was the latter. Even knowing that a robot, a cold calculative logic box, was pulling the strings of my life was a worrying thought.

All somepony had to do then was throw in an angry teenage demon pony and his gang of frightening minions, not to mention Celestia knows what else, into the mix and you had my extreme situation. Hardly worth the loss of Star or fifty thousand fucking caps! I let out a weary sigh, checking for a signal from Star's broadcaster, yet there was still nothing. I'd need to boost the range if I wanted any hope of picking up anything.

"Why can't my life ever be easy?" I grumbled, staring down at the Pipbuck, prodding it softly with a hoof.

I had so many other things on my mind. All of which were things I was procrastinating until the latest possible moment. I was gonna find out what had been going on in those laboratories. Why the robot butler was so friendly if only to get me alone, and why he had a plethora of dead mares in his basement? That dull recognition of the Transcendent pony's armor flashed through my mind again, that star symbol at the forefront of my thoughts, yet still, the recollection eluded me. I grunted, looking at the Pipbuck again.

That frustration only doubled as I saw most of the files I'd gathered were either corrupted or just complete nonsense. As I scrolled tirelessly through the majority of the data I began to wonder why somepony was willing to pay so many caps for this shit, they'd lose just as much simply getting somepony to decrypt all the things on here. After several more utility records, I gave a frustrated growl. Then my eyes fell upon another set of files, automated recordings. A lot of them dated back to before the war and some even in the years following the bombs. My ears perked up with curiosity as I scrolled down to the later files, only to find them all corrupted save one that had been recorded a month ago. My eyes narrowed as I almost beat the screen with a hoof.

"Why does everything have to be so hard?" I asked myself avoiding shouting too loud for Cherry's sake.

Nevertheless, I still had more data, not to mention the rest of the recordings I'd salvaged from Lucky's terminal. Setting aside the doubts it would do me any good, I scrolled down further. I was not surprised then when I found three more encrypted files.

Fuck! How paranoid do you have to be to set up blocks that not even a Pipbuck can break? I grumbled.

Regardless, I still had access to the audio logs, I just didn't want to listen to what became of Lucky after what I'd seen. Then I remembered what I'd told myself back in the tunnels, and knew she deserved to be heard.

Don't regret this Dragonfire, I groaned mentally as I took out an ear bloom and turned on the third recording.

'Day Three.'

"Hi, terminal ponies, it's me again. I still don't really know what to say though. I suppose I feel fine, that's what you want to hear, right? Anyway yeah, I do feel fine. My tummy still hurts an eency-weency bit, but doctor Band-Aid says that's normal for somepony involved in an accident like mine. It's especially bad at night though, when the sun's not shining. You know it makes me sad when the sun's not shining, it's just always smiling.

Still, I'm feeling a bit icky too, I don't like the sharp things the doctors say they have to put in my hooves, and my imm- in... My plant thingy really itches. But it glows at night, so yeah, I can always see. Doctor Band-Aid says it helps him know if I'm healthy, says he can see me from that big room where he, and all the other ponies live. I've never seen that room, you know? I imagine it's a big room filled with sunshine and... Oh–oh, and rainbows!

But I can't go there, not until I'm better anyway. Don't suppose there's much else to say, it’s dark now. Doctors have all gone and all I have is the sun. Oh well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow right? Bye terminal ponies.

I cocked my head against the floor, pressing my left ear into the musty carpet as I rolled over. For once I was really glad for my barding for a reason other than its efficiency deflecting shots, this carpet was like nails against my face. Furthermore, I felt sickened by the recording. Yet I was far too exhausted to think about it for too long. Nothing new really, she still sounded hammered and the same trick had been pulled on her that the sick fuckers had pulled on me decades later.

I wondered if it was Overseer that had lured her in with the promise of a job and fucked with her mind and body. I really did wonder if that was her I'd failed to save in the tank. I really wanted to know how the doctor she mentioned could sleep at night aware of whatever sick and twisted things he was doing to her. Those concerns faded a moment later as the sound of hoofsteps upon creaking wood met my ears.

I shot upright, much to my tummy’s dissatisfaction as it challenged my actions with a spark of aching nausea. Cherry had materialized in the bathroom doorway, her dusty and bloody stable-utility barding suspended in the air by the soft glow of her horn. Her coat, while still slightly stained and soggy, was far cleaner than my own. She was still wearing a small smile, a warm reminder of our conversation, and a sign for me to get out of such an open position on the carpet.

I sat up properly, as she entered, before looking nervously about. For a moment I wished she would fail to notice the family picture above the bed, yet as her eyes wondered they inevitably stuck there and my expression fell flat.

Please don't think about the skeletons, please, please, please.

She glanced down respectfully, before looking at me. For a long moment, I was lost as to what to say. Was she disturbed, reminded, inspired? Eventually, my instincts just told me one thing.

"You should get some sleep, you can have the sofa," I offered, pointing a forehoof towards the worn furniture.

The mare looked at it cautiously, before looking back at me with concern.

"What about you?" she asked, her voice low and considerate.

My ears perked, then fell flat as I realized that must have been something in my sick mind. I looked about for something I could tell her I'd sleep upon. When that failed, I had to accept the floor was my bed for tonight.

"I'll be fine here, it's certainly not the first time I've been stuck on the floor," I said, with a reassuring laugh as I tapped the dirty carpet with a forehoof.

Her concern didn't waver, yet any desire to argue was far from the forefront of her mind as she slowly slipped onto the couch, levitating her barding over her like a blanket.

"Goodnight," I told her softly, cautious not to sound too intrusive.

The pink mare shifted to face me.

"Thanks," she admitted with a subtle smile before curling up into her improvised blanket.

For a long moment, my gaze lingered on her, a fading memory crossing my thoughts. A memory I never wanted to recall. Then I looked back to my Pipbuck, recalling what I'd heard.

Lucky Star? Was that you I saw? Answering that question seemed like the penultimate goal of my existence at that moment, and still, a part of me didn't want it answered.

'Day four'

"I met the leader of the doctors today, at least he looked like their leader. He's the one who makes the sunshine and tells them what to do, so yeah, he has to be their leader. But... he looked, sick. I wonder if he was in an accident too, and that's why he needs all the doctors with him. He was coughing a lot and kept taking these weird little white things. They were like mine, but they didn't seem to work on him like mine do. Well, I'm definitely taking mine now because I don't want that to happen to me, no way.

But he, the leader, he came in here, in the sunlight and he... He just sat there, looking at me all funny. Then he showed me his magic box. Oh my gosh, it was amazing, it moved and played sounds and... Well, he said there was only one, and it was his. I think it's how he controls all the doctors but he didn't tell me, so I may be wrong. All he told me was that I was the most important pony in all of Equestria, whatever that is, I'm the only pony in here besides the doctors.

I wonder if that makes me the least important pony too? Anyway, he seemed to mean it... I don't know, his eyes, the way he said it. It was almost like it was the only thing he cared about was me. Then he left, just like that. Back out into the other world, I suppose. I wonder if I'm still important out there in the doctors’ world... Equestria?"

I slowly pulled my hoof away from the screen. She didn't even remember Equestria?

My anger was quelled simply by a cold sorrow. Every moment that feeling spun in my head was one where I felt further emotionally torn. The former only had a hatred for the cruelty of ponies before the war or Mister Hayland who I assumed was the 'leader of the doctors', given his sickly condition. I wondered if he knew what would finally become of him then. Regardless of his horrific fate, he was no different from those that killed and pillaged the world now. Back then ponies should have known better. Their failure to see the world they were creating had resulted in the dusty shit hole ponykind squatted in today.

The latter of my feelings were nothing but a frozen chill, churning about in my aching insides. I'd no idea what they'd done to her, to me, or to anypony they had sealed away in that dark morgue. What I did know is why they were not one for telling anypony what they were up to down there, especially those whose bodies they'd fucked about with! The mere thought of them was disgusting, and for what? What Overseer had done to me as a simple medical examination, hiding their need for Lucky behind the promise of a great, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? It fanned the flames of my rage into a hurricane more furious than Carnage himself.

I didn't know what to think anymore. I lashed out with a hoof striking the Pipbuck back against the bed frame. They were evil. We were all evil. No matter how perfect we think we were, ponykind was far from perfection. But it was close enough for us to exist. Close enough for us to kill and torture one another. My thoughts began simmering in a vat of mental acid as I curled my head round to my side and rested it upon the dirtied carpet. I wasn't perfect, I'd failed to save so many who were far from being monsters, the raider foal, Lucky Star, even the dry bones in the room about me. I'd failed to help ponies who needed it.

With a sharp thud, the tip of my knife hit the moist wood. I slouched lazily over my forehooves as I reached out and pulled the sharp blade from the chipped table with my magic. The room around me was darkened, lit only by a few flickering candles and the occasional flash of lightning outside. The rickety wooden frame from which the shack was made, rattled and groaned as harsh wind and a deluge, alike in volume only to a monstrous roar, battered down on it. Looking up I saw a mirror, rounded and attached to a frame that, in combination with the wooden desk, formed a pre-war dresser the likes of which was now so waterlogged it may as well be liquid.

Peering back at me from the cracked glass surface was an adolescent unicorn filly. Her eyes and nose were runny, her face stained with dirt, grime, and bruises. She'd only earned her cutie mark today, a flaming, cyan crystal, forged into the stark shape of a draconic wing. Only twelve years old, and now it was her who had to protect her family.

The knife's blunt edge struck the table, clattering to the side as I glanced down at my bruised flank. The crystalline dragon wing was barely visible beneath the singed white hair and dirt. Twelve years old and I'd gotten my cutie mark, my desperate use of magical fire in the midst of battle. That was my special talent? It was my best guess. As for what it truly represented? I'd no idea. All I did know was that it was not the happy revelation it should have been. All I saw looking at that mark was an eternal brand upon my flank. It reminded me of the firefight that had sealed my fate. I was gonna be alone because I'd failed in the very same battle I'd seen my...

"Astral?" A tired voice groaned to my left.

I looked up sharply, my violent trembling obstructing any effort to retrieve my knife from the desktop. There, laying on a tattered old couch, lit from above by several candles upon the steamed window ledge and wrapped in many layers of thick blankets was a deep blue-coated unicorn mare. A fading light in her cyan eyes. My mother, I knew I was not far from losing her, and not only her. Beneath the thick layers of blankets and thick quilts, a large bulge rose. Tentatively, I sat up, shivering as I turned toward my dying mother. She'd been shot, and I... I didn't know what to do. Months had passed since I knew that I'd be having a new sibling. I'd found out having nearly gotten myself into the same stupid situation.

I was so stupid, stupid. Stupid. Stupid! Astral, you were fucking stupid! I'd been the worst daughter ever, so disrespectful, ungrateful!

The only other sound to play in my head was a laugh. A helpless, lost laugh, that had me on the verge of tears. Such sorrow was only rivaled by that which I bore upon my face. I'd just thought mom was getting fat, somewhat moody, that day I... I sniffed, closing my eyes.

No Astral Fire you need to think, you need to get your fucking head right here, right now!

We'd been en route to New Appaloosa with a caravan when she began having trouble. I knew I shouldn't have let her leave the last safe haven, not while she was so far along. But what was I? A twelve-year-old filly, I didn't even have my cutie mark when we'd left. I'd had no idea what to do, I couldn't protect her or the foal. I couldn't do anything but shoot and hope for the best. I closed my eyes, I was useless. What had I done other than try hopelessly to use what little chems we had and force her to this stupid shack to die?

As tears seeped through my closed eyes I felt a shivering hoof against my chin. With a nudge, my head rose and my eyes quivered open to meet those of my smiling mother. Pain, sadness, fear, grief, exhaustion. Her face was rife with it all, and yet she was smiling. She was smiling!

"I... I'm sorry, mom," I apologized as tears streamed down my face like torrential twin waterfalls.

Without hesitation I lurched forward, wrapping my forehooves around her neck, and pressed myself against her. I could feel the warmth of the bloody bandages I'd managed to wrap around her upper forehooves and the ichor leaching from the severe wounds on her chest. None had hit the baby, I was sure. I was fucking sure I'd saved the baby from the bullets at least! But I needed to save her, there was nothing I could do for either of them without her. With that realization, I'd ultimately admitted I'd failed to adequately protect my family, and the new mark on my flank was just going to be an eternal, shame-filled reminder of that failure.

"Shusssh, it's not ... Ahhrrg." My mother's soothing voice was interrupted by a grunt of agony before she could finish.

I closed my eyes, pressing deeper and deeper and never wanting to let go. The whirring of the storm outside was chased away by her frail heartbeat and shallow breaths. Beyond it, I could feel the cacophony of muscular contractions as her body desperately tried to expel her unborn foal to save itself. Its efforts were futile, and those very efforts were killing her.

I shouldn't have let her leave! No, I should have gotten her to New Appaloosa, somewhere, anywhere!

"Astral, you... list-en to me I... Urg!" With another grunt of pain, I felt her head fall lazily beside me, her forehoof limp across my back.

"Mom! Mom!" I begged, nuzzling as close to her as I could, the moist blanket rubbing blood and salty tears into my face.

"As-tral, Astral, you... Arg! The baby you have... to... do something f–or me," she whimpered faintly.

I didn't want to listen, I just wanted to stay here, hold her, and never let go. If I held them both enough nopony was ever going to take them. Nopony!

"Ast–ral... Fire" The fleeting sound of her meek voice beat down upon my ears like thunder, and with one great effort, I felt her forehoof nudge me away.

I wanted to scream, kick out against this force trying to drag me away and hold onto her, and yet I didn't. I couldn't find it in myself. Then my eyes fell back to her fading cyan gaze, and for a long moment, she stared right at me, right into me with all the loving warmth she could muster. From within that storm of pain, desperation, and fear, I saw it. Spinning behind the weak vile of maternal love was more. The weight of her forehoof against me failed as it fell limply onto the bed, then with one final effort her eyes flinched upward to the dresser table.

"You hav–e to... save... the..." Her words were silenced by another painful contraction, becoming no more than a gurgling in her throat as her face contorted.

My eyes dared not look to the table, I may have been young, but I was a smart pony and I knew what still lay there. I knew that she couldn't save the baby, nor herself.

"I... love you. Both of… you," she stammered weakly.

Her head fell flat, the life slowly seeping from her shimmering eyes as her shallow breaths ceased. I felt a wash of cold dread mix with the warm hysteria, the result was nothing but desperate sadness. I wanted to grab her in my hooves and never let go, shake her voice back to me.

"Mom?" The word left my trembling muzzle as nothing more than a faint whimper.

"Mom?" I asked again, but the only sound came from the raging storm outside.

My breathing steadily accelerated, my heart beating like a hammer against my rib cage as panicked heat rushed through me. My eyes cautiously turned to her swollen belly beneath the blankets and my ears fell flat against my head. I needed to save them, my family. All I had left was...

"Mom, please!" I begged, my throbbing heart wrenching as the magical glow of my horn enthralled the knife still sitting on the dresser.

I didn't want to do this, I couldn't do this. She had to save the foal.

"Mom!" I screamed.

No answer came but the howling wind outside. A staggered whimper left my shivering muzzle and along with a berth that felt as if it sucked the life from me.

"Mom?" A frail plea, no louder than the silent tears seeping down my face.

I placed my hoof on her forehead, feeling the softness of her coat one last time. My trembling body tensed sharply, my head drooping, tears gushing forth. My horn flared brighter as the blade levitated to my side. I took a weak breath, looking up at my mother's still face, locked for eternity with that warm smile. The smile I forced in return was nothing but a mockery of her own, no matter how hard I tried, I could never be the mother she was. I loved her more than anything. Gently, I pushed her eyes closed with a forehoof.

"I'll never, never let you down, mom," I stated with as much pride as my frail emotional state would allow.

I closed my eyes biting back the flow of tears as I turned and took the knife to save my family.

I shuddered awake to see the dull blackness of the windowless bedroom. A mild damp hung in the moist air, increasing the irritation of the dirty carpet against my side. I felt utterly miserable. No, in fact, I literally felt like total shit. It was like a really bad hangover, yet without a headache or the fun before. Instead, all the suffering could be attributed to my rotten gut. My insides felt putrid, my stomach churned, threatening to throw up whatever I'd managed to scrounge down. I gagged, lurching forward and lifting my head in an effort not to choke. Okay, never mind threatening. I was throwing up!

I directed my mouth away best I could before I heaved up a foul torrent of vomit over the dirtied carpet. Just as I thought it was done, however, I gagged twice more.

What the fuck is happening to me?I whimpered mentally, wiping the vile bodily brew from my muzzle with a shivering forehoof.

Even so, my insides didn't seem content with just that, a moment of sickly shifting later and I was heaving again. I closed my eyes, almost in tears as the gut-wrenching motions continued, the acidic vile stinging my throat. With a splutter, cough, and a wheeze, the foul torrent seemed to cease or merely run out of food to chuck up. Gasping for breath, I fell back to the carpet, my rasping insides aching in protest.

"By the goddesses, when I get my hooves on the fucker that did this to me I'd..." my angry curse was broken as I raised a sweat-laden hoof to my cold forehead.

I may have slept last night, but it certainly wasn't pleasant. I'd come to be acclimatized to nightmares, yet that didn't make them any less traumatic. With a tired groan, I sat up again, a forehoof clutching my aching gut as I looked about the dark room. With my weary vision swimming, I was thankful for the lack of light. The only illumination I could see was the soft glow of my Pipbuck still sitting by the bedside. I may have mistaken the world around me for nothing but a dark oblivion if not for its glow, not that such a place would be any better than the wasteland anyway.

The only other tether holding me to the dreary reality was the damp air and the sound of rainfall against the outer structure. The storm, it seemed, had not finished, and judging by how damp the carpet was, it was eager to submerge the whole neighborhood. I just hoped it was daytime outside, or whatever a day equated to in the wasteland. Steadily, I rose to my hooves. Stiff muscles and a crippled forehoof added to my inner symphony of pain as I downed another healing potion and took some more Med-X. I had to pause for a long moment to collect myself, but even then I felt as if I could collapse.

Fuck, I still need to find Star and cross a desert before I can get this straight. As the thought crossed my mind, my ears picked up and I once again checked our broadcast frequency.

My Pipbuck was silent. I gave a frustrated groan before another thought came to me, the memory of the terminals just out in the foyer, they would present a welcome distraction. At that, I looked down at my Pipbuck, sitting just within reach of my outstretched forehooves. It looked almost as if it were cowering under the bed frame, its inability to provide me with the signal from Star seeming to terrify it. Rightfully so, it was lucky I didn't try and smash it after what I'd heard last night, not that it would do me any good, these things were practically indestructible. Regardless, my gear didn't function without it, so I couldn't just leave it here, and if I even wanted to see my pay…

I shook my head, what did that matter anymore? As far as I knew I was as good as dead soon.

My only job now was to save the one pony I could. Despite what we'd said to each other last night, my eyes were still hesitant to turn toward the mare sleeping peacefully on the couch. The soft sound of Cherry's breath whistled through the gloom, her pink coat, and cherry-red mane only just graced by the Pipbuck’s green, artificial glow. She looked more than a little cute, hiding under the stable barding blanket, but I'd made it more than clear to myself not to view her in that regard. Unfortunately, not thinking about her like I thought about almost every other mare I saw was becoming increasingly hard.

Damn it, Dragonfire! I flushed a little, my ears burning as I realized how my latter thoughts could be taken.

I took that thought away instantly, I was not that bad of a pony. Despite the blatant disregard for my self-imposed rules, the joke was enough to spur my weary spirit. Still smiling slightly, I wrapped my magic around the Pipbuck and helmet placing the latter atop my head and reattaching the former to my foreleg.

I swear, if my life wasn't depending on something other than crude thoughts, I'd have bucked this terminal into next week!

The fact it was the only one on the desktop to work, however, made the idea frustratingly unpractical. I'd already been forced to back out ten times before I finally cracked it, the password was 'homestead'.

In an old pony's home? Go figure I guess. Nevertheless, the option to open the wall safe was safely within reach. Staring at it, I was caught between the desire to give a big 'fuck you' to the terminal and open it, and save it for Cherry. Ultimately my soft spot for the pink mare won out, and I save the task for her. If nothing else I'd get to see her cute smile, that was more of a reward than rubbing my victory in the face of an inanimate object. There was, however, something else on the terminal screen. A recording.

Fuck, if I have to see another of those damn things again, I'm gonna scream! It was almost as if by beating the terminal's damn passcode wasn't enough, now it was mocking me with more things I'd rather not hear.

I grumbled to myself, grinding my teeth and theorizing that if I didn't listen to the recording, the fucker couldn't rub its success in my face.

Wow, look at you treating a machine as if it's a real thing, my mind nickered wittingly.

"Fine, you little bastard!" I hissed, to both my thoughts and the irritating terminal as I hit play on the first of the recordings, snatching my Pipbuck away from it so as to gain some small satisfaction.

"Well, it doesn't look like any of us are making it out of here, after all. Sky wagons are nowhere to be seen"

The instant sound of a despondent buck's voice filled the air, I regretted even hacking the damn thing. Yet now, out of respect, I had to listen, regardless of how this recording ended. I also knew this was gonna make me feel even more like shit. Even so, I made an effort to engross myself as much as possible in anything that wasn't the recording as I allowed it to continue.

"It's been almost three hours since the sky went dark, I think the pegasi are hiding away up there or something. As for the rain? Well, I think it’s killing everypony."

The buck sighed wearily, his voice as dead as I was beginning to feel.

"Well, I think most of the folks here know it, and those that can't tell what's going on are better off. I went up to see Mr Waddle, before and, well... He only asked me about his daughter in Manehatten as if it were a normal afternoon. Truth is, I don't know anymore. All I do know is there was a rumor going around about the Zebras hitting Cloudsdale, and while I have no idea about Manehatten, I think it safe to say it's gone too."

The buck paused, seeming to think. Then despite all the dreadful events that must have been going on around him, he managed to give a slight laugh.

"You know there was even talk about trying to get up to the Stable up near Desert Springs or the one south of the lake, but nopony showed. Damn Ministry, can't believe that Fluttershy herself came down here only weeks ago and now she's abandoning everypony. I’d wager ten bits it's because Las Pegasus is now a radioactive crater, I can even see the green flashes against the clouds from here.

Yeah, save some fine rich gamblers over a group of innocent old ponies? It's all about what's most practical I suppose. You know that's one of my only regrets about this whole thing, working so close to one of the brightest cities in Equestria and never going there."

He gave another humble chuckle, seeming to think deeply about the possibility that would never be. Around him, the faint sound of panic began to spur amidst a chorus of coughing. The buck's laugh was ceased by a sigh as the thought of a city he'd never see seemed to fade.

"Well, I guess this is it, we got a few weeks' worth of food, providing the rain doesn't kill us. But I don't think anypony here's going to last the next few days... All I will say is, that if any pony finds this place, tell my wife, my little colt. Please, tell them I love them both very much."

The recording crackled into oblivion, and despite all I'd told myself I was frozen in place. I'd not even thought, I'd just listened. Just as I'd predicted it made me feel so cold and empty. The damp floor, dust-choked skeletons, and dirty water lines on the wall way above my head, made his last words unsettlingly clear. Those ponies, all of them...? I merely sighed, both a curse for me and a salute to a world long since obliterated. As I shook off the sorrow, I stood up and turned to face the shattered glass front. Beyond, the eerie mist was scarred by torrents of rain, thunder rumbled in the distance, and lightning flashed high above.

It was disturbingly easy to imagine that dark day centuries ago, the radioactive downpour slowly boiling everypony alive. I was just glad that this storm wasn't a glowing Razor-Rad storm, yet only the survival part of me felt that instinct. Leaning forward, I rested my head on the end of the desk peering aimlessly into the mist, then my eyes wandered to my Pipbuck as I settled my forelegs on the desktop.

"Well, what are you looking at?" I hissed, like some crazy pony.

Well, it's a new low for you Dragonfire. Talking to inanimate objects, must be a side effect of being the cause of so many deaths? My mind proposed.

I rambled to myself for a good long moment, pausing at intervals as if to let the Pipbuck respond. I even cursed its existence when it failed to do so. Then my expression just fell flat, my ears falling against my mane as I slumped down to the desk's midsection. I felt like total shit, the world was total shit, everything was just total shit! As I whined the device on my leg seemed to look at me skeptically, like I was some ungrateful foal or a spoiled brat who'd been told 'no' for the first time.

Well, what did it know? It was just a piece of metal, it didn't even work properly it... Wait?

Through my one open eye, I saw something shift in my vision, words?

I would advice caution

I glanced to my helmet sitting on the desktop, having taken it off to get a better look at the terminal screen. Okay, this was definitely not my visor then, I was going crazy, but I hoped I wasn't that crazy!

The advice appeared in my vision for just a moment, before the E.F.S (which I knew definitely didn't work) lit up with a pair of red dots.

What the fuck?

I raised up, looking at the device on my foreleg skeptically before putting on my helmet and glancing out of the shattered doorway, and slipping on my helmet.

Sure, it had to be faulty there...

'Number of targets 2' my visor confirmed, struggling to outline two red shapes in the rain-swept street.

I swiftly ducked back down behind the cover, bracing my back against the wood and trying not to wince at the internal discomfort my motions induced. Despite the danger I looked at my Pipbuck, blinking as the strange display appeared in my vision. But the thing had never worked as anything more than a fancy torch, a blunt force weapon, and sometimes a paperweight. Right now I just blamed it on myself cracking up, but I would have to look into it later.

Currently, I had two bigger problems. My visor retained the marks of the two ponies, both of which were heavily armed given the shapes of barrels at their sides and the heavy armor that was easily distinguishable from their natural figures. Both were bucks, and that armor was familiar. Their marked hostility gave me no reason to hesitate, and my saddle blaster was swiftly levitated to my side. If they passed us by, then I'd have no reason to use it.

I glanced to my left, through the gap between the desk and the wall, then at the door to the room holding my sleeping companion. Suddenly, the sound of hoofsteps emerged from the rain-swept mist and the sound of glass crunching under metal stole my attention.

"Why the fuck are you even going in there?" One of the bucks asked dryly.

I shifted to the far left side of the desk only just concealing myself from their view as the sound of glass-shattering hoofsteps ceased.

"Because Chief told us to find whoever got past Shill and Lemon Grass, and put two and two together, you idiot. It's raining anypony coming this way is going to be taking shelter if they know what's good from them," the second buck, the one I assumed was closest, replied and I swore I heard his companion mutter.

"They're clearly smarter than us then."

So much for passing through. I told myself recalling the name 'Chief' immediately.

"Besides, you wanna end up like Lemon Wedge?" The closer buck called back to his companion, and I instantly felt a slight sting for not having killed that mare myself.

The other buck didn't verbally answer, but after seeing Carnage, I could only assume he gave some sort of visual kind of 'fuck no' response. A second later, and the hoofsteps resumed. My ears twitched, judging that they were right in the middle of the foyer.

Well, it's now or never. I told myself.

A second later, I sprung up saddle blaster ready only to find the former of the pair was far closer to my left than I'd anticipated. As we saw each other both our eyes widened. From the gaps in his gear, I could see he was a deep blue-coated unicorn, with a white mane and tail. He wore that same dark, star-branded armor etched with glyphs that my mind was still battling to recognize.

His horn flared the moment I managed to swing my weapon around. Well, there was no way he could draw his weapon so... I felt myself tossed back against the far wall my rear hooves clattering against the safe.

Wow, another pony who actually knew how to use telekinesis for something other than guns? Oh, and shit!

I scrambled to my hooves, as the blue buck raised a shotgun in his magic.

"Hey, I've got somepony over here!" he called back, pointing the gun at my forehead.

"Don't move," he growled, pressing the barrel to my forehead. I froze, the saddle blaster stiff in the air at my side, his eyes were locked firmly on it.

He wasn't gonna kill me, really? Well, that was a mistake, and he should have been watching more than my obvious firearm.

A moment later and I slammed one of the broken terminals into the back of his head with my magic. In the same action, I kicked his forehooves from under him with my rear legs, sending him sprawling over me. Not the ideal way to have a stallion laying with me, but to make sure he was out cold I bashed his head again with the butt of my blaster, then wrapped him in my magic. He was heavy, but I'd managed more, even if my crippled limb screamed, and my guts plainly didn't like me concentrating so hard on something other than them. As anticipated, the second buck appeared around the corner in time with the red bar moving in my vision, my visor marking his new position as the green earth pony posed to fire a saddle-mounted rifle at me.

"No, no," I warned, levitating the first buck between us.

His eyes widened slightly, before narrowing and he gave a slight grunt. Now it was my turn to get some answers.

"Who the fuck are you ponies?" I hissed, adding extra emphasis by pressing the barrel of my blaster against the unconscious buck's head.

The green buck looked at me with disgust, seemingly opposed to answering. I'd come to expect such a thing and hastily brought the barrel of my blaster under the chin of his companion, pressing another weapon of the plasma variety to the back.

"Humm?" I pressed impatiently.

That caught his attention, more so. But it was better than simply killing them, and if he cooperated, then maybe I'd let them leave.

"I would ask you the same thing?" he growled, eyes shifting from me to his friend, then back to me as if judging whether I had it in me.

I sincerely hoped he didn't doubt it. His response merely pissed me off, however, and my scowl deepened.

"What's that to you?" I asked sharply, knowing full well how incredibly hypocritical it was.

The green buck snickered, then snorted.

"You're just some cheap merc, ain't' ya'?"

I took a deep breath, I was anything but cheap, and not what I'd call a true merc. Yet clearly these ponies were above that, or at least they all thought they were.

"Little filly out to do the dirty work, bit far from home ain't ya'?" he added, becoming increasingly twitchy with his rifles.

Yes, I was uncomfortably far from home and that made me all the more dangerous.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I replied, forcing the barrel of my blaster closer to the unconscious buck's head to fortify the truth in my words.

Apparently, that didn't work. The buck merely sniggered impatiently.

"Oh, is that right, my apologies... So you and your little friend just happened to get into one of the most guarded Reliquaries we know of by accident did you?" he told me condescendingly.

Reliquary? Okay, I'd had just about enough of this. More so my gaze tried not to shift to the door behind my new friend.

He'd said my friend, but they couldn't know she was in there if they were going to kill anypony it had to be me. My mind slowly clicked as the buck gave me a sly smile, and I realized that the situation had just reversed dramatically. He wasn't talking about Cherry

"That's right you and your little colt friend? Give up and you can see him again," he taunted.

Star, they had Star? Celestia damn them, Luna fuck me! I should never have split us up! My eyes narrowed further.

"Where the fuck is he, you fucker?" I growled like some feral dog.

The buck smirked, glancing at his captive companion.

"Why don't you come with me and find out, home base is a nice comfortable stable not too far from here," he invited slyly, sweeping a forehoof towards the exit.

My expression told him my answer, but I still responded.

"Fuck you!"

The buck merely leaned back slightly, almost sitting before saying casually.

"Well then, it appears we are at an impasse my frien..."

A dull clunk severed his words as his eyes wavered. A moment later he slumped forward, unconscious on the floor before me. I paused in confusion, a trick, he was faking. No, he was actually out cold. Then I looked up and was met with a far more surprising sight. The first buck fell from my magical grasp as I saw Cherry standing in the doorway. Zap, Zap turned back after slamming the buck hard in the back of the head.

"See, I told you, it's not hard... Just stick it in here and twist, then you've got it," Cherry stated proudly as she opened the safe, her tools levitating beside her.

I winced, not wanting to think about how my mind initially took those words, especially while searching two bucks. Disarmed, they were no bigger than me, especially in the right places.

No, Dragon! Shut up!

I'd already taken all their ammo, their guns (including a scoped sniper rifle), and most of whatever supplies they had before sticking their backs to the wall with some wonder glue Cherry had found, all the while I was looking at the strange markings on their armor. I had far more incentive to figure out who these ponies were now I was aware they had taken my friend, and there was only a small shard of reason left in me to resist the urge to charge guns blazing in any direction until I finally found them. I found a distraction in Cherry as she rummaged through the rusty safe. Inside there had been a bunch of waterlogged, brown paper, a few old bits, and some medical supplies, including some chems and two healing potions.

The temptation to take one for my crippled leg had been unbearable, but I'd resist until I could see a real doctor. Thankfully, there were no more recordings or memory orbs, both of which were now as unwelcome as ever. One item caught my eyes, however, as did it seem to captivate Cherry's attention. 'Be Pleasant' was the small inscription written upon the base of a small statuette depicting a timid-looking yellow Pegasus, with long pink mane and triple butterfly cutie mark.

"I've heard of these, my sister, Trouble, found one once... It was Pinkie Pie, I think. They're really rare and they're magical. Worth a fortune if you can bring yourself to part with one," Cherry stated excitedly as I levitated out the statuette of Fluttershy, ministry mare of the Ministry of Peace.

The pony who'd abandoned these ponies lying dead around us. That thought contradicted the good feeling that washed over me as my magic touched the figure and I looked at my giddy companion. She was far more deserving of the inscription it boasted than I was.

"Here, you take it," I suggested kindly, levitating it to her.

She looked strangely honored as she took it in her magic, and I saw the same pleasant effect wash over her with far more respect for it.

"Thank you... I don't know what to say, I've looked for one of these ever since my sister found hers, we all kinda' wanted our own," she admitted with slight embarrassment.

I didn't know what to think about the negative topic of her dead family as the statuette’s magic chased it away. I smiled at her as she placed the yellow mare in her saddlebags then turned back to another unwelcome sight, not that either of those fuckers could move without tearing the hair off their rumps. At that moment my insides gave another unpleasant squirm and I winced.

So much for being pleasant. My mind remarked snidely.

"You okay?" Cherry asked, the term becoming defaulted in my head.

I pressed a hoof to my stomach, nodding weakly at her. She saw right through that lie.

"Dragonfire... I saw the mess on the carpet and..." She trailed off as if thinking about what she wanted to say next.

Oh yeah, that. But what should I tell her? Should I lie, abuse her trust again?

You're good at that. My mind added slyly.

I abused that thought instead.

"I'm fine, just some bug, you'll get used to them out here."

At her skeptical acknowledgment, guilt crept back into my mind.

It's happening all over again, isn't it? My mind asked knowingly.

I slammed a door in its sly face.

No, this was not like that! Telling her that I was fine saved her from worry.

It saved her that little bit more, and saving her was all I wanted to do. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only pony who needed saving. Furthermore, neither of our captives were providing any indication as to where my companion now was, all I knew was it involved a Stable, yet there were several I knew of around in the Marejarvie.

By the goddesses, can't anything be simple? I internally groaned, once again reaching for my Pipbuck, only to find its broadcaster silent yet again.

"What's that?" Cherry asked, pointing to the broadcaster as she stowed away the last of her findings in her saddlebags.

"I can't pick up the signal from Star's broadcaster, he always has one so we can talk to each other. Only he is way out of range." My explanation was as much a response to her as it was a reality check for me.

Damn it, I had to stop hoping for something that wasn't going to happen and get a message to him myself. To do that I was gonna need something bigger. I merely shook my loose Pipbuck in frustration, growling angrily as I looked down at it.

"What are you looking at?" The futile question flashed through my head and I almost imagined the thing projecting a smug expression into my vision with its newfound functionality.

Then more of reality came running at me. I couldn't do this, what about Cherry? Getting her home, what about me? I was in no state to continue this job and yet…

"I need something bigger," I groaned, noticing it was one of the first times I'd said such a thing while not referring to some stallion's nethers.

Cherry's look turned skeptical, and for a moment I thought she'd come to that conclusion also. I flushed, swiftly correcting myself.

"Something to send a message, with more range, a bigger broadcaster." She seemed to think about that, raising a forehoof to her chin.

The error of my previous words seemed to slip out of her head. I still looked at the Pipbuck sitting around my foreleg, spitting out my tongue at the thing, then I did the same thing to the stuck bucks as my frustration simmered. Fortunately, I had something they didn't. A smart pony like Cherry.

"What about the broadcast tower we passed on the road?" That sweet smart pony's voice suddenly chimed.

I paused, ceasing my foalish actions immediately before looking at her. The garage broadcast tower?

"You're a genius!" I called out waving my hooves in emphasis.

Okay, so maybe not all the foalishness had escaped me, but still, my companion smiled, blushing heavily and it was unbearably adorable.

She hadn't expected her verbal contribution to matter so much, had she?

I knew that look, that adorably humble look. I could hug her again, but given that neither of us had been scared shitless lately, I resisted the urge. Instead, I took one last look at my Pipbuck, then at the strange things, it was projecting into my vision. I could do this, for Star. I didn't love him, but goddesses damn me if I didn't do something to save him. Home would just have to wait.

Footnote: Level Up

New Perk Added - Be Pleasant - No matter how bad the world around you may get you must always try to do better. You gain +5 to charisma and gain specific dialogue options with certain ponies.

Updated artwork kindly provided by: TioTheBeetle and Margony respectively.