The winter breeze was starting to pick up as we traveled further down Route 2. I could see Stableton far to the east from where we were. However, it was getting dark already. We decided to set up camp. I didn’t want to but Comp, the young pegasus I was delivering, mentioned something that rest is a key role to live another day. I had no idea what he meant. Whenever I reached a halfway point on my travels, i.e. a town like Stableton, only then did I rest. But, having to camp along the road? I felt like a scavenger. I was also on high alert when Comp made a camp fire and Brick erected tents. I found out that while I was visiting my mom, Brick was told by Comp to buy travel tents. It baffled me that the colt new the basic set up so easily. It made me wonder if he had been out in the Wasteland before being a package. This was so confusing on so many levels for me that I decided to leave them setting up camp and me pacing not far away trying to think things through. While I was pacing, I was also keeping my eyes out for critters as well as passing slavers and raiders. I couldn’t tell if my mind was playing tricks on me or not, but I could swore every few minutes I could see a silhouette hiding in the dead bushes not too far from where I was.

Stopping and looking up, I watched as the sun disappeared over the mountain. I sighed and looked back towards the two around the camp fire. I still couldn’t trust either of them. What if Brick decided to slaughter me and steal the colt and end up selling him to slavers? What if the colt was really just pretending to be a package and was sent to spy on me by one of the big time gangs? More importantly, why was the wind so fierce? I shivered and adjusted my hood to get a better look of my surroundings. It was starting to snow again, but this time the tiny flakes were now being forced to the side by the strong wind. I turned and made my way back to the camp fire to warm up. Feeling the warm embrace of the fire, I sighed in relief.

“Okay, now that the camp is settled, what we need next is to cook food.” Comp said. I cocked my head. I wasn’t feeling very hungry. What the hell was this colt doing? Brick smiled at the pegasus.

“If you say so. I’ve never really camped along the road before.” He said.

“Yeah, I would be more worried about monsters, raiders and slavers.” I said matter-of-factly. “I would prefer that we would make it to Stableton before the apparent blizzard comes.” Comp looked at me and sighed.

“You do realize that the Windigos are out there right now.” He said. Windigos?

“What are Windigos?” I asked. Comp leaned in making us both lean in to hear him.

“Windigos are spectral creatures that appear when ponies who are friends with each other fight amongst themselves.” He said.

“Well then, I guess we don’t really have to worry about them.” I said propping myself against a dead tree and crossing my hind legs and putting my forelegs behind my head. They looked at me with a worried look. “What?”

“As I was saying.” Comp said. “Windigos are terrifying creatures up close. They freeze their victims into an eternal icy grave. It is said that the only way to stop Windigos from preying on them is to mend the friendship through harmony.”

“So in other words, you’re saying the blizzard tonight is being caused by Windigos?” Brick asked. “That makes sense.” I arched a brow towards the stallion.

“So, you’re a believer of the paranormal?” I said returning my gaze to the fire.

“Well, it sounds believable. I mean, you ever here the tale of when Equestria was founded?” he said.

“I thought that tale was lost long ago.” I said adjusting my hood.

“My great grandma told me about it when I was just a colt. She still has the book about when Equestria was founded. It’s a nice story. You should read it sometime.” He said with a nod. I sighed and lowered my head so I could only see their hooves.

“When I find the book, I’ll probably will. But that isn’t important to me right now.” I said.

“Then what is important to you?” Comp asked. I peeked out from under my hood to meet his gaze.

“My family and my job. Everything else is just a waste a time.” I said. My ears twitched. I could have sworn I heard a faint neigh somewhere far off. Comp nodded to me.

“Okay, understandable. But what about friends?” he asked. Okay, now this is getting ridiculous.

“What the hell is wrong with everypony?” I snapped. “Why is everypony bent on becoming my friend? What did I do to earn their pity? I don’t need sympathy or friends. I’ve been doing perfectly well without them.” I groaned and stood up stomping my hoof. “Is it because of Route 15? I didn’t want to do something so major! I had no choice! It was the only route that could take me home. How was I supposed to know a big gang war was taking place there? But nooo. I get two major gang heads to come to a truce and suddenly everypony wants to be friends.” I began pacing. “Why do ponies insist? What oh-so universal wrong doing have I done to deserve this? I didn’t want this! I’m just a courier! I take my job seriously. I don’t sight-see, I stay out of affairs between aristocrats and gang leaders and now I do one minor thing and suddenly I’m the talk of the Wasteland.”

“Well, it wasn’t at all minor.” Brick said. I stopped and glared at him.

“Oh yeah? Because I think you should have gotten mentioned. You were the one that jammed the collars. You pretty much blasted gangers left and right. Me? I just wanted to go home and drink myself to another job well done. But nooo. New Pegus decided to mention my courier number.” I groaned and started pacing again. “Years of becoming anonymous and all that is starting to slip away all because of that!”

“Well, there isn’t really anything bad about being noticed as much.” Comp said.

“Yes it is!” I shouted. “I’m a great, great granddaughter of a two century old courier who was caught up in the middle of a war between the Empire and the Legion. After that, he was hunted down by big shots all over the region! Me and my siblings are following his example and making sure we stay out of notoriety. But now, I do one simple thing and it all goes to shit!” The blizzard began picking up. Comp looked nervously at me and Brick shifted slightly.

“Uhh… Sixteen?” Brick said shivering. I ignored him.

“No! You know what? I don’t need to be mentioned. In fact, when I get to Las Pegasus, I am going to give New Pegus a piece of my mind!” I froze as I heard the neighing clear as day now. Then, my EFS picked up red bars. Brick immediately stood up and readied himself. I brought out my shotgun and turned around pointing to where the sound of the neighing was coming from. Comp hid behind me as my eyes darted left and right trying to spot whoever was making those sounds. Then, I saw it. Glowing white eyes looking at me behind the sheet of snow falling around us. It echoed a neigh. I backed up with Comp and stood back to back with Brick as I saw four glowing eyes surround us.

“Windigos.” Comp said weakly. What? These things are Windigos? You have got to be kidding me! I fired off my gun as I saw a spectral hoof moved towards me. I couldn’t tell if I was hitting the creature or not, but it still kept advancing.

“What do we do?” Brick asked as he fired into the blizzard. The explosion was faint, but it seemed to make the Windigos back off from us a little.

“This is why I don’t camp out on the road.” I growled as I fired off at the creature that was advancing towards me. The creature backed off and I smirked in triumph. “Well, good news is that they can still be hit with bullets.” I said as I reloaded the drum and continued firing into the blizzard. Then, my smirk faded. The Windigos started circling us. The wind and snow around us began turning with the creatures.

“They are going to freeze us to death!” Comp shouted over the rising wind. My hood flew off with the wind as I saw the creatures rise into the air. The Windigo’s neighing echoed again. Come on, Courier, think! If you don’t do something, you are going to freeze to death and you won’t be around anymore. Yes, I have to do something. I can’t die here. I can’t die yet. I have so many things to accomplish. And I wasn’t going to let spectral horses get the better of me. Then, an idea hit me.

“Brick! Shoot a grenade up in the air!” I shouted over the wind.

“Are you serious?” he replied back.

“Just trust me!” I shouted. Brick looked at me briefly before aiming up and his launcher made a small thump. I entered S.A.T.S and pointed at the grenade hovering in the air. I fired my shotgun and quickly grabbed a blanket of snow with my magic and covered all of us as the grenade went off. We heard the Windigos neigh as the grenade’s fire forced the creatures to quickly retreat from their circle of ice. My makeshift shield was ripped with holes as the shrapmetal of the grenade dug through. The wind died down a little but continued to blow fiercely. I dropped the snow and blinked, looking around to see that the Windigos were no longer around us. I sighed with relief as Comp and Brick shook the snow off of them.

“Haha. It worked!” I cheered.

“I have to admit, I didn’t know what you were thinking when you wanted me to shoot a grenade above us. I figured you were going to blow us all to kingdom come along with the Windigos.” Brick said.

“Well, I have matters to attend to. I’m not going to let some ghosts hinder my job.” I smirked as I looked at my shotgun. I watched in awe as I saw the wear and tear mend itself slowly. Shining Armor was probably a genius to make such a weapon to exist. Slinging it back across my back, I checked my EFS to see if anymore were around. It came up negative. “Well, we can rest easy for now. It seems like we scared them off.” Comp shivered.

“I’m going to have nightmares after this.” he muttered. I looked down at him.

“Hey, at least you are alive and not a horsecicle.” I said. He nodded and yawned. “Why don’t you two go rest. I’ll keep look out.” Brick arched a brow.

“You sure? What if the Windigos come back?” he asked. I tapped my PipBuck.

“I’m a courier equipped with Stable-Tec’s finest gadget. I think I would know when more show up. And if they do,” I trotted over and plucked a metal apple from Brick’s bag. “I know what to do.” I stuffed it in my own bag before trotting up to the tree. I threw my hood back over and put my back against the tree and sat there, watching as Comp and Brick entered the tent. I turned my gaze to the fire and watched it dance before me, feeling the warmth it gave. After the encounter with the Windigos, I couldn’t help but glance every now and then when my EFS picked up a faint red bar in the distance before vanishing. I sighed and pulled out the memory orb. I studied it, turning it over now and again, admiring the design on it. It had lines that curved ever so smoothly in different directions. None of the lines seemed to touch one another.

Out of plain curiosity, I tried attempting a connection again. To no avail, I sighed and put it back into my pocket. It must have been broken. Why couldn’t I connect with it? Was I doing something wrong with the connection? Was it locked? Would it really be worth the trouble to try and figure out what was the memory? Was it really important? Then, another thought struck me. Did it have something to do with the riddle? I pulled out the memory orb again and looked at it. I felt like it was taunting me. I tried making the connection. Suddenly, the world faded around me.

Okay, my first reaction was panic. The next, was confusion. I felt weird. I could feel that I was strong. Like I could do anything physical and not even try. Then, the next feeling panicked me. What the hell was that between the legs!? Taking a moment to realize I was in the body of a stallion. The stallion trotted down a crystal hallway, passing corridors and guards without so much as a glance. He came to a tall wooden door and knocked on it with his hoof. From the reflection on the wall, I could make out the stallion having a white hide and a blue and pale striped mane. I could have sworn that on his flank was a shield cutie mark.

“Be right there!” a gentle voice sing-songed on the other side. My host waited patiently, humming a little tune before stepping back and letting a very beautiful and majestic looking pink alicorn step out. She smiled gently at my host before exchanging a kiss to one another. “Ready, dear?” she asked.

“As ever I can be, Cadence.” The stallion said. Wait, Cadence? Is he talking about the Princess Cadence? Is that really what she looked like back then! Hell, I’ll be all over that if I wasn’t trapped in a stallion body. However, I got the same strange feeling from my host as well.

“How do I look?” Princess Cadence asked as she spun on her hooves and finally striking a majestic pose. My host smiled.

“As beautiful as always.” He said. The two exchanged another kiss before they turned and trotted back down the hall.

“Oh, I can’t wait! It feels like ages since we saw her!” Cadence beamed. My host chuckled.

“I’m sure my little sis is feeling the same thing. It really has been a while since we’ve seen her.” The two entered through a door and stepped out to, what I would say, an overly decorated dining hall. A long wooden table stretched in the middle as far as I could see. The windows had red curtains with gold linings. There were some crystals in the roof that twinkled as the two trotted around the table towards another door, mimicking the night sky. Leaving the dining hall, they made their way up a flight of steps before walking down another hall that lead to a balcony. Two pegasus guards in gold military armor swiped the curtain away with their wings as the two stepped out onto the balcony. My ears were suddenly ringing as we were greeted with cheers and hoof stomps. My host looked out into a big crowd of ponies before them. Princess Cadence spread her wings wide, looking ever so beautiful and regal.

“My dear ponies.” Cadence said, using magic to project her voice. “I must thank you all for coming this evening. We have a very special guest today, in honor of her sister’s rise to throne. Please welcome, the princess of Canterlot, Princess Celestia!” As if on cue, a tall white alicorn flew from a balcony on the side of them and landed with such ease and grace that I couldn’t help but mentally cheer. The alicrons hugged each other before Cadence stepped aside and letting Princess Celestia project her own voice.

“Citizens of the Empire. It is with great heart felt honor, to say I am humbled by the welcome that you have shown me. I am forever grateful for your kindness.” She nodded to Cadence and my host. “Now, as most of you have heard that I have retired from the throne to allow my sister, Luna, reign supreme. I am here to tell you that I indeed have retired and given the throne to my dear sister, whom I trust dearly. I feel she can be more trusted to the throne than I could in these desperate times.” There were more cheers and hoof stomps. Princess Celestia stepped aside as Princess Cadence stepped up and project her voice.

“It is with great honor to welcome our dear friend, Princess Celestia, to our humble home. Now, without further ado, let the crystal festivities, begin!” My ears were ringing now. My host felt a nudge on his side and he turned to see Princess Celestia motion for him to follow. They stood behind the curtain and suddenly, Princess Celestia looked very tired.

“How is everything in Canterlot, Princess? How is my little sister?” my host asked. She gave a small smile.

“Twilight is as fine as ever, Shining Armor.” She said tiredly. Something was off about her.

“Are you okay, your higness?” Shining Armor asked. Celestia turned to look out to the balcony.

“I fear nothing is right at the moment.” She said finally. “Your sister is fine. She is now a Ministry Mare.” Shining Armor cocked his head.

“Ministry Mare?” he asked. Celestia nodded.

“It is a group that was given to Twilight and her friends. But I fear not all is right with the idea.” She sighed. “They are developing weapons against the zebras.” Armor balked a bit.

“Wait, the zebras are attacking already?” he asked. Celestia shook her head.

“No. There have been a few incidents as of late. All were zebra attacks.” She said. “But none too important yet. I fear that my sister is going to be hurt or even worse now that I am no longer at the throne.” My host smiled.

“Don’t worry about it, your majesty. She is in the care of my sister and her friends.” Then, he frowned. “Though I’m not sure what to think of the idea of creating weapons against the zebras. They haven’t made a move on the Empire.”

“Goldenblood believes there are a few who are making their way here as we speak. I please ask that you do your best to not act out against them.” She looked very tired now. Shining Armor put a hoof on her shoulder and smiled.

“Don’t worry. As long as I’m around, the zebras will think twice. If you say they are on their way as we speak, I’ll send out a recon squad to intercept them.” Celestia looked at him with worry. But my host continued to smile. “No weapons or anything. We will talk with the zebras with fair reasonability. We are a kingdom of love and peace after all.” Finally, Celestia smiled.

“I was right to pick you as captain of my royal guard.” She said. Shining Armor nodded before turning. He stopped and looked back. “Tell my sis I said hi.” Celestia smiled and nodded.

Coming out of the memory orb, I was instantly greeted with a gun pointed at my face. Looking past the barrel, I saw a grinning mare in leather barding looking down at me. I looked past her seeing Comp and Brick being held at gun point by two other mares.

“Welcome back to the living.” The mare said grinning. She held up a collar and snapped it around my neck. I sighed.

I am going to have a long chat with Comp about camping out on the road again.

I was stripped of my bags and gun and was being herded with Comp and Brick shackled behind me. The mare wasn’t as dumb as I thought she was. She had put a metal ring around my horn that prevented me from using the most basic of magic. We were herded to a split path from Route 2 and herded into cages with other raggedy slaves.

“Hoo-wee, we are going to be sleeping well tonight!” The mare cheered turning to the others. She was given whoops and cheers from the other slavers.

“What happened to look out?” Comp whispered to me. I glared at him.

“Be quiet, I need to think.” I said. Okay, I’ve been in situations like this before. First thing first, plan an escape route. My eyes darted around, taking in the scenery. Okay, two wagons with other slaves in them. Both are a few meter away from each other. We were surrounded by dead trees. The slavers have erected three tents. Now to take in how many slavers there were. I counted a total of twelve. This wasn’t just a small group of slavers that you usually see out hunting others. It seemed like these slavers were on their way back to sell off the slaves and we were unlucky enough that they decided to do a little sight-seeing and happened to see us. Alright, now their positions. Four were around a table playing cards. Two were fornicating inside a tent based on their shadow movement. Three were patrolling around the camp, occasionally stopping to peer out into the horizon. Two were standing beside the entrance of the tent of what I would assume was where the last slaver resided. I could faintly see a shadow through the flaps. Next step, action. I looked back at the cowering ponies who flinched when they saw me turn to them. Glad my hood was making me look like a bad guy. Jokes aside, I looked at Brick who seemed to catch my thought.

“What’s the plan?” he whispered. I smirked. Reaching behind me, I pulled out a single bobby pin and my small screw driver from my tail.

“Think you can get this collar off me?” I asked. He rubbed his chin then nodded. Taking my screw driver and bobby pin, he fiddled with my collar and was relieved when it made a small click. Thankfully, the slavers didn’t have those fancy collars that would go off on everypony if one was to mess with it. I could tell by the design that it was meant to be detonated. Thank Celestia for technology class! As smart as I was about technology, I failed horribly at trying to disarm one. I was utterly traumatized for a week after watching the stuffed pony’s head burst into feathers. I swore never to mess with a collar. Of course, being in situations like this from time to time, I had only once been donned a synchronized collar. I was lucky that I deactivated it before the slaver could blow my head off. Okay, now that the collar was off, I went to work in unshackling my hooves. Without missing a beat, the shackles fell one by one. Looking back up, I pulled my hood down further, making sure that my face was completely hidden. I put a hoof over my muzzle to the other slaves as they watched as I quietly went to work on the cage door.

“What are we supposed to do?” Comp whispered.

“Make sure to throw off the slavers until I get back.” I said without turning to him. I was greeted with a soft click and squeed quietly as the cage swung slightly open. Staying low and light on my hooves, I snuck my way behind a tent, making sure I was still in the shadows. Now, next thing, I need my gun. I spotted it being dangled like a trophy on the back of one of the slavers playing card games. I tried reaching my magic, only to have a throbbing head ache in return. I frowned and tapped the ring on my horn. Of course, how could I forget? Suddenly, there was the sound of clanging that made the card player look up from their game. I looked over to see Comp banging on the cage. ‘Stupid colt. You’re going to make things worse.’ I growled quietly to myself.

“Hey! Hey ya’ dirty slavers! Over here! Yeah that’s right! I got beef with you!” he shouted. The slavers chuckled as the one nearest the cage banged back with the butt of the rifle.

“Looks like we got a tough guy here. I wonder if he will make a fine addition to the Blood Bowl.” the slaver earth pony sneered.

“I’m betting my caps on the stripe.” One said. There was a murmur of agreement. Realizing that Comp had given me a chance to take my gun back, I silently snuck up behind the pony and I quickly tossed my forelegs around his mouth and neck and pulled him back into the shadows. He struggled, but I didn’t relax my grip. Ignoring the bite he gave me, I snapped his neck and laid his limp body down. I slid my shotgun back over my back and made my way around the tent and headed towards the one where I knew the one with the detonator resided. I was surprised to see that Comp was doing a damn good job of keeping the slavers occupied, no matter how vulgar they got towards him. ‘What a tough colt.’ I thought to myself smirking. I quietly lifted the bottom of the tent and peeked under, seeing brown hind legs dangling from a wooden chair. The slaver was looking over a ledger, cursing to himself. I grinned widely as I slipped under the tent and snuck up behind him. I tapped his shoulder and he looked back at me in surprise.

“Whassup?” I said smugly as I brought the butt of my gun hard across his head. He fell to the ground with a groan. Taking the detonator off his belt and finding the key to remove the annoying ring on my horn, I saw movement outside the tent. I always wanted to do this! I took his desperado hat and put it on over my hood and lowered it over my face. Sitting down on the chair, I propped my hind legs on the table, leaned back and waited.

“Hey boss, you should take a look at this. Some colt thinks he can take us all out.” The brown matted hide earth pony snickered as he trotted in. I noticed his attention was still towards the flap.

“Well, tell him that I said good job in keeping you idiots distracted.” I said with a smirk. He turned with widened eyes, but I had already pointed my gun in between his eyes. I flicked back the desperado hat and gave the slaver a cocky grin.

“Oh son of a-“ He didn’t finish his sentence. I pulled the trigger and his head was blown against the flaps of the tent. Now, I had the full attention of the camp. Two more rushed in baring sub-machine guns. I reacted and kicked the table over and ducked behind as the bullets rang out. I poked my head out and entered S.A.T.S. With two shots, the slaver on my left was blown to bits and the other fell to the floor as her chest was pelted by slugs. Checking to make sure the detonator was at my side, I rushed out and ducked as bullets flew over my head. I returned the favor and blasted the two that were advancing on me. I felt my side burning as I turned and noticed the two who were playing card games firing at me. With quick reflexes, I stepped to the side and fired, pelting the one on the right with slugs in the chest. He reeled back and fell to the ground. I quickly entered S.A.T.S. and blew the head off of the other one. I raced over to the cage with Brick and Comp and opened it. The two quickly jumped out. The slaves followed. Three of them picked up weapons from the slain slavers and fired on the ones who were coming outside the camp. I took out a health potion from my bag and drank it, feeling the pain in my side mend.

Brick raced over to me and quickly slipped on his battle saddle. Okay, earth ponies must have some kind of magic. Shaking the thought off, I looked at him.

“Make sure those slaves are safe. Cover me while I get the others free.” I said.

“Can do.” Brick said with a smirk. He raced off and fired down out of the camp towards three slavers shooting back at us. I quickly took out my screw driver and bobby pin as I worked the lock. I yelped as my hind leg started to burn. Ignoring the pain, I went back to messing with the lock. It clicked and I swung it open. The slaves quickly hopped out and kept low as the fire fight still went on. I fell back in pain as my shoulder jerked and started to burn. Why was I smelling smoked hair? I looked at my shoulder and saw it on fire. Incendiary rounds. One of those damn slavers was getting lucky with shots on me. I quickly threw snow over the fire, dousing it and the same to my hind leg. I still burned, but I chugged a health potion down and felt better already. I looked at the cowering slaves.

“Get the hell out of here! You’re free! Run to Settlment or Stableton! I don’t care, just get out of here!” I said as I galloped over to the last cage and picked the lock. The last of the slaves took my advice and fled away from the firefight. Suddenly, I was feeling hot all over. I looked back to see that my duster was slowly catching fire. I screamed in pain as I dove into the snow and rolled, dousing the fire. I looked over to see the two of the three slavers get shot down. But where was the last? I turned to see a rifle being pointed at my face, the tip of the barrel red hot. I looked up to see the grinning mare look down at me.

“Nighty-night.” She chuckled. I smirked at her. She looked confused. That was all I needed. I twisted my body and swiped my hind leg under hers and she fell to the snow. I jumped and wrestled with her for the gun. I felt my heart beat faster. My eye throbbed as the mare kicked at me and I kicked back. With all my strength, I finally heaved and pinned her to the ground. She glared up at me as I aimed the rifle down at her. She suddenly looked panicked. I smiled. Good, cower in fear you filthy mule. This is the price of messing with a courier. I breathed heavily and chuckled.

“W-what kind of monster are you?” she whimpered, full terror setting in. My goddess I felt good. I looked down at the mare and grinned. All those years of being a tool. No longer! I wasn’t going to be some pony’s bitch. I can finally show ponies now not to fuck with me. I couldn’t help but laugh, somewhat manically.

“What kind of monster am I? Now’s that’s the ironic question, isn’t it?” I hissed at her. My heart beat faster. I could hear chanting in my head.

“Kill! Kill! Kill! Blood! Blood! Blood!”

Oh they want blood? I’ll give them blood! The barrel was still sizzling hot and I grinned widely at her. Taking the barrel, I slowly shoved it into her eye and heard the satisfying hiss and the scream with it. I could feel eyes on me, but I didn’t care. I felt good. Really good! And having to toy with this mare. My goddess yes! So satisfying! I twisted the muzzle slowly as the mare screamed and thrashed. I heard my name being called, but I couldn’t hear anything else over the sound of sweet music coming from the mare. Finally, with all my strength I could muster, I jammed the rifle more into her eye. I found it easy to slide it in.

“Nighty-night.” I said to her as I pulled the trigger. Her head exploded and I stepped back, watching the flames dance over her body. Yes, yes! Burn! Burn, motherfucker, burn!

“Courier!” a scream snapped me out of my stupor. I looked over and saw the slaves that I had freed looking on at me with horror. Comp ran up to me and took the rifle from my magic grip. “You didn’t have to go that far!” he said. Far? How could I have taken it so far? I saved the slaves didn’t I? I just exploited the monster these slavers were. That was all. I suddenly felt very tired. I looked back at the burning corpse. Then, I looked past the body to see the slaughter I have committed. Okay, I may have taken it a little too far. Usually, when I get caught with slavers, I would only take out two or three and save the slaves before anyone noticed. But this wasn’t my style. No, what I did was literally run out and just slaughtered. And I felt good. Really good. But… no, I shouldn’t have done that! I had already gotten the detonator from the one slaver. That was all I had to do. Yet, I decided to get cocky and show off. Show off? What the hell happened to being anonymous, Courier? I slumped and put a hoof over my throbbing eye. I looked down at myself.

I was covered in blood. Slaver blood was splattered over my hood to my singed duster. I pulled my hoof away and noticed blood on it. The mare certainly did a number to my legs. I felt sore all over. And the mare got lucky enough to nick my head that it was bleeding. No, this wasn’t my style. This is not the anonymous work I was going for. I should have freed the slaves and gone just like that. Why did I stay and create a blood bath? I said nothing as I stood up and limped over to strap my saddlebags on. I looked over my shoulder, seeing the eyes of horrified slaves looking at me.

“You’re free.” I rasped. “Get out of here.” I wiggled a hoof for them to leave. Without another word, they fled back towards the road and vanished into the blizzard. I shivered as I limped past Brick and motioned for him and Comp to follow. Without another word, we got back on the road and headed for Stableton.

I said nothing as we walked down Route 2 again. I was glad to see us back on track. I wanted to put whatever I did behind me and keep moving. I didn’t show it, but I could hear Comp and Brick talking about me.

“… she okay?” Brick whispered to Comp.

“How should I know? I only met her yesterday. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anypony like that.” Comp replied.

“Did you see her eyes?” Brick asked.

“Yeah… they were scary.” Comp said weakly.

“Not only that, did you see what was going on with her eyes? Her right one specifically.” I pulled my hood down further as I continued to listen.

“No, all I saw was murder in her eyes. You saw how she handled that mare. It was like she enjoyed it.” Comp said.

“But I remember Sixteen saying that her and her family work too quietly. They do their best not to get known.” Brick sighed. “Her sis says that Sixteen doesn’t stay around long in a place. I figured she was just going to take the detonator and free the slaves just like that. But to see her actually fight like that?” I couldn’t hear it, but he probably was shaking his head in disagreement. So, Heart, what else have you mentioned about me? Why would my sister just speak openly about how I work? What the hell is going on? The sun had just peeked over the mountains as we neared a gate with big painted letters on it.

I saw an RCE trot up to us. The blue earth pony gave me a look that probably told him I was bad news. Well duh? What did you expect? You have slaver blood all over you! But, she did save slaves. Yeah? Only to stick around and slaughter twelve of them. Last one being tortured by her own rifle. Don’t get me wrong, it was amusing. The little ponies on my shoulders were really starting to get on my nerves. I looked up at the RCE guard.

“Business?” he asked.

“Courier.” I replied. The pony gave me another look over.

“The hell happened to you?” he asked. I gave him a blank look in return. Taking my blank expression as a sign of don’t push it, he waved to the gate guard. The gate gave an ear screeching sound as it opened. We trotted inside and was greeted with town lights and festivities. I swear every town I go, there are more and more trade going on than I could think. I adjusted my hood to make sure my face was hidden as I lead us toward the navigation tag. Brick suddenly put his hoof on my shoulder. I looked back and he motioned toward a booth. I looked over and saw that it was an armor dealer.

“I figured we should at least get your barding patched up and cleaned before going further.” He said. I swatted his hoof off of my shoulder and continued trotting down the street.

“I’ll do it once I delivered the package.” I said. I heard Brick sigh before following after me. Turning the corner, we trotted a few more blocks down before coming to a stop in front of an apartment complex. I pulled out the small brown box and read the address.

54 W. Trottingham Rd.

“This is it.” I said. I trotted up the stairs and pressed the buzzer.

“Yes?” a gruff voice came from the speaker.

“Courier Sixteen. I’m here with a package for a Mr. and Mrs. Marigold.” I said into the speaker. There was a small pause. Then, there was a click and the lock on the door opened and the door swung in. We trotted through and was surprised to see a pony in torn flesh and the smell of rotten eggs.

“You’re a ghoul?” Brick spoke for me. The ghoul looked over a magazine that had ‘Equestria and you!’ on the cover. He gave us a sour look.

“Problem?” he replied. Brick suddenly flushed.

“N-no. I wasn’t expecting to find ghouls up here.” He stammered. The ghoul snorted before going back to his mag.

“Third floor, second door to your right. Now quit wasting my time.” He said sourly. No need to. I was already up with Comp and Brick catching up to me. We reached the third floor and came to a cracked and moldy hallway. We came to a door that had 302 on it and I knocked. We could hear muffled shouting and chatting from other floors as we waited. I swayed and started humming a tune from one of Velvet Remedy’s song. The door finally opened and a yellow unicorn stallion stood on his hind legs with a bottle of Wild Pegasus levitating next to him.

“Oh sweet Celestia.” Comp blurted. He covered his eyes and Brick adverted his. I now saw why. I balked as a long stick between his legs was fully erected and pointing at me.

“Good goddess, put that thing away!” I cried out in horror. Oh my goddess I… I think it’s waving at me! I was going to be sick. He looked us over and I realized now he was drunk.

“Ooohm you kids. You don’t know what young mare would be prancing down the hall and be all so” he hiccupped. “so sexy like.” He slumped his head as he slurred something else I couldn’t understand. I didn’t want to stick around anymore.

“I-I… uhm…” Dear goddess the size of that thing! Is that what stallions have to deal with? I felt glad I wasn’t a stallion. Having that in between my legs looked all kinds of wrong. I shook my head to get me to focus. “Ah, yes. Package for a… Mr. Marigold?” I squeaked. Why wasn’t it going down!? He squinted his eyes and looked me over.

“Whothehellareyou?” he slurred.

“Honey, who is it?” a mare called back in the room.

“Babe, I think it’s the mare we agreed to have a threesome with!” he shouted back.

“Oh good! Finally we can get some more fun in here. To tell you the truth, you gave a very limp performance.” The mare said. I winced.

“Ahhh shut up!” he said slumping again.

“Okay then! Time to go.” I said putting the package down and quickly pushing Comp towards the stairs.

“You have good day, sir!” he said. Then he reeled forward and hurled onto the package I put down. Without another word, we quickly bolted out the door and down to the market street.

After finally getting out of our traumatized state, we made our way over to the armor dealer. I sat in my stable barding as the mare was in the back patching up my duster. I sighed.

“Everything okay?” Brick asked as he sat down next to me.

“It’s been a really long day.” I said. “I just want a bath, get drunk and go home.” I realized something. “Damn, I didn’t get paid for that delivery. Why the hell do you stallions have those… things?” I asked with disgust. Brick just looked at me calmly.

“Many reasons. Though sometimes it can be pretty annoying too.” He said casually. Okay, was it me, or did a stallion agree that a penis was an annoyance. I smirked.

“So what, you planning on being a mare?” I said smugly. He maintained that stoic expression I so wanted to knock out. To my surprise, he finally rubbed his chin and looked at me.

“Well, I assume once in a blue moon a stallion wishes he were a mare.” He said. Really? Just like that?

“You don’t have any pride do you?” I said with a frown. He nickered.

“Everypony has pride. You take pride in your job, I take pride in what I do best.” He said. Hmm… something seemed a little off. I decided to press further.

“So, what do you do anyway?” I finally asked. He just shrugged. Okay, not being helpful are you? I felt my eye twitch as I tried pressing for more info. “No tell me. What do you do for a living?” He maintained his expression as he spoke.

“I’m a farmer.” He said.

“You don’t look like a farmer.” I said still frowning.

“That’s because my farm was attacked by raiders.” He said. “And they took someone special from me.” He looked up to the sky as a chill breeze blew by. I gaped at him.

“I’m sorry…” I said lamely.

“Don’t be. You weren’t the one who attacked my farm.” I rubbed the back of my head. Good job, Courier. Way to make a conversation awkward.

“So… what happened?” Brick still maintained that pose.

“It was about four days before I met you. I was just happily working my farm as usual. I had a friend who was over helping out. A good mare. Very friendly. I told her she didn’t have to, but she insisted. Then, one night, I heard gunshots and yelling. I rushed out to see what was going on, only to be beaten by three raiders. They left me there as they raided my house for goods and found her.” His eyes suddenly welled up. “The last thing I heard was her calling my name as the raiders left me for dead, whooping and hollering.” I was at a loss for words. To have someone special taken from you. I know that feeling all too well.

“Do you know where she is?” I winced. Probably not the smart thing to say. But Brick just shrugged and bowed his head.

“Dunno. She might be dead for all I know. But, I still haven’t given up hope.” He looked ahead with that oh-so calm look. “She’s out there somewhere. And she’s waiting for me to come find her. And if she is dead.” I saw a single tear fall from his cheek. “Well, if I see her body, then I’ll know.” I looked down at my hooves. Wow, I didn’t know Brick had it rough. And I thought I was the one dealing with the loss of someone special. It’s not always about you, Courier. This is the Wasteland. Everypony loses somepony eventually. Some sooner than others… I ignored the winged pony on my shoulder and sighed.

“I’m sorry.” I said lamely again. He shook his head.

“Like I said, it’s not your fault.” He said.

“Well, I’m sure we will find her eventually.” Comp said making me jump.

“Where did you come from?” I gasped. He arched a brow at me.

“I was trading the salvage from those slavers for caps.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a bag full of caps. I frowned. “What? Don’t you do it too, Sixteen?” I shook my head.

“No, I’m a courier. Not some filthy scavenger.” Comp sighed at me.

“Well, since you are taking me to this unknown place, might as well do some bartering before I’m dropped off.” He said. I narrowed my eyes at him.

“What’s your story?” He looked at me.

“I thought you didn’t ask yourself about your packages.” He said flatly. I winced. Touché. I rubbed my face.

“There ya’ go! Good as new!” a mare said stepping out of her booth. She levitated my duster, folded neatly, to me. I smiled.

“Thanks a lot.” I put down 200 caps. The mare frowned at me. “What? If I recall this is standard issue barding.” The mare shook her.

“You should be thankful I’m giving you a discount then.” She said taking the caps and dumping them in her bag. I blinked at her.

“What do you mean?” she turned back to me before speaking.

“I used some high quality material to fix it up. It should protect you from incendiary rounds now.” I looked at my barding. Fire proof duster? Hot damn!

“Err… thanks.” I said weakly. She just snorted and trotted back to her booth. I looked at Brick and Comp who were giving me a strange look. “What? I didn’t ask for it.” I said defensively.

“Do you ever follow up with New Pegus?” Comp asked. I groaned.

“You and my brother. You shouldn’t listen to that no good DJ. He’s bad news.” I said.

“Well, he’s definitely giving good news. And you’re on it.” He said. I stiffened. Oh Karma, please tell me you didn’t set me up! I switched over to the radio station and the familiar voice of New Pegus ringed through my ear bloom.

“Good afternoon, everypony. This is your host New Pegas with his trusty new hat, here to update you on the activities of the Wasteland. Let’s start off the news with the activity of the zebra.” Brick and Comp leaned in to listen. Do they not know personal space? I ignored them and continued to listen. “Yes, as you may have heard, the zebra are still wandering the Wasteland, setting up camps near the towns. Well, let me tell you what a little birdy told me. These zebra appear to be non-affiliated with the Ceaser but remain true with the Legion. Proditors perhaps? We can never be sure. Now an update on our hero courier from Route 15.” Fuck me! There was the sound of papers shuffling.

“Now, most you know how slavers are. Taking innocent ponies and trading them to the market. But with the darkness comes light. That’s right, our own Route 15 hero, Sixteen, has been spotted freeing three wagon full of slaves and taking down the slavers to boot. Good job, Sixteen. You just saved practically an entire settlement of farm ponies who are just as hard working as your fellow couriers. You are exactly the hero this Wasteland needs. Why, you could be the next Light Bringer. Or maybe the new Security. Either way, you have done these ponies a deed of gratitude. Your deeds have certainly given hope in this time of despair. Thank you all for being such lovely listeners, this is your host New Pegus. Now for some music of the lovely Velvet Remedy herself.” I switched off the radio and groaned.

“I need a drink!”

Footnote: Level Up!
Perk Added: Cherz de Pony: You do +10 DMG to ponies of the opposite gender and even open up new dialogue options for the same gender.