I thought I knew what fear was. I thought I knew what it was to feel small and alone. I had no idea what fear was until I faced the massive expanse of the Equestrian Wasteland. This was nothing like facing the Overmare before, or almost being harvested for my genes. This was a level all its own. Before me lay pure devastation. When I read that the wasteland was livable from Flash Freeze’s terminal I didn’t know what to expect, certainly not what I saw.

Stretching out as far as the eye could see was the barren and scorched land, deeply hued in the colors brown and grey, occasionally the shriveled black corpse of a tree would grace the emptiness. At this point in my life I had no concept of outside, living in the cramped rooms and hallways of the stable made the freeing sensation I felt at all this empty space a foreign and unsettling one. Then I made the blunder of looking up.

I kept moving my eyes upward until my legs gave out and I doubled backwards onto the ground. Staring up at the big empty space between me and the blanket of clouds made me feel like I was falling deep in my core. For a moment I was suffocating, afraid that if I moved even a little I would go careening off the ground into the sky. I laid on the ground for several minutes letting every new sensation pass. The falling sensation left my stomach but was replaced by a strange gust of wind that caused a shiver to run down my spine, carrying on it unfamiliar smells of dust and decay. I braved a glance at the sky again and now that a fear of falling wasn’t my prime focus, I noticed a colossal cover of clouds, completely hiding the sky from view. To the north I could see the tall skeletal remains of skyscrapers, indicating that I was near what was once a major city.

A soft pinging noise alerted me to my PipBuck which notified me that the auto-mapping features had activated and set to work, marking the area I was standing near as Stable 63. After sparing a glance at the screen on my leg I spotted a sort of booth at the top of a small incline directly forward of the cave the stable was in. Filling my lungs with filthy, stale air, I checked the magazine in my pistol and headed up the hill towards the booth. The booth itself was made of metal and fairly small, barely big enough to house one pony. It looked to me that it was set up as a check-in like booth. One that checked if you were authorized to relocate there by Stable-Tec and the terminal I saw through the glass-less window confirmed my thoughts.

Wishing to do anything but wander away from the stable, I forced open the door to the booth, the doors hinges crying out from years of rust build up. The terminal itself was surprisingly still functional, the screen flickering on and off periodically, no doubt whatever powered this area was running low. The variety of options to pick on the screen were minimal, most were simply log information pages, checking what families made it into the stable. However, one particularly suspicious entry read ‘Message to Radiance’ I accessed the entry and was greeted by a preface: Error – Line to Stable 63 has been lost – message routed to directory terminal.

The date stamped on the message was one I recognized from school, the Last Day, the day the megaspells destroyed the world. The shockwaves of the blasts must have severed the communication lines from the outside, isolating us from the world…Not that anything would have come afterwards. I pressed a few more buttons and loaded the message:

-SB

I felt like I had just been kicked in the stomach. Every part of my brain was screaming for justice, for revenge, for… anything. I had lived my whole life in the stable. Never knowing its true purpose and even though I only learned what that was today, knowing that it was never meant to be, that our lives could have mattered, that we wouldn’t have been stock for mad scientist ponies was emotionally and mentally defeating.

I took two steps away from the terminal and fell on my rump, my brain silenced, mouth agape. Our fate was decided by a message that never reached the stable, by a time frame as low as minutes. I didn’t know if I wanted to get up. I didn’t know if anything I did mattered. What was I? Was I meant to exist? Or was I nothing more than a statistic to be bred for ‘the greater good?’ I sat sulking in my sorrow of whether or not my existence meant anything…when I remembered I had a gun. A loaded gun. I levitated it out of my saddlebags, flung my helmet off my head and pressed it to my temple. I could feel tears form in my eyes and hear my heart beating in my barrel. I was never supposed to be I thought and pulled the trigger. *click* nothing. I pulled the trigger a few more times to the same effect. A quick inspection later I had, in my melancholy, forgotten to remove the safety. So I fixed my error and silently thanked nopony that Summer hadn’t given me a defective gun.

As the cold metal of the pistol touched my temple again I couldn't help but think of Summer. Thinking of her led me to thinking of my mother and then to Winter. They didn’t know the truth and they were still inside. It took all my strength to willingly leave the stable but I remembered why I did it in the first place. To save the stable, to save all those ponies from the labs that were never meant to be used. To save the ones closest to me from a fate that shouldn’t be. To save them all. I returned the gun to my bags, stood up, dusted myself off and walked right out of the cramped booth. I couldn't quit, not while they were still trapped. The stale wasteland air hit me again but this time I didn’t flinch, I didn’t close my eyes. I looked back at the cave that led to stable 63.

“I’ll be back guys, as soon as I can.” I turned and started walking north down the fractured road to the city I saw in the distance. “I’ll save you all.”

I walked for about an hour down a broken road without much to occupy my attention except the unsettling feeling of dirt and asphalt against my hooves. I had lost sight of the city’s decayed skyline so I didn’t know if I was traveling a direction that would be helpful to me or not, so in an effort to collect my bearings I climbed a small hill to the left off the road to survey the area. At the top of the hill rested a large rock jutting up towards the clouds. I poked my head around it and looked down the other side of the hill and saw the last thing I expected to see so soon.

Ponies! There was a group of ponies moving westward. Three adult stallions and a cart full of children being pulled by a two headed creature of some kind. I was so excited I was practically bouncing with joy. I almost called out to them when I noticed how they were dressed. One of the three stallions wore a simple leather vest and was carrying a whip in his mouth, the second had very spiky armor and was carrying an equally spiky bat. Lastly the third one, who I assumed to be the leader, or at least the strongest of the trio wore black and worn combat armor with no helmet because of his horn and was armed with both a small pistol like mine and what looked to be a shotgun.

The children on the other hoof wore practically nothing save for large metal collars with little red lights on them. I ducked back behind the rock and watched them carefully from safety. I had no idea what to make of this group. Before I could analyze any further one of the children, a little unicorn colt, locked eyes with me and started shouting. My legs turned to jelly as I slipped back behind the rock as fast as I could. I put my hooves over my eyes praying to anypony who would listen to keep me safe. The colt continued to yell.

“Guys look! We’re going to be ok, he’s here to save us!” Oh goddesses he was talking about me, those ponies were going to find me! I heard a loud cracking noise followed by a sharp cry.

“Shut it you little shit! Nopony’s coming to save you.” The colt’s voice was quieter and cracked.

“You’ll see.” He said defiantly sounding as if he was choking back tears. “He’s going to save us and kill-!” Another crack silenced the rest of what the colt had to say. Then I heard a deeper, smoother voice.

“Your parents are dead, your friends will suffer and nopony is coming for you.” A deafening boom echoed around us followed by a dull thud. “Let that be a lesson to the rest of you. Your new master doesn’t care if a few of you don’t make the trip. Be silent and your chances improve. Understand?” There were no voices. “Good.” I heard another whip crack followed by a sound of pain from the creature pulling the cart. I hyperventilated as quietly as I could and waited for the sound of the cart to disappear. When my breathing returned to normal and my heart quieted I felt calm enough to put my hooves down and open my eyes. I was still trembling slightly but I had to peek around the rock again. I don’t know what I thought I’d see, maybe I just wanted to confirm my fears.

Regardless of my intentions it didn’t change the fact that on the ground where the cart had previously been rested the still form of the little unicorn colt who saw me. His body was facing away from me. I very carefully approached the colt but was startled by the wet feeling I got from stepping in the damp dirt quickly absorbing the colt’s blood. Doing my best to ignore it I continued towards him. Again with seemingly no reason except to force myself to look upon what I already knew, I reached out and rolled the colt over so that I could see his face.

I felt tears welling up in my eyes again as I forced myself to look upon the mutilated face of the brave little colt. His head had been blown completely in half by that stallion’s shotgun. I fell back on my rump and stared into the distance. This was my fault. This colt’s only crime was seeing me and hoping that I could save him and I couldn’t. For believing in me, a stranger, he had to die. He had died for me. He had died for nothing.

True despair was something I had never felt before. Back in the stable a pony’s death meant something. That they had given their life in service of the greater good, even in the true stable a pony’s death meant something. I sat over the colt and cried. It didn’t make sense, he had to have died for something. It couldn’t be meaningless, it had to mean something and most of all it couldn’t have been for me. And that’s when the realization really hit me, he had died for me. Whether he meant to or not. I survived and he didn’t.

“Not for me.” I whispered. He had died trying to inspire hope in the others and I just hid, like the coward I was. “Not for me…” Tears were freely running down my face when I heard something approach me. I wiped my eyes and looked up to see a metal ball hovering in front of me with bug looking wings staring intently at me behind a faceless screen. I could feel the presence of somepony watching in silence behind the screen. I waved my hoof in front of the floating ball.

“Hello? Can anypony hear me?” A small crack of static popped out of the ball.

“You couldn’t have saved him you know.” Said a robotic voice.

“What?” I sniffled and blinked away the tears in my eyes. Did the robot ball see everything that just happened? It spoke again.

“You couldn’t have saved him. If you had tried you’d be dead too and what would that accomplish?” I didn’t understand. Was the pony behind the robot telling me to just let innocent ponies die? “A noble sacrifice is only worthwhile if you solve the problem at hoof. There are more slavers out there. You dying here wouldn’t have helped anypony.” I just sat back in silence, unsure of what to say.

“I’m sorry you had to experience something like this, it’s just the way the world is now.” I still couldn’t say anything, my attention was fixed on the colt on the ground. His coat was red and had a little comic book for a cutie mark. He didn’t deserve this. According to the voice, things like this were considered normal now. Slavery and murder, the farthest you could go from the Equestria that was.

“You should continue down this road here going north, eventually you’ll find a little settlement called Black Town. When you get to the gate tell them that you are looking for the Sky Lounge and they should let you in. While you’re there, try to make some friends. The wasteland is no place to travel alone.” It was a lot to take in given the circumstances. As the robot started to leave I shouted out.

“Wait! Who- who are you?” The robot turned back at me and was silent for a moment.

“…You can call me Watcher.” I looked to the ground in confusion.

“Watcher? W-what are you watching for?” The voice did not answer but continued to look in my direction. I stood to my hooves and stepped closer to the robot. “Tell me! Why are you helping me!?” As expected it just kept staring.

“Times up. I’m sorry. We’ll talk again soon.” Another crackle of static sounded from the robot and the source of the voice was replaced by an obnoxious orchestra of polka music. With that the robot turned away from me and started casually flying back the way I came. I watched in silence as it started up the hill I was just on before I gave chase.

“Hey! Where are you going!?” I shouted after it. I couldn’t let it get away. This was my chance to have so many questions about the world answered.

“Stop!” I don’t know if I really expected it to or not but by the time I was back on top of the hill I gave up on the thing as is just kept on going, spewing out its unbearable noise. I sighed heavily in defeat and looked back over my shoulder in the direction ‘Watcher’ told me about. A lead’s a lead I guess. I looked back to the little red colt before descending back down the hill.

“I’m sorry…” I whispered again as I turned my back on his still warm corpse.

The hour or so I’d been walking down the fractured highway that supposedly led to some kind of sanctuary had actually managed to enlighten me to how the wasteland worked. First and foremost, everypony wanted to kill you… probably. I can’t say I could back up my claim with evidence but the occasional gunshot sounding in the distance kept reminding me that I was never safe.

I remember in school they taught us about the dangers of balefire radiation and why we must not leave until the all clear was given from Stable-Tec. I couldn’t help but feel that perhaps they didn’t know everything about it. Across the landscape there grew almost nothing and what did grow did not present the image of life. Even though the grass was gone and the barren leaf-less trees were slowly deteriorating into sawdust I still saw signs of life, I also was detecting a strange smell that didn’t match up with the rest of the dirty and gritty world.

I kept to the road as best I could, too afraid to venture far from the safety of the asphalt, for what little it was worth. I paused a moment, craning my head over my shoulder. I swore I heard something behind me. I kept my gaze on my tail as I took a few tentative steps forward. Nothing. The sound had disappeared. Maybe it was all in my head after all. Letting out a relieved sigh I returned my attention to where I was going, just in time to for something to burst out of the ground behind me. The sound from before was back and in full volume, along with the sound of snapping claws and quiet hissing. When I turned to face the threat I saw that it was a large scorpion about half my size. Before my brain could process its fight or flight instincts it speared me in the chest with its venomous stinger. I yelped in surprise and fear as I felt it stab through my armor. I backpedaled as fast as I could, pulling myself off the stinger to see the brown-green venom spew from its tip. I didn’t feel any pain which meant my armor stopped it and that was good but I still had the threat at hoof to deal with. I quickly drew my pistol, remembering to release the safety and attempted to take aim. Adrenaline surged through my system, making my grasp shaky as the pistol wavered in my magical grasp. The scorpion skittered towards me, its stinger raised to strike again. Whether by chance or luck I managed to dodge it, though my graceless movements cost me my hold on the pistol. It hit the asphalt and bounced behind the scorpion, leaving me defenseless. In desperation I began to prepare a spell when in an instant a loud boom sounded and the scorpion erupted a spray of green-yellow blood. I was scared stiff.

I slowly turned my head back the way I came. Standing there was a large brown earth pony stallion with a mounted saddle like machine holding two large rifles, one off each side and a hairless orange-brown two-headed cow pulling a cart. The stallion leaned in closer and squinted his eyes.

“Hmmm I ain’t never seen you before. Ya headin to Black Town?” I was still scared stiff. I just stood there cowering slightly, trying desperately to summon my courage. For the moment the best I could manage was a nod. He started walking closer to me, I instinctively closed my eyes. With every heavy hoofstep I flinched. I was ashamed of myself. I despised that my hidden trait brought out by the wasteland was cowardice. No matter how hard I tried or how badly I wanted to stand up in the face of this stranger, my body wouldn’t move. I couldn’t hear hoofsteps anymore and I could sense the presence of a warm body very close to me. My eyes refused to open. I did the only thing my body would allow and cowered so close to the ground that I could feel the pavement scratching against my barding. A heavy silence hung in the air, so heavy that it was becoming hard to breathe when out of the silence rose his voice.

“Looks like you dropped this.” I was finally able to open my eyes.

“Huh?” The stallion had my pistol in his hooves, he tossed it towards me and I caught it in my telekinesis. It looked no worse for wear and I carefully placed it back in its holster. When I finished I looked back up to see the stallion chop the tail off the scorpion and toss it in the back of his cart.

“Name’s Dusty Trail by the way.” He wasn’t facing me so my gaze drifted to the ground.

“Oh…um my name is Sparks and uh… thanks.”

“No trouble at all.” I didn’t know what to make of this yet. So far he hadn’t tried to rob me or kill me so that was a good sign. Especially since it was my first real encounter with a Wastelander. He turned and looked at me firmly.

“You got some fancy armor there Sparks, and yer awfully clean and spiffy. Where’d ya come from and what does that there 63 on your shoulders mean?” I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell Dusty even though I was no longer frightened and cowering. He seemed friendly. That thought led me back to what Watcher said ‘try to make some friends’ was he trying to help me or play me somehow? What does he know that I don’t? Or maybe he really was just trying to help. He didn’t have to tell me about this Black Town place and really what would he get out of it? I looked off to the blanket of clouds in the sky, thinking carefully about what to say next. I supposed it wouldn’t matter telling him. Nopony can get in the stable now anyway and that was the whole reason I was out here, to find a way back in and save them from the experiments. I looked back to meet the gaze of Dusty Trail.

“It means I’m from Stable 63. I’ve only been outside for a few hours.” Is that all it’s been? So much had happened that I never thought I’d see in so little time.

“Stable? Ya mean that big ol bunker to the south?” He nodded his head back the general direction I came. “I thought everypony who lived there had died or sumthin’. Ain’t nopony ever come out before and I heard that back in tha day ‘bout fifty years ago some ponies tried to get in there and scavenge the place but couldn’t open the door.” Ponies had tried to get in? I was told there was monitoring equipment outside the stable door but nopony ever mentioned an attempted breach. Maybe the Overmares back then didn’t want us to know there were survivors outside or were more likely too occupied with the ‘perfect pony’ project, or both. Come to think of it though, I don’t recall seeing any cameras or anything when I came outside. Then again I probably wasn’t paying much attention to things like that.

Then I remembered that one pony who escaped in the past. I wonder if he’s still alive. I still wasn’t sure if this information was significant of anything so I saw no reason to tell Dusty Trail.

“Yeah that’s still true, nopony will be getting in anytime soon.” I couldn’t know if that was true. In fact I hoped it wasn’t seeing as how I hoped for nothing more than to go back in.

“Why’re you outside then?” Dusty Trail was rubbing his chin in thought, pondering what he knew and what I said. I looked away from him and scanned the ground a few more times. I didn’t want to say, not yet and not to just anypony.

“Alright I get it. Don’t wanna say that’s fine.” Another awkward silence started between us, one that lingered almost oppressively. “You said you were headin t’ Black Town right?”

“Yes! Uh... *ahem* yes. Yes I did.” Turns out I wasn’t very good at first impressions. I was just so thankful for the silence to be over. Although I suppose it was partially my fault it was there to begin with. I couldn’t be sure how ponies in the wasteland were, not yet especially after what I saw an hour ago. Dusty seemed to be of a different stock though. One who survives the wasteland, not takes advantage of it. Without adding anything else he looked towards the…cow thing and stomped his hoof twice. That seemed to have told the thing to get moving again. Dusty took his place in front of the wagon and I followed suit.

The rattling of the contents in his cart got old real fast and remembering my own advice from a moment ago I spoke up.

“Sorry if I seemed twitchy and stuff back there. This place gave me a rough introduction.” I could feel my heart sink a little remembering the scene that played out in front of me not but an hour or so ago.

“S’fine. Nopony gets a good introduction, born out here or not.” Given what I’d seen so far I couldn’t help but think that was an understatement. “Were you some kinda fighter back in yer shelter? Yer armor is pretty impressive lookin’” I let out a soft chuckle.

“No no I was the head enginee- er repair pony.” It didn’t want to use the title I had been given seeing how I had it for less than a day. “My friend gave me her armor so I’d be safe out here, she was a fighter but not me.”

“So you probably can’t shoot for shit with that piece ya got?” The question kind of caught me off guard. It’s true I didn’t know how to use it. The only thing I tried to shoot was the scorpion and myself…better not bring that up. I didn’t want to think about it. I also didn’t want to think that I’d have to learn to use my gun, probably against other ponies. That thought alone made my stomach flip. I suddenly found my hooves very interesting to behold.

“No.” My voice was barely a whisper.

“Well then. I think you could do for a lesson.” I looked up in surprise.

“What?” The smile on Dusty’s face said it all, he was already rifling through his cart looking for whatever he needed. He set aside a number of bottles and cans then went to work unhooking his cow from the cart. I just watched in amazement just how fast he set up a little shooting range. He carefully set up a line of five cans along the edge of his cart.

“You must have done this before.” I said. He lovingly patted the rifles on his sides.

“Black Town militia.” He stated matter-of-factly like it was common knowledge. “Well g’on get yer gun out.”

“Right.” I levitated the gun out of its holster and did my best to look down the sights at a can.

“Hold on, can’t just go shootin like that lemme show you some basics.” Dusty snatched the gun out of my telekinetic grip and was holding it in his mouth. “Da fuust fing you wanna do ish-” BLAM! The gun fired unexpectedly and in his shock Dusty had dropped the gun.

“Celestia’s cunt!” An oddly unique swear I thought. “Fuck Sparks, I didn’t think you’d have the safety off AND a bullet in the chamber.” I looked away from his gaze and began absent-mindedly drawing circles on the ground with my hoof. “No, this is a good thing. The wasteland is not a safe place. I’d say always have yer gun ready to fire at the drop of a hat.” I turned back towards him.

“Is it really that bad out here?” I already knew the answer. I deeply wished it wasn’t so but I knew.

“Yes. Ponies out here are all lookin’ out fer themselves. They’d kill cus you pissed em’ off or they wanted yer stuff of just cuz they could.” Dusty’s expression suddenly turned angry. “The world will knock you down and shit on everything you ever cared about just cause you had the gall to live in it.” This all started with a smile from him and now I think I might have inadvertently pulled up bad memories.

“I’m sorry...I...I.” I wish I had something more comforting to say. What could I have said? He had lived out here his whole life. Any consolation from me would probably just make it worse.

“S’fine. Really. Now pick up yer gun and pick a target.” I wasn’t sure I believed him but prying at that stage seemed unwise. I picked the gun up from the ground in my levitation and took aim as best I could. Ok, ready… aim… and. BLAM! Miss. Ok, try again. BLAM! Miss. BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! Finally on the fifth shot one of the cans imploded and flew off out of sight. That wasn’t so bad. Holding a gun with magic meant minimal recoil but it still didn’t help my aim.

“I got one!” I shouted in victory and had to suppress a joy hop. Dusty nodded in approval.

“Alright, yer not... terrible but try not to shoot so much when you get nervous otherwise you’ll end up with an empty clip and if those cans were shooting back…” He let his warning trail off, the implication speaking for itself. “Four cans left. Try holdin’ yer breath this time.” I nodded my acknowledgment and took aim, sucked in some air and… BLAM! Another can disappeared off the cart. I smiled behind the sights then moved on to the next one. *click*

“Huh?”

“Out of ammo?”

“Uh yeah I guess so.” Dusty’s smile returned.

“Hold it one second.” He rummaged through the cart again and returned with a second clip and a little box of bullets and gave them to me. “.45 Right?” after loading the clips and another round of shooting cans all three were gone and the lesson was done. It wasn’t much but it was enough to make me feel glad. Dusty playfully hit me in the side. “Don’t get too cocky now Sparks. Raiders won’t hold still for you.” I was still left feeling a little uneasy about all this.

“Hey Dusty? Umm…thanks for helping me. You didn’t have too but you did.” Dusty’s expression was forlorn but quickly shifted back to a neutral one.

“Don’t mention it. I can tell yer one of the good ones. If I didn’t help you and you died out here then the wasteland wins. The world needs more good ponies in it and I’ll be Celestia-damned if I let that vindictive bitch have another one.” I nodded, content for now with his words. We got the cart all set up again and continued our way to Black Town.

As we neared our destination that mystery smell from before made an appearance. It was the ocean. The closer we got the better my view of city became. If I recalled correctly the data in the terminal back in the stable named this city Baltimare, which Dusty confirmed for me. The city of Baltimare was built around a large bay Dusty said was called horseshoe bay. One guess why they named in that.

Most of the city was surprisingly flat until it reached the water’s edge. As it turned out, Black Town was just a few neighborhoods that some ponies had built walls around so it was still connected to the whole of Baltimare, although barely. As we approached the gates my PipBuck pinged again labeling Black Town on my map. The guards patrolling the wall turned their attention to us. The one who stepped forward to speak was a dark green middle aged looking unicorn mare with an eyepatch.

“What’s your business her- oh. It’s just you Dusty.” Her gaze softened at the sight of Dusty but returned to a suspicious one at the sight of me. “Who are you? Is he with you Dusty?” Dusty shrugged casually.

“Sorta.” The mare turned back to me.

“What’s your business here?” I hated the outside. It wasn’t like I had never talked to an authoritative pony before then but doing so out here in the wasteland always made me shrink away in fear. In my silence I took the chance to remember what watcher told me. My gaze wouldn't meet her scrutinizing eyes.

“Umm…” What the hell did watcher say? “I’m looking for…the sky lounge?” The look on the mares face was one of indecision.

“Is that so? Hmm… alright. Open the gate boys. Dusty?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I count on you to keep an eye on your ‘friend’?” I supposed it was only fair for her to suspect my intentions. After all, I was a metaphorical and literal stranger to the wasteland. I wondered if the situation would have been the same if I hadn’t been wearing Stable gear. The large of sheet of metal that served as the gate made a terrible racket as it was lifted up by two makeshift pulleys from inside the wall.

The first thing I noticed as we walked in was the large twenty story building in what could be called the center of the settlement. What stood out about it was that compared to the other bombed out buildings it looked as if it had been set on fire. It was possible it happened during the megaspell bombardment but compared to the other buildings it stood alone in that regard.

“I see ya noticed the Black Tower.” Dusty must have noticed me staring. “That burned out thing is why this place is called Black Town, in case you were wonderin’” That made sense, although something about it just seemed strange to me. Though the namesake of the town was hardly something on my priority list. Then something crossed my mind, this place wasn’t always called Black Town? How did my PipBuck know how to label it? We continued to walk in silence giving me the chance to look around. It wasn’t so bad. There were ponies walking here and there. Along what I assumed to be main street were little stalls and the like selling goods to residents and travelers. I even saw a couple foals running in circles around their parents playing.

We came to a building almost as tall as the black tower, the sign read ‘The Manefaire Hotel’

“Go on inside Sparks. I have to go take care of somthin’” I looked at him then back to the hotel then I repeated the process a few more times.

“Is- is this the place?” I asked almost incredulously.

“Just go in. I’ll be back soon.” And just like that the issue was settled as he walked out of sight, cart following behind him. I turned back to the sign and sighed heavily.

“Ok, here goes.” I pushed open the doors and was greeted by a large lobby with a second floor balcony, all of which seemed to be a part of an improvised bar. Behind what used to be the check-in desk was a tan earth pony stallion with a stylish, almost cartoony mustache. The desk he was behind had been built upon to create a full bar, one almost fully stocked with dirty bottles of liquor.

The room still had the look of a hotel, or at least my idea of one. On the floor leading up to the bar was a red, fading carpet with frayed edges and near each corner of the wrap around bar was an empty pot that I imagine once contained plants. All around me were ponies sitting at tables they dragged in or booths somepony had built. Not a one paid any attention to me. Any presence I had was drowned out by the music playing and the din of conversation.

I made my way to the stallion with the mustache occasionally dodging a pony here and there. When I got to the bar I climbed up and took a seat on one of the stools in front.

“H-hello.” I greeted weakly.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in my establishment before.” The stallion said as he disappeared below the bar. He came back up with a shot glass and a bottle of something. “Which means first ones on the house! Welcome to the Sky Lounge!” He poured a shot and passed it to me looking at me expectantly. “Come on young buck, it’s the only free one you’re gonna get, better enjoy it.” I had never drank before, alcohol was in extremely limited supply in the stable but it looked that not drinking it would offend him so I did the only thing I could. Slammed the shot back and swallowed it all in one gulp. Which was a mistake. I cringed as the liquid burned its way down to my stomach. I coughed a few times trying to settle the sensation.

“What the hell was that!?” Not the greatest first question in retrospect. Though it did make him laugh.

“Haha! Gets ‘em every time. That, my friend, was Griffonstone brandy.” He laughed again and put the bottle back where he got it. “Name’s Corkscrew.” He held his hoof out in greeting. What I saw stunned me. Attached to Corkscrews foreleg was a PipBuck.

“Where did you get that?” I punctuated my question by showing him mine. Corkscrew’s eyes widened at this.

“Well I’ll be, another stable dweller. I traded it from a fella named White Noise a long time ago. I wanted it for its radio function and he practically gave it away for free. Seemed real happy to be rid of it.”

“May I check something on it?”

“Well it ain’t coming off so I don’t see why not.” I went to work looking through the data and found nothing useful about who it may have belonged to. Whoever it was wiped it before giving it away. The only thing of use I found was the wearer’s blank ID tag which told me that this PipBuck had indeed come from Stable 63.

“Find what you were looking for?”

“No.” I sighed. I should have known it wouldn’t have been so easy. I didn’t even know how long ago that pony escaped from Stable 63. Though I was positive this PipBuck must have belonged to him. Nopony else made it out of the stable…right?

“Well that’s a shame.” Corkscrew seemed genuinely upset that I hadn’t found anything. Even without finding anything meaningful I wouldn’t say I came away empty-hoofed.

“Oh I’m sorry, I’m Sparks.” I said. This time I held my hoof out. One he took in his and shook.

“Pleasure.” After the pleasantries something he said nagged at me. I had forgotten about the PipBuck’s radio function. I looked through what I was able to pick up. There were two stations I could tune to. One was labeled M.A.S.E.B.S and the other GPE-RDF. I placed my ear-bloom into my ear and tuned to the first frequency which played the same music that was currently playing in the lobby. The second frequency played nothing but silence.

“Hey Corkscrew? You know anything about this station?” I held up my PipBuck to show him. He rubbed his chin, more for show than thought.

“Oh that. That station popped up about a month ago. I think only special radios can tune in to it properly.”

“But what is it?”

“I don’t know, nopony I know has been able to tap into it. Not even Circuit Breaker.” I didn’t know who that was but I assumed they must be some kind of tech. Good to know ponies out here still have those kinds of skills.

“Hey Sparks.” I heard Dusty’s voice call out behind me.

“Hello Dusty.” He took a seat on a stool next to me.

“So… That’ll be 150 caps.”

“Huh?”

“You know for the ammo, lesson and the safe trip here. What? Did you think I was helping you for free?” Yes I did think that! He gave me those bullets without a choice and now I got to pay!?

“What? I don’t have any money! And did you say caps? Like bottle caps? Don’t you mean bits?”

“Yeah I guess it was too much to hope you knew bottle caps were valuable, let alone have any.”

“How the hell would I know that? Why’re bottle caps money? I’m not paying you anyway.” Dusty was starting to look annoyed.

“Come on you owe me for the safe trip.”

“There was no danger.” I retorted.

“There is never guaranteed safety. Then what about the equipment I gave ya?”

“You forced them on me, what was I gonna do? Say no?”

“You coulda. What about the target practice?”

“I didn’t ask for that.”

“Goddess dammit Sparks, yer makin this real difficult.” Now it was my turn to get annoyed. Although I had nothing more to say. “I know how you can pay me back. Do me this favor and I’ll clear yer debt.” I sighed again.

“Fine! If it’ll get you off my back. What is it?”

“The towns sending out a supply caravan and I got some of my goods invested in it. Go with them and protect my merchandise, ya know? Make sure it gets where it’s supposed to go. Don’t worry about sellin’ the stuff, the merchants will take care of that.”

“Dusty I told you before, I’m not a fighter and that means by extension, a bodyguard.”

“Doesn’t matter, this helps you as much as it does me. You need experience out in the wasteland. I can’t and won’t always be there to help ya. Plus there will be other ponies to help protect the convoy.” I wanted to keep arguing but he had a point. I needed to learn to fend for myself. And going out there in a large group sounded like it wouldn’t be so bad. “And to sweeten the deal, I’ll pay you 100 caps. C’mon what do you say pal?” I still needed help to get back in the stable, maybe if I do him this favor he will be more inclined to help me if and when I ask.

“Ok I’ll do it.” Dusty cheered and celebrated with a couple more drinks. Was I making a friend in him? I couldn’t tell but I was hopeful. It was then that I was reminded by a rumble from my stomach that I hadn’t eaten since that morning and I left that on the floor back in the stable. Dusty seemed to have heard.

“Hungry?” I nodded.

“Well why didn’t you say so, c’mon I’ll show you some wasteland cuisine.” I didn’t even get to get a word out before I was ushered right out of the bar and back into the streets of Black Town. The last bit of light was disappearing under the horizon, casting the blanket of clouds in a golden orange glow. We arrived at an establishment called the Main Grain bakery. Unfortunately the title was more than misleading. After letting Dusty pay for some food, I was disappointed to see old pre-war snack cakes wrapped in sealed plastic wrapping. I wondered what that said about old Equestria seeing as how the old homes of ponies were slowly disintegrating but some fancy buck snack cakes that had been around for almost two hundred years were still perfectly edible.

Dusty said there were alternatives if what he gave me didn’t suit me but after a quick trip to another stall later I didn’t think anything they had would suit anypony. Steaming cubes of strange colored meat on skewers were being cooked over an open flame with a small crowd gathering around to watch and possibly partake. Were ponies even supposed to eat meat? Did ponies out here LIKE to eat meat? The thought alone almost spoiled my appetite but luckily I was able to keep the cakes down.

“Since you don’t have any caps to pay for a bed at the Manefaire, I suppose you can sleep at my place. Since yer doin’ me a favor and all.” It was a kindness I wasn’t expecting but one I was thankful for nonetheless.

“Thanks for everything Dusty.” He waved his hooves dismissively.

“Don’t thank me till the job is done. Until then, consider this an investment.” The way he said that made him sound like a suave business pony.

“Fair enough.” Dusty’s shop was an actual store, one with walls and a roof like the bakery, a nice contrast to the rag-tag stalls lining the streets. I had little time to look around as Dusty again ushered me to where he wanted me but from what bits I did see I…still couldn’t have told you what he sold. The broken shelves and desks were lined with oddest assortment of odd and ends. Was this the general store? Junk store? I didn’t recall seeing any kind of sign outside. After climbing some stairs to the second floor Dusty led me to a corner where a sleeping bag was curled up.

“It aint much but it’ll do fer tonight.” Dusty said with his trademark eloquence. “Try to get some rest. The caravan leaves at dawn.”

“Thanks again Dusty I’ll see you in the morning.”

He grunted a noise of acknowledgement and left, presumably to his bed. I shed my armor and unfurled the sleeping bag. I did it, I survived my first day and what a hell of a first day it was out here. Here’s hoping the next one will be better I thought. Good thing I didn’t bet on it.

The morning came sooner than I wanted and I was jostled out of bed by Dusty.

“Rise and shine princess, got a big day ahead of ya!” A quick check of my things later I was ready to go. As we walked out the door a bad feeling crept into the back of my mind.

“Hey Dusty, anything I should know about these ponies?”

“Ya, try not to talk too much and never let yer guard down. They might be guarding the caravan but they're all out for themselves. If trouble comes let them deal with it but try to keep an eye out, ya might just learn something.” The warning didn’t ease my troubled mind. A quick meet and greet with the other caravan guards later we were off. I never bothered to ask where we were going, but truthfully I didn’t care. It would be easier to find help in Dusty when I got back rather than try again somewhere else. The sun was shining behind the clouds giving us plenty of light to enjoy the bleak atmosphere. After two hours of walking in silence things got ugly.

One of the other guards slowed down until he was walking beside me.

“So I heard you’re from a stable. An active stable. How would one get in this stable of yours?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“It’s not important, nopony will be getting in.” His expression turned livid.

“We’ll see about that.” He reared back and hit me in the face with both hooves. I hit the ground, rolled over and started backpedaling away.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing!?”

“Do you know how much shit there is to salvage in a stable? Maybe I could sell it to those ponies at the shipyard! I’d be so fucking rich!” His eyes were sparkling with sadistic glee. “Now tell me how to open the door before I blow your fucking head off!” He pressed his gun to my forehead.

“Hey Ash leave him alone! We don’t need your delusions fucking up another run.” A different guard spoke while drawing his gun.

“No! He’s right, we’d never have to do menial shit like this again. I’m with you Ash.” Shouted another.

“How do I get in!?” The guard they called Ash shouted. Striking me in the face with the barrel of his gun. I could see stars around the edges of my vision and feel a warm trickle running down my chin. “Last chance asshole. Tell. Me. NOW!” I couldn’t see straight and I'd sooner die than risk my family's safety at the hoof of one delusional prick. “Well that’s a shame.” He cocked his weapon and pressed it back to my head. “Say hi to Luna for m-” Ash was interrupted when his head exploded into bone fragments and brain matter.

“RAIDERS!”

I couldn’t tell who shouted but it didn’t matter as the area erupted in gunfire. From a nearby hill I could see the flashes of guns being fired as well as seven or eight ponies running down said hill. I Found my way back to my hooves and pulled out my pistol. I took aim at the nearest raider when a bullet hit me square in the chest, knocking the wind out of me but thankfully being stopped by my armor. A raider pounced atop me flailing a knife in his mouth. I pushed my hooves into his chest trying to throw him off. He ducked his head low and cut a deep line in my right leg, my scream of pain was not heard over the gunfire and his maniacal laughter muffled behind the knife.

Blood ran down my leg making it even harder to keep his knife away from my neck. I summoned what strength I had left to probe the area with my magic trying to find my pistol. Keeping my focus while a psychotic murderer was trying to slit my throat was understandably difficult and terrifying. Whether through luck or happenstance I found the pistol and levitated it to me. Either the raider didn’t notice or didn’t care about the glow of my horn which I used to my advantage. I pressed the barrel of the pistol to the side of my attackers head and blew a thick red paste out the other side. Even through the terror I felt my stomach tighten into painful knots.

I had just killed a pony. He hadn’t given me a choice, he was trying to kill me. I had no choice.

Amidst the chaos I could see that we were outnumbered and many guards had fallen. Every instinct I had told me to run but my brain told me stay and fight. Finally one won over the other and I broke and ran the opposite direction. I closed my eyes and fired my gun blindly behind me to cover my escape. I didn’t want to be a coward. I wanted to be better. I wanted to help, but I wouldn’t do it by dying here . Out of nowhere a burning hot pain ripped through my left hind leg. Combined with my cut up front right leg I took a nasty tumble into the dirt. I was going to die. I closed my eyes and resigned myself to oblivion. The bullets had stopped and the dirt around me was quickly turning wet from my blood. My vision became blurry and I saw some pony sized shapes standing in front of me. How’d they get in front of me? Their voices were distorted as two of them approached me and the shroud of unconsciousness took me.

Footnote: Level Up!
New Perk: Empathy – You have a better idea of what to say to ponies to not upset them. Or maybe you’re a mind reader.

Next Chapter: Chapter Three: First Steps Estimated time remaining: 31 Hours, 31 Minutes