It's been a while since I've put anything down to paper like this. I guess after I lost my saddlebags to that mirelurk, and my journals with it, I kind of got out of the habit. I'm still a little upset over losing the nice bound ones I got from Glue, but after seeing Sunrise working on hers near the campfire tonight, I got to thinking about getting back into the habit of writing again.

I suppose I should explain a little. My name is Quick Stitch, and I'm a doctor traveling the wastes of Equestria on a mission to do my part in pulling this broken land back together. I've been traveling for a few years now, and I've got to say, I think I've finally found a place that I truly belong. Well, perhaps it would be more accurate to say a place that I'm truly needed...

Things took a sudden turn for the strange last night when I woke up in a shallow grave. Believe me when I say that it was one of the more confusing things that's happened in my life so far. After all, not many ponies can claim to have dug themselves out of their own grave. Though, now that I think about it, I can't really say that I have either...
I found out after the fact, the grave was actually that of Buddy, a sand dog that had been travelling with my current companions, much like I am right now. Trust me, the similarities are not lost on me, nor the awkwardness of stepping in to effectively fill the horse shoes of someone with arguably much larger feet than I'll ever had. The whole situation is just bizarre and prickles at the back of my neck like a dozen needles. At some point, I'd like to go back to that half burned settlement and take another look at things, but it's not likely to happen anytime soon.
Regardless, I managed to make my way to the closest settlement, Silver Fang Shanty, and barter a room for the night in the local Flophouse. As it turned out that while I was buried with all of my gear, my caps were mysteriously missing. The next morning as I headed to breakfast, I noted what in time could only be described as a menagerie of misfits round one of the tables. And when I say strange, I mean a bit out there even for the wasteland. Nonetheless I felt drawn to them for some reason.

The first was a taciturn gryphon by the name of Alguacil, a regulator with only one eye. There are two zebras, one black and white and the other white and pink named Nyota and Chifundo respectively. Nyota as far as I can tell is some sort of one eyed alchemy ninja. Chifundo on the other hoof is apparently a bonafide pink shaman. At first, I reckoned that the strangest member of the group would be another green pony, a young filly calling herself Wandering Sunrise, a stable dweller who claimed to even remember the days before the balefire bombs dropped. No, the strangest member, and that's saying something with a rag-tag group like ours, is a small filly by who called... You know I don't think I actually know her name even, everyone just calls her Box Pone or Corners. Come to think of it, I don't know that I've even actually seen her outside of the cardboard box that she lives in, so I couldn't even tell you what she looks like, only that she never leaves her box and professes her undying faith in some 'Box God' or 'Box Lord' something like that. As I mentioned, she's... odd...
After a somewhat awkward hello, I introduced myself to Alguacil, who looked like he'd spent some time making out with a blender. With a little healing magic, I patched him up with a spell, surprisingly leaving the gryphon almost as grizzled and beat up as before. After a while, the rest of them trickled into the main hall for breakfast, or well, lunch as time went on. I have to admit, it was a little funny to see Sunrise munching on a wax apple with bleary eyes before one of flophouse workers found her a plate of food.

Meeting the Corners for the first time was.. strange, though, most any interaction with her could be considered such. It was a bit startling to see a box trundle up out of nowhere and dump a massive pile of junk onto the table, including what looked like a needler pistol that someone had danced over. Looking to Alguacil, he just shook his head and said “Don't Ask” a maxim that I've come to take to heart. As I was fixing up a needler that somehow Corners found with her pile of junk, and I can only assume stomped the heck out of. Around that time Nyota showed up with, believe it or not, fresh coffee for the rest of the group. It had been a while, probably since I was still with Glue, since I'd had coffee. I like a hot cup as much as the next unicorn, but it was a bit of a shock to see half a cup disappear down Sunrise's muzzle in seconds. Heh, I'll have to remember not to get between her and the next pot that gets brewed.

That said, she was the one responsible for inviting me to join the, “terribly trouble prone group,” according to Nyota. Honestly, raiders, ghouls, mole rats, and a sentry bot!? It was a small wonder that they were still in one piece! With nods of agreement from the other four, assuming a nod from Corners, I found myself with a new group of companions, and a direction, if nebulous, to head in. Imagine that. At least it's harder to bury six ponies alive than one... After the meal, we all broke up with our own agendas, mine to stick around the community craft center to see if I could get the weird pistol that Box found working again.

Apparently the group is well known enough that as I was fixing up the needler, DJ Pon3 mentioned them on the radio playing in the crafting center. I paused and turned to Corners, the square filly box silent and offering no real explanation. Accepting things as they were, I turned back to my work, tools hovering about the pistol in and out of my kit. There's just something reassuring about working on a piece of equipment or patching something up, seeing all the pieces and figuring out how they fit together. Believe it or not, healing ponies isn't all that different, well, okay a little different, but it's the same basic concept. You just have to know how it all fits together. Time tends to slip away from me while I'm working, as when I finished up, four hours had passed. That said, the needler looked more like a gun now and less like a broken foal's toy.

Tucking the eldritch looking pistol away, I left the box to… whatever she was up to, I trotted around in search of the rest of my new friends. After a day of resupplying, it turned out that Al and Sunrise had set up a meeting about a job. Joining the pair of them, along with Nyota and Chifundo, I tagged along to the meeting, a little curious about this ‘blacked out’ regulator job. As it turned out, Sparrow, the area’s mercenary leader, had been the one who posted it, a request to search out her husband, another pegasus and Dashite. I’ve heard about them, and the Enclave, but that’s about it.

Over a meal and a few hours of discussion, we found that her husband, by the name of Cross Buns. had been the pony who was responsible for providing the settlement with electricity. He wasn’t well liked, but he had friends, and no one really hated him enough to kill or kidnap him. I was stunned. That's a horrid thing to have happen to anyone, much less a wife.. As an aside, Nugget is adorably precocious. Apparently Sparrow had flat out decided to adopt the young filly after the band had brought a group of rescued ponies into town last night. We quickly agreed to help find her husband, though I suppose I would have regardless of the decision of my friends. After a bit of searching, and a bit of spiritual guidance from Chifundo, we determined that the pegasus was at least alive when he was taken. I have to admit, outside of stories, I had no idea just what a real shaman was capable of. Watching the pink zebra chatting casually with thin air was new experience for me. For a moment during his ritual, I... I even felt like I had my ear back, something that stirred up a lot of memories I thought I'd put behind me...
That's neither here nor there, though I guess I'll have to write the story back down at some point. Not now though at any rate.

As bad as it was for me, it seemed like Sunrise had things even worse. Apparently she had been drawn into the ritual, and told me that it was like being dragged into a memory orb that she didn’t want to see. Far as I can tell there’s some sort of ‘Pink Pony’ living in her head that has a tendency nudge the filly in strange directions and converse with her on a regular basis.
On top of that, apparently Alguacil took it upon himself to shoot another pony in the head in the middle of a bar while following a lead. I’m the last pony to tell someone how to live their life, particularly dealing with an ex raider, but there’s no way that I can agree with talking about shooting somepony in the head in front of foals no less! Thankfully Sunrise had clapped her hooves over Nugget’s ears as soon as the gryphon started to speak. Apparently it’s not the first time it’s happened. I’ll admit, the gryphon has a tendency to be blunt… In any case, Sparrow sent Nugget to her room shortly after, leaving us to finish up our search.

We left Sparrow to get some sleep shortly after that. She was clearly worked up over the whole experience, and was also drinking heavily throughout. As an afterthought I did a quick cleaning of her kitchen and did the dishes before we left. It might seem a little unusual, but it was a small kindness that was easy enough to perform. The four of us returned to the flophouse after to get some sleep.

I’ll leave things off there for now, A lot has happened over the last few days with new companions and mysterious happenings. Hopefully before long some the questions that have arisen will be answered. In any case, tomorrow we’ll be setting out for the ruins of Las Pegasus to follow up on our best lead.

Trait Discovered: Good Natured

There's just something inside of you that leads you to lend a hoof to ponies in need. Non combat skills receive a bonus. All combat skills take a penalty.

Author's Notes:

I'm finally posting something here after such a long time lurking. Hopefully things go well and I can continue this little diary without being 'killed off'.

In any case, let me know what you all think, and I hope you enjoy.