It took well over four hours to get all the ex-slaves freed, supplied, armed and patched up with the morning sun already making its way towards the Smother of clouds in the sky. But, by the end of it I was feeling a weight eased from my shoulders and it wasn’t the metal pauldrons that formed my armor either. Rather, it was an emotional burden over squandering my unique abilities and not helping ponies like these poor Souls at least have a fighting chance at existence. They were downtrodden and nearly beaten but the prospect of freedom and the proper basics for retaining it (i.e. the weapons and supplies) seemed to have all but the most forsaken smiling at least a little. Melody was continually surprising me with her gentle but encouraging nature that stood in sharp contrast to...well, whatever the hell it was we had first seen of her when we had arrived in Appleloosa. Something had definitely snapped inside her but she seemed...content to ignore that it had ever happened. Other than that though...she was holding it together amazingly well.

Looking over the rather large group of ragtag ponies gave me a sense of pride that I didn’t often feel. In fact, the last time I had felt it was the first time I had seen Alpha Squad all arranged in our new heavy Mrk. IV ArmsTech armor that was custom made specifically for the Desert Ranger Veterans sometime in the early 2070s. I had seen to it that these ponies went free and were properly armed for the world outside. Now...whether or not they stayed free was up to them as well as a bit of luck and chance and some I could tell would have absolutely no problem staying alive and free from chains. Others...well, I could only hope luck was on their side once they set out into the Wasteland. Even in groups, some of those present would have to be left behind if the march to safety was long enough and safety wasn't exactly common in the San-Palomino. Desert oasis or the occasional still functioning Pre-War waterline sprouted communities around them like only fresh water could but the nearest one of those was New Appleloosa. Without needing to ask, I knew that a sudden influx of two-hundred something very needy ponies into such a settlement wouldn't be welcomed with open arms.

Groups formed of their own accord with each pointed a different direction at what was hopefully a better life than the one they were about to leave. Hugs were exchanged, even a few heartfelt kisses here and there and one-by-one, the town was emptied of its former occupants. Many patted me on the shoulder or nodded in my direction as they left not really knowing what to call me but recognizing that I had helped facilitate their freedom. It had been Melody's idea to ration out the bag of caps from the safe, one that Gold immediately joined in on putting immense pressure on me to join too. I knew the moment the first one of those caps left that pile Green would have my hide and hang it on the wall like a trophy but with everypony getting a decent chunk to get them started...it was going to a much better cause. Three-hundred odd caps per pony wasn't a hell of a lot by my standards but I had a feeling it was more than some of them would have been valued at as a slave. It was at least something to get them started in their second chance at self-determination and that...that was something I could live with. Green wasn't as big of a threat as he thought he was. I could survive this change just fine.

"Are you part of the NER?" I was asked from behind whilst deep in thought looking at the lives I had changed.

"Pardon...?" I asked in return, turning to face a relatively healthy looking stallion in his late thirties or early forties.

"You heard me damned fine." He grumbled, pointing a hoof at my gear. "You're dressed like a Veteran. Maybe a heavily modified version well above the normal Vet but still. Which unit you from?"

"No affiliation with the NER over here pal," I sighed for what felt like the millionth time at this same question. "Those Veteran Rangers don't know what the fuck they're talkin' about far as I'm concerned."

His eyes betrayed his doubt but he did seem genuinely disappointed as he admitted he was NER himself. A Corporal of their Army, he had been caught while out on patrol probing the New Pegasus territory and had seen the majority of his Squad executed by their own bayonets after being ambushed. The mares under his command, healthy and easy on the eyes, had already been sold off a month prior to some interested party out East while he and the other two surviving stallions were left behind to rot in Appleloosa. Being the last surviving member of his patrol...seeing something that looked so familiar had caused him to go out of his way to address me. Alas, my Mrk. IV was two steps removed on the production timeline than the Mrk. IIs the Veteran Rangers of today employed in NER territory.

"So...if ya ain't a Vet...just who the hell are ya?" He asked with a bit more attitude than I felt was justified putting me automatically on the defensive in response.

"A real fucking Veteran Ranger asswipe." I growled quietly in my throat. "You and the NER better fucking know their history when it comes time to steal something else from the Pre-War world for their own use."

His nostrils flared at that but the time for talking had already expired between us. I had nothing to say to an NER lacky and I didn't want to hear another damned word out of any of 'em. I'd already gone through a solid decade of recruiters hounding my steps trying to get me into their ranks. I had the armor, the skills and the regional reputation they needed to push their influence into a new avenue leading towards their ultimate goal: the annexation of New Pegasus. Not only that but jurisdiction over the entire Westcoast from Bordertown down to the Badlands, a region they probably would want to rule over as well if it weren't still a living exhibit of hell on Terra Firma. With some spit in my direction, he left me alone to join up with the largest group headed North towards Shady Sands and the NER heartlands.

My contact with the NER more or less always went along similar lines to that. Somepony or another would recognize my armor as being vaguely similar to those adopted by the NER's Veteran Rangers and would then ask if I was a part of them in some capacity or another. To explain the truth to them would garner as much belief as a hyperbolic lie so I just refused to answer whenever I was asked from where I had found such advanced equipment. The NER had truly benefitted from having one of only two ArmsTech subsidiaries that existed outside of Camp Macintosh within their borders; within the very walls of Shady Sands itself or so I had heard. Without knowing the full history of it, I could only assume that they had happened upon a healthy stock of surplus Mrk. IIs in the deepest remains of the factory.

The other subsidiary was located in Boomtown, a settlement that had sprung up in and around the old factory complex in the Southwest due West of where we stood now in Appleloosa. Word was a group of old world Desert Rangers had been out on leave in the open desert when the Great War happened and took refuge in the isolated factory. Protected from the Rads by their armor and buckets of RadAway, they had taken to acting as the sheriffs of the San-Palomino area in the years following the end of the world. Over time their numbers expanded as far as their limited supply of Mrk. IIs and original-issue Mrk IIIs permitted with the original three mares immortalized as the Judge, the Jury and the Executioner. In their memory the Desert Rangers had outlived the Corps in a similar manner to the Steel Rangers doing much the same. The only difference was these Rangers willingly accepted annexation and absorption into the NER and could actually produce new sets of service armor. Fucking gorgeous as Power Armor was, it was still a machine and could break down with time and abuse like anything else in the living world. It's a hell of a lot easier to produce something that doesn't require anywhere near the same amounts of materials and skilled labor as something that took the smartest minds of the old world multiple years to develop. Needless to say, the Steel Rangers of today had to acquire from existing stock for new sets of armor or repairing ones already salvaged.

Returning to the barn following the green Ghoul tick on my HUD, I came across Gold sitting and admiring his revolver with such a look of pride and joy I could have mistaken him for a new father. The old black framed revolver gleamed softly in the precariously strung up lighting system and rotated slowly in his golden aura as he opened and closed the cylinder or spun it around to listen to it buzz. Sitting on his lap was his Mrk. I helmet, mask facing towards him to admire no doubt as he used it to prop up his forelegs upon which he rested his head as he gazed upon his new toy. If he was lying in any way about his obsession with the Corps, he was one of the most dedicated method acting charlatans I had ever encountered. The way he ogled his own new equipment was born of a genuine passion, of that there could be little doubt by now it felt. Gold was a fucking little geek and I couldn't help but find it endearing as well as rather flattering.

“W-well, I don’t know about y-you but I t-think we should g-get going!” Gold said cheerfully as he noticed me approaching from the doorway. "I've p-picked every single f-fucking lock I could f-find here. Melody a-and I piled it up by the s-safe if you wanna t-take a look!"

"In a second Gold. Have you seen Melody anywhere? Didn't see her as I came in..." I replied, quietly worried the cute little darling had already joined one of the groups that had already left.

"Oh, s-she's with that one m-mare with the eh...m-missing legs." He said with a hint of awkwardness. "W-wish I knew her name...I f-feel dumb for not k-knowing..."

"Well you ain't alone there at least." I replied, glancing around the barn for the two of them. "Don't know it either, I'll ask when I find 'em. Any idea where that would be?"

He gestured back outside and told me they should still be where I had left them earlier prior to working out supplies and logistics for everypony. I thanked him and returned the ammo I had let Melody borrow earlier that she had thankfully not had to use back to their respective pouches on my belt. I had already made doubly certain every building was clear of both hostiles and slaves and it seemed that all of them had been rounded up by the train tracks leading into town for delivery. Not every railcar had been repurposed for defense or shelter, just those with fucked up wheels or some other major issue that made them unusable on the intact rail line that ran from Appleloosa and up to the North to another Slaver town called Nirvana Springs. The rail was a major trade route in the area and several settlements and mercantile formed along its length. The single functioning train that used it was owned and operated by the citizens of New Appleloosa, by far the largest and most popular town South of New Pegasus which allowed them to operate unmolested as they ran goods along the rails. Slavers needed the line for supplies and moving...'cargo'...and the settlements needed it for trade and relatively safe transport giving every community touched by the train a vested interest in its continued survival. In other words, everyone was expected to protect the damned thing for as long as it remained in their territory and let it run unmolested so everypony got what they wanted without need for violence.

The sun was starting to peek its golden face over the horizon and I had a feeling the train would soon be along looking for its ‘cargo’ which was more than enough reason for us to haul ass out of there and get everyone to safety. The shock and horror of those on the train when they found Old Appleloosa the site of a massacre was hardly our problem now was it? The loss of the settlement was only going to be a bonus for everypony else in the region. With a bit of looking, I found where Melody and the dark brown mare from before were. Coming closer, I could see that the horrid gangrene and septic shock that had set in had been healed and the rags that had covered her stumps earlier were now replaced with fresh ones torn directly from Jangle's dress. The Extra-Strength potions had a hell of a kick in them as evidenced by its ability to heal such a bad case of sepsis but there was just no regeneration of lost limbs unfortunately. You could go as far as reattach severed limbs with one of those and some help holding the thing in place but far as I knew there was nothing that could grow back legs. At best, the mare was going to need some magical prosthetics made for her and those things were fucking expensive, even by my standards on my average income. Like the old world, it was by money and money alone that medical marvels are available to the public. How else were the corporations to meet their shareholders' quotas?

“Oh, Athena? I would like you to meet Chocolate Surprise. She...well, she helped keep me kinda sane here since nopony wanted to buy her...so we became friends.” Melody said, looking towards her friend with an affectionate gaze though it was undercut with intense sadness.

“Heh...well, until two days ago at least. Some asshole out at Tenpony apparently wanted some wife that wouldn’t ‘run away from him’ so when he caught wind that little old me was here ,he paid double what I would have been with four legs.” Chocolate said with a small smile of amusement, her voice deep and...well, chocolatey.

“And...how much was that…?” I asked timidly, unsure if I wanted to know but curious all the same since I didn’t honestly know how much or little slavers valued lives in terms of caps.

“Six hundred caps.” She said with what could only be called a sliver of pride. “Double the price of a normal sex slave who’s my age who still have all four hooves attached to them.”

“You seem like you’re...excited about being nothing but a sex slave to a richy pants asshole…” I said quietly, wondering why she seemed so upbeat in such a shitty situation.

“Well, if you’ve been walking around blind honey, this place ain’t exactly the lap of luxury now is it? At least with him I’d finally get the fuck out of here and only get raped by one guy every day instead of...oh, twenty at least. Well, the ones who are desperate enough for a pussy they’ll ignore I’m mutilated and go right in…”

I had to agree it was a little bit of an improvement but...goddamn just listening to her talk about it as if she actually enjoyed it was just...too much for me. Out of pity for Chocolate Surprise, I donated all but a hundred of the caps I had on hoof. It was hardly enough for cybernetic limb surgery (which honestly would easily set anypony back about 40,000 caps per limb) but it was a show of kindness I felt she deserved after how long she had suffered. She seemed unable to comprehend how so many caps had all at once come into her possession when she herself was valued at a fucking unEquine six hundred caps. I still was reeling at how low ponies were being valued as even slaves, sexual or otherwise. Not that I would ever consider putting a price on a life...wait...nevermind. I came to the realization I had done much the same thing by being a Hitmare. ‘A cap in the hoof for a cap in the head.’ That was the unofficial motto of every Hitmare who had any self respect in the business and I had adhered to it up there with the best of them. I had no right continuing that thought on price.

Melody had nothing to carry nor anything to wear so she was ready to go at any time. That being said, she insisted we take Chocolate to the first doctor who was trained in cybernetic prosthetics and beg him or her to have mercy and give us at least a discount. I will admit the last thing I wanted to do was haul a two limbed mare on my back across the all too dangerous Wasteland but when she started to cry is when my will to resist crumble. Her face was just too damn cute to resist for longer than a few seconds without any and all attempts to resist getting lost and demoralized in her ruby and emerald eyes. And so with a tiny bit of reluctance I hefted the mare onto my back and had Melody and Gold help tie her around our waists to keep her in place as I walked. We made triply sure the other groups of ex-slaves had all made it safely out of town and onto their own paths before setting out back towards New Pegasus. I had an idea as to who might be willing to help Chocolate cropping into my mind that perfectly coincided with another task we had at hoof. Connections were a mare's best friend no matter what the state of the world was like.

“You know, I’ve never ridden a mare like this before.” She giggled into my ear as we started our journey up the tracks towards Appleloosa since neither Melody nor Chocolate would be able to survive the Camp Macintosh crater shortcut. “Well, at least never on top.”

My cheeks flushed red and I muttered, “I’ve been both and I honestly couldn’t tell you which position I like more.”

“Oho!” She giggled mischievously, nibbling on the tip of my left ear since my helmet was currently in my saddlebag. “Looks like somepony has a thing for mares!”

Both Melody and Gold looked back at me, Gold with confusion and Melody with a blushing giggle as I hung my head a tad for some reason. I had nothing to fear anymore so why was I so embarrassed to admit I was a lesbian? The Ministry of Morale had been dead for centuries and the only laws in the Wasteland were the ones you made for yourself or forced upon others. There was absolutely nothing illegal about loving it up with the same gender anymore. So again...why was I blushing so damn hard it felt like my cheeks would pop with blood?

“Yes!” I blurted out suddenly, shooting my head up looking at all of them while we walked. “I fucking love mares alright? I love everything about them from their plush snuggly bodies to their cute muzzles and manes and their adorably fuckable asses! Happy now?”

Melody blushed hard as did Gold while Chocolate busted out laughing in my ear saying, “Well ain’t you one hardcore fillyfooler! I like you already!”

After what she had said earlier about being bought for six-hundred caps by a guy who wanted a mare who couldn’t run away from him, I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment I wanted to receive. I mean, Chocolate was cute in her own way with a dark brown coat and a super dark brown mane with light brown eyes but brown just wasn’t my color. It wasn’t even the fact she was missing her hind legs either, that didn’t bother me at all. I just...didn’t feel much of an attraction to her in general. I was allowed to have types after all and she was on the heavier side having probably been a prized captive and given more food to keep up her appeal on the market. Me...I liked my girls thinner and more lithe, a bit of plush in the right places and at least a bit of muscle on her bones. Although skinner was still pretty hot in my book. And shorter for some reason; I had always liked being the bigger mare in the equation as it made spooning far easier to manage. At four-foot ten, I was a decent bit taller than most ponies making me stand out in a crowd. Part of me deeply enjoyed the extra height since it made most mares and stallions alike have to look up at me slightly, a bit of leverage that was useful on occassion.

Everypony got a nice chuckle out of my brutally honest personal revelation but soon enough things returned to what could be called normal. Melody and Gold chatted as we walked and Chocolate barraged me with question after question about my sexual habits, most of which I answered since it wasn’t that hard to admit what turned you on. I had a big thing for garters and socks (especially striped ones that matched the wearer’s hair and eyes), skirts of any length in general, long manes and tails, a mare who knew how to talk dirty without sounding cheesy and probably my biggest fetish of all (aside from honestly just mares in general) was a girl who was chill with sex anytime, anywhere and making sly comments in public to get me to blush. Kind of a weird one that last bit but...there’s nothing like being complimented on your body by somepony you love in public in such a way that is almost an inside joke. It was a game Hucks and I played together and we played it very well indeed. Though I had to wonder...did the Colonel catch onto it after Buck Beak (fuck his blabbering lying ass beak) told him about our little love life? Games are easy to catch onto when ponies know that there’s one being played and who’s playing it. It was safe to assume, given the dossier that lay in my helmet’s storage device, he knew at least a part of it. As for how much...well, it was a question that probably didn't have one solid answer since there was only so much you could ask the past without diving into the Occult to speak with the restless dead. There were ways though...

Either way, it didn’t really matter anymore. Both the spectator and my playmate were dead and gone leaving the game nothing but a half forgotten memory of yesterday. Hell, I hadn’t even tried to play the game with anypony new in the post apocalypse. Nopony seemed to have the...feisty feminine charm that my Huckleberry did let alone her looks and most importantly her smell and comforting presence. There truly was no simple way of...moving on from such a gem as she had been in my life. Where was I to find somepony that filled all the odd list of attributes that had made her the absolute love of my life in the Post-War era? Somepony who is at once a passionate, dedicated partner with as much class as she has sass and has a keen killer instinct that is tempered by medical expertise and military discipline? The short answer is...nowhere. One could make the bid for a nice Steel Ranger girl but I'd rather date someone from the NER than have to deal with those madlads in the East.

Now...did I completely give up on getting down and dirty with a mare every now and again? Of fucking course not. I still had needs that needed tending to like anyone with a high personal libido had to put up with. The moral ambiguity of the Wasteland saw the peaceful glory years of the free love of yesteryear rediscovered as ponies, Griffs and everyone else left alive realized something. Everyone has the need to fuck from Radroaches to us Sentients and what was the point of making it harder to get than necessary? Of course...over time my time once spent between as many mares or stallion's thighs as I could get began to wear on me. The moments leading up to an orgasm were as blissful as could be, but no matter how mind numbingly amazing the release was and no matter how hot the mare was...when the afterglow wore off I never felt that same loving connection like I did to Huckleberry. As the years wore on, I realized that, that connection is what I needed most in my life and I didn’t have it with any of the mares I seduced into spending the night with me. The Wasteland had stolen a part of me that I could never replace. Not in the state of numb shock I found myself in while living in limbo.

“Yo, you even listening little Miss Lezzy?” Chocolate called into my ear jarring me back into reality. “Or are you too busy looking for a nice memory of me in a compromising position to get wet to?”

“You know Chocolate…” I said with a sigh. “I was actually. Thinking about you on your back all defenseless and unable to cover up is a big turn on.”

“Really now?” She asked as if caught by surprise. "Didn't think a good lookin' thing like you would have an eye for me."

“No..." I admitted, glancing over my shoulder to look at her out of the corner of my eye. "But I certainly could were I in the mood. Staring a little doesn't hurt anyone and everyone needs somethin' to get themselves off to in private from time to time don't they?"

"Fine thing like you just hoofin' it out? Girl, you not own a mirror or somethin' out where you live?"

"What does that have to do with anything? What I do in my own bed is my own business."

"Hun it has to do with everything! You've got some bright colors in that mane of yours and them purple eyes are just to die for!"

I blushed at the compliment, a soft fluttery feeling in my chest reminding me that I truly did care about my appearance to others if at least in a sexual appeal way. After Splendid Valley, the clock seemed to have been put on pause on my body leaving me almost unchanged from how I had been when I was first infected. What would happen if a soldier was partially exposed to an experimental gene coding program and then bathed in billions of particles of raw magical radiation from a myriad of arcane sources all at once? Well, the comics would have you believe that I would be flying without wings, breathing water like a fish or maybe just become a super soldier for the War effort. The truth of the matter was...I had been lucky enough to escape with my life from that whole fucking experience. While everyone else fucking died or hid away from the Great War, I had been so 'blessed' as to be biologically immortal with self-repairing telomeres in my genes and immunity from genetic mutations caused by magical radiation. I got the veritable immortality of Ghouls without my body going to the zombies and my brain a slowly ticking timebomb until I went Feral like the rest.

"You flatter me, hun." I replied with a nervous chuckle. "I didn't come by these looks cheap..."

"Well you kick some good ass for what it's worth. Sure there's plenty of bitches out there lookin' for a big strong mare to take care of 'em out here in this shithole."

"I'm sure there are. I don't have anyone I'm close with if that's what you're asking."

"I wasn't but thanks for answering that anyway. Was gonna ask sometime or another."

We both fell silent and the only noise to be heard was Melody and Gold discussing places they had visited in the Wasteland. The tracks beyond Appleloosa covered miles and miles of flat, dusty terrain with barely anything worth looking at as your next walking goal. Of course this negative was relatively eased by the fact we would see the train long before it saw us and the last thing I felt like doing was being spotted leaving the massacre. Only merchants with no qualms as to whom they traded with and Slavers or their clients would be riding anywhere South of New Appleloosa. They would remember us the moment they found the town deserted and all the Slavers dead with their boss. Goddesses only knew what sort of extra heat they'd be adding to the tab I already had with Green who was going to be making my life as much of a nightmare as he possibly could. I was hardly the only killer with talent in his network and my breach of Bounty was not going to go unpunished by the Syndicate, the only organization with more guns on its payroll than the NER.

"Soooo...since we've been on the topic, when's the last time ya got laid sugar?" Chocolate cooed after a few minutes of silence between us.

"Oh gods..." I sighed, trying to think back to the last time I had actually used a living person to help me get off. "Fuck...couldn't really tell ya. Been...working too much to be honest. Hard to find time when you are always on the road with a loaded rifle on your back and a target to kill."

"Coulda guessed you was a Merc." She giggled, tapping my armored shoulder with a hoof. "Who the fuck else has the firepower to take on a place like Appleloosa?"

"Bounty Hunters and Hitmares." I replied, reminded these terms became less familiar to people the farther away from New Pegasus you went. "Especially the boys and girls I know...and after the stunt I pulled back there, probably have most of 'em trying to stuff my ass with lead with the amount of caps Green's gonna put on my head."

"Whateva you say, honey." Came her chuckling voice from over my right shoulder. "The shit you do ain't none of my problem. Now...as for stuffin' that ass..."

I snorted in slight amusement at her constant tirade of sexual intention. She was certainly unafraid to talk about her likes and dislikes and I found that I could respect that about her. The girl knew exactly what sort of shit she was into and the lines even she wasn't willing to cross. Her poking at my own list of kinks and turn-offs was a fun enough exercise in opening up to someone about myself. Her carefree attitude towards the subject and laid-back nature in general was a massive boon for me as I tended to feel social awkwardness with strangers. With all her carnal sins laid bare, I didn't feel so bad in sharing my own. While there were a few kinks we shared in common, the largest point of contention came from the idea of bondage and inflicting some pain on your partner.

"Hun, I'm not gonna say it again. I. Just. Don't. Do. Gags. They hurt my jaw, they fuck with my gag reflex and they feel demeaning. Even more than a set of sexy leads and halters. You might find it enjoyable but I just don't...never have. Feels too much like over-dominance which is a massive fucking no no for me. Sexy time with someone who's only goal is to act like an alpha male or female and command me like I'm some sort of personal maid is the opposite of satisfying to me.”

"So you don't like bein' told what to do and all the dirty talk and shit?" She asked curiously. "Like at all?"

"Not really hun, no. Sex for me is a meeting of equals. Everyone deserves pleasure and their kinks some recognition and support. Sure, if the couple are both in on the whole tie-me-down-daddy shit then good for them. They're more than welcome to fuck each others' brains out in whatever fucking way they wanna fuck. But as for me and my pussy, I like to know its being well cared for and appreciated like it deserves. Last thing I wanna feel is uncomfortable when I'm going to be spreading my legs for someone. I'm open to fucking a lot of people, hell fucking Griffins are one of my greatest kinks. But I won't fuck just anyone. Especially not someone who wants to demean me for their own pleasure. Just hurts my conscience."

“Huh...a slut with a conscience eh? I can respect that.” She responded in a softer tone, one that just felt like she was being genuine rather than playful. “So...if I asked nicely would you maybe...reconsider my offer? Know my way around a sexy ass mare just as well I do a well-hung handsome stallion.”

My head sagged almost to the rail ties we were walking on. This girl was actually trying to fiddle with my buttons to get me to fuck her. Though...it had probably been a very long time since she actually had somepony nearby who wasn’t interested in raping her for once. Even then though, why me? I wasn’t exactly looking for some action (well, not the kind she wanted) and we certainly weren’t in the right place to do anything close to what she wanted to do. Not with a two day’s trot ahead of us just to get to New Appleloosa. Buttt…

“Oh…? What ya getting all magicky with eh?” She asked as my horn began to sparkle before she gasped softly and moaned out, “Ohhhh...that…”

Wrong place wrong time it may have been for both of us but I made my own rules. Out of all the stains to get on the outside of my duster, I think mare cum is probably the most acceptable next to the blood of my enemies. At least I had a chance to make a poor mare down on her luck happy and in a way I actually had more than enough experience doing. I had forgotten the finer tricks of the trade, but I was still very precise with my telekinesis. This was probably the one thing I could manage to play around with with my eyes closed and still get the desired results.

“Ok, c-can we please s-stop? My h-hooves are killing m-me.” Gold complained as the sun began to kiss the horizon once more signaling the inevitable fall of night.

I looked around our current location using my helmet’s optics to give me a clearer picture of our surroundings for a suitable place to camp. Even with Gold's helmet, I was the only one with night vision capabilities in the group and traveling at night came with its own dangers, namely Ferals, Hellhounds and a few other less than friendly shitheads who preferred to hunt at night. My eyes fell on a small shallow cave partially hidden in the rocky hills to our left only about a five minute walk from the tracks we were already on. The terrain directly between New and Old Appleloosa was sparsely dotted with bluffs and ridges, an advantage we had needed to take a few hours prior when the train came by pulled by a team of ten strapping stallions.

“Looks like over there is a nice place to set up camp for the night.” I replied, pointing with a hoof towards the cave. “It’s only about five minutes away, think your hooves can last that long Gold?”

He looked back at me with a pained expression but nodded, “G-guess I d-don’t have much of a c-choice do I?”

“Common’ Gold, you’ll make it!” Melody chimed in, herself looking worn out but remarkably upbeat about it. “Just keep walking and you’ll be there before you know it!”

We steered to the left off the tracks we had been following for the whole day, our pace slower than I would have liked as we had only managed to get perhaps a third of the way there. It was definitely a big change to my usual traveling habits by walking with a pair of kids with their shorter legs and especially with a mare on my own back which was starting to ache something fierce. However, it was the situation I was left with and the ponies in the group (well, at least Gold and Melody) I found myself liking. Chocolate...she was nice and all and was totally the kind of mare whom I would have been all over back in the day but I just felt...disconnected. We viewed things just too differently and as friendly as she was, I just didn't see any potential mate material in her personality.

Soon enough, Gold’s legs gave out about two minutes from the cave forcing me to slump him over my back as well leaving just me and Melody the task to finish making the trip into the thankfully empty cave. The cave itself resided in the rock-side cliff on a small bluff overlooking the tracks below. Once we arrived, I set both Gold and Chocolate down before digging in my bags for my military issued bedroll which was a sleeping bag with an inflatable mattress and pillow built into the bottom for maximum comfort on any terrain. The only problem was there was only one bag and three ponies to share it between since Gold thankfully had a bedroll of his own. It was shabby and as homemade as his old armor, but it seemed to suit him just fine by the way he collapsed into it headfirst.

“I’ll sleep with you!” Chocolate giggled as she eyed my sleeping bag with a slightly seductive look. “Gotta keep each other warm at night if you know what I mean.”

Gold hid his blush by turning his back to us and looking inside his burlap saddlebags for something while Melody hid behind her mane in an incredibly adorable manner.

“Thanks for the offer but I can tell you from experience, two full grown mares don’t fit in these things at all or comfortably. And as for warmth, unless you like waking up at three A.M soaked in sweat and dying of heat stroke, I recommend you don’t share one of these with anypony. Sunrise in the desert can turn these things from comfortable to boiling in minutes.” I said with a small chuckle, thinking back on the one and only time Huckleberry and I tried sharing a bag in the field and ended up regretting it.

“Damn girl, you are up on everything ain’t ya?” Chocolate giggled as I inflated the thin air mattress and set her on it. “Oh? What ya gonna sleep on then?”

“Well not on that.” I said as I dug a shallow pit for myself with a hoof and then filled it back up with the softened dirt. “I’ll take first watch so you guys can get some good sleep without having to worry about anything. Anypony up for the second watch?”

They all looked at me with confusion and it took me a second to realize this was probably the first time any of them had ever traveled in a group overnight. With a small chuckle I explained to them that while we traveled, at least one of us was going to have to stay up for several hours on lookout for anything that might want to eat us and keep everypony safe. In addition to waking everypony up if there was a problem or if it was simply time to wake up and get going. I wasn’t surprised that Chocolate didn’t volunteer given her physical state and Gold likewise declined since he wasn’t used to walking so much having lived in a small Ghoul community nearby Camp Macintosh for most of his life and never traveled far from it. Melody was the one who volunteered willingly though she did ask that I give her as many hours of sleep as I could. That was something I was more than willing to give. She was after all still young and still fresh from the life of an abused slave and was naturally exhausted. Me with my big girl pants, well we had the duty of taking one for the veritable little team I found forming around me. A weird, trauma-filled team of Wasteland weirdos.

I lit a small fire with a simple spell every Unicorn in the Army learned in the field and gave everypony an MRE that I had brought with me. I had eaten so many that I thought I would have gotten sick and tired of them decades ago. A quick tour of average Wasteland cuisine and the subsequent diarrhea made me scramble back into the arms of those dull brown plastic packets. Chocolate and Melody both seeming amazed at the portion sizes inside while Gold was stuck on the fact he was eating a military ration just like the ones Desert Rangers had once chowed down on. As we ate and the light faded from the land, I couldn’t help but notice how bony Melody appeared, the firelight throwing noticeable shadows along her body showing the curve of most of her ribs. As a ‘personal favorite’ of Jangle, I guess I was expecting her to have eaten better than that. Hell, Chocolate looked better fed than Melody did and she wasn’t even liked it seemed by most of the guys under Jangle’s employ. My only guess were that she either was purposefully malnourished (which seemed a bit unlikely for a camp sex slave) or... maybe she had snuck her food to the other slaves. I was a bit of a greedy mare and in a situation where food was going to be scarce, I was most likely going to hoard it all to myself since I get angry and stubborn really quick if I’m hungry. At fourteen (or whatever age she was) she was a better mare than I was at two hundred and thirty-six years old. She shared Hucks compassion...you could just feel it emanating off her small body like warm sunlight. A warm...familiar sun. A soft sun that seemed to believe, somehow, that everything was going to be ok...

As soon as dinner was over, everypony passed out leaving me alone to plop my AMR down in the dirt and keep an eye on the land around us, especially the tracks which was the most likely route for normal ponies to travel down. The night vision filter on my helmet made the lenses glow faintly red (which was fucking terrifying to see in a dark room) and made everything as clear as noonday though with a faint red tint. Thankfully everything before me was empty and silent save for Chocolate’s snores which were loud enough to rival mine and more obnoxious than I expected them to be. Eventually I turned on my helmet’s noise canceling feature (used usually by Rangers manning the big guns) and enjoyed the silence of my sealed helmet, any bad air getting magically filtered before entering my lungs leaving me feeling cool and refreshed.

A neat feature of the underbarding I wore beneath my armor was a unique flexible crystal fiber that was woven into the fabric that, like my canteen, was enchanted to keep me properly heated or cooled while wearing it in any environment. With a bit of fiddling and the help of a friend of mine who was obsessed with Pre-War tech, I had gotten the PipBuck 2000 on my leg to interface with the spell matrix of the crystal fibers and connect to my helmet which had a matrix of its own that allowed me to control its various functions with eye motions and thoughts. Instead of simply adjusting my body temperature automatically with the change of outside temperature (which was usually warm to hot, especially where I chose to live), I could manually adjust the temperature like an air conditioning unit to whatever I wanted it to be.

Barring an extreme heat wave (which happened more than I would like in New Pegasus), my usual preferred temperature was around sixty-eight degrees or so, seventy-to-seventy-one on cooler days. Nights in the Wasteland rarely dropped below seventy-eight which was great by me since it wasn’t too warm. With my night optics, I was usually more than prepared to travel at night amidst the prowling freaks of the Wasteland. Something a lot of Merc companies couldn't even say as working tactical lights for weapons and armor were as rare as they were in working order.

After a few hours of wandering around my thoughts, thinking about how to resize Gold’s armor and helmet as well as what to do with Melody since she had asked to stay with us, my radio beeped once more. Bitch Face was calling back, probably to find out why I was taking so long to deliver his goods. I usually had a fast turnaround time on my jobs, especially if they happened within New Pegasus and the surrounding areas. Appleloosa lay a ways outside my usual hunting grounds and plus, it was a major hit in general. Taking out a drug lord on her own turf surrounded by her goons and then making the trip back to New Pegasus wasn’t going to be a one day affair or even a two day affair.

I shut off my external speaker to keep the others from listening in on my conversation and replied, “Yes…? There a reason you’re bugging me at eleven-thirty?”

“Yeah.” He spat into my ear. “Where th’ fuck are ya Crete?! I wanted that shit yesterday!”

I sighed long and hard, making damn sure he could hear my annoyance before saying, “Look, I don’t give a shit about your stupid fucking lack of patience ok? All you do all day is sit on your ass counting your caps and getting your dick sucked off by all your stupid whores and yet you demand me to do shit for you that actually takes time.”

“Now look here little missy.” He growled in his annoying tone. “I pay ya good caps for that ‘shit’ I demand ya to do because I’m ya boss and I want results. Now, where th’ fuck are ya, ya selfish little cunt? I want my shit and I want it now.”

“Alright, shut the fuck up you hear me?!” I yelled into my mike, something snapping deep inside me at him pretending to own me like some sort of slaver himself. “I am not yours to order about like one of your fucking sluts because unlike them, I have respect for myself and my vagina and I’m not going to let you fucking order me around. Hell, I don’t even have to do this fucking job for you! You say you thought we were friends? Then why the fuck are you waaaayyyyy undervaluing my skills? I mean, twenty-five hundred caps to kill a fucking drug lord?! WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK I AM GREEN?!”

“You’re my fucking Hitmare! How dare ya talk to me like that you fucking cunt?! I could put a hit of my own on your ass and I know there’s plenty of Hitmares out there who would fucking love to get ya tiny ass outa the picture and I’d pay them out the ass to do it too! If ya want to keep ya stupid head on ya body then ya have to bring me the goods no later than tomorrow night ya hear me?!”

I growled, panting in fury at how little he seemed to care about me even as a sort-of employee. With the sudden eye-opening experience of meeting Gold and liberating Melody and all the other ponies who had once been owned by Jangle...it was more than time to bite the bullet and accept a life on the run. If I hadn’t met Gold, I wouldn’t have been on the bluff to see Melody as I would have arrived at Appleloosa hours earlier and been on my merry way leaving her behind. And if I hadn’t met Melody, I wouldn’t have had the courage to free the slaves and take my first steps towards turning my life around. Whether I wanted it or not, my life was changing and the only choice I had was to choose if I was going to run with it or be dragged by the tail kicking and screaming to the grave. Either way my course in life had to go forwards in one way or another and the choice would be made for me if I didn't have the balls to do it myself. Hopefully before the horde of the Syndicate's best put my name on the same open market I previously bargain hunted on.

Without a moment’s hesitation I said, “ Oh I’ve got your shit alright and I’ll leave it in your drop box in New Appleloosa but consider me and my services off the market from hereon out alright? Find some other ho to order around and shoot bitches for you because I’m retiring.”

He snorted, “You? Retire?! Hah...what a fuckin’ joke...have it your way then. But if anything is missin’ from my shit I’ma put a hit on your ass so big you could buy half th’ Ultra-Deluxe!”

“Whatever makes you happy, you fat-assed junkie.” I sighed as I cut the connection, blocking the channel from my radio's broadcast spectrum so he couldn’t use it to harass me anymore. It wasn't the same as blocking someone's number on personal telephones but it was arguably more effective with so few working radios and coms towers.

I jumped a little as I felt something press up against me and I realized with a start Melody was curled up against me with a smile, her face slightly illuminated in the red glow of my lenses in the dark. I pulled my helmet off and gave her a small kiss on the head, the action feeling almost natural and she seemed to appreciate it, snuggling a little closer to me in the dim light of the cave.

“I...I just wanted to thank you again Athena. For rescuing me from...that place.” She said softly, looking out over the dimly lit sandy land outside the cave. “I...I can’t thank you enough...it was so...h-horrible...I..”

Her words were cut off but a small squeak and she forcibly swallowed the lump in her throat before giving up and leaning her head against my shoulder.

“You’re most welcome, Melody.” I replied softly so as to not wake the others. “My...my conscience would have tortured me otherwise.”

“Oh…?” She asked, cocking her head to the side.

Slowly...I explained a little as to why I was originally headed towards Appleloosa and how my meeting Gold had thrown my perspective out of whack and made me brutally aware of the world I had turned a blind eye towards. I didn’t go into great detail as I didn’t want to overwhelm her nor make myself out to be a horrible mare. I didn’t feel like I was but I had no right to self-asses given my actions in the time since the Great War. Truly, the last thing I wanted to do was scare her away from me. The longer I spent with her, especially with such close proximity as we were then, the more I felt that small, warm, bubbly spark of love grow in my breast. I was unsure exactly what kind of love it was as my definitions had all grown rusty from underuse but I felt...strangely safe with her. In the sense like I did with my mother on those cold rioting nights as well as the closeness I felt with Huckleberry. Like no matter what happened, I could be safe and warm in her presence. Without realizing it, I was hugging her to my side and felt small tears of joy leaking from my eyes. She did not resist my affections but rather seemed to embrace them as she snuggled closer and fell asleep against me, a soft smile of relief tugging at her lips as she snored softly in my arms.

Having her so close to me, snuggling and relaxing as she was against me, inspired new thoughts in my mind that I had never before considered. Huckleberry and I had discussed adoption once or twice but never really at length as we were both heavily involved in the War effort and the fact it would be difficult for the two of us to adopt a foal. The nature of our relationship and the strict laws surrounding parental candidates would have ensured we never would have even gotten in for a meeting. Since then, the thought of ever considering to be a mother had never once surfaced in my mind and not without good reason. I was a soldier. I was usually on the move through dangerous situations using my inborn talent for precision firearms use. I wasn’t trained how to be a mother because I had never exactly wanted to be one. My own mother's advice to me usually concerned my job or my schooling or my relationship with Huckleberry and rarely could be considered formal ‘How to be a Mom’ training. We all just accepted the fact we were going to be empty nesters and thus all talk of motherhood was reserved for talking about her in particular. Minuette had enough motherly love for both of us heh.

Still...I couldn’t deny that the feelings I had in my heart could only be called maternal in nature. Here was a filly, alone and directionless in life with nopony to look after her and with the trauma she had experienced for who knew how many years...she was going to need a caretaker. Somepony to help her through the darkest parts of the Wasteland and the nature of Sentient life. I was alone myself...loveless and, up till yesterday, friendless. I found myself longing for somepony special in my life. Melody wasn’t old enough to be a lover, but she was more than enough to be a...a daughter. Past that...well...despite how beautiful she was, I wasn't about to start fillyfooling with her so soon after Appleloosa. And that was a huge maybe at that, I wasn't about to ruin any sort of goodwill I had earned by her.

I nuzzled her as she slept, breathing in her wondrous huckleberry scent and whispered, “Goodnight...my little daughter.”

The words were new and awkward to hear coming from my mouth but they sounded right. It felt right. I didn’t want to speak for her but...the smile on her face as she slept soundly beside me seemed to convey her agreement. I would have to ask her soon whether she would consider the proposition but until then...I could pretend I was her momma as she slept and reminisce about my own mom and enjoy the same feelings of warmth and comfort I experienced then. Heh...if Green Peace could see me then he would’ve laughed his fat ass off. But it felt right…and I felt happier than I had felt in centuries. For once, I was not truly sleeping alone. All those other mares I had shared a bed with had left me feeling empty but Melody filled that void without even trying somehow. I could tell because for the first time in ages, my heart burned within me and I felt warm and fuzzy inside instead of detached and floaty. It had been awhile, but I still recognized what happiness felt like. I wasn't as cold underneath my armor as other Hitmares thought...while the Great War had burned out most feeling in my body, I was still me. I...had some semblance of a conscience. Unlike someone like Black Velvet, a non-starter for any Bounty I took was if it involved killing mothers or kids. Another was my refusal to operate against the interests of small communities barely scraping by. I had standards...they just were...all over the place and could flip on a bit depending on the situation. When I set on a path, I always kept the goal in mind but I was no so hyperfocused as to be above reevaluating my approach or, as in cases like today, my destination entirely based upon new factors introduced into the equation.

For the first time in my life, I said a prayer to Celestia and Luna. I wasn’t religious even before the War but I found myself dealing with feelings I couldn’t quite contain and...with nowhere else to put them, I decided to entrust them to the only mares I still had some faith in. Despite everything...they had tried to right the world. That was worth something.

“C-Celestia...Luna…” I whispered to myself, looking up into the sky and hoping they were somehow listening. “P-please...let this filly...rest in peace...and...l-let me be her momma. She...she has nowhere else to go...and...you know I’ve never been the same after...H-H-Huckleberry died...d-don’t let this wonderful feeling...d-die in me...a-amen.”

I threw a hasty detection spell around the cave that would warn me of intruders and fell asleep against my pseudo-daughter. With my Sequoia laying by my side and Melody in my arms, the fire roaring in my breast was almost too much to bear but...it was a pleasure to burn such as I was.

Next Chapter: Chapter Twelve: Balefire Slingshots? Estimated time remaining: 27 Hours, 6 Minutes