Who you are comes from the choices you make when life gets tough.

I trotted up to the wagon facing south while Rivet flew ahead of me, meeting up with the other guards that were taking the same job as I.

There was quite a variety when it came to arsenal. It was a wonder why one caravan needed so much protection.

Fluky had just finished helping load the wagon up. After she and an earth pony lifted the tailgate, she stopped and regarded me, while the pony she was helping out went for the next wagon. I stopped next to her, and the caravaneer looked back.

"Everypony ready?"

The team nodded.

I noticed one of them was dressed in Steel Ranger power armor, which almost had me running. But it became evident that this armor didn't belong to the rangers anymore. This was more... raider-ish.

Over the chestplate were welded steel bars that acted like the wall of a cage... almost. Or a fence... I couldn't quite tell what the welder was going for in terms of design... or added protection, for that matter.

The guns on both sides were that of 50 cals, and the tail had a series of steel spikes jutting out.

Another guard had flamers on either side of him. He was dressed in black combat armor that was a bit bulkier and protective than mine. He wore a skull mask that covered the lower half of his face. His eyes were blue. The rest of his head was protected by a combat helmet that fit well with the armor.

The one beside him, however, was a dragon! A live, dark red scaled dragon that was a little bigger than the flamer. He went without armor or guns, seeing as he was a fire breathing dragon, and his scales were enough protection as it was.

Another was a unicorn with three shotguns in his holster, who wore a black suit with absolutely no armor whatsoever, and the other was a pegasus with a battle saddle.

Then there was Rivet.

"Go on without me. I'll catch up, I promise." I said with a nervous grin.

The caravaneer nodded and started pulling the wagon. The guards went with him.

I turned back to Fluky, who raised a skeptical brow as she looked up at me. "So, you're off playing bodyguard now, huh?"

"We need the caps, and I figured I may as well pitch in. I'll be back though. Besides... I've been playing bodyguard. For you." I chuckled softly as I ran a hoof through her mane, but she pulled back.

"I've been getting us caps." She deadpanned. "50 caps a wagon." She then proceeded to point a hoof at the wagon that was rolling off, still staring at me in the eye. "That was my third."

I stopped and stared. I was proud of her for taking initiative, but... I didn't want her working herself too hard...

"Are you still going to be here when I get back...?" I asked softly.

She blinked, and her coldness died down by a landslide.

She turned to the bright orange glow in the distance, through the fog, just staring at the obscured view of where her home once was.

She turned back to me, and with a bit of hesitation, she nodded. "Yeah... I'll be here." I caught a faint smile on her lips as she looked up at me. "Don't go dying, Robutt. You're only allowed to die by my hooves only."

"No promises, Flukes." I smiled faintly. "Can you do me a favor?"

She nodded with a frown. "Don't call me that."

I moved in closer. I didn't really want anyone else hearing this and causing problems...

"Keep an eye on Omegas. Pony dressed in NCR gear. Red, glowing-"

"I know who Omegas is." She interrupted.

"Okay." I nodded. "Just... keep an eye on him. Make sure he's never alone with Petiole, got it?"

"This is about Petiole's hate for ghouls, isn't it?"

I nodded with a somber look. "Don't let Petiole do anything stupid."

She smiled and nodded back, before looking down and kicking the mud with a hoof, as if there was something on her mind.

"What's wrong?" I tilted my head as I raised a brow.

One second, she was looking up at me silently.

The next, her hooves were wrapped around my neck, and her ear pressed up against my chestplate. It would have probably been more comforting without the armor, but I wasn't going to even bother taking it off this time. I had work to do.

Still, I smiled and hugged her back. She looked up at me; still in my embrace.

"Thank you for keeping me safe, Robutt. Stay safe..."

We let go of each other, and she backed up to give me a bit of room before continuing.

"I don't really know why you did what you did back in Saddle, and I don't think I can ever truly... forgive you for it... But the least I can do is try. Like I said before... you mean well."

I caressed the side of her face with a hoof as I looked into her eyes.

"Thanks, Fluky. But... I don't deserve forgiveness."

"Maybe not." She stated, keeping her eyes on mine. "But if I find I forgive you, then there's probably a good reason for it." She paused and glanced at the wagon behind me before returning to me with a faint smile. "Well, I won't keep you any longer. Might wanna catch up with the caravan before they leave town." She gave me one more hug before running off to help the loading of the next wagon.

I watched her go for a few seconds, before turning and running for the caravan in the distance.

Along the way, I had been given a spare box of normal rounds for the rifle, in case we ran into trouble. 30 'bronze nuggets' wasn't sufficient, I guess.

"So how far is this train station?" I asked as Rivet and I walked alongside the right of the wagon. Two of the other guards were on the other side, while the last two were up front with the caravaneer.

"If we're left uninterrupted, I'd say about 8 hours."

"8 hours...?" I was suddenly regretting taking this job... Apparently, my face showed that, too.

Rivet looked me over coolly. "Having second thoughts?"

"N-no... I already took the job. I'm not backing down now."

"Good." He gave a firm nod before looking ahead. "Just keep an eye out. Fester's been sending scouting parties lately."

I scanned the horizons as we continued on our way.

Things were quiet between the group for a few hours. Eventually, we had gotten clear of the fog, but it was still snowing ash. It got me wondering...

"Hey, Rivet?"

"Shoot."

"What do you know about the attack at Saddle?" I hoped no one knew it was me...

"I know that the Steel Rangers attacked it for a megaspell generator, and I know that you were involved with the shooting."

My heart dropped.

"You... know...?"

"We all know, Charger." He looked me over. "Why?"

"It's just... well... why are all of you being so... accepting, then?"

"Because Virtue is about forgiveness." The pegasus ahead slowed down a bit until meeting my side. "Name's Thunderwing." She reached a yellow, feathery wing out, to which I held out my hoof. She wrapped it around my limb, gave it a shake, then returned it to her barrel. Unlike Rivet's battle saddle, the guns were over her wings, instead of under.

She had a blonde, slightly curly mane and tail with hints of black. Her eyes were a navy blue.

"I'm not sure I really deserve forgiveness..." Didn't I have this conversation with Fluky earlier?

She shrugged. "Well, if you do right by us, we'll do right by you. And if the NCR is looking to protect you, then the residents of Virtue are willing to put aside their differences and let bygones be bygones. Surely you didn't expect shit to hit the fan back in Saddle. Right?"

I shook my head.

"Then you're not at fault for what happened."

"But... I participated." I replied, hanging my head down.

"Mistakes happen, Charger. We've all done shit we aren't happy about."

I looked over to see the pinions of her wing press against her chest. "Before I came to Virtue, I had gotten a colt killed. It was an accident... but it was my fault." She returned her wing to her barrel and looked at me. "We can't change what's already been done. The best we can do is try and move forward. Take the knowledge that we have to be better. Do better." She smiled faintly, but I sensed she was still hurting.

"I've done things that weren't exactly... on accident..."

"And?" She smirked. "I was a Mojave raider before I came to Virtue. I've robbed, killed, and tortured more ponies than I care to remember. Killing a kid, though... that's when I knew I had to change." She cleared her throat after a few seconds and resumed. "Before my raider days, I was with the Enclave." She shuffled her wings a bit as a look of discomfort grew on her features. "Till they removed my cutiemark, anyways..."

I glanced back at her flank to see the dark grey branding of a Dashite; a cloud with a bolt of lightning shooting out from the bottom. I imagined the symbol was to resemble Rainbow Dash's supposed 'betrayal,' shortly after the bombs.

I read it up on a report, back in the bunkers. Seriously... what didn't I read?

"What did you do to be labeled a Dashite?" I asked, looking back at her.

"Insubordination." She smirked again as she regarded me. "How'd you tick off the rangers?"

"Told them to go fuck themselves."

She laughed softly. "Nice. My kinda style." She looked ahead with a confident smile. "I have a feeling we're gonna get along great, you and I."

The caravan came to a halt, and I stopped with them, looking around on my E.F.S. I didn't see any reds.

"Why are we stopping?" I asked quietly.

She looked around before speaking softly. "Stay alert. Rivet, check for lead slingers."

"On it." He was gone in a heartbeat.

"Destrier." She continued.

"No hostile visuals." A deep voice behind a helmet of metal replied from the other side of the wagon. "Something ahead, though. Couple dozen yards. Could be a trap."

"Identify. Check for mines."

The steel-clad pony advanced forward as we all waited quietly. I kept my attention on my E.F.S., in case this was an ambush.

He stopped in the middle of the street, looking down at whatever it was that had us stopped here. He turned back to us, then back to it, before picking it up, and along with the item of interest, a piece of paper. He began his return.

"Report." Thunderwing demanded.

"It's for the rookie." He replied, looking down at me. He towered over me before dropping a plastic container with a black cap. Inside was a tan powder.

He dropped the piece of paper next, and it drifted down to the cement, landing upright at my hooves. It was a note, with only two words.

For Charger.

I felt all eyes on me.

"What is that?" The caravaneer asked, looking back at it.

"I have no idea..." I picked it up, examining it closely. Whatever this was, there wasn't a whole lot of it inside. But if it was meant to go to me, then it was most likely from either Firebright, Crimson, or Bristle himself. Someone knew I was out here... That I'd come through this way.

Opening it would have been a bad idea.

But at the same time, I wanted answers too. I was just as curious as everyone else appeared to be on the matter.

I stuffed it in my pouch.

"I don't know what it is, but I have an idea who it's from." I replied, looking at the caravaneer.

"Doesn't matter what it is." Destrier started, before turning away from me to look at the caravaneer. "Getting dark. Should rest at the Donut Joe's shop ahead."

Rivet returned from his patrol, landing on all fours in an impact that looked like it would have hurt, if not cause an injury. However, I didn't see even a hint of pain on his features. "Negative on that. There's raider activity ahead. They already took the place for themselves. We should circle around them and just get to Checkpoint Bravo."

"Negative." Thunderwing looked at him coolly. "It'd take too long to go around, and by the time the sun set, we'd still be off the road. We don't have time, and we don't travel at night..."

Rivet rolled his eyes as he turned away from the group.

"So we take it back." The dragon replied in a raspy tone, with slight amusement behind it. That was the first time he had spoken throughout this whole journey.

"How many are there?" Thunderwing asked, looking at the griffin.

"I counted 16, not including however many are inside."

"Could be one of Fester's assault parties." She shook her head. "We can't let them stick around. They'll just ambush future caravans."

"We should go under the cover of night." I stated, and everyone turned to me in silence. Did... did I say something wrong...? I continued. "We'll have the element of surprise, and it'll give us time to devise a plan of approach, until the sun goes down. Unless... you're all afraid of something out here at night...?"

Destrier shook his head. "We don't travel at night, only for safety reasons. So we don't get lost."

Thunderwing smiled at me. "Good looking and smart."

"What are you, a lesbian?" The shotgun wielding unicorn asked. He had a brown coat, a dark red mane, and yellow eyes. "He looks like a mare!"

"Hey." I deadpanned, to which Thunderwing giggled.

Seriously, I was getting irritated with ponies focusing more on my... feminine features. I'M A STALLION, DAMN IT!

"Plan, boss?" Destrier asked, looking at her.

"Let's get off the road for now." She replied. "Find somewhere to hide the cargo. Then we'll strategize our approach."

I stayed crouched behind a dead tree under the cover of night as ash fell from the dark, smoggy skies. The air was uncomfortably warm and smelled of a burning forest, as it had since we left Saddle. The moon was painted red from the heat of the fires up north.

Rivet stayed by my side as we observed the building.

We had stowed the wagon away at the bottom of a ditch farther on the left side of the road. Two of the guards - the flamer known as Blaze, and the dragon known as Tezu - stayed behind with the caravaneer, as it wasn't wise to leave the cargo unprotected.

We had gone through each other's names at the caravan, before we set up our plan, so that if things went south, we didn't have to shout 'hey you' in order to get their attention.

The building was silent. I didn't see any movement within or around the structure, save for the dance of fire that stretched out from a barrel that stood in the lot. I didn't see any reds on my E.F.S., either. Odd. At the proximity we were at with the building, I was sure we would have picked something up by now.

But alas, there was nothing.

"Something doesn't seem right..." Rivet muttered. "I'm gonna go investigate. Cover me."

I pulled the arm to the gun forward and looked through the scope, checking the rear entrance. I didn't get a very good luck on the inside from this vantage point, as it appeared the rest of the way inside from this route was through a hallway that went off to the right.

Rivet took to the sky and came to a soft, careful landing on the roof. He looked down through the sunroof, froze, then turned to me. He backed away, spread his wings out, and flew back. The expression on his face was of worry and fear.

"Well?" I asked, looking away from the scope. "What did you see?"

"They're... they're all dead." He scratched his head. "They were alive just moments ago, and now they're just... torn up."

"But you said-"

"I know..." He interrupted, looking back at the building. "I know... I saw them just hanging around not too long ago."

I started forward, and his eyes went wide as he regarded me.

"What are you doing?"

"Investigating. Worse case scenario, we can find something valuable."

"Or all four limbs torn off and used for some sort of sick art piece..." He muttered, following behind. "Whoever did that, they were using the remains to shape some sort of... symbol... I can't describe it, but it felt dark..."

"Scared?" I asked, keeping my head forward.

"I've seen lots of shit, Charger. I've dealt with ferals, alicorns, hellhounds, raiders, and centaurs. And I have never seen anything as gruesome as what's in there. If something can do all of what I just saw in such a short time frame, then you're damn right I'm scared."

I glanced to my left and right to see the rest of the team's markers on my E.F.S., before stepping in through the back door of the shop. I kept my mouth on the grip, just in case.

Rivet followed close behind as I stepped into the dining part of the pre war establishment.

... Only to see an interior littered with dirt, grime, and trash. But no bodies, and certainly no blood.

I looked back at Rivet's baffled expression, giving him a wry smile.

"Oh my..." I spoke with sarcasm. "It's so terrifying!"

"I swear..." He started as he looked me in the eye with sincerity. "I swear, I just saw a pile of body parts!"

"Raiders, Rivet." Destrier said, looking around the room as he and the rest of the assault team stepped in. "Where?"

"I swear, they were right here."

"Dead, apparently." I added.

"And now they're just missing?" Thunderwing raised a brow while the stallion with the shotguns - whose name happened to be Riot - sighed. "And here I was thinking I'd get to kill something tonight."

Destrier's headlamp flashed on as he pointed it around the room, observing the scenery. "No blood in sight." Then the light froze as it moved to the counter... over a folded note.

Rivet snagged the note and opened it, reading the message intently. He looked back up at us with worry, before carefully flipping it over to face us.

Silence.

For your crippled wasteland slumbers.

Ask Charger what to do next.

Everyone looked at me in a cold, uncomfortable, confused silence for the longest time as I stood there, looking back at them.

"What? I don't know anything about this!"

"Surely there's something." Thunderwing said.

I thought carefully...

Wait, Tuner! Tuner said something about the moon! I didn't think it had anything to do with what was happening in here, but he said something about the moon... Ah, what did he say? Look up at the moon tomor-tonight!

I quickly turned to the front exit and stepped out. Everyone followed behind as I looked up at the sky. There were a few clouds here and there, but nothing excessive. The red moon was...

"What the hell...?" Thunderwing said beside me as she looked up at the same thing I was.

"Well, that's a first." Riot muttered.

There was a light moving away from the moon, like a star. As it flew away, it seemed to take some of the moon with it, as if it had blasted out from the giant rock.

"How did you know about this?" Rivet asked, regarding me.

"Something sort of like a... premonition?" I said nervously.

Rivet scoffed and looked back at the moon. "Yeah, whatever..." He turned to the others. "I'll go back and get the wagon here. The four of you wait here and hold down the fort."

"It's not safe to travel alone at night." Thunderwing stated as she stepped closer to him. "I'm coming with."

"No. I travel alone. It's better that way." He glared. "Besides, you ponies just slow me down."

"So why are you traveling with him, then?" She asked with a wry smile as she brushed her pinion against my chest.

"Because I was hired to watch over his clumsy ass. I'm just here to get paid."

My ears folded back as I looked down. Payment didn't sound like a great motivator to ensure someone's safety...

"So why did you take the job then?" Riot asked, raising a brow.

Rivet looked me over coolly. "Because Charger wanted to, and Charger's safety offers enough caps for me to face my retirement." His wings flapped open as he turned back to Thunderwing. "You four stay here. I'll be back." And with that, he was gone.

"Who put him in charge...?" Riot asked, looking at the pegasus mare before us. "Last I recall, you were the squad leader."

"I'm still in charge." She declared with a frustrated look. "He's not with us long term. He's only here because of Charger."

"Gee." I deadpanned, keeping my head down. "Thanks for laying the guilt on me."

Thunderwing turned to me, and her wing stretched out, gently lifting my head up to look at her. Her expression had softened as she looked into my eyes.

"I didn't mean it like that." She said softly. "We really appreciate that you're out here with us."

"Doesn't sound like it."

"We do." She said assertively. "Rivet's just a pain in the ass. He always thinks he's better than everyone else."

"Narcissist." Destrier spoke.

"And because he believes he's better than everyone else, he thinks the only way for him to succeed is to work alone, because everyone else is 'too weak, and just slows him down.'" Riot stepped in.

Thunderwing sighed as she covered her face with a wing. "Right..." She muttered, before taking it away and looking at us. "Destrier, Shotty, you're both on patrol. Charger, check the rest of the building. I'll keep lookout on the roof."

"Damn it, Thunder..." Riot hissed. "What have I said about calling me Shotty?"

"Lose the shotguns, and I'll call you something else." She smiled, before taking off through the sun roof.

Riot started muttering to himself as he and Destrier went for the exit, and I moved behind the counter. The cash registers were broken into long ago. There were scraps of food wrappers, empty bottles, and moldy... sniff, sniff... Urk... ugh... doughnuts? It was hard to tell what they were at this point, but it smelled horrible. They were probably a virus of their very own.

I backed away and went to the kitchen. There wasn't really anything to look at here, but fuck, it reeked of sex!

I backed out of there as fast as I could, once I confirmed the area was clear. I didn't want to go back in there... The scent was bringing me back to the bunker... Bringing me back to my experiences with Firebright...

I removed my helmet and took a seat at one of the tables to try and clear my head of the memories...

It wasn't too much longer until the wagon was parked alongside the building. The whole caravan, the caravaneer and Rivet excluded, sat down at one of the tables that this diner provided. The same one I sat at, no less.

The caravaneer was counting caps, while everyone else seemed to be doing their own thing. Tezu and Blaze were lost in their own world, however. Turned out that Blaze preferred being the little spoon. They didn't really have much to say to anyone else.

Rivet was spending his time drinking at another table, away from us. Destrier had finally stepped out of the power armor. His black coat was covered in scars, and his black and white striped mane was disheveled. It just barely covered his eyes, which were both a different color. The left was purple, while the right was orange. That was... unusual.

Even out of the armor, he was still big and intimidating.

When he caught me staring, he turned to face me directly with a scowl. "What?" He said in a deep, scratchy tone.

I looked away after that.

"Ah, don't mind him none." Thunderwing patted me on the back. "He's always grumpy. Even in bed." She winked at him, but his scowl turned to her. She waved a hoof at him and smiled. "Ah relax, Destrier. Have a little fun."

"Like it's so easy..." He kept glaring. Didn't even blink. Did I ever see him blink yet? How has he not blinked!?

"Awww..." She pouted. "Does someone need to get his fuck on?"

"No." He stood up and approached his armor to check the plating. That, or he was trying to look busy.

She sighed and shook her head. "He's probably just grumpy because we didn't get to kill any raiders today."

I looked back at her. "Are you and him...?"

"Together?" She smirked. "Something like that. Friends, mostly. With benefits. We were in the same group of raiders before we left for Virtue. Poor guy's been through some shit, I'm afraid... I guess I have too, but not like him..."

"What's his story?"

Riot stretched and pulled out a cigarette. "I'm gonna go have a smoke... You two have fun, or whatever..." With that, he stood up and started for the exit. "Fuck, I don't care..." He muttered under his breath.

Thunderwing rolled her eyes before looking at Destrier tinker with his armor. "Well... he was a father once. Had a colt. That was his world. Sure, he loved killing as much as the next raider, but his son always came first."

"You said something about you accidentally getting a colt killed earlier?"

"Mm." She nodded. "Yeah, I did. Different story, though. Wasn't his. If it was, I wouldn't be breathing right now." She pulled out a smoke and held it between her pinions as she lit the end. She took a pull off it before resuming. A cig sure did sound good right about now... I pulled one out for myself. "So we were having trouble finding food one winter. Caravans were getting smart. Taking different routes we weren't really familiar with. Not to mention they started traveling with NCR patrols. To attack was risky, and we needed to play it smart. Even then, we were losing ponies. We were getting too weak to fight." She took another pull off her cigarette and blew out the smoke. I took one not long after. "Well, with food becoming scarce, the rest of the group that survived had the wonderful idea to expand their diet and try eating pony. Destrier wouldn't stand for it, and because of that, his son was targeted. I stood by his side and tried to fight them off, but that only earned me a nasty cut on my head and a camp of 16 raiders taking their turn on me, after they had their dinner. I guess I was dessert..." She lifted her mane a bit to reveal a scar above her right brow. "They had beat and cut Destrier to a bloody pulp that night..."

I tensed up just thinking about it... My sister may have raped me, and Crimson may have watched, but I never had a line build up to take turns... I couldn't begin to imagine what that was like...

"Lucky I wasn't on the dinner menu. Or maybe unlucky..." She shrugged behind another puff of smoke. "Sometimes I think death would have been nicer than what I experienced back there."

"I'm sorry that happened..." I looked down.

"Eh..." She put out the rest of her cigarette and flicked it away from the table. I put mine out on the table and ate whatever remained, only to shudder afterwards. Still tasted better than tentacles...

Thunderwing looked both concerned and confused as she stared at me with one brow raised. Her mouth hung open a little, and I shrugged with a faint smile.

"Tastes better than tentacles."

"Tastes better than..." She froze. "Oh fuck, I really don't wanna know..."

"I don't wanna remember." I shuddered again, hugging myself. "I still can't get the taste off my tongue." And so I reached into the pouch on my armor and pulled out the bottle of absinthe. "Which is why I carry this baby around." I unscrewed the cap and took a few large gulps from it, before setting it back down with a smile. "Gah, that burns so good..."

I couldn't hold that smile for much longer, though. I broke into a fit of coughing for a short while, before sliding the bottle over to her. "Ya want some?"

"Uh, that's not how you're supposed to drink absinthe..." She looked at the contents within the bottle.

"Pfft!" I waved a dismissive hoof at her and rolled my eyes. "And you call yourself a raider! Aren't your kind supposed to be all about anarchy or some shit like that? There is no proper or improper way to drink. Fuck the system, and fuck whoever tries to enforce it."

She laughed softly and grabbed the bottle. "Former raider, but... gotta say, I kinda admire your way of thinking." She proceeded to take a quick swig off the bottle. As she slid the bottle back over, she entered a mild coughing fit. "Fuck, that's strong..."

"Better than tentacles." I smirked, grabbing the bottle and taking another few gulps.

"Hey, you're not doing this on an empty stomach, are you...?" She looked at me in growing concern.

... So that was probably a good reason why I was already starting to feel the alcohol taking effect after the first few gulps.

Oh, and there's a growing mushroom at the front door!

The sudden realization that I had just fucked up must have been etched onto my face, cause Thunderwing shook her head, smiling, before getting up and reaching a wing out to me. "Come on, ya drunk dummy. You gotta rest."

I stood up from the seat, and... whoa. My limbs were weaker than usual. Not to mention the room was starting to spin, and it started to rain caps. I shook my head and held out a hoof before me. Her wing wrapped around it as she smiled at me. Not long after, she turned to her crew.

"Destrier, take first shift. Shotty'll take second."

Destrier looked back and nodded as he held out a bouquet of... what was that... flowers? Was he holding flowers out to his armor?

The suit of power armor turned and looked at me.

Uh, okay... I have questions!

"Hey, you okay?" I heard a familiar voice that I hadn't heard in ages. One that I was searching for.

I turned to a mare with a coat as white as snow, and a dark blue mane and tail. The unicorn's crimson eyes locked with mine as she smiled faintly.

Snow Star.

"I-I'm fine..." I replied in a slurred tone. "Just need to... lie down..."

Like now.

Right now.

Immediately.

... Hey, who turned off the lights?

I cracked open my eyes to a silent night, looking up at a dark ceiling. I didn't have much of a view, but if I had to guess, the counter to my left meant I was behind it.

Honestly, I expected a hangover when I woke up. But I didn't feel sick, I didn't have a headache, the room wasn't spinning anymore, and I seemed sober enough to think. Didn't I have absinthe? One of the strongest drinks out there?

Suddenly, something bumped against my metal hoof. I looked down to see White Noise standing there, looking down at me. I couldn't see much of her. Just her eyes.

She nodded her head to the side, and in a poof of black smoke, disappeared.

Quietly, I got up and felt around the counter top as I moved forward. Eventually, my hoof slid off to the opening, and I worked my way around. I could see the exit, thanks to the stars outside. The land outside, however, was pitch black.

Blaze and Tezu seemed to have a good night... but now there was the stench of sex outside of the kitchen. Damn it...

I stepped out and looked to my left. White Noise stood at the corner of the building, looking at me, before she nodded her head to her right. She stepped out of view after.

I followed, now realizing that I was going in defenseless. Thunderwing must have taken my armor off when I was wasted, so that I could sleep more comfortably.

I stepped around the corner, and there she was. Standing there before me, looking up at the night sky while flakes of ash snowed down on us.

I stood beside her, looking up at the same sky.

"What are you doing here?" I asked softly.

"I saved you, father." She replied, keeping her eyes on the sky.

"What? From who?"

"Yourself." There was a brief pause as she turned to look at me. "Had I not come along, you may have easily died from intoxication. I purged the toxins from your system. I did you a favor."

Well... that explains why I didn't have a hangover, or felt like shit.

... I always felt like shit though. I just felt like less shit than I would with the alcohol.

"I'm not doing anything for you." I said behind a scowl.

"There was nothing I was to ask of you. This was no gesture of good will. I need you alive." She stopped and regarded me in silence for a short while, before resuming. "Greed infects all, after all."

She sat down, and soon after, I joined her as we looked out at the darkness.

It was... surreal, to say in the least. Sitting with... whatever this thing was. My... daughter, apparently?

She came from me, but she most certainly wasn't my daughter. I didn't even really know much about her or her kind. And that was a startling thought in and of itself. Who knew just what she was really capable of...

"So..." I started after a few moments of silence between us. "Did you have something to do with the raiders that were camped out here?"

"I disposed of them for you, father." She smiled, keeping her creepy eyes fixated on the darkness.

"Why?"

She paused and looked over, raising a brow. "Were you not going to dispose of them yourself?"

"I was going to, but... why did you do it instead?"

Her smile came back as she regarded me. "Because sides are petty."

Well, that was reassuring...

"I take it you found the gift I laid out for you."

"You mean the powdery stuff? That was you?" I raised a brow as I looked over, and she nodded. Huh... "Yeah. What about it?"

"You have not opened it yet." She stated matter of factly.

"For all I know, it's dangerous." I looked ahead again. "There's no way I'm opening it."

"If you are not to open it, then why did you take it?"

"Because..." I paused. "Because I want answers..."

"Your answers are in that container, father. But be warned. Sometimes life is easier to live with eyes closed. Your life will most certainly not be easier to live once yours are open."

I frowned at her response. "And... that's supposed to convince me to open it?"

"Yes."

I laughed and shook my head. Wow... "You really gotta work on your sales pitch."

"Everything comes at a cost. Everything has consequences. This too, applies to your hidden past. However, there is more than just answers within. There is more than truth. Open the container, and you shall restore what has been lost."

"That's vague." I deadpanned as my ears folded back. "In case you haven't noticed, a lot of shit's been lost."

"That may be so..." She stood up and looked down at me. "But the one thing that ever truly mattered will come back to you."

I looked up at her in silence for a few seconds, wondering what she meant by that.

"How do you know so much about me...? You and Tuner both... Hell, even Petiole knows something..." I hung my head down, but she put a hoof underneath my chin to lift my eyes back up to her.

"Because we have seen your soul. And seeing a soul is seeing their truth."

And then, in a cloud of black smoke, she vanished once again.

I sighed and stood up. "Well, I can't see mine..." I muttered as I made my way back to the front entrance of the building. At least I was sober now...

Sober and depressed.

Upon turning the corner, I spotted Thunderwing out by the door with a cigarette between her pinions. She was looking out at the starry night. The smoke from the Saddle fires were starting to fog the place up ever so slowly.

"Couldn't sleep?" I asked as I trotted up to her.

She shook her head before taking a pull off her cig. "Nightmares. You?"

"Had to take a piss." I said casually.

"Must've been a nice one." She looked over and smirked.

I smiled back before rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly. "Hey, I just want to apologize if I ended up doing anything... stupid."

"You mean apart from drinking absinthe straight out of the bottle? Pfft." She rolled her eyes and waved a hoof at me. "Don't sweat it, man. You're good. Kept calling me Snow Star, though."

I tensed up at the name as my heart felt as if it had skipped a beat...

She shrugged and nudged my shoulder. "You don't have to explain yourself. I know when something is personal."

"Thanks..." I sat down beside her, and she looked ahead, taking another pull.

"I love nights like this..." She said softly. "The silence... The cold air..." She paused, then sighed as she dropped the cigarette butt after one more pull. She stomped it out. "Guess it's not so cold out here now that you guys blew up Stable 32."

I spun around at her statement, and she was looking back with a wry smile. "Yeah, we know about that too. Your friend Petiole had a lot to say to Omegas."

"And you're not mad?"

She rolled her eyes, keeping that smile. "Why would I be? Way I see it, if someone goes out of their way to detonate a Stable reactor, there's probably a pretty damn good reason for it."

I smiled back once more.

"Anyways, I'm gonna head back inside and try and get some shuteye. We got a long day ahead of us." She turned around and started to head inside, before turning back to me. "You coming?"

"In a bit. Just need to catch some fresh air."

She nodded, turned around, and continued on.

I looked up at the moon. There was still a big line of red flowing from the rest of the rock, like blood. The star... thing... That was nowhere to be seen. Just what happened up there...?

What did Blackjack do...?

The following morning, we had started the day with a short lived breakfast that consisted of whatever we had on us, or what we found that was either left behind from the raider party, or previous caravans that passed through here.

For me, it was a cigarette. But I found a box of sugar apple bombs in the room that reeked of sex. Unfortunately, during my scavenge, I had discovered a set of chains stuck to the wall, and the source of the smell that brought up things I was trying to forget.

There were a few stains around the area that I did well to avoid. I noticed that some of the stains that were closer to the chains were more blood than semen, however.

I stepped out of the room with a lost appetite, but I pocketed the box of cereal regardless. If I got hungry on the road, then at least I didn't have to rely on cigarettes.

Seriously... I was going to get a stomach ache if I continued eating them... and probably some health issues, as well. As if smoking them wasn't causing enough damage to my lungs already.

Still, they tasted better than tentacles. Anything tasted better than that haunting flavor... Even my sister's nethers! Which... okay, admittedly, while I didn't like doing that stuff with her, she didn't taste all that bad...

... Stop thinking, Charger. Stop. Thinking.

I shook my head as I walked around the counter, slipping my helmet off its surface and putting it on.

"Ready?" Thunderwing asked as she looked at her team, myself included.

"As I'll ever be." Rivet muttered. I caught a few eye rolls from the others.

Before too long, we were back on the road. The air was a bit warmer than the night prior. The sun shined down on the smoggy land that; for a moment, I had mistaken as a morning fog. The sickly discoloration was a dead giveaway though.

Most of the trip was made in silence as we walked alongside the wagon. Eventually, I had trotted up to Thunderwing, who took the same position as yesterday.

"Hey." I said softly, to which she looked over.

"Hey yourself, Drunky." She smirked. "How ya feelin'?"

"Not hungover, if that's what you're asking."

She giggled and gave a nod. "That's good to hear. I'll need you at your best, in case we got trouble ahead."

I nodded back. "Of course." There were a few seconds of silence between us before I resumed. "Hey, I got a question."

"Go on." She looked ahead.

"What's up with Destrier's eyes?"

"Ah. Yeah. That." She cracked a smile. "Nothing, really. He was just born that way. Something genetically wrong or whatever. His parents probably had some exposure to radiation when they had him. I dunno." She shrugged. "Doesn't exactly do him any favors, though. He can barely see if he's not wearing that helmet. I had it modified for him."

"He's blind?"

She looked over, somber. "Pretty much. Just don't go asking him about it. Puts him in a bad mood."

"Thanks for the warning."

"Don't mention i-"

"Contact, 12." Destrier said aloud, cocking the massive guns on his sides. At once, the rest of the team readied up, aiming their weapons ahead. I quickly swung the arm on my shoulder around and looked through the scope as I worked my mouth around the grip.

There were a few red blips on my E.F.S.

And then there were six.

Ten.

I lost count after that! Shit!

I couldn't see anything ahead. None of us could. Our vision was obscured from the fog. But we did hear the distant growling of ferals.

"Fuck..." Riot lowered his three levitated shotguns just a little, before bringing them back up. "They overran the fucking checkpoint..."

"Too many to take on." Destrier stated.

"We should circle around." Thunderwing said, keeping her eyes forward. "We have time. Maybe we can get to the caravan on the other side before they reach the checkpoint and warn them."

"If only Petiole was here with us..." I said aloud, to which everyone turned to me at once. I looked around at the surrounding party for a few seconds before explaining. "He... really hates ghouls. Ferals and non-ferals alike. Plus, he's a ghoul. Aren't ghouls like... I dunno..." I rubbed the back of my head, feeling awkward now that everyone was looking at me with blank expressions. "Kinda invisible to ferals?"

"Petiole's a ghoul?" Rivet raised a brow, to which I nodded.

"Well, going back to get him isn't an option." Thunderwing stated. "We're too far from Virtue."

"Okay..." I rubbed my temple as I closed my eyes. "So... we go and deal with the ferals then?"

"Haven't been listening?" Destrier looked over with an annoyed tone in his voice. "Too many to take on."

"We can take them on if we do it carefully. Besides... if I understand this whole caravan system right, the group ahead of us was sent around four hours before we were. Which means there's another caravan four hours behind us. Correct?"

Thunderwing nodded. "Well, with the exception that caravans often stay at the depot for the rest of the day. The one ahead of us should be heading to the checkpoint now."

"By the time we get to the station, the party behind us will have to deal with the ferals at the checkpoint." I looked over at Thunderwing. "Do the other caravans have pipbucks, or anything with an E.F.S.?"

"Not... all..." She muttered, looking down as she bit her lip. "Damn it, Charger..." She looked back up at me with annoyance. "You don't know what these things are capable of in hordes."

"I have a general idea. I was stuck in a tunnel with a crap ton of them before I got to Virtue."

"I can't believe I'm agreeing to this..." She shook her head as she covered her face with a wing. "Destrier, Blaze, you're with Charger. The rest of us need to keep moving."

Blaze and Tezu looked at each other, and the dragon smiled. "See you on the other side."

"Definitely." Blaze replied just before going in for a hug.

"Just don't have too much fun without me."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Blaze said as he nuzzled the dragon's neck.

"I'm sticking with Charger." Rivet stepped in.

Thunderwing nodded. "Good riddance."

"Yeah, fuck you too..." He muttered.

"Everyone else," she resumed. "Move out."

The wagon steered off the road to the right, taking the more scenic route as the four of us stood there.

Thunderwing looked back at me with a scowl. "If any of them die..."

"I won't let that happen." I replied, before she could finish.

"Better not..." With that, she left with the rest of the caravan.

Blaze turned to me. "So, how's the hangover treatin' ya?"

I turned to him, smirking. "It's not. I don't have one."

"Yeah, yeah, good for you." Rivet rolled his eyes. "Can we stay on task now? We need a plan."

"Why do we need a plan, when I have two flamethrowers?" Blaze said amusingly.

Oh, I like him.

Rivet shook his head, but... he was smiling! "Ohhh... I have a plan."

Great! Wait... why was he looking at me like that...?

Fuck, fuck, fuck! Oh fuck me in the ass with three shotgun barrels and pull the triggers!

How did I get dragged into this!?

I could hear the horde of pissed off, hungry feral ghouls chasing after me as I ran down the street! Sweet FUCKING CELESTIA, THIS WAS INSANE!

I glanced back to see many of them were airborne... with wings!

My hoof was flaring with electricity as I ran as fast as my body would let me.

The entire south was painted red on my E.F.S., but I didn't need that to tell me how royally fucked I was! I could see it myself just fine!

The pegasi were a lot faster than the mob of undead that ran at me, which meant they were faster than me!

"ANYTIME NOW!" I shouted at the top of my burning, exerted lungs as I ran for dear life. Another glance behind me revealed that even runners were faster than me! Shit! "SERIOUSLY, ANY FUCKING TIME NOW!"

The pegasi were getting close! Too close!

One of them reached out for me, and just as it grabbed a hold, ready to tear through my armor and sink its teeth in, it fell.

I continued running as I looked back at it. A harpoon had been driven through its skull. Several more shot out at the other pegasi, who seemed to be too distracted with me to be bothered by projectiles. Even if they were slaughtering them.

I passed by a tipped over wagon, and looking back, I saw Blaze standing inside, flamers ready to torch.

Ferals passed by, completely unaware of his presence. He didn't do anything as they chased after me. It wasn't his time yet, according to Rivet's horrible put-together 'plan.'

The majority of the air units were out of the sky. But the ones that remained had spotted Rivet's position and went for new prey. I caught him retreating; trying to evade their attacks. There were still too many for him to take on alone. But he was on his own for now, regardless.

Ahead, I caught a faint orange light on the ground. And another, and another, evenly spaced from each other. I kept my distance as I ran around each one, and after I got through the mine-covered street, I stopped and looked back, bringing the rifle out in front of me. The scope slid from the top, down to the side, and in front of my eye. Wish I knew about this feature earlier. It was a lot easier to use.

Sure enough, the ferals were stupid enough to follow me.

Mines exploded, and body parts flew. Sections of the asphalt road shot up in clouds with the detonations. My E.F.S. was sure enough starting to clear up, but there were still too many to deal with alone.

I switched to full auto and fired at the ghouls that continued to chase after me. One down. Two, three. I swapped the magazine out with a fresh normal rounded mag immediately after the first one was depleted, then resumed blasting away at them. The firepower wasn't enough to keep them at bay, however. They were still closing in, and there weren't very mines left between them and me. I started to back up.

My rear pressed up against something big, heavy, and hard. I turned around to see Crimson standing there, looking down at me...

My heart started racing even faster than it had before, and the scenery started to change around me. I was back in Fire's room. He blocked the doorway so I couldn't leave... Fire lied on her bed, waiting for me...

I closed my eyes and got down on my stomach, sheltering my head with my forehooves as tears fought their way through.

50 caliber guns blasted away, and opening my eyes, I was back on the infested street. Destrier was standing by my side, killing off the hostiles in a continuous, thunderous boom. Empty shells flung out from the top of both chambers as the ammo belts fed into the guns; some of which rained down on me.

I got up, wiped the tears away, and moved to the right a little, before firing again. Behind them, I caught the dim glow of fire through the fog, shortly followed by the smell of burning flesh.

It didn't take very long before the second magazine was depleted. They were still pushing forward, and the last mine was just seconds away from detonating.

I went to switch out the depleted mag for a T-round magazine, but my hoof came across something else...

I pulled out a lemon and proceeded to stare at it for a few seconds.

The last mine detonated, taking a decent chunk of the horde out. Right after the detonation, I chucked the lemon at the wave of red that was displayed on my E.F.S.

There was a boom, a wet splash, and what sounded like an acidic substance eating away at something.

Some of the ferals crawled through the smoke that the mines left behind. Sure enough, their bodies were being melted from acid. Smoke raised off their form as they desperately tried to come at us.

Destrier put a round to each crawler's head before continuing to fire off into the fog.

"Hope you got more of those!" He shouted through the gunfire. "Not done yet!"

I slapped in the T-round mag I was initially going for, and along the way, I pulled out another lemon.

"Not yet!" He shouted, glancing at me.

"Tell me when!" I replied as I cocked the rifle. The reds were slowly starting to disappear to a more manageable level, but it was still a lot to take in. If it wasn't for Blaze torching them from behind, we would have most definitely been overrun. I didn't have enough ammo for this, and Destrier's sexy guns could only do so much.

... Then his guns clicked.

"Empty!" He called out, which led me to lay down heavy fire against the horde. My gun wasn't enough, though. We barely held the line with his and mine going at the same time.

The horde was pushing forward, all clumped together in a crowd.

"When!" He shouted.

"When!?" I glanced over in the corner of my vision as I kept the barrel of my gun hot.

"Throw!"

Oh, right!

I quickly chucked the lemon at the mob that was ready to overwhelm us. Upon impact, it exploded in a citrusy fluid that seemed to burn away at anything it landed on. The explosion itself had enough force behind it to act as a regular grenade, and the splash damage was wiping them out by a landslide.

I put a few rounds in the remaining crawlers that didn't know when enough was enough. There were still more in the distance, judging by the E.F.S., but none of them seemed to be going after us anymore.

I checked my magazine to find it was completely emptied, so I swapped it out with a new one along the way as Destrier and I made our way around the melting bodies. We rushed for the wagon that Blaze had been hiding behind. I could barely make out his blip through all the red markers. He was getting overrun!

We charged forward in hopes that it wasn't too late for him...

The silhouette of the wagon came into view through the fog, and what I saw next was a weight lifted off my mind.

"BURN, BITCHES!" Blaze shouted as torrents of flame washed down on the ferals that crowded around the wagon. He stood atop, glaring down at the monsters below him; laughing as they were engulfed in flame.

Destrier and I stopped and stared for a few seconds in silence.

I guess he had that covered.

"GAH, GET OFF ME!" I heard Rivet shout through the fog, and looking to my left, I could barely make out his blip from all the red around him. He began screaming in agony.

"Rivet needs help." I said as I started to run for him. Thankfully, Destrier followed behind. I really didn't want to have to fight them off alone.

By the time he came into view, the feral pegasi had already pinned him down, eating away at his flesh as he lied there, screaming.

In an instant, I stopped, but Destrier kept going. With his guns being depleted of ammo, it was left to me to do the shooting.

I looked through the scope, switched to semi, and blasted away at their heads.

Destrier slammed into one that was digging into Rivet's left wing. He landed on top of it, and it thrashed around below him; it's body crushed from the weight of his metal body. He stood up, looked down at it, and crushed it's skull with one quick stomp.

I had killed three in that short time frame, and Destrier ripped the last one off of the griffin. He twisted the head off its body in one clean motion.

I ran up to Rivet to find him covered in his own blood. Chunks of flesh were ripped out of him, and I started to take notice that his entrails were spilled out below him.

His breath was weak and shaky. He was hanging onto life by a thread; losing grip the more time passed by. He coughed, and blood came up through his beak.

I got down next to him and quickly rummaged through my saddle bag. Come on, come on... Where's a healing potion...?

Don't do this to me...

Rivet looked up at me with tired eyes as blood spilled out of his beak. "Fuck, kid... glad ya made it."

"You're not dying!" I blurted, tears starting to emerge. I was getting really tired of death... Death and time... both real big assholes that loved to terrorize...

"Of course I'm... not..." He coughed up some more blood. "Reach into my... my bags... Got a potion in there with... mah name on it..." More blood leaked out. "Hurry th... fuck up... Feelin' m'self starting to..." He shook his head as he tried to keep his eyes open. "Mm... Starting to slip..."

I hastily dug into his bags to find the purple liquid he spoke of. I opened the bottle and put it to his beak, to which he drank. He coughed a little up, along with some blood, but he was already starting to regenerate. His intestines were pulling themselves back into his gut. It didn't do anything for the blood that had already left his body, though. There was only one solution to that.

A bath.

He rolled onto his back as his stomach finished closing itself up, and he shuddered. "I'll never get used to that feeling..." He stood up and groaned as he spread his wings out in a stretch. In the process, I heard a few bones crack.

My E.F.S. was now clear of hostiles, and Blaze was making his way to us.

Rivet looked at me and spoke casually. "So... What say we clear the checkpoint?"

Destrier nodded. "That's the idea. Find out why they were attracted to it."

"Ferals don't travel this far in with a horde as big as that." Blaze said as he stepped up. "This was organized."

"Ferals don't plan." Rivet said with a roll of his eyes.

"I didn't say anything about ferals planning." Blaze countered. "I'm saying someone put them there. Someone like Fester."

"He proves a point." Destrier stepped in.

"Yeah, he does..." Rivet muttered, stretching his left wing a bit more with a grimace.

Destrier and Blaze walked side by side, but I stayed with Rivet as we moved for the checkpoint.

"Are you alright?" I asked quietly, looking at the griffin.

"Nothing a little gambling at New Pegasus can't fix." He smiled, regarding me. "You did good, kid."

I scoffed. "Yeah, I did great at being bait." I deadpanned, and he chuckled.

"Sorry about that. But a bad plan is better than no plan."

"That's highly debatable." I said as I loaded in a fresh Tungstian mag. Wasn't he hired to keep me safe?

A sudden idea struck me. Something a lot more convenient and less time consuming for combat. "Hey, do you got any duct tape?"

"I do." He nodded.

"Can I see it when we get to the checkpoint?" I started to grin at the idea.

There I sat in the tunnel, next to a bonfire. Wagons made barricades for both exits and entrances, and the remains of turrets laid strewn about.

"Well, there's your problem." Rivet started, looking around. "You have horrible management skills."

Blaze and Destrier stared at him silently, and he looked back at them, smiling. "What?"

Blaze rolled his eyes and looked off into the darkness.

"There." I said with a smile, lifting two magazines that were duct taped together; each facing opposite ends. "Project 69 is complete." I stuck the normal rounds into the gun.

Blaze chuckled softly to himself, and Rivet rolled his eyes at me. "What is with you ponies in always making sex jokes?"

I tucked the other two magazines I had 'modified' and restocked into my pouch. The first went into the gun. The way I designed it was that for each set, one magazine would be reserved for normal rounds, and the magazine connected to it would be reserved for Tungstian, or any other ammo type I got my hooves on. I marked the special ammo mags with red paint that I found in the tunnel, so that I knew which one was which. Categorizing for the win!

Unfortunately, the box of T-rounds had been emptied. The 23 'blue nuggets' went into only one magazine.

"Wrong question. How do you not make sex jokes?" I smirked and stood up, nudging his flank with my own. He quickly pulled away from me, glaring.

"I don't. Do. Sex. Jokes. I don't do sex."

"Welp, someone had a bad experience as a young 'un." Blaze looked back.

"I did not!" Rivet shouted.

"Young 'un..." Destrier muttered. "Interesting choice of words."

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that, and you know it." Blaze said, turning his attention to the steel-clad pony.

I leaned in to Rivet, whispering while Blaze and Destrier verbally went at it. "Maybe someone didn't give you good sex. I can make up for that. I can give you great sex." I gave him a wink, which earned me a look of disgust. I laughed as he shook his head and backed away.

"You ponies and your... sexual fixations..." He turned to Destrier and Blaze. "You two stop arguing!"

"Look, all I'm saying is that maybe you should stop trying to grasp at straws, Destrier!" Blaze pointed an accusing hoof at him. "It's not always about you, you know! We're not always talking about you, you entitled prick!"

"Guys!" I called out.

Destrier stepped forward; his chest practically bumping into Blaze's face. "I am not. Self. Centered."

"I didn't say that!"

"Yes. You did."

Rivet and I looked at each other with worry, then turned back to the two.

"BE QUIET!" We both shouted simultaneously, and at once, they both turned to us.

Rivet sighed and continued in a calm manner as I looked at him. "We're here, alright? We came here to deal with the situation, so let's deal with it, then catch up with the caravan. I just want to get this over with."

Blaze and Destrier looked at each other again in a moment of silence.

"Sorry, Dessy..." He looked down.

"I am too." Destrier said in a soft tone.

"We're cool?" He looked back up at the former raider before him, who backed away.

"Always."

"Yeah, enough of this..." Rivet mocked a sock puppet with his talon, looking at them flatly. "Can we get going now?"

Blaze rolled his eyes, and Destrier started to walk down the tunnel. Rivet and I followed behind, but we came to another stop a few seconds in.

"What is i-" I froze as I saw one red blip appear just ahead of us, shortly followed by another, and another. I cocked my rifle as Destrier loaded up. The good news was that he had more ammo for his guns. The bad news? He didn't have a whole lot left on him. The rest must've either been in his house back at Virtue, or with the caravan. His guns seemed to load themselves, as they hugged his sides as a belt slid out, entering the gun's chambers.

Rivet spread his wings out, aiming his harpoons ahead. Blaze sent a few torrents of flame in the air, which lapped up at the ceiling.

I could hear the faint snarls and growls of ferals closing in.

"They must have heard us arguing..." Destrier stated.

"Red, dead ahead." I smirked, to which Blaze chuckled.

I caught Rivet rolling his eyes, but he kept his attention on the incoming horde.

The front of the mob revealed itself around a shanty house that was made for whoever was staying down here - presumably whoever was part of whatever caravan was passing through - and at that moment, all guns went ablaze.

Destrier's calibers echoed throughout the tunnel. They may as well have been cannons, what with how loud they were. I swear, I could feel my ear drums start to bleed...

Not to mention I was getting struck with empty shells again.

I backed away from him a little bit - though it didn't help much in regards of volume - and continued firing.

The dead came at us full force with an insatiable hunger for flesh. Between Blaze's inferno, Destrier's storm of bulky lead, Rivet's projectile lances, and my... tiny ass rifle... we barely managed to hold them off. But it wasn't going to last long. Ammo was scarce as it was, and the wave didn't seem to die off that easily. A minute in, I still didn't find an end to it, via E.F.S.

My gun went dry, and I dug into my saddle bags to pull out another lemon. With no hesitation, I chucked it forward, striking the front of the horde, where bodies were piling up.

Upon impact, it burst, spreading its acidic after effects on the ferals that didn't already blow up instantly. The ferals behind them were too stupid to realize the dangers that were ahead, and so they ran forward, losing their limbs as they proceeded for us. A mound of bodies were starting to form before us, which was starting to provide cover for the ones on the other side. Which was a problem...

It meant there was a shorter distance between us and them...

Blaze started torching the corpses, while Destrier focused on taking out the ferals that were coming in from the top of the hill. Rivet and I focused on the sides after I spun the mag around, slamming in the T-rounds. I still had one more Tungstian magazine after this, but once that was gone, I was back to the normies.

The stench of burning flesh invaded my nasal passage, but I did what I could to ignore the smell and kept fighting them back.

They were starting to roll down the hill of bodies and into the flames that grew at the base, only to feed the fire. Make it grow stronger.

The torrents of fire stopped, and Blaze shouted through the gunfire. I couldn't understand what he said, but his actions said enough once I caught sight of him putting in two new fuel canisters that he pulled from his back. The fire continued to burn away at them shortly after.

The rifle clicked, and I quickly ejected the magazine, stuffed it into my pouch with the others, and pulled out another lemon. I chucked it at the hill and watched as they started deteriorating. With the time that I had bought us, I took the last T-round mag I had on me and slammed it home, before continuing blasting away at the horde.

The never... ending... horde...

My E.F.S. was STILL covered in red! We hadn't made any progress!

As I continued to fire, I clenched my teeth around the bit, shouting. "TOO MANY!"

The sides were starting to pile up with corpses, all the way to the walls. We backed up, due to proximity.

I started to pull another lemon out.

"No!" Destrier shouted, glancing at me. "No more of those!"

I looked around at our situation, and after putting the pieces together, I realized what he was trying to do.

I was 100 percent on board with this.

I tucked the lemon back into the bag and resumed firing off the last of my T-rounds. This time, aiming at the top left side of the mound, where the ferals began pouring through. Rivet took the right. Blaze set a line of fire along the entire base of the hill, so when they fell, they'd burn away. It wasn't the best idea, and it wasn't the most efficient, seeing as they'd stumble out of the flames, but we had to work with what we had at our disposal.

Destrier took out any of the more stubborn ones that charged through the flames.

One magazine later, the bodies had piled up to the ceiling on the left side. Rivet had patched up the right shortly after.

The guns ceased, and as smoke blew out of our barrels, we looked at one another, listening to the mob on the other side of the makeshift wall that kept them from getting through. They continued growling and snarling, trying to break through, regardless.

My E.F.S. was still one big red blob ahead of us.

"That was fun." Destrier stated in a calm manner. "Killing ferals makes a great substitute to killing raiders."

I looked to the flames that continued to burn away at the bodies. "Yeah, that was real nice, but we should get out of here. The smoke is gonna eat up our oxygen fast."

Rivet nodded. "Agreed."

Blaze sighed as he disabled the tiny flames that waited on the end of both barrels, turning around and walking alongside us. "Someone's gonna have to take care of the infestation here, though..."

"Volunteering?" Destrier asked.

"Me? No. I've had my fair share of feral slaughter for now. I'm just saying... someone's gonna need to take care of it. We can't lose this checkpoint."

"I'm sure they'll put up an offer on the bounty board, back home."

The hot air trapped inside the tunnel was quickly replaced with the slightly lighter humidity of the outdoors once we stepped through the door to the outside. It didn't help that Saddle was on fire...

Destrier stopped at the corpse of a feral, looking down at it. When we stopped to see what he was doing, he looked back up at the three of us. "Go without me. Have to do something. Won't be long."

"We'll be catching up with the caravan." Blaze replied, before turning around and walking off the road to the right, where said caravan went.

Destrier nodded, and Rivet and I turned to follow Blaze.

Minutes went by without a word spoken from either of us. The land was still covered in a sickly fog that didn't seem to want to leave. It was glued to the spoiled land of Equestria. I suppose that was partly my fault, what with the detonation of Stable 32.

Another thing to add to my list of things I'm held accountable for...

"How'd it go?" Thunderwing asked, looking at the three of us as we approached. She paused and raised a brow, looking at all of us individually. "Where's Destrier?" She spoke in alarm, and her eyes fell on mine.

"Said he had some business to tend to." Blaze replied before meeting Tezu's side and nuzzling his neck. Did he always wear that face mask?

Rivet landed beside her and shook his head. "Your checkpoint is a lost cause. Whole place is overrun."

She gave me a questioning look, which I soon realized was the seek of confirmation.

"Yeah..." I muttered. "We ended up blocking one end off with their bodies."

"What?" Tezu spoke up; his eyes going wide. "That sounds badass. Blaze, I told you not to have too much fun without me!" He grinned, revealing a series of... oh my... That's... a lot... of fangs. "Now I'm gonna have to fuck you good and hard to make up for the absence of feral slaughter action." He looked over at his lover and smacked his armored flank with his scaly tail. "Tell me more about it later tonight, alright?"

"Oh, you got it." Blaze chuckled.

"So, how have things been?" I asked, looking back at Thunderwing.

"Bumpy." The caravaneer grumbled, to which Thunderwing chuckled.

"Yeah, he is kinda right about that. More so on his part." She flapped her wings a few times, grinning. "I don't have to worry about it too much, cause I'm a pegasus." She gestured a wing to her chest, wearing a proud look on her features.

"Wing flapping bitch, more like it..."

She stuck her tongue out at him, but looked back at me with a smile. "How about a story for the road?"

"Oh, uh... I dunno..." I looked away. "All my stories are depressing..."

"How about the time Rivet cried for hours on end because he got a splinter in his paw?" Blaze asked.

"How about the time I told you all to shut up." He stared flatly at Tezu and Blaze, to which the masked flamer giggled.

"Yeah, tell that one." Tezu started, smirking.

Rivet sighed and slumped as he walked with us. "Once upon a time, shut up."

There was momentary silence between the group.

"Well, that was disappointing." Thunderwing smirked, looking back at me. "Maybe we give Charger the chance to tell a story now."

"Hey Charger," Rivet began. "Tell them the story of how that armored ghoul diagnosed you with STDs."

My heart felt like it stopped in my chest, and all in one motion, everyone turned to look at me... silently judging...

"How did you hear about that...?" I asked quietly, looking at the griffin. I got a few raised eyebrows from that.

"He's not denying it..." Blaze whispered over to the dragon. "And to think we were going to invite him to a three way..."

"I-I don't have any STDs!" I blurted. "Or STIs!" I pointed a hoof at Rivet, scowling. "He just misheard my conversation with Petiole!"

"Uh huh." Thunderwing shook her head, smiling. "You got aids."

"No. He just has too much shit in his ears." I glared at the griffin, who was now smiling at me, enjoying the torture. "How did you even hear any of what Petiole and I were talking about? You were far away!"

"Griffins have exceptional hearing. Duh."

"Not exceptional enough, because I don't have any sexual diseases. I've only had sex with two ponies in my entire life, damn it!"

Wait... did I say that out loud?

The gay couple snickered.

"Doesn't matter how little you fuck." Rivet started. "All it takes is one wrong, smelly, diseased hole. One wrong choice."

"I didn't really have a choice with one of them..." I admitted, looking down.

The snickering stopped, and everyone went quiet.

Thunderwing looked the other way, and I heard her mutter under her breath. "Sorry..."

I shook the thought away. "I don't have any diseases like that..."

"Right..." Rivet cleared his throat. "So what do you have? Cause I know you were diagnosed with something."

I sighed and turned toward the wagon, staying on the move. "That's not any of your business, and you don't need to worry about it... It's not contagious..."

"This conversation got dark..." The caravaneer stated. "I vote for a topic change."

"Second that." Destrier muttered, approaching from behind.

Thunderwing looked back with relief. "You're back."

"No shit." He grabbed some ammo from the back and started loading up. "What else did I miss?"

"Nothing worth mentioning. Just shitty stories..." Thunderwing said quickly before anyone could speak. She then gave me a look that said 'I got you.'

I smiled at her. It was a sad smile, but it was a smile nonetheless.

Destrier walked along the other side of the wagon as we advanced over the bumpy hills and through the woodwork. The group fell silent, but Thunderwing stuck close to my side.

After several minutes, she leaned in and whispered. "So who's the other pony you had sex with?"

"What?" I raised a brow, looking over.

"You said there were two. You said that one of them wasn't consensual. So who's the other one that was?"

Now, that was a story worth telling...

Well... the good parts, anyways...

Author's Notes:

So I finally figured out how to make permanent links for my Discord server. I hope to see it grow, and I'd love to talk to all of you there. I hope to see you all there. I'll also leave the same link on my fimfic bio, just in case.
https://discord.gg/783mVdd

Special thanks to Kkat for FoE, Somber for PH, Pines for looking through the work, Alchestbreach for hating radios, and the fans that read through this story. Pines and I really appreciate it.

Pines:
Hello viewers. Pines here. I would like to say, isn't the night beautiful? The stars, the moon, even the clouds. So, if you are having some troubles with your life, go for a walk at night. Of course, if you live somewhere that's dangerous, I'd avoid doing so. Look out a window in that case. I'd just like to say, if you're going through hell, keep on going. I would like to see you lad and lassies on the next chapter of RADIO STATIC!