Someone needs helping, we help 'em; someone needs hurting, we hurt 'em. It's not hard.

For hours, my group and I walked in silence down the abandoned stretch of road and dead forests. Thunderwing and Destrier stayed a safe distance away from me, all while watching me closely.

I seemed to have kept my leadership role, however. I guess I hadn't really done anything to lose it from my team.

I hadn't told anyone about where I had gone when I died. Tuner had been quiet ever since I came back to the real world, as well.

I also hadn't told them about my plans for Bristle, or that I was a unicorn. Not yet, anyways. But now that I was able to put the pieces together, I think Petiole knew... He knew something about me, and he wasn't sharing...

I ran my hoof over where my horn was, but all I felt was flesh and skull. No lump... No scarring that I could feel... Yet, when I touched that spot, I felt a discomforting pressure...

I caught Petiole glancing over at me occasionally, but I didn't provoke him. I didn't want to talk to anyone. More so, Petiole...

I just wanted to be left with my thoughts... I needed to process this...

His words were harsh, back at the warehouse. And his method of motivation to keep going was unheard of, to say in the least. But it worked. Kind of...

What really got me back up and moving was the little knowledge I had about my missing horn, and the death of my mother. About who killed her.

I didn't know anything about either of my parents. I didn't know if my father was a unicorn, or my mother, or both... The mind fuck was sending my head spinning... Damn headaches didn't help much with that...

Before we were back on the road, we had looked through the crates at the warehouse that weren't completely destroyed in the battle I missed with the hellhounds. Unfortunately, during that battle, the majority of the crates, along with its contents, were destroyed. It certainly wasn't enough to make the profit I was looking for. Oh well...

To the victor, go the spoils...

The isolated warehouse turned out to be a storage unit for armaments, back in the war with the zebras. Pistols, rifles, shotguns, launchers... Though, the majority of those were all destroyed. There was a decent stockpile of ammunition and grenades, too!

We had all stocked up on as much ammo for our guns as we could, as, thankfully, one of the few crates that made it was stocked up with munitions.

As Petiole was patching up my armor with some of the barding that was left here for over 2 generations, I grabbed a pistol for Para, ready to give it to him. But then I remembered how he saw guns as a sign of weakness.

Then I remembered how he was carrying that weird blaster around with him. The one he refused to use...

Ugh... Para...

I gave the 9 millimeter to Fluky instead, along with a few boxes of ammo to go with it. She nodded to me before putting the holster to the gun on her shoulder, and the ammo in one of her bags. The firework launcher remained over her other shoulder, however.

Para had a thing for chucking rocks at ponies whenever they started to swear... There was a way I could use that to my advantage...

I grabbed a belt of pineapple grenades and held them out to him.

When he turned to look at them, he grinned.

"Ooo! Pineapples! Sweet!"

In an instant, he grabbed them, ripped one off the belt, and bit down. His eyes went from pleased to disgusted as he spat it back out.

"Ah, gross! These pineapples are rotten! They taste like oil!" He tossed the belt down on the floor, causing the entire group, myself excluded, to recoil. Even Petiole jumped a little bit.

Personally, I didn't care. I welcomed death with open arms.

"Para." I stepped forward, looking down at the grenades coolly before having my eyes meet his. "These aren't pineapples. Think of them as... explosive rocks. Okay?"

"Explosive cocks?" He frowned down at them as some of the group burst into laughter. "These aren't chickens!"

Goddess damn it, Para... I really wasn't in the mood...

"Okay, look..." I lifted the belt of grenades up to eye level. "I really want your help here. Whenever I tell you to, I want you to pull the pin off one of these, and throw the bigger part wherever I want it. Alright? DON'T. THROW. THE. PIN." Seriously, please don't throw the pin!

"Well, alright." He smiled softly, taking the belt. "But they're rotten pineapples. Not explosive cocks."

"Explosive rotten pineapples, then. Fine. Whatever." I deadpanned. I swear, my brain cells were killing themselves... Wish I had the nerve to do it to myself...

There wasn't a whole lot of stuff out here, several hours in. Even sticking to the road, there wasn't much to see. Just a lot of dead forest, cracked asphalt, and grey skies.

We had come across a pre-war resting station about an hour back, but there was nothing worth taking. Just litter, and a few radroaches.

I took one of the radroaches, though. As usual, I got a few disgusted looks from the others.

Gross to them. Dinner to me.

The smog and humidity was going down a lot more, the further we ventured south. The smell was still there, but it too, was getting more faint.

The dents in my armor were fixed, and the shredded areas were patched up. Petiole had a talent for repairing barding, evidently.

He had also grabbed some of the guns that weren't damaged back at the warehouse, and stuffed them all in one of his many saddle bags, as they were all of the smaller variety.

Glancing over to my left, I witnessed Para walking with that small dance in his movement. It got me wondering if he even had a hint of what the battery was, or about the souls trapped within. Happy knew, but then again, he was stuck in there with the rest of them. Para only existed because Happy was imprisoned in the battery.

Para was an ignorant pony. Ignorant and potentially crazy. I was starting to believe more and more that he hadn't the slightest clue what the battery really was, apart from a power source for his radio.

As we made our way to Portlandia, the wasteland seemed to try and throw the smaller things at us. Radroaches, radhogs, bloatsprites, and smaller radscorpions. Nothing that really proved to be a challenge.

But still, it kept us alert.

I just hoped there weren't any massive beetles out here, like the one back in 32. I didn't need anymore crippled limbs. I didn't need a lot of things...

What I really needed, however... was a shower. A nice, hot shower to wash this black crap off my body. According to Thunderwing, it was my blood. Yet I didn't see or feel any wounds on me. I felt pain, yes. But no wounds. No blood leaving the body. Just... pain.

It wasn't agonizing. It wasn't crippling me. But I was sore on the inside, beyond my ribcage. At first, I figured it was because my ribs had cracked just a few hours ago, but as time went on, I was being convinced it was something else. Probably an organ or something. Honestly, I didn't care. I had an objective. Kill Bristle. But if I died before I could do that, then so be it. I just didn't care anymore.

"Hey." Destrier walked alongside me, looking down at me, therefore snapping me out of my deep, dangerous thoughts.

"Surprised to see you this close to me." I replied quietly, before pointing at the black stains splattered on my face. "You know... considering..."

"Thunderwing's fears, not mine."

"Well, you seemed pretty okay with keeping a gun on me for the better part of today."

"Just following orders. Nothing personal. Boss doesn't want me talking to you just yet. Told her to fuck off."

I raised a brow and looked behind me to see Thunderwing glaring at me and Destrier, keeping her battle saddle on me. I turned back to the suit of power armor that walked with me.

"So why are you talking to me, then?"

"Checking how you're doing."

"Go bother someone else, Destrier." I frowned, looking ahead. "Just leave me alone..."

"You're upset." There he went again... "Died... Body crushed. But you're here. Not many get second chances."

"Yeah, you see..." I paused, glaring up at him. "That's just it. Not many get second chances. So what makes me so special?" I clenched my jaw and closed my eyes, looking away again. "I'm upset cause I'm still breathing. So unless you wanna drive a 50 caliber bullet through my brain, then leave me the fuck alone."

Destrier walked with me in silence for a bit longer, before going back to Thunderwing.

Good riddance...

"Hey, there's a downed sky wagon up ahead." Tezu said aloud.

"Wuh good isf a shky wagin iff we only got onf fair uh wingf?" Thunder said behind the bit on her battle saddle. She wasn't lowering her guard for even a second... "I sure as hell ain't flyin' it. Nah unless sumonf elf kees uh gunf on him."

"We shouldn't be flying, period." I stated, turning around and looking at her with dead, careless eyes. She stopped a good distance away, keeping her guns on me. "If you're gonna shoot me, then Goddess fu-" Pebble. "Dam-" Another pebble. "GET IT OVER WITH!" I shouted, now infuriated. I turned to Para after with a glare, who shook his head at me as he pointed at Fluky and mouthed the word 'no.'

"Done deal." She muttered, but Destrier stepped in the way this time. Her eyes got wide, and spat the bit out. "Not you too!"

"Not dangerous."

"But he will be when he turns! I've seen it before, and you have too!"

"If you're not going to kill me, can we please get back on topic?" I called out with a deadpan. "You're setting off my migraine with your expository bickering, and it's really starting to piss me off."

Everyone stared at me in silence for the longest time...

And then I got a pebble to my visor.

Sigh...

"What I was trying to say earlier, was that flying is a really bad idea around these parts, because if the Enclave doesn't see us first, the Steel Rangers will. Please tell me you've thought of that."

"Obviously." Thunderwing rolled her eyes.

"But if we fly low enough-" Destrier started before I interrupted.

"That won't change shit."

Pebble.

"Para, I swear..." I groaned in frustration and shook my head hard. Okay, ow... migraine... "Look, air travel around this area is just bad news, all around. No matter how low or high you fly, it's just gonna end with us getting shot down."

Blaze stepped forward. "Well, we could just... pull it on the ground."

Everyone, myself included, looked at him.

"Good point." I replied with a faint, yet pained smile.

A few repairs were needed on the wagon, but I still had the tool kit that I got from Stable 32, so as I got to work on the repairs on one of the wheels that was slipping off its axis, Destrier, Blaze, and Tezu got to work on corpse removal. There were a few skeletons resting inside, along with the skeleton of a foal, resting in the arms of one of the adults...

All but one skeleton had a bullet driven through their skull, but they had a cracked rib, which looked like it would have punctured a lung. But I was no expert.

There was nothing of any value in here. Whatever there was, it was long gone.

"Petiole." I called out, glancing over as I got down at the wheel. He looked over as his LED flashed blue, and I nodded my head to the wagon. "Help me with this. Need an extra pair of hooves."

He nodded back and calmly stepped forward. "What do you need?" His LED went green again.

"Gonna get under the wagon. Make sure it doesn't fall on me, and hand me any tools I request." I paused and looked him over as I rolled onto my back, sliding the tools his way shortly after. "Can you do that?"

He gave another quick nod.

"Good." And with that, I shimmied under the wagon, taking a long look at the axis. There was a bit of damage, but nothing I couldn't fix. The bigger problem was the rust that built up over the years...

"Drill."

An electric drill slid to my side after a few seconds, and I bit down on the grip, bringing it to the axis that just barely held on to the wheel. I tested the trigger a few times to hear it whir, then got to work.

"So!" I called out in a muffled tone as the drill went on, screwing in the bolts that were loose. However, I could barely hear myself talk, let alone say anything with my tongue pressed against the trigger. So I waited until the first two bolts were screwed in tight, before letting go of the instrument and setting it aside.

"When you tied me down to that table, back at the stable, and I passed out, what else did you end up doing to me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you said you cut my head open and put that implant in my brain. It got me wondering... is there anything else that happened that I don't know about?"

"Oh. Well, I did a medical analysis'. A check up, if you will. Wanted to see how healthy the pony was that I was working with."

"What kind of check ups...?" I asked, glancing down at his hooves as he stood before me.

"If you had any heart issues, lung diseases, how your prostate was. Stuff like that."

"My pros-" I blurted, sitting up immediately. Or... was going to, until I smacked my head against the underside of the wagon. "My prostate!?" I shouted again, rubbing my forehead.

"Don't worry. You're healthy in that department. Good, steady heart as well... for now. With how much hard liquor you've been drinking, I'm surprised it's still kicking as good as it has been. Same can be said for your kidneys. Your lungs, however... that's a different story. Probably from all the smoking you've been doing."

"You shoved your hoof up my ass..."

Petiole sighed. "First off, it wasn't my hoof. Second off, I was performing a medical procedure. Don't take this to a sexual place, Charger."

"Was it your dick?" I cocked an eyebrow.

As a response, I received a surprisingly hard kick to my rear, organic hoof. "OW! What the hell!?"

"I warned you not to take it to a sexual place. This is what happens when you don't listen."

Well, fuck! That was gonna bruise! My armor hardly deflected that!

I sighed and shook my head as I looked up at the axis. "Destrier, can you lift the wagon on my side?"

"On it." He called out.

"Petiole, keep the wheel straight with the rest of the wagon until I get it secured."

Shortly after, the wagon, along with the wheel lifted up a little. I grabbed the drill and got back to work.

About five minutes had passed, and the job was complete. The axis was a bit dented and extremely rusted underneath, but there wasn't much I could do about that. All we could do was hope it didn't collapse on us during our travel.

We all stood before it, looking at the two braces that connected to the front of whoever was going to pull it.

"Should we draw straws...?" Blaze asked quietly.

"No." I shook my head. "I'll take one of the spots." With that, I started forward and connected myself to the left harness.

"I nominate Thunderwing for the right." Destrier stated, and she swung around to him, glaring.

"Hell no! Not with him!" She pointed a hoof at me, to which I stared flatly at her as my ears folded back.

"You two need to get your shit resolved." He snapped. "Charger is acting more responsible than you."

"Charger is a diseased parasite!"

"Thanks." I deadpanned. "Can we get going now? Or better yet, if you think that of me, then why don't you all just leave? You're not obligated to stick around." I turned to the others, but they were all quiet, looking away from me. "Well? What'll it be? I'm a diseased parasite, right? Celestia forbid any of you get sick because of me. Better stay away."

"No offense, boss..." Tezu muttered. "But I'd like to stick with Charger. He's not what you make him out to be."

"With Tezu on this one." Destrier filled in.

Thunder sighed and flailed her forehooves a bit. "Alright, alright... Fine." She started forward, stopped at the right harness, looking me over before hesitantly holding out a hoof. "I'll... make nice... I guess... So long as you don't try eating me."

"No promises." I said with a grin. Her hoof recoiled as she stared at me, clearly disturbed. I laughed softly and rolled my eyes as I reached out a hoof. "I'll forget you called me a parasite, but only if you shake my hoof, so that we can move on from this and work together. Alright? We're a team, and I don't wanna lose that."

She stared down at my hoof for the longest time before slowly reaching her hoof out and meeting my eyes with hers. "... Alright..."

Our hooves touched, wrapped around each other, and we gently shook.

"Deal."

I looked back as everyone got in the wagon. "Hey, Petiole!"

"What?"

"Next time you shove things up my ass..." Pebble. Ugh... "Let me be awake for it. I want to feel you inside me." I gave him a wink and a grin, and he shook his head, backing up a bit as his LED went blue.

"Char-" He burst into a violent fit of coughing as he got down on his stomach, wheezing.

Tezu and Blaze both burst into laughter at his response. I couldn't help but laugh a little, too.

He had calmed down a short while after and continued. "Charger... why?"

By the time the land was shrouded by night, we had finally reached the outskirts of Vanhoover. We still had a bit of ground to cover before we reached Portlandia, but we also got to where we were a lot faster than we would if we were all walking.

The team in the back kept an eye out for anything hostile, and whenever something would try coming at us, Tezu dealt with it. It was nothing but critters of the wasteland out here, so all he had to really do was blow small torrents of dragon fire at them. It was surprisingly timid, after everything I went through so far.

Thunderwing and I both shared the same level of exhaustion once we stopped on the side of the road, next to a rusted sign that read 'Welcome to Vanhoover.'

The air here was more breathable, though there was still the faint scent of burning forest. The moon was still red too, which meant we weren't far away enough yet. But at least there wasn't a sickening heat.

Thunderwing looked over at me, smiled faintly, then took herself out of the harness that held her to the wagon, before walking to the treeline along the right shoulder and gathering some wood for a campfire.

I stepped out of the left harness and stretched my limbs. My back was aching from the long haul, but I wasn't going to really complain.

I started for the treeline that Thunderwing went off to and started gathering some branches as well.

She glanced up at me for a brief second, but said nothing before returning to her task.

I grabbed a branch, stomped it into two smaller pieces, then finally looked back at her. "Still scared?"

She kept her eyes on the ground, gathering sticks. "Don't see why it matters."

I scoffed and shook my head, before breaking another branch. "I'm not a danger to you."

"Sure hope not." She replied quickly. "Cause I know how to kill your kind. And if you try anything, I won't hesitate a moment before burning you alive."

I raised a brow with a faint smirk. "So... I can die from fire, huh?"

"That and megaspell weaponry. Laser and plasma weapons too, though that takes a bit more effort. Those are all the methods I know of. There might be more, but I've yet to find them. But don't go thinking I don't have the resources to end you. Cause I do."

"Well, as much as I want to die, I don't think it'll be necessary to kill me, cause as far as I'm concerned, we're still friends. I'm still the Charger you know."

She stopped and stared into my eyes for a few long, quiet seconds, before nodding and whispering. "Alright... I'll hold you to that..."

"Just like that?" I raised a brow.

"I see it in your eyes... Charger." She looked back up at me with a faint smirk, before bunching up the wood she gathered and heading back to the wagon. "See ya soon. We'll discuss our next plan of approach then."

After I had gathered enough firewood to help last the night, I made my way back. Thunderwing had already prepared the campfire. As I approached, she signaled Tezu to light it.

I dropped the branches down beside where the fire was, then found a place to sit.

As I removed my helmet and set it down on the ground before me, Thunderwing sat against a small log she had rolled up, leaned her back against it, and crossed her hind legs, stretching them out. She let out a sigh of relief and began pulling her pack of cigs out.

She opened the pack, then froze upon looking inside. She clenched her teeth, crumpled the pack into a ball, and tossed it into the fire.

"Damn it..." She muttered.

Fluky sat beside me frowning, and shortly after, a pebble struck the pegasus on the head. Without moving a muscle, she took a deep breath, as if trying to hold her frustration with Para in.

"He'll grow on you after a while." I said with a small smile, to which she looked over, giving me a quick nod and a fake laugh.

Para sat down beside me and moved his head down to my groinal region.

Some of the party laughed or stared at us awkwardly as I quickly put a hoof atop Para's head. I could feel my cheeks turning red. "H-hey now. What are you doing?" I smiled nervously.

"Taking your outfit off."

"W-with your teeth...?"

"Mhm!"

And with that, I felt the zipper travel up my stomach, chest, and stop at my neck before the collar split. I could feel his breath on my coat along the way, which certainly did not help with preventing arousal!

Shortly after, he stood up, moved behind me, and began removing my barding for me.

"You... do know I can do this myself, right?" I asked, peeking over my shoulder.

"Oh, I know." He smiled and nuzzled my ma- wait, did he just smell my mane? "But now you get to relax. Ol' Para will take care of you."

... Okay, maybe it was just me, but... the way he said that... I could have sworn his voice just changed a little...

I quickly looked over at the radio to find that the battery was still glowing. Phew!

Still... there was no music playing. There hadn't been any music playing since I left the battery. What happened?

One arm came out of one sleeve as he lifted my hoof up off the ground, another arm came out of the other, and as Para got to work on my lower half, I couldn't help but feel even more embarrassed that I had an audience. I rubbed my arm with my forehoof as I smiled nervously, feeling myself blushing even harder.

Tezu and Blaze were enjoying themselves at my awkwardness... They were laughing!

"Stand, please." Para said softly, to which I obeyed.

A few seconds later, all my armor was off, and I was left exposed. He removed my helmet and set it down beside me.

Generally, taking my armor off in the middle of the wasteland was a horrible idea. But then again, I didn't care anymore.

I sat back down on my haunches, and before too long, the tips of Para's forehooves were pressing into parts of my back I didn't even know had so much tension built into them... Agh, fuck...

My mouth hung open, and my tongue rolled out as he began his deep back massage. Okay, I knew he was good with his hooves when playing card games, but... to actually feel what they could do... Heh, wow!

I guess it was the small things that made life worth living. Huh...

Nng...

"You should really take better care of yourself, Charmer."

I laughed softly to myself and closed my eyes. "Y-yeah... I know..." I arched my back a bit to his touch, smiling. "Just... nng... just keep doing that..."

"Okay..." I opened my eyes to see Thunderwing shaking her head as she laughed; her eyes closed tight. "Let's discuss our plan before you start enjoying that too much."

Destrier was staring in ominous silence, Riot was ignoring what was happening, Blaze and Tezu were having trouble containing their laughter, and Petiole just stood beside me, looking down at the fire between my group and Thunder's, with green LEDs.

And there I was, discovering how great back massages were by a delusional serial killer that was most likely smiling right now.

Fuck... What else could he do with his hooves?

Maybe I could find out tonight...

Oh, I was getting excited just at the idea...

"Charger, focus." Thunder said aloud as she glanced down at my groinal region.

"S-sorry, it just has a mind of its own..." I grinned sheepishly before putting my helmet over that specific area... "Hey, my helmet's back on my head!" I laughed, to which Blaze and Tezu cracked up. Everyone else just stared at me flatly.

"I don't get it." Fluky replied, looking down at the helmet, then up at me.

Wait, OHFUCKITOTALLYFORGOTSHEWASTHERE!

Well... that quickly made my arousal diminish. Still, I kept my helmet between my legs and cleared my throat. Para still went at it with my back, finding new, tense knots and tending to them.

Nnyahhhhaha, whoa... I really needed to learn how he was doing that... These didn't even feel like any hooves I thought could exist on a pony.

"Charger!" Thunderwing snapped, and with that, I was swept back into reality.

"Heh, yeah?" I replied, smiling at her from across the fire.

"Plans." Her ears folded back with annoyance.

"Right..." I nodded. "Right... so... nng... Can anyone tell me what... ahh..."

"Para, stop teasing Charger!" Thunder snapped, glaring at both of us. "Do that later!"

Suddenly, I felt those amazing hooves of his leave my back. No... I wanted more. Needed it! Gah, Thunder! Why would you do that!?

I pouted and slouched my shoulders.

"So, what was it you were going to say, Charger?"

"What is, uh..." I shook my head, trying to get back on topic. "What is Vanhoover like? How do we get across? There'd be a bridge, right?"

"Bridges." She corrected. "Plural. But using them would be a death sentence."

I raised a brow, to which Destrier started.

"Raiders control the bridges. Fortified them."

"Great..." I muttered as my ears folded back with a flat look. "Well, what if we don't use the bridges then? What if we just cut across the water? Make a raft or something?"

Destrier shook his head. "We'd get spotted, and without any cover, we'd make perfect target practice for snipers."

I looked up at the red moon for a second, before returning to him. It was a lighter shade than it was, last time I saw it.

"What if we go under the cover of night?"

"Still risky." Destrier stated. "They have patrol boats out during night. Not to mention spotlights along the bridges. They can go out pretty far."

I sighed and shook my head as I looked down. "This is starting to sound more impossible by the second..."

"Does anyone else think that this is a bad idea?" Petiole asked.

I was starting to think he was right. Going through all this trouble just to go somewhere that no one else has survived in? What was I thinking...?

"It's possible." Thunderwing said with an assertive tone. "And I do have a good feeling about this. We just need to plan everything carefully."

"Is there a way we can get around their turf?" I asked.

"Yeah... But it requires going through Mirelurk territory."

"Yikes..."

"Yep..."

If the stories were true, then Mirelurks were a bit harder to kill, due to their armored shells... I didn't want to deal with that.

"There's a risk in every little action here." Thunderwing continued. "It's up to us to figure out which option is the safest. In my opinion, I'd go with building a raft and cutting across the river under the cover of night. Worse comes to worse, we swim underwater and get a little radiation poisoning. If it means avoiding sniper fire, then so be it."

"Some of us can't swim..." Destrier pointed out as he looked at Petiole. "We'd just sink."

"I have built in oxygen tanks." Petiole stated in a calm manner. "I'd be fine."

Destrier looked back at his leader. "Well, I can't swim... And I don't have oxygen tanks."

Petiole and Destrier started to discuss their plans with each other, but I focused more on Thunderwing.

She seemed to be focused on me, too.

I stood up, nodded her over to the wagon, and started to walk in the same direction. She began to follow.

I sat at one of the wheels, and she stopped a few feet in front of me.

"Thunder..." I started. "Do you... do you really think what we're doing is such a good idea? Just seems like we're going through all this trouble to get into more trouble."

"Hey, this was your idea. My team will pull through. We've gone through worse. Believe me. But if it's a question of your own team's safety..."

"I believe they'll pull through. I just... I don't want to make any mistakes."

"That's inevitable." She went to reach for her saddlebags until she realized something. "Damn it..."

"No cigs?" I raised a brow.

She nodded and muttered. "Yep..."

"I'll give you one when we get back to the others."

She gave me another short nod and smiled faintly. "Thanks..."

"So... Why is it inevitable?"

"Because leaders make mistakes. It's how we learn." She turned around, looking at our group around the campfire. "Assuming you still want to do this, come tomorrow, I think we should go with the raft approach. Not that it's saying much, but it seems like the safest bet. Raiders, I can handle. Mirelurks... not so much..."

"Not that it's saying much..." I reiterated with a faint smile. She looked back with her own smile. "I do want to do this... We need the caps and the weapon that resides there for what I have planned next..."

"What you have planned next?" She raised a brow, facing me completely.

"I'm going after Bristle."

She gave me a look of uncertainty before replying. "Are you sure that's a good idea...?"

"Are you sure this whole Portlandia thing is?"

She chuckled and smiled. "Alright... but maybe we should bring the NCR in on that..."

"No." I said quickly, standing up. "I don't want any involvement with them..."

She nodded slowly. "Very well..."

With that, the two of us made our way back and ran our plan through with the rest of the team. I gave Thunderwing the cigarette she so desperately wanted, and after our plan was drawn out and revealed to the others, the majority of us had gone to sleep.

I couldn't, though... My mind was all over the place with Bristle. Standing there behind Snow Star with a gun to her head... Standing over her, raping her... Making me do horrible things to the other unicorns there... The children I've...

"Stop it!" I hissed behind clenched teeth, sitting up quickly. Thunderwing, who was on watch duty, gave me a weird look. I shook my head and waved a hoof in her general direction. "Not you..."

"Intrusive thoughts?" She looked me over coolly, and I nodded. "Yeah, those are always fun to deal with."

I shuddered as I closed my eyes, hanging my head down. I couldn't cry. I wanted to, but... I had to be strong. I had to be strong for Para, Fluky, and Petiole. For Thunderwing's team. For myself.

Tears fought to break free, but I did what I could to keep them down. I had to swallow them. I was a monster. And monsters didn't deserve to cry.

Monsters didn't deserve sympathy... I was the bad guy. It was the role I had been given in this overly complicated game that Tuner spoke of. Life was just a game, and the wasteland was the one that moved all the pieces, bending them at its will.

We were all just pieces on a board game...

Most of us were fighting to stay on it. But me?

I wanted to get thrown off that board. Permanently.

"Hey..." Thunder said softly, bringing me out of my dark, dangerous thoughts, and into reality. She trotted around the campfire and sat beside me, refusing to lose sight of me.

"What?" I asked in a careless tone.

She was silent for a moment, but then I felt a wing wrap around me from behind. I looked over to see her smiling faintly.

"I know it doesn't feel like it, Charger..." She whispered, moving a little closer. Our muzzles almost touched. "But the worst part is over."

I looked on with dead eyes, before replying; my brows knitting with each other. "Like you would know..." I looked away at that moment, back at the fire. "The worst part is over when I'm dead. So either do me a favor and kill me, or fuck off."

Her wing remained sprawled out across my back; her pinions wrapped around my shoulder.

I kept my eyes on the fire, glaring now. "Did I fucking stutter?"

"Nope." I saw her smirk in the corner of my eye, then remove her wing, only to get up and get behind me. I didn't bother looking.

A few seconds after she disappeared, I felt her hooves press against my back, moving around in circular motions slowly.

"Is that good...?" She whispered in my ear. I closed my eyes, sighing softly to myself.

For a few seconds, I sat there with my head down... It didn't take long before I turned around to see her smiling at me faintly, in hopes I was enjoying it. It wasn't nearly as good as how Para did it, but it was decent.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

She paused, looking confused before taking her hooves off me. "What...?"

"I asked what the fuck you're doing. Why are you trying to make me feel better? I don't deserve to feel better." Hot tears burned away at my eyes as I looked into hers. "So why are you trying to... to make me..." I shook my head hard and wiped my eyes. "Fuck... I gotta..." I started to get up and run for the wagon, away from the light. Into the dark.

I sat against the wheel I was at previously, covering my eyes as tears broke free. I couldn't keep it in... I was pathetic. I wasn't the victim... I was the bad guy. I didn't earn these tears! I had no right!

I couldn't even keep myself from breaking down...

Snot and tears washed down my face as I sat there, bawling like a foal. The crying didn't seem to want to stop, and I couldn't contain it anymore. The dam had broke.

I was just... I was so tired of everything... I was tired of people trying to make me feel better. I was tired of myself. I was tired of ponies forgiving me. I did not deserve forgiveness! I was a monster! Who beat, tortured and killed fillies and colts in front of their wailing parents, whom begged me to stop. They offered anything. Food rations, sex, favors, loyalty...

But back in that bunker... it was them or me. And I chose me.

If a unicorn couldn't give me the information I was looking for, then I went after their kids. It was the only way I knew how to get through to Bristle and get the rangers to trust me again. Sometimes, the adults weren't enough. I needed to prove my 'loyalty.'

And so I did...

And I was a monster for it.

A gentle hoof rested on my shoulder, and I peeked behind my forehooves to see Thunderwing standing before me, looking at me behind pitiful eyes.

I shuddered and closed my eyes again, shielding them with my hooves as I sat there.

Her hoof began rubbing my shoulder gently. Then, before I knew it, both hooves wrapped around me, meeting at my back. Her chest pressed against mine, and I felt her head over my shoulder. I quickly removed my hooves from my eyes and hugged her back tightly.

She didn't say anything, nor did I.

I only cried.

For the longest time, that was all that happened. It felt like a never ending stream of tears washing down my face, getting on both our coats. I sniffled continuously to try and keep the snot from rubbing off on her, though I was failing. Occasionally, I had to wipe my muzzle with a hoof in order to try and keep that from happening.

I was already covered in black blood, so I was already filthy. I'd take a shower or a bath when I found somewhere to do so. If it rained, I'd have even bathed in a puddle on the street. Would probably get a bit of radiation from it, but I didn't care anymore...

After a long while, my tears were starting to subside ever so gradually. My sniffles and sobs were dying down a little, and I felt better on the inside. I still felt like the bad guy... I was the bad guy. But I felt like the emotions I had worked so hard to bottle up were released... and no one got hurt when it happened. So that was a plus.

I noticed that Destrier was on guard duty in the distance. Thunderwing must have woken him up to stay on watch while she went to check on me.

"Are you feeling better...?" She asked softly, still holding me close.

"Mhm..." I replied in a scratchy tone as I nodded slowly. "T-thank you, Thunder... I'm sorry I... sorry I snapped at you..."

"Hey, no frets." Her muzzle pressed against my neck, and I closed my red eyes, smiling faintly. "So how about that back massage, hmm...?"

"Is that still an option? Cause honestly, it did feel kinda good..." I admitted with a half smile, looking back at her.

She giggled and looked me in the eyes, holding my hoof in both of hers. "Come on, Charger. After everything that happened today, I think you could use it." She stood up, still holding my hoof with one of hers, and together, we made our way back to the camp.

The following morning, I awoke to a light shining through my eyelids. Drool dripped from my open mouth. The air was still mildly warm, but it wasn't snowing ash here, like it was back north. Still kinda smelled of burning forest, though. Just a little bit.

We were on the outskirts of Vanhoover, and the smell from Saddle still reached us.

I cracked my eyes open to a morning fog. A real morning fog. Not that smoke crap.

It still looked a bit sickly, but it wasn't as bad as it was, prior to us reaching here. The sun's light felt trapped in that fog, cause opening my eyes had a blinding effect. Closing my eyes after that didn't help much.

I smacked my lips and stood up, stretching. That foul taste hit my tongue from when I got killed by that hellhound, and I narrowed my eyes and spat.

Spat black gunk.

Great...

Only two people were awake in the camp; Petiole and I.

He had been looking at me the entire time. At least, from the moment I woke up.

His LED was green, so I guess that meant he was passive.

I nodded to him, then stumbled over to my armor to reach into my pouch and pull out a cig. I stuck one in my mouth, grabbed my zippo, and began to light up.

"Do you really need to smoke?"

I looked back at him as my rear hoof softly crackled with electricity, and I smiled behind my cigarette as I raised my tail to him, exposing myself. "Eat me."

He shook his head slowly, and I chuckled before lighting the end and taking a nice, long pull.

Aaaaand exhale.

I began digging through my saddle bags again, as my stomach demanded nourishment through the growls and rumblings I was both feeling and hearing.

Let's see.... breakfast, breakfast... Ah, Sugar Apple Bombs!

I sat on my haunches, opened the box, and began to dig into that sweet, sugary apple goodness!

Ciggies and Apple Bombs! Part of a nutritious, radioactive, cancerous breakfast!

My pipbuck made sure to let me know with the soft clicking of the geigercounter as I ate. Oddly enough, I didn't hear that go off that much, ever since we left Stable 32. It got me wondering if the west coast didn't get hit as hard as the rest of Equestria, when the bombs fell. Granted, this place got hit hard. But radiation went away after a long while. Maybe the majority of it washed away after 200 some years.

At least, over here. I wasn't entirely sure about the rest of Equestria.

Destrier was the first to wake up in Thunderwing's group. Shortly after, he nudged his leader awake.

A few minutes later, everyone had been awoken and given about a fifteen minute breakfast break, before we were back on the move. My best guess for the rush was one of the many rules Firebright had given me time and time again, during my training with the Steel Rangers.

Never stay in one place for too long. Apparently, it was asking for trouble.

Thunderwing and I were back to pulling the wagon full of ponies and one crippled dragon.

Ahead of us, in the horizon, was a thick blanket of cloud that shrouded the land in darkness. There was a possibility it was over the Portlandia area, but I didn't really have much to go on, based off what I was seeing. We couldn't see the river from where we were, so we still had a ways to go.

This certainly looked like Enclave work, based off what I saw in Petiole's memory, when the sky and sun was sealed off from the surface dwellers.

They just seemed too... organized for 'natural' weather. Assuming there was anything natural about weather controlling itself...

If my theory was correct - if those clouds were over our destination - then it looked like we were in for something heavy.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, and lightning flashed, but the clouds seemed to be stuck in place, which only helped confirm that these were Enclave clouds.

A heavy rain was a big possibility, if we were going under the clouds.

The rest of the sky was surprisingly clear, however. There was a faint blue upon looking up, which meant that we were almost completely out of the fog. The smell from Saddle was almost non-existent, too!

Finally, something else to breathe!

Hours crawled by before we came in on the outskirts of a town. I didn't see any sign of danger. Or life. It was a ghost town.

Nothing was appearing on the E.F.S. either, apart from the parties' blips. I guess now was as good a time as any to start counting my blessings.

As we walked through the dead streets that started to cut through a much smaller city than Saddle, I caught Thunderwing taking small glances in my direction. Three blocks in, I turned to her.

"Still don't trust me?"

She tensed up a little before regarding me. Her mouth opened to say something, but nothing came out for a short while. "It has nothing to do with the... virus, or whatever... But... I'm still questioning your idea on going after Bristle."

"He deserves to die, and I deserve answers."

"Oh, I want him dead too. Believe me. But... how are you going to even find the bunker? I thought you didn't know where it was."

"I don't..." I replied, hanging my head down. "But I'll keep searching until I do."

"What's this about the bunker?" Petiole asked softly.

I turned around to see his forearms resting on the front railing of the wagon as he looked down at Thunderwing and I.

"Once we're done with the apartment heist and done selling whatever we get there, if you're in on it, we're going to try and find the bunker that I came from. I'm putting an end to his tyranny."

I caught Thunderwing anxiously biting her lip.

"Well... most of us, anyways." I continued, looking ahead once more. "No one is obligated to come with, but I need to know what they did to me... and my mother..." Things were silent among the group for too long, and the silence was becoming too much. I turned back to Petiole, and for a while, he looked down at me with that ominous silence. His LEDs were green, so he wasn't thinking anything bad. But I couldn't figure out what it was he was doing, either...

"This is a bad idea, Charger." He replied finally. "But seeing as my life is tied to yours, I'm with you every step of the way. But before you act on this, I really have to ask you to reconsider doing that."

The more time went on, the more I realized this was a bad idea. Going into Steel Ranger territory with a potential party of 8, not including myself, to see the big guy himself. Whatever weapons, armor, and munitions we get wouldn't be enough to fight through the rangers. Not all of them, anyways. This was starting to sound like a terrible idea.

But it was all I had...

I didn't want the NCR or any other faction helping me with this... This was my problem, anyways. No one else's. Especially not anyone's that was just going to try and get the battery off me later.

But if it wasn't any one else's problem, then it wasn't for the group that I was traveling with, either. I had to tackle this. Alone.

I nodded to Petiole with a hint of a smile. "Alright... I'll think on it..."

He nodded in return and backed away.

There was another brief moment of silence as Thunderwing and I walked alongside each other, pulling the wagon. Thunderwing glanced at our group, then turned to me with a wry smile. "So, what's this about Petiole's life being tied to yours...?"

"Ah, that..." I smiled nervously. "Well, I guess when he died, he caught a vision of me or something like that."

"Awwww..." Thunder grinned. "You two are soul mates!"

"Wha...?" I balked, then looked back at him to see his LED had flashed red upon looking back at me. "N-no." I turned back to Thunderwing. "No, we're not like that. I mean, I joke around, but..."

"Most definitely not." Petiole interrupted. "I hold no romantic interest in anyone. Period."

I couldn't imagine myself with a ghoul... ever. The radiation exposure, how their wrinkly, melted hide felt... The idea alone made me shudder in distaste.

I never even really got a good look at Petiole's junk, but I got a vivid mental image of a thick, wrinkly jerky stick... Blegh...

Well, I think I'm gonna try the more vegetarian route from now on...

... Okay, that was a lie. I could never stop eating mea-

At the sound of a loud, synthetic bang, a red laser struck Thunderwing in the chest. She cried out in pain, holding a hoof to her chest as she collapsed. "Fucking asshole!"

"Contact!" Destrier shouted as he hopped out of the wagon and ran to her side. "Leave the wagon!"

Him and I quickly began undoing her harness, and more laser fire came at us.

"Petiole, spot the-AGH!" A laser round struck my chest, and shortly after, another struck me in the head. Had it not been for my helmet, my brain would have probably been red dust by now.

I hit the ground, and Destrier began dragging Thunderwing to cover, behind a building, before going back for me as I frantically worked on undoing the harness that kept my glued to the wagon.

Most of the others had already gotten to safety and were supplying cover fire for the ones that weren't quite there yet. I didn't see Para or Petiole with the others, so I imagined they were still near the wagon. Fluky was safe, though.

A barrage of lasers kept at us, striking a variety of things around us, and occasionally hitting home.

Destrier returned fire as he bucked a rear hoof against the lock mechanism on the harness, therefore releasing me. I got up and went around the wagon, still shaken up from the shots I received. Para was sitting back happily; his forehooves behind his head, and his hind legs crossed. His stetson was pulled over his eyes as he smiled. Damn it, Para!

Petiole was looking through the scope on his sniper, aiming in the direction that the lasers were coming from; a wall of bricks with a series of window openings.

"C'mon!" I shouted. "Get off of there!"

Petiole fired one round, then lightly kicked Para to get up before heading for the back of the wagon, all while getting shot at. He didn't seem to pay any mind. Some of the rounds struck him, but I didn't hear or see any sign of pain on him.

Para grabbed his Little Buddy cage, hoisted it on his back, then began to hop out. As he did, one of the incoming laser rounds struck the cage at the base, causing it to melt. Petiole ripped it off of him once he hit the ground and tossed it on the ground, before it could cause any damage to him. The mechanical rabbit within was perfectly fine, but Para was sulking as he stared down at its home.

"W-why...?" He looked at Petiole with heartbroken eyes. To my surprise, I didn't see even a hint of tears.

"Shut up." Petiole hissed. He took the bunny out of its cage and shoved it against Para's chest. It let out a metallic squeak as it was pressed against him, and Para took it in a hoof, hugging it close. "Just shut up and follow Charger."

Para reluctantly nodded after putting Little Buddy in one of his many coat pockets.

Petiole got on my back without question, which didn't do any favors for my chest, or my head, but... fine, whatever.

I ran across the gap between the wagon and the building to get to the others. Para took my safer side, not realizing he was using me as a shield. Along the way, I received two hits. The first one was to my side, right where I had been cut open by a buzzsaw about a week ago. The armor deflected most of it, but it still stung like hell...

The second one was to my hoof, which made me almost trip and fall right before reaching the building everyone else was hiding behind.

Petiole slid off my back and went to the corner to check on the hostiles. All the while, I was glaring at Para.

"What were you doing?" I asked as my hoof crackled.

"Relaxin'." He smiled at me. Goddess damn that smile...

"In the middle of a firefight?" I blurted.

"Don't yell, it's rude." He frowned at me suddenly.

"Don't yell, it's ru-" I muttered before continuing in a sarcastic tone. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot my manners."

"Apology accepted!" He beamed at me once more as he reached out a hoof, and I rolled my eyes as I turned away from him.

"How many do you think there are?" Destrier asked. "We're too far away from them to get a reading on the E.F.S."

"Four left." Petiole replied calmly as he kept a lookout through his scope. "I took one out before I got off the wagon."

"I didn't hear anything apart from laser weapons." Tezu stated. "I think we can take them."

"Those were standard laser rifles. Not meant for sniping." I filled in. "I think if we move in on their camp in all directions, we can wipe them out with no casualties." I winced and sat on my haunches, taking pressure off my bad hoof. My rear was still charged up. The pain must've been keeping it around.

"How do you know exactly what weapons they have?" Blaze asked, raising a brow at me.

"I spent my years in training learning what sounds belong to which specific gun. Not sure if you noticed, but different variants of laser weapons have different sounds. Pistols, while loud, are very abrupt. Rifle shots echo, and snipers are the loudest and more drawn out, respectively."

"So... the bigger the gun, the more drawn out the sound is...?"

I nodded with a confident smile. "Correct."

He looked at me for a few seconds in silence, before replying. "Huh... How did I not notice that...?"

"Okay, great." Thunderwing started. "So now we know what guns they have. We still don't know if there are more hiding there." She groaned as she stood up, rubbing her chest gently. "What if there's more waiting there for us to make a move? A close quarter incursion could be a mistake."

Tuner would know, if he responded... Frickin' mind games...

I looked over at Petiole. "Still see them?"

"No, they took cover."

"Alright... Keep an eye out for them, in case they try sneaking over here."

"Got it, boss."

... Heh... why did that make me all tingly inside...?

I turned back to Thunderwing and began. "So say there is more than four over there. We keep our snipers here, and we send an assault team over there, but try and lure them out, instead of going in."

"How are we going to lure them out, exactly?" She asked with a raised brow.

I reached into my saddle bag, keeping up a wry smile as I pulled out a lemon. "With these..."

Thunderwing gave me a flat look, but Destrier nodded. "Chuck the lemons in. Whatever ones make it out alive, we take out ourselves. Good plan."

Thunderwing turned to him in disbelief. "Oh, wonderful. Para's stupidity is contagious. First Charger, now you." She pointed a hoof at the citrusy, sour fruit of death and glared. "It's a lemon!"

I grinned as I regarded her. "Oh, they aren't just lemons, love. They're combustible lemons."

Destrier and I stood in a barber shop across the street from their outpost from the north side, which seemed to be a courtyard before the bombs. I couldn't see very much in there, even through my scope. There were stairs that led down all around the campus, and most of the ground there was out of my sight, so either whoever was shooting at us was in hiding, or they were out here somewhere, searching for us to try and finish the job.

During the time we were preparing, another migraine had began to form in my head. Just another thing I needed to deal with... damn it...

I stayed ducked behind the window pane, keeping a close eye out for any movement while Destrier readied up. He was silent, as usual... but I felt something off about it this time.

I glanced back at him as he prepared his gun.

"Hey..."

He looked up at me calmly. "What?"

"Is something wrong?"

There was a brief pause before he answered. "No." With that, he resumed doing a weapon check to make sure it was functional.

"Do you think... my plan is bad?" I clenched my teeth, kinda hoping he'd be on my side here.

"The vengeance plan, or the one we're currently on?"

"Uh... both?"

"Yes for the first, no for the second. This one has a good approach so far."

I nodded slowly, looking back at him once more. "And the revenge plan...?"

He stopped and regarded me. "I get it, Charger. You need justice for whatever's been done to you. I know all too well what that's like. I've been in your horse shoes. But I also know when it's the right time to deliver that justice. You're hardly prepared or equipped, you don't even know where your bunker is, and you're outnumbered." He stepped forward and came to a stop directly in front of me. "Personally, I'd say to try to move on and live your life. Just move past it and ignore them. But that's better said than done. So if you're going to try and get revenge... then I strongly advise you to wait for the right opportunity. Otherwise you and everyone that chooses to help you will wind up dead."

Well, that was certainly some food for thought. I was starting to take this advice everyone was giving me to heart now. I was already pretty much dead, what with the F-virus inside me... Blegh, don't remind me... But maybe I should just try living whatever life I had left. Resume my search for Snow Star. Find someplace to live. Someplace quiet, and as peaceful as anything can get out here in the Equestrian wasteland.

But I knew that couldn't happen. Not until I got my answers and their blood on my hooves.

It would just have to be postponed for a bit...

"I also gotta ask..." Destrier continued. "You sure you wanna bring the kid in on this ambush?"

I smiled faintly. "Yeah, why not? She's gotta learn to fight. Especially when-" I'm not around anymore...

I shook my head, frowning at the thought. "Nothing, nevermind. Point is, Fluky's in good company." I smiled forcefully and looked out the window, back at the courtyard. I caught a blinding reflection of light from a small, three story office building about two blocks away to the east of the courtyard. "Alright, the company's moving. Let's git."

Destrier and I left through the same way we came in; the fire exit in the back, then circling around the building.

I caught Para and Blaze sneaking in on the courtyard, directly ahead of us, down the street at the next intersection, which meant Tezu, Riot, and Fluky were closing in on the upper left corner from where we were. Least... I hoped they were.

Destrier and I took cover behind a wagon that had been stripped of most of its parts. I peeked my head out to see the coast was still clear, then glanced back at the steel-clad pony, clenching my teeth and closing my eyes after. I shuddered under my breath and shook my head.

"What is it?" The voyeur asked as he towered over me. His voice reminded me it wasn't really him. It was all in my head...

I looked back up at Destrier and answered. "I don't do well with power armor standing behind me... Sorry... Just brings back bad memories..."

Destrier stepped up and stopped at my side. "Better?"

I swallowed and nodded shakily. I peeked back around the corner after I collected myself. "Moving in. Cover me."

"On it." He looked around the corner of the wagon, still doing his best to stay hidden.

I made a run for the brick wall that helped fortify their position. As I advanced, several red blips appeared. There were far more than four...

I lost count after hitting the twenties. Least... I think it was in the twenties. I might have accidentally counted the same ones a few times. It was hard to keep track of them all...

As I ran up to the wall, I pressed my side against the structure and slowly moved for the north entrance; three arches with two brick pillars to separate them. There weren't any gates, so I could just walk in. Though, that wasn't the plan.

I really hoped they didn't have any pipbucks. Otherwise I was under their radar...

I heard voices around the corner, but they were both distant and hushed. Nothing I could really understand from here.

I was about to turn the corner and peek my head out, but before I could, there was a shout... One that was voiced at the top of their lungs...

Para...

"THIS LOOKS LIKE A JOB FOR AMBASSADOR PINEAPPLE!"

"Who the hell-" Was all one of the hostiles managed to get out before a series of explosions rocked the vicinity.

Despite me being behind a brick wall, I dropped on my stomach and covered the top of my armored head with my forehooves, in case anything started to rain down on me. Throughout the various explosions, I could hear faint shouting. But the majority of it had been drowned out, and those explosions were shortly replaced with the whistling of Fluky's firework launcher, followed by the blast of mortar rounds that lit the inside of the courtyard with red, blue, green, yellow, white, and purple. Lights flashed in these various colors, casting the silhouettes of the pillars in front of me along the ground.

I closed my eyes, trying to not go blind from the light show.

There was more shouting, some of which I thought was from Blaze, Tezu, and even Fluky, for that matter. My ears were ringing from the constant explosions, and if that wasn't enough, there was gunfire in the mix. A 50 caliber sniper rifle went off alongside Thunder's laser battle saddle, and lasers from the ground released their synthetic blasts across the sound waves. Fireworks whistled, exploded, and crackled. Ponies screamed. Either in agony, or in rage, it was hard to tell. But none of those screams were coming from my or Thunder's team.

When I opened my eyes, Destrier was standing against the other side of the arched entrances. He was looking at me, and upon making eye contact with his visor, he nodded to me, then peeked out. A red laser nearly struck him in the head, causing him to recoil as a small section of the brick wall dissipated into a cloud of dust. A scorch mark was left in its place.

I stood up on all fours, pulled out a lemon, took a deep breath, and as I peeked around the corner, chucked the lemon where I saw the most red; at a group of raiders that were back to back, blasting away at the other two assault teams at the other entrances. I didn't see them, which meant they must have been taking cover. But so were what remained of these raiders.

In what little I saw, there were at least five bodies laying strewn about, some of which were missing limbs or had their intestines pulled out from gravity's grasp.

The lemon burst, and then came the sizzling of melting flesh and screaming. Not long after, was the smell...

As I retreated for more cover, I immediately felt the slam of a hoof to my face.

No, not just a hoof...

My jaw snapped to the side, and an electrical current coarsed through my head, before traveling to the rest of my body. My bones may as well have been made of glass, ready to shatter at any moment as I collapsed on the ground, convulsing.

I couldn't control myself. But I was wide awake, and I could feel everything.

Black foam emerged between my lips as the electricity explored every inch of my body. I could feel my black blood boil inside me. As if it were screeching and trying to escape the torture. My metal hoof was going haywire, all the while.

I caught a good view of Destrier who had his gun turned over me, and blasting at whatever hit me. He began looking around frantically after a few shots, circling around.

As his back was turned to me, a pink mare with a static-charged power hoof and raider armor appeared between the two of us. She had a light blonde mane and tail under that armor.

I caught the glimpse of a pipbuck on her forearm, but it was dented and beaten. Still operational, however. A lot bulkier than my model, too...

I wanted to scream. I wanted to warn him about her. But my body had shut down on itself. I couldn't move! Couldn't talk or scream! Just lie there and watch! Fuck, no!

With little to no hesitation, she rammed the hoof against his flank, causing his body to go rigid and keel over with a heavy thud as he suffered through the same shock treatment as I.

"Both pathetic..." She sneered, looking at the two of us. "Your friends are as good as dead..." She finally focused on me. "But you... Someone wants you alive... for now... You'll make a pretty cap." She grinned, revealing a scrambled assortment of rotted, black teeth. Only then, did I notice the patches of hide that had been ripped off of her. The armor hid it well, but it was still noticeable after a second glance. Her mane didn't seem to be all there, either.

She was an earth pony, like me.

No, wait... I wasn't an earth pony...

I could taste the foul flavors of my blackened insides on my tongue as she moved closer to take me and started to hoist me over her back. I could feel my jaw hanging limp as she started to take me through the entrance to the courtyard. All I could see was the floor and her hooves, but I knew which direction she took...

I could hear Para screaming through all the gunfire, but I couldn't comprehend what it was he was saying. There was too much noise.

He didn't sound in pain, though. More like... emotional distress.

In the background, through all the gunfire, I thought I could hear my name being yelled from one of my group. We barely got through the entrance of the courtyard, when the pony that was hauling me to her friends jolted back. Not as if she were attempting to dodge something, but as if something had grabbed a hold of her from behind.

I couldn't see much of anything, what with my view of the concrete walkway, but I noticed that we were moving back at a quick pace. The raider didn't fight back or shout. In fact, it seemed she was frozen in place. I didn't see any aura of magic from where I was, so this couldn't have been some unicorn trick...

Once we disappeared behind the corner, where I had once been before my jaw was left broken, I felt a set of hooves on me. Gentle hooves... Caring...

They wrapped around my barrel, hoisted my off the stiff mare's back, and brought me to the wall, gently setting me down next to it. They turned me over to grant me sight of them.

This pony was covered head to hoof in an armor I've never seen before. The design was alien to me, and I've studied a lot of armors in my time... But this was something else...

For one, this armor seemed to be able to change color. No, not through LED lighting, like Petiole's armor... I mean the metal itself had the ability to change color. Red, to a matte black, to a deep purple. And not all at once. It changed colors in the way waves moved through water.

Their dark red visor was that of a slanted glass pane - most likely reinforced - declining from the brow, and stopped at the muzzle, which was covered with a sort of ventilation system. And oddly enough, I did see a unicorn horn! It was wrapped in a blackened steel.

They looked down at me for a few intimidating, quiet moments, before turning around towards the mare. The stranger knew I was awake... somehow. Knew I was alive. They had to of known, seeing as my eyes were locked on their visor, unable to move.

The mare that had tried to take me away seemed stuck in place. The masked figure gently laid her on her side and removed her helmet, before standing up on their hind legs and crushing their skull with their forehooves, all in one blow.

Was there any pain...? Or was it quick?

The stranger looked back at me and began to approach in a calm manner. They placed a bloodstained hoof on my shoulder, looking down at me.

"Stay calm... I'm here to help."

There was a mare behind that visor.

She carefully removed my helmet and put both hooves on my jaw. Pain flared up, but I still couldn't move. I was paralyzed... or something like it, anyways...

"This is going to hurt."

In one quick motion, she snapped my jaw back into place. Holy fuck nuts, I wanted to scream so bad! My body was screaming right now, but my voice couldn't! Son of a bitch!

A compartment in her side opened up, and she levitated a few health potions out. One of them, she opened and gently pressed against my lips, tilting it slowly. "Drink it slow. Don't rush..."

The sweet, yet tangy taste of restoration filled my mouth and washed down my throat, and the pain in my jaw was starting to subside. Oh, thank fuck...

I closed my eyes at the sweet sensation she was providing through a bottle, drinking and gulping down the contents slowly. At least I was able to control a little bit more of my body now...

Before I knew it, the bottle was empty.

I opened my eyes, looking up at her, smiling faintly. "T-thank you..." I worked my jaw a bit. It felt new!

She froze as she stared down at me in silence for a few seconds, before returning the empty bottle to her compartment, which slid closed after. She gently set the other two bottles down next to me and spoke in a soft, caring tone.

"Stay here... I'm going to help your friends with this firefight... and when you're able, go help your friend over there." She pointed a hoof at Destrier. "He's in a lot of pain right now."

"T... thank you..." I muttered, leaning my head back against the wall and closing my eyes.

As she walked off, I heard her reply. Though I didn't think I was meant to hear it.

"Don't thank me..."

I looked over at her just before she disappeared through the archway. Gunfire amplified, and the screams of my foes joined in the mix. Fluky's fireworks blasted away, nearly drowning out all other sounds. Para continued shouting, but I still couldn't make out what he was saying. Petiole and Thunderwing's rifles boomed in the distance.

The screaming became thinner, and so did the guns. One voice stopped every few seconds... and so did their guns. It all came down to one voice. Para's. He was still screaming, but now I could actually hear what he was going on about.

"NOOOOOOOOOO! YOU BLEW HIM UP! HOW COULD YOUUUUU!? YOU REALLY BLEW HIM UP! YOU MONSTERS!"

I groaned as my body ached. I rolled onto all fours and stood up, making my way to Destrier with the two health potions. My body wasn't used to moving just yet, but at least I was able to now. As I passed by the three archways, I saw my team moving in to the courtyard, free of any living raiders. The strange mare stood over a corpse that had a hole drilled through their head. Not from a bullet... This was much bigger than that...

Para was holding what little remained of a belt in his forehooves as he shouted at the heavens.

Wait... HE THREW THE ENTIRE BELT OF GRENADES AT ONCE!? OH, GODDESS FUCKING DAMN IT, PARA! WHY THE HELL DID YOU... no. Just no. I wasn't dealing with it right now... I swear, if I focused on it, I was going to have a brain aneurysm.

My team kept a close eye on the mare that stood there, stiff and silent, looking back at them all. Some of my team saw me walking past the entrance, and I quickly nodded to them. They nodded back, then started to approach her warily.

I stopped at Destrier's body, which laid rigid before me.

"You okay?" I asked softly.

"I'm never okay..." He muttered back, his voice muffled. Guess his armor was offline... Ugh, I dreaded the idea of being stuck in power armor like that... again.

"I'm going to take off your helmet, Desty." I said as I started to remove it from his head.

"Thanks, Charger..."

I slid the helmet off, and he looked up at me while keeping his head still.

"Do you need a pick-me-up?" I swirled the contents of one of the bottles around in front of him.

"Save it... I'm not in any life threatening conditions right now."

I nodded and put the contents of one of the bottles into my pipbuck, for if I was ever in immediate danger. I put the other in front of him.

"What's happening in the courtyard?" He asked, wincing.

"Some random pony just kinda showed up and... took out the rest of the raiders. I think she's on our side..."

Thunderwing landed beside me after setting Petiole at the entrance.

"Desty, you okay?" She trotted up to him, then examined his body. "Ah, not again..." She hit a small button that I hadn't noticed before, in between the armor plating of his left forearm, using the pinions of her wing. At once, his body fell limp.

"Thanks, Thunder..."

She nuzzled him, then regarded me. "Who's the stranger in the courtyard?"

"I don't know her name, but she seems to be on our side. She helped me out."

Thunderwing nodded with a faint smile. "Go check on her. I'll stay here with Destrier."

I nodded back, then made my way for the entrance. Petiole had grabbed my helmet where I was originally and handed it back to me. I put it back on as I made my way into the courtyard. My group stayed a safe distance away as they had their conversation with her.

She looked at Para, who was still screaming.

"AMBASSADOR PINEAPPLE! AMBASSADOR PINEAPPLEEEEEEEEE!"

"What's up with him?" She asked calmly, looking around the group.

"I'm not quite sure any of us really know." I stated, stepping up behind her and stopping at her side. "Name's Charger. And the screaming lunatic over there is Para."

"Hollow." She replied, looking me over. Her horn lit up in a black and red aura, and a dark bubble appeared over Para, forming a dome around him. At once, his screaming became muted. "He was giving me a headache." She stated matter-of-factly.

He sure as hell wasn't helping my migraine... As if the guns and explosions hadn't already made it so much worse...

"Why did you help us?" Blaze asked, keeping his flamer on her. "Who are we to you?"

She looked around at the surrounding party with ease. "Just a bunch of ponies that needed saving, is all."

"What flag do you serve under?" Tezu started.

"My own."

My team didn't seem to like that response, judging by the alarmed looks they all shared.

"Are you with us, or against us?" I asked calmly, still testing out my jaw.

She regarded me in her calm manner. "That's for you to decide, Charger."

I stared for a few moments, before going to Petiole and whispering. "Can you keep an eye on her? I gotta talk with Thunderwing and the others."

He nodded and began approaching Para. I waved the others over.

As they began to come over, a thought occurred to me.

I just asked Petiole, a Happy victim, to go calm his killer down. And he knew who Para really was, now... Yet he didn't seem to hold back any grudges. That was... odd, to say in the least...

I'd have to talk to him about that, later... Why he was so passive over someone he hated... It didn't exactly sit right by me.

The team and I made our way to the archway, but by the time we showed up, Thunderwing and Destrier were already heading towards us.

"So who is she?" Thunder asked as they stopped before us.

"Hard to say..." Tezu muttered, glancing back at her.

"Seems to be the lone wolf type." I stated. "But she helped us. I think that warrants some level of trust, right?"

"Ehh..." Riot countered, looking back at her. "Maybe..."

"She saved me." I said, looking around the group. "And on top of that, took out the rest of the raiders. Things could have turned out differently, had she not helped."

"I'm with Charger on this one." Destrier pointed out, looking at me specifically. "I think we could use someone with her level of expertise on our side..."

Thunderwing nodded in agreement, as did Blaze and Fluky. Tezu and Riot seemed to still be debating on whether or not this was a good idea.

"Look, for where we're going, we'll definitely need all the help that we can get." I pointed out, to which Thunderwing quickly replied.

"NCR."

"Without getting involved in politics." I hastily added, frowning at her. I turned to the others after. "This is as good as we're gonna get it."

Tezu and Riot looked to one another, then shrugged before turning back to me.

"Alright..." Riot muttered. "We're on board with bringing her along... assuming she wants to."

I nodded to them, and started to turn toward the visitor, approaching calmly. The rest of the group stayed behind me. She seemed focused on me, even before I had turned to her again.

"Hey." I said, stopping a few feet before her.

She didn't reply. Just continued to stare silently.

Okay then...

I noticed that Para had calmed down, and the bubble was gone. That was good...

"So I just talked to the others, and we were wondering if you wanted to tag along. Just for a little bit. We're heading to an apartment complex across the river, in Portlandia, and we'll need all the help we can get..."

"Infested with ferals, correct?"

"Uh... yeah. There's something I gotta get there, but we plan on looting the place for anything valuable, then selling it later. We're all getting a cut of the profit, and we need someone like you, if you're up for it."

She nodded quietly. "I can help."

Phew! That was easy...

"I can get us there right now. Skip through the streets and start off in the building itself. There's no getting across those streets... Trust me."

I nodded, small relief growing on my features. "Sounds a lot better than crossing that river..."

"There's just one problem." She continued. "Doing this with these many ponies... and one dragon... It's going to give my horn a huge burn out. So once we're in, it's going to take some time before we can get back out."

"I think we can handle that." I said with an assertive grin. "I mean... how bad can it be?"

Author's Notes:

Wow. Okay, life has been crazy lately. But I managed to finally push this chapter out. I'm not even gonna begin to describe what's been going on lately. Hope this chapter was worth it. Nothing big really happened, so... sorry. This was more setting things up for chapter 19. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Special thanks to Kkat for FoE, Somber for PH, Alchestbreach for radio hating, Nylten for the amazing art, Skydreams for the fun Charger expressions, and my friends and fans for sticking with the story this far. I feel like we've come a long way, and the story has been getting more recognized lately. I really appreciate that. Thank you all.