"Get up without my permission, I'll blast your ass so far through your head, it'll turn the moon cherry pie red."

An upbeat rhythm emitted from my pipbuck as I pulled the wagon behind me in a steady trot. For the first time in a long time, I felt cheerful. My friends were alive and resting, and I was on the way to completing the task I had planned for nine years.

And so, in my cheerfulness, I began to sing along with the music.

"Ain't nothin' gonna break-a my stride! Nobody gonna slow me down! Oh no! I got to keep on movin'! Ain't nothin' gonna break-a my stride! I'm runnin' and I won't touch ground! Oh no! I got to keep on movin'!"

Looking behind me, I saw Hollow smiling with a half empty Rad-Away pouch in her hooves. Everypony else was either facehoofing, glaring up at the sky, or giving me flat expressions.

I shrugged and turned back to the road ahead, before Hollow started singing the next verse of the song. Having her join in made me smile brighter.

"You're on the road and now you pray it lasts. The road behind was rocky. But now you're feeling cocky. You look at me and you see your past. Is that the reason you're runnin' so fast? And he said..."

Together, we sang the next part.

"Ain't nothin' gonna break-a my stride! Nobody gonna slow me down! Oh no! I got to keep on movin'! Ain't nothin' gonna break-a my stride! I'm runnin' and I won't touch ground! Oh no! I got to keep on movin'!"

"This next part!" Scope said as the song continued. "It sounds like the song's about ending a relationship! Just seems kinda weird that you're singing this while trying to find-"

I spun my head around as my hoof flared, glaring at Scope. Hollow and I both 'shushed' at him.

He deadpanned a moment, before continuing.

"Seriously?"

"SHH!"

"Fine..." He crossed his forehooves as his ears wilted, turning away from us. "Weirdos..."

I took the next verse as I looked ahead again, trotting happily. Fuck, I felt awesome right now! Music sure did lift the spirits!

"Never let another girl like you work me over. Never let another girl like you drag me under. If I meet another girl like you, I will tell her... Never want another girl like you, OH!"

Once again, Hollow joined me as she jumped off the side of the wagon, trotting beside me to my right. We both smiled at each other as we sang.

"Ain't nothin' gonna break-a my stride! Nobody gonna slow me down! Oh no! Oh no! I've got to keep on movin'! Ain't nothing gonna break-a my stride! I'm runnin' and I won't touch ground! Oh no! I've got to keep on movin'!"

From that point on, we sang the same verse over and over again as it was delivered in the remainder of the song that played.

As the song came to an end, Hollow and I turned to each other, to which she beamed at me. I never actually saw her smile like that before. She was enjoying this as much as me!

"Okay, one more time..." I said with a hearty grin.

"NO!" Everyone in the back collectively shouted, to which Scope blurted the following.

"You said that the first eight times! I'VE BEEN COUNTING! Please, for Celestia's sake, if not for our sanity, PLAY SOMETHING ELSE!"

"Hey, Break My Stride is catchy." Hollow remarked, looking over her shoulder with a smile as we bumped into each other playfully.

"Yeah, when it's not played on loop!" Thorne protested. "I have a headache! And look at Charger! He has the lyrics memorized now!"

Hollow rolled her eyes, before turning back to me. "Alright, give them something else, Charger." With a nod, I smiled and scrolled through the seemingly neverending list of songs until I tapped my hoof over a random one.

A steady guitar beat mixed with a drum set for a moment, before a soft voice sang out. In that moment, it seemed a bit similar to the song that Para and I had listened to when we were in the tower, back in Saddle. Mare In The Moon, I think it was?

Even though the voice pitch was different, it still had that same feel. I liked it.

Keep in the dark to stay out of the light

Just sleepin' in the sunlight

Keep in the dark to stay out of the light

Just stay in the sunshine

The party grew quiet as we traveled across the land of a dying world. There was no singing from any of us, but from what I could tell, everyone else was taking the music in too.

Something about the song spoke to me. Seemed a lot of the music Tuner introduced me to had that effect.

Turn off your light, let's step into the dark

Sleep away your light shines from here into her

Save your face and keep your hooves firmly pressed into the earth...

I feel relief when night time eventually comes

Talk of all the dreams, you surely had one

Mind your head and keep your hooves firmly pressed into the earth...

The music began to build up gradually, and as the main chorus of the song played out, I felt something inside me. Something sparked. There were no words to describe the feeling as far as I was aware. The best way I could have described it was a bittersweet love to the heart and soul, but there was a pain there, too.

Dream on and sleep won't save you from the night

Drink up darling, dressed in white

A shameful display sewn in velvet and lace

To keep in the dark

Dream on and sleep won't save you from the night

Drink up darling, dressed in white

A colorless string to a colorful bow

That sings in the night and never grows old...

Through the morning, into the night, we stayed on the move. Onyx took out any critters that got too close to the wagon, and Scope kept his eyes on the horizon when Hollow wasn't aiming her rifle up at the sky, looking through her sights.

The two of them acted as my team's scouts and steered us away from any dangers that would keep us stalled.

Thorne assisted Onyx when she could, but for the most part, Onyx had everything under control in the pest control department.

Any rodents that Onyx killed, I made sure to pick up so we could eat on the road. I didn't want to sleep, for fear of the demons that awaited, so I let the biomass morph into me. Apparently that was a good way for me to stay energized. My mind was going to suffer, but that seemed to already be happening. Fuck sleep.

However, in my consumption, the claws finally went away. I was a bit disappointed there, but I was certain I could get them back.

... I hoped.

The only times we stopped were when Hollow and I were changing shifts in pulling the wagon, so that the other could rest. We had a good system going there.

We were finally making progress.

I was going to find Snow Star...

Finally...

My moth rested behind my ear, as it often times did. I really needed a name for the little guy.

My dinner that night consisted of a raw, irradiated scorpion stinger. If I was a betting pony - which I guess I kinda was - I would have guessed the radiation would have killed me far before the venom did. Good thing I was a weird demon pony that had some weird resistance towards most dangers. To an extent...

I gulped it down with a Rad-Away and the whiskey that Thorne had got me from Virtue, as the exposure was a bit much than I had initially anticipated. I felt like shit after, but it sure was tasty!

... The scorpion meat and the whiskey, I mean. The Rad-Away was shit...

When Hollow was pulling the wagon, she gave me her rifle. Upon looking through the scope, I found out why everyone that used it always pointed up at the sky.

Instead of seeing depressing rain clouds, or a blinding sun, I was greeted with a bird's eye view of the land, as if I was aiming from above. When I moved the rifle around and angled it, my range would move to where I positioned it.

Okay, this gun was awesome... Now I was really jealous!

There wasn't a whole lot out here worth scavenging, unfortunately. Abandoned towns here and there, or active settlements. But some settlements weren't like Virtue...

They didn't forgive.

For Hollow's sake, and Onyx's, we had to steer clear of any settlements that we stumbled upon. Hollow, a zebra, and Onyx, an Enclave pegasus that was left for dead by her own team... That would surely bring out the torches and pitchforks.

It was probably for the best that we didn't stop anyways. My compass bearing was starting to move again, which meant Titan was getting closer. I kept a watchful eye on our six using Hollow's rifle, but I wasn't seeing him yet, so there was that. However, in doing so, I was greeted with the voices a lot of the time.

By the third night, my friends had noticed I hadn't been sleeping. My appearance and bloodshot eyes probably gave that away. They insisted that I rest, but there was no rest for the likes of me. Nightmares awaited.

I was exhausted to my core. A part of me wanted to sleep. But nothing good was going to come of it if I did.

But who was I fooling? I was having trouble keeping my eyes open any longer. Sitting down wasn't helping whatsoever, and even absorbing other biomass was starting to lose its touch. Laying down was even worse.

I had offered to pull the wagon, but Hollow advised against it, and told me to sleep.

They weren't asking. They were demanding.

More and more, I wanted to. But I was scared of what my mind was going to conjure up, when I did. If I did...

If I... did...

I shot up with the realization that I had dozed off, looking around my surroundings. I was still in the wagon. Phew... Okay, this wasn't a drea...

Just then, did I notice all my friends weren't in the wagon. I peeked my head over the sides, looking in every direction for them. But they were nowhere to be seen.

The land was dead and dry, and the sky was black. The only sound I heard was that of the wheels moving along the cracked road. I didn't feel any wind.

That was a dream, wasn't it...?

I looked to the pony pulling the wagon, but they wore a cloak over themselves, concealing their identity from me.

"Hey."

The pony kept to themselves, pulling the wagon behind them as they continued onward across dead land.

"Where are we?"

I was left without an answer.

"Where are my friends? Who are you? You gonna answer me?"

Suddenly, they stopped pulling, but still, they kept their head forward.

"You know what needs to be done."

I spun around to see White Noise standing at the rear of the wagon, looking up at me. At that exact moment, the vortex appeared in the horizon. I caught the faint white light underneath it.

"You..." I muttered, averting my eyes down to her chest. Her eyes were too much for me... "What are you talking about? What needs to be done?"

She simply smiled, before nodding her head to the side. From there, she walked in the same direction.

I looked back at the pony that had been pulling the wagon, only to find they were gone...

I hopped out the back and followed White Noise around to the front. She had stopped in the middle of the road.

I stopped at her side as I stared down at a pile of severed body parts...

For a moment, I saw needless gore... But after studying it, it seemed familiar...

Four crooked arrows; two pointing up, and two pointing down. The two in the middle were long, while the ones up and down were smaller.

I remembered where I had seen this...

This was in my dream. One of the visions I had was of me looking up at the moon with this same symbol, only it was glowing red.

A while back, Rivet claimed he saw a mess of body parts splayed out like a symbol... Was this what he was talking about...?

"What is this...?" I asked, looking over at her.

"Until recently, Hoofington held the instrument of a great divide. While it is no longer, the effects still linger. Should you wander the lands, you will suffer the symptoms, and all those you hold dear will be ripped from you." She turned and looked at me with that wicked grin. "Your story does not take place there. Hoofington does not need you. Go back, father." She pointed a hoof down at the symbol. "This is your calling. This is your story. Fulfill it, like you are meant to, for nothing awaits you east."

"Bullshit..." I whispered. "There's someone there for me. Snow Star is waiting for me..."

She chuckled softly under her breath, to which I caught another deeper voice mixed in with the one I was used to. "Oh, you poor frail creature. You sensitive hearts... You crying souls... You destroyed minds..." She began to nuzzle into my neck, but I pulled away. "You want the one you call Snow Star? You will find her south on the outskirts of Hoofington. May your discovery... satisfy you. Father." Her smile came back, and I couldn't help but feel like she was giving me some sort of threat... "But know this. The time is coming. And you will answer the call. When that happens, you know where to find me." She turned back to the vortex, where the voices grew louder. I joined her. "You know what needs to be done."

I opened my eyes.

The sun was up, though a thick blanket of grey, raining depression curtained it from the surface of this dying planet.

I heard voices in the distance. Not from the west, but the east. The voices of my friends, and... others.

I began to close my mouth, before feeling a girthy, fleshy, pulsating protrusion squeeze between my lips.

My brows knitted as I looked down at the tip of my nose. I ran a hoof around my lips until I traced it along an appendage that I had the sensation of touch in.

A black, shadowy tendril wrapped around my hoof as I brought it up to my sight.

Oh...

I wasn't in any physical pain or injury. I wasn't sure why it was out. I didn't want to show myself like this, though.

Somehow, as if it understood my wishes, it began to slide back into my mouth, traveling deep down my throat and further into my body. As I closed my mouth completely, it settled in my stomach. There was a bland taste to them, but at least it wasn't bad... Not like the fungal ones.

I licked my lips and swallowed whatever slimy substance the tentacle had left on them as I sat up, peeking my head over the wall to my left. All my friends that I had been traveling with for the past several days were there, talking with what looked like a caravan. There was a pony in a stray hat and leather armor, and beside them was a brahmin covered in gear. On either side of them were two guards; one of them was a griffin, and the other, to my surprise, a changeling.

I had read about changelings and the invasions from them in my books, back when I was in the bunker. But I had always thought of them like a campfire story. Something to be told in the dark, just to scare fillies and colts.

To see one with my very own eyes was peculiar, for lack of a better word. Especially seeing it work like a regular pony or griffin in the wasteland. I mean... they fed off love, right? How were any of them still alive out here?

I wasn't threatened, though. I was more on the curious side.

Their glowing, bright blue eyes met mine for a second, before they said something under their breath.

Many of my friends looked back, then turned to the merchant again.

I stood up and hopped off the back of the wagon, making my way towards the group.

"I miss anything?" I asked, looking around at the three.

"Not much." Scope said softly.

I regarded the changeling with a gentle smile as they looked back at me. Their fangs looked awfully sharp.

"Don't try any funny business with my boss, or we're gonna have a problem." He said calmly. "Try anything on my boyfriend, we're gonna have an even bigger problem." He glanced at the griffin, before turning back to me. "Try anything on me, you're gonna have to deal with him."

I smirked. "Try anything on me, my tentacles will have to come out and fuck all three of you."

The changeling, pony merchant, and griffin all looked at me in confusion. A metal hoof bapped me on the shoulder, to which Thorne responded.

"Stop trying to start shit."

"Hey, they started it." I replied as I rubbed where she hit me.

"Then stop instigating it." She turned back to the three of them. "Sorry about that. I'm sure you meet a lot of assholes out here that try to cause trouble. I used to be a traveling merchant, too. I get it... You were just warning him."

The pony nodded. "That's correct. But no harm done. Just so long as we understand each other."

"Sooo..." I started, ready to change the topic as I looked at the merchant. "What kind of stuff do you got for sale?"

He looked at me for a moment in silence, before nodding to the wagon. "Weapons, armor, medicine, drugs, food, including fruits. Ammo. We got scrap par-"

"Fruits!" I said as my eyes lit up. "What kind of fruits?"

"U-uh... Just the basics... Y'know... Apples, grapes, pears, lemons, oranges, that sort of thin-"

"Lemon 'nades!" I blurted with a wide grin, to which the three of them jumped back a bit.

He looked down at my teeth as his jaw dropped. For a brief second, I forgot even I had fangs. Even the griffin and changeling were staring in awe.

"Um..." The merchant shook himself out of the wonder and looked back in my eyes. "Yeah, lemons... We got a good supply of them."

"Important question." I started as I raised a hoof to him. "Do they explode upon impact, or do they take a second to burst? and what is their blast radius?"

He raised a brow as his mouth hung open for a moment, turning to the others. "W-what...?"

"The lemon 'nades!"

"They don't... explode..." He said quietly, looking back at me. "They just... taste good..."

"What blasphemy is that?" I balked, before stomping a forehoof against the ground. "When life gives you lemons, you make lemon 'nades!"

"What the fuck...?" He turned to the rest of my friends, baffled. I didn't know why, though...

"He spent too much time in a stable getting fucked by tentacles..." Hollow said softly as she glanced at me. "Guess it kinda went to his head."

"Hey, for the record, they only went for my mouth!" I declared as I pointed a hoof to my lips. "And... that's besides the point. You know combustible lemons are possible! You've seen them."

"Charger, go back to sleep..." Scope muttered as he covered his face with a hoof. "You're clearly exhausted..."

"And insane..." The griffin muttered.

"I heard that." I snapped a look at him. "I'm not crazy."

Hollow chuckled under her breath. I spun around to her. "What's so funny?"

She looked back at me with a soft smile on her face. "You're adorable." She turned to the three. "He's not crazy. Combustible lemons really are a thing, and very effective. But he is really tired, and needs to go back to the wagon and rest." She turned back to me in a deadpan, before pointing a hoof at the wagon. "Take the hint. Let us do the shopping."

I rolled my eyes and walked back to the wagon. Along the way, I heard Hollow start talking to the caravan again.

"If you're headed west, take a detour north, first. There's a chance there's a Steel Ranger party coming after us, and you don't wanna get in their way."

I pulled the compass out and flicked it open to see the bearing was still on the move, going back and forth. The more I looked at it, the faster it became.

There wasn't a chance. It was just fact at this point that Titan was coming after me.

As we started moving again, I took the front seat at the wagon, looking down at Hollow as I rested my forehooves on the rim.

"Hey, Hollow..."

"Yes?" She asked as she trotted down the road, pulling us.

"I have a lead on Snow Star's whereabouts..."

She looked over her shoulder. "Oh?"

"White Noise... told me. In my sleep, I mean."

She nodded. "I see..."

"Is there a way you or Scope can teleport us south of Hoofington?"

She shook her head. "I've never gone anywhere near Hoofington. Nor has Scope. Even if I could, it'd jeopardize the safety of everyone. He's still looking for me... If I were to teleport, it'd have to be somewhere we don't plan to stay at for very long."

I nodded. "Right..."

"I relayed the intel to Bullet, so at least now she knows where to look... kinda." She looked ahead again. "I can ask her to teleport us with her and her team, but she can't get there either. Not without a beacon. And Sora or I would have to be there in order to place one. We could also keep going like this and gather supplies along the way. It's all up to you."

"It's not going to make a difference either way." I replied. "Let's keep scavenging along the way. We can use all the supplies we can get."

She nodded with a faint smile as she looked over her shoulder again. "Consider it done."

By nightfall, my moth had come out from behind my ear to rest on my forehoof as I lied down; one fore resting on the other.

I smiled softly at my shadowy friend as he looked up at me. Did he get bigger since I last saw him...? I didn't remember him being as large as my hoof. No wonder why one side of my head felt heavier when it was resting back there!

With darkness shrouding the land, I was able to pick up a faint, dark purple glow from his wings, mixed in with the shadows that covered his form. His eyes carried that same glow.

I gently moved my muzzle to him, carefully nuzzling his form. He brushed against my fur, resulting in my smile growing brighter. I pulled back a little as I chuckled, looking back at him and studying the patterns in his glowing wings. They were constantly morphing into a new design like a slow dance.

"Blacklight..." I whispered. "I'll call you Blacklight."

He fluttered his wings a bit, before flying up to my muzzle and landing on my snoot. He tilted his head at me, hugging my muzzle to keep hold. Before too long, he ran his head along my fur. I felt his spider-like fangs softly drag along my skin, but he wasn't biting me. I think that was a sign of appreciation?

I chuckled softly. "Blacklight it is..."

By first light, I awoke with everyone, Hollow excluded, fast asleep. I had enough rest for now, so I offered to pull the wagon while she got some shut eye.

I was sure she needed it.

Blacklight wasn't resting behind my ear anymore. I felt him snuggled up in my mane, atop my head as I trotted down the interstate to the east.

A soft rain came down from the dark grey blanket in the sky. I hadn't seen clear skies ever since we got the wagon.

About an hour in silence, Scope and Thorne were the first to wake. There wasn't much to say between us. Our entire conversation consisted of 'morning.'

I didn't have much to say to her if she wasn't gonna tell me what I wanted to know. I think she sensed that.

As for Scope, whenever I tried to have a conversation with him, it'd go south. We didn't seem to be on the same page, apparently.

Onyx was the last one to wake up, apart from Hollow.

After a good half hour or so, she flew up to me with a can of apple slices.

"You take a break, Charger." She said with a gentle, caring smile. "I can pull for a bit."

With a nod, I came to a stop and started to unlatch myself from the harness. "Thanks, Onyx. If you need a break, just let me-"

Before I could finish my sentence, a burst of light shot out, down the road. Onyx and I both covered our eyes from the blinding sight. I had an idea that the rest of the group was doing the same.

Once it disappeared, I removed my hoof from my view. Titan took its place, looking down at all of us from afar.

So he was able to teleport now!? How!?

He must have had cameras put up somewhere where the visor was supposed to be, cause he seemed to see us just fine.

Firebright was strapped to his chest; her body naked. All four limbs were spread apart, and I could tell just from here that she took a beating... and more than that...

I hated that I felt sympathy for her...

Before I knew it, a red dome of energy appeared over the lot of us. I spun around to see Hollow glaring up at Titan... and her horn was active.

Yikes...

"CLEVER." Titan said. His voice wasn't hurting anyone now... Hollow, you genius...

Onyx finished getting me out of the harness before her hooves touched ground. She stood beside me as I glared up at him. I also noticed she had dropped the canned goods... damn it.

"Let Firebright go!" I called out as Blacklight got down on my shoulder.

He let out a deep chuckle. "AS YOU WISH."

Scope cried out, as upon turning around, I saw him kneeling. His horn crackled with energy. I spun back to Titan to see that same aura wrap around Fire's frame, before ripping her off his chest and throwing her across the land between us.

Wait... did Titan just... use Scope's magic...?

I turned back to Scope as he shuddered. "You alright?"

He grunted in response as he put a hoof to his temple. As I turned back to Titan, Firebright's body slammed into me.

I fell to the ground with her atop me. She was coughing and wheezing as blood trickled down her lips. I slid out from under her, and as I looked at her, she did the same to me.

I was kinda hoping I'd have absorbed her the moment she hit me...

"Hey, Lil' bro..." She said hoarsely, putting her hoof on mine. She collapsed her head against the pavement as the rain obscured the blood in her coat. I caught the scent of sex off her. There was blood between her legs... "Fuck, I need a drink..."

I turned back to Titan. "You're not getting the battery!"

His cannon started to glow red with an ominous hum. "I'M DONE ASKING. I'M HERE TO KILL YOU. YOU, YOUR SISTER, AND ANYONE STUPID ENOUGH TO GET IN THE WA-"

Before he could finish his sentence, my body was warped through teleportation magic.

We had appeared next to a pre war diner that we had passed by last night. In the distance, to the south, was a city that had once been shrouded by darkness. I hadn't noticed it before.

"He talks too much, anyways..." Scope said with a half smile as the light around his horn faded.

"That should buy us a couple hours before he gets here..." Hollow said softly.

The wagon was still with us, thankfully. I began reattaching the harness to my barrel.

"He doesn't have anyone to stay back to make sure we don't teleport again." I looked back at my friends as they all disembarked. "Not unless he has a vertibuck team nearby. We have a better chance at pulling off the same trick as last time."

"Agreed." Hollow replied.

Before I knew it, she was at Scope's side as they walked toward the open doorway of the diner.

Thorne stopped beside me, looking down at Firebright. Onyx flew up to the roof of the building and pulled out a set of binoculars, before bringing them to her eyes. Her Enclave helmet would have been really useful at a time like this...

"So..." Thorne started. "What are you gonna do with her?"

I looked down at my good-for-nothing sister to find she was out cold. I still hated her. But she was just starting to suffer. She was getting a taste of what I had been put through the past several years. It was up to her what she did with that...

"We'll see what happens. Take her inside. I'm gonna bring the wagon around back."

Just before I managed to make it inside after parking the wagon, did I get the experience of a flash flood. I was soaked to the core after only a few seconds.

I stumbled over to one of the tables and took a seat, looking out at the sudden storm that decided to hit us. Blacklight hopped onto the table and shook himself free of any water droplets he could.

"Hey..." Hollow whispered. A second later, I felt the zipper of my barding start moving up to my neck from my crotch.

I spun around in surprise to see her hoof traveling up my body with the zipper. Her eyes redirected their attention from the zipper to my eyes. "You're soaked. You should take this off."

I nodded to her in silence, and after the zipper parted ways at my neck, I stood up, trying to get my hooves out of the sleeves.

The thing with leather barding was that when it was wet, it seemed to tighten around the wearer. The wearer, being me...

"Come on, Goddess damn it..." I muttered behind clenched teeth as I kicked a forehoof around, trying to get the sleeve off.

"Hey..." Hollow's hoof rested on mine, making me stop. I looked at her, to which she gave me a gentle smile. From there, she worked on getting the barding off, one hoof at a time. It took a bit of effort, even on her part, but after about three minutes, my armor was hanging on an overhead pipe that had dropped from the ceiling long ago.

Hollow sat beside me as I took my initial spot at the table. Thorne was with my sister, who remained unconscious. Scope was lying in a separate booth, huddled up with his rifle.

The air was cold. Freezing, actually. The west didn't have it this bad. I wondered why that was.

Hollow took my hoof in hers, causing me to direct my attention to her once more. She smiled at me, and I smiled back. The problem was I had to force it. I wasn't happy. I wasn't cheerful.

I felt kinda... numb. I felt that same feeling when I first discovered I was a unicorn. I didn't wanna move, I didn't wanna speak. I had to fight myself just to open my mouth to say anything.

I leaned my head back and closed my eyes.

"You okay?" She asked.

I nodded. "Mm..." Opening my eyes, I looked over at Scope, giving a nod in his direction. Let's stop focusing on my feelings...

"He'll be okay. He has a migraine, but he'll live. I gave him something for the pain."

"Med-x, you mean..."

She hung her head down for a moment. "Yeah."

I took a deep breath and looked over at her again. "I know I'm addicted. But let's look at the facts. As far as any of us know, only heat based things can kill me." I shook my head. "Med-x isn't heat based."

She gave me a wry smile, before looking around the room. Soon after checking on the others, she reached around to the booth behind us and pulled out a syringe, before placing it on the table.

I felt an itch within me that only the contents of that needle could satisfy...

"Just don't overdo it..." With that, she got up and walked over to an empty booth, before lying her back down in the dusty bench.

I looked down at the syringe before me as I listened to the pitter patter of the rain's neverending assault against the building's roof.

Blacklight looked up at me as his eyes lit up in that purple haze, and he tilted his head to me as his wings fluttered.

I smiled down at him for a moment, before picking up the needle. I didn't need a tourniquet, which was good for me, because I didn't have one at my disposal. I didn't think blood loss was on the list of ways I could die.

After the best part of an hour, I finally heard Firebright awaken in a raspy, coughing fit. I sat up, holding Blacklight to my chest, as he had been residing there when I was resting my back against the bench. The voices were still there, but I did well to keep my head turned away from the west.

"Y-you again... Goddess damn it..."

I looked over to see Thorne by her side just as she collapsed her head back down on the bench she was set down on.

Blacklight crawled out from under my arm, only to crawl up to my shoulder. I was pleased to find out his wings were stronger than any other moth I've seen.

I got up on all fours and trotted over to my sister.

"How is she?" I asked calmly, regarding Thorne.

"Not in any condition to fight." Hollow stated as she stepped up to me. I didn't even hear her get out of her booth. Damn, she was stealthy...

Thorne nodded. "I think she has a broken rib..."

"Ah, guy, just shut up..." Fire muttered. "I'll be fine... Not like any of you should care anyways..."

I turned to Thorne and Hollow. "Can I have some time with her?"

Thorne glanced down at my metal hoof for a moment, but there was no anger inside me at that time. Med-x not only helped my physical pain, but put me in a relatively calm state, as well.

"Alright." Thorne nodded. "Just don't get hostile on her again. Please. I've been dying to see my daughter again... I've been dying to see you both."

"I won't harm her." I stated as my eyes met hers. "I just need to talk to her."

Thorne nodded once more, before turning around and walking off with Hollow.

I turned to Firebright and sat at her side.

"Hey... Lil'..." She paused as she looked up at me. "Ah, fuck it... The hell you want, Charger?"

"You're like me now."

"I'm nothing like you."

"Let's see..." I tapped a hoof to my chin as I looked up at the ceiling. "We've both been fed lies our entire life by the same assholes, we're both banished and wanted dead by them, we've both been ra-"

"Okay, I get it... You don't need to..." She crossed her rear legs with each other, covering herself. "... say it..."

I glanced down at what she attempted to hide, before looking back up at her eyes. "You alright?"

She let out a single, half choked chuckle as tears welled up. "Fuck no, I'm not alright."

"I'd like to say you get used to it, but..." I shook my head as I kept my eyes on her. "You really don't."

She rolled her eyes before biting her lip. I caught some tears slipping out, running down her coat. "Why the fuck are you even talking to me?"

"Straight to the point..." I cracked a smile. "Good." I took a deep breath as I kept my eyes on her. Looking up meant having to hear the voices more distinctly. "Your eyes have been opened. I still hate your guts. But I also feel bad for you. For what you went through. I know what it's like..."

"Pity?" She looked on at me in disgust. "Seriously? Piss off..."

My hoof started to crackle as an anger began to grow in my core. "Shut the fuck up and listen, you dumb bitch. Or I'm gonna hurt you like they did."

She went quiet, and I took another deep breath, trying to swallow the rage. "I'm giving you a choice. If not for my sake, then Thorne's. You can join us. Fight alongside us against the chapter when the time is right. Give Bristle and Titan what they deserve. But when I tell you to do something, you're going to do it. You're going to obey me now, understand? You are mine to do with as I please."

She continued to stare in silence. I could very well tell she didn't like it. But she wasn't protesting, either. That had to mean something.

"Or... you can go your own way. Live alone out in the wasteland. Pray to whoever the fucks listening that a feral rips into you before a raider has their way with you. Guess I've had the best of both parties now... and neither are very fun." I regarded her coolly as Blacklight jumped off me and landed over my hoof, which was now resting on the table. "So what'll it be, sis? Learn to be my obedient fucking pet, or take your chances alone? Neither are gonna be very pleasant. At least, for you. I'm sure I'll have some fun with you. And if not with you, at least I'll be satisfied knowing you're suffering out there, somewhere."

"Does family really mean nothing to you anymore?"

"Oh, shut the fuck up, Firebright... Family would have mattered to me if you didn't rape me time and time again. The closest thing I ever had to a family was Snow Star, and you, Bristle, and Crimson tore her away from me. You're not my family. You're just some dumb cunt I'm related to." My hoof began to emit a strong surge of electricity as I felt myself glaring. "If I find Snow Star alive, maybe some part of me will forgive you. But until then, I OWN YOU. What I say goes, if you choose to stay."

She closed her eyes and inhaled through her shaky breath, before opening her mouth in an exhale. She opened her eyes again, looking up at me with a soft nod. "Okay."

I raised a brow, to which she reiterated.

"Okay. I don't like it too much. But I'm willing to accept the conditions... You're the boss." She sat up, leaning her lower back against the wall underneath the window frame. She coughed and wheezed, before spitting out blood... which I began to notice was turning black. She was infected with the shadow virus? "Guess I kinda deserved this anyways, huh?"

"Yeah. You do."

She nodded slowly as she wiped her face free of the few tears that made dampened lines into her coat.

"Another thing." I started, keeping my eyes locked on hers while she tried to keep her head down. "If Snow Star's alive, you are going to stay far away from her. If she managed to have a child out here, you're going to stay the hell away from them, too. You're going to stay away from Fluky, too. Otherwise, I'm going to shove a tentacle in you and rip out your heart through your anus. Do you understand me?"

She quietly nodded.

"You better fucking say it." I stood up, looking down at her.

"I understand you."

"You understand what?"

She paused for a moment, looking up into my eyes as I found myself towered over her. "I understand if I don't stay away from Snow Star or your child, or... Fluky... you're going to rip out my heart through my... anus..." She scrunched her muzzle at the last word.

"Who am I?"

"Char-"

"Wrong." I snapped, slamming a hoof down on the table. "Figure it out. Who the fuck am I?"

"M-master...?"

I nodded. "When you're addressing me, what do you call me?"

"Master..."

"Again. Say it."

"Master."

"One more time." I said with a grin, baring my fangs inches from her muzzle as I kept her pinned to the bench and wall.

"... Master..."

"There we go..." I tapped a hoof on her cheek, smiling down at her as I stood over her cowering form. "Don't forget it." I hopped off the bench, and shortly after, Blacklight landed on the back of my head. I turned back to Firebright. "You're mine now."

"Yes..." She hung her head down once more. "Master..."

With a proud smile, I turned away and continued walking back to my booth.

Fuck, that felt great...

If she behaved, maybe I would go easy on her. It was something only time could tell.

If she was infected, and had the same effects as me, then she wouldn't need any medicine for the cracked ribs. It would take longer, but they would regenerate on their own over time. Not like she deserved to feel good anyways...

I rested back in my booth, facing away from the west with my hooves behind my head as I closed my eyes.

Not long after, did I hear two sets of hooves approach. Upon opening my eyes, I saw Thorne and Hollow standing before me.

"What was that all about?" Thorne asked with an annoyed tone.

Hollow didn't seem to care too much, judging by her careless expression.

"Just setting down a few ground rules. Someone's gotta discipline her."

"So you kick her while she's already down?" Thorne narrowed her eyes. "What the fuck, Charger?"

"No." I sat up quickly, glaring at her as my hoof started up. "No. You don't get to do that. She has made my life a living fucking hell. She's my prisoner now. I earned that."

Thorne turned to Hollow as a smile crept up on the zebra's lips, keeping her eyes locked on mine.

"Seriously? You too?"

Hollow turned her head to her and simply shrugged.

"Sweet Celestia, I'm surrounded by a bunch of psychopaths!" Thorne swung her head to me. "Lest you forget, she's MY daughter!"

"Lest you forget, she's MY sister! MY rapist! MY reason for drinking and doing drugs!"

"Will all of you, for the love of Celestia, shut. the fuck. UP!?" Scope shouted, glaring at all of us. "Stop your bickering and fuck already, you fucking assholes! You're only making my headache WORSE!"

Thorne and I turned to each other again; both of us in silence. Her eyes softened before they closed. She hung her head down and sighed. "Charger..."

"Thorne." I spoke much softer.

"I get what she did to you. I won't get in your way. You deserve some form of justice. But I'm asking you..." She opened her eyes again, keeping her head down as she looked up at me. "Please. Show some mercy. Be better than her..."

I leaned my back against the wall as I exhaled. The electricity in my hoof softened. "Alright, Thorne... I won't hurt her... But she's going to do whatever I tell her to. She's still my prisoner... You hear that?" I called out, looking over at her.

"Loud and clear..." Firebright replied.

Onyx flew in through the front doorframe, dripping an ungodly amount of rain water onto the ground from her coat. "We got company!" She blurted as she hovered in the air.

"Titan?" Thorne asked, looking back at her. I quickly ripped my barding off the overhead pipe and fit myself within. Blacklight jumped off my form and flew out one of the windows.

"Enclave! They must have found out where Charger is!"

"Fuck!" She spun around. "Alright, everyone, fortify the windows with whatever you can!"

In an aggressive groan, Scope got up on his hooves, holding his rifle in his fores. Looked like he was able to walk on his hindlegs, too. "Can't catch a fucking break, can I?"

I slipped off my bench after zipping up and attempted to lift it while everypony scrambled around the diner in attempts of fortifying our position with the furniture provided.

Firebright slid off her bench and lied underneath the table that was once next to her. That was fine. She was useless anyways. I sure as hell wasn't giving her a gun.

The benches unfortunately, were bolted to the ground. But their tables were a different story.

One by one, I started blocking the windows with as many tables as I could, though I knew for a fact they weren't going to hold. Even then, none of the windows were completely blocked. The silver lining was that it offered a little more cover, but there wasn't much of it.

As my team readied their weapons and took their positions, I caught a series of red blips appear all around us on the E.F.S. I witnessed one of them blink out, though.

In the distance, I saw several pegasi flying in formation in the gloomy skies.

I whipped my chair out, and as it unfolded, I spun around. "Onyx! Spare some MCF?"

As she prepped the guns underneath her wings, she fished around in her saddle bags, before tossing a spare cell.

I caught it and slapped it into the chair, before aiming out the window at the squad.

With a mechanical hum, the legs of my chair began to glow, and within a moment's notice, four red beams shot up into the sky, striking the lead target. The rest of the squad immediately dispersed as their leader disintegrated into red ash, only to float off into the air in flakes, or get washed down with the rain.

As the lasers lingered, I swung the legs around at the evading targets with my mental commands, but in the very limited time I had, I had only managed to get one other. Even then, they were still alive. But there was nothing left of their right wing.

I was sure they survived the fall. Enclave armor was a lot like the Steel Rangers. Both were resilient, but one was also more flexible to work with than the other.

The former, rather than the latter...

"Well, I'll take what I can get..." The depleted cell 'pinged' out of the weapon as I tossed the chair to the ground beside me. I brought my rifle up from my side, looking down the scope as the others circled around the structure.

I put a few shots in on a pegasus that had been veering off to the left, but I wasn't sure any of them had hit, since it didn't seem to effect them. That, or their armor was tougher than I thought.

Before I could anymore in, they disappeared from my sight. A moment later, however, their blip disappeared. They were still well within range, judging by how fast it was moving past.

Blacklight was helping.

The rest of my team was firing from their positions, but Onyx seemed to freeze up.

"What are you doing!?" I called out, looking back at her. "Shoot them!"

"I..." She backed away from her window, tearing up. "These used to be my friends and family!"

Fire chuckled softly to herself. Even through all the rain and gunfire, I was able to hear it from here.

Ignoring that, I shook my head and spun back to my window.

I could hear lasers fire from outside, but I wasn't seeing any on my side. My friends weren't wanted alive...

With no other targets on my side, I backed away from the window, bringing my chair with me as I rushed to my friend's aid; taking Onyx's former spot.

"Take cover!" I shouted as she stared in bafflement at the predicament we were in. Her ears folded back as tears washed down her face. "ONYX, GET OUT OF HERE!"

She blinked for a moment, still staring, until she closed her mouth and nodded. She hastily ran for some shelter behind the cashier desk.

"Agh, damn it!" Scope screamed as he retreated from his window, putting a hoof over his chest. Smoke raised off his armor, and a black scorch mark took its place. Hollow and I stared for a moment as we ducked behind the tables. "I'm fine! I'm fine! Don't worry about me!" He said aloud as he waved a hoof at us. He reloaded his rifle with a new magazine.

He was lucky. Laser weapons had a thing for disintegrating their targets a lot of the time.

Without wasting another second, I went back to the window and started peppering rounds at the pegasi that flew by, blasting back down at us. Some of their lasers whizzed past me, causing me to shrink down lower behind the table as I continued firing at them. I didn't feel like my shots were doing anything against them!

Wasn't I wanted alive by the Enclave? Why were they shooting at me!?

Scope's rifle went off like the sound of thunder, and as a bullet drove through the chest and came out the back of a pegasus, they crashed down to the ground with a heavy thud, yards away from my window.

I could see from here, a tunnel of gore had formed in their chest cavity as their innards spilled out, becoming an abstract stain along the pavement from the rain.

Before I could focus back up at the sky, a red flash filled the lower half of my vision as hot, seering pain traveled through me. The tentacles writhed and silently screamed inside me as I was sent to the tiled flooring. I screamed as my body tensed up. I found myself arching my back repeatedly. Something inside was trying to break free from the flesh just to escape the pain.

Before I knew it, a bottle was pressed to my lips, and the sweet tanginess of a health potion reached my tongue. With no hesitation, I took the bottle in both hooves and began gulping it down. The virus inside me started to relax.

Even with the Med-x, the shot of a laser weapon was excruciating. I was afraid to find out what it was like when I wasn't on a pain killer.

I opened my eyes as my body relaxed to see Hollow looking down at me. Once the bottle was empty, she tossed it aside and lifted me up.

"Come on, Charger! We're not out of this yet!"

I shook myself from the daze and got back to my window. Had it not been for the armor I was wearing, I would have probably died right then and there.

Outside, in the distance, among several pegasi, was a vertibuck circling the building. A rapid stream of hot, red death blasted down at us, causing me and my friends to retreat from the windows as out fortifications wore out.

"Alright, that's it..." Hollow spat, before wiping her muzzle. "Get ready to take out the remaining fliers. I'll take care of that vertibuck..." And with that, before any of us could say anything, she disappeared in a flash.

Whoever her hunter was, I was sure they knew where she was the moment she made that forcefield to keep Titan's voice from hurting us. But now they had to have known.

I really didn't wanna be here when they decided to show themselves. If Hollow was having trouble dealing with them, then that was worrisome.

I peeked back through my window once the heavy barrage ceased, just in time to see Hollow inside the vertibuck, snapping the neck of the pony that operated the weapon. She threw the body out, before rushing for the cockpit.

A very brief moment later, the body of the pilot was thrown out, and the vertibuck changed course.

"Scope, I think now's your time to shine!" I said aloud as more lasers fired down on my position. I ducked behind the wall again as I heard them strike the other side. One of them made it through the window frame, where I was just a second ago.

A few rounds struck Thorne in the chest as she backed up, groaning behind grit teeth. "Thank Celestia for power armor..."

Scope peeked his head over the window frame as he aimed his rifle back out. It felt like he only needed a second to look through his sights, before firing off a round. In that exact moment, one of the blips vanished from my E.F.S. He retreated back for cover as a barrage of lasers washed over his location. In that moment, I saw a trio of red blips sweep from left to right. They were performing fly-bys on us.

I watched as their blips swept across the building, up until they moved out of range.

"They're gonna be making another pass..." I stated as I grabbed my chair and moved for the exit.

"Charger, what are you doing?" Thorne asked worriedly.

"Letting them know how I feel about the Enclave." I stepped out into the open, letting the rain wash over me.

"Charger, don't be stupid!" I heard her call out after me.

I ignored her.

Instead, I watched the trio of Enclave fighters circle the building in the distance, through the clouds. I only caught mere glances at them. Clever fuckers... Using the weather to their advantage...

I glanced to my left to see the vertibuck Hollow had hijacked flying towards them. She too, was moving through the cover of storms.

For a brief moment, I witnessed red flashes and the sounds of laser weapons going off from the clouds, just before the vertibuck swerved out of cover. Two pegasi dropped out like flies, though one of them was still flapping their wings in desperate attempts to make a softer landing.

Before they could hit the ground, Scope drove a round through both wings, therefore crippling them.

They dropped to the ground, and even from where I stood, I could hear them crying out. Their E.F.S. was still there, but the other one had blinked out.

Thorne's laser rifles went off from her window, and looking over, I saw she was firing at something behind me.

I spun around just in time to meet the impact of an armored hoof to my face.

I dropped to the ground as black blood trickled down my cheek. I felt a tendril start to slide out of the wound, though it wasn't as big as the others.

The Enclave soldier took a tumble with me from Thorne's gunfire, but made a hasty recovery with a few flips.

I got back up on all fours, noticing their scorpion tail whip around. He made a rush for the building in an instant, blasting his rifles at the windows. Thorne and Scope retreated to cover as he approached. I watched as he pulled a grenade from his armor. He pulled the pin...

I hastily aimed my rifle forward, peppering him with rounds. Normal rounds that seemed to do nothing against his armor...

"Agh, FUCK OFF!"

I used the last trick I had at my disposal...

I picked up my chair...

As he started to throw the grenade through the window, a piece of airborne, Tungstian, badass furniture slammed into his right, knocking him to the ground.

With a grunt, he fell on his stomach. The grenade landed next to his muzzle.

"OH, SHI-" He screamed as he scrambled to get to his hooves, but was cut short with a green plasma blast. His body was catapulted from the close proximity, and mid-flight, I witnessed his blip flicker out of existence. Before his corpse could hit ground again, it melted into a green, smoking goop that splashed against the pavement, joining the puddles of cold rain water.

As the vertibuck came in for a landing, I made my way for the last pegasus that was left screaming.

I folded the chair up and put it back in my saddle bags as I stopped at their shivering body.

He looked up at me through his visor, before collapsing his head. "Well, go on... Get on with it... Just kill me..." There was a pain within him that was beyond physical injuries...

I looked to the dead pegasus beside him. More specifically, how the survivor clutched his body...

These were my enemies... but damn it, I felt horrible now...

"I'm sorry about your... partner..." I said softly.

"Like hell you are... Filthy fucking earth ponies... I hope the Enclave kills you al-"

Before he could finish his sentence, a high caliber round drilled into his visor and through his skull. His E.F.S. vanished in the blink of an eye, and his body fell limp with his lover.

I spun around to see Scope standing there, aiming his rifle at the now deceased pegasus.

"Leave no survivors..." He said quietly, staring with cold hatred.

The vertibuck landed behind him.

I turned back to the two pegasi. I put their hooves together and closed my eyes as I hung my head down. Rain droplets slid from my mane rapidly as more came, dropping onto their forms. I let out a soft breath as I stood there, over them. Still holding both of them, I whispered under my breath.

"May you two meet again..."

I sat beside Hollow in the cockpit as she operated the flight controls. The rest of the team, Firebright included, rested in the back.

I sipped on a health potion, restoring the injury that was inflicted on my cheek. The tendril went back inside me. I was thankful that this virus seemed to work with healing potions. As useful as it was, I really didn't want to rely solely on absorbing other life forms.

The storm seemed to be getting worse, the further in we traveled to the northeast.

The compass Happy gave me was pointing to the east, so we had chosen to take a detour and circle around his bearing. We had the upper hoof now. We had a vertibuck... And evidently, somepony to pilot it.

"So, where did you learn to fly a vertibuck, exactly?" I asked, looking over at Hollow as a violent rain pounded against the windows, obscuring our view.

She turned to me in a deadpan. "I'm an alien, Charger. Did you seriously not consider that I'd have a space ship lying around? Compared to space technology, vertibucks are a cakewalk."

"You have a space ship?" I raised a brow.

She sighed as she put a hoof to her face. "I guess you didn't consider it after all..." She turned back to me with a gentle smile. "I have a space ship. I buried it under Zebrica when I first came here."

I opened my mouth to ask the one question that came to my mind, but she interrupted.

"I know what you're thinking. Why didn't we just take my ship over to the other end of Equestria?" She turned back to the window. "One, it freaks the natives out. Two, for the same reason I try to avoid using my magic." She let out a small laugh as she shook her head. "Dumbass pegasi... They lead an attack against a bunch of unicorns and earth ponies, and they decided to bring a universal vertibuck model with them, instead of a P-O model... May this be a lesson to them that the surface dwellers are smarter than they think."

After a three hour flight, Hollow decided to take a landing in an open field, next to an old farmhouse. In that time, we had flown over a dead city, farmlands, forests, mountains and lakes.

I was certain Titan was being left behind in the dust as we pushed for the east.

"We'll stop here. Bullet signaled me." Hollow stated. "I'm going to set up a beacon, and that'll allow her to teleport us to her." She turned to me. "She found Snow Star."

"S-she did?" My eyes lit up as I smiled. "How is she? Is she okay?"

"She won't say, but I'm sure she is." Hollow replied with a caring smile. She patted me on the back. "I'll get things set up, and we'll be out of here in about ten minutes."

My heart was bursting with joy. I had been waiting for this moment for so long! And it was finally here! I was about to be reunited with her!

Hollow turned to my friends. "Let's search the place for anything valuable, while we're here."

Thorne, Scope, and Onyx nodded. Firebright murmured to herself as she clumsily stepped off the vertibuck.

"Charger." Hollow started. I looked up at her. "Can you scout the perimeter?"

I nodded to her with a proud smile. "Of course. And... hey, Hollow?"

"Mm?" She looked back down at me from the vertibuck.

"Thank you for everything you've done for me..."

She smiled back wanly with a faint nod. "It's the right thing to do..."

As I walked the perimeter of the farmhouse, I caught Scope on the second floor, looking through the sights of his rifle across the land. Guess I wasn't the only scout.

The more I circled the perimeter, the further out I went. I kept a close eye on my E.F.S. all the while, in case anything was lurking about.

About five minutes in, I noticed a crashed sky wagon in the distance, to the north.

Hey, free loot! Wasn't gonna pass that up!

I ventured for the sky wagon. As I got closer, a red blip appeared on my E.F.S., causing me to freeze. After a brief moment, I spun around, checking for any other hostiles in the area. This was the only one, however.

It remained still, but I had grown too wary of anything red on my E.F.S. Blue was starting to make it on that list too, considering the coarser I had hunting me down. It seemed to be leaving me alone for now. But it was bound to turn up again.

I eased my way forward, rifle ready. I had popped in a new magazine during the flight, so I was already set ahead of time.

As I grew closer to the hole that was torn into the side of the formerly enclosed wagon, I heard a labored breathing from within. It wasn't that of a pony.

I poked my head in; my mouth on the grip of the rifle. My first motive was to seek the hostile out and neutralize it.

But upon looking to my left, near the back of the wagon, I took my mouth off, remaining quiet.

It was a radhog... A nursing radhog. Her babies fed collectively. They seemed to have very recently been brought into this world.

I slid the rifle back to my side. Red didn't always have to be dead...

I couldn't kill another child, if I could help it... I couldn't be that pony that I was, back in the bunker...

I was about to kill an entire family, just like I did when unicorns 'disobeyed' Bristle's rules...

That hit me... hard.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I watched silently. She was hostile, but she had a reason. To protect her kids. I wasn't going to get in the way of that.

Slowly, I wiped the tears away, as to not cause any alarm to them. Thankfully, she was sleeping. So she was unaware of my presence.

I looked behind them, and my emotions changed entirely.

Behind them stood a block of ice taller than an average sized pony... and sticking out of the front end were a pair of disembodied, silver wings; the once bloody stumps sticking out.

This was...

This was Happy's prison transport before the bombs... This was the block of ice that Floe Glaze froze him in...

A hoof tapped me on the shoulder. I nearly screamed, but caught my breath before I could alarm the family. I spun around as I backed up, but was greeted with Hollow's presence.

She glanced to the wagon, as if looking through the walls, before returning to me with a soft smile. "It's time, Charger..."

The lot of us, the vertibuck included, appeared on the base of a dead hill. There was a building nearby, off in the distance; boarded up at every entrance except the front door.

There was still a heavy downpour. This storm seemed to be going on forever...

Everyone was here. Sora's group, Bullet's group, respectively, and mine.

"Hey, Charger..." Bullet said softly as she wrapped a hoof around the back of my neck, pulling me in for a gentle embrace. "It's good to see you again..."

Bullet and Sora seemed a little on the quiet side. Sora, I could understand. But Bullet? She was a talker... She was loud, rambunctious; a joker.

I haven't seen too much of an affectionate side of her.

Fluky ran up to me as Bullet let go, wearing a set of goggles over her eyes.

"Hey, Fluke-"

"How dare you!?" She screamed, shoving her forehooves against my chest. "I opened up to you, and you left!"

"Fluky, I-"

"No!" She slammed her fores against my chest again. "You don't have room to-"

"I didn't leave. I was keeping you safe. I was going to see you again."

I caught Firebright giving me a weird look, but when she saw me look back, she quickly averted her eyes and walked off.

I wrapped a hoof around the crying filly. "I'm here now... There's no reason to be mad..."

"Come now, Fluky..." Sora said as she walked up to us. She laid a hoof on her back. "Let's get some rest..."

I let go of her, to which she took Sora's advice into account and turned around. The two of them walked away.

"What's she doing here?" Petiole asked, looking to Firebright under red LEDs. All eyes turned to her. In that time, Blacklight landed on Tuner's armored head.

I sighed. "It's a long story... Hollow or Scope can fill you in."

"Scope?" He tilted his head to me.

I nodded my head to the new addition to our team. "Scope, meet Petiole. Petiole, Scope. Looks like you two will be the founders of the 'I'm Angsty' club."

Scope rolled his eyes as he turned his head away from us. "Taking Hollow's jokes now, I see. How original."

"You forget one other." Petiole said as he stepped up to me. He tapped my chest with a hoof as his LEDs went green. "You."

I chuckled softly. "Can't argue with that." With the tip of my hoof, I softly bapped his armored muzzle. His LEDs flashed blue as he backed up a bit.

"Why do you keep doing that?"

I shrugged as I smiled at him. "It's kinda cute. And I missed you."

Hollow stepped up. "The good news is that Titan is left way behind. We have a lot of time to ourselves before he shows up." She smiled as she pointed a hoof to the vehicle. "We also managed to commandeer ourselves a vertibuck."

I looked around my group of friends, but somepony was missing...

"Hey, where's Snow Star...?"

Bullet stepped forward, pointing a hoof up the hill. "She's up there, Charger..."

"If it's all the same to you..." Tuner said as the power armor he occupied stepped up to me from behind. I nearly turned my gun on him just from doing that... I hated power armor being behind me... Crimson really fucked me up... "I'd like to join you."

"Yeah..." I muttered behind grit teeth as my ears folded back. I looked over my shoulder as my hoof crackled softly. "Sure. But you don't stand behind me. Otherwise I'm ripping that battery out..."

He stepped up to my side. "Rude much?" He asked in a tease.

He knew what he just did... Fucking asshole.

I started up the hill, eager to finally see Snow Star again.

The first few minutes or so was in silence as we ascended to the hilltop. Eventually, Tuner began to speak.

"I heard your comment to Scope about the orange crush. If I had a body, I would have pissed myself from laughter. Your friends thought I went insane."

I cracked a smile as I looked over. "I'm still expecting a soda off Scope."

"He owes you two now." He nudged my flank, nearly knocking me to the side. I regained my posture, before moving ahead again. "Or... you know. He could turn those sodas into sexual favors."

I turned to him in a deadpan. "Fuck off, Tuner. I'm getting Snow Star back. I already feel like shit for everything I did before." My hoof slipped under some mud, causing me to take a knee. "Agh, damn it... Fucking rain..." I began to carefully lift myself back up.

We were close to the top, now. My heart beat with excitement. It was Tuner's little reminders that were getting to me, though...

He tapped me on the shoulder, and looking up at him, he pointed off to a boulder at the top. "I wouldn't be so sure you're getting her back..."

I lifted myself to all fours.

Fear spread through me like water through a broken dam. My heart sank under it all.

No... No, no, no!

I charged forward up to the hilltop. Rain water poured down over me, and soon enough, a bright flash of light burst through the clouds. The first roll of thunder since this storm had started followed a moment after.

I slipped and fell, rolling along some mud. The bottom half of my face was covered by the time my movement ceased.

I shot back up and raced for the rock.

There was nothing else up here but that fucking rock...

This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening, damn it!

I didn't bother with the earthy taste in my mouth, or the cold rain drenching my coat. I didn't care for anything except finding out if my suspicions were true or not.

I hoped that they weren't, but all evidence was saying otherwise.

Hot tears ran down my face as the closer I got, I saw writing etched into the face of the boulder. Before it was a mound of dirt, and atop that, a blue and white flower.

"No, no, no, NO!" I screamed as I ran up.

My lungs grasped desperately for oxygen before I stopped beside the mound of dirt. My legs were weak. But I didn't sit down because of my fatigue...

Snow Star

Rest in peace

May I carry your flame

These were the words carved into the boulder...

I was sitting at her tombstone. Her fucking tombstone. This wasn't fair! Why!?

I was angry. I was pissed! I was horrified!

My hoof expressed my emotions to a T. And so did the tears that mixed in with the rain.

I pounded my forehoof into the untouched dirt as I screamed at the top of my lungs. My heart was engulfed in flame. I fought to get to her! Even if she was with someone else, I at least wanted her to be happy and alive! And I couldn't even get that!

...

Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore.

My body couldn't support itself any longer, and so I collapsed on my stomach.

Everything seemed to stop around me. I felt like nothing else mattered. Everything was for nothing...

I took more notice in the flower that rested upon her grave. It was fresh. It was put there recently...

I reached a hoof up and ran it along her name, as if it were her. I closed my eyes, trying to remember the feeling of her coat again. Hearing her voice...

Hearing... her...

... I couldn't remember what she sounded like. My memories were obscured. Like looking through a window during a rain storm...

I forgot her voice...

I inhaled the cold air, keeping my eyes closed as I heard the hoofsteps of power armor come up behind me. "Tuner."

"Yes, Charger?" He replied quietly.

"How did she die?"

"Blood loss... She was shot... I'm sorry, Charger."

"And you fucking knew..." I looked over my shoulder, glaring at him. Blacklight rested atop his head. "All this time. You knew... and you didn't say a thing."

"Would you have believed me if I did?"

...

... He had a point...

"In my defense, I was trying to redirect you to the bunker, solely because I knew the truth."

My exhales were shaky, and more tears threatened to breach.

Someone laid her to rest here... Someone that cared about her... Very recently, too...

"I'd like to think that if Snow Star was seeing this right now, she'd play a song like this."

A beat suddenly emerged from the suit of power armor. A piano soon joined the smaller beats. Just from the piano alone, I could hear a sadness in it. Lyrics joined in shortly after.

Why do you build me up, build me up, buttercup

Just to let me down, let me down, and mess me around?

And then worst of all, worst of all, you never call, baby

When you say you will, say you will, but I love you still

I need you, I need you, more than anyone darlin'

You know that I have from the start

So build me up, build me up, buttercup, don't break my heart

Tuner, you fucking asshat...

I couldn't help but feel like he was taunting me with that song...

'I'll be over at ten,' you told me time and again

But you're late, I wait around and then

I went to the door, I can't take any more

It's not you, you let me down again

I closed my eyes as my hoof's electricity grew wilder. The anger within was building up. Towards him. For playing a song that implied Snow Star was mad at me...

I was mad at me...

But to think that she was only piled up onto the hurt that I was already feeling...

Baby, baby, try to find

Hey, hey, hey, a little time and I'll make you mine

Hey, hey, hey, I'll be home

I'll be beside the phone waiting for you

Why do you build me up, build me up, buttercup, baby

Just to let me down, let me down, and mess me around?

And then worst of all, worst of all, you never call, baby

When you say you will, say you will, but I love you still

I need you, I need you, more than anyone darlin'

You know that I have from the start

So build me up, build me up, buttercup, don't break my hear-

The music abruptly shut down as I ripped the battery from the slot in the suit of power armor.

"Enough of that bullshit, Tuner. Thin fucking ice..." I pulled my arm back and threw it with all my might, off the hill, back to where my group resided. "Fuck off, you dick..."

"You best give me one good fuckin' reason not to blast your head open." The voice of a filly said aloud from behind.

I slowly turned around to see exactly what I expected; a filly. Though, her manners were a bit more... adult-like.

She wore an eyepatch over her left eye, and a scar across her cheekbone, on the right side of her face. Her mane was messy, and it looked as if she hadn't had a proper shower in a few weeks, at least. A lit cigarette hung between her lips as she glared at me.

The one eye I could see was a dark red, and her coat was a medium shade of grey. Her mane was a blue so dark, I almost mistook it for black. Though, I did notice a stand of her bangs had three black horizontal stripes. It was hard to make out at first, but they were there.

She wore a black leather jacket. Wielded in her magic was a gauss rifle, aimed directly at me. She didn't even seem to struggle with holding it, either! She was strong for a unicorn her age!

I heard a set of wheels roll up from behind her, and within a moment's notice, a sentry came up beside her. It was red on my E.F.S. for a moment, but right when I laid eyes on it, it flashed blue.

The filly stared for a moment with murder in her... one eye... but after studying my features, her rifle lowered.

"Wait..." She stopped glaring as she pulled a picture from an interior pocket from her jacket, at her chest. She studied it closely, then looked back up at me; her jaw now dropped. The rifle enveloped in her magic dropped to the ground with a thud. "Holy dragon shit..." She took a single step forward before lifting her other hoof halfway. Her ears folded back as she looked deep into my eyes. "DAD!?"

Author's Notes:

2020 is getting to be one hell of a year... This month's theme; suffocation off forest fires!

Songs:
Matthew Wilder - Break My Stride
Temples - Keep In The Dark
The Foundations - Build Me Up Buttercup

Special thanks goes to Kkat for FoE, Somber for PH, Nylten for her wonderful work (and being a good friend), Drava for his help, and to all my readers. Hope you all like the cliffhanger.