But now, for some miraculous reason, he's had a change of heart! He's actually done something that can be considered - dare I say it? - good!

As much as I hated to do it, my armor was useless now. That one percent soon dropped to zero, but I made sure to have it reside in Fluky's cellar while I still had the opportunity to do so. If I ever found the chance again, I'd come back for it.

The cellar itself didn't have much in the way of valuables for our trek out of Saddle, but I found the dead radroach that Darkspark had killed earlier. That was good protein just going to waste!

I grabbed the dead, oversized insect, put it on my back, along with the bag of candy canes and the fancy buck cakes, then stepped back out into the streets.

Fluky was grabbing some personal belongings, along with some food, in her house, and Para was... well... who knew what Para was doing? He was all sorts of weird...

I kept wanting to look up at the now non-existent EFS that would have been in my field of view, if I had my armor, so I could find out where he was.

Damn it... It was gonna be tough surviving out here without it...

It was still raining out. I didn't expect it to stop anytime soon. I didn't know much about how weather worked without the help of the pegasi, but judging by the outstretched cloudy sky above, it was gonna last the better part of a day. Maybe longer.

I didn't really have a problem with that. I kinda liked it, actually. Felt refreshing. A bit on the cold side... But refreshing!

My wasteland experience was complete shit so far, but this was one of the very few things that made it just a little more enjoyable.

That joy didn't last long with the aftermath of what happened to Saddle... What I did...

I shot a blue unicorn mare in the chest. Blood spilled. They fell.

I shot a grey elder in the head. Blood spilled, and brain melted. They fell.

I shot a colt in the side. Blood spilled, and organs failed. They fell.

I shot another.

And another...

... And another...

The kills kept going, playing over and over again. I saw each and every one vividly; the fear and pain in their dying eyes. The blood pooled out of them, forming puddles. The realization of what I did the moment that I pulled the trigger...

... Right... Um... Okay, moving on...

I didn't want to think about it anymore. I didn't want to remember it. I just wanted to get out of here... But I had to wait on everyone else, first.

I stopped at where the generator was torn out and looked through the gaping hole in the side of the building.

Well... As much as I liked the rain, it'd be nice to get at least a little warmth... Plus, there might be something that could prove useful to me inside.

I climbed up the mound of rubble and set hoof inside the building. The wooden floorboards creaked underneath my steps as I walked the corridor. Three doors were on both sides of me, before a cross intersection split off into three different paths, not including the one I was already in.

The inside was a lot more down-putting than I had thought. It was too dark without the power. I could still see, but I really needed to focus on the outlines of things to figure out what they were, which didn't help the paranoia that crept into my mind.

I swear, if something jumped out at me...

... Well, I'm not sure what I'd do. But I most certainly wouldn't be happy...

Wait... Shadows walked the dark... SHIT!

I looked around in a panic that skyrocketed in my heart. Without my EFS, I was pretty much blind. I imagine they blended in well with the dark.

I didn't see any movement... And I didn't hear anything apart from the rain, the rapid beating of my own heart, and the shakiness of my breath. Maybe it was safe...?

The rain got heavier overtime, and soon enough, the building was filled with a continuous rumble against the rooftop of the three story structure.

I opened the first door on my right, only to be greeted by a vacant office. Nopony was in here, dead or alive, but the place had been overturned. The rangers must have scrounged for caps and ammo in their free time, after the incursion.

They were monsters, but I was no better. Hell, I was scavenging the same place I shot up for caps and ammo, myself. Armor, especially. Or at least something to keep me a little warmer out in the rain. I couldn't afford getting sick out here.

I had the excuse to say it was for survival.

What excuse did they have?

It was all about the hunger for greed and power.

I was contradicting myself... I felt bad for the things I did; for everything that happened. But that didn't make me any less of a monster... Did it?

I had a good excuse as to why I was looting the dead, but that only made me feel worse.

Was I really a bad pony...?

I shook the thoughts out of my head and continued down to next room; the first door on the left.

Nope. Nothing here, either. Just a broken terminal, a safe that was cracked open, and a...

Actually, I had never seen anything like that before.

Within the safe, was a single white, glowing orb, about the size of my hoof. Whatever had been in it previously was now property of the Steel Rangers.

Still... Why did they leave this...? It was an uncanny thing to leave behind.

I poked it gently, and immediately retracted my hoof, expecting it to attack. Instead, it just rolled to the back of the steel container, revealing a note that once rested beneath it.

Happy? About what? What is there to be happy about?

I rubbed my chin, trying to figure all this out, but it was to no avail.

Well... At the very least, it'd prove as a viable light source. I didn't like walking in the dark. I didn't like being in the dark.

I carefully rolled it out of the safe and bit down on it gently. It had the texture of glass, and I didn't know how fragile it really was. I had too much on my back as it was, and I didn't want to risk this falling off and breaking. Whatever it was, it stopped being that and became my new lantern. A bit dim in the lighting, but it worked all the same.

I continued to the next room, and the next, and so on, until I ran out of doors on this side of the building. This place was nearly picked clean. I had come across three Sparkle Cola bottle caps, a terminal that was shut down long ago, judging by the dust that had built up on it over the years, and a bobby pin, of all the four remaining rooms in this section of the corridor. There were six more waiting for me on the other side of the intersection, however.

To my left were some stairs that led up to the second floor, while the right had a lobby.

I'd get to the stairs shortly. I wanted to search the rest of this floor, first.

The first door had been caved in, and a thought occurred to me. Why didn't the rangers just bust down every other door?

Looking inside, I saw why.

A group of eight had tried boarding themselves up inside to keep them safe from the rangers... Only, they had failed.

The rangers must have known no one was in the other rooms I had searched, via EFS, and so they didn't bother.

I dared not set hoof beyond the doorway. Whatever was in here, it wasn't for me. I felt bad enough just taking a bobby pin off the floor. I wanted to at least show some respect for the dead.

I heard Para's radio from outside, and I waited at the intersection until, soon enough, I saw him climb up the rubble from the far end of the large, makeshift town hall. At least... That's what it reminded me of.

He trotted over and stopped a few feet in front of me, looking behind me with curiosity and mild disgust.

"What?" I asked.

"You have a bug on you." He pointed a hoof at my chest.

I looked behind me, only to be greeted by the dead radroach. Turning back to him, I replied. "That's my dinner."

"Ew!" He backed up a little. "Yuck! I hope you brush your teeth after!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Can you do me a favor?"

"What kind of flavor?" He smirked.

"I'm... just going to ignore that." I shook my head softly, then spoke up. "Go to the second floor for me, and look for anything worth taking. Guns, ammo, armor... That sort of thing."

"Gum, camo, and farmers?" He raised an eyebrow. He looked puzzled. "Well, alright... Weird thing to want all at once, if you ask me." He trotted up the stairs before I could say anything. He was just gonna take some getting used to, I guess...

I opened the next door and was greeted by a desk, a dark terminal, and on the seat before it, a black leather jacket. I had high doubts that it provided much warmth, but it was something, and something was better than nothing.

I carefully set the orb down before me, took the stuff off my back, and slipped the jacket on. The bag of candy and fancy buck cakes went in one pocket, while the caps and bobby pin went in another. I put the radroach on my back, once more.

The jacket itself wasn't all that bad, honestly. A bit of a loose fit. Whoever owned it before me was a bit bigger than I, but that gave me some space. After everything I went through with the power armor, I considered that a blessing.

I picked up the orb with my mouth again, then made my way towards the exit of the room. There was nothing left of interest here, and just like every other terminal here, this one didn't look like it worked.

Before I could leave, I heard the floorboards of the floor above me creak and snap. Hints of dust rained down on me.

Oh no...

I bolted out of the room and spun around just in time to see the ceiling collapse over where I was just a second ago. Atop the debris was the one and only Para, who had collapsed on his stomach from the fall.

I cocked my head to the side a little. I couldn't help but get a bit of humor off the whole thing, which made me smile after I removed the orb from my maw.

"You okay there?"

He grunted and winced as he got back up on all fours. "I'm going to file a complaint to the management about this..."

I chuckled softly before he reached his hoof out. Wrapped around it was a saddlebag.

"I couldn't find any gum, camo, or even farmers, but I found this, and even some nuggets!" He smiled brightly.

Nu... Nuggets?

"What do you mean by... nuggets?" I raised a brow.

"They're inside." He nudged the bags with his muzzle, smirking.

I took them and pulled the flaps open to reveal a scrambled assortment of 20 gauge shells, .308s, .357s, and 9mms.

My jaw dropped to the sight for a few second, before realizing all this was worthless without the damn guns to go with them.

And if I remembered correctly, the Steel Rangers confiscated those, too.

I'm surprised they didn't take the ammo as well.

Well... with this, I was one step ahead at surviving out here.

"Where did you find this?" I asked, looking back up at him.

"It was just lying there in the hall, and nopony had dibsies, so I figured I'd take them." Horror crept up on his face soon after. "Oh, that's not stealing, is it...? Oh, I hope I'm not stealing... Maybe we should give it back... I feel-"

"It's not stealing." I interrupted, closing the bags and putting the strap over my backside, letting both of the brown, leather compartments hang down over both flanks, therefore covering my cutiemark in its entirety. "Do you know how much ammo we have?"

"You mean nuggets? I already told you I didn't find any camo."

I sighed. "Okay, fine... How many nuggets do we have?"

"12 fat ones, 38 tall ones, 18 tiny skinny ones, and 9 stubby ones."

... Okay. The fat ones I knew were the 20 gauge shells. Tall ones... Hm... I'd have to guess those were the .308s. Tiny skinny ones... .357s? Which made the 9mms the stubby ones.

I really needed to get used to Para's... everything.

I didn't know if I believed he just found a bunch of ammo lying around in the open like that, but he didn't seem like the type to lie about stuff... I think. I didn't really know him all that well, and I needed to be more careful, just in case.

But if he was giving me ammo, then I wasn't gonna complain.

"Did you find anything else?" I asked, slipping the orb into one of the bags. I kept the flap open so that we had some light, even if it was mostly directed to the ceiling. I hated the idea of being in the dark, after what that DJ said.

He shook his head hard. "Nope. Can I have a candy cane?"

"Nope." I started to walk for the exit, but noticed he wasn't following. I looked back to see him pouting. Damn it... "Alright, here." I reached into the pocket of my new jacket and opened the bag upon pulling it out. "You can have one. No more than that."

He squee'd as he beamed at me, then hopped forward, burrowing his muzzle in, only to pull out a random one not long after. Red and white. He quickly removed the plastic wrapping and let the cane hang from his bottom lip as his taste buds absorbed the flavor of the treat.

What was his deal with those things...? They couldn't have been that good.

I sighed and put the bag back in my pocket, heading for the exit. Para followed close behind this time.

Fluky had been waiting at the bottom of the heap as we stepped out into the downpour. Seemed long enough for her to be soaked to the core, and she didn't have anything to keep her warm... I hoped she didn't get sick out here.

She had saddlebags of her own.

"Cluck, cluck, chicken buck!" Para said happily as he trotted past, before coming to a stop behind her.

"Uh... What?" She looked at him questioningly.

I sighed and shook my head. "It's a Radio talk for hello."

I noticed her grimace as I started to walk past, and that stopped me in my tracks as I looked down at her warily.

"What?" I asked.

"You're not going to... eat that, are you?" She glanced at the meat on my back.

I looked back at it, before returning to her. "Yes, I am. Why are you two so disgusted by that?"

"That's not normal..." She looked into my eyes with sincerity. "Eating meat... That's just wrong."

"Tell him about the importance of dental hygiene!" Para said aloud in desperation.

That earned him a look from both Fluky and I, which made him grin sheepishly, revealing his impossibly perfect, clean teeth, as he spoke in a soft voice.

"What?"

"Idiot..." I murmured, rolling my eyes and looking back down at the filly, who looked back up at me with a raised eyebrow. "Ready to go?"

She shrugged. "I guess..."

I looked over her body and frowned. "Don't you want something to keep you warm and dry?"

"Not really." She stated simply. "Let's just go..." She turned and started walking, and I swore I heard her say something under her breath... Something that hit me hard.

"Murderer..."

A sharp, emotional dagger lodged into my heart... But I couldn't try and justify what I had done, nor would I.

I couldn't imagine what she was going through... I mean, yes, we were both under similar circumstances... kind of... but she had parents to lose...

I never even knew my mom or dad.

I wasn't going to play the victim.

... Especially when I was looking at one right now...

The raindrops, which were now a heavy downpour, ran through the colorless leaves overhead, hitting us all with a cold drench that made the small comfort for this weather wither and die.

We all walked side by side; Para on my right, and Fluky on his. It was blatantly obvious she didn't want to be near me.

None of us had really said a word to each other for the duration of most of the trip. Para had chewed up the rest of his cane before we even set hoof in the forest. He kept the volume on his radio mute. I didn't understand why he wouldn't just turn it off and save the battery, rather than keeping it on with the volume all the way down. I especially didn't understand why he still had a slight dance to his walk, even with the lack of music.

Still... I had to admit... The 'silence' was nice. The rain, not so much...

I grew tired of the rain a lot quicker than I thought...

I also didn't like that we were traveling through a deadly forest that covered an entire city.

I officially hated the surface. I hated trees. I hated rain. I hated heights. I hated stairs, clouds, the sun, the moon, the stars... everything. I had enough of the surface! I wanted to crawl back underground and never come out!

About what I estimated as an hour passed, and we came across a billboard from before the bombs fell, to the right side of the highway we walked along. The edges were covered by the trees and their roots, but the center gave us more than enough space, due to the trail.

The picture was ragged and torn, and there was a series of vandalism displayed over parts of it, but the sign itself showed a pony grinning ahead. Most of the text beside his forehead was missing, but in big, bold, black letters, and reading through the decay of the sign, I made out a '-PY.'

That pony was the same one I saw in the wanted poster...

I remembered the first part of his name had an H. H-py. Was it... Was it 'Happy?' Mr. Happy? Weird name... That couldn't be it...

But I found my mind drift off to the note in the safe.

Happy.

Hm...

His coat was caught in the drainage of color, just like everything else in this forest, but it was most definitely the same guy from the wanted poster. He even wore the same overcoat and shirt!

Just who was he...? And... hold up...

Upon further inspection of the sign, as we walked past, and after piecing some missing letters to words, I discovered that it was a sign to a... dentistry? That couldn't be right...

The vandalism consisted of messages of a variety of haters he had made, way back when, but just like the billboard, the graffiti was worn out.

'Murder!'

'Psychopath!'

'Butcher!'

'Rot in Hell!'

'How could you!?'

'We trusted a monster.'

These messages were directed to someone that died long before I was even born. Everyone that wrote those messages had died with him under one big atomic blast. Turned to ash and swept away as one.

Even then, I felt a pain from them, as if they were directed toward me and what I did.

Maybe I was the wasteland's Happy.

What kind of sick joke was this?

Para nudged my shoulder, and I looked at him. He pointed a hoof at the billboard, looking up at it. "See, even he says you should brush your teeth. He's a smart pony. He knows what he's talking about."

"Do you?" I asked, then looked back up at the picture. "There's something really off about him..."

He shrugged. "I dunno. I mean... look at that smile. How could you not trust a pony like that?"

"Smile or no smile, ponies hated him. I know next to nothing about this pony, but I do know that the biggest monsters are the ones that look trustworthy. Appearance doesn't make justifications."

I did something horrible, too. I didn't really have room to talk, and so with that, I didn't bother opening my mouth anymore on the subject, which was fine, because the conversation had ended with my statement anyways.

I looked over at the filly to see her head was hung down, covering her eyes again, just like when I first saw her.

"Hey." I spoke softly. "You okay, Flukes?"

"Don't call me that..." She muttered.

"Okay... Are you o-"

"Fine." She snapped, but did well to keep her voice down. "Just leave me alone..."

I hesitantly nodded, then looked forward again.

For a while, things between the three of us were back to being quiet. It was for the best anyways. I didn't need any problems occurring. I was busy with all the chatter in my radio as it was.

Para looked over at the filly. "Heya, Flakes. Let's turn that frown upside down!" I looked at her again to see she was giving him a weird look.

"My name's not-"

"I'd give you a cupcake candy cane, if Mr. No Fun would let me have any!" He swung his head toward me, giving me a spiteful look, before returning to Fluky.

I rolled my eyes in reply and looked ahead at the towers, once more.

My hooves were starting to ache, and my back was doing no better. We were all soaked and cold.

We were just starting to pass by a motel to our left, and I stopped.

The other two looked at me.

"We should stop and get some rest. Get out of the rain." I looked back at them.

Fluky sighed. "Fine." She started walking for the building I had observed. Para stayed by my side.

"Can I have a-"

"No." I interrupted. Damn it, he was more childish than the kid!

He started pouting again, like he did earlier, but this time, I ignored him and walked after her.

"Hey." I said softly. "Stay close."

"Leave me alone. Stay away from me." She approached a door with the number '12,' on the bottom floor.

"Please, Fluky. At least let me check if it's safe, first."

"I told you to go away!" She shouted.

She reached her hoof out to the door, and just as she pushed it, something inside shattered, which was soon followed with the hissing of what I imagined to be the roots.

"Fluky, get away from the door..." I whispered, hoping she could hear my voice over the rain.

She slowly backed away from it, and I did the same myself.

Nothing was trying to break out yet, so that was a-

Para performed a hop, skip, and a jump at the start of a dance, as he made his way to the door, singing. Oh no...

"With a smile and a trot, a hop to the top! A tune that never stops, and a bunny that never flops!"

"Para, no!" I whispered, trying my best to keep my voice down but get his attention all at once. "Get away from the door!"

Of course, he ignored me, and burst through the door, singing as he raised his forehooves in the air and waving them a little. "It's Pa-Pa-Pa-Para!"

Several roots and vines lunged out at him as they screeched to ear deafening levels.

Two flaps opened up on the ends of the vines as they charged at him. I looked around, panicked, wondering if there were anymore coming for us, but in doing so, I caught the glimpse of Fluky's tail descending into a dumpster.

She was safe there, for now.

I didn't see any other hostile vegetation except the ones at the motel.

I charged after Para to get him out of the way. Time was not on my side.

The vines started spraying a misty substance in the air, which I could only imagine did wonders to their prey.

"Para, move!" I shouted.

He turned around to me and smiled.

Damn it, Para! MOVE!

I tackled him from the side just in time, before the roots were ready to snatch him.

We both tumbled to the concrete walkway, and a few of Para's personal belongings flew from his pockets, including my cores.

The cage to his little buddy fell off and landed on its side. The bunny within squeaked and looked around frantically.

The item that caught my immediate attention, however, was a gun.

Not just any gun...

This was more advanced than anything I'd ever seen before. It had a slick, silver, curved body, and the barrel had three, different sized, orange, glowing rings; the one on the end being the smallest, and the one in the rear being the largest.

He had a gun... He had. A gun!

Fucking liar!

Para reached out for the gun as we laid on the ground, but I lunged for it before he could get a hold of it and bit down on the grip, putting my tongue against the trigger.

"Hey, that's not yours!" Para protested.

"SHU UF!" I released a muffled scream as I swung around, jumped back from a hissing vine that sprayed its fumes at me and fired blindly in its direction. In jumping back, I was standing over the delusional stallion; his head between both of my rear hooves. I managed to get away from the green mist before it could do Celestia knew what to me.

The first three shots had missed; the green energy blasts striking nearby wagons and asphalt. I witnessed them melt away into a pile of bright, glowing green goo.

Just what was this thing?

One of the vines lunged at me, and before I could fire, had rammed into my chest, knocking me back. I almost lost my grip on the gun. The others surrounded Para and sprayed at him, while that one stayed on me.

He coughed violently as he laid on the ground, and as staggered as I was, the vine took its opportunity to put me through that same coughing fit.

I did everything I could in my power to hold on to the gun, but it was getting more difficult with each attack. My eyes and nostrils were burning. My lungs were being drained of any oxygen, and I wasn't receiving any more.

I closed my eyes to try and evade the burn to my sight as I fired repeatedly, hoping I hit the right target.

If I hit Para...

Well... That'd be just one more kill added to my count...

I heard a screech after my fourth shot, and opening my eyes, I saw the vine writhe in agony, before whipping through the air as it retreated. A green glow brightened over time, where the two flaps parted ways, like a hooded cobra, and it spread throughout its form.

It fell in its struggles to get away, and became nothing more than a pile of green, glowing sludge.

That's right! There's more where that came... from...

... Oh dear...

I realized they felt the same way, once roots and vines started closing in from every direction.

Oh shit...

The tearing of roots sounded around us, and the trees shook as I backed away from the building and into the parking lot. I aimed around frantically and fired at anything that tried getting close.

We were outnumbered. There was no way we could get out of this. Para stopped coughing, but the vines kept on him. He was going to die, and I couldn't do anything to stop it.

Something rough wrapped around my hind leg, but before I could look, I was yanked across the lot, towards the forest. The gun fell from my mouth from the surprise, and I screamed as I fought to grab a hold of something that just might save me!

To my misfortune, all that I could reach was air and cracked, worn out asphalt.

I fought to get away as much as I could, but the more I did, the tighter they squeezed my leg, getting to the point where it felt like it was about to fall off, and experiencing how strong these roots were. Judging by what I saw them do to power armor, I wasn't entirely surprised.

Is this what River felt back on the crashed Vertibuck?

My scream shifted, mixing fear with excruciating, crippling pain.

This was it. My short lived time in the wasteland was coming to an end.

I was going to the place that was the best... Or... I hoped I was. After what I did, chances were I was going to the place that was the worst.

Then, suddenly, a burst of light emerged from the dumpster, and both roots and vines spasmed uncontrollably. I felt the root around my leg lose its grip, but it fought to hang on and pull me away.

The vines that sprayed their fumes at an unconscious Para jerked about, and turned to sludge. The roots cracked and withered away, blowing off into the wind and staining the wet ground.

I felt the appendage around my hoof vanish as I laid there, sprawled out on my stomach. After a few seconds of trying to figure out what just happened, I got up.

... Okay, tried to get up.

I cried out in pain as I put pressure on my hoof, and looking back, I discovered a red, dripping ring that ran around the width of the limb, over a puddle of grey ash that was once the vicious cause of the injury.

Okay, new plan...

I got up on three hooves and kept my injured one lifted off the ground. It stung like crazy to the touch of rain, but there was nothing I could have done about that, at the moment. It was just another problem I had to deal with, like the rash on my flank.

I limped carefully to Para, who laid still in the walkway of the motel.

I looked around to see what remained of the trees in the vicinity were still in the process of withering away with the rain and wind. The vines had all melted into the ground with that sludge-like texture.

I stopped at Para. His radio was hanging out of his pocket, and I had noticed it was off. I didn't see the glow. It must have gotten damaged some time, during the attack.

... Probably when I tackled him.

If not the attack, then the rain.

"Fluky!" I turned to the dumpster. "Come on out. It's safe." I paused, scanning the treeline in the distance, then added with a murmur. "... I think."

The lid opened and she crawled out, rubbing her temple.

"My head hurts..." She shook it and blinked a few times, before looking up at me, then at Para, then at our surroundings. "What happened?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." That was a lie. I had a pretty good idea what happened, judging by the light that came from her hiding spot. But if she didn't know what happened, maybe it was best to keep it from her. I had a feeling in my gut that I shouldn't tell.

I put all the stuff that fell from his pockets back in, hoisted him up on my back, went back for the gun that laid in the lot, pocketed it, and returned to Fluky, looking at the doors to our left and right.

"Think it's safe now?" I asked.

"I hope so." She looked on at the building skeptically.

"Well..." I paused, taking one last long look at the dead 'plants' around us. "If there was anything in there, they would have come for us by now." Even if they were in hiding for an ambush, that was unlikely now, seeing as they could have very well been caught in the radius of Fluky's freaky, magic light. However, if they were behind closed doors, then there was a chance they didn't get as affected as the others, so I still needed to tread carefully.

I set Para down beside Fluky.

Room 12 wasn't an option anymore, what with the door being smashed to thousands of pieces. We needed something that kept the outside, out.

I carefully approached Room 10, taking the gun out of my pocket and biting down on the grip. My tongue felt around for the trigger and stayed glued to it as I opened the door cautiously.

The lack of attention and care for over 200 years to the hinges resulted in an excessive creak as I pushed my hoof against the door.

I cringed and closed my eyes, but I didn't hear anything on the other side of the door. I took a deep breath through my nostrils, opened my eyes, and swung the door open the rest of the way. I backed up and aimed inside the room, only to find that it was vacant.

I looked at Fluky to see her looking back up at me with wary eyes, standing beside Para, before I walked into the gloomy, dim-lit room. I didn't see anything unusual here, yet. Could use a bit of dusting, but it looked like an ordinary motel, judging by what I saw in the pamphlets and brochures I used to read as a colt.

A double bed in the main room. T.V. on the other side, across from the mattress. Small table near the window, with two chairs to accompany it.

I looked in the closet.

Empty coat hangars and a hooflocker. I opened the metal, rectangular container, but it was empty. Guess no one had checked this room out before the bombs fell.

I closed the door to the closet and proceeded to the bathroom...

... Only to find an ordinary bathroom.

After one final look around, I trotted back to the front door and looked at the two ponies I traveled with. 'Trotted' wasn't the right word. More like... Stumbled.

"All clear." I said after putting the gun away. I trotted to Para - or tried to, - lifted him on my back, and walked back in the room. Damn it, my leg hurt like Hell...

Fluky dragged the cage with her, and did a good job at sticking close to me, in the process.

I set Para down on the bed as the filly closed the door behind us. I heard the click of the lock and smiled faintly as I looked back at her.

"What?" She asked, staying near the door.

"Just glad you wised up."

"I still hate you..." She glared.

"And you have every right to." I stated bluntly as my smile faltered, before turning around and starting for the bathroom. I came to a complete stop and looked back. "Did you pack any medical supplies?"

"Nope." She dumped the contents of her bags out on the floor before her.

Oh sweet Celestia...

"You... You packed up a bunch of comic books?" I raised an eyebrow.

She nodded.

"I was hoping you'd have packed something more useful..." I murmured under my breath, turning back to the bathroom and closing the door behind me.

I ripped off the shower curtain, ripped it into smaller strips, and wrapped one around my leg, before tying it. I made sure not to make it too tight. It hurt enough as it was. Plus, I needed blood circulation running in that limb still, anyways.

I hope I didn't get an infection from the lack of antiseptic...

I continued to keep pressure off my hoof as I went back into the main room. Fluky was sitting at the table, reading one of her many useless comic books. The others were stacked up into a pile, resting on the table before her.

Ah... That wasn't fair to her. After everything I did to her... She had every right to pack them. They were hers. And for all I knew, they were her coping mechanism. Unlike Para's candy canes, they didn't jeopardize our safety. I hope they never did, either.

I'd have to give her a gun and some ammo, when she was ready to part ways, but at the moment, all I had was this weird... yet amazing plasma pistol of sorts. It worked like one, but there was something different about it. I couldn't quite place it...

I took off my bags and jacket and laid down on the bed, getting under the covers. Para was still knocked out, lying on his stomach. Nothing was taken off him except for the rabbit cage, which sat beside the bed. I wasn't going to bother trying to take it off, anyways. That looked like too much work, and I was tired.

And in pain.

Oh, was I in pain...

The pitter patter of the rain gradually grew louder as time went on, but every so often, it would quiet down just a little, only to get stronger a few minutes later.

I closed my eyes, listening to the downpour outside and the occasional turn of a page, until I didn't anymore.

Sleep finally took me.

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the long wait. Also, apologies for the chapter being shorter. It was meant to be longer, but hopefully it's still worth the read.

I wanted to address something that I kept forgetting to mention, ever since the first chapter.

The reason why Charger is a male.
See, originally, Charger was supposed to play a female role, but my other stories had a crap tone of female protagonists, and antagonists. I needed a change of pace. Something that felt fresh. So I made Charger a male character. The book I had finished recently seemed to have more female roles than male, I think. Not that I don't love it, but... I need a break from all that. XD

Which is a part of why Firebright exists. She was what he was going to be, but it didn't sit right by me.

So there's a "Behind the Scenes."

Update [12:52 A.M.]: So little did I know, that halfway through the second edit, the wifi died on me because of the frickin' insane levels of bass blasting in the house. Friday is party night, I guess... I kept writing. So nothing saved. So I had to do all that work... AGAIN. Tonight's been a long night for me, and I'm tired...

Anyways, thanks to Kkat for creating the FoE universe, thanks to Somber for PH, thanks to those who read and leave feedback (you know who you are ;) ), and thanks to Pines for fixing the mistakes I made and making Para's dialogue more "Para" and less "me."

Pines: What will happen to Para? Will Charger finally get rid of his rash? Did Fluky pack enough comics? Find out next chapter of RADIO STATIC!