Hold on a second! Eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain, you guys! CHOCOLATE RAIN!

The first thing that came to my senses upon waking from my slumber was the thunderous rain outside. My leg still hurt, and the rash on my rump still burned. More so, as I was lying on it.

The blanket kept me warm, but the room smelled musty. I must have been too distracted to notice it before.

I opened my eyes, but instead of looking up at the ceiling, I was looking up at a smiling Para, who looked down at me as he stood over my body.

I yelped and tried jumping up, but I soon discovered that I couldn't move my limbs... or my tail, for that matter!

"What's going on?" I asked, breathing heavily and in a panic, looking around. "What are you doing?" I spotted the gun right beside my head, but I couldn't reach it; even with my tongue, it was out of reach. "Why can't I move!? What did you do to me!?" I looked back at him, wide-eye'd.

He simply shook his head, keeping that smile up. He spoke in a calm, yet happy tone. "You should know better." He moved his muzzle down beside my head, bit down on the gun's grip, and came back with it; barrel pointing at me.

He stared me down through those two golden rings, contemplating something...

What was going on in his head...?

For the longest time, I was convinced he was going to pull the trigger, and the longer he stood there, the more I expected it...

... Instead, he pocketed the gun and looked back at me with that same smile he had before.

"Stealing is bad." He paused, scanning my eyes with his, before resuming. "Besides... Aren't ya too old to be playing with toys?" His eyes narrowed on mine.

Toys...?

He thought that was a toy!?

Oh Celestia, we're doomed...

... Or, I was doomed...

I was still convinced he was going to do something to me. This wasn't normal.

I looked around the room, only to find that Fluky was gone. Damn it... Not like she'd help me out of this situation, anyways...

An abrupt hissing of static emanated from his radio. Para stood there for a few seconds, before backing off. He was still smiling as he sat on the floor, facing me.

The DJ pony spoke a few seconds later.

"Now, would you just look at that weather..." He sounded almost surprised. "We didn't have any readings for this, but let's hope it doesn't last too long. Consider this a lazy day, ponies of the wasteland! Don't wanna be stuck out in that dreadful rain now, do we? Stay indoors, wherever you are, kick your hooves back, and chillax to these fine tunes."

The song started with a moderately paced beat of the higher notes of a guitar.

Well, take me back down where the cool waters flow, yeah

Let me remember things I love

Stoppin' at the log where catfish bite

Walkin' along the river road at night

Barehoof mares dancin' in the moonlight

Para closed his eyes and took in the music; his smile brightening.

... Okaaaaaaaaaaaaay then.

I sat up, and when the blanket fell off my upper half, I looked down at my body.

Oh no...

A sturdy length of rope was tied firmly around my forehooves...

I kicked off the rest of the blanket from my form.

Oh, that... that... Why!?

I gaped down at my tail, which was tied around my hind legs. I snapped a look at Para, who kept his mind on the music.

"Para..." I said behind clenched teeth.

He opened his eyes. "Hm?"

"Care to explain why I'm tied up?" I felt my eye twitch.

"Oh, that?" He beamed at me. "You can blame your sticky, greedy hooves." He pointed a hoof up to the ceiling, keeping it level with his smug expression.

"I wasn't stealing it." I stated with strain in my voice as I tried getting out of the bindings around my forehooves. "I was using it to fight off the... er... vegetation." Okay, that sounded stupid...

"It's a toy, silly!" He shook his head. "You don't need toys. You're a stallion."

"Then why do you have it?" I snapped. "You're a full grown stallion, too! Maybe not in the brain, but you have the body of one!"

"Oh, it's not for me, silly! I just keep it around. I'm sure some kid is missing it, somewhere. I just want to see the smile on their face after I bring it to them!"

Oh... Para...

I swear, I felt my brain cells killing themselves...

I shook my head from what he just said. "Okay, I... learned my lesson, I guess. Untie me."

"Okay." He got up, smiling like he always did, and bit down on the rope. With one pull, it came loose.

Okay... It couldn't have been that easy! Still, I felt stupid that he did it with no troubles whatsoever, when I couldn't. It was like being in the tilted tower all over again.

He got to work on my tail, but before he could get a bite down, I put a hoof to his shoulder. "Whoa, what are you doing?"

He looked up at me. "Removing your tail around your legs."

"Okay, but... you're not going to remove my tail altogether, are you?"

"Of course not." He gave me a weird look and got back down to my hindquarters, removing the tail around my hocks with his teeth.

Despite everything that just happened... The creepy smile I woke up to, the gun being pulled on me... The rather intimidating lesson... I could feel his breath rather close to a sensitive area as he worked on getting my tail off from around my legs. Occasionally, I felt it directly on that sensitive area, and I did my best to not think like that.

"So, uh... Where is Fluky?" I asked in a voice crack, before coughing a bit.

He pulled my tail loose, and I held onto it with my fores, covering a certain something up that was starting to grow, behind a curtain of black hair.

"She went out there." He nodded to the door, sitting up straight.

"You let her go out there alone?" I stared at the door for a few seconds, then back at him, feeling myself finally calm down. "Why?"

"She wanted to check out the gift shop." He smiled.

I sighed and stood up, suddenly remembering my injury. I winced and lifted my leg off the ground, then limped on three hooves, heading for the door.

The rain was even heavier than I remembered. Any harder, and I'd be worried about the roof caving in.

I cracked the door open just a little and peeked outside.

Rain and hail the size of tennis balls dived down, striking anything out in the open.

I stepped out, closed the door behind me, and stayed under the second story balcony, walking towards the sign above the door at the far end of the motel, which read 'OFFICE & GIFT SHOP.'

Even through the heavy rain, I could hear stuff being moved around in there.

I stopped at the wooden door with a rectangular window on the upper half. The door itself remained ajar.

"Fluky." I said softly.

The sounds within ceased.

"Can I come in?"

I didn't hear a response.

"Fluky..."

"Yeah, sure... Come in..." She didn't sound too pleased.

I gently eased my hoof on the door and pushed my way in.

The office was a mess. Papers everywhere. Overturned chairs. Blinds over the windows that couldn't even really be called that, anymore.

Fluky stood at a desk in the room behind the counter, keeping her attention away from me.

I limped around the counter and stopped at the doorway to the room she was in.

"Hey."

"What do you want, Robutt?"

I looked around at the mess surrounding us. "Are you okay?"

"What do you think?" She asked, looking over her shoulder. "You and your friends killed mine... My friends... My family..."

"I'm sorry..." I said with remorse. "If I could take it back, I would."

She 'hmphed' and went back to picking a lock on the desk drawer with a bobby pin.

"I know sorry will never be enough, but..."

"Please..." She interrupted behind clenched teeth, biting down hard on the pin. "I don't want to talk to you, and I don't want to talk about that, so if we're gonna talk, make it about something else." The pin snapped, and she spat out the other half. "Ah, pony feathers!" She punched her hoof against the drawer and sat there, facing away from me, before sighing and turning around. "I... found something for you, by the way..." She looked down, refusing to make eye contact with me.

I raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

She turned towards the desk once more and pulled open a separate drawer. She reached her head in, bit down on the glass neck of a bottle, and pulled it out, only to set it down before me.

A bottle half full of vodka.

"For your leg." She said quietly, turning back to the desk drawer that remained locked. "Just wish I could have opened that one..."

"Thanks, Fluky..." I sat down and removed the bandages around my leg, then unscrewed the cap off the bottle, pouring a little over the red.

I winced and groaned as a sudden, sharp sting spread throughout the injury. In doing so, I nearly dropped the bottle entirely.

Fluky looked back at me with no expression. She just watched silently.

I drenched my makeshift bandage with alcohol, put the bottle down, and wrapped the sheet fragment around my injury, feeling a more concentrated burn behind it.

Well... That's how I knew it was working, at least...

I tied it and collapsed on my back, waiting for the burn to subside just a little.

"So..." I winced. "Do you have any medical training?"

"No." She shook her head. "I just know the basics. Mommy and daddy both taught me about how alcohol works on cleaning wounds... You know... Before they were killed..." She finished bluntly.

I sighed. "Look... Fluky..."

"You had no right."

Thunder rolled outside.

"I know, but..."

"No buts!" She shouted. "You're a murderer!" She pointed at the bottle with a sickening grimace. "I only gave that to you so that you could either drink yourself to death, or stay in shape long enough to get me out of here. That wasn't me being nice!" She glared, and another roll of thunder came to pass.

"Fluky, it's complicated..."

Was it just me, or was the rain getting even louder?

"Oh, it's complicated enough to kill of an entire town!?" A yellow aura flared to life around her horn.

"Fluky, what are you doing...?" I backed up a few steps.

"You think you have an excuse for what you did!? IS THAT IT!?" She stomped her hooves down, and lightning flashed outside, making me jump. "YOU'RE A MONSTER!" Tears ran down her cheeks. "YOU'LL NEVER DO ANYTHING GOOD!"

The land outside was growing darker by the second.

"Fluky, calm down..."

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! YOU KILLED EVERYPONY I CARED..." She choked on her own voice and collapsed, hiding her face with her hooves as she bawled; the tip of her muzzle showing. The light around her horn faded, and the land outside started growing back to its original dullness once more. "Everypony I cared for! We did nothing to you ponies! And you murdered them all! Why!?"

Why...

There were more than a few answers to that.

Orders.

Greed.

Corruption.

Fun.

Fear.

Survival.

I had three reasons. The rest of the Steel Rangers had other reasons in that list.

Orders, fear, and survival were mine. I guess, in a way, that led to greed as well. Greed for my own safety. For my own life. I took the lives of others so that I may continue mine.

I had greed in me, after all, it seemed...

I stood up as she wept and calmly approached, but she backed away from me before I could reach her.

I nodded silently, grabbed the bottle with my teeth, and limped out into the lobby. She needed her own space for now. In the meantime, I'd keep a lookout for anything that tried sneaking its way in.

I sat there, looking out the window. The parking lot was flooded. I imagined that, before long, all of Saddle would be, if this rain kept up.

Her screams and cries for everything she loved and lost mixed in with the storm.

And there was nothing I could do to console her...

It felt like hours had passed by, before she finally calmed down.

I respected her grief, though. She definitely needed to let it out.

She returned to me as I laid under one of the windows near the door. I made sure to keep the outside in my field of view, just in case.

I looked at her to see she was still avoiding making eye contact with me.

"Do you want to head back to the room now?" I asked softly, as if it were a sensitive subject.

She sniffled and nodded.

I stood up and took a long look at the outside, though, with the end-of-the-world weather obscuring my vision, I couldn't see very far. Still, it looked safe to leave, so far. And I didn't hear anything unusual throughout the time I waited here.

I opened the door and stepped outside, looking around some more.

Nothing unusual yet.

I looked back and nodded, and then Fluky came out with a much slower pace than my own... and I was crippled.

We didn't say a word to each other the entire walk back. There was nothing to say. She hated me, and I hated me, too. I just wanted to make things right for her, but that wasn't going to happen.

All I could do was try and protect her until she decided to go her own way.

I opened the door to our motel room.

Para sat there, smiling, with three different flavors of candy canes in his mouth.

I sighed and put my hoof over my face as I hung my head down. "Para..."

Fluky stepped in, and Para reached into the candy bag. He pulled out a red and white cane, and tossed it to Fluky. "Told ya I'd give ya one." He smiled brighter before adjusting the three canes in his mouth with his tongue.

I stepped in and closed the door behind me with the tip of my injured hoof. "Para, what did I say about the candy canes?"

His ears folded back, and he frowned, like a colt that got scolded. "That they're... yours?"

"And what are you doing?" I raised an eyebrow, looking at him coolly.

"... Eating your candy canes..." He took a step back.

"What's the lesson here?" I took a step forward. "You told me it, not too long ago."

"To not... touch... what isn't mine...?"

I nodded. "Good." I snatched the bag of canes. "These... are mine. No touching. You can have what's already in your mouth, but no more, unless I offer them. Got it?" I slipped my jacket on and put the pouch in my pocket.

"Yes..." He hung his head down, sulking.

I took a Fancy Buck cake out and unwrapped it. I was hungry, but I wasn't able to cook the radroach I kept around. I wasn't trying to set fire to our shelter, and I couldn't start a fire out there, with the rain. I didn't favor the idea of eating it raw, either.

It had been one day since we waited in the motel.

I thought that maybe the storm would have passed by now, but it was still as strong as ever. Going out there may have been a death sentence for us.

Para kept his radio playing throughout the day. The DJ would talk about the weather, and only that, when he wasn't playing music.

I suppose it was better than complete silence, a part from the thundering rain that seemed to almost try and break in.

Fluky had her comics, Para had his music, and I had... Hm...

A dead, rotting radroach.

I had grabbed a bucket I found around the building and set it outside so that we could get some water. I couldn't boil it. I had nothing to boil it with. I had a feeling that if there was one thing that would kill us out here, it'd be infection. Sickness.

For all I knew, the rain out there was radioactive.

If only I had a geiger counter...

My armor had one installed, and for the time that I had been on the surface with it, I didn't once hear any clicks. Was the surface clean? Was everything I was taught, a lie?

Maybe Saddle was okay. Maybe it didn't get hit as bad as other places.

Later on in the day, I brought the bucket back in.

Fluky and Para were eager to drink the water within, but I stopped them with a raised hoof.

"Wait." I said. "I don't know if it's toxic or not."

Fluky raised an eyebrow. "Then why did you bring it in...?"

"If somepony is going to test it, it's going to be me. I don't want any of you having to deal with radiation poisoning."

"I've been on the surface all my life, Robutt." She stated. "I'm fine, and so is the water."

"I don't want to risk it. Just let me try it first."

"I'm telling you, it's fine. But hey..." She shrugged. "If there's a chance it's deadly, I'd be more than happy to let you try it first." She smirked.

I looked down at the bucket, my heart pounding in my chest, as I fought to take even a sip of it. I was beyond terrified of the thought of getting radiation poisoning. I knew what it could do to ponies... Or... At least, I think I knew... I was obviously brainwashed to think a lot of things about the surface. I didn't know what was true and what wasn't, anymore.

I took a deep breath and moved my head down, taking a few gulps of the water.

It was cold. Freezing, in fact. There was a slight, salty taste to it... Almost like tears.

I waited a minute as everypony looked at me, and I at them.

I felt fine. It tasted fine, for the most part. A little off in terms of flavor. After all, water wasn't supposed to have flavor. It especially wasn't meant to be salty.

I didn't feel sick, though. I didn't feel wrong about it.

"I think it's fine." I said calmly.

Fluky rolled her eyes and trotted to the bucket. "Such a shame..." She muttered, before taking a few gulps. She recoiled, then spat, frowning at me afterward. "Ew! You didn't tell me it was salty!"

I looked back with a faint smile. "I guess the saltiness of my soul canceled it out."

She stared for a few seconds, then shook her head, rolling her eyes again. She returned to the bucket and reluctantly resumed drinking.

Once she was done, Para started drinking.

Bottles would have been nice. It was a bit weird... and gross... to be drinking from the same source.

Two days had passed since we seeked shelter in the motel.

It was still raining as hard as ever. Thunder boomed through the sky, and on occasion, abrupt flashes of light lit up the room through the windows.

We were all bored out of our minds. Well... except Para. He just kept bobbing his head to the music. Even when the radio was off, he was bobbing his head to... something.

The radroach was starting to make the room smell like rot and decay, and I knew I'd just get sick trying to eat it at this point.

I tossed it out in the rain and locked the door. I was really looking forward to eating that, too...

Three days had passed.

We were all getting hungry, and I gave my last Fancy Buck cake to Fluky so she could eat. It wasn't a real meal, but hopefully it satisfied her.

It wasn't enough, though. Fluky was still hungry, I could tell. I was too. Even Para was starting to complain.

I stood up on three hooves, as my injury still hurt. "You two stay here. I'll see if I can't find something for us to eat."

After they both agreed to stay, I left our room and went to the next.

And the next, and so forth.

I had to make a few trips back, but I found maybe a week's worth of food - all of it being Sugar Apple Bombs and canned goods - and even a 6 pack of Sparkle Cola! Untouched for Celestia knew how long, but still as good as ever.

I made a few non-food related trips for extra pillows and blankets. They smelled awful, but it was deal with it, or freeze to death. The motel wasn't getting any warmer.

Four days...

And it was still raining. It hadn't calmed down even a little.

We had limited resources, and it seemed that the longer we waited here, the colder it got.

We couldn't wait anymore... If it was still raining by tomorrow... Well, we just needed to push through it and start moving again...

Rain was now something on my list of most hated things in the wasteland.

We spent the day sitting around and doing... well, nothing. Para still had his music on, but he turned the volume down to a level that was almost mute, and Fluky was on her last comic book.

"Hey, Flukes." I said softly with a faint smile, limping over to her.

"Don't call me that." She said without so much as glancing in my direction. Her eyes were glued to the page.

I chuckled softly and sat down at the opposite end of the table. "Whatcha reading there?"

"A comic book." She stated bluntly.

"What's it about?" My smile widened a little.

She looked up at me with a cold expression. "It's about a murderer who minded his own business and avoided the filly whose life he destroyed."

My smile diminished as I sat there a moment, looking down at the table's dusty surface between us. "I'll... leave you to it, then..." I quietly got up and limped back to the bed. I looked back, before getting on the mattress, and continued. "Just a heads up, we're heading out tomorrow, so long as it's okay with everypony. It'd be best if we left while we still had food for the road... even if it's still raining."

Fluky mumbled something to herself, but I couldn't understand what it was. Probably something about how evil I was, and how I killed helpless ponies...

I laid down on the bed and kept my injured hoof stretched out and straightened. It still hurt, but it was a lot more bearable than it was when I first got it. I made sure to clean out the wound until it closed up on a daily. It was taking its time, but the bleeding stopped. I changed the ripped sheeting to something cleaner once a day. I had half a quarter of vodka left, and I hadn't put a single drop of it on my tongue. It all went to my leg and bandages.

Besides... Who had the time to get drunk out here, anyways? That seemed like a horrible idea!

Para hopped on the bed, landing on his stomach. His little buddy hopped up on the mattress after he rolled over on his back. She squeaked, and he picked her up, only to set her down on his chest. He looked at me as he patted her metal frame and smiled. "Can I have a cane?"

I rolled my eyes and gave him a faint smile in return. "I don't see why not." I reached into my jacket pocket and took the pouch out. "Any specific flavor?" I asked, looking inside.

"Green!" He raised a hoof to the ceiling, grinning.

I had to look carefully for a while. Stupid colorless land had to affect everything...

After minutes of close observation, I finally figured out which one was which, and pulled it out. I tossed it to Para, and he caught it in his mouth.

I giggled softly, and he took the wrapping off and let the cane hang on his bottom lip.

"Do you wanna play a card game or something?" I asked. "I could use something to help pass the time."

He nodded happily and reached into the pocket of his jacket, which he had hung up on the corner of the bed frame. Atop that, was his straw hat.

Just like last time, he was winning. Every. Single. Round. I don't know what it was with him in winning all the time. He just had luck on his side, I suppose.

This time, I learned to not take it seriously. It was still fun to try and win even a single round of Go Fish.

We wrapped up in blankets for warmth as we played.

Music played, and the radio host came around every so often with something to say about weather or his 'travels.'

After a while, something caught my full, undivided attention.

"I just came back from Saddle, everypony. I'm sorry to say, but... that peaceful little community of ponies is no more... They're all dead. Any merchants that are looking to trade, stay away from there. None of you should go near Saddle regardless, but... Now there's absolutely no reason to go there. There's nothing for you there. Stay away from the city, the forest... All of it.

"As for what happened, I'm not quite sure... But this wasn't raider activity. This was something bigger, folks... I mean something organized. Stay tuned, my little ponies... and stay safe out there... There's something dark out in the wastes."

No... No... Don't think about it... I know I messed up...

I kept my smile up, but inside, I was bawling my eyes out and screaming. Fluky was right... I was a murderer. And it hurt so much more, because I knew she was right...

Once the sun tucked itself beneath the horizon and all light was gone from this corner of Equestria, we called it a night.

I awoke to the heavy pounding of rain, as I did for four days before this one. The first thought wasn't what I did in Saddle, for once.

It was more... 'What the Hell is on me, and can I kill it?'

It wasn't moving, and I didn't hear any hisses, growls, or anything of that sort.

I cracked open one eye, and what I saw was much more welcoming than what I thought it was.

Para had his hoof stretched out across my chest. His ear was pressed to the steady rhythm of my heart, and I saw him smiling in his sleep.

His body was snuggled up to mine, and I shared his warmth with my own.

Seeing him smile made me smile. Feeling him was... satisfying, to say in the least. Actual physical contact with another... I definitely needed it.

I wrapped my arm around him and pulled him in closer, and he groaned softly, nuzzling me and adjusting himself to get a little closer. His rear hooves crossed and tangled with my own.

His mane... It was so soft. It smelled great! How a wastelander pony such as himself managed to keep such a perfect cleanliness was beyond my comprehension.

I wanted more. Maybe it was my loneliness, or maybe I was starting to develop feelings for him...

I wanted to kiss him. Temptation was pushing me to do it. I had the chance to do it...

But I was a coward.

I gently stroked his mane and looked up at the stained ceiling.

We were still covered under the two layers of musty blankets that got mixed up sometime, in the middle of the night.

I closed my eyes and took in the moment.

For the first time on the surface, I felt comfort. Real comfort.

Maybe everything wasn't as fucked up, here on the surface, as I thought it was.

I patted the top of his head gently for a bit, until I attempted to fall back asleep again. We all needed a little more rest, it seemed.

I had noticed Fluky was out like a light, in the blanket fort she had made on the floor, which was held up by furniture. I made sure to get her a lot more blankets and pillows, so she could build it. It made me want to go back to being a colt, again. It looked fun.

She had put up a cardboard sign in front of the entrance, which read in big, black, bold letters, "No Robutts Allowed!"

The 'e' was backwards.

I was surprised Para didn't try making one, himself. He seemed like the type to do something like that.

I soon dozed off, letting sleep take me once more.

I felt something soft, yet violent, strike me in the face, waking me up from what was a nice sleep. I sat up in a hurry and shook my head, looking around after. Fluky was on her back, laughing hysterically. Actually laughing! That was wonderful!

I looked to the other side of the bed, and saw Para holding the corner of his pillow between his teeth, smiling, before he smacked it against my head again.

"Hey, cut that out!" Ashamed to say, I laughed a little myself.

I knew Fluky was laughing at my expense, but it was so nice to hear her laugh. I let her have this. It was the least I could do for her, so far.

I got up from the mattress as he threw another swing at my head, which I ended up shaking before I fell on my side. He hit pretty hard, and I was starting to get dizzy.

"Oh yeah?" I got back up and bit down on the corner of my pillow, swinging it at him. It struck his face.

He shook his head and took a few steps back, trying to recover from my blow.

Then I felt a pillow smack the back of my head, knocking me forward, causing me to fall off the bed and land on my face.

Now that hurt.

Fluky burst into laughter even more than she was earlier, and when I recovered, I saw her rolling around on the floor, unable to contain herself.

I smiled and rubbed the back of my head. Somehow she hit harder than Para did. I looked down at the pillow to see it became nothing more than a pile of feathers.

I felt a bit woozy, so I sat down and chuckled softly. "Ya got me." I spoke quietly. "I've been vanquished by the great and powerful Fluky."

She looked at me and, getting up on all fours, she... she smiled at me. It was faint, but it was there. "I got you good." She pointed a hoof at me.

I nodded and giggled. "Yeah. That you did."

Another pillow smacked me in the back of the head, causing me to face plant in the mattress.

Fluky burst into laughter once more.

Okay, my brain was starting to feel rattled now.

I turned to Para to see him grinning with the pillow in his mouth. I grabbed the other end with my teeth and pulled.

He pulled back harder, knocking me forward.

I laid there on my stomach, the corner of pillow still between my clenched teeth as I groaned in defeat.

Damn, I was weak, compared to these two. Even a filly beat me in a pillow fight! Though, to be fair, I didn't want to hit her with anything. Even lightly and playfully, I felt it wasn't in my place to do so. She was just a kid, and I didn't want to hurt her anymore than I already...

Stop it, Charger... Don't think about that now...

I was just glad to hear and see her laughing. This little moment... This now... This was what we all needed.

Then, something unexpected happened.

The once heavy rain softened down just a little. Granted, it was still heavy, and it was still going to be rough to walk in, but I'd take what blessings I could. The rain subsided a bit? Fine by me. Meant I didn't have to walk in what the rain was, just a few seconds ago.

After all, it was the little things that mattered.

I got up, dropping the pillow, and looked at Fluky after she calmed down to see she was smiling still.

Para dropped the other end of the pillow in his mouth and smiled at me too.

I stretched my hooves out, popping my joints as I yawned and closed my eyes, then smiled at both of them after. "Well, I suppose we should have something to eat and hit the road."

Fluky nodded a little and took out a can of beans for herself.

Out of the selection this motel offered, I took out a can of mixed fruit, while Para took a can of peaches for himself.

Breakfast of champions.

Before long, after we finished our cans, we grabbed all our stuff and put it on.

I opened the door and looked outside. I didn't understand how or why the hostilities of this place left us alone. They didn't leave me alone when I was... by... myself...

... Oh...

I looked back at Fluky and Para to see them both booping each other. Fluky laughed, while Para just smiled.

There was something about both of them that made them blind to the forest... I already knew there was something about Fluky that kept them at bay. Her magic. That much was obvious.

But Para...? When I first met him, he was swinging in a hammock, by two of those horrifying trees, blasting 'What A Wonderful Trot' with a smile on his face! There was something about him that, when I started traveling with him, it affected me too...

But then... Why did they attack us outside the motel? If it wasn't for Fluky, we would have died.

Ugh! None of this made any sense!

I stepped outside, into the cold, wet rain.

My leg felt fine before I stepped out. Sure, there was still that limp, and I wasn't going to be running marathons any time soon, but now, with the rain pounding on it and feeling the sting behind each drop, it made matters worse for me. Pour salt in the wound why don't you...

They both trotted up to both sides of me, which caught me by surprise. I looked down at Fluky, and she looked back up at me with that faint smile.

"I still don't like you all that much..." She stated. "But I'm willing to tolerate you, for the time being."

I nodded and smiled back just a little. "Fair enough." I looked ahead at the trail that moved down to the south.

We got out of the parking lot, and proceeded our course out of Saddle.

... Until there was a fork in the path, and the trail ahead turned right a ways away.

The three of us stopped and looked over our options. The left path went left, respectively. The right one seemed to circle around and turn back.

"Hey, Flukes..."

"Don't call me that."

I kept my eyes on the three paths as I continued. "Did you ever hear anything about there being more than one path...?"

"No..." She looked at each one individually. "The travel ponies only spoke of one path... Never mentioned others, before."

The trees were sentient, of course. What if all this was a way to throw us off track. It was clear they were all watching us. Er... Listening to us, I mean. I had doubts they could actually see.

They could have very easily made dummy trails, so long as it didn't interfere with the real path, right?

... Right...?

I still had no idea why they couldn't mess with the real one. Again, I had theories, but I had no real answers to those theories.

Even then, the most obvious route was straight ahead. We were past all those high towers, and this area was entirely new to me.

I started walking forward, through the path in the middle, and the others followed; Para still walking with a little dance in his movement, like he always did.

"Should we just cut through the forest and make a b-line out of here?" I asked, looking ahead at our turn.

"I don't think it's a good idea." Fluky answered. "I heard there was a disaster over there, and a bunch of radiation or something filled the area."

"Right..." I muttered, before speaking up. "Detour it is."

Para turned up the volume on his radio a bit. It was astonishing that it still worked out here, in the rain. Water damage didn't seem to have an effect, even with the cracked casing and exposed, glowing, cylinder battery.

Music played through the rain as we trekked on the path, through the forest.

One hoof forward was a step closer out of Saddle.

I couldn't wait to see unaltered color again.

We turned where the path took us and kept going. I just hoped it led out of this chaotic place. I didn't want to be here anymore.

Saddle sucked.

Author's Notes:

This chapter took a lot more time than usual to make, for some reason. The next chapter will be more exciting, I promise. It's already planned out. It just needs to be written. I sincerely hope you're all enjoying this story. I and Pines enjoy making it. Sorry it's taking so long to put each chapter out there. I've been trying to make time for all the projects I'm doing at the moment, this one included.

Anyways, thanks to Kkat for making FoE, thanks to Somber for not only making Project Horizons, but also giving me some of his time to help me with this project to keep the continuity of his own story, hence the hints to the previous chapters. Thanks to Pines for his great, much needed help on both Fluky and Para's characters/dialogues, and thanks to those who give us their time to read this story. It's much appreciated. Thank you all who read this.

The song that I "parodied" is Creedence Clearwater's "Green River." Honestly, I only changed one word... >.>
But I thought the song was fitting for the situation they were in, for more than one reason. ;)

Pines: A Splish and a Splash, the rain keeps pouring. Will this rain ever stop? Will Fluky open up to Charger? Will they ever find Para's hidden mattress fort? Find out when we are back with RADIO STATIC!