Now what if I, the all powerful Three Dog, bow-wow-wow, were to tell you that somewhere right here in the Capital Wasteland, is a place with lots of trees?

Unfortunately, the path took another right turn, which meant we were being turned around in one giant circle, heading back to the dead town. The rain wasn't getting any harder than it already was, thank Celestia.

What I didn't thank was the agonizing stings and burns at my wound. I may as well have just been pouring salt over it, just by being out here.

And don't get me started on the rump rash...

Sigh...

This was going to take a lot longer than it needed to be.

A part of me wanted to risk cutting through the forest and walking until we reached the end of the killer trees, but if there was a problem, and we needed to run... Actually, I was screwed either way. But I at least had more chances of surviving on the path than I did in the forest... surrounded by all those icky trees...

Icky...? Oh no... My vocabulary was devolving! Para, what did you do to me!?

"An umbrella would have been nice..." I said softly behind my pained expression and clenched teeth. The rain was even starting to affect my rash. It hurt even more than it did without the rain.

"Oh wah." Fluky rolled her eyes. "What a baby. It's just rain." She paused, putting her hoof to her muzzle, thinking to herself. "Salty rain, but rain."

"I spent my entire life living underground until about a week and a half ago." I started, looking down at her. "My world consisted of steel walls, and my sky was a grey ceiling, so pardon me for not getting used to having water fall on me from my new sky. Plus, it's burning incredibly bad on both my flank and my leg."

She looked away and nickered softly. "Oh salty rain... How I love you."

"You enjoy my pain, I take it." I glared.

She looked back at me with a faint smile. "Mhm."

Para poked my shoulder, and when I looked over, he was pulling his hat up from over his eyes, smiling. "Can I have a candy cane?"

"Is that all you have to offer to this conversation?" I raised a brow, tilting my head to my right a little.

"Condensation? Who's Condensation? Why would I offer them something if I don't know them? You're making stuff up." He pointed an accusing hoof at me. "That's not even a word."

"It's a word." Fluky and I both said in unison.

I couldn't help but smile a little at that.

"Both of you are silly ponies." He smirked, then reiterated. "Can I have a candy cane?"

I released a resigned sigh and dug into my pocket. "What flavor would you like?"

"Sparkle Cola!" He grinned.

I gazed into the bag after pulling it out, but none of them had any labels...

"Uh..." I stopped dead in my tracks, looking down at the sack full of 'treasure.' "I don't know which one that would be..."

Para pressed his forehead against mine, looking down into the bag. "Hm..." He rubbed his chin with a hoof. "We're in a bit of a pickle." He gasped as he continued to peer inside. "What if they made pickle flavored candy canes?"

"Ew!" Fluky looked in the bag next, pressing the top of her head against both of us. "That's gross, Para!"

"Have to agree with the filly on this one." I said. "That is the worst idea in the history of ideas." Looking up at them without moving my head, I continued. "So why are we all huddled up like this?"

"I wanted a cane too." She admitted, smiling a little.

"I guess I'll just take... this one." Para dug his muzzle in and took an orange cane out. Or... I thought it was orange. Dull colors made things more challenging than I would have ever thought.

Fluky took a dark grey one out, and I put the bag back in my pocket and watched as they both removed the plastic wrappings of their treats.

Para got his in his mouth first. He seemed to be a master at doing things with his hooves... Shuffling cards, removing wrappers... What else could he do?

He froze with a look of absolute dread on his face, then spat the cane out.

"BLEGH!" He rubbed his hooves over his tongue repeatedly, in attempts to wipe the taste off.

His cane landed in a puddle on the ground, and he stared it down as he pointed a hoof at it. "That cane is rotten!"

"What?" I asked, looking at it in curiosity. "That doesn't make any sense, Para. I don't think canes can-"

"Evil cane." He interrupted. "Nasty!"

"Oh come on..." I rolled my eyes, getting ready to pick it up and taste it for myself. "It can't be that bad."

Famous last words... I've been wrong before.

One lick sent me tossing it back on the ground and spitting. "Yep, it's bad."

The two of them just stared at me in silence as I stood there, doing my best to not show the disgust on my face. I couldn't keep it in anymore, though... It was too much... The longer the taste resided on my tongue, the worse it got!

I eventually broke and spat in the puddle repeatedly, wiping my tongue with the tip of my hoof as I gagged. "Oh, it's horrible! It's like if cold medicine could grow mold!" I coughed and hacked and spat, but the taste wouldn't leave!

Fluky giggled uncontrollably as I freaked out over its flavor, and Para started shuddering and coughing. "Yucky!"

I looked at the filly with a disturbed expression etched on my face. "Well, what flavor did you get?" I pointed my hoof in her direction as I was about ready to dunk my muzzle into a puddle and start drinking. Hell, I bet mud tasted better than this.

She stuck it in her mouth after finishing removing the wrapper, then beamed at us. "Sparkle cola!"

My jaw dropped for a second, before I shook my head and spat once more. "Let's keep going." I started walking again, taking out the bag of canes and placing a green one in my mouth, after dealing with the removal process of the wrapper. Sour, sweet... Green apple. Much better than salty rain and orange candy canes combined.

Huh... I guess candy canes weren't that bad, after all...

Once that was gone, I washed the remaining flavor of the orange cane away with a bottle of Sparkle Cola.

Throughout our journey, we had frequently heard the hissing of trees, but no matter how loud they were, they didn't bother us. I had no idea what triggered their aggressive nature. It seemed random... but there had to be something that caused them to freak out.

The music on Para's radio came to a close, and the DJ started speaking.

"I hate rain..."

A new song came on.

I looked over at the machine in his pocket with a raised brow. "Oh, is that all?"

"I was hoping to hear one of his adventures." Fluky stated. "We all hate rain, alright?" She threw her hooves in the air, looking up at the sky with a familiar glare she gave me many times before. "But the mean robutt is making us walk in it!"

"Aww, what's wrong, Flukes? I thought you loved the rain." I chuckled softly to myself, but that only earned me the same glare she was giving the sky a few seconds ago... and a kick to my hock, causing me to collapse.

Okay, ow...

"It's... for the greater good..." I pulled myself up and looked at her. "You should have grabbed a jacket when you had the chance." Despite the immense pain in my hindquarters, I smirked and patted her on the head.

She swiped a hoof at me, but missed entirely, now that my reflexes were kicking in. "No touching!"

I rolled my eyes and started to look ahead, until my eyes caught something in an alleyway between two buildings made of brick. I stopped dead in my tracks and stared at it, expecting it to move and come at us, whatever it was. The distance between me and it had its appearance come out as a black lump, just lying there.

A body, perhaps?

No... No, that wouldn't make any sense. I hadn't spotted a single skeleton, or a bone for that matter, the entire time I was here.

So... scratch that off the list of possibilities.

"Robutt?"

I looked at the others to see they were looking back at me; Para smiling, and Fluky questioningly.

"Hold on." I said, warily making my way over to the object of interest.

The closer I got, the clearer the lump became. I only had to stop a few feet in front of it to figure out just what it was that lay here.

I grinned and looked back, waving the others over.

They stopped at my side, looking down at the wet, soggy lump before us.

"What is it?" Para asked.

I rolled my eyes and looked over. "Did you seriously just ask that?"

He nodded with a faint smile, and I sighed, looking back down at it with a much more satisfied smirk. "It's a duffel bag."

"Full of what?" Fluky asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Something good, I hope." I bit down on the rusty zipper, opened the compartment, spat out the horrible flavor of rust, and looked down. My hopes of survival just increased as I pulled out a double barreled, sawn-off shotgun with my mouth. If it wasn't full, I'd be grinning, laughing, and jumping around like a little filly in a candy store! It felt like Hearth's Warming!

"Gunz!" I said happily.

"Gums?" Para tilted his head. "Those aren't gums. Those are toys!" He beamed at me, and I gave an exasperated, muffled sigh, before turning to Fluky.

"You good with a gun?"

She looked down at the selection. They were all smaller armaments such as pistols, sawn-offs, and even a few grenades! After a few seconds, she looked back up at me in worry. "Mommy and daddy always told me to not play with guns..."

"Circumstances have changed." I just realized I was pointing the gun at her, and I immediately tucked it into my saddle bag - which took a lot of effort and reach before I achieved my short term goal - then smiled apologetically at her. "Sorry about that..."

Her worried expression faded a little, and she nodded silently, before returning to the bag. "Are you sure it's okay...?"

"As long as you don't try shooting me." I laughed softly, but she didn't share it.

"No promises..." She muttered, before picking up a pistol. "I'f nefer shof a gunf beforef."

I laughed nervously as I looked at her, aiming the gun at me. "M-maybe I should take the gun, just until you know how to operate one."

She rolled her eyes, then spat it back into the bag. "It's uncomfortable having in my mouth, anyways."

I looked at Para. "What about you? Can you handle a gun?"

He shook his head. "I don't really like gum. I'll have a candy cane, though!"

I looked at him as if he solved a simple math question for the very first time, then turned back to the bag, zipping it up. I put the strap around my neck and started back for the path. The more guns we had, the better.

I pulled the sawn-off out of my bag - which took a lot more effort than it did putting in - and held it out to Para. "I need you to load this." He looked at me in confusion, and I thought about what I was asking Para to do. "Load it with... uhh..." Come on, Charger... What was it he called them again? Oh! Right. "Fat nuggets."

"Well, that's weird." He looked at me as if I were mentally disturbed, and I smiled sheepishly.

"I guess I'm just a... weird pony..."

He took the gun and snapped the barrel open with his hooves, but discovered that there were already two shells within its chamber. He looked back at me. "Someone beat me to it. Should I take these ones out?"

I shook my head quickly. "No. Ignore my previous request. It's fine the way it is."

He nodded, whipped the barrel upright to snap back in place, and gave it back. I slipped it into the collar of my jacket this time, finding that it was a much more convenient spot for me to put it. That way, if we ran into trouble, all I had to do was turn my head to the right and pull out the gun, instead of trying to reach it from behind, towards my rear. A real holster for this would have sealed the deal. Sucks that wasn't included with the gift from the unknown.

Para's music stopped abruptly, and we all stopped and looked at the radio on his side.

"Ah darn..." Para said, frowning as he tapped the machine with his hoof a few times. "I'm not wall to wall, treetops tall, no more..."

Through the hissing of static, I made out a deep, systematic tone, speaking a series of... numbers?

"Wait." I said before he turned the volume down. The two of them looked at me, awaiting me to continue what I was going to say. "Hold on... I think I hear something." I took the radio, and to my surprise, Para didn't whine about it or tie my tail around my legs. I carefully adjusted the dial to the right, but it was becoming faint. I turned it left, and it started to clear up.

"-9821..." The channel went to static. Not the usual type that we just heard, but the white noise of a silent comms line. Not long after, it was invaded by three beeps, followed by three more beeps that lasted a bit longer than the former, and then three more beeps that sounded just like the first set. I immediately knew what this was...

It was morse code for 'SOS.'

"I am in desperate need of help. My stable is overrun, and the bottom floors are flooded." The pony behind the broadcast spoke in a calm manner, for someone that needed urgent help. "I have food, water, shelter, medical supplies, ammunition, and I can help, if you are in need of medical attention. I am the sole survivor of Stable 32. If you can hear this... If you can hear me... I need help. Everything is wrong... It's all wrong... Please... Hurry... Help me..."

The rest of the broadcast went to a song from way back when.

It started with a single guitar playing a soft, less-than-moderately paced note, which was soon followed by a slightly higher pitched stallion humming. Following the voice and the guitar was the notes of a piano.

Address unknown

Not even a trace of you

Oh, what I'd give

To see the pace of you

I was a fool to stay away

From you so long

I should have known there'd come a day, when you'd be gone

Address unknown

Oh, how could I be so blind?

To think that you

Would never be hard to find

From the place of your birth

To the ends of Equus

I've searched, only to find

Only to find

Address unknown

We all stood there, silent in the rain, listening to the song and looking at one another, until I spoke up towards the end of the song.

"Have any clue where Stable 32 is?"

Para shrugged, and Fluky looked clueless.

"Well..." She started. "I heard rumors of a stable somewhere in the city, but nopony knew where it was. Everyone was too scared to wander too far off the trail. I honestly thought it was a myth until now..."

When the song came to an end, the deep voice I heard earlier started again.

"ITERATION; 9887359822." The channel went quiet again, and the morse code started once more, followed by the broadcast of the survivor in 32... if they were even alive at this point. The iteration count was rather high... The chances of finding them still alive, and sane for that matter, was quite slim. But if there was ammo and food, which I knew we'd need a whole lot more of, then it was worth investigating.

So long as it was all still there, that is. Worse case scenario, we get to sleep out of the rain and cold.

... And away from the trees.

"I think we should try and find Stable 32." I said. "We definitely need the supplies, and-"

"And canes." Para added.

I narrowed my eyes at him, then looked back at Fluky. "Yes... Cause that's exactly what we need. More... candy canes..."

The song ended, and the next iteration ended on '9823.'

I shook my head. "If that pony is still alive, I'd like to help them with whatever is going on over there."

"So..." Fluky paused. "How are we going to find Stable 32?" She put a hoof to her muzzle, thinking to herself, though I knew sarcasm when I saw it. "I did mention that nopony could find it, right?"

Aaaand there came the snarky remark. Right on cue.

I sighed and looked around my surroundings. "Yeah... you did..." Then my mind jumped on an idea. "Do you know where the town hall would be? Surely they'd have records of 32's location."

"Uh..." She paused, this time actually thinking to herself. "Last I heard, it was still standing, but I don't know where it is."

I slumped, and she glared at me. "Hey, this is my first time out of Saddle, alright? So don't give me that!" She pointed a hoof at me.

I looked up at the grey, cloudy sky, then at the horizons. "Hm..." There had to be somethi...

Wait! That's it!

I pointed back to the bigger part of the city that held all the towers. There was a crane that was closer to us than the rest of the buildings, but it was still a bit of a walk back to where we came from. "I'll just climb the crane over there, and see if I can't find it that way!" I smiled nervously, trying my best to not give in to my recently discovered fear of heights. The more I looked at it, the harder it was for me to not break down from the idea of climbing it.

Fluky groaned out of irritation. Honestly, I felt her pain. I didn't want to go back, either. But Stable 32 sounded like a great deal for us. Plus, I was in desperate need of medical attention... My ass hurt like hell, and my leg was no better.

Even if there wasn't anypony left alive in there, the real medical supplies would be nice, and I had a bit of medical experience with patching up injuries, though that wasn't my profession. I knew I could do the basics myself, though, and I only had basic injuries.

The route back, I had a sneaking suspicion we were being watched. I felt it in my gut... and I didn't think it was just the vegetation...

This felt like more.

Para and Fluky seemed completely oblivious to the feeling I had, so I just shrugged it off for the most part, but a part of me kept my guard up, in case something lunged out at us.

I missed my E.F.S...

We kept the channel playing, letting it run through its endless loop until its power source was ready to call it quits.

Morse. Message. Address Unknown. Iteration. Morse. Message. Address Unknown. Iteration. More. Message. Address Unknown. Iteration.

On and on it went, just like it had for years, presumably. I wasn't the best at math, as well as time, I'll admit, but the numbers it was giving off were a lot.

Oh, who was I kidding? The power wasn't going to go out any time soon. And that radio battery didn't seem to want to die for good, either.

After a nice, long journey through the pouring rain, cold winds, and hissing forest, we came to a stop at the construction site that held the crane in its perimeters.

It looked to me as if they were building another tower, before the bombs went off.

We had to wander off the path in order to get here, but fortunately, for all of us, the trees didn't seem to have an interest for the company of three. At least, not for now.

We stepped into the muddy compound and made our way to a small trailer that resembled an office.

After checking if the inside was clear, I held the door open for them, and they walked in, one by one. Fluky was first, Para second.

Flukes collapsed in a chair and sighed with relief, rubbing her hindquarters. Para shook his coat like a dog, spraying everything around him down with water, ourselves included.

"Ah, come on, Para!" I said, shielding my face with a hoof. Fluky grimaced as she did the same for herself.

He smiled at me after he stopped. "What? I want to get dry."

"There's other ways." I shook my head, smiling softly as I lowered my hoof. During my head shake, I caught a glimpse of something moving outside, through the window. I turned to look, but I wasn't able to make out its figure, before it flew from my field of view.

It left a trail of black smoke, which soon dissipated in a short span of a few seconds of it being made. In its trail of black, were hints of a blue, electric, glowing current.

"Did anypony else just... see that?" I looked back at them, pointing a hoof at the window.

"See what?" Para trotted over after setting his little bunny buddy cage down in a corner. He looked out, but seemed entirely clueless.

I sighed and put my hoof down after seeing Fluky staring at me as if I said something stupid. "Nothing." I smiled. "Please... both of you, stay here until I get back. I'll climb up and see if I can't find the town hall."

I put the duffel down, stepped out into the cold weather once more and closed the door behind me quickly. Looking back at the crane, I sighed, before hanging my head down and making my way there. "I can't believe I came up with this idea... What the hell was I thinking?" I muttered under my breath. "Oh yeah, sure! I'll go and climb the very high, metal structure just to find a stupid building, just so we can find the stable! Heights? What are those? That doesn't sound scary at all!" I grimaced and shook my head, closing my eyes and sighing a second time.

All of this was my idea... It was my idea to go check out the stable. It was my idea to go to the town hall and to find out where it would be. It was my idea to backtrack and climb the damn crane.

What was I even thinking?

I stopped at the base of the steel structure and looked up at the groaning, decaying metal of two centuries.

"Ohhhh sweet Celestia..." I whispered, closing my eyes as my vertigo set in to motion.

This was gonna be real good!

Okay... I did good to leave the duffel bag behind in the trailer. It would have weighed me down, and who knew how slippery those rungs were right now?

I pressed my cheek against the butt of the sawn-off for reassurance that I still had it with me.

Right... no time to lose...

I started my slow, careful climb to the top, making sure to get a secure hold of each and every rung as I did.

About half an hour passed, and I had only reached about halfway. Rain splashed against my coat violently; the wind howled and roared as it pushed against me, and the rusted steel creaked and groaned in protest for standing tall as long as it did, which only put the horrible thought of it collapsing while I was still up here in my head.

Something flew by at a startling speed, catching me off guard as I was reaching my good rear hoof up a step. I slipped, no thanks to the distraction, and now I was hanging off my two fores!

I screamed and held on for dear mercy! The wind knocked the rest of my body against the ladder a couple times as I hung there, trying to gain purchase beneath my rears. Each time I hit the ladder, it meant hitting my injury against a rung, and I winced and cried out each and every time.

Finally, after countless attempts of trying to get a hold of something, I recovered completely, and as I did, I hung onto the rung for dear life, panting heavily, which soon turned into a laugh under my panicked breath.

I... was alive.

I was alive!

Ha! Sweet royal sunbutt, I was alive!

I looked around in hopes to find whoever or whatever it was that had distracted me from my climb, but all I saw was cloud and city. I was pretty high up, and I could see a lot more than I could down there, but it still wasn't enough. Of course it wasn't...

I needed a better view, and some of the towers were blocking my view of a lot beyond them.

Of course they were...

I slowly resumed my ascension up the ladder.

Ladders had made it on my list of things I hated, now. Stairs? Oh no. I'll take stairs any day, now that I know that some sadistic asshole thought it was a great idea to make ladders! Stairs sounded like a precious commodity, and I was really wishing that I never had to climb a ladder ever again, after this.

I felt a powerful wind of something move past me, on my back. I turned to look, but only caught the electric, black cloud, which soon dissipated in the atmosphere.

There was another force of wind in front of me, but I turned to look, only to find that same electric trail of cloud.

"Oh, this isn't good..." I clung tight to the rung as I looked around more frantically. The rain had drenched my mane, which obscured my vision after forming a black curtain before my eyes. Damn it...

I used a hoof to swipe the hair to the side as best I could, and the first thing I was greeted with was a massive, smoky figure that resembled a bird, flying straight for me as it stretched its beak to unfathomable lengths!

Oh no... No, no! Not me! Go after somepony else!

I clung even tighter to the rung as it rammed into the metal-framed tower, causing it to protest to the immediate assault that was applied to it.

"No, no, NO, PLEASE, NO!" Okay, so I wailing... "NOT LIKE THIS!"

The bolts on the ladder started to give, and the structure around me was bending out of place.

"You bitch!" I screamed at it as it tried reaching its beak to me. I got a better look at its white, glowing eyes, and I noticed they seemed to have the same properties of the rest of its smoky form. Wisps of white trailed off endlessly from them, before fading completely, about a few inches from the source.

The electricity didn't seem to put much of a current on the metal, thank Celestia. But damn it, it really needed to fuck off!

The smoke that emanated from its form was pretty toxic, and I was back to coughing violently and losing the air in my lungs, just like with the smoke things on the surface...

These seemed more advanced, though. For one, they were out during the day. From what I heard, the others couldn't do that.

It screeched in my face as it tried reaching out for me again, with intent to harm.

I kicked at it, but that only caused tremendous levels of pain to anything that it touched... including my bandaged wound...

I screamed, winced, and did my best to keep climbing up. That's all that mattered now. Just keep climbing and get away...

I had almost lost my grip on the rungs, no thanks to the pain that traveled through my legs and to my hooves and rear... among other sensitive areas... It was too much...

It climbed after me, but I didn't stop. I couldn't! I needed to keep pushing forward. Or... upward.

I couldn't even touch the beast! My rear hooves phased right through it when I attempted delivering a good kick to its face. That wasn't fair! Come on!

Stupid fucking wasteland! I HATE YOU SO MUCH!

No matter how fast I went up, it seemed to be catching up with me. That was to be expected. I was crippled. It wasn't, as far as I was aware.

That was it... I had it...

I bit down on the grip of my shotgun, spun my head around toward it, and squeezed the trigger with my tongue.

Click!

...

We both froze as I just hanged there on the ladder, looking absolutely dumbfounded and baffled with a gun in my mouth. Tiny hints of smoke emerged from both barrels.

"OH COME ON!" I shouted, dropping the gun from my mouth and letting it plummet down to the land below. It struck the frame, as well as the ladder, several dozen times before reaching its destination.

Well, there was no way it worked now...

It didn't really matter that I dropped it, anyways. Piece of shit was jammed and worthless as it was.

I quickly resumed my climb, but now, instead of full on chasing me, it seemed to be playing cat and mouse... and I was the mouse.

It tore the frame apart from one side and swiped at me in an almost taunting manner, before climbing up a little higher and doing the same steps over again. Though it never actually hit me, it was doing a great job at keeping me on edge... for a time.

After the fifth swing, after I slowed down and looked at it, it tore the frame open and stared back.

"Look..." I started. Goddesses, I hoped this worked... "I know I probably look like a nice, hot-blooded meal to you, but maybe we can find a peaceful resolution and talk this out? I don't want to hurt you, and you don't want to hurt me... I hope..." I smiled sheepishly. "Right...?" It continued to stare in ominous silence, and I shook my head. "Right..." I muttered under my breath. The route of reason didn't look to be doing a whole lot for me at the moment... "I'll totally forget any of this happened if we just part ways."

Was it just me, or was it... grinning?

Oh... Oh yes, it was definitely grinning... All those sharp teeth... Oh my...

Second after second, its mouth grew wider, and the more I watched, the more I felt my heart get ready to explode from fear itself.

Fight or flight, don't fail me now!

I started my ascension once more, breathing heavily, as I was fatigued from the close proximity of the beast.

"Climbing, climbing, climbing, climbing!" I kept saying in a panicked, out of breath tone.

My arms and legs were tired, my lungs were downright exhausted, and the head rush was... quite literally, a headache to deal with, but before I knew it, I was finally reaching the top.

The beast spread its wings and let go of the tower, plummeting down for a few seconds before flying back up and circling me like a hawk to its prey. It screamed through the air as its electric glow started to brighten up the dark and stormy skies. Lightning flashed underneath the massive clouds overhead in roots of white, and thunder joined in with the beast's bone chilling symphony.

I didn't stop. I couldn't. It was back to charging right at me!

My leg was aching, and I swore, I may have torn the scab open, cause I saw and felt blood leaking through the fresh sheeting around the injury.

No... No time for breaks! It was closing in faster and faster by the second!

For a second, I didn't believe I was going to make it... For a second, I thought that was it for me... I was almost entirely convinced of it.

But how many other times have I thought that out here?

With absolutely no more time to spare, I crawled up onto the metal grated catwalk, looking down as the beast swept past, continuing its horrifying screech.

The monster had disappeared above the clouds... leaving me be, I had hoped.

I stood up on all fours and carefully walked across the metal grating, towards the end, as I observed my surroundings. The monster was gone... for now. I at least had time to do what I came up here for.

I looked around in each direction, but no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find even a hint of a town hall...

And to top it all off, the rain was too thick to really see too far.

Great... just wonderful...

Another meaningless adventu...

The crane jolted, and I tensed up before falling to the floor.

"No. Just no..." I said, closing my eyes. "Stop. I'm not dealing with this..."

I waited for a few seconds, but all I could hear was the boom of thunder, the howling of wind, and the hissing of rain.

The crane remained still, and I looked around in search for the beast that lingered.

I turned in every direction, but it yet remained to be seen. Even its trail seemed to completely evade my perception.

Our game of cat and mouse continued, only I was in a slightly better position to play, this time.

The rain beat against me, and the wind swayed both my mane and tail to one side. Through each lightning strike, my shadow was cast on the steel surface of the catwalk as I glared in the distance, in search for my hunter.

So much for coming to terms with a truce.

The beast dived down to the crane and tore a fraction of the metal bars above me off with one pass.

Shrapnel rained down on me, causing me to cover my eyes with my hoof, before turning my head and looking behind me with that same hostile glare and gritted teeth.

"Bring it on..." I muttered under my breath, still fatigued from the smoke. At least I had stopped coughing... Though, my lungs were still burning.

As it came by for a second run, I turned my body to face it completely.

I knew I couldn't fight it. But maybe I could find a way around it... A way to best it... A way to beat it through its own actions... I just had to think...

Let's see... It was able to interact with the world and its surroundings, but nothing could interact with it...

... Well... Brainstorming over. I was fucked, pure and simple.

I couldn't think of anything that could possibly beat this thing.

Maybe a blow dryer, or a leafblower, but that's it... I didn't even have that on me.

I kept my eyes locked on to the creature's, ready for it to strike.

As it made another sweep down, stretching its talons out to grab me, I lunged forward, landing on my belly.

It passed by, unsuccessful of its goal, and knowing that its current form of approach would be a waste of time, it circled around and landed on the end, staring me down. Between the two of us was a comforting stretch of catwalk. It couldn't reach me where it was, and I... I didn't want to reach it. I was fine being as far away from it as possible.

It started walking forward, and I took steps back, until my backside... my sore backside... struck the small metal cabin that resembled the control room.

"MOVE!" A deep, male voice shouted from my left, and before I could turn to look, a leather-armored, black feathered griffin flew overhead, wielding a battle saddle with two built in cannons on each wing that looked big enough to weigh any pegasus down. I guess griffins were an exception. He seemed to handle it just fine.

The bird redirected its attention on the... well... new bird, and roared at him as he circled around and aimed his cannons down on the crane.

"I SAID MOVE!" He shouted once more, but looking down from where I came, I was gifted with the wonderful feeling of deep dread and the loss of hope.

Oh, and the irrational fear of heights. Can't forget that.

The ladder was torn to pieces, and then some.

I looked back to see the griffin fire a massive beam of light from each cannon as he glided down.

The beast shrieked as the energy washed over its form. It writhed in agony for several seconds. To my surprise, it was actually getting hurt!

It lunged at its new sworn enemy, but he took evasive action, ceasing fire as he circled around to its backside.

The shadow creature continued to shriek and stumble around, shaking its head aggressively, discovering with a few flaps of its wings and jumps, that it couldn't fly anymore.

It slammed against any bars that it hadn't already taken out in a disoriented state, mixed with rage.

Gradually, over time, its body started to vanish, smoke and all. It stared at me once more, ignoring what was happening to itself, and started to charge for me once again.

The crane started to shake and cry. I kept my ground as it came after me, but the platform was starting to tilt to one side. I started sliding closer to the ledge, and the monster was starting to have more difficulties getting to me as well. With its wings disabled, it wasn't as powerful and quick as it was earlier.

I looked down at the ground as I backed up toward the exterior wall of the cabin.

"Oh, I hate heights..." I muttered softly.

Another round of beams tore into the creature's back just before it could reach me, and a hole was torn through its chest. The beams continued from there and struck the catwalk before me, and then the supports below, making the tower lose its balance much faster than it was earlier.

The smoke was deteriorating faster, but it was still putting up a fight to take me down with it. I backed up towards the ledge and stopped. There was nowhere else to go but down... and I really didn't like the idea of that. If only this had been built with stairs... I was finding a whole new love for them. Anything but ladders... I was so wrong about how evil stairs were.

Just as the crane was ready to give up completely, and the bird was ready to lunge at me, the griffin swooped in and lifted me off my hooves, only to launch again.

I thrashed around in a panic, feeling like I was falling! Nothing was underneath my hooves but air, and that was more than enough to send me screaming.

"Cut it out!" The griffin ordered. "I'm saving your sorry ass!"

I did as he was told, but clung tight to his body as we flew away from the collapsing crane. The beast within was nothing more than a few wisps of black cloud, before the crane had fallen completely, leaving a great big cloud of dirt and debris in the construction yard. The trailer was still intact, thank Celestia... In fact, the crane was nowhere near hitting the trailer. I couldn't bear to have them die because of me... Too much blood was on my hooves as it was.

The griffin set me down on the roof of a neighboring tower and stepped back, glaring at me. "What the Hell is a surface pony doing in a place like this? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

I shuddered as I looked down at the forest-covered streets below, then looked up into his hazel eyes. "On the contrary, actually..." I stood up, but my hooves were shaking from the adrenaline. "I'm trying to escape this Celestia-forbidden place, but not without some supplies, first."

He laughed. "Supplies? Here? Good luck finding anything worth a damn. This place is a dump, and everything that hasn't already been taken, is broken."

"Well, good news for me then. I like fixing things." I smiled faintly, trying to ignore the fear that was set in my pounding heart.

He rolled his eyes and huffed. "Yeah, whatever. You owe me big time. I just fired 4 megaspell cannons at that abomination before it had pony on the menu... twice. Do you have any idea what that's going to do to me?"

"Uhhh..."

"Newsflash, kid! I have a higher risk of getting hard-to-remove tumors each time I fire this thing." He flapped his wings up a bit, showing the cannons. "And I just shortened my chances of survival, all because of your recklessness!"

"Me?" I glared back, pointing a hoof to my chest. "I didn't ask you to fire them! You did that yourself!" I pointed my hoof on the eighth word of my argument. "Wait..." I sat up straight and looked at him curiously. "Why are you using something so dangerous to begin with? Just use a regular gun."

"Did you crawl out of the ground or something? In case you haven't noticed, you can't kill a megaspell creature with with anything normal. You gotta fight fire with fire..." He put a claw to his beak, thinking to himself with a frown. "Or... megaspell with megaspell, in this case."

"Those... are megaspell creatures?" I looked back at the crane debris.

"What am I, a broken record?" He muttered. "YES, YOU DIMWIT! Pull your head out of your ass and listen to what I'm saying! I'm not gonna tell you again!"

I sighed and closed my eyes. "I'm glad you saved me... whoever you are... But why don't you just calm down?"

He took a deep lungful of air, then shook his head hard. "Alright... Well... where are you off to? Do you have any place in mind for supplies?"

Just like that? Huh... I didn't expect that to actually work. I knew griffins were naturally aggressive, judging by what I read about them, but for one to calm down, just like that? Odd...

"Uh..." I paused. "Yeah, I'm looking for the town hall."

He cocked his head to the side, raising a brow. "What for? There's nothing there but papers of a bygone era."

"I know. That's why I'm going there."

He looked at me, just like Fluky did whenever I spoke; as if I just said the stupidest thing that could be said in all of Equus.

"And... what, you're going to build a paper hat or something?"

Okay, now it was my turn to look at him as if he was the stupid one. "No... I'm trying to find Stable 32. If anything had its whereabouts, it'd be the town hall."

He looked at me for a few seconds, then shook his head, chuckling softly to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing." He lifted a talon to me. "I'm actually kind of impressed. You're smarter than I thought, for a surface pony."

"Uh..." I raised an eyebrow. "Thanks?"

He nodded. "I'll do you one better." With that, he turned around and pointed his talon to a patch of... oh.

... The palm trees I saw earlier, back in the apartment.

"Just head into the park over there. Can't miss it." He looked back at me and smiled sincerely. "A plus for thinking ahead, though. Not many do nowadays."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "For a griffin, you seemed to have changed your attitude rather quick."

He shrugged with a roll of his eyes. "I'm still not happy I had to use these bastards to save your hide, but... no point in living in constant anger. Gets me nowhere."

"Right..." I backed up a little, unsure of him. There was something off about his character... "Well, again, thanks for saving me. Do you think maybe you can get me back to the construction yard? I have to get back to my group."

"You mean the filly and the wingless pegasus?"

I raised an eyebrow at his response, to which he explained himself.

"I've been watching the three of you for some time, now."

"Why...?"

"Three ponies walking through a deadly forest that attacks anything that makes noise. Yet, there you are blasting music on a radio, and nothing is happening to any of you. The real question is 'why wouldn't I?'"

"Fair point..." I looked back down at the yard, and he started up again.

"Alright." He turned around. "Get on my back... And don't freak out this time."

I hesitantly did as he said, and we dived down to the ground upon take off. I clung tight around his neck, but after a series of chokes and gags, I loosened my grip a bit, grinning sheepishly.

"Sorry about that..." I whispered into his ear.

The rest of the trip back was made in silence, though that meant nothing, seeing as we were only a block away.

We landed next to the debris and I got off of him to discover that my arms and legs were shaking again. I hated heights... so much!

"Well, be more careful." The griffin said, looking at me. "If you can, avoid anything that moves that isn't any of your friends."

They weren't exactly my friends, but...

He started to take off again, but I raised a hoof. "Wait, where are you going?"

He gave me a puzzled look. "Away."

"Why? I mean... you could stick with me and the others for a bit. Safety in numbers, and all that."

He grimaced. "Yeah, I don't think so... I don't do teamwork." He spoke as if the sound of that last word disgusted him. "I saved you. That's that. Really, I shouldn't have even done that, but seeing as I was hired to take down the Shadow Pheonix... Well... two birds, one stone."

"Shadow Pheonix? That didn't look anything like a pheonix."

"It's just a name. Really, it looks more like a vulture."

"So... you were going to fire those guns, regardless if I was there or not. And you still blamed me for firing..."

"Yes, I know!" He interrupted. "Why do you think I calmed down so easily?" He paused, then sighed. "Maybe my good deed will pay off for helping you." He shrugged. "Maybe I'll get free medical or something, I don't know..." He paused again, narrowing his eyes at me. "Got any caps?"

"Wait, if you're doing good deeds just to get stuff out of it, I don't really think that's..."

"Point is, I don't do teamwork!" He shouted. "I showed you Stable 32. Have fun." Before I could reply, he took off for the skies within the blink of an eye.

I sighed and turned to the trailer. Fluky was staring at me through the window with a dropped jaw, and Para was just smiling at me through the window on the other end of the door.

I smiled sheepishly and stepped inside, tracking muddy hoofprints within.

The radio was still playing the SOS, and I walked in on the iteration.

"Who was that?" Fluky asked, pointing at the window pane.

"No idea, honestly." I answered. "He didn't give me a name, but he saved me from the crane." I paused, then added with some thought. "Don't make yourself known to any shadow birds... Seriously. Vicious things." I shuddered and looked back at the crane. "Are you two alright?"

"Yeah..." Fluky answered. "A bit shaken up, but I'll live..."

"I'm just fine!" Para said with a cheerful smile.

I nodded, and Fluky continued. "Did you see the town hall?"

I looked at her and shook my head. "No, but I know where 32 is, now. We don't need the town hall."

"Great!" Para jumped up with joy and a grin on his face. "Let's hit the road!"

"In a bit..." I 'laid' down on my stomach and sighed. When I say 'laid,' I really meant 'collapse' from quivering hooves. "I need to process what just happened..." I closed my eyes. "With a nice... long... nap..."

When I awoke, the musty carpet around me was drenched in rain water that I had supplied with my own body. My stomach was wet, but the rest of me was less than damp.

I got up on three hooves and stretched, groaning as I did.

Para and Fluky were playing a card game, while the radio still played the SOS broadcast.

I could still hear the rain outside, which dampened my mood a bit. I had hoped that when I woke up, the storm would have finally cleared.

I limped towards the company of two and sat awkwardly on my haunches, watching their game. My leg still hurt, so I had a bit of trouble sitting properly... Not to mention the flank rash...

"So who's winning?"

Fluky pointed a hoof at Para without tearing her eyes away from her own hand. "He is."

He smiled a little as he looked at me. "Have a nice nap?"

"As nice a nap as I could have, out in the wasteland." I smirked.

Para looked back at his hand for a few seconds before setting it down, revealing what he had to everyone. A king and a queen.

"Soggy apples!" Fluky threw her hand down on the floor between the two of them and pouted. "You're always winning!" They landed face down, and so I only assumed that was a fold.

Para beamed at her and took every last card, stacked them neatly, before he put them in the small, black and white, decorated, cardboard box, to which he slipped into his jacket pocket. "10-18 to 32?" He looked at me with a smile as he put his hat on, adjusting it via the brim. I nodded in reply.

"10-18 to 32."

Through the wet of the rain we walked... again... for the third time since I came here. Saying 'I'm tired of the rain' would be both needless and a huge understatement.

I think I was starting to catch a cold, too. My sinuses were starting to clog.

Para, on the other hoof, had finally turned down the volume of the broadcast that I imagined he had no intention of changing any time soon. I had heard it long enough, that I made note of each iteration, and by some psychological, super magical ability, predicted what the next number would end at.

Fluky was walking along the other side of Para this time, which meant avoiding me. I had noticed her catch a few glimpses in my direction, however.

"Are we there yet?" Para whined.

"Does it look like we're there yet?" I glared at him. "Please save my brain cells the trouble, and don't ask stupid questions." I looked ahead again.

"Are we there yet?" At first, he looked - and sounded - impatient, but that quickly changed with a smile. "Also, can I have a cane?"

"No... and no!" I looked around, but the palm trees had been out of my sight for a while now. I was walking blindly in the direction that I thought they were at. I stopped, and the others followed my lead. "Besides... I think we're lost..." I muttered.

"Where is there?" Para cocked his head to the side.

I sighed and put my hoof to my face.

"I thought it was over there." Fluky pointed in the direction we had been going all along, and I groaned.

"Not you too..."

"If we keep walking, we'll get there." She continued. "But... dare I even go there? I heard spooky stories about that place. Creatures that'll tear right into you, so much as look at ya."

"Oh, I don't think I could bear that."

"Stop... please." I closed my eyes and hung my head.

"So, if we're here, and there is over there somewhere..." Para pointed ahead. "Then where is a shortcut to get there faster? Cause I wanna be there!" He stomped his hooves in a tantrum.

I swear, he was such a foal...

"I thought you said you couldn't bear it!" I shouted.

He calmed down, looked at me for a few seconds, smiled, then shrugged. "Eh. Sounds like a spooky house of jumpscares!" That smile became a grin. "And I didn't hear anything about there being a fare, so that seems more than fair to me. Better be free, with all this walking in the rain." He flicked a hoof forward, and rain drops launched forward, only for more to take their place on said hoof.

"Okay, you know what..." I started walking forward again. "It just feels to me like this place is a lot farther than it looked. I think we might have passed it."

"And so the question remains..." He rubbed his chin with a hoof as he looked ahead in contemplation. "Where... is there?"

I groaned and rolled my eyes. "Stop."

"Could it be over there somewhere?" Fluky asked.

"Stop it. Seriously."

"No, I'm being serious!"

I looked at her to see she was pointing to our right. I looked over to see the umbrella-like tops of palm trees, and I grinned.

"Yep, that's it!" I looked back at her and raised a hoof. "Score one for Fluky!"

She looked at me skeptically, then backed up. "You still don't get it, do you?"

I frowned.

"We're not friends... and we never will be." She and Para started down an alleyway, towards our destination.

Through the trees.

I sighed and hung my head again, following in their hoofsteps.

"Hey..." Para whispered, looking back at me as he slowed down a bit, until catching my pace at my side. "I have a question..."

I looked at him and smiled faintly. "Yeah? What is it, Para?"

"I've been thinking about it for a long time now, and... It's crazy to think about... Ponies might make fun of me for it, so keep this a secret, but..." He paused and looked around, then moved in closer. "Do you think unicorns exist...?"

...

......

That's it. My brain cells were now murdering each other. Mental genocide was happening in my squishy thought noodle. I swear, I could feel myself get stupider just by hearing what he had to say!

At the end of the maze-like alley, we heard two voices. For a second, I mistook it for the trees, rain, or even the faint voice on the radio, but this sounded like an actual conversation between two individuals.

One was a scratchy and raspy female tone, and the other was that of a male.

I raised a hoof and whispered just loud enough for my party to hear. "Stop."

Thankfully, Fluky listened to me. She turned to me, then back to the end of the alley, as the voices were now a lot more noticeable.

Para was just bobbing his head to... Celestia knows what.

I shook my head and turned back to her. "You wait here." I continued in my whispery voice. "I'll go check it out."

She nodded and stuck by Para's side as I made my way to the edge of the alley. I peeked my head around the corner, and for a split second, before I retreated, I caught the glimpse of a red feathered, female griffin, and a dark blue stallion sitting around a bonfire, while seeking protection from the rain under a shanty roof.

The griffin wore spiked armor plating around her form. Her helmet rested before her, at her steel-clad talons.

The stallion wore leather padding, and I spotted a pistol holstered on his side. The griffin had a battle saddle, I think. It was hard to tell from here. I didn't see much of anything else on her that could be used as a weapon, but seeing as she may as well have been a weapon, that didn't really make me feel any better.

After I retreated, I stood there, looking at the ground as rain washed down my mane, and I listened to their conversation.

"Ha!" The stallion laughed. "That was a good one! Do you have any more stories like that?"

"How much time ya got?" The griffin asked.

"All the time in the world."

"Heh... Yeah, I got a few. Let me see..." There was a brief pause before she resumed. "Alright, so a couple years back, before I met Sting, me and a couple of my friends found a colt on the north side of the Vanhoover river. Wasn't that young, though. Maybe 18 or so. Anyways, after hanging out with him for a while, it started to get dark, so I built a fire. I shit you not, as soon as I lit the match, the kid screams, 'what are you doing!?' Knocks it right out of my talon."

"He knocked the match out of your claw? Why would he do that?"

"Shh! I'm telling a story!" The griffin scolded. "... So yeah, he knocks the match right out of my claw. I was so surprised, I swung and broke his nose. He said he was sorry and..." She laughed under her breath. "Get this... He said he was afraid of fire!"

"Ha! He was afraid of fire...?"

Oh dear... He was about as bad as Para...

"I just told you he was afraid of fire!" The griffin said in an agitated tone. "You keep interrupting me. It's irritating!" She sighed and took a deep breath of air. "Well... as soon as he told me that, I thought of something. I quickly apologized for hitting him and told him that it was nothing to be ashamed of. So that night, me and the others got him so drunk, so fast, he passed out within the hour. We then dragged him to the banks of the river, along with six or seven mattresses. Tied them all in a circle, with one in the middle."

"Mattresses?" The pony asked. "What did you need the mattresses for?"

She growled in anger. "Really!? Did you seriously just ask me that question? It's a goddess-damned story! All you have to do is sit and listen!" She cooled herself down, then resumed. "So... yeah. We tied all the mattresses together and put one in the middle, then put the kid on it. We doused all the mattresses with gas and lit them on fire after pushing him down into the water. We followed the burning mattresses down the river, laughing our asses off, waiting for the kid to wake up. That wasn't happening, so we threw rocks at him. After a couple hits, he wakes up. At this point, the flames are huge! Just imagine what that must have been like for him. Waking up, not knowing where he was, and all he sees is fire! He tries to get up, but can't get his hooves up on the soggy mattress. At this point, I'm laughing so hard, I practically wet myself."

"That's crazy! I bet he overcame his fear of heights then, eh?" He laughed softly. "Trial by fire."

"Nah, he never did. Turns out the kid couldn't swim." I peeked around the corner just in time to see her shrug. "Anyways, that's that."

The stallion rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Didn't see that... coming..."

They continued to sit around the fire, trying to keep warm. I didn't understand why they didn't just go in a building and rest there.

... Okay, I kind of understood. The trees could get pissed... I think... Not sure just yet. How they operated and reacted to certain things still confused my incredibly.

But... wait... The pair was talking loud enough for me to hear them, even through the rainfall. How were they not being attacked? How come none of us were being attacked?

UGH!

I mean... not that I value the idea of being attacked by a bunch of trees, but... I'd like answers!

She groaned. "Where the hell is the rest of the group? This is why I hate scout duty..." She stood up and stretched her wings, giving me a better look at her battle saddle. It wasn't anything as powerful as four megaspell cannons, but they still looked vicious. Well... At least I had confirmation of what I saw on her.

"Maybe they got lost?"

"Sting isn't a dumbass! He wouldn't just 'get lost.' Him and I have been here several times before. I just wanna loot that damn stable, already!"

Wait... Stable? They were here because of the stable, too?

"Well, he's probably just over there somewhere." The raider waved his hoof to the south without looking.

Oh... Fuck you! Don't start that again!

I hid behind the corner, thankful they didn't bother turning their head towards me.

"Or maybe he's right behind you..." Came a male voice... from behind. Before I could turn around, I felt a barrel press up against the back of my head.

"We have company!" He called out, and the barrel jabbed at me, making me move forward into the open.

The griffin looked to me coolly as I came to a stop, then at the pony behind me. "It's about time, Sting. I'm tired of sitting here, rubbing my clit all damn day. When are we going to strike?"

"In due time, Bloodwing." He spoke calmly. Para appeared on my left, and Fluky on my right. The three of us looked at each other. Even Para seemed a touch concerned. "Have patience."

"Who are the ponies?" The stallion asked, regarding us.

"We caught them in the alley way." I felt a pressure build up on my right side, and then I felt a soft whisper in my ear. "Don't you know it's rude to eavesdrop?"

Suddenly, I felt a shove from behind, forcing me to the wet pavement, on my stomach.

Bloodwing laughed, and before I could get up, her talon dug into my back.

"Oh, this one's ripe. Been a long time since I've seen meat this fresh."

I winced as the claws dug deeper. I felt my bags get lifted off me, as well as everything else, save for the jacket I wore.

"Let me go!" Fluky shouted. I turned to my right to see her struggling in a male griffin's grasp. He had a cocky smirk on his face, until she bit down on the grey feathers of his chest, and ripped out a mouthful, leaving behind a bald patch.

He yelped and threw her back down to the ground, glaring at her. "You bitch! I say we kill them all, right now!"

"Calm yourself." Sting spoke in his calm tone. "Your aggressive behavior is putting me in a dour mood."

I turned to Para as they stripped him of his gear. When the gun was taken, he fought with all his strength to get it back, but the butt of a rifle against his head stopped him completely.

"Leave them alone!" I shouted.

"Shut up!" Bloodwing applied more pressure to my back, and I groaned in pain behind clenched teeth.

I turned to Fluky. She was staring right at me with fear in her eyes. She had the same look she had when I first met her, cowering behind a couch...

She was pinned on her stomach, but her eyes stayed locked with mine. The hoof of the dark blue stallion was pressed down on her back.

I mouthed the words 'stay strong,' and she nodded with a small whimper.

One of the raiders took Para's radio and walked away with it as they turned the volume up.

"-ess unknown. Oh, how could I be so blind? To think that you would never be hard to find. From the place of your birth, to the ends of Equus. I've searched, only to find... Only to find... Address unkno-" The radio cut out abruptly, and the light within died.

"You know..." The stallion that towered over her said. "I gotta say, it's been a while since I've felt something as tight as she looks." I had noticed he was gazing down at her nether region, keeping her tail out of the way.

"Don't you dare!" I shouted, but that only earned me the honor of a set of claws digging deeper inside my back. That only made me scream louder. "LEAVE HER ALONE!" Deeper they went, and she started tearing them down gradually...

Fluky whimpered and tried to drag herself away, but again, it was to no avail.

A white coated unicorn with a black tux stepped into view, adjusting a tie. His mane was about as long as mine, but it was red with hints of black. He looked at me through green eyes and smirked. "Oh hush now. The more you fight, the more it will hurt."

I noticed that the rain seemed to fade out of existence around him before it could make contact with his body, therefore keeping him dry. He must have had a spell to keep him out of the weather.

There was no way out of this... not through violence, anyways...

Unlike that weird bird thing, he might have been interested in listening to reason.

"Sting." I said, wincing.

His eyes met mine, but he said nothing.

"That's your name, right?"

He nodded. "Correct."

"You're going to Stable 32." I stated matter of factly.

"Your point being?"

"We are too."

"Old news." He smiled, looking at Para's radio. "You were playing the broadcast. It's quite obvious where you were going. The question remains..." He looked at me again. "Your point being?"

I tried to get up, but Bloodwing kept me pinned with the claws that tore into my coat. "Well..." I winced. "We can help you get there, just as long as you let us go, afterwards."

He raised an eyebrow and looked me over coolly. "And why, pray tell, would you help a group of raiders?"

"Call it a stupid choice to stay alive." I looked into his eyes, realizing I had made a stupid choice to stay alive not too long ago. "We leave, you get what you want from 32, and everypony wins."

Fluky struggled as the stallion over her got himself into position. His excitement started to grow beneath his legs as he rubbed himself on her.

"Stop..." I said.

Sting looked over at him, then back at me. I looked at him in return.

"Please... tell him to stop. I'll help you. Just leave her alone. She's been through enough already..."

For a brief second, I saw sympathy in his eyes, and he looked back at the two. "That's enough, Blueshade."

Blueshade? Pfft... What kind of name was that?

I sighed with relief and looked at her as he got off, mumbling to himself about not having any fun.

Fluky quickly rolled over on her back; her tail covering her regions, as she breathed frantically, looking around in a panic.

"So, tell me..." Sting started. "Why would I keep the three of you alive? How do I know you won't try and kill us?"

"Because we want to survive." I answered calmly. "And we're outnumbered. You have guns, ammo, griffins, armor. Me? I have a filly and a delusional stallion with a fixation on candy canes."

"Then what use are you?"

"I'm an engineer and a repair pony, back where I'm from. I can help you get into rooms that are terminal-locked, or disable any alarms."

"And where are you from?"

"The Steel Rangers..." I looked down, and he smiled sincerely.

"Where?"

"Back in..." I paused. I knew why he was asking... I may have hated them, but... I couldn't do that to them. I had no idea how strong this pony was, or how many worked for him. I sighed and looked up at him. "Hoofington... I came from Hoofington. My chapter was split up after the HMS Celestia blew up."

He regarded me for a few seconds, before nodding. "Well, your talents will be much needed, where we're going." He nodded to Bloodwing, and she pulled her claws out of my back. I gasped, winced, then shuddered. I was definitely bleeding... but there was nothing I could do about that right now. "You and your friends can come with us, but don't expect to get your stuff back, and don't expect anything from this run." He regarded Para's little buddy with a raised eyebrow. "And what is that?"

"It's a bunny." I stated. "Mechanical bunny, but..."

He looked at me questioningly, then turned to the raider that had it in his possession. "Leave it behind. It'll only slow us down."

The raider dropped the cage on its side and laughed softly to himself as it recovered from being tossed around.

One of the ponies looked through my saddle bags, and his eyes got wide. "Damn... Someone's been stockpiling." He grinned and started loading the .357s into the gun that levitated before him, via his magic. He looked through the other pouch and raised an eyebrow, looking up at me afterwards. "Seriously? A memory orb? Earth ponies can't access these, dumbass."

Memory orb? Wait, what's a memory orb?

He put the flaps over the two bags and put them on.

"Come on!" Bloodwing forced Fluky back on her hooves and pushed her against me. "I've waited too long for this!"

Para was pushed against my other side. "No separating." The raider with my stuff said. "The three of you stay together, or I'll shoot. Say anything, you die. Make any noise, you die. Now move it."

Bloodwing and Sting stuck side by side as we moved through the forest, towards the palm trees in the distance. Everyone went quiet, as if now it became dangerous to make noise.

"Are you okay, Fluky?" I whispered as low as I could, but my voice was drowned out by the rain. I tapped her shoulder, and she looked up at me from the ground. I mouthed the words, and she looked back down, giving a slight nod.

I looked at Para and nudged him. He looked back, and I mouthed the words 'are you okay?'

He nodded, though he wasn't smiling. He rubbed the back of his head and looked down again. Blood had trickled through his mane and stained his coat. He looked like he was about ready to pass out...

We stopped at the open, black metal gate of what was once a park. On both ends of said gate, were brick walls, and the space within the park was littered in various plant life. Green plant life! Lots and lots of green! They didn't look like the others I've seen, either! They looked normal!

Sting looked to his group, raised a hoof, mouthed the word 'stay,' then made his way past the gate. He stopped on the other end and looked around for a few seconds, before levitating a rock with his magic and banging it against a rusted bench. The clangs of rock meeting metal echoed, and he made sure to stay a few dozen feet away from the bench as he waited. He let the rock drop out of his telekinetic grasp as he stood there in silence.

Everyone watched, expecting something to happen.

He turned around to his group of eight, not including us, with a smile, and waved them over. We all moved as one unit through the gate.

Sting nodded pleasantly. "Looks like it's safe to talk, here."

"Nice to finally see color, again." Bloodwing said, looking around at the nature around us. "So, when are we getting to the stable? I wanna get my claws bloody." She grinned and looked at me. I guess I was her favorite...

"Patience, love." Sting put his hoof underneath her chin, looking into her eyes with a loving and caring smile. "You'll get as you wish, in due time."

Well, that was unsettling.

He kissed her passionately, and she accepted his loving embrace; tongue meeting his. He broke it after several seconds of them having fun, and looked to the rest. "Carry on." He started forward, and the group, along with us, followed.

About three minutes passed of venturing through the tropical/mainland forest, until we came across a lake with water as clear as ever. The rain would have made it salty by now, unfortunately. Otherwise, I would have dived right in and started chugging. I was getting really thirsty and the rain water wasn't enough.

"Oh thank fuck!" The unicorn with my equipment said. "Water! Fresh, fulfilling water!" He dropped all his stuff, along with mine, and ran for it.

"Wait!" Bloodwing shouted. "We don't know if it's..."

He jumped in and disappeared beneath the surface for a few seconds, before coming back up and smiling. He collected some water in his mouth and spat it out in a fountain. "Fuck the rain! This feels great!"

Bloodwing rolled her eyes and looked away. "You're an idiot..."

He started drinking a bit and swam around.

Sting sighed as he put his hoof over his face. "We don't have time for this. Put your armor back on, and let's go. My dearest is growing impatient, and so am I, for that matter."

He sighed and started swimming back to shore. "Alright, alright... The water's getting a bit cold, anyways..." He put his armor back on, grabbed our stuff, and continued on.

For a while, the trip was silent. No one had anything to say, and I didn't want to say anything.

The raider with my stuff stopped and froze, looking down at the ground. "O-Oh..."

Bloodwing turned around and looked at him. "What is it now?" She asked in a spiteful tone.

"I don't... don't feel so good..." He put his hoof to his chest and groaned. "Mah th... mah thr..." He put his hoof over his throat and opened his mouth again, but found he couldn't speak. He started to stumble to the left, and then the right, before falling to the ground; his eyes wandering off in two different directions. He breathed hard and deep, as if he were struggling for air.

He reached his hoof out for Sting and barely managed to mouth the word 'help,' before his limb collapsed.

Everyone watched as he laid there, just fighting to get a single breath out.

But he couldn't... His body had shut down, and his eyes grew distant...

"Hm..." Sting nudged his limp body. "Interesting." He turned to Bloodwing. "Something in the water, perhaps?"

"Well, at least there's a silver lining. Now we know." She smirked and looked at one of the other raiders. "Grab his stuff and let's go."

"I bet you all have such wonderful smiles..." Para said in a slightly deepened tone, catching me and everypony else off guard. I looked at him to see the color of his eyes were slightly faded.

"Whatever, freak." The raider said as he passed by to get the corpse's gear.

It didn't take long for us to get on the move again.

During our resumed trip to 32, the radio had turned on by pure happenstance. I was looking at it when it did, and no one had touched it.

"I have some very urgent news!" The DJ pony spoke. "Mr. Happy has been spotted near stable 32. I repeat, Happy has been spotted near..." Static took over the signal for a few seconds, just before the radio was shut off again.

"Happy?" One of the raiders looked around. "Oh no... I'm not dealing with that psychopath again! I thought he was killed!"

"What's he even doing here?" Another asked. "I thought he was around the Hoofington area when he died! How can he even be alive!? Guys, this is a bad ide-"

"Shut it!" Bloodwing shouted, turning around and scratching his hide with her metal talons. He fell back and screamed in agony as blood spilled on the muddy ground he laid on. The cuts went deep... Too deep to just ignore... but no one was helping him. She continued on without so much as a single care in the world. "We're here, we're getting what we came for, and this 'Mr. Happy' can go fuck himself. I don't care who he is, he's just a person! Now stop wetting yourselves and let's fucking go already!"

"What did you say?" The raider with Para's radio asked Sting.

"What?" He looked back at him. "I didn't say anything."

"I could have sworn you said something..." He rubbed his hoof over his ear and shook his head. "Probably just my imagination... Let's go." Sting and Bloodwing both looked at him in question, then at each other. She shrugged, and they started moving again, leaving the raider on the ground behind to let him bleed out.

Para lunged for the raider that held his stuff and tackled him, but that was as far as he got, before Bloodwing tore him from the raider and threw him to the muddy ground before me.

"What the hell is your problem!?" She glared down at him, then at me. She looked up at the raider as he got up, rubbing his head. "He's all yours." She smiled as she backed away.

"Wait!" I stepped over Para, my heart pounding. "Wait, don't! He won't do it again!"

"Move it!" He stomped his hooves down on Para's gut, making him cry out. "I'm gonna make it hurt!"

"Para!" I shouted, trying to get to the raider. Bloodwing held me back as I watched him get beaten before me.

"Shut up!" She punched me in the gut and laughed as I fell on my side, holding my stomach and wincing. I felt a gentle hoof on my arm, and when I opened my eyes, I saw Fluky looking into my own with worry. "Oh, enough with this..." She pushed Fluky back, rolled me over on my back, and put a claw against my neck, cutting into my coat. She started to drag it across my esophagus, but before she could, Sting spoke.

"Don't."

She looked back at him in confusion.

"If what he said is true... If he really was a Steel Ranger, we'll need him."

She groaned in irritation and took her claw away from my neck. "Alright, fine..." She looked at the raider that beat Para senseless with two bloody hooves. "Catch up when you're done with him. I'm going to the stable."

Sting looked to his group. "The rest of you, on us." He glanced down at Fluky and I. "And someone get them back on their hooves."

We were forced up and back to moving for the stable. Fluky was reunited with me again, and she wasn't leaving my side. She was practically glued to it.

For several minutes, my gut hurt, and there were a few times I felt like I was about ready to puke up anything that was in my stomach. But nothing ever came up.

That was fine. I couldn't stop moving, or Fluky would probably be...

A gunshot echoed throughout the forest, coming from behind. A single gunshot...

... Next...

I felt my legs give out from under me, and I laid there in the mud, shuddering under my shaky breath. I closed my eyes tight as my tear ducts burned and my heart ached.

Para was gone...

And it was my fault...

"Keep moving!" Bloodwing yelled, coming back to me and lifting me off the ground by the neck. She tightened her grip, crushing my wind pipe.

"Please..." Tears broke free as I struggled for breath. "No one else needs to get hurt..."

She laughed and threw me forward. I rolled and slid across the mud for a few feet, before coming to a halt at Sting's hooves. He looked down at me with a faint smile and whispered softly. "Get up, or I'll shoot your daughter."

My... daughter?

I rolled over on my stomach and forced myself to get back up on my hooves. The pain made me want to lie there and never get up... and the physical pain didn't help with that.

But Fluky's life depended on me...

"Boss!" The raider with my gear cocked his gun as he looked ahead. "I think we got company..."

Sting turned around, and Bloodwing joined his side. I looked ahead at four red, glowing dots, through the trees, which seemed to belong to a bulky figure of a pony; the dots being where their eyes would be.

"Sentinel." Sting looked to Bloodwing. "I guess they're expecting us..."

I had heard about Sentinels before. I had even requested one to be brought to me once, so I could study them and, at the time, hopefully, be able to reprogram it to work with the Steel Rangers. But I had never even seen one, up until now.

Another Sentinel followed it.

And another.

"Everyone, hide." Sting got behind a tree and stayed quiet, and pretty soon, everyone else was doing the same.

I went back to Fluky, helped her on her hooves, and hurried her to the treeline, where we both hid.

The sentinels had made a turn onto the path and rolled down steadily.

At that moment, an idea struck me... but it was dangerous...

"Fluky..." I whispered.

She looked up at me.

"On the count of three, I want you to follow me..."

"What...?"

"It's our only chance to get away... Are you with me...?"

She looked into my eyes for several moments, contemplating if this was the smartest move. It was all I could think of... Otherwise, the raiders would finish us off once we gave them what they wanted. They didn't need to say it. I already knew what they had planned for us.

She nodded firmly.

"Good..." I peeked around the trunk to see the Sentinels were just now passing by. I waited until the last one disappeared from my field of view, which was partially blocked by the trunk of the tree, then started counting. "One... Two..." I looked at her. She was waiting eagerly for the next number.

"THREE!" Fluky and I charged out of the tree line and ran across the path. I looked back to see Sting was already aiming a rifle at us, ready to pull the trigger. "OVER HERE!" I called out at the Sentinels. They turned around in unison and aimed their gatlings and missiles at us, and I charged out of there as fast as I could. Fluky was in the lead, and was just about to reach the treeline opposite from the one we came from.

Lasers of red sprayed wildly at us, while one of the raiders came out after us, firing wildly. He was a bad aim, but I received a few shots from the laser to my side, which was now burning about as bad as my rump rash did, if not worse.

"Get back here!" Blueshade shouted as ran after us.

Fluky made it past the treeline and took cover behind one.

"Blueshade, you frickin' moron!" Bloodwing flew out and aimed the barrels of her battle saddle at the three sentinels, which refocused their attention on the raiders.

I dove into the treeline and looked back to see Sting jump out and help attack the machines. Fluky was panting heavily as she pressed her back against the trunk of the tree next to me. She looked at me, and I nodded.

"Let's get out of-"

A sudden hissing of air and fire grew louder. I knew what that was...

"RUN!" I shouted and pushed Fluky away from the trunk, just before a missile struck the tree she was hiding behind a second ago. Chips of wood and bark flew in all directions. I was launched back from the explosion and thrown into a bush. Everything was muffled except for the sharp ringing in my ears, which didn't seem to want to go away. My hoof was aching like nothing I had ever felt before, and I wanted to scream. I might have been, but I couldn't tell. I couldn't hear. I couldn't get enough focus even for my own actions.

I felt a hoof press up against my chest, and opening my tear-drenched eyes, I saw Fluky looking down at me with terror as the battle continued behind us.

She touched my hoof with her own, and I felt myself cry out and jolt back. She retreated her hoof with an apologetic look before she shook her head and gave me more stern eyes. She pointed behind her, saying something. Shouting, by the looks of it.

I looked down at my hoof to see it was... oh Goddess...

I rolled over on my side and released whatever contents were in my stomach all over the bush.

Chips of wood had been lodged into my arm in several areas, but that wasn't the worst of it... Hooves weren't supposed to be bent that way... and twisted that way, for that matter. I was surprised it didn't even fall off!

I rolled over on my stomach and felt myself groan. Fluky tugged my not-so-fucked-up hoof as if she were an impatient filly that wanted to go home to hang out with her friends. I pulled it back and stood up on three hooves... Only, this time, it wasn't my two fores.

My hind leg still hurt to hell and back, but at least I could still walk with it, even though I'd rather I didn't. Each step sent me through one great big adventure of agony.

As if I wasn't in enough of that already...

I limped forward as fast as I could. Fluky stayed by my side, watching my six as we got farther from the battle. My vision was growing dark around the edges the more I went, but stopping didn't just mean dying. It meant Fluky was alone... and I couldn't have that.

I tripped over rocks and roots constantly, but kept forcing myself back up. My body was shaking, and tears burned at my eyes and washed down my cheeks. The darkness was closing in for the center of my vision, and I cried out in desperate attempts to keep going.

Fluky stopped and looked back, but I didn't. I couldn't. I needed to keep... going...

The ringing in my ears was finally fading, and I could hear things around me better, but it was still muffled.

"Stop." Fluky said, putting her hoof on my shoulder. "You need to stop..."

I looked at her and shook my head. "I have... to keep... going..."

"We're safe now..." She looked behind her one more time, and I found myself doing the same.

She was right. The battle could still be heard, but it was distant. I couldn't see the path anymore. Just trees... in every direction.

How far did we go...?

I sighed and collapsed under my own weight, exhausted.

Fluky sat on her haunches, by my side. A tension was building up between us. There was something she wanted to say, but her voice was caught in her throat.

I rolled over on my back and looked up at the leaves that sheltered us from the rainy sky. She looked down at the ground before her, dragging her hoof around in the mud in a circular motion.

"What's going on, Fluky?" I asked softly.

"What?" She looked at me, and I at her.

"There's something you want to say, isn't there?"

She sighed and hung her head down, covering her eyes with her green mane. "I don't... blame you..." She seemed almost embarrassed to admit it. "For Para, I mean..."

I looked back up at the sky and wiped my eyes with my good hoof. "Well, I do... It was my idea to come here... I didn't... I didn't expect..."

She put the tip of her hoof to my muzzle, silencing me. She looked deep into my eyes. "I don't blame you. You didn't... know." She took her hoof away and I sighed.

"How are you holding up? With what... happened back there, I mean."

"I'm fine. I didn't get hurt, so I'm fine... I didn't know what was going to happen to me, but... I was terrified... for some reason..." She took a deep breath and shuddered. "I don't want to talk about it, though..."

"Fair enough..."

She sat there, and I laid there; both of us in silence, listening to the rain try and breach the shelter of the leaves overhead.

"I'm sorry about your hoof." She said, breaking the three minute silence.

"You have nothing to be sorry about." I held my arm with my hoof gently. "I did something good for once." I looked at her with a faint smile, and she looked up in my eyes again. "I saved you."

She gave me a feeble smile in return. "Thank you..." She whispered, then cleared her throat, looking away. "I... I still don't like you all that much, but..." There was a pause in her voice. "I think that you really do mean well. You're not as bad as... you know... I made you out to be." She shuffled her hoof on the ground again. "This doesn't make us friends. And... and when we leave Saddle, I'm still going my own path. I hope you know that..."

I frowned and looked back up at the green above us. "I understand."

She nodded very faintly, before going to the tree trunk and getting comfy against it. "You should rest for a bit. It looks like you need it..."

I nodded and closed my eyes. Despite the pain, I had still managed to fall asleep.

... Or maybe I just passed out from said pain.

When I awoke, the battle had ceased. There were no more explosions, no more laser fire, and no more shots of a rifle or pistol.

The rain had subsided a lot more, but it was still pretty persistent.

I had no guns, no armor, no food, and no medical supplies. All I had was a leather jacket and a filly that hated me a little less than she did earlier.

I looked over at her to see she had her head hung down. For a second, I thought she was sleeping, but she lifted her head not long after I turned mine.

"Ready?" She said softly.

I rolled over on my stomach and started to get up. "About as ready as I'll ever be..."

She quickly got up and helped me back on my hooves.

We didn't have to rush now, thankfully. My body couldn't take it. I was torn up, and everything still hurt. I had discovered that there were a lot of wooden shards all along my side, as well. I didn't dare take them out, though. If they had hit an artery, and I pulled them out...

We walked for about an hour and a half, before coming back to another part of the path. If I wasn't so beaten up, the forest would have probably made a nice shortcut. But in the end, it only made a good escape route.

Two Sentinels stood at the entrance of the large, thick, steel cogwheel of a door, which was left ajar. Plant life had grown around it over the years. By the looks of it, there was a lot more green within, as well.

A body laid before the machines, which seemed to be disabled, as their lights weren't glowing, and they were stationary.

On top of that, one of the arms on the one to the right had been ripped off, and the one on the left was tilting to the side with a missing wheel.

The body belonged to the raider that had my stuff. The corpse had been shot up and ripped apart; missiles and gatlings would have been my best guess.

Unfortunately, the duffel bag of guns was gone, and so were the saddle bags.

What wasn't taken was his armor, though it was shredded, so there was no real use to even take that.

I heard something rustling in the bush to our left, and I stepped back, expecting something to jump out at us.

The purple head of the pony that killed Para popped up over the bush, and his eyes met mine.

I glared at him, ready to strike, but he just grinned, turned around, and walked away calmly.

Completely clueless as to what just happened, I hesitantly turned to the yellow, tilted, aged '32' on the door. Chances were those who survived the Sentinel attack were already inside. I'd have to deal with that...

I looked at Fluky, and she looked back up at me with sad eyes.

"I guess this is it..." I patted her gently on the head, and to my surprise, she didn't back away.

We walked forward.

Together.

Into Stable 32.

The unknown address...

... Without Para...

Author's Notes:

Wow. Long chapter. Lot of editing. Lot of stuff happening in real life. Lot of revising for this. Sorry for the long wait, everyone. I was trying to make this as good as possible. And less flawed. Hope this makes up for the boredom that was chapter 4.

The song in the broadcast belongs to The Ink Spots, and the name of the song is called... I'll give you one guess. If you thought it was Address Unknown, then YOU'RE WRONG!

Special thanks to Kkat for making Fallout; Equestria, and special thanks to Somber for making Project Horizons (and being fun to talk to ^^), and Pines for being a good partner and helping with the brainstorming... and being reasonable with new ideas.
Also, this chapter was chaotic. Pines ended up losing brief contact with me because his laptop was messing up big time, and on top of that, he's in the Marines. From what I hear, he has about three months before he's deployed. He'll still be able to talk, just not as much as he does at the moment. Which sucks for me. I'm gonna miss Boo.

Pines:
Well, well, well... It seems our little group has got themselves out of a sticky situation, and into a possibly worse one. What will ever happen to them? What resides within Stable 32? What will they do without the best character, Para? Find out on the next issue of RADIO STATIC!

MMBT: "Best character." Okay.