Azure opened the door to his home, allowing him, his new raider friend and another reformed raider, to enter the property, before he closed the door behind him and locked the door. Both reformed raiders looked about the area before dropping their weapons that they had with them. Azure’s main raider friend picked up both weapons before moving them out of the way, using his mouth to carry the pistol and the sharp dagger to a table that was empty. He dropped both, before unloading the gun and resting the magazine for the weapon against the weapon, allowing them to easily load it if they needed to.

“I never got your name…” Azure spoke, getting nothing but silence from the raiders, which Azure didn't expect from the raider that convinced nine or ten others to change for the better, to allow their lives to give other ponies joy and happiness, as well as stopping with all of the killing. If the killing didn't stop completely, then it was definitely being eased down to be as minimal as possible, which made Azure feel a little proud to say the least.

“...We… we don't have names! I am R37 and that is…” R37 announced, before getting silenced by Azure’s raider friend, who definitely wanted to keep his letter and numbers safe. Azure slowly walked over to the two and sat down beside them both. Azure looked at his nameless friends and thought about something in his head, before evaluating the two ponies individually.

R37 had a nice figure, especially for a pegasus mare of her stature. She was quite tall, which made him chuckle at the thought of finding another pegasus that was nearly as tall as he was, let alone a pure breed pegasus. Due to him being half zebra, he was bound to be taller than most normal ponies, due to zebras being bigger in general. R37 definitely needed a name, one that would allow her to express herself. Azure admired her fur, seeing that it was a dark grey, which made Azure realise something else about her as he admired her fur. Just like he should have been, Azure saw that R37 had been branded, not like Azure with something covering his real cutie mark, but hers was gone, being replaced with a cloud, almost like the one Azure had seen in a book somewhere. Azure didn't stay in the clouds for long enough to know too much about all of the history and remember it all, but it was definitely the same design. Azure continued to admire the likes of R37, evaluating her mane, which was as black as the sky during the night. It wasn't pitch black, but there was enough grey in there to know that it possibly could have been, if she cleaned her mane. Little blood marks were present all over her body, which didn't sit right with Azure at all.

Next up was Azure’s nameless friend, the one that wouldn't allow for Azure to know what his letter and number was for some reason, but Azure could completely understand, given the scenario that was going on with all of the housing and keeping track of which ponies were going where. Azure looked over his friend, admiring his black on black appearance that was going on. His fur was quite black, but his mane was black black, which Azure really liked. He didn't say anything as he looked at his cutie mark, which explained nearly all of his story. The letters ‘R1’ were present on his cutie mark, making Azure stop and think for a second. R1 closed his eyes, before sensing nothing. He opened them to see Azure still looking at the cutie mark and seeing the faint stripes that his cutie mark overlapped. Azure could definitely tell that he was a zebra, but he found it hard to clarify if he was only half zebra or not.

Azure looked over to R37 and looked her over again, seeing a brief outline of her originally unbranded cutie mark underneath. The brief outline showed a letter with two numbers with it, making Azure realise that her cutie mark was also their name. It made Azure feel a little sad about it all, but that was what their early life did to them. They didn't have the best childhood, let alone a great life, especially if they grew up with the raiders. As Azure was about to finish up with identifying the two, Azure noticed something extra about R37. Her wings were a little crooked and sharper than most of the pegusi that Azure had seen during his time, suggesting that she could have even been a half breed, just like R1 and Azure was. She could have been a crossbreed of a pegasus and a bat pony, which made Azure a little sceptical about the devious and confusing pair of ponies that stood before him.

R1 didn't notice that Azure knew his number, but could see that he was evaluating everything, so he made the idea of keeping his identity a secret, vanish like he didn't even say anything. R1 was a little shy to say the least, keeping his eyes on Azure to avoid starting up a conversation with him, due to the situation already being tense enough. Azure didn't really care too much for their backstory, he just wanted to get to know them a little more and gain their trust, but they most certainly must have been tired from the rally of today's events. Azure knew that R1 was tired, due to the amount of times that the hidden zebra was yawning, making both Azure and R37 yawn in unison. It was contagious after all, making Azure chuckle a little bit, showing them how relaxed and happy he was, despite…

Azure shook his head before looking at both of the raiders that he had adopted into his little abode, his little group, his family. Both R1 and R37 smiled at him, noticing how happy Azure was becoming.

“Okay them! My name is Azure and I am a pegasus. Now you two try it out.” Azure commanded, seeing both of them look at each other before sighing and following the orders that they were giving, displaying that they weren't going to refuse not to try.

“I am R37 and i am a pegasus!” R37 announced to the world, being very loud with her saying. Azure was pretty certain that the entire Equestrian Wasteland could hear her screech, making Azure chuckle at the thought of it. Next up was R1, Azure was pretty certain that he would politely decline it, but he didn't know for sure, making him sit in his own little mysterious void of speculations that hadn't come true yet.

“I am R1 and I am a z… earth pony!” he yelled, stuttering in the middle of the statement, almost saying that he was a zebra, making Azure know that he was aware of himself being a zebra, rather than not knowing that he was at all, a little bit like R37. Azure wanted to find them names that actually described them, rather than having a letter with a number or two next to it, making Azure work his intelligent mind to work out a name for both the mare and the stallion that were both in front of him, one of them lying down and the other standing up strong, like the stallion that he was. R1 was the one still standing up and R37 was lying down on the floor, looking at both Azure and R1 with contempt, smiling at them both.

Azure took a quick glance at R37 and looked her over one last time. Her eyes were the same colour as he mane, being more of a brown than black, but it was still a black nonetheless. Azure saw a little glimmer of hope from within her eyes, making Azure like the name that he was thinking of. He looked at her mane and instantly stuck with his idea or name for her.

“R37, if you want a name, I got a great one for you that you might like indeed.” Azure explained, getting a look of excitement from the bat pony pegasus hybrid. “Abyss, because of your mane and tail, as well as your eyes being an abyss themselves.” Azure explained, giving reasoning as to why he would have named her that. Azure could tell instantly that she was loving the name that he had just given to her immediately, due to her miming out the words with a happy smile. She nodded and then kept miming the word ‘abyss’ to herself.

“And what name would you give to me, so that i can forget about my old name and number?” R1 asked, letting Azure examine him and giving him all of the time in the world to do so. Azure admired all of R1, seeing that his form was very impressive to say the least. Azure looked at his mane, his fur and his tail and couldn't really think of a name for him, until he remembered what happened on the battlefield that they both fought on, Azure using syringes and bricks rather than what R1 used. R1 used his words as well as his blade to cease the fighting altogether, making Azure very proud that a raider went from somepony that Azure hated, to a hero. That gave him a name for R1, making Azure smile in the process.

“How about Zavier?” Azure asked, getting a look of confusion from the secret zebra. “Because you helped change the lives of some raiders, so you are technically their saviour, but i wanted to put my spin on it, for reasons…” Azure admitted, making Abyss smile.

“I like it! Sounds pretty exotic and… sexy!” Abyss stated, making Zavier blush a little due to the complement from a name that he didn't even own… yet. Azure smiled, seeing how much of a good reaction he got from Abyss and liking the name as well. Azure looked to Zavier and smiled, before nodding and looking at Abyss.

“So we have Abyss and Zavier. Those are your names!” Azure shouted, being a little excited about helping out the two. He was pretty sure that they enjoyed the names as well, seeing how they were both smiling and looking at him. Azure sat down and closed his eyes, before sighing and letting out a little grunt. “I did it bud, I have helped more ponies…” Azure murmured to himself, getting the attention of the other two.

Umm, Azure was it? Are you okay?” Abyss asked, being a little concerned about Azure’s health. Azure only just realised that he gave the two his actual name, but he didn't care too much for hiding it anymore. He looked up from the floor and nodded, before wiping a tear that came down his cheek.

“It’s nothing, just keeping myself in check by talking to myself, like i would have if my best friend was still here.” Azure explained, slowly losing his smile and having it replaced with a fake one, making him emotionally unstable on the inside, not showing any signs on the outside as he slowly looked back down to the floor and closed his eyes again. He did what Blitz would have done and shook his head softly, clearing all thoughts from his mind, positive or negative and making his mind clear enough to think openly. Zavier looked at Azure and knew that something was wrong, but really couldn't put his hoof on what exactly was wrong. Zavier walked up to Azure, before placing his hoof on Azure’s shoulder, making Azure jump before looking up at the pure black zebra. Zavier, even though he looked really tough and not a pony that anypony wanted to mess with, he was a complete softy, sitting down beside Azure and making sure that he was alright, using his hoof to rub Azure’s back. It was definitely relaxing, making Azure slow down a little bit and relax just a little more.

“Is that better?” Zavier asked, getting a little nod from Azure in response, trying to lose sight of what he wanted most. Azure laid down and looked at Abyss walking towards him, seeing that she was going to sit down, before a knock came from the door, making the two pegasi jump. Azure got up and slowly walked over to the door, before unlocking the door and seeing one of his favourite ponies on the other side of the door, standing outside in the cold rain. Azure moved back to allow Sadjoy into the house, which she did almost immediately, making Azure lighten up a little bit. That was something that brought joy to both Zavier and Abyss, seeing that their new friend was feeling alright.

Azure watched at Sadjoy dried herself off, before watching her look at him, almost like they were in a staring standoff. Sadjoy opened her wings and let out a growl, showing her teeth and fangs in the process, making the other two worry a little. She lunged for Azure, kissing him softly and then retreating back, seeing that he was a little bit star struck at that point in time. Azure definitely enjoyed her company!

Hours passed, as the small group sat around a fire. It bellowed out yellow and orange, just like the sun did above, filling Azure with even more warmth that it would have done alone with just the fire. Sadjoy was resting next to Azure, making him wrap a wing around her to keep her from getting cold. Zavier was in a similar scenario to Azure, only he didn't have a wing to wrap around a pony, so he just laid on top of Abyss, as she rested. Zavier was able to lie on top of her, allowing her head to be visible in between his two forehooves, making it look like he was her protector, which was definitely a cute little moment that those two shared. Azure really liked his new friends, knowing that they were willing to change to make life better for themselves, making Azure smile even more than he already was.

The light from the fire was almost an illusion itself, making Azure feel a slight tiredness creeping up behind him, like a raider or something. Thinking about raiders got Azure to look at the other two, seeing that Zavier was looking after Abyss like she was his marefriend, keeping a watchful eye out for danger so that she could sleep. That or he just didn't want to sleep at all, due to the sky outside crying loudly, raindrops falling onto the roof, creating a slight crackle noise every time a raindrop hit the roof. Since it was raining heavily, it did indeed make a pretty good beat, making Azure chuckle to himself, before he looked next to him to see that Sadjoy was awake, her beautiful eyes reflecting in the darkness and the flames ahead. She was indeed a beautiful mare and Azure realised that nothing could really have changed that in his head, making her even more breathtaking than she was.

She bopped him on the nose, making him go cross eyed for a couple of seconds, due to the contact of her hoof hitting him in the face, right on the nose. Sadjoy chuckled for a short time, before Azure joined in on the action, making them both become a puddle of laughter, which got the attention of Zavier. Azure had already introduced Sadjoy to the two, making them know her name at least, but it didn't really give them a whole lot of stuff to work with to get to know her a little bit more. Zavier nuzzled Abyss, getting a smile and a chuckle from the tired pegasus mare. That moment was a one to remember for Azure, due to him helping with changing the raiders in the little group and finally helping somepony relax and find happiness within the Wasteland. That thought alone sent more pride and happiness through Azure’s veins than ever before, giving him a rush of energy and motivation, which was a feeling that he loved to experience over and over again.

As the fire crackled and the rain above fell, Azure founded himself in a world of bliss, tilting on the edge of sleep, rather than the edge of staying awake, like he wanted to do. He was tired, so his best option was to try to get some sleep, but he didn't even try. Azure slowly got up, before looking at the others and seeing that all of them, apart from Abyss, were looking at him and wondering what he was doing. Sadjoy was a little confused, but it didn't matter too much for him. Azure walked to the window and looked outside, getting a mixture of emotions that flooded through his mind. He wanted to do something, but what he wanted to do was unclear to him, making him stay in a state of deja vu for the odd minute or two. Azure placed himself within the windowsill and looked outside to the mess that was the sky above, hating every pegasus that didn't even try to help the rest of pony kind. It annoyed Azure a little, making him scowl at the outside world.

Sadjoy got up and walked over to Azure, making each movement quiet, to avoid alerting him that she was walking over to him. Azure turned and saw Sadjoy, seeing that she was still trying to creep over and surprise him. As soon as she got detected, she blushed before pacing the distance to Azure and wrapping her hooves and wings around him, comforting him with all of her will, making him smile and hug back, wrapping his wings around her, just5 like she did for him. Azure looked over at Zavier and Abyss and saw that they were both sleeping now, making Azure feel a little bad about getting Sadjoy up, due to his actions.

“Why did you get up?” Azure asked, making Sadjoy frown softly, not really thinking that he understood why she was always keeping in close proximity to him. She chuckled softly, making Azure look a tad bit confused. “Umm, why are you laughing? I know you love me, I can clearly see that. I love you too, but you know what my mind is saying, don't you.” Azure spoke quietly, getting a soft nod from her and watched her as she closed the distance and hugged Azure strongly, making sure that the pegasus couldn't get away from her. Azure was slightly surprised by her actions, but definitely was not complaining about anything that was going on. He endured the moment, loving her as much as she did him, feeling her soft leathery wings as they wrapped around him. It was nice.

Sadjoy looked at the others and then looked at Azure, stepping back a couple of steps and letting go with her wings. She slowly walked over to the corner of the room where the weapons were placed on the table. She walked over to the pistol that was lying on it, before pulling the slider back, revealing a loaded bullet. Sadjoy looked to Azure, before letting the bullet fly out the side of the pistol, catching it with her wing. Azure was a little surprised that she was so accurate with all of the actions that she did with her wing. It didn't just surprise him, he was shocked! She looked at him and smiled, before looking back at the gun and placing it on the table once again. She took the remaining bullet from the slider that she had in her wing, before she put it into the magazine, where all of the other bullets were being kept. Azure was a little surprised that Sadjoy knew so much about guns, due to her being a guard of the settlement, but then Azure realised that she had been a guard since this place was here, so that cleared any disillusions that he had with her knowledge.

“How do you know so much about guns?” Azure whispered, getting a tiny chuckle from the bat pony, suggesting that she knew that he was confused on her knowledge. She walked up to him before kissing him on the cheek and holding his head up to meet her eyes, using her hooves to do so. She did have a beautiful eye, that was something that Azure could acknowledge at least.

“Some things are best left unexplained!” Sadjoy explained to him, nibbling on his ear as soon as she said that to him, making him laugh a tiny bit, due to the sensation of her fangs lightly rubbing against his soft ears. Azure moved her away from his ears, making her giggle softly as she looked into Azures golden like eyes. They were more brown than golden, but that didn't stop her from describing his eyes like that. They were little orbs of golden delight that made anything smile when he looked at anything with them, inanimate objects or not, it would smile.

The clap of thunder outside got the better of the two, making their ears ring with violent intent to have the thunder not destroy their hearing. Azure watched outside as more thunder shook the earth and more lightning lit up the sky, almost like it was sunlight or brighter. Azure walked over to the window and looked out, past the boards that were covering it up, to see that the rain was horrible, making for their night to probably be a restless one, not making them able to sleep. Azure did need the sleep, but he was pretty sure that he could pull an allnighter with Sadjoy and keep her entertained at least. Azure laid down on his side, before looking over to Sadjoy and tapping on the ground. Without hesitation, like a cat to a box, Sadjoy ran across the room and slid on the floor, before plopping herself next Azure and giggling softly.

Before Azure and Sadjoy could begin talking, a knock came from the door, making the two look at each other with a tad bit of confusion. Azure got up, along with Sadjoy slowly getting up shortly after. Azure walked up slowly to the door, before opening it slowly, trying not to wake the former raiders. Azure opened the door to see that Gretzky was standing there, looking wet and out of place. Azure allowed him entry to his home, but Gretzky refused to enter, wanting to say something.

“If you two are free tomorrow, I need both of you with me. I have found the location of all of the other glowing items. I was speaking to Roselight when she flicked a switch on the figurine that associates itself with the ministry mare of the Ministry of Awesome and it lit up some locations on the map that was close by. It probably will still be like that when i see you tomorrow, making the voyages so much easier to know where we are going to, but they are much, much further away!” Gretsky explained, getting both Azure and Sadjoy to nod in unison at his request. Gretzky nodded before flying away and leaving a trail of rain in his position, forming a puddle just outside of the doorway. Azure chuckled slightly, before looking to Sadjoy as she closed the door.

“I don't know what he meant by that but i am pretty sure that i am up for another adventure, especially if it is with you, Azure.” Sadjoy stated, making Azure blush in the process, making her laugh. Azure was a little taken back by what Gretzky had said, putting him into a place he didn't go too much within his time in the Wasteland. Azure was unsupportive and unsure about something, but couldn't put his hoof on what it was, so he shoved the thought to the back of his mind and kept it there to be the last of his worries. Azure was pretty sure that it would resonate again, but he was hoping it was in the correct time for it to do so again.

Azure opened the door again and looked at Sadjoy, before exiting into the radioactive rain. It felt like it was going to stop at any minute, due to how slow and inconsistent the raindrops were around Azure, giving him the impression that it was going to stop. Sadjoy just wondered what the confused pegasus was doing, not noticing that the rain was slowing down, still noticing that it was a storm outside, being with the thunder and lightning that crept its way back to the sky above them.

“The truth is that i need to clear my head. Do you want to join me?” Azure asked, getting a smile and a nod from Sadjoy in response to his question, making her fly outside and close the door behind herself. Azure didn't attempt to lock the door, due to the other two still being within the property. By locking the door, Azure would most likely trap them within the house, making him understand that that was a horrible feeling alone, so he kept the property unlocked, hoping that nothing would have been robbed from the area while they were gone.

Azure and Sadjoy exited the settlement and went for a walk along a path that they hadn’t originally been down. It was a slightly cobbled path that was slightly corroded and worn out, but it had a confusing texture to it, making it a little weird to walk onto. Azure let out a huge sigh, before getting a wing wrapped around him from his favourite bat pony friend, pulling him in closer and nuzzling his cheek, making him blush slightly due to her warm touch. Azure looked at the trees and saw that some of them were beginning to get some of their colour and leaves back, bringing a sense of hope to Azure’s mind and making him understand that there was some chance at least to get life back to near enough how it should have been, but knowing full well that life would never return to normal, ever.

As they continued to walk down the path, the rain eventually stopped, bringing some quietness to the surrounding area, making them both happier in general. Azure looked to Sadjoy and saw that she was most likely enjoying the walk, allowing most of her stress to finally subside and be replaced with thoughts of happiness and tranquility, making her more open to more controversial thoughts for the duration of their walk. It was nice to just get out of harm's way and to just have a stress free walk, something Azure appreciated for being able to do at that moment. It did bring up a recurring thought, but that was a thought that needed to get out of his head as quickly as it could, to avoid him getting upset about it again and making him a little more stressed than he needed to be. There was one question that was floating around in his mind about a familiar face that he had never actually realised.

Sadjoy? How did you end up here? I have not seen a bat pony like you before. Yes, we have Crimson and Lavender here now, who are bat ponies as well, but you have fight in you, whereas they don’t. I'm really interested to know.” Azure asked, pressing his thoughts to be able to make her choice that little bit easier. Her ears folded back a little as she closed her eyes, before she took in a deep breath and opened them again, allowing her ears to point to the sky, like she was trying to detect something.

“The truth of the matter is that I have amnesia, making it nearly impossible for me to remember my past, due to something that happened that i still can't remember. I can remember a tiny bit, but that is all there is to it pretty much. I don't know how i got here, due to me gaining amnesia and what not, but i woke up on a bed, being in Roselight’s care. She helped me to get out of my state of paranoia and showed me around the settlement, before she showed me to one of her old friends, who tried to attack her on sight of her. I'm pretty sure that she was a ghoul that went feral, but who knows. As soon as she saw my defensive skills and my ease of attacking, she immediately put me as a guard of the settlement, keeping my bat like nature and guarding during the night, just like the other bat ponies did apparently, before the war. There was a proudness that Roselight had for me then, but it has died down to me just being an ally now. I'm just like any other pony now.” Sadjoy explained, getting Azure to feel bad for her, just because she couldn't remember her past and that she was somepony special to somepony else and now she wasn't. That thought alone hurt Azure in a way that he couldn't even describe, making him hug her that she lost out on so much.

“I'm sorry that you are unable to remember your past.” Azure blurted out, getting a smile and chuckle in response.

“There is no need to feel sorry. I feel like losing my memory was a good thing, otherwise I probably would have been looking for a way to get to my true home, but now, this area is my home! I'm pretty sure that I was a bat guard or something before I lost my memory, which explains how I got my skills immediately.” Sadjoy pointed out, getting Azure by surprise that she was happier that she lost her memory.

“Ah, that might explain it then.” Azure added, continuing their conversation. He heard a rustling in the bushes across from him, thinking that it was something other than the wind hitting it. He didn't think too much of it, as they both stopped to talk more on the subject that they were. Azure used his wings to hover in the air for a short period of time, allowing his hooves to rest for a tiny bit, before he landed back on the ground and stretched.

“How about you Alchem? What is your past all about, or did you get amnesia too?” Sadjoy asked, before stopping and chuckling to herself about the little joke that she had just made, making her happiness rise, due to forgetting the topic of herself. Azure pondered for a moment, not really diving too much into his past before, apart from when he was talking to Blitz, but even then, Azure didn't give Blitz the entire story.

“It’s all a little bit more complicated than you might think. I’m not any normal pegasus…” Azure stated, before getting silenced by Sadjoy, her placing a wing tip onto Azure’s lips, stopping him from talking in the slightest. She giggled slightly at Azure’s statement, being happy that she cut him off before he was able to get anything else out. She glared at Azure, almost like she was angry at him to go on. This somewhat prevented him from moving on with anything like that. Instead, Azure remembered back to a time when he was in a more peaceful part of the Wasteland, an area that didn't see too much activity at all.

“Okay, start again! I wanna hear about your life, since we are on the topic of it.” Sadjoy commanded, making Azure chuckle a little bit. He didn't want to tell Sadjoy that he was a zebra, or that he had been telling her his wrong name, but he hated lying as well. Azure sighed slightly, before releasing all of the air he had stored in his cheeks from him getting cut off from the outrageous bat pony mare.

“So, before i do anything, i must tell you that i will not lie to you, at least anymore, because i trust you enough for you to understand the situation that i was put into. My name is not Alchem, at least not anymore. My name is Azure, Doctor Azure would be my real title, if i didn't use that other name with my doctor title. Anyway, my name is Azure and i am a pegasus zebra hybrid!” Azure explained, letting it all out and seeing the look of shock on her face. She was more confused than anything else, making Azure feel like he had done something wrong to hurt the mare that was standing right in front of him. Azure felt the sins of what he had just admitted to, crawling down his back and sharpening his wings, making them stick out in fear.

There was some more rustling coming from the bush that Azure originally had pointed out to himself, but he was pretty sure that it was the wind, making him look back at Sadjoy with an apologetic look, making her look even more confused.

“Why do you look like that? You ain't done anything wrong!” Sadjoy explained, making Azure brighten up a tiny bit, Sadjoy still seeing him in the state that he was before. Azure still felt that she was angry at him, when she suddenly smiled, her ears folding back and pointing to the ground, as Azure’s expression slowly changed from being apologetic to being somewhat happy about all of the stuff that was going on in his life right there and then. Without a second to spare, Azure ran up to Sadjoy and hugged her tightly, not noticing the bush rustle again. He was more distracted on hugging a pony that looked like she needed one.

Suddenly, a couple of voices could be heard traveling in their direction. Azure stopped his hugging and turned to see one of the raiders slowly running away from something. Brick and Cidershot came into view, looking nearly as apologetic as Azure did, making the two completely starstruck by what was happening. The raider took one look at both Azure and Sadjoy and then started to slow down, before stopping a couple of steps past them, being closer to the bush than the others were. There was no rustling from the bush at that moment in time, which made Azure a little curious as to why all of the other bushes were rustling in the wind, but not that one, almost like some of the branches from the bush were being held together. Azure regained his focus and returned to the topic at hoof, that raider’s activity.

Brick and Cidershot came closer to both Azure and Sadjoy, making the raider move back a little bit. Brick noticed that there was something off about the raider, but when he went to investigate it further, the raider ran away from them both. Cidershot was as confused as Azure and Sadjoy were in this scenario, making him know nothing about the pony that Brick was tracking down. The diamond dog looked at the raider with different eyes than he had earlier, making Azure think that Brick was up to something that nopony else knew about.

“We don’t want to hurt you, pony! I just want to help you become better, but it ain’t easy when they are running away from you.” Brick explained, stating a fact in the process. The raider took one look at Azure and then smiled, before the bush rustled again, but stopped instantly, making Azure a little afraid of the bush or what was within it. Something was definitely within it, but what it was, Azure couldn't tell. The raider stared back at Brick and Cidershot, making them both feel like they were somewhat to blame for the raider’s action. They weren't to blame for the raider being afraid of them, they were only trying to help after all, which confused Azure a little and made him step out to the raider.

Before Azure could get close, a figure rose up out of the bush, armed with sharpened, glistening fangs that reflected Azure’s own image back at him. The figure was not the tallest, but it didn't help that it had wings on it. It licked its lips, before lashing out of the bush, dashing straight at the raider. Within the course of a second, the figure ripped into the raider’s neck with its fangs, before dragging them down the raider’s body. The worst part about all of it, was that the raider was still alive, but that was short lived as the figure bent the raider’s head back a little and stuck its fangs into his eye sockets. It was a horrific gory display, one that almost made Azure spill his guts right there.

Sadjoy flew up, before disappearing into the sky, leaving the others to deal with the… thing! They still didn't know what it was, even though it was that close to them. The figure threw the lifeless body of the reformed raider onto the floor, splashing in a little puddle of blood from his own system, making Azure nearly urge. Cidershot and Brick both brought out their weapons and started shooting at the figure, before it darted behind a tree that was close by. Azure ran to his own piece of cover, overlooking the entire fight.

Brick hit a shot on the figure, before he pissed it off big time. It came out from cover and opened up its wings, before vanishing from sight. Brick placed his gun in a little pouch that he had around his waist, before reading his fists and looking around. A couple of seconds passed, but Brick didn't lower his fists, keeping them ready for when the thing came back to strike him down. There was noise that came from above, almost like a bat screech, making Azure look up and ready himself. A second passed and nothing happened, so Azure decided to go up and check on where Sadjoy was. As Azure was about to extend his wings, the figure appeared, lashing out at Brick and scratching his arm, making it bleed a little. Brick striked back, hitting the figure with some force, before it moved back, due to recoiling.

The figure looked right at Azure before flying directly at him, just to get smacked in the stomach from the diamond dog who was out to avenge a fallen friend. The figure wrapped around Brick, before biting him in the neck, like it did to the raider before putting him out of his misery. Azure wasn't going to let that happen, making him leave his place of safety. Azure charged at the figure, flying at full force towards the diamond dog with the figure as a backpack. Azure rammed into the figure, making them detach from the diamond dog and fall onto the floor. It looked at Azure before growling and lashing out at him, before a certain bat pony came down and landed on the figure. Sadjoy looked furious! She landed so hard onto the figure's head, it cracked and smashed underneath her, making her wince, still being as angry as she had been before coming into contact with the figure. Brick whimpered a little, before Azure shot him with one of his syringes, taking the pain away from the pained diamond dog and slowly closing up all of the wounds that Brick had, due to the figure. Sadjoy saw Brick healing and stepped away from the lifeless body that she had just made. The blood was still red, making Azure understand that it wasn't a changeling of any kind, due to them having green blood.

Azure got a little closer to the dead body, before looking it over. It had little jagged pieces sticking out of its skin, looking almost like bone. It was bone! Azure saw that there were red marks around the area that the bones stuck out of the body. Azure was pretty sure that the pony must have been dead already, due to how painful it looked. The wounds didn't look like they were from fights, they looked like they had been carefully opened, slowly allowing the bones to grow out from their usual positions, rendering the figure to be able to use their bones as weapons. Azure evaluated the wings next, seeing that they were sharp.

“Sadjoy, can you come here please? I need your help for something.” Azure asked, not looking up, but keeping his eyes on the wings, almost like he had seen them before. Sadjoy walked over to Azure, before stopping in front of him, seeing that he was evaluating the body that was lying before them. She gulped a little, feeling like she had done something wrong, like it was her fault or something. Azure looked up to her and then stood up, being able to take his eyes off the body again. He turned her around and evaluated her back and wings, seeing that they were almost identical to the body on the floor.

“Well then, that makes life just a little bit scarier for the ponies in the Wasteland.” Azure muttered to himself, catching Sadjoy’s attention as she was walking away to go and talk to Brick about what he was feeling. She turned around and stared at Azure, directly in the eyes, seeing that there was a bit more fear in his eyes than normal, making her feel like she had to know what was up. Azure slowly looked at the body again, before going back over to it and sitting down, before turning the body over to reveal the cutie mark of the once alive pony, but it wasn't there, just like the rest of them hadn’t been for the others. Azure backed up, before closing his eyes and sighing. “At least this one is dead…” Azure added, shortly after inspecting the body.

“What are you on about Azure? What is wrong?” Sadjoy asked, being slightly concerned that he was acting like this. Azure took in a deep breath, before sighing and letting it all out slowly.

“It is a good thing that you killed this, because if you didn’t, then I am pretty sure that this pegasus… no, bat pony ghoul would have killed a fair amount of ponies.” Azure explained, thanking Sadjoy a little for doing a good deed that she didn't even know she did. Sadjoy was a little confused at this and looked over the body, seeing the body was morphed more than she realised, noticing the bones that were jutting out of the bat pony’s body, making her feel a little uneasy due to the sight of it alone. She slowly backed up, making sure that she was a safe distance from the body, just in case it was to reincarnate itself somehow, even though she had killed it and its brain, or what was left of it, before she crushed it.

Azure took another look at Brick, seeing that he was recovering from his wounds, helped by Azure using his healing potion solution on Brick’s body, due to the syringe gun and the syringe. Azure was so happy that he was able to help ponies and creatures like that, because the only thing that Azure planned on doing, was helping out other ponies and creatures. This thought alone gave Azure something to smile about, before he remembered the raider who had been murdered by the bat pony ghoul.

Azure slowly walked over to the lifeless body and sighed, being a little annoyed that he was unable to save the life of one of his potentially future friends. Azure had given him a second chance and all he did was brush it away, like it was a bit of dirt on a clean floor. Azure felt a little bad about all of it, seeing exactly how the raider had died and hating every second of it, making him wish that he had never seen it himself. He was sure enough to go to sleep and have nightmares about what he had witnessed, making the thought of going to sleep less and less wanted. Azure shook his head to clear his mind, before turning to Sadjoy, seeing that she was trying to clean herself.

Azure walked over to the bat pony who was trying to clean herself and scooped up some water with his wings, before dropping it all, over her hooves, making it easier to wash off all of the blood that she had accumulated on them, due to smashing in the head of the feral bat pony ghoul. Azure took one look at the dead body of the ghoul and sighed, noticing that there was still blood rushing from the crushed head of the headless ghoul, sending shivers down his spine and making his feather on his wings stand on end.

As soon as Sadjoy was clean enough, she kissed Azure on the lips and thanked him for helping her, which made him blush a little and also helped to clear his head of any negative thoughts or ideas that he might have had within his skull and allowed him to focus on all of the important parts of the night that he had remaining, which was getting back to the settlement without getting anymore hurt that they already were, mentally of course. The other objective that Azure had was to get back to the settlement in one piece, which at that point, seemed somewhat likely, but he had his doubts. A clap of thunder was enough to put his plans into action, scooting back to the settlement with his little convoy of ponies and the diamond dog. Azure walked alongside his little group, seeing Sadjoy to his right and Brick and Cidershot to his left. Cidershot had his guns out, just in case anything was to go south at all during their journey back to the settlement.

By now, the moon was slightly visible though the cloud, being lighter than the sun at some points. The moon irradiated some violent light out of its core, making Azure feel like he was being watched by something that wasn't actually there, which made sense because of how different night was, compared to day. That might also have explained how there was a bat pony ghoul instead of a normal pegasus ghoul or even a standard unicorn or earth pony ghoul. The bat pony ghoul seemed to hunt better, hiding in the bushes while it waited for the perfect moment to strike on a victim that was not expecting it, making it more efficient than most of the raiders in the Wasteland, making Azure chuckle a little as he thought about it more than he should have.

Azure kept looking back at Brick, checking to see if he is okay, which he was, bringing his mind to rest at the fact that one of his friends had been hurt during a fight with a different type of enemy that they had never seen before the events that unfolded around five minutes ago. Azure looked at all of his friends, just to check that they were okay, before looking at the ground for the remainder of their journey back to the settlement. Sadjoy could sense that something was off with Azure, due to him acting like he was, which made Sadjoy get a little curious to know what was affecting him so much. Sadjoy walked a little closer to her special friend, before wrapping her wings around him, slowing his movements down a little, so that she was able to talk to Azure without the fear that he would have just ran away.

“What’s up Azure? What’s making you feel like this all of a sudden?” Sadjoy asked, clearly caring a lot about her friend, wanting to see him smile again, but was it ever that simple.

“I was the reason that the raider died. I gave him a second chance to live his life, like any normal pony would and he just threw it away, all because he had trust in me. If he didn’t stay there looking at me, he probably would have been okay and probably would have lived.” Azure admitted, not crying at all, just giving off a blank stare into the void that was the ground. Sadjoy knew that it was not like Azure to act so down, but he really did hate killing people and couldn't face the fact that somepony choked their second chance that they got.

“Azure, you just need to accept that ponies and creatures will always die, some sooner than others. You are not the reason that the raider died at all. You were the pony that stayed motivated on your motto of killing being wrong and gave a huge group of ponies a second chance. Maybe the one that died was a bad apple or something along those lines, but i can tell you something. You are probably one of the best ponies in the Wasteland, especially due to you showing mercy to those you come across, always giving ponies a second chance. If they accept your offer and then die after, they have themselves to blame for it, not you!” Sadjoy explained, making Azure tear up a bit, due to all of the nice things that she said about him.

Azure thought about it for a second, before agreeing with her explanation. Nopony was safe from death, but Azure definitely agreed that he was trying to prolong the lives of many ponies and creatures, due to what was happening with the Wasteland. Azure wanted the world to go back to normal, or as close to normal as the world could get, knowing full well that the world would never return to that state, at least not for a long while. Azure could always dream, which gave him the motivation and the inspiration to keep going, due to him wanting to show that he was a better pony than all of the others. He would try to be ‘The dashite that could’, which gave him even more motivation to keep going.

Azure wiped a tear from his eye, before hugging Sadjoy with all of his might, before kissing her on the cheek, to show his gratitude that he had for her, for being able to help him get out of the loophole that he was beginning to get stuck into. Sadjoy blushed a little bit, knowing that he was grateful to say the least. They regained focus on their task at hoof and continued to walk back to the settlement, speeding up a little bit to catch up with both Brick and Cidershot ahead.

They reached the settlement, before the group split off in different directions. Sadjoy walked back to her home, Azure knowing that she was definitely going to sleep, while Brick went to go and buy something from the gryphon that was surprisingly still awake, Nightclaw. As for Cidershot, he just stood by the gate, waiting patiently for something to happen, which Azure didn't really understand. Azure began walking back to his home, when he realised that his vision was slowly fading to blackness. This made him panic, before he dropped to the floor, unable to move his body. Time felt like it had been frozen, before he was forced to close his eyes, on the wet floor. Before he knew it, he had passed out, right in front of the gate to the settlement, making him worry as he slipped into a trance that he didn't know how to escape from.

Azure pushed against the floor and tried to get himself up, failing multiple times in the process, but succeeding some time later, which made him worry about what happened. Azure stood still on all four of his hooves, keeping himself tall and sturdy, as well as making himself look more like a pony that nopony wanted to mess with. Azure was pretty sure that he was unconscious, but he couldn't tell for sure, due to how real the events that he was seeing were. He just needed a sign that he was unconscious and he had found it in the form of nothing.

Azure watched and originally saw a couple of ponies on a roof talking, before he had passed out. Azure looked back up to that same roof and saw that not only were the ponies not there, but the building itself was also replaced by something else, maybe another type of building, but it definitely wasn't the same. Azure now knew that he was in a fake world, just being another thought within his mind now. Azure decided that it would have been useless to just stay still, so he began to look around the unfamiliar settlement, which intrigued him enough to venture into the houses of others. Azure entered the first house and saw that it looked just like Roselight’s house, but it wasn't. There was a figure within the house, but Azure didn't pick up on it at first, making him close the door and move onto the next one, one that was unused in the real world that he was living. As soon as he opened the door, he was a little bit shocked. It was the same at the other house.

Azure stepped into the property, before noticing the figure, making him jump a little. Azure looked at the figure, noticing that it was a little smaller than him, making him feel a little more powerful overall. Azure walked around the room, noticing that it was exactly like Roselight’s house. Infact, the house was Roselight’s, on the inside at least, making Azure get a little confused for a second, before he understood why it did it. The reason it did it was because that was one of the only buildings other than his own, that he had entered in the settlement, so his mind was making all of the houses look the same. The figure lit up their horn and moved through the shadows, lighting its path ahead of itself, to make it easier to see what it was doing.

Azure watched it with a little bit of amusement, wanting to know first of all, what it was and second of all, why was it in his illusion? Azure watched the figure carefully, before noticing that it made a little bit of a mistake, which was revealing one of its hooves as it came out of the shadows, to go into another set of shadows. Azure smiled a little and walked towards that shadow, which noticed Azure’s movement, making Azure realise that he was probably dreaming, but somepony was within his dream or illusion that was able to control themselves, making them have another shared dream experience.

“Blitz? Just come out of the shadows! I know it’s you, you sneaky fuck.” Azure joked, knowing Blitz’s humor very well. The figure stopped before looking directly at Azure, not really showing any happiness at all, just a little bit of sadness. Azure knew that Blitz was happy to see him, but something was bothering him, making Azure worry. Blitz stepped out from the shadows before teleporting them both to Azure’s home. Azure could see that something was stressing Blitz out, making him want to hug him as tightly as possible, which is exactly what he did, tearing up a little bit. Blitz teared up a little as well, before pushing Azure a little away, keeping his distance from him. Blitz didn't want to speak, but he did do something that made Azure question himself. Before Blitz did anything, he teleported something onto the wall, next to the picture of the Project Chimera project. Azure noticed it, due to the big green flash that appeared there.

Azure didn't get time to read it, before he was flung into the bed that he owned, before blinking and gasping. He saw that the room was the exact same, only Sadjoy was sleeping on his chest. Was he dreaming, or did that just happen?