Azure panicked for a second, before realising that he was back in the real world for sure, due to being able to feel the weight of the bat pony that was on top of him, crushing him for air a little, as he slightly moved her while she was on top of him, trying not to wake her up at all, due to how adorable she was on top of him. Azure shifted her slightly, allowing himself to catch some air and breathe a sigh of relief due to him being back in the real world and not in the fake one. Although Azure liked Blitz’s company, he had to be real for Azure to take a blind notice, due to how much he needed him, for company, for emotional support, or more. Azure missed him, but the more that Azure thought about him, the more he would get off track and make more mistakes, which is something that nopony wanted to do within the Wasteland. More than likely, it was Azure’s brain trying to play tricks on him, making him see illusions that were within his memory.

Azure closed his eyes before remembering something that happened within the dream that he had, involving Blitz and himself. Azure rolled Sadjoy off himself, before standing up on his own hooves, finding it a little harder than normal. Azure looked down to see that nothing had changed from before he passed out earlier, making him think it was just a little bit of light headedness from him originally passing out. Azure kept that as his excuse for not being able to walk straight, before clambering on with his little investigation. Azure looked at the wall, originally where the Project Chimera image was, before noticing that the image had disappeared and had been replaced with an image of a map, a small map to be exact.

The map was of Equestria, pre war and being all bright and colourful, making Azure wish more that the world would have gone back to that state in the future, but it seemed unlikely. The map showed areas that Azure’s Pipbuck recognised, like Sweet Apple Acres and the Steel Ranger’s base in Hoofington Harbour or Docks, whichever one was the correct one. There was another location that Azure’s PipBuck understood, making Azure question the machine that was on his leg. An area called Blitz’s Cove was marked as a point of interest, making Azure feel like that was his last objective to go to, but when it was all over, he would go there.

There was a location that showed three dots together, which Azure thought was the three artifacts that they had already. There should have been more dots, indicating five out of the six in total that they needed. Azure zoomed out on the map on his Pipbuck, but nothing happened, only showing three dots, due to the three that they had condensing together and creating one icon on his Pipbuck. Azure looked back at the image, before noticing that it had been replaced by the Project Chimera image, making Azure get a little creeped out by what had just happened. It was definitely real, due to the locations being on Azure’s Pipbuck, suggesting the routes to take to get to said objective.

Azure looked back at Sadjoy, seeing that she was beginning to wake up. Her ears twitched before snapping to an upright position and making her look around to see if Azure was still close to her. She spotted him across the room before smiling at him, showing him that she was awake, rather than being half asleep. She began to get up, stretching as she did, before walking over to Azure and placing her hoof on his head, trying to take his temperature with her hoof. She noticed that he was still a tad bit too hot for her liking, so she walked to the window and looked outside to see what the weather was like. It was raining hard!

“In a minute, we will both go outside to get some fresh air and wake up properly, okay Azure?” Sadjoy asked, beginning to sound like she was a parent looking after a foal. Azure was a little confused, but nodded, understanding that a little rain was probably good to wake them both up, especially him, due to him passing out last night for no reason whatsoever. Sadjoy walked up to the door, before flinging it open and hopping out into the cold, noticing that it wasn't nearly as radioactive as it should have been, making her question if it was a good thing or not.

Azure slowly walked outside and looked to the sky, seeing that it was as dark and as grey as always, due to his kind slowly caring for themselves and no other race. Azure hated them for that, as the rain fell on him, waking him up more and giving him a more of a fresh sense to him. Sadjoy joined him in the rain, slowly outstretching her wings and getting them wetter. It was beginning to chuck it down, as the rain fell on the two below, soaking them in water that refreshed their bodies and made them feel cleaner. Sadjoy tackled Azure to the ground, before pinning to the floor and kissing him on the lips. She closed her eyes as she did the action, making Azure do the complete opposite and made him keep his eyes wide open, being a little bit in shock that she was doing that out in the open, but was also in pure bliss, due to how soft her lips were. Azure didn’t know how to respond to the bat pony’s actions, so he just rolled with it, as more rain continued to fall on the pair.

Sadjoy was the one to break the kiss, Azure holding on for as long as he could, so that he could enjoy her taste. It was so enticing, but allowed for him to feel like he had a goal in life at least, so that was a positive to keep his mind positive too. Azure looked over to see Gretzky staring at them both, making Azure yell in surprise. Sadjoy jumped a little from seeing the gryphon just stood there silently, watching the scenes and they unfolded.. Azure got to his hooves and shook himself off, getting a confused look from Gretzky.

“There really wasn’t a point to shaking off here Alchem, you’ll just get as wet here as you would anywhere else without cover. Anyway, I need you two to go to Roselight’s area. We have the locations for the artifacts and we are sending you two to get one of them.” Gretzky explained, getting a sympathetic look from Azure, due to the fact that Azure got caught kissing Sadjoy. Gretzky rolled his eyes, before flying off to his little shop, working on something as soon as he landed on the shop floor. Azure looked at Sadjoy, as they began to walk to Roselight’s home.

“So, what happened last night for me to be in bed with you this morning?” Azure asked, getting a cheeky glance from the bat pony as she eyed him down. She went to speak, but hesitated to say anything for a couple of seconds, coming up with something to say.

“You passed out and they yelled out your name as I walked away, but I turned around and flew you back home. It began to thunder last night, so I held up in your home, I hope that that was okay for me to do, Azure.” Sadjoy answered, getting a smile from the pegasus zebra hybrid and making her blush a little. Azure had no idea why she felt bad about staying at Azure’s home, since she had already stayed there before, making his mind try to get around that thought, but unfortunately, it couldn't do it quick enough. Azure chuckled, before kissing her on the cheek.

“You don't have to worry about stuff like that, because I trust you enough for me to know that you wouldn't hurt me, at least not intentionally.” Azure joked, laughing a little to clear the air around them, making the tension between them seem less powerful, turning it into a loving tension, instead of an anxiety one.

The rain continued to batter them with its wrath, hitting them occasionally with its water, which added to their already wet coat of fur and water. The rain felt nice for once, making Azure want to walk slower, to allow him to experience the most of the situation. Azure didn’t want to fall behind too much, so he quickened his pace a little, catching up with Sadjoy and nuzzling her neck. She was cold!

Sadjoy looked behind her to see Azure nuzzling her, making her blush a little, before using her wings to soar into the sky, making Azure’s eyes follow her with every movement. She looked so exotic when she was flying, due to the shape of her wings and what they were made of. Azure was a little bit jealous that the bat pony mare in front of him was showing off something Azure could never get. It aggravated him, but he enjoyed everything about himself anyway, so the jealousy slipped right off his train of thought.

A couple of slow minutes later, they got to the home of Roselight and stopped, before knocking on the door. Azure watched as Sadjoy landed next to him, happy as ever, but also being soaked from head to hoof, making Azure chuckle, as her main flopped in front of her vision. It made her all that more adorable and cute, within the harsh confines of the Wasteland. Nothing was meant to be good in the Wasteland, making it almost a rule for all of pony kind to not be good, but Sadjoy broke every rule in that fake ruleset, making her a devilish criminal, which Azure liked a little.

Roselight opened the door with her magic, a dark blueish gold aura surrounding the entire door, making it look like it was from another era, another world. Azure and Sadjoy both walked through, before shaking off before getting any closer to any of Roselight’s work. It was carefully sketched out on paper, making it become weak to water, which was something both Sadjoy and Azure both had all around them, so they made sure to make themselves both kind of dry, just to lower the chances as much as they could to avoid getting water onto Roselight’s sensitive work.

Roselight rolled her eyes, before sending a blistering wave of heat past the two, evaporating any water they had on their bodies. It worked really well, due to Azure noticing that his mane was perfectly dry and his fur was fluffy, making him look a little bigger and wider than he was. Sadjoy laughed at Azure, before noticing herself, making Azure fall to the ground in laughter. Sadjoy was the literal definition of a fluff ball, but she came with a pair of wings. She was literally a ball, with on legs, but with wings. Azure was too busy laughing on the floor to notice that they both moved away. Once Azure did notice, he chased after them, into the next room. Azure was pretty sure that the walls would have been littered with notes, but to his surprise, they weren’t. All of the notes that were there before were now gone and replaced with the wall. It made the room look so much nicer, and gave Roselight less distractions at least. Azure walked to the table and saw the map of locations, just like the other one that he had seen pinned to the wall in his home, only this map was bigger and missing one of the points. Azure was about to point that out to Roselight, but Gretzky slammed open the door and entered, before he could get a word out. It was a little bit aggravating, but Azure could wait his turn for him to speak.

“Okay all of you, listen up! We now have the locations for all of the artifacts, so we can plan out when we are going and where we are going.” Roselight roared out with confidence, Azure still seeing the same thing on the map, making Azure think that she was still wrong, due to him seeing only one area highlighted on the map, but then he realised that there were multiple maps underneath, making him think that he was a bit of an idiot. Roselight went to the maps and spread them all out, noticing that there was one that had a suspicious looking note on it. Roselight picked up the note and read it out aloud.

“I got this one for you. You will receive it when i next get back from my job.” Roselight said aloud, reading the note word for word. To her, it didn't make any sense, due to everypony being accounted for within the settlement, unless somepony snuck out without enlisting it to the guard. Roselight was still sceptical, due to nopony knowing about the maps until last night. Azure looked at his Pipbuck and saw that the location marker for the artifact at the Steel Ranger base was dimmed out, being replaced with a different tag. The tag was now set to optional, making Azure look a little confused and making him think that Blitz had something to do with it, despite him still being encased in stone, or was he?

Roselight looked back at the map and saw that it was the one from their last exhibition, to the Steel Ranger base that they had to run from. It was confusing her enough to make her forget about the note, before throwing it away and continuing with the plan, like she had intended. She looked over all of the maps and tried to figure out which ones were the ones that she wanted to use to show the others what to do. After a good minute of searching for the correct ones, she eventually found the one for the happy pair.

“Ah, here we go. I want both of you to travel down to Sweet Apple Acres, right next to Ponyville. It may be a long journey, but it is the only one that I can trust you two to go on, due to Gretzky needing to be here for business purchases and nightclaw being her for weapon crafting and assembling. I don't expect anypony else to be able to do it as well as you two could.” Roselight admitted, seeing a smile on Sadjoy’s face and the complete opposite on Azure’s face. He had learned that it was right next to stable two, which had the myth of never opening. Maybe both himself and Sadjoy could have a closer look at the stable and see if it was like the myth said it was. That thought of adventure alone, put a smile on Azure’s face, making Roselight seem satisfied with her decision.

A couple of minutes later, Azure and Sadjoy were on their way to Ponyville first, to scout out the area and then move to Sweet Apple Acres. Roselight had ordered Gretzky to give them all of the supplies that they would have needed to travel such a distance, knowing that it would take them literal days just to get there. They were given enough food to be able to survive about a week, before they would have to fend for themselves. Something seemed off about that in Azure’s eyes, but he didn't care too much about it. Instead, he was focusing on the main task at hoof, which was not dying and getting to Ponyville. It seemed a bit excessive to make two of them go on an adventure like this, when she could have made any of the raiders go after the items, but he guessed that she didn't trust them enough to do a task like the one that they had been assigned to, making Azure feel a little special, due to his own mind coming up with that solution. Sadjoy kept her eye on Azure, knowing that if worse came to worse, then Azure still wouldn't pick up a weapon. That was the only thing that annoyed Sadjoy, but she loved him nonetheless. He had his rights and she had hers, so she actually admired him a little bit more for his resentment to kill, always turning to a non lethal option to take out creatures and ponies.

Azure noticed that the sky was getting brighter, making him hope for a good day to begin their journey. To get to Ponyville, they would either have to climb the very tall mountain that was in the distance, or go around the mountain and try to keep clear of Canterlot, due to the amount of radiation around that area. The amount there made it so nopony, not even Blitz, could survive there, due to something that they called pink radiation or pink mist or something along those lines. It was so bad, that it would melt everything it came into contact with, including metal, which gave Azure a painful image that entered his mind, making him want to clear his mind as quickly as possible.

Both Azure and Sadjoy had a huge journey ahead of them, making their minds race with both motivation of what they might find within the Wasteland, while being on the journey that they had been sent on, but feared for both the settlement and themselves. They feared that something might happen to them that they couldn't escape from. It made them both expressionless figures, wandering the Wasteland looking for answers, or so it felt like to them, having all of the dread within them. Azure closed his eyes before sighing and then yawning, indicating that he was tired. Since yawns were infectious, Sadjoy yawned shortly after, her body forcing itself to mimic Azure’s actions, due to… reasons.

Azure kept looking at his Pipbuck every five minutes, just to check how close they were getting to Ponyville. Azure was surprised to find that there was little to no progress that happened after five minutes of walking, making him feel like the journey would have taken longer than expected. Sadjoy was left to ponder what they might have come across when they got there. Were they expecting to see ghoul after ghoul, rampant about killing them and eating them, or were they expecting to see more raiders patrolling the grounds, ready to kill them in cold blood for no reason whatsoever, other than being in their sight. The thoughts that Sadjoy was having dampened her mood and made it so that she couldn't think straight, getting Azure’s attention.

“Are you alright Sadjoy?” Azure asked, before stepping closer to her, making sure that she was in fact okay. She didn't answer for a couple of seconds, before shaking her head, before looking up and over to Azure, feeling like she needed a pony to lean on. Luckily enough, Azure was the said pony that she needed, nopony else was equal to him. Azure covered Sadjoy with his wing, wrapping it around her, before pulling her closer to him and nuzzling her, building up her confidence a little and bringing her out of her little anxious bubble that the was pinned within
“I just don't see anything good coming from going to this area. I’m just a little afraid of what we will find there, whether that is raiders like the ones that raided last time, or ghouls that are ready to either turn us or kill us.” Sadjoy announced, getting into a little bit of a panic. Azure comforted her by rubbing her with his wings, each little feather on them massaging her back and making her unwind a little, making Azure chuckle as he noticed that she liked it. Sadjoy noticed the smile on his face and paused him before he was able to say anything to her. “Don't you say anything!” She recoiled, snapping at Azure but loving the massage so much more than she could have anticipated, making her lean into it, making her lean into Azure, only making his smile grow.

Before long, it was raining and the lovey dovey mood changed for one that was more about focusing on themselves. Azure was trying to stay as small as possible, still moving at his normal walking speed. Sadjoy on the other hoof was above. She flew higher into the sky, trying to find a middle ground between the sky and the floor. If it was up to her, she would have gone above the clouds, but unfortunately those clouds were monitored by the Enclave, the pegasi above.

Lightning began to form, flashing in front of both of them, giving them a similar reaction to each other. They both didn't care about it, watching as the lightning bolt began to disappear, retreating back into the sky after seeing both of the duo. Sadjoy decided that it was safer to land, rather than being in the air and be more of a target. She landed next to Azure and said nothing, trying not to break the concentration for either of them by ruining their beloved silence.

Azure noticed Sadjoy and turned to smile at her, before another bolt of lightning striked the sky, lighting up their world, like nopony else could. A roar of thunder quickly followed behind, feeling like it shook the ground that they were stood on. Azure looked back to the front and said nothing, noticing that there was an abandoned building in front of them. It would have kept them dry, so they both decided to stay within the building to dry off.

They got to the building, before Sadjoy peeked through one of the broken windows and saw some ghouls within the building. She didn't want to waste her bullets on some ghouls that could barely move, so she decided to use a piece of metal from outside the building, probably being a piece of the frame of the house. Azure tried to open the door, but found that he had no luck in opening it. Sadjoy tried to pry open the window frame, using the object that she had just picked up and failed, watching the metal snap in front of her and breaking the window frame, making it bend inwards, making it near impossible to open without something like a crowbar.

Sadjoy was giving up with entering the house and not too much later, Azure was done with the house, finding no other way to enter the still solid structure. The ghouls within clawed at the window, finally catching sight of the duo and making them notice them, due to the noises that they were making. It wasn't like any normal ghoul, but maybe could have been one that had changed recently, still having some sort of voice box in place still. Azure got a little angry that they weren't able to get within the property, but he relaxed a little, closing his eyes for a couple of seconds, before opening them and walking away from the house.
Azure turned back around and rushed at the window, an object present in his mouth. Azure charged at the window of the building and stopped, using his momentum to throw a piece of debris into the window. It broke the window, but still didn't allow them to enter the property. Sadjoy flew up and looked around the building, before noticing that there were no other windows on the second floor and had no chimney, making her get a little frustrated at the sight of no other options. Azure and Sadjoy had to leave the property, due to them being unable to get within the property. They had to be smart about where they went and what they did, due to them needing to get back before the food ran out.

Azure signalled for Sadjoy to follow him, which she would have done anyway. Sadjoy rolled her eyes before looking back at the property, her wet mane getting in the way of her vision, forcing her to move it to the side or to a new position, so that it didn't get in her way. Sadjoy turned her head to look back at Azure and noticed that he was going to risk himself getting killed, wanting to pick up the pace at which they were moving. Azure flew closer to the clouds, fearlessness within both of his eyes as he glanced over at Sadjoy. She looked to the ground before flying up a little bit, only enough to clear the building and the treetops, which was enough for her as well as Azure.

Azure was going a little over the top with what he was doing, due to how close he was to the cloud level. He was just a hundred or so metres from the first cloud level, but he was about twenty five metres away from something that zapped anything that tried to enter the cloud level. Once pegasi went down to the ground, they would be unable to come back up to the clouds, forcing some groups of the Enclave to stay down below and make cloud-like terminals to connect with groups above the clouds.

Azure slowly made his way back down to the ground, trying to be more sensible as lightning flashed in front of both of them, making them keep their cool and not really focusing on the lightning. The thunder crept towards them, like a ghoul growling at them from far away, but with more of a sound behind it. Both Azure and Sadjoy were unaffected by it, being more annoyed at the weather than anything, due to how it was always bad when they both went on an adventure together. Azure caught up to the rampant bat pony and looked at her, before she looked back to him, wanting to kiss him mid air, so she did. Sadjoy placed a single kiss on Azure’s cheek before getting back to her normal flying position, making Azure blush in the process.

Their pace was definitely better, due to how much ground they were coving in the span of a couple seconds. Azure was satisfied with their progress, as they flew over countless trees every second and was able to spot everything that was going on below them. Both Sadjoy and Azure spotted countless ghouls as they got closer to a run down settlement. They both didn't stop to look at it, but Azure was instantly reminded of Journey as soon as he looked at the settlement below, bringing back bad memories. Azure shook his head before getting the water out of his mane, or at least a good amount of water out at least, before focusing back on the task of flying.

After about an hour of flying, Azure and Sadjoy needed to land, their wings being a little stiff from the non stop flying that they had been doing since they got into the air. Azure landed next to a tree, seeing that the ground below was dry, tempting Azure enough to make him want to land there, so he did. Sadjoy followed his lead, before landing on the dry ground. She was really grateful for the rest, due to bat pony wings being a little harder to use during harsh weather, but knowing full well that bat pony wings were extraordinary during the dry days and nights, due to how streamline they were, without having the additional weight of all of the feathers that a pegasus like Azure had.

Azure looked around, seeing nothing around them that might have posed as a threat to them, making him smile a little before opening his saddlebag to check if everything was within his saddlebag or if anything had fallen out without him noticing it. Luckily, it was all still there, making Azure breathe a sigh of relief that their long adventure wasn’t kicking off badly. Azure looked over to Sadjoy before noticing that she was ready to cover some distance on her hooves, making Azure smile that she had so much determination about her, raring for more action and more adventure. Azure looked to his Pipbuck and saw that they had made a good amount of distance, making him want to cover some more. With that being said, Azure began to trot slowly South West, Sadjoy following him happily, a great big smile on her face, making her look like she was actually enjoying it. Azure was a little sceptical about her mood, but he wasn't going to question it, not without worry at least.

They both travelled through the lands, the rain doing little to nothing to slow them down, if they found a muddy patch, they would just fly over it and land on the opposite side, making it so that the mud wouldn't slow them down at all. Although flying was easier, in the current weather, they were happy to trot along on the floor and use their wings when they were needed. Azure spotted a cluster of buildings ahead and figured that it was time for a break. They slowly walked over to the buildings and stayed vigilant, ready to pounce if something spooked them.

As they got closer to the settlement, Azure noticed some noise, pointing it out to Sadjoy, who could probably hear it before Azure could anyway, due to bat pony ears being able to pick up more noise, due to being more sensitive, as well as having echolocation, which made it easy for Sadjoy to pick up their exact location. Azure stayed completely silent and still, as Sadjoy went around the first building to see that the ponies were huddled around a fire. The ponies looked nothing like raiders, making Sadjoy think that they might have been normal settlers of the cluster of buildings. Sadjoy signalled for Azure to come to her, which he did within an instant, before Sadjoy coughed, getting the attention of the group by the fire. There was a look of shock on their faces, before there were two firearms pointed to both of them, not really scaring Sadjoy and Azure, due to them probably having the same reaction if some random pony came up behind them and coughed.

“Hello, we are not here to hurt you! We came here looking for a little bit of shelter or a place to just sit down.” Sadjoy announced, seeing no difference from them lowering their weapons. Azure was beginning to think that all wasn't like it seemed, until a pony ran up to the group, before looking at both Azure and Sadjoy.

“Wait, what's happening here? The boss told you idiots to let ponies pass come and go!” The mare stated to the others, making them lower their weapons, still eyeing both of them and not letting them go from their view. There was a pony in particular that didn't seem to like Azure, but Azure simply just took it as a sign of distrust. Sadjoy kept her eye on that one for Azure, being ready to make the first move, if they were planning anything at all. Azure and Sadjoy noticed that all of the buildings that they had seen were indeed run down, but there was a cart with some items in it, which got their attention. If they were able to find some more supplies for their adventure, then they could ensure that they would have enough to go out on an adventure while they were already out in the wild. It was indeed a good idea, but they had to check if the pony running the group was wanting to sell for some caps.

Azure knew that he had some caps to spend, so they walked closer to the cart, getting an alarming glance from one of the armoured ponies that was in the area. The guard walked up to them both and eyed them down like the other ponies did. Azure felt like somepony else was watching him from behind. He turned to see nopony behind him, so he turned back around to look at the guard that was eyeing them both down. Azure had to admit that he felt a little uncomfortable in the situation that he was in, due to all of the eyes being locked onto him for some reason.

“Is there a problem here?” Sadjoy asked, getting Azure behind her, protecting him like he was her foal. Azure did feel a little more protected, until he saw another pony walking up to them both. It was a hooded figure, with a cloak that went down past the end of their hooves, dragging along the floor. Azure noticed that it was a pony, due to the tail that was attached to the pony, that was the only thing that was exposed through the cloak. Azure felt a shiver slap his spine with vigor, making his ears droop. The hooded figure walked past them and up to the cart, before turning around and leaning on the cart itself.

“There shouldn’t be!” The aggressive cloaked mare roared, making the guard back away from Azure, looking like he was almost afraid of the cloaked mare. “I do apologize for all of this little group’s actions. I can assure you that it won't happen again. Do I make myself clear?” The mare added, making the guard nod slowly, showing how much she could do to enforce her rank of being in charge of the group.

“Are you open to trade?” Sadjoy asked, stealing Azure’s words right out of his mouth. He would speak, but Azure was pretty sure that she had it all under control. Azure just stood back and waited for Sadjoy to work her magic, making Azure ponder a tiny bit about if they knew anything about him that even he didn't know about himself. He began to question himself a little, but immediately returned to reality within an instant.

“Take a look at what we have and i will give you an offer that i will take for it.” the mare admitted, letting both Azure and Sadjoy look at what she had to offer. Azure wasn't going to miss the opportunity to look through somewhere for possible stock that they could add to either their collection or to Gretzky’s collection, back at home. Azure and Sadjoy both got taken to the rear of the cart, before the mare opened it with her magic, suggesting that she was at least a unicorn. She walked back a little bit, allowing both Azure and Sadjoy to look about to see if they wanted anything from her collection.

Azure could see some canned foods, making him instantly move towards them, before stopping as he spotted something else. Sadjoy looked at Azure and saw that he was looking at a weapon, but brushed it off instantly, making her go back to worrying about her own business. Azure wasn't looking at the weapon in front of him, he was looking at something that came in a little pack. It looked like the saddlebags that Gretzky wanted, back when Blitz was alive. It was the same material as the rags he wore under the medical jacket, which grabbed his attention. There were four or five saddlebags that were there, so Azure decided to grab the lot, before heading over to the mare. She looked at Azure, before chuckling lightly.

“You really want those pieces of shit? They can’t hold anything inside them. Plus, don't you already have a saddlebag?” She asked, making Azure look down at his saddlebag and smile, knowing that she didn't have a single clue what he was actually going to do with them. She thought for a second, before remembering that both of them were travelling through the old houses to get to someplace else, making her come up with an idea for Azure.

“Where are you two heading to, if you don't mind me asking?” The mare asked, getting a strange reaction from the pair. They didn't expect that question at all, they were more or less thinking that the hooded mare would talk more about the items, rather than what their goals were.

“Umm, we were on our way to ponyville. Why do you ask?” Sadjoy questioned the mare, making her look around. The mare stayed still for a couple of seconds, before sighing loudly, allowing Azure and Sadjoy to both hear her sighing.

“As much as I hate trusting random strangers for things, I need to ask you for a favour.” The mare asked, getting another strange look from both of them. They could agree that it was a little weird to be trusting complete strangers to go so far and grab something for somepony else that they didn't even know if they could trust. The mare seemed a little bit hesitant about asking it, making Azure believe that it was true that she needed a little bit of help.

Azure walked a little closer to the mare, seeing that she was beginning to become a little more timid, making Azure realise that she actually did need some help.

“What do you need help with?” Azure asked, getting the mare to turn to his direction, before she went quiet for a couple of seconds, before pulling out a box. Inside the box was nothing, which confused Azure slightly, as well as Sadjoy, as she looked over Azure’s shoulder, trying to figure out what was going on. The mare put the box away and brought out a photo with her magic, which showed a little box within one of the shops in Ponyville. The box had a circle around it, which made Azure instantly know what the mare was after. She had the box, but didn't have the item within the box. Azure thought at first that it was something to do with greed, but then he realised that there was a little hole in the bottom of the box, which made him get the picture.

“It is a piece of jewelry that my mother had made for me, but unfortunately it fell through one of the many bullet holes in the box. It is in the shop within the image, if it helps at all. You might have to have a little look about the floor around the area, but surprisingly, you should find it still being there, due to all of the raiders that did hold that area being dead somehow. I have absolutely no idea on how they all died, all I know is that there is no threat right now in Ponyville.” The mare spat out, trying to convince the pair as much as she could. Azure grabbed the image that she had, along with the box, before looking at it and wondering why she still kept it. It was too damaged to protect anything else, which made life a little harder when it came to protecting the jewelry. Nonetheless, Azure was determined to help the mare with finding her jewelry, which Azure knew made her smile behind her cloaked face.

Azure turned and noticed that Sadjoy had gone to go talk to somepony else, making him need to walk over to her to tell her that they were ready to go. Azure walked over to Sadjoy and the mare that she was talking to, before noticing that something was completely off. Azure still felt like he was being watched, making him regret staying for so long. Azure walked up to Sadjoy, before tapping her on the shoulder with his hoof, before she turned around with a scowl. Sadjoy looked a little distressed too, making Azure believe that something else was going to happen, but after about a minute, it didn't.

Azure walked out of the cluster of buildings, before looking back at them, Sadjoy to his opposite side doing the exact same. The feeling that Azure felt brought him back to the days of Journey and gave him the exact same vibes that Journey did, just with fewer ponies in it and it not being a settlement at all. Azure looked forward again, trying to forget about all of the stuff that went on at the settlement or little cluster of buildings. Azure tried to focus more on where they were going, rather than where they had just come from. Sadjoy was trying to do the same, feeling the same way that Azure did while at the settlement, which made his stomach crawl like something bad was going to happen and they both didn't know it.

Azure cleared his mind, before spreading his wings and rising himself up into the air. Azure didn't realise it at first, but the rain had actually stopped falling, making their journey more enjoyable and allowed them to travel greater distances, due to them not being dragged down by the rain, which was a positive that came out of this sea of negative thoughts. Azure was shortly accompanied by Sadjoy, as she flew up and glided alongside Azure, making him smile, before he looked forward again. Azure wasn't wanting to take another break until they had got to Ponyville, but knew that they were going to have to during the night, due to exhaustion approaching quicker and quicker, the more they travelled. Azure was beginning to get a little tired, but he pushed on, to try and better himself overall.

Azure was a motivated pony, being the one that would drop other things, so that his friends and family could enjoy themselves to the fullest. His only friend that he had left by his side right then and there, was Sadjoy, which did make him a little sad, due to all of his other allies dying on his adventures. As soon as all of the bad was gone, Azure would continue to fight for peace and equality, even if it was never going to happen. He promised himself that he wouldn't stop pursuing until the world went back to normal, due to him wanting to see the best in ponies and creatures alike.

Sadjoy turned her head and saw that the pegasus was deep in thought, zoned out from the rest of the world and their horrors, making her smile that he was doing something that she would do quite often, due to her emotionless and non-rememberable past. It hurt her to want to find who she was and where she came from, but the chances of that were very, very slim, due to her not knowing where to start looking. It was a journey for another day, but right now, it was a timewaster, something that would get her into the same state of daydreaming that Azure was locked into at the current time.

They both flew together, hours becoming sheer minutes, due to them not noticing anything around them, as they flew below the cloud layer and glided along with the wind. Azure began to smell something, making him realise that they were both daydreaming. Azure nudged Sadjoy and grabbed her, before they both saw something ahead of them that hurt them a little bit. The land below them was burning, making them both feel like something happened at their current location. Azure wanted to investigate, but he decided that they should have gotten to the jewelry as soon as possible, to avoid anypony from stealing it. Sadjoy agreed with Azure’s decision, sticking with him as much as she could and not at all questioning his opinion, which meant that she trusted Azure a lot, almost as much as a leader.

The day slowly turned to dusk, making them both realise how long they had both been flying. Azure landed on the ground and slumped to the floor, due to his legs being too little used to bring up the strength to land properly. Azure’s wings ached bad, so did Sadjoy’s, making them both start to stretch and relax their muscles. Azure looked around and saw nothing, meaning that they would both have to use their hooves to travel across the land to reach an area that they could have at least stayed the night at. Azure looked back at his Pipbuck and saw that they were pretty close to Canterlot, which was really bad. Azure knew that they needed to stay away from that area, due to the concentration of the radiation that was around the area and in the city itself. Being close to Canterlot meant that they were also close to ponyville too, being only a couple of miles out from it, to the South West of them. It was only another hour or two walk away, making it sound pretty far, compared to Azure and Sadjoy spending most of the day getting to where they were then.

It took them a little while to know where to look for shelter, but they eventually found some, in the shape of a house that had been broken open. Azure walked closer to the structure, expecting to find nothing there at all. It was the complete opposite! The broken house was run down, but had a lot of supplies in it, making Azure feel a little excited to explore it. It was the complete opposite feeling that Sadjoy had. She knew that something was up, that nopony would have not been in the location they were just about to explore. It seemed too good to be true, which was nearly right.

Azure carefully walked closer to the building, before noticing a pony that was sat in a chair. They seemed to be dead, but Azure had a feeling that he was probably faking it. Azure walked over and looked at the body, before a gun was pointed to his head from the side, being covered in darkness. Acting on suspicion, Sadjoy aimed at the wall with her rifle, before letting a shot out, flying through the wall and catching the figure in the head, taking them to the floor. As soon as the body hit the floor, the pony in the chair opened his eyes and looked at the body on the ground, before looking back up to Azure and smiling, their ears dropping to the side of their skull, like they were being stapled to the sides of their skull.

Azure didn't say anything, just making him be feared more than he should have been in that scenario. Sadjoy walked closer to the building, spotting the body on the floor, before pointing her gun at the figure in the chair. They were obviously using all of the resources as a bait, to attract ponies and kill them for all of their items. Not this time though. Sadjoy bent down and looked at the body that she had just made lifeless and scowled. She didn't want to do what she did, but it was either their life or Azure’s, which made the choice easier when she thought about it more. Sadjoy looked up with anger and walked over to the pony in the chair, before punching them with a hoof, causing blood to come out of their mouth. Azure watched in shock, as Sadjoy repeatedly punched away at the pony, causing it to bleed more and more.

Azure had to step in to get Sadjoy to stop punching the pony who was in the chair. Azure grabbed her wings before pulling on them, making her yell out in a little bit of pain. She turned around and went to attack Azure, but stopped as soon as she saw him standing there, looking almost scared enough to make her believe that she had done something wrong. She then realised what she was doing and backed off a little bit, seeing that the pony was chained up and now in a bad state. Azure walked up to the pony, before going to grab one of his syringes from his saddlebag, before seeing the life drain from the eyes of the pony who was chained to the chair.

Azure stopped as he saw the pony die in front of him, before sighing heavily, making it easy enough for Sadjoy to hear. She didn't say anything, as she had just assaulted a pony who was being used as bait. Azure took a lockpick he had from his saddlebag and unlocked the chain, seeing the corpse of the pony fall to the ground. Azure went to pick it up but stopped as he noticed some twitching that was going on with the body. Azure slowly backed up, before he noticed that something was off. The pony should have been dead, due to the blood loss that he experienced.

The figure launched itself at Azure, before trying to chomp away at his face, being only a couple of centimetres from being able to tear his face into shreds. Sadjoy propelled herself into the ghoul that was attacking Azure, knocking it off him and making it tuble along with her. Sadjoy dropped her rifle on the floor by doing so, making it so that she was unarmed. Sadjoy scrambled around with the ghoul, before pushing it away and getting to her hooves. The new ghoul got up and charged right at the bat pony mare, making herself become a harder target by jumping out of the way of the ghouls first attack, making it grow more enraged.

The ghoul was no longer focused on Azure, it instead was focused on its next meal and the greatest part about it was that it had a side course of wings to go along with it as well. The ghoul pounced multiple times at Sadjoy, making her dodge as hard as she could. After a good couple of seconds, the ghoul was more determined than ever to catch the quick bat pony and make a meal out of her. Sadjoy had no intention of stopping and neither did the ghoul, until something happened that wasn't planned.

Sadjoy tripped over a box that was on the ground, making it so that she was down and vulnerable. The ghoul got over to her and was about to bite her, before Azure ran over to the ghoul and bucked it over Sadjoy, wounding the ghoul in the process. It got up and rushed towards Sadjoy, as she got up and walked back slowly, passing Azure. The ghoul was still locked on Sadjoy as Azure came to his limit, only wanting to sleep for the rest of the night. Sadjoy kept her distance from the ghoul, before something strange happened to the ghoul. Sadjoy looked behind the ghoul as Azure placed one of his syringes into its back, forcing it to turn around. It was about to lash out at him, before Azure pulled the trigger to the rifle that was in his battle saddle. Sadjoy’s rifle! Azure blew the head off the ghoul, covering himself in chunks of the undead pony’s skull, as well as a lot of blood.

Azure was sick and tired of all of the unnecessary fighting that they were getting themselves into, making him change his mind about killing, only for the ghoul that was now dead in front of him, giving him a little feeling of dread for what was to come after. Azure dropped the weapon from his battle saddle, before putting the pistol that he had on him, back into the holder, before making sure that it was fully loaded, only for the off chance that they would have run into more ghouls.

Sadjoy picked herself up, before looking at Azure with a sort of appreciation in her eyes, making Azure feel slightly better about himself, before he passed the rifle back to the bat pony mare, who happily appreciated that gesture. Azure looked back at the destroyed house and realised that the two ponies were dead, leaving all of the bait that they were using to be theirs. Azure felt a tiny bit wrong for taking off the two dead ponies, but then thought to himself something that completely changes his perspective on it. Could it have not been theirs?

With that being said, both Azure and Sadjoy went about looting something that they thought might be of value or of use. Azure noticed that the pair had found some questionable items, making Azure want to take it all, not out of greed, but out of not wanting another soul to get their hooves on it. There were a couple of rockets that were definitely worth something to somepony with an explosive background, making Azure chuckle to himself that he made that pun. Sadjoy was finding some caps and found a whole bunch of food supplies, making her smile before she raced to put it into her saddlebag, nearly filling it all the way with canned goods and beverages, making her happy that they found this place.

Azure spotted a rocket launcher over in the corner of the room, making him go over to it and move it away from an area that was so out in the open, into more of a secluded area. Sadjoy moved about and was making the area safe for them, using a door that was broken to block the stairs, making so that if somepony touched the door, it would fall down and make a loud bang on the floor. It was really smart thinking for them being out in the open. Azure placed some rocks over the rocket launcher, making it so that it was unable to be seen, unless somepony had perfect eyes and could see metallic items within a rock cluster. Sadjoy and Azure moved to the top of the stair, behind the door that Sadjoy had trapped and laid down on the floor, making it so that they were out of all lines of sight.

Sadjoy laid next to Azure curling up next to him and making him realise that they didn't even have that much of a break earlier, making them want to stay on the floor longer. Azure rested his head on Sadjoy and began to close his eyes, seeing the world fade to black and making him want to drift off to sleep immediately, which was exactly what he did.