Some time had passed since they had taken the advice of somepony else. Azure and Zeke looked at each other as they went to fight within a pit, Azure not really being the fighting type, rather being the dodging type, to one that would exhaust the opponent first, before letting his friendly ally finish them off. Why were they in a pit? It was a fighting arena of course, one that only allowed for zebras to take part in, making it just that little bit more difficult, due to zebras having just that little extra strength that most other ponies didn't have. The idea of them going to the arena was all thanks to Roselight, being able to make a huge amount of bits for the settlement and being able to buy more food for everypony that was there.

Azure watched as one of the zebras tried to distract him, which didn't work, due to Azure being able to keep both of the opponents within his line of sight, making it so that he didn't focus on one of them, rather for the protection of his fighting friend, Zeke. Zeke was more of the aggressive type, making them a pretty good duo when it came to fighting like this. Azure didn't take his eyes off both of the enemies that both him and Zeke were fighting, making them both feel a little threatened that Azure didn't want to try and attack them. One of them lashed out at Azure, making him focus more on them, rather than the other, allowing Zeke to fend for himself by attacking the following zebra, the one that was not attacking or trying to attack Azure.

A punch from the zebra nearly hit Azure on the side of the head, potentially knocking him out, if it did connect. Azure smiled at the zebra, knowing that he was pretty quick, but thanks to Azure being a hybrid, he was able to slide to the left and right with ease, due to his wings being able to propel him sideways, like he was able to be skating on ice or something like that, making him giggle at the thought. Azure waited patiently for the zebra to attack again, but found that the zebra too, was waiting for Azure to lash out at him, which Azure wasn't going to do… yet.

The zebra Zeke was fighting was down for the count, thanks to Zeke’s really good fighting during hoof to hoof combat, making Azure smile as Zeke crept up behind the zebra waiting patiently. Zeke purposely made some noise, getting a reaction from the zebra, making him turn. The striped menace looked back to Azure, knowing that he shouldn't have looked away, which he was one hundred percent correct on, due to Azure waiting patiently for that stripped stallion to make a beautiful mistake, which was what happened.

Azure waited for the striped stallion to look back at him, before flying up and instantly back down onto the head of the zebra, Zeke playing a little bit of a role there too. As soon as Azure flew up, the zebra kept track of him, letting his guard down and allowing Zeke to tackle the striped creature, making it grunt as it hit the floor, along with a lighter Zeke on top of them, making him chuckle. The zebra pushed Zeke off himself and stood up, coming to fight with the other hybrid zebra that was within that very ring or pit.

Azure had eventually found out, during his time with him, that Zeke was half zebra and half kirin, making him a little surprised that the horn didn't transfer over, but the ability to turn into a literal fireball did, making him be able to become immune to any type of fire, due to his body being able to turn into something that was hotter than fire, which was pretty cool in Azure’s eyes.

Azure was unaccounted for during a little bit of Zeke’s battle, making him become the element of surprise, dive bombing every couple of time to pick off any attack that Zeke might not have been ready for, giving Zeke a guardian angel for a little bit, before Azure decide that enough was enough. He knew that Zeke was playing with the zebra, but Azure just wanted to get it over with, flying down at alarming speed, straight towards the remaining zebra.

Azure connected a hit that ruptured the zebra’s knowledge, making him feel like he was about to lose his head, but he wasn't. The zebra got catapulted into a corner, knocking him out in an instant, allowing the two to win the fight within the pit. Azure looked at Zeke with a scowl on his face, not approving of his actions in playing with his win. Azure was more of a determined specimen, knowing what should have been done and what needed to be done and knew exactly what the difference was between them, making him appreciate decisions more and more.

It had been a fair amount of months since they had killed Sawtooth, being around six or so months since those events, when Azure himself was nearly killed by the radiation that bomb gave off, without him knowing about it. Azure kept checking his Pipbuck at all times, due to what happened then and how he lived his life now. Azure was able to be more relaxed about things and became more confident as he mixed with everypony and creatures from the settlement. Azure looked at all of the ponies that were around the pit and smiled at each of them, making them feel like he was going to pull off something. He wasn't, but he just had the mindset to scare off anypony or creature who didn't believe that him and Zeke would have won the event that they partook in.

A ladder was lowered into the pit, allowing the two to get out of the pit. Azure was perfectly able to fly out of the pit, but wanted to show some love to the ladder that they were using, so he became a little lazy and climbed the ladder, when he could have easily flown out. As soon as Azure got to the top of the pit, he looked to Zeke before looking over to the pony who had sent them down into the pit, which was Roselight. She was in the middle of receiving some bottle caps for the fight that they had both just won, making it look and feel like she was taking what was rightfully theirs, but they didn't care too much for the caps, as long as they went into improving the settlement that they had around the area, it was perfectly fine.

Roselight had a couple of injuries that made it difficult for her to do specific things. One of them in particular was flying. The alicorn had scars on her wings that made it difficult for her to fly, putting her off the idea of doing so, unless it came down to it. She originally wanted to get rid of her wings, due to them hurting so much when she did try to fly, but that was when she got the injury to them, so it was bound to hurt, making Azure feel a little bad for her. She never asked for her wings and the only thing that they were doing then and there was giving her problems and making her life a living hell, due to how much they stung at the time. Right at that moment, Azure was pretty sure that it didn't hurt her at all, but it was a little difficult to regain the ability to fly after not doing so without pain for so long.

Azure walked over to Roselight, seeing a big smile on her face. She looked at the caps and then smiled back at the pony who gave her the caps, before turning to see Azure there. She looked a little surprised that Azure was there, but she didn't stress, taking a fair amount of caps out of the bag and passing them over to Azure, which made him look a little confused. He stepped back a little, not wanting the caps that she was giving to him.

“I don't want your bottle caps, Roselight.” Azure stated, knowing that they would have done better sitting in Roselight’s saddlebag, rather than his, allowing them to be able to afford more defence for their settlement. Azure walked back a little, not wanting to accept the caps that were in Roselight’s magic, but she then placed them back into her saddlebag, saving them for something that might have been useful later on. Azure turned to Zeke, before seeing that he was talking to the both of the zebras who were in the arena with them. Azure didn't want to disturb them, so he fled away from the group, seeing the settlement before running to it and noticing that Saber was not at his post. He was normally so trustworthy with guarding, but as of recently, he had been acting strange, like something was wrong. Azure walked to the door of the settlement, before waiting for Saber to open the door, but he didn't, making his life so much more difficult than it needed to be.

Azure backed up and used his wings to propel himself upwards, allowing him to land on the wall of the settlement. He looked around and saw that Saber was nowhere to be seen, making Azure a little confused as to what had happened to the guard of the new settlement. Azure walked down the stairs and began walking back to his home, making the negative thoughts fade away, replacing them with positive ones that didn't baffle his mind nearly as much as looking for Saber did.

Sadjoy was still his one and only, making him grateful that she was still loyal and wanted to stay by his side regardless of consequences or if she was able to or not. She was something that Azure was grateful to have and even she knew it, due to how romantic he was around her. She had gone over to talk to Nightclaw about something to do with a gun upgrade, so Azure knew where she was, making him confident that she would have probably come back happier than she originally was. Azure didn't feel happy most of the time, due to him still having occasional nightmares and bad days, but becoming more and more common as time went one, making him a little concerned about all of what was happening in the world around him.

Azure got to his home, before taking out his key and turning it in the lock, making him smile as he walked into his little retreat from the Wasteland and it’s horrible nature. Azure closed the door behind him, before noticing that there was a note on the front of the door for Sadjoy. Azure took it off, before looking at it and then placing it down on the side of the cabinet, making it so that it would be the first thing that Sadjoy saw when she got back from her little meeting with Nightclaw. Azure sighed happily, looking over at the window and seeing that there was a drink already in the window for him, making him thank Sadjoy in his mind for the nice hot drink that she had made. It was a mixture of honey, a little bit of radaway and hot water. Azure had grown to like it a little bit, liking and enjoying the taste and the warmth more than anything else and was happy that it was able to be made easily.

Azure looked out the window to see Zeke walking down the cobbled pathway that was right outside his house, making Azure think that something was up with him or something. Azure took another casual sip, before hearing a knock at the door, making him jump and nearly spit out his lovely drink that his lover made for him.

“It’s open!” Azure shouted, getting the attention of the pony or creature that knocked on the door. The door opened slowly, before a certain familiar looking gryphon walked into Azure’s home, Azure being very happy that Gretzky had walked in, because he had been wanting to talk with him since before the fight in the pit.

“Hello Azure, I take it that Sadjoy ain’t here?” Gretzky asked, getting clarification as soon as Azure shook his head in response to the question. Azure took another sip of his drink and then placed it back down on the windowsill, looking towards Gretzky with a big smile on his face.

“Yeah, she’s over with Nightclaw right now. I have been meaning to talk to you about something though.” Azure stated, gaining the immediate attention of the gryphon, making him look at Azure with a curious glance. Azure walked over to him and grabbed his syringe gun from his saddlebag and placed it within Gretzky’s claws, seeing that it was a little banged up and a little damaged. “The loading mechanism is completely broken and the barrel ain’t straight. I don’t think it’s been straight since I fell on it when I was being attacked in the old settlement.” Azure explained, seeing that the syringe gun had lived longer than even Gretzky had thought, giving him a reason to repair the item, but it was pretty worn out at that point, making him ponder on what to do with it.

“If you leave it with me, I have an idea that might help.” Gretzky reported to Azure, making Azure smile a little bit. He knew that Gretzky wasn't going to fix it, that was obvious, but he didn't know what he was going to do whatsoever, making the surprise even more special. Azure nodded, before climbing back into the window and sitting on the windowsill, making him look almost like a cat looking outside a window, just a very heavy one, with wings. Gretzky turned back to the door and began to walk out, looking at the syringe gun with a little bit of curiosity in the back of his mind.

“How’s the armour coming along?” Azure called out to Gretzky while still looking out of the window. Gretzky turned and looked back at Azure, getting a slow head turn from Azure, followed by a slurp of a mug that Azure had, containing his beverage.

“It is coming along well, just got a couple of ponies and creatures left before everypony has a piece of the armour that you got. Speaking of which, how is your armour holding out?” Gretzky asked, betting that there were at least a couple of bullet holes. Azure moved to the opposite side of the room, before grabbing the clothed armour and smiling, throwing it in Gretzky’s direction, allowing him to catch it and look it over. He was surprised to see that there was no damage done to the fabric, other than the initial tear that he had done before making the armour, making him seem almost impressed about his work, seeing that he could create a durable piece of armour for sure. Gretzky threw the ragged armour back at Azure, who immediately put it on, making his body feel more ready for action and ready for the danger to charge at him.

Azure was unable to wear the armour during the fight, so he placed the armour in his home for safekeeping and allowing him to hide it somewhat. Azure placed his medical jacket over himself and felt like a new pegasus, apart from having the story of multiple bullet holes in his jacket, which annoyed him, because there was no jacket like the one that Blitz had picked out for him originally, making Azure get really aggravated that the one last thing that he had to remember his one fallen friend was damaged beyond repair and there were no other medical jackets that Gretzky sold. At least it kept him warm, that was what it was going to be used for, keeping Azure warm. Gretzky left the house with the syringe gun, making Azure feel a little lighter on his hooves and made it so that he wasn't in the predicament of healing anypony anymore.

Feeling a little bit on the adventurous side, Azure walked outside and closed the door behind him, leaving his delectable drink within the safe confines of his home. Azure locked the door, before flying across the settlement and made it his mission to try and find Sadjoy and Nightclaw. Azure swooped over Gretzky, before seeing the little area that Nightclaw had to set up his forge, making Azure feel bad for the gryphon, due to all of the equipment being squeezed into one small area. It must have been a nightmare to move around that area without bumping into anything. Azure landed and immediately saw both of them talking away, spotting him landing there, but continuing to talk among themselves.

Azure looked over, before walking closer to them both. Sadjoy smiled mid conversation, making Azure know that she was happy with him being here, which Azure immediately replied with a smile of his own, before shuffling next to them both and engaging in the conversation, which seemed to involve a lot of talk about how he was able to set up the forge and all of the other equipment. It got a little boring, but Azure was there to stay with his mare Sadjoy and needed to talk to her about something that was on his mind.

Azure waited for the conversation to die down between the bat pony and the gryphon, allowing him to sneak in a little advance that suggested that he wanted to speak to her about something. Azure gave a little cough, followed by a little bit of a twitch, signalling Sadjoy that he wanted to speak with her about something, making her chuckle and roll her eyes at Azure.

“You know that you can just ask me, right, instead of making a bit of a fuss about it?” Sadjoy chuckled, before kissing Azure on the cheek, making him blush that little bit more. Azure nodded, before coughing again, clearing his voice and allowing him to speak without issues occurring within his throat, pretty much meaning that he was clearing his throat.

“First of all, Gretzky I think was looking for you for some reason. Secondly, I got nothing else to do right now, so I thought that it might have been a great idea to hang out with one of the greatest mares that I have met along my travels and adventures.” Azure stated with a smile present on his face, making Sadjoy blush a little and lean into him, burying her face into his fluff to hide her embarrassment, but there was nothing embarrassing about telling a pony that they were loved and that they were awesome.

Azure noticed that Nightclaw was smiling a little, due to seeing the happy couple getting on with each other, giving the area more of a positive vibe that irradiated like radiation, which spread around the area and affected Nightclaw to make him feel a little more positive about the life he was living, knowing that he was in the presence of somepony who was positive. Azure noticed that when him and Sadjoy tried to embarrass each other, everything around them became more positive, giving life more reason to keep living, to see the events of their happiness to the end, which that thought alone made Azure look at Sadjoy and smile, knowing that they would both be fine in the long run, only if they kept each other happy and entertained.

“I think my job here is complete, due to the smile that Nightclaw is wearing with pride.” Azure stated, getting a stronger smile in return from the gryphon. Azure knew that he was doing something that made the area around them better, so he was going to keep doing the things that he was, only to make the areas he went to more positive and brighter.

Without any warming Roselight teleported to them all, making them all jump, due to her teleporting and quickly speaking about something, making them all believe that she was a little concerned about something or something was bothering her at least, making them worry a little bit.

“Have any of you seen Saber? He ain’t at the gate, but never leaves his post. Never!” Roselight stated, becoming a little worried about the pony that she looked after. Azure calmed her down a little, convincing her that he was probably perfectly fine, making her feel a little more relaxed, thanks to Azure. Azure looked at both Nightclaw and Sadjoy, before kissing Sadjoy on the head and walking with Roselight to try and find the pesky unicorn that had mysteriously disappeared.

Azure and Roselight both climbed the stairs by the wall, hoping that Saber was on top of the wall again. Sadly and unfortunately, he wasn't, making Azure get a little angry that something happened due to the fighting that was going on within the pit. Azure had a strange feeling that he knew that the fighting was the main source of his disappearance, but was not one hundred percent sure that it was.

“Don't worry, we will definitely find him and find out where he went.” Azure said, trying to keep the nerves away from Roselight, already knowing how much torment that she had already gone through, due to the nightmare that was within her originally and the transformation into an alicorn, which was a first for pony kind, as far as Azure knew. They tried to understand where Saber could have gotten to, but couldn't bring themselves to understand where he would have gone within the settlement, which Azure then stopped and thought about something. Azure bolted into the air, before looking at his Pipbuck and looking around for allies, which seemed to prove useful. Azure flew around slowly, trying to see if he could find Saber on his Pipbuck, which he did almost immediately, which made him breathe a sigh or relief. He was on the opposite side of the wall on the opposite side of the settlement.

Azure signalled for Roselight to follow her, before seeing that she was already in the air, travelling towards Azure’s location and waiting to follow him as quickly as she could, to find out where Saber was hiding. They got to the opposite side of the settlement within a minute and flew over the wall, to see Saber slumped against it, looking like he was in pain. Roselight panicked, knowing that somepony had hurt him, making her get a mixture of anger and sorrow brewing within her being. Azure landed on the ground, allowing Saber to notice him landing, giving him a gentle smile, before looking behind Azure. Azure turned around to see three of the zebras aiming some melee weapons at them. One of them wielded a staff, much like Blitz had wielded within a nightmare that Azure had months ago. Another wielded a sword, while the final one wielded a knife that looked like it had been used recently. Azure noticed that it had blood dripping down it, making Azure immediately look back at Saber, before seeing that he was trying to cover up an injury that he had gotten, making Azure that little bit angier.

Azure got into a more defensive stance, being ready to fight if it called for it as a last resort. Roselight walked closer to Saber and noticed the wound, making her worry, as she ran and tried to look after him. Azure passed Roselight some elixirs that he had made a little while ago, before looking back to the trio that was ready to give Azure and Roselight a hard time.

“Why do this?” Azure asked, getting nothing but silence in response for a couple of seconds, before one of them laughed. One of them launched themself at Azure, making Azure dodge their little ramming attempt, before noticing that there was a laser that was pointing to the raider that had just passed him. Azure stayed quiet about it, before noticing that same zebra trying to attack him, forcing Azure to defend himself. Without warning, before the zebra was even able to attack, another zebra wielding a rifle aimed his weapon at all three of his kind, making them pause for a couple of seconds.

Sadjoy and Gretzky had their weapons pointed at the group, as they flew in behind the zebra. The zebra in question was one of the fighters that Azure and Zeke had fought against, being a little worse for wear than he originally was, but still being well enough to fix himself up and come over and sort this entire event out. Azure looked back at Saber and noticed that he was drinking the elixirs that Azure had made, being able to heal the inside of his body first, before working its way out of any unwanted holes in his body. The thought that Saber was getting better made Azure smile a little, before scowling back at the zebras.

The little group of zebras were not backing down, making Sadjoy and Gretzky keep their sights on them, along with the fellow fighter that was taking their side. The fighter looked down and realised that Saber was hurt, making him a little angry.

“We did not come here to kill! You have betrayed me and my trust, all of you!” The fighter stated, before unloading a bullet into the air, making them all jump, before one of the zebras became a little too confident. He looked at Saber and took a smaller knife out of his pouch, before throwing it right in the direction of Saber’s head, being able to finish him off with the throw. Azure noticed the zebra reaching into his pouch and jumped in front of both Saber and Roselight, taking the knife to the ear, making him scream out in pain, but not killing him.

Sadjoy unloaded her rifle into the striped stallion that had thrown the knife, not backing down until he had more holes in him than stripes. Even when the zebra was dead, Sadjoy didn't back down, not until Gretzky grabbed her and lowered her gun, making her realise what she had just done and to what extent that she had carried it out. Azure stood there, knife in his ear, as he witnessed the protection of himself from his marefriend, which made him smile, within the pain that he had right then and there. The worst part was that he had to get the knife back out, as well as being out of healing potions, which made him feel so much better. He rolled his eyes at himself, making him feel like such and idiot for not having any potions that that point, but felt a little better when he noticed that Saber was getting up, only a little bit of blood on his armour and fur, making Azure feel better that he used his last potion to restore a life threatening injury.

The two other zebras began to run, before both getting shot by the fighter that Azure and Zeke had fought within the pit, feeling that he was loyal to the ponies and creatures that he had fought against or with. Both of the shots that he landed were both headshots, showing off the zebra’s incredible marksman with a rifle, but killing both of the zebras who hurt their little family that they had.

“I am so sorry for all of the trouble that they caused. They make my kind look more worthless and useless than they actually are. Stupid equines! Again, my apologies.” The fighter apologized, feeling bad for the rest of the group, before slowly walking to the bodies that were still within the settlement. Azure thought that he was going to probably take the bodies with him, but he wasn't. He was looting the bodies for all of the stuff that they had, leaving their bodies for the rest of them to clear up. That was a little bit stuck up and selfish, but Azure couldn't have cared less, due to all of the action that had gone on within that short period of time, making him hope that something like that wouldn't have happened again.

Sadjoy rushed to Azure, before tearing the knife out of his ear, making him scream in pain, due to her violently taking it out, but at least it was quick and gladly didn't cause too much damage to his ear. Sadjoy then proceeded to wrap Azure’s ear within some bandages, feeling a little better, but in more pain than he originally was. He knew that Sadjoy meant to help, but she didn't know that she was wrapping the bandages too hard, making it rub against Azure’s wounds more. He would let her off with it, due to her being in a little bit of a panic and then wanted to help out and take the role of assistant doctor, which was pretty cute, for Azure at least.

Azure looked over to the bodies and saw that they had been looted clean, making them have no point to keep the bodies around, so Azure walked away from the group and went up to the bodies, before seeing that they had absolutely nothing on them, no armour, no saddlebags, nothing. They were going to have to start working on graves for them, but that was not their top priority. Azure turned back to look at Saber and saw that he was walking over to Azure, making Azure stand up straight and look down to Saber, due to him being a fair bit taller than all of the other members in the group, apart from Roselight, because alicorns were very very tall. Azure tried to look back for the fighter that was with them, but he was gone, like they were not even there.

Roselight flew over with Sadjoy trailing behind her, before landing next to Azure and checking him over, looking for it he was hurt anywhere else. Saber paused as soon as he got to Azure, making him clear his throat, before speaking up about something that he wanted to get off his chest.

“Thank you Azure, for all of this.” Saber admitted, getting a smile from the pegasus, making Azure nod back at him, giving him all of the information that he needed to feel like he had accepted that appreciation. Azure had originally given up on using his fake name of Alchem and openly admitted to the entire community that his name was really Azure, getting some mixed reactions by all of the group. Brick was one of the members that didn't approve of him being lied to, but he accepted the world for what it was and looked at Azure no different than before, which was good in Azure’s eyes. Gretzky was happy for Azure, as were a couple of other ponies and creatures, making Azure feel more comfortable with all of them, which originally made him happy, but now, he felt like just how he did before, not satisfied, not alone. He was in the middle of an average mood, just like always.

Roselight checked her favourite doctor, as did Sadjoy, making sure that he wasn't hiding any other wounds that were left unattended, which Azure chuckled at how supportive both of them were all the time, now that they had been to new areas and moved in a direction that was only giving off positive vibes in the area that they were now situated, bringing a smile to Azure’s face, him knowing how much the community had moved on and developed at a family within some walls, which nearly made Azure start chuckling with job, but he stayed serious, making the others get on with what they wanted and or needed to do in order for them to feel satisfied with themselves.

Both mares stopped checking Azure after finding that there was nothing wrong with him whatsoever, making them focus more on the ear injury more, making Azure chuckle a little louder, catching the attention of the two, before Azure wrapped his hooves around them both, giving them both a gentle hug, which was something that made them both smile with glee, as they stopped being so protective over the doctor. Although Azure was in more pain than the others realised, he was perfectly okay to function as intended, like normal as the doctor. He definitely needed to go back to his home and make some more healing potion, but he didn't have the ingredients to make it, due to them needing a specific resource that he couldn't find anymore, due to it not being abundant in the area that they were now situated, making him a little annoyed, but gave him hope that he would be able to grow the radioactive plant that he needed to complete the potion. The reason that Azure was able to create the potion was because he was able to get the resource at the old area, due to it being close to their home, but sadly now, it wasn't.

Azure slowly turned his head, noticing that his head was a little stiff, so he tried to loosen it, turning it left and right slowly to make the muscles in his neck work easier and to make them not lock up as easily. Azure looked around to see the zebra corpses beginning to rot, slowly decomposing but being sped up, due to the radiation that was around them within the air. Azure slowly walked over to one of the bodies and then looked back to the others, hoping that they would also come over and help, which is exactly what they did. Roselight came over and picked up on of the bodies with her magic, as did Saber, following Roselight with the body in the air, trying to keep the body away from anypony due to the stench that was coming from the dead corpse, making even Saber hold his breath, as he held it up high above him.

Nightclaw walked over to the group, noticing the bodies that Saber and Roselight were moving away from the group, making him question what happened. He turned to see Azure with his wound to his ear, making him seem like he had left one fight and entered another. Sadjoy kept Azure under her wing, making him feel safer as well as warmer, which Azure was happy with, because the air was a little nippy after all. Sadjoy looked at Nightclaw with a little bit of a smile, but then she looked back down at Azure looking down to the floor, the pain in his ear giving him a major migraine, making his head twist and turn in pain.

“So what happened here?” Nightclaw asked after a couple of seconds of standing still, curious as to why Azure was hurt and why there were two of the zebra fighters dead. Sadjoy rolled her eyes, before looking to Nightclaw.

“I’ll tell you in a minute, but let me get Azure back home and then get him resting, then I can tell you, maybe over a drink or two.” Sadjoy stated to him, placing Azure onto her back and beginning to take off after a short period of time. Azure closed his eyes and rested, letting his body relax, as he tried to get rid of the headache that he had. Nightclaw flew after them, being a little more casual about the entire thing, but seeming like he was interested in something out of the conversation, making Azure a little curious as to why he was interested. He had never been before, which made things a little dodgy.

They got to their home within no time, before Sadjoy landed and unlocked the door with her own key, which was exactly the same as Azures. Sadjoy flew up the stairs and placed Azure in their bed, making him feel instantly better, due to the not so soft mattress being softer than Sadjoy’s back, which was a little sad, but it was the sad truth. Sadjoy tucked him up well and watched as Azure slowly drifted off to sleep, before turning around and slowly going down the steps, seeing that Nightclaw was waiting for the bat pony to come back downstairs, before going into the first room of the building, the living room.

Azure opened his eyes slowly, knowing that something was up with those two, but he couldn't put his mind on what it was. Azure knew that Sadjoy was loyal, but how loyal was she to him. Azure noticed that Sadjoy had spent a lot of time with Nightclaw for a short while, which made Azure question everything, due to being paranoid. Azure thought about it more and more, before noticing that something was going on downstairs, because there was music playing down there through one of the many radios that the house had. Azure knew that Sadjoy only listened to music when she was stressed, making Azure question if he was that reason, sending him down a rabbit hole that he shouldn’t have been going down into. Azure was too curious to go to sleep, as well as having too much of a headache to do anything else, but he had one thing that he had to do.

Azure could hear somepony coming up the stairs, before closing his eyes and pretending that he was asleep. Azure was going to make sure that he was pretending to be asleep as best as he could, so he began lightly snoring, making Sadjoy fall for his little trap that he had set for her. She rushed back downstairs, before Azure slowly and quietly got out of bed and went down the steps using his wings. Because the music was so loud, they couldn't have heard Azure fly down the steps. Azure made sure to land quietly, before slowly waiting for them to stop talking.

Azure could hear Sadjoy chuckling, something that he was unable to do himself, due to him being one of the more serious ponies in the settlement. NIghtclaw was the most serious, but he got Sadjoy to laugh, which made Azure that little bit more sad than he already was. Azure could hear how happy Sadjoy was with Nightclaw, rather than himself, making Azure feel worse and worse, as Nightclaw kept doing things that would make Sadjoy that little bit happier. Azure felt selfish for that moment of time and thought that all of the problems were coming off himself, but that wasn't the case as he moved his head around the corner and went wide eyed at what he saw. They had their lips locked together and both of their eyes closed. Sadjoy was blushing furiously and enjoying every second of it.

Tears streamed down Azure’s face right then and there, forcing him to fly back upstairs without making a sound. He walked quietly over to the bedside table and grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and began writing a message on it. Azure then placed the pen on top and wiped his eyes, clearing his vision slightly and making him see things more clearly. His last pony that he trusted was now untrustworthy. Their relationship, all the time they had spent together, was worthless. Sadjoy was Azure’s best friend, but not now. They had been lovers for so long, but Azure knew that he was just being used until somepony or some creature else came by.

Azure grabbed everything that was important to him, which was not a lot outside of his saddlebag. Azure placed everything that was valuable inside his saddlebag, before slowly flying downstairs again. He landed a little louder, making no audible difference outside of the blaring music. Azure sat there for a couple of seconds before hearing something happening on the opposite side of the wall.

“We have to be quiet, so that we don't wake up Azure.” Sadjoy stated, being the relationship cheater now. There were some muffled growns coming from the same area, followed by them both happily sighing. Azure felt sick, but had to do what he did. He quickly turned to the corner to see both pony and gryphon connected via gryphon’s tube, which was happily out of vision of Azure’s perspective. Both Sadjoy and Nightclaw looked at Azure with shock, like he had done something that he shouldn't have done. There were tears of sadness within Azure’s eyes, along with a look of anger at both of them. Betrayal was the better word to use. The gryphon was mounted on the back of Sadjoy, but Azure didn’t care anymore.

“Nice to know that the last pony that I could trust is now the pony that I can’t even call a friend. There is a note for you both upstairs, you traitorous fucks! I hope I never run across either of you ever again.” Azure stated, louder than the radio could transmit the music. Azure really badly wanted to hurt both of them, but he couldn't. Azure turned and ran out of the door, bucking it open in the process and seeing that Gretzky was coming towards the house. He stopped to look at Azure in tears. He rushed over to stop him, before giving him a gentle hug.

“Stay here quickly!” Gretzky commanded, before walking inside the house, weapon in hand. Gretzky walked into the living room and found the other two starting to put their armour back on, ready to chase after Azure. Gretzky aimed his weapon at both of them, knowing exactly why Azure was crying. He knew how close Azure and Sadjoy were, so he knew how much it hurt Azure. Gretzky scowled at both of them, knowing that he had lost faith in both of them, making him not see eye to eye with either of them anymore. Gretzky turned and ran back to Azure.

“If you want to come back to my shop, i’ll let you stay with me and Plumjuice, is that okay?” Gretzky asked, getting a simple nod from Azure, but Azure opened his mouth.

“If I come to your shop later, while you're still open, i’ll meet you there. I want to go and pay a close friend a visit for comfort.” Azure stated quietly, Gretzky nodding happily as he hugged Azure and looked angrily back at the house. Both Sadjoy and Nightclaw came out, making Gretzky raise his gun and point it at both of them, making them stop.

“Come any closer and I will blow your fucking heads off!” Gretzky threatened, making them both take one step back. Azure began walking in the direction of his friend’s home, not even taking a glance back, while Gretzky kept pointing his gun towards them both, making them cower a little and made Sadjoy tear up a little. Gretzky followed her crying with something that made both Azure and Sadjoy tear up even more.

“It’s all your fault, so there is no need to cry!” Gretzky roared, getting the attention of a couple of other ponies and creatures. Azure continued walking towards the direction of an old friend’s house, making him feel even worse than before, due to Gretzky’s quote going through his mind most of the time, constantly. Although Azure knew that Gretzky was directing that statement to Sadjoy and Nightclaw, he couldn't help but think that he definitely slipped up somewhere, making Sadjoy betray their relationship, making it official once they had gotten back to the older settlement and began relaxing. Azure couldn't help himself and thought about the good old days that he had with Sadjoy, knowing that at any point, she could have snuck off and lied to Azure at any point in their relationship, making him now begin to trust her as far as he could throw her, which was not very far.

Azure noticed that for the first time in his life, it was not raining while he was sad, making him feel a tiny bit better, due to the weather, but only the weather and nothing else. Azure thought that talking to a specific pony might have helped get rid of some of the unwanted pain that was within his heart, easing it a little and making him feel a little better with somepony telling him about stories that might have distracted him from the harsh world that he was living.

Due to the satellite on the roof of the house, Azure instantly knew that he was in the right place. He walked to the door and then knocked on it, before waiting and clearing some of the tears out of his eyes. He had come to speak to the pony within quite often, just to make sure that they were okay with living like they were. Azure noticed that a camera moved and twisted, making him think that somepony was on the camera’s within the house, making him assume that there was definitely somepony home. A metallic figure opened the door and Azure walked in and hugged Lumia, knowing that she would have been able to help with Azure’s pain.

Some time passed, as Azure sat in a comfy chair along with Lumia and Lilly, Lilly being a new friend of Lumia’s and was over to talk to her and relax. As soon as she saw Azure, she began to feel sad for him, hearing about what had happened to him. He needed all of the support that he could get and was not refusing to help a friend that was in need of a little bit of warmth and or love. She rested her head next to Azure’s, before noticing that there was something a little bit off about Azure, noticing that he wasn't caring as much as he used to about keeping himself in a stable condition. Delta was doing some monitoring of their own, making sure that Sadjoy was within their sights and making sure that she didn't come anywhere near the house, now not knowing where Azure went off to, due to being with Nightclaw for so long. She cried in front of one of the cameras, but Delta didn't play any of the audio, knowing that if they did, Azure would probably break down more than he already had, making him more vulnerable to anything.

Delta stopped watching Sadjoy and went back to focusing on Azure, the friend that had helped them to get out of that little shack that both him and Lumia created, which was way too dangerous to still be within that area, due to all of the radiation rolling around and all of the patrois now rolling around and through their old base, making them have to relocate from there to where they were now, which was in between Hoofington and Tenpony Tower, which made them a little confused on where they were, due to them being in the middle of nowhere. Although there was some trees around their little home, there were still opportunities to attack the base with ease, due to there only being three wall left, out of the usual four walls that created the outer walls of a settlement, but sadly, the settlement that they were living in now didn't have a final wall, making them have to use debris to block that entire wall, still making it easy to get in and out of the settlement due to sneaking out and under the debris, which there was a pony sized gap that allowed them entry to the settlement from the outside in.

Eventually, Azure and a couple of other ponies were going to try and fix that area, allowing for maybe another gate into the settlement, just to avoid being attacked from additional sides. Azure was trying to think of other things to talk about, to avoid him falling back into the hole that he was trying so desperately to get out of, due to Sadjoy and Nightclaw going at it and trying to keep it behind his back, making him shiver just thinking about it. Lumia noticed another tear that was creeping down Azure’s face, making her wipe it away as quickly as she could, avoiding Azure going into tears. Azure was strong, but he had lost so much already that something simple could have hurt him even more than the mare that said that she loved him. Liar!

Azure closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of both Lumia and Lilly, making Azure feel like he was safe for the most part from the world that was existing around him. Azure relaxed a little, nuzzling into the metallic structure that was Lumia, but was heated by the warmth of the kirin next to him, radiating heat from her body like a heater, being able to heat up the area around her with ease, as well as herself, which made Azure look at kirins differently, due to Zeke being half of one and Lilly being a fully fledged one. Kirin were mythical creatures, but legends never stay hidden forever, especially an entire race of ponies that didn't even exist until the bombs dropped.

Azure didn't know what he was going to do next, making him a little angry that he had no plan to fall back on and had no plan that he was able to achieve. Azure was a pony that was more interested in being given tasks to do, rather than to be giving others tasks to do. As Azure thought about that, he noticed that it was getting a little late, due to them protecting him so much, which he was grateful for, being able to confidently say that their affection definitely helped a little, if not a lot.

“How are you doing Azure?” Lumia and Delta asked, their voices mixing and echoing in unison with each other, making them both look at each other before smiling softly and looking back to Azure, wanting to know the answer as soon as possible.

“I… I guess that I will be alright, but only time may tell.” Azure stated, getting a nod from Lilly beside him, before seeing her rest her head on top of Azure’s for a short period of time. Azure was a lot better than he was, due to the help of the friends that he had collected along his journey.

“If you need something like this again, like the rest and relaxation Azure, do feel free to come back. Our door is always open to you, dear friend.” Delta explained, making Azure smile that some ponies were way more generous than himself, but there was bound to be ponies that would have been able to see through the dark and put the lives and sanity of other ponies before their own, making Azure still have a little bit of faith with ponykind, which gave him hope.

Azure slowly raised himself up and slid himself off the chair, knowing that he was disturbing the relaxation that they were all having, making him feel the tiniest bit sorry for them, even though he knew that he didn't need to worry about it. Azure was just having his mind bombarded with bad thoughts, due to what Sadjoy had done, making him lose trust in her.

“I need to speak to Gretzky about something. I guess I will see you all tomorrow or something like that.” Azure stated, getting a look of happiness from all three faces that were looking at him, making him smile and build up his confidence a little, one by one, brick by brick. Lumia nodded and then looked to the professor, who just placed an image of a mare celebrating, before Lumia looked back to Lilly, seeing that she was trying to snuggle up against Lumia, making her wear a smile of her own. She nodded too, before looking at Azure and nodding to him as well, making the light that Azure was standing in feel a little brighter and a little bit warmer.

Azure turned and rushed out the door, before closing it behind him and making sure it was closed, before running over to Hretzky’s shop, seeing that it was still open and seeing that the gryphon was still there, standing tall and proud over the other ponies that he was selling his items too, making him look over to see Azure with an even bigger smile, before finishing off with the customers that he had, making him free for a little bit of a chat and able to have some free time.

“How you feeling now, champ?” Gretzky asked, getting a simple shrug from Azure in response, making it seem like he didn't want to talk too much about it. Gretzky came out of the shop from behind the counter and hugged Azure with both his claws and his wings. “Did going to Delta’s help in any way?” Gretzky asked, getting a slight nod from the pegasus, making Gretzky smile due to Azure feeling a tiny bit better. Any progress to make Azure feel better was good progress, which was something Gretzky believed, making him think of happy thoughts, while he tried to comfort Azure with both his wings and his claws.

“Thank you for actually giving me a place to sleep. I have still got a little bit of a headache, but i’ll be alright for the time being.” Azure stated, making the gryphon become a little worried about his health. Azure knew how to look after himself, that was something Gretzky knew, but he pondered if he was able to help with that in any way at all. Azure looked about, before going into his saddlebag and grabbing two images that would have helped him to forget about the events that had transpired a little while ago now.

One of the images that he brought out was the one from their home in the old settlement. It was the Project Chimera image, which looking back to the image, gave him some good memories and some good ideas on what the metallic limbs that the creature in the image had, were like for them. It brought back memories of their first actual place that Azure could have called home, but he didn't know about what Blitz had thought about the home at all, making him a little sad that he wasn't here with him right now. That got Azure to look at the other image that he had, of the two ponies. Although the ponies were not real, being Blitz’s fake pony form and his mother’s fake form, it still had the power to make Azure miss Blitz as much as he initially did and needed him a little, wishing that he was here for Azure to hold, just for comfort reasons.

Before Azure could get another word out, the midnight sky lit up with a bright green light in the distance, brightening the world that he was in. It looked like a balefire bomb detonated in the distance, but Azure was not one hundred percent sure if it was or not. The light got the attention of most of the settlement, before the noise hit their settlement and shook it to the core. Azure felt the world shift, as the bomb shook the ground beneath them. Azure noticed that parts of the settlement were falling off, making Azure fear that something was going to drop on top of him, but gladly it didn't. The tremor subsided, making the green flash darken and the noise settling. By the looks of things, the exploding was pretty far away, but not far enough that it was able to not be felt, making Azure think that something was going on, something that was bigger than they all knew.