There were raiders searching for something. The sight made Alchem freeze and then jump into a bush. Eater joined him as the group of raiders got closer. They had lights of some sort and waved them about, scanning the area like hawks. Soul Eater held Doctor Alchem behind him, making sure that he was in the firing line, if anything bad was to happen. They both dropped to the floor and Eater scraped some mud over them both. They were somewhat camouflaged.

As the lights of the raiders passed by them, they kept still, not wanting to get caught. They looked like the stump of a tree, so they didn't move, to make it stay like that. Alchem kept his eyes on the group as they passed by, while Eater kept his eyes closed, to avoid being detected due to them glowing in the night. Alchem was being held by Eater, but didn't mind it at all. He was warm, so he was grateful for it at least.

As they walked a little further, Alchem looked at Eater as he opened his eyes and stared back at Alchem. He slowly turned to look at the now walking away raiders and splayed back his ears. Soul Eater looked back at Alchem with a look of sorrow and anger.

"I need to either get them away from us now, or take them out, without a gun." Eater whispered, keeping an eye on the raider group. Alchem kept an eye on them too, but was very hesitant when it came to that response. Surely he could have just waited for them to pass, but they did have some good armour and weapons. They just needed to be as safe as possible, so they could either choose to kill them or flee.

"Eater, let just go! They won't look back." Alchem tried to convince him. It worked to some extent, but he was very sceptical about the choice. Eater slowly got up, taking Alchem with him as he rose up. He stood up and glared at the raiders, wanting to end them badly, but Alchem was right. There was definitely a chance that everything could have backfired, so they both were taking the easy and safer route.

They both slowly stepped into the road, keeping an eye on the group of raiders and crept away, down the tracks that the raiders had just come from. As Alchem turned around and ran, Eater glared at their backs, allowing his eyes to stare into their soul. It made him feel a little safer at least. Eater turned and trotted up to Alchem, keeping his pace with him, despite only having three working legs.

They continued down the road for what seemed like hours, before the road disappeared. They travelled south still, hoping to find a town of some sort of even a little settlement, or a camp. Just some form of civilisation to keep them from thinking that they were the only sane ponies in existence. After about five minutes after the road stopped, there were some lights behind a big wall that came into sight, indicating that there might have been some life.

Another settlement, but they both didn't know if they were going to find thriving ponies in a community or thrashing ponies struggling to hold onto life. They approached the gate of the settlement wall and saw some ponies on the wall, weapons pointed at them.

"Who are you?" The gatekeeper asked, pointing his weapon directly in-between Eater's glowing red eyes. Soul Eater closed his eyes and sighed.

"We are survivors of the apocalypse, we have been travelling south of the settlement of Journey and found this place. Raiders have killed everyone there, so we had to travel away to try and save ourselves." Alchem announced to the guard of the gate. Eater opened his eyes and looked at Alchem with a smile.

"And that's why I'm not the talkative one!" Eater chuckled, before turning to the gatekeeper. He looked slightly confused, but they could see that he was trying to wear a fake smile. He really didn't trust Eater, but Alchem was or at least seemed nice. He sighed dramatically before turning around and opening the gate, bringing the settlement into view.

It wasn't a very big settlement and was in less of a state than Journey was now. They both walked towards the gate slowly and looked inside. A couple of ponies and other creatures were present inside the settlement. They looked like they had seen the worst of the worst. In other words, they looked like they had faced every challenge the Wasteland threw at them. Eater looked up to the guard and smiled at him.

"You're doing a good job, keeping these ponies and creatures safe. Just thought I'd tell you that." Eater announced to the guard, seeing a faint smile appear on the guard's face. He shook his head, before looking back down at Eater with a stern scowl.

"Don't flatter me kid, you two head inside so I can close this gate." The guard announced to them, making them hop a little inside the settlement, the guard closing the gate behind them. They were locked in the settlement now, so they had to make the most of it. The settlement was nice, not posh or anything, but just nice. The red and yellow filled the area with a sense of life-like compassion and determination. Alchem took in a deep breath, before looking back at Eater. He was still out of it a little, but his bright red eyes kept on shining and illuminating his presence, making him look like a very disturbing threat.

The lights only helped to illuminate the area, brightening it to the point that it looked like daylight, just with a black sky. Ponies came to the gate and saw Alchem and Eater. They were fine when it came to Alchem, but already, Soul Eater could understand that they were scared of him. He was sure that they hadn't seen anypony like him before, a mystery with bright red eyes, only in the moonlight.

Eater winced as he put pressure down onto his back leg, before lifting it back up again, due to the pain. Alchem noticed this and moved closer to him. Alchem placed his hoof on Eater's shoulder, before talking to him, right next to his ear.

"Do you want me to sort your leg out?" Alchem asked Eater, being surprised when he got a smile from Eater. He nodded, making Alchem smile too. Alchem grabbed a syringe from his saddlebags and injected it into Eater's hindleg. He felt a cool warmth flow through his body and relaxed significantly, making sure that all of his muscles were relaxed and not tensed. His hindleg was numb now, making his mind question his curiosity. He lifted his leg with his magic and watched as it flopped back down. He couldn't control his hindleg.

Soul Eater watched as Alchem stitched up his leg, admiring each stitch as it went in and out. He was using some materials to make some stitch-like strands. He closed his eyes and sighed constantly, making sure that Alchem could hear it, to know that he was doing a good job. Eater just watched his skills go to work and laughed as he was worked on, like a machine that needed fixing. As soon as Alchem was done, Eater thanked him immensely, stating that he was humbly grateful for his service and that he was happy to be able to be healed. Alchem wore a stoick look and just bragged about helping other ponies all the time. At least that made him feel good, that was all that mattered.

A tall unicorn mare walked up to them both and bowed, making them feel a little uneasy. The tall unicorn dragged them both towards a small building, directly opposite of the gate. They were both very confused and sceptical about all of this, but went along with it anyway. The unicorn mare opened a door, prompting them to enter behind her. They both looked at each other and Alchem went first, before Eater limped behind him, leg still being limp from the syringe that Alchem injected him with. As soon as they were all in, the mare closed the door, submerging them in complete darkness. The mare lit her horn and shone the light at Alchem, making him become visible within the darkness. Alchem held a hoof to his eyes and adapted to the brightness of the unicorn's horn.

Alchem looked around for Eater and could see his eyes glowing in the corner. He slowly turned around as the mare flicked a switch, turning on the lights. One by one, the lights turned on, Illuminating the area around them both. Alchem looked over to Eater and saw that his eyes were back to their normal dark blue state. This made Alchem sigh heavily, being able to see Eater without the scariness behind him.

"What are you two doing here?" The mare shouted, slamming her hooves against a wooden desk. Alchem jumped from the force that she bellowed her voice at. Eater moved forward, towards the desk and just sat down.

"I don't know actually. How about we ask you that? Why are we here?" Eater announced, making the mare slightly confused. The mare pondered that thought for a couple of seconds before coming to a conclusion. She shook her head before coughing.

"You're here for something." She muttered, picking up the attention of Alchem, but Soul Eater was in his own world, still not being able to feel his back hindleg at all. He was just playing with it. Alchem looked back at him and sighed, before turning back to the mare.

"We are here because raiders forced us away from our home. Our old settlement? Destroyed by raiders!" Alchem roared, scaring the mare. She walked back a little from the power of Alchem's voice. Nopony spoke for a couple of seconds before the mare spoke up, coughing just before she spoke.

"Sorry about all of this. My name is Roselight! I am the head of this establishment. We don't really have many ponies come in through the gate. They are mostly raiders, scavengers and the occasional Steel Ranger, which we don't at all let in." Roselight conveyed, making sure that her words were soft and unable to hurt them mentally, or not giving the wrong impression. Alchem bowed and looked at Eater shortly after. Soul Eater just rolled his eyes. Alchem chuckled at that.

"Nice to meet you Roselight! My name is Doctor Alchem and that pony over there is Soul Eater! We came from the settlement of Journey, which has been overrun with raiders." Alchem announced, making sure that Roselight could hear it all. She tilted her head and looked at them both. Her light purple fur got lighter at the top of her ears, appearing almost white. She was a stunningly good looking mare, for the Wasteland at least. She was taller than most unicorns, but she only had a horn, no wings. She was on par with an alicorn's height, judging by the pony tales.

Eater shook his head in annoyance and listened to them both talk. He looked at himself and wanted to test something. He got up and slowly stumbled around, looking at them both. They both slowly stopped talking, as Soul Eater circled them, slowly. They both looked at him and looked oddly confused on what he was doing.

"Roselight? What does the air taste like to you?" Eater asked, being curious to what she could taste. She took a deep breath in and then exhaled.

"It tastes like it always does. It tastes like home!" She admitted. "Anyway, if you're looking to stay, I might need to ask you to do something for me." She added, prompting a sigh from Eater. She looked sharply at Soul Eater, making him snap back to the cruel reality. He smiled shortly after, his ears folding back. Alchem just rolled his eyes, giggling a little shortly after.

"What do you need done?" Alchem asked, expecting it to be super dangerous or something like that. It was! Roselight walked over to the boarded up window and sighed. She used her magic to pull a picture out of the draw in the corner of the room, slowly getting closer to her. She showed them both the image and paused.

The image was of a stallion that the mare probably loved. It was slightly ripped and torn, but that didn't stop it from showing off the dark blue stallion. She took one look at it and then placed it back into the draw, slamming the draw in the process. She looked down at Alchem and sighed.

"They took him from me! Actually no, they took me away from him." Roselight muttered, a little louder than Roselight thought she knew. Soul Eater slowly walked up to Roselight and wore a blank face, with no hints of happiness or sadness. A neutral expression!

"Is he alive?" Eater asked, curiosity lingering on his mind. She shook her head, before clearing some tears that began to form, at the corner of her eyes. She shook her head and tried to move on with the conversation.

"Raiders! There are some that need to be talked to. I don't like killing, so try to avoid it, unless talking fails. I need you to tell them to move away from the settlement. They are around the back part of the settlement. We could use their supplies, but I'm not going to kill them for self gain." Roselight ordered. Eater nodded his head and looked back at Alchem. He looked confused by what he was going to do with them both, but he didn't back down from a challenge. "When you're finished, meet me here. I'll need to talk to you again about something." She added. They both nodded at her, before opening the door and stepping outside.

Eater walked down the road, scanning the left, then the right. Alchem did the exact same, hoping to catch the raiders in the process of moving to another location. It didn't take long for the raiders to come into line of sight. Yes, they were in the settlement, but they weren't wanted. That was what they both thought anyway.

They both walked up to the raiders slowly, seeing only three of them, sat next to a wall. They caught sight of both of them approaching and stood up instantly. They didn't ready any weapons, they just looked worried. Eater eyed them both with passion, feeling their fear irradiating the area around all of them.

"What do you two want?" One of the raiders asked, raising up and trying to look more fierce. Eater looked at him and just watched his movements, chuckling inside his head at the raider's life choices. The raiders looked more and more worried about what was going to happen. Both Alchem and Eater sensed this.

"Look!" Alchem stated, before Soul Eater continued the conversation.

"We're not gonna hurt you! Roselight wants you gone, all of you. That is unless you want to change. I'm giving you the choice!" Eater commanded, looking down at the floor and hoping the violence would cease to continue. There were now six of them as Eater looked up from the floor. He didn't look happy at all.

Eater and Alchem could both feel them thinking about the option, the opportunity that came their way. They looked into Eater's eyes and smiled, before one of them walked towards both Alchem and Eater and stopped as they stood beside them both. He pulled down the hood on his cloak and showed his face. The face of Zebra-kind! Alchem's eyes went surprisingly wide when he saw the zebra, but Soul Eater didn't take any notice of it. The zebra turned to look at the other raiders and sighed.

"I'm taking the smart choice here. These ponies gave us a chance to change. I'm seeing the longshot here for the success of myself. My people wouldn't bow down to the likes of… them, but I will, because I can see that I would be part of something bigger." The zebra spoke, before narrowing his eyes. "You two better watch out. These rebels won't change! They were already given the chance. Never liked them, but had to trust ponies in order to get here." He added.

The rest of the raiders looked at the zebra in anger, giving him the literal death stare. Eater took note of this in his mind and stepped in front of the new zebra. No discriminating on his watch. They all looked to both Alchem and Eater, before running through the little entrance in the wall. That was a job well done, Eater thought, just before Roselight came out.

"Get them! They've robbed a house in the settlement! A revolver and bottle caps! One thousand bottle caps!" She roared, making them both nod at each other. The zebra slowly walked back.

"If you're really wanting to change, you can help with the settlement!" Alchem stated to the zebra. The zebra just nodded and turned to Roselight, seeing that she was very mad, not only at him, but at the other raiders too. She pointed a hoof at the building that Alchem and Eater had come out and told him to move into there, her being there to meet him shortly. She turned back to Alchem and Eater and nodded, giving them the go ahead to do it.

"Dead or alive, it doesn't matter now! Just get that revolver and huge amount of caps back!" Roselight roared, giving them the all clear. They both turned and ran as fast as they could, before Eater slid through the hole and Alchem flew over the wall. They both got to the other side without trouble and could see the group in the distance. They darted into a forest that was to the left of them both. Alchem and Eater both followed!

The woods were a terrific place! That was a direct lie, because it was actually a terrifying place. Monsters and other sorts of creatures lived in it. Radioactive material littered most of them, burning the tops of trees and irradiating the area around. Even though the bombs had destroyed any wildlife it could find, the trees eventually came back to life, but were in an endless cycle of torture.

Both Alchem and Soul Eater stopped, seeing one of them hiding down behind a tree, clearly visible to both of them.

"Look! Just give the caps and the gun back and we'll leave you to do your things." Alchem declared. They shook their head, as they looked out and tried to hide behind the tree again. Alchem slowly approached the raider, while Eater kept watch. As he tried to keep watch, he turned to look around and got struck with a buck to the head, sending him a little distance away from where he initially was. Alchem raised his pistol with his maw, but got it pushed out of his grip, sending it sprawling across the ground.

Eater was bleeding from the buck to the head. He was having a nose bleed too, but that was the least of his worries. The group rounded in on Alchem as he was pushed to the ground by them all. Eater used Alchem as a distraction as he shot one of them in the head, a pistol dropping from the grasp of the unicorn. It was the revolver and it had ammunition in the cylinder. All of the raiders turned around and watched in horror as they saw one of their own fall.

"Do you all want to end up like him?" Alchem asked, getting looks from all of them. Eater picked up the revolver and shot some more in the head with it, dropping them instantly. It was another unicorn and an earth pony. One of the raiders charged at Eater from a different angle, knocking him over and making the guns fly across the floor. Alchem got up and rushed to one of the guns, only to be dragged back by another raider. This one was a pegasus!

Soul Eater got up and bucked the earth pony raider a little, before getting thrown across the way and hitting a tree, cracking his back on it. The noise made the stallion chuckle, before he lined up another life changing kick to Eater's head. Eater ducked, just as the stallion kicked, making him hit the tree, instead of hitting Eater, as well as getting both his hindlegs stuck. Eater used this opportunity to get a branch off the tree, using his teeth to bite it off. It came off and Eater used the momentum to slap the raider in the head with it, leaving multiple marks on his face.

Alchem was in a fight of his own! The pegasus matched his every move. Alchem was strong, but this pegasus was a real challenge. The raider used his wing to pick up the revolver and placed it in his mouth. He then tried to line up with Alchem's head and fired the shot at Alchem, missing in the process. Alchem used his wings to push against the gun in the raider's maw. The raider shot again, missing a second time.

Eater came in and threw the pegasus off Alchem and pinned him down.

"Wrong move dude! You've lost!" Eater roared before snapping down on the pegasus' throat, drawing blood as he began to start tearing the raider's voicebox and jugular out. Alchem nearly threw up at the sight. Eater watched the life drain from the eyes of the raider, making sure he went numb, before stopping. The raider went lifeless, so Soul Eater slowly got off. He turned around and received a buck to the chest and got pinned to the floor.

Eater looked at Alchem and saw that he was hurt. This made Eater struggle as the stallion placed the revolver into his mouth. He looked down at Eater's form and saw that he had a stitch on one leg.

"Let me help you with that!" The stallion bellowed, before aiming the revolver down at Eater's hindleg and firing. The bullet pierced through one side and came out into the floor, leaving a massive hole in Eater's hindleg. Soul Eater cried, as his body was in shock and agony. The stallion placed the revolver against Eater's waist before firing again, tearing another hole into Eater, making him screech to an ear-piercing level.

The stallion's face was painted in Eater's blood. He rubbed his face with a free hoof, before getting off Soul Eater. He looked at his hoof and stood still as physically possible as he could. Eater's blood was green! He looked back down at Eater and smiled.

"I'm going to let you lie there and bleed to death. It's the least you deserve!" The raider stated in his final words before getting hosed with bullets from the gun gripped in Alchem's muzzle. The raider danced like he was a professional, as his swiss cheese looking corpse fell to the floor. Alchem dropped the gun and ran to Eater, grabbing the stocked medkit that he had and using it. Eater was in a bad condition and needed help. He began to address the wound in his waist, making sure that he was losing as little blood as possible.

As Alchem was working, he noticed too, that Eater's blood was green. It was red on contact, but as soon as it left his body and into open air, it changed to green instantly. This interested Alchem about what had happened to Eater during his time in the Wasteland. He shook his head before getting back to saving Soul Eater.

Alchem looked at the raider, who had just pumped all of the ammo from Eater's pistol into and frowned. He hated that he had to do that to save his friends, but that's what it came down to. He looked back at Eater and smiled, making Eater smile through the pain he was in.

"The good news is that the shot didn't hit any vitals. The bad news is that you're going to struggle to walk." He informed Eater, trying to make it seem better than it was. In reality, he was going to need something to help him stay on all four legs, or three if they counted the damaged leg.

There was still a raider left. That was the only thought on Eater's mind as he struggled to get up, still being in the most amount of pain he had ever been in. Alchem scanned about for the raider and then got a pistol pressed to his head. The revolver! The final raider was holding the revolver in his teeth. The thing that the raider didn't understand was that the revolver was empty, so was the pistol that Alchem dropped. Eater was the only pony with any ammo in his weapon. The only guns that were loaded and on the floor were empty. He wore a smile as he held the gun in his maw, excited about this opportunity.

Alchem looked back at him, not being interested in the slightest. He continued to work on Eater and kept it so that Eater was in as little pain as possible. Eater had something in his mouth, while Alchem worked on him. This was to give him something to bite on, if the pain got too much. As Alchem stitched up the hole, Eater bit down hard on the item he had in his mouth. It was soft, but also flexible. It was like a sponge and was present in every medkit box.

The raider pushed the revolver to Alchem's head and laughed menacingly. Alchem didn't respond as he watched the raider. The most blank expression was on his face at that moment in time. The raider pulled the trigger and watched as… nothing happened!

The raider looked at the revolver and pulled the trigger again, eliciting the same response from the revolver. He tried again and again and nothing happened. Shots had been fired. The revolver was a six shot. So, two bullets went into the previous raiders, the others went next to Alchem's head and the last two went into Eater's leg and waist. All six shots had been fired and there were no more around. Alchem and Eater both knew that the gun was empty from the start, that's why they were so cool with being aimed at.

The raider dropped the revolver and scrambled to the floor, before they grabbed the other pistol, the one the Alchem just emptied into the other raider who shot Eater. Yet again, nothing happened when he pulled the trigger. He kept pulling the trigger trying to shoot an imaginary bullet into one of them, but yet again, it failed. Alchem was getting tired of this, so he turned Soul Eater over gently and started stitching up his back and hindleg. The raider kept being annoying with the pistol, as he kept screaming for it to work. Alchem got pissed, so he grabbed the saber that Eater had with him, with his mouth and pointed it at the raider, threatening his life.

The raider instantly dropped the pistol and sat down, keeping an eye on the blade. A roar came from the distance, but Alchem and Eater didn't make much of it. The raider on the other hand, was literally terrified. He was freaking out and was annoying both Alchem and Soul Eater again. Alchem was nearly done with the stitches. As he was finishing up with Eater's hindleg, there was a snap of branches and twigs. The raider snagged the saber as they both looked in the direction of the noise.

They both looked back at the raider, as he slowly walked backwards, towards the noise. Eater got helped up by Alchem, before they both walked backwards, heading in the opposite direction to where the raider was. The raider was so distracted by the thought that they were afraid of him, which they weren't, that he didn't notice the large figure towering behind him. Both Alchem and Eater looked up into the eyes of the huge, shadowy figure, as it loomed over the raider. It got through to him that they weren't looking at him, as he turned around and saw it too. A three headed monster!

The raider screamed and plunged the saber into the chest of the beast, making the beast react. It roared with the fury of the sun as it pounced onto the raider, making quick work of him. Alchem dragged Eater with him, as he darted into a bush. They watched the scene play out.

The raider was torn apart by the three headed beast. It ripped him in half to begin with, before cracking his skull with its teeth and slurping out his insides. The beast then devoured the raider's head, followed by the body and then the bottom half of the raider. It was a gory display, but when they thought about it, he kind of deserved it. The creature looked around and saw them both. It froze for some reason as it locked eyes with Eater, but then it quickly snapped back into action, slowly approaching the bush. They both ran!

Alchem ran straight, trying to gain as much distance as he could from the beast, while being on the ground. The forest was way too dense to fly. He could fly in the forest, but it would be slower than running, so he kept to the ground as much as he could. He continued forward, weaving past different types of trees, each one looking strangely different to the others.

Eater had other ideas. He kept low and crept through the forest. His eyes glowed red again. He knew the reason they kept doing it, but he didn't need to educate himself on the matter. All he had to do was escape a visible line of sight from the beast, then he would be fine. He kept as quiet and sneaky as possible, limping as he snuck around, keeping an eye on the direction that Alchem travelled. As he did, he saw the beast gaining on Alchem. Eater's fight or flight adrenaline kicked in as he quickly pursued the beast from the side, forgetting about both of his wounds in an instant, but still limping.

Alchem came to a cave entrance. There was no other route around the trees. The only way out was into the cave. He made it a little way inside, before turning around and seeing the beast there, eyeing him. He nearly passed out from the sight of the beast. The faces of the beast were not visible, but there were definitely three of them. One looked like a snake's head, but the others were definitely not visible, especially because they were both in a cave. Silence flooded the area, only broken by the breathing of the creature and the breathing of Alchem. It slowly approached him, licking its lips.

Eater literally flew in from the side and stood in front of Alchem, facing the beast directly. His eyes were glowing the brightest they had ever been, due to the time of night and the anger he felt. He wasn't going to lose anypony else today, so he was putting his life on the line for Alchem. The hydra slowed down and then stopped.

"Soul Eater? How did you…" Alchem stated, before getting cut off by the hydra. It roared like nothing Alchem had ever heard in his life. The sound echoed over and over for several seconds. All the ponies in the Wasteland could hear it. It was mesmerising to listen to and it also hurt Alchem's ears a little. He shivered a little and saw Eater turn to him.

"You might want to cover your ears." Eater suggested, using a hoof to keep Alchem behind him. Without a word, Eater changed form. He looked exactly like the creatures in the image he had. This made something within Alchem click, putting all of the pieces together. Eater was one of them, but this didn't make Alchem scared of him, it only furthered his curiosity into Eater's life.

Black chitin replaced where any normal pony's fur would be. The chitin consisted of different pieces, forming together like they were armour, but instead, they were plates that were able to move around and be quite flexible, or so Alchem thought. Eater looked back at Alchem and smiled. He had fangs and his eyes were still bright red. It was almost terrifying seeing him as such a creature.

His fangs were long! They were like icicles, sharpened to perfection by crafted hooves. Alchem looked down and saw that his hooves and hindlegs had holes in them, almost like the raider that Alchem filled full of bullets. Alchem looked at the wings that Eater had kept secret. Those too had holes, so did his tail. As Alchem evaluated Eater, he gave one final look at Eater's face. His horn was jagged and torn, as well as being a little twisted. It looked cool, but did it lessen the functionality of his horn? Alchem had no idea. He was in shock.

Eater turned to the hydra and moved back a little, taking a defensive stance. He looked at the hydra directly in the eyes and gave it a blank expression, before opening his mouth into three separate sections. His muzzle split into two, creating an alien-like mouth that looked a little like a three leaf clover. Along each open maw, there were two rows of razor sharp fangs. Eater let out a screech, as Alchem kept his hooves on his ears, the noise still getting through and becoming blisteringly loud. The noise made the hydra fall, it's ears started to bleed.

Eater stopped screeching and closed his triple mouthed maw, before turning to Alchem and pushing him lightly into the cave. Alchem took his hooves off of his ears and looked worryingly at Eater. Eater just stared at him, again giving him a blank stare. No words were swapped, as the only exit from the hydra, was the cave. They both walked in and hid behind some rocks. The hydra wasn't looking like it was going to go anywhere. This forced them to travel through the cave, a choice that they didn't want, but had to do.

The cave was dark, so Eater illuminated his horn and produced a torch-like spell, making him able to see around the cave. Alchem was able to see a little, due to the spell. It was nearly pure blackness in the cave, if it wasn't for Soul Eater's light being able to brighten the area up. Eater was barely visible in the light, which didn't make talking to him any easier.

"Eater?" Alchem asked, not getting a response. Eater looked at him, but didn't feel like he wanted to answer. He just sighed and continued to look at the floor again, while Alchem still pressured him with questions. "How much have you been hiding? How long have you been like this? Were those creatures in that picture your parents?" Alchem consistently questioned, stopping when Soul Eater looked up from the ground.

"Alchem? Can you please just stop? The pain is coming back and you're not helping at all." Eater responded, sitting one the ground of the slightly damp cave. Alchem came into the light more and then sat with him. Eater looked away, before Alchem pulled his head back with a hoof.

"I'm just so curious, sorry." Alchem pouted, looking into Eater's scarily beautiful eyes. That made a brief smile make an appearance on his muzzle, before frowning again and scraping his hoof on the floor. As Eater did this, Alchem just watched him, not pressuring him, but not wanting to hold on for too long.

"Those creatures in the picture are creatures called changelings. Changelings were the pony race that were shape-shifters and masters of trickery. It pains me to say it, but my kind was first off the bad or the villains of Equestria. Now, well now we are no better than the average pony." Eater admitted, staring blankly at the floor. Alchem took in every word.

"So they weren't your parents in that photo then?" Alchem asked, becoming slightly concerned about Eater. Eater nodded and then shook his head after.

"My mother was with a friend. I didn't really have a good photo of my father." Eater admitted to Alchem, making Alchem feel a little more attached to Eater, wanting to hear more about him. Eater put out the light on his horn and then sat there, his eyes making Alchem aware of his presence. Alchem wasn't sure what to do in the situation he had been placed in. The fact the Eater was a creature of some sort, made a shiver run down his spine, but it didn't give him any confidence that Eater was loyal. He had taken bullets for Alchem, so he had to be eternally grateful for everything that he had protected him from.

Eater re-lit his horn, before throwing light about the cave. It was like a flare, but it was just little balls of magic that stuck to the ground, illuminating the area more than Eater did before. Alchem could see Eater out of the darkness and smiled at him. That made him blush a little as he looked back at Alchem. Eater began to slowly limp down the cave, Alchem following him closely from behind.

"So what happened to them?" Alchem asked, getting closer due to his curiosity. Eater looked back at him and sighed, before finding a large boulder ahead. He sat his rump on top of it and carefully thought out his words.

"They were a weird bunch. My father was a hard worker, never skipping a day, even if he was ill. He perished as the bombs fell. My mother, she survived! She was resilient, but the raiders eventually found her." Eater announced, hanging his head in shame. Alchem used a wingtip to lift up Eater's head, brushing his cheek with a feather. That tickled him a little, making him smile the smallest amount, before seeing his face return to its previous position.

"What about you?" Alchem asked, looking excited to learn his origin. Eater looked over to him and tapped on the boulder, signalling for him to take a seat. Alchem happily followed his order, sitting straight up and ears directed to Eater. Alchem enjoyed a good fictional story, but the real ones were the best.

"I was born before the bombs. I saw it happen! I was only little, mind you. My vision was a little foggy back then. Since the bombs fell, me and my mother constantly went on the run, getting where we could and always assuring that each other were safe. We found things that ponies could only have dreamt of and traded them in for an incredible amount of bottle caps." Eater told, looking at Alchem. Every word got through Alchem's ears, as he nodded for the story to continue.

"Go on Eater, it's ok." Alchem convinced, trying to make the nerves of Eater die down. It worked a little, as Soul Eater closed his eyes and sighed heavily, taking in a deep breath before exhaling and opening his eyes.

"They ripped her apart, while I was hiding. They chopped off her head and… they… they violated her, right in front of me." Eater admitted, feeling a little worse now. He placed his hooves on his new waist wound, that Alchem had patched up a couple of moments ago. It began to hurt him as he thought more about the badness of his own life, so Alchem rubbed his shoulder with a wingtip.

Soul Eater flinched at the touch, but then looked up at him, meeting his eyes. He smiled as best as he could, before he turned and looked down at the floor again, still feeling Alchem's wing on his shoulder. As Alchem kept his wing on Eater's shoulder, he started to move it around in circles, feeling Eater's surprisingly softer than expected chitin.

"I couldn't save her, but they were stupid enough to give me a chance." Eater muttered. Alchem caught wind of this and stopped rubbing Eater's shoulder, moving around him and sitting on the cold cave floor, ears perking up.

"How come?" Alchem questioned, pushing on with the conversation. "If you don't mind me asking." He quickly blurted, adding to the question. Eater closed his eyes again, cutting out all sources of sight from his mind, as he thought about the events that were pinned to the back of his mind.

"A gun dropped on the floor. While they were busy violating my mother's corpse, I picked up the gun and crawled out from my hiding spot and aimed the weapon at them. They continued to violate my mother, so I did the next best thing. I shot all of them in the head, dropping them instantly, before I went to bury my mother. My only family left, before I became truly alone." Eater spoke clearly, making Alchem take in a deep breath.

"Wow! That's all I can say to that." Alchem admitted, feeling bad for Soul Eater and his mother. He couldn't have imagined that Eater's past was that brutal and gory. Sadly, the truth was horrible, but at least it was true. That was life in the Wasteland. Eater wiped his eyes, rubbing away any tears that were present on his face, before slowly getting up and sliding off the boulder. They needed to get out of the cave, that was their main objective.

The hydra was most likely blocking or waiting from the entrance that they entered, so they needed to find a tunnel that would allow them to escape through it, back into the outside world. A noise came from the area that they entered through, suggesting that the hydra was still outside, looking to snack on a changeling and pegasus.

They both pushed deeper into the cave, finding that it went down a little and then back up. There was some water in the cave, running water that flowed down through the cave. Alchem walked up to the water and dipped his hoof into it, finding it to be freezing cold. That put a worried look on Eater's face and made his new changeling ears fold back. His ears looked exotic to Alchem, so beautiful and perfectly cut to make it look like he was always vigilant.

They had to cross the running water to get to the other side and out of the cave. Eater was going to test whether they were going to need to fly across or if they could have just walked across, only getting their hooves wet. Eater took one step and found that the water was shallow and running slowly down the cave. He chuckled as he turned to Alchem and smiled.

"It's perfectly fine!" Eater convinced, taking a step backwards and falling into a deep section of the water. Alchem rushed to the water and saw that Eater was under it. He jumped in and grabbed Eater by the neck, before dragging him up and out of the running puddle. Alchem threw Eater onto the ground and sighed, seeing that he was shivering a lot.

"Death by cold is not how I wanna go!" Eater roared out, getting up and shivering still. Alchem rolled his eyes at Eater, thinking that he was making a mountain out of a molehill. Eater looked at him with worry. "You do realise that I'm cold blooded, right? I might need your help!" Eater questioned. Alchem shook his head and Eater looked worried. "Cold blooded creatures don't get hot, but if they get cold, they can die!" Eater blurted out, his face and body changing from a dark grey, to a dark blue. Alchem walked up to Eater and placed a wing around him. It didn't do anything. "We need to get someplace warm and fast!" Eater whimpered, beginning to run on three hooves up the cobbled cave, travelling towards the light. Alchem followed quickly.

As soon as they got out, they didn't know where they were. The trees looked the same, with no indication of where the end of the forest was. Eater did something smart amongst the confusion. He looked at the cave and realised that the cave didn't have any turns that they had to take, meaning that it was the way the cave led, straight back. Eater pointed this out to Alchem and he nodded, before they both travelled back, above the cave in the same direction that they had originally come from.

They had to be careful. They didn't know what type of creatures would be present in the forest, so they kept on high alert. The main point was to keep hidden from the hydra, as that would probably be roaming about to try and find them both. Eater's suspicion came to the harsh truth. The hydra was stumbling around and clawing at the cave entrance, trying to get in. They both carefully snuck around behind it, avoiding stepping on anything that would give them away, as they carefully picked each movement.

Alchem observed the beast, as I clawed and snatched at the cave, moving the entrance of it and making it change shape. The hydra roared, all three of its heads snapping and tearing at rocks, throwing them away, while in a rage. Both Alchem and Eater both wanted to fly away, but the noise would attract a hydra to come after them. They had to walk it off, even though Eater was not healthy to do so.

They slowly exited the forest, moving back onto the path that the raiders had run down. The settlement was visible again. It felt like weeks since they had seen it, but clearly it hadn't been that long. They wobbled down the cobbled path, evaluating the different designs on each of the cobble. Eater hadn't changed from his changeling self, which surprised Alchem to the fullest. Alchem saw a cart on the path with a pony next to it, looking dead. He had nothing with him, apart from the cart. The raiders had probably got to him first. The word 'raiders' sparked a question into Alchem's mind.

"Soul Eater! We didn't loot the raiders!" Alchem announced loudly, making Eater turn to him. He went wide eyed, as he continued to shake, due to the coldness that he was feeling. Alchem wrapped his wing around Eater and frowned. "We also need to get you warm." Alchem added to his list of things to do. They both turned around and walked back, seeing the scuffed hoof prints that indicated that one of the raiders had skidded when trying to turn. They re-entered the forest, trying to finish the mission that they had been given.

The hydra was nowhere to be seen as they looked around for any signs of it. The bodies were still as they were and the raider in pieces was still in the hydra's stomach. If the raider that got eaten had the caps on him, they wouldn't be getting that back. It was the same concept with Eater's saber. It was now lodged in the beast and taken away from him. He knew it was only a sword, but it was something else, compared to all of the other swords that he had seen.

They scavenged around the corpses and found the revolver next to Eater's pistol. They both were in the dirt, gathering dust by the second. Both were a little blood stained a little bit, but that was something that a little water could get off. Alchem found the caps on the stallion that shot Eater, getting shot with around eight shots in the back. Alchem was slowly getting familiar with weapons, but would never be as good as Eater with the knowledge of them. They continued to loot them, Alchem finding some extra things on the raiders that would eventually come in handy.

As Alchem finished scavenging, he looked over at Eater and paused. Eater was in rags, probably trying to warm himself up. Alchem walked over to him, seeing that he was still shivering and put a hoof on his shoulder, looking into his eyes.

"Once we get back, I'll clean you up and then keep you warm, ok?" Alchem commanded, prompting a raised eyebrow from Eater. They both smiled at each other and chuckled.

"Sure, just let me take this all off then. I'm freezing my ass off here!" Eater admitted, still shaking. They both got what they could before they both rushed to the path, not going too fast because of Eater's leg and waist, but fast enough to get them out quickly. They quickly strolled down the cobbled path again and could see that the moon was still up. It was blissful seeing the moon, but they could never see the sunlight. It was almost like Celestia herself was pissed at the world, but Luna wasn't. Most ponies in the Wasteland wouldn't understand that, but a couple would and would probably agree with it.

Roselight was in armour, as she saw Alchem and Eater return. She waved a hoof to them and Alchem raised a wing up, indicating that he saw it. Eater used his magic to raise up the caps and the revolver, but as soon as Roselight saw Eater, she stopped and looked tense. She pointed her weapon at Eater, as he rolled his eyes.

"Roselight, please don't! It's me! Soul Eater!" He tried to convince her. Roselight lowered her weapon slightly, but kept an eye on Eater as the gate opened for them. They both entered through it and waited for Roselight to get down from the wall, holding the caps and revolver close to them. As soon as Roselight came into view, she eyed Eater like a hawk. Eater stared at her and nodded, before placing both of the items on the floor and walking back. He limped backwards awkwardly and Roselight picked up on this.

"Alchem? What has happened to Eater?" She asked, trying to get more information about him. Alchem looked back at Eater as he sat down, shivering. Alchem took Roselight around the corner and began to talk to her, making it so that Eater was unable to see their conversation.

"Roselight, do you know what a changeling is?" Alchem asked Roselight, giving her a questionable look. She closed her eyes, trying to remember what they were. She shortly opened her eyes and nodded.

"Yes! They were shape-shifters that were ponies, but also bug-like. Am I correct?" She blurted out, getting a nod from him as a reply. She peaked around the corner of the building and looked at Eater, he was constantly changing the colour of his chitin, making it go from a dark blue, to dark green then a dark yellow and then red, before fading to a dark purple and back to dark blue. He was experimenting with some colours she guessed. She turned back to Alchem and sighed. "I'm a little on edge, but I'd like to talk to him sometime. Him and you in private, one at a time. For now, I will welcome you to the settlement." She announced to Alchem, dragging the revolver and the caps towards her grasp.

Roselight walked out from behind the building and walked towards Eater, Alchem following her slowly. She walked up to Eater and stopped, waiting for Alchem to come around to the opposite side of her. Alchem went behind Eater and helped him up, lifting him up softly with his wings, until Eater was on three of his hooves.

"You both can sleep in an apartment that we have free tonight. Go relax and rest up. We'll see you tomorrow morning." Roselight convinced, bowing and walking away with the caps and revolver. Eater turned to look at Alchem and was wearing a confused look. They didn't understand where they were meant to go. They walked over towards Roselight, before they saw her talking to a stallion while pointing to them both, before turning away again. The stallion pranced over to them and signalled for them to follow. Eater looked to Alchem for something to reassure him. Alchem just tilted his head before they both followed the stallion.

He led them both to an apartment that was slightly abandoned, but still looked good enough to live in. The stallion turned and bowed, before he slowly walked away. They didn't get the chance to thank the stallion, as they both watched him walk away. They turned back to the apartment and sighed, before opening the door and entering, making sure to close the door behind them both.

The building was cold, but that didn't get rid of the fact that the entire area was dark too. Lights didn't light up anything, as Eater tried to turn some on. Eater rolled his eyes before lighting up his horn and throwing a couple of balls of light around, brightening up the area around them both. Eater was still shaking as Alchem inspected him, making him feel a little bad. It hadn't been that long since Eater had fallen into the water, but he didn't want the only pony that had helped him to get injured more or worse, die.

Alchem laid on the floor next to where Eater was and opened his wings, making it look like he was stretching. Eater lied down next to him, lying on his side to make himself more comfortable with the pain, trying still to not let either his waist or hindleg hit on the floor. As soon as Eater was down, Alchem wrapped his wing over Eater. Eater turned to him with shock and watched as Alchem just kept smiling at him.

"Is this because I said that changelings die from being too cold?" He asked, getting an instant nod from Alchem. "Well then, take these to keep you warm." Eater added, as he used his magic to move his saddlebags around Alchem, creating some sort of blanket around him. That was going to be Eater's gift to Alchem for the night of warmth. He would return his warmth with more warmth.

Alchem closed his eyes and watched as Eater did the same. The last thing Alchem saw before he drifted off, was a twitch from Eater's ear, making Alchem smile as he left for his slumberland of imagination.