Alchem looked up at the guard, pondering what to say to him after he had nearly decapitated Eater. Alchem wasn't the happiest of pegusi, but he had to accept that everyone had an opinion, even if their opinion didn't matter to him. He flew up to the top of the wall and then tapped the guard on the shoulder, using a wing. The guard turned and looked at Alchem, his ears folding back. He could see that Alchem meant business, as the face that he was pulling suggested that he was pissed.

"Why the hell did you do that to Eater?" Alchem pushed, making the guard feel pressured. The guard just looked down. Alchem shook his head and sighed. "Do you ponies just hate different breeds that you haven't seen or even heard of?" Alchem roared. The guard didn't answer, he just avoided eye contact with Alchem. This made Alchem a little more mad, but he rolled his eyes and took in a deep breath, before hopping off the wall and gliding down. He looked back at the guard on the wall and shook his head in disapproval.

"Alchem? Can you come here please?" Roselight commanded, asking nicely with a lighter tone. He looked over in the direction of Roselight and began to travel in that direction, before looking back at the guard, still looking at the floor. He definitely didn't want to fight Alchem, nopony did!

Alchem approached Roselight with a menacing glare. She didn't express the same reaction that Alchem had thought. She tilted her head and frowned at him.

"What's bothering you Alchem?" Roselight asked carefully, not trying to set him off. He pointed to the guard on the wall and scowled, making sure to let Roselight know that Alchem wasn't a fan of him or his actions. Roselight turned her head and looked up onto the wall, then back down at Alchem. "He's doing his job Alchem. There is nothing wrong with him closing the gate quickly, he does it to everypony, even me." She tried to convince.

Alchem just looked back at the guard, before turning back to Roselight, sighing and shaking his head, snapping himself back into the Wasteland.

"What did you need help with Roselight?" Alchem asked, trying to move away from the thought of the guard. Roselight walked and signalled for Alchem to follow. He happily did so, trying to get away from the wall. He walked around with Roselight and saw different ponies and creatures, most of which were gryphons and ponies. Gretzky was working on something outside, looking up and waving to Alchem and Roselight. They both waved back at him, before he regained concentration and began working again.

Alchem continued to walk with Roselight, seeing more creatures working. He didn't know the names of them, but wanted to find out who they were and why they were here. He wanted to do that for every pony and creature and living things in the settlement. Roselight took Alchem to the area where the raiders had originally posted up, with the escape hole. There were some bricks and a metal grate there.

"Can you help me patch this up Alchem?" Roselight asked, hoping that Alchem would agree with helping. Gladly, Roselight was praised with Alchem's help, as he began to place bricks with his wings and hooves. He was pretty sure that Roselight could do it all by herself, but he just wanted to help wherever he could. He was the helping kind of pony anyway. As they came closer to completing the fixing of the wall, Alchem wanted to ask Roselight something.

"Roselight? Why did you make Eater go out and grab something for you? It wasn't discrimination, right?" Alchem asked, making sure that Roselight could hear him. She held the bricks in the air and paused, before placing them back onto the floor. She looked at the floor and then sighed, before looking up at Alchem, trying to smile.

"It's not discrimination, even though I don't trust him, but didn't he say that he was immune to radiation?" Roselight asked, getting an angry look from Alchem. Her ears folded back again as she looked away.

"Yes! He did!" Alchem growled. "You also said that you didn't trust him. Why was that? Because he is a changeling? Because you don't know him? Well, you clearly trust me, don't you!" Alchem pressured, getting to the point of wanting to slap the life out of the stupid unicorn in front of him. She nodded slowly.

"It was discrimination… as well as me using him for this." She admitted, regaining her train of thought again. She looked at the wall and shoved the last couple of bricks into the slots, before rubbing her head with a hoof and slowly getting up, Alchem following her actions. Alchem could understand that she was beginning to regret her decisions on what happened to Eater and how she acted towards him before.

They both walked to the wall and climbed up it, Alchem flew up while Roselight took the ladder up. They both sat on the wall and looked out into the Wasteland. It looked cool, but something was never perfect. This was only not perfect due to the dust and fog everywhere. Alchem felt strange. It wasn't a feeling that he was used to, but it did occasionally hit him every now and again, but this time it was different. He felt like something was wrong.

Alchem looked around and saw that the guard was walking towards them. Alchem got up and looked at him. The guard stopped approaching him and stopped in his tracks.

"If you ever do something like that to Eater again, I will make sure that you don't have anything else to hurt ever again!" Alchem made clear, seeing that the guard was terrified, as he visually gulped. Alchem smiled menacingly at the guard, making sure to get him to turn the opposite way. It worked, as the guard slowly turned and strolled scarcely along the wall. Alchem turned back to Roselight and wore a bored look.

"I'm going to go and do something quick, Roselight. I'll be back shortly." Alchem convinced, making her head turn and nod at him. Alchem hopped off the wall and glided down, using his wings and landing softly. He took one look at the sky and saw that, like always, the clouds were thick and grey, the sun never being visible.

He began to walk over to Gretzky to ask him something, but got interrupted from doing so by seeing the zebra raider from the other day. Alchem had never actually introduced himself to him, so he thought that it was a good idea. Alchem walked over to him and saw that the zebra was sweeping one of the house's porch. He lifted his head up and saw Alchem. He didn't speak, but he was sure that Alchem wanted to have a conversation.

"Hi! How are you doing?" Alchem asked him, not getting a response instantly. The zebra looked at him slowly and bowed his head. Alchem didn't know if he was bowing it in shame or pride, but either way, he was bowing his head. "Are you alright?" Alchem asked him again, getting a response from him this time.

"Y...yes. I'm ok. I'm not really… talkative, sorry." The zebra advised, not scaring Alchem in the slightest. Alchem smiled, noticing that Eater was the same, not being the talkative type. The zebra tried to smile back and failed a little, not being able to hold it for long. Alchem chuckled and stared at the zebra.

"A smile comes naturally, you don't need to force it. What's your name, if you don't mind me asking?" Alchem spoke softly, trying to make the zebra feel like not speaking. The zebra sat down and began to think about it, trying to come up with a name for himself. "What was the name you had in your tribe or the raider group?" Alchem added, watching as the zebra stood up again, this time with confidence.

"That's easy! My...My name from my tribe was Zeke! The raiders I w...was with, called me the zebra or zeeb." Zeke informed, smiling a little at somepony else knowing his name. Alchem could instantly see a change in Zeke's mood by him going back and finding his name. He felt happy for the zebra! He was slowly fitting into the settlement and that was because he was given a second chance.

"I'm Alchem and the pony that was with me is Eater." Alchem conveyed, making Zeke seem more familiar with them both. Alchem turned around and began to walk to Gretzky, Zeke following him. Alchem looked back and chuckled. "The only way that you're going to be developed or begin developing, is by talking to other ponies and doing other things for them." Alchem announced, making it sound a little like some goals that Zeke had to achieve or something. Zeke nodded in approval of this and watched Alchem from behind.

Alchem turned and was met with the sight of Gretzky, happily awaiting Alchem's presence. Gretzky wore a smile that could have broken through the darkest of souls. Alchem smiled back at him and leant against the counter and sighed a little, meeting Gretzky's gaze. Gretzky's face dropped, as he saw the expression that Alchem was wearing.

"What is it you need Alchem?" Gretzky asked, being slightly concerned by the look on Alchem's muzzle. Alchem looked up and closed his eyes before spitting out the words he needed to spit out.

"I need help!" Alchem blurted out, lifting himself up and watching some fear sweep over Gretzky. He looked back down. "Sorry, I'm just trying to get something done and I'm getting a little annoyed. I hate asking for help, but is there anypony or creature that is a blacksmith or something?" Alchem added. Gretzky lifted up a claw and suggested something.

"Follow me!" Gretzky commanded, flying up and slowly gliding over in a direct. Alchem joined him, not flying, but walking. Zeke was still continuing to follow Alchem, like he was a mother or something to a different animal. Alchem rolled with it and kept close to Gretzky.

Gretzky was flying in a direction that Alchem had not explored within the settlement. Alchem was being sure to remember how to get back to the main entrance of the settlement, to avoid him from getting lost in it. Gretzky looked back for a split second, before hitting a wall. Alchem chuckled lightly, making it so that Gretzky couldn't hear it. Gretzky picked himself up and blushed a little, before turning around and seeing another gryphon standing in front of him. Alchem looked at the gryphon and pondered the thought of someone new in the settlement. How Alchem was wrong.

"Umm… hi! You two meet Nightclaw! He's the settlement's blacksmith. He normally passes through to me to see if I have anything for him to smelt or have any materials that he might like to have." Gretzky explained, making both Alchem and Zeke feel a little more comfortable around Nightclaw. Nightclaw turned to Gretzky and tilted his head.

"Any reason that you have scampered over here Gretzky?" Nightclaw asked, sounding more like a pirate than anything. Gretzky shook his head and pointed a claw at Alchem and smiled.

"No, but this pony here could use your assistance Nightclaw." Gretzky pointed out to Nightclaw. Nightclaw approached Alchem and smiled.

"So pony, what can I do for you?" Nightclaw asked, a smirk on his face as he asked Alchem. Alchem pulled out the metal from the saddlebag and held it out in his wing. Zeke took on look at the metal and made some noises, indicating how shocked he was. Alchem looked back and smiled, before he placed the saddlebag back onto his back, bringing the metal to his forehooves. Zeke was beginning to look angry.

"I have this metal here and I was wondering if you could make a suppressor out of it. Maybe to fit a pistol or a sniper or something." Alchem explained, passing the metal over to Nightclaw, before he took one look at it and froze.

"Am I correct that this is zebra metal? If so, then I don't know if it would work." Nightclaw told, making Alchem's mood not change in the slightest. He just nodded at him, giving Nightclaw the confirmation that it was a type of zebra metal. Nightclaw looked back down at the metal and held it in his claws, before coming to the conclusion or an idea. "Would you want the metal back?" Nightclaw asked. Alchem shook his head before passing him some caps. It was a hefty amount too, being around fifty caps. Alchem placed them on the counter of his blacksmithing area.

The building was massive, easily being one of the biggest in the settlement. Alchem could make out all of the smithing equipment and tools and tool stations, alongside a house, probably Nightclaw's. Alchem was just taken back by the scale of it all and how little he had known about blacksmithing in general. The scale to him was pretty small, nothing compared to this.

Nightclaw took in the sight of the metal and the additional caps and nodded his head. He walked over to the counter and grabbed the caps, before he turned to Alchem.

"I think I should be able to create two suppressors from this sheet at least, but if you don't mind, I'd like to keep the metal and try to experiment with it a little, if that's ok with you?" Nightclaw proposed. Alchem nodded before moving away from the counter. Alchem turned to Zeke, still seeing that he was in a moment of shock.

"What's wrong Zeke?" Alchem asked, not understanding what he had done to make Zeke look like that. Zeke just pointed to the metal at first, before looking upset at Alchem.

"You just gave a zebra metal to a different race! That was something that was prohibited!" Zeke yelled, making Alchem smile.

"Are you still with your zebra tribe now? Do you still support their rules?" Alchem questioned, pressuring the zebra to answer. Zeke thought about it for a quick second before he opened his and immediately closed it again. He pondered it for a quick couple of seconds, before he shook his head.

"I… I guess I don't… I don't know!" Zeke admitted, not knowing if he did or not. This made him quite unsure if he even supported the tribe he was originally in. Alchem kept away from the zebra, just in case he lashed out at him while he was thinking about it. Nightclaw shook his head, before getting to work on the metal.

Zeke finally came down to the conclusion of not really supporting the tribe he was originally in, but still supporting the rules of the zebra ways. Although he wasn't going to like it, he would let the metal slide away from his sight, but only that time. Alchem couldn't blame him for supporting the rules. He sounded exactly like the Enclave, the entire pegasus community, above the clouds. They believed in one thing and one thing only, themselves!

Alchem turned around and waved to Nightclaw, signalling that he would talk to him later or somewhen. Alchem popped over towards where Gretzky was. He wasn't back at his shop yet, but he was looking at something, or that's at least what Alchem thought. He didn't seem focused on one thing like he previously was, which made Alchem a little confused. Alchem and Zeke approached Gretzky and saw that he was trying to focus on something. There was definitely something going on, above the clouds. Either that, or it was thunder from a higher up set of clouds, but that was highly unlikely.

Alchem snapped out of the gaze and brought Gretzky with him, making Gretzky's head tingle with something. He felt a little light headed, Alchem guessed. Gretzky looked at him and smiled, making Alchem aware that he was alright, before slowly walking down the path that led closer towards the main entrance of the settlement. Alchem saw the gate and slowly approached it, seeing all of the mist and dust on the opposite side. The mist and dust that Eater had travelled through.

Alchem looked up and saw the guard, looking directly at him. He immediately looked away when Alchem looked back at him, making Alchem roll his eyes and turn around, seeing that Roselight was coming towards him. Roselight had something in her mouth, something that Alchem had never seen before, until he remembered what the Enclave used for weapons. He had seen those grips before. They were energy weapon grips. That was an energy weapon, probably a rifle.

She looked towards Alchem and smiled, accidentally dropping the gun in her maw. She picked it up with her magic and placed it into a holster on her side. She looked up at the guard and wore an angry look. Alchem turned to the guard and saw that he wasn't looking at her. Instead, he was walking away from her, travelling around the wall.

Alchem turned backwards and forwards, realising that Zeke was not there with him. This made him slightly curious to where he was, but that wasn't the main priority. Alchem looked back at Roselight and saw that she was looking slightly confused and scared. Alchem met her gaze and got told to turn around. Turning around, he could see a bright blue light in the sky, over what seemed to look like a factory in the distance. It didn't bother him as much as it did Roselight, but he was sure that something was going on, something that Roselight knew and Alchem didn't. He was now slightly curious to know what was happening and why the factory gave off such a reaction.

"Why are you so shocked Roselight?" Alchem asked, getting no reaction from her at first, before she turned to Alchem with a worried look. She didn't say something at first, evaluating Alchem with how to approach him with the information, the information that Eater was at the factory. She dragged him a little closer with her magic and turned Alchem to look at the light, forcing his head lightly with her magic.

"Eater is at that factory!" Roselight pointed out, making Alchem aware of the situation and why the factory shocked Roselight so much. Alchem was left speechless, but he didn't understand what was happening.

"Isn't that just a flare?" Alchem asked, looking at Roselight with confusion. Roselight nodded before slowly walking backwards, understanding what was actually happening!

"Oh no!" Roselight said, making Alchem even more curious.

"What's wrong Roselight?" Alchem asked, becoming concerned by the state of Roselight seeing a blue flare.

"It's bad!" Roselight replied, looking back at Alchem and shaking her head, snapping her out of the trans. Alchem slowly flew back over to Gretzky, going to ask him for some items. Alchem landed and hit the counter with a hoof, getting the attention of the nice gryphon. Gretzky turned and smiled, seeing that Alchem was here with a want for something.

"What can I help you with Alchem?" Gretzky asked, getting ready to search his wares for an item of the type that he was going to request. Alchem drew a blank, his mind instantly forgot what he wanted to do. He looked back at Roselight and remembered in an instant what he wanted to ask Gretzky. He turned back around to him and smiled worryingly.

"There is a blue flare coming from the factory that Eater is supposed to be in. What does it mean? Does he need help or something, or would that be the forces there or something?" Alchem asked, watching as Gretzky's happy face, went south real fast. He frowned and flew past Alchem, hovering in the air. Alchem flew up and joined him. They watched the blue flare sparkle and crack in the distance.

There were gunshots coming from the factory too, suggesting that something was happening there. Gretzky bit his claw and shivered a little, before looking down at Alchem and then back at the spot in the sky. The spot that was burning bright blue. Alchem wanted to know why Gretzky was shivering and worrying so much. Alchem was a little worried, sure, but Eater was a fighter and a master of stealth. Surely he could have just vanished out of thin air, right?

Roselight marched over to Gretzky and scowled at him. He didn't look down at her, due to being focused on the events that were spiralling in the distance. Alchem nudged Gretzky with a hoof and pointed down towards Roselight. Gretzky regained his focus and flew down to talk to her. Alchem looked back at the events, not understanding a single detail that was going on.

He could gather that a battle was happening in the distance, but he didn't know if Eater was there or not. He didn't get too worried until something echoed in the distance. Loud booms broke the gunshots and made everything go silent. It was as if the entire Wasteland was a part of a dramatic pause or something. This dramatic silence broke as something began to make a light whistle in the distance. The entire settlement rushed to the walls as the gryphon's, Gretzky and Nightclaw, both flew up.

Alchem looked back at the factory and saw something that broke something inside of him. There was one final gunshot, before a massive explosion went off at the factory, followed by another and another. There were many explosions! Alchem's jaw dropped as he watched it all play out. This made a spark start to form within Alchem's mind. He knew exactly what it was, as all of the pieces connected together, like a jigsaw puzzle. That was a flare, but it was also an artillery marker. The entire settlement watched as bomb after bomb hit the factory. Parts of the factory began to crumble, as the bombs continued to hit it. If there was anything there, it was surely dead.

Alchem flew over to Roselight and flew in front of her. He turned to her, with a look of shock and disbelief at what just happened. She could have got Eater killed, due to discrimination. Alchem was slightly ticked off, but was more worried for the health of Eater more than anything. Hopefully he wasn't there. Hopefully he got out of there if he was. Hopefully he wasn't hurt. Roselight got up and ordered every creature that they needed to have a weapon on them, just in case the worst came their way. Alchem agreed with that, but didn't care. He wanted to look for Eater, but he was sure that Roselight wouldn't allow it.

He got in Roselight's way and landed on the ground. She didn't look him in the eyes, knowing that she could have gotten him killed right there and then. Alchem turned around as the entire world went silent again. The bombs had fallen and the firing had completely stopped. The quietness was almost unsettling to them all, making them feel a little more on edge.

"Why did you put him in danger?" Alchem quietly asked, turning back around to Roselight, seeing that her ears were pointed directly down, behind her head. She was a little scared of Alchem, but she knew that she was in the wrong. She wasn't exactly in the wrong though, wanting to grab the blueprint in the factory, before the Steel Rangers got their hooves on it, but she still felt a little bad.

Alchem rushed around a building and sat behind it, not wanting to see the rest of the Wasteland. He wanted to pretend that he was alright, that he wasn't now alone, but the thought bloomed in his mind like a cherry tree. He laid down on the hard, cold floor and rested his chin on the ground. He was beginning to have bad thoughts, thoughts that would make him make all of the wrong choices. He heard the sound of hoof steps and opened his eyes, seeing that Zeke was there. He sat down next to Alchem and rested a hoof on him. He was comforting him.

Alchem needed a little bit of comfort. It didn't matter who from, it just mattered how much they cared for him. If Eater was dead, then Alchem would have been the last survivor from Journey. He didn't want that to be the case. He wanted Eater to survive. He wanted his friend! He couldn't give up hope just there, he had to get revenge, if Eater was dead. He absorbed a little bit of emotional support from Zeke, then stood up on all four hooves and chucked his saddlebag off him, before scrounging around and grabbing his pistol. He threw his saddlebag back over his shoulder and then checked the ammo in the weapon. It was still full. Good, he thought.

He then stopped in his blind pursuit and remembered something that would have been useful. Alchem slowly moved past Zeke and walked over to Gretzky. He tapped him on the shoulder and got him to turn around. Gretzky smiled as much as he could, being slightly scared about giving Eater the flare gun. He wouldn't tell anypony or creature about it.

"Have you got a spare battle saddle? Alchem asked, feeling determined more than anything. Gretzky pondered the thought then came to a conclusion. He rushed back to his shop, not going too fast, but fast enough to look like he was in a rush. He hopped the counter and began to look from side to side for the battle saddle. He knew that he had one on hand, but he didn't see it there and then. He turned to Alchem and smiled.

"I might have to search through all of this and try to find it. I'm hoping that I have one here, I'm pretty sure I do, but I just can't find it right now." Gretzky assured, making Alchem turn around. He turned back after a couple of seconds and looked at Gretzky, before nodding firmly. Gretzky smiled back at Alchem and got to work. Alchem slowly walked up to the wall and then climbed the ladder, not feeling like using his wings in the slightest. Once he got to the top of the ladder, he saw that there was no factory left, just some ruins of where the factory was. The place had been leveled.

Alchem just stared, he didn't have any words that he wanted to say, neither did he have any words to think of. He just watched the fire in the distance, like it was a call for help, him being helpless to do anything. He didn't feel at all like expressing any emotions. He just wanted to watch. It hurt him a little, knowing that the bombs had possibly killed the one pony that he had originally trusted. Roselight sat beside the frozen pony, being sure to make her presence known with a cough. Alchem slowly turned his head, making direct eye contact with her when he turned it around to face her.

"I might have something that me and you can do to distract us, if you're up for it?" Roselight suggested, holding her hoof out to Alchem. He thought that there was no point dwelling in the past, so he took her hoof and began to follow her along the wall, travelling around the settlement, balancing on the verge of being either inside or outside the settlement. There was another ladder coming closer. Alchem flew down, while Roselight took the ladder, not having another way off the wall. There was a drainage basin that looked suspiciously odd. Roselight lifted off the lid of it and revealed a ladder, as well as the inky blackness that Alchem was getting more familiar with by the second.

"You got something to protect yourself? Like a melee weapon or something?" Roselight asked, making sure that Alchem was set for going down there. Alchem shook his head and looked back at Roselight. She teleported her saddlebag in front of her and pulled out a long spiked bat, with a mouth grip. She passed it over to Alchem and chuckled. "Maybe you could get more use out of this thing. I don't hold anything in my mouth, only my magic, so the mouth grip is completely useless and kind of awkward to hold in" Roselight admitted, shaking her head softly.

Alchem looked at what type of weapon she would have been using and chuckled around the bat in his mouth, seeing that she was wielding a blade. It was almost exactly like Eater's sword, which brought back good memories. Alchem nodded to Roselight, before slowly climbing into the sewer system. Roselight followed and used her magic to close them both in. It was completely inky blackness. If there was anything down there, it would have already finished off Alchem. Roselight got to the bottom, before lighting her horn and using an illumination spell, brightening up her horn and making a ray of light appear in front of her. It was almost like she had a torch on her horn. Alchem couldn't tell the difference.

"Alchem? Stay still quick!" Roselight whispered, touching her horn to Alchem's forehead and passing the spell to Alchem. Even though he wasn't a unicorn, the magic light stayed lit on his head. She had just passed her light. She used her magic to light up her own horn again, before looking over too Alchem again and chuckling.

"I was an exploration pony in the Wasteland. Found a book that gave me this spell and found out that it doesn't use magic once activated. Pretty handy!" Roselight announced, getting a pondered look from Alchem, before he turned to the sewer and kept his mouth closed. The air was most likely horrible and wretched. Alchem didn't want to even think about it. Roselight strapped something to Alchem's nose, making him feel pretty awkward and stupid. She had a gas mask on her face and looked down at Alchem with no expression, since it was blocked behind the mask.

"Breathe through your nose! It's hard to find a mask for pegasi and earth ponies, because of them not having magic to swing stuff. So hit with your mouth, breathe through your nose." Roselight ordered, making Alchem aware of why he was wearing such a ridiculous looking object. It was a different gas mask! The area around looked hazey and unloved, which was perfect, cause they were in a sewer system. It was very quiet, no ambient noise made down there, just complete quietness, apart from the occasional drip of water, but that was it.

Alchem began to look around, seeing that the water in the sewer was still. It looked almost solid, solid enough to walk over, but it obviously wasn't. The water was greatly irradiated, that was a given, so Alchem had to be careful about breathing through his nose and not his unconcealed maw. Radiation was always bad for ponies and other creatures. Eater was immune to it, but he didn't understand the feeling of having fur melt away from a pony's body and revealing pure skin. It was a terrifying thought, but it was true.

Alchem looked over to Roselight, seeing that she was travelling to the opposite side of the sewer. The water divided them both, as they just blankly stared at each other. There was a splash coming from the side that Alchem was on. He turned the corner and saw that the light didn't penetrate the inky blackness well. It only brightened a little amount, leaving the rest to be spooky speculation. Roselight teleported beside him, before using her horn to send a ball of light down the pathway.

As it travelled, I brought something into light. A figure, standing in the water. Roselight placed a hoof on Alchem's chest and stopped him from moving further. Roselight saw that there was something in the water too. The only things that were bound to be present in the radiation were ghouls. Ghouls were pretty much zombies. They were still creatures though, but they weren't able to think logically. Those ones were called 'rapid ghouls', the ones that went crazy. The ones that were able to think, were just ghouls. The only thing that changed from the stable ghouls, were that their faces normally looked deformed, but that was about it.

Roselight didn't want to test the water with the ghouls, just in case there were some that were hiding in the shadows. There definitely wasn't going to be just one ghoul down in the sewer system. There would most likely be a huge amount of them somewhere. The question was, where were they all? They both travelled together, avoiding contact with the ghouls and moving slow enough that they wouldn't be noticed by the ones in the water.

They got to another corner and turned it. Around the corner, there was a ghoul that was stumbling towards them both. Alchem and Roselight both backed up a little, getting behind the wall and getting ready to do something to the ghoul. It was slowly approaching, but it had no idea what was around the corner. Zombie-like noises came around the corner, as it came within hoof distance from them. It turned the corner and was met with a blade to the head. Roselight didn't separate its head from its neck and shoulders, she just rammed her blade into the forehead of the ghoul. This made it drop instantly. The ghoul made a tremendous splash in the water, as it fell backwards. The other ghouls were alerted from the noise and climbed over one another trying to get to the noise's location. Alchem and Roselight both went incredibly silent, as they heard splash after splash of things falling into the water.

Roselight spotted a booth on the opposite side of the sewer path. It was a long reach, but it would have been possible with a long enough jump. Roselight was about to gallop and jump to the opposite side, when she looked behind at Alchem, seeing that he was pondering about the booth. Alchem looked back at Roselight and frowned at her, seeing that she had a plan.

"We need to cross the water right? Well, if you're confident flying, I'll grab your tail with my magic and we could soar across safely, or at least safer than slipping on a wet floor and dying after." Roselight suggested. Alchem wore a stoick grin and opened his wings.

Alchem ran and jumped, allowing himself to glide across the sewer. Roselight grabbed his tail as he glided over her. It catapulted her into the air and dragged her through the wind. Alchem allowed Roselight to fall to the floor before he even attempted to land. Roselight skidded on the floor, finding the surface to be wetter than the previous side that they were both on. Alchem landed slowly, trying to not slip, as he used his wings to balance himself.

They were both right next to the door of the booth, but there was a downside with this. All of the ghouls had seen Alchem and Roselight fly across the gap and were coming in numbers. Ponies and other creatures were coming to kill them. They had to do this quickly! Roselight sharply opened the door and then walked inside. Alchem did the opposite, he flew around the door, which was blocking his path and he flew through the door before closing it and locking it shut. He narrowly grazed a ghoul with his hoof, as he flew into the building. That was close!

Alchem turned to Roselight and examined what she was doing. She was looking around in the draws of the booth. Alchem had never seen something like this before. It was strange, but yet again, since when did he investigate a sewer? He laughed at that as he looked to his right to see a ghoul staring at him. He jumped out of his skin at the sight of it trying to bite the glass. He looked out of Roselight and blushed in anger as she looked at him, chuckling behind the mask she wore.

Roselight and Alchem both paused as they heard gunshots in the distance. It was funny, because the gunshots above ground would have been quiet. Somepony or creature was down there with them! That made Alchem and Roselight worry a little. They both looked at each other, before getting back to work. Alchem was surprised that Roselight had known about this little booth down in the sewers. Had she done that before, had she been down in the sewers before? Alchem would probably have to ask her after getting out of here. As for now, Alchem wanted to focus on covering the door of the building.

Alchem looked back at the ghoul at the window and realised that it wasn't there. Most of them had walked or stumbled away, probably towards the gunshot, which made Alchem feel a little safer.

"Roselight, they're leaving, towards the gunshot!" Alchem announced, sounding surprised. Roselight shook her head.

"They'll be back if they don't shoot again." She stated, picking up a vial of liquid. It had the cork in the top of it, making it become something that was sealed up. Alchem had an idea of that being what she was looking for. She closed the draw and walked over to Alchem. She passed the vial of liquid to Alchem and walked over to some lockers in the room. Alchem evaluated the liquid. In the light he had on his mask, it appeared to show that the liquid was a dark blue colour, almost being completely black. It looked a little like some harmful poison that Alchem had seen in a book, when he was in his youth.

Roselight looked at a piece of paper that she had and opened the locker, instantly being a little shocked by what was inside. The body of a pony was within the locker and scared Roselight a little, judging by the little squeak she made. The body fell to the floor and had something attached to its back. Roselight took a look at it and realised that it was what she wanted to find. It was an artifact, like one that Eater had. It didn't shine, but it looked important as anything. Roselight plunged her sword into the body and cut around the artifact. It was a gory sight, but it was one that would probably prosper in the long run. Those artifacts definitely had a meaning behind them and Alchem wanted to know what they were, as well as why they were so damn important.

A screeching roar came from the sewer system and made Roselight pause. She ran up to Alchem and turned off the light that Alchem had and turned her own off too.

"What are you…?" Alchem asked, being cut off by Roselight placing a hoof over his mouth. She didn't speak as she watched some pegusi fly extremely fast, past them both. They were too quick to notice every detail on them, but they were clearly pegusi, that was sure. Roselight kept an eye on them as she slowly lifted her hoof away from Alchem's maw.

What are those… things?" Alchem whispered, looking over at Roselight. She looked back to Alchem slowly and didn't move after.

"They are still ghouls, but they are pegusi ghouls, which are way, way more dangerous than the average rapid ghoul." Roselight explained, making sure not to alert anything down in the sewer. Alchem just pondered on why the ghouls were so fast. It was most likely to be because of their wings. Roselight slowly took the vial off Alchem and wrapped it in a soft fabric, before slowly placing it into her saddlebag. Roselight then went back to the draws and grabbed something else. It was some firecrackers. Celestia knows why the original pony down here had firecrackers in one of his draws.

Alchem slowly moved over to the side and noticed that there was a warning alarm button below the desk. Alchem's mind drew a blank, as he explained it to Roselight, being just audible enough for her to hear him. She looked at the button too and pondered for a quick second, before another gunshot was fired, in the sewer. It was slowly getting closer. Alchem didn't notice anything, as the ghouls flew past the booth again.

Both Alchem and Roselight kept quiet, not speaking a word as countless amounts of ghouls, flying and not flying, passed the booth. As soon as signs of them disappeared, Alchem opened the door a little, taking a peak around. Alchem noticed that there was one ghoul that couldn't move. He walked out, bat in his mouth and swung the bat at the head of it. It connected, hard! The force that Alchem hit it with, shattered the skull it once had and brought pieces of it back, as Alchem pulled it out of its head. At least when Alchem hit it, it went quietly and quickly. Roselight exited the little structure and saw what Alchem had done. She walked past and peaked around the corner to see nothing there.

Alchem got Roselight on her back as he slowly flew across, not worrying this time about any ghouls that would approach them. They noticed that there were some odd noises as they landed, making them look around for the source. Suddenly, there was another gunshot. This time, it was just down the way. Roselight got out her pistol and used her magic to shoot a ball of light down the tunnel. Alchem was curious to who or what was down there with them. The thought kept crawling into his mind that it might have been Eater somehow. The light showed a shadowy figure, covered in blood a little and carrying a pistol in their magic. Roselight didn't hesitate to call out to the mysterious wondered, as the magic ball passed them.

"Friend or enemy?" She asked loudly, seeing the figure turn around with bright… red… eyes, the same eyes that they remembered. Eater didn't recognize them both, being slightly blinded by the light and then seeing them both wearing masks. He stopped and waved at them both.

"Friendly, but you two might wanna get out of here! I'm gonna burn these undead!" Eater explained. Roselight looked at Alchem and then back at Eater.

"And how are you gonna do that?" Roselight stated, being slightly curious. Eater brought out a vial of his own and shook it about a little, making the yellow, glowing substance turn dark red, almost looking like blood. Behind the mask, Roselight went wide eyed. She didn't expect that from Eater, but then again, Eater didn't know that they were who they were, because of the masks hiding their appearance.

"Run! To the ladders!" Eater yelled from across the way, turning to the door of the booth and opening it. Roselight turned and ran, pulling Alchem with her. Alchem kept looking behind at Eater, hoping that he wasn't doing something stupid.

"Where are you?" Eater talked to himself, looking for the filter for the sewage system. There was something that allowed the operators to deposit cleansing liquid into the sewage water. He had to find it quickly, before the ghouls came back from the gunshot. He took out most of the pegusi ghouls, but there were definitely one or two that were about and were definitely on the way for him. He found the filter. He saw a key code display and used his hindlegs to buck it open. It opened out and Eater poured the vials contents into it, before hitting a button that would have deposited it into the water.

Eater spotted the button that started the alarm. He pressed it with a hoof once, turning it on. A loud alarm beeped once, before he pressed the button again to stop it. One beep was enough to make them come running. Eater closed the door as he exited the building and flew across the gap. He caught up to Roselight and Alchem and looked back. There was a pegasus coming towards them all. Roselight and Alchem readied themselves, but Eater was one step ahead.

Eater flew towards the ghoul and lit up his horn, sending a beam of low brightness energy towards the pegasus, distorting its shape and figure. Without a second glance, Alchem stared at it,watching as it blew up into multiple pieces, as Eater smacked it with something. He didn't have a melee weapon on him, but Alchem did see something like a sharp shard of rubble or something on him. Alchem looked back and smiled happily, before he flew vigorously past them both, opening up the drainage pipe.

Eater vanished within a cloud of dust, making Alchem wonder where he went. Without a sound, Alchem gasped as Roselight was teleported out of the sewer. He was petrified! Suddenly though, he too was teleported out of the drain. Alchem's vision flashed to a bright white, before he landed on his rear. They were above ground, but just outside the settlement. Both Roselight and Alchem took off their masks, revealing that it was both of them, who he had just helped.

Alchem looked around and saw that Eater was wearing a smile on his muzzle. He couldn't hold back smiling back at him, so he did, running over to him and hugging him tightly. Eater recoiled, but then embraced the hug, feeling comfort in the experience. Roselight joined in on the hug, wrapping her hooves around both of them. This surprised both Alchem and Eater, as they stopped the hug to look at Roselight. She blushed a little.

"Eater, I'm sorry!" Roselight stated, feeling a little down about what she did. Eater looked a little confused at Roselight and then tilted his head to her, indicating that he had no idea what she was on about.

"What? Why?" Eater asked, having a slight idea why she was sorry.

"For the discrimination I prompted from myself. I feel ashamed! I could have…!" Roselight stated, before getting cut off with another hug. She looked like she was about to break down into tears, but both Alchem and Eater could tell that she wouldn't. She was strong, stronger than both of them. She wrapped her forehooves around Eater and sighed. "I'm really sorry!" Roselight added, getting a sorrowful look from Eater.

"Don't be! It all worked out in the end, right? Nothing went wrong, no?" Eater asked her. She didn't reply. Alchem slowly approached Eater and evaluated his state. He seemed to be in one piece, but there was something off about seeing him. Eater stopped hugging Roselight and dropped his saddlebag, before bringing out the blueprint. Roselight's eyes went wide, as she slowly observed the prints. Eater passed them to her and he watched as a smile raised from seeing it.

"Roselight? There wasn't a PipBuck that you needed with that, right?" Eater asked, making Roselight turn to him again, before she shook her head. He looked over at Alchem and smiled. "Alchem? I got a present for you!" Eater prompted, walking over to him. Alchem looked at Eater, before he looked at what Eater was holding in his magic. It was a dark grey coloured PipBuck. It was something that the stable ponies made. Alchem couldn't remember the name of them, but it would eventually come back to him. He was curious to know how it worked, but he was a little scared to try to use it.

Eater could sense that he was scared, but tried to convince him that it would be alright. He stated that it was just a quality of life thing, that it would help with aiming his syringe gun and let him know what he had on him. Alchem was very hesitant to use it, but held his right forehof out, allowing Eater to place the PipBuck on his hoof. Eater slid it on and clicked the straps, to make sure that they were on. Eater tightened it up and watched as it left enough of a gap to allow blood to pass into the end of Alchem's hoof. It was on properly, not being able to slide off and not being uncomfortable.

Alchem placed his hoof on the floor again, feeling a slight increase in weight from the PipBuck. He wasn't too keen on having it on, but he wanted to see what having one was like. He lifted up his hoof and looked at the screen. It was synchronizing the data that was being generated from his body. He was a tad bit confused, but Eater returned to his side and used his horn to hit a button, changing the screen. It showed a green pony. That green pony, apparently, was him! Alchem saw that it had gathered all of the data needed to complete its data collection on himself.

"The green pony represents your health. If any part of you is hurt or damaged, it will show up here. Even an ache in your leg shows up here, which right now, you have on your right leg." Eater informed, looking at Alchem and then back at the PipBuck, continuing with his lecture about the mysterious object that Alchem had never used. "There are multiple different screens. There is one for your items in your possession, like a saddlebag or even a fridge, that you hold on your back." Eater explained, getting a chuckle from Alchem.

"A fridge, really?" Alchem chuckled loudly, not understanding if Eater was being serious or not.

"I'm not joking! There was a pony with a PipBuck and it actually recognised that he had a fridge on his back, which he did at the time." Eater explained, making both Alchem and Roselight smile. "Anywho, you got the storage tab, you got another tab called the data tab, which includes a map of Equestria and where you are on it, along with any things that ponies want you to do within the Wasteland." Eater explained, showing Alchem the basics of the PipBuck. Alchem was having a hard time understanding the technology, but Eater was sure to help him, if he needed it at all.

"Is it waterproof?" Alchem asked, noticing that he couldn't take it off. Eater nodded and smiled, seeing that he was beginning to ease up with being so tense.

"Look at your PipBuck in the data tab when I say this. I'll meet you back at the settlement." Eater explained, before making sounds, indicating that he was leaving. The PipBuck added a little note or objective to the data section. Alchem smiled, noticing that Eater had been correct with what he stated, seeing the PipBuck function as he had intended. Eater clearly knew what he was doing, so Alchem was sure to listen to him, when it came to technical stuff. Alchem walked over to him and hugged Eater, making both of them smile happily. As Eater drew back from the hug, Alchem noticed that Eater wasn't wearing the zebra cloak.

"Eater? What happened to the cloak?" Alchem asked, being slightly curious about the whereabouts of the cloak. Eater used his magic to grab it out of the saddlebag and lifted up his saddlebag, placing the cloak over his body, before lowering the saddlebag again.

"I took it off for a little bit. I also forgot to put it back on." Eater admitted, walking past them both. "You two coming or what?" Eater asked, curious if they wanted to stay there or not. They were just outside of the settlement, so it was easy to get into it, but they both might have wanted to stay there for a little bit, maybe to relax or something. Alchem and Roselight both looked at each other, before getting up and moving towards Eater.

Eater stopped and dragged Alchem to his side, before looking at Roselight and signalling for her to get on their backs. She accepted the offer and grabbed both Alchem and Eater with her magic. Both Eater and Alchem set off into the air and cleared the wall no problem. They both landed right next to where the original raider group were. Eater didn't notice that the hole had been covered up, but Alchem didn't mind, neither did Roselight. Ponies and creatures would notice in their own time.

"Thank you Eater, you helped a bunch with those ghouls. We both owe you!" Roselight explained appreciatively. Eater nodded and then looked at Alchem. Roselight scurried off into the settlement leaving Alchem and Eater alone. Before they could get acquainted again, a noise came from where they had just been. It was a pegasus ghoul! It raised itself up and flew into the sky, before looking at the settlement and seeing both Alchem and Eater. It lunged down at them both, gaining as much speed as it could.

Eater moved Alchem to the side and charged up his horn, ready for another blast of magic. He charged his horn and waited for the creature to get closer, before letting loose his magic… that he didn't have. No magic escaped Eater's horn and the pegasus dived on him. It landed on him and he struggled to stop it from killing him. Without a word, Alchem pushed the ghoul off Eater and smiled.

"He's mine!" Alchem shouted, before he swung the spiked bat at the pegasus. It connected so hard, it penetrated the ghouls head and stuck it to the wall. The nails had come out of the other side of the ghoul, confirming that it's brain was destroyed. Alchem painted and turned around, leaving the bat planted on the wall, like some kind of statue. He saw that Eater was stooding up again and breathing heavily too.

"Thank you Alchem." Eater thanked, seeing that Alchem was smiling. Alchem shook his head and whispered into Eater's ear.

"This is between me and you, but my name isn't Alchem. My real name is Azure!" He whispered, making Eater go wide eyed.

"That's funny, because my real name isn't Eater. It's Blitz!" Eater added to Azure's change of name. They both looked at each other, before laughing and turning back around to the ghoul. Alchem pulled out the bat with his mouth and placed it into his saddlebag, before picking them up again and walking into the centre of the settlement, where Gretzky was waiting for them both.