My head pounded like I had way too much to drink the night before, and with how I was drawing a blank to what I had been doing before I went to sleep, that might be true. It was also not a good sign that I hurt all over, so something must have happened.

Opening my eyes, things took a little longer then I liked to become less fuzzy, but I found myself in what I could only describe as some sort of open medical room from the rows of beds it had, and the M.o.P. boxes everywhere… maybe I did have too much to drink, but I still can't quite remember what had happened, so having been blackout drunk is a good bet… I physically cringed at the idea and knowing that I must have done something stupid to end up here, and likely wasted the bits I owned.

My stomach gurgled, and I knew that whatever was in my stomach was going to come up and come up soon.

I jumped off the hard bed then face planted onto the floor. I pulled myself up and looked around for a bathroom, but I saw none. There was a bandaged up pony in one of the beds nearby, so I did the most sensible thing I could do and asked him. “Where's the bathroom? I’m going to puke soon.”

He looked up at me and spoke with a voice that sounded like he smoked three packs of cigarettes every day for his entire life. “Heh, stable ponies. The outhouse is back behind this building. Just go through the front door and head round back. Ya won't be able to miss it, the smell alone is unmistakable.”

I thanked him and galloped off out the front door, quickly making my way around the back where several shabby outside toilets stood next to each other. The bandage pony didn't lie. The place smelled like the sewage had backed up.

Picking one, I found a glowing mushroom poking out of it, but I no longer have the time. I stuck with it and began to wretch.

I don’t know how long I was in there, but when I was done, there was a sizable pool of rainbow-colored liquid in the toilet bowl… I could only assume it was the mushroom that did that… very strange.

Leaving the outhouse, I made my way to the front, now taking a look around. It was a rustic wooden building with ponies all about in cowpony hats and plenty of revolvers on plenty of ponies hips. It was like I had stepped into one of the old frontier movies, except the ponies here looked far dirtier than what they normally shown on the silver screen.

“Hay ma’am,” I stopped one pony that had a very old looking sundress on. “Where am I?”

She gave me a confused look before answering. “You’re in New Appaloosa, silly!”

New. I didn't know Appaloosa started a new town. “Ah, thanks ma’am.”

She then trotted off, and I trotted into the street, feeling a bit lost, but at least with some knowledge to where I was.

There was quite a hustle and bustle to the ponies here. Not to the same level as back home in Applewood, but it was clear everypony had someplace to be.

As I followed the crowd, I found myself in what had to be the market street of New Appaloosa. It had shops of all kinds, each having a swinging sign made from what looked like recycled metal. There was even a pony trying to sell Sparkle-Cola. Her pitch being that it was ice cold despite that being how they're normally sold.

My mouth was feeling dry so I trotted over to the soda vendor She was sitting next to a cool-o-matic 2000 Sparkle-Cola fridge. It was just a normal fridge, but in the shape of a Sparkle-Cola bottle with a glass door in the front, though this one looked like it was made to look really old. Same for the bottles inside.

"One bottle… wait, drat I don't have my bits," I lament. There goes my thirst quenching.

"Bits, why in a radscorpions butt cheeks would I want bits? It's twenty-six caps. Take it or leave it," the vendor said before mumbling something to herself.

"Caps?" I scratched my head, feeling a bit confused.

"Bottle caps, like the ones on a Sparkle-Cola bottle, ya nitwit!" she exclaimed.

Odd… no. It was now making sense. This wasn't a frontier town, it must be part of Sparkle-Cola Word's theme park. I think I remember something about the theme park setting up a frontier town in their park. Which means somehow I got in here while blacked out, maybe I got a job with them. Not the first time I figuratively fell into a job. At least that means there's somepony I can talk to, and possibly recover and stuff I lost.

"Oy, space pony, are you home, and more importantly, are you going to buy anything?" the vendor spoke up.

"Oh, sorry. Kind of got lost in my thought there. Is there a manager I can talk to? I seem to have lost my coin pouch," I asked.

The vendor's eye twitched. "Fffffffffuuu…" she huffed, then pointed over at what looked like a saloon. "Don't know what the ff… I don't know what ya'll are talking about, but the owner of that saloon's husband is deputy Willow Tree. If anypony can help you out, and even care too, he will."

I thanked the vendor lady then I made my way to the saloon.

At the saloon, the place looked like a knock off of a frontier saloon, yet strangely authentic. Ponies playing cards, drinking at the bar, and a few eating hay fries that didn't look all that fresh. The staff here were quite busy, as to be expected, and I couldn't find any open seats or a pony willing to talk to me. I was mostly getting a shrug or a grunt to go away, but there was one spot that seemed to be void of ponies except for three old ponies sitting at a table, playing cards. One was a sharp-dressed unicorn stallion who puffed pink smoke from the pipe in his mouth. Another was in a well used military uniform decorated in lots of metals. The third was a thin zebra jenny of all things. She had an M.o.P. uniform on and sported a bright purple mohawk.

Something about the zebra gave me a feeling of deja vu. "Excuse me if I cut in?" I asked as I sat down.

The three cocked their eyebrows at me as they threw some bottle caps in the center of the table.

"Were playing old Appaloosa poker smooth coat. You familiar?" The military pony spoke with a very gravelly voice.

I was mildly familiar with Appaloosa Poker. I knew if I didn't have chips, I couldn't play.

"Ya, just give me a moment," I requested.

Quickly looking around, I checked for anything I could use, only to see a bottlecap roll under the table. It being a Sunset Sarsaparilla bottle cap with a blue star on the inside. Grabbing it, I sat up and tossed the cap into the pile.

"Sorry,” I apologized. “It's my only cap right now, I kind of lost all my stuff somewhere. Wanted to talk to the deputy about it. Willow, I think, they said his name was."

The fancy stallion deals out the cards. "I'll let Apricot know that somepony needs to talk with her husband," he told me in a proper, yet also very gravelly voice.

I looked at my cards, making sure no pony can see them. It was three aces and two princesses. The cards themselves looked rather old despite them clearly being the princess print cards that only came out last year.

A feeling of dread then washed over me as the ponies must play poker a real lot, and my one cap was at risk.

"Thanks, that will help a lot. I think I may have drunk a bit too much last night, and blacked out. Don't know how I got so far from Applewood, and into Sparkle-World, so I'm just hoping I didn't cause anypony any problems."

They looked at me with confusion, then shrugged as they showed their hooves, knowing I could not add to the pot. I did as well, and they gave me a displeased look before the military pony pushed the small pile of caps over to me. After that, the fancy pony delt his cards again. We all threw a cap into the pile.

"Applewood ey? I heard strange stuff coming from over there. Nothing that can be confirmed, but that place has always been the center of trouble," the military pony spoke.

"It's not that bad," I said, feeling more relaxed now that I had more game tokens. "I mean, if you know the right ponies, you can get in one of the preshow theaters. I even met Lilac Lace once, though only as a drink runner for the theater. They say that the silver screen makes a pony look grander than what they really look like, but the silver screen didn't do her justice."

There was a pause, then the fancy pony gave a sophisticated, though gravely laugh, puffing pink smoke from his pipe.

"Oh, all too true! That mare knew how to take over a stage, own it. Now don't tell nopony I said this, but Lilac and Rarity didn't get along all that well, despite all the promotional photoshoots and pro-Equestra shorts they worked on together. Lilac cared more about artistic freedom above all else, where Rarity, well she wasn't the ministry mare of the ministry of image for nothing."

The military stallion then laughed loudly, and gravely. "Ya know, I remember her movies now. The fifty-foot mare was my favorite! She had so much leg. Rumors from the tank battalion out west says she's still kicking around, though they like their tall tails."

We continued playing our game and chatting about the usual goings-on The two ponies being more candid then I was used too, making me a bit worried that the M.o.M. were going to pop out at any moment. The conversation ranged from buckball and how, despite Appaloosa still on top of their game, Cloudsdale was making a major comeback, to how the ministries might be going a tad too far with all their plans.

It was strangely a pleasant conversation.

"Zay pony," the zebra spoke up in a thick, and gravely accent. She had not spoken this entire time. She just played and watched me. "How long has it been since the great war started?"

The three of us became quiet at her question.

I thought about it for a moment. Despite what the ministries put in the history books, I remember the start of the war being a bit more complicated, though I was only five then.

"Let’s see, there was an old veteran that told me there was a five-year-long trade war before any shots were fired and, even then, the first ten years of the war was just posturing with little actual violence actually happening. So, if you’re talking about full-on hostilities, then it started right after the little horn massacre around over nine years ago."

There was a pause between the three poker players as they shared glances. The Zebra then pulled out a strange device, It a metal box with a handle, and two moving wing-like appendages on the end that had severe small flashing lights. It flashed and beeped as she pointed it at me, her eyes fixated on the box.

Then she let out a sigh. "Your either the world's most well-preserved ghoul, or you somehow managed to survive being soaked with a massive amount of powerful magic, but then that would answer to how you put a hole in my new clinic."

I cocked an eyebrow, a bit confused. "I don't get what you're saying."

She pointed at her fenlock. "Your pipbuck should give you some details about yourself."

I checked my right fenlock. Nothing. I then check my left. I found an expensive-looking pipbuck attached to it.

I nearly fell out of my seat upon seeing it, for such things were kinda hard to get, even when you had the bits for it.

"When did this get here?" I asked in confusion.

Turning the thing on, it felt strangely familiar, despite never having used one before. Even the engraving of a '?' Entangled with a pony shoe, my cutie-mark on it.

On the screen, an image of a green pony formed, it's eyes "X" out and it looked quite unwell.

"I think it's broken. The thing says I'm dead?"

The Zebra scratched her chin. "Well, your vitals were normal the last time I checked, same for your friend."

"Friend?" I said, cocking an eyebrow.

She put away her device. "Here, let's go back to my clinic and I can take a more thorough look at you, now that you're awake."

She then looked at the other two ponies. "Tell the deputy that I got this covered, but if he still wants to talk with the stable pony, we'll be at the free clinic."

I was still confused, but at least it seemed that I found a pony who can help. Well, a zebra, at any rate.

Looking at the large pile of caps I won, I had no way to take them with me.

"Hundred caps, and I'll give you my spare bag," the military pony spoke up.

I shrugged, then pushed the caps to him. He threw me an old worn-out military bag, in which I put the rest of the caps into.

Following the zebra, I made a quick stop to buy an ice-cold Sparkle-Cola. I was disappointed to find it a bit flat, making me glad I didn't spend any bits on it.

Entering the clinic, next to the bandaged pony, was a very pretty, as well as the tallest unicorn mare I had ever seen. She almost looked like one of the princesses, but without wings. She also sported a short main and tail cut. Stranger, her eyes were not normal. It was snake-like slits rather than being round like a pony.

"Welcome to the New Appaloosa free clinic," the zebra announced.

"Oh thank Celesta, you found him Jali! I was almost about to panic!" The tall mare said with a tone of relief.

The zebra, Jali, looked at me and chuckled. "He literally stumbled into my poker game and ended up nearly stealing all our caps like he was blessed by a god of luck itself."

She then pointed at one of the hard beds.

"Now you sit there, pony, and Prism will bring out the other one from our private room, along with all your things."

I sat on the bed. Jali picked up an old worn out medical bag, pulled out a bunch of equally worn-out medical tools.

"You all are taking this frontier theme really seriously," I spoke, feeling a tad more confused.

"Just stay still as I examine you. Tell me if anything feels wrong."

She began hitting my joints with a small rubber mallet that didn't hurt, but it forced my legs to move a bit.

"Now open wide," she instructed.

I did.

She stuck a flat stick into my mouth for a moment as she looked inside.

"Alright. Now . . . have you noticed any strange fluids coming out of your body, or any odd pains?"

"Other than some aches and pains, maybe some bruises, I feel fine, though I may have puked a rainbow outback in the outhouse,." I explained.

Jali paused for a moment as Prism carried a mare and a bag into the room.

The mare was pink with light gray stripes and had a blue mane with light gray streaks. She also had two small wings and a small horn, along with a pipbuck on her left fenlock.

Placing the unconscious mare on the bed, Prism then trotted over to us. She placed a saddlebag with the stable-tec logo next to me.

"Prism, there might be some rainbow bile in the outhouse behind the clinic. Can you recover a sample of it for me?" Jali requested, and Prism cringed before nodding and trotting off.

Next, Jali looked at me and asked, "Alright. Could you look through your bag and see if you remember anything?"

I really had no memory of ever owning such a bag before. After touching it, it became clear that it was more two M.o.P. medical cases put together like a saddlebag. Very strange... yet familiar.

With a click, I opened the first case, and inside was a blue jacket that looked like a stable barding that Stable-Tec sold, and on the side was "R&D" imprinted on the sleeve. There was also a blue cowpony hat with a yellow band around the base, it was made of similar materials to the jacket, yet it was much sturdier.

It all felt familiar, but even when putting them on, I still didn't remember anything, so I opened up the other case. What was inside was a gun and several bullet-filled magazines for the gun, along with rifle bullets inside clips.

Picking up the gun, I didn't really know much about guns other than what I saw in the movies and parts I made in factories.

It was a pistol which used largeish ammunition and, had the Stable-Tec logo on it, despite that company not being in the gun manufacturing business. Also it had an engraving

"Chekhov's Promise," I read out loud as I messed with the trigger on the bit.

*Bang*

The gun fell from my hooves. A trail of smoke followed as it descended down a long dark shaft. So long that the darkness had swallowed it. It made no sound after vanishing.

I looked up and found myself no longer in the free clinic. Rather, I was sitting in front of a massive stable door. Blood splattered all over it. Getting up and turning around, I was now in a hallway. The bodies of ponies in blood-stained lab coats were along the floor. Around my neck was a color that beeped.

"Go, or your head will pop!" A mare spoke as she stepped into view, she a blue earth pony mare with a long golden mane and wearing a decorated navy uniform. Thorn Roasland had a wicked grin on her face that told me she had no intent to spar me.

Turning again, I took one step and found myself in a large room. In the center was a swirling magical vortex.

"I can stop it. I can make it so that the war never even started!" An older green unicorn mare in a lab coat stood at the edge of the vortex, heavy bags under her brown eyes. Her shadow began to crawl up her, wrapping around her, covering her. Healing Herbs eyes then turned a golden yellow, and the rest of her became the black nightmare Phobetor.

"A fool! Her, you, and everypony! I will soon be free!"

*Bang*

The sound resonated loud enough to hurt my ears and, with it, everything shattered, becoming dark once more.

"You do know what to do with that, right?" A mare asked, and I found myself sitting at one end of a long table. To my left, I could see the city of Applewood, and to my right was the decaying ruins of a city. It looked somewhat like Applewood.

On the other end of the table was me, a purple earth pony stallion, saggy long pale blue mane, with a jade streak running through it. He held Chekhov's Promise in his hooves, smiling.

"Let me remind you," he said to me.

Pointing the gun at his, and my, head, he, and I, fired.

His head shattered into pieces… like glass fragments.

In the flying fragments, I could see other ponies in them; Thorn Roasland, Healing Herbs, Phobetor, and me.

There were other ponies too. Many other ponies, but they were far more incomplete compared to the first four.

Then the pieces fell, landing behind the table, forming a unicorn mare. She was purple like myself with a pale blue mane, again like myself, and even had a jade streak through it. Behind her was a very long and dark shadow. In it, I could make out faces of ponies looking back at me, each seemingly in a fit of madness.

Fragment cracked her neck, stretched her back, then looked at me with annoyance.

"Now that's a face I haven't seen in a long time, though not long enough if you ask me. Well whatever, I got a business to lord over and I don't need some ghosts from the past to pester me. Be gone spirit, or I shall eat you." Fragment waved her hoof and slid my gun over to me as everything became fuzzy, fading, then dark.

I opened my eyes, finding myself in a largish dusty room with mismatched wooden walls and floorboards that had several rows of beds that look like they were salvaged from the side of the road. I was back in the clinic, though it was a bit hard to believe that this place could be considered one with how dusty it was. Maybe I was in a Sparkle-Cola world set-piece, but the effort to make it look like an authentic frontier town was a bit much.

Looking down at Chekov's Promise, smoke still drifting from the barrel, I then had a feeling that I was in big trouble. "Sorry about that, but the good news is I'm starting to remember stuff."

A long sigh came from Jali as she trotted over to me.

"Good! Now can you tell me where you two came from? It might answer to what is wrong with you." Jali proposed, her voice sounding worse than before, and her face… looked like it was from the movie Undead Zebra Nightmare…

"Um… Is it Nightmare Night?" I asked, her makeup making her look quite out of place for a frontier setting… unless there was a zombie vr’s cowponies event going on?

Jali stared at me for a moment before she answered. “I think you ponies were about to celebrate that before everything went up in balefire, but no. What you're seeing is real.”

The painted on muscles, where it was to look like her skin, was missing and moved, as though they were her real mussels. It all looked way too real.

I studied Jali more. Nothing about her yelling makeup, yet there's no way a pony or zebra could look like that naturally. Magic was clearly the answer, but such disguise magic was outlawed, and even then, why a zombie zebras?

Thinking, I scratched my chin, finding a beard where one was not there before. “Wait, when did I grow this?” I asked myself as I slowly started to remember, but things still were not making sense, unless something went seriously wrong.

“It’s fuzzy, but I think I remember, though it sounds more like a dream,' I declared.

Taking a deep breath, I dug up the memories from my confused mind and looked at the pipbuck I got as a parting gift. “I had just triggered the megaspell to implode on itself. I couldn't let either of them get their hooves on it, and teleported out… but I didn’t end up in the overmare’s office.”

The zombie doctor grumbled. “Megaspells, that’s never good news, but it would explain the magic you're flooded with.”

Jali then pointed at the unconscious mare. “How about her? Remember her now?”

I shook my head. “Maybe she’s one of the R&D staff in the stable. It did have its share of zebras working there. I know she's not going to be part of the Navy, unless Thorn planned to use her as a kicking bag.”

Jali sighed as she picked up the gun. “Sounds we will just have to wait for her to wake up.”

She placed the gun next to me then turned to the alicorn. “Prism, I thought you checked this before locking it away?”

Prism’s eyes shifted before she also sighed in frustration. “Star… Sorry Jali. I’ll be more careful next time.”

“Please do. It was hard enough to get the mayor to approve setting up this clinic near the town's center. The last thing we need in some uppity smooth coat chasing us back out into the outskirts, all just so they can use this space to sell more junk again.” Jali then turned back to me. “Right, now if you can stay here. I want to run a few more tests on you to see if you have any mutations. Maybe some mental damage.”

I nodded, still playing with my new beard, and wondering how long I had been out.

I checked my pipbuck. The date was just all wrong, saying that I was 211 years late in catching my flight from the Marewaii skyport. “So, this might be a dumb question… but my pipbuck says it’s been over two hundred years. That can’t be right, right?”

Jali dug her hoof into her lab coat and pulled out a thin rusty box. Inside was a very old photo of five zebra soldiers sharing drinks. “This photo is of me and some of my squadmates. It was taken a few days before the war ended over two hundred and eleven years ago.”

There was a fairly young and attractive zebra jenny in the group, in what I could easily guess was a zebra's medics uniform. Looking up from the photo at Jali, some of the stripes matched, but she resembled more as a withering corps than the young zebra in the photo.

“You sounded like some of the confused pony ghouls who are from the wartime, so I want to check and see if you are actually one of us or not.” She closed the thin metal box and put it away before trotting off to the back.

Prism trotted over with a box of fancy colt cakes, passing them to me. “Here. I have a feeling you might be hungry,” said Prism.

I looked at the old looking box and flipped it over to see the expiration date. The fading letters told me that it was a hundred years passed its expiration.

“Don’t worry,” she assured, reading the worried expression on my face, “though it might be a bit stale, they are still good to eat.”

Shrugging, I tore open the box. The dry and sickly sweet smell hit my nose.

“Orange incorporate always advertised how their food snacks would last forever. It was even a joke that if the world were to end, there would be nothing left but cockroaches and fancy colt cakes,” I said as I bit into the cake, and it indeed was stale, but still edible. “Well let’s hope we were wrong about the cockroaches.”

Prism quickly looked away which gave me a bad feeling.

“Who the fuck is shooting a gun in town, and at this fucking time!” the voice of a loud and angry mare shouted in from outside.

Trotting in was the most frontier movie looking sheriff of a mare that might have well stepped out of the silver screen. She even had the nasty looking claw-like scar on her right cheek.

“Y’all should be glad no pony got shot or it be to the gallows, ya hear me!” She was a pale green unicorn mare with a graying mane done in a bun. On her brown duster jacket was a big shiny brass star. Hanging off her hip was the biggest revolver I had ever seen. She even had a big brown cowpony hat on. It also had a smaller brass star pinned to the brim.

“Sheriff, please calm down. I’m sure they have a good explanation for this,” a younger unicorn stallion trotted in. He wore the same outfit as the mare but lacked the stars or the big ass gun. “Anyways, Apricot said that there was a pony looking for me here, so let's see what they have to say first.”

The sheriff huffed, her eyes scanning the room. Her eyes fell on me and Prism. After that, she asked in a demanding tone, “You or the monster, which one of ya fired that gun?”

I looked down at my pistol then I raised my hoof.

“Swwwy, mm…” I swallowed the cake in my mouth, washing it down with the rest of my Sparkle-Cola.

I tried again. “Sorry. My bad. I thought it was empty before messing with it."

She trotted up to us, giving me a death glare. “Do you think this is funny?! Fucking around with any gun is liable to get somepony killed!”

Prism stepped in the way as she said, “Sheriff Ashy Oak’s! I get why you're mad, but he only just woke up, and I don’t need you beating one of our patients unconscious again. So calm down, or I will remove you from here.”

Ashy didn’t move her head or even move her eyes to look at Prism.

“Try me monster, and I’ll have it that you, and that harlot of a daughter, get what's been long coming to you.” Her voice was seeping with contempt.

"Ahem." I cleared my throat. "Sorry, I'm still a bit at a loss as to what's going on, but I'm willing to bet that threatening a nurse is still very much frowned upon."

I then gave the grumpy mare a smile. A very nervous smile. "How about we work out a deal? For any fines or damages I've caused, maybe I can work them off?" I presented my bag of caps, hoping it would at least calm the situation.

As Sherif Ashly took a few steps closer, Prism backing away.

"You think money can just sweep your crime away?" Ashy then got in my face. "Ponies like you are why things don't get better. “No, they actually are why things get worse."

By Celestia, I didn't know what she wanted with me. Maybe to have me grovel on the ground like some power-mad mare?

"Listen here, I said I'm sorry,” I pleaded. “That it was an accident and that I'm willing to do something to fix any damages. Now can you back off and let me deal with the fucking fact that I likely teleported over two hundred years into the future?"

Ashy backed up, looking a tad confused herself, and finally looking up at Prism. "What chems is this pony on?"

"None yet sheriff" Jali spoke up as she trotted back into the room. "I need to run some tests to see if this pony is a ghoul or not. Wouldn't be the first ghoul to spend most of their unlife confused and lost."

“Now I'm sure you have business here, but I prefer you leave deputy Willow Tree in charge and not rush to judgment while we are all still trying to put on a happy face for the visitors. I know you got the mayor on your side, but there are limits to everything sheriff, even for your brand of justice."

A frustrated huff came from sheriff Ashy. "Fine then ghoul, but remember it goes both ways. If any of your patients cause any more problems, it's back to the outskirts of town, and this time your whole Followers of the Apocalypse cult will stay there."

She yanked the bag of caps from my hooves with her magic, and turned to leave the clinic, leaving the stallion behind.

Deputy Willow then sighed. "Sorry. She means well, but with all the new ponies coming in for the festival, it's a bit stressful."

Jali trotted up to me, placing a box on the bed and opening it to reveal a few strange devices. "Well do remind her that we're here to help. The town's doctor is not going to treat every cut and bruise, and the outskirts is not the safest place to be when you are not a local, and got a lot of caps on hoof."

Willow gave us a friendly smile. "I'll be sure to remind her. As for damages, fortunately, it's just a few holes. Nothing major, though it gave a cat a good scare."

"Then why's the sheriff getting bent out of shape over it?" Prism asked, sounding irritated.

"Because, if we let that slide, then there's going to be ponies who will think it's okay to just casually fire their guns whenever they like, and that never ends well. That dedication to the safety of the ponies here is what makes Ashy the perfect sheriff, and why this town has been able to flourish," Willow answered.

"And what about the ponies in the outskirts of town?" Prism shot back.

"Ahem!" Jali cleared her gravely throat. "Not the time nor the place for this discussion. I just want to make sure that this clinic stays open for the foreseeable future, and once the festival is over, then we can work on helping the outskirts. Now, deputy Willow, if there's anything else you need from us?"

"Just more details on what happened,” Willow answered. “Lately the mayor has been pushing for us to make written reports, likely wanting us to emulate the NCR." He said as he pulled out a pencil and notepad.

Jali rolled her eyes. "Does anypony here think it might not be a good idea to copy old Equestria?"

"Let me guess, we should be more like old Zebraca then" a mare spoke up from outside, trotting in with a more light and friendly step.

She was an ocean blue pony in a yellow sundress who wore gold earrings and gold mane clips in her long wavy sea green mane. The mare got a collective sigh from the other three ponies.

"What? I heard the sheriff was heading this way and wanted to see if everypony is alright,” the new mare explained, then said in pleasant greeting, “Oh hi deputy Willow. How's the wife?"

Prism trotted over to the new pony, looking less than pleased. "Star, we need to have another talk about your concept of gun safety."

The mare, Star, cocked an eyebrow, and looked over at me, then down at my pistol. "Ahh, ya forgot to eject the bullet from the chamber before holding the pistol I see. You know, the old buzzard would never have made that mistake."

Jali pulled out from her box a metal clip with some wires attached to it. "Just ignore them, and stay still, my equipment is very sensitive to fluctuations in magic. I should be able to figure out your condition fairly soon."

She attached a clip to my ear and a second one to my other ear. Both then got attached to what looked like a miniature terminal. It had blue lettering which appeared in what I guessed had to be Zebra writing. It beeps every few seconds as Jali nodded her head and placed a wire attached strap to my hood. It beeped some more before she started tapping on the small keyboard while nodding.

"Strange. I think there's some interference?" she said right before its beeping started to go faster and faster. "That's not right!"

The mini terminal then began beeping so fast it was like it was screaming all before the screen then turned off. A puff of black smoke subsequently came out of it.

Jalin looked at it, her mouth agape in shock.

*Thud!*

Jali and I turned to see what made that noise.

Hiding behind the bed next to mine was the pink pony, now awake. "Excuse me, not to be rude, b… but can I have some clothes? I'm feeling quite exposed you see." She spoke with a quiet, yet elegant sounding voice.

-Trait: Good Natured - Slowtrot grew up in a time where war and violence was still a foreign concept, and held to those ideals, even if they failed in the end. He gains a boost to non-combat skills, but all combat skills are lowered.

-Trait: Forgot how to Door - Slowtrot does not retain information as well as other ponies, but he tries his best, for better or worse. -1 to skill points when advancing in level, but gains +1 to luck whenever entering a new area, and has a %10 chance to succeed on skill check he is too low to complete.

-Odd Trait: Wild Wasteland - it might just be that Slowtrot is out of place and time, but the world seems different to him, odder, wilder. He might be crazy, or it's Equestria that's gone mad, but all the same something is not right.

-Learned Skill: Scrap Craft - The workers of the wartime industry had many ways to make the most out of what they had at hoof, and having lived among them, Slowtrot had learned how to make tools from old scrap.

-Learned Perk: Classic Education - Slowtrot gains two more skill points every time he advances in level.