Chapter 14: A Job Well Done
“Here's all those apples you wanted, Fluttershy, but I still can't figure why you need so many.”

Icy water slapped my back and embraced me, pulling me into the sea that was New Oatleans to wash away the heat of the chase from my body. My lungs seized at the sudden freezing sensation along with my legs, paralyzing my body for the first few seconds as I sank deeper. When my mind finally reset and realized what was happening I flailed my legs to orient myself for ascension.

Hold your breath and kick in rhythm.

Seer’s words splashed through my head, directing my body to survival. I thrust with all four legs at once and felt myself rise slightly higher. My hooves pulled back into my chest and kicked down again, pushing me up another few inches toward air. My body burned in the cold, still unable to comprehend how I’d gone from burning up in the warehouse to freezing in an instant.

Another kick and I rose further. My lungs tightened and told my mind it was time for another breath.

Kick.

My head throbbed and fought the instinct to breathe, holding back the urge in a losing battle. I was running out of time. A stream of bubbles leaked from my nostrils and mouth as my lungs forced out the bad air in hope of a fresh breath.

Kick.

I had to be close, I needed to be close. If not I wasn’t going to make it. My lungs screamed and burned to suck in another gulp of air, somehow unable to comprehend that all they would get was a surge of water.

Kick.

Even with my eyes closed, my vision dropped behind a curtain of red. My legs screamed in misery and cried for rest, tired of the constant race for life that New Oatleans had become. They longed for the mattress back in Caesar’s Stand, or even just a particularly soft patch of dirt; anything that wasn’t swimming or running to survive.

One last kick and my head surfaced into the rain. My mouth shot open and sucked in a gulp of air and a spray of water, throwing me into a coughing fit that hurt more than I thought was possible. If only that was my biggest problem, but it wasn’t. I still had to get out of the water before something got to me or I lost the strength to swim. My head spun violently looking for a spot I could climb out. The first thing I saw was an open double door that was just barely above the surface, plenty low enough for me to pull myself up.

I kicked violently, completely forgetting the advice Seer had given me before kicking me out the window. I just wanted out, and I was starting to feel like that might never happen. Inch by inch the door drew closer, and after each kick of my legs my head dropped under the water before pushing me up and forward again. More than once I swallowed a wash of cold water, something I couldn’t imagine was good for me, but I didn’t care, I was almost there.

When I finally reached the side and pulled myself up I had the sudden urge to kiss the ground under my hooves; I don’t think I would ever appreciate dry land as much as I did after that day. But the realization of where I had climbed out stopped me. The door led right back into the warehouse, particularly the room I had gone into in the first place. Aside from the fear I instantly felt at looking back into the room I was shocked that the door was open at all. I had closed it when I went in, I knew I did.

Then I heard the scream.

My insides squirmed at the sound, and I tried to deny who it must have been. I tried to tell myself it was one of the monsters inside, but every time I did the common sense at the back of my brain kicked the idea away and reminded me of what it was. I didn’t want to believe it, but a part of me refused to let me deny the truth.

Above all, I wanted to sprint back inside and race to her, to save her from those mutated freaks doing Caesar knows what to her. There were only three left, Seer killed the other two; I could handle three monsters if it meant saving her, it was just a matter of careful aiming and taking my time. That is if they weren’t waiting for me to come back. I’d already fallen into one trap and almost died; I would have if Seer hadn’t been there to pull me away from the dolls and hold the doors while I tried to barricade them.

Didn’t I owe it to her to save her life after she saved mine at least three times in that warehouse?

But I knew I couldn’t just run in. They would kill me and Seer, and didn’t know what would happen to Charmer and Tinker. Would they try to find us both and stumble into the warehouse, only to be killed by the mutated equines inside? Or would they be lost in the city until something ate them or shot them?

My head throbbed as a screaming match broke out within my own mind. Half of me wanted to run in and try to save Seer, kill the mutants, or die trying. I could save her; all I had to do was go in there and try to fight like she did. The other half of my mind argued that I should go back to Tinker and Charmer, get them and then go look for Seer. Yes, Seer might be dead by that point, but at least I was more likely to survive if I had help. That side kept reminding me of what Tinker had said, and how she reacted to my willingness to die for the life of another.

During it all, I just stood there and stared into the building. I watched and listened for anything to make up my mind, not even knowing what it might be. If she screamed again I didn’t even know if I would run in to help. Whether that was a sign that she was still alive or if it was her death was something I couldn’t know until I found her.

“Come on in, little striped one,” a high pitched voice echoed through the storage room. I stepped back and swiveled my head, searching for any sign of where the mutant was. Were they watching me as I stood in the door? “Don’t you want to help your friend?” it asked with a sick giggle that scratched at my brain.

My brain screamed yes, every bit of me screamed yes, but I didn’t run in. I wouldn’t. They were waiting for me, laughing in a corner until I walked in to hang me from that chain or whatever those monsters did. I wanted to run in there so badly, to save Seer and finally not be the colt who needed to be protected.

But I couldn’t do it, not yet. I would die, and I knew it. I choked back the urge to sprint inside alone and backed away from the door, begging for Seer to forgive me if she was still alive and telling her I was sorry if she wasn’t. I was still going in for her, there was nothing that could stop me from at least hoping she would still be alive, but I needed to ask for some help first. I just prayed that she lived long enough for it to matter.

The curtain of rain had thinned slightly by the time I got back to where I had left Tinker and Charmer, allowing me to see across the channels flowing between the buildings of New Oatleans. I was still soaked, and probably would be until we finally made it back to our shack, but it didn’t bother me as much anymore. I was in a hurry, and knew that every second I took away from going back to the warehouse was just another second that Seer could die.

A faint clop of hooves on the tattered floors was the first thing I heard when I stepped off the bridge onto the floor above where the two ponies had been sleeping; a frantic pace of little taps broken by discussion. The building was even darker than before as the already faint light of the daytime storm quickly faded toward the darkness of sunset, and I hoped that Seer had been exaggerating the danger of New Oatleans at night.

“I’m sure they’re fine, Tinker,” Charmer calmly stated below me.

“How are you so sure? Why wouldn’t they wake us up to go with them?” Tinker quickly asked. Her voice was shaking and uneven.

“Ask them when they get back.” Charmer seemed calmer than she should have been, and I dreaded going down to tell them the bad news.

I started down the stairs to them quickly. The chatter and clip clop of hooves stopped when I hit the second stair, and the unmistakable rack of a shotgun pump cut through the air. I froze at the bend in the staircase and felt a shiver go down my spine.

“It’s me!” I called down quickly, not in the mood to walk into the barrel of a shotgun, even if it was one of my friends holding it.

“Felix?” Tinker’s voice called back, and in a flash she ran up the stairs to meet me. Even though I heard her coming, I still flinched when the filly swung around the bend and wrapped her hooves around my neck. “Thank the Goddesses you’re okay.”

“Uh, yeah,” I stammered out and briefly hugged her back before pulling away.

“What’s wrong?” she asked and looked behind me before turning back to my face. “Where’s Seer?”

“At the warehouse,” I told her and continued down the stairs. “She’s in trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?” Charmer asked, already pulling her bag from the floor to get moving.

I didn’t actually know how to describe exactly what the warehouse was or the kind of danger inside, so I just used the most straight-forward explanation I could. “The deadly kind.”

The pony didn’t say anything more and quickly finished getting her gear on. Her legs wobbled slightly as she made her way over to the stairs, but I guessed that was because of the drug Seer had given her. Either that or she was almost as exhausted as I was. My legs still burned after everything I’d done that day, and the only reason I hadn’t collapsed yet was likely pure adrenaline. As long as I didn’t have to swim again I would be fine though.

Tinker waited on the stairs for us to meet her; the filly didn’t have anything to carry with her except the small bag hanging on her left side that could only carry a few small items. I think she had a couple bags of carrot chips, but nothing else. I wished she had a gun, Caesar knew we would need it in that warehouse.

I followed Charmer back up the stairs to the second floor where she waited for me to go in front and lead the way. I wasn’t anxious to take them back into that hell of a building, but we had to. If Seer was still alive, she needed help, and fast.

“Would you mind explaining what happened on the way?” Charmer asked flatly once we stepped back into the rain and crossed the first bridge.

I nodded and quickly ran over what happened in my mind to make sure I got it all right; minus a few of the more horrifying details that we were about to see anyways. With any luck we wouldn’t have to go through the room with the hanging body, but for some reason I doubted that could be avoided. Unless those things were keeping Seer in the first storage room we would probably have to go in there. That is if we could find a way into the maze of fallen containers.

Charmer remained surprisingly calm and unaffected while I explained everything important about how we were chased through the building while still trying to find what we were there for. Even when I told them that some kind of mutated ponies and zebras were the ones chasing us, she didn’t show any shock or even worry. Tinker on the other hoof groaned at one or two points, and I didn’t blame her.

“So you killed two of them?” Charmer finally asked when I finished retelling the story. I was expecting something more along the lines of showing worry for Seer or disgust at what happened; the things that the Charmer I met on my first day out in the Wasteland would care about.

“Uh, yeah,” I replied and shook my head. “There’s still three left though.”

The mare didn’t say anything after that, she just fell silent and continued trotting alongside me toward the warehouse. I could vaguely hear Tinker’s short hoofsteps behind us, and I looked over my shoulder to make sure she was doing okay. Not surprisingly, she looked horrified. Her tail hung low along with her head, and her eyes snapped from side to side nervously.

“It’ll be okay, Tinker,” I tried to assure her. She didn’t say anything.

I wondered if I should let her wait outside the warehouse, but in the end I decided that was probably a bad idea. Me and Charmer were both armed, she wasn’t. So if we left her alone I didn’t doubt that the mutated freaks would quickly decide she was the easiest target. No, she was better off with us, as much as I hated to do it to her.

“Is that it?” Charmer asked and nodded ahead of us to the looming form of the warehouse in the rain. I nodded and swallowed the knot forming in my throat. “Any ideas for a plan?” She looked down at me with a dead serious look; something that was easy for her since half of her face was basically dead already.

“No. I don’t know what those things will do, so I guess just shoot them and don’t get separated?” I suggested uneasily.

“You’re definitely Shayle’s brother,” the mare commented with a ghost of a smile. I flicked my brow in confusion, and she shook her head. “You make the same plans.” A little grin tried to curl on the corners of my mouth, but I couldn’t find the heart to do it. At least Charmer had tried to be a little more like her old self, but it didn’t feel the same.

We stopped about 50 feet from the door and checked our guns, getting ready for a fight as soon as we opened the warehouse. I had a feeling we would be put through some kind of horrifying game again, and for once I actually wanted a fight rather than being chased through the containers and offices again.

Charmer looked over to Tinker, who sat shaking in the rain and staring at the ground, and pulled a knife out of her bag. “Tinker, do you know how to use this?” she asked softly and pushed the blade over.

The filly looked up at it and stared, then nodded. “A little.” I could barely hear her over the rain.

“Good. I want you to hold it close, okay? If anything tries to get you, swing it as hard as you can and don’t stop until they aren’t moving anymore.” Tinker nodded and picked up the knife before shakily rising to her hooves.

I sighed and looked over to the door, dreading what we might find inside. A small part of me still insisted that Seer was alive, but most of my mind had convinced me that there was no way anymore. The most we could give her anymore was a burial, and making sure that those monsters couldn’t take anyone else.

Ready as we could be, I started toward the warehouse with Charmer and Tinker close by me. For a moment I could have sworn I heard that deranged laughter as we approached, but it was just my mind. Soon it wouldn’t be though; I would hear it for real once we were through that door. I prayed it wouldn’t be the last thing I heard.

Before pushing open the doors I turned to the two ponies one last time to make sure one very important fact was clear. “Do not look at the dolls,” I stressed again, just in case the five times I had said it while retelling my first experience in the warehouse hadn’t been enough. They both nodded and I took a deep breath.

I didn’t even touch the doors before they flew open with a smash, stopping my heart for a second and sinking my hopes of not playing another twisted game with those monsters. Something dropped onto my head and I fell to my belly with a squeal. Tinker gasped behind me but didn’t move, and neither did Charmer.

I cautiously stood back up and felt whatever had hit me bump against the top of my head again. I brushed it away and looked over to the two ponies behind me, but they weren’t looking at me. Their heads swung back and forth with their eyes locked just over my head, completely blank looks on their faces. I didn’t need to think hard to figure out what they were looking at, and quickly grabbed their heads to spin them around. A twisted chuckle drifted from the warehouse behind me, and I spun to face it, but there was nothing; just a wall of containers in an otherwise empty room.

Charmer and Tinker walked by me with their heads pointed down, avoiding the doll that was doubtlessly hanging in the doorway. Tinker shuddered and sniffed when she finally looked up again, the knife held in a death grip between her teeth.

“We need to go fast,” I slurred around the gun in my mouth. “They know we’re here already.”

Charmer nodded and led the way further in, looking for a way to get over the crashed containers and stacks of crates. Me and Tinker stayed close beside her while I looked for the mutated freaks that were now hunting us and hiding until the perfect moment. A constant shiver filled my body from the feeling of being watched, and I waited for one of them to jump out from the floor itself.

Echoing cackles and snickers came from every direction while we circled the crates, jerking my eyes back and forth across the room so much my head started to hurt. Once or twice I could have sworn I saw them, but I never had time to shoot before they disappeared.

“Here!” Charmer almost cheered and pulled my attention away from the walls.

We all ran to a single door in the back corner of the storeroom, something which made me feel incredibly uneasy. I knew it had to be what the monsters wanted us to do, but we didn’t have any other choice. I just hoped we could defend ourselves when they finally showed their faces.

Charmer kicked open the door and ran in shotgun-first with me and Tinker close behind. The room was completely empty and had two doors leading to the right and straight ahead of us; something that surprised me. I didn’t doubt that they were waiting through either one for us, but maybe one of them would be safer. If only we had a way to know which.

The mare looked between the two doors and turned to the right, quickly bucking the wooden door off its hinges. A repeating laugh screeched from the doorway, looping over and over with the screech of a rewinding tape. Charmer jumped to the side of the door and waited while Tinker and I pressed ourselves back against the door we came through.

Whatever we all expected to happen never did, and the laughter continued to loop until Charmer decided she’d waited long enough. The mare stepped through the door cautiously, her shotgun swinging quickly from side to side. Tinker pushed off the wall and nervously followed the mare through the door while I walked backwards behind her, waiting for an axe to slam through the door behind us.

Instead, the door slammed in my face as soon as I got through it, knocking the pistol from my grip and pulling a stream of blood from my nose. I yelped and fell to my haunches while Tinker raced over to my gun. The filly pushed it over for me and helped me up. That was the first time I heard the soft whine with every breath she took, and I wanted to try and calm her down. But it wouldn’t help, I wasn’t nearly calm enough to help her, and we had to keep going.

We turned and quickly trotted to catch up with Charmer while trying to ignore the grating laugh track that played constantly in the background. The hall we were in was just as barren as the last room and only a few candles on the floor gave any light for us to travel by. Doors on both sides were barricaded with scraps of smashed crates, leading us right where the monsters wanted us to go. Again.

Charmer turned suddenly and pushed open a door on our left, thankfully without the addition of another looping cackle to push my nerves even further toward a breakdown. Before I could round the corner with her, the bark of a shotgun rang through my ears. I spun through the door with my pistol ready; just in time to see Charmer’s shotgun blast another chunk out of a waiting monster.

The blood-stained axe in its twisted jaw clattered to the ground as the thing howled in misery, but still didn’t die. I pulled the trigger three times, sending a triangle of bullets into the thing’s chest with about the same effectiveness as the shotgun. It screamed in pain again and threw up its massive bony forelegs to slam Charmer against the wall before the pony could fire again.

Another three shots from my pistol hit the grotesque appendages, staggering the creature enough to let Charmer fall back to the floor. I kept firing into the mutant until it fell down, blood dripping from countless holes and chunks of missing flesh. Among the blood I could see patches of black and white coat that hadn’t disappeared into the former zebra’s monstrous form. How could a zebra turn into that thing?

“Felix!” Tinker screamed behind me and I spun around. She wasn’t in the doorway anymore.

I jumped back into the hall and my gut dropped at the sight of Tinker backing down the hall with a very skinny something trotting toward her. The filly kicked out with her hooves and swung her knife viciously, but the thing just laughed at her and stayed far enough back to avoid the blows; waiting for Tinker to hit a wall and be trapped.

I reloaded and sprinted down the hall, not caring that I smashed almost every candle under my hooves; followed by darkness as I moved in for the kill.

The creature spun and screeched, its jaw opening about three times wider than a normal pony’s should as crooked wings that could never be used for flight flared on either side of it. My gun roared and punched a hole in the bony monstrosity about half of the time, the other half of my shots hitting the wall behind it. Tinker squealed and fell to the floor to avoid my shots, and I stopped shooting at the realization I might hit her.

A quick hoof smacked into my head and pushed me against the wall, rattling my skull and forcing me to drop the pistol. “Welcome back, little striped one,” the thing cackled and smacked my head again, glaring at me with its bloodshot eyes.

The thunder of approaching hooves filled my ears just before the blast of a shotgun pounded through the hall only inches from my head. The monster crumpled in front of me in a mess of blood with half of its head gone.

The burned mare pulled me back up before doing the same for Tinker. Strands of blood pooled along the ripples of her new skin, and for a moment I was actually afraid of the pony who had just saved our lives. I wasn’t afraid that she would hurt me, I knew she wouldn’t, I was afraid of what she looked like. The missing eye was bad enough, but with the blood her skin looked cracked and torn like paint flaking off of a wall. Once again, I could barely recognize her.

“One left, right?” she asked through heavy breaths. I nodded and picked my gun up again, trying to ignore the taste of copper on the grip. One more freak, and then we could get Seer out of that place.

After killing the two mutants downstairs, we didn’t see or hear the other hunting us. I tried to take comfort in that and thought maybe we had scared it into hiding by killing its two friends, but I knew that wasn’t true. The thing was waiting for us somewhere, I knew it was. Every corner we turned and every door we opened I was waiting for it to jump out at us or hear it laughing sickly just before we fell into some trap it had set. I almost would have preferred being chased, at least then we would have known where it was.

Tinker pressed against me almost constantly while we searched the warehouse, her body shaking while little whimpers escaped her lips. Charmer on the other hoof hardly seemed nervous, but I doubted that was the case. She moved quickly and confidently, but I caught her hesitating before opening most of the doors. The monster still stalking the halls had us on edge, and that was exactly what it wanted from us. Something bad was in our future, I just didn’t know what.

When we finally found a staircase to the upper offices, a soft cackling echoed through the halls again, and my nerves frayed. Tinker turned to go back down the stairs, apparently finally reaching the end of what she could take of the living nightmare. Before she could make it the door slammed shut by a string that snaked through the wall to our left. The filly pushed and kicked to try getting it open, but the door didn’t budge. We were right where it wanted us, and we weren’t allowed to leave yet.

We all walked out from the small cubicle we were in to find ourselves on the catwalks that rung the storeroom below. Makeshift walls were lashed into place along the railings at random intervals, finally answering the question of how the monsters had appeared and disappeared so quickly when we first entered the warehouse.

Charmer spun left and ran around the corner to the next room, ready to shoot the mutant that had slammed the door on us. We found the rope tied around a half-decayed unicorn’s neck that leaned against the wall. Pushing the door only tightened the neck around the corpse, holding it shut in the most horrific way possible. Tinker instantly turned and ran back out at the sight to kick at the stairwell door again, sobbing and pleading to leave.

I followed her and put my hooves around her, pulling her back from the door and squeezing her tight. She squirmed around in my hooves for a moment but soon fell limp. “It’s okay, Tinker,” I tried to assure her. “We’ll get out soon.”

We sat there for a few minutes, me holding her tight and trying to get her to stop crying before we could move on. I felt horrible for dragging her in there, for taking her into that nightmare city at all. The worst part was that I had taken her through all of that after trying so hard to convince her that she should travel with us after what happened with her parents. If I had just let her look for a regular home instead of wanting her to leave with me, she wouldn’t have even been there. It was my fault she was going through that.

Charmer trotted in after a short while and stood over us. “We need to move,” she told us softly. “The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get out of this place.”

I nodded and squeezed Tinker one last time before standing us both back up. I didn’t like it, but Charmer was right. We couldn’t stop.

I picked up the knife and gave it back to the filly before turning to follow Charmer again. Tinker leaned on me again, still shaking and whimpering quietly as we continued our trip through hell to find a zebra that was more than likely dead. We walked back into the room where the rotting doorstop was but it was gone. I could only guess that Charmer had moved it so Tinker wouldn’t see it again.

Beside where the body used to be was a door that hung slightly open; obviously an invitation from our stalker to follow it into whatever new trap it was setting. But it was also the only way to go anymore if our knowledge of what those things did was still accurate. If it really wanted us to follow it, we wouldn’t find another way to go.

Charmer nosed the door open with her shotgun, slowly creaking the hinges until we could see the entire hallway through the door. She stepped in and cautiously moved forward with us right on her tail, keeping an eye out for traps and especially the last remaining mutant in the warehouse. Like always, every door in the hallway was barricaded except for one; in this case the door at the far end.

Three quick raps hit the door before a quiet snickering filled the hallway. Did those things do anything but laugh and grin at us? It was the last one, and still it laughed and ran like we were playing a game of tag.

Apparently, Charmer was out of patience and blasted a hole through the door with her shotgun before bothering to open it. The thing screamed and apparently ran off, her hoofsteps shuffling away quickly before another door slammed shut. Charmer pushed the half-destroyed door open and ran through. She followed a trail of fresh blood droplets to yet another door and fired, blowing a hole through and getting another scream from whatever we were chasing. She kicked the rest of the door open and ran inside.

Suddenly I felt a little better knowing that we had flipped the tables on that sick freak.

That is until a sheet of metal fell and blocked the doorway before me or Tinker could follow Charmer through it. Then the laughter picked up again and I lost it.

My hooves slammed against the metal over and over but didn’t even make so much as a dent. All I succeeded in doing was making my legs even more sore and completely lose track of my surroundings. When I finally stopped, Charmer’s own hooves cracked against the metal from the other side.

“Felix, are you two okay?” she asked frantically.

“Yes, we’re fine,” I panted. “What about you?”

“Yeah. The thing trapped me in here and went… somewhere. I don’t know,” she explained and hit the metal panel again. “You two stay there, I’ll try to find a way out.”

I nodded even though she couldn’t see me and turned back to Tinker and froze. She was gone, and she didn’t even make a sound! My head spun from side to side looking for her, and I barely saw her tail slip around a corner at the end of the hall. I quickly ran after the filly, calling her name but getting nothing in response.

When I got around the corner I yelled out to her again, but it wasn’t going to work. The little pony trotted almost lifelessly after a little doll surrounded by a flickering brown aura that happily danced through the air, closer and closer to a double-door. I sprinted after her with the gun in my mouth, trying to get close enough to shoot the doll and hopefully break whatever power it had over Tinker.

The doors at the end of the hallway slowly started opening into a room bathed in a swaying orange light, blocked at the center by the silhouette of a disproportionate unicorn. When it saw me, the doll dropped and Tinker stopped to stare down at it, mesmerized by the limp toy as I ran by her. Ahead of me, a rifle floated from the unicorn’s back and pointed at me. A shot rang out and clipped through my mane, almost making me fall to my belly just to avoid the next bullet.

I pulled the trigger and sent my own volley into the thing, hitting it in the leg and dropping the not-quite-a-pony to its side. Another shot flew from the rifle and bit into the floor beside me, kicking up some concrete shards. I fired another volley at the monster, receiving a scream that cut off suddenly before the body crumpled and the rifle fell to the floor.

I slid to a stop and stared at the still body lying in the doorway for almost a minute, my shaking aim hovering on the thing and just waiting for a sign that it was alive. It didn’t move an inch. When I was confident it was dead I spun on my hoof and ran back to Tinker.

I stomped on the doll and grabbed her shoulder. “Tinker,” I quietly said and looked into her eyes. “Are you okay?”

The filly looked around in confusion before turning her attention to me. “Uh, yeah,” she stammered. “What happened?”

“A doll,” I told her softly. “But it’s dead.”

“The doll?” she asked with a strange look.

“No, the monster,” I told her with a little grin. “It’s gone.”

The filly smiled and pressed her face into my neck before sighing and kissing me softly. I grinned and rubbed my hoof on her back, just as relieved as her that the nightmare seemed to be over.

“Felix? Tinker?” Charmer yelled from somewhere.

I pulled away from Tinker and turned around, thinking I had heard the pony’s voice from where the dead monster was. “We’re over here,” I called back. “We’re okay.”

The pony ran out behind the dead body and let out a deep breath. “Thank Celestia,” she groaned before looking down at the body and kicking it swiftly. I winced a little at the act, but at the same time I understood why she did it; the thing had taken us for quite a ride, and almost killed all of us.

And probably did kill one of us.

“Um, Charmer?” I started shakily. “Did you find her?”

The pony looked up to me and just stared for a moment, but then her head tilted up and down painfully. “Wait here. I’ll go get her.”

I stepped away from Tinker and kicked the doll against a wall. “I’ll come with you,” I offered and walked behind her.

The room where the final monster had died was lit by four fire pits, one in each corner that cast the dancing orange light across the walls and ceiling. A table at the center was covered in canvas and dry mold, along with thread and sewing needles that looked rusted and overused. Two half-finished dolls sat at the center of the table with dry mold sticking from the yet to be sewn on heads.

Through there, Charmer led me into a small office that had been converted into some kind of ceremonial chamber. Strange masks and symbols covered the walls, all of which made my skin crawl just by looking at them. In the center was a poorly constructed table that looked like it was made from destroyed crates and nailed together with bent screws.

Seer’s body rested on the center of this table, completely still. A large bite was on her face from the monster who had tackled her while I flew out the window, but it looked like they had cleaned it of blood and tried to halt the bleeding with some kind of powder. Actually, most of her coat looked like it had been washed and brushed since I saw her last, and her mane had been cropped short to remove the beaded locks. Even her tail had been brushed straight and free of tangles. They had worked fast after I got away to get all of that done before I returned with Charmer and Seer and still set up their new game. It was horrifying to think that they had killing that way down to a science.

I almost would have thought the zebra was alive if it wasn’t for the single hole in her chest and the blood running in a single neat stream down her side from the wound. The blade responsible sat in a small jar of red water just beside her head, its blade etched with symbols almost identical to those on the walls. It had been instant; she probably didn’t even feel it before she passed away, but I still couldn’t move.

I had already seen my friends’ corpses since travelling into the Wasteland. I’d seen Little Doc die; I saw Strike’s body when Shayle carried it over from the town; but for some reason Seer’s body hit me in a new way. She was dead after saving my life, after kicking me out the window so that I would be spared only so that she could be captured and murdered by those psychopaths. If it wasn’t for her, I might have been beside her with a hole in my chest; coat brushed and mane combed like it may have been before the apocalypse.

Instead she died alone, without even a friend to see her off in her final moments or hold her dying body before she passed on.

I fell to my backside and tried not to cry, but I couldn’t stop it. I should have been there to help her; we should have gotten out of the warehouse together! She died to save me, and instead of feeling grateful I only felt guilt for that happening to her. I could have done so much different and she might still be alive. I could have woken the others like she told me to, then we would have been able to win against those things. I could have tried to shoot the monsters as I ran away, and maybe we could have killed them and gotten away without needing to drag Tinker and Charmer into the warehouse.

But I didn’t do those things, and she died.

I watched as Charmer gently and silently pulled the dead zebra onto her back. She nodded over to Seer’s gear in a corner of the room; her jacket, her rifle, and her bags all stacked up neatly. I stood back up and swallowed my tears for the moment, trying to force them back where I wouldn’t have to let them out. I draped her coat and bags over my back before slinging the rifle around my neck like Seer always did.

The little ball hanging from the sight post bounced a silent dirge on my hoof with each step, bidding a final farewell to the zebra who had shown me the Wasteland.

The crackling of burning wood and the light drumming of rain on the roof of the warehouse were all that broke the silence of the storeroom where we sent Seer to peace. The dancing flames reflected off of the scattered puddles along the floor, seeming to add more light to the darkening warehouse as night began to overtake New Oatleans.

The zebra bundled in her jacket had long since disappeared into the pyre since none of us knew how to make a proper one. It collapsed after only a few minutes, but it did its job all the same. Not a word was said as the three of us watched the fire grow over Seer, not even Charmer offered a warm story about her like she had for the town of Shanty. I didn’t know if any of us really could, none of us actually knew her. I had known the mare the longest, and even then it was only just over a week.

It felt wrong having her funeral in the ratty warehouse rather than back at Caesar’s Stand or anywhere else for that matter. She deserved a proper funeral, at least in my mind, but the improvised cremation was all we could do for her. There was nowhere to bury her in the city that wouldn’t end in some creature swallowing the body for a quick meal, and having Charmer carry her back to town through the Remnant side of the city was just asking for trouble.

I hoped she wouldn’t mind.

After so much silence, I couldn’t take it anymore. The past day had ruined all of us, physically and mentally, from the moment we stepped into that mud. It took and took until it took away something we could never get back, and even then we still had to leave. Nothing good had come of it, not a single good memory for any of us. We all needed to cheer up a little, maybe smile. Luckily I had been wrong, I did have one good story to share about the zebra, and if Charmer could do it at a funeral, so could I.

“She tried to set me up on a date,” I blurted over the sound of the fire. The two ponies looked over to me and tilted their heads as if I was crazy. “We were out for a drink and she was making jokes about me never dating before, then she offered to set me up with one of the fillies in town.” It wasn’t the greatest story, I knew that, and it wasn’t nearly as entertaining as Charmer’s funeral stories, but at least it was something. And it did make me smile a little; it was a good moment for me.

“So,” Charmer started quietly and I could see a smirk forming at the corner of her mouth. “She was trying to get you drunk and set you up on a date?” I nodded, not sure where she was going. The mare smiled and looked back at the fire cockily. “I thought she might like the young ones.”

I flushed and stammered, not quite sure what to say to that, Tinker snorted and looked down at her hooves to hide her face behind her mane, and Charmer started chuckling as if nothing was wrong for the first time since we left Shanty.

“That’s not what,” I started but lost what I was trying to say. “She didn’t,” I couldn’t get it out. Charmer laughed a little harder and even Tinker joined in.

I didn’t join in the laughing, there was no way I could bring myself to laugh at that as I just tried to think of what to say, but I wanted to. Part of me found it sad that of all the places in that city for me to laugh and actually enjoy a few moments, it was at Seer’s funeral. It was actually really messed up to even consider that a place for any happiness or laughter, but most of me was just glad a little joy finally came out of our trip.

By the time that moment had ended, the fire from the pyre had started spreading to the containers and crates in the warehouse. Whatever useful supplies, food, or ammo may have been in there were about to be lost to anyone hoping to get them as the flames prepared to take it all down, and I actually liked that. Even though those mutants were all dead, the place still felt like a living nightmare to me, and I was sure Tinker and Charmer agreed.

Without a word, Charmer gave one last look to Seer and turned away. Tinker followed right behind her, most likely anxious to get out of that place after almost dying and being tormented since the moment we walked in. I stayed back for a few more seconds, not quite ready to leave yet.

“Thank you,” I whispered to the zebra who had saved my life. It was the first time I had actually been able to say it, and I prayed that wherever she ended up she could hear it.

With one last goodbye, I slung Seer’s rifle and trotted out the front door, into the storm that had become only a light drizzling in the near complete darkness of night. It was finally time for us to go home and hopefully never return to that nightmare city again. If only Seer could have left with us.

A mess of mud stuck around my hooves when I stepped out into Caesar’s Stand and took a breath of the thick post-storm air. The night sent a chill into me through the torn and bloodied Stable jacket, and for a moment I considered spending the night in the clinic rather than leaving. However, the doctor’s promise that I would be just fine as long as I didn’t exert myself for the next few days made it seem pointless to stay. I had my own bed to rest in, and it was much more comfortable than the stiff cot on the clinic floor.

Besides that, I wasn’t very tired after being unconscious most of the day and laying alone in the clinic was uncomfortable and strange. The doctor was rarely around to check on me, and he told me that was because he was comfortable with the treatment he had given that I wouldn’t have any problems. If I did, he was always in the room beside where I was resting, and the door was cracked open so he could hear me if I was suddenly in pain. Luckily that hadn’t happened yet.

To my surprise, Solus was still standing outside the clinic when I left. His head bobbed casually up and down for some reason, and a little wire ran up to a bud in his ear. Whatever it was, he seemed entertained by it. Minx was nowhere to be seen, and I found myself wondering what she was up to. Maybe she’d gone to sleep while Solus stayed just in case I had a problem; something that I still didn’t understand. Why they worried so much about me that they would stay and wait when the doctor was there too was a mystery to me, and a little creepy.

Well, it would have been creepy if I didn’t have a new suspicion about Minx; one that I was actually hoping was true deep down. At first it scared me that she might be Mama, and that I was related to a zebra I still saw as a monster for what she did to Shanty, Doc, and countless others during the years she spent following Xion’s orders. I couldn’t believe that my mother could turn into such a zebra.

I couldn’t remember much about her from when I was little, but what I did remember was that she never did anything to hurt someone in town. She was always so nice and friendly in my brief and sparse memories of her, and I could never see her as a murderer. Even knowing how Xion controlled her, I didn’t want to believe that Minx could be Mama, and that she did all of that for me to stay safe. She had burned Shanty and killed Doc just to keep me, Felix and Father alive; that is if Father wasn’t dead, but she didn’t know that. That only left me and my brother as her reason to do what that monster told her.

But beside all of that, I still wished she would have told me that she was my mother. She had to have known once she learned our names, she knew the entire time and she still refused to even bring it up to me or my brother. Even when I asked her about her family back in that cave, she talked as if they were so far away that she would never see them again, and didn’t mention a son at all.

Maybe I was wrong, and it was all a coincidence that she just happened to look like Mama did in my dream, right down to the same glyph. Maybe my mind had been messing with me again, like it had with that dream of me destroying a town with the Scorpions; but I didn’t want it to be that way. I still hated her a little for what she had done, but if she was my mother I liked to think I could forgive her. Maybe if she was, we could find a way to get her out of Xion’s hooves so that she never had to do any of those things again.

I shook myself back to the world and trotted over to the head-bobbing stallion. “Solus?”

The soldier looked over at me and quickly pushed the little bud out of his ear; I could faintly hear music coming from it before it fell down to his cloak. “Shayle, are you feeling well?” he asked plainly.

I nodded and looked around. “Where’s Minx?”

“She is waiting at the shack where you and your pony friends live,” he answered and grinned. I still wasn’t very comfortable with the Scorpions knowing about that place, but it didn’t surprise me anymore. “She will return and inform you when they get back from their mission.”

“Oh, thank you,” I replied with a grin. That was actually a surprise to me, and only furthered my fantasy about Minx being my mother.

The stallion smiled again before looking around, seeming to look everywhere except for me. After a few seconds, he turned his gaze back to me. “Did the doctor say you will be alright?” he asked flatly.

“Yeah, he said I should rest for a few days though,” I replied and looked down. “Something about the hydra causing issues if I exert myself.”

Solus frowned. “May I ask you something?” he quietly asked and sat down in the mud.

I looked back up with a curious stare. “Go ahead.” Please don’t ask me out, please don’t ask me out.

“After you were shot, you were still awake when we gave you the hydra,” he started quietly and looked around as if he was making sure nobody was listening. “You mumbled that you didn’t want it, why?”

My gut sank and tried to pull the rest of my body with it. Of course I had said that out loud while I was bordering on death rather than just thinking it, and of course he had to ask about it. I think I would have preferred him asking if I was single, that was an easier lie.

“I, uh, thought it was something else,” I lied shakily. “I couldn’t think very clearly with three holes in me,” I explained and hoped he would just accept it. If not, it would be a lot harder to get away from the subject.

“Of course,” the stallion responded after a few seconds of staring at me. “I apologize for thinking otherwise.”

I tilted my head at him and nervously pushed. “What did you think it was?”

“That you had a bad experience with it as a child. It happens sometimes when doctors give too high of a dose,” he explained. “But it was foolish to think, not many children get injured bad enough to require such a powerful medication as hydra.”

“Oh, that makes sense I guess,” I agreed and looked away from him. “No, I was just confused.” I stared at the clinic wall for a few seconds before looking back to him with a puzzled stare. “What made you want to ask?”

“Curiosity,” he quickly answered. I nodded and looked back at the clinic, growing more uncomfortable with each second.

I wasn’t sure why being around him made me uncomfortable, but it probably had something to do with his apparent crush on me. If Seer had never told me that then I might have actually been able to sit within ten feet of Solus without worrying constantly about him making a move on me. Then again, he was fast, and strong, and bigger than me. If he really wanted to he could probably…

“I think I’ll go wait for my brother at the shack,” I blurted without thinking and stood up. “Thank you for keeping an eye on me, Solus.”

“Of course,” he replied and grinned. “Do you need an escort out of town? You don’t have a gun, and it might be dangerous.”

“No, I’ll be okay,” I quickly answered. “But thank you for the offer.” It seemed like the nice thing to say, because he was probably just being polite. It was only about 10 minutes to the shack, so he couldn’t really do anything, and I doubted he would, but I still didn’t think I wanted him around me without someone else there.

“Alright, if you’re sure.” The stallion nodded and lifted the bud back into his ear after a few attempts to position it.

I trotted by the zebra and to the gate, sighing a little inside when I got away from him. I didn’t know why I was so nervous around him, he had been nothing but nice to me since I actually met him at the bar; if not a little awkward. And in the cave he was actually good company, even if his story did seem like it was embellished a bit to make himself sound more impressive. Still, the thought of being alone with him put an odd feeling in my gut that made me uncomfortable.

I really needed to have a talk with Seer about telling me things I didn’t want to know once they got back.

The shack was silent and dark when I got there, and not a soul was in sight. I wished Felix and the others were back, but I supposed they had gone further than I originally thought. I hoped that was the case, after all we didn’t exactly have a good track record with that supply gathering job. Something always went wrong at each place we checked, so I didn’t doubt that the same luck held true for the last scavenging run.

I didn’t even see Minx around the shack as I approached, but I didn’t doubt that she was around and hidden under her cloak while she waited. I wondered what made those things so appealing and why she chose to be hidden so much. There was nobody at the shack, so what was the point of staying invisible?

Maybe it was to continue giving me heart attacks. As I walked by the fence outside the shack the mare appeared from nothing right where I had executed the slaver from our first night in the shack. I almost jumped out of my coat when Minx shimmered into view, of course smiling like she usually did. I wasn’t sure I could ever get used to that, even if she might be Mama.

“Are you feeling well, Shayle?” she asked merrily.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I answered as my heart slowed to its regular pace. “Why were you invisible? There’s nobody here.”

“Just in case,” she answered and trotted over to me. “What are you here for? Didn’t Solus tell you I could let you know when your brother returned?”

“He did, but I want to be here when they get back,” I explained.

She nodded and trotted to the door. “Maybe we should wait inside? The ground is dry there, we could sit.”

I shrugged and followed her inside, glad to find that she was right about the floor. Some spots were still soaked by the storm throwing rain through the window and door, but most of the dirt coated ground was completely dry, if not a little cold. I found a spot in the corner and slumped down, laying with my forelegs crossed in front of me. Minx took off her bag from under the cloak and set it along the wall along with her rifle before sitting down a few feet from me.

After almost a minute of silence, I finally spoke up. “Do you know where they went today?” I asked and looked over to the mare.

“I think they were going to a warehouse in the city,” she explained. “I imagine the storm slowed them down quite a bit.”

I nodded and looked around again, not sure what else to say. I knew what I wanted to say, but I couldn’t get my body to spit out the words. It should have been easy, all I had to do was ask if she was my mother, and that would be it. Either she would say yes or no, it wasn’t like she would shoot me or something crazy like that. If she wanted to do that she could have done it at any point during our day together. Or she could have just let me die after that pony shot me.

“Was Solus outside when you woke?” Minx asked after another minute or two.

I looked over to her and found that at some point while I was lost in my mind she had pulled a book out and begun reading. It wasn’t the same one she had been reading in the cave, and I think she had just started the new one; only a few pages were behind her hoof from the spot she was at.

“Yeah, he was,” I answered. “I think he was listening to music, I don’t know how though.” I wasn’t sure why that last part was necessary, but I decided to say it anyways. Maybe it would help me get more comfortable so bringing up my suspicion wouldn’t be so awkward for me.

“Oh, he finally got that thing working again,” she claimed happily. “It’s a little device he spent a year or two making. He says it’s a portable radio, but I’ve never understood that kind of thing,” she explained and looked back at her book. “It broke a few months back; he was very upset.”

“Why did he want to make something like that?” I asked.

“It’s his hobby,” she responded and tapped the book. “I read, he listens to music with his crazy toy.”

“Do all of you have hobbies?” I asked and scratched some of the mud off of my hoof.

“Of course.” The mare grinned. “The Wasteland isn’t always shooting and running, even for those of us who do it for a living. We all need something to do that makes us happy and passes the time between fights,” she explained. “Even Xion does things that don’t involve being a soldier.”

I had a really hard time believing that. “Really? What does he do, drink?”

Minx chuckled and shook her head. “Sometimes, but only in town. When we’re out between missions he actually whittles.”

I tilted my head. “He does what?”

“Whittles. He carves wood into different things with a knife,” she explained and smiled. “He’s gotten really good at it. His room back at the barracks is full of little sculptures and wooden knives.”

“He makes knives out of wood using a knife?” I asked and continued to scratch at the mud on my hooves. “Why?”

“It’s just to pass time, Shayle,” she told me calmly. “He doesn’t even use them, he actually protects them like children after how long he spent on them.”

“Who does he have to protect them from?” I asked with a puzzled look. Seriously, who would want to take a wooden knife?

“One of the shopkeepers in town has tried to get them from him a few times,” Minx started with a grin. “He thinks they would sell for a good price, but Xion can’t bear to part ways with any of them. I don’t know why.” She shook her head and chuckled. “It was actually pretty cute to see him shoo the shopkeeper out of his room.”

Wait, wasn’t Minx supposed to hate Xion? How could anything he did be cute, especially to her? “What was cute about it?” I asked with a suddenly sick feeling in my stomach.

“He didn’t want to risk breaking any of his sculptures, so instead of pushing or kicking he whipped at the shopkeeper with his tail.”

Hello new mental image of Xion not resorting to killing or fighting right away. I was pretty sure that at least a few threats were made by the zebra, but Minx just decided to leave those out. I wasn’t really sure why she would do that, but then again I was still confused as to why she actually seemed to have a good thought about Xion in her head after everything he had done to her.

And I couldn’t stand that thought anymore. “Minx, why don’t you hate him?” I blurted and instantly kicked myself.

The mare’s formerly happy expression hardened and her eyes locked on mine. “My feelings about my commander are no concern of yours,” she snapped and closed her book.

I shrank back a little, but couldn’t stop. I’d already opened the door, and I couldn’t stop. Her story had put an itch in my brain that I had to scratch, and I was going to as long as she wasn’t threatening me yet. “But after everything he’s done to you, how could you ever smile while talking about him?”

“And what do you know about what he’s done to me?” she asked bitterly.

“That he threatened to kill your family if you don’t listen to him,” I offered firmly.

Minx fell silent at that, her eyes still locked on mine and filled with anger. I wasn’t sure if it was toward me, but I really hoped it wasn’t. If she was still as good as Seer claimed she was, I really didn’t want that zebra mad at me or trying to kill me; I would lose.

“Seer told you that?” she groaned. I could see her legs starting to shake, and I was suddenly worried about what might happen.

“Yes… how did you know?” I asked, much less confident than I had been a moment earlier.

“Because Solus would not know that, and I doubt you talked with Xion or Tetrarch about me.” The zebra’s hoof started flexing against the dirt, and the feeling that I was on thin ice with her intensified. “She is the only other zebra who knows.” I looked down and tried to ignore her glare, not sure what else to say that could possibly bring me back from the edge. “But why would you think I hate him for that?”

I didn’t look back up, I was afraid to see that anger in her eyes again. “Because I know I would hate him if it was me,” I quietly explained, praying that I wasn’t entering my last moments for bringing up something that was obviously sensitive with her.

Her hoof stopped digging into the dirt at that, and for a few seconds the room was dead silent. I still didn’t risk looking up, just in case she was waiting for an excuse to do something drastic. Even the suspicion of who she was didn’t stop my mind from deciding I might die soon.

“Even if I did hate him, it wouldn’t change anything,” she stated plainly. “I would still be his subordinate; I would still be forced to follow his orders; and I would still never get to go back to my family.”

“So you don’t?” I asked, confused about what she had said.

“Not anymore,” she sighed. “For the first few years I did, but it just made my life worse,” she explained sadly. “Then one day it changed when he allowed me to see them.”

“See who?” I asked and finally looked back up. The sudden sorrow in her voice calmed me, and I didn’t feel that I was close to death anymore. Instead I was curious.

“My family. I didn’t get to talk to them or let them see me, but he let me walk through the town.” She smiled a little, and I was confused again. “It was the first time I had seen any of them in years, and it would end up being the last.”

“He didn’t let you go back to see them again?” I asked grumpily. It was just a tease, the asshole had actually teased her with a look at her family.

“He said I could, but I didn’t want to,” she stated and broke a part of my brain. How could she not want to see her family again? “It was wonderful while it lasted, but in the weeks after that I couldn’t stand being away from them again. I had seen my daughter cleaning up the house while my mate worked at his stand in the town market. They both looked happy, even though I was gone.” Her eyes glassed over for a moment, but a few blinks cleared them again. “It was worse than the first time I left them, and I couldn’t go through it again. So the next time he offered to take me back there, I said no. And I said no every time he offered after that until he finally stopped.”

I didn’t know what to say. I could have said I was sorry, but it wouldn’t help, I wasn’t sure if anything could help her. Well, I could think of one thing, and that was it. She had told me that she wanted to hug her daughter again when we were in the cave, that it was the thing she wanted most in the world. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Maybe I was wrong, and it really was just a coincidence that I happened to lose my mother at a young age; and that her mate worked at a goods stand while her daughter cleaned at home, we couldn’t be the only family like that in the Wasteland.

But mostly it was because a certain thing she had said was what really stopped me from trying to actually find out if I was really her daughter. The reason she still believed that she would never see her family again even if Xion died or let her leave.

I want her to know I was a loving mother, not a killer.

Even if I was her daughter and she knew it, she would never admit to it. There was nothing that could make her admit to it, even if I pushed and prodded and found a way to prove it, Minx wouldn’t let me know for sure, ever. Because for some reason, even after trying to justify her actions to me after everything I accused her of and arguing to make me see that she didn’t have a choice, she was still ashamed of what she did for a living.

So I stood up and trotted to the door without a word, not knowing what else to say to the zebra who may or may not be my mother. She didn’t question me leaving, probably because she knew I wouldn’t go far. I still wanted to be there when Felix and the others got back, and her being there didn’t change that. But I could wait outside and leave Minx alone to her thoughts, no matter how painful they were for her.

I squeezed my brother tight when they finally got back just after dawn, not wanting to let go from the moment I saw him. I hadn’t even thought about it before that moment, but I had come within a hair of dying and would have never gotten a chance to say goodbye to him. And if I had died, the last thing he would have ever remembered about me was the fight we had on our last night together.

That thought almost made me cry, and my eyes surged with tears just begging to flow out into the night air as I held my brother close. He held the hug for a few seconds once it started, but after I insisted on dragging it out for nearly a minute he quietly protested into my shoulder.

“Shayle, uh, are you okay?” he asked and tried to pull away, but I didn’t let him. I squeezed tighter. He sighed and stopped squirming, just letting me hold him and probably staring at the others with an embarrassed look on his face.

When I finally decided it was safe to let him go, I stepped back and smiled down at him. “Yeah, I’m fine,” I told him and nodded merrily. “Just glad to see you.”

“I’m glad you’re okay too,” he offered and looked over me with a puzzled stare. “What happened to your jacket?”

“Oh, we got in a little fight,” I told him and shook my head. “It was nothing, just a little issue with some raiders.” I felt bad about lying, but I would rather not let my brother know that not only had we assassinated a pony, but the town where we did it hunted us down before we killed them too.

“You got shot?” he asked worriedly and stuck his face a few inches from my chest. “Does it hurt?”

“No, it’s okay,” I assured him and pushed the colt back. “The doctor already fixed me up, I’ll be fine,” I explained and smiled. “How did your trip go?”

Felix looked down and kicked at the dirt. “Not well,” he quietly answered.

I tilted my head and looked around to Charmer and Tinker, who looked just as sad as Felix. All three hung their heads low and silent, as if they were afraid to say what happened.

Wait, three?

I spun my head and looked at the group again, taking a count of everyone and realizing why that sounded wrong. “Where’s Seer?” I asked and turned back to Felix. How had I not noticed when they were walking up? Was I really so happy to see my brother that I didn’t even notice someone was missing? Or that the rifle she always carried was for some reason with Felix?

“She didn’t make it,” Felix quietly answered before trotting over to rejoin Tinker and Charmer.

A crushing pressure gripped around my chest as I took in the thought that Seer was dead. I never really thought much of her, she did more than one thing to put her on my bad side since we had met, but for some reason I still couldn’t believe she was gone. It hurt, and a part of me didn’t want to know what had happened to her, already having heard enough just knowing she was gone.

“What happened?” I still asked for some reason I didn’t even know and trotted over to them somberly.

“Locals got her,” Charmer answered simply.

I wanted to ask for more than that, but I decided not to. I guessed that they had already seen her die once, and reliving it was hardly something that they would want to do. I knew I wouldn’t want to answer if someone asked me how Little Doc had died, and this was probably the same for them.

I sat down in the mud and looked down, not sure how I should react or what I should say. My chest felt like a vice was clamping down on it, and I couldn’t figure out how to make it go away. Even after the fights and disagreements we had, I still felt like something was torn out of my chest knowing that she was gone. It wasn’t like I had felt when Doc died, but maybe it was because I hadn’t seen Seer die right in front of me. I just didn’t know.

Luckily, I didn’t need to think of anything to say before Felix trotted over and dropped a box at my hooves. The brightly colored container stuck corner-first into the mud, and I lifted my head to look at my brother. “What’s this?”

“It’s what we went there for,” he answered simply. “Can you please take it back to town? We haven’t slept in over a day.”

“We can take it back later,” I told him with a somewhat forced smile and stood up. “I’ll stay here to keep watch while you sleep,” I offered and picked up the box for him.

“We’ll be fine, Shayle,” Felix argued drowsily. “Seer died for that box, so I would rather not see it anymore. Please just take it back.”

I frowned but nodded, not willing to argue with my brother again after what we had both gone through in just one day. I could go back and keep an eye on them after I gave the box to the guard at the gate, it was only half an hour and I would be back to help. Besides, Minx might have still been around and had the same thought that I did.

I balanced the box on my tail and wished them all peaceful sleep before turning to go back into Caesar’s Stand. The weight of Seer’s death fell back on me once I turned away from the three survivors of the trip, and I realized that it could have been any of them who died. If Seer had lived, could it have been my brother?

I shook the worry from my head and tried not to think about it. That was supposed to be our last stop for the salvage job that the Praetor had given us, which meant we were off the hook. We could stay in Caesar’s Stand and live a normal life finally; well, first we had to find a new home for Charmer and Tinker. Until then we could still take turns spending the night out there with them.

So I might finally have a real job in a friendly town, Felix could go back to school, Charmer and Tinker could find a happy place to live together, and we wouldn’t be wandering around the Wasteland on the verge of death every day. And I would be stuck wondering if Mama was actually alive, hiding from Solus any time they came to town, and hoping that Xion would finally get off of my back.

Altogether, the most normal and quiet life I had ever gotten to live, and something that I was really looking forward to. Just thinking about it managed to get my mind off of Seer and almost losing my brother, but only for a moment. A happy life at the cost of another zebra, how good of me to enjoy the moment.

When I reached the gate, it was already open and three zebras were waiting there. At first I couldn’t tell who, but when I got closer I felt my gut twisting and turning. On the left was a zebra I had never seen before, dressed in a red and black set of some kind of armor adorned with gold buckles and insignias. He stood proudly and confidently, and a little grin curled over his lips. Beside him was the town’s Praetor, her mane in a mess and seeming to be upset about waiting at the gate so early in the morning. And on the other side of her was the reason my gut was doing flips – Xion.

“Shayle,” Xion warmly greeted me once I got to the gate, something that actually made me more uncomfortable. “We expected your brother to bring back the box, where is he?” the zebra asked.

“They’re resting, it was a long day for them,” I replied huffily. “So I brought it for them.”

“Of course, no trip to New Oatleans is an easy one,” he agreed and smiled. “Now then, where are my manners? I expect you’ve met the town’s Praetor,” he waved to the elderly mare beside him who just grumbled. I nodded and grinned to the mare, but her disposition didn’t change a bit. “And this is Tribune Leos.”

The zebra in the ornate garb nodded to me. “A pleasure to finally meet you, I have heard much.” If I had to guess, that was the zebra we had been getting a bunch of junk for.

“Yeah, good to meet you too,” I replied with a little groan.

“Please excuse her,” Xion quickly told Leos and trotted forward. “She had a close call with the Reaper yesterday.”

“I understand completely,” the zebra agreed before looking back to me. “And I do appreciate everything you and your brother have done for me. Without you I cannot think of what I would have done.”

Maybe send a few actual soldiers? “Happy to help,” I lied and tossed the box over with a flick of my tail. “This should be the last thing you asked for, right?”

The Tribune stood on his back legs to catch the box in his hooves, and I saw a little glimmer of joy flash through his eyes. “Yes, this is exactly it,” he replied. “I do not believe you missed anything on my list.” How did he stay balanced on his back legs like that?

“Please, come in Shayle,” Xion offered and waved to the gate. “Now that we’ve finished that business, I believe we have the matter of a more permanent position in the town to discuss?”

And with that my insides tried to drop out to the ground. Why else would Xion have been there except to try and put me in some job where he could keep an eye on me? Even after I helped with his little assassination, he still didn’t trust me, and so I would always be watched through a magnifying glass. Great.

Of course he would never make me join his team, there was no way. I could barely shoot straight, I could barely hold my own in a fight, and I wasn’t even technically a Remnant zebra. So luckily that would be avoided, but I was still under his hoof it seemed.

“What did you have in mind?” I asked him and the Praetor, not seeing a reason to recognize the other zebra anymore. He had what he wanted, and I could forget he existed.

“A few things, but perhaps we could discuss what you think?” the Praetor offered with a yawn.

“Sure,” I agreed, glad that a zebra who actually cared about my opinion was present.

The three of us sat at the center of the park, finally getting down to business after waiting for the Praetor to wake and feed her son so he could enjoy the park while we talked. Xion had surprisingly said nothing to me while we waited for her to arrive, apparently content to sit in silence rather than try to ask my opinion on politics or the war or something like that. Maybe he was too busy thinking about his precious sculpture collection.

A few other foals ran around the park with the Praetor’s son, playing some kind of game that looked like it was actually pretty fun, but I was a little too old to join in on such a thing. That and I had business to discuss, something that would decide my future in the town.

“So, Shayle, while you helped our friendly Tribune, I looked over the vacant jobs in the town,” the Praetor started warmly, her body finally awake and lively. “There are three openings, but I couldn’t decide for you. I don’t know what you’re capable of,” she explained. “But my friend Xion here has had an eye on you for a few days now, which is why I asked him to help me talk to you about it.”

So he wasn’t there to force me into a job? That actually surprised me. “Okay, what openings are there?” I asked and grinned. This talk was starting out much better than I expected.

“Well, the first one is a merchant. The stallion who trades with the food caravans and sells it to the citizens here is getting on in years, and he doesn’t have a child to take over for him when he passes. He asked me to find someone to be his student and take over the shop when he dies,” the Praetor explained. “Does that sound like something you’d like to do?”

Actually, I didn’t really care what I did. Working at a shop was peaceful, quiet, and I probably didn’t have to go out and scavenge for anything where I might get killed. It was appealing, but then again, it reminded me too much of Zeza. Father ran a similar shop there, and I wasn’t so sure if I wanted to go into the same line of work as him.

“Maybe,” I answered and shrugged. “What are the other openings?”

“We’ve been looking to start up a daycare center here, mostly for the soldiers with foals so that their young ones can have somewhere to stay while they’re away on a mission. A friend of mine is looking for young mares to work as caretakers there to help watch the foals.”

“I wouldn’t recommend that,” Xion broke in with a shake of his head.

Why not? That job actually sounded really good, and I loved foals! What made him think I shouldn’t do it?

“Why do you say that?” the Praetor calmly asked and looked over at him.

“She’s proven that she cares about the young, she saved a trio of foals from slavers,” he started. I didn’t see how that was a bad qualification. “But from what I’ve heard, they don’t enjoy her company. She is nice enough and caring, but little ones tend to be uncomfortable around her,” he explained and shook her head. “My soldier couldn’t figure out why.”

“Well then, that wouldn’t be a good match,” the Praetor mumbled and looked over to me. “Sorry, dear.”

I just crossed my forelegs and glared at Xion. “What’s the last position?” I grumbled.

“It actually just opened up today,” she said sadly. “Only a few minutes before you got back from seeing your brother.” I didn’t like where this was going. “Minx told me that our dear Seer passed away during their search in New Oatleans, I assume you heard as well?”

My glare softened into a frown and I looked away from Xion, nodding slowly. “Yes, I heard.”

“Well, as much as I hate to do it, her job does need to be filled,” the old mare somberly explained. “I know you spent some time with her, and it can’t be comfortable to consider, but if you wish we can train you to take her job as a town guard.”

I half expected Xion to interrupt and say how I was a terrible shot that couldn’t hope to defend the town if it was attacked, but it never happened. Instead he sat silently and waited for me to answer.

The Praetor was right about one thing, I wasn’t very comfortable with replacing Seer. It felt wrong after how recently she died, and I really wasn’t the best zebra to take the empty spot. She was a great shot and actually knew things about the Wasteland, both things that I didn’t have. I could barely hit anything that wasn’t right in my face, and the only things I knew about the Wasteland were the things that I had been told since I left home. I couldn’t even replace half of what Seer had given to Caesar’s Stand.

“It would be a good position for her,” Xion suggested after I didn’t respond for a full minute. My head almost snapped off with how fast it spun to face him. Did he just compliment me? Had I actually died after getting shot?

“What makes you say that?” the Praetor asked and turned to Xion.

“Right now, she wouldn’t be the greatest guard, but with some training I am confident she would develop the skills needed. And as with foals, she is very dedicated to the protection of others, especially those she cares about,” he explained and looked over to me. “Give her a month or two and she’ll be exponentially better at the job.”

I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t even move. I couldn’t do anything. My brain was too busy trying to start back up after shutting down from the shock and utter surprise of Xion, the zebra who I was convinced wanted me dead and couldn’t trust me further than he could spit, actually complimenting me and saying I could be trusted to guard Caesar’s Stand. I had to be dead…

“Well then, it sounds like a good fit for you,” the Praetor happily agreed and looked back at me. “Does that sound like something you would want to do? We could start your training next week, after you’ve recovered from your injuries,” she offered.

It wasn’t the safest job I could think of, being a guard. I wanted to get away from dangerous stuff after the time I had spent in the Wasteland, but then again, how often would raiders or bandits attack a place where Remnant soldiers lived? Even they couldn’t be that stupid, and I would have trained help to defend the town if they ever did. Besides, being a guard didn’t seem that bad overall. Most of them seemed happy when they got off work and hit the bar, and that was something I wanted. Not the bar, the happiness.

And of course, it guaranteed me and Felix a home of our own within Caesar’s Stand. I wished it could include Charmer and Tinker, but unfortunately it didn’t. They could still stay in the shack outside of town until they found somewhere else to stay, and I could visit when I was off duty along with Felix. It wouldn’t be like we just abandoned them, I couldn’t do that.

But what if that’s what happened? What if while Felix and I were in town for the day something happened to them? Raiders could attack, slavers could take Tinker again, or some wild animal could find them. Charmer could take care of them for the most part, but even she had her limits, and too much trouble could still beat her.

Could I live with myself if we found them dead one day?

What if I helped them find a home first? Once they found somewhere, me and Felix could go back to Caesar’s Stand and settle in knowing that our pony friends were safe and secure. All I had to do was walk away from the life I wanted for a little while longer; it would still be there when I came back. It would be worth it to help them, right?

I sighed and shook my head before looking over at a confused Praetor. “I’m sorry, but no. I appreciate the offer, and I want to take it, but I promised some friends that I would help them find a home,” I explained calmly. “Maybe after they have somewhere safe to live, we can come back if you still have a place for us.”

Both of the zebras with me stared with confusion, then looked to each other, then back to me. At first I thought they were about to argue that I was crazy or something, or that Xion was going to smack me in the head for taking his recommendation and throwing it away, but neither happened. Instead the old mare nodded, and Xion stood up to leave.

“I understand your problem,” the Praetor stated as the stallion walked away. “I doubt that he does however. Not all of us have been so lucky as to befriend ponies in our lives, rather than only knowing them as enemies.” I looked over at Xion as he trotted off, and for some reason felt some worry that he might try something. I doubted it, but the fear was still there.

The old zebra smiled and put a gentle hoof on my shoulder. “After you find your friends a safe home, there will still be a place here for you and your brother.”

I grinned. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it, dear.”

Footnote:
Shayle LEVELED UP! (Speech 35)
New Perk Earned: From the Brink - Your brush with death has made you stronger. +30 HP

Felix LEVELED UP! (Guns 39)
New Perk Earned: Travel Light - While wearing light armor or no armor, you run 10% faster.

Author’s Note: And here at the end of what I guess would be called the first “book” of All That Remains, I happily thank both Kkat and Somber for writing their stories which created and expanded the world of Fallout Equestria, a universe which I’ve become incredibly fond of since getting into it just over 1 year ago. Thank you both so much! Another huge thanks to both Doomande and Rattlesire for the cover of this story, you’re both awesome and will forever have my gratitude! Thank you to my pre-reader ScytoHarmony for looking over each chapter before I publish it and making sure I didn’t make world shattering errors, as well as helping me ensure the story flows well and makes sense. And of course, a huge thank you to my readers for sticking with me through this. You’re all the greatest, and I couldn’t thank you all enough for keeping me going on this. I only hope that I continue to provide a good story that you’ll still enjoy reading.