Chapter 8: The Wasteland
“There’s good out here.”

I dumped the final body in the old crater we found, a reminder of the war that ravaged New Oatleans centuries ago. Her body crumpled over the other dead slavers we’d taken care of, her eyeless corpse staring up at me with an almost questioning look. Had she been able to speak in death, I don’t doubt she’d be asking me ‘Why?’ Because she took innocent foals and sold them for a life. Because she had allowed the others to defile a helpless filly and possibly two colts. I didn’t need any more reason than that.

“Let’s get back to the shack,” Seer suggested behind me as she tried to wipe a trail of blood from her jacket. I nodded and turned to follow her, ready to possibly get a full night’s sleep rather than the catnap I had the night before.

When we got back, Charmer and Felix had finished unchaining the foals and were working on trying to clean them up a little bit. None of them said a word to any of us, sitting perfectly silent as the green pony tore open a bag of pre-war carrot chips for them. The filly seemed completely uninterested in the food, and let the two colts cautiously accept the bag.

“Eat up young ones,” Seer chirped to them. “You look so hungry.”

I was slightly surprised by her tone with them. I guess I expected her to be cold toward them and simply order them to eat rather than requesting it. But they seemed to calm down a little and eagerly started munching on the little orange chips. They still cast us each a worried glance on occasion, and they still didn’t say a single word to any of us, but they seemed to understand we were trying to help.

Once they had almost finished the snack off, Seer turned to me. “I’m going back to Caesar’s Stand. We’ll meet you here tomorrow morning to head out.”

“What about them,” I pointed to the foals. “We need to take them home first.”

“We’ll take them on our way to the Stable, it’s a ways out from here.” She turned to them with a small grin. “They’ll be safe before we get there.”

I nodded and turned to Felix. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

The colt huffed and trotted over to Seer. “Yeah, enjoy your night,” he retorted without looking at me.

I cocked an eyebrow at the two as they left, and turned to Charmer. “Did I do something wrong?”

“You mean besides send him away with Seer, who I can only guess is still a stranger to you two?” she asked with a ‘are you serious’ glare.

“Oh…right. Well it’s to keep him safe,” I pointed out, but her gaze didn’t change.

“And it’s okay for you to stay out here where it ‘isn’t safe’ with me and three kids,” she quipped sarcastically.

I couldn’t argue with that, but it was already done. “We’ll be fine,” I assured, more for the foals than Charmer or myself. “If anything happens I can fight.”

“With one pistol? And what if they sneak up on us?”

Once again, no argument. It was starting to look like I’d be up all night on guard again, except this time there was no relief unless Charmer didn’t mind helping out with it.

I was about to bring that up when the filly finally spoke. “Ah can help,” she said shyly, still watching over the two colts while they ate.

“You can?” I asked in a confused tone. I could see Charmer pulling a guard shift, but a filly? That would just be ridiculous. Was she even old enough to know how to shoot?

“Yeah, Ah’ll make an alarm.” With what? Unless she magically conjured up a bunch of wires with her earth pony powers I didn’t see it happening.

“That would be great,” Charmer responded with a smile, pulling a gaze of surprise from me. Was I really missing something?

The filly grinned a little and stood up again, trotting to a pile of trash in the corner of the shed. She tossed out a few empty cans and trotted over to me with a cautious look. “Do ya’ have any strings?” No I didn’t have any strings! Why would you need it?

“No, I don’t.” The filly stepped back and frowned, looking like she’d done something wrong. “I mean, no, sorry. Is there anything else you can use?” I asked much more softly. Maybe if I knew what she needed it for I could help find a replacement easier.

“Anythin’ ta’ tie on the cans,” she nervously clarified. “The straps on yer bags could work.”

I frowned at the suggestion, but when the filly looked even sadder I couldn’t say no again. I guess I could always get new bags, and it wasn’t like I carried much in them. I shrugged the bags from my back and set them beside the filly, grinning and nodding to her that it was okay.

A small smile formed on her lips, and she started biting on the straps that held the two together. After a little work, the straps came off, and she happily took them over to the cans. I don’t know why, but I was curious to see what she was doing suddenly. Maybe it was because it might get me out of a nightly guard shift and would keep me in bed instead. I quietly trotted up behind the filly and sat down, peering over her shoulder at the cans and straps.

She was just staring at them as if she couldn’t think of what to do yet, and I was slightly disappointed that she wasn’t doing some kind of pony magic to make it work somehow. She spun around to ask something, and almost jumped out of her skin when she saw me only a few inches behind her.

“Sorry, sorry,” I apologized quickly. “I just wanted to see what you’re doing.”

After a few deep breaths, the little pony looked me over from head to hoof. She sighed and looked around me to the pair of colts. “Ruckus, can Ah borrow ya’?” One of the colts, a unicorn, stood up and walked over without a word, keeping a few feet between me and him as he trotted around to the cans. “Thank ya’,” the filly told him with a little smile. She picked up one of the cans and looked it over again, biting her tongue as she glanced up to Ruckus’ horn.

It was my turn to jump out of my skin as she slammed the bottom of the can over the colt’s horn. He didn’t even budge, so I think she’d done this before, but still! With a few little twists, she pulled the can off of his head and patted his mane gently. The base of the can had a perfectly round hole in the middle, just large enough for the strip of cloth from my bag to fit through.

The filly repeated the routine with each of the other three cans she’d gathered, smiling happily at her work. Once the last can had been punched, she kissed the tip of Ruckus’ horn and waved him back to the other colt. Once again, he kept his distance from me as he made his way back to the other colt and continued to watch their friend work.

I couldn’t begin to describe how the pony tied a knot in one end of the cloth strips, but it was rather impressive. After slipping the strip through one can and into another, she tied a knot on the other side to bind the two cans together. In the end, she had two of the strange creations.

She looked at each for a few seconds then glanced up to me. “Can ya’ pick that one up please?”

I slowly lowered my head and bit down on the cloth, lifting it with a confused look. Once I had gotten it off the floor, the two cans clanged together and I understood what she’d done. And here I was thinking she meant something electrical for an alarm. When it worked, the filly smiled brightly and lifted the other to make sure it was loud enough.

“Now we can all sleep, and if somepony hits the cans in the door or picks ‘em up we’ll hear ‘em.”

I smiled and nodded to the filly, clanging the cans together under my chin.

Getting the foals to sleep took a bit of work from me and Charmer, but the filly, who we learned was conveniently named Tinker, helped out a lot. She managed to convince the two colts that we actually were helping them, which is something they didn’t believe even after we killed the slavers who had been holding them, and that they should get some sleep so we could take them home the next morning.

When they finally fell asleep, huddled close together, I carefully placed the cans in the doorway like Tinker had told me before trotting to a corner to get some sleep of my own. Charmer took one last look out the open doorway, just to be sure there was nothing watching us, then trotted to my side before laying down a few feet away.

She sighed after a few seconds then rolled over to look at me. “Shayle?”

I cracked my eyes open to look at her. “Yeah?”

“Thanks again for lettin’ me come with ya’, I know this isn’t how ya’ wanted to spend your night.”

“It’s fine Charmer. If we hadn’t, we never would have found them,” I motioned over to the sleeping foals with my nose. “So it’s a good thing.”

“Yeah, but I still appreciate it,” she whispered. “I hope ya’ don’t hate me for imposin’.”

“Of course not,” I assured her. “You all took me in back in Shanty, I would be horrible for not returning the favor.” If only I had thought of that before I argued against her staying with us. So I was still at least a little horrible.

Charmer fell silent after that, and I looked over to see her gently sleeping. I sighed and closed my eyes again, hoping for a good night’s sleep for both of us.

It was strange going somewhere without Shayle, especially the place she called our home. I had never been far from her during my life, and I wasn’t sure if it would be easy to sleep knowing that she was out in the Wasteland without someone to help her if she got in any trouble. I knew that Charmer was there with her, and that was somewhat comforting, but she’d already been through so much that I didn’t know how much more she could take. I would have felt better if we’d all stayed in that shack, but I didn’t think that Seer would have been very big on it; she still seemed upset that we’d brought Charmer back with us.

I didn’t doubt that my sister could defend herself, she’d proven in only a few days that she didn’t mind killing to keep herself and others safe, and apparently killing just because she could didn’t bother her either. That was a thought that constantly lingered on my mind as we walked back; that Shayle was already being torn apart by the Wastes. I had never seen her as a zebra who would kill somebody, she had been so nice when we were younger. But she’d already taken a job to kill bandits just because we needed the money, and then she shot that slaver after she begged for mercy.

I was scared for her.

“So, Felix. How does a drink sound to you?” Seer asked me as we approached the gate of Caesar’s Stand.

“I just want to get to sleep,” I replied grumpily, not sure how she could be thinking of drinking after everything that had happened. Besides, I wasn’t old enough for that.

“Look, if you’re worried about Shayle finding out, I won’t tell her,” the mare explained with a sincere grin. “The past two days have been rough, and you deserve a little calming drink.”

She was right about that, I hated everything that happened since we got to Shanty. But I doubted a little alcohol would help me calm down like sleep could. “No, I’m fine. I’m too young to drink anyways,” I pointed out, hoping it would get her off my case.

“Too young? Felix, age doesn’t exist in the Wasteland. We’re all expected to survive right out of Mom, and that includes seeing others fail and die. After you’ve seen your best friend or family die, you’re an adult here.” Seer smiled down at me and rapped on the gate. “After Shanty, you’re old enough.”

I was still skeptical, but she made a good point. Back in Zeza, the town I used to call home before running away with Shayle, I would still be called a foal because I was physically young. I wouldn’t be expected to work for another few years, and only a couple of the others my age had a parent die while they were alive. Some had lost their Mother like I had, but most had at least their Dad alive, and none had actually seen their missing parent die. I guess those rules had to change in the Wasteland, because anyone could die at any time, there was no point in keeping track of age or caring about it.

“Fine, I’ll try,” I finally agreed, even if I was nervous about what might happen, and really just wanted to get some sleep in an actual bed. “But Shayle can’t know.”

“Trust me, she’ll never hear a word of this.”

You know, it really wasn’t too bad. I didn’t like the taste at first, but the drink left a pretty warm feeling in my belly, and I enjoyed that. I only had one glass since I wasn’t sure how strong the golden liquor would be, but about ten minutes after it was all gone I did feel a little better. I couldn’t even focus on the thoughts of what happened in Shanty, because my brain was constantly distracted by conversations around us, or Seer talking to me. It was a good feeling to be distracted, and I was starting to see why it was so popular to drink.

“How’re you feeling Felix?” Seer asked me once her second glass arrived, having respected my decision to stop at one.

“Better,” I told her with a grin. “Thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure, because now you owe me a drink.”

“I do?” I stared at her for a few seconds to see if she was serious, but she just laughed.

“Well yeah. That’s how it works. I buy you one today, you buy me one tomorrow.”

I grinned and nodded. “Okay, I’ll try to get enough caps.”

“Easy, sell one of those bags of chips to a guard on the gate,” she pointed out and took a sip of her drink. I nodded again.

We both fell silent for a few minutes after that. Seer continued to casually sip her drink and look around like she was waiting for someone, and I assumed she was planning to ditch me for her guard friends once they came in off their shift. I didn’t really care either way, but I wasn’t sure I would be comfortable sitting alone in the bar. At least I knew Seer, so it wasn’t too bad to be drinking with her.

In the combination of desperation for someone to talk with me, and the alcohol, I finally spoke to her with a worried look. “Why did Shayle shoot that slaver?” I didn’t know if she would give me any good reason, and it was probably better to ask Shayle herself, but if I waited until I saw her the next day I might not feel like it was so important to know.

Seer finished off her glass of whiskey before turning to me. “Because she deserved it. What other reason did Shayle need?”

“Why did she deserve it though? What if she didn’t have any other way to live?” I pointed out, trying to make a case that the pony might not have had a choice in the matter.

“Really? You think that she couldn’t have found a different line of work, like selling bullets instead of ponies?” Seer sounded mad, like she was offended I had even brought it up.

“But getting bullets is dangerous, what if she couldn’t keep herself safe?”

“Being a slaver is much more dangerous than scavenging bullets Felix,” Seer pointed out, jabbing her hoof toward me. “You think we were the only ones that wanted to kill them as soon as we found out what they were? No, there are plenty of ponies and zebras out there who hate slavers and will gladly shoot them on sight.”

“So they chose a bad line of work, we could have given them a second chance,” I argued sternly. “But you didn’t even want to try!”

“Because they don’t deserve a second chance,” she growled back at me. “They gave up their right to that when they decided other ponies were lesser.”

I grumbled and looked away from the mare, deciding that trying to argue it any further was pointless. She wasn’t going to change her mind, I could see that much, but I did think of one thing that might at least calm her down. “Okay, fine. So why do you hate them so much?”

Seer’s eyes narrowed into a glare as I spoke, and she just stared at me silently for a few seconds before leaning back and softening her gaze. “Because they hurt everyone around them. Not just the ones they take, but the ones that loved the ones they take. Their children, their siblings,” the mare’s voice cracked a little as she paused, and her eyes glassed over for a moment. “Their mothers.”

I frowned a little at that, wishing I hadn’t brought it up after all. “Were you…taken by them?” I asked cautiously, hoping she wouldn’t get upset if I continued to push.

“No, not me,” she said sadly and waved to the bartender for another drink. She just looked at the table while she waited for the next glass, not looking away from the rough surface for even a second. When the drink finally hit the table beside her, she nodded to the waitress and took a long pull of the whiskey. “My daughter,” she told me softly after swallowing.

I froze and quickly tried to think of how I could fix what I’d done. If I had known that, I never would have brought it up, and seeing her slump down like that was horrible. I may not have agreed with the mare all that much, but she was still a fellow zebra, and I didn’t want to be the one causing her that pain. “I’m sorry,” I whispered to her. “I didn’t know…”

“It’s fine. It was a long time ago,” she replied roughly, squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head to clear the sadness from her face. “And I dealt with the ones who did it.”

As much as I didn’t want to make her sad again, I was curious, and I couldn’t let that go until I knew. “Did you see your daughter again?” Please don’t get upset.

“No, they sold her before I caught up with them.” She took another long drink and coughed as she set down the empty glass. “I was so mad… I killed them all before I even thought about asking who they sold her to.” I frowned and placed my hoof on hers, trying to comfort her even though it couldn’t possibly help. To my surprise, she grinned a little and looked over to me. “She would almost be your age by now,” the mare told me warmly. “Not quite as smart though. Her mother was a terrible teacher.” We both chuckled a little at that, me joining in only after she had started.

“I’m sure she’s a wonderful mare,” I told her with a smile, hoping to keep up the light mood.

“Don’t get any ideas,” she replied with a smirk that threw a blush on my face.

“O-of course not,” I stammered.

The mare laughed and leaned back, looking at me with an amused stare. “I’m joking, you look like you’ve never even held hooves with a filly before.”

“Have so!” I argued. “Kissed even!”

“Bullshit.” Seer laughed and called for another drink.

“No! I got one in Shanty.” Okay, not the best topic to bring up.

“Let me guess,” she leaned toward me and lowered her voice. “Doc?” I nodded and frowned. “You liked her huh?”

“Yeah,” I told her quietly. “She was really nice.”

Seer sighed and waved for the waitress to set the next glass next to me. I looked at the drink for a moment and took a small sip, kicking myself internally for breaking my own promise.

“Look bud.” She placed a hoof on my shoulder. “I know it sucks to lose someone you like, but she’s not the only filly in the Wasteland.” I looked up to her with sad eyes, trying to resist the urge to take another drink. “You’ll find someone else to hold hooves with and kiss on the cheek.”

I nodded slowly. “I know, I just miss her.” Okay, I didn’t really believe that I would find someone else, but I was trying to stay positive.

Seer smirked and rubbed my shoulder. “Hey, one of the other guards has a filly, she’s a little older than you, but I could introduce the two of you.”

I cocked my head to one side. “They would let you do that?”

“As long as you’re nice to her,” the mare pointed out. “And you really don’t seem like a mean colt, so I don’t think he’ll mind you taking his daughter out.”

“Out? Where?” I asked with a confused look. There was nowhere to go in Caesar’s Stand except the bar, and that didn’t really seem like a good place for a date.

“Walk her around town, buy her something nice, I don’t know,” Seer sighed and slammed her hoof to her forehead. “I’ve been out of the dating game for a long time Felix, ask your sister.”

Uh…that didn’t seem like such a good plan. I don’t think I ever saw Shayle with a buck. “I’ll just think of something,” I told her quickly. I honestly wasn’t in a mood to meet another girl, not so soon after losing Doc. It just seemed so wrong to do that, but if I could try to move on it might help me. I didn’t actually think I could bond with the new filly, but I was willing to try if Seer really wanted to help me.

She dropped her hoof and grinned. “Great, I’ll talk to her Father when we get back from the Stable and put in a good word for you. Now finish that drink so we can get some sleep.”

Sand kicked up all around me as a thundering noise filled the air, hammering at my head and blurring my vision until it finally faded. The sand burned my eyes whether they were open or closed, whipping into me with the wind and stinging every inch of my body. I didn’t know where I was or what was happening, but I could hear a faint voice calling out to me from somewhere in the storm. I dared to open my eyes in search of whoever was shouting for me, but the sand instantly pressed them shut again.

I tried to run toward the voice, hoping that I wouldn’t lose my footing as I blindly searched. The voice grew louder as I ran, and soon I burst through the wall of sand and found myself free from the wind and stinging. My eyes peered open slowly, and the stinging stopped. I was in a ruined town, only recently burned by something I could only guess at. Smoldering ashes surrounded me, and the cyclone I’d just escaped from was nowhere to be found. The voice continued to shout from somewhere in the wreckage, begging for help.

I ran toward it again, searching every pile of burned metal and wood I came across. The voice seemed to call from all of them, yet I only found charred corpses. Load, Merry Scroll, Strike; they were all there, but no survivor screaming for help. I forced myself to keep searching, digging through the ashes in hopes that the next swipe of my hoof would reveal the yelling body.

As I approached the last stack of rubble, it burst into flames and the screaming intensified. They must have been in there, whoever it was. I dashed in, trying to ignore the flames licking at my sides as I pulled chunks of red-hot metal from the pile. It burned, and I felt myself slowly starting to heat up the longer I remained in the flames. But I was getting closer, the screaming was only feet away, I just had to keep going.

Half of my face caught ablaze, and I fell to the dirt in an attempt to put it out. My vision cut out on that side, leaving me half-blinded and screaming in unison with the trapped survivor. I lifted myself up once the flames had left my face to continue digging, desperate to save just one from whatever had happened.

With one last piece of burning wood, I could finally see a filly screaming only inches away. I was almost there, just a little more. The flames lashed out and whipped my back, burning my flesh and throwing me back to the dirt. I let out another scream, but I couldn’t stop. I stood up again and tore at the last of the wreckage with my teeth, pulling it away from the trapped foal to give her a way out.

It was Doc.

She screamed even louder and dashed by me, running for safety while continuing to wail. I followed her out, trying to slow her down and tell her it was okay, but she didn’t listen; she just kept running.

“You’re evil!” she shouted over and over, running off into the Wasteland as fast as her little legs could carry her.

I tried to keep up and stop her, but no matter how fast I ran she still managed to keep getting further and further away. The sand came back again, swirling around both of us and getting thicker and thicker until I couldn’t see her anymore. But I could still hear her screams, and I tried to speed up and catch her. I had to tell her it wasn’t my fault, that I just wanted to help, but she was getting quieter and quieter as we continued to run.

Suddenly, her screams stopped to the sound of a gunshot that echoed through the sand and into my mind. I stopped running, there was no point anymore. I just wanted to help her, but she couldn’t let me do that.

Before my eyes, four shadowy figures stepped out of the sand, staring down at me with glowing eyes from hooded cloaks. Three of them turned and walked away, leaving me alone with the shadowy mare and her single visible eye. Her hood lowered, and I could recall her name; Minx. She was the creepy one that always grinned, and this was no different. Her smile taunted me, somehow making the entire situation worse as she looked upon me with a soft expression.

“Mali intra clades mannis,” she recited calmly, bringing her hoof over her chest with a small bow of her head.

I stared at her for a few seconds, trying to remember what I needed to say next, but I just couldn’t think of it. It was like a part of my mind was missing, preventing me from completing the mantra I had lived my life by. Instead, a phrase popped into my head that I wished I had remembered the first time I’d met Minx.

“Defeat the evil inside ponies,” I repeated to her, putting her words into a language I could understand. Obediently, I pressed my hoof to my chest and bowed, hoping it would suffice in place of the forgotten words.

The mare placed her hoof down and grinned warmly. “Shayle,” she whispered, staring at me as if waiting for a response. “Shayle,” she repeated, her words echoing through the swirling sand.

“Wake up.”

My eyes shot open and I was back in the shack. A pair of small hooves shook my shoulder roughly, and I looked up to see Tinker staring down at me with an expression of fear. “Shayle, somebody’s comin’!” she whispered urgently.

I shot to my hooves and drew my pistol, looking around quickly to see if the others were awake. The two colts were huddled in the corner, trying to hide in the pile of junk where Tinker had found the cans the night before, looking up at me in worry. Charmer stirred awake from the filly’s shaking, trying to get the burned mare on her hooves just in case I needed help. I hoped I wouldn’t need it, but I didn’t exactly have the best luck with fighting.

Cautiously, I stuck my head out the door and looked around the field in search of whoever Tinker had warned us about, but I couldn’t see anyone. I tightened my grip on the pistol and stepped out into the hazy light of day, keeping my steps as quiet as I could and making my way around the back of the shack. I still didn’t hear or see anyone, and I was starting to wonder if the little filly had just woken from a nightmare and thought somebody was coming to get her again.

I slowly peered around the corner, sticking one eye out to see if anyone was waiting on the south side of our temporary home before shooting. I almost jumped back around the corner when I saw a pair of zebras trotting up to us, one with a rifle slung under their neck and the other looking like they were unarmed. Luckily, my brain clicked and I quickly figured out who it was.

I holstered my pistol again and trotted back around the corner, grinning as Seer and Felix approached. “Morning Felix, did you sleep well?”

“Yes,” he replied simply with a nod. “Did you?”

“Got a full night in. That’s good for me,” I replied warmly.

Felix grinned and waved. “Good morning Charmer.”

I turned around to see Charmer stepping around the corner behind me. “Mornin’ Felix, mornin’ Seer.” Behind her, the three foals peered around the building nervously, apparently still worried that they were in danger.

“Good morning Shayle, Charmer, and little ones,” Seer told us all warmly, grinning from ear to ear.

The three foals seemed to relax a little at the tone, and slowly trotted out from behind the building to me and Charmer; Tinker in the lead with Ruckus and the other colt, Fracas, close behind. Those two really didn’t seem to be living up to their names in my mind, as they had yet to say a single word to either me or Charmer the entire night.

“Ready to get goin’?” Charmer asked from beside me, stretching out her legs a little.

“Yeah, let’s head out,” Seer confirmed with a nod. “It’s a long walk, so make sure you all have enough food and water for the trip.” I didn’t exactly have the option to get more, so I just hoped that Felix still had at least most of our food in his bags still.

“So where do you three call home?” Seer finally asked after almost an hour of silent walking, turning her head slightly toward the three foals still sticking close to Charmer and me.

“We’re from Celestia’s Rose,” Tinker replied quietly. “Do ya’ know where it is?”

“Yeah, I know the place,” Seer told her with a frown. “That’s a long way off, how long ago did you get taken?”

Tinker frowned and drooped her head. “Almost a month, Ah think.”

“A month? Why did they keep you three for so long?” Charmer cut in, keeping her voice as gentle as she could.

“Nopony wanted ta buy us. They jus’ wanted the younger kids.” Ruckus and Fracas shyly looked down as the filly explained.

“How many did they take from your town?” I asked cautiously, not sure if we were pushing the three too far with our questions.

“Almost all a’ us, at least those that didn’t already know how ta’ shoot,” Tinker continued to explain, her face twitching to frown as she forced herself to remain strong. “I don’t even know if home is still there.”

“So they attacked? Just the four of them?”

“No, a lot a’ Raiders started shootin’ while the slavers snuck in an’ took as many of us as they could.” I could see that the filly’s feigned strength was on the border of breaking as she continued to answer our questions, and probably reliving what had happened as she told us everything. I felt bad just for continuing the conversation. I should have just left it at ‘where are you from’.

“How far away is Celestia’s Rose?” I asked Seer, turning us away from the subject of what had happened to Tinker, Ruckus, and Fracas.

“A two day walk the safe way, one day if we go through New Oatleans,” Seer answered with a wave toward the looming city south east of us. “But I don’t think we want to go through there. Too dangerous, even if we didn’t have the little ones.”

“And where is the Stable at?” Felix spoke up from behind us.

“It’s a little over half way there, we won’t make it until tomorrow.” Seer fell silent for a few seconds, then continued. “But we might want to take the little ones home first, Stables have a lot of stories with them.”

“Stories? What kind of stories?” I asked with a frown.

“The bad kind. Some say they’re haunted or cursed, others say they’re nothing but giant death-traps. I don’t know if any of them are true, but better safe than sorry, right?” All of us nodded in agreement and fell silent. I didn’t know what the others were thinking about, but I think they may have been doing the same thing as me; trying to mentally picture what a ‘cursed’ Stable would look like.

For some reason I pictured a really big barn with corny ghosts flying around and strange writing all over the walls. Maybe if I knew what a real Stable looked like, I would be able to better picture it, but I’d only heard the name before. None of the Elders back home had told us any stories about what Stables actually were, or what they were made for. They would just mention it in passing during stories, and if any of the fillies or colts would ask what a Stable was, the storyteller would always say, “That’s a story for another time.”

Trying to think of Stables only lasted about ten minutes before my mind drifted off to other places, and we still had a full two days of walking ahead of us. I searched my mind for something to talk about, anything that could pass some time and didn’t leave us all walking in agonizing silence until we reached Celestia’s Rose. A few times I thought I had something, but my mind would instantly throw it out after I decided it wasn’t a good time.

After a while, my thoughts drifted to my dream. I couldn’t think of why, but something seemed so strange about it. Okay, the whole thing was strange, but one thing that bugged me more than anything else that happened was why my brain had decided to put Minx as the one who spoke to me rather than Xion. He was the leader of the Scorpions, and the one who had killed Doc, so I would have expected him to show up and speak with me rather than the creepy smiling mare. Yes, she had been the one to originally speak the phrase of faith in Caesar to me and Felix, so maybe it was my memory’s way of reminding me what the words meant.

And that thought set my mind on another track; that I should have seen the attack on Shanty coming after that encounter. Destroy the evil inside ponies. That was what she had told us moments after we brought up Shanty, a town filled with ponies. Once again, it looked like it was our fault that the town had met its fate, and all because we hadn’t even thought of how the four mentally disturbed zebras would react to learning that the town knew about them.

I looked up to see Seer glancing at me with a knowing look, her face drawn tight as her eyes locked with my own for a brief moment before she turned back to the road ahead of us.

Our first day of travel was once again very peaceful. Just like with our trip to the robotics facility, we hadn’t even seen a hint of Raiders or bandits during the walk. Once we reached the camp, Seer once again theorized that some soldiers must have cleared the area recently, but that the next leg of our journey to Celestia’s Rose would likely not be as quiet. The looming city of New Oatleans was directly east of our little camp, and according to Seer, we were about to pass into an area controlled by the Steel Rangers, out of the area where Remnant forces operated. I hoped that meant the pony soldiers would keep their area clear, but Seer didn’t seem to think that way.

Our camp was set up in a destroyed cart with a massive box attached to the back. A few boxes were strewn through the container, and after looting through them to find nothing but a bunch of cracked cups and plates, Seer tore them apart to build a small fire for us. The cart was crashed in a large gash through the Wasteland around us, giving us some good cover, and the ground was much looser. My hooves sank a few inches into the sand with each step, and I couldn't help but wonder what had caused such a scar to form. Looking both ways, the cut through the earth extended as far as I could see, from the horizon to the towers of New Oatleans.

“Don’t keep it lit too long, we don’t want to attract any unwanted attention,” the mare ordered once the small flame flickered to life just outside the cart. “Cook whatever food you want to eat, and we’ll get to sleep.”

I nodded in agreement with her and turned my attention to Felix’s bag, pulling out a can of beans for my own meal. Seer pulled out some of her own food for the foals, offering it to them with a warm smile and assurance that it was ‘yummy’.

I barely got the time to open my can of beans before the beaded mane swung in front of my face. “We need to talk,” the mare whispered into my ear urgently.

I sighed and put the can of beans down beside the fire before standing to follow Seer away from camp. Charmer and Felix cast a strange glance our way as I stood, but quickly turned back to their food when they realized I had seen it.

The zebra led me away from the camp just far enough that we could see the fire, but there was no chance of us being heard. The way she turned and looked at me once she felt we were far enough away sent a quick chill down my spine, and I had a feeling that something incredibly strange was about to happen.

“You were distracted today, care to explain why?” she asked with a scowl. I didn’t understand the tone she had taken, it’s not like we had gotten in a fight when I was lost in my own mind.

“I was just trying to think of what a Stable looked like,” I snapped. “What’s so bad about that?”

“You spent two hours thinking about what a Stable looks like?” she clarified with a cross look. “I don’t buy it.”

2 hours? Had I been lost in my dream for that long?

“Something’s on your mind, and I can’t have you stuck in your own world tomorrow.”

“It was just Shanty. I still don’t get why Xion attacked the town and killed Doc like that.” It wasn’t completely true, but it was still something that lingered in the back of my head a little.

“I already explained that to you, what else is there to get?” she snapped back. “They thought those ponies were selling guns to the Steel Rangers, and killing Doc was Xion’s way of testing your loyalty.”

I thought for a second to find something that she hadn’t explained, and quickly tried to flip the questioning back to her. “Well, there was you jumping in bed with Xion. What was that about?”

Seer froze and just stared at me for a few seconds, her mouth opening and closing without a word a few times. “I…really? Why do you care about my sex life?” Her pissed off tone had disappeared in exchange for a frantic stammer.

“Because it doesn’t make sense. Did he drag you in there?”

“N-no! I went in myself,” the mare explained. “I told you, he’s wanted to do that to me ever since I started calling them Scorpions.”

“So you let him?” I asked with a cocked brow.

“Better than being forced,” she growled, once again returning to anger. I didn’t know what to say to that. I could see where she was coming from with that, I had tried that same thing a few times back when Father was still alive, and she was right; it didn’t hurt as much if you at least pretended to agree.

“Is that really all that was bothering you? It’s a little creepy that you were thinking about me in bed for that long.”

“I was not!” I blurted quickly.

“You just said you were. So if that wasn’t it, then what is?” she asked with a smirk.

“Uh,” I deadpanned when I realized what she had just done, then growled as I realized she wouldn’t let me dance around the problem. “Fine, it was a weird dream okay?”

“When?” she asked simply, no longer sounding upset.

“Last night.”

“Okay, what happened in this dream that distracted you so much today?” Seer took a seat and pushed a lock of her mane out of her face.

“It was about Shanty,” I explained simply, not feeling a need to sit. “It was burning, and I found Doc.”

“She was still alive at this point?”

“Yes. Then she ran away screaming that I was evil,” I told her with a pained expression. “Just like when we found her for real.”

“Okay. What happened after that?”

Why do you care? “She ran off into a sandstorm and got shot.”

“So far this doesn’t sound strange Shayle. Get to the part that bothered you,” she quickly requested.

“Then the Scorpions walked out of the storm and stared at me. Most of them disappeared in their cloak things, but that creepy smiley one stayed behind.”

“Minx?”

“Yes,” I replied with a sigh. “She stayed behind and said, ‘mali intra clades mannis’.”

Seer nodded and closed her eyes. “She said this to you when you met in the town?”

“No, when we met before they sent us to Caesar’s Stand.”

“And how did you respond?” she asked after opening her eyes again.

“In the dream, or in real life?” I clarified.

“The dream.”

“I forgot what to say, so I just repeated her words in Equestrian,” I explained with a confused look. “Why does that matter?”

“Just tell me what happened next.”

I huffed and continued. “Then she smiled and said my name.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes, that’s it. Next thing that happened was Tinker waking me up because she saw you coming.”

Seer nodded and stood up again before trotting by me toward our camp. “It’s just a dream, think nothing of it.”

I deadpanned and kicked at the dirt. Had I really just gone through that entire dream, the thing that had apparently made me zone out for two hours, just to have her say it was nothing? How could she even know if it was nothing? What was she, some kind of dream expert?

“But why was it her, and not Xion?” I asked quickly, trying to step in front of Seer and stop her. “He was the one that killed Doc, and he’s their leader, right? Shouldn’t he have been the one I talked to?”

“It’s your mind Shayle; maybe it’s trying to tell you something.” That made almost no sense to me, but before I could protest further Seer had stepped around me again and continued back toward camp. “You’re the first guard shift, so I recommend you go eat now.”

I shook my head quickly and trotted after her, not exactly excited by the idea of taking a shift without food. Too bad Tinker’s can trick wouldn’t work very well in the middle of nowhere.

Come the next morning, Seer’s thoughts on my dream didn’t do anything to stop me from thinking about it more. What made it worse was her comment that my mind was somehow trying to tell me something through the conversation with Minx. I racked my brain as we continued on our way to Celestia’s Rose, trying to see what that message could have been. I still thought that it must be that I should have seen the attack on Shanty coming, and that I could have done something to stop it, or that I should have gone back to warn them that the Zebras might be planning something. I had a few random ideas that were quickly shot down, like the thought that I had seen Minx before; maybe that she’d visited our old home at some point and I was just too young to have remembered it, but that didn’t seem likely. What would she have gone to that little town for at all? It wasn’t like we had a bunch of barracks like Caesar’s Stand did, and I never got out much to see any visitors anyway, so that was out.

I caught Seer glaring at me a few times as we walked, most likely growing more agitated that I was still distracted by my dream even after she told me to stay focused. I tried to get my mind off of it, just in case something did happen before we reached the foals’ home, but it was just too hard to focus on anything when all around us was nothing but dirt and long-dead shrubs.

Felix and Charmer spent the walk close by the foals, trying to get to know them a little better for some reason even though they weren’t going to be following us anymore after we dropped them off in Celestia’s Rose. It didn’t make any sense to me really, but at least they had something to keep them busy and pass the time. And for some reason Seer didn’t seem bothered by that, but me thinking about my dreams was off limits. That mare was starting to annoy me.

But the sound of someone screaming nearby had a strange way of stopping their conversation, and Seer in her tracks. We all froze and listened for something more, trying to hear what might be going on or where the scream came from. My ears perked and twitched around for any further sounds, and I hoped it was nothing that would try to kill us. I was met with another bloodcurdling scream as a pony dragged himself out of a hole a few hundred feet in front of us that I hadn’t even seen. After only seeing the pony for a second, her body disappeared back into the ground with a yelp.

Seer quickly lifted her rifle into her mouth and sprinted forward, and I followed close behind with my readied pistol. I had no idea what we were planning to do, but if Seer was going to run forward and try to help the mare, I didn’t see why I shouldn’t help too. Charmer was soon running along beside me, her mouth filled with a shotgun she must have taken from the slaver’s we had killed two nights before and a look of determination covering the un-bandaged half of her face. I was amazed she could move so fast so soon, especially since she had been much slower a few days ago after being bandaged up by Doc. Magical healing was powerful stuff.

When Seer reached the spot where the pony had disappeared, she slid to a stop and swung her rifle to point down the hole, waiting on the two of us before moving any further. The tunnel in front of her didn’t look very natural, and I was amazed that a pony could fit down there at all. It was only big enough for a small pony to crawl inside, and I wasn’t exactly the biggest out of our group. Suddenly, I had a bad feeling about what was going to happen.

Seer bent down and poked her head in the hole with the rifle leading, trying to see how far she could get in, but getting stuck at her shoulders. She was just barely too big. Charmer quickly repeated, but she was slightly bulkier than Seer, not counting that she had a bunch of bandages that I weren’t sure were supposed to come off yet. She met with the same result, leaving only me.

I gulped and looked to the others. Charmer frowned slightly, and Seer nodded toward the hole expectantly. Cautiously I leaned down and stuck my head in the hole, and found that I couldn’t see anything more than five feet in. I didn’t know how deep it was, but I didn’t want that poor pony to die from…whatever could fit in there with her. I pushed myself deeper, and my shoulders slid by the dirt with just enough space to get me in. The next obstacle would be my hips, which I doubted would fit if my shoulders barely did.

“You okay Shayle?” I heard Charmer ask from behind me as I kicked my back legs to move my flank to the entrance. Of course, it got stuck. I sighed and stopped kicking. “Do you need a push?”

A what? NO!

I didn’t get time to protest before I felt four hooves press on my backside and shove me the rest of the way into the hole. What do you know, they did fit. But that didn’t stop me from screaming at the sudden push.

“Sorry,” Charmer called in behind me sarcastically, her voice muffled by my tunnel-blocking behind.

I just grumbled and started dragging myself forward with my outstretched forehooves. My back legs couldn’t do much, but I wiggled those around in the dirt and imagined that it helped.

“She’s got a big butt,” I heard one of the colts chuckle behind me, and so badly wanted to crawl out and smack him. I did not have a big butt!

“Fracas, stop staring,” Tinker snapped, and I heard her hoof whack him on the head.

A low growl ahead of me pulled my attention away from the group waiting outside and suddenly my heart raced as I imagined everything that it could be. Unfortunately I still couldn’t see anything in front of me, and had no idea what I was about to run into. What I wouldn’t have given for some kind of portable light.

I continued dragging myself ahead cautiously, my jaw clamped hard on the grip of my pistol as I prepared to shoot anything that showed up. In the darkness, my barrel bumped something soft and I froze, waiting for it to react and try to bite me or something. I didn’t move, I didn’t want to move, I wanted to get out of that hole!

Suddenly, the ground shifted under me, and my heart almost flew out of my chest as I started to sink lower. After only a second of sinking, the ground collapsed and dropped me into the darkness. The scream as I fell echoed all around me as I instantly thought I was going to die, and my pistol dropped from my jaw to go Caesar-knows-where. I felt really stupid for screaming when the fall was only about ten feet, but my body disagreed as I landed flat on my chest and suddenly couldn’t catch my breath.

“Shayle, are you okay?” I heard Felix’s distressed voice calling down into the hole behind me.

I coughed once I finally managed to inhale again, but at least I was breathing. I rolled to my back and took a few deep breaths, glad to be alive. “Yeah...I’m okay,” I shouted up between gasps.

“What happened?” Seer asked.

“The tunnel collapsed,” I answered loudly. “I’m…somewhere.”

“Can you be more specific?”

“Uh,” I looked around for any sign of where I was, but that might be hard when I was stuck in complete and total darkness! Oh, wait, there were glowing mushrooms. “There’s some glowing mushrooms, and it looks like they go into a tunnel,” I yelled back up.

“Don’t touch them!” Seer quickly shouted down to me. “They’re radioactive.” Oh great. “Do you see a way out?”

“Not right now,” I answered with a grouchy look. “I can’t get out through the hole, I’ll try to find another way out.” I rolled to my hooves and looked around, but the only way I could see was down the tunnel filled with radioactive glowing mushrooms.

“Do ya want us to wait for you here?” Charmer’s voice echoed into the pit.

“No, go drop off the foals, I’ll meet you…um…back where we made camp last night,” I called up as I cautiously looked at the tunnel.

“You sure?” the burned mare asked in a worried tone. “Ya don’t know where you’ll come out…”

“I’ll be fine,” I lied, I had no idea what would happen. Especially since I still didn’t know what had made that mare scream, or what I had bumped into before falling…

I frantically started looking for my pistol in the darkness around me, dragging my hooves around the stone ground and praying for my hoof to kick it before something bad happened.

“Okay…” I heard Charmer call back, not sounding too confident. I didn’t blame her, I wasn’t very confident in my ability to get out of there and back to the crashed cart either.

I didn’t hear any of them say anything after that, so I assumed they had continued on. Meanwhile, I was busy shuffling around looking for my pistol before something jumped on my face. I finally felt the weight of the gun bounce off my hoof, and I quickly leaned down and lifted it into my mouth. I already felt safer, even if I couldn’t see whatever was going to kill me.

As I looked around I heard that growl again, and my legs stiffened. I couldn’t tell where it came from or how close it was, or what it could possibly be. A shadow flashed in front of the glowing mushrooms, and I quickly backed up as much as I could until I hit a stone wall. My heart raced as I waited for some sign of where the whatever-it-was might be, and once again I thought it was going to jump out of my chest and run away from me. I faintly heard some scraping on the ground, but I couldn’t tell where it was in the chamber I found myself in.

Suddenly, whatever it was squealed and I heard it’s feet racing toward me in the darkness. My gun blazed as I pulled the trigger as fast as I could, the flash illuminating the room just enough to show a wooden jaw diving my way. When the pistol clicked on empty I heard a pile of sticks fall to the ground, but I still sat still. I didn’t know if I’d actually killed the beast or if it was just waiting for me to move again, and my ears perked up for even the slightest sound. After a few seconds I stepped forward and my hoof met a pile of rotted wood where the monster was moments ago.

At least I knew what had attacked the mare we had been trying to save, a mare that I still hadn’t seen since going in the hole. After a quick reload, I swiftly trotted the only way I could see to go. There was no chance of me getting back up where I had fallen, and so far I had yet to see any other way out, so I weaved my way between the glowing mushrooms and into the tunnel at the far end of the chamber.

Thankfully the mushrooms seemed to fill most of the path, which meant I could just follow them and eventually get somewhere. If it got to a dead-end, I could just turn around and follow them back…so that I could continue being trapped underground. Wonderful.

After a few minutes of walking, an echoing howl rippled through the tunnel behind me, and suddenly I decided that running was much more appealing than walking. I don’t know why the second Rottwood didn’t try to get me with the first, or where it had come from in the first place, but I didn’t much care at the moment. My hooves narrowly dodged the mushrooms as I dashed down the tunnel, my gun still pointing ahead of me just in case I ran into another wooden beast before reaching wherever it was I was going. Ahead I saw a faint glow in the tunnel, and my hopes soared as I picked up my pace to reach the light. Only a little further and I would be out of there and back above ground.

Or I would go deeper. The floor under my hooves suddenly disappeared and I went tumbling down a rocky slope. I don’t know how I managed to hold onto the pistol during that fall, probably because my teeth were digging into the grip like my life depended on it. When I finally stopped, I landed on my back against another stone floor. I groaned in pain and decided to lay there a few seconds, waiting for the pain to lessen before rolling to my hooves and looking around.

The first thing I saw was a tunnel leading up a slope opposite from the one I had just fallen down, and I could see a ragged wooden door up near the top. Where there was a door, there must have been ponies or zebras, so my hopes didn’t completely die there. I also found myself bathed in a pale yellow light from a lamp hanging from the ceiling above me. Thank Caesar I was allowed to see again!

I continued my search of the room, hoping it wouldn’t end with a maw of wooden teeth barreling toward my face. Instead my head stopped and stared at the wall a few feet from me. I didn’t know what it was, but I could have sworn it was a giant metal cog with the two yellow numbers emblazoned on the center.

After holstering my pistol, I stepped toward the big cog and tried to figure out what it might be. I don’t know why someone would make a giant metal wall thing underground, or why it would be lit up by the lamp. Was it some kind of weird art?

Beside the wall there was a little pedestal with some glowing lights and a big, yellow and black striped lever. It was tempting, but part of me argued that just pulling it would end badly. For all I knew, it would wake up a bunch of hidden robots or something. Then again, maybe it showed a way out? I couldn’t decide. I knew there was a door just a stone’s throw away that might lead to the surface, but I knew that if just went out that way my mind would never let the lever go until I came back and pulled it. If a dream had bothered me enough to be stuck on it for over a day, something this easy to figure out would tear me apart. So of course I had to pull the lever and see what happened.

As soon as I pulled it a red light started spinning around the room and an ear-shattering siren echoed around the cave, causing me to jump back a few feet and nearly fall on my rear. Then the giant wall moved. A grinding sound that almost blocked out the sound of the siren filled my ears as the big thing moved forward a foot or two and began to roll sideways. A gust of air blew out from behind it, carrying with it the heavy stench of rotten meat.

So it was a door into a cave that smelled like death.

I turned to run up the tunnel where the door was as fast as I could, deciding that I was tired of caves. The sight of a Rottwood standing up in front of that door, and a second rolling down the hill I had just come down changed my mind. A place smelling like death sounded much better to me than actually being dead, and I doubted those things could get through a giant metal door.

I spun around and pushed the lever back up again, and my ears were pounded by sirens and grinding metal. My hooves carried me as fast as they could through the door, and I begged for it to close behind me before the Rottwoods could get through. Once I was through, I spun around to see if they would make it, and sure enough they were sprinting forward, charging to get through the door before it could seal them away from me. One jumped and I froze, there wasn’t enough time for me to pull out my pistol, I was going to die. My eyes squeezed shut, and I waited for the teeth to sink into me.

Cruuuuunch.

The pain never came. I dared to open my eyes, expecting to see it standing in front of me with its jaws gaping and waiting for me to watch as it tore me apart. Instead, I saw a wall of metal with a few shards of wood jammed between the door and the wall. I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding, and fell to my haunches as I praised whoever built that door.

I was worried, more than that I was scared. Shayle told us she was okay and that we’d meet her again back at the camp, but I was afraid that she was wrong. She had managed to take care of herself, and me, up to that point, but even then she had needed help so many times that I didn’t know if she would make it. I knew it was horrible to think that my own sister couldn’t keep herself safe alone, but neither of us knew much about what was really in the Wasteland. She had almost died several times since we left Zeza, only to be saved through some stroke of luck, or by someone stepping in before she was taken away from me. By herself, I didn’t know if she would get that kind of luck.

I tried to shake the thought from my head, but I couldn’t do it. I wanted to see her again, and I wanted to believe she would be waiting back at the crashed cart for us when we got there. Part of me blamed Seer and Charmer for her being separated, after all they were the ones to push her down there, but I knew that they couldn’t have known what would happen. They were just trying to help a pony in trouble, and Shayle was the only one who could do it. But if I didn’t see my sister again, I didn’t know if I would be able to keep myself from hating them for it.

As we walked away from the hole, Ruckus and Fracas were still laughing about Shayle’s ‘big butt’ while Tinker huffed at them for it. Seer didn’t seem worried and continued to lead us on to Celestia’s Rose while Charmer stayed beside her silently.

“She’ll be okay, right?” I finally asked.

“Of course,” Charmer assured me, looking over her shoulder with a smile. “She’s a big girl.”

I nodded and looked over to Seer, hoping she would agree.

“Don’t worry Felix, we’ll see her again,” the zebra promised, still keeping her gaze ahead.

“Yeah, Big Butt will be fine,” Ruckus joked, finally seeming to get over being silent around us all. Fracas joined in his laughter until Tinker smacked them both on the back of the head.

I’ll admit I cracked a small smile at the joke, especially after seeing Shayle’s rear get caught stuck like that. Maybe I could use it to bug her later.

The rest of our walk to Celestia’s Rose was peaceful and quiet, even though I spent most of the trip worrying about Shayle and wondering what she was doing. I hoped she had found a way out of the cave and was already on her way to the cart, but then again I didn’t know if she would find it without Seer.

When we finally reached the town just before night fall, it reminded me of the first time we saw Shanty. The buildings were a little nicer, and looked like actual houses rather than the hastily built shacks in Charmer’s old home, but it was still pretty small. I could see a few ponies walking around between the buildings, but they hardly looked well-armed. They didn’t even have any armor, and their guns looked like they might break just from loading them. After what Tinker had told us of the attack, I was amazed that the town had managed to repel the Raiders at all.

The three foals; okay, I shouldn’t call them foals, they were almost my age; lit up as soon as they saw the other ponies wandering through town and took off at a sprint. Tinker was a little faster than the two colts with her longer legs, but they managed to keep a good pace behind her. When they reached the town, a few of the ponies just stared at the three as they ran by, while others ignored them.

Charmer, Seer and myself all stayed at a walk toward the town, each of us smiling brightly at the sight of the overjoyed youth finally returning to their home. By the time we made it, an aged stallion and mare were sobbing over Ruckus and Fracas as they pulled the colts in tight, unable to contain themselves at the sight of what must have been their children.

The three of us stopped just on the edge of town to watch, not wanting to get in the way of the happy family. I didn’t see where Tinker went, but I guessed that she must have run to her old house to greet her parents. I turned my gaze to Seer, and I could have sworn I saw a tear in the corner of her eye before she spun away from the sight. I frowned and thought of going to comfort her, but decided she probably just wanted to be alone rather than watch the reunion she never got.

Charmer sat down beside me and smiled. “See, there’s good out here,” she told me quietly as we watched the parents hold Ruckus and Fracas. I smiled and nodded in agreement.

After a few minutes, the colts’ Father looked up and trotted over to us. “Are…are you the ones that brought our sons back?” he asked through tear filled eyes.

We just nodded. Without warning, the pony swung his hooves over both of us and squeezed us tight, sobbing ‘thank you’ to each of us over and over again. Charmer put her hoof around him in return, but I just sat there. In all my life, I had never seen anyone so happy before, and I didn’t know how to react to such strong joy. Eventually I followed Charmer’s lead and returned the hug, a warm feeling bubbling up in my chest at what we’d done. If only Shayle had been there to see it.

When he released us to return to his sons, Charmer nudged me and nodded back to the road. We needed to head back before it got too dark, just to make sure we could find a place to camp out for the night. I looked back to see Seer sitting in wait a few hundred feet away, looking out from the town.

I looked back one last time to see the happy family before we left, not wanting to leave that scene behind for the rest of my days. I wish it hadn’t been soiled by the sight of Tinker sadly trotting out of a house behind them.

I gave a quick look to Charmer before standing to trot over to the filly. “Tinker, are you okay?” It was a stupid question.

She shook her head and leaned into me, her eyes clenched shut as she tried not to cry. “Momma and Papa weren’t here…the pony in there said…” she stopped and I put a hoof around her back. I knew what was coming next. It was too good to hope that the Raider attack had spared everyone like it had spared Ruckus and Fracas’ parents, I just wished it wasn’t Tinker who had to be the one to get hurt even more by it.

“I’m so sorry Tinker,” I whispered to her. I didn’t want her to say it, because I knew that she didn’t want to either.

Then the filly fell to her backside and cried, her tears staining my coat while she buried her head in my shoulder.

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Footnote: Shayle LEVELED UP! (Guns 50, Survival 20)

Felix LEVELED UP! (Speech 25)

Author’s Note: This chapter took quite a while to get out. After the last chapter I became aware of some glaring issues, most notably that there was pretty much no happy or good at all. I realized that even though the Wasteland is supposed to be a horrible place, there is always good somewhere (no matter how hard it is to find), and I’m going to start adding at least some of that into Shayle and Felix’s story. However, because of my pessimistic nature, I cannot bring myself to let everything end 100% happy for everyone, so please don’t think I will be. This is still a dark story, and it will remain like that despite how much happy I start adding.

Now, on to thanks. As always, a huge thank you to Kkat and Somber for creating and expanding the world of Fallout Equestria. Without it, I would have a giant gap in my life, which has been filled by this universe, and I can never thank you two enough times for that. I also have to thank my pre-readers as well as anyone who points out errors in my story , they all help me make this as good as I can! And a thanks to all of my readers as well; you all keep me going on this, and every bit of feedback you give I take to heart to help improve my writing. I hope I continue to provide an entertaining story to you wonderful people!