Fallout Equestria: Redemption:
Author: Cooperdawg
Chapter 12: A Voice in the Darkness
“Truth can open one’s eyes to the harshness that is our reality.”

The aftermath of the battle passed in almost utter silence. Marcus had been observant enough to keep his questions to the bare minimum so the rest of us could deal with our own problems, namely helping Suture get over the fact that she had killed a pony for the first time. I still didn’t trust the griffin, but circumstances had taken the issue mostly out of my hooves. I’d saved his life, so in a way, I was responsible for him.

We managed to find a building to settle down in for the night not long after leaving the ruined recruitment center. While we were organizing the watches for the evening, I made sure that Marcus, who was very insistent about helping, would never be left on his own. As sincere as he sounded about wanting to help us, I was not about to put our lives solely in his talons, not so soon after meeting him. As trusting as I was, everyone still had to earn that trust.

With the arrival of morning, I felt better, but not by much. The deaths of those gang ponies were still weighing heavily on my mind, and the looming meeting with Shooting Star was making me feel even more morose. He was the one that had dreamt up the title “Heroine of Seaddle’, and probably expected me to live up to that reputation. He was going to be sadly disappointed.

Our breakfast was held in almost complete silence. Suture was still looking depressed, and nopony knew what to do about it. As a result, the entire affair was short, with everypony wanting to finish up as soon as possible, so at least we would have the routine and familiarity of travel to fall back on.

Within twenty minutes of waking up, we were out on the streets. Our shelter had been a small grocery store nestled between what seemed to be an unfinished, or ruined, housing project and a blown-out husk that had once been a public office. The streets were littered with trash and rubble, some of which appeared to be fresh. No surprise, given the reputation the city had with gang wars, and the fact that a small gang, or an outpost of a larger one, had a base all the way out here.

“Steel Curtain, I want you in the air. Keep an eye out for anything else like you saw yesterday. If we can, I’d like to avoid any more clashes with the local gangs. Marcus, you’ll be with him, but also guiding us towards Shooting Star’s station. Crosswire and I will take point on the ground, Suture will be in the middle, and Autumn Mist will be in the rear. Let’s get going. Hopefully we can make it with as little trouble as possible,” I ordered, then beckoned the griffin over before he could take off.

“What do you need, Evergreen?” he asked, somewhat nervously, as he approached.

“I need to know what route you plan to take. It’s true I’ve never been downtown, but that doesn’t mean that I’m just going to let some griffin I just met lead me around blindly. Where are we headed?” I asked sharply. My intention wasn’t to intimidate him, but I needed to make sure that he knew where he stood.

“Oh, right. Well, for now we just need to get into downtown proper. Once we get there, there’s a Metro line on 18th Street that we can get into that leads all the way to the Hayridge Park, only a couple of blocks from the station itself. At least, I think the line is open. I spotted Metro stations at both places, so trains must have run there at some point,” he answered, shakily at first, his voice becoming more sure as he laid our route out.

While he was speaking, I was bringing up a map of the city on my Pipbuck. While I didn’t have any locations for the Metro stations, or for anything downtown, on that note, marked, I could see where the streets were. The route seemed solid. “Ok, we’ll do that. Get up there and keep an eye out.”

The griffin nodded smartly and launched himself into the air, where he started circling over us with Steel Curtain. A quick glance at the rest of my friends on the ground, all of whom nodded their readiness, although Suture’s was a little delayed, and we were ready to set off.

The first part of our journey was met with almost no sign of any other living being, and the reason quickly became clear. On almost every street corner we passed there was at least one wall painted with familiar artwork: a pony’s skull, with a dagger stuck through one empty and starting eye socket. With every step, it became more apparent that the ponies we had killed had belonged to their own gang, and we had effectively wiped them out. Any survivors that hadn’t been at the center the day before must know now that there was nothing left. I would give them a few days before another gang moved in and took the region over.

The only signs of life I noticed was a few shadows moving about at the edge of my vision. Occasionally a red bar would appear in my E.F.S., but if they were survivors of the gang, they knew better than to try to attack us, at least so I hoped. I wasn’t the only one that noticed, either.

Crosswire came up to my side, only an hour or so after we set out. “Evergreen, we’re being followed,” he told me quietly, his eyes darting to a window caked in grime behind which a shadow darted out of sight, “And they’re doing a damn good job of it. I’m beginning to think our fight only went so well yesterday because we caught them by surprise. If they are setting an ambush for us…” He left the rest unsaid.

“Yeah, I noticed the same thing,” I answered, “I’m hoping that they’ll drop off once we get out of their territory. They’d have to be stupid to think attacking us would be a good idea.”

“Depends on their weapons. I remember hearing that a few of the Inner City gangs managed to get their hooves on energy weapons, and some of them managed to ransack some of the old military bases. If they pulled anything of real value out of those places, we’ll be in trouble,” the tech responded.

“We’ll keep an eye out. Hopefully a power-armored Pegasus with a pair of miniguns will be enough to scare them off,” I stated, “Besides, that gang seemed smaller than most. We should be getting out of their territory soon.”

“That’s been worrying me as well. Sure, we’ll leave them behind, but then we’ll simply be stepping into some other gang’s turf. Chances are they heard about our attack. I’m telling you, Evergreen, we’re walking into a trap!” Crosswire snapped.

I sighed, and turned my head to look at the buck. “Do we have any other choice?” I demanded of him, “We have no other leads if we want to start striking against Seahawk. Shooting Star’s information network is all we have. We already exhausted the supply of what that dead drop told us, and we aren’t going to hear anything from Starshine until he manages to gather the other Dashites. So if you have a better suggestion to give us a direction, then please share.”

Crosswire glared at me, but didn’t say anything. I could see his mind working to come up with an answer in the set of his ears and the clenching of his jaw. “I guess you have a point,” he finally ground out, “but I’m not happy. This is probably the most dangerous thing we’ve done. We can’t let our confidence get to our heads! Remember the Ironshod Factory, and what happened to Suture?”

The memory came rushing back: the maroon mare lying on the stained floor, slowly bleeding out from multiple rifle wounds, all because I didn’t stop to think that Greymane would be looking for the dead drop. We had barely managed to save her in time. “I haven’t forgotten, Crosswire,” I insisted, “but things have changed. We’re much more of a team now than we were then. Don’t underestimate that.”

“Hmph, as long as you’re sure,” he grunted, then backed off to return to his position on our flank.

As we progressed, the artwork on the walls slowly changed, until the skull became a rare sight that was often lost under the graffiti of a half-dozen other gangs. By the look of things, we were entering into a highly-contested area of the city, which meant that we were undoubtedly downtown. The most prevalent symbol I could see looked like a hoofprint made in the color of freshly-spilled blood, with what looked to be a broken horn contained within it. I did not like that implication.

“Marcus, how far to the Metro station?” I called up into the sky when the griffin passed by, one of his pistols held in a taloned hand. His head snapped towards my voice, and he arced his way down to me so he could answer.

“Not far now. A few blocks, maybe. Distances are harder to judge in the city, given all the rubble. We should reach it in the next ten minutes though. I definitely recognize this neighborhood,” the griffin answered, scratching his head with his free hand while he perused the ruined building around us.

I followed his gaze, looking for any defining landmarks, but there wasn’t much to see. Most of the major intersections were filled with rubble, making most near-impassable. The ubiquitous gang graffiti made most of the slate-grey walls almost invisible under the layers of paint, but here and there a wall remained unblemished, except for the two centuries of grime that had accumulated. The paved roads were also starting to make my hooves ache. What I wouldn’t give for the dirt paths of the wasteland. They may be harder to navigate, but at least a pony could walk for days without their hooves feeling like they would fall off.

We walked by a manhole cover that had been fused to the passage beneath it, and my Pipbuck began to click warningly at me as I walked through the greenish steam that was rising through the two small holes that were bored into its surface, but I still remained silent. Something felt wrong, like we were being watched.

A few moments later, the back of my neck started to itch, and I threw myself to the side, just as a high-velocity bullet passed through the air where my head had been a moment before to slam into the asphalt at my hooves, pelting me with sharp chips. One of the damn things bounced off my cheek, and blood started to seep sluggishly from the small cut it left there. “Sniper!” I shouted, even as I drew Hammer and twisted to fire a few rounds in retort. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a clue what I was shooting at, so I simply fired the rounds blindly, hoping at least to scare the marksony into cover to buy us a few precious seconds.

My friends took the opportunity to dive for cover, dodging behind a few of the more significantly sized pieces of rubble or hunkering down behind the burnt our remnants of an old bus. Marcus had launched himself into the air and was flying in a complicated pattern, as if he was daring the sniper to try to attack him. Steel Curtain had flown around the corner of a nearby building and stayed there, hovering and watching me, looking for direction.

I held my ground, trusting in my friends’ ability if something went wrong, and kept my eyes glued on the direction I thought the sniper round had come from. All the fucker had to do was show himself, and I would be able to act. My revolver wasn’t accurate at that kind of range, but these streets were littered with rubble I could use as cover. I’d find a way there.

Another round fired, and I leapt back. The shot hit the asphalt in front of me, showering me with more of the pavement, but I noticed that the round would have missed had I not moved. The sniper wasn’t shooting to kill. “What’s going on here?! Show yourself!” I demanded, my words slightly muffled behind Hammer’s grip, as I spun in place, looking for a bar on my E.F.S. I spotted it a moment later.

A trio of blue bars, much to my surprise, were approaching from the west. When their owners emerged from that street, I held myself carefully still. By now, all of my friends had shots lined up. If shit hit the fan, we’d be able to win, I was sure of it.

The leader of the group was an Earth Pony mare with a cream hide and dark red mane. Her cutie mark, what little of it wasn’t ravaged by a jagged red scar, looked like an ammo box. Her two companions, both Earth Ponies, walked on either side of her, like a pair of bodyguards. One was a badly scarred blue stallion with a white mane. It was hard to find any part of his body that didn’t have at least one scar on it. The other was a white mare with a brown and green mane, not unlike my own. Half of her face was deformed by a massive scar left behind by what must have been a terrible burn, not to mention a knot of scar tissue on her forehead that I could only imagine the cause of.

All three were heavily armed. The stallion was equipped with a battle saddle that, while not as well-maintained as Gerymane’s had been, was still equipped with a pair of assault rifles. The other mare, the one with the burned face, was carrying a riot shotgun strapped on her back, and it looked like she could very easily swing it into a useable position. The leader was carrying a revolver that looked to be every bit the equal of Hammer. All in all, a bad standoff to be in.

“You’re on the turf of the Earth Marchers,” the leader practically snarled as they approached, “So give me one fucking reason why I shouldn’t have my sniper finish you right this second.”

“If it’s that much of a problem, why haven’t you already?” I shot back, altering my stance just enough so I could bring Hammer to bear on these ponies.

“Because you aren’t one of those motherfucking unicorns,” the leader answered, “But I see that two of your companions are. Don’t you know they’re the ones that caused all this shit?”

“The city was razed by zebra balefire bombs, not unicorns,” I retorted, “And I would be dead a hundred times over if it wasn’t for my friends! All we’re doing is passing through. We aren’t a part of any of the gangs here.” This was just what I needed, a fucking supremacist group wanting to shake us down.

“So why are you coming from the Skulls’ part of town, then? You the ones that vanished them?” the mare with the burns asked. Her voice was quiet compared to the leader, and I thought I detected a hint of anxiety in her voice, the kind that comes from a pony that has been hurt over and over again.

“Wasn’t the intent, but yeah, we got into a fight. They were torturing someone, so I went in and freed them. Only raiders do that kind of shit,” I growled, “Now listen, all I want is to get to Shooting Star’s station. I’ve got business with him.”

“Ha! So you’re just another fucking wasteland pony that thinks you can just waltz into Downtown to speak with the oh-so exalted DJ, huh? Well, newsflash for you, bitch: this is our turf. And you went and brought those two horned fucks with you,” the stallion snarled, taking a step towards me.

The leader immediately stuck out a hoof to stop him, and that was when I noticed it. Her right foreleg, the one now extended in front of the stallion, was nothing but metal and machinery from the knee down. I had seen a lot of injuries in my time in the wasteland, but this trio was by far the most scarred group I had ever come across.

“Back off, Shatter. We cannot hold them responsible for their ignorance. It is our duty as Marchers to educate them,” the leader stated imperiously, stepping forward and turning her gaze to me. It wasn’t one of malice, but of pity. This mare actually pitied me because she thought she was so much wiser than me.

“What are you talking about?” I snapped, “I don’t care about your supremacist bullshit. Crosswire and Autumn Mist haven’t done anything to this city! You all might think Earth Ponies are so much better than anypony else, but that isn’t the way the world works!”

“Oh how wrong you are,” the leader purred as she approached, only stopping when she was ten feet from me. I could easily make out the grinding gears of her leg. To think that she had managed to find a pony here in the city to replace her limb. “Unicorns are the cause for all of our troubles. Who was it that ignored the rising tensions of the war while those that lived on the outskirts of Equestria were forced to suffer the atrocities committed by the zebras? It was the fucking unicorns of the Canterlot elite. All of those snobbish unicorn nobles who believed themselves so far above the petty squabbles of the country that they let war become first a possibility, then a reality!”

“And what about the unicorns that lived on the frontier? What about the unicorns that lived in this city, practically on the border with the zebra lands?” I shot back, “There was one group that screwed up, so you’re using that as an excuse to wantonly slaughter unicorns?”

“Of course not! We are better than that!” the leader laughed, “Raiders kill those that cross their path. Wasteland ponies kill those that offend them. We rehabilitate them. Tell them your story, Tinder.”

The white mare with the burned face stepped forward, Shatter following her step for step. “I was born on the outskirts of the city, in one of the Stables,” she muttered quietly, her hard eyes losing some of their light as she turned her head to the ground, “Our resources were running short, and we were forced to open the Stable door if we wanted a chance to survive. We had no clue about the gang wars in the city when our first survey groups went there. I was a part of that first mission. We made it all the way into downtown before Surplus found us.”

The leader nodded knowingly at the name, leading me to believe it was hers. “And tell them what I did. Tell them about my mercy.”

Tinder nodded slowly, then lifted her head so she was looking me in the eye. “She told us our lives would be spared if we joined her ranks, but also that no unicorns could be allowed to ever use their magic. We agreed, because we had no other choice. We thought that the agreement would be the end of it, but Surplus does not do anything by halves. When she told us how we were going to make sure we held to our promise, and when we could not agree, we fought. My face was burned in that fight and we lost. Surplus made sure those of us who were unicorns could not use our magic, and shattered our horns.”

I heard a sharp intake of breath from behind me. I didn’t need to look to know that it had come from Crosswire and Autumn Mist. I looked at the knot of scar tissue on the mare’s forehead, and finally realized that it was the stubbed remains of a horn. This mare was no more an Earth Pony than Marcus was.

“You… mutilated them?” I asked slowly, turning my gaze to Surplus. A familiar rage was growing in my chest, and all I wanted was to lash out to kill this bitch that thought she had this kind of power over other’s lives. “You’re no better than a fucking raider!”

“The typical wastelander reaction. You see something you do not understand, so you become angry and offended. Tell me how you would be better than me if you struck me down, if you even could?” Surplus sneered.

“I’m better than you because I’d be shooting you to save the Princesses-know how many unicorns from having their horns smashed!” I shouted, “You’re deluded, thinking that you’re better than anypony else! As far as I’m concerned, you’re just another thug! That Stable needed help, and you used their desperation for you own selfish gain! That is not being a better pony!”

Part of my mind started reminding me that I wanted to avoid needless death, but my anger at what this pony was doing stamped the doubts out. Even worse, she thought she was right, and felt nothing but righteousness in her acts. That was simply unacceptable. There was survival, and then there was what this bitch wanted.

And yet, for all my directed rage, all she did was laugh. The sound was raucous and painful in my ears, as if the mare had never actually learned how to laugh. Between gasps for breath, she managed to say, “You… you actually believe that! You’re one of us, and you believe they are actually worth something! Only when I take their horns away are the uptight bastards worth anything, because they have to finally learn how to be a real pony!”

That was enough. I couldn’t in good conscience let this pony continue. Sure, some of her lieutenants probably shared her ideals, but she was obviously the driving force. Killing her would give the other gangs a chance at making sure her ideals died with her. To that end, I strode forward, shortening that gap between me and her. Her sniper could hang for all I cared; mine was better.

“That’s where you’re wrong. Simply by existing, every unicorn I have ever met and talked to is worth far more than you ever will be,” I growled, a dark, evil sound that sprang from deep in my chest. With that one statement, I saw Surplus’s eyes twitch as the first glimmer of doubt crept into them. The stallion, Shatter, took a cautious step back as well. Somewhere, out of my sight, I could feel the crosshairs of a scope settle on my head. None of that mattered anymore. All that mattered was this bitch in front of me.

“You can’t be serious. I have a sniper ready to blow your brains all over the pavement! I own this part of town!” Surplus shrieked at me, as if her power over a small group of ponies meant anything to me.

“Just like I once owned the mountains to the south,” I snarled in return, “And I can guarantee that my sniper is far better than yours.”

I lifted my chin, bringing Hammer to bear, and watched as Surplus attempted to turn to dodge out of the way, but she had let me get far too close, thinking that her power would somehow protect her. It was the same mistake every gang leader I had ever known made. I flexed my tongue, and the heavy .45-70 round leapt from Hammer’s barrel, striking Surplus in the throat and sending her to the ground amidst a growing pool of crimson.

In the next instant, all chaos broke loose. I jumped forward, using the still-falling body of Surplus as springboard, and felt an impact on my armor, most likely from the sniper. Luckily, the plating held, doing nothing more than bruising my hide.

All around me, the sounds of battle were breaking out. The familiar whine of Steel Curtain’s weapons in the distance, coupled with the retort of Autumn’s rifle, told me that they were suppressing the sniper. The chatter of Crosswire’s submachine gun and the distinctive reports of Marcus’s pistols were directed somewhere towards my left, where the stallion had been standing. Already, I could hear his assault rifles firing blindly up and to the left. He was already going down from the amount of fire directed at him. That left only one target.

Still mid-air, I turned my head to the left and slipped into S.A.T.S. My chance to hit Tinder in the head was almost perfect, but something held me back from pulling the trigger. Her eyes, and shotgun, were directed towards me, but her gaze was not resting on me. It was resting at my feet.

I canceled the spell and landed, twisting to cover the mare with Hammer. A quick check of the data that was always just on the edges of my vision told me that there were only two rounds left in Hammer’s carousel.

True to what I had seen, Tinder wasn’t looking at me. It seemed that she had locked the entire fight out of her mind. Her eyes were focused solely at Surplus who was bleeding out over the pavement, trying to bring her revolver to bear against me.

The scarred mare took a tentative step forward, the shotgun wavering somewhat in her grip, until she was standing over Surplus. “Six long fucking years of hell. Finally, I have this chance to repay you for what you did to my home!” she snarled, her grip on the shotgun becoming much surer.

“Tinder… I own you,” the dying mare spat even as blood poured from her ruined throat.

“Not anymore, bitch,” Tinder spat, then fired three rounds from the 12 gauge straight into Surplus’s head, completely destroying it and splattering herself with gore.

“Evergreen, we got the sniper!” I heard Autumn shout from behind me, as well as the sound of clattering hooves against pavement as my friends joined us. There was the unmistakable sound of Crosswire sliding a fresh magazine home into his submachine gun and the weapon levitated into my sight as the tech came to stand beside me, his weapon trained on Tinder.

“Hold you fire, Crosswire. I think there’s more to this mare than meets the eye,” I ordered, dropping Hammer into its holster and lifting a leg to block the tech’s shot.

All the while, I didn’t shift my gaze from the scarred mare. She was now looking at us, blood coating her face and chest, slowly dripping down her face as her sweat mingled with the light rain that was just starting. The look in her eyes was unsure. I couldn’t blame her. If she made one wrong move, I would not hesitate to kill her.

“Drop the shotgun,” I ordered, gesturing with a hoof and pitching my voice so she would know that there was no choice.

The look in her eyes became even more unsure, but she did as I commanded, dropping the weapon on the ground and kicking it towards me.

“Autumn, grab it,” I said, taking a step towards the mare, who shied away from my approach. The look in her eye was distinctly nervous now. Despite her tough ganger act, she knew that she was dead if she so much as sneezed right now.

The shotgun lifted away from my feet, surrounded by a yellow glow. Tinder watched the weapon fly away, and almost longing look in her eye. It didn’t take a genius to know that she longed after the magic, not the weapon. Slowly, her gaze returned to mine, and her doubts were practically plastered on her face. She was terrified. “Are you going to kill me?” she asked. Despite her appearance, the words still had determination behind them. This mare was a survivor; that much was instantly clear.

“If I was going to kill you, you’d already be dead,” I stated simply, shrugging, “You’re still alive because you didn’t attack us, and you didn’t make any sort of aggressive moves towards us. As long as that remains the case, you’ll continue to live.”

“And what if I agree with Surplus?” she asked me with a look at the now headless corpse.

“It’s already obvious that you don’t. Something about repaying her for what she did to your home? I can only imagine you meant her de-horning all of them?” I asked, just as knowingly. I had a potential resource in this mare, and I was not going to let that go to waste.

My comment cracked a grin on the mare’s face. On the side that was not scarred, it brought life to her features, but on the other, it was little more than a tweak of the deadened flesh. It reminded sharply of a ghoul. “You’ve got that right. I spent six fucking years waiting for my moment to kill her. You finally gave me that chance.”

“You’re welcome. I’d like you to return the favor, though. What Stable are you from?” I asked. Around me, my friends lowered their weapons. This mare wasn’t a threat to us anymore, and they knew that. We’d be careful around her until we were sure, but she would have to be stupid to try anything against us now.

She looked at me sharply, her expression going instantly from one of gratitude to one of wariness. “Why do you want to know?” she demanded.

“Because a friend of mine wants me to look into a Stable on the outskirts of the city: Stable 113. We have reason to believe that something was left for her down there,” I answered simply. I didn’t want to clue this mare too much into what we wanted, but her reaction told me that she was from the Stable we wanted.

Unfortunately, being vague was not the way to win this mare’s trust. “So you expect me to simply believe you because of that? Who the fuck is this friend, and what was left there? How the fuck would they know?” she growled, “I’m grateful you gave me this chance, but I am not going to throw my home to more bullshit just on your say-so!”

I sighed heavily, looking at my friends. Crosswire was shaking his head. “Evergreen, no. We don’t know her enough. Who knows what could happen if we just start telling random strangers our plans!”

“I agree. We can’t trust her. I get not wanting to kill her, but let’s be real here! She was still in that fucked up gang!” Autumn echoed, striding forward.

“Trust has to start somewhere,” Suture said quietly, coming up on my other side, “Like trusting a pony from a dark background after she caused the death of a loved one.”

I had almost forgotten about that, and it was the memory of what I had done to Suture that made me believe her. “Trust has to start somewhere,” I echoed, smiling to myself, “I couldn’t agree more. Tinder, my friend is a ghoul from Ponyville that survived the war in its entirety. She taught the heads of Stable-Tec when they were still just fillies. They tried to contact her at the end of the war, but their message was sent too late. By the time she left to go to Stable 113, where they tried to give her a place, the bombs were already dropping. We think they may have left something behind for her in the Stable before the end.”

Tinder had a shocked look on her face, as if she hadn’t expected my honesty. “You aren’t kidding?” she asked, her voice unsure, “Even after trying to hide the truth a minute ago?”

“I’m not like Surplus. I’m not some wasteland ganger, looking for more influence. I’m just a pony trying to make life better for everypony else,” I answered, “And you aren’t my enemy. And hell, it’s your home. Who else would know if what we’re looking for is there?”

“I haven’t been back in six years,” she muttered, lowering her head in defeat. Then, I saw her limbs stiffen and her head rise again, “But you have a point. You gave me another chance at a better life. I am not going to waste it. I can take you there and get you inside, if you promise not to hurt anypony there.”

“Not unless they attack me first,” I said, nodding, a smile tugging at my lips.

“Then we have an agreement. Didn’t you say something about wanting to talk to Shooting Star first? ‘Cause if you are, this is the wrong way to go. He’s on the other end of the city,” Tinder said, nodding as well.

“Marcus here was leading us to a Metro tunnel he saw from the air that should lead to the park where his station is,” I explained, nodding at the griffin who had landed a little ways away from us and was adjusting his holsters.

“Hmmm… I guess that would work. Certainly faster than going back around. You’re going to want a supply of radiation chems, though. Some of those tunnels are still really heavily irradiated. Lucky for you, our base has quite a supply. Parts of the city are still pretty bad, but that is where all the best salvage is,” Tinder said with a curt nod.

“Can you lead us there?” Crosswire asked, stepping forward.

The scarred mare nodded, “Yes, I can. But… we might have to fight when we get there. With Surplus and Shatter dead, the entire gang is going to lose it while they try to replace them. You created one hell of a power vacuum.”

“We’ll handle that when it comes up. I’m just hoping we’ll be able to intimidate them to leave us alone and give us the chems,” I said, looking around at my group. Most were my closest friends, and I knew full well what they were capable of. Marcus was certainly skilled with his weapons, but he was too naïve. All in all, we made for a terrifying sight. Hopefully this gang would agree with me.

“We’ll see, but they don’t frighten easily,” Tinder said, “By the way, my full name is Tinder Box.”

“And mine is Evergreen. My friends are Crosswire, Suture, Autumn Mist, and Steel Curtain. The griffin is Marcus,” I said, gesturing to each in turn, “Now lead on. I want to reach Shooting Star’s station before nightfall.”

Tinder Box nodded and gestured in the direction we would have to go: directly back the way she had approached with Surplus and Shatter. She strode past me, retrieving her shotgun from Autumn Mist as she did, and started walking, expecting us to follow.

As she passed, I finally got a good look at her Cutie Mark. It was a flame, burning bright against the white of her flank. It fit her, in every sense.

Tinder Box lead us through the rubble-filled streets of the city. With every step, I felt like we were traveling deeper into a maze, yet she never wavered from her path. Before long, I was completely lost amongst the ancient, ruined structures.

Steel Curtain flew down beside me and slowed me down so that we were lagging behind the rest of the group. Tinder gave us a concerned look as we dropped back, but kept her pace.

“I’m not so sure about this anymore, Evergreen,” he told me in hushed tones, “For all we know we could be walking into a trap. Hell, I barely know where we are anymore, and I’m in the air!”

“I know, and I’m getting nervous as well,” I admitted, shooting a look up at the white mare, “But she told us she would be leading us there, and I decided to give her my trust. If we start questioning her, and it turns out we’re wrong, well… Let’s just say I don’t want to end up in that situation. It almost happened with you.”

“Yeah, I suppose. I just don’t like these walls, and these streets are a natural maze,” the Pegasus complained, “but if you think this is the right choice, I’m behind you.”

“I’m not sure of anything, Steel Curtain. I’m just doing what seems right to me,” I protested as he lifted back into the air.

He glanced down at me, his eyes lit up with what I could only call trust. “That’s the difference between how we feel.” With that, he lofted back up to where he had been circling, watching for the other ponies of the gang to attack us.

His words left me feeling uneasy. I knew he had a point, and that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that he was the only one willing to say something about it. I already knew that Crosswire and Autumn Mist didn’t entirely agree with my choice, but they weren’t saying anything, and that was the source of my uneasiness.

I picked up my pace a bit so I was walking alongside the rugged tech. “What do you think about this,” I asked him simply, knowing he would appreciate me honesty.

“Doesn’t really matter what I think anymore,” he answered, a hard edge to his voice, “We’re doing what you want regardless.”

“Dammit, Crosswire. Now is not the time for this shit. Do you think this is a trap?” I demanded angrily, loud enough for Tinder Box to turn her head and look at us. We held our silence long enough for her to return her attention to the path ahead.

“It damn well could be,” he answered harshly, “But either way, they can’t have expected us to have been able to kill that mare that was in charge. Our advantage, if this is a trap, will lie there. But Evergreen, you need to think more. You’re taking one hell of a risk trusting this mare.”

That accusation rendered me silent while I thought about what he meant. There was no question that he was right. It was a risk, and a big one at that. But so was walking into this city in the first place. “When do we start giving our fellow ponies the benefit of the doubt again, Crosswire? For two hundred years, we’ve been living in fear of one another, needing to find a reason not to draw weapons on a stranger, rather than trusting that they don’t mean us any harm. Equestria was a peaceful place once, where a filly could travel on her own all the way from Ponyville to Manehattan and back. It never will be that way again until we start trusting each other. That has to start somewhere,” I said quietly, lowering my head.

“I agree, but this isn’t the time or place. We are in unfamiliar territory, and now there are two people in our group that we barely know at all. We got lucky once with Steel Curtain, but Marcus is a complete unknown. Tinder Box is unstable, at best, and she’s a ganger,” the tech shot back.

“And we weren’t?” I responded sharply, “If anything, we were worse than her, and don’t tell me I’m wrong. I saw the worst our gang had to offer.”

Crosswire shrugged at that. “That reason is exactly why I’m going along with you. You’ve managed to get us out of the worst shit so far. Who knows, maybe this will work out for the best in the end as well. Now you better get back up there; keep an eye on her.”

I sighed, but did as he asked. That was the problem with Crosswire. He was so stubborn that there was little chance of ever getting to fully commit to an idea until it had completely played out. He had no problems about admitting he had been wrong, but he would never entertain the idea that he could be wrong.

“How close are we?” I asked Tinder Box as I strode up to her side. A glance at her and I realized I had unconsciously approached on the side where her face was scarred, her right side. Her eyes darted towards me for just a moment before returning to the road ahead.

“We’re getting close. There’s a hole in the wall of the old office building ahead. The bombs from the war left the entire building as little more than a shell, and we use it regularly as a path into the city. Our base is situated in a small neighborhood on the other side of the building,” she answered simply.

“Is there any other way in?” I asked, “I don’t really like the idea of marching through the front door.”

“None. We blocked everything else off,” Tinder answered, shaking her head, “To prevent exactly the sort of attack you’re thinking of. If it comes to that, our only chance will be in the overwhelming force we have. That Enclave soldier and griffin will be the real advantage.”

“He’s a Dashite,” I answered automatically, “Not Enclave. Got away with the armor, and they haven’t worked up to courage to come after him down here yet.”

“Either way, his weapons are going to be a big help. Now, we’re here. Let me do the talking. If we’re lucky, we should be able to get into the base before anypony realizes something is wrong.”

I nodded and took a few steps back, letting Tinder Box take the lead. She led us around a corner, and there ahead of us was a small hole blasted through the solid concrete walls of a ruined office building. Standing guard were two heavily scarred ponies. One of them was an Earth Pony stallion wielding a 10mm SMG, and the other was a former unicorn mare with a sawed-off shotgun. Nothing we couldn’t handle.

“Tinder, you’ve been gone long enough! Where the fuck are Surplus and Shatter?” the mare asked, stepping forward and swinging the shotgun around so it hung in easy reach of her mouth.

“They’re still heading towards the market to see if they can salvage anything from the Skulls old HQ. Told me to bring this bunch back so we could question ‘em,” the scarred mare answered, jerking her head back at the rest of us.

“Why the fuck are they still carrying their guns, then?” the buck demanded in a superior voice. He strode forward, using his larger bulk to tower over the smaller white mare. “I know how Surplus works, and she would not let them keep their guns.”

“Well Surplus ain’t here, Ratchet, so back the fuck off. I let them keep their guns in case somepony from one of those gangs uptown decided to try something. They willingly surrendered and agreed to come back, and they haven’t tried shit the whole way back. Now are you going to get out of my way, or do I need to explain to Surplus why you stopped me from following her orders?” Tinder growled, shoving the buck back with a leg.

The invocation of her name did the trick. “Hmph, fine. But she ain’t gonna be happy when she finds out, Tinder,” he growled, stepping to the side so we could enter.

“Well that’s my problem, isn’t it? Come on, you lot. Let’s go,” Tinder snapped, looking over her shoulder at the rest of us, then proceeded to walk through the wall.

We followed behind, and I was surprised to see how empty the building was. Within moments, we were alone again. “Your gang is certainly trying to hold on to a lot of space,” I whispered, looking around at the abandoned buildings around us.

“We use most of these buildings, but we just don’t live there. Storage and shit. Unfortunately, we keep the chems and medical supplies back at the old pharmacy near the apartments where we sleep, and that’s where most of the gang spends their time. At least Ratchet is dumb enough to believe me, and Razor Wire, the mare, is too scared of her own shadow to argue with him,” Tinder answered in a hushed tone of her own.

“Will we be able to bluff our way past the ponies by the pharmacy?” Crosswire asked.

“No likely. Enough of the ponies around here are so strung out on one drug or another that we’ve needed to keep careful watch over our stores. We might be able to take the guards out quietly, though,” Tinder answered.

“Yeah? How’s that?” Autumn asked, walking up to join us at the front.

Tinder shot the dark unicorn a pointed glare, then answered, “You have a knife there, Evergreen. Knives are quiet. I’ve got one as well. Between the two of us, we should be able to startle the guards and put ‘em down quick.”

“You sure you want to just kill them?” I asked warily. I was all for fighting when my life was at stake, or when somepony was doing something I really thought was wrong, but jumping a guard or two just because they were in my way didn’t sit right.

“Pretty much every single pony here buys into what Surplus believed. Fuckers deserve it, if you ask me. So, yeah, I just want to kill them. That a problem?” Tinder demanded, arching an eye at me.

I shrugged noncommittally. “I suppose not. How long will we have before somepony realizes something is wrong?”

Tinder looked around her, as if looking for somepony listening in on our conversation, then said, “If we’re lucky, they won’t figure it out for a few hours. If we’re unlucky, we won’t kill those guards quietly. Most likely, we’ll have at most ten minutes before somepony wanders by the pharmacy and notices the guards missing.”

I nodded. “Ok. How far to the pharmacy?”

“It’s just up ahead,” the scarred mare said as we turned a corner the opened on a small square. The pharmacy was immediately apparent by the two ponies standing guard, both wielding shotguns. A few other ponies were milling about the square, walking to and from other various buildings, some labelled as barracks, others as dining areas or something ubiquitously labelled as the “Lounge”. I did not like what that implied.

“Ok, follow my lead up here. I have an idea to get us inside. Evergreen, if this works, you and I will get in there quietly, but everypony else will have to wait outside. It’s our best chance for getting in their quietly. Joyride owes me a favor, which is why this might work,” Tinder explained quietly as we approached.

Several ponies turned to watch us with curious expressions, but they usually turned their attention back to whatever they had been doing once they saw Tinder Box in the lead. The one trait I noticed that every single pony here shared was that they were all heavily scarred to some degree, even more so than raider bands usually were.

We approached the guards at the pharmacy, who were by now watching us with wary expressions, and Tinder strode up to them, holding herself as tall as she could manage. “Joyride, I need to get in there for some medical supplies. This sack of shit that surrendered to Surplus needs a few healing potions to take care of some internal injuries before the boss gets back. Your partner can watch the others while you watch us, deal?”

I obligingly tried to put on as much of a pained expression as I could. It wasn’t too hard, considering the bruise that was forming underneath my barding from where that sniper shot had hit.

The light green stallion she was addressing rolled his one remaining eye, as if a half-dozen ponies tried to do this every day and drawled, “You know the rules, Tinder. Nopony gets to go in without Surplus’s say-so. Not even you. Go beg for a fix somewhere else.”

“Fine, let her die before Surplus gets to question her. It’ll be on your head. And need I remind you that you owe me for that shit against the Rawhides?” Tinder growled in return, “I’m calling that favor in, now.”

The stallion froze, eyeing first her, then me, with his single red eye. “Seriously, for this? Fuck, fine. Strike, watch them for a minute. We’ll be right back,” he growled, then nodded at the door, “Let’s go, and make it quick.”

He turned and unlocked the door and walked inside, clearly expecting us to follow. Tinder caught my eye as we started for the door and gave a near-imperceptible nod of her head. I returned the gesture and reached for my knife as we stepped through the door.

Inside, the pharmacy was far more organized than I had expected for a street gang. They actually had their various supplies and drugs separated by use in the various aisles. And they had managed to get enough power to the building so that half of the lights were on, bathing the store in a soft white light. Joyride was walking towards an aisle that looked to be stocked with various bandages, syringes, and other medical supplies.

“Once he turns down the aisle, I’ll go for his head, keep him quiet. You support me,” Tinder whispered, pitching her voice so I would be the only one to hear her.

I nodded and pulled my knife out of its sheath, readying myself. Joyride turned down the aisle, starting to speak. “Here we are. Grab what you need and let’s get the fuck out of here.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Tinder Box leapt, launching herself into the air at the stallion’s head. I ran after her, intending and striking at his back or chest, whichever target presented itself first.

Tinder landed on his back, plunging her dagger into the back of his neck as her hooves wrapped around his throat, cutting of his breath and not letting more than a squeak escape his lips. I stood behind her, body poised to attack should it become necessary, but she bore the stallion to the ground, holding him as his struggles grew weaker and weaker until he finally lay still.

The entire process fascinated me, because the mare showed absolutely no hesitation, and her face was set into a grim mask of determination throughout the entire attack. I was used to being around ponies that would usually shy away at attacking a pony from behind, yet she didn’t care at all. Even as a raider boss, I always looked every pony I killed in the eye.

“Come on, we don’t have much time,” the white mare growled as she wrenched the knife free and cleaned it on the dead stallion’s barding, “If you need medical supplies, grab them. I’ll go check for the radiation supplies.”

I nodded and started sweeping items into my bags. Healing potions, bandages, a few syringes of Med-X, all of it was stuff that we had, but never in bulk. Once that was done, I wandered down the aisles looking for Tinder. I finally found her at the end of an aisle containing nothing but inhalers of Dash and injectors of another half-dozen different sorts of drugs.

“Fuck, I hate it when they move shit around in here,” the scarred mare grumbled as she turned into the next aisle, “Finally! Fuckers never put the useful shit near each other.”

I followed her into the aisle and was met with the sight of dozens of bottles of Rad-X and just as many pouches of Rad-Away. Tinder was wandering down the aisle, slipping supplies into her saddlebags as she walked. I followed after her, doing the same. “You really think we’re going to need this much?”

“You haven’t been in those tunnels. I have. Surplus always gave those of us who weren’t born as Earth Ponies the worst jobs. Trust me, we’re going to need it,” she answered.

We had only been in the pharmacy for five minutes when our bags were almost bulging with supplies. We took another minute to drag Joyride’s corpse back to a corner of the store, but there wasn’t anything we could do about the blood except hope that the next pony that walked in would walk the other direction.

We were just starting to leave when I stopped the mare. “Joyride said something about looking for a fix. You strung out on anything like the other ponies here?” I asked, putting a hoof on her shoulder to stop her.

“What? Of course not. I’ve been straight ever since I was forced to join. It was my point of pride that I never got addicted to anything,” Tinder protested, twisting out from under my hoof and continuing on.

I wasn’t given a chance to answer, but Suture’s words were still ringing in my ears. Trust had to start somewhere. If this mare had a drug problem, she would either tell us before it became a problem, or she would leave before it mattered.

When we finally emerged back into the square, my friends were sitting in a standoff against a half-dozen ponies, a few of which were heavily armed and looked to have recently exerted themselves. On seeing those ponies, Tinder Box stiffened.

“Oh, shit,” she muttered under her breath as we walked out.

“Tinder, there you are, you lying cunt!” one of the armed ponies said. It was a brown stallion that looked to be a former unicorn, judging by the scar on his forehead, “Ratchet told me that Surplus ordered you to come back here with these fucks, yet I found her corpse out in the streets, her brains plastered all over the pavement with Shatter’s corpse next to her practically torn to ribbons from gunfire. I suggest you tell your new-found friends here to drop their weapons, or I’ll kill the whole lot of you!”

Tinder took a few careful steps forward, her eyes watching the stallion. She came to a stop a moment later, amidst a small pile of rubble. “Are you telling me you wouldn’t have offed her if given the chance, Magnum? She did to you exactly what she did to me, and I know you hated her just as much for it. You’re just pissed I got to her first.” The mare’s shotgun slipped from her back and swung around so it was hanging in front of her. The movement seemed to be an accident, but the weapon now hung in easy reach of her mouth, a fact that seemed to be lost on the buck facing her.

He laughed, his entire body shaking with the action, making the barrels of the shotguns hanging from his battle saddle vibrate, telling me they weren’t in very good condition. The ponies around him laughed as well, all brandishing their own weapons. Most looked to be in rough shape, though a few seemed to be well taken care of. Those were the ponies I would have to target first, if this went south.

“Oh, Tinder, you ignorant bitch, do you really think we didn’t know how much you hated her? Did it ever cross that twisted mind of yours that we wanted her to do this to us? She set us free! And now you had to go and fuck it all up!” Magnum laughed, “And here you are, thinking I agree with you! Even worse, you’re helping the ones that killed her, including two dirty unicorns, a fucking Pegasus, and a Goddesses-damned griffin! You don’t give two shits about this gang, do you?”

“Never have,” the mare growled, lowering herself and bringing her shotgun within reach. I lifted my leg, bringing Hammer closer to my mouth as well, knowing that a fight was about to break out.

A flash of inspiration hit me. “So, now that Surplus is dead, who’s the pony in charge around here? I’m sure we’d be able to strike a deal,” I asked, putting a bit of fake fear into my voice, looking from face to face,” The odds are against us, and all I want is to get out in one piece.”

Several eyes lit up as they realized nopony was technically in charge. The top lieutenants were either dead or traitors, so the floor was open. Magnum was one of the ponies to get a sudden look of ambition on his face. Perfect.

“Me, of course. I’m the only other pony she sends off to be in charge of other scouting parties,” he answered imperiously, thrusting out his chest as every single self-important buck did.

Immediately, an off-white mare standing to his right spoke up. “Fuck you talking about, Magnum? Surplus would never put you in charge of the gang! You weren’t even born an Earth Pony like me! If anypony would take over, it’s me!” she snapped, turning to face the brown buck. She was holding a dirty revolver in her mouth. It wasn’t in good condition, so its accuracy was probably shit, but she was so close to him that it shouldn’t matter.

“You?!” another pony asked incredulously. The voice belonged to a pink mare wielding a submachine gun, “You don’t even know how to organize your own saddlebags!”

Several other ponies started speaking up, either declaring their own suitability to lead or backing the ones they supported. Within minutes, the entire camp was divided into a half dozen different factions, facing each other down, weapons out and ready.

I strode forward until I was standing in front of my friends, staring Magnum in the eye. He was the only pony that was still facing us, though the ponies around him were barely paying attention to us anymore. They were all too busy trying to keep their weapons pointed at their new enemies. “You might want to try to get some control if you want to be in charge, Magnum,” I stated, putting as much charm as I could into my voice, which admittedly wasn’t much, but it was probably the most interest a mare had ever shown the scarred buck, “After all, I’d prefer to deal with you.”

Predictably, the buck took the bluff and ran, rising up on his hind legs and shouting, “I am the one in charge here! Now shut up, the lot of you! This is what we’re going to-“

He was interrupted as a half-dozen ponies opened fire. Most of the shots directed at him flew wide to either hit ponies around him or fly off to impact the buildings around us, but a few key shots struck him in the chest, back and head, and he dropped, dead before he hit the ground.

Those first shots lit the powder keg around us as the half-dozen factions started shooting at one another, with a few potshots being taken in our direction. Ponies scattered in all directions, running for cover or to make it to the sides of the ponies they supported. Within minutes, the camp was a warzone, complete with angry curses and agonized screams.

My group made to run for the hole back out to the streets, but the sheer mass of fire around us made almost any movement impossible. As it was, we were pinned against the pharmacy. As I watched, a small group of ponies turned and started for us, almost all of them wielding crude melee weapons.

“Steel Curtain, Marcus, get in the air and find us a way out of here!” I shouted over the din, waving a hoof at the two before turning and dodging out of the way of a crazed buck running at me with a lead pipe. I swung my Pipbuck at him and struck him on the back of the head, sending him to the ground, dazed, where Tinder finished him off with a shotgun blast.

Behind me, I heard the two flyers launch themselves into the air, followed by several surprised shouts and gunfire that sounded like it was directed into the air. The iconic whine of Steel Curtain’s miniguns answered the gunfire, eliciting several shouts of agony and death. The amount of incoming fire lessened significantly, maybe enough for us to get out.

“This way!” I shouted over my shoulder at the rest of my friends, then turned and started to run through the gap Steel Curtain had opened. From behind me I could hear the retort of Autumn’s and Suture’s pistols as they fought off the gangers now trying to stop us, as well as the blasts of Tinder’s shotgun. I doubted we’d still be alive if they weren’t all too busy fighting each other.

Once out in the open, we became more of a target, though Marcus and Steel Curtain did a terrific job keeping anypony from being able to get close. A small group of gangers wielding old pistols turned their attention to us and managed to break through the defensive wall formed by the Dashite and the griffin, but were quickly cut down by a combination of mine, Crosswire’s and Tinder’s fire, Autumn being busy trying to keep Suture out of the line of fire.

We managed to break out of the thick of the fighting mostly thanks to Steel Curtain’s weapons, as very few ponies had the firepower to withstand him, but the off-white mare was blocking our route into the building, flanked by three of her supporters.

“You started this fight, and I am going to claim victory with your head!” she shouted as she brought the revolver to bear against me and fired. True to my prediction earlier, the weapon was inaccurate, and instead of hitting me in the head as the mare no doubt intended, the round slammed into my chest, but was deflected by my barding. Almost simultaneously, I brought Hammer up and slid into S.A.T.S., lining up a pair of shots to the mare’s head, since the chance to hit really wasn’t ideal, no doubt a result of the pain now throbbing in my chest in time to my heartbeat.

The spell triggered, and the mare’s head imploded as the shots flew home. The buck to her right flinched away from the carnage, only to have a pair of holes open up in his chest from Marcus’s pistols. I adjusted my aim and fired again, felling another mare with a shot to the throat. The last pony fell as the buckshot from Tinder’s riot shotgun tore half his face off and knocked him into the wall, leaving a smear of red behind.

We charged past the corpses, breaking out into the relative safety of the streets. “Marcus, take point! Get us to those tunnels!” I shouted up at the griffin, looking over my shoulder for any pursuit. Thankfully, the fight I had started was consuming all of their attention, and nopony was coming after us.

It wasn’t until the Metro sign loomed in front of us that we slowed our pace. If nopony had followed us here, they weren’t going to. We came to a complete stop at the top of the staircase leading down, and Steel Curtain and Marcus alighted next to us, both of them taking the moment of calm to reload their weapons.

“Well, that was fun,” the griffin muttered as he pulled out a bandage and wrapped it around a bullet wound in his arm, “Didn’t think those fuckers’ aim was that good.”

“No shit,” Tinder answered with a chuckle as she chugged down a healing potion, making a pair of bullet holes in one of her shoulders close up, “Though I have to say that was great thinking, Evergreen. Getting them to turn on each other was genius!”

“Wasn’t hard to figure out,” I answered, shrugging, “In a gang, if the leader is taken out without anypony having a chance to plan for it, that kind of shit is always going to happen. I just sped it up. Seemed like the best way to get out. Thinking of, is everypony all right?”

Everyone quickly answered me positively. The worst injuries were the bullet wounds taken by Tinder Box and Marcus, and those were already well taken care of. While they answered, I started dumping my radiation supplies onto the ground. Simply standing this close to the Metro was making my Pipbuck click slowly.

“Good. Everypony grab some supplies and take some Rad-X now. For those of you with Pipbucks, take some RadAway when your rads hit 600, so we can make them last. We’ll take care of completely cleansing our systems when we get out of there. Hopefully Shooting Star will have some supplies that will help us with that. Everypony without Pipbucks: pick a partner. You drink when they do. Steel Curtain, does that armor of yours have a rad-meter?”

“Yeah, it does. I’ll be good,” the Pegasus answered swiftly, stepping forward and grabbing some supplies and dumping them into his saddlebags.

“Good. Crosswire, you’re with me. Marcus, it’s you and Steel Curtain. Tinder Box, I’ll put you with Suture. Keep close and keep an eye on those rad-meters. Let’s move,” I ordered as I popped a pair of pills of Rad-X, then started down the broken steps into the Metro.

Very quickly, the radiation jumped up to about ten rads per second, an amount that would kill us in very short order if we weren’t prepared. It also meant there was a very good chance of running into ghouls down here. They thrived on radiation.

The main ticketing square was littered with various kinds of trash, ranging from empty Sparkle-Cola bottles to old newspapers to abandoned suitcases overflowing with rotting clothing. All of it was testament to the destruction witnessed by the city. Here and there, ancient skeleton lay on the ground, the positions implying they had been tossed about, as if they were toys carelessly tossed aside by a giant.

“A bomb must have come down close to here for it to look like this,” I muttered as we strode through the waste. My rads were already approaching four hundred, and I was beginning to feel nauseous. We had barely been down here for five minutes…

“Yeah, it hit two blocks down, one of only two to hit the city itself,” Tinder answered, her voice strained, “We think the bomb broke something important in the maintenance tunnels down here, which is why they are still flooded with radiation.

“That would make sense. If the bomb struck by one of the utility access points, I could see the balefire getting in there and wrecking the spark generators. It wouldn’t take much to disrupt that kind of equipment and make them start to leak radiation, not to mention the radiation from the bomb itself,” Crosswire agreed.

I nodded tiredly, fighting back the urge to vomit as I slurped down a Rad-Away that tasted like spoiled oranges. Why did they all have to taste like spoiled oranges? “Let’s just keep moving. This place is flooded with radiation, and we’ve got a pretty good distance we need to go.”

Everypony nodded in agreement, and we picked up our pace, descending a set of broken down escalators to the actual train platforms. “Which way to the park?” I asked Marcus, turning to face the griffin. He looked even worse than I felt. The feathers on his head and neck were dull, and he looked like he was struggling to keep his stomach under control.

“North,” he answered weakly, pointing down one of the tunnels before reaching into one of the pockets of his duster and pulling out a pack of Rad-Away, which he promptly drank.

“Good. Tinder, you know these tunnels better than we do. Take point with me. Steel Curtain and Marcus, I want you two on the flanks. Suture and Autumn will be in the center, and Crosswire will be in the rear. Let’s go,” I ordered, jumping down onto the rotten ties of the tracks and starting to walk.

Everyone else quickly fell into position and we pressed on into the dark tunnel where the only source of illumination was a string of weak red emergency lights along one wall and the lights from our Pipbucks. About three hundred yards, and another pack of Rad-Away, in, we were met with a wall of rubble and destroyed railcar.

“We need a path around this. Anypony see anything?” I asked, turning to face the rest of my friends. Tinder was still examining the rail car wedged into the rubble behind me.

“There looked to be a maintenance entrance about twenty yards back,” Crosswire reported, coming up from the back of the formation.

“Either that or we can break out the window of this rail car. It gets pretty narrow in there, but we should be able to make it if we go one by one. Even the Dashite should be able to make it through with his armor,” Tinder said from behind me.

“That’ll be our back up. Going through something that small will slow us down. The maintenance access should make us move quicker,” I said, stepping past my friends and heading for the door Crosswire mentioned.

The tech fell into step beside me and approached the door as we approached. Beyond it, I thought I could hear movement, but nothing was showing up on my E.F.S., a fact that made me very unhappy. He fiddled with the locking mechanism for a few moments, then the entire metal entrance folded on itself and slid into the walls.

All of a sudden, a dozen red bars appeared on my E.F.S. as a few dozen small lights appeared in the dark room beyond, reflecting the light being cast by my Pipbuck. Something growled, and I saw Crosswire’s horn glow and his SMG float out to face the light.

“Ghouls,” he muttered darkly, backing up a step. The tone in his voice was all I needed to hear to know that a fight wasn’t going to be avoidable.

I nodded in response, lifting my leg and drawing Hammer. In that moment, the ghouls screamed and leapt forward, coming at us in a tide of undead flesh. I slipped into S.A.T.S., lining up shots at the first ghouls that gave me a half-decent chance to hit and triggered the spell.

Three ghouls fell immediately as the heavy revolver rounds tore into their bodies, and another two fell as Crosswire’s SMG tore into them. But no matter how fast we were, there were simply too many. Three bodies collided with me simultaneously, driving me to the ground and forcing the breath from my lungs and sending Hammer spiraling off into the dark. I lashed out with my Pipbuck, striking a ghoul in the chest with it and managing to force it off of me where a shotgun blast took its head off. The other two lunged at me, but I twisted, making one’s teeth close on my armored shoulder and the other miss completely.

The ghoul on my shoulder started to worry at it, trying to break through the armor plating, and as a result made it near impossible to use that leg. The other backed its head up and attacked again. I brought my free leg up, the one with my Pipbuck, and wedged it into the ghoul’s mouth. It clamped down, but since it wasn’t actually grabbing me, I had a moment to reach for my other shoulder where my knife was sheathed and pull the weapon free.

I jammed the knife up to the hilt into the throat of the ghoul grabbing my Pipbuck, then twisted and pulled it free. Dark ichor flowed from the wound to flow down my leg and slip under the hem of my barding, soaking my hide. The ghoul fell limply to the side, dying, and I turned to deal with the ghoul on my shoulder.

At just that moment, somepony shouted, “Glowing One!” and a bright flash of green light enveloped me, spiking the amount of rads I was soaking up to almost twenty a second. I finished my attack, stabbing the ghoul on my shoulder through the temple, but the ghoul I had stabbed through the throat rose up from where it was lying beside me, the fatal wound completely healed, and lunged at me.

This time, I wasn’t fast enough to get my Pipbuck in my way, and it clamped down on the already injured part of my leg, sending a wave of agony through the limb. I screamed in pain and tried to stab at it, but it reared back, taking a large chunk of flesh with it, nearly making me black out from the agony.

It lunged again, but right before it connected, a shotgun blast caught it in the side, picking it up and tossing it away from me like dust caught in the wind. I pushed myself away from the dark room where ghouls were still pouring out of, holding back cries of pain as I held my injured leg against my chest, bright red blood pouring out of the ghastly wound to soak my barding.

A glowing pony shape appeared in my vision, slowly approaching me. It looked like a ghoul, except that the exposed muscles under its tattered hide were glowing bright green, and the amount of rads I was soaking up was spiking as it neared. Around me, I could still here the sounds of battle. My friends were too busy fighting the rest of them off to help me.

Already, I could see the amount of rads I was absorbing creep past seven hundred. Another few minutes, and I would be rendered unconscious. From there, it was only a matter of time until it killed me. Suddenly, the Glowing One leapt, its jaws opened wide as it lunged for my throat. I did the only thing I could think to do and lifted my injured leg to stop it.

I screamed as it bit down on my leg, widening the wound left by the other ghoul, and tore at my flesh, tearing another section of meat away. I could now very easily make out the exposed bone of my leg. It lunged again, and I brought my hind legs up, kicking. I caught it in the chest and knocked it away, but couldn’t get enough strength behind the kick to knock it over.

It recovered quickly, running at me as I pushed myself another few inches away, my leg now feeling completely numb. That wasn’t good. I came up against something small and metal that clattered when I reached it. Praying that it was what I thought it was, I twisted, keeping my shredded limb clear of the ground, and grabbed for it with my mouth.

Luck was with me as my teeth closed around Hammer’s grip, and I brought the heavy revolver to bear, aiming at the Glowing One. I fired, sending a round straight through the ghoul’s chest. It staggered back, but it looked like the round had passed clear through its chest, leaving a gaping wound, but it was still on its feet running for me.

I fired two more times until the hammer clicked on an empty chamber. The first round struck it in the leg, making it falter. The second struck it square between the eyes, sending a mass of glowing grey matter out the back of its head and making it collapse in a heap on top of me, leaking radioactive fluids all over me.

From some combination of the smell of the thing and the amount of radiation in my body, I retched, spilling what little I had managed to eat for lunch over the body, then fell back, gasping for breath. I needed a Rad-Away, and a healing potion, but I didn’t have the strength to reach for either. The inside of my mouth tasted like tin, even after I dropped Hammer, and I could feel my strength ebbing away. Blood was flowing freely from my mangled leg, covering my armor and seeping into the fur on my belly.

Around me, the sounds of battle faded and the sound of a maintenance door being closed and sealed echoed through the dark confines of the tunnel. “Shit, you think they can get through there?” somepony asked, panting heavily. The voice sounded feminine, but it didn’t have the gentleness of Suture’s voice or the harsh slang I usually equated with Autumn Mist, so it had to be Tinder Box.

“If that doesn’t hold, the ponies that built this place didn’t do their fucking jobs,” Crosswire swore, then there was the sound of slurping as he drank a package of Rad-Away.

My vision started to swim, the edges going black as I drifted towards unconsciousness. “Fuck, where the hell is Evergreen? I swear I heard her scream during the fighting,” Steel Curtain asked with a worried tone, and there was the sound of something heavy moving as the armored Pegasus marched around the tunnel.

He found me a few seconds later and dragged me back to consciousness when he accidentally stepped on one of my rear legs that was jutting out from under the dead Glowing One, making my cry out with the sudden pain.

“Shit, Evergreen! Suture, get over here, now!” the Pegasus ordered, pulling the corpse off of me before settling down next to me and lifting me into an awkward sitting position.

The maroon mare appeared next to me, holding two packages of Rad-Away to my lips. “Drink these first. You’re going to die if you don’t!” she insisted, pressing the loose plastic into my mouth, then squeezing the vile shit into my mouth.

I wanted to vomit, but she ordered Steel Curtain to tilt my head back and forced me to swallow. When he released me, I started to cough weakly, and felt my stomach about to rebel, but then the Rad-Away hit my system, carrying away the feelings of nausea, at least for now.

Then the pain from my leg hit me, and I tried to move it, only to find that it wasn’t responding to me. “Suture… my leg,” I groaned, “I can’t move it.”

“Shit, that ghoul did a lot of damage to the muscle tissue,” the medic muttered to herself, one of the few times I had heard her swear, and ignored my comment. Her muzzle disappeared into her saddlebags and re-emerged a few moments later with a pair of healing potions. She quickly un-stoppered them and held them out to me, one-by-one.

I drank them both, and the pain faded somewhat, but I could still feel blood flowing freely from the wounds. “Suture, it hurts,” I complained, “Why can’t I move it?”

The lucid part of my mind realized I was in shock, but I couldn’t seem to make the rest of my thoughts, or my mouth, reflect that knowledge. A small corner of my mind told me I was dying.

“Suture, she’s getting weaker,” Steel Curtain said from beside me.

“You think I don’t see that!” the medic growled angrily, her head disappearing back into her saddlebags, then coming out with two syringes of what appeared to be Med-X, as well as another injector I had only seen a few times before.

First, she injected the Med-X. The first syringe made the fire in my leg dim somewhat, though it still hurt. The second completely numbed it, and made me feel like I was floating on a cloud. My mind became fuzzy, and that small, lucid corner of my mind told me that it wasn’t like Suture to dose a pony like this. She was always far too worried about addiction.

“Fuck, I hate using this stuff, but we don’t have a choice. Evergreen, if you can understand me, bite down on this. What I am about to do is going to hurt,” the medic said, putting a thick piece of fabric into my mouth.

Not knowing why, I did as she asked, biting down on the cloth. A moment later, she used the other injector on my injured leg. I tried to scream through the cloth as fire raced through my leg, making me contort my body as I tried to break out from under Steel Curtain’s restraining hooves.

The fire spread from my leg out into the rest of my body, and I could feel my heart start to hammer against my ribcage, feeling like it was about to burst out. A wave of cold followed the fire, and my leg started to throb in time to my heart. I shifted my gaze to my leg and saw the flesh flowing around the grievous wound, obscuring the bone. Before my eyes, blood vessels grew and connected with each other; muscle tissue and tendons grew along the bone to give it back its mobility. Finally, my familiar brown hide grew along the exposed muscle, resulting in a flawless leg. It looked like it had never even been scratched.

The cold sensation finally faded, leaving me lying on the cold, hard ground, panting in exhaustion. My strength was completely gone, drained out of me by a combination of pain and the drug Suture had just used to heal me. Steel Curtain was no longer restraining me, but merely holding me as I panted, my eyes only half open.

“What the hell was that? Did it work?” he asked hurriedly, looking at Suture who was sitting with a regretful expression.

“Hydra. It’s a concoction that regenerates limbs, but it also floods the system with Taint. That’s why I hate using it. If she’s lucky, the Taint won’t affect her badly, maybe a benign tumor here or there that we can safely cut away. If she’s unlucky… well, Taint is known for causing severe cancer. I just hope that since I injected into her leg, and not some other part of her body that she’s going to be lucky. And yes, it worked,” she muttered sadly, reaching into her bags for another healing potion, which she held up to me.

I drank it down, feeling my strength start to flow back into my limbs, then reached for my canteen and emptied it into my mouth, relishing the cool taste of the water. “I’m all right,” I finally breathed when I finished, “Help me up. We can’t stay here long.”

I wanted nothing more than to sit and gather my strength, but my rad-meter was already pushing six hundred again. We had to get out of this deathtrap. I struggled to my hooves, Steel Curtain helping me first roll over, then get my legs under me. My regenerated left leg felt odd under me, but it held my weight.

“Tinder, we’re using your route. The maintenance tunnels are a no-go,” I muttered with a weak grin at the mare, who gave me a dark look that spoke volumes.

“No shit,” was all she said as she turned and approached the front of the crashed train and readied her shotgun.

The retort of the gun echoed loudly in the tunnel, but the glass in the front of the train shattered, blasting inwards with the buckshot. The scarred white mare used the barrel of the weapon to clear the glass away from the edge of the window, then clambered in, squeezing her way past the rubble and back into the passenger section of the train. The rest of us followed after her, one-by-one, until we were all gathered together on the far side of the blockage.

We drank another package of Rad-Away each, then set off down the tunnel. We were getting close to our goal, but our supply of radiation chems was dwindling quickly. Thankfully, my E.F.S. wasn’t picking up anything ahead of us, though I wasn’t trusting the device at the moment, as it hadn’t managed to detect those ghouls.

“How close are we?” I demanded of Tinder as we trotted down the tunnel, hugging the wall to the side of the train, since its hulk took up almost the entire tunnel. Walking through the train had proven to be impossible, as there was almost no space for any of us to maneuver. If something appeared to attack us, we would be so many sitting corpses.

“The station ahead will take us out where we want to be,” the mare answered tiredly. Her eyes were drooping and I could see the stagger in her step that told me she was suffering from radiation poisoning.

“Good. We need to get the fuck out of here,” I growled, putting a little more life into my step and accelerating to a canter. Everypony else followed suit, and we were soon pounding through the tunnel, finally emerging onto the platform of the station, which was thankfully empty. We charged up the broken down escalator and when we reached the top, the rads we were taking in finally dropped down to almost nothing.

We promptly collapsed, reaching into our bags for the last of our radiation meds and finished them off, lowering the amount of radiation in our systems to low, if not negligible levels. Suture wasn’t happy, saying that we were all still at risk, me especially after her use of Hydra, but there wasn’t much we could do about it.

After almost twenty minutes of simply gathering our strength again, we rose to our hooves, or talons, and pressed on, making our way out of the Metro station and emerging out into an open square. The center looked like it would have once been covered in soft, green grass, but all that was left was bare dirt with a few stalks of dead, brown grass lying limp against the dirt.

The buildings around the square were dilapidated, sorry excuses for structures. Many of them were either collapsed or on the verge of collapse. The only structure that appeared to be even close to intact was what could only be Shooting Star’s station. It was a solid brick building whose walls were scorched black, but several antenna and dishes hung off the roof, held together with a complicated network of wiring.

It was almost directly across the square from us. After everything we had been through, and considering what I was going to have to say to the buck, the distance seemed like a few miles.

We started walking, fanning out into our usual formation, with me and Tinder leading the way. As we neared the radio station, the door opened and a pair of ponies emerged. One was a white unicorn stallion wearing combat armor and wielding a combat shotgun. The other was a sand-colored Earth Pony holding a submachine gun in his mouth. They glared at us, pointing their weapons in our direction, despite our obvious advantage in numbers.

“That’s close enough, Wastelander,” the unicorn shouted from the door when we were about thirty yards away, “What do you want?”

I came to a stop, and the rest of my friends gathered around me, most of them reaching for their weapons as well. “I just want to talk to Shooting Star,” I answered, “It’s important.”

“We’ll be the ones to decide that. Now talk, or get the fuck out of here,” the unicorn growled, brandishing the shotgun.

“Look, he’s been going on and on about me these last couple of weeks. I think at the very least I should be able to talk to him,” I answered impatiently, stomping a hoof.

Unfortunately, they both laughed. “Oh, isn’t this rich. Another fucking mare claiming to be the Heroine. Look, I respect that you managed to get out here, and you even managed to get an impressive group together to look the part, but she’s been spending all her time down in the wasteland around Metro. She doesn’t have a reason to come all the way up here!” the unicorn exclaimed between breaths, still laughing.

“And how do you know I don’t have a reason to come up here?” I snapped, striding forward. The movement made them immediately stop laughing and level their weapons at me again. “If he knows that much about what’s going on around Metro, and has ponies in place to talk to some of the ponies I’ve managed to save, then he has a good information network. I need that network. There is shit going on in this wasteland that everypony is ignoring, and I intend to fucking do something about it!”

The two stallions exchanged a glance, then looked back at me. “All right. I’m going to give you one chance to prove that you’re the Heroine of Seaddle. What was the first thing you were on the radio for? If you’re some random pony that started listening after she become known, you won’t know that.”

I sighed, thinking back to the first time I had listened to the radio back in the Pearlescent’s inn in Millberry. “He was talking about me going into Stable 60 and saving the ghoul population that had managed to survive down there,” I said, picturing Marmelade’s face, and the look of gratitude that had come across his features when he saw the sky again for the first time in two hundred years.

The two stallions paused, then holstered their weapons. “It really is you…” the Earth Pony mused, stepping forward until he was standing just across from me, “Luna be damned, the DJ is going to blow a gasket when he finally meets you. Shit, I can’t actually believe you’re here!”

“Only because I need to be. Can we go in? They’re all with me, and if need be, you can consider me responsible for them,” I asked, taking in my friends with a gesture.

“Of course you’re all welcome! Fuck, I know he wanted you to come out here, he even thought about getting a few of his contacts to approach you, but decided against it, as he thought it would simply interrupt you!” the unicorn exclaimed, “This way. Your friends can rest in our mess while you talk to the DJ.”

I nodded my acknowledgment, and the two stallions led us into the station. The main entrance was organized like as a barricade, with a row of sandbags erected facing the door. A heavy machine gun was set up just across from the door, and a hardened red mare with a yellow mane was sitting at its controls, sighting at the door. She visibly relaxed and sat back to light a cigarette when the two stallions entered. Apparently everypony here was willing to trust us since we had been let in.

Honestly, the level of security surprised me. This DJ must have a lot of influence if he had this many guards protecting him. My guess was that they were probably part of some organization in the city, maybe one of the more powerful gangs that happened to own this part of the city.

The stallions led us to the mess hall and provided us all with another few packages of Rad-Away each once they found out how we had gotten here, then told us to help ourselves to their food.

Then they looked to me. “Well, you ready to meet him, Heroine? You’ve come a long way, and can rest first if you want. We have free beds.”

“Don’t call me that. My name is Evergreen,” I growled. I hated the title, and everything it implied. How could I be anypony’s hero when the only guarantee when I showed up anywhere was more death? “And I’d rather just talk to him now. I can rest when we’re done.”

“Oh, of course… Evergreen,” the unicorn said, stumbling over the name. It was immediately obvious that he had expected me to embrace the title, and he was thrown off by the fact that I didn’t want to be called that.

He led me in silence through the cramped hallways of the structure towards a stairwell that led up to the second floor, where the DJ presumably kept his equipment. Every scrap of floor space was in use for something in the building, with only the bare minimum being left open for us to walk through. Everywhere else was being used as storage for weapons, ammunition, medical supplies, maintenance supplies for both the structure itself and the ponies’ weapons, and a half dozen other essential things these ponies needed to survive out here. If nothing else, they were extremely well supplied.

“Who are you ponies?” I finally asked as we approached the stairs, my eyes being drawn to a crate that was labelled ‘.50 API’. I did not want to face the weapons they belonged to. A fifty caliber weapon was one thing, but one loaded with armor piercing and incendiary rounds was simply terrifying.

The unicorn laughed, and it was a real laugh, unlike the ugly sounds I was used to hearing from raiders and slavers. “I can imagine your confusion. I bet the only ponies you’ve run into in the city have been your standard ganger stock, like that white mare traveling with you. Looks like she’s from the Earth Marchers a few blocks to the south. We heard a lot of noise from there earlier. Your doing?”

I nodded, “Yeah, we came up against them as we got into the city proper. Tinder Box was from Stable 113, outside the city, and was pressed into the gang when they found their expedition a few years back. She helped us get into their camp and take the radiation chems we needed to get through that Metro tunnel.”

“Hmm, nice work. That gang was starting to make a nuisance of themselves, challenging our scavenging patrols. To answer your question, I suppose most ponies would only consider us a gang like any other now, since we hold this part of the city, but we’re more than that. Most of us are descended from the remnants of the old Equestrian military that survived the bombs. They held on to the military lifestyle, since it seemed like it would be needed in the world that resulted. Good foresight on their part. In the end, we still consider ourselves the Equestrian military, though we know we don’t have the authority to back it up.”

“Why are you protecting Shooting Star?” I asked, curious. I was surprised that any fragment of the old military had survived, but I could also see why it would happen. I remember my parents telling me that a lot of ponies had joined up out of the belief in what they were fighting for. It stood to reason that some of them would hang on to that even after Equestria fell apart.

“Because he’s the only one up here that gives a damn about anypony else. Take any group you can think of: the gangs, the Steel Rangers, the Enclave, even Metro. They all are out to help themselves. Sure, some of them are more willing to help outsiders than others, but in the end all they want is to ensure their own survival. We protect Shooting Star because he cares more about broadcasting that signal than he does protecting his own hide,” the unicorn stated, “As far as I know, you’re the only pony in the entire damn region that feels the same way. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here, and he wouldn’t have bothered talking about you.”

His words left me silent as I thought about what he meant. It was true that I had almost thrown my life away in my attempts to help others, and it was definitely a better line of thought than the one that Yaari had left me with. Maybe that was the balance I needed to find. Maybe it was about doing what I could to help others, despite the risk to myself, even if I had to kill in order to do it.

“Well, we’re here. Go ahead on in. He’ll know who you are the moment he sets eyes on you, I’m sure of it,” the unicorn said with a smile, gesturing to the door in front of me before turning and heading back down the staircase.

Now that I was here, I was hesitant to open the door. For weeks I had heard this stallion talking about me as if I was the greatest thing to happen since the spark battery, and I finally had a chance to do something about it. To my shame, a small part of my mind wanted to make sure that didn’t stop. I resolutely put that part of my mind down and opened the door.

Beyond the door I was met with a scene straight out of the old technology magazines I would find from time to time in ruins: Tables and benches absolutely littered with wires, switchboards, computers, and recording instruments of all kinds. An entire wall was taken up by a vast collection of holotapes, most of which looked to be records of Shooting Star’s shows, along with a few ancient music tapes, probably what he used to fill the void between shows.

There was only one pony in the room, and there was no doubt that it was Shooting Star. He was a fit Pegasus stallion with a bright blue hide and even brighter yellow mane that was kept back from his face by a bright red headband, but was allowed to flow freely down the back of his neck to cascade around his shoulders. On his flank was a brand of Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark, which told me immediately that he had been born above the clouds, making me instantly jealous of him. He had actually seen the stars, the moon, and, most importantly, the sun.

He was standing at a microphone facing a window that looked to be heavily reinforced that gazed out onto the landscape of the city. It was also facing south, towards the wasteland I knew.

“Hellllooooooo Seaddle!” the stallion announced in his usual joyful tone after taking a deep breath, “You are listening to Shooting Star, you ever so reliable, and might I add handsome, DJ. But you didn’t tune in to hear me talk about myself, you want to hear the news! Here are the juiciest details that have crossed my path:

Another group of slavers have been vanquished, thanks to the attentions of your Heroine of Seaddle! A few days ago, a rather large shipment of slaves was seen traveling the region between Grovedale and Metro, but our Heroine stepped in and set those ponies free, and even guided them safely all the way back to Metro! How is that for a good influence!

In other, more somber, news, the Heroine has not been seen since she departed from Metro shortly afterwards. If anypony knows, I would be more than grateful to learn where that Paragon of Ponykind has hidden herself this time!”

I felt myself becoming more and more uncomfortable with every word he spoke. It had been bad before, when he was still learning about me. Now, he made it sound like I was some sort of superpony that would always sweep in to save the day. The image of a dead mare lying forgotten on a bed was all the reminder that I needed that that wasn’t the case.

The DJ took a breath from his oratory and shot a glance over his shoulder towards me, and I saw his eyes go wide and his jaw go slack. There was no doubting the look of recognition in his eyes. Fuck, now I would have to put up with him shouting my praises to the entire wasteland.

“Hold on now, Seaddle, I have the biggest update of the week for you!” he shouted ecstatically into the microphone, “I have just received the answer to my very last question, and you will not beeelieeeve it! Take one guess who is standing here in the studio of yours truly? If you guessed the one and only Heroine of Seaddle, you are exactly right! Who would have thought she would show up here, just in time for my show!” He turned so that he was facing me, and so that there was space at the microphone beside him.

“Come on up here, Heroine! I have waited a looooong time to finally be able to do this!” he announced with a vigorous gesture of ‘come here’ with his hoof.

I hesitated, then slowly did as he bid, making my way up to the microphone. I was very conscious of the fact that I was still coated in blood, most of it my own.

“So, Heroine, what brought you all the way up here to my little corner of Seaddle, hmmm? Isn’t there someplace else you’re needed more?” he asked me, his tone questioning, but not accusatory. It was surprising just how much life and emotion the buck could put into his words.

In a small corner of my mind, I could hear Crosswire urging me not to publicly destroy the image that the stallion had made of me. Part of me wanted to announce that I hated the title anyway, but the wiser part of me knew that would be damning. So, as much as I hated it, I had to play along.

“Honestly? I need your help, Shooting Star. There’s only so much a single pony can do in the wasteland, and I need to know where I can do the most good. I’ve spent the last weeks in and around Metro, but that is only one small part of the wasteland. I need to look farther out, if I’m actually going to make a difference,” I answered, trying to put a little life into my words, but my exhaustion at the events of the day, from the battle with the Earth Marchers to the fight with the ghouls, not to mention the excessive radiation of the Metro tunnels themselves, left me feeling drained, and I could feel my voice reflecting that.

“I don’t think there is anything you could have said that would make me more proud,” the Pegasus buck said with a lively smile that lit his entire face, “You see, most ponies would be mad at you for coming all the way out here when you could be helping others, but you and I see the world differently. You know that the wasteland had been this way for a long time, and that putting out a few fires here or there really isn’t going to change anything. We know that we need to fix things at the most basic level, to improve the lives of eeeeveryyyypony, if we are going to ever accomplish anything. I can respect that.”

Just like that, the stallion had taken my poorly worded statement, and put it into a format that I’m pretty sure anypony could understand. “Yeah, pretty much,” I answered simply with a shrug, not sure what else to say.

“Well, I love to hear it. But let me ask you something, first. How do you feel about what you’ve been doing, about the difference you’ve been making in so many ponies’ lives?” he asked. I could practically hear him hold his breath as he finished the question, he eyes glued on me.

I hesitated, thinking back on everything that everypony had ever told me ever since I had left that camp such a short time ago. There was Yaari’s approach, that no matter how much good I tried to do, I would never be anything more than a killer, and that my hooves would always be stained with the blood of the innocent. There was Shooting Star’s view: that I was some sort of hero, destined to save the wasteland from itself. And then there was the view I had just heard: that I was a pony that actually cared about what happened in the wasteland, and that I was willing to put my life on the line to see some good happen.

“How do I feel about my choices?” I mused out loud, asking the question to myself, “They aren’t easy. I know from my interactions with slavers, gangers, and your own guards up here, that ponies are trying to emulate me, thinking that all they need to do is pick up a gun and go out there to put things right, but it isn’t that easy. Every choice I make carries consequences, and I haven’t always been equipped to deal with those,” I answered as honestly as I could, “Some days are harder than most, like when my friends get hurt, and I don’t know how serious the injuries are, or when I have to choose between letting somepony decide to follow their own dreams, even if it could mean their death, or stopping them to ensure that they live, even if it shackles them to a life they don’t want. But most of all, it’s hard knowing that every time I try to help somepony in need, I know that I will most likely have to kill again. The responsibility of that many lives, even if most of them deserve their fate, isn’t something I can just write off. As terrible as those ponies are, they are still living, breathing ponies, and their deaths are just as real as anyone else’s.”

A heavy silence followed my speech, and Shooting Star let it deepen, probably giving the audience the chance to take it all in, then he spoke, but his words were soft and light, unlike the energy he had put into them before. “That was very well said, and there are many lessons we can all take to heart from it. Thank you, Heroine, for joining me. I know a lot of ponies out there must feel so much safer now, simply knowing what your voice sounds like, and knowing that you take every decision you make seriously. I know I, for one, feel better.

Well, Seaddle. That is all I have for you tonight. Thank you for joining me for this very special broadcast. Now, here is some Sweetie Belle to soothe you this hopefully peaceful night. This is Shooting Star, signing off.”

He reached out with a wing and hit a switch on a console, and a small light lit up, letting a soft, sweet melody drift out from the speakers. He hit another switch, and the microphone and speakers went dead, limiting the music to the radio, so he and I could speak without the distraction of the music.

“Ah, Heroine, you do not know how long I have wanted to meet you!” he exclaimed suddenly, all of his previous energy returning in a rush as he smothered me in a crushing hug, his wings flaring out and wrapping about me as well.

I let him embrace me, tapping him awkwardly on the shoulder with my one free hoof, my left one. I was still getting used to the idea that a large part of the limb had been regenerated from almost nothing but bone. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally let me go, sitting back on a stool and fixing me in a lively gaze. “So, what can I do for you?”

“Well… for starters, please call me Evergreen. I get why you came up with that title,” I said, not quite succeeding at suppressing a shudder as I thought about it, “but I hate it. I don’t feel like I fit it at all, and I don’t feel like I will ever deserve it.”

Shooting Star nodded in understanding, and odd look on his face. He had a sort of half-grin on his face that lit his eyes up with some sort of humor, but it wasn’t quite a full smile. “Good. You wouldn’t be the pony I know you are if you thought you deserved it,” he stated, getting up from his seat and wandering over to one of the consoles. He flicked a few switches and a holotape popped out. My guess was that it was the recording of this most recent broadcast. He held it in his hooves, almost cradling it, then picked up a roll of adhesive tape and applied a small strip to the tape before pulling out a pen and scrawling something on it.

“I don’t think you understand,” I said when it became obvious he wasn’t going to say anything else until he was finished with whatever ritual it was he was going through. “I don’t deserve the title. You may know something about what I’ve been doing these last couple weeks, but you don’t know anything about me, Shooting Star. Part of the reason for me coming up here was to tell you everything, so at least you heard it from me rather than somepony else.”

“And you’re also here because you need my information network,” the Pegasus said with a jolly tone, “So you can imagine that I probably already have a good idea of what you want to tell me so urgently about why you aren’t a hero.” He shot a look at me over his shoulder and winked. This was a very odd stallion.

He walked over to the shelf with all the other holotapes and cleared out a small section. “I think this is a good place for this one,” he mused to himself, his wings fluttering against his sides, “It is special, so it deserves a special place.”

“Look, Shooting Star, I’m trying to be serious here!” I complained, walking up behind him. I arrived just in time to see him step back from the shelf, where the holotape now sat, the words ‘Meeting a Heroine’ looking out into the small, chaotic room.

“And I am as well. Special moments are not to be rushed,” he admonished me, hopping into the air to turn around to face me, “So, since this matter of yours is so serious, let’s sit down, shall we?”

He pushed his way passed me and sat at one of his consoles, then swiveled the chair around to face me, propping his forehooves up on his rear legs and resting his chin on them. It looked like a very unnatural position for a pony to sit in.

I sighed and sat down where I was, looking down at the ground. “Well, I guess I should start at the beginning. I am here because I wanted you to hear this from me, and not from some pony that happened to know who I am, who I really am,” I started, then looked up at the Pegasus, “So here goes.”

I told him everything, starting with my exile from Grovedale, telling him about my years in the raider gang, not leaving out any of the details, and finishing with my most recent escapade against the Earth Marchers and the ghouls in the Metro system. The only facts I left out were the ones concerning the monster living in my mind. That wasn’t something he would ever be able to help me with. All told, it took me almost two hours to relate the entire story. Parts of it seemed ridiculous, even to me. I was exhausted, but this wasn’t something I could let wait. One of my main reasons for coming up here was to talk to this buck, so waiting was not going to do me any favors.

Throughout it all, he sat silently, only nodding occasionally at some moments, but otherwise sitting stock still. When I finally finished my tale, he sat back, a smile spreading over his features. “Here we have proof that even the best information network will let things slip through the cracks. I do appreciate you coming to me. My sources told me that your past was shadowy, but they didn’t know just how much in the dark it was. Had anypony else told me the tale you just did, I would not have hesitated to go up to that radio and lay you bare to the entire wasteland. Most ponies like you would deserve it.”

My expression dropped as a feeling of despair opened up in my chest. I deserved treatment like that, and he knew it as well. At least he had received the truth from me, and not somepony that had told him simply out of spite.

“I can see from the look on your face that you think I should, right?” he asked, a note of humor creeping into his voice.

I looked up in surprise, and nodded.

“Well, here’s the thing: it takes guts to come to somepony like me that has influence, and lay your entire life bare to him. It takes the sort of decency that ponies just don’t have anymore. So I can safely say that you are not going to willingly start slaughtering random ponies out there, am I right?”

“Right now, I’m finding it hard to cope with having to kill anypony, including the gangs and slavers,” I admitted, “It seems like everywhere I go, death follows, and there is nothing I can do to stop it.”

“And that is exactly why I find myself trusting you. So, in other business, let me guess at the other reason why you came out here: You need information about this Seahawk, or at least about Mareina or Greymane?” he asked, as if that small interaction was enough to put my spirit to rest about who I was.

“I… well… yeah,” I finally managed to get out, “You don’t care at all about what I was, what I still am, in a way. I’m nothing but a killer…”

“You’re a killer that is selective about who you’re going to kill. That’s the difference between you and a thug. And don’t think I haven’t noticed your friends. I’ve heard all about them as well. The maroon mare, the medic, is from Metro, and ponies from there would have nothing to do with a raider. The other mare, the dark one, I don’t know as much about, but from what I hear, she is almost religious in her pursuit of justice against raiders and slavers. As for the other two, well, I can understand the plight of your Dashite friend, and if one of your old followers is loyal enough to you to tag along despite everything, I can’t help but think that he agrees with you,” Shooting Star said with a grin, “But, as I was saying, you want information?”

I sighed heavily, getting to my hooves and walking over to the window that looked out into the wasteland. Physically, I could see the broken shells of the towers and buildings that had been the Seaddle skyline. Only on the horizon, as a dim, hazy line, could I make out the wasteland I had grown up in.

In my mind, however, I saw those familiar hills and wreckage-choked roads, as well as the abandoned structures, hasty fortifications of small bands or caravans, and the mud-streaked hides of the caravaneers themselves. There was a lot worth fighting for out there, and I had made it my job to see it done. The words ‘Meeting a Heroine’ crossed my mind, and I thought I finally had a glimmer of understanding of why the DJ had chosen the title.

“Yes. I’ve exhausted my other options, and I know Greymane is on my tail. I’ve spent too long already fucking around with Metro. It is long past time I started actually doing something, but I haven’t got a clue where to start. All I knew was that the bastard would be targeting Millberry, but I took care of that a while ago. Then there’s the fact that I know almost nothing about Greymane, despite the fact that we’ve crossed paths. Then there’s Mareina and her mercenaries, not to mention Seahawk himself,” I growled, tearing my gaze away from the window to look at the DJ.

There was a glint of excitement in his eye as well as that constant smile on his face. He was odd, but he knew what he was doing, and he knew what he wanted, I could give him that. “Evergreen, my Heroine, I think I can help you,” he said as he rose, “As far as any of them go, individually, I can only tell you as much as anyone else. Greymane is a vicious killer, and will take any job, so long as the pay is right. The fact that he’s signed on with Seahawk is surprising, since he never seemed the sort for causes. Same goes for Mareina, and she’s as vicious, if not more so, than Greymane is. As for Seahawk, well… I’d only ever heard the name in passing before all of this, which tells me that whoever it is, is a lot smarter than we give them credit for. My guess would be that it is a codename, or some other nickname for somepony that doesn’t want to reveal themselves.”

“So what can you help me with?” I growled, “They are the ones chasing me down, and Greymane has already come close enough to killing one of my friends. I’m pretty sure it’s only luck I haven’t crossed paths with him again!”

“A combination of luck and him needing to re-think his approach, I think. Judging from your story, you came awfully close to beating him, and the point would not be lost on him. He’s probably stepped back, letting Mareina have her shot before having another go himself,” Shooting Star amended me, “But what I can help you with is something that might give you an idea of where to go. I could be wrong, but I have a few hunches about what it is that Seahawk wants, but he doesn’t know where to get it. What I can give you, Evergreen, is a name: Whinny Island. It’s an old naval base off the coast of the mainland. I think you’ll find something there that could be of use, and not only because it’s the only military base around these parts that hasn’t been ransacked.”

“Whinny Island? Seems like an odd name for a military base,” I said, pulling up the map on my Pipbuck. Sure enough, now that the DJ had pointed it out, there was a marker on the map for the island, though I had no clue how I was going to get there. It was way too far out to sea for any of us to be able to swim.

Shooting Star shrugged. “Who knows why they named it that way back when. Doesn’t matter anymore. What you need is a way to get there, and I can give you that as well.”

“For free?” I asked sarcastically. If he said yes, I was going to call bullshit. Nothing was ever free in the wasteland.

“Of course. You’re already doing far more for me than anypony else. It would be petty for me to ask you to do anything else. I already have a recorded show with you in it, not to mention the fact that you’re out there cleaning the wasteland up and convincing the towns to work together. I couldn’t think of anything else,” the buck laughed. I snorted, which only made him laugh louder.

“Fine! Don’t believe me!” he practically cackled, “Doesn’t make it any less true! Either way, you’re going to want to find a pony by the name of High Seas. He’s an old pony that runs a small fishing boat a few hours walk to the east of the city. For a fee he’ll take you anywhere you want to go. If you tell him I sent you, he’ll probably give you a discount, though I won’t promise you that’s true.”

“You think it’s still running? When’s the last time you got in touch with him?” I asked with a disbelieving tone. It simply seemed too good to be true.

“Yeah, I know, what with all the dangers out there, but he’s a tough nut. If anypony is still alive, he is,” Shooting Star insisted, rising to his hooves and making his way to the door, “Now, we’ve been talking for quite a while, and I imagine your friends are starting to wonder where you are. The beds are open to you all, as are our cleaning facilities. They aren’t anything fancy, just some tubs and dirty water, but it’s better than nothing. Why don’t you go down, get some rest, and we’ll talk again in the morning before you head out, eh?” He opened the door and held it that way for me to step through.

“Are you sure? Thank you. After today, we need the security of a place like this. Thank you again for your help, and understanding,” I muttered, nodding my head in appreciation.

“I’m sure, and I wouldn’t imagine doing otherwise. We both seek to better the wasteland in our own ways. I’m no good with a gun, so I use my voice. But you can take the more direct route. Together, we can change this city for the better. Now go, get some rest. We’ll speak in the morning.”

With that, he ushered me out of the room and closed it behind him. With nothing else to do, I wandered down the stairs and made my way back to the mess hall where my friends had been gathered earlier.

They were all still sitting around, talking, laughing, and generally enjoying themselves. A few of the ponies that belonged to the group protecting the building had joined them, and were animatedly trading stories, mostly just with Crosswire and Tinder Box, as the others didn’t have much to tell of their own wasteland experiences.

When they saw my arrival, the attention immediately fixated on me, and it was really unexpected. “So, Heroine, I guess the meeting went well, huh?” Tinder laughed raucously, nearly falling off of her chair in her mirth.

I looked from pony to pony, my confusion probably very evident on my face. Steel Curtain, after five minutes of laughter on everypony’s part, finally took mercy on me. “We turned on the radio down here just in time for that broadcast,” he said, grinning broadly, “You did well, but seemed as emotional as a plank of wood compared to Shooting Star.”

“Well, you try getting forced into a radio broadcast when you’re exhausted after a long day of travel and fighting,” I growled, but there was no real anger in the words. If anything, I was happy to see my friends laughing with each other.

“We’re just fucking with you, Evergreen,” Autumn Mist laughed, walking up to me and draping a leg around my shoulders. Her breath smelled markedly of alcohol. Great, my friends has been drinking. “How’d the meeting afterwards go? You were up there for quite a while. Have some fun while you had the chance?” she asked as she smacked my rump with her tail, then started laughing uncontrollably, grabbing her side with her free hoof and nearly falling over.

I recoiled in horror, my gaze automatically being drawn to Crosswire, then Steel Curtain. The former had a look of anger that was quickly stamped out, but not before I noticed. The latter had a worried expression.

“What! No! We talked, or… I talked. I told him everything about me, like I said I was going to do. It took a long time to tell that story…” I trailed off, my gaze dropping down to the floor.

“How’d he take it?” Suture asked softly, getting up to guide the dark mare back to her seat and giving her a bottle of water to drink.

“A lot better than I expected. He basically said it was a non-issue since I was the one that made the attempt to come out and tell him. From there, we talked about what we’ve been working on for so long,” I answered, being intentionally vague, considering the two members of our group I knew almost nothing about.

“Well, that’s good,” Steel Curtain said from his corner. An open bottle of Sparkle-Cola was sitting open on the table in front of him. One of the local ponies was standing by his side; the earth pony that had met us at the door, “What kind of advice did he have?”

“He gave me a name, something to look into once we’re done with Stable 113,” I said, looking over at the Dashite. I hoped that my expression was enough to tell him to drop it. I still wasn’t completely willing to trust our newest traveling companions. I was more willing to trust Tinder Box, considering her background, but Marcus’s past was still almost entirely unknown to me. He had helped us out of enough sticky situations that I trusted him in a fight, but the sensitive information concerning Seahawk and his allies was something I wanted to keep purely amongst those of us I really knew. It was simply too dangerous otherwise, especially considering the fact that I expected the griffin to be leaving us now that he had guided us here.

Unfortunately, it was Tinder that asked the question, rather than the armored Pegasus. “You mean the Stable isn’t the only reason you’re up here?” she asked, cocking her head to one side in confusion, “Exactly what is it you’re doing here then? The entire city has been ransacked and belongs to the gangs. Not even your influence can change that. And what do you mean about telling the DJ about who you are?”

I sighed heavily. I was backed into a corner, and there was very little I could do about it. “Yeah, I’m up here for more than just the Stable. We accepted that job on behalf of our friend because it was on the way here. And my past is far more checkered than you think, Tinder. I’m not a hero. I’m just a pony that realized I was doing the wrong thing, and decided to try to do better.”

“Fair enough, we’ve all got our skeletons, but exactly what are you up here for? Like I said, no one pony will ever be able to influence all the gangs,” the white mare insisted, reaching out for a bottle of vodka that was sitting next to her and taking a generous swallow.

“I have to admit, I’m intrigued as well,” Marcus added, “After seeing you in action yesterday and today, you are definitely a pony to be reckoned with, and I am really interested to find out what cause would grab your attention.”

“This isn’t something I like talking openly about,” I said bluntly. Hiding the truth wasn’t going to gain me anything, and I didn’t want to start sharing everything I knew, but I felt I could trust them enough to tell them where I was going to be going. “Suffice to say I’ve found a threat to the wasteland that I don’t intend to simply let happen. Shooting Star told me of a place I can go to find something that might help. He called it Whinny Island.”

“The old naval base? No shit,” Marcus mused, scratching his chin with a taloned hand, “Isn’t that interesting. I’ve heard a lot of bad stories about that place. They say it’s haunted, and that no one who has ventured there has ever returned since the bombs fell.”

“Ghost stories don’t frighten me! I say what are we waiting for!” Autumn exclaimed, rising to her hooves and thrusting a hoof victoriously into the air.

“We’re waiting until after we’ve dealt with the Stable. From what I can make out, the Stable is between here and where we need to go to get there anyway,” I answered, “Not to mention the fact that I am still exhausted and covered in blood after today.”

“Oh… right,” the dark mare muttered, her head falling back to the surface of the table in despair, “I hate those fucking holes in the ground.”

“Interesting job. Traveling with you is definitely an interesting experience,” Tinder said, taking another swig of her drink, “It’ll be interesting to see what happens. Am I taking you to the Stable tomorrow then?”

“That’s the plan,” I confirmed with a nod, then turned to Marcus, “As for you, you fulfilled your end of the bargain. You’re free to leave anytime you like. Thanks for your help in getting us here. The Goddesses know your help was invaluable.”

The griffin shrugged, then said, “Honestly, I’ve got nowhere to go. All I was doing before those fuckers nabbed me was fly aimlessly about. With you, there’s actually something happening. If you don’t mind, I think I’ll stick around a bit until something comes up that grabs my interest.”

I couldn’t find a reason to say no, so I nodded. Besides, he might come to be as important to this group as Steel Curtain had. “I guess I could use another set of eyes in the air. Thanks, Marcus. As for the rest of you, get some rest, especially you, Autumn,” I said pointedly, glaring at the dark mare, “As always, we’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

I turned away from them and made my way out into the hallway, stopping the first pony I saw to ask where the cleaning area was. Once given directions, I made my way there, relishing the thought of finally being able to clean myself up.

I had just managed to pull my blood-soaked barding off when Crosswire appeared in the door. “I have to say, I’m impressed you managed to not blow the whole ‘Heroine’ thing on the radio,” he stated, leaning against the door frame.

“You were right, Crosswire. I don’t gain anything by turning the wasteland against me. At least Shooting Star heard me out and knows the truth. We’ll see how he handles it on his next show,” I answered, grabbing a bottle of water and emptying it over my head tow wash out the worst of the blood from my mane and face. From there, I started scrubbing at the blood that had caked onto my chest, not to mention the mud, dust, and dirt that had gathered over the rest of me from the city and Metro tunnels.

“Well, at least you know how to learn from your mistakes then,” he said, then fell silent.

After a few moments, I looked over at him. He was standing stock still, staring at me. His expression was contemplative, as if he was trying to ask me something, but didn’t know how. “Was there something else, Crosswire?” I finally asked, pointedly staring back at him.

“Something happened, didn’t it?” he finally asked, “Between you and Steel Curtain? I can tell. Both of you are acting very different, and you can barely keep your eyes off him. It was bad before, but I’m sure everypony is noticing it now. Autumn’s comment, drunk though she was, made me really notice it.”

“Really, Crosswire? You need to do this now?” I growled, turning on him, “My personal life is just that, personal. We’re both still fighting just fine, so what business is it of anypony’s?”

“It’s our business because it might affect us in the future. If the shit hits the fan, and you need to decide between me and him, who are you going to choose?” the ragged tech demanded, stepping away from the doorframe and towards me.

I didn’t answer immediately. The question that I would ever have to make that kind of choice had never crossed my mind, and I did not like the issues that it brought up. “I… I don’t know,” I stuttered, “I’ve never thought about it.”

“Then at least be honest with me! Did something happen!” Crosswire demanded angrily, taking another step towards me.

“We kissed, all right! It caught me completely by surprise when it happened, and I still don’t know how I feel, but it happened, ok! Fuck, Crosswire, this isn’t like you!” I snapped, turning away for him to grab another bottle to rinse myself off with.

The unicorn seemed to deflate, as if that one comment killed the last of his hopes. “All right. It is him then. Sorry, Evergreen, I just… nevermind.” He turned and strode out the door, his head hung low.

“Crosswire! What’s wrong! Talk to me!” I shouted after him, but he ignored me, disappearing around the corner. I watched on my E.F.S. as he made his way back towards the mess, and then to somewhere else, probably the sleeping area.

If his feelings for me were still such a problem, we were going to have to talk about it. All I could hope for was that he would listen when the time came. First, I would have to talk to Steel Curtain, and figure out where we stood. None of that was going to be easy, since I still didn’t know what I thought about it all.

I took my time to finish cleaning up, doing my best to clean off my armor as well, before pulling it back on and heading towards the barracks. When I finally arrived, almost everypony else was already asleep, so I simply crawled into a bunk and lay down, hoping that sleep would come easily.

Level Up!
Perk gained: Fast Hooves – Your reload speed with all weapons has been increased by 25%
Skill Note: Guns (100)

{Another finished chapter, and another step towards some moments that I have been looking forward to for a long time. Thank you, as always, to Kkat for the original FoE, as well as to Cody and MUCKSTER for their editing and tearing this story to shreds to make sure the characters remain themselves. As always, the hub page on Google Docs can be found here. Also, an extra note here: Cody is pretty much unable to edit anymore, as he is simply too busy, so if anyone is either willing to pre-read and edit, please message me!}