Fallout Equestria: Exodus

by Mark Garg von Herbalist

First published 26th of April, 2013

After being wrongfully exiled from his Stable, an earth pony will travel across the Equestrian Wasteland with a band of travelers who hope to return to their homeland.

Bleeding Out

Meris was a simple earth pony living his life in Stable 67. All he really did was fix clocks and day dream about a single mare he hoped to spend the rest of his life with. But when he is wrongfully exiled from his home he finds himself fighting for survival across the Equestrian Wasteland with a group making an exodus to their homeland.

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Rated MA-17: For strong, bloody violence, language and sexual content... All involving ponies. You've been warned.

(Might get some better cover art depending on how things go.)

End of the Journey- Part 1

[Tick.]

When Junge got news of his first assignment he made the mistake in assuming that it would be like the other tasks given to newbloods fresh from the Volk Youth League training. These tasks were always grunt work, ranging from cleaning the Volk Palace, to cleaning the community bathrooms, to cleaning the park, or cleaning Fort Volk, which guards Volk City from its hillside location.

No, what Junge got was news that he would be heading to the infamous Black Sun Prison; a large, Old World facility located at the edge of the city. Its massive black dome could be seen for miles, and it served as a marker for those on the sea since it sat at the edge of a fifty foot cliff with sharp rocks and rough waters at the bottom. The wall that surrounded the prison had been patched up, using anything from wood from old buildings, to metal slabs, and in some cases, vehicle parts. There was also razor wire, jagged spikes, and metal teeth fitted on to top to prevent anybody from climbing over the twenty foot wall.

With his rifle and pouches beating against his ribs, Junge ran to Black Sun from his shack out of fear of being late. After all, a task like this was not given to just any ordinary soldier of the New Ibexia Military and he did not want to ruin this with a poor first impression.

When he arrived at the gate of Black Sun, his gray uniform was damp with sweat, he was panting and his skinny legs were quivering. This was to be expected since ibexes were not runners. They could sprint just fine and use their heads to break just about anything they wanted, but running?

No.

They used guns for a reason.

No need to outrun anybody if a bullet to the leg or face could stop them.

“Relax, neues Blut. You're early,” said an old, fat ibex whose gray uniform barely fit around his bloated frame.

It actually disgusted Junge to see a fat ibex, but held his tongue. Partially because he respected his elders, partially because Fatso outranked him if his “R-3” patch gave any indication, and partially because any mouthing off would send him cleaning the community bathroom. He'd rather get shot than do that.

“R-1 Junge reporting as ordered, sir,” said Junge, forcing himself to stand straight and suck in air so his shriveled lungs and cracked throat will get something to nourish them.

“Yeah, yeah, very nice. Glad you're here, nice bullshit stuff,” said Fatso. “Do you smoke?”

Junge shook his head. “No, sir.”

“Damn it. Nobody smokes anymore. Ah well, follow me.”

Fatso led Junge to the gate, which was made of recycled rebar and steel slabs, and while the young ibex stayed put, Fatso went to an armored booth.

“Kid's early, let us in,” said Fatso.

The guard on the other side nodded and hit a buzzer. Moments later, there was a grinding and someone shouting for unseen workers (probably prisoners) to go faster. Gradually the gate lifted up, and when it was high enough Fatso motioned Junge to follow him. The two slipped underneath the danging steel bars and silently walked towards the main structure. Pockets of shrapnel, bullet holes and general wear have ruined the once black -now gray- wall, and in front of the main door was a statue of an ibex standing on top of a rock, hoof curled to hold a flag long gone.

“Keep up,” ordered Fatso.

Junge hurried his pace, and Fatso once again stood in front of an armored booth.

“You're early,” said the guard on the other side.

“Blame the kid,” said Fatso.

“Nah. I'll thank him. Anything to make you miserable.”

“Well, fuck you, too.”

The guard chuckled and pushes a button, causing an old bell to buzz and for the metal door in front of Junge to slide out of view. When it hit its mark, a bang echoed down an aged concrete halls and the two ibexes start their march, passing empty cells and bored guards.

After going through a maze of empty cells, derelict halls, and old doors, Fatso stops in front of a steel door marked “3-26” and peers inside. He lets out a satisfied huff and looks back at Junge.

“Now listen here, Junge, this is a very important task. We need to keep a special eye on this one. As per orders by Chancellor Volk himself,” said Fatso.

Junge's jaw dropped slightly and Fatso nodded.

“Yeah, he's scheduled to be executed two days from now,” said Fatso. "Standard method, not so standard reason."

“What's he being executed for?” asked Junge.

“The Higher-Ups didn't say. Just watch him closely until your replacement comes. Not that anybody will come for him, but he is not exactly right in the head. He is a bit crazy.”

Junge nodded, suppressing a gulp, and Fatso pushed open the door and the two walked into a small jail room with a guard leaning against the wall, half asleep. When he saw the two enter, he stood up to crack his back.

“You're free to go,” said Fatso.

“Finally,” grumbled the guard as he shuffled out of the room, and while Fatso closed the door, Junge approached prisoner.

He was more than surprised to see that caged in front of him, laying on a dirty cot and rubbing his pocket watch in stiff motions was a sweaty, grime covered brown earth pony with his long, dark mane partially covering his dead eyes. Scars covered his brown body, from head to rump, all ranging from bullet wounds, to stabbings, burns, shrapnel, and so on, including a chunk of his ear missing. There were even patches of his coat missing and three gashes covering his watch cutie mark.

“Him and his damn watch,” said Fatso. “Your job is pretty simple, Junge. Just watch him until your replacement comes in tomorrow, and make sure he doesn't try anything funny. The execution is going to be private, with Chancellor Volk, the Circle, and the firing squad, which you're going to be part of. As am I.”

Junge's eyes snapped to his superior. "What? But, sir, I've never-"

"Relax," said Fatso, "executions are a breeze. He'll be tied, shot, buried, and then you can go home and have soup or something."

The pony's hoof froze and he looked at the two ibexes out of the corner of his eye, and they stared back. Junge's mouth goes dry and his knees felt weak, but the pony eventually looked back at his watch. Indifferent.

“What did he do?” asked Junge.

Fatso shrugged. “Don't know. Chancellor Volk wants him executed for treason. Odd since he was one of the Heroes of New Ibexia.

“Is... Is that Clock?”

“Yeah, Meris Clock the Exile. The official story will be that he died of his injuries, and his execution will be very hush-hush with any slips of the tongue leading to unfortunate accidents, if you know what I mean.” Fatso then patted Junge on his shoulder and left the room, saying: “He's all yours for the day. Have fun.”

Once the door slammed shut, a lock clicked and Junge felt his heart fall into his stomach. He rushed to the door and peered out the peephole to see his superior walking away, and as soon as he was out of sight, Junge sighed and looked at the pony. His eyes stay glued to his watch for a few more seconds before he shoved it under his pillow.

“Another executioner for me?” he says distantly.

Junge nodded slowly and sat in the chair the previous guard used, being sure to keep his eyes on the floor, and Meris rested his head on his pillow, turning his back to the nervous ibex. They were silent for a few minutes before Junge mustered up the courage to speak.

“Why are you in here?” he asked curiously.

Meris was silent and unmoving, but Junge could hear his labored breaths. Despite the silent treatment, he still kept his eyes on the prisoner, finding it hard to believe that the defeated pony was one of the Heroes of New Ibexia.

“Why do you want to know why I'm here?” asked Meris.

“I just want to know how someone like you got on Chancellor Volk's bad side. You did help him liberate us, didn't you?” said Junge.

Meris flipped on his cot to face Junge. “Yeah, I helped him. I helped everyone here, and this is the way I am repaid.”

“Why would he do this to you, though?”

“Personal reasons.” Meris sat up on his cot and grabbed his pocket watch.

Junge noticed that it was damaged with gold and silver plating that had an apple tree etched on it. Meris popped the watch open and its broken ticking echoed in room.

Meris bowed his head, and in a low voice he says: “I guess all this really was only a matter of time. I already lost everything but my life, and that is soon to go. I lost my friends, my family and the war we fought was in vain. My friends, your 'Heroes', their deaths will be meaniingless because people like you are so eager to kill yourselves.”

Junge looked down, and Meris sighed, closed his watch and curled on his bed. Silence fell in the room, again. After some moments, Junge looked at Meris, who was still lying on his cot, waiting to die.

“You do know Chancellor Volk will bring civilization back, right? He'll restore Ibexia and unite her, Bernese and all the ibex nations together under one banner, like before the Great War. Shouldn't that be a call for praise?” said Junge.

Meris sighed. “Sweet Berry wanted to rebuild the Macintosh Hills and Ms. Gold had the same goals at Volk.”

“We are different from Gold!”

“Oh really? Do tell, Herr Junge.”

“Gold only had her interest at heart. Volk has the interest of our nation, our people, at heart. Gold cared about her throne. Volk respects the Office of the Chancellor.”

Meris shifted his position. “Do you honestly believe that Volk cares about you? Or anything good in this world?”

“Yes!”

“Well, I got news for you, he doesn't. There is no good left fighting for, anyway.”

“Yes there is!” snaps Junge. “Volk and the Restoration Party are examples of good!”

Meris shook his head. “No. You are so desperate for hope that you traded one devil for another.”

“Why don't you trust them? Why don't you believe in good anymore?”

“Maybe its because your people put me here after my friends and I died for them."

Junge was silent, and Meris sniffed and flopped on the cot, belly up so he could stare at the cracks in the ceiling.

"I was naive like you, once," he said. "Well, maybe not as naive, but I wanted to believe that there was good. But the good I saw died. Good left. Good was shot, stabbed, beheaded, incinerated, bled out, burned, drowned, you name it. Good does not last long in this world. In time you'll see that.”

Junge swallowed. "I'm really sorry about what happened to your friends, but I see good every day. Its not dead, and I'm sure you will find happiness on the other side."

Meris groaned and covered his eyes. "Good's not dead, says the kid who hasn't seen shit."

"I've seen plenty!" said Junge defensively.

Meris looke at him, frowning skeptically. "And you still believe in good?"

Junge nods.

Meris scoffed and looked away. "Bullshit."

Junge frowned. "You don't have to be rude about this."

"You're going to put a bullet in me very soon. I think I'm allowed to be rude to you."

"At least I'm talking to you."

"...That's true."

Silence came between them, once again leaving the broken ticking to fill the void, and after a few minutes of this, and the awkwardness that is tethered to it, Junge sighed and glanced at Meris to see him once again studying his watch.

"So," began Junge slowly. "Do you want me to tell me why you are here?"

"This again?" said Meris.

"I'm curious, is all."

Meris hummed, but makes no signs of speaking further, and after some seconds pass, Junge took a deep breath and approached the cage.

“Look, you don't have much time left, and when you die, all we will hear is what Volk has to say, but I want to know your side of the story," said Junge. "I want to know why a Hero of New Ibexia is here. Why was Meris Clock put on a secret execution?... Why do you believe there is no good left?"

"If you repeat my story, then you'll be in big trouble," said Meris.

"I'll keep it to myself."

"No you won't. Stories are meant to be shared and you'll probably go blabbing all this to your parents or friends, and then they will all get in trouble."

"Let me worry about that. Just tell me why I have to kill you. What do you have to lose anyway?”

Meris looked at Junge, and he stared back at the pony.

“Okay,” says Meris, “you want to hear a story, have a seat.”

Junge pulled his seat forward and sat in front of the cage, and Meris leaned forward, eyes focused on the ibex in front of him.

“Before I tell you my story, there is something you must understand,” began Meris. “The Wasteland breeds heroes and villains, alike, but the problem is that the Wasteland is where heroes go to die. Heroes do not last long out there. That place changes us for the worst. It brings out the demons we never thought we had and it takes away everything we hold dear. Heroes are just a blink, but villains remain. Hell, I'm a villain, now, so if you want to keep the rosy thoughts of who I am intact, then now is a great time to stop this. But if you really want to hear my story, then pay close attention for I will not be able to repeat myself.”

The Scorecard

[Tock.]

When growing up, I thought I would be safe in Stable Sixty Seven. I never thought I would have to deal with the likes mutants, sadists, and obsessive whackos. Or go on a journey across a former paradise- if Equestria ever was one. I was sorely mistaken. There were days where I wish I was back at the Stable, with everything as it was before I left, but time is irreversible. Everything moves forward to the final form of decay, and Stable Sixty Seven, my life, the lives of my friends, we all experienced it. You will, too, in time.

The Stable I came had us live by a strict code of conduct. Once you turned sixteen you were separated from your parents and put in specialized areas based on dates of birth and gender, and you could only move on to the more private areas if you got married. Those with kids were transferred to better equipped rooms, and the larger the families the larger the rooms, with the biggest families having rooms in the “Population Production Community”, which was located next to the Administrative Wing. That area held the Office of Stable Stability, Social Productivity Administration, Scheduling Administration, Sanitation Management, Department of the Arts and Education, and so on.

The DAE taught us that our Stable was the largest of the other Stables in population and facility, but never specified how many more there were, and while they did the teaching the SPA graded us on our productivity in society. The grading didn't officially start until we turned twenty one, but they always kept tabs on us as kids, analyzing our personalities, our habits, even using the Department of Arts and Education to give certain kids psychological evaluations. With the data they collected, they and the OSS would determine who would stay and who would be exiled. It was an annual thing where we emptied our detention centers and removed unproductive members of society; like slackers, trouble makers, cripples, mentally ill, and so on.

Anyway, let me back track a bit. After our sixteenth birthday when we got separated from our parents and put the mares and stallions in separate areas, we were allowed to flirt and mingle with the opposite sex for extended periods of time every Sunday, which was “Meet and Greet Day”. Unofficially it was called “Suck and Fuck Day” since that was the easiest time for the more hormonal Stable Dwellers to rut their pony of attraction. The Office of Stable Stability tried to make a propaganda campaign to dissuade the “abuse of a tradition”, but that only made the problem worse.

I never did anything like that for those Meet and Greet Days. I was the guy that stayed in the back, watching ponies do their thing in Master Atrium, which was large enough to house four of the sixteen thousand occupants. They would eat, drink, talk, laugh, and the speakers they had around the walls played music and messages, and the rows of lights on the ceiling, walls and floor gave plenty of light. To allow everypony a chance to meet and greet we had automatrons providing security and vendor duties. Though, during these events, there was always one mare that I watched.

Her name was Rose Petal Flower, and if you saw her you would stop working. Your heart would stop, your mouth would go dry, and the dark colors would brighten. She was also an earth pony, her coat was pink and always shined, and her mane and tail had this great blend of yellow and red. She also always had a flower in her mane. A real one, too, not those plastic ones that the foals choked on all the time. This was possible because she was a botanist and operated a dozen gardens, and she also had a permit to wear them.

But aside from how beautiful she was, she was also the first to notice my cutie mark and had her parents throw a cute-ceañera for me. It was ten days after I got it, but she realized that I got my mark when I was collecting trash in her area for my dad, who worked in Sanitation Management and was falling a bit behind that day. My mom didn't even notice because she was our area's Social Productivity Supervisor and was doing her grading. Honestly, I don't think they cared, anyway. They didn't show up to my cute-ceañera, and the only time my mom had extended communication with me was when she was taking disciplinary action that started with: “Ephemeris Lavernius Clock!”

Hiding never worked, either. She always found me.

And my dad, I'm sure he didn't know my name. I was always “Champ” or “Bud” or got that weird look when you see somepony familiar but can't peg where you've seen them.

Sorry for being all over the place. I didn't plan to tell a story, so bear with me.

So... anyway... my cutie mark being a pocket watch basically put me at the bottom of the pyramid since clocks were not exactly something high on the list of priorities. All I really did was fix clocks, build clocks, and when I wasn't fixing or building clocks, I was day dreaming about Rose Petal... and clocks.

I wanted to ask Rose to be mine ever since my cute-ceañera, and after I became old enough for the Meet and Greet Day I would watch her and plan on how to ask her to get a Dating Permit with me. I would make all these plans, tell myself this would be the day, and then chicken out and stay in the back, drinking or eating whatever was available.

However, there was one day where something in me snapped. I don't know what it was, how it happened or why it happened, but shortly after my twenty third birthday I was at another Meet and Greet event and I just took the chance.

The music was playing through the speakers, the mares and stallions were walking around, chit chatting and having snacks and drinks together, and it was all being watched by our Overmare, Braid Mane.

I quickly found Rose Petal talking with her friends -Curly Mane, the daughter of Braid Mane, and Cosmo, just some girl- and I took a shot of sparkling cider for courage.

And then I took another four and had to give myself a pep talk in the bathroom after nearly puking. So, with five shots of alcohol free cider, I did what the other guys did. I puffed out my chest, weaved through the crowd with confident strides that were ruined by my shaking, and I put my mental cross-hairs on her. I didn't even care that I was still being ignored by her. Today would be my day.

I walked up to her, and all the music and chatter just faded away, and she became just the one pony on my mind. Her giggling was the only music I needed to hear and the way she flung her mane out of her eyes was a rarity I hardly enjoyed.

When I finally reached Rose, she was still talking with her friends, and it took Cosmo pointing at me for her to stop.

Rose looked at me with a curious smile, and said: “Meris, what a surprise! You actually came away from your wall.”

That is when panic came in.

My heart raced, beads of sweat rolled down my face, and my mouth became dry and despite my best efforts, I could not stop the nervous chuckle or my eye from twitching.

“Um, are you okay?” asked Rose, her smile now uneasy and her friends giggling behind her back.

“Hello,” I replied in an embarrassingly squeaky voice. Then in a much louder voice: “I WAS WONDERING IF YOU WANTED TO GET A DATING PERMIT WITH ME!”

Her smile disappeared and her eyes went wide from shock. Her friends’ jaws dropped and to make it worse, I felt other eyes on me. I chuckled nervously and tried to play it cool by keeping my smile and leaning against the table she was occupying.

“I mean, if that is cool with you, or whatever.”

Then the stupid table broke and I fell over with all the punch and cider and apple slices spilling all over me. Rose Petal shrieked and reeled back, and her friends laughed till their faces turned red. And on top of that, the music stopped and I heard more laughing. My face burned up and I wanted to crawl under my bunk and cry myself to death. But despite what I was feeling at the time, I still scrambled up and tried to act like I wasn’t affected by this.

“I meant to do that!” I said.

“You meant to break the table?” asked Rose Petal skeptically.

I nodded. “Yep. I've been working out and wanted to show you my brute strength.”

I could tell by the way she looked at me that she thought I was an idiot, and I felt like an idiot, and I was sure everypony in the area thought I was an idiot. Life was great at the moment.

It took the Overmare using the intercom to order everypony to have fun lest they want to return to work to get the party going again. The music restarted and the conversations resumed, and I decided that it was a great time to fix some clocks. Sure, Rose called after me, but I still disappeared into the crowd. That day was a bust and I didn't want anypony looking at me. Hell, I didn't even want to look at me, and so I went to the one place where nopony ever goes.

My stall in the maintenance underbelly of the Stable.

Technically it was a large closet with a lamp, tools, supplies and some shelves filled with more tools and supplies, but it was cramped and nopony ever bothered me.

Usually.

I spent the rest of the day in the maintenance stall, working on my own personal project since I wanted to forget the mess I made. It was a pocket watch that I had been working on from scratch. Getting the gold and silver plating was hard enough, but add in all the tiny gears and little hooves, etching the elegant designs and keeping the project hidden, and you got yourself a chore.

So there I was, working on my own special project, when the only one who ever visited me in my stall came in. He was a golden and yellow unicorn named Artisan Bread. I also meet him on my cute-ceañera and he baked me some cookies that looked like my cutie mark. We had been friends ever since.

Anyway, Artisan barged in, wearing his baker’s hat and apron, and carrying something in his mouth basket. He was panic stricken when he skidded to a halt in front of me, and I freaked out and created a mess as I tried to hide my pocket watch. Luckily for me, he was too busy worrying to notice me wrecking the place.

He quickly, yet gently, set his basket on my worktable, nearly in tears, and said: “Meris, you gotta help me! Eggy is broken!”

I peered inside his basket and saw his prized possession, an egg timer with a loaf of bread as the counting hoof, lying on its side, silent as death. I looked at Artisan; he was now whimpering and anxiously tapping the floor, and with a sigh I grabbed my tool box and pushed my project aside.

“I’ll see what I can do.” I said.

He might as well have kissed my hoof and called me King Clock from how happy he was.

Later that night, I was lying on my bed in my section's community rest area (also called a barrack). I had my pillow to my chest and was staring at the dim light bulb, worrying about tomorrow. I didn’t know why I was worrying since the chances of me talking to Rose Petal were slim to none. I think I was more worried about the snickers and passive aggressive bullying that would stem from my blunder.

Then Artisan walked in, smiling and hopping on the bed next to me, which when you consider that the beds were made for one pony it made for a tight fit that I did not enjoy.

“Hey, Meris, Eggy worked perfectly! Thank you for fixing him,” said Artisan.

“He just needed his battery charged.” I muttered.

“Really?”

I nodded.

“Huh,” said Artisan. “I thought I plugged him in. Oh well. Because you saved me from making Curly angry, you earned yourself a free batch of my famous cookies.”

“What did Curly want?” I asked, giving him a curious look. She always wanted something weird.

“Well,” began Artisan, rubbing his chin with his hoof. “She wanted a triple decker cake with one layer being chocolate, the other vanilla and the other strawberry with apple flavored frosting and rainbow sprinkles, with all the layers being held together by peanut butter.”

“You actually made that?”

“I did. And she didn't throw anything at me this time.”

“Oh, that's good.”

I looked back at the light bulb and Artisan nodded slowly.

“Yeah... So~” he said, drawing out his words.

“So?” I asked.

“Yeah. So?”

“So, what?”

“So, did you finally ask Rose? I mean, you've only been watching her like a total creep for thirteen years.”

I scowled, and flipped on my stomach and buried my face in my pillow, hoping that the fluffy comfort will make sleep come faster. I just wanted to sleep so I can go to la-la land and dream of something that hopefully won't be clocks.

“Oh... Was that you that everypony was laughing at?” said Artisan.

“No~ It was my doppelganger, Lavernius.” I said sharply.

Artisan cooed rubbed my back while his tail drooped over mine. It creeped me out every time he did that, and every time I told him not to do that because I felt violated by it, but he never listened.

“I'm sorry you had a bad day,” said Artisan. “But look on the bright side. Every day is a new day, and you just might have left a positive image.”

“Me breaking a table and throwing punch and apples everywhere is positive?” I asked, not taking my face off my pillow.

“Well, when you put it that way it is kind of bad. But, I'm just glad I didn't have to use my Honey Sap strategy again.”

Hearing that name, I clenched up and burrowed my face deeper into my pillow.

“Can you please get off my bed? I want to get some sleep.” I said.

“Sure thing.”Artisan slid off of my bed and used his magic to pull my blanket over me, and then pat my back and said softly into my ear. “Sleep tight, Meris. It'll all be okay in the end. You'll see.”

He then trotted off to do whatever it was he did I curled up as tight as I could, wanting to believe him, but couldn't. Every day would be the same. Like clockwork.

The following weeks had gone by rather quickly and my pessimism was proven wrong for once. Since I was only qualified to fix clocks, and the Stable really didn't have much clocks that needed fixing, that left me time to finish my pocket watch. I still kept it hidden since I didn't have a permit to make such a device for my own amusement, and if anypony found out they would break it and probably put me in solitary for a week. But it was finished and that was all that mattered.

Luckily after I finished my pocket watch the Overmare had decided to give me more responsibilities by putting me in the Scheduling Administration. She said a little birdie told her that I specialized in time and that the Stable needed more people to help schedule events and whatnot. So I spent the days looking over and tweaking schedules and learning the ropes of Stable politics with my new boss, an old coot named Flow Chart. I had met with him and the Overmare Mane and her husband, Buzzcut, several times for lunch and had nice talks each time.

The lunches were great and I knew I was finally going somewhere in the world. Especially when we talked about my record. It was gold, and she said that the Stable needed gold, and after six months she and Flow Chart asked me how I would like to get the position as Vice-Head of the Scheduling Administration.

How could I refuse?

After getting the position I felt like it would only be sunshine and rainbows from now on. I would get out of the basement and be high on the social ladder.

When I got promoted, it was actually on a Meet and Greet Day, so after filling out the paper work and getting a clearance badge, I headed towards the Master Atrium. I really didn't know what I was thinking since I knew Rose would be there, but while my mind told me to look at paperwork, my hooves walked me into the manticore's den.

The Atrium was, as usual, thriving with activity as ponies moving around, flirting, being happy, et cetera. I saw Artisan trying to pick up a unicorn stallion named Glitter Glue, brother of Silyl Glue, also a unicorn. Glitter might as well have been a mare with the way he acted and talked, while Silyl was such a homophobe that he would wash himself raw if a gay bumped into him. And speaking of Silyl, I saw him flirting with Rose.

He was flexing his hoof, making his large muscles bulge underneath his gray coat, and his black mane was combed neatly. It actually looked like Rose was impressed, so it was game over. Too late. I lost. Time to go home.

I turned to leave, kinda disappointed, but soon heard somepony galloping, and when I looked to see who it was I saw Rose running right towards me. I paled and turned my walk to a trot, but she got in front of me and poked me in the chest before I could escape.

Rose said: “There you are! I was wondering what happened to you.”

“Me? I uh-” I looked over my shoulder and saw Silyl glaring at us. “I was working.” I patted my card and added with a nervous smile: “I got promoted. I'm no longer working in the basement.”

“Really? The Overmare must like you,” said Rose, winking. “But I'm glad I found you. I need to show you something.”

“But what if I cover you in apple juice again?”

"Fine by me!"

She slipped behind me and started pushing me by my rump towards the door. My face burned and I dug my hooves in the tile, wincing when the awful screeching noise from my pitiful resistance caused some heads to turn. One of which was Artisan; he flashed a smile and a wink before going back to Glitter. I saw Rose's friends staring too, and Curly looked like she wanted to kill me, just like Silyl. It was at that point that I decided to stop resisting and just walk, lest I wanted to get stabbed in the Atrium.

Once I started walking, everything went smoother, and Rose kept giving me a giddy smile while I could only return a nervous one. I didn’t know where she was taking me, but when we got to our destination, I realized that Rose Petal had taken me to a place called the “Department of Dating and Marriage”.

My jaw dropped and I looked at her, and she looked at me out of the corner of her eye with that adorable sweet smile. My heart was racing and I felt butterflies in my stomach. This was actually happening. I was going to get a permit to date Rose Petal!

“Careful, we wouldn’t want your jaw to fall off,” she said with a teasing smile as she closed my mouth her hoof.

I could only nod stupidly and follow her inside. Once inside, we were greeted by a unicorn mare named Elegant Harmony; she was old, fat, and had a mole on her cheek. I didn’t even realize ponies could get moles, but apparently it was a rare birth defect, and it was ugly!

When Elegant Harmony did the whole spiel with the questions, Rose answered each of them a firm, and yet still silky smooth, voice and she kept giving me those looks out of the corner of her eye that said that she wanted this thing to hurry up. I fully agreed with her. But when it was my turn, I was the complete opposite of her; I didn’t stutter, but I did sound like an idiot and got momentarily confused by all the paperwork, whereas Rose blew through it all like a professional.

After signing the endless supply of paperwork, we were brought into the back of the office and we each had to do a small test in separate rooms that were cold and bare, save for a cushion, a table, and an obnoxiously loud clock. I didn’t even have to make a mental note about getting that clock fixed since Elegant Harmony gave it to me and told me to fix it and bring it back the next day before I even started the test. She obviously didn't comprehend my position or badge, but fixing clocks was kind of therapeutic, so I wasn't too upset about it.

So I’m taking the test with the loud clock next to me, and I’m trying to be careful with answering the questions so the Social Productivity guys don't mark me.

I took that test, quickly, yet carefully, and when I was done, I slid the paper away and tried to think about something other than the horrible taste that the pencil left in my mouth. I thought about Rose and all the fun we would have on our dates. It was expensive, but I wanted to buy a yearlong Dating Permit and take her to a play or two. They were expensive and you had to have a great record for the semester. Luckily I had a great record, so getting approved for a ticket was easy.

After waiting for nearly an hour in the room, freezing my tail off, Elegant Harmony walked back in with a folder, and she took my test and left again. I waited again… And I waited… And waited… And waited… And waited for nearly an hour before she returned.

“Here’s your permit. Enjoy.”

The emotion in her voice was nonexistent, but I grinned from ear to ear, knowing that tonight would be the start of something great! And I celebrated by fixing a clock. Yay.

But all good things have to come to an end.

It had been almost a year after I had gotten permission to date Rose Petal, and we had all kinds of fun. From watching plays, to dancing and eating out, and, of course, those intimate moments. It never got passed the kissing or nose rubs, though.

I was also promoted to head of the Scheduling Administration since Flow Chart croaked in his sleep. The funeral was like every other. Long and ponies pretended to care, and some threw in a few fake tears to make themselves all the more “authentic”. He was cremated and had his ashes put in his old office, which was given to me. And it was creepy. I'm pretty sure he haunted the place.

Funeral aside, my new position put me in charge of overseeing the schedulers who work on planning events, listening to and fixing grievances, firing-hiring-promoting ponies, transferring workers to different sections of the Stable, working eighty hours a week, stuff like that. The good part was that I got a huge pay raise and found myself enjoying parties with the Overmare and her entourage with Rose Petal by my side once a month. It was actually during my promotion celebration that my mom congratulated me, but my dad worked so he wasn't there. And my mom also tried to get money from me, but I turned her down. She wasn't happy about that and I didn't see her after that.

Aside from that tidbit of information, while things were going great between me and Rose, it seemed that Curly got worse with me. Like the closer I got with Rose, the more evil that demon spawn became.

Silyl was also a problem. He beat Glitter to death with the rumor saying that Silyl accused Glitter of violating him, and that was after he tried more than once to take Rose way from me and lost his job because he got hooked on pain meds due to an accident at the power plant he worked at.

Then the Scorecards came in.

You see, every year our Stable had this thing called a Scorecard which was administered by the Social Productivity Administration, and it took effect on your twenty second birthday. It supposedly started collecting data on your twenty first birthday, but, like I said earlier, we all knew that was a lie. The gist of it was that you got a card mailed to you in the third week of December, and if you got a red X next to your name that meant you failed, and if you failed then you got exiled on New Year's Day.

As soon as you are condemned to exile, they take your Pipbuck and give you some food, a couple of canteens, and a farewell. Strangely enough, the Manes never had anyone in their family exiled, no matter how badly they fucked up. But anyway...

When I got my Scorecard I was in my suite with Rose Petal. The suite was spacious with a brightly lit living room that had four couches, a coffee table, and a radio. We also had a large bedroom with a bed big enough for both of us to sleep in comfortably, and a shower that also served as a bath. Definitely a luxury since the majority of the populace used a community bathroom. Now, normally they wouldn't let unmarried ponies share a suite, but Curly managed to get it to work under the agreement that she would be the Best-Mare at our wedding. Just a perk of being the Overmare's daughter and high up on the SPA leadership.

But there I go wandering off...

When I got my Scorecard I was in my suite with Rose. I had just gotten off work and was laying on the couch, listening to the music. It was an energetic, upbeat jazz that was being played for Jazz Week (my idea). I had my eyes closed at the time, but when I felt a poke on my shoulder I looked up and saw Rose standing next to me, smiling and wearing her blue and yellow trimmed Stable jumpsuit with the front unzipped just enough for the fluff of her pink barrel to be exposed.

“Guess what?” said Rose.

My eyes flicked from her chest to her face. I was heating up and going dry in the mouth.

“Uh... You planted more flowers?” I asked.

She shook her head, biting her lip.

“They approved of a flower garden in our suite?”

She shook her head again, and gently rolled me to my back, saying: “Warmer.”

I grinned. “You got a promotion?”

Rose climbed on top of me and pressed her hips and chest down on mine. Her locks rolled down and tickled my cheeks as her warm breath brushed against my nose. “Warmer.”

I was really hot now, and I squeezed her flanks with my hoofs and licked my lips. “I give up.”

“They approved of me having a baby. We can be promoted to parents!” said Rose. She pressed her lips against mine and pulled away some seconds later, flicking her tongue on my nose. “I want to start now.”

“Oh? You want to start now?” I asked, excitement now dying from anxiety.

Rose nodded and bit my ear, licking it as she dragged her teeth across it. I shuddered and felt blood going low, and my hoofs snapped around her flanks and ribs, trapping her, even though I was getting mental calls to abort.

“I want little Roses and Merises running around,” said Rose, her voice husky and her hips grinding against mine.

“Little Merises, huh?” I said, groaning with the growing pressure below. “That's nice, but shouldn't we wait for this?”

Rose pulled up, her smile fading. “Why?”

“Uh... I mean we can start, but-”

“You don't want kids?”

“I didn't say that, but I'm just saying we should probably make plans for this. Especially if you want a lot of kids. I mean, they are an investment. They take time, money, space, and need a lot of attention, and our jobs are gonna make it hard for us to actually be there for them.”

And that did it. Her smile was replaced with a frown and she crawled off of me, sulking to our kitchen, leaving me in a very uncomfortable situation.

“You're not mad are you?” I asked.

“Nope,” said Rose, digging into our fridge.

I adjusted myself so I was laying on my stomach. “Are you sure?”

“Yep.”

Rose left the kitchen with a bottle of synthetic milk in her mouth, went into our room, and came out a couple of minutes later, fully zipped with a blanket on her back and a pillow in her mouth. She put them both on the couch next to me, went back to our room and closed the door without a word.

I stared at the blanket and pillow, loathing how the upbeat jazz music was basically mocking me. Then somepony knocked on the suite door. I had to open it in a way that my hips were not showing to hide the dwindling excitement sort of hidden by my jumpsuit. It was a good thing, too, since the pony in front of me was a mare named Ebony Ornament. She was a young, skinny earth pony with black fur, a gray mane with streaks of orange and green tied into a pony tail with a parchment roll as her cutie mark. She was carrying a satchel filled with envelops and she had a pair in her mouth.

“Mail time!” she chirped.

I took the envelopes, thanked her and put them on my table, eyeing the pyramid seal of the SPA... and the name Yellow Whiskers. Rose Petal's name was there, but who the fuck was Yellow Whiskers?

I trotted out and shouted at Ebony.

“Hey, Ebony! You gave me the wrong mail!”

Ebony was about to knock on the next door, but stopped and looked at me, her dark cheeks getting a tint of red and her orange eyes little dots.

“Oh man, not again!” said Ebony. She dug into her satchel, having to sit on the floor to do so, and finally found the right envelope. “Here you go! Please don't tell anypony.”

We exchanged the letters and I assured her I wouldn't tell anypony, and after she left to continue her route, I brought the right letter to the table and opened it up.

There was a red X next to my name.

Perhaps yelling “You bitch!” was not the best idea when dealing with Curly Mane, but I didn't care. That green mare was sitting at her desk, hoofs folded, face sporting a wicked smile, and her dark green curly mane was hanging over her lime colored eyes, giving them a dark shadow. I knew she knew what she did. Every act by the SPA was deliberate, and with her running the grading for the all those living in the residential area of the Administrative Wing it gave her the perfect position to remove anypony she didn't like.

“What the fuck is this?” I said, slamming my hoof on my Scorecard.

“It is called a Scorecard. Its a thingy we use to get rid of unproductive ponies,” said Curly.

“Unproductive? I put in eighty hours a week for this Stable!”

“Oh, yes, schedules and all that, oooh, hard~” Curly waved her hoof around. “Anypony can make a schedule, Ephermeris. But did you actually look at your report, or did you just freak out violently like you always do?”

“I am not violent!”

“Not what we gathered.” Curly took my Scorecard, cleared her throat and began reading. “Summary for Ephemeris Lavernius Clock. Ephemeris has a history of anti-social behavior and has shown signs of a possible pattern of violence. While he has not been physically violent, we have observed questionable rhetoric and his habit of breaking furniture. He has also shown to be greedy, has broken the rules numerous times (example: making unauthorized pocket watches and backroom deals for permits) and he has no connection with his family, therefore making him a liability for Stable Sixty Seven society.”

She finished with a smug smile and pushed my report back to me. She didn't notice or didn't care that my eye was twitching. On top of that, my throat became tight, my breathing heavy, and everything just turned red.

"Kinda sucks. All that time in the basement, all that time in isolation, and just when you get a good life, it just goes away with one. Little. Report," said Curly. "Poof~"

Next thing I knew, I was lunging over the desk at Curly with every intent on hurting her. Possibly killing her. Papers flew, her coffee mug shattered on the floor and pens and pencils went everywhere. Curly shrieked and fell backwards over her chair, and the door slid open faster than any other to allow a pair of kevlar armored guards to rush, levitating batons and screaming at me to stop.

I didn't listen.

I was on top of Curly, beating her. I wanted to hurt her. I wanted to hurt her badly. I wanted to pound her face to a bloody pulp and stomp on her until her heart popped. And keep on stomping until her body stopped twitching. Everything that I had worked for was now gone because that little bitch had abused her power to get rid of me!

I got a few good stomps in before one of the guards hit me over the side of the head with his baton. It knocked me right off of her and the other guard clipped a metal collar with a chain attached to it and tugged me away from Curly. She scrambled up and hid behind the first guard, her face bloody and mane a mess, and I made another jump at her, but her guard took another swing at my head and I was out like a light.

When I came to, I had a bandage on my head, which did nothing to stop the throbbing, and I was locked in a cell. I was stripped of my jumpsuit and my PipBuck was gone, leaving just a bare spot on my hoof, which had considerably less fur. Hell, it might as well have been bald for how thin it was, and it was gross seeing my skin, too. And to make matters worse, Silyl was in the cell across from me.

He no longer had the groomed appearance, and scars took up half of his body like a broken vase glued back together with patched of gray fur growing back in the sea of dark red spots.

“What are you in for?” asked Silyl.

I didn't answer him. Instead I peeked down the rows of cells and saw Ebony huddled in her corner, sniffling and rocking back and forth.

“This isn't happening. This isn't happening. This isn't happening,” she said over and over again.

In another cell was a skin and bones earth pony with injection marks along his limbs. He had a yellow coat, wiry white hair and unfocused eyes. He was pacing in circles and gnawing at his limbs every so often.

There were twelve others, all terrified, all whispering to each other, trying to figure out what they did wrong. The only one who seemed accepting of his fate was Silyl.

“What are you in for?” asked Silyl again.

I swallowed, despite having no spit. “A vendetta put me here.”

Silyl smirked. “That's usually how it works.”

“How can they exile me!?” cried Ebony. “I didn't mix up the mail that bad! What kind of punishment is exile for mixing up mail, anyway? This is not fair!”

“No, what's not fair is being exiled because you got sick and couldn't work for a week,” said Red Wine, a stallion with an orange coat, red mane and a wine glass for a cutie mark.

“How about messing up a hair cut?” said Sapphire Moonlight sourly. She was a unicorn with a white coat and a long, flowing blue mane with strips of purple and light blue.

That followed with the others shouting about what they did or did not do and trying to one-up each other on how badly they got screwed over. As this happened, Silyl simply shook his head and went to the corner of his cell, and I found myself mirroring him.

The next few days were visiting days, where friends and family would spend their last moments with the exiled. Rose and Artisan showed up, and my dad, too, surprisingly. He didn't say much, but on the only day he did show, he put his hoof through the bars and pulled me close so that our foreheads could touch. He only said one thing to me: “I'm sorry.”

He rubbed the back of my head, hoof shaking, and we looked at each other with tears in his eyes and lips trembling, and then he left in a hurry.

I never saw him again.

Rose and Artisan came back every day, though. Every day Rose promised to fix what happened and every day she came back saying they were working on it. Every day was a failure.

Artisan brought me cookies, and gave some to the other exiles. He and Rose both had to be escorted out by the guards every day since they stayed after visiting hours.

On the last day of visiting, after visiting hours were long over, Curly Mane dropped by with a couple of guards and came to my cell. She looked at me, smiling proudly, despite the scars on her face, and I glared back at her.

“Don't worry, Ephemeris, I will take good care of Rose,” said Curly. She leaned in close to my cell and said: “I will take really good care of her. Have fun in the Wasteland. Plenty of tails for you out there.”

She giggled and left without another word, and me and everybody else in the holding area watched her go. When the door slammed shut, Red Wine snorted.

“Somepony needs to poison her,” he said.

I couldn't agree more.

New Year's Day.

The Day of the Exile.

First Day of Hell.

Whatever one called it, it didn't matter. It was always a show with the same outcome every year. The guards gave everypony a saddle stuffed with canteens, food, and medical supplies, and a little memorabilia. Mine was the pocket watch I made.

Its silver plate and gold trim was polished, the tree etched in it was clear, and when I popped open the case the ticking worked just as smoothly as when I first finished it. It brought me to tears and a smile, and I slung it around my neck after putting my saddle on. When all the exiles had their saddles on, the guards let us out and escorted us down the hall towards the Stable door.

The hall was dim and barely big enough to allow us to walk it in pairs of two. I had the misfortune of being next to the geeker, whom I found out was Yellow Whiskers, and he was so fried from drugs that he thought he was being led to Candy Mountain by marshmallow ducklings.

When we got to the entrance lobby there was a crowd gathered and a line of guards keeping an eye on the door while volunteers kept the citizens in check. Braid Mane and Buzzcut were observing everything from a perch, and I saw Curly standing in front of the crowd, next to Rose and Artisan. Rose was crying in Artisan's shoulder, and he was trying to comfort her. Curly also looked like she was trying to comfort Rose, but when she saw me, she smiled and hugged Rose like how a brat would hug their prized teddy bear.

My group kept walking, but when I got to Rose we hugged, and I didn't want to let go of her. I had to close my eyes just so I didn't have to see Curly's scowl or Artisan's tears.

“It's going to be okay.” I told her, running my hoof through her mane.

Rose nodded, and tried to say something, but all she could do was sniffle. I knew she wanted to believe it, just like I wanted to, but we both knew that nothing was going to be okay. Our world had just turned upside down and I won't ever be able to return.

The guards had to pull me away from her, and as I was being dragged away I looked at Artisan. “Keep an eye on her.”

Artisan nodded and wiped his eyes. “She'll be safe with me.”

Artisan couldn't hurt a fly, but it made me feel better that Rose will have him by her side. He tried to hug me, too, but he was pushed back and I was forced to keep walking.

When I got to the bottle cap shaped entrance of the Stable with the other exiles, I could feel all eyes on us. Familiar eyes. Eyes I loved and hated, and eyes I barely knew. But they were all watching, and when the Overmare typed in her code there was a heavy silence. I did everything I could to hold back my tears, but I could feel a few of them trickle down my cheek.

Moments of silence and there was a loud crack, followed by squeaking and grinding, and Silyl took a deep breath and glanced at all of us.

“Next stop... Hell,” he said.

Ebony whimpered and was hugged by Sapphire, Yellow laughed and stomped the floor, and Red Wine started shaking while I quietly watched the mechanical arm descend from the ceiling and grab a hold of the door's knob. When the door opened, the whole room shook from the rumbling, and everypony -me included- instinctively folded our ears to muffle the horrible screeching sound of metal grinding against metal. Once it was out, it rolled to the side and I saw my future.

A desolate, hopeless wasteland with no life as far as the eye could see. Not even the sun was able to shine through the murky cloud barrier covering the sky.

I took a deep breath, looked over my shoulder and tried to give a reassuring smile to Rose and Artisan. Rose's face was soaked in tears, and Artisan had wrapped his hoof around her shoulder. Rose waved farewell and I think Artisan was out of tears, because all he could do was gulp. To enforce his pledge, he hugged Rose tighter, and I nodded and looked back towards the Tartarus I would be living in.

Then I walked out.

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: Horse Sense -- You are a swift learner. You gain an additional +10% whenever experience points are earned.

Author's Notes:

Minor rewrites.

Sunshine Gardens

[Tick.]

I was staring at the endless rolling hills of dead grass as I was forced away from my home. I wasn't prepared for this. Nopony was ever prepared to be exiled. My pampered coat wasn't used to the chill in the air, nor my eyes used to seeing an endless field of decay, much less the brown tinted, rough patches of clouds above that it left my stomach churning. My hooves were used to the smooth, metal floors and daily cleanings. They weren't used to the jagged rocky terrain. They weren't used to being poked by dead plants or scratched by old bones. To be honest, I would've ran back inside if guns weren't being pointed at me. The rest were like me, too. I knew it. The fear in their eyes and the shakes in their steps said plenty.

When I looked over my shoulder, the guards cocked their weapons and tensed up. It reminded me of the Day of Exile when I was twenty two. A sweet mare by the named of Honey Sap was one of the exiled for failing to meet her honey quota, and she tried to get back in. I still remember the barrage of gunfire and her screams and those gunned down with her. To this day I still think I stepped on her bones when I first left. The memory of what happened to her is what made my legs move. I wanted to run back, but my legs knew that if I went back I would die. Just like Honey Sap.

None of us wanted to die, so we kept walking, and once we were too far away to reach the door, I heard it grinding and sealing itself shut with a metallic groan. The noise was so loud that it shook loose the rocks on the mountain side, and when it sealed I was certain the whole world heard it since it echoed over the Wasteland like a massive gong.

But as soon as those doors closed panic mode snapped in. I ran to the door and banged on it, screaming and begging them to let me back in. I screamed and screamed, and cried and begged, but nopony answered. All I got was the faded sixty seven staring down at me. I screamed till my throat felt like it would shred, and I screamed some more. I banged until my hooves felt like they were going to snap, and I banged some more.

“Hey, numb nuts! That door ain't opening!” shouted one of the exiles. A light blue earth pony with a white puffy mane and soap bar cutie mark named Soap Box. “They cast you out because they don't want you! What makes you think they'll open it back up?”

I glared at him, but said nothing, and Ebony stepped forward, saying: “Be nice, Soap.”

“Oh, me? Be nice? Really? How can I be nice when I got exiled because I refused to pay my taxes, huh? They exiled me for refusing to play along with their racketeering!”

“Oh, for Sun's sake,” grumbled another pony.

“I was making a political statement and they exiled me to silence me!” said Soap Box.

“Dude, I never even heard of you,” said another exile.

“That was because they kept my broadcasts silent and censored my writings.”

“That was because you needed permits to broadcast and send out pamphlets.” I said. “If its against the rules you get punished. That simple.”

“And what rules did you break, Mr. Head of Scheduling?” sneered Soap Box, coming right up to me.

Ebony got between us, with Sapphire, Red Wine and Silyl standing close by. Meanwhile, I looked at Soap Box square in the eyes. “None. Curly used her position to get rid of me."

“So out of all of us here, you, a higher-up on the government ladder, are innocent? Typical self-righteous crook!” said Soap Box.

I shook my head and walked away, but Soap Box had insisted on trailing me, despite Silyl and Red Wine trying to block him.

“Yeah, keep walking. What would a pampered brat like you know of the real world, anyway!?” shouted Soap Box.

I knew more than he did, but I didn't say anything. I kept walking. I didn't want to deal with that shit. It was bad enough that I got exiled for no reason, but I also didn't have any training in anything beyond schedules and clocks. Where would that justify any form of combat training?

Maybe if I was a security pony I would be a little bit more optimistic about my chances of survival. But no, I got a watch on my butt, sat in offices and coordinated events. No reason to learn how to fight, or use a gun. No reason to think I would get tossed in a goddess-forsaken hellhole!

I knew I was going to die out in the Wasteland, and I figured I might as well die alone. Everypony important to me was sealed away without any chances of me ever seeing them again, so fuck it. I was just gonna walk and walk and walk and let the other exiles pretend they had a chance of survival since they knew so much about the real world.

I don't even remember if any of them tried to stop me. I just remember walking... and walking... and walking.

I remember thinking that the land was so evil that it didn't even allow the sun through. Granted, I have never seen the sun, only pictures and cheap models that emitted the proper light, but I knew that there was supposed to be something lighting the land. There was supposed to be something to warm the air and make the plants grow, and it wasn't there. It was all wrong and I was doomed to wander this horrible place till the day I die.

When I found a good place to stop it was a single house with peeling white paint, a thatch roof made of sticks, bark and garbage, and a rusted metal door. There was even a message painted on its wall that read: “67ers Welcome!”

I cautiously approached the door and realized there was an old note nailed to it that read:

Dear Exile(s),
If I am not here, then I am out and about gathering food and supplies. Until I arrive, remain hidden and stay safe!
XOXO,
Cheese Cake

I looked at the door again and realized that it was slightly open. I swallowed my fear and tapped it open, cringing when the rusted hinges squeaked, and when I peered inside I saw silhouettes of furniture and a makeshift kitchen in the dim light.

“Hello?” I called.

Nothing.

I pushed the door further open and shakily stepped inside. The warped floorboards creaked and a unpleasant stench filled my nose. My ears turned slowly with my head and I had to strain my eyes to see anything as I looked up and down, around corners and in rooms with cots. When I went into the kitchen I found that there was a hole in the roof for the smoke for the cooking station to go through. It wasn't much. Just a pot hanging over a pile of burnt wood contained by a circle of stones and bricks. There wasn't anything inside the pots, either, and the cupboards were the same. Except that they had dirty bowls.

I went back outside and looked across the barren landscape, hoping to see signs of the other exiles.

Again, there was nothing.

I exhaled slowly and looked at my watch. It said it was going on seven, and looking at the clouds I saw that the residual light peeking through has dimmed to a darkened brown color. I let it flop against my chest and was about to head back to the Stable to see if they were still there. I wanted to show Ember, Sapphire, Red Wine and Silyl and the others the house, but keep Soap Box out. He could sleep outside just so he could experience his real world. However, before I could get ten paces out I heard this loud CRACK!

That alone made me jump a good hoof in the air and I high tailed it back to the house and slammed the door shut. Then there was a stream of pop-pop-pop and buzzes and thumps, and I fumbled with the slide-lock until it clicked in place, and for good measure I put a door underneath the knob.

The shooting and explosions continued and I bolted to one of the rooms and hid underneath one of the cots, trembling and holding my watch.

I stayed there for the rest of the night, watching the doorway, too scared to sleep, and it reminded me of when I tried to hide from my mom.

She always found me.

Maybe whoever was shooting won't.

Okay, I lied.

I fell asleep sometime during the night.

But when I woke up the next morning, I was actually surprised that I was still alive. I was expecting to get pony-napped or something. I crawled out from underneath the cot and opened the door. There was nothing so show anypony tried breaking in. It was with the light of the morning breaching the clouds that I noticed that in the doorway was a splash of red and streaks going to the cooking station.

I puked in a corner.

I galloped away from that house as fast as I could. I galloped until my lungs shriveled. I ran throat felt like it was cracked. I kept running even when it felt like my legs would shatter.

I ran all the way back to Stable Sixty Seven, hoping to see somepony there to be my companion so I wouldn't get turned to stew. But that was not the case. There was nopony there. Just bones.

“FUCK!” I cried. My voice echoed, and I yelled and stomped the ground, kicking bones and rocks. “Way to go, Meris! Way to go! You threw a hissy fit because some ass wipe said mean things. Now you're really gonna die out here alone. Good job. Good job! You dumb fuck!”

I kicked another rock and that came with a splitting pain on my hoof. I screamed and fell on my rump, holding my hindleg that got jacked up by the rock. Yeah, there was a crack on it and a trickle of blood stained my brown coat and hoof. It dripped to the ground as little red droplets, but that was something that was easily fixed by a bandage that would have been a lot easier to put on if I was a unicorn.

Anyway, after painful twisting and turning and using my mouth and hoof to bandage myself I got to walking again, being sure to avoid the house.

I easily found what was supposed to be the freeway (I think that's what they called them in the Old World). It was actually just over the hill, and I carefully hopped over the potholes and jagged, rusted metal lying about. I especially avoided the holes that had weird green haze floating around them. I wish I had my PipBuck to tell me what they were since they could do just about anything, but no, they just had to take that away!

I don't know how long I was aimlessly walking around. All I remember was just seeing stretches of road running through the landscape, like worn yarn covered in dirt, with the occasional billboard advertising something. Some would have posters of happy ponies being a family at the dinner table, others were about inventions, and then we would have the ones about a circus, movie, fair, or other events. But I think I fully realized what had happened when I entered what was left of a neighborhood. And I don't mean knowing-knowing, since we all know the story about how the missiles tore holes in the sky and how millions were killed in just a few short hours. No, I'm talking about feeling-knowing.

When I walked by the brick sign, I saw that despite hundreds of years of decay, some of the colors still remained. I saw yellow, orange, red, green, blue, and even white, all arranged in what I could only guess was a field of flowers. There was a wooden sign, worn and covered in holes and pieces splintering off, but in spite of all the damage, I still saw the sign's message.

The more I stared at the sign, the more I realized that the holes and red were more than just natural damage and paint. They were bullet holes and blood.

My eyes trailed the wall and came to a stop when I saw a corpse lying in the bush. I only saw her because of the flies buzzing around her and the stench coming from her mangled body. When I found her lying there, I puked again, which stung since I had nothing in my stomach.

It was Sapphire Moonlight. And she was... destroyed. Her backside and inner thigh and mouth were caked in blood, and her eyes were squeezed shut. I still remember how flies crawled in and out of the bullet holes riddling her body and her open mouth. With the blood around her, it was like she was lying on a thin red carpet.

When I looked away from her, I found what was left of a toll booth. It looked like it was hit with a rocket. There was a chunk gone, which I'm sure the pieces scattered around it were parts of it, and the ridges were charred. When I peeked inside, I nearly puked again because there was half a body there. Just the lower half, too, and it wasn’t even intact enough to tell if they were a colt or mare. All I knew was that I was looking at a half a body with their guts spilled all over the floor. I'm pretty sure the only reason I didn't puke was because I was out of stomach acid.

That is when I heard something. It sounded like some ponies cheering and laughing. I didn't know what was going on, but my gut told me that I had to get out. Unfortunately I was too slow. Before I could move away, I heard a gun cock and some psycho unicorn chick with a blood red mohawk, pink coat and a whip for a cutie mark snickered as she pressed the barrel of a rifle made of pipes, scrap metal and wood against my head.

My heart stopped, my blood froze, and my joints locked. And I knew I whimpered because she laughed with another pony. Her partner was a black earth pony stallion with white war paint to make a skull on his face. His cutie mark looked like a bloody brush.

“Are ya gonna cry?” mocked the stallion.

I shook my head, but felt the tears slither down my cheeks like the salty snakes of betrayal they were. They roared with laughter and then I felt the gun butt crack my ribs. I howled as stumbled to the ground. While I was on the ground, coughing and tasting iron, the unicorn yanked off my gear without any grace and dumped it all out. They took my apples, my canteen, and my pocket watch! When I tried to get it back, I got a butt to the side again and a bash to my head that sent it cracking against the ground. My ears rang, and everything felt like shifting sand as I tried to stand up, gasping for air. I had to blink blood out of my eyes, and I could only watch helplessly as the psycho chick took my watch and hung it around her horn for some stupid reason. But the stallion just laughed at my plight. I had a feeling he was slow.

“What do you think, Needle?” asked the unicorn mare, giving duck lips and swaying her hips as she pretended to check the time.

“What is it?” asked the stallion, Needle.

And there went her smile. “Its a watch, dumb ass. Do you know how long it has been since I've seen one?”

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... No.”

The mare rolled her eyes and slammed my watch shut, and then she laid in front of me, cocking her head. “You're a big one... Bald spot on the hoof... I'll be damned! We got another exile!”

“Do you wanna put him in the games with the others, Little Miss?”

The mare scoffed. “Hell no! Just look at him!” She grabbed my cheeks with her hoofs and turned my head this way and that. “He's good looking. Good size. Soft, too. Definitely a pampered one, so he must have good genes. He'll be great for our fertility ritual! Ball be praised!”

“Yeah, praise Ball!”

“Get the leash!”

Yeah, no. I was not liking this. I tried to run, but right as I got up Little Miss rammed her rifle butt into my liver and I dropped again, coughing and shifting on the ground. I tasted copper, and Little Miss stood up, snickering and aiming the rifle barrel at my head.

“I'm gonna take you back to camp, and you can forget about your name. Your new name is Cuddle Muffin, and you're gonna give our tribe lots of babies. Starting with me,” said Little Miss.

That put a stone in my stomach, and the psycho chick wrapped a leash around my neck and tightened it until I could hardly breathe. It seemed like doing that caused whatever crowd there was to cheer louder over a mare's scream and sobs. Like they were watching this act of degradation and cheering for the fine maneuver of leashing an earth pony.

Little Miss gave the leash to Needle and I was dragged through the street of Sunshine Gardens. I wanted to keep my head down so I won't get any more attention, but my eyes kept drifting towards the ruins of the place. What were once brightly colored houses were now faded and ruined. The chipped off paint exposed the rotten wood underneath, and some of the houses were boarded up. Doors were gone, windows were just jagged entrances to the dark caves, and what were once white picket fences were next to nonexistent pieces of wood poking out of the ground like dried out talons.

I could hear somepony screaming angrily over a mare's sobs coming from one of the houses, and my stomach churned when I saw a cart full of foals pulled away by a team of earth pony stallions. All of them were covered in scars. Their eyes were distant and their hooves followed a set path with armed guards marching with them. They didn’t even notice me.

There was a gunshot and the mare stopped sobbing and out of the house we passed came a donkey wearing a horrible outfit. It was like he picked random clothes without making an attempt to see if he could find anything to match. He had a polka dot tie, a purple jacket over a neon yellow shirt and one of those green, plastic party hats with clover on it. The fat pistol snuggled in his holster clipped to his leg was no joke, though.

He saw me looking at him and he ordered Little Miss and Needle to stop. Little Miss looked annoyed, Needle was looking at something random, and I was worried that he might shoot me. But he didn't. He smiled and looked at my hoof's bald spot.

“Another exile, eh?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Nice. My father was an exile, too. The name is Yaker, by the way, and I think we encountered some of your friends last night.”

This Yanker guy grinned and held out his hoof, but I just glared at him. Then came a strike on my hip, like a hammer, and I dropped to my rump, seething and biting back tears. I could feel the bruise forming on my bone, and Little Miss used her magic to tug me up.

“Shake his hoof, Cuddle Muffin!” ordered Little Miss.

I reluctantly extended my hoof and Yanker shook it, still smiling.

“Don't be too hard on him. At least he didn't try to play hero like the others,” said Yanker.

“Like that pretty unicorn that bit me,” grumbled Needle.

I turned my glare to him, and Yanker snickered and pat him on the shoulder.

“Hey, you and your buds got some fun out of her. Cherish those memories, my friend,” said Yanker. He then sighed and brushed his hoof against his jacket. “Anyway, Little Miss, take this guy back to my place. I wanna have a talk with him.”

“But we need him for our fertility ritual,” whined Little Miss.

“You already got most of the survivors. You don't need another one.”

“Do we have to take this up to Waltz?”

Yanker's smile faded. “Fine. He's all yours. I'm still going to talk with him, though. You can have him tomorrow.”

“I better. Come, Cuddle Muffin!”

She jabbed my hip with her rifle barrel and Needle gave the leash a sharp tug, jerking me forward. I nearly lost my balance, but managed to keep myself up, and they led me to a three story, relatively intact house with a gold star flag waving on the top. I saw guards on the roof and a few more patrolling the yard. Unlike the crazies, these guys actually wore Old World Equestrian combat armor, but they painted a “61” inside a gold star on their plated shoulder pads, and the Old World assault rifles and batte saddles they had actually looked somewhat clean.

Upon entering, I found that it looked bigger than it did on the outside, but that was probably because all the furniture was gone. I looked out a window and saw some earth ponies digging a hole with unicorns wearing Sixty One armor keeping watch. It looked like they were getting ready to rebury a rotting corpse.

“Do you want a drink?” said Yanker, now next to me.

I shook my head and Yanker hummed in disappointment, and then ordered the leash off of me. Little Miss took the leash off and right as she and Needle were about to be escorted out by a couple of Yanker's guards, he stopped them and pointed at my pocket watch.

“What's that?” asked Yanker.

“Its a watch,” replied Little Miss.

“Its mine.” I blurted, immediately regretting that since Little Miss glared at me and Yanker gave me a puzzled look.

“Its yours?”

I nodded.

“Huh... Give it back to him,” ordered Yanker.

“You just want it for yourself!” accused Little Miss.

The guards cocked their guns and Yanker shook his head, tutting.

“I'm being a good host for the only cooperative exile. Good behavior means good rewards. Now give it back to him,” said Yanker.

Little Miss growled and levitated it to me, which I snatched it out of the air with my mouth and quickly spat it in my hoof so I could slip it around my neck.

“Don't lose it,” sneered Little Miss.

And then she stormed out with Needle by her side and one of the guards slammed the door shut while Yanker shook his head.

“Sadists these days. No respect for authority,” he said. “Let's go to the kitchen.”

Yanker led me to the kitchen, and there, he poured himself some water in a mug that looked like it hadn't been washed in a while. It grossed me out, but he didn't seem to mind. When he finished his drink, he smacked his lips obnoxiously and slammed the mug down.

“Man, that's some good shit!” hollered Yanker. “Don't get much better than Macintosh water, I'll tell you that right now. Well, maybe Sixty One has better water, but they have to use all kinds of filtering machines and cleaning spells, while this water just lets nature do it.”

I remained quiet, but tried to inconspicuously search for a way out. I didn't have much luck since the only way out was blocked by a guard and Yanker was standing in front of the window, sipping another helping of water while watching the rotting body get tossed in the grave.

“You know, when my father was exiled he was the last donkey of Sixty Seven?” said Yanker. “The excuse they gave was low production for the carrot farm. I mean, carrots? Really? I knew they could have told the truth and be like: 'We don't want donkeys here'. But they went with the stupid carrot excuse.”

I said nothing, and Yanker snickered and shook his head as he looked at the rolling hills and distant mountains.

“I don't even know why I'm mad. Sure it was shit what they did, but every action has a reaction and Sixty Seven will get what's coming one day. Karma is a bitch, after all, and... well, Sweet Berry is playing that role.” said Yanker.

“Who?” I said.

“Sweet Berry. She's gonna make Equestria green again.”

I stared at him, blank as a deaf child, and he sighed and nodded out the window.

“Look out there,” he ordered.

I looked out the window and saw the same thing as before. Lots of dead hills and hazy mountains with filtered sunlight giving them an ugly tan hue.

“All that was green once. There was green grass, water, roads, houses, you name it, it was there. Out there was a paradise,” said Yanker. “Now its Hell, but Heaven is returning with Sweet Berry, and Sixty Seven's Heaven will be dragged to Hell. It will be nice seeing that door ripped off and that population gutted.”

“There's thousands of ponies in there.” I said, trying to mask my shock.

“Yeah, and there were once millions of ponies out here, but the zebras certainly didn't have a problem killing them. Its just the cycle of life, you know? We live, we die, and sometimes we live and die by the thousands or millions.”

He laughed and pat me on the shoulder, and I grunted since apparently a pat on the shoulder hurt my ribs and hip. Next thing I knew, he hooked his hoof around my neck and led me out of the kitchen.

“I'm glad you didn't fight back,” said Yanker. “An exile wasted is a waste of life and energy, so by you not fighting you spared me from having to make a hard choice. All you exiles are smart. You can read, do math, fix shit and do shit, and all kinds of other shit.” From a window we passed, Yanker pointed to a heavily guarded windmill in the middle of some repairs. “Like, that windmill out there. That was built by an exile. I had to kill that fucker when we came in to negotiate some peace between us and this tribe, but the peace didn't really work out. If we had more exiles out here then the world would be better. But we could do without the self-righteous population of the rest of Sixty Seven. We got enough of that shit out here.”

We resumed walking, passing a study that had a couple of couches and chairs, and it was loaded with books varying in all conditions and types. There were dictionaries, novels, novellas, comic books, political science books, economics, how-to books, and cook books and they were all being searched through. Each book had a place in one of two piles, and I could only guess what those piles were for.

Then he led me to the second floor, which had a couple of rooms and a bathroom with full plumbing (or so he said). Some poor sap was trying to clean off blood splatter on the wall in the hallway, and she looked aggravated since the blood was only spreading. Yanker then took me a guest bedroom and I saw that it was well furnished for something using over two hundred year old material, but he said nothing about it and went straight to the master bedroom.

There was blood stains on the wall and floor, and it looked like somepony was shot and dragged out of the room only to bleed out in the hallway. In the corner of the room was a safe being picked by a unicorn mare. She was biting her tongue in deep concentration as her bobby pins messed around with the thing. She didn't even notice our presence, and we didn't stay long enough to get her attention since Yanker kept going to the third level, and he grinned like a foal getting cake as he showed me his “new office”. It had the standard desk, cushion, lamp, and a globe that was absolutely worthless. There was a stack of paper, some pens and pencils, a terminal that was still working, and a great view of the town. I saw everything; including a couple of ponies fighting in an arena with spiked walls. They were both battered and bruised and bleeding profusely and being cheered on by the surrounding hooligans who were all wearing piercings, crazy mane styles and cheap armor. The sand the gladiators were fighting in was muddy with blood and they had set up spikes along the walls to add to the thrill of that barbaric activity.

“I love this room. Great view of everything, and I don't have to leave to see the Games,” said Yanker.

Suddenly there was a muffled groan and some clanking chains that came from behind a wooden door with a padlock on it.

Hearing that, Yanker sighed heavily, excused himself and trotted towards the door in question. When he opened it, my jaw dropped.

Ebony was chained to the wall in a small room with a ball gag, lying on a filthy mattress. Her mane and tail were a mess and she was covered in bruises, tears and stains. When she saw Yanker, she paled and retreated to the corner, hoping that she could escape into the walls, but he was on her in an instant, screaming over her muffled screams.

“Really!? I have a guest here and you go make a ruckus!” yelled Yanker. “Consider tonight to be longer. Maybe I'll have the others rut you, too, until you learn some respect!”

By the time he was done screaming at her, Ebony was sobbing and curled on the bed and he slammed the door shut, fuming as he locked it.

“Sorry. Whorses got no respect. We gotta put them in their place.” Yanker then noticed how I was pale and shaking, and how my jaw was at the floor, and he scoffed. “Lose the look. She and her whorse friend didn't want to cooperate. Just like the other exiles. The only reasons she ain't dead like the others is that she ain't a biter and is a good lay. But you're all right. I like you. You're tame. I got feeling you and I will have a good relationship.”

I felt sick. I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself and get some kind of super pony powers and beat up everypony here and escape with Ebony on my back. But I knew that wouldn't happen. I knew that I didn't have powers. Earth ponies never got powers. Maybe if I had a horn on my head I could've done something close, but I'm not a unicorn so I couldn't. Besides, my ribs were either cracked or broken. Add in that I was unarmored, had no gun and was surrounded by armored ponies with guns, getting Ebony out would certainly get us both killed. I couldn't save her if my acts got her killed.

“You hungry?” asked Yanker suddenly.

“No.” I croaked.

Then my stomach growled and Yanker chuckled -a forced chuckle, mind you.

“That's not what your body is saying. I'll get the chef to make something good tonight,” he said.

He then left, and when he was out of hearing distance I checked the padlock holding Ebony inside. It was locked good, and my heart sank when I heard her quiet, muffled sobs sank. It is a terrible feeling being powerless. It is worse when the universe mocks you for it. But what could I do?

Nothing. She was damned and I couldn't save her. But I wasn't going to give up on her and leave like last time. No more separating for us exiles.

"Hang on, Ebony. I'll get you out. I promise." I said.

She whimpered, and with a heavy heart, I left.

Later that night I had dinner with Yanker, and dinner was -how should I say it?- awkward. The guards standing by the doorways refused to move, much less blink, and I could hear the floorboards creak with the steps of the patrolling guards. Their steps were slow and methodical, kinda like clunky machines forever doomed to walk slow and inspect every line on the floor. Because of this I couldn’t enjoy my meal, which was gross anyway since it consisted of half rotted food, odd paste and warm beer.

Yanker had invited a couple of guests over for his dinner party. One was a unicorn mare named Lilac. She was pretty, very pretty, and I was embarrassed to be staring at her for so long. But I couldn’t help it. She looked like she was well fed in comparison to the rest of the ponies outside, and her light purple coat was clean and her light gray mane was knot free. She wore a blue and white dress that covered her cutie mark, though I guessed it was a heart from what little I saw. She had eye shadow that was the same blue as her dress, too, and she had a customized PipBuck that had a sky blue gloss with light purple padding.

The other guy was weird and when I wasn’t staring at Lilac, I was looking at him. Yanker introduced him as Waltz, and he was pretty strange. He was an ibex like you, but at the time I didn't know he was an ibex because I had never heard of or seen one. All I saw was some strange thing with a skinny maw, curvy horns, and dark fur. He was also a battle hardened soldier, that much I could tell. He had an eye patch over his right eye, his front right leg was mechanical, and he was covered in scars. He creeped me out.

Yanker gorged his food and talked about how I was an exile from Stable Sixty Seven like his father. Waltz didn’t seem to care and Lilac was way too interested in that detail for me to be comfortable.

“Oh really?” she said in an overly enthusiastic voice and smile while leaning towards me with her head on her hoof. “Can you tell me what the Stable life was like?”

“Well,” I said, straightening myself out and trying to hide the fact that I wanted to run away, “Stable Sixty Seven regulates nearly everything. You have to get a permit to date, get married, have kids, and personalize your stuff. Even the kinds of breaks you got were determined by your grade.”

“They graded you?” asked Lilac.

I nodded. “Yeah, though it is kind of stupid since most of us got good grades anyway.”

Waltz then chimed in. “Yes, it is all fantastic, Exile, and I’m sure you have a wealth of knowledge, but we have more pressing matters to attend to.” His accent was funny, but I wasn’t going to laugh about it, not even on the inside. Waltz looked at Yanker and said in a hostile tone: “Let's go somewhere private.”

Yanker stopped eating, and it took him a couple of seconds to reluctantly excuse himself. After he left with Waltz, Lilac gave me an odd smile. Somepony grabbed Yanker and Waltz’s dishes and left, leaving me alone with her.

Me and Lilac ate in silence But as I ate, Lilac's constant staring was making me more and more anxious, so I found myself looking at my watch to check the time in rapid succession.

The more I looked at my watch, the more I wondered about home. I started wondering if stallions were hitting on Rose Petal or if Artisan was getting more hot food thrown at him. I even wondered if Curly was trying to keep Rose Petal all to herself.

Lilac interrupted my thoughts when she pushed her plate away and said: “Do you miss home?”

It took me a moment to nod, but I didn’t answer vocally. She also nodded and scooted next to me. I knew she had to have come from some upscale place since her dress was silk and she smelled really nice. Like a fresh flower. Plus there's the PipBuck. You just don't get one unless you are from a Stable or lucky.

“Why were you exiled?” she asked.

“I was marked.” I replied.

I tried to keep my tone in check, but I knew it came out snappy since she recoiled slightly. I apologized for the tone, but the apology didn’t help me feel any better. I decided that in order for her to understand why the subject was touchy –besides the obvious- I would have to explain the concept and what had happened to me. After taking a couple of minutes to explain the SPA system and my misfortune to her, she hugged me against her barrel and nearly choked me.

“Oh, you poor thing!” said Lilac. “You should come back to Sixty One with me and Waltz. You will fit right in!”

Suddenly Waltz shouted: “You were supposed to bring us his head!”

I looked up at the ceiling since the shouting came from the upper floor, and I barely heard Yanker, but from his tone, I was guessing that he was afraid.

“Look, I know you're mad, but he's dead. His group is dead. Girl got popped in the head and they were-”

“You imbecile,” interrupted Waltz. “There was a reason why I told you to bring me Wilhelm's head. You do not know him like I do.”

Waltz came back into the kitchen with four more of his kind flanking him, armored with what looked like mechanized armor.

“Lilac, get up. We're leaving,” said Waltz.

Lilac gave me one last look before leaving with him without a word, and Yanker and I followed them out. When the two were at the doorway, Waltz turned to Yanker and jabbed his skinny hoof into the donkey’s chest, saying: “For your sake, Yanker, you better hope Wilhelm is dead.”

“Like I said, he’s dead along with his group. Just tell Ms. Gold to stop worrying,” said Yanker sourly.

Waltz snorted and quickly left with his guards. Once they were gone, Yanker slammed the door shut, cursing under his breath, but when he saw me, he faked a smile.

“What a day!” he said nervously. “What. A. Day.”

He walked next to me and patted my shoulder left for his room, and I was escorted to the guest room by an armed guard. There I was put under the supervision of a guard outside my door, but I didn't fall asleep. I just pretended to, and waited.

A couple of hours later I heard something I didn’t want to hear. I heard fast, wet slaps and Yanker grunting and groaning over Ebony’s muffled moans and cries.

I glared at the ceiling as the thumping and the mixed noises of forced sex got louder. When I heard Ebony scream with Yanker,

“Stop your crying,” he said over her sobs. “You are mine and I will enjoy you until you are useless. Now suck that dick!”

Her sobbing suddenly became more muffled and Yanker groaned blissfully while muttering something that was no doubt disgusting. It was then that I decided that it would be now or never. Most of the guards were asleep and Yanker was too busy violating Ebony to be on guard, so I got out of bed and peeked into the hallway, finding it empty. It looked larger than it really was and I felt my breathing suddenly become shallow and my legs began to shake.

There was a thump and I looked up at the ceiling. Yanker was talking again and Ebony was sobbing and gasping weakly. I continued looking up at the ceiling, ears drooped and legs shaking to near collapse, worrying about what he was going to do next.

I heard Yanker say: “The more you beg, the more you cry, the longer this will be.”

Ebony cried: “No! No, please Celestia, no!”

“Celestia's dead! You beg to me, now!”

I heard him go back into Ebony. I barely heard the slaps and his grunts over her wailing. I put my hoof to my mouth, closed my eyes and tried to think of something I could do to save her. She was the only one from my Stable left, and I couldn't let that go on.

I tried to swallow my fear with a deep breath before sneaking out of the room. It managed to calm me down just enough to get out of the door and halfway down the hall. Then the floor creaked.

I cringed and a unicorn guard instantly came around the corner with her rifle raised.

“Who's there?” said the mare.

I had gone too far to stop, so I did what any inexperienced, fresh from the Stable pony would do to an enemy. I charged her. I knew it was a bad idea as soon as my legs started moving, but I figured that maybe Celestia would be nice to me and make me suddenly awesome and give me the strength to beat up a bunch of guards to save a mare in distress. It didn’t go quite as I had planned.

The first part went okay. I saw her eyes widen in the glow of her magical aura and she swung her weapon towards me. I rammed her into the wall, not caring about the loud thump or the wood snapping under our weight. We both fell to the ground and wrestled each other. She was now covered in plaster and the pain in my ribs only got worse and made me sweat more than I should have.

We rolled around on the floor like dogs, and when she got on top, she socked me in the jaw, and it momentarily knocked my world out of focus. My jaw throbbed and I tasted blood. She stomped on my side and I howled as a sharp pain pierced my body. She brought her gun up and aimed it towards me, but I was able to clamber to my hooves and ram her into the wall again.

The gun went off, illuminating the dark hallway with a small flash of light. The bullet grazed me and struck the floor. I winced from the burning slice on my hind hoof, and I pushed the gun up when she tried to fire again. There was another flash of light and plaster from the ceiling rained down on us. I punched her in the jaw, but unlike me, she shrugged it off with a growl and headbutt me in the nose.

I yelped and reeled back as I pressed my hoof to my nose, which was gushing blood. My hoof didn’t stop the bleeding, it only pooled up in the bowl and dribbled to the floor like a waterfall. Then my eyes widened when the mare aimed her weapon at me, and right as I thought I was about to get shot the light turned on.

“Stop!” ordered Yanker.

The mare froze and Yanker approached us with a couple of guards. He was wearing a spangly robe and looked pissed to see me in the hallway, bleeding all over the place. I looked back at him with disgust, but I think that look was ruined since my hoof was covering much of my bleeding face. I released a small whimper, too. That didn’t help.

“What were you trying to do, Exile?” asked Yanker.

“Stop you from raping Ebony.” I told him, my voice muffled and sounding a bit squeaky.

Yanker clicked his tongue and nodded, wiping his nose as he looked at his guards.

“How long have you been outside the Stable, Exile?” asked Yanker.

“Two days.” I replied.

“Well, you made some really dumb choices really fast, then.”

Yanker nodded towards the guard I attacked, and the last thing I remember before blacking out was her sinister smile and the butt of her rifle going to my face.

When I woke up, my face hurt. My nose was stuffy, my jaw ached, my ribs were worse than before, and blood had dried to my face. My whole maw was covered in a dark red, flaky layer and I had a black eye, too. Not even two days in the Wasteland and already I got my ass kicked.

I felt for my watch but found that I was without it. I groaned and looked down, and saw that my hind leg was chained to a brick wall. I sighed and walked around my prison cell to get an idea where I was, and to stretch my legs, too. The room was bare, save for a bed, and the window was barred. The brick was partially covered in plaster and an old poster was hanging up on the wall. It was faded and deformed, but I could still make out some of it. From the looks of it, it had a picture of a pegasus and an earth pony with a muffin behind them. I couldn’t really make out much detail, but the words were still readable.

I tried to figure out the details of the two ponies, but I was distracted when I heard a cheer and an agonizing scream come to an abrupt end. I looked outside and saw the aftermath of a fight between a stallion and a mare. The stallion was a unicorn and the mare was an earth pony, and he was standing on top of her flattened head with her blood splattered all over his hoof. The stallion was getting a little too involved with this sport. He bowed and waved to the cheering crowd. It made me sick.

He even went willingly with the guards when they came out with leashes and escorted him towards a fully loaded wagon that was being worked by more slaves. Once he was secured, the group left with their guards and I recoiled from the window, but I went back once I heard Yanker’s voice.

“Ladies and gentlecolts!” he bellowed from an elevated stand with Ebony chained to one of its support beams. “We are down to our last contestants!”

There were some boos and disappointed groans and he held up his hoof and flashed a cheesy smile. “But I got a treat for you, today!” continued Yanker. “Yesterday somepony thought he could defy Ms. Gold and Sweet Berry, and he tried to kill me in my sleep! Fresh from the Stable, I present to you the Exile! ... In twenty minutes.”

The crowd laughed and I fumed. I knew he knew that he was lying. He knew I was only going after Ebony, but... You know what; I really have nothing to say about what he said. It was fucked up, through and through.

So, couple of minutes later, the door opened up behind me and Yanker stepped in with his guards and my pocket watch around his neck. No Ebony, though.

“This is a nice watch,” said Yanker, stroking my watch. “I could see why you wouldn’t want to be without it.”

“Do you even know how it works?” I snarled.

That landed me a punch in the nose.

I yelped and clutched my bleeding nose as the guards snickered. Yanker also smiled and waved his hoof around like the punch hurt him.

“Wow, you earth ponies are hard headed!” he said. The guards laughed and he looked at me again, saying: “Don’t be upset, Exile, I did what I had to do to keep my hide on my skin. Besides, your watch has a new home with me so all is good.”

I lunged at him, but the shackle held me in place and his guards stepped in front of him.

“Relax, he ain't a threat,” said Yanker. “Just make sure he is able to put up a show when you take him to the Arena. I got a nice surprise for him.”

I glared at him as he left the room, and one guard kept her gun aimed at me while her partner put a leash around me and unchained my leg. Then I was dragged out of the large brick building I was imprisoned in. On the way out, I stole some glances and saw posters along the wall that advertised activities such as bake sales, charity events, and patriotic duties. One of the patriotic duty posters, I kid you not, was about how getting great grades is vital for the future of Equestria.

Once I was outside, I was blinded by the light and the crowd erupted with activity when Yanker introduced me. But they weren’t cheering, they were booing. I hadn’t even started yet and already the crowd was booing me.

When I was at the Arena entrance, one of my escorts opened up the door while the other took my leash off. She then pushed me inside and I fell and got a face full of bloody mud. I coughed and sputtered out blood that wasn’t even mine and the crowd laughed while Yanker went on with his glorious, grand opening speech that was prophesying my death.

I looked around and tried to look tough, but my legs wobbled underneath me and my eyes watered as they darted around. I jumped when the door behind me sealed shut, and then cowered a bit when the door on the other side opened. I was expecting to see a huge stallion come out ready to kill me in a moment’s notice, but that wasn’t the case. The pony that came out was that geeker, Yellow Whiskers. He was also shaking and whimpering and shrunk when the crowd laughed and threw stuff at him.

They also threw stuff at me and chanted: “Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!”

It reminded me of a broken clock with the way they chanted. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

My eyes darted around the cheap Arena as the crowd stomped their hooves on the ground and makeshift bleachers with earth shaking results. I gulped and my whole body drooped as I backed up, hoping that the door will open so I could disappear from the madness. I backed into the door and the guard behind it jabbed me in the rump with an electric prod. I yelped and jumped away as the surge bit me, and then I was tackled to the ground by Yellow, getting a face full of bloody mud, and then he bit my mane. I screamed and ran in circles as he gnawed at my head. I barely heard the crowd laughing over this, and when I felt my hair getting ripped out from the roots I did the only sensible thing I could think of. I skidded to a stop, stood on my hind legs and let gravity handle the rest. Yellow yelped as he was crushed between me and the ground, and as soon as he let go I rolled to my hooves and galloped away from that nut.

Yellow got up, spat some of my hair out and charged me again. This time I was prepared and slid out of his way when he jumped towards me. His hooves dug in the dirt as he skidded to a stop, and he turned towards me again, eyes narrowed and nostrils flaring. He charged me and I turned tail and ran again. I tried to ignore the pain in my ribs, and my hips felt like they were cracking in half while my breathing was raspy, and that little freak didn't let up. I looked over my shoulder and saw his unquenchable thirst for blood in his eyes and his hunger in his drool.

Yellow may have been a little guy, but he was fast and caught up to me in no time. He jumped on my back again and I buckled underneath his sudden weight, and screamed and thrashed when he bit my ear. His teeth breached my skin and I felt his slobber mixing with my blood. I was screaming in pain and fear and my movements became more desperate when he started twisting his head. I bucked and rolled and did everything I could to get him off, but he had the jaws of death on my ear, and feeling your skin tear and the cartilage on your ear snap is not a pleasant feeling. My cheek was slick with blood gushing from my mangled ear, and I couldn’t even hear myself cry from how loud the crowd was cheering.

I gave a really hard buck and Yellow flipped over, but he still didn’t let go and I heard a snapping sound and everything just went silent. I knew the crowd was still cheering, but I could only hear my heart’s heavy thumping and my ragged breaths. My vision became blurry as I lifted my hoof up to the fountain of blood flowing from he head.

My neck, mane, and cheek became drenched in the warmth of my blood, and when I saw Yellow spit out a piece of it in the sand and grin at me with a bloody smile I realized what happened.

I think he laughed, and that is when I took the fight to him. He charged and I charged, screaming furiously as my vision turned red. I didn’t even blink the blood out of my eyes. I was beaten with a gun, leashed, had my nose busted, tossed in a gladiator ring and now had my ear bitten off! I was sick of getting abused out here and I was going to teach that little shit a lesson.

We charged and he leaped towards me, but rather than changing course, I dipped my head slightly and head-butted him in the gut. He gasped explosively and flew back pretty far, landed on his back and skidding back a bit farther. When he stopped, he was coughing and gasping for air as he struggled to get back on his feet. Before he could stand fully I tackled him to the ground and started wailing on him.

Each punch was met with a sickening crack and a cut on his face. Within seconds, Yellow’s face was bleeding profusely and his blood was all over my hooves. But I didn’t stop. I continued beating him and my blood dripped on his bloodied face as the crowd roared in cheers and applause.

Yellow punched me in the neck and I fell off of him, coughing and gasping for air as my neck tingled painfully while I pressed a hoof against it. Yellow then got up and bucked me in the kidney. Pain rippled through my chest as the trauma made me stumble and fall on my side.

He ran away from me, turned, and then went for another charge, and though my muscles and bones ached, I still slid out of the way and stuck out my hoof. I basically close lined him and he landed hard on his back. After that, I stomped on his gut and he grunted and curled up in the fetal position. I took a moment to catch my breath, but when he tried to crawl away I grabbed him by his tail and dragged him across the Arena while his hooves dug in the dirt. I barely heard myself swearing up a nonsensical storm about him biting my ear off over the crowd’s excitement. Then I threw him.

One quick flick and a pain in my neck later and Yellow was sailing in the air, and when he landed, he landed on the spikes. I cringed and stepped back, fighting to keep my dinner in my stomach when he was impaled. The spikes went clean through him, and parts of his muscles and organs were ripped out and either sliding off or hanging from the spikes. Blood poured all around and his eyes and mouth were wide open. He twitched a little bit before his body became limp.

“Oh... Uh... We have a winner. Exile the Impaler!” said Yanker.

The crowd cheered and I sat down in the dirt, panting and blinking blood out of my eyes as I watched Yellow’s body hang there with his blood pooling under and creeping towards me. I didn’t move though, I continued watching. Then fatigue and dizziness started to hit me and I began swaying in my spot. My eyelids became heavy and my good ear swiveled lazily towards the cheers, and I turned my head slightly when I noticed a group of guards approach me. Two of which were Little Miss and Needle.

“Good job, Cuddle Muffin! I knew I made a good choice when I picked you!” said Little Miss.

That was when fatigue dragged me to the dark.

It was nearing sunset when I was by an armored wagon. My ear was bandaged and they cleaned the blood off of me. I still felt woozy and had to lean against the wagon for support, and I was also in shock for what I had done.

I couldn’t believe that I had killed somepony in such a brutal way. Sure I will kill others, but he was my first and you always remember your first. His eyes and mangled figure and blood still haunt me to this day. Though I knew that he was trying to kill me and that I had no choice, I just wished that the circumstances were different so that we weren’t forced to fight to the death. I wondered what Rose Petal would have thought if she found out I impaled somepony in a gladiator fight. A part of me told me that Rose Petal would still love me no matter what, while the other told me that she wouldn’t look at me the same way again. I guess they were both right.

But enough about that. I was waiting to go to my next destination, and Yanker came up to me, my watch dangling like a prize I couldn't have.

“That was one heck of a show. Where was that Exile last night?” said Yanker.

I didn’t answer, and he frowned and started stroking my watch, bringing me to growl.

“Oh well,” he said, “at least you lived and now you get to entertain crowds. Gladiators get paid well, so your stupidity has led you to fortune. Good luck on your new path, Exile. You're gonna need it.”

He then trotted off towards his house and I looked back at the dirt. As I stared at the dirt, I heard Needle and Little Miss talking to a pair of Sixty One soldiers.

“But Yanker said we could have him!” said Little Miss.

“Yanker said told us to take him to Sixty One for the Games, so that is where he is going,” said one of the soldiers.

Then there was a pop, and next thing I knew one of the Sixty One's dropped with a hole in his head and blood splattered all over the side of the caravan wagon. I swore and dove for cover behind the wagon, and a second later a barrage of gunfire erupted and knocked down four more soldiers and sadists.

I saw Looper fall near me with blood gushing out from a gaping hole in his chest and half of his head blown off, splattering the wagon with his brain, bone and blood. The soldiers and the crazies fired back, screaming and swearing in such ways I never thought possible. Then there was a flash of an explosion and I was knocked back a good dozen feet. When I landed I was out of breath with a ringing in my ears and bleeding all over because shrapnel had sliced into my skin. What was left of the wagon landed next to me with body parts and supplies scattered and burning.

I coughed dirt and blood and felt a painful spike in my ribs and legs as I rolled to my stomach and tried to crawl away from the raging gunfire. Whoever was shooting was mowing down everypony like they were cardboard. During the massacre I couldn't hear or see anything good. Everything was a blur and I could only hear my ragged breathing and the ringing in my ears.

As I crawled, bodies dropped with squirts of blood splashing the surroundings or chunks flying off. I stopped crawling when I got behind a knocked over mailbox for cover, which, by that time the last of the soldiers and sadists were being picked off. I used the box for support to keep myself propped up and watched as Little Miss, who was the last one, fired her rifle at somepony.

“You're dead! You hear me!? Dead!” screamed Little Miss.

Three gunshots later and she was missing a leg, a piece of her neck, and had her heart blown out. She fell with a wet, gory splash, and then there was silence.

The crackling fire and slow hoof steps made my heart race and soak my body in sweat. I tried to keep myself quiet, but even a hoof in my mouth couldn't muffle the escaping whimpers. And that is when I saw him walk through the carnage.

He looked like Waltz, with his thin coat and build and all, but he was younger and had a lighter coat and no eye patch or mechanical enhancements. But despite his thin shape, he was still able to wear thick armor with a dark purple color and clawed boots, and carry a large battle saddle with some kind of metal case strapped to his back.

When he saw me he approached me, and I honestly thought he was going to kill me. But he didn't. He asked me one simple question. “Where is Yanker?”

His accent was like Waltz’s, and though his voice was younger, he was still hardened like the other. And honestly he scared me more than Waltz after seeing what he did in no less than two minutes.

I pointed towards the house and he didn't say a word as he walked past me with two more of his kind.

The first one was smaller and surprisingly slimmer than her counterpart with stubs for horns. Her coat kinda reminded me of the color of butter and she had a dark colored mane. She also only wore light, white armor with yellow crosses on her shoulder pads, and carried medical boxes with butterflies on them and had a small machine gun hanging around her chest. She gave me a very awkward, sheepish smile before picking up her pace.

The second one was massive! He was about the size of a heavyweight earth pony stallion, and with all the armor and large weapons he was wearing and carrying, he was practically a machine. I probably would've mistaken him for one, too, if it weren't for him wearing an open faced helmet designed for his kind. He gave a quick glance at me, bit down on some kind of mechanical bit and a rocket and a Gatling gun popped up on swivel mounts. He grinned at me and trotted after the others.

It hadn’t even been five minutes when the shooting started up again. I saw the muzzle flashes coming from the house, heard the screams and cries over the gunfire, and watched a fireball blow out the second story windows, showering the ground with burning debris and body parts. And finally, I saw Yanker get tossed out of the third story window. He twisted in the air like a cat, and when he hit the ground his forelegs snapped like twigs underneath. I heard them snap all the way from where I was standing.

He howled in agony and thrashed on the ground as his white bones poked out of his skin with blood pouring on the pavement. I watched for his life when the leader stepped out of the house, armor covered in dents and blood. He came out with Ebony on his back. I couldn't tell if she was barely awake or asleep. All I knew was that she was limp and this guy wanted blood.

Yanker tried to crawl away, but every movement he made only caused him more pain. The leader of the band just watched as he writhed on the ground, howling and sobbing, and I couldn't move. I wanted to, but I was morbidly fascinated by the scene. I don't know why, but I started counting to see how long it would take for him to die. And right as I started counting, the attacking party's leader spoke.

“I told you I would kill you for what you have done,” said the leader.

Yanker blubbered something I couldn't understand, but his blubbering came to an end when his throat was slashed by the leader's clawed boot. They left him to bleed to death and walked back inside, and Yanker gurgled and died seconds later. I stared at the mutilated body, his flowing blood was shining in what little sunlight there was and his body was still twitching. I estimated that it took him thirty seconds to die from the beginning of the conversation to bleeding out.

A minute later, the group walked out and went towards the back where the rotting body was buried. It looked like they were paying their respects, and they left in silence a couple of minutes later. I watched the group leave, and each one gave me a quick glance as they passed me. With them so close I saw that Ebony was asleep, and when they disappeared from view I retrieved my pocket watch from Yanker’s corpse -thankfully it was still intact- and dared to explore the embassy for supplies and maybe a weapon.

I didn’t stay long inside. The walls were splattered in blood and bullet holes, and mangled corpses lying in pools of blood were scattered all over the floor. I searched the house and found more bodies, more blood, more blasted off chunks of ponies. When I went to the room where the safe was, I found it was empty and the mare that was working on it dead with her head splattered on the wall behind her.

When I looked out the window, I saw the direction the strange group was heading, and judging by the way they were walking, they were in a hurry. I looked at my watch again, then back at the group and hastily grabbed food, a canteen, and a pistol before I walked outside. I hurriedly walked in the general direction of where the group went, only looking at Sunshine Gardens once when I was on top of a hill, but only to try to imagine what it was like before Hell took over.

I couldn't.

Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Running Tackle -- Sprint into enemies to tackle them: +2 to the trip attempt if performed at the end of a move action.

Transit

[Tock.]

Walking the desolate land that was Equestria was a numbing experience. It was a place where time and life did not exist. All there was, was rocks, rubble, dead mountains and bare hills as far as the eye could see. Equestria was the incarnation of hopelessness. How anybody survived out there was a mystery to me. Hell, at least your country had good areas to work with, but not Equestria. It was dead, through and through.

Anyway, after walking for hours on end down the crumbling road, I found a good spot to catch my breath and give my hoofs a beak, and give myself something to drink since my throat was parched. While I rested, I checked my watch. It had been five hours since I left, and there was no sign of the party that took Ebony.

I looked in the distance and saw the sinking sun barely poking through the gray clouds. Eventually I got bored staring at it and continued walking through the Wasteland once more.

After close to another five hours of wandering I came across another town, and I stared at its entrance, hesitant to enter after the last fiasco. I decided to enter it anyway, hoping to find more food and water since what I took did not last long at all. As I walked through the town, I stole glances at smashed window, raided stores, twisted metal stabbing the ground and a turned over bus with a worn advertisement for a Flim Flam jet-pack on it.

Not too far from the bus was a structure nestled to the side. It looked to be a fuel station of some sort, given its blocky feature and tanks bolted to the ground. The fuel station had all of its windows boarded up and its door was swinging lazily, creaking and moaning with each motion. Nearly all of the signs were gone, too, leaving just blank slates. The only sign left was splintering and hanging by a bolt. It said “Rich Fuel” with some slogan at the bottom that was long faded and warped out of existence.

I carefully stepped inside and immediately covered my nose when I smelled the familiar stench of death and heard flies buzzing. I strained my eyes to see through the darkness caused by the thick dust. The specks that were caught in the weak beams of light were illuminated and a gust of wind pierced through the boards on the window, blowing loose dust and random pieces of paper.

The floor creaked under my hooves, and I felt my paranoia spike with every creak. I turned to every whisper of a sound and jumped when I accidentally kicked away an empty rusted can. I watched the can bounce and clatter across the splintering floor until it came to a stop at the hoof of a unicorn corpse covered in semi dry blood. The blood was all over her face, neck and outfit, and behind her was a spray of dark red that was all over the wall with a single bullet hole at an awkward angle.

I stared at the hole questionably for a moment before I looked at the mare and saw a pistol lying in front of her, and next to her was an open book. I figured she killed herself since the world sucked so much and thought the book was a diary. I was mistaken. I didn’t get to invade somepony’s privacy, I got to read an instructions book. The Mentally Inferior’s Guide to Shooting. The chapter she was on was How to Properly Handle a Gun- Pistols.

Talk about a massive fail.

I quickly realized that she was no ordinary Wastelander. She was wearing a PipBuck and had the blue and yellow trim of a uniform on, albeit with some modifications on like metal plating and spiked shoulder pads and a patch. The patch had a 65 on the forehead of a pony skull with its left eye socket made of a gear.

That little detail aside, I tapped the screen of the dead mare's PipBuck and it flickered to life in a green light with barely any energy left. I saw numbers and stuff scroll across the screen rapidly, and after thirty seconds it went to the main screen with “WARNING: REPLACEMENT HOST NEEDED!” flashing on the bottom. It had one day left on its power supply before it was completely dead and would need a replacement battery. Something I am sure is not made anymore.

It saddened me that I couldn’t take hers since I didn’t have the proper tools to take it off, so I did the next best thing. I scrolled through her menu, looking for a map. I came across the medical section and her head was flashing with a sad face and “CRIPPLED” in bolded letters above it, and I found out what she had in her inventory: medical supplies, the pistol (same as the one I snagged), its ammo and the book that she didn’t know how to read. When I finally got to the map section, my hopes of a quick return to the Stable life diminished.

Stable 65 was clear across the Macintosh Hills, past the Badlands and into the Hayseed Swamps, and across from it, on the other side of a place called Horseshoe Bay and the city of Baltimare, was Stable 61 (marked as Republic 61).

I was not too thrilled about that, especially considering what they did, but further inspection of her map led to me finding out that while the dead mare was an idiot she certainly got around. I saw dozens of discovered locations on her device. There were locations of factories, settlements, train stations, hubs and monuments. There was even a marker labeled “Waltz's Manor” with a little heart next to it. Seeing that, I suddenly got a sick feeling in my stomach as I recalled the dinner I had with Waltz and Lilac.

I pulled out for a full view of the region and studied the map as well as I could, trying to memorize all the locations and see if there were other Stables I could go to besides one that was across from a murderous Stable. I couldn't find more Stables, but I did catch two places not too far from where I was. One was a hub for a “Macintosh Transit Corporation” and the other was a settlement called “Transit”. I tried to get an idea of the best route but I accidentally hit one of the tabs and it switched to her radio. It crackled to life and some obnoxiously cheerful music echoed in the station. When it stopped, a charming mare's voice came on.

“Good evening, my little ponies, it is me, your hostess and Chairmare of Republic Sixty One, Sweet Berry, here for another talk. Many of you are good ponies, just trying to live out your lives in ways of virtue, but it is hard to be virtuous when the world is against you. But fear not, for you will find sanctuary here at Sixty One. The food is plentiful, the water is clean and enough for a warm shower every night. That is right, Republic Sixty One can provide you with civilization. A place where you can live like how we were meant to be. A place of shelter and food and education for your foals and even for you if you desire it. So come on down to Republic Sixty One, and let us build a New World together.”

The music played again and I went to the next screen. It was a note screen with six hundred and eighty two notes.

My jaw hit the floor. I didn’t even have that many notes when I was still running schedules! How the hell was she able to get so many?

Curious, but not wanting to waste my time by going through all of the notes, I took a look the first, which was a recording labeled “Waltz and Me- 13” with another stupid little heart next to it. I played the recording, not caring about her privacy since she was dead anyway and couldn’t yell at me or anything. Plus it stopped the music.

It crackled at first, but when it got to it, I heard a familiar voice accompanying Waltz’s and a third pony, whom I was guessing was the owner of the PipBuck.

“He must be stopped no matter what. He is dangerous to Ms. Gold and the New World,” said Waltz.

“Waltz, you worry too much. Yanker already killed him and his team, remember?” said Lilac.

Waltz snorted in disgust. “You do not know Wilhelm like I do. I want to believe he is capable of death like all of us, but every time he survives us I wonder more about his origins.”

“Don’t tell me you’re getting superstitious,” teased the other mare.

“It is not superstition if it is supported by facts, Glamour. He has survived things no one should have and yet is still not crippled. I want to believe that Yanker killed him so we can put this nightmare behind us and build the New World without worry. But a part of me tells me that Wilhelm is alive.” Waltz paused to take an uneasy breath. “I will go to Yanker with Lilac and see his progress. And you must go to Transit and find out what you can about the Restoration. Be discrete, and learn to shoot for Gold’s sake while you’re at it.”

And then it ended with a click. I stared at the screen, watching the little light blink as I thought about one specific line from the message: “I want to believe he is capable of death like all of us, but every time he survives us I wonder more about his origins.”

Waltz, the guy that nearly scared me to death just by looking at him was scared of Wilhelm. I wondered what he meant by “origins”. Did he think that Wilhelm was an alien? A super soldier? Some kind of time traveler with healing powers? I didn't know, but I had a feeling that if Wilhelm was tough enough to scare someone like Waltz, well... Never mind. You could guess that he was bad news for anypony that was on his shit list.

After regaining some sense, I did a quick scroll through the other notes and found out that Glamour was a delivery mare. She delivered whatever needed to be delivered and didn’t have any assignments besides the one Waltz gave her before her untimely death.

I searched her body for the medical stuff and found her last healing potion. I popped the lid off and chugged it like clean water. It was gone in seconds and I spat the container away from me and gagged at the unpleasant taste of rotten orange. Then I collapsed to the ground, grunting and clutching my side when I felt my bones mend. I felt the cracks disappear, the marrow return like stitches and the scabs of my previous cuts fall off with new skin underneath.

I was healed in seconds and I felt great after the pain faded. I only had a bad aftertaste which was something I could deal with easily. I chuckled wildly with joy as relief washed over me, knowing that today I wasn’t going to die. I felt my ear, hoping that it also came back, but I still felt the ridges and sighed with disappointment. It appeared that I would be forever deformed.

I scavenged Glamour’s corpse and took all of the things I could carry. Her saddle, her medical kits, the ammo, the book, caps, and the canteens were all mine now and I was ready to go.

I checked my watch before I peeked outside to see that the minuscule light was fading to darkness. I galloped away from the station and kept running until I was on top of a hill. The night was almost there and I could see a large building in the distance, surrounded by the rotting remains of what appeared to be a shopping plaza. I squinted my eyes and noticed that the large building had a big sign proclaiming it to be Macintosh Transit Corporation.

I didn’t see any lights or smoke, and I really didn’t want to sleep outside, so I took a swig of the canteen for some liquid courage, but got something else instead. I swished the liquid in my mouth, analyzing the odd taste with mixed reactions. It tasted like spinach, and it was thick like a poorly made smoothie. It had leafy chunks in it and I thought I tasted dirt. When I poured just a bit in the bowl of my hoof, I scowled and rubbed the strange smoothie thing off my hoof. It was green and brown, chunky and smelled like baby ass. I threw the canteen away and spat out that shit. If I was going to die out here, it would not be from a bad smoothie.

I stepped inside the building that was named Macintosh Transit Corporation Hub. Thankfully there was nothing horrible on the way over, just some oversized roaches that got acquainted my hoof. The town was just like the other one, too. Lifeless, smashed and looted down to the floors. I didn't search thoroughly, though, since it was dark out by the time I got there and I didn't want to go in blind. And I don't think I would've done any exploring if I had a light of some kind, either, since I didn't want to draw attention to myself.

As for the Macintosh Transit Corporation Hub, “spacious” is one word that can accurately describe it. And if we're going with two, it'd be “spacious” and “dusty”. My hooves slid along the dirty floor, leaving obvious trails, and I felt the dust clog my nose and lungs. I had to stop occasionally to clear them out with a cough or sneeze. Every time I did so, the noises echoed in the halls and I froze in my spot, just waiting for a psycho to come running around the corner.

Luckily nopony came.

I walked past framed posters, unframed posters, and posters that once had frames but were now barely covered. Each poster had something to do with a bus. One had a bus driving majestically down the road with a beautiful sunset behind it, another had a group of ponies filing on a bus, all smiling, and the last had a cheap diagram that showed the intricate design of the large transit vehicle. They had other ones depicting monorails and lightrails and a futuristic train that can supposedly run on solar energy. I thought that that was BS.

Anyway, I continued to explore the building. I checked the offices, which were pretty much void of anything interesting, and I checked the cafeteria. The only thing I found was a skeleton with half their body in an oven. The cafeteria didn't have any food or water, and it honestly sucked because I was low on food, and my stomach was tight and its rumble echoed in the derelict structure. With its rumbling, I dove for cover behind the counter and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And I think I fell asleep for a minute, too, because as soon as my eyes closed it felt like I was falling. I snapped awake and pushed my hooves out just in time to stop myself from faceplanting the floor. Then I poked my head out and scanned the darkness for any signs of life before I climbed over it and walked back into the maze.

It had been another hour by the time I was able to find a break room, and it was a break room with a map of the Macintosh Hills, too. The room itself was pretty much like the others. It was barren, its floor was grungy and its furniture nearly breaking. Some of the circular tables were tipped over and some of the chairs were missing legs. I figured somepony must've turned them into spears or something.

As I explored the room, I found a couch that felt like a slice of Paradise for me. Its cushion was so soft I didn't even care about the stains on it. And since the window was now a jagged hole in the wall, there was a cool breeze to go with the setup. I didn't care about the breeze, either. It felt good to me.

I laid down on the couch and practically deflated at the blissful feeling of a soft cushion. My heavy eyes were just about to close, too, when I saw it. A flickering light illuminated a “Mr. Vendor” like a beacon of dinner. My mouth watered, and I slid off the couch and walked up to the vending machine. Its screen was covered by a metal shield, and that went away when I pushed a red button next to it. The covering slid up and a display of food appeared. I could've just cried for joy.

They had everything! Preserved apple slices, preserved cake, preserved donuts, and even water and soda! I giggled and pushed the combination to get me some apple slices, but the machine beeped.

“Please insert five bits,” said the machine with a highly robotic stallion's voice.

My smile dipped into a frown and my brows furrowed as I glared at the machine. I hit cancel and pushed the combination for the water.

“Please insert ten bits,” said the machine again.

I screamed and shook the machine. Ten bits for water! I knew for a fact that water was not that expensive, especially at the time period this machine thinks its in. I was being conned by a vending machine, plain and simple.

“Please do not shake Mr. Vendor. Mr. Vendor is very nice and Mr. Vendor would appreciate it if you did not shake him. Shaking Mr. Vendor could lead to Mr. Vendor falling on you, causing serious injury or death. Thank you.”

I huffed, stopped shaking the machine to step back so I could think on how I was going to get my dinner.

“Mr. Vendor thanks you for discontinuing your shaking.”

“Oh, fuck you!”

I punched the glass, leaving a crack in it, and a blinding flash of light erupted from a circle right above the screen. I blinked and stumbled back, and the machine yelled at me.

“MR. VENDOR HAS FOUND YOUR HOSTILITY INEXCUSABLE AND IS NOW BLACKLISTING YOU FROM OTHER MR. VENDORS. PLEASE STANDBY WHILE YOUR PHOTO IS PROCESSED.... ERROR. PHOTO COULD NOT BE PROCESSED. ATTEMPTING CONNECTION.”

I was getting really tired of this “Mr. Vendor” thing, and my stomach agreed with me. With the way it was growling I could eat a whole orchard. While Mr. Vendor repeated his error and attempting connection messages, I stormed away from the vending machine and grabbed a metal stool. I didn't care about the taste of rust or dirt in my mouth, and I swung the stool against its display window until it shattered. Then I took everything I could fit into my saddlebags, and what I couldn't stuff, I had for dinner. A bottle of flat soda and two cans of fruit slices. Sure they were nearly three hundred years old, but they tasted fresh and it I loved it!

After my dinner, I crawled back on the couch, snuggled up with my bags and stared at the door until I could no longer keep my eyes open.

“Well, howdy there, partner, whatcha doin’ sleepin’ on the couch like that?” asked a mare with a country accent the next morning.

At first I thought I was dreaming because her voice was really pleasant, unlike the other psychos that I had dealt with earlier. And it was a nice way to wake up.

Though, that pleasant thought went right out the window when I heard strained gears whirring and clicking. I looked up from the rotten cushion to see a really cute face of yellow mare with a thin green tint, and she had a two tone green mane with two pigtails that had been tied at the bottom with red bows. That beautiful face was on a screen, and the screen was taking up her whole body, which was a big block resting on a pole that looked like it could heighten and lower itself, and that was attached to a big circle, wheel, ball thing on the bottom. She didn’t have hooves. Rather she had thick arms with pudgy hands.

“Whatcha doin’ on the couch, there? Ya waitin’ for the tour?” asked the machine again. Her face switched from a curious look to a teasing smile like somepony flipping the pages to a photo album. It was weird. She extended her hand and said: “I’m Tour Guide Apple Fritter. What is your name, stranger?”

I pressed my hoof against her palm and said: “Just call me ‘Exile’.”

She shook my hoof and giggled, her face picture switching to the appropriate laughing one, saying: “What a cute name! I named my dog ‘Exile’!”

I arched a brow. I found it very hard to believe that she would name a dog “Exile”, much less own a dog to name “Exile”. And if she did, then it would be messed up because I wanted my new nickname to be special, and anything given to a dog is not special. It’s low.

“You’re our first visitor in 259,200 seconds!” she said, clasping her hands together by her… cheek and smiling at me. “That means you get a special tour! I’m sure Cartwheel wouldn’t mind any!”

Within a matter of minutes, I was sitting at a desk in a large, dim atrium filled with more desks, and a random skeleton in the back. Hanging from the ceiling was a projector that flickered to life and displayed grainy footage of a video that was top tier boring. I would've loved to run away, but Apple Fritter watched me closely. Every move I made she met. I could barely scratch my ear without her making a move towards the exit. And since her smile never went away, I started getting little spiders crawling up my back. Her smile was no longer kind or pleasant. It was a rapist smile, and the last thing I wanted was to get raped by a robot.

After the opening credits, which seemed way longer than twenty minutes with the obnoxious music and looped footage of mobile buses and exciting office work, a stallion jumped off of a bus. He was a scrawny guy with a slick mane and a pressed suit, and he had the smile of a shyster.

“Ladies and gentlecolts, I am Cartwheel Track, founder and holder of this amazing company,” said the stallion in a slight hick accent. The background music accompanying him only got worse when he trotted past a group of ponies looking way too happy to be going on a bus. “At Macintosh Transit Corporation, we believe that staying connected to your loved ones and your work is important, and for that we strive to give you the best rides. Affordable. Flexible. Clean. That is what everypony deserves for a bus.”

The footage and sound fuzzed out and when it reappeared with a pop a moment later, he was standing on a bus.

“Here, at Macintosh Transit Corporation we strive for improving bus routes and safety,” said Cartwheel.

“Excuse me, sir. Please remain behind the white line at all times,” said a stallion with retarded smile, wearing a gray suit and hat sitting in the driver's seat.

Cartwheel looked at the camera and stepped back, shrugging his shoulders with whomp whomp music in the background.

This guy went on about this company and their plans for the Macintosh Hills for a good three hours. He talked about everything, ranging from schedules to tires, seats to the type of paint they used, and the “proud history” of their uniform and how they are contributing to the war effort by researching more fuel efficient engines. I felt myself nodding off, like my head wasn’t screwed on right. It just swayed back and forth, back and forth, back and forth until I snapped myself awake. The boring video finally ended with Cartwheel standing in front of a building with MTC’s symbol on it, waving farewell with other ponies. He was the only one with a genuine smile, everypony else looked like they were smiling because the director told them to.

“Macintosh Transit Corporation: Keeping Equestria Connected”, appeared on the bottom of the screen as it faded out to an image of a bus driving through a golden age, utopian neighborhood that looked a lot like Sunshine Gardens. Then “Paid for by the Ministry of Transportation” appeared on the bottom along with a block of text I couldn’t read.

The footage conked out again, this time for good, and the whole room lit back up. I stared at the screen wondering what the heck I just watched for another few seconds before Apple Fritter rolled in front of me.

“Did you enjoy the video?” Fritter asked.

“It was… nice?” I said.

“Fantastic! Any questions, comments or concerns?”

I shook my head quickly, hoping that she would take the hint that I wanted to get out. She didn’t.

She clapped her hands and said: “That’s mighty swell! That means we can continue with the tour. Up next is how Macintosh Transit Corporation is revolutionizing the way seat cushions are stitched together for the greatest comfort and strength your little tushie can sit on!”

I shook my head harder. “No, that's all right. I actually got to go to... work. Yeah, I got to go to work. I got meetings to go to, ponies to schedule. So... yeah... Bye.”

I tried to walk away like nothing was wrong, but my steps were brisk and my heart raced quicker the closer I got to the door. But when I got to the door, the little green light above it turned red and the door clicked. I tried opening it, but it wouldn’t budge. I grunted and swore and my hooves screeched against the dirty tile as they tried to get a good hold while I pressed my shoulder and all my body weight against it. Then her shadow covered me and I froze and slowly turned around to see her creepy smile again.

“But the tour must continue.” Fritter said with too much glee in her voice. “Everypony must see how Macintosh Transit Corporation operates for the well-being of Equestrian civilization!”

I made a dash away from her, but she lunged towards me and grabbed my tail before I could get halfway across, and she started dragging me across the room.

“Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!” was all I could say as my hooves scraped against the ground, desperate to grab anything they could. I grabbed the chairs and tables, but they only fell over and hit me on the head, and when I latched on to a desk near the exit I was relieved that it was bolted in. Apple Fritter tugged on my tail and I pulled myself towards the table. I felt hairs getting yanked out and my skin tearing, but I refused to let go. She managed to yank me away from the desk after a hard tug and she sped down the hall with me in her mechanical arms.

"You sure are a restless feller,” said Apple Fritter with a chuckle as she carried me down the hall, hugging me like how a child would to subdue an unruly puppy. I squirmed and awkwardly banged my hooves on her metal hide.

“Let me go, you crazy robot! I don't want to sit through your stupid tour!” I shouted.

“After the cushions comes a seminar on how to properly sit on a bus. Isn’t that exciting?” said Apple Fritter.

“No!”

She accelerated her speed and soon the wind was rushing past my ears and she nearly tipped over as she rounded the corners. I continued banging and screaming for her to let me go, and right as we rounded another corner with a sign that had a seat painted on it, I slammed my hoof on her shoulder and she jerked violently and it sounded like rocks being thrown in a blender. She got all jittery and swayed side to side, bounced off of the walls and crashed into furniture while speaking thirty sentences at once. Then she hit the edge of a staircase and we both flew towards an observation window.

The window shattered into little shards and Apple Fritter's grip loosened as we fell. I was able to push myself off of the deranged machine and somehow launched myself towards a hanging model of a bus while Apple Fritter crashed to the floor below.

I barely made the jump. Half my body landed on the roof and the other smacked against the side of the model, breaking through its shell, cutting me slightly and hitting the metal skeleton inside. When my groin smacked against the bar inside I coughed and gagged as the painful nauseating feeling made me feel like I was going to puke, but I still managed to stay on. I tried to pull myself up, but froze when I heard grating and something snap. I looked up and saw one of the wires falling down with a rain of ceiling chunks in its wake.

The model started swinging around, scrapping against the wall and showering the decayed tile with its shell and pieces of the wall or shards of glass. I swore and tried to tighten my grip, but with the crazy swinging and flat exterior my hooves were quickly sliding off. More of the wires and pieces of the ceiling were yanked out and one of them fell right towards me. The wire sliced through the shell and popped the part I was on right off. I fell off screaming, with the chunk of the model in tow and I landed on a lobby couch. It snapped and I was covered in a cloud of dust and couch guts. I laid there, out of breath and a soreness paralyzing my whole body.

The last of the wires snapped loose, causing the model to splatter on the floor behind the couch in a twisted wreck of metal and broken shell. There was an explosive BANG from its impact and a generous amount of the lobby was covered in a cloud of dust and mold for a while before it was clear enough for me to see again.

I crawled to my hooves and stared at the twisted wreck, and then I laughed while sitting and spreading my hooves out, cheering: “YES! Yessssss! Thank you, Celestia! Oh, man... Oh... Wow! That was close. Phew!”

Then a pair of robotic hands grabbed me from behind and turned me around so I could see a really pissed off Apple Fritter. My heart would stop working from the sight of her murderous snarl and dark red screen, which was now cracked and making the photo fuzz and flicker in and out. Her grip tightened to where it seemed like she would crush my bones into tiny little splinters. I winced and wiggled desperately as she held me, and when she brought me closer, I could hear the gears straining and smell smoke coming from her.

“The tour must go on, Exile,” growled Apple Fritter.

Like hell it will! I tucked my hindlegs up and with a good, solid kick that us earth ponies are known for, my hind hooves cracked her screen and led me to being able to push myself away as she reeled back. I landed on my back with a grunt, but quickly got back to my hooves and knocked Apple Fritter to the ground with me on top of her.

“YOU! STUPID! ROBOT!” I screamed with each punch to its mug. The screen cracked with each punch, and on my fifth or sixth punch my hoof went through and jagged edges cut myself while the busted wires bit me with burning sparks. When I withdrew my hoof, it was dripping blood and had little specks of burnt fur and skin all over. But the robot was dead and twitching under me and that was all that mattered. I felt my pride surge for killing the insane tour guide robot, and to make myself feel even better I bucked the metal carcass.

The robot twitched again and gurgled something I didn’t understand nor care about. With me getting exiled, getting my ass kicked by a mare and having a chunk of my ear bitten off, I was getting really tired of getting dealt the crap cards. I made a mental note to find a Wasteland survival guru or something as I limped away, being sure to keep my injured hoof off of the ground.

And that was when I heard it. Groaning and squeaking and gears grinding against each other with sickly scratches while jumbled words echoed in the lobby. I froze and slowly turned around, eyes wide like dinner plates at the sight of Apple Fritter standing up, sparking and twitching. Little sparks hopped out of the hole in the screen and it swayed back and forth as its arms swung limply, like a drunk trying to stand, and when it got itself stabilized it turned to me.

It stood in its spot with small spasms rocking its body, and I took another step back, searching for anything I could use as a weapon. Then she screamed a demonic, mechanized and all around horrible screech and lunged at me with her hands extended and jacked up wheel leaving a trail of sparks.

“HOLY FUCK!” I screamed.

I reached for the nearest thing I could, which was a piece of jagged metal, and I stabbed it right smack in the middle of that blocky body of hers. My crude weapon pierced all those fancy computer parts easily, and Apple Fritter started flailing her arms wildly as she recoiled with sprays of electric fire and sparks shooting out in every which direction they could. She started bleeding melted plastics and some strange green goo, and she shrieked in a way I never thought a robot could when she grasped the bar and tried pulling it out.

She tugged and tugged and tugged, but each tug only made her agonizing scream louder and the display of sparks and fire all the brighter. I backed up until I was by the wall and watched in sick fascination as she fought to get the bar out, but when it looked like it was hopeless, she spread her arms out and screamed. Then an explosion blew her body apart, sending her innards and my weapon flying as she crashed to the ground, leaving cracks on the tile.

I ducked when the metal bar got impaled good and tight on the wall just above my head. I was panting and sweating, and I gulped when I took a moment to look at the bar. Then I looked back at the metal corpse and saw that it was nearly hollowed out with a ring of burnt, cracked tile, hardened goo and melted plastic around her. But she was still twitching and I honestly thought about stomping on her until she stopped.

When Fritter finally died, she dimmed down, destroyed gears slowly whirring and clicking to a stop, with her last words being a humming: “You killed me, Bruce.”

I blinked, wondering what the heck she was talking about now, but seeing as how she was hollowed out and burnt to a crisp, I just limped away, knowing I wasn’t going to be getting anything. Before leaving, I tried to get the metal bar out of the wall, but it wasn’t going anywhere and all I really accomplished was making my injured hoof sorer. So I bid my farewells to the bar that saved me and hobbled away to gather my supplies and fix myself up. It was then that I remembered that I had a pistol on me. Talk about a serious kick to your pride.

We'll just fast forward a bit since nothing else really happened after that incident. After I regathered my supplies and fixed myself up, I took the map and an unopened package of markers I found in the break room and put them in my saddle bag. I marked the Hub's location before I left to find Transit, which took me all day even with the help of signs that I was sure were moved by some jokers, and when I found it, it wasn't a pleasant welcome.

“And what business do you have here?” demanded the guard; a butch unicorn mare with a line of ear rings, a mohawk and thick barding made of scrap metal.

She jabbed her weapon at my nose, and I was able to step back just barely out of her range, but that was still enough to make my aching muscles scream at me for being too rough. I really needed a nap, and I really needed Ms. Butch-Bitch to put her weapon away, I could still smell the powder lingering from the damn thing when she shot at me for coming to close without permission. Not pleasant.

“Lady, I'm just looking for a place to stay.” I said, wincing and awkwardly rubbing my side with my hind leg afterwords since my ribs apparently didn't like me talking, either.

“You wanna use that tone on me again, dick fucker!” she said with a snarl. I didn't even realize I was using a bad tone, but I was in no mood for this shit, so I just glared at her,

“Are you going to let me in or not?”

“No!”

I screamed and stomped my hoof on the ground. I swear, anypony could've heard that scream from a mile away. Then I was sort-of saved.

“Shelly, knock it off,” said another unicorn mare sternly; she was white and had seas of brown, and a darker brown mane. Her mane was also braided with feathers tucked in it, and she wore a vest underneath a large jacket with a rifle slid into a scabbard on her side. She dismissed Shelly and approached me, saying: “So, what is your purpose here?”

I wanted to scream. “Are you kidding me! I'm just looking for a place to stay, that's it! Is that too damn hard to ask for!”

Shelly disappeared in a doorway, only to reappear a minute later at the top of a generic tower overlooking the area. She dismissed the pony up there before she put a sniper rifle on a railing and sat down with some binoculars hovering in front of her eyes. The mare that saved me from death waved her hoof in front of my face, snapping my attention back to her.

“So, you're just looking for a place to stay, eh?” she said.

“Yes! Oh my Sun, you are finally getting it!”

“Hm, I don't know if I like you. You're kind of an ass.”

I chuckled at near psycho pitches and I felt my eye twitch. The day started out as shit and looked like it was going to end in shit. No, shit was better than what had happened to me in just a few short days. Were these people kicked out of their homes for a rigged system? Were these people nearly killed in a gladiator death match with a skinny cannibal? Were these people conned by a vending machine and held hostage by a tour guide robot? No. No. No. And no. All nos!

And now I couldn't get a damn bed! Assholes.

I swallowed what little spit I had left and pushed back my greasy mane and said: “Look, I just want a place to stay. That is all. Can I- Can I pretty please with a big fucking apple on top have a bed for one damn night!”

I growled in pain and aggravation when my side stung again, and when I shifted to clutch my side I felt my legs buckle slightly. I was so worn out and battered I couldn't even properly comfort myself.

Ms. Oblivious stroked her chin. “Permanent or temporary? Because if it's permanent then we don't have the space.”

“Temporary!” I screamed. “Goddess-damn, I just need a place to stay for the night!”

The mare studied me for a few seconds, but I was too pissed off to feel uncomfortable. My scowl drooped to a frown though when she started humming, and I released a heavy, pain filled breath through the nose as soon as her hoof started stroking her chin. When she was done with her in depth scrutinizing, she beamed and straightened herself out.

“Okay, you can stay for the night,” she said with a cheerful smile, then her smile went to a stern frown, and she said: “But before I let you in, I'm going to need your name.”

“Exile.” I said bluntly.

She looked at me suspiciously and I stared back at her, silently telling her to just go with it. Thankfully she accepted it, but warned me that if I used any name other than Exile while inside she would find out and personally kick me out. Literally. She explained how she would drag me to the gate and then buck me in my rump so that way I would land on my face in the broken concrete outside.

Then she extended her hoof with a smile and said: “I'm Hazel Nut. Sheriff, Mayor and tax collector of this town. Any problems you come straight to me and I'll fix it up, no problem.” I shook her hoof and she craned her head towards Shelly, and yelled: “Open the gate, Shelly!”

My eyes lifted up to the triangle of scrap metal as a loud whine of a rusted turbine engine echoed out. It took a few seconds, but the slabs of metal covering the entrance screeched against the ground and each other as they were pulled apart to reveal a town inside. I limped inside in with Hazel, and my jaw dropped from the scope of the place.

It was surrounded on all sides by buses with metal plates bolted over the windows and they were all attached by contorted metal bars. On top of each bus was a grated walkway with jagged railings angled outwards and barbwire connecting the posts. The bus wall was being patrolled by ponies armed with rifles with either an SMG or a shotgun as their secondary.

The town itself, though, was a miracle in Hell. Sure it was rundown, but I also saw prosperity. The shacks of homes were made of sheets of metal and storage containers, but they were painted and had fences around them with little mailboxes. Overlooking the bundle of homes was a parking garage with more milling about inside, and next to the parking garage was a concrete building surrounded by a wall of cars that were somehow stacked on top of each other. The building had “ADMINISTRATION” in faded letters over a fortified entrance, and on the roof was a monument of a bus looking like it was zooming off into space. There was only one way in to the Administration Building, and that way was guarded by scared green stallion chewing on a stick and sitting behind sandbags with a turret resting on them. He was also wearing old combat armor and reading a book.

Me and Hazel parted ways, but not before asking her where I could go check out a room for rest. She told me of a place called “Misty Froth's Relaxation Hole”.

“A place where you can eat, drink, and be merry!” said Hazel with a smile before trotting towards the Administrative Building. The name of the place didn't sound too pleasant to me, and she didn't give me directions where to go, so I was left standing awkwardly at her as she left.

When Hazel was out of sight I sighed and walked aimlessly through the neighborhood. It was like they were trying to relive Equestrian lifestyle before the bombs fell. Some were even sitting on their very own crude porches, on rocking chairs and conversing among themselves while foals played in their “yard”. It was strange, but I just let it be.

I wandered around for a good twenty minutes before I finally found that Relaxation Hole that Hazel mentioned. It hurt my shoulder just to push the door open, and when I stepped inside, my winces and labored steps were drowned by bustling activity. Ponies of all shapes and sizes crowded around tables and at the bar, talking and roaring with laughter about some joke. I could barely hear myself think or the upbeat music playing over the chatter. In the far corner, some slick looking stallion was talking about his date with somepony named “Caramel Cream”. It was strictly perverted and every now and then one of the listeners would say “No way!” or “Awesome.”. They were an envious bunch, through and through.

Through all patrons, I was able to get a good idea of the place, though. The walls were still painted and the wood looked good for something that had minimal care for two hundred years. The furniture also looked purely recycled. Chairs of varying shapes and sizes surrounded tables also in different shapes and sizes, and some even looked like signs cut into whatever shape worked at the moment.

When I squeezed my way to the counter, I tapped on it with my bandaged hoof to get the bartender's attention, rubbing it soon after from the sharp, tingly sensation I got from provoking the injury.

I was surprised she actually heard me since it was so loud inside, but she stopped what she was doing and approached me with half lidded eyes and sultry smile. She was an earth pony mare with a light blue coat and a straight, dark blue mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a mug, of all things. She leaned over with one hoof on the counter and the other pressed into her side. It looked uncomfortable, but she obviously didn't think it was. I was starting to think everypony in Transit was slightly nutty.

“Why hello, there, stranger, what can I do fer ya?” she asked warmly.

“I just want a room.” I said.

She arched a brow and got a wolfish smile. “Would you like room service with that, Mr. Grouch?”

I shook my head. “No, I just want a night alone. I'm outta this hole tomorrow, anyway.”

She inspected her hoof with a cool smile. “Well, if yer only here for a day why not get some service? If there is one thing this town is known for, it's our room service. It ain't cheap, but worth it if you got the caps, and I can guarantee you that you'd have a night yer never gonna forget if ya get the deluxe package.”

“Caps?”

“Yeah. Caps. The currency of the... oh... Ohhhhh~”

“Oh?”

“Yer one of them Sixty Seveners, ain'tcha?”

I nodded, and she nodded, too.

“Thought so. We get a few every year. This town was actually founded by exiles for exiles long ago. We don't get much now,, but we recently got one in. Poor girl was torn up bad.”

My ears perked and I planted my hoofs firmly on the counter. “Ebony is here?”

“If that's the name of a black earth pony mare, then yeah. You can thank Wilhelm for bringing her here.”

And just like that, my ears fell and my blood went cold. “Wilhelm?”

“Yep. He's right there, if ya wanna thank him.”

The bartender pointed behind me and I looked over my shoulder and noticed a familiar group in the corner. The same people that laid waste to Yanker's town were sitting in the said corner. The largest was talking to a mare that was passing him by. She gave him a teasing look and playfully flick of her tail to his chin before trotting off. He grinned and looked at the leader of the group, but his grin disappeared when the leader slapped him on the back of his head. The female was hunched down, looking like she wanted to be anywhere else other than the Hole, and when the leader looked at me, I gulped and whirled back to the counter, both hooves drumming nervously on it with beads of sweat rolling down my face.

“Ya doing all right?” asked the bartender.

“He's looking at me.” I said.

“Didja try to kill him at any point in time or try to nibble his ear?”

I furrowed my brows. “No.”

“Then you'll be fine.” She put a mug of beer in front of me and winked. “On the house. If ya need anything, just come find me. My name's Misty Froth and I'll get ya situated.”

I nodded and she left to tend to another customer. I took a sip of the drink, too scared to move, now. Between what I saw the group do and Wilhelm's unwavering gaze, I was too afraid to drink. I nursed the beer with tiny little sips, and the glass shook violently in my trembling hooves. I mean, they did save Ebony, but I had a feeling that the group wanted to kill me, and Wilhelm's constant staring wasn't helping. Then came a loud BAM!

It came from a massive hoof slamming down next to mine, making me yelp and jump in my spot, spilling my drink in the process and leaving my heart close to exploding. Then the big guy's face appeared next to me, nearly touching my cheek with his muzzle.

“Hallo, Fremder! Long time no see, yeah?” he said excitedly in an accent similar to Wilhelm's, though considerably more jolly.

I leaned away from him, his breath and body reeked of alcohol and I wasn't sure if he was genuinely excited or if the alcohol was messing with his mind. I was leaning more towards choice two.

“Yeah,” I said, chuckling nervously, “it's been a while, horned-pony thing.”

I bit my tongue and winced, partially because I literally bit my tongue and partially because I was afraid he'd beat me to a pulp because his smile disappeared in flash. He got a sneer and he grabbed my shoulders with his hooves and held me in place.

“That was the funniest thing I have heard in a long time,” he said in a deathly serious tone, leaving me more confused than worried now. Then he laughed and released me just so he could stand proudly with his chest puffed out. “But I am no mere pony,Fremder, for I am a Bewohner von Steinböckenia.”

“A what?” I asked with a blink.

He blinked, then realized that I did not speak his language, so he chuckled and put his hoof over my shoulder and said with an understanding smile: “I’m an ibex.” Then he extended his hoof. “Where are my manners? I'm Stocker von Haus in der Prärie. What's your name?”

I shook his hoof. “Exile.”

“Your parents named you ‘Exile’?”

“No, but I don’t think my real name is much use anymore.”

“Bah! Names are important and will always have a use. Rejecting your name is like rejecting your soul. So, spill the beans, Exile. What's your soul name?”

“...Meris.”

There was no way I was letting anypony find out what my full name was, and I noticed Wilhelm's eyes were zeroed in on me like crosshairs of a sniper rifle, and his jaw was tight, like tooth breaking tight. I thought I saw his eye twitch, too, so I turned back to Stocker.

“I should move. Maybe to the hospital. Wherever it is.” I said.

At first Stocker was confused, but then he looked at Wilhelm and realized why I wanted to find another place to relax.

“He’s probably wondering why you followed us. But don’t worry, he’s mostly harmless,” said Stocker.

I had a very hard time believing that, but before I could make a move, he put his hoof over my shoulder and turned me towards the group table.

“Why don’t you say hello to the group?” said Stocker.

“Uh, no, that is probably a horrible idea.” I said nervously as I tried to slide away from him, but he wrapped his hoof around my neck and tightened his buddy hug, practically strangling me in the process.

“Nonsense!” he said. “They will be more than happy to see you! Just don't make any sudden movements around Will; he’s a bit edgy at the moment.”

I really didn’t want to meet the group now, but I wasn’t strong enough to resist the cheerful brute. He brought me to the table where his chumps were drinking warm alcohol and nibbling on what I could only guess was bark. When we came up, Stocker was beaming and I was once again trying to slip away.

“Will, Exile. Exile, Will. Aria, Exile. Exile, Aria,” said Stocker in a single breath, his hoof snapping towards the subjects as quickly as his words.

Wilhelm stopped eating his bark and stared at me intently for a moment before he turned to Stocker and spoke to him in the foreign tongue. Stocker replied in the same language, and while they had their conversation, with Wilhelm sounding aggravated and Stocker sounding cheerful, the yellow one, Aria, would not stop staring at me. Seriously, I doubted she even blinked during the length of the conversation. Between the staring of Wilhelm and Arai, I was starting to think staring was a cultural thing, too.

Stocker put his massive hoof on my back and pushed me into an open seat while taking the one between me and Wilhelm. I looked down at the table, noting how it used to be a sign that had a sofa and quill pen on it, and when I looked up Aria was still staring at me. I inched away a bit and she made that same sheepish smile she gave me before Yanker was killed. But not wanting to be rude, I politely smiled back, which went away in a blink when Wilhelm made a low growl.

“Don’t be like that, Father,” chuckled Stocker as he playfully slapped Wilhelm’s back. “Aufzuhellen! We got that traitor so now we can celebrate!” He raised his mug to the crowd and shouted: “To Will!”

The bar patrons shouted “To Will!” back, their mugs pointed towards the ibex, and he respectfully raised his mug. Everypony took a huge gulp of their drinks and slammed their bottles, mugs or whatever they were drinking from to their bars and tables in unison, making a loud, glassy bang. They resumed their conversations shortly after.

“Where’s Ebony?” I asked some seconds later.

Wilhlem stared at me suspiciously and Stocker took a gulp of his drink before he answered.

“That little mare is resting in the clinic under the doctor’s orders, and Father placed some guards outside. But she’s fine. Nothing a little nap can’t handle,” said Stocker. He smiled nervously when Wilhelm and Aria gave him their own looks of annoyance and shock, and he added: “Fairly speaking.”

Then he cleared his throat and put his hoof around Aria and lightly nudged her closer to me. Wilhelm stared at Stocker with narrowed eyes while mine and Aria's were wide with shock. I tried to move away, but for some reason I couldn't move, so all I really did was lean back, looking like an idiot while Aria was pushed closer to me with next to no resistance on her part.

“She's single, by the way,” said Stocker with a mischievous smile.

“Well I'm not.” I retorted in panic, but I didn’t think he heard me since he went on to have a few slurry words with Misty Froth. I looked at Stocker and tried to get him to come over, but he was too busy flirting and when I turned around Wilhelm was looking like a he was suffering from killing withdrawal. I smiled nervously and inched away from Aria again and told him: “I promise you, I'm not that kind of guy.”

“What kind of guy?” he asked dangerously.

My smile disappeared and I said: “You know, that kind of guy.”

“You better not be.” Then he got up and walked next to me and whispered in my ear. “I'll be watching you, Stalker.”

“Exile.” I corrected.

That got me a sharp slap to the back of the head that nearly slammed my head against the table. I winced quietly as I rubbed the back of my head and watched Wilhelm walk away, stopping by Stocker to tell him something before leaving for the upper level. Once their short conversation passed, both ibexes looked at me before Stocker went back to Misty Froth and Wilhelm disappeared. I had a feeling he was going to a secret nest to watch me through a scope.

I cleared my throat and looked at Aria, her face was glued to the floor and trying not to look at me this time. Earlier she wouldn't stop staring like Wilhelm, and now she can't look at me. I didn't get it. An awkward silence came as we sat there, listening to the conversations unfold for a few minutes before I decided to break the mold.

“So,” I began casually, “how are you single?”

She quietly said: “Dead. Jerks. Or actually female.”

“Oh,” was all I really could say. Her gender confused part reminded me of Glitter Glue, and I started to wonder how Artisan and Rose Petal were faring. I was hoping that Artisan wasn't getting more hot pie to the face and that Rose Petal was not being a toy for Curly. However, I got a twisting feeling in my gut as I thought that the worst was happening, and knowing the Overmare, nothing would be done about it if shit was hitting the fan back there.

“Is Ebony your other?” Aria asked suddenly, knocking me back to the real world. I looked at Aria again, giving her a blank look.

“My other?” I asked.

“Your marefriend. You seem worried about her.”

“Oh. No. She's an exile like me. When we got exiled I left the group she and I were with because I was an idiot, and now she is hospitalized and I have no idea where anypony else is.”

Aria nodded, her eyes falling to the floor. “She said there was more exiles, but they were either killed or taken. You got lucky. Or maybe a divine hoof led you to leaving.”

I didn't believe that, and I looked at the table, longing for Rose Petal and my life back in the Stable. A good life without all this... shit.

Anyway, after taking a moment to honor the memory of my good life I looked at Aria. She actually reminded me of Honey Sap. They had the same colors, both were shy and took good care of themselves. Aria was clean for a wastelander; her coat was still dirty but you could tell that she tried washing it and her mane actually looked combed. I only realized that I had been staring a bit too long when she inched away.

“Sorry, you just remind me of somepony I used to know.” I said solemnly.

“Your marefriend?” she asked.

I shook my head and said: “No, I barely knew her, but she was quiet and kinda looked like you, not to be creepy or anything.”

I think I scared her anyway, since she backed further away from me with eyes wide and ears drooped. I held out my hoof defensively and quickly apologized. Partially because I felt bad for scaring her like that and partially for the fear that Wilhelm could be watching and waiting to blow my brains out or slice my neck or kill me in some horrible fashion.

“Who was she?” asked Aria.

“Who?”

I kicked myself instantly after. I knew who she was talking about, it was just that my mouth worked quicker than my brain at that moment.

“The one I remind you of,” she said.

“Oh, her name was 'Honey Sap'.”

“Did you like her?”

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat; I hardly paid any attention to Honey Sap. When I saw her, though, she was usually with Rose Petal on the Meet and Greet Days and I watched Rose Petal in a completely non-creepy stalker way. But I would be lying if I said I didn't see any appeal in Honey Sap since she was a good looking mare with a nice personality. I still didn't like Aria's prodding, though, so I reiterated that I barely knew her. She seemed content with that and went back to looking at whatever it was she was looking at earlier.

“Look, you seem nice and all, but I'm taken,” I said, trying not to sound rude. “I'm sure you'll find another ibex who will suit you just fine.” I smiled and pointed at Stocker with my bandaged hoof. “Actually, Stocker looks good for you.”

“He's my brother,” said Aria.

My hoof stayed up with my smile, but inside I was screaming. I couldn't believe that I had suggested something as stupid as incest! Though in my defense I had no idea they were brother and sister.

“Okay then, that was awkward.” I said as my hoof dropped, my smile was also gone and replaced with an embarrassed blush.

Aria giggled, and it was a pleasant sound. There was no way she and Honey Sap were not related. They had to be in some twisted way since her giggle was soft like Honey's.

“It's okay,” said Aria. “Everyone makes that same mistake.” Then her face fell and she looked down again, biting her lip slightly. “She must be great if you are willing to stay with her, even when you have been exiled.”

I nodded and said: “Yeah, she is great.”

And it was right after I said those words that Stocker slipped next to me and slammed a mug into my hooves and another in Aria's.

“Cheers to great mates!” he said obnoxiously his own mug raised hooves. “Drink in her honor, neuen Freund!”

I was hesitant, but eventually figured what the hell? I’m not drinking to pick up a chick. I’m drinking in honor of my marefriend who I will never see again. So our mugs clinked and all three of us chugged.

It was mostly a blur, but I do remember that the drink I had was a lot better than what I had earlier. It was sweet, tangy and actually made me feel like I was floating. I had four more of them. Or five. Or possibly six. Hell, I can't remember. All I really remember is that within a matter of minutes I was alive!

Sure the floor felt like it was moving and my body felt like it was made of wet noodles, but I was having the time of my life! I was surrounded by a group of patrons that laughed and talked with me like I was one of them, just like when I was at those Sixty Seven parties.

We laughed at everypony and everything, and by Celestia it was great! I was even taught a cool little song that they sung when building stuff.

Raise this barn. Raise this barn. One, two, three, four. Together we can raise this barn. One, two, three four. Upupup. Lower the beams. Hammer those joints. Work in teams- and something else after that. Go to Transit and they'll teach you the song.

After singing some folk songs and doing some folk dancing around the place, including a table dance that inadvertently led to me falling on my face, we all sat around again to chill out. Some decided to go home while others went to their own corners. Most stayed, though, to hear about Stable Sixty Seven, which was brought up because Misty Froth pointed out I was a Sixty Sevener. That got everypony talking.

In my drunken state of mind, I let it all out with more emotion that a mare drowning in estrogen. I might've stretched the truth a bit, I mean you couldn't teleport from one place to another with a PipBuck (How that rumor started, I have no idea.) but it was handy having a map on your foreleg or trackers or the dozens of other cool features on it. I talked about my humble beginnings as a clock mechanic and how an embarrassing Meet and Greet Day led to me getting the mare of my dreams and running scheduling in the Stable. It was the corniest love story they have ever heard. Or so Stocker said.

Long story short, I explained how I got Exiled from my Stable. I told them about the Scorecards and how everypony has a chance to be expelled, regardless of their position. I told them about Curly Mane and her mysterious hate for me, which I have to believe was centered around Rose Petal, and I told them how she got me exiled. That earned a lot of boos and awes. The sympathy felt nice.

When the crowd settled down, I was a wreck. My eyes were wet, tears soaked my face and I had trouble breathing. Misty Froth pat my shoulder and somepony said something about Curl reminding them of their wife.

“I think the worst part of it all is that I won't be able to hold Rose Petal again.” I said, adding a sniffle in there because why not? I was already trashed and my emotions were getting the best of me. The crowd laughed and somepony threw a piece of food at my face, playfully mind you, and so I did a fake glare and pretended to wave them off, yelling: “Ah shaddup, all ya'll.”

That got everypony laughing, me included. It felt nice to let it out and joke a bit, though a part of me did want to throw something back at the guy who threw food at me. Aria smiled a bit, too, but it looked like she was trying to slide into the floor. She really reminded me of Honey Sap in every way. It was weird, but what was weirder was that I had this desire to hug her. She just seemed really adorable!

Then somepony asked: “What would you do if you saw Rose Petal right now?”

“Oh that's easy,” I slurred with a wave of my hoof, “I would do this!”

I grabbed Aria by her waist yanked her close to me. She squeaked but that was silenced when I put one right on her lips. I felt her burning up and thought I heard her whimper and she became tense, like a stone under fur, but with all the cheering and thumping let's just say that in my drunken state I felt like a king. And I guess I was on her longer than I thought because next thing I knew, I was getting pulled off, saw Wilhelm's hoof, stars and then the table. And that was the last I remember of that night

The next morning I woke up with my head throbbing, jaw sore, and my eyes and ears hurting with the stench of alcohol and vomiton me.

The room I found myself in wasn’t too bad. I mean the floors and mattress were stained with nearly three hundred years of crap, and the room was bare of pretty much everything, except for a bed, a mirror and a locker, but other than that, it wasn’t bad. It kinda reminded me of home. Only dirty.

I looked in a mirror hanging on the wall and found that I had a fresh bruise on my jaw. I touched it and it felt like I had stabbed myself. My hoof recoiled from the sudden unpleasant feeling, and I checked my pocket watch and saw that it was noon. I sighed again, and slapped my watch shut and I looked inside the footlocker and found my stuff neatly stacked. Shrugging, I put it all back on with some difficulty because I was still sore, and I opened up the door only to be greeted by a close up of Wilhelm’s face.

I screamed and jumped back. It was like his very presence made my jaw hurt even more! I tried rubbing it, but the slightest touch only made it worse, and me whimpering in front of that killing machine didn't make my situation any better. When he stepped into the room I honestly thought he was going to kill me. I tried to find a way out, but with the only exit blocked by him, and with my stellar record of getting my ass handed to me, it was pretty much a done deal no matter how things played out.

When he had me cornered he said: “Last night I let you off easy since you were drunk, but if you ever kiss Aria again, I will do more than punch you.”

He stared at me and I stared back at him, shocked at what I was hearing. A part of me wanted to call him a liar since I still thought of myself as a swell guy who would never kiss a girl in a drunken state of lust. I wanted to tell him that I was forever faithful to Rose Petal and would never ever force myself on her or any other lady. But as much as I didn’t want to believe it, my throbbing jaw told me he was telling the truth. It just doesn't get bruised for no reason. So now I had swollen jaw to add to my list of bruised bones, cuts, more bruises and psychological trauma. Life was great!

“We need to talk somewhere private,” said Wilhelm.

“About what?” I asked.

“You will know soon enough.”

It sounded strange and kinda disturbing, therefore I didn’t move. He turned and walked towards the door and was about to leave when he turned around and told me to hurry up.

I gulped.

He glared.

I followed.

Footnote: Level Up.

New Perk: Hard Training (1)-- +1 to Agility.

Author's Notes:

Serious Edits.

Bells and Stars

“This guy ain't a soldier.”
“And you are?”

[Tick.]

Wilhelm led me to the roof of the Relaxation Hole. The weather was beautiful and I saw everything! I saw ponies leaving their houses, bright and early for another day at work. I saw a caravan coming in and the early birds running to greet them with hyper children. It was a picture of civilization and it made me smile a bit. But that smile disappeared when Wilhelm slammed the door, leaving us stranded on the roof, alone with him blocking the only safe way out. Suddenly, the roof seemed nerve wrecking.

I tried to stay away from the chain link fence that made up the railing when Wilhelm stepped forward.

“Why did you follow us?” asked Wilhelm.

“I was looking for Ebony.” I said.

He snorted and paced in front of me, muttering in his tongue for a moment before he paused and looked at me square in the eyes. You could tell a lot by somepony by their eyes. His was hardened and paranoid. Bad news for anypony who wasn't careful with their words.

“How do I know you are not with Ms. Gold?” he asked. I could see his whole body tense. He was ready to throw me off the roof.

“I promise you, I do not work for Ms. Gold. I don't even know who she is!” I replied.

“Just like you promised that you weren't 'that kind of guy'?”

I gulped. I knew exactly where this was going. I explained that last night was a lapse in judgment on my part, I'm not usually like that, and a bunch of other cliched excuses. I even told him that I would apologize to Aria the first chance I got. Which, when I told him that, he snorted again and stood in front of the doorway with that predator look that was permanently attached to his face. I waited for him to do something, like ram me off the roof or stab me with a hoof or some other kind of crazy kill.

“Look,” I said cautiously, “I'm not with Ms. Gold or Sweet Berry. I saw what they did to the town and Ebony, and nopony in their right mind would join her.”

Wilhelm stared at me with half lidded eyes and his lips curled to a frown, and he just stared at me for the longest time. Long seconds started to tick on by and I felt sweat trickling down the back of my neck because he just would. Not. Blink!

We stared at each other for one of the longest ten seconds of my life before Wilhelm said with a painfully sour tone: “You are a bigger idiot than I thought. You are way too stupid to be with Ms. Gold, unless she lowered her standards.”

I instantly thought about Glamour's stupidity induced suicide. Only an idiot would find a way to kill themselves while reading a how-to guide. Maybe Ms. Gold was lowering her standards, or maybe her standards were low to begin with.

“Look me in the eyes and tell me that you are not with Ms. Gold,” said Wilhelm.

“I'm not with Ms. Gold.” I said quickly.

“I SAID LOOK ME IN THE EYES!”

I jumped and yelped from his booming voice. It was like a cannon going off. His voice echoed over the city and for a moment I swear the town stopped their activities. He stared at me, hard and unblinking, and I forced myself to look in his eyes.

Slowly I said: “I am not with Ms. Gold.”

He searched my face and I was still forcing my eyes to stay locked on his. He stared at me for barely ten seconds before he started towards the door.

“So, do you believe me?” I asked uneasily.

“I don't want to, but I do,” replied Wilhelm.

“So, am I good?”

“No. After you apologize to Aria I do not want to see you again. But before we do that, do you want to see your friend?”

I nodded and he led me out of the Hole and towards a group of probably twenty buses welded together in a square with the center being covered by sheets of metal to make the clinic. Near the clinic was a windmill connected to it with a bunch of wires, and in front of it was the plating of an old war ambulance welded to a pole stabbed into the pavement.

Guarding the entrance was a couple of buff stallions donning heavy armor and weapons. I really didn't understand why one had a flamethrower, but who was I to ask questions about fire safety around medical equipment?

We went inside and I saw that they took one side off of the buses, and slabs of metal were in the center of the bus square. There was a crude office in the back corner and there were rows of cots. Most were empty. There was one with a bandaged pony sleeping, and in the very back was Ebony.

Ebony barely acknowledged us when we entered. I saw her ear swivel slightly, and when we got to her bed, she continued to stare ahead. She looked like she hadn't slept very well. Not that anypony could blame her after what she had been through.

Wilhelm looked at me for a flicker of a moment, his expression hard and scrutinizing as always, but when he looked at Ebony, his expression softened. A lot. He pulled up a chair next to her and sat down with his hoof resting on hers.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

She shrugged, and then looked at me. At first she was confused, but then her confusion broke to relief and she smiled with tears flowing down her face.

“Is that really you, Meris?” asked Ebony, her voice cracking.

I nodded and went to the other side to rub her shoulder. “I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I'm sorry for leaving.”

Ebony tried to say something, but she choked on her words and lowered her head, sobbing into her hoofs.

“They killed them. They killed her. They raped her and killed her right in front of me,” said Ebony. She tensed and leaned forward, clutching her head with her hoofs. “Why did they do that? What did she do to deserve that?”

Ebony sniffled and looked up at me, her eyes and cheeks shinning in the dim light.

“What did I do to deserve this?” asked Ebony.

I tried to say something, but I didn't have an answer, and she knew that I didn't have an answer because she looked away when my silence remained.

I looked away when Wilhelm looked at me, and was just about to ask him if I could go when I heard heavy steps and the voice of a jolly giant. I looked up and saw Stocker strolling in. He was humming with a big grin and a basket dangling from his mouth. I stared at him with a blank expression and followed him with my eyes until he came to a stop on Wilhelm's side.

“There's my charcoal pony,” said Stocker after he put the basket next to her bed. “How are you feeling?”

Ebony didn't say anything, but that didn't stop Stocker from talking.

“I got you little gift basket from me and Aria,” said Stocker. “There's some food, some water, a couple of books we found, and a stuffed Ursa.”

Ebony still didn't say anything, but she did peek inside the basket and grabbed the stuffed Ursa. It was a good size, but missing an eye and was discolored. That didn't stop her from holding it close to her, though.

With that said and done, Wilhelm grabbed Stocker and escorted him to me, his expression going back to hard and ready to kill.

“Engel will take you back to the Relaxation Hole,” said Wilhelm sternly, leaving no room for negotiations on Stocker's part.

Apparently Stocker despised that named because after Wilhelm said “Engel” he gave Wilhelm a nasty frown. Wilhelm met this with a challenging look of his own, and after a brief staring contest that ended with Stocker looking away, Wilhelm looked back at me and said: “Once you apologize to Aria, I want you out of this town.”

Ebony stiffened, and looked at me, ears drooped and a small whine escaping her, and I looked at her, and then at Wilhelm. Seconds later, I nodded and quietly left the hospital with Stocker leading the way, giving Ebony one last look before the door shut between us.

When we entered the Relaxation Hole, my nose stung from the horrible stench of the place. I hadn't realized how badly the place stunk until the morning. You could smell puke, alcohol and a whole bunch of other crap that only Celestia knew what was stinking up the place.

Stocker led me down the hall, and along the way, he kept casting me weird looks. It was starting to bug me, but given my state, I wasn't ready to do one of those “Stop looking at me” things. When we entered the main dining area, and Stocker put his hoof out.

“Before you apologize to Aria, we need to talk,” said Stocker sternly.

“About what?” I asked carefully.

“Last night when you got plastered you were talking about wanting a home. You cannot stay here, there is not enough room, and Father really didn't like being followed by you.”

I already knew this, but I nodded and let him continue talking. He told that there was a place I could go, which, naturally, piqued my interests. I felt my ears perk and I swear I got a small smile and nearly dropped to my haunches to beg him to tell me. Luckily for me I still retained what little of my dignity was left, so I kept standing.

“Where is this place?” I asked eagerly.

Stocker smiled and coolly leaned against the wall. “This place was once a Whooves Institute, but after the bombs fell it became a safe haven for the lost. Do you have a map?”

I nodded and we walked towards a table in the back. After taking a seat at the back of the bar, I pulled out my map and the markers and waited for Stocker to tell me where to go. When he saw my map, he whistled and rubbed his hoof over it like it was a great treasure.

“Nice map,” he said. “Where did you get?”

“Macintosh Transit Corporation Hub.” I said.

“Hm. I'll have to have a look there some time.”

He scanned the map a little bit before he found what he wanted, and he pointed to a spot past the highway and told me to mark that as “Bright Star”. While I marked it, he explained that that was where I was to go, and once I got there I would have to find somepony named “Baton” and tell him that I was sent by Stocker. After giving me instructions about Bright Star, Stocker told me to avoid a place called the “Rose Line” at all costs. It was a good distance away, but he was still pretty serious about it.

“What's wrong with the Rose Line?” I asked.

Stocker looked side to side before leaning in close to me and whispered: “Zombies.”

I laughed, he frowned, then my laughing turned to chuckling which then turned to an awkward cough. Stocker continued to look at me with one of those unimpressed looks, and I cleared my throat and motioned him to continue.

“You do not believe me about the zombies?” asked Stocker.

“I believe you.” I said quickly.

“No you don't.”

“Yes I do.”

“Why don't you believe me?”

“I do believe you.”

“But you laughed about the zombies.”

“Okay, fine. I think the zombie thing is dumb, but I will still stay away from it just to make you feel better. Now, what's the catch for me going to that place?”

Stocker sighed again and lightly tapped the map, like he was trying to figure out how to word what he needed to say. “If you do this, then you will be put to work at whatever the town needs.”

I blinked.

He blinked.

Then I said: “What?”

“Should you make it to Bright Star, Baton will put you in whatever position he needs and sees you fit for,” said Stocker.

“Would he need somepony to help fix a clock or schedule something? Because I'm really good at that.”

Stoker shrugged. “I don't know. You will have to ask him when you get there. I've known him to put hardened travelers to work as cleaners and starving stragglers as gate guards. He is crazy like that, but he will still keep you safe from Ms. Gold and Sweet Berry. And zombies, too.”

I stared at Stocker skeptically, finding it hard to believe that a town was able to stay safe if all the hardened ponies are reduced to janitors and toothpicks promoted to gate guards. Though, upon seeing my skepticism, Stoker smiled reassuringly and explained that the positions were not permanent and that Baton always found a good spot for the newcomers. The jobs that they were given were merely to start off so that they don't weigh the town down as worthless bums without hope. After hearing this, I felt a little bit better, but not enough to make me stop questioning Baton's sanity. I still stopped asking questions, though, because I didn’t want annoy Stocker. This led to the conversation dying down and us remembering why we were at the Relaxation Hole in the first place.

After our chat withered, Stocker led me to Aria. She was hunched over at the bar with a mug between her hooves. Misty Froth was doing that thing where the bartender rubs the same spot on the counter over and over again to give the illusion that she was busy, but I knew she was bored. I've seen the looks-busy-but-am-actually-bored look from when I worked scheduling at Sixty Seven.

When Misty Froth saw us coming, she looked at me, then at Aria, then she smirked and walked away. I looked at her questionably as she disappeared behind the door, and when I looked back at Aria, she had shrunk even further into her seat and her hooves were trembling as she lifted up her mug.

“Did I do that to her?” I asked Stocker after leaning closer to him.

Stocker nodded and said: “Yeah, ever since you mouth raped her she has been a little... off.”

“Mouth rape!?”

“That's what Father called it.”

I had nothing, so I just stared at him with wide eyes for a few seconds before sighing and looking down. He couldn’t pick something that sound less vile?

“Anyway,” said Stocker with a casual drone, “after you did the thing to her she would not speak to anybody for any reason for the rest of the night. Same for this morning. Though, I don't think it is for the reason others think it is.”

I felt my body go numb and my heart sink at the idea of traumatizing the poor girl, and Stocker approached Aria and softly spoke to her in his native tongue. While he talked to her, I looked away, pawing at the ground and musing about other things. Like having to not deal with this kind of stuff in the Stable, or wondering what would happen if Rose Petal found out that I got trashed and made out with an ibex that reminded me of one of her dead friends.

A few minutes later, Stocker tapped me on the shoulder and I turned to face Aria. She was having trouble looking at me and I had the same problem. Sometimes we would look at the floor, other times it would be the ceiling, and when we both looked at Stocker he sighed and tapped the floor.

I nodded and looked back at Aria. To her credit, she didn't look away, this time, she actually managed to keep her eyes on me, and I felt my mouth go dry.

“Yeah, about the whole-” I circled the air around her face with my hoof “-kissing thing. I'm sorry about that. I obviously had too much to drink and well...” I chuckled nervously and pointed at the bruise on my jaw. “I got it good.”

Aria was silent for a few seconds, and I thought she would just leave without accepting my apology. Or worse, turn down my apology, spit in my face and have Stocker beat me silly behind the bar. But what she does instead is nod. Just nod. Not even an “I accept” or “Okay”. A nod. I really had no choice but to accept that since I was pretty sure that she was afraid that by speaking she would get another unexpected kiss from a drunk pony. I couldn't really blame her, I guess. She was the fragile type.

When the silence became uncomfortably awkward, Stocker cleared his throat and stood in between me and her.

“Do not worry, she accepted your apology. But now it is time for you to go, Meris. Remember what I told you, okay?” he said.

I nodded and was about to leave, but paused when Aria spoke.

“Your name is 'Meris'?” asks Aria quietly. I looked at her and nodded and she looked down at the floor, lightly pawing at it and saying: “That's a good name.”

And queue awkward stares and feelings. I think even Stocker was surprised because his whole demeanor perked, then he got a playful smile conveniently pat me so hard on the shoulder that I stumbled closer to her, and then he left. Aria went pale and took a couple of steps after him, but when he disappeared around the corner, she froze with her hoof extended like her lifeline just snapped. I think I heard her whimper and when she looked back at me, I opened my mouth to say something, but then she turned back to the corner again. When she looked at me again, I saw Stocker poke his head out for a second before he realized that he had been spotted, but rather than saying anything, I tried to make Aria feel a bit better about this strange moment.

“It’s okay, I have no interest in courting you since I already have a marefriend that locked away from the rest world.” I said with as much casual as I could muster.

Aria paled to an impossible white as her pupils shrunk and her whole body tightened as her ears and eyebrows raised, and then it hit me. I had said something that not only sounded creepy, but made me out to be more than a mouth rapist.

“I think I’m going to go now.”

I had been wandering the Wasteland for a good twelve hours after leaving Transit before I found Bright Star. I'm not going to go into great detail about the trip over there because nothing really happened. I mean, I was attacked by a mutated, bloated fly thing and I had to stomp on a few oversized roaches, but that was about it. It was dead everywhere I went. Most, if not all, the buildings I passed were either burnt to the ground, gutted, or had a hole blown in them.

I stuck to the road, too, but didn't come across any sadists or other sociopaths, and I took a fifteen minute break every so often to read that Mentally Inferior's Guide book. I focused on the pistol section since all I had was the revolver. It was an interesting read, I'll tell you that much, and with the way it was written I found it even more morbidly hysterical that somepony had killed themselves when reading it.

Anyway, when I got to the crest of a hill overlooking Bright Star, I took a deep breath and sat down to give my sore legs a rest. They were tight and when I sat down, they felt like they were about ready to fall off. I took another deep breath and wiped sweat off of my brow, chuckling lightly as I look at the beautiful structure. Sure, it was worn with pieces of it crumbling and rust bleeding down its concrete walls, and its big metal globe statue was rusted and twisted horribly, but it was still nice. Heck, even the original wall surrounding the place was next to nonexistent and had to have metal sheets and old wagons bolted to cover the holes.

Then my stomach rumbled and I realized that I had not had a bite to eat ever since I left Transit. Luckily for me, I still had some food left from that time I went ballistic on the vending machine.

I took out a can of apple slices and was about to chow down when something caught my eye. It was on the roof of Bright Star and after focusing on it I saw that it was a flag with a gold star on it.

I groaned and rubbed my face. “There is no way my luck is that bad.”

Then I was tackled on the side by a troll of a pony. My world blurred as it spun from me flipping head over tail and bouncing and rolling down the hill, and I landed on my back with a nasty crick on my spine and a ringing in my ears.

I stared up at the disgusting clouds, panting and swallowing what little spit I had. I groaned and tried to get up, but a hoof that was like a tree trunk stepped on my chest and held me down and a double barrel shotgun was pointed at my face. My eyes widened and I locked up as I looked down the void of its barrel. Then my eyes slowly slid up to see my attacker.

It was Baton, and he was exactly as Stocker had described.

He was this brutish unicorn stallion with a dirty olive drab coat, ugly teeth, a dark unkempt mane styled as a mohawk, sharp tribal tattoos along his hoofs, plus needle marks and was armed with the double barrel shotgun, a giant club and a quadruple barrel machine gun. His only armor was a vest with metal plates sewn into it that had a white bell painted on it.

“Who are you? Who sent you? Why are you here?” snarled Baton.

I felt some slobber on my face from his spiel. It was gross and I was silent since I wasn't sure if he was tripping out on drugs or if he was genuine. But when he pressed harder on my chest and his shotgun against my nose, I spilled the beans.

“I'm Exile and I was sent by Stocker since he said you had a place here for me.” I said quickly and shakily.

“Did you say Stocker?” asked Baton.

I nodded and he snorted and instantly pulled away from me, which surprised me, but I still didn't waste any time getting up and rubbing my chest while coughing for air. I also checked to make sure my watch was okay. Thankfully it was.

“I'm gonna have a word with that goat. Oh, yes I am. What kind of stupid name is Exile, anyway?” said Baton.

“What kind of stupid name is Baton?” I retorted.

He whirled around and smacked the butt of his shotgun against my face, and lo and behold, I blacked out.

Sometime later, Baton woke me up by smacking my face and lifting me up with his magic. The area above my eye throbbed, and when I pressed my hoof against it, I got a very similar stinging pain and had to pull my hoof away. I glared at Baton, which intensified when I saw all my stuff scattered in front of him.

“How are we supposed to retake Bright Star when all you have is a pistol and canned food?” he asked sharply.

“Wait, retake Bright Star? Why not just leave? I mean, that place is fortified with those bad guys.” I said.

He looked at me with an unimpressed frown. “Did you just seriously say 'bad guys'?”

I stammered incoherently, trying to form a defense for something that could not be defended, and he shook his head and used his magic to repack my belongings and throw my saddle back to me.

“Just shut up and get ready for a helluva fight, digger,” said Baton.

I held up my hoof and was about to say something, but he turned and grabbed me with his hoof and brought me close so that we were nose to nose. My nose nearly burned away and my eyes watered from how horrible his stench was.

“Listen here, I know you're gonna be a whiny bitch and go all boo-hoo, why me and shit, but if you want a home then you gotta fight for it, got it?” said Baton.

I nodded and he pulled away from me.

“Bright Star has been my home ever since I was in the womb, and I will not let Gold, Waltz or Berry or any of their self-righteous zealot assholes keep it from me!” claimed Baton while loading a large drum into his crudely made quadruple barreled machine gun. “Lock n' load. We gotta home to liberate.”

He charged up the hill, screaming “Chaaaaaaarge!” and I watched him, completely stumped by his stupidity. Because one pony charging towards a fortified position, screaming at the top of his lungs always worked miracles.

I called after him, but he kept galloping so I shook my head, swore under my breath and ran after him, hoping that we wouldn’t get shot. I called after him again, but just like last time he kept running. It was at that point that he was almost at the top of the hill and I knew I had to do something or else that idiot would get himself killed.

I yelled: “What's yourr plan?”

Baton skidded to a stop near the crest and slowly turned to look at me. He and I stared at each other for an awkward moment before he hid his forced cough with a hoof over his mouth.

Now I'm not going to go into details about what we talked about because that would take an hour and probably bore you to tears. So, in a nutshell, we swapped ideas, with mine usually being the flee and live to fight another day while Baton's was go in guns blazing and die on that same day. It took us a good hour before I decided to go with the less idiotic of his plans.

We had to sneak inside the building using a sewer that ran below it. I was a bit hesitant at first since I suddenly developed a fear of zombies, but Baton assured me in a colorful way that there weren't any reanimated dead things down there.

When we got inside the sewer, it had just enough light for me to see the dirty details. The rust bled from above, the grungy floor was cracked and caved in in some spots, and there was a strange assortment of junk littering it. I found some lamps barely illuminating the place and a scooter in the corner with old crates filled with empty bottles and garbage. There was also a worn picture of the radiation symbol with some kind of slogan that I couldn't read. And it was right above a pile of huddled skeletons. I shuddered and walked towards the ramp leading to the building with Baton leading the way.

The sewer led to the maintenance room of the building, and like the sewer, it was dimly lit, only this time the dim light was red and the old pipes were covered in rust and had jagged holes in them with exposed wires dangling from the ceiling. Aside from the pipes and wires, I realized that somepony had been living there. It had an old mattress on the floor with a thin blanket and pillow, and a nightstand with an oil lamp and two things that Baton quickly picked up and tucked away in his saddle. One was a bound book and the other, I kid you not, was a stuffed Ursa.

Baton glared at me when he realized that I saw what he took, and I simply turned away to stare at the fascinating pipework. Baton then snorted and ordered me to follow him.

I quietly trailed Baton down the red lit room, looking anxiously at all the stuff along the walls. I paused to look at an enlarged cover for the Manehattan Times. Its cover had two elderly earth pony stallions in stylish suits shaking hooves and smiling at the viewer with a city in the background. One had a natural color scheme of brown of different shades, with his dark brown mane graying and growing crows feet. The second had a bluish coat and -from what I'm guessing- a dark blue mane that had noticeable gray streaks and massive wrinkles around his eyes. The caption underneath the two read:

Then there was a little something underneath the caption about what page the article was on and something about Luna and some guy named Captain Armor going to the Commonwealth of Ibex Nations to discuss a pact. They had other things on there, too, like so-and-so caught using steroids, a scandal, and movie reviews. I really wish I had a copy of that magazine, just so I could read about Whooves and Mane, and a little bit about Luna and Armor going to the Commonwealth.

Next to that one, was another enlarged and framed cover of the Manehattan Times, only this time it had a picture of a white coated unicorn stallion with a mane of different shades of graying blue and wearing glasses that made his blue eyes look bigger. In spite of the crisp uniform he was wearing, he still looked a little nerdy. This guy was standing proudly in front of two flags hanging behind him. One was Equestrian and the other was made up of red and black stripes -one red in between two black- with a full moon surrounded by an olive branch in the center. Between his confident pose and the background, the guy pictured looked like he was ready to kick ass and take names. The caption underneath him said:

Like the other, there were more blurbs, but I didn't stare at the picture long enough to get a good look at them since Baton grabbed me with his magic and tugged me along, muttering something about diggers being annoying.

“Me and Stocker are going to have a great talk. Oh yes we are,” grumbled Baton as we walked down the narrow hall, passing more pictures of Whooves, Mane, and Armor along the way. The amount of pictures he had up around the place was actually starting to make my skin crawl.

“Talk about what?” I asked with a small shudder while looking at a picture of the three stallions together at some kind of reception. Seriously, you wouldn't believe the amount of pictures he collected of those three. Baton was on the borderline of obsession with these guys, and two of them were “diggers”! That only made me confused and creeped out.

Anyway, Baton said with a scoff: “Him assuming that I'll take every living thing under the clouds. What else?”

“Well, if you didn't want me here why did you take me in?” I asked.

Baton stopped by the door, which was metal and rusted, and he said: “Family tradition.”

I cocked my head slightly and Baton turned around and twisted the lock on the door. Both of us cringed when the metal beams squeaked and scraped against each other, then he grunted as he pushed the door open, causing a screeching echo that traveled down the ruined hallway. The floor got scraped up pretty badly from the door rubbing against it and I took a couple of steps back, just in case some of the invaders were waiting outside to shoot us.

But there was nothing.

“So, does anypony know what happened here?” I asked as I looked down both ends of the hall.

“Believe it or not, word does not travel fast around here,” answered Baton. “If you want quick news you're better off listening to DJ-Pon3 or Bongo.”

None of those names sounded familiar to me, and judging by his answer, nopony knew about what had happened. Unless Stocker knew and sent me anyway, which would make him a dick, but a huge part of me believed that he thought that everything was fine and dandy at Bright Star.

We started down the hall with the usual Baton in the lead and me trailing behind. I quietly asked him how long Bright Star had been under Ms. Gold's control, and I barely heard him say “Three days”.

“Three days? You had been outside for three days?” I asked with a surprised pitch.

Baton whirled around and got nose to nose with me, once again burning my nose and making my eyes water from his horrid stench.

“Keep it down!" he said. "And no, I wasn't outside for three days, and no I wasn't being a coward, and no I wasn't hiding for three days. I was planning and plotting for three days without even the slightest amount of fear because I am fearless. Got it?”

With each passing second in his rant, I shrunk back and Baton craned himself to be taller until he was leaning over me and I was scrunched at the bottom with my ears flattened, mouth sealed shut and eyes wide. When he was done, it was like a colt getting lectured by an extremely pissed off adult, and all I could do was nod.

Baton snorted and trotted down the hall, and I once again followed. I knew I wasn't the best at combat, but the place seemed dead for something that was recently captured. I brought up this concern with Baton, but he shrugged it off as no big deal since it would make retaking it easier. I didn't trust his optimism, an optimism that I was sure was forced, but rather than arguing and risk getting knocked out again, I dropped it. I figured he might know what he was doing anyway, given that he was trusted by Stocker and kept Bright Star safe for a long time.

So we kept on snaking our way through the halls, passing trails of bullet holes and bloody smears, shattered glass, broken doors, and tattered posters. There were three hundred year old murals faded with age and elemental abuse, but the general ideas still stood out.

Education was important.

Friendship was great.

And being loyal to your government was your patriotic duty.

There were two things that really stuck to me, though. One was a poster and the other was a mural. The poster was of three parts. The first part was a soldier standing proud overlooking a farmland during a rising sun; the second was split in two, with one half being a mare studying and the second a stallion working in a factory; and the last had a small group of foals digging in garbage with big smiles and tossing metal scraps in a pile below. The caption said:

Yeah, it seemed harsh to put something like that in a school, but I guess if you're going to invoke fear and discipline, you might as well start young. As for the mural, it had Dr. Whooves holding an open book towards us with a big smile. Coming from the pages was a utopian landscape that was growing outward like a magical pop-up. It would be nice if there wasn't a huge blood splatter on the wall covering a circle of bullet holes.

“What exactly was this place?” I asked.

“A Whooves Institute. Didn't Stocker tell you that before he dumped you on me?” said Baton.

“Yeah, but what kind of place was it?”

“How the hell should I know?”

“You live here, and you had all those posters in your room, so I figured you knew something.”

Baton stopped and looked at me, then he looked at the blood covered mural of Whooves, then back at me. Seconds of silent staring later, I checked for my watch as casually as I could. It was still working since I could hear its faint ticking. Baton wouldn't stop looking at me for a good fifteen seconds before he snorted and walked away.

As he walked away, he said: “If you're looking for your soul or some other bullshit you got the wrong guy. I only know that this place was a Whooves Institute. It was a school. Kids learned. Teachers taught. And places like this were designed to breed the brightest and most loyal. Get 'em young and you got them for life.”

Baton stopped at a corner and pointed down a hallway with hanging, flickering lights, piles of broken wood and brick, and a barricade of mangled desks and chairs. At the end was a set of double doors with the center blown out in an almost perfect circle.

“The radio setup is through there. Once we get to that radio, we can let the Restoration know what happened,” explained Baton.

“And then we run like hell, pray that we don't run out of ammo and wait for the cavalry.” I finished with a roll of my eyes.

Baton smiled and with a curt nod. “Yep.”

Yeah, that was his plan. Call for help and then run and hide. I told you it was idiotic.

When we got to the double doors, Baton held out his hoof and told me to wait. I complied with a nod and took a step back as he carefully opened them. The doors squeaked and we once again cringed. When he had enough space, Baton poked his head out and took a quick looksee. Once he was finished, he looked back at me and motioned me to follow.

We entered a round chamber on the other side, which had a huge circle of cracks in the middle and a gaping blank spot in the ceiling with some wires dangling down. I had a strong feeling that a chandelier used to be there. There were windows all along the walls, most dirty and without curtain, and some covered with boards, and leading up to the second level balcony was a grand staircase with its wood faded and splintering. Past the staircase and right smack dab in the middle for all to see was a decorated set of double doors. The place also had smaller lights around the floor edges and circling the ceiling, and they were all on. I was just starting question how those light bulbs were able to last two centuries after the world ended when trouble came to us like they were anticipating our return. Or at least Baton's.

The door up top flew and a familiar ibex stepped out with a group of other ibex soldiers and Lilac following him. Unlike the ibexes, who wore metal plated armor and thick pads and were armed with battle saddles of the rifle and shotgun variety, Lilac wore just a bullet proof vest, some hoof pads, plus a green scarf and a padded red long coat, and carrying a thin rifle made of wood, pipes and tape. Waltz was wearing thick gray armor with tiny lights on his hoofs, a glowing battery pack on his back with a rocket launcher and a mini-gun hitched on his armor's back. The ammo canisters were snug against his ribs, and the mini-gun had a red light glowing above its barrels.

Seeing Waltz standing there in his thick barding with his group of soldiers sent a shiver down my spine. I knew Waltz was creepy, but seeing him standing there like that made him look terrifying. I think the only reason why I didn't turn tail and run away screaming was because my legs locked and my mouth became dry. All I could do was drop my jaw and whimper.

Baton, on the other hoof, looked pissed.

“Guten Tag, Saftenhengste,” said Waltz. “I was beginning to fear that the initial report of you running away with your tail between your legs was correct. But here you are. Ready to make my day.”

Baton snorted and pawed the ground, and Waltz started down the stairs with his guards following and Lilac staying behind. As the cyborg went down the stairs, I heard his mechanical joints hiss and click, and he looked at me without much of an expression change.

“So, Exile, you are a Soldaten der Restaurierung? I am surprised. A lot can happen in a few days,” said Waltz.

“Oh, trust me, this guy ain't a soldier,” snickered Baton.

I glared at Baton. I knew it was the truth, but he still could have delivered it with a bit more professionalism. Or not say anything at all. Then I looked back at Waltz as he he coolly trotted down the stairs with his eight guards behind him and Lilac staying back.

Waltz and his posse continued down the stairs, and he said: “And you are?”

Baton snarled and cocked his weapon, and I aimed my revolver at Waltz.

“Where are my people?” said Baton.

“Being reeducated,” replied Waltz.

Waltz and his posse were now at the bottom of the stairs at that point, and I was so tense that I had the trigger almost pulled all the way with my tongue. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Baton's olive drab coat burning red and foam seeping from the corner of his mouth while his eye twitched and his horn sparked. I had never seen a unicorn's horn do that before. Sure I had seen them get mad, but not to the point where their horn started sparking. I figured that was a big clue that shit was going to hit the fan.

With shaking legs, I stepped behind Baton and watched the horrible scene unfold. Waltz's soldiers were also moving back and looking at Baton worryingly, and I barely saw Lilac because she, too, was almost out of view from how far she stepped back. As for Waltz, he was standing his ground and activating the big machine gun. I did not like the look of that, so I figured it would be wise on my part to back up by the door. You know, to give Baton cover fire while he ran like a smart pony would.

“You're dead, goat!” screamed Baton with his booming voice shaking off the walls and making me jump and almost pull the trigger.

Then his horn emitted a shock wave of some kind that shattered the old tile around him and launched an orange colored beam directly at Waltz's chest. The cyborg was knocked off of his hooves and he crashed into the stairs behind him, kicking up a cloud of dust and broken wood. He rolled down on his stomach, coughing and covered with splinters and the draby, powdery dust. Behind him was a splintered indent of where he hit, and not even two seconds passed before he scrambled to his hooves and pointed at Baton, who now had a weird shimmer to him.

“Ihn zu töten!” commanded Waltz.

The soldiers open fired and I dove to the other side of the doorway while Baton fired back with the shimmer around him sparking and burning the air and floor around him as the bullets impacted him. I peeked my head out and fired off a shot. Naturally it missed, but my head jerked and my teeth felt like somepony took a hammer to it. I yelped and dropped the weapon, and I scrambled back, tenderly rubbing my bruised mouth with tears in my eyes. A few quick seconds later, I blinked the haze away and poked my head out to see how Baton was doing. He was still shooting, but actually backing up a bit as the little shield around him got weaker and weaker with each bullet. However, that goes without saying that he wasn't successful in his rampage, and Waltz actually looked worried about what he was seeing.

When the soldiers started to drop, Waltz started to gallop up the stairs and I grabbed my weapon again and told myself not to anticipate the shot, just like the book said. I also tried to aim small since it was supposed to help with shooting.

I shot at Waltz, but missed. The only thing I really managed to hit was the floor and railing. I emptied my weapon trying to shoot that guy and Baton was too busy wiping out the soldiers. Unfortunately he was at the point where he was without a shield and was grunting and stumbling as his armor was battered by the shots fired at him.

With my weapon empty, I spat it in my hooves and yelled at Baton. “Get out of there!”

By that time, Baton's armor was already pierced and a few bullets nicked his skin. I saw blood dripping from his limbs and on to the floor, and he was stumbling a bit as bullets struck his vest. When a particularly powerful shot struck him in the chest, he stumbled and fell back. Then he scrambled to his hooves and ran back to me, yelping and sliding next to me when a bullet struck him in the flank. When he slid next to me, we both ducked being that the bullets blew holes in the wall we were hiding behind.

Baton swore in mumbles as he pulled out some bandages and started wrapping his wounds with them while sitting awkwardly to keep his injured flank off the ground, which was when I noticed that his cutie mark was a spiked club over a shield. The white sheets quickly became stained with red and I watched with wide eyes as the blood stopped trickling, leaving only drying red trails on his dirty coat. While watching him, he looked at me with his teeth tugging on his bandage while his magic pulled out a syringe.

“What're ya looking at?” he asked with a growl, injecting himself immediately after.

I was about to say something, but then realized that the shooting had stopped.

“The shooting stopped.” I said.

“No shit,” snapped Baton.

It was quite clear that he wasn't impressed with my deduction of the event. But nonetheless, Baton and I both poked our heads out in unison to see why they had stopped shooting. There were only four soldiers left, and they were all running up the stairs, leaving their three dead lying in pools of blood with parts blown off, and one wounded behind. The wounded one had a trail of blood leading up to him and was clutching his gut as he sat against the wall. His mouth and body was soaked in it, and I knew he was going to bleed out any second. It was actually heartbreaking to hear him cough and moan after his team as they left him to die.

When the dying soldier held his hoof out and moaned for them, I pulled back inside, covering my mouth with my hoof to poorly hide my hyperventilation while Baton took aim and shot him in the head with his custom weapon. Everything became still after that.

“Reload your weapon and follow me,” ordered Baton.

I had some difficulty reloading my weapon since it was a revolver I had to hold it in my shaking hooves while using my mouth to drop the bullets in the chamber one by one. The taste of metal stained my tongue and I occasionally missed the mark and had to pick up the dirty bullet again. When I was done reloading, my tongue had been brutalized with the taste of old metal and dirt, and I reluctantly put the revolver back in my mouth and followed Baton out. We ran up the stairs, with me avoiding the bodies and bloody pools while he just walked head on. The door we approached was closed and the window was too dirty to see anything on the other side.

Baton got on one side while I was on the other.

“On three we go in,” said Baton. “You open. I shoot. Got it?”

I nodded.

“Good.”

We shifted a little bit just to work out the last of our nerves, and then he started counting.

“One,” began Baton. “... One.... Two... Two and a half....”

With each passing second I became more tense and it came to a point where I felt like I was a cord ready to snap and I also felt like I was going to puke.

“Two and two fifths... Two and a third... Two and two tenths... THREE!”

I released all the tension with a swift buck to the door. It nearly flew off of its abused hinges and the glass shattered when it hit the wall. Then Baton jumped into the hall with his weapons raised... And then we blew up.

I'm still a bit fuzzy on what happened, but after Baton jumped in, he swore and leaped back while using his magic to throw me away from the door, and then there was an ear busting boom and a flash of light. I think I screamed, but again, I'm not so sure. All I know is that there was an explosion that destroyed the whole doorway and sent me and Baton flying with a cloud of burning brick, mortar and splinters. I flew all the way down the stairs, landed on my back and skidded across the floor, leaving a nice trail of blood behind, fur and skin, and when I came to a stop I was quickly covered in a thick pool of blood. Baton bounced off the floor and went right out the window and tumbled from view. So he definitely died from that.

There was no more Baton, fire and blood surrounded me, my body was covered in shrapnel and shredded skin, and I struggled to stand up. My ears were ringing, my head was light, I was cold, and blood was dripping off of me and splashing in the bloody pool at my hoofs. Strangely, I couldn't feel any pain. I felt my heart racing and I was panicking just fine, but pain was absent. I could only think: Is that my blood?... That is my blood... That is a lot of blood...

I tried walking, but my legs gave out, and while my vision faded in and out I saw Waltz approaching me with Lilac and the survivors of the group behind him. Waltz's rocket launcher was doing an auto reload and Lilac grimaced when she saw the bloody aftermath of our shootout. Once the two were close enough they both paused, with Waltz's expression nigh impossible to read while Lilac put her hoof to her mouth to hide her horrified gasp. I think they both were surprised to see me fighting to stand, but only one had enough control not to let it show too much.

I managed to stand up, and we stared at each other for a good five seconds before I crumbled to the ground again, this time unable to get up, and that was when Waltz decided to approach me. He cocked his head slightly and walked up to me until he was towering above me.

I was at his mercy. I couldn't move, only look at him with as much ferocity as my battered state would allow. Which was next to none at that point.

“I guess it is true what they say about earth ponies. You are built tough,” said Waltz.

Lilac remained silent, and I looked at her for the briefest of moments when she stepped behind the crowd and levitated something from her saddlebag, but my view was interrupted when Waltz got in front of me.

He knelt down and despite my best efforts of grunts and groans, he still grabbed my pocket watch -which was now scratched up- and clicked it open. I could barely hear the ticking filling the room, and my vision was going out at that point. Darkness was creeping from the edges and taking over everything while my heartbeats became louder than anything else.

Waltz closed my pocket watch and stood up after putting it away in one of his pouches.

“I think it would be better for all of us if we just killed you, Exile,” said Waltz as he stepped away from me to give his soldiers space. “Think of it as an act of mercy.”

The soldiers aimed their weapons at me and I closed my eyes, just waiting for pops and that would end me.

“Wait!” said Lilac.

I opened one eye and saw Lilac talking to Waltz quietly. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but when she was through with him, he nodded and ordered his soldiers away. He turned to leave with them and Lilac looked down at me.

She swallowed nervously and gently placed a fat container of healing potion on the other side of me, and whispered: “Stay quiet.”

Her voice was gentle, and for a moment I thought she wasn't going to shoot me. I weakly reached out to grab the potion, but Lilac pressed her hoof on top of mine and then kicked me on my back. She didn't kick hard, but in my condition it still stung.

I grunted and stared up at the ceiling, wondering what the heck was going on, and when Lilac pressed her hoof on my chest and aimed her pistol at me, I became confused and terrified since I was in the position to be executed by the pony who placed a healing potion next to me.

“Help me,” whispered Lilac.

Then she fired right next my ear, and I had to bite my tongue just so I didn't scream. My ear was now throbbing and ringing and I heard Lilac galloping away. I waited for the door to slam before I dared turn my head, and after seeing that there was nopony around, I chugged that healing potion down.

It was not a pleasant healing.

Footnote: Perk Gained.
New Perk: Faster Healing-- +1 bonus to your healing rate.

Skyfall Hotel

[Tock.]

Getting healed by a potion was something I was kind of used to. Growing up in Sixty Seven, I occasionally got hurt. Burns, falling down stairs, stuff like that. A potion could hide a black eye and a limp in minutes at the cost of poor taste and nopony would know about it.

The healing that I got from Lilac's potion was not only strong, but painful in ways that I never expected. Then again, I was never shot or blasted by a rocket before.

All those splinters, all those broken tiles, bricks bits, you name it, it was all pushed out, like maggots being squeezed out by pure pressure. The muscles regrew, the shredded skin and punctured organs were stitched up and the bones snapped back in place. It took all my willpower to keep from screaming, and when the healing was done I had a little trouble breathing. Each breath was heavy and raspy, and I couldn't move. All I was able to do was lay in the blood and look at the wall. After a few minutes I was able to stand and breathe normally, though the standing part included shaky legs and I was still covered in blood.

It was a chore to climb up the stairs, and when I entered the hallway that Waltz and Lilac went through I tried to go to a happy place so I would not have to think about the bullet holes and the blood splattered all over the place. The happy place I wanted was back at Sixty Seven, working on clocks and schedules, but it was hard to stay in such a place because I was on high alert. Every noise what a threat, every sight questionable and every step a trap. All the thoughts of how else I could die and where enemies were hiding was playing Hell with my mind, and add in the constant ticking of my watch bouncing off the walls and trailing me, and you got a meltdown.

No matter where I stumbled, where I stopped to to catch a breath, the paranoia warped my vision and the tick tocks flooded my ears. At one point it got so bad where I had to duck into a bathroom and puke my guts out. With all the junk I had gone through I was expecting to see blood, I was grateful when I didn’t, but I also kept myself frozen in place for a good three minutes out of fear of being caught before I tried to flush the toilet. All I got was an empty squeak that seemed to pump the rancid stench of my vomit in my face. As much as I didn’t want to, I stayed put for another couple of minutes before venturing out again.

I tried yet again to think of something peaceful to keep my mind off of what had happened to me, and I found myself thinking about Rose Petal. It started out pleasant since I thought about the Meet and Greet Days where I broke the table and when Rose Petal took me to get the Dating Permit. It was nice while it lasted, but like all good things, it had to end. Her smile, her face, everything about her and everypony around her blurred to near nonexistence. The only thing that got clearer was the clock hanging above the lobby entrance, and while the voices and music faded, its ticking got louder. And it sounded like my watch.

I shook that memory out of mind to think of something else. I wanted that ticking out of my head. I wanted peace, but I could not get it!

In my attempts to escape, I went into an unoccupied classroom that had a mural of the sun with its flames stretched out along the walls like it was gathering everypony for a hug. The desks were either pushed into piles or were lying broken on the ground, and on the chalkboard I saw more blood along the chalkboard and a pool and streak of dried blood leading out. And the ticking followed me to the room.

I closed my eyes and pressed my ears down with my hooves and tried to think of another good memory, but that wasn’t enough to stop it. It temporarily went away when I thought about Artisan, but it came back in the end.

I thought about how I would visit Artisan on those days where I was invited to hang out with him at work, a luxury of Stable Sixty Seven. I was always amazed at what he was able to do with dough and how quickly he worked, but every time it came to putting something in the oven he would say: “The timing has to be perfect.”

Then he would look at me with a childlike innocence in his smile, and I would just smile back. He was the baker, I was just the clock guy, I didn’t know anything about pastries and pies. But right as he turned Eggy to the correct time, the timer ticked like it was my watch, and this time it sounded like was thumping in my head and he faded just like Rose Petal. And that was when I heard a door bang down the hall.

My eyes snapped open and I pushed myself further up against the corner when I heard some voice coming down the hall. They were having a casual chat, but I had a feeling that they were sadists since their language was colorful and they were pretty easy about some vulgar comments made regarding a raided caravan. Something along the lines of tying up and injuring the stallions to the point where they bled to death as their wives and daughters were raped in front of their eyes. It was sickening, but what could I have done about it without armor or weapons?

I waited for them to leave, but they were just standing around talking about some screwed up way they killed somepony just so they could one up each other. Then it drifted to a conversation about a familiar event.

“By the way, did you hear what happened to Little Miss and Needle?” asked one of the sadists, a stallion.

“Yeah. Tough luck,” said another, that one was a mare.

“The Chief and Shaman are pissed. We lost good guys over there,” said another, also a stallion.

“Well, at least we got enough for our fertility ritual. I'd like to get back to Aquarium in time for it, but fucking Waltz and his fucking expedition are gonna make me miss it!” said the first stallion.

“Don't forget about Butter Bars. He's just as determined to fuck us over as Waltz,” said the second stallion.

“Damn right about that. We should head back, though. I really don't want to get shot for taking too long. Maybe if we work over time we can get out in time for the ritual.”

The mare chuckled. “You two go on ahead. I’m on my fifteen.”

“This is our fifteen, and time is up,” said the first stallion.

“Suck my dick, faggot. I got this stick and I ain’t wasting it," snapped the mare.

“Fuck you, dyke. You go finish your smoke, but don’t be surprised when Butter Bars skins you!”

The mare scoffed. “He ain’t gonna skin me.”

“He’s gonna shoot her!” laughed the second stallion.

The two stallions laughed about this because thinking about your teammate getting shot for insubordination is always hilarious. I could just picture the mare rolling her eyes about that, and when she shooed them away, and after the steps faded I poked my head out.

The mare was indeed smoking, but she was using a fresh cigarette -loosely speaking- and crushing the old one underneath her hoof. She was a unicorn, so she had the fortunate ability to pull her cigarette out of her mouth with her magic to puff out circles, but what caught my eye was that she had armed herself with a big machine gun that was slung over her back and a combat shotgun stashed in a crudely made scabbard. Her armor was made of sheets of metal tied together with what looked like wire, and she had some blades on her boots. There was only one sensible way to take her down, and it chilled my very blood knowing this.

I gulped my fear down to a level that allowed me to move and approached her as quietly as I could with shaky steps and lungs that felt ready to burst. Her back was to me the entire time I crept to her, and she was too busy smoking to notice the noise of trembling steps and shaking bones. When I was within striking distance, she froze, probably from the creeping feeling of something crawling up her mane, and she turned her head slightly.

On pure instinct, I leaped on her back and wrapped my hoof around her neck. She gagged and buckled under me with one of my hooves wrapped around her neck and the other over her mouth. Her calls for help were nothing more than muffled gaks, and I had to bite my lip to stop myself from crying when she bit into my hoof. She tried to roll, but she could barely move from my stranglehold, and I heard her crying from her muffled hyperventilating and I felt her tears trickle on my hooves as her horn sparked, sending little bursts of magic to strike the walls and ceilings. I closed my eyes, and kept her locked tighter, listening to our heartbeats and the falling rubble. As the seconds ticked by, her pulse, breaths and struggle got weaker, and within ten seconds, she stopped moving altogether. In twenty seconds there was no pulse. No breath. It was just me panting, sweating, and trembling.

I dropped the limp body and stared wide eyed at her, noticing the trails of tears that cleaned dirt from her cheeks. I couldn’t stay long in the company of the dead sadist, though, I had to leave quickly. I picked up machine gun -which turned out to be more like a turret than anything else- and her shotgun, and strapped them to my body. I was about to take her metal armor, too, when I heard quickly approaching steps.

I stopped dead cold and looked down the hallway, paling when I heard the steps and familiar voices coming. I scrambled to my hooves and ran towards a stairwell, disappearing from sight right when they rounded the corner.

“I knew Butter Bars was going to be pissed,” fumed the first stallion. Then the steps suddeny stopped, and the last thing I heard before I was out of hearing range was: “Fuck!”

And that was my queue to run faster.

I want to say I was scurrying for close to half an hour trying with much unexpected success to evade sadist patrols, and in the end I came across what was left of a fancy door with Bright Star Astronomy Atrium painted above it. The paint was faded and chipping in spots, but it was still good enough to read, and I also heard noises on the other side. It sounded like digging and complaining.

I looked over my shoulder to make sure no one was coming before crouching low and cautiously approaching the inside. Even with the place ruined with centuries of decay I still found myself breathless at how beautiful it was. The room was huge, at least thirty feet from the floor to the domed ceiling’s top, and there was a grand staircase next to me that led bellow and circling the top level was a solid, elegantly designed concrete railing that allowed for easy hiding. The room had a giant holographic projection device that was yanked out and carelessly pushed to the side to allow sadists to work in the hole, and the seats were all built into the wall like a pyramid with steps, so they served as handy little spots to put ammo crates, tools, and a radio broadcasting some Sweet Berry speech about her New World and the Old World.

“I remember the stories of how the Old World was. The world was green and full of life! Foals and families could enjoy a day under the sun with a warm breeze and a picnic, and splash in waters clear and clean, all without the burden of fear. Fear of raiders. Fear of taint. Fear of mutants and slavers. But there is one who remembers the Old World not out of books or out of recordings, but of memory. Ms. Gold has lived and walked and breathed in what we strive for! She has felt the green grass, smelled the fresh air and tasted the clean waters. She knows what we deserve and I know that we can have it! With our alliance with Ms. Gold and your cooperation, Equestria will be green once more, and that, my little ponies, is my promise.”

The radio switched to some upbeat tune and I dared to keep watching the sadists dig, and as I observed them, I noticed that they were being watched by a group of five soldiers wearing full body suits and open faced helmets with “61” imprinted on red circles on the left side of their vests. Their clothing was also covered by hoof pads and were carrying quite a bit of gear. They were professionals.

Kinda.

Four of them weren’t actually watching in depth, they were more like patrolling in lazy circles while the fifth was truly observing the sadists, and he was an earth pony who had an ugly color scheme. His coat reminded me of dark piss and his cropped tail was brown. I couldn’t see his mane because of the open faced helmet he was wearing.

I pulled back into my cover and was about to make a quiet escape, but I didn’t go anywhere because the ticking returned. It was faint, but it got louder and louder, and seconds later, the door below opened up and I heard Waltz stroll in with his company. His voice also made me shrink down further for fear of being caught, and that loud ticking didn’t help my nerves any.

“Lieutenant Butter Bars, I trust that this operation is going well,” he said.

“We’re close,” confirmed Butter Bars.

I dared a peek and saw Lilac and Waltz side by side and being approached by the piss colored stallion, who had a very proud stride to him. Lilac stepped away and made an ugly face when one of the sadists made a lewd comment directed towards her. Said sadist went back to work when one of the guards cocked his weapon.

“Any reports of the one who killed Saw Blade?” asked Waltz.

Butter Bars nodded and said: “Yeah, we found the one responsible, which actually wasn’t too hard since they came right to us.” Then he yelled: “You can come out now! We know you’re up there!”

My whole body tensed as I slammed myself back into cover, and I started to tremble as I heard the soldiers scurrying and weapons getting ready. I awkwardly slipped off the machine gun and held it in my hooves, which only made me want to vomit again from how bad my nerves were reacting.

“Whoever you are, I am giving you four seconds! And don’t you stop digging, either!” shouted Butter Bars. “One!”

I got up and placed the machine gun on the railing and aimed it down towards them. The soldiers, which now included the surviving ibexes, froze and Butter Bars stared at me with an unimpressed frown while Waltz glared daggers at Lilac. Her pupils shrunk to dots and she took a couple of steps back, which earned her looks from two of the ibexes.

“That was easy,” commented Butter Bars.

“You are looking well for someone who is supposed to be dead,” said Waltz.

I wanted to say something snarky about how earth ponies are built tough, but given that I had to deal with over a dozen soldiers with just my machine gun and shotgun, I figured I should just get to the point.

“I just came to get my watch!” I yelled, then quickly added: “And the girl, too!”

Without her I would have died, so I felt it was fair to at least make an attempt to include her in my pathetic negotiation skills, which were made all the more apparent by the way everyone laughed at me. The only one who didn’t laugh was Waltz, and that was because he was visibly annoyed by this.

Waltz said with an arched brow: “You came back from the dead to get a watch and a mare?”

Butter Bars motioned the sadists working in the pit to get out, and after some help from the Republic 61 soldiers, they were out and arming themselves. I gulped, but still kept my turret aimed at them.

“That’s all I want.” I reiterated. “Lilac and my watch. Once I have those two, you guys can go and do your... evil stuff.”

“Quite the negotiator,” snickered Butter Bars.

“I have a gun!” I reminded them. “And its big! Very big!... And strong! Its a big, strong gun!’

“Do you even know how it works?” asked Waltz.

“...Yeah.”

They were quiet for a second, but then without saying a word, Waltz tapped his hoof against the ground three times then pointed at Lilac. She barely finished a shriek before she was knocked down and disarmed by the ibex soldiers, and one of the Republic 61 soldiers, a unicorn, bit down on her mane and tugged her head up while pressing a knife against her jugular. Her gulp caused the knife to slice into her skin and her cheeks were drenched in tears in seconds as she looked up at me, whimpering with big eyes that begged me not to do anymore stupid things.

“Let her go!” I ordered. “And give me back my watch! I’m serious!”

Waltz removed my watch from one of his pouches and held it out to me. It dangled in mesmerizing swings and I focused on it with this desire to hold it again. It was weird to explain, but I felt that I needed it.

“It is such a pity of the harm that falls on beautiful possessions,” said Waltz, then he threw the watch down and cocked his weapon. “But if you want them. CLAIM THEM!”

Then he fired off a burst of bullets that blew a chunk off of the railing. I ducked instinctively, but still returned fire after regaining my footing. The machine gun spat out a stream of bullets that ripped apart the floor and a sadist too stupid to move. But stupid me didn’t realize that there would be a powerful kick to it and I ended up dropping it over the railing. I tried to catch it, but it slipped past my grip, fell down to the floor and spun in a circle, firing off more rounds and causing the soldiers and sadists to scream and jump around to avoid getting shot. It all came to an end when Waltz shot it with a rocket, and then he shouted in Ibexian to kill me. The soldiers and sadists returned fire and I was forced to retreat since the bullets were literally chipping the railing down to size.

“Get him!” barked Butter Bars.

It was like a small army chased after me with all the thunderous steps and crazy shouts, and I ran as fast as I could. I didn’t care that my lungs were burning or my legs were shaking or even that my watch and Lilac were still down there. Well, I actually did care about Lilac and my watch, but I knew I had to escape these guys if I wanted to live. I already killed one, and I assumed that Butter Bars and Waltz would take a couple of their guards while they took Lilac away to be killed, or tortured, or both.

It was hard for me to do mental calculations while trying to evade shouting soldiers and the endless lines of bullets blasting through the walls. Eventually it just got to the point where I decided to screw math and fight to survive.

I was trying not to swear, but with the bloodthirsty yells and sporadic shooting, it was hard to keep my mouth shut. I was almost shot three times that I know of, and the flying debris cut as me and clouded my vision. When a particularly nasty shot from the side got me in my poorly bandaged hoof, I tumbled end over end, screaming from the hot lead piercing my skin and muscle. After landing on my face, I kept my head covered, blinking the blood out of my eyes, and I crawled towards the nearest door, which I proceeded to pushing it open and crawled into the room. That was when I fell right through a gaping hole in the middle of the damn floor and fell stomach first on an old desk. It shattered under my weight and all the air was forced out of my lungs. It left me coughing and my lungs hurting more than they already were, and I rolled to my back, clutching my gut and swearing at my luck.

“He went down there!” shouted one of the soldiers.

“Stop standing around and go get him!” barked Butter Bars.

I groaned in aggravation and limped out of the room. I was honestly hoping Butter Bars wouldn't give chase, but a cynical part figured it was better him than Waltz. When I got in the hallway, I unslung my shotgun and aimed it at the hole in the sitting position. A sadist dropped down and I blew his chest open with a buckshot. His chest blew open, splashing everything with gore and I fell on my back from the kick.

Panicking, I still laid on my back with my shotgun in trembling hooves and screamed and shot sporadically as the other two sadists jumped down armed with an axe and an SMG. Each shot tore them open and blew chunks off of their bodies, and five shots later and the wall was painted red and they were lying on the ground, swimming in blood. One even coughed up a fountain of blood as he fell backwards. Nopony else came down after that, and I wasn’t going to wait to see who else came down, so I shouldered my weapon and ran.

I kept running with a big limp for a few minutes until I rounded a corner and found Butter Bars galloping out of a stairwell. He slid to a stop, as did I, and he got a malicious smile that looked purely evil in the dim lighting and he started galloping towards me.

Panic set in again. I backpedaled and fell on my rump and then tried to get my shotgun out, but he was too quick and he punched me in the chest with something that had a large voltage to it. I cried over the crackles of electricity and was blinded by its bluish light, and in a blur of motion, I was put in some kind of hold and swung against a mural with Princess Celestia hugging a bunch of foals with her wings and Friendship is Magic! painted underneath in bubbly letters. My impact basically destroyed her face, and the faces of a few foals, and when I landed on the ground with bits of brick and plaster, my world was spinning and I felt like my bones were crushed. I whimpered and tried to crawl away from Butter Bars as he walked after me.

“You just can’t recruit good troops these days,” panted Butter Bars. “They see some sadists killed and they just bicker about who goes down a hole. Worthless! Little! Bitches!”

Worthless little bitches turned out to be his queue to stomp my back with each of those words, and each stomp sent a flash of crushing and shocking pain and I could only yelp from his stomps. When he finished, I was limp, trembling and crying from the fear of death as much as the pain. Butter Bars chuckled grimly and hoisted me up so that he was on his hind legs and I was dangling with my neck was pressed between the brick wall and his foreleg.

I choked and gagged and fruitlessly pushed against his face, but all he did was laugh, and his laughter only echoed in my brain when things started to get dark. I tried to push myself away from the wall, but that didn’t do anything, and then I felt my hind legs kick, and I got an idea that meant either life or death for me. I kicked him in the balls.

Butter Bars made an incredibly girly, high pitched shriek as he stumbled back and fell to the ground, clutching his pride. I fell down and rubbed my neck, gulping in the sweet, rotten smell of fresh wasteland air, and then we exchanged heated looks of pure hatred. We both got up in a scramble and before he could get all the way up, I rammed him in the chest.

The both of us went into the stairwell where he came from, with his back taking the brunt of the damage. The door snapped under our weight and I landed on top of him and got a few good blows to his face before he rolled me to my back and dealt a few of his own. He definitely hit a lot harder than I did, and while he had a bloody lip and nose, my face was soaked from my nose bleed and gashes, and I might as well have drank blood from how much was going in my mouth.

Butter Bars pressed one hoof against my collar and raised his other for what looked to be a skull crushing blow, and using a burst of adrenaline, I flipped him off. He went head over tail off of me and landed on his back with a loud thud and grunt, and I scrambled away from to the other side of the walkway and turned back for another charge. He got up, we had out stare downs with my face dripping beads of blood and him sniffing up his little string of red, and we both pawed the ground, ready to strike. His hoof got its electric charge back, and we both roared and galloped towards each other. Not to surprisingly, mine was pathetic and his was well practiced.

Right when we were too close to change course this purplish haze erupted from Butter Bars' foreleg and everything just slowed to a crawl for me while he gained speed, and that was when I realized that he too was wearing a PipBuck.

My hoof extended to strike him, but it was like a crawl through tar, and my eyes barely widened when Butter Bars pushed my hoof down and socked me in the jaw with his electric hoof. And while I was falling stupidly slow, he punched me on the side, the face again, my gut and my finally my back. It was after the hit on my back that time went back to normal and I hit the ground with a force that knocked the air out of my lungs, left my bones aching, and me coughing out a nice glob of blood. I tried to use the wall for support, but I lost focus after a painful flash of white from Butter Bars slamming my face against the said wall. And after that he decided to kick me on my backside which sent everything into a blur as I rolled down the stairs, coming to an abrupt, painful stop when I hit the wall. My ears were ringing and my whole body was ready to fall to pieces, but that didn’t stop me from pushing myself up. I blinked blood out of my eyes and panted hard while Butter Bars came down the stairs, cracking his neck.

Then I got shot.

Yeah, just like that, I got shot. I stood up and BAM! I was knocked yet again into the wall, but this time by a sound breaking pieces of lead that tore into the shoulder of my already shot hoof and left me on the ground crying with blood pumping all over. I could feel the bullets in me and my shoulder pulse as gushes of crimson came out, and through my blurry vision, I saw Waltz step out from the hallway. Weapon smoking and really pissed.

“You should not toy with your targets, Lieutenant,” was what he snarled as he marched towards me.

“You should talk,” scoffed Butter Bars.

I tried to slide away from him using my shot arm to pull and my good arm to keep the wound plugged. It didn’t do much, only leave my hoof drenched in blood and me in more pain. I collapsed and started shivering and hyperventilating as the feeling of horrible death held me down. Everything became more blurry with the tears, and with each struggle of my heartbeat, the darkness grew larger until it was like a small circle of the world that I was seeing. And right as I thought I was about to die, I heard a faint shout, saw a magical burst behind Waltz that sent him flying over my head, and gunfire. Lots and lots of gunfire.

Then I blacked out.

When I woke again, it was with a sharp gasp of air brought about by an injection. I was on somepony’s back, and galloping next to whoever I was riding on was Lilac. She was bruised, bleeding a bit on the maneline and dirty, but other that she could have been a lot worse.

“That’s the last of it!” she said in a panic, yelling and ducking when a bullet tore past her and blew a nice sized hole in the wall.

“Is he dead!?” asked Baton, swearing and blowing somepony away with his crazy weapon.

I was too weary to be surprised, and too beat up to properly express my gratitude of him somehow coming back from the dead to save my life.

“No, he’s alive, but barely!” said Lilac.

My eyes started to get heavy again, and I was still shivering, and when things started to go dark again, Lilac used her magic to keep my head leveled with hers, making me more uncomfortable, and she looked at me worryingly with tears pooling in her eyes.

“Exile, stay-”

Blackout.

And next thing I knew, I woke up, screaming from something slicing into my skin and ripping at my muscles. Baton screamed and jumped up, cursing when he bonked his head on a lamp, and left two steak knives standing on my blood-soaked shoulder. After he bonked his head, his magic disappeared and a bottle of a alcohol landed on my face, covering and burning me in the liquid and giving me another bruise where the bottle landed. I thrashed and cried even more from the combined burning of alcohol and the ripping of my muscles from the little teeth of Baton's knives. The blood was constantly squirting, drenching me and the table I was on. Baton tried to hold me down and shouted at me to relax over my screams and cries, and during my spazzing, Baton used his magic to try to to fix a tourniquet that had gotten loose and Lilac ran up to us, holding a large frying pan in her magical grip.

“Lilac, Plan B!” barked Baton

“WHY ARE THERE KNIVES IN ME!?”

I never got an answer because Lilac smacked me over the top of the head with the frying pan and I was out once again.

We’ll go on a slight detour for a moment.

You know those dreams where you feel like you are reliving a memory?

Well, I got a one of those shortly after Lilac smacked me over the head with a frying pan. It started off pleasant in the sense that it was a Meet and Greet Day. Me and Artisan were hanging out in the back, watching others mingle. He had recently been turned down by a stallion, but Artisan just shrugged it off like he usually did.

“You know how these things go,” he said. “You just gotta go for it and hope for the best.”

As he said that he looked at me and I kept my eyes on Rose Petal. She was talking to Curly and Honey Sap, and I wasn’t kidding when I said I saw similarities between her and Aria. Same buttery coat, same dark mane and reserved demeanor. The only difference was that Honey Sap had a cutie mark in the shape of a beehive and was an earth pony, and Aria was an ibex.

“So, which one will you talk to, today?” mused Artisan with a sly grin. “The shy one, the loud one, or the psycho?”

Right when he said “loud one” Rose Petal’s laughter was carried across the room and Honey Sap just smiled timidly while Curly had that smile that I will hate till the day I die.

“You can count psycho off.” I said.

He and I both snickered and took sips of our drinks. Lucky him with his horn since all he used was magic to levitate the cup to his lips, leaving me stuck with hooves to do everything.

Then Artisan got deadly serious and asked: “Seriously, though. Who’s it going to be?”

My smile disappeared in a flash. “Nopony! I’m not going to talk -I can’t talk to any of them!”

“Oh really?”

I nodded and gulped a good half of my drink down, and Artisan got a wicked smile and he turned to the three mares. They were preoccupied talking to each other until Artisan shouted: “HEY, HONEY SAP! EPHEMERIS CLOCK WANTS TO TALK TO YOU!”

I nearly choked to death on my drink and I dropped my cup, coughing and gagging and face burning as the three mares turned to me and Artisan. I glared at Artisan and he grinned back, and when I looked back at the trio, Curly was whispering something to Honey Sap. Whatever she said made the poor mare’s face flush apple red and shrink a little while looking at me with big eyes, and Rose Petal scolded Curly, but she just laughed it off.

“Well, now that we got her attention...” began Artisan.

I ran out of the atrium, slammed the door shut behind me and collapsed on the ground from a panic attack. I closed my eyes and tried to get my breathing under control, but then the ticking returned and over the loud speakers I heard: “Attention! The Day of Exile has begun! Please make your way to the doors for observance!”

I opened my eyes and saw myself standing with a crowd of other ponies, all looking at Honey Sap. She was outside the Stable wearing a saddle and no PipBuck, and she was trembling to near collapse and her whole face was drenched in tears and sweat, and her hazel eyes were red, wet and pleading. The group she was with stopped walking, and one tried to get her to keep walking, but with no luck.

“This isn't right! I was a good citizen!” cried Honey Sap. “I-I always followed the rules! I did everything right!”

“Don’t lie, Honey Sap!” snapped Curly. “We all know there are reasons for exile!”

Honey Sap took a step towards the Stable, but retracted when the line of guards raised their weapons. She looked up when the Overmare spoke from her elevated position, using a speaker.

“Honey Sap, the rules of the Sable are clear! Your score showed you lacking, therefore you must go! It is nothing personal, but it is for the good of the Stable!” said Overmare Mane sternly.

“But I did everything right!” said Honey Sap, then she looked at me, sniffling, and said: “Please, you have to believe me...”

I looked down. I didn’t believe her because it was common for somepony to claim that they did nothing wrong if they were chosen for exile. When I looked up again, Honey Sap’s eyes were wide and dead and yet they still were on me. I barely knew her. I never courted her, so I didn’t understand why she felt betrayed by me looking away.

Honey Sap shook her head, slowly at first as she took a step back. She mouthed “No” repeatedly, then she closed her eyes and shook her head quickly, weeping and falling to the ground with her face in her hooves.

“No! No! No no no no no! No!” sobbed Honey Sap, her sobs turning quickly to wails as she clutched her head. “Its not right! Its not right! I don’t belong out here!”

She opened her eyes and slammed her hooves on the ground to stand up.

“I belong with you! Please don’t do this to me!”

Honey Sap took a step forward and then she jerked from a sudden POP. My jaw dropped and before anything could be said or done, a barrage of POPs overlapping each other tore into Honey Sap and the other exiles. Her body jerked and blood spurted out from each bullet that punctured her, and she fell to the ground dead, her eyes open and still right at me. The crowd screamed and ran over each other in a stampede to get away and Buzz Cut was furious when he ordered the door shut and the guards back to the briefing room. I ran with the crowd and stopped near a garbage can, ready to puke, and when I looked back, I saw Rose Petal sobbing into Curly Mane’s shoulder and Overmare Mane staring in disbelief at the door as it sealed.

I looked down and wiped my mane back with a trembling hoof, and then I heard Artisan.

“It's going to be okay,” he said in a near whisper.

I looked up, blinking blood out of my eyes and saw Artisan sat not too far from me. He was battered and bloody like me, and it seemed like we were both sitting in a void -no up or down, ground or sky- and above Artisan’s head was a ticking clock. From the darkness, Waltz materialized and stood behind Artisan with his weapon aimed at the back of his head.

I held out my hoof, which was burnt and bleeding profusely and I tried to call Artisan, but all I got was a harsh croak and more blood going down my face.

Artisan smiled sadly as tears came down his cheeks to clear a trail of bloody grime, and he said again louder, but not by much: “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”

Then Waltz fired.

I woke up with a jolt on a grungy mattress, shaking, sweating and feeling more sick than before, surrounded by empty bottles with a sleeping foal on it. The best I could describe it was that it felt as though my brain was swimming in oil, and my shot up hoof throbbed, especially at the shoulder. It was a particularly painful throb, too, and when I pressed my hoof against it to offer some comfort I felt something weird. I curiously felt my shot shoulder and came to a horrifying conclusion.

They cauterized my wound.

I huffed and threw my hoof down in disgust. First my ear was bitten off and now I had a glob of burnt skin where no fur will ever grow again. I inspected my whole messed up leg and found that they had cauterized my other bullet injury, too, and when I felt my face, I felt a lot of scabs and I could feel that some of my teeth were loose, too.

While I laid on the smelly, stained mattress, I heard Baton and Lilac in the other room and decided to eavesdrop. What else was I going to do?

“...So, do you think Wilhelm will listen to me?” asked Lilac quietly.

“I doubt it,” said Baton.

“But if you can back me up, then-”

“It still won’t change him. Wilhelm is paranoid, and since you ‘used’ to work for Ms. Gold he’ll put more faith in a rock turning into bread than you. Just saying.”

“But he has to know what Ms. Gold is after and what she wants to do! If she gets her hooves on the Remnant then she can control Ibexia and the Macintosh Hills!”

Baton was silent for a few seconds before he took a breath and said: “Lilac, grow up.”

I craned my neck to try to hear better. Questions swirled in my mind about what I heard. Questions about this Remnant thing, mostly, and others not so much about it. More of what I missed while I was out and how many times I have been knocked out in the past few days. I started thinking about finding a big helmet of some kind just for that reason. And then I started thinking about how much I really needed armor. The whole chain of events from my exile to now was just plain ridiculous, and I did not want to end up like the other exiles. Dead or violated.

But all the thinking and horrible events gave me a headache, so I stopped thinking stared at the moldy, holey ceiling. It was actually kind of peaceful watching the clouds go by, no matter how yucky their color was.

“We need to leave soon. I’m going to check the area, and you need to make sure Exile is alright,” said Baton.

I heard Baton leave and Lilac entered the room a few seconds later. She stared at me with pity and when she sat next to me she put her hoof on my embarrassingly sweaty forehead when I sat up at the cost of my stomach churning.

“I’m glad you’re awake. How are you feeling?” she asked.

Despite the daze I was in, I still shrugged, answering with a simple: “Fine.”

“You don’t look fine. You’re burning up and filthy.”

I inspected myself again, realizing but not caring that Lilac was right, and then I motioned towards her scab by the maneline.

“What happened to you?” I asked.

Lilac chuckled uneasily and gently touched her scab. “Oh, it is just a scratch. Believe me, it would have been worse if Baton hadn’t come in to save me. Which reminds me.” She removed my watch from her saddle and gave it to me. “Baton grabbed this and told me to give it to you when you were awake.”

I took the watch. “Thanks... But why didn’t Baton give me this himself?”

“He wanted you to think that I saved it for you.” Then she winked. “He probably thought you’d kiss him seeing as how you were ready to kill for it.”

My cheeks flushed in embarrassment from that thought and the realizing that I nearly gotten myself killed for that pocket watch. But it was also the only piece I had left of my old home, so it was justified.

Much to my surprised, Lilac grabbed my cheeks and gently kissed me on the forehead. My heart spiked and I sucked in a lung full of air as I stared at Lilac, bewildered at what just happened.

She smiled at me again and whispered: “And that was for trying to save me.”

I blinked as an awkward feeling settled in. Thankfully my tongue stopped working so I didn’t say something stupid, and Baton also walked in looking perfectly fine so it brought any idiotic actions to a hold. But I did silently question how he got blasted out of a building with a rocket and fought his way through dozens of soldiers and come out looking like all is right with the rain.

“Can you walk, Exile?” asked Baton.

“Not yet,” said Lilac.

I held my hoof, earning a worried glance from Lilac, and I nodded and told Baton that I could walk. It took me a moment, but I did stand up, ignored the painful pulsing in my shoulder and smiled earnestly when I was fully up.

Then I took one step. Froze. And puffed out my cheeks as bile surged up my throat, and I galloped away and puked outside a blown out window, right on a pile of dead sadists. I moaned and wiped my sweaty mane back, too sick and tired to care that I was seeing what had to be Baton’s doing.

“Can walk, my ass,” sneered Baton.

“I told you he couldn’t walk. He needs rest,” said Lilac.

“He doesn't need rest. He needs orange juice!”

“How can you think about juice at a time like this!?”

I slid to the rotten floor, looking at the bullet holes dotting the wall with a sickly expression while the two unicorns argued, completely lost about whatever the heck this “orange juice” thing was. As a form of comfort I rubbed my pocket watch, and it seemed to work in making me feel better in the horrible state I was in.

“We don’t have time for this! He needs orange juice, we need Bongo, and I will be damned if Waltz or Butter Bars catches us!” yelled Baton.

“He. Can’t. Walk! Do you want him to die on the road?” responded Lilac.

“That’s not a bad idea. One less pony to drag around.”

I rolled my eyes and Lilac whinnied. “How could you say that! He’s part of the group!”

“There is no group!” bellowed Baton with a stomp of his hoof. “There never was a group! There was that fucking digger being dumped on me and now you following me around because you decided to switch sides!”

Lilac took a step back, eyes wide and watering, and me? I just looked at Baton, not in the least bit surprised that he called me a digger or garbage.

“My home is gone and the fucks that took it are right behind us ready to put a bullet in our heads!” To emphasize his point, Baton pressed his hoof against the side of his head. “I never wanted to be part of this stupid war, but your buddies brought it to my home, so once I drop you two off at Bongo’s consider me gone from your lives!”

Baton lowered his hoof with a deep breath and turned towards the door, leaving me and Lilac frozen in place. He only stopped when Lilac called him.

“Exile is still too ill to walk,” she pointed out.

Baton turned around with a scowl. “What do you want me to do about it? Carry him?”

All three of us exchanged looks, and Baton’s scowl deepened when Lilac looked at him with puppy eyes and a squee smile.

And just like that, we were leaving the house with me limp and strapped to Baton’s back with my pathetic amount of gear on top of his, Lilac prancing next to us and Baton grumbling and walking noticeably slower. It was humiliating.

It had been around four hours since we left the little house, and Baton led us down an old highway crowded with rusted and gutted carts, overturned vehicles and toppled signs. Some wagons and carts were piled over each other or stuck in craters or the sides of the road, and one had somehow managed to get stuck on a billboard advertising a drink called Orange Family Sun Juice. The particular sign was advertising this orange juice thing, their number one brand as said by the sign and the ridiculously happy colt holding his cup up with the smiling sun in the background. In the distance there were more hills and mountains and a particularly tall building surrounded by a ring of smaller ones not too far.

Scenery aside, Baton was quiet and on high alert the whole time. His weapon was constantly sweeping, as were his eyes and ears, and every so often he would come to a stop and listen for a few seconds before carrying on. The sky was also darkening and some thunder rumbled in the distance, which did nothing but made all three of us uneasy. Especially me since I never heard thunder before and to me it sounded like a giant monster’s stomach growling, but seeing my fear and probably feeling me shake on Baton’s part at least sparked a conversation.

“What’s the matter? You never heard thunder before?” asked Baton as he looked up at the sky nervously.

“He grew up in a Stable, he wouldn’t hear such things,” said Lilac. Then she cooed to me: “Don’t you worry, though, we won’t let the big bad thunder get you.”

I gave her a very dark look that became more severe when she patted me on my head, and she just shrugged it off with a smile and trotted closer to Baton.

“Baton, how far are we from Bongo?” asked Lilac.

“At least a day. And I am not carrying you all the way,” said Baton.

He looked at me for the second half of the sentence and I simply nodded, then he turned back to Lilac.

“We'll take shelter at that tower over there. It will keep us dry and safe from the flood,” said Baton.

And just so the universe made it clear that we had no choice, a particularly bright flash of sky tearing light and deafening thunder assaulted our senses. It certainly made Lilac jump which, in turn, made me smile viciously in celebration after I nearly got a heart attack. Lilac saw this and sniffed like a snob with her nose in the air.

“So, when we get to Bongo there’s going to be a few ponies ya gotta talk to,” said Baton in a way that made me feel small. To make sure Baton knew I wasn’t toning him out, I groggily nodded my head and he continued, saying: “First, you gotta see Dr. Heartbeat, ‘cuz when we cut the bullets out we kinda used knives that we found in the kitchen, so you probably got infected with something.”

“What do you mean ‘we’? I was holding the frying pan,” interjected Lilac with a cocked brow.

I groaned in a mix of disbelief and pain as I suddenly got a feeling a nasty headache where I’m sure Lilac had hit me.

“Another reason to see Heartbeat. Lilac likes to hit ponies with pans,” said Baton, casting a playful smirk at Lilac.

Lilac frowned and I looked at her and realized that she was, in fact, carrying a frying pan with her gear. I shook my head and looked down at the passing crumbling asphalt, releasing a sickly hiccup soon after.

“Who’s next?” I grumbled.

Baton hummed. “Well, there is also Dr. Crest, she’s a mouth doctor so she can do something about your jacked up teeth, and then we got Lomi. She’s a massage specialist and-”

“I am not getting a massage.”

“And she runs a supply shop so you can buy some stuff there.”

“But I don’t have any money.”

“Then do some work and get money to buy stuff! Goddess damn, think for yourself for once!”

We were silent for a few seconds before I asked: “Anypony else?”

“Nope,” replied Baton quickly.

And the conversation died down to absolute nothingness after that.

Forty five minutes later we reached the plaza surrounding our destination with light rain dampening us. Like everything else, the plaza was worn, torn, bombed out, shot up, devoid of any color and smelled bad. We had to pick our way through piles of rubble that spilled into the streets, and I puked a couple of times along the way. That did not make Baton happy, and he threatened to buck me off of him after my second go around.

“Seriously, if you puke again, I’m bucking you on to the next rubble pile,” was what he said to me.

Then Lilac interjected with: “You really should be more polite towards the less fortunate.”

Baton just rolled his eyes and I swallowed what was left of my puke. I really hated Baton for doing this to me, for putting me in such a sick, awkward position. I started to believe that I would have been fine if he just left the bullet in and not cut it out with dirty knives. But, no, he cut it out and left me sweating, puking, shaky and mind numbly miserable and then he was being a dick and complaining about carrying me.

Anyway, it took us another five minutes to actually get to the building Baton wanted and when we got there I knew that in the Old World that place was where nobles went. It towered high, possibly a couple dozen stories, and each corner was rounded with gold plates, but those plates were mostly gone to show the masonry underneath. The entrance to it was like a separate domed building with rotating doors and it connected to the main building with a covered walkway that was shielded by glass at its prime, but all that remained of them was twisted, rusted metal, busted glass, and the rotating door had boards where the glass was with bullet holes and blood on it.

Baton shrugged me off after a minute of gawking at the scene, and while I had trouble standing, I was determined not to get carried again, so I bit my tongue, ignored any discomfort, and stayed close to the walkway.

We traveled down the edge of the walkway, passed a skeleton, and I noticed a crumbled statue of Celestia and Luna rearing up to touch hooves partially inside the ruined tunnel. During our short trek, Baton stayed ahead and kept his weapon raised, and all three of us looked up when it thundered again, and this time heavy rain came down like Celestia Herself had blown a sky sized pipe.

Baton swore and me and Lilac shivered. The rain was cold and it gained inches rather quickly, which, for a Stablepony like me, was something that was both terrifying and mesmerizing at the same time.

“Exile, get your tail moving!” barked Baton.

I looked to Baton and saw that he and Lilac were already inside the building and were waving me in from behind a broken door. I was glad that the combined wind and falling rain was strong enough to block out the pained grunt I made when I hopped through a hole to get to them. I trotted next to them, soaking wet, and smiled the best I could, but Baton met that with a frown.

“You act like you haven't seen rain before,” said Baton.

“I haven't!” I shot back.

“I'm sure you took showers in the Stable. That's all rain is. A big fucking shower.”

“Must you be so crass with your language?” said Lilac with a frown.

Baton nickered. “Fuck no, but I fucking love to say fuck and other fucking things so shut the fuck up and let me enjoy the fucks I give!”

He got slapped right in the face after that. It was like a whip cracking and his eyes got all wide and everything as Lilac seethed at him. She left a nice bruise on there, too, and her slap looked like it nearly knocked his head right off. I was shocked as much as Baton was, but I thought he was going to kill her because when he looked at her, his eyes were narrowed, his jaw was tighter than pulled wire and he trembled quite a bit.

Lilac shook, but stood her ground when Baton stepped towards her, growling, and she had to crane her head slightly to meet his eyes. They stared at each other for a good five seconds before Baton rubbed the spot Lilac slapped and spoke in barely contained rage.

“Do not hit me again,” was all he said as he rubbed his jaw.

Then he spat out a tooth. A rotting, black, cracked tooth covered in blood and my jaw dropped like stone and Lilac put her hoof over mouth as she gasped and took a step back with her eyes wide.

“Oh my goodness! I-I didn't mean to knock your tooth out!” cried Lilac.

“Well you did and now I'm in pain. I hope you're happy,” said Baton.

“I swear I didn't mean to hit you that hard! I just didn't want you to...” Lilac's voice drifted off as she looked at the tooth, and then she became repulsed and with a grimace, she said: “That is an ugly tooth.”

“Are you serious!?”

And in came an argument about his disgusting teeth, and while the two bickered, I noticed that water was creeping in through the many cracks and holes in the wall. I had to call them three times before they looked at me.

“What!” they said in unison, clearly annoyed that I interrupted their arguing.

I pointed to the water and said: “We really need to find higher ground.”

Baton snorted and looked at Lilac, saying: “See, because of you I got distracted.”

Lilac gasped. “What? Do not blame this on me! You're the one with the filthy mouth!”

They started walking and arguing about Baton's teeth, and I followed close behind, now more annoyed than sick because their back and forth bantering was incredibly childish.

“It's called toothpaste, Baton! Toothpaste!” yelled Lilac at one point.

“There is no toothpaste in the wasteland!” retorted Baton.

“Toothpaste is clay! Use clay!”

“No, toothpaste is yummy mint paste! And there is no way in Hell I am going to willingly put dirt in my mouth!”

I groaned and rolled my eyes, and when we stepped into the lobby, Baton grumbled about how every sadist in the area probably heard us. With that said, Baton told us to keep our eyes open and he approached the single receptionist desk in the middle of the place. It had been shot up and the words SKYFALL HOTEL were faded to near extinction, and when Baton got to the other side he smirked and levitated a skull with a hole through it, bringing Lilac's face contorted to that of disgust while he snickered.

“This guy's seen better days,” he said.

He then tossed it away and motioned us forward. We carefully trotted across the lobby, noting the crude graffiti, more blood and bullet holes, and desecrated framed posters that we couldn't get a good look at. However, I did get to see one poster fairly well, and that was a diagram of the hotel with a cut open view of an underground parking lot that led to a subway network and an underground highway. On the bottom was the Ministry of Transportation and Skyfall Hotel logos with an odd symbol in the middle of them. It looked like a flower with the stem made of tracks, the bud made of a tire, and the petals made out of I guess more tracks, but bent slightly to make them look like flower petals. At the very bottom it said: “The Ministry of Transportation and Skyfall Hotel have teamed up to connect the Rose Line, the world's first underground highway, to one of the most acclaimed hotels ever built. Buy a Rose Line Subway ticket and you could win a week's stay at the Skyfall Hotel, free of charge!”

Then came the disclaimers that were too small and faded to read, so I left and had to nearly go into a full on gallop to catch up to Lilac and Baton. When we got to the hallway, the lights were somehow still working and there were piles of junk everywhere that Baton did not hesitate to go through. I saw him collecting cans and cleaning supplies and when we got into a break room, Baton found a stash of some kind of soda that had an orange glow to it. He offered some to me and Lilac. I refused because it looked radiated, but Lilac happily took it with a big thanks and slipped it in her saddle.

“Last chance,” said Baton, waving the glowing bottle in front of me with an evil teasing smile.

I rejected it with a simple wave and he shrugged and stuffed it in his saddle, but at least his attempt at taunting gave me an idea of what kind of soda it was. Orange Crisp Solar Blast.

It sounded like a cheap brand, and Baton gave me another one that was called just Orange Crisp, and this one didn't look radiated, so I took it, but only because he told me he didn't want to leave any needed supplies behind. I was actually surprised that my saddle could hold it, but I digress.

After we got our soda, Lilac insisted we take the elevator for my sake. Baton told her that the elevators might not be working because of lack of maintenance, but when she got to an elevator and opened it with a simple push of a button, she gave that eccentric stallion a smug smirk. Baton, in turn, sneered. Then we got inside the elevator, pushed the button to go to floor twenty and we started ascending with terrible elevator music as our company.

I'm guessing that it was supposed to be a relaxing tropical thing, but it only made things awkwardly bad in the stinky elevator. Baton forced a cough in his hoof, Lilac kept her eyes to the flickering lights, bobbing her head slightly for reasons unknown, and I stared at the peeling floor. When the elevator stopped, the doors lazily slide open with a ding and all three of us stepped out into the hall, all happy to leave the elevator and its torturous music behind.

“Well, that was dreadful,” said Lilac.

The elevator responded with a groan as its doors slid shut, and Baton shook his head and kept his machine gun trained in front of him while walking down the corridor.

“I told you we shouldn't go in there, but did you listen? Nope,” said Baton.

“At least it was quicker than walking up the stairs.” I said, inching away from the windows and eyeing the storm uneasily when a strong gust of wind pushed a barrage of freezing rain against it.

In response to what I said, Baton asked: “What if the elevator broke? What if the cords snapped and we all got squished inside the shaft? Did that ever cross your minds?”

Me and Lilac shook our heads, and Baton sighed and again he shook his head.

“Of course not,” he said.

The place we eventually took shelter in was probably the room for one of the hotel managers. It was a good sized apartment complete with a bathroom, living room, bedroom, spacious kitchen and dining area and a balcony. Well, the balcony was gone, so all it really was was a patio door that led to a two hundred and twenty foot drop.

But aside from that detail, it wasn't too bad, so we each took our own little spot to explore.

Lilac went to the bedroom first, squealed like a little filly and started poking and prodding at the sheets and pillows.

Baton rummaged through the kitchen, stuffed his saddle with food and old water, and then he went to the dining room, dumped out all the cans and cleaning supplies and the radiated soda on the table and started working. I didn't know what he was working on, but with the blueprint he had and the maniacal snickering he was making, I knew it would kill somepony in a horrible way.

Me? I went to the bathroom, pushed a button above the bath faucet, and was surprised when it beeped and angered when a screen came out with text and a robotic voice.

“Hello, and thank you choosing Mr. Bath for you body sanitation procedures. Would you like: (A) Quick Shower; (B) Long Shower; or (C) Bath?”

That voice sounded exactly like Mr. Vendor so there was no way in Hell that I would even want to try a Mr. Bath.

“Exile, what are you doing in there!” shouted Baton.

And along came Lilac.

“I heard something about a bath,” she said giddily, and when I got out to where I could see her, I saw her excited smile.

“That bath ain't gonna work,” said Baton, using his magic to put nails, Solar Blast and cleaning supplies inside a can.

“Well, it's worth a shot.”

She hurried over to me, used her magic to throw me out of the bathroom and then slammed the door shut. That resulted in an unpleasant feeling in my messed up shoulder, and the very first thing I did after I got my face out of the carpet was rub it tenderly. While I rubbed my shoulder, Lilac made a very sad whine, and me and Baton looked at each other, both listening to her grumbling desperately and trying to program the Mr. Bath to give her a dream bath.

Lilac poked her head out a minute later and with tears in her eyes, she said: “The bath doesn't work.”

“I told you so,” said Baton.

Lilac pouted and trudged back to her room, Baton resumed his building and I went to the living room to be bored. I was there for probably a good thirty minutes before I finally decided to do something, and by that time Baton had made ten can grenades -which he called soda bombs- and a bomb from a lunchbox, and he was putting his attention to his club. Lilac had dropped by to see what he was doing a few minutes before, but she got bored and left to the room, and so while she was doing whatever and he was cleaning his club, I inspected the living room some more.

It wasn't much since it was bare as can be, but I did notice an anomaly on one of the walls and went for a closer look. It turned out to be a really old button that had blended in to the wall pretty good, and I knew there was the general rule of do-not-push-strange-buttons, but I figured what the hell? Its not like it was the detonator to some kind of explosive and I was bored.

So, I pushed the little button and immediately retracted my hoof when it made an obnoxious click. Then Baton’s ears perked and he turned to me wide eyed when something started whirring.

“What did you do?” said Baton in a panic.

“I just pushed a button!” I said defensively as I quickly backed away from the evil little thing while looking at the ceiling where the whirs were coming from.

“You stupid doodle! Didn't your mom ever tell you not to push strange buttons!?”

I shrunk back and Baton whirled and aimed his quad-barreled gun at a rectangular device that slid down from the ceiling. It clicked and a green light appeared followed by a lens sliding out and projecting an image on the decayed wall. Baton and I relaxed.

The grayed footage was wonky at first. It was unfocused, had images overlapping with numbers counting up and down, and when it got itself straightened out, Baton about nearly squealed. Wide eyes, open mouth, whimsical gasp. All of it was there when Shining Armor appeared behind a podium, adjusting his glasses and clearing his throat while an audience off the screen finished chuckling.

“Again, I would like to thank you and apologize for coming at the expense of having to pay forty bits a plate for this event,” began Shining Armor, smiling when the crowd chuckled again. “But, just remember that the proceeds will go to the Equestrian Heroes Network, which needs your help now more than ever in supporting our veterans and active duty personnel. So, blow your paycheck on this auction and may the Sisters bless Equestria!”

The crowd clapped and Shining Armor stepped off the stage with a smile and shook hooves with Time Turner and Bruce Mane, both in spiffy suits. There was also a unicorn an unfamiliar stallion sitting off to the side, sporting a comb over and wearing a vest over a dress shirt, but he didn't do much except sip his drink and watch the Turner and Mane. The two earth ponies exchanged a few words that I could not hear, and when Time Turner got on the stage, he was wearing a pendant with the symbol of infinity inside a tree that he rubbed while gulping nervously.

“Ladies and gentlecolts, thank you for attending the first annual Whooves Institute Helping Hoof Silent Auction,”said Time Turner in a shaky voice.

He swallowed again and drummed his hooves on the podium before explaining the rules of the silent auction, but while he did this, the audience conversed quietly with each other. It was quite clear that Time Turner was annoyed by this, and I kept watching until Lilac stepped into the living room, yawning with her armor and gear floating next to her.

“Well, boys, I think I will be turning in for the night,” she said.

“Where are you going to be sleeping?” I asked.

“In the bedroom. Where else?”

I felt stupid when she pointed to the bedroom to enforce her point, and Baton decided to say something when Time Turner started off by trying to sell an admittedly beautiful vase.

“Is he serious! That vase is being undersold!” he said furiously. Me and Lilac looked at him, perplexed by his outburst, and he pointed at the vase. “That is an eighteenth century Altain vase with a classical grifon stoletiye mira period style and it is using the flatter shchetka painting method for those patterns! It is easily worth eighteen hundred bits but the starting bid is a hundred!? That is criminal! That damn cheapskate! FUCK HIM! FUCK HIM HARD!... Why are you naked?”

Me and Lilac’s eyes were bulged and we were speechless, literally speechless, about Baton blindsiding us with his knowledge of pottery. However, since Baton asked Lilac why she was naked she was the first to speak, and she started off with a snobbish sniff and nose tilt.

“I am going to bed,” said Lilac.

Baton frowned. “You’re going to sleep without your armor in the Wasteland?”

“Yes. It is rather uncomfortable and I enjoy my comfort when I sleep.”

“You’d be singing a different tune if you were outside. Where are you going to sleep, anyway?”

Lilac sighed heavily and pointed at the bedroom again. “The bedroom, Baton. Where else is a lady to sleep when in the company of two stallions?”

Baton tilted his head to get a better look,then he scoffed and shook his head, saying: “That bed ain’t big enough for the three of us.”

He instantly burned up and clamped his mouth shut, Lilac blushed and gasped, and I was once again speechless, which was a shame because I was certain that I was just about to get my vocabulary back.

“The bed was meant just for me!” said Lilac as she pointed at herself, her face burning red like hot metal.

“Well, Exile is sick and my back hurts because I had to carry him and all our crap for who knows how many fudging miles! If anything, me and him deserve to be in that bed!” said Baton, his blush also having yet to fade.

With that said, my vocabulary returned with a grand: “What?”

“Maybe you should’ve used proper medical tools or waited before trying to get the bullets out of him with dirty knives!” yelled Lilac.

Not wanting to get involved, I started backing away, but Baton pointed at me and shouted: “Exile knows I deserve that bed more than anypony else! Right, Exile?”

Both unicorns looked at me and I froze, smiled nervously and shrugged.

Baton didn’t like that shrug.

He growled with irritance and looked back at Lilac the same time she looked back at him.

“I deserve that bed,” said Baton darkly.

Lilac narrowed her eyes and stood hoof to hoof with him, and even though she had to crane her head up a bit, that did nothing to faze her, and she said one. Simple. Powerful phrase: “I’m the mare.”

And later that night me and Baton were stuck in the living room, curled up on the floor and staying close to each other strictly to stay warm while Lilac stayed locked in the bedroom with a bed, a warm, two hundred plus year old blanket, and a pillow. Lilac had the comfort of a bedroom and curtains to keep the pounding storm muffled, and me and Baton had to deal with the full volume of howling winds and rain beating against the building with a hard floor to sleep on.

Baton had snuggled with his teddy bear, too, and when I glanced at him he threatened to kill me if I told anypony about it, so I pretended I didn’t see. We were quiet for about five minutes when Baton spoke again.

“Hey, Exile.”

“Yeah?”

“Remind me to become a faggot later.”

I smiled and nodded, and that was all we said to each other for basically the rest of the night. Baton snuggled with his teddy bear and passed out in minutes, and I stayed up stroking my watch until I could no longer keep my eyes open.

Five hours later, I woke up. Not really sure why, but I just did, and I didn't feel too bad at that point. Sure I was a bit woozy, but it was bearable.

I looked to my side and saw Baton still curled up with his teddy bear and Lilac's room was completely silent. I got up and checked on her, and not in the creepy way, either, just a quick peek, and I left when she stirred under her covers. I went back to my spot on the floor and was about to lay down when Baton snorted, kicked out his hind leg and hugged the teddy bear tighter.

“No, not Scabbard,” muttered Baton. It almost sounded like he wanted to cry, and he pulled his leg back and curled up tighter on the ground with his teddy bear closer to his chest.

I sat against the wall and checked my watch. It was going on three o'clock in the morning, if I remember correctly. The rain was still going, but it was more of a heavy rain than a torrential downpour, so I guessed that that was a good sign.

I closed my watch and eyes, and let my head rest against the wall, ready to go back to sleep. I was sitting there for a good twenty minutes before I heard something strange over the strong wind. It sounded like a turbine engine and spinning blades slicing the air. I walked towards the window for a better look and jumped back, swearing when a tube like vehicle with rotating blades on its roof flew by the window. It shook the room and the two unicorns awake.

When Baton was fully up, he had his quad-barreled machine gun and took a step back, swearing when the craft returned with two blinding balls of light aimed at us. I couldn't see anything and dove for cover with my eyes shut while Baton screamed for Lilac to get out of the room. He then shot at the craft, completely destroying the windows and blowing out one of its lights, allowing the harsh wind to soak us to our bones.

Lilac came out wearing her armor and was about to run into the hallway when I noticed a turret rolling out from underneath the craft's belly. And it was a big turret, too.

Baton saw this and when the turret clicked and whined, he shouted for us to get down. I barely tackled Lilac to the ground in time when the turret spewed a line of lead that chewed up everything and sent splintered wood and brick flying over us.

Lilac shrieked over the gunfire and I kept myself on top of her, eyes squeezed shut and muscles tense, waiting for the shooting to stop. Baton also made a mad dive for cover and he threw one of his soda bombs at the craft. The crude weapon detonated against the cockpit, completely shattering its windows and killing the pilots inside with a gruesome combination of flying nails and a ball of flame.

The craft began whining and spinning uncontrollably, throwing out flames to illuminate the dark rain, and Baton ducked when the tail broke through the wall, sending more debris our way. He screamed when a piece of metal nicked at his hoof, leaving a gash, and we all flinched when a flash of fire appeared with the sounds of metal impacting brick and the thump of an explosion.

Lilac and I got up and we rushed to Baton, who was now leaning against the wall, biting his lip and clutching his wound that was bleeding profusely. Lilac grabbed his injured hoof, and while she did that, I snuck Baton's teddy bear in my saddle and gave him a assuring nod. He smiled quickly in thanks before he looked at Lilac.

“Baton, your hurt!” cried Lilac.

“I've had worse,” grunted Baton, his hoof and chest now drenched in blood with thick globs of it dripping to the floor.

I checked the halls to see if anyone was heading our way. Thankfully we were alone for now.

“Was that Waltz?” I asked.

I looked over my shoulder when I asked and saw Lilac running back with the sheets to make a cheap bandage. She worked quickly, but they quickly became red and started dripping, and she had to make a really thick bandage by using the quilt and pillow case and holding them all down with wire that Baton had in his saddle. When she was finished, she helped Baton up and he looked at me, still visibly pained.

“That was definitely one of Sweet Berry's toys,” he said, snarling to the pain when he limped forward while slipping a new magazine in his weapon. “Sweet Berry had been fortunate enough to be close to Old World military bases and factories, and they are using those to make vehicles and arm their troops. Good news about their gizmos is that most can go down pretty quick if you know where to hit them.”

Lilac helped Baton up, but as soon as we started walking, he shrugged her away and stood by himself when we got to the hallway. Each step made him wince and he left a bloody hoofprint in his wake, but he was determined not be helped.

We walked out with me in the lead and really wishing I was a unicorn so I could use my shotgun without having to worry about all the inhibitions of being an earth pony. Hell, at the very least some kind of contraption so I wouldn't have to sit down and pull it out every time I wanted to use it.

“Don't you have any medicine?” asked Lilac; she, too, had her weapon out and was sweeping the halls and staying very close to Baton.

“Nope. I used most of it on myself when Waltz nearly blasted me out the window and the rest to keep Exile alive,” said Baton.

That explained how he didn't die from the rocket, but now that I knew that he didn't have any more healing potions it was obvious that we had a problem. It was easy to say that Baton was the best fighter in our group, and I had a feeling that we wouldn't last long if Waltz or Butter Bars arrived personally. We needed to get out, and get out quick, but the area was flooded and as far as I knew, we were probably being surrounded.

We went down the hallway as fast as we could, and when I tried to use the elevator, Baton snapped at me and told me not to turn it on. It was at that moment that the door to the stairwell next to me burst open and a stallion in Republic 61 armor came out.

A scream and a pure reflex punch to the muzzle later and he was stumbling back. He was then shot dead by Lilac. The bullets whizzed right past me and I swear to the Divine Sisters that I felt the bullets brush the tips of my fur.

The dead guy dropped. I glared at Lilac. And she offered an apologetic smile.

“Sorry,” she said with a wince.

I looked back to the stairwell when I I heard more soldiers coming. One soldier was complaining about a guy named Kettle going too fast, which just happened to be the pony Lilac shot, and when I looked over the railing I saw a squad of seven Republic 61 stallions running up the stairs, each with battle saddles or levitating a weapon of some kind.

I ordered Lilac to get out with Baton, then I pushed Kettle's body in front of me, unslug my shotgun and fired down at the soldiers as quickly as my sickly state would allow.

With the buckshot breaking off a chunk of the wall above their heads, the soldiers shrunk down and returned fire. The bullets chipped off the concrete making up the stairwell, and the unarmored parts of Kettle's body were blasted off, sending blood squirting up in my face. It was nasty and I hated doing it, but I really didn't feel like questioning morality. I wanted to live and Lilac and Baton had to get out, and that was final.

During the shootout, a Republic 61 unicorn who wore just a vest and had a lot of tattoos on his limbs and a bandanna over his head pulled out a slender rocket launcher and aimed it at me.

It was by pure luck that I shot him in the face, and because he had no helmet, the wall and his teammate was showered with blood, brain and bony bits. Mr. Bandanna's headless body dropped to the ground, and with it, his slender rocket launcher, which fired off its missile directly into the stairs. The blast left a hole and knocked one soldier up a few feet and blew the other over the edge. His scream faded and I spent my last shell shooting the flung soldier in the leg.

He howled in pain and collapsed on the ground, clutching shot leg while the survivors ran around the hole to get to me. They spared no ammo as they shot at me, blowing off more pieces of the stairwell and Kettle's body, and while blood pooled all around me, I grabbed the dead guy's pistol with my mouth, ignoring the taste of blood, and raised myself slightly to shoot somepony.

The nearest soldier aimed his battle saddle right at me, but right as he was about to pull the trigger, a grenade on his vest glowed and the pin popped out. He looked down and almost turned to stone from how pale and stiff he became when he saw this. I took the opportunity to scramble into the hallway, next to Lilac and Baton, and seconds later, there were four flashes and his bloody bits and chunks of the stairwell flew everywhere.

There were screams of pain and then silence. When I looked back, I saw mangled corpses and a gap between us and the stairs. I pulled back and looked at Baton and he pointed at Lilac.

“That was all her,” he said.

I looked at Lilac, and she shifted uneasily in her spot and said: “It worked, didn't it?”.

“Yeah... Thanks.” I said.

Then came an awkward silence, which only ended when I started walking.

“Let's try the other stairwell.” I said.

It was constant shooting all the way down the stairwells of the Skyfall Hotel. Sometimes we had to abandon the one we were in and fight our way through a hallway to get to another one, and when we finally got cut off, we were on the tenth floor and got cornered in the back where a service elevator was. If the stairs hadn't been missing then we would have taken them down, but they were gone, so that really sucked.

Lilac and Baton were pressed against the wall, and I was by the corner, trying to get a shot off. I was only able to get off one shot before a barrage of bullets wiped out the corner and sent splinters and broken metal frame flying to cut at me. I swore and retracted with blood seeping through the little cuts all over my face and hooves, then I looked at the large elevator near us and knew what had to be done.

We were trapped and Baton was almost completely out of it while Lilac was petrified with fear. I was actually the only one who was moving, constantly poking in and out to return fire, even though my shots were horribly inaccurate and was so terrified that I thought I would die from an exploding heart or fear induced suffocation. I was also running low on ammo, despite me using Lilac's unicorn powers to collect shotgun shells from the dead. But, I had to get us out, there was no question about it, and the only way out was right in front of us, whether Baton liked it or not.

I took a breath, ran to the service elevator and pushed the down button. A down arrow glowed green with a dinged and Baton looked at me, dazed, as I ran back to him.

“What are you doing?” asked Baton.

“We have to go down the elevator. It is our best chance for escape.” I said.

Then, as if to make my point clearer, what had to be an ibex soldier shouted: “Tötet die Hengste, ersparen die Stute!”

“You heard the guy! Kill the stallions, spare the mare!” shouted a gruff stallion.

I looked out and saw eight soldiers total, four ponies and four ibexes, going down the hall. Baton also peeked, and we both retracted when bullets whizzed past us.

“It looks like I get to use my lunchbox,” said Baton weakly.

He then lit his horn and pulled out a lunchbox with some crazy eyed mare with a green tentacle like mane and Proud Mane-Iac! printed underneath like a comic book. He adjusted a little antenna on the lunch box and set it down by the corner.

“Both of you back up,” ordered Baton.

Me and Lilac did as he said, and Baton levitated his crazy weapon and waved for us to get further back. We backed up until we were by the service elevator, and then he slammed his hoof down on the trigger right as one of the soldiers poked his head around the corner. There was flash, screams of agony over a quick pop, and we got covered in dust while debris bounced all around us. Then the rain and howling wind poured in through the gaping hole and Baton turned the corner like a door on a hinge and sprayed the hallway, laughing and screaming at them psychotically.

Me and Lilac both shrunk back, ears drooped and eyes wide as the muzzle flashes made his shadow dance on what's left of the wall while empty shells clattered to the ground. When he was done, he collapsed to his haunches and both of us cautiously came out, equally surprised about the damage. The hallway was littered with mangled bodies swimming in blood and the walls were painted with gory splatter.

Baton had fired so much so fast that his weapon was glowing red and smoking, and he was nearly foaming at the mouth from how hard he was panting. With that sight, I waited until Lilac gently took his weapon from him before I went to gather some supplies.

It was impossible to avoid the blood when I was collecting supplies from the bodies, and while I did that Lilac put her hoof on Baton's shoulder and tried to comfort him. I collected quite a bit of ammo for my shotgun and Lilac and Baton's weapons, but they didn't have any medical supplies. The one guy that had it was, unfortunately, the guy up front, so there was nothing left except for a band-aid, and that was basically the gist of everything I found.

Thanks to Baton's lapse in sanity, there was no armor. No medical supplies. Just bullets. Lots and lots of bullets that I gladly took for our own needs.

When I got back to them, Baton was sitting in the rain. His whole body was slouching, he looked pale, and he refused to blink or move. His panting was not as severe, but the downpour going through the hole had ruined his mane to where it was draping partially over his eyes. He refused to move from his spot and stared at his horrible doings with a proud smile on his lips. It was creepy to say the least, but it didn't stop Lilac from hugging him tighter and trying to get him up.

“We need to go,” she said gently.

Baton's smile faded and he looked at Lilac, then at me, and then he got up and hobbled towards the elevator with the help of Lilac. I stayed behind and kept my shotgun aimed down the entrance, just waiting for somepony to poke their head out while the elevator came. I knew that at my shotgun's range, it wouldn't do nearly as much damage, but it would be enough to keep them back.

I heard the shouts, and a soldier came around the corner, but he dove back in cover when I fired a slug at him. I ducked away when an assault rifle of some kind floated around the corner and sprayed the area, and when Lilac screamed, I looked at her, too, but saw no harm had come to her. There was a line of bullet holes that almost hit her, but she wasn't shot.

Then more soldiers came out and started shooting again, and I was only able to lean out twice to shoot back.

“Dammit! Why so many!” I complained to no one in particular.

It was at that point that I wished I was a unicorn again, just so I could do a bullshit move like floating my shotgun around the corner or pull a pin on somepony's grenade.

“Exile, let's go!” shouted Lilac.

I looked back to Lilac again and saw that the elevator had come and she was holding the door open with her hoof. Baton was sitting against the corner, eyes heavy with a weird smile and blood dripping past his crude bandages.

She shouted for me again and I ran as low and fast as I could as the bullets ripped apart everything around me. When I slid in the elevator, Lilac slammed the emergency close button and pushed the first floor button. The two of us fell to our haunches, panting and smiling with relief, then we looked at Baton when he spoke.

“Are we in an elevator?” he muttered weakly.

“Yeah. We'll be fine, though. Don't worry.” I said with a tired, but reassuring smile.

Baton's head tilted towards me lazily and he looked at me with drooped eyes. He was clearly skeptical, but I felt good. We survived that chaos up there and once we reach the first floor, we could finally escape and lose them in the storm.

But all of those good feelings disappeared when something snapped.

It was loud, like a cord breaking loose, and me and Lilac yelped when the elevator tipped and sent us rolling towards Baton. Baton groaned when Lilac landed on him, and I had the misfortune of hitting the wall with my back. The lights flickered and the elevator bounced and scrapped against the walls as it fell. We could hear the whooshing of everything passing us and the metal scrapping against the shaft walls as the elevator tilted more.

“I think the elevator is broken,” said Baton over the chaotic noise. He chuckled darkly and looked me and Lilac. “I told you this would happen, but nopony every listens to me.”

A piece of the ceiling came off and I saw the guts of the elevator shaft being illuminated by the sparks, and I turned to Lilac, who was pressed against Baton and whimpering. An idea came across me right then and there, and I pointed at her when a corner piece popped off.

“Lilac! Slow us down!” I barked.

“What! It's too big! I can't!” cried Lilac.

Another piece broke off and she screamed and pressed herself against Baton while he continued cackling cynically.

“DO IT!” I screamed.

Lilac squeezed her eyes shut and sobbed as her horn glowed to surround the elevator in an aura of magic. The elevator slowed noticeably, and within seconds her whole body began shaking and sweating, and thick beads of magic goo came out of the tip of her horn. We almost came to a complete stop, but Lilac collapsed on the floor, crying and rubbing her horn. The elevator dropped again and before anything else could be said or thought, there was a crash and then darkness.

When I came to however many minutes later, everything was faint. I could barely see the water pouring down the shaft to create a small river, and Lilac and Baton were both lying on the floor... or what was left of it. All three of us had been lucky that the big spring or the jagged metal in the center of the floor hadn't stabbed us. The rest of the elevator floor and walls were dented and also breaking apart, and the emergency light flickered on and off with just enough strength for me to see their blood float out from underneath them like red flowers. That made me skip a beat, but when I checked them, they were both breathing, which made me feel a little better, and after an excruciatingly painful move to get their heads out of the water, I forced the doors open, biting back tears as an excruciating pain made my sides and cauterized hoof feel like they were snapping. Once the door opened as much as it could go, I grabbed a piece of metal that fell from the ceiling and put it between the doors to keep them open and hobbled out for a better look as to where we were.

I was only able to go maybe ten... fifteen feet tops before I fell over and got a face full of muddy water. I swore and pushed myself up against the wall, panting and shaking as the pain in my sides and already messed up hoof got worse. I pressed my good hoof against where it was hurting, and when I pulled it away I saw nothing, but the pain told me that I had some problems.

I swore again and spit out some blood and a couple of teeth, which only made me more mad because I was messed up enough as it was already and now I have missing teeth to add to my missing ear and cauterized shoulder. Seeing my teeth coming out set me off screaming my lungs out in a fit of rage and I beat at the water. During my screaming, some of my blood from my mouth came out and went all over my chin and in the water. That only made it worse and I slumped against the wall, face covered and whole body trembling as I laughed and cried in one go.

I just wanted to curl up in a ball somewhere and wake up from this nightmare I was in.

I had to escape this Hell. I had to get out. I needed to get out and escape this torment.

I failed Ebony. I failed Lilac. I failed Baton. I failed myself.

Ebony was traumatized for life and now me, Lilac and Baton were stuck in a basement that was flooding because of me.

As I sat in the water, eyes closed and listening to its steady patter and the rolling thunder outside, I heard my watch ticking again. I opened my eyes and looked at my watch. It sounded clear, despite all the shit it just went through. I was glad it was working, though. It was my only totem to remind me of the home that I should have grown old and died in. It was there to remind me of the time I could have had with Rose Petal, and it was there to remind me of the eternity I would spend in Hell.

It reminded me of everything. What my home had been and what it was now. What my time could have been and what was mine now. And I would not lose it. No matter what.

I stroked it gently, smiling with relief when I popped it open and saw the time hooves still moving. It was during this that I noticed a sign across the hall. I fought back the urge to stay down and rest, and I did my best to ignore the pain that erupted through my hoof and sides, as I limped towards the sign. Most of the paint and print had faded or was chipped off, but the important part was still left for me to read. And I almost died of a heart attack from what I saw.

Footnote: Perk Gained.
New Perk: Tough Hide (1)-- The brutal experiences of the Equestrian Wasteland have hardened you. You gain +2 to Damage Threshold for each level of this perk you take.

The Rose Line

“Get me out of here!”

oooOOOooo

[Tick.]

'Please Stay Safe', said the sign for the Rose Line Maintenance Halls.

Please. Stay. Safe.

The one place Stocker told me to avoid by miles and I landed right in its own veins with a sign telling me to stay safe. That was the universe being a colossal dick about the situation. But I guess I should have seen that coming since my luck had been terrible ever since Curly got me exiled, and then there was that whole poster thing. I really should have taken a moment by the elevator and said: “Gee, maybe using an elevator to escape a horde of bad guys is a bad idea because Baton said that the elevator could break, and we could land in the Rose Line because it is underneath the hotel.”

I should have said that and taken my chances fighting my way out with Lilac by my side and Baton dying next to us. I should have, but didn't, and now the three of us were stuck in a Hell and wounded and only me being able to walk.

I actually didn't know if Lilac was able to walk or if she was just petrified. I could see that she was bleeding all over the place, just like me and Baton, but the extent of her injuries was unknown. All I knew was that Lilac wouldn't move, Baton was about dead, and I was in a lot of pain. I also knew that we had to get medication and get out of there quickly.

After spending a little time out of the elevator, trying to figure out what to do, I trudged back inside it and saw that Lilac was awake. Her eyes were huge and tears had mixed with the blood all over her face, making her shine in what little light we had. She was shivering and pressing a wound on her hoof while her eyes darted around the room.

“Where are we?” she whispered hoarsely.

I told her I didn't know and she locked eyes with me, whimpering and shaking as her and Baton's blood mixed. I limped closer to her and looked up at the shaft, watching the water fall down on us, making dozens of good sized splashes in our gory pool.

As I walked, my hoof bumped into something. Curious as to what it was, I pushed it out of the water and found out that it was Lilac's gun, so I tried to give it back to her.

“Is something wrong?” she asked, taking the weapon in a trance like state.

“Nothing's wrong, but I have to I have to go. I'll be right back.” I said.

Lilac shook her head and when I stepped back, her hoof shot out and she let out a terrified whine.

“Please don't go,” she begged.

“I have to go.” I said again. “I have to get some medicine. I'll be back. I promise.”

“No, please don't go! Please, don't leave me!”

Lilac continued begging and whimpering, and she sniffled as she kept her hoof out towards me. I told her again that I would be back and as gently as I could as I backed away. When I was out of the elevator, I looked down both ends of the passage before I took a deep breath, and then hobbled out into the dark.

After a good forty five minutes I found what I needed.

In all honesty, it was by sheer luck that I found the medical box that saved all three of us. I was exhausted to near collapse and in so much pain that I was surprised that I had coherent thought. But when I found the box, it was hanging up on a wall to a long scavenged clinic and it was sealed with a rusted padlock.

Seeing such a beautiful sight made me want to squeal like a filly from all the excitement. Admittedly, I wanted to shoot the lock off, but intelligence kicked in and told me that it wasn't a good idea. So, instead of wasting a shot, I used the shotgun to beat at the lock until it came loose. After that, I opened it up and found a nice, big stash of medical supplies.

Bloodpacks, stem-packs, a stitching kid, band-aids, a medical book, pure water, adrenaline, morphine, and on and on it went. It seemed like the only thing it did not have was an actual healing potion. But it did have some neat healing bandages that you wrap around an open wound and would heal it over time. It was kinda like a weaker version of a healing potion, and the wrapping said: WARNING: Not Intended For Serious Injury!

I didn't care. Medical was medical.

I stuffed them all in my saddle and started back towards where I came from. I got a little turned around, though, so, once again, I found myself walking without direction with nothing but decaying walls and rotting pictures for scenery.

As I traveled, I started wondering where these big piles of debris came from since I was seeing large piles of broken brick and other building materials that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

You noticed that when you're walking around in the Wasteland? You go inside a building and in some cases you'll see debris by a hole and other times you'll just see a random pile. A pile that is there without reason. It is just there for wanderers to search through to see if there are any caps. Which reminds me that I found a few caps and a pair of sunglasses when I dug through one of those piles. I kept the caps, but the glasses were broken, so I left them.

It was after I got the five bottle caps that I started thinking that I should probably take some medicine, just so I don't keel over and die before I get to Baton and Lilac. Then I told myself I should treat them first since I landed them in this mess. Then I stepped around a corner, heard a click, followed by a loud bang. What came next was the feeling of a dozen little hot pieces of lead ripping right into me with enough punch to send me stumbling back.

“Son of a bitch! Goddess-damn it!” I screamed as I stumbled back around the corner and collapsed against the wall. I was bleeding all over the place, was shaking, and was biting my lip to where it drew blood. Then I screamed again. “Fuck!”

I fumbled through my saddle and pulled out the first stem-pack syringe I could grab. At that point my hooves were sleek with blood and I was shivering from all that I lost. I had to use my mouth to pop the cap off, do some funky tongue and hoof work to get the needle turned around to face my free hoof. Then I jammed it in, grunting from the unpleasant pinch, and I had to squeeze my eyes shut and try to think of something other than medicine being injected into my veins. It did not feel good nor did it feel right since the fluid was pulpy when it went through the injection point. I was glad that it dissolved in my blood quickly with equally fast results, though.

I tossed the empty syringe to the ground and hunched over, coughing and shuddering with my eyes still closed. I felt the healing muscles push the buckshot out, and heard the little balls clatter to the floor. Then came the skin growing back. It was not a good feeling, but I was glad that I didn't die, and when I opened my eyes, I saw the dozen balls lying on the ground, covered blood and more of my own blood creeping towards them. I felt myself just to make sure that I was healed, and was glad to find that I was no longer bleeding, but was now just covered in my own blood like a crimson shirt.

I still felt weak, though. When I stood up, my hooves shook like a matchstick towers on a wobbly table. I was tempted to use the blood pack, but before I could use it, I heard gravely voices talking and laughing.

“Sounds like we got one of them good,” laughed one of them.

“Eeyup, Old Roy is smoking!” said another.

As quickly as I could, I unslung my shotgun, pressed myself against the wall and took aim at the corner. What came around the corner was a pair of rotting ponies with strands of rotting muscle showing from under their gray, peeling skin, and some parts had bone showing. They were both wearing gray jumpsuits, were armed with bladed boots and had poorly maintained sub machine guns slung around their shoulders.

They were surely the zombies Stocker warned about, so I shot both of those freaks as soon as they rounded the corner. The first shot turned the closest's head into a cloud of gray mush that splattered all over his partner, and the second blew open the other's chest. They fell without a sound, but the two blasts from my shotgun echoed down the hall, and I cringed and peeked around the corner.

Nopony else was coming, and the shotgun was still sitting there, smoking. That was when I spotted a pushed in trigger pad on the floor and a trail of my blood. As quickly as I could, I collected the ammo from Old Roy and took the two weapons, plus their ammo. I figured that Lilac could use the ammo, I needed the shells, and we could sell the weapons. Unless Lilac wanted them.

I also took their bottle caps and tried on their bladed boots. My hooves were too big for them, so I just left them there and went about my merry little way just to get lost once again. I had nowhere to put them, anyway.

I wandered around for another five minutes until I came across a strange area. It had a sign about it that was rusted and flaking apart, and all I really made out of it was “Department”. Down the hall was flickering lights and a humming noise.

I knew it wasn't the right way to go because I had never seen that part before, but when I turned around to leave, I heard the ticking from earlier return. I froze when that started happening, and a moment later I was able to regain motor functions and held my watch up to my ear. It was my watch, alright. I tried to quiet it by stuffing it in my saddle, but that did nothing.

It was still louder than it should be, just like before, and I started getting worried that it'll draw unwanted company. So, I ran into the Department place, ducked inside the first room I found and closed the door behind me. At that point the watch was thumping in my ears and I was ready to stomp on it to get the ticking to stop, but then I noticed a computer right in front of me.

It was bathing its little spot in green, and from the looks of it, somepony had been going through it. The ticking stopped when I stepped closer to it, and when I backed away the ticking resumed.

Forward. Stop.

Backwards. Start.

Seeing the connection, I groaned and walked towards the computer, shaking my head.

“I'm going insane,” I said to nopony in particular. “I haven't even been out here two weeks and I'm already going insane.”

I didn't have to do anything when I approached the screen since there was already something there for me to read.

Soda Bottle,
It has come to our attention that your research on the Rose Line has had sub-par results in regards to S-1922 and evidence of the Remnant's location. The Committee, Chairmare Sweet Berry and Ms. Gold understand that you and your researchers are in a difficult situation, but contrary to popular belief, we are not infinite in time and caps. Favorable results of S-1922 and evidence of the Remnant's whereabouts must be presented to Chairmare Sweet Berry and the Committee at Republic Sixty One by the end of the month or your lab will face termination.

For the New World.
-Lieutenant Butter Bars

Yeah. Butter Bars. The guy who beat me to a pulp had been down in the Rose Line doing only Celestia knows what with whatever this S-1922 thing was. It not only made me sick knowing that the nut had some work down here, but it also made me curious as to what his project was, and what the Remnant has to do with... well, whatever the Hell was going on. I remembered Lilac saying something about it, and since Butter Bars, Sweet Berry and Ms. Gold popped up in the same paragraph with it, I started getting a little paranoid that it might be a bit of a problem if those guys got a hold of it.

That being said, I decided to see what else I could find, and the things I found, that was not password protected or corrupted beyond use, was not exactly what I've been hoping for.

It was only two logs, with the first being pretty dang long, and the second one pretty dang short.

Log 2-25-14
Well, this is just great. Just great! Work has been a joy from the start! First, the Ministry of Morale came in and did a “random background check” on all of my zebra staff and had all of them taken away for “further questioning”.
Secondly, there was a pile up on the underground highway involving one of Mane Enterprise's wagons. So we had to quarantine all of Sector 18 so HAZMAT can clean up the chemical spill.
Then, it just happened to be the day where Cartwheel brought in Applejack to inspect the workings of everything and he brought in a couple of goats from an Ibexian construction company. He introduced them as Mr. and Mrs. W, but I don't think those guys were from a construction company. They were both off in some way or the other. The so-called husband looked like he wanted to kill everypony for some reason and the wife was air-headed. Hell, even her smile was odd.
As for Applejack, she left to do private inspection shortly after she arrived, and I can only imagine what kind of marks she'll be putting on us. Cartwheel suggested he go with her with some escorts, but she insisted on going at it alone. Eventually she caved and ended up being led around by the local geniuses, Irwin and Soda Bottle. I swear to Celestia Irwin was about to orgasm just by looking at her. Pervert.
Anyway, I couldn't even get the official tour started because Apple Fritter came bursting into the conference room, sobbing!!! Right when I was in the middle of explaining to Cartwheel and the phony construction couple about the Rose Line's extension and maintenance budget, too! I had to take her outside because she started babbling about how her mysterious boyfriend (whom I have decided to call Prick X) had rutted her manager over a desk and offered to have her join in when she walked in on them. What a slime ball! I told her there was something fishy with that guy, but she never listens to me!
Oh, and while I'm complaining about nopony ever listening to me, I told Cartwheel and the Board of Ministry of Transportation that putting subways on both ends of the highway was completely stupid. Applejack agreed, and decided that the best course of action was to make one side a subway and the other side for transporting materials. If I didn't need this money, I would have called everypony an idiot and walked right out.

Log 3-1-14[/b
I quit. Fuck you, Cartwheel Tracks. Fuck you, Applejack. And FUCK YOU, TRANSPORTATION!

And that was about the gist of it.

I checked to make sure there was more, but the rest of files were corrupted, so all I found after that were the weird symbols and number sequences that only a techie genius would understand. Just like the ones before.

So, with nothing of value found, I tried to leave, but when I turned around there was a rotting pony right in my face! I saw every strand of decaying muscle under its gray, peeling skin, and the dark bone underneath what was really gone, and his breath burned the fur right off my face and dried my eyes out.

It screamed in a gravely voice: “What are you doing here, smooth-coat!”

I screamed and it put its hooves on my shoulder and stared right into me with those black eyes and it yelled: “Are you trying to steal from us, thief!”

I swore and did what any normal pony would do if some talking zombie pony was screaming in their face.

I punched it.

Yep, I punched it right in the jaw. The blow made it stumble, but after that, it roared, punched me in the face -which hurt like a bitch- and then it threw me over the desk. I didn't actually fly over the desk, I more like rolled over it and took the computer and all the office supplies with me. When I landed, I landed right on top of the computer, which took the breath out of me, and I rolled on my back groaning and swearing.

Then the rotter jumped on the desk, and I scrambled to my hooves and tried to run out, but a sliver of magic appeared from a jagged bone poking from under his messed up mane. I got lifted off of the ground and thrown right into the brick wall.

My vision was upside down and spinning, but I saw the rotter running towards me with a baseball bat covered in nails and jagged pieces of metal floating next to its head. I rolled upright and barely avoided having my head destroyed by that weapon, and he swung at me again and again, each time getting just a little closer. I felt nauseous from the bat brushing past me and the nails scrapping just next to my hooves, and my steps started getting sloppy. I was stumbling over myself and sliding across the dust covered floor, really wishing I was a unicorn like that thing so I could just levitate my shotgun and blow its brains out. But I'm just an earth pony, so all I could was run in circles around the table.

“Hold still, dammit! I only want to kill you!” snarled the ghoul.

After he said that, my hoof bumped into the fallen computer and I face-planted the floor. I rolled on my back, eyes wide and heart almost exploding out of my chest. The thing towered over me, radioactive drool dripping from its mouth as it raised its bat above its head for a killing strike, and right as it brought its weapon down, I put the computer in front of my face. The force of the bat pushed it down against my muzzle, giving me a gusher of a bloody nose, but I still kept the computer in my grip and the bat got stuck, allowing me to twist it away before I rammed the computer against the rotter's muzzle.

He yelped and stumbled back, bleeding from his mouth and nose, and I scrambled to my hooves while he levitated his weapon again. Before he had a chance to swing it, I bashed the computer right against his horn. He howled in pain and crumbled to the ground, hoof pressed against what little remained of his horn and I started wailing on it. I slammed the computer on its head over and over again, yelling and swearing with burning lungs with each slam and crack of its skull.

“ALL! I WANTED! WAS! A BAND-AID!” I yelled with each blow I put against the rotter's head

And I kept beating that zombie with the computer until its skull was cracked open and all of its mushy brain bits were splattered all over the computer, floor and its body. I gave one more slam on it before I stumbled back, chest heaving and body covered in sweat, leaving the computer in place of its head and watching its unnatural blood ooze all over the place.

And that was when I heard it. Another door opening and somepony enter. I barely turned my head when a second rotter shouted: “You killed Irwin, you smooth-coated fucker!”

My eyes bulged at the sight of the second rotter and the fact that it was armed with a rifle of some kind levitating next to its head. I swore and dove into the hallway right as it fired, narrowly avoiding a burst of bullets to the head.

I almost fell over again because of all the dust on the ground when I bolted down the hall. I looked over my shoulder and ducked around a random corner when the rotter shot at me again. The burst of bullets blew off a chunk of the corner I rounded, and I tried to find some cover by going to the nearest door. That door was actually the door to a janitor's closet.

I skidded to a halt, hitting a mop bucket and causing a shelf of cleaning products to fall all around me. When I heard the rotter rounding the corner I quickly closed the door and kept my shotgun trained on the entrance. The door's screeches and clangs echoed down the desolate hall, and I heard the rotter laugh sadistically.

“Stupid smooth-coat. Do you honestly think you can hide when there is only one door in this hall?” it said.

I swallowed and braced myself for him to open the door for another bloody shootout, and my hooves shook and my throat went dry when I heard his steps stop outside the door. The crank wheel on the door started to turn and I took another deep breath in a pathetic attempt to prepare myself for what was to come. But then he just stopped, and I heard another voice. It was a stallion and he was sniffling.

“Help me,” he said, whimpering and sniffling. “Help me... Get me out of here... Help me.”

“Oh fuck!” yelled the rotter.

The rotter shot at the stallion, and it made a shriek that sounded demonic and it wailed: “Ge me out of here!”

More gunshots rang out and the newcomer continued shrieking and repeating: “Get me out of here! Help me! Get me out! Help me!”

There was more shooting, a scream of agony over wet slashes, and the rotter crying out: “No! No! Nooo!”

He was cut off with a bloody gurgle as something stabbed him and knocked his body against the door. Then he slid down to the floor and silence came after. I held my breath, bit my lip and listened to killer as he dragged the body away from me.

“Get me out. Help me. Help me. Get me out... Get me out,” the killer whimpered constantly.

When his voice faded, I released my lip and waited a few more seconds before I dared take a breath. I stayed put in the closet for another five minutes, listening to every hum and crackle, just waiting for the other stallion to come back. When he didn't, I took another deep breath for courage and slowly opened the door, cringing when the echo of rusted metal scraping against the floor and walls bounced down the halls.

I stepped out and my heart stopped for just a second when I saw the mess. There was gooey green blood mixed with grayish-red all over the place. The red was slashed all over the wall and there was a huge puddle of it in front of the door that turned into a path where the body was dragged away. The green blood had a little bit of splatter and dots following the trail, and they both went around the hallway corner.

I swallowed and stepped closer to the door. Everything was magnified. My breathing was loud and ragged in my ears, just like my thumping heart, and my mouth was like sand as cold sweat trickled down my neck. When I got to the hallway, I looked down one end and saw the bloody trail disappear into the darkness, with only a flickering light to briefly illuminate the posters and rotting bulletins on the breaking walls.

I looked down the other end, where I came from, saw nothing down its brightly lit side, and looked back down the flickering end. I saw nothing again. So, I turned to the bright side and ran as fast as I could.

Around twenty minutes later I returned to Baton and Lilac. I still got turned around a couple of times, but I wasn't stopping for anything. I didn't care how much I hurt. I didn't care how my lungs felt like they were on fire or how my limbs felt like they were ripping. I just knew that I had to get to Baton and Lilac quickly, give them the medicine and get the Hell out of the Rose Line.

I praised Celestia when I found the elevator Lilac and Baton were in, and I thanked her again when I saw Lilac holding Baton and stroking his messed up mohawk mane. She was whimpering quietly and her eyes flicked up when she heard me approaching. Her face lit up with relief and tears of joy rolled down her cheeks.

“Exile, you're back!” she said loudly, making me cringe.

I held out my hoof and motioned her to lower her voice as I said in a whisper: “Not so loud.”

Lilac blinked. “Why? What's wrong?”

I removed my saddle, sat in the water next to Baton, and pulled out one of the stem-packs I raided, saying: “We just need to get out of here fast.”

I injected Baton and he gasped awake and quicker than anyone can think, he pushed himself up, slammed Lilac on his lap and leaned over her with his crazy weapon pointed right at my nose. I reeled back, swearing and splashing the water everywhere as I stared at Baton with bulged eyes and a racing heart. He was glaring at me, panting heavily and exposed teeth grinding against each other with his nostrils flared and eyes narrowed. It took him a couple of seconds for him to realize that I was me and not somepony trying to kill him.

“Oh, it's just you,” said Baton, tilting his weapon up and pushing himself on his shaky hooves.

“Wait, I think you need to take a moment.”

Baton waved me off and mumbled something incoherent. He then levitated three more stem-packs from my saddle -which was partially submerged, and injected himself with all of them at the same time after tapping them. Me and Lilac stared at him with slack jaws and wide eyes, and he shuddered and his eyes drifted shut as he released a loud sigh.

“Now that's the stuff,” he said. Then, without even asking what happened or doing any situation assessment, he walked out of the elevator and looked both ways down the hall before looking back at me, asking me which way I came from. I pointed left and he nodded and turned right, saying: “Let's go this way.”

Lilac wordlessly followed Baton after taking some medicine and the spare SMG ammo I had for her, and I followed them out, mumbling to myself: “Thanks for helping me, Exile. You sure are swell. It was no problem, Baton. I know you would do the same for me.”

“What was that?” said Baton.

“Nothing.” I said quickly.

“Hmph, I thought I heard my name.”

“Well, you didn't, so let's go.”

Baton and Lilac both gave me strange looks and I tried to be myself to get less attention. You know? The helpless, homesick, lost puppy that has a knack for getting his ass kicked at least three times a day. But, in all honesty, I didn't mean to come off so snappy, but after the ordeal I went through, I thought I at last deserved a “Thank you”. That, and there was whatever got the rotter that tried to kill me. That put me over the edge more than anything else. My nerves were shot and I wanted to get out of the Rose Line as quickly as possible, and get that “Thank you” I deserved, too. But it didn't happen, so I just followed Baton and Lilac in silence.

We traveled for a good three hours, staying close to the walls and kept our steps as quiet as possible. Every now and then, we would pass a cart or a booth of some kind, and Baton would order us to stay put while he checked it for threats. Luckily for us, no threats popped up and Baton found some junk he wanted to sell. Including a little figurine that had a pale unicorn mare with an electric blue mane and sunglasses standing behind a turntable with DROP THE BASS! painted underneath. Naturally the pain was faded and cracked with age, and she was missing an ear, but he still stuffed it in his saddle.

“Bongo's going to get a kick out of this,” he said. Then he looked at us and his smile instantly turned upside down from the odd looks we gave him, and in a stern voice, he said: “Alright, no more fun. We need to get out of here.”

Me and Lilac nodded and followed him down the tunnel. Silence took over once again.

We quietly walked for another, oh, forty five minutes before Lilac looked at me and whispered: “Exile, can I ask you something?”

“Sure. What's on your mind?” I said.

“Well,” she began, her voice trailing off and eyes darting between me and Baton. “What does Baton like?”

I had to take a moment to process this. “What?”

“Well, the reason why I am asking is because he has done a lot for us recently and I want to repay him. Plus, I feel bad that I slapped his tooth out and that he lost his home to the... organization I used to work for.”

You could imagine that I wasn't to happy about that. I mean, c'mon! What about me? I did a lot didn't I? I tried saving Lilac from Waltz! I tried to get us out of the hotel when they went after us! And I almost died twice getting medicine for her and Baton! That deserves some recognition -some kind of repayment, right?

When I didn't answer right away, she cocked her head and asked: “Are you alright?”

“Just peachy.” I grumbled. My throat was clogged and I felt tears building in my eyes from this. It was stupid, but I think after all that happened recently I was getting just a little bit emotional, which was not a good thing when traveling through Hell.

“You don't look peachy. You look mad. Your face is all scrunched up,” said Lilac, making her point by motioning to my face.

“This is my happy face.” I said.

Lilac's ears droop and she slid against me. It was awkward feeling her armor rub against my coat, which only reminded me how easy it will be for me to die since I was the only one without armor in our merry little band.

“Exile, what's wrong?” pressed Lilac.

“Nothing's wrong!” I snapped.

Lilac recoiled, meeting my glare with wide eyes, and Baton looked at us, sliding his hoof across his neck.

“Will ya both be quiet,” he whispered harshly.

Then all of us heard screams of pain and terror and the same demonic screeching I heard from earlier. We all froze and stared in the direction where the noise came from, and we all took a few steps back when gunshots echoed down the tunnels. Seconds later, there was silence, and we became too petrified to move.

A moment later, Baton swallowed nervously, pupils tiny like dots, and he continued trotting down the hall, sliding his weapon back in place and magic disappearing.

“No magic. We're going dark. I really don't want to deal with zombies today,” said Baton.

Lilac's horn dimmed into nothingness and the three of us traveled in total silence and darkness after that.

Fast forward another two hours of traveling in near pitch black, with my head basically down the whole time and Lilac silently staring at me. I refused to talk to her and I begrudgingly watched Baton do some more scavenging, finding some caps and other knickknacks in whatever he decided to look through.

We eventually entered a large underground chamber that would have been really cool to see in its prime. It had a large, arching roof with massive lighting fixtures built inside, and in between the subway and rail lines on either side was a four lane highway.

Staying in lead, Baton ordered us to go inside the subway to get out of the open. Somehow, some of the lights on the subway were still working. Granted, most of the ones that were were working were flickering, but, still, it was amazing to see light bulbs operating even after hundreds of years of neglect.

We continued walking down the subway, occasionally ducking and waiting, as per Baton's orders, and when we reached the end of the subway, its back was completely gone. Blown out, burned, crushed, whatever. It was completely destroyed and there was nothing but mangled tracks that were swallowed by the darkness of the tunnel, with only a flickering light to barely illuminate anything.

The three of us stared into the tunnel, and Baton swallowed before turning to look at us.

“Well, do you guys want to go into a completely dark tunnel or a wide open space with plenty of ambush spots?” he asked.

“Are you lost?” asked Lilac worryingly.

“I never get lost. I just want your opinions on how we should die.”

That was rich. Baton asking for somepony's opinion? That just did not happen. But before I could make a comment or Lilac could give her two cents on which was a better way to die, we heard a sniffling. It made all of us jump and Baton took a step back with his club levitated.

“I thought you said no magic,” whispered Lilac.

“Shut up! I'm working, here!” snapped Baton.

The three of us continued peering down the hall, and I barely saw the silhouette of a pony shuffling towards us. Her sniffling and whimpers bounced off the derelict walls, and I took a step back while Lilac cautiously moved forward. Baton ordered her to get back, but she completely ignored him and walked right up to the edge of the darkness.

“Hello? Are you all right?” called Lilac, making me and Baton cringe.

I looked over my shoulder, shaking and eyes and ears darting every which way they could while Baton growled and told Lilac to get back. She just gave him a defiant glare and looked back at the figure. By that time it was clear that the figure was no bigger than a child, and she actually sounded like a filly.

“Are you lost?” asked Lilac.

“She's lost, all right,” snarled Baton.

Lilac turned to Baton with a nasty scowl and motioned him to lower his weapon. “Will you relax?”

He did neither. He actually got more tense and tried to move to get a better shot, but Lilac refused to give up her status as a meat-shield.

Getting fed up with her antics, Baton growled: “Get out of the way and let me kill this thing!”

“She is not a thing, she is a lost filly!” said Lilac, then she looked back to the filly, who was still shuffling towards us, moaning and generally creeping me out, and she said: “It’s okay, we won’t hurt you.”

“I will,” muttered Baton.

“Have you seen my daddy?” sniffled the filly.

It sounded like she was in pain and when I squinted for more focus, I nearly skipped a beat from seeing something coming off of her to feel the air around her.

“Uh... Lilac...” I said while taking another step behind Baton and looking over my shoulder again.

“Lilac, get away from that thing, right now!” ordered Baton, his voice was now shaking with his weapon.

“Who’s your father? What does he look like?” asked Lilac, again ignoring Baton completely.

Then the reality of the situation sunk in when the filly stepped into the flickering light. All three of us paled and stepped back as this freak walked towards us, drooling thick, greenish globs of something through her cracked lips and stumbling in her steps. Her head was down, and even though she was wearing a tattered dress we still saw the bulging, pulsating veins snaking around her limbs and neck. And those things I saw feeling the surrounding area were tentacles protruding from her back.

I wanted to scream, Lilac wanted to scream, and even though Baton would never have admitted it, he wanted to scream. But none of us did. We just stared, wide eyed and jaws to the floor as the mutant approached us.

“Have you seen my daddy?” repeated the mutant filly. “Daddy? Daddy! I lost my daddy! Have you seen my daddy?”

And over and over again she did this, with each step forward we took a step back, and her voice became more shrill and a growl rumbling through her throat at the end. Her discolored eyes flicked up and shined in what little light was offered, and when she was directly under the light, we all saw her face twitching and a very hungry growl came from her when she ended her calls. Then she widened her mouth and I took another few steps back, wishing Baton or Lilac would shoot the thing because the rows of dripping, curved fangs she had displayed were enough to say we were her snack.

“Get behind me!” barked Baton as he shoved Lilac behind him and aimed his weapon at the mutant’s head.

“I lost my daddy!” shrieked the mutant.

Then she lunged at us, and I screamed and backpedaled, and the mutant died by a volley of gunfire from Lilac's weapon. The bullets ripped into that thing with ease and popped out on the other side, splashing the ruins with greenish blood that had a small glow to it. She fell on her back, screaming and writhing on the ground with her tentacles snapping all over, and Lilac emptied the rest of her clip into it. It jerked and howled and thrashed and did all kinds of weird things as it was nearly shot to pieces, and by the time Lilac was done, she was panting, shaking and covered in a thick layer of green, glowing blood. Then she turned around, blinked, and her eyes glowed with worry.

“What's wrong? That thing was going to kill us!” said Lilac.

“What’s wrong?” said Baton in a scary calm tone. “Gee, let me think. Is it you wasting ammo on one zombie? Or is it you waking up a whole tunnel of zombies? Oh, wait, I know. What’s wrong is that you are a dumb bitch who probably got us all killed. Congratu-fucking-lations!”

Lilac gasped. “I beg your pardon!”

I snorted a laugh. I hadn’t heard anypony say that for a while, and hearing it from a wastelander was pretty funny, despite the whole impending death situation we were in. However, that goes without saying that the weight of the situation returned when I noticed the glares the two unicorns were giving me. So, I just held up a hoof and took a step back again.

Baton turned to Lilac and was about to say something, but then froze in his spot and stared down the tunnel when a roar shook the walls, making some of the dirt fall loose and the light flicker off. Then came another scream that sounded awfully similar to the one I heard when those ghouls were killed. Then came a second, and then a third. Fourth. Fifth. Tenth. Twentieth. Thirtieth. And within five seconds, terrible shrieks and screams were echoing down the halls loud enough to leave my ears ringing and the dirt and little rubble bits falling off like heavy rain as a swarm of zombies started their stampede down the abandoned subway.

And that was when Baton yelled “RUN!” and high tailed it out of there, practically knocking me to the ground and leaving a dust cloud in his wake.

And ran we did!

We didn't stop for anything. Not even when the screams overpowered the thumps and breathing in our ears. We ran when our lungs were set afire and when our legs felt like they were ready to snap. And we ran and stumbled over each other when the stampede broke through the subway and reduced the metal tube to a twisted mess from the sheer number of hungry mutants too eager for a snack to use the doors.

How long we ran, that is something I cannot tell you. All I know -all I remember- was that we ran and ran and ran, too terrified to even scream or fight. We would have kept running, too, if Baton hadn't lit up his horn and used his magic to throw us into a generator room of some kind.

After my vision stopped swimming, I groggily got back up and watched Baton slam the doors shut and flick the locks in place. He then used his magic to grab a metal bar and jam it through the handles' slots.

I looked around and saw two big generators tucked in the back, long died out, with metal tubes attached to them and snaking along the floor and disappearing into the concrete wall. There was a tool cart, completely looted, and flickering lights above with a low buzz emitting from them. I looked around and saw more blood on the walls, along with bullet holes, scratches and natural wear and tear, as well as destroyed skeletons. But no matter how many times I paced around the room, listening to the stampede pass by, I could not find another way out. We were completely sealed off and at the mercy of the demons in the Rose Line.

“You led us to a dead end!” I said furiously.

“Don't you start, Exile! I told you using the elevator was a bad idea!” yelled Baton defensively. “But did you listen? No! Nopony ever listens to me and now we are about to die!”

“Boys, can you please stop fighting!” begged Lilac.

We both shouted: “No!”

That made her shrink back and whimper, and she looked up with tears in her eyes when Baton pointed at her.

“As for you! I oughta-”

He finished with a swear and a jump as something banged against the door hard enough to dent the metal and crack the walls. I also jumped and galloped next to Lilac and aimed my shotgun at the weakening doorway. The door shook, parts of the wall and ceiling fell loose, and something roared on the other side that vibrated my very bones. I gulped and slid the tool cart in front of me to use as cover and a way to steady my grip. Then I looked at Lilac and Baton again and felt a ping of resentment since their magic was keeping their weapons floating, steady, and easy to use while I was stuck with using my own hooves.

What ever was on the other side banged on the door again, knocking off whole chunks of the wall and nearly bending the door off of its hinges. Baton motioned Lilac to get back without taking his eyes off the door and he pulled out his quad-barrel weapon, now levitating both of his weapons.

Whatever was on the other side really wanted to get in, and it took one last knock before the metal doors blew off their hinges and sent chunks of concrete and one of the doors flying our way. Through the debris, with a swarm of a couple of dozen Rose Line zombies, was a behemoth of a mutant. It was easily four ponies tall, had its entire back covered in tentacles, and razor sharp teeth lined its maw. Its coat had also turned into some kind of chitin, its blue mane mostly covered its pulsating, bright blue eyes and its tail dragged on the ground.

That thing slid to a stop and when it roared it was strong enough to shake the room and blow back our manes with its hot, stinky breath.

Lilac shrieked, I flinched and Baton made a war cry and charged right into the swarm of mutants that burst in with his shield up.

“DIE, FUCKERS! DIE!” roared Baton, his weapon blazing hot lead, shredding the mutants in a spray of gooey blood and body bits, and he swung his club savagely against their skulls, popping them like eggs against a rock.

Me and Lilac joined the fight and shot wildly into the swarm. SMG bullets, mini-gun lead, slugs and clubs striking against the swarm led to one result. Pure gorefest.

Tentacles and limbs were shot off, heads and chests were popped open, and thick green blood sprayed all over with the fleshy chunks. One of the creatures shrieked and galloped towards me, and I barely had time to pulverize its head with a lucky shot before I was tackled to the ground by another. We both rolled on the pavement and I had somehow managed to get it to bite my shotgun rather than me, and while it gnawed on my weapon it glared the fires of Tartarus at me. I grimaced when some of its slobber fell on my face, and I rolled it to its back, yanked the weapon and some of its teeth out and slammed the butt against its face. It shrieked and flailed its tentacles as blood poured from its face, and before it could do anything else I shot it in the mouth, coughing and spitting its blood out.

Lilac then shrieked and I snapped to her and saw she was squished between the two generators, fumbling with her fresh clip while the super mutant tore away at her cover, yelling and repeating: “Mine! You’re mine!”

“Baton! Lilac needs help!” I shouted as I ran towards her after slinging my shotgun in its proper place.

Baton shouted at me to stop, and I looked to him and saw him heaving one of his can grenades at the super mutant. I skidded to change course and leaped over one of the pipes. The grenade detonated and the super mutant roared in pain. When I peeked over the pipe, I saw orange, sparkling fire covering the super mutant's back. It thrashed and some of its tentacles and chitin fell off, choking the air with the stench of burning flesh, and then it turned to Baton and spewed out a jet of flame.

Baton still had his shield up, so the flames rolled over him harmlessly, but he flinched and shot at it through the fire, screaming: “IS THAT ALL YOU GOT, YA UGLY MOTHER FUCKER!”

I didn't know how strong Baton's shield was, I had a feeling it wouldn't last much longer. So I galloped up to the super mutant, slid next to it, unlsung my shotgun and shot that thing point blank at its three crown cutie mark.

The thing stopped breathing flame to howl in agony, and it buckled as I gagged from the chunks of bloody flesh and shell that flew into my mouth. The super mutant whirled around and whacked me away with one of its tentacles, and I crashed right into the concrete wall. My ears rung, my back felt weird and ribs felt like they were stabbing me when I hit the ground.

Lilac shouted something before she shot at the super mutant. She was only able to get off a few rounds before the super mutant wrapped one of its tentacles around her, hoisted her up off the ground and slammed her on one of the pipes. She didn't let out a single noise and she hit the pipe hard enough to dent it.

Lilac remained limp when the mutant's tentacles slid off of her, and I thought it had actually killed her. Despite the sharp pain in my side and the funky feeling in my back, I forced myself up and shouted at the mutant. The super mutant looked at me, snorted fiery smoke, and started lumbering towards me, opening its maw wide to display it teeth and slimy tongue and a growing flame inside.

With the mutant distracted, Baton dragged Lilac off of the pipe, and the super mutant picked up speed and started whipping what was left of its tentacles at me. I nearly got squished by its tendril as it came crashing down where I was, cracking the ground and sending concrete splinters all around, and it was by pure luck that I shot it in the eye after avoiding the crushing blow.

The slug popped its eye into a gory shower and it shrieked and reeled back with its blood gushing out like a fountain. It collapsed with one hoof over the eye and its maw snapping with flames rolling out of its mouth and I shot it four more times in the head as quickly as my weapon would allow. By the time I was done, it was lying on the ground with pieces of its brain showing and thick, green blood going all over the place. There was some flames that licked at the corpse, but they quickly died out, and I collapsed to the ground, completely exhausted.

I was in pain, I was tired, I could not get the taste of goo blood out of my mouth, and I was about ready to pass out. But none of that happened because Baton cheered and walked around the bodies of mangled mutants to get to me. Lilac leaning against him and the both of them were smiling with relief, too.

“Now that was one helluva zombie,” said Baton, laughing victoriously when he kicked the dead mutant's leg.

I stared at him, flabbergasted that he would still call them zombies. But then I remembered that it was Baton who said it, and that alone meant that I should let him believe that those were zombies we fought. So, I smiled weakly and nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, it sure was.” I said wearily.

“Boys, I’d rather not be a bother to your bonding, but I do think now would be a good time to leave before more zombies show up,” said Lilac, grunting painfully when she moved away from Baton to walk on her own.

She then grimaced as she wiped some green goo off of her mane, and after me and Baton exchanged looks, I pushed myself up, smiling despite the pain, waved him forward.

“Lead the way.” I said.

Baton's whole face just lit up and his chest puffed out with pride, and he cocked his weapon and turned to the gaping hole that was once the door.

“Follow me, everypony!” he said cheerfully.

He led, and we happily followed.

Footnote: Perk Gained.
New Perk: Tough Hide (2)-- The brutal experiences of the Equestrian Wasteland have hardened you. You gain +2 to Damage Threshold for each level of this perk you take.

The Place With Orange Juice

[Tick.]

“Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!”

That was all Baton could say when we ran down the tunnel, screaming our lungs out as a horde of Rose Line zombies chased after us.

It didn't take long for us to be in that situation. The first few minutes after we killed that super mutant zombie and its horde was okay. We walked, scavenged, and stayed alert, and we even found some Republic Sixty One soldiers and more rotters ripped to shreds with some dead zombies around them, but, like all good things, this moment of peace had to end. And end it did with a shriek of one of the zombies.
We turned to the source of the shriek and saw a zombie standing on the remains of a walkway that crossed over the highway, and that shriek called more zombies, and they came very quick. I think they might have heard about their big guy getting killed, because they came out in ten fold in this ugly swarm of drooling, tentacle whipping, mutant pony ugliness, and they were pissed.

The last battle ate through our ammo, so all we could do was run, and we didn't stop running for only Celestia knows how long. It felt like hours, but for once I wasn't counting time.
We didn't know where we were going. We were just running and taking whatever turn seemed safest, and while that happened, more Rose Line zombies joined in on the chase. It didn't matter if every part of our bodies felt like they were splintering or rupturing, and we sure as hell were not going to stop because our lungs were on fire! We had to escape and there was no room to acknowledge our pains.

Luckily for us, I spotted a sign that read “EXIT 17” from the corner of my eye, and I yelled at the others to go left, and no questions asked, we turned to the exit. It was a hill of broken asphalt, rusted wagons and the entrance to a subway blocked off by a gate. But the best part was that there was light to the outside world! We had a chance to escape!

I laughed for joy and praised Celestia, and Lilac sobbed joyously and picking up speed, saying: “Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!” at a speed no pony should be able to.

Baton on the other hoof, went on his “Shit” spree and fell behind to shoot at a few of the zombies, then he threw his can grenade at the gate. It sailed right over our heads and the explosion was glorious.
The gate was blown open and covered in the sparkly flames, and me and Lilac cheered and leaped through the flames, only to see a barricade and somepony manning a big machine gun turret pull the trigger. With him was a firing squad of others who held more weapons, including machine guns, rifles, rockets, grenade launchers, shotguns, and one guy who held a really big, fat weapon that looked like an obese rocket launcher with its barrel replaced with a launch rail.

Time crawled and my blood froze from Charon's horrible joke. Right as I though we were about to die, Baton tackled me and Lilac to the ground and put up a shield that was just big enough to cover the three of us.
The screaming and rat-a-tat-tats, whooshes, pops and buzzes of all the weapons was muffled, but me and Lilac both shrunk further under Baton as the display of munitions banging against the shield. The lights were blinding and the crackles of energy mixed with the a horrible sounds of zombies being slaughtered and Baton screaming as his horn started to spark and his shield started to become dimmer.

Then it happened.

The guy with the big, fat weapon, launched a fat rocket at us, and while it missed us, it did land pretty damn close behind, and we felt the heat and shock wave through Baton's shield. The exit we came from crumbled in an inferno, pushing more debris over us, and nearly shattering Baton's shield. There were cracks all around it like a glued up glass orb, and Baton was quivering at the knees and globs of sweat trailed down his head as he panted and struggled to keep his shield up.

The bullets kept coming, and when one broke through and struck the ground near us, Baton's horn erupted in a flash of light and with a voice amplifying spell, he screamed: “Hold your fire! Friendlies! We're friendlies!”
Surprisingly, the shooting stopped, and everything became silent, save for the sounds of debris rolling down the newly made hill. After the fog cleared, Baton kept his shield up, but he squinted his eyes, muttered something and stood up at his full height, blocking me and Lilac from the firing squad.

“What the... Burst Fire, is that you!?” hollered Baton.

“Baton!?” shouted the one behind the turret after a brief pause. He stood up and that was when I saw that Burst Fire was an old, light brown donkey donning old royal guard armor that had seen its fair share of repairs. I didn't like him already.

“Damn right it's me! Now tell your troops to stand down!” yelled Baton angrily.

Burst Fire ordered his troops to stand down and Baton lowered his shield and ordered us to follow him,. We did so without any questions as Baton trotted to Burst Fire, who was walking down from his barricade to meet us halfway.

Once there, the two stared at each other for a moment, frowning. Their frowns grew deeper and their eyes narrowed and more hostile, and I shifted uneasily in my spot, wincing quietly from the pain that I was allowed to feel this time, and Lilac eyed both of them nervously.

Then Burst Fire's frown cracked into a grin and he snorted a laugh. Baton followed suit, and next thing we knew, they were both laughing and trading hugs. Me and Lilac exchanged looks, as did the other soldiers, whom were all donkeys. That was weird to me, and it actually made me uncomfortable to the point where I moved next to Lilac and kept an eye on this Burst Fire guy.

I looked back at Baton and Burst Fire when Baton asked Burst Fire how he'd been faring ever since he left Bright Star.

“Oh, well I've been making my way up the ladder,” said Burst Fire. “Did some mercenary work for a little bit. Got bored. Tried writing a book. Couldn't find enough paper and pens, so I got bored with that. Then I said, screw it, I'm going back to shooting, so I enlisted in the Restoration, been through a few battles, got a few field promotions, and now I'm a Captain guarding a piece of the Rose Line. It was boring until today.”

All of us looked at the collapsed entrance. It was still smoldering and I think parts of it were glowing, but I digress. Burst Fire snorted and we all looked at him.

“I don't think we have to worry about this part, anymore,” he said. Then he nodded to us and asked: “So, who're your friends, Baton?”

“Burst Fire, meet Lilac and Exile. Lilac, Exile, meet Burst Fire.” said Baton.

“Captain Burst Fire,” corrected the donkey.

“Not too surprising that you got that rank,” said Baton, giving him a pat on the back. “You were the best security officer I ever had. The last guy was a complete fuckhead and ruined everything.”

During this, I silently shook hooves with Burst Fire, giving him my best warning glare that he completely ignored, and Lilac also pressed her hoof against his, saying: “How do you do?”

I don't think she ever comprehended the threats of donkeys, but, anyway, Burst Fire replied with a flirtatious smile: “Better now that I see a fine mare like yourself around.”

Lilac giggled and blushed slightly, but Baton frowned and stepped between them, purposefully blocking Burst Fire's line of sight of her. That didn't stop the old donkey from trying to look past him, though. I also gave Lilac a little nudge and when she looked at me, I gave her a condemning look, which she met with confusion and mouthed: “What?”

“You can flirt with another mare later, but right now we need to get to Bongo as fast as possible. We have a big problem and the Restoration needs to know about it, pronto,” said Baton.

“What happened?” asked Burst Fire as his face wrinkled with worry.

“Sweet Berry and Miss Gold have taken over Bright Star.”

Burst Fire's frown deepened, and a fire grew in his eyes. “That is a problem. How long has it been under their control?”

“About a week. So, can you give us a fast trip to Bongo or are we going to have to hoof it?”

“Unfortunately you're going to have to hoof it, but I know a shortcut that can get you to Bongo a lot quicker than normal routes.” Burst Fire looked at another donkey, this one was holding that massive bazooka thing from Hell, and said: “Iron Sight, Hell's Gate is yours! I've got to run an important errand!”

Iron Sight saluted and Burst Fire started his trek with Baton and Lilac following, but I stayed behind, scanning the small camp.
“Why don't we use the radio?” I asked.

Everyone just looked at me after that, and not in a good way. Well, maybe Lilac looked at me in a good way. She did seem contemplative of the idea, but Baton shook his head and Burst Fire just stared at me for an uncomfortable five seconds before he said: “We need a radio to use the radio first.”

“Kids these days,” said Baton.

“I know. Tragic how easy they have it.”

The group started walking again, and aside from the snarky comments I figured that I was given a fair answer, so I decided to follow them without another word.

To say that the trip was long would be fairly accurate. It took us three days of walking to get to where we needed to go. There really was not much to see. I mean, Burst Fire was quick for an old guy, and he and Baton treated me and Lilac like defenseless travelers, which, when you think about it, was kinda accurate since I sucked at basically everything and Lilac was... well, she was Lilac.

So, the three day journey was not too bad. We took shelter wherever we could and each of us stallions took turns taking watch while Lilac slept.

The first day on the road was absolutely violence free, which was nice. We just walked and walked and walked, occasionally taking cover while Baton and Burst Fire took turns scouting ahead in seedy spots. There was one spot we thought was perfect for an ambush, since it was the remains of a tower with three other buildings nearby, but after a while, our two wasteland warriors determined it was safe.
The tower was missing its top, and one of the buildings actually collapsed on itself, so it was just walls and a single pane of glass. The other two buildings, however, were surrounded by destroyed barricades, and a closer inspection of the tower revealed that the top collapsed on itself.

We inspected some more and found a line of ten sadists, dead in ditch. They were all bound and gagged, and from the looks of it, they had been pummeled savagely before being shot multiple times in the back with something that cauterized their wounds. Baton took their clothes while Burst Fire, me and Lilac kept watch, then we moved on to the tower.

In the tower, we could only explore the first couple levels. There were more sadists, all dead with holes burned through them, some blood, spent shells, burn streaks all over the place, and piles of ash. We were careful in our exploration, but we found no surviving sadists and took what we could.

We came across one room on the second level that was once blocked by a chain door, but the door was broken off, and we found a dead sadist in the corner. His balls were burned off and he was almost stomped flat. He was caked in old blood, flies buzzed around him, landing on the popped out bones, and exposed brain and crawled in and out his mouth, and his eyes were wide open with pain and shock. Around him and on the stained mattress was a bunch of feathers, and near that was a gray hat with an “E” flanked by a pair of wings as its patch. It was crushed and stained with mud and blood, and there was a broken chain and collar bolted on the wall on top of the ratty mattress, too.

I thought this was strange, but it made the other three uneasy and Burst Fire made it very clear that we were not staying at that place. We nearly ran out of there, luckily without any trouble, and we traveled for another six hours before we took our night break at an empty shack.

The next day we had a little bit of excitement on the path we were going on. We went on the highway for quicker travel, and some sadists tried ambushing us.

It all started with us walking, when suddenly there was this whistling sound and then Baton shouted for us to get down. We all dove for cover, Baton put up a shield, and a second later a missile struck it.
It blew apart the ruined asphalt and a hail of gunfire just came right us. Baton went for cover behind a cement barricade and Burst Fire got up from his cover with his rifle in his hooves, and he used the rusted wagon he was behind to steady his aim. He took a breath, fired off a burst of three shots a sadist with a rocket launcher fall from his perch with a piece of his head missing.

Bullets pinged off of my cover, and after a getting myself under control I propped myself like Burst Fire and shot at a sadist who was using a gutted bus for cover. The slug didn't do much, but it did scare her into diving out of sight.

Lilac and Baton also returned fire, with Baton running from cover to cover, egging on the sadists as he shot them to pieces with his insane weapon, and Lilac spraying and praying. He must've cut down six of them and she killed a sadist that thought bull-rushing a gun wielder with a crowbar would be a great idea. Together, me and Burst Fire killed four, him three, me one, and that was that. Just a few more bodies for the Wasteland to consume.

After that fiasco, we took more supplies, and I was disappointed not to find any ammo that I could use, but also happy that I wasn't shot the whole time! It balanced out in its own way, but now I was completely out of ammunition for my primary weapon.

With what we collected from those dead sadists and their camp, and from what we got at the other place, our saddles were full of clothes, cheap armor, ammunition, poorly maintained weapons and other knickknacks. Baton and Burst Fire tried to lighten our loads by using parts of the sadist weapons to fix our weapons or whichever weapon was in the best condition, and it did help, but not enough to make a major difference. Our pace was still slowed drastically, but we didn't run into any more trouble for the rest of the day, so that was good. Oh, and Baton took the rocket launcher and the one rocket the sadist had left. And the sadist I shot at earlier, the one hiding in the bus, she tried running, but Burst Fire shot her in the back when we realized what was going on.

It was quite the sight, watching the sadist run across the field with a small cloud of dust behind her, probably scared out of her mind from seeing her buddies slaughtered. But Burst Fire just sighed, casually positioned himself against a concrete barrier, aimed down his sights, and pop-pop-pop.

Three shots, and she rolled over herself in the dirt, and we watched her struggle to get up, bleeding all over the place. Seeing her get back up, Burst Fire put three more shots into her. She stayed down after that.

Baton whistled and congratulated him, I stared at the corpse, having to squint to focus, and Lilac stared at Burst Fire, pale and jaw slack with some tears in her eyes. I really didn't see the big deal about what happened, and when Burst Fire saw Lilac's expression, he just said: “They would do the same to us.”

He started leading us again, and Lilac stayed in the very back, eyes to the ground, more quiet than a corpse for the rest of the day.

That night we took our rest inside a massive, covered wagon that had its metal boxes picked clean. So, we made ourselves a little fort, took our turns watching, and had a very boring night.

When we went on the road again, we traveled without any events for another ten hours before we came across a sign that said: “Orange's Orange-Terrarium!” with a picture of a smiling sun and a weird, orange colored fruit with a green stem and a glass of orange liquid next to it. There was directions on the bottom that told us to keep going north on the highway for another five miles and take a left on Exit-12, so that was another three hours we spent walking.

During our trek, we all heard this strange sound. To me, it sounded like a big engine screaming and ripping apart the air, and when we stopped, I could tell that everypony was nervous. Baton had switched out his homemade hell-raiser for the rocket he picked up from the sadist, and Burst Fire ordered us to cover.
So, we all ran to cover, which wasn't much since it was a gutted bus- apparently a prototype solar powered bus by Macintosh Transit Corporation, as advertised by the sign. After we got inside, Baton and Burst Fire motioned us down and Baton kept the rocket trained on the approaching target. A couple of seconds later, the air exploded with a rattling boom that made me jump and swear as it shook everything down from the bus to my bones and sent my heart beating itself into a paste.

What passed us was some kind of metal thing that flew by a pair of long engines spewing colorful fumes, and it was all black and pointy with the same “E” from a couple of days ago.

“Oh, shit,” grumbled Baton, tensing and wrapping his magic around the trigger.
However, whatever that thing was, it just kept going and disappeared over a hill. A moment later there were distant thuds with flashes of light, and that flying thing took a sharp turn and went straight up into the clouds. That left me puzzled and shaken, but the group sighed with relief and slumped against the rusted wall of the bus.

“What the hell is the Enclave doing here?” said Baton.

“What did they shoot at?” asked Lilac.

“Let's just hope it wasn't where we need to go,” answered Burst Fire.

After that, he ordered us out and we continued walking. Around thirty minutes before reaching Bongo, we came across the skeleton of a building with bits of flaming debris around it and sadists blown to pieces. There was a survivor, though, but he was missing half his body and left a gory trail of blood from his exposed entrails while coughing more blood and muttering something. Baton finished him off with a burst from his quad-weapon and we scavenged the site for supplies, but most of the stuff was useless.

When we were wrapping up our scavenging, we saw a group of soldiers approach us. They were wearing old royal guard armor and had white bells painted on their vests. In the lead was a pink, earth pony stallion, about as frail as twigs with a gold leaf pinned to the collar of the shirt he had under his armor. He also had a PipBuck on his hoof, but, rather than giving us a pleasant greeting like a high ranking officer should have, we got this:

“Burst Fire, what the hell are you doing away from your post?”

The Major didn't sound too happy, but Burst Fire just smiled like he always did.

“Well, Major,” began Burst Fire calmly, “I got bored and decided to escort these refugees to Orange. It's all good, though, I got Iron Sight watching what's left of it.”

“What do you mean 'What's left of it'?” asked the Major with a sneer.

Burst Fire pointed at us and told him how we ran out of the tunnel, screaming and sobbing like fillies with a horde of Rose Line zombies behind us. Then he went into exaggerated detail about how his troops bravely defended us in a fierce, close combat fight that led to the death of some guy named Jim when he sacrificed himself to collapse the entrance to save the Wasteland from a massive outbreak.
After his story ended, Baton and the Major were glaring at him while the Major's soldier's stared at the ass in wonder.

“You don't have a Jim on your team,” said the Major a few second later.

“Not anymore, I don't,” countered Burst Fire, adding right after: “But, we need to see Bongo and Wilhelm ASAP. It's very important.”

“Wait, you don't mean that ibex Wilhelm, do you?” I asked nervously.

“I don't know any other Wilhelm's,” said Burst Fire. “Besides, he's in charge of the Equestrian operations of the Restoration, so what Bongo needs to know, he needs to know as well.”

“Well, today is your lucky day, because he is here in town, so you also get to explain to him why you abandoned your post,” said the Major with a sneer.

Hearing this, I immediately collapsed and screamed at the heavens, wanting oh so much to rip my ears off.

“Why!? Why does he have to be everywhere I have to be!?” I cried.

That got me some strange looks, and Lilac simply patted me on the shoulder and gently nudged me up. At first, anyway. I refused to move because, quite frankly, I really did not want to die, and no gentle words from Lilac could save me from my incoming meltdown.

“What's his problem?” asked the Major while I blabbered nonsense about fate trying to kill me.

“I don't know. I think he fucked Aria or something,” mused Baton calmly.

“What!? No, I didn't!” I yelled, blood red and choking from panic.

But did anypony listen? Nope. All they did was nod to each other with suggestive smirks while some of the soldiers hissed “Nice” to each other, one after the other.

And long story short, arguing fell on deaf ears, and there really was nowhere to go, so I ended up going with them, staying in the back of our party just in case I had to book it. After all, it wouldn't be the first time I had to leave town because fate was being a complete dick to me.

When we got to Orange, there was a piece of billboard cut so that 'ORANGE' was the only thing showing, and it was propped above a gate made out of -what I think- was a bunch of rebars and metal doors fused together. I really don't know. It was a strange sight. The wall looked normal, though. Sort of like a worn out brick wall to a villa with metal plates attached to what I guessed were weak points.

The Major stepped in front of the rebar-door-gate thing and used a spell to amplify his voice so the guys operating it can hear him ordering them to open up. There was a moment of silence, but that moment ended when the gate jerked and rolled to the side, disappearing completely behind the wall and making our ears bleed with its scraping and screeching and groaning. When it slammed to a stop, my jaw dropped.

It was just like the Stable door!

Only ugly!

And there, standing in front to greet us was a zebra stallion flanked by bunch of guards wearing various scraps of metal or assortments of old armor, all with white bells painted on their shoulder pads. I counted twelve guards, all armed with weapons as diverse as their armor. One mare was even levitating some kind of gun made from a crutch, a pressure cooker, steam gauge assembly and a gem battery. Slung around the wielder's chest was a belt full of railway spikes.

I made a mental note to stay away from her.

The zebra stepped forward, grinning from ear to ear, and his guards walked after him, with the guards following close behind and the mare with the railway gun keeping her weapon trained on Baton. The zebra was wearing a simple vest, had sunglasses, was carrying a pack of drumsticks with him, and somehow managed to get a fake, gold tooth as well as a gold necklace.

“Well, well, well, lookie who we have here. Baton, have you decided to explore the world at last?” teased the zebra.

“Bongo, I'm as much a hermit as you are,” replied Baton.

Bongo slowed to a stop. “Yeah, but I'm a cooler hermit.”

“I found them scavenging what the Enclave bombed when we went to investigate the activity,” said the Major haughtily, stopping the two buddies from conversing. I guess he thought he would get a medal for finding us, because as snobbish as his tone was, he puffed out his chest with an even more disgusting smirk on his face.

“Oh?” said Bongo, giving all of us a look over. “Did you guys find anything cool?”

“A lot of dead sadists, some bullets, and a pen,” replied Baton.

“Does the pen work?”

“Probably not, but it makes for a great shiv. Which reminds me, I got you this.”

Baton pulled out the little figurine he found in the Rose Line, and Bongo's face lit up as he snatched it and carefully held it in his hoof.

“Neato! I've been looking for one of these things forever! Now I only need to find... Eighteen more.”

My jaw dropped again and Baton smacked his lips and gently patted Bongo on the shoulder, saying: “Good luck with that.”

Bongo nodded, still smiling, and he stuffed the figurine in his pocket and motioned us to follow him. So we did in a single file line with the Major and his guards flanking us. Along the way, Baton and Bongo chitchatted lightly.

“So, the Enclave is bombing sadists, huh?” asked Baton.

“Yeah, they've been doing it for a few weeks, already,” replied Bongo.

“You seem pretty relaxed about this. What if the Enclave starts bombing us?”

“Then that'll suck, but they aren't attacking us right now, and I don't think they will unless we give them a reason to. So let's not give them one, okay?”

Baton snorted. “Whatever.” He then looked at me and Lilac and shooed us away, saying: “You two go out and explore. I got some business I need to take care of.”

Me and Lilac nodded and were about to leave, but the Major ordered us to stop, which, in turn, made the whole group stop.

“Nopony is going anywhere until we do some processing,” said the Major sternly.

“Pull the dick out of your ass, Major. They're harmless,” sneered Baton. Then he pointed at me and added: “Especially that one.”

I scowled at him. “Thanks.”

“Rules are rules,” countered the Major.

“And all visitors have to be run by me,” interjected Bongo. He walked up to me, looked me over, hummed, sniffed my mane and then he recoiled with a look of utter repulsiveness. “You need a bath.”

I really had nothing to say about that, and then Bongo slid over to Lilac, looked her over in a bit more detail. He went as far as circling around her, lifting up her front hoof to see it bend, which got a lot of strange looks from everyone, then he stood in front of her and held up his hoof.

“How many hooves am I holding up?” he said.

Lilac shifted uneasily and looked between me and Baton before looking at Bongo and slowly saying: “One...?”

“Good. They aren't robots. Major, you have my permission to remove the male reproductive organ from your anus and let these travelers roam Orange as tourists,” Bongo then spun on his hooves and started trotting away with his little group following close behind. “Now, let's talk business.”

The Major gave me and Lilac one last look before he snorted and trotted after Bongo, leaving me and Lilac alone. We did not move. We could not move. We were too stumped to move. And the both of us watched the group until they were out of sight before Lilac looked at me out of the corner of her eyes and asked: “What just happened?”

When me and Lilac parted ways, she went only Celestia knows where, and I started thinking back of what Baton said a few days ago. His words, on top of the weight of my gathered supplies was enough to convince me to see the town trader, Lomi. I had to get some directions first, which was basically given as: “Oh, yeah! You just walk over there, take a left, take a right, take another left, go right, walk straight, take a left, another left, go right, pivot, left, left, right, left, left, left, left, right, right, straight and go backwards.”

I decided to just wander the town until I found the place.

I really could not miss it again when I found it the first time because it was the longest building in the area. It took the place of a former gift shop and eatery, both made of rusted and broken brick. The eatery doors were welded shut with metal sheets over the gaping holes that were once windows, and the main entrance was a set of swinging doors flanked by burnt trees with orange orbs doting them. Above the doors was patch job of wood and scrap metal with Lomi's E-Mart painted in white.
When I entered, a little bell made a pleasant ding-a-ling and I found that the building itself was nothing complex. The packed shelves were all pushed to the side and rigged with chain link fences to keep the merchandise safe, and the wall connecting to the eatery was mostly gone. There was still some brick left, but most of it was covered by beads curtains and strips of cloth, and above that was a nailed in sign that read: Massages

The area I was in had a similar sign that read Mart, but it was nailed near the ceiling behind the counter.

Behind the counter was an earth pony mare with a cream colored coat, a light blue mane and tail that were tied at the ends, and bright blue eyes that seemed just a bit strange to me. Her mane was also pushed back by a white headband, but since we were in the Wasteland, the band was discolored with brown and gray and she hadn't bathed in quiet some time. She was also quick to approach me, grinning broadly and giving a welcome with a bubbly attitude.

“Hi, welcome to E-Mart, my name is Lomi, how can I help you today?”

I got about as far as opening my mouth before a blood red stallion with a gray mane covered in piercings and tattoos and wearing a duster walked out of the massage room, smiling stupidly. It must have been one helluva massage because he looked like he was floating across the floor.

The stallion stopped by Lomi and said: “She was great! Are you sure she can't stay around?”
Lomi replied: “It is up to her if she wants to stay, Curry. Now why don't you head on back to the bar before the booze is gone.”

The blood red stallion nodded and trotted towards the door, nudging me along the way, saying: “You're in for a treat, buddy.”

I looked at him quizzically. “I'm not here for a massage, though.”

That made Lomi's face fall a little. The stallion, on the other hoof, just shrugged and left. “Your loss, bud.”

“You aren't here for our world famous massage?” asked Lomi.

I shook my head. “No. Baton said I can come here for supplies, but seeing as how I have no caps, I was wondering if we could do a little trade... thing.”

Lomi's smile disappeared instantly. “Baton, huh?”

I nodded and she snorted, now looking just a little ticked off, so I decided to back up a little bit, and I went back a little bit more when she approached me.

“So, you're friends with Baton?” she asked.

I bobbed my head from side to side. “Well, kinda. Not really. We just know each other.”

“Well, when you see Baton again can you deliver this message to him for me?”

SLAP!

Right in the face!

It was like getting whacked by a metal bat!

She slapped my vision away for a second and almost sent me to the ground. I staggered a bit and rubbed my cheek, hissing in pain, then I glared at her and she returned the look in kind.

“Ow! What the hell!?” I yelled.

“Baton will know when you slap him and say it was from me. Now, what supplies are you looking for, exactly?” asked Lomi.

Rubbing my cheek and giving her the death glare, I replied: “Armor. Shotgun and revolver ammo. Medical supplies, too, if you got them.”

“What kind of armor, revolver and shotgun?”

“I don't know. Just a vest and a helmet and ammo for my weapons.”

“Shotgun. Is it a B-52 Macintosh, a BRPAS Splitter, a Flash Sentry, or a Creek Pumper? Revolver. Is it an MCP-R Class, a Maker Meeter, a Dash Attack, or Appleloosan Guardian?”

Not wanting to think about it, I sat down on the floor and showed Lomi my guns. She grabbed the shotgun, inspected it thoroughly, tsked a little bit and then handed it back to me.

“Early model of a Creek Pumper, severely damaged from poor handling and lack of cleaning. Also, why did you put peanut butter in the barrel?” said Lomi, quirking a brow with her question.

“What? I didn't put peanut butter in my gun!” I said defensively and peering down the barrel in thoughtless panic.

She was quick to yank the gun away and almost sent me to the ground again with how hard she smacked me over the back of my head with her hoof.

“You idiot, are you trying to get yourself killed!?” she said.

“Not on purpose.” I replied, wincing and inspecting my hoof for blood. I was glad not to see any. “And for the record, I got the gun off a sadist.”

Lomi snorted. “Sure, you just don't want to admit that you don't know how to handle a gun.”
My ears folded down and I frowned, quickly losing patience for this whole ordeal.

I told her: “Look, can we get back on subject? I don't have caps, but I got all this stuff that we could trade for supplies.”

“Alright, fine. Let's see what you got.”

Long story short, I think she gypped me. Out of all the clothes and bullets and weapons I had gathered, I barely got three hundred caps out of it, with the guns and ammo being the money makers, and even then, it was not a full three hundred. I had to exchange some of the collected bullets for my shotgun, and I ended up selling my revolver because she did not have ammo for it, but offered me twelve shells to get it. On top of that, the clothes I sold went to getting some really shitty armor.

The only armor I could afford was a mall cop uniform with some Kevlar plates sewn on, and the helmet was a scooter helmet, painted black with a yellow stripe. I felt ridiculous, but it was either that, or the three thousand cap “Hellwalker” armor decked out with big guns, thick armor and a fancy, full faced helmet that had a nifty visor on it. Apparently she bought the suit from somepony called “Mad Mac”, who is a regular customer. Knowledge courtesy of her not shutting up about him for almost fifteen minutes.

As for the Hellwalker. Why anypony would give up that beautiful thing was beyond me, but I could tell just by looking at it that I was too small and weak for it. Besides, like I said earlier, the price tag was in the thousands and all she had left was the mall cop suit.

So, when it was all said and done, I was left with about a hundred and twenty three caps, a suit of lame armor and fifty shells. But, you know what? With all that weight gone I felt like I could run a marathon, and I was grateful to have some armor protecting me. And to celebrate I went to see the next pony on the list.
Doctor Heartbeat.

And that was another mistake.

When I found the clinic I actually thought somepony dug up a corpse and put it in somepony's chair as a sick joke because when I walked in, there was a near skeletal pony slumped in plain sight. Bone, rotten flesh, patches of gray skin and white fur and a moldy horn. It was all there and he stunk like a corpse covered in dish soap.

I inched closer and tilted my head down to get a better look at it. Even its jaw was slack so I saw its brown-green tongue hanging out. When I poked its shoulder, it suddenly opened its eyes and pointed at a clipboard hanging on a wall next to him.

“Sign there, please.”

I ran out screaming.

Well, as far as the front door, anyway. As soon as I was about to leave, I bumped into a beige unicorn stallion with a rough head of blond mane and a medical box cutie mark carrying a saddle full of supplies. I bounced off of him, he stumbled back, then he looked at me, then at zombie-pony and flashed a smile as he gently excused himself and nudged me aside.

“Hey, Doctor Heartbeat, I got the supplies Lomi promised,” he said.

“Took long enough, Leur. I got a patient and need you to organize the medicine cabinet,” replied the rotter, who was apparently the doctor I had to see.

I think I felt my blood freeze hearing that exchange, and I tried leaving again, but I got wrapped up in some magic, tugged into the corner of the small clinic and plopped on a cot that almost buckled from my weight. Doctor Heartbeat put on a dirty surgeon's mask, pulled out a magnifying glass and a notepad.
I tried to reach for my shotgun, but the doctor's magic grabbed my weapon, removed the shells and gave it to Leur, who levitated it to a cabinet and locked the door.

“Oh, no, I am not getting shot tonight. You came in. You aren't getting out until I am done with you. Now, what ails you, traveler?” said Doctor Heartbeat.

I chuckled anxiously. “Nothing. I think I stepped on a splinter and stubbed my hoof on a rock, but I'm good now so can I go somewhere far from you?”

Leur and Heartbeat exchanged looks, then looked back at me, then they looked at each other again, with the rotter holding out his hoof expectantly.

“Get me the rectal probe, and make sure its washed this time.”

Leur smirked and went to the cabinet, and when he pulled out a long, white, mushroom shaped thing and flashed an evil smile at me. I about nearly died on the spot. Then he started walking back to us and I melt my heart ripping itself apart from how fast it was beating. In fact, I think my soul was about to have a ghostly heart attack.

“No! No, wait, don't use the probe! Don't use the probe!” I shouted frantically. Heartbeat motioned Leur to stop, much to his disappointment, and I continued, hoping that it will keep that mushroom thing out of me. “I got busted up by some monsters and need to make sure I'm not dying from internal bleeding or anything like that.”

Heartbeat ordered Leur to put the probe away, and when he did, he really looked disappointed. The doctor then turned to me and smiled behind his mask, stretching what remains of his cheeks to their breaking point and ripping some of his skin so I can see his rotting teeth.

“See, that wasn't so hard was it?” he said.

I shook my head and his horn glowed bright.

“Good. Now hold still. This will hurt if you flinch.”

It really wasn't long, only a couple of minutes of tingly scanning. The long part, however, was him writing down his notes, which was made longer by him having to find more paper, more pens or pencils, and then rescan me because he forgot what he found in the first place. After all his note stuff was done, I was still sitting on the cot, watching Leur carefully as he stared at me. Seriously, I felt like I was being molested by his eyes. Only Celestia knew what was going on in that sick mind of his.

“Well, traveler, I can tell you this, you earth ponies are genetically lucky. If you were a unicorn or a pegasus, you'd be dead,” said Heartbeat.

“Thanks.” I muttered, not knowing or caring what a pegasus was.

The doctor started flipping through his notes with swift flicks, saying: “Pegasi are fast little bugs, I'll give them that, but they snap like twigs, and unicorns are about as tough as their horn, but earth ponies? Lucky breed.”

“Lucky, indeed,” hummed Leur, but the way he hummed... it sounded like he was drooling over chocolate, and I shot my best intimidation glare at him, but that only made him wag his eyebrows. Violation intensified.

Then Doctor Heartbeat closed his notepad and repeated himself. “Well, traveler, I can tell you this, you earth ponies are genetically lucky. If you were a unicorn or a pegasus, you'd be dead.”

I got just a little bit confused. I knew for a fact he just said that just a few seconds ago. It actually made me a little uneasy. Especially when he started flipping through his notes in the exact same way as before.

Again, he said: “Pegasi are fast little bugs, I'll give them that, but they snap like twigs, and unicorns are about as tough as their horn, but earth ponies? Lucky breed.”
I looked at Luer, now very concerned about what was going on, mostly because I didn't want my face chewed off, and Luer just sighed, trotted over to Heartbeat and put his hoof on his shoulder.

“Come on, Horse, let's get you some rest,” he said gently.

Luer escorted Heartbeat to a room in the very back that was blocked by a metal door, which was poorly hidden by a bookshelf. Heartbeat mumbled to himself and looked around the room like he had seen it for the very first time. From what I saw, it was a simple set up with a bed, some books and a light. After Luer shut the door, he locked it good and tight and slipped a bar across the way, then he flipped a switch to play some classical music and slid the bookshelf back in place.

After that, he sighed, picked up the note with his magic and walked towards me, smiling. I glared at him and scrunched away.

“So, you ready to hear your examination results?” asked Leur.

“Yeah.” I replied slowly.

Leur told me without much hesitation that I had: cracked ribs, bruised femurs, a messed up spine, a ruptured ear drum for my bitten ear, and lastly... I was underweight.

“Don't worry, everypony is underweight out here, unless you're one of the lucky ones,” said Luer after explaining my weight problem. I asked him about the other stuff, and he told me that there was not much he could do since supplies were low, and then he went on to calling me lucky because I'm an earth pony and we're apparently tanks compared to unicorns. I thought he was full of it. Unicorns are the lucky ones with their magical horns that can do stuff for them without having to put their mouth or hoof all over it.

“So, what kind of pain are you feeling? One to ten? One being great and ten being Oh-My-Ball-Kill-Me-Now!” said Leur.

I quirked a brow. “Uh... seven?”

With that response, he hummed a little bit, went to a fridge and pulled out a metal cup with a lid on it. He removed the lid and carefully handed me the cup with his magic, and I grabbed it and looked to see a cold, orange liquid inside. It smelled really good. Kinda tangy, and my mouth started watering at its scent. Though, it did puzzle me as to what it was and I didn't trust Luer, so I gave him a questionable look and and he smiled reassuringly.

“It will help with the pain,” he said.

“What's in it?” I asked.

“Oranges.”

“How much is it?”
“Twenty caps.”

I sighed, gave him the money and a cautious look, then went on to drinking the greatest thing ever. It tasted better than water, better than apple juice, better than beer! Its tangy flavor sent sparks of pure euphoria going all through me, from my tongue all the way down to my tail. Every part of me twitched and I felt my eyes dilate with a wide grin growing. I giggled a bit, too, and saw Luer smiling at my goofy reaction, but I didn't care. The pain was numbed and whatever that drink was, was a gift from Celestia Herself, and it was a sign that She did care and was still with us!

So, while I was chugging away at Celestia's elixir, Luer snickered and said: “Yeah, orange juice makes everything better.”

“Mhmm.” I said back. “How much for a whole canteen?”

Luer suddenly frowned and said: “Nope. One cup per patient.”

Then he levitated the empty cup away from me, despite my whines and attempts to get it back, and he put it away in a locked cabinet, crushing my sunshine in one fell swoop.

After murdering a piece of my soul, Luer turned to me with a smile and said: “Good news is that more will be ready next week, so come back then and we'll see what we can do about some more juice, okay?”

“Yeah. Great.” I muttered, absolutely crushed to total depression.

“Chin up, buddy! It ain't the end of the world! You can always come back next week for more!” said Luer cheerfully. “Or, maybe you can hurt yourself some more and spend the night here. Overnight patients get an extra cup.”

He finished with a click of his tongue and a wink.

Despite me being a little loopy from the orange juice, I decided that now was a great time to get out before I got held captive. And looking back, I am almost a hundred percent certain he put my gear on the floor and left the shells scattered on purpose so I had to bend down to pick them up. Now I knew how Rose Petal felt when I hid her keys underneath her couch and chair just so she had to bend over to fish them out.

Once I gathered my stuff, I ran out as quickly as I could, paying what I had to pay, which I think I might have overpaid since I wasn't really counting and I spilled a bunch of caps. After all that was done, I headed off to the last part of my list of things to do.

Go to the dentist.

<<<<<O>>>>>

I'll tell you one thing, the Wasteland never had a low supply of strange characters. There was always a weirdo somewhere and always a mutant lurking. Orange was no different and when I walked into the crudely made dentist office, I about nearly screamed my head off and had a heart attack again. Walking out of the makeshift office was a mare with a dark blue coat, a red mane, a tooth cutie mark, she had these freakishly bright teal eyes, and she also had wings!

She actually scared me with those feathery things coming out of her back! It was gross! Besides, I've never seen or heard of a pegasus before, so don't blame me for my lack of knowledge, blame my Stable. They were very selective of their teachings, and they never ever mentioned pegasi. The only reason I found out that this dentist was natural and not a freak of radiation poisoning was because Lilac told me about pegasi later on when we ran into each other in town, but I digress.
I screamed, the pegasus screamed, and we both jumped back, with me backing into the door and her into the wall. We both stopped and stared at each other, hearts racing and eyes bugged out.

“What the fuck!? Are you mutated!?” I managed to yell after I got my breathing under control from the unpleasant surprise.

The mare's scared look dissolved into a blank stare, and she did a self inspection before looking back at me. “I don't think so. Do I have something weird growing out of my body?”

I pointed at her wigs. and she flapped them a couple of times and smiled at me.

“Yeah, I just preened them this morning. I never get them as good as dad, but I think they are still pretty good, if I do say so myself,” she said proudly.

Admittedly the wings did look good for something that was protruding from the body. Anyway, she approached me and I just stood there, still freaked out, but she seemed harmless, and when she introduced herself as Doctor Crest Paste, one word came to mind: Shit.

Yeah, as friendly as she seemed, I was not too thrilled about having some bird-pony mutant hybrid thing going through my mouth.

“So, are you here for a checkup, clean up, fixing or bar buddy?” she asked.

“I... Wait, what?” The last part threw me off, but before she could repeat herself, I decided to just forget it and do what I was came to do. “Never mind. My mouth is a little messed up, so I need you to look at it.”
Crest grinned and rubbed her hooves together. “Oh, goody! More teeth to look at!”

She then grabbed me, spun me so I backpedaled into a chair, then with a casual push, I fell in it. It was kind of an awkward fall, but she didn't seem to care and she hummed the whole time as she skipped around, blinding me with this enormous light and then bringing down a magnifying glass the size of my head to my muzzle. Her eye looked like an alien monstrosity when she peered through the glass and she told me to open wide, so I did, then she gasped and I clamped my mouth shut.

“What?” I asked worryingly, thinking the worst about my mouth.

“Your teeth... I love your teeth!” she squealed. She carelessly pushed the magnifying glass and light aside and leaped on my lap, making me grunt from the sudden weight. Then she grabbed my jaw with her hooves and pried my mouth open, despite my gibberish protests, and gushed out her words. “Aside from the recent trauma and the couple missing teeth this is the best mouth I have ever seen!” She slammed my mouth shut, grabbed my cheeks and looked deep into my eyes, saying: “You must tell me how you did it! You must! You must! You must!”

“Can't you just fix my teeth? It feels weird, like they are going to fall out any second.” I said, kinda whining, admittedly, and my voice sounding weird from my cheeks being pushed in.
She climbed off of me and did some kind of proud pose thing with her snout tilted to the ceiling and her eyes closed. “Well, of course I can fix your teeth, I am dentist after all. All I will need from you is laughing gas and eight thousand caps.”

“What!?” That was all I could say, and when she looked at me questionably, I added: “Are you serious!?”

“Uh, yeah. I ran out of laughing gas and these kinds of operations to fix mouths without magical assistance is very difficult. Besides, I'm the only certified dentist in the Wasteland, so you know you'll be getting quality service.”

To make her point, she pointed at a framed picture on the wall, and I kid you not, it was one of those certificates for a dentist, but it had Colgate Minuette crossed out with crayon and Crest Paste scribbled above. I gave her quite the deadpanned look and she shifted on her spot, looking a little uneasy.

“What?” she asked.

“How much for the checkup?” I asked, not even wanting to risk chewing her out for the stupidity of her so called certificate for fear of doing something really stupid, like unintentionally unleashing Hell on everypony around me and then getting my ass handed to me.

Anyway, Crest hummed. “Oh, nothing much, only fifty caps.”

Yeah, only fifty caps for a worthless lap dance and tooth worshiping.
Anyway, I slid off the chair, simmering in rage, and gave her the fifty and left without another word.

After that amazing flop of a dentist visit, I found myself stomping around town. Broke, mouth hurting, body feeling violated, and feeling embarrassed from the armor I was wearing. I didn't even want to count the strange stares or snickers I was receiving from the ridiculous suit of armor... but my brain wanted to torture me so I counted twelve, not including the ones I didn't spot. That said, I was not very happy.

When I ran into Lilac and explained why I was so crabby, all she did was tell me that Crest was a pegasus, keep my chin up and then ask me where Lomi's shop was because she wanted to do some shopping. Begrudgingly I told her where to go and she smiled, patted me on the head and skipped off. I watched her go, a frown growing ever so swiftly on my features to where I thought my lips would pull my cheeks off my face. I felt my eye twitch, too.

Here I was, feeling like shit because I was visually molested, had my butt threatened with a plug, got slapped around by a trader, had the last of my money wasted on a crazy dentist and was being silently mocked for my only form of protection.

It was a great day. A lovely day. A lovely, great day I wish I could shoot in the face and rewind so I could shoot it again. Then I heard a very familiar voice.

“Meris?”.

I snapped to the side and saw Aria standing not too far from me, wearing a saddle stuffed with jars and a simple robe that lost its fluff long ago.

I quickly took off my helmet, held it against my chest and gave her a nervous smile.

“Oh. Uh, hi...” I said.

“Um... What are you doing here?” asked Aria, pawing at the rocky ground and having trouble looking at me directly.

“I... I, uh, was going to sell some stuff, try the local food and... and see the sights... and, uh... yeah.”

She and I stared at each other. Quietly. Her unblinking and me wondering why ibexes have a hard time blinking. I know I blinked, but her? Nope. No blink. Maybe it was genetic, maybe it was cultural, maybe it was cultural because it was genetic. Whatever it was, I hardly ever see an ibex blink and even for someone as fragile looking as Aria that got pretty unnerving.

“So, what are you doing here?” I asked slowly.

“Working. When Wilhelm takes me and Engel to Orange I work as Lomi's massage therapist, just to help her out and get a little extra money,” replied Aria.

I remembered the guy in the duster leaving with that euphoric smile, and with how he walked, it was obvious he was not disappointed. Then I remembered way back in my Stable when we shut down Massage Mondays and the massage parlor because the pony in charge used it to give customers unauthorized sex for a little extra. Disappointment and hefty punishments had that day in a choke hold.

A part of me wondered if she did something like that, but then I reminded myself that this was Aria. She went into shock from a kiss. There was no way she would do a massage-prostitution thing for caps.

“Are you okay?” asked Aria.

“Yeah. Why?” I asked.

“You look mad and in pain.”

“Oh, its nothing. Just another day in the Wasteland.”

“Did you see Doctor Heartbeat?”

“Yeah, but all he and his assistant did was give me orange juice and tried to violate me with a butt plug.”

“Oh... Well, today is Tuesday.”

I think something broke in my mind with that statement. I mean, Tuesday? Seriously, what was so special about Tuesday that that kind of crap had to happen?

“Do you... Do you, um-” Aria swallowed and darted her eyes between me and the ground, hoof pawing at it and body shaking to where I could hear the jars beating against each other. “Do you want to go to my room and let me have a look at you?”

I stared at her, unsure of what I was hearing, and equally unsure about if I wanted to take her up on that offer if I heard right. Don't get me wrong, she was a cute girl, really good looking for an ibex -no offense- but I had my reservations. Mostly centered around Wilhelm killing me since it was bad enough that I was talking to Aria in the first place.

“If you don't want to that's okay,” said Aria quickly and taking a step back and looking at the ground again.

“No, I, uh, I actually don't know what to think.” I told her. “I mean, what are you going to do...?”

“I might be able to stop most of the pain, but I can't do it at Lomi's shop because she's closing for the night so we'll have to do it my room. Unless you have a room.”

I looked at the sky and realized that it was getting dark. That surprised me quite a bit, to be honest. I hadn't realized how quickly time had flown.

“Do you have a room?” asked Aria, still shaking, but not as bad as before.

“Nope, let's do it in your room!” I blurted.

Silence and staring.

“I mean, you can work your magic on me in your room.”

More silence and staring. And possibly Aria regretting her offer.

I sighed and face-hoofed, saying: “I'll just shut up.”

Aria's room was actually pretty big, but bare. All she had was a bed by a window, a footlocker at the foot of her bed and a lamp sitting on the floor. I put my stuff in the corner while Aria opened the window to let in some fresh air. It was pretty dark at that point and I still hadn't seen Baton or Lilac, so I assumed Baton was still working with Bongo and Lilac was doing whatever.

Aria smoothed out the bed and fluffed up her pillow, then asked me to lay down on the bed. She was nervous and barely able to speak, but I went anyway. I laid stomach down, stretched out when she told me to, and dug my front hooves under the pillow and stared straight ahead at the rusted wall in front of me. The bed squeaked as she climbed on, and I swallowed and tensed when I felt her climb on top of me. I felt her butt rub against my spine as she shifted around and I tried to think innocent thoughts when her hooves gripped my hind legs. That turned out to be very difficult.

She pressed the back of my legs and kneaded circles around them, breaking apart the tension like balls of dirt. Up and down she went on either leg, every circle was met with pressure that broke down the stiffness and smoothed out my coat with gentle touches. My tail flicked and she scooted back some more, putting more pressure on my spine -which I honestly did not mind at that point. Her hooves went on to my rump and I gripped the pillow tighter and a stupid smile spread from my giggling as a ticklish feeling took a hold of my flanks.

I hadn't realized how sore it was until Aria started her massaging there. Like my legs, all that stiff, sore muscles just crumbled from her touches. My tail flicked again and my tongue fell out as she shifted on my back, pushing me into her bed. I groaned a little bit when she worked a little bit on the base of my tail.

“Are you okay?” asked Aria.

I nodded, barely able to speak. “Uh huh.”

She didn't say anything after that. Instead, she switched her position and started working on my shoulders. Every press, every stroke, every touch from her hoof was like a piece of Paradise and she went up and down on my shoulders. Starting from my shoulder blades, and moving down my arms. Then she would go back up the same way she went down, pressing and rolling, and she would travel up to my neck. The stiffness in my neck disappeared very quickly and I was about ready to drift to sleep.

With her straddling my back, shifting ever so slightly in her massage, it left a nice, warm feeling all through me. I swear she ground herself harder than necessary at some points, but with my bliss and loss of mind, I didn't care. Her rubbing and grinding felt good. Like really good. Good enough to feel like I could walk on clouds.

Lost in bliss, I barely felt her warm breath on my ear, and I felt her grind her lower body down my back, bringing me to shudder and shift around.

“I'm sorry,” said Aria.

“For what?” I asked, still doped out on relaxation.

“I'm going to hurt you."

Aria's hooves suddenly dug into my spine as hard as she could with a grunt. The uncomfortable pressure made me grunt, too, and with a quick push and pull in either direction, I felt and heard all kinds of snaps and pops and an eruption of pain all over my back that brought tears to my eyes. I felt my hair and fur zip straight up and my eyes about nearly flew out of my head as I screamed from the pain.

When she stopped, I fell limp on the bed, panting and blinking tears out of my eyes, trying to say something that wasn't profanity laced, but then she did it again! Except this time in opposite directions! What was pushed up was pushed down and what was pulled left was pulled right, and the pain did not get any better, either.

“Oh, Celestia!” I cried, face now stuffed in the pillow and hooves gripping the sheets as I trembled from the pain.

Thankfully there was no more after that, so I was left on the bed, shaking and biting the pillow to stop myself from crying like a filly. Thankfully the pain was fading quickly as her little hooves rubbed my back in gentle circular motions. In fact, in a matter of seconds the pain was completely gone and I felt like I could float away.

“Feel better?” asked Aria.

I nodded again and a few minutes of rubbing later, she shifted so I could roll on my back. A small smile flickered on her face, too, but that flicker changed to a look of shock when she saw a certain stiff part of me. I looked down where she was and quickly grabbed the pillow to cover my crotch and flashed a big, nervous smile at her and apologized. It was a good thing I wasn't too excited or else it would have gotten more awkward than it already was.

“N-No, it's, um, it's okay. It happens a lot,” said Aria, now averting her eyes.

We were silent for a little bit, and I felt I was in between a rock and a hard place. I didn't know the rules of decency around here, but at the Stable, walking with “Free Willy” as some called it was a great way to get fined for indecency. So, either walk around and give the wrong impression, or sit in front of Aria with a pillow to hide what shouldn't be out. I decided to wait it out. The pillow was quite comfy and warm, anyway. Besides, I noticed Aria was staring at the ugly wound on my shoulder. With it being a cauterized mess, all I had gotten was scabs and a bald spot, but at least it gave her something else to look at. Something that wouldn't have gotten me shot.

Aria swallowed and looked me in the eyes, nervously asking me if it was alright if she inspected the wound. I nodded and she leaned over to gently touch it, being careful to not get too close to my fluffy shield. I'll tell you what, though, it felt strange having such a poorly healed spot poked. It was like somepony pressing a scab ball into my shoulder. I felt the muscles and veins shift, which made me nauseous, and she pulled away, apologizing.

“No, its fine.” I assured her.

Aria was hesitant, but she resumed her inspecting, then went on to inspecting the bullet wound that nearly blew my hoof off at Bright Star. She asked again for a closer look and I lifted my hoof for her and that was when I realized just how banged up my sheltered hooves were. They were no longer pampered and smooth. They were cracked, with chips missing, and little cuts zigzagged across my limbs, leaving thin pink lines on my coat.

Aria's slender hooves continued their exploration, tenderly touching my limb as they explored the collection of scars I didn't even know I had. Dry blood was sticking to my coat where the larger scabs were and pings of pain shot up when she brushed at my damaged ribs. She gently guided me so my back was pressed against the headboard and her whole body trembled as she got up close to me and started feeling the faint scars on my chest that I never knew I had. Honestly, the touching was giving me the tingles and made my muscles stiffen and my mouth go dry. The sensual touching felt a lot better than her massage and spine-fixing. Some time later, Aria touched my watch, which I had hanging around my neck, and she stopped and eyed it quizzically.

I looked at her, then at my watch, then back at her as I gently pushed her hoof away and covered my prized possession with my other hoof. She looked down, muttering an apology.

“It's okay.” I assured. “Its just all I have left of home.”

Aria nodded in understanding. “I remember you told us how you got exiled because of someone.”

I nodded, saying in an equally low tone: “Yeah.”

“Then you got drunk and kissed me,” said Aria.

“...Yeah...” I said and getting a little nervous about where the implied direction of the conversation was going.

“...Do you... do you remember if I was good?” asked Aria, twiddling her hooves like a nervous filly.
I stared at her, lips a line and eyes too big for their sockets as Aria looked back at me, shaking and her breathing becoming ragged and her eyes misting over. Panic began clawing its way into my mind and I started wondering if she was going to have an anxiety attack from her own question. Like how I was at the time.

I chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of my neck, smiling at her as big as I could get. “Well, um, I-I, uh, I guess you were okay.”

Aria looked down, ears drooping and body sulking in obvious disappointment. “Oh.”

Oh shit moment, it was time to clock in.

“I mean, you were a good kind of okay.” I said desperately. “You got second place in best kisser in my book if that makes you feel any better.”

“And how many women have you kissed?” asked Aria critically.

“Two. Rose and you. I seriously did not mean to traumatize you, by the way. I got a little drunk and emotional and did something stupid.”

“Is Honey your Stable marefriend?”

“What? No. Rose is.”

“Then who's Honey?”

“I didn't say Honey...”

“You did.”

“I did?”

Aria nodded and I squinted at her critically, certain she was either pulling my tail or misheard me.

“Anyway... Sorry about kissing you without your permission,” I said.

Aria shook her hoof and head dismissively, quickly saying: “Oh, no! You did nothing... Well, actually it was wrong what you did, but I was surprised because I never got kissed before or hugged like how you hugged me because Wilhelm never let anybody do that to me. I didn't know what to think about it and... and...”

Her voice drifted off and another “Oh, shit” moment came in. I vaguely remembered grabbing and kissing Aria, but with what she was implying I got the feeling that maybe I might have done more than a harmless drunk kiss. I was afraid to ask her for the details, and enough spit returned so I could swallow, and I was heating up around my cheeks and ears as I stared at her.

“Did I do more...?” I asked.

She nodded.

“Was that why...?”

“Yes...”

“Oh... Shit...”

“Don't feel bad. You were passionate and-and did not want to let me go. It was different from what I get from Engel and Wilhelm... Or the others who disappeared or died mysteriously.”

“What?”

Aria placed her hooves on my shoulders and looked deep into my eyes. My body shook with hers, and it was from the both of us, to be honest. Her nose got close to mine to where I could feel her hot breath brush against my muzzle, and I heard her heart beating too fast for its own good.

“But can you kiss me again like you did last time?” asked Aria.

My jaw dropped.

“What? No! Wilhelm will kill me! Besides, I- You don't- Just, no! No, no, I can't!” I said.

“I don't care. That moment... that was something different and I want to feel it again,” said Aria.

Yeah, the situation was getting pretty bad.

“But I still have a marefriend, remember? She is still in a Stable, but I don't want to be unfaithful to her.” I said in response to her flimsy promise.

I put my hooves against Aria's sides and as gently as I could, I tried to pry her off. She really was quite skinny and I did not want to hurt her, but with that said, after I reminded her of myself being taken, there was a flash of pain in her eyes and she slid off of me, hoof to mouth and a choking gasp escaping from her.

“Oh, I-I'm sorry,” stammers Aria, tears brimming in her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. “But you said you would never see her again and you kissed me and got that-” She pointed at the pillow shield “-and I thought... I'm sorry!”

She was right, I never thought I would see Rose Petal again and I did kiss her, but that was, you know, drunk stuff. That was me being stupid, not thinking. It should not have meant anything, but it did. Just like the simple joke from Artisan that gave Honey Sap an idea that led to her being heartbroken before her murder.
Aria was starting to cry now, and I felt a painful lump rising in my throat. She could not look at me and her black mane and hoof shielded her face from me, but her buckling shoulders and wet, troubled breathing was enough. I couldn't take it.

I had more than enough justification for doubting never to see Rose Petal again, but I did not want to be unfaithful to her. At the same time, seeing Aria so broken from her shame and so desperate to get close to someone that it brought tears from me denying her was heartbreaking.

Taking a deep breath, I inched closer to her and pulled her in for a hug, but it seemed that the universe was still against me, because right as I hugged her there was a knock on the door.

“Aria, we need to talk,” said Wilhelm from behind the door.

“Oh, shit.” I said louder than I should have.

Aria's hoof quickly went over my mouth and she gave me a very angry glare before looking at the door, her anger now being replaced with fully justified panic. She said something in Ibexian, probably along the lines of “I'll be right out” or some other generic, daughter doesn't want father to see secret coltfriend phrase. She then snapped her focus to me, pulled her hoof from my mouth and said in an anxious whisper: “You need to go, right now.”

“Where? Under the bed?” I hissed.

Aria looked around, fidgeting in her spot, then she pointed at the open window. “Jump.”

I paled. “Are you serious?”

“Aria, who's in there with you?” said Wilhelm, the doorknob now shaking. I didn't even know she locked it, but I was glad she did.

“Go,” she said hastily.

“I don't-”

“I'm coming in!”

“Haveagoodnight!”

I leaped out the window right as the door was forced open. I was in free fall for a few seconds before I landed on a metal roof, grunting from the pain and its metallic echo ringing all over the settlement. After that, everything became a blur as I rolled down and fell on another roof, bounced off of that one, hit a ladder, took it down with me and then smashed a stand with a belly flop.
Lights flicked on, somepony's dog barked in the distance, and all I could do was groan and shift on the pile of splinters. My stomach and chest throbbed, I tasted copper and my heart was using my sore ribs as a punching bag. But I knew two things.

First, I couldn't stay. Second, I was in no condition to bolt. So I did the next best thing and crawled underneath an elevated walkway as far as I could and stayed absolutely still with my eyes focused on the opening I was just barely able to go through.

I didn't hear or see anything for a few minutes, and right as I took a breath of relief and was about to crawl out, Wilhelm landed in front of me. Back to me, to be clear. But he didn't even use the roofs to climb down! No, that crazy guy jumped right out of the window and landed way too close to me.

I had to bite my hoof to keep myself from screaming, and my heart vibrated my chest from its rapid beats as I watched him rise from a crouch to his whole height, unharmed by his insane stunt. I stayed perfectly still under the walkway as he scanned the area, but I had a sinking feeling in my gut that he could hear me breathe and shake.

I could only think: Who the hell is this guy!?

I mean, come on! Unless he was mutated, there was no way he should have been able to do that without snapping his bones into pieces!

So, there I was, about ready to wet myself and my teeth digging into my skin as I watched that guy look for me. He stayed put for the most part. Hell, he barely turned his head and ears when he scanned the area, and he only did that for a few more seconds before he looked up and shouted something in Ibexian to Stocker, who replied back.

I remained silent, and after Stocker replied, Wilhelm snorted and briskly walked away. An unfortunate passerby just happened to be out exploring the commotion and looked at him. One look from that goat sent that guy running with their tail tucked between their legs.

It was then that a simple fact settled in my mind like radiation in soil.

Wilhelm was going to kill me.

<<<<<O>>>>>

“I'm dead. I'm dead. I'm dead. I'm dead. I'm dead.”

I pushed myself into the nearest public restroom and slammed my hooves on the sink to stare at my own grungy reflection, repeating my mantra. I splashed some water on my face and stared at my reflection again, heart racing, body shaking and sweat mixing with dirty tap water.

“I'm dead.” I said three more times between my deep breaths.

“I think you're dead,” said a stallion behind me.

I jumped and turned just in time to see the stall behind me open to reveal Bongo sitting on a toilet with a comic book on his lap. He was grinning from ear to ear and still had his shades on for some reason.

Bongo chuckled. “Don't tell me. You pissed off one of the road crews and now they're threatening to skin you when you leave town.”

“Uh... No... I, uh, I kinda had a moment with Aria.” I said.

Bongo's lips sealed shut and I could see his eyes bulge from behind his sunglasses. “Well, damn, son, when you do die, do me a favor and don't haunt this place.”

“Nothing happened. All she did was fix my back and then Wilhelm came along and I had to jump out a window.”

“Oh, I've done that a few times before when I had a sweetheart. But it was to get away from her brother who was a little overprotective of her. This one day I found out why, though, when we were sharing a romantic night on the roof. Things got a little lovey-bubby, lovemaking was a-coming, and then I shit you not, a fucking dick popped out with her pussy. Holy fucking shit was that gross!”

I scrunched my muzzle in disgust. That was something I did not need to hear.

“I mean, one minute you're enjoying one of those things under the night sky that comes with the moment, then, next thing you know, your mare's got a dick going against your dick. How fucked up is that? And you know, I screamed and her brother chased me all the way out into the desert where he shot me in the back of the head,” said Bongo.

He tapped the back of his head and sure enough, there was a metallic ring to it, and he shook his head, chuckling.

“Aria was actually the one that helped me live when they passed me, clinging to life by holding the back of my skull together with my hoof. She fixed me up as best as she could, and that big guy, Stocker, asked me what happened, so after deciphering my gibberish we went back to the place where I used to live and I put a bullet in that guy's eye.” Bongo pointed his hoof at me and made a gunshot sound, saying after: “It was there that the whole damn town came down on us and we had to fight our way out. We found my sister, Zahra, held up inside my old shack and when Wilhelm got her out, man, talk about butterflies in the stomach. Hadn't seen anyone so flustered before or since, and one quick year later, I was his best man and gave Zahra to him at the wedding. Very heartwarming. And during my time with his crew I found out that if you get on his good side and he will move mountains and kill gods for you. Get on his bad side and not even the gods can save you. Unfortunately Yanker didn't get that message when he led Wilhelm's group into an ambush and got Zahra and basically everypony else killed. The guy probably would have found a way to kill himself if his kids died.”

Bongo looked down after that, clearing his throat and adjusting his sunglasses. I was dumbfounded and worried because of the last part of the story.

“He's a hard guy to hurt, huh?” I said.

“You have no idea,” said Bongo. “I have seen him hurt. But he doesn't die, even when he should have. The thing about Wilhelm, though, is that his biggest enemy is not Waltz or Gold. No, his wrath is his biggest enemy, and when your soul is made out of anger that can lead to a lot of problems.”

It was at that point that Celestia thought it would be hilarious for Wilhelm to storm inside the bathroom, almost knocking the door clean off when he shoved the door open. The bang and snapping metal made both me and Bongo jump, and when I actually registered that the bane of my existence was there, I backpedaled and felt my jacked heart wanting to rocket out of my throat.

“You must think I am an idiot, Stalker,” sneered Wilhelm as he marched forward.

“You? No! I think you're a smart, good looking guy with great kids!” I said with a nervous chuckle.

Bongo seethed and before I could register that I just made a blunder, Wilhelm grabbed me and threw me against a sink. It shattered with the mirror, covering me with shards of glass, whatever the hell sinks are made out of and lots of dirty water that burned my fresh cuts.

“You think you can fuck my daughter and get away with it!” snarled Wilhelm as he stomped towards me, kicking up the water that gushed out as I tried to scramble away from him.

“Nothing happened! Nothing happened!” I cried.

Bongo tried to hold Wilhelm back, but he shrugged the zebra off and rammed me through a freaking stall. I went through the air, back breaking the door and me landing on the toilet with a new collection of splintering pain on top of the others I was just getting over.

Wilhelm stormed forward, and just when I thought things were about to get a whole lot worse, he was covered in a magic aura and thrown against the other wall. It shook, and Baton and Stocker came bolting in with the big ibex pinning Wilhelm against the wall and Baton using his magic to help hold him. Bongo joined in on the fight, too, while Aria and Lilac came in.

Lilac stayed by the doorway, but Aria came by my side. She was shaking and in tears, and was brushing the blood from my face while asking in an endless stream if I was all right. Every time I said yes, but I was shaking, I felt sick from an adrenaline overdose and I felt like my insides were about to rupture from being overworked. I wasn't all right. I hadn't been all right ever since Curly got me exiled for whatever stupid reason, and it just seemed like a cruel joke to have me almost killed every day for one reason or the other.

“Calm down, Wilhelm!” screamed Bongo.

“Father, stop it!” yelled Stocker.

Wilhelm tried to break out, and Baton shot him with a spell that electrocuted him, but all it did was make him twitch and growl louder. He pushed Stocker and Bongo off, and made a leap for me again, but Baton used some kind of blast on him that sent him landing on his back across the room. There, Stocker and Bongo leaped up on him and tried to pin him down while Lilac still kept her distance but aimed her weapon at the group.

I was getting nervous from seeing Stocker and Bongo bobbing from Wilhelm's thrashing, and even when that crazy guy was zapped again by Baton he kept going. I was also afraid Lilac was going to shoot everyone from how much her weapon was shaking in her magical grip. Then there was Aria, who was still hugging me and apologizing in a near breathless stream and trying to wipe the flowing blood off of my face.

Then Stocker roared in a way I have never heard anypony roar before. It was deafening. It shook the whole bathroom and everything down to our bones rattled. “Genug! Sie wissen, es ist nichts passiert! Stoppen Sie diese jetzt!”

Wilhelm surprisingly stopped struggling and looked at Stocker. He was still furious, still might as well have been foaming at the mouth from his rabid blood-craze, but he stopped resisting. He looked at Stocker for a few seconds, but went to look at Bongo, who was panting from his little scuffle, when he spoke.

“Look, I know you don't like that Exile kid, but why not have him prove his worth?” asked Bongo. “I mean, you're all about value, right? So, why not have him do some stuff for you like what you did with me. Have him tag along and hope he dies on one of your dangerous missions so you'll never have to deal with him again. Or you could just kill him on the spot and make Aria more afraid of you than she already is. You're choice, Gramps.”

Wilhelm glared at Bongo, then he looked at Stocker, who never broke eye contact. After that, he looked at Aria, and she shrunk down and whimpered a little bit. A few seconds later, he sighed and looked straight up at the ceiling, nodding and muttering: “Fine.”

Stocker and Bongo reluctantly released Wilhelm a few seconds later, as did Baton, but he kept his horn charged as Wilhelm approached me. I stared up at him, swallowing blood and feeling numb. He looked down at me, and without looking away, he held out his hoof to Stocker.

“His gear,” ordered Wilhelm.

I didn't even realize that Stocker had my stuff, but he did and he gave it to Wilhelm, who then tossed it at my hooves.

“Meet us at Curry Paste's Lunch Spot tomorrow at sunrise. Don't be late,” said Wilhelm.

And then he left, leaving me a bloody mess in a broken stall. And that was basically the night that started me on the path that brought me here in this prison, talking to you about the glorious adventure of your so-called heroes.

Footnote: Perk Gained.
New Perk: Tough Hide (3)-- The brutal experiences of the Equestrian Wasteland have hardened you. You gain +2 to Damage Threshold for each level of this perk you take.

Assault on RBT-91

[Tock.]

Breakfast was awkward. Really awkward.

First, Curry Paste's Lunch Spot was owned by the pony that got the massage at Lomi's, and he was talking to Crest about proper preening procedures, and both of them kept giving me strange looks while doing so.

Second, the whole gang was there and we all had trouble looking at each other. Baton kept looking around, Lilac was staring at the same spot on the menu, Stocker was rubbing Aria's shoulder, and she could not take her eyes off of the floor, and Wilhelm was reading a book. Still in his combat gear. Armor, weapons, all of it. Even that metal box he had on his back was pressed between him and the wall. Then there was Burst Fire. I thought he left, but he was still hanging around, head on the table and complaining about how bored he was.

Thirdly, none of us apparently could afford a good tip so Wilhelm told us to forget the food and just get drinks, instead.

“If you can't tip, don't bother ordering food,” is what he said.

So, there we were, unable to order anything, sitting around a table with a psychopath, a brute of a goat, an overly timid goat, a bored guy, another psychopath, a turncoat aristocrat, and me, an exile. It was a boring morning so far, and when my stomach growled I shrunk myself a little bit. Nobody noticed or cared, though.

Then the door to the Lunch Spot opened. Its hinges squeaked and the metal banged against the wall. The commotion got all of our attentions, and I saw Bongo and the Major walking in, with the former grinning and the later stern. When they reached our table, Wilhelm stared at both of them with his natural, unpleasant look.

“What took you so long?” said Wilhelm.

“Nothing. You just got here early,” said the Major.

“No, you're late,” said Wilhelm.

“Early, late, who cares? We're here!” said Bongo. He took a seat next to me and pat me on the shoulder. “How's it going, Stalker?”

“It's Exile.” I said.

“Exile?” Bongo looked at Wilhelm. “You said he was Stalker.”

“He is a stalker,” said Wilhelm.

“No, I'm-” Wilhelm looked at me, and I slouched in my seat. “Never mind.”

“Well, let's just forget nicknames for a moment and look at the big picture,” said Bongo. “Major Pie has got forty five guys ready to go. Everybody knows everything, so they know what needs to be done. Plus our spy said that RBT-91 is lightly guarded and it looks like you got a few extra hooves with you, so this whole thing should be a breeze.”

“Good. Everyone here knows everything, too,” said Wilhelm.

I hesitantly raised my hoof, and everybody looked at me.

“I... I don't know what's going on.” I said.

For the most part, everypony's expressions shifted to that look you get when you realized you forgot to buy the ammo you really needed when you were at the trader's.

The whole group looked at each other, and the Major sighed and rubbed his forehead while Bongo looked at Wilhelm, his expression of shock clear, even with his sunglasses on.

“You didn't tell him about the military operation to retake RBT-91 from Republic Sixty One?” said Bongo.

“It slipped my mind,” said Wilhelm casually.

Bongo looked at the rest of the group. “None of you guys told him about what was going on?”

The group muttered all kinds of excuses, with Wilhelm distinctly saying: “I'm old. I forget things.”

“Wow. You guys are dicks,” said Bongo.

Yeah, things took an overly dramatic turn for the worst, and them forgetting to tell me that I was drafted into their military operation didn't help things any. So, Bongo, being the sweet zebra he is, sighed and turned to me, and gave an explanation of what was going on.

“Okay, Exile, here's the gist of it. RBT-91 is a radio broadcasting tower station place thing that used to be under our control. It was a booster that basically helped us stay in contact with other Movement outposts and a whole bunch of military stuff that you won't understand. Long story short, it was taken over by Republic Sixty One with the help of some mercenaries called Sentries for Hire, led by a real jackass named Rocket Power. They've held it for a while, screwing us over and all that, so now we're taking it back. We got you guys, forty five soldiers from various outposts and Major Uppity over there to do it. Failure is not an option. So, you're in? Good. Glad to hear.”

My tongue didn't want to work, after that, so I just stared at Bongo while the Major rolled his eyes with a deep sigh.

“Does this wimp even have any military training?” asked the Major.

“I don't think any of us at this table have any, except for what? Two?” said Baton. “Good news is that the wimp doesn't know how to die.”

The Major frowned. “That's comforting.”

Bongo chuckled and patted the Major on the shoulder. “Relax, Major, you still got forty five guys to help you out, plus I can vouch for Wilhelm and Baton. They are freaks of nature and will probably take the place by themselves if given the chance.”

Baton grinned and puffed out his chest. “Well, I don't like to brag, but-”

“We are wasting time. How soon are your troops ready to leave, Major?” said Wilhelm, completely killing the light mood that was just starting to poke out.

The Major smirked and said: “As soon as I give the order.”

When Major Pie said that his soldiers were ready, he was not a lying. They were all camped outside, and all of them were in groups of five and had white bells painted on their armor with some sort of symbol in the bells. The one I remember the most is a white bell that had a howling black wolf head in it, and that was because they had a dog with them. It looked well fed with its good build and decent fur, but it also had armor and pouches all over it with the gold star painted on its vest. I didn't ask about it, though.

We did our last minute check ups, I got some looks because of my crappy armor, and Lilac had the gold star on her armor X'd out just so she would stop getting unpleasant looks. I stuck with Baton, Lilac and Burst Fire, but they migrated to Wilhelm's entourage, so I kept myself in the back. Major Pie did one last sound off thing, a speech of some kind that I didn't listen to, and then started the march.

Nothing eventful happened, but it was a full day of marching that left me worn and panting like the dog they loaded with pouches. By the time the march was over, the sky was starting to darken, and the terrain was rough and loaded with boulders, concrete slabs, and skeletal remains of buildings and ponies alike. There was also a dried up river with scattered rusted boats that we traveled next to.

During the trip, the Major sent one of the groups ahead to clear out the surrounding area. They were wearing cloaks and had scoped rifles with mufflers on their barrels, and they were gone in no time. After they left, we were ordered to stay down and quiet, and we must have stayed that way for around thirty minutes before one of the cloaked guys returned with the all clear.

We traveled some more and reached our destination minutes later, using the rubble, ruins and shrubbery as cover, which the hiding was made easier by the dimming light. But even with the sun setting, I could see our destination plainly.

To be honest, I thought it would be smaller, but it was a good size at five stories with a radio tower full of satellite dishes sitting on the roof. The tower was reinforced, the walls were stained with dirt and ash, and bullet holes and other shrapnel damage ruined the masonry. All of its window were boarded up, its front door had been replaced with a gate of some kind, and machine gun turrets lined the roof with a few soldiers patrolling it. And lastly, the front of the building looked like a solid rectangular block that was popped out of the main building.

I mean, I always thought that radio stations were supposed to be small, but RBT-91 was big, and I was surprised that it was not reduced to burnt sticks like the houses around us. But, I digress.

We all sat there, hunkered down in our cover, breaths held tight and unicorns ordered to not use their magic. While we waited for the next order, one of the wolf soldiers knelt in front of their dog, whispered to it and gave it a pat on the head while it licked his face, and then he sent it off.

Me and Lilac both watched the dog running off, and we both exchanged confused looks when it disappeared from sight in the opposite direction of the station. Another few minutes later, the dog reappeared way off from where it started, and it began barking and wagging its tail as it ran full speed to the radio station. I didn't know what was going on, and all my questioning looks were either met with a knowing smile, a tense scowl, or concern.

I looked back at the dog and saw that it had reached the gate and was now pawing at it. It would get on its hind legs, scratch at the gate quickly, get down, run in a circle a few times, bark some more, and then go back at scratching. After a few more cycles, the gate opened up and a pair of Sixty One soldiers came out, aiming their weapons in the landscape and dog. When nothing seemed suspicious to them, one knelt down and pet the dog. Next thing I knew, there was a flash of fire and debris, and the whole front entrance was gutted, spraying twisted metal, chewed up concrete and body parts everywhere. The explosion shook my bones and the land, and I swore up a storm and jumped back while one of the wolf soldiers returned a detonator to his pouch.

The fire brought light to the evening, and debris rained down as alarm bells went off. Shouts were heard, and with the place in disarray Wilhelm and the Major ordered smoke and gunfire.

Canisters were thrown, and they popped open to cover the landscape in a colorful fog, and controlled gunshots went off in the distance. Very quickly soldiers on the roof of the station were picked off, and in seconds, there was nopony on the roof, everything was covered in a thick haze and Wilhelm ordered us to run.

So, I ran.

I ran and ran and ran, almost tripping over the uneven terrain and the random plants protruding from the ground. But despite us clearing them out the first time, Sixty One sent more soldiers on the roof and they started shooting down at us with a mix of automatic weapons and explosives.

Debris flew up around me and bullets whizzed by me and the silhouettes of other soldiers. My heart raced and my lungs and legs burned as I felt the air get pushed aside and the flying bits of ground bounce off of me. I cursed and ran faster when a round almost got my head, and when I saw one of our guys get his limbs blown off by a rocket, I ran even faster.

It was the longest minute of my life, running from the ruins to the facility's wall. My legs felt like jelly, my lugs burned, my throat was cracked and I tasted copper. I almost collapsed to the ground when I slammed into the wall with other unfamiliar Movement soldiers, but I felt relieved when I saw Baton, Lilac and Burst Fire make it on the other side of the former gate. I also felt a little bit better when Aria found a spot next to me with Stocker behind her.

I flashed a nervous smile and her, and she did the same, but then Wilhelm managed to squeeze his way between us and somehow was able to look me in the eyes while doing it. My smile went away and I gulped.

“How's it going?” I asked.

“Shut up,” said Wilhelm.

Not seeing a need to argue about manners, I looked back at Baton, only to realize that a Movement soldier with an SMG had found a spot in front of me and was poking his head in the hole. He quickly pulled back when a hail of gunfire tore through the air and busted off parts of the jagged hole.

“Twelve tangos. Center. Fifty meters. Standard weapons. Sub-par barricade,” he said.

“What?” I said, completely confused and amazed with what he said and how fluid he was able to say it.

Wilhelm nodded in response to the soldier and barked something at Stocker in Ibexian, and the big guy flipped his helmet on, turned his cannon, and slid into the doorway. His body jerked and a puff of fiery smoke popped from his cannon, deafening me and probably everybody else, leaving just ringing in our ears. One split second of a whistle and an explosion with a lot of screams later, Stocker slid back in place and shouted for us to pour in.

The survivors of the run ran into main lobby of the facility. In front of the stairway was a crater and the remains of the Sixty One soldiers and their barricade of concrete blocks and filing cabinets. The air stunk of mold and cooked flesh, and the survivors were shot on site, but we didn't get to advance very far, for charging and roaring down the stairs were a whole lot of sadists, wearing their cheap armor that barely covered their overly tattooed, sickly bodies, and brandishing weapons too advanced for them. Mostly. There were quite a few that had crappy weapons.

These sadists rained hell down at us. With an open lobby, there really was not much cover from the hail of gunfire, so the dirty tile quickly got pools of blood, and red was sprayed all over the walls and more bodies fell from the bullets breaching their armor.

I honestly do not remember how many sadists there were, but we were swarmed, and when the sadists got to the bottom of the stairs, it was all brawl. They leaped at us with their bladed boots, bit us, stabbed us, one even threw a flaming cocktail that consumed a few of our guys in a horrible, glesh melting flaming death. They screamed and thrashed in agony with bits of armor and flesh falling off, and the sadist died laughing when he was shot to pieces by Lilac and another Movement soldier.

The fire spread a little bit further, and the bullets continued flying, but we fought on. Lilac stayed close to Baton, and fired off controlled shots while he liberally used his ammo and used his club to pop the skulls of anypony that got too close to him. Burst Fire stayed by the doorway, taking potshots, and Aria was healing the injured with her insane supply of potions and was being guarded by Wilhelm, who was just as vicious as Baton. Then there was Stocker. He was taking a lot of damage, but that didn't stop him or his bullets from tearing his opponents apart. And when some sadists jumped on him, he just dropped on his back and rolled around until they fell off before stomping or ramming the survivors. Then he went back to shooting, using his cannon to blow apart a few closely packed sadists making a run to Wilhelm's back.

“Come and get some, motherfuckers!” screamed Baton.

I could barely hear him over the buzz of his quad-weapon, and the lead ripped into the team of sadists, jerking their bodies sporadically, ripping off chunks of unarmored flesh and spraying the walls with blood. As he stood there, wasting his ammo in a shooting frenzy, I dove behind a customer service counter, propped myself, and unloaded on the sadists.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Two sadists down and one injured, soon killed by one of our guys.

Gunfire was directed towards me, so I ducked down and tried to shield myself from the shrapnel of brick. But right as the sharp rubble stopped falling, I heard what I could only describe as a yowling cat, and then a sadist tackle me.

My vision was knocked into a blur, my weapon out of my hooves, and my face unfortunately covered in slobber from the sadist's rot infested mouth. I swear I smelled ass on his drool, and when he brought his bladed boot up for a stomp, the blood of his last victim dripped on my face.

He brought the boot down and I tilted my head to the side just in time to avoid having my eyes gouged out, but he did slice my cheek and the top of my shoulder. I screamed from the hot pain, and I felt my muscles get pulled when he lifted up his boot. My face and shoulder throbbed, and my body became sticky with my own blood, and when he brought his hoof down again, I deflected it, cutting my hoof in the process, and then I rolled him off and when the sadist tried getting up, I slammed his face against the shelves of the desk. The old wood shattered, his face got cut up, but he still laughed, and did a reverse head butt on me right in the muzzle. I heard something crack and I yelped and fell against the wall, clutching my pouring wound, and then he lunged at me.

I dove out of the way, and his bladed boot stabbed the brick wall, but he pulled that out quickly and took a swing at me. I fell back, thankfully next to my shotgun, and when he jumped at me again, I snatched it up and pulled the trigger, striking him in the chest right as he was about to stab me.

Blood and bone splattered all over me, and I lay on my back, crying from the pain, but I lifted my head when I heard a gurgling and sick laughing. The sadist was trying to get up, despite the hole in his chest, and every breathe squirted blood from his maw, but I wasn't going to wait for him to die. I got up with the help of my shotgun and limped over to the injured sadist. I then sat on top of him, shoved the shotgun barrel in his mouth and pulled the trigger. His head jerked and blood and teeth splashed up at me while the floor got a circle of red.

I pulled away from his twitching corpse immediately after, panting, sweating and shaking, and after I wiped the blood and sweat from my face, I started to reload my shotgun, wincing with every motion. My heart was racing and my hooves shook to where I could barely keep my weapon steady. I swear I almost swallowed one of the slugs I was holding with my teeth when someone screamed something and then exploded. After the explosion a smoking torso with only a partial leg left bounced off the counter with a wet noise and landed on top of the sadist I killed.

I screamed and backed up as quickly as I could while the blood seeped towards me, heart beating to a blur and lungs tight from lack of air. Seconds later, Baton yelled something with Burst Fire, and I fumbled with my last shell and sealed the chamber before swallowing and looking up.

I had the shotgun in my hooves, but I was unable to keep myself steady despite me using the counter as a prop. I fired off a couple of rounds at the sadists and got a lucky hit on one that was running for cover. I had to duck down because his buddies shot at me, but when I got up again for another salvo, I saw them get gunned down by Wilhelm, and there was also somepony in a full suit of armor aiming down at us from the top of the stairs.

This armored pony's helmet looked like it was once a round robot of some kind, and their armor consisted of multiple pieces of metal overlapping and attached to each other by leather straps. They had spikes on their shoulders and claws on their hooves with a blade somehow tied to their tail. Whoever this guy was also had wing shaped boosters on his back and an automatic shotgun and a rocket launcher on his sides. The launcher also had a green light on top of its fat barrel.

The light went directly over me, blinding me for a moment, and my muscles just locked as I got a very horrible, gut wrenching feeling that I was about to get shot by a rocket again. Everything seemed to slow to a crawl after that, from the distant voice of Aria screaming for me to get down, to the puff of white smoke and the ever growing black ball heading right towards me. Though, when I blinked, I heard a thud and a muffled explosion, and right as my eyes opened, I saw haze past a translucent bubble. The gunfire was also muffled, but when the smoke cleared, the counter was nothing but a bunch of burnt, jagged pieces of wood sticking out of the floor and its remains were scattered all over.

The metal monster was nowhere to be seen, and I collapsed on the floor, feeling like my heart had turned to stone and my throat stuffed with mud. The shield disappeared and I heard Burst Fire ordering some soldiers not to pursue, and then Baton stomped towards me, furious as can be while Aria ran next to him, much to Wilhelm's displeasure.

I couldn't look at them, though. I was too busy shaking and staring at the remains of the counter. I didn't even look at Baton when he punched my shoulder. I was grateful that it was not my sliced shoulder.

“Why the fuck didn't you move? Are you trying to get yourself killed?” said Baton.

I felt his spit on my face, but I still stared ahead, unblinking and my hoof stroking my watch. A moment later, I felt Aria put her hoof on my shoulder and she asked me if I was alright, but I didn't answer her, either. Not verbally at least. I'm pretty sure I nodded, and I did accept the potion she gave me, which stitched my injuries in no time.

Anyway, Baton snorted again and went over to Burst Fire, asking: “Why do you think he left so early?”

Burst Fire said with a shrug: “Maybe he got bored.”

That didn't amuse anyone.

“We aren't here to solve mysteries, only retake this place. Which is going to be difficult, considering what we got left because of terrible Intel,” said the Major crossly as he reloaded his rifle.

“Well, I guess the bright side to all this is that Rocket Power only killed one of us this time,” said Stocker as he approached the two. Consequently, he got a collection of glares and a chorus of unenthusiastic and sarcastic mutters very quickly.

“That is not a bright side,” countered Wilhelm sharply, now walking next to Stocker. “We still need to go further into the facility. They will be waiting and regrouping, so we must act quickly and split up and take them out from multiple positions.”

“You mean like doing a two man team thing where we shoot at them from different sides or something?” I asked.

Wilhelm just looked at me, and I immediately shrunk back while Baton rolled his eyes and the Major stepped forward to throw his two cents on the matter.

He said: “Just a problem with that, Wilhelm. We don't have the ammo or the ponypower to do it. We can probably hold the entrance, but that won't stop them or the reinforcements from killing us.”

A low growl rumbled in Wilhelem's throat. “How did you become a Major?”

The Major narrowed his eyes. “You mind running that by me again, goat?”

Wilhelm pointed at a corpse. “There's a gun.” He pointed at another corpse. “There's another gun.” And he pointed at yet another corpse. “There's another gun. We have plenty of weapons we can use and salvage for ammo.”

“And what about the ponypower?” countered the Major. “We lost a lot of good soldiers just taking the entrance!”

“Your stupidity continues to amaze me in every terrible way there is,” said Wilhelm. “As Stalker and I said, we will have to split up into teams of two and wear out their defenses in small engagements.”

“That only works for large scale operations, dumb-ass. These are confined halls. They can be setting up traps and will be able to pick us off one by one unless we get reinforcements!”

“The nearest outpost is six hours from here and they cannot spare any troops,” said Wilhelm. “The nearest that can spare is two days from now. If we retreat, this place will only be more fortified upon our return and those that died will die for nothing.”

“So, are we running or staying?” asked Lilac.

“We need to retreat,” said the Major.

“We are staying,” said Wilhelm.

“You're going to get us all killed!”

“Then you can run with your tail between your legs, but we are staying!” said Wilhelm. He looked at us and the ten surviving soldiers in our group, and then back at the Major. “I will not have these deaths be in vain. More will die unless we finish this now, but if we die, here, then at least we will die as warriors and not as cowards.”

The Major narrowed his eyes and stepped close to Wilhelm, looking down at him with a glare that froze me, but appeared to have no effect on him.

The Major said: “I'm taking my soldiers with me. If you want to kill yourself and your family, that is on you, but I will not let my remaining troops get killed by your madness.”

Burst Fire then stepped forward and said: “Well, Major Pie, you can take your boys back with you, but I'm going to be staying if Baton's staying.”

“Me and Wilhelm got unfinished business with this place, so I won't be going anywhere,” said Baton while reloading his weapon.

“I'm staying with Baton,” said Lilac.

“Me and Aria will go where Father goes, as always,” said Stocker.

Then Wilhelm's trio, Baton, Lilac, Burst Fire, the Major and his ten soldiers all looked at me. At the same time. It was in no way nerve wrecking or had any peer pressure whatsoever.

“Uh...” I looked at everyone with rapid flicks of my eyes. I really wanted to go with the Major and get back to Orange where its safe. But I also didn't know him that well. Now, Wilhelm creeped me out and tried to kill me, but Baton did protect me from him, as did Stocker, and Aria did check on me and fix up my back. Plus, there was the other adventures I had with Baton and Lilac. And keeping me from getting blown up was nice, too.

I was terrified. Beyond terrified, actually. But despite me feeling afraid and sick and sore, Baton and Lilac were kind of like a family now. I would have been dead for a long time if not for those two, and without Stocker, I never would have met Baton. And Lilac did help a lot at the Skyfall Hotel and Burst Fire did save our lives and take us to Bongo. I wanted to be safe and have a home, that part was undeniable, but I wanted to be with people I knew and trusted more.

“I'll stay.” I said.

With our group's decision, the Major snorted and Wilhelm frowned at me, but stayed silent.

“Fine,” said the Major. “If there is a divine power, your fate is in their hoofs.”

He then ordered his soldiers to retreat, and within a minute, the Major and the soldiers were gone, leaving just me and the group to stand in the middle of a bloody lobby. There was a moment of silence, but it passed when Burst Fire spoke.

“I'm surprised nopony's tried to kill us, yet,” he said.

“Don't jinx us,” said Baton. He then turned to Wilhelm and spoke. “So, now that we're short an army, what are we going to do?”

Wilhelm thought for a moment, and then looked up at the ceiling. “We'll go in from above.”

All of us looked up at the surprisingly intact ceiling.

“You can't be serious. How are we supposed to go in from above?” asked Lilac.

“Climbing,” said Wilhelm, and when everyone but his kids and Baton looked at him, he added with a hint of smug: “Its an ibex thing. I wouldn't expect ponies to understand.”

“The climbing won't be too bad. These types of places always have a maintenance sections and a door to their roofs,” said Baton. “All we gotta do is get up on the roof, find the roof door, and then go in and shoot them in the back.”

“But what if they welded the door or have it guarded or something?” I asked.

“They wouldn't weld it shut. They need to keep the radio tower operational, so welding the door shut won't do them any favors. But if we do come across any obstacles...”

Baton looked at Stocker, and the big guy chuckled and loaded his cannon.

“That's what I'm here for,” he said.

“And if there are any guards on the roof, I'll pop 'em,” said Burst Fire.

“This plan seems to be better than you're other one, Wilhelm,” said Lilac, looking at the said ibex with a teasing smile.

“We will need a distraction so we can sneak in,” said Wilhelm, completely ignoring Lilac. “We need somebody who is not well known in our group, but can be a pain in the ass for anybody and completely expendable.”

Then he and everybody else slowly turned their heads to me, and my heart sunk quicker than a cement block in a river. My ears drooped, my eyes widened and I took a step back, going dry in the mouth as they continued to stare at me. Then Baton got an unnaturally large, toothless, purely maniacal smile, and I knew right then and there that I was screwed.

Minutes after the nice group meeting, I was walking down the hall with sadist armor made out of metal and bone, which hid my watch, and I covered myself with more mud and blood since mall cop armor wasn't sadistic enough.

Lilac was wearing a crude slave collar with a fake inhibitor ring on her horn, and was just a few steps ahead of me. Truth be told, I actually got a little bit excited when I put the collar and leash on her, and in a bizarre way it was fun leading her around, having that control and occasionally jerking the leash to see her react. The glares she gave me weren't as fun, and when we really got close to our destination the panic overtook the fun.

“This sucks. This really, really, really sucks.” I said, my voice distorted from the chain leash in my mouth.

“Exile, can you please stop complaining? I kinda need your head in the game,” said Lilac.

“This plan is stupid, though."

Lilac glanced over her shoulder impatiently and said: “You didn't offer anything.”

“I was dumbstruck by this. Are you guys purposefully trying to get me killed?”

“I'm not, but we all know Wilhelm is.”

We rounded a corner after that and came into view of a barricade, and we stopped when a pair of soldiers in Sixty One combat armor ordered us to halt. Their barricade was made out of concrete slabs, and actually had an automatic machine gun turret aimed down the hall with boxes of ammunition beside them. The door they were guarding was modified with metal plates with the gold star painted on it, and the guards looked antsy. Needless to say, I was really glad that they did not shoot us on sight.

“State your business!” said one of the guards.

Me and Lilac were both silent since I conveniently forgot how to speak and Lilac, being a POW, was not allowed to. Though, I did find my voice when Lilac tapped me with her hind hoof after the second guard repeated the first with more force.

I swallowed and put on my best sadist impression. “Is there where I get the good stuff?”

The guards looked at each other, and then back at me.

“What?” said one of them.

“Good stuff,” I said. “You know, money, booze, drugs, n' shit. I got a mare here that I wanna trade in.”

“Are you armed?” asked the turret guard while the other spoke in his radio.

“What the hell kind of question is that? Of course I'm armed! I'm sadistic!” I said.

“Approach slowly. No funny business or you're both dead, got it?” said the second guard after he was done with his radio speak.

I approached with Lilac still in front, and right when I started walking towards them, the ticking returned. I really hated that noise and its horrible timing, and when we were a few paces away, we were ordered to stop again and the ticking was loud enough to be very, very annoying.

“That is a Movement soldier. Where did you find her?” said the second guard.

“Uh, I found this cute mare here, wanderin' 'round all 'lone 'n stuff and figured I'd bring her back here fer some fun 'n stuff,” I said, my ear from flicking from the ticks and tocks.

The guards stared at me, and I stared back, trying to smile as sadistically as possible, but my face was hurting from the mud stinging my cuts and my mouth felt like it was about to dissolve into sand from how dry it was. Add in how fast my heart was beating, how hard my legs wobbled and how sweaty I was, and I was certain I would be getting a bullet to the face before I mummified myself with sweat induced dehydration.

“I took 'er gun and put that horn ring thingy on her, too.” I added.

“What tribe are you a part of, sadist?” asked the Republic Sixty One soldier.

“Pardon?”

The gazes of everyone became a whole lot more intense and both me and Lilac stiffened, and I quickly jerked on Lilac's chain leash, forcing her into me, and I pressed my hoof blade against her neck. She yelped and started whimpering when I really dug the blade in there.

“What the fuck did ya say t' me, ya fancy piece o' shit!?” I yelled. “I bring ya guys prime pussy and yer all like 'der, where'd ya come from?' I gotcha y'all a fuckin' mare t' fuck till the clouds go away and y'all asking dumb as fuck baby questions!”

“Holy shit, man, chill!” said the turret guard.

“Chill? No, you chill! I might as well take this bitch back to my tribe and do our fertility ritual shit with her or somethin'. Ball be praised, assholes!”

Lilac spoke slowly and lowly out of the corner of her mouth: “Too much in character.”

“Shut up!” I snapped, and gave her a tug on the collar that made her choke and reel further into me.

Then the door flung open and another stallion came out, his voice booming and the ground shaking with his steps.

“What is going on out here?” he said.

Me and Lilac both gulped at the stallion -who just happened to be Rocket Power. Now that he was closer, I could see that his suit of armor was covered scratches, patch jobs, and old blood and grime, with a damaged shield and lightning bolt symbol painted above his heart. He also had a strange scent, like a rotting corpse and daisies.

“Sir, this unidentified sadist approached us with this mare and threw a hissy fit, sir!” said the second guard.

Rocket Power looked at us. “That's Waltz's girl. Where did you find her, sadist?”

“In the halls. I had to slit some drugged up unicorn's neck to get her, but I got her,” I said proudly.

“Are you saying you killed Baton Armor?”

The two guards exchanged skeptical looks, and I realized that I made a serious blunder, but I tried to hide the anxiety with a mad cackle.

“Baton? Shit, I don't know names. All I know is that after my boys were slaughtered I found Miss Pretty roamin' with a Mister Ugly in the halls, and I killed Mister Ugly and took the girl and brought her here as some kinda compen-somethin'-thingy to make up fer getting knocked out by a goat shootin' a rocket at me.”

“Compensation,” said Rocket Power bluntly.

“Say what?”

“Compensation. That's the word you're looking for.”

“Oh... So, can I come in with her and have some fun with you guys? Like snort some booze or chug on powder? Maybe share some tail?” Lilac looked at me out of the corner of her eye and I glared at her. “Don't look at me like that.”

Rocket Power was silent for a moment, but I didn't know if I should be grateful or terrified when he ordered the guards to let us in. The guards reluctantly obeyed and I smacked Lilac's rump and barked at her to move. The smack made her yelp, but she moved, albeit with a lot of grumbling and murderous stares aimed at me involved. I was going to get it good if we survived, but for now I had to stay in character, so being a jackass was the way to go. Plus, it was kind of fun, so it was worth it in a way.

After we got past the barricade, Rocket Power ordered us to halt, and then he waved over a pair of unicorns who wore similar armor as his with the same symbol on their chests. The unicorns took Lilac's leash, as per his orders, and then he whispered something to a pair of nearby earth ponies, also wearing the same armor with the same symbols, and they nodded and started forcing me back into the hallway.

Lilac and me both exchanged quick looks, and I forced a chuckled as I looked at Rocket Power, despite the two earth ponies escorting me away. The barricade was reopened upon Rocket Power's orders, and me and the two escorts went out into the hall.

“Shouldn't I be getting a reward for getting Waltz's girl back?” I asked.

“You will get your reward when you bring back Baton's head,” said Rocket Power. “It should be easy enough since you slit his throat.” He then looked at the barricade guards and said: “Do not let them back in until they have Baton's head.”

My demeanor sulked and my body locked in place. I could not believe my miserable luck, but then again, what did I expect to happen? The plan was retarded from the start.

Anyway, I got a jab in my flank, and that snapped me out of my frozen state, and when I was ordered to move, I did just that. I started walking and stayed ahead of my escorts. The ticking got fainter the farther I got from the barricade, but now I was dreading what they were going to do to Lilac, and I was only thinking of one word by the time we rounded the corner.

Shit.

Footnote: Perk Gained.
New Perk: Quick Recovery-- It only costs you 10 AP to stand up after being knocked down.

Author's Notes:

Meh.

The Message

Tick.

There is something about the Wasteland that I never got used to. A terrible, hypnotic beauty? I guess I can call it that. Every place is decaying out there. Ugly. A monument of what was taken from us. RBT-91 was just like every monument in the Equestrian Wasteland.

The hallway I traversed with my two captors -whom I found were named Cheap Shot and Fast Load- was a wreck, but I was able to take in the scenery a bit better. Old, flaking posters dotted the walls. One was of a silhouette of a rock concert, the other was schedules for events. One particular framed poster we passed still had working light bulbs somehow and was illuminating a picture of megaphone surrounded by a wreath. Beneath said symbol was a message:

Then there was a smiley face at the bottom.

It was definitely the most interesting of the posters, but I really didn't get a chance to look at others more in depth since I was forced to keep walking. My two captors were talking to themselves basically the whole time I was aimlessly wandering and silent plotting of my escape, and the gist of their conversation was that they were relieved to be away from the command center. And also scared that they would be hunted by “the bad guys” if the center falls. When it got to be hunted, they decided to ask for my input.

“You're a sadist. How long do you hunt for your enemies?” asked Fast Load.

“As long as it takes... Or until we get bored.” I said, looking at a newer poster of a light purple mare with a puffy mane of purple and red stripes smiling happily into a rising sun with happy, healthy foals around her and a lush farmland seen only in fantasies in the background. Beneath her was: REPUBLIC 61: BUILDING A NEW WORLD.

I gagged at that.

“What, you don't like Sweet Berry?” asked Fast Load.

“She ain't my kind of girl.” I said.

“What's your kind of girl?”

“The kind that shuts up and makes me sandwiches.”

“I wouldn't expect anything less from a sadist,” said Cheap Shot. “Honestly, I wish I could just shoot you and rid Equestria of another useless gene, but I got my orders. Speaking of which, where the hell are you taking us? We've been going all over the place!”

I said: “I can't remember where I slit that Bonnet guy's neck. This place is big and my brain is all dumb 'n shit and can't remember shit for giggles.”

Cheap Shot rolled his eyes. “We got ourselves a winner.”

“The guy's name is Baton,” said Fast Load. “And since we're on the subject, I find it odd that a sadist like you managed to kill him and wrestle a ring on that mare's horn.”

We rounded a corner and passed a Mr. Vendor. The next hallway we entered was just like the other. Plastered with old posters and bulletins, with some advertising concerts, others for charity events and others brightly colored propaganda along the veins of support the troops, support the war, or get out.

So, we're walking, and keeping to character, I asked him: “What's so odd 'bout that? I've killed a lotta guys and sold a lotta gals from here to there. Baton was just another neck to slice and Lilac another mare to sell. Which, I still wanna fuck her when we get back just so we're clear. She's a fine tail and I'd like a taste of her before she's gone.”

“Sure, whatever, pervert. But I'm saying your claim is odd because me and Baton grew up in the same village,” said Fast Load, “and he was shot four times and had his throat slit when he tried to stop a Sixty One soldier from killing his little brother. But the next day he was up and moving and he chased the murderer for a whole year before beating him to death with his bare hooves.”

My steps slowed and I started to feel a bit woozy, but I fought to stay in character and dismissed the story with a scoff.

“So he killed a random soldier, big deal.” I said.

“It is a big deal because the soldier he killed was General Sour Berry, the husband of Chairmare Sweet Berry and a military adviser for Waltz and Ms. Gold for these hills,” said Fast Load.

My steps slowed down considerably after that.

“Yeah, that guy whose throat you supposedly slit killed a General, widowed one of the most powerful warlords of the Wasteland and shook up her plans all in one day after nearly having his throat cut off. So, I'm wondering how a diseased rat like you managed to kill the legendary Baton Armor,” said Cheap Shot.

Then Fast Load added: “We also never said the mare's name was Lilac.”

I saw a room out of the corner of my eye and with nowhere left to run I forced myself to chuckle and braced myself.

“Come on, guys. We're on the same side,” I said.

“I doubt it,” said Fast Load.

Their weapons clicked, and that was when I bolted. I felt like I was launched off a spring the way I flew to that room. The two earth ponies shouted at me, and I slid into the room and slammed the door shut. Gunshots blasted the wall on the other side, and some blew out the window of the door. Seconds later, the door was flung open and I pressed my back against the wall and my hind hooves against the door, using every ounce of strength I could to keep it shut.

Cheap Shot got partially through, so his head and front hoof was wiggling in view and he was swearing up a storm, trying to free himself from the trap. I gritted my teeth and about ripped my muscles apart trying to keep him pinned while I aimed my weapon at him.

“Cheap Shot, stop moving! I can't get a good shot with your flank moving like that!” yelled Fast Load from the other side.

“Fucking Sadist has me stuck!” yelled Cheap Shot.

That was when I pulled the trigger and his head jerked to the side with a circle of dripping red on the wall. Fast Load cried out for Cheap Shot, and I had to duck and cover myself because as soon as Cheap Shot's body slumped to the ground bullets went flying. With them came shrapnel of splintered wood, metal and broken glass. My body was covered in shards, and I felt the heat of the bullets, the air being pushed aside and tiny pieces of lead barely brushing over me. Bullets pinged off of my armor, but a couple breached and burrowed into my flank like hot, metal ants.

I guess I yelped louder than I thought I did because as soon as I did the shooting stopped. What was left of the door was bucked open and Fast Load charged in, battle saddle smoking and eyes red and crazy. I jumped towards him before he could fire and rammed him against the wall.

We both grunted and snarled as we wrestled along the wall on our hind legs, muzzle to muzzle and eyes locked in a vicious stare down. We slammed each other, bashed each other, I bit him him in the neck and he screamed and punched me in the gut, but I managed to keep my teeth into his neck despite my lack of air and we ended up tripping over Cheap Shot's body. From there we rolled over each other on the floor, dealing blows to one another. Punch after punch from Fast Load's armored hooves left my ears ringing and face bloody while mine hardly did anything to him. The cuts were stinging me, my shot flank felt like it had two burning hearts, and my insides felt like shredded meat, but I still fought. I had been through enough shit and wasn't about to get beaten to death looking like a sadist.

Very quickly Fast Load got on top of me and started pressing his hoof down on my my neck. My throat was being crushed underneath his hoof, and his blood and sweat dripped on me as I awkwardly beat against him. I even tried pushing against his face, but it did not work. My lungs started to burn, my heartbeats quickened and everything started to get dizzy and fading. Something happened, though. I'm not entirely sure what, but when I went for another punch that I thought was weak he fell off of me with a yelp, clutching his eye, which was pouring blood.

With him off of me, I rolled to my side, coughing and gasping for air and massaging my throat while I tried to stand on wobbly legs. I fell on my face and everything was spinning, my head felt like a balloon that was trying to float and I wanted to hurl. Then my hoof brushed up against a broken piece of the door. It was sharp and jagged, and I dragged it towards me and picked it up with my mouth.

Fast Load took this opportunity to pounce on me again. This time he was on top of my back and began slamming my head into the dirty floor again and again and again. It left me dizzy and blood trickled from my ear, but I managed to reverse head butt him in the muzzle. I heard a crunch, and he screamed and loosened his grip, and I pushed myself up with a lot of painful difficulty and let myself fall backwards so I was squishing him between myself and the floor.

I rolled a bit, swearing through the jagged piece, and when Fast Load finally let go I scrambled on top of him and sliced his face open from his missing eye to mouth with my bladed hoof. He howled and held his hoof over his gushing wound, kicking his legs wildly and swearing up a storm. I then spit the weapon into my hoof and stabbed him in the neck. He flinched and gurgled, and hot blood sprayed all over my hoof, chest and face, but I kept stabbing and screaming at him.

Over and over again I stabbed him.

I kept stabbing him until he no longer moved or made a sound.

I kept stabbing him even when I was drenched in his blood.

I kept stabbing him and I...

I...

Well, I kept stabbing him.

By the time I was done, I was panting and shaking. Tear, blood, sweat, all of it mixed and fell off of me in globs. I saw my reflection in the pool of blood beside him and his one good eye, wide and terrified, looking at me. I saw my missing ear, my scratched up face, busted muzzle, scars, bone and metal armor. I was looking in a mirror of blood, but I could not look at it long.

I started backing away. My legs, heart, lungs, all of them felt weak, and I fell to the floor, trying to gulp in the rotten air. I couldn't move and I couldn't think straight. I knew I had to get out of that room, but all I could do was sit there and look at the bodies I mutilated by my own hoofs. The hoofs of somepony who was supposed to schedule events and fix clocks.

I was supposed to run the Scheduling Department, marry, have three kids, live a peaceful, controlled life in the Stable and get cremated when it was all over.

Not this. Not sitting in some goat prison awaiting execution by ungrateful fucks because of some bitch who forced me out into this fucking nightmare!

You know, after sitting in that room, watching the bodies, listening to my watch, it really put this idea into my head. I really didn't want to believe it. I couldn't. So I limped into the hallway and slumped against the wall, cringing from the throbbing pain in my flank. I rested my head against my shotgun and tried to force the idea back into the darkness. The barrel was hot and even though it burned me I kept still. I could barely breath. I couldn't stop shaking. I couldn't count.

Hell, I couldn't even hear my watch.

I wanted to cry. I really did. I tried to force the tears out to remind myself that I am me. I am Ephemeris Clock. I build clocks and schedule events. I am not Exile. I do not kill. I do not mutilate ponies. I am a scheduler. I do not kill. I build.

I told myself these things, but those words were hollow. They were useless. That was when I knew I wasn't Ephemeris, anymore. Sure, I had the name, but, really, it was just that. It was not me. I was Exile more than I was Emphemeris, and Exile needed to survive. Nothing more, nothing less.

It was after this moment of reflection that I went on autopilot and started to collecting their weapons. Or at least their ammo. I grabbed a few grenades from each of them, which turned out to be a lot heavier than I thought, and their clips, also heavier than I thought. From there, I made my way back to the station's command center.

The walk seemed longer than before and I reached the hallway I started at. My eyes were heavy, my hoofs could barely lift and my breathing was shallow. Every step was a strain and I felt my blood sliding down my shot up leg with each pulse. Then there was the ticking in my ears. Tick tock tick tock tick tock. Every tick every tock matched the flickering lights above, flashing the blood splattered, shot up hallway in darkness and dim light.

In a daze I stepped over a dead soldier. He was shot in the head. Eyes still wide and mouth open. There wasn't even a door to open this time. It was just a hole. When I stepped into the room I found more dead soldiers, more fires, more blood and bullet holes, and I saw Wilhelm execute a soldier holding out a bloody hoof, saying something to him. He sounded like he was begging, but one flash and muffled pop later and his brains were all over the floor. Then Wilhelm turned his weapon towards me out of reflex and I stared at him, feeling an odd sense of absolutely nothing.

Sure I was hurting, but emotionally I wasn't there, and when he lowered his weapon and said something to me I couldn't hear him. The ticking was too loud. Though, I figured out that the ticking was coming from a radio set that Baton and Burst Fire were working on, so I started walking in that direction.

I heard Wilhelm again, and then Stocker, Aria and Lilac came up and lost their colors seeing me like I was. Baton and Burst Fire also turned around and nearly jumped out of their seats. It was only natural to assume that Baton swore since I really could not hear much of anything that they were saying, but even though he held his hoof out in an attempt to stop me I still kept walking towards the communications rig. I heard a voice coming from it, but I couldn't make out the words. I just knew it was a voice and I needed to hear it.

When I was close enough to make out the words no one else was around. There was no Wilhelm. No Aria. No Lilac. No Stocker. No Baton. No Burst Fire. It was only the message.

“Please, somepony help us! We're trapped in a vault in A-1 Mane Enterprise Research Hub, and my friend touched an orb and he won't wake up! There's things out here that won't stop banging and screaming, and their trying to get in! Please, somepony help us!”
Click. Repeat.

“Please, somepony help us! We're trapped in a vault in A-1 Mane Enterprise Research Hub, and my friend touched an orb and he won't wake up! There's things out here that won't stop banging and screaming, and their trying to get in! Please, somepony help us!”

Click. Repeat.

“Please, somepony help us! We're trapped in a vault in A-1 Mane Enterprise Research Hub, and my friend touched an orb and he won't wake up! There's things out here that won't stop banging and screaming, and their trying to get in! Please, somepony help us!”

Click. Repeat.

And on and on it went. On and on I heard and on and on my mind cleared up to the voice of the radio.

The voice of Rose Petal.

A-1 Mane Enterprise Research Hub (1)

Tock. Tick.

My hoofs shook when I put my map on a table. I could barely see anything because of the flickering lights, and the blood from my hoofs streaking across it from when I flattened it out did not help my cause any. My eyes scanned the torn paper for any signs of A-1 Mane Enterprise Hub, but I couldn't find it. I found towns, roads, parks, and government locations, but nothing about Mane Enterprise.

“Baton, where is A-1?” I asked.

Before I could hear an answer, I growled from a painful pinch in my hip and I glared at the source. The pinch came from a syringe that Aria had so kindly stabbed me with. I felt the shrapnel in me get pushed out from the restructuring muscle and the skin growing back over it, which is a feeling that I will never get used to.

Anyway, I put my focus back on Stocker, who was keeping an eye on the doorway with his cannon, but before I could ask him about A-1, Wilhelm tapped an area on the map marked Hill View. It was about twenty miles from my Stable and in the opposite direction of where Sixty One was.

“A-1 Hub is right there,” said Wilhlem.

I used some blood to circle Hill Vista and after blowing it dry I rolled the map up, put it in my saddle, and then removed some armor from a dead Sentry For Hire merc. Aria tried to tell me not to do that, something about not healing all the way. I ignored her. Though, she was right since it was hard and painful to put the armor on. Every move was like a stiff muscle snapping or a brittle bone cracking, but I was not going anywhere else dressed as a Sadist, much less save Rose Petal looking like a maniac.

“Wait, you aren't seriously thinking about going to the Hub?” asked Lilac.

“Yeah.” I said, now collecting a belt of shotgun shells from a dead Sixty One soldier.

“In that condition?”

“Yes.”

“You can't go like that! Baton, tell him not to go.”

Baton rolled his eyes, and with a loud sigh he looked at me, completely lacking the urgency Lilac had.

“Exile, Lilac said for you not to go, but you are a grown stallion, you can do what you want. I ain't stopping you,” he said.

Lilac whined and looked at Baton, horrified. “Baton, that's not how it works! You're supposed to stop him, not encourage him.”

Baton shrugged. “What? He ain't my kid. If he wants to be a dumbass and get himself killed that'll be his fault, not mine.”

Burst Fire then walked up and decided to toss his two caps in.

“I have to agree with the lady,” said Burst Fire. “A-1 is a fucked up place and I hate to be the bad news buck, but your friend is probably dead by now. No telling how long they've been in there. Days? Weeks? If not them starving or dehydrating then those things in A-1 would have gotten to them.”

“I'm going! End of story!” I said.

After that, Aria approached me. Her eyes were wide and wet and her ears were drooped, and she said in a quivering whisper: “But the medicine didn't heal you all the way. You can die.”

I looked at her, then at Wilhelm -he was listening to the radio's broadcast intently- then Baton and the others, and when my eyes were back on her I shrugged.

“Well, if I'm dead I won't be a nuisance.” I said.

I then limped out of the center with my new armor supply of ammo as fast as I could. The ammo belt and my watch lightly bounced against me and the armor's pieces rubbed against me and its pieces clanked against each other. My speed was dropped immensely by the weight of the armor and ammo, and every step had a painful pinch that made my eye twitch, but I kept walking. I heard the others talking, but I could barely hear them. Not that I wanted to hear them, anyway. I was about halfway towards the stairwell when I heard the steps behind me, but as much as my head wanted to turn, I kept walking.

“Stalker, wait,” called Wilhelm.

I kept walking.

“I SAID WAIT!” boomed Wilhelm.

That froze me in place, and I turned slightly to see him walking towards me with the rest of the team in tow, save for Burst Fire and Stocker. Baton looked pissed, Lilac and Aria were worried, and Wilhelm, as usual, looked like he wanted to kill something.

“I will be taking over this expedition to the A-1 Hub. They will join us and once Major Pie returns to this location with his troops Engel and Burst Fire will meet up with us,” said Wilhelm.

I frowned skeptically. “Really? You've been trying to kill me since day one and now you suddenly want to tag along for my well being?”

“Consider it goodness from my heart.”

“You don't have a good heart.”

“Neither do you.”

I stared at him and he walked forward without saying another word. I watched him for a few more seconds, which during that time frame the others walked past. Aria didn't look at me. She kept her head down and purposefully looked away. Baton walked by me without saying much of anything, but he at least looked at me. Lilac actually stopped by my side and gently nudged me forward. I just looked at her, face soured and eyes heavy, and she looked down with a swallow and kept walking. I followed the group when she was in front of me, deciding to keep to the back, and we all walked in silence.

My breathing and heart felt heavy and I stared at Wilhelm, wanting to know what his angle was for this run, and Burst Fire's words clawed their way up to the front of my mind, and I got that awful thought. What if I'm too late?

645 minutes. Or 38,700 seconds. Or the simpler 11.25 hours. That is how long it should have taken us to get to our location. But it took us a little over 14 hours due to frequent stops, despite the trip being quiet.

No one said a word to each other, except for Wilhelm ordering Baton to scout ahead and Baton giving us the all clear. Part of the slow down was because we stopped and went into cover every time Baton went ahead, and we took a bland route where nothing was around us, save for a house here or there. Now, when it came to these houses, Wilhelm ordered me and Lilac to clear them out. Most were empty and we scavenged what we could.

Lilac found some clothes she really liked, and she took a couple of books from one place. How she expected to read them was beyond me since they were warped and moldy. There was one house that was occupied, though, and I almost got shot for trying to get in. Luckily Lilac sweet talked us out of a mess... and Baton walking up with his beast of a weapon probably helped with that. That was the extent of our excitement for the most part.

When we reached our destination we were greeted by a big block of a building with a gray exterior that was crumbling piece by piece. From smooth to rough patches that look like something took a bite out of it, and metal rebars poking out from random spots, it had seen better days. Now windows were seen, but I guessed it to be about twelve stories high. Fourteen max. Its parking lot was barren with large potholes and swirling green haze, and in uniformed spacing was a bunch of lampposts. The facility was once surrounded by a barbwire fence, but weather and time warped and rusted it.

We traveled across the parking lot. Baton and Wilhelm had their weapons at the ready and I made a mental note to buy a battle saddle after wishing I was a unicorn just so I could levitate my shotgun.

Anyway, a gust of wind blew by, causing the metal to creak and groan from somewhere, and as we walked I peeked in one of the potholes. I wasn't sure what I was expecting beyond discolored dirt, but a skull wasn't one of them.

So we're going at a slow pace. It is bugging me. I really wanted to run in there and get Rose out, but I think my quickening steps might have given my ambitions away because as soon as I started I was told to slow down by Wilhelm. Then he ordered all of us to stop, so we did, and he looked at the ground intently.

Curious, I also looked at the ground and realized that there were tire tracks leading from the entrance and out to the Wasteland. I looked at Wilhelm, trembling, sick to my stomach and a pressure in my throat that demanded that I scream at him.

We all knew what those tracks meant. No one else but Sixty One had vehicles, and the broadcast was in a Sixty One tower. They were there and we could have beaten them if we weren't shuffling our hoofs!

“We're going in,” said Wilhelm, his eyes back at the door.

“Shouldn't we be following the tracks?” I said.

“Not unless we have to.”

“We have to! Sixty One has Rose!”

Wilhelm swiftly marched towards me and got right up to my face, forcing me to take a step back, but I still managed to stare back at him. Even though my whole body was shaking and it felt like my insides were clamped.

“You don't know that,” said Wilhlem. “But if you want to chase a cold trail then you can do so, but the rest of us are on a mission and I will see that mission done with or without you.”

I looked at Baton and Lilac, and then at Aria, and all of them looked at me like foals caught in a lie.

“I knew there was an ulterior motive.” I said.

“Exile, we did tag along to help you, but Wilhelm also believes that there is something in there to help us,” said Lilac.

“Oh, really? Like what?” I turned my focus to Wilhelm. “What could you possibly be after in there?”

“Classified,” said Wilhelm.

And then he walked through what was left of the front door and disappeared into the darkness.

So here's what happened next. Me -in all my brilliance- decided to go in the opposite direction of the group when they went into the building after him. They went inside and I tried to follow the trail, but I quickly realized that the trail faded into nothing, which made me remember that my tracking skills vary from 0 to 0.5 on a scale of one to ten.

I hopped through the front door, which was a mangled mess of twisted metal and shards of glass, and I carefully trotted through the lobby. Old paper had fused to the discolored tile and a receptionist desk had crumbled. Behind it was MANE ENTERPRISE in big, metal letters which had long faded colors and began rusting in spots.

I tried to listen in to see if I could hear the group, but I couldn't. I silently cursed myself and the universe for this. I was only gone for two minutes and I already lost them. All those nice thoughts I had about them were rapidly eroding. All that mushy stuff about a group I could be with and count on and yeah fluffy stuff. Poof. There is goes. Fading.

So, I walked up to a map that was on the wall and much to my surprise there were eighteen levels for the Mane Enterprise hub. Twelve up top and six below. I made the educated guess to check the lower levels first for Wilhelm's group, so I headed towards the elevator at the end of the lobby. But then I stopped myself and decided to take the stairs instead.

The stairwell was... well, pretty bad. The steps groaned with every step and some kind of ooze was trailing up the wall. Ooze and claw marks. I looked up the stairwell and gulped when I saw that it went all the way up, and all the warmth in my body and soul disappeared when I saw streak of old blood and dried flesh sticking to the wall. I'm pretty sure I saw a bone in the ooze, too.

I took another deep breath and started walking slowly down the stairs. I passed a fresh hoof and I thought it was one of the group's, but another take showed it to be covered in cloth of what I guess was part of a military uniform.

When I got to the first level I found bullet holes all along the wall and doors. Bullet holes, blood, a mangled pony I couldn't recognize anymore who was swimming in a pool of blood, and next to him was something else.

I didn't know what it was, but I approached it. It was dead, thankfully, but its beady eyes were wide open, as was its mouth. It had a forked tongue and its mouth was filled with curved teeth and its body looked like an overgrown squirrel with curved claws on its paws.

I stepped over the corpses as quietly as I could. My hoofs still touched the blood, so I left a trail in my wake, and now my whole body was shaking. My throat and mouth was dry and my bones and armor rattled from my trembling.

When I was walking by one of the rooms I heard a shuffle, so I stopped and listened. There was more shuffling and clicking, so I pushed back that voice in the back of my mind that told me not to open the door... and I opened the door.

As soon as I did, a bullet narrowly avoided my face. It blew apart the door frame and scratched my face up good with the flying splinters. I cursed up a storm, unslung my shotgun and in a flash I fired blindly back inside while falling on my back.

“Whoa! Whoa! Friendly! Friendly!” shouted a vaguely familiar stallion.

“What? Friendly my ass! You shot me!” I yelled, biting my tongue soon after and looking down the hall, blinking blood out of my eyes.

“Wait... Ephemeris, is that you?”

I rolled back up and pressed myself against the wall, keeping my shotgun in my hoofs and still diverting my attention to both ends of the hall, plus the door.

“Who's asking?” I said.

“Its me. Red Wine! I-I'm sorry for shooting you. I thought you were one of those things!”

“Bullshit. I do not look like that thing.”

“Hey, man, I'm sorry, all right? I've had a bad few hours and I'm a bit jumpy, but I'll make it up to you... How bad are you hurt?”

“I'm not telling you.”

“I got a few potions with me. I can spare one.”

I blinked blood out of my eyes and looked at the droplets that fell on the floor. All those little red dots building up into one big blotch.

“How do I know you aren't going to shoot me?” I asked.

“Why would I shoot you? We're both exiles,” said Red Wine.

I huffed and poked my head into the room, still clutching my shotgun, and standing behind the table with a rifle propped on it was Red Wine with a bloody bandage over his eye. He was also wearing Sixty One armor.

“You're with Sixty One?” I asked.

“...Yeah... Unfortunately I had no choice,” he said. “Soap Box also joined and I have no idea what happened to Sylil or the others.”

I cautiously came around the corner. My shotgun was slung, but I was ready to charge him in case he tried something against me. When he saw me in my Sentry merc armor his eyes widened and a smile spread on his face.

“You're with Sentry For Hire? Oh, thank Gold, I thought I was a goner, but we're on the same team,” he said.

I stared at him. Not really mad or concerned for my safety. Just confused and surprised now that I am seeing Red Wine like that. And him seeing my confusion, his smile began to fade and he limped around the table. His hind leg could barely lift and the makeshift bandages have turned red with streaks of blood sticking to his exposed fur.

“Let's get out of here while we still can. The others left, but we can desert them and start over somewhere else. Maybe find the others along the way,” said Red Wine.

“Uh...” I took a step back and he took a step closer. “Well, I actually got tasked with investigating a distress call here.”

“Was it mine?” asked Red Wine. “I sent out a signal when they left me behind.”

“It was Rose Petal's.”

“Oh, Rose. Yeah, we found her and Artisan here inside one of the vaults with a bunch of orbs, but after we got them out they were taken to Lieutenant Butter Bars.”

And just like that, my vision blood red, and I grabbed Red Wine and threw him on the desk. It cracked, he yelped and I pressed my hoof down on his chest while I went muzzle to muzzle with him.

“WHERE THE FUCK IS BUTTER BARS!” I screamed.

“He-he's supposed to be at Mane Manor,” stammered Red Wine.

I threw him to the ground and as he tried to stand, I unslung my shotgun and aimed it at his head. He froze and held up his hoof, shaking and crying.

“Oh, come on, Ephemeris. Please don't do this. We're exiles. I'm not even supposed to be here,” whimpered Red Wine.

“Neither am I, but do you see me complaining?” I snapped. “You are going to take me to Mane Manor or I will blow your brains all over the ground, got it?”

Red Wine gulped and nodded.

“Good. Now get up.” I ordered.

And then something rammed me. It knocked me right off my hoofs and when I hit the floor all of my air was gone, and then I felt a dozen sharp teeth sink into my bad shoulder of all places. I screamed as each curved tooth set a blazing flame in my shoulder, blood gushed out ad I heard my bones cracking.

My vision blurred with tears and blood loss and my heart thumped loudly. The thing that bit me started to shake its head, sweeping me across the floor like a bloody mop. Red Wine hightailed it out of there, and I screamed again when I felt some of my bones pop.

It was by sheer luck that I managed to grab my shotgun with my working hoof when I slid across it, and whatever that thing was stopped to gnaw on me. The teeth rubbed against my muscle, tugging it up and down as it chewed, and I rested my shotgun against my messed up shoulder so it was against the things face, and then I pulled the trigger.

It slumped to the ground with the top of its head gone and I laid there, panting and gulping for air. I cried through my gritted my teeth, and when I pushed the fangs out of my body all the blood just gushed out, and I collapsed and blacked out.

“Meris,” was what I heard in the blackness I was floating in. I heard that and ticking clocks. Lots and lots of clocks. I squinted my eyes and saw faint outlines of them in the darkness, turning at various speeds. Some fast. Some slow. Some stupid fast. Some stupid slow. None of them seemed to be going normal.

“Meris,” said the voice again. It was a nice, familiar voice. Very feminine.

I looked around and saw Rose standing not too far from me. All my troubles vanished, all the weight of the world was gone, and I galloped to her, smiling. I leaped into her and hugged her tight, laughing and crying as I rubbed her mane. Something was pressing on my chest, but I ignored it and kept hugging her. Oddly she didn't cry. I cried all over her and rocked her gently, afraid to let her go, but she didn't move, didn't shed a tear, she didn't even smile.

The pressing continued and I pulled away to look at her. Her eyes were wet, tears streaked down her face and she stroked my face, sniffling. I grabber her hoof and cupped her cheek and asked her: “What's wrong?”

That's when I noticed I wasn't hold Rose any more.

“Please come back,” said Honey.

“Please come back,” begged Aria.

I opened my eyes, gasping for air. I coughed out something. I think it was blood. My vision was pulsing and Aria was lifting her head up with her hoofs on my chest. My shoulder was bandaged and throbbed. Each pulse pushed against my bone and blood stuck to my coat.

Aria gasped out my name and hugged me tight. I grunted and squeezed my eyes shut, and yet my good hoof still latched on to her and my head found comfort in the crook of her neck. Aria also rested her head on my good shoulder and rubbed my back, rocking me back and forth, sniffling and whimpering.

I opened my eyes a bit, blinking out tears, and I saw Wilhelm staring at us. Behind him, Baton guarded the door and Lilac was leaned against the wall. She was pale and holding her stomach, and blood stained the wall and floor. Baton was shaking and had streaks of blood to accompany his collection of bandages and cuts.

“How the hell did a couple of Stable Dwellers get in here?” asked Baton.

“Butter Bars has Rose...” I said, choking on my words. “He has Rose... He has Artisan... He has them... We have to get them back.”

“Not until we get Lilac patched up,” said Baton. He then looked at Aria and tilted his head towards Lilac. “Fix her.”

Aria nodded and went towards Lilac, and as she worked on her I looked at Wilhelm. He was using a terminal on the wall that I didn't notice using wires and gadgets from his metal pack, and after some attempts of whatever it was he was doing he swore and punched it. Sparks exploded outward and smoke billowed from it, and he glared at me.

“Did you use the terminal?” he asked.

“How could I use the terminal if I was bleeding to death?” I asked faintly.

“You have a special talent for causing problems.”

“And you have a special talent for being a jackass.” I tried to stand, but I fell to the floor, panting with sweat shaking off of me, but that didn't stop me from staring at that old coot. “Had you listened to me then we wouldn't be in this mess.”

“Don't lecture me, Stalker. Going in here was necessary, but I wouldn't expect a sheltered brat like you to understand.” He walked past me and peeked out into the hallway. “Lilac won't make it with our supplies and Stalker is useless if he is crippled. We need to use the facility's clinic.”

“Change of heart already?” said Baton flatly.

“No. You get to carry Stalker,” said Wilhelm.

Baton balked. “What? No! I carried him last time.”

“Tough. I hate him.”

“I hate you, too.” I grumbled.

“But he's heavy,” said Baton.

“And I'm an old goat. You wouldn't want to strain my fragile bones with a heavy load would you?” said Wilhelm.

That was rich. If only Baton saw what I saw when we were at Orange.

Anyway, with great reluctance, Baton helped put Lilac on Wilhelm's back and put me on his back. Wilhelm ordered Aria to stay in between him and Baton, and he put Baton up front while he took the rear. I will say that I was proud for not wanting to puke from the motions, but when your hoof feels like it is about to literally fall off because it is held in place by a few strands of muscle you do feel a little ill.

So, we're going down the hall, passing more of those things in the hall that have been shot to pieces. Hoofs splash in blood, bullet casings are kicked to the side, and the glow of Baton's levitation illuminate the carnage on the walls.

A sign is partially lit up pointing towards the stairs, and another had a list of floors and locations, but when Baton stopped to have a look at it, Wilhelm ordered him to keep moving.

“I have to find out where the clinic is, genius,” sneered Baton.

“Fifth floor, room five. It has a healing pod,” said Wilhelm.

Me and Baton looked at him, and he looked back at us, obviously irritated.

“Keep walking. It won't come to us,” said Wilhelm.

Baton shook his head and resumed walking, but I continued to stare at Wilhelm, or tried to, anyway. Aria kept getting in the way. I eventually submitted to just laying limp on Baton's back and let my brain get to work. It was all fuzzy from blood loss, medication and general trauma of nearly being eaten alive, but one thought dominated all others.

Wilhelm was a freak.

Luck O' the Hayrish: You don't have much Luck, but when the Luck kicks in you are a winner. Or a survivor. Mostly a survivor. Don't expect to win any caps or ladies, just a soul kind enough to keep you walking.

A-1 Mane Enterprise Research Hub (2)

[Tick. Tick. Tock.]

“Thank you for choosing Mr. Medic!” blurted a mechanical voice.

I jolted awake, not even realizing that I passed out. But with my eyes wide open I saw we were in a chamber with the windows smashed out, medical equipment somehow still around -albeit rusted and mangled- and a glowing tube... thing. It actually reminded me of the CT scanner back at the Stable (we called it the “Cursed Tube” since there was a pattern of ponies being exiled after going inside it). It was then that I realized that I was strapped to a cot that was slowly moving into the said tube and I looked at the group with my best angry face.

“Guys, do not put me in this thing.” I said.

“Exile, relax, it will help you,” said Lilac soothingly as she brushed her hoof through my mane.

She actually did look better, but I knew there was a defect somewhere. Maybe her colors were bleached. Maybe her eyes got switched. Whatever it was I knew you couldn't trust a Mister product, so I struggled to break free by rocking myself as hard as I could. But seeing as how my arm was nearly ripped off and I was a bit low on blood it was pathetic at best.

“Meris, please, don't fight. Let it help you,” begged Aria.

I looked at Aria. She was on the other side and her eyes were big and worried. It didn't make me feel better, but I stopped trying to free myself and flopped with a sigh.

“Fine,” I grumbled. “But if I come out deformed then you owe me.”

Aria smiled. “Deal.”

Then the cot slid the rest of the way in with a click, and I lifted my head to say something, but there was a terrible shriek and one of those monsters jumped through the window and tackled Wilhelm. The girls screamed, I screamed, Baton swore, and the door shut, sealing me in darkness.

“Are you kidding me!” I screamed.

I awkwardly kicked at the door with my hind leg, which did absolutely nothing. Screams, shrieks and gun shots thumped against the blackness, and I tried to bite at the straps. But right as I bit into them something small and skinny grabbed my head and twisted it so it was laying flat, and it squeezed my skull tight, bringing me to wince.

“Thank you for choosing Mr. Medic! We are way better than our competitors. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the healing,” said the machine in a cheerful tone.

With tears in my eyes and lungs short of air, I growled and tried to push myself up. I could still hear the gunshots and the screams, but I couldn't move!

I dug my hoofs into the cot and grit my teeth hard as I put every ounce of strength I could into flexing and arching my back. I felt and heard the straps ripping, and the little arms holding my head started sparking, illuminating the dark cavern with little flakes of light. Then something sharp stabbed my neck, and my eyes went wide and all my muscles turned to mush.

I collapsed.

Panting, shivering and wheezing for air and blinking tears out of my eyes, I could only stare straight ahead while the gunshots got weaker. Hell, everything felt like it was being submerged under water, from my ears, to eyes, and limbs. I knew I was still in the machine, but I felt like I was inside a tube of cold water.

“Your heart rate is currently unhealthy for this operation. Please relax,” said Mr. Medic.

Seconds later, when everything was really hazy and the beats were weak thumps, the front of me lit up and a countdown on a spotty screen appeared.

It beeped and a black and white footage appeared of a group of ponies in front of a a domed building with a row of pillars, a heavy door and large windows, which had a nice sized crowd on its lawn. I recognized Bruce Mane and Time Turner in the group, however, there were a couple of other ponies there that I didn't recognize. One was a fat stallion with a flat mane, glasses and a stovetop hat of all things. The other was a mare with a striped mane that had large bangs and done in a ponytail that curved up and then went down and over her shoulder. All of them were wearing suits, and Time Turner had his infinity tree pendant again. The mare had a pin, too, and it looked like an equal sign to me, and she had this smug smile to her while Time Turner looked like he wanted to be anywhere but in front of a crowd of ponies.

There were camera flashes and cheers, and royal guardponies stood on the stage, all ready to move at the first sign of trouble.

Bruce Mane was at a podium speaking into a half a dozen microphones that had wires leading up to large speakers.

“Mane Enterprise has always been a force of good, from our humble beginnings as a local barbershop in Ponyville at the town's inception, to the multi-billion, pharmaceutical giant we are now,” said Bruce Mane. “In keeping with our traditions, we have pledged full support to the Ministries of Peace and Arcane Magic to develop medicine and daily devices to help those in need. Among these Ministries, we have also pledged cooperation with one of the forgotten, but still important, baby ministries. By which I mean the Ministry of Education.”

This earned him some chuckles, and Bruce Mane grinned playfully at the mare, but she didn't look too thrilled.

“It is with this cooperation with these fine Ministries that we are able to do what we do best. To help the ponies of Equestria live better lives. To give the next generation an Equestria they deserve.”

There was a thunderous applause and Bruce smiled and waved at the crowd with great practice while Time Turner remained in the back, flinching and blinking from the flashes of light. Again, the applause was so loud that Bruce had to wait for the ovation to lower before he started speaking again.

“Though, as smart as I am, I can only say one thing with one hundred percent certainty.” Bruce Mane took a breath and continued in a less jovial tone. “Greatness is not born from complicity. No, it is grown. The fields must be fertile, the seeds good, and the crop tended. And even then, it will not be overnight. Or over the month. It may not be within our lifetimes, but we can tend to the fields, sow the seeds of greatness, of peace, and watch a better world grow from our efforts. That is why with the permission of Ministry Mare Glimmer and Director Whooves I have proudly placed Mane Enterprise as the Whooves Institute's greatest donor!”

The crowd stomped their hoofs and cheers, and in the back, Ministry Mare Glimmer smiled thinly and lightly tapped the stage with her hoof while Time Turner looked side to side before awkwardly following her lead. Seconds of awkward clapping passed and he rubbed the infinity pendant, and looked at Bruce, who was really enjoying the spotlight.

“Mane Enterprise will not only be donating money, but materials and advice and offer scholarships for the best and brightest of Equestria. We will provide them with the tools to succeed and pave way for a bright future of our nation,” said Bruce Mane. There is another round of applause, and after it died down, he finished with: “We will see peace again, and that, my little ponies, is my promise.”

Then the Infinity Tree flickered front and center before the footage went dark.

“See? We are a force of good,” said Mr. Medic. “We are not your enemy, little pony. We want only what is best for you, and for that we have healed you. Side effects may include: nausea, sore throat, cotton mouth, hindered motor function, temporary blindness, temporary deafness, visual and/or audio hallucinations, brain cancer, and/or death. Have a nice day!”

“Wait, what!?”

There was a ding, and the chamber was completely illuminated in green as the cot began to retreat into the world of the living, which it really should not have done that since it showed how jacked up it was on the inside. There was patches missing, wires exposed, a femur, and blood splattered on the wall. Seeing those last two, I screamed and reeled back, actually snapping the straps and falling flat on my back on the floor.

My head throbbed and I winced as I rubbed my head and looked around to see that the room I was in was intact. And clean. Very clean. I actually saw my reflection on the floor and windows, and pictures of x-ray scans were slipped into lightboxes, where a couple of stallions in lab coats were looking at the results. All that said, I knew exactly what was going on..

“I'm hallucinating,” I said to nopony in particular. “I am hallucinating badly.”

I glared at Mr. Medic.

“Thanks a lot, asshole.”

Mr. Medic beeped and a receipt printed out. “Your bill.”

I looked at the receipt and raised a brow. I apparently owed this thing my soul.

“Yeah, no. You can have Wilhelm's,” I said.

“He lost his a long time ago,” said Mr. Medic. “We want yours while you still have it.”

I stared at the machine, and it stared back at me.

I scoffed and turned away. It was only a hallucination, after all. All I had to do was sit back and hope that those things didn't kill everypony while I was trapped.

“Aria? Baton? Lilac? Anypony? I'm hallucinating, so help me out here,” I said. I felt dumb, and the doctors both turning to look at me at the same time really didn't ease my nerves. So, I just smiled and nodded at them. “Hi.”

“Dr. Turner, are you feeling okay?” asked one of the doctors, a unicorn stallion with a yellow coat and green mane in a comb over with black eyes. He looked oddly familiar.

“No. I'm hallucinating.”

“Really? What do you see?”

“You.”

The Doctor hummed. “I see. So, you don't think I am real?”

“We still want your soul,” said Mr. Medic.

“Well, you can't have it.” I said. “And no, I don't think you're real.”

“Interesting. Tell me, Dr. Turner. Does this feel real?”

The Doctor's horn glowed a black aura and something hit my chest. It put everything in a spin and when I landed on my back all my air was gone. My chest hurt, my lungs burned and I felt rips in my skin. I was sure I was bleeding again.

“Why are you not taking your medication, Dr. Turner? The Rot is spreading,” said the Doctor.

He stepped closer to me and every step sounded like a blast, and with every blast pieces of the clean office shattered to expose grime and cracked flooring, like a glass plane hiding the dirt beneath it. He stood over me and tilted his head, his eyes blank and a syringe floating next to his head.

“The Rot is spreading far and fast. You know the medication will save you,” he said.

Then there was a scream and half of his body exploded into a gory mess of flesh and bone. I shielded myself from the carnage and when I peeked past my hoof I saw the medical chamber riddled with bullet holes and scratches. Those mutants laid in pools of blood, including half a one in front of me, and Lilac was sitting in the corner, covering her ears and rocking back and forth, her eyes wide and darting.

“Make them stop. Make them stop. Make them stop. Please make them stop,” she whimpered. She looked at me, tears flowing from her unfocused eyes and said: “Can you hear them, Exile? The voices? They won't stop!”

I was speechless, and when a skinny hoof extended to my face I looked up and saw Aria looking down at me, her face covered with blood and her body was shaking. I looked past her and saw Baton shooting another stream of Hell at the mutated what-ever-the-Hell-they-used-to-be. It exploded into a cloud of blood and the wall behind it disintegrated, and as this happened Wilhelm rammed another mutant into the wall. It squirmed and gasped for air until its head was impaled by his hoof.

I looked back at Aria and extended my hoof to her. It was scratched and bleeding again, but at least it wasn't falling off, and when I was upright I wobbled in my spot for a moment, having to use her for support.

“Are you done hallucinating?” asked Wilhelm.

“I think so,” I said, glancing around the room for any signs of ghostly doctors. I heard the ticking again and began to follow it, much to the dismay of the others. Mostly because I looked like a loon who was aimlessly walking around.

I stepped out into the hallway. The clean, sparkling hallway with ponies in lab attire walking around. I stopped, looked over my shoulder to the room I just came from and didn't see my party. Rather, I saw a group of stallions putting together the machine that I just came out of using precision tools and lots of magic.

“Ah, Dr. Turner! I was wondering when you were going to show up!” says a familiar stallion.

I turned and jumped back when I saw the Black Eyed Doctor standing in front of me, grinning pleasantly and levitating a bouquet of flowers. He was also ticking.

“Roseluck asked me to give these to you, and Bruce Mane is waiting for you in Golden Data's office,” said the Black Eyed Doctor as he slipped the flowers in a saddle bag I was somehow wearing. I inspected myself and saw that I was wearing a gray suit with a black tie, and I lifted my eyes to the Doctor, shaking my head.

“You aren't real.” I said.

The Black Eyed Doctor stopped and turned around, and everything froze.

“Not real? I'm in front of you,” he said. “Have you been skipping out on your medications again? You know that is bad to do such a thing.”

I shook my head and stepped back. “I don't need medication. I need you to go away.”

The Black Eyed Doctor approached me, his horn glowing and the syringe floating next to his head.

“You need your medication. It is the only way to stop the Rot,” he said.

I squeezed my eyes shut and when I opened my eyes again I was staring down the ruined hallway. Lights hang from the ceiling, piles of dirt and broken tile were shoveled to the side and most of the doors were broken. At the very end of the hall, right in front of me was a metal door with a computer in front of it, and I could hear a faint ticking that got louder the more I stared at it.

I started walking, but stopped when Lilac's hoof went on the crook of my back. I looked at her, a small whine escaped her and her ears were drooped low.

“You hear the voices, too, right? The Rot... You hear the Rot, right?” she asked.

I pulled away from her and watched Baton come up behind her, swiveling his gun around while Wilhelm and Aria walked next to me. Well, Aria, anyway. Wilhelm went straight to the computer and immediately started working on it.

“Baton... what's happening to us?” I asked.

Baton shrugged. “Beats me. You keep zoning out and Lilac won't shut up about the Rot.”

I looked at Lilac. She was squished into the wall, her eyes glowing as she once again rocked herself back and forth. Not even Aria sitting next to her to give her a comforting hug could stop her muttering and paranoid scanning.

“And when did she start doing that?” I asked.

“Shortly after you went in,” replied Baton. “But as soon as we get back to Orange the both of you are going to see the Doc and get you fixed.”

There was a beep, click and rusted metal groaned and scraped as the door suddenly slipped open, and Wilhelm stepped back, smirking.

“I still got it,” he said.

I raised a brow, but the ticking flooded out, much louder than before, and in the center of the room was a single desk with a computer and a unicorn skeleton with a hole in its skull and a pistol next to it. The skeleton was wearing an old lab coat and had a key card laying next to it. Me and the company went inside the room and explored it some more, finding lots of old books and photos. The ticking was at its loudest by the computer and it only took me a second to see the slot for a keycard, which was conveniently next to me. So, I slipped the card in and the screen flashed on with a gentle hum. Then a series of letters and numbers and symbols scrolled across the screen until it was all filled, and after another minute of this the junk started to make sense.

Classified Log Entries of Director Golden Data
Eyes Only
Warning 99% of files corrupted. Call Mane Enterprise Specialty Tech Immediately!

It really wasn't joking. Just about every line was made of a gibberish collection of letter and symbols and numbers. The first log I found that appeared okay I clicked on, and I basically moved down the list clicking on every log that was not messed up.

Log # 01-02-14
Experiment S-1921 has shown much promise. We tested the local squirrels and they seem to be taking the medication well. A little discoloration in the eyes and fur, but speed has increased as well as strength. If I hadn't been legally binded to keep my mouth shut then everypony would be hearing about squirrels with big muscles pulling steel disks.

Log #01-05-14
So, the squirrels grew teeth... One bit Holly, but she's fine. She is a little shook up, but nothing to be worried about. The Board wants us to up the dosage of S-1921, which I am perfectly fine with. More money in my pocket and I know the Ministry of Awesome is eager to get their hoofs on these serums.
Also, before I forget, I got to put the order in for that Healing Capsule. It is a joint project by Arcane and Peace that Mane Enterprise is financing, and I am excited that it will be going in my building! Pay raise, here we come!

Log #01-08-14
Apparently upping the dosage was a bad idea. Literally all the squirrels died. We injected them, observed them, and they just popped. Holly was feeding the squirrels their protein bits and they just exploded all over her! Right now she is locked in the bathroom crying her eyes out and now the Board is calling me to tell me how pissed off they are. Well, what the Hell am I supposed to do about exploding squirrels? They told me to up the dosage. I did. This whole thing is their fault.
At least the instillation of the Capsule is going well.

Log #02-05-14
Today marked the first day of S-1922. Again, more squirrels, but they are easy to come by. I'm having Holly giving the squirrels plenty of food before we start the official injections. We all know an empty stomach is bad news for any medication. This reminds me, I'm scheduled to meet Bruce Mane for lunch, and he is supposedly bringing a friend with him. I wonder if its the Mystery Mare he likes to brag about. He always had a fetish for country patches and from what I understand she really lives up to the earth pony stamina stereotype. Bruce doesn't rut uglies so I know she's got to be a real looker.

Log #02-06-14
Bruce just supervised the next round of injections. He seems happy with what we got so far, but I still have to meet his mare. Apparently she cooks a mean meal on top of her other talents, but Bruce promised I'll see her one day. Also, Dr. Whooves is tinkering with the Capsule for some reason. I didn't even know he was involved, but Bruce said to let him do his thing, so that's what we're doing.

Log #02-10-14
The squirrels have definitely gotten bigger. They look like some kind of cross of wolf and squirrel, teeth included. Some noted flesh bags growing on their backs, which did not happen with S-1921, More research is needed on this. I'm not sure the Ministry of Awesome would want this for their ponies, but what do I know?
EDIT
Holly was attacked by the squirrels again. Tore her up real bad. Blood everywhere. Security had to gun down three of them. At least the Healing Capsule is operational.
EDIT
Holly quit. Wouldn't shut up about voice and visions after getting out of the Capsule. Threatened to sue us. I told Bruce and he said he'll take care of it. In the meantime, I'm unplugging that Capsule.

Log #02-17-14
A Ministry of Awesome rep came in for a surprise visit. Identified himself as Thunderlane Currents. The guy walked in with the feather flu and was sneezing and coughing everywhere, and he was kind of a tool, honestly. How did a whimp like him get into Awesome? But anyway, he wanted to have a look at S-1922's research notes and the squirrels. I was reluctant, but he had the paperwork to prove himself, so I had no choice. This going to be a long day.
EDIT
I just saw on the news that Holly died of an overdose of pain pills and alcohol... Only, Holly didn't drink. Ever.

Log #02-25-14
I just sent a caravan carrying S-1922 to the Ministry of Awesome Hub in Goldwater. I am expecting the call to come in very soon. I assured Thunderlane that nothing was wrong with the serum. A little mutations occurred, but once we get the Awesome to test the ponies we should have more concrete data about its reaction with equines. Thankfully it will be off my hoofs for good once the serum is transported to Goldwater.
EDIT
Well, fuck me sideways and call me a slut. I might as well kill myself because there is no way the Board or Bruce is going to let me off the hook on this one. Damn idiots crashed the wagons full of S-1922 on the Rose Line of all places. Can this day get any worse?
EDIT
Some more squirrels attacked my researchers and sprouted additional appendages. They crippled eight of my researchers and killed two already, plus they already killed one guard and injured four more. I'm having Dr. Odji destroy the research notes and all our S-1922 samples, and Scope is charged with killing every damn squirrel in our building. This kind of aggression or mutation did not happen during the tests! These are some seriously delayed reactions and there is no way this is safe for ponies. I'm calling Thunderlane right now to put a stop to Awesome's end!
EDIT
Everypony that got attacked is being sent to the Ministry of Peace Hub downtown. The town is going dark. Government spooks are swarming in and I can already see some Morales coming to question me and everypony here. Thankfully Thunderlane said he will put a stop to the Awesome contract and said he wanted to meet up with me to get more details on S-1922 while he gets a legal team set up. I can see a nasty battle coming. I know its not what Bruce or the Board wants, but fuck them. They aren't here. They have no idea what this serum is doing.

Log #02-26-14
Thunderlane is dead. The news is saying it was a robbery gone wrong. He and his brother were both shot in their beds while they were sleeping. How the Hell is that a robbery?
Dr. Odji has also been acting strange. I saw him messing with that Capsule earlier plus I heard rumors that he has been paying frequent visits to Whooves ever since that loon came in the first time to tinker with the Capsule. Not sure what his deal is, but I'm going to make some calls to get that Capsule out and get some tickets to Bernese. I don't feel safe in this country, anymore.

There was a whole lot of lines of corrupted data, and I was just about to call it quits when I found one last line at the very bottom.

Log #10-23-14
This is the final log entrance for Director Daniy Odji.
There was an explosion of some kind at Cloudsdale. We all saw the flash and we can hear the sirens. Coming all over. The communications are down. Mr. W was with me when it happened. I have never seen him more scared or seen a goat run so fast, and I can't blame him. I wish I could run, but where can I run to? The ex took my kids, Bruce Mane didn't give me a slot in Stable Sixty Seven with Roseluck and Time Turner like he said he would, and I doubt he did the same for my kids. They would have told me if they got the tickets. Rot has gotten a hold of him, just as it did Time Turner. If only I had more time I could fix the Rot. I know I could do it if I keep the place running, but what's the point? The Rot won.
My researchers and security are running. They didn't even bother to lock anything or put in the safety protocols.
Where are they going to go? Where can anypony go?

And that was the last log that I was able to read.

After reading all that I felt very odd. Thankfully the ticking stopped, but knowing that this place was connected to the Rose Line and that this was the birth place of that S-1922 thing that Butter Bars and Waltz were looking for really put things into perspective on how extensive their search was. It still didn't answer the question about the Remnant, which was a downer, and I didn't even know if this stumble of fate connected to the Remnant. All it did was talk about what led to the Rose Line mess and that those zombies were connected to the things at the A-1 Research Hub. Also, it was the second time I saw a Mr. W. in the logs.

When I pulled away from the computer everybody was looking at me, and I stared back at them.

“What?” I asked.

“What did you find?” asked Wilhelm.

I just explained everything to them in a quick fashion. Corrupted files, weird guys doing weird things, and idiots crashing mutagen into the Rose Line, stuff like that. After the quick run through of what I read Baton nodded slowly while Wilhelm moved me out of the way to search through the files. His hoofs moved quickly across the pad, his eyes darting to and fro.

“So this place is responsible for the Rose Line?” said Baton.

“Looks like it.” I replied.

Wilhhelm quickly slipped his metal case off his back and plugged it into the computer. There was a beep, digital scrolling and I was at a loss of why he was doing that when there was next to nothing in it.

“Wilhelm, me and Stocker are going to need a lot of explosives. This place is going down!” said Baton, oblivious to what Wilhelm was doing.

“No, there's too much information here,” said Wilhelm. “There must be more clues around here about the Remnant.”

Baton stomped his foot. “Forget the Remnant! This place gave us zombies and demon squirrels!”

I was actually agreeing with Baton about this, but Wilhelm kept shaking his head.

“No. If Ms. Gold gets a hold of the Remnant then she and Sweet Berry will win,” said Wilhelm.

“Okay, here's the rundown. The Remnant is just a stupid little tale that they are wasting their time on. And even if there was a Remnant then why the Hell would it be in a place full of demon squirrels!?” said Baton.

Wilhelm stared at Baton with a heavy scowl weighing him down, Aria's eyes flicked between the two, Lilac kept herself in the corner, and I was staring at the Black Eyed Doctor again. I blinked and he left, and I shook my head and walked to Aria's side.

“Can I have some water?” I asked her.

She gave me a canteen and the luke warm water had a hint of orange in it. I loved it! However, after drinking the water I noticed something down the clean hall. Or rather somepony down the hall. It looked like the Black Eyed Doctor was marching towards us with conviction, but after I blinked the hallway was back to being a wreck and there was no ghost. Rather it was a pony very familiar round helmet, overlapping yellow metal pieces, spiked shoulders, claws, bladed tail, wing boosters, and saddle with an automatic shotgun and rocket launcher attached to it.

With wide eyes and a shaky hoof I pointed down the hall.

“Uh... guys.” I said.

Baton and Wilhelm looked down the hall, and when they saw who I saw Baton charge his horn and cocked his weapons and Wilhelm quickly packed up his gear while ordering Aria to stay in the back. Baton also told me to get Lilac to the back of the room, and after I got her to Aria I felt compelled to join the two. But then I remembered that I was basically the easiest target, so I decided to stay in the back with the girls.

“Well, fuck me,” said Baton.

The red light pointed towards us, followed by a deafening pop! Baton's shield went up and the room shook from the explosion. The wall crumbled outside the cracking shield and dust blocked our line of sight, and while this happened Wilhelm started shooting at the floor. Pop-Pop-Pop and Pop-Pop-Pop, and on his weapon went until there was a circle of bullet holes on the floor.

“Stalker, stomp!” ordered Wilhelm.

I rushed to the shot up area and stomped on the floor with Wilhelm. With the combination of age, decay and bullets every stomp from us led to chunks of the floor falling out, and when the hole was big enough to go through there was another blast that shook the room and caused Baton to recoil. Cracks spread on the ceiling and dust, old ceiling and other junk fell on top of us, and Wilhelm pushed Aria down the hole. She let out a short scream before she landed below with a grunt, and I had to drag Lilac by her tail and shove her down the hole since she was too petrified to move. Unfortunately she landed on top of Aria, putting both of them in a tangle that only Aria tried to get out of.

“Baton, let's go!” I said, waving him to follow us.

Baton's horn glowed again and after another shield layer popped up he galloped and leaped down without hesitation. Then I was shoved down before I had a chance to process what I saw. In that brief moment of falling everything churned into a blurred mess, and when I landed on my back on the rubble all the air was gone and it felt like my spine was just twisted in ways it should not be. I groaned and rolled to my side, cursing under my breath as my back throbbed, and Wilhelm landed next to me and kept his weapon trained on the hole.

“Baton, up front!” ordered Wilhelm.

Baton ran ahead and used his magic to blow off the door to the room we were in. There was another explosion and the room above us collapsed, pushing a cloud of thick dust and rubble down through the hole.

“Run!” ordered Wilhelm.

Aria pushed Lilac to her hoofs and forced her to run, and after the two were in front of me I started running and Wilhelm stayed in the back. About halfway down the hall there was a thud behind us and Wilhelm unloaded his weapon. I looked over my shoulder and saw Rocket Power rolling out of the way while Wilhelm walked backwards, firing his weapon. The constant thunders of gunfire left a ringing in my ears, and Baton's insane weapon screaming like a banshee didn't help either.

I looked to Baton's direction and saw a few more dead squirrels in front of him, shot to pieces. We galloped past a row of windows that allowed me to see into a clean, bright white room with ponies in full body HAZMAT suits using magic to strap squirrels down to metal tables where mechanical arms guided syringes into their necks. In the room was the Black Eyed Doctor in his suit, speaking to a pair of hazes that had no form, except for bodies and limbs.

“I can stop the Rot if you will let me,” said the Black Eyed Doctor.

“We are paying you to fix S-1922, not fix a myth,” said a haze.

“It is not a myth! Everything wrong is because of the Rot!”

The glass suddenly shattered and I was rammed into the wall by a demon squirrel. It screamed, I screamed. It drooled and snapped its teeth at me, and I kept its head back by pushing against its throat. Slobber went all over my face, followed by a splash of blood and bone, and when the half-headed body rolled off of me Aria pulled me up, holding Lilac's weapon in her mouth.

“Thanks.” I said, surprised that she actually did something like that.

She just nodded and kept running, and Lilac was trotting or something, not really sure, but she was going to get herself killed that much I knew if she didn't pick up her pace.

I nudged Lilac to go faster. It helped a little bit, but when I looked over my shoulder I saw Rocket Power galloping after us. I turned fully, unslung my shotgun and unloaded what I could, barely missing Wilhelm. Sparks flew off of Rocket's armor and he staggered a bit, and when I stopped shooting Wilhelm rushed forward and headbutted him, knocking him off of his hoofs and sent him skidding down the hall.

The pony quickly rolled to his hoofs and lifted his hoofs up to slam down on Wilhelm when the old goat tried charging him again. Rocket Power hooked his hoofs to Wilhelm's horns and slammed him into the wall, spraying out broken brick and plaster, and Aria skidded to a stop, saw what was happening and started running towards him.

“Vati!” screamed Aria.

I was in the middle of reloading when Aria ran past me, and at that point I didn't even think. I ran after her, yelling for her to stop. She tried to headbutt Rocket Power, but all that happened was her bouncing off of him, discombobulated, and then she was backhoofed right into the opposite wall. Limp.

It was this moment of distraction that I rammed Rocket Power. The impact of me hitting metal sent a fresh bruise into my shoulder, but it did cause him to briefly lose his balance. That balance loss was very brief, and he rebounded with him putting me in a death hug, lifting me up, and slamming me on the ground. On my back. Again.

I laid there, gasping for air, and Rocket Power got on his hoof and tried to stomp on me, but I managed to roll out of the way so that he only stomped the floor. It cracked and popped under his strength, and a close range shot pushed him away from me.

Wilhelm was back up and shooting Rocket Power up close, with every shot pushing the pony back and punching holes in his armor, and while this happened I went next to Aria -who was still limp- and tried to help her up.

Every part of me shook as I did this, and thick grayish-blood oozed out from Rocket Power's holes, but in a disgusting twist of fate, Rocket Power managed to fire off a trio of shells right into Wilhelm's chest. It punched through his armor with ease and the goat dropped, his maw snapping for air with blood pouring all over his chest and the floor from three big holes. Rocket Power then turned his weapon to Aria, and quicker than a heartbeat I aimed my shotgun at his head and stared into the cracked goggles of the beast. Gray blood dripped from his wounds and my limbs shook as my mind screamed: WHERE IS BATON!?

I really didn't want to die this way, and I had a feeling Rocket Power didn't want to die, either. So, I'm having a staring contest with this guy, Wilhelm is shifting on the ground, coughing blood and looking paler by the second, and Baton is nowhere to be seen.

“Back off!” I ordered.

And that was when he shot me.

Lost Time

[Tick. Tick. Tick.]

The blast was the last thing I heard. The last thing I felt was a hot punch that tore through me. Flesh, bone, all of it was... Was destroyed. My ribs broke into splinters and my legs just gave out. I hit the wall. I crumbled. I felt nothing but a coldness and blood flowing out of my body and I could only lay there, gasping for air as my vision faded. The last thing I saw was Rocket Power standing over me, his shotgun aimed at me, and my eyes fell shut.

There is something terrifying about dying. It is all darkness at first, but then you see a light. I didn't know if it was a good light or a bad light. I just saw a light in the darkness and I tried to walk towards it, but it faded and something pulled me back. It felt like talons gripping me and I was pulled too far too fast to think, and next thing I knew I was lying on my back, staring at a ceiling fan and a soft light.

The fan spun gently and the walls were actually clean. They had life. Cleaner than my Stable walls with a soothing yellow paint, pictures of flowers, trees, and photos of a couple in various locations. I couldn't make out the faces since my vision was blurry from I guess waking up. The bed was very comfortable, too. The nice, soft sheets, a comfy pillow and a plush mattress was heaven compared to the cots of Stable 67 and the beds of the Wasteland. I guess I could say it was like laying on a cloud?

A mare suddenly appeared next to me. She was a pretty one, too, with a pale yellow coat, light green eyes and a two toned straight mane that reminded me of berries. I want to say raspberries, but I can't be too certain. I only had those once and that was when I celebrated my promotion as Head of the Scheduling Administration with the rest of the Stable higher-ups.

Anyway...

The mare moved next to the body I was in and placed a hoof on my forehead.

“Time, how are you feeling?” asked the mare worryingly.

“The same as yesterday,” said the stallion. Me, I guess. I really had no idea what was going on.

The mare crawled on the bed and laid next to him- Me. Whatever.

“Well, you have a visitor. He's waiting for you downstairs,” she said.

My host nodded and when I moved I was not in a state of comfort, but of some pain. My spine and bones ached, my muscles felt weak and every step was a struggle. When I went for the mirror to grab a tree pendant I thought I was looking at an older version of myself. I had the same brown fur, the same brown eyes, but I had crows feet and my dark brown mane was graying.

The mare walked next to me and draped her hoof on the crook of my back and smiled in the mirror. Looking at her, she either aged very well or this Time guy liked the younger crowd.

The mare said something I couldn't understand, much less hear, and she pecked me on the cheek and left the room. Shortly after I trailed her with the tree pendant around my neck, but when I exited the room the hallway was dark and a void with only ticking clocks being illuminated by a flickering light overhead. At the far end, the Black Eyed Doctor stood, levitating a syringe. Every flicker brought him closer and every tick brought “Rot”.

Rot. Rot.

Rot. Rot.

Rot. Rot.

“Why are you not taking your medication, Dr. Turner?” said the Black Eyed Doctor.

Rot. Rot.

Rot. Rot.

Rot. Rot.

“Why doesn't he take his medication? I can cure the Rot, can't he see? Why can't he see? Why can't they see? Do they NOT want TO SEE!?” said the Black Eyed Doctor, his voice shifting to rage and panic around me.

I wanted to back up, but my legs moved forward on their own down the dark hall, passing clocks turning at different paces.

“Don't be afraid. It's going to be okay,” said Artisan somewhere.

I wanted to turn my head, call to Artisan, but I couldn't do anything, and just like that, after another step I was in a dining room with a glass patio door that gave an excellent view of the rolling hills outside and the rising sun, bathing everything in a welcoming orange. Birds were even chirping and the light warmed the room. It was straight out of a scene of paradise.

The Black Eyed Doctor was sitting at a polished table, a cup of coffee in front of him and the mare was behind the counter, making a smoothie while a round robot floated in front of a counter, using speed and precision to cut up a line of carrots and celery with its knife hand. Somehow the flame from its exhaust port didn't light the place on fire.

“Dr. Odji, what a surprise,” said Time sourly, his focus going on the Black Eyed Doctor.

The Black Eyed Doctor, Dr. Odji, I guess, levitated his coffee cup and gave the smallest of smiles.

“Good morning, Dr. Turner,” he said. “Roseluck made an excellent pot of coffee. You should help yourself to some.”

“I'm fine. What are you doing here?”

“I was coming to check on you to see if you are feeling better after the accident. It is good to see you walking again.”

Time Turner frowned and hobbled to the counter next to the mare, Roseluck.

“Yes, and I don't need your medication, anymore,” he said.

Dr. Odji stared at me -I mean Time Turner- in a way that was very uncomfortable. His expression was calm, but I noticed his hoof twitching.

“You know Bruce wants you to keep taking the medication,” said Dr. Odji.

“I know what Bruce wants, but I am through with it. I am fine. I can get back to work and you can resume your research.”

“The medication is my research.”

Time Turner sighed and rubbed his forehead, saying: “I mean the research Mane Enterprise is paying you for.”

Roseluck walked next to my host and gently turned his head so that they were eye to eye. The worry was real, the pain was real. I saw it in her eyes and I felt it in my chest, my back, my limbs. It was suffocating.

“Timmy, please take the medication,” begged Roseluck. “You are in pain and I know you want to be strong, but you can't be strong if you keep on like this.” She stroked his cheek. “Please, do it for me.”

Time Turner sighed and hooked his hoof with Roseluck's, and nodded.

“Fine,” he said. “But this is the last one.”

“The last one,” said Dr. Odji, his voice like an echo in my ears. “There is always one more. One more shot, one more sniff, one more click, one more view, one more battle, one more one more one more one more. You will be back for one more. But don't worry, Turner, we can end this, this Rot. You just need one more shot, and I just need more time until you will no longer need one more.”

“It's going to be okay,” said Artisan again.

And just like that I was awake, gasping for air. Or wheezing, more like it. Every breath was like getting stabbed in the lung with a small blade, every heartbeat was a struggle. I couldn't even move. I could only lay on the cot, watching shadows move along an unfamiliar wall. My hoof was limp over the edge and thick drool pooled on my cot.

I wanted to move.

I couldn't.

I gritted my teeth and with a lot of pain and tears, my body turned. I fell off the cot and knocked over a tray of medicine, potions and syringes. Surprisingly hitting the floor didn't really hurt, but I still felt the pressure of the impact, and there was a clamor in the other room followed by the door flying open and Leur rushing in with Aria by his side.

“Oh no, you should not be out of bed!” said Leur.

“I told you to strap him down!” said Aria. She laid next to me and brushed my sweaty mane, asking: “Meris, are you okay?”

I didn't say anything. I just tried to crawl, but only one hoof would respond and it was quickly held down by Aria and she begged me to stop moving while Leur used his magic to clear out the mess I made.

“His spine is broken! He shouldn't even be moving, right now!” said Leur.

I winced and tried standing, but I couldn't even arch my back. I could barely move my hoof with Aria holding me down. Panic rushed in like a mudslide, covering me, suffocating me. I couldn't breathe.

This was not happening! There was no way I was paralyzed! I couldn't be paralyzed! I was just having another nightmare. I had to be in another nightmare. I just had to wake up!

“I need to wake up.” I said as Leur levitated me on the cot. “I need to wake up. One of you two kill me!”

“Meris, you are awake, you're just a little... hurt,” said Aria. She rubbed my sweaty mane and tried to offer a comforting smile, but it just amplified her worry instead. “You will get better, though.”

“I can't... No no no, I can't! I can't be paralyzed! Fuck!” I cried.

I will say it. I cried. Tears were flowing, it was getting harder to breathe with every second and I tried moving again, but Aria laid on top of me to stop me from rocking while Leur used his magic to run straps over me.

“Get off of me! Get those things off me! I'm not paralyzed!” I screamed.

I tried to lash out, but nothing happened. Only twitching and tears.

“Meris, look at me,” said Aria. She got in front of me and cupped my head in her hoofs and looked me in the eyes. She was hazy from the tears and I had trouble focusing on her, but she still spoke. “I promise it's going to be okay. You are hurt, but you will get better.”

“We're going to fix you and before you know it you will be walking again,” said Leur.

“Just potion me up,” I said. “Or put me in the pod.”

“We tried that, but Lilac destroyed it, and we did all that we could with the potions, but you were hurt too badly. But the good news is you're improving!”

“Improving as in awake,” said Leur. He levitated a syringe and made magic fingers to tap the container. He then glanced at me and I growled at him, trying yet again to move. “This will calm you down.”

“Don't you dare stick me-”

Prick.

“Ohhhhhhhhh~Fuck you~”

I couldn't tell you how long I was out, but when I woke up again I saw a tray near my face with a straw from a cup aimed towards my mouth. I looked around the best I could. My neck hurt and my mouth was dry, so when I saw that I was alone I didn't care how stupid I looked trying to grab that straw with my tongue. I was thirsty and by Celestia I would get something to drink!

After I got the straw in my mouth I sucked down the liquid and was instantly greeted with the fantastic tangy taste of orange juice. I gulped it down quick enough to hurt my lungs, but the pain of no air was worth the taste, and soon enough I was scraping the bottom. I sucked on the straw until I was certain there was nothing left, and when I released the straw I stared at the doorway, Beyond the door there was a radio playing rock music that was definitely energetic and surely got ponies moving and banging heads, but I couldn't do any of that since I was immobile.

The music actually reminded me of a time when the Overmare tried a new music policy to allow that heavy music in, but they quickly scrapped it when the Stable ponies turned the Meet-and-Greet area into a mash pit and called for a “halt to the machine”. The one who suggested it to the Overmare was arrested (later exiled), the musicians and rebels were arrested and they blared nothing but calming music over the intercoms for almost two months. At that time I was glad I was away from all that chaos, just me in my little stall working on the clocks.

Looking back, I kinda regret not going up there to join the mash pit and acting like a hooligan. I probably would have had more than just two friends. I probably would not have had a miserable existence. I probably would have lived instead of being a ghost in my own life.

So much memories I could have had beyond the stall...

Beyond my safe corner...

Lots of lost time.

...

Anyway, that music carried on for a about five songs, or roughly twenty minutes, before Bongo started speaking.

“Good evening, ponies of Orange and the Wasteland! Good morning, Restoration; good morning, Sixty One; good morning, Sadists; good morning, Enclave; good morning, ghouls; and good morning, all those who brave the Wasteland in a journey of discovery, redemption and noble deeds! Bongo here to give you the news of the Wastes! First up in our list of things of all things news, the Enclave is doing operations in the area. I don't know what for, but I advice everypony to leave them alone. They willshoot you. Secondly, Sixty One is losing ground in the Macintosh Hills due to our brave stallions and mares, but the Sadists they employ are still problematic, so stay on your guard and spare the caps to hire guards for your caravans. Thirdly, I'm still offering rewards for discovered music tracks. I'd like to thank fellow Orange resident and merc, Mad Mac, for finding the recent tracks, and you too can get some caps and/or other prizes of finding music! Also, I will be having a special guest speaker tonight! A sweet little mare from the mysterious Stable Sixty Seven who has recently joined my crew!”

Then he went on about something, but I didn't hear it since the door opened up and Horse and Leur walked in. I immediately felt compelled to run, but due to my condition I could only stare at them with my best evil look.

“Don't look at us like that. Without us you would be dead,” said Dr. Heartbeat.

“He's just emotional,” said Leur. “How are you feeling?”

I said nothing, even though I wanted to be a sarcastic prick about the situation,

“He's certainly calmed down,” said Leur. “Earlier he was screaming and trying to crawl away.”

“The potions did more than I thought,” said Dr Heartbeat. He looked at me and smiled, his skin peeling and ripping from the stretch. “Here's the deal, I can fix you, but its going to cost you a pretty cap. I already sent Wilhelm, Baton, Stocker and Burst Fire to fetch supplies, but when they return I will fix you up good as new, got it?”

I eyed him suspiciously, and my eyes shifted to Leur, who was looking at me with a smile.

“How much?” I asked.

“Ten thousand caps,” said Dr. Horse.

My heart sunk at that, and I told him: “I don't have that kind of money.”

The doctor nodded. “I know. That's why I'm hoofing the bill and we will set up a payment plan. No problems will come from this.”

I was silent again and Leur stepped forward.

“Do you want to walk again?” he asked.

I nodded. How else was I supposed to save Rose and Artisan?

“Then take the offer. No one else will be this generous,” said Leur.

After a few long seconds I sighed heavily and reluctantly nodded, and Dr. Heartbeat patted me on the shoulder, smiling again.

“Good. We will start when Wilhelm returns with the supplies,” he said.

He then left the room with Leur, giving him orders about getting things set up along the way, and when the door shut the room became darker and colder, and unfortunately for me I had no blanket to hide under. I was paralyzed in the dark, cold world and there was nothing I could do about it.

Eventually I passed out again, and I spent the next three days, ten hours and eighteen minutes listening to music and Bongo talking. Ebony's voice came on every now and then to relieve him so the music and news can continue. Most of it was reruns, but every now and then she would make a shoutout to other exiles that survived Sunshine Gardens, telling them that Orange has a home waiting for them.

When Bongo spoke, he brought in guest speakers every day, with the first being Major Pie talking about successful operations against Sixty One, the next some guy who was trying to peddle a Wasteland Survivor's Guide, and the third was some professor from a University of Baltimare saying something about making cybernetic enhancements safe and affordable.

I called bullshit on that.

We didn't even have all that fancy cybernetic enhancement stuff in the Stable, so there was no way in any realm of possibly that a bombed out nightmare world would have a safe, affordable mecha-pony thing going on. Sure, there was Waltz, but I doubt his procedure was safe and I was sure he chugged medication to keep infections at bay.

But let me get back on track. Sorry, got a little distracted.

Anyway...

Broken back.

Lots of caps.

Wilhelm and the gang coming back with supplies!

I was taking a nap when I was woken up from Aria stroking my mane. I don't even remember what I dreamed about, It was just a dark void, and next thing I knew, Aria's voice was in my ear and her hoof was brushing me awake. It felt good, but not good enough to ease my grouchy mood.

“Meris, I got good news,” she said.

My eyes cracked open and I looked at her.

“You're going to walk again,” said Aria.

She smiled at me and stepped aside to point at a pile of junk. There were braces, crutches, gears, oil canisters, scrap metal, seat cushions, a sewing kit, a circuit board, wires, Kevlar armor and what looked like a whole chest of colorful medication.

I stared at the odd collection, then I looked at her, unsure if I should praise them for their creativity or be concerned about what they brought. Especially with the circuit board and wires. Seriously, what would they need those for?

As I thought about it, Wilhelm entered with Stocker, Burst Fire and Baton in tow with Dr. Heartbeat and Leur remaining behind at the doorway. Still no Lilac.

Wilhelm walked straight towards me, perfectly fine even though he took three slugs to the chest -that dick- and when he was in front of me, he exhaled and looked at my pathetic body with a neutral look.

“Thank you for shielding Aria,” said Wilhelm. It sounded like it hurt him to say that, so I remained quiet. “I appreciate what you did, and for that I will help you get your friends back as repayment.”

I still said nothing, and Wilhelm stared at me for a few more seconds, inspecting my tired, battered face for some secret message, and then he approached Heartbeat and Leur and spoke just loud enough to where I could barely hear him.

“He will walk again. No excuses,” said Wilhelm.

The two doctors nodded, and Wilhelm ordered Aria and Stocker to follow him out. Aria gave me one last look and then hurried after him and Stocker flashed a supportive smile before doing the same, leaving just Baton and Burst Fire to sit in the corner. Though, the donkey left shortly after because he got bored, leaving just Baton.

He stared at me, and it hurt my neck to look at him.

We were quiet, only the medical chatter of the two doctors and the clanking of equipment gave the room any noise.

Finally, after a few minutes of silence between us, Baton spoke with a heavy tone.

“You got a death wish?” he asked.

“No.” I replied.

“You act like it.”

“Was I supposed to just let that guy shoot Aria?”

Baton was silent. He looked down at the dirty floor and scratched his mohawk.

“Lilac wanted to know how you're doing. I told her: 'How the fuck do you think he's doing? He's paralyzed and you broke the only damn thing that could've fixed him easily.' She hasn't said a word to me since. Or anypony else. Been three days,” said Baton, completely dodging the question. I guess he would have preferred Aria getting shot than me being paralyzed.

“Is she still hearing the voices?” I asked.

“How the Hell should I know? She hasn't said anything to me in three days, dumb ass,” said Baton.

Yep, classic Baton. The charm of a nail bomb.

“You know, I....” Baton stopped himself and looked down again, and I kept my eyes on him, now curious as to why he stopped, and he grumbled and stood up, shaking his head. “Never mind.”

And that was the last thing he said to me before leaving the room. After he left, Leur approached me wearing a surgical mask and white coat, and he slipped a breathing muzzle over my face that immediately flooded my nose with cool air that carried the scent of roses and lilacs. My eyes became heavy and it felt like my body was floating off the table. Everything became dim as darkness seeped into the view. When all that was left was a small orb of blurry light, Leur spoke:

“It's going to be okay.”

And then it was blackness from there.

Cripple

[Tick. Tick. Tick.]

A sharp pain in my back jolted me awake. Or shocked the colors into existence of what was once pure blackness. Whatever it was, it felt like a stab in my back and I found myself laying on a tiled floor, coughing and trying to move.

I couldn't move my hips. I tasted copper. My head felt loose and my back was burning.

Blood was all around me.

An alarm was sounding and the white walls were bathed in swirling red lights and damaged with shrapnel. I heard screams and sobs, and ponies desperately crying out for their friends as raging inferno cooked us alive.

Smoke suffocated me and filled the room with a hot, orange tinted haze.

My eyes watered.

I couldn't move.

Couldn't breathe.

My heart wouldn't beat.

I was stuck in the oven. Everything was burning and cracking and peeling. My skin boiled underneath my smoking coat. I felt my flesh crack open and the oozing blood cake to my skin.

Crawl, I told myself. Crawl!

My teeth nearly broke from how hard I was grinding them as I pulled myself closer to a doorway. Above it, a clock ticked. Slowly. Flames consumed it.

Tick tock.

I had to crawl.

Tick tock.

I had to move.

Tick tock.

The screaming won't stop.

Tick tock.

The burning won't stop.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

I had to get to the door.

The flames were eating me! My skin and muscles were falling off. I reached the door and-

Woke up shivering and soaking in sweat. I was alone in the hospital room, but this time I was thankfully covered in a blanket. It was made of rough cotton, but it felt good. I don't know how long it has been since I had a blanket. Weeks, maybe. I was loosing track of time and it was just as unnerving as being in a bed hearing screams and feeling on fire.

I looked at my hoof just to make sure that I was not burned and was relieved to see that I wasn't, but there was a concerning thing in front of me. Dr. Odji stood there, the walls clean and bright with a working ceiling fan. There was also a thick door, and next to me was a get well card with a smiling sun on it and a bouquet of flowers with a note addressed to me from Bruce Mane.

“It pains me to see you like this, Time,” says Dr. Odji. “But don't you worry, I will fix you. You will walk again.”

And then I blinked and Dr. Odji was gone. I was alone in the dark, grungy room with the lone fan above the door spinning slowly. Calming music seeped through the door and I winced as I lifted my blanket, my muscles sore and an odd tug on my back. My hoof trembled and I grimaced at the collection of scars on my coat. My fur has thinned and pink lines crisscrossed it, and then I let the blanket roll off of me and I almost screamed at what was on my other hoof.

It was a skeletal brace that wrapped around my hoof. It was made of crutches, pistons, and gears anchored in place with metal sleeves. Thankfully it was padded so as uncomfortable as it looked, it was less than what it could have been. Oh, and there was also wires running up its length that went to my back.

Twisting myself to an awkward angle, I used my none braced hoof to feel my back and blood drained from my face when I felt a metal contraption on top of my spine.

I didn't know what the Doctor did, but it felt like he put a metal centipede on my back with its freaky little metal legs digging into my skin, and when I looked over my shoulder I saw my hip and hindlegs were braced with more crutches and gears and and metal frames and wires. Then there was the back of my head. Something was on it. Like a metal plate with more wires coming from it that attached to the device on my back. Whatever it was, it was like having a metal spider on the back of my skull.

I wanted to scream, but my throat was too dry and I fell out of the bed with a loud thud. The shock went through my hips and unbraced shoulder, leaving me in pain, and I rolled to my stomach, growling and blinking tears out of my eyes. Then I sat up and looked at my braced hoof, each piece clicked and hissed as I moved, and my breathing...

I just couldn't breathe.

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't see. Couldn't hold still. I was trembling and shaking my head in disbelief. The braced hoof had little jagged teeth surrounding my natural hoof, and when I looked at my hindlegs I saw the same thing.

I pushed myself up and managed a couple of hissing-clicking steps before my legs buckled and I fell over, crashing into the wall. The whole thing shook, and with some difficulty I managed to pull myself away from the wall and staggered towards the door. I pushed it open and wobbled into a long room lined with cots that were mostly unoccupied, save for a couple where frail ponies stared at me with wide eyes and drooped ears.

The noise from every step was rapidly getting annoying and by the time I reached the lobby of the clinic.

I was seething.

I couldn't see much, but what I could see was Leur rushing out of his office levitating a pistol and wearing a pair of thin, light blue pajamas and a little hat to go with it. When he saw me in the lobby he sighed with relief and lowered his pistol.

“Thank goodness. I thought you were a criminal trying to rob us of our medicine. Or orange juice,” said Leur.

I held up my braced front hoof, vein throbbing, saying as evenly as I could: “You mind telling me what you and Heartbeat did to me?”

“Fixed you like you wanted,” replied Leur.

“Fixed? Fixed!? Look what you did to me!”

Leur held his hoof up to me, anxiety clear in his eyes. He told me to calm down and ushered me to his office, which was a little difficult for me since I had to deal with the combination of added weight and me having to fight every wobble.

When we entered Leur's office, Doctor Heartbeat was there. It looked like he just woke up. But then again he was a zombie so I didn't know if he really just woke up or if his rotten skin was just sagging.

“What's the problem?” asked Heartbeat.

“Meris is freaking out,” said Leur. “I guess we should have asked him if he wanted those braces put on him.”

“You should have!” I snapped. “I just wanted my back fixed, not turned into a robopone!”

“You should be grateful that we fixed you,” said Doctor Heartbeat. “Most would bury a pony that couldn't walk. Too expensive to fix and take care of.”

I pointed at my brace. “Was this why it cost me ten grand!?”

Doctor Heartbeat nodded. “Yes. But I did you a favor.”

“I owe you ten grand for something you did without my permission!”

“Meris, have a seat,” said Leur.

I glared at him and he motioned to a pad on the ground. It looked like an old chopped up mattress, but I sat on it nonetheless, giving the pair a harsh stare while doing so. After I sat down, Heartbeat sighed and rubbed his moldy head.

“Look, I heard that you got a sweetheart held captive by Lieutenant Butter Bars, so I figured I could give you a lift,” said Heartbeat. “You can move, you got a little bit of reinforcement, and now you can get your mare back and I get some caps. We all win.”

“How long will I have to be like this?” I asked him.

“For a little while. Your spine is fixed, and we did what we could with the nerves, but your body is still weak from all the damage you have taken over time. You have been through more than most out here and it shows,” said Leur. “So those attachments basically give you a boost while your body repairs itself.”

“That Pod fixed me.” I said flatly, making a mental note to chew out Lilac when I saw her again for breaking it.

“The Pod fixed you, yes, but not all the way,” said Doctor Heartbeat. “It healed your bite, but that Pod was old. It didn't fix all of you. It didn't fix the infections in you, it didn't fix the various injuries inside you. You were more broken than you realized, and frankly the broken can never be fixed. You will carry the scars and pain with you for the rest of your life, but what we did ensured that your body has support to function while it heals to an acceptable level. We will remove it when we feel it is proper and when you want it to, but we will not remove it if we do not feel it is ready to come off.”

After Doctor Heartbeat finished his lecture I looked down at my hoofs, swallowing a stone lump and trying with no success to keep my shakes under control. After some seconds of silence I looked at him, blinking haze out of my eyes.

“What infections?” I asked, my voice cracking.

“Nothing too bad. Just a little bit of this and that from bites, bad plants and junk getting in from the open wounds,” said Doctor Heartbeat.

“We took care of those, though,” said Leur. “I suggest you take it easy for at least three weeks so you can get accustomed to the enhancements.”

“I don't have three weeks,” I said.

“You won't have a life if you don't take three weeks,” said Doctor Heartbeat. “Take the time. I'm sure your friends will do something about your squeeze.”

Leur then opened the door and with a solemn look he held his hoof out.

“Why don't you get some air? We'll be here when you calm down,” said Leur.

I sighed and pushed myself up. Every part of me hurt and the tugs from the attachments gave me a sick feeling, and when I left the room my steps shook.

It was hard to walk when I made my way outside, and the scenery didn't offer much comfort. It was cool, dark and windy, and not a pony was in sight. I walked almost aimlessly. My mind was blank but my hoofs took me where they wanted.

There was a rumble in the distance and I looked up to see the clouds rolling into each other with streaks of hot white zipping through them. I kept walking for a few minutes until I came across a familiar door, and then I knocked on it with my good hoof. By this point rain was pouring down, flooding everything and it reminded me of when I first encountered rain and the “big bad thunder”.

Memories aside, I knocked again, figuring she didn't hear me the first time with the downpour banging on the roof and the howling wind. It was after that knock that the door opened and Aria's tired eyes peeked out. When she saw me, her eyes bulged and she opened the door wider.

“Meris, what did they do to you?” asked Aria.

“Fixed me,” I said sourly. “Can I come in?”

Aria nodded and stepped aside so I could enter. I was tempted to sit on her bed, but I remembered what happened last time, and I was also considerably heavier. The last thing I wanted to do was break her bed, so I just sat on the floor and stared at the wall, dripping and shivering. The rain beating against the roof was like hundreds of little hoofs banging against tin, and when Aria sat across from me I noticed bags under her eyes.

We stared at each other for a good minute in silence before Aria spoke.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

I shook my head. I brushed my watch, too. I hadn't done it in a while, but I was pleasantly surprised to still feel it on my chest. I even looked down to make sure it wasn't a lie. Sure enough, it was there, scratched and caked in blood, but still there. I sighed and dropped my hoof and glanced at Aria. She was still staring at me. Unblinking. It was actually unnerving.

“Can you blink?” I asked her.

She blinked and apologized. I apologized back, and back to silence we went.

“Meris, what is wrong?” asked Aria a minute later.

I held up my braced hoof, frowning and hating the little robotic sounds it made.

“This.” I said. “This is what is wrong. Just look at me. I'm a pony with half an ear, scarred to hell and back and stuck in a junk exo-skeleton thing with fucked up dreams. I'm a freak!”

I finished, and Aria's eyes flicked up and down, inspecting me. I watched her, waiting for anything, and after some seconds she swallowed and tilted her head, looking at me out of the corner of her eye as she rubbed her hoof.

“Well, if it makes you feel better, I still think you look okay,” says Aria.

“Okay? How?” I asked. “Just look at me! How can this be okay?”

“You can walk again and with all that you have been through you should be grateful you still have a face.”

Aria's voice was a bit sharp, and I looked at my braced hoof, scowling at the network of gears and pistons that covered it. It was shortly after that Aria sighed, and I looked at her. Her head was still bowed, but both of her eyes were on the floor this time.

“I'm sorry. I know you are not from the Wastes. It is a scary world for someone like you,” said Aria. “But you are still lucky to be alive... and I'm alive because of you.”

I shook my head. I didn't believe her. All I did was stand in front of her and got shot. Rocket Power could have easily finished her off, but he didn't. I guess it was because of Baton. He was always a killing machine, so it wouldn't surprise me if he had chased off Rocket Power. But, here I go again going off the rails.

I told her: “I just want something to go right. Ever since I got out here it has been one wrong thing after another. I lost everything, every day I get torn and stitched back together like some fucked up rag doll, and when I got the chance to reconnect with ponies that I cared about from my Stable -to get Rose back- this happens to me! I can't even go anywhere for three weeks unless I want to die. Where is the fairness in that!?”

I waited for a response from Aria, but she was silent. I could see the gears turning in her. She wanted to say something, but didn't know how to put it out. But after some long seconds of listening to the heavy rain, she spoke.

“Meris, life is not meant to be fair,” said Aria. “If life was fair then we wouldn't have a chance to grow, or to meet others. We would... we would just sit still. Life would not move. Not having it fair is what keeps us moving. And not having a fair life is what makes company and comfort better.”

She looked at me, swallowing and shaking a little.

“Can I make you comfortable?” she asked. I was silent, mostly because I was stunned by the offer, and she added: “It is the least I can do for you for what you did... But I'm not giving you another massage.”

I got a little smile out of that, and I nodded and with some help from Aria I stood up. The pain from the attachments wasn't as bad as before, more of an uncomfortable pressure, and she led me to her bed. I gingerly climbed on. The bed creaked and groaned, and after I laid down, Aria pulled a blanket over me, then she burrowed herself into me, and guided my braced front hoof so it wrapped around her.

“It will be okay, Meris,” said Aria. “You will see.”

She closed her eyes and I listened to her steady breathing, and I stared at the door, listening to the rain and my watch, paranoid that Wilhelm would suddenly come in and rip my head off. But the seconds trudged by, and with each beat of my watch my eyelids got heavier. Soon everything blurred and doubled and my eyelids rose and fell slowly, and in few minutes time my eyes were closed and my face was nestled against the back of Aria's head, listening to her steady breaths and feeling her chest rise and fall against my hoof. I never thought sweat and dirt would smell so good. Comfort came, and I held her tighter and fell asleep.

Then the bed broke.

The next day I was sitting at the Lunch Spot, staring at a bowl of water. It cost a fortune and Curry Paste was raking in the caps from all his collected rain water. There were even guards around -including that mare with the rail spike gun- to make sure nopony did anything stupid. But guards and rain water aside, I was basically alone.

There was a circle around me where I sat at a table, and every now and then someone would cast their eyes on me. A quick look from me caused them to look away.

I didn't even want to think about last night. Nothing happened on an intimate level, but the bed breaking was embarrassing, and it was because of that that I had decided to sit on the floor of the Lunch Spot. I didn't need to pay for a chair when I already owed a living dead thing ten grand in caps.

I didn't even know how I was supposed to pay that off when I wasn't allowed to do anything besides walk and sleep, and there wasn't exactly help wanted signs plastered anywhere.

Sighing, I lapped at the bowl of rain water, noting out of the corner of my eye how unicorns were casually levitating their bowls to their lips to sip the water out. So cultured, so not uncouth, so fancy. I was envious.

At least the water tasted good. It was actually the best water I had since being out in the Wasteland. It tasted like actual clean water, not something grainy or grassy or greasy.

Anyway, I was drinking my water when a chair was pulled next to me. It was Aria. Behind her Stocker was at the bar with Burst Fire, probably buying rain water.

“So... about last night,” said Aria.

I chocked on my water, and Aria cringed. My throat and lungs burned and I hacked like I was coughing up a hairball. When I was done, I was wheezing and my face was hot red, and Aria was petrified in her cringed state.

“Sorry,” said Aria.

“Why did you make it sound weird?” I asked.

“I was just... I don't know.”

“Wilhelm is not behind me, is he?”

Aria shook her head and told me that he was meeting with Bongo and Major Pie about something. That was a little bit of relief.

“Good. Nothing happened between us last night, but I know Wilhelm would flip out if he found out about the whole cuddle thing.” I said.

“Like when he almost killed you in the bathroom?” said Aria.

“Yeah...” I said, frowning and shuddering internally about that whole ordeal.

“But I wanted to talk to you about last night.... Did I... Did I make you feel comfortable?”

Now the tables were turned. Originally I made Aria feel weird, now it was my turn. Right when I discovered that Rose was out there, too.

Why did this stuff have to happen to me?

I mean, I really didn't know how to answer her. I liked her company. It felt nice laying next to someone soft and warm. I actually felt peace for the first time since being exiled. But there was also the whole “my marefriend is out and I have a chance to see her again so I might actually be cheating, right now”. Honestly, I felt like shit.

But looking at Aria, she reminded me so much of Honey Sap, colors and all. She was cute, she was soft, she was warm, and a part of me did want her, and that night when the bed broke and we just slept on the floor together we had a laugh about it before we drifted to sleep with me holding her. I was comfortable. I had peace for that night, and it was beautiful.

I wanted that again.

But I also wanted Rose back.

I wanted both of them.

Why couldn't I have both?

“Meris?” called Aria.

I looked at Aria, trying to keep myself calm and collected. All I could do was nod. My throat burned, my eyes hurt, and my chest felt like it was going to collapse.

“You did.” I said, my voice cracking.

“But you regret it, don't you? You regret coming to me for comfort. I can see it in your eyes,” said Aria.

“Aria, I...”

I couldn't finish. I looked away. I couldn't bear to see the pain in her eyes.

“I understand. I wish you and Rose happiness,” said Aria.

The chair scraped and I looked up. Panic was rushing in and I put my normal hoof on top of Aria's before she could leave the table. I called her and she looked at me, and I saw the same pain, the same wound that Honey Sap carried from my betrayal.

“I'm sorry.”

And that was the last thing I said to her before she pulled away, despite me trying to hold her. She left without a word.

I slumped down, eyes watering and staring at the table. Then there was a pair of thunks and Stocker and Burst Fire sat next to me with bowls of rain water.

“There's the hero!” said Stocker.

He pulled me in for a hug and rubbed my head with his hoof. I was too numb to care about the pain, though.

“Wilhelm told us how you stood up to Rocket Power without armor. Had your whole chest blown against the wall and you're now at a bar. That is stuff of legends!” said Burst Fire. “So, how did it feel to get shot?”

I didn't answer.

“Are you at least picking up chicks?” asked Burst Fire. “I know that's what I would be doing if I survived a near death experience and got some mechanical upgrades. Hell, get a group of them and fuck each of them until they are too fucked to walk!”

Again. Silence.

“He has his eyes on my sister,” said Stocker, still keeping me in the hug. “Can't blame him. She's a looker and a keeper.”

Burst Fire laughed. “So he wants to screw your sister? Big dreamer.”

I slipped away from Stocker and tried to walk away, but I stopped when Stocker called me.

“Where are you going? We have to celebrate! I still have a sister because of you!” said Stocker.

“I just want to be alone.” I said.

They were about to say something, but I left before they could and I just walked. I walked and walked and walked and walked. There was no particular place I had in mind. I was just walking.

“You doing okay?” asked Lomi.

I looked up.

I hadn't realized that I was in Lomi's E-Mart, looking at rope of all things, and Lomi was standing next to me. She didn't look impatient. Rather she looked concerned.

“Do you need help?” asked Lomi.

I suspected double meaning in her words, but rather than entertaining her I just shook my head and left.

“Meris?”

I blinked.

Lilac was standing in front of me. I was outside sitting on a bench, watching nothing. I had no clue how I got there, but I was there.

“Meris, are you okay?” asked Lilac.

I shook my head and Lilac's ears drooped as she sat next to me. We were quiet for a little while, watching the ponies walk by. I briefly saw Wilhelm walking with Bongo and Major Pie. I was glad all he did was nod to me and kept walking. That meant he didn't know what happened between me and Aria.

Me and Lilac were quiet for a few more minutes before I found my voice.

“I'm tired.” I told her. “I'm tired of all this.”

“What happened?” asked Lilac.

“I failed Rose and Aria.”

Lilac's eyes flicked up and down my face, but I didn't look at her.

“Who?” asked Lilac.

“Rose, my marefriend from the Stable.” I replied. “And Aria. Wilhelm's daughter. The one I nearly died protecting. You should know her. She was with us on the trip.”

“But you said Honey.”

“Did I?”

“Yes.”

I didn't believe her, but I still grunted as if I did. Then I thought about the Pod and how I wouldn't be like a freak if it wasn't broken.

“Why did you break the Pod?” I asked her.

Lilac bit her lip. “I know you must hate me for that, but I had no choice. The voices in my head always talking about the Rot and that creepy doctor that came with them... I knew you had it, too. I knew it and I couldn't let you have another dose of it. You and I are both alike in that we are more fragile than we want to be, and if I was feeling the fear from those voices and the doctor then surely you must have been feeling them, too. I couldn't let that Pod hurt you again.”

I grimaced at those words. I didn't know what was worse. Her thinking that I was fragile or the fact that she apparently got over the hallucinations while I still had them. But I told her: “I could have handled another dose of it if it didn't mean this.”

I held up my braced hoof, and Lilac gulped and looked away, blinking tears out of her eyes.

“I know you are mad,” she said. “I heard how you reacted when you woke up in the clinic. I wanted to be there to comfort you, but Baton was furious that I destroyed that Pod. I... I couldn't face him or the others, and the thought of me almost killing you when I was trying to protect you was much too painful for me.”

She sniffled and wiped her eyes, her body and lips trembling, and streams of tears rolled down her face.

“I was trying to help you, and when I saw them carrying you to the Pod I freaked out. I was only in there for a few minutes and the voices and the Doctor, it was all too real, all too terrible to cope with! I-I couldn't let you go back in there! It would have surely scarred you permanently!”

I was silent, but caught off guard when Lilac pulled me in for a hug. The sudden jerk tugged on the junk all over me, which hurt a bit, and she squeezed me tight, pressing her muzzle into my neck. Her body trembled violently and her tears soaked my neck as she sniffled and whimpered.

“I'm sorry. I never wanted to hurt you. I only wanted to protect you,” said Lilac.

I hesitated, but still lifted my good hoof to hug her, and I closed my eyes and rested my head on her shoulder, rubbing her back as gently as I could.

“We have been through a lot, you and I, and I ruined what bond we had,” said Lilac. “Is there any way I can make this up to you?”

I stopped rubbing her back and stared ahead at a passing couple, both smiling and laughing with the stallion pulling a cart of supplies and the mare armed with a simple rifle. That sparked an idea. So I said: “There is one thing...”

Inferno

[Tick. Tick. Tock. Tock.]

“Meris, I change my mind. This is crazy,” Lilac said to me when I was purchasing shotgun ammo, a large saddle and every piece of junk in Lomi's shop.

Well, technically it was Lilac's money, but I promised to pay her back, and there wasn't much armor that could fit with my enhancements, so I had to settle with loose barding and leg pads made from old tires and scrap metal. So, I owed Lilac for ammo, junk and cheap barding on top of owing Heartbeat and Leur ten grand for the stupid operation.

Anyway, Lilac called the idea crazy and I basically ignored her and the uneasy look Lomi was giving me when she was helping me load the large saddle with the junk.

“What about the three weeks thing?” asked Lilac.

“Rose and Artisan don't have three weeks.” I told her.

“How do you know? What if they are just sitting there without any problems?”

I just looked at her, and with drooped ears she stepped back. After I was finished loading up I left the shop without another word with Lilac trailing behind me. I kept close to the walls, ignoring the odd looks the residents and guards were giving us, and the gatekeeper said nothing when I told him me and Lilac were leaving.

After the gate opened, I took a deep breath, rubbed my watch for some good luck and comfort, and then trotted out. Those damn enhancements and the weight of the gear really made my muscles sore, but I knew I couldn't wait. Every day that was wasted was another day Butter Bars could use to torture Rose and Artisan closer to death.

It had been a few hours after we left Orange, and the light was getting dim. Lilac had turned on the radio on her PipBuck, so we listened to some music while we walked down the cracked road. The music was actually soothing, with a nice melody of string instruments, but even though the music calmed us down, we both kept an eye out on the cracked road and its decaying scenery. You could never be too careful, after all.

We passed rusted, gutted wagons, some houses and buildings that were reduced to walls, and a playground with dozen little skeletons scattered around it. There was a partially collapsed school near the playground, but we decided it was best to ignore it and kept walking. Thankfully nopony or nothing came after us from that building. A few more hours of walking later put us passing a peeling billboard with an advertisement for a Stable. The ponies were all dressed in their finest with their saddles, all smiling and filing neatly in line into a Stable built into a mountain under the guidance of a mare in a Stable jumpsuit (also smiling brightly) with a hellish ball of fire in the background.

Where will you be when the world ends?
Reserve a spot today!

That is what the sign said. Seemed kind of morbid to have such a cheerful picture for a demented message. But there was a second message on it. This was painted on with a large rough brush, and it read:

Now Entering Republic 61

Seeing this, my heart suddenly got heavy and I looked at Lilac. Her steps have also slowed, and the calm music fuzzed out to the familiar bombastic music of Republic 61 radio.

“You do know where Mane Manor is, right?” I asked Lilac.

“Yes. It is right next to Stable 65. We've been over this,” said Lilac. “There's going to be a checkpoint up ahead, too, so just let me do the talking.”

I nodded and resumed walking in silence. Eventually the obnoxious music ended and Sweet Berry's voice played out.

“My little ponies, have you ever wondered what clean water tastes like? What a clean clinic looks like? Or wanted to learn to read? Republic 61 offers all these things, which cannot be said for the supposed noble Restoration,” said Sweet Berry.

I rolled my eyes and kept walking, scanning for any signs of this supposed checkpoint. I hadn't seen anything close to one, and the radio seemed louder than normal as it continued, echoing over the barren land.

“I know many out there see the Restoration as they good guys, but do not be fooled by their rhetoric,” continued Sweet Berry. “Their ambitions are not for the good of Equestria. Their mission is to keep you impoverished. To keep you afraid and at the mercy of warlords. Here, at 61, we are fighting for a future of universal law and order. A future where towns do not have to live behind walls and traders and farmers do not need to arm themselves to survive.”

Suddenly a light shined on me and Lilac, and we both stopped as somepony shouted at us to freeze. We couldn't see anypony, save for a pair of dark blurs coming towards us, and I will admit that I started sweating. I really didn't want to get shot, and while my heart raced and my throat went dry, my good ear still flicked to the speech coming from Lilac's PipBuck.

“Under the guidance of Republic 61, we will have schools, we will have hospitals, we will have social programs and jobs and no child will be without a home. We will have a future!” said Sweet Berry. “The Restoration wishes only to preserve fear and anarchy, but 61 will bring about a new world order of peace and prosperity for all. Under 61, the Macintosh Hills, Horseshoe Bay, Hayseed Swamp and all the surrounding areas will be rebuilt. We will make the grass green, the water clear, and we will break the clouds and bring the sun to us! With Republic 61 leading the way, our future will be bright and prosperous, and we will once again be able to walk freely without fear. Through my hoof, Equestria will be reborn as it was, as it was meant to be. Our golden past will become our glorious future.”

The speech then cut off to happy music and one of the blurs ordered Lilac to turn off her PipBuck. So she shut off the radio, and the pair walked closer so we could actually see their details. They were wearing 61 armor and one was an ashy colored earth pony with a white mane, holding an SMG in his mouth, and the other was a light unicorn with a striped mane of blue and white; he was levitating a shotgun.

“State your business!” said the unicorn.

“I'm a trader from 61, and this is my companion. We're on our way home,” said Lilac.

“Names?”

Lilac nodded to me. “That is Clockwork, my carrier.” She then pointed at herself. “And I am Sarah Sands.”

I smiled thinly and waved, and the guards grimaced at my mechanics.

“What happened to him?” asked the unicorn.

“We tried going West, but got attacked by some slavers near Appleloosa,” said Lilac. “We barely escaped with our lives.”

“Why the hell would you go near Appleloosa?”

“We heard there was prospect for trade in New Apppleloosa, but we learned our lesson. We certainly won't be going back. We'll keep our business around the Republic.”

“Uh huh. Well, we'll need you to come with us.”

“Of course. Come along, Clockwork.”

I gave Lilac an apprehensive look, but followed along nonetheless. They took us to a building that used to be a set of toll booths, but was now outfitted with heavy planks of wood to connect the booths, and it was surrounded by concrete slabs with a windmill on the roof. One of the booths had a hug hole in it, so it was occupied by a spotlight, which was being operated by an earth pony of dark green with a light green mane with a sniper rifle on a tripod.

When we entered the checkpoint, I saw that the floor was partially dirt, partially concrete, and a series of wires ran along the rust stained walls and disappeared into the ceiling. The lights were not very bright and the radio had a nasty static to it.

After we had our moment to take in the checkpoint, rhe unicorn ordered me to take off the saddle and for us to relinquish our weapons, so after we did that I looked around while they searched through my junk using a table to keep track of the garbage. They really were not too impressed with what they found, and I had similar feelings towards their checkpoint. I was surprised they didn't die from boredom.

“Excuse me, but do you mind telling me what you are looking for?” said Lilac. “This merchandise is valuable and I don't appreciate you ruffians handling it like trash.”

“Valuable? This is shit,” said the ash colored pony, tossing a restitched shirt to the floor. “What kind of trader are you?”

“I'll have you know that this 'junk' allows me to make more money in a week than you do in a month.”

The ash pony scoffed and resumed his search, and I looked at the unicorn. He was using his magic to spin a fan, but when he saw me looking at him, he put it down and returned eye contact.

“Clockwork, right?” said the unicorn.

I nodded.

“That is some interesting braces you got there. Where did you get them?” asked the unicorn.

Me and Lilac looked at each other, and when she nodded I looked back at him.

“Somewhere West.” I said. “Don't exactly remember much since I was about dead when she dragged me to the guy. But he was a doctor who used an old mechanic shop and had a lot of those robot books.”

“How much did it cost to get you fixed?”

“A lot. The guy's dead, though. The slavers went after us again, but they got him killed instead. We killed them all, though.”

“Convenient.” He looked at Lilac. “Sarah Sands, you said?”

“Yes,” said Lilac.

“What hub do you normally operate from?”

“Pardon?”

“You're wearing a PipBuck that is from 61. 61 law states that traders must be part of the Trade Union, which you have not yet offered to show us an ID and I have not seen you before, and you said that you are trying a new route, which means that you normally do business at a different hub. So, which hub do you operate from and where is your Union ID?”

“Oh... Uh...”

“We lost it when we were attacked by the slavers.” I said.

“Okay,” said the unicorn. “Now which hub do you operate from and who is your Union Hub-boss?”

“Oh, that's easy,” said Lilac hesitantly. “The hub we normally operate from is operated by Bottle Caps, who runs the Horseshoe River Trade Hub.”

The unicorn stared at Lilac, and I looked at the ash pony when he reclined in his seat, keeping his shotgun aimed at the floor, but his hoof on the trigger. The stale air suddenly got heavier.

I looked at Lilac out of the corner of my eye and saw little beads of sweat rolling down her neck. She tried holding a brave look, but the sweat and her little flicks of the eyes broke it. As for me, I was scared, too. I could hardly breathe, my hoof shook as it brushed against my watch, and I focused on the unicorn, wondering if I should use him as a meat-shield or try to take out the ash pony when the bullets start flying.

Fortunately no bullets flew. Instead, the unicorn looked at his ash partner and said: “Contact Mane Manor. Tell them we have a pair of traders off route and need to be returned to the Horseshoe River Hub.”

The ash pony nodded and walked down the length of the checkpoint, putting him out of our sight, and me and Lilac both exhaled.

“Why so nervous?” said the unicorn.

“I just didn't want to get shot,” said Lilac. “Clockwork certainly doesn't want to get shot, either. We had enough of that out there.”

The unicorn smirked. “Don't worry. We won't shoot you.” He stood up and headed to the door. “Make yourselves comfortable. It will be a few hours before your escorts get here.”

A few hours of shifting from being tense to being bored, our escorts came. They were a pair of earth ponies, but before they came in to get us they talked with the unicorn for a few minutes. I couldn't hear what they were saying since they were outside for their conversation, but I did hear them laugh and when they came in they were smiling and their steps were light.

“These are the traders who went West, huh?” said one of the escorts, a white stallion with a red mane and freckles.

“Yep,” said the unicorn.

“Lucky ones. Don'tcha worry, though. We'll have them back to safety in no time.”

“Glad to hear. Happy travels.”

The freckled stallion nodded, and after we gathered our stuff we were escorted out. It was nearly pitch black at that point with only the silhouettes of dead shrubs and bulky rocks to give us a visual and the distant buzzes and chirps of bugs to give our ears something to listen to. I stayed close to Lilac, who stayed close to the freckled guy, and as we walked the dirt crunched beneath our hoofs and I looked around, heart getting restless and throat getting tight. I tried to look over my shoulder at the other escort, but with the enhancements I couldn't move my head much.

I swallowed and looked at Lilac. She had her light on again and appeared to not be as restless as me. But I couldn't help it. Something didn't feel right. Something didn't... fit.

And that was when a sudden pale blue blast knocked me off my hoofs. I tumbled in the air and crashed into the ground hard, wheezing for air and head swimming with the scenery spinning all around me. Lilac landed next to me in a similar state, though she was shot with a green blob, and we both groaned and shifted on the ground. My vision was pulsing in and out and my muscles ached as I crawled on the ground through the scattered junk, trying to get myself to stand up. But it was useless. My muscles didn't work right and I fell over again, watching helplessly as a trio of blurry figures walked towards me and Lilac while our escorts stood by, scanning the surroundings.

My eyes closed for a second, but when they opened again everything was much clearer. One of the blurs was a unicorn in 61 armor aiming a shotgun at Lilac's head, his figure barely lit by his green magic, and the other was also a unicorn pointing a double barreled shotgun at me using pale blue magic. In the middle, illuminated by both colors and leaning down, grinning with my horrified face reflecting off of his sick eyes was an all too familiar pony.

“Hello, Meris. Remember me?” said Lieutenant Butter Bars.

And then his hoof smashed my face and I blacked out.

I woke up with the taste of kerosene on my tongue. I coughed and gagged and stood up on shaky legs, and when I looked around I saw that I was inside a shack of some kind. No windows, only one door leading to the outside, which had gotten a little bit brighter, and the walls were made of darkened, splintering wood barely held together with nails and other junk. The door was guarded by the unicorns that blasted me and Lilac, and in the center of the room, using his mouth to pour kerosene on the floor and splashing some on the walls was Butter Bars. When the container was empty he spat it out and kicked it away. He then smiled at me and I brushed my watch, grateful to find that piece of comfort there.

“Good morning, sleepy head. Did you sleep well?” asked Butter Bars.

I glared at him, but when I heard sniffling I looked at the corner across from me and saw Rose Petal was there in her Stable 67 jumpsuit and a sad mare character on her PipBuck. Her Stable jumpsuit was stained with dirt and blood, and she was covered in scratches and bruises and had a thick collar around her neck that chained her to a concrete block built into the floor. I immediately lunged forward, but a sharp tug on my neck pulled me back and left me chocking for air. I too was collared and chained to the floor.

“Oh, so that is your girl? Your mare?” Butter Bars slithered around Rose and gave her a squeeze from behind, causing her to yell and whimper. “Your squeeze?”

“Don't you touch her!” I yelled.

I looked around for Lilac, but she wasn't in the room, and I looked at Butter Bars again when he laughed.

“Oh this is beautiful,” said Butter Bars. “You still love her, but does she love you? I wonder if she will continue to love you if she finds out what kind of pony you became. Or really were. Lilac told me a lot while you were snoozing, and it just goes to show that the Wasteland has a way of revealing who we really are beneath the skin.”

Butter Bars slid to her side and brushed his hoof against her cheek, bringing her to recoil and turn her head, sniffling. I could only glare at him and the pair of unicorn guards at the door.

“As terrible as it is out there, we can agree that it reveals our souls,” said Butter Bars. “Some souls are good, but ours are not. Most are not, actually. We just pretend that we are good. Like how friends and family pretend that they are good. That they love you...”

Butter Bars sighed and began pacing around the middle of the room, like how my mom did when she would lecture me and then hide what came next with medical potions. Some meds, some smiles, nothing to see, nothing to report, don't remember it, go to school. Dad certainly never did see or hear it. Any of it.

Nope.

Never.

Not once did he see or hear any of it!

Not once...

...

...

Anyway, Butter Bars walked and talked. He said: “It is sad how you came all this way to save her, but she will stop loving you when it is convenient, just like everypony else. They will love you until the opportunity is right to abandon you! Sell you off! Its infuriating how ponies still cling to the things that abandoned us! Did friendship and love save the world? No. Oh, no no no no. No it did not. Is friendship and love fixing the Wasteland? No again. Love is a lie and yet you still follow it, Meris! You fucking follow it like everypony else out there who thinks that maybe, just fucking maybe, good deeds will mean something!”

Butter Bars took a deep breath and walked up to me, peering deep into my eyes, his hoof on my shoulder.

“I know you know all that mushy stuff is a sham,” he said. “I can see it in your eyes. But you want that lie to stay. It is your warm fire in the cold realm of reality... Well, today is your lucky day. You are going to die in the warmth of the lies.”

Butter Bars then walked to the door, grabbed a flare stick from one of the unicorns standing guard and struck it against the wall, activated a red, hazy glow and then he threw it on the floor. Oily flames engulfed the whole floor and walls in seconds, and Rose shrieked and tried to free herself from the collar holding her to the floor, as did I. As this happened Butter Bars quickly slammed and locked the door, trapping us in the inferno.

Heat started eating at my skin. The stench of burning wood, fuel, hair and flesh clogged my nose and I began stomping on the block with my braced hoof. I grit my teeth, tears clouded my vision and hot teeth tore into my body. Ripping, tearing, burning, unending pain. My blood boiled, my flesh cooked.

I stomped as hard as I could. Not stopping even when my vision was completely shrouded in tears, even when my heart and lungs were heavy and clogged with ash, even when the cracks in my bones grew.

Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!

Tick-tock! Tick-tock! Tick-tock!

Time is running out. Have to hit harder. Have to hit faster.

Tick-tock! Tick-tock! Tick-tock!

Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!

Can't stop. Couldn't stop.

Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!

I had to get out. I had to get Rose out. We were not dying like this!

I stomped and stomped and kept stomping, and right as I gave one last stomp my bone snapped and I screamed and fell over, pressing my broken hoof against my chest. It was black and gray with red lines breaching the cooked skin and pockets of flames growing larger and larger, eating more of me. Using my good hoof to prop myself up, I tugged with all my might on the chain, ignoring the pain in the neck, the pain on my back and limbs, and with that tug the block broke and the chain popped loose.

I fell over again in the fire and it went all over my like a flesh eating blanket, and I bit my lips, crying and hobbling over to Rose. The lock on her collar was simple, so I grabbed the locking bar with my teeth and pulled it loose. The collar fell off and Rose immediately nudged herself underneath me and put me on her back.

The door was gone in the flames and pieces of the ceiling were falling all around us. Rose whimpered and backed up, her eyes and ears darting this way and that, looking for any way out that didn't involve jumping through a fire wall.

“The door... The door...” I wheezed, pointing my good hoof at the rectangle of flame that was the door. “Gotta do it... Gotta... Rose... Do it...”

Rose swallowed, closed her eyes, and then ran into the door as hard as she could. The fire weakened it, so it exploded into flaming splinters when she rammed it, carrying smoke and flames when she staggered out, and she rolled over on the dirt, flinging me off her back. I crashed into the ground, rolled a little bit, and came to a stop with my eyes on the burning shack. Red and black tinted smoke rose into the sky from the orange block of hell, and in seconds the shack collapsed on itself, ejecting a ball of flame into the sky. Rose was laying not too far from me, panting and shaking and also watching the fire. She swallowed and when she looked at me, her face was covered in black streaks with patches of her mane and fur burnt off, and tears illuminated her eyes the dim light.

“Meris?” said Rose.

Blackout.

Perk Added: Fire Bug (1): Fire does 10% less damage and fire based weapons do +10% damage

Author's Notes:

Blerg

Stable 64

[Tick. Tock. Tock. Tock.]

“A toast to recovery!” said Bruce Mane.

It was weird hearing his voice, but that was what I heard in the black. A group of ponies agreed in cheers and next thing I knew, I was raising my glass in a long dining room with large windows, green curtains, an oil painting of Bruce Mane over a fireplace mantle and a pair of crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Butlers and maids were standing still by the walls, which had marble busts of stallions and mares, and the table that my host was at easily sat thirty ponies, all of which had a fancy dish of salads, wine, bread and cheese.

My back still hurt, as well as my hoof when I raised my glass, and my eyes were heavy, but I still managed a smile. Roseluck was next to me, wearing a simple green dress, and at the far end of a long table was Bruce Mane and Dr. Odji. They both had their glasses raised, and after we had our moment of saluting we all sipped our drinks in unison.

“You know, when I first met Time Turner in Ponyville, I saw a timid colt. Brilliant, but timid. But there was more to him than what others saw. I saw a little ember in his eyes that was waiting to turn into a flame. That little ember has since grown into an inferno. Nothing will keep him down. Nothing will stop him from achieving his goals, and for that, I salute him,” said Bruce Mane.

The crowd turned to Time Turner and I felt his jaw tighten and his body quiver. He only relaxed when Roseluck hugged him.

“Keep on working, Time, and I know you will live forever,” said Bruce.

Time Turner stiffened once more, and after a brief pause Bruce's demeanor relaxed and he smiled at the crowd.

“Well, now that the formalities are out of the way, let's enjoy the meal!” said Bruce.

The crowd murmured in agreement, and in seconds time the murmurs turned to words and the long dining room exploded into conversations and laughter. Roseluck gave my host a squeeze and was about to enjoy her food when Bruce leaned over to talk to her. Dr. Odji on the other hoof, just stared at me, sipping his drink with that stoic look of his.

“Tick tock, Dr. Turner,” said Dr. Odji, his voice in the atmosphere.

That was when I woke up, wheezing and aching, and I then froze, too horrified to breathe when I saw what was left of my own body. Sticky black and red scabs of burnt flesh had created a crust on my hoofs, and what wasn't covered in scabs was red flesh or barely covered in patches of fur. I didn't even want to look in a mirror. I also noticed that the brace on my hoof was broken and blackened, and a there was couple of pieces of wood with fabric poking out from underneath it, wrapped with wire. My hoof had a painful throb to it and when I shifted a sharp pain ran up it, bringing me to biting my lip and pressing my good hoof on top of it, hoping the pressure would do something to help with the pain.

I slumped down and stared at the wall ahead of me, trying to breathe normally, but couldn't. Mostly because of how angry I was at my situation.

I just could not get a break!

I tried to do something myself and I got lit on fire for it! I didn't even want to think about what the others were going to say or do when they caught up.

Baton would probably say: “Serves you right for losing Lilac.”

Wilhelm would probably plot another way to have me killed.

Aria... well, I told her Rose was back and I wanted her, so she probably thought I deserved this.

I don't... It just sucked. The whole thing sucked. Just the ridiculousness and the twisted nature of events brought me to shake and my eyes to burn.

The only good that I got out of this was the weight on my side. Rose was sleeping next to me, her head resting on my ribs and her PipBuck emitting a soft green glow.

I wanted to know how Rose was able to get out of the Stable with the suit and PipBuck, and I also wanted to know if she had any idea where Butter Bars took Artisan, but that was for another time. For now she had to sleep.

Plus, it was pleasant watching her sleep against me. I loved hearing her soft breath again. I loved seeing her again. I would even say that I loved her smell if she didn't smell like burnt fuel and wood. I hated that stench, and I was also actually getting mildly annoyed at how she was sleeping so well and barely touched by the flames while I was once again disfigured by the Wasteland.

Don't get me wrong, I was glad she was alright, but still... being burned alive is an unpleasant feeling and there was no way she could look at me the same way she did before.

Anyway, pushing the unfairness of it all aside, I cupped my watch in my hoof and frowned when I saw the scorch marks on it, adding to the collection of scratches and dings. I had to get a little creative to pop it open since I was down a hoof, but when I did I smiled when I heard the ticking and saw the seconds hoof moving smoothly. I shut it and looked around, realizing that I was in a familiar room.

The years have not been kind to Bruce Mane's dining hall -or whatever the place was. The tiles have long rotted and curled, with patches of sharp grass poking through. The busts were gone, the windows were mostly blown out, with some having boards and others left as gaping holes. The paint on the walls have faded and peeled with rot breaking down the brick, and up above wires dangled from the ceiling. No chandeliers were seen anywhere.

I looked straight ahead and saw what was left of Bruce Mane's oil painting, which was just a frame with patches of shredded canvas, and a lot of scorch marks.

I stared at the mantle. The black patches in it were like a gashes into another world, and my watch got louder the longer I stared at it, but I was scared to move. Not out of fear of something trying to grab me, which would not surprise me at the point I was in, but more for not wanting to wake up Rose. So, I remained still and stared at the mantle until my eyes closed.

It didn't feel very long when I opened them again, but I guess I was out longer than I thought since I smelled something good. Kind of like potatoes.

Not too far from me was Rose, and she was sitting in front of a small fire, stirring something in a pot she had hanging over the flame. Where she got the stuff, I don't know, but when she saw me staring at her she released the ladle from her mouth and walked over to me, offering a smile.

“Hey,” she said.

Excellent word choice for seeing your fiance again after a grueling Wasteland experience.

Rose sat down next to me and brushed what was left of my mane from my face. It hurt. Like tight skin being torn, and I guess she saw my discomfort since she pulled back immediately and looked at the floor.

“I'm... I'm sorry, Meris... I'm sorry for everything,” said Rose.

“What are you apologizing for?” I asked, my voice was gravely and I could barely hear myself.

“What happened to you. I tried to get you out of the exile, but they didn't listen. And when Artisan and I came to find you I... I got you hurt by that awful stallion.” Rose looked at me, eyes wet and lips trembling. “I had no idea the Wasteland would be this awful. The people, the beasts, the world itself! And now because of me you're... you're...”

She gulped and looked away, covering her mouth with her hoof and her shoulders buckling with her quiet cries. I looked at her, wanting to speak, but couldn't. I saw the tears and the dried blood and mud corrupting her uniform, the faint scars covering her body, particularly one going over her right eye. Her mane and tail had lost their shine and were now a sweaty, dirty, tangled mess, and her hoofs were cracked like mine. She also lost a lot of weight, so her suit was hanging off of her rather than closely hugging her figure.

“Rose...” I said.

Rose sniffled and looked at me.

“What did Butter Bars do to you?” I asked.

Rose shook her head. “N-Nothing.”

I brushed her mane away from her face, my shoulder aching from such a simple move, and I held her cheek with my hoof.

“What did he do?” I asked again.

“Nothing! I-I mean, when his soldiers found me and Artisan at that Mane Enterprise place he had Artisan taken away to a place called Republic 61 and-and there was this really dirty, skinny old stallion who wanted me for a ritual but Butter Bars wanted to keep me. Then I-I told him about you coming to get me and he kept me locked up in a room in his mansion until he captured you and that unicorn you were traveling with.”

“Lilac... Do you know where they took her?”

Rose shook her head. “All I heard was him talking about how somepony named Waltz was waiting for her. I'm sorry, Meris! I shouldn't have... I didn't know what to do! I still don't know what to do. All I can do is cook potatoes and mess things up!”

I shushed her and hugged her as tight as I could with my functioning hoof, and she wrapped me in a tight embrace, but I was unable to tell her that the hug hurt. I missed her too much to let a little pain ruin the moment, anyway. As we hugged in silence, I closed my eyes and rested against the crook of her neck, unable to tell if it was her or me that was shaking. Her tears trickled against what was left of my mane, and we stayed like that for a few minutes until something caught my attention. It was a bang. Followed by hoofsteps.

Me and Rose both tensed and she whimpered while I gently shushed her and moved her behind me.

The steps got closer and I grabbed a wooden plank. My heart was racing, my mouth dried, and I was shaking as I held the wooden plank in my hoof. I kept my eyes on the doorway, fighting to keep myself steady as the steps got louder.

And I was about to throw the plank at the pony that rounded the corner. Only it wasn't a pony. It was a donkey.

It was Burst Fire.

He saw me and he immediately smiled and waved down the hall.

“Hey, guys! I found him! He issssohhhholllllly shit. You're gonna need some cream for that,” said Burst Fire.

I didn't say anything and Rose poked her head over my shoulder as the others came in. Baton, Stocker, Aria, Wilhelm, the whole gang was there and I couldn't tell if they were relieved or pissed. Well, Aria actually looked relieved to see me alive, but quickly became horrified at my state. As for the others, I couldn't tell.

“Meris, put that down before you hurt yourself,” said Baton.

The group entered the area and Aria went right to the cooking area while Wilhelm and Baton approached me. Stocker stayed behind to keep an eye on the hall while Burst Fire peered outside, making a comment about the weather being good for walking.

“I told you I would help you and yet you still ran off,” said Wilhelm.

“What the hell were you thinking? And where is Lilac? And who's this?” said Baton.

“They have Artisan at 61, and they are probably taking Lilac there, too,” I said. “And this is Rose... My fiance.”

Rose meekly raised her hoof and flashed an equally nervous smile, and Aria gave her a stink eye, which I'm sure Rose noticed because her smile was gone as soon as Aria made that face.

“Well, that's just great!” said Baton, not making any attempt to say hello like the uncivilized bastard he was. “You go and run off without us even though we said we would help you and you get yourself burned to Hell and Lilac captured. But that's all right! 61 is only at the edge of Equestria and is a fortress city and has a shit ton of Ms. Gold's soldiers there! Did I miss anything?”

“You left out the part where they are still fighting mutants and zombies,” said Stocker.

“And there are also robots and bandits,” added Burst Fire.

“Security check points, too,” said Wilhelm.

“The surrounding area is also a megalopolis of decay and broken dreams,” said Stocker.

“Also diseases and weird shit,” said Burst Fire.

“I'm talking about what genius did, not what is around Sixty One,” said Baton flatly.

“All of his equipment has been confiscated by a hostile party and his hoof is broken,” said Wilhelm.

“Well fuck! You won the bad luck lottery didn't ya?” said Baton, glaring at me.

I stared at Baton, frowning deeply, but with a loss of words, and Rose was pale at this point, but I gently nudged her towards the cooking area and had to assure her it would be all right. When she did leave my side a few seconds later, Baton was shaking his head and going to the hallway to trade places with Stocker.

It was by that time that Aria was stirring something over a new flame, which amazed me since it hadn't been long and there was no way magic was involved. Also, whatever was in the pot was already bubbling and smelling like vegetables, and Rose inched over to Aria to try to initiate a conversation.

“Hi, I'm Rose Petal,” she said, holding out her hoof.

Aria didn't say anything to her, and Rose dropped her hoof while looking at me with a mix of confusion and hurt. I just shrugged. I didn't know what to say about Aria's attitude.

“You're going to make some cream for him, right?” asked Burst Fire.

Aria nodded.

“Cool... Well, I'm bored. I'm going to go on the roof. Anybody want to join?” asked Burst Fire.

“Since you're on the roof you might as well be our eyes outside,” said Wilhelm. “As for me. I'm going to search this building.”

Burst Fire saluted and galloped away, and right as Wilhelm was about to leave Rose quietly called out to him with an “excuse me”, bringing his eyes to her.

“I don't think you'll find anything here. It is all just... this,” said Rose.

Wilhelm looked at her in total silence and no blinking, and she shrunk in her spot. After she did that he walked away without a word. We all watched him until he exited into the hallway, and when his steps were gone Rose looked around, though I wasn't sure why. There really was nothing going on.

“He seems... different,” said Rose.

“You'll get used to it now that you're part of the group,” said Stocker.

Baton scoffed.

“You'll get used to him, too,” I said.

“Don't you start,” said Baton.

There was a tense moment of silence after that, and during this heavy period Stocker looked between me and Rose a couple of times before focusing on Rose.

“You're lucky to have him,” said Stocker.

Rose nodded and smiled at me, but it was definitely forced. I could see the disgust in her eyes past that pity. But who could blame her? I was hideous.

“I know,” said Rose. “I just... I just wish he wasn't hurt so much.”

“He'll be fine,” said Stocker with a wave of his hoof, adding with a smile at me: “Won't you, Exile?”

I just stared at him, and after a brief moment of awkward silence he sighed and laid down next to me.

“Listen, I know you're in a lot of pain right now, and you kind of pissed off Baton and father by running off and getting Lilac captured and yourself nearly burned alive, but for what its worth I would have done the same thing if I was you.”

I nodded, but was caught off guard when Stocker pulled me in for a hug, bringing out a sharp yelp from me as my burned body was dragged across the floor, yanking out some scabs and jerking my broken hoof.

“Careful!” snapped Aria over Rose's horrified gasp.

“He'll live. He's a damn cockroach. You can't kill him for anything,” said Baton.

“Hang in there! You're a tough cookie and a little fire never hurt a cookie!” said Stocker.

Rose galloped to us and raised her hoof for what I thought was going to be a slap, but she meekly tapped Stocker instead.

“Um, can you please not hurt my fiance, anymore?” said Rose.

I noticed Aria's figure sulk with that, and Stocker released me and sat up, clearing his throat.

“Apologies, I was only trying to offer some comfort to him. We go back many weeks,” said Stocker.

“Really? How did you two meet?” asked Rose.

“I slaughtered a bunch of Sadists in front of him and then tried hooking him up with my sister.”

Stocker pointed at Aria and Rose looked at her, but she did not look back. As for me... I could only hide my face in my hoofs and sink into the floor when I felt Rose's eyes on me.

“Oh... Did they... Did they hit it off?” asked Rose.

“Kinda. But I will say that your fiance needs to work on his flirting,” said Stocker. “It's very weak.”

“Yeah, that sounds like him,” said Rose after a pause. Maybe a little heavy in the tone.

“Stocker... why?” I hissed

“She asked,” said Stocker.

Suddenly, there was a click and a whir and the fireplace split apart, revealing an elevator covered in bullet holes, blood splatter and a couple of skeletons. It brought Rose to gag and hide behind me, me wishing I had a gun, Aria backpedaling away from her cooking, and Stocker leaped up with his rocket trained on the elevator. Baton joined seconds later, his hoofs sliding across the floor and his massive body staggering to a stop.

“Where did that come from?” said Baton.

“I have no idea. It just came up,” said Stocker.

“Hey, what's going on down there?” said Burst Fire.

We looked up and saw him looking down at us from a hole in the roof.

“Did you touch anything?” asked Baton.

“I moved some bricks and kicked a can. Why?” said Burst Fire.

“Because there is a weird elevator that just came up for no reason!”

“There was a hidden room near the entrance,” said Wilhelm suddenly, his voice echoing as he entered the dining area. “In that room was a button and I pushed it and now we have this.”

Wilhelm pointed at the elevator and Baton shook his head, but kept his weapon trained on the elevator as if expecting an invisible monster to come out.

“What the hell is with everypony pushing mysterious buttons?” said Baton.

“This elevator will take us to an underground facility that is crucial for our mission. It may even help us get your friends back,” said Wilhelm. “Now, everybody on.”

We looked at the elevator, and then at Wilhelm, and then Burst Fire came around the corner, panting.

“Oh, good. I wasn't left behind,” said Burst Fire.

“I'm glad you made it. Get on the elevator,” said Wilhelm.

“You mean that elevator?” asked Burst Fire, pointing at that elevator.

“How will going below help us get Artisan and Lilac back?” I asked.

“In the emergency broadcast, you-” Wilhehm pointed at Rose “-said that your friend touched an orb and it put him in a comatose state. That was a memory orb. Whatever he saw in that orb Sweet Berry and Ms. Gold will want to know. I am certain that we can find clues to what he saw down there.”

“And Lilac?” asked Baton.

“Waltz won't let Lilac out of his sight and where Butter Bars is, he will be close by, and I can guarantee you that what is down there will interest Butter Bars.”

Baton furrowed his brows, and Rose took a step back, her hoof slightly raised.

“Aren't there stairs we can take?” asked Rose anxiously.

“Yes,” said Wilhelm.

“Then why don't we take the stairs and forget about the elevator?” snapped Baton.

After what happened last time we went into an elevator, I couldn't blame Baton for being snappy. But then Wilhelm said this:

“The passage you want is irradiated to fatal levels. We'll die before we make it through.”

So, elevator it was.

When we reached the bottom, the elevator jerked and a metallic thud echoed down the rocky tunnel. The lights also flickered, rapidly flashing our shadows against the wall. Wilhelm and Stocker were the first to leave. I hobbled close behind and Rose kept by my side while Aria, Burst Fire and Baton were the last to leave, with Baton being the very last. As soon as Baton stepped off the elevator the doors slid shut and a pleasant ding bounced off the walls.

More lights flicked on, and that was when we saw it.

A carpet of bullet casings, broken skeletons, old blood on the walls and floor and ripped clothing, from civilians Sunday best, to (formerly) white lab attire with faded Mane Enterprise logos stitched on them, and the blue and yellow collared Stable-Tec jumpsuits plus old armor and ruined weapons. We also heard groaning, growling and snapping, and I had the brilliant idea to look over the edge of our walkway, which thankfully still had a railing. A rusted, bent, cracked in spots railing, but still a railing.

What was down below was another matter entirely.

There was a set of stairs carved into the rock and at the bottom was a glowing rainbow pool of thick goo, a broken metal shell of something in the middle, and a hole in the ceiling. In the pool were equine figures with wiry muscles, rotting skin, pale eyes and thin strands of mane walking in circles mindlessly. In the middle of them was a larger one, but not only was it larger, but it was also glowing. Its skin was glowing, its eyes were like green bulbs, and rainbow colors fluctuated underneath the pockets of ripped skin.

I quickly stepped back and nudged Rose away from the edge, but that only provoked the others into looking over, and Baton immediately scampered back and craned his head up, inhaling and exhaling heavily.

“Why zombies?” muttered Baton.

We stood far away from the edge and carefully walked through the corpses. It was difficult trying to avoid all the bones and rotted relics of the past, and sometimes we did accidentally step on a bone or something, but other than that we made it to our destination without trouble.

Or, mostly no trouble.

When we reached our destination my ears perked and my whole body went stiff. In front of us, covered in blood splatter, scratches, and scorch marks was a Stable door with a big “64” painted on it. In front of it was a console with a dead guard next it whose skull had been obliterated. It was also surrounded by more skeletons that have been completely broken from shattered ribs, to snapped spines and busted skulls, and there was also bullet casings and a broken baton. All in all, it did not look like anypony had been able to open the Stable in a long time, which led me to thinking that if Wilhelm was right then Butter Bars and Waltz would not be far behind us with Lilac and Artisan. But if he was wrong then we just wasted a lot of time.

After taking a moment, Wilhelm nudged the skeleton away from the console, wiped the dust off the screen and turned to Rose.

“Give me your Pip-Buck,” he said.

Rose's eyes flicked between me and him, and after some hesitation she slowly approached him with me by her side and held out her Pip-Buck hoof. Wilhelm pulled out a jack from his pack, attached it to her Pip-Buck and then connected it to the console. Her screen immediately lit up and numbers, letters and other symbols scrolled across it, line by line.

Seeing this, Wilhelm looked at Stocker and tilted his head towards the stairs.

“Engel, do not let those things get up the stairs,” said Wilhelm.

Stocker nodded, went to the railing and motioned Baton and Burst Fire to join him. Burst Fire was quick to take a position and used the railing to support his rifle, whereas Baton... Not so much. He still went, but he wasn't very enthusiastic about it and I could see him shaking.

“What about me?” I asked.

“You are in no condition to fight,” said Stocker. “Stay with Aria.”

I reluctantly went to Aria, feeling just a bit useless since the guys were ready to rain Hell on the ghouls below, Rose was helping Wilhelm unlock the Stable door (even if she was just standing there while he typed on her Pip-Buck), and Aria was on stand-by with her medical supplies. I was the only one who had nothing to do.

“So...” I began awkwardly to Aria. “Do you have a gun I can borrow?”

Aria held out her hoof to me, which had a pistol in the holster she had strapped to her hoof, and after I took it she got in front of me and said: “Stay behind me, please. You can't fight with a broken hoof.”

Yeah, that was great. I had to stay behind Aria, too. What a great moment in my life.

Several minutes later, there was a click, followed by a loud BANG! and a ring of swirling yellow lights suddenly turned on as an alarm shrieked (BeeeEEEeeeP! BeeeEEEeeeP! BeeeEEEeeeP!). The Stable door then hissed and metal screeched as it slid backwards, showering the rocks with sparks, and Wilhelm quickly unplugged the Pip-Buck from the console and put his jack back in his pack.

And that was when the raspy screaming and shooting started.

The muzzle flashes from the weapons were like balls of fire, and when the Stable door was all the way back, it slid out of sight and shook the tunnel with a resounding BANG!

“Oh, shit! The glowing one is coming up the stairs!” said Burst Fire.

“Fuck!” said Baton.

He pulled away from his spot and slid by Stocker's side, raining down a stream of hot lead that tore apart the wall and spread sparks and broken rock everywhere. Burst Fire and Stocker also began shooting at the glowing ghoul, but it soaked up those bullets like a sponge, uncaring of the holes punched in it or the trail of glowing blood it left behind. It got up the stairs and I saw a horn on its head spewing out rainbow sludge, and it screamed at us, its flesh ripping when it opened its mouth. Its horn released a burst of a green wave and Rose's Pip-Buck clicked rapidly. Then the glowing ghoul shot a beam at Stocker's chest, blowing him right off his feet and right into Baton. The two rolled over each other, and Wilhelm, Burst Fire and Aria unloaded everything we could on that thing, but it just. Would. Not. DIE!

Despite all the bullets going into it, it still rammed Wilhelm into the rock wall and began stomping on him, but he shoved it off, rolled it on its back and returned the treatment. Only for him to be blasted off and nearly fall off the edge into the pool of radiation below.

The glowing ghoul whipped towards Rose, and she shrieked, that thing roared and I emptied my clip into its back. Squirts of green blood flew out and it now galloped towards me, horn charging, maw wide open from its screaming, and Aria pushed me out of the way just in time for that thing to leap on her and sink its teeth into her.

Aria collapsed on the ground, screaming and sobbing as the teeth sunk deeper into the nape of her neck. Blood poured out, Aria tried standing and tried bucking it off, but her quivering legs gave out and it kept its hold on her, despite everyone shooting at it. I wanted to shoot, too, but I was out of ammo for that pistol.

Then, just like that, one loud gunshot and the top of its head exploded, splattering the wall with glowing bones, brain and blood. The headless ghoul went limp on top of Aria and I immediately limped to her side and got that thing off of her. Aria was laying in a pool of blood of red and glowing green, and she pale, shaking, and she looked at me with watery eyes as I pressed my hoof against her wound. My hoof was quickly soaked in her blood and I felt the meaty flaps of her torn flesh push down on the gaping hole in her collar.

“Aria, look at me. You're going to be fine,” I said.

She looked away from me and I grabbed her hoof with my damaged one, despite the pain, and that brought her eyes back to me.

“You'll be okay,” I told her. “Just look at me. Keep your eyes on me.”

Wilhelm was by my side at that point and ordered me to keep pressure on the wound while he dug into Aria's medical supplies.

“Engel, Baton, watch the stairs! Burst Fire, guard the mare!” ordered Wilhelm.

Burst Fire ran over to Rose. She was crying by the door, holding her head with her hoofs and rocking back and forth.

Baton went over to the stairs and peeked into the pit, but Stocker remained by us.

“Father, I'm-”

“GUARD THE STAIRS!” interrupted Wilhelm.

Stocker swallowed, then sulked away, and I looked at Aria again. Her eyes were closed and her hoof was limp.

“No! No no no no! Keep your eyes open! Keep your eyes open, please!” I cried, chest heavy and throat tight.

Aria's eyes fluttered open and I smiled at her with tears wetting my eyes.

“There we go. You're all right. You're all right,” I said. “You'll be fine, Aria. I promise. You'll be fine just stay with me. Please, stay with me.”

Wilhelm shoved my hoof out of the way and began wrapping her wound with a bandage, but I kept my hold on her hoof, stroking it and swallowing cold lumps in my throat.

“I'm sorry, I'll make this up to you. I promise,” I said.

Aria's eyes closed again and she went limp. Her whole neck was wrapped in an entire bandage roll that was dripping blood, and Wilhelm pushed me back and slipped her on his back.

“Engel, up front! Baton, keep guard on the stairs!” said Wilhelm.

Stocker nodded and went to the Stable entrance, scanning the area. It was completely empty and we carefully followed behind him. When we were all inside our steps bounced off the metal walls, prints were left in the heavy layer of dust and dim lights barely illuminated the cold gray walls.

I didn't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't all the dust.

Ponies, perhaps?

Or robots?

Or an army of clones or a guy gone insane by puppets?

Anything but nothingness.

Really, the only thing of interest was a yellow line on the floor, plus a crudely painted message with an arrow pointed towards the door.

KEEP DOOR CLOSED FOUREVER!

The message was upside down so it was for whoever would be coming out of the only door in the Stable entrance, which was a simple metal door. There was a large speaker on the ceiling, and a security booth that was completely empty as well as an observation deck with consoles on it, but no skeletons or any signs of a struggle. There wasn't even any paper. It was just... silence. Dead silence.

I gulped and we inched closer inside, but when Stocker crossed the yellow line the speaker made a loud crackle, followed by an ear raping screech and a pop, and a voice came on.

“GOOOOOOOOOOOD EVENING, EVERYPONY, AND WELCOME TO STABLE 64!” said a cheerful stallion over the intercom with the volume so loud it shook the dust off the walls and us. “IF YOU ARE INSIDE THIS STABLE THEN YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO PARTAKE IN A FUN GAME WHERE EVERYPONY IS A WINNER!”

We all swore and tried holding our ears. Aria was still passed out, though.

“PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE ATRIUM FOR SNACKS AND DRINKS-”

BLAM!

Burst Fire's rifle was smoking and that speaker erupted into a ball of sparks and flame, but the voice was still heard from beyond the metal door.

“-And remember, with the power of teamwork and friendship, no future will be gloomy! Disclaimer: StableTecandManeEnterprisearenotresponsibleforanylossoflifeorpropertyorsanitycertainbodilyandormentalharmmayormaynothappentoyouduringthisexperiment,” concluded the voice.

The hallway door slid opened when we approached it, but a bunch of chairs spilled out towards Stocker's feet, and all of us briefly lost brain function from the confusion. We quickly resumed walking, sweeping the area as we went, but nothing happened. The wall was painted with more crude messages warning the inhabitants to stay away from the door, but there were no living ponies, no mutants, no corpses, just dust, dust and more dust. There were cameras hanging limp from the ceiling and the only lights active were red emergency lights and faint lights from underneath the doors. One of the rooms we passed had an observation window, but it was an actual living quarter with a living room, a small kitchen, a small bathroom and a stand with a radio on it. All of which was covered in dust.

“You know, I think my ear is bleeding,” said Burst Fire. He poked his hoof against his ear and inspected it. “Nope. It just hurts a lot.”

We ignored him.

Wilhelm went to the next room, which was completely identical with layout and the observation window and the third room he inspected was exactly the same as the other two.

“Where is everypony?” asked Rose.

“I have no idea,” I said, looking at a message written on the hallway wall that said Buttercup's Super Club Tearitory. That was the second example of bad spelling within a short distance, coupled that with the lack of bodies and it really gave me an uncomfortable shiver up my messed up spine.

Baton glanced above the door of one of the rooms, and then took a step back and looked down both sides of the hall at the rest of the doors. “All these got a Mane Enterprise logo over them. Where did the Stable-Tec ponies sleep? And the civilians?”

I hobbled down the hallway some more and stopped in front of a map outlined by a square of dim lights. It was a map of Stable 64, and from what I could see we were in the Mane Enterprise Wing, and next to it was the Stable-Tec Wing. Then there was large circular area that was roughly three miles in radius. That was a lot bigger than the atrium at my Stable. Probably larger than any atrium, actually.

Around it were various other wings that were connected to each other by giant rings of hallways. Each section was labeled as medical, observation, residential, food, entrance, and so on. The Overmare's office was also close to the clinic and the lower level was just blank with no clear way in. The only label it had was “Authorized Personnel Only”.

“Hey, Wilhelm, there is a clinic nearby,” I said, tapping the medical block on the map.

Wilhelm took one look at where I was pointing, looked at the map, and then quickly went in the direction needed.

He didn't even thank me.

The clinic door slid open and triggered the lights to flicker on. It was just about spotless, save for a garbage can overflowing with a lot of empty sleeping potion bottles. There were other empty wrappers lying around, too. Some were for bandages, others were broken stimpacks, and others were empty containers of random medicine. That said, Wilhelm gently placed Aria on an empty cot and went right towards the cabinet, breaking locks off and throwing aside stuff that was useless to him. It was quickly gathered by Baton, though. As for Aria, she was still breathing, but it was labored and she was limp. I sat down next to her and held her hoof again, letting Wilhelm rummage through the clinic, and Rose sat next to me.

“Will she be all right?” asked Rose.

“I hope so,” I said.

Wilhelm came back, pushed me aside and tilted Aria's head so he could pour the only healing potions he could find down her throat. She immediately began coughing and sputtering, and then her eyes shot open as she jerked up and wheezed for air, only for Wilhelm to snatch her in a hug that nearly suffocated her. Aria winced and awkwardly pawed at him, trying to find a good spot to hold him as he sniffled and rubbed her mane.

“I'm sorry,” said Wilhelm.

Aria found her grip and returned the hug, resting her chin on his shoulder and closing her eyes.

“I forgive you,” said Aria quietly.

She was still trembling and pale, but she managed to offer me a weak smile.

“I guess we're even,” said Aria.

It took me a second to realize what she was referring to, but when it clicked I smiled and stepped forward, but Wilhelm put his hoof against my chest, stopping me from going any closer. Stocker came up to her a couple of seconds later and she was sandwiched in a hug between her father and brother.

Rose got a little smile and leaned against me, and despite me being pushed back I smiled, too. It was good to see Aria alive. It was good not to lose a friend. Though, when I looked at Rose something was off about her. That smile wasn't... right. She was smiling, but it was hollow. She wasn't smiling because Aria was alive. She was smiling because she was trained to do it during certain events. Events where we were expected to be happy. Events like Aria surviving.

My smile dropped as I looked at Rose, and she looked at me, still holding her smile, but I could see the the wet haze in her eyes. There was a poison. A rot. And it was spreading to me.

“Hey, Meris,” said Aria.

“Yeah?” I said, looking at her.

“Who's Honey?”

So, long story short, Aria said she heard me call her Honey when she was bleeding in my hoofs. I didn't know what she was talking about, but Wilhelm backed her up. As did Stocker... And Baton... And Burst Fire... Rose said nothing about it. I was sure they were lying because I know what I say and I never said “Honey”, but they insisted I did. We didn't stay on the issue long, though. We had work to do and our mission was now to find the Overmare's Office. (My personal mission was to find more aid so I wouldn't have to hobble everywhere. Spoiler: I failed.)

It wasn't long before we found the Office since it was literally a few blocks down. As we were going down the hall we found more of Buttercup's Super Club Tearitory painted on the walls, as well as broken furniture and scorch marks and scratches on the wall. Dried blood also stained the floors and walls and in front of the Overmare's Office was a list of names written in marker with a basic sun and RIP painted over them. Lunar Candy, Flawless Gem, Arctic Trail, Shining Star, so on. There was nearly two dozen names on that list. All looked like they were written by kids.

“I don't like this,” said Baton. “I don't like this at all.”

“Same. This place ain't right,” said Burst Fire.

“I thought Stables were supposed to have ponies in them,” said Rose. “How can a Stable be empty?”

Wilhelm quietly opened the door to the Overmare's Office, and that was when the ticking returned.

It was faint. Just enough to get my ear twitching.

Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

My hoofs moved on their own to follow the noise, which just happened to be where Wilhelm was going. It annoyed me, but it would annoy me more to not figure out where the noise was coming from. So off I went, up the stairs leading to the Office.

It looked like it had been used before everypony disappeared. On the floor was crumpled paper, dirty dishes, doodles in crayon of a happy family and a house on a hill with a dog, and a teddy bear. The shelves in the office were completely empty, the couch had a sleeping bag on it and the desk had a plaque that was covered with a paper that had Buttercup Sundae written on it in crayon.

Wilhelm was already inspecting a computer when I entered the office. That damn ticking was also getting louder the closer I got to the computer. My steps became heavier and slower, and my chest was really tight by the time I reached the desk. I lifted the paper off the plaque and saw S.G. Glimmer written in faded gold letters, and I let the paper cover it again as I looked at Wilhelm.

That ticking and tocking was really loud at that point, and Wilhelm had activated the computer, bathing his face in a green glow. He then got out the fancy stuff from his pack, plugged it in and began typing away.

Several minutes later the group was all in the office looking for something to do and Wilhelm successfully got into the system. We spent a few more minutes watching him go through files, which, when he found what he needed he packed his stuff and left in a hurry with Aria and Stocker. Rose and I exchanged looks, and after we had a silent agreement we both went to the terminal and I opened up the logs.

STABLE 64- Log-01-A
Greetings, Starlight G. Glimmer!
Seeing as you have been a long loyal member of the Macintosh Branch of Stable-Tec while serving as Ministry Mare of Education, you were naturally selected by Stable-Tec to partake in a grand experiment. Since you are reading this, it is safe to say that civilization has had an inconvenient setback. But chin up, sport! You have with you the next generation of citizens who are students of the Whooves Institute. It is your duty observe them grow with the help of very special guests from Mane Enterprise, which includes Dr. Time Turner Whooves. The files of all selected for this Stable are already on file, as well as instructions for operating this Stable. (SPOILER: It is just like the simulation, but different in certain areas.)
Unfortunately, the parents of the students as well as any and all adults not on the roster will be barred from entering Stable 64, so if they are not on the roster do not let them in. If they have somehow entered, please have your security team escort them out. Preferably without violence.
During the Stable 64 experiment, you and Stable-Tec employees are restricted to observations and maintenance, while Mane Enterprise will handle the stock. This is very important!
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to contact our help desk at 1-800-111-1111. Ext 1111-11.
Have a fantastic day!
Reg. Dir. M. Puff

STABLE 64- Log-01-B
I just made a horrible error. There was a commotion outside and the guards were trying to hold back a very angry crowd and I panicked and I closed the door too early and now it is just me and these kids! Everypony else is still outside! Parents, security, Stable-Tec, everypony! I searched through the files and there is no way to open the door until the timer runs out. The kids are crying. I don't know what to do. The help desk is not working! I'm not even the Overmare! I'm just the secretary!
But I got to try something. Anything. These kids need me.
-Cobblestone P. Twirlypath

STABLE 64- Log-01-C
I managed to calm the kids down. It took me forever to find sleeping bags, but there was enough for all of them. I put them to sleep in the only area that wasn't locked, which was unfortunately the atrium. Fortunately it is actually kind of cool. It is a large field with trees, a lake, and its simulating the night sky with those weird night bugs that are always buzzing but we can never find.
While they are asleep I'm going to explore this Stable and see what else I can find and do here.
-Cobblestone P. Twirlypath

JORNAL DAY 1
I accadentaly deleted some stuff on this thing. I hope it wasn't anything important, because if it was then Mr. Cobblestone is gonna be mad. Where is he anyway? He put us to bed and its been a whole day since we last saw him. Sinseerly Buttercup PS-Im only writing this becus somepony has to do it and I saw him doing it after the big door closed.

JORNAL DAY 2
Its been four days now and Mr. Cobblestone is still not here! What is taking him so long? Sinseerly Buttercup

JORNAL DAY 3
This is dumb! Where is Mr. Cobblestone? Where are the teechers? Where are our parents?Sinseerly Buttercup

JORNAL DAY 4
Coco said he heard banging on the big door. I got the biggest baddest colts I could find and we made a bunch of weapons and sheelds out of chairs and stuff we found lieing around and went to the door. There really was banging and screaming! We all ran back and locked the hallway door. I fourbid everypony from opening the hall door. Nopony goes out that hallway door! Nopony! Sinseerly Buttercup

JORNAL DAY 5
We're getting way beyond super hungry and Mr. Cobblestone still isn't here. We don't know how to cook and the kitchen has a bunch of seeds and boxes and cans of food and stuff. We planted the seeds and put water on them but nothing happened! This is messed up. Sinseerly Buttercup

JORNAL DAY 6
WHERE IS EVERYPONY!

JORNAL DAY 7
We tried splitting the food we found evenly, but some of the bullies took more than what was fair. I told them not to do that, but they didn't listen and beat up a bunch of us. I wish I had my mom and dad here. I wish there was an adult here!

JORNAL DAY 8
I forgot to do this for a while. I tried putting some of the bullies in detention but it didn't work. And that jerk Boulder made a group which made Spring make a group which made Jelly Bean make a group which made me make a group! They also made names for their groups and were fighting each other, so I had to make a name for my group and fight back. We desided to go with Buttercup's Super Club and we had to fight off the other groups since we took over the kitchen and used a barricade of tables to keep them out. The kitchen also led to this room, which was conveenent. Now Buttercup's Super Club controls the food, but it didn't solve anything since the soil dried up and the water is smelling weird. My group wants me to have all the answers but I don't! I don't know what to do! I'm scared. Nopony is coming. I want my mom. I want my dad. I WANT OUT OF THIS PLACE!

JORNAL DAY 9
Everything is wrong. It has been weeks. Months maybe. The water is drying up and still smelling weird even after we boil away the nasty stuff, the plants are dying and the food we're growing is really thin. A lot of us died already, inclooding some of my friends. But Boulder also finally died. I killed him with a broken chair leg. I stabbed him in the throat when he led his group against Jelly Bean's group (Bean's Blitzer's and my Super Club became friends and that was awesome) and I'm glad I killed him. He deserved it and it got the rest of his group to back off since he was the biggest and baddest of them all. But I'm tired of killing. I already killed six and I hurt even more to protect my friends, but I got an idea and I know it will work. I just got to prepare it and get everypony in the atrium and convince Spring to let us use their intercom thingy.

That was the last of the logs, and I stepped back, eyes stuck on the words "killed six". These were just kids and they were killing each other in the Stable. What was Stable-Tec and Mane Enterprise even planning on doing with these kids if they hadn't been locked out by a sick twist of fate? Would the kids have been able to survive if Cobblestone hadn't disappeared? I don't know... But it left me empty and unaware of the world around me.

It actually took me a minute to realize that Rose and Burst Fire were gone. Baton was still with me, but he was looking at the crayon pictures, so I left him alone and went to look for the Atrium since something in my gut told me that that's where Rose would be.

When I finally entered the Atrium some minutes later I stopped cold. Everybody was standing still and staring at a field of dead grass, rotten trees, dusty dirt and an empty pond with dried mold on its bed, and at the edge of the field was a podium made out of metal crates with a banner above it. The banner had long since faded, but the words were still there written in paint.

In front of the podium was dozens upon dozens of small skeletons wearing small Stable jumpsuits, curled up or huddled together, and scattered all over the place were old cups. On the podium was another skeleton, same size, same suit, and behind the skeleton was a long table with a lot of empty punch bowls, some ladles and more cups.

“What the hell?” muttered Burst Fire.

I limped on to the field and rubbed my good hoof against the grass, kicking up dust and grass. Rose walked past me and whimpered as she poked one of the skeletons. She then collapsed and shook her head, tears flowing freely and shoulders buckling.

“Why... Why...?” sniffled Rose.

Baton walked up next to me casually inspecting parts of something he disassembled, but when he saw the field of the dead he stopped and dropped the junk. His shoulders an ears sunk and his eyes glazed over as he stared at the field. A few seconds later he released a heavy sigh, walked into the dead gras and started digging his hoofs into the dirt just a few steps away from Rose. Nobody said anything. We just watched him scrape and pull out thick clumps of dirt that crumbled moments later, soon shrouding his hoofs in dust. Rose was still quietly sniffing, and Aria went over to put her hoof on her shoulder while Wilhelm gave Baton a critical look.

“What are you doing?” asked Wilhelm.

“Burying them,” said Baton.

“We don't have time for that. We have work to do.”

Baton stopped digging and snapped to Wilhelm. “For fuck's sake, they're kids!” Before Wilhelm could say anything he went back to digging, but his motions were sharp and jagged and the dirt was flying in larger clumps as he spat out his words. “Just. Kids. They died. Alone! … They were left here alone... Nopony was here for them... But we're here just in time to see their corpses!”

Baton screamed and dug faster and faster. I had to shield my eyes from the dirt that flew towards me, and Rose and Aria stayed in their spots, watching Baton with growing tears while Stocker and Burst Fire looked down. Wilhelm and myself quietly watched him, too.

“I hate this fucking world!” cried Baton.

“Look, Baton, we can always come back. Those skeletons ain't going anywhere. Besides, we still have to save Lilac and that Artisan guy,” said Burst Fire. “And what about your people that Gold kidnapped? Remember them? They need you.”

“Lilac? If Waltz has her she's probably dead, too. Just like Scabbard. Just like my people. Just like everything else good in this world,” said Baton. “Your friend is probably dead, too, Meris. Everypony dies. Everything rots!”

Baton resumed digging, and we watched him in silence for a few minutes before Wilhelm started towards the atrium exit. One by one we looked at him, with the only noise being Baton's digging, and when Wilhelm was halfway to the door he stopped and looked at us from over his shoulder.

“Leave him,” ordered Wilhelm. “We have work to do.”

I frowned at Wilhelm, and then looked at Baton. He didn't look at us or say anything. He was robotic in his motions as he dug the grave. A moment later, Stocker sighed, gave Baton a sympathetic look and then nudged Aria forward. She walked, but kept her eyes on Baton as long as she could before walking ahead, and Stocker stopped next to me.

“Let him mourn,” said Stocker. “We can't find your friends by standing here, anyway.”

“Are we even going the right way?” I asked, unable to look away from Baton.

“We can only hope.” He put his hoof on my shoulder and gently guided me away from Baton. “Come.”

I sighed, nodded, and reluctantly moved on with Rose by my side.

I thought we would wander aimlessly in the tomb that was Stable 64, but Wilhelm knew exactly where to go. His steps, his turns, all of it was quick and precise. The halls all looked the same, despite arrows and labels saying we were in different areas, but with Wilhelm leading like he grew up in 64 we didn't get lost.

One of the areas we passed was a monitor room with dimly lit screens showing a 24/7 live recording of the Atrium from different vantage points, but with nopony there to observe, the recordings were just wasting data. Another area we passed was an armory with all the weapons, ammo and armor fully intact and covered in dust. For that, we loaded up on ammo, every weapon we could carry and armor. For me and Rose, we got to wear security barding, but in my case it was actually very uncomfortable wearing a metal padded vest on top of a crudely made robotic spine-brace thing. I also grabbed a combat shotgun (labeled as a Storm-52) and all the 20 round drums and 10 round magazines I could. It got heavy really quick on top of the other ammo and guns I snagged. I was practically crawling by the time I was finished and Rose had to snag a few from me to lighten the load.

Anyway, after we were done raiding the armory we passed a small eatery, grabbed all the food that hadn't expired and headed towards an “Authorized Personnel Only” door that was wide open and led to a dark cavern.

All of us stared at it, not really sure what to think about it. I really didn't like it. It was just a wide open door leading to pitch blackness and I really didn't want to go down there to find skeletons of more kids who poisoned themselves. But we ended up going, anyway, despite the sickly pressure building in me and probably everybody else. Rose nearly crawled after us.

But when Wilhelm took the first step into the dark, a weak light flicked on, revealing a long set of metal stairs and a conveyor belt system on the side with a control panel. There was also a skeleton at the bottom of the stairs next to a metal crate.

We carefully walked down the stairs, passing a streak of blood on a few of the steps, and ending at a dark red pool where the skeleton was. It adult sized skeleton. His skull was cracked wide open, his neck looked broken and there was a big blotch of dried blood was on the corner of a metal crate to go with the dried pool around him. Rose grimaced, but Burst Fire just shoved the skeleton out of the way, opened the crate, and pulled out a pack of... something. It looked like rotten mush, and the pack had two tips at the bottom: one red and one blue.

“Warning: Not for consumption,” said Burst Fire. He peeked inside. “This whole box has nothing but these packs.”

Stocker opened another metal crate that was nearby and found more of the same. I mirrored them and found even more, and then I looked down the length of the wall and saw dozens upon dozens of the same metal crates. If I had to guess, there were probably hundreds of those crates stacked from floor to ceiling and all the way down the chamber. It was also safe to say that they all had whatever those pouches were.

As we inspected a few more of the crates (proving my suspicion correct), Wilhelm plugged his pack into a computer next to a sealed door with black and yellow bars covering it entirely and solid steel rods blocking the door itself. It took him nearly ten minutes, but when he was done the door clicked, the interior locking mechanisms turned and the rods slid into the floor and ceiling. The door gradually opened, revealing a chamber of evenly lined large metallic tubes with observation windows, computers, thick wires attached to the ceiling, and extensions with IV ports. The only lights active were dim, red emergency lights.

It sent a shiver up my spine and I gently nudged Rose behind me while Burst Fire swallowed and took a step back.

“So, who's first?” asked Burst Fire.

“You?” suggested Stocker.

“Nope! I need range for my weapon. How about you?”

“I have heavy weapons. Those are not good for close quarters.”

Wilhelm grumbled to himself and went in, followed closely by Stocker and Aria, and then it was me, Rose, and finally Burst Fire.

The air was heavy and stale, and as we walked, we split up, but Rose stayed by my side. The stillness allowed me to hear every step and grumble of the group, and it also quickened my heart. Seeing all of the blank terminals and dim lights seemed unnatural, and I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched. The Atrium had a very tight network of cameras, so it seemed logical that this room would get the same treatment.

“Whoa. Hey, guys, look at this,” said Burst Fire, peeking into an observation window of one of the tubes. Fortunately he was near us.

Rose and I squeezed next to him to have a look at what he was seeing. There were dozens of tubes of shriveled, grayed somethings hanging in the device's dim chamber. Some have broken free of the IVs and wires holding them and were splattered on the floor. Needless to say, it was weird and disturbing at the same time.

“What is it?” I asked.

“No idea,” said Burst Fire.

“They're embryo tubes,” said Wilhelm. He was looking inside another container that was next to ours and feeling its shell. “Long expired.”

“What's an embryo?” asked Burst Fire.

“The first stages of life,” said Wilhelm. He went down the aisles, checking each dim container he passed. “All these devices are offline. These embryos are all dead.”

Rose covered her mouth with her hoof and I put my hoof on her shoulder as she looked at me with wet eyes and ears.

I'm not really sure what I was expecting when resumed walking down the aisles, but as I walked I note the Stable-Tec logo on the wall (Your Future Awaits!) and the Mane Enterprise logo stamped on the dead containers. I poked at a computer attached to one of the machine, but nothing happened, and I pressed my ear against it.

Nothing.

Dead silence.

It really was expired. Which brought me to wondering how that happened since Stables were designed with talismans that lasted centuries. What was so different about this Stable?

We walked some more and came across yet another sealed door that wasn't labeled, but it had a terminal on it. Just like the Overmare's Office there was a faint ticking and Wilhelm went straight for it like he had found the final door to a treasure room. I could of sworn I saw a small smile appear on his grizzled face.

There was a problem, though.

More ticking.

More.

Damn.

Ticking!

I really wanted to scream about that. Two tickings in one completely dead Stable! What the fuck was that even about!?

These tickings brought me nothing but near death experiences and I knew something messed up was going to happen as soon as Wilhelm unlocked the door.

Would it explode and blow off my hoof with shrapnel? Would I get sprayed with acid? A killer robot, maybe? Or maybe it was another freak of nature that will go berserk as soon as we open the door. Who the fuck knew?

I didn't.

And for that I stood behind Stocker. He was big. He had a big gun. He had big armor. He was a goat version of Baton. Only nicer.

“You okay?” asked Stocker.

“Just fine,” I said.

There was no way he believed me, but he didn't push the issue, and twenty minutes of Wilhelm muttering, swearing and punching the wall later and the door finally opened to...

Nothing.

I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was.

There was nothing there.

Sure the ticking was loud and there was a made (unused) bed, a filing cabinet, a desk with a computer, a projector hanging from the ceiling, and a station with all the tools a scientist could dream of. But it was still empty.

We cautiously filed in, and Wilhelm once again worked on hacking. It would have been boring if I had not been wondering if a turret would come out of the ceiling to kill us all, or if we would get sealed in the room and gassed. But all that worrying made time fly, and before I knew it, there was a click and the projector flicked to life, covering the wall with a grainy countdown.

The final number flickered away and lo and behold, there was Bruce Mane, sitting in an office with his pressed suit, a drink, and a painting of a sunny landscape behind him.

“Hello, Time Turner,” said Bruce with a smile; this got the group to exchange looks, but I kept my eye on the projection while Wilhelm kept working. “If you are seeing this, then you found your way to your new home at Stable 64 with Mr. W's assistance to complete Project Godmaker. Serum 1922 was a success, generously speaking, and now we can move on to the next phase of the Project where hopefully there won't be horrible mutations. I made sure that there would be plenty of stock for you to study and I got a good crew for you, so you will be fine. My investments are secured, the Ministry of Awesome's project will improve and you will be remembered in the scientific community for... well... Forever. Immortalized, basically. Everypony wins.”

Bruce's smile faded, and with a heavy sigh he looked down, rubbing his mane before looking back at the camera with the confidence in his eyes dying out.

“Look, I'll just cut to it. I know you must be angry,” continued Bruce, his demeanor now like a shattered vase. “Why wouldn't you be? I know I would be if I was in your horseshoes, with the sudden change in plans without your consent and not seeing Roseluck again, but there was no time. The truth is that the Ministry of Morale has given Shining Armor reason to believe that the Ministries of Peace and Transportation have been compromised. He is working with them to find the traitors and stop them from doing whatever it is they are planning. They already snagged Cartwheel and have done raids on Macintosh Transit, as well as other companies tied to him, but I don't think they will succeed. Call it a gut feeling, but I believe that our time has run out and in order for all that we have worked for to be preserved things must change and fast. That is where you come in.”

Wilhelm wormed his way past us and began hastily searching through the filing cabinet.

“You are the only one I can trust to finish Godmaker. Dr. Odji... I can't trust him, he has to go, but you?” said Bruce. “You have been with us from the start and always been the type to work towards the greater good, and now you can perform the greatest act of good for all of ponykind. You can defeat death. Just imagine, no more death, no more sorrow, no more fear. We can live forever. We can fix our mistakes. We can be better than we are now. We can... We can redeem ourselves.”

He looked down again and made a move to grab his drink, but stopped and pushed the cup away, and continued speaking without looking at the camera.

“You're a good pony, Time Turner. Better than most of us, and that is why this task falls to you. I know you will do the right thing. And don't worry about Roseluck. She will be safe with me in Stable 67 and you will be safe with Mr. W.” Bruce flashed a very forced smile. “Your office and Stable 64 is stocked with everything you need. Keep me posted on your work and good luck!”

The video ended abruptly, and I slowly looked at Wilhelm, who was rummaging through some files inside the filing cabinet, snagging folders that struck his fancy and put them in his metal pack, save for one that he kept in his mouth. As I watched him I began thinking about what I had seen of him. His insane healing, his inability to break his limbs, how he was able to work his way so easily through... well, everything especially this place. Plus his name. And the most damning of all, what Waltz said on his recording about Wilhelm's unknown origins.

“Are you Mr. W?” I asked.

The group looked at me, and I locked my eyes on Wilhelm as he shoved me out of the way to get to the computer again with the folder still in his mouth. The group then looked at Wilhelm, and he opened the folder on the desk, scanned the documents inside and typed something on the computer that made it beep and display a line of folders that I guess were previously not there.

“Are you Mr. W?” I asked again.

“Classified,” said Wilhelm as he opened up the first digital folder.

“So let's call that a yes,” said Burst Fire. “And is this Godmaker thing connected to the whole Remnant issue?”

“Classified,” said Wilhelm. He closed that folder and moved to the next one.

“I think it is safe to say that Godmaker is Remnant and that you are Mr. W, which if you are him then you already know everything about the Remnant, so... why go through all this trouble looking for it? You already know everything about it,” I said.

“I don't know everything about the Remnant. I don't know how to cure it,” said Wilhelm. He closed that folder and moved to the next one.

“Cure it?”

“Yes. That is what I said,” said Wilhelm. Another dead end for him.

“What is it, exactly? The Remnant, I mean,” asked Rose.

“Classified.”

“What isn't classified?” I said.

“Everything that I don't want classified,” said Wilhelm.

He selected another folder, and his face got a little glow to it and he leaned closer to the screen, his eyes sliding left to right along each line. He then punched in a command at the very bottom and we all jumped when we heard a distant thud, followed by screeching of metal.

Wilhelm packed up his gear in a hurry. “Let's go! There is more to this Stable. A tunnel that leads to another facility that is also connected to Mane Enterprise, which has more information on the Remnant.”

We followed him out of the office, through the room of containers, and entered an area that I hadn't seen yet. Apparently a portion of the wall was a door, and the door led to a long, wide hallway with swirling red lights briefly illuminating the gray walls.

“Engel, with me. Aria and whoever you are, in the center with Exile. Burst Fire stay in the back,” ordered Wilhelm.

We went into the formation Wilhelm ordered and traveled into the darkness after he flicked a light on his suit. The walls suddenly seemed closer together now that we were in them. Maybe it was the lack of light, or maybe it was because we all bunched closer together out of instinct. Whatever it was, it was suffocating, and I had trouble seeing any defining features on the new walls. They were just solid slabs of gray as far as I could tell.

The further we went, the heavier air became, and probably around the five minute mark of traveling we all slowed down to barely moving when the ground shook with metallic clangs and a stampede of hoofs. Then a set of lights flashed on in front of us, effectively freezing us and prompting all of us to raise our weapons.

“Not one step closer!” boomed something with a heavy, scratchy voice.

With the help of the lights we were able to see who we encountered and all of our eyes, even Wilhelm's, grew at the sight of the thing that stood before us. Gears and pistons grinded and hissed and a loud, metallic thump shook the cavern with each step this thing took. Its hoofs were encased in giant slabs of metal and the gears and pistons we heard. Metal ribs hugged his armored body, a trio of canisters were on its back that connected to its breathing mask, its tail was nonexistant, and its head was encased in a thick helmet with tusks and a horn. Thick slabs of metal also covered its shoulders, hips and upper limbs, which the shoulder pads had bizarre decorations of skeletal alicorns wielding scythes and wearing cloaks. Lastly hanging around its neck was a metal pendant of a pony skull with a gear as its left eye socket.

Behind it was a group of six Stable ponies with security barding and battle saddles with something on their backs that looked similar to my back brace, only they had syringes on them instead of whatever the hell was on mine. They were all earth ponies, too.

“Nopony has opened this door since Judgement Day! Who are you?” said the big armored pony.

“Explorers,” said Wilhelm carefully. “Where are we?”

“Explorers, you say? Well, explorers, you have just entered Stable 65.”