“To anypony out there, if you are listening to this, I thank you. I feel the need to...talk for a while. At the moment, I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. But, that can wait for later. Before I get into that, I just need you to understand one little thing.”

“I am not a hero. I am not anything as noble as that, but some ponies call me that. I am also not a bounty hunter, but I do occasionally take on bounty requests. Want to know what I am? If I had to say, I would put my money on murderer. And no, that isn’t some sort of ‘I regret the things I did, so I will put myself down’ bullshit. No, I am, for all intents and purposes, a true to the goddesses, genuine murderer.”

“And my name?” The voice laughs. “My name isn’t important. I am just a buck, no one important enough to warrant remembering. Not like the Stable Dweller or the Security Mare. Actual heroes, or heroines, I suppose. They have a moral code, some sort of driving force that keeps them going, or so DJ Pon3 makes it seem like that.”

“But me? My drive is to kill. Anyone and anything is good enough for me, but I take my bloodlust out on raiders, slavers, even those alicorns when the situation favors me. So you might be asking yourself, ‘is it murder if you are killing bad ponies?’ Trust me, I don’t view those groups as ponies. They are animals that need to be put down. So, why am I a murderer?”

“Because I don’t care. I have traveled all over the Wasteland. North, east, south, and west. I go and I kill. I don’t stop, I don’t settle down. But honestly, the only thing that keeps me from killing innocent ponies, is that I need supplies and towns frown upon the killing of innocents. That doesn’t mean that I don’t kill innocents, though.”

“In my travels, it isn’t unheard of to stumble upon raiders or slavers that have captives. Ponies they have used as sex toys, beaten, or stolen from. Ponies they will sell off to the highest bidder. And like I said, I am not a hero. These captives receive a single bullet through the skull from me. I don’t have the time to escort them back to a town and if I left them to get there themselves, there is a high chance they would just meet the same fate. Sure, it isn’t ideal, sure, I could spare a few days to escort them to town.”

“But the fact of the matter, is that I just don’t care. I don’t know them, I don’t owe them anything, and even if I did I wouldn’t help. The lives of ponies don’t mean anything to me. But I don’t want you to get the wrong idea and start thinking I am one of those ponies who had a tragic past and is now dead inside because of it. Some pony who wants revenge for something. I’m not that weak.”

“I grew up in Manehatten with my mother, father, and older sister. We had a happy, normal life. I was even a security guard for a few years. One day, I got bored with it and started guarding traders. And a few more years later, I got bored with that as well, not enough action for me. For any of you listening who have ever guarded a trader or worked as a trader, you’ll know it isn’t exactly lacking in the action department. I just needed more. It was always a waiting game for the raiders and bandits to come after us. I wanted to be the one going after them.”

“And so, I saved up some caps and bought myself the supplies I needed to go off on my town, from town to town, killing raiders and slavers as I went. Occasionally, I would find a nice mare to bed down with for the night. Had quite a few sexy little things during my travels. But I’m not the type to settle down. As I continued my bloody travels, I got better barding and a beautiful assault rifle, damn near pristine condition.”

“That gun and I killed hundreds. As a result, I made quite a few enemies of the raider gangs and the slavers have me permanently blacklisted. I think the slavers have quite the reward pool going for whoever catches me. But I don’t mind that, it just makes things all the more interesting.”

“Today, however, I fell into a trap. Some raiders I’ve fought before were pretty pissed, and lured me into a building. I was cocky and went in after them without thinking too much about it. Without scoping out the area. Well, apparently they got a few other gangs together to help them take me out. I was standing in the middle of an empty building when nearly two dozen raiders surrounded me.”

“I wasn’t about to go down without a fight though, and broke through them and found some cover, but not before the gave me a few holes. As I ran, I turned the tables and lured them out, separated them, and killed them off. Things were going well, until the last group managed a few lucky shots. I finished all but three of them and then ran out of ammunition. Even my back up pistol was out.”

Some sounds of knocking on wood echo in the background and muffled shouts ring out.

“Well, it is safe to say they found me,” The buck chuckles. “As you might assume, I ended up locking myself in a cellar with access to a radio. And, well...I’m bleeding out. Those raiders are at the door and waiting to come get me. But, I’ve got a little surprise for them. Don’t worry, they won’t leave here alive.”

“I do have some caps stashed away in the cellar and there is always my rifle. Don’t have much else of value on me. Don’t worry, I don’t want you to come save me. I will die here. I know that. But if you follow this signal, you can take what you find.”

“But, you know...as I sit here, slowly bleeding to death, do you want to know what is going through my mind right now? Damn. I wish I could have killed some more. I don’t have any regrets or anything like that. I am a murderer, after all. And I am...was...damn good at it.”

The sound of wood splintering and the shouting in the background gets louder. The sound of hoofsteps can be heard coming down some stairs.

“Well, that’s all for me, I suppose. I have some guests that I need to greet. Take care of yourselves. And, kill some raiders for me.”

Nothing but the sound of yelling a hoofsteps can be heard. And then a new voice says, “Well, well. Looks like you’re finished. But we aren’t quite done with you yet. Ripper, give him a healing potion. I want to make him beg me for death.”

“Too bad that won’t happen,” The first buck says. The next moment, an explosion rings out. Then, silence.

After about a minute, an artificial voice comes over the radio, “Message repeats.”