Reign and his friends find themselves forced into a bloody feud, effecting all of Equestria. In the mist of it all, past secrets long-forgotten surface, keeping the companions wary of whats to come.
Waking up in a dark, dank, tunnel miles away from home isn't the first thing Reign wanted to do, but soon to find out, him and his friends are part of something much, much larger of a divine plan to shape their destines,
For Better, or for worse... Author: DJ Scratchjack Editors and Proofreaders: BlackjackOrBust and Cooperdawg
Check out the wiki for the story!
Inspired by the Works of Somber and KKat, and all great writers of FO:E.
Equestria. It was once a beautiful and friendly nation. Centuries passed in peace and prosperity. But eventually, thanks to the greed and hubris of equines, the country turned to ash over the course of thirteen years of war and corruption.
When the balefire rained down on Equestria that day, nopony knew what would happen to themselves, their families, or their sons and daughters out on the battlefield. The Zebra Legion was always at Equestria’s borders, always waiting for a chance.
The year is 2077, and out on the frontlines overlooking the Battle of Sawhorse Gulch was the 1st and 8th Recon and Sniper divisions, watching and waiting for the right moment to take a shot at the Legion officers. Reign, a new addition to the 8th, was about to line up a shot on a Centurion downrange. No one knew at that time what was happening back home, or that this event would irrevocably change the tide of the war...
“We all see death in our lives, it’s unavoidable. We all see it as a part of life."
"Alright, keep your sights on that stripe. Ya hear me, lieutenant?" Rockhoof, my lovely commander, spat in my ear.
I’d spent the last three weeks on this Celestia-forsaken ridge being the new guy of the 8th Recon and Sniper division. We were a band of crazy stallions that had absolutely no idea what we’d gotten ourselves into. Did I mention we were led by a half-blind mule who thought that the world would burn in balefire? I know, right? Why would anypony think that?
The battle down in the gulch looked more like a massacre. Pony and zebra carcasses littered the ground, and blood and viscera were floating in pools and streaked across the walls.
"The zebras are an admirable enemy, always forward, always strategizing their next move. Kinda wish I could meet a few after all this bullshit is over and done with," I thought to myself.
As I thought of the battle down range, a dark-blue pony with the name "Butterbar” crawled up to me and set up his spotter's scope. Me and Butters, which was actually his real name (Butterbar for the solid gold lieutenant bar on his jacket), knew each other from recon training. He’d been my only good friend, not afraid to talk to the slightly over-sized pony in the back of the bus with the little scars all up his front legs and the jagged scratch on the side of his neck. Luckily I’d had somepony, because being the only unicorn in the unit’s barracks had been harassment at its finest...
"Hey...” was all he said. He stared into the rangefinder, analyzing the targets down in the gulch. "Wind speed is 1.7 knots to the south. Elevation is...400 hooves down. Adjust and wait on command," Butters whispered in my ear. I adjusted to the left a bit and waited for the sadsack commander to decide when the Zebra officer would breathe his last. I stared into the zebras' blue-green eyes, seeing the pride and the horrors they'd seen over the course of the years. I also saw pain in them, too. Seeing your brothers and sisters strewn across a field, screaming in pain on their dying breath does that to an individual.
A few minutes later......
I laid there on the ground with the rifle grip in my mouth, breathing steadily. Sergeant Rockhoof paced back and forth, waiting for the opportune moment...
I thought back to home. Ponyville would be starting on Winter Wrap-up right about now. Octavia would probably be off in Canterlot for her silly little peace rallies. Vinyl Scratch would still be dropping tunes in the club, not giving a shit about the world (or the war) around her. The Ministry Mares would be doing their respective jobs at the Hubs around Equestria.
And me? Me, I was sitting on a ledge, miles away from civilization, with my grandfather's heirloom cradled in my hooves, my father's chain necklace hung around my neck, a signed photo of DJ-PON3 and Octavia in my saddlebags, and a smile on my face. I was trying to be optimistic with my current situation.
Then, in one horrible moment, I heard it. A turret began firing, and the rumble of tracks boomed across the Sawhorse walls. The Ministry of Wartime Technology’s newest toy, which had been infused with my dear-old cousin Applejack's own love and toleration for the zebras, had arrived. Knock-Knock...
The tank’s missile carved a hole the size of a cottage in the rock's face right above the enemy's bunker, which happened to be directly across from my target area. Sergeant Rockhoof stopped and stared at the new assault on the enemy camp while troops hopped over our dead to get at the Legion army. Rockhoof let out a sigh, nodded at the nearby radio commspony and looked back at me. I could feel his cold eyes staring at the back of my head.
"Officer Broken Reign, fire on my mark."... My heart beat a mile a minute now while I waited on a command that would further condemn me to the Hell.
"Fire at wi-" was all that fell out of my CO’s muzzle before the shot from my anti-materiel rifle interrupted him. Its scream added to the cry of the tank in the gulch's cavern. I watched as the .50 caliber bullet ripped through my target like paper and found its mark at the zebra's heart. The round exited and finally dug itself into the ground, never to be found. The zebra looked straight at me with those cold, dying eyes and fell to the ground. The dead zebra’s guards began rushing around and looking at the nearby ridges, trying to find the pony that had just killed their officer. I let out the breath I was holding and started shaking in my barding. "Target down."
The area around the bunker exploded as the tank penetrated the outer wall. The sergeant whispered to the commspony and looked back at me staring at him. I yelled over the din of battle, “what’s next, sir?" The sergeant saluted me and said, "Dismissed, rest for next assignment." I returned the salute and then nodded to Butterbar. He packed up and we started to trot back to our tent at the bottom of the hill.
10:53PM, Winter’s Eve, 2077
That night was filled with the roar of guns and shells, the screaming of orders and the moans of the dying. Nopony in their right mind could sleep through that, so I sat down in front of the fire in the campgrounds. The rest of the 8th and 1st sat in the circle, throwing insults and compliments to me for the beautiful shot to the enemy Commander.
I wasn't listening to any of it. Butters sat next to me, a coffee cup in his hooves, and looked over to me with a sad expression. He knew as well as I did how war changes a pony. "Hey. Don’t let it get to you, bro. He wasn't fit to continue to live the life that he did." He took a sip from his cup. I smiled back half-heartedly. “I know, but-" I started as the sergeant staggered into the light of the fire. He looked like he’d just gone through the entire case of Wild Pegasus whiskey that his wife had sent him. Well, all except for the bottle in his mouth that he threw to me. "Congratsh, Lieutenant, or Ca-hic-ptain, whichever one you want-hic-want to be called. Wheew!"
He half saluted, half threw himself towards me and sat down hard on his rump. I simply sighed. I’d been given a promotion I didn’t want, and for killing another being. I sat there, staring into the tea I was drinking, just listening to the voices in my head...
12:05AM, Winter's Day, 2077
I sat there till the fire went out. Butters and the rest were either on patrol or asleep. The sound of gunfire had subsided down to a few rounds here and there, and there were no more tank rounds ringing in the gulch. The smell from the land behind me was starting to wander into camp, giving me the idea that I should start my own patrol. As I wallowed in my self-pity, I stood up slowly, knowing all too well that I would have to kill again sooner or later. I'd killed my fair share of ponies during the past few years. I remembered shooting zebras that I didn't even know, ones that had never wronged me. Big Macintosh, before the war, told me it would be hard, but to press on and keep the faith in the fact that you are still a good pony. I doubted myself too much on that account, though. I’m still me, after all.
I walked up to the base of the hill that only a few hours ago was being torn apart. The 1st Recon was up on the ledge, watching what was left of the battle in their scopes, picking off any stragglers unfortunate enough to be alone. I popped the cork off my new bottle of Wild Pegasus and took a swig. The bite from the Pasterland-brewed drink took me by surprise,
"This stuff is amazing!" I said out loud. I put the stopper back in the bottle and placed it in my saddlebag, saving it for later. I walked back to my tent after making sure that the gate was being patrolled and flipped into bed. I stared at the roof of the tent, thinking of what tomorrow would bring, and after a few minutes I drifted off...
5:59AM, Winter's Day, 2077
In my dream, countless skeletons were scattered about in fields reeking of death. Grass and trees had been fried, and there was nothing alive that I could see. Radiation baked the ground, making little pits in the dirt. I saw buildings destroyed and toppled over, broken by the massive bombs being dropped. The sound of rockets and missiles flying over me filled the sky. The whistle of mortar shells rained down on me...
Then, one of the shells detonated right beside me. I flew across the tent. My eyes snapped open. Thank the Goddesses for me being stupid (or drunk) enough to sleep in my barding. Butters was nowhere to be found. I got up from the ground, looking around at the destruction happening all around me.
My dream was coming true.
Missiles streaked the sky as they flew overhead, coloring it in crimson. The bodies of my fellow soldiers were in heaps here and there on the ground, along with the corpses of stealth-suited zebras. Mortar shells blew chunks out of the ground all around me. The soldiers that weren't dead were running around in disarray. I floated my gun to my side, searching for an enemy. Explosions were taking out everything that could be considered decent cover.
I spotted Rockhoof beating the piss out of a zebra up the hill. He would be able to hold his own for a while. I ran to the comm station to signal for help. Another shell detonated directly in front of me, sending me back a few feet. Shrapnel tore into my barding, sending scorching pieces of metal tearing across my coat and hide. I reached the radio and pushed the dead pony out of the chair. I grabbed the radio and screamed into it. "This is Capt. Broken Reign of the 8th division! Camp Luna is under attack. I repeat, we are under attack. Please send reinforcements, this is Ca-." The radio was crushed under an invisible hoof, disconnecting me from HQ.
I jumped back in time to feel the slight breeze of a knife pass by my neck, missing by an inch or two. I shot three rounds into the spot next to the radio. Three little splats of blood were all that I saw as my unknown assailant moved away from his hiding spot. I backed into a corner, trying to focus on any sort of shimmer or movement in the light. I smirked a bit, thinking of the shit I was in now. Three months ago I had been sitting in a trench, waiting for death to come; now I was backed into a corner like a rabid animal, trying to avoid death again. I started to chuckle at the ghostie in front of me somewhere.
"Yeah, yeah, come get some." I pulled out my combat knife from where it was strapped to my barding. I swung it around a bit and flipped the blade into a defensive angle. THERE!
To my right I glimpsed a slight shimmer. I threw my knife at it and raised my rifle’s sights up as quickly as I could. I unloaded four more shots into the area where I’d thrown the knife. The stealth suit shut down as its host’s head became nothing more than a bloody mess. The corpse fell to the ground with a splat, blood already pooling around it. I strapped the knife back to my barding, then reloaded and flung my rifle into its custom-made holster. I wiped off the blood and grime from my barding and cutie mark, revealing the broken crown and wings once more. My side hurt a little bit from the shrapnel earlier, feeling like it penetrated through. I shrugged it off and started back to the door, being wary of what’s around me.
The camp was just a smoking dump now, not a single pony or zebra was in the area. Sounds of the battle were ringing everywhere. My own tent, along with all my personal things (minus the items in my saddlebags), were ablaze in the choking fire. I heard the quiet sound of Rockhoof and the 1st sounding the retreat.
I ran to the east, hoping for my shitty luck to help me catch up with the survivors. I galloped as fast as my hooves would let me, hopping over the burning remains of ponies, zebras, and rubble alike. I slammed into the back gate, breaking the lock and my collarbone. I slammed to the ground, screaming in pain. I tried to pick myself up, my broken bone grinding under my hide. I gritted my teeth and tried to fight through the pain. I hobbled down the trail, which led into the crevices of the canyon and hopefully to the rest of my buddies.
The sound of gunfire rang through the air as I stumbled down the worn path. Thoughts of death and fear swam in my head in an angry flurry. My broken clavicle ground against my skin, threatening to rip out. I gritted my teeth through it all. I came up to a corner in the rock face. I heard the zebras coming down from the camp. I ducked around the corner to find a grenade rifle stuck in my face.
"Reign! You’re alive!" screamed Butters. I smiled and laughed, happy to see my friend alive, too.
Then I heard a shot, and I was falling on my side…
***
I blinked back into half-consciousness to hear muffled gunshots through the ringing in my ears. Somepony was screaming my name. I drifted back into darkness for what seemed to be only a second or two, but now if felt like I was being dragged into some dark cave or tunnel. Then I felt the sensation of cold metal under me. I heard Rockhoof and some other pony talking over me. Suddenly a bright light flashed on in my sight, blinding me. I blinked and lifted my hoof to cover my eyes.
But somehow I couldn’t. I felt the motion, but nothing else.
I looked over to my leg to find it gone.
Where my leg was supposed to be was a dirty, blood-soaked rag, ripped from Butters' barding. I saw part of my bone sticking out of the wrappings. I slipped back into unconsciousness...
"But Doctor, we don’t know if it will work, and even if it did, how are we going to stabilize him? He's half dead and y-"
“I don’t know if it will work, but we have no choice. Help me flip him over..
“Sarge, we need to hurry! We gotta get out of here!"
"We can't move him right now or he'll die, Rockhoof. I'm surprised he hasn't died from the blood loss already. Hand me that scalpel."
"Doc? W-will he…"
"I don’t know, but let’s pray to Luna and Celestia for some luck for once.... There, let’s get him to the table."
"The shoulder will need time to heal, so I..."
"DOC! SARGE! THEY’RE GETTING IN!"
"Go help them out, Rockhoof. I'll handle it from here... Reign... If you can hear me, I’m sorry...this is the only thing I can do for you now. I hope you will survive this. Your friends think that you can, so there's still hope. Good luck, son. I'll leave a manual in the....shit, there’s no time. I hope the...holds... Fuck, they’re coming in. I’m so sorry, Broken Reign, I tried. Please forgive me."
"What do you fear the most? Death? Fear itself? Giant spiders? Take that, your deepest fear, and multiply it ten gabillion times, and that's what it’s like living out here..."
I woke up to see two filthy ponies staring at me from behind a plane of green glass. I had a respirator around my muzzle and it seemed like I was floating in water. A quick stream of bubbles floating by my eye confirmed that I was indeed floating in liquid. The dark blue pony's eyes flew open and he mouthed something to his companion, which seemed to start an argument between them. After a few heated words, the dark-blue pony went over and started to flutter over the keys of a computer in the corner of my eye. I tried to move to look, but I was locked in place. The tan pony kept his eyes on me, seeming to study me. I took a quick look at as much of the room as I could, considering my restricted movement, and decided that I must be in a stasis pod.
"Oh shit," I thought to myself. "These guys don't look too friendly." The blue pony pushed a button and the pod started to flash. Both of the ponies before me drew their guns and backed away from the device, keeping their sights on me. "Oh, great. Just what I needed, me getting shot for nothing."
The dark room I was in was starting to light up from the stasis pod. The water receded around my head and continued draining until I was touching the floor of the device. An alarm was ringing outside, barely audible through the reinforced glass. A hiss and a couple of chinks later, the pod window opened and I proceeded to fall on my face. The world around me started to spin as I laid there, feeling the uncomfortable satisfaction of a similar feeling I had felt oh so many times over the years.
A hangover.
"What are we going to do? They never said anything about a body in here," said Blue. "I ain't know, we should wait n' see what this here fella thinks o' his sichation, shouldn' we?" asked Tan. Blue grumbled and muttered something out of my current hearing. I heard a sigh and a response. "Well, okay, just... just wait here and keep an eye on him, I’m going to see if there's anything in those lockers we passed by earlier. Please be careful, he doesn’t look too friendly."
Exactly what I’d been thinking to myself.
After Blue trotted away I started to stand up, but a rusty gun barrel in my face said otherwise. "Don't you try nothin', boy, o' you’ll find yoself wit the Goddess faster than Dash 'erself," spat the scruffy one in front of me. I stared into his green eyes, trying to determine if he would pull the trigger if I continued my ascent from the floor. I took the chance, rising slowly. The pony started to get a killing look as I made my way to my hooves. I only stood a couple inches taller than him, but he looked like he'd shoot right then and there. I smiled at him. "Don't worry, I won't cause any trouble."
He stared at me in slight annoyance, but then relaxed for the moment.
That’s when I noticed it. The gleam in the bottom corner of my eye. I looked down to see what it was. There, as shiny as liquid silver, was a contraption in the place where my leg was supposed to be. My eyes went wide. I quickly searched around the room, trying to find something that showed my reflection. My quick reaction to my discovery startled the gruff-looking guard, accidentally setting off his firearm. The 5.56mm round sparked off my new leg, leaving a little scratch on the gleam. I stood frozen in place for a split second, slowly looked up and stared at him in shock.
"You shot me!" I looked down at the damage, surprised that it didn’t hurt. "Aww, I just got this,” I whined. The pony stammered out an apology, but quickly loaded another bullet. I shook my head and continued my search. I found a big vanity mirror in the corner of the office. I pulled the sheet half-covering it and, in the soft green glow of the pod, saw what I had become.
The silver contraption started at my shoulder. It was bolted into something underneath my hide, probably more metal since my clavicle wasn’t grinding anymore. A series of gears and cogs were fitted in place at the base of my shoulder, and a few wires showed under my leg pit. On the foreleg of my new appendage was a little cover. I looked down at the peculiar slide of metal and slid it back to reveal an amber screen.
A little buck was winking at me, with the words “PipBuck 2.3 Omega” shining under him. There were buttons on the side of the screen marked with Misc, Inv, Map, Radio, EFF, S.A.T.S, and E.F.S. I pushed the Radio button and the screen flickered to a list of frequencies. I clicked on one, but there was nothing but static. I continued on to the map, but at this point the door opened to show the blue pony carrying a few familiar items.
"Hey, look wh-" he turned his head to catch me eyeing the saddlebags and rifle. His face twisted into something between anger and confusion. "What's your name, son?" the blue stallion asked. I thought about whether to lie to them or to be honest. Considering the fact that I didn’t know these ponies, I didn't want to give away that I was a soldier. Not yet, anyways. "Name's Reign, Broken Reign," I replied.
Blue and Tan looked at one another and Blue tilted his head towards the door. The tan pony pointed a hoof at me. "Stay 'ere." I nodded once, not taking my eyes off them whilst they left the room. They had grandfather's rifle. My rifle. They can't have it. I shook my head at the thought. “Don't worry about it, they'll give it back... maybe," I told myself.
“I guess while I’m still here I'll tinker with this PipBuck,” I thought. Since they’d first been released to the military I’d wanted one. Badly. The S.A.T.S. (of Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell) alone would merit buying one! I’d wanted one badly enough that begging wasn't on my Do-Not-Try-This-Method list. It didn't work.
I continued on to the Miscellaneous tab, which didn't have anything useful besides an explanation on how to work S.A.T.S. I looked down to the next button. EFF. I pushed the button. Nothing. I sighed, hoping for something cool to happen. I moved down to E.F.S. and tapped the button. A thin amber bar popped up along the bottom of my vision with two tick marks displayed right in front of me. Eyes-Forward Sparkle. The easiest way Stable-Tec had for ponies to distinguish friend from foe.
Best. Device. Ever!
The two came back through the door with their weapons drawn. "Let's go," Blue said. Tan motioned for me to go ahead of them. I knew this situation. Being a hostage wasn't on my list of shit to do today, but right now I couldn't do anything about it. I stood up and slowly walked past the pair. They lead me through a series of tunnels that were all caked in soot and dust.
How long had I been out?
The last thing I remembered was my friend dragging me into a clinic. But this wasn't a clinic, this was a shithole. No clinic would be this dirty, no way. My head was still pounding from my awkward fall. Tan pushed me to keep walking. I saw a faint blue light coming from the tunnel entrance down the hall. When I walked out of the metal housing, what I saw was something out of a movie.
The entrance to the canyon showed the blackened carcass of nature. Melted rock was strewn all over the ground. The skeleton of some unfortunate pony lay in the sand, smiling eternally. Outside of the canyon, the Earth was pitted with craters and holes with fumes swirling out of them. Radiation. I scanned the area for any sort of life, then turned to face my captors.
"What the fuck happened here?!"
Blue walked up beside me, smiling and keeping his gun trained on me. "You must have been in there for some time. I heard it's been like this for a couple of centuries."
My jaw dropped at that. I quickly checked the date on my PipBuck.
2:47am, Fall's Waking, 2278
I shook where I stood. 200 years I've been in the contraption. 200 years of solitude. Blue came up and nudged me forward. He chucked a little. "Welcome to the Wasteland, Mr. Reign. Welcome to Hell."
"What is life? The study of our own decisions? Nopony will probably ever know the actual truth. But life is what we make it. Our choices…”
My captors and I trudged through the rain for a few hours, hearing pot-shots ringing from some unknown source. I didn’t much care for these ponies, but I did care for my belongings. I needed to find out how to get away from these losers with all of my stuff intact. After a few minutes we reached the base of a small hill. Blue, whose real name I’d learned was Zephyr, shoved me from behind, resulting in me falling on my face...again.
"Hurry your ass up, boot.”
I wiped the mud from my face just in time to see the butt of a rifle slam into my head, putting a chip in my horn. My brain exploded with a searing, intense pain. The tan pony, Sid, grabbed the rifle from his friend and clipped him in the back of his head. "Idiot, don'chu beat up the merch!" he screamed. He bit my mane and yanked me back to my hooves. I started on my way up the hill while the pair of "slavers," which they apparently called themselves, argued about how they would spend the "caps.”
Slavers? Caps? Really? That must’ve been more than a hangover when I first woke up.
I didn’t know. I didn’t want to know. What I did want to know was how the hell to get out of there.
When we reached the top of the hill I saw the true extent of what had happened to the world. The zebras really did a number on Equestria. Craters dotted the countryside for miles, and a small settlement by the name of Greenhoof (according to my PipBuck) sat off in the distance. It looked like the only place for miles, but I didn’t have many options at that point. I could make a break for it, given the weather wasn't lightening up anytime soon and the slavers would have such poor visibility with their firearms. I turned to the pair and smiled.
"Hey, I’ve got a quick question."
Zephyr looked at me with the expression of “who the hell gave you the right to talk?”
"What is it?"
"Well," I started, "I was wondering... what’s down there and where are you taking me?"
Sid looked down to where my hoof was pointed. "Oh, that there's Greenhoof. It’s a raider town. Full o' bandits a' cannibals an' ta such," he explained. "As fer where ya’s going, filly, it’s a nice lil' cozy town up yonder a ‘ways. Now keep moving!" He shoved my flank roughly with the butt of his rifle to get me trotting.
Well, he attempted to, anyway.
"Tripping" and falling to the ground after that push was all that I needed. Even after 200 years I still had the training of the Equestrian Army to fall back on (sometimes literally).
I grabbed the two ponies with my magic, curled into a big ol' ball of pony, and relived one of my favorite foalhood pastimes: rolling down the hill. The extra danger of somepony trying to shoot me was new, but it’s always fun when that happens, right? Truth be told, it hurt like hell. Bouncing off rocks and the solid ground wasn't what I’d planned, especially not the sudden drops to ledges—but I’m sure it wasn't fun for the others, either. After what seemed like several minutes of pain, I stopped abruptly by slamming into a rock. I felt a few ribs snap, the pain blurring my vision. Not far away, the slavers slammed into each other at the base of the hill. They groaned and, to my utter disappointment, stood back up. Zephyr raised his—no, my—rifle to put me out of my misery. Sid seemed to not care now.
This was it, I was going to die... maybe Luna would grant me a hero’s burial... hmm, not fucking likely...
The shot rang out from the countryside, making the nearby birds and animals scatter...
Zephyr looked down in surprise as the bullet hole in his chest oozed his life away. At first, I thought Sid shot his friend, but he was taking cover behind a log. I looked up behind me to the top of the hill to see an indistinct, shadowy figure holding a very shiny rifle. It looked down at me and yelled in a small male voice, “Run! Get out of here!" Coming slowly to my senses, I quickly fought through the pain and pulled my hooves out from under me.
I did indeed run. I ran like hell itself was after me... but not away, never away. These pony merchants had been getting on my nerves for a long time, not to mention the fact that they’d been trying to sell me into slavery. I grabbed my rifle with my levitation spell and slid behind some cover, checking the condition of my firearm. I slammed the bolt back to see that the chamber was already loaded. Several more shots came from both the hillside and a few feet away. I leaned over the rock I was behind to get a shot off. I lined the slaver’s head up in my scope’s crosshairs and pulled the trigger.
The bullet smashed into the log he was crouching behind. My scope was off! Sid brought his gun to bear and fired at me a few times, barely missing my head. The sniper up top was doing his best to keep me covered. Sid turned back to the shadow on the hill and fired. A terrified scream pierced the air as my savior was hit and began rolling down the hill. Frustrated tears obscured my vision as memories of the Great War resurfaced at a perilously inopportune time. Too many ponies had died around me in the last years that I remembered. The cries of the dying were always on my mind.
Not another one, this one had saved me from an unknown—but likely brutal—future.
I turned to see Sid smiling down at me with the barrel of his 12 gauge on my head. "Gotchu now, he—" I cut him off and did the only thing that could possibly save my life.
I slammed my horn into the barrel of the gun, stupidly wishing my stubbornness would stop the slug. The shotgun fired and blew my horn, and the gun, apart. I flew back into the rock. Sid screamed in pain as he stared at his missing forehooves. Riding the wave of pure adrenaline, I hopped back up and bucked my rear hooves into his face. The satisfaction was sweet as I heard the crunch of all the bones in his muzzle breaking.
Thank Luna for living on an apple farm.
He crumpled in front of me, quickly dying from blood loss. I grinned and sat down myself. I wasn’t sitting up for long, though, before I passed out from pain I hadn’t recognized. I fell to the ground, still smiling to myself.
***
"Good job, Reign. You saved another pony! Woo yoo."
"'Yeah, congrats dumbass, you blew up your horn. Now what are you gonna do, huh? You can never do magic without it. Real great job, keep it up! First your leg, then your horn. What’s next, your head?"
"Shut up. You don’t know what it’s like to hear the dead crying, their screams of anguish."
"Oh, but I do, Reign. I do. I just don’t give a damn."
“I swear to Celestia above, if I ever beat you out of my head I'll rip you apart,"
"HA! Try that out! See how far that gets you. You tried it once before, and did that work for you then? Nope!"
"Whatever. Anyway, I can’t do anything else now."
"Why not?"
"I'm dead, aren't I?"
"Hmph, if only it was that easy. No, you’re just asleep. Now wake up, we'll talk later."
"Fine. Bye, Reign."
"Goodbye, Reign."
Level Up! (Luck of the Pasture: You’re one lucky son of a mule! You’re good at surviving through stupid decisions, not thinking ahead, and not caring about consequences. Your Luck has increased by 1.)
"Even the weak can overcome any obstacle, my son."
"How?"
"Because even the weakest can be strong in numbers..."
I woke up staring at the blurry blue and white ceiling. My brain hurt so much I thought it would blow apart at even the slightest nudge of my head. Then the ceiling moved. That isn’t supposed to happen.
"Hey, I think he's finally waking up," a female voice said from my left. I blinked, causing my head to pulse with a sharp pain. What looked like a black pony silhouette with hair came into my vision. I couldn't tell at the moment. Everything looked like I was looking through layers of cloth. Then I realized that’s exactly what they were, bandages. I lifted my hoof toward my face but stopped abruptly as it jerked to a stop with the sound of clinking chains.
"Ah, ah, ah. Can't have you trying anything," said a deep male voice that was clearly near me, but still out of view.
“Well, this sucks,” I thought. I was chained to a bed, had no idea where I was, had a massive headache, and there were ponies that I didn’t know trying to kill me out there.
How did I get home?
The dark pony came over back into blurry view. “My name is Doctor Stein, and I suppose you want to find out why the fuck you’re still alive, right? Well, that little stunt," he reached over and tapped my forehead, causing my brain to explode, "cost you a lot more than your magic. Your face was torn to shit, and you suffered major damage to your head. Not to mention the several broken ribs, the punctured lung, and Goddesses only know what damage your brain endured. The chains were for our protection, you see? We don’t know if you’re even sane anymore. I'm going to ask you a few questions now, just to see if you’re still mostly here, alright?"
All I could do was nod. "Good, now let’s get this off ya." He reached over and started to unwrap the bandages that were still stretched around my head. “Try to fight the urge to bite me, eh? There, that better?"
My sight came back with a sharp light, but it gradually became clearer. I nodded again. “Can I get some water?" I asked. Doctor Stein turned toward somepony out of my view. It would’ve helped if I could turn my head. The leather strap around my forehead was getting itchy.
“Hey, son. Fetch some water for our guest, hm?" He turned back to me.
"Now let’s get started." He grabbed a clipboard with his magic. Now where the fuck… Oh, his hair had covered it. Damn, I’m not very observant. “What’s your name? Can you remember your name?"
"Broken Reign," I said sternly. The doctor nodded his head. “Straightforward answer, great." He checked something on his clipboard. "M’kay, what’s your occupation?" he asked. I was about to blurt out the answer, but closed my mouth tight. Rule number one: never tell who you really are unless forced to. That would never happen. Doctor Stein looked up from his list and raised a brow. “Again, I’ll ask. What's your occupation, hm? Bodyguard? Caravaneer? Courier?" I thought about it a little. "Guide," I said quickly.
What? It sounded better in my head.
After a few more questions about me, what I did for a living (during which I did my best to describe what a guide did) and so forth, he’d checked something off next to every answer. The doctor took my head restraint off and helped me sit up to get a drink. His son came over with a bottle of water the color of crap. I took a whiff from the bottle. Smelled like crap, too. I shrugged, pressed the bottle to my lips and took a swig. My foreleg started to make a little ticking noise. I looked over to the PipBuck cover on my leg and so did the little cautious doctor. “What was that?" I looked at the doctor for an explanation. "Well, your PipBuck is picking up the small traces of radiation in the water; the sound was the rad-counter telling you that you are exposed. The louder and faster the click, the more radiation you’re being exposed to. Didn't you come from a stable? You should know this shit." I shook my head. "Nah, I came from a town called New Equine across the sea a bit." I smiled at the doc.
The only response I got was a revolver in my face.
“What the fuck?!" I screamed. Why was everypony trying to kill me? I threw my hooves in the air (with little success) and stared down the barrel of the lovely .357 magnum Applebuck T90. "Say that again?" Stein growled. I put on my 'confused as hell' look and repeated my comment. The doctor floated the revolver to my right temple. “You’d best start explaining who the fuck you really are. I know for a fact that New Equine hasn’t been around since before the war. Hell, Pasterland itself was obliterated in the last battles of the war. You’ve got until the count of ten to give me some real answers. One...two..."
He wasn't going to stop.
“Five...”
If I told him, I’d probably be shot regardless of the countdown.
“Seven…”
But if I didn’t—
“Nine…”
Ah, fuck!
"Alright! I'll tell you, just don’t shoot!" I screamed. The hammer on the revolver clicked back. The pressure on my temple lightened. “Go on," Stein growled. I let out the breath I hadn't even known I was holding. “Okay, fine."
I told him everything. Yeah, it was probably stupid, but I was going to die anyway. I told him and his son the story before waking up from my 200 year old nap. I told him who I was, what I really did, and how I came to in that tunnel. Doctor Stein and his son sat there, listening intently. Once I finished I sighed and closed my eyes, waiting for the denial I was sure to get from the pair. What I got was a chuckle. “Well, I haven't heard that one before." I opened my eyes to see the good doctor smiling at me. “But if what you say is true, we’ve got a lot to discuss. Come." He stood up and unlocked the restraints on my legs. I rubbed the marks left on my forelegs and watched as the doctor picked up my stuff and threw it to me. "Get dressed. You need to go see Whipleash. I’m sure he'd like to talk to you." Stein turned to his son and nodded. The colt stood up and walked into the kitchen. I slid off of the gurney and put on the clothes the doctor gave me.
We walked out into the gloom of the day. A sound chimed from my foreleg and something danced into my vision. Location found: Charity City. It definitely didn't look like a city. More like a ghost town. A few buildings stood here and there for a good mile or two. I saw a couple of ponies darting back and forth through the one street that separated the town. I looked up toward the north and saw a plume of smoke moving toward the west. “That would be the town of Appleloosa. Wonder what's got them all riled up?" the doctor said. I nodded, not knowing what to say, and proceeded to try my luck with magic again.
While we walked down the street, the doctor told me some details of what had happened. Since I’d broken my horn once before when I was younger, simple spells like illumination and telekinesis would still be manageable. Unfortunately, more complex spells weren’t possible since I didn’t have the rest of my horn to funnel magic through. I was okay with that, though. I didn't know anything else anyway.
I stopped abruptly and looked back to the clinic."oh crap, I completely forgot about the other pony! Did he make it? Is he alright?" I asked the doctor. He looked at me in concern and shook his head.
"N-nopony else was at the cliff when we found you..." Doctor Stein replied. I looked at the ground, thinking through the scenario, maybe he did make it after all.
I picked up a pebble out of the dirt and levitated it a few hooves off the ground. "Now, Equestrian Wasteland 101,” the doctor continued. “There are three things you need to watch out for: mutated animals, raiders, and ferals. The cumulative radiation from over 200 years has mutated Equestria's wildlife into monsters, well most of the wildlife. Raiders are gangs of ponies who…well, think of them as bandits. It’s just that these ponies rape, pillage and desecrate bodies to put them on display for their own twisted enjoyment. Stay away from them as much as possible. They are all jacked up on drugs and adrenaline, and they don’t care about mercy.
“Then there are the ferals. Ghouls who have lost everything, including their minds, become savage and aggressive, attacking everything that they—”
"Ghouls?” I interrupted.
“Oh, yes. Ghouls are ponies who were ravaged by radiation when the bombs fell. They’re living ponies—even if they don’t look it—who should’ve died years ago. I feel sorry for them, though. There’s a lot of bigotry towards ghouls since some go feral. I’ve met plenty of damn fine ghouls, though.” The doctor sighed. “They’re mostly in the tunnels and metro stations around Equestria. Oh, and don’t try to hide from either the raiders or feral ghouls. They’ll just kill you. Anyway, I need to check on Star now. With the way he cooks, he could burn the house down. Again.”
I looked at the doctor and raised an eyebrow. He chuckled and waved me toward the building down the way.
Seeing how far the pebble could fly didn't end the way I had hoped. Knocking out a pony on accident wasn't what I’d intended, but the stallion's family sure thought I had. I hid behind a stack of barrels to conceal myself from the small scrimmage going past me. I held my breath and slumped to the wall.
What was I even doing here? I’d outlived what little family I had left. All my friends were dead, just like the country that I’d fought so hard and so long for. Dead beneath the unforgiving clouds. To make matters worse, it started to rain. Hard.
I've been in a few rainstorms in my life, but when the clouds haven't been tamed and contained for over 200 years, the weather can be cruel. In mere seconds I was drenched from head to hoof. I sat there in the churning mud for what felt like hours, and a quick glance at my PipBuck confirmed that I actually had. I knocked my head back into the side of the building. I’d outlived my purpose in life. I was just an old, worn-out soldier who did what he needed to do for Goddesses and country. I wasn't anything special, just an old stallion with nothing left to lose. I looked up at the dark, cold sky.
"I'm so...so sorry, Dad!" I cried through racking sobs.
"I-I tried my best to keep you all safe. I left you and mom to do what I thought was right. Turns out I was wrong. I... I hope you had an easy death. You... a-and Ma...Pike...Vinny, Griff...Gran-gran." I teared up again and buried my face in my hooves. I sat there and cried and cried. Cried for everypony that I’d let down. I finally felt all of it sink in. I was supposed to be dead. I’d gotten myself shot, and now I couldn't stop that doctor in the clinic from saving me, couldn’t tell the rest to save themselves instead. I wasn't supposed to be here. I was supposed to be buried in the sand in that canyon along with my brothers-in-arms. I deserved to die.
I felt someone flop down beside me. I hadn’t even heard them come over. I looked up to see a mare in a black overcoat and a burgundy vest pulling out a cigarette from her pocket.
"So you’re the one doing all that moanin' out here."
She had a light charcoal coat with a bright red mane sticking out of her tan rawhide cowpony hat. The mare lit the cigarette and took a long puff, blowing the smoke into the air above her.
"So what's your story, hm?" She looked at me sweetly with icy blue eyes. "Mare troubles? Family tragedy? Somepony stole your sweetroll?" she asked with a smile. I looked down at my hooves. "I don't know what to do anymore, I-I'm not supposed to be alive. I don't even wa-" I was interrupted by an unexpected outburst.
The mystery mare slapped me right in the face.
I looked up at her in shock. "What the fuck did you do that for?!" She looked down at me. "None of us should be alive," she replied coldly. I looked at her now in confusion. Then something happened that was probably even more unexpected than the kick. She picked me up from the ground and embraced me in a hug.
"None of us should be alive. Every single one of us fight for our lives on a daily basis," she said softly in my ear. “But here we are, and we deal with it the best we can." She hugged me tighter. "Broken Reign, I’m sure the time will come again for to prove yourself for Equestria, but that’s not today. We need you, Reign, Charity City needs you. There are others out there who are counting on somepony like you.”
I pushed myself from the mare and sat there in the everstill gloom of the rain. "I'm not a good pony," I muttered. She came over and sat right next to me. "Oh, but you are. More than you realize, I think. What you did to Sid and Zephyr the other day showed ponies around here that we don't have to put up with their shit anymore." She stood up, threw her cigarette, and started to walk away. "One day you’ll find yourself faced with a choice. When that days comes, I want you to do what you think is right."
“What the hay just happened?” I thought as I watched her walk back into that unforgiving weather. Then I realized something. "Hey!" I stood up and ran towards where she disappeared. "Wh-I… I didn't-what's your name?" I finally sputtered out. A faint voice came back through the rain. "Cinnamon Twist, but my friends just call me Cin."
Cin, huh? Wait...did she just call me a friend?
I finally felt something—happiness, or fulfillment, maybe—that I hadn't felt since I’d woken up from stasis. Maybe Cin was right. I knew I wasn’t a good pony (hell, the only thing I was “good” at was getting shot), but there were obviously ponies much worse than me out there. The rain still pounded the ground around me like the cannons from all those years ago. But I don't know what to do from here. Where to go. I imagined that there might be still some sort of army protecting what’s left. Maybe I would reenlist.
"Yeah, and they would look you up on those little scanny robot things again and find you long past retirement!" I thought out loud. I chuckled at my on joke.
“I'm so gonna die out here.”
I approached the house that Doctor Stein had told me about. I lifted a hoof to knock on the door when a blur of white shot past me. I jumped in fright and found myself staring into the eyes of one serious ugly dog. Its pale-green eyes were inches from my own, seeming to stare right into my soul.
I gulped audibly.
"Please don't eat me," I squeaked. The dog barked and wagged his tail wildly. He hopped away from me and disappeared around the porch corner. I looked after him, puzzled. “What was all that about?” I thought to myself as I trotted over to the corner of the building. I peeked around it to see a stallion sitting in a wheelchair with a blanket over his hind legs, cleaning his rifle.
"Umm, hello?" I said. The other pony looked up at me and smiled. He had a dark red coat and a black mane. He waved at me to come over. “Come, my friend. Let me get you something to drink. Do you like tea?" He lifted a cup over to me gingerly. I began to relax, and I smiled happily at the offer.
"Yes, very much so. Thank you." I took up the saucer and cup with my magic. “Ooh, I see your little act on the hill there didn't render you magicless," he chuckled. “My name's Whip Leash, and before you ask, no, I don't like whips or leashes. It’s just the name my father gave me." He looked serious for a moment, making me a little bit edgy. Then he hoofed me on my leg. “Hey, bro, lighten up. We'll never get anywhere with you being down in the dumps right now, will we?" I put down my tea and looked at him. This stallion, he seemed so happy. "So, I see you’ve recovered a little bit. Would you mind telling me how you came into the company of those two idiots?" He took a sip of his tea, looking at me for an answer. I cleared my throat and began.
“Well, it started a few years ago....."
I regaled Whip Leash with what had happened at Sawhorse Gulch, how I’d been shot and put into the stasis pod, and how I’d woken up with the pair of slavers. He seemed to just draw it out of me. He seemed like a nice pony. He sat there, listening intently and polishing his gun. At some point I asked if I could borrow the cleaning supplies for my own rifle. I mean, I hadn't cleaned it since Sawhorse, and I was damn sure that Zephyr hadn't maintained it. We just sat there together, cleaning our guns and listening to me ramble on about my trudge from the canyon to the hill overlooking Greenhoof.
“Well that sucks," Whip Leash replied after I’d finished.
What? That was it, "That sucks?" I was a little disappointed. I was kind of hoping for a “wow, that must have been hard on you, have the rest of the tea" type of reaction.
"Yeah, well I should thank you for saving my plot out there," I replied gingerly, rubbing the back of my neck. He leaned over his rifle and smiled. “Don’t worry about it, Reign. I'm sure you would do the same for me." He reached out a hoof, and I smiled and bumped it with my own.
We sat there exchanging stories of our short lives. Whip Leash was apparently a sergeant in a "Red Eye" Army, whatever that meant, and he didn't like where his commander was going with his plan to restore Equestria. He roamed the land for a while until he took up trading, then bodyguard, to when he settled down here after a run-in with a raider with a shotgun, taking out of the game with a slug to the lung. Just I and my new found friend.
He put down his rifle to the side of his chair after he cleaned it to a brilliant shine. “So, what’s its name?" he asked suddenly. I looked up to him again with confusion in my eyes. "Huh?" I replied. He laughed at me for a second. “Oh, come on. Don't tell me you haven't named it yet!" he pointed a hoof at my rifle. I looked down at my firearm on my lap. “Name it?" I mumbled. “Yeah," Whip Leash spouted. “Out here, everything has a story, even weapons. Hell, especially weapons! Every one has history, good or bad. Well, not all, but some. I'm sure that you and that rifle have been through a lot together."
I had thought about it before. Hell, even Gramps thought on it. Even after he gave it to Dad, and Dad passed it to me. His memory lived through this gun. The last thing left before his house was burned down... I shook my head. No more. None of those thoughts right now.
I looked at the rifle for the longest time, admiring the sheen of the wood. The sixteen marks on the butt of the rifle, signifying the lives it had taken. The polished steel of the barrel and casings. The whole gun now shined in brilliance from careful care and dedication. The years that followed Grandfather’s death and my Fathers, this gun carried my family’s burdens, delivered our food to the table, fought off hordes of critters and zebra as equals. That’s when it happened. The name of my rifle. I took out my knife and started to lightly and cautiously chip away at the wood under the bolt. Whip Leash sat up in his chair, watching me give the name to my lifelong friend. The next few minutes were tedious, but when that last chip fell away, I sat back to see the new-found name etched beneath the bolt.
Fang.
I placed some lacquer around the chipped wood so it would look part of the rifle, like it’d been there for years. "Well, not the name I would of given it, but if that’s its name, that’s its name."
Whip Leash groaned as he started to stand. The blanket fell away from his lap to reveal... nothing. He had no hind legs! From his torso down all there was was a gnarled lump of flesh and hair. He sat back and grabbed the brake from beside the wheels and flipped around. “Oh, don't look too surprised. I’ve been in worse situations in the past while being disabled. I can still kick plot with the rest of them.” He wheeled around me and towards the door. "Come on, Boone!" he yelled, holding open the door. The massive dog bounded around the corner again and through the door. “Come on in, Reign. You can stay here for tonight. Meet the rest of the misfits." He smiled that optimistic smile and scooted into the house. I followed suit.
I’d imagined the inside of the house being anything but clean, but I stood dumbfounded. The place looked better than the barracks at the Outpost. The walls were stain-free, the furniture was pristine and clean, and the carpet was only slightly dotted from rot over the years (some things couldn't be helped, I guessed). We walked through the kitchen, and I saw my reflection gleam off the steel counter-top.
"This is the Crossroads Inn. Used to be a great attraction from before the war, I hear." He looked up at me, as if for confirmation. I just shrugged. "I heard about it," I replied. He just shrugged back and smiled. "Well, I found it in so much disrepair that I didn't think it would be any use. ‘Til Cin and I got in a fight, that is. She was telling me I couldn't fix it, and I told her I would prove her wrong." He smiled a bit bigger at the last part.
"Wait, are you and Cin-" I was about to ask until he held up a hoof. "No, just old traveling companions. Now hold up here for a sec, be right back." He wheeled around the corner and disappeared. I sat down and waited. I fiddled around with my new leg, admiring the metalwork. The grey shine was still brilliant for 200 years of floating in bio-fluid. I checked through my bags with my Pipbuck, finding nothing out of the ordinary, though my photograph was gone. I stood up and paced around the kitchen. I never could stand or sit in one place for long, and I never did understand that. Dad always said I was always a child at heart, never destined to grow up. Guess I learned that the hard way.
Whip came back around the corner in a flash. "Come on, bro." He waved me over and disappeared again into the little hall. I heard a hush and a few small giggles, but followed anyway. What the-
"SUPRISE!!!"
I was knocked back on my rump by the screams of thirty or so ponies. A big sign hung from the ceiling with "Welcome to the Home for Misfits!" painted across it in bright blue lettering. Balloons hung from tables and lamps. My jaw hit the ground at the unexpected party laid out before me. Ponies ranging from foalhood to young stallions and mares my age stood in the room, just grinning and giving me a heart attack. Whip Leash sat in front of the crowd.
"I do believe that you’ve made a few more friends." He spun his chair around to park beside me and continued. "Alright everypony, this here's Broken Reign. He's kinda new to all of this, so give him some slack on the work, please." He picked me up from the ground and spread his hooves wide, giving the group the biggest smile I’d seen from him yet.
"Let the party begin!"
What followed was another cheer that could have been heard for miles.
* * * * * * *
The festivities were a glorious sight to behold. I met almost every pony in the room before ten minutes went by. I gave hoofshakes and, oddly, autographs to some fillies and colts. I was even given presents. Presents! I wondered after that what exactly those two slavers had done to this town. Doctor Stein and Cinnamon Twist even came to the party. I didn't know that, even in the hell that these ponies had lived in for years, there was always something making them happy.
After a few more introductions I walked out onto the balcony overlooking the valley. I spotted some lights in the distance to the west. Apparently the eerie green glow was from the former city of Hoofington, or so I'd been told in the party. There was nothing much from the mountain where Canterlot was supposed to be, though.
“I heard that it was bombed, but survived. So where are the lights?" I shook my head as I thought. Whatever, didn't really matter anymore, did it? I laid my hooves and head on the railing, looking up to the sky. The clouds never parted, but it had stopped raining. That eerie blackness, devoid of even Luna’s moon, seemed to suck the life out of the night.
I sighed and began to think of what might have happened to my friends. Did they die peacefully, or in a fiery hell? What if-
"So this is where you ran off to," an unknown female voice called out from behind me, cutting off my train of thought. I turned to face...
The most beautiful pegasus I’d ever seen.
Her silky white coat was the color of pearls. Her light-blonde mane and tail moved along with the breeze exquisitely, and her icy blue eyes seemed to sparkle with intelligence and passion. It was overpowering.
"U-uh, hi!" I sputtered (or shouted, I don’t know). If I could’ve become any paler this is when it would’ve happened. I facehoofed. The mare cocked her head in confusion.
"Um...okay? Whip Leash wanted to talk to you about something. Come on, I'll show you to him."
We trotted side-by-side down the hall toward Whip's "study," not saying another word to each other. The room he named his study was really just another room stuffed full of books. The inn was filled with the books of the past centuries, mostly burned and unreadable. Some were repairable, but most ponies didn't care besides Whip Leash, I guessed. We arrived at the room, seeing him bent over his work with a quill in his mouth. He looked up momentarily to nod a greeting and waved his hoof toward the dusty old couch in the corner. The mare and I sat beside each other, still not saying anything else.
Okay, so I was not good at talking to mares.
I just stuttered and became the most unattractive pony in the world once a mare talked to me, especially attractive ones! Renting a room in Vinyl Scratch and Octavia's house hadn't helped, either. They just laughed at me when Scratch introduced me to a cutie and I started dribbling spit while trying to at least say something. Or when Octavia brought her colleagues to the house to rehearse, ugh! It was bad, let’s just say that.
Whip Leash continued his work for a few more minutes, leaving me twitching from sitting too long next to an attractive mare. He placed his pen on a cloth and wheeled himself around to face us. He took one look at me and my sitting partner and raised a hoof to his face, trying really hard not to laugh. In the corner of my eye, I saw the mare having—hopefully—the same problem I was.
Whip Leash restrained himself (barely) and crossed his hooves over his chest.
"So, Reign, are you having fun at your party?" he asked with that trademark grin. I just nodded. "Good. So I see Cloud found you, even if you're not hard to spot in a crowd," he chuckled at his own joke.
Then his face became a little more serious. "I'm just gonna get straight to the point. I need a favor. I understand that you’ve been through a lot in the past couple days, but I need your help. We need your help."
He leaned toward me, placing his hooves under his chin. "The doctor has informed me that we're running low on supplies. Normally we have a caravan pass through here at least three times a week, but recently none have come. I fear that it’s raiders, but there could just be a routing issue. I need you and Cloud to go south to the Caravan Company office. It's just a couple hours’ trot, so I'm not asking for much. Will you help me with this?" He looked far too concerned about this, which made it a lot easier to say yes.
"Yes, sir. Just let me gather the things from my room and I’ll be on my way." Whip Leash nodded with a grateful smile. He turned to the mare.
"And you?" he asked with a cocked brow. Cloud closed her eyes and sighed, then raised her hoof and nodded.
"Alright, perfect. Reign, come here. I'll download the location on to your PipBuck and you guys can be off," Whip said as he pushed a few buttons on my leg. A little marker floated over a piece of the map on the screen. I thanked him and trotted back out into the hall. Cloud followed suit.
"We’ll meet in five minutes at the door, be there." Cloud pointed a hoof at me with a stern look in her eyes. I nodded once and headed toward my room. I turned the corner and heard a sharp sigh right as I also let one out.
Then my entire chest exploded with pain. I curled into a ball, retching with the agony that was tearing through my lungs. My breathing came in short bursts. My vision became black and red in flashes, and I felt like I’d rather die right then and there than hurt for one second more.
Then it stopped. Just like that. I got up off the floor shakily and back on my hooves. I wiped my brow free from sweat. That was weird. I'd need to talk to Doctor Stein. I continued on to my room, fearing that the spasm would happen again. I reached around the wall to flick on the light switch.
My new home consisted of two footlockers, a cabinet for my barding, and a makeshift bed made of rotting mattresses and cloth blanketing. I was told that this was the best they could do, and I was extremely happy. They gave me more than I really wanted, actually. I’d insisted that I only needed the bed, but Whip Leash and the others had refused. I opened up the footlocker near my bed and levitated Fang out to rest around my neck, then grabbed my saddlebags and canteens. I walked over to my cabinet and flung it open to see my newly repaired barding, fitted with a little more leather around the torso. I sighed contentedly and lifted the armor to slide my head through.
These ponies were the kindest I’d ever met, even before the war. They were generous to a fault, but also had enough fire in their eyes to beat the piss out of anypony who would mess with them.
Whip Leash, Cinnamon Twist, Doctor Stein. They brought my faith back to believing that we hadn't completely failed Luna and Celestia. I looked up at the clock, still ticking from Twilight's little spark battery devices.
“It's my time to return the hospitality these fine ponies have shown me,” I thought as I slung my saddlebags around my torso, buckled up my barding, and set out to find Cloud. She was checking through her things over, too. She looked up to see me smiling at her. Honestly, it was the only thing I could do. She scrunched up her face. “You're acting really weird..." she trailed off as she threw her stuff back into her bags. "Come on, then. Let's get on with it." She turned, opening the door and giving me a sight of her beautiful backside.... I slapped myself to break out of the trance before Cloud noticed.
Cloud flew overhead to keep a lookout for creatures and Raiders in the area as I trudged through the knee-deep mud. "Why are we going this way? Isn't the Caravan Company that way?" I yelled up to my companion, pointing a mud-caked hoof toward the southwest. “And run right into a raider camp? No thanks," Cloud yelled back. I’d plowed my way through the wet dirt for at least an hour now. This was getting ridiculous. Fast.
The bleak sky above showed more signs of bad weather, giving us a choice. We could continue on and have the cover of the rain to slip past anything threats, or we could find shelter until it’d blown over. Thunder cracked across the sky in the distance and gave the early morning a majestic feeling. Even after the arrogance of ponykind had destroyed the world in balefire, there was still a degree of beautiful serenity.
Cloud dipped behind a billboard that portrayed Pinkie Pie's ever-inspirational “Join the Ministry of Morale!” slogan, the ones that’d scared everypony with the crazy eyes that seemed to follow you as you passed the sign. I shivered a little at the creepiness of seeing them two centuries later. Pinkie always scared the crap out of me, even before the M.o.M. I continued to trot through the muck, trying to find a hoof hold with no success. Then, from the nearby buildings about a half-mile away from our left, a shot rang out, and mud splattered up beside me.
"What the fu-!" I threw myself into the mud, concealing myself in the landscape. Cloud shot up back into the sky and pulled out a little .357 out of her bag. I began to crawl through the muck, trying to find better cover. More shots rang out through the ruins, giving me the impression that the first shooter wasn't alone. I saw a close-by piece of wall jutting out of the mud like a knife. I rolled into the cover as three more splats of mud threw up where I’d just been. I flung myself to my hooves and brought Fang to my shoulder. Cloud landed next to me, splashing mud all over both of us.
“So we don’t walk right into a Raider camp?" I cracked. I couldn't help it. She glared at me.
“Shut up and fire back!" she yelled as she raised above the wall, fired a couple of shots, and jump back down with a cry. A few chunks of concrete had struck her with the last few bullets. Luckily it didn’t look like she was hit. I looked around to see if there was anywhere to set up a position to return fire. "Stay here and draw their attention." I slipped my rifle to my back and started to crawl through the mud, trying to cover myself in the muck.
“Are you crazy?!" Cloud screamed, jumping up to retaliate. I gave the most sincere smile I could.
“Eeyup."
I rolled onto my stomach and started my nasty slither through the mud. The bullets flew over me and Cloud, and I was trying not to scream. I was only shot once in my entire life, and I’d lost a leg as a result of it. The war was fierce and, yes, very bloody. But I’d been on the sending end on most of the shit that went on through those years. These bandits were a poor shot, but damn, it sucked being shot. “Reign, if you're gonna do something, you’d better be do it soon. I can't hold out much more!" Cloud yelled through the deafening thunder and crossfire. I slipped up to a small crevice that viewed the adjacent buildings and levitated over a small brick to prop Fang on. Peering through the dirty scope, I saw just what we were dealing with.
At least four mean-looking, gangly ponies were firing assault rifles and sidearms at Cloud from their decaying cover, and a few ammo boxes laid around their camp gave them enough ammo to hold out a little more. I set my crosshairs on the sickly green-and-brown one holding what looked like a 5.56 rifle. I let out my breath, steadied the crosshairs on his head, and pulled back the trigger.
When their friend’s head produced a shiny new bullet, the raiders knew that something in their plan had gone wrong. One watched as the pony next to him hunched over, missing most of the top of his head.
I locked onto the next pony in the group, watching him look around for me. A bullet flew right past my ear, taking a little of it off. I slid back down, wincing through the acute pain.
That was too close for comfort.
I slithered farther to the edge of the wall and looked through the space left by the overhang of a piece of crumbling building. Cloud, after taking out two of the attackers, flew straight in the air and strafed the camp of raiders. “Get her, you stupid idiots!" a stallion screamed over the thunder.
I flipped around my cover to take aim at the bandits again. Cloud rolled midflight, avoiding the incoming bullets, then shot three rounds into the black mare that was sporting a varmint rifle. She screamed in anguish as all three of Cloud’s bullets slammed home, dropping the pony to the wet ground. My crosshairs came to rest on a purple unicorn stallion in old leather armor. Pulling up the sights to account for drop, I fired another life-ending round downrange and watched as the stallion fell with a meaty thump.
I thought I’d bought us some time when another bullet caught me in the shoulder. The round felt hot as it hit me and lodged inside my skin. I screamed in pain as I rolled back into cover, grabbing my wound.
“Cloud! Sniper!" I screamed to my traveling partner. She didn't respond, but ducked low, zipping through the buildings. I peeked around the corner to try to get a look at the ponies facing me and my friend. The concrete wall nearest my face exploded as a shiny round punctured the wall and went…straight through my face. The bullet flew through the inside of my left cheek and out the back of my jaw.
I knew this horrifying pain would be forever etched into my mind. I grabbed my face, trying to stem the flow of blood coming out of my head. Cloud came jetting through the sky above me, close to being peppered with the sniper fire. I grit my teeth against the pain and leaned back over my cover, bringing my sights to bear. I looked for a target, anything, and then I saw a slight glint in the corner of the building.
Thank you, Luna!
Swiveling Fang toward the attackers, I caught sight of a neon-blue pony in dark clothing. Unfortunately, his head was still very blue. I fired off a shot to neutralize the sniper and watched him slump over the window sill.
“Hell yeah, that was so awesome, I—” she began as I smiled, bringing more pain to my mangled face.
“Yeah, awesome indeed,” I replied. Her face went from glee to horror the instant she saw me. I really felt bad for screwing up this pretty mare’s mission, but…
"Ohmigoshohmigoshohmigosh, are you okay?!" She flung her bags into the mud and pulled out a roll of bandages and a glass jar of some purple gunky stuff. It looked like one of Twilight Sparkle’s healing potions that had passed its expiration date (which I guess wasn’t too far off). She passed me the jar and told me to drink it. I gingerly grabbed it between my hooves and tested it. Why did everything in Equestria taste like piss? I cringed and threw back the rest of the concoction. Cloud went to work on my shoulder, wrapping it in bandages. “You’ve got to be more careful, Reign. You won’t last long out here if you keep getting shot." I looked up at her, seeing the worry in her eyes, the care. Something I hadn't seen for such a long time. A crack of thunder and a sprinkle of rain broke me out of my trance.
Cloud sat back from me and observed her work. “Can you still walk?" she asked sincerely. I grimaced as I tried to get to my hooves. After a quick struggle with my shoulder, I was up.
"I’m good."
She turned to set back out towards the empty plains ahead of us. The sprinkle of rain soon became a downpour as we set off. The map suggested we go around the buildings, but what we just experienced, we agreed on the long way. Cloud picked through the corpses (after a quick quarrel with moral choices concerning the dead) and found some more ammo for our guns. She strapped the rest of the weapons to us for barter and repair later. The armor was mostly intact, so she decided to put some on. I couldn't, unfortunately, on account of my abnormal height.
She slid out of her regular barding; making it very uncomfortable, but something caught my eye. Her cutie mark. Where it was supposed to be was a black ring burned into the side of her flank with a cloud and lightning bolt. I'd seen this cutie mark before without the ring. It was Rainbow Dash's cutie mark. That struck me as... odd. Was Cloud obsessed with my old friend? Why would she do that?
Cloud noticed me staring at her flank with a questioning look. She grew angry and sat down, then covered herself with the barding. “What are you staring at?! You pervert!" I quickly became nervous—hell, I almost pissed myself!
"Nonono, I-I just was w-" I stopped as she smacked me across the good side of my face. Cloud scooped up a rock and threw it at me, knocking me on my butt. "What? That I would what?!" She grabbed another piece of rubble and set it to bear. "NO! I was wondering why you burned yourself!" I screamed, flailing in the mud.
She stopped mid-throw. She stood there for the longest time, bearing down on me with that small chuck of rock. We stayed there for what seemed like an eternity. Me still lying in the mud, her standing over me, ready to bash my perverted head to pulp under the pouring rain. She let go of the rock, letting it sink into the muck. She sat down, covering her face with her hooves and started to cry. Deep, sobbing cries. “You think I wanted my cutie mark burned off? I never wanted any of this. I didn't have a choice. They... they did this to me!” Cloud just sat there, crying. I slowly stood up and watched her. Then I did the only thing I could think of.
Under the dark sky with the thunder and never-ending rain, I walked up to her, sat down, and wrapped my legs around her. “I’m sorry, I... I didn't know." She jerked away at first, but drew closer to me, pulling me into her arms as well. I sat there, comforting her the best way I could. She blubbered out some things that sounded like 'oncleve' and 'ishete,' but I didn't want to ask her what she meant. I'd ask her sometime later, maybe after I got to know her more. Then I remembered the feeling of being close to a mare that didn't care for hugging or awkwardness. But we needed to get somewhere better than the open before we got shot at again.
The healing potion did its work for my face, but my shoulder needed rest. "Hey, come on. Let’s go find somewhere to get out of this rain. At least until it calms down enough to see more than ten feet in front of us." Cloud nodded in agreement. And we parted from each other. She wiped the tears away from her eyes and smiled at me. We began our journey again heading west. One thing was for certain, we were just two ponies out in the waste, trying to save our home. Not just as traveling companions anymore, but as friends.
3 hours later...
I woke up to the smell of wet fur. I opened my eyes to see just fur. White fur. Cloud's coat. I jumped up suddenly, trying to get my bearings.
"Wha... what happened? Shit! Did I... did we just... no... No-no-no!" I screamed at myself inside my head. I looked around at the camp we’d made. We were in a small cave carved inside the hill, overlooking a small settlement a few miles down the side. I check the map on my PipBuck, seeing it for what seemed the first time.
“Caravan Company Offices” popped up underneath the icon of a little office building.
Cloud mumbled something and rolled over. “Reign?" she looked up to see the concern in my eyes. "What?" She asked. Then it hit her, too.
“Did we..?" Without hesitation or care, she checked her implant. The suddenness caught me off-guard, and I choked on the spit in my mouth. I whipped around to face the other way, trying to give her some privacy. She let out a relieved sigh. “We’re fine." I turned to see her putting back on the barding we scavenged last night. I let out a sigh of my own. I wasn't ready to be a father. Probably never would. I don't have any sort of maturity to be a fatherly figure.
“So...” she trailed off and looked at me questioningly. I didn't understand what she wanted me to do. “So what?" I asked. "Well, are you going looking like that or are you putting something on?" She looked me up and down with the statement. I looked down at myself to see I still wasn't wearing anything. My barding was lying beside the makeshift bedding we were sleeping on. I levitated it to myself in earnest.
I don’t know why I was so embarrassed about it. Before the war, no one wore armor or clothing, only at special occasions or stupid political rallies. I never had barding until the war. I guess wearing it all the time, I got used to having something on. I quickly shoved my hooves through the sleeves of the shirt.
In the corner of my eye, I saw something I really didn't want to see, especially just after what had happened. I saw Cloud checking me out. I whipped around to see if it was true. She was too slow. With a small squeak, she looked down, blushing the color of crimson. I did too. This was awkward.
"So! Let’s get going then." I turned to leave, taking my rifle with me. She just nodded in agreement and followed. I wanted it to be true, but also didn't want it to either. I was a little older than her. Perhaps a few years. Plus, if something happened to me.... I shook my head from the thought. Come on, Reign, focus. There is a task at hand. Get it done and then think about lovey dovey stuff. We walked down to the offices from our little shelter, hoping to get some answers about the missing supplies.
"Halt, who goes there?" yelled the guard at the gate. “We’re from Charity! We ca-" I heard the faint sound of metal sliding against metal and pushed Cloud out of the way. A sharp clack and a bullet striking my metal leg confirmed my suspicions.
These ponies weren’t trying to talk.
I levitated Fang to my eye, lining up a shot with the shooter. I retaliated by sending a round into the his shoulder, making him squeal and fall to the ground. Cloud and I stood there at a standstill with the remaining guards. We stared each other down across the field for what seemed like hours.
“Fine, we'll leave!" Cloud spat out.
She placed her gun back in its holster and motioned for me to do the same. I reluctantly did so. We backed off as the guards started to relax. I followed Cloud back up to the cave, keeping the caravaneer camp in my sight.
"What was that, we-?" I started to yell. Cloud put a hoof in my face, shutting me up. She gave me the most sincere grin and replied.
“I have a plan...”
Level up! Perk obtained. Wasteland experienced: With a few more wounds, you gain a few more wary looks. Your Charisma increased by 1. Also, you now have the option to attempt Intimidate certain ponies or creatures.
" Well, aint that just b-e-a-u-t-ful! Hope it doesn't come to bite you back in ya' ass!"
So here I was again, in the middle of the night, lying on the cold rock, working overwatch for a friend, scanning the camp for any obstacle in Cloud's way. Since I wasn't sleeping tonight due to this little endeavour, I had my bedroll strapped tightly around the end of my barrel, silencing it as best I could. Seeing Cloud fly over the fence, I scanned the guard tower closest to her. Luckily the guard didn't spot her, or he would have had a bad day with a hole in his head. Cloud slid around the the inside of the fence towards the building that looked like a barracks. I followed my friend as she crawled to the next building, and to the next, and to the next. She came to the main office building, I assumed, since it seemed to be more intact than the rest.. Cloud peeked through the window. Her face went from confused to shock to disgust in a few mere moments. Celestia only knew what was going on in there. She continued on to another and did the same. Peeking through the window, I saw her grin. She looked up to me and nodded, crawling through the opening. I clicked back the scope to get a bigger view of the camp. Patrols were walking around, doing their rounds.
A few hours ago...
"What?! You’re going to try to break into there? That’s insane, they almost shot you!" I yelled at Cloud.
"Those aren't the regular guards, they looked like raiders to me." Cloud replied, sipping on a cup of coffee she had brewed. "Like I said, I will sneak in at night and try to figure out what is going on."
I looked at her in awe. " You truly are insane, aren't you?" I sat across from her with my tea in hoof. She just sighed in response. I looked down at the tea, going through my head what was the pros and cons of this plan. After a few minutes in silence, I looked up and put on a stern look. " What do you need me to do?"
She smiled and pointed at my rifle. " I need you to keep me covered. Provide..umm..what's it called?" she asked.
"Overwatch....Okay, I think that I could do that." I tossed back the last of my tea and smacked my lips. I got up from my seat and grabbed Fang.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
I turned back to her. " If I am going to do this, I need to find the most opportune position, somewhere where I can see most of the camp and keep watch over you while you’re down there. But understand, I’m not taking a shot till they are confirmed hostile. Okay?" I explained.
She hesitated for second, then nodded slowly. " Good. Now, I'll be back. Be careful." I turned and trotted out of the mouth of the cave.
"You too." I heard her respond faintly.
The Present...
As the last patrol passed by Cloud's position, I grew impatient. She’d been in there for more than 10 minutes. What was taking her so long? I saw the faint movement of a shadow in the building. Then, a faint green light shone through the window. A terminal? Maybe. But If I could see it, so could the patrols. I scanned around the perimeter, finding a couple of the guards eyeing the building suspiciously. "Oh, sweet Luna, get out of there, Cloud, now!" I screamed inside my head. The patrol wheeled around the building, disappearing from view. The moment I saw them vanish, Cloud slid out of the window with something in her teeth. She shot straight up in the sky disappearing from sight through the slight cloud cover. I began to crawl back from my perch, still scanning the towers and guards for in case they spotted me or Cloud's departure. None seemed to notice.
As I got back to the shelter, I heard the faint noise of crackling, not of parchment or anything like that, just a slight clicking. Then the rock in front of me moved. A cockroach scuttled away. I jumped back in surprise, letting out a small shriek. Damn bugs. I slid out my knife and stabbed the thing in the back of it's head. floating it towards me, I got to a better look at the bug. This thing was huge, almost as big as my leg.! The radiation really did a number on the wildlife if they all looked like this. I tossed the bug out of the way and looked up to see Cloud peeking around the mouth of the cave. I waved at her.t She didn’t return the gesture. She just sat there looking pale, ready to hurl up her dinner.
"What's wrong?" I asked. "What did you find?"
"We need to go, now." She replied shakily. She threw my hastily rolled up bedroll at me, grabbing it with my magic. She flung her stuff over her shoulder, strapping it in the middle of her back.
"What going on, What's the hurry?"
She turned on me like I insulted her. She grabbed my head between her hooves and stared at me with those cold, icy eyes. "They are going to attack Charity if we don't go NOW! I’m gonna go ahead and warn the others." She let go and took off into the the sky, leaving me behind.
Charity City? Why Charity City? They hadn’t done anything wrong, as far as I’d seen. I slung my gun over my shoulder, and trudged towards home. Cloud would make it back before long at the rate she was going. I picked up my pace as I got to the base of the rocky hill. The weather seemed to give me a break for once, showing neither rain nor thunder. I came to a fork in the path, with one road leading towards Las Pegas, the other to Appleloosa. I checked the map for the direction back to the town. The waypoint I had set helped, but showing me how to get there wasn't on the device’s mind, I guess. I spotted a big pile of rocks in the distance. I waddled through the thick mud that still denied my advancement towards the city. Hopping up the rocks, I was granted a better view point toward the north. What I saw was a sight that I would never forget. The darkness of night hid away and covered up the evidence of a band of raiders’ horrible hobby. Pony corpses littered the ground in a mass grave. Some looked as though they had been torn apart by chains and ropes. Every filly and mare looked like... Damn, what sick perverted bastards would do this? This...I was beyond control of myself at this point. I was pissed off already at the mistreatment I had received from the slavers, now this... I sniffed back a tear of hatred and remorse for the lost.
As if it could sense my rage and sadness, the blasted rain started coming down. I sat there, not caring for anything else in the world but to weep for the dead, but I couldn't. Not now. This was too much. I was going to kill every single bandit and raider i came across till I found the ones responsible for this transgression. I started back towards the town, taking only a few steps before I had to stop and choke back my sadness, saving it for a later time, before finally managing to continue
Something rustled beneath a pile of the dead. I swung my gun around to take aim at the pile of dead ponies. Then something popped out from under the grave, right into the barrel of Fang.
A small earth pony colt the color of crimson with a black and red mane like mine went cross-eyed at the business side of the gun. He then proceeded to pee himself and began to cry. I was shocked. I lowered my rifle and sat down to listen to his cries. This little colt had witnessed the harshness of this hell, had hidden himself under his dead family to escape from the "Big, mean Uglies". The rain seemed to fall harder is I listened to the blubbering of the younging. I didn’t know what to do at this point. I never could take care of my cousins, let alone a child, but, I couldn't just leave him here. He reminded me of myself when I had been his age, losing everything I had because of a fire that had burned down the barn where we stored all our stuff back in Pastureland. I looked toward the horizon. He'd die if he stayed here. Plus, I had to get going: Charity would be attacked soon. Then I felt something wrap around my leg. I looked down to see the colt poking at my prosthetic limb. He seemed curious about it. From sadness to curiosity in the blink of an eye. The wonder of children. He was no older than ten years old. He looked up at me with pale green eyes, shining with innocence. I gulped and leaned down towards him, about to ask him he wanted to go with me, but he already had a plan. He hopped onto my neck, knocking me to the ground, and pulled me into a hug. He cried some more into my neck, wanting his parents back. It broke my heart listening to him.
"Hey, hey. Come on. I know somewhere where there are a lot of ponies that would be very interested in meeting you. Would you like that?" He looked me in the eyes, his own reflecting nothing but sheer sadness, but nodded.
He trudged to his deceased family, and mumbled something under his breath, while I checked the area for hostiles and supplies. We were going to need them. I looked back at the young colt, who was just laying his head on his mom's bloody forehead, her eyes looking back at him with cold, glassy stillness. After I finished picking through the remains of the small settlement, I picked up the colt and placed him on my back. I wasn't a strong stallion, but he didn't weigh that much to begin with. He gave his parents one last, wistful look, waving a kiss to them. I had to pony up for this little one, or we’d never get far in this world. But at least I could save him from a harsher death than what became of them. We walked across the fields towards home, hoping to find the city the way it had been when I left.
After a few hours of trotting, I checked the map to see we were almost to Charity City. I looked back at the colt to find him staring at my leg. " Hey, i never asked you what your name is." I proclaimed. He seemed startled at my suddenness, but looked at me.
"M-m-my name?...Elric. Elric Harmony." He replied. He looked up to me and swallowed audibly. "Umm... Th-Thank you, mister." He whispered. I looked back quizzically.
"What for?" I replied.
"For not shooting me. A-And getting me away-" he started to choke back tears as he spoke.
I put him down on the ground gently. "Hey, It's okay. It'll be okay." I wrapped him in a hug, letting him cry it out. I might not have experience as a father, But I had experience as a friend and brother. "They... They are in a better place now, okay? They will always be with you wherever you are, okay?"
He looked up at me with red, watery eyes. "How do you know?"
I looked down at him with sincerity. "My parents are watching me too, Elric. Have faith in that."
He sniffled and returned the hug. A crack of thunder came from the west, sending chills down my spine. I glared at the sky, wishing the Pegasi would fix this crap and help the ponies down here. Or why didn’t Luna and Celestia raise the moon and sun anymore? Questions for a later time, I guess.
A thought that had been sitting in the back of my head for some time sprang to the surface again. I looked back at the little colt and smiled. "Hey, do you have any family you could try to contact? Someone to take care of you?" Elric just shook his head. "Tell you what: how about this," I picked up Elric and put him on my back. "I'll do whatever i can to get you home. The ponies at the city are really nice. They'll take care of you, ok?" Elric just nodded. I smiled and turned to back to the north.
The town was in a state of evacuation. The chapel's bell rang through all of the commotion of the townsfolk. I never knew so many ponies lived here. There hadn’t even been a third of them on the streets when I had first arrived..
I saw Cloud in the air, flying towards me and Elric. Doctor Stein was passing out weapons and instructing the militia for the battle. Whip Leash was nowhere in sight. Cloud landed next to me and shot a look at Elric, who cowered back from the new pony. She gave me the same confused look. I just shook my head.
"Whip Leash wanted you to see him as soon as you got back. I hope you got some rest before you got here. A group of Raiders have massed to the north and east, blocking our way to get help. Did you see any on the way here?" Cloud asked.
I shook my head again. " Only sign of raiders was the attack on Elric's family." I nodded back at the colt. Cloud just nodded once and shot a worried look at Elric.
"I'm sorry, My name's Cloud. I'm sure you'll like it here with us." She turned to me and waited. I looked around to see if she looking at something else, but it was definitely me.
"You’re still standing here." She remarked.
I flushed a little bit, and bumped Elric for him to follow. When we were out of earshot of Cloud, Elric climbed to the side of my head and whispered, "She's scary."
"You’re dang right she is." I whispered back.
I pushed past the ponies building makeshift barricades of tables and beds. Elric and I found Whip Leash instructing the other children to hide in the inn basement until he or another caretaker came to get them. The older orphans had firearms and weapons, and were told to stay and protect the younger colts and fillies. He turned to me as I approached.
"Reign. Thank Celestia that you’re all right. After I heard what happened at the Offices, I feared you got lost."
"Nah, I'm all right. Just got a little' sidetracked." I slid Elric off my back and pointed to the group of young ponies. " Go with them, They'll take care of you, I'll be right back to get you."
He wrapped my leg in an embrace. "Promise?"
I looked at him and gave him a big smile. "I promise."
He held on for a moment longer and ran off to the group. Whip Leash watched him go and turned back to me with that ridiculous grin.
"What?" I shrugged.
"It seems to me you made a new friend." Whip Leash playfully punched me in my shoulder. "Come on, bro. I need your combat experience here."
He wheeled himself to the nearest table, slid out a map of the town from under his blanket, and laid it flat, placing little pebbles to keep it still in the breeze. He pointed to several places on the different twists and turns of the streets.
"These are the places we are barricading. We have militia placed here," He pointed to the west of the chapel. "And here." He pointed to the north side. " The rest are scattered about at the different barricades and alleyways where we feel most vulnerable."
He looked up at me studying the map in more detail. I saw several pockets where the raiders could slip in. Whip Leash nodded in agreement when I suggested what they should do about those flaws, showing off that goofy grin the entire time. He reached back under the folds of his cover and produces a walkie-talkie and relayed the new commands to his leaders. Once the information was relayed, Whip threw the radio onto the table and put his head between his hooves. I reached over and pat his back.
"Hey, don't worry. We’ll get through this all right." I reassured my friend.
"I know we will. I'm just concerned about the reason behind the attack. Why us? We didn't provoke an attack on this place. We're a peaceful town. I... I just don't understand." Whip Leash leaned back in his wheelchair and stared forward in thought.
"I don't know either, But what I do know is that they will get their asses kicked if they try anything stupid." I retorted. "There isn’t any rest for the wary, right?" I smiled at my brother-in-arms. We were just two battle-hardened ponies trying to defend their home, and Goddess help the ones threatening the kind ways of Charity City.
Whip Leash looked up at me and started to laugh. I chuckled a little myself. Pre-battle jitters will do that to even the most hardened veteran. I’d felt it often enough to know.
"Good Luck, Reign. I'll see you after all this for a bottle of whiskey, eh?" Whip Leash help out his hoof.
"You too, Sarge." I returned the hoof-bump.
Cloud lighted next to us, nodding at me.
"We need you on the front barricade as soon as you’re done here." She nodded at Whip Leash and set back off into the darkening sky. I looked up and watched the clouds which were threatening another miserable rain spell.
"Never stops, does it?" I sighed.
"Nope." Whip Leash replied. "Don't have too much fun without me, Captain." He pushed me toward my next objective.
I turned toward the north, galloping to the barricade. Time to return the favor.
"Endure and Survive. That is our way, always has been. Always will."
I came around the corner to one of the barricades as a guard pony was putting in the finishing touches. A stallion waved me over, telling me about the plan.
"We need to bottleneck the raiders here," he said, pointing to the ground, "But we also need to allow the other barricades to the east the opportunity to try and flank this area. We can fall back to the pub if things get too shitty."
I nodded in acknowledgement. He returned the gesture and turned back to his post. I sat my rifle down beside me on the wall, and sat with my back to the wall. There was at least ten, maybe eleven ponies securing the point. If we were overrun here, we were pretty much screwed.
Why such a large force from the raiders? Charity City isn't much of a town to start with, so why even bother with a full assault? Then a question popped in my head out of nowhere. Why was Charity so damn important to the Raiders that they need an army to overtake it? What's in the city that they want so fucking bad?
"Hey, Reign. how's it looking over here?" Doctor Stein yelled to me from down the street. I waved at him and gave a smile. He wandered over with with a bunch of canteens hung over his neck, passing me one as he arrived. "I've been meaning to ask you... You mentioned another shooter earlier. Well, I went back to the cliff while you were out and found no trace of anyone else up there. Are you sure that there was another pony there?"
I looked back at the doctor in confusion. "I'm positive that there was."
He continued his stare at me for another moment before smiling. "Okay, well... I'll see ya around then, Captain. Don't die on me now, ya hear? You've been a great help around here for the little time you've spent with us." he stood back up and trotted away with the clanking of the canteens. What was that about?
* * * * *
"AAAUGH! What are they waiting for?!" a mare paced back and forth in front of me, keeping me from relaxing in the setting sun.
"I'm wondering the same thing here, Joel. But getting agitated isn't going to help." a blue unicorn said to the mare.
I let out a sigh and lay my head back to stare at the grey sky. I imagined the stars behind the curtain of clouds. Cloud had explained to me why the weather was always so shitty. I guess I already knew that the pegasi would close up the sky if something happened up there, but not to this degree. I confess that I was kind of....jealous... of the flyers. To be above the clouds and lock yourself away from it all. I closed my eyes and thought back to the nights growing up in New Equine. The rolling green hills. The night lit up with fireflies and the never ending stars. The ranch-hands playing the traditional Pastureland music on the flute and violin. maybe someday I'll go back home to see if anything is left....
"Hey, Reign. It's your turn now." the stallion from earlier came and lightly tapped me on my shoulder.
I let out a large sigh and stood up staring out into the dark mass of land set out in front of me. Nothing had changed since morning. All the outpost called in a all-clear hourly for the time being. I peered through my rifle scope to see if anything out in the bushes or the cliff hanging in the distance for any disturbances.
Then I saw it in the corner of my eye. By then it was already too late.
The flaming bottle of alcohol crashed into the head of Joel, splashing flames and shards of glass on her and her friend she was sitting beside.
They were waiting on the change of guard.
Joel's screams pierced the sky as she flung herself to the ground in an effort to quench the flames. Two ponies tried to help her, but the damage was already done. Her face was charred and lifless. nothing of it resembled the pony before the fire.
I turned back to see a raider hopping over the table in front of me. I brought my gun to bear, blowing a good size hole through his stomach. The stallion I had replaced was screaming into the radio at Whipleash. We weren't the only ones in trouble. I sent three more raiders to the grave with deadly accuracy. But even with me and the other ponies at the barricade dropping our enemies like flies, it simply wasn't enough. dozens came out of every nook and cranny possible. They would overwhelm us in moments if we didn't fall back now.
A raider threw another Molotov at the barricade, setting the damn thing on fire. I backed up, covering my face with my leg to protect myself from the heat. I looked back only to see a hoof crashing straight into my face. I slammed into the ground and brought Fang up, catching the pony who kicked my under the chin. I gave him a small grin as i let the .308 round tore apart his face. His life blood splashed over me, making my throat close a little in disgust. I rolled back onto my hooves, galloping away from the now broken down barricade.
"Everypony, fall back! Fall back to the bar! We'll hold them off there!" I yelled to my comrades. I aimed at the advancing enemy, holding them off while the other guards retreated to the pub. The raiders were now pouring over the flaming barricade, laughing as they murdered the straggling townsfolk.
I ran as fast as I could to the back up point. I burst through the doors of the " Pride o' the Pasture". It didn't even come close to looking like a traditional Pastureland pub, but i wasn't going to say anything about it right this very moment.
A couple of mares were making firebombs from the leftover alcohol. Such a waste of whiskey.
"Hey, help me out with this." a nearby pony addressed me, pushing a cupboard to block the entrance. I rushed over and began to tip over the cupboard, spilling out all of the plates and mugs as it cross over the double doors. but it was too late for the barricade. A crash hit the door, splintering it a little, followed by more laughter outside. then a flying object came through one of the hastily boarded-up windows. The object came to a stop at the hooves of one of the mares that had survived the initial attack. She looked down at the head of a pony for a mere moment, gritted her teeth in outrage, and ran through the broken window with tears in her eyes. A short outburst of bullets and screaming from both mare and raiders was heard over the chaos outside.
Several ponies with blood soaked coats came through the new entrance at us. They were met with knives and guns. we started to cut down the ones that came through. Not many came through after that. We stood there, anxious for a break. One brave mare peeked through one of the still boarded windows. her head didn’t come back in. a machete came down on her neck, taking with it the suprised expression on her face. the last raider turned into the window to find she wasn’t alone. stupidity at its finest. the raider wore a bloody grin in his last few moments of life as he slump to the ground from a stray bullet wound to his chest.
After a few tense moments, we heard the all clear from the street.
"The rest must of went ahead, come on, lets go get them!" a friendly stallion outside hooted to his friends in the pub. We had lost two more in the outburst in the bar, whittling us down to six left of the original fourteen. The group rushed through the open window, looking for payback.
I moved the bodies aside to the best of my ability with my magic. After I was done with that, I trotted over to where the thrown object had fallen. I rolled it over into the light to see the item that made a grown mare go into a rage in an instant. I stared at the entity laying on the floor, oozing liquid on the ground. I shed a single tear for the mare and her misery.
Laying on the floor was the head of a blue colt. his eyes now locked in a state of panic and fear.
I ran past burning homes and screaming ponies, gunning down everything that was red on my E.F.S. Raiders and bandits lay dead at my hooves through my rage and frustration.
A Raider to my left came after me with a bar of steel. i turned my gun and aimed at his head. click. No worries.
I flipped Fang over and locked the grip in my teeth and slammed the stock upwards into the raiders skull. He hit the ground with a thud. I slung my rifle over my neck and levitated out a 9mm pistol, placing it right on his temple.
"P-p-please, s-sir. Don't... please." the raider pleaded with me.
A short, loud pop joined the air of smoke and cries around me.The raider wasn't pleading anymore.
I galloped down the street, passing overturned carts and burning bodies of townsponies and bandits alike. I found a corpse of a militia with a radio, smashed under a cart of junk. Floating it up to me, I pushed the receiver and spoke.
"Hello, anypony there?" I called through the speaker.
Nothing but the hiss of static answered.
Then a pop and a familiar voice cracked through the static. "Reign, is that you? Damn, its good to hear from you." Whipleash released a held breath at the sound of my voice.
"You too. Where are the raiders going? Do you know?" I asked him. After a short silence, Whipleash responded. "The town hall is where the majority of the townsfolk fell back to. I'll be there in a few minutes. Meet me there if you can." Another pop and he was gone.
I clipped the radio to the strap of my rifle. I drew my sidearm and floated it in front of me. I made my way through the side streets as best I could, dropping the sick masochists like rabid dogs. I passed small skirmishes against the opposing forces. It was the war all over again. Innocents lay in pooling puddles of blood and ash. Raiders were scattered everywhere, dead and alive. I stepped over the rubble in the middle of a street. The town seemed to hold their own till the town hall came into view. The rest of the attackers were pushing up through the main street, meeting heavy resistance from the towns folk barricaded in the building. I swallowed what fear I had at this point. I had technically died once, I guess I could do it again.
I rushed up the street, running into two straggling bandits. I brought up my S.A.T.S and unloaded two rounds into the first one, and one into his buddy. They slumped to the ground, dead. The two raiders had assault rifles, and 2 clips of ammo. I reloaded one and saddle bagged the other. I found a few more raiders in my way, but none of them were expecting an attack from the rear. After dealing with the opposition, I came around the corner to the Hall. I saw Doctor Stein holding his ground with a 20 gauge shotgun, blowing holes into anypony crazy enough to get near him. Whipleash was hailing lead from his assault rifle. Cloud was dipping in from the air, tagging the enemy with rounds from her revolver. I smiled and joined in the fight.
The battle went on for hours. Nopony on either side was backing down. The townsfolk were better equipped, but less experienced. The raiders had strength in numbers. The town around us burned in a circle of crimson fire and the crackle of burning wood fill the air.
We finally had to fall back into the meeting house before the remaining raiders overwhelmed us. Doctor Stein had several small cuts on him from knives and grazing shots. Whip had a gash where a hatchet caught him in the shoulder, dislocating it from its joint. Cloud wasn't injured from any wounds, but was wheezing from all the smoke in the air. I was the only one that seemed alright so far besides a bloody nose.
"How much ammo do we have left?" Whipleash yelled over the din and exchange of gunfire from the other townsponies.
"One clip, plus one in the chamber." Cloud replied.
"Six shells left" Stein responded.
"8 shots left in the assault rifle, 3 in the 9mm." I confirmed.
" And 2 shots left for me." Whipleash finalized. We sat there for a moment letting it sink in finally. Whipleash let out a deep sigh. " We did our best."
"We're gonna die, aren't we?" Cloud asked. Stein just nodded solemnly. Stein closed his eyes and lay his head back on the wall. Cloud broke her trance to the ground and started to tear up. Whipleash wrapped her in an embrace and let her cry on his good shoulder. I scooted myself to the wall and rested against the wood. Stein stood up and walked over to the two ponies, waving me over. We sat next to each other as the doctor started his speech.
"Celestia, Goddess of the sun, please guide us to the gates of your Grace and allow the innocent and the brave pass on to everlasting peace..."
I never was a religious type of pony, mainly because I didn't like the idea of someone else ruling your life. But, seeing as i was gonna be dead soon, I just bowed my head and listened.
After the prayer was said, we began to lose hope. The barricaded door slammed repeatedly from the ponies outside. The militia was running out of ammunition. I thought about what my life has been for the last couple of days. I had been dragged across the countryside by a couple of Slavers. I had my horn blown off, met a few awesome ponies, and pretty much screwed up my chance with a pretty mare.
I closed my eyes and let out a sigh. "Well, if I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die with taking a hoofful of them with me." I stood up and chambered a round into the assault rifle. Levitating that in front of me, i grabbed my sidearm and gripped it in my teeth.
"Wait! Reign, lets think this through for a sec?" Stein hinted. Cloud looked at me with shock and sadness. Whipleash gave me a look like i just clocked him aside the head.
" I'm not gonna sit here, waiting for them to get to me." I said back.
"But you'll die!" Cloud shouted, holding back more tears.
I turned to the beautiful mare and gave her my last words. "I'm already dead," I looked to Whipleash. "Take care of Elric, will you?" He opened his mouth to say something, but didn't speak a word. Just nodded.
I turned and stared into the face of death. I walked toward the broken window where the militia were holding back the invaders. Pushing past a startled mule, I stepped through the entrance to hell.
The first raider came at me swinging a machete over his head with his magic, laughing gleefully. I promptly put a stop to his charge with two rounds in the face from the rifle.
One.
The next two wielded a bat and the other had a revolver in his blackened teeth. Gun pony shot a round into my chest. My barding held a little, but it still hurt like hell. It took two shots to the skull to put him down with my pistol, one for the bat pony.
Three.
A shot slammed into my side, lodging itself into my ribs. an AP round. Another glance off my back. I swung the rifle around and slipped into S.A.T.S. five shot fired from my guns. Another raider laid dead.
Four.
I picked up some of the ammo off the ground for the pistol. I was out of bullets for the machine gun, so the next best thing came to mind: throw it at the closest raiders face. I reloaded my pistol as fast as I could and gritted my teeth as a round punctured my front leg.
Levitating the pistol out of my mouth, I yelled at the advancing Raiders.
"Come get me, you motherfu-!" was all I could get out before shit hit the fan. Hard.
The house next to me produced a wall of shrapnel, catching a few of the raiders with fatal flak. Shells crashed into the pavement, exploding chunks of stone and pony into the air. I scrambled back as far as I could to get away from the new attack, covering my bleeding side. Then another explosion shredded the shocked invaders. The few that were still in the courtyard hightailed in retreat. I looked over from where the deadly rain came from and I swear I thought I was dreaming.
A grey armor-clad pony stepped through the building, twin cannons hanging off his armor. I blasted another round at the bad guys. then five more iron ponies came through the rubble behind the heavy gunner, each carrying a weird looking rifle.
"Clear the buildings, make sure the bastards don't get away!" yelled a muffled mare’s voice. Another pony came through the house without its helmet, revealing a mare with a yellow and orange mane. She scanned the courtyard till her eyes met mine, then she pointed her gun at me. I raised a hoof to try and stop her.
Please, I'm not one of them! The townsfolk are stuck in the town hall! Please, help them!" I yelled.
The mare glared at me for a tense moment before replacing her weapon in its holster. she pointed a hoof at me and said something out of my fading hearing. I looked down to my side to see it covered in blood and starting to pool where I sat.
"That ain't...good..." I fought to stay awake the best I could. but the corners of my vision were darkening. I was really, truly dying. At least I had managed to take a hoofful with me like I said I would. I looked up at the sky, wishing to see the stars before I died sitting here. But alas, the only thing in the sky was blackness. In my fading hearing, I heard the clip-clopping of hooves coming closer. I looked over to see Doctor Stein galloping towards me. Cloud was right behind him, and so was Whipleash and the rest of the town from the meeting hall. They all surrounded me in a semicircle, letting Doctor Stein and my friends to the front.
The doctor put his stethoscope on his ears and ripped open my bullet-riddled barding, pressing the cold plunger on my heaving chest. He was saying something, but I was slipping in and out of consciousness. Cloud kept patting my face, waking me from the blackouts. Whipleash couldn't do too much besides keeping the townsfolk at bay. Doctor Stein shot a worried glance at Cloud. He moved my hoof covering my wound and went wide eyed with surprise, he turned to Cloud and told her something. She nodded and picked up my left leg, draping it over his shoulders, the doctor did the same with the right. A shot of pain shot straight up my side, making my vision fade in and out. They pulled my through the departing crowd and hurried my to a nearby building.
Whipleash swept the rubble and junk off a table onto the floor. Doctor Stein and Cloud wrestled me onto the surface and Stein pointed to my wound and spoke an inaudible couple of words. Cloud placed her hooves over my wound and pressed hard, making me grunt with pain. Stein returned with a first aid kit and a bag with a caduceus printed on the side. Whipleash started to pull bits of wood out of my hide. In the corner of my failing sight, I saw Clouds crying her eyes out, yelling something at me. Stein pulled out a scalpel and tweezers out of the bag, and a potion out of the first aid. He handed Whipleash a syringe with a clear liquid in it and pointed at my chest. He nodded and gingerly slammed it into my heart. My eyes shot open and I audibly screamed as I felt the needle in my vitals. Then darkness took over, surrounding me in black.
I saw myself standing in the blackness. Then a swirl in the black, and a voice broke the silence.
"Still getting fucked up, I see." A familiar voice. That stupid voice from earlier. :So tell me, Reign. How does it feel to be dead?" The annoying voice asked.
" I don't know, you tell me," I countered.
"I don't think you understand the situation here, Lad. WE. ARE. DEAD. No more. Nothing but a burden for the grave keeps. Another wasted life. Congrats! You ruined your chance with a mare and made yourself look suicidal and dangerous."
I huffed out a grunt. "What now then? What do I do now?"
"Well, seeing that Stein barely keeping us alive, I guess you just wait it out for a bit." The voice responded.
"Wait... You said we were dead already." I yelled back.
"Well, I lied. But the chances that Stein will be able to pull that slug out of you before you bleed out is slim and looking slimmer by the second." the voice cracked.
I thought for a second, thinking this through. "Wait, there's something that I don't understand. Are... what are you? Are you my conscience? Or a split personality? What?" I asked.
"Though we are crazy enough to have SPD, that's not the case. I am not part of your conscience, or yourself at all. Let's just say that I am... your guardian angel. You'll figure it out one day. But for now, don't think about that, think about what you’re gonna say to your friends if you wake up." The voice spoke and the room fell silent again as a light broke through the darkness.
I opened my eyes to a nightmare. I stood staring at a burning farmhouse. My farmhouse. I heard the sounds of my father and mother and cousins screaming in agony and suffering as they were burned alive. I couldn't help them, nopony could. All I could do was pray for them that it didn't hurt. I watched as the farmhouse became ash and dust in the pouring rain, as if the sky was crying for my family. That's the day that I felt rage for the first time. The first time I lost my innocence.
The day the war came to my home.
I was shot forward in time to the day I made it to my cousin's farm. Big Macintosh was a few years older than me, and Applejack didn't even know me personally. Great time to introduce yourself and announce you’re related when you’re covered in grime and mud from your journey. Granny Smith was the only one to recognize me. Then I met Vinyl Scratch and Octavia at the club I was working at on my spare time. Time seemed to skip ahead a few months to show me moving into their apartment. Starting my own life. Just us three and the world, bitter memories of when we were to hit the top of the charts in the music industry. It never happened.
My vision skipped ahead to where I was sitting around the Apple family dinner table. Big Mac and I were served our draft papers. Applejack was to be A "Ministry Mare", and Applebloom was already in the Stable-Tec Business.
My past was flashing in front of my eyes, and I felt the pain as I knew what would happen to all of them. I was at the ceremony when Big Mac was gunned down. I was at his funeral, directing the 21 gun send-off.
I closed my eyes and wished it to go away.
All of it. No more.
Please.
Make it Stop...
Make it stop...
click....click...click
* * * * *
I opened my eyes to the sight of Cloud drooling on herself as she slept in the corner chair with Elric curled up beside her. I looked over to the nightstand to see a crap load of "Get Well" cards and gift baskets (well, what seemed to be anyways.even if its stuff stuffed into a rusty bucket). I looked over to the entrance and saw the silhouette of two ponies. I heard Doctor Stein talking to Whipleash as they drew closer to the door.
"...was a success, but I found a major problem with his heart. He's been kept alive in a bio-gel that was meant for short time use." Stein explained.
“Like not for 200 years?" remarked Whipleash.
"Try maybe 20 to 30 years. His heart has been beating for 200 years, sucking in oxygen that depleted about 150 years ago. Lucky the emergency oxy-gel in his respirator kept him alive, but that only has its limits too. His heart is weak. adding a cybernetic to that could have killed him if he didn't recover all the way," I heard Doctor Stein let out a deep sigh. "Not to mention his brain patterns."
Brain patterns? What was he talking about?
"No, come on. He might be a little.... weird, but that doesn't make him clinically insane." Whipleash reasoned.
"That might be true, but we still have to be cautious. There's no telling what the trauma from the battle did to him." the doctor finalized with his friend.
I looked up to the ceiling and began to lose myself to my never-ending train of worries and thoughts. Was I really that crazy to do what i did? Do they think I'm dangerous because of the actions i took?
Waaaaiiiitttt... Did Stein chain me to the bed again? I jerked my hoof to find out, slapping myself in the nose from the unexpected freedom. The action drew a small shake in Cloud.
She let out a deep yawn and opened one eye to see me clutching my nose in soreness. Her eyes shut wide open and she flailed herself at me, knocking Elric on the floor, Giving me the biggest embrace that I ever had. I felt tears running down my neck as she sobbed into me. Woah, I never expected that reaction.
"I-I thought you w-would never wake up." She whimpered as she removed her head from my neck and she looked at my with those gorgeous blue eyes. She wore a grateful smile. We watched each other for a few moments like we were trying to read each others thoughts. Elric scooted himself up on the other side of the bed, showing a huge grin on his small little face. He looked at my and rubbed his eyes from their sleep. I reached over and patted his head, making him grin even bigger.
Doctor Stein and Whipleash whirled around the corner like the place was on fire.
"We heard a commotion in here, is every- " He spotted me and stopped. I looked over to him and my friend, and shot my legs straight in the air.
"What's up, Doc?" I smirked. Doctor Stein just shook his head in disappointment.
Whipleash wheeled himself around to Cloud's side of the bed, watching me like a hawk. I knew why, and I believed he knew that too. He reached over and clipped me in the side of the head.
"Stupid pony." I rubbed my head in the spot he hit me.
"Sorry." I replied halfheartedly.
He just shook his head in disbelief. "You sir, are the strangest pony I have ever met. I never knew anypony would be willing to rush out in the middle of of a massacre, looking for death. The sane one's usually stay back and wait."
"Prey waits, Sergeant." I responded grimly. Whipleash stared back at me like I was honestly crazy.
"Well... anyway, Reign. Do you want to hear the diagnoses, or do you even care what you did to yourself?" Stein piped.
"I would like to hear it, yes." I replied. Cloud squeezed my hoof and left, leaving me confused. Elric waved goodbye and slid off the bed in pursuit of the mare. When the two left, Whipleash and Stein sat at the foot of my bed, the latter holding a clipboard with his magic.
"Well, lets start with that hole in the side of you, eh? That was easy to patch up. Taking out the lead; not so much. I could go on and on about your fuck-ups to your body, but I don't see the point in doing it. So, I’m going to give it straight and simple. Reign, you are losing your grip on reality. I fear that the trauma from the first crazy stunt you pulled jarred something up there," Stein explained, waving a hoof to my cranium. "And you need to tone it down. We know you overheard us, so you know-
"About my heart and my 'Brainwaves' or something like that, right?" I interrupted. Whipleash continued to shake his head, putting it in his hooves. Stein just stood there.
"...Yes. I really can't fix your heart, and I especially can’t fix your head. I'm not going to tell you to not get into a fight, because you'll ignore me anyway. But I do want you to tell me something, and the honest to Celestia truth." Stein grimly advised. Whipleash shifted in his wheelchair. I looked at the both of them and cocked my brow.
"What?"
"Do you hear other ponies talk in your head?" Stein asked.
I thought on it for a second. Technically, no. So far only in my sleep. But yes, I do. Still trying to figure it out.
Finally I shook my head. The two in front of me were lost in their own thoughts. Before they responded, a yell from the other room startled us.
"Whipleash! Doctor!, there's somepony here to talk to you!" yelled Cloud from the other room.
I rolled myself out of bed, wincing from the nice line of stitches on the side of my torso. I poked at them till Stein slapped my hoof away from it.
"Stop that! You'll make it worse. I swear, you're such a child, Captain." the doctor turned and walked out. Whipleash sighed and rolled over to me.
"You know he's just worried about you, right? We we all scared about the aftermath of the whole thing. Cloud's the most upset about the ordeal. Talk to her when you get the chance. Elric thought you were just sleeping it off, so he doesn't know."
I smiled and patted my friend on the shoulder. I slid off the bed and wobbled over to the pile of garbage that was my belongings. I slipped into my barding to find it repaired and slightly heavier. I looked at Whipleash in confusion, but he cut me off before i even spoke.
"Extra padding in the sides, plus some flex plates on the back and torso. A gift from the orphans." He explained. He patted my back, wheeling past me.
"Come on, Captain. Let's go see what the fuss is all about."
Level up!
Perk Obtained! “Stubborn as a mule": Your damage threshold has increased by 15%
