Fallout Equestria: Falling Shadows

by Drako Moon

Chapter 2: Take It On The Run

When the stable door closed I found myself in utter darkness. I expected to walk out into the light of day, like I’ve read in books, or at least something like that. Did the war destroy the sun, or with the Goddesses dead, did the sun just not rise anymore? I remember Auntie telling me about the Goddesses and how the two sisters would raise the sun and the moon every day and night. I started to shake at the thought of a world in darkness.

After a minute went by, I got my head on a little tighter and started thinking a little clearer. It couldn’t be, the world had to have something more than darkness. I’m more likely in a cave or something. I knew I had to start moving, I couldn’t stand next to the stable door forever. I broke the switch to get out, but I had no idea how long it would take to fix it. It could take days or months, but it could also take only a few minutes.

Looking down at my Pip-Buck, I’d just got a notification, more than one I could see. It seems I’ve just discovered Stable 28… "Well good for me, I thought I'd never find it," I said sarcastically to no one in the dark because I was probably already losing my mind. There was something else about not activating something. So I clicked on it…Eyes Forward Sparkle and Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell have not been activated, would you like to do so?

This was something I did know about Pip-Bucks. Auntie and Balefire both told me about it a while ago. E.F.S. and S.A.T.S. I clicked on yes and watched it do the set-up.

Knowing what something is, I came to find out, is WAY different than experiencing it. Once the Pip-Buck finished the set-up, my vision went blurry then everything came into focus a second later, only now I could see a small compass on the bottom of my vision. “Whoa, that’s trippy,” I said to myself.

I looked back at my Pip-Buck and pressed a small switch with a flashlight on it. I had to look away as the screen got extremely bright, I pointed it forward. When my eyes finally adjusted to the light I saw that my prediction about being in a cave was correct. I looked around saw I was in a long cave that slowly made its way upward, turning slightly.

I can feel the fear of the unknown slowly growing in my gut, but I took a deep breath and started to walk forward. My Pip-Light helped keep me on the right path and washed my fear away as I moved. If I didn’t have this, I don’t think I could’ve kept going. I didn't walk for very long when I came to a wooden wall and a crappy door. I could see light coming through the spaces in the boards.

I approached the door, and then screamed when something crunched under my hooves. I jumped back flashing the light toward where I just stepped. Three pony skeletons looked back at me from the ground. I gasped and shrank back, it looked like a family died sitting by this old door. Two adults and a foal. It was the foal’s skull that I’d stepped on, crushing it into tiny pieces.

“This is horrible,” I said, moving closer, “I’m sorry, I didn't mean to crush your head,” then under my breath I whispered, "Please don't haunt me."

I sniffed and did my best not to cry, I couldn’t cry, not right now. I was still too close to the stable; even with this horrible sight, I knew I had to push on. Crying wouldn’t help me, it’d only get me caught.

Carefully I stepped around the bones of the family and pulled on the door. It rattled, but didn’t open. I wonder why they'd lock a crappy door like this. I looked down and saw the rusty chain wrapped around the handle and one of the boards. "They locked themselves in here?" I said aloud.

I looked back at them and saw a couple duffle bags next to them, one was open. Inside I could see a few things, so I decided to take a look to see if there was anything useful. It was mostly clothes and old food that spoiled a long time ago, but on the bottom of the bag I found a written note. I opened it up and read.

The stable is closed,

The alarm went off earlier today, right after, we heard the bombs go off. This far west we figured that we’d have time. Sugar just had to get a few more things, figured we’d need them for life in the stable.

We got here and saw the door was already sealed. We pounded on the door and begged them to let us in, but nopony responded. So we tried to go back home, but couldn’t. The megaspells destroyed everything, and the radiation is making other ponies crazy. We chained the door, so no one can get to us. The noises of other ponies kept our daughter from sleeping at all, she was so scared.

We aren’t going to make it…my daughter is only five years old. I wrote this note in case anypony ever finds us.

We tried….we really tried, but we didn’t make it. This will be our final resting place.

This is Fourleaf Clover, Sugar Cookie, and Dew Drop.

I couldn’t help crying now, when I looked down at those old bones. They tried to get into Stable 28 when the megaspells went off, but they didn’t’ make it in time. They knew they were going to die, and the last thing they did was leave a note, so somepony would know who they were. I can’t imagine having to face something like that.

I took the note, folded it in half, and slipped it in my saddle bag. My Pip-Buck dinged and looking down I saw in my inventory that now I had Clover’s Last words, under notes. I wondered how it knew what I just put in my saddle bags. Putting the thought aside for now, I looked back at the door and started to work on the old lock. A few seconds later I had it unlocked and pulled the chain off and opened the door.

I walked out into the open space. I read about the upper world before and I’ve even seen pictures, but I never expected this. What I saw was nothing like what I’ve seen in my books. They showed the world as so full of color, the sun high in the sky, and one or two puffy clouds here and there. This world was grey, brown, and dead. Clouds filled the sky only letting a small amount of light trickle down to the dead land around me.

The landscape was worse, dead trees were out in the distance with only knotted branches poking out of their trunks. I was on a small hill looking down into a valley, green mist floating close to the ground like the spooky fog in a horror novel. Under the mist were more bones, lots of bones. Coming up the hill were a few dozen more skeletons, they looked as if they all tried to get to the door to the tunnel that lead to the Stable. The door was chained and must’ve been stronger and in better shape back then, keeping them from getting through.

My Pip-Buck dinged again telling me I’ve just discovered Green Mist Valley. Well that made sense I guess, I wonder how many times it was going to do that. I kept moving, heading northeast like Auntie told me. As I walked through the silence, I wondered how anypony could live in a world like this. So many bodies, so much destruction, and not to mention the smell. It smelled like decay and poorly maintained bathrooms.

When I stepped into the mist my Pip-Buck started to click, slowly at first, but that grew faster as I went further. I looked down and saw the Rads meter moving up away from zero. Right now it was still in the green so I ignored it. There wasn’t any way I could get out of this area without going through here. I had no choice; I kept walking in the eerie green mist that seemed to cover the whole valley.

“So I go northeast she said, about a day or so travel. I wonder who I’ll find there and if they’ll be able to help me,” I said to myself as I walked.

When I reached the bottom of the hill I found a slightly intact road. It went east to west. Figuring it should hook back and go to the town I was looking for, I started to follow it. I still found it a little strange that I hadn’t run into anypony yet. From what I was told in the Stable, the upper world still had ponies living in it. I mean my mother and I came from up here. Now that I think about it, if we'd come to Stable 28 how did we get into the tunnel with the door chained like it was? I guess for now, I’ll just have to not think about it. For all I knew there was another way into the cave that my mother either found or knew about.

Maybe it was because the area I was in was just too irradiated to live in. Realizing the reality of my own thoughts I started to walk faster to get out of the radiation. With my luck, if I stayed in the mist for too long I'd grow another leg out of my stomach.

I’d been walking for a couple hours, leaving the mist far behind. Hunger and thirst started to linger in my mouth and stomach. I haven’t seen any roadside restaurants or small settlements at all. I saw an overpassing bridge in the distance and decided to rest there. The bridge was barely holding together, it looked like if the wind blew too hard it'd collapse. Being the only place I could use for shelter I went to go sit down under it. Suddenly from behind the bridge a pony jumped out screaming, “HELP!”

“AHHH!” I exclaimed flipping out the baton I’d stolen and hit the mare over the head, knocking her out. The first sign of civilization in hours and I knock her out with a stick. Holstered on her hip was a pistol, if she woke up she’d probably think I was trying to kill her or something, so I took it.

I started shaking her, saying, “Hey, wake up, I didn’t mean to hit you.”

“Wh-What? Oh Goddesses! Help me. Those raiders are gonna kill me,” the strange mare said terrified. She looked like she was half dead already. Her whole body was covered in dirt and grime, not to mention she smelled like rotting meat and sewage.

“There you are ya little bitch, c’mere, lemme show ya what it’s like to see your own spine,” another strange pony said from behind me. He was a stallion and it wasn’t just him, he had a friend with him. They were both wearing some kind of spiked armored barding and looked a little worse than the mare behind me.

I pulled out the mare’s pistol I’d taken when she was knocked out and pointed it at the stallions, saying, “Back off! Just walk away, I don’t wanna have to shoot you.”

Suddenly I was grabbed from behind. “You’re really stupid aren'tcha. Shrapnel help me hold her down. Splatter cut off her horn so she can’t use her magic,” the mare said as she held on to me. She didn’t sound so helpless now.

“Sure thing Rage Bone,” said the stallion she referred to as Splatter.

The stallion started walking toward me with what looked like a machete in his mouth. I started to squirm and tried to escape the mare's grasp. He was getting closer; I couldn’t imagine what they’d do to me after my horn was severed. He was right in front of me. In a panic I wrapped the machete in my magic and started to rip it out of his mouth. When I tried to rip it away it ended up spinning out of his mouth when he lost his grip, and keeping its momentum it dug into his neck.

In their shock I was able to wriggle one of my hooves free and hit the mare holding me, making her release her grip. The other stallion was holding down my back legs, but without the help of the mare I was able to free myself and buck him in the face. I picked up the pistol that I’d dropped on the ground when I was restrained and I shot him twice in the chest. The mare behind me recovered from the pain I inflicted on her and charged at me. I shot once aimlessly in her direction and she fell to the ground. “Take that bitch!” I yelled, but she couldn’t hear me. I’d shot her in the head, right in between the eyes; lucky shot.

I looked at her lifeless body, a little shaken, having nothing in my stomach to throw up, I started to dry heave. Still heaving I started to back away from her body and fell to my haunches. I just killed three ponies. How could I have done this? Without even thinking about it. I took the gun and threw it against the wall under the bridge and started to cry. As I sat there sobbing I heard a wet choking sound behind me. I quickly grabbed the gun once more and was ready to use it again, when I noticed it was Splatter, the pony who was ordered to cut off my horn. He was lying on the ground in a pool of blood coughing and choking, “Cough…cough. Cough…cough. End…it…” he struggled to utter out.

“Oh Goddesses, he’s still alive,” I said gruelingly to myself. He wanted me to shoot him and put him out of his misery. I aimed the gun at his head with my magic. I was about to pull the trigger, but I couldn’t bring myself to kill another pony again, not like this. “I’m sorry, I can’t do it,” I said to him as he lay bleeding on the ground from the nasty gash in his neck.

“Cough…cough. You bitch. Cough…cough,” he choked out.

His words angered me somehow through my self-sorrow. Without even thinking I threw the gun in front of him, saying, “Do it yourself you son of a bitch.” I walked away and left him to his fate. I also left the gun with him which I realized was a stupid decision since he was going to die anyway, even without shooting himself. A part of me wished I’d shot him and kept the gun, but another part of me respected my decision to leave him to his fate, even if I left the gun behind. I didn’t get too far when I heard a loud bang. I just shook my head and kept going. “Cowardly bastard,” I said to myself.

A couple more hours went by as I continued to walk slowly down the destroyed road. My throat was on fire now, either because of the lack of water or because of that bitch choking me. A mare I killed, along with those two stallions. I know it was to protect myself, but I’ve never killed anypony before. On the first day out of the stable I ended up killing three.

The memory of Splatter, looking at me with that shock in his eyes, gasping for air and blood pooling around him. I couldn’t take it, and I ran to the edge of the road and dry heaved some more. A little bile came up, but nothing else. I got dizzy and ended up sitting down.

“What am I gonna do?” I said to myself as I looked around the dry radiation baked land. It was so hot out, even with the clouds covering the sun. All I wanted was to be back in my room, have a nice drink of water, and talk to my friends.

As I sat there, a gunshot echoed in the distance. I jumped to my hooves and looked around. When I did, I heard voices coming from the same direction.

“What the hell Blade, do you want somepony to hear us?” came a rough stallion voice.

“What? Whoever the pony that killed them is, they can’t take all of us,” came another stallion’s voice.

“We don’t know how many ponies killed them. Rage Bone, and Splatter were tough motherfuckers, and Shrapnel was pretty stupid, but he still knew how to fight. I don’t feel like dying today because you gave away our position,” the first stallion said.

“Sorry boss, couldn’t help myself,” said the second pony, called Blade.

The voices sounded like they were getting closer, and they said something about those three that I killed earlier. That was over two hours ago. How did they find me? I started to panic, wishing I hadn’t left that gun behind. All I had on me was a damned security baton.

“If you don’t want those raiders to find you, I’d suggest you follow me,” came a crackly metallic voice from behind me.

I jumped and almost screamed thinking the worst. I turned and looked up to see some kind of floating robotic bug hovering right over my head. “Did you just say that?” I asked in a squeak of a voice.

“Do you see anypony else here?” the voice came again, “I’m not going to hurt you, but those raiders down the road will. I know you’re the filly who killed their friends.”

“Are they going to kill me?” I asked with a whisper.

“If they find you, you’ll wish they had. Now are you coming or not?” the robot replied.

The robo-bug didn’t look dangerous, and I had no idea what I could do to hide from those ponies. So I looked up at him, saying, “If you can help me then I’ll go with you.”

“Good, now stay down low and follow me,” the metallic voice said as he started to float away.

I did what I was told, ducking my head down while I followed him away from the road. Over the small hill and just out of sight was an old cottage. The walls didn’t offer much protection, with its large holes and one wall almost completely missing.

“How can I stay safe in there?” I asked when we came up to the cottage.

“There’s a small bomb shelter under the bed right inside. Raiders aren’t that smart and won’t think to look there,” he replied.

“How do I know you’re not leading me into a trap?” I asked, still suspicious of the mysterious bug.

“You don’t, you’re just gonna have to trust me,” he said, bobbing up and down.

“Trust a robot? You could be programmed to do anything for all I know,” I responded distrustful of the strange robot.

“Listen I don’t have time for all this and neither do you, I’m not a robot, well not really. This is called a Sprite-bot, they’re all over the Equestrian Wasteland. I’m in another location far from here. I can hack into them from time to time to watch what’s going on in the wastes. Every now and then, I help ponies like you if I’m able,” he explained.

“So you’re watching me from some location far away? That’s really creepy,” I said tilting my head.

“Yes, and it’s not what you think,” he said looking back at me again, “I only have another minute or two before I’m kicked out of this bot. So I’ve gotta tell you a couple things so you can survive.”

I knew that I shouldn’t just trust this robot, but he did save me, at least so far. So I did my best to hold down my suspicions, saying, “Okay fine, but I want you to answer a question or two of mine.”

“I’ll try, but lemme tell you what I need to first,” he said, or at least I think it’s a he; it’s hard to tell with the metallic voice.

“Fine, go ahead,” I said, feeling a little impatient.

“Once you’re clear of those raiders, you should make your way to the closest settlement you can. Try to find yourself some kind of companion or make friends, the Equestrian Wasteland is a hard place to live in, and a filly fresh from a stable like yourself won’t make it in this world without friends. Another thing is, never leave a good gun behind like you did back there, that was really stupid. A gun can make the difference between living or dying, also it can get you some good caps if you sell them. Last thing, remember to watch out for things like raiders, slavers, other monsters that live in The Wasteland, and most of all radiation or taint,” the robot said.

“I had friends when I was in the stable, only two, but they were my whole world. I don’t think I can make more friends like them,” I said, wondering what he meant by ‘Caps’ and ‘Taint.’

“You’ll have to try. Now quickly, what did you want to know?”

I took a breath and said, “I gotta find a town called Cartwheel, there’s somepony there I’m supposed to meet up with. Also, you saw I was a stable mare. I was wondering, about eight years ago did you see another pony leaving Stable 28 like myself? If so, do you know where she might’ve gone.”

He bobbed up and down there for a moment, then said, “I have no idea where Stable 28 is, nopony around here does, I only knew you were from a stable because of your barding and the way you acted when those raiders attacked you. As for Cartwheel, I could help you find it. Just remember to stay off the road, raiders are always patrolling that road and will find you if you use it.”

“I can do that. Where’s Cartwheel?” I asked.

“Here, I’ll put a marker on your Pip…..pfssst,” he started to say, though his voice changed with a loud pop and fizzle noise.

“What was that? Are you okay?” I asked. All of a sudden a merry little tune floated out of the bot and it started to fly away. “Hey where are you going?” I asked but didn't get an answer. The little bot just flew away playing the delightful music.

“Shit. Now what do I do?” I said to myself as I sat on the front porch of the broken down cottage.

“I heard something from up there Boss,” came the voices of the raiders again, “I think I can see the roof of a house. Maybe he’s hiding up there.”

“Fuck,” I said as I moved inside the cottage to get out of sight. As the robot bug thing said, there was a small trap door under one of the beds. I lifted it up and moved down into the hole. When I closed the trap door I saw there was a lock on it. I locked it then slowly moved down into the small dark hole.

It wasn’t very deep, the ground was only a couple meters down the ladder. When I got to the bottom, I turned on my Pip-Light and looked around. There was a terminal on a desk in one corner, a bed in the other, and some cans of food and fresh looking water. I ran right over to the shelf and drank one of the bottles ignoring my Pip-Buck as it clicked slightly. At the moment I was so thirsty I didn’t care if it was irradiated or not.

There was a loud noise from above me, it sounded like the door of the shack just got kicked in. Voices soon followed, “Doesn’t look like he’s in here,” Blade said.

“Search it anyway, I want the pony that killed our comrades dead,” the one Blade called Boss said.

“Why do you care so much Boss?” Blade asked.

I heard a hoof hitting flesh. “Because, unlike you, most of my ponies are tough fighters. I want to know how three of them were killed so quickly. They were only a few minutes ahead of us when the shots went off. I don’t know how one pony could get away so fast.”

“Sorry Boss, but it looks like he's long gone. What if he left the road?” Blade asked.

“Nopony would just leave the road in this area, there are bloodwings and other monsters around here. Not many ponies can survive for too long,” the boss pony replied.

“What if it was The Steel Rangers?” Blade asked, sounding terrified.

“No, if it was them we’d know. This was a single pony, he got lucky was all and somehow got the jump on them. I have a feeling he can’t be too far, I’m gonna go rejoin the rest back at the road and continue on toward the camp. I want you to stay here in case he comes back this way. Keep an eye out, and stay off the buck while you do. I can’t have you passing out or going nuts while you’re here. You hear me?” the boss pony replied.

“By myself?” Blade asked.

“YES! I’ll come check on you tomorrow night. I have to make sure things with the slavers go okay tomorrow, I won’t get cheated like last time,” the boss pony explained with anger. I could hear his hoofsteps fading away as he left.

After a few minutes went by I heard Blade mutter, “Do this Blade, don’t take drugs Blade. Why do I always get the shitty jobs?”

Great. Now I’m stuck down here with a crazy raider over the only exit. I hoped they'd just leave when they saw I wasn’t in the shack, but this Boss pony seemed to know I could still be in the area. His ponies aren't too bright, but he seemed to be pretty intelligent himself. I gotta wait him out and hope for the best.

I could hear Blade walking around the shack still muttering to himself, while I waited I made my way over to the terminal on the desk. It seemed to be still in working order, but it was locked. “Well, I got nothing else to do, might as well see if I can crack it,” I said very quietly.

So I went to work. I popped my Pip-Buck’s cord into the terminal. That seemed to help bypass the need for a user name, but it popped up a few different possible passwords. I tried one, but it failed, saying zero of the characters matched. I tried again this time getting two of the five. I tried another and boom I was in.

“That wasn’t too bad,” I said quietly again as a few messages came up on the screen. Curiosity peaked, I clicked on the first one.

Dear Diary,

Talked to Silver Hoof again today when I was in town. He’s such a handsome stallion and so dashing in his military uniform. He asked me if I’d be willing to go on a date with him, I’m so excited. I hope Mother and Father will be okay with it. They’re afraid of this war and Father spends all his time in this bunker thinking it’ll be safe if the zebra’s attack here.

He doesn’t trust ponies from the royal army, but he doesn’t know Silver Hoof like I do. I’ll have to talk to Mother first, I think, and tell her how I feel. She’ll understand I’m sure. Oh my gosh, this is so exciting, I can’t wait for this date. I’ll update this more when I can.

Pink Rose

[Entry Two[

Dear Diary,

I told Mother about Silver Hoof, she seemed to be happy for me, but she told Father right away. He yelled at me and said I’m forbidden to see him. I yelled at them both, then ran down here and locked the hatch. It’s not fair, they can’t tell me what to do, I’m almost an adult. I really like Silver Hoof and I want to go on that date with him. You know what? I’m gonna go anyway. I don’t care what Mother and Father say.

Pink Rose

[Entry Three]

Dear Diary,

Sorry I haven’t written anything in a couple weeks. I went on two dates with Silver Hoof, Mother and Father had no idea at first. He was such a gentlecolt when he took me out. He even told me about some of the things going on in the war. He seemed frightened, and I don’t blame him. His leave time is done soon and he’ll have to go to the frontlines again. We only have a month left together before I have to say goodbye.

I don’t want to say goodbye though. I think I’m falling in love with him...I wonder if I can go with him. I’m a tough filly and in a week I’ll be an adult and I can join the military too. I think I’m going to, if I don’t, I’ll be stuck in this place forever.

Pink Rose

[Entry Four]

Dear Diary,

This will be my last entry, Silver Hoof goes back tomorrow and I’m going with him. Mother and Father found out about Him and I, Father was so angry he screamed at me. I told them I’m grown up now and they can’t stop me from doing what I want. They’re both so angry with me right now. I don’t care though, I’m going to follow my heart, I love my parents very much, but I have to go. I just hope that one day they’ll understand. Goodbye.

Pink Rose

I read the entries and felt a sadness come over me. I felt kinda bad reading this young mare’s diary. She was in love with somepony so much that she left her home and parents behind to be with him. It was sad, and touching at the same time. As I finished up I saw there was an audio file on the terminal too. I downloaded it to my Pip-Buck, intending to listen to it later. I moved away from the terminal and laid down on the bed. I may be trapped down here, but at least for now, I was safe.

I woke from my slumber jumping off of the little cot, I looked around trying to find the sound I just heard. After a moment I realized it must’ve been from the bed over the hatch. Sure enough a few moments later I could hear soft snoring coming from above me.

“Now might be a good time to get out of here,” I said quietly to myself.

Slowly I moved back to the ladder and started to climb, I opened the hatch and peeked out. I could see a hoof hanging over the side of the bed I was under. The pony over me snoring even louder as the hatch popped open. I crawled out from under the bed, stood slowly, then looked back at the sleeping pony.

His body was covered in metal armor, blood coating a good part of it. His mane was dirty brown and he had a green coat, he had a cutie mark of a machete dripping with blood on his flank. He also looked a little sick, his eyes were sunken in, and his cheeks were too. I almost felt bad for him, then I remembered he was a raider. If he woke up he’d kill me first chance he got. Next to him was a long beaten up gun. Remembering what the metal bug told me, I slowly pulled it out from under his hooves. It wasn’t too heavy, and when I checked the mag, it was full.

I remembered a book I read on guns back in the Stable. My Pip-Buck dinged when I picked it up, I looked and saw it was a hunting rifle. I was about to leave with my prize in my magical grip when I heard the snoring stop behind me. I froze, and looked back. The pony was waking up, his eyes slowly opening. I wanted to run, but what if he yelled and the other’s where still nearby.

A plan hit me and slowly I set the rifle down on the other side of the door and started to put on a pouty face. It was a trick I’ve used before when I was younger. My size made it hard for most ponies to judge my age and therefore ponies didn’t put up their guard. Also they thought they were looking for a stallion, not a mare.

He opened his bloodshot eyes more and focused on me, he jumped to his hooves, but the blip on my E.F.S. stayed white. “Who the hell are you?” he asked in surprise.

“Please sir, I’m lost and scared,” I said in a pouty voice.

“Lost? How does a filly get out here all by herself? Listen kid, it’s dangerous around here,” he said, a smile coming to his face as he spoke, not a kind one.

“Can you help me get back home?” I asked.

“How about I show you a new place to call home,” he replied as he reached behind himself to grab his rifle. His face however went grey as he realized it wasn’t there.

As he turned around to look back at me he found a barrel in his muzzle. “Now then, how about you answer a few questions for me,” I said.

“Hey now. A little filly like yourself shouldn’t be playing with toys like that. Give it here,” he said, a hint of fear in his voice.

Using my magic I took my baton and cracked him in the face with it, knocking him to the floor. “I’m no filly. Are you gonna answer me or not?” I asked.

“Damn, you got some balls on you for a mare. Fine. I don’t feel like getting my head blown off today,” he said sitting up.

“How much farther is it to Cartwheel, and how can I get there safely?” I asked keeping the rifle trained on his head.

“That’s easy doll, it’s only a couple hours from here along the main road there. As for a safe way, sorry can’t help you there. The road is the only way into the town from this side,” he replied.

“And why isn’t that a safe way to go?” I asked.

“My friends control the road into town, you can try to sneak around them all, but I don’t think you can do it,” he said laughing.

“Why not?” I asked again.

“We guard everything around our camp. You can’t go anywhere near it without running into one of us, but if you don’t believe me just see for yourself,” he said waving his hoof.

“Fine, I’ll find a way around if I have to. Another question. What did your boss mean by slavers before he left?” I asked, trying to pry a little more info out of him.

His eyes got bigger as he said, “How the hell…doesn’t matter, you’ll be dead soon enough. We trade with some of the slavers that come through our area. We got a few ponies for them this time, they’ll be here in a day or two if they haven’t arrived already. Matter of fact, they’re looking for young unicorn mares like yourself,” he said before he kicked at me knocking the gun aside and dashing out the door saying, “If I were you doll, I’d run before we find ya.”

“Shit, I can’t let him get away,” I said pulling up the rifle and activating S.A.T.S. Time seemed to slow as the targeting spell activated, I aimed for his torso and pulled the trigger. The first bullet missed, the next two hit. He dropped like a stone with a loud cry of pain.

I ran over to him and looked down into his bloodshot eyes. He just laughed at me spraying my coat with frothy blood, managing to say, “You won’t make it you little bitch. Boss will take you as his little trophy before handing you over to the slavers.”

Anger pulsed through me and I put the barrel of the rifle into his muzzle, saying, “He’ll die just like the rest of you should.” His eyes grew wide and I pulled the trigger.