//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3: To New Beginnings 
// Story: Fallout Equestria: Dark Origins 
// by DeadEndtheDullahan 
//------------------------------//

                                                         "You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, 
for this thing that we call 'Failure' is not the falling down, 
but the staying down."



"Crshhh...ood morning Northern ...crsh...land. Uh, I'm your host Diamond Jack and, um,...crshh...sning to Coliseum Radio... yeah...Crhh... hearing some rumors of a Stable dweller demon?...Crsh... rumors are from some Militia ponies, so they ...crshhh... trusted. Uh, anyway, rumors are continuing to come in and I don't ...crshh... to sift through them all. But, uh, out of the ones I read, um, ...crsh... was in common. Um, there was a mare wearing ...crshh... suit, her mane may have been ...crsh... fire, she had a horn, and maybe some wings ...crshhh... thing of nightmares right there. Um, there's other ...very... gory details, but ...crshh... say she's dangerous and ...crshh... encounter her, run. Sooo ...crshh... our morning back on track with a lighter note. Here's Countess ...crsh... with her famous song ...Crshhhh..."

=====***=====

In a daze, I dragged my hooves forward into the endless void. I vaguely remember this expanse of darkness, but I really don't care. In light of what I have done, I should probably find the deepest, darkest corner and quietly die there

After walking for a while, something appeared right next to me and I stopped to look at it. What stood next to me was a solid wooden door with a glossy finish and a relief of a Unicorn knight wielding a bastard sword was carved into it. However, this door was also badly damaged. Cuts and Burns marked every inch of its surface. The face of the Unicorn was completely gouged out. Also, there seemed to be no way to open it. In a way this door resembles me; damaged, broken, and useless. I stared silently at the relief, at the destroyed face of the Unicorn. "I wonder what you did to have your face erased." I whispered. Something then appeared in my peripherals, another door. Shortly after a third door appeared and then a fourth. They were forming a sort of corridor. I took one last glance at the carving before walking towards the new doors.

As I passed each door, I noticed that all the doors were heavily damaged and inaccessible. That is until I came across a perfectly fine simple wooden door attached to a cobblestone wall (the only wall in this weird place). Not only is this door undamaged, but I also recognized it too. This door was my bedroom door in father's cobblestone tower. I reached out and pushed opened the door to reveal my room. Looking around, I could see that the room was exactly how I remembered it, except everything seemed smaller and my wardrobe was destroyed. As I walked about the room I started to feel a bit nostalgic. There was my straw pillow I had beaten the stuffing out of. Then there was my trunk that I had stored my nick-knacks in. And there was my desk... with the makings of a book on it.

I sat down at the desk and levitated the materials to examine them. There were three basic materials; a leather cover, a stack of paper, and a long leather strip to bind them together. Unconsciously, I assembled the book while examining it. 

There was then a knock on the door. "Sola? May I enter?" My sister Luna asked. 

I glanced at the door and back to my book. "Uh..." I quickly snagged the book with my (twelve-year-old) hooves and stuffed it into a drawer. "Come in!" I called back.

Luna opened the door and walked in. Her mane flowed over her midnight-blue coat as if the wind was gently blowing in her hair. It's weird that both my sister's hair would do that randomly, while mine would glow when magic is being used. I think I heard father speculate about genetics or maybe gender. I wasn't really listening. "Little brother, I was hoping we could... Oh my! What happened to your wardrobe?"

"I, uh..." I looked away slightly embarrassed. "Crashed into it."

"Crashed into it?" she looked at me confused.

"Yes, crashed. Now, is that all, or was my furniture your only concern?" I asked back with a playful tone.

Luna snapped out of her confusion. "Oh, yes of course. I wish to talk to you about your quarrel with father." She said on a serious note. 

My eyes narrowed as I turned my attention to one of my nick-knacks (a polished blue crystal) and started to paw at it on my desk. "There's nothing to talk about." 

Luna sighed and got closer to me. "Sola Eclipse, you can not be angry at father forever." She said to me while placing a hoof on my shoulder. "He loves you very much, and he's only doing what's best for you."

My ears perked up at that statement. "What's best for me?" I shrugged off Luna's hoof and faced her standing up. " So it's best for me to be imprisoned behind a barrier for years on end?"

"I suppose not. However, that's because..." 

"Because some unknown evil, who doesn't know that I exist, might take me for their own gain?" I interrupted.

"Little brother?" She tried to get my attention.

"I've been thinking about this for a while, and concluded that the risk of that happening is very low!" I raised my voice. 

"Sola, please calm down. you're going to..." Luna tried to warn me, but I continued my rant.

"Especially if I take certain precautions against..."

Thump!

During my rant, I once again unconsciously flapped my wings and hit my head on my ceiling. I sat on the floor holding my head. I even somehow hit the same place on my head as when I had hit it this morning in the study.

As I hissed in pain while rubbing my ever-growing lump, Luna raised a hoof in concern. "Are you hurt brother?"

"I'm alright." I whined, waving a wing at her. "Nothing I can't handle."

Luna stepped closer. "Are you sure? Perhaps I can fetch something cold, to help with the swelling."

"No, I am completely fine!" I said harshly. "Just... go on your camping trip. Celestia is waiting." I waved my wing at Luna again while turning my back to her. 

"I see." Luna turned and walked to the door. "As you wish, I shall leave you be." Before she completely left, she stopped at the door. "However, I fully expect a proper conversation when I return."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere!" I called back while she closed the door. My sister's hoof steps echoed away from my door. Turning my gaze to the window, I glared at father's barrier outside. If only wasn't there, I could just... My expression went blank as I had an epiphany. 

I sat at my desk and pulled out my newly made leather bound research journal. Bringing out my ink well and quill, I opened it to the first page and wrote the heading to my first research project; "Black Crystals."  I then turned my attention to the polished crystal on my desk and attempted to recreate the bubbly black aura that I did before. 

My eyes closed in concentration and everything went silent. "Why?" My ear twitched to the whisper. "Why?" The voice whispered again. My eyes shot open to find the source of the whisper.

However, I found my self alone in a dimly lit train station. "Hello?" My voice echoed in the empty room.

"Why, Sola Eclipse?" 

Drip, drip, drip...

I hesitantly turned around to see Dead floating there with blood dripping down his face. "Why did you let me die?" I started to back away from him as he was crying blood.

"I..." I stammered.

"Why did you destroy our Stable?" I turned again to see an uncountable mass of Stable-0 residents. All of which were mostly decayed corpses.

"I didn't..." Backing away again, I slipped on something slick and landed on my rump. Recognizing what I slipped in, my eyes followed the trail of pooling blood.

The young buck stood behind me with his chest cavity blown out. "Why did you kill me?" 

"I-I was only..." I stumbled away as I choked on my own words.

"Why?" They all chorused together. My eyes darted around for an exit, but they surrounded me. "Why?" The room got darker as they got closer without moving a hoof. "Why?" 

I curled into a ball screaming as everything went pitch black.

=====***=====

I inhaled sharply as I was startled awake. Groaning, I turned over and pulled the covers closer. Mmm... so warm. 

Then there were some loud banging. Groaning again, my eyes groggily opened. I saw a white mare with electric-blue hair and shaded glass covering her eyes smiling at me. Then I straightened up my head and saw the whole picture. It was actually a framed advertisement for a limited edition of Sparkle-Cola; Sparkle- Cola Beet. It depicted the mare using a musical apparatus with musical notes flying through the air. It also had a caption, "Be the life of the party, with a Beet!"

More loud banging came through a bead curtain on the opposite wall. "Hey Wild Herb." a gruff raspy stallion spoke up, "You know hitting that radio won't fix the signal, right?"

A young sounding mare giggled in response. "Yeah, I know Doc. But it doesn't make it any less enjoyable." She banged the radio again.

I sat up and looked around the room in confusion. "Where am I?" I whispered to myself. I was in a shack made of sheet metal pieced together with wood. I certainly don't remember walking into this sort of place. However, that's no surprise, the question is what do I remember? "Well, I remember the Militia's brutality, Dead's awesome lighting spell, and..." The sight of Dead being shot flashed Through my mind. "Dead..."  My eyes widened and wetted in realization. "Dead is gone... And I...I..." The image of the young buck I killed popped into my head and lingered. My hoof slapped to my mouth as I dry heaved into it. " I'm sorry... I'm so sorry." I apologized, breathing heavily with tears budding in my eyes.

Then the beads on the certain clacked together. "I knew I heard talking." There was a young earth pony mare standing in the doorway, Wild Herb I presume. Her coat was pink with yellow splotches all over and her mane was a baby blue. "Hey, Doc! He's awake!" She then quickly glanced at me. "And he looks like he's gonna hurl!"

"Will you stop yelling. I'm right here." The gruff, raspy stallion (Doc, I guess) said, calmly walking into the room. However, when I saw him I immediately froze. Doc wore a flat wide rimmed hat and a thin bow tie. And, more obviously, he looked like a walking preserved corpse! With a horn, so he's also a Unicorn. He was saying something, but my attention was too distracted by his sunken in the nose and bloodshot eyes.

What snapped me out of it was Wild Herb waving her hoof in front of my eyes. I slowly looked at her, still not blinking. "W-wh-wha-what is..." I studdered. 

"First time seeing a Ghoul, huh?" Wild Herb said giving me a happy-go-lucky smile. 

I Glanced at Doc and back to Wild Herb confused. "Ghoul?" The question held little to no fear in it. Only curiosity could be heard. I know Doc looks like a walking corpse, but if what he is has a name, then that's what he's supposed to look like. My mental reasoning calmed me down.

Wild Herb saw the results as well and smiled wider. "Yes, a Ghoul. A Ghoul is... um..." Her face scrunched in thought, trying to find the right words. She then turned to the Ghoul. "Doc, a little help." 

Doc huffed, mildly irritated that he had to explain what he was. " A Ghoul is an individual, like myself, who were lucky enough to survive the Mega-spell blasts over two hundred years ago. However, who was also unlucky enough to survive a massive dose of magical radiation."

"Oh, come on Doc." Wild Herb nudged Doc's shoulder with a hoof. "Don't be such a downer. Not many ponies can claim that they lived for over two hundred and fifty years." She smiled innocently. 

Doc grumbled back. "I didn't say that there weren't any perks. But by all rights, I should've died a long time ago." 

Wild Herb giggled. "You're tellin me! You old coot!" She smiled playfully. Doc gave her a tired glare in return. 

I stared at them both during the whole exchange, a little lost. So, being a Ghoul is a condition, not his race? And why does he consider it unlucky, if he has a longer lifespan? As I looked at Doc again, I cringed. Then again, if I had to live a long life looking like a corpse, I'd consider myself unlucky too. 

Doc then huffed at the young mare. "Why don't you go tell the mayor that our friend's awake. I need to ask him a few questions first." 

Wild Herb pouted at the request. " Awe! I wanted to stay and watch." Doc just stared at her. "Fine!" She growled foalishly, "I needed to see if big sis is back anyway." 

Both Doc and I watched her leave in a fit while slamming what I assumed to be the front door. "Well then," Doc grumbled and turned to me. "Let's just get the introductions out of the way, so I can ask my questions." He lifted a hoof to his chest. "I am Doctor Holiday Special, the proprietor of this clinic. That," He motioned to the door, "was Miss Wild Herb, the... local Apothecary if you will. Now." A red magical aura covered his horn and a nearby clipboard as he levitated it to himself, producing a writing utensil. "What is your name?"

I removed some blankets and sat upright facing him. "My name is Sola Eclipse. A pleasure to meet you Doctor Holiday Special." I said while curtly nodding my head.

The doctor looked at me a little surprised, then started to write on a sheet of paper attached to the clipboard. "A pony with manners, that's rare nowadays. And please call me Doc." I nodded once more as he finished writing. "Tell me, how old are you?"

"Uh..." My face scrunched up in thought for a moment. Then I looked him in the eye. "I don't know." 

Doc calmly looks at me and then scribbled something down. "I'll just say you're in your twenties. Next, do you have any allergies or Medical conditions I should know about?" 

I started to become slightly confused. "I don't think so." 

He continued to scribble. "Okay. And I'll just skip the family history portion. Unless you have a history of getting shot?" Doc cracked a smile, clearly a joke.

I didn't return it. "Not likely. May I ask, what is this for?"

"This?" Doc held up the clipboard, "This is a medical file. I do one for all of my patients." He then focused his telekinesis on a stack of framed pictures. "You never know when certain medical histories and treatments will come in handy. Now, I'm going to show you some pictures and I want your honest answer." Holding up the first in the stack. "What do you see?" 

I scrutinized the symmetrical black splotch for a moment before answering. "I see a three-headed roach." 

Doc sat the picture down and showed the next one. "Good. How about this one?"

I eagerly analyzed the picture. This is a fun game. "I see a small pony in the shadow of a larger one."

He flipped to the next one. "Interesting, and this one?"

Happily looking at the picture, I scrutinized once more, but then I frowned and averted my eyes. "An exploding butterfly."

Seeing my reaction, Doc quickly put the picture down. "I see... I have one more Mr. Eclipse and I'll let you go." He held up the last picture. "What do you see?" 

Reluctantly, I looked at it. "Um... Two bears high-fiving." I gave the first answer that popped into my head. No longer interested in this game.

Doc then frowned, writing on the Medical file. "Hmm... I didn't expect that."

"Why? did I give a wrong answer?" I asked quizzically.

He shook his head. "No, not at all. I was just expecting different answers, Because of what I saw in your bags." Doc pointed at my saddlebags in the corner of the room. I looked at him in confusion. "I know." He continued. "I had no right. However, Wild Herb is a curious girl and she couldn't help herself." With his red aura enveloped on all the pictures and his clipboard, he turned to the door. "Please excuse me, I need to go file this away."

I watched Doc leave the room, still confused. What would be in my saddlebags that would have him expect certain answers? I got off the bed and walked to my bags. Upon looking at them, I noticed that one bag was bulging more than it should. I unfastened and opened it up.

My body froze, spine shivered, and jaw quivered. My vision became blurred with tears at the sight of who I found inside.

=====***=====

"I have so many questions right now. I don't even where to start."

"..."

"Maybe, was it hard to learn that spell?"

"..."

"Or perhaps, I should ask if you could teach me that spell?"

"..."

"Oh! I know what to ask. How did you survive a bullet through the brain?"

"..."

"Dead?" I stopped in the middle of a busy market area to look at the (surprisingly silent) Dullahan in my bag. After leaving the clinic, I found myself wandering this settlement named Bellmouth. I seemed to be located within an incomplete underground train platform. Despite the recent attack by the Militia, all the residents were all happy and enjoying what they have. Some ponies cried out that they were opened for business while I heard some others laughing to a joke. It was peaceful in the middle of chaos.

I poked Dead with a hoof. "Hey Dead, are you alright? You wouldn't stop talking ever since I found you, and now you're silent? What's wrong?" Dead remained quite. Slightly annoyed at being ignored, I picked him up in my hooves and shook him. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" His eyes were rolled back in his head and his tongue plopped out. Is he playing... Dead? Argh! Now he's acting out his puns. This just irritated me more.

However, at that moment I noticed a bunch of ponies staring at me. When I looked back at them they all looked away quickly, continuing their business as if they have seen nothing. My cheeks burned as I quickly put Dead back in the bag and trotted away from everypony's sight. 

Once I found a secluded corner I ducked into it, hiding from the weird stares. I sat there embarrassed that all those ponies saw me talking to, and shaking around, what looked like a severed head. Suddenly, I heard snickering. I quickly glanced around to see nopony there. "haha, they all think you're crazy." My eyes narrowed as I looked at my bag. It was quivering from Dead's laughter. Jabbing a hoof, I wacked Dead a good one. "Ow!" He exclaimed. A blue aura opened the bag's flap to reveal the Dullahan wincing in pain. "What did I do?"

I huffed at him, "Why were you acting like a lifeless, severed head?"

"Really?" Dead looked at me as if I should know. "How did you first react when you first saw me?" ( … He's got a good point.) Then he smiled at me. "Plus, it's friggen hilarious to watch you squirm when everypony thinks you're a psychopath." I jabbed my hoof once more, into Dead's face. "Ow! That got me in the teeth!" Dead griped while checking his teeth with his tongue. "I think you loosened one."

"Now, how did you survive a bullet to the skull?" I interrogated. 

Dead continued to lick his teeth. "You need to work on your anger issues." I glared in response. "To answer your question; Dullahans can't die by physical means."

"Really?" I said, disbelieving. "If your going to spout nonsense, at least make it believable." I broke away my glare to make sure nopony was seeing me having a conversation with a talking head. There was one pony, but after coming down the stairs I was hiding under, she walked off in a different direction of me. Didn't even notice me.

"What? You want proof? fine." I looked back at Dead in time to see him pop his tooth out with a sickening snap. With a click on the ground, he spat out a blood-covered tooth.

"What the...!" I blurted out startled.

Dead turned to me, licking the blood off his lips. "Let me give you a scenario." As he talked, the blood on the tooth dissipated into smoke and returned to Dead. "Let's say somepony blasted my  face off with a shotgun." The tooth then started to disintegrate into smoke as well. "As long as those little bits of me don't get completely destroyed by destruction magic. I can reassemble myself as many times as I need." He smiled, showing off the tooth reforming in his mouth.

I gawked at the sight. That's amazing, but then... "That means your body was destroyed by a fire spell of sorts." Dead's expression was instantly replaced by sadness as he blankly stared at nothing. (Crap, I mentioned his body without thinking.) I cautiously watched Dead for any signs of crazy outbursts. 

"Perhaps." He said sullenly. "It would take a Unicorn, talented in fire magic, or maybe a weapon imbued with a fire talisman... or something." He continued to stare off into the distance.

"Hmmm..." I racked my brain for a way to make Dead feel better. When nothing came up, I looked through my Pip-Buck for some inspiration. The Stat screen showed me an animated, stubby looking, Alicorn. I guess this was supposed to represent me, and it said I'm healthy... neat. Changing the screen, there was an Inventory page which listed everything I have alphabetically. Fairly organized and very nifty. I continued on to the Data screen where it showed my missions. Apparently, the mission 'Wakeup Call' was completed sometime when I was asleep. However, after Doc directed me to talk to the mayor, a new mission appeared. It was called 'The Welcoming Committee: Go talk to the Mayor of Bellmouth.'

"Hmmm..." After I read the mission details, I looked at Dead. His attention was now on the snub-nosed revolver. He spun the cylinder with his telekinesis with the same sullen look. It looked like he was going to shoot himself, which we both know that that would do nothing but draw attention. "Say, Dead," I said quickly before he did anything drastic. "Perhaps we could ask the mayor if he knows anything pertaining to the Militia that went to the recycling facility. Maybe, get a lead or something." Some life returned to his eyes. I could nearly see the gears turning in his head as he thought of my proposal. 

Finally, after a minute of thinking, Dead gave me a slight smile. "I'd like that." He said with renewed gusto. "I'd really like that."

"Well, then it's settled." I grabbed the gun out of his magical grasp and stowed it away. "Let's go talk to the mayor." Standing up, I checked if the coast was clear once more.

"As long as you're good talking to a stranger. I'm ready."

My eyes widened in anxiousness as I realized what he said. "Oh, right. I sure hope I don't say anything that will offend." I shook my head in an attempt to dislodge the fear. It kind of worked. "Everything will be fine. The worst he'll say is 'no.'" I smiled with confidence as I headed up the stairs. 

"Or maybe, in this case, the worst he'll say is 'yes.'" Dead chuckled. 

My smile disappeared, confidence destroyed.

=====***=====

I followed my mission marker and finally found where the mayor wants.  Apparently, he took up residence in the restrooms near the entrance of the settlement.  At the entrance, there were teams of ponies sorting through a pile of weaponry and equipment.  I noticed quite a few militia uniforms amongst the loot. "I wonder, what do they do with the bodies?" It wouldn't seem right to just leave them out there to rot.

"No idea," Dead answered my undirected question. "Perhaps they burn them." 

My eyes shot at him in shock. "Burn them?!" 

Dead answered back calmly. "Yeah, it's what I would've done. If it's good enough for a king, it's plenty enough for them." he then motioned towards the Mayor's home. "Now, can we get this over with?"

Nervously, I approached the mayor's door. I took a deep breath and was about to knock. However, the sound of a raised voice caught my ear. "What do mean, 'you haven't heard from her?!'" Wild herb yelled, "You got a Ham radio. you could call her from across the Northern Wasteland!"

"Aye, I could." Replied a stallion with a guttural-ish accent. "That's if the signal wasn't total shite." Bucks-a-plenty I assumed.

"Well, send somepony to fix it!" She ordered, stomping a hoof.

Another hoof stomped in response. "Now listen here lassie, I just lost half me fightin' force protectin' your sorry ars. An' I'm not about to send anypony, to the police station of all places, to jumpstart some transceiver that is not even crucial to our survival right now!" Bucks-a-plenty stomped once again even louder. "So unless you 'av any other business with me, I suggest you go tend to your shop. I'll let you know when I hear from your sister."

Wild Herb growled in response and started to stomp her hooves. the door swung open harshly, nearly hitting me as she stomped past me, thoroughly angry. "I do not envy anypony getting in her way." Dead whispered to me. 

"Yeah..." I agreed. The expression on her face somehow made me uneasy.

"Ah! If it isn't the boy Alicorn! Our savior!" Bucks-a-plenty happily voiced aloud. I looked inside and saw a dirty blue pony waving me forward. "C'mon in! I've been waitin' for ya." 

Walking in, I closed the door behind me. Inside didn't resemble a restroom in the slightest. It looked very personalized with furnishings and trophies of what he hunted. There was taxidermy of some sort of deformed ball of fur with wings, a head of a large ghoulish canine, and another taxidermy of a large wooly bovine with one of two horns sliced clean off. The stuffed bovine stood two feet over me as I got a closer look (which was impressive considering I'm roughly a foot taller than most ponies). "Impressive. This one looks like it was a tough fight." It looked so lifelike. Almost as if it could impale me at any moment. 

"aye, he was. Still is too."

huh? "Still?" I asked, looking at Bucks-a-plenty in confusion.

Suddenly, hot steaming breath blew down my neck and I jumped away from the (apparently alive) bovine, surprised. 

Bucks-a-plenty laughed at my reaction. "Bloody-hell, that was hilarious! Makes me wish I had a working camera." He went to stand next to the bovine. "Don't be afraid of ol' Brute here. This here is one of the most friendly Yaks you could find. Which it really isn't sayin' much." Brute snorted menacingly in my direction.

I took a cautious step back. "Uh... Mr. Bucks-a-plenty?"

"Please, call me Bucky." He requested curtly.

"Bucky." I corrected myself, "Why does he look like he wants to rip my throat out?" For some reason, the phrase 'if looks could kill' came to mind. Although, I don't remember where I learned it.

Bucky looked between his friend and I. "Maybe he feels threatened by those." He motioned towards my wings. "I can't blame 'em, really. They are somethin. I'm jealous." 

I looked at my wings and saw what he meant. My wings must have reflexively fanned themselves out when I got surprised. Almost like how some animals would make themselves look bigger and tougher to scare off predators. (Did I just compare myself to an animal?) I shook my head to focus myself on my wings, trying to get to my side. "Sorry," I grunted as I used a hoof to bend a wing. "Sometimes these things have a mind of their own."

"S'alright. Brute didn't mean to give ya the Death Glare, did ya Brute." Bucks-a-plenty then nudged him to apologize. Brute grumbled in response. "Brute?" He nudged again with a commanding tone.

Brute looked at him, snorted in his face, and walked to a large cushion on the floor. Then proceeded to lay down on it. 

"Thanks, buddy." Bucks-a-plenty said sarcastically while wiping off his face. "Please, come inside my office." He walked around a table in the center of the room and sat down. "I'm sure ya have plenty of questions, but let me first welcome ya to me settlement." Bucks-a-plenty then cleared his throat and smiled. "welcome to Bellmouth. Home of the Four Runners and the Merchant Guild." He put a hoof to his chest, visibly proud of his welcome speech. 

I remember the four runners, but... "What's a Merchant Guild?" I asked the proud stallion.

Bucks-a-plenty's eyes lit up in excitement. "I am glad ya asked. The Merchant Guild is where all the local gangs get together under one banner to establish comradery and free trade. Basically, I'm tryin' to get these ponies unlabeled as Raiders. So settlements, like Colosseum City, will see us as safe and open up commerce."

I nodded my head as I tried to follow the explanation. "What's a Raider?" I asked my next curiosity. 

Bucks-a-plenty looked at me in confusion. "You really don't know? What rock were you hidin' under?"

"Actually, I wasn't hiding and it was really a recycling facility." I clarified. 

Bucks-a-plenty blinked at me disbelieving. "Okay." He said in acceptance of my answer. "Well, a Raider is somepony who murders, rapes, and steals for pleasure, or survival. The ponies of Bellmouth are all ex-Raiders. Meanin', they all don't want to survive that way. However, other settlements still see us as scumbag Raiders, so survivin without trade is gettin' hard." He then flicked at some figurines on the table. "And then there's those damned Militia, huntin' us down like dogs."

I looked at the little figurine he had flicked. It was a wooden toy soldier placed on a map of the local area, which was tattered. Perhaps the toy represented the Militia, and judging by the map, they were hulled up in a nearby winery to the Northeast. My Pip-Buck a small beep and the words 'New location marked on the map' appeared at the top of my vision. I glanced at the words and back at the map. Maybe the squad that destroyed Dead's body haled from there. However, it's not enough to risk a venture to unfriendly territory. "So..." I continued, "Are the Militia considered to be Raiders as well?"

"Bha!" Bucks-a-plenty scoffed, "If that were true, I wouldn't have a bounty on me head and me goals would be realized." He stood up and pointed at the Militia figurines. "Those bastards are mercenaries, sanctioned by all the settlements in the Northern wastes as an army for the people." He then slams a hoof on the table, causing all the figurines to topple over. "But what the people don't know is that they horde supplies, torture anypony who they see as an enemy, and kill anypony that would threaten their power over the wastes. If ya ask me, They're worse than Raiders." He ended with a huff.

"But, you said Raiders murder, rape, and steal. How can the Militia be any more worse?" I inquired.

"Well, not only do they do whatever the hell they want. They are also militaristically organized. Where Raiders got simple gunners and brawlers, the Militia has actual trained marksmen and soldiers." Bucks-a-plenty spat on the ground as if talking about the Militia was leaving a bad taste in his mouth. "Listen to me, talkin' your ear off." He smiled warmly, "I'd like to know more about ya. Ya said ya from a recyclin' place?" He asked, shifting the conversation to me. 

I anxiously shifted my weight at the sudden question. "Um, yes It's a Stable-Tec recycling facility just south of here." 

His eyes widened. "South!? Ya came through that wall-o-wind without heavy equipment!? Either the Goddesses are lookin' out for ya, or Alicorns are pretty amazin'." Goddesses? So there are deities in this land. I opened my mouth to ask, but Bucks-a-plenty continued on. "And Stable-Tec recyclin' sounds familiar. I think I heard some ghost stories bout the place." 

"Ghost stories?" I asked, forgetting what I was going to ask.

"Yeah, somethin' bout singin' in the halls and an unknown monster decoratin' the place with bodies of trespassers. But seein' that ya came from there, those stories must have been complete rubbish." he scoffed. (Oh, how wrong he is.) "Although, I always thought the place was somewhere in the west end of the Northern Wastes. Anyway, judging by the looks of ya, you're a Stable  Dweller. Did ya leave on a supply run, or were ya exiled? Either way, we at Bellmouth can accommodate ya."

"Actually," I said looking down at my hooves, "I left in search of a unicorn possessed by an evil spirit. He stole my memories and ran north to the Crystal Empire. And because of me... the Stable..." An image of the dead Stable Dwellers came to the forefront of my mind. I could feel tears about to flow, but Bucks-a-plenty placed a comforting hoof on my shoulder. 

"Don't say anymore, lad. I understand. It's the reason why I stopped bein' a raider." I sniffed and nodded. "It makes me sad to know a whole Stable of good folk are gone."

"Well..." I lifted my head with my sadness controlled. "Not the whole Stable is gone. About two hundred people are still alive in stasis.

Buck-a-plenty looked at me in surprise. "Two hundred? I guess there's still hope yet." He smiled.

I nodded, "Indeed, I also want to find a safe place for them to live." I said positively.

Bucks-a-plenty gave me an unsure look. "Not sure if that's even possible, boy'o. The wasteland out there has a lot more than just Raiders and Militia givin' us troubles"

Discouraged now, Like what?" I asked. 

"Well, there's things like radiation, mutated creatures, and..." There was then a knock on the door. "Yes!?" He yelled out.

"Hey boss, I have all the reports you asked for." A mare called back.

"Shite." Bucks-a-plenty muttered under his breath, "Sorry we had to cut this short, but the duties of being mayor are catchin' up to me. Why don't you head down to Tinker in the Armory, she knows your coming. Come in!" He yelled. The mare came inside with her pink mane standing as spikes on her head and a holo-tape in her mouth. 

"But I still had some questions." I protested.

"Ay, me too lad, but it'll have to be saved for next time. I'll see ya later... uh... Ya know, I didn't catch ya name."

"It's Sola Eclipse."

"Right, See ya around Sola." He said as he guided me out of his home, closing the door behind me.

"How rude." Dead said, peeking out of the bag. 

"Well, he is busy." I excused. "Not much we could have done."

"You forgot to ask him, by the way." Dead pointedly accused. 

"Well, I was about to." I deflected while lifting my Pip-Buck to him. "At least we now have the location of the nearest Militia outpost." I smiled at Dead, showing him the map.

"Hmm..." He considered the consolation. "I guess that's something. If they are as organized as Bucky mentioned, then maybe they would keep a record of some sorts. Let's go there next." Dead happily ordered.

My body stiffened at the thought. "How about we hold off on that. At least, until we have a plan."

"What!?" Dead objected. "I got a plan. It's called: Go in there, take what I want, and leave nothing standing."

"And get me killed." I added bluntly.

Dead scoffed, "pfft, you won't die, you're the main protagonist." He reasoned.

I stopped and looked at him confused, "What?"

Dead looked back at me in defeat. "Fine, I suppose you're right. You need to level up more anyway." He moved around in the bag, getting comfortable. 

I opened my mouth to say something, but I just shrugged and continued downstairs. Accepting the fact that Dead is weird. 

=====***=====

A bell chimed as I walked into the Armory. Which was a shop housed inside an old maintenance room next to the unfinished tunnel. The Armory was a single cluttered room with metal boxes and weapons lining the walls. A couple of workbenches and an extremely dirty bed occupied the far end of the room, but most noticeably there was a frame of some sort of armor being held suspended by a mechanical winch. 

"Hey!" A mare called welcomingly from under the frame. "I'll be right with you, just need to detach this one bolt." She shuffled around some tools. 

At the moment, all I could see of her was a pair of sea-green rear hooves sticking out of barding that covered her body. The sturdy looking clothing (obviously made for this kind of work) accentuated her hips and complimented her short aqua-marine tail.

"Ah, crap. Hey you, can you be a dear and get me that wrench on the counter there?"

"Huh? Wrench?" I broke away from my staring and found the tool. I used my telekinesis to lift it behind the armor.

"Oh! Hey, is that magic?" She asked while I felt the tool leave my magical grasp. Seconds later, the right foreleg of the armor was detached and the mare dragged it with her as she stood up. My eyes widened in surprise as I didn't expect what the rest of her looked like. A sea-green wing wiped some dirt off her for forehead as she released the armor's leg from her talons onto the counter, and she gave me a pleasant smile with her petite beak. "Thanks for the assist." She then raised a talon for a hoof shake. "My name's Bella, people call me Tinker. Mostly because of my profession." 

Blinking, I raised my hoof to meet her talon. "I'm Sola Ecli-iii-pse" I stuttered as she shook my leg vigorously.

"You must be the guy who helped us with those Militia assholes. I have to say, that was some awesome magic out there. The smoke thing that shot lighting and that chest explosion you did. Oh man, epic!"

"Y-y-ou s-s-aw th-that?" I tried to say through the shaking.

"Yeah! I saw the whole thing through a hole in the gate. Which reminds me." Tinker turned to her workbench moving stuff around. While she was searching, I tried to physically stop my leg from shaking, even though she had already let go of it. By the time I finally got my hoof on stable ground, Tinker turned back to me with something in her grasp. " I believe you dropped this." She held up my Ten Millimeter Pistol to me. However, there were some additions to it. I took it from her and examined it. It felt heavier, yet balanced. The barrel was longer, so was the magazine, and there was a red dot sight. "It's a beautiful gun. I couldn't help myself, but to sup it up for you. Free of charge, of course."

My eyes shot back to her. "Uh... Thank you miss Tinker, but I can't accept this gift for nothing in return." I said while I floated it back to her. 

Tinker just pushed it back to me. "It's just Tinker, and you have already saved my home. Just think this as a reward for a job well done." She offered.

"Very well then." I nodded and holstered the weapon. "Now, I have a question. Are you a Hippogriff?" I asked, honestly curious. 

Tinker at first blinked at the question, then she smiled jokingly. "Why, yes. What gave me away? the beak and feathers, or the horses' ass?" She asked sarcastically, While she wiggled her rear.

After a second, I shook my head and blushed as I caught myself staring again. "It was just, I thought Hippogriffs were extinct." I explained.

"Extinct?" Tinker repeated, tapping a talon to her beak in thought. "I suppose my tribe's historian did say that we used that as a tactic in the great Griffon war." her forehead then scrunched in confusion. "But that was over a thousand years ago, and not well known at that. How did you..."

All of a sudden, the bell chimed hard as Doc barged in with a worried look about him. "Bella!" He called out with his gargled voice. "Is Wild Herb here?" Worriedness was evident in his question.

"Well, she did drop by to refill on ammo, but she's not here now. What's the matter? Why the long face?" She quietly snickered at her own joke. (Snickering also came from my bag, and I nonchalantly bumped it in a table as I repositioned myself.) 

Doc sternly looked at the hippogriff. "I can't find her anywhere." He said unamused.

Tinker shrugged, "She's probably just scavenging more supplies for her shop."

"When a radiation storm is about to stroll through the area?" Doc challenged.

Tinker started to look worried. "Oh, I see your point."

I looked between them confused. "Radiation storm?" I asked. Tinker just looked at me as if she was asking 'what rock were you living under?'

Doc, with his gargled voice, answered my question. "A magical radiation storm is a weather phenomenon that's been plaguing the northern wastes ever since the Megaspells went off. Being caught in one will give you minor radiation. Which isn't dangerous, as long as you get some Rad-away in you."

"But Wild Herb knows that we're low on Rad-away. She wouldn't just go out there and cost us supplies like that." Tinker pointed out.

Doc turned back to her. "If she's not in the settlement, then she's outside." He put a hoof to his chin in thought. "Now the question is, why? And, Where did she go to?"

"Hmm..." I too put a hoof to my chin in thought. "Well, the last I saw of her was when she stormed off after an argument with Bucks-a-Plenty."

"Argument?" Doc inquired, "Of what?"

I looked at both of them as they looked to me for an answer. I continued my thought aloud. "At the time, Wild Herb was upset that Bucks-a-Plenty wouldn't send anypony to fix the transceiver in the police station." Both of their faces instantly showed shock as I said 'police station.'

Doc then faced Tinker. "Bella, I need to barrow your best gun with ammo." He said urgently.

Tinker planted a firm rear hoof on the ground. "Aw-hell no! You're not going on that suicide run. Radiation might not bother you, but those monsters out there will tear you apart. I'll go, I have more combat experience."

Doc also planted a hoof. "No way! Your combat experience is with aerial combat. And in a rad storm, the higher you go the more rads there are. You said so yourself, we're low on supplies and your style of combat will cost us more. At least I'm immune." 

I looked between the two as they argued back an forth. Until I felt a nudge from my bag. Dead was peaking out of the bag and he motioned for me to offer my services. I glanced to them and back to Dead with a concerned look. He mouthed the words, "You'll be fine, do it." I sighed and faced the two arguing.

"Besides, if you go and get killed, the Armory will most likely be looted and everything will be in chaos as ponies fight over the weapons." Doc argued with what seems like the worst case scenario.

"Ahem..." I tried to interject. 

"Oh yeah? Well, if you go an die, then Bellmouth will be ultimately killed because our only doctor will be gone." Tinker matched his worst case scenario with her own.

"I'll go!" I yelled to get myself heard. Both of them were silent as I continued on. "I'm the most logical choice. I have my own Rad-away and if I were not to come back, this settlement will survive." 

Doc once again put his hoof to his chin as he thought aloud. "I suppose he did save us from the Militia. So combat experience won't be an issue." I frowned as he gave me credit that I didn't deserve.

Tinker nodded, "Yeah, I saw it myself. He's amazing!"

"So it's agreed then." Doc said putting down his hoof and walking out the door. "Although, I saw your supplies. It's not much, but I'll give you some of my personal stash, as payment." 

After he left, Tinker looked me up and down. "What?" I asked.

She then walked up into my face giving me a weird look. "I need you to take off your clothes."

I just looked at her wide-eyed.

=====***=====

My Pip-Buck clicked furiously as I walked through the destroyed suburbs to the police station. A needle was jumping back and forth in the green section of Rad-counter. I shook it, annoyed. My new armor attached to my Stable-0 barding flapped around with it. "Why did they had to make this thing so annoying."

Dead made another loop around my head. "Well, that's because if they didn't, ponies would ignore the dangers that radiation possesses." He said while going higher, closer to the storm clouds, where the radiation is the highest.

"And why are you ignoring those said dangers?" I pointed out his hypocrisy.

Dead then chuckled. "Because, radiation is the aftermath of (usually) destructive super magic, like mega spells. Which isn't really destructive in itself, so I'll be fiiine… Eep!" At that moment, lightning struck a metal rod sticking out of the building next to him. The radiation then spiked for a split second. Dead immediately retreated back into my bag with a trail of smoke following him.

I chuckled at his reaction. "What was that about it not affecting you?" I asked chuckling more.

"Shut-up!" Dead growled, "I said, I'll be fine with radiation, but magic filled lighting is a different story." He said scowling at me from the bag.

"Oh, yeah." I stopped for a second as his words reminded me of a question I wanted to ask. "How did you learn that cool spell? Chain lightning, was it?"

Dead narrowed his eyes at me. "A good teacher and hard work. Why?" He questioned.

"Well, I wanted to learn it." I said looking into a destroyed storefront.

"Again, why?" Dead repeated. "You already know that chest explosion spell. With some practice, you could kill even the toughest of enemies with that one." My smile disappeared as I was reminded of that spells killing power. My pace also noticeably slowed to a crawl. Dead scoffed, "Ha! You wanted to learn a spell that could incapacitate instead of kill?" He laughed aloud. "Sure. Why not? I could teach ya, but I can't say if you can learn it though."

I cocked my head toward him. " I might not be able to learn it? Why?"

"Well." Dead cleared his throat and straightened up (The best he could anyway) to ready himself for a lecture. "Ya see, all ponies have a special talent and magic users can learn spells related to that talent the best. For instance; if you had the talent for baking. You could probably learn a heat spell to bake without an oven, or maybe have an increased skill in telekinesis to mix the ingredients more efficiently. (Oh great, now I'm hungry for cheesecake)." He shook his head to recollect his thoughts. "Anyway, your talent basically determines what spells you can master, and all other spells will be that more difficult to learn." 

I looked at him confused. "Soo... Can I learn the spell or not?" I asked, interrupting his lecture. 

Dead huffed at my question. "What's your talent?" He countered.

My expression turned sour as I was reminded of my memory loss. "I don't know." I said putting my eyes on my E.F.S. My eyes followed a new marker as I was passing it, and as I did, my Pip-Buck notified me that I found Quibbles Comic. In the window was a fairly weathered poster of something called 'Power Ponies.' (Hmm, I'll have to check that out sometime.)

"Oh, right." Dead continued talk, "I guess we'll just have to use a trial and error style of teaching. Maybe your cutie mark can tell us some...thing." He trailed off. "Hey, when did we get an entourage of Ghouls?"

Entourage? I stopped to see what he was talking about, and there were a small group of Ghouls following us. I waved at them. "Hello! Can I help you?"

All of them stopped and stared at me. They then gave an unnatural wail as red marks appeared on my E.F.S.

=====***=====

I quickly opened the double doors of the police station and closed them behind me. With a nearby sofa, I barricaded the door shut. Falling to the ground out of breath, I fought to slow my racing heart.

"Sooo… Why did we run?" Dead asked while he floated around the reception area searching through all sorts of stuff.

"That's... huff... because... puff... They tried to eat me!" I said both out of breath and hysterical. 

Dead floated back to me and poked my fresh bite wound on my rump. I hissed in pain. " I can see that, but what I meant was, Why didn't we just kill them?"

There was then a bang on the doors as the group of Feral Ghouls caught up to us. "That's because... their ponies," I said, unsure of my own words.

"Ha!" Dead balked as he dug out a healing potion for me. "I looked into the eyes of the one that bit your ass. That is no longer a pony. More like a zombie now." He gave me the bottle and I gladly drank it all.

While my wound sealed itself, I looked at the door where the Ghouls were banging and sighed. "I suppose you're right." I then stood up, " However, It doesn't mean I have to kill them." Dead followed me as I pushed through another set of double doors deeper into the precinct.

Inside was a big open area filled with desks. Some of the ceiling had collapsed in the center of the room, which had left piles of debris completely covering some desks. Dead floated up to the hole in the ceiling and whistled. "There's some pretty neat stuff. Must be the evidence locker." He said as he went up inside.

"Why do you say that?" I asked while I looked over a corkboard. All the pictures on it were worn away or destroyed. Only one name was left on it, King Pin.

"I doubt a room filled with weaponry, narcotics, and Zebra paraphernalia, in the middle of a police station, is anything but an evidence locker." Dead reasoned logically.

After a minute of searching desks, I found a bottle of Zap Apple Brandy (strangely, it looked like a bottled rainbow) and a bunch of trash (mostly just bottle caps and bobby pins). As I put the brandy in my bag, Dead returned with a Holo-tape in his mouth. "Eh, check it out." He landed on my back to fish out the Holo-tape recorder. "Maybe it has something cool on it."

Dead clicked in the tape and pressed play. "This is Detective Brass Tacks. Here as witness to a testimony of one Switchblade, Member of the group Tunnel Snakes." A tired-sounding Stallion was talking close to the recording device.

Then there was a bang on a table. "Eh! We're a gang, not some fucking book club!" Switchblade, a nasally Stallion, spoke up.

"My apologies." Brass Tacks said, not in the least apologetic. "Why don't you go ahead and tell me about your boss and operations."

"Hey, I just wanted the record set straight, Tunnel Snakes rule!" Switchblade then cleared his throat. "It all started about a year ago. When the boss had gotten a weird letter with a strange package. The letter promised us a serious amount of bits if we delivered the package discreetly. We all thought, 'Why not,' some serious coinage just to play mailpony seemed like easy bits."

"But, then the situation went south." Brass Tacks interjected. 

"Yeah, well, for a few months we had dropped the shit off without a hitch. But then Jimmy got curious." Switchblade paused in reflection. "Poor ice-cream lovin' bastard." I could hear him drink something before he continued. "Hey, are you sure this place is secure? I did hear some cops were workin' for Caballeron and..." He then choked on his words as he went silent. 

"Switchblade, are you alright?" The detective asked in concern. the sound of coking and falling to the ground echoed off the recorder. "Somepony get a paramedic!" Brass Tacks yelled before the recording clicked to an end.

"Wow." Dead said with wonder. "That tape had nothing relevant to the current situation." He then ejected the Holo-tape and tossed it away. I opened my mouth to say something, but suddenly a mare's scream rang through the halls. Without a hitch, I galloped in the direction of the damsel in distress. 

After busting down a couple of doors, I arrived at the holding cells where a bloated ghoul was reaching through bars after Wild Herb. Quickly, I charged at the ghoul and bucked it in the face. The ghoul flew against the wall as its foreleg tore off in the bars. Flinching away from the squirming leg, I turned to the pony cowering in the corner of the cell. "Wild Herb, are you harmed?"

Wild Herb looked up at me with surprised tear-filled eyes. "You? How did you... Watch out!" She warned me.

I looked just in time to see the three-legged ghoul tackle me to the ground. With the weight of the ghoul pinning me down, I struggled to keep it from taking a bite out of my face. Each snap of its teeth inched closer to my hide as my horn glowed in an attempt to lift the ghoul of me.

Although I only managed to lift it a little bit off me, It was all the leverage I needed to toss it into a nearby desk. There was a resounding snap as the ghoul impacted the desk. With limp rear legs, it squirmed, trying to get me with one leg. The ghoul dug at the ground to avail.

Breathing heavily, I got myself back on my hooves. As I stood over the prone ghoul I finally caught my breath. "Sola." Dead whispered from my bag. "You need to kill it." I looked at him, his eyes were filled with conviction and wisdom.

Kill it? I glanced back to the ghoul and remembered Dead's words from earlier; 'That is no longer a pony. More like a zombie, now.' I unsheathed my knife with my magic and pinned the ghoul's head down with a hoof. It squirmed vigorously, trying to get free of my grip. It was all in vain. I then placed the tip of my blade at the base of its skull and... I hesitated.

Even though the ghoul was growling and hissing at me. I couldn't help imagining it as a pony begging for help. My heart wrenched as I felt tears well up inside me. Before the tears reached my eyes, I closed them and took a deep breath to steel myself. "This is no longer a pony." I reminded myself. "If I don't kill it, harm will come to others." I exhaled a whisper as I plunged the knife into its skull. "I'm so sorry." I retrieved my blade from its skull and watched as the black ichor of what's left of its blood drip to the floor. I felt... numb. It was the only way I could describe this.

"You know." Wild Herb spoke up, grabbing my attention. "You actually gave It mercy." I blinked at her, then numbly returned my gaze to the dead ghoul at my hooves. "The way I heard it; when ghouls go feral, they become mindless husks, hungry for flesh. So some think that nothing pony is left in them, but I think their souls are still trapped inside. Forever being tortured, watching themselves eating ponies, not able to pass on."

"So..." I began, with this new information lifting my numbness. " are you saying that when I killed this one." Nodding my head at the corpse. "I freed their soul from torment?"

Wild Herb smiled and nodded. "Yep, that's what I believe. Doc doesn't believe in an afterlife or the Goddesses." 

Hmm... So it's not proven. Even so; "Thank you." I smiled at Wild Herb, which she returned. "Now, Let's get you home."

Her expression changed to one of chagrin. "Umm... yeah, about that."

=====***=====

"Seriously, who locks themselves in a place where they can't escape from?" I griped.

"Stable dwellers." Dead replied, "Oh! And this one time, When I saw 'The Great and Powerful Trixie.' That was hilarious." He chuckled.

I took the last step at the top of the stairs to the roof. We both went silent as we approached the door. "Ok. She said there was a group of ghouls up here. So be on guard." Dead whispered. I nodded and upholstered my pistol. Dead floated next to me with the snub-nosed revolver in his mouth. I gave a confused look. "Just maximizing my effectiveness." He expertly said around the gun in his mouth. I shrugged and continued to open the door.

At first, I peeked through the gap I made. There were no ghouls in sight. Calmly, I walked through the doorway keeping my eye scanning my surroundings. It was silent until Dead busted out waving the gun around wildly. "Bring it on! Ya zombie bastards! I'm ready for ya!" He yelled to the air ducts and dead machinery. Nothing responded. 

"Ooo...kay." I looked around and saw something that didn't match the rest of the surrounding. A table was set up with a tattered canopy over it. Some junk was scattered on the table. "What's this." I walked over to the table poked at stuff.

"Looks like the workings of a ham radio." Dead answered me. He floated to an electrical box at the base of a small tower. "This must be the transmitter. Everything looks fine though." Dead looked over the box and then flipped a switch. Nothing seemed to happen. "Wild Herb was right. The power's out. If we turn on the generator, we can both get her out of that cell and get the transmitter up and running." He proceeded to follow a thick cord on the ground. 

Something nagged at me at that moment. "How do you know so much about this kind of stuff?" I asked as I followed him around a corner.

"When I was imprisoned in that jar, Stone Mason often left papers and schematics on his desk." 

"Really? Like... what?" I stopped in my tracks. There was a recently eaten pony off to the side.

Dead didn't see it and continued on. "There was a lot; a Spark-energy generator schematics, a regular correspondence to a Sunburst about translating a journal written in old Ponish, plenty of project reports..."

There was a trail of blood leading to the generator room. "Dead?"

"Incidentally, That's how I learned where my body was." Dead ignored me and continued to go towards the room. The generator room had no door and it was dark inside, except for a sickly green glow.

"Dead! Stop!" I commanded. 

He finally heard me, but he stopped just inside the doorway. "What!?" Dead yelled back. Then he noticed the trail of blood.

At that moment, four clustered red marks appeared on my E.F.S as the ghouls howled. Dead immediately turned and fired his weapon. His bullet made its mark, one of the Feral ghouls screamed in pain. However, as a result of firing the gun plus Dead's levitation magic, had sent Dead spiraling backward with the recoil. He landed right next to me looking a bit dizzy. "Yes, That was very effective." I commented sarcastically, referring to his reason for the gun.

The sound of hoof falls re-grabbed my attention and I aimed my pistol. Three ghouls came running out after Dead. I unloaded my gun at the one in front. The ghoul took three hits; a graze on the neck, one in the shoulder, and one in the leg. Causing it to topple over with a painful scream. (Yes! I actually hit something!) I then aimed at the next one and pulled the trigger.

Click... Click, click. Shoot! Did I empty my gun already?

As I groaned in frustration of my firearm skills, the ghouls barreled down on me. One reared up and smacked me with its forehooves. While the other lunged at me with a bite. Although, because of the hoof smacks knocking me around, the bite found nothing but air. I quickly recovered and whipped my pistol at the biting one while pivoting to buck the other. They both hissed in pain.

I tried to reposition myself as the ghouls restarted at me again. However, I wasn't quick enough to avoid them tackling me to the ground with bared teeth. As they bit at me, I was only able to block one with my Pip-Buck. While the other sunk its teeth into my flank. I screamed painfully as the bite broke the skin.

Then the one on my Pip-buck slid onto the S.A.T.S button and everything went slow-motion. I decided to kick the one biting me in the flank. The ghoul was then highlighted with the words 'Target selected' and "95%" above it. Slightly confused on what's happening right now, but even more so, frustrated that I'll have to kick the ghoul off me in slow-motion. I tried to will my legs to move faster and two more notches appeared under the 'Target selected' words.

When the S.A.T.S finally ended, my legs decided to move on their own. One hoof kicked into the ghoul's diaphragm, causing it to release my flank and for air. Then both my legs simultaneously lashed out and impacted its sternum. Its ribcage concaved in as it coughed up black blood and fell over dead.

The other ghoul continued to gnaw on my Pip-Buck until Dead flew up point blank and it in the head. Dead once again flew away, spinning from the recoil. I quickly stood up and looked for the one I tripped. "That's two of the four. We're not out of the woods Y... Ye-ow!" Before I found the ghoul, It found me. My right foreleg to be exact, with its teeth. It had crawled to me during my scuffle. "That's it!" I screamed through gritted teeth.

Hooking my hooves around the ghoul, I flapped my wings and flew up. My Pip-Buck clicked frantically as I got closer to the rad-storm. When I got to a sufficient height, I spun the ghoul around and threw it off the building. I didn't see it hit the ground below, but the red mark on my E.F.S disappeared. I glided back down to the roof where Dead had landed. "Are you alright?" I asked concerned.

"I think I'm gonna puke my guts out." He replied weakly and with a snicker following it. Then the last ghoul gave screech, demanding my attention. The ghoul limped toward me on three legs. It was the source of the sickly green glow from earlier. It strangely looked angry and it had a horn that was glowing slightly brighter than the rest of it.

I grabbed my pistol and reloaded it. "I am starting to tire of this." I groaned while aiming my gun. The ghoul stood still and growled. Its horn grew brighter and brighter. Not liking the way that looks, I pressed the S.A.T.S button. 'Target selected' appeared with three notches. Although, instead of '95%', it's a '0%'. I mentally shrugged, not knowing what the number meant.

The slow-motion then ended and my gun fired three times. I watched my bullets spin toward the glowing one's skull. At first, I was proud that I got some really accurate shots. However, I then found it weird that I'm seeing my bullets at all. The magical glow of the ghoul's horn flashed outward as it sent out a shock wave, flinging my bullets back at me. I ducked down, dodging the returned rounds, but I received a big dose of radiation as the wave washed over me.

"It'd be best if we don't draw out this encounter." Dead said, floating next to me. "And sad to say, I don't have any instant kill spells." He looked at me implying something, and I knew what it was.

"No." I replied to the unspoken request.

Dead narrowed his eyes at me. "You do know this is a monster, right? Not some colt?" I looked away from him. He growled. "Fine then." Digging into my bag, Dead grabbed the grenade. "Just help me get closer to this rad-bag. "Curious on what he was going to do with the metal apple, I nodded. "Good. Now we'll need some sort of slingshot." He planned.

However, I had my own idea. While Dead had his back turned, I reared my hindlegs and bucked the 'invulnerable' head right at the glowing one. He flew at blinding speed, stabbing it in the chest with his horn. Dead dropped the grenade at the ghoul's hooves. "Ow! That hurt you asshole!" He yelled at me while the ghoul tried to its best to shake him off.

"I got you closer didn't I!" I shouted back.

"Not what I meant!" Dead continued to yell with glowing blood draining down his horn and face. "But I guess this'll have to do." A blue aura appeared around the grenade. Dead took a deep breath before pulling out the pin. "Oh, man. This is gonna be painful."

I looked at them confused, still not sure what a grenade truly is. Then without warning, the grenade exploded right under them. My chin dropped in shock as a piece of rubble flew past my head. "That was in my bag?!" I screamed hysterically.

"Oh, Yeah! Your bag was in so much danger, that's why I blew myself up!" Dead sarcastically yelled while little smoke clouds converged on a half-obliterated floating head. 

He actually looked very scary with half of his face gone. I looked away before he gave me nightmares. "You're alive, are you not?" I replied, looking over the corpse that the ghouls had torn apart.

Dead then spat something green out of his fully formed mouth. "Whatever, let's just get this thing fixed." He said irritated, floating into the generator room. I opened up the corpse's bag and found an assortment of items ranging from ammo and food, to a healing potion and something cylindrical... that looks very familiar. "Son-of-a mother loving biscuit!" Dead yelled at the top of his lungs (If he had any).

I quickly transferred the items to my bags and went to see what the commotion was about. "What's wrong? is it broken?" I asked him while he was searching through piles of junk at the base of a large dormant machine.

"No, not broken. The Spark-energy core is missing." Dead continued to search frantically within nearby containers. 

I looked at the generator and there was indeed an empty port that was roughly one inch in diameter. "Oh!" I exclaimed in remembrance. I took out the cylindrical object I found on the corpse. "Here, I found this Spark-energy core on the body outside."

Dead ended his search and snatched the core out of my magical grasp with his teeth to plug it in. "Thank you... huff... you're a gentleman and a scholar.. whew!" He said, slightly out of breath with beads of sweat on his face. 

"Are you alright?" I asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Dead reassured me as he plugged in the core. "It's just when reconstructing from a death state really sucks the energy out of me." He then flew back into my bag as the dormant machine then hummed to life. "Now, if you don't mind. I'm gonna take a nap." His blue aura closed the bag flap.

Bzzt…

Suddenly, my Pip-Buck made a noise. Checking it, I found a radio signal was added; 'Colosseum City Radio'. I selected it and there was a Mare singing the last note of a very upbeat song. Then a Stallion's voice replaced it. "Yeah, um... that was Sweetie Bell. The... uh... I mean, one of the best singers... ever, yeah. Ahem!" The Stallion on the radio seemed very nervous. As if he was very uncomfortable talking in a public setting. "It's... uh... time for a news update. Um... Tonight there's an arena match between our reigning champion... um, (forgive me if I pronounce this wrong) El Pollo Fuego and... uh... the rookie from the east,... um...(hold on I got the name here somewhere) The Lone Wolf. So, go watch the match and... uh... and tell me how it went. I'll be right here all day (and night... for that matter). Ahem!" 

I smiled as I listened to the radio. Even though it's almost painful to listen to this stallion. I was very happy that a whole city is out there surviving. I looked outside and saw that the radiation storm was clearing up. Blue sky, another reason to smile. "In other news. I finally read through all those rumors from the south. It's... uh... It's not pretty. Um.. they all were different, some even too farfetched to be true (seriously, a magical flying head?), But...uh...one thing came up constantly. The Stable Dweller Demon." My smile slowly turned into a frown as I processed what was being said. "So, uh... The demon is an Alicorn who wore a Stable-Tec suit. Her mane glowed like fire and she could... uh... make you explode! And what's worse, She's in league with a known raider settlement. An Alicorn, working with raiders! I don't know about you, but she sounds like the next Nightmare Moon to me! Ahem! I... uh... I guess what I'm saying is; um... if you're planning on going south for some reason, be very cautious. Or... uh... otherwise, don't go at all... Anyway, time for some music. Here are the Ink Blots with Keep a Knocking." The stallion had cut away with music taking his spot. 

I glared to the north, angry that they only had one side of the story. And also... I gritted my teeth and screamed. "I Am Not A Mare!!" My voice echoed across the empty buildings.

=====***=====

Level Up!

New Perk!

Hooves of Steel, Rank 1:
"Hadouken!" Channel your chi to unleash devastating fury!
Hoof attacks do 20% more damage to your opponents and grappling is 10% more effective