//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6: A Matter of Experience 
// Story: Fallout Equestria - The Code of Honor 
// by FireStorm2247 
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Chapter 6: A Matter of Experience



"I could use your help, but if you refuse… I’ll just take matters into my own hooves.”




BLAM!... BLAM!

Gunfire from a powerful rifle rang across my ears, but our escort of the six Proudspire ponies didn’t stop trotting. The fire was coming from a balcony built onto the top of the metal barrier that made a section of Proudspire’s circular wall. On the balcony was an earth-pony looking through the scope of a sniper rifle that had been fastened to the balcony railing by a gliding swivel mount. From the Black Blood Forward Post (as my Pipbuck had labeled it on my map), we had continued southeast until early evening. Careful to avoid shirking my scouting duties further, I had taken regular intervals to fly up and search the area for threats or locations. Fortunately we had not come across any more raiders, contrary to what our six new companions had thought, and instead, Proudspire had taken shape. Proudspire was composed of two rings of two-story buildings with which a series of planks and metal sheets connected each building together from the roofs, allowing easy access to each building’s rooftop. All of Proudspire’s buildings were surrounded by a tall, metal wall. This wall served a double purpose, the first being to act as a defensive barrier. It was tall enough that it would easily prevent enemies from marching into the town. The second purpose the wall served was to allow Proudspire’s guards to walk on top of it. The walkway that made the top of the wall was lined with balconies, giving guards various stations to watch out over the wasteland. Proudspire’s buildings were entirely metal, made from metal sheets that were connected together; hell, the entire town was made from metal. But despite its solid build, even I could see the toll that the constant attacks had taken on the little settlement. The walls were spotted with bullet holes and sections of the metal were charred and dented showing where explosions had damaged it more severely. Spaced along the dirt were small blast craters and scorch marks, landmarks of previous engagements, and the corpses of dead raiders decorated the fields, their stench tainting the air. It looked like a war zone, and Proudspire itself looked weakened and tired from it.

“Chalk up another one for me!” the earth-pony mare called as we approached Proudspire’s metal gate. 

“That puts you at the top of the list! Don’t let it go to your head!” another voice called back, to which the earth-pony sniper let out a laugh. 

“We make a game out of how many raiders we smoke.” the green Proudspire stallion leaned over to whisper to me with a chuckle. He had introduced himself to me as Cross, one of Proudspire’s rifleponies. He thought very highly of his skill with his rifle, which he identified as a thirty ot six battle rifle. He also claimed that it was his rifle that gave him his cutie mark, a rifle clip holding eight rifle rounds. So far, what I could make of his personality was a mix between over-energetic tendencies towards battle and a will to get the job done and kill the bad guys. His often eager discussion of battle and previous kills made me a bit uneasy, and he seemed to think that everypony shared that enthusiasm. But still, this was the stallion that had saved me from Butcher, so he was already an acquaintance of mine. 

“This is Redfield!” the orange unicorn stallion called up as we stopped before the gate. “We’re back, open the gate!” 

A second later, a unicorn peeked over the wall and down at us. “Redfield? Who the hell are those ponies?” the dark pink mare with a violet mane demanded.

“We picked them up at the Black Blood outpost to the northwest.” Redfield answered, briefly rubbing a hoof over his eye patch. “They took out that post by themselves and now they’re here to help us out. Maybe now we can put the real hurt to those bastards.” 

“Well damn, it’s about time we had some good news.” the mare said with a snort. “I’ll go get Kayla. Open the gate!” 

As she disappeared from view, the gate begun to shake, and then it slid across the dirt to disappear behind the wall. Redfield took the lead with his squad encircling us as they guided us into the town. We walked past the gate and onto a dirt path, flanked by four buildings, two on each side. This path dipped down into a circular dirt clearing that made the town’s center which was surrounded by a ring of eight two-story buildings. Even as we approached the town center, ponies were rather cautiously appearing from behind those buildings, looking at us with very wide and curious eyes. Mares kept their foals close with them, and stallions looked us over with firm and studious stares. None of them entered the courtyard however, and that made me follow their example, making sure that Blake was close to me. 

As Redfield and his squad halted around us, I spotted a trio of ponies exit a building on my right. One pony was a very young light blue earth pony mare with a flowing sapphire mane and tail. She was so young in fact that she looked only a little taller than Blake, and perhaps only a little bit older. The second, walking by her left flank, was a beige colored unicorn stallion with a similarly colored mane and tail, walking with poise and composure. The third pony, walking by the little mare’s right flank, was a huge earth-pony stallion, powerfully built and looking big enough to rival Gunny for brute strength. A heavy machine gun was built into the right side of his steel plate armor which covered his entire body except for his head and neck, showing his short black mane, his dark blue coat, and his similarly colored eyes.  To add to his overall intimidation level, he also bore a trio of parallel gashes across his neck, scabbed over as permanent scars. 

Stopping before us, the three looked us over with their own stares of varying character. The big earth-pony was nearly glaring while the other stallion was calm and curious, perhaps a little haughty. The little mare however, was smiling as Redfield approached her. “Ma’am,” he began, dipping his head to her formally. “as you know, my squad and I left Proudspire earlier today to check out the Black Blood outpost to the northwest.” The little light blue mare nodded, very attentive. “When we got there, we found that the outpost had come under attack and was destroyed. These five outsiders we have with us were the ponies responsible for its destruction, and when we spoke with them, they volunteered to come with us and help our town against the raider attacks.” 

“How destroyed was the outpost?” the little mare piped up; how destroyed?…

“Very destroyed.” Redfield replied, winning a snicker from Cross and the other members of the squad. “When we arrived, there wasn’t much left. These five ponies did most of the hard work by the time we got there. Cross killed Butcher, however, and then we looted the place and burned it down. They won't be using it again.”

“With Butcher dead,” the unicorn stallion observed, obviously pleased. “the rest of the raiders around Proudspire should back down.” 

“They’ll still come after us.” Redfield replied with a frown, as if he thought that the unicorn’s observation was a dull and stupid one. “But either way, they got a dent put into them that they wont forget. With one of the Black Blood’s commanders gone, that’ll let them know that we aren't screwing around.”

“There are still other leaders though.” the unicorn stallion said warningly. “And the Black Blood wont let this mistake happen again so easily.” 

“Then we’ll just have to come up with other strategies.” Redfield said. “And that’s what these five ponies are here to help us with.” Turning to us, he pointed a foreleg at Gunny. “You seem to be the one in charge, friend. Could you tell Kayla a little bit about yourself and your companions?” 

The little light blue mare looked over at Gunny and smiled encouragingly, but just when he took a step forward to approach, the armored earth-pony stallion stepped in front of Kayla, making her squeak in alarm. “I’m sorry, but I cannot allow you to approach Kayla so well armed. You may speak where you stand.” the earth-pony said, his voice as deep as thunder; he looked tense, as if expecting Gunny to attack. 

“Um, sorry.” Gunny said, a little baffled as he tried to make eye-contact with Kayla. “I’m Gunny. Behind me is Nova and her little brother Blake. Then the black stallion is Shore, and the red mare is Rosemary Grace.”

“Where did you come from?” Kayla asked curiously as she stepped around her big earth-pony guardian. 

In all honesty, I felt that we were talking to a filly. She was smaller, looked younger… and she didn’t have a cutie mark! We were definitely speaking to a filly, a filly who lead an entire settlement, and Gunny, looking to have realized this as well, replied with as gentle a voice as he could (which still wasn’t very gentle). “We came from Hopeville. We…” Gunny was interrupted from a sudden round of surprised chatter among the citizens that were watching the conversation. 

“Hopeville was destroyed by the Black Blood.” the unicorn stallion said, giving a smirk that told me he thought of us as the worst liars in the wasteland. “Surely you can’t expect us to believe this?” 

“Well we weren’t from Hopeville originally.” Gunny explained, looking back at me. I knew he didn’t want to tell them that we were from a Stable; I was hesitant my first time too. But if we were going to help these ponies, then we couldn’t be keeping secrets from them, let alone their leaders. I nodded, and Gunny looked back at the unicorn. “We came from a Stable to the southwest of here, very far away. We were attacked by invaders, which I’m assuming are these Black Blood Raiders. Half of our population was killed off in the Stable and the rest of us abandoned it. After that, we traveled and after a time in the wasteland we found Hopeville. From the sound of things, we arrived just after the Black Blood Raiders hit the town. We did find the previous residents, killed and left in one of the buildings, and so we cleared the town and secured it as our new home. Two hundred ponies live there right now.”

Amidst increasing chatter among the Proudspire ponies, the unicorn stallion lowered his head down and whispered to Kayla. She listened for a moment and then asked, “And all of you are from the Stable?” 

“Yes. That’s right.” Gunny replied. “In the Stable, I served as part of Stable security. Gracie is a medical pony, and a damned good one. Shore’s a brilliant scientist, good with computers and the like, and Nova’s an artist. She makes music and writes stories.” 

I saw with a blush that Kayla had taken particular interest in the concept of music and literature. Of course, I knew that I didn’t look the part of an artisan (what with my rifle and my pistol). However, I hadn’t had the time to work on music during my four days in the wasteland, and to be honest, I didn’t expect that I would have the time, at least not for a very long time. “That’s really cool.” Kayla said, smiling. “I’m glad you came to Proudspire.” The unicorn lowered his head down to whisper to her again, and she nodded, asking, “How long have you been in the wasteland?” 

“Four days.” Gunny answered. “We traveled for two days and found Hopeville. Now were just trying to get the town secured.” 

“That settlement did serve as a point of trade for the southeast.” the unicorn stallion commented. “It would be good for all the settlements if the town could be brought back onto the map again, especially considering that it’s the closest town to the Equestrian heartland in this region.” 

“That’s what we’re working on.” Gunny said with a nod. “We we’re actually on our way to Challenger to try and get some supplies and maybe even some additional security. Our captain’s certain that the Black Blood will try and hit the town if they find out that it’s up and running again. We also don’t know if they’ve found out about Hopeville’s reestablishment or not, but we’re not taking chances, not after what we’ve been through.”

“I’d gladly help you.” Kayla piped up enthusiastically, smiling until the unicorn stallion whispered in her ear again. “Um… but we’re not doing very well ourselves.”

“Then perhaps we could help each other?” Gunny asked carefully, to which Kayla nodded vigorously. 

“Wait.” the unicorn stallion interrupted. “You five ponies are total strangers. You are in no position to deal with another town like you propose. The interests of Proudspire cannot hang on the hooves of outsiders.” 

“They did a damn sight more for us today than you’ve done for us in the past two weeks.” Redfield countered hotly, making the beige unicorn glare. “They went through a lot back there, and now they’re volunteering to help. I think that they deserve a chance to get a little fruit out of the situation as well.” 

“I would advise that you be careful around them Kayla.” the beige unicorn warned. “Even if they speak about helping Proudspire, they are still strangers.” 

“I think it’s a great idea to let them help.” Kayla said, her high spirits undiminished by her advisor’s interruption. “And if they help us, then we can help them because we’ll be stronger. So what is it that we could help you with after you help us?” 

“Begging pardon… uh, ma’am, but I’d rather help out around here before I make any kind of negotiations of my own.” Gunny said to Kayla.

She shook her head. “No no, I’m being serious. What could I do for you later on?” 

“Well, since you insist on me telling you…” Gunny mumbled; it was clear that he wasn’t at ease giving requests to total strangers, let alone a young filly. “What Hopeville needs more than anything else is other ponies. Ponies to trade, to fight, to help our ponies get acquainted with the wasteland. So really, if you could lend a couple of willing ponies to come back with us to Hopeville when we move on, then that would be good enough for me.”

“Yeah I can do that.” Kayla said, smiling wide before the beige unicorn whispered in her ear. When he pulled his head back up, she then asked, “So, how are you going to help us out now that you’re here?” 

“We all have our specialties.” Gunny replied. “Perhaps if we got a tour of your town, then we could find where to work.”

“Okay.” Kayla said, nodding with that same smile. “Somepony can take you to the important buildings in town, and then when your done, you can come and sleep in my quarters over there.” she finished, pointing at the building she had exited from to see us in the courtyard. 

“Kayla, that is not a good idea.” her earth pony guardian voiced deeply. 

“Why not?” Kayla protested to him, having to crane her head back to look up at him. “They’re really cool ponies, and they say that they can help us. I trust them, and I think everypony in Proudspire should. Besides, you sleep in my quarters. Redfield sleeps there too. It’s not like there’s going to be any fighting.” 

“We’ll see. So long as they don’t break any of the rules, then I’ll stay silent and follow your words. But if they try and bring harm to you, or anypony in Proudspire, I will act.” the big earth pony said, glaring over at Gunny. While Gunny didn’t back down or even flinch at that stare, only looking back at him with slightly narrowed eyes, the deep-voiced warning was something that I would definitely take heed to. I wasn’t interested in challenging a pony who was as big as, if not bigger than, Gunny was.

“So they’ll stay with me when they’re done with the tour.” Kayla declared. “Then we can eat and I’ll let them make themselves at home.” 

“As you wish.” the earth pony said.

“I can take them around town and give them the basics.” Redfield offered, to which Kayla nodded. “It shouldn’t take long.”

“I’ll be back in my quarters. Just take them there when you’re ready.” Kayla said before she departed, her guard and her… advisor… following after her. 

“Cross, take the squad to their positions on the wall.” I heard Redfield order. “We’re still on duty despite our little adventure at the outpost.” With Cross and the squad leaving the courtyard, Redfield approached Gunny. “Alright then friends, let’s give you the grand tour of our musty little home here.” 

I would keep myself from saying it aloud, but I did think that Hopeville was in a bit better condition than this town. Proudspire was purely metal and dirt, and both of those were worn with age. The metal buildings looked sturdy enough, but the signs of wear upon them were plainly obvious. Upon brown iron foundations built into the ground, the metal sheets that made the floors, walls, and roofs of the Proudspire buildings were rusting in places and in dire need of repair. This was the same through most of the town; there was just old metal. Some metal plates were decorated with white paint to show what function each building in the inner circle served. The buildings themselves were not spaced far apart, and the ponies walking in between them were confined to only allow maybe two through at a time should they have walked side by side. “How do ponies get around in Proudspire?” I heard Grace ask as Redfield turned and trotted to one of the buildings nearer the entrance gate. 

“All of the buildings that make up the interior ring have doors on them.” Redfield explained as we stopped at the entrance of the first building. The white paint that decorated the metal above the door frame labeled this building as the Proudspire Saloon. “Each building’s second floor has a stairwell that leads to the rooftops. And the houses that make the outer ring of the town all have stairs along their walls that also lead to the roofs. The rooftops have built-in hatches so ponies can go into their homes from above too. It’s a bit of a mess, but we’re used to it. It’s how Proudspire’s been for all its years.”

“It’s an old town then?” Shore inquired. “It makes sense given the age of this metal.” 

“That’s putting it nicely.” Redfield said with a chuckle. “But we actually don’t know how old the town is. I know my parents lived here, and then their parents before them… after that I don’t know. None of us do. But to be honest, I think it’s for the best that we don’t. Some things are best left to history, and that’s history that we don’t need to worry about.” I couldn’t help but prick my ears at that statement; that sounded familiar… “So this here’s the saloon, and then across the road there is the diner.” Redfield continued. “Any of you get hungry, feel free to come down to either of these buildings. The food’s pretty good, the drinks are cold, and the prices are fair. Sheila cooks. As far as I’m concerned, that’s all that needs to be known about it. Sheila can fill you in on any other questions you might have about these two joints.” 

Next, Redfield guided us to the building next to the saloon, the second building of the inner ring. “This is our training facility where the guards we have learn to shoot and then continue to practice. We use to have daily routines with practicing, but because of our situation, we’ve had to cut it to one training day every three to four days. And sometimes those are interrupted by Black Blood assault teams. They have a knack for pulling off attacks when we’re training.” 

“I might be interested in using that.” Gunny commented. 

“It’s not like you’re out of practice.” Gracie remarked with a laugh.

“True, but this fifty cal might come in handy somewhere down the road, and I’ve only fired one shot with it.” Gunny explained. 

“That beast?” Redfield asked, looking at the large rifle strapped to Shore’s back and giving a good-humored laugh. “That’ll take apart the entire back wall if we even have any ammo for it… actually I’m sure it’ll be fine to use. You’re welcome to it next time we have a training meet-up.”

Moving along, Redfield lead us to the next building of the inner ring. “This is our ammo press.” Redfield explained. “It’s the only piece of pre-war tech that we have in this town. It’s served us well while we’ve had scrap and powder. But we’re pretty much done on both of those because of the raiders. And to make things worse, the press itself has stopped working as well as the terminal. What little bit of supplies we have that we can make extra bullets from is just sitting there right now.” 

Even before I looked and saw, I could tell that both Shore and Gunny would take interest in technology like that. I couldn’t blame them for it though. The existence of a machine that made ammo was rather interesting and it sounded like it could still be of some use. “And it’s controlled by a terminal?” Shore asked. 

“Yeah… was. I think some of the internal components are fried on it though.” Redfield answered with a sigh. “We should’ve had somepony specialize in caring for the damn thing, and for the press, but we didn’t. We just know how to use it, not fix it.”

“Where did it come from?” I asked curiously. 

“We dragged it down from an Ironshod Firearms Facility in the Equestrian heartland.” Redfield said with a smirk. “It took weeks to bring it back, but we got that bad boy hooked up and kept it running for a good long time. Now some of the major parts are dead and it’s just collecting rust.”

“I think I might be of some assistance.” Shore declared, Gunny also voicing his ability to tinker with machines. 

“If you want to help, I won’t stop you.” Redfield said. “If it gets fixed, we can put the rest of the scrap we have left into making a few more bullets to help take out the bad guys. We can use every bullet we can get.” 

“Do you have a clinic?” Gracie asked politely from beside me. 

“That’s actually our next stop.” Redfield said, pointing at the next building to the right with a foreleg. As we approached the clinic, he said, “The purpose of this building is obvious. Unfortunately, we’ve got quite a few ponies in there, and our town doc was killed in one of the attacks. One of the Black Blood bastards lobbed a grenade over the wall and it caught the doctor outside his clinic. Luck was what killed him, not skill.”

“Do you have anypony else that knows medicine?” Gracie inquired.

“We have a mare working there sure, but she only knows how to make sure that the wounded get their healing potions, which we’re pretty much out of. Wounds go untreated simply because she lacks the skill to execute more advanced procedures, taking lead out, dressing wounds, setting bones. She does her best, tries hard, but it ain’t enough.” Redfield explained lowly. 

“Well then I know where I’ll be whenever Kayla allows me to work.” Gracie said with determination. “I don’t have a lot of medical supplies, but I’ll use whatever I have to if it means getting those wounded ponies back into the streets.” 

“We’d all be grateful.” Redfield said humbly. “There’s friends in there, family members. The sooner they’re patched up, the sooner we can regain some lost morale.” 

“It must be hard on that mare.” I commented, looking at the entrance of the clinic.

“It is, but she’s bound determined to do the best.” Redfield replied to me. “Maybe she just needs a little help is all.” 

We moved on to the fifth building of the ring, labeled as the armory. “This is where our spare firepower sleeps when it ain’t being used.” Redfield explained. “We’re doing okay on this end of town because of the Black Blood’s frequent donations of weapons and ammo. But we could always use more. Hell, there’s no such thing as too many weapons.” 

“I agree.” Gunny said with a smirk. “What kind of firepower do you have here?” 

“Nothing too awfully special I’m afraid.” Redfield replied. “Aside from the raider weaponry, which is usually in piss-poor condition anyway, we’ve mostly got assorted small arms and rifles, couple of thirty ot six and three-o-eight sniper rifles too. We’ve got a couple of LMGs and I think we still have missiles for our one missile launcher. We usually get our better weapons from a traveling guns merchant, but that stallion hasn’t been around for awhile. Too bad he isn’t on call.” 

“Lucky Hallion?” I asked, not surprised that he would be known to Proudspire. “Why wouldn’t he have been here for awhile? Surely he makes rounds around the area?” 

“I can’t say. He spends all his day traveling around the wasteland, so there’s no telling where he’s at now.” Redfield said with a shrug. 

“Hopefully he’s gone to check out Hopeville.” Gunny remarked. “We met him yesterday, and we told him everything we told you.” 

“Well, Celestia knows you folks could use weapons too. You’re building an entire town back up from what the Black Blood turned it into. That’s no small thing.” Redfield said. 

“You’re still in a tighter spot than we are.” Gunny retorted. “Don’t underestimate us Stable folk. After all, we were helped along by a pre-war corporation.”

“Good point. Anyway, this next building might interest you a little more than the others.” Redfield continued, leading us past the armory and up to the entrance of the next building in the ring. “This is our general store. Back when we had travelers from other settlements or caravans coming down from the heartland, this would be our busiest building of all of them. Right now though, we don’t have a lot we can spare to sell. But we do have caps if you have anything that you don’t need.” 

“Blake and I can check that out tomorrow.” I volunteered. “I’m sure we have a few things we could give you.” 

“A general store ain’t about donations, friend.” Redfield said, looking amused at my charity. “You’ll get something out of any trading you do. Besides, Abigail wouldn’t want you leaving without a little something, even if its just a piece of charcoal.” He smirked at the entrance of the general store, now closed because of the evening hour, and then he looked towards the last building that made the interior ring of Proudspire. “This is our last stop.” he said as he nodded for us to follow him. The building was labeled as Chief's Quarters, in those exact words. “This is where you’ll be sleeping tonight.” Redfield explained. “This building is Kayla’s quarters. I sleep here along with her guardian. Basically, its where the leaders hang out.” 

“Kayla is very young.” I commented, and Redfield looked back at me. Because of his lack of a response, I begun feeling that I may have been a bit out of line with that question. After all, I was a stranger to this town, even if my “deeds” had allowed me to start off in Proudspire as somepony who was already accepted, even slightly. “Sorry.” I added, lowering my eyes. 

“Well, it’s not that your question is offending or anything.” Redfield said. “It’s just not my place to comment on that. If you ask anypony about it, it should be her, and don’t let that advisor of hers answer for you.” 

“You don’t exactly seem to see eye to eye with him.” I pointed out, venturing instead into a new area of my curiosity; I really should work on this curiosity bump of mine. His previous tones with the unnamed advisor of Proudspire’s young leader allowed me to see that there was a bit of tension between them, or at least some kind of force that made for their relations to be strained. 

“I just don’t like him is all.” Redfield said quickly. He, however, obviously wanted to drop that subject; I didn’t press it. 

“So I guess that’s the end of the tour then?” I asked, changing subjects once again to avoid an awkward situation. 

“That’s it.” Redfield confirmed. “You can go on in to Kayla’s quarters. Tomorrow you’ll be able to go to the general store and look around, and then I imagine that Kayla will be leaving you all to your duties. You volunteered for it, so we’ll be putting you to work here.” 

“No problem.” Gunny assured for all of us. “Thanks for showing us around.” 

“Your welcome. I’d better get back to my squad. I’ve still got about an hour on my shift. Don’t want to look like I’m shirking my duties.” Redfield said with a laugh before he saluted us with a hoof. “Go ahead and head inside. I’m sure Kayla’s already waiting.” With that, he departed across the town center to the entrance of town where he disappeared from sight.

Gunny used his magic to open the door, and he called into the first room to be met with a warm hello. Kayla welcomed us inside, and I followed Gunny into the room. The room was lit with a single ceiling light, bright for being so small. There was a scattering of furniture along the walls including two large couches, (a little grimy, but otherwise intact), an old dresser made of wood, and a pair of beds made from tattered blankets that were spread along the far left wall. A second room was next to the living room, separated by another wall and an open doorframe, perhaps a restroom of sorts. Stairs built against the far wall of the main chamber led up to the second floor, and Kayla was looking down at us from the top of the stairs. “The entire bottom floor is for you.” Kayla declared with a wide smile. “Make yourselves comfortable and then come upstairs for some food. Gabriel and Ironhoof are upstairs too, and so we can all get to know each other better.” Even before any of us could reply, she hopped back up the stairs and disappeared into the second floor of the house. 

“Well, she says so.” Gunny said with a shrug, turning to Shore to levitate the .50 cal off of his back and set it gently along the wall. “Might try and fix this up a bit tonight.” he said. “Don’t know how much I’d be able to do without replacement parts, but I’m sure I can get it cleaned a bit.” 

“You really should try and get to know these ponies better.” Gracie stated as she levitated off her saddlebags and set them next to the rifle. “Even if we will be working with them for the next day or two.” 

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t.” Gunny insisted back, setting aside his own assault rifle and shotgun next to the big rifle. “But I’m sure we wont be singing the night away either.” 

“If nothing else, food does sound good right now.” I said before pulling Blake’s saddlebags off of his back with my teeth and setting them down. “And it’s nice enough for them to offer from their own supply while we still have our own.”

“And it serves to better fortify a sense of trust between strangers if we accept.” Shore commented as Gunny undid Shore’s battle saddle. “Plus, I’m rather hungry myself.” 

“Yeah let’s eat!” Blake piped up strongly, bounding up to the stairs as Gunny helped me out of my own battle saddle. 

“I’ll admit, the day’s made me a bit hungry too now that we’re resting.” Gunny said with a small laugh, setting my battle saddle against the wall. “Guess it just takes me a bit longer to realize when I need to eat.”

Blake hopped up the stairs as I followed up after him, and I saw Kayla waiting by the stairs with a box of pre-war food labeled Dandy Colt Apples held in her teeth. Upon seeing us as we entered the second floor one by one, she trotted over to the other end of the room where a small circular table was set up. On the right side, three beds were set up at wide intervals, and on the opposite end, cabinets were packed tight together, storing food, water, and other necessities. Other than this, the house was very empty, more so than I had originally thought. Even from the outside, the houses of Proudspire looked large, and the interiors made the building look even larger. But then again, it was hard for me to judge, because I had only lived in small rooms and corridors. For being the first wasteland house I had been in, it was rather cozy. Between being spacious and well-built, despite Proudspire’s limited resources, it was a place that I wouldn’t mind living in. “Welcome to my house.” Kayla said as she sat down at the table between her guard and her advisor. “I hope it’s okay for you.” 

“It’s lovely.” Gracie said with a sweet smile as we all walked to the table at her beckoning. 

As we all sat down on our haunches before the table, Kayla introduced us. “You know me already.” she began. “I’m Kayla. The big earth-pony here is Ironhoof. He’s my assigned personal bodyguard, but sometimes I think he works too hard.” This last bit she said with a giggle, which the earth-pony smiled politely. 

“The rules are the same as in every settlement. Don’t cause trouble, and you wont get trouble in return. You five seem like you would have no difficulty remembering that, so I welcome you.” Ironhoof said in his deep voice. 

“And this is Gabriel, my advisor.” Kayla said, smiling at the unicorn who dipped his head to us. 

“Welcome to Proudspire.” he said, his tone civilized and composed. “I hope that your visit will help us get back on our hooves. I’m certain that you are now well aware of our situation now that you have had a tour of our home.” 

“Yes.” I replied. “We’ll do whatever we can, as promised.” 

“There may be more good that you can do here than you realize.” Gabriel commented as he used his horn to open up his can of carrots. “I can tell that so long as you uphold your words, you’ll do this town wonders.” 

“Thanks. We’ll try.” I said, turning to Kayla. “So will you tell us a bit about yourselves?” 

“Yeah!” Kayla replied energetically. “I’m Proudspire’s leader and have been for about two weeks. It’s fun most days, but hard work. There’s a lot that I have to keep track of in town now that the raiders are attacking. Thankfully, most of the ponies around town help me make the best choices. They say that they’ll keep helping me until I get more experience with leadership. I think that I’ll get it down in about another year.”

“How did you come to lead Proudspire?” Gunny asked as he opened up his own box of food, Instamash. 

“My daddy let me lead.” Kayla answered easily. “He had been planning to let me take his place for a long time. He said that he had a lot of faith in me.” 

That sounded like something my father had said to me when I was a filly myself. Perhaps it was those exact words. “That’s a very noble thing for him to say.” I complimented. “I’m sure his faith isn’t misplaced.” 

“Thanks.” Kayla said with a smile, now taking a bite of one of her apples. “What about you?” she asked, looking at me directly. “How did you become a music pony?” 

I smiled back, blushing slightly. “Well, I’m not really a music pony.” I explained. “I’m not being modest about it, but I just haven’t made anything that’s my own besides some lyrics. I’ve always listened to music and I’ve always loved to sing. I’ve even had a habit of telling stories that I’ve learned about in history classes. At times, I was a caretaker for young colts and fillies in the Stable, so that’s where my liking for telling stories came from. I also highly valued pre-war history when I was taught in the Stable. Our Hall of Records held a lot of pre-war music files and I eventually just started listening to them by habit. They inspired me to listen and sing and eventually try my hoof at my own music. I hope that somewhere along the line I’ll actually have time to sit down and write and actually accomplish something that’s my own. I’m sure that I will soon enough.” 

“I’ve only heard about Stables in stories and gossip.” Kayla commented. “What was life like in your Stable?” 

“Safe, secure, filled with knowledge.” Shore explained. “Stables were a prime advantage for the ponies who got in because the war couldn’t break through them. So after the war, those ponies who lived in Stables were very secure with plenty of pre-war advantages. Aside from the basic necessities, our Stable had schooling, security, modern medicine, historical records, the works.”

“It was a place where we could try and follow the ways of the pre-war world, the world that existed before the Great War broke out.” Gracie added with a homesick sigh; I couldn’t blame her for that. “It was the Stable’s mission to follow the days of peace before the war, and that was the mission that was made to prepare us for life on the outside.”

“Did it help?” Ironhoof asked.

“There’s a lot of terrible things out here that we’ve seen, and Stable life couldn’t prepare us for it, no matter how hard our leaders tried.” Gunny replied. “Seeing the raiders and what they’ve done makes a pony wonder why and how something like that could happen.”

“Stuff like that is all too common out here in the wastes.” Ironhoof said with a nod. “You just have to get used to it, and then you’ll just have to keep fighting against those evils. I’m sure that you know how to do that. You were raised in a pre-war sanctuary. Pre-war virtues as better remembered in places like that.” 

“So what’s your story friend?” Gunny asked as he ate. 

“A short one.” Ironhoof replied. “I was born and raised here, and it has always been my job to keep Proudspire’s Chief safe. That is the case now. It is my duty to keep Kayla safe from the Black Blood. That is my story.” 

“So uh… you’ve been doing that your whole life then?” I asked, feeling a bit awkward at the brevity of his explanation.

“Yes.” Ironhoof answered, swinging his big head over to look at me. “I’m not a soldier, but life provided me with the opportunities to learn all that I needed to learn about guarding somepony, so that is my profession.”

“It sounds like you have a lot of experience.” Gunny remarked. “Any kind of soldering is a good profession. What kind of opportunities led you to taking that job?” 

“Opportunities that I would not like to discuss with outsiders.” Ironhoof said lowly, leaving us in silence. 

Gabriel was the one who came to the rescue then, stating his profession. “I have been advising Proudspire for three years.” he claimed. “Whenever an issue arises that greatly affects the safety of Proudspire, I try to formulate the best possible road to take to ensure the stability of the town. I like to think that I’ve aspired to adequacy in my role.” 

“You’ve helped me a lot.” Kayla voiced through a mouthful of apple. 

“Yes, so you say.” Gabriel replied with a slight grimace. “Either way, I try and do my part best I can. In the end, however, Kayla has the final say on things.” 

“What’s your view on this conflict your town is having with the Black Blood?” Gracie asked inquiringly. 

“Well, of course we have to keep them at bay outside.” Gabriel answered. “We’ve done a good job with that so far, even without your help. But now that you five have intervened and killed Butcher, things are looking brighter for Proudspire. Still, there are other things that need to happen as well to ensure the continued safety of the town. But right now, I feel that it isn’t my place to tell that to strangers.” I couldn’t help but narrow my eyes, but when Gracie agreed not to pursue the topic, I had to agree with them. It wasn’t our place to inquire upon anything that we weren’t told directly from the townsponies. 

The rest of our dinner was short and quick, most of us focusing on our food while still managing to maintain a more casual discussion of what future plans would include involving trade. We had only spoken for a few minutes on the matter when most of us were done, whereupon Gabriel insisted that he return to his house to get back to work. He left rather abruptly down the stairs, as if eager to return to his own rooms, and when he left, Ironhoof reminded Kayla of a task that required her presence, and we were thus dismissed to the first floor of the building to rest. Today’s events had left me worn out once again, and I was glad for the opportunity for another full night’s sleep so that I could catch my strength back for tomorrow. Helping Proudspire would be hard work for the five of us, and I had no doubt that being here would keep us occupied for the next couple of days. When we were done here, in one way or another, we would have to return to Hopeville to resupply. But hopefully, we would be able to bring back a few more things other than empty saddlebags. Even though I had vowed to help the ponies of Proudspire in any way that they needed me to help them, continuing to help Hopeville was still my top priority, and I saw Proudspire as a way to do just that. These were the thoughts that accompanied me to sleep; I was the first to fall asleep out of all of them, even as they discussed the work they would be doing for Proudspire the following day.

***				***				***

White. Everything around me was white as I woke from an uneasy sleep, looking up to see a bright light fixed into a grey ceiling, and all around me, steel grey walls rose to the ceiling to make a living room. Blinking, I rose to my hooves and yawned, turning to look out one of the two windows that flanked the closed door of my room. Outside, everything was bright and quiet. There were no ponies walking about the halls, showing me that it must’ve been too early to be up. Why I had woken up at all, I didn’t know. I felt like I had only been asleep for a few minutes at the most, and if I woke up in the middle of the night, it was hard for me to get back to sleep; it was a quirk of mine that I really hoped I could fix somewhere along the line.

I was about to turn back for my room when I cast a glance to the left and saw the corner of the hallway where it turned deeper into the Stable living quarters. The white lights were gone, replaced by a creeping blackness that slowly advanced around the corner. And there was a pony staring at me from it, eyes red around a black wavering outline and a wide grin made of gleaming white fangs. Even before I could get a good look at it, it opened its mouth in a shout, brief and demonic, before it suddenly disappeared into a black haze. With a cry of alarm I fell back from the window and fell on my back before the white lights flickered away, replaced now with blood-red ceiling lights. And I saw the door to my room slide up and away into the ceiling. The hallway, the floor… it wasn’t clear steel anymore. I got to my hooves, my eyes not moving away from the sight of black blood flowing down the hallway, and as I approached it, I cried as I saw a corpse slide past me… or I thought I cried. No sound would come from my voice, even as I begun to panic and breath faster… no, no breath was coming out either! I couldn’t breath!

I snapped back to look back in my room, and I found the same pair of red eyes staring at me from the back of the living room, black fog reaching out for me to try and drag me towards those eyes. I couldn’t stay, and if my quickly rising fear wasn’t enough to get me out, the sudden blaring of the Stable’s ominous emergency alarms was more than adequate to get me moving. I bolted out of my room and turned right, nearly slipping on the blood that coated the floor as I came to another involuntary halt. Before my eyes, corpses littered the hallway in clusters, laying in piles of gore, pools of blood, and empty bullet casings; the entire hallway was the sight of a massacre of Stable ponies, the ponies I had lived beside all my life. My heart was racing, threatening to rip itself out of my chest. I didn’t know where to go! I didn’t know what to do! In one direction, the corpses of slain Stable ponies waited for me to tread over them. In the other direction, darkness waited to engulf me…… and then I heard steps as somepony approached me, the sound of its hooves against the bloody floor particularly accented. I turned, seeing a unicorn stallion stalking around the corner of the hallway, his coat completely black and matted with splotches of bright red. The stallion wore a metal helmet that protected his head, and his fore hooves were adorned with spiked pony shoes. And at the unicorn’s side was a hovering chainsaw, its teeth glistening and its motor silent. “No… no… you’re dead! You were killed!” I protested, stepping back and bumping into another corpse, nearly falling again. No, this was impossible! How?!

“WRONG, NOVA!!” the stallion shouted back to me, his demonic voice tearing at my ears, making me cringe… and then the chainsaw roared to life. I was unarmed, equipped with nothing but Stable issued barding. I couldn’t fight this monster, not without weapons or help. I wheeled around with another cry and ran over the corpses of the slain Stable ponies. I ran for all my worth, splashing blood all over my stomach and my sides as I maneuvered around the lumps of corpses. The atrium was nearby, and a faint hope poked through my fear. If I could get there, I could get help. I made the turn and ran up the stairs, hearing the teeth of the chainsaw tear into the steel wall behind me. Up ahead, I could see flashlights in the atrium, a clear steel floor without blood or corpses waiting for me. I stumbled forward, struggling through the increasing number of bodies that littered the floor, now decorated with an increasing number of dismembered limbs and torsos, mangled heads and strewn organs… But no matter how hard I pushed forward, those lights piercing the crimson red of the Stable’s emergency lighting were getting farther away. I was loosing focus, panicking, and then I tripped and fell into a pool of blood. Trembling, I felt the blood soak my coat, splash against my face and sting my eyes, and I saw as Butcher drove through the corpses, closing the distance between us to kill me off, to make me a part of this slaughter. I was trapped, unable to move, even as I tried to scrabble my way forward. My wings wouldn’t work, I was unable to breath, I couldn’t think, couldn’t call for help! And then the flashlights disappeared and the emergency door slammed down, sealing off the hallway from the atrium and blocking my only means of escape. I cried again, looking back up as I lay on my back. Butcher was standing over me now, the chainsaw rearing back in the air, engulfed with magic. Then he cried out and threw the chainsaw down, the machine tearing through my belly… then everything turned to blackness as my screams echoed and faded away.

***				***				***

“Nova, wake up! Wake up!” I heard, even through my own agonized crying. My eyes were clenched tight, and I felt as I was kicking and thrashing. Somepony was fighting against me, pushing down on me, and that pony flipped me onto my back. My body still wanted to struggle, fear still strong, but I finally opened my eyes to see Gunny standing over me, looking down at me as he bodily pinned me to the floor. His weight and his strength easily kept me still, even as I struggled to calm down underneath him. I was sweating profusely, breathing quickly, and I was unable to think straight. I snapped my eyes up to him as he said my name again. “Calm down, Nova.” Gunny said, seeing that he finally got my attention. “Calm down, relax. You’re with us. You’re in Proudspire, remember?” 

Around me, I could see that my friends were all wide awake and looking at me. They were watching at a distance, and to my embarrassment, I saw that even Kayla, Ironhoof, and Redfield had all come down the stairs to see what the commotion had been about. With all of them around me, I was finally beginning to get my bearings. “Nightmares are scary.” Kayla said, looking over at me with concern. 

“You just had a bad dream Nova.” Gunny added, stepping off of me and helping me to my hooves. 

“I’m sorry… for waking all of you up.” I said, feeling groggy as I regulated my breathing. 

“There’s only a half hour before morning. It’s about time for us all to get up anyway.” Redfield said through a yawn. Seeing that we weren’t under attack, he left back up the stairs, Ironhoof following him.

“I’ll get some breakfast for you if you like.” Kayla offered as she made her way to the staircase. 

“We have our own supplies.” Gunny replied respectfully. “We can eat some of our own food so that you can keep more of your own.” When Kayla left with a nod, Gunny looked back at me, placing a hoof on my back. “You buck hard, you know that?” he asked. 

I was confused at what he meant, my mind still clouded, until I saw the thin streamer of blood that had trickled down from the left corner of his mouth. “Did I do that?” I asked, my ears flattening back against my head. At Gunny’s nod, I lowered my gaze. “I'm sorry Gunny… I didn’t mean to.” 

“It’s not a big deal.” he said, shaking his head. “I’ve had worse. Are you going to be alright now?” 

I looked up at him, his eyes speaking his concern, and I slung my forelegs around his neck to hug him, pulling him in tightly and not wanting to let go. “Thanks for waking me up.” 

“That bad huh?” he asked, to which I only nodded. “Well, it was just a dream. You’re safe here now.” He gave me a pat on the back before I finally let him go, and he nodded over to my saddlebags. “Getting something to eat and drink might help you too. After that, you and Blake and I can head over to the general store. Sound good?” 

“Yes Gunny. Thanks.” I replied, making my way over to my saddlebags. But I had no sooner raised my hoof to open the saddlebag than Blake stepped up to me and butted in, making me draw my foreleg back. “What are you doing?” I asked, blinking.

“You had a bad dream. Let me help.” he said, immediately opening the saddlebag to look through its contents. “And don’t say that it isn’t a big deal, because it is. I hate nightmares.” 

Despite everything, I couldn’t help but giggle. “Really Blake?… Fine.” I said, sitting down on my haunches as he rolled out a fresh apple to me. “Thanks baby brother.” 

“You’re welcome.” he said, smiling proudly. “So we’re going to the store first? I wonder what that will be like.”

“I don’t know anymore about it than you do.” I replied before taking a bite out of my apple. “Apparently it’s a place where we can buy things, sell things we don’t need, or do trading. It sounds like a big part of the wasteland life, so the sooner we learn about it the better off we’ll be.” 

“Do we have anything that we can trade?” Blake asked as he fished out a carrot from his saddlebags. 

“No… I don’t think so.” I answered. “We’ll have to see what we can do when we get there.” 

“Maybe they’ll have another ball there.” Blake thought aloud, and at my smile, he explained, “A friend of mine back home wanted one herself. She said that she left hers in the Stable so I told her that I would find her one.” 

“Well that’s very sweet of you.” I said. “We’ll be sure to keep an eye out for one when we get to the store, and then we’ll bring it back home with us if we get lucky. Who is this friend of yours, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Her name is Melody.” Blake said. “She’s the one you saved in the Stable.” So Melody was the name of the filly that I owed some drawing time to; I wouldn’t forget it. “She played in our game of kickball too, and that made her really want a new ball. So I told her that I’d find one. I’m thinking that if I don’t, I’ll just give her mine. It’s not like she would hog it or anything.” 

“We’ll see if we can’t find one for her, one way or another.” I assured, proud of my little brother’s generous spirit.

Breakfast went by quickly, and the rest of the half hour we had to ourselves was spent reequipping ourselves in all of our gear. Both Redfield and Ironhoof suggested this because of the high potential for another Black Blood attack during the day. “I’d be ready for at least one if not two.” Redfield had explained. “Attacks are random, but we always get warning ahead of time thanks to our eyes up on the wall. So if you hear some shouting going along the wall, you’d best be ready for a fight. I’ve already told my guards about you and Shore and Gunny. They’ll call for you if the time comes.” The fact that this city lived under a constant threat of assault from the Black Blood Raiders was disconcerting. This was more so because of the fact that the ponies here had adopted the attacks as a routine part of life. When an attack came, those who couldn’t fight had to hide within their homes, and those who could fight would be up on the wall. It was a rough lifestyle to tack on to the already tough living brought by the Equestrian wasteland itself. 

When we stepped outside into Proudspire, the slightly brighter cloud cover to the east showed that it was early morning, and there was a scattering of ponies out of their houses already. Most of them were guards, distinguished by their leather armor and the weapons they carried with them. “The store should be open by now.” Redfield said to me as he begun making his way to the Proudspire gate. “Abigail is an early bird most of the time, so you’ll probably be her first customers. I’ll be up on the wall if you need anything. When you start working, just make sure you knock and check in with whatever pony’s in charge of the building you go to. Good luck, and thanks again.” 

With that, Gunny, Blake, and I were left by the entrance of Kayla’s quarters. Over breakfast, we had gone over what we could get rid of for a little extra spending money. Alas, we only had the salvaged SMG and its ammo from one of the raiders we had encountered and killed the previous day. “It’ll be interesting to see how shops work.” I commented as the three of us made our way to the general store next door. “I heard the Overmare talk so much about how her ancestors were shop owners in the pre-war days. It will be enriching to actually see a shop.”

“Yes, it will be interesting to know how they operate, even if shopping isn’t really my thing.” Gunny replied. 

“Unless the shopping involves lots of firepower?” I asked, smirking as I heard Gunny sigh. 

“Well you know me.” Gunny began with abundantly clear sarcasm. “When I see a whole arsenal of weapons that I can buy I just turn into a little school filly.” 

“Oh I know.” I answered, giggling as we stepped up to the entrance. But just as Gunny was about to knock, the door shimmered with magic and swung open. 

Inside the building, we beheld a room identical to the room we had slept in last night. The main chamber took up the majority of the first floor with a smaller room off to the left and a flight of stairs in the back that led to the second floor. In front of the stairs was a large countertop table that spanned from wall to wall. On the tabletop was a line of various items from weapons to clothing to food and medicine and even random bits of junk and similar items that I couldn’t figure a use for. Behind the counter was a peach colored unicorn mare with a vanilla colored mane and tail. The mare was tidying up the countertop in preparation for the day, and spotting us, she waved us inside. “Welcome to my humble shop.” she said in warm welcome. “So you must be some of the ponies that have been causing a bit of a stir around town. I’ve heard a bit about you and your adventures in the saloon. I always go there after I close up the shop, and ponies are always talking. They say that you came from a Stable and that you left and reestablished Hopeville. That’s quite a feat under the conditions made by our favorite raiders.”

“We’ve had plenty of encounters with them already, ma’am.” Gunny replied. “But everything you heard was true. I’m Gunny, and this is my friend Nova and her brother Blake.”

The peach colored mare placed her fore hooves on the counter to see all of us, and she smiled at Blake. “Oh he looks like a dear.” she said, to which Blake puffed out his chest. 

“He’s my baby brother.” I said, giving a mischievous grin as I messed up his mane with a hoof; he frowned comically before he readjusted his hair. 

“Well, I welcome all of you to Proudspire. I’m Abigail and I’ve been running this shop for years. It’s my life’s work really. I started out in a settlement called Plainwell off to the northeast, but when I was a young mare I moved out and set out to find my own living. I found Proudspire and they gave me a building of my own when I told them that I was pursuing a profession in the wasteland trade. Since I started here I’ve built this place up with my own hooves and kept it running. And best of all, I’ve done right by Proudspire’s Chiefs. So I know I’m doing alright.” She spoke with jubilant pride, her words showing that she was very happy with her accomplishments.  

“We’ve only read about shops and the like in our classes.” I explained. “It’s a strangely fascinating thing to see one with my own eyes instead of through the words of a textbook.

“Is that so?” Abigail inquired. “Well that’s mighty curious that they wouldn’t have a shop in a Stable, but I’ll be darned if I know. Anywho, if your looking to buy, sell, or trade, then this is the place to be. I do have some things I can sell since my shop hasn’t been completely devoted to supplying the townsponies. It will be soon enough with the raiders always knocking on our wall, but for now I still have supplies of my own. You’re all welcome to browse if you like.” 

“We do have one thing we’re hoping to trade in or sell.” Gunny explained as we stepped up to the counter. Using his magic, he lifted up my saddlebags to a clear spot on the counter and pulled out the 9mm SMG and its remaining ammo. “When we found this, it was in decent condition according to Nova’s Pipbuck, so hopefully it’ll be of some use.”

“Oh yes.” Abigail said, levitating the SMG to her eye level to look it over. “If nothing else, this one can be disassembled for the better parts. That’s typically what we do with weapons we don’t get from Lucky Hallion, raider weapons or not. All the weapons we scrounge up after a tangle with a raider band get sent to the armory. Unfortunately I don’t get to put any of those on the counter. But anyway, this weapon is enough for seventy caps by itself, and the remaining ammo with it is worth about ten more. So if you’re looking to sell the gun and its ammo, you’d get eighty caps out of the deal. Sound good?” 

“Sounds good.” Gunny replied, and in a flash, Abigail traded the weapon and its ammo for a pouch of jangling metal, the promised caps. When Gunny took it and combined it with his own remaining caps, he said, “One hundred and twenty. Is there anything here that I might be able to afford, ma’am?” 

“Oh you make it sound like you wouldn’t be able to afford anything.” Abigail said with a laugh. “Of course dear, I have plenty of things for sale that you can afford. I always make sure my customers leave with something, even if its just caps or some small trinket. I don’t have much in terms of stock, but another supply caravan or two should fix that. Everything on the counter is what’s left of my supply aside from a few things under the table. Please feel free to browse what I have.” 

“Actually, I was going to ask if you had one item in particular.” I stated, looking down at Blake who gave a hopeful smile up at me. “My brother and I are looking for a toy for young fillies and colts to play with. Specifically we’re hoping to find a kickball, or something very similar. Do you happen to have something like that?”

“I might.” Abigail said as she disappeared behind the counter to search through what she hadn’t put on display. A brief moment later, and she had found something that fit the bill to the letter. She levitated a blue ball, very similar to Blake’s in size, up onto the counter; Blake gave a cheer at seeing the replica toy. “Is this what you were looking for?” Abigail asked, looking at Blake with a smile. 

“That’s exactly it.” I answered, rather amazed that she would have this item at all. Given her own supply situation, mashed together with Proudspire’s raider problem, I had been of the mind that we would have to search across half the wasteland to find what Blake was looking for. “Where did you get it from?”

“I was scavenging.” Abigail answered. “I’m not really one to sort through things and pick the best items out of a pile. I’m quite the packrat when it comes to scavenging, so I take everything I can fit in my saddlebags. Then I sort through everything and assign it a value based on quality of the item, and what the item actually is. Of course, a pony isn’t going to want to buy a damaged garden gnome for thirty caps, so I have to think rationally about my prices. In the end, I feel that every item is something that somepony will need somewhere down the road. So I keep pretty much everything I find. I’ve never been proven wrong yet, and you’re helping me against being proven wrong by saying that you were looking for this ball.”

“That’s an interesting way of doing things… I’m just the exact opposite.” Gunny commented with a smirk. “If I were a merchant, and I thank Celestia that I’m not, then I would deal only in weapons. The rest of the stuff I’d just leave alone and let somepony else find.” 

“Every merchant has his or her special way of doing things.” Abigail replied. “Taking everything I find while scavenging is my thing, and I’ve prospered because of it.”

It definitely worked out for me and my current goal, and I smiled at her. “How much for the toy ball?” I asked. 

“Oh it’s a little thing, but I can tell that your brother will have a wonderful time with it.” Abigail said, smiling down at Blake again. “I’d say five caps, and then its yours to take home.” 

“Deal.” I said, not thinking twice. There was no need to, but I saw Gunny looking at me with a raised eye. He looked more amused than anything else, and because of this, I made my own little joke for it and fluttered my eyes at him. “Pleeeeease Gunny?” I asked, looking up at him with what I thought were those tricky puppy-dog eyes. He looked down at me with that raised eye, the corner of his mouth rising in a smile before he turned away and gave a short laugh, shaking his head. And then he levitated up his bottle caps and set five over the counter, and the deal was sealed. “Thanks Gunny.” I said with a pleasant smile before I saw the ball roll off the counter. It bounced once and came back down whereupon Blake caught it. As he set to work fitting it within his own saddlebags, I looked over the other items on the counter. Disappointingly, there was really nothing else that I found interesting. While I politely browsed over everything, Gunny sent over twenty-five more caps to buy a small box of slugs for his shotgun which he stowed away in his security armor. Afterwards, that was the end of our first venture into the store. 

As we stepped out of the door and back into the streets, I saw Gracie and Shore as they trotted across the courtyard. They departed to head to their places of work, Shore going directly to the ammo press and Gracie carrying her medical supplies to the clinic. “I’m going to the armory.” Gunny said to me, looking over at the building next to the general store. “Redfield said some ponies in there might need help repairing some things, so I’ll see what I can do. You’re welcome to come with me if you life, you and Blake. I’m sure they wont mind.” 

“I’m not a medical pony or a repair pony.” I replied. “So I think my role in Proudspire is going to be limited to guard duty. Now that we’ve visited the store, I think I should get up there and see if there’s anything I can help with. I’d just be getting in the way in the armory.” 

“If you say so.” Gunny said with a shrug. “Guess I’ll see you this evening then.” 

“See you Gunny.” When he trotted off to the armory, I turned to Blake and nudged him along with a foreleg. “Let’s get you to the clinic so you can stay with Gracie. When you’re in there, I want you to help her whenever she needs it. Other than that, you have a free day today.”

“Can I walk around town?” Blake asked as he trotted along beside me.

“I suppose that if Gracie doesn’t need any help you can. Just be careful.” I warned. “Even if we are helping these ponies, they’re still strangers, just like we are to them.”

“I know, I know.” Blake said. “I can take care of myself. I promise.” 

“I’m sure you can little brother.” I replied as we stopped by the entrance to the clinic. Knocking on the door, I bent down and kissed Blake on the forehead. “I’ll see you later this evening. If you need anything, I’ll be up on the wall.”

“I’ll be fine big sis.” Blake assured once again before the clinic door opened. 

A white mare with a maroon colored mane and tail looked at us through large glasses. “Can I help you?” she asked quickly; it seemed that she was already at work. 

“Hi, I’m friends with Rosemary Grace and I just wanted to drop my little brother off with her before I go to my duties for the day.” I answered with a smile.

“Oh, I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” the white mare replied. “We have a lot of patients in here and I don’t want…” 

“It’s okay. I can keep an eye on Blake while we work.” I heard Gracie call from inside. Though the white mare looked a little irritated by this, she sighed and stepped aside to let Blake inside. 

With a thank you, I left the clinic and trotted across the town center to the gate. There was a flight of metal stairs that led up to the top of the wall, and even as I begun to ascend them, I saw a guard pony stop and watch me. I recognized the dark green earth pony stallion as Cross, my previous savior, and he stepped aside to allow me up to the wall. “Welcome to the wall.” he said with a smirk. “Here’s where the real fun is around Proudspire. Up here, we pick a spot, set up our gear, and we stare at the wasteland and look for baddies. Then, if we’re lucky enough, we get to take a few out and show them the error of their ways.” 

“Sounds easy enough.” I replied, trying to get into the same level of battle-eagerness as him; it didn’t work, and he saw right through it.

“You haven’t been around fighting too much have you? Yeah, any Stable left over from the Great War probably doesn’t see shit like that." he said, not giving me a chance to answer his question. "But hey, you’re in good hooves now, and we’ll show you how we get things done.”

“Cross, you need to get back to your post.” a stallion’s firm command sounded nearby. Redfield was just down the wall, and he saw his subordinate chatting away with me. Cross gave a salute to him and he made to depart, not before whispering to me, “When our shift is up, could I see you for a moment?” 

I raised an eye at him, but his tone and the look in his eyes had a very serious complexion, as if he really wanted to speak with me later. For saving my life, I could honor that request. “Sure thing Cross.” I answered, to which he smiled and trotted away to his place at the wall. 

“Nova, come here a second.” Redfield said, waving me over to him from farther down the wall. When I approached, he resituated his eye patch and said, “I’m glad you’re up here, we could use the extra eyes. How do you feel about some flying?” 

“I’ve done patrolling and overwatch up in the air before.” I answered. “But uh… I wont be flying away from Proudspire will I?” 

“No, not at all.” Redfield answered. “I just want you to fly above the town at intervals. Having eyes up there will let us know ahead of time if another assault team of raiders is moving towards us. That’ll help us out a lot.” 

“I can do that.” I nodded, relieved by his answer at my question. “Where should I go on the wall?” 

“You’ll be right here next to me.” Redfield answered. “I’ll have you go up into the air for five minutes every thirty minutes or so. When you’re not in the air, you’ll be looking through those binoculars for hostile hit-squads.” As he raised a foreleg to point at his balcony, I saw an LMG resting on the railing on a mounted bipod that was fastened to the wall. Next to it was another device, mounted onto the railing in a similar fashion. It looked like a pair of rifle scopes that were put together side by side, making a pair of tubes with lenses built into them. 

“What a strange device.” I remarked, intrigued but confused.

Redfield chuckled. “All you have to do is put your eyes up to it and push it around with a hoof. You’ll get used to it ten seconds flat.” And with that, my first long day in Proudspire began.

***				***				***

The end of our shift was drawing near now, at long last. Having been up on the wall for the past seven hours up to this point was brutal on my spirits, and I was about ready for some sort of scenery change. Guard duty had consisted of two things, one of which was flying. Between every thirty minute interval of time, I would fly up above Proudspire to get a wider view of the wasteland around the little town. While repetitive, flying above the town did allow me to see the full scope of Proudspire’s problems. The Black Blood had set up two larger camps for their campaign against Proudspire. One was positioned due east of the town, the second positioned to the south. Both of them were just barely visible on the horizon, leaving lots of open wasteland between them and their target. I didn’t exactly understand why they were positioned so far away, but I did know that these positions were strategic enough to block Proudspire from Challenger. According to my Pipbuck, which now had five map markers on its larger map, the path to Challenger would pass right in between the two camps, making a perfect bottleneck for any caravan trying to come through. And out beyond and around these camps, there could be other Black Blood threats that I wasn’t aware of yet. I could grimly admire the tact behind the positioning of the camps; maybe the Black Blood weren’t all idiotic raider ponies after all. 

The second duty of my shift, which was the most painstaking of the two, was spotting. The job was simple enough, as I only had to stand there and look through the binoculars for any signs of trouble. Sometimes I’d even look out into the wasteland without them, but that did nothing to cure the shameful boredom that I suffered. There was a half hour of spotting, and then five minutes of flying. Then it would be back to spotting. Throughout my shift, I had to constantly remind myself about the commitment I had made in helping these ponies out and it was that reminder that kept me running through the tedious procedures smoothly. The saving grace that partnered up with this sense of duty was the fact that ponies on the wall were allowed to call to nearby fellow guards and chat, so long as they kept their eyes out over the wasteland. Therefore, conversations with Redfield and Cross became a much needed salvation from the dull atmosphere that guard duty brought about. 

I pulled my eyes away from my binoculars and blinked, shaking each of my legs in turn to keep them from aching. From my left, Redfield offered me his canteen which I gladly took a drink out of. Proudspire’s water was irradiated, but only at a very minor level, and so my geiger counter clicked briefly before remaining silent. Fortunately, I still had very little radiation in my system, so that was one thing that I could keep my mind off of. Still, being on guard duty had given me a lot of time to also think of Hopeville and what the future would have in store for it. Thinking about future outcomes that haven’t happened yet was a terrible habit of mine, as was letting my mind wander back to the same thoughts again and again after I thought I had stopped thinking about them… oh what a mess.

“Everypony, heads up! The raiders are here to play, west side!” a voice shouted, snapping me away from my bout of thinking.

“Show time, Nova.” Redfield said, detaching his LMG from its mount. Within seconds, the entire wall was alive with activity as guards ditched their posts to run to the west side of the wall and set up their weapons. Turning off the safety of my battle saddle, I followed Redfield as he ran along the wall to join the others. Even as I ran, I could see ponies below as they were herded into the inner ring of buildings. From my vantage point on the wall, I couldn’t help but stop my trot and search. Blake had to be down there somewhere, and with the coming fight, I really hoped that he was with Gracie. I couldn’t see much between the buildings, and I felt my wings fan out on instinct. I wanted to search for Blake and make sure that he was safe myself. “Nova, come on!” I heard Redfield shout as he took up a place by the railing. “Your friends will be fine. We need you up here right now.” 

I took a look back at the town below, fighting the urge to go and find my baby brother… but I tore myself away from it and joined Redfield by the wall. Even as I stepped up to him, I could see the raiders on the approach. There were two dozen of them advancing up the field, all garbed in black and red armor and armed to the teeth with a variety of rifles and sidearms. Seeing them this well armed made me glad that I was fighting beside a whole town’s worth of guards. “Light em up!” Redfield shouted, and I heard the cracks of rifles echo along the wall. Only a few ponies were firing the first shots of the skirmish, those ponies looking through the scopes of sniper rifles. Even as I saw two of the raiders in the pack fall, the rest begun to charge and bullets struck against the metal wall as they returned fire. The skirmish quickly escalated into a cacophony of gunfire as everypony on the wall begun to fire, igniting the battle. 

I activated S.A.T.S. and took aim for the closest raider of the pack. At this distance, my chances to hit my target were slimmer, and I fired one pair of shots at the head of my target; I missed. As I attempted to line up another shot, sparks flew off the metal I stood behind, and I ducked back down behind cover. Beside me, Redfield was turning his LMG on its swivel mount with his magic, and he added his own thunder to the noise. Waiting a moment, I prepared to use S.A.T.S. again, and when I reared up over my cover again, I saw that some of the raiders were moving closer to the wall. Activating S.A.T.S. again, I targeted the same raider pony, aiming for the torso. A second pair of shots, and the raider went down, not dead, but wounded to where he couldn’t run. Encouraged by my luck, I used S.A.T.S. one more time and targeted the nearest raider, and when I fired, the pair of shots caught the raider in the foreleg. 

“Nova!” I heard beside me, seeing Redfield as he used his magic to reload his LMG. “They’re starting to make their way to the gate! Go back around and make sure they don’t lay their filthy hooves on it!” Even as he spoke, other guards were abandoning their posts to run back to the north side of the wall. Out in the field, the raiders were advancing in a loose column, half of them running and half of them shooting, all of them making a run for Proudspire’s gate. I turned back and followed the wall to its northern face, passing by several guards on the way as they kept up the defense. Stopping just beside the gate mechanism on the walkway, I found Cross as he fired his rifle, balancing it on the railing and shooting with a custom firing bit built into the body which allowed him to stabilize the rifle against his shoulder. Behind the gate itself, the streets were now empty, all of the civilians having fully evacuated into their homes; that meant that Blake was safe and I could focus on the defense effort. 

I looked back into the fields, stepping up next to Cross and taking aim with S.A.T.S.. The raiders were getting closer, and though more of the group had been killed, their charge kept strong. Now that I could see them more closely, I saw that they were gradually packing themselves up tighter, compressing their ranks and moving as a single unit. I targeted the raider in front, my spell having enough energy for one aimed shot, and I fired but missed. I ducked back down on instinct, waiting for S.A.T.S. to fully recharge, and Cross joined me behind cover to avoid being shot. Firing one more shot blindly, his rifle echoed with a distinguished *ping* sound as the rifle ejected the empty clip. Then, pulling the weapon down to him, he nudged out a fresh clip from his saddlebag and fitted it into the receiver with a pair of clicks. He looked at me, spotting me before I could look away, and he laughed… he laughed?! “Come on Nova! On three, let’s get back over cover and take out a couple more!” he called with a grin.

“How can you be laughing during the middle of a firefight?!” I exclaimed, totally lost.

“Because this is ze magicks  of Proudspire! Killing raiders is what we do!” he explained triumphantly. “Now come on! Three… two… one!” He took his battle rifle by the firing bit and swung it over to rest it on the railing as he emerged from cover. In one swift move, his battle-excitement was replaced by fierce concentration as he aimed and fired, and pushing aside my earlier shock, I reared back up over cover with him and targeted another advancing raider with S.A.T.S.. Two pairs of shots, and my target went down, his head turning to mush under the combined power of my carbine and Fire Rose. Then I had to duck back down to cover again, Fire Rose's auto loader ejecting the empty pistol magazine and reloading the weapon. 

Snapping back up, I saw that the raider group was cut down nearly by half. We were gaining the upper hoof, quickly, showing the recklessness and inexperience of the raiders we fought… damn it, I thought that too soon. Just as I begun to line up another shot with my partially recharged S.A.T.S. spell, I saw as two objects came sailing through the air towards us. They were metal apples, their stems removed. Briefly, my mind flashed back to the memory of the evacuation of the Stable, the six metal apples being thrown through the smoke, exploding violently and hideously killing five ponies. “Watch out for those grenades!” I shouted to the nearest pony as they came hurling towards the wall. Next to me, I heard Cross spread the warning, and as I threw myself down to the floor, I saw a fast-acting unicorn mare snatch the grenades with magic and hurl them skyward where they exploded harmlessly over the town. However, not everypony was as fortunate, as I saw fire from two other explosions erupt nearby. The explosions looked to do some damage to the wall, and one pony was thrown back along the walkway, but it didn’t look like any casualties resulted from the blasts. 

Immediately, the guards responded with grenades of their own, hurling out three of them towards the raiders, and even before they detonated, a full volley of retaliatory fire was thrown from the wall. I got back to my hooves at the sound of the explosions and reared back over cover to take aim with S.A.T.S.. Even through the smoke, the spell showed where raiders were still pushing forward. The grenades had done some damage, and they had lost over half of their party. Targeting the closest raider once again, I fired three pairs of shots into his torso and down he went. At my right side, I felt as the auto loader of my markspony carbine went to work, kicking out an empty magazine and replacing it with a new one. Just as I was about to fire again, I felt as Cross pulled me down to cover with him. Shocked out of my concentration, I stared at him as he pulled his saddlebags between us. “What are you doing??” I demanded; Goddesses, Cross was a strange stallion.

“Finding a present for the raiders!” Cross called over the gunfire, quickly sifting through his saddlebags and smirking as he found what he was looking for. Reaching into the saddlebag with a foreleg, he rolled out two metal apples, passing one of them to me and keeping one for himself. “Have you thrown one of these before?” he asked. “Just take the pin in your teeth, bite down on it, and toss your head towards the bad guys!” 

“I’ve thrown one before!” I called back, looking nervously at the grenade. “But I don’t like using them much!” 

“There’s nothing to it!” Cross assured me energetically. “Come on, you can do it!” He took his grenade in his teeth, looking at me expectantly, and with a sigh I took the second explosive by the stem, bracing to emerge from cover again. And then with a nod, Cross and I stood up from cover and tossed the grenades, the stems staying behind in our teeth. While my grenade didn’t go as far as Cross’s, mine hit the ground and bounced to land in front of the advancing raiders. Cross’s landed dead on in the center of the group, and the two grenades exploded in a violent cloud of fire and dirt. 

With the group of raiders scattered, Cross and I returned to cover; he laughed again. “Heads up, heavy weapon coming through!” I heard a stallion call from my right, and I saw as a unicorn stallion came galloping through, leaping over me and continuing along the wall. By his side, he was levitating a large metal tube, longer than the stallion himself was. I couldn’t tell what the device was until Cross called to me and explained briefly that it was a missile launcher. Crouched behind cover, I could see as the stallion set the tube down and opened it at the middle, levitating one of the two “missiles” strapped to his back and cramming it into the tube. Then as he closed the launcher back up, he raised it above the wall and pointed it downward. With a roar, the missile flew outward and struck the ground with a mighty explosion. I dared to look out over cover, and I saw the smoke left over from the missile’s impact. All around the missile’s blast zone were the bodies of the dead, the missile having struck the remaining raiders head on, making for a brutal finishing attack on the war party. Only three raider ponies remained, and those raiders were on the retreat now, forfeiting all hope of any success in their latest attack by throwing away their weapons and fleeing for their lives. 

“That’s right you mothers, RUN!” I heard Cross shout after a laugh, even as the snipers took shots at them as they fled. When he turned to look at me, he grinned. “See? Quick and painless with lots of fire. That’s how we deal with raiders in Proudspire… hey, that rhymed.” 

My mouth hung open slightly as I stared with bewilderment at the dark green riflepony. In just one day, he had proven to me that there was nopony in Proudspire that could match his eagerness for fighting. He was a good guard, but I found it hard to accept his attitude towards bloodshed. For me, killing was nothing to be proud of… hell, that statement sounded too professional for me. But still, fighting was serious business and Cross seemed nearly on the verge of making a game out of it. “You are just…” I began, stammering as I tried to express my thoughts through words. 

“Tactical? Brave? Awesome? Or just handsome perhaps? ” he volunteered to me smugly, raising a foreleg and gazing out towards the battlefield as he snapped to a heroic pose. 

In truth, he partly was some of those things. He was good at his job, able to think fast and work hard under the pressure of a gunfight without loosing his head to fear or anger. But still… “You’re crazy.” I said, unable to hold back a laugh. 

“Eh, I’ll take that.” Cross said, his smirk resurfacing as he picked up his battle rifle and leaned it against the metal railing. 

“We’re all clear!” I heard from farther down along the wall, Redfield checking the damage. “Nice work everypony. Chalk up your kill count in the saloon, and consider your shift officially over for the day. Y’all earned it.” A cheer went up from the guards as the atmosphere begun to ease, and ponies went to work collecting up their equipment for the shift change. As I watched, I saw that we had taken no casualties. Three wounded ponies were being helped away by their comrades, and a fourth had to be bodily carried down the wall, the mare having taken a nasty series of shrapnel wounds. 

“Seems like we did a helluva job.” Cross remarked from behind me, and I raised an eye in question. “In the past few raids, we’ve lost a couple ponies. This is actually one of the first raids that we haven’t actually lost anypony. Kind of brings a little bit of hope back into the picture. Maybe soon we’ll finally be able to get out of this little hole the Black Blood have dug for us. Nice job.” 

He spoke with precision and confidence, his leftover battle-eagerness cast aside. Despite his differences in personality, Cross, like the others he served with, really wanted their conflict to be over with. They had lost many lives, suffering heartbreak after heartbreak, and yet their will to fight continued even after fourteen days of relentless attack from the Black Blood. I could hear this in Cross’s voice, and I could sympathize with that. “We all did a good job.” I replied to him with a smile. “Proudspire will get out of this…” 

“No I mean it.” Cross interrupted, taking a step closer to me. “I’m glad you and your friends are on board with us, and I’m glad you decided to come help. You say that you owe it to us, but really, by helping Proudspire, you’re doing more for us than we did for you.” 

“No, now you’re just being silly.” I insisted. “I really do owe it to you for saving my life and my little brother. This is me honoring my debt to you.” 

“But you’re helping out an entire town in need, over one hundred ponies. That’s no small thing.” Cross pointed out.

“But neither is saving a young colt who’s the most important pony in the world to a mare trying to help her friends.” I countered with a smile. 

Cross sighed but laughed. “Should we just call it even then?” he asked.

“Maybe we should.” I replied, laughing with him. 

Down below, the civilians were emerging from their shelters, cautiously entering the streets. Then came the reunions as guards found their loved ones, the streets filling with chatter. While Cross and I had been standing at our place on the wall, the entire day shift of guards had left the wall and the evening shift was setting up their equipment along the balconies. We were the last ones on the wall, and seeing the reunions down in the streets made me all the more eager to find my brother, now that I was allowed to. But just before I made to leave, I felt as Cross tapped a hoof on my shoulder. I turned, a foreleg raised in mid-stride, and he asked, “Could I ask you something before you leave?” 

I had forgotten that he had wished to speak to me after our shift. Of course, why wouldn’t I have forgotten in the middle of a skirmish with raiders? “Of course. Go ahead.” 

“I was um,” he began, shifting. His rising nervousness was easily noticeable, and that surprised me. This was coming from a stallion that laughed during firefights… why would he be nervous about anything? “I was hoping that perhaps you’d let me buy you dinner tonight at the saloon.” 

Oh… that was why. “Um…” I began, my mind shifting to try and find an answer. For me, the question was awkward, but only in the sense that the question had never been asked to me before. Didn’t ponies usually eat by themselves or with their friends and family? And why did he want to buy me dinner when I had supplies of my own? Why was he so tentative about the request? If nothing else, perhaps this was the forming of a new friendship, a way to make my first friend out in the wasteland, away from the Stable ponies. Having more friends meant having more connections for Hopeville, and every friend of Hopeville was a friend that would help in the town’s restoration and the prospering of my fellow Stable dwellers. “Sure. I’d love to catch dinner.” I replied, smiling as my thoughts clicked together, more or less. “First I need to find my brother. Then I’ll meet you in the saloon.”

Cross smiled a big smile. “Sounds good. I’ll see you there.” he said, turning to pick up his rifle and saddlebags before he trotted off down the wall. 

When he disappeared into the crowds below, I flipped the safety of my battle saddle to the on position and sprang into the air, the better to avoid the brunt of the crowds in the streets. I hovered in over the town center, scanning the area to search for my friends, and quickly, I saw a young colt jumping up and down in front of the clinic, looking up at me as he tried to catch my attention. By his side, Gracie and Shore were looking among the crowds, searching just like I was, and upon seeing me, they raised a hoof in a friendly wave. With haste, I dove downward towards them and snapped my wings back to pull up and land neatly before them, and Blake ran up to me to embrace me. I gratefully bathed him with affectionate nuzzling, glad that he had followed my instructions and remained with Gracie when the town was locked down. “When we heard the noise,” Gracie explained. “Gunny went running to the wall to help. Blake was staying with me in the clinic for the majority of the shift, and so he hid in the clinic with me when the town sealed up.” 

“I was in the ammo press for the day, and so I kept working when the skirmish began.” Shore added, adjusting his glasses. “Gunny was with me for awhile but then he left to fight. He should be in the crowds somewhere… ah there he is.” 

When I let my brother go, I craned my head around to see Gunny maneuvering around the gathered ponies in the town center and he stopped before us with a small smile. “Good to see you all safe and sound.” he said. 

“Likewise Gunny.” I replied, smiling as I noticed that he had also kept himself from being wounded in the skirmish. “Are you all done with your work too?” I asked him.

“I’m done with the ammo press and the armory for the day.” he answered. “Shore and I fixed most of the major problems, but while he got the terminal operable again, I still need another component for the ammo press to run. I’m going out with a couple of the Proudspire ponies to investigate some old ruined power plant to the southwest of here. It might have what I need.”

“But don’t you need to… you know, eat and sleep?” I asked with a raised eye. 

“Yeah this trip might be like a second shift, but the bonus is that I’ll get that ammo press running and then I’ll be able to make some fifty caliber cartridges. Let’s face it, we need to toss that rifle into the defense effort and quick.” Gunny said with finality. “I was actually going to ask if any of you wanted to come with me. We could use the extra hooves while we’re out there in the dark.” 

“I suppose that since we are fixing the ammo press together that I can accompany you.” Shore said. “A pre-war power plant might have other useful items worth bringing back to Proudspire.”

“They said that they scavenged there before, but not through the whole building.” Gunny explained as he recalled a previous discussion. “Something about pre-war robotic security. I’m sure it’s nothing we wouldn’t be able to handle.”

At the mentioning of robots, Shore beamed. “Well now I’m definitely interested. Oh just imagine if I could get one of them back here! I could program it for security or maintenance or even basic housekeeping…” 

“Easy there.” Gunny said with a smirk, pressing a hoof roughly against Shore’s muzzle to get him to quiet down. “You can come with me, just don’t go waltzing up to the first robot you see. It might zap you before you get a chance to tinker with it.” 

“I know that.” Shore insisted with a frown. “I’ve read about robots and their functions in the pre-war era. I know the basics about them and what I don’t know about them is what I can learn when we go to this power plant.” 

“Whatever you say brainiac.” Gunny chuckled, looking between Gracie and I. “What about you two? Interested?” 

“I’ll be working in the clinic for the rest of the evening until I treat the newly wounded. Then I’ll be ready for some sleep.” Gracie answered. “Working in the clinic all day has turned out to be a challenge all on its own.”

“Understandable. Nova?” 

“I actually have plans for the evening as well.” I said, feeling my face heat up slightly. “A guard pony invited me to dinner in the saloon, so I’m going to be there with him this evening.” 

“I see.” Gunny said, nodding slowly. “Alright then. We’d better be off to get some food before we head out. We should be back around midnight I imagine.” 

“Be careful out there, and try and come back in one piece.” Gracie encouraged, a bit doubtful but concerned all the same. 

“Only for you Grace.” Gunny called back jokingly, and he and Shore trotted off towards the diner across the town center. 

“Gunny concerns me sometimes.” Gracie huffed. “Him and his pride can be really stubborn sometimes.”

I laughed. “Well, he knows not to let that pride get in the way when it comes down to a fight. He’ll be fine, him and Shore both. Now, I need to get my battle saddle off. Could you give me a hoof real quick?” I asked to Gracie who nodded. 

Trotting back through the town center, its crowds now dissipating back into their homes, we came up to the door of Kayla’s quarters. It was unlocked, allowing for Gracie to open it with her magic, but when we stepped inside, nopony was in the building. Even when we called for Kayla, there was no reply. “She must be out doing something.” Grace said, using her magic to get my battle saddle off of my back. “With the attack, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was visiting Redfield. I’m sure she’ll be back in a bit. Anyway, I need to get back to my duties in the clinic. There’s still a few patients left that need to be looked over, so I’ll see you tonight Nova. Have fun at your dinner.” 

“See you.” I said back with a wave, looking down at Blake. “Stay with Gracie for a while longer while I go have dinner. After that I’ll pick you up and we can get some rest, okay?” At Blake’s nodding I smiled, giving him a quick hug before he scurried off after Gracie. 

Turning back to my gear, I nudged my battle saddle up against the rest of my belongings. All of our saddlebags that weren’t being used for the day had remained untouched along with everything that had been inside of them. Despite Cross’s offer to buy me a full diner, I was still half tempted to bring something of my own, even if it was just an apple. I remained uncertain about somepony buying food for me, feeling as if I didn’t really deserve the generosity. Besides, I was still a stranger in the town and even though I had told myself several times that Cross’s saving my life made him a valuable acquaintance, that hesitation at not being well known around Proudspire lingered in my thoughts. I was certain that if I stayed here long enough, I would gradually come to at least become accepted around the settlement, but for now, I felt like I needed to contribute more to Proudspire’s interests. Of course, I realized with a tingle of newfound hope, we still technically had two more days before Captain Saber wanted us to return to Hopeville. Well, technically he hadn’t ordered us to return in four days, so perhaps we could split off a bit more time in helping Proudspire. But then of course, that interfered with my initial desire to return to Hopeville as soon as possible. “Ugh, I hate having so many things to think about at once.” I mumbled as I finished looking over all of our provisions. Right now I had a dinner to go to, and I felt as hunger was beginning to catch up to me.

Leaving my supplies behind, I turned and made for the exit. But then I stopped as a smooth voice spoke from behind me. “Nova… Nova is it? I was hoping I might have a word.” I looked back around and saw Gabriel, the beige colored unicorn advisor of Proudspire. He was standing near the middle of the staircase, stopping in mid-stride as he asked his question. “I’m sure you have things you must attend to, but I was hoping you’d have a minute to spare so that I might make a request.” 

“Um, sure.” I answered uncertainly. “I don’t know how much help I can be to Proudspire’s advisor though.” Politics… I had read a couple books back in the Stable about pre-war leadership, and that was a subject I swore an oath to avoid. 

“Oh, don’t be so coy.” Gabriel said with a chuckle as he descended the rest of the stairs and stepped up before me. “You’re already proving to be quite the helping hoof to Proudspire. Up on the wall, you uphold your duty and your sense of commitment to a debt that you feel you must repay. If I recall correctly, it was Redfield and his guards that saved you from Butcher. Am I right?” 

“Yes, that’s right.” I agreed, feeling a tingle in my stomach… a rising nervousness. “Cross saved me.” 

“Yes, so then I am not mistaken.” Gabriel concluded with a nod. “Because of the events that transpired at the Black Blood’s outpost, you have taken it upon yourself to help Proudspire however you can. I’ve seen this up on the wall when you helped repel the recent attack by the raiders. That sense of duty, it’s power.”

“What’s your point?” I asked, trying to hold back my unease through a neutral face. 

“You’re… unique when it comes to strangers, and I understand now that your unique abilities could be rather helpful in completing a task that I need done. If you’re willing to listen, I will explain my situation.”

“I can try and help.” I replied, putting extra emphasis on the trying part. 

“First, let me ask you a question. You lived in a Stable, a place that was clearly run by some form of leadership. So I want to ask you, when it comes to leading a community, do you think that inheritance or experience would best fit the role of leadership?” 

Leadership? “My Stable was run by a family, and their lineage stretched all the way back to before the end of days.” I explained. “So really, inheritance and experience played their parts in concert. When one leader would step down, the next pony in the family line would take his or her place.” 

The small frown on Gabriel’s face showed me that that wasn’t the answer he was looking for. He nodded, but he spoke with more of a drive as he replied, “Inheritance to a leadership role brings about the highest risk of collateral damage to the infrastructure of a community. Why? Because unless a pony that is lined up to inherit a leadership role is trained by the pony before her, then there is no experience, no knowledge. Without that, a community can’t hardly hope to survive. It’s no easy task leading a settlement in the wasteland, even for a well-experienced pony, much less for a foal.” 

With a start of realization, which I hoped that I had hidden from Gabriel, I knew where this conversation was going. “Kayla is… young, true.” I said. “But she’s still Proudspire’s Chief. What exactly are you getting at here?” 

“It’s not that I dislike Kayla.” Gabriel answered smoothly. “But she isn’t fit to lead this settlement. You should be able to understand my reasoning. She doesn’t even have a month’s worth of experience under her hooves. She has to be ousted from her post, and a pony with more experience in the field has to be nominated to take her place.”

“And I assume you would nominate yourself?” I asked with narrowed eyes. 

“I would.” Gabriel answered easily. “I have been advising Proudspire’s Chiefs for years. I know this town like the back of my hoof. I know the landscape, the trade, how to maintain this settlement, get it out of this predicament with the raiders, and return Proudspire to its former glory. But I can’t do that with Kayla being the current Chief.” 

“If you have all of these ideas, then why don’t you just tell her and help her to make Proudspire better?” I asked. It was a perfectly reasonable question, but Gabriel didn’t see it as such.

“You deflect from the point Nova.” Gabriel said, ignoring my question in its entirety and glaring at me. “Kayla is in the way, and until she is out of the way, I cannot work to make Proudspire great again. This is what I need your help with.” 

I didn’t like this. “You want me to get Kayla out of the way?” I asked, baffled. “How would I do that?” 

“Take a wild guess.” Gabriel said, his face easing into a smirk. This was the first time I saw him grin at all, and it sent a chill along my back.  

“Wha…no… no, I-I don’t know what you’re planning, but I’m not going to take any part of that. In fact I think I should warn Kayla and Ironhoof to keep an eye on you.” I replied, trying to sound threatening. I thought that my words would have been enough to deter him from pursuing whatever plot he was formulating, but I was dead wrong; curse my nervous impulses.

He sighed. “Now that is a disappointment. So be it. Should you happen to rethink my request, I’ll leave the option open for you. Good day.” With that, he calmly turned back and made his way up the stairs to the second floor. I followed his movement until he disappeared beyond the top of the stairs. My mind only said one thing: Kayla and Ironhoof had to be warned. I had no doubt in my mind that the large earth pony would have no trouble keeping Gabriel in his place, no matter what the advisor unicorn might’ve been planning. 

Turning back, I left and trotted out into the town center. By now, the crowds from outside had dispersed completely, returning to their homes or patrolling on the wall for the evening guard shift. Even before I had begun making my way to the saloon, I could see Cross waiting outside its entrance, and upon spotting me he waved me over with a smile. He seemed to have a warm hello waiting for me, but I interrupted him, quickly saying, “Cross, I need to know if you’ve seen Kayla or Ironhoof. It’s important.”

Blinking, he asked, “What’s the rush? You gotta catch a train?” 

“Cross…” I said, fixing him with a stern stare.

“Alright, take it easy, I was just joking.” the green earth pony said with a smirk. “Yeah, they’re up in the diner. Just getting ready to leave I think. Why?” 

“I need to talk to them real quick.” I answered, turning to begin to trot to the diner, only to stop a few paces away. “Sorry Cross.” I added, turning back to him. “I’ll be as quick as I can, I promise.”

He looked at me from the entrance, his smirk fading to a look of awareness. “Is something wrong?” he asked.

“I think Kayla might be in danger.” I answered, and he raised an eye.

“What makes you think that?” 

I sighed. “Look, come with me to find Kayla and then I’ll explain everyth -- eep!” I felt a heavy tap on my shoulder, and I jumped, only to find that the pony responsible was none other than Ironhoof himself. He was looking down at me with a raised eye, still fully adorned in his heavy steel armor and equipped with his LMG. “Um, hi.” 

“You sounded rather urgent.” he observed. “You needed to talk to me?” 

“Yes, actually.” I answered. “I think there’s something bad happening around Proudspire.” 

“Really?” Ironhoof asked, his voice showing crystal-clear doubt. “And what might this be?” 

I could tell that the big guard pony was going to need some convincing. I took in a breath, and I spoke my explanation. “I think Kayla’s in danger. I went to Kayla’s quarters to drop off my battle saddle, and then I was on my way here when Gabriel asked to speak with me. He said that he wanted my help with a task and so I listened. But then he spoke about leadership, saying that Proudspire needed a different leader. I think he wants to take command of Proudspire, and get rid of Kayla at the same time.” 

Ironhoof frowned… not what I was hoping for. “Really, stranger…” he began, pausing to search for words. “that’s a rather bold claim coming from you. Gabriel is Kayla’s most trusted advisor, and certainly some ponies in Proudspire don’t see eye to eye with him, but he still has Proudspire’s interests in mind. I don’t think he would want to harm Kayla.” 

“That’s exactly it.” I said, putting his speech to silence to replace it with confusion. “The worst part about it is that he asked me to get Kayla out of the way. When I refused, he told me that he’d keep the offer available. Then he simply walked away as if the conversation never happened.” Ironhoof looked to be having difficulty coming up with a response, and I knew why; I was still technically a stranger, even if I had served on Proudspire’s wall for the day. “I know I’m a stranger, but you’ve got to believe me.” I pleaded. “Something’s going to happen and you need to be there to stop it when it does.” 

Ironhoof still stared at me, our eyes locked together as I waited for his response. Eventually, he let out a sigh. “Look, Nova, I appreciate you’re concern for Kayla’s safety, but her safety is my responsibility and not yours.” he said. “I don’t believe something will happen, but it is my job to keep all possible threats to Kayla’s life in mind. I’ll speak to Gabriel about what you told me, and I’ll stay alert.” 

From the diner entrance, I saw as the little leader of Proudspire herself came trotting out of the diner, apparently in good spirits. “Ironhoof.” she called. “Are you ready to go? I’m tired.” 

“I’ll be with you in a moment.” Ironhoof answered back before looking back down at me. “I’ll be sure to take what I’ve heard into account when speaking with Gabriel. You have my word stranger.” he said, dipping his head to me. And with that, he trotted back to Kayla, and the two headed for the Chief’s quarters to rest. 

“I guess that’ll have to do.” I muttered, still feeling rather unconvinced. “Gabriel’s up to something, I just know it.” 

“Ironhoof’s a tough buck.” Cross said, trotting up to my side. “He’ll make sure Kayla stays safe no matter what gets thrown at her.”

“Maybe I should just stay out of it.” I thought aloud, though not happily. 

“Right now, maybe you should just get something to eat.” Cross said, jabbing me in the side with a hoof, and I looked at him to see that familiar smirk I had seen so many times today. 

I smiled. “That sounds like a good idea, actually.” 

***				***				***

My eyes fluttered open as I awoke. It was dark in my room, and I could feel the body heat of another pony beside me. When I raised my head and looked, I saw Blake tucked under my right wing and snuggled up against my side, sound asleep and lightly snoring. Nearby to my left I could see Gracie, laying on her side and facing me as she likewise slept. But I didn’t see Gunny or Shore in our room, and I remembered that they had left for a scavenging trip a while back. Even through the haze of my sleepiness, I gave a silent prayer that I’d see them in the morning, and I sighed softly as I laid my head back down on the floor. Before I had woken up, I had been dreaming. But this dream wasn’t a nightmare, thank Luna. Instead, it was a rather accurate reliving of my dinner with Cross. The dinner was a total success in my opinion, and I had enjoyed the earth pony’s company. When we had entered the saloon, we were allowed to pick any table that wasn’t currently in use, and Sheila, the older mare who ran both the diner and the saloon, immediately served us with an appetizer recommended by Cross. I’d have to say that pre-war macaroni and cheese ranked up at the top of my list of favorite preserved foods. Afterwards, the main course consisted of one large dish which Cross and I shared. It was a meal made of a variety of pre-war foods, including apples, carrot slices, celery, an assortment of preserved flowers, and a side dish of applesauce with separate bowls for the both of us. This meal, brought with slightly irradiated water, made a very hearty dinner. Redfield had been right about Sheila - that older mare really knew how to throw together a good meal. 

Through the dinner, Cross had told me his life’s story, full of tragedy and determination. Cross was born in the Equestrian heartland, specifically in the city of Manehattan, raised in a camp of wastelanders that were attempting to make a settlement in the ruins of the pre-war metropolis. According to the earth pony, Manehattan held its own array of dangers that were foreign to the southeast. Due to a lack of ponies living in the city, creatures once confined to the pre-war forests and wild lands had set up home in the metropolis. The creature Cross described in detail was something called a Manticore, a creature with the head and body of a lion with large wings and a scorpion tail. It was these creatures that had been responsible for wiping out the small settlement that Cross was raised in. The attack had left him as the only survivor, his parents and friends all killed, and he was forced to survive on his own in the Manehattan ruins; he lived entirely without any possessions to his name and without any allies. 

As he grew and matured, he eventually came to find items that he could hang on to for more than a day, these items being things other than scraps of food and trickles of water. And when he aged into a young stallion, he left Manehattan behind and traveled southeast. This traveling brought more problems, as he frequently encountered raider bands. His first encounter had been something of great luck, as the first raider band that hunted him fell under attack by a wasteland caravan. The caravan rescued him, gave him medical attention, a stash of bottle caps, and gave him provisions to continue his travels. His continued journey led him to engagements with more raiders and more wasteland beasts, giving him a tremendous number of physical wounds come and gone and allowing him to hone his skills in combat. Of course, these constant battles were what made him develop what he called his battle craze. He had seen what raiders did to others in the heartland, and he said it outright that he loved to fight, so long as the fighting was between him and the bad guys. 

Over his journey out of the Equestrian heartland and into the southeast, Cross had developed that kind of honor that made him want to protect his home should he find a new one. And sure enough, after spending his foalhood alone in Manehattan, and then fighting raiders afterwards, he found Proudspire. The town, more open than the Stable, took him in and accepted him as a new riflepony. Since his acceptance as a resident of Proudspire three years ago, he had been serving the settlement proudly and faithfully. 

Because of his in-depth tale about his own life, I felt that I owed it to him to explain bits and pieces of my own life. I had told him about my family, their personalities, and what they did in the Stable. I ended up sifting through various memories and describing them to him, discussing my classes, my part-time occupation as a foalsitter, and my love for music and literature, all while reminiscing to myself. To my embarrassment, I had ended up breaking into tears once whereupon Cross led me outside the saloon, embraced me, and held me tight, letting me weep openly against him. The tears were brief, and we had managed to finish our dinner regardless, but after that little breakout, I had refused to discuss the Stable’s demise and the death of my parents. Instead, I had filled him in on our efforts on restoring Hopeville, explaining how we had found the town along with what we did within our first days in it. When I had finished by explaining that the town was being cleaned up, he had nobly declared that he would want to come with us to lend his hooves to Hopeville’s restoration. It was a touching offer, and it was what pretty much sealed our friendship. So, the dinner had been a success, and I swear I remember catching him looking back at me when we said our goodbyes…… I had looked back at him too… twice.

I smiled at the memory, shifting carefully to avoid stirring my brother from his slumber, and just when I closed my eyes to try and fall back asleep once again, I heard a noise. It was a soft sound, a gentle creak, and I opened my eyes again to find that the front door was opening. As the door slowly swung open, the soft light behind it faded away, and a pony nudged the door open and entered the first floor of the Chief’s quarters. The pony stopped briefly, nudging the door closed, and the pony’s figure became entirely encased in darkness. The only thing I could see in the dark was that the pony was a unicorn… and the pony begun to move. The unicorn crept towards the stairs, paused, and then suddenly cast a look over to me. I shut my eyes, hoping that I was quick enough to avoid being detected…… silence… and then I heard the gentle hoofsteps again. I raised an eye, seeing that the unicorn was moving up the stairs, and he disappeared onto the second floor. At that moment, my gut gave me a kick, and my brain begun to think as I became fully awake; something was wrong here.

I rose to my hooves, gently lifting my protective wing off of Blake, and though he shifted, he remained asleep. Looking back up to the second floor, I crept forward, sneaking up to the base of the stairs, and as quietly as I could, I made my way up after the unicorn. When I got to the top of the stairs, I could still see the dark silhouette of the unicorn making its way to the far end of the second floor. It was there that Kayla, Ironhoof, and Redfield slept, though currently, Redfield’s bed was empty. But as I carefully set hoof onto the second floor itself, I froze at seeing the unicorn’s horn begin to glow. It was wearing a pair of saddlebags, and I saw as one of the bags opened, a tool of sorts floating out of it. It was a slim plastic tube with a very long and pointy needle on the end of it, and before I could even blink, the unicorn thrust the needle square into Ironhoof’s neck. I quickly placed a hoof over my mouth to stifle a gasp. Ironhoof didn’t even stir, and I had no clue as to why… but then my eyes widened as the unicorn suddenly levitated two wicked knives from its saddlebags, and the unicorn’s head swung over to look down on the sleeping Kayla. 

Goddess damn it I KNEW IT! 

Forsaking stealth entirely, I sprang off of the floor and charged, and the unicorn turned back to face me just as I drove into it. We toppled forward, the two of us crashing into Kayla who woke with a scream, and I felt hot pain across my back as a knife sliced across it, dropping from its telekinetic field. Immediately afterward, I felt myself rise in the air, and I realized with shock that I was wrapped in magic. Before I could act, I was thrown into the wall and then sent skidding across the floor, the wound on my back searing with fiery pain. I came to a rude halt by hitting my head on the back wall, a terrible headache already forming as I staggered back to my hooves and charged forward again. The unicorn was facing Kayla, who was cornered and cowering against the wall, and the unicorn was raising his blades to attack. I intercepted the assailant once again, driving the unicorn into the wall and attempting to throw my weight against the pony to get away from Kayla. We fell to the floor in a wrestling match, but again, magic prevailed, and I was thrown once again, crashing through the circular table and tumbling along the floor to eventually come to a halt on my side. By now, I was gasping for air, and I could feel tremendous pain in my back as my wound bled openly; I couldn’t see it, but I felt the blood run along my coat. I struggled to my hooves once again, suddenly catching sight of one of the room’s cabinets ripping away from the wall, wrapped in magic. The attacker turned to see the floating piece of furniture, but the unicorn’s reaction came to late, and the cabinet struck him across the head, sending him toppling over Ironhoof’s bed and onto the floor amidst a pile of preserved pre-war food. Behind me, I saw Gracie, her horn shimmering with magic as she tore another cabinet off of the wall, readying it as another weapon, and she grunted again as she sent it at the attacker, just getting to its hooves. The cabinet struck the unicorn in the head again, sending the attacker back against the wall and making him loose focus on his blades, and they clattered to the floor. This was my chance, and springing forward, I pounced onto the unicorn. I landed over the attacker, scrabbling as the unicorn planted its hooves against me to shove me off. Unfortunately, I was a rather lightweight mare, and I slipped as the attacker shoved a second time. Landing on my side, I felt a hoof drive into my side, and I grunted in pain as the attacker threw himself over me. But right away, Gracie charged to us and barreled into the unicorn, driving him neatly into the corner whereupon she levitated her pistol and rammed it to the unicorn’s neck; she had brought her sidearm upstairs with her… good thinking. 

Finally, there was silence that only our heavy breathing disturbed, and I got to my hooves with a grunt and backed away; my back really hurt. “Nova!” I heard a foal’s voice call from the stairs, and I saw Blake as he galloped over to me. “You’re hurt… are you okay?” he asked, worried as he nuzzled me. 

I gladly pulled him close, but I didn’t answer, hearing Gracie as she recognized the attacker. “Gabriel…” …I knew it… “Why?…” 

No answer came from the advisor pinned by Gracie’s sidearm, but I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. When I turned, I saw with a gasp as one of Gabriel’s daggers rose into the air. But it didn’t turn to face Kayla, still huddled in the other corner… it turned to point at Gracie. “GRACE!” I shouted, just as the knife launched forward. 

With a cry of alarm, Grace fell out of the way just before the blade would’ve plunged into her. Instead, the knife continued forward, and it slammed straight into Gabriel’s gullet with a sickening *shink*. I stared wide-eyed as Gabriel choked on his own blade and struggled to free himself. He writhed for a moment, the blade having gone entirely through his throat and pinning him against the wall, and then with one final choke, his body ceased to move, and he died. 

More silence proceeded as Gracie got to her hooves, backing away from the now lifeless corpse of the advisor pony. Me? I plopped down onto the floor, my back searing with pain, and my brother once again questioned my well-being. “I was cut a bit Blake.” I said, trying to sound reassuring. “I’ll be fine.” 

“A-are you sure?” I heard from the back of the room, and I saw as Kayla rose to her hooves and approached. 

“I’m not worried about myself.” I said after a breath. “Are you alright, Kayla?” 

“S-shaken a little… but I’m not hurt.” she replied, settling down in front of me so she could look into my eyes; she was shaking. “I-I don’t understand. Why would Gabriel want to hurt me?” 

I knew why. I knew that he wanted her dead so he could lead the town, but I didn’t think it best to explain that right now. Between my pain and her fear, an explanation of the truth would only put her more on edge than she already was. “Gabriel’s gone.” I said, trying to sooth her. “He wont hurt you now.” 

“Oh my…” I heard beside me; that wasn’t a good sign. Gracie had stepped up to me and was looking along my back. “That’s a nasty gash. I need to get you some healing bandages. A potion might not hurt either.” 

“Wait, Grace.” I spoke up quickly. “Ironhoof… Gabriel stabbed him with some kind of needle and I think he might have injected him with something. You should go see him first.”

Gracie didn’t look like she agreed with me, but she left me with a sigh and trotted over to Ironhoof, who still remained in his bed. I watched as Gracie looked the earth pony over, her horn shimmering with magic as she used some kind of spell. She lowered her ear down to Ironhoof’s neck, listening, and then she nodded and her horn’s light faded. “I think he was given something to keep him asleep, or paralyzed or something.” Gracie explained, returning to my side. “He should be fine, but I’ll keep an eye on him. In the meantime, I need to get this wound cleaned and sealed up. I’ll be back.” With haste, Gracie left down the stairs to retrieve her medical supplies and returned a moment later with the promised potion and bandages. 

As she set to work on my back, my curiosity bump began to swell as I stared at Gabriel’s saddlebags which had fallen onto the floor near his corpse. I hadn’t thought of it until now, but I hadn’t found any probable explanation as to why he would’ve been carrying them, aside form hiding his knives. But surely with those blades, as well as that syringe, there had to be something else in there… I wanted to find out. “Blake…” I began, but then I remembered where the bags had fallen; I didn’t want him fetching something off of a dead pony. “Uhm, Gracie, could you bring me Gabriel’s saddlebags?” 

“I really need to keep working on this wound.” she answered insistently, having begun to clean off the blood on my coat with a wet rag. 

“Gracie, please get them.” I huffed back to which Gracie sighed. She trotted over to the saddlebags and levitated them over to me before quickly returning to her work again. Nudging one of the saddlebags open, I peered inside. This would at least allow me a distraction from the pain that would follow as Gracie cleaned my wound. 

I reached a foreleg into the saddlebag, tracing the saddlebag’s interior to try and find any other items. While I came out empty-hoofed, I did feel items in the second saddlebag. Reaching in, I nudged out two items. One of these was a pistol with some kind of long black tube attachment at the end of it, a suppressor. The second item was a piece of paper which I found to contain writing. It was a brief note of some kind, and adjusting it with a hoof, I read silently:

You are to go into Proudspire and kill Kayla tonight. When Kayla is dead, you will take over the town and then work to convince the town to surrender. Then we’ll come and kill off every motherfucker inside and officially take the settlement. We don’t care how the first couple of steps gets done so long as they get done. You can leave the big killings to us. When this task is done, your assimilation into the Black Blood will be complete and you’ll be sent to Haven for new assignments. 

I looked away from the note, speechless. With the sloppy penmanship and the crude writing, there was no way that this letter wasn’t sent by the Black Blood itself, and reading this letter made me understand that we had just stuck a massive wrench in a plan that put all of Proudspire in jeopardy. Gabriel had been working with the Black Blood Raiders all this time, and I knew that if the Black Blood won over an operative that held such an important role in the settlement, Proudspire would have to act soon. Otherwise, things might take a turn for the worst. 



Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: Friend of the Night - Why use a Pipbuck lamp when you’re a friend of the night? Your eyes now adjust quickly to lowlight conditions.