Fallout Equestria: Wanderers

by Mach Speed

Chapter 6

Darkness… A black darker than night was all that surrounded me: an empty void where nothing could be seen or heard, devoid of life. Where was I? The last thing I remembered was falling asleep in the pub in Merry Burrow and now I was somewhere I didn’t know. No, it felt more like I was nowhere.

“Hello?” I called out and my voice seemed to just echo back to me. “Is anypony there?” I began to slowly move forward, my steps echoing off the non-existent walls of this dark abyss. I was dressed the same as when I fell asleep, unclothed. Without my armour, duster or rifle I felt naked, exposed and vulnerable. (Where am I? Is this a dream?)

“It’s all your fault!” I jumped as the deep voice echoed from the darkness.

“W-who’s there?” I stuttered as I stood back up (Why am I so scared?) out of the darkness stepped a familiar stallion with a dark brown mane and a pale brown coat. It was my father. “D-dad? Dad! Oh thank the goddesses a familiar face.”

“It’s all your fault!” he boomed again, glaring down at me, his eyes were full of anger, pure undiluted rage.

“Wh-what d-do you mean? What’s my fault?”

“You killed her.” As his he finished speaking my eyes went wide, I knew exactly what he was talking about, but before I protested my innocence a light from above beamed down and illuminated an object beside my father. It was a dirty, bloody mattress and on it was the motionless body of a small beige filly. It was Joy, her eyes still turned upwards in a look of pure fear.

“N-no… NO! It’s not my fault!”

“You killed her!”

“No, the slavers did!”

“She’s dead because of you!” Tears started to form in my eyes. I never wanted to see this again. “And so are they.” Before I could ask what he meant, the area around us lit up revealing the bodies of many dead ponies. It took me a moment to register the scene before me and then I realised, I knew these ponies. They were the residents of Merry Burrow. Barley, the mare who saved me, the barmaids, everypony I saw as I walked into town. Mares, stallions, and even foals lay dead on the ground. Some were cut or even sliced up, but most were just full of bullet holes. A short distance from me, a young stallion in repair barding lay dead on the ground facing me, blood pouring from a hole in his head where a bullet had passed through. Bolts’ cold, dead eyes just kept staring back at me, staring into and even through my soul. I could feel the warm tears that had been welling up in my eyes finally release and began to flow down my face.

“Why… why are you showing me this?!” I ran up to my father, ready to shake the answer from him but as I got close, he raised his hoof and smacked me hard across the face, knocking me to the ground. It was odd, I felt no pain but acted as if I did out of reflex.

“They’re all going to die, and it’s all your fault.” I slowly started to rise but as I did I heard a small click, the sound of a gun being cocked. I raised my head to see and where my dad once stood was now Mr. White in his trademark pinstriped suit and hat. He had his pistol in his mouth and he was aiming at me.

“Sorry, kid.” He mumbled around the grip of the handgun. “It’s just business.” Staring down the barrel of the same gun for the second time gave me a sense of fear I hadn’t felt before. I genuinely felt like this would be the last thing I would see in my life. My eyes went wide and I felt the last few tears trail down my face. A split second later with a flick of his tongue, Mr. White pulled the trigger of his weapon and plunged my world into darkness.

“GAH!” I lunged forward and sat bolt upright on the dusty bed in the room above the pub. It was the early hours of the morning and the room was still very dim. I could feel beads of sweat roll down my face and body onto the now soaked sheets. I was panting heavily and I could feel my heart thumping against my chest. I leant forward a little and placed my head in my hooves, as I brought my hooves up to meet my head, they began to shake uncontrollably. (Get a hold of yourself Clear. You’ve had nightmares before.) While it may have been true, none were as horrible as that. I rubbed my hooves against my face and as I did I could feel some tears fall from my eyes and mix with my sweat. I really had been crying in my sleep, the nightmare really making me feel unwell. I just sat there on the bed shaking for a few minutes while I tried to make my body calm down. It wasn’t easy but with a few deep, shaky breaths I was able to calm myself down. With my body finally calm I slid off the bed into a standing position and slowly moved over to the cracked mirror. My heart was still pumping rather hard as I moved over but I tried not to pay too much attention to it. As I reached the mirror I almost jumped backwards when I saw my reflection. My mane was a complete mess, my eyes were red and bloodshot but above all else, I was completely pale. I looked like I had the life drained from me. As I stood there taking in my reflection, a small grunt came from behind me which caused me to almost jump out of my skin. I turned around to find out where the noise came from and my eyes fell on Bolts, still fast asleep.

“Glad to see you’re still sleeping alright.” I said quietly. The sound of my voice travelled to him but he didn’t wake, only stirred. His sleeping body rolled over and faced away from me. As he turned away, so did I and I turned to face the mirror again. I didn’t know why I did, my look hadn’t changed in the last few seconds, maybe I was just silently hoping that I’d be able to look back and see my normal self. Sadly, I didn’t. Silently I shook my head and without fixing my mane or grabbing my armour, I headed downstairs. I needed a drink.

As I moved slowly down the stairs into the pub I could hear a few dull taps. The source of the noise became apparent to me when I turned a corner and saw Barley setting up the pub for the day. He was taking down chairs from the tables and as their legs hit floor they sent out the dull tapping noise.

“Morning, Barley” I called in a tired drawl. He turned to see the intruder as he began moving another chair and the moment he saw me he dropped it, causing it to loudly clatter on the ground.

“Dear sweet Celestia boy! You look like absolute shit.” (Thanks…) “What happened to you?”

“Nothing, I just had a bad dream…”

“That’s one hell of a bad dream… You should sit down, have a rest.”

“I’m fine, I just need a drink” I said shuffling over to the bar and hopping onto a stool. I could hear barley huff and pick the fallen chair back up and placed it on the ground in the right position.

“I can’t do that, Clear. One, beer won’t help you with these nightmares and two… I can’t serve beer until after lunch.” I scooted around on my stool and stared over at him with sad eyes.

“Please, I just need one right now.” I felt pathetic as I pleaded to him. I was better than this. Yet it seemed to work as Barley stared at me for a moment then sighed and moved behind the bar.

“One drink.” he said, reaching under the bar and bringing up beer and placing it in front of me. “But that’s it and I don’t want you telling anyone.” The moment the beer was placed in front of me and opened I immediately picked it and began to drink, causing Barley to go wide eyed. “Slow down there boy. Downing that beer won’t do you any good. Now tell me about this nightmare.” I must have gotten through half the bottle before I brought it away from my mouth for some air. I took a moment to register what barley had said.

“It’s not important.”

“Bullshit, any nightmare that can make a pony look like you do right now is important. Now tell me what happened.” I looked up from my beer into Barley’s eyes, there was something about them. They had the kind of glint in them that Hops had back home. (Seems like he’s also a sympathetic ear.)

“Ok, if you really want to know.” After taking another swig of my beer I began to tell him event for event what happened in my dream, or rather nightmare.

It took a little while but I finally finished telling Barley about the nightmare that plagued me. As I finished, all he seemed to do was stare at me, jaw slightly hanging open. It took a moment but he finally spoke.

“Well… umm… shit…” he stumbled around his words before going silent again. “That’s one hell of a nightmare…”

“Yeah… I know.” The silence was deafening as Barley thought about what he had just heard.

“Well… it seems to me that you still blame yourself for your sister’s death.”

“No, it was the slavers that killed her, it’s their fault.”

“That’s not what your dream is telling me, lad.” I looked away before he continued. “You blame yourself because you weren’t able to protect her which ultimately led to her foalnapping and murder.” I shook my head, I didn’t need to hear this. “Yet you still risked your life to save her. From what you’ve told me, it’s also the reason you’re out here, to make amends for what happened.” I sat there as the seconds ticked by, taking in what Barely was saying. Shortly I turned back to him, tears beginning to form in the corners of my eyes.

“Yeah, I’ve come out here to try and make good for what I did. But what if I’m not good enough to save the residents of this town? What if I really have sealed all their fates by starting this?”

“Our fates were sealed from the start.” Barley sighed. “If you hadn’t come along, we’d still be losing friends and family members every couple of weeks. And as much as I think you’re in over your head with taking on all those slavers a once, yours is the best plan we have ever had. The chance is slim but you may very well be able to pull it off.”

“What if it doesn’t work? What if I fail and accidentally get everyone killed in the process?” My fearful question made Barley think again. He didn’t speak until he gave another sigh.

“Well… everyone has to die some time don’t they? Besides, I think dying would probably be a better fate than being sold into slavery. And to be honest, if I’m going to die, I’d rather go down fighting than just hiding behind this bar.” Barley’s pep talk had put a smile on my face, though small it was still there. “There now, that’s a better sight.” Barley held out his hoof for me to shake “You’re a smart and brave stallion. I’m sure you’ll be just fine and I trust your judgement.” I smiled as I reached out and shook his hoof.

“Thanks, any chance of another beer?” I said half-jokingly

“Nope, I said one and that’s all” We both shared a laugh as I turned to look out one of the broken windows. The day had lit up a bit in the time we had been talking and some ponies were beginning to move out into the town.

“I should probably go wake my companion and we’ll look around the town.” Barley gave me a nod as I got up from my stool and headed upstairs.

As I entered the rented room I heard the sounds of light snoring coming from the back. Bolts was still sound asleep having not woken from my sudden awakening or the conversation which had been had downstairs in the pub. (Hell, I’m surprised he can sleep with that fancy paperweight on his ankle). With a smile I shook my head at my young companion’s ability to sleep in and with a flare of my magic I levitated his barding over and threw it onto him.

“Oi, wake up. we have a long day ahead of us.” I called out. Bolts gave a tired grunt and yawn before sitting up, his eyes still half closed.

“Uhhh… what time is it? Couldn’t you let me sleep for another five minutes?” he grumbled.

“The time is early and if I were to let you sleep for another five minutes, it would feel wasted when I wake you up five minutes from now.” I replied as I started slipping into my armour. As I placed my duster over my body, I took a glance at the old and cracked mirror and to my joy my reflection almost looked normal. My mane had returned to its normal semi-messy state but didn’t look like the nest of some feral animal and my complexion had also returned to normal as well. No longer did I look like a pale ghost. The only thing different were my eyes. They were still a little bloodshot but not as red as they had been when I initially woke up. As I looked away from the mirror I saw Bolts slump out of bed and slip into his barding.

“Fine, fine. I forgot how good a bed could feel.” He yawned out.

“Yeah, you and me both. Anyway, the day has just begun, I thought we should look about the town because we might be able to buy some more ammunition or some supplies.” As I levitated my saddlebags and rifle over I also levitated out my lighter and a cigarette. Just as I began to light the cigarette, the flame of my lighter suddenly went out. “Damn, I had a feeling it needed a refill.” I gave a quick puff to my cigarette to make sure it would stay lit and I pocketed my lighter. As I looked up I noticed Bolts clipping his laser pistol to his barding. With the two of us ready for the day I waved him over and we headed downstairs.

As we entered the bar area of the pub I noticed that some ponies had already wandered in. While they weren’t drinking they were still chatting and playing cards. It must have been their daily routine. As we exited out into the town we were greeted with the same dull light that was brought with every day as the sun tried to shine through the thick clouds and the residents of the town were moving about and going about their everyday lives. As I looked about for a place to start searching there came a call from just down the street.

“Hey! You two!” as I turned to see where the shout came from I was surprised to find the mare from the previous day. She didn’t look too happy as she trotted up to us. “I wanted to thank you for what you did yesterday. You saved those girls as well as everyone else.” I tried to think of something to say but my mind drew a blank.

“Umm… I was just doing what I thought was right…” I said, speaking around my cigarette.

“That being said, I hope you know what you’re doing as far as this ‘ambush’ and ‘assault’ later today.” (yeah, so do I…)

“Don’t you worry, I’ve been following Clear around for some time now and I trust his judgement.” Bolts said, perking up. I could feel my cheeks beginning to redden but pushed it out of my mind.

“I’m just trying to think logically, but I should be thanking you. You also saved my life yesterday.” I held out my hoof. “I’m Clear Shot, and you are?”

“The name’s Golden Shield,” She said as she took my hoof in hers and shook. She had a strong grip for a mare. “and think nothing of it.” she said, releasing my hoof.

“So what do you do around here?”

“I’m actually a traveller like yourself, I got stuck here about a month ago. I was hoping to get some supplies here and move on but they didn’t have enough for me to travel.”

“That’s odd… where is the local merchant anyway? I wanted to grab a few things.” Golden Shield nodded to a building just down the road and walked in front of the two of us.

“I’ll show you.” She began to slowly trot away leaving Bolts and I to follow her.

“A traveller huh? So where are you from?” I asked, trotting beside her.

“Nowhere really… My family was part of a caravan and I was born during mid-travel. Thankfully, my dad was a doctor so we were pretty safe.”

“That’s good then. So why are you traveling by yourself? I figured you’d at least be with a caravan, considering you were born in one.”

“I tried the caravan business for a while but I just found myself wanting to be alone most of the time so I started just traveling by myself.”

“Huh, well you’re clearly not a merchant yourself, so what do you do?”

“I just travel from town to town doing odd jobs here and there for caps and supplies. Usually it’s mercenary work.”

“Mercenary work?” Bolts and I answered in unison. It sounded more like Bolts was wondering what a mercenary was.

“Yep, for the right amount of caps I’ll take pretty much any job.” She sounded so proud of her announcement.

“Ever had to kill a pony?” I asked, not looking at her.

“Well of course… then again, it’s hardly avoidable in this day and age. Though I take a stand on killing the innocent. I never take a job that would have me pointing the barrel of my gun at a pony who didn’t deserve it. Most of the jobs I got were to kill low-life scum anyway.” I let out a sigh of relief, at least she hadn’t killed anypony innocent.

“Good.” The three of us fell into silence as we continued to trot down the centre of town. As we continued on, my gaze decided to wander about, looking at the different buildings. Time had done a much harder number on this town that it had to Sunny Springs. Quite a fair few of the buildings looked like they could come down at any moment and more than a few actually had. Behind the town was part of the old railroad and the overturned remains of a long forgotten train that was once used to transport the gems from the nearby mine up into the rest of Equestria. From what I could see, the old cars from the train were too heavy to lift and use as buildings themselves, so instead, sheets of metal were cut from the cars and used to reinforce the walls of the buildings that still stood, creating the frankenpony-esque dwellings that stood around me. Apart from the odd looking houses, the town was normal, or at least what could be considered normal nowadays. It wasn’t long after I stopped looking around that I realised we had stopped.

“Well, here we are.” Golden Shield proclaimed. She had finally lead us to the town store. Another two story building, the only one in town besides the pub. The sides looked like they had been blown out by a cannon and needed quick repairs as there were random sheets of metal placed awkwardly along the walls. Atop the store was an old metal smokestack, most likely the one taken from the lead engine of the broken down train. It stood more as a figurehead than an actual chimney.

“Don’t expect to get much though, especially if you’ll be traveling after all this has blown over. That is if you make it out of that slaver hideout alive.” Ignoring Golden Shield’s remark, I dropped my used cigarette bud to the ground and moved onto the dusty front porch of the store. slowly I pushed open its worn and weathered door. As the door swung open, an old and rusty bell sounded above it, indicating our arrival.

“Oh finally, a customer.” a voice called from inside. Pushing the door fully open, I trotted inside. As I walked in, my eyes began to scan the room, but there was barely anything to scan. The shop was almost completely bare. A couple of shelves lined the walls and each one had just a few items sitting on them. A few boxes of Insta-Mash here and there, a couple of old packets of potato chips between them that were sure to be stale, boxes of Sweet Apple Acres apple bites, a few small boxes of bubble gum, a number of bottles of water ranging from murky as a swamp to only slightly dirty and to round it all off were four, maybe five bottles of Sparkle-Cola and Sunrise Sarsaparilla. I looked over towards the counter and behind it sat an old and dishevelled looking blue mare, her mane grey like the cloud-covered sky.

“I haven’t seen you before.” She said to me in a tired, old tone. “You must be that young stallion who saved those girls in the pub but picked a fight with Mr. White.” (does everypony already know about that?)

“Yes, that’s me.” I said, trotting up to the counter. “I’m Clear Shot and this is my companion, Bolts.” I nodded towards the white stallion who had begun to peruse the small amount of food on the shelves.

“It’s nice to meet you boys, I’m Blue Bell, I run the store here.”

“Perfect, we were wondering if you were able to spare some food for when Bolts and I leave after all this has blown over.”

“Oh I’m sorry dear, I just can’t do that.” She replied, looking at me with old, sad eyes.

“Surely you can spare a few boxes of food.”

“No I really can’t. you see, Mr. White is a smart stallion. When he and that band of slavers moved in, they made sure we wouldn’t send for help. They took most of our rations and they’re the ones who meet with the roaming trader caravans. They buy the supplies then give us just enough to live on. They do this every time they come in to take a few more of us away but they always do it after our friends and family are taken from us. We would send a pony out for help but because of how remote we are, we’d have to give them enough supplies for at least a week meaning more of us would go hungry.” I could feel my hatred for Mr. White and his slavers grow more and more inside of me with each sentence gone by. “It would be the same if I were to give you some supplies to leave, some of us would just grow hungrier.”

“What about ammunition? We’re both running dangerously low and could use some more.”

“Again, I just can’t. along with most of the town’s food, the slavers also took most of our spare bullets. The only ones left are the rounds we were all able to hide in our homes and it’s no guarantee that there’ll be any to fit your weapons. That’s also the reason we don’t go out and hunt for animals to kill and cook. We’d just be wasting ammo.”

“Shit…” my eyes trailed passed Blue Bell to the shelf behind her. Upon it sat a few old packets of cigarettes, high up and out of the reach of foal hooves. “Do you at least have some spare lighter fluid? I’m fresh out.”

“Ah, that I can do.” She said as she hopped up from a stool that had been hidden behind the counter. With a smile I levitated my lighter onto the counter to which she picked it up and took it into the back room. She returned a few minutes and hoofed me my lighter.

“Thanks, and I’ll grab another packet of smokes as well.” I said as I pocketed my lighter. Even in my magical grasp I could feel that it was full again.

“Certainly, that’ll be forty caps.” My mouth dropped as she brought down a new packet

“Forty caps for a refill and a pack of smokes!? That’s outrageous!”

“We’ll need a lot of caps to trade to caravans when we finally see them again, right?” I was gobsmacked but reluctantly I reached into my saddlebags and pulled out a small sack of caps and placed it on the counter. I reached in and took out ten but left the bag.

“That should be forty.” I sighed, I just couldn’t say no to the old mare.

With my lighter now full and my saddlebags lighter due to the absence of caps, I slowly trotted back outside with Bolts and Golden Shield in tow.

“Don’t worry, she said the same thing to me when I asked for supplies” Shield voiced from behind me.

“It’s fine, I have more important things to worry about.”

“Like what?” Bolts chimed in. as if on cue, a dark coated stallion came running down the centre of town, I recognised him from the pub the previous night. He seemed worried and to be shouting something but we didn’t hear until he got closer.

“The slavers are coming! The slavers are coming! Mares and foals, get inside and stay hidden! All able-bodied ponies with a weapon are to get ready!” As he thundered past us, he repeated his message again.

“Like that.” I said to answer Bolts’ previous question. As I turned round to look at Bolts and Shield, I was met with the same determined look Bolts gets whenever something serious happens. “I’m guessing you’ll be helping out as well?” I asked Golden Shield.

“Of course, I have a gun and I can shoot! Of course I’m going to help!”

“Good. Are you ready, Bolts?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“It’s not too late to back out you know.”

“I know, but I’m still not going to. I’ll be surrounded by ponies who will ready to take down the slavers and I’ll have you watching over me. Now go set up.” Bolts’ expression didn’t change at all as he spoke. With a nod Shield and I turned and ran for our spots, leaving Bolts to prepare on his own.

The pub was full of a number of stallions getting ready for the arrival of the slavers. They had brought out and started to set up with rifles and shotguns, even Barley was getting ready for the fight. Without pause I ran upstairs and onto the balcony. Placing my saddlebags by the door, I laid down as flat as possible and brought my rifle up and rested it in front of me, placing the butt of the rifle into my shoulder. The wooden balcony was hot, even with my armour on I could feel the heat but I endured as I waited for the slavers to arrive.

It didn’t take long for the group of slavers to come charging down the main street, kicking dirt and dust up as they went. As they approached the centre of town they slowed down and came to a stop just in front of Bolts. It was a small group just as I predicted and they all stood in a small huddled herd. I looked through my scope and began to count.

“One, two, three… seven.” Seven slavers, both stallions and mares, unicorns and earth ponies. This was the group Mr. White sent to try and kill me. They all had different weapons, from spiked shoes to bats and from handguns to shotguns. They were here to do the job. However, there was somepony missing. Neither Bullwhip or Knuckles were with the group.

“They must be resting their wounds. Damn, I was sure they’d be back for revenge.” I whispered to myself as the front most slaver, a tall mare in blood-coated armour, stepped forward.

“We’re here looking for a stallion in a dark brown duster and one in repair barding. I’m guessing that’s you?” she said addressing Bolts, none of the slavers had seen me yet. “but where’s the other guy? What? Is he too chicken shit to show his face? I bet he got scared and ran away in the middle of the night!” the slavers all started to chortle loudly at the thought. Bolts had his back turned to me so I couldn’t see his face but I was sure of one thing, he either had that same determined look on his face, or he was smirking when he spoke next.

“Yes that’s me and don’t worry about my friend, he’s… around.” As Bolts finished speaking I lined up my shot on the lead mare who had stopped laughing and had a bewildering look on her face. taking a few deep breaths I focused and gently squeezed the trigger with my magic. The sound of my rifle going off echoed through the town as the round left the chamber and the kick forced the rifle into my shoulder. The round flew true and passed straight through the slaver’s head, or now lack-there-of as the force caused the back half of her cranium to explode and send bits of skull and brain over the remaining slavers. Every single one of the slavers’ smiles were wiped from their faces as the body of their companion dropped to the ground in a heap. Instead looks of pure shock and even fear were etched onto their faces this time.

“I’m over here.” I called from the balcony, not letting my eye move from my scope. “if you don’t want to end up like your friend there I suggest you do as I say.” I called, hoping they’d take my bluff. I was a fast and accurate shot but I wouldn’t be able to take them all down.

“Nice try pal.” Another slaver said stepping forward. “but there’s still six of us and only two of you. Also, we have your little friend down here with us we’d be able to kill him faster than you could take us out.” The other slavers started to smile again, thinking the numbers were now in their favour. “now why don’t you put that toy of yours away and come down here? Because face it, you’re out gunned.” He gave a light chuckle to finish his sentence but I gave a smirk back in return.

“Out gunned huh?” I gave a loud whistle that could easily be heard through the town and one by one the residents popped up at the windows of every nearby building, each one holding a weapon and ready to fire. “you might want to do a re-count. Now you, the green mare, step forward.” I called out to the group and the described mare reluctantly stepped forward. She was a young mare and a little on the scrawny side and carried a bat on her back.

“Y-yeah?” a slight tinged of fear in her voice “what do you want?”

“Oh nothing right now. The rest of you however, well, you can all play dead now.”

“Not before you!” the stallion who stepped forward previously shouted. Levitating up a shotgun he took aim and wildly fired at me. Many pieces of buckshot flew passed my head and even through my mane but most of it embedded itself in the balcony that I rested on. I could feel the pieces of buckshot pass through the wood and hit my armour. Luckily the balcony absorbed most of the blow so I wasn’t injured. Before the slaver could get off another shot, Bolts quickly drew his laser pistol up and fired two quick shots at the slaver. Where I expected there to be a red glow from the arcane weapon, there now came a purple beam. (the gems must also change the colour.) the slaver was quickly enveloped by the beams and reduced to a pile of ash, his weapon dropping to the ground once the magical link was severed. As the shotgun clattered to the ground, all hell broke loose. The remaining slavers, with their backs too each other, opened fire on the resident but with walls to protect the townsponies, they were safe and immediately returned fire. The slavers didn’t fare so well, with nowhere to run and no walls to protect them, the slavers were quickly gunned down from all sides, leaving only corpses in return. There was one slaver who still stood however, the mare I called forth before. However, she wasn’t exactly standing. The fear of the bullets flying by her and watching her comrades die before her eyes caused her drop to the ground in fear.

“You there.” I called down as I finally stood up. “there’s a reason I told the others to keep you alive. I want you to send a message to your boss, Mr. White. Tell him that he’s had his way with this town for far too long and we’re coming for him, tomorrow.” The slaver didn’t say anything, not a single word. All she did was quickly pick herself up and run out of sight and out of town, headed back to their hideout, where ever it was. As I watched the mare disappear around a corner, I could hear a commotion below me. The ponies who had fought had started to come out of the buildings and gather in the street. Not wanting to be up here by myself, I grabbed my gear, place my rifle on my back and headed downstairs.

As I walked out into the street I noticed the all eyes were turned towards me, some ponies were smiling, others had no expression at all.

“I told you it would work.” I said with a smile.

“Yeah, now we take the fight to them.” Bolts said, trotting up. “you ok?”

“Yeah I’m fine, the balcony took most of the blow and correct, we’ll make our move tonight when they’re not expecting it. Barley, where did you say their hideout was again?”

“I didn’t but they’re currently living in the old mine just outside of town.”

"Shit… I should have figured.” I bowed my head “I’m going to have to rethink the strategy”

“What strategy!?” Barley shouted. “we go in there, kill the fuckers and get out. THAT’S the strategy!”

“And it would be perfect if we were assaulting a town or factory, but not a mine. A tight space with only one exit, we’d be better off sending a small group in alone. Meaning Bolts and I will go.” The townsponies all looked at me unsure.

“Are you sure? You boys have already done more than enough for us.”

“Yes I’m sure.” I said looking to Bolts. “Ready for another round?”

“Of course.”

“Good, besides, I don’t stop till a job is done.” I looked over the residents of Merry Burrows and when there came no more objections, I spoke again. “All we have to do is wait until night time then.”

I spent the next few hours until sunset to go over the new plan with Bolts. Together, we would sneak up to the mine, venture inside and grab as much supplies as possible and slowly pick off the slavers one by one until we had cleared them all out. During this planning time I had also tried to convince the townsponies to bury the dead slavers and not just chuck them in a ditch somewhere outside of town. It wasn’t easy but I finally got them to listen, so long as I was the one to dig the graves and bury them. Once the graves were dug and the bodies buried, I spent the next few hours preparing and going over the plan with Bolts. Finally, the sun had started to set and we were as ready as we could be. As we trotted downstairs I was waved over by Barley.

“You two all set?”

“Yeah, we know what we’re doing. However… my rifle isn’t all that great for close quarters, so it’ll be a little tricky.” Barley gave a deep sigh and reached under the counter and pulled out a revolver, a holster and a bandoleer full of bullets.

“Take this. That revolver has saved me over the years, maybe it will do the same for you.” I looked down at the revolver, it was old but very well maintained. Opening the cylinder I noted it would hold five rounds of a large calibre. (great, another weapon with hard to find ammo.)

“Thanks, this will definitely help in tight spaces.”

“Good, but there’s something I want you to do for me as well. I know I shouldn’t be thinking this… maybe it’s blind hope but… there may be a chance the other residents are still there… including my wife and foals… if they are I want you to bring them back.” I nodded and took the revolver and strapped it to my ankle in the holster. The weapon felt heavy against me but it was a good weight, I felt more protected knowing it was there.

“Of course, I’ll do what I can.” I said as I clipped the bandoleer under my duster. With everything sorted we headed out and towards the mine. We were just exiting the town when a call came from behind us.

“I’m coming too!” It was Golden Shield.

“You don’t have to do this.” I replied, still moving forward. “it’s safer with just the two of us.”

“And who’s going to watch your back? That’s you biggest blind spot.” (she has me there.)

“Fine, but you do things my way.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.” she said with a laugh as she caught up.

It wasn’t long before we were soon upon the mine. The sun had completely set right now, plunging area into darkness. Luckily, a full moon was out tonight which beamed down light through the gaps in the clouds like sunlight. As we got close I lowered myself to the ground and told my followers to do the same. Slowly I brought up my rifle and peered down at the entrance of the mine which had been lit up by old lanterns. Some old machines and boxers of who-knows-what were scattered about, an old track lead inside with a rusty mine cart sitting on top. The entrance was quiet except for two guards. There was something else I noted, there was a wooden cart near the entrance, the same one Mr. White had travelled on. Which meant he was still here.

“Shit, there’s a couple of slavers out the front guarding the place. Bolts, do you think you can sneak down there and shoot the one on the left? I’ve got the one on the right.” I asked in a hushed tone

“Yeah, I can do that.” Bolts whispered back as he slowly got up and headed to the mine, traveling in a wide arch so he wouldn’t be seen.

“I should go too.” Golden voiced.

“No, your weapon would ring out through the mine and alert everyone inside. Bolts laser pistol is quiet enough that no one will notice and I’m far enough away that they won’t hear me.” I began to levitate my rifle up to counter for the drop of the bullet. Finally ready, I waited for Bolts to strike first. I sat and waited, watching for the flash of purple to signal Bolts’ attack, all the while, Golden kept fidgeting beside me, wanting a piece of the action. Another minute passed by and as I began to worry about Bolts, I saw the slaver on the left glow purple and turn to ash. The slaver on the right also noticed and turned to see where the shot came from. I acted quickly and focused my shot. Gently squeezing the trigger I heard my rifle go off and a split second later, the slaver fell to the ground.

“see, I told you.” I said standing up, noting the absence of any reinforcements. Golden was silent as we made our way down to Bolts. Soon we stood before the entrance to the mine, it was if I were staring at the entrance to Stable 50 all over again.

“So, what’s the plan?” Golden asked, not having been with us when I explained it to Bolts.

“The original plan was to kill everyone inside stealthily and dig in if they found us, though we’re going to have to change that now. Our main priority is to find the slaves if they’re still here. Then we’ll focus on getting supplies and killing the slavers once they’re clear.”

“How are we going to deal with them? The slavers I mean? I doubt we have enough rounds for them anyway.” I was stumped, I looked into the cave like mine, hoping to get an answer, then it hit me.

“We’ll seal them in.”

“Huh?” Bolts and Golden said in unison, looks of confusion on their faces.

“This is a mine right? Surely the miners couldn’t have just dug it all out. They must have used explosives for most of it, like dynamite. Quick, go check those boxes, they might not have been picked clean yet.” The three of us quickly fanned out to check the old containers that had been scattered about but one by one, they only brought empty hopes as they themselves were empty. I had just about given up hope when out of the corner of my eye I spied a metal crate under one of the machines. It was in a place where you’d only find it if you were looking for it. sadly it was locked.

“Damn, anyone have a bobby pin?” I asked.

“No… do you even know how to pick a lock?” Bolts asked.

“I’ve never had to in the past…” I could sense Golden roll her eyes at me before she flared her magic and engulf the rusty lock in a yellow glow. Soon the lock popped open.

“How did you…”

“When you’ve picked as many locks as I have, you learn a few tricks. Like just using magic to turn the tumblers.” Giving her a smirk I opened the crate and lo and behold in the crate was eight sticks of dynamite, a spool of wire to connect them and a plunger to detonate them remotely. Picking up our new bounty I quickly ran deep into the entrance and began setting up the trap. I began placing sticks of dynamite in random spots but close enough so the wire could connect them all. With them all connected I began threading the wire back to the plunger and my companions.

“You’ve never picked a lock but you know how to operate dynamite?” Bolts asked.

“I dated my town’s explosive expert a few years back, she showed me a few tricks. I’ve placed the explosives far in enough that we’ll have plenty of distance to get out, oh and I saved one, just in case.” After I connect the wire to the plunger I moved it out of the way and placed the last stick in my saddlebags. “ok. Stay low and keep quiet.” I said to which I got two nods in return. With the trap set, we moved into the mine.

The entrance tunnel was longer than I thought. It seemed to go on forever until we reached a small junction with three branches, each one with a sign next to them.

“Sleep, eat, pen. Guess the slavers got lost as well. Come on, the slave pen is down this way.” I said moving down the path on the right. I didn’t dare go down the other two as the ‘sleep’ path would be full of slavers and I could hear laughter coming from the ‘eat’ path. However, as we continued down our path I could hear something else echoing off the walls. It was a type of a very high pitched wailing, the cry of a young foal. Fearing the worst I quickened my pace until I could see a room up ahead.

“Will you shut that fucking kid up!?” a stallion’s voice called loudly from the room as the three of us approached. With our backs to the wall, we peered into the room. The room was almost completely empty except for an old desk and a makeshift pen at the back of the room holding the slaves. The stallion who had been yelling was the guard who had his back to the entrance, staring down a mare who was nursing a crying foal.

“I’m supposed to watch you pieces of shit, doesn’t mean I can’t fucking sleep while I do it!”

“Please, I’m sorry, he’s like this when he has a bad dream.” The mare pleaded with the slaver. She looked exhausted, like she hadn’t slept herself. “hush now, quiet now, it’s time to lay your sleepy head…” she began sing the foal a lullaby to try and lull it back to sleep, but it didn’t seem to work. With every passing wail, the slaver seemed to get more angry until he threw open the pen door and marched in.

“I know what will make the kid shut up.” as quick as he could, the slaver pulled his handgun from his holster with his mouth and took aim at the foal.

“No please, DON’T!” the mare huddled over the foal to try and protect it but the slaver just hit her away with his hoof. That was it, I’d seen enough. I could feel my body start to shake with anger again, just like the last time I saw how low slavers could be.

“Say goodnight kid.” As the slaver took aim again, so did I. I didn’t even remove the revolver from its holster as I brought my hoof up and fired. The round passed straight through the holster and then the slaver’s chest. I heard the mare scream as she believe the shot to come from the slaver’s weapon. Injured but not dead, the stallion began to wobble and turned to face the entrance where I now stood plain as day. For a brief moment, the two of us locked eyes and where I saw fear, he would have seen hatred in its purest form. Without saying a single word I magically pulled the trigger again and watched the life drain from the slaver’s eyes as my bullet passed between them. The mare screamed again as the slaver’s lifeless body dropped to the ground beside her.

“Who… who are you!?”

“Don’t worry, we’re here to rescue you, I’m Clear and this is Bolts and Golden Shield. Are you Barley’s wife?”

“Y-yes I’m Marigold.” The foal that she was cuddling was still crying loudly but seemed to be quieting a little, now that the slaver was gone. Beside her was another foal, a young colt who popped his head up to see the one that shot the bad pony.

“Good, we’re here to take you and your foals home, as well as everyone else.” One by one the slaves began to look up at me, they had been awake during the shootings but must have been so use to the violence of the slavers that they didn’t pay attention. “are you ok to walk?” I asked as I move closer, but as I did, I noticed she was completely covered in bruises and was red between her legs. I just couldn’t stand it, I began to shake again.

“Mommy, are we going home?” the young colt asked his mother.

“Yes dear we are.” She smiled, it must have been the first time she did it since she was taken.

“It’s true? You’re really here to save us?” one of the other slaves asked.

“Yes, now stand and let’s go, we’re getting out of here.”

“But clear, what about the supplies?” Bolts voiced behind me.

“FUCK THE SUPPLIES! The important thing is we get these ponies out of here!” I looked down at the dead slaver who had dropped his gun the first time I shot him. Picking it up I passed it to the mare. “can you shoot?”

“Yes, a little…”

“Good, protect your foals with your life.” I said turning around. As I began to walk back to my companions I could hear the slaves begin to rise, including the mare and her foals. Even the youngest had stopped crying to follow his mother home. The other slaves leaned into one other to keep their balance, it almost brought a tear to my eye. It was true, the supplies were replaceable, these ponies were not. It was important for me to get them out of there, to get them home.

I didn’t bother sneaking back through the tunnel as the slavers were sure to have heard the shots.

“You really think that was wise, Clear?” Bolts asked as he trotted up next to me. “they were sure to have heard those shots, you should have let me take him out.”

“I acted on impulse, if I didn’t shoot then, the foal wouldn’t still be here now.” As we rounded a bend I could see the junction coming up ahead but it wasn’t empty this time.

“I’s knew that shot didn’t come from any of my boys.” It was Mr. White and his two guards, both were patched up but heavily bandaged. Both Bullwhip and Knuckles were both wearing heavy flamethrower battle saddles and had them aimed down the path we were on.

“Everyone get back!” I shouted to my group who immediately backed up.

“Aww what’s the matter kid? Are you’s scared now? HA! Don’t worry, these here toys ain’t for yous, oh no, they’re for that town you came from!”

“Why are you doing this!? You’re killing innocent ponies! What’s in it for you? Money? Power?!”

“Heh, it’s usually about survival, being top of the food chain. It’s a dog eat dog world out there kid. This however, this is about sending a message.”

“Message!? What message?”

“You’ll understand one day kid, or you’ll die, I really don’t really give a fuck which.” Mr. White turned away from me and shouted down the other paths. “hey, wake up yous dogs, that kid’s here early!” there came calls from down the other paths as the other slavers began to wake and grab their weapons. “see ya kid. Oh, and play nice will yas?” Mr. White began to laugh loudly as he turned and began to head back to the entrance at a quick trot. All the while the yells and calls kept getting louder.

“Clear what are we going to do, we can’t take them all on and protect everyone at the same time.” Bolts asked in a panicked voice, this was the first time I heard him like this, but I didn’t answer him, my eyes were still fixed on Mr. White as he left. “CLEAR!”

“Fine…” I finally answered him. “we run.” I stood up tall and turned to my group. “Bolts, Golden, you two take the front and lead everyone out, I’m going to slow the slavers down. Just don’t kill Mr. White. Leave him for me.”

“Right.” The two nodded in unison. “ok everyone, up and let’s go!” one by one, the slaves stood up and began to run as fast as their tired legs would carry them, following Bolts and Golden. bringing up the rear was Barley’s wife and her two foals following behind her. As the group moved to entrance slowly I turned to face the two paths where the slavers were coming from. I began to reach for the stick of dynamite I saved but then stopped. The slavers were coming down two paths and this would only seal one. (think Clear, there has to be another way.) I began looking about and my eyes fell on the lanterns. (perfect!) just as I took the revolver from its holster, the slavers rounded the corners.

“There he is! Don’t kill ‘em, the boss wants him alive.” As they advanced on me, I started to back up and waited for the right moment to shoot. “don’t move. Put down your fucking gun or we’ll make you!”

“Ok, make me.” A twinge of anger crossed the lead slaver’s face and he began moving towards me again, now was the right moment to shoot. Quickly aiming I shot the lanterns at the entrance to both paths. Both lanterns shattered and sent glass and flaming fluid down onto the lead slaver and in front of the others, stopping them in their tracks. The lead slaver dropped to the ground screaming and began to roll around, trying to extinguish the flames. With the slavers stoped behind the fading wall of fire, I turned and began running to the exit.

“See ya boys!” I ran as fast as I could until I was caught up with the group. Up ahead I could see Mr. White who had already noticed we were catching up.

“Move it you mugs!” I heard him call to his guards who moved slower with the heavy battle saddles on.

“Clear, did you take care of the others?” Bolts asked as I caught up.

“For now but they’ll be hot on our trail soon.” I needed a way to slow the other slavers down enough that I could deal with Mr. White. We were getting close to the exit but I had nothing. “wait, the dynamite!” the single stick would slow them down enough for me to catch Mr. White and I could shoot it while moving. I slowed down my run until I was near what I assumed was the back of the group and I looked to the ceiling. One by one the dynamite I planted moved passed my sight until I passed all seven. I ran for a few more metres, getting some distance between me and the last one. Once I was sure I was out of the way I skidded to a halt and threw the dynamite into the air, took aim and began to squeeze the trigger

“Wait for us!” it was Barley’s wife, she was still in the cave. (shit, I didn’t even notice she missing.) I tried to stop my magic but it was too late. My magic squeezed the trigger and fired at the dynamite, detonating it on impact. With the explosion came the rumble of the ceiling beginning to collapse.

“What are you doing!?” the mare called, running as fast as she could, avoiding the falling rubble.

“JUMP!” I yelled back as she got close. Without warning she leapt forward and passed me just as the ceiling caved in. the force of the rocks hitting the ground knocked me over into the kicked up dust and it took me a few second to get up.

“Is everyone *cough cough* ok?” I choked on the dust as I spoke.

“Y-yes, I’m, why did *cough* you do that!?”

‘I’m sorry, *cough* I was trying to slow the other slavers down, I didn’t even notice you were missing.”

“Well I was I had to stop because my foals were… wait a minute, boys? Boys where are you!?” she began looking about frantically, looking for her foals who went missing.

“Mommy?” there came a faint call from the other side of the rubble. “mommy where are you?”

“Silver!” the mare ran up to the wall of rock and began yelling through it. “are you ok? Is your brother there too? Is he ok?”

“I’m here mommy” a smaller voice sounded from behind the rubble.

“Oh thank the Goddesses. Please you have to help get them out.”

“Of course. Bolts! Forget White, I need help!” I yelled down the tunnel to my companion who skidded to a halt and ran back down to me, picking up the plunger as he came down.

“What’s wrong? Need the detonator?”

“NO! put that down gently, Marigold’s foals are on the other side of this rubble, help me move it.”

“Right, of course.” Bolts placed the plunger down and quickly we began to levitate the rocks away but for each one we moved, two more fell in its place. Seconds passed and we barely made a dent in the wall.

“Please you have to hurry!”

“We’re trying, there’s too much rub-“ I stopped mid-sentence as a new sound entered the cave. It was the sound of the slavers from before, they had moved passed the fire and were headed this way.

“What was that sound before?”

“I don’t know, just keep runnin’”

“look up ahead, the little prick blocked the path!” the colour faded from Barley’s wife as she turned to me.

“Please hurry, you have to get them out of there.” She clutched at my duster with her hooves but it was too late.

“Oh~ but looky here, the prick left us a couple of presents.”

“NO! stay away from them you bastards!” Marigold shrieked through the wall.

“Oh and the ma’s still here. Don’t worry momma, we’ll take good care of your kids.” The slaver chuckled from the other side.

“Mommy help! I’m scared!” I was lost, I had no idea what to do, the moment I opened that wall they’d gun us all down. I looked about, hoping an answer would come to me and my eyes landed on the plunger still hooked up to the dynamite. With a gulp, I swallowed some fear and raised a shaky hoof and placed it on top of the plunger’s fully erect handle.

“What are you doing?” Marigold had seen me. “no… no, no, no. please don’t!”

“Clear, there must be another way!” there wasn’t, between the three of us we had four guns with limited ammo and we were up against a group just short of an army who would gun us down the moment they had the chance then move onto the town. But what if I were to just leave the slavers as they were? They’d dig their way through eventually and run riot on the town, and what of the foals? The slavers probably wouldn’t just kill them, no, the foals would suffer the same fate as Joy… My mind continued race, there was just no way out of the situation. I try to move the wall, we all die, I let everything be, the slavers move the wall and kill or sell everyone in the town and most likely have their way with the mares. Nopony would be safe, not even the foals. I can’t let them die like that, not like Joy. Nopony should be made to suffer a fate worse than death.

“Please, I’ll do anything, just don’t do that. PLEASE!” my whole body began to shake, but not from anger, from sorrow. As a tear ran down my cheek I finally spoke.

“I’m sorry…” time seemed to slow down to a crawl. Maybe it was my imagination or maybe the Goddesses were punishing me, making me live this moment for longer. I saw Marigold’s eye go wide as I lowered my hoof firmly, pushing the plunger all the way down.

“NOOOOO!” Marigold screamed but it was soon overshadowed by the sound of the explosions from the other side and the screams from the raiders… and the foals. The noise came quickly and ended suddenly as the last of the rocks finished falling and crushing the slavers. The only thing I could hear was Marigold’s sobbing.

“Silver? Rocky? *sniff* please… speak t-to me ugh… b-boys… you’re not g-gone you’re just s-sleeping r-right wahhh!” she dropped to her haunches and laid her head against one of the rocks, trying to listen for anything, but no cries for help would come. A noise did come however. A low rumbling noise that came with dust falling from the ceiling. Soon more rocks started to fall, but on our side. (the last cluster of explosions must have done more than I thought.)

“The ceiling is caving in! we have to get out of here clear!” bolts didn’t stick around and ran off towards the exit. It took me a few seconds but I finally moved my hoof from the detonator and put it on Marigold’s shoulder.

“Come on, we have to get you out of here.”

“Leave me, I want to be with my foals.”

“But what about your husband?” more rocks, bigger ones, began to drop around us.

“I don’t care anymore, just leave me.”

“No, I promised him I’d bring you back!” full of sorrow and anger, Marigold picked up her dropped handgun and aimed it at me.

“I said I’m staying! Now leave me be.” Shocked, I backed up a few steps.

“Clear, we’re all out! You have to get out of there! Clear!” I could hear Bolts calling to me. As I took one last fleeting look at Marigold, I turned and ran. I ran away from the scene. Yet it seemed to follow me, for as I dodged falling debris, I could hear Marigold sing to her kids.

“Hush now… quiet *sniff* now, it’s time to lay your sleepy head *sob* hush now… quiet now, it’s time to go to bed…” more and more tears streamed down my face as I ran through the cave and out into the open air. It was still night time when I came out of the mine. Tired and covered in dust, I tried to focus on other things but Marigold’s sad song just kept playing in my head. (how will I tell Barley?)

Footnote: Level Up!
New Perk: Vengeance, level 2 – the scum of the wasteland makes your blood boil more than ever, you do +10% damage to slavers a raiders and your shots now have a chance to stagger them if the previous shot didn’t kill them.