Fallout Equestria — S.A.T.

by Faindragon

Education

I took a step back from the shotgun, but Radio followed me, his eyes burning. “How can ya be so stupid?” he hissed. “You just let a raider go? D’you have any idea how many ponies you’ve killed because o’ that?”

“I—“ I lost my breath as he jabbed the end of the shotgun in my chest, forcing me to take a couple of steps back.

“What’d he say? Did he say he’d change? Did he say he’d do better?” the unicorn growled as he followed me, shutting the door behind himself.

“Yes, but—“

“Once a raider, always a raider,” the old stallion said as he spat on the ground.

“I don’t—“

“No exceptions,” he said as he forced me down to his own eye level by pressing the shotgun against my head. “I was like you, once. Did some stupid stuff like you, too. I found a raider this one time, being picked apart by a bunch o’ birds ‘cause he was nearly dead. But my pa always said kindness pays off. He showed me how ta take of others. So, I scared the birds away an’ fixed him up. I watched over him for two days until he was ready to get up.” Radio spat on the ground, his voice darkening. “As soon as he could stand, he took my gun an’ shot me in my sleep. He took my food and left me there ta die. But I was harder to kill than he thought. Not even a day later, I fixed myself up and started trackin’ him down. I found him, knee deep in blood, rapin’ a young mare over the corpse of her father.” He got closer, until he was eye-to-eye with me, and growled: “A raider never, ever, changes, an’ the only raider I trust is a dead one.”

I felt something clutch around my stomach, and once again I had to force down the food. “A… young mare?” I asked, my voice wavering.

“Not much older than Precious, if even that old. Just because I saved that raider, I let him kill four other ponies and ruin that young mare’s life. I hope for your sake that somepony killed that raider you let go before he did anything else. If he kills somepony, that’s your fault.”

I gulped as I looked into his eyes, the fire in them nearly concealed behind the tears that had sprung forth. Words came uninvited to my mind. Get the fuck away, boy. It’s the fucking girl I want. The words of Frost Mane the first time I had seen him. Did I doom somepony to death, or worse, by saving Frost Mane?

“I should kill you right now, seein’ as you’re no worse than a raider for savin’ one of them... But, I guess I did the same thing. At least I can tell you’re thinkin’ ‘bout it. ... I’m too old for this,” he muttered as he took a step back, lifting the shotgun from my head. “There’s nothin’ we can do ‘bout that, now, though. You better just hope that raider doesn’t kill anypony before somepony kills him. And hope that doesn’t come back to you, somehow.”

“I… I didn’t know,” I stuttered. “Have I made a mistake that serious?”

The old unicorn sighed as he turned around. “Only time will tell. But, if you’re lucky, no.” Without another word he walked into the house again, leaving the door open.

Have I made a mistake, Spitfire? Was it wrong to let him live?

“Would you have been able to kill him, Cogwheel?”

No. I didn’t even have to think of it. I wouldn’t. But Dust would, and he was ready to.

“But you stopped him. You valued a life that nopony else valued.”

But isn’t that what Radio did?

“It is, but that doesn’t mean that the outcome has to be the same.”

I sighed. I guess not.

“And, besides, there is nothing you can do about that now. Frost Mane ran off in another direction, and neither of us knows where he is right now. We can only look forward, and hope that nothing bad comes of this.”

And the first step, I thought as I looked through the open door. Radio sat on a couch, looking over the two siblings who still sat close together. Would be to tell them about my decision to travel into the ruins.

I sighed as I walked into the room and closed the door after me. Precious lifted her head from Dust’s shoulders, her teary eyes looking at me for a second, a faint smile on her quivering lips, before she buried her muzzle in her brother’s mane again. Dust just sat there, absently stroking his sister’s mane as he stared into nothingness.

“How do you feel?” I asked as I walked up to them, my steps heavy.

Dust didn’t answer, and nothing about him told me that he had even heard the question. Precious mumbled something I couldn’t hear into her brother’s mane. And maybe that was for the best, I couldn’t think of any way to comfort her had I heard what she said.

“I’m going to leave for a few days,” I continued. “Bolt told me that there was a workshop that might have connections with SAT in the ruins. I shouldn’t be gone for more than a day or two.”

Precious looked up from her brother’s shoulder again, her teary eyes searching for me as she rubbed her nose with a hoof. “You… you’ll come back, right?” she asked through her tears.

“I’ll only be gone for two days at the most. I’ll come back,” I promised with a smile, which she faintly returned.

“What’s a promise mean?” Dust muttered. “Vigil promised, but he never returned.”

The smile died on Precious’ lips as the tears started to run from her eyes again. She punched her brother in the stomach and rested her head against his shoulder again. “Don’t say that! Don’t ever say that!” she bleated into his mane. Her expression made my heart sink in my chest.

Dust didn’t seem to even notice the hit, much less her words. He sat there unmoving and looked straight forward.

“I promise,” I whispered once more. I lifted my hoof to pat her shoulder, but stopped halfway through the motion and allowed my hoof to fall, sighing. Instead, I rose from the floor again.

Radio rose with me. “Well, now, I think it’s time for the younguns t’ go to bed. They’ve had a hard day, but maybe some sleep’ll help,” he said as he walked up to the siblings still sitting in the blanket.

I looked out the window. The sun’s light was still visible, and, taking into account how many ponies still worked outside, I assumed that it could be mid afternoon at the most.

“It’s too early to go to bed,” Precious protested weakly from her brother’s shoulder.

“You’re both tired, an’ you know it,” Radio said as he slowly helped them up. “Come now, you can take my bed for the night. It should be big enough for both o’ you.”

“But—“

“No ‘but’s, lass,” the old unicorn said with a smile. “Come on, now, you need your rest.”

Dust rose without a word, his eyes still looking at a point further away. Precious slowly rose after her brother, and Radio helped them into the small bedroom.

“You know that you might not return,” Spitfire said as I sat down on the table, resting my head against it. “Bolt told you about the dangers.”

I know, but that’s not something I could tell her, is it? You saw her yourself.

“And what if you don’t return? What then?”

I will return, I insisted

Spitfire sighed, a strange sound to hear inside your head. “If you say so.”

I could hear both the bedroom door closing and Radio gently walking up to the table. “You’re goin’ into the ruins?” he asked as he sat down opposite me, uncorking the same bottle from earlier and taking a deep sip from it.

I raised my head. “I am,” I said, my eyes on the unicorn in front of me.

“An’ Bolt’s goin’ with you, I reckon?” He raised an eyebrow at me. “Oh, don’t look so surprised. She’s talked about it ever since I helped her crack that old safe open.”

“She is,” I confirmed.

The old unicorn sighed. “Did she tell y‘bout all the dangers in there?”

“She did.”

“An’ y’still want t’ go?”

“If it can help me regain my memories, then yes.”

The old unicorn took another sip from the bottle, before he passed it over to me. He laughed as I rejected the bottle. “You’ll take care of her in there?”

“I think it will be the other way around,” I said with a smile. “I’m not proficient with any weapon, nor do I own one.”

The old unicorn took the bottle again, but didn’t drink from it. Instead, he leaned forward over the table. “There are things in there that no weapon helps against,” he whispered before he sat back normally again. “Now, I’m not one t’spread ghost stories, but this is somethin’ else. I’ve heard things since I first arrived in Green Valley, stories about the ponies in the shadows -- a predator, just sittin’ in the growin’ parts o’ the ruins, huntin’ after the ones enterin’ its glades. Only a few have entered those places and lived t’tell the tale. There was this one time a group o’ seven entered the ruins t’prove there wasn’t anything t’fear.” He sighed and took a sip from the bottle. “Only one of ‘em came back, and he just wasn’t the same anymore... He was all bloody, he was real quiet. But he told us ‘bout the glades, ‘bout the monster inside ‘em. They tried shootin’ it, but no luck. He said it was like their bullets just shot through fog. It was fast, too. It come up, they’d blink, and another one of their group would be dead. The only thing the poor fella had seen of it was a pair o’ jade green eyes.”

“How did he survive?”

“He ran -- turned tail and ran. Smart fella. He didn’t get hurt; the blood on him wasn’t his own. But it was like the thing messed with his mind.”

“How will I be able to take care of her then, with something like that running through the ruins?”

“Stay clear o’the glades. If you find yourself inside ‘em, get her out of there. She thinks the stories are just that. She’ll try t’fight whatever’s in there. Just get her away as quick as you can.” He looked pleadingly at me. “Please.”

“I promise.”

Radio shrunk down into his seat, relief clear in his face. “Thank you,” he said. “She can take care of a few ghouls, an’ she’s smart enough t’stay clear of Exo’s thugs if she comes across ‘em, but the glades… She’s been fascinated by ‘em for years. She doesn’t think they’re dangerous.”

“Has she ever been inside of the ruins before? She made it sound like she’s been inside dozens of times.”

Radio laughed. “Dozens? She’s only been there five times! The first two times she didn’t even get out o’sight from the walls. The third time she was a little braver, and rounded the corner. Got attacked by a group o’ghouls, killed all but one of ‘em as they hunted her back to the wall. After that, she looked at some o’the old maps of the city, and even climbed the highest places she could find t’find out if she could see anything. The fourth and fifth time she went in a little deeper and brought back some stuff she found. Sure, she knows how t’find her way, or at least she thinks she does, but she’s always been scared of goin’ in there alone. Or,” he added, muttering. “At least the five times I know of.”

“She’s afraid of going in there by herself, but not afraid of the glades?”

Radio sighed. “I hope she is, but I don’t know. Maybe she has enough sense in her t’stay away from ‘em, but she’s old enough t’do whatever she wants, I guess.”

“But why would she ask me to go with her?”

Radio chuckled lightly as he took a sip from the bottle. “I guess she’s gotten restless this last week. She wanted t’check out that workshop as soon as she found that old recordin’, but she knew she wouldn’t be able t’go there alone. Then you showed up and asked about SAT, and she pointed you to the workshop--”

“You set this up,” I said.

“I gave you both the chance t’get what you want,” the unicorn said simply.

“I…” I paused. “I guess you did, didn’t you?”

Radio flashed me a smile. “Listen, kid, I know your kind. You find somethin’ you wanna do and you stick with it. You want t’find SAT, and she wants t’find the workshop. You don’t know anythin’ ‘bout the ruins, but you can keep her company and make sure she’s not scared all the time. And she’s the only one ‘round here who knows how to get in and out safely. Trust me, she’s just like you -- impossible t’hold back for long.”

“And you’re just letting her go? She might die in there!”

“You might, too, but I don’t see you gettin’ all worked up about it.” Radio shook his head. “Both o’you would’ve gone in eventually. You probably would’ve heard about it from somepony else. She probably would’ve paid somepony to go with her. To be honest, I’d rather she goes in with you, anyway.”

“Why do you trust me so much?”

“I wouldn’t say I trust you, but you’re in it for more than just a few caps. Besides, it sounds to me like you kept Dust an’ Precious safe even though you didn’t know ‘em. I think you’ll do the same for her.”

I nodded slowly. “I will do my best.”

“That’s all I needed t’hear,” Radio said as he looked out the window.

“You are still sure that you are going to enter the ruins?”

I am. We only have to be careful, that’s all.

Radio floated up a wooden board, covered in black and white squares, onto the table. “Care for a game?” he asked as he started to arrange a couple of figures to the board.

“What is it?” I asked, eyeing one of the figures. It was carved out from wood and pictured an alicorn.

“A pre-war game.”

“Well, it’s not like I have anything else planned for the day,” I said as I moved my chair closer, eyeing the board. “How do I play?”

“It goes like this...“ Radio started to explain.

{^l^}

“Move your earth pony to C2,” Spitfire instructed me. I carefully bit down on the piece and made the draw. As I sat down the piece I looked at the unicorn in front of me.

The unicorn raised an eyebrow, before he burst into laughter. “And you won again. You’re a natural, lad,” he said as he started to move the pieces back to their starting position. “Best o’five?”

I yawned widely. While the game in itself had been entertaining, I hadn’t really learned it. Sure, I knew how the different pieces, from the simple foal, through the strong earth pony, the easy moving pegasus, the sly unicorn, the all-around student up to the mighty alicorn, moved and worked. But since I had lost the first game, Spitfire had been the one playing, winning two matches in a row against the older unicorn.

“I’m afraid three games will have to be the limit for me,” I said, suppressing a second yawn. The sun had gone down during our second match, but a couple of candles had allowed us to continue playing without its light. “If I’m to get up tomorrow, it might be best for me to go to bed tonight.”

“Today, technically,” Spitfire corrected me. “The last two games really went on longer than they should, had he known that he would lose.” Spitfire sounded strangely amused.

Whatever.

“Yea, you’re right,” Radio said. “But Dust an’ Precious have the bed... I guess you can sleep on the couch.”

“And let you sleep on the floor? Oh no, that won’t happen, I’m afraid,” I said with a chuckle. “The floor will work for me, you take the couch. You have done enough for us, at least you should get as good sleep as you could.”

The old unicorn sighed. “Are ya sure? I’m okay with the floor. I’ve slept there a few times after goin’ too heavy on the drink.”

I had already moved down onto the floor, placing myself on the widest open space I could find. “Take the couch,” I said, waving a hoof in dismissal.

Radio blew out the candles, the world around me darkening some. “Alright,” he said as he lay down on the couch. “Sleep well, then.”

“The same to you,” I said as I yawned.

I had nearly fallen asleep as Radio spoke up again. “I’m sorry ‘bout how I got mad at you for the raider,” the old unicorn started. “Hearin’ about it just brings up... Bad memories.”

“That’s understandable,” I yawned as I turned around, tried to find that comfortable sleeping position I had been in just a moment before.

“Doesn’t make it right that I almost shot ya, though.”

“No damage done,” I said, waving a hoof in his general direction. A thought came to my sleepy head, and without thinking, I asked it. “What happened to her?”

“The young mare?” Radio hesitated. “She… she died. Eleven months after I found her, she gave birth. Died in childbed. That raider pig got her pregnant before I did anythin’ to stop him. The child was healthy, so I took care of her. Didn’t tell her who her father was, only that her mother loved her dearly. She grew up to be a strong mare, but each time I see her...” Radio sighed. “Each time I see her, it reminds me about that mistake. I guess that’s just something I have t’live with.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I only lied there in silence. Finally, I opened my mouth. “I’m sure you made a great father.”

“Cogwheel!”

“Not that you are the father, not like that, I mean—“

Radio interrupted me with a laugh. “Just stop, lad. I raised her the best I could. My adventurin’ days had ended, in a way, but it was an adventure just havin’ her along. We lived in Green Valley ever since. They took care of us when we got here, both me and the young mare, and, when she passed on, her daughter.”

I yawned widely, and finally found a comfortable sleeping position again. “That sounds nice,” I said absently.

“It has been, most of the time. But that’s a story for another time, lad.”

I didn’t answer. The dreams had already started to take over.

{Z-Z}

A piercing scream shattered my sleep as if it was glass. Blinking a couple of times, I tried to bring a hoof up to rub the sand out of my eye. But I couldn’t move it that far. I was restrained, just like I had been in the stasis pod, but differently.

The sound of metal clanging again metal reached my ears as I tried to move the hoof again. I slowly opened my eyes completely, and looked at my hooves. A crude iron bracelet hung around my hoof, connecting it with the wall behind me by a metal chain. The rest of my limbs were fastened in a similar fashion. Even my neck was connected to the wall, although much more loosely.

“Hello?” I asked, looking around me. The light barely shone up a foot in front of me, a compact darkness lounging over me, threatening to swallow me. I could feel the sweat running down from my brow as the hair on the back of my back stood at an end, my throat burning as I tried to breath. “Is there somepony there?” I shouted.

“Is there somepony there?” the walls around me echoed, twisting my voice so that it barely resembled my own.

“Can somepony hear me?” I shouted, the words ending in a violent cough.

“Can somepony hear me?”

“Anyone?”

“Schhhh,” something further away urged me as the light started to spread, revealing the scene around me.

Hundreds of dead lay scattered around the floor. Foals, mares and stallions, unicorns, earth ponies, pegasi and zebras, all lay in their own blood where they had fallen. Some of the corpses were barely anything more than bones, while some of them were still fresh. Others had started to rot, the various stages of decaying filling the room with a thick stench, much stronger than the one that had been in the clinic.

The stench made me want to throw up, my stomach heaved, but nothing came up.

“Don’t disturb the dead,” a voice I recognized whispered in my ear. “Let them rest.”

I tore my eyes away from the bodies in front of me and looked up. On the other side of the room stood a simple cushion, upon which Frost Mane sat, his ice blue eyes looking down at the little body in his hooves. “They don’t feel any pain. Not any more. They have moved on,” he whispered as he gently stroked the mane from the eyes of the little foal.

“What… what happened here? Where am I?” I coughed, my throat hurting.

The unicorn looked at me, his eyes looking through me at something else. Something only he could see. “I… I don’t know. Every time I blink, I see this place. Their faces and their bodies. Their souls.” He started to laugh, an icy, hollow laugh that made every single hair on my body stand on its end, but still his eyes looked through me. “I killed them. Every last one of them,” Frost Mane cackled, tears of amusement running down his cheeks. “Oh, some tried to run, some tried to hide. But in the end, I reached them, found them. Some of them I killed quickly, others I had begging to be killed for hours, days. And a few.” His laugh died out, and his eyes focused on me. “A few I had my fun with,” he said, wheezing as his laughter tried to escape again.

I turned my eyes away, disgust and hatred filling my body. He continued cackling, but slowly the laughter died out until it was nothing but an echo. “But you… I can’t remember killing, or torturing… and I have definitely not raped you. That, I would have remembered. So what are you doing here? Who are you?”

“I saved your life,” I croaked. “But I already regret it.”

My head was forced forward, caught in Frost Mane’s magic. He slowly rose, without a care in the world about the body he had just had in his hooves that now fell to the floor. But before it hit the floor, it turned to dust together with the rest of the bodies, leaving the unicorn and myself alone. For each step closer the greyish white pony took, the light around us shrank, as if it followed him.

All the time, his eyes were on me, venturing over my body. “So, you are here, but I haven’t killed you? Or done something else against you?” he asked with an eyebrow raised. “No, this isn’t right,” he said as he started to cackle again. “You aren’t dead. The dead never speak, they just watch, silently judging me. But you. You speak. You talk with me.” He stopped before me, the foul stench of his breath hitting me dead on. “Who are you?”

“I’m Cogwheel, the pony who allowed you to live.”

“Cogwheel… Cogwheel… Cogwheel. I… recognize the name.”

Suddenly he whirled around, and the darkness engulfed me once more. “Yes… Yes. Cogwheel. I remember now. Luna sent you in my path, as a test. Yes, a test of my faith towards her. But also a test of you, Cogwheel. She wanted to see if you were the right one, if you would allow me to live,” he wheezed as his icy eyes bored into me, taking up my entire view. “Yes… she was happy with you. Very happy, indeed. Luna guided my steps, and still guides me. But… this isn’t right. You aren’t supposed to be here. She doesn’t want you to be here. Not now.” He paused before he whimpered. “Not yet. She will be mad.”

He blinked, and when he opened his eyes again they seemed lighter than they had a moment before. “Leave, Cogwheel. Leave this place at once. Our paths will cross, but not yet. The time isn’t right.” His voice had changed as well. It was more feminine now, but a lot harder.

The light returned, and instead of Frost Mane an alicorn stood before me, her coat the same color as a dark sapphire and her mane flowing around her like the night sky. The eyes were on me, as if she judged me, before she nodded for herself. “Go!” she growled, her voice strong and hard, her horn glowing and her eyes flashing.

I felt my eyelid starting to get heavy, impossible to keep up. As I blinked, everything around me was replaced with darkness. Screaming, the darkness engulfed me completely.

{O.o}

I opened my eyes, quickly looking around in the small room. The sound of light snoring drifted from the couch to my ears, the first light of a new, cloudy day reaching in through the window. I could feel the sweat running down my back, even though it felt as if I was freezing.

“Cogwheel, what’s the matter?” Spitfire asked worried.

Just… just a nightmare, I answered as I slowly stood up. Nothing more.

The thought of the nightmare brought with it the memories of the bodies, and I could feel the stench from the room filling my nostrils again. I need air. Fresh air. Right. Now, I thought as I galloped towards the door and, nearly smashing it off its hinges, opened it as I practically threw myself outside.

“Just a nightmare?” Spitfire asked as I emptied my stomach, leaning against the door post. “Last time I checked, nightmares aren’t supposed to make you throw up. Tell me.”

I draw the back of my hoof over my mouth, tried to get the last remains of the vomit away from the lips. I dreamed about Frost Mane, I thought with a sigh. I… dreamed about this room, filled with corpses of ponies. Hundreds of them. The room smelled… I can’t even describe it. It was like the clinic, but worse. Frost Mane told me that it was ponies he had killed. Or… done other things too.

“It was just a bad dream, Cogwheel. Probably sprung forth by your worries after what Radio told you yesterday.”

I know, I thought as I spat on the ground, taking a step back from where I had just emptied my stomach. But it felt so real. And then he started to talk about Luna, how she had tested us both. I… I don’t know.

“It was just a dream, nothing else. Don’t think about it.”

“Up already, lad?” Radio said as he trotted up behind me, looking at the doors that hung on its hinges. “You know, if you needed t’get the drink from yesterday up, there was a bucket next to the door. No need t’destroy the house,” he yawned as he started to scratch his chin with a hoof. “Come to think about it, we didn’t drink that much yesterday, did we?”

“Weak stomach,” I lied with a weak grin.

Radio blinked, surprised at me, before he laughed again. “You must have a really weak stomach, then. I can’t recall you drinkin’ anything during our game.”

“Yea…” I smiled at him. “Really weak to that stuff.”

The old unicorn shrugged it off. “A beautiful day, isn’t it?” he said, looking around at the still empty street. “Nothin’ like the still air in the silent morning.” He sighed happily.

I took a deep breath, allowing the fresh air, which brought with it a faint smell of roses, to enter my lungs. “It really is a beautiful morning. If only just the clouds could disappear so we could get some sun as well,” I said and looked up at the clouds above me. “It’s so dull with them up there.”

Radio shot a sidelong glance at me. “Lad, if the clouds disappear, I can die happy. They’ve been there in the sky since I was a little colt, and they’re not goin’ away any time soon. You’ll just have to live with that.”

I snapped my eyes away and looked at the unicorn. “Are you serious? But, aren’t the pegasi controlling the weather?”

Radio chuckled. “Pegasi controllin’ the weather? Now, that’s a knee-slapper! No, the cloudcover’s been there as long as anypony can remember. Some ponies think a unicorn messed up a spell and made it permanent, others think it was the zebras. But most say the pegasi put ‘em there and make sure we never see the sun again. It might be true, seein’ as you hardly ever see a pegasi down here anymore. All I know is, if the pegasi can do somethin’ about the clouds, they’re not.”

“That doesn’t make any sens--”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it, lad. Best just accept it for what it is. It’s been that way ever since the war ended, from what I remember.”

A cloud cover over the world for two hundred years? How… how have the ponies survived? I thought as I once again moved my eyes upward. The only memory I have from the sky is from what I remembered back at the clinic. But this… it feels so wrong.

“No wonder the world looks so dead. Without the sun, how is anything supposed to grow?” Spitfire asked. I couldn’t answer.

Radio followed my gaze upwards, before he sighed. “Bolt should be up an’ gettin’ ready by now. D’you want somethin’ t’eat before you leave?”

I shook my head without taking my eyes from the sky. “Are you sure you have enough? I don’t want you to go hungry. To be honest, I’m not even sure I could eat anything right now.”

“Don’t you worry about me, lad,” the old unicorn snorted. “As I said, Vigil helped us a lot, and the townfolk remember that. They’ll make sure the younguns get food. But if you don’t want anything now, at least take some with you for later.”

“I couldn’t ask you to feed me,” I said as I took my eyes away from the sky. “You have already been too kind.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t need to ask. I insist. You can’t go into the ruins without food. And, knowing Bolt, she’ll probably forget t’take any with her.”

“But—“

“Don’t you start, lad. You’ll need food in those ruins. Just nod and accept it.”

“He’s right, you know,” Spitfire said. “Since you soon are going into those ruins, I recommend to take this offer. It would be one less thing to worry about, how to get food.”

I sighed. “Fine.”

“That’s better. Go an’ get your saddlebags, and I’ll come back with some food for you,” he said as he started to walk towards the town, where the first signs of ponies waking up could be seen.

A few ponies were on the streets and greeted Radio when he walked past them. It seemed as they still didn’t like to have me here. The ponies out this early morning looked at me when they didn’t think I was watching, and more than once a pony quickly turned his attention somewhere else when they realized that I noticed. Some of them looked between me and Radio with a raised eyebrow.

I sighed and walked inside to fetch my saddlebag, which lay where I had placed it to the right of the door. Before I wriggled the saddlebags on, I opened them and left a couple of the healing potions I had found earlier on the table.

“Payment?”

Payment. I thought as I walked up to the door leading to the bedroom. Peeping it open, I looked inside at the two still sleeping siblings.

I hope I’m not making a mistake, I thought as I turned around.

“You are,” Spitfire assured me. “But that won’t make you stop, will it?”

No. I sighed and stepped out from the house again. Sitting down on my haunches, I started to wait for Radio.

More and more of the life returned to the small town for every passing minute. Foals started to play around on the dusty street, running between the legs of the working adults. Some paused up to chit-chat with each other, keeping an eye on the foals running around. I couldn’t help but smile for myself at it all.

It didn’t take long before Radio returned, three small bags floating in front of him. “Enough food for five meals, figure that would be enough for you to eat three,” he said as he opened my saddlebags and placed the food therein.

A few of the ponies around looked angrily at us, but Radio didn’t seem to care. “Are you sure I can’t pay you anything?” I asked. “The rest of the town isn’t looking too happy for you giving me the food,” I added with a whisper.

“Lad, if they have any problem with me giving you some food, they can take it up with me,” Radio said, his voice high enough for most onlookers to hear him.

“Thank you,” I said, giving Radio a smile.

“You’re welcome, lad. Now, take care of Bolt for me out there, would you?”

“I will do my best,” I promised. “And you take care of Dust and Precious.””

“They’ll be safe. And you return now, d’you hear me?”

“I will,” I said as I nodded to him. “Thank you. For everything.”

“You’re welcome. Now, off with you. Don’t let Bolt wait too long.”

I flashed him a smile as I turned around and started to walk down the road towards Bolt’s workshop, enjoying the slow morning.

{^-^}

“I’ll be with you in a minute,” Bolt’s voice reached me from the inner parts of the workshop as soon as I had closed the door behind me.

The workshop was in even more of a mess now than it had the day before. Piles of scrap and junk, both metal, plastics and wood materials, laid scattered over the floor and workbenches. A narrow walking path had been cleared through the layer on the floor, but it didn’t look as if had been sorted in any way, instead laid where there had been room. I carefully walked on the path towards the door.

“I said that I would be there in a minute! What could possibly be so—“ Bolt said annoyed as she walked into the workshop. “Oh, it’s you. Up early, are we?”

“Yea, had trouble sleeping. Radio told me that you would be up already, so I figured that I might as well come over.”

Bolt rolled her eyes. “Just like my father to take in every stray dog he can find.”

“Radio is your father?” I mentally kicked myself as soon as the question had slipped out.

“Smooth move.”

“He is. Although it surprises me that he would take in a cyborg.” She rolled her eyes again. “But, if there is anypony in the village who would do that, it would be him.”

“I wasn’t alone. I came here with two others -- siblings.”

“Let me guess. Two, relatively young siblings, not much younger than me? Yeah, he has always had a soft spot for keeping kids and younger adults safe.”

“I wonder why. Is it his way to try and repay for the raider?”

“Dust and Precious, a couple of years younger than you,” I said. How do you mean?

“He made a mistake in his life, and is now trying to repay that mistake.”

“Doesn’t matter to me what their names are. I guess it doesn’t really matter, if they’re not coming with us.”

I raised an eyebrow. “How—“

“They aren’t with you. Now, do you have everything with you?”

“I think so. Everything except the weapon you said you would have fixed.”

“Yes, that. Luckily, I found the perfect thing,” Bolt said as she started to move around some of the scrap lying on the floor. “It should be here somewhere, I know that I placed it here.”

I had to duck or dodge a couple of times as the mare threw various objects in all directions during her hunt for whatever it was she searched for. In the end, she stood there alone with a small holster containing an even smaller revolver, not much different from the one Dust had. “Found it,” she exclaimed as she floated it over to me. “What do you think?”

The revolver was smaller than a fifth of my outstretched hoof, and was barely anything more than a pipe with a cylinder mounted on a mouth-grip. “It’s… small,” I said.

“Well, it will have to do,” Bolt said as she tried to place the holster on my only biological leg. Muttering to herself, something that sounded close to “Thick legged bull,” she floated forward a new strap and added it to the already existing one, and fastened it tight over my leg.

“What did you say?”

“How does it feel?” she asked, completely ignoring my question. “Try to draw it.”

“It is a little tight,” I said as I brought my mouth down to take up the weapon as I had seen Dust use his revolver.

“I don’t think that’s—“

I got this. As I got a hold around the mouth-grip, a crack was heard, followed by a flash of pain from my hoof. The little pony popped up in the corner of my eye, promptly telling me that I had a hole close to the base of my lower limb. Yelping in pain and surprise, I took a step backward and let go of the revolver.

“Cogwheel! Are you alright?”

I’m fine, I thought, clenching my teeth in pain and taking a deep breath. Just… fine.

Bolt had been surprised and taken a step back at the sudden sound, a step she now took back. “You have to be the most clumsy, pea-brained idi—“ she started, before she took a deep breath and floated the revolver out from the holster, practically showing it up my face. “This here, this small part here, is a trigger. Push it down,” she said, empathizing the words by clicking down the part in question. Her action was followed by the same crack. “And you will fire a round in the direction this part--” She turned the revolver around so that the cylinder pointed directly into my eye. I took a step back, grunting as the pain from my wounded leg shot through my body, as she continued. “--points. Is it that hard to understand?”

“I thought—“

“Don’t think. Just do.” she said as she showed the revolver into the holster again. “Come over with that leg, let me look at it.”

I carefully walked over to her, limping slightly as I tried not to put too much weight on the wounded leg.

“It could have been worse,” Bolt said as she looked down the hole in my leg. “The bullet didn’t go completely through, and it missed the bone completely. Steel yourself, this might hurt.”

I screamed in pain and took a step back as she ripped the bullet out. Without even looking at it, she threw it away.

“Thanks,” I breathed through gritted teeth. “For the warning.”

“You’re welcome. Now, try it again, and do it right this time.”

“Don’t bite down that hard this time, and take the grip a little further down. You practically bit down on the trigger last time.”

This time I took it slower, made sure that I wouldn’t bite down on the trigger again. As I lifted the revolver, a magical field jerked it out of my mouth.

“Good, you understand the first rule, don’t bite on the trigger. Second rule, never, ever, point a gun towards someone you aren’t going to shoot.” She pressed down the revolver in the holster again. “Now, try again, faster this time.”

I sighed as I moved my muzzle down to draw the weapon, turning my head slightly away from Bolt as I did.

“Good, but you are still slow. I guess that will do for now. Now, let us train your aim,” she said as she floated up two rusty cans from the heap around us. “One bullet in each. Go.”

As I tried to locate the trigger with my tongue, I actually pushed it down, firing of a round that missed with miles.

“Are you even trying?” Bolt asked. “Seriously?”

I grunted in response as I moved my head to line the weapon with the can. Pushing down the trigger, I once again missed the can.

“Listen, you see that small iron thing sticking up on the barrel? That’s the sight, where it point you will shoot. Try again.”

“Right here,” Spitfire said, and a small circle came to view around the sight.

Thanks, I thought as I tried to focus on it. Pressing down the trigger, I once again missed, but this time I was a bit closer.

“One mo—“

Before Bolt had finished, I fired a new round and hit the can. Smiling, she floated it down before her eyes and looked at the small hole. “Barely hit,” she said. “But it’s a hit. One can left.”

I took a deep breath through my nose as I lined up the tin can. After another moment, I fired, and missed completely. I moved the gun a teeny bit to the right, and pushed down the trigger again. But the gun only clicked.

“Rule three, know how many bullets you have left. The .357 revolver has a cylinder with enough room for six rounds, which means you will have to reload it every sixth shot,” she jerked the revolver from my mouth again, and pushed open the revolver, spilling out six metal pieces from it. After quickly have floating up six new similarly looking pieces and placed them in the cylinder, she slammed it back in place, all in less than five second. “I will teach you how to reload later, but for now try and hit the last can.”

I clenched my teeth around the revolver once more and slowly adjusted my head to aim down the iron. Pressing down the trigger twice to fire two rounds in quick succession, two low pings reached my ears as both shot hit home.

“Not bad,” Bolt said as she floated down the can to look at it. Without any warning, she hurled it towards me, forcing me to jump to the side. “Rule number four, never waste ammunition. One shot would have been enough, don’t shoot more than you have to.”

I dropped the revolver as I yelped in pain when I landed on my hurt leg.

“You are a terrible shot, slow at drawing the weapon and even slower at lining up for a shot,” she said as she took the revolver mid-air and threw up four cans from the floor in the air. “Draw. Aim. Fire. Reload,” she said, each word punctuated with a crack from the revolver and a ping from the can it hit. As all the cans hit the floor, each one with a new hole to their addition, she floated over the revolver and placed it in the holster, before her eyes wandered down to my injured leg. “Now, a healing potion would fix up that wound like a charm. I know that I have one stuffed away here somewhere,” she said as she spun around.

Sighing, I reached down in my saddlebag and picked up one of my own healing potions.

“And this is the mare you are going to travel with into the ruins? A mare who focused on your skill to use a gun and ignored your injuries?”

I chugged down the healing potion, the cold liquid chilling my throat. It wasn’t a serious wound, and I believe she wanted to be sure that I could at least use a gun without shooting myself. The potion had effect immediately, a cold creeping sensation seeping up my leg as the flesh and skin started to crawl into place.

“It’s more likely that she wanted to make sure you didn’t shoot her than yourself,” Spitfire muttered, barely audible. “And the way she treated your wound, just rip the bullet out without a care? She could have damaged you even worse.”

But she didn’t. I lifted up my hoof and inspected it. Not a single trace of the wound, not as much as a shifting in the skin tone or a missing path of coat, was left. The healing potion really made wonders.

“Found it,” Bolt exclaimed as she floated up a healing potion from a couple of saddlebags she had dug forth from one of the heaps. She turned towards me, and raised an eyebrow at me as she saw my hoof. “But it seems you don’t need one anymore.”

“I have a few with me,” I said with a tiny smile. “Can’t go completely unprepared into the ruins, can I?”

“You learn,” Bolt said with an approving smile. “Now then, next stop the ruins.” Bolt levitated her own saddlebags onto her back and slammed open the door.

“Aren’t you going to have a weapon?” I asked her with a raised eyebrow as I followed her outside.

“Of course I have a weapon with me,” Bolt snorted as she continued walking. “Don’t trust you to keep anything away with your skills. No, I got my own weapons with me, don’t you worry about that.”

We turned around two corners, and I found myself standing on a narrow road leading down to an opening that had been cleared in the rumble that otherwise surrounded the small town. On each side of the opening, a unicorn lazily sat. As the sound of our hoofsteps reached them, they quickly stood up and turned their attention to us.

“Good morning, Bolt,” the smaller of the two unicorns said with a wide grin.

The other unicorn bitterly overlooked me, before he too turned his attention towards Bolt. “Leaving for the ruins?” he asked with a thick voice. “With one of his kind?” He spat on the ground. “Is that really smart?”

“Is that your business, Thick?” Bolt snarled.

“As a matter of fact, it is. As guards of the gate, it is Thin and mine’s task to keep you and the rest of the people of Green Valley safe from whatever—“

“Guards of the gate?” Bolt mocked. “The only thing you are guarding is the stones you rest your lazy haunches on as soon as no one is around. And how are you supposed to keep us safe, without any weapon? The only thing you can do is run back and scream ‘Cyborg!’ or ‘Ghoul!’ at the top of your lungs as soon as you see anything that even resemble a pony.”

The bigger unicorn tried to get a word in, but Bolt continued without giving him a chance. The smaller unicorn, Thin, just stood there and giggled silently.

“Now, be a good guard of the gate and tell my father that I will be back soon, and maybe, maybe, I won’t tell him that you didn’t keep lookout as you are supposed to.”

“Y-yes, Bolt,” Thick stammered as he took a step backward.

“Before you go.” Thin spoke up, seemingly unaffected by the glare Bolt gave him as she averted her gaze to him. “We saw some of Exo’s cyborgs pass by earlier, not more than an hour ago. They were going towards the middle of the ruin, but walked close enough for us to believe that they wanted us to see them. We believe that Exo just wants to prove that he is a stallion of his words and that they are protecting us against the ghouls. Thought you might want to know.”

Bolt smiled at Thin. “Thank you, Thin. You have always been a good colt.”

“H-Hey, that isn’t fair! I knew that as well,” Thick spoke up. He quickly closed his mouth as Bolt turned towards him, her smile melting away and her glare once again returning.

“You might, Thick. But it was your brother who said it,” she growled, before the smile returned. Without another word, she walked past both the unicorns. I hurried after her, doing my best to avoid looking at Thick, whose cheeks had turned a slightly deeper color of red.

“What was that about?” I asked Bolt as I reached her just before a sharp turn.

“I used to foal sit those two when I was younger,” the unicorn said as if that would explain everything.

I stopped dead after we had turned. The turn lead to a smaller plateau, which allowed me a smaller overlook of the ruins in all its glory. The few glades with their light green color stood out amongst the ruins that were clad in ivy. Roads and bigger streets laid scattered in irregular patterns over the city, most of them blocked by parts of the buildings that had collapsed over them. Among the ruins pony-like shapes moved around, too far away for me to make out anything else about them.

“Welcome, to the ruins,” Bolt said as she started move down the road into the ruins. “Let me be your guide.”

{^-^}

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: Quick Learner: Learning is painful, and now, you never want to spend more time learning than you have to. For each rank of this perk you get a bonus 5% experience from all sources, as well as a +1 skill point bonus at each level.

First, a really big thank you to Masquerade313, not only for proofreading and editing, but for giving the story a hell of a lot more life than it had from the beginning. I can’t thank him enough for all the time he devoted helping me with this! (Seriously, I soon have to move him to Co-Author for all his editing work with dialogues) (I suck at dialogues)

Secondly, thanks to Rising_Chaos for proofreading and listening to my never ending babbling.

Lastly, thanks to James Tonto for reading through and telling me what he thought.

Comments

[Faindragon]

Chapter 5. As usually, the biggest thanks I can possibly give goes to Masquerade. Without him, this story would be absolutely nothing!

As always, comments and critics are HIGHLY appreciated!

The sixth chapter have been started, at least the planning. Stay tuned, and it should be finished within two weeks!

[Deathpony]

good good

[Faindragon]

1121960
You have no idea how happy I'm to hear what you say. If it something I have lacked during the writing, it is comments.

Normally, I wouldn't say this unless it actually was a negative critic, since I often hate when people just say that it's good, but as you say it... Thank you.

But, I can't take all praise for myself. Without Masquerade313, none of the characters would have been as good as they are.

[Doomande]

1121980
You did just win yourself some more points for thanking your pre-reader for some of the work. Good style, very good style my good gentlecolt.

I have that opinion that if you don´t say what is good, but just say "good work" and noy what part of t was good is just headless praise. When you are saying what parts you like, and especially what in them that you liked, then you are showing what whent right. And after 10K words, the least you can do as a reader is sending some back.

Just my 2 bits.

PS: And to if you sees this Masquerade313
Keep Faindragon to the fire, use a whip is it that you need to get him to work, because there is readers that is just waiting for your work, both of yours work.
From one pre-reader to another
Doomande, that isn't done yet with this story

[Faindragon]

1122118
I don't believe in whips. No, I see it as that it's he who does this for me when he feel like it, I can't force him to demote his time to me, instead I'm grateful when he does.

[Doomande]

1122146
Sory the last part was ment for him, not about him. My mistake, that have been fixed

[Faindragon]

1122151
Might have been me not reading through it completely either ;)

[Faindragon]

1127952
And once again I'm really happy that you take your time to comment. The characters are mostly thanks to Masq, at least how they are portraited to you. Marvel, Stable 31 and Green Valley. Good times.

Good Times.

[Masquerade313]

1122118 Regarding your 'keeping him to the fire'... He'd probably have to do that to me. It's been, what, three months? Maybe less? He's already written six chapters. His chapters are only delayed because I slack off a lot. But I think our dynamic is just fine at the moment. He feeds me with enough praise to keep a starving nation alive, and, in turn, I fix his typos. It's a win-win.

[Doomande]

1128103
The problem for me right now is that I have noting else but time. But that just meens a lot of ponies so that is not so bad again. And as i said before, the least I can do is write a comment after all what you have written.

1128131
Nice you read it
And nice to know that there is a supply of Fo:E that is just waiting for the last details.
And things take time. Especially good things like this story.

[Faindragon]

1128131
You slack? BARROWMAN!

But no, I couldn't have asked about a more lovely editor~

[Doomande]

What time is it? REVIEW TIME!

It is good as always, with a good pace and just the right amount of stuff happening so you don´t drown in it, but still feel that there is stuff happening. Also nice to see even more life in the characters. And the first glimpse of a bigger mystery, for is the dream a foreshadowing about what would happen, or is Spitfire right when she says that it was just a dream. I can´t wait to find out about it.

Nice to see that another nice detail from you, this time the ponies chess. It is the first time that I see it, and I love it as much as some of you other details. Also a nice little touch with the 11 month pregnancy, something that even I didn´t know

AHA! I have now spotted the first mistakes in your story. But they are not big ones, and I have been pre-reading most of yesterday, so I think that my brain are still looking after them.
You have forgotten the capital letter after the questionmarks some places
""Did he say he’d do better?” the unicorn"
"“You’re goin’ into the ruins?” he asked"
"Or done something else against you?” he asked with an eyebrow raised."
"A beautiful day, isn’t it?” he said"
"“Leaving for the ruins?” he asked with a thick voice."
And should it not be a "in" insted of "it" in "Maybe she has enough sense it her t’stay away from ‘em,"
"’ve been there in the sky since I was a little boy" Should it not be colt?

[Honey Mead]

and she pointed you to the workshop--”

I think you mean 'and I pointed'

[Faindragon]

1360251
Actually, I meant it as it stands.

I assume you got it from this part:

Radio chuckled lightly as he took a sip from the bottle. “I guess she’s gotten restless this last week. She wanted t’check out that workshop as soon as she found that old recordin’, but she knew she wouldn’t be able t’go there alone. Then you showed up and asked about SAT, and she pointed you to the workshop--”

Cogwheel asked about SAT, and Bolt pointed him to the workshop she wanted to visit.