Chapter 1 - How it Started

“The night will last forever!”

My mother once said: “Life is unpredictable.”

Well, Celestia fuck me with her horn, my mommy was psychic! Seriously, if my life had proved anything, it would be just that: You cannot predict shit. Things will happen as the fate wants and there’s nothing a pony can do about them. No point bitching about it. All you can do is grab a sponge and clean the shit when it comes.

Perhaps I should start from the beginning, so that you would understand what I am talking about, and make you appreciate your life a bit more once you’ll learn how shitty was mine. I assure you, all that I’ll tell you will be the truth… or at least, what I used to think was truth.

What is “the truth”, through? Back then, I had thought that everything I knew was true and... correct. That’s how ponies, how people, define reality. They live their lives bounded by what they accept as correct and true. But what does it mean; to be correct or true? Merely vague concepts… their reality may all be a mirage. Can we consider them to simply be living in their own world, shaped by their beliefs?

If that’s so, then maybe I shouldn’t say that I will tell you the truth. Instead, let me tell you… about my reality.

Then again, to speak about that, I should give you a brief history lesson, huh? You know, considering...

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters, the true Goddesses, Celestia and Luna. They ruled together, and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her alicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn, as the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, for all the different types of ponies.

Their reign also brought peace between the ponies and their neighbours. Equestria was a friend to both griffons and zebra, to the Crystal Empire and Aquestria. Everypony, everybody was happy, back then. At peace… until Princess Luna, feeling neglected by her subjects and living in the shadow of the elder sister, was attracted the attention of the Nightmare. It corrupted her, transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon.

The Nightmare War began, and even though it technically lasted one night - which made ponies later think that it was just a short argument between the two sisters - it was long and terrible. It ended once Princess Celestia, regrettably, resorted to using the powers of the Elements of Harmony, the most powerful artifacts known to ponykind. With them, she managed to banish her sister to the moon.

And for the next thousand years, there was peace.

By the end of said millennium, many significant events happened. A new alicorn came to be, Princess Cadance, the Goddess of Love. Nightmare Moon had returned, and this time she was defeated as well, by the six ponies who became the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony managed to free Princess Luna; she then returned to her sister side, ruling Equestria together. The personification of chaos was released from his stony prison, but soon became bounded again. And lastly, the Crystal Empire returned, free of its curse that was placed on it by the tyrant, and Princess Cadance came to rule it along with her husband.

All seemed well… but as my mom said, life is unpredictable. Shit happened, and it wasn’t just “a puppy's poop on the carpet” kinda shit, but a big dragon’ pile of shitload.

Celestia and Luna were murdered.

And as if the two of them being alive kept the peace between everybody in our world, the Great War erupted.

The autopsy, which was performed on the bodies of the alicorn princesses with the greatest respect, indicated a very powerful zebra poison as the cause of death. Given that prior to the murder there were some serious quarrels over trade, it seemed obvious to ponies that they found the guilty party. Burning with hatred and need for revenge, the ponies of Equestria and of the Crystal Empire attacked the Zebra Nation. The zebras, however, claimed to be innocent, and the griffins, the minotaurs and buffalos believed them, joining their side in this terrible war. And even thought the griffins' clans had quickly decided to offer their military help to both sides in return for a good pay, everybody else was passionate about winning.

The war lasted almost two decades. During that time, the six mares that saved Equestria from Nightmare Moon and the Spirit of Chaos contributed to the war effort as best they could. One of them joined the army, and the remaining five became members of the newly formed Ministries. Over the course of the war, each of them gained higher positions in their respective offices and eventually in few short years all became Ministers, while the one Bearer in the military was named the Supreme Commander of the Equestrian Army. Their inventions, their efforts… they earned Equestria many victories in the war and made it possible for their fellow citizens to still prosper in the everyday life. The Ministry of Arcane Science and the Ministry of Wartime Technology in particular pushed the country’s industry into a new “golden” age. They began creating newer weapons, newer means of protection, newer means of transportation, and newer means of healing…

How much blood must be spilled on the gold to turn it into a copper?

As the years passed, the six mares, all who were friends to the princesses, began talking about peace though. They claimed that their hatred was spent, and now they just wanted to end all the bloodshed. They didn’t shriek from their duties though, even if it made the Supreme Commander look rather retarded when she was speaking about the need for peace while wiping zebra or griffon’s blood from her armor. But at that point, it was too late. Too much blood was spilled on both sides for anyone to crave anything but the total annihilation of the enemy. While Equestria gained new technologies and learned new spells, the zebra, griffons, buffaloes and minotaurs did so as well, either by themselves or through stealing the inventions from ponies. Only some of things remained secret.

The megaspells, sadly, weren’t one of them. That ironically lead to the end of the war, but I am getting ahead of myself. Before I go there, I need to point out that the first that used the megaspells against Equestria… were the very same ponies that created them.

The investigation of the Princesses murder had never stopped. There were still many questions that took years to be answered, like a simple one: who gave them the poison that killed them? It took them nineteen years, but in the end, the one behind the murder was revealed.

It was the former student of Princess Celestia, the Ministry Mare of the Ministry of Arcane Sciences and Bearer of the Element of Magic, Twilight Sparkle. Immediately, guards were dispatched to apprehend her.

In return, Twilight Sparkle blew up Canterlot.

She used a balefire bomb, a megaspell that was originally invented by zebras, but by the time Equestria got copies of their research was still not finished. Its purpose was to release a concentrated dragon flame spell in a form of massive explosions that bathe the area in radioactive fire. Once Equestria completed what the zebra had started, the ponies tried to end the war by threatening to unleash the balefire bombs upon their enemies.

Unfortunately, they underestimated the zebras one time too many. By not using the balefire bombs immediately, Equestria gave them just enough time to finish their spells as well. Both sides had means of massive destruction. Those spells… they were super weapons.

And Canterlot was the trigger.

Once the news about the explosion came out, ponies in the all corners of the country and in Crystal Empire at first believed it was caused by our enemies. They responded in kind, firing balefire missiles at them. It wasn’t until the Prince (Celestia and Luna only rightful heir) had broadcasted from his bunker a public statement about Twilight Sparkle’s treachery that everypony knew what happened. But it was too late. The missiles were fired, bombs dropped…

However, the Zebra Nation didn’t want the world to die without Equestria and Crystal Empire. They used their balefire bombs and missiles.

Our planet was covered by the fire and radiation. The once proud cities were destroyed, thousands had died, and the land became… tainted... corrupted.

But it wasn’t the end of ponykind. On the Last Day, many ponies found safety in Stables, shelters devised by Stable-Tec with the goal of preserving life if the unthinkable happened. Able to withstand a detonation of the megaspell and still function in a self-sustainable environment, they allowed not only ponies, but others as well to survive. There was a good number of civilian zebra, griffons and buffaloes still living in Equestria, and despite the prejudices, Stable-Tec haven’t forgotten about them.

My story begins in Stable Thirty-Nine, about two hundred years after the Great War. It was rather a unique Stable: it was reserved for the bat ponies. Descendants of Princess Luna’s night guards’ families, it was supposed to be a heaven for our sparse kind. Perhaps it was due to bat ponies’ military history we had all those records about the past. As I came to learn much later, most of the ponies that lived in Stables only know that there were the Goddesses and that there was a war that destroyed our world. End of the fucking history lesson.

I was also talking about this “history lesson”. Time to get to the main plot.

It was the night as usual for me. I’ve just woken up, took a shower, put on my jumpsuit, made sure what time it was on my PipBuck, and was about to head off to work.

While we’re at it, I had no idea back then why the fuck they gave bat ponies PipBucks. The only useful functions of it back at the Stable were showing time, what items you carried and what you were supposed to do, which lets you be better organized and stuff. The more complicated features, like Eyes Forward Sparkle (I wonder if they would have changed the name if they had more time before the bombs dropped), which shows nearby life forms either as hostile or friendly; or Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell, that allows the users to perceive their surroundings as if the time was frozen, and gauge the situation in peace and plan the next attacks; are all useless. First off, there are no hostiles in Stable Thirty-Nine, so S.A.T.S. loses its purpose, and as for detecting other beings… we are bat ponies.

We have the best senses from all kinds of ponies, be it sight, hearing, or smell. We can see in the dark better than they can during day, and when the sun rose, our pupils simply shrink like cat’s, so they will be less sensitive to the light. Our ears, which end with fringes, can pick up sounds unhearable for ponies. On the list of the perk we have, I suppose I could also list the ability to emit both low and high sounds, as the means of orientation as well as a weapon.

Oh, and we can fly. We have wings like the pegasi, but without any feathers. I suppose the easiest way to describe them would be to say that they look like bat’s: they even have small appendages that looks like a tiny claw, which are useful if you want to grab something and use it, but your mouth is busy.

Strangely, most of the things I grab with them are guns.

Anyway, back that night, I finished all preparations and was about to leave my quarters. I glanced at the mirror doing so, and from within it, I saw a handsome hunk frowning his amber eyes, his grayish coat and dark blue mane fresh and clean after a hot shower. My job was boring. I was a shift supervisor… well, more like I was being trained to be one, but that’ mostly the same. All day long, I had to make sure ponies were doing their part in keeping our Stable working. And let me tell you, watching ponies work is even more boring than that working itself. I wanted to go hit the cafeteria, try talking to that hot-

A knock on my door interrupted my train of thoughts. I pressed a switch to open them and saw a security stallion standing on the other side.

“Hi, um…” I stuttered, puzzled. It was the first time anypony from security visited me, and while that could be a pleasant surprise it that would be a mare, with the stallion I immediately began thinking what in Tartarus was he doing here.

“The Overmare wants to see you, Nightkin,” he explained. “You’re to report in her office in ten minutes.”

Okay, the fuck? I don’t recall doing anything that would attract the Overmare’s attention, so unless she wants… No, this is not the time for a stupid suggestion, stop picturing her bending over her desk, brain!

“I don’t- I mean, I have the work to go to...” I somehow managed to say.

“You will be excused. Ten minutes,” he said, and hovered off.

I waited few moments to make sure I was no longer within his earshot (and again, bat ponies - super hearing, so I had to wait quite a bit), closed the door, and said: “Well, fuck.”

I talked with the Overmare a few times before, of course. After all, since I was training to be a shift supervisor, there was a chance that I might become an Overstallion someday. She was rather pleasant to look upon, despite being about twenty years older than me, but I hadn’t tried flirting with her out of respect.

…

Honestly.

…

Okay, fine! I never tried flirting with her, because back then I wasn’t exactly… the flirty type. I was a smart-mouth, granted, but when it came to the topic of sex…

…

Moving on…

I figured I might as well make a good impression and be early, so I left my quarters. I flew through the many corridors of the Stable confidently, as I knew practically every turn by heart. I passed a few other bat ponies on my way, but I didn’t pause to chat with them. I hoped that if I will be earlier, the Overmare would sooner finish whatever it was that she wanted from me and I would be able to return to my normal routine of the night.

However, before the entrance to the Overmare’s Office stood about twenty-something other ponies. To say I was confused would be an understatement. I landed next to the group (which, as I had realized, consisted only ponies around my age) with the intention of asking what the fuck was going on, but just then, the door to the office opened.

“Good, you’re all here already,” the Overmare, standing in the doorframe, said. Taking a step back, she added: “Come in, we might as well get over with it.”

Over with what? I kept pondering that question over and over again as I stood in attention before Overmare’s desk. The mare, now sitting in her chair had a strange expression on her muzzle.

“You probably wonder why I gathered you all here,” she began, but didn’t wait for the incoming nods. “The reason for that is… that I want one of you to make a contact with the outside.”

Okay, what. The fuck. Wasn’t the outside unlivable?

“I realize that you might be concerned, and confused,” the Overmare raised her voice, while few ponies began murmuring between themselves, voicing my thoughts. “But Stable’s computers show that it is safe to leave the Stable now, as the air is still there, and the radiation is long gone. However,” she paused, probably wondering if she should tell us this, “we have no idea if there is anything alive out there, if there is anything of Equestria left, or if ponies still remember us. We are, after all, different from the rest of them; and even before the Great War we were about as few in numbers as we are now. They might think of us as monsters.”

While I had no idea why would anypony think of a bat pony as monsters, I had to admit that we were rather different than other kinds of ponies. Or rather, they were much weirder than us. I mean, a horn sticking out your head? Feathers on wings? That’s just… odd.

“I will be sending only one of you, because more could attract… unwanted attention to our Stable,” she said as she took from one of desk’s drawers a small bucket, filled with small, metal stakes. “Further information will be given only to the one that will draw a stake painted white on the end. If you pick a clean one, you can leave.”

Guess what? I draw the one painted white. Wouldn’t be much of a story if I didn’t, would it?

So, are you curious as to what were the first words of the one chosen from the entire Stable Thirty-Nine to explore the outside after two hundred years of it being closed?

“Oh, shit.”

“I guess the rest of you can leave,” the Overmare informed the rest, most of which sighed with relief.

Few of them that were my close friends patted me on a shoulder as they passed, wishing good luck, and promising to buy me a drink once I was back. I did my best to show how nervous - borderline scared, actually - I was, and joked about bringing them back some souvenirs.

Soon, the only ones left in the office were I and the Overmare. She waited for the doors to close before she addressed me.

“I lied,” she said.

Wait, what?!

“I’m not sending you to make a contact,” the mare continued. She sighed and rubbed her eyes. It then hit me that she looked as if she hadn’t slept all day; her mane was messy, and there were circles under her eyes. “We’ve got a problem, a big one,” the Overmare confessed, her hooves still covering her eyes. “Our water talisman is beginning to fail.” I froze upon hearing that.

The water talisman was the reason why ponies were able to live inside the Stable. It provided flesh, clean water that was necessary for every life. If it was malfunctioning…

“You have probably realized what this means; no water talisman; no Stable,” the Overmare continued. “Nightkin, I really wish there would be another solution, but… I need to ask you to go outside and find a new water talisman.”

Great, now not only I will have to worry about staying alive outside of the Stable, but also the survival of everypony I know. Why the fuck had I considered my job boring about twenty minutes ago?!

“We estimate we have about four to five months before the talisman will cease to work completely,” she added, glancing at some document on her desk. Turning to me, she continued: “I hope this will be enough time for you to find us a new one. Perhaps you should start by looking for another Stable. Try finding a settlement and ask around it. But don’t mention where our Stable is, I doubt this would be smart,” the Overmare said, rising from behind her desk and landing next to me. “Look… just stay safe, okay?”

“Because if I don’t, everypony here is doomed?” I somehow managed to joke, for which I was rewarded with a gentle poke.

“No, because if you don’t, I will have to send another pony,” she replied in with a grin, although I could see in her eyes that she was concerned for my life as well.

I soo hope I will never be an Overstallion. I don’t want to be responsible for everypony like her… wait, I am now. Shit.

“Are you ready?” the Overmare asked.

We stood in front of the Stable’s doors. They stayed closed all my life. There wasn’t anypony alive who saw them open. But now, in but a few seconds, I was about to witness the security guard press the command on the console that would unlock the gate.

“I kinda hoped to have the last meal or something,” I joked nervously.

The Overmare rolled her eyes and nodded to the guard near the console. As he began pressing the buttons, I shifted under the weight of my saddleback. I was provided with supplies that should last me for about a week if I rationed them, some healing potion and bandages (although, considering my poor first aid skills, I really hoped I wouldn’t end up having to use them), few bobby pins if I would need to get into a locked place (now with that, I could work with. Ah, all the times I- What? Can’t a colt do mischievous things?), a knife (I was kinda annoyed that there wasn’t any bigger melee weapon, I mean, we were descendants of the night guard, why wasn’t there a royal sword or something in here?), and 10mm gun (and basic training on how to use it) with two small boxes of ammo for it. I was also given security armor instead of the jumpsuit I wore. It was a bit odd flying around in it, but I was slowly getting used to it.

Suddenly, an alarm began ringing, but as I looked around in confusion, I realized that it was signaling that the doors were opening. Which happened next, as the awful cringing sound confirmed. I looked at the big, round hatch slowly moving to the side, revealing… outside.

It was a cave.

“The cave should have an exit somewhere on the other side,” the Overmare said, and I managed to catch her rolling her eyes. I blushed out of embarrassment, and then looked through the entrance, gulping nervously. “Hey, if it helps, think about how you will be the first bat pony to see the moon of our beloved princess.”

That… did help. A bit... I wondered how the moon would look like, or the sun for that matter. I knew from the history lessons that the sun and the moon hadn’t stopped moving after the death of the Princesses (which everypony took as a sign of their spirits ascending to the celestial bodies they moved), although they continued to do so… oddly.

“Okay…” I murmured, taking a deep breath. “Here I go.”

…

“You’re not moving,” one of the guards noticed.

I shot him a look, and then took another breath, reminding myself that if I won’t go, the Stable Thirty-Nine would cease to exist. And there will be the moon to greet me there.

I flapped my wings and slowly flew out of the Stable and into the cave.

“Good luck!” I heard the Overmare shout after me, despite the sound of the alarm as the gate began closing behind me. “We will pray to the Goddesses to keep you safe!”

Despite being terrified, I couldn’t help myself from looking back and waving goodbye. The Overmare sounded so honest, even if only because the fate of the Stable rested on my shoulders, which I wanted her to see me being confident.

I watched as the doors to Stable Thirty-Nine, to my home, closed.

“Okay,” I managed to say after few heartbeats; or was it minutes? “No point staying here.”

I looked around the cave as I began flying through here. It was quite spacious, easily like the size of the Stable’s Atrium. And there was a small pond in the middle of it. I lowered myself near the surface, then immediately pulled back as my PipBuck began ticking.

I glanced at it and checked one of the “useless functions”, the radiation meter. It showed me, much to my shock, that my radiation level had increased. Luckily, before I began panicking, I had realized that it was almost non-existent.

“Great, I haven’t even left, and already I’m-” I stopped talking to myself when it crossed my mind that maybe they the ponies back in the Stable can hear me. There could be some listening devices in the cave after all.

I pulled myself together and fly towards what looked to be an exit. I didn’t bother looking around anymore, there was nothing there.

Thinking back, I realized that should have ticked me off.

The exit was blocked by a metal door. I landed next to it and found out that it was opened. I half expected that I will have to use my lockpicking skills for the first time in something other than mischief, but I guessed I'd get to that later.

I went through the door… and the world started to spin around me.

I was starting at the vast, open space. Open! I realized of course that the word “outside” meant that it was outside, but I haven’t expected the big emptiness, where the devastated land stretches on for miles and miles on end. My wings then folded itself tightly around my body on their own. I was sure that if I have lifted from the ground, I would fall up. There was no way I was going to fly out here.

What? I lived my whole life inside a Stable; agoraphobia is perfectly understandable in such case…

You know what? Fuck you.Footnote: Started Adventure
S.P.E.C.I.A.L.

Strength: 4

Perception: 8

Endurance: 4

Charisma: 6

Intelligence: 6

Agility: 8

Luck: 4
Tag Skills: Melee Weapons, Lockpick, Sneak
Traits:

Agoraphobia – Life inside of the Stable made you fear open spaces. You gain +1 to SPECIAL attributes when indoors, but suffer -1 when outside.

Sex appeal – You're about the only exotic thing in the Wasteland that's pleasant to eye. You've got the "right" stuff. Members of the opposite sex are attracted to you, and there are a few of your own sex that might be interested... though some not interested in your "buck meat" will tend to dislike you.
Racial Traits:

Echolocation (Rank 1) - You don't just resemble bats. When in closed spaces, you can use it to learn your way through it, and you can utilize your voice as a weapon. You have an option to fill your local map while indoors, and you can strike enemies with a sonic scream.

Chosen by Luna – The blood of your night guard’s ancestors makes you stronger during nighttime. You gain + 1 to Strength and Endurance. No drawbacks. This is a blessing from the Goddess of the Night herself!
Free Perk Added: Flight (Rank 1) - You can lift yourself off the ground and drift by at a slow pace.

Chapter 2 - The First Night is Unforgettable

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“I am the terror that flaps in the night!”

I wonder how many ponies sat on the ground in the middle of the Wasteland; just staring at the big thing I knew from textbooks to be called sky, all while trembling, and did’t get shot. Because strangely, I did exactly just that right in front of the entrance to the cave that hides the hatch of Stable Thirty-Nine. Nopony shot me during the most spaced-out minutes of my life outside. At least, I hope they were just minutes.

I would have probably stayed like this for hours, shaking as my mind tried to grasp the outside, if it weren’t for one thing: the moon. Shortly after I left the stable, it emerged from behind a cloud, basking the emptiness before me in its gentle glow. My eyes, automatically adjusting to the now not-so-dark vision, gazed at the round object in the sky hungrily.

It was more beautiful that I ever imagined it to be. The way it shone on the night sky, surrounded by smaller lights that I’d just noticed… from within the big, black void… Okay, not thinking about that, eyes on the moon now.

My breath slowly steadied as I tried to search for proper words to describe the beauty of the moon. Heavenly magnificence, celestial dream, silver beacon for lost souls… The fuck? Where did that came from? I had appreciation for beauty, but to use such… non-masculine terms, even in my head, was something new to me.

I’m out of the Stable for ten minutes, and already I am going crazy.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. I needed to keep it together if I was going to save my Stable. Not that I had any idea how to do that. Of course, I knew that I had to find a water talisman, but where?

That was a good question, one that required me pondering on it for a few heartbeats. The Overmare suggested finding a settlement and asking around, but - returning to the center of the problem - where?! How was I supposed to find a pony, let alone a town out here? As I opened my eyes and searched the wasteland in front of me, all I could see were rocks and sand, with occasional black… trees? Yeah, I think that’s what they were.

Oh, and I could see the big space over my head without any ceiling…

I snapped my eyes back to the ground. The sight of the moon managed to ease my feeling that I will fall up, or that something will attack me, but I was still uncomfortable. The sooner I found myself safe within something with walls and a ceiling, the better.

Which made me go back to the-

“Where the fuck should I go?” I sighed.

The sound of multiple gunshots responded.

I blinked. Clearly, the Goddesses must have heard me, although how they chose to help had left much to be desired. I was sure that those were gunshots I was hearing. I knew that sound from my short lesson on how to handle a gun just an hour back, if from nowhere else, and with a bat pony’s hearing, the chances that I was mistaken were… well, frankly, there weren’t any.

But there was more within the night than just gunshots that I heard. There were also screams of ponies: three, two bucks, one mare (superior hearing, bitches!) and… the fuck is that? It was a sound that a pony could only encounter in its worst nightmare, one that could send terrors into the hearts of bucks and mares. A sound that would make even the bravest of ponies ran in the opposite direction.

So why the fuck did I run towards it?

Because it was my first chance to make a contact with ponies from the outside. And besides that, they sounded as if they were in trouble. Unless, of course, the beast was a dog (hey, I lived in a stable, I have no idea what kind of noise those pets make) that simply got excited, and the bullets and screams were sign of… the Minotaur New Year?

The better question is: why the fuck am I running and not flying?

I facehoofed mentally and unfolded my wings, flying up. Well, not flying, as gliding was more appropriate, considering how close I kept to the ground. There was no way in Tartarus I was going higher than a feet, not on my first night at least!

It took me few minutes to reach the site. When I did, my wings stopped working. I landed on my rump, staring in shock at what was the source of noises in the night. The creature that’s attacking the three ponies was bigger than them combined. And if that wasn’t scary enough, it looked… the best explanation I could come up with was that a cat, a bat and a scorpion had a threesome. It had feline body, bat-like wings similar to mine, and a long tail that ended with a sting.

I gulped nervously. This wasn’t an animal a pony could attack and simply walk away. Luckily, it still hasn’t noticed me, so I could just fly away. That’s right; I will escape while it’s still busy with… with…

Those three ponies were going to die. I could tell, despite having no combat experience whatsoever (barring a few radroaches), as I looked at them, wearing some ragged clothes and straps, all with metal spikes here and there, that they had no chance of surviving. And yet, despite that, the buck who had a horn on his head with the gun floating near it (longer than mine, so I assumed it was a some form of rifle, but then again I wasn’t a specialist) kept shooting at it, and the two ponies without either wings or horns continued to keep the beast at bay, one with a pool cue and the other…

It’s a board with a bunch of nails in it.

Despite how pathetic their chances were, they neither run nor gave up.

I still wanted to escape. I was scared, terrified of that monster. I had a whole Stable to save, I had to think about them… but… how could I leave ponies to a certain death like this? I… I had to do something, even if it was a suicide. After all, it was in pony’s nature to help others, right?

No, that wasn’t why I stayed. Granted, I did believe that, but just wanting to help them out of pony’s nature wasn’t enough for me to overcome the voice in my head that kept going “Run the fuck away!” over and over. No, what made me do what I did next was… pride.

I was descendant of the night guards. Princess Luna’s chosen protectors, sworn defenders of the crown. As every bat pony in Stable Thirty-Nine, I took great pride in my heritage, and I dreamed to be just like them. The thought of me abandoning those three ponies was… more shameful that anything I ever did, starting with reading that juicy diary of-

No time for that!

I took the air once more and flew slowly towards the beast and the ponies fighting it. Luckily, bat ponies were naturally stealthy, and I was even among them considered to be very sneaky. Thanks to that, I managed to reach the animal without being noticed, which was good for the ponies, because I’m pretty sure I would have just bolted out of there otherwise.

I was exactly behind and slightly above the beast. When I finally drawn my knife with my mouth, I used, for the first time, one of the useless in the stable functions of the PipBuck: the S.A.T.S.

Everything around me froze. I must admit, I vaguely remembered somepony telling me about this function, but even so, I was shocked at the effect. If it weren’t for the situation at hoof, I would have pondered how such thing could be made, but I had ponies to save!

I knew I could line up multiple attacks through this function, but for what I intended, all I needed was one strike. I targeted the base of the skull, and released S.A.T.S.

Everything speeded up dramatically, but nothing mattered as I dove with the knife and plunged it into the beast’s body. It gave one pained roar - of shock, anger, pain, I didn’t know - and slumped down without a life, my sneak attack killing it quickly.

I gasped, surprised that it worked. Then I smiled. My first night outside (bah, it wasn’t even an hour since I left the Stable!) and here I was, standing victorious over the body of a monster from nightmares! I looked up at the ponies to let them know it was okay now, and I brushed of sweat from my forehead with a hoof. I wasn’t sure if that came from nerves over the last couple of seconds, or due to the exertion, as short as it were. Or because I was just about to meet ponies other than those of my stable. From the outside! A real-life unicorn and two earth ponies, just like those from the books!

Oh, how exciting! I thought happily as I took my hoof from my head and was about to bend down to take out of the dead body my knife. I bet they never saw a bat pony before, either! Hey, and maybe even they have a water talisman they don’t need!

But at that moment, utterly by accident, my gaze rested for a moment on my PipBuck. Because of that, I saw something that made me never, ever again call any function of the device “useless”.

The lights on my E.F.S. were all red.

I looked at the ponies in confusion, the question of why they would try to attack me after I saved them at the back of my throat, when a loud whack came from my side, accompanied by severe pain of my ribs. I fell on my side, clenching teeth in pain, and I could hear the pony with a pool cue jumping at me, screaming: “Somephony call a doctor!” around the weapon he held in his mouth, while laughing maniacally.

The pony was right above me the next heartbeat, the long cue was about to descend at me with a promise of more beating. I could see the madness in his eyes, the madness that I only now understood, was the reason he and his companions didn’t run away from the beast. I did not understand what was going on, but for the first time since I left the stable, things were clear: if I won’t do something, I will be severely hurt soon, and or possibly dead.

My knife was still in the body of the beast. I didn’t have the time to reach for my gun. And the earth pony just now stepped on my wing. I was out of options, and would have to resort to unarmed combat, which was deep down my list of forte… or rather I would be if I weren’t and earth pony.

I opened my mouth and screamed.

Some say that this ability of bat ponies was related to how bats navigated through echolocation. Some that it was a gift from Princess Luna, a weapon to be used on those who sought to harm her.

I was just glad that the force of my scream pushed this crazy buck off of me as it hit him and left him stunned.

Not wasting any time, I drew my 10mm pistol with my wing, and entered S.A.T.S. The mare with a nailed board was charging at me, her unicorn friend levitating a rifle at me. As much as I didn’t want to get shot, I also didn’t want to have nails in my head, so I first concentrated on the mare. I lined up several shots that should obliterate her face. Of course, as my vestigial claw pressed the trigger, all of them missed, with one hitting her in the chest instead and bouncing off her barding.

Have I mentioned how bad I was with guns?

“Can’t we talk this out?” I asked as the targeting spell wore off. I jumped to the left to avoid her attack. I could have flown, of course, but… I had a strange feeling that with my luck, I would get shot in the wing and fell down on my head.

In answer to my question, the mare grinned sadistically, and twisted her head for another strike… when a red dot appeared on her head at the same time gunshot was heard. I looked at the unicorn shocked as the mare fell. By jumping to the left, I made the earth pony with a nailed board become accidentally a living shield. Well, for one shot, at least, and the unicorn buck was aiming again, without as much as a glance at the corpse of the friend he just... killed.

Fuck talking this out!

I bend down to pick up the nailed board as I holstered my 10mm pistol, and then jumped into the air. I was too furious to remember that I didn’t want to fly out here. What kind of pony kills his own comrade!? I swooped down on him, somehow avoiding both of the shots he fired, and hit him right into face with the part of the board where nails were sticking out. He screamed as he fell to his knees, his gun dropping with a clench as he no longer using magic to hold it.

Bristling with fury, I hit him again, and again.

And when I heard the noise of the first pony rising from, I whirled around and hit him as well.

I finally calmed down once he too was... was... I let the nailed board fall from my mouth. I was panting.

As I sat there, try to catch my breath, it slowly started getting to me what I had just done.

I… killed two ponies…

I… didn’t know what… how to… I mean, murder never happened in my Stable, so I… but I just killed two ponies! Three, if you count that one who got shot because I dodged to the side. I… just took three lives…

And now I’m hyperventilating, I realized with a shock as I closed my eyes. I tried to calm myself before I would pass out, trying not to think about those ponies, ignoring the smell of blood…

I was still shaking when my breathing became more stable. When I opened my eyes and saw the bodies, I puked.

It took me ten more minutes to finally get as much as a hold of myself as I could. I tried not to think about what happened. I knew it was wrong, but… I had a Stable to save. I'd… I don’t know, cry, tramble, vomit, regret… when I’d bring back the water talisman. But out here, standing around vomiting was probably not the best way to survive, especially if there were more monsters like this one, or crazy ponies-

“Okay, not thinking about that,” I whispered. I didn’t want to attract anything else. My voice sounded… rusty. Either from vomiting, just feeling bad, or from screaming, this always left throats a bit sore. “I’m not gonna think about them. Nah-uh. I will just take my knife, and I will be on my way.”

I took the knife from the body of the beast, but then I stopped. I had some free space in my saddlebags, and I had a feeling that this strange creature, that could take on three ponies (“Again, not thinking about it, la-la-la…”) might prove… valuable. Or at least delicious.

I soon had few pieces of meat safe in my saddlebag, when I glanced at my PipBuck. As I expected, it displayed a new item, a “manticore meat”. Manticore, huh? Okay, the value… hmm, not so big when compared with the pistol, but still something.

“I wonder what you use for currency, anyway,” I said out loud as I looked at the three ponies. I found it easier to do so when I moved, because then the pain in my ribs reminded me that they were going to kill me.

I suppose I was lucky to not be hurt worse, but it still sting. I wanted to take the healing potion, but I figured it would be better to leave that for when I am actually wounded and not just bruised. Sweet mother of Celestia, if that’s how the first hour on the Outside was…

I shot a glance at the manticore. Were such creatures normal out here? Was everypony a psycho? And why I had this feeling that I was going to find out?

I sighed and began looting the bodies of ponies. I didn’t want to do that, but… if they had some sort of map or something…

“Map!” I yelled, and then I immediately covered my mouth. I couldn’t hear anything coming to kill me, so I relaxed. “I’m an idiot,” I muttered angrily as I took a good look at my PipBuck.

Yep, there it was: the map. A huge bird’s eye view of the landscape named ‘Palamino Wasteland’. Only… there was nothing in it I could read. Well, besides two icons: ‘Stable 39’ and ‘Abandoned Shack’.

“Just my luck-” I muttered, before my eyes widened. “Abandoned what now?!”

Since I was pretty sure my PipBuck didn’t have a function called ‘Replying to the question of the idiot on who’s leg I am’ it was resigned to just looking at it again. Yep, there it was: a mark right next to ‘Stable 39’.

“What? I didn’t see any shack…” then again, had I seen anything? I was so shocked when I came out of the stable by everything that I could have missed something. “Yeah, but I wouldn’t miss a fucking shack!”

“Oh, fuck me...” I muttered as I saw the shack.

I finished looting the corpses before I came back. All those ponies I… all that they had were their weapons, clothes and a handful of caps from bottles. I took them; more out of curiosity why the fuck would anypony carry those around. I also took the hunting rifle (as my PipBuck informed me) and the ammo to it, although the unicorn had only eight left by the time he stopped shooting at me. Oh wait, I stopped him.

Once I was done, I flew back to the entrance to the cave hiding the Stable Thirty-Nine… and noticed that above it was a steep hill, with a shack on the top.

My annoyance at myself, however, quickly evaporated when I realized that the lights were lit. That meant there were ponies in there! I began grinning… until I recalled how ponies I met so far reacted to me saving their fucking lives!

I shook my head; they were dead, end of story. No point being depressed over it or angry even. Right now I had bigger issues to deal with. I perked my years up, trying to catch a sound of fighting or gunshots, but all I could hear… were… grunts? And a strange slapping noise?

I flew up to the shack, curious as to what was happening, but I stopped mid-air (and by that I mean next to the edge of the hill, I fly higher and I wouldn’t come back down. Damn you, agoraphobia!) when I checked my E.F.S. Three bars: two red one blue.

Okay, now I am confused.

So up close, the noises became more recognisable. Two ponies (bucks by the sounds of it) were grunting and puffing, as if they were playing some sport, which could explain why I could detect a note of satisfaction. There was also some slapping noise, but I had a problem figuring out what sort of game involved repeatedly slapping something. Besides those two, there was also a barely hearable sobbing, and… a squeaking of the bed?

Flying quietly up to the window, I thought that either there were two bucks screwing each other while an homophobic pony watched (although, why would that made E.F.S show them as threats to me?), or…

I peered through the window.

Killing is never easy. At least, not the first time you do it. The act of ending the life of another could never be simple. We are naturally repulsed by it. When a pony is killed, you don’t just… end him. You also end his future; take away from him the chance to… to do better. Maybe even start a family. And if he or she has a family, you take away from them the one you killed. Mares become widows, bucks widowers, foals orphans… If you are a heartless bastard, then you are concerned that they will come after you, continuing the big circle of hatred. And if you’re not, if you still care… if you just came out of a Stable where everypony was nice to one another, you will be devastated. Only the thought that the fate of your closest ones can help pull you through it.

It might be easier when they attack first, for no apparent reason. You instinctively fight back, trying to survive, and only after they are dead will reality come down crashing on you. But even so… it’s not easy. Makes you think you are a murderer. Makes you pull out your gun slower next time somepony attacks you.

When does a pony learn to deal with it? When he finds out that some ponies just don’t deserve to live? When they somehow survived long enough to accept this cruel reality, where you need to kill? When you find somepony that you just have to protect, no matter what?

I had my whole Stable to protect, and yet still I was indecisive if I were a murderer or not. Did those ponies deserved to die or not.

It’s amazing how the sight of two bucks raping a little filly makes such things clear for you.

For one terrible split second I looked at it. Two adult bucks, both wearing almost the same barding as those three I encountered, were deep in filly’s back and front. The image of that burned into my mind, as I know, even back then, that I will always wonder if I could have saved her from this. Had I not been so overwhelmed by the Outside, the Palamino Wasteland, had I not run off like an idiot to help three psychopaths who probably were also rapists.

The next split second, the two bucks shoved even deeper into the filly, and I screamed.

I screamed, not as a method of attack, but out of simple outrage. Outrage against what I was seeing. Outrage against the reality of the Outside. Outrage against the unfairness of life.

Without any hesitation whatsoever, I jumped through the window, unsheathing my knife as I lounged at the bed. I didn’t even enter S.T.A.T. mode, I didn’t need to. The filly was so small that the bucks necks were right next to each other. One slash and both of their throats were cut open.

As they raised their hooves to their wounds, gasping for air, the fountains of blood covered all four of us. I pushed them away from the filly, although mostly because they were still in her rather than sparing her the bloody shower. I looked at them as they died on the floor, breathing air heavily through my teeth with rage, and took a quick glance at the PipBuck. Seeing that there were no more red bars, I relaxed.

The filly still lied on the bed, still shaking, as she looked at me. The small earth pony was barely older than a foal, maybe ten years old. Her coat, where it wasn’t covered in blood and... semen, was light bronze, and her mane brown. She had a cutie mark, a wrench and a needle, which was barely visible on her flank through all the filth. Normally, I would have felt a slight pang of irritation at that, if it weren’t for her eyes. Brown like a good beer after a night of hard work, they looked at me with fear.

I took a step to her, and she immediately crept away. She was still shaking.

“I’m not going to harm you,” I said as softly as I could. “Are you okay?” Of course she wasn’t, you idiot! She was just raped by two ponies twice her size!

I tried to give her an encouraging smile… and failed epicly at that. As her eyes were slowly filled with even more terror, it came to my attention that her mouth was slightly opened, and I noticed one major difference between bat ponies and the other kinds - we had fangs, they didn’t.

She slid down on the floor and tried to get under the bed, but she was too big, so instead she started backing away into the corner. I winced inside. I came to realize that I must probably look to her as if my mom had one of those manticores as a pet and liked it too much, and that after what she’s been through it was no surprise she was scared.

The filly huddled in the corner as I pondered what to do. I’m not sure what I’d do if I hadn’t noticed cuts and bruises on her here and there. I took a step towards her, doing my best to ignore the heartbreaking sight of her shaking and closing her eyes, thinking I was going to hurt her.

I reached out with my hoof and patted her mane delicately. “I’m not going to hurt you, or let anypony else do that,” I whispered, going through my saddlebags. I took out one healing potion and put beside her. “Drink this; you will feel a lot better. I will be back in a moment.”

I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay with her, hug her, and tell her everything would be okay… but that would do more damage. So instead I picked up the bodies of her rapists and threw them out the door. While doing so, I noticed that their cutie marks weren’t much different from the three I became acquainted earlier. One had a teddy bear, which was being ripped apart by chains cuffed to his arms, and the other a baseball bat with blood on its end. Coupled with a skull, broken bones and bullet shaped like nail of the other three, this group was disgustingly well matched.

My heart lifted when I heard a sound of a bottle being raised from the floor, which was followed by the filly drinking the potion. I decided to give her some more time as I looked around the shack. The walls were covered in sickly green graffiti, with the symbols besides skull losing meaning on me. Occasionally there was the word ‘FUCK’. There were also stains of blood, just like on the floor. Other than the bed there were a few ruined drawers. Other than the main room, there was a kitchen and a bathroom, both totally wrecked. I pondered taking some food, but decided against it, not wanting to eat what those psychos were eating. Also, I had more than plenty of food. The ammo, though, I took, as well as the second rifle. According to my PipBuck, both weapons were in bad condition, but I had no idea how to repair them, so I would just sell them when I finally reached some civilization. There were more bottle caps on them. Okay, what was those rapists deal with them?

There was also a terminal, and a safe. A very big safe.

Before I attempted to do anything with either, I looked at the filly. She was… sleeping. She drunk the potion and was fast asleep, right there in the corner, curled up. I smiled briefly, but then reality came back when I started worrying what in Tartarus was I supposed to do with her. Did those… ugh, I couldn’t even call them ponies in my head… kidnapped her from some town? And what about her parents? Had they killed them?

Should I take her back to Stable Thirty-Nine?

The moment I thought of that, I immediately imagined coming across more raped orphans and bringing them to the Stable that was running out of water. Yeah, I needed to think of something else.

I figured I would try talking with her again once she woke up, and for now concentrated on the terminal. I wasn’t as skillful in hacking into computers as lockpicking, but I wasn’t going to back down from a chance to gain some information about the Outside.

When I turned the terminal on, I was pleasantly surprised. The ones back in stable were either accessible to all, or required password. This terminal, however, while also protected, had one accessible file called: ‘goodbye’. Intrigued, I opened.

I’m leaving.
I’m sorry. I really am. I promised her that I would look after you if something happened; all of us did, but… I just can’t wait anymore. I can’t do anything anymore. I am so tired… so lonely. I miss everypony every day, every hour, every minute, every second of my… this is unfair. I want to wake up.
If you finally come… I’m going to Desert Station. It’s the city north-west of here, right at the base of the mountain chain. You should have no problem finding it. If I hadn’t crack by then and killed myself, then find me… Do you remember me, though?
I’m probably wasting my time writing this. Wasting time, failing friends… those should be my special talents.
PS: If you are a raider, GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE!

Okay, I didn’t expect something like that. Then again, pessimistic messages went well with this shack… and the Outside altogether, based on what I saw so far. Still, two things came from reading this: one, I found a name by which I could call those rapists; and two… my PipBuck clicked.

I glanced at it confusingly, and read in my night planner: Objectives: Reach Desert Station. How the fuck did my PipBuck did that, I have no idea. I changed it to the map function and saw a new mark on it named ‘Desert Station’, with a line pointing at it from Abandoned Shack.

This is getting creepy.

I pushed the PipBuck out of my head as I tried to hack the terminal to gain access to the other files. After ten minutes of guessing, logging off to not lock up the computer and trying again, I gave up. I was clearly out of my liege. The safe, however…

It cost me three bobby pins before I managed to open it. The Outside hates me.

Once I took the fourth bobby pin and my right claw from the lock, I opened it. Inside was one thing. Are you fucking kidding me?! Whoever lived here before the raiders should have his skin peeled off!! Wait… That thing inside of the safe was a figurine. I figurine of a pony I knew well from history books.

It was a figurine of Twilight Sparkle, the former student of Princess Celestia, mare that through war rose to be in charge of Ministry of Arcane Sciences, one of most important figures in Equestria. The pony that murdered Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in cold blood that started the very war that then destroyed our own world.

Nopony in my stable knew why she did that. In his short announcement two hundred years ago, the Prince speculated that she was lustful for power, or that she got into a fight with the two princesses. In the last hours of the Last Day, Twilight and all her friends were branded traitors, and were held responsible for everything.

The war, the destruction of the world, this… Wasteland.

Even fillies getting raped.

I knew all that, so why… why didn’t I feel enraged as I had a few moments ago? Why wasn’t I pissed at this small figurine? Why… I felt… sorry for her?

I reached out to the little Twilight and took her out of the safe. I felt… strange, to be holding a likeness of the mare that destroyed Equestria in my hooves as if she was a small foal.

Speaking off…

I turned to the filly while placing Twilight into my saddlebags. She was still asleep, and despite all the filth on her she looked… cute. I didn’t have a heart to wake her up. Heck, if I had brought my plushie with me, I would have given it to her, she would look so cute with her. Yeah, I have a plushie, got a problem?

I delicately picked her up and placed her on my back. Since I wasn’t going to fly too high up, I figured it was safe to travel with her like that. According to my PipBuck, the Desert Station wasn’t too far, about half an hour long flight. There was a good chance, given that it was probably the closest settlement that the filly might have come from that town. If not, then, well, I would take her someplace else. Anyhow, sitting and waiting for her to wake up was pointless.

But as I stood there with her, ready to leave, my nose wrinkled from the scent she was covered in. Okay, bath first… wait, the water will be radiated, fuck. Err… Is there a clean towel or something?

It turned out that in the end I had to wash her in the bathtub. It did it as quickly as possible, hoping that she got about as little radiation as I. Luckily, however, when I entered the bathroom I found a medicine kit that I somehow missed earlier, and within it was a healing potion and two Rad-Aways. Talk about a good luck.

The filly remained asleep, as I did my best to gently remove the stains of blood and… ugh, other fluids from her coat. The poor thing must have been exhausted. When I tried to picture for how long did the raiders… did that to her, I had a sudden urge to go and mutilate their corpses.

I also tried to clean my barding a bit, and when we were both ready, I finally set off. Unfortunately, I left through the door, which resulted in seeing… ponies heads on spikes, a mutilated corpse chained to the wall…

I kicked the dead raider in the head and flew in the direction my PipBuck was pointing.

The flight was boring, even to a pony with agoraphobia that just left a place with four walls was a bit uncomfortable. Also, considering that I had a filly on my back, I needed to be careful. But at least boring meant I wasn’t getting attacked by anything, which I thought was a plus.

The filly still hadn’t woken up, but she was breathing steadily, and didn’t have a fever or anything, so I allowed myself to relax, a bit. I still had no idea what to do with her. I hoped, nay, prayed to the Goddesses that the mutilated corpses outside of the shack weren’t her parents and that they were alive somewhere, even if not in the Desert Station. I still remembered the pain I felt the day my mother died. I didn’t want this filly to go through that on top of everything.

It didn’t took me long to be close enough to spot the lights. The town was built around the old railroad that went through the Folly Mountains. There weren’t always there. I knew from the war records back in the stable that they were raised by the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony when the zebra’s army annexed Las Pegasus and all surrounding areas at the beginning of the war. Originally, the plan was for them to use the power of the Elements upon the army, but something went wrong. The crystals couldn’t be used as weapons, or so Twilight Sparkle said, and instead their power lifted the rock and ground from the earth, creating those mountains as the means of defense. According to what I read, it was then that the six friends decided to join the ministries and the army, when it turned out that magical artifacts couldn’t be trusted. On the plust side, though, the mountains were rich in coal, a resource the Equestria lacked so much and had to trade with the zebras previously to get.

The city itself was protected by walls made out of various pieces of metal. I think I managed to distinguish few parts of a train, but I couldn’t be sure. I had to circle around the city limits to find a gate as, my unwillingness to get to far up from the ground aside, I had a feeling it wouldn’t be… polite to just fly into the city.

Also, I thought I would get shot by doing so.

I landed quietly outside of the two ponies guarding the gate vision and trotted towards them slowly. They wore armored clothing, similar to the ones that security ponies had back in the stable. I relaxed a bit at the color of the bars representing them on my E.F.S. - they were blue, so unless I would give them a reason, everything should go…

“Halt!”

… smoothly...

The unicorn on the left lifted in a blue aura… err, an assault rifle, as I approached? Couldn’t a white-painted stake be drawn by a pony that knows about weapons and shit?! “Who goes there?!”

Okay, so here were my options: a) I act like a complete wuss and tell them my name, explain what kind of pony I am so that they won’t think I’m some sort of a baby manticore, and admit I have no idea what in Tartarus is going on here on the Outside with the killing and raping… or b) I could pretend to be a badass, and tell them to fuck off because I had a filly on my back that needs help.

“I don’t have time for this,” I snapped as I trotted closer to them. “This filly need help, and-”

“The fuck you are?!” the other buck, an earth pony, shouted as he pointed two guns that were attached to the saddle he wore at me.

Should’ve gone with with a).

“I’m a bat pony.” I replied, trying to sound as if it was obvious. Well, it kinda was, to me at least. But from the way they were gazing at me I realised that I had to elaborate. “I came from Stable Thirty-Nine, were at theLast Day families of Princess Luna’s night guards were placed.”

I saw the two bucks exchange confused looks. At least they weren’t shooting at me, which was good. “Damn, I do recall hearing something about Princess Luna guards…” one murmured, “but I had no idea that there is really such a thing as ‘bat ponies’. Are you sure you aren’t a manticore?”

“You do realize that if I hadn’t come upon one on my way here I would have no idea what a manticore is, right?” I replied with a question, smirking. Which, judging by them raising their guns a bit higher was a mistake. “Look, you can shot me later, but this filly-”

“What happened to her?” one of them interrupted me, coming closer.

“She was…” I trailed off for a second, feeling the familiar surge of hate. I needed a moment to collect myself. “I found her getting… raped, by two sadistic bucks.”

That got a reaction from them that put me somewhat at ease. Their mortified and angry faces gave me hope that not entire Outside was fucked up. “Fucking raiders,” the earth pony murmured, spitting to the side.

“Oi, hadn’t that caravan that came today been attacked by raiders?” the unicorn guard asked his companion.

My ears perked up. Maybe this story would have a happy ending for the filly after all!

“Go get the chief,” the earth pony said. He lowered his weapon as his friend took off and came closer to take a good look at the filly and myself. “Yeah, she kinda looks like that mare, must be her daughter. Guess it’s a good thing you crawled up from your Stable when you did, son.”

Oh, so I was his son now, huh? A minute ago he wanted to shoot me.

Luckily, he didn’t give me a chance to start develop warmer feelings for him, for as was looking me all over (and I hope it was only because he never seen a bat pony), he stopped at my flank… Wait, wh- “Bat ponies don’t have cutie marks?” he asked.

Ah, and there it was, the wound to my pride. “You know, those raiders had enough decency to not point out that I’m a blank flank while trying to kill me.” I replied, feeling heat of shame arising in my cheeks.

“Seriously? A pony you age without a cutie mark?” he asked surprised. I would have taken a look at his, but it was covered by the armored barding he wore. “Sorry, but that just seems so…”

“Yeah, I know, trust me,” I replied, rolling my eyes.

“So, everypony in your stable dead or something?” he asked after a moment of awkward silence. I looked at him in shock. What the hell he meant by that?

“No, why would you ask something like that?” Did he know that our water talisman was failing? But how?

“Those stables fail all the time,” he replied, shrugging. Okay, seriously, what?! “That’s when folks usually leave them; otherwise they stay safe and comfy. Oh, unless they die, that usually happens way more often.”

You… you’re kidding,” I managed to stammer. “Stable Thirty-Nine hadn’t got any problem…" Except for our water talisman failing.

“All true. Here in Palamino Wasteland I’ve heard of Stable Forty-Two, radiation leak and everypony turned into ghouls, most of them feral.” turned into what now? “The Brotherhood swept it clean from anything useful before I was even born. Thirty-Six or Seven, don’t remember, apparently had blown up and nopony knows what happened. And then there is Stable Forty-Five, which currently serves as the biggest base of raiders, wherever it is.”

The thought of those rapist and murderers inside a stable made my blood boiled. Now I had some inkling as to how the previous owner of the ‘Abandoned shack’ had felt at the thought of raiders reading his file.

“Workbench!” somepony shouted in the night as my ears detected sound of a few ponies approaching… loudly.

As I looked, before I had a chance to wonder why somebody would need a workbench so badly, I saw few more security ponies coming our way. Oh, joy, now all we need is Celestia with a strap-on to completely screw me over. There were a few ponies dressed in ragged, half-armored barding. The mare that shouted and was running in front looked almost like an older version of the filly on my back.

“Workbench!” she gasped as she stopped by me, taking the filly of my back. She had tears in her eyes as she cradled her. “Oh, my poor baby. You’re safe, you’re safe…”

“M-mommy?” as soft, weak voice replied from the mare’s forelegs.

Ahh, a beautiful, happy ending. For a second I felt like a hero to make this happen, as I watched mother hug her daughter even tighter as the father joined in… but then I noticed that most of the security was keeping their guns pointed not directly at me but generally in the direction.

“You’re coming with me.” One of them told me, a scarred earth pony buck with gray mane and white coat.

Some hero’s welcome.

Outside is crazy. One minute you think that you are in trouble, in the next it turns out that all the buck wanted was to congratulate me. And pay me.

“You spared me the trouble of chasing after that band,” the security chief Battle Harness told me, giving me… two hundred fifty bottle caps, fifty for each raider. “They’ve been harassing all the traders and their caravans that come here for weeks now. And with those mercs on the other side of the mountain, I didn’t have ponies to spare.”

“I… take you use them for money around here.” I guessed, not really paying attention to what he said. Damn, was I glad I took those caps I found on the raiders! Now I had… around three hundred in total, I think.

“You really are from a Stable.” Harness said, leaning back in his chair. We were in his office. The security station was placed in the renovated ruins of the ticket window for the train. “Only stable folk don’t know jackshit about living in a Wasteland.”

Odd... His heartbeat rate stayed the same throughout the last ten minutes. Shouldn’t it became a bit more frequent when he laughe- wait, what was it that he said?!

“And yet I was able to solve your raider problem.” I pointed out, slightly offended. “After I killed a manticore at that.”

That had made him stop laughing and then look at me in shock.

“Wait, you killed that rogue manticore? There’s a bounty for it, too, but I would need some proof.” I shrugged and asked him if the fresh meat of a manticore was enough of a proof. “Yep, that will do. Most manticores avoid bigger settlements such as ours. Only loners not belonging to a pride come so close. How did you kill it?”

“It was focused on the raiders.” Okay, this was getting weird. Did everypony coming out of the stable immediately started doing favors at the closest town? Oh, this reminds me: “Hey, do you know where I could find a water talisman by any chance?”

Yeah, I’m the smoothest pony ever.

“Well, there is the one here in the Desert City, but I hope you aren’t thinking about taking it.” Harness added, patting the thing he told me was a battle saddle that laid next to him.

“No, of course not. Remember, I’m descendant of the night guard. I was raised to follow a code of honor…” I trailed off, seeing him sight. Some ponies had not appreciation for dramatics. “So, back to the water talisman?”

“What you need one for, anyway?”

“They one in my Stable is failing, so-”

“Ah, right, forgot those things keep failing one way or another.” he said, and ignoring the glare I gave him he continued: “Unless you plan to ask our local chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel for one - which, by the way, would be a terrible idea - I have no clue where you could get one, pal. But…” he paused, brushing his beard. Damn he needed to shave. “You might try asking around Merry’s, the bar in Desert Station; it’s down the road we came on the left. The owner might have heard about a water talisman from some trader.”

Armed with the information, I was almost ready to leave, almost. “Wait, what is this Brotherhood?” I asked, remembering the guard at the city gate mentioning them.

“A bunch of technology loving jerks.” Harness replied with a sneer. “Supposedly, they descend from some part of Pre-war Equestria’s military or something. The point is, thought, that if they saw you getting ass raped by a bunch of raiders, they would charge at them, kill them, and then proceed to cut off that PipBuck from your foreleg, probably along with some part of your limb.”

Okay, that was a gruesome scenario. I growled and rubbed my temples. “Outside is crazy.”

“Welcome to the Palamino Wasteland, pal,” he chuckled, and then his mouth gave way for a big yawn. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I still need to check some reports, and unlike some ponies, I like to sleep at night.”

“Sure, Chief Harness,” I replied politely and made my way out.

Ugh, I hate being outside… everything bad happens here. Okay, granted, those two raiders were in the shack…

Desert Station was impressive, to say the least. Heck, this was the first town that I had seen. I knew of course of how the cities before the End Day were, and this didn’t even come close, but considering that back in Stable Thirty-Nine everypony believed everything was gone, the ponies here weren’t doing so bad. Or rather people when you consider other races.

I looked surprised and a bit alarmed as a group of two… were those pegasi? How can they stand all those feathers... and a griffin, all females and wearing black armor with white number ‘303’ on it, trotted past me. They also regarded me with similar reaction. Before I managed to start a conversation, though, they started laughing. What was with the people of the Outside laughing their flanks off at me?

“Damn, what was your Stable about, breeding with bloodwings?” the pegasus asked, pointing at my wings.

“Well they were better lays that pegasi,” I replied, having enough of getting laughed at. I wasn’t even curious as to what the heck was a bloodwing. I turned my back on them, heading towards the bar that they came out of… only to immediately jump to the right as my ears warned me one of the mares attacked me.

I cursed and took a glance at my PipBuck before I responded. Two red bars, huh? Guess the griffin was sitting this one out… but the second pegasus was right above me.

The smell of booze came to my nostrils as I again dodged an attack. Now both of the pissed off mares were in front of me. Perfect. I opened my mouth and unleashed my sonic scream on them, knocking them back and stunning. Hey, I was getting quite good at the whole fighting-

There was a gun pressed to my head.

“You know, making enemies of the 303 Company is probably the stupidest thing you could do,” the griffin female told me, moving a bit to the left. Wasn’t she marked as ‘friendly’ a second ago? Stupid PipBuck… “Luckily for you, freak, I had a good time today, so I won’t spray your brain over Merry’s doorstep.”

“Is everypo- I mean, everyone Outside so pleasant?” I asked with a sigh when she removed her gun. Damn, those paw things seem useful. The two pegasi growled as they picked themselves up from the ground, shaking. “I mean, they started it.”

“Welcome to the Wasteland, it sucks for everybody,” the griffon told me, grinning. Huh, I didn’t even know you could grin with a beak. “Oh, and don’t worry about them trying to get you, we will be leaving Palamino Wasteland tomorrow.”

“I wasn’t worried,” I replied, somewhat cockily. “But thanks you for your concern, miss…?”

“Hedwig.”

“Nightkin, a bat pony,” I introduced myself.

“Eh, Freak suits you better.” she chuckled and turned away, gathering her two friends with her. “See ya.”

I looked at them as they walked away, making sure that they wouldn’t return, as well as admiring their flanks. That Hedwig looked really… exotic, with her long tail and… Why are there so many ponies suddenly on the street? They were empty a second ago, before… I shouted. Opps...

“Sorry about screaming everypony,” I said with an awkward grin. I could see Chief Harness glaring at me from behind a corner. I sighed and went into the bar before somepony could accost me.

A strange, calming tune was played over the radio as I entered. The inside was almost empty, which reminded me that other kinds of ponies slept during night. Geez, no wonder Princess Luna had once felt lonely. Beside the big buck by the counter who was cleaning a glass, the only ponies present were some three to four bucks and mares hiding in the corners, and a waitress that for some reason painted herself in black and white stripes…

I blinked as I stopped right beside the counter. Yep, the zebra was still there. So, apparently nopony was blaming anyone for the Great War. Besides Twilight Sparkle and her friends, of course… and yet still I had a small statue of her in my saddlebags.

“Ya know, looking like a lovechild of a pony and a dragon ya can hardly glare at Vanire ‘ere,” the tan bartender told me, making me finally snap out of my musing.

“I wasn’t glaring, I was thinking how everything out here is different than I expected,” I told him, sitting on one of the chairs. “And I’m a Goddess damn bat pony!”

“Sure, whatever.” he replied, not caring. The earth pony put down the glass. “Ah’m Merry Drink.”

“Nightkin.”

“So, what’s your poison?”

“The entire Wasteland,” I replied, rubbing my temples. “I would like just something to drink and some information.”

“Information?” Merry asked, as he grabbed and opening a bottle of something called Sunrise Sarsaparilla. I looked amused at his choice of the drink.

I took the bottle and took a sip out of it. Immediately, my mouth was attacked by a delicious flavor, doing wonders on my sore after using scream throat. I licked my lips. Maybe not everything about this Wasteland was bad? “Yes, information. Did you hear anypony… or anybody for that matter, mention anything about a water talisman?”

“Can’t say Ah did, other than bitchin’ about ours,” he replied with a shrug. “Folks think that just because the water price got a bit higher it means it begins malfunctionin’.”

I groaned as I took another sip. Great. Not only the one water talisman everypony seemed to know about was a property of this city, but also seemed to begin malfunctioning as well. Ugh, at this rate, I will end up searching for two…

“Excuse me,” asked a very soft female voice behind me.

That voice… it was softer than a silk, more beautiful that the sound of a violin in the hooves of a master musician. And the smell… it was as if the mare behind me could sweat perfumes, for I knew that this was her natural smell. But it was so captivating, like a flower is to a bee… I turned around, expecting to see a beauty beyond the wildest dreams.

What greeted me was a rotten, depraved of a skin unicorn.

I yelped and tried to jump away, but my hoof clipped over my sit and made me fall on the floor. I quickly pulled my 10mm pistol with my wing and pointed at her… only to find that Merry was pointing a… shotgun at me.

And the pony that should be dead merely giggled.

“Take your gun away and offer the young buck something tougher, Mister Drink, I think he’s in shock.” the dead pony told him, wearing a half-formal gown that probably hid most of the parts of her whitish coat that had rotted off, batting her eyelashes and completely ignoring me and the gun I was still pointing at her. When she turned to me, I noticed that her eyes were about the only thing on her body that seemed to be alive. They were sparkling blue under what was left of her purple mane. “As for you, if you’re still interested in finding a water talisman, join me by that table in the quiet part of the bar… once you get a hold of yourself.”

And she then just turned away and went back to where she must have been sitting earlier. I rose and absentmindedly holstered my weapon. “What… what just happened?” I asked, wondering if I were going crazy.

“Well, aside that ya pointed a gun at the mare that founded this city?” Merry told me as he poured me a drink into a very small glass. “‘Ere, it’s Apple Whiskey.”

“But… what is she?” I asked quietly, then gulped what he gave me in one go. My throat objected. Damn, that was some hard shit!

“Oh, right, ya must be a stable folk.” he said, looking over my blue barding with the number 39 on it. “Well, Miss Common is a ghoul. Ghoul is… a pony that got too much balefire radiation, and ended up lookin’ like that.”

My eyes widened as they raced between him and the dead-looking unicorn. Wasn’t radiation supposed to kill?! Then I recalled what the guard told me, about one Stable where everypony got turned into ghouls. Except… “And what’s a ‘feral’?”

He raised a brow, probably surprised that I knew that term. “That would be a ghoul who got the radiation ate his brain out. Makes ‘im attack everythin’ and usually eats folks.” Gee, make it easier for me to go over my near heart attack.

“Why did you pull your gun at me?”

“Miss Common founded this city a long time ago. A lot of folks around ‘ere still respect ‘er for that. So ya better get over how she looks.”

Well, that won’t be easy… unless I would concentrate on how she smelled and sounded. Seriously, what the fuck was up with that? And why is the bar spinning?

I shook my head as I slowly crept towards her. She mentioned water talisman, so, like it or not, I was going to talk with her. And besides, hey, this night I killed a monster and a bunch of rapist and murderers, got into a fight with the Three Hundred and Three Company… wait, that ain’t right… Why do I feel so happy?

“I told Mister Drink to give you something to calm you, not to get you drunk,” Miss Common frowned when I approached her, feeling a bit wobbly.

“I’m not drunk…” I protested, lifting my hoof to… oh look, a marshmallow!

I was about to start chewing on my own hoof, when a blue light emitted from the ghoul’s horn and enveloped my head, making everything all cleared. I put the hoof back down on the floor, shook my head, and sat at the other side of the table, opposite to her, trying not to think about how embarrassed I should be.

“Why do you need a water talisman, mister…” she began. Goddess, why did her voice sound so beautiful?!

“Nightkin, Miss Common. I’m a bat pony,” I hastily replied. Something about the mare made me feel respect for her, but… “I need it for my Stable, ours is malfunctioning. Do you know where I can find one?”

Her eyes flashed for a moment when I mentioned my Stable. “Perhaps,” she said, lifting my hopes. “But most of those I know about are either necessary to keep towns alive, or in possession of the Brotherhood.”

Again those guys have been mentioned to me. “What is their deal? Chief Harness told me that they love technology-”

“They think it’s their mission to gather every bit of pre-war technology, to guard it from ponies and others who would misuse it again,” Miss Common told me, taking a small sip from the glass of wine she held. Wait... was it there when I came? “Another example of noble intentions going awry if you ask me.”

I nodded, still finding this whole idea of me conversing with a pony like her a bit uncomfortable. I could agree that balefire bombs and such should be guarded, but water talismans? Unless a buck planned to flood the world, maybe then…

“You said ‘most’,” I noted.

“I am not sure…” she began, narrowing her eyes, “but, I happen to know locations of two unexplored by anypony Stables. Given how often those things fail, I wouldn’t be surprised if everypony inside had died, so they won’t need their talismans.”

I decided to not make a comment about what I thought about this whole ‘stables always fail’ thing. “Why haven’t you explored them?”

“Those days: too tired, earlier: I was always busy with something else,” Miss Common replied and sighed. “Ah, the days when I roamed all the Wastelands in Equestria, helping ponies… Unfortunately for you, I gave away my last water talisman forty-something years ago.”

She’s well over forty? That’s… wait, how old does she look? Can you even tell an age of a ghoul pony? Besides the stage of decay…

“I can give you the locations of those stables…” the white unicorn said after a moment. “But here in the Wasteland, everything has a price.”

Oh great, I should had expected that.

“What is it you would want from me, Miss Common?” I asked, trying my best to remember how night guards should act before the Princess. Maybe it would soften her up?

“I need you to recover something for me,” she replied with her horn flashing. Between me and her, a map of Equestria appeared. “What I want is here, in Ponyville.” a dot appeared somewhere between Folly Mountains and ruins of Canterlot. “This entire area is known as the Capital Wasteland. We are here, in Desert Station, Palamino Wasteland.” So I have to cross the mountain chain, awesome.

“Anything I should know?” I asked, wondering how long would it take to make it all the way to Ponyville and back.

“Oh yes, quite a number of things in fact. Number one, the town is currently the headquarters of Slavers.”

“Slavers?” I asked, first with confusion, and then with rage. “Slavers as in those that have slaves?!”

“More or less,” Miss Common admitted. “They capture people that can’t defend themselves and sell to the highest bidder.”

I grinded my teeth. A bat pony was bound only by his duty and honor; to think that they were people out there who were bound by ropes and whatever the fuck those Slavers use was infuriating.

“Guessing from your expression, you don’t like their line of work, which is commendable,” Miss Common noticed, and gave a gentle smile that was an odd sight on such a face. “If you would find some way to deal with them, you would make this old lady happy. Moving on, though; number two, the thing that I want is inside of the safe within a building called ‘Carousel Boutique’. Here’s the key.” she said, levitating a key which I assumed was hidden in her dress, and not in some rotted out part of her. She sent it into my saddlebag. “Don’t lose it. Number three: the best way to cross the mountain is to use the train that goes between here and Capital Station on the other side. The next train leaves by noon tomorrow, so you can get some shuteye.”

“But… I sleep during the day.” I protested.

“Then sleep on the train tomorrow, and now work out or something.” Miss Common told me, rolling her eyes. “Number four: you should be at your best behaviour while in Capital Station; for a few months now, there’s been a huge increase in numbers of raiders around it, so the city hired a mercenary group called 303 Company. They will stay loyal to the contract, but they’re bad news. They would have gladly destroyed the town if somepony had paid them.”

Didn’t I provoke a fight with some of them tonight? Shit...

“And number five: Wasteland is a dangerous place.” she said, and to my mild surprise I saw her looking at me kindly. “So if you are going to do it you better watch out.”

Right, because I wouldn’t figure that one by myself. But, should I do it? This Ponyville seemed to be quite a distance away… wouldn’t it be easier to continue asking blindly everybody I meet?

“For the record,” Miss Common interrupted me, looking amused as she took another sip of the wine, “if I still had my skin, this would be the moment when I start convincing you.”

“Convincing me?”

“Oh, you know, batting eyelashes, leaning a bit closer to you with ‘bedroom eyes’, moving up my leg up the inner side of your hind legs…” she trailed off, and to much terror I felt something touched my leg. I yelped and shook, making Miss Common giggle. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Scaring ponies like that from time to time is one of the few benefits of my look.”

She said it without a flinch, without any hesitation or pause in her voice, eyes or muzzle. But I was a bat pony, and I felt ashamed when I heard sadness at the edge of her sentence.

“I didn’t flip out because of how you… look, miss.” I said, and then, wanting to be honest, I added: “Well, now, at least, but then I was shocked. Now, it’s just… I’m not used to such… attention.” Oh great, now my face was growing red.

“You don’t say…” she mused, returning to her amused self almost at once. “What a poor thing you are... and without a cutie mark to boot...”

You know, you really aren’t making me accepting your quest easy, lady.

“Before I say something that makes this even more embarrassing,” I managed to say, wondering if maybe I should go take a nap… everything felt so dizzy after tonight’s events. But where would I sleep? “I accept your deal.”

“Splendid,” the unicorn said, then, to my shock, spit on her hoof and extended it towards me. “Let's shake on it.”

“I’m not touching that hoof. That’s too messy.” I stated flatly. There were some things I wouldn’t do no matter what, and…

Why is she laughing so loudly...?

Footnote: Level up!
New Perk Added: Little Leaguer (Rank 1) - +5 [Melee Weapons, Explosives]. Mastery: 5 extra points in each of these skills.

Chapter 3 - Under the Sun and Mountain

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“Oh man, we're going fast! This is so exciting I can't even wait!”

The ponies on the Outside are idiots! How can they just sleep through most of the night? In just two hours or so after I came to the bar, all the patrons besides Miss Common had left, as well as the waitress Vanire. When it became clear that me and my new “employer” weren’t done talking, Merry asked if we would need anything. Miss Common told him gently that she would look after his bar until Vanire would open it at the morning, so he could catch some sleep.

“I’ve been telling him he should hire another worker or two for months,” she said once he walked up the stairs from behind the counter. “He and Vanire have their hooves full on busier days. Well, not at this time, that is.”

As Miss Common told me, ghouls like her didn’t need to sleep at all. Almost at all, I mean. Their minds still needed to catch a break now and then, even if their bodies did not. She also had no need for food and beverages, but enjoyed a sip of wine from time to time.

The insight on a ghoul’s life wasn’t the only thing we’ve talked about. I had a lot of questions about the Wasteland, and Miss Common proved to be a generous source of information. Maybe she found the lousy compliment about her scent I made shortly after I had agreed to her request to be charming? Well, she certainly found the way I blushed in embarrassment to be “charming”, as she said so herself while giggling.

On that note, after discovering what an effect alcohol had on me, I forbade myself from drinking any while near her. The last thing that I wanted was to have my brain turn off how Miss Common looks and try to woo her due to her scent. That would either end up with me getting my flank kicked by about everyone in Desert Station, or with me and her in her bed.

I was not sure which scenario sounded less pleasant.

Getting back to the topic of her smell, she told me that she cast a spell on herself to preserve her natural musk once she started to… well, rot. Miss Common also managed to do the same for her eyes and her voice, but that was all she could. Of course, being a gentlecolt, I voiced my sympathy.

Our discussion then moved from “makeups” to the life in the Wasteland. I learned that, while the entire country was now called Equestrian Wasteland, it was divided into five parts. There’s the Capital Wasteland, which was located in the center and consisted of Canterlot, the old capital, and the land surrounding it. Palamino Wasteland, where we are in, named after San Palamino Desert, which since the Great War moved up north, consuming Las Pegasus and everything between it and Folly Mountains (at least it was a rock desert rather than sand desert, otherwise life would be even more unbearable here). Next is Hayseed Wasteland at the south-east, a giant swamp with ruins of Baltimare and Fillydelphia serving as only semblances of civilization (apparently, those that lived within the wilderness weren’t exactly “civil”). Then Neighagra Wasteland to north-east, which had the biggest settlement of ghouls in a town called Hollow Shades. And finally Tall Tale Wasteland in the north-west, home to the only group that could rival the Brotherhood in terms of technological bigotry - the Synthicate. The only difference between them was that while the Brotherhood hoarded the technology and arcane loot, the Synthicate created new ones.

Oh wait, correction, It used to be their home. Now something far worse lived there.

“Alicorns?!” I exclaimed. “Like Luna and Celestia?!”

“Oh, heavens no,” Miss Common waved off my assumption. “These things are some kind of mutants. Most of them have deformed bodies, much uglier than I am;” I opened my mouth to protest, but she didn’t pause, “they often miss a limb or two, bleed from eyes or mouth, as if they were sick. Their intelligence is on par with that of a foal, which, coupled with their magical abilities and the impulse to attack everything that isn’t an alicorn creates a dangerous mix. If you see one of them - and on that note, they usually move in small groups - run in the opposite direction. Fly away, or whatever.”

“I will keep that in mind,” I mumbled, and before I could stop myself, I blurted: “And you’re not ugly, just…”

“Dead?” the unicorn finished for me, smiling slyly. She then leaned towards me, and brushed my chin with her hoof. “You’re a sweet kid, you know that?”

To my credit, I barely trembled from the contact. Unfortunately, I also blushed, giving Miss Common more reasons for amusement.

“So,” I grunted, trying to regain some dignity, “where the heck did those alicorns come from? I mean, I know you said that their home is the Tall Tale Wasteland, but...”

“Truth to be told, no one knows. They first started to appear few decades after the Last Day, and gradually their numbers rose. If I had to make a guess, their existence might have been caused by some sort of Ministry of the Arcane Sciences project that after the bombs fell went terribly wrong,” Seeing my confused gaze, she elaborated: “MAS had a lot of secret projects and experiments going on by the end of the war. I know for a fact that several experimental sites were kept secret from everypony, including our beloved ruler,” to my surprise, she sneered, “as well as the other ministries.”

A mare that killed the Princesses keeping secrets from the Prince? Yeah, I can see that one… although why would she keep them from her friends? Weren’t they her accomplices?

I snapped my head out of brooding about the past and instead pondered why Miss Common spoke of the Prince with a clear disgust. To the extent of my knowledge, since he assumed the throne, he led Equestria well - even if he led them to the war and ultimately the end - and showed a great wisdom in creating the Ministries. However, as much as I was curious about him (Heck, I didn’t even know what his name was, for some odd reason all the textbooks in Stable Thirty-Nine referred to him as “the Prince”), I wasn’t going to risk my relationship with Miss Common by asking her about it.

Wait, did I just say “relationship”?!

“Those idiots from Synthicate tried capturing alicorns to study them,” she continued, oblivious to my inner self punching my brain to stop coming up with images that were born out of that stupid thought. “Oddly, they didn’t like it. The alicorns turned out to have enough intelligence to organize themselves and retaliate. Over the course of few decades they won, about fifteen years ago, and the Synthicate’s scientists that survived ran away to other parts of the Equestrian Wastelands. Most of them ended up as town doctors and such. Desert Station’s own Doctor Netics also used to be part of the Synthicate. As for alicorns, they’ve been slowly spreading through the Wasteland, so you might even see them in Palamino.”

I pondered her words as she took a sip of her wine. If this Doctor Netics used to be a scientist of the most technologically advanced group in the Wasteland (minus maybe the Brotherhood), then maybe…

“He left Desert Station over a month ago with an expedition to Hayseed,” Miss Common hummed, as if reading my mind. “A caravan of traveling merchants brought news that the Brotherhood of Steel chapter there has moved further south. The good doctor couldn’t pass an opportunity to check all the pre-war facilities that now lie unguarded. And besides, Netics majored in cybernetics, so I doubt he would be able to create a water talisman.”

“Which means my only hope is to serve your whim?” I asked smugly. The very next second I was being regarded by the gaze of her blue eyes and feeling as if I were getting scanned. “I-I didn’t mean as… I don’t..,” I blurted, cursing my big mouth for getting me into trouble.

To my relief - and further embarrassment - Miss Common quickly dropped her glare and giggled. “I’m beginning to like you more and more, Nightkin. I hope that once our business is concluded and you retrieve the water talisman for your stable, we will get to spend some more time in each other company.”

I smiled hearing that. I also grew to like her, as bizarre as this was. I lifted up a bottle of Sunrise Sarsaparilla to my mouth, trying to imagine what would happen after I’d deliver a water talisman to my stable. I never actually liked my job there...

“But don’t get any hopes about getting into my bed.”

I spew the contents of my mouth at the wall, much to the joy of the undead unicorn.

Luckily for me, Miss Common decided to take a break from torturing me like this and brought our talk back to the important matters. She asked me what kind of weapons I had on me, and was amazed that I set out from my stable with just a knife and a 10mm pistol. She was then shocked when she heard that I didn’t know what kind of weapons exactly I looted from the raiders, and that my knowledge regarding guns was almost non-existent.

So, she spend the better part of the time when there were still other patrons in the bar teaching me about the guns. I learned that what I took from the dead raiders were .308 hunting rifles, that used (“Duh!”) .308 ammo. That there were normal round bullets, armor piercing bullets that worked great against barding but not so great against bodies, and round hollow points, that were more or less the opposite of the armor piercing. Next I learned that most non-unicorn ponies, when using a gun this big, had them mounted on battle saddles.

And then I was back in class, trying to remember all the names my teacher wrote down on the blackboard: shotguns, pistols, rifles, flamethrowers, heavy machine guns, rocket launchers, magical energy weapons… and all the different kinds and variations…

I’m pretty sure that near the end of the lecture there was a small manticore flying around my head. Thankfully by then Merry had come, so Miss Common got distracted with a change of topic.

“Why does he have to sleep until morning, anyway?” I mused. “Can’t he just take some few minute naps?”

“What do you mean?” asked my female companion, confused.

I just then had realized that, again, bat ponies were much different from the other kinds. So I explained to Miss Common our kind’s sleeping habits. While we too sleep for hours very often, we also often take a short nap, which usually last up to ten minutes, wake up (in case something suspiciously sounding happens nearby, we do it earlier), check our surrounding for a minute, and then fall asleep again. It’s a surprisingly refreshing method of sleeping, one our ancestors found very useful during war and earlier service to the Princess of the Night.

Nowadays, this habit of ours was abused to sleep on the job.

“Interesting…” Miss Common muttered, looking at me thoughtfully. “So when you said that you ‘sleep in the day’...”

“I meant ‘rest’,” I corrected myself. “The internal clock of Stable Thirty-Nine was programmed to follow the normal Equestrian time, so we had, naturally, nights shorter than day. So we couldn’t just sleep through all the hours of the day. We kinda just… dilly-dallied.”

“Hmm... And all bat ponies are like you?” she asked with increased interest. “How many are there exactly in your stable?”

I opened my mouth to reply, but the warming the Overmare gave me made me pause. Why was she suddenly so interested about Stable Thirty-Nine?

“Ugh, you stable ponies and your secrecy,” she muttered, her eyes rolling around. “How about you tell me about yourself, then, and how did your night in the Wasteland fare before you stumbled into this bar?”

I didn’t see much harm in telling her that. I told her bits about my foalhood and job. Miss Common seemed genuinely interested in tale, perhaps because I was a pony out of a stable that didn’t actually fail, and as such I was raised in environment resembling a pre-war Equestria. To an extent, of course. When mentioning the surface, I changed some facts, so that she wouldn’t be able to figure out where my stable was.

As I talked about my life before tonight, Miss Common expression was unreadable. I wasn’t sure if it was due to the whole dead thing she had going on, or because of her own nerves. But I knew for certain I wasn’t going to play cards with her anytime soon.

That changed rather quickly as I mentioned those raiders. Her face twisted with disgust, then quickly into calm rage when I mentioned that filly, Workbench.

“Fucking raiders,” Miss Common murmured, lifting her glass. “You think you’ve completely wiped them out from at least one corner of the Wasteland, and mere fifty years later their back.”

“You’ve wiped out the riders?!” I exclaimed.

I mean, looking like she did I figured it might not be the brightest idea to cross her, but… she was wearing a dress, for Goddesses sake, and was sipping a wine! How could a pony like her possibly wipe out what I assumed was a whole darn army of psychopathic ponies?! Well, not an army, but… they took over a Stable somewhere, according to the guard, so… if that Stable was as big as mine, then they would need to have about…

“Considering they quite often use barbaric weapon such as stick with nails, and they were ragged barding, it wasn’t that hard,” she replied. “Although, getting past the third hundred was a bit taxing.”

Yep, an army.... I am soooooooo not crossing Miss Common, ever. Fuck, I would probably even sleep with her to avoid fighting her!

“So how did you deal with it?” her question brought me out of my mind, I looked at her puzzled and she explained. “Killing a pony, I mean.”

“Oh, I…” I paused. How did I deal with it? Did I? Well, those two that were with Workbench didn’t even cause my eyelid to twitch, so… “I was… horrified when I had realized I killed them,” I admitted. “When they attacked me - after saving their lives, I might add - I acted in self defense, but once it was over…” I didn’t realize that I looked away from Miss Common and stared into the wall while recalling that moment, but the feeling of her hoof squeezing mine made me turn back to her. I saw her looking at me with understanding, and I smiled. “But when I saw those two raiders with that filly… it was gone. That feeling that it was wrong. What they were doing was wrong, so wrong that they didn’t deserve a second chance.”

Miss Common nodded. “Raiders don’t, but there are others that commit crimes in the Wasteland, and not all of them are lost causes. Try to remember that… of course, if you see somebody reaping a kid, then by all means-” she trailed off, as she didn’t need to explain anything further. She tapped her glass with a hoof. “I’m having second thoughts about sending you with this errand of mine.”

Okay, that came out of nowhere. “Huh?”

“Hearing how little experience you have, I don’t think it would be fair of me to send you into the largest slaver’s village. Not to mention that the Capital Wasteland, as of late, became apparently became a breeding ground for raiders. And the alicorns are much more common there than in Palamino… as well as Brotherhood of Steel, here they are way on the other end, skulking around the ruins of Las Pegasus,” Miss Common bit her lower lip. “Perhaps… it would be better if I just told you where those stables are…”

My eyes widened. That… would be perfect, wouldn’t it? I could get right away about getting that water talisman, instead of losing at least a week for getting into Ponyville. But… why didn’t I like this?

“I had already agreed to accept your request,” I mumbled the first thing that came to my mind; I would figure out why I needed an excuse to go on what could be a suicide mission later. “I might be many generations away from the last night guards, but I still value honor… milady,” I added, making the unicorn ghoul smile warmly.

“Honor… it’s such a rare value here. Even among the decent folks. Make sure you won’t lose it… sir,” Miss Common commented, and even raised her glass for me. She then returned to her musing. “If you still insist on going… hmm, first time in over a decade that I felt like going outside of Desert City and I’m stuck. That expedition I've mentioned earlier is due to be back in a few days,” she explained, seeing my gaze. “I haven’t been to Hayseed since the beginning of this century,” Okay, WHAT?! “And even DJ Pon3 doesn’t get much information from that area. I just need to hear what they’ve encountered there.”

“DJ Pon3?” I asked, wondering how to best ask Miss Common about her age. I mean, that’s borderline impolite.

“Oh, that’s the host of the radio station, and the main source of news in the Wasteland. Try tuning into his broadcast on you PipBuck, set it for 103.8 FM.”

Wait, I have a radio here?! Awesome! I quickly looked over all the buttons, switched few things, and there it was - radio. Now to just tune in…

A music, similar to the one that has been playing in the bar when I entered, began emitting from my PipBuck.

~I know it's stupid to be mad about the colt

I'm so ashamed of it but must admit the sleepless nights~

“And she also plays the old world’s music,” Miss Common explained as I turned it off. “Usually the works of… of Sweetie Belle, or Sapphire Shores, Octavia, and few others that I can’t recall right now,” She paused to clear her throat. “Anyway, back to the subject of you going to Capital Wasteland. I think I might have a solution. A friend of mine is currently staying in the city. She’s a mercenary, and owns me a favor. She should agree to go with you, and I am certain you couldn’t be in better hooves when traveling through the Wasteland… other than maybe mine. What do you think?”

“Gee, going all by myself or with a company of somebody experienced, let me think about it…” I pretended to ponder it, making the unicorn laugh again.

“You mind want to tune it down a bit while traveling with her,” she said once she calmed down. “While I appreciate good humor - you know, since it’s so rare - my friend can be… difficult, until you know her better. And I’m afraid that, unlike with me, your charm isn’t going to work on her.”

I blushed a bit again hearing her compliment, but inwardly I winced at what she said. When Miss Common mentioned about her friend, I assumed that it would be a pony like her. One I could talk with at relative ease… although her constant teasing wasn’t actually all that comfortable. Maybe it would be actually good that her friend is a bit different?

“I’m sure we will be able to find some way to work together,” I said, trying to sound confident. I think I did, because Miss Common smiled… unless she was smirking, in which case I was in a deep shit. “So… what now? Do we talk until the morning?”

“We could, but I don’t think there could be anything beneficial for you,” the unicorn replied. “In fact, I think it would be best if you could take a nap,” I raised an eyebrow, confused. “The sun will rise in about… four hours. When it does, you will go to the marketplace, sell those two hunting rifles and buy yourself a real long-range gun, while I’ll go gather my friend. It would be best if you could conduct a business transaction and meet your soon-to-be companion while fully conscious. And you said you bat ponies can fall asleep almost at once, right?”

“Well, yeah, but…” I mumbled. I would prefer to go to sleep in a more… safe environment. “Do you think I could rent a room?”

“Considering the owner is asleep, no, I don’t think so. And I promised Merry to watch his bar until morning, so I can’t lead you to a house.”

“Oh, fine…” I guess it wasn’t too bad of a place to take a four-hour nap. That couch over there looked comfortable…

“Now if you would excuse me, I will go to the little fillies room,” Miss Common said as I rose from my chair. I guessed by the expression on her face that if it weren’t for her state, she would be blushing right about now. “Drinking wine when all your body’s systems don’t work can be embarrassingly bothersome for a lady.”

I nodded with understanding, as she walked away into one of the toilets at the corner of the parlor, while I jumped into the air and landed at the couch. I tucked it in as best I could, and curled around. Some part of me wondered if it was wise to just go to sleep like this, but if something bad would happen, I would woke up right away. And besides… call me naive, but I trusted Miss Common.

As I placed my saddle bags beside my sleeping place and took some smoked meat (hey, it was not healthy to go sleeping with an empty stomach), I pondered if it was weird that the first pony I made friends with was technically dead.

I ate my early supper and closed my eyes. With tonight’s trials having wore me down, it wasn’t a surprise when I found sweet embrace of the dreams almost at once.

“You have an impressive internal clock,” was the first thing I heard when I woke up. I glanced at Miss Common, who was sitting on an armchair next to me. A small gun was floating beside her in a blue aura with a small wiper polishing it. “Pity, I was just about to wake you up by-”

“Please do not finish that sentence, Miss,” I groaned as I stretched out.

She giggled, confirming my suspicions about how she intended to wake me up. I glanced at the counter, where Vanire already was, preparing to open the bar. The zebra’s eyes flicked between me and Miss Common, amusement mixing on her face with mild confusion.

“Very well then, let’s put jokes aside and get back to business,” the ghoul said, hiding the gun somewhere under her dress as she stood up. “While you slept, I took the liberty of erasing the location of your stable from your PipBuck.”

“What?!” I exclaimed, rising up; how the heck did she manage to do that without waking me up?! Or, for that matter, how did she manage to do that period!? “How- No wait, why!?”

“I figured that you wouldn’t want anypony to know where to look for it, so I took the necessary precautions on your behalf. And as for how, you will find out that you pick up things quickly in the Wasteland.”

That made me close my mouth, as I just had realized I had it wide open, and thought about it more calmly. What she said made sense, I wouldn’t have wanted to accidentally give away where Stable Thirty-Nine was by showing somepony what time it was.

“Aww, please don’t be mwad at me,” Miss Common whimpered in a baby voice. I shook; hearing a ghoul say something like that was just plain creepy. “Anyway, we’ve a good busy day ahead of us… speaking of, this will be the first time you will see the sunlight, right?”

“Yeah…” I muttered, a part of me concerned. I mean, I know that my eyes were supposed to adjust almost immediately to the level of brightness, but… I guess I just prefer nights rather than days. “So, are we going, or...?” I trailed off when I noticed Vanire approaching us, balancing a tray with two dishes, both with veggie salads on it. I glanced at Miss Common uncertainty.

“My treat, dear,” she replied, starting to eat herself.

I looked over my meal. I didn’t expect the Outside to have this kind of food. Back in the stable, we had a plantation going on in at the lower levels, and a small farm; as we bat ponies were part predators- in opposed to our fully vegetarian kins. In an odd way, I figured that bat ponies were more adapted to the Wasteland than them; it just seemed easier to hunt wild animals rather than trying to harvest any vegetables and stuff.

“There are few plantations here and there in the Wastelands,” Miss Common said, figuring why I was staring at the plate. “This, I believe, came from Green Tail Town, a settlement in the northern part of Palamino. It’s about the only fertile land around here. There are also few good spots in Capital Wasteland - pity that the best one is under the control of the slavers - and a lot of them near Manehattan’s ruins.”

It was an interesting note for the future, valuable if my stable would want to open and interact with the Wasteland, but my mind was momentarily occupied with slowly coming to realize how yummy this salad looked.

I dove in.

About ten minutes later we were both full - in my case until my body processed it, with Miss Common… I didn’t want to know how that worked, exactly - and ready to go. I said goodbye to Vanire, who smiled in return and invited me come again in the future. As if I needed to be told that.

“So,” Miss Common piped up when we reached the door, her hoof resting against the door-knob, “ready to see the sun?”

“Isn’t that unhealthy?” I asked, while the unicorn rolled her eyes and opened the door.

A flash of light blinded me. I didn’t even realize that all the windows at Merry’s were covered… or that they didn’t have any windows, one or the other. My eyes, of course, quickly adjusted, so as I followed Miss Common out into the street I didn’t do so blindly. But this amount of light… was it really necessary? I mean, even with my pupils shrunk (as I assumed) into the width of a paper I still found it hurtful.

I looked around the street. During the night, I didn’t even notice that everything looked so… yellowish-brownish. Makes sense now that I thought about it, as we are in the desert. The houses, of course, have different colors to them, but almost all of them looked the same, which kinda made the Desert Station look boring.

Then my gaze traveled up.

Instead of the dark sky and soothing moon, I was met with a bright blue ceiling with occasional white tuffs of cloud. It was, in a way, far scarier than what I saw at night. Sorry, but in my opinion what’s above you shouldn’t be so bright and shiny.

“With all respect for Celestia, I kinda wish Nightmare Moon had won,” I muttered as I looked someplace lower.

The light smack at the back of the head came as a surprise. I turned to Miss Common. “There are limits to where a good joke can go, Nightkin dear,” she scowled at me. She cleared her throat and pointed at the right. “This way is to the market; go and do some shopping. I will meet you by the train station at the entrance to the Tunnel in two to three hours,” the ghoul added, pointing at the direction of the mountain side.

I nodded and bowed my head. “As you wish, Miss Common.”

Parting with the first friend I made here was a bit saddening, but I my hooves were itching to carry me to another part of town, curious as to how it looked. I didn’t see anything special worth of mentioning, other than everypony was glancing at me. Well, that couldn’t be helped. I wondered how long I will have to stick around in the Wasteland to not cause any sensation.

As I kept observing my surroundings, I was also on a lookout for those three girls from 303 Company, the two pegasi and a griffon. Hedwig might have mentioned they were going to leave, but I wasn’t in a mood for a surprise jump-scare. Unfortunately, I found that I had problems recalling what they looked like, as my attention was drawn to their armor back then… and their backs as well.

Oh, well, E.F.S. wasn’t showing red anyway, so I allowed myself to relax. Glancing at my PipBuck, I recalled that I had a radio in it, and decided to turn it on. When I did that, however, I noticed that something was written on the screen:

>Eject an ear-piece? Y/N

Wait, this thing comes with an ear-pieces?! Celestia’s burning tits, of course I’m pressing Y! I grabbed a small device that slid out of the side of my PipBuck and put it on my ear. I managed to catch an ending to another pre-war song:

-I just want to start

A flame in your heart

Good morning, my little ponies!

Okay, that was new. I almost stopped when the cheerful voice erupted from my ear-piece as soon as the music trailed off. I recalled what Miss Common said about the DJ Pon3, and guessed it was her.

It’s a new day for us in post-apocalyptia. Praise Celestia, and all that. Here are some of the latest news.

Remember how I’ve been telling you all that something got all the raiders spooked out from the ruins of Canterlot? Well, get this: now all the alicorns are missing, too. Thankfully, it seem that they just got slaughtered, and not like the raiders chased off into the yard outside of the capital. Geez, what’s next? The Brotherhood of Steel getting obliterated?

I mentally checked the distance between Ponyville and Canterlot. Alright, if whatever was happening in the old capital would stay there, I should be safe…

And while we’re at it; yes, I know that many of you still despise the fact that I’m letting them use my broadcast tower as an outpost. But please, give me some break. I could deal with the raiders by myself, but when the alicorns started snooping around all those years ago, I had to find some bodyguards. Today marks the tenth year of when we made this “pact”, and I am happy to report that at least this chapter keeps their word - nothing from my tower got “reclaimed”... although I noticed one paladin glancing at my toaster in an fishy way…

A snicker escaped me, luckily unnoticed by anypony on the street. This mare was funny!

Getting back to the raiders, they continue to harass Capital Station. The 303 Company keeps the town safe… for now. I know some people out there are currently taking bets on how long it will take for those mercs to turn on them.

Don’t think I have forgotten about guys living in the provinces! I have a bit of news for you, too.

Provinces, huh? I wondered if before the war ponies from Canterlot actually thought as such about ponies living in the other parts of Equestria. I listened to DJ-pon3 as she said some things about Manehattan’s Orange’s Field having to deal with some bothersome pests.

And now for you folks on the other side of Folly Mountains!

Guess that’s about us.

Monte Bank, the chairman of the Caesar's Grave Casino and de facto buck that calls all the shots (in and out of a bar) in Applewood, has yet to return from his adventure, wherever it took him… and to be found alive. Nopony had seen him in over two weeks since he set off for a “business transaction”. My sources tell me that herds of mares in Palamino Wasteland are already mourning, so if you see this cat, tell him to go back home. Or better yet, point him to my studio here in Canterlot, I would love to have an interview with him.

What? What did you think I was gonna say?

On the darker side on news, it would seem a new stable has opened up.

Huh?

“But DJ Pon3, why is that a ‘darker side of news’” you ask? Well, because what crawled out of it is a honest to goodness Goddess damned bat pony!

What?!

Yeah, so it turns out that Princess Luna really did have guards that looked scary as shit. And that their legacy lives on, for the Dark Crusader immediately began fulfilling his duties to the crown by protecting innocent! Why, that young buck saved a small filly from a band of raiders that’s been prowling around Desert Station. Great job, kid!

What?! How?! When?! Dark what?! Kid?!!! Oatmeal, are you… wait, what?

And that is all for morning news! Thanks for listening, foals, this is DJ Pon3, bringing you truth, no matter how bad this hurts.

I sit down in the middle of the street, trying to collect my thoughts. How was it possible for DJ Pon3 to know what just happened last night? She was in Canterlot, for Luna’s sake, and…

“You know, I have more important things to do than writing you a fine for disrupting the city’s movement.”

I jumped into the air in surprise. Next to where I was sitting chief Harness stood, looking at me with an annoyed expression. There were also few angry ponies nearby that, if I guessed correctly, were slightly ticked off by having to take two steps to the side to avoid bumping into me. Geez.

“Um sorry, I…” I stuttered, embarrassed, as I landed next to him. I pulled out my ear-piece and showed it to him. “I was listening to the radio, and… I heard DJ-pon3 talking about how I saved that filly, and…”

“Ah yes, that mare has a talent for finding out about stuff quickly,” the other buck smiled, dismissing my embarrassment. “Best not to think about how she does that. So, what were you up to?”

“I wanted to sell some things and buy myself a good long range weapon,” I said as we both started trotting. “Miss Common hired me. I’m leaving for the Capital Wasteland later.”

“Huh, no kidding. Well, good for you. But you might wanna avoid the local merchants. No offense, but they will eat alive a pony-”

“-from a Stable, I get it,” Seriously, when this was going to end? “So what do you propose?”

“Oh, that’s no problem at all!” Guntrotter, the father of the filly I saved, said enthusiastically.

Battle Harness had led me to the housings that the caravanners occupied in when they stayed in the city. We found the buck easily as he was checking the brahims (two-headed cows, all four heads mooed hello to me, which scared the crap out of me. This gave everybody around a serious case of laughing their flanks off.)

Guntrotter listened attentively as I told him that I’m looking for a better weapon (once he stopped thanking me), and after thinking about it for a minute, he proposed that he could take those two hunting rifles, take a few parts, and mold it all together into a new gun, for a mere one hundred caps.

I actually had to insist on paying anything, as I didn’t feel right having him do this for free.

“I like tinkering with weapons,” he continued as he lead me into an apartment he and his family stayed in; Harness had already left, mentioning something about speaking with the train’s mechanics. “It helps with the business when what we sell is in good quality.”

“I’m glad to hear you like what you do. I hated my job back at the Stable.”

“Is that why you left?” the older back asked me with surprise.

“No, it’s more complicated,” I replied, not wanting to discuss it.

“Heh, I figure you would have to be crazy to leave a cozy Stable and come here. Anyway, you wait here, I will quickly piece this all together in the workshop,” he said, lifting the small pack with the hunting rifles and some other items.

Nodding to the caravanner, I sit at the couch, and, since I didn’t have anything to do, I took another nap. Unlike the previous one, however, it must have lasted less than a minute, for I had woken up when I heard the creaking of the doors.

Familiar yellow eyes were looking at me, a bronze head sticking out from behind the door.

I smiled awkwardly. “Hi. You’re Workbench, right?”

The filly nodded after a second of hesitation, and came into the room. She looked much better now that she was clean, although I noticed there were shadows under her eyes that would probably never go away.

Okay, think of something to make it easier for her… um, how about…

“I don’t look that ugly, don’t I?” I asked, managing a little shake and worried expression.

Workbench blinked at my sudden display, and for the first time I heard her say something: “Um, what?”

Funny how often I say the same as of late.

“Oh, you don’t have to say it, I know I am ugly,” I exclaimed, covering my face with hooves. “You can’t even look at me straight. No mare will want me, bueeah….”

“N-no, I didn’t mean…” she said as she run up to me while I pretended to cry, her voice confused.

So far so good…

As she stood before me, I took my hooves and showed her my tongue. “Haha, made you talk!” I told her, smirking.

Workbench backed a bit, her jaw dropped, but then to my great relief she giggled. “You’re weird,” she said as she laughed.

YES! Look at that shit, Wasteland, I win this filly! Take your despair somewhere else!

“Why do you think they kicked me out of my Stable?” I joked.

“You actually lived in a Stable?” the filly asked, wonder in her eyes. “I thought pegasi hated being cooped underground.”

“Well, maybe they do, but I am a bat pony, a servant of the night that protects the meek!” I proclaimed, my wings lifting me into the air so that I could salute while in a full attention. “And… can you keep a secret?” I asked in a whispering tone. When Workbench nodded, I said: “I really hate open spaces… as in everywhere outside.”

“Really? That’s dumb.”

“It’s not.”

“It’s so.”

“It’s not.”

“It’s so.”

“It’s not.”

“It’s so.”

“It’s not.”

“It’s so!”

“It’s not!”

“It’s so!”

“It’s not!”

“It’s so!”

“It’s not!”

“It’s so!”

“It’s not!”

“It’s so and that’s that!”

“It’s not dumb at all!”

“Okay, you win, little filly,” I conceded, barely containing a laughter.

“Yeah, and you better… not… HEY!” Workbench exclaimed as she caught on.

I grinned at her while she looked at me all offended. We lasted like this for only five seconds. What came next was an explosion of laughter while we both rolled on our backs, unable to cope otherwise with this ridiculous situation.

I was a bit surprise that Guntrotter didn’t come to see what was the commotion about, but I had realized that he was putting a weapon together, so… eyap, I perked my ear and heard the sounds of constructions coming from the room at the end of the hallway.

“Thanks, mister,” Workbench muttered, making me concentrated once again on her. She still lied on her back, but the joy she was emanating a heartbeat ago had disappeared from her eyes. “For… this and… you know…”

I knew. I knew that I wanted to rip those bastards into pieces for what they did to her. Slitting their throats was too good of a death for them.

“I wish I could have come there earlier,” I confessed to the filly, also staying at my back; if she was cool talking about last night like this, then I wasn’t getting up.

“I was lucky anyway… I mean, traveling with my Mom and Dad, I hear things from towns. I could’ve ended up a lot worse, so… thank you.”

An awkward silence stayed after her words. I mean, what the hay was I supposed to say? This filly was, what, twelve at best, and already had a better idea on what awaited in the Wasteland for ponies. What could I possibly do-

Show her the foalhood from Stable Thirty-Nine.

“Wanna do something fun?”

When a couple of minutes later Guntrotter came out from his workshop, his eyes must have grown as large as the moon. How often do you see your daughter riding a bat pony while he chases his own tail apparently while flying five miles per hour in the middle of your living room?

“Wheee!!!” we both continued to exclaim, even me not noticing her father’s presence, so occupied I was with Workbench sitting on my shoulders. She was so happy, as if the previous night didn’t happen at all, as if that was just a bad dream…

A small concern rose in my mind. I hope she wasn’t going to have any nightmares. Luna, guards her dreams.

“Oh, hi Dad!” Workbench shout made my snapped out of my thoughts and look to see her father. I stopped and landed next to him, with the filly jumping onto the floor.

Well, as we stood there, we both learned that moving in circles wasn’t the best idea we could’ve come up with. Both Workbench and I failed epicly in our attempts to sit down, and we fell to down, me on the left side, she on the right.

“I see you were having fun with our guest, Workbench,” Guntrotter said happily, no doubt pleased with the happiness of his daughter, especially in light of what happened.

“Yeah, Dad, and he’s so cool! Even if he is a blank flank,” she snickered at me.

You know, if it would be anypony other than this filly, I would’ve been pissed. But, as it was her, I merely stick out my tongue. “You just wait, my cutie mark will be the most awesome thing that there ever was!”

“Yeah, right.”

“Right!”

“Okay, can you... stop?” Guntrotter asked, looking confused at both of us.

I had suddenly realized how foalish this looked. My cheeks darkened as I coughed, hoping they wouldn’t notice how awkward I felt, and looked at the buck. Or rather, at the gun he was holding for me.

“Here you go,” he said, not without a hint of pride at his hoofwork. “A modified 308. hunting rifle, with a scope and extended magazine.”

“Wow, thank you,” I said, taking it. It looked a lot better than either of the two guns I gave him; it was hard to believe he made it from parts from them. Sure, there were pieces of duct tape here and there, but honestly, I wouldn’t be able to tell if it was fresh from a fabric.

I lifted the scoped hunting rifle with my right wing and pressed it against my cheek, seeing how well I felt with it. Well, it wasn’t too bad… The rifle was well made, and was perfectly balanced an all, but I just felt awkward with it. Guess I preferred smaller guns.

“Workbench, how do you feel?” I heard Guntrotter ask his daughter when he hugged her.

Okay, family moment. My cue to get out.

“I’m fine, Dad,” the filly replied uncomfortably, trying to get away.

I coughed to gain their attention, which allowed Workbench to escape. “Thank you so much for the gun, Guntrotter.”

“Oh, think nothing of it.”

“Dad is great with fixing weapons and putting them together,” Workbench boasted. “And he’s gonna teach me everything he knows!”

“Then I guess I will start coming to you for repairs when I get back from Capital Wasteland,” I smiled. “Speaking of, I need to get going, I’m supposed to be by the station soon.”

“You’re going to the Capital Wasteland?”

“Yep, Miss Common hired me do something for her there,” I replied. Wait, what was it you were supposed to say when leaving for a while? “Want me to send you a card?” Seeing both other ponies give me a puzzled looks, I figured I must have said it wrong. “Nevermind; I’ll see myself out.”

“Wait,” Guntrotter interrupted me. “Workbench, go see if Mom is awake, I’ll walk our guest out.”

“Sure. Goodbye, mister bat pony!”

“It’s Nightkin, actually,” I called after her as I left with her father.

Guntrotter looked back and then spoke quietly. “I have no fucking clue what in Celestia’s name you did, but thank you! My wife and I feared she wouldn’t want to talk for days. She kept shaking, and…” he trailed off, anger flashing through his eyes as he thought what his daughter had suffered in the hooves of her captors.

“I just made a fool out of myself, as I happen to do a lot since I came to Desert Station,” I cut in, not being comfortable with all this thanks he was giving me. “Honestly, at this point, I’m surprised I didn’t get a cutie mark for… dunno, being an idiot?”

“Well, if you are an idiot, then it would be better for the whole Wasteland to have more stupid ponies,” the earth pony chuckled. “Anyway, you have a life-long discount for my family’s caravan. We’re staying here until Doctor Netics gets back, we were hoping he could take a look at Workbench, do some psychio… logtical… thingy. What’s that fancy words for-”

“A psychiatric treatment?” I hinted.

“Yeah, that. After that, we'll hit back on the trail - it should be safer now that you took out those raiders. We travel from here to Green Tail Town, Cleansprings, Cheapside and Tawanana Camp.”

“Then I will be on a lookout for you if I ever visit those places,” I told him as we exited the building. “Take care.”

I smiled as I parted with him. It was nice to know there were some ponies you could count on, despite my initial meeting with the Outside’s residence being not so pleasant as I hoped.

“... and when we started building this city one-hundred and twenty-something years ago, fixing up Lady Fleur here was practically the first order of business,” the mechanic that I stumbled upon when he was on the break near the station had said. “I mean, before that, the only way to travel to the Capital Wasteland was to either go around the mountains, or fly over them. And you have no idea how much 303 Company charged for that. So basically, Palamino was cut off from the rest of Equestria.”

Normally, I would have doubted how accurate a tale of something that happened so long ago was, but my interlocutor happened to lived through it. Sorta. Did I mention that he was a ghoul? And yeah, apparently ghouls were more or less immortal. Damn, now I’m really curious how old Miss Common is.

“Fixing her wasn’t easy, but we had a lot of parts scavenged from trains left here on the station, and there were some deeper in the tunnels,” he continued. “And boy, don’t get me started on how long it took to clean the passage!”

You know, since I am comparing him to Miss Common already… if how much different she is from this ghoul is of any indication on how she looked in life… I mean, compared to him she’s gorgeous. She has her coat here and there, as well as much more mane. And you are able to tell what color they used to be. This mechanic… I could see his leg-bones!

And he stunk, a lot.

“What do you use for fuel?” I asked, averting my gaze from him in hoped it would somehow make it easier for my nose. “Coal?”

It didn’t, but at least looking at the train, Lady Fleur, was occupying. She was ten-cart long, with the first one filled with the black mineral. Cars from second to fourth were reserved for cargo, and the next two for the usage of both cities. The remaining four were used by passengers, after they bought the tickets of course.

“Yep! But we can turn it to be magic powered if need arises,” the ghoul replied enthusiastically; I guess doing the same work for over one hundred years requires some sort of obsession.

“Why did you named her ‘Lady”, thought? I mean, would it kinda make more sense to-”

“To give the train a buck’s name, and then the tunnel some mare’s, yeah, we get that a lot. But Miss Common was keeping an eye out for our efforts back then, and she protested against making any dirty suggestions.”

The same mare who kept teasing me throughout the night? Huh, guess time changes ponies.

“Speaking of Miss Common…” the ghoul said, whom I already told that I worked for her (apparently, it that gained a lot of respect around those parts), as he pointed with his head behind me. I looked back…

It was like meeting Miss Common the night before. I turned around not expecting what was about to happen. Only this time, I didn’t flip out. I stared in shock at the most beautiful mare I have ever seen. Her coat was the same color as the sky above us, her mane - gray with navy blue streaks. She was a unicorn, carrying herself with the grace as she strode towards me, her sapphire eyes locked with mine…

“And this strapping young buck with a wingboner is Nightkin,” I heard Miss Common introduce me… did she just say “a wingboner”?

I snapped back into reality as I glanced at my wings, both outstretched. I felt a wave of shame crash into me like a giant tsunami. Thankfully the ghoul mechanic was gone at least, now I only had two mares to try and explain myself to…

“I, um…”

Oh, for fuck sake… say something!

“... hi!”

Celestia’s solar mareheat, I despise myself.

Miss Common giggled as usual, while the unknown unicorn raised an eyebrow.

“He is kinda cute, I will give you that,” she said turning to the ghoul. Sweet Luna, her voice, while cold, was so smooth…

“Told you, dear,” Miss Common replied, and then turned to me. “Nightkin, this is Midnight Gaze, the friend that I told you about. She had agreed to travel with you through the Capital Wasteland, making sure you won’t die during your exploits.”

Sweet Luna, her name was similar to mine! This must be a sign!

“Oh… right, thank you…” I started, but soon found myself being choked by something invisible, while at the same time pulled closer to Midnight Gaze.

“Okay, listen up,” she said, and I finally noticed her horn was glowing. “Rule number one: don’t try to hit on me. Rule number two: don’t stare at my rump. Rule number three: don’t even think about fucking me. Got it?”

Apparently, the "sign" was saying to get away. As I was still being choked, I nodded. The pressure around my throat had disappeared, and I fell to the ground.

So, the pony I had crush on was probably going to kill me. That promises a good relationship.

“Was that necessary?” I heard Miss Common ask with a pretense in her voice while she helped me to get up with her magic, her touch far more gently than Midnight’s.

“I was just setting the ground rules,” the living mare retorted, brushing a lock of hair out of her face.

“Don’t let her cold welcome fool you,” Miss Common told me after rolling her eyes. “She’s a real friend once you get to know her better. I’m sure you will get to know her from her better side… eventually. Now, the train leaves soon, so you might want to get going. Hope to see you again soon,” she said as she pulled me for a hug, which I returned; because why wouldn’t I? As far as my ears and nose were concerned, she was alive… “Wear protection.”

I’m pretty sure my eyes grow wider than they should have. Miss Common, contrary to what somepony might have thought, didn’t whisper those words.

I looked apologetically at Midnight, hoping she wouldn’t hold what she said against me. The beautiful mare’s only response was her cold-as-ice stare.

The inside of the train car was spacious, and there was a few ponies traveling today, which allowed me and Midnight find free seats easily. I sat at one side of the couch, glancing at the mare in blackish armor stealthily… her sniper rifle was pointing at me. So I looked through the window, and the unicorn began checking her weapon, if my ears were correct.

“So, do you have any plan as to how to get that thing from Ponyville?” she asked me as if she hadn’t just pointed her gun at me.

“I’m working on it,” I lied. It had somehow slipped my mind that I had to break into a city full of slavers.

“Well, you do have couple of days for that. But just to be clear, I did not sign up for a suicide mission.”

“Neither did I,” I replied, perking my ear; there was a familiar voice coming from the doors to the neighboring car.

Glancing at the opening doors confirmed my suspicion; three females emerged, one being a griffin, the other two pegasi.

“Hey, it’s the Freak!” the gray-white griffin stopped whatever she was talking about and exclaimed almost happily when she saw me. Her friends were less taken by her observation… huh, now that I took a good look at them; I noticed that they were identical. And I don’t just mean that they were both red and had manes of the darker shade of red. No, they looked exactly the same. “You know, the ones that hoofed your flanks to you.”

“Um, hi, Hedwig,” I greeted her politely.

“So, you’re off to Capital Station as well, huh?” Hedwig continued. “Well, I hope you will be more careful on what you say; other 303s aren’t as forgiving as I,” One of the pegasi mumbled something incoherent even to me. “Oh, don’t mind them; the twins just have a mild hangover. I would love to stay and chat, but we have to sit tight in the fifth car; the train will stop somewhere in the middle to pick up few technicians that were supposed to fix something and our bucks that watched their backs. Gotta extract them.”

“I see. It’s nice that 303 are so helpful,” I said diplomatically, remembering all that I heard so far. “See you later,” Ugh, did I really say that? The two ponies attacked me, and the griffin held a gun to my head.

Midnight waited until the trio was out of earshot before she spoke: “They’re surprisingly friendly for 303… I wonder how long they worked for them.”

“Why?”

“I’m just curious as to how long it takes this group to corrupt its members,” she explained with a shrug. “Anyway, to the more important matters, I wonder how long this stop will last.”

“Probably a few minutes,” I guessed, yawning out of boredom. And I suppose I was a bit tired as well; it was the middle of the day, after all. “I’m going to take a nap.”

Having informed my beautiful friend, I curled up into a ball on my seat, hoping I would get to dream about her…

… I awoke with a start as the train stopped, creaking horribly. Something was wrong, beginning with sounds of shots from the cars closer to the engine, and ending with fact that I was currently in mid-air, in a course collision with the wall.

I unfolded my wings and managed to turn around, somehow managing to land vertically on my legs. Looking around, I spotted Midnight, running past the door next to me in a hurry. I followed her. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m going there!” she explained without turning around. I rolled my eyes and continued to tail her, easily keeping up with her on my wings, and not looking at her rump.

Funny, I felt… much more agile. And better overall. It took me a second to realise that we were inside the tunnel, which meant underground. Guess my body feels more comfortable within a closed space as well as my mind, huh?

I maneuver swiftly between closing doors, as Midnight didn’t bother holding them for me, and watched as the unicorn mare climbed up to the roof of the next car. Flying close behind her, I finally got a look at what was happening.

The part of the tunnel we were in was very wide, probably serving as a rail crossing for different lines before the end of the war. It would have been difficult for a non-bat pony to say for sure how spacious it was, as the lights were lit only above the track that Lady Fleur was travelling by. However, over by the edge of the tunnel’s segment, flashes of gunfire could be seen.

About five ponies, three wearing suits similar to the ghoul I spoke with back at Desert Station, and two armed with the same barding as Hedwig and the pegasi twins. The two bucks were currently firing from shotguns strapped to their battle saddles, as was the griffon, using two revolvers she held in her paws, and her companions, who hovered in the air, gunning down the ones attacking them with miniguns. There were also some ponies I recognized as the guards from Desert Station fighting.

As for who was attacking them… it was horde of what at first I took for ponies, but after a second I took out my scoped hunting rifle and took a better look. It wasn’t easy to tell with all the shooting, but I wouldn’t mistake the signs of decay on their bodies. Those were ghouls… and judging by the way they run with jaws open, eyes empty (not “empty” as in not having anything in their eye-sockets - although there were a few of those there - but as in not showing any signs of intelligence), they were feral or, as Midnight utter under her breath right now, “zombies”.

I glanced at my companion and saw her already shooting rapidly from her sniper rifle, and, to my amazement, as far as I could tell she blasted a head of a zombie every time she pulled a trigger. I glanced at my weapon, and I knew there was no way I could make shots like that. Heck, I would probably end up hitting one of the living ponies.

But I had one advantage over everybody here. We were in a closed space, “a terrain” I was the most comfortable with.

I took into the air and closed in on the zombies, taking out my knife with my mouth. I wasn’t worried about getting shot; well, maybe a little. But there was so many ghouls here, spawning out of one of the side tunnels, that I just dove into the few from the group on the other side where those twins were going bullet crazy.

Swiftly swooping down, I slashed at the throat of the ghoul, and not even stopping, did so to two more before I flew up into the air once more, escaping their range of attack. I figured that they could only strike with their hooves, so as long as I remained as fast… I cursed as a magical blast went next to my head, and my PipBuck began picking, informing me that the attack by the ghoul unicorn carried radiation.

Wait, does this mean when Miss Common used her magic to heal my alcohol level she radiated me… oh wait, I’m in a battle.

This time when I attacked, I entered S.A.T.S., managing clean kills this time; from the previous three, only one didn’t get up, the other two trotted around with gashes on their throats as if they were lovemarks.

I was surprised how confident I felt fighting underground, in contrast to how I barely managed to hold my own against the raiders. True, it wasn’t just my merit that we won, as everybody else did their part, probably killing more than me. I once or twice got saved by Midnight when a ghoul came too close for my liking. At least, I think it was her. Maybe those zombies’ heads just exploded on their own?

“Well, that was fun,” Hedwig commented after she killed the last zombie, that was crawling up to her, his hind legs blasted off, and trying to bite her. Turning to the two ponies that, I assumed, were from 303 Company like her, she asked: “Mind explaining why the fuck an army of zombies were chasing you? And where is everybody else? We were supposed to pick up twenty ponies in total.”

I flew up closer to them, curious as well. I wondered where exactly should I land; I mean, I’m pretty sure I was splashed in the liquids of the ghouls, but I didn’t need to get myself even dirtier by stepping on their corpses. Pondering that, and finally finding a good spot, I noticed Midnight approaching from the train, her sniper rifle exchanged for a magnum revolver, probably in case one of the zombies would turn out to be “alive”.

“When those technicians started repairing, they discovered that the problem with the energy leak was due to some wires further in one of the other tunnels being broken,” the buck explained, panting heavily after the near death experience. “At first we thought that it was caused by the earthquake three days ago, but once we got there, we saw that all cables were either torn off of bore bitemarks. So we thought instead it was because of rats or other critters, which probably got inside the tunnels because of that-”

“Earthquake, I know. But those weren’t rats.”

“Yeah, I noticed. We went hunting, because nopony fancied coming here again to fix those wires. After a few hours, we stumbled upon a pair of huge doors, with one of them leaning on the hinges. We went inside, and there was about thousands of those fucking zombies.”

“Probably workers that hid there during the Last Day,” Midnight spoke up. “They must have thought they would be safe there, but radiation leaked in.”

“And the tunnels safety protocols must have sealed them in,” Hedwig finished, nodding thoughtfully. “But this fucking earthquake must have damaged the doors… fuck. So where are the others?”

“I have no idea, we must have split when we run for our lives.”

“Fuck fuckity fuck,” the griffon summed up, facehoo-, um, faceclawing? Turning to the twin pegasi, she asked: “Tell me you didn’t waste your entire ammo?”

“You don’t seriously think about getting down there?” the one on the right asked.

“What the fuck else? Our job was to take them out of here. Do you want to explain to the boss why we left them?”

I tuned out the females arguing, and trotted closer to the tunnels entrance. There were ponies trapped inside… with an army of flesh eating zombies.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I heard Midnight say next to me, and causing me to jump in surprise. How the fuck did she sneak up on me?

I looked at her puzzled, as she pointed her hoof at me.

“I know this fucking look. You’re thinking about going there, because your soft life in the stable made you think living is all about helping others. Guess what, it isn’t.”

I noticed that our exchange gained attention from the others. It made me a bit self-conscious, but I didn’t care that much. And it actually helped me to decide. I was scared of going in there, but… now I didn’t want to look like a chicken.

“And that is what is wrong with your Wasteland,” I replied to Midnight, and then turned to the tunnel. I had an idea I wanted to try out.

I did mention that bat ponies could use echolocation, right? Wait, I didn’t? I’m… sure I mentioned at least about emitting sound at different frequencies at least… So anyway, we can use it as sonar of sorts, by listening to how the sound-wave bounces off from things. It didn’t just come back to me after reflecting from objects, but… circled around, hitting everything, and then bringing back all the information to me. I don’t know how that exactly worked, but I kinda just simplified it with "that’s bat ponies’ magic" to myself.

So anyway I… kinda shouted, in a very high voice, so high that it was unheard for a pony’s (or a griffon’s) ear, except for a bat pony.

“Damn, that’s a lot…” I murmured when an echo returned to me, creating a map in my brain of the tunnels in front of me, as well as detecting all the objects, highlighting for me which were alive and moving.

Of course, due to the nature of zombies, not everything that moved was alive.

“Okay, I got their locations. There are eight ponies left alive,” I said out loud, my voice a bit sore after modulating my throat, as I glanced curiously at my PipBuck.

Whoever designed the spell matrix of those things was either a genius, or an over perfectionist. Either way, the “map” I had created in my head for a few seconds was somehow copied into the device, and highlighted the ponies with small triangles.

“How in Luna’s moaning moonheat do you know that?” one of the twins asked me, everybody looking at me with surprise.

“Echolocation,” I replied with a shrug, ignoring how my neck bristled for hearing her speak of the Princess of the Night in that way. “So, you wanna go or what?”

“Told you he was half bloodwing,” the other twin said after a second, while Hedwig shook her head, deciding to deal with this later.

“Okay, since you’re offering to help… fair warning though, our boss won’t pay you.”

“Didn’t ask for a pay,” I replied and flew slowly forward, letting them to catch up quickly.

I was surprised when Midnight joined in on this adventure. I lowered myself to be next to her, ignoring the griffon and the pegasi twins. Everybody else returned to the train, the two 303 bucks too exhausted to be of help, and the guards weren’t under contract to save them.

“I didn’t think you would come after what you said,” I said quietly.

She shot me a glare. “I told Common I will look after you, because she took such liking into you for some reason. So I am stuck.”

“Um… sorry?” I offered, not sure what to say. And there was this fact that she was hot as the sun also crippling my speech capabilities.

“Sure you are,” she scoffed. “Going into dark tunnels full of zombies… that’s about the stupidest thing I heard off. Why stable ponies get themselves killed for others is beyond me. Luckily, their morals last about a month, so shortly you will stop acting as if this was still Equestria. This is the Wasteland, and if you want to survive out here, you’ll learn it quickly.”

I didn’t have an answer to that. Or rather, I had one, but not one I would dare to say to a pony that can blow a head of a zombie from a hundred yards.

If surviving meant stopping caring about others, then I don’t want to live here.

In contrast to what we all thought, things were going smoothly for us until we’ve reached the second to last survivor. There were pockets of those zombies here and there between our targets, but the bigger ones counted only twenty-thirty, which in comparison to the wave we’ve tackled first were easily dealt with. Especially since the twins (who, as I learned, were named Hawk Wing and Kestrel Wing, but even Hedwig, who has been assigned as the “squad’s leader” had no idea how to tell them apart) both still had plenty of ammo and all but mowed down everything that jumped at us. The rest of us practically had to fight only when the missing ponies were nearby, so that they wouldn’t get in a crossfire.

Wait; is this still a crossfire when only one side shoots?

We didn’t chat too much, other than saying our names. Oddly, being in a dark tunnel deep within mountains while being surrounded by an army of dead ponies wasn’t exactly a good spot to start socializing.

Anyway, as I was saying, things were going well for us, until we found a Capital Station technician in one of the side tunnels on the eastern part of this section. When he saw us, he began screaming and trying to run away, most likely thinking we were another zombies and ignoring our shouts for him to stop.

“What a fucking idiot…” Kira murmured as she flew after him.

I did so as well, as it was more likely I would find him in the darkness. The 303s had flashlights with them, and Midnight could illuminate the area with her magic. I had a flashlight as well, on my PipBuck, which I turned on for the benefit of my companions. But despite all this, if the buck would take a turn somewhere, only my better senses would pick him up.

I caught up easily with the griffin, and got a bit ahead of her. I nodded for her to follow me and took the tunnel on the left… and both of us froze. Throughout the entire chase the technician didn’t stop screaming, so we had no warning that the chase was over.

When he passed the corridor, we saw a giant herd of zombies gathered around something (which I assumed a few seconds ago was somepony), and the ones on the center were making munching noises. My jaw parted seeing this horrific sight, and when I took a look at Hedwig I saw her expression mirroring mine.

Our shock lasted only about five seconds, but it was enough for the zombies to notice us. They turned their heads slowly, attracted by the lights of our flashlights (why, why the fuck didn’t we turn them off?!) and growled quietly.

We didn’t need to say anything. We just decided to get the fuck out of there at the same time. While we were scared shitless (the group was bigger than the first one) as we had an advantage over them; we had wings. We could easily outrun them, screw the last buck, get back to Lady Fleur…

My eyes widened when I remembered that one of us didn’t have wings.

Cursing at myself and the Wasteland, I did the only sensible thing that I could… okay, not sensible, but…

I stopped and fell on the ground, turning to the approaching horde. I waited for them to get closer…. and shouted with all the strength I had in me.

The power of my sonic scream made them all stumbled back. It didn’t stun them, as they were dead, but I could at least bye Midnight a few more seconds to get away. It should be enough… maybe I could even last a minute?

Wait, why is everything shaking?

My eyes darted around to see that the tunnel was falling apart. My ears perked up as strange sound, like the rumbling of boiling water. My sonic scream must have damaged the structure of the tunnel, already breached by this earthquake.

I ceased the sonic scream, but it was already too late. The tunnel was collapsing. Pieces of metal began to fall as I once again darted into the air, hoping to get away before it was too late. A bigger chunk of the tunnels walls nearly made a pancake out of me, another hit me in the side. I bit back the cry of pain as I struggled on…

Rock and boulders started crashing down.

I gasped, terrified at the thought of being buried alive, but before I could even finish being scared, something heavy hit me in the back of my head. I fell down on the floor, lifeless.

Footnote: Level Up!

Skill note: Melee Weapons: 50/100

New perk added: Foal at Heart - you might look like a grumpy grown up, but you have the soul of a foal. You gain +10 to Speech and Barter when dealing with a child.

Chapter 4 - Through the Past's Darkness

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“Ah, don't worry, child! The scariest cave in Equestria was down that other way!”

Let me tell you something. Getting hit by a falling rock in the head and losing consciousness isn’t something fun, nor is it having a bunch of other rocks fall on the rest of your body, leaving your body bruised and several bones broken. And it’s definitely not fun to wake up and feel all that, in addition to having your throat so sore you could swear somepony shoved a piece of sandpaper down it.

But seeing that your only route of escape had been blocked by giant boulders? That’s a real party killer.

Not that I noticed it at first. As I slowly came around, my main concern was the already-mentioned pain. I felt a sharp sting across the lower part of my body and one of my wings. Oh, and my head, did I mention a rock hit me there?

“... Nightkin, come in…”

Hearing somebody saying my name in a monotone voice was the second thing my mind registered. As I was still confused, it didn’t strike me how weird it was, given my situation, so I simply replied… or rather, tried to. My throat was so sore that it what left my mind was a strange gurgle rather than words. However, it seemed satisfying for whoever was calling me.

“Nightkin! Is that you?!”

It suddenly occurred to me that I know that voice. And really, considering that its owner was the most beautiful mare that I ever saw, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it was the first truly clear thought that formed in my aching head. It was Midnight! I tried to say her name, but more splatter emerged from my throat.

“F-fuck!” I blinked in surprise. “It must be some ghoul…” I heard her murmur.

No, wait! It is me! I looked around; where was her voice coming from? My eyes darted around me, taking in everything - including the already mentioned boulders blocking my path, and whoa, did everything spin around - and finally stopped on my PipBuck. Confused, I glanced at the display:

>Connection with an external receiver: active

>Receiving and broadcasting transmission: active

>Connected receiver: PB045ID374

What in the- wait, attempting to convince the pretty pony that she’s not talking with a zombie that stands over my dead body first, figuring out what I just read later. And if somewhere in between those two I could get some painkillers; that would be nice.

I started gurgling into the PipBuck again, trying to get something resembling an equine speech through.

“This is just great,” I heard Midnight rant over her receiver. “The Stable-idiot gets himself killed, I’ll get yelled at by Common, and to top it all, now I have to listen to a zombie having an asthma attack.”

Calling me a Stable-idiot… well, at least now I was certain it was Midnight alright. I needed to get her to know it was me. Sadly, it would be difficult to do something stupid in front of her right now…

I reached out for my PipBuck with my other hoof and began tapping furiously. “Celestia deliver me from-” Midnight began to say, but she quickly trailed off when she realized that a feral ghoul wouldn’t be tapping anything, not to mention the one thing that let her hear it. “Nightkin? You’re alive?” I grudged in reply. Was it me, or did she sound relieved? “Oh, you… that griffon said you began screeching at them. I take it took some toll on your throat.”

And her voice quickly returned to the devoid of emotion voice of a mercenary that I loved so much. Would it hurt her to care for some more?

“Are you badly hurt?” she asked, reminding me that I still laid with half of my body buried under the rubble.

I moved my PipBuck closer and switched it to show me my condition. Unsurprisingly, the small pony on the display had his head, right wing, and both of his hind legs crippled, and the other parts of his body weren’t faring much better. I tapped my PipBuck again, this time to check the inventory; if my memory served me correctly - which was a valid concern, as I was sure at that point that I had a concussion - I had about six healing… potions… left...

My eyes grew wide. Why there was only one?! And, for that matter, what happened to most of my stuff?! I looked back to check on my saddlebag, wondering who the hell could steal from me here, of all places, when I saw what had become of my bags. One of the rocks must have fallen right on it, smashing everything in it to pieces or spreading it across the tunnels floor, letting them be lost under the debris...

Or, well, close to everything. I still had one healing potion left, my knife, a 10mm pistol with thirty two bullets for it, scoped rifle with nine bullets, bandages, one bottle of water, enough food to last a day… and Twilight Sparkle’s figurine. Ugh, I almost forgot I had that thing. And I still had my barding, although its condition had severely worsened. I’d have bet that it was in shreds, but I didn’t have much luck in gambling, so... Oh, and I still had my bottle caps, how about that? Now to find a store here…

It’s really amazing what blood loss can do to you; for example, it can make it unable for you to start panicking, and think rationally. That was why I took my last remaining potion and poured it down my throat. Immediately, I felt better. Not good, but better. My throat no longer ached so badly, and the world had stopped spinning. My breathing had also gotten better. Sadly, while my head got healed up to some degree, I still couldn’t move my legs and wing without a cascade of pain coming down on me.

“Yeah…” I managed to reply to the PipBuck. Speaking still was difficult. And painful, but what was life without pain? “And I’m out of healing potions.”

“Crap… Hold on there, I’ll try to see if I can download your PipBuck’s medical scan to mine…”

“Wait… you have a PipBuck?”

I was shocked. I hadn’t noticed one, but… that could explain how she was able to contact me. But this raised a lot more question; where did she get it? Was she from a Stable? Unlikely, I thought, given her opinion on the stable ponies.

“Well, you might have noticed the bulge on my left foreleg under barding if you weren’t staring at my flank all the time,” Midnight told me coldly.

I felt a sudden heat that had nothing to do with my current state.

“I wasn’t staring at your flank!”

“Yeah, right… Ah, here we go. Press ‘yes’.”

I looked at my PipBuck, still feeling warmth on my cheeks as I wondered how to convince Midnight that I wasn’t staring at her flanks… even if I did. There was a new message on the display:

>Requested access to the PipBuck data from an external receiver; standby

>Receiver: PB045ID374

>Allow the data transfer? Y/N

I pressed “Y” and watched as a bar appeared, showing me the data transfer’s progression.

“Huh, I didn’t even knew PipBuck could do things like this,” I commented. Clearly, Midnight knew more about it, which, since I considered it to be almost useless for all my life, wasn’t really that surprising. But something about what just happened caused me to feel like I missed som- Hey, wait a minute! “How come I didn’t need to press anything to let you contact me?”

“That’s because Common hacked into you PipBuck when you were asleep, entered mine’s serial number, and triggered it to allow me establish a connection any time I want. She didn’t mention that?”

“She mentioned only about removing my Stable’s location, but nothing else,” I replied, feeling a tad annoyed that my employer didn’t inform me. What else did Miss Common did to my PipBuck? “When we get back to Desert Station, remind me to-”

“Doing that is probably going save your life now,” Midnight interrupted me. “You are badly hurt, and your way out is cut off. I’m sending you the map of this maintenance station to you; there’s a medical office near your location. After you patch yourself, follow the mark on your PipBuck, it will lead you back to the Railcross.”

“... tell Miss Common that I love her,” I finished my earlier sentence, feeling really stupid for being angry at the generous ghoul.

“And that’s a thought I didn’t need in my head,” I winced at the barb; it would’ve been easier to take if she didn’t sound so serious. “Getting back to the subject, we might have a small problem,” Oh, for the… what else?! “There’s a huge part of the map missing; I had to hack the terminal to get this version of the map that shows that the tunnels were connected, but I cannot tell you how to get there.”

“I don’t get it,” I said, as I began pulling myself off the rubble. I winced as I tried to stand on my broken hind legs, my head spinning… or everything around it; why hadn’t I packed a Med-X? Then again, knowing my luck, it would end up smashed like most of my supplies… “Why are there blank spots on map?”

“It probably means that there is more to this place than just the railroad. There must be some secret pre-war station down there.”

“Pre-war?” I asked, reaching to what was left of my bags and pulling a bottle of water; I was thirsty. According to my PipBuck’s clock, I was out of it for about… an hour. Well, could be worse… “What could they have done here?”

“A lot of things,” she answered. “The Ministry of Wartime Technology could have tried to develop better means of underground transport or some new type of secret weapon; while the Ministry of Arcane Sciences could have tested here Goddess knows what kind of a spell. This could have been some military base, although most of those ended up being taken over by the Brotherhood of Jerks.”

If I wasn’t in such a bad situation, I might have chuckled at that. “Why such secrecy?”

“Gee, I don’t know, because of spies and traitors?” Midnight snorted, her comment showing me once again how dumb I was. “Heck, Common once told me that even the ministry mares didn’t know everything that was going on in their ministries. Apparently, the Prince Idiot had a few high ranking ponies in each loyal to him, and he preferred to keep some things secret from them.”

I frowned. Wasn’t that a good thing? The ministry mares were traitors… as well as the Supreme Commander… But why it suddenly made me feel like this was wrong? As if…

I shook my head (causing everything to spin once more). Getting out of here firs is more important. As I checked the map on my PipBuck, now reaching further than where I used my echolocation, I began taking shaky steps and half crawl to get myself to the medical. It was agonizing. To try and get my thoughts out of just how the hell my legs and head (and wing, but I wasn’t using it right now) were hurting, I tried to ask Midnight some more questions.

“So… have you ever been in once secret place like this?”

“Shouldn’t you-”

“Legs broken…” I rasped with an effort. “... hurts…”

“Well, It's your own damn fau- give me a minute,” she paused. I glanced at the PipBuck as it said that connection was lost. It was re-established shortly. “Zombies. Anyway, it’s your own fault for staying there and screaming at the horde, while another earthquake happened.”

“Well, excuse me for… wait, an earthquake?”

“You didn’t notice the ground was shaking?”

“I had rocks falling on my head,” I reminded her. Okay, it was one rock, but still…

“Whatever,” Couldn’t admit that for once she was stupid in this conversation? “Yes, there was an earthquake and boulders started crushing down, which was - according to that 303 merc at least - the reason why she didn’t try to drag you away. What in Celestia’s heavenly mane were you trying to do, exactly?”

“Buying time,” I said simply; according to the map she send me, medical was right around the corner.

“For what?”

“You wouldn’t have made it.”

The silence the fell was kinda cute, actually. I suppose it wasn’t an easy thing for a Wasteland badass such as her to say-

“You’re an idiot.”

Bitch. I bit my tongue before I said that out loud. I suppose I should be thankful that there was something to occupy my mind; I really didn’t want to slit something like this. Not only because the mere thought of Midnight could give me a wingboner (even with a broken wing, and that’s something), but also because she already warned me that she could kill me.

Around the corner, exactly next to the doors to the medical, there were two ghouls, snooping around. “Zombies,” I muttered quietly to PipBuck. “Right by the doors.”

“How come you didn’t notice them earlier?”

“Well, surprisingly, having a crippled head makes even a bat pony dull,” I replied, almost too loudly; one of the zombies perked the one ear he had left.

“E.F.S.?”

“I didn’t look at it!” I almost snapped. Shit, he was turning.

“What the- oh right,” she murmured. “Common said you had outdated spells in your PipBuck.”

My jaw dropped. How, by Celestia’s flaming tits, could you have anything outdated in a device which production cased two hundred years ago?!

“What?” I whispered, mindful of the situation.

“In short, the spell matrix in your PipBuck is one of the earliest versions… which is weird, since it’s an Epsilon model; they were practically a prototype made just a few weeks prior to the Last Day. I heard they’d made only a couple of them.”

“R-really?” I asked stupidly.

Of course, trust me to have one of the rarest things in the Wasteland and not know about it. Oh, and have an old spell matrix in it, because while I myself look badass on the outside...

“Yes, I suppose the one shipped to your Stable was blank at the time, and once the Last Day came and the stable closed, they just copied the spell matrix from an older model. Anyway, are you going to kill those zombies today?”

I suppressed a groan. I was in no shape for close combat… and I was an extremely lousy shot. Reluctantly, I took my .308 and aimed; or rather tried to. I sighted with annoyance as I tried to move my right wing, its injury completely forgotten. I moved the rifle to my left side instead, feeling more awkward than ever

“You know how to shoot, right?” Midnight’s jibbering voice from my PipBuck interrupted me.

“Yes!” I replied, stretching the claw from on my left wing.

“I’m asking because you used a knife while fighting that horde earlier.”

“I’m more comfortable with melee weapons,” I admitted.

“Okay, quick tutorial then. What weapon are you using?”

“A modified .308 scoped hunting rifle,” I said, only barely reluctantly. Given what I’ve seen so far, getting a shooting lesson from a professional badass didn’t happen every day.

“Huh, nice. But you don’t have a battle saddle. How do you hold it?”

“With my wings.”

“And you pull the trigger with that claw, huh? Convenient… are you right-sided or left-sided?”

“Right...” I murmured.

I heard her sigh. “Celestia have mercy on me… okay then, since your right wing is useless, you will have to take a better care in your aiming. Do you have any sidearm?”

“Yeah, a 10mm pistol.”

“Put it next to you, then; if they come too close, you will have to switch quickly. Take it in your mouth and pull the trigger with your tongue. Now, back to the rifle: hold it so the gun touches your cheek, and your eye is right next to the scope,” I tried to not roll my eyes; I knew the basics, Goddess damnit! “Stay focused, take your time, and make sure your aim is right.”

Okay, aiming… I targeted the ghoul that was closer to me, and aimed for his head.

“Once you’re sure, shoot. Exhale before you fire. Squeeze the trigger, don’t jerk it. And don’t enter S.A.T.S,” she warned. “You’re, what, ten meters away from them? The chance to hit will be too low, it’s better to save it for when they are closer.”

“Okay, got it,” I said. “Hold the gun, focus, aim, exhale, shoot. No S.A.T.S.”

“... Nightkin?”

Suddenly, I forgot about everything she told me, and that I was aiming a gun at two walking corpses. “Y-yeah?” I whispered, surprised at the tone in which she said my name. It was different from her professional, emotionless one. Even if just a little.

“You’re going to do this,” Midnight said, her voice strangely… almost warm. “So don’t worry, and pull the trigger.”

Sometime later it had crossed my mind that blowing off a head of an undead pony while smiling might be a sign that the Wasteland was getting to me. But fuck it, Midnight was being nice! And now there was a horrific sound echoing through the empty tunnel as the other zombie came charging at me…

… Oh shit.

When I had remembered that I was supposed to grab my pistol with my mouth to save time, I had already threw away the rifle and lifted the sidearm with wing. Of course, that meant the zombie was about to bite me. Praise the Goddesses for S.A.T.S! The sight of a stopped in time zombie so close to me was scary, but thanks to that the chance to hit was 95%, something that even I couldn’t screw up. I lined three shots at the head, and released S.A.T.S.

Of course, I screw it up. The first shot missed! How was that even possible?!

Well, since the other two turned the zombie’s head into some slime, I didn’t want to look it at too closely. I suppose I shouldn’t complain, but… eh, screw it, I will look for a bigger knife when I’ll have a free time.

“Are you done?” Midnight asked, once the zombie’s headless corpse collapsed on top of me, of course, because why not. I nodded, and then mentally slapped myself when I remembered that she was talking to me through my PipBuck.

“Yeah, they’re dead… er.”

I started walking towards the door the two ghouls were standing by; while Midnight began telling me to, well, do that. “Good, now go to the medical and patch yourself up…” she instructed me, then trailed off. “You know first aid, right?”

Since my medical knowledge consisted of: pour a healing potion, wrap a bandage, Med-x, Rad-X and RadAway, I replied with: “Well…”

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me…” Midnight groaned. I could almost hear her facehoofing. “You were sent by your Overmare to find a water talisman, and they didn’t give you any training?”

“They did…” I admitted. “A ten minute long…”

“Once this is over, I will fucking shoot Common in the knee…” I heard her barely; she must have thought she was out of device’s earshot. “Okay!” she said louder, pretending to not be pissed off, and actually succeeding; I wondered if this was a valuable skill for a mercenary. “Get in there, take everything that looks medical to you, tell me what you found, and I will tell you what to do. Alright?”

A sigh left my lips as I entered the medical. Did I have to be so useless? “Sorry,” I murmured as I took a look around. “I will start searching.”

I looked around - whoa, bad idea with a crippled head - to check the room. The medical for the ponies that worked here two hundred years ago was in ruin. Surprise surprise. I briefly wondered how it must have looked back then, with ponies staying here, coming to the doctor - who was probably that skeleton behind the desk - to treat injuries. Given how far away a real hospital was, it didn’t come as a surprise that there was an operating table further back. There were various chemicals on the shelves, and a lot of broken glass; which, I suppose explained the odd smell. And then there was a dead ghoul by the entrance…

… wait…

“Err… there a corpse here…” I said to my PipBuck. “Fresh,” I added. Well, kinda…

“Really?” she seemed surprised. “Guess that last worker might be still kicking.”

It took me a while to realise what she was talking about. Considering everything that happened, it really shouldn’t be a surprise it had slipped my mind that there was still one pony unaccounted for. According to my echolocation, when I used it, he was… somewhere here by then.

“I will be on a lookout for him… or her,” I said as I looked at all the shelves, drawers and medical supply box; I cursed as the last one was closed, but with my trusty lockpick, it was a small problem. “Anything I should know about him or-?”

“Him,” she corrected me. “And you will recognize him without a problem, as he will be the only thing with skin down there.”

I rolled my eyes. Midnight had a strange gift to say the things that were obvious even to me, and make me feel really stupid.

“He’s a merc, like me, or a ‘civilian contractor’ as he prefers it,” Midnight continued with a snide. “Met him a few times; good with tech, which is why Capital Station hired him to come here. His name is Scrap Tech.”

I nodded absentmindedly, looking at an IV stand; did it count as a medical item?

“That griffin told me it was him before they all left.”

I stopped my search to wince a little. I hadn't thought about what happened to the rest before now. Looking back at everything I heard about 303 Company, I should have guessed they would do that. They were paid to get those ponies out, and they did. Most of them, at least.

“They left… with the train, huh?” I asked, hoping that Midnight would take the disappointment in my voice to be caused by that. “How are we going to leave?”

“There’s a trolley here. So, you have everything yet?”

“Almost, picking up the last lock,” I replied, and soon the cabinet laid open.. “Okay, I got everything!” I said as I tried to sound cheerful.

I took the cabinet’s contents and put them on a table, next to everything else I found so far. As per Midnight’s instruction, I began telling her what I found. There are eight healing potions, six Med-Xs, a bottle of Rad-x and one RadAway, some medical braces, bandages, and some strange chems: a thing called Hydra (in a broken bottle, so most of it had spilled),, two things called Bucks, and a thing called Dash. I expected this guessed that this Scrap Tech took out most of those, given that I found most of it in the closed cabinets, drawers and kits.

“Okay, perfect,” Midnight said, once I told her about everything I found. “You can drink the Hydra, it restores crippled bones. Sadly, it will probably only heal your head mostly, given how badly you got hit there and there isn’t much of it left. Pour one healing potion on bandages for each hind leg and you wing. Tie up your wing to your body tightly, so it won’t move. Put the braces on your legs, and then use a med-x. Three should be enough to keep you going.”

I followed her instructions as best I could. The Hydra tasted awfully; I made a mental note to ask somepony later how it was made. It did work, however; a strange, somewhat painful feeling went over my body, concentrated especially on head, and when it passed I found that I no longer had those dizzy spells. Putting on the bandages required me taking off my barding, which let me see just how badly damaged it was. Most of the protective plates on it were gone, and there were scratches all along it. I imagined that if it weren't for the Stable’s security barding, I might have not made it.

Once I was all wrapped up - and still shaking from the agony of touching my broken parts - and strapped the braces to my hind legs, I took the Med-X… and just like that, all the pain went away! I was in euphoria; I jumped a few times, the rattling of the braces echoing through the tunnels.

“Oh Goddesses, please tell me he’s not getting high on this…” Midnight muttered over my PipBuck, and just like that I stopped. “Are you done?”

“Yes…” I replied morosely, my happy moment ruined.

“Good. I will start making my way to you from this end, so I’ll break the contact for now. Don’t call me unless you will have a real problem, okay?”

The thought of going through those tunnels utterly alone, without being able to talk to her, wasn’t really on the top of my happy thoughts. But given how much she helped me, I shouldn’t demanded for her to hold by my hoof all the time.

“Yeah sure,” I replied, then. “Oh, and Midnight?”

“Yes?” she asked, and the tone of her voice told me she wanted to add ‘what else?’ there.

“... I wasn’t staring at you flank,” The snort was evident over the connection. “No, really! I was… checking out your cutie mark!”

“And what is it?”

I opened my mouth… and closed it again. What was her cutie mark?! I must have seen it, I’ve been staring at her rump in the tunnels whenever she wasn’t looking and we weren’t fighting for our lives, for Goddesses sake!

“Err…” I mumbled, trying to buy myself some time.

The HUD on the PipBuck said:

> Connection terminated

Did I mention what I love to be? A bat bony. I mean it. Not only because I could see in the darkness, but, even with two legs and one wing broken, I am still more agile than the average non-bat pony. Thanks to that, and the help of the braces and Med-X, I could easily avoid all the ghouls I came about…

By climbing up the ceiling of the tunnel. I was totally ninja!

Did I also mention I read comics books as a colt?

Granted, I still needed to help myself with my good wing to not fall, and it was difficult, but it was a better option than killing all the zombies. Them being dangerous and having a nasty bite (good thing I have a lot of healing potions now) aside, after the first few corridors, I almost ran out of bullets.

The first zombie that I encountered was by himself, at least I thought so. Without putting much thought into it, I took aim and fired… and missed. So I had to shoot it again, but then I realized a certain modification that my .308 was missing and which would be very useful; it didn’t have a silencer. Three next ghouls came running from behind a corridor by the time I had dealt with the first. I managed to kill them all - in the end - but I wasted a lot of bullets.

I sighed (and wondered if I could convince Guntrotter to tinker with this weapon a little bit more) as I took down the last one; blowing up ponies’ heads like this, I… I was beginning to see this as… fun, and it scared me. Those were once ponies, but even if they looked like they were, they aren't now. There were a lot of ghouls that were sane, Miss Common being a prime example of that. I suppose that, in a way, this could be seen as putting down a rabid animal, so I shouldn’t feel guilty, but… screw it, I cried watching the “Old Yeller”.

Well… at least I honed my shooting skills to some degree while doing so. I no longer felt awkward using my left wing to shoot, and my aim got better.

I still wanted a bigger knife, though.

Anyway, sometime after that, I stumbled upon a pile of rocks, probably formed during this earthquake or that previous one the 303s had mentioned. It was high enough for me to climb up all the way to the ceiling, which let me to sneak my way out. I must admit, it was quite fun to pass over several ghouls like this. If I had much ammo left, I might have considered killing them, to grant them peace, but I had to pace myself. I still had to kill those that, for one reason or another, happened to look up, or were just standing in a way that made it impossible for me to sneak past them.

One such zombie stood in a doorway that matched the slim description Hedwig received from her college; a pair of huge doors, with one leaning on hinges. I had to get down to pass there, so I took out the zombie - with my last 10mm bullet, by the way, so I was more or less fucked - and dropped from the ceiling, hoping that that was the last zombie that the team had left out.

By that I mean that they had released every zombie that was inside, and that there was nopony on the other side of the door, which, by the way, led to the part of the tunnel that was missing from the maps. But I had two bigger problems at the moment to ponder about than my imminent doom.

The first one was beginning to be apparent to me for a few minutes now. Namely, the Med-X started to wear off. Of course, I just jammed another into my hip, but I had some issues against this action in my head. I worried about how much longer I would have to trot around in those tunnels and that I could use up all my supply of Med-X before I would get out. What if I ended up facing another horde of zombies and couldn’t run due to pain? Plus, there was another risk. I vaguely remembered the doctor from Stable Thirty-Nine warning me about getting addicted to chems if I used any of them too often. Of course, my memory was sketchy as to what exactly would that do to me, but the word “addicted” was self-explanatory enough even for me.

I glanced at my PipBuck as I heard a sound emitted from it. Sadly, it wasn’t the voice of Midnight that I missed so much that spoke from the device on my hoof. Instead, it was an ominous clicking signaling radiation.

Given what Midnight said my PipBuck being an outdated version, I guessed I was lucky that I still had this function in it. The display informed me that the level of radiation was nowhere close to being lethal, but I still didn’t want to take my chances with that. I quickly took the Rad-X and munched down a pill before I stepped through the doors.

My ears were perked and I constantly checked my PipBuck to see if anything showed on my E.F.S. if something had slipped my attention - and wondering how exactly the newer version of the spell was supposed to work - as I walked quietly, step by step, being extra careful with my hind legs. The tunnel was in a slightly better state than the ones I passed earlier, minus the radiation, and there wasn’t as much rubble hindering my pace… but there were a lot of corpses.

I passed the skeleton of a pony, wondering how come the radiation didn’t turn him into a ghoul, and then glanced at the nearby pile of dead ghouls, most of them missing several limbs. I wasn’t a doctor, so it was difficult to say, but it looked as if they died from explosions.

“So this Scrap Tech likes when things go boom, huh?” I said outloud, turning back to see what was in front of me. “I best be careful if I stumble upon him, wouldn’t want to blow up.”

I stopped as I just finished saying that, my hoof just above a tripwire. Looking up, I trailed the wire all the way to the three grenades hanging from the ceiling. Gulping as the realization of what I had barely avoided came crushing down, I jumped over the wire, and now paid a better attention of where I stepped.

Passing more corpses and the new additions - mines and traps, but also security turrets that were hung from the ceiling (thankfully, without power they couldn’t do anything) - I decided to take a short break. All the way here I followed the main tunnel, and didn’t explore the smaller ones, but now I just passed a sign saying that this way was the toilet.

Inside of it was a med kit, containing another healing potion and Med-X, but there were more important things to focus on than that. The first was an honest-to-Goddesses toilet, which was something that was sorely missing in the Desert Station. I trotted to it happily, did my business, and flushed, like a good colt. Sadly, being a good colt meant that I had to wash my hooves, and the water in the tap was obviously radiated, but given that here everywhere was a radiation field… eh.

And there was this strange corpse by the wall.

It wasn’t as much as a corpse as a skeleton, which in itself wasn’t weird - except for two additional limbs sprouting from its back, marking it as a pegasus - but what took me back was the armor on it. It was a black combat armor. I tapped one of the ceramic plates on the chestpiece, checking if it was still durable, and looking for any military markings. There were none… but there was a holotape between the bony legs of the skeleton, right next to the strangest gun I ever saw.

It seemed like a sawed-off shotgun, except with a few ornaments at the handle and an expanding barrel at the end. Of course, such oddly modified weapons weren’t odd in the Wasteland, given what Miss Common told me. But what I found odd was that inside of the barrel was a metallic cylinder, making the weapon useless, or at least I thought so, until I noticed the ammo for it. The drum just fell out as I touched it, and after a moment I realised it wasn’t a drum at all, but a magic gem.

This wasn’t any kind of a small weapon, but a magical energy weapon!

Who modifies a magical energy weapon to look like that? It had to be custom made… The mysterious pony had a bunch of ammo on him, though, as well as what I was praying for a while now: a bigger knife! I took both the gun and the combat knife, then for the saddlebags; a few more medical supplies aside, there was also a strange looking apple… which was made of metal. Grenade, then, not good for eating, but good for blowing shit up! Except… why it had a blue band?

I shook my head; Miss Common mentioned about something like that, but… I couldn’t remember. I would just have to ask Midnight later.

That left only a holotape… and the armor. Since my own barding was so trashed, I should probably take it, but… I would have to remove it from those bones…

Gulping, I prayed quickly to the Goddesses for forgiveness for desecrating this pony’s remains, and began to gently take off the barding… until the skeleton broke and the bones just scattered from it. I looked at it blankly, feeling sick.

“I’m sorry…” I murmured. A hoof traveled to my eye to wipe out a tear. I kept telling myself that it was just a skeleton, that this pony was long dead, that I didn’t know him… hell, I didn’t even knew if he was “he”, but still I cried a bit there. “I’m sorry, I can’t bury you…”

I was useless; I couldn’t even do something as easy as burying some skeleton. I was willing to bet Miss Common would be able to do something… but I had no idea what I could do. The only thing that came to my mind was, well, flashing them down, but that was completely and utterly out of question.

Sighing, I pulled off the armor, set it aside, and began placing the bones into a pile, putting the skull at the top. “I’m sorry… I… maybe someday I will get back here…”

Would I? That seemed like overkill (har, har) even to me, and I was certain Midnight would invent a whole new word to describe how much of an idiot I was being by just thinking about doing that.

Once I made the burial pyre, I took off my barding, and replaced it with the combat armor. It was slightly heavier, so with those hind legs of mine, it’s going to take awhile longer to get used to it. Of course, I wasn’t going to leave my Stable’s security barding here, I folded it neatly and placed it in my saddlebag. Once I did, and felt ready to tackle the rest of this tunnel (hopefully not literally, as I was still crippled from the last “tackle”), with a last glance at the remains of the pony I took the holotape and exited the toilet. I spared only a moment to connect the holotape to my PipBuck and put an earpiece on my ear before I set out again.

A raspy voice came from the device. “So… the world had come to an end, apparently,” he (I was sure of it) had said. I was struck by the melancholy in his voice. Then again, if everything I ever knew had burned around me… “Fucking… eh, who’s to blame? Our enemies bombed us, we bombed them first, Ministry Mare Twilight Sparkle blew up Canterlot… and they said over the radio that she killed the Princesses all those years ago… A buck has no idea what to believe in, but nopony cares, because everypony’s dead. Or soon will be.”

A horrible harking noised interrupted the pony, and I realized that it was him coughing.

“Blood…” he murmured, then sighed. “Fucking megaspell… must have caused a break in the shielding for the radiation to leak in the last time we tasted it… Bunch of mother- Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, didn’t? I’m not with them… I’m actually an operative send here to spy on what Arcane Science’s fifth top unicorn and Vice Ministry Pony of Wartime Technology were actually doing here… without their superiors knowledge.”

Midnight’s words came back to me, about the Ministry Mares not knowing everything about what was going on in their ministries. Apparently, somebody knew…

“I found out they were performing a secret project here on behalf of the Prince… a megaspell that could be launched by a machine instead of by a group of unicorns… but I suppose that doesn’t matter. I’m sorry, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash… maybe if I could contact you earlier there would still be time…” another coughing break. “Sorry, Auntie, you did so much for me… even gave me this super-duper gun for my birthday, heh... hope you are still out there...maybe you will be able to do something with this mess. I don’t believe you did it, you were the best damned ponies out there… damn… in too much pain from radiation. I’m taking my pills now, we are all going to die here, and I want to still look good…” the buck actually laughed. “Well, here it goes. This is Operative Magic Gun, signing off for the last time.”

I stood there, staring at my PipBuck. This… Magic Gun - I really hoped it was his codename or something, and that there weren’t parents two hundred years ago naming their kids like that - said that he didn’t believe that the Ministry Mares were responsible for the death of the Princesses… and that one, Pinkie Pie, and the Supreme Commander Rainbow Dash had actually sent him here to spy on some sort of secret project that ponies working for the Prince were conducting here… Was he right? Or…

I shook my head. Too much had happened on the Last Day two hundred years ago for me to try and figure this out. But I promised myself, feeling the weight of the Twilight figurine in my saddlebag, which I would never bristle in anger at the thought of the Ministry Mares.

As I jumped over another tripwire, I wondered why Pinkie Pie was involved with this buck’s mission. I was pretty sure that her ministry had dealt with keeping morale among the citizens of Equestria, but... Maybe sleeping on most of my classes in school hasn’t been smart.

“So…” I whispered quietly, glancing at the gun I took from the operative I had in the combat armor’s sling. “Magic Gun, huh?”

Guess who’s got a name for his gun?

Shortly after I had to take Med-X again - don’t give me dirty looks, broken limbs hurt like hell - I noticed a light at the end of the tunnel. No, this isn’t my creative way of saying that I was dying. There was literally a light coming from behind half-closed doors at the end of the tunnel.

I crept closer to it and took a peek. I could hear somepony inside, and for once my E.F.S. marked him as friendly - which led me to believe that this was this Scrap Tech - but it didn’t hurt to be too careful.

Inside was a big room with a lot of computers at the end of it. The light was coming from them. Puzzled, I took a step closer, my eyes stopping briefly on the buck that was taping on the keyboard to see what was on the screens. Was it… security footage from the cameras?

No. If there were any, I would have noticed them in the tunnel behind me. Besides, I could see what one them had, not in a great detail, but the sunlight was a pretty obvious clue that they showed an Outside.

Confused, I took another step… and immediately backed away as something small, metallic and highly explosive started beeping.

At the same time, another sound caught my attention. The pony sitting beside the terminals turned around very swiftly to look at me, a gun - a grenade launcher - in his hooves.

“Don’t shoot!” I screamed, terrified, with my legs like that, the mine, and his gun; if he shot….

Thankfully, he lowered the grenade launcher a bit, enough for me to relax. I guess he figured that a zombie wouldn’t be asking to not shoot… wait, why did his frown turn into an alarm?

… beep beep…

Oh, sun of a- I jumped, trying to fly, forgetting that one of my wings was tied to my body.

BEEP!

“I suppose apologies are in order…” the buck said uncomfortably as he patched up my leg and chest.

“You think?!” I snapped at him. It’s been a long and tiresome day, snapping was also in order.

The brown earth pony rolled his eyes. “Hey, give me a break, how was I supposed to know there would be somepony trotting around other than all those ghouls?” he asked, putting back the unused bandages into his saddlebag that were strapped to his reinforced utility armor. “You’d have to be an idiot to come all this way… um, sorry.”

Now I rolled my eyes. Yep, that’s me, the idiot. I had another limb broken, and there was shrapnel both in it and my chest. I was within a Celestia-forgotten top-secret station inside a mountain, with hordes of feral ghouls everywhere around. All because of my idiocy.

“So, what are you doing here, exactly?” he asked, and then tilted his head. “And, if you don’t mind, what are you, exactly?”

I sighed. Would this ever end?

“I’m a bat pony. Name’s Nightkin. And as for what I am doing here, I was helping out some 303s with rescuing the group of workers and mercs that came down here. You are the last one. Scrap Tech, I presume?”

“Yep, that’s me,” the buck said, extending his hoof. I had to give him my left to shake.

“What are you doing all the way here?” I asked. “Everypony else was found far away from here.”

“Eh, I got separated from the rest, and went here after all the zombies had cleared out,” he said, returning to the terminals. I trotted carefully after him, thanking the Goddesses that the Med-X was still working its magic. I took the opportunity to check what his cutie mark looked like: it was a terminal, with the screen (yellowy golden like his eyes) depicted an explosion. Huh. “Seeing what I found, I’ll say it was worth it. I broke into the record after I managed to restore emergency power. Would you believe-”

“That this was a secret research station?” Seeing his surprised gaze, I grinned. “I found a holotape on my way here. Some operative send here by Ministry Mare Pinkie Pie and the Supreme Commander Rainbow Dash was here to spy on them.”

“Huh, that explains some things…” Scrap Tech murmured, turning back to screens. “They were testing here a new kind of megaspell here, you know. You’ll never guess what it was supposed to do. Create earthquakes; the same one that happened a few days ago? It was caused by this machine. Some ghoul must have activated it somehow.”

A megaspell that creates earthquakes… and they tested it inside of a mountain?! Magic Gun’s words echoed in my head:”must have caused a break in the shielding for the radiation to leak in the last time we tasted it…” Suddenly, I no longer felt bad for all those “poor ponies” that got turned into ghouls here. They had it coming, and the only pony worth pity was the buck that took the suicide pills before radiation could claim him.

“Hey, wait a moment…” I said, becoming aware of something. “What caused the earthquake a few hours ago?”

“Huh? Oh, that was me, when I restored the power. Why? It was a small one.”

I glared at the buck. “Big enough to cripple me, nearly kill, and cut off a safe escape route.”

“Err… sorry?” he tried. I cursed and whipped out Magic Gun. “Hey now, calm down! I will pay for your healing once we get back to Capital Station, I have enough Med-X and healing potions to keep you going, I swear!”

It just hit me that he was actually afraid. He, the experienced merc, was scared of me, a Stable pony… I looked at the gun that I held in my wing. What was wrong with me? This buck didn’t mean to do all that, and even helped me when his mine nearly killed me. And I was now pointing my gun at him? Was the Wasteland already getting into me?

“Sorry…” I said, lowering the Magic Gun. “It’s been a tiresome day.”

“Yeah, I got that,” he chuckled nervously. “Anyway, give me a moment to finish looking at this data, and we can go back to the tunnels.”

I looked at the terminal he was working on, but the stream of data quickly made me lose my interest. So instead, I looked at the screens.

“What are those?”

“Hmm? Oh, the screens… they are showing the footage from cameras inside the sprite-bots within a certain radius.” Seeing my blank expression, he added: “The flying round robots of Ministry of Morale? They served as portable cameras across all of Equestria during the war, spreading uplifting music throughout the land. I guess you must have never seen one, as there aren’t many left in Palamino… Anyway, this station here was also supposed to hack into the sprite-bots, the same way DJ Pon3 does to gather her news… I think.”

So that’s how she knew about me… wait, if they were supposed to spread some music around, wouldn’t I have noticed it?

“I wonder why… wait a minute, what is that?” Scrap Tech suddenly paused as he looked more closely at one of the screens. It showed a small hill, with a huge crack at the side of it. I wasn’t a geologist, but the ground within in seemed fresh. Was it caused by the earthq-

I blinked. From within the crack something just sparkled!

Scrap Tech began tapping at the terminal, and the screen moved faster towards the crack. I figured he must have taken manual control of one of those sprite-bots. The robot flew to the crack, showing us both what was inside. The sparkles were caused by the destroyed electronic wires that were sticking out from a broken wall…

I knew what this could mean. The sprite-bot began the footage of the corridor inside even before I said it.

“It’s a Stable…”

“Yep!” Scrap Tech confirmed. “Guessing by the coordinates it’s just a few hours trot from Capital Station! So, my friend,” he said, grabbing me with his foreleg unexpectedly and hugging. I winced and tried to pull away as much as I could with most of my limbs crippled as he continued, “how about, in return from nearly killing you twice today, you and I will go on a little trip, filled with pre-war tech to loot?”

I opened my mouth to politely decline, to say that I needed to go to Ponyville, but then I closed it. It was a Stable. They were bound to have a water talisman in there!

“You’ve got yourself a deal… my friend,” I replied with a smirk, then grunted in pain as he squeezed me tighter. Why was this buck so friendly? “But I fear that if we won’t get me to a doctor anytime soon you might need to hoof there yourself.”

That finally got Scrap Tech to give me my personal space back. “Yeah, yeah, got it. Give me just one sec…”

As he returned to his terminal, I sighed with relief, and glanced at another one. It showed some useless information about the scan of the megaspell… that its power was staying at 20%. Not interested, I clicked at a button to return to the main screen, wondering if there were any games on it. I only paused to see how red my bandages on the chest and foreleg were. The buck warned me that with the shrapnel in them healing potion would only stop the bleeding for a while, so I would need to take another one at some point.

>Experiment status

>Reports

>Personel

>RC000

I tilted my head in confusion. What was RC000? I turned to ask Scrap Tech, but he wasn’t sitting next to me. He was a few meters away, pulling something from another machine that was in the corner. Not really sure if I wanted to know, I turned back to the terminal and pressed on it.

>Connection with @#$#@#$$^$^#; confirmed

This station is now under the direct control of the Equestria’s Prince.

>Open communication line? Y/N

What. The. Fuck.

I stared at the words Equestria’s Prince. How was this possible? The Prince has been dead for two hundred years, wasn’t he? He didn’t have any sons… well, he had one, a bastard, but he died shortly after the war had started. Although, after the bombs had dropped, the Prince was supposed to be in a secured location; so maybe…

No, this couldn’t be right. RC000… this had to be some sort of code, like PB045ID374… kinda. RC… yeah, it could be a shortcut for “Royal Command”. This was probably some Wastelander that managed to break into some other research facility… but why did they connect to this place?

I was about to get my answer. I pressed “Y” and waited for whoever it was to pick up the phone.

>Connecting…

>Communication denied

“Oh, what an asshole…” I exclaimed.

>Selfdestruct sequence initiated

“What?!”

My screech gained the attention of Scrap Tech, who quickly huddle closer to me as I pressed every button I could see, trying to stop whatever the hell was happening.

>Warning! You have three minutes to leave the facility

>Connection with @#$#@#$$^$^#; terminated

“The fuck did you do?!” Scrap Tech exclaimed as he tried to abort the self-destruct sequence.

“It wasn’t me, I swear! It was this RC-something…” he glanced at me briefly, clearly having no idea what I was talking about. Hasn’t he seen it? “Can you stop it?”

“Um… nope!” he said, bucking the terminal. “C’mon, we need to get out of here, fast! This way!”

I nodded and hurled after him for the doors on the opposite side of the control room, but the pain in my body had awakened at the sudden movement. Cursing, I took out another Med-X. Using another one so soon wasn’t something that a doctor would prescribe, but I couldn't give a damn about that right now. With the pain gone, I raced after Scrap Tech, gulping down a healing potion as we galloped.

That wasn’t the only thing that I had to do. I quickly tapped on my PipBuck to contact Midnight. I cursed as the stupid thing displayed the word ‘connecting’ for a good few precious seconds, but, thankfully, she quickly accepted; I kinda feared she would think this is something unimportant.

“Yeah, what is it-”

“Midnight!” I interrupted her. Scrap Tech looked behind at me curiously, but I didn’t have the time to ask him why. “This place is about to explode!”

“The fuck?! What the hell did you do?!”

“Nothing!” I replied, trying to not to pay attention to the look Scrap Tech gave him just now. “Where are you?”

“According to you PipBuck’s tag, you are coming my way. I’m about one hundred meters ahead in a straight line, just run through the main corridor. I will go back and prep the trolley!”

“Okay!” I shouted to my leg and speeded up. O hundred meters… with three legs crippled… and every deep breath making me bleed…

“Was that Midnight?” Scrap Tech asked as I leveled with him. “The ‘Death Bringer of Wasteland’?”

Wincing, I nodded. I guessed such title fitted a pony with her sniping skills.

We stayed quiet for the remaining run, only occasionally pausing to shoot at ghouls. Most of them were blasted off by the earth pony’s grenade launched, but I managed to get a few with Magic Gun. It shoots green magic blast that hit the ghouls pretty hard, and a few even got turned into a green liquid. I would have vomited, but I was in a rush. It felt strange to fire a weapon without any recoil… then again, thanks to that I didn’t have to worry about the itching in my wing whenever I shoot.

I was afraid that the turrets would come online, but when I voiced my concern to Scrap Tech about that, he assured me that when working on just emergency power they wouldn’t budge. Considering that the one who said it was the same one that got me so trashed back there, I glared at every machine we passed, just waiting for them to give me any reason to shoot them.

I won't pretend that I know how in the hell did I managed to keep up with Scrap Tech almost all the way. When we finally reached the Railcross, I passed out… or just collapsed and fell asleep. I could feel moist; I guessed this meant that my bandages were soaked in blood. I managed to briefly catch that something was pressed against my lips before the darkness claimed me...

The sound of explosion woke me up. I jumped, half-prepared to run and other half for the sensation of the explosion ripping me apart.

“Just how much Med-X have you stuffed him with?”

I whirled around at the sound of that stern voice. Midnight! She was there, pulling down the lever of the trolley, while on the other end Scrap Tech had pulled up his. I would have jumped to her and hugged her, but I already had three legs busted, I didn’t want to risk the last one.

I slumped down, watching as my two companions horse-powered the trolley to move through the tunnel. I had a lot of questions; when would the Med-X wear off again? Was the explosion limited to the research facility, or did we damage a part of the rail line? Who the hell activated the self-destruct sequence? Was everyday in the Wasteland so eventful?

But I was perfectly fine being resigned to just looking at the most beautiful mare…

“How many times will I have to say-”

Anticipating it, I quickly cut her off.

“Nice cutie mark.”

Her scorching gaze softened. The cutie mark that adored her so hot flank was a half closed eye, with a blue bullseye instead of a pupil.

“Thanks,” she said, smiling briefly. “But do take your eyes off my flank, would you please?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know…” I sighed. Since I didn’t trust myself, instead of looking at something else I just closed my eyes. “Aren’t you going to say the same to Scrap Tech?”

For some reason, my question caused the buck behind me to snort with laughter. I glanced at Midnight, wondering if she could explain it. The mare looked back at me with a smirk.

“Considering he’s gay, you’re the one who should worry.”Footnote: Level Up!

Skill note: Stealth: 50/100

New perk added: Saboteur (Rank 1) - +5 [Sneak, Explosives]. Mastery: 5 extra points in each of these skills.

Quest perk added: Ghoul Ecology - Your trip through the tunnels of Folly Mountains let you learn how to deal with ghouls quickly. You gain an additional 5% critical hit chance whenever fighting one. You wonder if your knowledge about ghouls’ sensitive spots could come in handy in some other way...

Chapter 5 - Dilemma in Capital Station

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"I've learned that sometimes the way we expect things to go isn't always the way they'll end up going."

How do you know whether what you’re doing is right or wrong?

At first, it seemed simple. Lethal beasts eat ponies. Bad. Raiders murder, rape and maim, in whichever order they please. Bad. Feral ghouls attack on sight. Bad. Slavers capture others and make them serve, not leaving them any chance to say “no”. Bad.

But... what about other ponies? Other people? Those other Wastelanders that are just trying to live through day?

Again, it seems simple, right? Doctor heals you. Good. A mercenary you hired to protect you does so. Good. A diner’s owner makes you something to eat. Good.

Unfortunately, black and white aren’t the only colors in the world. If they were, we all could have avoided a lot of moral headaches.

“So, a water talisman, huh?” Scrap Tech huffed, as he hoof-powered the trolley along with Midnight. I had just finished telling him (in the breaks between coughing attacks, often with blood spattered across my hoof) why I had left the safe and cozy stable to roam the Wastelands. “Sure, unless there has been a some sort of contamination within this stable, there should still be a functional one inside… provided we get there soon. If the Brotherhood of Steel finds out about this stable…”

A snarl escaped from the other end of the lever. “You say it as if they hold monopoly on the old technology.”

“Well, they have the guns to support this stupid belief of theirs, don’t they?”

“Anyway, let’s not forget that there are plenty of other scavengers out there that would love the chance to get their hooves on the stable’s tech. Which means,” Midnight added, glancing at me. “that if you really want to go there, you will keep your trap shut in the Capital Station, got it? We don’t need to stand in line to this crack you two saw.”

The roll of my eyes had probably betrayed my thoughts on that matter, judging by the deepened frown, so I quickly pretended to be in a coughing fit. I already felt bad about a mare working while I was lying on the side of my back (left one, where the good wing was), I didn’t want to worry about what Midnight could do to me if I got on her nerves.

The funny thing about that thought was that I actually felt bad, physically. Apparently, I took too many Med-X in too short time to risk taking another one. Midnight yanked the one I was about to jam into my flank from my mouth, telling me to buck up and ignore the pain. I would have made a mental note to do the same for her if she had her legs crippled in the future, but, let’s be honest, a) that wouldn’t happen, b) I had a crush on her c) she could kill me.

“Yeah, yeah, I won’t tell a soul, got it,” I told her to calm her down. I decided to change the subject. “So, you two know each other?”

“Most good mercs outside of 303 do.”

“‘Civilian contractors’,” Scrap corrected her.

“Only you call yourself that,” Midnight replied before turning back to me. “DJ Pon3 plays ‘public service announcements’ on her broadcast from time to time, and among some other things she gives a list of known mercenaries that won’t betray their client. Both of us are there. But I assume you were curious how we met?” I nodded. “We and few others were hired a while back by this old buck called Allstar from Manehatten. He sent us to an old military research facility...”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Scrap interrupted her. “Place was a nightmare; full of zombies and security robots-”

“Which you were supposed to turn off.”

“I did! I have no idea how they turned back on!”

“If you weren’t rutting with Stray instead of doing your job-”

Suddenly, I got the feeling that this fight was in a long time coming. Or maybe was being replayed. Either was, as they began arguing, I tuned them out. I was curious about my companions’ past, but I was in too much pain to catch anything through Midnight accusations and Scrap defending himself. At least the trolley didn’t seem to slow down; I was happy with that.

Sighing, I started playing with my PipBuck, needing something to occupy my mind. I wasn’t certain if I could catch DJ Pon3 here, but I was pleasantly surprised when I heard the mare’s voice. Guess we were close to the end of the tunnel.

… And with that shaking piece of news, well, we end the news. Tune in later for an update; maybe somebody will finally get a seismometer by those mountains?

The remark caused both Midnight and Scrap to case their argument and look at my PipBuck with irritation, then at me. I raised an eyebrow; I suspected that like me they’ve figured that the DJ was talking about the latest earthquake, but why were there staring at me like that?

“And to think that you destroyed that entire facility…” Midnight muttered.

“I didn’t!” I quickly snapped; I was getting tired of being accused of this. “I told you, something had connected with that place using an old military code or something, and when I attempted to communicate, it caused the selfdestruct sequence!”

“Mhm. Then how come Scrap Tech here says he didn’t notice anything?”

Okay, there should be a limit as to how wide one can open his eyes, right? Because I’m pretty sure at that moment my were going to pop out.

“You… you were just accusing him of being bad in this!” I pointed at her with my last good leg, barely hearing what the DJ was saying:

Now, here’s Sweetie Belle, remind us that, despite everything, you can always begin again:

Begin again in the night

Let's sway again tonight…

“No, I accused him of bucking on the job,” Midnight snorted. “And seeing how you keep glancing at me and that you winced when I mentioned that he’s gay, I doubt that has happened back there.”

Her remark made me flushed, embarrassed for her suggestion as well as for mentioning my reaction. I glanced at Scrap awkwardly, muttering:

“I didn’t… wince…”

But he just chuckled.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. Most straight guys who I hugged react that way when they realized a coltcuddler, well, cuddled them. Although, I admit I’m a bit disappointed, you’ve got a nice rump there.”

Hoping he wouldn’t take my now-even-worse blush as a sign of interest, I contemplated the unfairness of fate, that the one who told me a compliment like that was him and not Midnight. At the same time, however, I began to better understand why I annoyed her so much.

“Err, thank you,” I replied, causing the buck to grin and Midnight to mutter something so quietly that even I couldn’t catch it. I coughed. “So, when do you think we’ll get to the Capital Station? And when we can go to this stable?”

Midnight glanced at her PipBuck. “About ten minutes and…” she paused as both of us heard Scrap grunt angrily. I looked in confusion as the unicorn smirked. “Oh, are you still sore about losing it in a poker game?”

“You lost a PipBuck in a poker game?” I asked, surprised.

“Yeah… which is why I no longer play with her,” the buck mumbled sullenly. “And since after I lost it I got really drunk, I’m no longer allowed in Applewood,” Seeing my surprised gaze, he added: “Hey, I went through a lot to get it. It’s a Delta model PipBuck, they’ve barely gotten into production before the bombs fell. It’s the newest model, that is second newest after an Epsilon, but they made only like five of those.”

Midnight and I exchanged a glance with each other. For the first time ever, both of us grinned.

“You mean like this one?” I lifted my good leg to wave the PipBuck in front of him.

Oh dear Goddesses, I just gave a gay buck an orgasm.

“Scrap, I know you this must have upped Nightkin to a ten for you, but can you stop humping his leg and help me?” Midnight commented.

“Yeah yeah…” the buck finally returned to hoof-powering the trolley.

Oh wait; I just realized how that sounded. Heh… No, Scrap Tech didn’t actually hump my leg. But he did grab it and bent in an odd angle to get a better view of the PipBuck. He was in such daze that he somehow didn’t hear my: “Get the fuck off! Get the fuck off!” while he nearly broke one of my last two good limbs. The fact that Midnight didn’t seem concerned irritated me even more.

“And you turn that off, this piece is just depressing,” she told me as I massaged my leg.

Glaring at her - I kinda liked it! - I did as she asked and changed the station. The song was over anyway…

… somepony, please, anypony, help us… P-please… if anypony can hear this…

My ears perked up at the sound of the tearful pleading coming from my PipBuck.

… the Crystal Empire needs help… I… I don’t… the Crystal Heart’s power protected us from the megaspells, but something… something went wrong. Everywhere on the streets there’s this blue haze… it’s k-killing everypony! The Princess… oh Goddesses...somepony, please, anypony, help us… P-please… if anypony can this… the Crystal Empire needs-

As the message repeated itself, I turned off the radio and glanced at my companions, who were, to my shock, completely unfazed by it.

“W-what…?”

“It’s Crystal Empire’s emergency broadcast,” Midnight replied me, shrugging. “It has been going on since the Last Day.”

“Why? What happened there?”

“Well,” Scrap Tech said, “nopony knows, exactly. By the last few years before the Last Day, the Crystal Empire had gradually pulled off from the war effort. Princess Cadance had said that this wasn’t what her aunts would want, so her support for Equestria faltered. Instead, it began to serve as a refuge for everybody that had enough of the fighting, as everybody believed that the Crystal Heart, the artifact that protected the Empire, would be enough to shield them from the war.”

I nodded. I remembered as much from my classes in the stable.

“But when the megaspells hit... the shield around the city held, but it was soon filled from the inside by this Blue Haze that the broadcast mentions. It killed everything inside.”

“Miss Common told me once that she believes the balefire radiation from the megaspells affected the Crystal Heart and made it create the Blue Haze,” Midnight interjected.

“Yes, that is one of the most popular theories,” Scrap said, shrugging. “Makes sense, too, seeing how the megaspells were based on how the Crystal Heart works. The other theory is that the zebras had planted a bomb filled with a necromantic gas inside the Empire, similar to what they did in Splendid Valley a few years earlier. Either way, now the Crystal Empire is the single most dangerous place in the entire Wasteland. Over the last two centuries, many scavengers tried to take the riches of the Empire for themselves, but none had returned.”

“Why is it so dangerous?” I asked them.

A glimmer from far away caught my attention for a moment. We were finally near the exit! Oh, if a few hours ago I knew I would be so happy to see the daylight...

“The Blue Haze is still almost everywhere within the city,” Scrap said, a shadow crossing his face, while the speck of light grew bigger steadily. “Nopony knows why, by there’s still barrier around the Empire, holding this radiated mist inside.”

“Now, hang on a second,” I interrupted him. “If there’s still barrier around the Empire, how could anypony go there? You said that there were many scavengers that tried to get into it.”

“There are ways to pass through such barriers,” Midnight, the residential unicorn, explained. “All you need is magic nullifier, or properly adjusted mana gem, and you can either create a small crack within the shield in case of the former or pass through it in case of the later.”

“Yeah, getting through the shield is easy compared to everything else,” Scrap continued. “The Blue Haze killing everything aside, there are also the crystal ghouls.”

“‘Crystal ghouls’?” I repeated, and then snapped as realization came upon me. “You mean…?”

“Yep,” Scrap confirmed my guess. “Imagine a ghoul like the ones in the tunnels, but with almost indestructible bodies.”

That… wasn’t a pleasant thought. As I gazed into the still-far-away exit from the tunnels, I pondered how I could stop one if ever had to...

“Or so they say,” the earth pony buck smirked and winked. What? “The truth is nopony knows what in Tartarus is there, as nopony has ever come back. Well, safe for Common, and who’s to say that those ‘Fabulously Wubbed Adventures’ are true?”

What what adventures? Miss Common? What?

I glanced from Scrap to Midnight, pleading for an explanation.

The unicorn sighed and rolled her eyes. “It’s this radio show DJ Pon3 plays on her broadcast around… six pm? I honestly don’t remember…” she murmured as she glanced behind her to see how far away we were from the exit. “Anyway, it’s describes exploits of Miss Common and the first DJ Pon3 from before the latter retired to run that broadcast.”

And the confusion deepens.

“The first DJ Pon3?”

“The grandmother of the current one,” Midnight replied. “Common and she cleared the section of the Royal Castle of Canterlot that was left standing and set up the tower to transmit her broadcast across the Wasteland.”

How come the more I heard about Miss Common, the more badass she sounded? I mean, seriously, she helped found the only radio station in Equestria (I think, it’s still my first day here, I can be wrong), and she’s a freaking hero of a radio show! How can you top that?!

“And getting back to your comment, Scrap,” Midnight said, glaring at the earth pony (Oh, look at the threat in her eyes! How glad I am she’s not looking at me!) “about whether those ‘Adventures’ are made up or not, I hope you weren’t accusing my friend of exaggerating some facts there.”

“The day I’ll say anything bad about a pony you consider a friend will be the day when I’ll officially get tired of living,” the buck replied with a smirk.

Midnight seemed satisfied with his answer as she just nodded and turned to me. “You can try to catch the show later if you like, but know this; no matter if what Common and DJ have went through in the Crystal Empire is said truthfully on the broadcast or not, the fact still stands they had barely gotten out. So you, Stable-idiot, will never, ever, try to get in, got it?”

“Y-yeah, sure!” I almost immediately replied, and meant it. Surrounded by mist that kills you, probably with hundreds of indestructible ghouls and Luna knows what else? Count me out! Besides, I still needed a water talisman, everything else was not important. Reminding myself that, and finally reaching the end of this cursed tunnel, I asked: “When are we going for that stable?”

“Depends on how quickly Ol’ Doc can put you together. The local doctor,” she explained, seeing my puzzled look. “If he manages to do it quickly, we might be off within two hours. If not, then could be around evening or tomorrow morning.”

That part didn’t make sense to me. Why wait until tomorrow? Wouldn’t it be better to trot through the night? I opened my mouth to voice my opinion, but…

“I am not going during night into the newest raider territory with Wasteland’s newest newbie, a buck that will be too lost in his schemes to get the said newbie into bed to pay any attention whatsoever, all while having 303 behind us, just because you like that time.”

And my mouth closed, although I wasn’t sure if it was due to Midnight being by now annoyed, the fact that she had a point, or by what she said about Scrap and me and bed… Oh, Goddesses, why did I think that?! Now there was an image stuck in my head…!

In hopes of pushing that away I gazed into the rapidly approaching station. Voices of other ponies reached me well before I saw them: workers wearing similar jumpsuits to those I saw and helped rescue within the tunnels. A one or two ponies also wear the black armor of 303 Company; those ponies had their carbines lifted at us, but once we came closer they relaxed. I caught surprised glances on their faces.

“Seems they didn’t expect to see us again,” Midnight whispered to me, clearly pleased with herself (and maybe with me as well!).

As we passed through the station, slid into one of the side rails to not block the train, I got the glimpse of the city outside the tunnel, the Capital Station. My pupils had already shrunk to accommodate me with the much brighter environment, letting me see everything.

It was clear to me that while Desert Station had been put together after the Last Day, the town of this end had a different history. Even as I searched my memory - and by doing so I recalled finally that there used to be a military base here - I could see the solid forms of building, damaged by time and marked by explosions here and there. They weren’t made from scraps, but those were actual pre-war structures, even if some of them had to be clearly remade.

“Well, Nightkin,” Scrap said as he jumped of the trolley and stretched his tired legs, “welcome to the Capital Station, city twice bigger than Desert Station and, now with the raiders all around Capital Wasteland, it’s about thrice larger population. Used to be some a military outpost during the war, survived the apocalypse, but sadly got trashed pretty badly by one of the earliest group of raiders.”

So that’s why it didn’t look as good as it could… I nodded, listening to his explanation, while Midnight - who also allowed herself a moment of respite after the ride - was checking her bags before we would leave.

Pondering if I should offer her some help, I turned to Scrap to ask about those raiders. It was then I noticed the other buck was staring at my eyes with a smile.

“Damn, you’ve got sexy eyes.”

I yelped and jumped back, taken by surprise. Scrap Tech just chuckled and shook his head, turning around to check if the trolley was properly secured.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t get drunk with him around,” Midnight told, her eyes still checking her bags. “He would never take a buck against his will, but alcohol makes ponies stupid, so-”

“I wouldn’t buck with a stallion!” I protested sharply, my hind legs giving in on me and letting my rum fall on the trolley’s seat.

“Hurt my feelings more why don’t you?”

I facehoofed upon hearing the singing response from Scrap Tech. I didn’t even have a clue if he was really one hundred percent joking, or if I did hurt him! Ponies on the Outside are cruel!

My moral misery caused by my social awkwardness was clearly of great amusement to Midnight. I glared at her while sulking until she shook her head and looked at me seriously. “Are you able to walk?”

My mouth opened to reply that yes, I am able to walk, in fact I galloped from the horde of zombies while running away from the imminent explosion (while on Med-X… and I ended up passing out at the last stretch...), but I was taken over by a coughing fit, this time a real one. I covered my muzzle with hoof as I spat something - blood again, most likely - on it before something bad and socially unacceptable could happen.

“Are you alight?” Midnight asked me, that subtle note of concern in her melodic voice.

“Yeah, just bruised…” I muttered; girls love tough guys, right? Slowly, I tried to raise “Lemme just-”

“Wait!” Midnight grabbed my hoof with her magic, unbalancing me in the process. She pulled my leg towards her as I fell down. “You’re bleeding internally?”

“Um… yes? I mean, I’m pretty torn up-”

“You don’t start bleeding internally from getting your limbs broken!” she snapped. Over her shoulder I saw Scrap Tech look back with concern. “That mine didn’t hurt your chest badly enough, you only have bits of shrapnel in it! To cough blood you would need to have your lung punctured, and you don’t. Now, tell me: are you nauseous? Problems with breathing?”

I nodded to both, causing Midnight’s and Scrap’s eyes to widen. Fear gripped me; what was their problem? I had my head crippled and had bits of metal in my chest, it was rather obvious that I would have problems with breathing and was nauseous, right? I somewhat relaxed when the unicorn groaned with annoyance and facehoofed, while the buck behind her trotted over, scrabbling in his saddlebacks.

“I swear, if Common ever tries to guilt me into any job, I will laugh at her face…” Midnight muttered as she rubbed her eyes. Looking at me sharply, she asked: “How, by Luna’s moon, you didn’t notice that you have a radiation disease?!”

“What?!” I jumped up. “No I don’t! I took Rad-X as soon as I entered the radiated area…”

“How many?” Scrap asked, pulling a small electronic device with an extended cable hooked up to a probe that he now moved over my body.

“One, when I passed those doors that the earthquake opened.”

As his device began clicking, he glanced at Midnight, who just groaned and turned away. “Err…” Scrap tried to comprehend what was apparently another performance of my idiocy. “You do know that the radiation field started some ten, twenty meters earlier, right? Or that one Rad-X wouldn’t last for the entire way?” My shocked look must have answered him. “Well, thankfully, you only caught like two hundred rad units. But c’mon, you have a PipBuck, you must have noticed-”

“He’s got an outdated spell matrix,” Midnight said, returning; a transparent bag of yellow liquid floating beside her. Without any word to me she showed the tube of the RadAway into my mouth, almost making me choke. “The PipBucks 1000 didn’t have a rad counter build into them, didn’t they?”

Scrap gaped, looking at me. “You’re kiddin’... yeah, they didn’t, and if this PipBuck has a spell matrix copied from that model, then it’s rad counter wouldn’t work properly… oh, you poor baby!” he exclaimed as he lunged… for my PipBuck, oh praise Luna. “What a cruel twist of fate, for such a masterpiece of technology and you are doomed to work with this old spell matrix.”

By the Goddesses, was he cuddling and petting my PipBuck? I glanced at Midnight for support as I gulped down the RadAway - tastes disgusting, by the way, kinda like a liquid fat but with an odd flavor - and saw her rolled her eyes. “Scrap, don’t make a scene,” she said, kicking him lightly in the side. “If we’ll get a chance, I’m sure Nightkin will let you tinker with it, but right now I kinda want to start making preparations to leave, got it?”

“Yeah, yeah…” he mumbled reluctantly. “You know, just because I offered Nightkin to go with him to the stable as an apology, it doesn’t mean you get to boss me around.”

“Well, tough luck, ‘cause until he gets back to the Desert Station he’s under my care. And that means I’m in charge. Now pick him up.”

Both I and Scrap Tech just stared at her. “Huh?!”

“This is so humiliating,” Scrap Tech murmured under his breath, echoing my thoughts.

I keep telling myself that being carried on the back of an earth pony throughout the streets of the city was nothing to be ashamed of, given my injuries. It wasn’t hard to remember that last part, as I was in a constant pain, even if it became somewhat easier to breath thanks to Midnight’s RadAway. But the smirks on ponies and griffins faces that we passed by, most of which were 303 mercenaries, told me that my new friend’s… preferences were quite known, which made this experience rather embarrassing. And the fact that all those glances we received quickly changed into confused stares once they noticed my wing wasn’t helping me.

On that matter, there were a lot of those 303 guys around the town. Omitting those few that we passed by on the streets - where they were hugely overwhelmed in numbers by refugees from across the Capital Wasteland - the majority of them I could see hanging around (and above) city’s walls, which were much more fortified than Desert Station’s. Oddly, most of them were pegasi and griffins. I made a mental note to ask Midnight or Scrap about that later.

Speaking of Scrap, he, on the other hoof, wasn’t happy to be reduced to the role of a ‘pack mule’. He kept repeating how Midnight was being racist for assuming that an earth pony had to be the one to carry me.

“No, I assumed that the one to carry him had to be the one that nearly killed him with explosives and an earthquake,” the blue unicorn retorted, fed up with his whining. Glancing at him, she added: “I have no idea why are you complaining, I placed a cute buck on you back. You should be beside Celestia and Luna right about now.”

I’m blushing because she called me cute, I’m blushing because she called me cute…

“I like to be on top…” Scrap Tech murmured.

Sweet merciful Luna, deliver me from him!!!

Midnight, who had discarded her mercenary’s impassioned gaze some time ago, looked back at me with a smirk. It was clear to me that this was her way of getting back at me.

“Now,” she said, stopping at the crossroad, “I need to get supplies prepared, as somepony is broke and caused an earthquake that destroyed a lot of somepony’s else staff,” Underneath me, Scrap coughed uncomfortably. “Can I trust that you’ll see my charge to the doc?”

“Sure, sure…” he rolled his eyes. “‘Your charge’... how Common got you into doing this?”

“None of your business,” Midnight replied, and then looked at me. “How much you have on you?”

“Um… about…” I glanced at my PipBuck. “... almost four hundred?”

“I’m taking them, you would be probably scammed if you tried to buy anything,” she said, trotting to me and glancing at my saddlebag. I tried not to frown. I wasn’t a helpless foal, for crying out loud! “While we’re at it,” Midnight continued, my small pouch of bottle caps floating beside her while she still peered into my bag, “I was wondering why you changed clothes.”

My stable security barding floated from my saddlebag. I winced at the poor state it was in.

“Yeah, it saved my life… at price of its own,” I joked sadly, gazing at the number thirty-nine on it. Pointing at Operative’s Magic Gun barding, I added: “I found this armor down in the tunnels.”

Midnight rolled her eyes at my dramatisation. “One of the merchants should be able to fix it if you want,” she said, glancing at my fl- oh wait, she was looking at my barding. “This one is also ragged, probably because of somepony’s mine-”

“I said I was sorry!”

“Whatever,” she scoffed Scrap’s apology, placing my ruined barding back into my saddlebags, then taking it off me with magic and turning around to place on her back next to her own saddlebags. “It will be quicker to use parts from this armor to fix your stable barding. Take it off… and I better not see that wing raised when I turn around, or else I’m giving Scrap a supply of roofie and some time alone with you once you’re better.”

“Midnight, I really don’t do that…”

“Oh, don’t ruin my fun.”

“Um…” I murmured. Should I ask what’s a roofie? Instead, I concentrated on keeping my wing (who suddenly got all stiff when Midnight told me to take off my barding) as close to my body as possible, guessing that whatever was supposed to be involved with Scrap getting ‘some alone time with me’ was most likely something I’d wish to avoid. That was further confirmed by the giggle the earth pony uttered as I wiggled out of my barding. “How much time will it take?” I snuffed from the pain.

“Probably less that getting you fixed,” Midnight replied, placing the pre-war military armor in her bags and turned to leave. “I’ll be waiting for you at Mom’s Diner. See you two later… oh, and Nightkin?”

I raised an eyebrow as she glanced back. Why was she smir-

“Wear protection.”

My jaw just dropped as held the eye contact long enough to see my reaction, before she turned off and went her way, leaving me and Scrap to trot the opposite direction to see the town doctor. I noticed that Scrap - who was amused by her remark, even if he didn’t know where it came from - glanced at me before he began walking, but I paid him little attention. My mind was busy with trying to comprehend her. Midnight could act all professional-like to the point that I would have thought that she doesn’t care about me at all, but there were moments that I heard in her voice genuine warmth. And this constant embarrassing me, the last comment being a nail to my metaphorical coffin of blushing… was Midnight beginning to like me? Should I try… talking to her? Or would a bit bolded move cost me having her return back to the cold gazes?

And by that I mean that she would look at me like that all the time, not just the eighty percent she lowered herself into.

“Ugh, I’ll never understand mares!” I muttered angrily, causing Scrap to chuckle. I was about to reassure him that I still don’t like bucks, but it suddenly hit me: he knew Midnight longer that I. Maybe he could tell me? “Hey, Scrap…” I asked, still darker on my cheeks, “do you think I… you know, have a chance with Midnight?”

To my surprise, I felt the earth pony underneath me go stiff for a moment. I had expected laughter, a gentle negative reply, a cruel negative reply, some advice, or an… alternative proposition, but this…

“Tell you what,” he said as he relaxed; was it just me, or did his voice sound refrain? “You go ahead and try woo her, and then you can tell me about it, ok?”

“Um… okay?” I replied. My mind was already sorting out the risks and possibilities this advice of his could give birth to. Should I try something? But what? Ask her out? Would be difficult with the lack of restaurants or cinemas… or with her having my caps...

“And getting back to your earlier statement..,” Scrap continued and I twitched an ear to better hear him. “If you fear you won’t have much luck with mares…”

“Ugh, Scrap…” I said, rubbing my face with a hoof to hide my embarrassment. “Look, I’m flattered, really, and all that, but I like only mares, okay?”

“So?” the earth pony smirked back; far ahead of him, I could see a two-story building with a neon sign that said ‘Ol’Doc’ over the entrance. “Doesn’t mean I can’t keep trying.”

Actually, that was exactly what I meant…

“Or, you know, that I would stop making fun of you,” he added, winking.

Groaning, I listened to him chuckling. Again, I was not sure if he joking or being serious. Would it hurt him to make such things clear?

“Joking aside though,” Scrap began soon after his laughter had trailed off, “I wanted to ask if you wouldn’t mind if I took a good look at your PipBuck? Maybe I could figure out why it has an old spell matrix?”

My first instinct was to tell him that yes, sure. Not only it would literally cost me nothing, but it would be nice to know a bit more about my PipBuck. I knew, of course, that it used to belong to somepony else before me, but it somehow never hit me that I had a unique model of the device with an incorrect spell matrix. The PipBuck technician that deleted the previous owner personal data files prior giving it to me didn’t mention anything about it. Granted, he was far more interested about teasing me for getting one so late. Usually you’d get your PipBuck on the day you discovered your cutie mark, but since I was still a blank flank by the time everypony from my class had one and started working, the Overmare had simply given me some fancy named aptitude test to see what my job for the good of the Stable would be. I’m still not sure how I ended up as a shift supervisor… anyway, they gave me my Pipbuck after that and…

Wait, where was I? Or right, Scrap asked me to lend him my PipBuck. Well, yeah, I was just about to agree, but then I remembered that I barely knew the buck. And that our acquaintanceship hasn’t exactly started at the best of terms, what with the mine and the earthquake. It didn’t take me long to imagine what Midnight would think of me if I just gave him my PipBuck.

“Thanks for the offer, really, but…” I trailed off, hoping to say this right to not offend him. “Midnight already calls me a ‘Stable-idiot’ without me giving away the most important thing I have to a buck that nearly killed me like an hour ago.”

“Boy, she got you whipped,” Scrap commented, and I groaned quietly in humiliation. “It’s not like I was gonna leave you dupped behind, especially given that the company you keep could track me down and shoot dead from like a mile... But yeah, I kinda see your point. Maybe when we get back from this Stable you will give it another thought? Or, better yet, when we’re there, I could use their PipBuck Technician professional tools to copy the spell matrix from my PipBuck into yours! It’s just one model younger, might not work like a charm, but should do better that the 1000’s you are using!”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll like that,” I replied, smiling at his enthusiasm, and amused that he referred to Midnight’s PipBuck as his.

“But you will have to let me have a good look at it in return. If I read the blueprints for the Epsilon model correctly, they’d gotten some sweet features, but I want to be certain… I cannot imagine how they exactly managed to fit those into a PipBuck…”

As Scrap Tech began murmuring to himself about the requirements for those ‘sweet features’ to work and how there should be no way for them to actually be on a device as small (something about the energy output exceeding the size of the spark battery and the spells inner coding would took too much space or some crap, I dunno, he lost me at “energy output”), I gazed at the clinic’s open door. I sighed with relief when I spotted no other ponies (or other sentient creatures) in need of medical attention, meaning that we wouldn’t have to stand in line for a treatment. Oh, and that nopony was hurt, that was good too.

The neon sign above the doors was, thankfully, turned off. Getting a seizure attack with all my injuries wasn’t something I wanted right now.

“Nice sign, huh?” Scrap stopped his techno-bubble once we were almost at the doorstep. “There a shop in Applewood that makes them, I bought it as a birthday gift before they kicked me out of the town.”

“Oh, you know this doctor?”

“You could say that,” he replied with a wink as he opened to door and entered.

Once I was able to focus on my surroundings instead of how uncomfortable Scrap made me feel (again), I noticed that Ol’Doc’s clinic was probably the cleanest place I seen ever since I left my stable. By that I meant the room after of the anteroom, that one, lined with seats and some pillows (there were a few magazines, too) was still dirty. But the actual room in which the doctor treated ponies was kept clean, from the shelves and cabinets by the walls to the large table at the middle.

“Dad!” Scrap said out loud as we entered the room, making me almost jump and glance sharply at him. “I’ve got a patient for you!”

I mouthed the word ‘dad’ as the side door (leading probably to an office) opened and entered a pony that, besides the horn on his forehead, had a few wrinkles on his face and the graying mane with an exact copy of Scrap Tech. The older buck smiled briefly at his son, but when his sight slides past him unto me, the greeting died in his throat and he frowned.

“You do realize that at this rate I could soon make a living from just patching up your colttoys?”

“I-I-I…” I stuttered as Scrap, chortling furiously, placed me on the table. “I’m not his… colttoy!”

“Sure you aren’t,” Ol’Doc reply made me bashed my head against the table. “What did you do this time, Tech? Shoot a grenade too closely to him?”

“Why do you assume his state is my fault?” the earth pony buck defended himself.

“Because it is!” I snapped at him.

“Oh, hush, colttoy.”

If his intention was to shut me up, then he succeeded.

The doctor just sighed hearing our argument and began examining me. I shivered as I felt his magic wash over me, checking all possible injuries. Scrap’s father was really good in his craft, for he finished in less than a minute. He looked at his son with exasperation.

“For Goddesses sake, one would think you blow up a tunnel in there with him inside,” Ol’Doc said, then narrowed his eyes. “Funny, considering what DJ Pon3 had said earlier on the radio…”

“Hey, that one’s not on me, he blew it up,” Scrap replied, pointing at me.

“NO I DIDN’T!” I retorted, wishing that somepony would finally believe me.

“You two can decide who did what later,” Ol’Doc scolded us. “I don’t like raised voices inside my clinic. That’s why doctors invented anesthetic spells. Now, onto more important matters…” he added, looking at me intensively. “Am I to assume that you are that ‘bat pony’ thing the DJ mentioned this morning?”

“Yes,” I sighed, deciding to not react to that ‘thing’ bit.

“Fascinating…” the old pony murmured, walking around me. Okay, what’s with Scrap’s family’s interest with my body?! “Are your anatomy and biological systems like those of the pegasi? I can’t say I ever treated a bat pony.”

“Um…” I stammered. I hadn’t thought that this might be a problem. “Yes?” I offered with a weak smile.

The doctor sighed. Turning his head to Scrap, he told him: “This might take a while. Go wait in outside,” To me, he said: “I’m going to put you under now. I’ve been told that the sensation of broken bones melding is rather unpleasant, and considering I have a little idea as to what I’m working with, I will have to do this surgery really slowly.”

“Um, okay,” I agreed. It was a better option that being conscious through it. Even if I’m kinda worried with Scrap nearby…

Ol’Doc’s horn began glowing with gray light as Scrap exited the room. “Count from ten to one for me,” he instructed as the door closed.

“Ten,” I started, and I noticed that the glow enveloped me, bringing an odd sensation of relaxation and numbness, “nine, eight… seven… six…”

Everything shook as the loud teeth-hurting noise of the Stable’s door being pulled open resonated in the air. Behind the now open steel door stood a little, pretty gray unicorn mare in stable utility barding, gazing into the darkness laid outside of the Stable. She looked as if she was stunned.

“You don’t have to do this…” sounded a mare’s voice from one of the nearby speakers. “LittlePip, isn’t it?”

It seemed as hearing her gave the small mare strength she needed. She took a step towards the door. “Don’t worry. I’ll bring her back.”

Bring her back… had somepony else left this Stable?

“No you won’t!” cut in the voice, now stern. “If you leave here, you’ll never be let back!”

Those words struck the mare, and for the second it looked as if she wanted to turn around. But her shock lasted only a heartbeat. With a deep breath, she stepped out the door.

A moment later, the grinding noise of the Stable’s mechanic awakened again. Slowly, the door to her home began closing behind the mare. The hatch turned around, the number embedded on it being-

“Stable Two?” Scrap Tech asked with confusion. “Can’t say I ever heard of that one.”

I fought hard to not let my disappointment shown. For one, given all that I heard about Stables, they only got discovered when they blow up or some other shit. I had no wish for some misery to befall other ponies. And two, it’s not like Luna held me in some special regard to grant me prophetic dreams of an adorably cute mare leaving a Stable.

Still, though, it was so vivid that once I woke up shortly after the surgery, feeling as healthy as a newborn - in a Stable, I wasn’t keen on finding out how healthy foals were without a labour wards around - I had waited for a chance to ask somepony about it. I wasn’t entirely sure why; the post-surgery dream was most likely caused by our next objective, even I could figure that one. So… what caused me to be so interested in it? Was it that mare? I admit, she was a cutie… no drop-dead beauty like Midnight, but being close to her would definitely get my wings up, if you know what I mean.

Oh, and speaking of wings: I was currently hovering next to Scrap Tech as we made our way towards that diner Midnight had mentioned. I wasn’t maybe as fond of flying as some of my friends back in Stable Thirty-Nine (not that any of us was particularly good at it, you can’t learn some epic maneuver and tricks while gliding through small corridors) being grounded for so long made me want to stretch my wings and enjoying the sensation of wind brushing my body as soon as we left Ol’Doc’s clinic. My joy was only dampened by the state my coat was in: it was dirty, splashed here and there in a mixture of blood, dirt, and something green that I assumed was ghouls’ ichor. I contemplated asking if I could take a bath… but considering it was Scrap’s house, I had this strange feeling I should not do that, and instead pressed him to leave, so I could get my barding back from Midnight. I half expected either the doc or Scrap to insist we’d stay longer, but father and son had quickly said goodbyes once the doctor had gave me the last once-over. Seemed pointless, seeing as I could just check my condition on my PipBuck… then again, with everypony telling me that it wasn’t working as it was supposed to…

“It’s kinda odd that you could read the Stable’s number, though,” Scrap continued as he walked and I flew. He narrowed his eyes as he analyzed the details of my dream I just told him about. “I’m pretty sure one medic told me that you cannot do that in dreams… hmm, maybe being a bat pony you are somewhat favored by the Goddess of the Night?”

“I don’t recall ever hearing us about having unusual dreams,” I said, surprised that my subconscious did something it wasn't supposed to be able to do. “And given how this day has been going, I don’t think I am particularly favored. Ugh, why cannot night fall already?!”

Scrap chuckled at my exclamation, which also caused those few ponies that weren’t already gawking at me to join the collective stares. “Oh, calm down, just a few more hours,” the buck told me, then winked. “You know, I also happen to like the nighttime…”

“Yeah, I bet,” I said uncomfortably, steering off from him. “So…” I coughed, needing to change the subject. “Capital Station is your hometown?”

“Not exactly,” he replied, shaking his head. “Dad and I moved here a couple years back, when I was still a colt. I was born in the Boulder City, up north.”

“Boulder City?”

That name sparked some echo in my memory. There was something Miss Common had mentioned to me last night about that town, but a sudden commotion below me took away my attention.

“Hey, watch it!” an earth pony that had bumped into Scrap, sending both of them to the ground, told him as he rose.

“You’re the one that walked into me, jackass!” Scrap replied in kind with a snarl, massaging his head and still staying on the ground.

The other buck looked as if he was about do something he would regret - and given the blast radius of Scrap’s favorite kind of weapons, so would we and every passerby within the five meters range - so I lowered myself to stand by my companion and glared, hoping to intimidate him. It must have worked, for at the sight of a kind of pony that he (undoubtedly) has never seen before he balked back, then sneered at Scrap and walked away.

“Hmph,” Scrap Tech stomped, then looked around at other ponies, who all quickly quit staring. He sighed. “Ever since those raiders fled from Canterlot ruins, the streets have been filled with ponies. Capital Station is the only settlement rich enough to hire protection.”

“There aren’t any other towns in Capital Wasteland anymore?” I asked, offering him a hoof to help him stand up.

“‘Fraid not,” he replied, accepting help. “Well, there’s Ponyville, of course; since the slavers often buy from raiders or sell them slaves, they left it alone. And there’s also the Brotherhood of Steel, they have about three different outpost here in the Capital Wasteland, with the Canterlot Palace - which actually ‘belongs’ to DJ Pon3 - being one of them,” Scrap sighed again, shrugging off dirt from his barding. “Pity the mayor doesn’t have the money to hire the 303s to kill those raiders… wait,” he suddenly said, shaking again with narrowed eyes. His hoof shot for his saddlebags, and after a second his eyes widened in alarm. “That son of a mule stole my caps!”

I watched in shock as Scrap turned around and run in the direction the thief had went before I snapped and flew into the air. As much as I hated the idea of leaving the close vicinity of the ground and actually soaring through… the very open space… gulp… I knew that I had a better chance to spot him from up above. So I bucked up and flew higher as I followed Scrap Tech. Much, much higher…

I shook my head as I hovered above the city. The sooner I’d find that thief, the better. I searched for sickly yellow buck with ragged clothes, trying to pay no mind to the curious glances from the pair of 303s pegasi that flew some distance away, probably on patrol or something… Aha, there he is! I spotted the thief sneaking through some narrow alleys a few block away.

Feeling Scrap’s gaze on me, I pointed him at the direction where I found our pony. I would have preferred to land next to him and just tell him, but I feared that the thief would use the time I would waste to hide. So instead of doing what was probably a much more sensible thing, I raced after him.

It wasn’t much of a race, truthfully, as the buck soon just sat down on one of the ruined porches. I growled at the sight of his arrogance and decided to teach him a lesson. Once I was close enough that I could safely take my eyes off him and not worry about him escaping, I dived in between the buildings. I passed the last corridor and lunged at the thief.

The self-satisfied smirk on his face quickly turned into terror as he saw me charging at him. I was later told by somepony that when doing so, I often bare my fangs, which is supposedly terrifying. I’m not sure if I’d done that back then, but the thief didn’t try to fight, instead just bolted right up and started running.

I caught up with him in a manner of seconds and slammed into him at my full speed, causing the both of us to roll on the ground for a bit, before my more agile body managed to stop and rise; I used the moment to turn around and pin the thief by the throat against the closest building.

“Where’s my friend’s caps?” I growled as the thief struggled to escape my hold. Not going to happen. I put more pressure on his throat. “Give back my friend’s caps and I will let you go.”

I actually meant that one. I mean, I was pissed, but if he would give me the caps back, then it would be no harm, no fault. But, of course, if life was so simple…

The first thing that took me off was the subtle change of expression on the buck’s face (by the way, his breath stunk! Dear Goddesses, had he ever washed his teeth?!); from fear to nervous smirk. Before I had a chance to ponder about it, I heard the sound of hoofsteps behind me. As in: plural.

“There are ponies behind me, huh?” I asked the thief, who nodded. “You’re friends?” Another nod. “Well… shit.”

I grabbed the thief and whirled around, throwing him at the two from trio of advancing ponies and causing them to fall down. As I took a good look at the band, I took some solace in the fact that none of them had any firearms, but the knives and baseball bat still looked perfectly capable of ruining all of Ol’Doc’s hard work.

So, things didn’t look quite hot for me. I mean the odds when facing four ponies are never in your favor, unless you happen to have a minigun and they charge at you in a straight line. But on top of being outnumbered, I also was weaponless. All of weapons where either strapped to my barding or in my saddlebag, both of those were with Midnight. I also had no idea how soon would Scrap Tech catch up, and when he does, he would remember that that his explosives had already nearly killed me today? Given his father’s comment about him constantly bringing his… ugh, colttoys, in state similar to mine, I doubted that.

And, of course, I couldn’t even get away, because there was this raggedy looking pegasus hovering above us, ready to pounce at me (funny, I think this was the first flying sentient being that wasn’t part of the 303 Company). I somehow managed to plan that the moment he tries to swoop down and attack me, I would fly into the air, but for now…

The closest pony jumped at me, slashing with his knife. I moved to the side with ease. I placed my front hooves on the ground, reared up, and bucked with all my strength… causing the buck to barely stumble. Shit, I knew I wasn’t exactly packed, but come on, I seriously couldn’t even throw him off?!

I’d need something sharp…

The buck turned around and slashed again, making me back away. Another pony with a knife tried to flank me, but a quick turn of my head and a short sonic scream later made him stagger back and fall down, tripping his friend. Satisfied, I looked for the one with the baseball bat... which just so happened to slam against my chest. The impact sent me back and I collided with the wall, breathless. The part of my brain that wasn’t troubling itself with my incoming demise noted that I just got that chest repaired, for pony sake!

My attacker didn’t give me a moment to catch my breath. Instead, he trotted over, and pressed the baseball bat against my throat, not choking me, but preventing movement.

“Sho, this mighty ‘bat pony’ thought he could shteal from ush, huh?” he asked, his mouth moving around the bat’s handle, and leaning over to look me straight in the eye. Ugh, and I thought that the previous one had a bad breath. “Attacking mah errand cholt whas a big mishtake, Freak!”

I paid him little attention. I was far more interested by what I saw strapped to his leg.

A knife.

Thinking fast, I looked at the pony in front of me… and smiled. My expression must have thrown him a back, causing his eyes widened.

“And stealing from my friend was a grave mistake, stinky!” I said, my eyes glancing to the side.

The buck holding me cursed around the bat’s handle and, his hooves still pinning me to the wall, he glanced back… but saw only the rest of his gang, looking around as confused as he. Growling, he looked back at me.

My tail swung up, the knife I grabbed loosely with it slashing him across the throat. Blood splodge my coat as he gurgled. I did not need medical training to know he was now drowning in his own blood. Even if I had killed a bunch of ghouls a few hours ago and raiders last night, I might have still gone into shock if the remaining ponies didn’t jump at me. As such, my survival instincts kicked in, forbidding me from standing over the gang leader’s dead body for too long. Grabbing the knife with my mouth, I lounged at the closer one and entered S.A.T.S, lining up slashes to take him out. The first one was blocked by his own knife, but the second one hit him under muzzle, and with a step back I delivered the last stab into his throat.

Unfortunately, as I concentrated on one, the other two attacked. I managed to evade the pegasus, but the searing pain in my left shoulder signaled that the remaining earth pony just stabbed me. I dropped my knife and was about to reply with a sonic scream, when the buck twisted the blade embedded into my body, causing a pained shriek to escape my mouth instead of a devastating blast. I dropped to the ground and felt him pull his weapon out of my injured shoulder, while something heavy dropped on my back and pinned me to the ground.

“You fucker,” the voice above me - probably belonging to the pegasus - rasped with fury. “We were going to just trash you around a bit, but now…”

A hoof collided with my kidney. Hard. Scrap Tech, now would be a really good time to pop up…

“We’re going to sell your ass to Ponyville! They will pay a lot for a-”

Whatever he wanted to call me was forever denied from the world to hear as his head exploded in a fountain of red, preempted by a sound of gun firing.

I raised my head just in time to see the other buck look up, before another blast destroyed his skull. The pegasus body slide from my body as I tried and failed to rise. Cursing, I used my wings to help myself up and I managed to sit as from above a familiar shape neared.

“Hey, Freak!” Hedwig grinned landing beside me… atop the dead body of an earth pony buck. “Good to see you’re still kicking.”

“Not as good as seeing you,” I commented, smiling through clenched teeth. I felt as if my shoulder was on fire. “Thanks for the rescue.”

“Eh, I got free time until tomorrow, had to do something,” she shrugged. A noise caught both of our attentions. Turning our heads, we saw the last pony - the one who stole from Scrap - had curled up and was sobbing. “So, you wanna kill him or what?”

Oh, yes, I wanted too. First he stole from my friend, then he practically led me into an ambush, which caused me great pain, and I was still bleeding from the terrible wound in my shoulder. Not to mention that if it weren’t for Hedwig I would have been in much worse shape and could be sold as a slave. I wanted to kill him… but something he said as I flew towards him - I had to, my good forehoof was busy stopping the bleeding of my wound - made me stop dead me dead in my tracks.

“Please, don’t!” the buck wept as he realized that I was just in front of him. “I have kids!”

My eyes grew wide hearing that. I stopped, staring at him, my thoughts echoing what he just said.

I have kids… I have kids… I have kids…

I was just about to kill some little foals’ father…

“You have kids?” I asked calmly, feeling empty.

“Y-yes…” the thief stuttered, still scared shitless. “W-we fled here after Rockopolis w-was overtaken by r-raiders… but I couldn’t f-find any work with everypony coming here, s-so we starved…”

It just now became clear to me how I managed to so easily overpower him when I finally got a good, up-close look at him. He was so thin that I could see his ribs under his rugs.

“I-I joined the Butcher’s gang to get caps for some food…” the yellowish stallion continued. “Please, let me go! My kids have only me! I can’t die…”

I was dimly aware of Hedwig observing me, but I couldn’t care less.

“My friend’s caps?” I asked, lowering myself to the ground in front of him.

“H-here!” he squeaked, his hoof taking the sack from inside his barding and throwing in front of me.

I bent down to pick the sack (which was quite heavy, Scrap had a lot on himself), and then positioned myself so that my head was a few inches away from him. “Did you know that bat ponies can tell when a pony is lying to them when they look into their eyes?” I asked slowly. Of course, I just made that up, but how was he supposed to know? “I want you to repeat what you just said; about your foals, and how you starve. If you’ll lie-”

“I’m not lying! I have two daughters, Prism Sphere and Marvel Sphere, and we-”

That was enough for me. I heard what I needed, and if Midnight or whoever else would call me a naive idiot - fuck them.

“Here,” I stopped him, giving him a hooffull of caps from the sack; about two hundred by my count. The buck’s eyes widened as the gazed at the small pile. “Take them.”

“I-I…” he stammered, not knowing what to say.

I did.

He didn’t even have time to shriek as I grabbed him by the throat and lifted him, my rage giving me the strength to do so with one hoof. “Now listen to me,” I growled quietly. “If I ever catch you stealing again; if you ever try to make a living for your daughters this way, by taking from other ponies; if you ever set such an example for them; I will fucking murder you! Got it?!”

The buck rasped something that barely resembled “yes”. I let him go and he slumped down, landing hard on his rump. I backed away as he coughed few times, then he got up, hastily picked up the caps I gave him, muttered “thank you” and galloped the other way.

“Wow,” Hedwig summed up as I sit down next to where she was. “Can’t say I ever saw something like that.”

“Well, I’m glad that I entertained you,” I rasped, too… shaken by what I had nearly done to focus on her. How could I have decided to kill a pony like that? He was defenseless, without a weapon… he didn’t attack me during this entire fight… and I… I…

… I felt really dizzy…

“Oh, shit…” I murmured, glancing at my heavily bleeding shoulder. “That’s bad, isn’t it?”

“I have to agree, doctor Freak,” the griffin merc replied, shaking her head. “I wondered how long it will take for you to notice you are dying. Here.”

I caught the purple healing she threw me, too dazed from my bloodloss to wonder why she just gave it to me.

“What in the-” came another familiar voice from the edge of the alley. “Nightkin! The fuck happened?”

“Long story,” I lied; it would have taken only about five pages to tell what happened since we parted if my count was right… which, given the amount of red oozing out of me and the bizarre train of thoughts my brain was going through, could not be trusted. Healing potion, come to pappa!

“By Celestia phallic horn…” Scrap murmured as he looked at the dead, the work of Hedwig and I, while I enjoyed the sensation of not dying and having my health restored. “Should’ve come back for me, huh?”

I just glared at him as my wound closed, not really wanting to admit that he had a point. Kinda.

“What took you so long?” I asked instead, throwing him back his sack. Then, reminding myself of Hedwig’s presence, I quickly introduced them: “Scrap, Hedwig; Hedwig, Scrap Tech.”

“Hi,” he said as he caught the sack, while Hedwig just smirked and nodded. “I got lost,” he admitted and began counting his caps; to his credit he did blush a little. “I ran in the direction you flew, but the alley I took was a dead end, so I had to get back to the crossroad… look, suffice to say that until I heard gunshots, I had no idea where you were. Why is there one hundred eighty six caps missing?”

Rolling my eyes and wondering how he remembered how many he had in the sack, I rose. “I will pay you back once we get back to Midnight,” I said, after which I turned to the griffon, who until now observed the scene with amusement. “Hedwig, would you like to come with us? Since you saved me, the least I could do is offer you a dinner.”

“Inviting girl you’ve known just a day to a dinner?” she asked with arched eyebrow.

“I- what?” I stammered, taken aback by what she suggested. “N-no, I didn’t mean it like.. Not that you’re not pretty, but I- um, you know, as a thank you?”

Could a griffin giggle? Because I’m certain this one was doing it right now. Oh, and Scrap was, too. So, Goddesses, let me get this straight; I did something that I’m pretty certain was a good deed, and this is how I get repaid?

“Well, it’s not like I have nothing against a free meal,” Hedwig said once she cased her giggling. She tilted her head to glare at me with one eye, still smirking. “Free warning, softie; I eat meat, so don’t be horrified.”

“So?” I asked, raising eyebrows, and then I opened my mouth wide and pointed at my fangs. “Ah et met tho.”

The griffin eyes slightly widened as she looked at my sharp teeth. After a second she tore away her gaze and moved it to my eyes. “You know,” she hummed, her tone losing nothing of her predatory nature as she walked past me, “you just keep getting more interesting.”

Her tail tip brushed my chin.

My gaze traveled from staving off Hedwig to Scrap, while my brain’s processing was somewhere along the lines of “What? Huh? What? Why? What?” stage. I jumped up to Scrap, who also looked at the griffin with interest, the pain in my shoulder nothing but a memory.

“Did she just… come on to me?” I asked quietly.

“You know, I’m not sure. I’ve only been with one griffin, and he wasn’t exactly subtle.”

Ugh, I didn’t need that image. I scratched my head as Scrap quickly raced to catch up with Hedwig, wondering how in Tartarus it was possible that this time yesterday I was still asleep in my bed in Stable Thirty-Nine.

I shook my head as I was about to go after them, but my ears twitched. I heard something behind me, something… oddly sounding. I turned my head to see what it was - as that noise was too quiet for me to make out - but all I saw was a small shimmer that quickly disappeared around the corner.

Confused, I was about to race after it, but a quick glance at my E.F.S. told me there were no hostiles nearby, so whatever it was, it must have been harmless.

“Hey, Nightkin?” Scrap’s voice sounded from further back. Reluctantly, I turned around and flew after them. “How come among the corpses there wasn’t the guy who robbed me?”

“Geez, no wonder she called you ‘softie’,” Scrap exclaimed once I shortly explained to him what happened. He turned to Hedwig, who stayed quiet throughout the entire walk. “I thought you were referring to his meat.”

“I don’t eat ponies,” Hedwig replied, slightly amused.

“Sweetie,” Scrap smiled, “I wasn’t talking about that meat.”

It took both me and Hedwig a good second to figure out what he meant. Well, it took her a second to figure it out; I became enlightened once she erupted with laughter. Great, now I was going to get double teamed by them… wait, wrong allusion in this case.

Sighing, I was the first to enter the Mom’s Diner, with the laughing duo behind me. The diner was as spacious as it looked from the outside, but it was much cozier. There were plenty of tables everywhere, placed in such distance from one another that everybody would be comfortable while eating. My heightened senses (and my PipBuck with her tag on it) quickly located Midnight from the sea of all the other patrons, sitting in the darker corner. How lovely. The blue unicorn was reading some magazine; next to her was a glass of water.

We started making our way towards her, when she glanced up from her read. Her eyes traveled from me to Hedwig and back to me. I winced mentally, recalling the distaste Midnight had for the griffin merc (as well as any 303 merc), and was about to explain the why she was here.

“Why, I didn’t expect we would have a guest,” Midnight spoke, smiling sweetly to the griffin. A buzha wha? “Come along, you can order whatever you want. Scrap is paying.”

“Wowowowowow, what?!” Scrap exclaimed, staring at Midnight as if she lost her mind. “What in Tartarus makes you think I will pay for her dinner? Nightkin invited her.”

“Oh, don’t be an idiot, Scrap, you will be paying for all our dinners,” Midnight waved off his words with a flick of a hoof. “And as for ‘why’;” she added as she leaned closer to him, the pretended jovial humor gone; “I had left my charge with you and you bring him back with a freshly healed wound on his shoulder, loads of fresh blood on his coat, and a griffin merc hanging around him. Forgive me for jumping the gun here and assuming you screwed up royally…”

She trailed off, daring him to deny. Scrap just sighed and slumped down on a chair that was furthest away from her, while the unicorn, smirking in satisfaction, returned to her magazine. Hedwig and I chuckled - it was a nice change of pace for me - as we also sat.

Midnight’s horn glimmered, without her looking up from her read, and from inside her bags levitated two books. I watched in confusion as she placed them in front of me. “Read them as we eat,” she commanded. “You might start was we wait for somepony to come pick our orders.”

I glanced at the books that she gave me. One had a title ‘Applied Gemstones’ with the cover having a pony’s statue with a minigun-like magical energy weapon strapped to him and firing on it, while the other, ‘Guns and Bullets’, depicted a shotgun, a hunting rifle, and a small revolver.

“Um… Midnight? Why do I need to…”

“‘Cause your shooting is terrible,” she told me flatly. “I heard how many bullets you wasted on those two ghouls back in the tunnels. Read those and you might learn something.”

Her voice once again carried a threat that told me something bad would happen to me if I didn’t listen. Wincing, I took the Guns and Bullets and started reading.

Footnote: Level Up!

New perk added: Tail trick - Allows you to use your tail as prehensile limb, capable of handling or throwing small items (much like a… what are those things called?).

Chapter 6 - What happens in Capital Station... doesn't stay there

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“And I got my eye on you!”

My eyes traveled from one word to another while I tried to stop myself from yawning, but I couldn’t help myself. Guns and Bullets was. So. Boring! Who in Celestia’s tight anus writes books about guns and shooting!?!

I tried Applied Gemstones instead after we placed our orders, ignoring the surprised stares Midnight and Scrap gave me when I ordered “brahmin en brochette” and “radscorpion en croute”. I decided upon those dishes based on Hedwig’s recommendation, but seeing their reaction I began to me wonder if I had yet again made fool out of myself. They do know I eat meat, right?

There was also another factor that had made me order meat; it was much cheaper than everything else. I suppose that was to be expected, seeing that there were no bat ponies here and only a hooffull of griffins (when compared with the ponies that is). As much as I was pissed at Scrap for… well, most of the shit I had to go through that day, I didn’t want him to be broke after paying for our meals.

But back to the reading! Applied Gemstones was a little better read. After using one (albeit briefly) it did spark my interest how exactly the magical energy weapons worked. The lack of recoil from Magic Gun was easier on my wings that 10mm gun’s. Though when the book went into details about targeting talismans and what not and I became lost.

“Can’t I just slice everything with a knife?” I whined at Midnight from above the book.

Midnight raised an eyebrow, her gaze leaving the magazine she’s been reading, while with one ear she was listening to Scrap’s explanation regarding my state and our guest . “Considering how you fared in the tunnels, I suppose so, though not everything out in the Wasteland will try to kill you with their teeth. Some things like to shoot; a lot,” she shrugged. “You might not always find yourself so close to your opponent.”

I groaned and returned to the exciting lecture.

“Besides,” my unicorn companion continued, and my ears detected the subtle noise of magic, “it would be a waste to have such a good gun and not use it.”

I looked up and saw her levitating my Magic Gun, inspecting it carefully. “I’ve never seen such an odd plasma pistol.”

“That’s a plasma pistol?” Scrap asked sceptically.

In reply Midnight slid out the gem pack as she moved the gun closer to him. Scrap Tech looked at the energy weapon’s ammunition with confusion, then looked back at Magic Gun and he gasped, “Oh, now I get it! This must be a custom made Gak 86 magic plasma pistol. They were quite popular among Equestria’s high ranking officers, nobles, and such. Their shots are about three times more powerful than a regular magic plasma pistol, their firing rate is about twice as fast and their targeting talisman is better calibrated, but their energy consumption is twice as big, and they’re less durable. You will need to maintain it more often,” he finished, passing it to me across the table.

Great, more work to do, why not? As if finding a water talisman alone was going to be easy…

“You know quite a lot about magical weapons,” I noticed as I placed Magic Gun in my saddlebags that rested under the table.

“Pity his eyesight is so shitty,” Midnight interjected before Scrap had a chance to reply. He gave her an offended/annoyed look as she continued, “Ever since he lost about the only pair of glasses in the entire Wasteland that was correct for him he cannot hit anything further than a few meters from him.”

“Good thing I prefer guns that don’t need to hit directly to kill, huh?” he asked the unicorn with a sour smile, before turning back to me, smirking. “But yeah, with a name like ‘Scrap Tech’ you kinda have to know a lot about old technology. Though it helps that I’ve seen a lot of 86s when I was a kid, usually on syncs.”

I was about to ask him what he meant by that, but at that moment the waiter pony brought our food. All thoughts evaporated from my mind as my nostrils were assaulted by the smell of meat. Until then, I haven’t realize how hungry I was.

Now the brochettes and croutes were at my mercy, and I had none!

That meat was the most tasty thing I had eaten. While I had really enjoyed that breakfast I had with Miss Common, there was something about meat that made it more appealing than fruits. Maybe because it was more sating… And don’t get me started on how my Stable’s food compared to that. To put it simply: there is no comparison. The Outside wins this one.

At some point, I noticed that my companions were giving me odd looks again. Well, Midnight and Scrap were; Hedwig, on the other hoof, was looking at me with a mixture of amusement and interest. For some reason, having a griffon merc giving me such look wasn’t making me comfortable…

Nor was the fact that some other of Mom’s Diner’s patrons were giving me curious glances.

“Okay, what?” I finally asked my companions after I swallowed. Despite the deliciousness of the meal, I remembered about manners.

“Nothing, just…” Midnight trailed off, pondering how to say what she had in mind. “Most ponies, when given a choice, would chose a vegetarian meal over meat,” the blue unicorn finished.

“Wait,” I interrupted her, confused. “Ponies eat meat?”

Our griffin guest snickered, while my pony companions exchanged a glance, then looked at the meat on my plate, and then both turned to me and each raised an eyebrow.

Black adoring my cheeks for once again making a fool out of myself, I quickly explained, “I mean, you, um, non-bats.” I waved a hoof. “I thought the other three tribes were herbivorous.”

“Well, we are,” Midnight admitted, “or rather, used to be. Since the end of the world, most ponies began eating meat as well. It’s easier to get.” she added with a shrug. “Though at first its heavy on your stomach.”

“Huh…” I hummed, both impressed and worried at how much ponies had changed to adapt to the Wasteland. “Anyway, we bat ponies are omnivorous, though the ‘meat’ we have back in Thirty-Nine is nothing compared to this.”

“I shudder to think how you got meat there,” Midnight murmured disinterestedly, concentrating on her dish.

Yeah, I kinda didn’t want to explain to them that stinking ‘farm’ level we have there…

“I’m surprised you hadn’t guessed that after seeing my fangs,” I said instead, shrugging. “Heck, I even have claws,” I added, flexing my wings a bit, then patterning the table with my right claw lightly. “Doesn’t that scream ‘predator’?”

For this description of myself, I was rewarded with a snort from Midnight and another snicker from Hedwig. I glared at the unicorn and the griffin, somewhat offended, but then I noticed the look Scrap was giving me.

Let’s just say that I was glad Hedwig was the one sitting next to me.

“Well, I heard what you’ve told Hedwig, but I wasn’t sure if you weren’t bluffing,” he said, giving me a look that was probably supposed to be seductive. Oddly, it wasn’t working the way he hoped; instead, it was creeping me out. Quickly, I returned to eating to distract myself. “And with my poor eyesight I hadn’t noticed such details of your appearance, to be honest.” Oh, Sweet Merciful Luna, he was smiling now! “I bet those fangs of yours are quite sharp…”

That last comment made me almost choke. I coughed while both him and the griffin giggled. Midnight, on the other hoof, gave a tired sigh and looked up from the plate.

“Scrap, leave him alone,” she said, looking at him sternly. My heart fluttered in my chest, at the sight on her coming to my defense… “He’s been staring at my flank the whole day.” Why, hello, ebony face of embarrassment, why don’t you come over here? “Spare yourself the time and him the grief.”

“Oh, and stop messing with him?” Scrap replied teasingly, amused. “I mean, look how cute he looks, with his face turning all red.”

Thankfully, after that last tidbit, we ate in silence. For a while. My sensitive ears picked up conversations from around us; almost everypony was talking about the same. Raiders. Each pair or group complained, either about being chased out of their homes, or about the surge of refugees. Or about the prices of food. Or about the 303 Company. The increase in crime. The last raider attack.

Everything seemed to concentrate around the raiders. I thought back to what I heard on the radio earlier; DJ Pon3 had said that the reason for them taking over the major settlements in the Capital Wasteland was that they were chased out from Canterlot Ruins by… something. Something that had also now taken out those alicorns… I shuddered to think what that could be. Another group of raiders, but with better weapons maybe?

Just as some ponies sitting two tables away from us began discussing the various raider groups that had taken the surrounding area, my attention was brought back to my immediate surroundings. Hedwig and I had both finished our meals already, while the other two still toiled with theirs. Maybe it was a meat-eater thing, to eat fastly… anyway, the griffin started up a conversation.

“So, Freak,” she started, glancing at me with her big, icy blue eye, “where are you off to next?”

I opened my mouth to give her a reply, though I wasn’t exactly sure what to say, when a sharp pinch to my side and a touch on my hind leg had stopped me. I glanced at Midnight, barely managing to catch the sight of her horn flashing before it disappeared. The unicorn had turned to Hedwig and answered for me; “Why would a 303 be interested were a stable dweller would go?”

Weird... Her horn is no longer flashing. How is she still touching my leg… I thought, glancing down as the feeling not only remained, but began moving upwards.

There was a thin, white tail that ended with a tuft brushing my hind leg’s inner side.

I tried my best to keep my face composed (as opposed to goggling at Hedwig while murmuring something barely comprehensible). By some miracle, I began flexing my wings after having them folded for so long just right before Hedwig started talking, so nopony realized that I had a wingboner. But somehow, I doubted Midnight and Scrap’s obliviousness would last long. I glanced at Hedwig. She was keeping a straight face as she looked at the other female, as if her tail wasn’t…. going higher...

By the way, as my previous interactions with the opposite sex were practically non-existent, a certain part of me began replying immediately. So… yeah, as much as my body was appreciating the attention it was receiving, (oh, who am I kidding, all of me was excited, not just my dick), I really would have wished Hedwig would have waited until some other time. Like when we wouldn’t be in a public place, with the closest thing I have for friends sitting right next to me.

And before you ask, no, I couldn’t just move away, I was already leaning against the wall of the diner when she started. The only way for me to move away from her (which I’ll admit, didn’t really came to my mind) would be getting up. The fear of getting arrested for showing my junk in public aside, I would have most likely killed myself from the embarrassment.

As I tried to not explode (unfortunately, literally), my mind becoming blank, the griffin replied to Midnight. “I’m sure such revered mercenary such as yourself knows that we griffins - well, most of us, anyway,” she amended, rolling her eyes “- really value honor, right?”

Midnight nodded, though even to somepony as dense as me it was clear that she did so reluctantly, even in my current situation.

“Thanks to him helping me and the twins back in the tunnels, we were able to uphold to our contract with the Capital Station today,” Hedwig continued, her tail continuing to brush up and down my leg… and constantly going a little bit higher each time. “Given how many ghouls there were in the tunnels, we probably wouldn’t have make it in time to save most of those workers… if any. So I owe him. I thought I could repay the favor by tagging along with you lot for a while.”

If I wasn’t concentrating on keeping my face neutral (which was becoming harder, sorry for the pun) I would have probably blinked with surprise at the griffin. Her offer was really unexpected. After all, we hadn’t exactly started our acquaintanceship good; with me beating up her teammates and her pointing a gun to my head. Hardly a way to befriend somebody (Then again, her tail is getting closer to my-), even if she was acting as if all of that was a fun joke to her. Not only that, both Common and Midnight didn’t have too big of an opinion regarding the 303 Company. And while I personally hadn’t seen any reason why that was the case, I still trusted them, which made Hedwig’s offer that much more surprising.

Oh, and wanna know why I stopped that thought earlier? Well, the tuft of her tail just then had brushed my crotch.

While I whimpered quietly, the discussion between the two females went on. “I also helped,” Midnight reminded her, though there was no pretense in her voice. Instead, it was borderline cold, and she narrowed her eyes. “Wanna repay me a favor?”

My mind couldn’t help itself from: Phrasing!

“You only helped us out because he came,” Hedwig retorted… and seemed to want to make those two last words be adequate for something else, as the tuft of her tail was now moving exclusively around my… various parts under there… Anyway, I somehow managed to notice her smiling at Midnight coldly. “So sorry, but you’re gonna need somebody else to pull out that stick out of your ass.”

Somehow, that comment made me forget about my erection and her tail. My jaw dropped as I stared at the griffin. She was still smiling at Midnight, who, in turn, was keeping her face neutral… if you can call the subtle ‘I can murder you anytime I want, you feathery bitch!’ look in her eyes neutral.

Hedwig wasn’t done yet, however.

“Or push it deeper, not sure which you’d like more,” she added, and the smile turned into a smirk.

The silence that followed was more terrifying than the one in the tunnels. When two seconds after Hedwig’s comment Scrap raised from his seat and moved a step away from the table, it seemed as loud as a stable’s reactor.

“Nightkin, I think we should leave them alone,” he said, looking at me meaningfully.

He didn’t even finished that sentence when the griffin’s tails wrapped around my dick and squeezed.

“Thanks, I’m fine over here!” I squeaked through the ecstasy and embarrassment, perhaps a bit too quick.

Now even if I wanted to leave (which I kinda wasn’t sure I did anymore, as Hedwig’s tail began… doing things, while the tuft brushed against my balls) I couldn’t. Which made this next part soo much more uncomfortable…

Scrap looked at me weirdly, probably surprised by both my reply and the strange tone of voice I uttered it with, but before he could ask me what was wrong, Midnight turned to me. “Nightkin? A word.”

She tilted her head in the direction to the corridor leading from the main room into the two toilets.

“Um, now?” I mumbled.

Once again, I was experiencing the greatest pleasure I ever felt up to that point, And I really didn’t want to stand up…

Unfortunately, Midnight was already getting up. “Yes, now. I want to speak with you in private,” she replied as she looked at me emotionlessly. “Do you have a problem with that?”

Yes! I wanted to scream, I’m getting a tailjob! For Celestia’s burning tits’ sake, how I was supposed to get out of this? I quickly shoot Hedwig a pleading look, but she just grinned at me. Her tail actually hastened in its efforts, Dear Luna how was she even doing that? Midnight continued to wait for me, while Scrap was looking at me puzzled. Thank the goddesses that neither of them stood far away enough from the table to see what was going on under it, but I doubted they wouldn’t figure out this soon.

I need to get into that corridor, I need to get into that corridor, I repeated mindlessly in my head… with the occasional Oh merciful Luna, this feels sooooooo amazing…

I doubted I could just fly there, in hopes of masking my erection by turning against the wall. For one thing, I wasn’t fast enough to turn around before they would see my dick. For other, Hedwig’s tail’s hold on my was strong, trust me.

I turned my eye away from the griffin to Midnight, then past her to the edge of corridor. I concentrated, trying to think how in Celestia’s dripping marehood I was supposed to get there…

… and then, after a brief dark flash, I was right there.

Only because my desire to hide my erection from everybody did I not stayed there staring stupidly around. Instead, I just bolted into the dark corner of the corridor, shouting over my shoulder: “Yeah, I can teleport!”

I sit down there waiting for Midnight, after wrapping my tail under myself to hide my member. The missing feeling of Hedwig’s tail bobbing up and down it was annoyingly distracting, but I somehow managed to stay focused enough to figure out just what in Tartarus had happened.

I’ve recalled seeing some other bat ponies back in Thirty-Nine doing the same thing. It was an ability called Shadow Flight. It allowed a bat pony to “teleport”, so to speak, over a short distance. I’ve never done it before; which, to be fair, wasn’t that much of a surprise. I was, after all, still rather young (further proved by the lack of my cutie mark), and not every bat pony could learn how to do all our abilities.

My inner pondering was interrupted by Midnight appearing from around the corner and walking towards me. “Teleporting?” she asked, glancing at me with mild annoyance.

I risked a quick glance down to make sure my shame was covered before turning to her. “Yeah, um… it’s actually called ‘Shadow Flight’.” I told her and added that I can only do it over a short distance.

“And you didn’t mention it earlier because…” she trailed off, obviously meaning for me to finish.

“It… skipped my mind,” I replied, blushing. I didn’t want to go into how I couldn’t do it before now, because then she would inquire what had caused me to do that then.

“Any more surprises I should know of?”

“Um…” You know, that was a good question. Was there more? I vaguely recalled some of what I heard back in school about bat ponies powers… Crap, maybe I shouldn’t have slept through most of them? Or… all of them? “I don’t think so?” I offered weakly. Midnight glared at me. “What?!” I exclaimed. “Do you know every spell a unicorn can learn?!”

She rolled her eyes, “Whatever,” the blue unicorn sighed. “Lets get back to business. You aren’t exactly going to let that griffin tag along with us, aren’t you?”

Seeing how she was the first living being ever that touched my dick, you can probably guess how this will go.

… Okay, the first living being that touched my dick other than me, are you happy now?

“Why wouldn’t I?!” I asked, a bit too hastily. I cursed mentally as Midnight raised an eyebrow at my sudden defensiveness. “I mean, she just wants to repay the favor, right? You yourself admitted that griffins value honor.”

“That most griffins value honor,” she corrected me. “But it’s not the matter of honor I have issue with, it’s the fact that she’s a 303.”

“Celestia’s tits, that again,” I sighed irritably as I facehoofed. Granted, I somewhat expected this to be the reason, but I was getting tired of her attitude. “Look, what is your deal with those 303 guys?! All I know that they are a big mercenary group that will take any kind of contract. I don’t get why you have to distrust Hedwig just because of that!”

Midnight stared at me for a while with narrow eyes, and despite myself I shrunk back a little in fear. I forgot how scary she could be.

On the plus side, I no longer had an erection. Yay…

The blue unicorn had finally opened her mouth to reply. The cold look didn’t change, though. “A few years back, there was this big caravan leaving Friendship City. It’s town off the coast near Manehattan’s ruins. I was heading back for Palamino anyway, so I joined them as a guard. There were sixteen guards in total with me, and ten of them were from 303 Company.”

She paused to snarl and swish her tail in irritation. Something must have really pissed her about that memory, I thought. She quickly calmed down and resumed her tale: “Between the bloodwings, the raiders, the few alicorns and some other shit that track hadn’t been easy. We often had to fight, and groups of mercs that had just met aren’t exactly good at cooperating. So soon it was only me left with nine from 303. And believe it or not, I had actually grown quite fond of them. Especially of their group leader, who coincidentally happened to be a griffin.”

“Why would I not believe that?” I asked; yeah, she was kinda… cold, but she didn’t seem like a bad pony. She was looking out for me because she Miss Common asked her to, but she did seem genuinely sad for those brief seconds when she thought I was dead.

I think.

And besides, Miss Common called her a friend and trusted her, which probably meant a lot more than my observation of her.

Midnight ignored my question and continued: “Anyway, like I said, she and I become friends during those weeks. One night, we were just outside of Canterlot; we made a camp for the night after fighting off some raiders. We were all - guards and merchants - talking, eating, laughing, and all that good shit.” Her voice became warm for a moment, but then both it and her expression became darker than before. “Then one of the 303 gets a message through his radio. It was an update on their ‘bounty list’. One of the merchants, a father of three kids on that note, was on them.”

My eyes widened. “So what happened?” I asked her, wondering if I really wanted to know the rest of this story.

“What do you think, genius?” Midnight snorted. “They all reached for their guns.”

My jaw began quivering. “But… but they were supposed to protect them!” I shouted, and I noticed that in the parlor the older mare that sat behind the counter resting looked at me. Lowering my voice, I turned back to Midnight. “Miss Common told me they don’t go against their contracts.”

“Their contract, like mine, said that they had to protect the caravan,” the unicorn replied. “It said nothing about individual members of it.”

Miss Common’s words came back to me: “They will stay loyal to the contract, but they’re bad news. They would have gladly destroyed the town if somepony had paid them.”

“What happened next?” I asked weakly.

“I pointed my gun at them and asked them what was this about. They explained, and Hestra told me that if I want, I can get a share. I told them no and to drop their guns, and... that bitch…”

I almost jumped into the air when she stomped, her face converted into a snarl.

“That bitch looked at me with pity, said ‘Sorry, then,’ and fucking shot me!” Midnight exclaimed, taking a step towards me, and then another. “ If I hadn’t kept a few secrets of my trade from her, I would have been dead! That’s what 303 are; a bunch of greedy mercs who have no morals! Do you understand now!?”

We were now standing inches away from each other, and while a few hours ago I might have liked an idea of that, now I was beyond scared. And yet, as I looked into the beautiful unicorns’ scorching eyes, I somehow managed to stay my ground.

“Midnight, I…” I stuttered, wondering what exactly I wanted to say. “I’m sorry about that, but… you can’t judge Hedwig just because what that Hestra had done-”

The brief disbelief in her eyes, followed up by anger, told me to shut up. For a moment I was sure she was going to strike me, and I desperately wondered just how I had used the Shadow Flight earlier.

After five seconds that seemed to last forever, Midnight had finally turned away from me. “Fine then,” she said without looking back as she trotted towards the ladies room, “do as you please. But if she turns on you, I won’t lift a hoof to help you.”

I stared after her. Words of defense of Hedwig were on the tip of my tongue, but something was stopping me from uttering them. And that something was not fear, but… sadness. I felt sad for Midnight. She had been betrayed by somebody she had thought a friend, and still bore a wound from what had happened that day.

She paused to look back at me as her hoof pushed against the door. “We’ll leaving within the next hour, and we probably won’t be back until tomorrow. So take this chance and wash yourself.”

With this words, she entered the lady’s room, leaving me in the small hallway.

As I rubbed my coat with some detergent I had found in the toilet, trying to clean it off the blood, I kept going over in my head what Midnight had told me. As there were no showers in there, only sinks, the task of cleaning was taking a while, so I had a lot of time to think about it. Suddenly, some patterns of her behaviour began to make sense to me; she had been shot by somebody that she had considered a friend, and now she… well, wasn’t too friendly.

I wondered if Scrap knew about that. No, I decided. I recalled the comment he made, about offending somebody that Midnight considered a friend. If he knew about Hestra, he wouldn’t have made such remark. Midnight is rather intimidating, it wouldn’t be smart from him to do so. He knows only that she doesn’t have a lot of friends.

Miss Common had asked her to accompany me until I return to Desert Station. That meant we were going to spend at least the next few weeks together. Even if I would find the water talisman in this stable Scrap and I had discovered, I still planned to go to Ponyville. Miss Common wanted something from there, and I was going to get it for her… right after I’d figure out how to deal with the slavers… and how to pass through the raider controlled territory…

I shook my head, deciding to think about that later. Right now I had to try and figure out how to deal with Midnight… and Hedwig.

The thoughts of her and what she was doing to me made me feel a bit hotter, despite cleaning myself with cold water. Were all griffins like her? So… agressive? And for that matter, why was she interested in me? I didn’t do anything particularly impressive when she was near… unless getting buried alive and almost bleed to death after getting mugged counted as impressive…

Now that I began thinking about her, she was certainly attractive, in this exotic kinda way. While I had doubts how she could kiss anybody with that beak, it seemed cute to me; her talons and paws would certainly feel interesting if she would press them against my coat; when recalling her big feathery wings, I had a sudden urge to bury my muzzle into them and preen her feathers. The look of her blue eyes, circled by a patch of purple fur, her white coat and feathers with black spots on her neck…

I stopped myself when I noticed what affect those kind of thought had on my body. Down boy! I thought in panic as I splashed some cold water on it.

I really needed to get my barding back on quickly.

Once my penis pulled back to its sheath I finished cleaning myself. I looked into the mirror with satisfaction, seeing my grayish fur once again clean. Well, as much as clean went in the Wasteland; I suppose I should start getting used to the thought of being dirty most of the time, I thought as I began to dry myself with a towel… which wasn’t exactly dry, but whatever.

My efforts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. I glanced, wondering if that was Scrap, but instead I saw… probably the most odd looking pony in the entire Wasteland.

It was a buck, and earth pony to be specific. What made him so odd, you ask? Well... while his coat was dark yellow, his mane was… in the colors of the rainbow. No, I’m not kidding. He really have a seven-colored mane, which was cut short, adding to the ridiculousness of how it looked. And that’s not all! He also wore not some rugged clothes, a protective barding or a jumpsuit, which was all that I saw ponies wear so far, but a suit. A black pre-war suit, with white shirt underneath it and a necktie.

I don’t think there ever was a pony more contrasting with the environment he was in.

The strange pony glanced at me while I stared at him as he trotted towards the urinals. “What? he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Do I have something on my suit?”

“No, just…” I stuttered momentarily, thinking how to best explain why I was staring. “I’ve never seen a pony wearing such fine clothes.”

“Well, that’s understandable,” he replied as he rose on his hind legs to do his business. Politely, I turned around. “Guess you’ve never been in Applewood, huh?”

“Can’t say I was,” I shrugged, forgetting he couldn’t see me. “I just left my Stable the other day.”

“So what are you, exactly?” the rainbow-maned asked over the sound of a small stream of liquid falling into the urinal.

“A bat pony.”

“Oh right, I heard about you on the radio… Dark Crusader, right?”

I facehoofed. “I prefer Nightkin. So what are you doing in the Capitat Station?” I asked out of curiosity. “Applewood is rather far from here.”

“Running errands for the casino,” he replied as my ears reached a rather unpleasant for another guy flapping sound. “Normally the we send couriers, but since Boss went missing, we had to send them looking for him.”

I recalled DJ Pon3’s announcement that I’ve listened to just a few hours earlier, about the chairmen of a casino there had been gone for the last two weeks and nobody had seen him alive. This buck must be working for him… or used to, at least.

Since I figured it would be rather unwise to inquire about his missing boss, I asked instead “What do you do normally then?”

To my surprise, he snorted briefly. “Heh, please,” he replied, furthering confusion, as he began washing his hooves. “So, how’s the Wasteland treating you?”

“You mean between getting blown to bits and having tunnels collapse with me inside while fighting a horde of feral ghouls?” I asked, and despite still slightly shaking at the memory of those things, I smirked seeing the other pony’s glancing at me with surprise. “Not so bad.”

He chuckled. “I like you,” he said, drying his hooves. “You’ve got a good sense of humor for a stable bumpkin.” I rolled my eyes at that; by this point, those jokes about stable ponies were getting old for me. We both turned to leave the toilet; I hold the door for him as he followed. “Tell you what, boy; as a welcoming gift to the Wasteland, I will give you a quick lesson how to live.”

I opened my mouth to ask him what he meant by that, but he quickly added: “Oh, and by the way, my name is Suit Up.”

Fitting, I thought, shaking his hoof. The next second he grabbed and pulled me to himself, his other hoof seizing my shoulders in patronizing manner. “Lesson one: cut down your mane,” Suit Up said, pointing at it. “A longer mane doesn’t go with your suit.”

“Um…” I looked at him as if he was crazy. “I’m not wearing a suit.”

Without missing a beat, he continued: “Lesson two: get a suit.”

Is this guy some kind of a salespony?

The odd pony continued: “Suit’s are cool. Exhibit A” he added, pointing at himself.

“Where would I even get a suit?!”

Suit Up rolled his eyes and reached to his side with his mouth, and pulled out a calling card out of a pocket. “Here’,” he said as I took it why my wing, The card had a bit CAESAR'S GRAVE CASINO written on it. “Pop in when you get to Applewood and my people will get you one. Now, where was I… right! Lesson three: don’t even think about getting married till you're thirty.”

I blinked and looked away. Is this guy for real?

We continued to trot slowly back to the dinner’s main hall as he talked. “Lesson four: never sleep with a girl who is more crazy than hot.”

I was officially beyond confused. “I… what?”

“Stable ponies know nothing…” Suit Up murmured as he stopped. “Okay, it’s like this: every girl - doesn’t matter if a pony, griffin, or whatever - is crazy, but it’s okay, as long she’s equally hot.”

I began regretting that I talked to the guy when he entered the toilet. Suit Up lifted a hoof and began drawing lines in the air to illustrate what he was talking about.

“Thus, if the girl is this crazy,” he pointed, then his hoof rose higher, “she has to be this hot. If she’s this crazy,” he pointed further on the imaginary line, “she has to be that hot. You want to keep the girl above this line,” Suit Up said, his hoof sliding from one point to another, “, also knowns as the Milk Way Diagonal.”

Despite feeling that I will regret it, I shot him a questioning look.

“This mare I dated,” he grimaced. “She played jump rope with that line. She shaved her head; then lost ten pounds. She stabbed me with a fork; then get a nipple job…” I glanced at him as he unexpectedly trailed off. He was pondering something- “I should give her a call…”

And that’s my cue to leave. I tried to get away from his foreleg, but he gripped my tighter and continued trotting. Resigned, I followed him.

“Lesson five: don’t be afraid to talk to a girl, even though you will probably fail to pick her up.” What kind of lesson was that?! “Let me pick a target for you…”

He began to scan the ponies sitting in the diner, while I wondered if I could use Shadow Flight to get away from him… when I suddenly felt him freeze. I glanced at him surprised and saw a pure terror on his face. Faster than I could react, he turned around and high-tailed back into the corridor, jumping out of the window.

Confused, I turned to see what he was looking at… and found myself staring at Midnight’s furrowed muzzle.

My head was buzzing with questions. I gave her a weak smile and shrugged, then flew after Suit Up. I wanted to know how those two had met; I know Midnight well enough to know that there was no way that she would have slept with him, so that ruled out the first possible explanation as to was that about.

I flew out the window, searching for the rainbow-maned buck… and saw him digging himself out of the dumpster that was right below the window.

Stifling a laugh, I landed next to him. “Are you okay?”

“Sure, I’m awesome,” he replied nonchalantly as he shook slightly.

Amazingly, his suit was practically untouched.

“What was that about?” I asked him. “Did something happen between you and Midnight.”

“Oh, you know her?” I nodded, while he chuckled. “Heh, I wish there was… but nah, never nailed her. Got my ass kicked plenty of times, though. Speaking of, I’d better get out town before she decides to follow me.”

I was about to ask him how he planned to do that - the train had already left back to the Desert Station - as he reached for something in his suit. The small black device he pulled out was recognizable even to me: a short-wave radio.

“Top Gun, this is Suit Up,” he said to it once he turned it on and pressed to his ear. “I’m in front of Mom’s Diner. Pick me up, over.”

“Already?” from the radio came a surprised sounding reply, then a sight. “Okay, I’ll be there in a moment, over.”

“Good, over and out,” Suit Up said, turning off the device.

As he hid the radio back into the inner packet of his suit, he spotted me giving him an inquiring look. “What, you didn’t think I’ve walked all the way from Applewood, did you?”

“Kinda,” I admitted. How else was he supposed to get here other than by hooves and train?

“Well, my friend, prepare to be amazed,” Suit Up said, and just as he had finished that sentance, a very loud noise sounded unexpectedly nearby.

I looked around, trying to locate the source of the noise… and then my jaw dropped. A giant, red-and-gold painted machine was raising from behind some buildings, propelled by a giant rotors mounted on rotating engine. I watched astonished as it gradually got higher and closer.

Suit Up didn’t even bother to try and hide smugness from his voice. “This, my fresh-out-of-a-stable friend, is a CV-02 Vertibuck that belongs to Caesar’s Grave Casino, the Danger Zone!” he called over the noise the machine was making. “You have no idea how much pain it was to get this out of Las Pegasus’ ruins into Applewood before the Brotherhood got their hooves on it and then make it work again, but damn it was worth it!”

I was left speechless as I gazed at the giant pile of metal that flew towards. Some part of my brain made a note of a rope ladder being dropped from the side doors.

“Well,” Suit Up spoke up as the ladder stopped in front of him. “it was nice meeting you kid. Pop up in the casino when you have some time, we could go on a pickup hunt together, It’s will be LEGEND-wait for it…” he trailed off as he grabbed the ladder. Almost immediately, the Vertibuck began rising, pulling Suit up with him. “-DARY!” he shouted back and gave me a small salute.

I just continued to stare after him for the next few seconds. Finally, I regained some sense, and asked out loud: “What the fuck just happened?”

“Where you’ve been?” Scrap asked as I trotted back to the table.

“Didn’t you hear the freaking Vertibuck outside?” I answered with a question as I made unnecessarily large circle around Hedwig to get to my saddlebags under the table.

The snow-colored griffin had such a fake innocent smile that even if that tail thing had happened to somebody else, I would have still known something was up. I forced myself to look away from her and dove for my barding.

“What Vertibuck?” Scrap asked, confused.

I looked up from under the table and gazed at him sharply with shock, which faded away and was replaced by irritation and amusement as I saw Midnight hitting him with a rolled up magazine.

“Geez, cannot even make a joke around you,” he pouted as he rubbed the place she hit.

Midnight didn’t even respond to him. Instead, she turned to me. “So that WAS Suit Up I saw with you,” she said, looking annoyed. “What did he want from you?”

“We made some small talk, and he, well…” I paused to think how to best describe what he was exactly talking about. “... um, began giving me some advice…” The look on Midnight’s face told me she had figured out what sort of advice he tried to give me. “I didn’t ask for it!” I quickly added. “But then he saw you and just ran away.”

That last part made the blue unicorn crack a smile. “Good to know he still remembers me. By any chance, he didn’t say anything about his missing boss, did he?”

“Well, he did mention that because of him being gone he had a lot more things to do than normally.”

Midnight sighed and hid her face in her fore hooves. “And you of course didn’t think to pry him for more information, right?” Despite asking, she didn’t wait for my answer (which, considering how stupid she just made me feel, was probably a good thing). The unicorn threw her leg into the air and leaned against the wall. “For Goddesses’ sake, it’s like traveling with a kid!”

“Oh, give me a break!” I snorted, embarrassed and annoyed at her comment. As I pulled my new barding from the saddlebags, I added. “And besides, I am only sixteen anyway, so-”

“WHAT?!”

I looked up at the sound of three surprised voices. All of them said the same thing at the same time, and all had a matching expression of utter shock.

“What?” I asked in return. “How old did you think I was?”

“Well, I figured you were at least couple years younger,” Midnight began, being the first to recover, “but sixteen… and they send you to find the water talisman? Seriously?”

“If you really must know,” I said, somewhat offended by her words, “the Overmare gathered a bunch of us and made us draw to decide who would get send.”

Tired already of this topic, I turned to look at my barding instead. I smiled as I sawd the proud 39 on the blue suit, now protected by the armor plates from the executive Magic Gun’s combat armor. I wondered how this would look on me, and I didn’t waste more time to check it out.

“When this is all over,” I hear Midnight mutter as I put my barding on, “I think I will tag along with you back to your Stable so I can slap that bitch for sending a kid into the Wasteland.”

I pulled my head through the barding and looked at her. “Um… thanks?” What else was I supposed to say? I finished dressing and looked around my body. I looked badass! I rose into air and made a barrel to get a better look at some parts, as well as test my movements, which weren’t hindered at all. “Thanks for getting my barding fixed, too.”

Midnight waved a hoof, dismissively. I paused to see if she at least smiled, but no such luck. Guess she’s still pissed…

Speaking of…

“So,” Hedwig began, “how about my offer?”

I looked at her. She was smiling as if she knew what my answer was going to be. Did she did that just to convince me? I wondered, and a suspicion that maybe Midnight was on to something aroused in my head.

“Won’t your boss have something against it?” I asked her to gain some time to make my decision.

She blinked, surprised by the question, but she quickly shrugged. “Capital Station has a contract for protection with the 303 Company entirely. So it’s up to our boss, Sky’ree, who guards the city. If I mention that it’s a debt of honor thing, he won’t have anything against it, as long as whatever you’re up to won’t go against any of our other contracts.” She glanced at me and added: “On that note, what are you up to? I don’t believe you told me before somebody interrupted us.”

Midnight was avoiding my gaze, and Scrap just shrugged. Very helpful guys…

“Well,” I sighed, turning back to the griffin, “as Midnight had mentioned, I was sent by the Overmare of my Stable to find a water talisman.” Hedwig nodded. “On our way here, we kinda came upon the knowledge of unexplored Stable, a few hours trot from Capital Station. I hoped to get into and find a water talisman; provided their inhabitants won’t have anything against it.”

“Considering they’re most likely dead, I don’t think they will,” Hedwin commented, taking a sip from her drink.

“Hey! My Stable is working perfectly!” I exclaimed, taking the offense on the remark.

“Yeah, and that’s why you’re here,” she smiled drily.

I groaned and facehoofed. She had me there.

“Even if this Stable's dwellers are alive,” Scrap interjected, “there will be still a chance that they will have a spare one, or maybe locations of the nearby stables in their databanks. Stable-Tech’s standard safety protocol,” he added when I looked at him surprised. “When Stable-Tech had buil them, they expected that some things might go wrong, or that people in panic will try to go to wrong stable. With the locations of the nearby stables, the stable dwellers could go for help, and the security could redirect ponies to the stable they had a pass for.” He stopped his lecture and looked at me oddly. “Come to think of it, I’m kinda surprised that your Overmare hadn’t given you the location of the stables near yours. Surely they must have them in their databanks…”

“Well, she didn’t give me anything,” I said, glancing at my PipBuck. My PipBuck which, for some reason, had an outdated spell matrix.

“Another reason to slap that bitch,” Midnight snorted, then looked at me sharply. “I don’t think you’re that kind of stupid to forget if she had given you those locations… right?”

I somehow suppressed the urge to roll my eyes and snort, and just nodded. I turned back to Hedwig. “So, we’re going there now. Does your Company’s contract have anything against it?”

“Not that I can think off,” she shrugged. “So, what’s your decision?”

She looked at me intensively and smirked. “Well…” I mumbled, feeling unsure under her gaze. “The more the merrier, I always say.”

“Great,” Hedwig replied, smiling. “I hate have unpaid debts.” She extended one of legs with open talons. I have her my hoof and we shook on it. “I will get you to that Stable and then back, and we will be even.”

Her grip on my hoof tightened for a brief moment and she winked. With her right at that, so the others didn’t see it.

“A-awesome,” I managed to reply. “It’s a deal.”

The smile on her beak became wider, giving her a rather scary look, but she quickly let go of my hoof and began to stand up, so I might have imagined it.

“I need to tell my boss about it. I’ll meet you guys at the gates.” She waved without turning back. “Later.”

We all replied with something along those lines. My eyes stayed for a few moments on her flank and tail wondering what was that wing supposed to mean, before I turned around… and saw Midnight and Scrap looking at me with a matching expression of accusation.

“Please tell me you’re not bringing her along on a slim hope that she will let you bone her,” Midnight asked, more annoyed than angry.

“What?!” I exclaimed, terrified that they knew what was happening under the table. “N-no, why would you think that!?” I asked, feeling very hot.

I didn’t need to see their sceptical faces to know that they didn’t believe me. Midnight and Scrap exchanged a look. “We’re heading into a raiders’ territory with a freaking horny teenager,” the unicorn summed up, once more burying her face in her hooves. “I’m getting so drunk after we get back…”

Scrap chuckled as he rose from his seat. “Well, that will be a sight worth surviving this trip. Besides, aren’t you overdramatizing?”

“Maybe a bit,” she admitted. “Where are you going?”

“I figure I’d better get some heavier equipment,” the earth pony buck replied, smirking. “I’ll catch up with you at the gates.”

With those words, he nodded to Midnight and winked at me. Too stressed out by everything I just waved as he turned around and left.

Midnight was still covering her face. Against my better judgement, I asked: “Are you okay?”

She looked at me sharply. “Yeah, just dandy,” she growled. The unicorn shook her head and stood up. “Let’s just go.”

I followed her out of the diner, worried. I didn’t mean to cause her that much of distress… But what could I do about it? Compared to her, I was weak and helpless.

Once we were outside, the blue unicorn turned to me: “I need to deliver something to someone. Can I trust you to go by yourself to the gate and possibly not get into any trouble?”

I quailed under her gaze. I could try to tell her that she didn’t need to treat me like a little kid, but… I had this feeling that in such discussion she would be proven right. So instead, I just sighed. “Yes, I will go to the gate and wait for everybody.”

“I mean it,” Midnight said, narrowing her eyes. “No wandering in and out of the city, no-”

“Yes, I got it,” I stopped her, then something hit me. “Wait, why aren’t I coming with you?”

She sighed. “Because that somebody I have a package for is Smitten Hammer, the town’s mechanic. He’s… kinda paranoid. It’s best to not overwhelm him, trust me.”

“Okay then… see you later,” I said as I unfolded my wings and soared a foot or two above the ground.

Midnight nodded and turned in another direction, but she quickly glanced back for one last barb. “If I find that in the meantime you took a cyberdragon as a pet I will shoot you in few places.”

With those words she began to trot away. I, on the other hoof, stared at her dumbfoundedly.

“A cyber what?”

I looked through the scope of my hunting rifle at the surrounding Wasteland, bored out of my mind. According to my PipBuck, it’s been only fifteen minutes since I parted with Midnight. To me, it seemed much longer.

Finding an exit from the town is surprisingly easy when one can fly. Even if the said one is too afraid to fly to high. I reached the gate and sat atop of the wall, conscious of the curious gazes from both the 303 mercs and the city’s guards. I soon moved a bit further away, out of their vision, even though they soon lost their interest in me.

The area surrounding us was… well, not similar to what I saw on the other side of the mountains. After all, Palamino was a desert. This part of Equestria was lush green before the Last Day, and further north and east were forests. However, the balefire had poisoned the land, A dried up patches of grass and shriveled black husks of trees were all that remained from those days.

I decided to look around through my scope, while at the same time I practiced some things I had read about in Guns and Bullets, namely about how one should hold their weapon. As I tried it now, I had realized what was giving me so much problems with shooting it; it was too heavy. My grip on it wasn’t strong enough to hold the gun steadily, which let me to missing so many times back in those Luna damned tunnels.

On the plus side, though, I hadn’t spotted any raider-looking pony. There also weren’t any strange creatures, for which I was grateful. I might have taken down that manticore, but it was a stroke of luck I shouldn’t count too often.

From this boring task of mine pulled me the sound of large feathery wings beating nearby. My ears twitched as the sound got closer. I looked at back, guessing who I was going to see.

“Hi Hedwig,” I said awkwardly, managing a smile. “So what did your boss say?”

“He gave me a go,” she grinned predatorily.

I was prepared to try to use Shadow Flight again if she gave me a reason.

“See anything interesting?” she asked nonchalantly, looking around.

Keeping my ears on her, I turned back to the Wasteland. “Nah, nothing as far as I can tell-”

She was fast. Way faster than I expected. Even with my ears detecting that she moved. I was still in the process of my brain telling my body what to do when I heard my rifle fall on the wall with a clank! and felt her talons clasps gently around my throat. As gently as having sharp griffin talons grab you by the throat could be.

I was so shocked that I even forgot to use Shadow Flight.

“How about we talk a bit more honestly for a while,” she whispered to my ear as her free foreleg wrapped around me. “Oh, and before you try that teleportation thing again…” she trailed off while I mentally facehoofed. I was about to try just that when I noticed something.

Her right foreleg was going lower, slipping under my barding…

“... here’s something to entertain you.” Hedwig said sultry as her talons grabbed my HELLO!

For the second time in like an hour I felt a piece of her body touch a rather sensitive part of my body. This time it was bigger, though, even if covered in golden scales and sharp. But she wasn’t hurting me; in fact, she was almost gentle as he played with my-

“So, let’s cut to the chase, shall we,” Hedwig asked, still holding me by my throat, although her greep grew more loose. “What’s that unicorn’s problem with me?”

“Midnight?” I asked stupidly.

“Yes. You see, I would prefer to not have to constantly watch over my shoulder” she said, then paused. “My, somebody is eager here!” she giggled.

You know, mentioning another girl when something is playing with your junk has a surprising effect of speeding up something that is already happening rapidly.

As if to make this more as much uncomfortable for me as possible, Hedwig continued to giggle. “Nice,” she whispered as her talons grabbed my thing, making me whimper. “Not the biggest I had, but still nice… oh, don’t pretend that you don’t enjoy it.”

Then came movement. OH SWEET PUSSYJUICE OF CELESTIA!

I gasped and whimpered. “Sixteen, right?” Hedwig chuckled. “Guessing by that and your reactions, so far only you had played with that, huh?”

I could feel her pressing her body to my back. Some part of my mind that was somehow still working noticed that I wasn’t the one getting excited with this situation.

“Maybe I will introduce you to an adult life all the way… but first business,” she whispered and her talons slowed their work. “What’s her problem?”

Of course, I spilled the beans almost at once. Pressure in my dick aside, what she said earlier made my brain implode. “She had a friend from 303 that tried to kill her over some bounty!” I exclaimed as my body tried to hump into her palm by reflex. The pressure was building up…

“Great, so because some asshole tried to off her she might want to kill me,” Hedwig snorted. She let go of my throat and moved her talons down my chest, “What a stupid -Whoa!”

One of the glorious perks of being a virgin; something touches your dick, and you’ll explode almost immediately. I had my eyes closed, so I didn’t see it happen, but I imagine that the sight of my cum shooting from atop of the wall must have been funny looking.

“And here I thought about taking it a bit further,” Hedwig giggled with disappointment as my muscle started becoming limp in her palm. “Oh, well, guess you will have something to hope for when we get back.”

“W-wait!” I gasped. I was already beyond embarrassment, but I didn’t want my first sexual experience to end just like that. “Um… shouldn’t I at least… r-return the favor?” I asked sheepishly turning around positive that my face looked as if I dove through charcoal.

“Oh?” she asked, cocking her head in amusement. “You think you can get me off with your hooves?”

“I… I thought more along the lines of... tongue?” I asked hopefully and ashamed.

Hedwig’s glared at me alluringly. “Hm… that is a tempting offer…” she whispered as she used one of her talons to scratch my chin. I all but melted. “I like you. You’re a pony… but at the same time, you’re a predator,” she grinned her her talon moved to my face and stopped at my fangs. “And yet you’re as timid as a prey… You’re really interesting,” Hedwig’s said, after which she laid on her back, and taking off the lower pieces of her armor. When she was done, she held her legs wide with her front paws. I could already see the tuft of fur between her legs dripping and ready for attention as her tail swished from left to right.

Not waiting for any clearer invitation, I dove in, eager to get a close look… except I didn’t use my eyes but my tongue. I already had a hard time controlling myself from where I stood, but when I was just inches away, the scent of her juices overwhelmed me.

I began licking the moist area, finding the taste of the griffin to be nothing but delicious. Soon I slipped my tongue in the warm flesh inside… and then it happened.

“Oh, fuck!” Hedwig, who have been purring quietly until now, gasped. “What did you… ughhhh!”

She took one of her fore paws from her hind leg to cover her beak and mask the loud moan that rose in her throat. You see, there is a little bit about bat pony that I hadn’t mentioned yet. Our tongues, while identical in muscle structure to other ponies, could stretch much further than theirs, about twice as long. I dimly recalled some scientist using that fact as a prove that in ancient times we must have used those tongues of ours for drinking… something…

Well, whatever it was, I was now using mine to please a griffin. Evolution.

I must admit, I took great satisfaction as Hedwig began to arch her back and trash around, all because of a little virgin me. The gasp that she was masking to not alert the guards to what was happening just around the corner from their post were a music to my ears. And when she came I let it all stick to my face, bathing myself in her scent.

I rose from between her legs to look at the gasping griffin. Hedwig lifted her head to ask; “H-how… what did you do?” while gazing at my covered in her juices face

I reply, I once again stretched out my tongue as far as possible and licked her off my face.

Hedwig’s eyes grew widen when she saw that. “Oh, I’m definitely keeping that…” I heard her murmur.

As I finished cleaning myself, I noticed there was another part of my body that needed attention. My interaction with Hedwig were enough to reawaken the one that had shamed me by his lack of restraint and now it sought a chance for redemption.

“Hey, Hedwig…” I said sheepishly turning to her.

The grin on her face was almost heartbreaking.

“Sorry. As tempting as it is, I don’t think we have the time.” she replied, getting up and reattaching her armor. “That unicorn friend of yours is in bitchy mood as it is.”

“We can do it quickly…” I tried pathetically, not wanting things to end so soon.

“Oh, I don’t doubt that,” she smirked, making me blush. “But, you see, there is a problem.” Hedwig added, coming closer to whisper something to my ear. “You don’t make a griffin female moan and whimper if you do not have the muscle to back it up. Next time… I’m going to ride you until you won’t be able to walk, Prey.”

I had the weirdest boner right then.

She giggled as she pulled back, seeing my mixed terrified-aroused expression. “Lets go,” she said, turning around and brushing my nose with her tail. “My place is not far away, we can clean ourselves up quickly.

Hedwig spread her wings and flew off, and I, reluctantly, followed, barely remembering to pick up my rifle. I caught up with her quickly, and since something just hit me regarding what she had said, I asked her: “Hey, you do know that without me my tongue is just a blob of meat, right?”

The gates of Capital station closed behind Midnight and Scrap as swiftly as they had opened. Hedwig and I just flew over them, though I had quickly rejoined our earth-bound companions, still not used to flying too high.

“What took you two so long?” Midnight asked me as soon as I landed.

By the time Hedwig and I returned to the gate, Midnignt and Scrap - who now had a battle-saddle on with a rocket launcher strapped into it - were already waiting at the gate, and only crossed it when they saw us.

“Oh, um,” I stattered. “You guys were taking so long that I asked Hedwig to show me some flying moves. You couldn’t get a good practice back in a crampy Stable, you know? Anyway, let’s go!” I exclaimed, smiling widely as I flew just above the ground in the direction of the Stable.

Behind me, I heard Midnight call out to Hedwig: “Couldn’t you wait to fuck him until we would got back?”

Footnote: 20% to next level.
Quest Perk Added: Pony Sutra – You are experienced in the art of giving and receiving physical pleasure. You are more likely to have sexual encounters with specific characters.
Racial Trait Unlocked: Shadow Flight - You are able to instantly teleport over a distance of a few yards, as long as it’s within your eyesight.

Fallout: Equestria - One Hundred and Fifty Nights

by Borsuq

Chapter 1 - How it Started

Chapter 2 - The First Night is Unforgettable

Chapter 3 - Under the Sun and Mountain

Chapter 4 - Through the Past's Darkness

Chapter 5 - Dilemma in Capital Station

Chapter 6 - What happens in Capital Station... doesn't stay there